Breakdown of Sic populus in urbe tutus est, quia hostes foris manent et nocte taciti non intrant.
Questions & Answers about Sic populus in urbe tutus est, quia hostes foris manent et nocte taciti non intrant.
In this sentence sic means “thus / in this way / so” and points back to the situation just described or implied.
- sic populus in urbe tutus est = “Thus the people in the city are safe” or “In this way the people are safe in the city.”
Compared with similar words:
- sic and ita are very close; both can mean “so, thus.”
- sic is often used when what follows or precedes explains how something is done.
- tum means “then, at that time” (a time word, not a manner word).
Here, sic introduces the result: because of what is said in the quia-clause, in this way the people are safe.
Latin populus is a singular collective noun, meaning “people, nation, populace” as a single body.
- populus in urbe tutus est = “the people in the city is safe” in strict grammar, but in normal English we say “the people in the city are safe.”
So:
- Latin grammar: populus (singular) → tutus est (singular).
- English meaning: a group, hence “people are safe.”
Latin is focusing on the collective, not on individuals.
The preposition in takes two different cases with different meanings:
- in + ablative = “in, on” (place where, static location)
- in urbe = “in the city”
- in + accusative = “into, onto” (motion towards)
- in urbem = “into the city”
In the sentence, the people are located in the city, not moving into it, so Latin uses the ablative:
- in urbe tutus est = “(he/it) is safe in the city.”
tutus here is an adjective, not a passive verb form in use as a verb.
- tutus, -a, -um = “safe, protected.”
- est = “is” (3rd person singular of esse, “to be”).
So tutus est literally means “is safe.”
Historically, tutus comes from the perfect participle of tueor (“to protect”), but in Classical Latin it has become a regular adjective. Grammatically, this is just:
- populus (subject, masculine singular)
- tutus (adjective agreeing with populus)
- est (linking verb “is”)
So translate as “the people is/are safe,” not as a separate passive verb “is being protected.”
tutus must agree with the noun it describes in gender, number, and case:
- populus: masculine, singular, nominative
- Therefore the adjective must be: masculine, singular, nominative → tutus
Other forms would be used if the noun changed:
- plural masculine nominative: tuti
- feminine singular nominative: tuta
- neuter plural nominative: tuta, etc.
Here, populus tutus = “the people (as a body) is safe.”
quia is a subordinating conjunction meaning “because.”
It introduces a reason clause:
- Sic populus in urbe tutus est, quia hostes foris manent et nocte taciti non intrant.
- “Thus the people in the city are safe, because the enemies stay outside and do not come in silently at night.”
The whole quia hostes ... intrant clause explains why the people are safe.
hostes is nominative plural (from hostis, hostis, “enemy”).
In this sentence, hostes is the subject of both verbs manent and intrant:
- hostes foris manent = “the enemies stay outside”
- (hostes) nocte taciti non intrant = “(the enemies) do not enter silently at night”
Latin only states the subject once; it applies to both verbs.
Here foris is an adverb meaning “outside.”
- hostes foris manent = “the enemies remain outside.”
Adverbs don’t govern a case the way prepositions do, so there is no noun after it here.
Note: foris can also be a noun meaning “door-leaf, panel” (with forms like foris, foris, f.), but in this sentence it is clearly an adverb of place.
(You might also encounter foras = “out(wards), to the outside,” which has more of a sense of motion out than a static “outside.”)
nocte is the ablative singular of nox, noctis (“night”).
Here it is an ablative of time when, and Latin typically does not need a preposition for this:
- nocte = “at night”
- nocte taciti non intrant = “they do not enter silently at night.”
Similarly:
- die = by day
- tertia hora = at the third hour
taciti is the nominative plural masculine form of the adjective tacitus, -a, -um (“silent, quiet”).
It agrees with hostes:
- hostes (nominative plural masculine)
- taciti (nominative plural masculine)
So nocte taciti non intrant means literally:
- “At night, silent (being silent), they do not enter.”
In smoother English:
“They do not enter silently at night” or “They do not enter at night while keeping silent.”
Latin word order is more flexible than English and is often used for emphasis and rhythm, not just for basic grammar.
- Subject (hostes) is already stated before: hostes foris manent.
- Then comes nocte taciti non intrant, with:
- nocte (time: at night) placed first,
- taciti (manner: silent),
- non intrant (the key action and its negation: do not enter) at the end.
This order:
- Sets the time first (nocte),
- Adds the manner/condition (taciti),
- Ends with the negated action (non intrant), which is the main “punch” of that clause.
Latin speakers could also say hostes taciti nocte non intrant, etc., but the meaning would be basically the same; only nuance and emphasis shift slightly.
Both manent and intrant are:
- present tense
- 3rd person plural
- active voice
- indicative mood
They match because they share the same subject hostes (“the enemies”):
- hostes foris manent = “the enemies stay outside”
- (hostes) nocte taciti non intrant = “(the enemies) do not enter silently at night.”
Latin often does not repeat the subject if it stays the same, so after hostes once, it is understood for both verbs.