Cum convivium finitum erit, convivae lente domum revertentur.

Here cum means when and introduces a temporal clause.

So Cum convivium finitum erit means when the banquet has finished or when the banquet will have ended.

This is different from cum meaning with, which is a preposition and would be followed by an ablative noun, as in cum amico = with a friend.

Because Latin is showing that the action in the cum clause will be completed before the action in the main clause happens.

• finitum erit = will have been finished / will have finished
• revertentur = will return

So the idea is:

1. first, the banquet will be over
2. then, the guests will return home

Latin often uses the future perfect in a subordinate clause when English uses when ... has ... or sometimes just when ... is over.

finitum erit is the future perfect passive of finio.

It is made from:

• finitum = the perfect passive participle
• erit = future of sum

Together they mean will have been finished.

Here it agrees with convivium, which is:

• neuter
• singular
• nominative

So the participle is also neuter singular: finitum.

Because convivium is in the nominative singular, and finitum agrees with it.

So grammatically:

• convivium = subject
• finitum erit = verb phrase

The banquet is the thing that will have been finished.

Even though English often says when the banquet is over, Latin expresses it more literally as when the banquet will have been finished.

Here convivae is nominative plural, so it is the subject of revertentur.

That means the guests are the ones who will return.

A learner might notice that convivae could also be genitive singular or dative singular in some contexts, but here the verb revertentur is plural, so convivae must be nominative plural.

Because revertor, reverti, reversus sum is a deponent verb.

Deponent verbs:

• have passive forms
• but active meanings

So revertentur looks like a passive form, but it means they will return, not they will be returned.

This is very common in Latin and something learners have to get used to.

Revertentur is future tense, third person plural.

So it means they will return.

The ending -entur can look passive, but because revertor is deponent, the meaning is active.

Because domum is a special accusative meaning to home or homeward.

Latin often uses certain place words without a preposition to express motion toward them, and domus is one of the most common.

So:

• domum = home, to home
• not usually ad domum

This is why domum revertentur means they will return home.

Lente is an adverb, meaning slowly.

It modifies revertentur, telling us how the guests will return.

So:

• convivae revertentur = the guests will return
• convivae lente revertentur = the guests will return slowly

Latin adverbs are often quite flexible in position, so lente could move around without changing the basic meaning much.

Latin is carefully marking the sequence of events.

• finitum erit = one future action that will be completed first
• revertentur = another future action that happens after that

So the structure is:

• when the banquet has ended
• the guests will return home

English sometimes does something similar:

• When dinner has finished, they will go home but English often prefers simpler wording such as:
• When the banquet is over, the guests will return home

Latin is just being more explicit about which future action is completed first.

The word order is natural, but Latin word order is more flexible than English.

This sentence begins with the cum clause:

• Cum convivium finitum erit = When the banquet has ended

Then comes the main clause:

• convivae lente domum revertentur = the guests will return home slowly

That order is very normal, because it sets the time first and then gives the main action. But Latin could rearrange parts of the sentence for emphasis, especially adverbs like lente.

The endings, not just the position, tell you how the words function.