Custos in libra pondus argenti iterum ponit, ut omnes videant pretium nimium non esse.

to be

Breakdown of Custos in libra pondus argenti iterum ponit, ut omnes videant pretium nimium non esse.

• videre: to see
• in: on
• non: not

Questions & Answers about Custos in libra pondus argenti iterum ponit, ut omnes videant pretium nimium non esse.

What form is custos, and what job is it doing in the sentence?

Custos is nominative singular, so it is the subject of ponit.

A few useful points:

• It is a 3rd-declension noun.
• Its basic meaning is guard, watchman, keeper, or attendant, depending on context.
• Even though it ends in -os, it is not Greek here and not a different case; it is simply the normal nominative singular form of this noun.

So custos ... ponit means the guard/keeper places ...

What does in libra mean here, and why is libra in the ablative?

Here in libra means something like on the scale, in the balance, or in the weighing pan/instrument.

It uses the ablative because in with the ablative normally expresses location:

• in + ablative = in/on somewhere
• in + accusative = into/onto somewhere

So:

• in libra = on/in the scale
• not into the scale

Also, libra can mean a balance or scales, and Latin often uses the singular where English might naturally say the scales.