Argentarius gaudet, quia debitum tandem solutum est.

Argentarius is nominative singular masculine, and it is the subject of gaudet.

A learner can tell this because:

• -us is a very common nominative singular ending for a 2nd-declension masculine noun.
• Gaudet means he/she/it rejoices or is glad, so it needs a subject in the nominative.
• Here, argentarius is the person doing the rejoicing.

So the basic structure is:

• argentarius = the banker / moneylender
• gaudet = is glad / rejoices

Argentarius originally means a person connected with argentum (silver), but in ordinary Latin it commonly means banker, money-dealer, or moneylender.

Depending on context, English translations might include:

• banker
• financier
• moneylender

So although the root has to do with silver, the real meaning here is a professional person dealing with money.

Because gaudeō is a 2nd-conjugation verb, and gaudet is its 3rd person singular present active indicative form.

Its main forms are:

• gaudeō = I rejoice / I am glad
• gaudēs = you rejoice
• gaudet = he/she/it rejoices

Since the subject is argentarius (the banker), Latin uses the 3rd person singular form: gaudet.

Quia is a subordinating conjunction meaning because.

It introduces a subordinate clause that gives the reason for the main clause:

• Main clause: Argentarius gaudet = The banker is glad.
• Reason clause: quia debitum tandem solutum est = because the debt has finally been paid.

So quia works very much like English because.

Here debitum is a neuter singular noun (or a substantively used participial form) meaning debt or what is owed.

It is neuter singular because the thing being talked about is treated as a single owed amount/obligation. In this sentence it is the subject of solutum est.

So in the clause:

• debitum = the debt
• solutum est = has been paid

Since debitum is neuter singular, the participle solutum is also neuter singular to agree with it.

Because solutum est is a perfect passive form, while solvit would be perfect active (or present, depending on vowel length not shown in ordinary spelling).

What solutum est means

It is built from:

• solutum = the perfect passive participle
• est = is

Together they mean:

• has been paid
• was paid

So debitum tandem solutum est means the debt has finally been paid.

Why use the passive?

The sentence focuses on the debt as the thing acted upon, not on the person who paid it.

If Latin wanted to say someone paid the debt, it would use an active form instead.

In the perfect passive, Latin uses:

• a form of sum (est here)
• plus a perfect passive participle

That participle must agree with the subject in:

• gender
• number
• case

Here the subject is debitum, which is:

• neuter
• singular
• nominative

So the participle must also be:

• neuter
• singular
• nominative

That is why we get solutum est, not solutus est or soluta est.

It is grammatically a perfect tense, so it refers to a completed action in the past.

Depending on context, English may translate it as:

• has been paid
• was paid

In this sentence, has been paid often sounds especially natural, because the banker is glad now as a result of that completed action.

So the idea is:

• the paying happened already,
• and its result matters now.

Tandem means at last, finally, or after all this time.

It adds a feeling that the payment was delayed or long awaited. Without tandem, the sentence would simply state that the debt was paid. With tandem, it suggests something like:

• the banker has been waiting,
• and now the payment has finally happened.

So it adds emotion and context, not just information.

Yes, Latin word order is much more flexible than English word order.

This sentence could be rearranged in several ways without changing the basic meaning, for example:

• quia tandem debitum solutum est
• quia solutum est debitum
• quia debitum solutum tandem est

However, the actual order helps with emphasis and style.

In the given order:

• debitum appears early, introducing the thing under discussion.
• tandem highlights the long-awaited nature of the event.
• solutum est comes at the end, giving the important result: has been paid.

Latin often places an important verb or verbal idea near the end of the clause.

Yes, logically someone paid it, but Latin does not say who.

Because the clause is passive:

• debitum ... solutum est = the debt has been paid

the agent is left unstated.

If Latin wanted to mention the person responsible, it could add that information, often with ab + ablative for a personal agent. But here the sentence does not care about naming the payer; it only cares that the debt is now paid.

Yes. Debitum can mean:

• debt
• what is owed
• an obligation
• a due payment

In this sentence, debt is the most natural interpretation, but the Latin word can be slightly broader than the everyday English word debt.

So the clause can carry the idea of the amount owed or the obligation owed having been settled.

Classical Latin has no definite article like English the, and no indefinite article like a/an.

So:

• argentarius can mean a banker or the banker
• debitum can mean a debt or the debt

The context tells you which is meant.

In this sentence, English usually uses the banker and the debt, because the situation sounds specific and concrete, but Latin itself does not mark that with an article.