Breakdown of Si iudex servum absolvit, multi gaudent; si eum damnat, soror flens domum redit.
soror
the sister
multus
many
si
if
eum
him
Questions & Answers about Si iudex servum absolvit, multi gaudent; si eum damnat, soror flens domum redit.
Why is servum in the accusative case?
Because servum is the direct object of absolvit.
- iudex = the judge → subject
- absolvit = acquits
- servum = the slave → the person being acquitted
In Latin, the direct object is usually put in the accusative, so servus becomes servum.
The same idea appears in the second clause:
- eum damnat = he condemns him
- eum is also accusative, because it is the direct object of damnat.
Why is iudex nominative even though it does not end in -us?
Because iudex belongs to the third declension, not the second.
Many beginners expect a nominative singular masculine noun to end in -us, but that is mainly true for many second-declension nouns like servus.
iudex, iudicis means judge, and its nominative singular is simply iudex. It is the subject of absolvit, so nominative is exactly what we would expect.
What does si do in this sentence?
Si means and introduces a .