Reus veritatem fateri coactus est.

Here reus means the accused, the defendant, or the person on trial.

It is a legal word. In different contexts, reus can mean:

• defendant / accused person
• sometimes more generally the guilty party

In this sentence, it is the subject: the accused was forced to admit the truth.

Because it is the subject of the sentence.

The verb phrase is coactus est = was forced, and the person who was forced is reus.

So:

• reus = nominative singular, subject
• veritatem = accusative singular, object

Because it is the object of fateri.

Fateri means to admit or to confess, and what is being admitted is veritatem = the truth.

So the structure is:

• fateri veritatem = to admit the truth

Even though fateri is an infinitive, it can still take a direct object, and that object is in the accusative.

Fateri is the present infinitive of fateor, fateri, fassus sum.

It means:

• to admit
• to confess
• sometimes to acknowledge

So in this sentence:

• coactus est fateri = was forced to admit

Because fateri is a deponent verb.

A deponent verb:

• has passive forms
• but an active meaning

So although fateri looks passive in form, it means to admit, not to be admitted.

This is very common in Latin. Other deponent verbs include:

• loqui = to speak
• sequi = to follow
• hortari = to encourage

A deponent verb is a verb that uses passive-looking forms but has an active meaning.

For fateor:

• fateor = I admit
• fateris = you admit
• fateri = to admit

So in veritatem fateri, the meaning is active:

• to admit the truth

This matters because a learner might expect a passive meaning from the form, but that would be wrong here.

Literally, coactus est means has been forced, from the verb cogo, cogere, coegi, coactus = to force, compel.

It is made of:

• coactus = perfect passive participle, forced
• est = is/has been

Together, in normal English, it is often translated simply as:

• was forced
• or sometimes has been forced

In this sentence, was forced is the most natural translation.

Because it is the perfect passive indicative.

Latin perfect passive is formed with:

• perfect passive participle + a form of sum

So:

• coactus est = he was forced / has been forced

English often chooses between:

• was forced for simple narration
• has been forced when the present relevance is emphasized

In a sentence like this, English usually prefers was forced.

Because coactus agrees with reus.

The participle must match the noun it goes with in:

• gender
• number
• case

Since reus is:

• masculine
• singular
• nominative

the participle is also:

• coactus = masculine singular nominative

If the subject were feminine, you would get coacta est. If it were plural masculine, coacti sunt.

This is a very common Latin pattern:

• coactus est + infinitive = was forced to + verb

So:

• fateri = to admit
• coactus est fateri = was forced to admit

The infinitive completes the idea of being forced. It tells us forced to do what?

It is understood to be the same as the subject of the main verb: reus.

In other words:

• reus ... coactus est fateri = the accused was forced to admit

Latin does not need to repeat the subject here. English does not either.

So the sentence does not mean that someone else was forced to admit the truth. The person doing the admitting is the same person as reus.

Because this is not an accusative-and-infinitive construction.

Latin has two different patterns that learners often confuse:

1. Complementary infinitive

   • as here: coactus est fateri
   • the infinitive completes the meaning of the main verb
   • the subject is the same as the main subject

2. Accusative + infinitive in indirect statement

   • for example: dicit reum veritatem fateri
   • he says that the accused admits the truth

In your sentence, fateri is just the infinitive dependent on coactus est, so no separate accusative subject is needed.

Because Latin word order is much more flexible than English word order.

Both of these can mean:

• veritatem fateri
• fateri veritatem

The object is clearly marked by its case ending:

• veritatem is accusative

So Latin does not need word order to show its job as strictly as English does.

Here, putting veritatem before fateri may give a slight emphasis to the truth.

Yes. It is a natural Latin expression meaning:

• to admit the truth
• to confess the truth
• to acknowledge the truth

Depending on context, English may choose slightly different wording:

• admit the truth
• tell the truth
• confess the truth

But grammatically, veritatem fateri is straightforward and idiomatic.

Not necessarily.

Fateri is broader than specifically religious confess. It often means:

• admit
• acknowledge
• own up to

So in this sentence, the best sense is probably:

• the accused was forced to admit the truth or
• the accused was compelled to confess the truth

The legal context created by reus makes admit or confess especially natural.

Yes. Latin could add an agent, usually with ab + ablative.

For example:

• Reus ab iudice veritatem fateri coactus est.
• The accused was forced by the judge to admit the truth.

In your sentence, the agent is simply not stated.

No. It does not automatically mean the person really is guilty.

In legal Latin, reus often means:

• the accused
• the defendant

That is, the person charged or on trial, whether guilty or not.

So a learner should not assume the sentence means the guilty man was forced... unless the context clearly supports that.

Sometimes, yes, but there is a difference.

• coactus est fateri = was forced to admit
• had to admit can be a looser English equivalent

However, coactus est is stronger. It suggests compulsion or pressure, not just necessity.

So:

• had to admit is possible in freer translation
• was forced to admit is closer to the Latin

You can break it down like this:

• Reus — subject, nominative singular: the accused
• veritatem — direct object, accusative singular: the truth
• fateri — present infinitive of a deponent verb: to admit
• coactus est — perfect passive of cogo: was forced

So the structure is:

[Subject] + [object + infinitive] + [main verb]

or more literally:

The accused the truth to admit was forced.

Natural English: The accused was forced to admit the truth.