Breakdown of Milites vallum et fossam circum castra muniunt, dum dux in turri stat.
in
in
et
and
miles
the soldier
stare
to stand
Questions & Answers about Milites vallum et fossam circum castra muniunt, dum dux in turri stat.
Why is milites the subject even though it does not come first in an English-style way?
In Latin, the ending usually tells you the grammatical role more clearly than the word order does.
- milites is nominative plural, so it is the subject: the soldiers
- muniunt is they fortify/build
- So milites ... muniunt means the soldiers fortify...
Latin word order is much freer than English word order. Even if the words are arranged differently, the endings still show who is doing the action.
Why are vallum and fossam in the accusative?
They are in the accusative because they are the direct objects of muniunt.
- vallum = rampart, wall, or earthwork
- fossam = ditch
- muniunt = they fortify / build / construct
So the soldiers are fortifying or building the rampart and the ditch. In Latin, direct objects commonly take the accusative case.
Why is it vallum et fossam and not vallus et fossa?
Because the sentence needs the objects of the verb, not the subjects.
Compare:
- would be nominative forms, which would suggest are subjects