Discipula rogat cur lictores fasces gerant; magistra respondet eos imperii signum esse.

to be

Breakdown of Discipula rogat cur lictores fasces gerant; magistra respondet eos imperii signum esse.

• magistra: the female teacher
• discipula: the female student
• rogare: to ask

Questions & Answers about Discipula rogat cur lictores fasces gerant; magistra respondet eos imperii signum esse.

Why is gerant used instead of gerunt?

Because cur lictores fasces gerant is an indirect question after rogat.

In Latin, indirect questions normally take the subjunctive, not the indicative. So:

• gerunt = they carry in a normal statement
• gerant = they carry in an indirect question

Here cur means why, and the whole clause means why the lictors carry the fasces.

How do I know that lictores is the subject and fasces is the object?

Lictores is the subject of gerant, and fasces is its direct object.

A learner may hesitate because fasces can look like either nominative plural or accusative plural. In this sentence, though, the structure makes things clear:

• lictores = the people doing the carrying
• fasces = the thing being carried

So the sense and syntax together show that lictores is the subject and fasces is the object.

Why is fasces plural?

Because fasces is normally a plural word in this Roman political sense.

The fasces were a bundle of rods, so the plural form is natural. Latin often refers to this emblem as , not as a singular item. That is also why the later pronoun is plural: .