Breakdown of Cum omnes tabellas in urnam miserint, praeco numerum suffragiorum clare referet.
Questions & Answers about Cum omnes tabellas in urnam miserint, praeco numerum suffragiorum clare referet.
Here cum means when.
It introduces a subordinate clause:
- Cum omnes tabellas in urnam miserint = When all the ballots have been put into the urn
This is not the preposition cum meaning with. You can tell because it is followed by a whole clause with a verb (miserint), not by a noun in the ablative.
Because after cum meaning when, Latin often uses the subjunctive when the clause is viewed as a future event or as something completed before the main future action.
So:
- miserint = perfect subjunctive
- referet = future indicative
Together they give the sense:
- when they have cast the ballots, the herald will announce the number of votes
This is a very common Latin pattern for a future time clause.
The perfect tense here does not mean past time in English. It shows that the action in the cum clause will be completed before the main action happens.
So Latin is expressing sequence:
- the ballots are cast
- then the herald announces the total
That is why English often translates it with :