Humiles quoque cives bonam de re publica opinionem habere possunt, si eos alii audiunt.

Because together they form the subject of the main clause: humiles cives = humble / lowly citizens.

• cives is the nominative plural of civis (citizen).
• humiles is the nominative plural of humilis (humble, lowly, of low status), agreeing with cives in case, number, and gender.

Latin adjectives must agree with the nouns they describe, so both words appear in the same form here.

Quoque means also or too.

It is often placed after the word it especially relates to. So:

• Humiles quoque cives = humble citizens too / even humble citizens

In smoother English, this might be translated as Even ordinary citizens can... or Humble citizens too can...

Latin does not always place words where English would. With quoque, the position after the emphasized word is very common.

Not necessarily. Humilis can mean:

• humble
• lowly
• of low rank
• ordinary

In this sentence, it probably refers more to social position than to personality. So humiles cives likely means ordinary or low-status citizens, not necessarily people who are modest in character.

Because it is the direct object of habere (to have).

The phrase is:

• bonam opinionem habere = to have a good opinion

Here:

• opinionem is accusative singular of opinio
• bonam is accusative singular feminine of bonus, agreeing with opinionem

So Latin is literally saying to have a good opinion.

Because de takes the ablative case.

So:

• de = about, concerning
• re publica is ablative singular

That gives:

• de re publica = about the state, about public affairs, about the republic

So the structure is:

• bonam ... opinionem habere = to have a good opinion
• de re publica = about the state / public affairs

Together: to have a good opinion about the state.

Because in classical Latin it is originally a noun + adjective phrase:

• res = thing, matter, affair
• publica = public

So res publica literally means the public matter or the public affair. From that comes the meaning state, commonwealth, or republic.

In this sentence it appears in the ablative after de, so both words change form:

• nominative: res publica
• ablative: re publica

Even though English often treats republic as one word, Latin still shows the original two-word structure.

Yes. Opinionem habere de + ablative is a normal way to say to have an opinion about something.

So:

• bonam de re publica opinionem habere = to have a good opinion about the state

Latin often expresses ideas with combinations like noun + habere, where English might also use a noun phrase naturally.

Because possunt means they are able or they can, and it is followed by an infinitive.

• possunt = they can
• habere = to have

So:

• bonam de re publica opinionem habere possunt = they can have a good opinion about the state

This is a standard Latin construction:

• finite form of possum
• • infinitive

Latin word order is much freer than English word order. The ending of the word usually tells you its grammatical role, so Latin does not depend as much on position.

Here the important phrase is:

• bonam de re publica opinionem habere

Latin often places the infinitive after its object and modifiers, but other orders would also be possible in different contexts.

So the order is natural Latin, even though English would not arrange it the same way.

Literally, it means:

• si = if
• eos = them
• alii = others
• audiunt = hear or listen to

So literally: if others hear them

In better English, depending on context, it may mean:

• if others listen to them
• if other people hear them out

Because alii is the subject of audiunt, while eos is the object.

• alii audiunt = others hear
• eos = them

So:

• alii is nominative plural masculine = others
• eos is accusative plural masculine = them

The verb audire takes a direct object in the accusative, so eos is exactly what we expect.

Yes, its basic meaning is to hear, but depending on context it can also be understood more like listen to or give a hearing to.

So si eos alii audiunt can mean more than just physically hearing sounds. It can suggest that other people actually pay attention to them.

That is why an English translation may choose listen to them rather than simply hear them.

Both main verbs are in the present tense:

• possunt = they can
• audiunt = they hear / listen

The sentence expresses a general truth or general possibility:

• Humble citizens too can have a good opinion about the state, if others listen to them.

Latin often uses the present indicative in both clauses for this kind of general statement.

It refers back to humiles ... cives.

So the meaning is:

• Humble citizens too can have a good opinion about the state, if others listen to them.

Latin often uses a pronoun like eos to refer back to an earlier noun, just as English uses them.

Yes. Latin could rearrange these words without changing the basic meaning, because the cases already show the grammatical roles.

For example, the sentence could still be understood if the order were different, since:

• alii is nominative = subject
• eos is accusative = object

But the given order may slightly emphasize eos by placing it earlier:

• if others listen to them

Latin word order often helps with emphasis rather than basic grammar.

Grammatically, cives is a plural form that can refer to citizens in general. In many contexts, the masculine plural in Latin can include mixed groups or people in general.

So although the forms humiles, cives, and eos are masculine plural in form here, the sense may well be citizens generally, not only men.

That depends on context, but a learner should know that Latin masculine plurals often function this way.