Lucia recordatur magistram heri dixisse exercitum fortem ordinem servare debere.

Because recordatur is a deponent verb.

In Latin, deponent verbs use passive-looking forms but have an active meaning. So:

• recordatur looks like he/she is remembered
• but actually means he/she remembers

Here, Lucia recordatur means Lucia remembers.

This is a very common thing for English-speaking learners to ask, because the ending -tur normally suggests a passive verb.

The main finite verb is recordatur.

Everything after that is part of what Lucia remembers. So the sentence breaks down like this:

• Lucia recordatur = the main clause
• magistram heri dixisse... = what Lucia remembers

A useful way to see it is:

• Lucia remembers
• that the teacher said yesterday...

Because it is the subject of an infinitive in indirect statement.

Latin often says that... clauses by using:

• an accusative subject
• plus an infinitive

So instead of saying something like magistra dixit, Latin puts the subject into the accusative:

• magistram... dixisse = that the teacher said

This is called the accusative-and-infinitive construction.

So:

• magistra dixit = the teacher said
• Lucia recordatur magistram dixisse = Lucia remembers that the teacher said

Because it is part of an indirect statement after recordatur.

Latin often uses an infinitive where English uses that + finite verb.

So:

• English: Lucia remembers that the teacher said...
• Latin: Lucia recordatur magistram dixisse...

Here dixisse is the perfect active infinitive of dico.

It shows an action that happened before the remembering:

• recordatur = she remembers now
• dixisse = the teacher had said / said earlier

So the perfect infinitive helps show the sequence of time.

Heri means yesterday, and here it most naturally goes with dixisse:

• magistram heri dixisse = that the teacher said yesterday

So Lucia remembers the teacher’s statement, and that statement was made yesterday.

Latin word order is flexible, so heri can sit between other words without changing its function.

Because there is a second indirect statement inside the first one.

The sentence contains a kind of layering:

1. Lucia remembers
2. that the teacher said
3. that the brave army ought to maintain order

In that inner statement, exercitum is the accusative subject of debere:

• exercitum... debere = that the army ought to...

So both magistram and exercitum are accusatives, but they belong to different infinitives:

• magistram goes with dixisse
• exercitum goes with debere

Fortem is an adjective modifying exercitum.

Both are:

• accusative singular
• masculine

So:

• exercitum fortem = the brave army or the strong army

Since fortis can mean brave, courageous, strong, or resolute, the exact English choice depends on context. In many learning contexts, brave army is the most natural.

Because debere is also part of the indirect statement.

Inside the teacher’s reported words, Latin does not use a normal finite verb here. Instead it uses the infinitive:

• exercitum... debere = that the army ought to...

If it were a direct statement, you might have:

• exercitus fortis ordinem servare debet = the brave army ought to maintain order

But in indirect statement, Latin changes that to:

• exercitum fortem ordinem servare debere

So debere is the infinitive form required by the construction.

Because debere regularly takes a complementary infinitive.

In English, ought is followed by another verb:

• ought to maintain

In Latin, debeo works similarly:

• debere servare = to ought to maintain / more naturally ought to maintain

So in the inner clause:

• exercitum fortem ordinem servare debere
• literally: that the brave army to maintain order ought
• naturally: that the brave army ought to maintain order

Ordinem servare means to maintain order, to keep order, or to preserve discipline/order.

Word by word:

• ordinem = order (accusative singular)
• servare = to preserve, keep, maintain

This is a very normal Latin combination. English speakers may want to translate it too literally as save order, because of the connection with words like conserve or serve, but here servare is better understood as keep/maintain.

The one who is supposed to maintain order is the army.

You can see this from the inner accusative-and-infinitive construction:

• exercitum fortem... debere

That means that the brave army ought to...

So the sentence is not saying:

• Lucia ought to maintain order
• or the teacher ought to maintain order

It is saying that the teacher said the army ought to maintain order, and Lucia remembers that.

A good way is to unpack it in layers.

Main clause

• Lucia recordatur
• Lucia remembers

First indirect statement

• magistram heri dixisse
• that the teacher said yesterday

Second indirect statement

• exercitum fortem ordinem servare debere
• that the brave army ought to maintain order

Put together:

• Lucia remembers that the teacher said yesterday that the brave army ought to maintain order.

This sentence is a very good example of how Latin can stack one indirect statement inside another.

Yes, it is perfectly normal Latin word order.

Latin is much freer than English because the endings show each word’s job. So Latin can place words for emphasis, rhythm, or clarity rather than following a strict English-style order.

Here the order helps group the ideas:

• Lucia recordatur = main idea
• magistram heri dixisse = first reported statement
• exercitum fortem ordinem servare debere = second reported statement

An English speaker may expect something more like:

• Lucia remembers that yesterday the teacher said that the brave army ought to maintain order

Latin does not need to keep that same order because case endings make the relationships clear.

Yes, often that is a good way to feel the tense relationship.

Since dixisse is the perfect infinitive, it shows action earlier than the main verb recordatur. So:

• Lucia recordatur magistram dixisse
• can be understood as
• Lucia remembers that the teacher said
• or more explicitly
• Lucia remembers that the teacher had said

Both can work in English, depending on how much you want to show the sequence of time.

Here are the main ones:

• Lucia — a proper noun
• recordatur from recordor, recordari, recordatus sum = remember
• magistram from magistra, magistræ = teacher (female)
• heri = yesterday
• dixisse from dico, dicere, dixi, dictum = say
• exercitum from exercitus, exercitus = army
• fortem from fortis, forte = brave, strong
• ordinem from ordo, ordinis = order
• servare from servo, servare, servavi, servatum = keep, preserve, maintain
• debere from debeo, debere, debui, debitum = ought, must, owe

Knowing the dictionary form often helps English-speaking learners see why the endings look the way they do in the sentence.