Philosophus respondet se malle a Romanis quam a peregrinis de litteris interrogari.

This is an indirect statement.

After a verb like respondet meaning answers, Latin often reports what someone says by using:

• an accusative for the subject of the reported idea
• an infinitive for the verb

So:

• se = the subject of the reported statement, in the accusative
• malle = the infinitive verb

That is why Latin says respondet se malle... where English says he answers that he prefers...

Se is the reflexive pronoun, and here it refers back to philosophus.

Because this is an indirect statement, the subject of the reported clause must be in the accusative. The nominative form would not work here. So Latin uses:

• se = himself / he, as accusative subject of the infinitive malle

In other words, philosophus respondet se malle means the philosopher answers that he prefers.

Latin often includes se in this construction even where English might not feel the need to state he explicitly.

Malle is the present active infinitive of malo, meaning to prefer.

So:

• malo = I prefer
• malle = to prefer

Here it depends on respondet as part of the indirect statement.

It also takes another infinitive, interrogari, so the sense is:

• se malle interrogari = that he prefers to be questioned

A useful thing to remember is that malo is related to magis volo, literally something like I want more.

Because the philosopher is the one being questioned, not the one doing the questioning.

• interrogare = to question, ask
• interrogari = to be questioned, to be asked

Since se is the understood subject of interrogari, the idea is:

• se interrogari = himself to be questioned = that he be questioned

So the philosopher prefers to be asked, not to ask.

In Latin, the subject of an infinitive is often understood from the accusative already given in the clause.

Here:

• se is the subject of malle
• and it is also the understood subject of interrogari

So the structure is basically:

• se malle interrogari = that he prefers to be questioned

Latin does not need to repeat se again before interrogari.

Because they are the personal agents of a passive verb.

When Latin uses a passive verb and wants to say by someone, it normally uses:

• a or ab
  • ablative

So:

• a Romanis = by Romans
• a peregrinis = by foreigners

Since interrogari is passive, Latin expresses the people doing the questioning this way.

Quam means than, and it marks the comparison.

The comparison is between two parallel phrases:

• a Romanis
• a peregrinis

So:

• a Romanis quam a peregrinis = by Romans rather than by foreigners

With malle, Latin commonly expresses preference this way. The idea is not just general comparison, but specifically preferring one thing over another.

Grammatically, quam directly links the two agent phrases:

• a Romanis
• a peregrinis

So the most immediate comparison is between who is doing the questioning.

The full sense is:

• he prefers being questioned by Romans
• rather than being questioned by foreigners

So in practice the comparison applies to the whole situation, but the Latin makes it especially clear through the parallel a + ablative phrases.

Because interrogare de + ablative is a normal way to say to ask about something.

So:

• de litteris = about letters / literature / learning, depending on context

The preposition de regularly takes the ablative, which is why litteris is ablative plural.

Literally, litterae can mean letters of the alphabet, but in many contexts it has a broader meaning such as:

• literature
• learning
• education
• letters in the cultural sense

So de litteris might be understood as about literature or about learning, depending on the context you were given.

This is a very common Latin word whose exact English equivalent depends on context.

Not here.

The forms Romanis and peregrinis could in theory be either dative plural or ablative plural, but the preposition a tells you they must be ablative.

So:

• a Romanis = ablative plural
• a peregrinis = ablative plural

The preposition makes the case clear.

Latin word order is much more flexible than English word order because the endings show how the words function.

This sentence places important ideas in a natural Latin sequence:

• Philosophus respondet sets up the speaker and the act of answering
• se malle introduces the reported preference
• a Romanis quam a peregrinis puts the comparison next to each other
• de litteris interrogari finishes with the topic and the passive infinitive

English usually needs a stricter order to show relationships, but Latin can move words around for emphasis or style without changing the basic meaning.