Multi cives circa rostra stant et oratorem audiunt.

Because both words are in the nominative plural, which is the normal case for the subject in Latin.

• multi = many
• cives = citizens

Together, multi cives means many citizens.

Latin often shows a word’s job by its ending, not by its position in the sentence.

Because the phrase is the subject, not the direct object.

• multi cives = nominative plural = many citizens as the people doing the action
• multos cives = accusative plural = many citizens as the people receiving the action

Here, the citizens are the ones who stand and listen, so Latin uses multi cives.

Oratorem is accusative singular.

It is the direct object of audiunt:

• audiunt = they hear / they listen to
• oratorem = the speaker / orator

So oratorem audiunt means they listen to the speaker.

A native English speaker may expect to after listen, but Latin often uses a direct object with audio.

Because Latin audio, audire literally means hear, but it is also commonly used in the sense of listen to someone.

So:

• oratorem audiunt literally = they hear the speaker
• natural English = they listen to the speaker

This is a normal difference between Latin and English expression.

Circa means around.

After circa, Latin uses the accusative case, so rostra here is accusative plural.

• circa = around
• rostra = the rostra, the public speaking platform/forum area at Rome

So circa rostra means around the rostra.

Because rostra is a neuter plural form.

Historically, Rostra was the name of a public platform in Rome. In many contexts it is treated as a plural form, even when English may translate it more like a single place-name.

So a learner should recognize that Latin sometimes uses a plural form for a place or structure that English may not think of as plural.

Stant is the 3rd person plural present indicative of sto, stare, meaning stand.

• stant = they stand
• sunt = they are
• stent would be a subjunctive form, which is not needed here

Since the subject is multi cives (many citizens), the verb must be plural, so stant is correct.

Because it has the same subject as stant: multi cives.

Latin often has one subject controlling more than one verb:

• multi cives ... stant
• [multi cives] ... audiunt

So both verbs are 3rd person plural:

• stant = they stand
• audiunt = they listen

Because it does not need to.

In Multi cives circa rostra stant et oratorem audiunt, the same subject, multi cives, naturally carries over to both verbs.

English can do this too:

• Many citizens stand around the rostra and listen to the speaker.

Latin often avoids repeating words when the meaning is already clear.

The word order is fairly natural, but Latin word order is generally more flexible than English word order because the endings show the grammar.

This sentence is arranged as:

• Multi cives = subject
• circa rostra = where
• stant = first verb
• et = and
• oratorem = object
• audiunt = second verb

A Latin author could rearrange parts of this sentence for emphasis without changing the basic meaning, as long as the forms stay clear.

Yes.

Because Latin relies heavily on endings, circa rostra could be moved for style or emphasis. For example, Latin could place it earlier or later and still mean essentially the same thing.

The given order is straightforward and easy to understand, but it is not the only possible order.

Et is a conjunction, meaning and.

It joins the two verbs:

• stant
• audiunt

So it links the two actions done by the same subject: the citizens stand and listen.

Cives can refer to male citizens, female citizens, or a mixed group, depending on context.

The noun civis, civis belongs to the 3rd declension and can be masculine or feminine.

So in this sentence, multi cives most naturally means many citizens, without specifying gender unless the context does.

Because multi is the masculine nominative plural form of multus.

Since cives can be masculine or mixed-gender, multi is the normal form here.

If the group were clearly feminine, Latin could use multae cives, but that is not what we have in this sentence.

You would usually look them up like this:

• multi → multus, -a, -um = many
• cives → civis, civis = citizen
• circa = around
• rostra → rostrum, -i or as the proper place-name Rostra
• stant → sto, stare, steti = stand
• et = and
• oratorem → orator, oratoris = speaker, orator
• audiunt → audio, audire, audivi, auditum = hear, listen to

This is a very useful habit when reading Latin: identify the form in the sentence, then connect it to its dictionary entry.