Pater dicit aedilem bonum forum prudenter administrare oportere.

The main clause is:

• Pater dicit = Father says

Everything after dicit is the content of what he says:

• aedilem bonum forum prudenter administrare oportere

So the sentence is built like this:

• main statement: Pater dicit
• reported statement: that a good aedile ought to manage the forum wisely

A helpful way to see it is:

• Pater = subject
• dicit = main finite verb
• aedilem bonum ... oportere = indirect statement depending on dicit

Because Latin usually does not use a separate that-word after verbs of saying, thinking, knowing, and perceiving. Instead, it often uses the accusative-and-infinitive construction.

So instead of saying:

• Father says that ...

Latin says, literally more like:

• Father says [someone/something] to ...

Here:

• dicit introduces the reported statement
• aedilem bonum is the accusative subject of that reported statement
• oportere is the infinitive that carries the idea of ought

This is one of the most important Latin constructions to learn.

Because it is the subject of an infinitive clause, not the subject of the main verb.

In English, we say:

• Father says that the good aedile ought...

In Latin, after dicit, the subject inside the reported statement goes into the accusative:

• aedilem bonum

So:

• Pater is nominative because it is the subject of dicit
• aedilem bonum is accusative because it is the subject of oportere inside indirect statement

This is standard Latin syntax.

This is a very common question, because both aedilem bonum and forum are accusative.

We know forum is the object because:

1. administrare normally takes a direct object: you administer something
2. aedilem bonum makes good sense as the person who ought to do the action
3. bonum agrees with aedilem, so those two words clearly belong together
4. Semantically, a good aedile administers the forum makes sense

So the grouping is:

• aedilem bonum = the good aedile
• forum = the forum
• prudenter administrare = to manage wisely

Because bonum has to agree with aedilem, and aedilem is accusative singular.

The adjective bonus, bona, bonum changes form to match its noun in:

• gender
• number
• case

Here:

• aedilem = masculine accusative singular
• so the adjective must also be masculine accusative singular
• therefore: bonum

If it were nominative, it would be bonus:

• aedilis bonus = a good aedile

But here it is accusative:

• aedilem bonum

Because they are doing different jobs.

• oportere = to be proper / to be necessary / ought
• administrare = to administer / manage

Here oportere is the main verb of the reported statement, and administrare depends on it as a complementary infinitive.

So the idea is:

• the good aedile ought
• to administer the forum wisely

In other words:

• oportere tells us that there is an obligation or propriety
• administrare tells us what action is required

Oportere is an impersonal verb that often means something like:

• to be proper
• to be right
• to be necessary
• ought

In this sentence, the most natural English is usually ought.

So the sense is not just simple future action, but a judgment about what is appropriate or required.

Compared with English:

• must can sound stronger
• ought is often a very good match
• should can also work in some contexts, though it may sound slightly weaker

So aedilem bonum forum prudenter administrare oportere means roughly:

• that a good aedile ought to administer the forum wisely

Prudenter modifies administrare.

It tells us how the forum is to be administered:

• prudenter administrare = to administer wisely

It is an adverb because it describes a verb, not a noun.

Compare:

• prudens aedilis = a wise/prudent aedile
  
  • prudens is an adjective describing the noun
• prudenter administrare = to administer wisely
  
  • prudenter is an adverb describing the action

So here Latin is not saying the aedile is wise as a personal quality, though that may be implied; it is explicitly saying the administration should be done wisely.

Yes, it could come before it. Latin word order is much more flexible than English word order.

Both of these are possible in principle:

• aedilem bonum
• bonum aedilem

Latin often uses word order for emphasis, rhythm, or style rather than strict grammatical necessity.

Here aedilem bonum is perfectly normal. The ending -um on bonum tells you it belongs with aedilem, so the meaning is still clear.

Because Classical Latin has no articles.

So:

• pater can mean father or the father
• aedilem bonum can mean a good aedile or the good aedile
• forum can mean the forum or a forum

English has to choose an article, but Latin often leaves that to context.

So a translation may use:

• Father says that a good aedile ought to administer the forum wisely

But depending on context, another translation might use the instead of a.

The main finite verb of the whole sentence is dicit.

That matters because a finite verb is what anchors an independent clause. Here:

• Pater dicit can stand as a complete sentence: Father speaks/says
• oportere is an infinitive, so it cannot stand as the main verb of an independent clause here

So:

• dicit = main verb of the sentence
• oportere = infinitive inside the reported statement
• administrare = infinitive depending on oportere

Yes, to a large extent.

Because Latin marks grammatical relationships mostly with endings rather than position, many rearrangements are possible. For example, the same basic sense could be expressed with different emphasis by moving words around.

The original order:

• Pater dicit aedilem bonum forum prudenter administrare oportere

has a straightforward progression:

• speaker
• verb of saying
• reported statement
• action
• idea of obligation at the end

Ending with oportere is especially natural in Latin, because the infinitive can neatly close the indirect statement.

So word order is flexible, but not random: authors use it for emphasis and style.