Missus incipit; certator equos iugales incitat.

Here missus is a noun, not a participle.

In this sentence it is nominative singular, the subject of incipit. So missus incipit means the race begins or the heat begins.

A learner might expect missus to mean sent because it can also be the perfect passive participle of mittere, but here the context shows it is the noun missus meaning a race, especially a heat in the games.

The ending -t shows that incipit is third person singular present active indicative:

• in- = prefix
• cipit = from capere in the compound incipere

So incipit means he/she/it begins or begins.

Since the subject is missus, which is singular, the verb is singular too:

• missus incipit = the race begins

Certator is a noun meaning something like contestant, competitor, or racer.

In this context, since the sentence mentions horses, it most naturally means the driver/racer involved in the contest. It is nominative singular, and it is the subject of incitat.

So:

• certator ... incitat = the racer urges on ...

Equos is accusative plural because it is the direct object of incitat.

The verb incitare means to urge on, to spur, to drive forward. The thing being urged on is the object, so Latin puts it in the accusative:

• certator equos incitat = the racer urges the horses on

Singular would be equum; plural is equos.

Iugales is an adjective agreeing with equos.

It is:

• accusative plural
• masculine
• describing equos

So equos iugales means yoked horses, team horses, or horses joined together under the yoke.

The adjective matches the noun in case, number, and gender:

• equos = accusative plural masculine
• iugales = accusative plural masculine

Because Latin word order is much more flexible than English word order.

A noun and its adjective can appear:

• adjective before noun
• noun before adjective
• even separated from each other

So equos iugales is perfectly normal. It simply means the yoked horses or the team horses.

English usually prefers adjective + noun, but Latin does not require that order.

Classical Latin has no articles like English the or a/an.

So:

• missus can mean a race or the race
• certator can mean a racer or the racer
• equos iugales can mean team horses, the team horses, or some team horses

The exact sense comes from context.

Latin often does leave subject pronouns out, because the verb ending already tells you the person and number. But nouns as subjects can still be stated whenever the writer wants to name them clearly.

In the second clause:

• incitat already tells us the subject is he/she/it
• certator tells us exactly who is doing the action

Without certator, incitat would just mean he/she/it urges on. With certator, the sentence explicitly says the racer urges on the horses.

Yes, historically it is related.

The noun missus comes from the idea of a sending off or release, and in some contexts it came to mean a race or heat, especially one sent off in the arena.

So although a beginner may first recognize missus as a form connected with mittere, here it has become a noun with its own established meaning.

Both verbs are present tense:

• incipit = begins
• incitat = urges on

This gives the sentence a vivid, immediate feel:

• The race begins; the racer urges on the team horses.

Latin often uses the present in straightforward narration, just as English can.

Not really in the grammar itself. It simply separates two closely connected statements:

• Missus incipit
• certator equos iugales incitat

The second clause naturally follows the first:

1. the race begins
2. the racer urges on his horses

So the semicolon helps the reader see the connection, but it does not change the case or verb forms.

Yes, in many cases.

Because Latin marks grammatical roles by endings, not mainly by word order, several arrangements could still mean essentially the same thing. For example:

• Missus incipit; certator equos iugales incitat.
• Missus incipit; equos iugales certator incitat.
• Missus incipit; iugales equos certator incitat.

The basic grammar remains:

• certator = subject
• equos iugales = object
• incitat = verb

However, different word orders can give different emphasis. The original order is straightforward and natural.