# Morituri



## MaChereAmie

Hello,

This has been driving me crazy.  If there is anyone familiar with Latin, can you please help me find the Latin translation of "You who are about to die..."

"Morituri" is Latin for "We who are about to die" from the Latin phrase "Morituri te salutamus ("We who are about to die salute you" supposedly spoken by gladiators.).

I'm not good at Latin conjugation at all, so I have no idea what tense or declension or whatever it is.  If I did I'd be able to find the 2nd person singular form of the verb in that declension.

Thanks in advance for any help!

Amie


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## modus.irrealis

Hi,



			
				MaChereAmie said:
			
		

> "Morituri" is Latin for "We who are about to die" from the Latin phrase "Morituri te salutamus ("We who are about to die salute you" supposedly spoken by gladiators.).


Morituri is actually a participle, and in the sentence you mention, it's the plural masculine nominative of the future active participle. So it means "we who are about to die" only because it agrees with the subject of "salutamus" which is "we."

To get it to mean "you who are about to die," you just need to get the participle to agree with the "you" in the sentence. For example, "Moriturum te salutamus" means "We salute you who are about to die."


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## MaChereAmie

Man, this forum rocks!  I got an answer in less than five minutes! Thanks!

Perfect!


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## MaChereAmie

Here's more: 

So "I salute you who are about to die" would be "Moriturum te saluto?"  

Thanks!!

Amie


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## modus.irrealis

MaChereAmie said:
			
		

> So "I salute you who are about to die" would be "Moriturum te saluto?"



Yup, that's right.


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## Stéphane89

Well, the exact phrase used by the gladiators to salute César was: "Avé Caesar, morituri te salutant". Which means "Hello César, those who are about to die salute you".

It is because morituri is the future participle of 'morior' which means 'to die'. Future participles (like nearly everything in Latin) have declinations. Moriturus declines like the words of the second delcinations. So:

Nominative: Moriturus
Vocative: Moriture
Accusative: Moriturum
Genitive: Morituri
Dative: Morituro
Ablative: Morituro

Nominative: Morituri
Vocative: Morituri
Accusative: Morituros
Genitive: Moriturorum
Dative: Morituris
Ablative: Morituris

Since it is 'Those who are about to die salute you', Morituri is the subject and it is the plural. So you have to chose the Plural nominative form: _Morituri_.

Te means 'you'

Salutant comes from Salutare, conjugated at the 3rd person of the plural since it is 'those who are about to die' who salute.

For 'I salute you who are about to die' I'd say: 'Moriturum te saluto'.

Moriturum because it is the direct complement of the verb: I salute who? You. So you have to use the singular accusative.

Saluto because it is I, who makes the action of saluting.

Hope I made it clear


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## MaChereAmie

Wow, thanks for all the info! I think most of it went over my head.  lol

I have to say it again. This forum rocks! You all rock! Thanks!


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## se16teddy

MaChereAmie said:
			
		

> So "I salute you who are about to die" would be "Moriturum te saluto?"


 
Yes, if you are talking to one male person who is about to die.  If you are talking to a group of people who are about to die, it is 'Vos morituros saluto'.


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## Stéphane89

se16teddy said:
			
		

> Yes, if you are talking to one male person who is about to die. If you are talking to a group of people who are about to die, it is 'Vos morituros saluto'.


 
Indeed! Thanks for this precision!


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## MaChereAmie

se16teddy said:
			
		

> Yes, if you are talking to one male person who is about to die. If you are talking to a group of people who are about to die, it is 'Vos morituros saluto'.


 

Thanks so much!  Yes I was talking about one male person.  

 Excellent service here! You may be sure I shall return!  lol


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## bartman

Hi everybody,

I am hoping someone can help me with this.

What does this translate to: "Moriturb Vos Salutamus"

I think it means " We who are about to die, salute you"
 
Any help would be appreciated.
 
Thanks In Advance
​


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## auragurl

Ave does NOT mean hello << - deleted by moderator - >>
Ave means hail!

"Ave, Caesar, morituri te salutant!"
"Hail, Caesar, they who are about to die salute you!"


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## Kevin Beach

bartman said:


> Hi everybody,
> 
> I am hoping someone can help me with this.
> 
> What does this translate to: "Moriturb Vos Salutamus"
> 
> I think it means " We who are about to die, salute you"
> 
> Any help would be appreciated.
> 
> Thanks In Advance


"Moriturb" has a wrong ending - the letter b. The only ending that would make sense in that context would be the letter i - moritur*i*.

*Morituri Vos Salutamus* means "We who are about to die salute you". However, the use of *vos* instead of *te* means that they are addressing two or more people - maybe the crowd instead of Caesar alone.


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## armank05

So would "Morituri" make sense if it stood alone, say as the title to a piece of writing or film or something?


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## Cagey

It's questionable as a Latin title, because they were usually constructed differently.  

However, people who don't know Latin but are familiar with the tag would probably understand it as something like "People about to die."


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## armank05

Cool, thanks for the insight.


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## Hakuri

so what would "sic semper morituri" mean? it is the title of a fanfic and was curious.


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## XiaoRoel

Literalmente: "Así siempre los que han de morir" o "los que han de morir así siempre". Sin más contexto ambas traducciones son posibles.


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## CapnPrep

Hakuri said:


> so what would "sic semper morituri" mean? it is the title of a fanfic and was curious.


If it's based on _Sic semper tyrannis_ (loosely "May this always be the fate of tyrants"; see also this thread), then _morituri_ has the wrong form. However the phrase is not in itself incorrect and can have the meanings that XiaoRoel just provided.


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## Hakuri

XiaoRoel said:


> Literalmente: "Así siempre los que han de morir" o "los que han de morir así siempre". Sin más contexto ambas traducciones son posibles.



I'm sorry but could any one translate this into American english?  My Latin is very rudimentry.


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## pangadyi

Hello!! Pls help is the Latin translation of I salute thee..  Te saluto ?


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## Starfrown

Thee (second person singular accusative)
Te (second person singular accusative)

So yes.


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## AGK

I wonder if you can help me. As a thank you to their coach, my daughter's swim team want to make a banner in Latin saying "Hail, Coach, we who are about to swim salute you!" - along the lines of "Ave, Imperator, *morituri te salutant*". I have zero latin, so would be hugely grateful if someone could help with an answer and explain why the answer is what it is. They are a bunch of 9-11 year olds so I'm hoping this will spark an interest in some of them (and educate the parents too). Much appreciated.


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## Scholiast

salvete amici!*

_ave, lanista, naturi te salutant/salutamus_.

You can take your pick of the verb-forms: _salutant_ is "They" salute you, _salutamus_ is "we...".

_lanista_ is appropriate for the context—with a mildly rude nuance (it means a gladiatorial team-coach or fencing-master).

Hope this helps.

Σ

*And a warm welcome to the Latin Forum for AGK.


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## AGK

Thanks for such a quick reply. One question - how rude a nuance? The children would love it, but some parents might not find their sense of humour in time.


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## Scholiast

salvete iterum!



AGK said:


> how rude a nuance?



Not rude enough to occasion any offence. It's just that "professions" such as that of the _lanista_ were regarded (in "polite" society) as rather disreputable. But that applied to almost any walk of life involving physical or manual labour or trafficking with slaves (which is what gladiators were).

Σ

Edit: I should have asked: your _daughter_'s swimming team: Are they all girls? If so, _naturae_ would be right, rather than _naturi_.


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