# Si viginti mala uno sestertio constant



## Diddlina

Ecce aliud exemplum: si viginti mala uno sestertio constant..."

Titus: "Nemo tot mala uno sestertio vendit hoc anni tempore."

Magister: "Si igitur decem malo uno sestertio constant et tu quinque
 sestertios habes, quot mala emere potes?"

Marcus: "Tot sestertios non habeo."

Postremo magister: "O, Marce, hoc modo nihil te docere possum. Non solum
stultus sed etiam piger es!".


Hi everybody. 
I'm translating this 500 word text and this is the last of it. I can't seem to get the meaning of this however. I think it goes something like this:

--
See another example: If you have twenty apples ???
 Titus: No one so many apples ??? sells ?? this year.

Teacher: If you ten apples and you five ??? have, how many apples ??? can you?

Marcus: So many ??? nobody has.

(At last?) teacher: O, Marcus, *** nothing can teach. You are not only stupid but also slow!


--- 
As you can see there's a lot I don't understand, this word sestertio in particlular, one dictionary said "two and a half" but I can't see how that fits into the context.

Hope you can help!


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## Anne345

*sestertĭus* : a sesterce, a small silver coin, originally equal to two and a half asses, or one fourth of a denarius. When the as was reduced in weight, during the Punic wars, the denarius was made equal to sixteen asses, and the sestertius continued to be one fourth of the denarius. Its value, up to the time of Augustus, was twopence and half a farthing sterling, or four and one tenth cents; afterwards about one eighth less. The sestertius was the ordinary coin of the Romans, by which the largest sums were reckoned. 
*cōnstō*, stitī, statūrus, āre, to agree, accord, be consistent, correspond, 
*ĭgĭtur* :  introduces an inference or deduction, then, therefore, thereupon, accordingly, in these circumstances... 
*modus *: modo with a gen. or adj., in the manner of, like


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## J.F. de TROYES

Anne345 said:


> *cōnstō*, stitī, statūrus, āre, to agree, accord, be consistent, correspond,


 
The verb also means "to cost"


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## Cagey

uno sestertio: (ablative of price) ="for one sesterce"
hoc [anni] tempore:  ablative of time when (_anni_ is a genitive describing _tempore_)
hoc modo: translate together, "in this manner/ way"



> .. decem malo uno sestertio constant....


Question: should this be _mala_ rather than _malo_?


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## J.F. de TROYES

Diddlina said:


> Ecce aliud exemplum: si viginti mala uno sestertio constant..."
> 
> Titus: "Nemo tot mala uno sestertio vendit hoc anni tempore."
> 
> Magister: "Si igitur decem mala ( I suppose ) uno sestertio constant et tu quinque
> sestertios habes, quot mala emere potes?"
> 
> Marcus: "Tot sestertios non habeo."
> 
> Postremo magister: "O, Marce, hoc modo nihil te docere possum. Non solum
> stultus sed etiam piger es!".





Here's my try for this translation :

See another example: If twenty apples cost one sestertium ...
Titus: No one sells so many apples in this season.

Teacher: Well, if ten apples cost one sestertium and you have five , how many apples can you buy?

Marcus: Nobody has so many .

(At last ) [ right] teacher: O, Marcus, I can teach you nothing this way. You are not only stupid but also slow ( rather "lazy")


*"Consto"* ( verb ) has various meanings (see a dictionary)
*Sestertium* was the usual currency in Rom.

As you certainly know , the word order is not the same as in English ; so watch carefully the endings of the words especially the names (declensions ), the only mean to spot subjects, objects, possessive phrases...


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## clara mente

J.F. de TROYES said:


> [/font]
> 
> 
> Here's my try for this translation :
> 
> 
> Titus: No one sells so many apples in this season.


 
Everything looks good to me, however _hoc anni tempore_ may sound better as "(at) this time of year".


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## Cagey

Maybe:



> Titus: "Nemo tot mala _uno sestertio_ vendit hoc anni tempore."



Titus: No one sells so many apples _for one sesterce_ at this time of year.


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## J.F. de TROYES

clara mente said:


> Everything looks good to me, however _hoc anni tempore_ may sound better as "(at) this time of year".


 
Thanks for correcting me : French has misleaded me and the English phrase perfectly fits the Latin one.


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## Fred_C

J.F. de TROYES said:


> [/font]
> 
> 
> Here's my try for this translation :
> 
> See another example: If twenty apples cost one sestertium ...
> Titus: No one sells so many apples in this season.
> 
> Teacher: Well, if ten apples cost one sestertium and you have five , how many apples can you buy?
> 
> Marcus: Nobody has so many .
> 
> (At last ) [ right] teacher: O, Marcus, I can teach you nothing this way. You are not only stupid but also slow ( rather "lazy")



Hi, your translation is fine, except for the word "sestertium".
Both forms exist, and "sestertium" is worth one thousand "sestertius". 
That would be very expensive for some apples !


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