iaciebat

Iaciebat is a Latin verb form meaning “he/she/it was throwing” or “he/she/it used to throw.” It is the imperfect indicative, third person singular, active voice, of the verb iacio, iacere, which means to throw. Iacio is a semi-deponent form of the Latin -io verbs; its infinitive is iacere and its principal parts include iacio, iacere, ieci, iactus.

The imperfect in Latin expresses past action that was ongoing, repeated, or in progress at a past time. Iaciebat is formed from the present stem with the thematic vowel and the standard imperfect ending -bat, yielding the characteristic iac- ieb- + at pattern for the third-person singular. In translation, it often becomes “was throwing” or “used to throw.”

In usage, iaciebat is typically followed by a direct object in the accusative, such as hastas (spears), or by a phrase indicating target or direction. For example: Marcus hastas iaciebat. Translation: Marcus was throwing spears. Related forms of the same verb include iacio (present), ieci (perfect), and iactus (supine or past participle), which appear in different tenses and constructions throughout Latin literature.

The form is found in classical Latin and is commonly encountered in narrative and military contexts where throwing weapons or objects is described. Understanding iaciebat helps with parsing imperfect-tense clauses and with recognizing the broader iacio family of verbs.