(ii.) Translation.—The only principal verb is clearly tenebam (with subject contained in the verb), and the principal object senariolos (sc. versus). From quos . . . cylindro we have two subordinate adjectival clauses enlarging senariolos.
The fact is, I remembered some iambic lines which I had been told were inscribed on his monument, and which set forth that his tomb was surmounted by a sphere and a cylinder.
[III.] Ego autem, cum omnia collustrarem oculis—est enim ad portas Agragantinas magna frequentia sepulcrorum—animadverti columellam non multum e dumis eminentem, in qua inerat sphaerae figura et cylindri.
(i.) Vocabulary.—
collustrarem = I was surveying on all sides; con (cum) + lustro.
lustro, perhaps akin to luc-eo, lu-men; so, il-lustris = lighted up, illustrious.
frequentia = a large number; cf. frequens, √φρακ, farc; cf. φράγ-μα = a fence, farc-io = pack close together; so, con-fer-tus = crowded, freq-uens = repeated, frequent.
columellam = a small column, dimin. of columen, √cel; cf. cel-sus = lofty; cf. ex-cello, col-umen (= cul-men) = the summit; cf. culminate.
(ii.) Translation.—This sentence is apparently not quite so simple, but if you carefully bracket the subordinate clauses you will see that the only principal verb is animadverti, with subject ego and object columellam. Notice next that—
(a) cum . . . oculis modifies the principal verb animadverti and is an adverbial clause of time.