Sebastian's answer:

From the context of the sentence, it seems more likely that litterae in this instance means 'letter' as in correspondence, rather than letters of the alphabet. Perhaps the plural form and singular meaning confused you slightly.

There are nouns in Latin which are plural in form and singular in meaning, e.g., tenebrae (1st dec. pl.) = darkness. There are also words in Latin whose singular and plural may differ in meaning. So, 'fortuna' = fortune, but in the plural, 'fortunae' = possessions in addition to its meaning of 'fortunes' in the plural. Similarly, 'mos' = habit, but, plural 'mores' = character as well as habits. 'Aedes, -is' = temple, but plural 'aedes, -ium' = house or temples. In many cases, the meaning in the plural may correspond to a singular in English. (English has plural nouns too, e.g., trousers, scissors.) So too with 'littera, -ae', which means letter (of the alphabet) in the singular, and epistle (sg.) in the plural. (It can also be letters of the alphabet, of course, in the plural, and you must rely on context to decide which is more appropriate.)

Sebastian's answer:

I'm afraid that 'discipulae' as dative in this sentence is not really possible. Recall that one of the uses of the dative case is to indicate the indirect object, and is usually used with verbs of telling, saying, giving, promising, showing, etc. So: 'Puellae rosam do.', I give the rose to the girl. If 'discipulae' were to be interpreted as the dative in 'litteras discipulae videbas', one might end up with 'you were seeing the student a letter', which clearly does not work.

Be careful when saying that the dative case is used to indicate a 'to/for' relationship. This applies only to the indirect objects of verbs; the noun must indicate the benefactor or recipient of the action. It must always relate to the verb, e.g., 'puellae dare' = to give to the girl, never to the noun, e.g., 'litterae discipulae' does not mean 'letter to the student'. (This is not strictly true: datives can relate to nouns which have a verbal force, e.g., obtemperatio legibus = obedience to laws, but this is rare. Datives can also relate to adjectives, e.g., fidelis homini = faithful to man.) So, the dative case only expresses limited kinds of 'to/for' relationships; in other cases, some other means, e.g., prepositions, must be used. For now, the dative may only be used when the action is done to or for someone (or something).

Brandon Mason's answer:

Wheelock is being sly and using something you haven't learned about yet called the Ablative of Instrument. A noun in ablative case without a preposition can describe the means used to accomplish something -- you won't learn formally about this until chapter 14.

David's answer:

Simply add the word "literature" in the dative case. The dative is usually used for "to...", as an indirect object, but it can also be used in this way.

Michael's answer:

"boni" is a substantive, an adjective acting as a noun. Here, it is the subject of the sentence.

"boni" as an adjective of the 1st-2nd declension (bonus -a -um) means "good". As a substantive, it means "good men" or "good people".

Getting accustomed to substantives is one of the more important tasks you have to face. They are used very frequently in Latin.

We have them in English too. For instance, "The pioneers traveled across America carrying all their goods." In this case, "goods" stands for property, possessions.

Yes -- father and son both. Sextus Tarquinius for doing it, and Tarquinius Superbus (which means Tarquin the Arrogant) for letting him get away with it.

Michael's answer:

The Tarquinians were a "gens", a family, probably of Etruscan origin. They provided Rome with the 5th and 7th of its 7 kings. Tarquinius Superbus ("the Proud") was probably the grandson of Tarquinius Priscus (the "Old-Fashioned, the "Previous" and other such translations of a word meaning "ancient" or "old").

reges Romae:

Romulus (also know as "Quirinus" after his "death" -- he ascended into heaven), first king of Rome
Numa Pompilius, 2nd king of Rome
Tullus Hostilius, 3rd king
Ancus Martius, 4th king
Tarquinius Priscus, 5th king (Etruscan)
Servius Tullius, 6th king
Tarquinius Superbus, 7th king (Etruscan)

This list and the history accompanying it has to be taken with a sea-full of salt.

To speak of the Tarquinians in republican Rome is similar to speaking of the Caesars in imperial Rome. Many members of both families engendered hostility, or worse.