Quote Originally Posted by Elmetiacos View Post
and esse is what form of the verb?
Esse is the present infinitive.

The complete sentence from Livy is very long, but to make sense of the latin here is a chunk of the sentence which puts the quote in its context:

"cum illi se in armis ius ferre et omnia fortium uirorum esse ferociter dicerent"

which translates as:

"...and on their fiercely replying, that they carried their right in their swords, that all things were the property of the brave..."

That translation is from the 1850s and is a bit dated. In my view a better modern translation would give the verb "esse" a present tense (ie. "all things are the property..."). Not only is this a better translation for modern english, but it also more accurately reflects the fact that esse is present (infinitive) tense.

The reason it is infinitive is quite simple. It follows the verb dicerent, ie. "They said that all things are the property of the brave..."