Note. On the principle of puditum est, Cicero (de Fin., ii, 13) uses veri tum est as an impersonal verb with the accusative of the person, Cyrenaici, quos non est veritum in voluptate summum bonum ponere. Decet, it is becoming, and its compounds condecet, de decet, and indecet, likewise govern the accusative of the person, but they differ from the above-mentioned impersonal verbs, inasmuch as they may have a nominative as their subject, though not a personal one. Candida pax homines, trux decet ira feras, Ovid, A. A. Note. In the early language (especially in Plautus) decet is found, also, with the dative. We may here notice some other verbs which, when used as impersonals, govern the accusative, this case being suited to their original meaning; juvat and delectat me, I am rejoiced; fallit, fugit, praeterit me, it escapes me, that is, I have forgotten, or do not know. Latet me occurs more frequently than latet mihi, but the impersonal character of this verb is not founded on good authority, for the passage of Cicero, in Cat., i., 6, is corrupt. Cicero uses this verb without any case; lateo, I am concealed or keep out of sight. [§ 391.] 5. The verbs docere (teach), with its compounds edocere and dedocere, and celare (conceal), have two accusatives of the object; one of the thing, and another of the person, as in Nepos, Eum., 8, Antigonus iter, quod habebat adversus Eumenem, omnes celat. Fortuna belli artem victos quoque docet, Curt., vii., 30, (7). Catilina juventutem, quam illexerat, multis modis mala facinora edocebat, Sallust, Cat., 16. Note 1.-When such a proposition takes the passive form, the accusative of the person becomes the nominative; as, omnes celabantur ab Antigono; but the thing may remain in the accusative, e. g., Liv., vi., 32, Latinae legiones longa societate militiam Romanam edoctae, and omnes belli artes edoc. tus. But it rarely occurs with doctus and edoctus, and with celari scarcely ever, except when the thing is expressed by the neuter of a pronoun, e. g., hoc or id celabar, I was kept in ignorance of it; for celare, and especially its passive, generally has the preposition de, as in Cic., non est profecto de illo veneno celata mater; debes existimare te maximis de rebus a fratre esse celatum. The construction aliqua res mihi celatur in Nep., Alcib., 5, is very singular. Docere and edocere, with their passive forms, are likewise used with de, but only in the sense of "to inform," as in Cicero, judices de injuriis alicujus docere; Sulla de his rebus docetur; Sallust, de itinere hostium senatum edocet. It must, however, be observed, that although any word expressing an art may be joined to doceo and doceor (doceo te artem, doceor te Latine loqui, doceor artem, doceor (commonly disco) Latine loqui), the instrument on which the art is practised is expressed by the ablative; e. g., Cic., ad Fam., ix., 22, Socratem fidibus docuit nobilissimus fidicen; Liv., xxix., 1, quem docendum cures equo armisque, and in a passive signification, Cic., Cat. Maj., 8, disce bant fidibus antiqui. Litterae may be used either in the accus. or ablat., Cic., in Pis., 30, Quid nunc te, asine, litteras doceam; Brut., 45, doctus Graecis litteris, doctus et Graecis litteris et Latinis. [§ 392.] Note 2.--The verbs compounded with trans: transduco, transjicio, transporto, take a double accusative, on account of the omission of the preposition, which, however, is often added, e. g., Agesilaus Helles pontum copias trajecit; Hannibal nonaginta milia peditum, duodecim milia equitum Iberum transduxit; Caesur exercitum Rhenum transportavit, Ligerim transducit, but, also, multitudinem hominum trans Rhenum in Galiam transducere. In the passive construction the accusative dependant upon trans is retained; as in Caesar, ne major multitudo Germanorum Rhenum transducatur; Belgae Rhenum antiquitus transducti. Transjicere and transmittere are also used intransitively, the pronouns me, te, se, &c., being understood. The participles transjectus and transmissus may be used both of that which crosses a river and of the river which is crossed, amnis traJectus, transmissus, and classis transmissa, Marius in Africam trajectus, and the name of the water may be added in the ablative, mari, freto. [§ 393.] 6. The verbs posco, reposco, flagito, I demand; oro, rogo, I entreat; interrogo and percontor, I ask or inquire, also admit a double accusative, one of the person, and another of the thing, but the verbs which denote demanding or entreaty also take the ablative of the person with the preposition ab, and those denoting inquiring may take the ablative of the thing with de. Peto, postulo, and quaero are never used with a double accusative, but the first two have always the ablative of the person with ab, and quaero with ab, de and ex. Nulla salus bello, pacem te poscimus omnes, Virg., Aen., xi., 362. Legati Hennenses ad Verrem adeunt eumque simulacrum Cereris et Victoriae reposcunt, Cic., in Verr., iv., 51. Pusionem quendam Socrates apud Platonem interrogat quaedam Geometrica, Cic., Tusc., i., 24. Note 1.-A double accusative is used most commonly when the thing is expressed indefinitely by the neuter of a pronoun or an adjective; e. g., hoc te vehementer rogo; illud te et oro et hortor; sine te hoc exorem, let me entreat this of you; nihil aliud vos orat atque obsecrat; hoc quod te interrogo responde. The accusat. with the passive is rare, but in accordance with the rule; thus we say, rogatus sententiam, asked for his opinion (for rogo may mean the same as interrogo), interrogatus testimonium. Note 2.-Respecting what is called the Greek accusative, which only supplies the place of the Latin ablative, see § 458. [§ 394.] 7. The following verbs (which in the passive voice have two nominatives) have in the active two accusatives, one of the object and the other of the predicate, dicere, vocare, appellare, nominare, nuncupare, also scribere and inscribere; ducere, habere, judicare, existimare, numerare, putare (arbitrari), also intelligere, agnoscere, reperire, invenire, facere (pass. fieri), reddere, instituere, constituere, creare, deligere, designare, declarare, renuntiare, and others; se praebere, se praestare. Thus we say in the ac tive, Ciceronem universus populus adversus Catilinam con sulem declaravit (Cic., in Pis., 1), and in the passive, Cic ero ab universo populo consul declaratus est. Romulus urbem, quam condidit, Romam vocavit. Socrates totius mundi se incolam et civem arbitrabatur, Note 1.--Hence we say, facio te certiorem, I inform thee, with the genitive; e. g., consilii mei, or with the preposition de: de consilio meo; and in the passive voice, certior factus sum. With other adjectives reddere is preferable to facere; e. g., reddere aliquem placidum et mollem, meliorem, iratum, &c.; homines caecos reddit cupiditas; loca tuta ab hostibus reddebat. In the passive we rarely find reddi for fieri. Utor, in a similar sense, is used with a double ablative: utor aliquo magistro, I have a person for my teacher; utor aliquo aequo, benigno, I find a person just, kind towards myself. Terent., Heaut., ii., 1,5, Mihi și unquam filius erit, nae ille facili me utetur patre, he shall have in me an indulgent father. Note 2.-With regard to the participle passive, the rule respecting the agreement of the predicate with the cases of the subject rarely applies to any other cases than the nominative and accusative, at least in ordinary language. There are, however, a few instances of the ablative in the construction of the ablative absolute; Nep., Hann., 3, Hasdrubale impera tore suffecto; Liv., iv., 46, magistro equitum creato filio suo profectus est ad bellum; ibid., xlv., 21, Consulibus certioribus factis; Flor., iii., 21, ex senatusconsulto adversariis hostibus judicatis. There are no instances of other oblique cases. It is not, however, improbable that a Roman might have said, Dareus Scytharum genti, quamquam justissimae habitae, bellum intulit. Note 3.-The verbs putare, ducere, and habere may have the preposition pro instead of the accusative of the predicate, but not quite in the same sense, pro expressing rather an approximation; e. g., habere pro hoste, to deem a person equal to an enemy; aliquid pro non dicto habere, to consider a thing as though it had not been said; aliquid pro certo putare, to regard a thing as though it were certain; pro nihilo, as though it were nothing. We may here notice, also, the phrases aliquem in numero; e. g., imperatorum, sapientium, and aliquem in loco parentis ducere or habere. [§ 395.] 8. The accusative is used with verbs and adjectives to express the extent of time and space, in answer to the questions, how far? how long? how broad? how deep? how thick? e. g., nunquam pedem a me discessit, he never moved one step from me; a recta conscientia non transversum unguem (or digitum) oportet discedere, not one finger's breadth; fossa duos pedes lata or longa; cogitationem sobrii hominis punctum temporis suscipe, take, for one moment, the thought of a rational man; so, also, Mithridates annum jam tertium et vicesimum regnat; tres annos mecum habitavit, or per tres annos, which, however, implies that the period was a long one. Campus Marathon ab Athenis circiter milia passuum decem abest, Nep., Milt., 4. Quaedam bestiolae unum tantum diem vivunt, Cic. Decem quondam annos urbs oppugnata est ob unam mulıerem ab universa Graecia, Liv., v., 4. Lacrimans in carcere mater noctes diesque assidebat, Cic., in Verr., v., 43. [§ 396.] Note 1.-The ablative is rarely used by Cicero to express the duration of time;* e. g., de Off., iii., 2, Scriptum est a Posidonio triginta annis vixisse Panactium, posteaquam libros de officiis edidisset; but it is more frequent in the authors of the silver age; Tac., Ann., i., 53, quattuordecim annis exilium toleravit; Suet., Calig., 59, vixit annis undetriginta. The ablative of distance must, in general, be regarded as an exception, although it occurs not only in later writers, but in Caesar and Livy, abest, distat quinque milibus passuum, or spatio aliquot milium; Tac., Ann., xii., 17, Exercitus Romanus tridui itinere abfuit ab amne Tanai; but Cicero and others, in accordance with the rule, say iter quinque, decem dierum, or biduum, triduum, or bidui, tridui (scil., spatium) abest ab aliquo loco. If, however, not the distance is to be expressed, but only a place to be designated by the circumstance of its distance from another, the ablative should be used, though the accusative sometimes occurs; e. g., Liv., xxvii., 41, mille fere et quingentos passus castra ab hoste locat; xxv., 13, tria passuum milia ab ipsa urbe loco edito castra posuit, and in other passages. Spatio and intervello are the only words in which the ablative is used exclusively; e. g., Liv., xxv., 9, quindecim ferme milium spatio castra ab Tarento posuit, but the ablative is found, also, in many other cases, agreeably to the rule; e. g., Caes., Bell. Gall., i., 48, Eodem die castra promovit et milibus passuum sex a Caesaris castris sub monte consedit. When the place from which the distance is calculated is not mentioned, but understood from what precedes, ab is placed at the beginning, as if the ablative of the distance depended on it; e. g., Caes., Bell. Gall., ii., 7, a milibus passuum duobus castra posuerunt, i. e., at a distance of 2000 paces from the spot, or 2000 paces off, duo inde milia (for more instances from Caesar, see Schneider on Caes., l. c.); Liv., xxiv., 46, a quingentis fere passibus castra posuit; Flor., ii., 6, 56, non jam a tertio lapide (i. e., at a distance of three miles), sed ipsas Carthaginis portas obsidione quatiebat. (Compare Matthiae, Greek Grammar, § 573, p. 994, 5th ed.) [ 397.] Note 2.-Old, in reference to the years which a person has lived, is expressed in Latin by natus, with an accusative of the time; e. g., Decessit Alexander mensem unum, annos tres et triginta natus (Justin, xii., 16). Alexander, therefore, died quarto et trigesimo anno, or aetatis anno. A person's age, however, may be expressed without natus, by the genitive, if his name is closely joined to the words denoting the time (see § 426); e. g., Alexander annorum trium et triginta decessit, i. e., as a man of thirtythree years. The expressions "older" or younger than thirty-three years," are accordingly rendered in Latin by plus or minus (see § 485) tres et triginta annos natus; but, also, by major or minor, either without quam; as, major (minor) annos tres et triginta natus, and major (minor) annorum trium et triginta; or with quam: major (minor) quam annos tres et triginta natus, and major (minor) quam annorum trium et triginta. Natu may be joined to annorum, as anno is to aetatis in the case of ordinal numerals. Lastly, the ablative is made to depend upon the comparative; major (minor) tribus et triginta annis; and in the Roman laws we frequently find the expression minor viginti quinque annis. 66 [§ 398.] 9. The names of towns, and not unfrequently of small islands, are put in the accusative with verbs implying motion, without the preposition in or ad, which are required with the names of countries; e. g., Juvenes Romani Athenas studiorum causa proficisci solebant. We * [The strict distinction appears to be this: with the ablative we ask, in what time; but with the accusative, throughout what time. Compare Billroth, L. G., § 208.]-Am. Ed. may here mention at once all the rules relating to the construction of the names of towns. If they denote the place whence, they are in the ablative; if the place where ? singular nouns of the first and second declensions are put in the genitive, all plurals and nouns of the third declension in the ablative. When we have to express "through a town," the preposition per is required. Demaratus quidam, Tarquinii regis pater, tyrannum Cypselum quod ferre non poterat, Tarquinios Corintho fugit, et ibi suas fortunas constituit, Cic., Tusc., v., 37. Dionysius tyrannus Syracusis expulsus Corinthi pueros docebat, Cic., Tusc., iii., 12. Romae Consules, Athenis Archontes, Carthaginet Suffetes, sive judices, quotannis creabantur, Nep., Hann. Note 1.-The use of names of countries without a preposition, like the names of towns, and of names of towns with the prepositions in, ab, ex, an irregularity which should not be imitated. Of these prepositions ab is found most frequently, especially in Livy, though sometimes, also, in Cicero: ab Epidauro Piraeeum advectus, ab Epheso in Syriam profectus, a Brundisio nulla adhuc fama venerat; and cases may occur in which the preposition is absolutely necessary; as in Cic., in Verr., iv., 33, Segesta est oppidum in Sicilia, quod ab Aenea, fugiente a Troja, conditum esse demonstrant. Ad is joined with names of towns when only the direction towards a place is to be expressed, and not the place itself; e. g., in Cicero, iter dirigere ad Mutinam; tres viae sunt ad Mutinam, farther, when the vicinity of a place is to be denoted (§ 296); in this sense, the elder Cato says, in Cic., Cat. -aj., 5, adolescentulus miles profectus sum ad Capuam, quintoque anno * This rule, varying as it does with the number and declension of a name of a town, is obviously quite arbitrary, and not traceable to any principle. The first (at least in England) proper explanation of this apparent peculiarity of the Latin language is given by a writer in the Journal of Education (vol. i., p. 107), from which we extract the following passage: "We are usually directed to translate at Rome by the genitive, at Athens by the ablative, &c., giving different rules according as the number or the gender differs, while, in fact, they are all datives. With Romae, Athenis, there is no difficulty. As to Beneventi, domi, &c., an earlier form of the dative of the second declension was oi (oiko), whence arose the double form nullo and nulli. In the plural the two languages exhibit the same analogy; dovλoɩ, dovλoç, in Greek, and in Latin pueri, pueris. In the third declension a common occurrence has taken place." This explanation is confirmed by the fact that in most cases we find Carthagini, Anzuri, Tiburi, and also Lacedæmoni, when the place where? is to be expressed. See above, § 63, in fin.-TRANSL. †The writer above quoted justly remarks: "Our editions often present Carthagine, Lacedæmone, where the MSS. have the correct dative. It is true that authority exists for the other form; but the change of Carthagini into Carthagine is precisely similar to the change of heri into here, pictaï into pictae, and not unlike the absorption of the i in the datives of so many declensions, Greek and Latin: gradui gradu, fidei fide. In the third declension, the preceding consonant saved it from total extinction. The commonest effect of time upon language is to soften away the final letters. Hence miraris, mirare; agier, agi; ipsus, ipse; quis, qui; fuerunt, fuere homō, homo; ¿ywv, ¿yw; egō, ego," &c.-TRANSL. |