Part 38

#agrī cultūrae nōn student#, 6, 22, 1, _they do not apply themselves to farming_. #virī in uxōrēs vītae necisque habent potestātem#, 6, 19, 3, _the married men have power of life and death over their wives_. #probitās laudātur et alget#, J. 1, 74, _uprightness gets extolled, and left out in the cold_. #dum vītant stultī vitia, in contrāria currunt#, H. _S._ 1, 2, 24, _while fools essay a vice to shun, into its opposite they run_. #mors sōla fatētur quantula sint hominum corpuscula#, J. 10, 172, _death is the only thing that tells what pygmy things men’s bodies be_. #stultōrum plēna sunt omnia#, _Fam._ 9, 22, 4, _the world is full of fools_. #rīsū ineptō rēs ineptior nūllast#, Cat. 39, 16, _there’s nothing sillier than a silly laugh_.

1589. The present, when accompanied by some expression of duration of time, is often used to denote action which has been going on some time and is still going on.

This present is translated by the English perfect: as, #Lilybaeī multōs iam annōs habitat#, _V._ 4, 38, _he has lived at Lilybaeum this many a year_. #iam dūdum auscultō#, H. _S._ 2, 7, 1, _I have been listening for an age_. #satis diū hōc iam saxum vorsō#, T. _Eu._ 1085, _I’ve trundled at this boulder long enough as ’t is_. #nimium diū tē castra dēsīderant#, _C._ 1, 10, _the camp has felt your absence altogether too long_. #iam diū īgnōrō quid agās#, _Fam._ 7, 9, 1, _I have not known this long time how you are getting on_. This use extends to the subjunctive and to nouns of the verb also. But if the action is conceived as completed, the perfect is used: as, #sērō resistimus ē̆ī quem per annōs decem aluimus#, _Att._ 7, 5, 5, _it is too late to oppose a man whom we have been supporting ten long years_.

1590. The present is often used to represent past action as going on now. This is called the _Present of Vivid Narration_: as,

#trānsfīgitur scūtum Puliōni et verūtum in balteō dēfīgitur. āvertit hīc cāsus vāgīnam, inpedītumque hostēs circumsistunt#, 5, 44, 7, _Pulio has his shield run through, and a javelin sticks fast in his sword belt. This mischance puts his scabbard out of reach, and the enemy encompass him in this hampered condition_. This present often stands side by side with a past tense. It is common in subordinate sentences also.

1591. The present is sometimes used in brief historical or personal memoranda, to note incidents day by day or year by year as they occur. This is called the _Annalistic Present_: as,

#Proca deinde rēgnat. is Numitōrem prōcreat. Numitōrī rēgnum vetustum Silviae gentis lēgat#, L. 1, 3, 9, _after this Proca is king; this man begets Numitor; to Numitor he bequeaths the ancient throne of the Silvian race_. #duplicātur cīvium numerus. Caelius additur urbī mōns#, L. 1, 30, 1, _number of citizens doubled; Mt. Caelius added to city_. #in Māmurrārum lassī deinde urbe manēmus#, H. _S._ 1, 5, 37, _in the Mamurras’ city then forspent we sleep_. Particularly common with dates: as, #A. Vergīnius inde et T. Vetusius cōnsulātum ineunt#, L. 2, 28, 1, _then Verginius and Vetusius enter on the consulship_. #M. Sīlānō L. Nōrbānō cōnsulibus Germānicus Aegyptum proficīscitur#, Ta. 2, 59, _in the consulship of Silanus and Norbanus, Germanicus leaves for Egypt_.

1592. Verbs of hearing, seeing, and saying are often put in the present, even when they refer to action really past: as,

#audiō Valerium Mārtiālem dēcessisse#, Plin. _Ep._ 3, 21, 1, _I hear that Martial is dead_, i.e. the epigrammatist, 102 A.D. Particularly of things mentioned in books, or in quoting what an author says: as, #Hercyniam silvam, quam Eratosthenī nōtam esse videō#, 6, 24, 2, _the Hercynian forest, which I see was known to Eratosthenes_. #Platō ‘ēscam malōrum’ appellat voluptātem#, _CM._ 44, _Plato calls pleasure the ‘bait of sin.’_

1593. The present is sometimes loosely used of future action: as,

#crās est mihī̆ iūdicium#, T. _Eu._ 338, _tomorrow I’ve a case in court_. #ego sȳcophantam iam condūcō dē forō#, Pl. _Tri._ 815, _for me, a sharper from the market place I’ll straight engage_. #quam mox inruimus?# T. _Eu._ 788, _how soon do we pitch in?_ This present is also used in subordinate sentences with #antequam# and #priusquam# (1912, 1915), with #dum#, _until_ (2006), and sometimes with #sī#.

THE IMPERFECT TENSE.

1594. The imperfect indicative represents action as going on in past time: as,

#scrībēbam#, _I was writing_, or _I wrote_. #ei mihi quālis erat#, V. 2, 274, _woe’s me, how ghastly he appeared_. #multōsque per annōs errābant āctī fātīs#, V. 1, 31, _and they for many a year were roaming round, by fates pursued_.

1595. The imperfect often denotes past action lasting while something else occurred: as,

#an tum erās cōnsul, cum mea domus ardēbat?# _Pis._ 26, _were you perhaps consul at the time my house was burning down?_ #neque vērō tum īgnōrābat sē ad exquīsīta supplicia proficīscī#, _Off._ 3, 100, _and all the time he knew perfectly well that he was starting off to suffer studied torments_.

1596. The imperfect is used to denote repeated or customary past action or condition: as,

#commentābar dēclāmitāns cōtīdiē#, _Br._ 310, _I always practised speaking my compositions every day_. #noctū ambulābat in pūblicō Themistoclēs#, _TD._ 4, 44, _Themistocles used to promenade the streets nights_.

1597. The imperfect, when accompanied by some expression of duration of time, is used to denote action which had been going on for some time, and was still going on.

This imperfect, which is translated by the English pluperfect, is analogous to the present in 1589: as, #pater grandis nātū iam diū lectō tenēbātur#, _V._ 5, 16, _his aged father had long been bedridden_. #hōram amplius iam permultī hominēs mōliēbantur#, _V._ 4, 95, _something over an hour a good many men had been prizing away_. But if the action is conceived as completed at a past time, the pluperfect is used: as, #diem iam quīntum cibō caruerat#, 6, 38, 1, _four whole days he had gone without eating_.

1598. In a few examples, the imperfect is used to denote action suddenly recognized, though going on before: as, #ehem, Parmenō, tūn hīc erās?# T. _Hec._ 340, _why bless me, Parmeno, were you here all this time?_

1599. In descriptions of place or in general truths, where the present might be expected, the imperfect is sometimes used, by assimilation to past action in the context: as, #ipsum erat oppidum Alesia in colle summō#, 7, 69, 1, _Alesia proper was situated on the top of a hill_. Often also in subordinate sentences.

1600. For the imperfect indicative of certain verbs relating to action not performed at the present time, see 1497; for the conative use, see 2302.

1601. In letters, the imperfect may denote action at the time of writing, the writer transferring himself to the time of the reader: as,

#haec tibi dictābam post fānum putre Vacūnae#, H. _E._ 1, 10, 49, _I dictate this for thee behind Vacuna’s crumbling shrine_. #nihil habēbam quod scrīberem#, _Att._ 9, 10, 1, _I have nothing to write_. Similarly in the delivery of messages: as, #scrībae ōrābant#, H. _S._ 2, 6, 36, _the clerks request_. The present, however, is very often used where the imperfect would be applicable. Compare 1616.

THE PERFECT TENSE.

1602. The Latin perfect indicative represents two English tenses: thus, the preterite, _I wrote_, and the perfect, _I have written_, are both expressed by the perfect #scrīpsī#. In the first sense, this perfect is called the _Historical Perfect_; in the second sense, it is called the _Perfect Definite_.

THE HISTORICAL PERFECT.

1603. The historical perfect simply expresses action as having occurred at an indefinite past time, without implying anything as to the duration of the action: as,

#scrīpsī#, _I wrote_. #vēnī, vīdī, vīcī#, Caesar in Suet. _Iul._ 37, _came, saw, overcame_. #apud Helvētiōs longē nōbilissimus fuit Orgetorīx#, 1, 2, 1, _among the Helvetians, the man of highest birth by all odds was Orgetorix_. #Diodōrus prope triennium domō caruit#, _V._ 4, 41, _for nearly three years Diodorus had to keep away from home_. #in Graeciā mūsicī flōruērunt, discēbantque id omnēs#, _TD._ 1, 4, _in Greece musicians stood high, and everybody studied the art_ (1596).

1604. It may be mentioned here, that in subordinate sentences the historical perfect is sometimes loosely used from the writer’s point of view, instead of the more exact pluperfect demanded by the context: as, #aliquantum spatiī ex eō locō, ubī̆ pugnātum est, aufūgerat#, L. 1, 25, 8, _he had run off some distance from the spot where the fighting had occurred_. See 1925.

THE PERFECT DEFINITE.

1605. The perfect definite expresses action which is already completed at the present time, and the effects of which are regarded as continuing: as,

#scrīpsī#, _I have written_. #dīxērunt#, _Clu._ 73, #dīxēre#, Quintil. 1, 5, 43, _they have finished speaking_. #spectātōrēs, fābula haec est ācta#, Pl. _Most._ 1181, _ladies and gentlemen, this play is done_.

1606. In old Latin, #habeō# with the perfect participle is sometimes equivalent to a periphrastic perfect: as, #illa omnia missa habeō#, Pl. _Ps._ 602, _I’ve dropped all that_, i.e. #mīsī#. But in classical Latin, the participle and a tense of #habeō# are more or less distinct in their force: as, #Caesar aciem īnstrūctam habuit#, 1, 48, 3, _Caesar kept his line drawn up_, not _had drawn up_. Compare 2297.

1607. With verbs of inceptive meaning the perfect definite is equivalent to the English present: as,

#cōnsistō#, _take my stand_, #cōnstitī#, _stand_, #cōnsuēscō#, _get used_, #cōnsuēvī#, _am used_, #nōscō#, _learn_, #nōvī#, _know_. Similarly #meminī#, _remember_, and #ōdī#, _hate_. The pluperfect of such verbs is represented by the English imperfect, and the future perfect by the English future.

1608. The perfect often denotes a present resulting state: as, #vīcīne, periī, interiī#, Pl. _Most._ 1031, _my neighbour, I am dead and gone_. Particularly in the passive voice: as, #Gallia est omnis dīvīsa in partēs trēs#, 1, 1, 1, _Gaul, including everything under the name, is divided into three parts_. Compare 1615.

1609. In the perfect passive, forms of #fuī#, &c., are sometimes used to represent a state no longer existing: as, #monumentō statua superimposita fuit, quam dēiectam nūper vīdimus ipsī#, L. 38, 56, 3, _on the monument there once stood a statue which I saw not long ago with my own eyes, lying flat on the ground_. Similarly, in the pluperfect, #fueram#, &c.: as, #arma quae fīxa in parietibus fuerant, ea sunt humī inventa#, _Div._ 1, 74, _the arms which had once been fastened on the walls were found on the floor_. Sometimes, however, forms of #fuī#, &c., #fueram#, &c., and #fuerō#, &c., are used by Plautus, Cicero, especially in his letters, Nepos, Sallust, and particularly Livy, in passives and deponents, quite in the sense of #sum#, &c.

1610. The perfect of some verbs may imply a negative idea emphatically by understatement, as:

#fuit Īlium#, V. 2, 325, _Ilium has been_, i.e. Ilium is no more. #vīximus, flōruimus#, _Fam._ 14, 4, 5, _we have lived our life, we have had our day_. #fīlium ūnicum adulēscentulum habeō. āh, quid dīxī? habēre mē? immō habuī#, T. _Hau._ 93, _I have one only son, a growing boy. Ah me, what did I say, I have? Oh no, have had._

1611. The perfect may denote an action often done, or never done: as,

#iam saepe hominēs patriam cārōsque parentēs prōdiderunt#, Lucr. 3, 85, _time and again have men their land betrayed and parents dear_. #nōn aeris acervus et aurī dēdūxit corpore febrīs#, H. _E._ 1, 2, 47, _no pile of brass and gold hath fevers from the body drawn_. #multī, cum obesse vellent, prōfuērunt et, cum prōdesse, obfuērunt#, _DN._ 3, 70, _many a man has done good, when he meant to do harm, and when he meant to do good, has done harm_. Common from Cicero, Sallust, and Catullus on, especially in poetry.

1612. The perfect is sometimes used as a lively future perfect to express completed future action: as,

#quam mox coctumst prandium?# Pl. _R._ 342, _how soon is lunch all cooked?_ #cui sī esse in urbe licēbit, vīcimus#, _Att._ 14, 20, 3, _if he shall be allowed to stay in town, the day is ours_. #periī, sī mē aspexerit#, Pl. _Am._ 320, _I’m gone, if he lays eyes on me_.

1613. It may be mentioned here, that the perfect is regularly used in a subordinate sentence denoting time anterior to a present of repeated action (1588). In such sentences the present is preferred in English: as,

#reliquī, quī domī mānsērunt, sē atque illōs alunt#, 4, 1, 5, _the others, that stay at home, always support themselves and the above-mentioned also_. #sī quī aut prīvātus aut populus eōrum dēcrētō nōn stetit, sacrificiīs interdīcunt#, 6, 13, 6, _if any man or any community does not abide by their decree, they always debar them from sacrifices_. So also with #quom# or #cum#, #quotiēns#, #simul atque#, #ubī̆#. Compare 1618.

[Erratum: 1611 ... #nōn aeris acervus et aurī dēdūxit corpore febrīs# auri]

THE PLUPERFECT TENSE.

1614. The pluperfect indicative expresses past action, completed before another past action expressed or understood: as,

#scrīpseram#, _I had written_. #Pyrrhī temporibus iam Apollō versūs facere dēsierat#, _Div._ 2, 116, _in Pyrrhus’s day Apollo had quite given up making poetry_. #mortuus erat Āgis rēx. fīlium relīquerat Leōtychidem#, N. 17, 1, 4, _Agis the king had died; he had left a son Leotychides_.

1615. The pluperfect often expresses a past resulting state: as,

#castra oportūnīs locīs erant posita#, 7, 69, 7, _the camp was pitched on favourable ground_. #ita ūnō tempore et longās nāvēs aestus complēverat, et onerāriās tempestās adflīctābat#, 4, 29, 2, _thus at one and the same time the tide had filled the men-of-war, and the gale of wind kept knocking the transports about_. This use is analogous to that of the perfect in 1608.

1616. In letters, the pluperfect is sometimes used to denote action occurring previous to the time of writing, the writer transferring himself to the time of the reader: as,

#ūnam adhūc ā tē epistolam accēperam#, _Att._ 7, 12, 1, _I have only had one letter from you thus far_. This use is analogous to that of the imperfect in 1601, and very often, where this pluperfect would be applicable, the perfect is used.

1617. The pluperfect is sometimes used where the perfect would be expected. Particularly so when it anticipates a past tense to follow in a new sentence: as, #quod factum prīmō populārīs coniūrātiōnis concusserat. neque tamen Catilīnae furor minuēbātur#, S. _C._ 24, 1, _this terrified the conspirators at first; and yet Catiline’s frenzy was not getting abated_. Verbs of saying are also often put in the pluperfect in subordinate sentences referring to a preceding statement: as, #Epidamniēnsis ille, quem dūdum dīxeram, adoptat illum puerum surruptīcium#, Pl. _Men. prol._ 57, _said man of Epidamnus that I named erewhile adopts said kidnapped boy_.

1618. It may be mentioned here, that the pluperfect is used in a subordinate sentence denoting time anterior to a past tense of repeated action. In such sentences the preterite is preferred in English: as,

#hostēs ubī̆ aliquōs singulārēs cōnspexerant, incitātīs equīs adoriēbantur#, 4, 26, 2, _every time the enemy caught sight of detached parties, they would always charge full gallop_. Compare the analogous perfect in 1613.

[Erratum: 1617 ... #quod factum prīmō populārīs coniūrātiōnis concusserat# popularīs]

THE FUTURE TENSE.

1619. The future indicative expresses future action, either momentary or continuous: as,

#scrībam#, _I shall write_, _I shall be writing_, or _I will write_, _I will be writing_. The future commonly expresses either prediction, or will, determination, promise, threat: as, (_a._) #tuās litterās exspectābō#, _Att._ 5, 7, _I shall be on the lookout for letters from you_. (_b._) #vīvum tē nōn relinquam; moriēre virgīs#, _V._ 4, 85, _I will not leave you alive; you shall die under the rod_. But separate forms to mark the sharp distinction which exists between _shall_ and _will_ in the English future and future perfect are utterly unknown in Latin: thus, in #occīdar equidem, sed victus nōn perībō#, Cornif. 4, 65, _I shall be murdered, to be sure, but I will not die a vanquished man_, the difference between the prediction contained in _I shall_, and the determination contained in _I will_, cannot be expressed in Latin by the future indicative.

1620. The future is often used in diffident assertion, to express an assumption, a belief, conviction, or concession, of the speaker himself, without implying its universal acceptance: as,

#dīcēs#, _TD._ 2, 60, _you will say_. #dīcet aliquis#, _TD._ 3, 46, _somebody will say_ (1556). #dabit hoc Zēnōnī Polemō#, _Fin._ 4, 51, _Polemo will concede this point to Zeno_. #excūdent aliī spīrantia mollius aera, crēdō equidem#, V. 6, 847, _with greater grace, I well believe, shall others shape the bronze that breathes_. Particularly in conclusions: as, #sequētur igitur vel ad supplicium beāta vīta virtūtem#, _TD._ 5, 87, _happiness then will walk with goodness even to the scaffold_. Or in general truths: as, #cantābit vacuus cōram latrōne viātor#, J. 10, 22, _the pourë man whan he goth by the weye, bifore the thevës he may synge and pleye_.

1621. The future sometimes predicts that a thing not yet known to be true will prove to be true: as, #haec erit bonō genere nāta#, Pl. _Per._ 645, _this maid, you’ll find, is come of honest stock_, i.e. #esse reperiētur#. Compare the imperfect in 1598.

1622. In Plautus and Terence, the future is sometimes used in protestations, wishes, or thanks: as, #ita mē dī amābunt#, T. _Hau._ 749, _so help me heaven_. #dī tē amābunt#, Pl. _Men._ 278, _the gods shall bless thee_. Usually, however, the subjunctive: see 1542 and 1541.

1623. The future is sometimes used in questions of deliberation or appeal: as, #dēdēmus ergō Hannibalem?# L. 21, 10, 11, _are we then to surrender Hannibal?_ #hancine ego ad rem nātam memorābō?# Pl. _R._ 188, _am I to say that I was born for such a fate?_ Oftener the present subjunctive (1563), or sometimes the present indicative (1531).

1624. The future is sometimes used, particularly in the second person, to express an exhortation, a direction, a request, a command, or with #nōn# a prohibition: as,

#crās ferrāmenta Teānum tollētis#, H. _E._ 1, 1, 86, _tomorrow to Teanum you will take your tools_. #bonā veniā mē audiēs#, _DN._ 1, 59, _you will listen to me with kind indulgence_. #tū intereā nōn cessābis#, _Fam._ 5, 12, 10, _meantime you will not be inactive_. #haec igitur tibī̆ erunt cūrae#, _Fam._ 3, 9, 4, _you will attend to this then_, i.e. #haec cūrābis#.

1625. It may be mentioned here, that the future is used in sentences subordinate to a future, an imperative, or a subjunctive implying a future: as,

#profectō nihil accipiam iniūriae, sī tū aderis#, _Att._ 5, 18, 3, _I am sure I shall suffer no harm, if you are with me_. #ut mēd esse volēs, ita erō#, Pl. _Ps._ 239, _as you will have me be, so will I be_. #ut is quī audiet, cōgitet plūra, quam videat#, _DO._ 2, 242, _so that the hearer may imagine more than he sees_. But sometimes a present is used (1593).

THE FUTURE PERFECT TENSE.

1626. The future perfect indicative expresses completed future action: as,

#scrīpserō#, _I shall have written_, or _I will have written_. The future perfect is very common in Latin, particularly in protasis with a relative, with #cum#, #ubī̆#, &c., with #antequam# or #priusquam#, with #ut (... ita)#, _as (... so)_, or with #sī#, to express action anterior in time to a future; in English, this future perfect is usually represented by a loose present or perfect: as, #quicquid fēceris, adprobābō#, _Fam._ 3, 3, 2, _whatever you do, I shall think right_. Examples will be given further on, in speaking of the complex sentence.

1627. It may be mentioned here that the future perfect in protasis and apodosis both denotes two actions occurring at one and the same time; these actions are usually identical: as,

#quī Antōnium oppresserit, is hoc bellum taeterrimum cōnfēcerit#, _Fam._ 10, 19, 2, _the man that puts down Antony will put an end to this cruel war_, i.e. putting down Antony will be ending the war. #respīrārō, sī tē vīderō#, _Att._ 2, 24, 5, _I shall take breath again, if I set eyes on you_.

1628. The future perfect sometimes denotes a future resulting state: as,

#molestus certē e͡i fuerō#, T. _Andr._ 641, _at all events I shall have proved a bane to him_. #meum rē̆ī pūblicae atque imperātōrī officium praestiterō#, 4, 25, 3, _I will have my duty all done to country and commander too_.

1629. The future perfect is sometimes used to express rapidity of future action, often with the implication of assurance, promise, or threat: as,

#abierō#, Pl. _Most._ 590, _I’ll instantly be gone_. #iam hūc revēnerō#, Pl. _MG._ 863, _B._ 1066, _I’ll be back here again forthwith_. #prīmus impetus castra cēperit#, L. 25, 38, 17, _the first rush will see the camp carried_.

1630. The future perfect often denotes action postponed to a more convenient season, or thrown upon another person.

Often thus with #post#, #aliās#, and particularly #mox#: as, #vōbīs post nārrāverō#, Pl. _Ps._ 721, _I’ll tell you by and by_, i.e. I won’t tell you now. #ad frātrem mox īerō#, Pl. _Cap._ 194, _I’ll to my brother’s by and by_, i.e. not yet. #fuerit ista eius dēlīberātiō#, L. 1, 23, 8, _that is a question for him to settle_, i.e. not me. Especially #vīderō#: as, #quae fuerit causa, mox vīderō#, _Fin._ 1, 35, _what the reason was, I won’t consider now_. #rēctē secusne aliās vīderimus#, _Ac._ 2, 135, _whether right or not, we will consider some other time_, i.e. never. #vōs vīderitis#, L. 1, 58, 10, _that is a question for you_, i.e. not me.

1631. The future perfect sometimes denotes action which will have occurred while something else takes place: as,

#nōn erō vōbīs morae: tībīcen vōs intereā hīc dēlectāverit#, Pl. _Ps._ 573^a, _I will not keep you long; meantime the piper will have entertained you here_. #tū invītā mulierēs, ego accīverō puerōs#, _Att._ 5, 1, 3, _do you, sir, invite the ladies, and I will meantime have fetched the children_.

1632. The future perfect is often not perceptibly different from the future, especially in the first person singular in old Latin: as,

#ego mihī prōvīderō#, Pl. _Most._ 526, _I’ll look out for myself_. #erōs in obsidiōne linquet, inimīcūm animōs auxerit#, Pl. _As._ 280, _he’ll leave his owners in a state of siege, he’ll swell the courage of the enemy_. Similarly Cicero, in the protases #sī potuerō#, #sī voluerō#, #sī licuerit#, #sī placuerit#.

[Erratum: 1630 ... not yet. #fuerit ista eius dēlīberātiō# . invisible]

THE FUTURE ACTIVE PARTICIPLE WITH #sum#.

1633. The future active participle combined with the tenses of #sum# expresses action impending, resolved on, or destined, at the time indicated by the tense of the verb: as,

#cum hōc equite pugnātūrī estis#, L. 21, 40, 10, _with this kind of cavalry are you going to fight_. #bellum scrīptūrus sum, quod populus Rōmānus cum Iugurthā gessit#, Sall. _I._ 5, 1, _I purpose to write the history of the war that the people of Rome carried on with Jugurtha_. #fīet illud, quod futūrum est#, _Div._ 2, 21, _whatever is destined to be, will be_. #Delphōs petiīt, ubī̆ columnās, quibus impositūrī statuās rēgis Perseī fuerant, suīs statuīs dēstināvit#, L. 45, 27, 6, _he went to Delphi, where he appropriated for his own statues the pillars on which they had intended to put statues of king Perses_.

THE TENSES OF THE SUBJUNCTIVE.

1634. In simple sentences, the tenses of the subjunctive correspond in general to the same tenses of the indicative. But the present has a future meaning; the imperfect sometimes expresses past, sometimes present action; and the perfect sometimes expresses past action, and sometimes future action.