Chapter 34

fond of putting them in close proximity; as,--

nisi forte ego vōbīs cessāre videor, _unless perchance I seem to you to be doing nothing_.

6. Adverbs and Adverbial phrases regularly precede the word they modify; as,--

valdē dīligēns, _extremely diligent_;

saepe dīxī, _I have often said_;

tē jam diū hortāmur, _we have long been urging you_;

paulō post, _a little after_.

7. Prepositions regularly precede the words they govern.

a. But limiting words often intervene between the Preposition and its case; as,--

dē commūnī hominum memoriā, _concerning the common memory of men_;

ad beātē vīvendum, _for living happily_.

b. When a noun is modified by an Adjective, the Adjective is often placed before the preposition; as,--

magnō in dolōre, _in great grief_;

summā cum laude, _with the highest credit_;

quā dē causā, _for which cause_;

hanc ob rem, _on account of this thing_.

c. For Anastrophe, by which a Preposition is put after its case, see § 144, 3.

8. Conjunctions. Autem, enim, and igitur regularly stand in the second place in the sentence, but when combined with est or sunt they often stand third; as,--

ita est enim, _for so it is_.

9. Words or Phrases referring to the preceding sentence or to some part of it, regularly stand first; as,--

id ut audīvit, Corcyram dēmigrāvit, _when he heard that_ (referring to the contents of the preceding sentence), _he moved to Corcyra_;

eō cum Caesar vēnisset, timentēs cōnfirmat, _when Caesar had come thither_ (i.e. to the place just mentioned), _he encouraged the timid_.

10. The Latin has a fondness for putting side by side words which are etymologically related; as,--

ut ad senem senex dē senectūte, sīc hōc librō ad amīcum amīcissimus dē amīcitiā scrīpsī, _as I, an old man, wrote to an old man, on old age, so in this book, as a fond friend, I have written to a friend, concerning friendship_.

11. Special rhetorical devices for indicating emphasis are the following:--

a) Hypérbaton, which consists in the separation of words that regularly stand together; as,--

septimus mihi Orīginum liber est in manibus, _the seventh book of my 'Origines' is under way_;

receptō Caesar Ōricō proficīscitur, _having recovered Oricus, Caesar set out_.

b) Anáphora, which consists in the repetition of the same word or the same word-order in successive phrases; as,--

sed plēnī omnēs sunt librī, plēnae sapientium vōcēs, plēna exemplōrum vetustās, _but all books are full of it, the voices of sages are full of it, antiquity is full of examples of it_.

c) Chiásmus,[59] which consists in changing the relative order of words in two antithetical phrases; as,--

multōs dēfendī, laesī nēminem, _many have I defended, I have injured no one_;

horribilem illum diem aliīs, nōbīs faustum, _that day dreadful to others, for us fortunate_.

d) Sýnchysis, or the interlocked arrangement. This is mostly confined to poetry, yet occurs in rhetorical prose, especially that of the Imperial Period; as,--

simulātam Pompejānārum grātiam partium, _pretended interest in the Pompeian party_.

12. Metrical Close. At the end of a sentence certain cadences were avoided; others were much employed. Thus:--

a) Cadences avoided.

_ v v _ v or _ ; as, esse vidētur (close of hexameter).

_ v v v or _ ; as, esse potest (close of pentameter).

b) Cadences frequently employed.

_ v _ ; as, auxerant.

_ v _ v ; as, comprobāvit.

_ v v v _ v ; as, esse videātur.

v _ _ v _ ; as, rogātū tuō.

B. SENTENCE-STRUCTURE.

351. 1. Unity of Subject.--In complex sentences the Latin regularly holds to unity of Subject in the different members; as,--

Caesar prīmum suō, deinde omnium ex cōnspectū remōtīs equīs, ut aequātō perīculō spem fugae tolleret, cohortātus suōs proelium commīsit, _Caesar having first removed his own horse from sight, then the horses of all, in order, by making the danger equal, to take away hope of flight, encouraged his men and joined battle_.

2. A word serving as the common Subject or Object of the main clause and a subordinate one, stands before both; as,--

Haeduī cum sē dēfendere nōn possent, lēgātōs ad Caesarem mittunt, _since the Haedui could not defend themselves, they sent envoys to Caesar_;

ille etsī flagrābat bellandī cupiditāte, tamen pācī serviendum putāvit, _although he was burning with a desire to fight, yet he thought he ought to aim at peace_.

a. The same is true also

1) When the Subject of the main clause is Object (Direct or Indirect) of a subordinate clause; as,--

Caesar, cum hōc eī nūntiatum esset, mātūrat ab urbe proficīscī, _when this had been reported to Caesar he hastened to set out from the city_.

2) When the Subject of a subordinate clause is at the same time the Object (Direct or Indirect) of the main clause; as,--

L. Mānliō, cum dictātor fuisset, M. Pompōnius tribūnus plēbis diem dīxit, _M. Pomponius, tribune of the people, instituted proceedings against Lucius Manlius, though he had been dictator_.

3. Of subordinate clauses, temporal, conditional, and adversative clauses more commonly precede the main clause; indirect questions and clauses of purpose or result more commonly follow; as,--

postquam haec dīxit, profectus est, _after he said this, he set out_;

sī quis ita agat, imprūdēns sit, _if any one should act so, he would be devoid of foresight_;

accidit ut ūnā nocte omnēs Hermae dēicerentur, _it happened that in a single night all the Hermae were thrown down_.

4. Sometimes in Latin the main verb is placed within the subordinate clause; as,--

sī quid est in mē ingenī, quod sentiō quam sit exiguum, _if there is any talent in me, and I know how little it is_.

5. The Latin Period. The term Period, when strictly used, designates a compound sentence in which the subordinate clauses are inserted within the main clause; as,--

Caesar etsī intellegēbat quā dē causā ea dīcerentur, tamen, nē aestātem in Trēverīs cōnsūmere cōgerētur, Indutiomārum ad sē venīre jussit, _though Caesar perceived why this was said, yet, lest he should be forced to spend the summer among the Treveri, he ordered Indutiomarus to come to him_.

In the Periodic structure the thought is suspended until the end of the sentence is reached. Many Roman writers were extremely fond of this sentence-structure, and it was well adapted to the inflectional character of their language; in English we generally avoid it.

6. When there are several subordinate clauses in one Period, the Latin so arranges them as to avoid a succession of verbs. Thus:--

At hostēs cum mīsissent, quī, quae in castrīs gererentur, cognōscerent, ubi sē dēceptōs intellēxērunt, omnibus cōpiīs subsecūtī ad flūmen contendunt, _but the enemy when they had sent men to learn what was going on in camp, after discovering that they had been outwitted, followed with all their forces and hurried to the river_.

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