The principles of Latin grammar; comprising the ... - Essan.org

—:284 SYNTAX.—GERUNDS. § 147nification, it is not necessary to resort to such a change in the use of them.Thus, Ccesar hcec I o cuius concilium d'milsit, " Caesar, having said thesethings, dismissed the council." With die participle of a verb, not deponent,the passive form and the ablative would be used thus ; Ccesar hisdicti s, concilium dimisit, (fee, " Caesar, these things being said, dismissedthe council."—The first of these expressions, besides being more direct, isalso much more definite ; for here, there is no doubt as to who said thethings referred to, but in the second, it is left in doubt, whether the thingsreferred to were spoken by Ccesar or by some other. This doubt can beremoved only by the context, or by express mention of the doer, which isnot often done. In the following sentence, the two forms are combinedCaesar omnium r emoti s equis , cohort at us suos proelium comrnlvit.—So,agros Remorum depopuldti , omnibus vie is ozdificiisqueincensis. Cjss.Note.—A few instances occur in which this construction is used whenthere is no change of subject, and where a different case would have expressedthe same thing ;thus, legio ex castris Varronis, adstante etinspect ante ipso , for adstantis et inspectantis ipsius.694.— Obs. 9. The ablative absolute, in the case of deponent, as wellas of other verbs, is used to indicate the order and connection of eventsnarrated, as in the above examples ;or to mark the time of action by referenceto that of another action; as, Pythagoras, Tar quinio Super bor eg n ante, in Italiam venit, "Pythagoras came into Italy in the reign ofTarquin the Proud." In all such cases, it is equivalent to the subjunctivewith a connective word. Thus, his dictis, in the former example, is equivalentto quum hcec dixisset— Tarquinio Superbo regnante, to quum TarquiniusSuperbus regndret; and so of others.695. Obs. 10. The verb sum having no present participle, two nouns,or a noun and adjective, are used in the case absolute without a participle,which is supplied in English by the word being ; thus, se duce, " he (being)leader ;" se consule, " he (being) consul," or " in his consulship ;" so, C. Duillioet Cn. Cornelio Asind consulibus.696. Obs. 11. Some word, phrase, or clause of a sentence, sometimessupplies the place of the substantive, and has a participle with it ir, theablative; as, nondum comperto qu am region em hostes pt^Jsse?it;—audlto Barium appropinqudre ;—vale dicto,&a.697.— Obs. 12. Sometimes the noun is understood; as, par to quodavebas. Sometimes a plural substantive is joined with a singular participle •as, nobis prcesente. For the construction of Gerundives, see next section.698.—§ 147. GERUNDS* AND GERUNDIVES.The Gerund is a verbal noun, in the singular number, governed in theoblique cases as other nouns, and having the same power of government as*Some Grammarians, who regard the gerund as a verbal noun, speak ofit as such only in the oblique cases. They think that the nominative of theverbal is supplied by the infinitive mood, and that which is called the nomi