83a. The accusative is used a little more freely in the Letters than in formal literature. It occurs after verbs of thought and the expression of thought, and after verbs signifying to strive, to laugh, to hope, etc.; e.g. hoc a te praesens contendissem (Cael., Fam. 8.16.4); Catulum mihi narras (Fam. 9.15.3); iurare Iovem Lapidem (Fam. 7.12.2); quam primum haec risum veni (Cael., Fam. 8.14.4). Two accusatives occur in a few instances after verbs signifying to seek, to warn, etc.; e.g. illud autem te peto (Dolabella, Fam. 9.9.2); quod et respublica me et nostra amicitia hortatur (Cato, Fam. 15.5. 1); and an adverbial accusative made up of partem and the adjective magnam or maiorem or minimam is found several times; e.g. curare soles libenter, ut ego maiorem partem nihil curare (Cael., Fam. 8.9.3). Cf. note to illud te peto, Epist. LII. 2.

83b. With the exception of a few Grecisms, e.g. cogitatio tuae virtutis (Balbus, Att. 8.15 a. 1), the only thing noteworthy with respect to the genitive consists in the rather free use of the genitive of quality and the partitive genitive. Cf. aliquo terrarum, Epist. LXXXVI. 3 n.

83c. The dative of reference and the ethical dative are great favorites in the Letters, the latter especially with at, ecce, and hic. Perhaps in their use of the ethical dative Cicero and his correspondents have been surpassed only by the writers of comedy. Cf. ecce tibi et Bruti et tuae litterae (Att. 14.19.1); at ille tibi . . . pergit Brundisium (Att. 8.8.2). Cf. also notes to minori curae, Epist. XXV. 2, and to ecce, Epist. XXXV. 23.

83d. Certain public events, recurring at regular or irregular intervals, were of such importance in the eyes of the people that they were used in marking the date of an event. [p. lxvii] This practice gives rise to such colloquial ablatives of time as novis magistratibus (Cael., Fam. 8.16.3), gladiatoribus (Pollio, Fam. 10.32.3), summis Circensibus (Cael., Fam. 8.12.3). The preposition in with the ablative is several times used instead of a conditional or temporal phrase. Cf. in victoria hominis necessarii = cum vicisset homo necessarius (Matius, Fam. 11.28.2).

The Verb.

84a. Passing over certain isolated cases which remind one of the Plautine usage, where the indicative occurs instead of the classical subjunctive, the use of the indicative in subordinate clauses in the indirect discourse and in questions of deliberation deserves special notice. Cf. scito Balbum tum fuisse Aquini, cum tibi est dictum (Fam. 16.24.2); nolito commoveri, si audieris me regredi, si forte Caesar ad me veniet (Pompeius, Att. 8.12c. 2); quid mi auctor es? advolone an maneo? (Att. 13.40.2); cf. also notes to quam sollicitus sum, Epist. XLVI II. 1, and quam conversa res est, Epist. XLVI. 2.

84b. The present subjunctive of the definite second person singular in positive commands is of rather frequent occurrence, especially in closing formulae, e.g. ei dicas plurimam salutem et suavissimae Atticae (Att. 16.7.8); cautus sis, mi Tiro (Fam. 16.9.4). The future indicative and vis (second person singular of volo) with the infinitive are often used as polite substitutes for the imperative, e.g. tu interea non cessabis et ea quae habes instituta perpolies nosque diliges (Fam. 5.12.10); visne tu te, Servi, cohibere? (Sulpicius, Fam. 4.5.4).

The fact has been recently demonstrated²⁸¹ that, 'in the whole field of classical prose from the beginning of the Ciceronian period to the end of the Augustan period, there [p. lxviii] is but a single example of ne with the indefinite second person present subjunctive in a prohibition'²⁸² , and that, furthermore, prohibitions expressed by ne with the present or the perfect subjunctive, lack the dignity of the noli-construction, and are consequently confined to informal Latin.²⁸³ Quite naturally, therefore, many of these prohibitions expressed by ne with the present subjunctive, and the majority of those expressed by ne with the perfect subjunctive, to be found in classical prose, are in the correspondence of Cicero,²⁸⁴ and twelve of the fourteen cases of the last-mentioned construction, which is the more colloquial of the two, occur in letters to Cicero's most familiar correspondents, e.g. 'tu, malum,' inquies, 'actum ne agas' (Att. 9.18.3); iocum autem illius de sua egestate ne sis aspernatus (Q. fr. 2.10 (12). 5).

84c. The so-called epistolary use of the tenses is the commonest peculiarity in the use of tenses to be found in the Letters. The writer of the letter imagines himself in the place of the recipient, and therefore uses a tense of past time in speaking of an event which was exactly or approximately contemporaneous with the writing of the letter. This usage is most frequent with verbs indicating the writing of a letter, or the sending of a letter or messenger,²⁸⁵ as ego tibi aliquid de meis scriptis mittam: nihil erat absoluti (Att. 1.16.18); quae mihi veniebant in mentem, quae ad te pertinere arbitrabar, quod in Ciliciam proficiscebar, existimavi me ad te oportere scribere (Fam. 2.18.3). Cf. also note to profecti sumus, Epist. XI. 3.

84d. Many interesting instances occur of the use of habere with the perfect participle passive, but if a few cases [p. lxix] be excepted, as, perhaps, si . . . quae Lepido digna sunt, perspecta habes (Lepidus, Fam. 10.34.4), this combination is not strictly synonymous with the perfect. Cf. note to sollicitum habent, Epist. LI.1. For the use of the future perfect instead of the future, cf. note to dimisero, Epist. XV.2.

The Adverb.

85a. One of the most noticeable characteristics in the syntax of the Letters consists in the use of the adverb with esse. This usage is frequent in colloquial Latin of all periods. It is commonly found with adverbs of place (prope, praesto, procul, etc.), and the general and particular adverbs of manner (ita, contra, aliter, bene, recte, tuto, etc.); e.g., sit modo recte in Hispaniis (Att. 10.12a.2); sed quidvis est melius quam sic esse ut sumus (Fam. 16.12.4). In this construction esse is something more than a simple copula.

85b. More rarely, but in a few clear cases, the adverb is used in place of an attributive adjective; e.g. meae ullae privatim iniuriae (Lentulus, Fam. 12.14.3). Cf. also note to circumcirca, Epist. LXXV. 4, and to sic, Epist. V.3.

Parataxis.

86. The Letters, in common with other literary compositions which affect the sermo cotidianus, admit the paratactical arrangement more freely than formal Latin does. This fact is evident (1) in the use of coordination rather than subordination; e.g. hanc ergo plagam effugi per duos superiores Marcellorum consulatus, cum est actum de provincia Caesaris, nunc incido in discrimen ipsum (Att. 7.1.5), for cum effugissem, etc.; (2) in the paratactical use of the subjunctive in certain common formulae, e.g. fac diligas (Att. 3.13.2); (3) in the parenthetical use of certain verbs of thinking, e.g. sed, opinor, quiescamus (Att. 9.6. 2); [p. lxx] cuiusmodi velim, puto, quaeris (Cael., Fam. 8.3.3). Cf. also notes to ut facta est, Epist. V.3, and opinor, Epist. XXXI. 4.