Special Uses of the Relative
The Antecedent Noun sometimes appears in both clauses, but usually only in the one that precedes. Sometimes it is wholly omitted.
The antecedent noun may be repeated in the relative clause:—
-
locī
nātūra erat haec quem
locum
nostrī dēlēgerant
(B. G. 2.18)
,
the nature of the ground which our men had chosen was this.
The antecedent noun may appear only in the relative clause, agreeing with the relative in case:—
-
quās
rēs
in cōnsulātū nostrō gessimus attigit hīc versibus
(Arch. 28)
,
he has touched in verse the things which I did in my consulship.
-
quae prīma innocentis mihi
dēfēnsiō
est oblāta suscēpī
;
(
Sull. 92
),
I undertook the first defence of an innocent man that was offered me.
In this case the relative clause usually comes first (cf. §
308
.
d
) and a lemonstrative usually stands in the antecedent clause:—
-
quae pars
cīvitātis calamitātem populō Rōmānō intulerat,
ea
prīnceps poenās persolvit
(B. G. 1.12)
,
that part of the state which had brought disaster on the Roman people was the first to pay the penalty.
-
quae grātia
currum fuit vīvīs,
eadem
sequitur
(Aen. 6.653)
,
the same pleasure that they took in chariots in their lifetime follows them
(after death).
-
quī
fit ut nēmō,
quam
sibi
sortem
ratiō dederit,
illā
contentus vīvat
(cf.
Hor. S. 1.1.1
),
how does it happen that no one lives contented with the lot which choice has assigned him?
The antecedent may be omitted, especially if it is indefinite:—
-
quī decimae legiōnis aquilam ferēbat
(B. G. 4.25)
, [the man]
who bore the eagle of the tenth legion.
-
quī cōgnōscerent mīsit
(
id
. 1.21),
he sent
[men]
to reconnoitre.
The phrase
id quod
or
quae rēs
may be used (instead of
quod
alone) to refer to a group of words or an idea:—
-
[obtrectātum est] Gabīniō dīcam anne Pompêiō? an utrīque—
id quod
est vērius
?
(
Manil. 57
),
an affront has been offered—shall I say to Gabinius or to Pompey? or—which is truer—to both?
-
multum sunt in vēnātiōnibus,
quae rēs
vīrēs alit
(B. G. 4.1)
,
they spend much time in hunting, which
[practice]
increases their strength.
But
quod
alone often occurs: as,—Cassius
noster
,
quod
mihi māgnae voluptātī fuit
,
hostem rêiēcerat
(Fam. 2.10)
,
our friend Cassius—which was a great satisfaction to me—had driven back the enemy.
The antecedent noun, when in apposition with the main clause, or with some word of it, is put in the relative clause:—
-
fīrmī [amīcī], cûius
generis
est māgna pēnūria
(Lael. 62)
,
steadfast friends
,
a class of which there is great lack
(of which class there is, etc.).
A predicate adjective (especially a superlative) belonging to the antecedent may stand in the relative clause:—
-
vāsa ea quae
pulcherrima
apud eum vīderat
(Verr. 4.63)
,
those most beautiful vessels which he had seen at his house.
[Nearly equivalent to
the vessels of which he had seen some very beautiful ones.
]
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