In the use of Relatives, the following points are to be observed:—
The relative is never omitted in Latin, as it often is in English:—
-
liber
quem
mihi dedistī
,
the book you gave me.
-
is
sum
quī
semper
fuī
,
I am the same man I always was.
-
eō in locō est dē
quō
tibi locūtus sum
,
he is in the place I told you of.
When two relative clauses are connected by a copulative conjunction, a relative pronoun sometimes stands in the first and a demonstrative in the last:—
-
erat profectus obviam legiōnibus Macedonicīs quattuor,
quās
sibi conciliāre pecūniā cōgitābat
eāsque
ad urbem addūcere
(Fam. 12.23.2)
,
he had set out to meet four legions from Macedonia
,
which he thought to win over to himself by a gift of money and to lead
(them)
to the city.
A relative clause in Latin often takes the place of some other construction in English,—particularly of a participle, an appositive, or a noun of agency:—
-
lēgēs quae nunc sunt
,
the existing laws
(the laws which now exist).
-
Caesar
quī Galliam vīcit
,
Cæsar the conqueror of Gaul.
-
iūsta glōria quī est frūctus virtūtis
(Pison. 57)
,
true glory
[which is]
the fruit of virtue.
-
ille quī petit
,
the plaintiff
(he who sues).
-
quī legit
,
a reader
(one who reads).
In formal or emphatic discourse, the relative clause usually comes first, often containing the antecedent noun (cf. §
307
.
b
):—
-
quae pars
cīvitātis Helvētiae īnsīgnem calamitātem populō Rōmānō intulerat,
ea
prīnceps poenās persolvit
(B. G. 1.12)
,
the portion of the Helvetian state which had brought a serious disaster on the Roman people was the first to pay the penalty.
In colloquial language, the relative clause in such cases often contains a redundant demonstrative pronoun which logically belongs in the antecedent clause: as,
ille
quī cōnsultē cavet
,
diūtinē ūtī bene licet partum bene
(Plaut. Rud. 1240),
he who is on his guard, he may long enjoy what he has well obtained.
The relative with an abstract noun may be used in a parenthetical clause to
characterize a person
, like the English
such:
—
-
quae vestra prūdentia est
(Cael. 45)
,
such is your wisdom.
[Equivalent to
prō vestrā prūdentiā
.]
-
audīssēs cōmoedōs vel lēctōrem vel lyristēn, vel,
quae mea līberālitās
, omnēs
(Plin. Ep. 1.15)
,
you would have listened to comedians, or a reader, or a lyre-player
,
or—such is my liberality—to all of them.
A relative pronoun (or adverb) often stands at the beginning of an independent sentence or clause, serving to connect it with the sentence or clause that precedes:—
-
Caesar statuit exspectandam classem;
quae
ubi convēnit
(B. G. 3.14)
,
Cæsar decided that he must wait for the fleet; and when this had come together
, etc.
-
quae
quī audiēbant
,
and those who heard this
(which things).
-
quae
cum ita sint
,
and since this is so.
-
quōrum
quod simile factum
(Cat. 4.13)
,
what deed of theirs like this?
-
quō
cum vēnisset
,
and when he had come there
(whither when he had come).
This arrangement is common even when another relative or an interrogative follows. The relative may usually be translated by an English demonstrative, with or without
and.
A relative adverb is regularly used in referring to an antecedent in the Locative case; so, often, to express any relation of place instead of the formal relative pronoun:—
-
mortuus Cūmīs
quō
sē contulerat
(Liv. 2.21)
,
having died at Cumœ
,
whither he had retired.
[Here
in quam urbem
might be used, but not
in quās
.]
-
locus
quō
aditus nōn erat
,
a place to which
(whither)
there was no access.
-
rēgna
unde
genus dūcis
(Aen. 5.801)
,
the kingdom from which you derive your race.
-
unde
petitur
,
the defendant
(he from whom something is demanded).
The relatives
quī
,
quālis
,
quantus
,
quot
, etc. are often rendered simply by
as
in English:—
-
idem
quod
semper
,
the same as always.
-
cum esset tālis
quālem
tē esse videō
;
(
Mur. 32
),
since he was such a man as I see you are.
-
tanta dīmicātiō
quanta
numquam fuit
(Att. 7.1.2)
,
such a fight as never was before.
-
tot
mala quot
sīdera
(Ov. Tr. 1.5.47),
as many troubles as stars in the sky.
The general construction of relatives is found in clauses introduced by relative adverbs: as,
ubi
,
quō
,
unde
,
cum
,
quārē
.
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