The
Protasis
is often wholly omitted, but may be inferred from the course of the argument:—
-
poterat Sextilius impūne negāre: quis enim redargueret
(Fin. 2.55)
,
Sextilius might have denied with impunity; for who would prove him wrong
(if he had denied)?
In expressions signifying
necessity
,
propriety
, and the like, the Indicative may be used in the
apodosis
of implied conditions, either future or contrary to fact:—
-
quod contrā
decuit
ab illō meum [corpus cremārī]
(Cat. M. 84)
,
whereas on the other hand mine ought to have been burnt by him.
-
nam nōs
decēbat
domum lūgēre ubi esset aliquis in lūcem ēditus
(Tusc. 1.115)
,
for it were fitting for us to mourn the house where a man has been born
(but we do not).
-
quantō
melius fuerat
(Off. 3.94)
,
how much better it would have been.
-
illud
erat aptius
, aequum cuique concēdere
(Fin. 4.2)
,
it would be more fitting to yield each one his rights.
-
ipsum enim exspectāre
māgnum fuit
(Phil. 2.103)
,
would it have been a great matter to wait for the man himself?
-
longum est ea
dīcere, sed ...
(Sest. 12)
,
it would be tedious to tell
, etc. [Future.]
In this construction, the Imperfect Indicative refers to
present time;
the Pluperfect to simple
past
time, like the Perfect. Thus
oportēbat
means
it ought to be
[now],
but is not;
oportuerat
means
it ought to have been, but was not.
In many cases it is impossible to say whether
a
protasis
was present
to the mind of the speaker or not (see third example above).
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