Chapter 529Allen and Greenough's Latin GrammarDickinson CollegeChristopher Francese
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The Subjunctive in the clause of Purpose is
hortatory
in origin, coming through a kind of indirect discourse construction (for which see §
592
). Thus,
mīsit lēgātōs quī dīcerent
means
he sent ambassadors who should say
, i.e.
who were directed to say;
in the direct orders the verb would be
dīcite
, which would become
dīcant
in the Indirect Discourse of narrative (§
588
) or
dīcerent
in the past (cf. hortatory subjunctive in past tenses, §
439
.
b
). The Subjunctive with
ut
and
nē
is, in general, similar in origin.