صور الصفحة
PDF
النشر الإلكتروني

any verb but ěs, with all the tenses of which it may be employed; and when it is so, is always connected with a word (expressed or understood) in the dative case. Its meaning with ěs may be variously expressed in English, and very often by the verbs 'ought,' 'must,' 'be,' 'have,' followed by the infinitive corresponding to the Latin verb from which the gerund is derived. The following examples will make this subject clear, and shew how these freer modes of translating the gerund are derivable from its literal meaning: and it is to be especially observed that the significations here assigned, implying duty, necessity, propriety, are not expressed by the gerund alone, but only when it is used with the verb ès; so that such translations can never be given of the gerund in any case but the nominative or accusative.

"1. Rōmānis concedendum nōn est: literally,' Giving way is not for the Romans,' i. e. 'it is not the duty or part of the Romans to give way; or, more freely still, 'the Romans ought not to (or must not) give way.'

"2. Militēs dixerunt (sibi) in fluctus dēsiliendum (esse): literally, 'The soldiers said leaping down into the waves was for them,' i. e. 'said they had to leap down,' or 'were compelled to leap down.""

The following is his explanation of the Ablative Absolute :

"The word 'absolute' means 'loosened from,' i. e. 'not connected with;' and when employed in grammar, serves to describe words which stand alone in a sentence, not being connected with, or dependent upon any other words in it: they therefore really form no part of the sentence, but may be omitted without interfering with its construction. Thus, in the sentence, The storm having ceased, the travellers pursued their journey,' the words, 'the storm having ceased,' are absolute.

"Since, then, words so employed are not dependent upon any other word, it would, a priori, appear difficult to decide in what case they should be put, or whether they ought not to remain in the uninflected state, that is, whether their crude forms ought not to be used; and this would, perhaps, better express their relation to the sentence than the method actually adopted. But as it happens that, in the great majority of cases, words used absolutely serve to define the time at which what is stated in the sentence took place, it was natural that they should be subjected to the same rule as words expressive of a precise point of time; and this was accordingly done both in Latin and in Greek.

"Now the general rule of the Latin language is, that words describing a precise point of time are put in the ablative case; and hence that became the absolute case in Latin.

"The absolute construction is used much more frequently in Latin than in most other languages, in consequence of the deficiency of participles, which renders it necessary, as will presently be shewn, to use various indirect and circumlocutory modes of expression; and of these the principal one is the ablative absolute.

"The cases in which it is employed may be arranged in two classes: 1st, When the words so expressed are in signification attached neither to the subject nor the object of the sentence, but to the verb; in which class of cases the absolute construction is not peculiar to Latin, but must necessarily be used in English also, unless the words be formed into a relative sentence, connected with the main one by some relative conjunction, as is frequently done; and in certain cases this is the necessary mode of expression in Latin (vide next Rule.) 2d, When the words so expressed are in signification attached to the subject; in which case they may generally be translated into English by a perfect participle active, agreeing with the subject, and having an accusative case dependent on it; for in such instances the ablative absolute is a substitute for that participle, which is, as has been already stated, wanting in Latin, except with deponent verbs.

"When the ablative absolute qualifies the verb, it may consist of a noun or pronoun, with, 1st, a perfect participle passive; 2d, an imperfect participle active; or, 3d, without any participle.

"In the other class of cases the perfect participle passive always forms a part of the absolute construction.

EXAMPLES.

I.

1. "The hostages having been delivered up, Cæsar hastened into the territories of the Ambiani:" or, "when the hostages had been delivered up, Cæsar," &c. Obsidibus traditis, Cæsar in fines Ambiānōrum contendit.

2. "No enemy hindering or delaying the march, he led the legion through into the province :" or, "as no enemy hindered or delayed the march." Nullo hostě prohibentě aut itěr dēmůrante, legiōnem in prōvinciam perduxit.

3. "Cneius Pompeius and Marcus Crassus (being) consuls:" or, "in the consulship of Cn. Pompeius and M. Crassus." Cnětō Pompēto, Marco Crassō consulibus.

"N.B. This last class of cases occurs chiefly with proper names and words denoting offices: the imperfect participle of ěs not being in common use was not expressed, but its equivalent must be inserted in the translation.

II.

1. "Cæsar, the army having been landed, and a place suitable for the camp having been taken, hastens towards the enemy;" or, "Cæsar having landed the army, and taken a place," &c. Cæsăr, exposito exercitu, ac lucō castrīs idōněō captō, ad hostes contendit.

"That in such cases the ablative absolute is merely a substitute for a perfect participle active, is shewn by the fact that sentences frequently occur in which a perfect participle active (derived from a deponent verb) is used agreeing with the nominative, and directly afterwards, in the same sentence, the ablative absolute: as,

2. "The enemy having tarried a little while before the town, and having laid waste the lands of the Remi, all the villages and buildings having been set on fire (i. e. and having set on fire all the villages and buildings), hastened to Cæsar's camp." Hostes paullisper ǎpůd oppidum mirātī, agrōõsque Rēmōrum dépěpůlāti, omnibus vicis ædificiisquě incensis, ad Cæsaris castră contendērunt.1

"CAUTIONS to be attended to in translating the following Exercises: "1. Words which refer either to the subject or to the object of the sentence must be made to agree with them, and cannot therefore be translated by the ablative absolute: except,

"2. When a perfect participle active in English agrees with the subject, and has an accusative case dependent on it, it must be translated by the perfect participle passive agreeing with the word dependent on it (in English), and the two words must be in the ablative case: unless there is a deponent verb in Latin corresponding in meaning to the English verb; in which case the sentence must be translated literally, by the perfect participle agreeing with the subject, and having an accusative case dependent on it. (Vide the last example.)"

We cannot conclude this notice without expressing our hope that Mr. Robson's work will soon be extensively used in our schools. The fact that it adopts the crude form system, as it is called, will present a difficulty in some quarters; but this difficulty is more imaginary than real, as any master will soon convince himself by an actual use of the book.

1 "It is evident that, as, for want of a perfect participle active, the Romans were compelled to use the passive construction, this change left the words so expressed independent of the rest of the sentence. In the last example, the words "all the villages and buildings" are, in English, in the accusative case, governed by the participle "having set

on fire;" but when this participle is changed into the passive "having been set on fire," which agrees with the substantives, they are no longer in the accusative case; and the whole phrase, not being connected with any part of the sentence, is necessarily expressed absolutely."

2. M. T. CICERONIS ORATIO DE PRÆTURA SICILIENSI S. DE JUDICIIS, quæ est orationum Verrinarum actionis secundæ secunda. Edited by F. Creuzer and G. H. Moser. Göttingen, 8vo. 1847. (London: D. Nutt.)

THE text of the speech of which a new edition is here presented to us, does not materially differ from that in the editions of Zumpt and Klotz; though every thing which has been published since the appearance of Zumpt's edition of the Verrince, and Klotz's edition of all Cicero's orations, and can throw light on the form and subject of this speech, has been carefully made use of. The merits of this edition, therefore, do not so much consist in a new critical constitution of the text, as in an accumulation of every thing that can contribute to arrive at a thorough understanding of the speech itself, and every thing connected with it. The volume opens with an introduction, giving an account of the life of C. Verres, (who is here at once and correctly called a member of the Cornelia gens,) and more especially of his fearful conduct in Sicily, of which he was prætor for three years, and the course of his subsequent trial. This introduction throws light not only upon the speech under consideration, but upon the whole proceedings against Verres. Next follows an analytical exposition of the subjects discussed in the speech, after which we come to the text itself, from p. 1 to 87. The remainder of the book, from p. 88 to 487, consists of a critical and explanatory commentary, extending to p. 410, and containing a digest of every thing that has ever been written to illustrate this speech. As far as quantity is concerned, there is certainly no ground for complaint, we might, on the contrary, wish for a little more condensation; but to any one who wishes to acquire a thorough and critical knowledge of the text, or seeks light for the numerous allusions to the history and condition of Sicily at the time, the commentary is invaluable. Those historical, antiquarian, and linguistic subjects which require more minute discussion, are treated of in twenty-one excursuses, each of which is a valuable dissertation by itself. The first of them treats of the leges et judicia repetundarum, and is a digest of a portion of Zumpt's excellent treatises De legibus judiciisque repetundarum in Republica Romana: some are extracts from other works, and others are original. The remaining pages from 477 to the end, contain a very complete grammatical and historical index; and for the better understanding of all geographical allusions, the volume is accompanied by a map of Sicily, and a plan of Syracuse. The introduction, commentary, and exercises, are written in German, which, to many scholars in this country, must be a drawback, which is to be regretted the more, as there is no other edition of this speech which contains so complete an apparatus of everything necessary for a right understanding of it.

3. M. TULLII CICERONIS DE RE PUBLICA Librorum Fragmenta. Recensuit et adnotatione critica instruxit Fridericus Osannus. Gottingae. 8vo. 1847. (London, D. Nutt.)

THE object which Professor Osann has proposed to himself in preparing a new edition of this interesting and important work, is to give to the world a more accurate text than any of his predecessors had been able to do, and at the same time religiously to preserve the orthography of the Vatican MS., which, in his opinion, differs very little from that followed by Cicero himself. In order to secure the first of these objects, Osann, who seems to have devoted a number of years to his task, has carefully weighed and considered all the labours of his predecessors, and especially of Cardinal A. Mai's second edition of the De Re Publica, from which the more important remarks are here reprinted, partly under the text, and partly in an appendix. From the parts which we have had an opportunity of examining, we have gained the conviction that the present edition must be ranked among the very best that we have of any ancient author. As far as the orthography is concerned, Osann follows the example of Wunder, Madvig, and Alschefski, endeavouring to restore as much as possible the orthography of the age of Cicero, which, he thinks, was scrupulously followed by the person who wrote the Vatican codex. The editor discusses this matter in an introductory chapter from p. 8 to 13. A second introductory chapter contains a discussion on the age of the Vatican codex, which Osann is inclined to assign to the fourth century of the Christian era. In a third introductory chapter, the writer speaks on certain points connected with the work De Re Publica, such as the time when it was written and published, to whom it was dedicated, and what were Cicero's objects in writing it. Then follows the text, with the notes at the bottom of the page, from p. 1 to p. 424. The notes are for the most part critical, and shew an extensive knowledge of palæography, but now and then historical remarks are interspersed. One of the most valuable parts of the work are the twentytwo excursuses appended at the end, from p. 428 to p. 502, most of which treat on points of orthography and grammar; the 19th is on the celebrated passage, п. 22, where Cicero speaks of the number of centuries in the Servian constitution. There are few books from which so much valuable instruction can be gathered regarding the orthography and the inflections of the Latin language as from Osann's edition of Cicero de Re Publica; and we hope that this work will meet with that share of attention from English scholars which it so richly deserves.

« السابقةمتابعة »