C. THE LATIN LANGUAGE

143. Conditional Sentences in Latin are far simpler in form than are those in Greek, albeit that the parallelism in the two languages is great.

The less imaginative, graver, and more practical character of the Latin peoples found its expression in a speech, which as it was older, so also was more simple, more broad, more massive than that of the dwellers in Greece. The language of the latter marvellously reflected the equally marvellous play of the emotions, with which those who used it were themselves instinct; and by its side the Latin walks heavily, if not without a certain rugged strength of its own.

144. Among the marks of its greater simplicity is one, especially germane to the subject before us, namely the absence from it of anything akin to the Greek particle åv.

145. By consequence, there is no correlative in Latin to sentences falling under either of the divisions respectively designated above (A') and (B'), nor to those under division (C), or (except so far as hereinafter appears) under division (C').

146. Nor again are there any distinct means of expressing, without resort to periphrasis, the would have -ed, would have been -ing of an English apodosis, as contrasted with would possibly have -ed, would possibly have been -ing.

All that the speaker can do is to use his past subjunctive mood—which consequently is best translated by the general expression would have -ed; would have been -ing-to express all the degrees of possibility, ranging

from the assertion of positive certainty at the one end to the assertion of absolute negation at the other; and to leave the context to decide in each particular case what particular degree of possibility is there intended to be represented. As for instance

(i.) Positive certainty :

=

=

"the same

even by

Cic. de Fin. ii. 18. 58 idem tu certe fecisses
thing you certainly would have done."
Verg. Aen. ii. 292 etiam hac defensa fuissent
this right hand its defence would | have been assured."
Tac. Agric. 45 excepissemus certe mandata vocesque =
"we certainly should have received."

=

Plin. Epp. i. 12. 8 fecisset quod optabat "he would | have done what he desired to do."

Ov. Trist. ii. 13 doctas odissem jure sorores = "rightly should I have hated."

Cic. de Off. iii. 19. 75 in foro saltaret = " he would | have been for dancing."

Cic. pro Caecin. 2. 4 facile honestissumis testibus in re perspicua tenerentur = "easily they would have been confuted."

Cic. de Nat. Deor. ii. 18. 49 quae

=

certe non diceret

which Epicurus would certainly not | have been laying down."

(ii.) Possibility:

= they

Cic. pro Caelio 26. 62 fortasse non reciperentur
would perhaps have found obstacles being placed in
the way of their reception."

=

Cic. de Fin. ii. 18. 58 ipse Epicurus fortasse redderet
"he would perhaps | have been for restoring it."
Caes. Bell. Civ. iii. 51 quae res tamen fortasse aliquem
reciperet casum = "would have been tending to bring
disaster upon itself."

(iii.) Absolute negation:

Cic. pro Planc. 22. 53 neque enim umquam majores nostri
sortitionem constituissent aedilitiam = "nor indeed ever
would they have established."

Mart. v. 20. 5 nec nos atria, nec domos potentum | .
nossemus = Iwe should not have known."

Ennius Med. Exul 212 (= 258 Müller) nam númquam era

147. On the other hand, the Latin has its correspondent to the Greek ei in the particle si,215 and its finite sentences of the divisions (A) and (B) respectively, to which to prefix it, with the view of making those sentences express the condition of the happening of some other event.

The results of so doing are as follow:

148. (A) Tenses of the Indicative Mood, which denote actual facts.