1219. (1.) Certain datives are used with a form of #sum# to denote what
a thing tends to, proves, or is. This dative is generally accompanied by
a dative of the person interested: as,
#auxiliō īs fuit#, Pl. _Am. prol._ 92, _he was a help to them_. #odiō
sum Rōmānīs#, L. 35, 19, 6, _I am an abomination in the eyes of Rome_.
#potestne bonum cuiquam malō esse?# _Par._ 7, _can good prove bad for
any human being?_ #L. Cassius identidem quaerere solēbat, cui bonō
fuisset#, _RA._ 84, _Cassius used to ask for ever and ever, who the
person benefited was_, or _who the gainer was_. #nēminī meus adventus
labōrī aut sūmptuī fuit#, _V._ 1, 16, _my visit did not prove a bother
or an expense to a soul_. #rēs et fortūnae tuae mihī̆ maximae cūrae
sunt#, _Fam._ 6, 5, 1, _your money-matters are an all-absorbing interest
to me_.
1220. There are many of these datives, mostly abstracts and all
singular, some of the commonest are #cūrae#, #ūsuī#, #praesidiō#,
#cordī#, #odiō#, #auxiliō#, #impedīmentō#, #salūtī#, #voluptātī#. The
adjectives #magnus#, #maior#, #maximus#, or #tantus# and #quantus#, are
sometimes used in agreement with them; and the dative #frūgī# sometimes
has #bonae#.
1221. Instead of the dative of tendency, a predicative nominative or
accusative is rarely used: thus, #possessiōnem līberam Dardaniae sōlāciō
fore#, L. 40, 57, 9, _that the unrestricted occupancy of Dardania would
prove comforting_, but, #domestica quiēs sōlācium fuit#, L. 6, 30, 9,
_the peace that prevailed at home was a solid comfort_. Prepositional
expressions with #prō# and #in# also occur.
1222. (2.) The dative is also used with a few verbs of considering or
accounting to denote what a thing is accounted.
So with such verbs as #dō#, #dūcō#, #habeō#, #tribuō#, and #vertō#: as,
#vitiō mihī̆ dant, quod mortem hominis necessāriī graviter ferō#, Matius
in _Fam._ 11, 28, 2, _the world scores it against me that I take the
murder of a near and dear friend to heart_. #postquam paupertās probrō
habērī coepit#, S. _C._ 12, 1, _after lack of wealth began to count as a
stigma_.