1232. (1.) The genitive is used to denote that which does the action, or
which causes, originates, or possesses the object designated by the
substantive it limits: as,
#metus hostium#, Gell. 9, 12, 13, _the fear of the enemy_, i.e. which
they feel. #adventus Caesaris#, 6, 41, 4, _the arrival of Caesar_.
#bellum Venetōrum#, 3, 16, 1, _the war with the Venetans_. #illud
Solōnis#, _CM._ 50, _Solon’s memorable words_. #Canachī sīgna#, _Br._
70, _statues by Canachus_. #Cupīdinis sīgnum#, _V._ 4, 135, _the statue
representing Cupid_. #huius sīgnīs#, _V._ 3, 9, _with statues belonging
to this man_. #pācem Ariovistī#, 1, 37, 2, _a peaceful policy on
Ariovistus’s part_. #Cannārum pugna#, L. 23, 43, 4, _the battle of
Cannae_ (1427). #abacī vāsa omnia#, _V._ 4, 35, _all the vessels on the
sideboard_. #prīdiē eius diēī#, 1, 47, 2, _the day before that day_
(1413). #labrōrum tenus#, Lucr. 1, 940, _the length of the lips_ (1420).
1233. Instead of the genitive, an adjective is often used to express
such relations; less frequently a prepositional construction: as,
(_a._) #odium paternum#, N. 23, 1, 3, _the hatred felt by his father_.
#servīlī tumultū#, 1, 40, 5, _in the slave insurrection_. #bellō
Cassiānō#, 1, 13, 2, _in the war with Cassius_. #illud Cassiānum, cui
bonō fuerit#, _Ph._ 2, 35, _Cassius’s test question, ‘who the gainer
was.’_ #erīlis patria#, Pl. _B._ 170, _my master’s birthplace_. #intrā
domesticōs parietēs#, _C._ 2, 1, _within the walls of our houses_. So
usually with names of countries and of towns: as, #anus Corinthia#, T.
_Hau._ 600, _an old woman of Corinth_. #pugna Cannēnsis#, L. 22, 50, 1,
_the battle of Cannae_. Often in a generalizing sense: as, #paternus
māternusque sanguī̆s#, _RA._ 66, _the blood of a father and of a
mother_. (_b._) #ad Cannās pugnam#, L. 22, 58, 1, _the battle of
Cannae_.
1234. The possessive pronoun is regularly used instead of the possessive
genitive of a personal or reflexive pronoun (1230): as,
#mea domus#, _RA._ 145, _my own house_. #in tuā quādam epistolā#, _Att._
9, 10, 3, _in a letter of yours_. But sometimes, for emphasis, the
genitive of the personal or reflexive is used: as, #magnō suī cum
perīculō#, 4, 28, 2, _with great personal risk_; commonly so with
#omnium# or #utriusque#: as, #voluntātī vestrūm omnium pāruī#, _DO._ 3,
208, _I yielded to your joint wish_; see however 1235.
1235. A word in apposition with the possessive pronoun is put in the
genitive: as, #meā ūnīus operā#, _Pis._ 6, _by my sole instrumentality_.
#ad vestram omnium caedem#, _C._ 4, 4, _for the murder of you all_
(1230). So particularly #ipse#, #omnis#, #sōlus#, and #ūnus#.
1236. The genitive is often used predicatively with verbs meaning _am_,
_belong_, _become_, _make_, _seem_, _am accounted_, &c., &c.: as,
#litterāriī ista sunt lūdī#, Quint. 1, 4, 27, _such questions belong to
the infant school_. #hīc versus Plautī nōn est, hīc est#, _Fam._ 9, 16,
4, _this line is not Plautus’s, this one is_. #omnia, quae mulieris
fuērunt, virī fīunt#, _Top._ 23, _everything which was the woman’s
becomes the man’s_. #neque sē iūdicāre Galliam potius esse Ariovistī
quam populī Rōmānī#, 1, 45, 1, _and that he did not think Gaul was any
more Ariovistus’s than it was the Romans’_. #hostiumst potīta#, Pl. _E._
562, _into the foemen’s hands she fell_.
1237. The possessive genitive of a person or of an abstract is
particularly common when the subject of the verb is an infinitive or
sentence: as,
(_a._) #scyphīs pugnāre Thrācum est#, H. 1, 27, 1, _to fight with bowls
is Vandal work_. #erat āmentis, cum aciem vidērēs, pācem cōgitāre#,
_Lig._ 28, _it was a madman’s act, dreaming of peace when you saw the
troops in battalia_. #temporī cēdere semper sapientis est habitum#,
_Fam._ 4, 9, 2, _shaping your course to circumstance has always passed
as the sign of a wise man_. #mentīrī nōn est meum#, T. _Hau._ 549,
_telling lies is not my style_ (1234). (_b._) #nōn est pudōris meī, mē
prōpugnātōrem P. Scīpiōnis profitērī#, _V._ 4, 80, _it is not in keeping
with my delicacy to set up as the champion of Scipio_. #hārum rērum esse
dēfēnsōrem magnī animī est#, _Sest._ 99, _to be the defender of these
interests takes heroism_. #hoc sentīre prūdentiae est, facere
fortitūdinis#, _Sest._ 86, _to think thus shows wisdom, to act thus,
courage_. #negāvit mōris esse Graecōrum, ut in convīviō virōrum
accumberent mulierēs#, _V._ 1, 66, _he said it was not manners among the
Greeks to have women at table at a men’s dinner-party_.
1238. With the possessive genitive, the limited substantive is sometimes
defined by #commūnis#, #proprius# or #aliēnus#, #sacer#, or #tōtus#
added: as, #hoc proprium virtūtis exīstimant#, 6, 23, 2, _this they
consider a special characteristic of bravery_. #omnia quae nostra erant
propria#, _RA._ 150, _everything which was our peculiar property_
(1234). #illa īnsula eōrum deōrum sacra putātur#, _V._ 1, 48, _that
island is considered the hallowed property of those gods_. #iam mē
Pompēī tōtum esse scīs#, _Fam._ 2, 13, 2, _you are aware that I am
become Pompey’s, out and out_.