1271. A few neuter adjectives of quantity are put in the genitive with
verbs of valuing to denote the amount of estimation; such genitives are:
#magnī#, #plūris#, #plūrimī#;
#parvī#, #minōris#, #minimī#;
#tantī#, #quantī#.
The verbs with which these genitives are used are #aestimō#, #dūcō#,
#faciō#, #habeō#, #pendō#, #putō#, and #sum#; rarely #exīstimō#: as,
#magnī opera eius aestimāta est#, N. 24, 1, 2, _his services were rated
high_. #nōn magnī pendō#, Pl. _As._ 460, _I don’t care much_. #sua parvī
pendere#, S. _C._ 12, 2, _a setting small store by what they had of
their own_. #Verrēsne tibī̆ tantī fuit?# _V._ 1, 77, _was Verres so
important in your eyes?_ #est mihī̆ tantī#. _C._ 2, 15, _it is well
worth my while_. #quantī is ā cīvibus suīs fieret īgnōrābās?# _V._ 4,
19, _did not you know how the man was prized by his own townsmen?_
Rarely #maximī#: as, #maximī aestimāre#, _Clu._ 159, _to think all the
world of_.
1272. In expressions of worthlessness, other genitives are also used
thus; such are #nihilī#, or, usually with a negative, #āssis#, #floccī#,
#naucī#, #pilī#, #teruncī#: as, #nōn āssis facis?# Cat. 43, 13, _car’st
not a doit?_ So also #huius#: as, #huius nōn faciam#, T. _Ad._ 163,
_I shall not care a snap_.
1273. With #aestimō#, the ablatives #magnō# and #permagnō# are sometimes
used: as, #quid? tū ista permagnō aestimās?# _V._ 4, 13, _tell me, do
you rate that sort of thing very high yourself?_ Compare 1390.
1274. The genitives #tantī# and #quantī#, #plūris# and #minōris# are
also used with verbs of buying and selling, hiring and letting, and
costing. But other words are put in the ablative with these verbs: see
1391. For #magnī#, &c., with #rēfert# and #interest#, see 1279.
1275. A similar genitive occurs in one or two set forms, such as #aequī
bonīque dīcō#, or #faciō#, #aequī faciō#, and #bonī cōnsulō#: as,
#istūc, Chremēs, aequī bonīque faciō#, T. _Hau._ 787, _I count that,
Chremes, fair and good_. #aequī istūc faciō#, Pl. _MG._ 784, _that’s all
the same to me_.
THE VERBS #rēfert# AND #interest#.
1276. #rēfert# and #interest#, _it concerns_, are much alike in meaning
and in construction. But the use of #rēfert# is characteristic of old
Latin and poetry; in prose from Cicero on it is almost supplanted by
#interest#, especially where persons are concerned.
1277. (1.) With #rēfert# and #interest#, a first or second person
concerned is denoted by the possessive pronoun forms #meā#, #tuā#,
#nostrā#, #vestrā#; and, from Cicero on, the third person reflexive by
#suā#: as,
(_a._) #quid id rēfert meā?# Pl. _Cur._ 395, _what’s that to me?_ #tuā
istūc rēfert maxumē#, Pl. _Tri._ 319, _that is of most concern to thee_.
#nōn suā rēferre#, _Quinct._ 19, _that it did not concern him_. #nōn
nostrā magis quam vestrā rēfert vōs nōn rebellāre#, L. 34, 17, 7, _it is
not more for our interest than for your own that you should not make war
again_. Without the verb: as, #quid istūc nostrā#, or #quid id nostrā?#
T. _Ph._ 800, 940, _what’s that to us?_ (_b._) #tuā et meā maximē
interest tē valēre#, _Fam._ 16, 4, 4, _your health is a matter of the
highest importance to you and to me_. #vestrā hōc maximē interest#,
_Sull._ 79, _this is of vital moment to you_.
1278. (2.) With #interest#, from Cicero on, a third person or thing
concerned is denoted by the genitive. Also with #rēfert#, a few times
from Sallust on: as,
(_a._) #quid eius intererat?# _RA._ 96, _what concern was it of his?_
#interesse rē̆ī pūblicae sē cum Pompēiō colloquī#, Caes. _C._ 1, 24, 5,
_that it was of importance to the common weal that he should have a
parley with Pompey_. (_b._) #faciundum aliquid, quod illōrum magis quam
suā rētulisse vidērētur#, S. _I._ 111, 1, _that he must do something
which should seem more for the other side’s good than his own_. For the
accusative with #ad# with these verbs, or for the dative with #rēfert#,
see the dictionary.
1279. The matter of concern is expressed by a sentence or infinitive, or
by a neuter pronoun; rarely by an appellative: as, #nōn quō meā
interesset locī nātūra#, _Att._ 3, 19, 1, _not that the character of the
place concerned me_. The degree of concern is expressed by an adverb, as
#magnopere#, by a neuter accusative, as #multum#, or by a genitive of
estimation, #magnī#, #permagnī#, #plūris#, #parvī#, #tantī#, #quantī#
(1271).
[Erratum:
1277a ... T. _Ph._ 800, 940
_Ph_ 800]