1472. In the passive voice, the subject is represented as acted upon.
1473. The object accusative of the active voice becomes the subject of
the passive voice (1125); and the predicate accusative of the active
voice becomes a predicate nominative with the passive voice (1167).
Thus (_a._) in the active construction: #illum laudābunt bonī, hunc
etiam ipsī culpābunt malī#, Pl. _B._ 397, _the one the good will praise,
the other e’en the bad themselves will blame_. In the passive: #laudātur
ab hīs, culpātur ab illīs#, H. _S._ 1, 2, 11, _he’s praised by some, by
others blamed_. Active: #cīvēs Rōmānōs interficiunt#, 7, 3, 1, _they
slay some citizens of Rome_. Passive: #Indutiomarus interficitur#, 5,
58, 6, _Indutiomarus is slain_. (_b._) Active: #mīlitēs certiōrēs
facit#, 3, 5, 3, _he informs the soldiers_. Passive: #certior factus
est#, 2, 34, _he was informed_.
1474. Verbs which have two accusatives, one of the person and one of the
thing in the active voice, generally have the person as subject in the
passive, less frequently the thing: see 1171.
1475. An emphasizing or defining accusative, or an accusative of extent
or duration, is occasionally made the subject of a passive: as,
#haec illīc est pugnāta pugna#, Pl. _Am._ 253, _this fight was fought
off there_ (1140). #tōta mihī dormītur hiems#, Mart. 13, 59, 1, _all
winter long by me is slept_, i.e. #tōtam dormiō hiemem# (1151).
1476. The person by whom the action is done is put in the ablative with
#ab# or #ā# (1318); the thing by which it is done is put in the
instrumental ablative (1377); as,
(_a._) #nōn numquam latrō ā viātōre occīditur#, _Mil._ 55, _once in a
while the robber gets killed by the wayfarer_. #respondit, ā cīve sē
spoliārī mālle quam ab hoste vēnīre#, Quintil. 12, 1, 43, _he said in
reply that he would rather be plundered by a Roman than sold by an
enemy_ (1471). (_b._) #ūnīus virī prūdentiā Graecia līberāta est#, N. 2,
5, 3, _Greece was saved from slavery by the sagacity of a single man_,
i.e. Themistocles. Very often, however, the person or thing is not
expressed, particularly with impersonals.
1477. When the person is represented as a mere instrument, the ablative
is used without #ab# (1378); and when collectives, animals, or things
without life are personified, the ablative takes #ab# (1318): as,
(_a._) #neque vērō minus Platō dēlectātus est Diōne#, N. 10, 2, 3, _and
Plato on his part was just as much bewitched with Dion_. (_b._) #eius
ōrātiō ā multitūdine et ā forō dēvorābātur#, _Br._ 283, _his oratory was
swallowed whole by the untutored many and by the bar_.
1478. Sometimes the person by whom the action is done is indicated by
the dative of the possessor: see 1216. And regularly with the gerund and
gerundive construction (2243).
1479. Only verbs of transitive use have ordinarily a complete passive.
Verbs of intransitive use have only the impersonal forms of the passive
(1034): as,
#diū atque ācriter pugnātum est#, 1, 26, 1, _there was long and sharp
fighting_. #tōtīs trepidātur castrīs#, 6, 37, 6, _all through the camp
there was tumult and affright_. #mihī̆ quidem persuādērī numquam potuit,
animōs ēmorī#, _CM._ 80, _for my part, I never could be convinced that
the soul becomes extinct at death_ (1181). Similarly verbs which have a
transitive use may also be used impersonally: as, #di͡ēs noctīsque
ēstur, bibitur#, Pl. _Most._ 235, _there is eating and drinking all day
and all night_ (1133).
1480. The complementary dative of a verb in the active voice is in
poetry very rarely made the subject of a passive verb: as, #invideor#,
H. _AP._ 56, _I am envied_. #imperor#, H. _E._ 1, 5, 21, _I charge
myself_.
1481. The passive had originally a reflexive meaning, which is still to
be seen in the passive of many verbs: as,
#exercēbātur plūrimum currendō et lūctandō#, N. 15, 2, 4, _he took a
great deal of exercise in running and wrestling_. #dēnsōs fertur in
hostīs#, V. 2, 511, _he tries to charge upon the serried foes_. #quod
semper movētur, aeternum est#, _TD._ 1, 53, _anything that is always
moving, is eternal_.
1482. The present participle of reflexives is sometimes used in a
reflexive sense: as, #exercēns#, _exercising oneself_, _exercising_,
#ferēns#, _tearing along_, #vehēns#, _riding_, and #invehēns#, _mounted
on_, #pāscēns#, _browsing_, #versāns#, _playing_, _being_, #volvēns#,
_rolling_. Also the gerund: as, #iūs vehendī#, _the privilege of
riding_.
1483. Passive forms of #coepī# and #dēsinō# are commonly used in the
perfect system, when a dependent infinitive is passive: as,
#litterīs ōrātiō est coepta mandārī#, _Br._ 26, _oratory began to be put
in black and white_. #veterēs ōrātiōnēs legī sunt dēsitae#, _Br._ 123,
_the old speeches ceased to be read_. But the active forms are sometimes
used by Cornificius, Sallust, and Livy, and regularly by Tacitus. The
active forms are used with #fierī# also, which is not passive (789); but
even with #fierī#, Livy uses the passive forms.
1484. Similar attractions with a passive infinitive occur in #potestur#,
&c., #quītur# and #quitus sum#, #nequītur#, &c., rarely, and mostly in
old Latin: as, #fōrma in tenebrīs nōscī nōn quitast#, T. _Hec._ 572,
_her shape could hardly be distinguished in the dark_.
1485. Some perfect participles have an active meaning: as, #adultus#,
_grown up_. See 907, and also in the dictionary #cautus#, #cōnsultus#,
#concrētus#, #dēflāgrātus#, #incōnsīderātus#, #occāsus#, #nūpta#.
[Erratum:
1482 ... as, #exercēns#
as.]