1614. The pluperfect indicative expresses past action, completed before
another past action expressed or understood: as,
#scrīpseram#, _I had written_. #Pyrrhī temporibus iam Apollō versūs
facere dēsierat#, _Div._ 2, 116, _in Pyrrhus’s day Apollo had quite
given up making poetry_. #mortuus erat Āgis rēx. fīlium relīquerat
Leōtychidem#, N. 17, 1, 4, _Agis the king had died; he had left a son
Leotychides_.
1615. The pluperfect often expresses a past resulting state: as,
#castra oportūnīs locīs erant posita#, 7, 69, 7, _the camp was pitched
on favourable ground_. #ita ūnō tempore et longās nāvēs aestus
complēverat, et onerāriās tempestās adflīctābat#, 4, 29, 2, _thus at one
and the same time the tide had filled the men-of-war, and the gale of
wind kept knocking the transports about_. This use is analogous to that
of the perfect in 1608.
1616. In letters, the pluperfect is sometimes used to denote action
occurring previous to the time of writing, the writer transferring
himself to the time of the reader: as,
#ūnam adhūc ā tē epistolam accēperam#, _Att._ 7, 12, 1, _I have only had
one letter from you thus far_. This use is analogous to that of the
imperfect in 1601, and very often, where this pluperfect would be
applicable, the perfect is used.
1617. The pluperfect is sometimes used where the perfect would be
expected. Particularly so when it anticipates a past tense to follow in
a new sentence: as, #quod factum prīmō populārīs coniūrātiōnis
concusserat. neque tamen Catilīnae furor minuēbātur#, S. _C._ 24, 1,
_this terrified the conspirators at first; and yet Catiline’s frenzy was
not getting abated_. Verbs of saying are also often put in the
pluperfect in subordinate sentences referring to a preceding statement:
as, #Epidamniēnsis ille, quem dūdum dīxeram, adoptat illum puerum
surruptīcium#, Pl. _Men. prol._ 57, _said man of Epidamnus that I named
erewhile adopts said kidnapped boy_.
1618. It may be mentioned here, that the pluperfect is used in a
subordinate sentence denoting time anterior to a past tense of repeated
action. In such sentences the preterite is preferred in English: as,
#hostēs ubī̆ aliquōs singulārēs cōnspexerant, incitātīs equīs
adoriēbantur#, 4, 26, 2, _every time the enemy caught sight of detached
parties, they would always charge full gallop_. Compare the analogous
perfect in 1613.
[Erratum:
1617 ... #quod factum prīmō populārīs coniūrātiōnis concusserat#
popularīs]