1792. Relative sentences are introduced by relative words, the most
important of which is the pronoun #quī#, _who_, _which_, or _that_. The
relative pronoun may be in any case required by the context, and may
represent any of the three persons.
1793. The relative adverbs, #ubī̆#, #quō#, #unde#, often take the place
of a relative pronoun with a preposition, chiefly in designations of
place, and regularly with town and island names. Less frequently of
persons, though #unde# is not uncommonly thus used.
1794. In a wider sense, sentences introduced by any relative conjunctive
particle, such as #ubī̆#, _when_, are sometimes called relative
sentences. Such sentences, however, are more conveniently treated
separately, under the head of the several conjunctive particles.
1795. (1.) The relative pronoun, like the English relative _who_,
_which_, was developed from the interrogative. Originally, the relative
sentence precedes, and the main sentence follows, just as in question
and answer.
Thus, #quae mūtat, ea corrumpit#, _Fin._ 1, 21, _what he changes, that
he spoils_, is a modification of the older question and answer: #quae
mūtat? ea corrumpit#, _what does he change? that he spoils_. With
adjective relatives, the substantive is expressed in both members, in
old or formal Latin: as, #quae rēs apud nostrōs nōn erant, eārum rērum
nōmina nōn poterant esse ūsitāta#, Cornif. 4, 10, _what things did not
exist among our countrymen, of those things the names could not have
been in common use_.
1796. (2.) The relative sentence may also come last. As early as
Plautus, this had become the prevalent arrangement, and the substantive
of the main sentence is called the _Antecedent_: as,
#ultrā eum locum, quō in locō Germānī cōnsēderant, castrīs idōneum locum
dēlēgit#, 1, 49, 1, _beyond the place in which place the Germans had
established themselves, he selected a suitable spot for his camp_. The
three words #diēs#, #locus#, and #rēs#, are very commonly expressed thus
both in the antecedent and the relative sentence. This repetition is
rare in Livy, and disappears after his time.
1797. In old Latin, rarely in classical poetry, a sentence sometimes
begins with an emphasized antecedent put before the relative, and in the
case of the relative: as, #urbem quam statuō vostra est#, V. 1, 573,
_the city which I found is yours_; for #quam urbem statuō, ea vostra
est#. In the main sentence, #is#, #hīc#, #iste#, or #ille#, is often
used; less frequently, as in this example, an appellative.
1798. The main sentence often has the determinative or demonstrative, or
the substantive, or both omitted: as,
(_a._) #ubī̆ intellēxit diem īnstāre, quō diē frūmentum mīlitibus mētīrī
oportēret#, 1, 16, 5, _when he saw the day was drawing nigh, on which
day the grain was to be measured out to his men_. (_b._) #quōs āmīsimus
cīvīs, eōs Mārtis vīs perculit#, _Marc._ 17, _what fellow-citizens we
have lost, those the fury of the War-god smote down_. (_c._) #Sabīnus
quōs tribūnōs mīlitum circum sē habēbat, sē sequī iubet#, 5, 37, 1,
_Sabinus ordered what tribunes of the soldiers he had about him, to
follow him_.
1799. The antecedent is often omitted when it is indefinite, or is
obvious from the context: as,
#sunt quī mīrentur#, _V_. 1, 6, _there be who wonder_. #dēlēgistī quōs
Rōmae relinquerēs#, _C._ 1, 9, _you picked out people to leave in Rome_.
#quod periīt, periīt#, Pl. _Cist._ 703, _gone is gone_. #Caesar cōgnōvit
Cōnsidium, quod nōn vīdisset, prō vīsō sibī̆ renūntiāvisse#, 1, 22, 4,
_Caesar ascertained that Considius had reported to him as seen what he
had not seen_.
1800. An ablative or nominative abstract in the relative sentence
sometimes represents an ablative of manner or quality omitted from the
main sentence: as, #quā prūdentiā es, nihil tē fugiet#, _Fam._ 11, 13,
1, _with what sense you have, nothing will elude you_, i.e. #eā quā es
prūdentiā, nihil tē fugiet. spērō, quae tua prūdentia est, tē valēre#,
_Att._ 6, 9, 1, _I hope that, with your characteristic caution, you are
well_. #at Āiāx, quō animō trāditur, mīlliēs oppetere mortem quam illa
perpetī māluisset#, _Off._ 1, 113, _Ajax, on the contrary, with his
traditional vehemence, would have chosen rather to die a thousand deaths
than to submit to such indignities_. This ellipsis begins with Cicero,
and is found a few times only in later writers.