1889. (1.) #quam#, _as_, is used in the protasis of a comparative period
of equality, generally with #tam# as correlative in the apodosis: as,
#tam facile vincēs quam pirum volpēs comēst#, Pl. _Most._ 559, _you’ll
beat as easily as Reynard eats a pear_. #tam excoctam reddam atque ātram
quam carbōst#, T. _Ad._ 849, _I’ll have her stewed all out and black as
is a coal_. From Cicero on, the apodosis is in general negative or
interrogative: as, #quōrum neutrum tam facile quam tū arbitrāris
concēditur#, _Div._ 1, 10, _neither of these points is as readily
granted as you suppose_. #quid est ōrātōrī tam necessārium quam vōx?#
_DO._ 1, 251, _what is so indispensable to the speaker as voice?_
Otherwise #nōn minus . . . quam#, _no less than_, _just as much_, or
#nōn magis . . . quam#, _just as little_ or _just as much_, is often
preferred to #tam . . . quam#: as, #accēpī nōn minus interdum ōrātōrium
esse tacēre quam dīcere#, Plin. _Ep._ 7, 6, 7, _I have observed that
silence is sometimes quite as eloquent as speech_. #nōn magis mihī̆
deerit inimīcus quam Verrī dēfuit#, _V._ 3, 162, _I shall lack an enemy
as little as Verres did_. #domus erat nōn dominō magis ōrnāmentō quam
cīvitātī#, _V._ 4, 5, _the house was as much a pride to the state as to
its owner_.
1890. Instead of #tam#, another correlative is sometimes used in the
apodosis. Thus, #aequē . . . quam# occurs in Plautus and in Livy and
later writers, generally after a negative expression; #perinde . . .
quam# in Tacitus and Suetonius; #iūxtā ... quam# once in Livy. Sometimes
the apodosis contains no correlative.
1891. #tam . . . quam# become by abridgement coordinating words: as,
#tam vēra quam falsa cernimus#, _Ac._ 2, 111, _we make out things both
true and false_.
1892. The highest possible degree is expressed by #tam . . . quam quī#
and a superlative without a verb; or by #quam# and a superlative with or
without a form of #possum# (1466); sometimes by #quantus# or #ut#: as,
(_a._) #tam sum misericors quam vōs; tam mītis quam quī lēnissimus#,
_Sull._ 87, _I am as tender-hearted as you; as mild as the gentlest man
living_. #tam sum amīcus rē̆ī pūblicae quam quī maximē#, _Fam._ 5, 2, 6,
_I am as devoted a patriot as anybody can be_. (_b._) #quam maximīs
potest itineribus in Galliam contendit#, 1, 7, 1, _he pushes into Gaul
by as rapid marches as he can_. #cōnstituērunt iūmentōrum quam maximum
numerum coëmere#, 1, 3, 1, _they determined to buy up the greatest
possible number of beasts of burden_. (_c._) #tanta est inter eōs,
quanta maxima potest esse, mōrum distantia#, _L._ 74, _there is the
greatest possible difference of character between them_. Or without any
superlative: #fuge domum quantum potest#, Pl. _Men._ 850, _run home as
quick as e’er you can_. #ut potuī accūrātissimē tē tūtātus sum#, _Fam._
5, 17, 2, _I defended you as carefully as I could_.
1893. #quam . . . tam#, with two comparatives or superlatives, is
equivalent to the more common #quō . . . eō# with two comparatives
(1973): as,
(_a._) #magis quam id reputō, tam magis ūror#, Pl. _B._ 1091, _the more
I think it over, the sorer do I feel_. This use is found in Plautus,
Lucretius, and Vergil. (_b._) #quam quisque pessumē fēcit, tam maxumē
tūtus est#, S. _I._ 31, 14, _the worse a man has acted, the safer he
always is_. This use is found in Plautus, Terence, Cato, Varro, and
Sallust.
1894. (2.) #quam#, _than_, is used in the protasis of a comparative
period of inequality, with a comparative in the apodosis: as,
#meliōrem quam ego sum suppōnō tibī̆#, Pl. _Cu._ 256, _I give you in my
place a better man than I am_. #plūra dīxī quam voluī#, _V._ 5, 79,
_I have said more than I intended_. #Antōniō quam est, volō peius esse#,
_Att._ 15, 3, 2, _I hope Antony may be worse off than he is_. #doctrīna
paulō dūrior quam nātūra patitur#, _Mur._ 60, _principles somewhat
sterner than nature doth support_. #potius sērō quam numquam#, L. 4, 2,
11, _better late than never_. #corpus patiēns algōris suprā quam cuiquam
crēdibile est#, S. _C._ 5, 3, _a constitution capable of enduring cold
beyond what anybody could believe_. #suprā quam# is found in Cicero,
Sallust, and often in late writers; #īnfrā# and #ultrā quam# in Cicero,
Livy, and late writers (#īnfrā quam# also in Varro); #extrā quam# in
Ennius, Cato, and in legal and official language in Cicero and Livy.
1895. #quam# is also used with some virtual comparatives: thus, #nihil
aliud#, #nōn aliud quam#, _no other than_, often as adverb, _only_;
#secus quam# with a negative, _not otherwise than_; #bis tantō quam#,
_twice as much as_; and #prae quam# in old Latin, _in comparison with
how_; and similar phrases: as,
(_a._) #per bīduum nihil aliud quam stetērunt parātī ad pugnandum#, L.
34, 46, 7, _for two days they merely stood in battle array_. This use
occurs first in Sallust, then in Nepos, Livy, and later writers. (_b._)
#mihī̆ erit cūrae nē quid fīat secus quam volumus#, _Att._ 6, 2, 2,
_I will see to it that nothing be done save as we wish_. This use occurs
in Plautus, Terence, Sallust, Cicero, Livy, and later writers. With both
#aliud# and #secus# the clause is rarely positive, with #aliud# not
before Livy. For #atque# (#ac#) instead of #quam# when the first clause
is negative, see 1654. (_c._) #bis tantō valeō quam valuī prius#, Pl.
_Merc._ 297, _I am twice as capable as I was before_. (_d._) #nīl hōc
quidem est trīgintā minae, prae quam aliōs sūmptūs facit#, Pl. _Most._
981, _oh, this is nothing, thirty minae, when you think what other sums
he spends_. #prae quam# is found only in Plautus rarely. Similar phrases
are: #contrā quam#, in Cicero, Livy, and later writers; #praeter quam#,
in Plautus, Naevius, and frequently in other writers when followed by
#quod# (1848); #super quam quod# (1848) and #īnsuper quam# in Livy; #prō
quam# in Lucretius; #advorsum quam#, once in Plautus. #prae quam# is
sometimes followed by a relative clause: as, #prae quam quod
molestumst#, Pl. _Am._ 634, _compared with what is painful_. For #ante#
(or #prius#) and #post quam#, see 1911, 1923.