2223. (1.) The perfect active infinitive sometimes serves as a
complement of #dēbeō#, #volō#, #possum#, &c. (2168): as,
#tametsī statim vīcisse dēbeō, tamen dē meō iūre dēcēdam#, _RA._ 73,
_though I am entitled to come off victorious at once, yet I will waive
my right_; compare #vīcī#, _I am victorious_, 1608. #nīl vetitum fēcisse
volet#, J. 14, 185, _nothing forbidden will he wish to have done_;
compare #fēcī#, _I am guilty_. #unde illa potuit didicisse?# _Div._ 2,
51, _from what source could he have all that information acquired?_
#bellum quod possumus ante hiemem perfēcisse#, L. 37, 19, 5, _the war
which we can have ended up before winter_.
2224. (2.) In prohibitions, the perfect active infinitive often serves
as a complement of #nōlō# or #volō# (2168).
Thus, in old Latin, #nōlītō dēvellisse#, Pl. _Poen._ 872, _do not have
had it plucked_. Particularly so when dependent on #nē velit# or #nē
vellet#, in legal style: as, #nē quis convēnisse sacrōrum causā velit#,
L. 39, 14, 8, _that nobody may presume to have banded with others for
the observance of the mysteries_. BACAS · VIR · NEQVIS · ADIESE · VELET,
CIL. I, 196, 7, inscription of 186 B.C., _that no male should presume to
have had resort to the Bacchants_ (765; 48). #nē quid ēmisse velit
īnsciente dominō#, Cato, _RR._ 5, 4, _he must not venture to have bought
anything without his master’s knowledge_, of a head farm-steward.
2225. In poetry of the Augustan age, the complementary perfect
infinitive active is sometimes dependent on a verb of will or effort,
such as #cūrō#, #labōrō#, #tendō#: as, #tendentēs opācō Pēlion
inposuisse Olympō#, H. 3, 4, 51, _on shadowy Olympus striving Pelion to
have piled_.
2226. Any past tense of the indicative, when made dependent on a verb of
perceiving, knowing, thinking, or saying, is represented by the perfect
infinitive.
Thus, in #Theophrastus scrībit Cīmōnem hospitālem fuisse: ita enim
vīlicīs imperāvisse, ut omnia praebērentur#, _Off._ 2, 64, _Theophrastus
says in his book that Cimon was the soul of hospitality: he had directed
his stewards to furnish everything required_; the #fuisse# represents
#erat# or #fuit#, and the #imperāvisse# may represent #imperābat#,
#imperāvit#, or perhaps #imperāverat#, of direct discourse. #praecō
dīxisse prōnūntiat#, _V._ 2, 75, _the crier proclaims ‘speaking
finished’_ (1605).
2227. The perfect infinitive passive with #fuisse# denotes a past
resulting state: as,
#dīcō Mithridātī cōpiās omnibus rēbus ōrnātās atque īnstrūctās fuisse,
urbemque obsessam esse#, _IP._ 20, _I must tell you that Mithridates’s
troops were completely armed and equipped, and that the town was under
siege_. Here #ōrnātās fuisse# represents #ōrnātae erant# (1615), and
#obsessam esse# represents #obsidēbātur# (1595).
2228. (1.) The perfect active infinitive is sometimes used with #nōlō#
or #volō#, especially in poetry, when the subject of the infinitive is
not the same as that of the verb (2189): as,
#hanc tē ad cēterās virtūtēs adiēcisse velim#, L. 30, 14, 6, _I only
wish you had this good quality added to the rest_.
2229. (2.) #volō# often has an emphatic perfect passive infinitive,
usually without #esse# (2230); less frequently #cupiō# and rarely
#nōlō#: as,
#factum volō#, Pl. _B._ 495, _As._ 685, _I want it done_, i.e. I will.
#illōs monitōs etiam atque etiam volō#, _C._ 2, 27, _I want those people
cautioned over and over_. Particularly common in Cicero, not in Caesar
or Sallust. Also with impersonal infinitives (1479): as #oblīvīscere
illum adversāriō tuō voluisse cōnsultum#, _Att._ 16, 16^c, 10, _you must
forget that the man wanted your enemy provided for_.
2230. The perfect infinitive passive or deponent, commonly without
#esse#, is often used in Plautus, Terence, and Cicero, by assimilation
with past tenses of verbs of propriety, such as #aequum est#,
#convenit#, #decet#, and #oportet#: as, #nōn oportuit relīctās#, T.
_Hau._ 247, _they shouldn’t have been left_. #tē Iovī comprecātam
oportuit#, Pl. _Am._ 739, _you should have said your prayers to Jove_.
The perfect active is less common: as, #cāvisse oportuit#, Pl. _Am._
944, _you should have been upon your guard_. For #volō#, #cupiō#,
#nōlō#, see 2229.
2231. The perfect infinitive of completed action is very common with
such expressions as #satis est#, #satis habeō#, #iuvat#, #melius est#,
#paenitet#, &c., also with verbs of emotion, such as #gaudeō#, &c.: as,
#mē quoque iuvat ad fīnem bellī Pūnicī pervēnisse#, L. 31, 1, 1, _I am
delighted myself to have reached the end of the Punic war_. Oftentimes,
however, in verse, the use of the perfect is partly due to the metre.