2269. The supine is a verbal substantive. The form in #-um# is an
accusative. The form in #-ū# is used sometimes as a dative, sometimes as
an ablative.
THE SUPINE IN #-um#.
2270. The supine in #-um# denotes purpose with verbs of motion (1166):
as,
#abiīt piscātum#, Pl. #R.# 898, _he’s gone a fishing_. #neu noctū īrem
obambulātum#, Pl. _Tri._ 315, _not to go a prowling by night_. #legiōne
ūnā frūmentātum missā#, 4, 32, 1, _one legion being sent a foraging_.
#sessum it praetor#, _DN._ 3, 74, _the praetor is going to take his
seat_. #spectātum veniunt, veniunt spectentur ut ipsae#, O. _AA._ 1, 99,
_they come to see and eke for to be seen_. This use is very common in
Plautus and Terence, less common in Cicero and Caesar. It is found not
infrequently in Sallust and particularly in Livy; sporadically in the
Augustan poets. In late prose it is almost confined to archaistic
writing. In classical Latin, purpose is more commonly expressed by the
subjunctive with #ut# or a relative pronoun, or by a gerundive or gerund
with #ad# or #causā#. See also 2164.
2271. The most common supines in #-um# are #cubitum#, #dormītum#,
#ēreptum#, #frūmentātum#, #grātulātum#, #nūntiātum#, #oppugnātum#,
#ōrātum#, #pāstum#, #perditum#, #petītum#, #salūtātum#, #sessum#,
#supplicātum#. They are found chiefly with #eō# and #veniō#. #nūptum# is
also common with #dō#, #collocō#, &c., and supines are occasionally
found with other verbs implying motion.
2272. The supine in #-um# may be followed by the same construction as
its verb: as,
(_a._) Accusative: #deōs salūtātum atque uxōrem modo intrō dēvortor
domum#, Pl. _St._ 534, _I’ll just turn in home to greet my gods and my
wife_. #lēgātōs ad Caesarem mittunt rogātum auxilium#, 1, 11, 2, _they
send envoys to Caesar to beg aid_. #oppugnātum patriam nostram veniunt#,
L. 21, 41, 13, _they come to assail our country_. Classical writers
generally avoid this use of the accusative. (_b._) Dative: #servītum
tibi mē abdūcitō#, Pl. _Ps._ 520, _take me away to slave for you_. #nōn
ego Grāīs servītum mātribus ībō#, V. 2, 786, _not I shall go to be the
serf of Grecian dames_. (_c._) Subordinate clause: #lēgātī veniēbant:
Aeduī questum quod Harūdēs fīnēs eōrum populārentur#, 1, 37, 1, _envoys
came: the Aeduans to complain ‘because the Harudians were laying their
country waste’_ (1853). #lēgātōs ad Caesarem mīsērunt ōrātum nē sē in
hostium numerō dūceret#, 6, 32, 1, _they sent envoys to Caesar to beg
that he would not regard them in the light of enemies_.
2273. The supine in #-um# followed by #īrī# forms the future passive
infinitive: as,
#eum exceptum īrī putō#, _Att._ 7, 22, 1, _I think that there is a going
to capture him_, i.e. _that he is going to be captured_. Here #īrī# is
used impersonally and #eum# is the object of #exceptum#. This infinitive
is found half a dozen times in old Latin, often in Cicero, rarely in
other writers; not in the Augustan poets. For the common periphrasis,
see 2233.
THE SUPINE IN #-ū#.
2274. The supine in #-ū# is used with #fās#, #nefās#, and adjectives,
chiefly of such meaning as _easy_, _good_, _pleasant_, _strange_, or
their opposites.
Only a few supines in #-ū# are found; the commonest are #audītū#,
#cōgnitū#, #dictū#, #factū#, #inventū#, #memorātū#, #nātū#, #vīsū#.
#sī hoc fās est dictū#, _TD._ 5, 38, _if heaven allows us to say so_.
#difficile dictū est dē singulīs#, _Fam._ 1, 7, 2, _it is hard to say in
the case of individuals_. #quaerunt quod optimum factū sit#, _V._ 1, 68,
_they ask what the best thing is to do_. #quid est tam iocundum cōgnitū
atque audītū?# _DO._ 1, 31, _what pleasure is greater to mind and ear?_
#palpebrae mollissimae tāctū#, _DN._ 2, 142, _the eyelids are very soft
to the touch_. With such adjectives the dative is commonly used (1200);
or, particularly with #facilis# or #difficilis#, the gerundive
construction with #ad# (2252); for the infinitive, see 2166. The supine
in #-ū# is found chiefly in Cicero and Livy. Very rare in old Latin,
Sallust, Caesar (who has only #factū# and #nātū#), and the poets. From
the elder Pliny and Tacitus on, it gets commoner.
2275. The supine in #-ū# sometimes introduces a subordinate sentence,
but it is never used with an object in the accusative.
#quoivīs facile scītū est quam fuerim miser#, T. _Hec._ 296, _anybody
can easily understand how unhappy I was_. #incrēdibile memorātū est quam
facile coaluerint#, S. _C._ 6, 2, _it is an incredible tale how readily
they grew into one_. #vidētis nefās esse dictū miseram fuisse tālem
senectūtem#, _CM._ 13, _you see that it were a sin to say that an old
age like his was unhappy_.
2276. The supine in #-ū# is found rarely with #opus est# (1379),
#dīgnus# and #indīgnus# (1392): as,
#ita dictū opus est#, T. _Hau._ 941, _thus thou must needs say_. #nihil
dignum dictū āctum hīs cōnsulibus#, L. 4, 30, 4, _nothing worth
mentioning was done this year_. For #dignus# with #quī# and the
subjunctive, see 1819; for #opus est# with the infinitive, 2211.
2277. In Plautus and Cato, the supine in #-ū# is very rarely used like
an ablative of separation (1302): as, #nunc opsonātū redeō#, Pl. _Men._
288, _I’m only just back from catering_. #prīmus cubitū surgat,
postrēmus cubitum eat#, Cato, _RR._ 5, 5, _let him be first to get up
from bed and last to go to bed_. Statius imitates this use in _Ach._ 1,
119.
[Erratum:
2276 ... #dīgnus# and #indīgnus#
text unchanged: word generally spelled “-dign-” (see endnote on
first edition)]