2287. Participles sometimes become substantives, especially the perfect
participle: as,
#vīvit gnāta#, T. _Ph._ 749, _your daughter’s alive_. #dē dēmēnsō suō#,
T. _Ph._ 43, _out of his allowance_. #īnstitūtum tenēbimus#, _TD._ 4, 7,
_we will hold to our fundamental idea_. Adverbs, not adjectives, are
commonly used to qualify perfect participles used as substantives; for
examples, see 1440. The masculine singular is rarely used as a
substantive; the neuter, both singular and plural, is common,
particularly with prepositions.
2288. The masculine plural of the perfect participle, when used as a
substantive, generally denotes a definite class of persons: as,
#ut damnātī in integrum restituantur, vīnctī solvantur#, _V._ 5, 12,
_that the condemned go scot-free, the imprisoned are set at liberty_.
#Catilīna cum expedītīs in prīmā aciē vorsārī#, S. _C._ 60, 4, _Catiline
bustling round in the van with the light infantry_. #ēvocātīs equōs
sūmit#, 7, 65, 5, _he took away the veterans’ horses_. Rarely not
denoting a definite class: as, #missī intercipiuntur#, 5, 40, 1, _the
men who had been sent_ (i.e. on a particular occasion) _are cut off_.
2289. The perfect participle alone sometimes serves as the subject of a
sentence instead of an abstract substantive (2285): as,
#nōtum furēns quid fēmina possit#, V. 5, 6, _the knowledge of what a
woman in her wrath can do_. #prōnūntiātum repente nē quis violārētur,
multitūdinem exuit armīs#, L. 4, 59, 7, _the sudden proclamation that
nobody was to be harmed, deprived the people of their weapons_. This use
is found chiefly in Livy, once or twice in Cicero; not in Caesar or
Sallust. See 1382.
2290. The present participle is rarely a substantive in the nominative
and ablative singular, but often in the other cases.
#in cōnstituentibus rem pūblicam#, _Br._ 45, _among the founders of a
state_. #multae īnsectantēs dēpellunt#, _DN._ 2, 127, _many drive off
their pursuers_. #nec praeterita nec praesentia abs tē, sed futūra
exspectō#, _Fam._ 2, 8, 1, _I do not expect from you the past or the
present, but the future_.
2291. The genitive plural of the present participle is often best
translated by an English abstract: as,
#cachinnōs inrīdentium commovēbat#, _Br._ 216, _he provoked guffaws of
derision_. #mixtōs terrentium paventiumque clāmōrēs#, L. 22, 5, 4,
_mingled cries of exultation and terror_. #prīmō gaudentium impetū#, Ta.
_H._ 1, 4, _in the first outburst of joy_.
2292. The future participle is very rarely used as a substantive.
#audītūrum dictūrī cūra dēlectat#, Quintil. 11, 3, 157, _deliberation on
the part of one who is on the point of speaking attracts his prospective
hearer_. #havē̆, imperātor, moritūrī tē salūtant#, Suet. _Claud._ 21,
_emperor, all hail! the doomed give thee greeting_. This use is found in
late writers, as in Tacitus and Curtius once each, and half a dozen
times in Pliny the younger. Cicero and Sallust have #futūrus# thus
(2283): as, #abs tē futūra exspectō#, _Fam._ 2, 8, 1, _from you I expect
the future_. #supplicia in post futūrōs composuit#, S. _Fr. Lep._ 6, _he
invented penalties for men unborn_.