2335. For the use of the nominatives #ego# #tū#, #nōs# #vōs#, see 1029.
The genitive plurals #nostrū̆m# and #vestrū̆m# are used as partitive,
#nostrī# and #vestrī# as objective genitives: as,
#nēmō nostrūm#, _RA._ 55, _not one of us_ (1242). #ab utrīsque vestrūm#,
_Fam._ 11, 21, 5, _by each of you_ (1243). #grāta mihī̆ vehementer est
memoria nostrī tua#, _Fam._ 12, 17, 1, _your remembrance of me is
exceedingly agreeable to me_ (1260). #nostrī nōsmet paenitet#, T. _Ph._
172, _we’re discontented with our lot_ (1283). For the adjective instead
of the possessive or objective genitive, see 1234, 1262.
[Erratum:
2335.
. missing]
THE REFLEXIVE #sē# AND #suus#.
2336. The reflexive regularly refers to the subject of the verb: as,
#fugae sēsē mandābant#, 2, 24, 2, _they betook themselves to flight_.
#animō servit, nōn sibī#, Pl. _Tri._ 308, _he serves his passions, not
his better self_. #est amāns suī virtūs#, _L._ 98, _virtue is fond of
itself_. #dūcit sēcum ūnā virginem#, T. _Eu._ 229, _he is leading a girl
along with him_. #Caesar cōpiās suās dīvīsit#, Caes. _C._ 3, 97, 3,
_Caesar divided his forces_. For #sē ipse#, see 2376; for #sē# or #suus
quisque#, 2397.
2337. The reflexive sometimes refers to a word not the subject, when
that word is specially emphasized or easily made out from the context.
This holds chiefly of #suus#, which is used with great freedom: as,
#Alexandrum uxor sua occīdit#, _Inv._ 2, 144, _Alexander was murdered by
his own wife_. #dēsinant īnsidiārī domī suae cōnsulī#, _C._ 1, 32, _let
them cease to waylay the consul in his own house and home_. #suās rēs
Syrācūsānīs restituit#, L. 29, 1, 17, _he restored their property to the
Syracuse people_.
2338. In the construction of the accusative with the infinitive (2175),
the reflexive is regularly used when the subject of the infinitive
refers to the subject of the verb: as,
#Vārus imperium sē habēre dīxit#, _Lig._ 22, _Varus said that he had
authority_. #id sēsē effectūrōs spērābant#, 7, 26, 2, _they hoped to
accomplish it_ (2235).
2339. The reflexive, in this construction, sometimes refers to an
emphasized word not the formal subject of the verb: as,
#canum custōdia quid sīgnificat aliud nisi sē ad hominum commoditātēs
esse generātōs?# _DN._ 2, 158, _the watchfulness of the dog--does not it
show that he was created for the convenience of man?_
2340. When the subject of the infinitive is different from that of the
verb, the reflexive sometimes refers to the subject of the verb,
sometimes to that of the infinitive: as,
#Ariovistus respondit omnēs Galliae cīvitātēs ad sē oppugnandum
vēnisse#, 1, 44, 1, _Ariovistus answered that all the states of Gaul had
come to attack him_, i.e. Ariovistus. #nēminem sēcum sine suā perniciē
contendisse#, 1, 36, 6, _that no man had contended with him without his
own undoing_; #sēcum# refers to Ariovistus, the subject of the main verb
#respondit#, #suā# to #nēminem#.
2341. In subordinate subjunctive clauses of purpose, indirect discourse,
or indirect question, the reflexive refers to the subject of the main
sentence: as,
#huic mandat, ut ad sē quam prīmum revertātur#, 4, 21, 2, _he instructs
him to come back to himself as soon as possible_. #excruciābit mē erus,
quia sibī nōn dīxerim#, Pl. _MG._ 859, _my master’ll torture me ‘because
I have not told him.’_ #Paetus omnīs librōs, quōs frāter suus
relīquisset, mihī̆ dōnāvit#, _Att._ 2, 1, 12, _Paetus made me a present
of all the books ‘that his brother left.’_ For the use of #is# for #sē#,
see 2370.
2342. The reflexive, in such subordinate clauses, sometimes refers to an
emphatic word not the main subject: as,
#identidem fēlīcem Priamum vocābat, quod superstes omnium suōrum
exstitisset#, Suet. _Tib._ 62, _he was for ever calling Priam ‘Fortune’s
darling, because he outlived all his kith and kin.’_
2343. The reflexive referring to the main subject is sometimes
irregularly used in subordinate indicative clauses.
#Epamīnōndās ē̆ī, quī sibī̆ successerat, exercitum nōn trādidit#, _Inv._
1, 55, _Epaminondas did not deliver the army to his successor_. #centum
bovēs mīlitibus dōnō dedit, quī sēcum fuerant#, L. 7, 37, 3, _he gave a
hundred oxen to the soldiers who had been with him_.