CONSTRUCTIONS WITH THE CONJUNCTION CUM 171
cum rēgem creāre.
- Pāce factā erat nēmō quī arma trādere nōllet.
- Inter Helvētiōs quis erat quī nōbilior illō esset?
II.
- The Romans called the city Rome.
- The city was called Rome by the Romans.
- The better citizens wished to choose him king.
- The brave soldier was not the man to run.
- There was no one [1]to call me friend.
- These are not the men to[2] betray their friends.
- There were (some) who called him the bravest of all.
Eighth Review, Lessons LXI-LXIX, §§ 527-528
LESSON LXX
THE CONSTRUCTIONS WITH THE CONJUNCTION CUM THE ABLATIVE OF SPECIFICATION
395. The conjunction cum has the following meanings and constructions:
|
cum temporal = when, followed by the indicative or the subjunctive cum causal = since, followed by the subjunctive cum concessive = although, followed by the subjunctive |
As you observe, the mood after cum is sometimes indicative and sometimes subjunctive. The reason for this will be made clear by a study of the following sentences:
- Caesarem vīdī tum cum in Galliā eram, I saw Cæsar at the time when I was in Gaul.
- Caesar in eōs impetum fēcit cum pācem peterent, Cæsar made an attack upon them when they were seeking peace.
- Hoc erat difficile cum paucī sine vulneribus essent, this was difficult, since only a few were without wounds.
- Cum prīmī ōrdinēs fūgissent, tamen reliquī fortiter cōnsistēbant, though the front ranks had fled, yet the rest bravely stood their ground.
a. The underlying principle is one already familiar to you (cf. § 389.a). When the cum clause states a fact and simply fixes the time at which the main action took place, the indicative mood is used. So, in the first example, cum in Galliā eram fixes the time when I saw Cæsar.
