Heavy Construction

GENITIVE WITH ADJECTIVES.

349.

a. Adjectives denoting desire, knowledge, memory, fulness, power, sharing, etc., and their opposites govern the genitive:

• avidí laudis (Manil. 7), greedy of praise.

  

• fastídiósus litterárum, disdaining letters.

  

• iúris perítus, skilled in law. [So also the ablative, iúre, cf. § 418.]

  

• memorem vestrí, oblltum sui (Cat. iv. 19), mindful of you, forgetful of himself.

  

• ratiónis et oráiónis expertes (Off. i. 50), devoid of sense and speech.

  

• nostrae consuetúdinis imperití (B. G. iv. 22),unacquainted with our customs.

  

• plénus fideí, full of good faith.

  

• omnis speí egénam (Tac. Ann. i. 53),destitute of all hope.

  

• tempestátum potentem (Aen. i. 80), having sway over the storms.

  

• impoténs írae (Liv. xxix. 9. 9), ungovernable in anger.

  

• coniúrátionis participés (Cat. iii. 14),sharing in the conspiracy.

  

• affínis rei capitális (Verr. ii. 2. 94),involved in a capital crime.

  

• ínsóns culpae (Liv. xxii. 49) innocent of guilt.

b. Participles in -ns govern the genitive when they are used as adjectives, i.e. when they denote a constant disposition and not a particular act:

• sí quem tui amantiórem cógnóvistí (Q. Fr. i. 1. 15), if you have become acquainted with any one more fond of you.

  

• multitúdó insoléns belli (B. C. ii. 36), a crowd unused to war.

  

• erat Iugartha appeténs gloriae militáris (Iug. 7) , Jugurtha was eager for military glory.

NOTE 1: Participles in -ns, when used as participles, take the case regularly governed by the verb to which they belong: as, Sp. Maelium regnum appetentem interemit (Cat. M. 56), he put to death Spurius Maelius, who was aspiring to royal power.

NOTE 2: Occasionally participial forms in -ns are treated as participles (see note 1) even when they express a disposition or character: as, virtus quam alil ipsam temperantiam dlcunt esse, alil obtemperantem temperantiae praecephs et eam subsequentem (Tusc. iv. 30), observant of the teachings of temperance and obedient to her.

c. Verbals in -áx (§ 251) govern the genitive in poetry and later Latin:

• tum et tenacem proposití virum (Hor. Od. iii. 3) , a man just and steadfast to his purpose.

  

• circus capáx populí (Ov. A. A. i. 136) ,a circus big enough to hold the people.

  

• cibí nuque capácissimus (Liv. ix. 16. 13), a very great eater and drinker (very able to contain food and wine).

d. The poets and later writers use the genitive with almost any adjective, to denote that with reference to which the quality exists (Genitive of Specification): -

• callidus rei mílitáris (Tac. H. ii. 32),skilled in soldiership.

  

• pauper aquae (Hor. Od. iii. 30. 11), scant of water.

  

• nótus animí paterní (id. ii. 2. 6), it famed for a paternal spirit.

  

• fessí rerum (Aen. i. 178), weary of toil.

  

• integer vítae scelerisque púrus (Hor. Od. i. 22. l) right in life, and unstained by guilt.

NOTE: The genitive of Specification is only an extension of the construction with adjectives requiring an object of reference (§349). Thus callidus denotes knowledge; pauper, want; púrus, innocence; and so these words in a manner belong to the classes under a.

For the Ablative of Specification, the prose construction, see § 418. For Adjectives of likeness etc. with the Genitive, apparently Objective, see § 386. c. For Adjectives with animí (locative in origin), see § 358.