[*] 396. Some verbs of asking and teaching may take two accusatives, one of the Person (direct object), and the other of the Thing (secondary object):—
- mē sententiam rogāvit, he asked me my opinion.
- “ ōtium dīvōs rogat ” (Hor. Od. 2.16.1) , he prays the gods for rest.
- “ haec praetōrem postulābās ” (Tull. 39) , you demanded this of the prœtor.
- “ aedīlīs populum rogāre ” (Liv. 6.42) , to ask the people [to elect] œdiles.
- docēre puerōs elementa, to teach children their A B C's.
[*] Note.--This construction is found in classical authors with ōrō , poscō , reposcō , rogō , interrogō , flāgitō , doceō .
[*] a. Some verbs of asking take the ablative of the person with a preposition instead of the accusative. So, always, petō ( ab ), quaerō (ex, ab, dē); usually poscō ( ab ), flāgitō ( ab ), postulō ( ab ), and occasionally others:—- “pācem ab Rōmānīs petiērunt ” (B. G. 2.13) , they sought peace from the Romans.
- “quod quaesīvit ex mē P. Apulêius ” (Phil. 6.1) , what Publius Apuleius asked of me.
- Caesar sententiam rogātus est, Cæsar was asked his opinion.
- “ id ab eō flāgitābātur ” (B. C. 1.71) , this was urgently demanded of him.
[*] Note.--The accusative of the thing may be retained with the passive of rogō , and of verbs of teaching, and occasionally with a few other verbs:—
- fuerant hōc rogātī; (Cael. 64), they had been asked this.
- “poscor meum Laelapa ” (Ov. M. 7.771) , I am asked for my Lælaps.
- Cicerō cūncta ēdoctus (Sall. Cat. 45), Cicero, being informed of everything.
- nōn tē cēlāvī sermōnem T. Ampī; (Fam. 2.16.3), I did not conceal from you the talk of Titus Ampius.
- “nec latuēre dolī frātrem Iūnōnis ” (Aen. 1.130) , nor did the wiles of Juno escape the notice of her brother.
[*] Note 1.--The accusative of the person with lateō is late or poetical (§ 388. c. N.1).
[*] Note 2.--All the double constructions indicated in § 396 arise from the wavering meaning of the verbs. Thus doceō means both to show a thing, and to instruct a person; cēlō , to keep a person in the dark, and to hide a thing; rogō , to question a person, and to ask a question or a thing. Thus either accusative may be regarded as the direct object, and so become the subject of the passive (cf. b above), but for convenience the accusative of the thing is usually called secondary.