[*] 522. The Protasis is often wholly omitted, but may be inferred from the course of the argument:—
- “poterat Sextilius impūne negāre: quis enim redargueret ” (Fin. 2.55) , Sextilius might have denied with impunity; for who would prove him wrong (if he had denied)?
- “quod contrā decuit ab illō meum [corpus cremārī] ” (Cat. M. 84) , whereas on the other hand mine ought to have been burnt by him.
- “nam nōs decēbat domum lūgēre ubi esset aliquis in lūcem ēditus ” (Tusc. 1.115) , for it were fitting for us to mourn the house where a man has been born (but we do not).
- “quantō melius fuerat ” (Off. 3.94) , how much better it would have been.
- “illud erat aptius, aequum cuique concēdere ” (Fin. 4.2) , it would be more fitting to yield each one his rights.
- “ipsum enim exspectāre māgnum fuit ” (Phil. 2.103) , would it have been a great matter to wait for the man himself?
- “ longum est ea dīcere, sed ... ” (Sest. 12) , it would be tedious to tell, etc. [Future.]
[*] Note 1.--In this construction, the Imperfect Indicative refers to present time; the Pluperfect to simple past time, like the Perfect. Thus oportēbat means it ought to be [now], but is not; oportuerat means it ought to have been, but was not.
[*] Note 2.--In many cases it is impossible to say whether a protasis was present to the mind of the speaker or not (see third example above).
Complex Conditions