W. M. Lindsay, Syntax of Plautus

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The Dativus Commodi too is as common in Plautus' time as later, and provides a quibble in Capt. 866 “A. esurire mihi videre. B. mi quidem esurio, non tibi”. Our Grammars describe as a ‘Dative of Reference¹’ that similar use of this Case in lines like Trin. 971 “neque edepol tu is es neque bodie is umquam eris, auro huic quidem” ‘so far as this gold is concerned.’ It comes very near the function of the Ablative (with ab) after a Passive Verb in one or two places, e.g. Epid. 154 “ubi tibi istam emptam esse scibit” (cf. the old legal formula emptus mihi esto pretio, and see G. Landgraf: Beitraege zur historischen Syntax der lat Sprache. Munich (progr.), 1899).

This Dative is associated with Adjectives, e.g.

• Pseud. 783 “eheu! quam illae rei ego etiam nunc sum parvulus!”,
• Most. 532 “scelestiorem ego annum argento faenori numquam ullum vidi”.

Sometimes the Dative exercises the function of a Genitive, e.g.

• Amph. 66 “eant per totam caveam spectatoribus”,
• Rud. 935 “monumentum meae famae et factis”,
• Trin. 204 “qui illorum verbis falsis acceptor fui”.

With esse the Dative is always used with cognatus, patronus, etc., but without esse, the Genitive We find both pater est alicuius (e.g. Capt. 4, 974) and pater est alicui (e.g. Capt. 633, 1011), etc. (For details see Landgraf in Archiv lat. Lexikographie, 8, 66.)