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307. The Antecedent Noun sometimes appears in both clauses, but usually only in the one that precedes. Sometimes it is wholly omitted.

a. The antecedent noun may be repeated in the relative clause:—

  1. locī nātūra erat haec quem locum nostrī dēlēgerant (B. G. 2.18) , the nature of the ground which our men had chosen was this.

b. The antecedent noun may appear only in the relative clause, agreeing with the relative in case:—

  1. quās rēs in cōnsulātū nostrō gessimus attigit hīc versibus (Arch. 28) , he has touched in verse the things which I did in my consulship.
  2. quae prīma innocentis mihi dēfēnsiō est oblāta suscēpī; (Sull. 92), I undertook the first defence of an innocent man that was offered me.

Note.--In this case the relative clause usually comes first (cf. § 308. d) and a lemonstrative usually stands in the antecedent clause:—

  1. quae pars cīvitātis calamitātem populō Rōmānō intulerat, ea prīnceps poenās persolvit (B. G. 1.12) , that part of the state which had brought disaster on the Roman people was the first to pay the penalty.
  2. quae grātia currum fuit vīvīs, eadem sequitur (Aen. 6.653) , the same pleasure that they took in chariots in their lifetime follows them (after death).
  3. quī fit ut nēmō, quam sibi sortem ratiō dederit, illā contentus vīvat (cf. Hor. S. 1.1.1), how does it happen that no one lives contented with the lot which choice has assigned him?

c. The antecedent may be omitted, especially if it is indefinite:—

  1. quī decimae legiōnis aquilam ferēbat(B. G. 4.25) , [the man] who bore the eagle of the tenth legion.
  2. quī cōgnōscerent mīsit (id. 1.21), he sent [men] to reconnoitre.

d. The phrase id quod or quae rēs may be used (instead of quod alone) to refer to a group of words or an idea:—

    [obtrectātum est] Gabīniō dīcam anne Pompêiō? an utrīqueid quod est vērius? (Manil. 57), an affront has been offered—shall I say to Gabinius or to Pompey? or—which is truer—to both?
  1. multum sunt in vēnātiōnibus, quae rēs vīrēs alit (B. G. 4.1) , they spend much time in hunting, which [practice] increases their strength.

Note.--But quod alone often occurs: as,—Cassius noster, quod mihi māgnae voluptātī fuit, “hostem rêiēcerat(Fam. 2.10) , our friend Cassius—which was a great satisfaction to me—had driven back the enemy.

e. The antecedent noun, when in apposition with the main clause, or with some word of it, is put in the relative clause:—

  1. fīrmī [amīcī], cûius generis est māgna pēnūria (Lael. 62) , steadfast friends, a class of which there is great lack (of which class there is, etc.).

f. A predicate adjective (especially a superlative) belonging to the antecedent may stand in the relative clause:—

  1. vāsa ea quae pulcherrima apud eum vīderat (Verr. 4.63) , those most beautiful vessels which he had seen at his house. [Nearly equivalent to the vessels of which he had seen some very beautiful ones.]


Special Uses of the Relative

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