Heavy Construction
The Allen and Greenough is still under construction;
so some links may not work quite the way you would expect.
601.
In the structure of the Period, the following
rules are to be observed: -
a. In general the main subject or object
is put in the main clause, not in a subordinate one: -
-
- Hannibal cum recénsuisset auxilia
Gádés profectus est (Liv. xxi. 21), when
Hannibal had reviewed the auxiliaries, he set out for Cadiz.
- Volscí exiguam spem in armís,
aliá undique abscissá, cum tentássent, praeter
cétera adversa, locó quoque iníquó ad
púgnam congressí, iníquióre ad fugam, cum ab
omní parte caederentur, ad precés á certámine
versí déditó imperátóre
tráditísque armís, sub iugum missí, cum
singulís vestímentís, ígnóminiae
cládisque pléní dímittuntur (Liv. iv. 10). [Here the main fact is the return of the Volscians. But the
striking circumstances of the surrender etc., which in English would be
detailed in a number of brief independent sentences, are put into the
several subordinate clauses within the main clause so that the passage
gives a complete picture in one sentence.]
b. Clauses are usually arranged in the
order of prominence in the mind of the speaker; so, usually, cause
before result; purpose, manner, and the like, before the
act.
c. In co`ordinate clauses, the copulative
conjunctions are frequently omitted (asyndeton). In such cases the
connection is made clear by some antithesis indicated by the position of
words.
d. A change of subject, when required, is
marked by the introduction of a pronoun, if the new subject has already
been mentioned. But such change is often purposely avoided by a change
in
structure, - the less important being merged in the more important by the
aid of participles or of subordinate phrases: -
-
- quem ut barbarí incendium
effúgisse vídérunt, télís éminus
missís interfécérunt (Nep. Alc. 10),
when the barbarians saw that he had escaped, THEY threw darts
at HIM at long range and killed HIM.
- celeriter cónfectó
negótió, in híberna legiónés
redúxit (B. G. vi. 3), the matter was soon
finished, AND he led the legions, etc.
e. So the repetition of a noun, or the
substitution of a pronoun for it, is avoided unless a different case is
required: -
-
- dolórem sí nón
potueró frangere occultábó (Phil. xii. 21),
if I cannot conquer the pain, I will hide IT. [Cf. if I cannot
conquer I will hide the pain.]
f. The Romans were careful to close a
period with an agreeable succession of long and short syllables. Thus,
-
-
- quod scís nihil pródest, quod
nescís multum obest (Or. 166), what you know is of no
use, what you do not know does great harm.
NOTE: In rhetorical writing, particularly in oratory, the
Romans, influenced by their study of the Greek orators, gave more
attention to this matter than in other forms of composition. Quintilian
(ix. 4. 72) lays down the general rule that a clause should not open
with the beginning of a verse or close with the end of one.