THE SI-CLAUSE IN SUBSTANTIVE USE

BY

HERBERT C. NUTTING

Scarcely anywhere is found a reference to the use of the siclause in noun construction, though the phenomenon is by no means of infrequent occurrence. In some cases, recognition of this use has a decidedly important bearing upon the question of the general meaning of a given passage.

The substantive use of si-clauses is approached most naturally through consideration of normal conditional periods in which the protasis follows the apodosis, the condition being anticipated by a restrictive adverb, such as ita; e.g.,

Livy xxi. 17. 6: Ti. Sempronius missus in Siciliam, ita in Africam transmissurus, si ad arcendum Italia Poenum consul alter satis esset.

The interjected ita rouses the reader's expectation. Hence the si-clause, when it enters, is felt more or less clearly as an appositive and defining element-Sempronius is sent to Sicily, under the following conditions to cross over into Africa, namely, if, etc.1

The substantive force of the si-clause emerges a little more clearly when, in a sentence of this same general type, the restrictive adverb of the apodosis is replaced by the ablative case of a noun suited in meaning to serve as a somewhat exact correlative of si, as condicione or lege; e.g.,

Cicero, p. Sest. 10. 24: Foedus fecerunt cum tribuno pl. palam, ut ab eo provincias acciperent, quas ipsi vellent . . . . ea lege, si ipsi prius tribuno pl. adflictam et constrictam rem publicam tradidissent.

1 This use of ita in the restrictive sense is too familiar to call for further illustration. There is a similar employment of sic, but apparently much less frequent; see Cic. ad Att. xii. 38. 2, xiv. 13. A. 2, Horace, Epist. i. 7. 69, Nepos, Milt. 3. 2, Livy, i. 17. 9. Cicero is rather fond of Jusing tum (denique) in this way; cf. in Verr. ii. 2. 68. 164, ii. 3. 17. 44, ii. 3. 48. 113, ii. 3. 92. 214, in Caecil. 15. 49, etc.

Viewed in the large, this sentence is functionally very like the one cited above. But here it is a noun that is expanded and explained by the si-clause; hence the latter more definitely takes on the guise of a substantive apposition.

This impression regarding the function of the si-clause becomes even more distinct, when the noun in the ablative case is a less exact correlative for si, as modo or ratione; e.g.,

Cicero, de Fin. iv. 12. 28: Uno autem modo in virtute sola summum bonum recte poneretur, si quod esset animale, quod totum ex mente constaret.

Note here how nearly complete in itself the first clause is: "However, only on one basis should we rightly assume the summum bonum to be unattended virtue-namely, if there were some living thing consisting solely of mind."

More decisive are examples in which the noun in the apodosis is in some case other than the ablative; e.g.,

Cicero, Lael. 11. 37: Nulla est igitur excusatio peccati, si amici causa peccaveris.

This is one of the passages in which the recognition of the substantive use of the si-clause is vital to the correct interpretation. of the sentence. It is an example, too, which well illustrates the effect of the postposition of the si-clause. Reversing the order of clauses, the sentence would read as follows:

Si igitur amici causa peccaveris, nulla est excusatio peccati.

Interpreted as a pure conditional period, this should mean: "If, therefore, you have done wrong for the sake of a friend, you have sinned beyond forgiveness." The other order helps to a recognition of the substantive force of the si-clause: "Therefore, it is no excuse at all for wrongdoing, that you did it for a friend. ''2

2 It is worthy of note here that the speaker lays down this general principle after mention of a concrete case where pardon was asked on the ground that wrong had been done through loyalty to a friend (hanc, ut sibi ignoscerem, causam adferebat, quod tanti Ti. Gracchum fecisset, ut, quidquid ille vellet, sibi faciendum putaret).

It should not occasion surprise that the si-clause appears with some frequency in noun constructions; for even so unpromising a conjunction as cum shows leanings in that direction, for example, in the type of definition abhorred by teachers of English: "Sedition is when subordinates revolt"; e.g..

Cicero, de Invent. i. 11. 15: Purgatio est, cum factum conceditur, culpa removetur.

Different in type, and somewhat more difficult of analysis, is the following; yet there is distinct suggestion of substantive force in the cum-clause :

Tacitus, Agr. 2: Legimus, cum .... Paetus Thrasea .... Priscus Helvidius laudati essent, capitale fuisse.

The logical subject of capitale fuisse pretty clearly is the cumclause, i.e., the laudation of Thrasea and Helvidius constituted a capital offense.

There is considerable overlapping of the fields covered by certain kinds of substantive clause. Some aspects of this overlapping are indicated in the following scheme:

(ut-clause

si-clause

infinitive clause

quod with indicative

The common ground whereon the substantive si and utclauses meet is seen in the two examples that follow:

....

Bell. Afr. 86: . . . . captos ante oppidum instructos constituit, id hoc consilio, si posset Vergilius . . . . rei male gestae suorum indicio a pertinacia deduci.

Caes. B. G. v. 49: castra

....

quam maxime potest, contrahit, eo consilio, ut in summam contemptionem hostibus veniat.

If, with si and ut deleted, these sentences were submitted to a person unacquainted with the originals, it would be safe to say that he would find it hard to determine which had the better claim to ut.

The possibility of overlapping of the substantive si-clause and substantive infinitive is best shown, perhaps, by presenting several cases in which an infinitive replaces a si-clause; e.g.,

Plautus, Bacch. 97 ff.:

Ego opsonabo; nam id flagitium meum sit, mea te gratia

Et operam dare mi et ad eam operam facere sumptum de tuo. The infinitives in this passage refer to a proposal of which the speaker disapproves, and which he does not mean shall be carried out: "I'll do the marketing; for it would be a disgrace to me, should you render a service on my account, and to this service add expense out of your own pocket."

In similar fashion, when advocating the erection of a memorial to the troops that fought so bravely against Antony, Cicero says:

Phil. xiv. 13. 35: Quam ob rem maximum quidem solacium erit propinquorum eodem monumento declarari et virtutem suorum et populi Romani pietatem et senatus fidem et crudelissimi memoriam belli.

Here again is a reference to something proposed merely; and declarari could perfectly well be replaced by si and the future indicative.

Once again, when Agricola addresses his troops on the eve of battle in Britain, Tacitus represents him as using these words: Agr. 33: nec inglorium fuerit in ipso terrarum ac naturae fine cecidisse.

Obviously cecidisse does not refer to an accomplished fact. It is a mere substitute for si and the future perfect indicative: “And it will have been no inglorious death to have fallen (i.e., if we shall have fallen) at the very bounds of earth and creation."

Very interesting, as showing the extent to which the infinitive may be substituted for a si-clause, is a passage in Tacitus where a conditional clause of comparison is abbreviated to quam and the infinitive :

....

Hist. iii. 49: Quae seditiosa (Antonius) mox in praedam vertebat, nihil adventantem Mucianum veritus; quod exitiosius erat quam Vespasianum sprevisse.

The point of this passage is that Mucianus, the second in command, was jealous of his position; hence, in disregarding his authority, Antonius exposed himself to greater danger than if he had shown disrespect to the emperor directly, quam . . . . sprevisse being another way of saying quam si . . . . sprevisset.3

On the other hand, the substantive infinitive may refer to a fact; hence the overlapping upon the field of quod and the indicative. This is so obvious that it will suffice to cite but two examples:

Cicero, in Verr. ii. 3. 86. 199: Quibus iniuriis gravissimis tamen illud erat miserum solacium, quod id perdere videbatur, quod alio praetore eodem ex agro reparare posset.

Ovid, Met. v. 191 ff.:

Magna feres tacitas solacia mortis ad umbras

A tanto cecidisse viro.

In this second passage, Nileus, as he rushes upon Perseus, assumes the latter to be already as good as dead. Hence he says: "This consolation for your death you may carry to the silent shades, that you fell by the hand of so great a man.'

Before proceeding to an orderly presentation of the substantive si-clauses available, it may be worth while to note a few test cases, together with certain sentences in which this type of substantive clause is used in combination with others:

Tacitus, Hist. iv. 49: Unam in audacia spem salutis, sed duo itinera audendi, seu mallet statim arma, seu petita navibus Gallia ducem se Vitellianis exercitibus ostenderet.

In examples like this, where the noun is modified by a numeral greater than one, no amount of twisting and turning will make it possible to interpret the sentence as purely conditional. Here the main clause states that there are "two ways of daring," and the conditional clauses tell what those two ways are.

Cicero, de Leg. ii. 20. 49: Nam illi quidem his verbis docebant: tribus modis sacris adstringi, aut hereditate, aut si maiorem partem pecuniae capiat, aut (si maior pars pecuniae legata est) si inde quippiam ceperit.

3 Without comment on the syntax, Wolff translates in his note: "als wenn er Vespasian misachtet hätte." In English the use of the infinitive could be paralleled; but in Latin it seems to be unusual in this particular construction.