Indirect speech, also known as reported speech, indirect discourse (US), or ( or ),Jones, Daniel (1977) Everyman's English Pronouncing Dictionary, 14th ed. revised A. C. Gimson. is the practice, common in all Latin historical writers, of reporting spoken or written words indirectly, using different grammatical forms. Passages of indirect speech can extend from a single phrase to an entire paragraph, and this style was generally preferred by Roman historians to the direct speech commonly found in Greek authors.
The main types of indirect speech in Latin are indirect statements, indirect commands, and indirect questions. Indirect statements in classical Latin usually use the accusative and infinitive construction. In this the main verb of the quoted sentence is changed to an infinitive, and its subject to the accusative case; this construction is also sometimes used for commands and rhetorical questions.
Indirect questions, most indirect commands, and most subordinate verbs in indirect statements use the subjunctive mood. Subjunctive mood tenses are divided into two groups, primary (present and perfect) and historic (imperfect and pluperfect). The historic tenses are used when the context is past time, although it is also possible sometimes to use a primary tense in a past context, a practice referred to as .
Although the term strictly speaking refers to the reporting of spoken or written words, the same grammatical constructions are also used in sentences introduced by other verbs such as those of perceiving, showing, remembering, and thinking.Gildersleeve & Lodge (1895), pp. 313; 416–7.Allen & Greenough (1903), pp. 374, 384. These are also included in this article. In some cases, especially in longer passages of , the verb of speaking is omitted, and the grammatical form alone shows that the words are indirect.
Main types of indirect speech Indirect statement The most common type of indirect speech is indirect statement, for which in classical Latin (although not in medieval Latin) the usual grammatical form is the accusative and infinitive construction. In this the subject of the quoted sentence is put into the accusative case, and the verb is changed to an infinitive.
Four main tenses of the infinitive are used: the present, the perfect, the future participle with (which is often omitted), and the future participle with . The present infinitive is used when the actions expressed by the subordinate sentence are contemporary to the actions expressed by the main sentence – the latter can have a past, a present or a future tense:
(Caesar)Caesar, B.C. 3.36.1. 'it was reported that Scipio was nearby'
The perfect infinitive is used when the actions expressed by the subordinate sentence precede the actions expressed by the main sentence – the latter can have a past, a present or a future tense:
(Servius Sulpicius Rufus)Cicero, Fam. 4.12.2. 'he reported to me that Marcus Marcellus had received two wounds'
The future infinitive (with often omitted) is used when the actions expressed by the subordinate sentence follow the actions expressed by the main sentence – the latter can have a past, a present or a future tense:
(Cicero)Cicero, Att. 12.51.1. 'I heard that Valerius was due to arrive today'
One verb, 'I am' has its own future infinitive , which may be used instead of . The verb 'I am able' on the other hand has no future infinitive or future participle.
The future participle combined with , which expresses a past or present potential ('would be doing' or 'would have done'):
(Cicero)Cicero, Acad. Pos. 1.1. '(he said that) if he had not been tired from the journey, he would have come to us straightaway'
Three other tenses are found in indirect statements: the supine with , the perfect participle with , and the perfect participle with . However, these are rare.
The main verb introducing indirect statements does not have to be a verb of speaking; it can also be any of a range of other verbs, such as 'he realised', 'he pretended', 'it is well known', 'I hope', 'he wrote' and so on, which use the same construction.
The infinitive is used only for the main verb in an indirect statement; any other verbs are changed into the subjunctive mood, using one of the past tenses if the context is past:
(Nepos)Nepos, Hannibal 12.3. '(he told them that) they would easily find the place where he was'
Indirect question Another kind of indirect speech is the indirect question, in which the verb is usually changed into the subjunctive mood:
(Catullus) 'do you ask why I do this, perhaps?'
When the context is past, one of the past tenses of the subjunctive is used (imperfect or pluperfect). (There are some exceptions to this rule, however.)
(Cicero)Cicero, Cat. 2.13. 'I told them what he had done that night'
Indirect command The third main type of indirect speech is the indirect command, for which two constructions are possible. Some verbs, principally the verb 'I order' and its opposite 'I forbid', use the accusative and infinitive construction, often with a passive infinitive:
(Caesar)Caesar, B.C. 1.66.1. 'he ordered the signal to be given'
Most other verbs use a clause introduced by the conjunction or (if negative) followed by a subjunctive verb. As with indirect questions, the tense of the subjunctive depends on whether the context is present or past. A present context requires the present subjunctive:
(Cicero)Cicero, Fam. 10.31.4. 'he is encouraging me to write to the Senate'
A past context usually (but not always) has the imperfect subjunctive:
(Caesar)Caesar, B.C. 3.89.5. 'he ordered the army not to start fighting without his permission'
Change of person Another of the characteristics of indirect speech is that the pronouns and persons of the verb change in accordance to the viewpoint of the new speaker. Thus in the following example, the original thought was 'he is very grateful to you'. In indirect speech this becomes:
(Cicero)Cicero, Fam. 6.11.2. 'he wrote to me that you were very grateful to me'
Very often the viewpoint changes to the 3rd person, in which case the reflexive pronoun (or ) 'himself, herself, themselves' and its various derivatives etc. are used in order to refer to the speaker of the reported words:Gildersleeve & Lodge (1895), pp. 324–7; 421.
(Nepos)Nepos, Alcibiades 10.5. 'he ordered this man to follow him'
(Nepos)Nepos, Arist. 1.4. 'he replied that he did not know Aristides personally'
When the subject of the verb of speaking is feminine or plural, will be translated as 'she' or 'they':
(Gellius)Gellius, 10.3.3. 'his wife said that she wished to bathe in the men's baths'
(Pliny the Younger)Pliny, Ep. 5.4.2. 'they said they had been cheated'
The reflexive pronoun can sometimes be used to refer to the speaker even when the speaker is not strictly the grammatical subject of the sentence, as in this example:Gildersleeve & Lodge (1895), p. 325.
(Cicero)Cicero, Att. 2.18.3. 'I am being invited by Caesar to be one of his deputy commanders'
A third person which is not the subject is referred to by or 'him, that person'. To avoid ambiguity in English, it is often necessary to insert a name:
(Cicero)Cicero, Clu. 134. 'he (Africanus) said that he knew that Licinius had been lying when he took the oath'
However, and can be ambiguous, since in addition to referring to the speaker, they can also refer reflexively to the subject of the nearest verb. Thus in these two indirect questions, the word refers to Caesar (the subject of ) but 'his' refers to the speaker, Ariovistus:
(Caesar)Caesar, B.G. 1.44.8. 'what did Caesar want for himself? why was he entering Ariovistus's territory?'
Similarly, in the following example, and refer to the Roman ambassadors (the subject of ), while refers to the king (the subject of ):
(Nepos)Nepos, Hann. 12.2. 'they sent ambassadors to Bithynia, who were to request the king that he should not keep their greatest enemy with him, but hand him over to them'
Indirect statements Constructions with the infinitive Verbs of speaking Often in historical writing there is no verb of speaking but it is implied by the context and by the use of the accusative and infinitive construction:
(Livy)Livy, 1.58.5. 'she sent a messenger to say that they should come: a terrible thing had happened'
(Caesar)Caesar, B.C. 1.20.5. 'they sent ambassadors to Caesar: (they declared that) they were prepared to open the gates...'
A future tense in indirect speech is turned into a future participle + . The infinitive is very often omitted:
(Livy)Livy, 8.36.12. 'they replied that they would follow the dictator'
A pronoun is usually used for the subject of an infinitive, even if it is omitted in direct speech. However, in some cases, when the pronoun is easily understood from the context, it can be dropped:Allen & Greenough (1903), p. 376.
(Caesar)Caesar, B.G. 1.18.2 'he found out that (those things) were true'
When the verb is impersonal, such as 'it seems' or 'it is fitting', there is no subject:
(Servius) '(he told me that) it was hoped, however, that he would be able to live'
When the infinitive is combined with a future or perfect participle, a gerundive, or an adjective, is sometimes omitted:
(Caesar)Caesar, B.C. 1.3.6. 'Lucius Piso, the Censor, promised that he would go to Caesar'
The accusative and infinitive is also used for expressing what someone shows or pretends to be the case:
(Caesar)Caesar, B.C. 3.21.4. 'he pretended that he was setting off to see Caesar'
Verbs of perception An accusative and infinitive can also be used to express a piece of information which someone has been told, or by extension which someone has learnt about, noticed, realised, seen, dreamed of, perceived or simply knows:Gildersleeve & Lodge (1895), p. 330.
([Caesar])dē bellō Alexandrīnō 10. 'they learnt that Caesar himself had come in the fleet'
(Livy)Livy, 34.25. 'he realised that the plot had been betrayed.'
(Nepos)Nepos, Hannibal 9.2. 'he foresaw that he was going to be in great danger, unless he took some precautions'
Verbs of perception such as 'I see' and 'I find' can also be followed by a present participle (without ). In the following example, the two constructions are shown side by side:
(Livy)Livy, 1.25.8. 'looking back, he saw them following at wide intervals, and that one of them was not far away from him'
Introductory verbs of speaking, thinking, realising, pretending etc. are known as , while those of learning, seeing, hearing, noticing, and knowing are known as .
The accusative and present participle construction can also sometimes be found after verbs such as 'I learn':Pinkster (1990), 7.4.6 (pp. 131–20).
(Nepos)Nepos, Hamilcar 2.1. 'but when he arrived in Carthage, he found out that the republic was in a very different state than he had hoped'
Verbs of thinking and feeling Another reason to use the accusative and infinitive is to express someone's thoughts, such as the reasons for undertaking a certain course of action:
(Caesar)Caesar, B.G. 4.20.2. 'he thought it would be very useful for him, if he could just go to the island'
It can similarly be used with verbs such as 'I am sure', 'I remember', and 'I forget':
(Cicero)Cicero, Att. 3.3. 'I am sure that you are going to do it'
(Cicero)Cicero, Cat. 2.27. 'I cannot forget that this country is mine'
Occasionally verbs of emotion such as 'I am glad' or 'I am sorry' can take an accusative and infinitive; although the more usual construction is a -clause:Gildersleeve & Lodge (1895), p. 336.
(Terence)Terence, Phorm. 286. 'I'm glad you've arrived safely'
Negative statements When the reported sentence is negative, it is common to use the verb rather than :Allen & Greenough (1903), p. 375.
(Nepos)Nepos, Phoc. 2.4. 'Phocion denied that there was any danger / said there was no danger'
Similarly is used in preference to :
(Caesar)Caesar, B.G. 6.23.9.