[1075.] The singular imperative age is sometimes used in addressing more than one, particularly in old Latin: as, age licēminī, Pl. St. 221, come, people, give a bid. age igitur intrō abīte, Pl. MG. 928, come then go in. Similarly, cave dīrumpātis, Pl. Poen. 117, mind you don’t break it off. Similarly ain.
[1076.] If the subjects are of different persons, the first person is preferred to the second or the third, and the second to the third: as,
sī tū et Tullia, lūx nostra, valētis, ego et suāvissimus Cicerō valēmus, Fam. 14, 5, 1, if you and Tullia, our sunbeam, are well, darling Cicero and I are well. But sometimes in contrasts the verb agrees with the nearest person: as, quid indicat aut ipse Cornēlius aut vōs? Sull. 54, what information does Cornelius himself give, or you people?
[(B.) OF THE NOUN.]
[1077.] A substantive which explains another substantive referring to the same thing is put in the same case.
This applies to the substantive used as attribute, appositive, or predicate. The two substantives often differ in gender or number, or both. (a.) Attribute: tīrōne exercitū, Fam. 7, 3, 2, with a raw army. ā mīmā uxōre, Ph. 2, 20, from an actress-wife. mendīcōs hominēs, Pl. St. 135, beggar-men. oculī hominis histriōnis, DO. 2, 193, the eyes of an actor man. nēminī hominī, Pl. As. 466, to no human being. servom hominem, T. Ph. 292, a servant man. hominēs sīcāriōs, RA. 8, professional bravoes. (b.) Appositive: quid dīcam dē thēsaurō rērum omnium, memoriā? DO. 1, 18, what shall I say of that universal storehouse, the memory? duo fulmina nostrī imperī, Cn. et P. Scīpiōnēs, Balb. 34, the two thunderbolts of our realm, the Scipios, Gnaeus and Publius. (c.) Predicate: īra furor brevis est, H. E. 1, 2, 62, wrath is a madness brief. Dolābellā hoste dēcrētō, Ph. 11, 16, Dolabella having been voted a public enemy. Some apparent exceptions will be noticed from time to time hereafter.
[1078.] Mobile substantives take also the gender and number of the masculines or feminines they explain: as,
stilus optimus dīcendī magister, DO. 1, 150, pen is the best professor of rhetoric. vīta rūstica parsimōniae magistra est, RA. 75, country life is a teacher of thrift. fluviōrum rēx Ēridanus, V. G. 1, 482, Eridanus, of rivers king. et genus et fōrmam rēgīna pecūnia dōnat, H. E. 1, 6, 37, both birth and shape the almighty dollar gives. ut omittam illās omnium doctrīnārum inventrīcēs Athēnās, DO. 1, 13, to say nothing of the great originator of all intellectual pursuits, Athens.
[1079.] A substantive explaining two or more substantives, is put in the plural: as,