litterāriī ista sunt lūdī, Quint. 1, 4, 27, such questions belong to the infant school. hīc versus Plautī nōn est, hīc est, Fam. 9, 16, 4, this line is not Plautus’s, this one is. omnia, quae mulieris fuērunt, virī fīunt, Top. 23, everything which was the woman’s becomes the man’s. neque sē iūdicāre Galliam potius esse Ariovistī quam populī Rōmānī, 1, 45, 1, and that he did not think Gaul was any more Ariovistus’s than it was the Romans’. hostiumst potīta, Pl. E. 562, into the foemen’s hands she fell.
[1237.] The possessive genitive of a person or of an abstract is particularly common when the subject of the verb is an infinitive or sentence: as,
([a.]) scyphīs pugnāre Thrācum est, H. 1, 27, 1, to fight with bowls is Vandal work. erat āmentis, cum aciem vidērēs, pācem cōgitāre, Lig. 28, it was a madman’s act, dreaming of peace when you saw the troops in battalia. temporī cēdere semper sapientis est habitum, Fam. 4, 9, 2, shaping your course to circumstance has always passed as the sign of a wise man. mentīrī nōn est meum, T. Hau. 549, telling lies is not my style ([1234]). (b.) nōn est pudōris meī, mē prōpugnātōrem P. Scīpiōnis profitērī, V. 4, 80, it is not in keeping with my delicacy to set up as the champion of Scipio. hārum rērum esse dēfēnsōrem magnī animī est, Sest. 99, to be the defender of these interests takes heroism. hoc sentīre prūdentiae est, facere fortitūdinis, Sest. 86, to think thus shows wisdom, to act thus, courage. negāvit mōris esse Graecōrum, ut in convīviō virōrum accumberent mulierēs, V. 1, 66, he said it was not manners among the Greeks to have women at table at a men’s dinner-party.
[1238.] With the possessive genitive, the limited substantive is sometimes defined by commūnis, proprius or aliēnus, sacer, or tōtus added: as, hoc proprium virtūtis exīstimant, 6, 23, 2, this they consider a special characteristic of bravery. omnia quae nostra erant propria, RA. 150, everything which was our peculiar property ([1234]). illa īnsula eōrum deōrum sacra putātur, V. 1, 48, that island is considered the hallowed property of those gods. iam mē Pompēī tōtum esse scīs, Fam. 2, 13, 2, you are aware that I am become Pompey’s, out and out.
[1239.] (2.) The genitive with an adjective in agreement is used to denote quality, either attributively or predicatively: as,
([a.]) Attributively: magnī ponderis saxa, 2, 29, 3, stones of great weight. summae speī adulēscentēs, 7, 63, 9, young men of high promise. diērum vīgintī supplicātiō, 4, 38, 5, a twenty day thanksgiving. bēlua multōrum es capitum, H. E. 1, 1, 76, a many-headed beast art thou. eius modī cōnsilium, 5, 29, 5, such a plan. dēmittō auriculās ut inīquae mentis asellus, H. S. 1, 9, 20, I drop my ears like Neddy in the sulks ([269]). vāllō pedum IX, 5, 42, 1, with a nine foot palisade. (b.) Predicatively: magnae habitus auctōritātis, 7, 77, 3, passing for a man of great influence. flūminis erat altitūdō circiter pedum trium, 2, 18, 3, the depth of the river was about three feet. The genitive of quality resembles the ablative of quality ([1375]); the two are sometimes combined: as, hominem maximī corporis terribilīque faciē, N. 15, 4, 1, a man of gigantic frame and with an awe-inspiring presence. But the genitive is common in designations of size and number.
[1240.] A substantive expressing quality with aequus, pār, similis, or dissimilis in agreement, is put not in the genitive, but in the ablative, by Cicero, Caesar, Nepos, and Livy.