[1571.] The second person of the imperative mood is used in commands, either particular or general.
Commands are very often attended by a vocative or vocative nominative, or by tū, sir, sirrah, or vōs, gentlemen, you people ([1118]). They are of various kinds, as follows: (a.) Order, often to an inferior: thus, to an official: līctor, conligā manūs, Rab. 13, L. 1, 26, 7, Gell. 12, 3, 2, lictor, tie up his wrists. To soldiers: as, dēsilīte mīlitēs, 4, 25, 3, overboard, my men. sīgnifer, statue sīgnum, L. 5, 55, 1, standardbearer, plant your standard. īnfer mīles sīgnum, L. 6, 8, 1, advance your standard, man, or charge. To sailors: as, hūc dīrigite nāvēs, L. 29, 27, 13, head your galleys this way. To slaves: as, convorrite aedēs scōpīs, agite strēnuē, Pl. B. 10, sweep up the house with brooms, be brisk. Also to an equal: as, aperīte aliquis, Pl. Mer. 130, open the door there somebody ([1080]). Or to a superior: as, heus, exī, Phaedrome, Pl. Cur. 276, ho Phaedromus, come out. (b.) Exhortation, entreaty, summons, request, prayer, imprecation, wish, concession, &c.: as, vōs vōbīs cōnsulite, 7, 50, 5, every man of you for himself. ēs, bibe, animō obsequere, Pl. MG. 677, eat, drink, and be merry. sperne voluptātēs, H. E. 1, 2, 55, scorn thou delights. quīn tū ī intrō, Pl. Most. 815, go in, go in, won’t you go in? ([1527]). patent portae, proficīscere, ēdūc tēcum etiam omnīs tuōs, C. 1, 10, the gates are open, march forth; take out all your myrmidons with you too. audī, Iuppiter, L. 1, 32, 6, bow down thine ear, Jupiter. ī in crucem, Pl. As. 940, get you gone to the cross. vīve valēque, H. S. 2, 5, 109, long live and thrive, or farewell. tibī̆ habē, Pl. Men. 690, you keep it yourself.
[1572.] The imperative is often softened by the addition of amābō, obsecrō, quaesō, prithee, I beg, or sīs, sultis, sōdēs, please ([97]). It is sharpened by age, agedum or agidum, age sīs, mark me, or ī, go, come on, or by modo, only. The concessive imperative sometimes has sānē, for all me.
[1573.] In Plautus and Terence, the enclitic dum, a while, a minute, just, is often attached to the imperative: as, manedum, Pl. As. 585, wait a minute. In classical Latin, dum is retained with age and agite: as, agedum cōnferte cum illīus vītā P. Sūllae, Sull. 72, come now, compare Sulla’s life with that man’s ([1075]).
[1574.] It may be mentioned here, that the imperative is often used in the protasis of a conditional sentence: as,
tolle hanc opīniōnem, lūctum sustuleris, TD. 1, 30, do away with this notion, and you will do away with mourning for the dead. Once only in old Latin, but often in late Latin, with a copulative: as, perge, ac facile ecfēceris, Pl. B. 695, start on, and you will do it easily.
[1575.] (1.) The third person, and the longer forms of the second person, are used particularly in laws, legal documents, and treaties, and also in impressive general rules and maxims: as,
([a.]) rēgiō imperiō duō suntō, Leg. 3, 8, there shall be two men vested with the power of kings. amīcitia rēgī Antiochō cum populō Rōmānō hīs lēgibus estō, L. 38, 38, 1, there shall be amity between king Antiochus and Rome on the following terms. (b.) vīcīnīs bonus estō, Cato, RR. 4, always be good to your neighbours. mōribus vīvitō antīquīs, Pl. Tri. 295, live thou in old-time ways. The longer forms are often called the Future Imperative.