[1611.] The perfect may denote an action often done, or never done: as,
iam saepe hominēs patriam cārōsque parentēs prōdiderunt, Lucr. 3, 85, time and again have men their land betrayed and parents dear. nōn aeris acervus et aurī dēdūxit corpore febrīs, H. E. 1, 2, 47, no pile of brass and gold hath fevers from the body drawn. multī, cum obesse vellent, prōfuērunt et, cum prōdesse, obfuērunt, DN. 3, 70, many a man has done good, when he meant to do harm, and when he meant to do good, has done harm. Common from Cicero, Sallust, and Catullus on, especially in poetry.
[1612.] The perfect is sometimes used as a lively future perfect to express completed future action: as,
quam mox coctumst prandium? Pl. R. 342, how soon is lunch all cooked? cui sī esse in urbe licēbit, vīcimus, Att. 14, 20, 3, if he shall be allowed to stay in town, the day is ours. periī, sī mē aspexerit, Pl. Am. 320, I’m gone, if he lays eyes on me.
[1613.] It may be mentioned here, that the perfect is regularly used in a subordinate sentence denoting time anterior to a present of repeated action ([1588]). In such sentences the present is preferred in English: as,
reliquī, quī domī mānsērunt, sē atque illōs alunt, 4, 1, 5, the others, that stay at home, always support themselves and the above-mentioned also. sī quī aut prīvātus aut populus eōrum dēcrētō nōn stetit, sacrificiīs interdīcunt, 6, 13, 6, if any man or any community does not abide by their decree, they always debar them from sacrifices. So also with quom or cum, quotiēns, simul atque, ubī̆. Compare 1618.
[1614.] The pluperfect indicative expresses past action, completed before another past action expressed or understood: as,
scrīpseram, I had written. Pyrrhī temporibus iam Apollō versūs facere dēsierat, Div. 2, 116, in Pyrrhus’s day Apollo had quite given up making poetry. mortuus erat Āgis rēx. fīlium relīquerat Leōtychidem, N. 17, 1, 4, Agis the king had died; he had left a son Leotychides.