nec hoc ille nōn vīdit, Fin. 4, 60, and the man did not fail to see this. This positive use begins with Varro. In old Latin two negatives, and particularly neque . . . haud, are often used, as in old English, to strengthen the negation ([1453]).
[1661.] After a general negative, a word may be emphasized by nē ... quidem or nōn modo, or the parts of a compound sentence may be distributed by neque . . . neque, without destroying the negation: as,
nihil in locīs commūnibus, nē in fānīs quidem, nihil istum neque prīvātī neque pūblicī tōtā in Siciliā relīquisse, V. 4, 2, that the defendant has left nothing untouched in public places, no, not even in the temples, nothing either in the way of private or of public property, in all Sicily. Similarly when a coordinate member is appended with neque: as, nequeō satis mīrārī neque conicere, T. Eu. 547, I can’t quite puzzle out or guess.
Combination of Different Copulatives.
[1662.] Different copulatives are sometimes combined, as follows.
[1663.] (1.) The affirmative copulatives et and -que are sometimes combined, particularly in abridged sentences: as,
et Epamīnōndās praeclārē cecinisse dīcitur, Themistoclēsque est habitus indoctior, TD. 1, 4, Epaminondas in the first place is said to have played beautifully, and Themistocles was not considered exactly an educated man. This combination is used by Cicero rarely, by Horace in the satires, and rarely by late writers.
[1664.] The sequence -que . . . et is rare in old Latin, and not used by Caesar, Vergil, or Horace. -que . . . atque is first used by Lucretius, then by Vergil, Ovid, Livy, and Tacitus.
[1665.] (2.) Affirmative and negative copulatives are sometimes combined. Thus neque or nec combined with et, in the sequences neque . . . et and et . . . neque, which is rare in old Latin, is common in Cicero: as,