[1889.] (1.) quam, as, is used in the protasis of a comparative period of equality, generally with tam as correlative in the apodosis: as,
tam facile vincēs quam pirum volpēs comēst, Pl. Most. 559, you’ll beat as easily as Reynard eats a pear. tam excoctam reddam atque ātram quam carbōst, T. Ad. 849, I’ll have her stewed all out and black as is a coal. From Cicero on, the apodosis is in general negative or interrogative: as, quōrum neutrum tam facile quam tū arbitrāris concēditur, Div. 1, 10, neither of these points is as readily granted as you suppose. quid est ōrātōrī tam necessārium quam vōx? DO. 1, 251, what is so indispensable to the speaker as voice? Otherwise nōn minus . . . quam, no less than, just as much, or nōn magis . . . quam, just as little or just as much, is often preferred to tam . . . quam: as, accēpī nōn minus interdum ōrātōrium esse tacēre quam dīcere, Plin. Ep. 7, 6, 7, I have observed that silence is sometimes quite as eloquent as speech. nōn magis mihī̆ deerit inimīcus quam Verrī dēfuit, V. 3, 162, I shall lack an enemy as little as Verres did. domus erat nōn dominō magis ōrnāmentō quam cīvitātī, V. 4, 5, the house was as much a pride to the state as to its owner.
[1890.] Instead of tam, another correlative is sometimes used in the apodosis. Thus, aequē . . . quam occurs in Plautus and in Livy and later writers, generally after a negative expression; perinde . . . quam in Tacitus and Suetonius; iūxtā ... quam once in Livy. Sometimes the apodosis contains no correlative.
[1891.] tam . . . quam become by abridgement coordinating words: as,
tam vēra quam falsa cernimus, Ac. 2, 111, we make out things both true and false.
[1892.] The highest possible degree is expressed by tam . . . quam quī and a superlative without a verb; or by quam and a superlative with or without a form of possum ([1466]); sometimes by quantus or ut: as,
([a.]) tam sum misericors quam vōs; tam mītis quam quī lēnissimus, Sull. 87, I am as tender-hearted as you; as mild as the gentlest man living. tam sum amīcus rē̆ī pūblicae quam quī maximē, Fam. 5, 2, 6, I am as devoted a patriot as anybody can be. (b.) quam maximīs potest itineribus in Galliam contendit, 1, 7, 1, he pushes into Gaul by as rapid marches as he can. cōnstituērunt iūmentōrum quam maximum numerum coëmere, 1, 3, 1, they determined to buy up the greatest possible number of beasts of burden. (c.) tanta est inter eōs, quanta maxima potest esse, mōrum distantia, L. 74, there is the greatest possible difference of character between them. Or without any superlative: fuge domum quantum potest, Pl. Men. 850, run home as quick as e’er you can. ut potuī accūrātissimē tē tūtātus sum, Fam. 5, 17, 2, I defended you as carefully as I could.
[1893.] quam . . . tam, with two comparatives or superlatives, is equivalent to the more common quō . . . eō with two comparatives ([1973]): as,
([a.]) magis quam id reputō, tam magis ūror, Pl. B. 1091, the more I think it over, the sorer do I feel. This use is found in Plautus, Lucretius, and Vergil. (b.) quam quisque pessumē fēcit, tam maxumē tūtus est, S. I. 31, 14, the worse a man has acted, the safer he always is. This use is found in Plautus, Terence, Cato, Varro, and Sallust.