(A.) dum, in the time while.
[1995.] The present indicative is regularly used with dum, in the time while ([1739]).
dum sometimes has as correlative subitō, repente; iam, intereā, &c.
The main verb may be present, future, or past; as, dum haec dīcit, abiīt hōra, T. Eu. 341, while he thus prated, sped an hour away. īnficī dēbet iīs artibus quās sī, dum est tener, combiberit, ad maiōra veniet parātior, Fin. 3, 9, he should be imbued with such arts as will, if absorbed while he is young, render him the better equipped to deal with weightier business. nunc rem ipsam, ut gesta sit, dum breviter vōbīs dēmōnstrō, attendite, Tul. 13, now give your attention to the case itself, while I set forth to you briefly how it occurred. dum in hīs locīs Caesar morātur, ad eum lēgātī vēnērunt, 4, 22, 1, while Caesar tarried in these regions, some envoys came to him. dum haec aguntur, vōce clārā exclāmat, Pl. Am. 1120, while this was going on, with clarion voice he cries aloud. haec dum aguntur, intereā Cleomenēs iam ad Helōrī lītus pervēnerat, V. 5, 91, while this was going on, Cleomenes meantime had already arrived at the shore of Helorum. The phrase dum haec geruntur, meanwhile, is often used by the historians to shift the scene: as, dum haec in Venetīs geruntur, Q. Titūrius Sabīnus in fīnēs Venellōrum pervēnit, 3, 17, 1, while this was going on among the Veneti, Sabinus arrived in the territory of the Venelli. The present indicative is sometimes retained in indirect discourse, chiefly in poetry or late prose: as, dīc, hospes, Spartae nōs tē hīc vīdisse iacentīs, dum sānctīs patriae lēgibus obsequimur, TD. 1, 101, tell it at Sparta, friend, that thou hast seen us lying here, obedient to our country’s holy laws. dīcit sēsē illī ānulum, dum lūctat, dētrāxisse, T. Hec. 829, he says that, in the struggle, he pulled off her ring.
[1996.] The future is rare and chiefly confined to old Latin: as,
animum advortite, dum huius argūmentum ēloquar cōmoediae, Pl. prol. Am. 95, attention lend, while I set forth the subject of this comedy. dum pauca dīcam, breviter attendite, V. 3, 163, while I speak briefly, give me your attention a few moments.
[1997.] The imperfect indicative is rare; the imperfect subjunctive is sometimes used, chiefly by the poets and historians: as,
([a.]) dum haec Vēīs agēbantur, interim capitōlium in ingentī perīculō fuit, L. 5, 47, 1, while this was going on at Vei, the capital meanwhile was in terrible peril. The pluperfect of resulting state is rarer: as, dum in ūnam partem oculōs hostium certāmen āverterat, plūribus locīs capitur mūrus, L. 32, 24, 5, while the eyes of the enemy were turned away in one direction toward the fight, the wall is carried in several places ([1615]). (b.) dum sē rēx āverteret, alter ēlātam secūrim in caput dēiēcit, L. 1, 40, 7, while the king was looking another way, the second man raised his axe and brought it down on his head.
[1998.] The clause with dum often denotes the cause of the main action, particularly when the subjects of both verbs are the same and the action of the protasis is coincident with that of the apodosis ([1733]).