canēs paucōs habendum, Varro, RR. 1, 21, one should keep but few dogs. aeternās quoniam poenās in morte timendumst, Lucr. 1, 111, since punishment eterne they have in death to fear. This construction occurs oftenest in Lucretius and Varro; once in Plautus, a few times in Cicero for special reasons, and here and there in later writers. Not in Caesar or Horace.
[2248.] The gerundive sometimes acquires, in itself, the meaning of obligation or propriety, which it properly has only when combined with sum, and becomes a mere adjective, used in any case.
fōrmā expetendā līberālem virginem, Pl. Per. 521, a freeborn maid of shape delectable. L. Brūtō, prīncipe huius maximē cōnservandī generis et nōminis, Ph. 3, 11, Brutus, the first of this most highly cherished house and name. huic timendō hostī obvius fuī, L. 21, 41, 4, I met this dreadful foe. Athēnās, multa vīsenda habentīs, L. 45, 27, 11, Athens, which contains many sights worth a visit. For volvendus &c., see [288].
[2249.] The attributive gerundive ([2248]), particularly with a negative, in- privative, or vix, may denote possibility, like the verbal in -bilis: as,
labōrēs nōn fugiendōs, Fin. 2, 118, inevitable labours. Polybius, haudquāquam spernendus auctor, L. 30, 45, 5, Polybius, an authority by no means despicable. īnfandum, rēgīna, iubēs renovāre dolōrem, V. 2, 3, thou bidst me, queen, rehearse that woe unspeakable. vix erat crēdendum, 5, 28, 1, it was hardly credible. praedicābile aliquid et glōriandum ac prae sē ferendum, TD. 5, 49, something laudable and vauntable and displayable as well.
[Accusative.]
[2250.] (1.) The accusative of the gerundive construction is used with locō and condūcō, with suscipiō, habeō, and cūrō, and with verbs of giving or assigning.
With the verbs of giving or assigning (such as dō, trādō, committō, attribuō, dīvidō, relinquō, permittō, dēnotō), the emphasis often gravitates towards the substantive, and the gerundive, as an explanatory appendage, acquires the meaning of purpose. So in Plautus with the verbs of asking (rogō and petō); in Cicero with posco.
([a.]) caedundum condūxī ego illum :: tum optumumst locēs efferendum, Pl. Aul. 567, I engaged him for killing :: then you’d better contract for his funeral ([1709]). sīgnum conlocandum cōnsulēs locāvērunt, Cat. 3, 20, the consuls let out the erecting of the statue. redemptor quī columnam illam condūxerat faciendam, Div. 2, 47, the contractor who had undertaken the making of that pillar. vellem suscēpissēs iuvenem regendum, Att. 10, 6, 2, I wish you had undertaken training the young man. aedem habuit tuendam, V. 1, 130, he had the looking after the temple. agrum dē nostrō patre colendum habēbat, T. Ph. 364, he had the tilling of a farm from my father.