[(A.) Main Sentences.]
[2312.] Declarative sentences of direct discourse are put in the accusative with the infinitive, and interrogative and imperative sentences of direct discourse are put in the subjunctive, in indirect discourse.
([a.]) For examples of declarative sentences, see [2175-2184].
([b.]) Interrogative ([1773]): quid vellet? cūr in suās possessiōnēs venīret? 1, 44, 7, what did he mean? why this movement into his property? from Ariovistus’s reply to Caesar. dictātor litterās ad senātum mīsit: deum benignitāte Vēiōs iam fore in potestāte populī Rōmānī; quid dē praedā faciendum cēnsērent? L. 5, 20, 1, the dictator sent this letter to the senate: through the bounty of the gods Vei would soon belong to the Roman nation; what did they think should be done about the booty?
([c.]) Imperative ([1547]): Cicerō respondit: sī ab armīs discēdere velint, sē adiūtōre ūtantur lēgātōsque ad Caesarem mittant, 5, 41, 7, Cicero replied: if they wished to lay down their arms, let them take his advice and send envoys to Caesar. nūntius ē̆ī domō vēnit: bellum Athēniēnsēs et Boeōtōs indīxisse Lacedaemoniīs; quārē venīre nē dubitāret, N. 17, 4, 1, a message reached him from home: the Athenians and Boeotians had declared war on the Lacedaemonians; so he was to come without delay. See also [1707], [1708].
[2313.] Rhetorical questions (that is, declarations made for effect in the form of questions) in the first or third person in the direct discourse are put in the accusative with the infinitive in indirect discourse: as,
sī veteris contumēliae oblīvīscī vellet, num etiam recentium iniūriārum memoriam dēpōnere posse? 1, 14, 3, if he were inclined to disregard the old affront, could he also forget their fresh insults? from Caesar’s reply to the Helvetians. haud mīrum esse Superbō ē̆ī inditum Rōmae cōgnōmen: an quicquam superbius esse quam lūdificārī sīc omne nōmen Latīnum? cui nōn appārēre adfectāre eum imperium in Latīnōs? L. 1, 50, 3, no wonder Rome dubbed him ‘the Proud’: could there be a greater sign of pride than this mockery of the whole Latin nation? who did not see that he aspired to dominion over the Latins? This use is not found in old Latin. It occurs once or twice in Cicero’s letters and a few times in Caesar. In Livy and late writers, it is not uncommon. Such questions in the second person require the subjunctive ([2312]).
[2314.] Questions which are in the subjunctive in direct discourse retain the subjunctive in indirect discourse: as,
quod vērō ad amīcitiam populī Rōmānī attulissent, id iīs ēripī quis patī posset? 1, 43, 8, who could allow them to be stripped of what they had possessed when they became the friends of the Roman nation? ([1565]).