Interrogative Sentences.

315. 1.  Real questions of the Direct Discourse, upon becoming indirect, are regularly put in the Subjunctive; as,—­

Ariovistus Caesari respondit:  se prius in Galliam venisse quam populum Romanum.  Quid sibi vellet?  Cur in suas possessiones veniret, Ariovistus replied to Caesar that he had come into Gaul before the Roman people.  What did he (Caesar) mean?  Why did he come into his domain? (Direct:  quid tibi vis? cur in meas possessiones venis?)

2.  Rhetorical questions, on the other hand, being asked merely for effect, and being equivalent in force to emphatic statements, regularly stand in the Infinitive in Indirect Discourse.  Thus :—­

    quid est levius (lit. what is more trivial, = nothing is more
    trivial) of the Direct Discourse becomes quid esse levius in the
    Indirect.

3.  Deliberative Subjunctives of the Direct Discourse remain unchanged in mood in the Indirect:  as,—­

    quid faceret, what was he to do? (Direct:  quid faciat?)

Imperative Sentences.

316.  All Imperatives or Jussive Subjunctives of the Direct Discourse appear as Subjunctives in the Indirect; as,—­

    milites certiores fecit paulisper intermitterent proelium, he told the
    soldiers to stop the battle for a little. (Direct:  intermittite.)

  a.  The negative in such sentences is ne; as,—­

    ne suae virtuti tribueret, let him not attribute it to his own valor!

TENSES IN INDIRECT DISCOURSE.

A. Tenses of the Infinitive.

317.  These are used in accordance with the regular principles for the use of the Infinitive as given in Sec. 270.

  a.  The Perfect Infinitive may represent any past tense of the Indicative
  of Direct Discourse.  Thus:—­

    scio te haec egisse may mean—­

    I know you were doing this.(Direct:  haec agebas.)

    I know you did this. (Direct:  haec egisti.)

    I know you had done this. (Direct:  haec egeras.)

B. Tenses of the Subjunctive.

318.  These follow the regular principle for the Sequence of Tenses, being Principal if the verb of saying is Principal; Historical if it is Historical.  Yet for the sake of vividness, we often find the Present Subjunctive used after an historical tense (Repraesentatio); as,—­

    Caesar respondit, si obsides dentur, sese pacem esse facturum, Caesar
    replied that, if hostages be given, he would make peace.

  a.  For the sequence after the Perfect Infinitive, see Sec. 268, 2.

CONDITIONAL SENTENCES IN INDIRECT DISCOURSE.

Conditional Sentences of the First Type.

319.  A. THE APODOSIS.  Any tense of the Indicative is changed to the corresponding tense of the Infinitive (Sec. 270; 317, a).