Themistoclem muneribus donavit, he presented Themistocles with gifts;
urbi muros circumdat, he builds walls around the city, or
urbem muris circumdat, he surrounds the city with walls
II. With many intransitive verbs; as,—
nulli labori cedit, he yields to no labor.
a. Here belong many verbs signifying favor,[48] help, injure, please, displease, trust, distrust, command, obey, serve, resist, indulge, spare, pardon, envy, threaten, be angry, believe, persuade, and the like; as,—
Caesar popularibus favet,
Caesar favors (i.e. is favorable to) the
popular party;
amicis confido, I trust (to) my friends;
Orgetorix Helvetiis persuasit,
Orgetorix persuaded (made it acceptable
to) the Helvetians;
bonis nocet qui malis parcit,
he injures (does harm to) the good, who
spares the bad.
NOTE.—It is to be borne in mind that these verbs do not take the Dative by virtue of their apparent English equivalence, but simply because they are intransitive, and adapted to an indirect object. Some verbs of the same apparent English equivalence are transitive and govern the Accusative; as, juvo, laedo, delecto. Thus: audentes deus juvat, God helps the bold; neminem laesit he injured no one.
b. Verbs of this class are used in the passive only impersonally; as,—
tibi parcitur, you are spared;
mihi persuadetur, I am being persuaded;
ei invidetur, he is envied.
c. Some of the foregoing verbs admit
also a Direct Object in connection
with the Dative; as,—
mihi mortem minitatur, he
threatens me with death (threatens death
to me).
III. With many verbs compounded with the prepositions: ad, ante, circum, com,[49] in, inter, ob, post, prae, pro, sub, super.
These verbs fall into two main classes,—
1. Many simple verbs which cannot take a Dative of the indirect object become capable of doing so when compounded with a preposition; as,—
afflictis succurrit, he helps the aflicted;
exercitui praefuit, he was in command of the army;
intersum consiliis, I share in the deliberations.
2. Many transitive verbs which take only a direct object become capable, when compounded, of taking a dative also as indirect object; as,—
pecuniae pudorem anteponit, he puts honor before money;
inicere spem amicis, to inspire hope in one’s friends;
munitioni Labienum praefecit,
he put Labienus in charge of the
fortifications.