Some remarks on cum-clauses in the 50th Book of Iustinian's Digest: is the conditional meaning exceptional?
Abstract
Among the non-temporal interpretations of the subordinator cum, the conditional meaning is usually mentioned as a marginal issue, if at all. Unlike the rather frequent conditional meaning of quando, conditional cum-clauses are reportedly quite rare.
However, this seems not to be true for the Digest where the conditional cum occurs relatively often. Yet in the case of the Digest, research is complicated due to the significant length of the text; consequently, it is necessary to select a sample.
There were three major reasons for choosing Book 50 as the most appropriate for the subsequent analysis. Firstly, this book is the longest one, with only two other books being almost of the same length (Books 40 and 48).
The remaining books account for less than two thirds thereof. Secondly, out of all 37 authors cited in the Digest, 29 authors are included in this book, which represents the highest variety of authors from all the books.
Thirdly, the book contains both long coherent passages and short definitions and etymologies. This contribution aims to explore the cum-clauses in Book 50 with a conditional meaning.
In order to identify the specific features of the conditional cum and its distribution, the context will be analysed, along with the position of the subordinate clause with respect to the main clause, the type of the condition, verbal mood and tense.