§585. Tenses of the Subjunctive in Indirect Discourse

The tenses of the Subjunctive in Indirect Discourse follow the rule for the Sequence of Tenses (§ 482). They depend for their sequence on the verb of saying etc. by which the Indirect Discourse is introduced.

Thus in the sentence, dīxit sē Rōmam itūrum ut cōnsulem vidēret, he said he should go to Rome in order that he might see the consul, vidēret follows the sequence of dīxit without regard to the Future Infinitive, itūrum [ esse], on which it directly depends.

a. A subjunctive depending on a Perfect Infinitive is often in the Imperfect or Pluperfect, even if the verb of saying etc. is in a primary tense (cf. § 485. j); so regularly when these tenses would have been used in Direct Discourse:—

• Tarquinium dīxisse ferunt tum exsulantem sē intellēxisse quōs fīdōs amīcōs habuisset (Lael. 53), they tell us that Tarquin said that then in his exile he had found out what faithful friends he had had. [Here the main verb of saying, ferunt, is primary, but the time is carried back by dīxisse and intellēxisse, and the sequence then becomes secondary.]
• tantum prōfēcisse vidēmur ut ā Graecīs nē verbōrum quidem cōpiā vincerēmur (N. D. 1.8), we seem to have advanced so far that even in abundance of words we ARE not surpassed by the Greeks.

b. The Present and Perfect Subjunctive are often used in dependent clauses of the Indirect Discourse even when the verb of saying etc. is in a secondary tense:—

• dīcēbant ... totidem Nerviōs (pollicērī) quī longissimē absint (B. G. 2.4), they said that the Nervii, who live farthest off, promised as many.

Certain constructions are never affected by repraesentātiō. Such are the Imperfect and Pluperfect Subjunctive with cum temporal, antequam, and priusquam.