Qimmik wrote:Yes, ἐμοὶ is fronted and is part of the clause introduced by ὅτι. Something like this (tinkering with the order of the clauses): "I believe that I have made it clear in many places, but especially in the introduction and preface of the history, that for me that part of the whole project was from the beginning also one of the necessary topics . . . "
OK, I reviewed dative semantics in Smyth and Cooper. Their is a common species of dative usage where a person or persons are referenced in dative case, who have some significant relationship with the notion put forward in the main clause, even though they are not the agent or the patient of main verb. This species of dative has various names, dative of
interest, possession, relation, advantage, disadvantage, all of which are useful but misleading. The main clause is capable of standing w/o the dative but the dative colors the entire clause which is why I was suggesting it functions adverbially.
Furthermore, getting into discourse structure, the
clause initial slot is used for contextualizers and adverbials. So dumbing a dative of
interest/relation in front of a subordinating conjunction would lead one to seriously consider if the scope of significance for the constituent in this position might be the entire clause. So if we consider fronted constituents functioning as qualifiers of whole clause, syntactically part of that clause, then I would agree with you.
I ran across a simple example of a dative with personal referent in clause initial position which falls into this category of
interest/relation in my work today on Agamemnon.
LCL on-line version
Cassandra
I say that you are about to gaze upon the death of Agamemnon.
Chorus
Speak only of good things, poor girl; put your tongue to sleep.
Cassandra
But there is no divine Healer in attendance on these words.271
Chorus
No, if it’s really going to happen; but please, somehow, let it not happen!
1250
Cassandra
While you are praying, they are concerned with slaying!
ΚΑΣΣΑΝΔΡΑ
Ἁγαμέμνονός σέ φημ᾿ ἐπόψεσθαι μόρον.
ΧΟΡΟΣ
εὔφημον, ὦ τάλαινα, κοίμησον στόμα.
ΚΑΣΣΑΝΔΡΑ
ἀλλ᾿ οὔτι Παιὼν τῷδ᾿ ἐπιστατεῖ λόγῳ.
ΧΟΡΟΣ
οὔκ, εἴπερ ἔσται γ᾿· ἀλλὰ μὴ γένοιτό πως.
ΚΑΣΣΑΝΔΡΑ
1250
σὺ μὲν κατεύχῃ, τοῖς δ᾿ ἀποκτείνειν μέλει.
Take a look at Line 1250, the second half of the μὲν ... δ᾿ construction begins with a plural dative with personal referent. ἀποκτείνειν μέλει is an impersonal construction but the fronted dative of
interest/relation/reference provides an adverbial constraint affecting the entire clause.
C. Stirling Bartholomew