Against Verres

Dear all,

From Against Verres II.5

ita enim causa CONSTITUITUR, provinciam Siciliam virtute istius et vigilantia singulari dubiis formidolosisque temporibus a fugitivis atque a belli periculis tutam esse servatam. = For his cause is stated in this way; that by his valour, and by his singular vigilance exerted at a critical and perilous time, the province of Sicily was preserved in safety from fugitive slaves, and from the dangers of war.

Here, CONSTITUITUR is passive, and the last clause is obviously an acc + inf

But how can a passive verb take a direct object? It seems strange to me

Please kindly give me your advices

Hello testsuda,

Where is a passive verb taking an accusative?

To my mind there are two possible readings of this, either we imagine that there is an implied verb of speaking — “His case is presented thus; [he said that] the province of Sicily etc”; or else, that the entire accusative clause is functioning as a clarification of the ‘sic’, and so taking the role of a single grammatical expression. His case is presented thus; [that is], the province of Sicily etc."

Isn’t this an instance of indirect discourse? In a clause of indirect discourse infinitive + subject accusative is regular, as I understand.

Dear all bro,

Thanks for your support

I also thought that the sentence has ellipsis of the verb like “dixit”, but I was not sure. I just linked the accusative clause with the verb Constituitur

Sincerely yours,