CAT: Lesson - Grammar - Oratio Obliqua

Oratio Obliqua

Oratio Obliqua means indirect discourse. In Latin, sentences tended to be much longer, especially in rhetoric, where the speaker was making a large point and using multiple points to make that point. If that speaker was referring to the speech of another, the entire section would be covered by oratio obliqua - talking about what someone else said. Because this was a specific reference, Latin uses special formatting, most notably the inclusion of the subjunctive mood more frequently, when expressing these lengthy references. Regular discourse was called Oratio Recta.

That all sounds very complex, but it comes down to this: when a Roman speaker or author was reporting the speech of someone else, but not quoting it, they would use oratio obliqua. The main result of this is that clauses that would normally express the verb with an indicative form instead take on a subjunctive form, to indicate they are part of the overall speech act.

• Oratio Recta: The boy who followed him was carrying a book
  • Latin: Puer, qui eum secutus est, librum portabat.
• Oratio Obliqua: He says that the boy who followed him was carrying a book.
  • Latin: Dicit puerum, qui se secutus sit, librum portavisse.
    • Indirect statement: Dicit puerum librum portavisse (He says that the boy was carrying a book)
    • Dependent clause within the indirect statement: qui se secutus sit (who followed him)

Note how the verb in the relative clause changes from indicative (secutus est) to subjunctive (secutus sit).

As you read Cicero, watch for this common construction. Many students find Cicero's overabundance of dependent clauses to be overwhelming at first, but keep this in mind and you will be able to better navigate the complexity.

Oratio Obliqua Examples

Oratio Obliqua

Source	Latin Example	Translation
Cicero - In Verrem	Imperat, dum res iudicetur, hominem adservent: cum iudicata sit, ad se ut adducant.	He orders them, till the affair should be decided, to keep the man; when it is judged, to bring him to him.
Cicero - Atticus	Paetus omnis libros quos frater suus reliquisset mihi donavit.	Paetus presented to me all the books which (he said) his brother had left.
Caesar - Commentarii de Bello Gallico	(Dixit) si ipse populo Romano non praescriberet quem ad modum suo iure uteretur, non oportere sese a populo Romano in suo iure impediri.	(He said) that if he did not dictate to the Roman people how they should use their rights, he ought not to be interfered with by the Roman people in the exercise of his rights.