26.03.24: the imperfect tense [4]; pointing to the past

Some adverbs and adverbial phrases of time – not exclusively used with the imperfect tense - can be used almost as ‘signposts’ indicating that the events being described are set firmly in the past (and distinguished from the present) without giving any precise detail as to when the events took place.

• anteā; antehāc; prius: before; formerly; previously
• quondam; ōlim: at one time; formerly
• ōlim can be used at the beginning of a fairy tale: ‘once upon a time’

The expressions below can also refer to a specific point in time in the past.

• eō / illō tempore: at that time
• tum; tunc: then; at that time

Again, here are some examples from the authors. The imperfect tenses are marked in bold and the time expressions are in italics

[1] Hunc audiēbant anteā. (Cicero) │ They used to hear of him before.

[2] Quod antehac imperitabam, nunc te oro (Plautus)* │ What formerly I used to command you, I now beg of you.

[3] Atque antehac quidem sperare saltem licebat, nunc etiam id ereptum est. (Cicero) │ And up to this time indeed it was at least possible to hope: now even that is snatched from us.

[4] Quem constabat eo tempore in Macedonia fuisse (Cicero) │ It was well-known at the time that he was in Macedonia

[5] Me benignius omnes salutant quam salutabant prius (Plautus)* │ They all greet me more heartily than they used to greet me before.

[6] Ubi quondam aedem Dianae adluebat. (Pliny the Elder) │ Where once <the sea> used to wash up to the temple of Diana

[7] Dicebas quondam solum te nosse Catullum, (Catullus) │ You once used to say that you only knew Catullus.

[8] Ibi illa multa tum iocosa fiebant, (Catullus) │ At that time many playful things took place there,

[9] Ex equo tum forte Mettius pugnabat. (Livy) │ At that time (i.e. the time of his death) Mettius happened to be fighting on horseback.

[10] From Ritchie’s Fabulae Faciles:

Aper illo tempore agros Erymanthios vastabat et incolas huius regionis magnopere terrebat. │ At that time a boar was laying waste to the lands of Erymanthus and (was) frightening the inhabitants of this region.

*Good old Plautus! He often comes up with exactly what you're looking for. Here are two examples from the ones above showing you the present and imperfect tenses in the same sentence:

[i] Quod antehāc imperitābam [imperfect], nunc tē ōrō │ What formerly I used to command you, I now beg of you.

[ii] Mē benignius omnēs salūtant [present] quam salūtābant [imperfect] prius │ They all greet me more heartily than they used to greet me before.