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 antehāc imperitābam, nunc tē ōrō (Plautus)* │ What formerly I used to command you, I now beg of you.

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

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

[5] Mē benignius omnēs salūtant quam salūtābant prius (Plautus)* │ They all greet me more heartily than they used to greet me before.

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

[7] Dīcēbās quondam sōlum tē nōsse Catullum, (Catullus) │ You once used to say that you only knew Catullus.

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

[9] Ex equō tum forte Mettius pugnābat. (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 illō tempore agrōs Erymanthiōs vastābat et incolās huius regiōnis magnopere terrēbat. │ 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.