Book 10
29
THE particle atque is said by the grammarians to be a copulative conjunction. And as a matter of fact, it very often joins and connects words; but sometimes it has certain other powers, which are not sufficiently observed, except by those engaged in a diligent examination of the early literature. For it has the force of an adverb when we say I have acted otherwise than (atque) you, for it is equivalent to aliter quam tu; and if it is doubled, it amplifies and emphasizes a statement, as we note in the Annals of Quintus Ennius, unless my memory of this verse is at fault: Ann. 537, Vahlen.2 And quickly (atque atque) to the walls the Roman manhood came. The opposite of this meaning is expressed by deque, also found in the early writers. Text and meaning are uncertain of this and the following sentence; see critical note.
29
Atque is said to have been used besides for another adverb also, namely statim, as is thought to be the case in these lines of Virgil, where that particle is employed obscurely and irregularly: Georg. i. 199. Thus, by Fate's law, all speeds towards the worse, And giving way, falls back; e'en as if one Whose oars can barely force his skiff upstream Should chance to slack his arms and cease to drive; Then straightway (atque) down the flood he's swept away.
