ABSTRACT
Forte originally abl. of fors, is found 43 times altogether. It is common in conditional and quasi- conditional clauses with the meaning ‘if by any chance’, ‘as may/might happen’, ‘as may/might be the case’. Every example of forte is ‘merum adverbium’ and a connection with the declension of the noun fors is probably absent from the reader’s mind – and so far we have accounted for all the examples offorte in Vergil except one, A. 1. 377. A more serious issue is involved when coming from the first adverbial forte (line 375) which is quite in keeping with Vergil’s usage, namely forte modifying the conditional si to fit the polite conversational tone.
