ABSTRACT
Elsewhere I have argued that veniat is neither an optative nor a jussive subjunctive. Veniat has definitely a potential function. To deny a possibility (potential subjunctive) has a lighter touch on reality than to deny a fact (present indicative): an idea, especially a negated one, is often worded only to disappear again immediately. The potential subjunctive fits like a glove with the striking parenthetical nature of our passage 37–9, introduced as it is by the discourse particle nam in one of its most typical functions.3
