1. al-lēgo (adl-), āvi, ātum, 1, v. a.
- I. To send one away with a commission or charge, to despatch, depute, commission (of private business, while legare is used in a similar signif. of State affairs; most freq. in Plaut.; elsewhere rare, but class.): ne illi aliquem adlegent, qui mi os occillet, Plaut. Am. 1, 1, 28 (cf. delegare, id. ib. prol. 67 and 83); so id. Cas. prol. 52; 3, 4, 14; id. Ps. 4, 7, 66; 135; id. Stich. 5, 3, 8: ego si adlegāssem aliquem ad hoc negotium, id. Ep. 3, 3, 46: alium ego isti rei adlegabo, id. Am. 2, 2, 42: amicos adlegat, Cic. Verr. 2, 1, 57, § 149: homines nobiles adlegat iis, qui peterent, ne, etc., id. Rosc. Am. 9: adlegarem te ad illos, qui, etc., id. Fam. 15, 10; so id. ib. 4 fin.: cum patrem primo adlegando, deinde coram ipse rogando fatigāsset, first by the friends sent, and then by personal entreaties, etc., Liv. 36, 11, 1 Gron.
Hence, allēgāti (adl-), ōrum, m., deputies: inter adlegatos Oppianici, Cic. Clu. 13, 39; id. Q. Fr. 2, 3.
- B. Sometimes in the sense of subornare, to instigate or incite one to an act of fraud or deceit: eum adlegaverunt, suum qui servum diceret cum auro esse apud me, Plaut. Poen. 3, 5, 28: ut ne credas a me adlegatum hunc senem, * Ter. And. 5, 3, 28 Ruhnk.; cf. allegatus.
- II. To bring forward, to relate, recount, mention, adduce (post-Aug.): exemplum, Plin. Ep. 3, 15: hoc senatui adlegandum putasti, id. Pan. 70: decreta, id. ib. 70 fin.: merita, Suet. Aug. 47; so id. ib. 5: priorem se petitum ab Alexandro adlegat, Just. 16, 1; Stat. Achill. 2, 224.
And in a zeugma: (legati) munera, preces, mandata regis sui adlegant, they bring or offer the gifts, entreaties, and mandates, Tac. H. 4, 84; cf.: orationem et per incensum deprecationem adlegans, Vulg. Sap. 18, 21: adlegare se ex servitute in ingenuitatem, a legal phrase, to release one’s self from servitude by adducing reasons, proofs, etc., Dig. 40, 12, 27.