Siunmary

The V(erb)-S(ubject) order in Latin is traditionally considered as 'deviant' or 'abnormal'. However, VS ordering is due to various pragmatic functions. An analysis from a functional point of view shows that we can speak about 'emphatic' verb only if it carries the function of focus (contrastive, verumfocus...). Moreover, a sample of texts from the classical period shows that the verb occupies normally the initial position in the clause when the sentence serves to introduce a Future Topic, a new entity that will be further developed in the subsequent sentence. Introducing a Future Topic concerns especially existential and locative sentences containing the verb esse and sentences with verbs 'appear', 'remain' and similar. The pragmatic function of Future Topic entails normally the first position of the verb in the case of existential and locative sentences; the first position is only frequent for verbs like 'appear' and 'remain' which can figure also in the final position.