Ablative of Source.

215. The Ablative of Source is used with the participles nātus and ortus (in poetry also with ēditus, satus, and some others), to designate parentage or station; as,—

Jove nātus, son of Jupiter;

summō locō nātus, high-born (lit. born from a very high place);

nōbilī genere ortus, born of a noble family.

1. Pronouns regularly (nouns rarely) take ex; as,

ex mē nātus, sprung from me.

2. To denote remoter descent, ortus ab, or oriundus (with or without ab), is used; as,—

ab Ulixe oriundus, descended from Ulysses.

Ablative of Agent.

216. The Ablative accompanied by ā (ab) is used with passive verbs to denote the personal agent; as,—

ā Caesare accūsātus est, he was arraigned by Caesar.

1. Collective nouns referring to persons, and abstract nouns when personified, may be construed as the personal agent. Thus:—

hostēs ā fortūnā dēserēbantur, the enemy were deserted by Fortune;

ā multitūdine hostium mōntēs tenēbantur, the mountains were held by a multitude of the enemy.

2. Names of animals sometimes admit the same construction. Thus:—

ā canibus laniātus est, he was torn to pieces by dogs.

Ablative of Comparison.

217. 1. The Ablative is often used with Comparatives in the sense of than; as,—

melle dulcior, sweeter than honey;

patria mihi vītā cārior est, my country is dearer to me than life.

2. This construction, as a rule, occurs only as a substitute for quam (than) with the Nominative or Accusative. In other cases quam must be used; as,—

tuī studiōsior sum quam illīus, I am fonder of you than of him.

—Studiōsior illō would have meant, I am fonder of you than he is.

Plūs, minus, amplius, longius are often employed as the equivalents of plūs quam, minus quam, etc. Thus:—

amplius vīgintī urbēs incenduntur, more than twenty cities are fired;

minus quīnque mīlia prōcessit, he advanced less than five miles.

3. Note the use of opīniōne with Comparatives; as,—

opīniōne celerius venit, he comes more quickly than expected (lit. than opinion).

INSTRUMENTAL USES OF THE ABLATIVE.

Ablative of Means.

218. The Ablative is used to denote means or instrument; as,—

Alexander sagittā vulnerātus est, Alexander was wounded by an arrow.

There are the following special varieties of this Ablative:—

1. Ūtor, fruor, fungor, potior, vescor, and their compounds take the Ablative; as,—

dīvitiīs ūtitur, he uses his wealth (lit. he benefits himself by his wealth);

vītā fruitur, he enjoys life (lit. he enjoys himself by life);

mūnere fungor, I perform my duty (lit. I busy myself with duty);

carne vescuntur, they eat flesh (lit. feed themselves by means of);

castrīs potītus est, he got possession of the camp (lit. made himself powerful by the camp).

a.. Potior sometimes governs the Genitive. See § 212, 2.

2. With opus est (rarely ūsus est), there is need; as,—

duce nōbīs opus est, we need a leader.

a. A Neuter Pronoun or Adjective often stands as subject with opus as predicate. Thus:—

hōc mihi opus est, this is necessary for me.

b. An ordinary substantive rarely stands as subject. Thus dux nōbīs opus est is a rare form of expression.

c. Note the occasional use of a perfect passive participle with opus est; as,—

opus est properātō, there is need of haste.

3. With nītor, innīxus, and frētus; as,—

nītitur hastā, he rests on a spear (lit. supports himself by a spear);

frētus virtūte, relying on virtue (lit. supported by virtue).

4. With continērī, cōnsistere, cōnstāre, consist of; as,—

nervīs et ossibus continentur, they consist of sinews and bones (lit. they are held together by sinews and bones);

mortālī cōnsistit corpore mundus, the world consists of mortal substance (lit. holds together by means of, etc.).

6. In expressions of the following type:—

quid hōc homine faciās, what can you do with this man?

quid meā Tulliolā fīet, what will become of my dear Tullia? (lit. what will be done with my dear Tullia?)

7. In the following special phrases at variance with the ordinary English idiom:—

proeliō contendere, vincere, to contend, conquer in battle;

proeliō lacessere, to provoke to battle;

currū vehī, to ride in a chariot;

pedibus īre, to go on foot;

castrīs sē tenēre, to keep in camp.

8. With Verbs of filling and Adjectives of plenty; as,—

fossās virgultīs complērunt, they filled the trenches with brush.

a. But plēnus more commonly takes the Genitive. See § 204, 1.

9. Under 'Means' belongs also the Ablative of the Way by Which; as,—

vīnum Tiberī dēvectum, wine brought down (by) the Tiber.

10. The means may be a person as well as a thing. Thus:—

mīlitibus ā lacū Lemannō ad montem Jūram mūrum perdūcit, with (i.e. by means of) his troops he runs a wall from Lake Geneva to Mt. Jura.