45 Ablative Absolute

 

“Another way of indicating the time or circumstances when something happens is to use two ablatives in agreement with each other. One acts like a subject, and the second like a predicate, with a missing sum: ‘(with) [ablative] (being) [ablative]’. For a better English translation, try ‘when [ablative] is/was [ablative]’. Use ‘was’ if the verb of the sentence is past tense, otherwise use ‘is’. This use of the ablative is called Ablative Absolute:”

Ablative Absolute, Examples (G)

 

Tē cōnsule, urbs valet.

(with) you (being) consul, the city is strong >>> When you are consul, the city is strong.

 

Caesāre duce, Fortūna victoriam nōbīs dābat.

(with) Caesar (being) leader, Fortune was giving us victory >>> When Caesar was leader,

 

Fortune was giving us victory.

 

When Marcus is consul, we will have freedom. (14) “Marcus is a 2nd declension noun.” Mē et tē liberīs, magna erat urbs. (15)

“The Romans used this construction to identify their years. Each year they elected two consuls to a one-year term. The combination of their two names, in the ablative case, combined with the ablative plural cōnsulibus, gave each year a label: ‘(with) X and Y (being) consuls’. The current year is labelled ‘when C. Pompeius Magnus and Q. Caecilius Metellus Pius were consuls’.

Romans who were concerned with history would look up the list of consul-pairs, and use these to express dates.”

“As a review of what we’ve just learned, and as a preview of what’s to come, read out loud this Latin version of Caesar’s report – this is the last of the paragraphs we heard the reader recite for the crowd:”

Eius adventū ex colōre vestītūs cognītō, quō īnsīgnī in proeliīs ūtī cōnsuerat, turmīsque equitum et cohortibus vīsīs quās sē sequī iusserat, ut dē locīs superiōribus haec dēclīvia et dēvexa cernēbantur, hostēs proelium committunt. Utrimque clāmōre sublātō excipit rūrsus ex vāllō atque omnibus mūnītiōnibus clāmor. Nostrī omissīs pilīs gladiīs rem gerunt. Repente post tergum equitātus cernitur; cohortēs aliae appropinquant. Hostēs terga vertunt; fugientibus equitēs occurrunt. Fit magna caedēs. Sēdulius, dux et prīnceps Lemovīcum, occīditur; Vercassivellaunus Arvernus vīvus in fugā comprehenditur; signa mīlitāria septuāgintā quattuor ad Caesarem referuntur: paucī ex tantō numerō sē incolumēs in castra recipiunt… Quod nisi crēbrīs subsidiīs ac tōtīus diēī labōre mīlitēs essent dēfessī, omnēs hostium cōpiae dēlērī potuissent.

“The Ablative is everywhere in this passage, used three different ways. There are five prepositional phrases (a), and two Ablative of Means (b). The rest describe the time or circumstances under which something occurred (c). If a noun is combined with an adjective made from a verb (called a participle), it explains the time when an action took place. For example, one adjective made from videō is vīsus, a, um, which means ‘having been seen’ or just ‘seen’. So, mē vīsō means ‘(with) me having been seen’ or ‘when I was seen’; mīlitibus vīsīs would mean ‘with the soldiers having been seen’ or ‘when the soldiers were seen’. These phrases could be used in a sentence to indicate when the main action took place: when I was seen, or when the soldiers were seen. See if you can identify these uses of the ablative as (a), (b), or (c):”

• eius adventū cognitō(when) his arrival (was) recognized
• ex colōre vestītūsbased on the color of the garment
• turmīs et cohortibus vīsīs (when) the squadrons and cohorts (were) seen
• dē locīs superiōribusfrom the higher places

 

• clāmōre sublātō(when) a shout (was) raised
• ex vallō atque omnibusout of the palisade and all the fortifications mūnītiōnibus
• omissīs pīlīs(when) javelins (were) omitted
• gladiīs(with) swords
• in fūgāin flight
• ex tantō numerōout of such a great number
• diēī labōreby the struggle of the day

 

“If you identify all eleven correctly, you will erase the humiliation of your defeat earlier at the tip of my umbrella!”

As I finished up – it was not that hard – she drew my attention to a group of soldiers in the basilica who were harassing a vendor of exotic pets, who had a collection of monkeys and talking parrots. They were letting the animals free, rifling through his stores, looking for valuables, and otherwise making trouble. Though I had a goddess protecting me, I could not help but feel fear in my stomach, mixed with pity for the vendor. “In a few days,” Latinitas let me know, “a prominent Roman politician named Clodius will be killed in gang violence and his funeral will be held near here. Afterwards there will be a riot, and in the middle of the violence, the crowd will burn this basilica to the ground.”

This one, the one that we’re in? “Yes.”

A name she mentioned rang a bell in my head. Clodius – is he any relation to Clodia? I asked.

 

“Her brother. He’s another populist leader, riding the same wave that gave Catiline his power and, long before that, Gaius Gracchus. The rival gang that will kill him is led by a friend of Cicero’s. Rome is a huge city, with hundreds of thousands of people, but at the very top, all of the major persons are connected to each other, like Clodius and his sister.”

What will happen to these soldiers? They seem like they are out of control.

 

“A year and a half from now, Caesar will come back from Gaul with his armies,” Latinitas added as we moved away from the commotion. “The Senate will request that he disband his army before entering Italy. Caesar will refuse, citing broken promises and threats to his life. He will cross the Rubicon river with his troops, in defiance of the Senate’s order. The Senate will command these soldiers to join and fight with them. Forced to choose between loyalty to Caesar

 

and loyalty to the institutions of the Roman republic, most will follow the man, not the institutions.”

“The Republic is a complex thing, which will never disappear entirely; but soldiers shifting their loyalties to a private individual with whom they personally identify will certainly accelerate its decline.”

 

• Vercingetorix Throws down his Arms at the Feet of Julius Caesar, by Lionel Royer, 1899. Note Caesar’s distinctive dress or vestītus, which is mentioned in the narrative. The Gauls are distinguished from the Romans by their mustaches.

 

 

 

• A mosaic from Pompeii, dating to the first-century CE, showing a chorus leader and actors post scaenam or backstage, in various states of dress and undress. The actor on the right is putting on a padded costume.