Ablative of Place.

A. Place where.

228. The place where is regularly denoted by the Ablative with a preposition; as,—

in urbe habitat, he dwells in the city.

1. But certain words stand in the Ablative without a preposition; viz.—

a) Names of towns,—except Singulars of the First and Second Declensions (see § 232, 1); as,—

Carthāginī, at Carthage;

Athēnis, at Athens;

Vejīs, at Veii.

b) The general words locō, locīs, parte; also many words modified by tōtus or even by other Adjectives; as,—

hōc locō, at this place;

tōtīs castrīs, in the whole camp.

c) The special words: forīs, out of doors; rūrī, in the country, terrā marīque, on land and sea.

d) The poets freely omit the preposition with any word denoting place; as,—

stant lītore puppēs, the sterns rest on the beach.

B. Place from which.^[50]

229. Place from which is regularly denoted by the Ablative with a preposition; as,—

ab Italiā profectus est, he set out from Italy;

ex urbe rediit, he returned from the city.

1. But certain words stand in the Ablative without a preposition; viz.—

a) Names of towns and small islands; as,—

Rōma profectus est, he set out from Rome;

Rhodō revertit, he returned from Rhodes.

b) domō, from home; rūre, from the country.

c) Freely in poetry; as,—

Italiā dēcessit, he withdrew from Italy.

2. With names of towns, ab is used to mean from the vicinity of, or to denote the point whence distance is measured; as,—

ā Gergoviā discessit, he withdrew from the vicinity of Gergovia;

ā Rōmā X mīlia aberat, he was ten miles distant from Rome.

Urbe and oppidō, when standing in apposition with a town name, are accompanied by a preposition; as,—

Curibus ex oppidō Sabīnōrum, from Cures, a town of the Sabines

Ablative of Time.

A. Time at which.

230. The Ablative is used to denote the time at which; as,—

quārtā hōrā mortuus est, he died at the fourth hour;

annō septuāgēsimō cōnsul creātus, elected consul in his seventieth year.

1. Any word denoting a period of time may stand in this construction, particularly annus, vēr, aestās, hiems, diēs, nox, hōra, comitia (Election Day), lūdī (the Games), etc.

2. Words not denoting time require the preposition in, unless accompanied by a modifier. Thus:—

in pāce, in peace; in bellō, in war;

but secundō bellō Pūnicō, in the second Punic War.

3. Expressions like in eō tempore, in summa senectūte, take the preposition because they denote situation rather than time.

B. Time within which.

231. Time within which is denoted by the Ablative either with or without a preposition; as,—

stella Sāturnī trīgintā annīs cursum cōnficit, the planet Saturn completes its orbit within thirty years;

ter in annō, thrice in the course of the year.

1. Occasionally the Ablative denotes duration of time; as,—

bienniō prōsperās rēs habuit, for two years he had a prosperous administration.

THE LOCATIVE.

232. The Locative case occurs chiefly in the following words:—

1. Regularly in the Singular of names of towns and small islands of the first and second declensions, to denote the place in which; as,—

Rōmae, at Rome;		Corinthī, at Corinth;
	Rhodī, at Rhodes.

2. In the following special forms:—

domī, at home;	humī, on the ground;
bellī, in war;	mīlitiae, in war;
vesperī, at evening;	herī, yesterday.

3. Note the phrase pendēre animī, lit. to be in suspense in one's mind.

4. For urbs and oppidum in apposition with a Locative, see § 169, 4.