[The Accusative of Exclamation.]
[1149.] The accusative is used in exclamations, sometimes merely to call attention to something, but generally with a predicate to express a judgment with emphasis.
([a.]) In calling attention, ecce or em is used in old Latin: as, ecce mē, Pl. MG. 663, behold, your humble servant. em Dāvom tibī̆, T. Andr. 842, there, Davos sir. For ellum, eccillum, &c., see [667] and [673]. Also, from Cicero on, ēn: as, ēn quattuor ārās, V. E. 5, 65, see, altars four. (b.) In emphatic judgments sometimes the accusative alone: as, fortūnātum Nīcobūlum, Pl. B. 455, lucky man that Nicobulus. testīs ēgregiōs, Cael. 63, mighty fine witnesses; sometimes with an interjection: as, ō imperātōrem probum, Pl. B. 759, oh what a good commander; rarely so with ēcastor, edepol, eugē, bravo, heu, īlicet, all’s up, ē̆heu. Interrogatively: hancine impudentiam? V. 5, 62, possible, shamelessness like this?
[1150.] The accusative is used in excited orders, appeals, and questions, without any verb expressed, or even distinctly felt: as, Tiberium in Tiberim, Suet. Tib. 75, Tiberius to the Tiber. dī vostram fidem, T. Andr. 716, ye gods your help. prō fidem, Thēbānī cīvēs, Pl. Am. 376, oh help, or murder, ye citizens of Thebes. So with unde, quō, and quandō, often followed by mihī̆ or tibī̆: as, quō mihi fortūnam, sī nōn concēditur ūtī? H. E. 1, 5, 12, why wealth for me, if wealth I may not use?
[II. THE ACCUSATIVE OF SPACE AND TIME, AND OF AIM OF MOTION.]
[The Accusative of Space and Time.]
[1151.] Extent of space or duration of time is denoted by the accusative: as,
([a.]) mīlia passuum XX prōcēdit, 5, 47, 1, he pushes on twenty miles. trīduī viam prōgressī, 4, 4, 4, having advanced three days journey. aggerem lātum pedēs CCCXXX, altum pedēs LXXX exstrūxērunt, 7, 24, 1, they built up a mound three hundred and thirty feet wide, and eighty feet high ([1130]). (b.) mātrōnae annum lūxērunt, L. 2, 7, 4, the married women wore mourning a year. ūndēvīgintī annōs nātus erat, Br. 229, he was nineteen years old. secūtae sunt continuōs complūrēs diēs tempestātēs, 4, 34, 4, there followed a good many days a succession of storms. triennium vagātī, 4, 4, 2, having led a nomad life three years. ūnum diem supplicātiō habita est, L. 10, 47, 7, a thanksgiving was held one day. diēs quīndecim supplicātiō, 2, 35, 4, a fortnight thanksgiving ([1129]). Sometimes per is added: as, lūdī per decem diēs factī sunt, C. 3, 20, games were celebrated ten days long.
[1152.] The idea of traversing is sometimes not expressed: as, mīlia passuum tria ab eōrum castrīs castra pōnit, 1, 22, 5, he pitches camp three miles away from their camp. quadringentōs inde passūs cōnstituit sīgna, L. 34, 20, 4, four hundred paces from there he set up the standards. See [1399].
[1153.] With absum and distō, the ablative of amount of difference is sometimes used ([1393]): as, certior factus est Ariovistī cōpiās ā nostrīs mīlibus passuum quattuor et XX abesse, 1, 41, 5, he was informed that Ariovistus’s troops were four and twenty miles away from ours. If the place is not mentioned from which distance is reckoned, ab or ā is sometimes used before the expression of distance: as, positīs castrīs ā mīlibus passuum XV, 6, 7, 3, pitching camp fifteen miles away.