[1161.] Proper names of countries are also sometimes put in the accusative in poetry, to denote aim of motion: as, abiīt Ālidem, Pl. Cap. 573, he went away to Elis. So in prose also, Aegyptus in Cicero, Caesar, Nepos, Livy, and Tacitus: as, Germānicus Aegyptum proficīscitur, Ta. 2, 59, Germanicus sets out for Egypt. Rarely and in poetry names of peoples: as, sitientīs ībimus Āfrōs, V. E. 1, 64, to thirst-parched Afrians we shall go. In general the accusative of country names is preceded by in or ad, as are also appellatives regularly in prose; but in poetry, even appellatives without a preposition are common.
[1162.] (2.) The accusatives domum, rūs, and forās, are used like proper names of towns: as,
([a.]) eō domum, Pl. Mer. 659, I’m going home. equitēs domum contendērunt, 2, 24, 4, the cavalry hurried home. domum reditiōnis spē sublātā, 1, 5, 3, the hope of a return home being out of the question ([1129]). (b.) rūs ībō, T. Eu. 216, I shall go out of town. (c.) effūgī forās, T. Eu. 945, I ran out of doors.
[1163.] The singular domum is always retained by Caesar, even when two or more separate persons or parties are spoken of. Plautus, Sallust, and Nepos, have the plural domōs once each, and Cicero and Livy use it occasionally.
[1164.] The accusative domum or domōs sometimes has an attribute, usually a possessive pronoun: as, domum suam quemque revertī, 2, 10, 4, for every man to go back to his home. alius alium domōs suās invītant, S. I. 66, 3, they invite each other to their homes. aurum domum rēgiam comportant, S. I. 76, 6, they bring all the gold to the house royal. cum domum rēgis dēvertissēs, D. 17, when you went to stay at the king’s palace. The preposition in is sometimes used when the attribute is a genitive or a possessive pronoun, and commonly when it is any adjective but a possessive pronoun.
[1165.] (3.) In old Latin, exsequiās and īnfitiās are also used with eō, and sometimes malam crucem and malam rem, though these last more commonly have in: as,
exsequiās Chremētī īre, T. Ph. 1026, to go to Chremes’s funeral. ut eās malam crucem, Pl. Men. 328, that thou mayst get thee to the accursed cross. Later writers, as Nepos, Livy, and Quintilian, use īnfitiās eō again, and, from Sallust on, vēnum eō and vēnum dō sometimes occur for vēneō and vēndō.
[1166.] With the accusative in -tum (or -sum), called the supine, the idea of ‘aim’ passes over into that of ‘purpose:’ as mīlitātum abiīt, T. Hau. 117, he’s gone away a soldiering ([2270]).