[The Ablative of Cause, Influence, or Motive.]
[1316.] The ablative is used to denote cause, influence, or motive: as,
madeō metū, Pl. Most. 395, I’m drenched with dread. tū imprūdentiā lāberis, Mur. 78, you, sir, slip from inadvertence. maerōre et lacrimīs cōnsenēscēbat, Clu. 13, she just pined away in sorrow and tears. īrā incendor, Pl. Ps. 201, I’m getting hot with wrath. premor lūctū, Att. 3, 22, 3, I am bowed down with grief. quod ego nōn superbiā faciēbam, DO. 1, 99, I did not act thus from superciliousness, not I. nōn movētur pecūniā, V. 4, 18, he is not moved by money. boat caelum fremitū virūm, Pl. Am. 232, the welkin rings with roar of men. dēlictō dolēre, corrēctiōne gaudēre, L. 90, be pained by the sin, take pleasure in the reproof. aetāte nōn quīs optuērier, Pl. Most. 840, owing to age thou canst not see. Iovis iussū veniō, Pl. Am. prol. 19, at Jove’s behest I come. Sēiānus nimiā fortūnā sōcors, Ta. 4, 39, Sejanus giddy with over-prosperity. ferōx praedā glōriāque exercitus, Ta. H. 1, 51, the army flushed with booty and glory. exercitūs nostrī interitus ferrō, Pis. 40, the annihilation of our army by the sword ([1301]).
[1317.] Instead of the ablative, other constructions often occur, especially with verbs used transitively; such are:
([a.]) Prepositional phrases with dē or ex, in Varro and Livy with ab; also with ob, per, or propter: as, multī in oppidum propter timōrem sēsē recipiunt, Caes. C. 2, 35, 6, a good many retreated to the town from fear. Sometimes with prae: as, prae amōre exclūstī hunc forās, T. Eu. 98, it was for love you turned him out of doors: in classical Latin, usually of hindrance: as, sōlem prae iaculōrum multitūdine nōn vidēbitis, TD. 1, 101, you won’t see the sun for the cloud of javelins. (b.) Circumlocutions with causā, less frequently with grātiā ([1257]). (c.) Ablatives absolute, or participles, particularly auxiliary participles with an ablative to express cause, oftener motive, such as captus, ductus, excitātus or incitātus, impulsus, incēnsus, īnflammātus, mōtus, perterritus: as, nōnnūllī pudōre adductī remanēbant, 1, 39, 3, some stuck by from shame.
[1318.] The person by whom the action of a passive verb is done, is denoted by the ablative with ab or ā. Also occasionally with verbs equivalent to a passive, such as cadō, intereō, pereō, vēneō, &c., &c. Things or animals are sometimes represented as persons by the use of ab: as, animus bene īnfōrmātus ā nātūrā, Off. 1, 13, a soul meetly fashioned by dame nature. See [1476]-1478.
[1319.] In poetry, an ablative denoting a person, with an adjective in agreement, is sometimes equivalent to an expression with an abstract substantive: as, et adsiduō ruptae lēctōre columnae, J. 1, 13, and pillars by persistent reader riven, i.e. adsiduitāte lēctōris, or adsiduā lēctiōne. cūrātus inaequālī tōnsōre capillōs, H. E. 1, 1, 94, my locks by unsymmetric barber trimmed.
[1320.] (1.) The ablative may be used with a comparative adjective, when the first of two things compared is in the nominative, or is a subject-accusative.