[2266.] (1.) The ablative of the gerundive construction or gerund denotes means, less often cause, rarely manner and circumstances, or time, or respect.
Means: Caesar dandō sublevandō īgnōscundō, Catō nihil largiundō glōriam adeptus est, S. C. 54, 3, Caesar gained reputation by giving, helping, and pardoning, Cato by lavishing no gifts. opprimī sustentandō ac prōlātandō nūllō pactō potest, C. 4, 6, it cannot be crushed by patience and procrastination. Livy has this ablative with the adjective contentus ([1377]): nec iam possidendīs pūblicīs agrīs contentōs esse, 6, 14, 11, that they were no longer satisfied with the occupation of the public lands. Cause: aggerundā curvom aquā, Pl. Cas. 124, bowed with water carrying. flendō turgidulī rubent ocellī, Cat. 3, 18, with weeping red and swollen are her eyne. Manner and circumstances: rare in old Latin and Cicero: not in Caesar: bellum ambulandō cōnfēcērunt, Caelius in Fam. 8, 15, 1, they strolled through the war. senex vincendō factus, L. 30, 28, 5, maturing in victories. Time: cum plausum meō nōmine recitandō dedissent, Att. 4, 1, 6, when they had applauded on the reading of my name. partibus dīvidendīs ipsī regiō ēvēnit, L. 25, 30, 6, at the distribution, the district fell to him. Respect: Latīnē loquendō cuivīs erat pār, Br. 128, in his use of Latin he was a match for anybody.
[2267.] (2.) The ablative of the gerundive construction or gerund is also accompanied by a preposition, ab, dē, in, or ex; rarely by prō.
nūllum tempus illī umquam vacābat aut ā scrībendō aut ā cōgitandō, Br. 272, he never had any time free from writing or from thinking. quod verbum ductum est ā nimis intuendō fortūnam alterīus, TD. 3, 20, a word which is derived from ‘looking too closely at’ another’s prosperity, of the word invidia. cōnsilium illud dē occlūdendīs aedibus, T. Eu. 784, that idea about barring up the house. nihil dē causā discendā praecipiunt, DO. 2, 100, they give no instruction about studying up a case. vostra ōrātiō in rē incipiundā, T. Ph. 224, your remarks when we started in with this affair. Āfricānī in rē gerundā celeritātem, V. 5, 25, Africanus’s swiftness in execution. vix ex grātulandō ēminēbam, Pl. Cap. 504, I barely got my head above their congratulations. quae virtūs ex prōvidendō est appellāta prūdentia, Leg. 1, 60, a virtue which from ‘foreseeing’ is called foresight. prō līberandā amīcā, Pl. Per. 426, for setting free a leman. prō ope ferendā, L. 23, 28, 11, instead of going to the rescue. In this use ab is not found in Plautus or Terence, nor prō in Terence. cum is found in Quintilian, super once in Horace, then in Tacitus, sine once in Varro.
[2268.] With a comparative expression, the ablative of the gerundive is found once: nūllum officium referendā grātiā magis necessārium est, Off. 1, 47, no obligation is more binding than the returning of a favour. The gerundive construction in the ablative of separation ([1302]) is found rarely in Livy and Pliny the younger; Livy has also the gerund: as, Verminam absistere sequendō coēgit, L. 29, 33, 8, he forced Vermina to abandon his pursuit.
[THE SUPINE.]
[2269.] The supine is a verbal substantive. The form in -um is an accusative. The form in -ū is used sometimes as a dative, sometimes as an ablative.
The Supine in -um.
[2270.] The supine in -um denotes purpose with verbs of motion ([1166]): as,