abiīt piscātum, Pl. R. 898, he’s gone a fishing. neu noctū īrem obambulātum, Pl. Tri. 315, not to go a prowling by night. legiōne ūnā frūmentātum missā, 4, 32, 1, one legion being sent a foraging. sessum it praetor, DN. 3, 74, the praetor is going to take his seat. spectātum veniunt, veniunt spectentur ut ipsae, O. AA. 1, 99, they come to see and eke for to be seen. This use is very common in Plautus and Terence, less common in Cicero and Caesar. It is found not infrequently in Sallust and particularly in Livy; sporadically in the Augustan poets. In late prose it is almost confined to archaistic writing. In classical Latin, purpose is more commonly expressed by the subjunctive with ut or a relative pronoun, or by a gerundive or gerund with ad or causā. See also [2164].
[2271.] The most common supines in -um are cubitum, dormītum, ēreptum, frūmentātum, grātulātum, nūntiātum, oppugnātum, ōrātum, pāstum, perditum, petītum, salūtātum, sessum, supplicātum. They are found chiefly with eō and veniō. nūptum is also common with dō, collocō, &c., and supines are occasionally found with other verbs implying motion.
[2272.] The supine in -um may be followed by the same construction as its verb: as,
([a.]) Accusative: deōs salūtātum atque uxōrem modo intrō dēvortor domum, Pl. St. 534, I’ll just turn in home to greet my gods and my wife. lēgātōs ad Caesarem mittunt rogātum auxilium, 1, 11, 2, they send envoys to Caesar to beg aid. oppugnātum patriam nostram veniunt, L. 21, 41, 13, they come to assail our country. Classical writers generally avoid this use of the accusative. (b.) Dative: servītum tibi mē abdūcitō, Pl. Ps. 520, take me away to slave for you. nōn ego Grāīs servītum mātribus ībō, V. 2, 786, not I shall go to be the serf of Grecian dames. (c.) Subordinate clause: lēgātī veniēbant: Aeduī questum quod Harūdēs fīnēs eōrum populārentur, 1, 37, 1, envoys came: the Aeduans to complain ‘because the Harudians were laying their country waste’ ([1853]). lēgātōs ad Caesarem mīsērunt ōrātum nē sē in hostium numerō dūceret, 6, 32, 1, they sent envoys to Caesar to beg that he would not regard them in the light of enemies.
[2273.] The supine in -um followed by īrī forms the future passive infinitive: as,
eum exceptum īrī putō, Att. 7, 22, 1, I think that there is a going to capture him, i.e. that he is going to be captured. Here īrī is used impersonally and eum is the object of exceptum. This infinitive is found half a dozen times in old Latin, often in Cicero, rarely in other writers; not in the Augustan poets. For the common periphrasis, see [2233].
The Supine in -ū.
[2274.] The supine in -ū is used with fās, nefās, and adjectives, chiefly of such meaning as easy, good, pleasant, strange, or their opposites.
Only a few supines in -ū are found; the commonest are audītū, cōgnitū, dictū, factū, inventū, memorātū, nātū, vīsū.