Ablative Absolutes, ch. 37

Ablative absolutes do the same thing as English nominative absolutes.

ENGLISH NOMINATIVE ABSOLUTES

You may have never learned this name before, but you have surely heard some of these absolute phrases such as "that being so" or "this being the case".

Further examples are below. Notice how each main clause still makes sense without the nominative absolutes—enclosed in parentheses—in these English examples:

(The clock striking twelve,) Cinderella fled the ball.
(Their funds exhausted,) they knew one of them had to find a job fast.
(Victory having been accomplished at a terrible price,) the homecoming was bittersweet at best.
(Time running out on the clock,) the quarterback threw a "Hail Mary" pass into the endzone.
(The jury having reached a verdict,) the judge asked the defendant to stand.

Each of the above nominative absolutes sets up the circumstances or situation under which the main clause occurs.

Note that they are called nominative absolutes because you should use the subject case, but this is only apparent in English with pronouns, for example:

(He being strong,) the weighty barrier proved no obstacle.

“He” is correct, though sometimes people will incorrectly say “him” in such instances.

LATIN ABLATIVE ABSOLUTES

Like nominative absolutes, ablative absolutes in Latin are grammatically very loosely connected to the clause in which they occur. “Absolute” here means “unconnected” or “standing by itself.” Mostly ablative absolutes may also be understood as ablatives of cause or ablatives of attendant circumstance.

There are two types of ablative absolutes.

1) Noun/Pronoun + Participle (both in ablative)
Translate the noun or pronoun first and then translate the participle literally.

Marcō ducente, … Marcus leading, …
Quintō laudātō, … Quintus having been praised, …

2) Noun/Pronoun + Noun/Adjective (both in ablative)
Translate the first noun or pronoun, add “being” or “as”, and then translate the second noun or adjective.

Hōc fortissimō, … This man being very brave, …
Virīs mīlitibus, … The men being soldiers, …

WHEN TO USE AN ABSOLUTE

Ablative absolutes are only used when the main noun/pronoun is not found as part of the main clause. If the noun is already found in the main clause, then the participle (or second noun or adjective) simply agrees in gender, number, and case with the first noun.

Examples without absolute:

I followed the man* leading us.
Virum nōs ducentem secūtus sum.
*Man is direct object of main clause, so virum is accusative and ducentem agrees.

I gave a letter to the messenger* going to Athens.
Litterās nuntiō Athenās euntī dedī.
*Messenger is indirect object of main clause, so nuntiō is dative and euntī agrees.

Examples with absolute:

Caesar* being general, we expected that we would win.
Caesare duce, expectāvimus ut vincerēmus.
*Caesar is not part of the main clause, so it becomes part of ablative absolute.

The poem* having been written by Quintus, it was proper to listen.
Carmine ā Quintō scriptō, oportēbat audīre.
*Poem is not part of the main clause, so it becomes part of an absolute.

FANCY TRANSLATIONS LIKE CUM CLAUSES

Participles can be translated like full clauses as we have mentioned before. This is helpful because sometimes literal translations sound odd to us—we don’t use participles nearly as much.

Caesare duce, gaudēbam.
Caesar being general, I rejoiced. = Since/when Caesar was general, I rejoiced.

Urbe dēlētā, bellum non iam finītum est.
The city having been destroyed, the war was not finished yet. = While/although the city had been destroyed, the was was not finished yet.

Cicerone dicente, semper audiunt.
Cicero speaking, they always listen. = If/whenever Cicero speaks, they always listen.