NOTE.--This is the original and most frequent use of the ablative absolute.
4. CAUSE: compare Causal Clauses, _H_ 2 and 3.
#ortā# inter eōs #contentiōne#, I, 40; dūrissimā squāmārum #lōrīcā# omnia tēla facile #repellente#, XVII, 22; in cōnfertā multitūdine aegrē #prōcēdente carpentō#, XVIII, 17.
agrum ēius, #omnibus# circā #vāstātīs#, intāctum relīquit, XIX, 39.
6. Often time and cause together: compare note on Cum Clauses, _J_. Examples are:
#mīlitibus# sēgnius #dīmicantibus#, raptum sīgnum in hostem mīsit, VII, 9; #occīsō Tatiō#, ad Rōmulum potentātus omnis recidit, II, 40.
#rē# male #gestā# (if he fails), XVI, 31; nē, #dēsertō# agrō, nōn esset (lest, if he neglected his farm, he might not have), XVII, 34.
#advectīs ballistīs# et #catapultīs# (by bringing up, etc.) . . dēiciendus hostis fuit, XVII, 23.
#crīnibus passīs#, II, 36; #māgnā glōriā# bellī rēgnāvit, IV, 75; scrībā cum rēge #parī ferē ōrnātū# sedēbat, X, 6.
10. The ablative absolute is often best translated by the English perfect active participle with an object: #armātīs pāstōribus#, I, 25, _having armed_ the shepherds. A combination of an abl. abs. and a finite verb is often best rendered by two verbs in the same mood and tense: #interēmptō Amūliō#, Numitōrem in rēgnum #restituit#, I, 37, _he killed_ Amulius _and restored_ Numitor to the throne.
In Latin the participles, especially the perfect passive participle, are used far more frequently than in English, and with a much larger variety of meanings. The use of the participle tends to produce brevity of expression. Thus the Latin participle may be equivalent to
#raptae# mulierēs, II, 35; Rōmānus . . male #sustinentem# (= quī male sustinēbat) arma Cūriātium cōnficit, IV, 29; ab laniō cultrō #adreptō# (with a knife _which he caught up_ from a butcher’s stall), XII, 24; #volentibus# (= eīs quī volēbant) cōnsulere sē dē iūre praebuit, XIII, 97.
necessitāte #compulsus# indicāvit, I, 24; nōmina mūtāre nōn potuit #dēterritus# . . Nāviī auctōritāte, VI, 16; Hōc terrōre cēterī #adāctī# nōmina prōmptius dedērunt, XV, 25.
#victus# (though beaten) crucis supplicium effūgit, XVI, 30.
4. Latin often uses a perfect passive participle in agreement with a noun, where, judging from English usage, we should expect a noun with a limiting genitive: