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Agent with the passive: a, ab with the ablative

With a passive verb, the person by whom the action is done is a or ab with the ablative: "by".

a stands before consonants, ab before vowels and h (also abs te). With a passive verb or participle it names the doer: ab horum ullo "by any of them", a Diis … oblatas "offered by the gods".

A thing, not a person, is in the plain ablative without a preposition: voluptate vincitur "is overcome by pleasure" (see the ablative of means). Powers thought of as persons (natura, numen) take a or ab.

With a gerundive of obligation the doer is usually in the dative: tibi cavendum est "you must beware".

Not every a or ab is an agent. With an active verb or a noun it means "from": a bonorum malorumque inscitia "from ignorance of good and evil".

Examples

  • nec laedi posse me ab horum ullo 2.1that I cannot be harmed by any of them
  • opportunitates a Diis tibi oblatas 2.4the opportunities offered to you by the gods
  • quae festive ab illo conscripta sunt 2.15what was wittily written by him

In the text 59

  • I.6 neve eis fidem adhiberem, quae a praestigiatoribus magisque de incantationibus, deque daemonibus averruncandis, aliisque ejusmodi imposturis dicuntur:magis here is not the adverb "more", but the ablative plural of magus "magus, magician" (long -īs), joined to praestigiatoribus by -que. Both depend on a, which names the people by whom a thing is done after a passive verb: "said by conjurors and magicians".
  • I.15 quod nemo quisquam inventus sit, qui vel contemptui ab illo haberi se existimaret, vel praestantiorem se illo opinaretur.
  • I.16 utpote cum is esset, qui non ad celebritatem ex rebus a se gestis acquirendam, sed id duntaxat quod facto erat opus, respiceret.
  • II.1 nec laedi posse me ab horum ullo compertum habeo; (neque enim inhonesta re aliqua me quisquam involverit) sed nec succensere congeneri possum, eumve odisse.ab with the ablative gives the agent of the passive laedi: "by any one of these". horum is a partitive genitive.
  • II.4 Memento, quamdiu ista distuleris, et quoties opportunitates a Diis tibi oblatas neglexeris.
  • II.5 abduces autem, si tanquam vitae tuae novissimam, actionem unamquamque peregeris; temeritate omni liberam, et declinatione per affectus vim a rationis dictamine; simulatione itidem, et amore sui, eorumque quae a numine destinata sunt aversatione.
  • II.15 docent hoc, quae a Monimo dicta sunt.
  • II.15 horum autem utilitas comparebit, si quis quae festive ab illo conscripta sunt, quatenus veritatem habent patrocinantem, admiserit.
  • III.2 Etiam istud est observatu non indignum, quod ea quoque quae a natura genitis superveniunt, gratiam suam quandam et venustatem obtinent.
  • III.4 quod hominem utique praestet intaminatum voluptatibus, dolore omni illaesum, contumelia intactum, improbitatis ne sentientem quidem; certaminis praestantissimi, ne ab affectu scilicet ullo subvertatur, athletam;
  • III.4 suis enim duntaxat agendis intentus est; sibique ab universo destinata cogitat assidue.
  • III.5 porro vultus adsit hilaris; animusque ita comparatus, ut nec externo aliquo indigeas ministerio, nec tranquillitate ea, quam ab aliis suppeditari necesse sit.
  • III.11 caeterum ego, cum norim, ideo adversus illum benevole justeque me gero, juxta societatis legem a natura latam.legem ferre is "to propose, enact a law", so legem … latam (from fero, perfect participle latus) is "the law laid down", and a natura names the lawgiver: "by nature".
  • IV.6 Ab ejusmodi hominibus fieri istiusmodi necesse est.
  • IV.21 quin et reputanda est non sepultorum tantum hoc modo corporum multitudo, sed et animalium, quae quotidie tum a nobis, tum a bestiis, comeduntur.tum … tum "both … and"; a with the ablative gives the agent of the passive comeduntur: "eaten both by us and by beasts".
  • IV.25 eum dico, qui rebus ab universo sibi assignatis acquiescit, et propria actione, quae justa, affectione, quae benevola sit, contentus agit.
  • IV.26 boni aliquid tibi obvenit? ab initio tibi, quicquid contingit, ab universo destinatum et fato certo assignatum est.The subject is quicquid contingit "whatever happens"; the verb is destinatum et … assignatum est "has been destined and assigned", one est serving both participles. The universe is treated as an agent, with ab; fate, the instrument, stands in the plain ablative fato certo "by fixed fate". So whatever comes to you, good or bad, was allotted to you from the start.
  • V.8 cum nec natura quaelibet quicquam ferat, quod non ei mundo, qui ab ipsa administratur, congruens existat.
  • V.12 at vero quae vulgo pro bonis habentur, ubi animo praeconceperit quis, auribus aequis accipiet, facileque admittet, tanquam apte adjectum id, quod a comico quandoque dictum est,a comico "by the comic poet": comicus "comic" used as a noun. This is Menander, the Athenian writer of comedies (4th century BC), whose line the last sentence of the section paraphrases: a man so rich in goods that he has nowhere left to relieve himself. a with the ablative gives the agent of the passive dictum est.
  • V.15 atqui contra, quo quis horum hisque similium plura sibi detraxerit, aut ab aliis detracta aequanimiter sustinuerit, eo melior merito censetur.
  • V.21 istud enim est, quod caeteris in te omnibus utitur; et a quo vita tua gubernatur.a with the ablative names the agent of a passive verb: a quo … gubernatur "by which … is steered". gubernare is properly to steer a ship, so the ruling part is pictured as the helmsman of your life.
  • V.34 alterum, quod ab alia re nulla possit impediri;
  • VI.1 mens rectrix ejusdem, nullam in se maleficii caussam habet; cum malitiam in se nullam habeat; neque malefacit cuiquam, nec a quoquam laeditur.
  • VI.11 Siquando a rebus circumstantibus per vim quandam adactum perturbari te senseris, cito ad te redi, nec plus quam necesse est, ab animi tenore congruo recede.
  • VI.16 Non est aestimatione multa dignum, aut perspirari, quod et plantarum est; aut respirare, quod et pecudum et belluarum est; aut a sensibus rerum imagines impressas admittere;Perception was pictured as the stamping of images on the mind, like a seal in wax: imagines impressas "images stamped (on us)", with a sensibus "by the senses" as the agent of the participle. Animals have this too.
  • VI.16 aut ab affectibus sigillarium instar impelli; aut gregatim convenire; aut nutriri: hoc enim perinde est atque alimenti quod est superfluum excernere.impelli "to be driven" is a passive infinitive, and ab affectibus "by the passions" names the driver, as with a person: a creature pulled this way and that by impulse, like a puppet on its strings.
  • VI.18 eos, qui eodem secum tempore vivunt, laudare cum renuant; ipsi a posteris, qui eos nec norint unquam nec viderint, celebrari plurimi faciunt.
  • VI.21 sector enim veritatem, a qua nemo unquam laesus est.laesus est is the perfect passive, "has been harmed", and a qua treats the truth as the agent: "by which no one has ever been harmed". This is why he will gladly be corrected: the truth can only help him.
  • VI.40 at in eis, quae a natura continentur, intus est, ibique residet, quae ea condiderat, vis.contineo "hold together, sustain"; a natura, a with the ablative, names the agent: things "held together by nature", that is, living and natural things as against things made by craft.
  • VI.53 Assuesce eis quae ab alio dicuntur animum sedulo adhibere, et quantum poteris dicentis animo penitus interesse.
  • VI.57 Aurigine affectis mel amarum videtur; a cane rabido morsis, aqua formidabilis: contra pueris pila pulcrum quid.
  • VII.5 si sufficit, ea tanquam instrumento ab universi natura mihi dato ad hoc efficiendum utor,
  • VII.7 quid ergo, si ad propugnaculum ascendere solus, quia claudus es, nequeas, ab altero vero adjutus possis?adjutus "helped" is the perfect passive participle of adjuvo, with the agent in ab altero "by another": "but, helped by another, you can". vero "but" sets this against solus "alone".
  • VII.34 Quod ad gloriam, animos eorum, a quibus ea expetitur, considera, quales existant, et qualia tum fugiant, tum et sectentur.a quibus gives the agent of the passive expetitur: "by whom it is sought"; ea is glory.
  • VII.34 illud item dispice, sicut arenarum cumuli alii aliis superingesti priora abscondunt; perinde in vita contingere, ut antegressa a succedentibus quam celerrime abscondantur.
  • VII.45 quocunque loco semet collocaverit quis, statum eum sibi optimum ducens, aut a principe fuerit collocatus, eum hunc tueri (uti mihi videtur) oportet,
  • VII.55 vis autem intellectualis principatum sibi vendicat, nec ab eis in ordinem redigi patitur.patior 'allow' takes an infinitive: redigi patitur 'it allows itself to be brought'. in ordinem redigere is an idiom, 'to bring into line, put in one's place', used of reducing an officer to the ranks. ab eis 'by them', the movements of sense and passion, gives the agent.
  • VII.57 Id solum diligas, quod obvenit, et a fato destinatum est tibi.a with the ablative names the agent of a passive verb, and is normally used of persons: a fato treats fate as a person who has assigned (destinatum est) this to you.
  • VII.62 Crebro tecum perpende, qualesnam sint a quibus probari et praedicari velis, qualique sint mente praediti.
  • VIII.7 appetitiones et aversationes ad ea sola, quae in nobis sita sunt, adhibet, a rerum natura denique quicquid assignatum fuerit, amplectitur.a rerum natura "by the nature of things" is the agent of the passive assignatum fuerit, a future perfect with fuerit for erit: "whatever shall have been assigned", that is, whatever is assigned at any time. The whole quicquid clause is the object of amplectitur "welcomes", a deponent.
  • VIII.29 memento potestatis hujus a natura tibi tributae.
  • VIII.34 hoc autem nulli alii parti est a Deo concessum, ut revulsa semel et praecisa denuo coalescat.
  • VIII.53 Num in votis habes ab eo laudari, qui intra horulae spatium ter semet execratur?
  • IX.39 Vel ab una mente, quasi fonte communi, tanquam uni corpori superveniunt universa: nec partem oportet de eis conqueri, quae a toto fiunt.
  • X.1 ecquando ita affecta futura es, quo cum Deis hominibusque ita verseris, ut nec eos quicquam insimules, neque ab eis ipsa condemneris?ab eis "by them" gives the agent of the passive condemneris "you are condemned". ipsa "you yourself" (feminine, the soul) points the contrast: you blame no one, and no one blames you.
  • X.2 Observa, quid natura tua exigat, quatenus a natura mera regitur.
  • X.6 Sive atomi obtinent, sive natura regit universa; hoc primo statuatur, partem esse me universi a natura administrati.
  • X.6 siquidem ista recordatus; quatenus pars sum totius, nihil aegre feram ab universo mihi attributum.
  • X.6 cum hoc naturae omnes in commune sortiantur: mundi vero natura et hoc amplius obtineat, quod a nulla caussa externa cogi possit, ut sibi ipsi noxium quicquam producat.
  • X.8 unanimis nomen, exceptionem eorum omnium spontaneam, quae a natura communi fuerint assignata.
  • X.11 corpus exuit, qui sic affectus est, reputansque secum, mox esse sibi, relictis his omnibus, ab hominibus discedendum, totum sese permittit, justitiae, in eis quae ab ipso fiunt; universi naturae, in eis quae obveniunt ipsi.
  • X.13 Somno excusso statim percontare te, nunquid tua intererit, si justa bonaque ab alio aliquo fiant. nihil intererit.
  • X.25 idem est et qui ideo angitur, vel irascitur, vel metuit, quod secus, quam ipse velit, aut factum sit, aut fiat, aut futurum sit eorum quicquam, quae ab universi rectore sunt constituta,ab with the ablative names the doer of the passive sunt constituta "have been ordained": the ruler of the universe. This clause is the writer's own statement of fact, so it keeps the indicative.
  • X.33 siquidem cylindro quidem non conceditur, ut motu proprio ubique feratur; sed nec aquae, nec igni, nec alii rei cuiquam, quae a natura mera, vel anima regitur irrationali.natura here is bare natural growth, the power that governs plants, and anima … irrationali the soul without reason that governs animals: the two steps below reason in the Stoic scale of being. irrationali is held back to the end, apart from its noun anima.
  • XI.6 et revera dicuntur a dramaticis poetis utiliter nonnulla.The subject comes last: nonnulla "not a few, some things" (neuter plural) "are usefully said" a dramaticis poetis "by the dramatic poets", a naming the agent of the passive. Three examples follow.
  • XI.6 (nam et ab istis utilia dici nonnulla, nemo est qui nesciat.)
  • XI.8 veruntamen hoc a societatis hujusce conditore Jove indultum sibi habet, quod ei liceat denuo coalescere, cui prius adhaeserat, et ad universi complementum locum recuperare suum.
  • XI.10 atqui in artibus omnibus deteriora quaeque praestantiorum gratia fiunt? a communi ergo natura hoc idem fit.a communi natura "by the common nature" is the agent of the passive fit "is done", with a because nature acts like a person here. The common nature is the nature of the whole, the craftsman of the world.
  • XII.32 Quantula pars infiniti ac immensi aevi unicuique assignatur? ab interminato enim quam celerrime absorbetur.ab interminato "by the boundless" (time is understood) is the agent of the passive absorbetur "it is swallowed up", as if endless time were a sea. quam with a superlative means "as … as possible": quam celerrime "as quickly as can be".