Ablative of separation (a, ab, absque, liber, immunis, alienus)

The ablative of separation means "from": after verbs of freeing, lacking and departing and after adjectives such as liber, immunis, alienus, with or without a, ab, e, ex.

Examples

• absque naturae ope proveniunt 2.3come about without the help of nature
• temeritate omni liberam 2.5free from all rashness
• humanis autem excedere 2.11but to depart from human affairs
• si affectibus immunem custodierit, et temeritate alienum 2.13if he keeps it free from passions and a stranger to rashness

In the text 82

• I.1 Ab avo meo Vero accepisse agnosco, moris esse candidi, et ab iracundia alieni.alieni agrees with moris: "a character that is a stranger to anger". alienus ab with the ablative means "foreign to, free from".
• I.3 A matre, pietatis studium, et largiendi promptitudinem: nec a malo patrando tantum, sed cogitando etiam, continere.
• I.7 quod rhetoricae item, poeticaeque, et dictionis elegantioris studiis abstinuerim.abstinere "to keep away from" takes the ablative of the thing avoided, here without a preposition: studiis abstinuerim "I kept away from the studies". abstinuerim is the perfect subjunctive, like the verbs of the other quod clauses.
• I.9 quodque nec iracundiae, nec perturbationis alius alicujus, indicium exhibebat; sed cum affectibus immunis prorsus existeret, ad affectum genuinum erat tamen propensissimus:
• I.10 Ab Alexandro Grammatico, increpationibus abstinere;abstinere "to keep oneself away" takes a plain ablative of what one keeps from: "to refrain from rebukes".
• I.16 quod ab adolescentium amoribus coercuerat se. quod civiliter admodum se gessit.
• I.16 sed per suam ipsius diligentiam efficeret, ut medicorum pharmacis fomentisve externis quam minime indigeret.
• I.16 ita quadrabat in illum, quod de Socrate perhibetur, quod et abstinere et frui rebus eis norat, quibus plerique nec per infirmitatem abstinere, nec frui citra intemperantiam possunt.Both abstinere (ablative of separation, "keep away from") and frui (deponent, with the ablative) take the ablative, so one ablative, rebus eis, serves both verbs, and so does the relative quibus.
• I.17 quod principi patrique eidem subditus fuerim, qui me a fastu omni alienum redderet; fidemque faceret, posse in aula ita degi, ut nec satellitio, nec vestitu insigniore, nec funalibus statuisque istiusmodi, atque apparatu consimili opus sit:reddere with an object and an adjective means 'to make someone so': me … alienum redderet 'would make me estranged'. alienus a with the ablative is 'a stranger to': 'a stranger to all pride'.
• II.2 tu ergo sic tecum: senex es: partem tui principem servire ulterius ne siveris; sed nec motibus a communione humana alienis raptari, nec quicquam, quod fato destinatum tibi fuerit, vel jam ascitum aversari, vel futurum pavere."To be jerked about by impulses foreign to human fellowship": alienus takes a with the ablative of what a thing is foreign to, and motibus is the ablative of means with raptari.
• II.3 nec quae fortuna fiunt, absque naturae ope proveniunt, aut sine connexu implexuque rerum earum quae providentia dispensantur.
• II.5 animumque interim ab aliis omnibus cogitationibus abducas.
• 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.liberam 'free' agrees with actionem and, like other words of freedom and lack, takes a plain ablative of what one is free from. Five such ablatives follow: free from temeritate 'rashness', declinatione 'turning aside', simulatione 'pretence', amore 'love (of self)' and aversatione 'aversion'.
• II.11 humanis autem excedere, siquidem Dii sunt, nihil est grave.
• II.12 ejusdem denique facultatis fuerit, considerare, homo Deum quomodo, et qua sui parte contingat; quoque pacto habitura se sit pars ista, ubi corpore soluta fuerit.
• II.13 colet autem, si affectibus immunem custodierit, et temeritate alienum, nec offensum re aliqua, quam vel Dii vel homines egerint.immunis "free from" and alienus "a stranger to" take an ablative of separation: "free from passions", "untouched by rashness". They are accusative, like offensum, because they describe the understood object of custodierit: "keep it free …".
• II.16 abscessionem enim facit a natura, in cujus parte aliqua reliquorum omnium cujusque natura continetur, qui re aliqua obveniente offenditur.
• II.17 ea autem in hoc consistit, ut genium quis suum interim conservet integrum, contumelia ac laesione omni immunem, voluptate ac dolore omni superiorem,immunis "free from, exempt from" takes the ablative of what one is free from.
• III.2 attamen intercisa et hiantia ista, quamvis ab artis pistoriae instituto aliena, decoris speciem quandam prae se ferunt, et comedendi desiderium suo modo irritant.
• III.2 spicae itidem deorsum vergentes, et leonis supercilium, et aprorum ab ore diffluens spuma multaque alia istiusmodi; quae seorsim siquis intueatur, sunt venustate omni procul;procul "far off" with a plain ablative is "far from": "far from all charm".
• III.3 Alexander, Pompeius, C. Caesar, cum tot urbes funditus evertissent, tot hominum myriades in praelio cecidissent, ipsi quoque tandem vita excesserunt.vita excedere "to go out from life", i.e. to die. The ablative alone, without a preposition, gives the place left.
• III.6 et a sensuum affectionibus, quod Socrates dicebat, sese abstraxerit; Deis autem se regendum permiserit, hominibusque quibusvis curam lubens impendat.
• III.8 neque vero vitam hujus non consummatam fatum unquam abruperit. perinde ac si tragoedum dixerit quis ante fabulam peractam scena cessisse.
• III.16 huic tanquam Deo, decenter obsequi; nihil a veritate alienum proloquendo, nihil a justitiae ratione devium exequendo.alienus a "foreign to" and devius a "straying from" take a with the ablative of what is departed from. ratio here is "rule, principle": "the rule of justice".
• IV.6 siquis aliter vult esse, idem ficum succo acri carere velit.
• IV.24 pleraque enim eorum quae dicere et facere consuevimus, cum necessaria non sint, si amputaverimus, a negotiis multo vacabit magis, minusque perturbata futura est nobis vita nostra.
• IV.29 abscessus mundi, qui abscedit, seque a naturae communis ratione sejungit, dum eis quae contingunt offenditur.
• IV.37 Jam jam moriturus es: necdum simplex es, imperturbatus, posse extrinsecus laedi suspicione immunis, cunctis propitius, juste agere unicam prudentiam ratus?immunis "free, exempt" takes the ablative: suspicione immunis "free from suspicion". What the suspicion would be is put first, as an infinitive phrase with its subject te left out: posse extrinsecus laedi "(that you) can be hurt from outside". So: "free from the suspicion that you can be harmed from outside", no longer afraid of harm from without.
• IV.49 nunquid casus ullus prohibeat te, justum esse, magnanimum, temperantem, prudentem, temeritate, errore immunem, modestum, liberum, aut aliud quid eorum, quae ubi affuerint, natura humana sua obtinet universa?immunis "free from" takes a plain ablative of what one is free from, here two of them with no "and" between: temeritate "rashness" and errore "error". For the Stoics rashness is giving assent to an impression before testing it, and error follows from it.
• IV.51 etenim propositum istiusmodi molestiis, militiaque, sed et dissimulatione omni atque ostentatione immunem praestabit.praestare with an object and an adjective means "to keep, render (someone) so": "will keep (you) free"; the object te is understood, and immunem is masculine because it describes you. immunis "free" takes a plain ablative, here four: molestiis "troubles", militia "soldiering, warfare", dissimulatione "pretence" and ostentatione "show". sed et "but also" adds the inner faults to the outward troubles.
• V.5 haec itaque praesta, quae in te omnino sunt sita, animum sincerum, gravem, laborum tolerantem, voluptatum abstinentem, sorte contentum, paucorum indigum, mitem, liberum, luxu alienum, serium, sublimem.Two adjectives with an ablative: contentus "content" with the thing one is content with, sorte "with one's lot"; alienus "foreign to, a stranger to" with the thing one stands apart from, luxu "from luxury", an ablative of separation.
• V.5 nequaquam, per Jovem; sed his omnibus jam olim licuit tibi esse immunem.
• V.8 mutilatur enim integrum ipsum, si quid vel minimum abscindas a connexione et continuitate, ut partium universi, ita et caussarum.
• V.29 Quo modo vivere cogitas vita mox excessurus, eodem, si volueris, vivere jam licet.
• V.33 istius tempus donec obvenerit, quid suffecerit, nisi ut Deos colas celebresque; hominibus benefacias, sustineas eos eisdemque abstineas; meminerisque ea omnia, quae extra corpusculi animulaeque tuae terminos consistunt, nec tua esse, nec in potestate tua sita?Gataker echoes the motto of Epictetus, "bear and forbear" (in Latin sustine et abstine): sustineas eos "bear with them", put up with men; eisdem abstineas "keep off them", refrain from harming them. abstinere takes an ablative of separation; eisdem "the same people" is from idem.
• VI.16 non tu desines tandem in pretio alia multa habere? nec liber itaque futurus es, nec tibi sufficies, nec perturbationibus immunis eris.
• VI.16 etenim necesse erit invidere, aemulari, eos suspectos habere, qui his privare te possunt, eis struere insidias, qui id, quod tu tanti aestimas, possident.Each form of is prepares a qui clause: eos … qui … "those who can …", eis … qui … "those who possess …". privare "to deprive" takes the person in the accusative, te, and the thing in the ablative, his "of these things". eis is dative with struere insidias "to lay plots against".
• VI.36 noli ergo ista ab eo quem colis aliena opinari: sed rerum universarum originem tecum perpende.alienus "foreign" takes a with the ablative: ab eo … aliena "foreign to him". ista "these things", the harmful ones, is the object of opinari, and aliena its predicate: "think these things foreign to the one you worship".
• VI.41 necesse erit, ut ubi istiusmodi vel in malum incideris, vel bono excideris, Deos incuses, oderis homines, qui horum alterutrius tibi vel autores fuerint, vel etiam fore suspicaris.
• VII.9 Omnia sunt sibi invicem implexa, et vinculo quodam sacro sibi invicem sic devincta, ut nihil alterum ab altero sit alienum.
• VII.16 eademque ratione et perturbatione et impedimento omni immunis, nisi ipsa se perturbaverit aut impediverit.immunis "free, exempt" takes an ablative of separation: "free from all disturbance and hindrance". omni agrees with the nearer noun, impedimento, but belongs in sense to both; et … et "both … and".
• VII.18 ecquid enim fieri potest absque mutatione?
• VII.39 Diis leto exemptis ac nobis gaudia dones.letum is a poets' word for death. exemptis, the perfect participle of eximo "take out, free", takes an ablative of separation: "freed from death", i.e. the immortal gods (Greek athanatoi).
• VII.55 tertium in natura rationali est, lapsu et seductione immunem esse.immunis 'free, exempt' takes the ablative of what one is free from: lapsu et seductione 'from slipping and from being led astray'. seductio, from seduco 'lead aside', is properly 'a drawing aside', and in later Latin 'a leading astray, deception': the mind is not to be taken in by false impressions. immunem is accusative because it describes the unexpressed subject of esse, 'that one be free'; the whole phrase is the subject of est. So the three points are named: fellowship, mastery of the body's feelings, and not being misled.
• VII.63 Omnis anima, inquit ille, veritate privatur invita. quin et justitia pariter, et temperantia, et aequanimitate, et hujusmodi quavis virtute.ille "that (famous) man" is Plato, whose saying Epictetus quotes: no soul is robbed of the truth willingly. privo "deprive" takes the thing taken away in the ablative: veritate "of truth"; since the verb is passive, the person robbed is the subject. invita "unwilling" agrees with anima; English says "against its will".
• VII.68 Vi omni immunem, in summa animi hilaritate, vitam transigere licet, etiamsi quae libuerit adversus te vociferentur homines universi, etiamsi massae istius corporeae coalitae et circundatae tibi membra ferae discerpant.immunis "free, exempt" takes an ablative of separation: vi omni "from all force", so that nothing can compel you. immunem is accusative because it describes the unexpressed subject of transigere, "you" or anyone: with licet and no dative, a word describing the subject goes into the accusative. Since immunis has one form for both genders, it could also be taken with vitam, "a life free from all force"; the sense is the same.
• VIII.1 siquidem cum aliis haud paucis, tum et tibiipsi compertum est, a philosophia longe te abesse.
• VIII.8 at potes contumelia abstinere, potes voluptate et dolore superiorem te praestare, potes gloriolam nihili facere, potes stupidis et ingratis non succensere, imo et illorum curam gerere.abstinere "to keep away from" takes the ablative of what one keeps from: contumelia "from insult". The Greek word is hybris, insolence; the sense is to refrain from insulting and outraging others.
• VIII.18 Nihil, quod moritur, mundo excidit.mundo is an ablative of separation with excidit "falls out (of)". excidit is from excĭdo (ex + cado "fall"), not excīdo "cut out". Nothing is lost to the world; what dies only changes its form within it.
• VIII.48 propterea arx est quaedam mens perturbationibus immunis.immunis "exempt, free" takes an ablative of what one is free from: perturbationibus "from the passions". perturbatio is Cicero's word for the Stoic pathos, an emotion that has run beyond reason, such as fear, grief, desire or anger.
• VIII.55 huic tantum est noxia, cui concessum est ab ea immunem esse, quandocunque id ipse voluerit.
• VIII.57 privabit enim semet splendore illius, siquis eam non transmiserit.privare "to deprive" takes the person in the accusative (semet "himself") and what is taken away in the ablative (splendore "of the brightness"). The subject of privabit is the "anyone" of siquis, which comes after it. transmiserit is future perfect beside the future privabit: "if anyone shall not have let it through". Whatever shuts out the light shuts itself out of the light.
• IX.3 quo modo nunc praestolaris, donec uxoris tuae utero foetus prodeat. ita expectanda est hora, qua animula tua involucro isti excidet.
• IX.13 Hodie molestia me omni exemi.eximo "take out, free" takes an accusative of what is freed and an ablative of what it is freed from: me … exemi molestia omni "I took myself out of all trouble". The words are interlaced: me stands between molestia and omni, which agree. The picture is of trouble all around me, which I stepped out of.
• IX.13 vel potius molestiam a me omnem abjeci.vel potius "or rather" corrects the sentence before. There the trouble was around me and I took myself out of it (me … exemi); here the roles are turned round, and I throw the trouble out of myself (molestiam a me … abjeci). The next sentence gives the reason: it was never outside.
• IX.23 et est seditiosa, perinde ac in populo ille, qui factionis suae homines a consensione istiusmodi in partes trahit.
• IX.25 Formae qualitatem animo adi; et a materia abstractam contemplare:
• IX.32 Supervacanea multa, quae molestiam tibi pariunt, praecidere, cum in opinione tua tota sita sint, animumque angustiis exemptum plurimum dilatare poteris,exemptum agrees with animum, and angustiis is an ablative of separation with it: "your mind, taken out of its narrow straits". The participle does the work of a second verb: "free your mind and widen it". plurimum, the neuter of the superlative of multus, is used as an adverb, "very greatly".
• IX.41 etenim hoc est sectae cujusvis commune, in casibus quibuscunque a philosophia non absistere, nec cum plebeiis hominibus naturae rerum imperitis una nugari:absistere "to stand off, withdraw" takes a with the ablative of what one withdraws from: "not to leave off philosophy". in casibus quibuscunque "in whatever circumstances": quicunque is Gataker's spelling of quicumque.
• IX.42 quisquis enim delinquit, a proposito aberrat et deceptus est.quisquis "whoever" makes its clause, quisquis … delinquit "whoever does wrong", the subject of aberrat. propositum, "what is set before one", is the aim or target, and a proposito aberrare is "to wander from the mark", to miss it. Wrongdoing is a mistake about the target, not a choice of evil, and so the wrongdoer can be taught.
• X.6 sed cognatorum potius rationem habebo, omnemque conatum meum ad id dirigam, quod in commune conducat, et ab eo quod est huic contrarium, abstinebo.abstinere ab "keep away from". huic "to this" is dative with contrarium and means the common good.
• X.24 nunquid est intellectu vacua? nunquid a societate communi soluta et revulsa?nunquid (= numquid) opens a question that expects the answer no, "it is not …, is it?"; Marcus is testing himself. vacuus "empty" takes an ablative of separation: intellectu vacua "empty of understanding".
• X.29 Considerata seorsim, quam instituis, re omni, percontare te, num ideo mors gravis habenda sit, quia ea te privet.privo "deprive" takes the person in the accusative and the thing taken away in the ablative: te "you", ea (read eā) "of it", the particular thing you are doing. The subject is still mors. Each thing, weighed alone, is too small to make dying a loss.
• X.30 aut, si poteris, tu illum vi illa expedias.
• X.36 Respirabimus jam tandem a paedagogo isto.The words of someone at the deathbed. respirare "to breathe again" is to recover after a strain, and a with the ablative gives what one is freed from: "we shall breathe again, rid of …". The paedagogus was the slave who took a boy to school and watched over him, the very type of a nagging minder; iste "that … of ours" is scornful.
• X.36 at nos quod attinet, quam multa sunt alia, ob quae a nobis liberari desiderent haud pauci?
• X.36 disjungor itaque tanquam a necessariis, non abstractus tamen, sed sponte discedens.
• XI.8 Ramus a ramo cui proxime adhaesit abscissus, non potest non a stirpe tota abscindi.
• XI.8 ad eundem modum ergo et homo ab homine quovis rescissus, communitate tota excidit.excidit is from excido (ex + cado) "fall out of", with a short i, not excīdo "cut out". It is present here, a general truth, though the perfect is spelled the same. The plain ablative communitate tota says what he falls from: "he drops out of the whole community".
• XI.18 omnis etenim anima, prout veritate privatur invita, sic etiam erga quemque pro dignitate cujusque gerendi se peritia.Plato's saying, which Marcus has quoted before: no soul is robbed of the truth willingly. privo "deprive" puts the thing taken away in the ablative, veritate; since the verb is passive, the one robbed is the subject. invita "unwilling" agrees with anima: English says "against its will". prout … sic "just as … so" sets two such losses side by side.
• XI.18 atque etiamsi peccatis quibusdam abstineas, habes tamen intra te habitum talia perpetrare proclivem, licet vel ignaviae, vel famae, vel alius alicujus ratione a peccatis paribus te cohibeas.
• XI.18 quo enim propius hoc ad immunitatem ab affectibus omnem prorsus, eo etiam ad potentiam propius accedit.immunitas "freedom, exemption" takes ab with the ablative: "freedom from the passions", the Stoic apatheia. omnem prorsus "utterly complete" agrees with immunitatem. hoc "this" is the gentle and calm disposition.
• XI.20 motus enim omnis ad injurias, luxus, dolores, formidines, nihil est aliud, quam a natura defectio.nihil aliud quam "nothing else than". defectio is the word for desertion or revolt, as when soldiers or allies go over to the enemy; a natura "from nature" is an ablative of separation with a. The picture of the soldier's post continues.
• XI.37 et appetitu quidem abstinendum prorsus; aversationem vero in re nulla adhibendam, quae nostri juris non sit.
• XII.2 Mentes omnes, vasis hisce corporeis, et corticibus, et sordibus Deus denudatas intuetur.Three ablatives of separation with denudatas say what the minds are stripped of: "these bodily vessels, and husks, and dirt". A vas is a container; a cortex is bark or rind. The body is only the packing round the mind.
• XII.2 hoc idem tu si feceris, multa temet molestia liberabis.liberare "to free" takes an ablative of what one is freed from: multa … molestia "from much trouble", wrapped round the object. temet is te "yourself" with the strengthening suffix -met.
• XII.3 denique quaecunque externa rerum vertigo jugis volvit, ita ut mens tua rebus fato obvenientibus exempta, pura ac libera apud se vivat, justa faciens, destinata volens, ac vera proloquens.
• XII.8 Formas corticibus nudatas contemplare: actionum item intentiones: quid dolor; quid voluptas; quid mors; quid gloria: quis cuique molestiarum autor: quo modo nemo ab alio quopiam impediatur:contemplare is the imperative of the deponent contemplor "look closely at", not an infinitive. formas "forms" is Gataker's word for what the Greek calls the "causes": what makes each thing what it is, as against its matter. corticibus "of their husks" is an ablative of separation with nudatas "stripped": look at things with the outer bark peeled off, as in 12.2 God sees minds stripped of their bodily husks (corticibus).
• XII.20 Primo vide, nequid temere, aut absque certo aliquo fine.absque "without" is a rarer word for sine. finis here is the "end" in the sense of purpose: an act should be aimed at something definite.
• XII.22 quandocunque ergo volueris, opinionem tolle, et sicut promontorium praetervecto tranquillitas, sic stabilia tibi futura sunt omnia, et sinus aestu immunis.
• XII.29 quid enim superest, nisi vita frui, bonum bono ita adnectendo, ut ne minimum quidem intervallum bono vacuum relinquatur.
• XII.31 atqui instituto huic repugnat, siquis aegre ferat, quod istis morte privandus sit.