Allen & Greenough · Part Second — Syntax › Construction of Cases

§427. Relations of Place

With names of towns and small islands, and with domus and rūs, the Relations of Place are expressed as follows:—

The place from which, by the Ablative without a preposition.
The place to which, by the Accusative without a preposition.
The place where, by the Locative.¹
¹ The Locative has in the singular of the first and second declensions the same form as the Genitive, in the plural and in the third declension the same form as the Dative or Ablative. (See p. 34, footnote.)

Examples are:—

Place from which:—
- Rōmāprofectus, having set out from Rome; Rōmāabesse, to be absent from Rome.
- domōabīre, to leave home;rūrereversus, having returned from the country.
Place to which:—
- cum Rōmamsextō diē Mutinā vēnisset (Fam. 11.6.1), when he had come to Rome from Modena in five days (on the sixth day).
- DēlōRhodumnāvigāre, to sail from Delos to Rhodes.
- rūsībō, I shall go into the country.
- domum iit, he went home. ² [So, suāsdomōsabīre, to go to their homes.]
  ² The English home in this construction is, like domum, an old accusative of the end of motion.
Place where (or at which):—

Rōmae, at Rome (Rōma).	Athēnīs, at Athens (Athēnae).
Rhodī, at Rhodes (Rhodus).	Lānuvī, at Lanuvium.
Samī, at Samos.	Cyprī, at Cyprus.
Tīburī or Tībure, at Tibur.	Cūribus, at Cures.
Philippīs, at Philippi.	Capreīs, at Capri (Capreae).
domī (rarely domuī), at home.	rūrī, in the country.

a. The Locative Case is also preserved in the following nouns, which are used (like names of towns) without a preposition:—

bellī, mīlitiae (in contrast to domī), abroad, in military service.

humī, on the ground.	vesperī (-e), in the evening.
forīs, out of doors.	animī (see § 358).
herī (-e), yesterday.	temperī, betimes.

Cf. īnfēlīcī arborī; (Liv. 1.26), on the ill-omened (barren) tree; terrā marīque, by land and sea.

J. H. Allen and J. B. Greenough, New Latin Grammar (Boston: Ginn, 1903). Text provided under a CC BY-SA license by Perseus Digital Library, http://www.perseus.tufts.edu, with funding from the National Endowment for the Humanities.