1388. The instrumental ablative is used with verbs of measuring and of
exchanging, and in expressions of value and price: as,
(_a._) #quod magnōs hominēs virtūte mētīmur#, N. 18, 1, 1, _because we
gauge great men by their merit_. (_b._) #nēmō nisi vīctor pāce bellum
mūtāvit#, S. _C._ 58, 15, _nobody except a conqueror has ever exchanged
war for peace_. (_c._) #haec sīgna sēstertiūm sex mīllibus quīngentīs
esse vēndita#, _V._ 4, 12, _that these statues were sold for sixty-five
hundred sesterces_. #aestimāvit dēnāriīs III#, _V._ 3, 214, _he valued
it at three denars_. #trīgintā mīllibus dīxistis eum habitāre#, _Cael._
17, _you have said he pays thirty thousand rent_. #quod nōn opus est,
āsse cārum est#, Cato in Sen. _Ep._ 94, 28, _what you don’t need, at a
penny is dear_. #hem, istūc verbum, mea voluptās, vīlest vīgintī minīs#,
Pl. _Most._ 297, _bless me, that compliment, my charmer, were at twenty
minas cheap_.
1389. With #mūtō# and #commūtō#, the ablative usually denotes the thing
received. But sometimes in Plautus, and especially in Horace, Livy, and
late prose, it denotes the thing parted with: as, #cūr valle permūtem
Sabīnā dīvitiās operōsiōrēs?# H. 3, 1, 47, _why change my Sabine dale
for wealth that brings more care?_ Similarly with #cum# in the prose of
Cicero’s age: as, #mortem cum vītā commūtāre#, Sulp. in _Fam._ 4, 5, 3,
_to exchange life for death_.
1390. The ablative of price or value is thus used chiefly with verbs or
verbal expressions of bargaining, buying or selling, hiring or letting,
costing, being cheap or dear. Also with #aestimō#, of a definite price,
and sometimes #magnō#, #permagnō# (1273).
1391. The ablatives thus used, are (_a._) those of general substantives
of value and price, such as #pretium#, (_b._) numerical designations of
money, or (_c._) neuter adjectives of quantity, #magnō#, #permagnō#,
#quam plūrimō#, #parvō#, #minimō#, #nihilō#, #nōnnihilō#: as, #magnō
decumās vēndidī#, _V._ 3, 40, _I sold the tithes at a high figure_. For
#tantī# and #quantī#, #plūris# and #minōris#, see 1274.
1392. The ablative is also used with #dignus# and #indignus#: as,
#dignī maiōrum locō#, _Agr._ 2, 1, _well worthy of the high standing of
their ancestors_. #nūlla vōx est audīta populī Rōmānī maiestāte
indigna#, 7, 17, 3, _not a word was heard out of keeping with the
grandeur of Rome_. See also #dignor# in the dictionary. Similarly in
Plautus with #condignē#, #decōrus#, #decet#, #aequē#, #aequos#. For the
genitive with #dignus#, see 1269; for the accusative with #dignus# and a
form of #sum#, 1144.
[Erratum:
1389 ... #cūr valle permūtem Sabīnā dīvitiās operōsiōrēs?#
operōsiōres]