A noun or pronoun, with a participle in agreement, may be put in the Ablative to define the time or circumstances of an action. This construction is called the Ablative Absolute:— The Ablative Absolute is perhaps of instrumental origin. It is, however, sometimes explained as an outgrowth of the locative , and in any event certain locative constructions (of place and time ) must have contributed to its development. Caesar, acceptīs litterīs , nūntium mittit (B. G. 5.46) , having received the letter , Cæsar sends a messenger (the letter having been received). quibus rēbus cōgnitīs Caesar apud mīlitēs cōntiōnātur (B. C. 1.7) , having learned this , Cæsar makes a speech to the soldiers. fugātō omnī equitātū (B. G. 7.68) , all the cavalry being put to flight. interfectō Indūtiomārō ( id . 6.2), upon the death of Indutiomarus. nōndum hieme cōnfectā in fīnīs Nerviōrum contendit ( id . 6.3), though the winter was not yet over, he hastened into the territory of the Nervii. compressī [sunt] cōnātūs nūllō tumultū pūblicē concitātō (Cat. 1.11) , the attempts were put down without exciting any general alarm. nē vōbīs quidem omnibus rē etiam tum probātā ( id . 2.4), since at that time the facts were not yet proved even to all of you. The ablative absolute is an adverbial modifier of the predicate. It is, however, not grammatically dependent on any word in the sentence: hence its name absolute ( absolūtus , i.e. free or unconnected ). A substantive in the ablative absolute very seldom denotes a person or thing elsewhere mentioned in the same clause.