Militibus

Militibus is a Latin noun form derived from miles, meaning soldier. It is the plural of miles in the dative and ablative cases. In the standard 3rd declension, miles is the masculine noun; its plural forms are milites in the nominative and accusative, militum in the genitive, and militibus in the dative and ablative. Thus, militibus appears only when the noun is acting as an indirect object or as an ablative (with or without a preceding preposition).

In use, militibus typically marks the recipient of an action (dative) or shows means, manner, or agency (ablative in appropriate constructions). For example:

- Donum militibus datum est. (A gift has been given to the soldiers.)

- Dicta ab militibus relata sunt. (Things said by the soldiers have been reported.)

The form is common in classical Latin texts, including military and administrative contexts where soldiers are the beneficiaries of actions or mentioned as agents in passive constructions with the preposition ab. Its interpretation hinges on context and the case it represents.

Etymology traces militibus to miles, with the familiar Latin pattern that shifts a third-declension stem into -ibus for the plural dative and plural ablative forms. Learners of Latin encounter militibus primarily as a functional form rather than as a separate lexical entry, since it does not convey a standalone sense beyond its grammatical role as a case form of miles.

See also Miles, Latin declension, Latin grammar.