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diff --git a/14945.txt b/14945.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..10d1836 --- /dev/null +++ b/14945.txt @@ -0,0 +1,5442 @@ +Project Gutenberg's Cato Maior de Senectute, by Marcus Tullius Cicero + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + +Title: Cato Maior de Senectute + +Author: Marcus Tullius Cicero + +Release Date: February 7, 2005 [EBook #14945] +[Last updated: September 3, 2012] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ASCII + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK CATO MAIOR DE SENECTUTE *** + + + + +Produced by Ted Garvin, Keith Edkins and the Online Distributed +Proofreading Team. + + + + + + +M. TULLI CICERONIS + +CATO MAIOR DE SENECTUTE + +_WITH INTRODUCTION AND NOTES_ + +BY JAMES S. REID, M.L. + +American Edition Revised + +BY FRANCIS W. KELSEY + +UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN + +_Copyright, 1882_ + +PREFACE. + +Three years ago Mr. James S. Reid, of Gonville and Caius College, +Cambridge, prepared for the Syndics of the University Press editions of +Cicero's _Cato Maior de Senectute_ and _Laelius de Amicitia._ The thorough +and accurate scholarship displayed, especially in the elucidation of the +Latinity, immediately won for the books a cordial reception; and since then +they have gained a permanent place in the esteem of English scholars. + +The present volume has the full authorization of Mr. Reid, and was prepared +with the design of presenting to American students, in a form best adapted +to their use, the results of his work. The Text remains substantially that +of Mr. Reid; while mention is made in the notes of the most important +variations in readings and orthography from other editions. The +Introductions have been recast, with some enlargement; the analyses of the +subject-matter in particular have been entirely remodelled. The Notes have +been in some instances reduced, in others amplified,--especially by the +addition of references to the standard treatises on grammar, history, and +philosophy. It was at first the intention of the American editor to +indicate by some mark the matter due to himself; but as this could hardly +be done without marring the appearance of the page, and thus introducing a +source of confusion to the student, it was not attempted. In the work of +revision free use of the principal German and English editions has been +made. + +To some the notes of the present edition may appear too copious. The aim +throughout, however, has been not simply to give aid on difficult points, +but to call attention to the finer usages of the Latin, and to add also +whatever explanation seemed necessary to a clear understanding of the +subject-matter. Latin scholarship which shall be at the same time broad and +accurate, including not only a mastery of the language but also a +comprehensive view of the various phases of Roman life and thought, will, +it is believed, be best assured by the slow and careful reading of some +portions of the literature and by the rapid survey of others. Certainly of +the shorter Latin classics few would more fully repay close and careful +study of both language and thought than these charming colloquies on Old +Age and Friendship. While almost faultless in expression, they embody in a +remarkable degree that universal element which characterizes the literary +masterpiece, and makes it the valued possession not merely of an age or a +nation, but of all time. + +FRANCIS W. KELSEY + +LAKE FOREST, ILL., May, 1882. + + * * * * * + +INTRODUCTION. + +I. CICERO AS A WRITER ON PHILOSOPHY. + +(i.) STATE OF PHILOSOPHY IN CICERO'S TIME. + +In Philosophy the Romans originated nothing. Their energies in the earlier +years of the state were wholly absorbed in organization and conquest. +Resting in a stern and simple creed, they had little speculative interest +in matters outside the hard routine of their daily life. But with the close +of the Period of Conquest came a change. The influx of wealth from +conquered provinces, the formation of large landed estates, the excessive +employment of slave labor, and the consequent rise of a new aristocracy, +prepared the way for a great revolution. The old religion lost its hold on +the higher classes; something was needed to take its place. With wealth and +luxury came opportunity and desire for culture. Greece, with Art, +Literature, and Philosophy fully developed and highly perfected, stood +ready to instruct her rude conqueror.[1] + +In Cicero's time the productive era of Greek Philosophy had well-nigh +passed. Its tendency was less speculative, more ethical and practical than +in the earlier time. There were four prominent schools, the New Academy, +the Peripatetic, the Stoic, and the Epicurean. The supporters of the +last-named advocated in Science the doctrine of the atom, in Ethics the +pursuit of pleasure, in Religion the complete inactivity of the gods. + +The Stoics and Peripatetics were divided by comparatively unimportant +differences. In Ethics, considered by them as almost the whole of +Philosophy, which was itself defined as 'the art of living', the main +question between the two schools was the amount of importance to be +attributed to Virtue,--the Stoics declaring that in comparison with Virtue +all other things sink into absolute insignificance, while the Peripatetics +maintained that these have a certain though infinitesimally small +significance. The New Academy taught at this time no complete philosophical +system. It simply proclaimed the view that in the field of knowledge +certainty is unattainable, and that all the inquirer has to do is to +balance probabilities one against the other. The New Academic, therefore, +was free to accept any opinions which seemed to him to have the weight of +probability on their side, but he was bound to be ready to abandon them +when anything appeared which altered his views of the probabilities. He not +only might be, but he could not help being, _eclectic_; that is, he chose +such views promulgated by other schools as seemed to him at the moment to +be most reasonable or probable. Cicero called himself an adherent of this +school. On most points however, although eclectic, he agreed with the +Peripatetics, but with a decided leaning toward the Stoic ethical system. +The Stoic opinion that it is the duty of the wise man to abstain from +public life, which the Peripatetics contested, Cicero decisively rejected. +With the Epicureans he had absolutely no sympathy. Up to this time these +schools and their teachings were known to the Romans only through the +medium of the Greek. The only Latin philosophical literature was Epicurean, +and, excepting the poem of Lucretius (_De Rerum Natura_), scarcely famous +as yet, consisted entirely of books rudely written, although considerably +read. + +(ii.) THE MISSION OF CICERO IN PHILOSOPHY. + +Cicero made no claim to originality as a philosopher, nor even to complete +acquaintance with every detail of the Greek systems.[2] In early life he +had studied with enthusiasm and success all the learning of the Greeks, but +especially in the two departments of Rhetoric and Philosophy, then closely +connected, or rather hardly distinguished. He not only sought the society +of learned Greeks, but spent considerable time in study at Rhodes and +Athens, which had become not merely the 'school of Greece', as Thucydides +makes Pericles call her, but the school of the civilized world.[3] When, by +reason of political troubles, he was forced to retire to private life, he +began to carry out a great plan for interpreting the best philosophical +writings of the Greeks to his fellow-countrymen. For this work his liberal +views as a New Academic peculiarly fitted him. His usual method was to take +one or two leading Greek works on the subject with which he was dealing, +and to represent freely in his own language their subject-matter, +introducing episodes and illustrations of his own. He thus presented to the +Romans in their own tongue the most significant portions of the Greek +Philosophy; and in his writings there has come down to us much, especially +of the Post-Aristotelian Philosophy, that was doomed to oblivion in the +original Greek. But further than this, to Cicero more than to any other +Roman is due the formation of a Latin philosophical vocabulary, by which +the language was enriched and fitted for the part it has since taken as the +Language of the Learned. While on many points Cicero's own views can hardly +be determined with perfect exactness, the exalted sentiments and the +exquisite literary finish of his philosophical writings have always won +admiration; and through them he has exerted no small influence on the +literature and life of modern times.[4] + +(iii.) THE PHILOSOPHICAL WRITINGS OF CICERO. + +During the whole of an exceptionally busy public life Cicero devoted his +spare moments to reading and to the society of the learned. After his exile +in 58 and 57 B.C. his political career, except for a brief period just +before his death, was over, and it is at this time that his period of great +literary activity begins, In 55 he produced the work _De Oratore_, in 54 +the _De Re Publica_, and in 52 the _De Legibus_, all three works, according +to ancient ideas, entitled to rank as philosophical.[5] + +From 51 to 46 B.C., owing first to his absence in Cilicia, then to the +civil troubles, Cicero almost ceased to write. But in the latter year he +was reconciled with Caesar, and as the Senate and law courts were closed +against him on his refusal to compromise his political principles, he +betook himself with greater devotion than ever to literature. The first +work written in 46 was the _Hortensius_, or _De Philosophia_, now lost. It +was founded on a lost dialogue of Aristotle, and set forth the advantages +of studying Philosophy. During the same year Cicero completed several +oratorical works, the _Partitiones Oratoriae_, the _Brutus_, or _De Claris +Oratoribus_, and the _Orator_, all of which are extant. + +Early in 45 Cicero lost his beloved daughter Tullia. He passed the whole +year in retirement, trying to soothe his grief by incessant writing. In +quick succession appeared + +_De Consolatione_, an attempt to apply philosophy to the mitigation of his +own sorrow and that of others; + +_Academica_, an exposition of the New Academic Philosophy, advocating +probability rather than certainty as the foundation of philosophy; + +_De Finibus Bonorum et Malorum_, a work criticising the most prominent +views entertained concerning Ethics; + +_Disputationes Tusculanae_, treating of certain conditions essential to +morality and happiness; + +_De Natura Deorum_, an examination of the principal theories regarding the +nature and power of the gods; + +_Cato Maior_, on old age; _Laelius_, on friendship; + +_De Fato_, discussing Fate and Free Will; + +_Paradoxa_, a book setting forth certain remarkable views of the Stoics; + +_De Officiis_, a treatise on practical ethics, the application of moral +principles to the questions and difficulties of ordinary life. + +These works, written mostly in 45 and 44, are, except the _De Cons.,_ still +extant. To the list may be added also other works of a rhetorical nature, +such as the _Topica_ and _De Optima Genere Dicendi_, and some lost +philosophical books, such as _De Gloria_. + +Even though allowance be made for the fact that Cicero was giving in Latin +the substance of Greek books with which he had been familiar from boyhood, +the mental vigor and literary power exhibited by this series of works +appear prodigious when we consider their great compass and variety and the +generally high finish of their style. + +_References._--For a fuller account of Cicero's philosophical views and +writings consult Ritter, 'History of Ancient Philosophy', Vol. 4, Ch. 2; +Maurice, 'Moral and Metaphysical Philosophy', Ch. 7, Sec. 5; Tennemann and +Morell, 'History of Philosophy', Ch. 3; Ueberweg, 'History of Philosophy', +Vol I, Sec. 61; J.B. Mayor, 'Sketch of Ancient Philosophy', pp. 223-244; +Teuffel, 'History of Roman Literature', Vol. i, Sec. 172 _et seq._ Cruttwell, +'History of Roman Literature', Bk. II. Part 1, Ch. 2; 'Cicero', by Collins, +in Ancient Classics for English Readers, Ch. 10, et seq.; also the +Introduction to Reid's edition of the _Academica_, and the account of +Cicero by Prof. Ramsay in Smith's Dictionary of Biography and Mythology. +The most attractive biography of Cicero in English is that by Forsyth. That +by Trollope is able but quite partisan. On the philosophy, consult also +Zeller's 'Eclectics.' + +II. THE CATO MAIOR. + +(i.) ORIGIN AND SCOPE. + +1. _Date and Circumstances of Composition._ + +The date at which the Cato Maior was written can be determined with almost +perfect exactness. A mention in Cicero's work entitled _De Divinatione_[6] +shows that the Cato Maior preceded that work by a short time. The _De +Divinatione_ was written after the assassination of Caesar, that is, after +the 15th of March in the year 44.[7] Again, the Cato Maior is mentioned as +a recent work in three letters addressed by Cicero to Atticus.[8] The +earliest of these letters was written on or about the 12th of May, 44.[9] +We shall hardly err, therefore, if we assume that Cicero composed the Cato +Maior in April of the year 44.[10] This agrees also with slight indications +in the work itself. In the dedicatory introduction Cicero speaks of +troubles weighing heavily on himself and Atticus.[11] Any one who reads the +letters to Atticus despatched in April, 44, will have little doubt that the +troubles hinted at are the apprehensions as to the course of Antonius, from +whom Cicero had personally something to fear. Atticus was using all the +influence he could bring to bear on Antonius in order to secure Cicero's +safety; hence Cicero's care to avoid in the dedication all but the vaguest +possible allusions to politics. Had that introduction been written before +Caesar's death, we should have had plain allusions (as in the prooemia of +the _Academica_, the _De Finibus_, the _Tusculan Disputations_, and the _De +Natura Deorum_) to Caesar's dictatorship.[12] + +The time was one of desperate gloom for Cicero. The downfall of the old +constitution had overwhelmed him with sorrow, and his brief outburst of joy +over Caesar's death had been quickly succeeded by disgust and alarm at the +proceedings of Antonius. The deep wound caused by his daughter's death[13] +was still unhealed. It is easy to catch in the Cato Maior some echoes of +his grief for her. When it is said that of all Cato's titles to admiration +none is higher than the fortitude he showed in bearing the death of his +son,[14] the writer is thinking of the struggle he himself had been waging +against a like sorrow for more than a year past; and when Cato expresses +his firm conviction that he will meet his child beyond the grave,[15] we +can see Cicero's own yearning for reunion with his deeply loved Tullia. + +2. _Greek Sources._ + +All Cicero's philosophical and rhetorical writings were confessedly founded +more or less on Greek originals.[16] The stores from which he principally +drew in writing the Cato Maior are clearly indicated in several parts of +the work. Passages from Xenophon's _Oeconomicus_ are translated in Chapters +17 and 22. In Chapters 2 and 3 there is a close imitation of the +conversation between Socrates and Cephalus at the beginning of Plato's +_Republic_, while in Chapter 21 is reproduced one of the most striking +portions of the _Phaedo_, 72 E-73 B, 78-80.[17] The view of the divine +origin and destiny of the human soul contained in the passage from the +_Phaedo_ is rendered by Cicero in many of his works,[18] and was held by +him with quite a religious fervor and sincerity. + +Besides these instances of special indebtedness Cicero, in composing the +Cato Maior, was no doubt under obligations of a more general kind to the +Greeks. The form of the dialogue is Greek, and Aristotelian rather than +Platonic.[19] But further, it is highly probable that Cicero owed to some +particular Greek dialogue on Old Age the general outline of the arguments +he there brings forward. Many of the Greek illustrative allusions may have +had the same origin, though in many cases Roman illustrations must have +been substituted for Greek. Whether the dialogue by Aristo Cius, cursorily +mentioned in the Cato Maior,[20] was at all used by Cicero or not it is +impossible to determine.[21] + +3. _Purpose._ + +The Cato Maior is a popular essay in Ethics, applying the principles of +philosophy to the alleviation of one of life's chief burdens, old age. In +ancient times, when philosophy formed the real and only religion of the +educated class, themes like this were deemed to afford a worthy employment +for the pens even of the greatest philosophers. Such essays formed the only +substitute the ancients had for our Sermons. There can be no doubt of +Cicero's sincerity when he says that the arguments he sets forth in the +treatise had given him real comfort,[22] and the opening words of the +dedication show that he meant and hoped to administer the same comfort to +his friend Atticus, who indeed acknowledged the benefit he derived from the +work.[23] When Cicero wrote the treatise he was himself sixty-two years of +age, while his friend was three years older. He speaks, therefore, rather +euphemistically when he says that his purpose is to lighten the trouble of +an old age which is already close at hand, or at all events +approaching.[24] + +But in addition to the main ethical purpose, there was, as in many of +Cicero's works, a distinct political purpose. He desired to stimulate in +his readers an admiration for what he regarded as the golden age of Roman +politics, the era of the Punic wars, and to do this by making the contrast +between that age and his own appear as striking as possible. A like double +purpose is apparent throughout the _De Re Publica_, where Africanus the +younger is the chief personage, and in the treatise on Friendship, where +Laelius is the central figure. For the dialogue on Old Age M. Porcius Cato +the Censor is selected as the principal speaker for two reasons: first, +because he was renowned for the vigor of mind and body he displayed in +advanced life;[25] and secondly, because in him were conspicuously +exhibited the serious simplicity, the unswerving adherence to principle, +and the self-sacrificing patriotism which were the ideal Roman virtues, and +which Cicero could not find among the politicians of his time. + +4. _Form and Language._ + +The Cato Maior, like most of Cicero's philosophical writings, is cast in +the form of a dialogue. Among the ancients the dialogue was a common +rhetorical device, especially in the presentation of abstruse subjects. The +introduction of characters to conduct the discussion gave vividness and +clearness to the unfolding of the argument, as well as a kind of dramatic +interest to the production. In the Cato Maior[26] and the Laelius, as +generally, Cicero followed the plan of Aristotle's dialogues (now lost) +rather than that of the dialogues of Plato. In the former there was more of +exposition and less of discussion than in the latter; one person stated his +views on some question, and the company in attendance only made occasional +remarks without attempting to debate the question. In the latter, although +one person, Socrates, is everywhere prominent, others are continually drawn +into the discussions, and there is a quick interchange of question and +answer. The Aristotelian form was better adapted to Cicero's purposes than +the Platonic; the progress of the argument was less interrupted, and thus +better opportunity for a symmetrical development of the theme was afforded. +Then, too, the former was more popular. The style of Aristotle[27] had been +imitated by Theophrastus and many other writers down to Cicero's time, +while that of Plato had found hardly any imitators. + +The editors of the Cato Maior have generally assumed that Cicero attempted +to give an antique coloring to the diction of the dialogue in order to +remind readers of Cato's own style. It is only necessary to read a page or +two of Cato's _De Re Rustica_ to have this illusion dispelled. The only +things actually alleged to be archaisms are (1) the use of deponent +participles as passives in Sec.Sec. 4, 59, 74, a thing common enough in Cicero; +(2) the occurrence of _quasi_ = _quem ad modum_ in Sec. 71; (3) of _audaciter_ += _audacter_ in Sec. 72; (4) of _tuerentur_ for _intuerentur_ in Sec. 77; (5) of +_neutiquam_ in Sec. 42; (6) of the nominative of the gerundive governing an +accusative case in Sec. 6. In every instance the notes will supply a +refutation of the allegation. That Cicero should attempt to write in any +style but his own is exceedingly improbable. + +5. _Personages._ + +The conversation is supposed to take place between Cato, Scipio Africanus +the younger, and Laelius, in the year before Cato's death, _i.e._ 150 B.C., +when he was in his eighty-fourth year,[28] Scipio being about 35 and +Laelius a few years older. + +(1.) _Cato._ M. Porcius Cato was born in 234 B.C.[29] at the ancient Latin +town of Tusculum. Little is known of his family except that it was +plebeian, and possessed a small patrimony in the territory of the Sabines, +close to the farm of M'. Curius Dentatus, one of Cato's great heroes and +models. The heads of the family, so far as memory extended, had +distinguished themselves as tough warriors and hardy farmers. Among the +Sabines, who even down to the times of the Empire were famed for simplicity +of manners and the practice of all the sterner virtues, Cato passed those +portions of his life which were not occupied with business of state. From +his earliest days he toiled in his own fields, and contented himself with +the hardest rustic life.[30] Yet even in his boyhood Cato must have passed +intervals at Rome, and seen something of the great statesmen and generals +of the time.[31] He seems to have received when young as thorough an +education as was possible without learning Greek, such an education as was +to be obtained only in the capital. He grew up to manhood in the +comparatively quiet period between the first and the second Punic wars; the +most exciting event of his younger years must have been the destruction at +Clastidium of the vast hordes of Celts who had swept over the northern half +of Italy, almost within reach of Rome. + +Cato was of the age for military service about the time of the battle of +Lake Trasimenus, and entered the army then as a common soldier.[32] The +first expedition in which he is definitely said to have taken part is that +of Q. Fabius Maximus Cunctator against Hannibal in Campania, in 214.[33] +This Roman commander was a man entirely after Cato's heart, and became one +of his models in public life. + +Before and during the early years of his soldier's life, Cato succeeded in +winning some reputation as an orator, having practised first in the +provincial courts near his home, and afterwards at Rome.[34] This +reputation as well as his great force of character procured for him a +powerful life-long friend and patron, M. Valerius Flaccus, a statesman of +the old Roman conservative-democratic school of politics, the leader of +which was Fabius Cunctator. Through the influence of Flaccus, possibly with +the aid of Fabius, Cato became military tribune, and served with that rank +under Marcellus in Sicily, under Fabius again at the capture of Tarentum in +209,[35] and under C. Claudius Nero at the battle of the Metaurus, where he +contributed materially to that great victory. + +In 204 Cato began his political career with the quaestorship.[36] As he was +a _novus homo_ and a man of small private means, it was no small +distinction that he had forced his way to office in his thirtieth year. The +lot assigned him as quaestor to Scipio, then in Sicily and about to cross +over into Africa. The chance was most unfortunate, if for no other reason, +because Cato was intimately connected with the party in the senate opposed +to Scipio, which had been attempting to bring him to trial for the +atrocities committed by the Roman army in southern Italy. But in addition +the two men were so utterly different that there was no possibility of the +quaestor standing in that filial relation to his consul, which old Roman +custom required. As financial officer, Cato complained of the luxury and +extravagance which Scipio allowed not only to himself but to his army. Yet +the complaint was made not so much on economic as on moral grounds; it +seemed to Cato that the old Roman discipline and power to endure hardships +were being swept away. The dispute was ended by Scipio allowing Cato to +return to Rome, some authorities say from Sicily, others from Africa. +According to one writer,[37] he came home by way of Sardinia and brought +thence with him Ennius the poet.[38] + +In 199 Cato was plebeian aedile, and exercised with severity the police +jurisdiction pertaining to that office, yet so as to win popular approval, +since he was chosen praetor for 198 without the usual interval. The +province of Sardinia was entrusted to him, and he strained every nerve to +make his government present as strong a contrast as possible with the lax +and corrupt administration of the nobles who took Scipio for their pattern. +The troops were sternly disciplined, and law-breakers of every kind +severely dealt with; in money matters the strictest economy prevailed; all +gifts from provincials to Roman officers were forbidden. The praetor, the +great representative of Roman power, passed from town to town attended by a +single servant. + +In 196 Cato was occupied with his canvass for the consulship of the year +195, to which he was elected in company with his friend Flaccus. Cato was +the first _novus homo_ elected since C. Flaminius, the consul of 217. It is +probable, though not certain, that he paved the way to his election by +carrying the first of the _leges Porciae_, restricting the right of +punishing Roman citizens. During the whole of his career Cato showed a high +sense of the importance of the individual _civis Romanus_. + +One of the first official acts of the new consul was to deliver a set +speech to the people against a proposal to repeal the Oppian law, passed +twenty years before, the object of which was to prevent lavish expenditure +on dress and adornments, particularly by women. We have a lively report of +Cato's speech from Livy's pen, partly founded on the speech as published by +Cato himself.[39] The earnest pleading in favor of simple manners and +economy failed, after having almost caused an open insurrection on the part +of the women.[40] + +The two new provinces in Spain, Hispania Citerior and Ulterior, were still +in a very unsettled state. The nearer province was made a consular province +and assigned to Cato; the praetor who governed the farther province was +also placed under Cato's jurisdiction. Before leaving Rome Cato carried a +law for protecting the provincials from extortion. During the whole of his +year of office he practised with the utmost exactness his principles of +purity, simplicity, and economy in public affairs. He is said to have +started from his house on the journey to Spain with only three servants, +but when he got as far as the forum, it struck him that such an attendance +was scarcely worthy of a Roman consul; so he purchased two more slaves on +the spot! In the same spirit, before returning he sold his horse that the +state might not be at the expense of transporting it to Italy. Cato was no +less careful of the revenue than of the expenditure. He largely increased +the productiveness of the mines and other property belonging to the state, +and all goods captured from the enemy were sold for the benefit of the +exchequer. On leaving the province Cato made an unusually large gift to +each soldier, saying that it was better for all to bring home silver than +for a few to bring home gold. The provincials were thoroughly content with +their ruler and ever after looked on him as their best friend. The army was +kept in the strictest discipline. Some disorderly conduct of the _equites_ +was rebuked by Cato in a bitter harangue which he afterwards published. +Partly by craft, partly by good leadership in the field, Cato broke the +strength of the turbulent natives and returned to enjoy a well-earned +triumph.[41] In the same year (194) a brilliant triumph was celebrated by +Flamininus. + +Scipio, probably uneasy at the great reputations quickly won by Flamininus +and Cato, secured his second consulship for the year 194, but failed to +achieve anything remarkable. Cato probably spent the three years after his +return for the most part at his Sabine farm. When the war against Antiochus +broke out, he took service along with his friend Flaccus on the staff of +the consul Glabrio,[42] and by a difficult march over the mountains broke +in on the king's rear, and so was chiefly instrumental in winning the great +battle of Thermopylae, by which Antiochus was driven out of Greece. +Immediately after the battle Cato returned home with despatches. We have +dim and uncertain information that he took the field once or twice again, +but his career as a soldier was practically ended. + +From this time to his death, forty years later, Cato was the leading figure +on the stage of Roman politics. In season and out of season he attacked +abuses or innovations in speeches addressed to the senate, the people, or +the courts. Soon after his return from Thessaly he struck a heavy blow at +the unrepublican honor-hunting among the magistrates, of which the example +had been set by P. Scipio Africanus. Most provincial governors drove their +subjects into war, sent lying despatches home about their victories, and +claimed a triumph. In 190 Cato attacked with success the proposal to grant +a triumph to Q. Minucius Thermus, who had already triumphed over the +Spaniards as praetor, and after his consulship in 193 had fought against +the Ligurians. Cato's next victim was his former commander M'. Acilius +Glabrio, who came forward at the same time with Cato, Marcellus (a son of +the captor of Syracuse), L. Cornelius Scipio Nasica, T. Quinctius +Flamininus (the conqueror of Macedonia) and Cato's friend L. Valerius +Flaccus, as candidate for the censorship of 189. Cato by his violent +speeches procured the trial of Glabrio for appropriating the plunder +captured in Thessaly, and himself gave evidence concerning some property +which had disappeared. Glabrio denounced Cato as a perjurer, but yet +retired from his candidature. On this occasion Cato and Flaccus failed, +Marcellus being elected as plebeian and Flamininus as patrician censor. + +In the next year (188) Cato acted in the senate with the party which tried +unsuccessfully to refuse the triumph to the two consuls of 189, M. Fulvius +Nobilior and Cn. Manlius Vulso, the former of whom had gained none but +trifling advantages over the Aetolians, while the latter had disgraced the +Roman name by making war without authorization upon the Gauls of Asia +Minor, and had also suffered a humiliating defeat from some Thracian robber +bands on his homeward march. Not disheartened by ill success, Cato and his +friends determined to strike at higher game. L. Scipio Asiaticus (or +Asiagenus), the brother of Africanus, was asserted in the senate to have +appropriated 3000 talents of public money when in command against +Antiochus. Legal proceedings were taken not only against Asiaticus, but +against Africanus, who behaved with great violence and arrogance. In the +end Africanus withdrew to his country estate, while his brother was +condemned to pay a heavy fine. A death-stroke had been given to the almost +kingly authority of Africanus, who never again showed his face in Rome. The +proceedings against the Scipios seem to have begun in 187 and not to have +been completed before 185. + +Nearly twenty years had passed since the conflict between Cato and Scipio +began, and now it had ended in a complete triumph for Cato.[43] But the new +modes of which Scipio was the chief patron were too strong to be conquered, +and Cato spent the rest of his life in fighting a hopeless battle against +them, though he fought for a time with the strongest weapons that the +constitution supplied. In 184 he was censor along with Flaccus, who seems +to have allowed his colleague full liberty of action. Every portion of the +censor's duty was carried out on the most severe and 'old Roman' +principles. Seven senators were degraded, among them L. Flamininus, an +ex-consul and brother of the 'liberator of the Hellenes,' for serious +misconduct,[44] also Manilius, an ex-praetor, for no worse offence than +that of having kissed his wife in presence of his daughter. M. Furius +Purpurio, who had actually competed with Cato for the censorship, was +punished for diverting a public aqueduct for his private advantage. Flaccus +was named leader of the senate in the place of Scipio Africanus, now dead. + +On reviewing the _equites_, Cato removed from that body L. Scipio and many +others on various charges: this one had allowed himself to grow too fat for +horsemanship; that had failed to groom his horse properly; another had +neglected his farm; another again had made an untimely jest on the occasion +of the review itself. With the ordinary citizens Cato dealt just as +harshly. In his censorian edict he sharply reproved the extravagance +prevalent at private feasts. All articles of luxury, such as slaves +purchased at fancy prices, luxurious clothing, carriages, statues, and +pictures were rendered liable to heavy taxation. In this way Cato revenged +himself for the repeal of the Oppian law. + +In looking after the property and income of the state Cato followed the +same principles he had acted on in Spain. He reduced the expenditure on +public works as far as possible, and took care to sell at the full price +the right to collect the revenue. Encroachments on the property of the +nation were severely punished. + +Not by acts only, but by constant speeches, full at once of grimness and +humor, did Cato struggle against the degeneracy of his time[45]. He +concluded his period of office with a self-laudatory harangue, and assumed +the title _Censorius_, while his statue was placed in the temple of the +goddess Salus with an inscription affirming that he had reformed the Roman +nation. + +But in a very brief time all trace of Cato's activity as censor was swept +away, except that afforded by the numerous life-long quarrels in which he +had involved himself[46]. In less than two years one of his victims, +Purpurio, was employed by the senate on a high political mission, while +another, L. Flamininus, sat among the senators at the games in defiance of +Cato's sentence. Yet Cato remained by far the most powerful member of the +senate. Titus Flamininus, his only important rival, quickly passed out of +notice. So far as there was any democratic opposition to the senatorial +oligarchy, Cato was the leader of that opposition for the remainder of his +life. But at that period no great political movements agitated the state +within; nearly the whole interest of the time was centred in the foreign +relations of Rome. On matters of foreign policy Cato offered but little +opposition to the prevailing tendencies of the age, though on particular +occasions he exercised great influence. But his voice was at all times +loudly heard on all questions of morality and public order. He supported +the _lex Furia_ and the _lex Voconia_, the object of which was to prevent +the dissipation of family property, and the _lex Orchia_, directed against +extravagant expenditure on feasts, also the _lex Baebia de ambitu_, the +first serious attempt to check bribery. We hear also that Cato bitterly +attacked Lepidus, censor in 180, for erecting a permanent theatre in place +of the movable booths before used. The building was actually pulled down. +We are told that from time to time he denounced the misdoings of provincial +governors. In 171 he was one of a commission of five for bringing to +justice three ex-praetors who had practised all manner of corruption in +Spain. Almost the last act of his life was to prosecute Galba for cruel +misgovernment of the Lusitanians. The titles of Cato's speeches show that +he played a great part in the deliberations of the senate concerning +foreign affairs, but as his fighting days were over and he was unfitted for +diplomacy, we have little explicit evidence of his activity in this +direction. At the end of the third Macedonian war he successfully opposed +the annexation of Macedonia. He also saved from destruction the Rhodians, +who during the war had plainly desired the victory of Perseus, and in the +early days, when the Roman commanders had ill success, had deeply wounded +the whole Roman nation by an offer to mediate between them and the king of +Macedon. + +Cato had all his life retained his feeling of enmity to the Carthaginians, +whom Scipio, he thought, had treated too tenderly. In 150 he was one of an +embassy sent to Carthage, and came back filled with alarm at the prosperity +of the city. It is said that whatever was the subject on which he was asked +for his opinion in the senate, he always ended his speech with '_ceterum +censeo delendam esse Carthaginem_' P. Scipio Nasica, the son-in-law of +Africanus, and the representative of his policy, always shouted out the +opposite opinion, thinking that the fear of Carthage had a salutary effect +on the Roman populace at large. But the ideas of Cato prevailed, and a +cruel policy, carried out with needless brutality, led to the extinction of +Rome's greatest rival. Cato did not live to see the conclusion of the war; +he died in 149, at the age of 84 or 85 years, having retained his mental +and physical vigor to the last. He had two sons, one by his first wife, and +one by his second wife, born when Cato was 80 years of age. The elder son, +to whom many of Cato's works were addressed, died as praetor-elect, before +his father[47]. The other was grandfather of Cato Uticensis. + +The literary activity of the old censor was great, though his leisure was +small.[48] In Cicero's time a collection of 150 speeches was still extant. +The titles of about 90 are still known to us, and of some we possess a few +fragments. Cato's greatest work, however, was his _Origines_, the first +real historical work written in Latin. His predecessors had been merely +compilers of chronicles. The work was founded on laborious investigations, +and comprised the history of Rome from the earliest times perhaps down to +150 B.C.[49], as well as notices of the history of other important Italian +states. Further, Cato wrote of Agriculture, to which he was +enthusiastically devoted. We still have his _De Re Rustica_, a collection +of maxims loosely strung together. He also composed works on law; a sort of +educational encyclopaedia for his son; and a collection of witty sayings, +[Greek: Apophthegmata], drawn from Greek as well as from Roman sources. + +Plutarch seems to have known a collected edition of the pungent and +proverbial utterances for which the censor was famous, and for which (not +for any knowledge of philosophy[50]) he received the title of _sapiens_ +('shrewd') which he bore at the end of his life. This edition, however, was +not compiled by Cato himself. + +In view of Cicero's treatise, the Cato Maior, it is necessary to say +something of Cato's relations with the Greeks and Greek literature. The +ancients give us merely vague statements that he only began to learn Greek +'in his old age.' The expression must be liberally interpreted if, as seems +clear, the whole of his writings showed the influence of Greek literature. +It is certain, however, that he thoroughly detested the Greek nation. This +hatred was shown in acts more than once. No doubt Cato was at least a +consenting party to the expulsion from Rome of Greek teachers in 161 B.C. +When in 155 the famous embassy came from Athens consisting of Carneades the +Academic, Critolaus the Peripatetic and Diogenes the Stoic, Cato was a +prime mover of the decree by which they were removed from the city. +Socrates was one of Cato's favorite marks for jests. And this is the man +into whose mouth Cicero puts the utterances, but slightly veiled, of Greek +wisdom! + +(2.) _Scipio_. P. Cornelius Scipio Africanus, the younger, was no blood +relation of the conqueror of Hannibal, but the adopted son of his son. It +must be remembered, however, that adoption was much more formal and +binding, and produced much closer ties in ancient than in modern times.[51] +The elder Africanus was unfortunate in his sons. The younger of these +attained to the praetorship in 174, but was immediately driven from the +senate by the censors of that year on account of his disreputable life. The +elder was an invalid, who never held any office except that of augur, and +died at an early age. He adopted the son of L. Aemilius Paulus, the victor +of Pydna; the adopted son bore the name Aemilianus in memory of his origin. +Cato's son married a daughter of Paulus, so that the censor was brought +into relationship with the Cornelii, whose most illustrious representative +he had hated and attacked. + +The young Scipio was born about 185, and when scarce 17 years old fought +with daring bravery at Pydna. While still very young he showed a great +devotion to study, which he retained through life. He was a thorough +partisan of the new Greek learning, and grouped around him in friendship +all the leaders of the Hellenistic movement. Among his dearest friends were +Polybius, the Greek statesman and historian, and later Panaetius, the +Stoic. In 151 B.C. when the consuls found it difficult to enlist officers +and men for service in Spain, where great defeats had been suffered, Scipio +volunteered, and served with great distinction as military tribune. When +the war with Carthage broke out he held the same rank, and shone by +comparison with his blundering superior officers. Coming to Rome in 148 he +stood for the aedileship, but was elected consul for the year 147, and +again for 146, when he finished the war. He is said to have grieved over +the fate of Carthage, and to have dreaded any further increase of the Roman +territory. In 142 Scipio was censor, and acted with almost Catonian +severity. In 134, though not a candidate, he was elected to the consulship +and put in command of the Roman army then besieging the city of Numantia in +Spain. The war, of which this siege formed a part, had been going on for +some years most disastrously for the Romans, but Scipio speedily brought it +to a conclusion in 133. While before Numantia he received news of the +murder of Ti. Gracchus, whose sister he had married and whose cousin he had +become by adoption, but whose policy he had on the whole opposed, though he +had occasionally coquetted with the democrats. This course cost him the +favor of the people, and when in 131 he desired to conduct the war against +Aristonicus, only two of the thirty-five tribes voted for his appointment. +In 129, after a violent scene in the senate, where he had opposed the +carrying out of Ti. Gracchus' agrarian law, he was triumphantly escorted +home by a crowd, composed chiefly of Italians whose interests had been +threatened by the law. Next morning he was found dead in his bed. Opinion +as to the cause of his death was divided at the time and so remained. In +the _Laelius_ the death is assumed to have been from natural causes.[52] +Elsewhere, however, Cicero adopts the view of many of Scipio's friends that +he was murdered by Carbo.[53] Carbo afterwards lent color to the suspicions +by putting himself to death, in order, as was supposed, to avoid a direct +prosecution. In ancient times even C. Gracchus was suspected of having thus +avenged his brother's death, but no modern scholar of any rank has +countenanced the suspicion. + +Whether the degree of intimacy between Cato and Scipio, which Cicero +assumes, ever existed or not, cannot be determined.[54] There was much in +Scipio that would attract Cato. Unlike the elder Africanus, he was severe +and simple in his outward life, and though a lover of Greek and Greeks, yet +attached to all that was best in the old Roman character and polity. Though +an opponent of revolution, he was far from being a partisan of the +oligarchy. Altogether, of all Romans, he most nearly deserved the +description, '[Greek: aner tetragonos aneu psogou],' 'a man four-square +without reproach.' In his _De Re Publica_, Cicero points to Scipio as the +ideal statesman, and often elsewhere eulogizes him as an almost perfect +Roman. + +(3.) _Laelius_. Gaius Laelius, born about 186, was Scipio's most +distinguished officer before Carthage, and his most intimate friend +throughout life. The friendship of the two was one of the most famous in +antiquity, and is celebrated in the _Laelius_. Laelius was an able speaker, +writer and soldier, and devoted to Greek learning, particularly to the +Stoic philosophy. He is with Cicero the type of a man of culture.[55] He, +too, is one of the interlocutors in the _De Re Publica_. + +(ii.) SUBJECT-MATTER. + +1. _General View_. + +The Cato Maior falls naturally into three parts:-- + + Preliminary, dedication to Atticus, Sec.Sec. 1-3; + Introductory Conversation, 4-9; + Cato's Defence of Old Age, 10-85. + +After Sec. 9 Cato continues to express his views on old age without +interruption to the end, and the dialogue thus becomes really a monologue. + +2. _Analysis._ + + PRELIMINARY 1-3. + +Cicero, addressing Atticus, states his purpose in writing the book and the +effect of the work on himself (1, 2), the reasons for putting the +sentiments on old age into the mouth of Cato, and the circumstances of the +supposed conversation (3). + + INTRODUCTORY CONVERSATION 4-9. + +Scipio declares his admiration of Cato's vigorous and happy old age. Cato +replies that the secret lies in following the guidance of Nature (4, 5). +Laelius then asks Cato to point out the road to such an old age as his own +(6). This the old man promises to do, but first remarks that the faults +charged against old age are generally due to defects of character (7). +Laelius suggests that prosperity makes Cato's declining years pleasant. +Cato admits that there may be some truth in this, but maintains that right +character alone can make old age tolerable (8, 9). + + CATO'S DEFENCE OF OLD AGE 10-85. + +A. Introductory argument from fact. Account of celebrated old men whose +lives till death were useful and happy 10-14 + + (a). Fabius Maximus 10-12 + (b). Plato; (c). Isocrates; (d). Gorgias 13 + (e). Ennius 14 + +B. Refutation of charges made against old age 15-85 + +_Statement of the four charges commonly made against old age_: it withdraws +men from active life, it weakens the physical powers, it takes away +capacity for enjoyment, and it involves the anticipation of death 15 + +A. Refutation of the first charge, that old age withdraws from active life. + + (a). There are employments suited to old age which + are as necessary to the well-being of society as + those which require greater physical powers 15-20 + + (b). The special objection that old men have weak + memories is answered by showing that this is + due either to an original defect or to insufficient + exercise 21-22 + + + (c). Argument from fact: instances of old men in + public and in private life who till death were + actively at work 23-26 + +B. Rebuttal of the second charge, that old age weakens the physical powers. + + (a). Old age does not desire nor require the strength + of youth, because it may exert influence + through other means. Instances cited to show + this 27-32 + + (b). Temperate habits will retain a good measure + of strength till old age (33, 34); many instances + of weakness in old age may be attributed to + ill-health, which is common to all periods of + life (35); proper care will greatly retard decay 33-38 + +C. Refutation of the third charge, that old age takes away the capacity for +enjoyment + + (a). The pleasures in which youth finds its keenest + enjoyment are in themselves bad, and old age + is beneficent in freeing from their allurements 39-44 + + (b). Old age has pleasures far more refined and satisfying + than those of sense 45-64 + Such as, those of conversation and literature + (45-50); especially those of agriculture (51-61); + and lastly, the exercise of influence, which old + age will always possess if a rightly spent youth + has preceded (62-64). + + (c). The special objection that old men's tempers + spoil their enjoyments is met by the statement + that this is the fault of character, not of age 65 + +D. Refutation of the fourth charge, that old age is unhappy because it +involves the anticipation of death. + + (a). Since the right aim of life is to live not long + but well, death ought not to be dreaded at any + age 66-69 + + + (b). Old men, especially those of learning and culture, + ought not to fear death 70-76 + Because, that which is according to nature is + good, and it is natural for old men to die (70-73); + the process of dying is brief and almost painless + (74); even young men and those without learning + often set the example of despising death + (75); and old age, just as the other periods + of life, has finally its season of ripeness and + satiety (76). + + (c). Death is probably the gateway to a happy immortality 77-85 + Tending towards proof of this are the arguments + stated in Plato; viz. the rapidity of the + mind's action, its powers of memory and invention, + its self-activity, indivisible nature and pre-existence + (78); also the arguments, attributed + to Cyrus, based upon the soul's immateriality, + the posthumous fame of great men and the + likeness of death to sleep (79-81); the instinctive + belief in immortality, so strong as even to + form an incentive for action (82); and, finally, + the speaker's own longing after immortality and + hope of union with those whom he once knew + and loved (83-85). + + * * * * * + +CATO MAIOR DE SENECTUTE + + * * * * * + +M. TULLI CICERONIS + +CATO MAIOR + +DE SENECTUTE. + + * * * * * + +1 + + + _O Tite, si quid ego adiuero curamve levasso_ + _quae nunc te coquit et versat in pectore fixa,_ + _ecquid erit praemi?_ + +Licet enim mihi versibus isdem affari te, Attice, quibus affatur Flamininum + + _ille vir haud magna cum re, sed plenus fidei,_ + +quamquam certo scio non, ut Flamininum, + + _sollicitari te, Tite, sic noctesque diesque,_ + +novi enim moderationem animi tui et aequitatem, teque non cognomen solum +Athenis deportasse, sed humanitatem et prudentiam intellego. Et tamen te +suspicor isdem rebus quibus me ipsum interdum gravius commoveri, quarum +consolatio et maior est et in aliud tempus differenda. Nunc autem visum est +mihi de senectute aliquid ad te conscribere. 2 Hoc enim onere, quod mihi +commune tecum est, aut iam urgentis aut certe adventantis senectutis et te +et me ipsum levari volo: etsi te quidem id modice ac sapienter, sicut +omnia, et ferre et laturum esse certo scio. Sed mihi, cum de senectute +vellem aliquid scribere, tu occurrebas dignus eo munere, quo uterque +nostrum communiter uteretur. Mihi quidem ita iucunda huius libri confectio +fuit, ut non modo omnis absterserit senectutis molestias, sed effecerit +mollem etiam et iucundam senectutem. Numquam igitur laudari satis digne +philosophia poterit cui qui pareat omne tempus aetatis sine molestia possit +degere. 3 Sed de ceteris et diximus multa et saepe dicemus: hunc librum ad +te de senectute misimus. Omnem autem sermonem tribuimus non Tithono, ut +Aristo Cius, parum enim esset auctoritatis in fabula, sed M. Catoni seni, +quo maiorem auctoritatem haberet oratio: apud quem Laelium et Scipionem +facimus admirantis, quod is tam facile senectutem ferat, eisque eum +respondentem, qui si eruditius videbitur disputare quam consuevit ipse in +suis libris, attribuito litteris Graecis, quarum constat eum perstudiosum +fuisse in senectute. Sed quid opus est plura? Iam enim ipsius Catonis sermo +explicabit nostram omnem de senectute sententiam. + +II. 4 SCIPIO. Saepe numero admirari soleo cum hoc C. Laelio cum ceterarum +rerum tuam excellentem, M. Cato, perfectamque sapientiam, tum vel maxime +quod numquam tibi senectutem gravem esse senserim, quae plerisque senibus +sic odiosa est, ut onus se Aetna gravius dicant sustinere. + +CATO. Rem haud sane, Scipio et Laeli, difficilem admirari videmini. Quibus +enim nihil est in ipsis opis ad bene beateque vivendum, eis omnis aetas +gravis est: qui autem omnia bona a se ipsi petunt, eis nihil potest malum +videri quod naturae necessitas afferat. Quo in genere est in primis +senectus, quam ut adipiscantur omnes optant, eandem accusant adeptam: tanta +est stultitiae inconstantia atque perversitas. Obrepere aiunt eam citius +quam putassent. Primum quis coegit eos falsum putare? Qui enim citius +adulescentiae senectus quam pueritiae adulescentia obrepit? Deinde qui +minus gravis esset eis senectus, si octingentesimum annum agerent, quam si +octogesimum? Praeterita enim aetas quamvis longa, cum effluxisset, nulla +consolatione permulcere posset stultam senectutem. 5 Quocirca si sapientiam +meam admirari soletis, quae utinam digna esset opinione vestra nostroque +cognomine, in hoc sumus sapientes, quod naturam optimam ducem tamquam deum +sequimur eique paremus: a qua non veri simile est, cum ceterae partes +aetatis bene descriptae sint, extremum actum tamquam ab inerti poeta esse +neglectum. Sed tamen necesse fuit esse aliquid extremum et, tamquam in +arborum bacis terraeque fructibus, maturitate tempestiva quasi vietum et +caducum, quod ferundum est molliter sapienti. Quid est enim aliud Gigantum +modo bellare cum dis nisi naturae repugnare? + +6 LAELIUS. Atqui, Cato, gratissimum nobis, ut etiam pro Scipione pollicear, +feceris, si, quoniam speramus, volumus quidem certe, senes fieri, multo +ante a te didicerimus quibus facillime rationibus ingravescentem aetatem +ferre possimus. + +CATO. Faciam vero, Laeli, praesertim si utrique vestrum, ut dicis, gratum +futurum est. + +LAELIUS. Volumus sane, nisi molestum est, Cato, tamquam longam aliquam viam +confeceris, quam nobis quoque ingrediundum sit, istuc, quo pervenisti, +videre quale sit. + +III. 7 CATO. Faciam ut potero, Laeli. Saepe enim interfui querellis +aequalium meorum, pares autem vetere proverbio cum paribus facillime +congregantur, quae C. Salinator, quae Sp. Albinus, homines consulares, +nostri fere aequales, deplorare solebant, tum quod voluptatibus carerent, +sine quibus vitam nullam putarent, tum quod spernerentur ab eis, a quibus +essent coli soliti; qui mihi non id videbantur accusare, quod esset +accusandum. Nam si id culpa senectutis accideret, eadem mihi usu venirent +reliquisque omnibus maioribus natu, quorum ego multorum cognovi senectutem +sine querella, qui se et libidinum vinculis laxatos esse non moleste +ferrent nec a suis despicerentur. Sed omnium istius modi querellarum in +moribus est culpa, non in aetate. Moderati enim et nec difficiles nec +inhumani senes tolerabilem senectutem agunt, importunitas autem et +inhumanitas omni aetati molesta est. + +8 LAELIUS. Est, ut dicis, Cato; sed fortasse dixerit quispiam tibi propter +opes et copias et dignitatem tuam tolerabiliorem senectutem videri, id +autem non posse multis contingere. + +CATO. Est istuc quidem, Laeli, aliquid, sed nequaquam in isto sunt omnia; +ut Themistocles fertur Seriphio cuidam in iurgio respondisse, cum ille +dixisset non eum sua, sed patriae gloria splendorem assecutum: 'nec +hercule', inquit, 'si ego Seriphius essem, nec tu, si Atheniensis, clarus +umquam fuisses'. Quod eodem modo de senectute dici potest; nec enim in +summa inopia levis esse senectus potest, ne sapienti quidem, nec insipienti +etiam in summa copia non gravis. 9 Aptissima omnino sunt, Scipio et Laeli, +arma senectutis artes exercitationesque virtutum, quae in omni aetate +cultae, cum diu multumque vixeris, mirificos ecferunt fructus, non solum +quia numquam deserunt, ne extremo quidem tempore aetatis, quamquam id +quidem maximum est, verum etiam quia conscientia bene actae vitae +multorumque bene factorum recordatio iucundissima est. + +IV. 10 Ego Q. Maximum, eum qui Tarentum recepit, senem adulescens ita +dilexi, ut aequalem. Erat enim in illo viro comitate condita gravitas, nec +senectus mores mutaverat. Quamquam eum colere coepi non admodum grandem +natu, sed tamen iam aetate provectum. Anno enim post consul primum fuerat +quam ego natus sum, cumque eo quartum consule adulescentulus miles ad +Capuam profectus sum quintoque anno post ad Tarentum. Quaestor deinde +quadriennio post factus sum, quem magistratum gessi consulibus Tuditano et +Cethego, cum quidem ille admodum senex suasor legis Cinciae de donis et +muneribus fuit. Hic et bella gerebat ut adulescens, cum plane grandis +esset, et Hannibalem iuveniliter exsultantem patientia sua molliebat; de +quo praeclare familiaris noster Ennius: + + _unus homo nobis cunctando restituit rem;_ + _noenum rumores ponebat ante salutem;_ + _ergo plusque magisque viri nunc gloria claret._ + +11 Tarentum vero qua vigilantia, quo consilio recepit! Cum quidem me +audiente Salinatori, qui amisso oppido fugerat in arcem, glorianti atque +ita dicenti, 'mea opera, Q. Fabi, Tarentum recepisti', 'certe', inquit +ridens, 'nam nisi tu amisisses, numquam recepissem'. Nec vero in armis +praestantior quam in toga; qui consul iterum, Sp. Carvilio collega +quiescente, C. Flaminio tribuno plebis, quoad potuit, restitit agrum +Picentem et Gallicum viritim contra senatus auctoritatem dividenti, +augurque cum esset, dicere ausus est optimis auspiciis ea geri, quae pro +rei publicae salute gererentur; quae contra rem publicam ferrentur, contra +auspicia ferri. 12 Multa in eo viro praeclara cognovi, sed nihil +admirabilius quam quo modo ille mortem fili tulit, clari viri et +consularis. Est in manibus laudatio, quam cum legimus, quem philosophum non +contemnimus? Nec vero ille in luce modo atque in oculis civium magnus, sed +intus domique praestantior. Qui sermo, quae praecepta! Quanta notitia +antiquitatis, scientia iuris auguri! Multae etiam, ut in homine Romano, +litterae: omnia memoria tenebat non domestica solum, sed etiam externa +bella. Cuius sermone ita tum cupide fruebar, quasi iam divinarem, id quod +evenit, illo exstincto fore unde discerem neminem. + +V. 13 Quorsus igitur haec tam multa de Maximo? Quia profecto videtis nefas +esse dictu miseram fuisse talem senectutem. Nec tamen omnes possunt esse +Scipiones aut Maximi, ut urbium expugnationes, ut pedestris navalisve +pugnas, ut bella a se gesta, ut triumphos recordentur. Est etiam quiete et +pure atque eleganter actae aetatis placida ac lenis senectus, qualem +accepimus Platonis, qui uno et octogesimo anno scribens est mortuus, qualem +Isocrati, qui eum librum, qui Panathenaicus inscribitur, quarto nonagesimo +anno scripsisse dicit vixitque quinquennium postea; cuius magister +Leontinus Gorgias centum et septem complevit annos, neque umquam in suo +studio atque opere cessavit. Qui, cum ex eo quaereretur cur tam diu vellet +esse in vita, 'nihil habeo,' inquit, 'quod accusem senectutem'. Praeclarum +responsum et docto homine dignum! 14 Sua enim vitia insipientes et suam +culpam in senectutem conferunt, quod non faciebat is, cuius modo mentionem +feci, Ennius: + + _sic ut fortis ecus, spatio qui saepe supremo_ + _vicit Olumpia, nunc senio confectus quiescit._ + +Equi fortis et victoris senectuti comparat suam; quem quidem probe +meminisse potestis; anno enim undevicesimo post eius mortem hi consules, T. +Flamininus et M'. Acilius, facti sunt; ille autem Caepione et Philippo +iterum consulibus mortuus est, cum ego quinque et sexaginta annos natus +legem Voconiam magna voce et bonis lateribus suasissem. Annos septuaginta +natus, tot enim vixit Ennius, ita ferebat duo quae maxima putantur, onera, +paupertatem et senectutem, ut eis paene delectari videretur. + +15 Etenim, cum complector animo, quattuor reperio causas cur senectus +misera videatur: unam, quod avocet a rebus gerendis; alteram, quod corpus +faciat infirmius; tertiam, quod privet omnibus fere voluptatibus; quartam, +quod haud procul absit a morte. Earum, si placet, causarum quanta quamque +sit iusta una quaeque videamus. + +VI. A rebus gerendis senectus abstrahit. Quibus? An eis, quae iuventute +geruntur et viribus? Nullaene igitur res sunt seniles, quae vel infirmis +corporibus animo tamen administrentur? Nihil ergo agebat Q. Maximus, nihil +L. Paulus, pater tuus, socer optimi viri fili mei? Ceteri senes, Fabricii +Curii Coruncanii, cum rem publicam consilio et auctoritate defendebant, +nihil agebant? 16 Ad Appi Claudi senectutem accedebat etiam ut caecus +esset; tamen is, cum sententia senatus inclinaret ad pacem cum Pyrrho +foedusque faciendum, non dubitavit dicere illa, quae versibus persecutus +est Ennius: + + _quo vobis mentes, rectae quae stare solebant_ + _antehac, dementis sese flexere viai?_ + +ceteraque gravissime, notum enim vobis carmen est, et tamen ipsius Appi +exstat oratio. Atque haec ille egit septemdecim annis post alterum +consulatum, cum inter duos consulatus anni decem interfuissent censorque +ante superiorem consulatum fuisset, ex quo intellegitur Pyrrhi bello +grandem sane fuisse, et tamen sic a patribus accepimus. 17 Nihil igitur +afferunt qui in re gerenda versari senectutem negant, similesque sunt ut si +qui gubernatorem in navigando nihil agere dicant, cum alii malos scandant, +alii per foros cursent, alii sentinam exhauriant, ille clavum tenens +quietus sedeat in puppi, non faciat ea, quae iuvenes. At vero multo maiora +et meliora facit. Non viribus aut velocitate aut celeritate corporum res +magnae geruntur, sed consilio auctoritate sententia, quibus non modo non +orbari, sed etiam augeri senectus solet; 18 nisi forte ego vobis, qui et +miles et tribunus et legatus et consul versatus sum in vario genere +bellorum, cessare nunc videor, cum bella non gero. At senatui quae sint +gerenda praescribo et quo modo; Carthagini male iam diu cogitanti bellum +multo ante denuntio, de qua vereri non ante desinam quam illam exscisam +esse cognovero. 19 Quam palmam utinam di immortales, Scipio, tibi +reservent, ut avi relliquias persequare, cuius a morte tertius hic et +tricesimus annus est, sed memoriam illius viri omnes excipient anni +consequentes. Anno ante me censorem mortuus est, novem annis post meum +consulatum, cum consul iterum me consule creatus esset. Num igitur, si ad +centesimum annum vixisset, senectutis eum suae paeniteret? Nec enim +excursione nec saltu, nec eminus hastis aut comminus gladiis uteretur, sed +consilio ratione sententia, quae nisi essent in senibus, non summum +consilium maiores nostri appellassent senatum. 20 Apud Lacedaemonios quidem +ei, qui amplissimum magistratum gerunt, ut sunt, sic etiam nominantur +senes. Quod si legere aut audire voletis externa, maximas res publicas ab +adulescentibus labefactatas, a senibus sustentatas et restitutas +reperietis. + + _Cedo qui vestram rem publicam tantam amisistis tam cito?_ + +sic enim percontantur in Naevi poetae Ludo. Respondentur et alia et hoc in +primis: + + _proveniebant oratores novi, stulti adulescentuli._ + +Temeritas est videlicet florentis aetatis, prudentia senescentis. + +VII. 21 At memoria minuitur. Credo, nisi eam exerceas, aut etiam si sis +natura tardior. Themistocles omnium civium perceperat nomina; num igitur +censetis eum, cum aetate processisset, qui Aristides esset Lysimachum +salutare solitum? Equidem non modo eos novi qui sunt, sed eorum patres +etiam et avos, nec sepulcra legens vereor, quod aiunt, ne memoriam perdam; +his enim ipsis legendis in memoriam redeo mortuorum. Nec vero quemquam +senem audivi oblitum, quo loco thesaurum obruisset. Omnia quae curant +meminerunt, vadimonia constituta, quis sibi, cui ipsi debeant. 22 Quid +iuris consulti, quid pontifices, quid augures, quid philosophi senes? Quam +multa meminerunt! Manent ingenia senibus, modo permaneat studium et +industria, neque ea solum claris et honoratis viris, sed in vita etiam +privata et quieta. Sophocles ad summam senectutem tragoedias fecit; quod +propter studium cum rem neglegere familiarem videretur, a filiis in +iudicium vocatus est, ut, quem ad modum nostro more male rem gerentibus +patribus bonis interdici solet, sic illum quasi desipientem a re familiari +removerent iudices. Tum senex dicitur eam fabulam quam in manibus habebat +et proxime scripserat, Oedipum Coloneum, recitasse iudicibus quaesisseque +num illud carmen desipientis videretur, quo recitato sententiis iudicum est +liberatus. 23 Num igitur hunc, num Homerum Hesiodum Simoniden Stesichorum, +num quos ante dixi Isocraten Gorgian, num philosophorum principes, +Pythagoran Democritum, num Platonem Xenocraten, num postea Zenonem +Cleanthen, aut eum, quem vos etiam vidistis Romae, Diogenen Stoicum coegit +in suis studiis obmutiscere senectus? An in omnibus studiorum agitatio +vitae aequalis fuit? 24 Age, ut ista divina studia omittamus, possum +nominare ex agro Sabino rusticos Romanos, vicinos et familiaris meos, +quibus absentibus numquam fere ulla in agro maiora opera fiunt, non +serendis, non percipiendis, non condendis fructibus. Quamquam in aliis +minus hoc mirum est, nemo enim est tam senex qui se annum non putet posse +vivere; sed idem in eis elaborant, quae sciunt nihil ad se omnino +pertinere: + + _serit arbores, quae alteri saeclo prosint,_ + +ut ait Statius noster in Synephebis. 25 Nec vero dubitat agricola, quamvis +sit senex, quaerenti cui serat respondere: 'dis immortalibus, qui me non +accipere modo haec a maioribus voluerunt, sed etiam posteris prodere'. + +VIII. Et melius Caecilius de sene alteri saeculo prospiciente, quam illud +idem: + + _edepol, senectus, si nil quicquam aliud viti_ + _adportes tecum, cum advenis, unum id sat est,_ + _quod diu vivendo multa quae non volt videt._ + +Et multa fortasse quae volt, atque in ea, quae non volt, saepe etiam +adulescentia incurrit. Illud vero idem Caecilius vitiosius: + + _tum equidem in senecta hoc deputo miserrimum,_ + _sentire ea aetate eumpse esse odiosum alteri._ + +26 Iucundum potius quam odiosum! Ut enim adulescentibus bona indole +praeditis sapientes senes delectantur, leviorque fit senectus eorum qui a +iuventute coluntur et diliguntur, sic adulescentes senum praeceptis +gaudent, quibus ad virtutum studia ducuntur, nec minus intellego me vobis +quam mihi vos esse iucundos. Sed videtis, ut senectus non modo languida +atque iners non sit, verum etiam sit operosa et semper agens aliquid et +moliens, tale scilicet, quale cuiusque studium in superiore vita fuit. +Quid, qui etiam addiscunt aliquid, ut et Solonem versibus gloriantem +videmus, qui se cotidie aliquid addiscentem dicit senem fieri, et ego feci, +qui litteras Graecas senex didici, quas quidem sic avide arripui quasi +diuturnam sitim explere cupiens, ut ea ipsa mihi nota essent, quibus me +nunc exemplis uti videtis. Quod cum fecisse Socraten in fidibus audirem, +vellem equidem etiam illud, discebant enim fidibus antiqui, sed in litteris +certe elaboravi. + +IX. 27 Ne nunc quidem viris desidero adulescentis, is enim erat locus alter +de vitiis senectutis, non plus quam adulescens tauri aut elephanti +desiderabam. Quod est, eo decet uti et quidquid agas agere pro viribus. +Quae enim vox potest esse contemptior quam Milonis Crotoniatae? Qui cum iam +senex esset athletasque se exercentis in curriculo videret, aspexisse +lacertos suos dicitur illacrimansque dixisse, 'at hi quidem mortui iam +sunt'. Non vero tam isti, quam tu ipse, nugator, neque enim ex te umquam es +nobilitatus, sed ex lateribus et lacertis tuis. Nihil Sex. Aelius tale, +nihil multis annis ante Ti. Coruncanius, nihil modo P. Crassus, a quibus +iura civibus praescribebantur, quorum usque ad extremum spiritum est +provecta prudentia. 28 Orator metuo ne languescat senectute: est enim munus +eius non ingeni solum, sed laterum etiam et virium. Omnino canorum illud in +voce splendescit etiam nescio quo pacto in senectute, quod equidem adhuc +non amisi, et videtis annos. Sed tamen est decorus seni sermo quietus et +remissus, facitque persaepe ipsa sibi audientiam diserti senis composita et +mitis oratio, quam si ipse exsequi nequeas, possis tamen Scipioni +praecipere et Laelio. Quid enim est iucundius senectute stipata studiis +iuventutis? 29 An ne illas quidem viris senectuti relinquimus, ut +adulescentis doceat, instituat, ad omne offici munus instruat? Quo quidem +opere quid potest esse praeclarius? Mihi vero et Cn. et P. Scipiones et avi +tui duo L. Aemilius et P. Africanus comitatu nobilium iuvenum fortunati +videbantur, nec ulli bonarum artium magistri non beati putandi, quamvis +consenuerint vires atque defecerint. Etsi ipsa ista defectio virium +adulescentiae vitiis efficitur saepius quam senectute; libidinosa enim et +intemperans adulescentia effetum corpus tradit senectuti. 30 Cyrus quidem +apud Xenophontem eo sermone, quem moriens habuit, cum admodum senex esset, +negat se umquam sensisse senectutem suam imbecilliorem factam quam +adulescentia fuisset. Ego L. Metellum memini puer, qui, cum quadriennio +post alterum consulatum pontifex maximus factus esset, viginti et duos +annos ei sacerdotio praefuit, ita bonis esse viribus extremo tempore +aetatis, ut adulescentiam non requireret. Nihil necesse est mihi de me ipso +dicere, quamquam est id quidem senile aetatique nostrae conceditur. X. 31 +Videtisne, ut apud Homerum saepissime Nestor de virtutibus suis praedicet? +Tertiam enim aetatem hominum videbat, nec erat ei verendum ne vera +praedicans de se nimis videretur aut insolens aut loquax. Etenim, ut ait +Homerus, ex eius lingua melle dulcior fluebat oratio; quam ad suavitatem +nullis egebat corporis viribus. Et tamen dux ille Graeciae nusquam optat ut +Aiacis similis habeat decem, sed ut Nestoris, quod si sibi acciderit, non +dubitat quin brevi sit Troia peritura. 32 Sed redeo ad me. Quartum ago +annum et octogesimum: vellem equidem idem posse gloriari quod Cyrus, sed +tamen hoc queo dicere, non me quidem eis esse viribus, quibus aut miles +bello Punico aut quaestor eodem bello aut consul in Hispania fuerim aut +quadriennio post, cum tribunus militaris depugnavi apud Thermopylas M'. +Glabrione consule; sed tamen, ut vos videtis, non plane me enervavit, non +afflixit senectus: non curia viris meas desiderat, non rostra, non amici, +non clientes, non hospites. Nec enim umquam sum assensus veteri illi +laudatoque proverbio, quod monet mature fieri senem, si diu velis senex +esse. Ego vero me minus diu senem esse mallem quam esse senem ante quam +essem. Itaque nemo adhuc convenire me voluit cui fuerim occupatus. 33 At +minus habeo virium quam vestrum utervis. Ne vos quidem T. Ponti centurionis +viris habetis: num idcirco est ille praestantior? Moderatio modo virium +adsit et tantum quantum potest quisque nitatur, ne ille non magno desiderio +tenebitur virium. Olympiae per stadium ingressus esse Milo dicitur, cum +umeris sustineret bovem: utrum igitur has corporis an Pythagorae tibi malis +viris ingeni dari? Denique isto bono utare, dum adsit, cum absit, ne +requiras: nisi forte adulescentes pueritiam, paulum aetate progressi +adulescentiam debent requirere. Cursus est certus aetatis et una via +naturae eaque simplex, suaque cuique parti aetatis tempestivitas est data, +ut et infirmitas puerorum et ferocitas iuvenum et gravitas iam constantis +aetatis et senectutis maturitas naturale quiddam habet, quod suo tempore +percipi debeat. 34 Audire te arbitror, Scipio, hospes tuus avitus Masinissa +quae faciat hodie nonaginta natus annos: cum ingressus iter pedibus sit, in +equum omnino non ascendere; cum autem equo, ex equo non descendere; nullo +imbri, nullo frigore adduci ut capite operto sit; summam esse in eo +corporis siccitatem, itaque omnia exsequi regis officia et munera. Potest +igitur exercitatio et temperantia etiam in senectute conservare aliquid +pristini roboris. + +XI. Ne sint in senectute vires: ne postulantur quidem vires a senectute. +Ergo et legibus et institutis vacat aetas nostra muneribus eis quae non +possunt sine viribus sustineri. Itaque non modo quod non possumus, sed ne +quantum possumus quidem cogimur. 35 At multi ita sunt imbecilli senes, ut +nullum offici aut omnino vitae munus exsequi possint. At id quidem non +proprium senectutis vitium est, sed commune valetudinis. Quam fuit +imbecillus P. Africani filius, is qui te adoptavit, quam tenui aut nulla +potius valetudine! Quod ni ita fuisset, alterum illud exstitisset lumen +civitatis; ad paternam enim magnitudinem animi doctrina uberior accesserat. +Quid mirum igitur in senibus, si infirmi sunt aliquando, cum id ne +adulescentes quidem effugere possint? Resistendum, Laeli et Scipio, +senectuti est, eiusque vitia diligentia compensanda sunt, pugnandum tamquam +contra morbum sic contra senectutem, 36 habenda ratio valetudinis, utendum +exercitationibus modicis, tantum cibi et potionis adhibendum, ut +reficiantur vires, non opprimantur. Nec vero corpori solum subveniendum +est, sed menti atque animo multo magis. Nam haec quoque, nisi tamquam +lumini oleum instilles, exstinguuntur senectute. Et corpora quidem +exercitationum defetigatione ingravescunt, animi autem exercitando +levantur. Nam quos ait Caecilius 'comicos stultos senes,' hos significat +credulos obliviosos dissolutos, quae vitia sunt non senectutis, sed inertis +ignavae somniculosae senectutis. Ut petulantia, ut libido magis est +adulescentium quam senum, nec tamen omnium adulescentium, sed non proborum, +sic ista senilis stultitia, quae deliratio appellari solet, senum levium +est, non omnium. 37 Quattuor robustos filios, quinque filias, tantam domum, +tantas clientelas Appius regebat et caecus et senex; intentum enim animum +tamquam arcum habebat nec languescens succumbebat senectuti. Tenebat non +modo auctoritatem, sed etiam imperium in suos: metuebant servi, verebantur +liberi, carum omnes habebant; vigebat in illo animus patrius et disciplina. +38 Ita enim senectus honesta est, si se ipsa defendit, si ius suum retinet, +si nemini emancipata est, si usque ad ultimum spiritum dominatur in suos. +Ut enim adulescentem in quo est senile aliquid, sic senem in quo est +aliquid adulescentis probo, quod qui sequitur, corpore senex esse poterit, +animo numquam erit. Septimus mihi liber Originum est in manibus; ommia +antiquitatis monumenta colligo; causarum illustrium, quascunque defendi, +nunc cum maxime conficio orationes; ius augurium pontificium civile tracto; +multum etiam Graecis litteris utor, Pythagoriorumque more, exercendae +memoriae gratia, quid quoque die dixerim audierim egerim commemoro vesperi. +Hae sunt exercitationes ingeni, haec curricula mentis; in his desudans +atque elaborans corporis viris non magno opere desidero. Adsum amicis, +venio in senatum frequens ultroque affero res multum et diu cogitatas +easque tueor animi, non corporis viribus. Quas si exsequi nequirem, tamen +me lectulus meus oblectaret ea ipsa cogitantem, quae iam agere non possem; +sed ut possim facit acta vita. Semper enim in his studiis laboribusque +viventi non intellegitur quando obrepat senectus: ita sensim sine sensu +aetas senescit nec subito frangitur, sed diuturnitate exstinguitur. + +XII. 39 Sequitur tertia vituperatio senectutis, quod eam carere dicunt +voluptatibus. O praeclarum munus aetatis, si quidem id aufert a nobis, quod +est in adulescentia vitiosissimum! Accipite enim, optimi adulescentes, +veterem orationem Archytae Tarentini, magni in primis et praeclari viri, +quae mihi tradita est cum essem adulescens Tarenti cum Q. Maximo. Nullam +capitaliorem pestem quam voluptatem corporis hominibus dicebat a natura +datam, cuius voluptatis avidae libidines temere et ecfrenate ad potiendum +incitarentur. Hinc patriae proditiones, 40 hinc rerum publicarum +eversiones, hinc cum hostibus clandestina colloquia nasci; nullum denique +scelus, nullum malum facinus esse ad quod suscipiendum non libido +voluptatis impelleret; stupra vero et adulteria et omne tale flagitium +nullis excitari aliis illecebris nisi voluptatis; cumque homini sive natura +sive quis deus nihil mente praestabilius dedisset, huic divino muneri ac +dono nihil tam esse inimicum quam voluptatem. 41 Nec enim libidine +dominante temperantiae locum esse, neque omnino in voluptatis regno +virtutem posse consistere. Quod quo magis intellegi posset, fingere animo +iubebat tanta incitatum aliquem voluptate corporis, quanta percipi posset +maxima: nemini censebat fore dubium quin tam diu, dum ita gauderet, nihil +agitare mente, nihil ratione, nihil cogitatione consequi posset. Quocirca +nihil esse tam detestabile tamque pestiferum quam voluptatem, si quidem ea, +cum maior esset atque longior, omne animi lumen exstingueret. Haec cum C. +Pontio Samnite, patre eius, a quo Caudino proelio Sp. Postumius T. Veturius +consules superati sunt, locutum Archytam Nearchus Tarentinus hospes noster, +qui in amicitia populi Romani permanserat, se a maioribus natu accepisse +dicebat, cum quidem ei sermoni interfuisset Plato Atheniensis, quem +Tarentum venisse L. Camillo Ap. Claudio consulibus reperio. 42 Quorsus hoc? +Ut intellegeretis, si voluptatem aspernari ratione et sapientia non +possemus, magnam esse habendam senectuti gratiam, quae efficeret ut id non +liberet quod non oporteret. Impedit enim consilium voluptas, rationi +inimica est, mentis ut ita dicam praestringit oculos, nec habet ullum cum +virtute commercium. Invitus feci ut fortissimi viri T. Flaminini fratrem L. +Flamininum e senatu eicerem septem annis post quam consul fuisset, sed +notandam putavi libidinem. Ille enim cum esset consul in Gallia exoratus in +convivio a scorto est ut securi feriret aliquem eorum qui in vinculis +essent, damnati rei capitalis. Hic Tito fratre suo censore, qui proximus +ante me fuerat, elapsus est, mihi vero et Flacco neutiquam probari potuit +tam flagitiosa et tam perdita libido, quae cum probro privato coniungeret +imperi dedecus. + +XIII. 43 Saepe audivi e maioribus natu, qui se porro pueros a senibus +audisse dicebant, mirari solitum C. Fabricium quod, cum apud regem Pyrrhum +legatus esset, audisset a Thessalo Cinea esse quendam Athenis qui se +sapientem profiteretur, eumque dicere omnia quae faceremus ad voluptatem +esse referenda. Quod ex eo audientis M'. Curium et Ti. Coruncanium optare +solitos ut id Samnitibus ipsique Pyrrho persuaderetur, quo facilius vinci +possent cum se voluptatibus dedissent. Vixerat M'. Curius cum P. Decio, qui +quinquennio ante eum consulem se pro re publica quarto consulatu devoverat: +norat eundem Fabricius, norat Coruncanius, qui cum ex sua vita tum ex eius +quem dico. Deci facto iudicabant esse profecto aliquid natura pulchrum +atque praeclarum, quod sua sponte expeteretur quodque spreta et contempta +voluptate optimus quisque sequeretur. 44 Quorsum igitur tam multa de +voluptate? Quia non modo vituperatio nulla, sed etiam summa laus senectutis +est, quod ea voluptates nullas magno opere desiderat. Caret epulis +exstructisque mensis et frequentibus poculis. Caret ergo etiam vinulentia +et cruditate et insomniis. Sed si aliquid dandum est voluptati, quoniam +eius blanditiis non facile obsistimus, divine enim Plato escam malorum +appellat voluptatem quod ea videlicet homines capiantur ut pisces, quamquam +immoderatis epulis caret senectus, modicis tamen conviviis delectari +potest. C. Duellium M. F., qui Poenos classe primus devicerat, redeuntem a +cena senem saepe videbam puer; delectabatur cereo funali et tibicine, quae +sibi nullo exemplo privatus sumpserat: tantum licentiae dabat gloria. 45 +Sed quid ego alios? Ad me ipsum iam revertar. Primum habui semper +sodalis--sodalitates autem me quaestore constitutae sunt sacris Idaeis +Magnae Matris acceptis--epulabar igitur cum sodalibus, omnino modice, sed +erat quidam fervor aetatis, qua progrediente omnia fiunt in dies mitiora. +Neque enim ipsorum conviviorum delectationem voluptatibus corporis magis +quam coetu amicorum et sermonibus metiebar; bene enim maiores accubitionem +epularem amicorum, quia vitae coniunctionem haberet, convivium +nominaverunt, melius quam Graeci, qui hoc idem tum compotationem, tum +concenationem vocant, ut, quod in eo genere minimum est, id maxime probare +videantur. + +XIV. 46 Ego vero propter sermonis delectationem tempestivis quoque +conviviis delector, nec cum aequalibus solum, qui pauci admodum restant, +sed cum vestra etiam aetate atque vobiscum, habeoque senectuti magnam +gratiam, quae mihi sermonis aviditatem auxit, potionis et cibi sustulit. +Quod si quem etiam ista delectant, ne omnino bellum indixisse videar +voluptati, cuius est fortasse quidam naturalis modus, non intellego ne in +istis quidem ipsis voluptatibus carere sensu senectutem. Me vero et +magisteria delectant a maioribus instituta et is sermo, qui more maiorum a +summo adhibetur in poculo, et pocula sicut in Symposio Xenophontis est, +minuta atque rorantia, et refrigeratio aestate et vicissim aut sol aut +ignis hibernus. Quae quidem etiam in Sabinis persequi soleo conviviumque +vicinorum cotidie compleo, quod ad multam noctem quam maxime possumus vario +sermone producimus. 47 At non est voluptatum tanta quasi titillatio in +senibus. Credo, sed ne desideratio quidem; nihil autem est molestum quod +non desideres. Bene Sophocles, cum ex eo quidam iam affecto aetate +quaereret, utereturne rebus veneriis, 'di meliora!' inquit; 'ego vero +istinc sicut a domino agresti ac furioso profugi.' Cupidis enim rerum +talium odiosum fortasse et molestum est carere, satiatis vero et expletis +iucundius est carere quam frui; quamquam non caret is, qui non desiderat; +ergo hoc non desiderare dico esse iucundius. 48 Quod si istis ipsis +voluptatibus bona aetas fruitur libentius, primum parvulis fruitur rebus, +ut diximus, deinde eis, quibus senectus, etiam si non abunde potitur, non +omnino caret. Ut Turpione Ambivio magis delectatur qui in prima cavea +spectat, delectatur tamen etiam qui in ultima, sic adulescentia voluptates +propter intuens magis fortasse laetatur, sed delectatur etiam senectus, +procul eas spectans, tantum quantum sat est. 49 At illa quanti sunt, animum +tamquam emeritis stipendiis libidinis ambitionis, contentionum +inimicitiarum, cupiditatum omnium secum esse secumque, ut dicitur, vivere! +Si vero habet aliquod tamquam pabulum studi atque doctrinae, nihil est +otiosa senectute iucundius. Videbamus in studio dimetiendi paene caeli +atque terrae Gallum familiarem patris tui, Scipio. Quotiens ilium lux noctu +aliquid describere ingressum, quotiens nox oppressit cum mane coepisset! +Quam delectabat eum defectiones solis et lunae multo ante nobis praedicere! +50 Quid in levioribus studiis, sed tamen acutis? Quam gaudebat Bello suo +Punico Naevius, quam Truculento Plautus, quam Pseudolo! Vidi etiam senem +Livium, qui, cum sex annis ante quam ego natus sum fabulam docuisset +Centone Tuditanoque consulibus, usque ad adulescentiam meam processit +aetate. Quid de P. Licini Crassi et pontifici et civilis iuris studio +loquar aut de huius P. Scipionis, qui his paucis diebus pontifex maximus +factus est? Atque eos omnis, quos commemoravi, his studiis flagrantis senes +vidimus. M. vero Cethegum, quem recte suadae medullam dixit Ennius, quanto +studio exerceri in dicendo videbamus etiam senem! Quae sunt igitur epularum +aut ludorum aut scortorum voluptates cum his voluptatibus comparandae? +Atque haec quidem studia doctrinae, quae quidem prudentibus et bene +institutis pariter cum aetate crescunt, ut honestum illud Solonis sit, quod +ait versiculo quodam, ut ante dixi, senescere se multa in dies addiscentem, +qua voluptate animi nulla certe potest esse maior. + +XV. 51 Venio nunc ad voluptates agricolarum, quibus ego incredibiliter +delector, quae nec ulla impediuntur senectute et mihi ad sapientis vitam +proxime videntur accedere. Habent enim rationem cum terra, quae numquam +recusat imperium nec umquam sine usura reddit quod accepit, sed alias +minore, plerumque maiore cum faenore; quamquam me quidem non fructus modo, +sed etiam ipsius terrae vis ac natura delectat. Quae cum gremio mollito ac +subacto sparsum semen excepit, primum id occaecatum cohibet, ex quo occatio +quae hoc efficit nominata est; deinde tepefactum vapore et compressu suo +diffundit et elicit herbescentem ex eo viriditatem, quae nixa fibris +stirpium sensim adolescit culmoque erecta geniculato vaginis iam quasi +pubescens includitur; e quibus cum emersit, fundit frugem spici ordine +structam et contra avium minorum morsus munitur vallo aristarum. 52 Quid +ego vitium ortus satus incrementa commemorem? Satiari delectatione non +possum, ut meae senectutis requietem oblectamentumque noscatis. Omitto enim +vim ipsam omnium quae generantur e terra, quae ex fici tantulo grano aut ex +acini vinaceo aut ex ceterarum frugum aut stirpium minutissimis seminibus +tantos truncos ramosque procreet; malleoli plantae sarmenta viviradices +propagines nonne efficiunt ut quemvis cum admiratione delectent? Vitis +quidem quae natura caduca est et, nisi fulta est, fertur ad terram, eadem, +ut se erigat, claviculis suis quasi manibus quidquid est nacta +complectitur, quam serpentem multiplici lapsu et erratico, ferro amputans +coercet ars agricolarum, ne silvescat sarmentis et in omnis partis nimia +fundatur. 53 Itaque ineunte vere in eis quae relicta sunt exsistit tamquam +ad articulos sarmentorum ea quae gemma dicitur, a qua oriens uva se +ostendit, quae et suco terrae et calore solis augescens primo est peracerba +gustatu, dein maturata dulcescit vestitaque pampinis nec modico tepore +caret et nimios solis defendit ardores: qua quid potest esse cum fructu +laetius, tum aspectu pulchrius? Cuius quidem non utilitas me solum, ut ante +dixi, sed etiam cultura et natura ipsa delectat: adminiculorum ordines, +capitum iugatio, religatio et propagatio vitium, sarmentorum ea, quam dixi, +aliorum amputatio, aliorum immissio. Quid ego irrigationes, quid fossiones +agri repastinationesque proferam quibus fit multo terra fecundior? 54 Quid +de utilitate loquar stercorandi? Dixi in eo libro, quem de rebus rusticis +scripsi. De qua doctus Hesiodus ne verbum quidem fecit, cum de cultura agri +scriberet. At Homerus, qui multis, ut mihi videtur, ante saeculis fuit, +Laerten lenientem desiderium, quod capiebat e filio, colentem agrum et eum +stercorantem facit. Nec vero segetibus solum et pratis et vineis et +arbustis res rusticae laetae sunt, sed hortis etiam et pomariis, tum +pecudum pastu, apium examinibus, florum omnium varietate. Nec consitiones +modo delectant, sed etiam insitiones, quibus nihil invenit agri cultura +sollertius. + +XVI. 55 Possum persequi permulta oblectamenta rerum rusticarum, sed ea ipsa +quae dixi sentio fuisse longiora. Ignoscetis autem, nam et studio rerum +rusticarum provectus sum, et senectus est natura loquacior, ne ab omnibus +eam vitiis videar vindicare. Ergo in hac vita M'. Curius, cum de +Samnitibus, de Sabinis, de Pyrrho triumphavisset, consumpsit extremum +tempus aetatis; cuius quidem ego villam contemplans, abest enim non longe a +me, admirari satis non possum vel hominis ipsius continentiam vel temporum +disciplinam. Curio ad focum sedenti magnum auri pondus Samnites cum +attulissent, repudiati sunt; non enim aurum habere praeclarum sibi videri +dixit, sed eis qui haberent aurum imperare. 56 Poteratne tantus animus +efficere non iucundam senectutem? Sed venio ad agricolas, ne a me ipso +recedam. In agris erant tum senatores, id est senes, si quidem aranti L. +Quinctio Cincinnato nuntiatum est eum dictatorem esse factum, cuius +dictatoris iussu magister equitum C. Servilius Ahala Sp. Maelium regnum +appetentem occupatum interemit. A villa in senatum arcessebatur et Curius +et ceteri senes, ex quo qui eos arcessebant viatores nominati sunt. Num +igitur horum senectus miserabilis fuit, qui se agri cultione oblectabant? +Mea quidem sententia haud scio an nulla beatior possit esse, neque solum +officio, quod hominum generi universo cultura agrorum est salutaris, sed et +delectatione quam dixi, et saturitate copiaque rerum omnium, quae ad victum +hominum, ad cultum etiam deorum pertinent, ut, quoniam haec quidam +desiderant, in gratiam iam cum voluptate redeamus. Semper enim boni +assiduique domini referta cella vinaria, olearia, etiam penaria est, +villaque tota locuples est, abundat porco haedo agno gallina, lacte caseo +melle. Iam hortum ipsi agricolae succidiam alteram appellant. Conditiora +facit haec supervacaneis etiam operis aucupium atque venatio. 57 Quid de +pratorum viriditate aut arborum ordinibus aut vinearum olivetorumve specie +plura dicam? Brevi praecidam. Agro bene culto nihil potest esse nec usu +uberius nec specie ornatius, ad quem fruendum non modo non retardat, verum +etiam invitat atque allectat senectus. Ubi enim potest illa aetas aut +calescere vel apricatione melius vel igni, aut vicissim umbris aquisve +refrigerari salubrius? 58 Sibi habeant igitur arma, sibi equos, sibi +hastas, sibi clavam et pilam, sibi venationes atque cursus, nobis senibus +ex lusionibus multis talos relinquant et tesseras; id ipsum ut lubebit, +quoniam sine eis beata esse senectus potest. + +XVII. 59 Multas ad res perutiles Xenophontis libri sunt, quos legite quaeso +studiose, ut facitis. Quam copiose ab eo agri cultura laudatur in eo libro, +qui est de tuenda re familiari, qui Oeconomicus inscribitur! Atque ut +intellegatis nihil ei tam regale videri quam studium agri colendi, Socrates +in eo libro loquitur cum Critobulo Cyrum minorem Persarum regem, +praestantem ingenio atque imperi gloria, cum Lysander Lacedaemonius, vir +summae virtutis, venisset ad eum Sardis eique dona a sociis attulisset, et +ceteris in rebus communem erga Lysandrum atque humanum fuisse et ei quendam +consaeptum agrum diligenter consitum ostendisse. Cum autem admiraretur +Lysander et proceritates arborum et directos in quincuncem ordines et humum +subactam atque puram et suavitatem odorum qui afflarentur ex floribus, tum +eum dixisse mirari se non modo diligentiam sed etiam sollertiam eius a quo +essent illa dimensa atque discripta; et Cyrum respondisse 'atqui ego ista +sum omnia dimensus, mei sunt ordines, mea discriptio; multae etiam istarum +arborum mea manu sunt satae.' Tum Lysandrum, intuentem purpuram eius et +nitorem corporis ornatumque Persicum multo auro multisque gemmis, dixisse +'recte vero te, Cyre, beatum ferunt, quoniam virtuti tuae fortuna coniuncta +est!' 60 Hac igitur fortuna frui licet senibus, nec aetas impedit quo minus +et ceterarum rerum et in primis agri colendi studia teneamus usque ad +ultimum tempus senectutis. M. quidem Valerium Corvinum accepimus ad +centesimum annum perduxisse, cum esset acta iam aetate in agris eosque +coleret, cuius inter primum et sextum consulatum sex et quadraginta anni +interfuerunt. Ita quantum spatium aetatis maiores ad senectutis initium +esse voluerunt, tantus illi cursus honorum fuit; atque huius extrema aetas +hoc beatior quam media, quod auctoritatis habebat plus, laboris minus; apex +est autem senectutis auctoritas. 61 Quanta fuit in L. Caecilio Metello, +quanta in A. Atilio Calatino! In quem illud elogium: + + _hunc unum plurimae consentiunt gentes_ + _populi primarium fuisse virum._ + +Notum est totum carmen incisum in sepulcro. Iure igitur gravis, cuius de +laudibus omnium esset fama consentiens. Quem virum nuper P. Crassum, +pontificem maximum, quem postea M. Lepidum eodem sacerdotio praeditum +vidimus! Quid de Paulo aut Africano loquar, aut, ut iam ante, de Maximo? +Quorum non in sententia solum, sed etiam in nutu residebat auctoritas. +Habet senectus, honorata praesertim, tantam auctoritatem, ut ea pluris sit +quam omnes adulescentiae voluptates. + +XVIII. 62 Sed in omni oratione mementote eam me senectutem laudare, quae +fundamentis adulescentiae constituta sit. Ex quo efficitur id, quod ego +magno quondam cum assensu omnium dixi, miseram esse senectutem quae se +oratione defenderet. Non cani nec rugae repente auctoritatem arripere +possunt, sed honeste acta superior aetas fructus capit auctoritatis +extremos. 63 Haec enim ipsa sunt honorabilia, quae videntur levia atque +communia, salutari appeti decedi assurgi deduci reduci consuli, quae et +apud nos et in aliis civitatibus, ut quaeque optime morata est, ita +diligentissime observantur. Lysandrum Lacedaemonium, cuius modo feci +mentionem, dicere aiunt solitum Lacedaemonem esse honestissimum domicilium +senectutis; nusquam enim tantum tribuitur aetati, nusquam est senectus +honoratior. Quin etiam memoriae proditum est, cum Athenis ludis quidam in +theatrum grandis natu venisset, magno consessu locum nusquam ei datum a +suis civibus, cum autem ad Lacedaemonios accessisset, qui, legati cum +essent certo in loco considerant, consurrexisse omnes illi dicuntur et +senem sessum recepisse; 64 quibus cum a cuncto consessu plausus esset +multiplex datus, dixisse ex eis quendam Atheniensis scire quae recta +essent, sed facere nolle. Multa in nostro collegio praeclara, sed hoc de +quo agimus, in primis, quod, ut quisque aetate antecedit, ita sententiae +principatum tenet, neque solum honore antecedentibus, sed eis etiam, qui +cum imperio sunt, maiores natu augures anteponuntur. Quae sunt igitur +voluptates corporis cum auctoritatis praemiis comparandae? Quibus qui +splendide usi sunt, ei mihi videntur fabulam aetatis peregisse nec tamquam +inexercitati histriones in extremo actu corruisse. + +65 At sunt morosi et anxii et iracundi et difficiles senes. Si quaerimus, +etiam avari; sed haec morum vitia sunt, non senectutis. Ac morositas tamen +et ea vitia, quae dixi, habent aliquid excusationis, non illius quidem +iustae, sed quae probari posse videatur: contemni se putant, despici, +illudi; praeterea in fragili corpore odiosa omnis offensio est; quae tamen +omnia dulciora fiunt et moribus bonis et artibus, idque cum in vita tum in +scaena intellegi potest ex eis fratribus qui in Adelphis sunt. Quanta in +altero diritas, in altero comitas! Sic se res habet: ut enim non omne +vinum, sic non omnis natura vetustate coacescit. Severitatem in senectute +probo, sed eam, sicut alia, modicam; acerbitatem nullo modo; 66 avaritia +vero senilis quid sibi velit, non intellego. Potest enim quicquam esse +absurdius quam, quo viae minus restet, eo plus viatici quaerere? + +XIX. Quarta restat causa, quae maxime angere atque sollicitam habere +nostram aetatem videtur, appropinquatio mortis, quae certe a senectute non +potest esse longe. O miserum senem, qui mortem contemnendam esse in tam +longa aetate non viderit! Quae aut plane neglegenda est, si omnino +exstinguit animum, aut etiam optanda, si aliquo eum deducit ubi sit futurus +aeternus. Atqui tertium certe nihil inveniri potest. 67 Quid igitur timeam, +si aut non miser post mortem, aut beatus etiam futurus sum? Quamquam quis +est tam stultus, quamvis sit adulescens, cui sit exploratum se ad vesperum +esse victurum? Quin etiam aetas illa multo pluris quam nostra casus mortis +habet: facilius in morbos incidunt adulescentes, gravius aegrotant, +tristius curantur. Itaque pauci veniunt ad senectutem; quod ni ita +accideret, melius et prudentius viveretur. Mens enim et ratio et consilium +in senibus est, qui si nulli fuissent, nullae omnino civitates fuissent. +Sed redeo ad mortem impendentem. Quod est istud crimen senectutis, cum id +ei videatis cum adulescentia esse commune? 68 Sensi ego in optimo filio, tu +in exspectatis ad amplissimam dignitatem fratribus, Scipio, mortem omni +aetati esse communem. At sperat adulescens diu se victurum, quod sperare +idem senex non potest. Insipienter sperat; quid enim stultius quam incerta +pro certis habere, falsa pro veris? At senex ne quod speret quidem habet. +At est eo meliore condicione quam adulescens, quoniam id quod ille sperat +hic consecutus est: ille volt diu vivere, hic diu vixit. 69 Quamquam, o di +boni, quid est in hominis natura diu? Da enim supremum tempus, exspectemus +Tartessiorum regis aetatem: fuit enim, ut scriptum video, Arganthonius +quidam Gadibus, qui octoginta regnaverat annos, centum viginti vixerat. + +Sed mihi ne diuturnum quidem quicquam videtur, in quo est aliquid extremum; +cum enim id advenit, tum illud quod praeteriit, effluxit; tantum remanet, +quod virtute et recte factis consecutus sis. Horae quidem cedunt et dies et +menses et anni, nec praeteritum tempus umquam revertitur nec quid sequatur +sciri potest. Quod cuique temporis ad vivendum datur, eo debet esse +contentus. 70 Neque enim histrioni, ut placeat, peragenda fabula est, modo +in quocunque fuerit actu probetur; neque sapientibus usque ad 'plaudite' +veniendum est, breve enim tempus aetatis satis longum est ad bene +honesteque vivendum; sin processerit longius, non magis dolendum est, quam +agricolae dolent praeterita verni temporis suavitate aestatem autumnumque +venisse. Ver enim tamquam adulescentia significat ostenditque fructus +futuros; reliqua autem tempora demetendis fructibus et percipiendis +accommodata sunt. 71 Fructus autem senectutis est, ut saepe dixi, ante +partorum bonorum memoria et copia. Omnia autem, quae secundum naturam +fiunt, sunt habenda in bonis; quid est autem tam secundum naturam quam +senibus emori? Quod idem contingit adulescentibus adversante et repugnante +natura. Itaque adulescentes mihi mori sic videntur, ut cum aquae +multitudine flammae vis opprimitur, senes autem sic, ut cum sua sponte, +nulla adhibita vi, consumptus ignis exstinguitur, et quasi poma ex +arboribus, cruda si sunt, vix evelluntur, si matura et cocta, decidunt, sic +vitam adulescentibus vis aufert, senibus maturitas; quae quidem mihi tam +iucunda est, ut, quo propius ad mortem accedam, quasi terram videre videar +aliquandoque in portum ex longa navigatione esse venturus. + +XX. 72 Senectutis autem nullus est certus terminus, recteque in ea vivitur, +quoad munus offici exsequi et tueri possit mortemque contemnere, ex quo fit +ut animosior etiam senectus sit quam adulescentia et fortior. Hoc illud +est, quod Pisistrato tyranno a Solone responsum est, cum illi quaerenti qua +tandem re fretus sibi tam audaciter obsisteret respondisse dicitur +'senectute.' Sed vivendi est finis optimus, cum integra mente certisque +sensibus opus ipsa suum eadem quae coagmentavit natura dissolvit. Ut navem, +ut aedificium idem destruit facillime qui construxit, sic hominem eadem +optime quae conglutinavit natura dissolvit. Iam omnis conglutinatio recens +aegre, inveterata facile divellitur. Ita fit ut illud breve vitae reliquum +nec avide appetendum senibus nec sine causa deserendum sit; vetatque +Pythagoras iniussu imperatoris, id est dei, de praesidio et statione vitae +decedere. 73 Solonis quidem sapientis est elogium, quo se negat velle suam +mortem dolore amicorum et lamentis vacare. Volt, credo, se esse carum suis. +Sed haud scio an melius Ennius: + + _nemo me lacrumis decoret, neque funera fletu_ + _faxit_ + +74 Non censet lugendam esse mortem, quam immortalitas consequatur. Iam +sensus moriendi aliquis esse potest, isque ad exiguum tempus, praesertim +seni: post mortem quidem sensus aut optandus aut nullus est. Sed hoc +meditatum ab adulescentia debet esse, mortem ut neglegamus; sine qua +meditatione tranquillo animo esse nemo potest. Moriendum enim certe est, et +incertum an hoc ipso die. Mortem igitur omnibus horis impendentem timens +qui poterit animo consistere? 75 De qua non ita longa disputatione opus +esse videtur, cum recorder non L. Brutum, qui in liberanda patria est +interfectus, non duos Decios, qui ad voluntariam mortem cursum equorum +incitaverunt, non M. Atilium, qui ad supplicium est profectus ut fidem +hosti datam conservaret non duos Scipiones, qui iter Poenis vel corporibus +suis obstruere voluerunt, non avum tuum L. Paulum, qui morte luit collegae +in Cannensi ignominia temeritatem, non M. Marcellum, cuius interitum ne +crudelissimus quidem hostis honore sepulturae carere passus est, sed +legiones nostras, quod scripsi in Originibus, in eum locum saepe profectas +alacri animo et erecto, unde se redituras numquam arbitrarentur. Quod +igitur adulescentes, et ei quidem non solum indocti sed etiam rustici +contemnunt, id docti senes extimescent? 76 Omnino, ut mihi quidem videtur, +rerum omnium satietas vitae facit satietatem. Sunt pueritiae studia certa: +num igitur ea desiderant adulescentes? Sunt ineuntis adulescentiae: num ea +constans iam requirit aetas, quae media dicitur? Sunt etiam eius aetatis: +ne ea quidem quaeruntur in senectute. Sunt extrema quaedam studia +senectutis: ergo, ut superiorum aetatum studia occidunt, sic occidunt etiam +senectutis; quod cum evenit, satietas vitae tempus maturum mortis affert. + +XXI. 77 Non enim video, cur, quid ipse sentiam de morte, non audeam vobis +dicere, quod eo cernere mihi melius videor, quo ab ea propius absum. Ego +vestros patres, P. Scipio tuque, C. Laeli, viros clarissimos mihique +amicissimos, vivere arbitror et eam quidem vitam, quae est sola vita +nominanda. Nam dum sumus inclusi in his compagibus corporis, munere quodam +necessitatis et gravi opere perfungimur; est enim animus caelestis ex +altissimo domicilio depressus et quasi demersus in terram, locum divinae +naturae eternitatique contrarium. Sed credo deos immortalis sparsisse +animos in corpora humana, ut essent qui terras tuerentur quique caelestium +ordinem contemplantes imitarentur eum vitae modo atque constantia. Nec me +solum ratio ac disputatio impulit ut ita crederem, sed nobilitas etiam +summorum philosophorum et auctoritas. + +78 Audiebam Pythagoran Pythagoriosque, incolas paene nostros, qui essent +Italici philosophi quondam nominati numquam dubitasse quin ex universa +mente divina delibatos animos haberemus. Demonstrabantur mihi praeterea +quae Socrates supremo vitae die de immortalitate animorum disseruisset, is +qui esset omnium sapientissimus oraculo Apollinis iudicatus. Quid multa? +Sic mihi persuasi, sic sentio, cum tanta celeritas animorum sit, tanta +memoria praeteritorum futurorumque prudentia, tot artes tantae scientiae, +tot inventa, non posse eam naturam, quae res eas contineat, esse mortalem; +cumque semper agitetur animus nec principium motus habeat, quia se ipse +moveat, ne finem quidem habiturum esse motus, quia numquam se ipse sit +relicturus; et cum simplex animi natura esset neque haberet in se quicquam +admixtum dispar sui atque dissimile, non posse eum dividi, quod si non +posset, non posse interire; magnoque esse argumento homines scire pleraque +ante quam nati sint, quod iam pueri, cum artis difficilis discant, ita +celeriter res innumerabilis arripiant, ut eas non tum primum accipere +videantur, sed reminisci et recordari. Haec Platonis fere. XXII. 79 Apud +Xenophontem autem moriens Cyrus maior haec dicit: 'nolite arbitrari, o mihi +carissimi filii, me, cum a vobis discessero, nusquam aut nullum fore. Nec +enim, dum eram vobiscum, animum meum videbatis, sed eum esse in hoc corpora +ex eis rebus quas gerebam intellegebatis. Eundem igitur esse creditote, +etiam si nullum videbitis. 80 Nec vero clarorum virorum post mortem honores +permanerent, si nihil eorum ipsorum animi efficerent, quo diutius memoriam +sui teneremus. Mihi quidem numquam persuaderi potuit animos dum in +corporibus essent mortalibus vivere, cum excessissent ex eis emori; nec +vero tum animum esse insipientem cum ex insipienti corpore evasisset, sed +cum omni admixtione corporis liberatus purus et integer esse coepisset, tum +esse sapientem. Atque etiam, cum hominis natura morte dissolvitur, +ceterarum rerum perspicuum est quo quaeque discedat, abeunt enim illuc +omnia, unde orta sunt; animus autem solus nec cum adest nec cum discessit +apparet. Iam vero videtis nihil esse morti tam simile quam somnum. 81 Atqui +dormientium animi maxime declarant divinitatem suam; multa enim, cum +remissi et liberi sunt, futura prospiciunt; ex quo intellegitur quales +futuri sint, cum se plane corporis vinculis relaxaverint. Qua re, si haec +ita sunt, sic me colitote,' inquit, 'ut deum, sin una est interiturus +animus cum corpore, vos tamen, deos verentes, qui hanc omnem pulchritudinem +tuentur et regunt, memoriam nostri pie inviolateque servabitis.' + +XXIII. 82 Cyrus quidem haec moriens; nos, si placet, nostra videamus. Nemo +umquam mihi, Scipio, persuadebit aut patrem tuum Paulum, aut duos avos +Paulum et Africanum, aut Africani patrem aut patruum, aut multos +praestantis viros, quos enumerare non est necesse, tanta esse conatos quae +ad posteritatis memoriam pertinerent, nisi animo cernerent posteritatem ad +ipsos pertinere. Anne censes, ut de me ipse aliquid more senum glorier, me +tantos labores diurnos nocturnosque domi militiaeque suscepturum fuisse, si +isdem finibus gloriam meam quibus vitam essem terminaturus? Nonne melius +multo fuisset otiosam et quietam aetatem sine ullo labore et contentione +traducere? Sed nescio quo modo animus erigens se posteritatem ita semper +prospiciebat, quasi, cum excessisset e vita, tum denique victurus esset. +Quod quidem ni ita se haberet ut animi immortales essent, haud optimi +cuiusque animus maxime ad immortalitatis gloriam niteretur. 83 Quid quod +sapientissimus quisque aequissimo animo moritur, stultissimus iniquissimo, +nonne vobis videtur is animus, qui plus cernat et longius, videre se ad +meliora proficisci, ille autem, cuius obtusior sit acies, non videre? +Equidem efferor studio patres vestros quos colui et dilexi videndi, neque +vero eos solum convenire aveo, quos ipse cognovi, sed illos etiam, de +quibus audivi et legi et ipse conscripsi; quo quidem me proficiscentem haud +sane quid facile retraxerit, nec tamquam Pelian recoxerit. Et si quis deus +mihi largiatur ut ex hac aetate repuerascam et in cunis vagiam, valde +recusem, nec vero velim quasi decurso spatio ad carceres a calce revocari. +84 Quid habet enim vita commodi? Quid non potius laboris? Sed habeat sane; +habet certe tamen aut satietatem aut modum. Non libet enim mihi deplorare +vitam, quod multi et ei docti saepe fecerunt, neque me vixisse paenitet, +quoniam ita vixi, ut non frustra me natum existimem, et ex vita ita discedo +tamquam ex hospitio, non tamquam e domo; commorandi enim natura divorsorium +nobis, non habitandi dedit. O praeclarum diem cum in illud divinum animorum +concilium coetumque proficiscar cumque ex hac turba et colluvione discedam! +Proficiscar enim non ad eos solum viros, de quibus ante dixi, verum etiam +ad Catonem meum, quo nemo vir melior natus est, nemo pietate praestantior, +cuius a me corpus est crematum, quod contra decuit ab illo meum, animus +vero non me deserens sed respectans, in ea profecto loca discessit quo mihi +ipsi cernebat esse veniendum. Quem ego meum casum fortiter ferre visus sum, +non quo aequo animo ferrem, sed me ipse consolabar existimans non +longinquum inter nos digressum et discessum fore. + +85 His mihi rebus, Scipio, id enim te cum Laelio admirari solere dixisti, +levis est senectus, nec solum non molesta, sed etiam iucunda. Quod si in +hoc erro, qui animos hominum immortalis esse credam, libenter erro nec mihi +hunc errorem, quo delector, dum vivo, extorqueri volo; sin mortuus, ut +quidam minuti philosophi censent, nihil sentiam, non vereor ne hunc errorem +meum philosophi mortui irrideant. Quod si non sumus immortales futuri, +tamen exstingui homini suo tempore optabile est. Nam habet natura, ut +aliarum omnium rerum, sic vivendi modum. Senectus autem aetatis est +peractio tamquam fabulae, cuius defetigationem fugere debemus, praesertim +adiuncta satietate. + +Haec habui de senectute quae dicerem, ad quam utinam veniatis, ut ea, quae +ex me audistis, re experti probare possitis! + + * * * * * + +NOTES TO CATO MAIOR. + + * * * * * + +CATO MAIOR DE SENECTUTE (CATO THE ELDER ON OLD AGE). CATO MAIOR was +probably intended by Cicero as the principal title. He twice gives the work +this name, in Laelius 4 and Att. 14, 21, 1. In the former passage he adds +the descriptive words, addressed to Atticus, _qui est scriptus ad te de +senectute._ In a third notice, De Div. 2, 3, he gives the description +without the title, _liber is quem ad nostrum Atticum de senectute misimus._ +It is likely that Cicero intended the essay to be known as the CATO MAIOR +DE SENECTUTE, the full title corresponding with LAELIUS DE AMICITIA. The +word _maior_ was necessary to distinguish the book from Cicero's eulogy of +the younger Cato (Uticensis), which seems to have gone by the name of CATO +simply. + +P. 1. -- 1. O TITE etc.: the lines are a quotation from the _Annales_ of Q. +Ennius (born at Rudiae in Calabria 239 B.C., died 169), an epic poem in +hexameter verse, the first great Latin poem in that metre, celebrating the +achievements of the Roman nation from the time of Aeneas to the poet's own +days. The incident alluded to in Ennius' verses is evidently the same as +that narrated by Livy 32, cc. 9, 10. Titus Quinctius Flamininus, who +commanded in 198 B.C. the Roman army opposed to Philip of Macedon, found +the king strongly posted on the mountains between Epirus and Thessaly. For +forty days Flamininus lingered, hoping to find some path which would give +him access to the enemy's quarters. A shepherd who knew every nook of the +mountains came before the general, and promised to lead the Roman soldiers +to the ground above Philip's camp. This was done, and Flamininus drove the +Macedonians into Thessaly. It is the shepherd who in the first line +addresses Flamininus by his first name Titus. Cicero here cleverly applies +the lines to his life-long friend Titus Pomponius Atticus. He several times +takes the two words _'O Tite'_ to designate the whole treatise; cf. Att. +16, 11, 3 _'O Tite' tibi prodesse laetor_. -- QUID: accusative of respect +or extent; so _nihil_ in 30, _aliquid_ in 82. A.[56] 240, _a_; G. 331, 3; +H. 378, 2. -- ADI[)U]ERO: for _adi[=u]vero,_ the long vowel having become +short after the falling out of the _v_ between the two vowels. Catullus 66, +18 has _i[)u]erint_ at the end of a pentameter verse, and the same scanning +is found in Plautus and Terence. A. 128, _a_; G. 151, 1; H. 235. -- +LEVASSO: a form of _levavero,_ which was originally _levaveso_. For the +formation of this class of future-perfects see Peile, _Introduction to +Greek and Latin Etymology,_ p. 295, ed. 3; also Roby, _Gram._ 1, p. 199, +who has a list of examples; he supports a different view from that given +above; cf. A. 128, _e_, 3; G. 191, 5; H. 240, 4. -- COQUIT: 'vexes.' This +metaphorical use of _coquere_ occurs in poetry and late prose; cf. Plaut. +Trin. 225 _egomet me coquo et macero et defetigo_; Verg. Aen. 7, 345 _quam +... femineae ardentem curaeque iraeque coquebant_; Quint. 12, 10, 77 +_sollititudo oratorem macerat et coquit_. -- VERS[=A]T: we have here the +original quantity of the vowel preserved, as in _poneb[=a]t_ below, 10; the +_a_ in _versat_ was originally as long as the _a_ in _vers[=a]s_. Plautus +has some parallels to this scanning (see Corssen, Aussprache 11 squared, 488), but +it is rarely imitated by poets of the best period. Horace, however, has +_ar[=a]t_, Odes 3, 16, 26. A. 375, _g_, 5; H. 580, III n. 2. -- PRAEMI: the +genitive in _i-i_ from nouns in _ium_ only began to come into use at the +end of the Republic. A. 40, _b_; G. 29, Rem. 1; H. 51, 5. -- ISDEM: Cicero +may have written _isdem_ or _eisdem_ (two syllables), but he probably did +not write the form most commonly found in our texts, _iisdem._ H. p. 74, +foot-note 2. -- FLAMININUM: T. Quinctius Flamininus first served against +Hannibal during the Second Punic War. He was present at the capture of +Tarentum in 209 B. c., and in 208 was military tribune under Marcellus. +After being employed on minor business of state, he became quaestor in 199, +and, immediately after his year of office, consul, passing over the +aedileship and praetorship, and attaining the consulship at the +extraordinarily early age of 30. In 197 he won the victory of Cynoscephalae +over the Macedonians, which ended the war. At the Isthmian games in the +spring of 196 Flamininus made his famous proclamation of freedom to all the +Greeks. He returned to Rome in 194 to enjoy a splendid triumph. For the +rest of his life was employed chiefly on diplomatic business concerning +Greece and the East. One of his embassies was to Prusias, king of Bithynia, +call on him to surrender Hannibal, who was living at his court in advanced +old age; this led to Hannibal's suicide. Flamininus was censor in 189 (see +below, 42), and lived on till some time after 167, in which year he became +augur; but the date of his death is unknown. He was a man of brilliant +ability both as general and as diplomat, and also possessed much culture +and was a great admirer of Greek literature. -- ILLE VIR etc.: _i.e._ the +shepherd mentioned in n. on line 1. Livy 32, II, 4 says that Flamininus +sent to the master of the shepherd, Charopus, an Epirote prince, to ask how +far he might be trusted. Charopus replied that Flamininus might trust him, +but had better keep a close watch on the operations himself. -- HAUD MAGNA +CUM RE: 'of no great property'; _re_ = _re familiari_, as is often the case +elsewhere in both verse and prose. Cf. pro Caelio 78 _hominem sine re. Cum_ +is literally 'attended by'; it is almost superfluous here, since _vir haud +magna re_ would have had just the same meaning. Madvig, Gram. Sec. 258 has +similar examples. -- PLENUS: final _s_ was so lightly pronounced that the +older poets felt justified in neglecting it in their scanning. It was +probably scarcely pronounced at all by the less educated Romans, since it +is often wholly omitted in inscriptions, and has been lost in modern +Italian. Cicero, Orator 161, says that the neglect to pronounce final _s_ +is 'somewhat boorish' (_subrusticum_), though formerly thought 'very +refined' (_politius_). Even Lucretius sometimes disregards it in his +scanning. In the ordinary literary Latin a large number of words has lost +an original _s_; _e.g._ all the nouns of the _-a_ declension. A. 375, _a_; +G. 722; H. 608, 1, n. 3. -- FIDEI: this form of the genitive of _fides_ is +found also in Plautus, Aulularia 575, and Lucretius 5, 102. _Fidei_ as +genitive seems only to occur in late poets, but as dative it is found in a +fragment of Ennius. _Fide_ as genitive occurs in Horace and Ovid. H. 585, +III. 1; Roby, 357, (c). -- QUAMQUAM: see n. on 2 _etsi_. -- SOLLICITARI +etc.: Cicero probably has not quoted the line as Ennius wrote it. The word +_sic_, at least, is evidently inserted on purpose to correspond with _ut_ +before _Flamininum_, -- NOCTESQUE DIESQUE: the use of _que ... que_ for _et +... et_ is almost entirely poetical, Sallust being the only prose writer of +the best period in whose works the usage is beyond doubt. _Noctes_ is put +before _dies_ here, as in _noctes diesque_ (Verr. 5, 112), _noctes et dies_ +(Brut. 308 _etc._), _nodes ac dies_ (Arch. 29); cf. also Verg. Aen. 6, 127; +and [Greek: nuktas te kai emar] in Iliad 5, 490; but the collocations _dies +noctesque_, _dies et noctes_ are far commoner in Cicero. Madvig (Emend. +Liv. p. 487 n., ed 2) says that in writers of Livy's time and earlier, when +an action is mentioned which continues throughout a number of days and +nights, either _dies et noctes_ and the like phrases are used, or _die et +nocte_ and the like, but not _diem noctemque_ or _diem et noctem,_ which +expression, he says, would imply that the action continued only throughout +_one_ day and _one_ night. But Madvig has overlooked De Or. 2, 162 _eandem +incu dem diem noctemque tundentibus;_ also three passages of Caesar: viz +Bell. Gall. 7, 42, 6 and 7, 77, 11; Bell. Civ. 1, 62, 1; to which add a +passage in the Bell. Hisp. 38. Though _diem noctemque_ does often mean +'throughout _one_ day and _one_ night' (as _e.g._ in Nep. Them. 8, 7), yet +it would seem that the other sense cannot be excluded. -- MODERATIONEM ... +AEQUITATEM: 'the self-control and even balance of your mind'. _Moderatio_ +is in Cic. a common translation of [Greek: sophrosyne]. _Aequitas_ is not +used here in its commonest sense of 'reasonableness' or 'equity', but as +the noun corresponding to _aequus_ in the ordinary phrase _aequus animus_ +(Horace, '_aequam memento rebus in arduis servare mentem_'), cf. Tusc. 1, +97 _hanc maximi animi aequitatem in ipsa morte._ said of Theramenes' +undisturbed composure before his execution. -- ANIMI TUI: for the position +of these words between _moderationem_ and _aequitatem_, to both of which +nouns they refer (a form of speech called by the Latin grammarians +_coniunctio_), see note on Laelius 8 _cum summi viri tum amicissimi_. -- +COGNOMEN: _i.e._ the name _Atticus_, which Cicero's friend did not inherit, +but adopted. For the word _cognomen_ cf. n. on 5. -- DEPORTASSE: it should +be noted that the verb _deportare_ is nearly always in the best writers +used of bringing things from the provinces to Italy or Rome, and not _vice +versa_, the Romans using 'down' (_de_) of motion towards the capital. +_Italia deportare_ occurs in Tacitus and late writers, but only in the +sense of banishing a person (cf. Ann 14, 45). So _decedere de provincia_ is +common, but not _Roma decedere_. As to the form _deportasse_, it may be +remarked that Cic. in the vast majority of instances uses the contracted +and not the full forms of the infinitives corresponding to perfects in +-_avi_. So _putassent_ in 4. An extensive collection of examples of this +and similar contractions may be found in Frohwein, Die Perfectbildungen auf +-vi bei Cicero; Gera, 1874. -- HUMANITATEM: 'culture', _i.e._ learning +resulting in gentleness and refinement of character. -- PRUDENTIAM: [Greek: +phronesin] or practical wisdom. Corn. Nepos (or his imitator) in his life +of Atticus 17, 3 says of him _principum philosophorum ita percepta habuit +praecepta ut his ad vitam agendam non ad ostentationem uteretur_. -- ISDEM +REBUS: _i.e._ the state of public affairs at the time, see Introd. -- +QUIBUS ME IPSUM: strictly speaking the construction is inaccurate, since +_suspicor commoveri_ must be supplied, and Cicero does not really mean to +say that he merely _conjectures_ himself to be seriously affected by the +state of public affairs; _ego ipse commoveor_ would have accurately +expressed his meaning. The accusative is due to the attraction of _te_ +above. -- MAIOR: = _difficilior_ as often; _e.g._ Lael. 29 _quod maius +est_. -- VISUM EST MIHI CONSCRIBERE: = _placuit mihi_, 'I have determined +to write'. The best writers rarely use the impersonal _videtur etc._ +followed by an infinitive. When the usage occurs _videtur mihi etc._ +generally have the meaning (as here) of [Greek: dokei moi k.t.l.] = 'I have +made up my mind'. Cf. Tusc. 5, 12 _Non mihi videtur ad beate vivendum satis +posse virtutem_; ib. 5, 22 (a curious passage) _mihi enim non videbatur +quisquam esse beatus posse cum esset in malis; in malis autem sapientem +esse posse_; Off. 3, 71 _malitia quae volt illa quidem videri se esse +prudentiam_ ('craft which desires that people should believe it to be +wisdom'); Liv. 1, 10, 7 _dis visum nec irritam conditoris templi vocem +esse_ ... ('the gods decided that the word of the founder of the shrine +should not remain of no effect'). It would be difficult, if not impossible, +to find a passage in a writer before silver Latin times where the best +texts still exhibit anything like _videtur eum facere_ for _is videtur +facere_. H 534, 1, n. 1; Roby, 1353. -- ALIQUID AD TE: 'some work dedicated +to you'; so below, 3; cf. also Lael. 4 _ut de amicitia scriberem aliquid_; +ib. _Catone maiore qui est scriptus ad te de senectute_; Div. 2, 3 _liber +is quem ad nostrum Atticum de senectute misimus._ + +2. AUT ... AUT CERTE: so often in Cic.; _certe_, 'at any rate'. -- +SENECTUTIS: at the time the words were written Cic. was 62 years old, +Atticus three years older. For the meaning of _senectus_ see n. on 4. -- +LEVARI VOLO: the best Latin writers frequently use the passive infinitive +after verbs expressing desire, where moderns would incline to the active; +here Cic. instead of saying 'I wish to relieve yourself and me of the +burden' says 'I wish yourself and me to be relieved'. -- ETSI: = [Greek: +kaitoi] 'and yet'. This use of _etsi_ to introduce a clause correcting the +preceding clause, though not uncommon (_e.g._ below 29; Tusc. 1, 99; 3, 17; +4, 63; 5, 55), is far less common than that of _quamquam_, which we have in +1, 9, 10, 24, 47, 67, 69. -- TE QUIDEM: 'you at all events', 'you for one'. +-- MODICE AC SAPIENTER: _modice_ recalls _moderationem_ above (_modice_ and +_moderate_ are used with exactly the same sense by Cic.), while _sapienter_ +recalls _aequitatem_, since _sapientia_ produces stability and an even +balance of the mind. In De Or. 1, 132 we have _modice et scienter_. -- +SICUT OMNIA: cf. Fin. 1, 7 _facete is quidem sicut alia_; also below, 65 +_sicut alia_. -- ET FERRE ET LATURUM ESSE: Tischer rightly remarks that +when a verb is repeated thus with a variation of tense Cic. very nearly +always uses _et ... et_, and not a single _et_ merely. The contrast between +the two tenses is thus made more pointed. Cf. 3 _et diximus et dicemus_. -- +CERTO SCIO: one of the best MSS., followed by some editors, has here _certe +scio_. The latter phrase would mean 'I am sure that I know' (a sense which +seems out of place here); the former 'I have certain or sure knowledge'. +Observe that _certe_ may be used with all verbs, while _certo_ is only used +with _scire_. A. 151, c. -- SED: the idea implied is, 'but though I well +know you do not need such consolation, I have yet resolved to address my +book to you'. -- OCCURREBAS DIGNUS: a condensed construction for +_occurrebat te digmim esse_. + +P. 2. -- MUNERE ... UTERETUR: 'a gift such as we both might make use of in +company'. -- MIHI QUIDEM: this forms a correction upon _uterque nostrum_ +above: 'whatever you may think of the work, _I at least_ have found the +writing of it pleasant'. -- CONFECTIO: 'composition'; 'completion'; a word +scarcely found in the classical Latin except in Cicero's writings. Cf. De +Or. 2, 52 _annalium confectio;_ pro. Font. 3 _confectio tabularum_ +('account-books'). -- FUIT UT ABSTERSERIT: the sequence of tenses _fuit ut +abstergeret_ would have been equally admissible, but the meaning would have +been slightly different. With the perfect the sense is 'was so pleasant +that it _has_ wiped away'; with the imperfect 'was so pleasant that it +_did_ (while I was writing) wipe away'. The metaphor in _absterserit_ is +common: _e.g._ Tusc. 3, 43 _luctum omnem absterseris_. With this statement +of Cicero's concerning the effect the work had on himself contrast Att. 14, +21, 3 _legendus mihi saepius est Cato maior ad te missus. Amariorem enim me +senectus facit. Stomachor omnia_. -- OMNIS: acc. pl. A. 55, _c_; G. 60, 1; +H. 67. -- EFFECERIT MOLLEM: so 56 _poteratne tantus animus efficere non +iucundam senectutem_; but 56 _conditiora facit haec aucupium_. _Efficio_ +gives more emphatically than _facio_ the idea of the completion of the +action. Cf. Lael. 73 _efficere aliquem consulem_, 'to carry through a man's +election as consul'; _facere aliquem consulem_ being merely 'to vote for a +man's election to the consulship'. -- SATIS DIGNE: 'as she deserves', lit. +'in a sufficiently worthy manner.' Some editors have thought _digne_ +superfluous and wished to cast it out but we have _satis digne_ elsewhere, +as in Verr. Act. II. 1, 82; cf. also Sex. Rosc. 33 _pro dignitate laudare +satis commode_. -- QUI PAREAT ... DEGERE: a conditional sentence of +irregular form (_qui_ = _siquis_; _cui_ simply connective, = _et ei_). Cf. +Div. 1, 127 _qui enim teneat causas rerum futurarum, idem necesse est omnia +teneat quae futura sint_; also the examples in Roby's Grammar, 1558. A. +310, _a_, 307, _b_; G. 594, 1, 598; H. 507, II. and III. 2. Some, however, +make _possit_ a subjunctive of characteristic or of cause with _cui_, and +_pareat_ a subjunctive by attraction. -- OMNE TEMPUS AETATIS: 'every season +of life'; so in 55 _extremum tempus aetatis_; 70 _breve tempus aetatis._ +The opposite phrase _aetas temporis_ is very rare; it occurs in Propertius +1, 4, 7. + +3. CETERIS: neuter adjective used as a noun, equivalent to _ceteris rebus_ +'the other matters'; _i.e._ the political troubles hinted at above. The +best writers do not often use the neuter adjective as noun in the _oblique_ +cases unless there is something in the context to show the gender clearly, +as in 24 _aliis ... eis quae_; we have, however, below in 8, _isto_ = _ista +re_; 72, _reliquum_; 77, _caelestium_ = _rerum caelestium_; and in 78, +_praeteritorum futurorumque_; see other instances in n. on Lael. 50 +_similium_. The proleptic or anticipatory use of _ceteris_ should also be +noticed; its sense is not fully seen till we come to _hunc librum_; the +same use occurs below in 4, 5, 59, 60; so _aliis_ in 24; cf. also n. on +Lael. 7 _reliqua_. -- DIXIMUS ... DICEMUS: when a clause or phrase consists +of four parts, which go in pairs (as here _diximus_, _dicemus_ on one side, +and _multa_, _saepe_ on the other), the Latins frequently arrange the words +so as to put one pair between the two members of the other pair, as here. +This usage is called by grammarians _chiasmus_. Thus if we denote the four +parts by _AA' BB', chiasmus_ requires the order _ABB'A'_ or _BAA'B'_. See +examples in 8, 20, 22, 38, 44, 71. For the more complicated forms of +chiasmus consult Naegelsbach, Stil. Sec.Sec. 167, 169. A. 344, _f_; G. 684; H. +562. -- LIBRUM ... MISIMUS: observe the omission of a particle at the +beginning of the clause; the contrast between _ceteris_ and _hunc librum_ +is made stronger by the omission. For this _asyndeton adversativum_ see n. +on Lael. 5 _Laelium ... putes_. For tense of _misimus_, 'I send' see A. +282; G. 244, H. 472, 1. -- OMNEM: see n. on 62. -- TRIBUIMUS: perfect tense +like _misimus_. -- TITHONO ... ARISTO: see Introd. -- CIUS: Greek [Greek: +Keios] (a native of Ceos), not to be confused with [Greek: Chios] (a native +of Chios), or [Greek: Koos] (a native of Cos). Cicero generally denotes the +Greek diphthong [Greek: ei] by _i_ not e. This Aristo was a Peripatetic. -- +PARUM ... AUCTORITATIS: observe how often Cicero takes trouble to separate +words which are, grammatically, closely connected. So above, _omnis ... +molestias_; 7 _multorum ... senectutem_; 9 _mirificos ... fructus_; 21 +_civium ... nomina_; 33 _minus ... virium_; 53 _multo ... fecundior_; etc. +etc. See also n. on 15 _quam sit iusta_. A. 344, _c_, _d_, _e_; H. 561, +III. -- ESSET: condition omitted. A. 311; G. 602; H. 510. -- MAIOREM +AUCTORITATEM: cf. Lael. 4. -- APUD QUEM: 'at whose house'; so 55 _a me_, +'from my house'. A. 153; G. 417; H. 446, n. 4. -- LAELIUM ... SCIPIONEM: +see Introd. -- FACIMUS ADMIRANTIS: 'we represent as expressing +astonishment'. For _facere_, in this sense, Cic. more often uses _inducere_ +'to bring on the stage', as in Lael. 4 _Catonem induxi senem disputantem_. +Cf. however 54 _Homerus Laerten colentem agrum facit_; also Brut. 218; +Orat. 85. Instead of _facimus_ we might have expected either _fecimus_ to +correspond with _misimus_ and _tribuimus_ above, or _faciemus_ to +correspond with _videbitur_ below. On the use of the participle see A. 292, +_q_; G. 536; H 535, I. 4. -- ERUDITIUS DISPUTARE: Cic. not infrequently in +his dialogues makes people talk with more learning than they really +possessed. He several times confesses this as regards Lucullus and Catulus +in the Academica, and as regards Antonius in the De Oratore. -- FERAT: +subjunctive because embodying the sentiment of Laelius and Scipio. Roby, +1744; Madvig, 357; H. 516, II. -- SUIS LIBRIS etc.: for the allusions here +to Cato's life, works, and opinions see Introd. -- QUID OPUS EST PLURA? +_sc. dicere_. cf. the elliptic phrases _quid multa? sc. dicam_ in 78; also +below, 10 _praeclare_. A 206, _c_; H. 368, 3, n. 2. + +4. SAEPE NUMERO SOLEO: 'it is my frequent custom'. _Numero_ is literally +'by the count or reckoning', and in _saepe numero_ had originally the same +force as in _quadraginta numero_ and the like; but the phrase came to be +used merely as a slight strengthening of _saepe_. -- CUM HOC ... CUM +CETERARUM: the use of _cum_ in different senses in the same clause, which +seems awkward, is not uncommon; cf. below, 67. The spelling _quum_ was +certainly not used by Cicero, and probably by no other Latin writer of the +best period. H. 311, foot-note 4. It is worth remarking that _cum_ the +conjunction and _cum_ the preposition, though spelt alike, are by origin +quite distinct. The former is derived from the pronominal stem _ka_ or +_kva_, and is cognate with _qui_; the latter comes from the root _sak_ 'to +follow', and is cognate with Gk. [Greek: syn], Lat _sequor_, etc. See +Vanicek, Etymologisches Worterbuch, pp. 96, 984. -- RERUM ... SAPIENTIAM: +'wisdom _in_ affairs'; the objective genitive -- EXCELLENTEM: in sense much +stronger than our 'excellent'; _excellentem perfectamque_ 'pre-eminent and +indeed faultless'. -- QUOD ... SENSERIM: this clause takes the place of an +object to _admirari_. The subjunctive is used because the speaker reports +his own reason for the wonder, formerly felt, as if according to the views +of another person, and without affirming his holding the same view at the +time of speaking. Madvig, 357, _a_, Obs. 1. A 341, _d_, Rem. -- ODIOSA: +this word is not so strong as our 'hateful', but rather means 'wearisome', +'annoying'. In Plautus the frequent expression _odiosus es_ means, in +colloquial English, 'you bore me'. Cf. 47 _odiosum et molestum_; 65 _odiosa +offensio_. -- ONUS AETNA GRAVIUS: a proverbial expression with an allusion +to Enceladus, who, after the defeat of the Giants by Juppiter, was said to +have been imprisoned under Mt. Aetna. Cf. Eurip. Hercules Furens, 637; also +Longfellow's poem, Enceladus. -- HAUD SANE DIFFICILEM: 'surely far from +difficult'; cf. 83 _haud sane facile_. -- QUIBUS: a _dativus commodi_, +'those for whom there is no aid in themselves'. Cf. Lael. 79 _quibus in +ipsis_. -- BENE BEATEQUE VIVENDUM: 'a virtuous and happy life'; 'virtue and +happiness'; so _bene honesteque_ below, 70. -- QUI ... PETUNT: these are +the [Greek: autarkeis], men sufficient for themselves, '_in se toti teretes +atque rotundi_'. We have here a reminiscence of the Stoic doctrine about +the wise man, whose happiness is quite independent of everything outside +himself, and is caused solely by his own virtue. Cicero represents the same +Stoic theory in Lael. 7. Cf. Juv. Sat. 10, 357-362; also Seneca, De Cons. +Sap. VIII, De Prov. I. 5. -- A SE IPSI: 'themselves from themselves,' so in +78 _se ipse moveat ... se ipse relucturus sit_; 84 _me ipse consolabar_. +Expressions like _a se ipsis_ are quite uncommon in Cicero. Cf. n. on Lael. +5 _te ipse cognosces_; also see below, 38 _se ipsa_ 78 _se ipse_. -- +NATURAE NECESSITAS: 'the inevitable conditions of nature.' Cf. 71 _quid est +tam secundum naturam quam senibus emori?_ -- AFFERAT: subjunctive because +_nihil quod_ = _nihil tale ut_. A 320, _a_; G. 633, 634; H. 503, I. -- QUO +IN GENERE: _sc. rerum_; with this phrase the defining genitive is commonly +omitted by Cicero. So below, 45 _in eo genere_. -- UT ... ADEPTAM: notice +the chiasmus. -- EANDEM: _idem_ is used in the same way, to mark an +emphatic contrast in 24, 52, 68, 71. -- ADEPTAM: this is probably the only +example in Cicero of the passive use of _adeptus_, which occurs in Sallust, +Ovid, Tacitus, etc.; and in this passage the use cannot be looked on as +certain, since one of the very best and several of the inferior MSS. read +_adepti_. Cicero, however, uses a good many deponent participles in a +passive sense (cf. below, 59 _dimensa_; 74 _meditatum_; see also a list, +Roby, 734), and some of them occur very rarely. Thus _periclitatus, +arbitratus, depastus_ as passives are found each in only one passage. -- +INCONSTANTIA: 'instability', 'inconsistency'. _Constantia_, unwavering +firmness and consistency, is the characteristic of the wise man; cf. Acad. +2, 23 _sapientia ... quae ex sese habeat constantiam_; also Lael. 8 and 64. + +P. 3. -- AIUNT: _sc. stulti_. -- PUTASSENT: the subjunctive is due to the +indirect discourse. Where we say 'I should not have thought,' the Latins +say, in direct narration, '_non putaram_,' _i.e._ 'I never had thought' (so +Off. 1, 81 and often in Cicero's letters). Translate, 'more quickly than +they had ever expected'. Cf. Att. 6, 1, 6 _accipiam equidem dolorem mihi +ilium irasci sed multo maiorem non esse eum talem qualem putassem_. See +Zumpt, Gram., 518. -- FALSUM PUTARE: 'to form a mistaken judgment'. For +_falsum_ as noun equivalent to [Greek: pseudos], cf. 6 _gratissimum_; also +n. on 3 _ceteris_. -- QUI CITIUS: lit. 'in what way quicker'; cf. Tusc. 5, +89 _qui melius_. H. 188, II. 2. -- ADULESCENTIA ... SENECTUS ... PUERITIA: +babyhood was generally at Rome supposed to last till the 17th year (the +time for assuming the _toga virilis_ and for beginning military service). +_Iuventus_ is usually the age from 17 to 45, during which men were liable +to be called on for active service. Ordinarily, in colloquial language, +_adulescentia_ is the earlier portion of _iuventus_, say the years from 17 +to 30 (cf. 33), but Cicero seems here to make _adulescentia_ co-extensive +with _iuventus_. From 45 to 60 is the _aetas seniorum_, the period during +which citizens in early Rome might be called out for the defence of the +city, but not for active service. _Senectus_ was commonly reckoned as +beginning at 60; but in Sec. 60 Cicero includes in _senectus_ the _aetas +seniorum_, and probably intended to include it here. In Tusc. 1, 34 Cic. +reckons three ages _pueritia adulescentia senectus_ as here; below in 74, +four periods, or five. -- QUAMVIS: = _quantumvis_. -- EFFLUXISSET: +subjunctive because the mood of _posset_, to which it stands in subordinate +relation _Cum_ here is purely temporal. See Roby, 1778; A. 342; G. 666; H. +529, II. -- POSSET: see n. on _esset_ above, 3. + +5. SI ... SOLETIS ... SUMUS: the apodosis and protasis do not exactly +correspond; the sense really required is 'if that wisdom for which you +admire me does exist, it lies in this', etc. -- UTINAM ... ESSET: _esset_ +here gives a greater appearance of modesty than would been expressed by +_sit_: 'would it were, as it certainly is not'. A. 267; G. 253; H. 483, 2. +-- COGNOMINE: Cato bore the title _sapiens_, even in his lifetime; see +Introd. _Cognomen_ is used in good Latin to denote both the family name and +the acquired by-name; in late Latin this latter is denoted by _agnomen_. -- +IN HOC SAPIENTES: but above, 4 _rerum sapientiam_, not _in rebus_. The +genitive construction is not found with _sapiens_ used as noun or adjective +till late Latin times. -- NATURAM DUCEM etc.: Cato's claim to the title of +_sapiens_ does not rest on any deep knowledge of philosophy, but on +practical wisdom or common sense and experience in affairs. Cf. Lael. 6 and +19. In this passage Cicero has put into Cato's mouth phrases borrowed from +the Stoic philosophy, which declared the life of virtue to be life in +accordance with nature (_naturae convenienter vivere_ or [Greek: +homologoumenos te physei zen]). Cf. 71, n. on _secundum naturam_. -- +TAMQUAM DEUM: observe _deum_ not _deam_, because nature is compared with, +and not identified with, a divine being. Cf. Fin. 5, 43 _eam (rationem) +quasi deum ducem subsequens_. -- AETATIS: here = _vitae_, life as a whole. +Cf. 2 _omne tempus aetatis_ and n.; also 13 _aetatis ... senectus_; 33, 64, +82. -- DESCRIPTAE: 'composed'; literally 'written out'. The reading +_discriptae_, which many editions give, does not so well suit the passage. +_Discribere_ is to map out, plan, arrange, put in order (see 59 _discripta_ +and _discriptio_); the point here lies, however, not in the due arrangement +of the different scenes of a play, but in the careful working out of each +scene. _Ab ea_ must be supplied after _descriptae_ from _a qua_ above. -- +ACTUM: the common comparison of life with a drama is also found in 64, 70, +85. -- INERTI: the sense of 'ignorant' 'inartistic' (_in, ars_), has been +given to this by some editors (cf. Hor. Ep. 2, 2, 126 _praetulerim scriptor +delirus inersque videri_, and Cic. Fin. 2, 115 _artes, quibus qui carebant, +inertes a maioribus nominabantur_), but the meaning 'inactive', 'lazy', +'slovenly' seems to suit _neglectum_ better. -- POETA: nature is here the +dramatist, the drama is life, the actors are human beings. -- SED TAMEN +etc.: 'but for all that it was inevitable that there should be something +with the nature of an end'. So 69 _in quo est aliquid extremum_, 43 +_aliquid pulchrum_. -- ARBORUM BACIS: the word _baca_ (the spelling _bacca_ +has little or no authority) is applied to all fruits growing on bushes or +trees, cf. Tusc. 1, 31 _arbores seret diligens agricola, quarum aspiciet +bacam ipse numquam_ -- TERRAEQUE FRUCTIBUS: here = cereals, roots, +vegetables and small fruits. No sharp distinction can be drawn between +_fruges_ and _fructus_ (_e.g._ in Div. 1, 116 we have _fruges terrae +bacasve arborum_) though _fructus_ as commonly used is the more general +word of the two. -- MATURITATE CADUCUM: 'a time of senility, so to speak +and readiness to drop, that comes of a seasonable ripeness'. _Vietus_ is +literally 'twisted' or bent', being originally the passive participle of +_viere_. The comparison of old age with the ripeness of fruit recurs in 71. +Cf. Plin. Ep. 5, 14, 5 _non tam aetatis maturitate quam vitae_. -- +FERUNDUM: the form in _undus_ is archaic, and generally used by Cic. in +quoting or imitating passages of laws, sacred formulae, and the like. H. +239. -- MOLLITER: here 'gently', 'with resignation', though _molliter +ferre_ often has another meaning, viz. to bear pain or trouble in an +_unmanly_ fashion. Cf. _facillime ferre_ below. -- QUID EST ALIUD etc. The +words perhaps imply the rationalistic explanation of myths which the Greeks +had begun to teach to the Romans during Cato's lifetime. Trans 'what else +but resistance to nature is equivalent to warring against the gods, and +_not_ 'what else does warring with the gods mean but to resist nature.' In +comparisons of this sort the Latins generally put the things compared in a +different order from that required by English idiom. Thus in Div. 2, 78 +_quid est aliud nolle moneri a Iove nisi efficere ut aut ne fieri possit +auspicium aut, si fiat, videri_, S. Rosc. 54 _quid est aliud iudicio ac +legibus ac maiestate vestra abuti ad quaestum ac libidinem nisi hoc modo +accusare_. Phil. 1, 22, 2, 7, 5, 5, 10, 5. -- GIGANTUM MODO: see n. on 4 +_Aetna gravius_ -- DIS: for the form _dis_ see n. on 25. + +6. ATQUI: in the best Latin _atqui_ does not introduce a statement +_contradicting_ the preceding statement, but one that _supplements_ it. +Here it may be translated 'True, but'. Cf. 66, 81. -- GRATISSIMUM: +equivalent to _rem gratissimam_. With the thought cf. Rep. 1, 34 _gratum +feceris si explicaris_. Lael. 16 _pergratum feceris si disputaris_ -- UT +POLLICEAR: so Acad. 1, 33 _nos vero volumus ut pro Attico respondeam_. +Brut. 122 _nobis vero placet, ut pro Bruto etiam respondeam_; Lael. 32 _tu +vero perge, pro hoc enim respondeo_ A 317, _c_, H 499, 2, n. -- SENES +FIERI: if the infinitive had depended on _speramus_ alone and _volumus_ had +not intervened, Cicero would probably have written _nos futuros esse +senes_. -- MULTO ANTE: _sc. quam id factum erit_ so Balb. 41 _re denique +multo ante (sc. quam factum est) audita_, and very often in Cicero. -- +DIDICERIMUS: as this corresponds with _feceris,_it would have been formally +correct to write here _nos docueris_ -- QUIBUS POSSIMUS: 'what +considerations will enable us most easily to support the growing burden of +age'. -- FUTURUM EST: = [Greek: mellei einai] this form of the future is +used in preference to the simple _erit_ because it is desired to represent +the event as _on the very point of fulfilment_, and therefore sure of +fulfilment. _Erit_ would have implied much less certainty. Trans. 'I will +do so if my action _is going to give_ you pleasure' Cf. 67 _beatus futurus +sum_, also 81, 85. See Roby, 1494. -- NISI MOLESTUM EST:3 a common +expression of courtesy, like 15 _nisi alienum putas, si placet_, cf. Hor. +Sat. 2, 8, 4 _si grave non est_. -- TAMQUAM LONGAM VIAM: Cicero here puts +into Laelius' mouth almost the very words addressed by Socrates to the aged +Cephalus in the introduction to Plato's Republic, 328 E. Observe the +succession of similar sounds in t_am_qu_am_, aliqu_am_, long_am_, vi_am_. +-- VIAM CONFECERIS: so pro Quint. 79 _conficere DCC milia passuum, +conficere iter_ a common phrase. For mood see A 312, G 604, H 513, II. -- +QUAM ... INGREDIUNDUM SIT: this construction, the neuter of the gerundive +with _est_ followed by an accusative case, is exceedingly rare excepting in +two writers, Lucretius and Varro. See the full list of examples given by +Roby, Gram., Pref. to vol. 2, p. LXXII. A 294, _c_, H 371, I. 2, 2, n. The +best texts of Cicero now give only one example of a construction at all +resembling this, viz. pro Scauro 13 _obliviscendum vobis putatis matrum in +liberos, virorum in uxores scelera?_ The supposition of some scholars, that +in this passage Cic. used the construction in imitation of the archaic +style of Cato, is not likely to be true, seeing that in Cato's extant works +the construction does not once occur. For the form _undum_ see n. on 5 +_ferundum_. -- ISTUC not adverb, but neuter pronoun, as in 8. The kind of +construction, _istuc videre quale sit_ for _videre quale istuc sit_, is +especially common in Cicero. + +7. FACIAM UT POTERO: 'I will do it as well as I can.' Observe the future +_potero_ where English idiom would require a present. So Rep. 1, 38 _hic +Scipio, faciam quod voltis, ut potero_. -- SAEPE ENIM: _enim_ introduces a +reason, not for the words _ut potero_, but for _faciam_ -- 'I will grant +your request because I have often heard complaints about old age and +therefore have thought of the matter'. -- PARES AUTEM etc.: parenthetical. +-- VETERE PROVERBIO: the saying is as old as Homer, Od. 17, 218 as [Greek: +hos aiei ton homoion agei theos hos ton homoion]; cf. also Plat., Rep. 329 +A, Symp. 195 B, Phaedr. 240 C. + +P. 4. -- FACILLIME: 'most cheerfully', 'most eagerly'; a common meaning of +the word in Cic., _e.g._ Fam. 2, 16, 2 _in maritimis facillime sum_, _i.e._ +'I find most pleasure in staying by the sea'. -- QUAE: a kind of +explanation of _querellis_: -- 'lamentations, viz. such utterances as' +etc.; see n. on Lael. 14 _quae_; cf. Fam. 2, 8, 2 _sermonibus de re publica +... quae nec possunt scribi nec scribenda sunt_. A. 199, _b_; G. 616, 3, +I.; H. 445, 5. -- C. SALINATOR: probably C. Livius Salinator, praetor in +191 B.C. (Livy 35, 24), who was entrusted with the equipment of the Roman +fleets during the war against Antiochus. He was born about 230, and was +therefore a little younger than Cato; cf. _fere aequales_ below. Salinator +was consul in 188, and died in 170. For the name Salinator cf. n. on 11. -- +SP. ALBINUS: Sp. Postumius Albinus was consul in 186, and was with his +colleague appointed to investigate the great Bacchanalian conspiracy of +that year (Livy 39, CC. 1 seq.). Albinus died in 180. He was probably a +little younger than Salinator. He can scarcely have been fifty years of age +at his death. -- TUM ... TUM: 'now ... again'; so in 45. -- CARERENT: see +n. on 3 _ferat_. -- VITAM NULLAM PUTARENT: 'they considered life to be not +life at all'. For _vitam nullam_ cf. Lael. 86 _sine amicitia vitam esse +nullam_; also the Greek phrase [Greek: bios abiotos]; and below, 77 _vitam +quae est sola vita nominanda_; also 82. A. 239; H. 373, 1, n. 2. _Putarent_ += 'thought, as they said'. -- ID QUOD ESSET ACCUSANDUM: the subjunctive +_esset_ is used because a _class_ of things is referred to, 'nothing of a +nature to deserve complaint'; _id quod erat_, etc. would have meant merely +'that one thing which was matter for complaint'. A. 320; G. 634, Rem. 1; H. +503, I. -- USU VENIRENT: the phrase _usu venire_ differs very little in +meaning from _accidere_. _Usu_ is commonly explained as an ablative ('in +practice', 'in experience'), but is quite as likely to be a dative of the +sort generally called predicative ('to come as matter of experience'); cf. +Verg. Aen. 1, 22 _venire excidio_; Plin. N.H. 28, 106 _odio_; Caes. B.G. 5, +27 _subsidio_. -- QUORUM ... MULTORUM: the first genitive is dependent on +the second, so that _quorum = e quibus_. Notice the separation of _quorum_ +from _multorum_ and of _multorum_ from _senectutem_. -- SINE QUERELLA: +attribute of _senectutem_. A. 217, Rem.; H. 359, n. 1, 4), and n. 3. This +form of attributive phrase, consisting of a preposition with a noun, is +common; cf. 24 _ex agro Sabino rusticos Romanos_; 40 _cum hostibus +clandestina colloquia_. _Querella_ is better spelling than _querela_. See +Roby, 177, 2. -- QUI: 'men of such nature as to ...'. -- ET ... NEC: Roby +2241. The reason for the departure from the ordinary sequence of particles +lies in the words _non moleste_. _Nec ...et _ is common; see 51, 53. -- +LIBIDINUM VINCULIS etc.: Cic. is here thinking of the conversation between +Socrates and Cephalus in Plato, Rep. 329 D, for which see Introd. -- +MODERATI: 'self-controlled'; cf. n. on 1 _moderationem_; _difficiles_, +'peevish'; _inhumani_, 'unkindly'; _importunitas_, 'perversity'. +_Importunitas_ seems to be used as the substantive corresponding in sense +with the adjective _difficilis_. _Difficultas_, in the sense of +'peevishness', probably occurs only in Mur. 19. + +8. DIXERIT QUISPIAM: 'some one will say presently'; a gentle way of +introducing one's own objection. The mood of _dixerit_ is probably +indicative, not subjunctive; see the thorough discussion in Roby, Gram., +Vol. 2, Pref., p. CIV. _et seq_. -- OPES ET COPIAS: 'resources and means'. +_Opes_ has a wider meaning than _copias_ (mere material wealth) and +includes all sources of power, influence, and authority as well as wealth. +Thus in Lael. 22 the end of _divitiae_ is said to be enjoyment; of _opes_, +worship (_opes ut colare_). _Dignitas_ is social position. -- ID: remark +the singular pronoun, which indicates that the preceding clause is now +taken as conveying one idea. Trans. 'such fortune'. -- CONTINGERE: 'to fall +to one's lot' is the phrase in English which most closely represents +_contingere_. This verb is not, as is often assumed, used merely of _good_ +fortune; it implies in itself nothing concerning the _character_ of events, +whether they be good or bad, but simply that the events take place +_naturally_ and were to be expected. See n. on Lael. 8, where the word is +distinctly used in connection with _bad_ fortune, as it is, strikingly, in +71 below. -- EST ... OMNIA: 'your statement indeed amounts to something, +but it by no means comprises every consideration'. The phrase _esse +aliquid_, 'to be of some importance', is often used by Cic. both of things +and of persons; cf. Tusc. 5, 104 _eos aliquid esse_, also n. on 17 _nihil +afferunt_. So _esse aliquis_ of persons, as in the well-known passage of +Iuvenal, 1, 72 _aude aliquid brevibus Gyaris et carcere dignum si vis esse +aliquis_. For the general sense cf. Tusc. 3, 52 _est id quidem magnum, sed +non sunt in hoc omnia_; so De Or. 2, 215; ib. 3, 221; Leg. 2, 24 _in quo +sunt omnia_. -- ISTO: the use of the neuter pronoun in the oblique case as +substantive is noticeable. -- THEMISTOCLES ETC.: Cicero borrows the story +from Plato (Rep. 329 E _et seq_.), but it was first told by Herodotus, 8, +125 who gave a somewhat different version. Themistocles had received great +honors at Sparta when Athenian ambassador there; an envious man declaring +that the honors were paid really to Athens and not to Themistocles, the +statesman answered [Greek: out an ego, eon Belbinites] (_i.e._ an +inhabitant of the small island of Belbina lying to the S. of Cape Sunium) +[Greek: etimethen outo pros Spartiereon, out an su, anthrope, eon +Athenaios]. -- SERIPHIO: Seriphus is a small island belonging to the Cyclad +group and lying almost due N. of Melos, and due E. of the Scyllaean +promontory. Seriphus is often taken by ancient writers as a specimen of an +insignificant community (_e.g._ Aristoph. Acharn. 542; Cic. N.D. 1, 88), +but it had the honor of being one of the three island states which refused +to give earth and water to the Persian envoys, the other two being the +adjacent islands of Melos and Siphnus (Herodotus, 8, 46). -- IURGIO: +_iurgium_ is a quarrel which does not go beyond words; _rixa_ a quarrel +where the disputants come to blows. -- SI EGO: but further on, _tu si_. The +contrast would certainly be more perfect if _ego si_ were read, as has been +proposed, in place of _si ego_. -- QUOD EODEM MODO ... DICI: Cic. commonly +says _quod ita dicendum_ and the like; see n. on 35 _quod ni ita fuisset_. +Cato means that just as Themistocles' success was due to two things, his +own character and his good fortune, so two things are necessary to make old +age endurable, viz. moderate fortune and wisdom. He then in 9 insists that +of these two conditions wisdom is far the more important. -- NEC ... LEVIS +... NEC ... NON GRAVIS: notice the chiasmus. + +9. OMNINO: here = [Greek: pantapasi] 'undoubtedly', in a strongly +affirmative sense, as in 76; but in 28 (where see n.) it is concessive. -- +CUM DIU MULTUMQUE VIXERIS: literally 'when you have lived long and much', +_i.e._ when you have not only had a long life but have done a great deal in +the course of it. The phrases _diu multumque, multum et diu_ are common in +Cic., as below, 38; Acad. 1, 4; Div. 2, 1; Off 1, 118; Leg. Agr. 2, 88; De +Or. 1, 152. For mood see A. 309, a; H. 518, 2. -- ECFERUNT: _ecferunt_ for +_efferunt_ (_ec_ = _ex_ = _ecs_; so [Greek: ek] = [Greek: ex] = [Greek: +eks]) was old-fashioned in Cicero's time, but forms of the sort, as below, +39 _ecfrenate_, according to the evidence of the best MSS., occur in a good +many passages. See Neue, Formenlehre, Vol. 2, pp. 766 seq., ed. 2. -- +NUMQUAM DESERUNT: the omission of the object after _deserunt_ is not +common. With the general sense of this passage cf. Arch. 16 _litterarum +studia adulescentiam alunt, senectutem oblectant, secundas res ornant, +adversis perfugium ac solarium praebent, delectant domi, non impediunt +foris, pernoctant nobiscum, peregrinantur, rusticantur._ + +P. 5. -- 10. Q. MAXIMUM: the famous Q. Fabius Maximus Verrucosus Ovicula +Cunctator, hero of the Second Punic War. -- EUM ... RECEPIT: this clause +has often been suspected to be an insertion of the writers of MSS. But (1) +the capture of Tarentum in 209 B.C. was Fabius' crowning achievement, and +'captor of Tarentum' was often added to his name as a title of honor; see +De Orat. 2, 273; and (2) there were several other persons of distinction +bearing the name Q. Maximus about the same time, so that some special mark +was wanted for the sake of clearness. Notice _recepit_ 'recovered', +Tarentum having been lost by the Romans to Hannibal in 212 B.C. -- SENEM +ADULESCENS: observe the emphasis given by placing close together the two +words of opposite meaning. -- ERAT ... GRAVITAS: 'that hero possessed +dignity tempered by courtesy'. Expressions like _erat in illo gravitas_ are +common in Cicero; _e.g._ Mur. 58 _erat in Cotta summa eloquentia._ The +metaphor in _condita_, 'seasoned', is also common; cf. Lael. 66 +_condimentum amicitiae_. -- QUAMQUAM: 'though indeed', introducing a +necessary correction of the last words _nec senectus mores mutaverat._ For +this corrective _quamquam_ cf. n. on 2. -- CONSUL PRIMUM: B.C. 233. -- +GRANDEM NATU: although the phrases _maior, maximus, parvus, minor, minimus +natu_ are of frequent occurrence, yet _magnus natu_ is not Latin, _grandis +natu_ being always used instead. The historians sometimes use _magno natu +esse_ or _in magno natu esse_. -- ANNO POST: the word _unus_ is not usually +attached to _annus_ except where there is a strong contrast between one and +a larger number of years. _Anno post_ must not be translated 'during the +year after'; but either 'a year after', _anno_ being regarded as the +ablative of measure or excess, literally 'later by a year', or 'at the end +of a year', the ablative being one of limitation, and _fuerat_ being +equivalent to _factus erat_ 'had been elected'. So _quinto anno_ below, 'at +the end of the fifth year', _i.e._ 'five years after'. -- ADULESCENTULUS +MILES: See n. on 21 _quemquam senem._ Translate 'when quite a youth I +marched with him to Capua as a private soldier'. G. 324; H. 363, 3, 2). +_Miles_ here = _gregarius miles_. -- QUEM MAGISTRATUM: _sc. quaesturam_, to +be understood from _quaestor_ Cf. Mur. 18 _quaesturam una petiit et sum ego +factus (sc. quaestor) prior_. -- TUDITANO ET CETHEGO: when the _praenomina_ +of the consuls are given the names generally stand side by side without +_et_; when they are omitted _et_ is generally inserted. Cf. n. on 50 +_Centone Tuditanoque_, etc. -- CUM QUIDEM: the _quidem_ simply adds a +slight emphasis to _cum_; 'at the very time when', [Greek: epeide ge]. -- +SUASOR: _suasor legis_ was any person who publicly (_i.e._ before the +senate or people in _contio_ assembled) spoke in favor of a measure, +_dissuasor_ any one who spoke against it. Cf. 14 _suasissem_. -- LEGIS +CINCIAE: a law passed in 204 B.C. by M. Cincius Alimentus, a plebeian +tribune, whereby advocates were forbidden to take fees from their clients, +and certain limitations were placed on gifts of property by private +persons. -- CUM ... ESSET: '_though_ he was'; so below 11, 30, etc. -- +GRANDIS: = _grandis natu_. -- IUVENILITER: Hannibal was 29 years of age +when he entered Italy in 218. -- EXSULTANTEM: 'wildly roaming'. The word in +its literal sense is used of a horse galloping at its own will over a +plain. The metaphorical use is common in Cicero; cf. Acad. 2, 112 _cum sit +campus in quo exsultare possit oratio, cur eam tantas in angustias +compellimus?_ -- PATIENTIA: 'endurance', 'persistence'; it is not +equivalent to our 'patience'. -- PRAECLARE: _sc. dicit_; cf. n. on 3. -- +FAMILIARIS: see Introd. -- UNUS HOMO etc.: these lines were famous, and +were not only often quoted with the name of Ennius attached (as in Off. 1, +84; Livy 30, 26), but also imitated or adapted without mention of his name, +as, being too familiar to need it; cf. Att. 2, 19, 2; Ovid, Fast. 2, 241; +Verg. Aen. 6, 846; Suet. Tib. 21. -- CUNCTANDO: Cf. Polybius 3, 105, 8. On +Fabius' military policy consult Mommsen, Hist. of Rome, Bk. III. ch. 5. -- +REM: here = _rem publicam_. -- NOENUM: the older form from which _non_ is +an abbreviation; = _ne-oinom_, _n-oinom_, literally 'not one thing'; cf. +_nihil_ = _ne-hilum_ 'not a whit', also the rare word _ningulus_ = _ne +oinculus_, 'not even a little one'. -- RUMORES: 'fame', 'public opinion'. +-- PONEB[=A]T: for the long vowel cf. n. on 1, l. 2 _versat_. -- PLUSQUE: +MSS. _postque_; _plusque_is the emendation of Bernays. _Plusque magisque_ +is a variation upon the ordinary phrases _plus plusque_, _magis magisque_. + +11. SALINATORI: there can be no doubt that Cicero is guilty of a blunder +here, and in De Or. 2, 273 where the story also occurs. Livy (27, 34, 7) +gives M. Livius Macatus as the name of the Roman commander who held the +citadel of Tarentum while Hannibal was in possession of the town. Cicero +probably found the commander described by the annalists merely as M. Livius +(so in Livy 24, 20, 13; 26, 39, 1), and then jumped to tne conclusion that +he was the famous M. Livius Salinator. This man, the father of the +Salinator mentioned in 7, was consul in 219 and subdued the Illyrians, but +was condemned for misappropriation of public moneys and went into exile. In +210 he was induced to return by the desire of the senate. In 207 he became +consul with C. Claudius Nero, and defeated Hasdrubal in the great battle of +the Metaurus. In 204 Livius was censor with Nero as his colleague, and won +his name _Salinator_ by imposing a tax on salt. The title was bestowed in +ridicule, but clung to the family. Salinator was a relative of M. Livius +Macatus. See Liv 27, 34, 7. -- ITA DICENTI etc.: the anecdote is told by +Livy, 27, 25, 5 and Plutarch, Fab. 23. Both, however, refer the story not +to the time at which Tarentum was taken, but to the year after, when +altercations about it took place in the senate. -- TOGA: here put for +'civil life', the _toga_ being replaced in time of war by the _sagum_. Cf. +in Pisonem 73 _pacis est insigne et oti toga, contra autem arma tumultus +atque belli;_ De Or. 3, 167 _'togam', pro 'pace', 'arma', ac 'tela', pro +'bello'._ We have the same contrast between _arma_ and _toga_ in Cicero's +own much-derided verse, _cedant arma togae, concedat laurea laudi_, which +is defended by him, in Pis. 73 and Off. 1, 77. -- CONSUL ITERUM etc.: as +the second consulship of Fabius was in 228 B.C., while the law of Flaminius +was passed in 232 (according to Polybius), it is very difficult to +understand the statement here made. It is possible that Flaminius was one +of the commissioners for executing his own law, and that its execution +lasted over the time of Fabius' second consulship. The Flaminius here +mentioned is the same who fell as consul in 217 at the battle of lake +Trasimenus. He held large and statesman-like views on the policy of +securing Italy by planting Romans and Latins in the territory then recently +taken from the Gauls, in the neighborhood of Ariminum. This particular +measure was carried against the will of the senate, and was the first law +passed, since the _lex Hortensia_ of 287, in defiance of its wishes. It was +also the first agrarian law since the Licinio-Sextian law of 367. Polybius +dates the decline of the Roman constitution from the passing of the _lex +Flaminia_. Cf.'Rheinisches Museum', 1843, p. 573. -- SP. CARVILIO +QUIESCENTE: this Sp. Carvilius was consul in 234 when he conquered the +Corsicans and Sardinians. In 228 he was again consul, and died as augur in +212. He is said, but erroneously, to have been the first Roman who divorced +his wife. In 216, just after the battle of Cannae, he made a most +remarkable proposal, to fill up the gaps which that battle had made in the +numbers of the senate by selecting two members from each of the Latin +communities. It was almost the only occasion in the course of Roman history +when anything like modern representative government was advocated. +Carvilius was not sprung from one of the noble families, who for the most +part monopolized the higher offices of state, it is therefore not +surprising that he should have sympathized with Flaminius. -- CONTRA +SENATUS AUCTORITATEM: 'against the expressed wish of the senate' _Senatus +auctoritas_ is, strictly speaking, an opinion of the senate not formally +embodied in a decree, _senatus consultum_. Cicero, in Invent. 2, 52 says +Flaminius carried his law _contra voluntatem omnium optimatium_. -- +DIVIDENTI: 'when he tried to divide'. The participle is here equivalent to +_cum_ with the imperfect indicative (dividebat). So in 54 _lenientem_ A. +290, _a_; G 668; H 549, 1. + +P. 6. -- CUM ESSET: '_though_ he was'. What Fabius declared was reaily that +the _auspicia_ were a political instrument in the hands of the aristocrats, +rather than a part of religion. Fabius, according to Liv. 30, 26, 7, was +augur for 62 years before his death, and had no doubt had a large +experience in the manipulation of the _auspicia_ for political purposes. +Compare Homer, Iliad, 12, 243, also Cic. Phil. 11, 28 _Iuppiter ipse sanxit +ut omnia quae rei publicae salutaria essent legitima et iusta haberentur_. +Consult Mommsen, Hist of Rome, Bk. IV. Ch. 12. + +12. ADMIRABILIUS: 'more amazing'. The Latin word has a much stronger +meaning than the English word derived from it. -- QUO MODO TULIT: = _eum +modum quo tulit_, so that the clause is not really dependent on _cognovi_, +nor _tulit_ irregularly put for _tulerit_. In Lael. 9 Laelius exclaims, of +Cato himself, _quo modo, ut alia omittam, mortem fili tulit_. And no doubt +Cic. meant here to make Cato allude to _his_ loss, described in 84. -- +FILI: see n. on 1 _praemi_. -- CONSULARIS: the son of Fabius was consul in +213 with Ti. Sempronius Gracchus -- EST IN MANIBUS: 'is in every one's +hands', 'is commonly read'. The expression is common enough in this sense; +_e.g._ Lael. 96 _in manibus est oratio_. -- LAUDATIO: _sc. funebris_, the +funeral speech. This composition was read in Cicero's time (see Tusc. 3, +70; Fam. 4, 6, 1) and existed in the time of Plutarch. See Plutarch's life +of Fab. 24. -- QUEM PHILOSOPHUM: many of the ancient philosophers wrote +popular treatises in which the principles of philosophy were applied to the +alleviation of sorrow. The most famous of these in Cicero's time was +Crantor's [Greek: peri penthous], which Cicero used largely in writing his +_Tusculan Disputations_, and also in his _De Consolatione_ on the death of +his daughter. -- IN LUCE ... CIVIUM: 'in public and under the gaze of his +fellow-countrymen'. Do not translate _in oculis_ by the English phrase 'in +the eyes of', which has another sense. The metaphor in _lux_ is often used +by Cicero, as Qu. Fr. 1, 1, 7 _in luce Asiae, in oculis provinciae_. -- +NOTITIA: _notitia_ is general knowledge, often merely the result of +superficial observation; _scientia_ is thorough knowledge, the result of +elaboration and generalization. -- MULTAE LITTERAE: 'great literary +attainments.' In this sense _magnae_ could not be used to represent +'great'. Note the ellipsis of _erant_. -- UT IN HOMINE ROMANO: 'considering +that he was a Roman', or 'for a Roman'. On the backwardness of the Romans +in literary pursuits see Teuffel, Hist. of Rom. Lit, Sec. 2; cf. also Ritter, +Hist. of Ancient Philosophy, Vol. IV. pp. 1-13, Eng. ed. In parenthetic +clauses like this, the introductory _ut_ may convey two very different +meanings according to the context. Thus in Acad. 2, 98 _homo acutus, ut +Poenus_ is 'a keen witted man, _as might be expected of_ a Carthaginian' +(cf Colum 1, 3, 8 _acutissimam gentem Poenos_) while Nepos, Epam. 5, 2 +_exercitatum in dicendo ut Thebanum_ implies that oratory was _not_ to be +expected of a Theban. -- DOMESTICA ... EXTERNA BELLA: here the _domestica +bella_ are those wars which belong to the history of Rome, the _externa +bella_ those wars which belong to the history of other states; but usually +_domestica bella_ are civil wars, _externa_ foreign wars in which Rome is +engaged; _e.g._ Leg. agr. 2, 90 _omnibus domesticis externisque bellis_; in +Catil 2, 11 _omnia sunt externa unius virtute pacata; domesticum bellum +manet, intus insidiae sunt_. The practice of reading military history was +common among Roman commanders; see for instance Acad. 2, 3 of Lucullus; the +practice is ridiculed by Marius in Sall. Iug. 85. -- ITA: _ita_ does not +qualify _cupide_, and has not the sense of _tam_, it means rather 'in this +state', 'under these conditions'; the words from _quasi_ to the end of the +sentence really form an explanation of _ita_. This mode of expression is +often found, _ita_ and _sic_ frequently look on to clauses introduced by +_quasi_, _si_, _ut_, _cum_ etc. Cf below 26 _sic quasi, cupiens_ (where see +n.); Sall. Iug. 85, 19 _ita aetatem agunt quasi vestros honores contemnunt, +ita hos petunt quasi honeste vixerint_. -- DIVINAREM: see references on 6 +_confeceris_. -- ILLO EXSTINCTO: Fabius died in 203 B.C. -- FORE UNDE +DISCEREM NEMINEM: cf. Acad. 1, 8 _quae nemo adhuc docuerat nec erat unde +studiosi scire possent. Unde_ of persons (here = _a quo_); is common in +both verse and prose (so [Greek: hothen] and [Greek: hothenper], vid. +Liddell and Scott in vv.); cf. Horace 1, 12, 17 _unde nil maius generatur +ipso_; 1, 28, 28; Cic. de Or. 1, 67 _ille ipse unde cognorit_; ib. 2, 285. +So _ubi = apud quem_ in Verr. 4, 29; _quo = ad quos_ below, 83, and in +Verr. 4 38; cf. also n. on _istinc_ in 47. For mood of _discerem_ see A. +320; G. 634; H. 503, I. + +13. QUORSUS IGITUR HAEC: _sc. dixi._ -- TAM MULTA: this takes the place of +_tot_, which, like _quot_, cannot be used as a substantive. -- SCIPIONES: +'men like Scipio', _i.e._ the elder Africanus; so 15 _Fabricii Curii +Coruncanii_. Cicero has here put his own opinion of Scipio into the mouth +of Cato, who, during a large part of his life, was a staunch and even +bitter opponent of Scipio, and therefore not likely to couple him with +Fabius. Cf. Introd. -- UT ... RECORDENTUR: the repetition of _ut_ with each +clause for the sake of effect may be compared with the repetition of +_nihil_ in 15, 27, 41; of _non_ in 32; of _hinc_ in 40; of _sibi_ in 58. -- +PEDESTRIS: for _terrestris_; the usage is very common; so in Greek [Greek: +pezomachia] and [Greek: naumachia], [Greek: pezomachein] and [Greek: +naumachein] are often contrasted (see Liddell and Scott). It is not +recorded by historians that either Scipio or Fabius took part personally in +naval warfare. -- RECORDENTUR: this verb implies the habitual dwelling of +the memory upon the past. -- QUIETE ET PURE ATQUE ELEGANTER: the +enumeration consists of two branches connected by _et_, the second branch +being subdivided into two members connected by _atque_. Had each of the +adverbs been intended to stand on exactly the same footing Cic. would have +written _et_ instead of _atque_, or else would have omitted the copula +altogether; see n. on 53 _capitum iugatio_. In enumerations of the form A + +(Bl + B2), the + outside the bracket is expressed by _et_, the + inside the +bracket generally being expressed by _ac_, for which _atque_ is substituted +when the following word (_i.e._ B2) begins with a vowel, a guttural (_c, q, +g_) or _h_, before which _ac_ was very seldom written. -- PURE ATQUE +ELEGANTER: 'sinlessly and gently'. _Pure_ implies moral stainlessness, +_eleganter_, literally 'in choice fashion', implies daintiness combined +with simplicity in regard to the external conditions of life. The same +ideas are put together in Sull. 79 _cum summa elegantia atque integritate +vixistis_. -- AETATIS: see n. on 5. -- PLACIDA AC LENIS: 'quiet and mild'; +_placida_ refers to the external surroundings, _lenis_ to the temper and +character. -- ACCEPIMUS: _sc. fuisse_; for the ellipsis of the infinitive +cf. n. on 22 _videretur_. -- UNO ET OCTOGESIMO: but below _quarto_ (not +_quattuor_) _nonagesimo_. In the compound _ordinal_ numbers corresponding +to those _cardinal_ numbers which are made up of one and a multiple of ten, +the Latins use _unus_ oftener than _primus_, which would be strictly +correct; so in English 'one and eightieth' for 'eighty-first'. The ordinary +Grammar rule (Roby, Vol. I, p. 443 'the _ordinal_ not the _cardinal_ is +used in giving the date') requires slight correction. For the position of +the words see G. 94, 3; H. 174, footnote 3. -- SCRIBENS EST MORTUUS: 'died +while still engaged upon his works'; cf. 23 _num Platonem ... coegit in +suis studiis obmutiscere senectus?_ Diog. Laert. 3, 2 quoting Hermippus (a +Greek writer of biography who lived about the time of the Second Punic +war), says that Plato died in the middle of a marriage-feast at which he +was a guest. Val. Max. 8, 7, 3 gives a slightly different account. -- +ISOCRATI: this form of the genitive of Greek proper names in _-es_ was +probably used by Cicero rather than the form in _-is_; see Madvig on Fin. +1, 14; Neue, Formenlehre, 1 squared 332. Isocrates, the greatest teacher of +rhetoric of his time, lived from 436 to 338, when he died by voluntary +starvation owing to his grief at the loss of Greek freedom through the +battle of Chaeronea. Milton, Sonnet X. 'That dishonest victory At +Chaeronea, fatal to liberty, Kill'd with report that old man eloquent'. -- +EUM ... INSCRIBITUR: the periphrasis is common, and the verb _inscribere_ +is nearly always in the present tense (in later prose as well as in Cicero) +as in 59. This is sometimes the case even where the neighboring verbs are +in past tenses, as in Acad. 1, 12 _nec se tenuit quin contra suum doctorem +librum etiam ederet qui Sosus inscribitur_. The present seems to mean that +the name mentioned is continually given to each copy of the book as +produced; where the continuing multiplication of copies is not looked to, +we have the perfect, as Att. 8, 5, 2 _tu fasciculum_ (bundle of letters) +_qui est inscriptus 'des M'. Curio', velim cures ad eum perferendum_. Cf. +also De Or. 2, 61 _deceptus indicibus librorum qui sunt fere inscripti_ +('to which the authors--once for all--have given the titles') _de virtute, +de iustitia_, etc.; so Div. 2, 1 _eo libro qui inscriptus Hortensius_. -- +DICIT: the 'Panathenaicus', an encomium of Athens written for recitation at +the great festival of the Panathenaea, is among the works of Isocrates +which we still possess. In c. 1 Isocrates says [Greek: tois etesi +enenekonta kai tettarsin, hon ego tynchano gegonos]. -- VIXITQUE: 'and yet +he lived'. The _que_ here has a slight adversative force, as is often the +case with _et_. Cf. n. on 28, 43, 73. -- GORGIAS: the greatest of the +sophists, born at Leontini in Sicily about 485 B.C.; his death took place, +according to the varying accounts, in 380, 378, or 377. In his old age he +lived in Thessaly where Isocrates studied with him; see Or. 176; Fin. 2, 1. +For the adjective _Leontinus_ placed before the name rather than after cf. +43 _Thessalo Cinea_. -- CENTUM ET SEPTEM ANNOS: Kennedy, Gram., Sec. 34, vii, +_c_, says, 'in compound numbers above 100 the larger number, with or +without _et_, generally precedes the smaller'; cf. Roby, Vol. 1 p. 443. -- +CESSO: does not correspond in meaning with our 'cease', _i.e._ '_to come +to_ a standstill'; _cesso_ is 'I am in a state of rest', 'I am idle'. -- +QUAERERETUR: the past tense, though the principal verb _inquit_, is in the +present, because the present is the _historical_ present and so equivalent +to a past tense. Cf. Roby, 1511-1514; Kennedy 229, 2. A. 287, _e_; G. 511, +Rem. 1; H. 495, II. The idiom by which the imperfect stands where we should +expect a tense of completed action, should be noticed; cf. Tusc. 2, 60 +_quem cum rogaret, respondit._ The explanation of the imperfect in such +cases is that it marks out, more clearly than the pluperfect would, the +fact that the action of the principal verb and the action of the dependent +verb are practically contemporaneous. In our passage if _quaesitum esset_ +had been written it would have indicated merely that at some quite +indefinite time after the question was put the answer was given. Cf. N.D. +1, 60 _auctore ... obscurior_. -- CUR ... VITA: a hint at suicide, which +the ancients thought a justifiable mode of escape from troubles, +particularly those of ill health or old age. See n. on 73 _vetat +Pythagoras. Esse in vita_ is stronger than _vivere_; cf. Qu. Fr. 1, 3, 5. +-- NIHIL HABEO QUOD ACCUSEM: 'I have no reason to reproach'. Cf. the common +phrase _quid est quod ...? Quod_, adverbial acc. A. 240, _a_; G. 331, R. 3; +H. 378, 2. For mood of _accusem_ see H. 503, I. n. 2, and references on 12 +_discerem_. -- PRAECLARUM RESPONSUM: _est_ is not required, because +_responsum_ is in apposition to the last part of the preceding sentence. +Similar appositions occur in Laelius, 67, 71, 79. -- DOCTO: applied +especially to philosophers, but also to poets. The word implies +_cultivation_ as well as mere _knowledge_; 'a learned man', merely as such, +is '_homo litteratus_'; cf. n. on 54. + +P. 7. -- 14. CUIUS ... FECI: 'the aforesaid' is in good Latin always +expressed by a parenthesis like this and not by a participle in agreement +with the noun. The phrases '_ante dictus_', '_supra dictus_', belong to +silver Latin, where they are common. Cf. 23 _quos ante dixi_. -- SIC UT +etc.: the lines are from the Annals of Ennius, for which see n. on 1. -- +ECUS: Ennius did not write _uu_, nor most likely did Cicero; the former may +have written either _ecus, equos,_ or _equs_. The last form Vahlen prints +in his edition of Ennius. -- SPATIO SUPREMO: 'at the end of the +race-course', 'at the goal', or it may be 'at the last turn round the +course', the race requiring the course to be run round several times; cf. +Homer's [Greek: pymaton dromon] in Iliad 23, 768. So 83 _decurso spatio_; +Verg. Aen. 5, 327 _iamque fere spatio extreme fessique sub ipsam finem +adventabant_. -- VICIT OLUMPIA: a direct imitation of the Greek phrase +[Greek: nikan Olympia], to win a victory at an Olympic contest. So Horace +Ep. 1, 1, 50 has _coronari Olympia_ = [Greek: stephanousthai Olympia]. The +editors print _Olympia_, but the use of _y_ to represent Greek [Greek: u] +did not come in till long after the time of Ennius. -- SENIO: differs from +_senectute_ in implying not merely old age, but the weakness which usually +accompanies it. -- CONFECTUS: for the disregard of the final _s_ in +scanning cf. n. on 1, l. 6. -- EQUI VICTORIS: for the almost adjectival use +of the substantive _victor_, cf. Verg. Aen. 7, 656 _victores equos_; ib. +12, 751 _venator canis_; ib. 10, 891; 11, 89, and Georg. 2, 145 _bellator +equus_, in Theocritus 15, 51 [Greek: polemistai hippoi]. The feminine nouns +in _-trix_ are freely used as adjectives both in verse and in prose. A. 88, +_c_; H. 441, 3. -- QUEM QUIDEM: the same form of transition is used in 26, +29, 46, 53. The whole of this passage to _suasissem_ is an exhibition of +antiquarian learning quite unnatural and inappropriate in a dialogue. -- +PROBE MEMINISSE POTESTIS: cf. De Or. 3, 194 _quem tu probe meministi_; Fin. +2, 63 _L. Thorius quem meminisse tu non potes. Memini_ can take a +_personal_ accusative only when the person who remembers was a contemporary +of the person remembered; otherwise the gen. follows. Cf. Roby, 1333; A. +219, Rem.; H. 407, n. 1. -- HI CONSULES: 'the present consuls'. -- T. +FLAMININUS: commonly said to be the son of the great Flamininus (1, l. 1). +He was altogether undistinguished, as also were the Acilius and the Caepio +here mentioned. This passage gives the imagined date of the dialogue as 150 +B.C. -- PHILIPPO: this was Q. Marcius Philippus, who was consul in 186 and +took part in the suppression of the great Bacchanalian conspiracy of that +year. For the next 17 years he was a leading senator and much engaged in +diplomacy in the East. In 169 he was again consul and commanded against +Perseus in the early part of the war. -- CUM ... LEGEM VOCONIAM ... +SUASISSEM: 'after I had spoken publicly in favor of the law oL Voconius'. +For _suasissem_ cf. 10 _suasor_ with n. The _Lex Voconia de mulierum +hereditatibus_ aimed at securing the continuance of property in families. +By its provisions no man who possessed property valued in the censors' +lists at 100,000 sesterces or more, could appoint a woman or women as his +_heres_ or _heredes_; further, no person or persons, male or female, could +receive under the will legacies amounting in all to a larger sum than that +received by the principal heir or heirs. Every Roman will named a _heres_ +or _heredes_, on whom devolved all the privileges and duties of the +deceased, with such duties as were enjoined by the will; particularly the +duty of paying the legacies left to those who were not _heredes_. See +Maine, Ancient Law, Ch. 6; also Hunter, Introd. to Roman Law, Ch. 5. -- +MAGNA: in Latin the word _magnus_ is the only equivalent of our 'loud'. -- +LATERIBUS: 'lungs'. Cic. and the best writers rarely use _pulmones_ for +'lungs'; the few passages in which it occurs either refer to victims +sacrificed at the altar, or are medical or physiological descriptions. +'Good lungs' is always '_bona latera_' never _pulmones_. -- DUO ... +SENECTUTEM: Ennius is said to have kept a school in his later days, and to +have lived in a cottage with one servant only. + +15. ETENIM: this word generally introduces either an explanation or a proof +of a preceding statement. Here the words are elliptic, and the real +connection with what precedes can only be made clear by a paraphrase. +'Ennius seemed to delight in old age. And no wonder, since there are four +causes which make men think old age wretched, and no one of these will bear +examination'. _Etenim_ may generally be translated 'indeed', or 'in fact'. +-- CUM COMPLECTOR ANIMO: 'when I grasp them in my thoughts'. The object of +_complector_ is to be supplied from _causas_. -- AVOCET: _sc. senes_. The +subjunctives denote that these are the thoughts not of the speaker, but of +the persons who do think old age a wretched thing. See n. on 3 _ferat_; but +cf. Kennedy, Grammar, pref., p. 30. -- ALTERAM ... TERTIAM: in enumerations +of more than two things _unus and alter_ generally take the place of +_primus_, and _secundus_: in Cic. these latter rarely occur under such +circumstances. Cf. Att. 3, 15, 1; Fin. 5, 9; Off. 1, 152; Cluent. 178. -- +INFIRMIUS: _sc. auam antea erat_. -- QUAM SIT IUSTA: Cicero generally +separates from the words they qualify _quam_, _tam_, _ita_, _tantus_, +_quantus_, often, as here, by one small word. Cf. below, 35 _quam fuit +imbecillus_; 40 _tam esse inimicum_. -- QUIBUS: the preposition _a_ is +often omitted; cf. in Pis. 91 _Arsinoen ... Naupactum fateris ab hostibus +esse captas. Quibus hostibus? Nempe eis_ etc.; Tusc. 3, 37 _sed traducis +cogitationes meas ad voluptates. Quas?_ Even when relative and antecedent +are in the same sentence the preposition is not often repeated; _e.g._ Fin. +5, 68 _eodem in genere quo illa_. -- AN EIS: _an_ always introduces a +question which is not independent, but follows upon a previous question +either expressed or implied. Here _quibus_ implies _omnibusne_. Cf. div. in +Caec. 52 _quid enim dices? An id quod dictitas_ ... where _quid_ implies +_nihilne_: also below, 23, 29 _anne_. A 211, _b_; G. 459; H. 353, 2, n. 4. +-- IUVENTUTE ET VIRIBUS: commonly explained as a hendiadys, _i.e._ as put +for _iuventutis viribus_; but Cic. no more meant this than we mean 'the +strength of youth' when we speak of 'youth and strength'. Real instances of +hendiadys are much rarer than is generally supposed. -- QUAE: = _tales ut_. +-- L. PAULUS: this is L. Aemilius Paulus Macedonicus, consul in 182 B.C., +and again in 168 when he finished the third Macedonian war by utterly +defeating Perseus at Pydna. For his connection with Scipio and Cato see +Introd. -- PATER TUUS: _i.e. Scipio_; so in 29 _avi tui_, and in 75 _avum +tuum_, without mention of young Scipio's name, but in 49 _patris tui, +Scipio_; so 77. -- FABRICII etc.: for the plurals see n. on 13. C. +Fabricius Luscinus, consul in 282, 278, and 273 B.C., censor in 275, held +the command against Pyrrhus. The Roman writers, Cicero especially, are +never tired of eulogizing him as a pattern of old-fashioned Roman virtue. +Manius Curius Dentatus, consul in 290, 275, and 274 practically, if not +formally, ended the third Samnite war, and also commanded against Pyrrhus; +see 55. He was famed for his sturdy Roman simplicity and frugality. +Tiberius Coruncanius as consul in 280 crushed an Etruscan insurrection. In +252 he became the first plebeian pontifex maximus. These three men are very +frequently mentioned together by Cicero; cf. below, 43, Lael. 18. -- NIHIL +AGEBANT: observe that _nihil agebat_ is put at the beginning of the first +sentence, _nihil agebant_ at the end of the second; chiasmus. + +16. A. CLAUDI: Appius Claudius, the head of the most strongly aristocratic +family in Rome, was censor in 311 B.C., when he constructed the _via +Appia_, and consul in 307 and 296. He had to be carried into the +senate-house in order to oppose the peace with Pyrrhus -- ACCEDEBAT UT: +_accedit_ is far oftener followed by a clause with _quod_ and indicative +than by a clause with _ut_ and subjunctive. When the _quod_ clause follows, +it contains a fact looked at merely as a fact and nothing more, but the +_ut_ clause views the fact as consequent upon, or dependent on some other +fact. Here the blindness is regarded as being the consequence of old age, +though Livy 9, 29, 11 and other authors attribute it to the anger of the +gods, because as censor Appius had taken the administration of the worship +of Hercules away from the ancient family of the Potitii, and had placed it +in the hands of public slaves. The mental vigor of Appius in his old age is +mentioned by Cic. in Tusc. 5, 112. + +P. 8. -- CUM PYRRHO: note the position of the words between _pacem_ and +_foedus_, with both of which they go. This usage is called by the +grammarians _coniunctio_; cf. n. on Lael. 8 _cum summi viri tum +amicissimi_, also above, _quae iuventute geruntur et viribus_, below 18 +_quae sunt gerenda praescribo et quo modo_. -- FOEDUS: this seems opposed +to _pacem_ as a formal engagement is to a mere abstention from hostilities. +-- NON DUBITAVIT DICERE: when _dubitare_ means 'to hesitate' (about a +course of action), and the sentence is _negative_, or an interrogative +sentence assuming a negative answer, the infinitive construction generally +follows, as here; but the infinitive is rare in a _positive_ sentence. When +_dubitare_ means to 'be in doubt' (as to whether certain statements are +true or not), the regular construction is either _quin_ with subj. or some +form of indirect interrogative clause. Cf. below, 25. -- QUO VOBIS: from +the _Annales_. In _mentis dementis_ we have _oxymoron_ (an intentional +contradiction in terms) as in 38 _sensum sine sensu_; 39 _munus ... +aufert_. On the case of _vobis_, see Roby, 1154, A. 235, _a_, H. 384, 4, n. +2. -- ANTEHAC: always a dissyllable in verse, and probably so pronounced in +prose -- VIAI: the old genitive. A. 36 _a_, G. 27, Rem. 1, H. 49, 2. The +reading is not quite certain, if _viai_ be read it is not altogether +certain whether it depends on _quo_ or on _sese flexere_. In the former +construction we have a partitive gen with an adv; A. 216, _a_, 4, G. 371, +Rem. 4, H. 397, 4, in the latter, a distinct Graecism like _desine +querellarum_ (Hor Od 2, 9, 17) and the like; A. 243 Rem., G. 373 Rem. 6, H. +410 V 4. -- ET TAMEN: the sense is incompletely expressed, in full it is +'and yet there is no need for me to refer to Appius' speech as given by +Ennius, since the speech itself is in existence.' Exactly similar ellipses +are found with _et tamen_ in Fin 1, 11 and 15; 2, Sec.Sec. 15, 21, 64 and 85, +Att. 7, 3, 10, Lucretius 5, 1177. In Munro's note on the last passage a +collection of examples will be found. -- APPI ... ORATIO: the speech was +known to Cicero, and was one of the oldest monuments of prose composition +in Latin extant in his time, see Brut. 61. Plutarch, Pyrrhus 19, gives an +account of Appius' speech, which may founded on the original, he mentions +it also in his tract commonly called '_an seni sit gerenda res publica_', +c. 21. Ihne (History of Rome, Vol. I. p. 521, Eng. ed.) doubts whether the +speech, as Cic. knew it, was committed to writing by Appius himself. -- +HAEC ILLE EGIT: 'he made this speech'. -- SEPTEMDECIM ANNIS: as the second +(_alterum_) consulship was in 296, and the speech in 280, both these years +are included in the reckoning by a usage very common in Latin. For the +ablative cf. 19. -- CENSOR ... ANTE CONSULATUM: this was unusual, and +therefore to Claudius' honor. -- GRANDEM SANE: 'undoubtedly old'. -- ET +TAMEN SIC: _i.e. eum tum grandem fuisse_ Lahmeyer wrongly says that _sic_ +points to the words _atque haec ille egit_. It may be noted that _sic_ +takes the place of an object after _accipimus_, cf. 77 _ita crederem_; 78 +_sic mihi persuasi_, also 18 _male cogitanti_. + +17. NIHIL AFFERUNT: 'they bring forward nothing', _i.e._ what they bring +forward is worthless, so in Greek [Greek: ouden legein], the opposite of +which is [Greek: legein ti]. Cf. 8 _est istuc aliquid_. -- SIMILES UT SI: a +very rare construction. Equally unusual is _similes tamquam si_ in Div. 2, +131. In Tusc. 4, 41 and Off. 1, 87 we find _similiter ut si_ in Fin. 2, 21 +and 4, 31 _similiter_ or _similis et si_, in N.D. 3, 8 _similiter ac si_, +also in Liv. 5, 5, 12 _dissimilia ac si_, in 35, 42, 10 _idem ac si_. As +regards the _ut_ after _similes_, we may compare a few passages in which +_simul ut_ appears for _simul ac_, see Reid's n. on Academ 2, 51. In the +English Bible there are expressions like _similes sunt ut si qui dicant_, +'they are like as if some men should say.' -- SCANDANT: '_cum_ is used with +the subjunctive when it expresses a kind of comparison, and especially a +contrast, between the contents of a leading proposition and a subordinate +("whereas", etc.)' Madvig, 358, Obs. 3. The underlying idea in this use is +generally cause, sometimes concession. -- PER FOROS 'over the deck'. -- +ILLE: for the omission of _sed_ or _autem_ (_asyndeton adversativum_) see +n. on 3 _librum_, etc. -- CLAVUM: 'tiller'. With this passage Lahmeyer well +compares what Cicero says of himself in Fam. 9, 15, 3 _sedebamus in puppi +et clavum tenebamus; nunc autem vix est in sentina locus_. -- VELOCITATE: +_velocitas_ and _celeritas_ differ very slightly; the former means rather +speed of movement in one line the latter rather power of rapid motion with +frequent change of direction. The emphatic word in this clause is +_corporum_. Cf. Off. 1, 79 _honestum ... animi efficitur non corporis +viribus_. -- CONSILIO ... SENTENTIA: _consilio_, advice; _auctoritate_, +weight of influence; _sententia,_ an opinion or vote formally given. -- +QUIBUS: in twofold relation; with _orbari_, abl. of separation, with +_augeri_ of specification. + +18. NISI FORTE: ironical, used to introduce a possible, but absurd +objection to something which has gone before. The verb that follows is +always in the indicative. -- MILES etc.: 'as common soldier'; see n. on 10. +-- IN VARIO GENERE: we use the plural, 'in different kinds'. Cf. Acad. 2, 3 +_in omni genere belli_; Deiot. 12 _in omni genere bellorum_. -- CESSARE: +cf. n. on 13. -- AT SENATUI etc.: exactly the same ideas are expressed, +with the same mention of Cato's activity in Off. 1, 79. -- MALE COGITANTI: +'which has now for a long time been plotting mischief'; A. 290, _a_; G. +671, 221; H. 549, 4; 467, III. 2. Cf. pro Sulla 70 _nefarie cogitare_; for +the use of the adverb see n. on 16 _sic_. On Cato's attitude toward +Carthage see Introd. -- VERERI: the construction is unusual. _Vereor_ +regularly takes after it an accusative, or else a clause with _ne_ or _ut_. +A passage much resembling this is Rab. Post. 10 _omnes qui aliquid de se +verebantur_; cf. also Att. 10, 4, 6 _de vita sua metuere_; Verg. Aen. 9, +207 _de te nil tale verebar_; in all these examples the ablative with _de_ +denotes the quarter threatened, not, as here, the quarter from which the +threat comes. -- EXSCISAM: from _exscindo_; most edd. _excisam_, but to +raze a city is _urbem exscindere_ not _excidere_; _e.g._ Rep. 6, 11 +_Numantiam exscindes_. + +19. QUAM PALMAM etc.: a prophecy after the event, like that in Rep. 6, 11 +_avi relliquias_, the finishing up of the Punic wars. For the use of +_relliquias_ cf. Verg. Aen. 11, 30 _Troas relliquias Danaum atque immitis +Achilli_; ib. 598; ib. 3, 87. -- TERTIUS: so all our MSS. This places the +elder Scipio's death in 183, which agrees with Livy's account in 39, 50, +10. But the year before Cato's censorship was 185 not 183, hence some edd. +read _quintus_ and some _sextus_ in place of _tertius_. + +P. 9. -- NOVEM ANNIS: as Cato's consulship was in 195 these words also +apparently disagree with _tertius_ above. _Novem annis post_ means nine +_full_ years after, _i.e._ 185 not 186; cf. 42 _septem annis post_. -- +ENIM: implies that the answer 'no' has been given to the question and +proceeds to account for that answer. -- EXCURSIONE: a military term = +'skirmishing'; Cf. Div. 2, 26 _prima orationis excursio_. -- HASTIS: +loosely used for _pilis_. The long old Roman _hasta_, whence the name +_hastati_, had long before Cato's time been discarded for the _pilum_ or +short javelin, which was thrown at the enemy from a distance before the +troops closed and used the sword. -- CONSILIUM: the repetition of consilium +in a different sense from that which it had in the sentence before seems to +us awkward; but many such repetitions are found in Cicero. _Consilium_ +corresponds to both 'counsel' and 'council'; the senate was originally +_regium consilium_, the king's body of advisers. Here translate _summum +consilium_ 'the supreme deliberative body'. -- SENATUM: 'assembly of +elders'. Cf. 56 _senatores, id est senes_. _Senatus_ implies a lost verb +_sen[=a]-re_, to be or grow old from the stem of which both _sen[=a]-tus_ +and _sen[=a]-tor_ are derived. This stem again implies a lost noun or +adjective _senus_, old. The word _senatus_ was collective, like +_comitatus_, a body of companions, _exercitus_, a trained band etc. + +20. AMPLISSIMUM: 'most honorable'. -- UT SUNT ... SENES: the Spartan +[Greek: gerousia], as it is commonly called, consisted of 28 members, all +over 60 years of age. Herodotus uses the term [Greek: gerontes] (_senes_) +for this assembly; Xenophon [Greek: gerontia]. In the Laconian dialect +[Greek: geroia] was its name; we also find [Greek: geronteuein] 'to be a +senator'. For _ut ... sic_ cf. Academ. 2, 14, _similiter vos cum +perturbare, ut illi rem publicam_, _sic vos philosophiam velitis_; also +Lael. 19. -- AUDIRE: like [Greek: akouo], used especially of historical +matters, since instruction in them was almost entirely oral. Cf. [Greek: +anekoos] = 'ignorant of history'. -- VOLETIS: see note on 7 _faciam ut +potero_; cf. Roby, 1464, _a_; Madvig, 339, Obs. 1; A. 278, _b_; G. 234, +Rem. 1; H. 470, 2. -- ADULESCENTIBUS: Cic., when he wrote this, was +possibly thinking of Athens and Alcibiades. -- LABEFACTATAS: the verb +_labefacio_ is foreign to good prose, in which _labefacto_ is used. -- +SUSTENTATAS: Cic. does not use _sustentus_. In Mur. 3 _sustinenda_ is +followed by _sustentata_ in the same sentence. -- CEDO ... CITO: the line +is of the kind called tetrameter iambic acatalectic (or octonarius), and is +scanned thus: -- + + v v -' | - - | - -' | v - || - -' | - - | - -' | v -. + +In all kinds of iambic verse the old Romans freely introduced spondees +where the Greeks used iambi; so in hexameters spondees for dactyls. Cf. +Hor. Ep. ad Pis. 254 _et seq._ -- CEDO: = _dic_; from _ce_, the enclitic +particle involved in _hic = (hi-ce)_ etc. and _da_, the root of _do_. So +_cette = ce-d[)a]te = cedte_, then _cette_ by assimilation of _d_ to _t_. +The original meaning would thus be 'give here', and in this sense the word +is often used. See Lex. _Dare_ is commonly put for _dicere_, as _accipere_ +is for _audire_. -- QUI: 'how'. -- TANTAM: = [Greek: otsauten ousan]. -- +NAEVI: Naevius lived about 264-194 B.C. His great work was a history of the +First Punic War written in Saturnian verse, the rude indigenous metre of +early Roman poetry. He wrote also plays,--tragedies and comedies, both +_palliatae_ and _praetextae_. For an account of him see Cruttwell, History +of Roman Literature; also, Sellar, Roman Poets of the Republic, Ch. 3. If +_Ludo_ be read, it may be either from the Latin _ludus_ (Naevius entitled a +comedy _Ludius_) or from [Greek: Lydos], Lydian. -- POETAE: Naevius seems +to have been in the habit of adding _poeta_ to his name. It appears in the +well-known epitaph said to have been written by himself, also in the lines +written against him by the family poet of the Metelli: '_malum dabunt +Metelli Naevio poetae_'. The name _poeta_ was new in Naevius' time and was +just displacing the old Latin name _vates_; see Munro on Lucr. 1, 102. -- +PROVENIEBANT etc.: the same metre as above, divided thus by Lahmeyer: -- + + _proveni | ebant | orat | ores || novi | stulti adu | lescen / iuli_. + +The whole line has the look of being translated from the Greek: [Greek: +proubainon (eis to bema) rhetores kanoi tines, meirakia geloia]. Lr. takes +_provenire_ in the sense of 'to grow up', comparing Plin. Ep. 1, 13, 1 +_magnum proventum_ ('crop') _poetarum annus hic attulit_; Sall. Cat. 8, 3 +_provenere ibi scriptorum magna ingenia_. -- VIDELICET: 'you see'. + +21. AT: = [Greek: alla gar]; used, as in 32, 35, 47, 65, and 68, to +introduce the supposed objection of an opponent. -- CREDO: 'of course'. Cf. +47 where _credo_ follows _at_ as here. -- EXERCEAS: the subject is the +indefinite 'you' equivalent to 'one', [Greek: tis]: 'unless one were to +practise it'. So 28 _nequeas_; 33 _requiras_. Cf. also Plin. Ep. 8, 14, 3 +_difficile est tenere quae acceperis, nisi exerceas_. For the mood see A. +309, _a_; G. 598, 597, Rem. 3; H. 508, 5, 2). -- TARDIOR: 'unusually dull'; +cf. Academ. 2, 97 _Epicurus quem isti tardum putant_. -- THEMISTOCLES: +famed for his memory. -- CIVIUM: 'fellow-countrymen'; _perceperat_: 'had +grasped' or 'mastered'. -- QUI ... SOLITUM: 'that he often addressed as +Lysimachus some one who for all that was Aristides'. The direct object of +_salutare_ is omitted. For _qui = tametsi is_ cf. Att. 1, 13, 3 _nosmet +ipsi, qui Lycurgei fuissemus, cotidie demitigamur_; also De Or. 1, 82. -- +ESSET: A.342; G.631; H.529, II. and n. 1, 1). -- LYSIMACHUM: for _ut L._ or +_pro Lysimacho_. So Arch. 19 _Homerum Chii suum vindicant_ (= _ut suum_ or +_pro suo_). Lysimachus was the father of Aristides. -- SUNT: = _vivunt_, as +often; so in 32 _esse = vivere_; 54 _fuit = vixit_; 56, 60, 69. -- SEPULCRA +LEGENS: Cato was a great antiquarian; cf. 38 _Originum_. -- IN MEMORIAM +REDEO MORTUORUM: the genitive as with _memini, recordari_ etc. For the +phrase cf. Verr. 1, 120 _redite in memoriam, iudices, quae libido istius +fuerit_; also below, 59 _in gratiam redire cum voluptate_. Here translate +'I refresh my memory of the dead'. -- QUEMQUAM SENEM: the best writers do +not use _quisquam _as an adjective, but there is no need to alter _senem_ +into _senum_ as some editors do, since _senem_ is a substitute for a clause +_cum senex esset_; 'I never heard that anybody because he was an old man +...'. _Senes_ must be so taken in 22, since _pontifices_ etc. cannot stand +as adjectives. Cf. n. on 10 _adulescentulus miles_. -- VADIMONIA: 'their +appointments to appear in court, the debts due to them and the debts they +owe'. When the hearing of a suit had to be adjourned, the defendant was +bound over either on his own recognizance merely (_pure_) or along with +sureties (_vades_) to appear in court on the day appointed for the next +hearing, a sum or sums of money being forfeited in case of his +non-appearance. The engagement to appear was technically called +_vadimonium_; when the defendant entered into the engagement he was said +_vadimonium promittere_; if he kept the engagement, _v. obire_ or +_sistere_; if he failed in it, _v. deserere_. The plural _vadimonia_ is +here used because a number of suits is meant; the word _constituta_ is +chosen as a more general term than _promissa_, and as referring to the +circumstances of both plaintiff and defendant. Strictly speaking, it is the +presiding judge who _vadimonia constituit_. On this account _vadimonia +constituta_ should be translated as above 'appointments', and not _'bonds'_ +or _'engagements_' to appear in court. + +P. 10. -- 22. QUID ... SENES: _sc. tibi videntur_; 'what do you think of +old men as lawyers, etc.?' So without ellipsis, Fam. 9, 21, 1 _quid tibi +ego in epistulis videor?_ -- INGENIA: = _suum cuique ingenium_; 'old men +retain their wits'. -- PERMANEAT: A. 266, _d_; G. 575; H. 513, I. -- +STUDIUM ET INDUSTRIA: 'earnestness and activity'; not a case of hendiadys, +as some editors make it. Cf. n. on 15 _iuventute et viribus_. -- NEQUE EA +SOLUM: = [Greek: oude tauta monon], 'and that not only'. -- HONORATIS: this +does not correspond to our 'honored', but implies that the persons have +held high offices (_honores_); cf. 61 _senectus honorata praesertim_. Here +translate 'statesmen'. -- IN VITA ... QUIETA: 'in an unofficial and retired +life'. There is chiasmus here, since _privata_ is contrasted with +_honoratis_ and _quieta_ with _claris_. -- SUMMAM SENECTUTEM: Sophocles +died at the age of 90 in 405 B.C. -- QUOD PROPTER STUDIUM: 'from his +devotion to this occupation'. -- FILIIS: except Plutarch, who probably +follows Cicero's words, all the authorities tell the story of the poet's +eldest son Iophon only. The tale is full of improbabilities. -- REM: = _rem +familiarem_ as in 1. -- PATRIBUS BONIS INTERDICI SOLET: 'fathers are often +prevented from managing their property'. For the construction cf. the +expression _interdicere alicui aqua et igni: interdici_ is here used +impersonally with _patribus_ in the dat.; A. 230; H. 384, 5; _bonis_ is +abl. of separation (deprivation). The fragment of the XII tables here +referred to is thus given in Dirksen's edition: _sei fouriosos aut prodicos +(prodigus) escit (erit) adenatorum centiliomque (gentiliumque) eius +potestas estod, i.e._ the agnates (male relatives whose kinship with the +_furiosus_ is derived through males) and members of his _gens_ are to +administer his property. We have preserved the form in which the judgment +was made by the _praetor urbanus_ (Paulus, Sent. 3, 4a, 7): '_quando tibi +tua bona paterna avitaque nequitia tua disperdis liberosque tuos ad +egestatem perducis, ob eam rem tibi ea re commercioque interdico_'. -- +QUASI DESIPIENTEM: '[Greek: hos paraphronounta]' says the author of the +anonymous life of Sophocles. Cf. Xenophon, Mem. 1, 2, 49. -- IN MANIBUS +HABEBAT: 'had on hand' _i.e._ in preparation. _Est in manibus_ in 12 has a +different meaning. -- SCRIPSERAT: he had written it but not finally +corrected it. -- RECITASSE: the common version of the story states that not +the whole play was read but only the fine chorus beginning [Greek: euippou, +xene, tasde choras]. -- VIDERETUR: _sc. esse_; the infinitive is often +omitted thus after verbs of desiring, thinking etc., also verbs of speaking +and hearing; cf. Lael. 18 _eam sapientiam interpretantur_; ib. 29 _quam +natam volunt_; ib. 64 _homines ex maxime raro genere iudicare;_ Acad. 2, 12 +_viderenturne ea Philonis._ + +23. HESIODUM: see n. on 54. -- Simoniden: Simonides of Ceos (not S. of +Amorgos), one of the greatest Greek lyric poets, lived from 556 to about +469 B.C. -- STESICHORUM: of Himera in Sicily, also a lyric poet; lived from +about 630 to about 556 B.C. -- ISOCRATEN GORGIAN: nn. on 13. -- +PHILOSOPHORUM PRINCIPES: 'in the first rank of philosophers'. -- +PYTHAGORAN: neither the date of his birth nor that of his death can be +determined; he 'flourished' about 530. He lived mostly in the Greek +settlements of lower Italy, where his school existed for some centuries +after his death. -- DEMOCRITUM: of Abdera, one of the originators of the +theory of atoms; said to have lived from 460 to 361 or 357 B.C. -- +XENOCRATEN after Plato, Speusippus was the first head of the Academic +School; Xenocrates succeeded him. He lived from 397 to 315 or 313. -- +ZENONEM: of Citium in Cyprus, founder of Stoicism, born about 357, is said +to have lived to the age of 98. -- CLEANTHEN: he followed Zeno in the +presidency of the Stoic school. His age at death is variously given as 99 +and as 80 years. -- QUEM VIDISTIS: see Introd. It is rather curious that +Cic. should make Cato speak with admiration of Diogenes, to whom he had +shown great hostility. -- DIOGENEN: Cic. probably wrote in _-an, -en,_ not +in _-am, -em_ the accusatives of Greek proper names in _-as, -es_. -- +STOICUM: to distinguish him from Diogenes the Cynic. -- AGITATIO: Cic. uses +_agitatio_ and _actio_ almost interchangeably; cf. _agitatio rerum_ in De +Or. 3, 88 with _actio rerum_ in Acad. 2, 62 and elsewhere. _Actus_ in this +sense occurs only in silver Latin. + +24. AGE: a common form of transition to a new subject; brief for _'hoc +age'_, 'do this', _i.e._ 'attend to this that I am going to say'. The +common use of [Greek: age] in Greek is exactly similar. -- UT ... +OMITTAMUS: Cf. n. on 52 _ut_. -- POSSUM NOMINARE: 'I am able to name'; in +colloquial English 'I _might_ name'. The Latins occasionally use also a +hypothetical form, where _possim_ or _possem_ stands in the apodosis of a +conditional sentence, the protasis of which is not expressed; but the +missing protasis is generally easily supplied and was distinctly present to +the writer's mind. _E.g._ in Tusc. 1, 88 we have _dici hoc in te non +potest; posset in Tarquinio; at in mortuo ne intellegi quidem (potest)_, +where the reason for the change from _potest_ to _posset_ is quite evident. +In translating from English into Latin it is far safer to use the +indicative. Cf. 55 _possum persequi_. A. 311, _c_; G. 599, Rem. 3; H. 511, +1, n. 3, 476, 4. -- EX AGRO ... ROMANOS: 'country-bred Romans (_i.e._ Roman +citizens) belonging to the Sabine district'. The words _ex agro Sabino_ +form an attributive phrase qualifying _Romanos_ just as _rusticos_ does. -- +NUMQUAM FERE: 'scarcely ever'. -- MAIORA OPERA: 'farm work of any +importance'. This use of _opera_ is common in Vergil's Georgics. -- NON: +the repetition of the negative after _numquam_ is common in Latin; in +English _never ... not_ is found in dialects only. Cf. Lael. 48 _non tantum +... non plus quam_. -- SERENDIS: ablative of respect, 'as regards sowing'. +See Roby 1210; Kennedy, 149. -- PERCIPIENDIS: so 70; cf. N.D. 2, 156 _neque +enim serendi neque colendi, nec tempestive demetendi percipiendi que +fructus, neque condendi nec reponendi ulla pecudum scientia est_. -- IN +ALIIS: see n. on 3 _ceteris_. Notice the proleptic use. -- IDEM: a better +form of the plural than _iidem_, commonly found in our texts. For the use +here cf. n. on 4 _eandem_. -- PERTINERE: present for future. -- SENT ... +PROSINT: the line is given as Ribbeck prints it. He scans it as a +'_bacchius_', consisting of four feet, with the measurement | v - - |, the +last syllable of _saeclo_ seeming to be shortened. Cicero quotes the same +line in Tusc. 1, 31 adding _ut ait (Statius) in Synephebis, quid spectans +nisi etiam postera saecla ad se pertinere? Saeclo_ = 'generation'. For mood +of _prosint_ see A 317; G. 632, H. 497, I. -- STATIUS NOSTER: 'our +fellow-countryman Statius'. So Arch. 22 _Ennius noster_. Caecilius Statius, +born among the Insubres, wrote Latin comedies which were largely borrowed +from the Greek of Menander. The original of the _Synephebi_ was Menander's +[Greek: Syne pheboi] 'young comrades'. See Sellar, Rom. Poets of the Rep., +Ch. 7. + +P. 11. -- 25. DIS: the spellings _diis_, _dii_ which many recent editors +still keep, are probably incorrect, at all events it is certain that the +nominative and ablative plural of deus formed monosyllables, except +occasionally in poetry, where _dei_, _deis_ were used. Even these +_dissyllabic_ forms scarcely occur before Ovid. -- ET: emphatic at the +beginning of a sentence: 'aye, and'. -- MELIUS: _sc. dixit_. -- ILLUD: 'the +following' A. 102, b, G. 292, 4; H. 450, 3. -- IDEM: _idem_, not _idem_. -- +EDEPOL: literally, 'ah, god Pollux', _e_ being an interjection, _de_ a +shortened form of the vocative of _deus, pol_ abbreviated from _Pollux_. +The asseveration is mostly confined to comedy. The lines come from a play +by Statius called Plocium ([Greek: plokion] 'necklace'), copied from one by +Menander with the same title; see Ribbeck's 'Fragmenta' The verses are +iambic trimeters A. 365; G. 754, H. 622. -- NIL QUICQUAM: see n. on 21 +_quemquam senem_, cf. the common expression _nemo homo_, 84 _nemo vir_, +etc. where two substantival words are placed side by side. -- VITI: see n. +on 1, l 3 _praemi Viti_ here = _mali_; cf. Ter. Andr. 73 _ei vereor ne quid +Andria adportet mali_. -- SAT EST: _sat_ for _satis_ in Cicero's time was +old-fashioned and poetical. -- QUOD DIU: these words must be scanned as a +spondee. The _i_ in _diu_ here probably had the sound of our _y_. A. 347, +_c_, G. 717; H. 608, III. n. 2. Allen well compares a line of Publilius +Syrus _heu quam multa paenitenda incurrunt vivendo diu_. -- VOLT: +indefinite subject. -- VIDET: Tischer quotes Herod. 1, 32 (speech of Solon +to Croesus) [Greek: en gar toi makroi chronoi polla men estin ideein, ta me +tis ethelei, polla de kai patheein]. -- TUM EQUIDEM etc.: these lines, as +well as those above, occurred in a play of Statius called _'Ephesio'_ see +Ribbeck's 'Fragmenta'. -- SENECTA: not used by prose writers before the +time of silver Latin. -- DEPUTO: this compound is used by the dramatists +and then does not occur again till late Latin times. -- EUMPSE: like _ipse_ +and _reapse_ (for which see n. on Lael. 47) this word contains the enclitic +particle _pe_ (probably another form of _que_), found in _nem pe_, +_quis-p-iam_ etc., along with _se_, which belongs to an old demonstrative +pronoun once declined _sos_, _sa_, _sum_, the masc. and fem. of which are +seen in [Greek: ho], [Greek: he]. The form was no doubt originally +_eumpsum_, like _ipsom_ (_ipsum_), but has passed into its present form +just as _ipsos_ (nom.) became _ipso_, then _ipse_. The only difference in +sense between _eumpse_ and the simple _eum_ is that the former is more +emphatic. The pronoun _eumpse_ is the subject of the infinitive _sentire_, +but the substantive, _senex_, to which the pronoun refers, is not +expressed. -- ODIOSUM: cf. n. on 4. + +26. IUCUNDUM ... ODIOSUM: elliptic, = _'iucundum' potius quam 'odiosum' +senem esse dicendum est_. -- UT ... DELECTANTUR: cf. Lael. 101; also below, +29. -- SAPIENTES SENES: neither of these words is used as an adjective +here; the whole expression = _sapientes, cum facti sunt senes_. -- LEVIOR: +cf. the fragm. of Callimachus: [Greek: geraskei d' ho geron keinos +elaphroteron, ton kouroi phileousi]. -- COLUNTUR ET DILIGUNTUR: _colere_ +rather implies the external marks of respect (cf. _coli_ in 7), _diligere_ +the inner feeling of affection. -- PRAECEPTIS etc.: cf. Off. 1, 122 +_ineuntis enim aetatis inscitia senum constituenda et regenda prudentia +est_. -- ME ... IUCUNDOS: put for _me iucundum esse quam vos mihi estis +iucundi_. The attraction of a finite verb into the infinitive after _quam_ +is not uncommon; cf. n. on 1 _quibus me ipsum_ (Roby, 1784, _b_; A. 336, +_b_, Rem.; H. 524, 1, 2). _Minus_, be it observed, does not qualify +_intellego_, but _iucundos_. -- SED: here _analeptic_, _i.e._ it introduces +a return to the subject proper after a digression, so in 31. -- VIDETIS, UT +... SIT: here _ut = quo modo_; 'how'. -- SENECTUS ... CUIUSQUE: the +abstract _senectus_ is put for _senes_ as in 34; hence _cuiusque, sc. +senis_. So above _adulescentia_ = _adulescentes_. -- AGENS ALIQUID: this +phrase differs from _agat_ in that while the subjunctive would express the +_fact_ of action, the participial phrase expresses rather the constant +_tendency_ to act. _Agens aliquid_ forms a sort of attribute to _senectus_, +parallel with _operosa. Moliri_ differs from _agere_ in that it implies the +bringing into existence of some object. Cf. Off. 3, 102 _agere aliquid et +moliri volunt_; Acad. 2, 22 _ut moliatur aliquid et faciat_; N.D. 1, 2 +_utrum di nihil agant, nihil moliantur_; Mur. 82 _et agant et moliantur_. +-- QUID ... ALIQUID: for the ellipsis in _quid qui_ cf. n. on 22 _quid ... +Addiscunt_ = [Greek: promanthanousi] = learn on and on, go on learning. -- +UT ... VIDEMUS: put, as Allen observes, for _ut Solon fecit, quem videmus_. +-- SOLONEM: see also 50. The line (_versibus_ here is an exaggeration; in +50 it is _versiculus_) is preserved by Plato in his Timaeus and by +Plutarch, Sol. 31 [Greek: gaerasko d' aei polla didaskomenos]. The age of +Solon at his death is variously given as 80 or 100 years. -- VIDEMUS: the +Latins frequently use 'we see' for 'we read'. See n. on Lael. 39, also +below, 69 _ut scriptum video_. -- GLORIANTEM: A. 292, _e_; G. 536, 527, +Rem. 1; H. 535, I. 4. Notice the change to the infinitive in _uti_ below. +-- SENEX: _i.e. cum senex essem_; so 27 _adulescens desiderabam_; 30 +_memini puer_. Plutarch (Cato 2) gives an account of Cato's study of Greek +in his old age. -- SIC: this word does not qualify _avide_, but refers on +to _quasi_, so that _sic ... quasi cupiens_ = 'thus, _viz._ like one +desiring'. Cf. n. on 12 _ita cupide fruebar quasi_; also 35 _tamquam ... +sic_. _Quasi_ serves to soften the metaphor in _sitim_; cf. n. on Lael. 3. +-- CUPIENS: after _quasi_ a finite verb _(cuperem)_ would have been more +usual, as in 12 _ita ... quasi divinarem_. Cf. however 22 _quasi +desipientem_. -- EA IPSA MIHI: for the juxtaposition of pronouns, which is +rather sought after in Latin, cf. 72 _ipsa suum eadem quae_. -- EXEMPLIS: = +_pro exemplis_, or _exemplorum loco_ (cf. n. on 21 _Lysimachum_), so that +those editors are wrong who say that we have here an example of the +antecedent thrust into the relative clause, as though _ea ipsa quibus +exemplis_ were put for _ea ipsa exempla quibus_. -- QUOD: = _ut cum iam +senex esset disceret_. -- SOCRATEN: Cic. probably learned this fact from +Plato's Menexenus 235 E and Euthydemus 272 C where Connus is named as the +teacher of Socrates in music. In the Euthydemus Socrates says that the boys +attending Connus' lessons laughed at him and called Connus [Greek: +gerontodidaskalon]. Cf. also Fam. 9, 22, 3 _Socraten fidibus docuit +nobilissimus fidicen; is Connus vocitatus est_; Val. Max. 8, 7, 8. -- IN +FIDIBUS: 'in the case of the lyre'. Tuecking quotes Quintilian 9, 2, 5 _quod +in fidibus fieri vidimus_. The Greek word _cithara_ is not used by Cicero +and does not become common in Latin prose till long after Cicero's time, +though he several times uses the words _citharoedus, citharista_, when +referring to Greek professional players. The word _lyra_ too is rare in +early prose; it occurs in Tusc. 1, 4 in connection with a Greek, where in +the same sentence _fides_ is used as an equivalent. -- AUDIREM: for _audire += legendo cognoscere_ see n. on 20. -- VELLEM: _sc. si possem_. -- +DISCEBANT ... ANTIQUI: doubts have been felt as to the genuineness of the +clause. In Tusc. 4, 3 a passage of Cato is quoted which refers to the use +of the _tibia_ among the ancient Romans; immediately afterwards the +antiquity of practice on the _fides_ at Rome is mentioned, though not +expressly on Cato's authority. The words cannot be said to be unsuited +either to the person or to the occasion. -- DISCEBANT ... FIDIBUS: the verb +_canere_, which means 'to play' as well as 'to sing', must be supplied; +_fidibus_ is then an ablative of the means or instrument. There is the same +ellipsis of _canere_ in the phrases _docere fidibus_ (Fam. 9, 22, 3) and +_scire fidibus_ (Terence, Eunuchus 133). Cf. Roby, 1217. + +P. 12. -- 27. NE ... QUIDEM: these two words together correspond to the +Greek [Greek: oude] ([Greek: ou] = ne, [Greek: de] = quidem), and are best +translated here by 'nor' rather than by 'not even'. The rendering 'not +even', though required by some passages, will often misrepresent the Latin. +-- LOCUS: _locus_ (like [Greek: topos] in Greek) is a rhetorical term with +a technical meaning. The pleader is to anticipate the arguments he may find +it necessary to use in different cases, and is to arrange them under +certain heads; each head is called a [Greek: topos] or _locus_, meaning +literally the _place_ where a pleader is to look for an argument when +wanted. Hence _locus_ came to mean 'a cut-and-dried argument' or, as here, +a 'commonplace'. It is often found in Cicero's rhetorical writings. -- NON +PLUS QUAM: 'any more than'. After the negative _ne_ above it is incorrect +to translate _non_ by a negative in English, though the repetition of the +negative is common enough in Latin, as in some English dialects. Cf. n. on +24. _Plus_ here = _magis_. -- QUOD EST: _sc. tibi_, 'what you have', so +Paradoxa 18 and 52 _satis esse, quod est_. -- AGAS: _quisquis_ is generally +accompanied by the indicative, as in Verg. Aen. 2, 49 _quidquid id est_ +etc.; see Roby, 1697; A. 309, _c_; G. 246, 4; H. 476, 3. The subjunctive is +here used, with the imaginary second person, to render prominent the +hypothetical and indefinite character of the verb statement. Roby, +1544-1546; Madvig, 370, 494, Obs. 5, (6). -- VOX: 'utterance'; the word is +used only of speeches in some way specially remarkable. -- CONTEMPTIOR: +'more despicable'. The passive participle of _contemno_ has the sense of an +adjective in -_bilis_, like _invictus_ and many others. -- MILONIS: the +most famous of the Greek athletes. He lived at the end of the sixth century +B.C., and the praises of his victories were sung by Simonides. It was under +his leadership that his native city Croton, in Magna Graecia, attacked and +destroyed Sybaris. Many stories are told by the ancients about his feats of +strength (see 33), and about his power of consuming food. He is said to +have been a prominent disciple of Pythagoras. -- ILLACRIMANS: beware of +spelling _lacrima_ with either _ch_ for _c_ or _y_ for _i_; these spellings +are without justification. The _y_ rests on the absurd assumption that the +Latins borrowed their word _lacrima_ straight from the Greek [Greek: +dakry]. -- DIXISSE: combinations like _dicitur dixisse_ are exceedingly +rare in good Latin. Cicero nearly always uses two different verbs; _i.e._ +he says _aiunt dicere_ and the like. -- AT: there is an ellipsis here such +as 'those young men's muscles are powerful but ...'. This elliptic use of +_at_ is common in sudden exclamations of grief, annoyance, surprise etc. -- +VERO: this is common in emphatic replies, whether the reply convey assent, +or, as here, a retort. The usage is well illustrated in Naegelsbach's +Stilistik, Sec. 197, 2. -- TAM: _sc. mortui sunt_. -- NUGATOR: _nugari_ = +[Greek: lerein], 'to trifle'. -- EX TE: Cato here identifies a man's person +with his soul and intellect, the body being regarded as a mere dress; cf. +Rep. 6, 26 _mens cuiusque is est quisque_. _Ex te_, literally, 'out of +yourself', _i.e._ 'from your real self's resources'. -- LATERIBUS: see n. +on 14. -- AELIUS: his _cognomen_ was Paetus; he was consul in 198, and +censor in 194 B.C. He was one of the earliest and most famous writers on +Roman Law. His great commentary on the XII tables is often referred to by +Cicero, who several times quotes Ennius' line about him. -- _egregie +cordatus homo catus Aelius Sextus_. -- TALE: _sc. dixit_. -- CORUNCANIUS: +n. on 15. -- P. CRASSUS: consul in 205 B.C. with the elder Africanus; +pontifex maximus from 212 to his death in 183. He was famous both as a +lawyer (see below, 50; also Liv. 30, 1, 5 _iuris pontifici peritissimus_) +and as a statesman (see 61). _Modo_ therefore covers a space of at least 33 +years, so that it cannot well be translated by our 'lately'; say rather +'nearer our time'. The amount of time implied by _modo_ and _nuper_ depends +entirely on the context; for _modo_ see Lael. 6 with note, for _nuper_ +below, n. on 61, where it is used of Crassus as _modo_ is here. -- +PRAESCRIBEBANTUR: the meaning is that these lawyers practised in old age as +jurisconsults, _i.e._ according to old Roman custom, they gave audience in +the early hours of the day to all who chose to consult them about legal +difficulties. -- EST PROVECTA: literally 'was carried forward', _i.e._ +'continued', 'remained'. Some wrongly take the phrase to mean 'made +progress', 'increased', a sense which would require the imperfect, +_provehebatur_. -- PRUDENTIA: here, as often, 'legal skill'. + +28. ORATOR: emphatic position. -- SENECTUTE: causal ablative; not 'in age', +but 'owing to age'. -- OMNINO -- SED TAMEN: 'no doubt -- but still'. +_Omnino_ (literally, 'altogether') has two almost exactly opposite uses -- +(1) the affirmative, cf. 9; (2) the concessive, which we have here and in +45. The circumstance which is contrasted with the admitted circumstance is +usually introduced by _sed tamen_ or _sed_ as in 45, but in Lael. 98 by the +less emphatic _autem_, while in Lael. 69 there is no introductory particle. +-- CANORUM ... SENECTUTE: _canorum_ implies the combination of power with +clearness in a voice. For the mixture of metaphors in _canorum splendescit_ +edd. quote Soph. Phil. 189 [Greek: acho telephanes]; Cic. De Or. 2, 60 +_illorum tactu orationem meam quasi colorari_. -- NESCIO QUO PACTO: +literally, 'I know not on what terms'; quite interchangeable with _nescio +quo modo_; cf. 82. A. 334, _e_; G. 469, Rem. 2; H. 529, 5, 3). -- ADHUC +NON: purposely put for _nondum_, because more emphasis is thus thrown both +on the time-word and on the negation. The common view that _nondum_ was +avoided because it would have implied that Cato _expected_ to lose the +_canorum_ is certainly wrong. -- ET VIDETIS: 'though you see my years'. The +adversative use of _et_ for _autem_ or _tamen_ after the negative is not +very uncommon in Cicero, but there are few examples of the usage in the +speeches. Cf. Lael. 26 _et quidquid_; so sometimes _que_ as above, 13; also +Lael. 30 _ut nullo egeat suaque omnia in se posita iudicet_. -- SENI: +Madvig's em. for _senis_. In Leg. 1, 11 allusion is made to the great +change which advancing years had wrought in Cicero's own impassioned +oratory. He was no doubt thinking of that change when he wrote the words we +have here. -- SERMO: 'style of speaking'; a word of wider meaning than +_oratio_, which only denotes public speaking. -- QUIETUS ET REMISSUS: +'subdued and gentle'. The metaphor in _remissus_ (which occurs also in 81) +refers to the loosening of a tight-stretched string; cf. _intentum_ etc. in +37 with n. With the whole passage cf. Plin. Ep. 3, 1, 2 _nam iuvenes +confusa adhuc quaedam et quasi turbata non indecent; senibus placida omnia +et ordinata conveniunt_. -- FACIT AUDIENTIAM: 'procures of itself a hearing +for it'. In the words _per se ipsa_ there is no doubt an allusion to the +custom at large meetings in ancient times whereby the _praeco_ or [Greek: +keryx] called on the people to listen to the speakers. Cf. Liv. 43, 16, 8 +_praeconem audientiam facere iussit_. Note that this is the only classical +use of the word _audientia_; it has not the meaning of our 'audience' +either in the sense of a body of listeners, or as used in the expression +'to give audience'. -- COMPOSITA ET MITIS: 'unimpassioned and smooth'. Cf. +Quintil. 6, 2, 9 _affectus igitur hos concitatos, illos mitis atque +compositos esse dixerunt_. -- QUAM ... NEQUEAS: 'and if you cannot practise +oratory yourself'. Evidently _quam_ refers to _oratio_ in the widest sense, +not to the special style of oratory mentioned in the last sentence. With +_si nequeas_ cf. _nisi exerceas_ in 21 with n. -- SCIPIONI ET LAELIO: '_a_ +Scipio and _a_ Laelius'; _i.e._ 'young friends such as Scipio and Laelius +are to me'. -- PRAECIPERE: here absolute, = _praecepta dare_; usually an +accusative follows. -- STUDIIS IUVENTUTIS: 'the zeal of youth'. _Studiis_ +does not imply here the deference of youth to age; the studia meant are the +_virtutum studia_ of 26. + +29. NE ... INSTRUAT: _docere_ is to impart knowledge, _instituere_ +(literally 'to ground' or 'establish') is to form the intellect and +character by means of knowledge, _instruere_, to teach the pupil how he may +bring his acquirements to bear in practical life. -- OFFICI MUNUS: +'performance of duty'; cf. 35, 72; Fam. 6, 14. In scores of passages in +Cicero we find _officium et munus_, 'duty and function', as in 34. -- CN. +ET P. SCIPIONES: in Cic. the plural is always used where two men of the +same family are mentioned and their names connected by et. In other writers +the plural is regular, the singular exceptional, as in Sall. Iug. 42, 1 +_Ti. et C. Gracchus_; Liv. 6, 22 _Sp. et L. Papirius_. Even with other +nouns the plural is regular; e.g. Cic. Phil. 2, 101 _arationes Campana et +Leontina_, though a little above we have _mense Aprili atque Maio_. [See +Draeger, Hist. Synt. 1 squared, p. 1.] Gnaeus (_not_ Cnaeus -- see n. on Lael. 3) +Cornelius Scipio was consul in 222 B.C. and was sent to Spain at the +outbreak of the Second Punic war to command against Hasdrubal. Publius was +consul in 218, and after being defeated by Hannibal at the Ticinus, joined +his brother in Spain. At first they won important successes, but in 212 +they were hemmed in and killed, after a crushing defeat. -- L. AEMILIUS: +the father of Macedonicus. He was consul in 219 and defeated the Illyrii; +but when consul again in 216 was defeated and killed at Cannae. See 75. For +_avi duo_ cf. 82. -- CONSENUERINT ... DEFECERINT: _coniunctio_, for which +see n. on 16. For the mood see A. 313, _a_; G. 608; H. 515, III. and n. 3. +-- ETSI: see n. on 2. -- SENECTUTE: MSS. and edd. have _senectutis_, but +the sense requires the abl. + +P. 13. -- 30. CYRUS: the elder. -- APUD XENOPHONTEM: 'in Xenophon'; so in +79 where see n.; also 31 _apud Homerum_. See Cyropaedia, 8, 7, 6. -- CUM +... ESSET: '_though_ he was very old', the clause depends on the following +words, not on the preceding. -- NEGAT: in Latin as in English the present +tense is used in quotations from books. -- METELLUM: was consul in 251 B.C. +and won a great victory over the Carthaginians at Panormus (Palermo); +consul again in 247. See below, 61. -- MEMINI ... ESSE: for the +construction of _memini_ with the present or perfect infinitive, see n. on +Lael. 2; also A. 288, _b_; G. 277, Rem.; H. 537, 1. -- PUER: the expression +is peculiar, being abbreviated from _quod puer vidi_ or something of the +kind. Quintil. 8, 3, 31 has _memini iuvenis_. In Rep. 1, 23 Cicero says +_memini me admodum adulescentulo_. -- VIGINTI ET DUOS: the commoner order +of the words is _duos et viginti_; see n. on 13 _centum ... annos_. -- EI +SACERDOTIO: 'that sacred college'; _i.e._ the pontifical college consisting +of the _pontifex maximus_ and the inferior _pontifices_. -- REQUIRERET: see +n. on 13 _quaereretur_. -- NIHIL: n. on 1, l. 1 _quid_. -- MIHI: dat. for +acc. to emphasize the person. -- ID: 'such a course'; cf. 82 _ut de me ipse +aliquid more senum glorier_. + +31. VIDETISNE UT: here _ne_ is the equivalent of _nonne_, as it often is in +the Latin of Plautus and Terence, and in the colloquial Latin of the +classical period. For _ut_ after _videtis_ see n. on 26. -- NESTOR: _e.g._ +in Iliad 1, 260 _et seq_. 11, 668 _et seq_. -- TERTIAM AETATEM: cf. Iliad +1, 250; Odyssey 3, 245. -- VERA ... SE: 'if he told the truth about +himself'. -- NIMIS: 'to any great extent'. _Insolens_ does not correspond +to our 'insolent'; it is almost the equivalent of _ineptus_, and has no +harsher meaning than 'odd', 'strange', 'in bad taste'. -- MELLE DULCIOR: +Homer, Il. 1, 249 [Greek: tou kai apo glosses melitos glykion rheen aude]. +In Or. 32 Cic. says of Xenophon (whom the Greeks called [Greek: Attike +melitta]) that his _oratio_ was _melle dulcior_. -- SUAVITATEM: notice the +change from _dulcior_, which seems to be made for the mere sake of variety, +since elsewhere (De Or. 3, 161) Cicero writes _dulcitudo orationis_. -- ET +TAMEN: see n. on 16. -- DUX ILLE: Agamemnon; see Iliad 2, 370 _et seq_. -- +NUSQUAM: _i.e._ nowhere in Homer. -- AIACIS: _i.e._ Aiax Telamonius, who +was the greatest Greek warrior while Achilles sulked (Iliad 2, 768). The +genitive after _similis_ is the rule in Cicero, though many examples of the +dative are found even with names of persons; see Madv. on Fin. 5, 12. + +32. SED: see n. on 26. -- REDEO AD ME: so 45; Lael. 96, Div. 1, 97 _ad +nostra iam redeo_; also below, 67 _sed redeo ad mortem impendentem._ -- +VELLEM: see n. on. 26. -- IDEM: A. 238; G. 331, Rem. 2; H. 371, 2. -- QUOD +CYRUS: see 30. -- QUEO: the verb _queo_ is rarely found without a negative, +_possum_ being used in positive sentences; cf. however Lael. 71 _queant_, +where see n. -- MILES etc.: see 10 above. -- FUERIM ... DEPUGNAVI: A. 336, +_b_; G. 630, Rem. 1; H. 524, 2, 2. _Depugnavi_ = 'fought the war out', or +'to the end'; cf. 38, _desudans; 44 devicerat_. -- ENERVAVIT: _enervare_ is +literally 'to take out the sinews'; cf. the expressions _nervos elidere_ +(Tusc. 2, 27) and _nervos incidere_ (Academ. 1, 35) both of which are used +in a secondary or metaphorical sense. -- CURIA: = _senatus_. -- ROSTRA: cf. +n. on 44 _devicerat_. -- FIERI: A. 331, _a_; G. 546, Rem. 1; H. 498, I. n. +-- ESSE: emphatic, = _vivere_; see n. on 21. -- EGO VERO etc.: 'I however +would rather that my old age should be shorter than that I should be old +before my time'. -- MALLEM: see n. on 26 _vellem_. + +P. 14. -- NEMO CUI FUERIM: cf. Plaut. Mercator 2, 2, 17 _quamquam negotium +est, numquam sum occupatus amico operam dare_. + +33. AT: as in 21, where see n. -- T. PONTI CENTURIONIS: the centurions were +generally men of powerful frame; cf. Veget. 2, 14 _centurio elegendus est, +qui sit magnis viribus et procera statura_; Philipp. 8, 26 _centuriones +pugnaces et lacertosos_; Horat. Sat. 1, 6, 72. -- MODERATIO: 'a right +application'; literally 'a governing'. -- TANTUM ... NITATUR: cf. 27 +_quidquid agas agere pro viribus_, also 434 _quantum possumus_. -- NE: the +affirmative _ne_, often wrongly written _nae_ on the absurd assumption that +the word passed into Latin from the Greek [Greek: nai], is in Cicero always +and in other writers nearly always followed by a pronoun. For the form of +the sentence here cf. Fam. 7, 1, 3 _ne ... nostrum_; Tusc. 3, 8 _ne ista_ +etc.; Fin. 3, 11 (almost the same words). -- PER STADIUM: 'over the +course'; cf. Athenaeus 10. 4, p. 412 E; Lucian, Charon, 8; Quint. 1, 9, 5 +_Milo quem vitulum_ _assueverat ferre, taurum ferebat_. As to Milo see n. +on 27. For _cum sustineret_ a modern would have been inclined to use a +participle, which was perhaps avoided here because of the close proximity +of another participle, _ingressus_. -- UMERIS: this spelling is better than +_humeris_, which is now abandoned by the best scholars. There is no sound +corresponding to the _h_ in words of the same origin in cognate languages +(see Curtius, Greek Etym. 1, 423 of the Eng. Trans.), and although +undoubtedly _h_ was wrongly attached to some Latin words, there is no +evidence to show that this happened to _umerus_. -- HAS: _i.e. Milonis_, +corresponding to _Pythagorae_. -- PYTHAGORAE: chosen no doubt because +tradition made Milo a Pythagorean; see n. on 27. -- MALIS: _i.e. si +optandum sit_ (cf. Plaut. Miles 170). For the ellipsis see n. on 26. -- +DENIQUE: 'in short'. -- UTARE: the second person of the present subjunctive +hortative is very rare, excepting when, as here, the command is general. +Had the command been addressed to a particular person, Cicero might have +written _ne requisieris_. Cf. Madvig, Opusc. 2, 105; Roby, 1596; A. 266, +_a, b_; G. 256, 2; H. 484, 4, n. 2. -- DUM ADSIT, CUM ABSIT: as both _dum_ +and _cum_ evidently have here a temporal sense, the subjunctives seem due +to the influence of the other subjunctives _utare_ and _requiras_. A. 342; +G. 666; H. 529, II. and n. 1, 1). -- NISI FORTE: see n. on 18. -- CURSUS: +for the metaphor cf. n. on 83; also Fam. 8, 13, 1 (a letter of Coelius) +_aetate iam sunt decursa_; pro Quint. 99 _acta aetas decursaque_. For +_certus_ cf. below, 72 _senectutis certus terminus_. -- AETATIS: here = +_vitae_; see n. on 5. -- EAQUE: this is a common way of introducing with +emphasis a fresh epithet or predicate. Often _idque_ ([Greek: kai touto]) +occurs, the pronoun being then adverbially used, and not in agreement with +the subject. Cf. n. on 65 _illius quidem_; also _neque ea_ in 22. -- +SIMPLEX: life is compared to a race, in which each man has to run once and +only once around the course. -- TEMPESTIVITAS: 'seasonableness'; cf. 5 +_maturitate tempestiva_, with n. -- INFIRMITAS: the context shows that not +physical but intellectual weakness is meant; so in Acad. 2, 9 _infirmissimo +tempore aetatis_; Fin. 5, 43 _aetas infirma_. -- FEROCITAS: 'exultation', +'high spirit'. -- IAM CONSTANTIS AETATIS: _i.e._ middle age, the +characteristic of which is _stability_; cf. 76 _constans aetas quae media +dicitur_; also 60; Tac. A. 6, 46 _composita aetas_. For _iam_ cf. Suet. +Galb. 4 _aetate nondum constanti_; pro Caelio 41 _aetas iam corroborata_; +Fam. 10, 3, 2 _aetas iam confirmata_. -- MATURITAS: 'ripeness', _i.e._ of +intellect or judgment. -- SUO: G. 295, Rem. 1; H. 449, 2. + +34. AUDIRE TE ARBITROR: 'I think that news reaches you'. -- HOSPES: see n. +on 28 _orator_. -- AVITUS: there was a strong friendship between the elder +Africanus and Masinissa, king of Numidia, who in 206 B.C. passed over from +the Carthaginian alliance to that of the Romans. He was richly rewarded by +Scipio, and remained loyal to Rome till his death. He lived to welcome the +younger Scipio in Africa during the last Punic war, and to see the utter +ruin of Carthage. See Sall. Iug. 5, 4. For the expression _hospes tuus +avitus_ cf. Plautus, Miles 135 _paternum suom hospitem_. -- CUM INGRESSUS +etc.: _i.e._ protracted exercise of one kind did not weary him. -- CUM ... +EQUO: though Cic. says _in equo vehi, esse, sedere_ etc. the preposition +here is left out because a mere ablative of manner or means is required to +suit the similar ablative _pedibus_. So Div. 2, 140 _equus in quo vehebar_, +'the horse on which I rode'; but ib. 1, 58 _equo advectus ad ripam_, +'brought to the bank _by the aid_ of a horse'. -- SICCITATEM: 'wiriness', +literally 'dryness' or freedom from excessive perspiration, colds and the +like; cf. Tusc. 5, 99 _siccitatem quae consequitur continentiam in victu_; +Catull. 23, 12 _corpora sicciora cornu_. -- REGIS: here = _regia_. -- +OFFICIA ET MUNERA: see n. on 29. -- NE SINT: 'grant that age has no +strength'. This formula of concession for argument's sake is frequent in +Cicero, who often attaches to it _sane_. A. 266, _d_; G. 610; H. 515, III. +-- SENECTUTE = _senibus_: see n. on 26. -- LEGIBUS ET INSTITUTIS: 'by +statute and precedent'. -- MUNERIBUS EIS etc.: chiefly military service. -- +NON MODO ... SED NE QUIDEM: when a negative follows _non modo_ these words +have the force of _non modo non_, a negative being borrowed from the +negative in the subsequent clause. But often _non modo non_ is written; the +negative after modo is then more emphatic, being independent. Here _non +modo non quod non_ would have had a harsh sound. A. 149, _e_; G. 484, 3 and +Rem. 1.; H. 552, 2. -- QUOD: adv. acc. (see n. on 1 _quid_). Cf. Liv. 6, 15 +_sed vos id cogendi estis_. + +35. AT: as in 21, where see n. In his reply Cato adopts the same form as +that in which the objection is urged, _at id quidem_ etc. So in 68 _at +senex ... at est ..._ + +P. 15. -- COMMUNE VALETUDINIS: 'common to weak health', i.e. to all in a +weak state of health. _Valetudo_ means in itself neither good nor bad +health; the word takes its coloring from the context. -- FILIUS IS QUI: a +pause must be made at _filius_; the sense is not 'that son of Africanus who +adopted you', but 'the son of Africanus, I mean the man who adopted you'. +-- QUOD NI ITA FUISSET: 'now if this had not been so'; a phrase like _quod +cum ita sit_ and _hoc ita dici_. Cf. also 67 _quod ni ita accideret_; 82 +_quod ni ita se haberet_. -- ALTERUM ... CIVITATIS: _illud_ is put for +_ille_, by attraction to _lumen_. Roby, 1068. A. 195, _d_; G. 202, Rem. 5; +H. 445, 4. Cf. Fin. 2, 70 _Epicurus, hoc enim vestrum lumen est_, +'Epicurus, for _he_ is your shining light'. -- VITIA: 'defects'. -- +DILIGENTIA: scarcely corresponds to our 'diligence'; it rather implies +minute, patient attention; 'painstaking'. + +36. HABENDA ... VALETUDINIS: 'attention must be paid to health'; so +_valetudini consulere_ (Fam. 16, 4, 3) _operam dare_ (De Or. I, 265) +_indulgere_ (Fam. 16, 18, 1) _valetudinem curare_ often; cf. also Fam. 10, +35, 2; Fin. 2, 64. -- TANTUM: restrictive, = 'only so much'; so in 69, and +often. -- POTIONIS: _cibus et potio_ is the regular Latin equivalent for +our 'food and drink'; see below, 46; also Tusc. 5, 100; Fin. 1, 37; Varro +de Re Rust. 1, 1, 5. -- ADHIBENDUM: _adhibere_ has here merely the sense of +'to employ' or 'to use'. Cf. Fin. 2, 64. -- NON: we should say 'and not' or +'but not'; the Latins, however, are fond of _asyndeton_, called +_adversativum_, when two clauses are contrasted. -- MENTI ... ANIMO: +properly _mens_ is the intellect, strictly so called, _animus_ intellect +and feeling combined, but the words are often very loosely used. They often +occur together in Latin; Lucretius has even _mens animi_. -- INSTILLES: see +n. on 21 _exerceas_. -- ET: 'moreover'. -- EXERCITANDO: in good Latin the +verb _exercitare_ is rare except in _exercitatus_, which stands as +participle to _exerceo, exercitus_ being unused. The word seems to have +been chosen here as suiting _exercitationibus_ better than _exercendo_ +would. So in 47 _desideratio_ is chosen rather than _desiderium_, to +correspond with the neighboring _titillatio_. -- AIT: _sc. esse_; the +omission with _aio_ is rare, though common with _dico, appello_ etc.; see +n. on 22. -- COMICOS: not 'comic' in our sense, but = _in comoediis_, +'represented in comedy'. So Rosc. Am. 47 _comicum adulescentem_, 'the young +man of comedy'. The passage of Caecilius (see n. on 24 _Statius_) is more +fully quoted in Lael. 99. -- CREDULOS: in almost every Latin comedy there +is some old man who is cheated by a cunning slave. -- SOMNICULOSAE: the +adj. contains a diminutive noun stem (_somniculo-_). -- PETULANTIA: +'waywardness'. -- NON PROBORUM: Cic. avoids _improborum_ as being too +harsh; with exactly similar feeling Propertius 3, 20, 52 (ed. Paley) says +_nec proba Pasiphae_ for _et improba P._ Cf. Off. 3, 36 _error hominum non +proborum_. -- ISTA: implying contempt. A. 102, _c_; G. 291, Rem.; H. 450, +1. n. and foot-note 4. -- DELIRATIO: 'dotage'; a rare word, used by Cic. +only here and in Div. 2, 90. + +37. ROBUSTOS: 'sturdy'; implying that the sons were grown up. -- TANTAM: +_sc. quantam habuit_; only a little more emphatic than _magnam_ would have +been; see n. on 52. -- APPIUS: see n. on 16. -- REGEBAT: the _pater +familias_ in early Roman times was an almost irresponsible ruler over his +children and household. For a full discussion of the _patria potestas_ see +Coulanges, Ancient City, Bk. II. Ch. 8; Maine, Ancient Law, Ch. 5; Hadley, +Introd. to Roman Law, Chapters 5 and 6. -- ET ... SENEX: 'though both blind +and old'. -- INTENTUM: commonly used of _animus_, like the opposite +_remissus_ (28). -- TENEBAT etc.: the _patria potestas_ is often denoted by +the word _imperium_; cf. De Invent. 2, 140 _imperium domesticum_. -- +VIGEBAT etc.: 'in him ancestral spirit and principles were strong'. While +_animus patrius_ here evidently means the strong will for which the +patrician Claudii were proverbial (as _e.g._ in Rosc. Am. 46 _intellegere +qui animus patrius sit in liberos_) it indicates the feeling of a +particular father for his children. + +P. 16. -- 38. ITA: = _ea lege_ 'on these conditions, viz. ...', the clause +with _si_ being an explanation of _ita_. This correspondence of _ita ... +si_ is common in Cicero; see n. on 12 _ita ... quasi_. Here translate 'age +can only be in honor if it fights for itself'. -- SE IPSA: cf. Cic. Acad. +2, 36 _veritas se ipsa defendet_; see also the n. on 4. -- SI ... EST: 'if +it has passed into bondage to nobody'. _Mancipium_ is a piece of property; +_emancipare_ is to pass a piece of property out of its owner's hands. The +word acquired two exactly opposite meanings. When used of a slave, or of a +son _in patria potestate_, who was legally subject to many of the same +ordinances as a slave, it means 'to set free', unless, as in Fin. I, 24 +_filium in adoptionem D. Silano emancipaverat_, some person is mentioned to +whom the original owner makes over his rights. But in Plaut. Bacchid. 1, 1, +90 _mulier, tibi me emancupo_ the sense is 'I enslave myself to you', +_i.e._ 'I pass myself out of my own power into yours'. So in the well-known +passage of Horace, Epod. 9, 12 (of Antony) _emancipatus feminae_ 'enslaved +to a woman'; cf Cic. Phil. 2, 51 _venditum atque emancipatum tribunatum_. +-- SENILE ALIQUID ... ALIQUID ADULESCENTIS: chiasmus. For the sense cf. 33 +_ferocitas iuvenum ... senectutis maturitas_. -- QUOD QUI SEQUITUR: 'and he +who strives after this', _i.e._ to combine the virtues of age and youth. +Cf. Aesch. Sept. 622 [Greek: geronta ton noun sarka d' hebosan phuei] -- +MIHI ... EST IN MANIBUS: 'I have on hand', 'am busy with'. Cf. n. on 22. -- +ORIGINUM: as to Cato's literary labors see Introd. -- OMNIA COLLIGO: +referring to the materials Cato was collecting for his 'Origines'. -- +QUASCUNQUE DEFENDI: 'as many as I have conducted'. _Defendere causam_ here +is simply to act as counsel in a case, whether the client be defendant or +plaintiff. So in Lael. 96 and often. -- NUNC CUM MAXIME: 'now more than +ever', [Greek: nun malista]. The phrase is elliptic; in full it would be +'_cum maxime conficio orationes, nunc conficio_', 'when I most of all +compose speeches, I now compose them'; _i.e._ 'the time when I most of all +compose is now'. The words _cum maxime_ generally follow _tum_ or _nunc_ +and add emphasis to those words, but are sometimes used alone to express +the ideas 'then' and 'now' more emphatically than _tum_ and _nunc_ would. +Cf. Ver. 4, 82; Tac. Ann. 4, 27. The orators were in the habit of working +over their speeches carefully for publication and preservation. -- IUS +AUGURIUM etc.: 'the law pertaining to the augurs and pontifices'; _i.e._ +the principles applied by them in the performance of their duties. The +pontifices had the general oversight of religious observances. See Dict. of +Antiq. -- CIVILE: the meaning of _ius civile_ varies according to the +context. Here it is the secular law as opposed to the sacred law, as in 50; +sometimes it is the whole body of Roman law as opposed to the law of other +states; often, again, it is the older portion of the Roman law as opposed +to the newer or 'equity' portion. -- COMMEMORO: 'I say over to myself'. In +Cicero _commemoro_ is a verb of speaking, and never has the meaning of +_recordor_ or _memini_. -- CURRICULA: see nn. on 33. -- MAGNO OPERE: better +so written than in one word _magnopere_; so _maximo, minimo, nimio opere_. +-- ADSUM AMICIS: 'I act as counsel to my friends'. This legal sense of +_adesse_ is common. -- FREQUENS: literally the word means 'crowded' +(connected with _farcire_ 'to cram' or 'to crowd together'), hence +_frequens senatus_ and the like phrases. Then _frequens_ comes to be used +of actions or events that often recur; _e.g._ Orat. 15 _Demosthenes +frequens Platonis auditor_; De Or. 1, 243 _frequens te audivi_. On the use +of the adj. here see A. 191; G. 324, Rem. 6; H. 443. -- ULTRO: 'unasked', +'of my own motion', a reference to the well-known story that, whatever +subject was discussed, Cato gave as his opinion '_delenda est Carthago_'. +See Introd. -- TUEOR: 'advocate', 'support'. -- LECTULUS: a couch usually +stood in the Roman study, on which the student reclined while reading, +composing or dictating, or even writing. Cf. De Or. 3, 17, _in eam exedram +venisse in qua Crassus lectulo posito recubuisset, cumque eum in +cogitatione defixum esse sensisset, statim recessisse ..._; Suet. Aug. 78 +_lecticula lucubratoria_. -- EA IPSA COGITANTEM: = _de eis ipsis cog._: so +Acad. 2, 127 _cogitantes supera atque caelestia_, and often. -- ACTA VITA: +'the life I have led'; cf. 62 _honeste acta superior aetas_; so Tusc. 1, +109; Fam. 4, 13, 4. -- VIVENTI: dative of reference. A. 235; G. 354; H. +384, 4, n. 3. 'As regards one who lives amid these pursuits and tasks'. -- +ITA SENSIM etc.: _sensim sine sensu_ (observe the alliteration) is like +_mentes dementis_ in 16, where see n. _Sensim_ must have meant at one time +'perceptibly', then 'only just perceptibly', then 'gradually' and almost +'imperceptibly'. + +39. QUOD ... DICUNT: not strictly logical, being put for _quod careat, ut +dicunt_. In cases like this the verb of saying is usually in the +subjunctive. Cf. Roby, 1746; A. 341, Rem.; G. 541, Rem. 2; H. 516, II. 1. +The indicative here is more vivid and forcible. -- MUNUS ... AUFERT: to say +that a gift robs one of anything is of course an _oxymoron_; cf. n. on 16 +_mentes dementis_. -- AETATIS: almost = _senectutis_: cf. n. on 45. -- ID +QUOD EST etc.: 'the greatest fault of youth'; _i.e._ the love of pleasure. +In this passage _voluptas_ indicates pleasure of a sensual kind, its +ordinary sense, _delectatio, oblectatio_ etc. being used of the higher +pleasures. In 51, however, we have _voluptates agricolarum_. -- ACCIPITE: +'hear'; so _dare_ often means 'to tell'. With _accipere_ in this sense cf. +the similar use of [Greek: apodechesthai]. -- ARCHYTAE: Archytas (the +subject of Horace's well-known ode, 1, 28) was a contemporary and friend of +Plato, and a follower of the Pythagorean philosophy. He wrote philosophical +works, and was also famous as a mathematician and astronomer, besides being +the leading statesman and general of the commonwealth of Tarentum. For +another saying of Archytas, cf. Lael. 88. -- TRADITA EST: 'was imparted to +me', _i.e._ by word of mouth. -- CUM ... TARENTI: 'when as a young man I +stayed at Tarentum'. For _adulescens_ cf. n. on 26 _senes_. -- NULLAM ... +PESTEM etc.: cf. Lael. 34 _pestem ... cupiditatem_; Off. 2, 9 _consuetudo +... honestatem ab utilitate secernens, qua nulla pernicies maior hominum +vitae potuit afferri_. -- CAPITALIOREM: 'more deadly'; _caput_ was often +equivalent to _vita_, so that _capitalis_ comes to mean 'affecting the +life'. + +P. 17. -- 40. HINC etc.: cf. Cic. Hortensius fragm. _quod turpe damnum, +quod dedecus est quod non evocetur atque eliciatur voluptate?_ Observe the +singular _patriae_ followed by the plural _rerum publicarum_; the plural of +_patria_ is rare. On the significance of this passage see Lecky, Hist. of +European Morals, I. p. 211, n. (Am. ed.). -- CUM HOSTIBUS etc.: attributive +phrase; cf. Phil. 12, 27 _colloquia cum acerrimis hostibus_. -- SCELUS: +this word looks chiefly to the criminal intention, whether it be carried +into action or not, _malum_, _facinus_ to the completed crime; _flagitium_ +is sin rather than crime, _Facinus_ in sense is often rather narrower and +lighter than _scelus_; cf. Verr. 5, 170 _facinus est vincire civem Romanum, +scelus verberare, prope parricidium necare_. -- IMPELLERET: _sc. homines_; +so _nos_ is omitted after _iubebat_ below. -- EXCITARI: 'stirred up'. In 39 +and 41 we have the verb _in-citare_; for the difference between the two +verbs cf. Qu. Fr. 1, 1, 45 _haec non eo dicuntur, ut te oratio mea +dormientem excitasse, sed potius ut currentem incitasse videatur_. -- +HOMINI ... DEDISSET: cf. Acad. 1, 7 _nec ullum arbitror maius aut melius a +dis datum munus homini_. Notice _homini_ 'man', in the same sense as +_hominibus_, above. -- MUNERI AC DONO: the two words _munus_ and _donum_ +are often found together; the difference in meaning is hardly perceptible. +_Donum_ implies the fact of giving, _munus_ the generosity of the giver. -- +TAM ... INIMICUM: notice the separation of _tam_ from _inimicum_. + +41. LIBIDINE: = [Greek: epithymia]; temperantia = [Greek: sophrosyne]. +_Dominari_ is a very strong word, 'to tyrannize'; _dominatio_ = [Greek: +tyrannis]. For _locum_ cf. Lael. 52 _in tyranni vita nullus locus est +amicitiae_. -- CONSISTERE: 'find a foothold'. Cf. Fin. 4, 69 _sapientia +pedem ubi poneret non habebat_. -- FINGERE ANIMO: 'to imagine'. -- TANTA +... QUANTA ... MAXIMA: 'the greatest that could possibly be enjoyed'. The +form of expression is common, _e.g._ Lael. 74 _tanta quanta maxima potest +esse distantia_. -- TAM DIU DUM: this is not exactly equivalent to the +ordinary _tam diu quam_, but there is ellipsis -- 'so long as this, I mean +while, etc.'. Cf. Cat. 3, 16 _tam diu, dum urbis moenibus continebatur_; +Off. 1, 2 _tam diu ... quoad ..._ -- MENTE ... RATIONE ... COGITATIONE: 'by +thought, by reasoning, by imagination'. _Cogitatio_ like [Greek: dianoia] +has often the sense of 'imagination'. The close juxtaposition of words +nearly synonymous is quite characteristic of Cicero's Latin. -- QUIDEM: +concessive, as in 32 and often. -- MAIOR ATQUE LONGIOR: 'very intense and +protracted'. Superlatives might have been expected, in view of _quanta +percipi posset maxima_ above. _Longus_ in the sense of 'long-continued' is +rare in Ciceronian Latin, excepting when, as in 66 _longa aetate_, it is +joined with a word distinctly referring to time. For the general drift of +the passage cf. Cic. Hortensius (fragment) _congruere cum cogitatione magna +voluptas corporis non potest; quis enim, cum utatur voluptate ea qua nulla +possit maior esse, attendere animum, inire rationes, cogitare omnino +quidquam potest_? -- ANIMI LUMEN: a common metaphor; _e.g._ Cic. Rep. 6, 12 +_tu, Africane, ostendas oportebit patriae lumen animi tui_. Cf. 36 _haec +... exstinguuntur_; also below, 42 _mentis oculos_. -- C. PONTIO: C. +Pontius Herennius, the father of C. Pontius Telesinus who defeated the +Romans at the Caudine Forks during the Second Samnite war, in 321 B.C. The +father is several times mentioned by Livy 9, cc. 1 and 3; cf. especially 1, +Sec. 2 _C. Pontium, patre longe prudentissimo natum_. -- NEARCHUS: mentioned +by Plutarch, Cato 2, as a Pythagorean and friend of Cato. -- PERMANSERAT: +_i.e._ during the siege of Tarentum. -- INTERFUISSET: not in accordance +with English idiom; cf. n. on 4 _putassent_; also 44 _devicerat_. -- PLATO +etc.: although Plato made two journeys to Italy and Sicily (or, as some +authorities say, three) it is scarcely likely that he was present at +Tarentum in the year mentioned, 349 B.C., two years before his death, when +he was of advanced age. The latest date assigned by other authorities for +Plato's last visit to the West is 361 B.C. -- REPERIO: _sc. in annalibus_; +so in 15; cf. _videmus_ in 26. + +42. EFFICERET: _efficeret, liberet_, and _oporteret_ can be properly +rendered into English only by the present tense. Although these verbs +express circumstances which _continue_, since the general effect of old age +is being described, they are thrown into the past to suit the past tense +_dicebam_ or _dixi_ which, though not expressed, is really the principal +verb. Cf. below, 62, 78. -- CONSILIUM: 'deliberation'. + +P. 18. -- UT ITA DICAM: this softens the metaphor, as _quasi_ or _quasi +quidam_ often does, and as [Greek: hoion], [Greek: hosper] do in Greek [but +not [Greek: hos epos eipein], which is often wrongly said to be the +equivalent of _ut ita dicam_; see n. on Lael. 2]. The phrase _mentis_ or +_animi aciem praestringere_ often occurs without anything to soften the +metaphor; _e.g._ Fin. 4, 37. -- NEC HABET etc: 'and has no relations with +virtue'. The use of _commercium_ in the metaphorical sense is common. -- +INVITUS: see ref. on 38 _frequens_. -- FECI UT: a periphrasis not unusual. +A. 332, _e_; G. 557; H. 498, II. n. 2. -- T. FLAMININI: see n. on 1, l. 1. +-- L. FLAMININUM: as praetor he commanded the fleet under his brother Titus +during the Macedonian war; in 192 B.C. he was consul. _Septem annis_ +denotes seven _complete_ years (cf. n. on 19), as Cato was censor in 184. A +reference to Livy 39, 43, 2 will show that Cicero borrows his account of +Flamininus' crime from the old annalist Valerius Antias. Livy also quotes +(39, 42, 7) an account of the matter given by Cato himself in a speech, +which is even more disgraceful to Flamininus. -- EICEREM: the phrase +commonly used is not _eicere_, but _movere, aliquem senatu. Notare_ and +_nota (censoria)_ are technically used of degradation or disfranchisement +inflicted by the censors. For the spelling see Roby, 144, 2; A. 10, _d_; H. +36, 4 and footnote 1. -- FUISSET: for the mood see A. 342; G. 666; H. 529, +II. and n. 1, 1); for the tense see Roby, 1491; A. 324, _a_; G. 233, 2; H. +471, 4. -- CUM ... GALLIA: not 'when he was consul in Gaul' but 'when he +was in Gaul during his consulship'. _Cum_ with the imperfect or pluperfect +subjunctive often has a sense differing very little from that of _cum_ with +the imperfect or pluperfect indicative. No doubt when the usage originally +arose, the clause with _cum_ was regarded as expressing the _cause_ of the +action or event denoted by the principal verb; here the presence of F. in +Gaul might be regarded as _a cause_ of the crime. It is more than doubtful, +however, whether in actual use the subjunctive in these phrases continued +to carry with it to Latin readers any idea of cause. See Roby, 1720, +Kennedy, 211; also A. 325, 323 and footnote 1; G. 586 with Rem.; H. 521, +II. 2 and footnote 1. -- EXORATUS EST: 'was persuaded'; cf. Liv. 39, 43. -- +SECURI FERIRET: the story was that L. Flamininus himself acted as +executioner. -- EORUM QUI ... ESSENT: the subjunctive because of the +class-notion, 'of such persons as were'. -- TITO CENSORE: _i.e._ in 189 +B.C.; see n. on 1. -- FLACCO: L. Valerius Flaccus was the life-long friend +of Cato, and his colleague in the consulship and in the censorship. He +entirely favored Cato's political views. See Introd. -- IMPERI DEDECUS: +Flamininus was at the time Roman governor of the district. + +43. AUDIVI E: Cic. uses _audire ex, ab_, and _de aliquo_, almost +indifferently. -- PORRO: 'in turn'; literally 'farther on', here = 'farther +back'; cf. Livy 27, 51. -- C. FABRICIUM: see n. on 15. -- CINEA: the famous +diplomatist, minister of Pyrrhus. He was a pupil of Demosthenes and himself +one of the most famous orators of his time. Cineas was the ambassador who +tried to negotiate peace on the occasion mentioned in 16. -- SE SAPIENTEM +PROFITERETUR: the omission of _esse_ is common in such phrases; _e.g._ Fin. +5, 13 _Strato physicum se voluit_. Epicurus, who is here meant (born 342 +B.C., died 270), was blamed for calling himself [Greek: sophos] or +_sapiens_. Others, says Cicero, who had borne the title had waited for the +public to confer it on them (Fin. 2, 7). -- EUMQUE: 'and yet he'; cf. n. on +13 _vixitque_. -- FACEREMUS: for the tense cf. n. on 42 _efficeret_; also +_expeteretur_ below. -- AD ... REFERENDA: 'ought to be judged by the +standard of pleasure', _i.e._ anything which brings pleasure may be +regarded as good, and its opposite bad. So in Greek [Greek: epanapherein ti +eis ti]. On the moral teachings of Epicurus consult Zeller, Stoics, +Epicureans, and Sceptics, Ch. 19; Ueberweg, History of Philosophy, Sec. 59; +Guyan, La morale d'Epicure et ses rapports avec les doctrines +contemporaines. -- CURIUM ... CORUNCANIUM: see n. on 15. -- ID ... +PERSUADERETUR: intransitive verbs are used in the passive only impersonally +(Roby, 1422; A. 230; G. 199, Rem. 1; H. 301, 1); when so used the dative +may follow as in the active (see Madvig, 244, _b_; G. 208; H. 384, 5). A +neuter pronoun in the singular sometimes, as here, accompanies the passive, +and may be regarded as an adverbial accusative of respect or extent, or as +a nominative qualifying the impersonal subject. The former is probably the +real construction. Cf. Roby, 1423, and Madvig, 229, _b_, Obs. 1. -- +SAMNITIBUS: then in alliance with Pyrrhus. -- VIXERAT ... CUM: not to be +taken literally of living in the same house; the phrase merely indicates +close friendship. In Acad. 2, 115 Cic. writes _Diodoto qui mecum vivit tot +annos, qui habitat apud me_, clearly showing that the phrases _vivere cum +aliquo_ and _habitare apud aliquem_ are not equivalent. -- P. DECIO: this +is P. Decius Mus, who at the battle of Sentinum in 295 gave his life as a +propitiatory offering to the powers of the unseen world, in order to bring +victory to the Roman arms. His father had sacrificed himself in the same +way at the battle of Veseris (close to Vesuvius) in 340, fought against the +Latins and Campanians. -- DEVOVERAT: Liv. 10, 28, 13 (speech of Decius) +_datum hoc: nostro generi est ut luendis periculis publicis piacula simus; +iam ego mecum hostium legiones mactandas Telluri et dis Manibus dabo_. -- +ALIQUID etc.: 'some principle'; in his philosophical works Cicero often +confounds the Epicureans by quoting the action of the Decii and others like +it, as showing that pleasure is not the end of existence. Cf. especially +Fin. 2, 61 _P. Decius cum se devoverat et equo admisso in mediam aciem +Latinorum irruebat, aliquid de voluptatibus suis cogitabat?_ Cf. also +below, 75. With regard to _natura_ see n. on 5. -- SUA SPONTE: 'for its own +sake'; 'on its own account'. Cf. Leg. 1, 45 _vera et falsa sua sponte non +aliena iudicantur_, where a few lines later _sua natura_ occurs as +equivalent to _sua sponte_. -- EX PETERETUR: em. for _peteretur_ in the +MSS. The words _expetere_, _expetendum_ are technically used in Cicero's +philosophical works to express the Greek [Greek: haireisthai], [Greek: +haireton] as applied to the _finis_ or [Greek: telos], the supreme aim of +moral action. _Pulchrum_ above is a translation of the Greek [Greek: +kalon], a term constantly applied to the [Greek: telos], particularly by +the Stoics. -- SPRETA ET CONTEMPTA: the first word is much the stronger of +the two; _spernere_ is [Greek: kataphronein], 'to scorn'; _contemnere_ +[Greek: oligoreisthai], 'to make light of', 'hold of no account'. +_Contemnere_ is often no stronger in sense than _omittere_, 'to pass by, +neglect'. Cf. 65 _contemni_, _despici_. -- OPTIMUS QUISQUE: see A. 93, _c_; +G. 305; H. 458, 1. + +P. 19. -- 44. CRUDITATE: 'indigestion'. -- INSOMNIIS: 'sleeplessness'; the +singular _insomnium_ occurs only once in prose (Tac. Ann. 11, 4). +_Insomnia, ae_ is found only in poetry and late prose. -- DIVINE: this word +in Cic. often means nothing more than 'splendidly', 'extraordinarily'. -- +ESCAM MALORUM: 'an enticement to evil' (_esca_ = _ed-ca_, from the root of +_edo_). Plato in the Timaeus 69 D (a dialogue translated into Latin by +Cicero, a fragment of whose translation is still preserved) has [Greek: +hedonen megiston kakou delear]. Cf. also Cic. Hortensius fr. 76 (ed. Halm) +_voluptates corporis quae vere et graviter a Platone dictae sunt illecebrae +esse atque escae malorum_. -- MODICIS: for the sake of variety Cic. chooses +this, not _moderatis_, as the opposite of _immoderatis_. Trans. 'a moderate +amount of goodfellowship'. -- M.F. = _Marci filium_. -- DEVICERAT: +pluperfect where a modern would incline to use a perfect. The battle +referred to is that of Mylae, fought in 260; its memory was perpetuated by +the decking of the _forum_ with the _rostra_ of the captured ships; the +_columna rostrata_ bore a long inscription, a restored version of which +still exists. -- CENA: so best spelt; some good texts still print _caena_, +but _coena_ is decidedly wrong, being based on the fiction that the Latin +borrowed the Greek word [Greek: koine] and turned it into _coena_. -- CEREO +FUNALI: 'the torch-light'; _cereo_, the em. of Mommsen for _crebro_; the +_funale_ was a torch composed of withs or twigs twisted into a rope +(_funis_) and dipped in pitch or oil. -- SIBI ... SUMPSERAT: Cic. seems to +think that Duillius assumed these honors on his own authority. This was +probably not the case; they were most likely conferred on him by a vote of +the _comitia tributa_. Cf. Liv. epit. 17 _C. Duillius primus omnium +Romanorum ducum navalis victoriae duxit triumphum, ob quam causam ei +perpetuus quoque honos habitus est, ut revertenti a cena tibicine canente +funale praeferretur_. No other instance is known where these particular +distinctions were decreed; the nearest parallel lies in the right accorded +to Paulus Macedonicus and to Pompeius to wear the triumphal _toga picta_ +for life on each occasion of the _ludi_. It may be conjectured that the +music and the torch were part of the ceremony on the evening of a triumph +when the _triumphator_ was escorted home. Cf. Florus 1, 18, 10, ed. Halm. +-- NULLO EXEMPLO: 'without any precedent'. -- PRIVATUS: any person is +_privatus_ who is not actually in office at the moment referred to, whether +he has led a public life or not. -- LICENTIAE: a strong word is used to +mark the heinousness of Duillius' supposed offence against ancestral +custom. + +45. ALIOS: _sc. nomino_. -- PRIMUM: the corresponding _deinde_ is omitted, +as often. -- SODALIS: the _sodalitates_ or _sodalitia_, brotherhoods for +the perpetuation of certain rites accompanied with feasting, were +immemorial institutions at Rome. The clause _sodalitates ... acceptis_ must +not be taken to mean that Cicero supposed these brotherhoods to have been +first instituted in the time of Cato; it is only introduced to show that +Cato, so far from being averse to good living, assisted officially in the +establishment of new clubs. Most of the _sodalitates_ were closely +connected with the _gens_; all members of a _gens_ were _sodales_ and met +together to keep up the old _sacra_, but in historical times fictitious +kinship largely took the place of real kinship, and feasting became almost +the sole raison d'etre of these clubs. [See Mommsen's treatise _De +collegiis et sodaliciis Romanis_] The parallel of the London City Companies +readily suggests itself. The national _sodalitates_ or priesthoods such as +those of the _Sodales Titii, Luperci, Augustales_ etc. were somewhat +different. -- AUTEM: for the form of the parenthesis cf. 7. -- MAGNAE +MATRIS: the image of Cybele was brought to Rome in 204 B.C. from Pessinus +in Phrygia. See Liv. 29, 10. The _Sacra_ are called _Idaea_ from Mount Ida +in Phrygia, which was a great centre of the worship of Cybele. _Acceptis_, +sc. _in civitatem_; the worship of strange gods was in principle illegal at +Rome unless expressly authorized by the State. -- IGITUR: the construction +of the sentence is broken by the introduction of the parenthesis, and a +fresh start is made with _epulabar igitur. Igitur_ is often thus used, like +our 'well then', to pick up the broken thread of a sentence. So often _sed_ +or _ergo_. -- FERVOR: Cf. Hor. Od. 1, 16, 22 _me quoque pectoris temptavit +in dulci iuventa fervor_. -- AETATIS, QUA PROGREDIENTE: 'belonging to that +time of life, but as life advances'. The word _aetas_ has really two senses +here; in the first place it is _bona aetas_ or _iuventus_ (cf. 39 where +_aetas = senectus_), in the second place _vita_ (for which see n. on 5). -- +NEQUE ENIM: the _enim_ refers to _modice_. -- COETU ... SERMONIBUS: for the +order of the words see n. on 1 _animi tui_. -- METIEBAR: cf. n. on 43 +_referenda_. -- ACCUBITIONEM: a _vox Ciceroniana_, rarely found in other +authors. -- VITAE CONIUNCTIONEM: 'a common enjoyment of life'. -- TUM ... +TUM: here purely temporal, 'sometimes ... sometimes'; often however = 'both +... and'; cf. 7. -- COMPOTATIONEM etc.: cf. Epist. ad Fam. 9, 24, 3. +_Compotatio_ = [Greek: symposion]; _concenatio_ = [Greek: syndeipnon]. -- +IN EO GENERE: see n. on 4. -- ID: _i.e._ eating and drinking. + +46. TEMPESTIVIS ... CONVIVIIS: 'even in protracted banquets'. Those +banquets which began _early_ in order that they might last long were +naturally in bad repute, so that the phrase _tempestivum convivium_ often +has almost the sense of 'a debauch'. Thus in Att. 9, 1, 3 Cicero describes +himself as being evil spoken of _in tempestivis conviviis, i.e._ in +dissolute society. Cf. pro Arch. 13. The customary dinner hour at Rome was +about three o'clock in the afternoon. The word _tempestivus_, which in 5 +means 'at the right time', here means 'before the right time'. So in +English 'in good time' often means 'too early'. See Becker's Gallus, p. 451 +_et seq_. -- QUI PAUCI: the substitution of the nominative of the relative +for the partitive genitive (_quorum_) is not uncommon. A. 216, _e_; G. 368, +Rem. 2; H. 397, 2, n. -- PAUCI ADMODUM: Cic. usually says _admodum pauci_ +rather than _pauci admodum_. -- VESTRA AETATE: = _eis qui sunt vestra +aetate_. Cf. n. on 26 _senectus_. -- SERMONIS ... SUSTULIT: notice the +indicatives _auxit, sustulit_, the relative clauses being attributive, +though they might fairly have been expected here to be causal. G. 627; H. +517, 2. In this passage Cic. imitates Plato, Rep. 328 D. -- BELLUM +INDICERE: common in the metaphorical sense; _e.g._ De Or. 2, 155 _miror cur +philosophiae prope bellum indixeris_; Hor. Sat. 1, 5, 7 _ventri indico +bellum_. -- CUIUS EST etc.: _i.e._ nature sanctions a certain amount of +pleasure. This is the Peripatetic notion of the _mean_, to which Cicero +often gives expression, as below, 77; also in Acad. 1, 39; 2, 139; and in +De Off.; so Hor. Sat. 1, 1, 106 _sunt certi denique fines quos ultra +citraque nequit consistere rectum_; cf. Od. 2, 10. -- NON INTELLEGO NE: for +the negatives cf. nn. on 24, 27. + +P. 20. -- MAGISTERIA: generally explained as referring to the practice of +appointing at each dinner a 'master of the feast', _arbiter bibendi_ or +[Greek: symposiarches]. This explanation is not quite correct. Mommsen +shows in his work '_de collegiis_' that each one of the _collegia_ or +_sodalicia_ annually appointed a _magister cenarum_ whose duty it was to +attend to the club-dinners during his year of office and no doubt to +preside at them. That some office is meant more important than that of the +_arbiter bibendi_ appointed for a particular feast is shown by the words _a +maioribus instituta_. It is scarcely likely that Cicero was ignorant of the +Greek origin of the custom of appointing an _arbiter bibendi_. -- ET IS +SERMO etc.: 'and the kind of talk in which following the fashion of our +fathers we engage, beginning at the upper table, as the cup goes round'. +The cup circulated from left to right, not, as with us, from right to left. +The guests at a Roman dinner reclined on three couches, placed at three +tables; two of the couches (_lecti_) were parallel, and the third was at +right angles to the other two. The _lectus_ at which the cup began to +circulate was _summus_, the next _medius_, the last _imus_. For a _summo_ +cf. _da (sc. bibere) a summo_ in Plaut. Asin. 5, 2, 41. See Becker's +Gallus, p. 471 _et seq_. -- SICUT ... EST: 'as we find'; so Off. 1, 32 _ut +in fabulis est_, and often. -- IN SYMPOSIO: 2, 26. -- MINUTA: see n. on 52. +-- RORANTIA: here with an active sense, 'besprinkling', representing +[Greek: epipsekazein] in Xenophon; often however not different in sense +from _'roscida'_. -- REFRIGERATIO ... HIBERNUS: cf. closely 57 _ubi et +seq_. Note the changes of expression in passing from _refrigeratio_ to +_sol_ (_apricatio_ would have more exactly corresponded with +_refrigeratio_) and from _aestate_ to _hibernus_ (for _hieme_). -- IN +SABINIS: 'when with the Sabines', who were celebrated for their simplicity +of life. Cato had an estate in the Sabine district. -- CONVIVIUM VICINORUM +COMPLEO: 'I make up (_i.e._ to the proper number) a company of my +neighbors'. -- QUOD ... PRODUCIMUS: 'and we continue our companionship to +as late an hour as we can, with changing talk'. The phrases _multa nocte_ +or _de nocte_ 'late in the night', _multo die_ 'late in the day', are +common; cf. also Att. 13, 9, 1 _multus sermo ad multum diem_; Rep. 6, 10 +_sermonem in multam noctem produximus_. + +47. AT: so in 21, where see n. -- QUASI TITILLATIO: the _quasi_, as often +in Cicero's writings, marks a translation from the Greek. Here the +Epicurean word [Greek: gargalismos] is referred to; it is often in Cic. +represented by _titillatio_; cf. N.D. 1, 113; Fin. 1, 39; Tusc. 3, 47. -- +BENE: _sc. dixit_. -- AFFECTO AETATE: 'wrought on by age'. Cf. De Or. 1, +200 _in eius infirmissima valetudine affectaque iam aetate_. -- UTERETURNE +etc.: 'whether he still took pleasure in love'; _uti = frui_. Cf. Ovid, +Met. 4, 259 _dementer amoribus uti_ with Cic. Tusc. 4, 68 _venereis +voluptatibus frui_. -- DI MELIORA: _sc. duint_; this archaic form usually +occurs when the phrase is given in full. The story of Sophocles is taken by +Cicero from Plato (Rep. 329 B) who has [Greek: euphemei]. -- ISTINC etc.: +cf. the passage in Plato, Rep. 1, 329 C. For _istinc_ used otherwise than +of place cf. _unde_ in 12 with n. -- AGRESTI: 'boorish'; _rusticus_ denotes +simply an ordinary countryman. -- QUAMQUAM ... ERGO: these words may be +scanned as a hexameter line, but the pause before _ergo_ would prevent them +from being taken as a verse. -- HOC NON DESIDERARE: 'this absence of +regret'; the words form the subject of _est_. So _hoc non dolere_ in Fin. +2, 18. For the pronoun in agreement with the infinitive treated as noun cf. +Persius 1, 9 _istud vivere_; 1, 122 _hoc ridere meum_. H. 538, 3. + +48. SI: 'even if', 'granting that'. -- BONA AETAS: 'the good time of life', +_i.e._ youth. Tischer qu. Varro de Re Rustica 2, 6, 2 _mares feminaeque +bona aetate_ = 'young'. For _bona aetas = homines bona aetate_ cf. n. on 26 +_senectus_. -- UT DIXIMUS: not expressly, but the opinion is implied in 44, +45. -- TURPIONE AMBIVIO: L. Ambivius Turpio was the most famous actor of +Cato's time, and appeared especially in Terence's plays. In old Latin +commonly, occasionally in the Latin of the best period, and often in +Tacitus, the _cognomen_ is placed before the _nomen_ when the _praenomen_ +is not mentioned. Cf. Att. 11, 12, 1 _Balbo Cornelio_. The usage is more +common in Cicero's writings than in those of his contemporaries. -- PRIMA +CAVEA: 'the lower tier'. The later Roman theatres consisted of semicircular +or elliptic galleries, with rising tiers of seats; the level space +partially enclosed by the curve was the _orchestra_, which was bounded by +the stage in front. There can be little doubt that Cicero is guilty of an +anachronism here; his words do not suit the circumstances of Cato's time. +Till nearly the end of the Republic the theatres were rude structures of +wood, put up temporarily; it is even doubtful whether they contained seats +for the audience. Cato himself frustrated an attempt to establish a +permanent theatre. -- PROPTER: 'close by'. The adverbial use of _propter_ +(rarely, if ever, met with outside of Cicero) is denied by some scholars, +but is well attested by MSS. here and elsewhere. -- TANTUM ... EST: these +words qualify _delectatur_. + +49. ILLA: put for _illud_, as in Greek [Greek: tauta] and [Greek: tade] are +often put for [Greek: touto] and [Greek: tode]. The words from _animum_ to +the end of the sentence are explanatory of _illa_. -- QUANTI: 'how +valuable!' but the word may have exactly the opposite meaning if the +context require it; thus in N.D. 1, 55 and Rep. 6, 25 the sense is 'how +worthless!' -- STIPENDIIS: 'campaigns'. The four words from _libidinis_ to +_inimicitiarum_ are to be taken in pairs, while _cupiditatum_ sums them up +and is in apposition to all. -- SECUM ESSE: cf. Tusc. 1, 75; Pers. 4, 52 +_tecum habita_. -- SI ... ALIQUOD: the sense is scarcely different from +that of _si ... quod_; the distinction is as slight as that in English +between 'if' followed by 'some', and 'if' followed by 'any'. Cf. n. on +Lael. 24 _si quando aliquid_. -- PABULUM: for the metaphorical sense +rendered less harsh by _tamquam_, cf. Acad. 2, 127; Tusc. 5, 66 _pastus +animorum_. -- STUDI: an explanatory genitive dependent on _pabulum_. -- +OTIOSA SENECTUTE: 'leisured age'; _otium_ in the Latin of Cicero does not +imply idleness, but freedom from public business and opportunity for the +indulgence of literary and scientific tastes. -- VIDEBAMUS: for the tense +cf. Lael. 37 _Gracchum rem publicam vexantem ab amicis derelictum +videbamus, i.e._ 'we saw over a considerable period'. See also 50, 79. -- +IN STUDIO etc.: 'busied with the task of almost measuring bit by bit +(_di-metiendi_) the heavens and the earth'. For the sense cf. Hor. Od. 1, +28 (of Archytas). -- GALLUM: consul in 157 B.C., famous as an astronomer +and as the first Roman who predicted an eclipse before the battle of Pydna. +See Liv. 44, 37. + +P. 21. -- DESCRIBERE: technically used of the drawing of mathematical +figures. _Ingredior_ often has an infinitive dependent on it even in the +best Latin; _e.g._ Cic. Top. 1 _nos maiores res scribere ingressos_. + +50. ACUTIS: requiring keenness of intellect. -- NAEVIUS: see n. on 20. -- +TRUCULENTO ... PSEUDOLO: these plays of Plautus (lived from 254 to 184 +B.C.) we still possess. The Truculentus is so named from one of the +characters, a slave of savage disposition who is wheedled; the Pseudolus +from a cheating slave. The latter name is commonly supposed to be a +transcription from a Greek word [Greek: pseudulos], which however nowhere +occurs; and as the change from Greek [Greek: u] to Latin _o_ is not found +before _l_, Corssen assumes [Greek: pseudalos] as the original word. The +form _Pseudulus_ of the name is probably later than _Pseudolus_. -- LIVIUM: +Livius Andronicus, the founder of Latin literature (lived from about 285 to +204 B.C.), who translated the Odyssey, also many Greek tragedies. Livius +was a Greek captured by Livius Salinator at Tarentum in 275 B.C.; for a +time he was the slave of Livius, and, according to custom, took his name +when set free. For an account of his writings see Cruttwell's Hist. of +Roman Literature, Ch. 3; Sellar, Roman Poets of the Rep., Ch. 3. -- +DOCUISSET: 'had brought on to the stage'. _Docere_ (like [Greek: didaskein] +in Greek, which has the same use) meant originally to instruct the +performers in the play. -- CENTONE TUDITANOQUE CONSULIBUS: _i.e._ in 240 +B.C. The use of _que_ here is noticeable; when a date is given by reference +to the consuls of the year it is usual to insert _et_ (not _que_ or +_atque_, which rarely occur) between the two names, if only the _cognomina_ +(as here) be given. If the full names be given, then they are put side by +side without _et_. Cf. n. on 10. -- CRASSI: see n. on 27. -- PONTIFICI ET +CIVILIS IURIS: the _ius pontificium_ regarded mainly the proper modes of +conducting religious ceremonial. _Ius civile_, which is often used to +denote the whole body of Roman Law, here includes only the secular portion +of that Law. Cf. n. on 38. -- HUIUS P. SCIPIONIS: 'the present P. Scipio'. +So in 14 _hi consules_ 'the present consuls'; Rep. 1, 14 _Africanus hic, +Pauli filius_, and often. The P. Scipio who is meant here is not Africanus, +but Nasica Corculum. -- FLAGRANTIS: 'all aglow'; so _ardere studio_ in +Acad. 2, 65. -- SENES: = _cum senes essent_, so _senem_ below. -- SUADAE +MEDULLAM: 'the essence (lit. marrow) of persuasiveness'. The lines of +Ennius are preserved by Cicero, Brut. 58. _Suada_ is a translation of +[Greek: peitho], which the Greek rhetoricians declared to be the end and +aim of oratory. This Cethegus was consul in 204 and in 203 defeated Mago in +the N. of Italy. -- EXERCERI: here reflexive in meaning. A. 111, n. 1; G. +209; H. 465. -- VIDEBAMUS: see n. on 49. -- COMPARANDAE: for the idea of +_possibility_ which the gerundive sometimes has (but only in negative +sentences or interrogative sentences implying a negative answer, and in +conditional clauses) see Madvig, 420, Obs.; Roby, 1403. -- HAEC QUIDEM: a +short summary of the preceding arguments, preparatory to a transition to a +new subject, introduced by _venio nunc ad_. The succession of two clauses +both containing _quidem_ seems awkward, but occurs in Fin. 5, 80 and +elsewhere. -- HONESTUM SIT: 'does him honor'. -- UT ANTE DIXI: in 26, where +see the notes. -- POTEST ESSE: Meissner (n. on 27) says that Cicero's rule +is to say _potest esse, debet esse_ and the like, not _esse potest_ and the +like. It is true that _esse_ in such cases is very seldom separated from +the word on which it depends, but _esse potest_ is just as common as +_potest esse_; the difference to the sense is one of emphasis only, the +_esse_ having more emphasis thrown on it in the latter case. + +51. MIHI ... VIDENTUR: see Introd. -- HABENT RATIONEM CUM 'they have their +reckonings with', 'their dealings with'; a phrase of book-keeping. -- +IMPERIUM: so Verg. Georg. 1, 99 _exercetque frequens tellurem atque imperat +agris_; ib. 2, 369 _dura exerce imperia et ramos compesce fluentes_; Tac. +Germ. 26 _sola terrae seges imperatur._ -- SED ALIAS ... FAENORE: put for +_sed semper cum faenore, alias minore, plerumque maiore_. -- VIS AC NATURA: +'powers and constitution'. These two words are very often used by Cic. +together, as in Fin. 1, 50 _vis ac natura rerum_. -- GREMIO: so Lucret. 1, +250 _pereunt imbres ubi eos pater aether In gremium matris terrai +praecipitavit_, imitated by Verg. Georg. 2, 325. -- MOLLITO AC SUBACTO: +_i.e._ by the plough. _Subigere_, 'subdue', is a technical word of +agriculture; so Verg. Georg. 2, 50 _scrobibus subactis_; see also below, +59. + +P. 22. -- OCCAECATUM: 'hidden'. _Caecus_ has the sense of 'unseen' as well +as that of 'unseeing' or 'blind'. -- OCCATIO: Cicero's derivation, as well +as Varro's (De Re Rust. 1, 31, 1) from _occidere_, because the earth is cut +up, is unsound. _Occa_ is _rastrum_, probably from its _sharp_ points (root +_ak-_); _occatio_ therefore is 'harrowing'. -- VAPORE: 'heat'. This word +has not in the best Latin the meaning of our 'vapor'. -- COMPRESSU: a word +found only here in Cicero's writings and elsewhere in Latin only in the +ablative case, like so many other nouns whose stem ends in _-u_. -- +DIFFUNDIT ET ELICIT: 'expands and lures forth'. -- HERBESCENTEM: this word +occurs nowhere else in Latin. -- NIXA: A. 254, _b_; G. 403, Rem. 3; H. 425, +1, 1), n. -- FIBRIS STIRPIUM: so Tusc. 3, 13 _radicum fibras_. -- +GENICULATO: 'knotted'. The verb _geniculo_, from _genu_, scarcely occurs +excepting in the passive participle, which is always used, as here, of +plants. So Plin. Nat. Hist. 16, 158 _geniculata cetera gracilitas nodisque +distincta_, speaking of the _harundo_. -- SPICI: besides _spica_, the forms +_spicum_ and _spicus_ are occasionally found. _Spici_ here is explanatory +_frugem_. -- VALLO: for the metaphor compare N.D. 2, 143 _munitae sunt +palpebrae tamquam vallo pilorum_; Lucr. 2, 537. + +52. QUID EGO ... COMMEMOREM: this and similar formulae for passing to a new +subject are common; cf. 53 _quid ego ... proferam_ etc.; often _nam_ +precedes the _quid_, as in Lael. 104. The _ego_ has a slight emphasis. Cato +implies that his own devotion to grape-culture was so well known as not to +need description. -- ORTUS SATUS INCREMENTA: 'origin, cultivation, and +growth'. For the omission of the copula see n. on 53. -- UT: final, and +slightly elliptic ('I say this that etc.'); so in 6 (where see n.), 24, 56, +59, 82. -- REQUIETEM: the best MSS. of Cic. sometimes give the other form +_requiem_, as in Arch. 13. -- VIM IPSAM: 'the inherent energy'. -- OMNIUM +... TERRA: a common periphrasis for 'all plants'; cf. _e.g._ N.D. 2, 120. +The Latin has no one word to comprehend all vegetable products. -- QUAE ... +PROCREET: 'able to generate'. -- TANTULO: strictly elliptic, implying +_quantulum re vera est_. In such uses _tantus_ and _tantulus_ differ +slightly from _magnus_ and _parvus_; they are more emphatic. -- ACINI +VINACEO: 'a grape-stone'. -- MINUTISSIMIS: used here for _minimis_. +Strictly speaking _minutus_ ought to be used of things which are fragments +of larger things, _minutus_ being really the participle passive of _minuo_. +In a well-known passage (Orat. 94) Cic. himself calls attention to the +theoretical incorrectness of the use, which, however, is found throughout +Latin literature. Cf. 46 _pocula minuta_; also below, 85 _minuti +philosophi_. -- MALLEOLI: vine-cuttings; so called because a portion of the +parent stem was cut away with the new shoot, leaving the cutting in the +shape of a mallet. -- PLANTAE: 'suckers', shoots springing out of the +trunk. -- SARMENTA: 'scions', shoots cut from branches not from the trunk. +-- VIVIRADICES: 'quicksets', new plants formed by dividing the roots of the +mother plant. -- PROPAGINES: 'layers', new plants formed by rooting a shoot +in the earth without severing it from the parent plant; Verg. Georg. 2, 26. +-- EADEM: n. on 4 _eandem_. -- CLAVICULIS: cf. N.D. 2, 120 _vites sic +claviculis_. -- ARS AGRICOLARUM: _agricolae arte freti_, a strong instance +of the abstract put for the concrete. + +53. EIS: _sc. sarmentis_, those which have not been pruned away by the +knife. -- EXSISTIT: 'springs up'. _Exsistere_ in good Latin never has the +meaning of our 'exist', _i.e._ '_to be in_ existence', but always means +'_to come into_ existence'. -- ARTICULOS: 'joints'; cf. 51 _culmo +geniculato_. The word _tamquam_ softens the metaphor in _articuli_, which +would properly be used only of the joints in the limbs of animals. -- +GEMMA: Cicero took the meaning 'gem' or 'jewel' to be the primary sense of +_gemma_ and considered that the application to a bud was metaphorical. See +the well-known passages, Orat. 81 and De Or. 3, 155. -- VESTITA PAMPINIS: +'arrayed in the young foliage'. -- FRUCTU ... ASPECTU: ablatives of +respect, like _gustatu_ above. -- CAPITUM IUGATIO: 'the linking together of +their tops'; _i.e._ the uniting of the tops of the stakes by cross-stakes. +So the editors; but Conington on Verg. Georg. 2, 355 seems to take _capita_ +of the top-foliage of the vines, an interpetation which is quite possible. +Those editors are certainly wrong who remove the comma after _iugatio_ and +place it after _religatio_, as though _et_ were omitted between the two +words. In enumerations of more than two things Cic. either omits the copula +altogether or inserts it before each word after the first; but in +enumerating two things _et_ cannot be omitted, except where there are +several _sets_ or _pairs_ of things. Cf. n. on 13. -- RELIGATIO: _i.e._ the +tying down of shoots so as to cause them to take root in the earth. +_Religatio_ seems to occur only here. + +P. 23. -- ALIORUM IMMISSIO: 'the granting of free scope to others'. +_Immissio_ scarcely occurs elsewhere in good Latin. The metaphor is from +letting loose the reins in driving; cf. Verg. Georg. 2, 364; Plin. N.H. 16, +141 _cupressus immittitur in perticas asseresque amputatione ramorum_; +Varro, R.R. 1, 31, 1 _vitis immittitur ad uvas pariendas_. Some, referring +to Columella de Arbor, c. 7, take the word to mean the setting in the earth +of a shoot in order that it may take root before being separated from the +parent stem. The context, however, is against this interpretation. -- +IRRIGATIONES etc.: the plurals denote more prominently than singulars would +the repetition of the actions expressed by these words. -- REPASTINATIONES: +'repeated hoeings'. The _pastinum_ was a kind of pitchfork, used for +turning over the ground round about the vines, particularly when the young +plants were being put in. -- MULTO TERRA FECUNDIOR: see n. on 3 _parum ... +auctoritatis_. + +54. IN EO LIBRO: see Introd. -- DOCTUS: often used of poets, not only by +Cicero but by most other Latin writers, more particularly by the elegiac +poets; see also n. on 13. -- HESIODUS: the oldest Greek poet after Homer. +The poem referred to here is the [Greek: Erga kai Hemerai] which we still +possess, along with the Theogony and the Shield of Heracles. -- CUM: +concessive. -- SAECULIS: 'generations', as in 24. -- FUIT: = _vixit_. -- +LAERTEN: the passage referred to is no doubt the touching scene in Odyss. +24, 226, where Odysseus, after killing the suitors, finds his unhappy old +father toiling in his garden. In that passage nothing is said of +_manuring_. -- LENIENTEM: see n. on 11 _dividenti_. -- COLENTEM etc.: the +introduction of another participle to explain _lenientem_ is far from +elegant. _Cultione agri_ or something of the kind might have been expected. +The collocation of _appetentem_ with _occupatum_ in 56 is no less awkward. +-- FACIT: n. on 3 _facimus_. -- RES RUSTICAE LAETAE SUNT: 'the farmer's +life is gladdened'. -- APIUM: this form is oftener found in the best MSS., +of prose writers at least, than the other form _apum_, which probably was +not used by Cic. -- OMNIUM: = _omnis generis_. -- CONSITIONES ... +INSITIONES: 'planting ... grafting'. On the varieties of grafting and the +skill required for it see Verg. Georg. 2, 73 _seq._ + +55. POSSUM: see n. on 24. -- IGNOSCETIS: 'you will excuse (me)'. -- +PROVECTUS SUM: 'I have been carried away'. Cicero often uses _prolabi_ in +the same sense. -- IN HAC ... CONSUMPSIT: Cic. probably never, as later +writers did, used _consumere_ with a simple ablative. -- CURIUS: see n. on +15. -- A ME: = _a mea villa;_ cf. n. on 3 _apud quem_. -- ADMIRARI SATIS +NON POSSUM: a favorite form of expression with Cicero; _e.g._ De Or. 1, +165. -- DISCIPLINAM: 'morals'; literally 'teaching'. + +56. CURIO: Plutarch, Cat. 2, says the ambassadors found him cooking a +dinner of herbs, and that Curius sent them away with the remark that a man +who dined in that way had no need of gold. The present was not brought as a +bribe, since the incident took place after the war. Curius had become +_patronus_ of the Samnites, and they were bringing the customary offering +of _clientes_; see Rep. 3, 40. -- NE: here = num, a rare use; so Fin. 3, +44; Acad. 2, 116. -- SED VENIO AD: so in 51 _venio nunc ad. Redeo ad_ (see +n. on 32) might have been expected here. -- IN AGRIS ERANT: 'lived on their +farms'. For _erant_ cf. n. on 21 _sunt_. -- ID EST SENES: cf. 19 n. on +_senatum_. -- SI QUIDEM: often written as one word _siquidem_ = [Greek: +eiper]. -- ARANTI: emphatic position. -- CINCINNATO: L. Quinctius +Cincinnatus is said to have been dictator twice; in 458 B.C., when he saved +the Roman army, which was surrounded by the Aequians, and ended the war in +sixteen days from his appointment; in 439, when Maelius was killed and +Cincinnatus was eighty years old. In our passage Cic. seems to assume only +one dictatorship. The story of Cincinnatus at the plough is told in Livy 3, +26. -- FACTUM: the technical term was _dicere dictatorem_, since he was +nominated by the consul on the advice of the senate. -- DICTATORIS: in +apposition with _cuius_. + +P. 24. -- MAELIUM: a rich plebeian, who distributed corn in time of famine +and was charged with courting the people in order to make himself a king. +Ahala summoned him before the dictator, and because he did not immediately +obey, killed him with his own hand. For this, Ahala became one of the +heroes of his nation. See Liv. 4, 13. Cicero often mentions him with +praise. Cf. in Catil. I. 3; p. Sestio 143, etc. -- APPETENTEM: = _quia +appetebat_; so _occupatum_ = _cum occupasset_. -- VIATORES: literally +'travellers', so 'messengers'. They formed a regularly organized +corporation at Rome and were in attendance on many of the magistrates. +Those officers who had the _fasces_ had also lictors, who, however, +generally remained in close attendance and were not despatched on distant +errands. The statement of Cic. in the text is repeated almost _verbatim_ by +Plin. N.H. 18, 21. -- MISERABILIS: 'to be pitied'. The word does not quite +answer to our 'miserable'. -- AGRI CULTIONE: a rare expression, found +elsewhere only in Verr. 3, 226; then not again till the 'Fathers'. -- HAUD +SCIO AN NULLA: since _haud scio an_ is affirmative in Cicero, not negative +as in some later writers, _nulla_ must be read here, not _ulla_. Cf. 73 +_haud scio an melius Ennius_, 'probably Ennius speaks better'; also 74 +_incertium an hoc ipso die_, 'possibly to-day'. Roby, 2256; G. 459, Rem.; +H. 529, II. 3, 20, n. 2. -- QUAM DIXI: = _de qua dixi_, as in 53. -- +SATURITATE: the word is said to occur nowhere else in Latin. -- QUIDAM: +_i.e._ the authors of the _tertia vituperatio senectutis_, whom Cato +refutes in 39, 59. -- PORCO ... GALLINA: these words are used collectively, +as _rosa_ often is; so Fin. 2, 65 _potantem in rosa Thorium_. -- IAM: +'further'. -- SUCCIDIAM ALTERAM: 'a second meat-supply'. The word seems to +be connected with _caedo_, and probably originally meant 'slaughter'. In a +fragment of Cato preserved by Gellius 13, 24, 12 (in some editions 13, 25, +12) we find _succidias humanas facere_. Varro, R.R. 2, 14 has the word in +the sense of 'meat'. -- CONDITIORA FACIT: 'adds a zest to'; cf. _condita_ +in 10. -- SUPERVACANEIS OPERIS: 'by the use of spare time'; literally 'by +means of toils that are left over', _i.e._ after completing the ordinary +work of the farm. + +57. ORDINIBUS: cf. 59 _ordines_. -- BREVI PRAECIDAM: 'I will cut the matter +short', for _praecidam_ (_sc. rem_ or _sermonem_) cf. Acad. 2, 133 +_praecide_ (_sc. sermonem_); for _brevi_ (= 'in brief', [Greek: en +brachei]) cf. De Or. 1, 34 _ne plura consecter comprehendam brevi_. -- USU +UBERIUS: cf. 53 _fructu laetius ... aspectu pulchrius_. -- AD QUEM ... +RETARDAT: some have thought that there is zeugma here, supposing _ad_ to be +suited only to _invitat_, not to _retardat_. That this is not the case is +clear from such passages as Caes. B.G. 7, 26, 2 _palus Romanos ad +insequendum tardabat_ (= _tardos faciebat_); Cic. Sull. 49 _nullius +amicitia ad pericula propulsanda impedimur_. On _fruendum_ see Madvig, 421, +_a_, Obs. 2 and 265, Obs. 2; G. 428, Rem. 3, exc.; H. 544, 2, n. 5. -- +INVITAT ATQUE ALLECTAT: one of the 'doublets' of which Cicero is so fond; +cf. Lael. 99 _allectant et invitant_. + +58. SIBI HABEANT: _sc. iuvenes_; contemptuous, as in Lael. 18 _sibi habeant +sapientiae nomen_ Sull. 26 _sibi haberent honores, sibi imperia_ etc.; cf. +the formula of Roman divorce, _tu tuas res tibi habeto_. -- HASTAS: in +practising, the point was covered by a button, _pila_; cf. Liv. 26, 51 +_praepilatis missilibus iaculati sunt_. -- CLAVAM: cf. Vegetius de Re Mil. +1, 11 _clavas ligneas pro gladiis tironibus dabant, eoque modo exercebantur +ad palos_; Iuv. 6, 246. The _palus_ is called _stipes_ by Martial 7, 32. -- +PILAM ... VENATIONES ... CURSUS: all national amusements, well known to +readers of Horace; see Becker's Gallus. _Venationes_, em. for _nataliones_. +-- TALOS ... TESSERAS: _tali_, 'knucklebones', were oblong, and rounded at +the two ends; the sides were numbered 1 and 6 (1 being opposite to 6), 3 +and 4. Four _tali_ were used at a time and they, like the _tesserae_, were +generally thrown from a box, _fritillus_. The _tesserae_, of which three +were used at a time, were cubes, with the sides numbered from 1 to 6 in +such a way that the numbers on two opposite sides taken together always +made 7. A separate name was used by dicers for almost every possible throw +of the _tesserae_ and _tali_. The two best known are _canis_, when all the +dice turned up with the same number uppermost; and _venus_, when they all +showed different numbers. The word _alea_ was general and applicable to +games of chance of every kind. These games, which were forbidden by many +ineffectual laws ('_vetita legibus alea_') were held to be permissible for +old men; see Mayor on Iuv. 14, 4. -- ID IPSUM: sc. _faciunt_; the omission +of _facere_ is not uncommon. Roby, 1441; H. 368, 3, n. 1. -- UT: em. for +ordinary readings _unum_ and _utrum_. + +59. LEGITE: 'continue to read'. Cf. De Or. 1, 34 _pergite, ut facitis, +adulescentes_. In Tusc. 2, 62 it is stated that Africanus was a great +reader of Xenophon. + +P. 25. -- LIBRO QUI EST DE: so in Fat. 1 _libris qui sunt de natura +deorum,_ and similarly elsewhere; but the periphrasis is often avoided, as +in Off. 2, 16 _Dicaearchi liber de interitu hominum_. -- QUI: _quique_ +might have been expected, but the words above, _qui ... familiari,_ are +regarded as parenthetical. -- OECONOMICUS: Cicero translates from this work +c. 4, 20-25. -- INSCRIBITUR: see n. on 13. -- REGALE: 'worthy of a king'; +different from _regium_, which would mean 'actually characteristic of +kings'. Yet Cic. sometimes interchanges the words; thus _regalis potestas_ +in Har. Resp. 54 is the same as _regia potestas_ in Phil. 1, 3. -- LOQUITUR +CUM CRITOBULO etc.: 'discourses with Critobulus of how Cyrus etc.'. The +construction of _loqui_ with acc. and inf. belongs to colloquial Latin, as +does the construction _loqui aliquam rem_ for _de aliqua re_; cf. Att. 1, +5, 6 _mecum Tadius locutus est te ita scripsisse_; ib. 9, 13, 1 _mera +scelera loquuntur_. -- CYRUM MINOREM: Cyrus the younger (cf. 79 _Cyrus +maior_), well known from Xenophon's _Anabasis_. As Cyrus never arrived at +the throne (having been killed at Cunaxa in 401 in his attempt to oust his +brother the king with the help of the 10,000 Greeks) _regem_ is used in the +sense of 'prince', as in Verr. 4, 61 and elsewhere; [Greek: basileus] is +used in exactly the same way in a passage of the Oeconomicus which comes a +little before the one Cic. is here rendering (4, 16). -- LYSANDER: the +great commander who in 405 B.C. won the battle of Aegospotamos against the +Athenians. -- SARDIS: acc. pl.; _-is_ represents Gk. [Greek: -eis]. -- +CONSAEPTUM AGRUM: 'park'; the phrase is a translation of Xenophon's [Greek: +paradeison]; this will account for the omission of _et_ before _diligenter +consitum_. -- DILIGENTER: 'carefully'. -- PROCERITATES: the plural probably +indicates the height of each _kind_ of tree. -- QUINCUNCEM: +thus:.:.:.:.:.:.: This was the order of battle in the Roman army during a +great part of its history. The cause for this application of the term is +rather difficult to see; it originally meant five-twelfths of an _uncia_; +possibly it was thus applied because by drawing lines between the points +the letter V (five) might be produced. As regards its application to trees, +see Verg. Georg. 2, 277-284. -- PURAM: so the farmers talk of 'cleaning' +the land. -- DIMENSA: notice the passive use of this participle, originally +deponent; cf. n. on 4 _adeptam_. -- DISCRIPTA: 'arranged'; so _discriptio_ +a little farther on. Cf. n. on 5 _descriptae_. -- ORNATUM: 'costume', used +by Latin writers of any dress a little unfamiliar. So in Plaut. Miles 4, 4, +41 (1177 R) _ornatus nauclericus_. + +60. IMPEDIT: _sc. nos_; with this construction the pronoun is always +omitted. -- VALERIUM: when a young man, in 349 B.C., he engaged in combat +with a Gaul, in sight of the Roman and Gallic armies, and came off victor +by the aid of a raven, _corvus_; hence the name Corvinus (Liv. 7, 26). His +first consulship was in 348, his last in 299; Cic. has miscalculated. +Valerius was also twice dictator and is said to have held altogether 21 +terms of curule offices. -- PERDUXISSE: _sc. agri colendi studia_. Cf. +Lael. 33 _quod -- perduxissent_. -- ESSET: cf. n. on 21. -- AETATE: here = +the vigorous period of life; cf. _bona aetas_ in 48. -- CURSUS HONORUM: +'official career'. -- HUIUS: _ille_ and _hic_ are not often found in the +same sentence referring to the same person. _Eius_ would have been more +regular here. -- MEDIA: cf. n. on 33 _constantis aetatis_. + +P. 26. -- APEX: 'the crown', 'the highest glory'. The word meant originally +'knot', being connected with _ap-tus ap-isci ap-ere_ and other words +containing the idea of binding fast or grasping. It was properly applied to +the olive-twig bound round with wool, which was stuck in the cap worn by +the _flamines_ and _salii_. It is sometimes employed to translate [Greek: +diadema] (a word originally of similar meaning), the royal _insigne_, as in +Horace, Odes, 3, 21, 20 _regum apices_, with which cf. Odes, 1, 34, 14. The +word is scarcely found elsewhere in a metaphorical sense. Our passage is +imitated by Ammianus Marcellinus (a great imitator of Cicero) 27, 7, 2 +_Rufinus velut apicem honoratae senectutis praetendens_. + +61. METELLO: see n. on 30. -- A. ATILIO CALATINO: consul in 258 B.C. and +again in 254; dictator in 249, censor in 247. Cicero classed him with old +heroes like Curius and Fabricius (Planc. 60). His tomb was on the _via +Appia_ outside the _Porta Capena_, close to the well-known tomb of the +Scipios (see Tusc. 1, 13). -- IN QUEM ... ELOGIUM: 'in whose honor there is +the inscription'. With _in quem = de quo_ cf. the occasional occurrence of +[Greek: kata tinos] in the sense of [Greek: peri tinos]. -- ELOGIUM: Greek +[Greek: elegeion] (so Curtius): for the representation of [Greek: e] by _o_ +cf. _oliva_ with [Greek: elaia], and Plautus' lopadas for [Greek: lepadas]. +But cf. Roby, 929, d. -- HUNC etc.: the inscription (which is quoted by +Cicero also in Fin. 2, 116) is strikingly like that on the tomb of _Scipio +Barbatus_ which has actually come down to us, and thus begins (Ritschl's +recension): + + _honc oino ploirime cosentiont Romai_ + _duonoro optumo fuise viro viroro_ + +_i.e. hunc unum plurimi consentiunt Romae bonorum optimum fuisse virum +virorum_. Ritschl thus completes the _elogium_ of Atilus, by comparison +with others still preserved: _dictator_ (ending the second line), _Consul, +censor, aedilis hic fuit apud vos_. But Cicero's words (_nolum ... +sepulcro_) seem to imply a longer inscription than one of three lines; the +analogy of the Scipionic inscriptions points the same way. The older +monumental inscriptions of Rome were written in the Saturnian metre, which +depended partly on accent. The normal line ran thus: + + v -' v - v -' v' | -' v - v -' v' + +but there were many deviations. -- UNUM: intensifies _primarium_, 'the very +first'; cf. the common use of _unus_ with a superlative adjective, for +which see n. on Lael. 1 _unum_ etc. -- ESSET CONSENTIENS: cf. n. on 26 +_agens aliquid_. -- NUPER: like _modo_ (see n. on 27) _nuper_ is loosely +used, and has its meaning defined by the context. Cf. n. on Lael. 13. In +Plin. Ep. 1, 2, 2 the orator Calvus, a younger contemporary of Cicero, is +said to have existed _nuper_. -- LEPIDUM: _pontifex maximus_ from 180 B.C., +consul in 187 and in 175; censor in 179; he is said to have been chosen +_princeps senatus_ by six sets of censors in succession. He died in 152. -- +PAULO: see 29 _L. Aemilius_ with n. -- MAXIMO: see 10 _et seq_. -- +SENTENTIA: _i.e._ a set speech in the senate. Cf. De Or. 1, 38 _is non +accurata orationis copia, sed nutu atque verbo libertinos in urbanas tribus +transtulit_. -- HONORATA: see n. on 22. + +62. IN OMNI ORATIONE: 'everywhere throughout my speech'. _Tota oratione_ +would have meant 'my speech viewed as a whole'. -- DEFENDERET: the tense is +accommodated to that of _dixi_, according to Latin custom; see n. on 42 +_efficeret_. -- CANI: _sc. capilli_; the same ellipsis is found in Ovid. +Cf. _calda (sc. aqua), laurea (sc. corona), natalis (sc. dies), Latinae +(sc. feriae)_, etc.; also _cereo_ in 44. -- FRUCTUS ... EXTREMOS: 'receives +the reward of influence at the last'. + +63. APPETI: 'to be courted'; _decedi_: 'to take precedence', literally +'that there should be a yielding of the way'. -- ASSURGI: 'the honor shown +by rising'. Cf. Iuv. 13, 54 _credebant grande nefas et morte piandum si +iuvenis vetulo non assurrexerat_, where see Mayor's note. -- DEDUCI REDUCI: +'the escort from home and the attendance homeward'. The difference between +these two words, which has often been misunderstood, is shown by Val. Max. +2, 1, 9 _iuvenes senatus die utique aliquem ex patribus conscriptis ad +curiam deducebant, affixique valvis exspectabant donec reducendi etiam +officio fungerentur_. -- CONSULI: probably refers to private legal +consultations as well as to the deliberations of the senate. -- UT QUAEQUE +OPTIME: Cic. often uses _ut quisque_ with superlatives, _ita_ following; +see n. on Lael. 19. Translate _ut ... ita_ 'in proportion as ... so'. -- +MORATA: from _mos_. -- MODO: in 59. -- MEMORIAE PRODITUM EST: in Verr. 5, +36 Cic. uses _ad memoriam_ instead of the dative. The best writers have +_memoriae prodere_ and _prodi_, '_for the recollection of_ posterity', +_memoria prodi_, 'to be handed down _by_ tradition'; but not _memoria +prodere_. -- LUDIS: _sc. Panathenaicis_, abl. of time. The Panathenaea was +the greatest of the Athenian festivals and was celebrated in honor of +Athene, patron goddess of the city, once in four years. The story that +follows is told in almost the same words by Val. Max. 4, 5, ext. 2. + +P. 27. -- QUI: at this point the _oratio obliqua_ is broken off, but it is +resumed in the next sentence, _dixisse_ being dependent on _proditum est_. +-- LEGATI CUM ESSENT: 'being ambassadors'. -- ILLI: 'in his honor'. -- +SESSUM RECEPISSE: Val. Max. uses the same phrase; cf. Fam. 10, 32, 2 +_sessum deducere_; N.D. 3, 74 _sessum ire_. + +64. PLAUSUS MULTIPLEX: cf. Verg. Aen. 1, 747 _ingeminant plausu_. Cic. +generally says _plausus maximus_. -- FACERE NOLLE: cf. the well-known +saying of Demosthenes, Olynth. 3, Sec. 3 [Greek: pepeismai gar ta pleio ton +pragmaton hymas ekpepheugenai toi me boulesthai ta deonta poiein, e toi me +synienai]. -- COLLEGIO: the college or board of augurs to which Cato +belonged. In his time there were nine members; later the number was +increased. -- ANTECEDIT: _sc. alios_. -- SENTENTIAE PRINCIPATUM: +'precedence in debate'. Meissner quotes Verr. 4, 142 _ut quisque aetate et +honore antecedit, ita primus solet sua sponte dicere itaque a ceteris ei +conceditur_. -- HONORE: _i.e._ as regards office, past or present. -- QUI +... SUNT: actual praetors or consuls. -- COMPARANDAE: n. on 50. -- FABULAM +AETATIS: cf. 5, 70, 85. The comparison of life to a play, and mankind to +the players, is common in all literature; _e.g._ 'All the world's a stage, +etc.'. When Augustus was on his deathbed he asked his friends _ecquid eis +videretur mimum vitae commode transegisse_ (Suet. Aug. 99); cf. Gay's +epitaph, 'Life's a jest, etc.'. -- CORRUISSE: _i.e._ through fatigue; cf. +_defetigationem_ in 85. + +65. AT: see n. on 21. -- MORUM: cf. 7 _in moribus est culpa, non in +aetate_. -- EA VITIA: _i.e. ea alia vitia_. -- HABENT etc.: cf. Thucyd. 3, +44 [Greek: echontes ti syngnomes]. -- NON ... VIDEATUR: 'not well grounded +indeed, but such as it may seem possible to allow'. _Ille_ is often used +with _quidem_ in making concessions where the English idiom requires no +pronoun. Roby, 2259; Madvig, 489, _b_; Kennedy, 65, n. 2; A. 151, _e_; G. +292, Rem. 4; H. 450, 4, n. 2. -- CONTEMNI ... DESPICI: see n. on 43 _spreta +et contempta_. -- MORIBUS BONIS ET ARTIBUS: for the order of the words cf. +n. on 1 _animi tui_. -- IN VITA: 'in everyday life' -- ADELPHIS: _Adelphi_ += [Greek: adelphoi], The Brothers; this play of Terence is still extant. -- +DIRITAS: 'harshness of temper'; but Suet. Tib. 21 has _diritas morum_, and +Varro _scena quem senem Latina vidit dirissimum_. Both _dirus_ and +_diritas_ are rare in Cicero; the former word does not once occur in the +whole range of the speeches, the latter scarcely excepting here and in Vat. +9; in Tusc. 3, 29 Cic. uses it in translating from Euripides. + +P. 28. -- 66. SOLLICITAM HABERE: 'to keep in trouble'. _Sollicitus_ is, +literally, 'wholly in motion', from _sollus_, which has the same root with +[Greek: holos], and _citus_; cf. the rare words _sollifides_, +_solliferreus_. The perfect participle with _habeo_ emphasizes the +continuance of the effect produced. Zumpt, 634; A. 292, _c_; G. 230; H. +388, 1, n. -- NOSTRAM AETATEM: cf. n. on 26 _senectus_. -- ESSE LONGE: more +usually _abesse_. -- O MISERUM: 'O, wretched is that old man'. Cicero +oftener joins _O_ with the accusative than with the nominative: he rarely, +if ever, uses the interjection with the vocative in direct address to +persons. -- EXTINGUIT ANIMUM: the doctrine of the annihilation of the soul +after death was held by many of Cicero's contemporaries, professedly by the +Epicureans (_e.g._ Lucretius, De Rerum Nat. 3, 417 _et seq._; cf. also +Caesar's argument at the trial of the Catilinian conspirators, Sall. Bell. +Catil. c. 51, Cic. in Catil. 3, c. 4), practically by the Stoics, who +taught that there is a future existence of limited though indefinite +length. -- DEDUCIT: cf. n. on 63. -- ATQUI: see n. on 6. -- TERTIUM ... +POTEST: 'nothing can be found as a third alternative': so in Tusc. 1, 82 +_quoniam nihil tertium est._ + +67. QUID TIMEAM etc.: so Tusc. 1, 25 _quo modo igitur aut cur mortem malum +tibi videri dicis? quae aut beatas nos efficiet, animis manentibus, aut non +miseros, sensu carentis;_ ib. 1, 118 _ut aut in aeternam domum remigremus +aut omni sensu careamus._ For mood see A. 268; G. 251; H 486, II. -- AUT +NON MISER ... AUT BEATUS: a dilemma, but unsound and not conclusive; for +_non miser_ is used with reference to annihilation, and the soul may exist +after death in a state of unhappiness. -- FUTURUS SUM: see n. on 6 _futurum +est_. -- QUAMVIS SIT: prose writers of the Republican period use _quamvis_ +with the subjunctive only; see Roby, 1624, 1627; A. 313,_a, g_; G. 608; H. +515, III. and n. 3. -- CUI: see n. on 38 _viventi_. -- AD VESPERUM ESSE +VICTURUM: 'that he will be alive when evening comes', _not_ 'that he will +live till the evening'. With the prepositions _ad_, _sub_, _in_ the form +_vesper_ is generally used, not _vespera._ With this passage cf. Fin. 2, 92 +_an id exploratum cuiquam potest esse quo modo sese habiturum sit corpus. +non dico ad annum, sed ad vesperum?_ Also cf. the title of one of Varro's +Menippean Satires, _nescis quid vesper serus vehat_, probably a proverb. -- +AETAS ILLA ... ADULESCENTES: some suppose that this sentence was borrowed +from Hippocrates. -- TRISTIUS: '_severioribus remediis_'. Manutius. So Off. +1, 83 _leviter aegrotantis leniter curant, gravioribus autem morbis +periculosas curationes et ancipites adhibere coguntur_. The adverb +_tristius_, which has in prose a superlative but no positive, occurs in +Fam. 4, 13, 5. -- MENS ... RATIO ... CONSILIUM: cf. n. on 41. -- QUI ... +NULLI: cf. n. on 46 _qui pauci_; but _nulli_ here almost = _non_. -- NULLAE +... FUISSENT: _i.e._ the young men would have brought every country to +ruin; see 20. -- CUM ... CUM: see n. on 4. + +68. IN FILIO ... IN FRATRIBUS: cf. Lael. 9. As to Cato's son cf. 15, 84. -- +TU: _sc. sensisti_. -- EXSPECTATIS AD: a rare construction, perhaps without +parallel; _exspectatis_ is an adjective and takes the construction of +_aptus_, _idoneus_ etc., 'of whom hopes were entertained as regards honor'. +-- FRATRIBUS: the sons of Paulus Macedonicus, two of them died within seven +days (Fam. 4, 6, 1), one just before and one just after Paulus' great +triumph in 167 B.C. -- IDEM: see n. on 4 _eandem_. -- INSIPIENTER: +adversative asyndeton. -- INCERTA ... VERIS: chiasmus avoided. With the +thought cf. Off. 1, 18. -- AT ... AT: the objection and its answer are both +introduced by _at_, as here, in 35. -- AT ... ADULESCENS: these words look +back to the preceding sentence, to which they are an answer. -- ILLE ... +HIC: here _hic_ denotes the person who is more important, _ille_ the person +who is less important for the matter in hand; the former may therefore be +regarded as nearer to the speaker, the latter as more remote. A. 102, _a_; +G. 292, Rem. 1; H. 450, 2, n. + +69. QUAMQUAM: see n. on 2 _etsi_. -- QUID EST ... DIU: cf. Tusc. 1, 94 +_quae vero aetas longa est, aut quid omnino homini longum? ... quia ultra +nihil habemus, hoc longum dicimus_. For _est_ see n. on 72. -- TARTESSIORUM +... GADIBUS: the whole of the south coast of Spain bore the name +_Tartessus_, but the name is often confined to Gades, the chief city. -- +FUIT: = _vixit_. -- SCRIPTUM VIDEO: so in Acad. 2, 129; Div. 1, 31; cf. +also N.D. 1, 72 _ut videmus in scriptis_; Off. 2, 25 _ut scriptum legimus_; +also cf. n. on 26 _videmus_. -- ARGANTHONIUS: the story is from Herodotus +1, 163. + +P. 29. -- ALIQUID EXTREMUM: see n. on 5; cf. pro Marcello 27 -- EFFLUXIT: +strongly aoristic in sense 'at once is gone'. -- TANTUM: -- 'only so much'. +-- CONSECUTUS SIS: 'you may have obtained'. The subjunctive is here used in +the indefinite second person to give a hypothetical character to the +statement of the verb. The indicative might have been expected; the +expression almost = _consecuti sumus, consecutus aliquis est_. Roby, 1546; +G. 252, Rem. 3; H. 486, III. -- VIRTUTE ET RECTE FACTIS: the same opinion +is enforced in Tusc. 1, 109. -- QUID SEQUATUR: 'the future'; cf. Lucr. 1, +459 _transactum quid sit in aevo, Tum quae res instet, quid porro deinde +sequatur_. -- QUOD ... CONTENTUS: this passage with the whole context +resembles Lucretius 3, 931-977; cf. especially 938 _cur non ut plenus vitae +conviva recedis_; 960 _satur ac plenus discedere rerum_. Cf. also Hor. Sat. +1, 1, 117-118. + +70. UT PLACEAT: 'in order to secure approval'. -- PERAGENDA: cf. n. on 50 +_comparandae_. -- PLAUDITE: the Latin plays nearly always ended with this +word, addressed by the actor to the audience; cf. Hor. A.P. 153 _si +plausoris eges aulaea manentis et usque Sessuri donec cantor 'vos plaudite' +dicat_. -- BREVE TEMPUS etc.: one of the poets has said that 'in small +measures lives may perfect be'. Cf. also Tusc. 1, 109 _nemo parum diu vixit +qui virtutis perfectae perfecto functus est munere_; Seneca, Ep. 77 _quo +modo fabula, sic vita: non quam diu, sed quam bene acta sit refert_. -- +PROCESSERIT: probably the subject is _sapiens_, in which case _aetate_ must +also be supplied from _aetatis_; the subject may however be _aetas_. -- +OSTENDIT: 'gives promise of'; cf. Fam. 9, 8, 1 _etsi munus_ (gladiatorial +show) _flagitare quamvis quis ostenderit, ne populus quidem solet nisi +concitatus_. With the whole passage cf. pro Cael. 76. + +71. UT ... DIXI: in 9, 60, 62. -- SECUNDUM NATURAM: = [Greek: kata physin] +a Stoic phrase; cf. n. on 5 _naturam optimam ducem_. -- SENIBUS: dative of +reference; _emori_ stands as subject to an implied _est_. -- CONTINGIT: see +n. on 8. -- EXSTINGUITUR: there is the same contrast between _opprimere_ +and _exstinguere_ in Lael. 78. -- QUASI ... EVELLUNTUR: it is rare to find +in Cic. or the other prose writers of the best period a verb in the +indicative mood immediately dependent on _quasi_, in the sense of _sicut_ +or _quem ad modum_. When two things are compared by _quasi ... ita_, the +indicative verb is nearly always put in the second clause, and may be +supplied in the clause with _quasi_; very rarely are there two different +verbs for the two clauses. Cf. however Plautus, Stich. 539 _fuit olim, +quasi nunc ego sum senex_; Lucr. 3, 492 _agens animam spumat quasi_ ... +_fervescunt undae_. -- SI ... SI: for the more usual _si ... sin_. -- +ACCEDAM: see A. 342; G. 666; H. 529, II. -- IN PORTUM: speaking of death, +Cic. says in Tusc. 1, 118 _portum potius paratum nobis et perfugium +putemus: quo utinam velis passis pervehi liceat! Sin reflantibus ventis +reiciemur tamen eodem paulo tardius referamur necesse est_; cf. also ib. 1, +107. + +P. 30. -- 72. MUNUS OFFICI: see n. on 29. -- TUERI: 'uphold'. -- POSSIT: +subject indefinite. -- EX QUO FIT etc.: the argument seems to be that youth +knows how long it has to last and is therefore less spirited than age, +which knows not when it will end. -- ANIMOSIOR ... FORTIOR: Horace, Odes 2, +10, 21 _rebus angustis animosus atque fortis appare_; the two words are +joined also in Cic. Mil. 92: _animosus_, 'spirited'. -- HOC ILLUD EST etc.: +'this is the meaning of the answer made by Solon etc'. Cf. Div. 1, 122 _hoc +nimirum illud est quod de Socrate accepimus_, also the Greek phrase [Greek: +he tout' ekeino]. _Est_ = _valet_ as in 69. -- PISISTRATUS: the despot of +Athens, who seized the power in 560 B.C. Plutarch, who tells the story, 'An +Seni Sit Gerenda Respublica' c. 21, makes Solon speak to the friends of +Pisistratus, not to P. himself. -- QUAERENTI: see n. on 11 _dividenti_. -- +AUDACITER: Quintil. 1, 6, 17 condemns those who used _audaciter_ for +_audacter_, which latter form, he says, had been used by 'all orators'. Yet +the form _audaciter_ is pretty well attested by MSS. here and elsewhere in +Cicero. [See Neue, Formenlehre, 1 squared 662.] For the two forms cf. +_difficiliter, difficulter. Audaciter_ is of importance as showing that _c_ +before _i_ must have been pronounced just like _c_ in any other position, +not as in modern Italian. -- CERTIS SENSIBUS: Acad. 2, 19 _integris +incorruptisque sensibus_. -- IPSA ... QUAE: see n. on 26. H. 569, I. 2. -- +COAGMENTAVIT: Cic. is fond of such metaphors; cf. Orat. 77 _verba verbis +quasi coagmentari_; Phil. 7, 21 _docebo ne coagmentari quidem pacem posse_ +('that no patched-up peace can be made'). -- CONGLUTINAVIT: a still more +favorite metaphor than _coagmentare_. Cic. has _conglutinare rem _ (Or. 1, +188); _amicitias_ (Lael. 32 and Att. 7, 8, 1); _voluntates_ (Fam. 11, 27, +2); _concordiam_. (Att. 1, 17, 10); in Phil. 3, 28 Cic. says of Antony that +he is _totus ex vitiis conglutinatus_. -- IAM: 'further', so below. -- +CONGLUTINATIO: the noun occurs only here and Orat. 78 _c. verborum_. -- +RELIQUUM: not infrequently, as here, used substantively with an adjective +modifier. -- SINE CAUSA: 'without sufficient reason'. + +73. VETAT PYTHAGORAS etc.: the passage is from Plato, Phaedo 61 A-62 C. +Plato makes Socrates there profess to quote Philolaus, the Pythagorean; +Cic. therefore refers the doctrine to Pythagoras Cf. Tusc. 1, 74; Rep. 6, +15. The Stoics held the same view about suicide, which they authorized in +extreme cases, but much less freely than is commonly supposed; cf. Sen. Ep. +117, 22 _nihil mihi videtur turpius quam optare mortem_. See Zeller, +Stoics, Epicureans, and Sceptics, Ch. 12, C (2); cf. also Lecky, Hist. of +European Morals, I. p. 228 _et seq_. (Am. ed.) -- IMPERATORIS ... +PRAESIDIO: here Cic. seems to understand Plato's [Greek: phrourai] as +referring to warfare; in Tusc. and Rep. he understands it of a prison. -- +SAPIENTIS: Solon was one of the 'Seven Sages of Greece'. -- ELOGIUM: the +distich is preserved by Plutarch, and runs thus: [Greek: mede moi aklaustos +thanatos moloi, alla philoisi Kalleipoimi thanon algea kai stonachas]. Cic. +thus translates it in Tusc. 1, 117 _Mors mea ne careat lacrimis, linquamus +amicis Maerorem, ut celebrent funera cum gemitu_. The epitaph of Ennius is +also quoted there and is declared to be better than that of Solon (cf. +Tusc. 1, 34). -- VOLT SE ESSE CARUM: 'he wishes to make out that he is +beloved'; _volt esse carus_ would have had quite a different sense. Cf. +Fin. 5, 13 _Strato physicum se volt_, with Madvig's n. -- HAUD SCIO AN: see +n. on 56. -- FAXIT: the subject is _quisquam_ understood from _nemo_. For +the form see A. 142, 128, _e_, 3; G. 191, 5; H. 240, 4. The end of the +epitaph is omitted here as in Tusc. 1, 117, but is given in Tusc. 1, 34 +_cur? volito vivas per ora virum_. Notice the alliteration. + +74. ISQUE: cf. n. on 13 _vixitque_. -- AUT OPTANDUS AUT NULLUS: cf. 66 _aut +neglegenda ... aut optanda; nullus_ almost = _non_ as in 67, but only in +the Letters does Cic. (imitating Plautus and the other dramatists) attach +_nullus_ in this sense to the name of a particular person; _e.g._ Att. 11, +24, 4 _Philotimus nullus venit_. -- SED ... ESSE: 'but we must con this +lesson from our youth up'. For the passive sense of _meditatum_ cf. n. on 4 +_adeptam_. In Tusc. 1, 74 Cic., imitating Plato, says _tota philosophorum +vita commentatio mortis est_. So Seneca, _tota vita discendum est mori_. -- +SINE QUA ... NEMO POTEST: these words bring the position of Cicero with +regard to death wonderfully near that of Lucretius: the latter argues that +for peace of mind one must believe '_nullum esse sensum post mortem_'; the +former's lesson is '_aut nullum esse sensum aut optandum_'. -- TIMENS: = +_si quis timet_; the subject of _poterit_ is the indefinite _quis_ involved +in _timens_. A. 310, _a_; G. 670; H. 549, 2. -- QUI: = _quo modo_, as in 4. +-- ANIMO CONSISTERE: so in pro Quint. 77; also _mente consistere_ in Phil. +2, 68; Div. 2, 149; Q. Fr. 2, 3, 2 _neque mente neque lingua neque ore +consistere_. The word is, literally, 'to stand firm', 'to get a firm +foothold'. + +P. 31. -- 75. L. BRUTUM: fell in single combat with Aruns, son of the +exiled Tarquin; see Liv. 2, 6. The accusatives _Brutum_ etc. are not the +objects of _recorder_ but the subjects of infinitives to be supplied from +_profectas_. -- DUOS DECIOS: see n. on 43. -- CURSUM EQUORUM: the word +_equos_ would have been sufficient; but this kind of pleonasm is common in +Latin; see n. on Lael. 30 _causae diligendi_. -- ATILIUS: _i.e._ Regulus, +whose story is too well known to need recounting. There are many +contradictions and improbabilities about it. -- SCIPIONES: see n. on 29. In +Paradoxa 1, 12 Cic. says of them _Carthaginiensium adventum corporibus suis +intercludendum putaverunt_. -- POENIS: on the dat. see A. 235, _a_; H. 384, +4, n. 2. -- PAULUM: n. on 29 _L. Aemilius_. -- COLLEGAE: M. Terentius +Varro. There is no reason to suppose that he was a worse general than many +other Romans who met Hannibal and were beaten; the early historians, being +all aristocrats, fixed the disgrace of Cannae on the democratic consul. +Varro's contemporaries were more just to him. Far from reproaching him, the +Senate commended his spirit, and several times afterwards entrusted him +with important business. -- MARCELLUM: the captor of Syracuse in 212 B.C. +He fell into an ambush in 208 and was killed; Hannibal buried him with +military honors. -- CUIUS INTERITUM: abstract for concrete = _quem, post +interitum_. -- CRUDELISSIMUS HOSTIS: this, the traditional Roman view of +Hannibal, is the reverse of the truth, so far as extant testimony goes. See +Mommsen, Hist. of Rome, Bk. III. Ch. 4; Ihne, Hist. of Rome, Bk. IV. -- SED +... ARBITRARENTUR: these words are almost exactly repeated in Tusc. 1, 89 +and 101. -- RUSTICI: cf. Arch. 24 _nostri illi fortes viri sed rustici ac +milites_; also above, 24. + +76. OMNINO: see n. on 9. -- NUM IGITUR etc.: cf. 33 _nisi forte et seq._ -- +CONSTANS: cf. n. on 33. -- NE ... QUIDEM: see n. on 27. -- SATIETAS VITAE: +cf. 85 _senectus autem et seq._, and _satietas vivendi_ in pro Marc. 27; +also Tusc. 1, 109 _vita acta perficiat ut satis superque vixisse videamur_. + +77. CERNERE: of the mind also in 82. With the context cf. Div. 1, 63 +_animus appropinquante morte multo est divinior; facilius evenit +appropinquante morte ut animi futura augurentur_. -- VESTROS PATRES: n. on +15. The elder Laelius was prominent both as general and as statesman. He +commanded the fleet which co-operated with Scipio Africanus in Spain and +afterwards served with honor in Africa. He was an intimate friend of Cato. +See Liv. 26, 42 _et seq._ -- TUQUE: so in Lael. 100 _C. Fanni et tu, Q. +Muci_; but above, 4 and 9 simply _Scipio et Laeli_. -- QUAE EST SOLA VITA: +cf. n. on _vitam nullam_ in 7. -- NAM DUM SUMUS etc.: the whole of this +doctrine is Platonic; cf. Lael. 13. -- MUNERE NECESSITATIS ET ... OPERE: +'function and task allotted as by fate'. + +P. 32. -- IMMORTALIS: Cicero rarely mentions the gods without this epithet. +-- SPARSISSE: Horace calls the soul _divinae particulam aurae_. -- +TUERENTUR: rule, or guard, or care for. Most editors wrongly take +_tuerentur_ to be for _intuerentur_, 'to look upon', and regard it as an +intentional archaism. But cf. Rep. 6, 15 (where no archaism can be +intended): _homines sunt hac lege generati, qui tuerentur illum globum quae +terra vocatur_; also _tuentur_ below in 82. -- CONTEMPLANTES IMITARENTUR: +perhaps more Stoic than Platonic; the Stoics laid great stress on the +ethical value of a contemplation and imitation of the order of the +universe. Cf. N.D. 2, 37 _ipse homo ortus est ad mundum contemplandum et +imitandum_; Sen. Dial. 8, 5, 1 _Natura nos ad utrumque genuit, et +contemplationi rerum et actioni_. -- MODO: here _modus_ seems to be the +Platonic [Greek: to metrion], or perhaps a reminiscence of the Aristotelian +doctrine of the mean (n. on 46). Translate 'in moderation and consistency +of life'; and cf. Off. 1, 93 _rerum modus_ 'moderation in all things'. For +_constantia_ see n. on 4. -- ITA: cf. n. on 16 _et tamen sic_. + +78. PYTHAGORAN: see n. to 23. No ancient philosopher held more firmiy than +Pythagoras to belief in the immortality of the soul; it formed a part of +his doctrine of Metempsychosis. He was also noted for his numerical +speculations in Astronomy and Music. With him is said to have originated +the doctrine of the 'harmony of the spheres'. -- QUI ESSENT: 'inasmuch as +they were'. Cicero often tries to make out a connection between Pythagoras +and the early Romans; cf. Tusc. 4, 2; also Liv. 1, 18. -- EX UNIVERSA +MENTE: the world-soul. Diog. Laert 8 gives as Pythagorean the doctrine +[Greek: psychen einai apospasma tou aitheros kai athanaton]. Similar +doctrines occur in Plato and the Stoics; cf. Div. 1, 110 _a qua (i.e. a +natura deorum) ut doctissimis sapientissimisque placuit, haustos animos et +libatos habemus_; Tusc. 5, 38 _humanus animus decerptus ex mente divina_; +Sen. Dial. 12, 6, 7. -- HABEREMUS: imperfect where the English requires the +present. A. 287, _d_; H. 495, V. -- SOCRATES: in Plato's Phaedo. -- +IMMORTALITATE ANIMORUM: this is commoner than _immortalitas animi_, for +'the immortality of the soul'; so Lael. 14; Tusc. 1, 80 _aeternitas +animorum_. -- DISSERUISSET: subjunctive because involving the statements of +some other person than the speaker. A. 341, _c_; G. 630; H. 528, 1. -- IS +QUI ESSET etc.: 'a man great enough to have been declared wisest'. See n. +on Lael. 7 _Apollinis ... iudicatum_. -- SIC: cf. _ita_ above. -- CELERITAS +ANIMORUM: the ancients pictured to themselves the mind as a substance +capable of exceedingly rapid movement; cf. Tusc. 1, 43 _nulla est celeritas +quae possit cum animi celeritate contendere_. -- TANTAE SCIENTIAE: as the +plural of _scientia_ is almost unknown in classical Latin, recent editors +take _scientiae_ here as genitive, 'so many arts requiring so much +knowledge'. In favor of this interpretation are such passages as Acad. 2, +146 _artem sine scientia esse non posse_; Fin. 5, 26 _ut omnes artes in +aliqua scientia versentur_. Yet in De Or. 1, 61 _physica ista et +mathematica et quae paulo ante ceterarum artium propria posuisti, scientiae +sunt eorum qui illa profitentur_ it is very awkward to take _scientiae_ as +genitive. -- CUMQUE SEMPER etc.: this argument is copied very closely from +Plato's Phaedrus, 245 C. -- PRINCIPIUM MOTUS: [Greek: arche kineseos] in +Plato. -- SE IPSE: cf. n. on 4 _a se ipsi_. -- CUM SIMPLEX etc: from +Plato's Phaedo, 78-80. The general drift of the argument is this: material +things decay because they are compounded of parts that fall asunder; there +is nothing to show that the soul is so compounded; therefore no reason to +believe that it will so decay. Notice the imperfects _esset ... haberet ... +posset_ accommodated to the tense of _persuasi_ above, although the other +subjunctives in the sentence are not; cf. n. on 42 _efficeret_. -- NEQUE +... DISSIMILE: in modern phraseology the whole of this clause would be +briefly expressed thus, -- 'and was homogeneous'. -- POSSET: _quod si_ +='whereas if', the subject of _posset_ being _animus_, and _dividi_ being +understood. -- MAGNO ARGUMENTO: [Greek: hikanon tekmerion] in Pl. Phaed. 72 +A. Belief in the immortality of the soul naturally follows the acceptance +of the doctrine of pre-existence. -- HOMINES SCIRE etc.: See Plato, Phaedo, +72 E-73 B. The notion that the souls of men existed before the bodies with +which they are connected has been held in all ages and has often found +expression in literature. The English poets have not infrequently alluded +to it. See Wordsworth's Ode on the Intimations of Immortality from the +Recollections of Early Childhood, 'Our birth is but a sleep and a +forgetting' etc.; also, in Tennyson's Two Voices the passage beginning, -- + + 'Yet how should I for certain hold, + Because my memory is so cold, + That I first was in human mould?' + +REMINISCI ET RECORDARI: a double translation of Plato's [Greek: +anamimneskesthai], quite in Cicero's fashion; the former word implies a +momentary act, the latter one of some duration. -- HAEC PLATONIS FERE: 'so +far Plato'. + +79. APUD XENOPHONTEM: Cyropaedia, 8, 7, 17; for _apud_ cf. 30; when Cic. +says that a passage is 'in' a certain author (not naming the book) he uses +_apud_, not _in_. -- MAIOR: 'the elder'; cf. 59 _Cyrum minorem_. -- NOLITE +ARBITRARI: a common periphrasis. A. 269, _a_, 2; G. 264, II.; H. 489, I. -- +DUM ERAM: the imperfect with _dum_ is not common; see Roby, 1458, _c_; A. +276, _e_, n.; G. 572, 571; H. 519, I., 467, 4 with n. + +P. 33. -- 80. NEC ... TENEREMUS: the souls of the dead continue to exert an +influence on the living, or else their fame would not remain; a weak +argument. -- MIHI ... POTUIT: cf. 82 _nemo ... persuadebit_. -- VIVERE ... +EMORI: adversative asyndeton. -- INSIPIENTEM: in Xen. [Greek: aphron], +_i.e._ without power of thinking. -- SED: 'but rather that ...'. -- HOMINIS +NATURA: a periphrasis for _homo_; cf. Fin. 5, 33 _intellegant, si quando +naturam hominis dicam, hominem dicere me; nihil enim hoc differt_. -- NIHIL +... SOMNUM: poets and artists from Homer (Il. 16, 682) onwards have +pictured death as sleep's brother. Cf. Lessing, How the Ancients +Represented Death. + +81. ATQUI: see n. on 6. -- DORMIENTIUM ANIMI etc.: see Div. 1, 60 where a +passage of similar import is translated from Plato's Republic IX; ib. 115. +-- REMISSI ET LIBERI: cf. Div. 1, 113 _animus solutus ac vacuus_; De Or. 2, +193 _animo leni ac remisso_. -- CORPORIS: the singular, though _animi_ +precedes; so in Lael. 13; Tusc. 2, 12, etc. -- PULCHRITUDINEM: [Greek: +kosmon]; Cic. translates it by _ornatus_ in Acad. 2, 119 where _hic +ornatus_ corresponds to _hic mundus_ a little earlier. -- TUENTUR: see n. +on 77 _tuerentur_. -- SERVABITIS: future for imperative. A. 269, _f_; G. +265, 1; H. 487, 4. + +82. CYRUS etc.: see n. on 78. -- SI PLACET: cf. n. on 6 _nisi molestum +est_. -- NOSTRA: = _Romana = domestica_ in 12. -- NEMO etc.: this line of +argument is often repeated in Cic.; see Tusc. 1, 32 _et seq._; Arch. 29. -- +DUOS AVOS ... PATRUUM: see nn. on 29. -- MULTOS: _sc. alios_. -- ESSE +CONATOS: loosely put for _fuisse conaturos_, as below, _suscepturum +fuisse_. So in the direct narration we might have, though exceptionally, +_non conabantur nisi cernerent_ for _non conati essent nisi vidissent_. -- +CERNERENT: see n. on 13 quaereretur. -- UT ... GLORIER: in Arch. 30 Cic. +makes the same reflections in almost the same words about his own +achievements. -- ALIQUID: see n. on 1 _quid_. + +P. 34. -- SI ISDEM etc.: cf. Arch. 29 _si nihil animus praesentiret ... +dimicaret_. -- AETATEM: = _vitam_. -- TRADUCERE: cf. Tusc. 3, 25 _volumus +hoc quod datum est vitae tranquille placideque traducere_. -- NESCIO QUO +MODO: A. 210, _f_, Rem.; G. 469, Rem. 2; H. 529, 5, 3). -- ERIGENS SE: +Acad. 2, 127 _erigimur, elatiores fieri videmur_. -- HAUD ... NITERETUR: in +Cicero's speeches _haud_ scarcely occurs except before adverbs and the verb +_scio_; in the philosophical writings and in the Letters before many other +verbs. -- IMMORTALITATIS GLORIAM: so Balb. 16 _sempiterni nominis gloriam_. +Cf. also Arch. 26 _trahimur omnes studio laudis et optimus quisque maxime +gloria ducitur_. + +83. NON VIDERE: either _non videre_ or _non item_ was to be expected, as +Cicero does not often end sentences or clauses with _non_. -- COLUI ET +DILEXI: so 26 _coluntur et diliguntur_. -- VIDENDI: Cic. for the most part +avoids the genitive plural of the gerundive in agreement with a noun, and +uses the gerund as here. Meissner notes that Latin has no verb with the +sense 'to see again', which a modern would use here. -- CONSCRIPSI: in the +_Origines_. -- QUO: = _ad quos_; see n. on 12 _fore unde_. -- PELIAN: a +mistake of Cicero's. It was not Pelias but his half-brother Aeson, father +of Iason, whom Medea made young again by cutting him to pieces and boiling +him in her enchanted cauldron. She, however, induced the daughters of +Pelias to try the same experiment with their father; the issue, of course, +was very different. Plautus, Pseud. 3, 2, 80 seems to make the same +mistake. -- SI QUIS DEUS: the present subjunctive is noticeable; strictly, +an impossible condition should require the past tense, but in vivid +passages an impossible condition is momentarily treated as possible. So +Cic. generally says _si reviviscat aliquis_, not _revivisceret_. -- DECURSO +SPATIO: 'when I have run my race'. See n. on 14. Lucretius 3, 1042 oddly +has _decurso lumine vitae_. -- AD CARCERES A CALCE: _carceres_ were the +barriers behind which the horses and cars stood waiting for the race; +_calx_ ([Greek: gramme]), literally 'a chalked line', was what we should +call 'the winning post'. Cf. Lael. 101; Tusc. 1, 15 _nunc video calcem ad +quam cum sit decursum, nihil sit praeterea extimescendum._ + +84. HABEAT: concessive. A. 266, _c_; G. 257; H. 484, 3. -- MULTI ET EI +DOCTI: as Naegelsbach, Stilistik Sec. 25, 5, remarks, Cic. always uses this +phrase and not _multi docti_. One of the books Cic. has in view is no doubt +that of Hegesias, a Cyrenaic philosopher, mentioned in Tusc. 1, 84. -- +COMMORANDI ... DIVORSORIUM: 'a hostelry wherein to sojourn'. The idea has +been expressed in literature in a thousand ways. Cf. Lucr. 3, 938 _cur non +ut plenus vitae conviva recedis_; Hor. Sat. 1, 1, 118 _vita cedat uti +conviva satur_. Cicero often insists that heaven is the _vera aeternaque +domus_ of the soul (cf. Tusc. 1, 118). Cf. Epist. to the Hebrews, 13, 14 +'Here have we no continuing city, but we seek one to come'. -- CONCILIUM +COETUMQUE: so in Rep. 6, 13 _concilia coetusque hominum quae civitates +vocantur_. The words here seem to imply that the real _civitas_ is above; +what seems to men a _civitas_ is merely a disorganized crowd. + +P. 35. -- CATONEM MEUM: see 15, 68; so Cicero in his letters often calls +his own son _meus Cicero_. -- NEMO VIR: see n. on 21 _quemquam senem_. -- +QUOD CONTRA: = [Greek: ho tounantion], 'whereas on the contrary'; cf. n. on +Lael. 90 where, as well as here, many of the editors make the mistake of +taking _quod_ to be the accusative governed by _contra_ out of place. -- +MEUM: _sc. corpus cremari_. -- QUO: put for _ad quae_, as often. -- VISUS +SUM: 'people thought I bore up bravely'. -- NON QUO ... SED: a relative +clause parallel with a categorically affirmative clause. The usage is not +uncommon, though Cic. often has _non quo ... sed quia_. For mood of +_ferrem_ see A. 341, _d_, Rem.; G. 541, Rem. 1.; H. 516, II. 2. + +85. DIXISTI: in 4. -- QUI: here = _cum ego_, 'since I ...'. -- EXTORQUERI +VOLO: n. on 2 _levari volo_. -- MINUTI PHILOSOPHI: for the word _minutus_ +cf. n. on 46; Cic. has _minuti philosophi_ in Acad. 2, 75; Div. 1, 62; in +Fin. 1, 61 _minuti et angusti (homines)_; in Brut. 265 _m. imperatores_; +cf. Suet. Aug. 83 _m. pueri_. -- SENTIAM: future indicative. -- PERACTIO: +the noun is said to occur only here in Cic.; cf. however 64 _peragere_; 70. +-- HAEC ... DICEREM: the same words occur at the end of the Laelius; for +_habeo quod dicam_ Cic. often says _habeo dicere_, as in Balb. 34. + +[1] Horace, Ep. 2, 1, 156:-- + + _Graecia capta ferum victorem cepit, et artes + Intulit agresti Latio._ + +[2] De Off. 1, 1 2: _philosophandi scientiam concedens multis_ etc. + +[3] To judge rightly of Cicero it must be remembered that he was a +politician only by accident: his whole natural bent was towards literature. + +[4] To see the truth of this it is only necessary to refer for example to +the weight given to the opinions of Cicero in the heated political +discussions of the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries. + +[5] Almost every branch of learning was ranked under the head of +Philosophy. Strabo even claimed that one branch of Philosophy was +Geography. + +[6] 2, 3 _interiectus est nuper liber is quem ad nostrum Atticum de +senectute misimus._ No argument can be founded on the words _interiectus +est_, over which the editors have wasted much ingenuity. They simply mean +'there was inserted in the series of my works'. + +[7] See 2, 23. + +[8] 14, 21, 3; 16, 3, 1; 16, 11, 3. + +[9] See Att. 14, 21, 1. + +[10] It was certainly not written, as Sommerbrodt assumes, in the intervals +of composing the _De Divinatione_. The words in 2, 7 of that work--_quoniam +de re publica consuli coepti sumus_ etc.--point to the end of September or +beginning of October, 44, when Cicero returned to Rome and began to compose +his Philippic orations. + +[11] Sec. 1. + +[12] It is perhaps not a mere accident that the prowess of L. Brutus _in +liberanda patria_ is mentioned in Sec. 75. There may be a reference to the +latest Brutus who had freed his country. + +[13] In March, 45. + +[14] Sec. 12. + +[15] Sec. 84. + +[16] See p. iii. above. + +[17] In the notes exact references will be given to the places in the +original where the other passages mentioned may be found. + +[18] Particularly the first book of the _Tusculan Disputations_, the _De +Republica_, and the _Laelius_. + +[19] See 4, below. + +[20] Sec. 3. + +[21] Works on Old Age are said to have been written by Theophrastus and +Demetrius Phalereus, either or both of which Cicero might have used. One +passage in Sec. 67, _facilius in morbos ... tristius curantur_, is supposed by +many to have been imitated from Hippocrates; but the resemblance is +probably accidental. Cf. De Off. 1, 24, 83. + +[22] See Sec. 2. + +[23] See Att. 16, 11, 3; 16, 3, 1; 14, 21, 3. + +[24] Sec. 2. + +[25] As Cicero's intention was to set old age in a favorable light, he +slights Aristo Cius for giving to Tithonus the chief part in a dialogue on +old age. See Sec. 3; cf. also Laelius, Sec. 4. + +[26] See below (ii.), 1. + +[27] On the whole subject of Aristotle's dialogues see Bernays' monograph, +_Die Dialoge des Aristoteles_. + +[28] Sec. 32 _quartum ago annum et octogesimum_. Cf. Lael. 11 _memini Catonem +ante quam est mortuus mecum et cum Scipione disserere_ etc. + +[29] Cicero always indicates this date; cf. Sec. 14. Some other writers, as +Livy, give, probably wrongly, an earlier date. + +[30] He himself says (Festus, p.28l) _ego iam a principio in parsimonia +atque in duritia atque industria omnem adulescentiam, abstinui agro +colendo, saxis Sabinis silicibus repastinandis atque conserendis_. Cf. +Gell. _Noct. Att._ 13, 23. + +[31] See Cat. M. 44. + +[32] Plut. C. 1; Cat. M. Sec.Sec. 18, 32: Cato himself ap. Fest. s.v. +_ordinarius_ says _quid mihi fieret si non ego stipendia in ordine omnia +ordinarius meruissem semper?_ + +[33] Sec. 10. + +[34] If Plutarch may be trusted, Cato at the age of 30 had won for himself +the title of 'the Roman Demosthenes'. + +[35] Sec. 10. + +[36] In Sec. 10 Cicero makes the quaestorship fall in 205, but he refers to +the election, not to the actual year of office. + +[37] Nepos (or pseudo-Nepos), Cat. 1. + +[38] Cato afterwards made it a charge against M. Fulvius Nobilior that he +had taken Ennius with him on a campaign (Tusc. 1, 3). But Cato used Ennius +as soldier while Nobilior employed him as poet. + +[39] It is difficult, however, to fix the date of this enactment. Some +authorities place it after Cato's return from Spain. + +[40] Livy 34, cc. 1-8. + +[41] See Livy, 34, 18. + +[42] _i.e._ he was _legatus consularis_. It was at the time a common thing +for ex-consuls to take service under their successors. So Liv. 36, 17, 1, +but Cic. Cat. M. c 10 says _tribunus militaris_. + +[43] Cicero's statements throughout the treatise concerning the relations +between Cato and Africanus the elder, particularly in Sec. 77 where Cato calls +his enemy _amicissimus_, are audaciously inexact. + +[44] See Cato M. Sec. 42. + +[45] We possess the titles of 26 speeches delivered during or concerning +his censorship. + +[46] He is said to have undergone 44 prosecutions, and to have been +prosecutor as often. + +[47] See Lael. 9; Cat. M. 12 and 84. + +[48] Cf. Livy, 39, 40. + +[49] The common view is that Cato said nothing of Roman history from +509-266 B.C. + +[50] Cf. Cic. pro Arch. 7, 16. + +[51] See Coulanges, 'Ancient City', Bk. II. Ch. 4. + +[52] See Sec.Sec. 12, 41 etc. + +[53] De Or. 2, 170; Fam. 9, 21, 3; Qu. Fr. 2, 3, 3. + +[54] In _De Re Publica_ 2, 1 Cicero makes Scipio talk extravagantly of +Cato. + +[55] See Introduction to the Laelius, pp. vi, vii. + +[56] A. = Allen and Greenough's Grammar, Revised Ed.; G. = Gildersleeve's +Grammar; H. = Harkness's Grammar, Rev. Ed. of 1881. 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