Cato Maior de Senectute by Marcus Tullius Cicero

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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.

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