Cato Maior de Senectute by Marcus Tullius Cicero

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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'.

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