Chapter 10

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: _īdem_, not _ĭdem_. -- 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 (πλοκιον '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) εν γαρ τωι μακρωι χρονωι πολλα μεν εστιν ιδεειν, τα μη τις εθελει, πολλα δε και παθεειν. -- 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 ‛ο, ‛η. 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: γηρασκει δ' ‛ο γερων κεινος ελαφροτερον, τον κουροι φιλεουσι. -- 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_ = προμανθανουσι = 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 γαερασκο δ' αει πολλα διδασκομενος. 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 γεροντοδιδασκαλον. 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'. Tücking 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 ουδε (ου = ne, δε = 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 τοπος 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 τοπος 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 δακρυ. -- 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 Nägelsbach's Stilistik, § 197, 2. -- TAM: _sc. mortui sunt_. -- NUGATOR: _nugari_ = ληρειν, '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 αχω τηλεφανης; 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 κηρυξ 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. 1², 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 του και απο γλωσσης μελιτος γλυκιων ‛ρεεν αυδη. In Or. 32 Cic. says of Xenophon (whom the Greeks called Αττικη μελιττα) 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_.