Chapter 7

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 ψευδος, 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 § 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 ‛ομολογουμενως τη φυσει ζην). 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: = μελλει ειναι 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 ‛ως αιει τον ‛ομοιον αγει θεος ‛ως τον ‛ομοιον; 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 βιος αβιωτος; 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 ουτ αν εγω, εων Βελβινιτης (_i.e._ an inhabitant of the small island of Belbina lying to the S. of Cape Sunium) ετιμηθην ουτω προς Σπαρτιηρεων, ουτ αν συ, ανθρωπε, εων Αθηναιος. -- 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 = πανταπασι '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 εκ = εξ = εκς) 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 _condīta_, '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', επειδη γε. -- 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_.