Part 6

3. CETERIS: neuter adjective used as a noun, equivalent to _ceteris rebus_ 'the other matters'; _i.e._ the political troubles hinted at above. The best writers do not often use the neuter adjective as noun in the _oblique_ cases unless there is something in the context to show the gender clearly, as in 24 _aliis ... eis quae_; we have, however, below in 8, _isto_ = _ista re_; 72, _reliquum_; 77, _caelestium_ = _rerum caelestium_; and in 78, _praeteritorum futurorumque_; see other instances in n. on Lael. 50 _similium_. The proleptic or anticipatory use of _ceteris_ should also be noticed; its sense is not fully seen till we come to _hunc librum_; the same use occurs below in 4, 5, 59, 60; so _aliis_ in 24; cf. also n. on Lael. 7 _reliqua_. -- DIXIMUS ... DICEMUS: when a clause or phrase consists of four parts, which go in pairs (as here _diximus_, _dicemus_ on one side, and _multa_, _saepe_ on the other), the Latins frequently arrange the words so as to put one pair between the two members of the other pair, as here. This usage is called by grammarians _chiasmus_. Thus if we denote the four parts by _AA' BB', chiasmus_ requires the order _ABB'A'_ or _BAA'B'_. See examples in 8, 20, 22, 38, 44, 71. For the more complicated forms of chiasmus consult Nägelsbach, Stil. §§ 167, 169. A. 344, _f_; G. 684; H. 562. -- LIBRUM ... MISIMUS: observe the omission of a particle at the beginning of the clause; the contrast between _ceteris_ and _hunc librum_ is made stronger by the omission. For this _asyndeton adversativum_ see n. on Lael. 5 _Laelium ... putes_. For tense of _misimus_, 'I send' see A. 282; G. 244, H. 472, 1. -- OMNEM: see n. on 62. -- TRIBUIMUS: perfect tense like _misimus_. -- TITHONO ... ARISTO: see Introd. -- CIUS: Greek Κειος (a native of Ceos), not to be confused with Χιος (a native of Chios), or Κωος (a native of Cos). Cicero generally denotes the Greek diphthong ει by _i_ not e. This Aristo was a Peripatetic. -- PARUM ... AUCTORITATIS: observe how often Cicero takes trouble to separate words which are, grammatically, closely connected. So above, _omnis ... molestias_; 7 _multorum ... senectutem_; 9 _mirificos ... fructus_; 21 _civium ... nomina_; 33 _minus ... virium_; 53 _multo ... fecundior_; etc. etc. See also n. on 15 _quam sit iusta_. A. 344, _c_, _d_, _e_; H. 561, III. -- ESSET: condition omitted. A. 311; G. 602; H. 510. -- MAIOREM AUCTORITATEM: cf. Lael. 4. -- APUD QUEM: 'at whose house'; so 55 _a me_, 'from my house'. A. 153; G. 417; H. 446, n. 4. -- LAELIUM ... SCIPIONEM: see Introd. -- FACIMUS ADMIRANTIS: 'we represent as expressing astonishment'. For _facere_, in this sense, Cic. more often uses _inducere_ 'to bring on the stage', as in Lael. 4 _Catonem induxi senem disputantem_. Cf. however 54 _Homerus Laerten colentem agrum facit_; also Brut. 218; Orat. 85. Instead of _facimus_ we might have expected either _fecimus_ to correspond with _misimus_ and _tribuimus_ above, or _faciemus_ to correspond with _videbitur_ below. On the use of the participle see A. 292, _q_; G. 536; H 535, I. 4. -- ERUDITIUS DISPUTARE: Cic. not infrequently in his dialogues makes people talk with more learning than they really possessed. He several times confesses this as regards Lucullus and Catulus in the Academica, and as regards Antonius in the De Oratore. -- FERAT: subjunctive because embodying the sentiment of Laelius and Scipio. Roby, 1744; Madvig, 357; H. 516, II. -- SUIS LIBRIS etc.: for the allusions here to Cato's life, works, and opinions see Introd. -- QUID OPUS EST PLURA? _sc. dicere_. cf. the elliptic phrases _quid multa? sc. dicam_ in 78; also below, 10 _praeclare_. A 206, _c_; H. 368, 3, n. 2.

4. SAEPE NUMERO SOLEO: 'it is my frequent custom'. _Numero_ is literally 'by the count or reckoning', and in _saepe numero_ had originally the same force as in _quadraginta numero_ and the like; but the phrase came to be used merely as a slight strengthening of _saepe_. -- CUM HOC ... CUM CETERARUM: the use of _cum_ in different senses in the same clause, which seems awkward, is not uncommon; cf. below, 67. The spelling _quum_ was certainly not used by Cicero, and probably by no other Latin writer of the best period. H. 311, foot-note 4. It is worth remarking that _cum_ the conjunction and _cum_ the preposition, though spelt alike, are by origin quite distinct. The former is derived from the pronominal stem _ka_ or _kva_, and is cognate with _qui_; the latter comes from the root _sak_ 'to follow', and is cognate with Gk. συν, Lat _sequor_, etc. See Vanicek, Etymologisches Worterbuch, pp. 96, 984. -- RERUM ... SAPIENTIAM: 'wisdom _in_ affairs'; the objective genitive -- EXCELLENTEM: in sense much stronger than our 'excellent'; _excellentem perfectamque_ 'pre-eminent and indeed faultless'. -- QUOD ... SENSERIM: this clause takes the place of an object to _admirari_. The subjunctive is used because the speaker reports his own reason for the wonder, formerly felt, as if according to the views of another person, and without affirming his holding the same view at the time of speaking. Madvig, 357, _a_, Obs. 1. A 341, _d_, Rem. -- ODIOSA: this word is not so strong as our 'hateful', but rather means 'wearisome', 'annoying'. In Plautus the frequent expression _odiosus es_ means, in colloquial English, 'you bore me'. Cf. 47 _odiosum et molestum_; 65 _odiosa offensio_. -- ONUS AETNA GRAVIUS: a proverbial expression with an allusion to Enceladus, who, after the defeat of the Giants by Juppiter, was said to have been imprisoned under Mt. Aetna. Cf. Eurip. Hercules Furens, 637; also Longfellow's poem, Enceladus. -- HAUD SANE DIFFICILEM: 'surely far from difficult'; cf. 83 _haud sane facile_. -- QUIBUS: a _dativus commodi_, 'those for whom there is no aid in themselves'. Cf. Lael. 79 _quibus in ipsis_. -- BENE BEATEQUE VIVENDUM: 'a virtuous and happy life'; 'virtue and happiness'; so _bene honesteque_ below, 70. -- QUI ... PETUNT: these are the αυταρκεις, men sufficient for themselves, '_in se toti teretes atque rotundi_'. We have here a reminiscence of the Stoic doctrine about the wise man, whose happiness is quite independent of everything outside himself, and is caused solely by his own virtue. Cicero represents the same Stoic theory in Lael. 7. Cf. Juv. Sat. 10, 357-362; also Seneca, De Cons. Sap. VIII, De Prov. I. 5. -- A SE IPSI: 'themselves from themselves,' so in 78 _se ipse moveat ... se ipse relucturus sit_; 84 _me ipse consolabar_. Expressions like _a se ipsis_ are quite uncommon in Cicero. Cf. n. on Lael. 5 _te ipse cognosces_; also see below, 38 _se ipsa_ 78 _se ipse_. -- NATURAE NECESSITAS: 'the inevitable conditions of nature.' Cf. 71 _quid est tam secundum naturam quam senibus emori?_ -- AFFERAT: subjunctive because _nihil quod_ = _nihil tale ut_. A 320, _a_; G. 633, 634; H. 503, I. -- QUO IN GENERE: _sc. rerum_; with this phrase the defining genitive is commonly omitted by Cicero. So below, 45 _in eo genere_. -- UT ... ADEPTAM: notice the chiasmus. -- EANDEM: _idem_ is used in the same way, to mark an emphatic contrast in 24, 52, 68, 71. -- ADEPTAM: this is probably the only example in Cicero of the passive use of _adeptus_, which occurs in Sallust, Ovid, Tacitus, etc.; and in this passage the use cannot be looked on as certain, since one of the very best and several of the inferior MSS. read _adepti_. Cicero, however, uses a good many deponent participles in a passive sense (cf. below, 59 _dimensa_; 74 _meditatum_; see also a list, Roby, 734), and some of them occur very rarely. Thus _periclitatus, arbitratus, depastus_ as passives are found each in only one passage. -- INCONSTANTIA: 'instability', 'inconsistency'. _Constantia_, unwavering firmness and consistency, is the characteristic of the wise man; cf. Acad. 2, 23 _sapientia ... quae ex sese habeat constantiam_; also Lael. 8 and 64.

P. 3. -- AIUNT: _sc. stulti_. -- PUTASSENT: the subjunctive is due to the indirect discourse. Where we say 'I should not have thought,' the Latins say, in direct narration, '_non putaram_,' _i.e._ 'I never had thought' (so Off. 1, 81 and often in Cicero's letters). Translate, 'more quickly than they had ever expected'. Cf. Att. 6, 1, 6 _accipiam equidem dolorem mihi ilium irasci sed multo maiorem non esse eum talem qualem putassem_. See Zumpt, Gram., 518. -- FALSUM PUTARE: 'to form a mistaken judgment'. For _falsum_ as noun equivalent to 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.