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 M. TULLI ClCERONIS 
 
 CATO MAIOR DE SENECTUTE 
 
 WITH INTRODUCTION AND NOTES 
 
 By JAMES S. REID, M.L. 
 
 7ELL0W OF GONVILLB AND CAIUS COI-l.EGE, CAMBRIDGE, UNIVERSITY LKCTUKE' 
 
 IN ROMAN HISTORY 
 
 Smfiican lEtii'tian tuiitseti 
 
 Bv FRANCIS W. KELSEY 
 
 UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN 
 
 ALLYN AND BACON 
 
 Boston Nciri gork Chicago 
 
 
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 Copyright, 1882, 
 
 By John Allyw 
 
 RAP 
 
 Norfaooti ^rcBB : 
 Berwick & Smith, Norwood, Mass., U.S,A« 
 
 ; € » ' c c t t .
 
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 o 
 
 PREFACE 
 
 Three years ago Mr. James S. Reid, of Gonville and Caius 
 College, Cambridge, prepared for the Syndics of the Uni- 
 versity Press editions of Cicero's Cato Maior de Senectute 
 and LacUus de Atnicitia. The thorough and accurate 
 scholarship displayed, especially in the elucidation of the 
 Latinity, immediately won for the books a cordial reception ; 
 and since then they have gained a permanent place in the 
 esteem of English scholars. 
 
 The present volume has the full authorization of Mr. 
 Reid, and was prepared with the design of presenting to 
 American students, in a form best adapted to their use, 
 the results of his work. The Text remains substantially 
 tliat of Mr. Reid ; while mention is made in the notes of 
 the most important variations in readings and orthography 
 from other editions. The Introductions have been recast, 
 with some enlargement ; the analyses of the subject- 
 matter in particular have been entirely remodelled. The 
 Notes have been in some instances reduced, in others 
 amplified, — especially by the addition of references to the 
 standard treatises on grammar, history, and philosophy. 
 It was at first the intention ot tlie American editor tc 
 
 349477
 
 PREFACE. 
 
 indicate by some mark the matter due to himself; but 
 as this could hardly be done without marring the appear- 
 ance of the page, and thus introducing a source of con- 
 fusion to the student, it was not attempted. In the work 
 of revision free use of the principal German and English 
 editions has been made. 
 
 To some the notes of the present edition may appear 
 too copious. The aim throughout, however, has been not 
 simply to give aid on difficult points, but to call attention 
 to the finer usages of the Latin, and to add also whatever 
 explanation seemed necessary to a clear understanding of 
 the subject-matter. Latin scholarship which shall be at 
 the same time broad and accurate, including not only a 
 mastery of the language but also a comprehensive view of 
 the various phases of Roman life and thought, will, it is 
 believed, be best assured by the slow and careful reading 
 of some portions of the literature and by the rapid survey 
 of others. Certainly of the shorter Latin classics few would 
 more fully repay close and careful study of both language 
 and thought than these charming colloquies on Old Age 
 and Friendship. While almost faultless in expression, they 
 embody in a remarkable degree that universal element which 
 characterizes the literary masterpiece, and makes it the 
 valued possession not merely of an age or a nation, but 
 
 of all time. 
 
 FRANCIS W KELSEY 
 
 Lake Forest, III., May, 1882.
 
 INTRO D UCTION. 
 
 I. CICERO AS A WRITER ON PHILOSOPHY. 
 
 (i.) State of Philosophy in Cicero's Time. 
 
 Ix Philosophy tlie Romans originated nothing. Their ener- 
 gies in the earlier years of tlie stale were wholly absorbed in 
 organization and conquest. Resting in a stern and simple 
 creed, they had little speculative interest in matters outside 
 the hard routine of their daily life. But with the close of the 
 Period of Conquest came a change. The influx of wealth from 
 conquered provinces, the formation of large landed estates, the 
 excessive employment of slave labor, and the consequent rise 
 of a new aristocracy, prepared the way for a great revolution. 
 The old religion lost its hold on the higher classes ; something 
 was needed to take its place. With wealth and luxury came 
 opportunity and desire for culture. Greece, with Art, Liter- 
 ature, and Philosophy fully developed and highly perfected, 
 stood ready to instruct her rude conqueror.^ 
 
 In Cicero's time the productive era of Greek Philosophy had 
 well-nigh passed. Its tendency was less speculative, more ethi- 
 cal and practical than in the earlier time. There were four 
 prominent sciiools, the New Academy, the Peripatetic, the Stoic, 
 and the Epicurean. The supporters of the last-named advo- 
 cated m Science the doctrine of the atom, in Ethics the pursuit 
 of pleasure, in Religion the complete inactivity of the gods. 
 
 ^ Horace, Ep. 2, i, 156: — 
 
 Graecin capta ferum victor em cepit, et artes 
 lutiiUt ugresti Latio.
 
 ii INTRODUCTION. 
 
 The Stoics and Peripatetics were divided by comparatively un- 
 important differences. In Ethics, considered by tliem as almost 
 the whole of Philosophy, which was itself defined as 'the art 
 of living', the main question between the two schools was the 
 amount of importance to be attributed to Virtue, — the Stoics 
 declaring that in comparison with Virtue all other things sink 
 into absolute insignificance, while the Peripatetics maintained 
 that these have a certain though infinitesimally small signifi- 
 cance. The New Academy taught at this time no complete 
 philosophical system. It simply proclaimed the view that in 
 the field of knowledge certainty is unattainable, and that all the 
 inquirer has to do is to balance probabilities one against the other. 
 The New Academic, therefore, was free to accept any opinions 
 which seemed to him to have the weight of probability on their 
 side, but he was bound to be ready to abandon them when any- 
 thing appeared which altered his views of the probabilities. He 
 not only might be, but he could not help being, eclectic; that 
 is, he chose such views promulgated by other schools as seemed 
 to him at the moment to be most reasonable or probable. Cicero 
 called himself an adherent of this school. On most points how- 
 ever, although eclectic, he agreed with the Peripatetics, but with 
 a decided leaning toward the Stoic ethical system. The Stoic 
 opinion that it is the duty of the wise man to abstain from public 
 life, which the Peripatetics contested, Cicero decisively rejected. 
 With the Epicureans he had absolutely no sympathy. Up to 
 this time these schools and their teachings were known to the 
 Romans only through the medium of the Greek. The only 
 Latin philosophical literature was Epicurean, and, excepting the 
 poem of Lucretius {De Renim Natura), scarcely famous as yet, 
 consisted entirely of books rudely written, although considerably 
 read. 
 
 (ii.) The Mission of Cicero in Philosophy. 
 
 Cicero made no claim to originality as a philosopher, nor even 
 to complete acquaintance with every detail of the Greek systems.^ 
 
 1 De Off. I, 1,2: philosophandi scientiam concedens miiltis tX.c.
 
 INTRODUCTION. iii 
 
 fn early life he had studied with enthusiasm and success all the 
 learning of the Greeks, but especially in the two departments 
 of Rhetoric and Philosophy, then closely connected, or rather 
 hardly distinguished. He not only sought the society of learned 
 Greeks, but spent considerable time in study at Rhodes and 
 Athens, which had become not merely the ' school of Greece ', 
 as Thucydides makes Pericles call her. but the school of the 
 civilized world. ^ When, by reason of political troubles, he was 
 forced to retire to private life, he began to carry out a great plan 
 for interpreting the best philosophical writings of the Greeks to 
 his fellow-countrymen. For this work his liberal views as a 
 New Academic peculiarly fitted him. His usual method was to 
 take one or two leading Greek works on the subject with which 
 he was dealing, and to represent freely in his own language their 
 subject-matter, introducing episodes and illustrations of his own. 
 He thus presented to the Romans in their own tongue the rnost 
 significant portions of the Greek Philosophy ; and in his writings 
 there has come down to us much, especially of the Post- Aristo- 
 telian Philosophy, that was doomed to oblivion in the origir.al 
 Greek. But further than this, to Cicero more than to any other 
 Roman is due the formation of a Latin philosophical vocabulary, 
 by which the language was enriched and fitted for the part it 
 has since taken as the Language of the Learned. While on 
 many points Cicero's own views can hardly be determined with 
 perfect exactness, the exalted sentiments and the exquisite liter- 
 ary finish of his philosophical writings have always won admira- 
 tion : and through them he has exerted no small influence on 
 the literature and life of modern times. - 
 
 ^ To judge rightly of Cicero it only necessary to refer for ex- 
 must be remembered that he was ample to the weight given to the 
 a politician only by accident : his opinions of Cicero in the heated 
 whole natural bent was towards political discussions of the six- 
 literature, teenth and seventeenth centuries 
 
 2 To see the truth of tliis it is
 
 iv INTRODUCTION. 
 
 (iii.) The Philosophical Writings of Cicero 
 
 During the whole of an exceptionally busy public life Cicera 
 devoted his spare moments to reading and to the society of the 
 learned. After his exile in 58 and 57 B. c. his political career, 
 except for a brief period just before his death, was over, and it 
 is at this time that his period of great literary activity begins. 
 In 55 he produced the work De Oratore, in 54 the De Re Pub- 
 Hca. and in 52 the De Legibus, all three works, according to 
 ancient ideas, entitled to rank as philosophical.^ 
 
 From 51 to 46 B. c , owing first to his absence in Cilicia, then 
 to the civil troubles, Cicero almost ceased to write. But in the 
 latter year he was reconciled with Caesar, and as the Senate and 
 law courts were closed against him on his refusal to compromise 
 his political principles, he betook himself with greater devotion 
 than ever to literature. The first work written in 46 was the 
 Hohensuis, or De Philosophia, now lost. It was founded on a 
 lost dialogue of Aristotle, and set forth the advantages of study- 
 ing Philosophy. During the same year Cicero completed sev- 
 eral oratorical works, the Partitiones Oratoriae, the Bruttis, or 
 De Claris Oratoribus, and the Orator, all of which are extant. 
 
 Early in 45 Cicero lost his beloved daughter Tullia. He 
 passed the whole year in retirement, trying to soothe his griet 
 by incessant writing. In quick succession appeared 
 De Consolatione, an attempt to apply philosophy to the mitiga- 
 tion of his own sorrow and that of others ; 
 Academica, an exposition ot the New Academic Philosophy, 
 advocating probability rather than certainty as the foundation 
 of philosophy ; 
 De Ftnibus Bonorujn et Afalorum, a work criticising the most 
 
 prominent views entertained concerning Ethics ; 
 Disputationes Tuscidanae, treating of certain conditions essen- 
 tial to morality and happiness ; 
 
 1 Almost every branch of learn- that one branch of Philosophj 
 !ng was ranked under the head of was Geography. 
 Philosophy. Strabo even claimed
 
 INTRODUCTION. V 
 
 De Natura Deonim, an examination of the principal theories 
 
 regarding the nature and power of the gods ; 
 Cato Maior., on old age ; Laehus. on friendship ; 
 De Fato, discussing Fate and Free Will ; 
 Paradoxa, a boolc setting forth certain remarkable views of the 
 
 Stoics ; 
 De Officiis, a treatise on practical ethics, the application of 
 
 moral principles to the questions and difficulties of ordinary 
 
 life. 
 These works, written mostly in 45 and 44, are, except the Dt 
 Cons., still extant. To the list may be added also other works of 
 a rhetorical nature, such as the Topica and De Optimo Genere 
 Dicendi, and some lost philosophical books, such as De G.'or m 
 
 Even though allowance be made for the fact that Cicero was 
 'Tivine in Latin the substance of Greek books with which he had 
 been familiar from boyhood, the mental vigor and hterary power 
 exhibited by this series of works appear prodigious when we 
 consider their great compass and variety and the generally high 
 finish of their style. 
 
 References. — For a fuller account of Cicero's philosophical 
 views and writings consult Ritter, ' History of Ancient Philoso- 
 phy , Vol. 4. Ch. 2 ; Maurice, ' Moral and Metaphysical Phi- 
 losophy', Ch 7, § 5 : Tennemann and Morell, 'History of 
 Philosophy ', Ch. 3 Ueberweg, ' History of Philosophy ', Vol 
 I, § 61 ; J. B. Mayor, 'Sketch of Ancient Philosophy', pp. 223- 
 244; 'leuffel, 'History of Roman Literature', Vol. I, § 172 et 
 seq. ; Cruttwell, ' History of Roman Literature', Bk. 11. Part i, 
 Ch. 2; 'Cicero', by Cohins, in Ancient Classics for English 
 Readers, Ch. 10, et scq., also the Introduction to Reid's edition 
 of the Academica, and the account of Cicero by Prof Ramsay 
 in Smith's Dictionary of Biography and Mythology. The most 
 attractive bio^rapliy of Cicero in English is that by Forsytii. 
 That by Trollope is able but quite partisan. On the philosophy, 
 consult also Zeller's ' Eclectics.'
 
 Vi INTRODUCTION. 
 
 II. THE CATO MAIOR. 
 (i.) Origin and Scope. 
 
 I. Date and Circumstances of Composition. 
 
 The date at which the Cato Maior was written can be deter- 
 mined with almost perfect exactness. A mention in Cicero's 
 work entitled De Diinnatione'^ shows that the Cato Maior pre- 
 ceded that worlv by a short lime. The De Divinatione was 
 written after tlie assassination of Caesar, that is, after the 15th 
 of March in the year 44.^ Again, the Cato Maior is mentioned 
 as a recent work in three letters addressed by Cicero to Atticus.' 
 The eariiest of these letters was written on or about the 12th 
 of May, 44.'* We shall hardly err, therefore, if we assume that 
 Cicero composed the Cato Maior in April of the year 44.^ This 
 agrees also with slight indications in the work itself. In the 
 dedicatory introduction Cicero speaks of troubles weighing 
 heavily on himself and Atticus.** Any one who reads the let- 
 ters to Atticus despatched in April, 44, will have little doubt 
 that the troubles hinted at are the apprehensions as to the 
 course of Antonius, from whom Cicero had personally some- 
 thing to fear. Atticus was using all the influence he could 
 bring to bear on Antonius in order to secure Cicero's safety ; 
 
 1 2, 3 hifencctiis est nuper liber as Sommerbrodt assumes, in the 
 is quern ad fiostrum Atticum de intervals of composing the De 
 senecttite misimtis. No argument Divinatione. The words in 2, 7 
 can be founded on the words in- of that work — qiioniam de re pub- 
 teriectus est, over which the edi- tica considi coepti sumiis etc. — 
 tors have wasted much ingenuity, point to the end of September or 
 They simply mean ' there was in- beginning of October, 44, when 
 serted in the series of my works ', Cicero returned to Rome and 
 
 2 See 2, 23. began to compose his Philippic 
 
 3 14, 21, 3; 16, 3, I ; 16, II, 3. orations. 
 * See Att. 14, 21, I. ® § !• 
 5 It was certainly not written,
 
 INTRODUCTION. vii 
 
 fience Cicero's care to avoid in the dedication all but the 
 vaguest possible allusions to politics. Had that introduction 
 been written before Caesar's death, we should have had plain 
 allusions (as in the prooemia of the Academica, the De Finibus, 
 the Tusculan Disputations, and the De Natura Deorum) to 
 Caesar's dictatorship.^ 
 
 The time was one of desperate gloom for Cicero. The down- 
 fall of the old constitution had overwhelmed him with sorrow, 
 and his brief outburst of joy over Caesar's death had been 
 quickly succeeded by disgust and alarm at the proceedings of 
 Antonius. The deep wound caused by his daughter's death ■^ 
 was still unhealed. It is easy to catch in the Cato Maior some 
 echoes of his grief for her. When it is said that of all Cato's 
 titles to admiration none is higher than the fortitude he showed 
 in bearing the death of his son,'^ the writer is thinking of the 
 struggle he himself had been waging against a like sorrow for 
 more than a year past ; and when Cato expresses his firm con- 
 viction that he will meet his child beyond the grave,'' we can 
 see Cicero's own yearning for reunion with his deeply loved 
 TuUia. 
 
 2. Greek Sources. 
 
 All Cicero's philosophical and rhetorical writings were con- 
 fessedly founded more or less on Greek originals.'' The stores 
 from which he principally drew in writing the Cato Maior are 
 clearly indicated in several parts of the work. Passages from 
 Xenophon's Oecono7nicus are translated in Chapters 17 and 22. 
 In Chapters 2 and 3 there is a close imitation of the conversa- 
 tion between Socrates and Cephalus at the beginning of Plato's 
 Republic, while in Chapter z\ is reproduced one of the most 
 
 ^ It is perhaps not a mere acci- - In March, 45. 
 
 dent that the prowess of L. Brutus ^ § 12. 
 
 in liberanda patria is mentioned in ■• tf ^4- 
 
 § 75. There may be a reference ^ See p. iii. above. 
 to the latest Brutus who had freed 
 his country.
 
 viii INTRODUCTION. 
 
 striking portions of the P/iaedo, 72 E-73 B, 78-80.^ The view 
 of the divine origin and destiny of the human soul contained in 
 the passage from the Phaedo is rendered by Cicero in many of 
 his works,'- and was held by him with quite a religious fervor 
 and sincerity. 
 
 Besides these instances of special indebtedness Cicero, in 
 composing the Cato Maior, was no doubt under obligations of 
 a more general kind to the Greeks. The form of the dialogue 
 is Greek, and AristoteHan rather than Platonic.^ But further, 
 it is highly probable that Cicero owed to some particular Greek 
 dialogue on Old Age the general outline of the arguments he 
 there brings forward. Many of the Greek illustrative allusions 
 may have had the same origin, though in many cases Roman 
 illustrations must have been substituted for Greek. Whether 
 the dialogue by Aristo Cius, cursorily mentioned in the Cato 
 Maior,'* was at all used by Cicero or not it is impossible to de- 
 termine.^ 
 
 3. Purpose. 
 
 The Cato Maior is a popular essay in Ethics, applying the 
 principles of philosophy to the alleviation of one of life's chief 
 burdens, old age. In ancient times, when philosophy formed the 
 real and only religion of the educated class, themes like this were 
 deemed to afford a worthy employment for the pens even of the 
 greatest philosophers. Such essays formed the only substitute 
 the ancients had for our Sermons. There can be no doubt of 
 Cicero's sincerity when he says that the arguments he sets 
 
 ^ In the notes exact references have been written by Theophrastus 
 
 'will be given to the places in the and Demetrius Phalereus, either 
 
 original where the other passages or both of which Cicero might 
 
 mentioned may be found. have used. One passage in § 67, 
 
 '- Particularly the first book of facilius in niorbos . . . tristius cu- 
 
 the Titsculati Disputations, the De rantur, is supposed by many to 
 
 Republica, and the Laelius. have been imitated from Hippo- 
 
 2 See 4, below. crates ; but the resemblance is 
 
 4 § 3. probably accidental. Cf. De Off. 
 
 s "Works on Old Age are said to i, 24, 83.
 
 INTRODUCTION. ix 
 
 forth in the treatise had given him real comfort,^ and the open- 
 ino- words of tlie dedication show that he meant and hoped to 
 administer the same comfort to his friend Atticus, who indeed 
 acknowledged the benefit he derived from the work.^ When 
 Cicero wrote the treatise he was himself sixty-two years of age, 
 while his friend was three years older. He speaks, therefore, 
 rather euphemistically when he says that his purpose is to 
 lighten the trouble of an old age which is already close it hand, 
 (ir at all events approaching.' 
 
 But in addition to the main ethical purpose, there was, as in 
 many of Cicero's works, a distinct political purpose. He 
 desired to stimulate in his readers an admiration for what he 
 regarded as the golden age of Roman politics, the era of the 
 Punic wars, and to do this by making the contrast between that 
 rige and his own appear as striking as possible. A like double 
 purpose is apparent throughout the De Re Publica, where Afri- 
 canus the younger is the chief personage, and in the treatise on 
 Friendship, where Laelius is the central figure. For the dia- 
 logue on Old Age M. Porcius Cato the Censor is selected as 
 the principal speaker for two reasons : first, because he was 
 renowned for the vigor of mind and body he displayed in ad- 
 vanced life ; ■• and secondly, because in him were conspicuously 
 exhibited the serious simplicity, the unswerving adherence to 
 principle, and the self-sacrificing patriotism which were the ideal 
 Roman virtues, and which Cicero could not find among the poli- 
 ticians of his time. 
 
 4. Form and Language. 
 
 The Cato Maior, like most of Cicero's philo.sophical writings, 
 is cast in the form of a dialogue. Among the ancients the dia- 
 
 ' See § 2. set old age in a favorable light, 
 
 ^ .See Alt. 16, II, 3; if>, 3, I, lie slights Aristo Cius for giving 
 
 14, 21, 3 tci 'I'itlioiuis tlic chief part in a dia- 
 
 ■* § 2. logue on old age. .See § 3; cf. also 
 
 * As Cicero's intention was to Laelius, § 4.
 
 X INTRODUCTION. 
 
 logue was a common rhetorical device, especially in the presen- 
 tation of abstruse subjects. The introduction of characters to 
 conduct the discussion gave vividness and clearness to the un- 
 folding of the argument, as well as a kind of dramatic interest to 
 the production. In the Cato Maior^ and the Laelius, as gener- 
 ally, Cicero followed the plan of Aristotle's dialogues (now lost) 
 rather than that of tlie dialogues of Plato. In the former there 
 was more of exposition and less of discussion than in the latter; 
 one person stated his views on some question, and the company 
 in attendance only made occasional remarks without attempting 
 to debate the question. In the latter, although one person, Soc- 
 rates, is everywhere prominent, others are continually drawn 
 into the discussions, and there is a quick interchange of ques- 
 tion and answer. The Aristotelian form was better adapted to 
 Cicero's purposes than the Platonic ; the progress of the argu- 
 ment was less interrupted, and thus better opportunity for a 
 symmetrical development of the theme was afforded. Then, 
 too, the former was more popular. The style of Aristotle ^ had 
 been imitated by Theophrasfus and many other writers down 
 to Cicero's time, while that of Plato had found hardly any 
 imitators. 
 
 The editors of the Cato Maior have generally assumed that 
 Cicero attempted to give an antique coloring to the diction of 
 the dialogue in order to remind readers of Cato's own style. It 
 is only necessary to read a page or two of Cato's De Re Rustica 
 to have this illusion dispelled. The only things actually alleged 
 to be archaisms are (i) the use of deponent participles as pas- 
 sives in §§ 4, 59, 74, a thing common enough in Cicero; (2) the 
 occurrence of quasi = quern ad vioduvi in § yr ; (3) of audaciter 
 ^=audacter in § 72; (4) of tuerentur for hituerenfur in ^ 77 \ 
 (5) of nejitiqjiafu in § 42 ; (6) of the nominative of the gerun- 
 dive governing an accusative case in § 6. In every instance the 
 
 1 See below (ii.), i. nionogiaijh, Die Diuloge des Art's 
 
 '^ On the whole subject of Aris- toteles. 
 totle's dialogues see Bernays'
 
 INTRODUCTION. X\ 
 
 notes will supply a refutation of the allegation. That Cicero 
 should attempt to write in any style but his own is exceedingly 
 improbable. 
 
 5. Personages. 
 
 The conversation is supposed to take place between Cato, 
 Scipio Africanus the younger, and Laelius, in the year before 
 Cato's death, /. ^. 150 B.C., when he was in his eighty-fourth 
 year,^ Scipio being about 35 and Laelius a few years older. 
 
 (i.) Cato. M. Porcius Cato was born in 234 b. c.'^ at the 
 ancient Latin town of Tusculum. Little is known of his family 
 except that it was plebeian, and possessed a small patrimony in 
 the territory of the Sabines, close to the farm of M'. Curius 
 Dentatus, one of Cato's great heroes and models. The heads 
 of tiie family, so far as memory extended, had distinguished 
 themselves as tough warriors and hardy farmers. Among the 
 Sabines, who even down to the times of the Empire were famed 
 for simplicity of manners and the practice of all the sterner 
 virtues, Cato passed those portions of his life which were not 
 occupied with business of state. From his earliest days he 
 toiled in his own fields, and contented himself with the hardest 
 rustic lite.^ Yet even in his boyhood Cato must have passed 
 intervals at Rome, and seen something of the great statesmen 
 and senerals of the time.* He seems lo have received when 
 young as thorough an education as was possible without learn- 
 ing Greek, such an education as was to be obtained only in the 
 capital. He grew up to manhood in the comparatively quiet 
 
 ^ §32 qiiartum a};o annnni et ^ He himself says (Festus, p. 2S1) 
 
 octogesitnum. Cf. Lael. 1 1 intiniiti ego iam a principio in parshnonia 
 
 Catoium ante quam est iiioi tuns atque in dnritia atqiie industria 
 
 tnetiim et mm Scipione disserere opunem adulescentiain,al>stiniii agro 
 
 etc. colendo, saxis Sabinis silicibus rt' 
 
 '^ Cicero always indicates tliis pastinandis atque conserendis. C£ 
 
 date; cf. § 14. .Sume other writers, (Jell. Nocf. Att. 13, 23. 
 
 as Livy, give, probably wrongly, * See Cat. M. 44. 
 an earlier date.
 
 xii INTRODUCTION. 
 
 period between the first and the second Punic wars ; the mos\ 
 exciting event of his younger years must liave been the de- 
 struction at Clastidium of the vast hordes of Celts who had 
 swept over the northern half of Italy, almost within reach of 
 Rome. 
 
 Cato was of the age for military service about the time of the 
 battle of Lake Trasimenus, and entered the army then as a 
 common soldier. ^ The first expedition in which he is definitely 
 said to have taken part is that of (2- Fabius iMaximus Cunctator 
 against Hannibal in Campania, in 214.^ This Roman com- 
 mander was a man entirely after Cato's heart, and became one 
 of,his models in public life. 
 
 Before and during the early years of his soldiers life, Cato 
 succeeded in winning some reputation as an orator, having 
 practised first in the provincial courts near his home, and after- 
 wards at Rome.^ This reputation as well as his great force of 
 character procured for him a powerful life-long friend and patron, 
 M. Valerius Flaccus, a statesman of the old Roman conservative- 
 democratic school of politics, the leader of which was Fabius 
 Cunctator. Through the influence of Flaccus, possibly vvitli the 
 aid of Fabius, Cato became military tribune, and served with 
 that rank under Marcellus in Sicily, under Fabius again at iho 
 capture of Tarentum in 209, ■• and under C. Claudius Nero at the 
 battle of the Metaurus, where he contributed materially to that 
 great victory. 
 
 In 204 Cato began his political career with the quaestorship.' 
 As. he was a noznis homo and a man of small private means, it 
 vvas no small distinction that he had forced his way to office in 
 
 1 Plut. c. i; Cat. M. §§ 18, 32: himself the title of 'the Roman 
 
 Cato himself ap. Fest. s. v. ordi- Demosthenes '. 
 
 narius says qitid mihifie7-et si non * § 10. 
 
 ego stipendia in ordine omnia ordi- ^ In § 10 Cicero Tiiakes the 
 
 narius meruissem semper? quaestorship fall in 205, but he 
 
 - § 10. refers to the election, not to the 
 
 ^ If Plutarch may be trusted, actual year of office. 
 
 Cato at the age of 30 had won for
 
 INTRODUCTION. xiii 
 
 his thirtieth year. The lot assigned him as quaestor to Scipio, 
 then in Sicily and about to cross over into Africa. The chance 
 was most unfortunate, if for no other reason, because Cato was 
 intimately connected with the party in the senate opposed to 
 Scipio, which had been attempting to bring him to trial for the 
 atrocities committed by the Roman army in southern Italy. 
 But in addition the two men were so utterly different that there 
 was no possibility of the quaestor standing in that filial relation 
 to his consul, which old Roman custom required. As financial 
 officer, Cato complained of the luxury and extravagance which 
 Scipio allowed not only to himself but to his army. Yet the 
 complaint was made not so much on economic as on moral 
 grounds ; it seemed to Cato that the old Roman discipline and 
 power to endure hardships were being swept away. The dis- 
 pute was ended by Scipio allowing Cato to return to Rome, 
 some authorities say from Sicily, others from AtVica. Accord- 
 ing to one writer,^ he came home by way of Sardinia and brought 
 thence with him Ennius the poet.^ 
 
 In 199 Cato was plebeian aedile, and exercised with severity 
 the police jurisdiction pertaining to that office, yet so as to win 
 popular approval, since he was chosen praetor for 198 without 
 the usual interval. The province of Sardinia was entrusted to 
 him. and he strained every nerve to make his government pre- 
 sent as strong a contrast as possible with the lax and corrupt 
 administration of the nobles who took Scipio for their pattern. 
 The troops were sternly disciplined, and law-breakers of every 
 kind severely dealt with ; in money matters the strictest economy 
 prevailed ; all gifts from provincials to Roman officers were for- 
 bidden. The praetor, the great representative of Roman power, 
 passed from town to town attended by a single servant. 
 
 In 196 Cato was occupied with his canvass for the consulship 
 
 ' Nepos (or pseudo-Nepos), him on a campaign (Tusc. i, 3). 
 
 Cat. I. But Cato used Ennius as soldier 
 
 2 Cato afterwards made it a while Nobilior employed him .is 
 
 charge against M. Fulvius Nobi- poet, 
 lior that he had taken Ennius with
 
 XIV INTRODUCTION. 
 
 of the year 195, to which he was elected in company with his 
 friend Flaccus. Cato was the first novus homo elected since 
 C. Flaminius, the consul of 217. It is probable, though not 
 certain, that he paved the way to his election by carrying the 
 first of the Ics^es Porciae, restricting the right of punishing Ro- 
 man citizens. During the whole of his career Cato showed a 
 high sense of the importance of the individual civis Romaims. 
 
 One of the first official acts of the new consul was to deliver 
 a set speech to the people against a proposal to repeal the Op- 
 pian law, passed twenty years before, the object of which was 
 to prevent lavish expenditure on dress and adornments, particu- 
 larly by women. We have a lively report of Cato's speech from 
 Livy's pen, partly founded on the speech as published by Cato 
 himself.^ The earnest pleading in favor of simple manners and 
 economy failed, after having almost caused an open insurrection 
 on the part of the women. -^ 
 
 The two new provinces in Spain, Hispania Citerior and Ulte- 
 rior, were still in a very unsettled state. The nearer province 
 was made a consular province and assigned to Cato ; the praetor 
 who governed the farther province was also placed under Cato's 
 jurisdiction. Before leaving Rome Cato carried a law for pro-, 
 tecting the provincials from extortion. During tlie whole of his 
 year of office he practised with the utmost exactness his princi- 
 ples of purity, simplicity, and economy in public affairs. He is 
 said to have started from his house on the journey to Spain with 
 only three servants, but when he got as far as the forum, it struck 
 him that such an attendance was scarcely worthy of a Roman 
 consul; so he purchased two more slaves on the spot ! In the 
 same spirit, before returning he sold his horse that the state 
 might not be at the expense of transporting it to Italy. Cato 
 was no less careful of the revenue than of the expenditure. He 
 largely increased the productiveness of the mines and other 
 
 1 It is difficult, however, to fi.K authorities place it after Cato's ra- 
 the date of this enactment. Some turn from Spain. 
 - Livy 34, CO. 1-8.
 
 INTRODUCTION. XV 
 
 property belonging to the state, and all goods captured from the 
 enemy were sold for the benefit of the exchequer. On leaving 
 the province Cato made an unusually large gift to eacii soldier, 
 saying that it was better for all to bring home silver than for a 
 few to bring home gold. The provincials were thoroughly con- 
 tent with their ruler and ever after looked on him as their best 
 friend. The army was kept in the strictest discipline. Some 
 disorderly conduct of the equites was rebuked by Cato in a bitter 
 harangue which he afterwards published. Partly by craft, partly 
 by good leadersliip in the field, Cato broke the strength of the 
 turbulent natives and returned to enjoy a well-earned triumph.^ 
 In the same year (194) a brilliant triumph was celebrated by 
 Flamininus. 
 
 Scipio, probably uneasy at the great reputations quickly won 
 by Flamininus and Cato, secured his second consulship for the 
 year 194, but failed to achieve anything remarkable. Cato prob- 
 ably spent the three years after his return for the most part at 
 his Sabine farm. When the war against Antiochus broke out, 
 he took service along with his friend Flaccus on the staff of the 
 consul Glabrio,''^ and by a difficult march over the mountains 
 broke in on the king's rear, and so was chiefly instrumental in 
 winning the great battle of Thermopylae, by which Antiochus 
 was driven out of Greece. Immediately after the battle Cato 
 returned home with despatches. We have dim and uncertain 
 information that he took the field once or twice again, but his 
 career as a soldier was practically ended. 
 
 From this time to his death, tbrty years later, Cato was the 
 leading figure on the stage of Roman politics. In sea.son and 
 out of season he attacked abuses or innovations in speeches 
 addressed to the senate, the people, or the courts. Soon after 
 his return from Tliessaly he struck a heavy blow at tlie unrepnb- 
 lican honor-hunting among the magistrates, of which the example 
 
 * See Livy, 34, 18. their successors. So Liv. 36, 17, 
 
 2 i.e. he was legatus consular is. I, but Cic. Cat. M. c 10 says tri 
 
 It was at the time a common thing bumis militaris. 
 
 for cx-consuls to take service under
 
 xvi INTRODUCTION. 
 
 had been set by P. Scipio Africanus. Most provincial governors 
 drove their subjects into war, sent lying despatches home about 
 their victories, and claimed a triumph. In 190 Cato attacked 
 witii success the proposal to grant a triumph to Q. Minucius 
 Thermus, who had already triumphed over the Spaniards as 
 praetor, and after his consulship in 193 had fought against the Ligu- 
 rians. Cato's next victim was his former commander M'. Acilius 
 Glabrio, who came forward at the same time with Cato, Marcel- 
 lus(a son of the captor of Syracuse), L. Cornelius Scipio Nasica, 
 T. Ouinctius Flamininus (the conqueror of Macedonia) and 
 Cato's friend L. Valerius Flaccus, as candidate for the censor- 
 s'liip of 189. Cato by his violent speeches procured the trial of 
 Glabrio for appropriating the plunder captured in Thessaly, and 
 himself gave evidence concerning some property which had dis- 
 appeared. Glabrio denounced Cato as a perjurer, but yet retired 
 from his candidature. On this occasion Cato and Flaccus failed, 
 Marcellus being elected as plebeian and Flamininus as patrician 
 censor. 
 
 In the next year (188) Cato acted in the senate with the party 
 which tried unsuccessfully to refuse the triumph to the two con- 
 suls of 189, M. Fulvius Nobilior and Cn. Manlius Vulso, the 
 former of whom had gained none but trifling advantages over 
 the Aetolians, while the latter had disgraced the Roman name 
 by making war without authorization upon the Gauls of Asia 
 Minor, and had also suffered a humiliating defeat from some 
 Thracian robber bands on his homeward march. Not disheart- 
 ened by ill success, Cato and his friends determined to strike at 
 higher game. L. Scipio Asiaticus (or Asiagenus), the brother 
 of Africanus, was asserted in the senate to have appropriated 
 3000 talents of public monev when in command against Antio- 
 chus. Legal proceedings were taken not only against Asiaticus, 
 but against Africanus. who behav^ed with great violence and 
 arrogance. In the end Africanus withdrew to his country estate, 
 while his brother was condemned to pay a heavy fine. A death- 
 stroke had been given to the almost kingly authority of Africa- 
 nus, who never again showed his face in Rome. The proceed-
 
 INTRODUCTION. xvii 
 
 ings against the Scipios seem to have begun in 1S7 and not to 
 have been completed before 185. 
 
 Nearly twenty years had passed sincu the conflict between 
 Cato and Scipio began, and now it had ended in a complete 
 triumph for Cato.^ But the new modes of which Scipio was the 
 cliief patron were too strong to be conquered, and Cato spent 
 the rest of his life in fighting a hopeless battle against them, 
 though he fought for a time with the strongest weapons that the 
 constitution supplied. In 184 he was censor along with Flaccus, 
 who seems to have allowed his colleague full liberty of action. 
 Every portion of the censor's duty was carried out on the most 
 severe and "old Roman' principles. Seven senators were de- 
 graded, among them L. Flamininus. an ex-consul and brother of 
 the ' liberator of the Hellenes,' for serious misconduct,- also 
 Manilius, an ex-praetor, for no worse offence than that of 
 having kissed his wife in presence of his daughter. M. Furius 
 Purpuric, who had actually competed with Cato for the censor- 
 ship, was punished for diverting a public aqueduct for his private 
 advantage. Flaccus was named leader of the senate in the place 
 of Scipio Africanus, now dead. 
 
 On reviewing the equites, Cato removed from that body L. 
 Scipio and many others on various charges : this one had allowed 
 himself to otow too fat for horsemansliip ; that had failed to 
 groom his horse properly ; another had neglected his farm ; an- 
 other again had made an untimely jest on the occasion of the 
 review itself. With the ordinary citizens Cato dealt just as 
 harshly. In his censorian edict he sharply reproved the ex- 
 travagance prevalent at private feasts. All articles of luxury, 
 such as slaves purchased at fancy prices, luxurious clothing, 
 carriages, statues, and pictures were rendered liable to heavy 
 taxation. In this way Cato revenged himself for the repeal of 
 the Oppian law. 
 
 1 Cicero's statements through- § 77 where Cato calls his enemy 
 
 out the treatise concerning the amicissinms, are audaciously in- 
 
 relations between Cato and Afri- exact, 
 
 canus the elder, particularly in ^ See Cato M. § 42.
 
 xviii INTRODUCTION. 
 
 In looking after the property and income of the state Cato 
 followed the same principles he had acted on in Spain. He 
 reduced the expenditure on public works as far as possible, and 
 took care to sell at the full price the right to collect the revenue. 
 Encroachments on the property of the nation were severely 
 punished. 
 
 Not by acts only, but by constant speeches, full at once of 
 grimness and humor, did Cato struggle against the degeneracy 
 of his time.' He concluded his period of office with a self-lau- 
 datory harangue, and assumed the title Censorius, while his statue 
 was placed in the temple of tiie goddess Salus with an inscription 
 affirming that he had reformed the Roman nation. 
 
 But in a very brief time all trace of Cato's activity as censor 
 was swept away, except that afforded by the numerous life-long 
 quarrels in which he had involved himself.'^ In less than two 
 years one of his victims, Purpurio, was employed by the senate 
 on a high political mission, while another, L. Flamininus, sat 
 among the senators at the games in defiance of Cato's sentence. 
 Yet Cato remained by far the most powerful member of the 
 senate. Titus Flamininus, his only important rival, quickly 
 passed out of notice. • So far as there was any democratic 
 opposition to the senatorial oligarchy, Cato was the leader of 
 that opposition for the remainder of his life. But at that period 
 no great political movements agitated the state within ; nearly 
 the whole interest of the time was centred in the foreign relations 
 of Rome. On matters of foreign policy Cato offered but little 
 opposition to the prevailing tendencies of the age, though on 
 particular occasions he exercised great influence. But his voice 
 was at all times loudly heard on all questions of morality and 
 public order. He supported the lex Furia and the lex Voconia, 
 the object of which was to prevent the dissipation of family prop- 
 erty, and the lex Orchia, directed against extravagant expendi- 
 
 1 We possess the titles of 26 2 He is said to have undergone 
 speeches delivered during or con- 44 prosecutions, and to have beer 
 cerning his censorship. prosecutor as often.
 
 INTRODUCTION. xix 
 
 ture on feasts, also the lex Baebia dc atubitu, the first serious 
 attempt to check bribery. We hear also that Cato bitterly 
 attacked Lepidus, censor in i8o, for erecting a permanent theatre 
 in place of the movable booths before used. The building was 
 actually pulled down. We are told that from time to time he 
 denounced the misdoings of provincial governors. In 171 he 
 was one of a commission of five for bringing to justice three ex- 
 praetors who had practised all manner of corruption in Spain 
 Almost the last act of his life was to prosecute Galba for cruel 
 misgovernment of the Lusitanians. The titles of Cato's speeches 
 show that he played a great part in the deliberations of the 
 senate concerning foreign affairs, but as his fighting days were 
 over and he was unfitted for diplomacy, we have little explicit 
 evidence of his activity in this direction. At the end of the 
 third Macedonian war he successfully opposed the annexation of 
 Macedonia. He also saved from destruction the Rhodians, who 
 during the war had plainly desired the victory of Perseus, and in 
 the early days, when the Roman commanders had ill success, had 
 deeply wounded the whole Roman nation by an offer to mediate 
 between them and the king of Macedon. 
 
 Cato had all his life retained his feeling of enmity to the 
 Carthaginians, whom Scipio, he thought, had treated too ten- 
 derly. In 150 he was one of an embassy sent to Carthage, and 
 came back filled with alarm at the prosperity of the city. It is 
 said that whatever was the subject on which he was asked for his 
 opinion in the senate, he always ended his speech with ' ccterum 
 ccnsco delendajn esse Carthaghiem\ P. Scipio Nasica, the son- 
 in-law of Africanus, and the representative of his policy, always 
 shouted out the opposite opinion, thinking that the fear of 
 Carthage had a salutary effect on the Roman populace at large. 
 But the ideas of Cato prevailed, and a cruel policy, carried out 
 with needless brutality, led to the extinction of Rome's greatest 
 rival. Cato did not live to see the conclusion of the war; he 
 died in 149, at the age of 84 or 85 years, having retained his 
 mental and physical vigor to the last He had two sons, one by 
 his first wife, and one by his second wife, born when Cato was 80
 
 XX INTRODUCTION. 
 
 years of age. The elder son, to whom many of Gate's works were 
 addressed, died as praetor-elect, before his father i. The other 
 was grandfather of Cato Uticensis. 
 
 The literary activity of the old censor was great, though his 
 leisure was small.- In Cicero's time a collection of 150 speeches 
 was still extant. The titles of about 90 are still known to us, 
 and of some we possess a few fragments. Cato's greatest work, 
 however, was his Origines, the first real historical work written 
 in Latin. His predecessors had been merely compilers of 
 chronicles. The work was founded on laborious investijrations, 
 and comprised the history of Rome from the earliest times per- 
 haps down to 150 B.c.^, as well as notices of the history of other 
 important Italian states. Further, Cato wrote of Agriculture, 
 to which he was enthusiastically devoted. We still have his 
 De Re Rustica, a collection of maxims loosely strung together. 
 He also composed works on law ; a sort of educational encyclo- 
 paedia for his son ; and a collection of witty sayings, ' Anocfydeyfiara, 
 drawn from Greek as well as from Roman sources. 
 
 Plutarch seems to have known a collected edition of the 
 pungent and proverbial utterances for which the censor was 
 famous, and for which (not for any knowledge of philosophy '') 
 he received the title of sapiens ('shrewd ') which he bore at the 
 end of his life. This edition, however, was not compiled by Cato 
 himself. 
 
 In view of Cicero's treatise, the Cato Maior, it is necessary to 
 say something of Cato's relations with the Greeks and Greek 
 literature. The ancients give us merely vague statements that 
 he only began to learn Greek ' in his old age.' The expression 
 must be liberally interpreted if, as seems clear, the whole of his 
 writings showed the influence of Greek literature. It is certain, 
 however, that he thoroughly detested the Greek nation. This 
 hatred was shown in acts more than once. No doubt Cato was 
 
 1 See Lael. 9; Cat. M. 12 and Cato said nothing of Roman his- 
 84. tory from 509-266 B. c. 
 
 2 Cf. Livy, 39, 40. ' Cf. Cic. pro Arch. 7, 16. 
 
 3 The common view is that
 
 INTRODUCTION. xxi 
 
 at least a consenting party to the expulsion from Rome of Greek 
 teachers in i6i B.C. VVhen in 155 the famous embassy came 
 from Athens consisting of Carneades the Academic, Critolaus the 
 Peripatetic and Diogenes the Stoic, Cato was a prime mover of 
 the decree by which they were removed from the city. Socrates 
 was one of Cato's favorite marks for jests. And this is the man 
 into whose mouth Cicero puts the utterances, but slightly veiled, 
 of Greek wisdom ! 
 
 (2.) Scipio. P. Cornelius Scipio Africanus, the younger, was 
 no blood relation of the conqueror of Hannibal, but the adopted 
 son of his son. It must be remembered, however, that adoption 
 was much more formal and binding, and produced much closer 
 ties in ancient than in modern times. ^ The elder Africanus was 
 unfortunate in his sons. The younger of these attained to the 
 praetorship in 174, but was immediately driven from the senate 
 by the censors of that year on account of his disreputable life. 
 The elder was an invalid, wlio never held any office except that of 
 augur, and died at an early age. He adopted the son of L. Aemi- 
 lius Paulus, the victor of Pydna : the adopted son bore the name 
 Aemilianus in memory of his origin. Cato's son married a daugh- 
 ter of Paulus, so that the censor was brought into ^-elationship 
 with the Cornelii, whose most illustrious representative he had 
 hated and attacked. 
 
 Tiie young Scipio was born about 185, and when scarce 17 
 years old fought with daring bravery at Pydna. While still very 
 young he showed a great devotion to study, which he retained 
 through life. He was a thorough partisan of the new Greek 
 learning, and grouped around him in friendship all the leaders of 
 the Hellenistic movement. Among his dearest friends were 
 Polybius, the Greek statesman and historian, and later Panaetius, 
 the Stoic. In 151 B.C. when the consuls found it difficult to enlist 
 officers and men for service in Spain, where great defeats had 
 been suffered, Scipio volunteered, and served with great distinc- 
 tion as military tribune. When the war with Carthage broke out he 
 
 * See Coulanges, 'Ancient City', Bk. II. Ch. 4.
 
 xxii INTRODUCTION. 
 
 held the same rank, and shone by comparison with his blunder- 
 ing superior officers. Coming to Rome in 148 he stood for the 
 sedileship, but was elected consul for the year 147, and again for 
 146, when he finished the war. He is said to have grieved over 
 the fate of Carthage, and to have dreaded any further increase of 
 the Roman territory. In 142 Scipio was censor, and acted with 
 almost Catonian severity. In 134, though not a candidate, he 
 was elected to the consulship and put in command of the Roman 
 army then besieging the city of Numantia in Spain. The war, of 
 which this siege formed a part, had been going on for some years 
 most disastrously for the Romans, but Scipio speedily brought it 
 to a conclusion in 133. While before Numantia he received news 
 of the murder of Ti. Gracchus, whose sister he had married and 
 whose cousin he had become by adopdon, but whose policy he 
 had on the whole opposed, though he had occasionally coquet- 
 ted with the democrats. This course cost him the favor of the 
 people, and when in 131 he desired to conduct the war against 
 Aristonicus, only two of the thirty-five tribes voted for his ap- 
 pointment. In 129, after a violent scene in the senate, where he 
 had opposed the carrying out of Ti. Gracchus' agrarian law, he 
 was triumphantly escorted home by a crowd, composed chiefly 
 of Italians whose interests had been threatened by the law. 
 Next morning he was found dead in his bed. Opinion as to 
 the cause of his death was divided at the time and so remained. 
 In the LaeliHS the death is assumed to have been from natural 
 causes.^ Elsewhere, however, Cicero adopts the view of many 
 of Scipio's friends that he was murdered by Carbo.'^ Carbo 
 afterwards lent color to the suspicions by putting himself to 
 death, in order, as was supposed, to avoid a direct prosecution. 
 In ancient times even C. Gracchus was suspected of having thus 
 avenged his brother's death, but no modern scholar of any rank 
 has countenanced the suspicion. 
 
 Whether the degree of intimacy between Cato and Scipio, 
 which Cicero assumes, ever existed or not, cannot be determined.' 
 
 ^ See §§ 12, 41 etc. ^ j^ Dc Re Publica 2, i Cicero 
 
 2 De Or. 2, 170; Fam 9, 21, 3; makes Scipio talk extravagantly 
 Qu. Fr. 2, 3, 3. of Cato.
 
 INTRODUCTION. xxii 
 
 There was much in Scipio that would attract Cato. Unhke 
 the elder Africanus, he was severe and simple in his outward life, 
 and though a lover of Greek and Greeks, yet attached to all that 
 was best in the old Roman character and pohty. Though an 
 opponent of revolution, he was far from being a partisan of the 
 oligarchy. Altogether, of all Romans, he most nearly deserved 
 the description, ' ai>t)p Terpdyoivos "tvev \//o)/ov,' ' a man four-square 
 without reproach.' In his De Re Publica, Cicero points to 
 Scipio as the ideal statesman, and often elsewhere eulogizes 
 him as an almost perfect Roman. 
 
 (3.) Laclius. Gains Laelius, born about 186, was Scipio's most 
 distinguished officer before Carthage, and his most intimate 
 friend throughout life. The friendship of the two was one of 
 the most famous in antiquity, and is celebrated in the Laelius. 
 Laehus was an able speaker, writer and soldier, and devoted to 
 Greek learning, particularly to the Stoic philosophy. He is witli 
 Cicero the type of a man of culture. ^ He, too, is one of the 
 interlocutors in the De Re Fiiblica. 
 
 (ii.) Subject-Matter. 
 I. General Vieiv. 
 The Cato Maior falls naturally into three parts: — 
 
 Preliminary, dedication to Atticus, §§ 1-3; 
 Introductory Conversation, 4-9; 
 Cato's Defence of Old Age, 10-S5. 
 
 After § 9 Cato continues to express his views on old age with- 
 out interruption to the end, and the dialogue thus becomes 
 really a monologue. 
 
 2. Analysis. 
 
 Preliminary ^ 3- 
 
 Cicero, addressing Atticus. states his purpose in writing the 
 book and the effect of the work on himself (i, 2). the reasons 
 
 > See Introduction to the Laelius, pp. vi, vii
 
 xxiv INTRODUCTION. 
 
 for putting the sentiments on old age into the mouth of Cato, 
 and the circumstances of the supposed conversation (3). 
 
 Introductory Conversation 4-9. 
 
 Scipio declares his admiration of Cato's vigorous and happy 
 old age. Cato replies that the secret lies in following the 
 guidance of Nature (4, 5). Laelius then asks Cato to point out 
 the road to such an old age as his own (6). This the old man 
 promises to do, but first remarks that the faults ciiarged against 
 old age are generally due to defects of character (7). Laelius 
 suggests that prosperity makes Cato's declining years pleasant. 
 Cato admits that there may be some truth in this, but main- 
 tains that right character alone can make old age tolerable (8, 9). 
 
 Cato's Defence of Old Age 10-85. 
 
 A. Introductory argument from fact. Account of cele- 
 brated old men whose lives till death were useful and 
 happy 10-14 
 
 (a). Fabius Maximus 10-12 
 
 (b). Plato; (c). Isocrates; (d). Gorgias ... 13 
 
 (e). Ennius 14 
 
 B. Refutation of charges made against old age . . . 15-85 
 
 Statement of the four charges conifuonly 7nade against 
 old age : it withdraws men from active life, it weak- 
 ens the physical powers, it takes away capacity for 
 enjoyment, and it involves the anticipation of death 15 
 A. Refutation of the first charge, that old age with- 
 draws from active life, 
 (a). There are employments suited to old age which 
 are as necessary' to the well-being of society as 
 those which require greater physical powers . 15-20 
 (b). The special objection that old men have weak 
 memories is answered by showing that this is 
 due either to an original defect or to insuffi- 
 cient exercise 21-22
 
 INTRODUCTION. XXV 
 
 (c). Ari^ument from fact: instances of old men in 
 public and in private life who till death were 
 actively at work 23-26 
 
 B. Rebuttal of the second charge, that old age weak- 
 
 ens the physical powers. 
 
 (a). Old age does not desire nor require the strength 
 of youth, because it may exert influence 
 through other means. Instances cited to show 
 this 27-32 
 
 (b). Temperate habits will retain a good measure 
 of strength till old age (33, 34) ; many instances 
 of weakness in old age may be attributed to 
 ill-health, which is common to all periods of 
 life (35) ; proper care will greatly retard de- 
 cay 33-38 
 
 C. Refutation of the third charge, that old age takes 
 
 away the capacity for enjoyment. 
 
 (a). The pleasures in which youth finds its keenest 
 enjoyment are in themselves bad, and old age 
 is beneficent in freeing from their allurements 39-44 
 
 (b). Old age has pleasures far more refined and sat- 
 isfying than those of sense 45-64 
 
 Such as, those of conversation and literature 
 (45-50) ; especially those of agriculture (51-61) ; 
 and lastly, the exercise of influence, which old 
 age will always possess if a rightly spent youth 
 has preceded (62-64). 
 
 (c). The special objection that old men's tempers 
 spoil their enjoyments is met by the statement 
 that this is the fault of character, not of age . 65 
 
 D. Refutation of tlie fourth charge, that old age is 
 
 uniiappy because it involves the anticipation of 
 
 death, 
 (a). Since the riglit aim of life is to live not long 
 but well, death ought not to Ijc dreaded at any 
 age 66-69
 
 xxvi INTRODUCTIOiN. 
 
 (b). Old men, especially those of learning and cul- 
 ture, ought not to fear death 70-76 
 
 Because, that which is according to nature is 
 good, and it is natural for old men to die (70-73) ; 
 the process of dying is brief and almost painless 
 (74); even young men and those without learn- 
 ing often set the example of despising death 
 (75); and old age, just as the other periods 
 of life, has finally its season of ripeness and 
 satiety (76). 
 
 (c). Death is probably the gateway to a happy im- 
 
 mortahty 77-85 
 
 Tending towards proof of this are the argu- 
 ments stated in Plato ; viz. the rapidity of the 
 mind's action, its powers of memory and inven- 
 tion, its self-activity, indivisible nature and pre- 
 existence (78) ; also the arguments, attributed 
 to Cyrus, based upon the soul's immateriahty, 
 the posthumous fame of great men and the 
 likeness of deatli to sleep (79-81); the instinc- 
 tive belief in immortality, so strong as even to 
 form an incentive for action (82 j ; and, finally, 
 the speaker's own longing after immortality and 
 hope of union with those whom he once knew 
 and loved (S3-85).
 
 CATO MAIOR DE SENECTUTE
 
 M. TULLI CICERONIS 
 
 CATO MAIOR 
 
 DE SENECTUTE. 
 
 I. O Tiie, si quid ego adiuero curamve levasso 1 
 
 quae nunc te coquit et versat in pedore fixa^ 
 ecquid erit praemi ? 
 
 Licet enim mihi versibus isdem affari te, Attice, quibus 
 affatur Flamininum 
 
 ilk vir haud magna cum re^ sed plenus Jtdei, 
 
 quamquam certo scio non, ut Flamininum, 
 
 soUicitari te, Tite, sic noctesqjie diesque, 
 
 novi enim moderationem animi tui et aequitatem, teque 
 non cognomen solum Athenis deportasse, sed humani- 
 tatem et prudentiam intellego. Et tamen te suspicor 
 isdem rebus quibus me ipsum interdum gravius com- 
 moveri, quarum consolatio et maior est et in aliud 
 tempus differenda. Nunc autem visum est mihi de 
 senectute aliquid ad te conscribere. Hoc enim onere, s 
 quod mihi commune tecum est, aut iam urgentis aut 
 certe adventantis senectutis et te et me ipsum levari 
 volo : etsi te quidem id modice ac sapienter, sicut 
 omnia, et ferre et laturum esse certo scio. Sed mihi, 
 cum de senectute vellem aliquid scribere, tu occurrebas
 
 2 CATO MAIOR [I. 2 
 
 dignus eo munere, quo uterque nostrum communitei 
 uteretur. Mihi quidem ita iucunda huius libri confectio 
 fuit, ut non modo omiiis absterserit senectutis molestias, 
 sed effecerit mollem etiam et iucundam senectutem. 
 Numquam igitur laudari satis digne philosophia poterit, 
 cui qui pareat omne tempus aetatis sine molestia possit 
 
 3 degere. Sed de ceteris et diximus multa et saepe dice- 
 mus : hunc librum ad te de senectute misimus. Omnem 
 autem sermonem tribuimus non Titliono, ut Aristo Cius, 
 parum enim esset auctoritatis in fabula, sed M. Catoni 
 seni, quo maiorem auctoritatem haberet oratio : apud 
 quern Laelium et Scipionem facimus admirantis, quod 
 is tarn facile senectutem ferat, eisque eum respondentem, 
 qui si eruditius videbitur disputare quam consuevit ipse 
 in suis libris, attribuito litteris Graecis, quarum constat 
 eum perstudiosum fuisse in senectute. Sed quid opus 
 estplura? lam enim ipsius Catonis sermo explicabit 
 nostram omnem de senectute sententiam. 
 
 4 II. SciPio. Saepe numero admirari soleo cum hoc 
 C. Laelio cum ceterarum rerum tuam excellentem, M. 
 Cato, perfectamque sapientiam, turn vel maxime quod 
 numquam tibi senectutem gravem esse senserim, quae 
 plerisque senibus sic odiosa est, ut onus se Aetna gravius 
 dicant sustinere. 
 
 Cato. Rem baud sane, Scipio et Laeli, difficilem 
 admirari videmini. Quibus enim nihil est in ipsis opis 
 ad bene beateque vivendum, eis omnis aetas gravis est : 
 qui autem omnia bona a se ipsi petunt, eis nihil potest 
 malum videri quod naturae necessitas afferat. Quo in 
 genere est in primis senectus, quam ut adipiscantur 
 omnes optant, eandem accusant adeptam : tanta est 
 stultitiae inconstantia atque perversitas. Obrepere
 
 ;il. 7j DE SENECTUTE. 3 
 
 aiunt earn citius quam putassent. Primum quis coegit 
 eos falsum putare ? Qui enim citius adulescentiae 
 senectus quam pueritiae adulescentia obrepit ? Deinde 
 qui minus gravis esset eis senectus, si octingentesimum 
 annum agerent, quam si octogesimum ? Praeterita 
 enim aetas quamvis longa, cum effluxisset, nulla conso- 
 latione permulcere posset stultam senectutem. Quocirca ^ 
 si sapientiam meam admirari soletis, quae utinam digna 
 esset opinione vestra nostroque cognomine, in hoc 
 sumus sapientes, quod naturam optimam ducem tam- 
 quam deum sequimur eique paremus : a qua non veri 
 simile est, cum ceterae partes aetatis bene descriptae 
 sint, extremum actum tamquam ab inerti poeta esse 
 neglectum, Sed tamen necesse fuit esse aliquid extre- 
 mum et, tamquam in arborum bacis terraeque fructibus, 
 maturitate tempestiva quasi vietum et caducum, quod 
 ferundum est molliter sapienti. Quid est enim aliud 
 Gigantum mode bellare cum dis nisi naturae repug- 
 nare ? 
 
 Laelius. Atqui, Cato, gratissimum nobis, ut etiam 6 
 pro Scipione pollicear, feceris, si, quoniam speramus, 
 volumus quidem certe, senes fieri, multo ante a te 
 didicerimus quibus facillime rationibus ingravescentem 
 
 aetatem ferre possimus. 
 
 Cato! Faciam vero, Laeli, praesertim si utrique ves- 
 
 trum, ut dicis, gratuni futurum est. 
 
 Laelius. Volumus sane, nisi molestum est, Cato, 
 
 tamquam longam aliquam viam confeceris, quam nobis 
 
 quoque ingrediundum sit, istuc, quo pervenisti, videre 
 
 quale sit. 
 
 III. Cato. P'aciam ut potero, Laeli. Saepe enim 7 
 
 interfui querellis aequalium meorum, pares autem vetere
 
 4 CATO MAIOR [Hi. ) 
 
 proverbio cum paribus facillime congregantur, quae C. 
 Salinator, quae Sp. Albinus, homines consulares, nostri 
 fere aequales, deplorare solebant, tum quod voluptati- 
 bus carerent, sine quibus vitam nullam putarent, tum 
 quod spernerentur ab eis, a quibus essent coli soliti ; 
 qui mihi non id videbantur accusare, quod esset ac- 
 cusandum. Nam si id culpa senectutis accideret, eadem 
 mihi usu venirent reliquisque omnibus maioribus natu, 
 quorum ego multorum cognovi senectutem sine querella, 
 qui se et libidinum vinculis laxatos esse non moleste 
 ferrent nee a suis despicerentur. Sed omnium istius 
 modi querellarum in moribus est culpa, non in aetate. 
 Moderati enim et nee difficiles nee inhuman! senes 
 tolerabilem senectutem agunt, importunitas autem et 
 inhumanitas omni aetati molesta est. 
 
 8 Laelius. Est, ut dicis, Cato ; sed fortasse dixerit 
 quispiam tibi propter opes et copias et dignitatem tuam 
 tolerabiliorem senectutem videri, id autem non posse 
 multis contingere. 
 
 Cato. Est istuc quidem, Laeli, aliquid, sed nequa- 
 quam in isto sunt omnia ; ut Themistocles fertur Se- 
 riphio cuidam in iurgio respondisse, cum ille dixisset 
 non eum sua, sed patriae gloria splendorem assecutum : 
 *nec hercule', inquit, 'si ego Seriphius essem, nee tu, 
 - si Atheniensis, clarus umquam fuisses '. Quod eodem 
 modo de senectute dici potest ; nee enim in summa 
 inopia levis esse seneetus potest, ne sapienti quidem, 
 
 9 nee insipienti etiam in summa copia non gravis. Aptis- 
 sima omnino sunt, Scipio et Laeli, arma senectutis artes 
 exercitationesque virtutum, quae in omni aetate cultae, 
 cum diu multumque vixeris, mirificos ecferunt fructus, 
 non solum quia numquam deserunt, ne extremo quidem
 
 IV. II] DE SENECTUTE. 5 
 
 tempore aetatis, quamquam id quidem maximum est, 
 veriim eliam quia conscientia bene actae vitae mul- 
 torumque bene factorum recordatio iucundissima est. 
 
 IV. Ego Q. Maximum, eum qui Tarentum recepit, la 
 senem adulescens ita dilexi, ut aequalem. Erat enim 
 in illo virc comitate condita gravitas, nee senectus 
 mores mutaverat. Quamquam eum colere coepi non 
 admodum grandem natu, sed tamen iam aetate provec- 
 tum. Anno enim post consul primum fuerat quam 
 ego natus sum, cumque eo quartum consule adulescen- "- 
 tulus miles ad Capuam profectus sum quintoque anno 
 post ad Tarentum. Quaestor deinde quadriennio post 
 factus sum, quem magistratum gessi consulibus Tudi- 
 tano et Cethego, cum quidem ille admodum senex 
 suasor legis Cinciae de donis et muneribus fuit. Hie 
 et bella gerebat ut adulescens, cum plane grandis esset, 
 et Hannibalem iuveniliter exsultantem patientia sua 
 molliebat; de quo praeclare familiaris noster Ennius : 
 
 unus homo nobis cundando restituit rem ; 
 
 tioeiiutn rumores ponebat ante salutem ; 
 
 ergo plusque magisque viri nunc gloria claret. 
 
 Tarentum vero qua vigilantia, quo consilio recepit! n 
 Cum quidem me audiente Salinatori, qui amisso oppido 
 fugerat in arcem, glorianti atque ita dicenti, ' mea opera, 
 Q. Fabi, Tarentum recepisti ', 'certe', inquit ridens, 
 ' nam nisi tu amisisses, numquam recepissem '. Nee 
 vero in armis praestantior quam in toga ; qui consul 
 iterum, Sp. Carvilio collega quiescente, C Flaminio 
 tribuno plebis, quoad potuit, restitit agrum Picentem et ^ 
 Gallicum viritim contra senatus auctoritatem dividenti ;
 
 6 CATO MAIOR [IV, li 
 
 augurque cum esset, dicere ausus est optimis auspiciis 
 ea geri, quae pro rei publicae salute gererentur; quae 
 contra rem publicam ferrentur, contra auspicia ferri. 
 r2 Multa in eo viro praeclara cognovi, sed nihil admira- 
 bilius quam quo modo ille mortem fili tulit, clari viri 
 et consularis. Est in manibus laudatio, quam cum 
 legimus, quern philosophum non contemnimus ? Nee 
 vero ille in luce modo atque in oculis civium magnus, 
 sed intus domique praestantior. Qui sermo, quae prae- 
 cepta ! Quanta notitia antiquitatis, scientia iuris auguri! 
 Multae etiam, ut in homine Romano, litterae : omnia 
 memoria tenebat non domestica solum, sed etiam ex- 
 terna bella. Cuius sermone ita tum cupide fruebar, 
 quasi iam divinarem, id quod evenit, illo exstincto fore 
 unde discerem neminem. , 
 
 13 V- Quorsus igitur haec tam multa de Maximo ? Quia 
 profecto videtis nefas esse dictu miseram fuisse talem 
 senectutem. Nee tamen omnes possunt esse Scipiones 
 aut Maximi, ut urbium expugnationes, ut pedestris 
 navalisve pugnas, ut bella a se gesta, ut triumphos 
 recordentur. Est etiam quiete et pure atque eleganter 
 actae aetatis placida ac lenis senectus, qualem acce- 
 pimus Platonis, qui uno et octogesimo anno scribens 
 est mortuus, qualem Isocrati, qui eum librum, qui Pana- 
 thenaicus inscribitur, quarto nonagesimo anno scripsisse 
 dicit vixitque quinquennium postea ; cuius magister 
 Leontinus Gorgias centum et septem complevit annos, 
 neque umquam in suo studio atque opere cessavit. 
 Qui, cum ex eo quaereretur cur tam diu vellet esse in 
 vita, ' nihil habeo,' inquit, ' quod accusem senectutem '. 
 
 14 Praeclarum responsum et docto homine dignum ! Sua 
 enim vitia insipientes et suam culpam in senectutem
 
 VI. i6] DE SENECTUTE. 7 
 
 conferunt, quod non faciebat is, cuius modo mentionem 
 feci, Ennius : 
 
 sic lit fords ecus, spatio qui saepc supremo 
 vicit Oiumpia, nunc senio confcctus quicscii. 
 
 Equi fortis et victoris senectuti comparat suam ; quern 
 quidem probe meminisse potestis ; anno enim undevi- 
 cesimo post eius mortem hi consules, T. Flamininus et 
 M'. Acilius, facti sunt ; ille autem Caepione et Philippo 
 iterum consulibus mortuus est, cum ego quinque et sexa- 
 ginta annos natus legem Voconiam magna voce et bonis 
 lateribus suasissem. Annos septuaginta natus, tot enim 
 vixit Ennius, ita ferebat duo quae maxima putantur 
 onera, paupertatem et senectutem, ut eis paene delectari 
 videretur. 
 
 Etenim, cum complector animo, quattuor reperio 15 
 causas cur senectus misera videatur : unam, quod avocet 
 a rebus gerendis ; alteram, quod corpus faciat infirmius ; 
 tertiam, quod privet omnibus fere voluptatibus ; quar- 
 tam, quod baud procul absit a morte. Earum, si pla- 
 cet, causarum quanta quamque sit iusta una quaeque 
 videamus. 
 
 VI. A rebus gerendis senectus abstrahit. Quibus ? 
 An eis, quae iuventute geruntur et viribus ? NuUaene 
 igitur res sunt seniles, quae vel infirmis corporibus 
 animo tamen administrentur ? Nihil ergo agebat Q. 
 Maximus, nihil L. Paulus, pater tuus, socer optimi viri 
 fili mei ? Ceteri senes, Fabricii Curii Coruncanii, cum 
 rem publicam consilio et auctoritate defendebant, nihil 
 agebant ? Ad Appi Claudi senectutem accedebat etiam 
 -Ut caecus esset ; tamen is, cum sententia senatus in- i(j
 
 8 CATO MAIOR [VI. i4 
 
 clinaret ad pacem cum Pyrrho foedusque faciendum, 
 non dubitavit dicere ilia, quae versibus persecutus est 
 Ennius : 
 
 quo vobis nientes, rectae quae stare solebant 
 afitehac, dementis sese flexere viai ? 
 
 ceteraque gravissime, notum enim vobis carmen est, et 
 tamen ipsius Appi exstat oratio. Atque haec ille egit 
 septemdecim annis post alterum consulatum, cum inter 
 duos consulatus anni decern interfuissent censorque 
 ante superiorem consulatum fuisset, ex quo intellegitur 
 Pyrrhi bello grandem sane fuisse, et tamen sic a patribus 
 
 17 accepimus. Nihil igitur afTerunt qui in re gerenda 
 versari senectutem negant, similesque sunt ut si qui 
 gubernatorem in navigando nihil agere dicant, cum alii 
 malos scandant, alii per foros cursent, alii sentinam 
 exhauriant, ille clavum tenens quietus sedeat in puppi, 
 non faciat ea, quae iuvenes. At vero multo niaiora et 
 meliora facit. Non viribus aut velocitate aut celeritate 
 corporum res magnae geruntur, sed consilio auctoritate 
 sententia, quibus non modo non orbari,sed etiam auger! 
 
 18 senectus solet ; nisi forte ego vobis, qui et miles et 
 tribunus et legatus et consul versatus sum in vario 
 genere bellorum, cessare nunc videor, cum bella non 
 gero. At senatui quae sint gerenda praescribo et quo 
 modo ; Carthagini male iam diu cogitanti bellum multo 
 ante denuntio, de qua vereri non ante desinam quam 
 
 19 illam exscisam esse cognovero. Quam palmam utinam 
 di immortales, Scipio, tibi reservent, ut avi relliquias 
 persequare, cuius a morte tertius hie et tricesimus annus 
 est, sed memoriam illius viri omnes excipient anni con- 
 sequentes. Anno ante me censorem mortuus est,'
 
 VII. 22] DE SENECTUTE. 9 
 
 novem annis post meum consulatum, cum consul iterum 
 me consule creatus esset. Num igitur, si ad centesi- 
 mum annum vixisset, senectutis eum suae paeniteret ? 
 Nee enim excursione nee saltu, nee eminus hastis aut 
 comminus gladiis uteretur, sed consilio ratione sententia, 
 quae nisi essent in senibus, non summum consilium 
 maiores nostri appellassent senatum. Apud Lacedae- 2a 
 monios quidem ei, qui amplissimum magistratum gerunt, 
 ut sunt, sic etiam nominantur senes. Quod si legere 
 aut audire voletis externa, maximas res publicas ab 
 adulescentibus labefactatas, a senibus sustentatas et 
 restitutas reperietis. 
 
 Cedo qui vestram rem publicam tantam amisistis tarn cito ? 
 
 sic enim percontantur in Naevi poetae Ludo. Respon- 
 dentur et alia et hoc in primis : 
 
 proveniebant oratores novi, stulti adulescentuli. 
 
 Temeritas est videlicet florentis aetatis, prudentia senes- 
 centis. 
 
 VII. At memoria minuitur. Credo, nisi eam ex- 21 
 erceas, aut etiam si sis natura tardior. Themistocles 
 omnium civium perceperat nomina ; num igitur censetis 
 eum, cum aetate processisset, qui Aristides esset. Lysi- 
 machum salutare solitum? Equidem non modo eos novi 
 qui sunt, sed eorum patres etiam et avos, nee sepulcra 
 legens vereor, quod aiunt, ne memoriam perdani ; his 
 enim ipsis legendis in memoriam redeo mortuorum. 
 Nee vero quemquam senem audivi oblitum, quo loco 
 thesaurum obruisset. Omnia quae curant meminerunt, . 
 vadimonia constituta, quis sibi, cui ipsi debeant. Quid 22 
 iuris consulti, quid pontifices, quid augures, quid phi-
 
 lO CATO MAIOR [VII. 22 
 
 losophi senes ? Quam multa meminerunt! Manent 
 ingenia senibus, modo permaneat studium et industria, 
 neque ea solum claris et honoratis viris, sed in vita 
 etiam privata et quieta. Sophocles ad summam senec- 
 tutem tragoedias fecit ; quod propter studium cum rem 
 neglegere familiarem videretur, a filiis in iudicium vo- 
 catus est, ut, quem ad modum nostro more male rem 
 gerentibus patribus bonis interdici solet, sic ilium quasi 
 desipientem a re familiari removerent indices. Tum 
 senex dicitur eam fabulam quam in manibus habebat et 
 proxime scripserat, Oedipum Coloneum, recitasse iudi- 
 cibus quaesisseque num illud carmen desipientis videre- 
 
 23 tur, quo recitato sententiis iudicum est liberatus. Num 
 igitur hunc, num Homerum Hesiodum Simoniden 
 Stesichorum, num quos ante dixi Isocraten Gorgian, 
 num philosophorum principes, Pythagoran Democritum, 
 num Platonem Xenocraten, num postea Zenonem 
 Cleanthen, aut eum, quem vos etiam vidistis Romae, 
 Diogenen Stoicum coegit in suis studiis obmutiscere 
 senectus ? An in omnibus studiorum agitatio vitae 
 
 24 aequalis fuit ? Age, ut ista divina studia omittamus, 
 possum nominare ex agro Sabino rusticos Romanos, 
 vicinos et familiaris meos, quibus absentibus numquam 
 fere uUa in agro maiora opera fiunt, non serendis, non 
 percipiendis, non condendis fructibus. Quamquam in 
 aliis minus hoc mirum est, nemo enim est tam senex 
 qui se annum non putet posse vivere ; sed idem in eis 
 elaborant, quae sciunt nihil ad se bmnino pertinere : 
 
 serit ar bores, quae alteri saeclo prosmt, 
 
 25 ut ait Statius noster in Synephebis. Nee vero dubitat 
 agricola, quam vis sit senex, quaerenti cui serat respon-
 
 VIII. 26] DE SENECTUTE. II 
 
 dere : ' dis immortalibus, qui me non accipere modo 
 haec a maioribus voluerunt, sed etiam posteris prodere '. 
 Vlll. Et melius Caecilius de sene alteri saeculo pro- 
 spiciente, quam illud idem : 
 
 edepol, senectus, si nil quicqtiavi aliud viti 
 adportes tecum, cum advcnis, unum id sat est, 
 quod diu vivendo multa quae non volt videt. 
 
 Et multa fortasse quae volt, atque in ea, quae non volt, 
 saepe etiam adulescentia incurrit. Illud vero idem 
 Caecilius vitiosius : 
 
 tu7n equidem in senecta hoc depiito miserrimum, 
 sentire ea aetate eumpse esse odiosum alteri. 
 
 lucundum potius quam odiosum ! Ut enim adulescenti- 2(i 
 bus bona indole praeditis sapientes senes delectantur, 
 leviorque fit senectus eorum qui a iuventnte coluntur et 
 diliguntur, sic adulescentes senum praeceptis gaudent, 
 quibus ad virtutum studia ducuntur, nee minus intellego 
 me vobis quam mihi vos esse iucundos. Sed videtis, ut 
 senectus non modo languida atque iners non sit, verum 
 etiam sit operosa et semper agens aliquid et moliens, 
 tale scilicet, quale cuiusque studium in superiore vita 
 fuit. Quid, qui etiam addiscunt aliquid, ut et Solonem 
 versibus gloriantem videmus, qui se cotidie aliquid 
 addiscentem dicit senem fieri, et ego feci, qui litteras 
 Graecas senex didici, quas quidem sic avide arrij^ui 
 quasi diuturnam sitim explere cupiens, ut ea ipsa mihi 
 nota essent, quibus me nunc exemplis uti videtis. Quod 
 cum fecisse Socraten in fidibus audirem, vellem equi- 
 dem etiam illud, discebant enim fidibus antiqui, sed in 
 litteris certe elaboravi.
 
 12 CATO MAIOR [IX. 27 
 
 27 IX. Ne nunc quidem viris desidero adulescentis, is 
 enim erat locus alter de vitiis senectutis, non plus quam 
 adulescens tauri aut elephanti desiderabam. Quod est, 
 eo decet uti et quidquid agas agere pro viribus. Quae 
 enim vox potest esse contemptior quam Milonis Croto- 
 niatae? Qui cum iam senex esset athletasque se exer- 
 centis in curriculo videret, aspexisse lacertos suos dicitur 
 illacrimansque dixisse, ' at hi quidem mortui iam sunt '. 
 Non vero tam isti, quam tu ipse, nugator, neque enim 
 ex te umquam es nobilitatus, sed ex lateribus et lacertis 
 tuis. Nihil Sex. Aelius tale, nihil multis annis ante Ti. 
 Coruncanius, nihil mode P. Crassus, a quibus iura civi- 
 bus praescribebantur, quorum usque ad extremum spiri- 
 
 28 tum est provecta prudentia. Orator metuo ne languescat 
 senectute : est enim munus eius non ingeni solum, sed 
 laterum etiam et virium. Omnino canorum illud in voce 
 splendescit etiam nescio quo pacto in senectute, quod 
 equidem adhuc non amisi, et videtis annos. Sed tamen 
 est decorus seni sermo quietus et remissus, facitque per- 
 saepe ipsa sibi audientiam diserti senis composita et 
 mitis oratio, quam si ipse exsequi nequeas, possis tamen 
 Scipioni praecipere et Laelio. Quid enim est iucundius 
 
 29 senectute stipata studiis iuventutis? An ne illas quidem 
 viris senectuti relinquimus, ut adulescentis doceat, insti- 
 tuat, ad omne offici munus instruat ? Quo quidem opere 
 quid potest esse praeclarius ? Mihi vero et Cn. et P. 
 Scipiones et avi tui duo L. Aemilius et P. Africanus 
 comitatu nobilium iuvenum fortunati videbantur, nee 
 ulli bonarum artium magistri non beati putandi, quamvis 
 consenuerint vires atque defecerint. Etsi ipsa ista de- 
 fectio virium adulescentiae vitiis efficitur saepius quam 
 senectute ; libidinosa enim et intemperans adulescentia
 
 X. 32l DE SENECTUTE. 13 
 
 effetum corpus tradit senectuti. Cyrus quidem apud 30 
 Xenophontem eo sermone, quern moriens habuit, cum 
 adniodum senex esset, negat se umquam sensisse senec- 
 tutem suam imbecilliorem £actani quam adulescentia 
 fuisset. Ego L. Metellum memini puer, qui, cum qua- 
 driennio post alterum consulatum pontifex maximus 
 factus esset, viginti et duos annos ei sacerdotio praefuit, 
 ita bonis esse viribus extremo tempore aetatis, ut adu- 
 lescentiam non requireret. Nihil necesse est mihi de 
 me ipso dicere, quamquam est id quidem senile aeta- 
 tique nostrae conceditur. X. Videtisne, ut apud Home- 31 
 rum saepissime Nestor de virtutibus suis praedicet? 
 Tertiam enim aetatem hominum videbat, nee erat ei 
 verendum ne vera praedicans de se nimis videretur aut 
 insolens aut loquax. Etenim, ut ait Homerus, ex eius 
 lingua melle dulcior fluebat oratio ; quam ad suavitatem 
 nullis egebat corporis viribus. Et tamen dux ille Grae- 
 ciae nusquam optat ut Aiacis similis habeat decem, sed 
 ut Nestoris, quod si sibi acciderit, non dubitat quin 
 brevi sit Troia peritura. Sed redeo ad me. Quartum 32 
 ago annum et octogesimum : vellem equidem idem posse 
 gloriari quod Cyrus, sed tamen hoc queo dicere, non 
 me quidem eis esse viribus, quibus aut miles bello 
 Punico aut quaestor eodem bello aut consul in Hispania 
 fuerim aut quadriennio post, cum tribunus militaris 
 depugnavi apud Thermopylas M'. Glabrione consule ; 
 sed tamen, ut vos videtis, non plane me enervavit, non 
 afflixit senectus : non curia viris meas desiderat, non 
 rostra, non amici, non clientes, non hospites. Nee enim 
 umquam sum assensus veteri illi laudatoque proverbio, 
 quod monet mature fieri senem, si diu velis senex esse. 
 Ego vero me minus diu senem esse mallem quam esse
 
 14 CATO MAIOK [X. 32 
 
 senem ante quam essem. Itaque nemo adhuc convenire 
 
 33 me voluit cui fuerim occupatus. At minus habeo virium 
 quam vestrum utervis. Ne vos quidem T. Ponti cen- 
 turionis viris habetis : num idcirco est ille praestantior ? 
 Moderatio modo virium adsit et tantum quantum potest 
 quisque nitatur, ne ille non magno desiderio tenebitur 
 virium. Olympiae per stadium ingressus esse Milo 
 dicitur, cum umeris sustineret bovem : utrum igitur has 
 corporis an Pythagorae tibi malis viris ingeni dari ? 
 Denique isto bono utare, dum adsit, cum absit, ne 
 requiras : nisi forte adulescentes pueritiam, paulum 
 aetate progressi adulescentiam debent requirere. Cur- 
 sus est certus aetatis et una via naturae eaque simplex, 
 suaque cuique parti aetatis tempestivitas est data, ut et 
 infirmitas puerorum et ferocitas iuvenum et gravitas 
 iam constantis aetatis et senectutis maturitas naturale 
 
 34 quiddam habet, quod suo tempore percipi debeat. Au- 
 dire te arbitror, Scipio, hospes tuus avitus Masinissa 
 quae faciat hodie nonaginta natus annos: cum ingres- 
 sus iter pedibus sit, in equum omnino non ascendere ; 
 cum autem equo, ex equo non descendere ; nullo imbri, 
 nullo frigore adduci ut capite operto sit ; summam 
 esse in eo corporis siccitatem, itaque omnia exsequi 
 regis officia et munera. Potest igitur exercitatio et 
 temperantia etiam in senectute conservare aliquid 
 pristini roboris, 
 
 XL Ne sint in senectute vires : ne postulantur qui- 
 dem vires a senectute. Ergo et legibus et institutis 
 vacat aetas nostra muneribus eis quae non possunt 
 sine viribus sustineri. Itaque non modo quod non 
 possumus, sed ne quantum possumus quidem cogimur. 
 
 35 At multi ita sunt imbecilli senes, ut nullum offici aut
 
 XL 27] DE SENECTUTE. 15 
 
 omnino vitae munus exsequi possint. At id quidem 
 non proprium senectutis vitium est, sed commune vale- 
 tudinis. Quam fuit imbecillus P. Africani filius, is qui 
 te adoptavit, quam tenui aut nulla potius valetudine ! 
 Quod ni ita fuisset, alterum illud exstitisset lumen 
 civitatis ; ad paternam enim magnitudinem animi doc- 
 trina uberior accesserat. Quid mirum igitur in senibus, 
 si infirmi sunt aliquando, cum id ne adulescentes qui- 
 dem effugere possint ? Resistendum, Laeli et Scipio, 
 senectuti est, eiusque vitia diligentia compensanda sunt, 
 pugnandum tamquam contra morbum sic contra senec- 
 tutem, habenda ratio valetudinis, utendum exercitationi- 7,6 
 bus modicis, tantum cibi et potionis adhibendum, ut 
 reficiantur vires, non opprimantur. Nee vero corpori 
 solum subveniendum est, sed menti atque animo multo 
 magis. Nam haec quoque, nisi tamquam lumini oleum 
 instilles, exstinguuntur senectute. Et corpora quidem 
 exercitationum defetigatione ingravescunt, animi autem 
 exercitando levantur. Nam quos ait Caecilius ' comi- 
 cos stultos senes,' hos significat credulos obliviosos dis- 
 solutos, quae vitia sunt non senectutis, sed inertis 
 ignavae somniculosae senectutis. Ut petulantia, ut 
 libido magis est adulescentium quam senum, nee tamen 
 omnium adulescentium, sed non proborum, sic ista 
 senilis stultitia, quae deliratio appellari solet, senum 3: 
 levium est, non omnium. Quattuor robustos filios, . 
 quinque iilias, tantam domum, tantas clientelas Appius 
 regebat et caecus et senex ; intentum enim animum 
 tamquam arcum habebat nee languescens succumbebat 
 senectuti. Tenebat non modo auctoritatem, sed etiam 
 imperium in suos : metuebant servi, verebantur liberi, 
 carum omnes habebant ; vigebat in illo animus patrius
 
 l6 CATO MAIOR [XL 38 
 
 38 et disciplina. Ita enim senectus honesta est, si se ipsa 
 defendit, si ius suum retinet, si nemini emancipata est^ 
 si usque ad ultimum spiritum dominatur in suos. lit 
 enim adulescentem in quo est senile aliquid, sic senem 
 in quo est aliquid adulescentis probo, quod qui sequitur, 
 corpora senex esse poterit, animo numquam erit. Sep- 
 timus mihi liber Originum est in manibus; omnia 
 antiquitatis monumenta colligo ; causarum illustriuni, 
 quascunque defendi, nunc cum maxime conficio ora- 
 tiones ; ius augurium pontificium civile tracto ; multum 
 etiam Graecis litteris utor, Pythagoriorumque more, 
 exercendae memoriae gratia, quid quoque die dixerim 
 audierim egerim commemoro vesperi, Hae sunt exerci- 
 tationes ingeni, haec curricula mentis ; in his desudans 
 atque elaborans corporis viris non magno opere desi- 
 dero. Adsum amicis, venio in senatum frequens ultro- 
 que affero res multum et diu cogitatas easque tueor 
 animi, non corporis viribus. Quas si exsequi nequirem, 
 tamen me lectulus meus oblectaret ea ipsa cogitantem, 
 quae iam agere non possem ; sed ut possim facit acta 
 vita. Semper enim in his studiis laboribusque viventi ' 
 non intellegitur quando obrepat senectus : ita sensim 
 sine sensu aetas senescit nee subito frangitur, sed 
 diuturnitate exstinguitur. 
 
 •59 XII. Sequitur tertia vituperatio senectutis, quod 
 eam carere dicunt voluptatibus. O praeclarum munus 
 aetatis, si quidem id aufert a nobis, quod est in adule- 
 scentia vitiosissimum ! Accipite enim, optimi adule- 
 scentes, veterem orationem Archytae Tarentini, magni 
 in prions et praeclari viri, quae mihi tradita est cum 
 essem adulescens Tarenti cum Q. Maximo. Nullam 
 capitaliorem pestem quam voluptatem corporis homini-
 
 XIL42] DE SENECTUTE. 17 
 
 bus dicebat a natura datam, cuius voluptatis avidae 
 libidines temere et ecfrenate ad potiendum incitarentur. 
 Hinc patriae proditiones, hinc rerum publicarum ever- 40 
 siones, hinc cum hostibus clandestina coUoquia nasci ; 
 nullum denique scelus, nullum malum facinus esse, ad 
 quod suscipiendum non libido voluptatis impelleret ; 
 stupra vero et adult.eria et omne tale llagitium nullis ex- 
 citari aliis illecebris nisi voluptatis; cumque homini sive 
 natura sive quis deus nihil niente praestabilius dedisset, 
 huic divino muneri ac done nihil tarn esse inimicum quam 
 voluptatem. Nee enim libidine dominante temperan- 41 
 tiae locum esse, neque omnino in voluptatis regno 
 virtutem posse consistere. Quod quo magis intellegi 
 posset, fingere animo iubebat tanta incitatum aliquem 
 voluptate corporis, quanta percipi posset maxima: 
 nemini censebat fore dubium quin tam diu, dum ita 
 gauderet, nihil agitare mente, nihil ratione, nihil cogita- 
 tione consequi posset. Quocirca nihil esse tam de- 
 testabile tamque pestiferum quam voluptatem, si quidem 
 ea, cum maior esset atque longior, omne animi lumen 
 exstingueret. Haec cum C Pontio Samnite, patre eius, 
 a quo Caudino proelio Sp. Postumius T. Veturius con- 
 sules superati sunt, locutum Archytam Nearchus Taren- 
 tinus hospes noster, qui in amicitia populi Romani 
 permanserat, se a maioribus natu accepisse dicebat, 
 cum quidem ei sermoni interfuisset Plato Atheniensis, 
 quern Tarentum venisse L. Camillo Ap. Claudio con- 
 sulibus reperio. Quorsus hoc? Ut intellegeretis, 5142 
 voluptatem aspernari ratione et sapientia non posse- 
 mus, magnam esse habendam senectuti gratiam, quae 
 elTiceret ut id non liberet quod non oporteret. Impedit 
 enim consilium voluptas, rationi inimica est, mentis ut 
 
 3
 
 l8 CATO MAIOR [XII. 42 
 
 ita dicam praestringit oculos, nee habet ulluni cum 
 virtute commercium. Invitus feci ut fortissimi viri T. 
 Flaminini fratrem L- Flamininum e senatu eicerem sep- 
 tem annis post quam consul fuisset, sed notandam 
 putavi libidinem. lUe enim cum asset consul in Gallia 
 exoratus in convivio a scorto est ut securi feriret 
 aliquem eorum qui in vinculis essent, damnati rei 
 capitalis. Hie Tito fratre suo censore, qui proximus 
 ante me fuerat, elapsus est, mihi vero et Flacco neuti- 
 quam probari potuit tarn flagitiosa et tam perdita libido, 
 quae cum probro private coniungeret imperi dedecus. 
 
 43 XIII. Saepe audivi e maioribus natu, qui se porro 
 pueros a senibus audisse dicebant, mirari solitum C. 
 Fabricium quod, cum apud regem Pyrrhum legatus 
 esset, audisset a Thessalo Cinea esse quendam Athenis 
 qui se sapientem profiteretur, eumque dicere omnia 
 quae faceremus ad voluptatem esse referenda. Quod 
 ex eo audientis M'. Curium et Ti. Coruncanium optare 
 solitos ut id Samnitibus ipsique Pyrrho persuaderetur, 
 quo facilius vinci possent cum se voluptatibus dedissent. 
 Vixerat M'. Curius cum P. Decio, qui quinquennio ante 
 eum consulem se pro re publica quarto consulatu 
 devoverat : norat eundem Fabricius, norat Corun- 
 canius, qui cum ex sua vita turn ex eius quem dico 
 Deci facto iudicabant esse profecto aliquid natura pul- 
 chrum atque praeclarum, quod sua sponte expeteretur 
 quodque spreta et contempta voluptate optimus quisque 
 
 4.4 sequeretur. Quorsum igitur tam multa de voluptate ? 
 Quia non modo vituperatio nulla, sed etiam summa 
 laus senectutis est, quod ea voluptates nullas magno 
 opere desiderat. Caret epulis exstructisque mensis et 
 frequentibus poculis. Caret ergo etiam viuulentia et
 
 XIV. 46] DE SENECTUTE. I9 
 
 cruditate et insomniis. Seel si aliquid dandum est 
 voluptati, quoniam eius bianditiis non facile obsistimus, 
 divine enim Plato escam malorum appellat voluptatem 
 quod ea videlicet homines capiantur ut pisces, quam- 
 quam immoderatis epulis caret senectus, modicis tamen 
 conviviis delectari potest. C. Duellium M. F., qui 
 Poenos classe primus devicerat, redeuntem a cena 
 senem saepe videbam puer ; delectabatur cereo funali 
 et tibicine, quae sibi nullo exemplo privatus sumpserat: 
 tantum licentiae dabat gloria, Sed quid ego alios ? 45 
 Ad me ipsum iam revertar. Primum habui semper 
 sodalis — 'sodalitates autem me quaestore constitutae 
 sunt sacris Idaeis Magnae Matris acceptis — epulabar 
 igitur cum sodalibus, omnino modice, sed erat quidam 
 fervor aetatis, qua progrediente omnia fiunt in dies 
 mitiora. Neque enim ipsorum conviviorum delectatio- 
 nem voluptatibus corporis magis quam coetu amicorum 
 et sermonibus metiebar ; bene enim maiores accubitio- 
 nem epularem amicorum, quia vitae coniunctionem 
 haberet, convivium nominaverunt, melius quam Graeci, 
 qui hoc idem turn compotationem, tum concenationem 
 vocant, ut, quod in eo genere minimum est, id maxima 
 probare videantur. 
 
 XIV. Ego vero propter sermonis delectationem tern- 46 
 pestivis quoque conviviis delector, nee cum aequalibus 
 solum, qui pauci admodum restant, sed cum vestra 
 etiam aetate atque vobiscum, habeoque senectuti mag- 
 nam gratiam, quae niihi sermonis aviditatem auxit, 
 potionis et cibi sustulit. (.^I'o'^l ^' quem etiam ista de- 
 lectant, ne omnino helium indixisse videar voluptati, 
 cuius est fortasse quidam iiaturnlis modus, non intellego 
 ne in istis quidem ipsis voluptatibus carere sensu senec-
 
 20 CATO MAIOR [XIV. 46 
 
 tutem. Me vero et magisteria delectant a maioribus 
 instituta et is serino, qui more maiorum a summo adhi- 
 betur in poculo, et pocula, sicut in Symposio Xeno- 
 phontis est, minuta atque rorantia, et refrigeratio aestate 
 et vicissim aut sol aut ignis hibernus. Quae quidem 
 etiam in Sabinis persequi soleo conviviumque vicinorum 
 cotidie compleo, quod ad multam noctem quam maxima 
 possumus vario sermone producimus. At non est 
 
 47 voluptatum tanta quasi titillatio in senibus. Credo, 
 sed ne desideratio quidem ; nihil autem est molestum 
 quod non desideres. Bene Sophocles, cum ex eo qui- 
 dam iam affecto aetata quaereret, utereturne rebus 
 veneriis, 'di meliora ! ' inquit ; 'ego vero istinc sicut a 
 domino agresti ac furioso profugi.' Cupidis enim rerum 
 talium odiosum fortasse et molestum est carere, satiatis 
 vero et expletis iucundius est carere quam frui ; quam- 
 quam non caret is, qui non desiderat ; ergo hoc non 
 
 48 desiderare dico esse iucundius. Quod si istis ipsis 
 voluptatibus bona aetas fruitur libentius, primum par- 
 vulis fruitur rebus, ut diximus, deinde eis, quibus senec- 
 tus, etiam si non abunde potitur, non omnino caret. Ut 
 Turpione Ambivio magis delectatur qui in prima cavea 
 spectat, delectatur tamen etiam qui in ultima, sic adu- 
 lescentia voluptates propter intuens magis fortasse 
 laetatur, sed delectatur etiam senectus, procul eas 
 
 49 spectans, tantum quantum sat est. At ilia quanti sunt, 
 animum tamquam emeritis stipendiis libidinis ambitionis, 
 contentionum inimicitiarum, cupiditatum omnium secum 
 esse secumque, ut dicitur, vivere ! Si vero habet ali- 
 quod tamquam pabulum studi atque doctrinae, nihil est 
 otiosa senectute iucundius. Videbamus in studio di- 
 metiendi paene caeli atque terrae Galium familiarem
 
 XV. 5i] DE SENECTUTE. 21 
 
 patris tui, Scipio. Quotiens ilium lux noctu aliquid 
 describere ingressum, quotiens nox oppressit cum mane 
 coepisset ! Quam delectabat eum defectiones solis et 
 lunae multo ante nobis praedicere ! Quid in levioribus 5^0 
 studiis, sed tamen acutis ? Quam gaudebat Bello suo 
 Punico Naevius, quam Truculento Plautus, quam Pseu- 
 dolo ! Vidi etiam senem Livium, qui, cum sex annis 
 ante quam ego natus sum fabulam docuisset Centone 
 Tuditanoque consulibus, usque ad adulescentiam meam 
 processit aetate. Quid de P. Licini Crassi et pontifici 
 et civilis iuris studio loquar aut de huius P. Scipionis, 
 qui his paucis diebus pontifex maximus factus est ? 
 Atque eos omnis, quos commemoravi, his studiis fla- 
 grantis senes vidimus. M. vero Cethegum, quem recta 
 suadae medullam dixit Ennius, quanto studio exerceri 
 in dicendo videbamus etiam senem ! Quae sunt igitur 
 epularum aut ludorum aut scortorum voluptates cum 
 his voluptatibus comparandae ? Atque haec quidem 
 studia doctrinae, quae quidem prudentibus et bene 
 institutis pariter cum aetate crescunt, ut honestum illud 
 Solonis sit, quod ait versiculo quodam, ut ante dixi, 
 senescere se multa in dies addiscentem, qua voluptate 
 animi nulla certe potest esse maior. 
 
 XV. Venio nunc ad voluptates agricolarum, quibus 51 
 ego incredibiliter delector, quae nee ulla impediuntur 
 senectute et mihi ad sapientis vitam proxime videntur 
 accedere. Habent enim rationem cum terra, quae 
 numquam recusat imj^erium nee umquam sine usura 
 reddit quod accepit, sed alias minore, plerumque maiore 
 cum faenore ; quamquam me quidem non fructus modo, 
 sed etiam ipsius terrae vis ac natura delectat. Quae - 
 cum gremio mollito ac subacto sparsum semen excepit,
 
 22 CATO MAI OR [XV. 51 
 
 primum id occaecatum cohibet, ex quo occatio quae 
 hoc efficit nomiuata est ; deinde tepefactuni vapore et 
 compressu suo diffundit et elicit heibescentem ex eo 
 viriditateni, quae nixa fibris stirpium sensim adolescit 
 culmoque erecta geniculato vaginis iam quasi pubescens 
 includitur ; e quibus cum emersit, fundit frugem spici 
 ordine structam et contra avium minorum morsus muni- 
 
 52 tur vallo aristarum. Quid ego vitium ortus satus in- 
 crementa commemorem ? Satiari delectatione non 
 possum, ut meae senectutis requietem oblectamentum- 
 que noscatis. Omitto enim vim ipsam omnium quae 
 generantur e terra, quae ex fici tantulo grano aut ex 
 acini vinaceo aut ex ceterarum frugum aut stirpium 
 minutissimis seminibus tantos truncos ramosque pro- 
 creet ; malleoli plantae sarmenta viviradices propagines 
 nonne efficiunt ut quemvis cum admiratione delectent ? 
 Vitis quidem quae natura caduca est et, nisi fulta est, 
 fertur ad terram, eadem, ut se erigat, claviculis suis 
 quasi manibus quidquid est nacta complectitur, quam 
 serpentem multiplici lapsu et erratico, ferro amputans 
 coercet ars agricolarum, ne silvescat sarmentis et in 
 
 53 omnis partis nimia fundatur. Itaque ineunte vere in 
 eis quae relicta sunt exsistit tamquam ad articulos 
 sarmentorum ea quae gemma dicitur, a qua oriens uva 
 se ostendit, quae et suco terrae et calore solis augescens 
 primo est peracerba gustatu, dein maturata dulcescit 
 vestitaque pampinis nee modico tepore caret et nimios 
 solis defendit ardores: qua quid potest esse cum fructu 
 laetius, tum aspectu pulchrius ? Cuius quidem non 
 utilitas me solum, ut ante dixi, sed etiam cultura et 
 natura ipsa delectat : adminiculorum ordines, capitum 
 iugatio, religatio et propagatio vitium, sarmentorum ea,
 
 XVI. 56] DE SENECTUTE. 23 
 
 quam dixi, aliorum araputatio, aliorum immissio. Quid 
 ego irrigationes, quid fossiones agri repastinationesque 
 proferam, quibus fit multo terra fecundior ? Quid de 5^ 
 utilitate loquar stercorandi ? Dixi in eo libro, quern de 
 rebus rusticis scripsi. De qua doctus Hesiodus ne 
 verbum quidem fecit, cum de cultura agri scriberet. 
 At Homerus, qui multis, ut mihi videtur, ante saeculis 
 fuit, Laerten lenientem desiderium, quod capiebat e 
 filio, colentem agrum et eum stercorantem facit. Nee 
 vero segetibus solum et pratis et vineis et arbustis res 
 rusticae laetae sunt, sed hortis etiam et pomariis, turn 
 pecudum pastu, apium examinibus, florum omnium 
 varietate. Nee consitiones modo deleetant, sed etiam 
 insitiones, quibus nihil invenit agri cultura sollertius. 
 
 XVI. Possum persequi permulta obleetamenta rerum 55 
 rusticarum, sed ea ipsa quae dixi sentio fuisse longiora. 
 Ignoscetis autem, nam et studio rerum rusticarum 
 provectus sum, et senectus est natura loquacior, ne ab 
 omnibus earn vitiis videar vindieare. Ergo in hac vita 
 M'. Curius, cum de Samnitibus, de Sabinis, de Pyrrho 
 triumphavisset, eonsumpsit extremum tempus aetatis ; 
 cuius quidem ego villam eontemplans, abest enim non 
 longe a me, admirari satis non possum vel hominis ipsius 
 eontinentiam vel temporum disciplinam. Curio ad 56 
 focum sedenti magnum auri pondus Samnites cum 
 attulissent, repudiati sunt ; non enim aurum habere 
 praeclarum sibi videri dixit, sed eis qui haberent aurum 
 imperare. Poteratne tantus animus efficere non iucun- 
 dam senectutem ? Sed venio ad agricolas, ne a me 
 ipso recedam. In agris erant tum senatores, id est 
 senes, si quidem aranti L. Qninctio Cincinnatn luintia- 
 tum est eum dictatorem esse factum, cuius dictatoris
 
 24 CATO My\10R [XVI. 56 
 
 iussu magister equitum C Servilius Ahala Sp. Maelium 
 regnum appetentem occupatum interemit. A villa in 
 senatum arcessebatur et Curius et ceteri senes, ex quo 
 qui eos arcessebant viatores nominati sunt. Num 
 igitur horum senectus miserabilis fuit, qui se agri cul- 
 tione oblectabant ? Mea quidem sententia baud scio 
 an nulla beatior possit esse, neque solum officio, quod 
 hominum generi universo cultura agrorum est salutaris, 
 sed et delectatione quam dixi, et saturitate copiaque 
 rerum omnium, quae ad victum hominum, ad cultum 
 etiam deorum pertinent, ut, quoniam haec quidam 
 desiderant, in gratiam iam cum voluptate redeamus. 
 Semper enim boni assiduique domini referta cella vi- 
 naria, olearia, etiam penaria est, villaque tota locuples 
 est, abundat porco haedo agno gallina, lacte caseo 
 melle. Iam hortum ipsi agricolae succidiam alteram 
 appellant. Conditiora facit haec supervacaneis etiam 
 
 57 operis aucupium atque venatio. Quid de pratorum 
 viriditate aut arborum ordinibus aut vinearum oliveto- 
 rumve specie plura dicam ? Brevi praecidam. Agro 
 bene culto nihil potest esse nee usu uberius nee specie 
 ornatius, ad quem fruendum non modo non retardat, 
 verum etiam invitat atque alleclat senectus. Ubi enim 
 potest ilia aetas aut calescere vel apricatione melius 
 vel igni, aut vicissim umbris aquisve refrigerari salu- 
 
 58 brius > Sibi habeant igitur arma, sibi equos, sibi hastas, 
 sibi clavam et pilam, sibi venationes atque cursus , 
 nobis senibus ex lusionibus multis talos relinquant et 
 tesseras; id ipsum ut lubebit, quoniam sine eis beata 
 esse senectus potest. 
 
 59 XVII. Multas ad res perutiles Xenophontis libri 
 sunt, quos legite quaeso studiose, ut facitis. Quam.
 
 XVII. 6o] DE SENECTUTE. 25 
 
 copiose ab eo agri cultura laudatur in eo libro, qui est 
 de tuenda re familiari, qui Oeconomicus inscribitur ! 
 Atque ut intellegatis niliil ei tarn regale videri quam 
 studium agri colendi, Socrates in eo libro loquitur cum 
 Critobulo Cyruni minorem Persaruni regem, praestan- 
 tem ingenio atque imperi gloria, cum Lysander Lace- 
 daemonius, vir summae virtutis, venisset ad eum Sardis 
 eique dona a sociis attulisset, et ceteris in rebus com- 
 munem erga Lysandrum atque humanum fuisse et ei 
 quendam consaeptum agrum diligenter consitum osten- 
 disse. Cum autem admiraretur Lysander et proceritates 
 arborum et directos in quincuncem ordlnes et humum 
 subactam atque puram et suavitatem odorum qui afifia- 
 rentur ex floribus, tum eum dixisse mirari se non modo 
 diligentiam sed etiam sollertiani eius a quo essent ilia 
 dimensa atque discripta; et Cyrum respondisse ' atqui 
 ego ista sum omnia dimensus, mei sunt ordines, mea 
 discriptio ; multae etiam istarum arborum mea manu 
 sunt satae.' Tum Lysandrum, intuentem purpuram eius 
 et nitorem corporis ornatumque Persicum multo auro 
 multisque gemmis, dixisse ' recte vero te, Cyre, beatum 
 ferunt, quoniam virtuti tuae fortuna coniuncta est!' 
 Hac igitur fortuna frui licet senibus, nee aetas impedit 6(i 
 quo minus et ceterarum rerum et in primis agri colendi 
 studia teneamus usque ad ultimum tempus senectutis. 
 M. quidem Valerium Corvinum accepimus ad centesi- 
 mum annum perduxisse, cum esset acta iam aetate in 
 agris eosque coleret, cuius inter primum et sextum con- 
 sulatum sex et quadraginta anni interfuerunt. Ita quan- 
 tum spatium aetatis maiores ad senectutis initium esse 
 voluerunt, tantus illi cursus honorum fuit ; atque huius 
 extrema aetas hoc beatior quam media, quod auctori-
 
 26 CATO MAIOR [XVII. 60 
 
 tatis babebat plus, laboris minus; apex est autem senec- 
 
 61 tutis auctoritas. Quanta fuit in L. Caecilio Metello, 
 quanta in A. Atilio Calatino ! In quern illud elogium : 
 
 hunc nnum plurimae consentiunt gentes 
 populi primarium fuisse virum. 
 
 Notum est totum carmen incisum in sepulcro. lure 
 igitur gravis, cuius de laudibus omnium esset fama con- 
 sentiens. Quern virum nuper P. Crassum, pontificem 
 maximum, quem postea M. Lepidum eodem sacerdotio 
 praeditum vidimus ! Quid de Paulo aut Africano loquar, 
 aut, ut iam ante, de Maximo ? Quorum non in senten- 
 tia solum, sed etiam in nutu residebat auctoritas. Ha- 
 bet senectus, honorata praesertim, tantam auctoritatem, 
 ut ea pluris sit quam omnes adulescentiae voluptates. 
 
 62 XVIII. Sed in omni oratione mementote eam me 
 senectutem laudare, quae fundamentis adulescentiae 
 constituta sit. Ex quo efificitur id, quod ego magno 
 quondam cum assensu omnium dixi, miseram esse se- 
 nectutem quae se oratione defenderet. Non cani nee 
 rugae repente auctoritatem arripere possunt, sed honeste 
 acta superior aetas fructus capit auctoritatis extremos. 
 
 63 Haec enim ipsa sunt honorabilia, quae videntur levia 
 atque communia, salutari appeti decedi assurgi deduci 
 reduci consuli, quae et apud nos et in aliis civitatibus, 
 ut quaeque optime morata est, ita diligentissime obser- 
 vantur. Lysandrum Lacedaemonium, cuius modo feci 
 mentionem, dicere aiunt solitum Lacedaemonem esse 
 honestissimum domicilium senectutis ; nusquam enim 
 tantum tribuitur aetati, nusquam est senectus honora- 
 tior. Quin etiam memoriae proditum est, cum Athenis 
 ludis quidam in theatrum grandis natu venisset, magno
 
 XIX. 66] DE SENECTUTE. 2^ 
 
 consessu locum nusquam ei datum a suis civibus, cum 
 autem ad Lacedaemonios accessisset, qui, legati cum 
 essent, certo in loco considerant, consurrexisse omnes 
 illi dicuntur et senem sessum recepisse ; quibus cum 6^ 
 a cuncto consessu plausus esset multiplex datus, dixisse 
 ex eis quendam Atheniensis scire quae recta essent, sed 
 facere nolle. Multa in nostro coUegio praeclara, sed 
 hoc, de quo agimus, in primis, quod, ut quisque aetate 
 antecedit, ita sententiae principatum tenet, neque solum 
 honore antecedentibus, sed eis etiam, qui cum imperio 
 sunt, maiores natu augures anteponuntur. Quae sunt 
 igitur voluptates corporis cum auctoritatis praemiis com- 
 parandae ? Quibus qui splendide usl sunt, ei mihi 
 videntur fabulam aetatis peregisse nee tamquam inexer- 
 citati histriones in extremo actu corruisse. 
 
 At sunt morosi et anxii et iracundi et difficiles senes. 65 
 Si quaerimus, etiam avari ; sed haec morum vitia sunt, 
 non senectutis. Ac morositas tamen et ea vitia, quae 
 dixi, habent aliquid excusationis, non illius quidem 
 iustae, sed quae probari posse videatur : contemni se 
 putant, despici, illudi ; praeterea in fragili corpore odiosa 
 omnis offensio est ; quae tamen omnia dulciora fiunt et 
 moribus bonis et artibus, idque cum in vita tum in 
 scaena intellegi potest ex eis fratribus qui in Adelphis 
 sunt. Quanta in altero diritas, in altero comitas ! Sic 
 se res habet : ut enim non omne vinum, sic non omnis 
 natura vetustate coacescit. Severitatem in senectute 
 probo, sed eam, sicut alia, modicam ; acerbitatem nulio 
 modo ; avaritia vero senilis quid sibi velit, non intellego. 
 Potest enim quicquam esse absurdius quam, quo viae 66 
 minus restet, eo plus viatici quaerere ? 
 >^ XIX. Quarta restat causa, quae maxima angere at-
 
 28 CATO MAIOR [XIX. 66 
 
 que sollicitam habere nostram aetatem videtur, appro- 
 pinquatio mortis, quae certe a senectute non potest esse 
 longe. O miserum senem, qui mortem contemnendam 
 esse in tarn longa aetate non viderit ! Quae aut plane 
 neglegenda est, si omnino exstinguit animum, aut etiam 
 optanda, si aliquo eum deducit ubi sit futurus aeternus. 
 
 67 Atqui tertium certe nihil inveniri potest. Quid igitur 
 timeam, si aut non miser post mortem, aut beatus etiam 
 futurus sum ? Quamquam quis est tarn stultus, quamvis 
 sit adulescens, cui sit exploratum se ad vesperum esse 
 victurum ? Quin etiam aetas ilia multo pluris quam 
 nostra casus mortis habet : facilius in morbos incidunt 
 adulescentes, gravius aegrotant, tristius curantur. Itaque 
 pauci veniunt ad senectutem ; quod ni ita accideret, 
 melius et prudentius viveretur. Mens enim et ratio et 
 consilium in senibus est, qui si nulli fuissent, nuUae 
 omnino civitates fuissent. Sed redeo ad mortem impen- 
 dentem. Quod est istud crimen senectutis, cum id ei 
 
 68 videatis cum adulescentia esse commune ? Sensi ego 
 in Optimo filio, tu in exspectatis ad amplissimam digni- 
 tatem fratribus, Scipio, mortem omni aetati esse com- 
 munem. At sperat adulescens diu se victurum, quod 
 sperare idem senex non potest. Insipienter sperat : 
 quid enim stultius quam incerta pro certis habere, falsa 
 pro veris ? At senex ne quod speret quidem habet. 
 At est eo meliore condicione quam adulescens, quoniam 
 id quod ille sperat hie consecutus est : ille volt diu 
 
 69 vivere, hie diu vixit. Quamquam, o di boni, quid est in 
 hominis natura diu ? Da enim supremum tempus, ex- 
 spectemus Tartessiorum regis aetatem : fuit enim, ut 
 scriptum video, Arganthonius quidam Gadibus, qui 
 octoginta regnaverat annos, centum viginti vixerat,
 
 XX. 72] DE SENECTUTE. 29 
 
 Sed niihi ne diuturnum quidem quicquam videtur, in 
 quo est aliquid extremum ; cum enim id advenit, turn 
 illud, quod praeteriit, effluxit ; tantum remanet, quod 
 virtute et recte factis consecutus sis. Horae quidem 
 cedunt et dies et menses et anni, nee praeterituin tem- 
 pus uniquam revertitur nee quid sequatur sciri potest. 
 Quod cuique temporis ad vivendum datur, eo debet esse 
 contentus. Neque enim histrioni, ut placeat, peragenda 70 
 fabula est, modo in quocunque fuerit acta probetur; 
 neque sapientibus usque ad ' plaudite ' veniendum est, 
 breve enim tempus aetatis satis longum est ad bene 
 honesteque vivendum ; sin processerit longius, non 
 magis dolendum est, quam agricolae dolent praeterita 
 verni temporis suavitate aestatem autumnumque venisse. 
 Ver enim tamquam adulescentia significat ostenditque 
 fructus futuros ; reliqua autem tempora demetendis 
 fructibus et percipiendis accommodata sunt. Fructus 71 
 autem senectutis est, ut saepe dixi, ante paitorum bono- 
 rum memoria et copia. Omnia autem, quae secundum 
 naturam fiunt, sunt habenda in bonis ; quid est autem 
 tam secundum naturam quam senibus emori ? Quod 
 idem contingit adulescentibus adversante et repugnante 
 natura. Itaque adulescentes mihi mori sic videntur, ut 
 cum aquae multitudine flammae vis opprimitur, senes 
 autem sic, ut cum sua sponte, nulla adhibita vi, con- 
 sumptus ignis exstinguitur, et quasi_poma ex arboribus, 
 cruda si sunt, vix evelluntur, si matura et cocta, de- 
 cidunt, sic vitam adulescentibus vis aufert, senibus 
 maturitas ; quae quidem mihi lam iuc unda t-st, ut, ciuo 
 propius ad mortem accedam, quasi terram videre videar 
 aliquandoque in portum ex longa navigatione esse vcn- 
 turus. XX. .Senectutis autem niilkis est certus termi 72
 
 so CATO MAIOR [XX. 72 
 
 nus, recteque in ea vivitur, quoad munus offici exsequi 
 et tueri possit mortemque contemnere, ex quo fit ut 
 animosior etiam senectus sit quam adulescentia et 
 fortior. Hoc illud est, quod Pisistrato tyranno a So- 
 lone responsum est, cum illi quaerenti qua tandem re 
 fretus sibi tam audaciter obsisteret respondisse dicitur 
 'senectute.' Sed vivendi est finis optimus, cum integra 
 mente certisque sensibus opus ipsa suum eadem quae 
 coagmentavit natura dissolvit. Ut navem, ut aedificium 
 idem destruit facillime qui construxit, sic hominem 
 eadem optime quae conglutinavit natura dissolvit. lam 
 omnis conglutinatio recens aegre, inveterata facile divel- 
 litur. Ita fit ut illud breve vitae reliquum nee avide 
 appetendum senibus nee sine causa deserendum sit ; 
 
 73 vetatque Pythagoras iniussu imperatoris, id est dei, de 
 praesidio et statione vitae decedere. Solonis quidem 
 sapientis est elogium, quo se negat velle suam mortem 
 dolore amicorum et lamentis vacare. Volt, credo, se 
 esse carum suis. Sed haud scio an melius Ennius : 
 
 nemo me lacrumis decoret, neqiie funera fletu 
 faxit. 
 
 Non censet lugendam esse mortem, quam immortalitas 
 
 74 consequatur, lam sensus moriendi aliquis esse potest, 
 isque ad exiguum tempus, praesertim seni : post mortem 
 quidem sensus aut optandus aut nullus est. Sed hoc 
 meditatum ab adulescentia debet esse, mortem ut negle- 
 gamus ; sine qua meditatione tranquillo animo esse 
 nemo potest. Moriendum enlm certe est, et incertum 
 an hoc ipso die. Mortem igitur omnibus horis impen- 
 
 75 dentem timens qui poterit animo consistere ? De qua 
 non ita longa disputatione opus esse videtur, cum re
 
 XXI. 77] DE SENECTUTE. 3 1 
 
 corder non L. Brutum, qui in liberanda patria est inter- 
 fectus, non duos Decios, qui ad voluntariani mortem 
 cursum equorum incitaverunt, non M. Atilium, qui ad 
 supplicium est profectus ut fidem hosti datam conser- 
 varet, non duos Scipiones, qui iter Poenis vel corporibus 
 suis obstruere voluerunt, non avum tuuni L. Paulum, 
 qui morte luit collegae in Cannensi ignominia temerita- 
 tem, non M. Marcellum, cuius interitum ne crudelissi- 
 mus quidem hostis honore sepulturae carere passus est, 
 sed legiones nostras, quod scripsi in Originibus, in eum 
 locum saepe profectas alacri animo et erecto, unde se 
 redituras numquam arbitrarentur. Quod igitur adule- 
 scentes, et ei quidem non solum indocti sed etiam rustici 
 contemnunt, id docti senes extimescent ? Omnino, ut 76 
 niihi quidem videtur, rerum omnium satietas vitae facit 
 satietatem. Sunt pueritiae studia certa : num igitur ea 
 desiderant adulescentes ? Sunt ineuntis adulescentiae: 
 num ea constans iam requirit aetas, quae media dicitur? 
 Sunt etiam eius aetatis : ne ea quidem quaeruntur in 
 senectute. Sunt extrema quaedam studia senectutis : 
 ergo, ut superiorum aetatum studia occidunt, sic occidunt 
 etiam senectutis ; quod cum evenit, satietas vitae tempus 
 maturum mortis affert. 
 
 XXI. Non enim video, cur, quid ipse sentiam de 77 
 morte, non audeam vobis dicere, quod eo cernere mihi 
 melius videor, quo ab ea propius absum. Ego vestros 
 patres, P. Scipio tuque, C. Laeli, viros clarissimos mihi- 
 que amicissimos, vivere arbitror et earn quidem vitam, 
 quae est sola vita nominanda. Nam dum sumus inclusi 
 in his compagibus corporis, munere quodam necessi- 
 tatis et gravi opere perfungimur ; est enim animus cae- 
 lestis ex altissimo domicilio depressus et quasi demersus
 
 32 CATO MAIOR [XXI. 77 
 
 in terram, locum divinae naturae aeternitatique contra- 
 rium. Sed credo decs immorta.lis sparsisse aninios in 
 corpora humana, ut essent ou' terras tuerentur quique 
 caelestium ordinem contemplantes imitarentur eum vitae 
 modo atque constantia. Nee me solum ratio ac dispu- 
 tatio impulit ut ita crederem, sed nobilitas etiam sum- 
 morum philosophorum et auctoritas. 
 
 78 Audiebam Pythagoran Pythagoriosque, incolas paene 
 nostros, qui essent Italici philosophi quondam nominati, 
 numquam dubitasse quin ex universa mente divina deli- 
 batos animos haberemus. Demonstrabantur mihi prae- 
 terea quae Socrates supremo vitae die de immortalitate 
 animorum disseruisset, is qui esset omnium sapientissi- 
 mus oraculo Apollinis iudicatus. Quid multa ? Sic 
 mihi persuasi, sic sentio, cum tanta celeritas animorum 
 sit, tanta memoria praeteritorum futurorumque pruden- 
 tia, tot artes tantae scientiae, tot inventa, non posse earn 
 naturam, quae res eas contineat, esse mortalem ; cumque 
 semper agitetur animus nee principium motus habeat, 
 quia se ipse moveat, ne finem quidem habiturum esse 
 motus, quia numquam se ipse sit relicturus ; et cum 
 simplex animi natura esset neque haberet in se quicquam 
 admixtum dispar sui atque dissimile, non posse eum 
 dividi, quod si non posset, non posse interire ; magno- 
 que esse argumento homines scire pleraque ante quam 
 nati sint, quod iam pueri, cum artis difificilis discant, ita 
 celeriter res innumerabilis arripiant, ut eas non turn 
 primum accipere videantur, sed reminisci et recordari. 
 
 79 Haec Platonis fere. XXII. Apud Xenophontem autem 
 moriens Cyrus maior haec dicit: ' nolite arbitrari, o mihi 
 carissimi filii, me, cum a vobis discessero, nusquam aut 
 nullum fore. Nee enim, dum eram vobiscum, animum
 
 XXIII. S2] DE SENECTUTE. 33 
 
 meum videbatis, sed eum esse in hoc corpore ex eis 
 rebus quas gerebam i-.itellegebatis. Eundem igitur esse 
 creditote, etiam si nullum videbitis. Nee vero clarorum 80 
 virorum post mortem honores permanerent, si nihil 
 eorum ipsorum animi efficerent, quo diutius memoriam 
 sui teneremus. Mihi quideni numquam persuaderi po- 
 tuit animos dum in corporibus essent raortalibus vivere, 
 cum excessissent ex eis emori j nee vero turn animum 
 esse insipientem cum ex insipienti corpore evasisset, sed 
 cum omni admixtione corporis liberatus purus et integer 
 esse coepisset, turn esse sapientem. Atque etiam, cum 
 hominis natura morte dissolv'itur, ceterarum rerum per- 
 spicuum est quo quaeque discedat, abeunt enim illuc 
 omnia, unde orta sunt; animus autem solus nee cum 
 adest nee cum discessit apparet. lam vero videtis nihil 
 esse morti tam simile quam somnum. Atqui dormien- 81 
 tium animi maxime declarant divinitatem suam ; multa 
 enim, cum remissi et liberi sunt, futura prospiciunt ; ex 
 quo intellegitur quales futuri sint, cum se plane corporis 
 vinculis relaxaverint. Qua re, si haec ita sunt, sic me 
 colitote,' inquit, 'ut deum, sin una est interiturus animus 
 cum corpore, vos tamen, deos verentes, qui banc omnem 
 pulchritudinem tuentur et regunt, memoriam nostri pie 
 inviolateque servabitis.' 
 
 XXIII. Cyrus quidem haec moriens ; nos, si placet, 82 
 nostra videamus. Nemo umquarn mihi, Scipio, persua- 
 debit aut patrem tuum Paulum, aut duos avos Paulum 
 et Africanum, aut Africani patrem aut patruum, aut mul- 
 tos praestantis viros, quos enumerare non est necesse, 
 tanta esse conatos quae ad posteritatis memoriam per- 
 tinerent, nisi animo cernerent posteritatem ad ipsos 
 pertinere. Anne censes, ut de me ipse aliquid more
 
 34 CATO MAIOR [XXIII. 82 
 
 senum glorier, me tantos labores diurnos nocturnosque 
 domi militiaeque suscepturum fuisse, si isdem finibus 
 gloriam meam quibus vitam essem terminaturus ? Nonne 
 melius multo fuisset otiosam et quietam aetatem sine 
 ullo labore et contentione traducere ? Sed nescio quo 
 modo animus erigens se posteritatem ita semper prospi- 
 ciebat, quasi, cum excessisset e vita, turn denique victu- 
 rus esset. Quod quidem ni ita se haberet ut animi 
 immortales essent, baud optimi cuiusque animus maxime 
 
 83 ad immortalitatis gloriam niieretur. Quid quod sapien- 
 tissimus quisque aequissimo animo moritur, stultissimus 
 iniquissimo, nonne vobis videtur is animus, qui plus 
 cernat et longius, videre se ad meliora proficisci, ille 
 autem, cuius obtusior sit acies, non videre ? Equidem 
 efiferor studio patres vestros quos colui et dilexi videndi, 
 neque vero eos solum convenire aveo, quos ipse cognovi, 
 sed illos etiam, de quibus audivi et legi et ipse con- 
 scripsi ; quo quidem me proficiscentem baud sane quid 
 facile retraxerit, nee tamquam Pelian recoxerit. Et si 
 quis deus mihi largiatur ut ex hac aetate repuerascam 
 et in cunis vagiam, valde recusem, nee vero velim quasi 
 
 84 decurso spatio ad carceres a calce revocari. Quid habet 
 enim vita commodi ? Quid non potius laboris ? Sed 
 habeat sane ; habet certe tamen aut satietatem aut mo- 
 dum. Non libet enim mihi deplorare vitam, quod multi 
 et ei docti saepe fecerunt, neque me vixisse paenitet, 
 quoniam ita vixi, ut non frustra me natum existimem, et 
 ex vita ita discedo tamquam ex hospitio, non tamquam 
 e domo ; commorandi enim natura divorsorium nobis, 
 non habitandi dedit, O praeclarum diem cum in illud 
 divinum animorum concilium coetumque proficiscar 
 cumque ex hac turba et colluvione discedam ! Proficis-
 
 XXIII. 85] DE SENECTUTE. 35 
 
 car enim non ad eos solum viros, de quibus ante dixi, 
 verum etiam ad Catoneiii meum, quo nemo vir melior 
 natus est, nemo pietate praestantior, cuius a me corpus 
 est crematum, quod contra decuit ab illo meum, animus 
 vero non me deserens sed respectans, in ea profecto loca 
 discessit quo mihi ipsi cernebat esse veniendum. Quem 
 ego meum casum fortiter ferre visus sum, non quo aequo 
 animo ferrem, sed me ipse consolabar existimans non 
 longinquum inter nos digressum et discessum fore. 
 
 His milii rebus, Scipio, id enim te cum Laelio admi 85 
 rari solere dixisti, levis est senectus, nee solum non 
 molesta, sed etiam iucunda. Quod si in hoc erro, qui 
 animos hominum immortalis esse credam, libenter erro 
 nee mihi hunc errorem, quo deleclor, dum vivo, extor- 
 queri volo ; sin mortuus, ut quidam minuti philosoph'. 
 censent, nihil sentiam, non vereor ne hunc errorem 
 meum philosophi mortui irrideant. Quod si non sumus 
 immortales futuri, tamen exstingui homini suo tempore 
 optabile est. Nam habet natura, ut aliarum omnium 
 rerum, sic vivendi modum. Senectus autem aetatis est 
 peractio tamquam fabulae, cuius defetigationem fugere 
 debemus, praeserlim adiuncta satietate. 
 
 Haec habui de senectute quae dicerem, ad quam uti- 
 nam veniatis, ut ea, quae ex me audistis, re experti pro- 
 bare possitis!
 
 NOTES TO CATO MAIOR. 
 
 CATO MAIOR DE SENECTUTE (Cato the Elder 
 o\ Old Age). CATO MAIOR was probably intended by 
 Cicero as the principal title. He twice gives the work this 
 name, in Laelius 4 and Att. 14, 21, i. In the former passage 
 he adds the descriptive words, addressed to Atticus, qui est 
 scriptiis ad te ih senectutc. In a third notice. De Div. 2, 3, he 
 gives the description without the title, liber is quein ad nos- 
 tritin Atticum de senectitte tnisimus. It is likely that Cicero 
 intended the essay to be known as the Cato Maior de Se- 
 NECTUTE, the full title corresponding with Laelius de Ami- 
 ciTiA. The word maior was necessary to distinguish the book 
 from Cicero's eulogy of the younger Cato (Uticensis), v/hich 
 seems to have gone by the name of Cato simply. 
 
 1*. 1. — 1. O Tite etc.: the lines are a quotation from the Aiinales 
 of Q. Enniu.s (Ijorn at Rudiae in Calabria 239 n. C, died 169), an epic 
 poem in hexameter verse, the first great Latin poem in that metre, 
 celebrating the achievements of the Roman nation from the time of 
 Aeneas to the poet's own days. The incident alluded to in Ennius' 
 verses is evidently the same as that narrated by Livy 32, cc. 9, la 
 Titus Quinctius Flamininus, who commanded in 198 n.c. the Roman 
 army opposed to Philip of Afacedon, found the Ling strongly posted 
 on the mountains between Epirus and Thessalv. Lor forty davs Fla- 
 mininus lingered, hoping to find scnne path which would give him ac- 
 cess to the enemy's quarters. A shepherd who knew every nook of 
 the mountains came before the general, and promised to lead tlie Ro- 
 man soldiers to the ground above Philip's camp. This was done, and 
 
 349477
 
 j8 NOTES TO CATO MAIOR. [i 
 
 P'lamininus drove the Macedonians into Thessaly. It is the shepherd 
 who in the first line addresses Flamininus by his first name Titus. 
 Cicero here cleverly applies the lines to his life-long friend Titus 
 Pomponius Atticus. He several times takes the two words ' O Tite 
 to designate the whole treatise; cf. Att. i6, ii, 3 "■ O Titc' tibi prodessc 
 laetor. quid: accusative of respect or extent; so «///// in Tp, alt- 
 quid in 82. A.* 240, a ; G. 331, 3 ; H. 37S, 2. adiuero : for adiu- 
 
 vero, the long vowel having become short after the falling out of the v 
 between the two vowels. Catullus 66, 18 has iiierint at the end of a 
 pentameter verse, and the same scanning is found in Plautus and Ter- 
 ence. A. 128, rt ; G. 151, I ; H. 235. levasso: a form of levavero, 
 
 which was originally lez'aveso. F^or the formation of this class of 
 future-perfects see Peile, Introduction to Greek and Latin Etymology, 
 p. 295, ed. 3; also Roby, Gram. I, p. 199, who has a list of examples; 
 he supports a different view from that given above; cf. A. 128, e, 3; 
 
 G. 191, 5; H. 240,4. coquit : 'vexes.' This metaphorical use of 
 
 coquere occurs in poetry and late prose ; cf. Plaut. Trin. 225 egomet me 
 coquo et viacero et defetigo ; Verg. Aen. 7, 345 qiiam . . .fcinineae arden- 
 tem curaeqite iraeque coquehant ; Quint. 12, 10, 77 sollicitudo oratorem 
 
 macerat et coquit. versat : we have here the original quantity of 
 
 the vowel preserved, as in potiebdt below, 10; the a in versat was 
 originally as long as the a in versds. Plautus has some parallels to 
 this scanning (see Corssen, Aussprache 11-, 48S), but it is rarely imi- 
 tated by poets of the best period. Horace, however, has ardf, Odes 
 
 3, 16, 26. A. 375,^', 5; H. 580, TH. n. 2. praemi : the genitive 
 
 in i-t from nouns in ium only began to come into use at the end of the 
 
 Republic. A. 40, b; G. 29, Rem. i; H. 51, 5. isdem: Cicero 
 
 may have written isdetn or eisdem (two syllables), but he probably did 
 not write the form most commonly found in our texts, iisdem. H. p. 74, 
 
 foot-note 2. Flamininum : T. Quinctius Flamininus first served 
 
 against Hannibal during the Second Punic War. He was present at 
 the capture of Tarentum in 209 B. C , and in 208 was military tribune 
 under Marcellus. After being employed on minor business of state, 
 he became quaestor in 199, and, immediately after his year of office, 
 consul, passing over the aedileship and praetorship, and attaining the 
 consulship at the extraordinarilv early age of 30. In 197 he won the 
 
 * A. = Allen and Greenough's Grammar, Revised Ed. ; G. = Gilderslc^^e's 
 Grammar ; H. ^ Harkness's Grammar, Rev. Ed. of 1881. In quoting from tlie works 
 of Cicero reference is made to sections, not to chapters.
 
 I] NOTES TO CATO MAIOR. 35 
 
 great victor\- of Cynoscephalae over the Macedonians, which ended 
 the war. At the Isthmian games in the spring of 196 Flamininus made 
 his famous proclamation of freedom to all the Greeks. He returned 
 to Rome in 194 to enjoy a splendid triumph. For the rest of his life 
 he was employed chiefly on diplomatic business concerning Greece 
 and the East. One of his embassies was to Prusias, king of Bithynia, 
 to call on him to surrender Hannibal, who was living at his court in 
 advanced old age; this led to Hannibal's suicide. Flamininus was 
 censor in 189 (see below, 42), and lived on till some time after 167, in 
 which year he became augur ; but the date of his death is unknown. 
 He was a man of brilliant ability both as general and as diplomat, and 
 also possessed much culture and was a great admirer of Greek litera- 
 ture. ille vir etc. : t. e. the shepherd mentioned in n. on line i 
 
 Livy 32, 1 1, 4 says that Flamininus sent to the master of the shepherd, 
 Charopus, an Epirote prince, to ask how far he might be trusted. 
 Charopus replied that Flamininus might trust him, but had better keep 
 
 a close watch on the operations himself. haud magna cum re : 
 
 ' of no great property'; ra = re familiari, as is often the case elsewhere 
 in both verse and prose. Cf. pro Caelio 78 hominem sine re. Cum 
 is literally ' attended by' ; it is almost superfluous here, since vir haud 
 magna re would have had just the same meaning. Madvig, Gram. 
 § 258 has similar examples. plenus: final s was so lightly pro- 
 nounced that the older poets felt justified in neglecting it in their 
 scanning. It was probably scarcely pronounced at all by the less 
 educated Romans, since it is often wholly omitted in inscriptions, and 
 has been lost in modern Italian. Cicero, Orator 161, says that the 
 neglect to pronounce final s is 'somewhat boorish' [subriisticum), 
 though formerly thought 'very refined' [politiiis). Even Lucretius 
 sometimes disregards it in his scanning. In the ordinary literary 
 Latin a large number of words has lost an original s\ e. g. all the 
 
 nouns of the -a declension. A. 375, a\ G. 722; H. 608, i, n. 3. 
 
 fidei: this form of the genitive oi fides is found also in Plautus, Aulu- 
 laria 575, and Lucretius 5, 102. Fidei zs genitive seems only to occur 
 in late poets, but as dative it is found in a fragment of Ennius. Fide 
 as genitive occurs in Horace and Ovid. H. 585, III. i ; Roby, 357, (r). 
 quamquam : see n. on 2 etsi. sollicitari etc. : Cicero prob- 
 ably has not quoted the line as Ennius wr(jte it. The word sic, at least, 
 is evidently inserted on purpose to correspond with iit before Flami- 
 uiittitn. noctesque diesque: the use of que... que for et...et is
 
 40 NOTES TO CATO MAIOR. [i 
 
 almost entirely poetical, Sallust being the only prose writer of the best 
 period in whose works the usage is beyond doubt. Noctes is put before 
 dies here, as in noctes dicsqiie (Verr. 5, 112), 7toctes et dies (Brut. 308 
 etc.), noctes ac dies (Arch. 29) ; cf. also Verg. Aen. 6, 127 ; and v\)Kra.% re 
 Koi ?ifiap in Iliad 5, 490 ; but the collocations dies noctesqiie, dies et noctes 
 are far commoner in Cicero. Madvig (Emend. Liv. p. 487 n., ed. 2) 
 says that in writers of Livy's time and earlier, when an action is men- 
 tioned which continues throughout a number of days and nights, either 
 dies et noctes and the like phrases are used, or die et nocte and the like ; 
 but not diem nocteinqne or diem et noctem, which expression, he says, 
 would imply that the action continued only throughout one day and 
 one night. But Madvig has overlooked De Or. 2, 162 enndem incii- 
 dent diem noctemqite tundentibus ; also three passages of Caesar: viz. 
 Bell. Gall. 7, 42, 6 and 7, 77, 11 ; Bell. Civ. i, 62, 1 ; to which add a 
 passage in the Bell. Hisp. 38. Though diem noctemque does often 
 mean 'throughout one day and one night' (as e.g. in Nep. Them. 8, 7), 
 
 yet it would seem that the other sense cannot be excluded. mode- 
 
 rationem • . . aequitatem : ' the self-control and even balance of your 
 mind '. Moderatio is in Cic. a common translation of auK^poavvt]. 
 Aeqtiitas'xs. not used here in its commonest sense of 'reasonableness' 
 or 'equity', but as the noun corresponding to aequus in the ordinary 
 phrase aequus animus (Horace, "■ aequam memento rebus in ardiiis ser- 
 vare mentem''); cf. Tusc. i, 97 kanc ?naximi animi aequitatem in ipsa 
 morte. said of Theramenes' undisturbed composure before his execir 
 
 tion. animi tu.: for the position of these words between modera- 
 
 tionem and aeqttitafet}?, to both of which nouns they refer (a form of 
 speech called by the Latin grammarians coniunctio), see note on Lae- 
 
 lius 8 cum summi viri turn amicissimi. cognomen : /. e. the name 
 
 Atticus, which Cicero's friend did not inherit, but adopted. For the 
 
 word cognomen cf. n. on 5. deportasse : it should be noted that 
 
 the verb deportare is nearly always in the best writers used of bring- 
 ing things from the provinces to Italy or Rome, and not vice Tersa, 
 the Romans using 'down' (de) of motion towards the capital. Italia 
 deportare occurs in Tacitus and late writers, but only in the sense of 
 banishing a person (cf. Ann. 14, 45). So decedere de proz'incia is com- 
 mon, but not Roma decedere. As to the form deportasse, it may be 
 remarked that Cic. in the vast majority of instances uses the con- 
 tracted and not the full forms of the infinitives corresponding to per- 
 fects in -avi. So putassent in 4- An extensive collection of examples
 
 2] NOTES TO CATO MAIOR. 41 
 
 of this and similar contractions may be found in Frohwein, Die Per- 
 
 fectbildungen aiif -vi bei Cicero; Gera, 1874. humanitatem : 
 
 'culture'; i.e. learning resulting in gentleness and refinement of 
 
 character. prudentiam : (ppovrjcriv or practical wisdom. Corn. 
 
 Xepos (or his imitator) in his lite of Atticus 17, 3 says of him />rin- 
 d/>um philosophorum ita percepta habuit praecepta iit his ad vitam agen- 
 
 dam non ad ostentationem uteretur. isdem rebus : /. e. the state 
 
 of public affairs at the time; see Introd. quibus me ipsum : 
 
 strictly speaking the construction is inaccurate, since sitspicor com- 
 moveri must be supplied, and Cicero does not really mean to say that 
 he merely conjectures himself to be seriously affected by the state of 
 ])ublic affairs; ego ipse commoveor would have accurately expressed 
 his meaning. The accusative is due to the attraction of te above. 
 
 maior = difficilior as often ; c. g. Lael. 29 quod niaius est. 
 
 visum est mihi conscx\htr& :^p!acuit luiki, 'I have determined 
 to write '. The best writers rarely use the impersonal videtur etc. 
 followed by an infinitive. When the usage occurs videtur mihi etc. 
 generally have the meaning (as here) of ZoKtl jj.01 k. t. a. = 'I have 
 made up my mind'. Cf. Tusc. 5, 12 A'oii tnihi videtur ad beate 
 viveiiduni satis posse virtutem ; ib. 5, 22 (a curious passage} viihi 
 eniiH non videbatur qtdsquam esse beatus posse cum esset in malis ; in 
 malis autem sapient e7U esse posse: Off. 3, 71 vialitia quae volt 
 ilia quidcm videri se esse prudentiam ('craft which desires that people 
 should believe it to be wisdom ') ; Li v. i, 10, 7 dis visum nee irritam 
 conditoris templi vocem esse . . . (' the gods decided that the word of the 
 founder of the shrine should not remain of no effect '). It would be 
 difificuit, if not impossible, to find a passage in a writer before silver 
 Latin times where the best texts still exhibit anything like videtur eum 
 
 facere for is videtur facere. H. 534, i, n. t; Roby, 1353. aliquid 
 
 ad te : 'some work dedicated to you'; so below, 3; cf. also Lael. 4 
 ut de amicitia scriberem aliquid ; ib. Catone maiore qui est scriptus ad te 
 de senectute ; Div. 2, 3 liber is quern ad nostrum Atticum de senectute 
 viisivius. 
 
 2. aut . . . aut certe : so often in Cic. ; eerte, ' at any rate '. 
 
 senectutis: at the time the words were written Cic. was 62 years old, 
 Atticus three years older. For the meaning of senectus see n. on 4. 
 
 levari volo: the best Latin writers frequently use the jiassive 
 
 infinitive after verbs expressing desire, where moderns would incline 
 to the active; here Cic. instead of saying 'I wish to relieve yourself
 
 42 
 
 NOTES TO CATO MAIOR. 
 
 and me of the burden ' says ' I wish yourself and me to be relieved '. 
 
 etsi : = Kairoi ' and yet '. This use of etsi to introduce a clause 
 
 correcting the preceding clause, though not uncommon (e. g. below 
 29; Tusc. I, 99 ; 3, 17 ; 4, 63 ; 5, 55), is far less common than that of 
 
 qitamqiiatn, which we have in i, 9, 10, 24, 47, 67, 69. te quidem : 
 
 ' you at all events ', ' you for one '. modice ac sapienter : modice 
 
 recalls moderationeni above [modice and moderate are used with exactly 
 the same sense by Cic), while sapienter recalls aeqiiitatem, since safi- 
 entia produces stability and an even balance of the mind. In De Or. 
 
 I, 132 we have modice et scienter. sicut omnia: cf. Fin. i, 7 fa- 
 
 cete is quidem sicut alia: also below, 65 sicut alia. et ferre et 
 
 laturum esse: Tischer rightly remarks that when a verb is repeated 
 thus with a variation of tense Cic. very nearly always uses et. . . et, and 
 not a single et merely. The contrast between the two tenses is thus 
 
 made more pointed. Cf. 3 et dixitnus et dicernus. certo scio : 
 
 one of the best MSS., followed by some editors, has here certe scio. 
 The latter phrase would mean ' I am sure that I know' (a sense which 
 seems out of place here) ; the former ' I have certain or sure knowl- 
 edge '. Observe that certe may be used with all verbs, while certo is 
 
 only used with scire. A. 151, c. sed : the idea implied is, 'but 
 
 though I well know you do not need such consolation, I have yet 
 resolved to address my book to you'. occurrebas dignus: a con- 
 densed construction for occurrebat te dignitfti esse. 
 
 p. 2. — munere...uteretur : 'a gift such as we both might make 
 
 use of in company'. mihi quidem: this forms a correction 
 
 upon uterque nostrum above : * whatever you may think of the work, 
 
 / at least have found the writing of it pleasant '. confectio : 
 
 'composition'; 'completion'; a word scarcely found in the clas- 
 sical Latin except in Cicero's writings. Cf. De Or. 2, 52 anna- 
 lium confectio; pro. Font. 3 confectio tabular um ('account-books'). 
 
 fuit ut absterserit: the sequence of tenses///// tit abstergerel 
 
 would have been equally admissible, but the meaning would have been 
 slightly different. With the perfect the sense is 'was so pleasant that 
 it ^aj wiped away'; with the imperfect 'was so pleasant that it a'/J 
 ,' vhile I was writing) wipe away '. The metajjhor in absterserit is com- 
 mon : e. g. Tusc. 3, 43 hictum omnem absterseris. With this statement 
 of Cicero's concerning the effect the work had on himself contrast Att. 
 14, 21, 3 legendus mihi saepius est Cato niaior ad te missus. A m ario- 
 rem enim m e sene c tu s fac it. Stomachor omnia. omnis : ace
 
 3] NOTES TO CATO MAIOR. 43 
 
 pi. A. 55, <r; G. 60, I ; H. 67. effecerit mollem : so 56 poteratnt 
 
 tantus animus cfficerc non iucundam senectutem ; but zf. conditiora 
 facit haec aiicupiuni. EJfic io gwes more emphatically t\\a.n facto the 
 idea of the completion of the action. Cf. Lael. 73 efficere aliqucm 
 consulem, ' to carry through a man's election as consul ' ; facere aliquem 
 consulent being merely ' to vote for a man's election to the consulship ', 
 satis digne : ' as she deserves ', lit. ' in a sufficiently worthy man- 
 ner'. Some editors have thought digne superfluous and wished to cast 
 it out, but we have satis digne elsewhere, as in Verr. Act. II. i, 82 ; cf. 
 
 also Sex. Rose. '})T^ pro dignitate laudare satis conunode. qui pa- 
 
 reat . . . degere : a conditional sentence of irregular form {qui = siquis ; 
 ctii, simply connective, = et ei). Cf. Div. i, i-7 qui enim teneat causas 
 rertim futurariun, idc7n necesse est om7iia ieneat quae futura sint ; also 
 the examples in Roby's Grammar, 1558. A. 310, a, 307, b; G. 594, i, 
 598; H. 507, II. and III. 2. Some, however, make possit a subjunc- 
 tive of characteristic or of cause with rui, a.nd pareat a subjunctive by 
 
 attraction. omne tempus aetatis : 'every season of life'; so in 
 
 55 extre?num tempus aetatis; 70 hreve tempus aetatis. The opposite 
 phrase aetas temporis is very rare; it occurs in Propertius i, 4, 7. 
 
 3. ceteris : neuter adjective used as a noun, equivalent to ceteris 
 rebus ' the other matters ' ; /. 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, reliqmnn ; 77, caclestium = rertwi caeles- 
 tium ; 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 jmirs (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', c/iiastnus 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 Nagelsbach, Stil. §§ 167, 169. A 344./; G. 6S4 ; II. 563. ■ 
 
 librum .. . misimus: observe the omission of a particle at the begin
 
 44 NOTES TO CATO MAIOR. [3 
 
 iiing of the clause ; the contrast between ceteris and Iiunc librum is 
 made stronger by the omission. For this asyndeton ctdversativum see 
 n. on Lael. 5 Liielium . .. putes. For tense of misimus, ' I send ', see 
 
 A. 282; G. 244; H. 472, I. omnem : see n. on 62. tribui- 
 
 mus : perfect tense like misimus. Tithono — Aristo : see Introd. 
 
 Cius : Greek Ketos (a native of Ceos), not to be confused with 
 
 Xlos (;i native of Chios), or Kios (a native of Cos). Cicero generally 
 denotes the Greek diphthong n by I not c. This Aristo was a Peri- 
 patetic. parum . , . auctoritatis : observe how often Cicero takes 
 
 trouble to separate words which are, grammatically, closely connected. 
 So above, omnis . . . molest ias ; 7 tmdlorum . . . senectutem ; 9 mii'ijicos 
 ...fructiis; 21 civiuni . ..noinina ; t^t^ minus .. .viritim ; 53 ntnlto... 
 fecundior ; etc. etc. See also n. on 15 quam sit iusta. A. 344, c, d, e; 
 
 H. 561, III. asset: condition omitted. A. 311; G.602; H. 510. 
 
 maiorem auctoritatem : cf. Lael 4. apud quern : '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'. ¥ov Jacere, in this sense, 
 Cic. more often uses inducei-e 'to bring on the stage', as in Lael. 4 
 Catonem iiiduxi setiem disputa7ttem. Cf. however 54 Homerus Laerten 
 cole?itcm agrum facit ; also Brut. 218; Orat. 85. Instead oi facimus 
 we might have expected either fecimus to correspond with misimus 
 and tribuimus above, ox faciemus to correspond with videbitur below. 
 
 On the use of the participle see A. 292, e\ 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 sev- 
 eral 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, <-; H. 36S, 3, n. 2. 
 
 4. saepe numero soleo : ' it is my frequent custom'. Nu77iero 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 cicm in different senses in the 
 same clause, which seems awkward, is not uncommon ; cf . below, d"]
 
 4j NOTES TO CATO MAIOR. 45 
 
 The spelling qitiim 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 cjtvi 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. avv, Lat. 
 sequor, etc. See VaniCek, Etymologisches Worterbuch, pp. 96, 984. 
 
 rerum . . . sapientiam: 'wisdom in affairs'; the objective geni 
 
 live. excellentem : in sense much stronger than our 'excellent '; 
 
 fxcellenlem 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, </, Obs. i. A. 341, d, Rem. odiosa: 
 
 ;his word is not so strong as our ' hateful ', but rather means 'weari- 
 some ', 'annoying'. In Plautus the frequent expression odiosus es 
 .•neans, in colloquial English, ' you bore me '. Cf. 47 odiosum et ?>ioles- 
 (urn: 65 odiosa offensio. onus Aetna gravius: a proverbial ex- 
 pression 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, Encela- 
 dus. baud sane difficilem : 'surely far from difficult'; cf. 83 
 
 hand sane facile. quibus : a dativus cotnmodi, '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 hap- 
 piness"; .so hcne honesteque below, 70. qui . . . petunt : these are 
 
 the aiiripKets, men sufficient for themselves, ' in se toti teretes atque ro- 
 fundi \ 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 Lack 7. Cf. Juv. Sat. 10, 357-3^'-; also •'Sen- 
 eca, De Cons. Sap. VIIL, De Prov. I. 5. a se ipsi: 'them.selves 
 
 from themselves,' so in 78 se ipse movent . . . se ipse relicturus sit : 84 nu 
 ipse consolabar. Expressions like a se ipsis are quite uncommon ir: 
 Cicero. Cf. n. on Lael. 5 te ipse coouosces : also see below, 38 se ipsa ■ 
 
 78 se ipse. '■ naturae necessitas : ' the inevitable conditions ot 
 
 nature'. (Jf. 71 quid est tarn secundum naturam quatn senibus eniorii 
 afferat: subjunctive because nihil quod ^= nihil tate ut A 320.
 
 46 NOTES TO CATO MAIOR. [4 
 
 ^i ^^- ^33^ 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 \\\ 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 cer- 
 tain, 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 difnensa ; 74 meditatum ; see also a list, 
 Roby, 734), and some of them occur very rarely. Thus periclitatus, 
 'arbitraUis, depastus as passives are found each in only one passage. 
 inconstantia : 'instability', 'inconsistency'. Constantia, unwa- 
 vering 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 : se. stidti. putassent : the subjunctive is due to 
 
 the indirect discourse. Where we say 'I should not have thought,' 
 the Latins say, in direct narration, ^ non piitaram^ i.e. 'I never had 
 thought' (so Off. I, 81 and often in Cicero's letters). Translate, 'more 
 quickly than they had ever expected'. Cf. Att. 6, i, 6 accipiam equi 
 dem doloi-em tnihi ilium irasci sed tniilto maiorem non esse eum talem 
 
 qualem putassem. See Zumpt, Gram., 518. falsum putare : 
 
 ' to form a mistaken judgment '. For falsum as noun equivalent to 
 
 il/eCSoj, cf. 6 gratissimuni : also n. on 3 ceteris. qui citius • lit. ' in 
 
 what way quicker '; cf . Tusc. 5, 89 qui tnelius. H. iSS, II. 2. adu- 
 
 lescentia . . . senectus . . . pueritia : boyhood was generally at Rome 
 supposed to last till the 17th year (the time for assuming the toga 
 virilis and for beginning military service). Inventus 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 inventus, say the years from 17 to 30 (cf. 33), but Cicero 
 seems here to make adulescentia co-extensive with inventus. 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 senioricm, and probably in- 
 tended to include it here. In Tusc. i, 34 Cic. reckons three ages pue- 
 ritia adulescentia senectus as here ; below in 74, four periods, or five.
 
 5} NOTES TO CATO MAIOR. 4? 
 
 quamvis: = qiiantumvis. effluxisset: subjunctive because 
 
 of the mood of posset, to which it stands in subordinate relation. 
 Ciim 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 
 strictly correspond ; the sense really required is ' if that wisdom foi 
 
 which you admire me does exist, it lies in this ', etc. utinam . . . 
 
 esset : esset here gives a greater appearance of modesty than would 
 have been expressed by sit: 'would it were, as it certainly is not '. A. 
 
 267 ; G. 253; H. 483, 2. cognomine : Cato bore the title sapiem 
 
 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 sapieiitiam, not in relnts. The genitive construction is not found 
 
 with sapiens used as noun or adjective till late Latin times. natu- 
 
 ram 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 accord- 
 ance with nature {naturae convenienter vivere or 6fio\oyovfj.4v(i}i rfj (pvcrei 
 Cv")- Cf. 71, n. on secundum naturam. tamquam deum : ob- 
 serve deuf/t not deani, because nature is compared with, and not iden- 
 tified with, a divine being. Cf. Fin. 5, 43 earn {rationem) quasi deum 
 
 ducem subscquens. 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 di- 
 scriptae, which many editions give, does not so well suit the passage. 
 Discrihere is to map out, plan, arrange, put in order (see 59 discripta 
 and discriptio) ; the point here lies, however, not in the due arrange- 
 ment 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 ', ' inar- 
 tistic ' {in, ars), has been given to this by some editors (cf. Hon Ep. 
 2, 2, 126 praetiderim 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 neolectum 
 better. poeta : nature is here the dramatist, the drama is life, the
 
 48 NOTES TO CATO MAIOR. 
 
 actors are human beings. sad tamen etc : 'but for all that it 
 
 was inevitable that there should be something with the nature of an 
 
 end.' So 69 /;/ quo est aliqiiid extremum ; 43 aliquid piclchrum. 
 
 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. 
 I, 31 arbor es scret diligcns agricola, quarum aspicict bacam ipse niim- 
 
 quam. terraeque fructibus : here = cereals, roots, vegetables, 
 
 and small fruits. No sharp distinction can be drawn between fruges 
 a.ndfnictHS (e.g. in Uiv. i, 116 we h2i\'e /}-iiges tcrrae bacasve arbonmi), 
 though friicfiis as commonly used is the more general word of the two. 
 
 maturitate . . . caducum : ' a time of senilit)', so to speak, and 
 
 readiness to drop, that comes of a seasonable rjpeness '. 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 }ioH tarn aetatis matitrilatc qiiavi vitae. 
 
 ferundum : the form in -iindiis is archaic, and generally used by Cic. 
 in quoting or imitating passages of laws, sacred formulae, and the like. 
 
 11.239. molliter: here 'gently', 'with resignation'; though w/c/- 
 
 liter ferre oii&n has another meaning, viz. to bear pain or trouble in 
 
 an iinina/ilv fashion. Qi. facillimc Jcrrc 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 love nisi ejfficere ut ant ne fieri possit anspiciiim ant, si 
 fiat, videri ; S. Rose. 54 quid est aliud iiidicio ac legibus ac tnaiestate 
 vestra abuti ad quaestum ac lihidiiiem. nisi hoc inodo accusare ; Phil, i, 
 
 22; 2, 7 ; 5, 5; 10, 5. Gigantum modo : see n. on 4 Aetna gra- 
 
 vius. 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. gratissi- 
 
 mum : equivalent to rem gratissimam. With the thought cf. Rep i, 
 34 gratum feceris si explicaris ; Lael. 16 pergratum fieceris si dispn 
 
 taris. ut . . .pollicear : so Acad, i, 33 nos vero volumus,ut pre 
 
 Atiico respondeam ; Brut. 122 nobis vero placet, ut pro Brnto etiam re
 
 7j NOTES TO CATO MAI OR. 4^ 
 
 spondeam ; Lael. 32 tn vero perge ; pro hoc ejiiin respondeo. A. 3i7,<r 
 
 fi. 499, 2, n. senes fieri: if the infinitive had depended on spera- 
 
 mus alone and volumiis had not intervened, Cicero would probably 
 
 have written >ios futiiros esse senes. multo ante : .v* . quavi id fae- 
 
 turn erit: so Balb. 41 re deniqiie multo ante {sc. qiiam factum est) audita^ 
 
 and very often in Cicero. didicerimus : as this corresponds with 
 
 feicris, it would have been formally correct to write here uos docueris. 
 
 quibus . . . possimus : ' what considerations will enable us most 
 
 easily to support the growing burden of age '. futurum est = 
 
 HiWfi flvat: 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 givi 
 you pleasure'. Cf. 67 heatus futurus sum : also Si, 85. See Roby, 
 
 1494. nisi molestum est : a common expression of courtesy, 
 
 like 15 nisi alieniivi pHtas, 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 \.ami\\\am, aliqu^w, longizw, v\ain. viam 
 
 confeceris : so pro Quint. 79 conftcere DCC inilia passuuni ; coiificere 
 iter \s 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 
 obliviscendutn vobis putatis matru7>i in liberos, viroruin in nxores 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 feriindum. 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 luiglish idiom would require a present. So 
 
 Rep. I, 38 hie Scipio, faciam quod voltis, ut potero. saepe enim! 
 
 4
 
 JO NOTES TO CATO MAIOR [j 
 
 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 iis ale\ rhv bfioiov &y(i 6ehs uis rhv dfioTov ; 
 cf. also Plat., Rep. 329 A, Symp. 195 B, Phacdr. 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 facillimi 
 
 sum, i. e. ' I find most pleasure in staying by the sea '. quae : a 
 
 kind of explanation of querellts: — 'lamentations, viz. such utterances 
 as ' etc. ; see n. on Lael. 14 quae ; cf. Fam. 2, 8, 2 sertnonibus de re 
 publica . . . . quae nee possunt scribi nee 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 equip- 
 ment of the Roman fleets during the war against Antiochus. He was 
 born about 230, and was therefore a little younger than Cato ; cf. fere 
 aeqtiales h&\oy/. 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. I 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. turn . . . turn : ' now . . . again ' ; so in 45. carerent : 
 
 see n. on 3 ferat. vitam nuUam putarent : ' they considered life 
 
 to be not life at all '. For vit'um nullam cf. Lael. 86 sine amicitia 
 vitam esse nullam ; also the Greek phrase /8»os a.$iarros ; and below, 77 
 vitam quae est sola vita nominanda ; also 82. A. 239; H. 373, i, n. 2. 
 
 Putarent = ' thought, as they said '. id quod asset 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. i; H. 503, I. usu venirent : the phrase 
 
 usu venire differs very little in meaning from accidere. Usu is com- 
 monly 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. i, 22 venire ex- 
 
 cidio ; Plin. N. H. 28, 106 odio ; Caes. B. G. 5, 27 subsidio. 
 
 quorum . . . multorum : the first genitive is dependent on the second, 
 so that quorutn=e quibus. Notice the separation of auorum from
 
 8] NOTES TO CATO MAIOR. 51 
 
 multoruni, and of multorum from sencctiitem. sine querella : at- 
 tribute of senectiitem. A. 217, Rem.; H. 359, n. i, 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 atm hostiluis clan- 
 destina colloquia. Querella is better speUing than querela. See Roby, 
 
 177, 2. qui: 'men of such nature as to...' et . . . nee : 
 
 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 i tnode- 
 
 rationem ; difficiles, 'peevish'; inhumani, 'unkindly'; importimitas, 
 ' perversity '. Importimitas seems to be used as the substantive cor 
 responding 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 'j 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 en- 
 joyment ; of opes, worship {opes iit colare). Dignitas is social position. 
 id : remark the singular pronoun, which indicates that the pre- 
 ceding clause is now taken as conveying one idea. Trans. * such for- 
 tune '. 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 ^c^fl' fortune ; it implies in itself nothing con- 
 cerning 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 7 1 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 impor- 
 tance ', is often used by Cic. both of things and of ]jersons ; cf. Tusc. 
 5, 104 eos aliquid esse, also n. on 17 nihil afferunt. So esse aliquis o\ 
 persons, as in the well-known passage of Juvenal, 1,72 aude aliquid 
 bre7'ibus Gyaris et carcere dignum si vis esse aliquis. For the general 
 sense cf. Tusc. 3, 52 est id quidein ?nagnum, sed non sunt in hoc onuiia ;
 
 52 NOTES TO CATO MAIOR. [8- 
 
 so De Or. 2, 215; ib. 3, 221 ; Leg. 2, 24 in qito 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 set/.), 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 ovr Uv iyd), iwv BeA./3tj/iTTjs (i. e. 
 an inhabitant of the small island of Belbina lying to the S. of Cape 
 Sunium) iri/j.-nO-rii' ovtw irphs '2.-trapriy)T4wv, ovr Uv av, avQpunre, iwu 
 
 'A8-nva7os. 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. .^'. Aristoph. Acharn. 542 ; 
 Cic. N. D. I, 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 {He- 
 rodotus, 8, 46). iurgio: hcrgiicm 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 
 
 dicendttm and the like; see n. on 35 quod 7ii ita fin s set. 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. 
 
 nee . . . levis . . . nee . . . non gravis : notice the chiasmus. 
 
 9. omnino : here = Traj/TctTrao-i 'undoubtedly', in a strongly affirma 
 
 tive 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', /'. e. when you have not only had a long life but have done 
 a great deal in the course of it. The phrases din multumque, tnultum 
 ft diu are common in Cic, as below, 38; Acad, i, 4; Div. 2, i; Off. 
 I, 118; Leg. Agr. 2, 88; De Or. i, 152. For mood see A. 309, a; H. 
 
 518, 2. ecferunt : ecferunt for efferunt (ec = ex = ees ; so fK = i^ 
 
 = e'/cs) was old-fashioned in Cicero's time, but forms of the sort, as 
 below, 39 ecfrenate, according to the evidence of the best M.SS., occur 
 in a good manv passages. See Neue, Formenlehre, Vol. 2, pp. 766
 
 lo] NOTES TO CATO MAIOR. ^3 
 
 seq., ed. 2. numquam deserunt : the omission of the object 
 
 after deserunt is not common. With the general sense of this pas 
 sage cf. Arch. 16 litterdrum stadia adidesientiain aluiit, se nee tut em 
 oblectant , secundas res ornant, adversis perjugiuni ac solaemm prae 
 bent, delectant domi, non impediiint /oris, pernoctant nobiscum, peregri- 
 nanttir, rnsticantur. 
 
 p, 5. — 10. Q. Maximum: the famous Q. Fabius Maximus Ver- 
 rucosus 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 (i) 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 . . . gra- 
 
 vitas : ' that hero possessed dignity tempered by courtesy '■ Expres- 
 sions like erat in illo gravitas are common in Cicero ; e. g. Mur. 58 
 irat in Cotta siirmna eloqitentia. The metaphor in condita, ' seasoned ', 
 
 is also common ; cf. Lael. 66 condimentum amicitiae. quamquam : 
 
 'though indeed', introducing a necessary correction of the last words 
 nee 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, mini>?ius natu are of fre- 
 quent occurrence, yet magnus natu is not Latin, grandis natu being 
 always used instead. The historians sometimes use tnagno 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 /actus erat 'had been elected'. So quinto anno 
 
 below, ' at the end of the fifth year ', /. e. ' five years after '. adu- 
 
 lescentulus miles: See n. on 21 qnemquam senem. Translate 
 ' when quite a youth I marched with him to Capua as a private sol- 
 dier'. G. 324; H. 363, 3, 2). Miles here ^:= gregarius miles. •
 
 54 NOTES TO CATO MAIOR. [lo 
 
 quem magistratum : sc. quaesturam, to be understood from quaestor. 
 Cf. Mur iS qtiaesturam una petiit et sum ego facliis (j<r. quaestor) prior. 
 
 Tuditano et Cethego: vvlicn the praeiioinina of the consuls are 
 
 given the names generally stand side by side without el ; when they 
 are omitted et is generally inserted. Cf. n. on 50 Centone Tuditano- 
 que, etc. cum quidem : the quidem simply adds a slight empha- 
 sis to cum ; ' at the very time when ', iireiSri ye. suasor : suasor 
 
 [egis 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 advo- 
 cates were forbidden to take fees from their clients, and certain limi- 
 
 taiions 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 earn 
 tantas itt angustias compelli7nus ? patientia : ' endurance ', ' persist- 
 ence ' ; 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. i, 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. IH. ch. 5. rem : 
 
 here = ;w« puhlicain. noenum : the older form from which 7ton 
 
 is an abbreviation; = ne-oinom, n-oinotn, literally 'not one thing'; cf. 
 nihil = ne-hilum ' not a whit ', also the rare word ningulus = ne oin- 
 
 culus, ' not even a little one '. rumores : ' fame ', ' public opinion '. 
 
 ponebat : for the long vowel cf. n. on i, 1. 2 versat plusque : 
 
 MSS. postque ; plusque is the emendation of Bernays. Plusque ma- 
 s^isque is a variation upon the ordinary phrases plus plusque, tnagis 
 magisque. 
 
 11. Salinatori : there can be no doubt that Cicero is guilty of a 
 blunder here, and in De Or. 2, 273 where the story also occurs. Livy 
 (27, 34, 7) gives M. Livius Macatus as the name of the Roman com-
 
 II] NOTES TO CATC MAIOR. 5^ 
 
 mander who held the citadel of Tarentum while Hannibal was in 
 possession of the town. Cicero probably found the commander de- 
 scribed by the annalists merely as M. Livius (so in Livy 24, 20, 13; 
 26, 39, i), and then jumped to the conclusion that he was the famous 
 M. Livius Salmator. This man, the father of the Salinator men- 
 tioned in 7, was consul in 219 and subdued the Illyrians, but was 
 condemned for misappropriation of public moneys and went into 
 exile. In 210 he was induced to return by the desire of the sen- 
 ate. In 207 he became consul with C. Claudius Nero, and defeated 
 Hasdrubal in the great battle of the Metaurus. In 204 Livius was 
 censor with Nero as his colleague, and won his name Salinator by 
 imposing a tax on salt. The title was bestowed in ridicule, but clung 
 to the family. Salinator was a relative of M. Livius Macatus. See 
 
 Liv. 27, 34, 7. ita dicenti etc. : the anecdote is told by Livy, 27, 
 
 25, 5 and Plutarch, Fab. 23. Both, however, refer the story not to 
 the time at which Tarentum was taken, but to the year after, when 
 
 altercations about it took place in the senate. toga: here put 
 
 for ' civil life', the toga being replaced in time of war by the sagiim. 
 Cf. in Pisonem 73 pads est insigne et oti toga, contra aiitem arm a 
 tumulttis atqiie belli; De Or. 3, 167 ' togam\ pro ' pace\ '■ ariua\ ac 
 '■ tela\ pro ^ bello\ We have the same contrast between anna and 
 toga in Cicero's own much-derided verse, ccdant anna togae, concedal 
 
 laiirea laudi, which is defended by him, in Pis. 73 and Off. i, 77. 
 
 consul iterum etc : as the second consulship of Fabius was in 228 
 B. c , while the law of Flaminius was passed in 232 (according to 
 Polybius), it is very difficult to understand the statement here made. 
 It is possible that Flaminius was one of the commissioners for exe- 
 cuting his own law, and that its execution lasted over the time of 
 Fabius' second consulship. The Flaminius here mentioned is the 
 same who fell as consul in 217 at the battle of lake Trasimenus. He 
 held large and statesman-like views on the policy of securing Italy by 
 planting Romans and Latins in the territory then recently taken from 
 the Gauls, in the neighborhood of Ariminum. This particular meas- 
 ure was carried against the will of the senate, and was the first law 
 passed, since the lex Hortensia of 287, in defiance of its wishes. It 
 was also the first agrarian law since the Licinio-Sextian law of 367. 
 Polybius dates the decline of the Roman constitution from the pass- 
 ing of the lex Flaminia. Cf. ' Rheinisches Museum ', 1843, p. 573. • 
 
 Sp. Carvilio quiescente : this Sp. Carvilius was consul in 234 when
 
 56 NOTES TO CATO MAIOR. [ii 
 
 he conquered the Corsicans and Sardinians. In^ 228 he was again 
 consul, and died as augur in 212. He is said, but erroneously, to have 
 been the first Roman who divorced his wife. In 216, just after the 
 battle of Cannae, he made a most remarkable proposal, to fill up the 
 gaps which that battle had made in the numbers of the senate by 
 selecting two members from each of the Latin communities. It was 
 almost the only occasion in the course of Roman history when any- 
 thing like modern representative government was advocated. Car- 
 vilius was not sprung from one of the noble families, who for the 
 most part monopolized the higher offices of state ; it is therefore not 
 
 surprising that he should have sympathized with Flaminius. 
 
 contra senatus auctoritatem : 'against the expressed wish of the 
 senate '. Sf/ia/us auctoritas is, strictly speaking, an opinion of the 
 senate not formally embodied in a decree, senatus consultjtm. Cicero, 
 in Invent. 2, 52 says Flaminius carried his law contra voltintatetn 
 
 omnium optiniatinm. dividenti : 'when he tried to divide'. The 
 
 participle is here equivalent to cum with the imperfect indicative [divi- 
 debat). So in 54 lenientem. A. 290, a; G. 668; H. 549, i. 
 
 P. 6. — cum esset: '■though he was'. What Fabius declared was 
 really that the auspicia were a political instrument in the hands of 
 the aristocrats, rather than a part of religion. Fabius, according to 
 Liv. 30, 26, 7, was augur for 62 years before his death, and had no 
 doubt had a large e.xperience in the manipulation of the auspicia for 
 political purposes. Compare Homer, Iliad, 12, 243; also Cic. Phil. 
 II, 28 luppiter ipse sa)ixit itt omnia quae 7-ei piiblicae salutaria essenl 
 legitima et iiisla haberentur Consult Mommsen, Hist, of Rome, Bk. 
 IV. Ch. 12. 
 
 12. admirabilius: 'more amazing'. The Latin word has a much 
 
 stronger meaning than the English word derived from it. quo 
 
 modo tulit : = eum moditm quo tulit, so that the clause is not really 
 dependent on cognovi, nor tulit irregularly put for tulerit. In Lael. 9 
 Laelius exclaims, of Cato himself, quo modo, itt alia omittam, mortem 
 fili tulit. And no doubt Cic. meant here to make Cato allude to his 
 
 loss, described in 84. fili : see n. on i praemi. consularis : 
 
 the son of Fabius was consul in 213 with Ti. Sempronius Gracchus. 
 
 est in manibus : ' is in every one's hands ', ' is commonly read '• 
 
 The e.xpression is common enough in this sense; e.g. Lael. 96 in 
 
 manibus est oratio. laudatio : sc. funebris, the funeral speech. 
 
 This composition was read in Cicero's time (see Tusc. 3, 70; Fam. 4,
 
 12] NOTES TO CATO MAIOR. 57 
 
 6, I ) and existed in the time of Plutarch. See Plutarch's life of Fab. 
 
 24. quern philosophum : many of the ancient philosophers 
 
 wrote popular treatises in which the principles of philosophy were 
 applied to the alleviation of sorrow. The most famoiis of these in 
 Cicero's time was Grantor's irtpl trivdous, which Cicero used largely in 
 writing his Tusculdti Disputations, and also in his De Consolatione on 
 
 t\it death of his daughter. in luce . . . civium : 'in public and 
 
 under the gaze of his fellow-countrymen'. Do not translate /;/ ociilis 
 by the English phrase 'in the eyes of, which has another sense. The 
 metaphor in lux is often used by Cicero, as Qu. Fr. i, i, 7 in luce 
 
 Asiae, in oculis proz'inciae. notitia : notitia is general knowledge, 
 
 often merely the result of superticia! observation; scientia is thorough 
 
 knowledge, the result of elaboration and generalization. multae 
 
 litterae : 'great literary attainments'. In this sense magnae could 
 
 not be used to represent 'great'. Note the ellipsis of erant. ut 
 
 in homine Romano: 'considering that he was a Roman', or 'for a 
 Roman'. On the backwardness of the Romans in literary pursuits 
 see Teuffel, Hist, of Rom. Lit., § 2; cf. also Ritter, Hist, of Ancient 
 Philosophy, Vol. IV. pp. 1-13, Eng. ed. In parenthetic clauses like 
 this, the introductory iil may convey two very different meanings 
 according to the context. Thus in Acad. 2, 98 homo acutus, ut Poenus 
 is 'a keen-witted man, as might be expected of a Carthaginian' (cf. 
 Golum. I, 3, 8 acutissimam gentem Poenos) while Nepos, Epam. 5, 2 
 txercitattim in dicendo ut Thebanum implies that oratory was not to be 
 
 expected of a Theban. domestica . . . externa bella : here the 
 
 domestica bella are those wars which belong to the history of Rome; 
 the externa bella those wars which belong to the history of other states ; 
 but usually domestica bella are civil wars, externa foreign wars in which 
 Rome is engaged ; e. g. Leg. agr. 2, 90 omnibus domesticis extcrnisque 
 bellis ; in Catil. 2, 11 omnia sunt externa unius virtute pacata : dome- 
 sticum bellum manet, intus insidiae sunt. The practice of reading mili- 
 tary history was common among Roman commanders ; see for instance 
 Acad. 2, 3 of Lucullus; the practice is ridiculed by Marius in Sail. 
 
 Tug. 85. ita: ita does not qualify cupide, and has not the sense of 
 
 tatn ; it means rather 'in this state', 'under these conditions'; the 
 •vords from quasi to the end of the sentence really form an explana- 
 tion of ita. This mode of expression is often found ; ita and sic fre- 
 quently look on to clauses introduced by quasi, si, ut, cum etc. Cf 
 below 26 s ic . . .q ua s i . . .cupiens (where see n.) ; Sail. lug. 85, 19
 
 ^8 NOTES TO CATO MAIOR. t." 
 
 ita aetatem agunt quasi vestros honor es contemnunt, ita hos petunl 
 
 quasi koiu'ste vtxerint. divinarem : see references on 6 confe' 
 
 certs. illo exstincto : Fabius died in 203 B.C. fore unde 
 
 discerem neminem: cf. Acad. 1,8 quae nemo adhuc docutrat nee 
 eratiinde stiidiosi scire possent. Unde of persons {\i^x^^a quo) is 
 common in botli verse and prose (so oQiv and oQiVKtp, vid. Liddell 
 and Scott in w); cf. Horace i, 12, 17 unde nil mains generatiir ipso ; 
 r, 28, 28; Cic. de Or. i, 67 ille ipse unde cognorit ; ib. 2, 285. So ubi 
 = apud quern in Verr. 4, 29; quo = ad quos below, S3, and in Verr. 4, 
 38; cf. also n. on istinc in 47. For mood of discerem see A. 320; G. 
 634; H. 503, I. 
 
 13. quorsus igitur haec : sc. dixi. tarn multa : this takes the 
 
 place of tot, which, lil<e qiiot, cannot be used as a substantive. 
 
 Scipiones: 'men like Scipio', i. e. the elder Africanus ; so 15 Fabri- 
 cii Curii Coruncanii. Cicero has here put his own opinion of Scipio 
 into the mouth of Cato, who, during a large part of his life, was a 
 staunch and even bitter opponent of Scipio, and therefore not likely 
 
 to couple him with Fabius. Cf. Introd. ut . . . recordentur : the 
 
 repetition of ut with each clause for the sake of effect may be com- 
 pared with the repetition of nihil in 15, 27, 4-1 ; of non in 32; of hinc 
 
 in 40; oi sibi m ^S. pedestris : for terrcstris ; the usage is very 
 
 common; so in Greek Trs^b^ax'a and vavixaxla, Tre^o/xax^^" ^ud vav/j-a- 
 Xfii^ are often contrasted (see Liddell and Scott). It is not recorded 
 by historians that either Scipio or Fabius took part personally in 
 naval warfare. recordentur : this verb implies the habitual dwell- 
 ing of the memory upon the past. quiete et pure atque ele- 
 
 ganter: the enumeration consists of two l:)ranches connected by et, 
 the second branch being subdivided into two members connected by 
 atque. Had each of the adverbs been intended to stand on exactly 
 the same footing Cic. would have written et instead of atque, or else 
 would have omitted the copula altogether; see n. on 53 capitum iuga- 
 tio. In enumerations of the form A ^{B^^ B.,), the + outside the 
 bracket is expressed by et, the + inside the bracket generally being 
 expressed by ac, for which atque is substituted when the following 
 word (/. e. B2) begins with a vowel, a guttural {c, q,g) or /i, before 
 
 which ac was very seldom writttn. pure atque eleganter: 'sin 
 
 lessly and gently'. Pure implies moral stainlessiiess, eleganter, liter 
 ally 'in choice fashion', implies daintiness combined with simplicity 
 in regard to the external conditions of life. The same ideas are put
 
 ,3] NOTES TO CATO MAIOR. 59 
 
 together in Sull. 79 cum summa elegantia atque integritate vixistis. 
 
 aetatis : see n. on 5. pl'acida ac lenis : 'quiet and niikl'; pla- 
 
 cida refers to the external suirmindings, lenis to the temper and char- 
 acter. accepimus : sc.juisse: for the ellipsis of the infinitive cf. 
 
 n. on 22 viiicrctnr. uno et octogesimo: but below quarto 
 
 (not qihittiior) nonagesimo. In the compound ordinal numbers corre- 
 sponding to those cardinal numbers which are made up of one and a 
 multiple of ten, the Latins use unus oftener than/r/;««j-, which would 
 be strictly correct; so in English 'one and eightieth' for 'eighty-first'. 
 The ordinary Grammar rule (Roby, Vol. i, p. 443 'the ordinal not the 
 cardinal is used in giving the date') requires slight cor/ect'on. For 
 
 the position of the words see G. 94, 3; H. 174, fool-note 3. scri- 
 
 bens est mortuus : 'died while still engaged upon his works'; cf. 2_j 
 nitm Platoneni . .. coegit in suis studiis obmiit iscere senectiis? Diog. 
 Laert. 3, 2 quoting Hermippus (a Greek writer on biography who 
 lived about the time of the Second Punic war), says that Plato died in 
 the middle of a marriage-feast at which he was a guest. Val. Max. 8, 
 
 7> 3 gives a slightly different account. Isocrati : this form of the 
 
 genitive of Greek proper names in -es was probably used by Cicero 
 rather than the form in -is ; see Madvig on Fin. i, 14; Neue, Formen- 
 lehre, i- 332. Isocrates, the greatest teacher of rhetoric of his time, 
 lived from 436 to 338, when he died by voluntary starvation owing to 
 his grief at the loss of Greek freedom through the battle of Chaeronea. 
 Milton, Sonnet x. 'That dishonest victory At Chaeronea, fatal to lib- 
 erty, Kill'd with report that old man eloquent'. eum . . . inscri- 
 
 bitur: the periphrasis is common, and the verb inscribere is nearly 
 always in the present tense (in later prose as well as in Cicero) as in 
 59. This is sometimes the case even where the neighboring verbs 
 are in past tenses, as in Acad, i, 12 nee se teniiit qiiin contra suum 
 doctorem libriim etiam e d e r e t qni Sosits i nscr ibitiir . The present 
 seems to mean that the name mentioned is continually given to each 
 copy of the book as produced; where the continuing multiplication of 
 copies is not looked to, we have the perfect, as Att. 8, 5, 2 tii fascicn- 
 Inm (bundle of letters) qid est inscriptus ' des M\ Curio', velini cures ad 
 eum perferendtim. Cf. also I)e Or. 2, 61 deceptus indicibus librorum 
 qui sioit fere inscripti ('to which the authors — once for all — have 
 given the titles ') de virtute, de iitstitia, etc. ; so Div. 2, i eo libro qui 
 est inscriptus Hortensius. dicit : the ' Paiiathenaicus ', an enco- 
 mium of Athens written for recitation at the great festival of the
 
 6o NOTES TO CATO MAIOR. [13 
 
 Panathenaea, is among the works of Isocrates which we still possess. 
 In c. I Isocrates says to7s erem iyev-fiKovTa koI Terrapffiv, wu iyi> rvy- 
 
 xdvoe ytyovuis. vixitque : * and yet he lived'. The t^ue here has 
 
 a slight adversative force, as is often the case with ei. Cf. n. on 28, 
 
 43» 73- Gorgias : the greatest of the sophists, born at Leontini 
 
 in Sicily about 485 K. c. ; his death took place, according to the vary- 
 ing accounts, in 380, 378, or 377. In his old age he lived in Thessaly, 
 where Isocrates studied with him; see Or. 176; Fin. 2, i. For the 
 adjective Leontimis placed before the name rather than after cf. 43 
 
 Thessalo Cinea. centum et septem annos: Kennedy, Gram., 
 
 § 34, vii, c, says, 'in compound numbers above 100 the larger number, 
 with or without et, generally precedes the smaller'; cf. Roby, Vol. i, 
 
 p. 443. cesso : does not correspond in meaning with our ' cease ', 
 
 i. e. ''to come to a standstill *; cesso is ' I am in a state of rest', ' I am 
 
 idle '. quaereretur : the past tense, though the principal verb, 
 
 iiiqitit, is in the present, because the present is the historical present 
 and so equivalent to a past tense. Cf. Roby, 1511-1514; Kennedy, 
 229, 2. A. 2S7, e\ G. 511, Rem. i ; II. 495, II. The idiom by which 
 the imperfect stands where we should expect a tense of completed 
 action, should be noticed ; cf. Tusc. 2, 60 qiiem cum rogaret, respondit. 
 The explanation of the imperfect in such cases is that it marks out, 
 more clearly than the pluperfect would, the fact that the action of the 
 principal verb and the action of the depciident verb are practically 
 contemporaneous. In our passage if quaesittmi esset had been written 
 it would have indicated merely that at some quite indefinite time after 
 the question was put the answer was given. Cf. N. D. i, 60 auctore 
 
 . . . obscurior. cur . . . vita : a hint at suicide, which the ancients 
 
 thought a justifiable mode of escape from troubles, particularly those 
 of ill health or old age. See n. on 73 vetat Pythagoras. Esse in vita 
 
 is stronger than vivere ; cf. Qu. Fr. i, 3, 5. nihil habeo quod 
 
 accusem : ' I have no reason to reproach '. Cf. the common phrase 
 quid est quod . . .? Quod, adverbial ace. A. 240, a\ G. 331, R. 3; H. 
 378, 2. For mood of accusem see H. 503, I. n. 2, and references on 12 
 
 discerein. praeclarum responsum : est is not required, because 
 
 responsum is in apposition to the last part of the preceding sentence. 
 
 Similar appositions occur in Laelius, 67, 71, 79. docto: applied 
 
 especially to philosophers, but also to poets. The word implies cul- 
 tivation as well as mere knoiuledge ; ' a learned man *, merely as such, 
 is ''homo litteratus ' ; cf. n. on 54.
 
 '4] NOTES TO CATO MAIOR. ei 
 
 P. 7. — 14. cuius . . . feci : ' the aforesaid ' is in good Latin always 
 expressed by a parenthesis like this and not by a participle in agree- 
 ment with the noun. The phrases ^aiite dictus ', ' supra dictus ', belong 
 
 to silver Latin, where they are common. Cf. 23 t/ieos ante dixi. 
 
 sic ut etc.: the lines are from the Annals of Ennius, for which see n. 
 
 on I. ecus : Ennius did not write ««, nor most likely did Cicero; 
 
 the former may have written either ecus, equos, or equs. The last form 
 
 Vahlen prints in his edition of Ennius. spatio supremo: 'at the 
 
 end of the race-course ', ' at the goal ', or it may be ' at the last turn 
 round the course ', the race requiring the course to be run round sev- 
 eral times; cf. Homer's ■kvjxo.tov Sp6/j.ov in Iliad 23, 768. So 83 de- 
 (urso spatio ; Verg. Aen. 5, 327 iaiiiqnc fere spatio extrenio fessique sub 
 
 ipsam finem adventahant. vicit Olumpia: a direct imitation of 
 
 the Greek phrase vwav 'OKvixiria, to win a victory at an Olympic con- 
 test. .So Horace Ep. I, i, 50 has coronari Olytnpia^= mi<^avoxj(rQa.\ 
 'OKv/xTTia. The editors print Olyvipia, but the use of y to represent 
 
 Greek udid not come in till long after the time of Ennius. senio: 
 
 differs from seiiectute in implying not merely old age, but the weakness 
 
 which usually accompanies it. confectus : for the disregard of 
 
 the final s in scanning cf. n. on t, 1. 6. equi victoris : for the 
 
 almost adjectival use of the substantive victor, cf. Verg. Aen. 7, 656 
 vie tores equos ; ib. 12, 751 venator canis ; ib. 10, S91 ; 1 1, 89, and Georg. 
 2, [45 bellator equus, in Theocritus 15, 51 ■Ko\i^i(naX '/ttttoi. The femi- 
 nine nouns in -trix are freely used as adjectives both in verse and in 
 
 prose. A. 88, c\ H. 441, 3. quern quidem : the same form of 
 
 transition is used m 26, 29, 46, 53. The whole of this passage to sua- 
 sissem is an exhibition of antiquarian learning quite unnatural and 
 
 inappropriate in a dialogue. probe meminisse potestis : cf. De 
 
 Or. 3, 194 quern tu probe 7neministi ; Fin. 2, 63 L. T/toriiis qucin me- 
 minisse tu lion poles. AFemini can take a /frw;/<7/ accusative only when 
 the person who remembers was a contemporary of the person remem- 
 bered; otherwise the gen. follows. Cf. Roby, 1333; .A. 219, Keni. ; 
 
 1 \. 407, n. I. hi consules : ' the present consuls '. T. Flami 
 
 ninus : commonly said to be the son of the great Flamininus (i, 1. 1). 
 He was altogether undistinguished, as also were the Acilius and the 
 Cacpio here mentioned. This passage gives the imagined date of the 
 
 dialogue as [50 b. c. Philippo: this was Q. Marcius Philippus, 
 
 who was consul in 186 and took part in the suppression of the great 
 Bacchanalian conspiracy of that year. For the next 17 years he was a
 
 62 NOTES TO CATO MAIOR. [i4-> 
 
 leading senator and much engaged in diplomacy in the East. In i6g 
 he was again consul and commanded against Perseus in the early part 
 
 of the war. cum ... legem Voconiam . . .suasissem : 'after I 
 
 had spoken publicly in favor of the law of Voconius '. For suasissem 
 cf. lo suasor with n. The Lex Voconia de miilienim hereditatibus 
 aimed at securing the continuance of property in families. By its pro- 
 visions no man who possessed property valued in the censors' lists at 
 100,000 sesterces or more, could appoint a woman or women as his 
 heres or heredes : further, no person or persons, male or female, could 
 receive under the will legacies amounting in all to a larger sum than 
 that received by the principal heir or heirs. Every Roman will named 
 a /teres or heredes, on whom devolved all the privileges and duties of 
 the deceased, with such duties as were enjoined by the will ; particu- 
 larly the duty of paying the legacies left to those who were not heredes 
 See Maine, Ancient Law, Ch. 6; also Hunter, Introd. to Roman Law, 
 
 Ch. 5. magna: in Latin the word magniis is the only equivalent 
 
 of our 'loud'. lateribus : 'lungs'. Cic. and the best writers 
 
 rarely use pulmoues for 'lungs'; the few passages in which it occurs 
 either refer to victims sacrificed at the altar, or are medical or physi- 
 ological descriptions. 'Good lungs' is always ^ boia latera'' never 
 
 pulmoues. duo . . . senectutem : Ennius is said to have kept a 
 
 school> in his later days, and to have lived in a cottage with one 
 servant only. 
 
 15. etenim : this word generally introduces either an explanation 
 or a proof of a preceding statement. Here the words are elliptic, and 
 the real connection with what precedes can only be made clear by a 
 paraphrase. 'Ennius seemed to delight in old age. And no wonder, 
 since there are four causes which make men think old age wretched, 
 and no one of these will bear examination '. Etenim mav generallv 
 
 be translated 'indeed', or 'in fact'. cum complector animo: 
 
 'when I grasp them in my thoughts'. The object of complector is to 
 
 be supplied from causas. avocet : sc. series. The subjunctives 
 
 denote that these are the thoughts not of the speaker, but of the per- 
 sons who do think old age a wretched thing. See n. on 3 ferat ; but 
 
 cf. Kennedy. Grammar, pref., p. 30. alteram .. .tertiam : in 
 
 enumerations of more than two things units and a/ier generally take 
 the place of primus and secundus : in Cic. these latter rarely occur 
 under such circumstances. Cf. Att. 3, 15, i; Fin. 5, 9; Off. i, 152; 
 Clueiit. 178. infirmius : sc. ouam antca erat. quam sit iusta :
 
 /6] NOTES TO CATO MAIOR. 63 
 
 Cicero generally separates from the words they qualify quajn, (am, ita, 
 tantits, qiMHlus, often, as here, by one small word. Cf. below, 35 
 qnam fiiit imbecillus ; 40 tarn esse initnicum. quibus : the prepo- 
 sition a is often omitted ; cf. in Pis. 91 Arsinoen . . . iVaiipactnm fateris 
 lib hostibiis esse captas. Quibus Iwstibus ? A'e»i/e as, etc. ; Tiisc. 3, 
 37 sed traducis cos;itaiioiies mens ad volnptates. Qnas? Even when 
 relative and antecedent are in the same sentence the preposition is 
 
 not often repeated ; e. g. Fin. 5, 68 eodcm in genere quo ilia. an 
 
 eis: a>i always introduces a question which is not independent, but 
 follows upon a previous question either expressed or implied. Here 
 quibus implies o?nnibusiie. Cf. div. in Caec. 52 quid eiiiin dices? An 
 id quod dictilas . . . where quid \mp\\es nihiliie ; also below, 23, 29 aniie. 
 
 A. 211, b; G. 459; H. 353, 2, n. 4. iuventute et viribus : 
 
 commonly explained as a hendiadys, /. e. as put for iiniciitutis viribus ; 
 but Cic. no more meant this than we mean 'the strength of youth' 
 when we speak of 'youth and strength '. Real instances of hendiadys 
 
 are much rarer than is generally supposed. quae : = tales ut. 
 
 L. Paulus: this is L. Aemilius Paulas Macedonicus, consul in 1S2 
 
 B. c, and again in 168 when he finished the third Macedonian war by 
 utterly defeating Perseus at Pydna. For his connection with Scipio 
 
 and Cato see Introd. pater tuus : i. e. Scipio ; so in 29 ani tui, 
 
 and in 75 avu?n tuum, without mention of young Scipio's name, but 
 
 in 49 palris iui, Scipio; so 77. Fabricii etc.: for the plurals see 
 
 n. on 13. C. Fabricius Luscinus, consul in 282, 278, and 273 B. c, 
 censor in 275, held the command against Pyrrhus. The Roman writ- 
 ers, Cicero especially, are never tired of eulogizing him as a pattern 
 of old-fashioned Roman virtue. Manius Curius Dentatus, consul in 
 290, 275. and 274 practically, if not formally, ended the third Samnite 
 war, and also commanded against Pyrrhus; see 55. He was famed 
 for his sturdy Roman simplicity and frugality. Tiberius Coruncanius 
 as consul in 280 crushed an Etruscan insurrection. In 252 he became 
 the first plebeian pontifex maximus. These three men are very fre- 
 quently mentioned together by Cicero ; cf. below, 43, Lael. 18. 
 
 nihil agebant : observe that nihil agcbat is put at the beginning of the 
 fir>t sentence, nihil agchant at the end of the second ; chiasmus. 
 
 16. A. Claudi : Ajjpius Claudius, the head of the most strongly 
 aristocratic family in Rome, was censor in 31 1 n. c, when he con- 
 structed the via Apf^in, and consul in 307 and 296. He had to be 
 carried into the senate-house in order to oppose the peace with Pyr
 
 64 NOTES TO CATO MAIOR. [i6 
 
 rhus. accedebat ut : accedit is far oftener followed by a clause 
 
 with qiicd and indicative than by a clause with ut and subjunctive. 
 When the quod-c\-3M?,& follows, it contains a fact looked at merely 
 as a fact and nothing more; but the ^//-clause views the fact as conse- 
 quent upon, or dependent on some other fact. Here the blindness is 
 regarded as being the consequence of old age ; though Livy 9, 29, i \ 
 and other authors attribute it to the anger of the gods, because as 
 censor Appius had taken the administration of the worship of Her- 
 cules away from the ancient family of the Potitii, and had placed it in 
 the hands of public slaves. The mental vigor of Appius in his old 
 age is mentioned by Cic. in Tusc. 5, 112. 
 
 P. 8. — cum Pyrrho : note the position of the words between 
 pacem and foedus, with both of which they go. This usage is called 
 by the grammarians coniutictio ; cf. n. on Lael. 8 cum sutnmi viri turn 
 amicissinii.; also abo^e, quae iuventute g e r u n t u r etvirilms ; below, 
 
 18 quae sint gereuda praescribo et quo modo. foedus: this 
 
 seems opposed to pacem as a formal engagement is to a mere absten- 
 tion from hostilities. non dubitavit dicere : when dttMare means 
 
 'to hesitate' (about a course of action), and the sentence is negative, 
 or an interrogative sentence assuming a negative answer, the infinitive 
 construction generally follows, as here; but the infinitive is rare in 
 a positive sentence. When dubitare means to 'be in doubt' (as to 
 whether certain statements are true or not), the regular construction 
 is either quiit with subj. or some form of indirect interrogative clause. 
 Cf. below, 25. quo vobis : from the Annates. In mentes de- 
 mentis we have oxymoron (an intentional contradiction in terms) as 
 in 38 sensim sine senstt ; 39 mu7nis . . .aufert. On the case of vobis, 
 
 see Roby, 1154; A. 235, a; H. 384, 4, n. 2. antehac: always a 
 
 dissyllable in verse, and probably so pronounced in prose. viai : 
 
 the old genitive. A. 36, a; G. 27, Rem. i ; H. 49, 2. The reading is 
 not quite certain; if z//a/ be read it is not altogether certain whether 
 it depends on quo or on sese Jiexere. In the former construction we 
 have a partitive gen. with an adv.; A. 216, a, 4; G. 371, Rem. 4; H. 
 397, 4; in the latter, a distinct Graecism like dcsine querellarum (Hor. 
 Od. 2, 9, 17) and the like ; A. 243, Rem. ; G. 373, Rem. 6; H. 410, V. 4. 
 
 et tamen : the sense is incom.pletely expressed ; in full it is ' and 
 
 yet there is no need for me to refer to Appius' speech as given by 
 Ennius, since the speech itself is in existence '. Exactly similar ellip- 
 ses are found with et tamai in Fin. I, II and 15; 2, §§ 15, 21, 64 and
 
 I7j NOTES TO CATO MAIOR. (5^ 
 
 85; Att. 7, 3, 10; Lucretius 5, 1177. In Munio's note on the last 
 
 passage a collection of examples will be found. Appi . ; . oratio : 
 
 the speech was known to Cicero, and was one of the oldest monu- 
 ments of prose composition in Latin extant in his time; see Brut. 61. 
 Plutarch, Pyrrhus 19, gives an account of Appius' speech, which may 
 be founded on the original ; he mentions it also in his tract commonly 
 called 'an smi sit gerenda res pitblica ', c. 21. Ihne (History of Kome, 
 Vol. L p. 521, Eng. ed.) doubts whether the speech, as Cic. knew it, 
 
 was committed to writing by Appius himself. haec ille egit : 'he 
 
 made this speech '. septemdecim annis : as the second {alte- 
 
 rum) consulship was in 296, and the speech in 280, both these years 
 are included in the reckoning by a usage very common in Latin. 
 
 For the ablative cf. 19. censor . . . ante consulatum : this wad 
 
 unusual, and therefore to Claudius' honor. grandem sane: 
 
 'undoubtedly old'. et tamen sic: /. e. euin tttni grandem fuisse. 
 
 Lahmeyer wrongly says that sic points to the words atqite haec ille 
 egit. It may be noted that sic takes the place of an object after ac- 
 cepimus ; cf. 77 ita crederem ; 78 sic mihi persuasi ; also 18 male 
 cogitanti. 
 
 11. nihil afferunt: 'they bring forward nothing', i.e. what they 
 bring forward is worthless; so in Greek ouSei> Keyeti', the opposite of 
 
 which is \eyeiv t(. Cf. 8 est istuc aliqtiid. similes ut si : a very 
 
 rare construction. Equally unusual is similes tiimquam si in Div. 2, 
 131. In Tusc. 4, 41 and Off. i, 87 we find similiter ut si, in Fin. 2, 
 21 and 4, 31 similiter or similis et si, in N. D. 3, 8 similiter ac si ; also 
 in Liv. 5, 5, 12 dissimilia ac si, in 35, 42, 10 idem ac si. As regards 
 the ut after similes, we may compare a few passages in which simul ut 
 appears for simul ac ; see Reid's n. on Academ. 2, 51. In the English 
 Bible there are expressions like similes sunt ut si qui dicant, 'they are 
 
 like as if some men should say '. scandant : ' cum is used- with the 
 
 subjunctive when it expresses a kind of comparison, and especially a 
 contrast, between the contents of a leading proposition and a subor- 
 dinate (" whereas ", etc.) '. Madvig, 358, Obs. 3. The underlying idea 
 
 in this use is generally cause, sometimes concession. per foros : 
 
 * over the deck '. ille : for the omission of sed or autem {asytulctou 
 
 adversativum) see n. on 3 librum, etc. clavum : 'tiller'. With 
 
 this passage Lahmeyer well compares what Cicero says of himself in 
 Fam. 9, 15, 3 sedehamus in pnf^pi et clavum tenebamus ; tiitnc autem 
 vix est in .teiitina locus. ■ velocitate : velocitas and celeritas differ
 
 66 NOTES TO CATO MAIOR. [17- 
 
 very slightly; the former means rather speed of movement in one line, 
 the latter rather power of rapid motion with frequent change of direc- 
 tion. The emphatic word in this clause is corporiim. Cf. Off. i, 79 
 
 honcstum . . . a>iii)ii cjjicitur tton corporis viribus. consilio . . . sen- 
 
 tentia : consilio, advice ; aiicloritate, weight of influence ; sententia, an 
 
 opinion or vote formally given. quibus : in twofold relation ; 
 
 with orbari, abl. of separation, with aiigeri, of specification. 
 
 18. nisi forte : ironical, used to introduce a possible, but absurd 
 objection to something which has gone before. The verb that fol- 
 lows 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 omtii genere belli ; Deiot. 12 in onini genere 
 
 belloruin. cessare : cf. n. on 13. at senatui etc.: exactly the 
 
 same ideas are expressed, with the same mention of Cato's activity, 
 
 in Off. I, 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 7ie or id. A passage much re- 
 sembling this is Rab. Post. 10 onines qui aliquid de se verebantur ; cf. 
 also Att. ID, 4, 6 de vita sua meiuere; Verg. Aen. 9, 207 de te nil tale 
 verehar ; 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 txcidere ; e. g. Rep. 6, 11 Numantiam 
 exscindes. 
 
 19. quam palmam etc.: a prophecy after the event, like that in 
 Rep. 6, II avi relliquias, the finishing up of the Punic wars. For the 
 use of relliquias cf. Verg. Aen. i, 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 _/}/// years after, /. e, 185 not 1S6; cf. 42 septem annis post. ■ 
 
 enim: implies that the answer 'no' has been given to the question,
 
 2o] NOTES TO CATO MAIOR. gj 
 
 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 liastati, had long before Cato's time been discarded for the 
 piliim or short javelin, which was thrown at the enemy from a dis- 
 tance, 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 repeti- 
 tions are found in Cicero. Consilium corresponds to both 'counsel' 
 and 'council'; the senate was originally regium coiisiliiint, the king's 
 body of advisers Here translate summum consilium 'the supreme 
 
 deliberative body '. senatum : ' assembly of elders '. Cf. 56 sena- 
 
 tores, id est sencs. Sotatus implies a lost verb scnd-rc, to be or grow 
 old, from the stem of which both sen&tus and scnd-tor ,are derived. 
 This stem again implies a lost noun or adjective scnus, 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 ytpouala, as it is commonly called, consisted of 28 members, 
 all over 60 years of age. Herodotus uses the term yepovres {scncs) for 
 this assembly; Xenophon y^povrla. In the Laconian dialect ytpoSia 
 was its name ; we also find yepoynveiv ' to be a senator '. For ul .. . 
 sic cf. Academ. 2, 14, similiter vos cum perturbare, ut illi rem. publicam, 
 
 sic vos philosophiam velitis ; also Lael. 19. audire : like aicovai, 
 
 used especially of historical matters, since instruction in them was 
 
 almost entirely oral. Cf. aj^Tj^coos = ' ignorant of history'. vole- 
 
 tis : see note on 7 faciam ut potero ; cf. Roby, 1464, a\ Madvig, 339, 
 
 ()bs. I ; A. 278, b\ G. 234, Rem. i ; H. 470, 2. adulescentibus : 
 
 Cic, when he wrote this, was possibly thinking of Athens and .\lci- 
 
 biades. labefactatas : the verb labefacio is foreign to good prose, 
 
 in which labefacto is used. sustentatas : Cic. docs not use susten- 
 
 tus. In Mur. 3 sustiuenda is f(jllowed by sustentata in the same sen- 
 tence. cedo...cito: the line is of the kind called tetrameter 
 
 iambic acatalectic (or octonarius), and is scanned thus: — 
 
 In all kinds of iamljic verse the old Romans freely introduced spon- 
 dees where the Greeks used iambi; so in he.\ameters spondees for 
 dactyls. Cf. Hor. Ep. ad. Pis. 254 ct seq. c4do : =dic ; from ce.
 
 68 NOTES TO CATO MAIOR. [20- 
 
 the enclitic particle involved in hie = {hi-ce) etc. and da,, the root of do. 
 So cette = ce-date = 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 acciperi 
 
 is for aitdire. qui : ' how '. tantam : = rocravTriv oZcrav. 
 
 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, Ro- 
 man Poets of the Republic, Ch. 3. If Ludo be read, it may be either 
 from the Latin Indus (Naevius entitled a comedy Ludiiis) or from 
 
 Au5os, Lydian. poetae : Naevius seems to have been in the habit 
 
 of adding pacta 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 
 poelae\ The nzxne. poeta was new in Naevius' time and was just dis- 
 placing the old Latin name vatcs ; see Munro on Lucr. i, 102. 
 
 proveniebant etc. : the same metre as above, divided thus by Lah- 
 meyer : — 
 
 proveni \ ebant \ orat \ ores || nord \ sHilti adu \ lescin \ tuli. 
 
 The whole line has the look of being translated from the Greek; 
 Trpovfiaivov (els rh ^ruia) p^ropfs Kaivoi rivis, fxtipaKia *yeAo?a. Lr. takes 
 provenire in the sense of 'to grow up', comparing Plin. Ep. I, 13, i 
 magnum proz'entictn (' crop ') poctarum annus hie attulit ; Sail. Cat. 8, 
 
 3 pravenere ibi scriptorimi magiia ingenia. videlicet : ' you see '. 
 
 21. at : = kWa. yap ; used, as in 32, 35, 47, 65, and 6S, to introduce 
 
 the supposed objection of an opponent. credo : ' of course '. Cf. 
 
 47 where eredo follows at as here. exerceas : the subject is the 
 
 indefinite 'you' equivalent to 'one', rh: 'unless one were to practise 
 it'. So 28 nequeas ; 33 rcquiras. Cf. also Plin. Ep. 8, 14, 3 difficile 
 est tenerc quae acceperis, nisi exerceas. For the mood see A. 309, a; G. 
 
 598, 597, Rem. 3; H. 50S, 5, 2). tardier: 'unusually dull'; cf. 
 
 Academ. 2, 97 Epicurus quern isti tarduin putaut. Themistocles : 
 
 famed for his memory. civium : ' fellow-countrvmen '; pereeperat : 
 
 ' 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 = tatnetsi is cf. Att,
 
 22] NOTES TO CATO MAIOR. 69 
 
 •> '3' 3 "'^^^"^^ 'P^'^1 'I"' Lyairgei f H i s s e ni II s, cotidie demitigamur ; 
 
 also De Or. 1,82. esset : A. 34^; 0.631; H. 529, II. and n. i, i). 
 
 Lysimachum : for ut L. ox pro Lysimacho. So Arch. 19 Ho- 
 
 meruvi CUii suum vindicant (= 7it suum ox pro suo). Lysimachus was 
 
 the father of Aristides. sunt : = vivunt, as often ; so in 32 esse 
 
 = viverc : t^^ fiiit = vixit ; 56, 60, 69. sepulcra legens : Cato 
 
 was a great antiquarian ; cf. 38 Originittn. in memoriam redeo 
 
 mortuorum : the genitive as with mcinitii, recordari etc. For the 
 phrase cf. Verr. i, 120 redite in 7ncmoriam, indices, quae libido istius 
 J'uerit ; also below, 59 in gratiain redire cum voltiptate. Here trans- 
 late 'I refresh my memory of the dead'. quemquam senem : 
 
 the best writers do not use quisquatn 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 citm 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 adulescentttlus 
 
 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 ap- 
 pear in court on the day appointed for the ne.xt hearing, a sum or sums 
 of money being forfeited in case of his non-appearance. The engage- 
 ment to appear was technically called vadimonium ; when the defend- 
 ant entered into the engagement he was said vaditnotiiuni promittere ; 
 if he kept the engagement, v. obire or sistere ; if he failed in it, v. dese- 
 rere. 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 -.'adivionia 
 constituit. On this account vadimonia constituta should be translatetl 
 as above 'appointments', and not ^bonds' or ^ e7igagements' 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, i 
 
 quid tibi ego in epistulis videor? ingenia : = suum cuique ingeniinn ; 
 
 'old men retain their wits'. permaneat: A. 266, d; O. 575; II. 
 
 513, I. studium at industrial 'earnestness and activity'; not a 
 
 case of hendiadys, as some editor.s make it. Cf. n. on 15 iuvcutute et 
 viribus. neque ea solum : = oii5* ravra fx6vov, 'and that not
 
 70 NOTES TO CATO MAI OR. [22- 
 
 only '. honoratis : this does not correspond to our 'honored', 
 
 but implies that the persons have held high offices (honures) ; cf. 61 
 
 senechis honorata praesertim. Here translate ' statesmen '. in vita 
 
 . . . quieta : ' in an unotficial and retired life '. There is chiasmus 
 here, since priva/a is contrasted with honoratis and quieta with darts. 
 
 summam senectutem : Sophocles died at the age of 90 in 405 
 
 B.C. quod propter studium : 'from his devotion to this occu- 
 pation'. filiis : except Plutarch, who probably follows Cicero's 
 
 words, all the authorities tell the story of the poet's eldest son lophon 
 
 only. The tale is full of improbabilities. rem : = ret?t faniiliurem 
 
 as in I. patnbus bonis interdici solet : 'fathers are often pre- 
 vented from managing their property '. For the construction cf. the 
 expression interdicere aliaii aqua et igni : interdici '\% here used imper- 
 sonally with patribus in the dat. ; A. 230; H. 384, 5; bonis is abl. of 
 separation (deprivation). The fragment of the Xii tables here re- 
 ferred to is thus given in Dirksen's edition: sei fotiriosos aut prodicos 
 (prodigus) escit (erit) adcnatoriun ceiitiliomque {gentilmmque) eius pate- 
 stas estod, i. e. the agnates (male relatives whose kinship with \.\\e.furio- 
 siis 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 iirbanus (Paulus, Sent. 3, 4^, 7) : ' q7ia?ido tibi 
 tua bona paterna avitaque neqtiitia ttia disperdis liber osqiie titos ad 
 
 egestatetn perducis, ob earn rem tibi ea re commercioque interdico '. 
 
 quasi desipientem : ' is -Kapacppovovvra ' says the author of the anony- 
 mous life of Sophocles. Cf. Xenophon, Mem. i, 2, 49. in mani- 
 
 bus habebat : 'had on hand ' /. e. in preparation. Est in manibtts 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 begin- 
 ning fviirirou, |fVe, raaSe x'^P^^- videretur : sc. esse ; the infinitive 
 
 is often omitted thus after verbs of desiring, thinking etc., also verbs 
 of speaking and hearing; cf. Lael. iS earn sapientiam. interpretantur ; 
 ib. 29 quatn natam volnnt ; ib. 64 homines ex maxitne raro genere 
 iudicare ; Acad. 2, 1 2 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
 
 24.] NOTES TO CATO MAIOR. 71 
 
 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. De- 
 
 mocritum : 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 vari- 
 ously given as 99 and as 80 years. quern 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, -eft, 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 rerujn 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 ', /. e. ' attend to this that I am going to say '. The 
 
 common use of &ye in Greek is exactly similar. ut . . . omittamus : 
 
 Cf. n. on 52 ut. possum nominare : 'I am able to name'; in 
 
 colloquial English ' I ?nig/it name '. The Latins occasionally use also 
 a hypothetical form, \\,'here possim ox 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 pres- 
 ent to the writer's mind. E. g. in Tusc. i, 88 we have did hoc in te 
 non potest ; posset in Tarquinio ; at in moi'tuo ne intellegi qiiidem 
 (potest), where the reason for the change Ixom 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, I, 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 attriljutive phrase qualifying Romanos 
 
 just as rusticos does. numquam fere : ' scarcely ever '. ma- 
 
 iora opera: 'farm work of any importance'. This use of opera is 
 common in Vergil's Georgics. non : the repetition of the nega-
 
 72 NOTES TO CATO MAIOR. [24^ 
 
 tive after numqiiam is common in Latin ; in English nr^er . . . not is 
 found in dialects only- Cf. Lael. 48 non tantum...non plus quant. 
 
 serendis : ablative of respect ; ' as regards sowing '. See Roby, 
 
 1210; Kennedy, 149. percipiendis : so 70; cf. N. D. 2, 156 
 
 neque enim sercndi jieqiie colendi, nee tempestive demetendi percipiendi 
 
 que fructus, neque condendi nee 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. serit . . . prosint : the line is given as Ribbeck prints it. 
 
 He scans it as a ' bacchius ', consisting of four feet, with the meas- 
 urement ^ — , the last syllable of saeclo seeming to be shortened. 
 Cicero quotes the same line in Tusc. i, 31 adding ut ait (Statius) in 
 Synephehis, quid spectans nisi etiavi poster a saecla ad se pertinere? 
 vStffrA? = ' 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 'Xvvi- 
 frj^ot ' 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 de2is formed monosyllables, except 
 occasionally in poetry, where dei. dels were used. Even these dissyl- 
 labic forms scarcely occur before Ovid. et : emphatic at the be- 
 ginning of a sentence : 'aye, and'. melius : sc. dixit. illud: 
 
 'the following'. A. 102, b; G. 292, 4; H. 450,3. idem: ide7)i, 
 
 not idem. edepol : literally, 'ah, god Pollux ', e being an interjec- 
 tion, de a shortened form of the vocative of deus, pal abbreviated from 
 Pollux. The asseveration is mostly confined to comedy. The lines 
 come from a play by Statius called Plocium {nXoKiou ' 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 queniquam senem ; cf. the com- 
 mon expression nemo homo ; 84 nemo vir etc., where two substantival 
 
 words are placed side by side. viti: see n. on i, 1. 3 praemi. 
 
 Viti\\&x&=^mali; cf. Ter. Andr. 73 eivereor ne quid Andria adportei 
 mali. sat est: sat for satis in Cicero's time was o'.d-fashioned
 
 26] NOTES TO CATO MAIOR. 73 
 
 and poetical. quod diu : these words must be scanned as a spon- 
 dee. 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 
 
 Svrus heii quam multa paoiitenda incurrunt vivendo diu. volt : 
 
 indefinite subject. videt : Tischer quotes Herod, i, 32 (speech of 
 
 Solon to Croesus) ev 7^^ T(i5 /xo/cpy XP^"'!' ■"'oA-Aa fifu iariv 15 e e iv, to 
 
 fir} Tis eef\ei, iroWa Si Kol iraOinv. turn 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 com- 
 pound 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 pc (probably an- 
 other form of que), found in ucm-pc, quisp-iani 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 6, t). The form was no 
 doubt originally eumpsutn, 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. 
 
 loi ; also below, 29 sapientes series: neither of these words 
 
 is used as an adjective here ; the whole expression = sapientes, cum 
 
 facti sunt senes. levior : cf. the fragm. of Callimachus: yrjpda-Kei 
 
 S' S yipoiv KfTvos f \ a<p p lir e p u , rhv Kovpoi <pi\fov(Tt. coluntur 
 
 et diliguntur: eo/ere rather implies the external marks of respect 
 
 (cf. eoh in 7), diligere the inner feeling of affection. praeceptis 
 
 etc.: cf. Off. I, 122 iiicuii/is rnim aetatis inscitia senum constituenda el 
 
 regenda prudentia est. me . . . iucundos : i^ut for me iucundum 
 
 esse quatu vos mihi estis iucundi. The attraction of a finite verb into 
 the infinitive after quam is nt>t uncommon; cf. n. on i quilnis me 
 ipsum. Roby, 1784, b; A. 336, h. Rem; H. 524, i, 2). Minus, be it 
 observed, does not qualify iutellci^w, Ijut iucundos. sed : here ana- 
 leptic, i. e. it introduces a return to the subject proper after a digres- 
 sion ; so in 31. videtis, ut . . . sit : here ut^=quo modo ; 'hew'. 
 
 senectus . . . cuiusque : i\w abstract sencctus is put for senes as in 34;
 
 74 
 
 NOTES TO CATO MAIOR. [26 
 
 hence aiiiisqne, sc. senis. So above adulescentia = adulescentes. 
 
 agens aliquid : this phrase differs from agat in that while the sub- 
 junctive would express the //tY of action, the participial phrase ex- 
 presses rather the constant lendency to act. Agens aliqtiid 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 inoliri volunt ; Acad. 2, 22 ut 
 moliatur aliquid et facial ; N. D. i, 2 utriim di nihil agant, nihil 
 
 moliantur ; Mur. 82 et agant et moliafttur. quid . . . aliquid : for 
 
 the ellipsis in quid qui cf. n. on 22 quid . . . Addiscunt = Trpofiavedvovcri 
 
 = learn on and on, go on learning. ut . . . videmus : put, as 
 
 Allen observes, for ut Solon fecit, quern videmus. Solonem : see 
 
 also 50. The line [versibus here is an exaggeration ; in 50 it is versi- 
 culus) is preserved by Plato in his Timaeus and by Plutarch, Sol. 31 
 yiipa.(TKa> S' ael iroWa 8(5a(r/c({juei'os. The age of Solon at his death is 
 variously given as 80 or 100 years. videmus: the Latins fre- 
 quently use ' we see ' for ' we read '. See n. on Lael. 39, also below, 
 
 69 utscriptum video. gloriantem : A. 292, ^; G. 536, 527, Rem. i ; 
 
 H. 535, I. 4. Notice the change to the intinitive in uti below. 
 
 senex : /. e. cum sene.v essem ; so 27 adulescens desiderabam ; 30 tne- 
 mini 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 cupic7ts = ' thus, viz. like one 
 desiring'. Cf. n. on 12 ita cupide fruehar quasi : also 35 tamquam ... 
 sic. Quasi serves to soften the metaphor in sitim ; cf. n. on Lael. 3. 
 
 cupiens: .ifter quasi a finite verb {c7iperem) 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 suuvi eadem quae. 
 
 exemplis : = pro exetnplis, or exemplorum loco (cf. n. on 21 Lyst- 
 
 machum), 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 quihus exemplis were put for ea ipsa cxempla quibus. quod : 
 
 = utcum 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 Euthy- 
 demus Socrates says that the boys attending Connus' lessons laughed 
 at him and called Connus '^f^povTo^ili.cwiKov . Cf. also Earn. 9, 22, 3 
 Socraten fidibus docuit nobilissimus fdicen ; is Connus vocitatus est; Val.
 
 27] NOTES TO CATO MAIOR. 75 
 
 Max. S, 7, S. in fidibus : ' in the case of the lyre '. Tiicking 
 
 quotes Quintilian 9, 2, 5 quod in fid ibu s fieri 7'identns. 'I'he 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 cit/iaroedus, citharista, when referring t(j Creek jirofessional 
 players. The word lyra too is rare in early prose; it occurs in Tusc. 
 I, 4 in connection with a Greek, where in the same sentenceyfi^/fj is 
 
 used as an equivalent. audirem : for audire = legcndo cogiioscere 
 
 see n. on 20. vellem : sc. si possein. 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 doc ere 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 ouSe [ov=^ne, Se = t/uidem), 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 : /ocus (like T6iros 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 cer- 
 tain heads ; each head is called a tSttos or /ocus, meaning literally the 
 p/ace where a pleader is to look for an argument when wanted. Hence 
 /ocus came to mean 'a cut-and-dried argument' or, as here, a 'com- 
 monplace '. 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 repe- 
 tition of the negative is common enough in Latin, as in some English 
 
 dialects. Cf. n. on 24. r/us here ^ magis. quod est : sc. tibi, 
 
 ' what you have ', so Paradoxa 18 and 52 satis esse, i/uod 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
 
 •jQ NOTES TO CATO MA^OR. [2) 
 
 verb statement. Roby, 1544- 1546; Madvig, 370, 494, Obs. 5, (6). 
 
 vox : ' utterance ' ; the word is used only of sjieeches 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 t^t^, and about his power of consuming food. 
 
 He is said to have been a prominent disciple of Pythagoras. illa- 
 
 crimans : beware of spelling lacrima with either ck for ^ or_j' for i ; 
 these spellings are without justification. The y rests on the absurd 
 assumption that the Latins borrowed their word lacritna straight from 
 
 the Greek SuKpv. dixisse : combinations like dicitur dixisse are 
 
 exceedingly rare in good Latin. Cicero nearly always uses two differ- 
 ent verbs ; /. e. he says ahtnt 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 re- 
 plies, whether the reply convey assent, or, as here, a retort. The 
 
 usage is well illustrated in Nagelsbach's Stilistik, § 197, 2. tarn : 
 
 sc. mortui sunt. nugator : tmgari= K-qpeTy, ' t0| 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 quisqiie. Ex te, literally, 'out of yourself, i. e. 'from your real 
 self's resources'. lateribus : see n. on 14. Aelius: his cog- 
 nomen 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 
 
 ho?no catus Aelms Sextiis. 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 Li v. 30, i, 5 iuris ponlifici peritissi- 
 vius) 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 hy moda 
 and nuper depends entirely on the context ; for modo see Lael. 6 with
 
 38] NOTES TO CATC MAIOR. 'j-j 
 
 note, tor miper below, n. on 6i, 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 ', /. e. ' continued ', ' remained '. Some 
 wrongly take the phrase to mean ' made progress ', ' mcreased ', 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 — sad tamen : ' no 
 
 doubt — but still'. Omnino (literally, 'altogether') has two almost 
 exactly opposite uses — (i) 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 tame7t or 
 sed a.s in 45, but in Lael. 98 by the less emphatic autem, while in Lael. 
 
 69 there is no introductory particle. canorum . . . senectute : 
 
 canonim implies the combination of power with clearness in a voice. 
 For the mixture of metaphors in canorum splendescit edd. quote Soph. 
 Phil. 1S9 ax^ TTjAecJjaj'Tjs ; Cic. De Or. 2, 60 illorum tactu orationem 
 
 mcam qtiasi c 1 r a r i . 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 : pur- 
 posely put for nondum, because more emphasis is thus thrown both 
 on the time-word and on the negation. The common view that non- 
 dum was avoided because it would have implied that Cato expected io 
 
 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 's not very uncommon in Cicero, but there are few exam- 
 ples of the usage in the speeches. Cf. Lael. zd et quidqtcid ; so some- 
 times que as above, 13; also Lael. 30 ut nnllo egeat suaque omnia in 
 se posita iudicct. seni : Madvig's em. for senis. In Leg. i, 11 allu- 
 sion is made to the great change which advancing years had wrought 
 in Cicero's own impassioned oratory, lie 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 onl) 
 
 denotes public speaking. quietus et remissus : ' subdued and 
 
 gentle'. The metaphor in remissus (which occurs also in Si) refers to 
 the loosening of a tight-stretched string; cf. intentum etc. in 37 with
 
 78 
 
 NOTES TO CATO MAIOR. [2S- 
 
 n. With the whole passage c£. Pliii. Ep. 3, i, 2 nam invenes confusa 
 adhuc quaedam et quasi iurbata non indecent; senibus placida omnia 
 
 et ordinata convenittnt. facit audientiam : 'procures of itself a 
 
 hearing for it '. In the words /d-r se //>jtfj there is no doubt an allusion 
 to the custom at large meetings in ancient times whereby "Ch^ praeco or 
 KTJpul called on the people to listen to the speakers. Cf. Li v. 43, i6, 
 8 praeconem audientiatn /acere iussit. Note tliat this is the only clas- 
 sical use of the word audientia ; it has not the meaning of our 'audi- 
 ence' either in the sense of a body of listeners, or as used in the 
 
 expression 'to give audience'. composita et mitis : 'unimpas- 
 
 sioned and smooth'. Cf. Quintil. 6, 2, 9 ajffedus igitnr hos concitatos, 
 illos mitis atqne 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 men- 
 tioned in the last sentence. With si nequeas cf. nisi exerceas in 21 
 
 with n. Scipioni et Laelio : '« Scipio and a Laelius'; i.e. 
 
 'young friends such as Scipio and Laelius are to me'. prae- 
 
 cipere : here absolute, =/;77£'ff//rt dare; usually an accusative fol- 
 lows. 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 (lit- 
 erally 'to ground' or 'establish') is to form the intellect and char- 
 acter 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 Sail. lug. 42, i Ti. et C. Gracchus; Liv. 6, 22 Sp. et L. Papirius. 
 Even with other nouns the plural is regular; e.g. Cic. Phil. 2, loi 
 arationes Campana ct Leontina, though a little above we have me use 
 Apriliatqiie Maio. [See Draeger, Hist. Synt. i-, p. i.] 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
 
 31] NOTES TO CATO MAIOR. 7^ 
 
 hemmed in and killed, after a crushing defeat. L. Aemilius. 
 
 the father of Macedonicus. He was consul in 219 and defeated the 
 lllyrii; but when consul again in 216 was defeated and killed at Can- 
 nae. See 75. For avi duo of. 82. consenuerint . . . defecerint : 
 
 coniunctio, for which see n. on 16. For the mood see A. 313, a; G. 
 
 60S ; H. 515, III. and n. 3. etsi : see n. on 2. senectute : 
 
 MSS. and edd. have senectittis, 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 Homerutn. See 
 
 C yropaedia, 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,/^; G. 277, Rem.; H. 537, i. puer : the expression 
 
 is peculiar, being abbreviated from cjuod puer vidi or something of the 
 kind. Quintil. 8, 3, 31 has memini iuvenis. In Rep. i, 23 Cicero 
 
 says memini me admodiim aditlcscentulo. viginti et duos : the 
 
 commoner order of the words is duos et viginti : see n. on 1 3 centum . . . 
 
 annas. ei sacerdotio : 'that sacred college'; i.e. the ])ontifical 
 
 college consisting of the pontifex maxiinus and the inferior pontifices. 
 
 requireret : see n. on 13 quaereretur. nihil: n. on i, 1. i 
 
 'ptid. mihi : dat. for ace. to emphasize the person. id : ' such 
 
 a course ' ; cf . 82 ut de me ipse aliquid more se nu m glorier. 
 
 31. videtisne ut : here ne is the equivalent of noniie, as it often is 
 in the Latin of Plautus and Terence, and in the colloquial Latin of 
 
 the classical period. For tct after videtis see n. on 26. Nestor: 
 
 i. g. in Iliad i, 260 et seq. ; 11, 668 et seq. tertiam aetatem : cf. 
 
 Iliad I, 250; Odyssey 3, 245. vera . . . se : 'if he told the truth 
 
 about himself '. nimis : ' to any great extent '. fnsoletts 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, II. i, 249 tov Ka.\ anh y\(i<Ta-r]s /j.f\troi 
 
 y\vKiwv l)iiv avSri- In Or. 32 Cic. says of Xenophon (whom the 
 Greeks called 'Attikt} /if Aitto) 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
 
 So NOTES TO CATO MAI OR. [31. 
 
 writes didcitudo orationis. et tamen : see 11. on 16. dux 
 
 ille : Agamemnon; see Iliad 2, 370 et scq. nusquam : /. c nn- 
 
 where in Homer. Aiacis ; / e. Aiax Telamonius, who was the 
 
 greatest Greek warrior while Achilles sulked (Iliad 2, 768). The 
 genitive after siinilis is the rule in Cicero, though many examples of 
 the dative are found even with names of persons ; see Madv. on Y\w. 
 
 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 iinpeti- 
 
 dentein. vellem : see n. on. 26. idem: A. 23S ; G. 331, 
 
 Rem. 2; H. 371, 2. quod Cyrus : see 30. queo : the verb 
 
 cjneo is rarely found without a negative, /(^Ji^/^w being used in positive 
 
 sentences; cf. however Lael. 71 qiieant, where see n. miles etc.: 
 
 see 10 above. fuerim . . . depugnavi : A. 336, b; G. 630, Rem. 
 
 I ; H. 524, 2, 2). £>e/>u£-fia2'i ^^ iought the war out ', or 'to the end' ; 
 
 cf. 38, desudatts ; 44 devicerat. enervavit : enervare is literally 
 
 'to take out the sinews'; cf. the expressions nerves elidere (Tusc. 2, 
 27) and nervos incidere (Academ. I, 35) both of which are used in a 
 
 secondary or metaphorical sense. curia : = senatus. rostra : 
 
 cf. n. on 44 devicerat. fieri : A. 331,^; G. 546, Rem i ; H. 498, 
 
 I. n. esse: emphatic, = wwr^; 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 quam- 
 giiain negotiicm est, mtmqnani sum occnpatus amico opera?n dare. 
 
 33. at : as in 21, where see n. T. Ponti centurionis : the 
 
 centurions were generally men of powerful frame ; cf. Veget. 2, 14 
 centiirio elegendus est, qui sit magnis virilnis et procera statura ; Philipi). 
 8, 26 centuriones pngnaces et lacertosos ; Horat. Sat. i, 6, 72. mode- 
 ratio : 'a right application'; literally 'a governing'. tantum 
 
 . . . nitatur : cf 27 qitidquid agas agere pro viribus, also 34 quantum 
 
 fossumus. ne : the affirmative ne, often wrongly written nae on 
 
 the absurd assumption that the word passed into Latin from the 
 Greek vai, is in Cicero always and in other writers nearly always fol- 
 lowed by a jDronoun. For the form of the sentence here cf. Fam. 7, 
 I, 3 ne . . . nostrufn ; Tusc. 3, 8 ne isfa etc.; Fin 3, 1 1 (almost the 
 
 same words). per stadium: 'over the course'; cf. Athenaeus 
 
 io. 4, p. 412 E; Lucian, Charon, S; Quint, i, 9, 5 Alilo quern vitulum
 
 33l NOTES TO CATO MAIOR. 8l 
 
 assueverat fcrre, tmtritm ferebat. As to Milo see n. on 27. F<^r cum 
 sustineret a modern would have been inclined to use a participle, 
 which was perhaps avoided here because of the close proximity of 
 
 another participle, higressus. umeris : this spelling is better than 
 
 Aitmeris, which is now abandoned by the best scholars. There is no 
 sound corresponding to the // in words of the same origin in cognate 
 languages (see Curtius, Greek Etym. i, 423 of the Eng. Trans.), and 
 although undoubtedly h was wrongly attached to some Latin words, 
 
 there is no evidence to show that this happened to 7ttnerus. has : 
 
 /. e. Milonis, corresponding to Pythagorae. Pythagorae : chosen 
 
 no doubt because tradition made Milo a Pythagorean ; see n. on 27. 
 
 malis : /. e. si optandum sit (cf. Plant. Miles 170). For the ellipsis 
 
 see n. on 26. denique : ' in short '. utare : the second 
 
 person of the present subjunctive hortative is very rare, excepting 
 when, as here, the command is general. Had the command been 
 addressed to a particular person, Cicero might have written ne requi- 
 sicris. Cf. Madvig, Opusc 2, 105; Roby, 1596; A. 266, a,b; G. 256, 
 
 2 ; H. 484, 4, n. 2. dum adsit, cum absit : as both dum and mm 
 
 evidently have here a temporal sense, the subjunctives seem due to 
 the influence of the other subjunctives titare and requiras. A. 342; 
 
 G. 666; H. 529, II. and n. i, i). nisi forte : see n. on 18. 
 
 cursus : for the metaphor cf. n. on 83; also Fam. 8, 13, i (a letter of 
 Coelius) aetate iam sunt decursa ; pro Quint. 99 acta aetas deatrsaque. 
 
 For certus cf. below, 72 senectutis certus terminus. aetatis : here 
 
 = vitae : see n. on 5. eaque : this is a common way of intro- 
 ducing with emphasis a fresh epithet or predicate. Often idque (/col 
 TovTo) occurs, the pronoun being then adverbially used, and not in 
 agreement with the subject. Cf. n. on 65 ii/ius quidem ; also neque 
 
 ea in 22. simplex : life is compared to a race, in which each 
 
 man has to run once and only once around the course. tempes- 
 
 tivitas : 'seasonableness '; cf. 5 matiiritate tetnpestiva, with n. 
 
 infirmitas : the context shows that not physical but intellectual weak- 
 ness is meant; so in Acad. 2, 9 infirmissimo teinpore aetatis ; Fin. 5, 
 
 43 aetas infirma. ferocitas : ' exultation ', ' high spirit '. iam 
 
 constantis aetatis : /. e. middle age, the characteristic of which is 
 stability ; cf. 76 constans aetas quae 7ncdia dicitur ; also 60; Tac. A. 
 6, 46 composita aetas. For iam cf. Suet. Galb. 4 aetate nondiim 
 constanti ; pro Caelio 41 nefas iam corroboi-ata ; Fam. 10,3, 2 aetas 
 ia m confirmata. maturitas : ' ripeness ', /. e. of intellect or judg- 
 ment. suo : G. 295, Rem. 1 ; IF. 449, 2.
 
 82 NOTES TO CATO MAIOR. [34^ 
 
 34. audire te arbitror : 'I think that news reaches you'. 
 
 hospes : see n. on 28 orator. avitus : there was a strong friend- 
 ship between the elder Africanus and Masinissa, king of Numidia, 
 who in 206 B. c. passed over from the Carthaginian alliance to that 
 of the Romans. He was richly rewarded by Scipio, and remained 
 loyal to Rome till his death. He lived to welcome the younger Scipio 
 in Africa during the last Punic war, and to see the utter ruin of Car- 
 thage. See Sail. lug. 5, 4. For the expression hospes tuns avitus c£ 
 
 Plautus, Miles 135 pater nnm suom hospiteni. cum ingressus 
 
 etc. : i. e. protracted exercise of one kind did not weary him. 
 
 cum . . . equo : though Cic. says «'« equo vehi, esse, sedere etc. the prep- 
 osition here is left out because a mere ablative of manner or means 
 is required to suit the similar ablative pedibus. So Div. 2, 140 equus 
 in quo vehebar, ' the horse on which I rode ' ; but ib. i, 58 equo adveetus 
 
 ad ripam, ' brought to the bank by the aid of a horse '. siccitatem : 
 
 'wiriness ', literally 'dryness ' or freedom from excessive perspiration, 
 colds and the like ; cf. Tusc. 5, 99 siccitatem quae consequitur continen- 
 
 tiam, in victu ; Catull. 23, 12 corpora siccio7'a cornu. regis: here 
 
 = regia. officia et munera : see n. on 29. ne sint : 'grant 
 
 that age has no strength '. This formula of concession for argument's 
 sake is frequent in Cicero, who often attaches to it sane. A. 266, d; 
 
 G. 610; n. 515, IK. senectute = JYv/Z/'z/j-.- see n. on 26. 
 
 legibus et institutis : ' by statute and precedent '• muneribus 
 
 eis etc. : chiefly military service. non modo . . . sed ne quidem : 
 
 when a negative follows non modo these wuid. have the force of }t07t 
 modo non, a negative being borrowed from the negative in the subse- 
 quent clause. But often no7i modo non is written; the negative after 
 tnodo is then more emphatic, being independent. Here 7ioti modo /ion 
 quod non would have had a harsh sound. A. 149,^; G. 484, 3 and 
 
 Rem. I.; H. 552, 2. quod: adv. ace. (see n. on i quid). Cf. 
 
 Liv. 6, 1 5 sed vos id coge/idi estis. 
 
 35. at : as in 21, where see n. In his reply Cato adopts the same 
 form as that in which the objection is urged, at id quide/n etc. So 
 in 68 at seuex . . . at est . . . 
 
 P. 15. — commune valetudinis : 'common to weak health', i.e. 
 to all in a weak state of health. I'aletudo means in itself neither good 
 
 nor bad health; the word takes its coloring from the context. 
 
 filius is qui : a pause must be made at filius ; the sense is not 'that 
 son of Africanus who adopted you ', but 'the son of Africanus, I mean
 
 36J NOTES TO CATO iMAIOR. 8^ 
 
 the man who adopted you'. quod ni ita fuisset : 'now if this 
 
 had not been so'; a phrase like quod cum ita sil and hoc ita did. Cf. 
 
 also 67 quod ni ita accideret ; 82 quod ni ita se haberet. alterum 
 
 . . . civitatis : illud is put for ilk, by attraction to lumen. Roby, 106S. 
 A. 195, d; G. 202, Rem. 5; H. 445, 4. Cf. Fin. 2, 70 Epicurus, hoc 
 enitn vestrum lumen est, ' Epicurus, for he is your shining light '. — - 
 vitia : 'defects'. diligentia : scarcely corresponds to our 'dili- 
 gence'; it rather implies minute, patient attention; 'painstaking'. 
 
 36. habenda . . . valetudinis : 'attention must be paid to health '; 
 so valetudini consulere (Fam. 16, 4, 3) operant dare (De Or. i, 265) in- 
 dulgere (Fam. 16, 18, i) 7'aletudincm curare often; cf. also Fam. 10, 
 
 35, 2; Fin. 2,64. tantum : restrictive, = 'only so much'; so in 
 
 69, and often. potionis : cibus et patio is the regular Latin equiva- 
 lent for our 'food and drink'; see below, 46; also Tusc. 5, 100; Fin. 
 
 I, 37 ; Varro de Re Rust. 1,1,5. adhibendum : adhibere has here 
 
 merely the sense of ' to employ ' or ' to use '. Cf. Fin. 2, 64. non : 
 
 we should say 'and not' or 'but not'; the Latins, however, are fond 
 of asyndeton, called advcrsativum, when two clauses are contrasted. 
 
 menti . . . animo : properly mens is the intellect, strictly so called, 
 
 attimus intellect and feeling combined, but the words are often very 
 loosely used They often occur together in Latin ; Lucretius has even 
 mens animi. instilles : see n. on 21 exerceas. et : 'more- 
 over'. exercitando : in good Latin the verb exercitare is rare 
 
 except in exercitatus, which stands as participle to exerceo, exercitus 
 being unused. The word seems to have been chosen here as suiting 
 exercitationibiis better than exercendo would. So in 47 desideratio is 
 chosen rather than desiderium, to correspond with the neighboring titil- 
 
 latio. ait : sc. esse ; the omission with aio is rare, though common 
 
 with dico, appello etc.; see n. on 22. comicos : not 'comic' in our 
 
 sense, but = in comoediis, ' represented in comedy '. So Rose. Am. 47 
 comicum adulescentem, ' the young man of comedy '. The passage of 
 
 Caecilius (see n. on 24 Statins) is more fully quoted in Lael. 99. 
 
 credulos : in almost every Latin comedy there is some old man who 
 
 is cheated by a cunning slave. somniculosae : the adj. contains 
 
 a diminutive noun stem (somniculo-). petulantia : ' waywardness'. 
 
 non proborum : Cic. avoids improborum as being too harsh; 
 
 with c.\ai.tly siniilar feeling Propertius 3, 20, 52 'ed. Paley) says 7iec 
 proba Pasiphae for ct iinproba P. C'f. Off. 3, 36 error lioniinum non 
 proboriitn. ista : implying contempt. A. \02,c\ G. 291, Rem.;
 
 84 NOTES TO CATO MAIOR. [36^ 
 
 H. 450, I. n. and foot-note 4. deliratio : 'dotage'; a rare word, 
 
 used by Cic. only here and in Div. 2, 90. 
 
 37. robustos : 'sturdy'; implying that the sons were grown up. 
 
 tantam : sc. quantam habuit ; only a little more emphatic than 
 
 magnam would have been; see n. on 52. Appius : see n. on 16. 
 
 regebat : the pater familias in early Roman times was an almost 
 
 irresponsible ruler over his children and household. For a full dis- 
 cussion of the patria potestas see Coulanges, Ancient City, Bk. II. 
 Ch. 8 ; Maine, Ancient I,aw, Ch. 5 ; Hadley, Introd. to Roman Law, 
 
 Chapters 5 and 6. et . . . senex : ' though both blind and old '. 
 
 intentum : commonly used of animus, like the opposite remissus (28). 
 
 tenebat etc. : ihe patria potestas is often denoted by the word im- 
 
 periian ; cf. De Invent. 2, 140 imperiitm domesticum. vigebat 
 
 etc. : ' in him ancestral spirit and principles were strong '. While ani- 
 mus patriiis here evidently means the strong will for which the patri- 
 cian Claudii were proverbial (as e. g. in Rose. Am. 46 intellegere qui 
 animus patrius sit in liberos) it indicates the feeling of a particular 
 father for his children. 
 
 P. 16. — 38. ita : = ea lege ' on these conditions, viz. . . .', the clause 
 with si being an explanation of ita. This correspondence of ita . . . si 
 is common in Cicero; see n. on 12 ita ... quasi. Here translate 'age 
 
 can only be in honor 'if it fights for itself '. se ipsa : cf. Cic. 
 
 Acad. 2, 36 Veritas se ipsa defendet ; see also the n. on 4. si . . . 
 
 est : ' if it has passed into bondage to nobody '. Mancipimn is a piece 
 of property ; emancipare is to pass a piece of property out of its own- 
 er's hands. The word acquired two exactly opposite meanings. When 
 used of a slave, or of a son in patria potestatc, who was legally subject 
 to many of the same ordinances as a slave, it means 'to set free ', un- 
 less, as in Fin. i, 24 filium in adoptionem D. Silano emaftcipaverat, 
 some person is mentioned to whom the original owner makes over his 
 rights. But in Plant. Bacchid. i, 1,90 inulier, tibi me emancupo ihe 
 sense is ' I enslave myself to you ', /'. e. ' I pass myself out of my own 
 power into yours'. So in the well-known passage of Horace, Epod. 
 9, 12 (of Antony) etnancipatus feminae 'enslaved to a woman'; cf. 
 
 Cic. Phil. 2, 51 venditum atque emancipatum tribunatum. senile 
 
 aliquid . . . aliquid adulescentis : chiasmus. For the sense cf. t,t^ 
 
 fcrocitas iuveniim . . . senectutis niaturitas. quod qui sequitur : 
 
 ' and he who strives after this ', /. e. to combine the virtues of age and 
 youth. Cf. Aesch. Sept. 622 yipovTa rhv vovv adpKa S' ii^oicrav <pvfi,
 
 ^S] NOTES TO CATO MAIOR. 85 
 
 mihi . . . est in manibus : ' I have on hand ', ' am busy w'th ', Cf. 
 
 n. on 22. Originum : as to Cato's literary labors see Introd. 
 
 omnia coUigo : referring to the materials Cato was collecting for his 
 ' Origines '. quascunque defend! : ' as many as I have con- 
 ducted '. Dcfciidcre causam here is simply to act as counsel in a case, 
 whether the client be defendant or plaintiff. So in Lael. 96 and often. 
 ■ nunc cum maxime : ' now more than ever ', vvv /xaKia-Ta. The 
 phrase is elliptic; in full it would be ' iii//i vtaxime conficio orationes, 
 mine conficio ', ' when I most of all compose speeches, I now compose 
 them ' ; /. e. ' the time when I most of all compose is now '. The words 
 lum maxime generally follow iie/u or nunc and add emphasis to those 
 words, but are sometimes used alone to express the ideas ' then ' and 
 ' now' more emphatically than fum and /iiaic would. Cf. Ver. 4, 82; 
 Tac. Ann. 4, 27. The orators were in the habit of working over their 
 
 speeches carefully for publication and preservation. ius augu- 
 
 rium etc. : ' the law pertaining to the augurs and pontifices ' ; /. e. the 
 principles applied by them in the performance of their duties. The 
 pontifices had the general oversight of religious observances. See 
 
 Diet, of Antiq. civile : the meaning of ius civile varies according 
 
 to the context. Here it is the secular law as opposed to the sacred 
 law, as in 50; sometimes it is the whole body of Roman law as oj> 
 posed to the law of other states ; often, again, it is the older portion 
 
 of the Roman law as opposed to the newer or ' equity ' portion. 
 
 commemoro : *I say over to myself. In Cicero commemoro is a 
 verb of speaking, and never has the meaning of recordor or memini. 
 
 curricula : see nn. on 33. magno opera : better so written 
 
 than in one word magnopere ; so maxima, jniiiimo, iiimio opere. 
 
 adsum amicis : ' I act as counsel to my friends '. This legal sense 
 
 of adesse is common. frequens : literally the word means 
 
 'crowded' (connected with/;;Y/;v ' to cram ' or ' to crowd together '), 
 hence frequetis senatus and the like phrases. Then frequens comes 
 to be used of actions or events that often recur; e.g. Orat. 15 De- 
 mosthenes frequens Platonis auditor ; De Or. i, 243 frequens te atidivi. 
 ()n the use of the adj. here see A. 191 ; G. 324, Rem. 6; H. 443. 
 ultro : ' unasked ', ' of my own motion ', a reference to the well- 
 known story that, whatever subject was discussed, Cato gave as 
 his opinion ^ delenda est Carthago\ Sec Introd. tueor : 'advo- 
 cate', 'support'. lectulus : a couch usually stood in the Ro- 
 man study, on which the student reclined while reading, composing
 
 SQ NOTES TO CATO MAIOR. [38^ 
 
 or dictating, or even writing. Cf. De Or. 3, 17, in earn fxcaram 
 Tenisse in qua Crassus Icctulo posito rccidmissct, cmnqut. aim in 
 cogHatione Jt'/ixttm esse sensisse/, statim reeessisse . . . ; Suet. Aug. 
 
 78 leetieula liieubratorta. ea ipsa cogitantem : = eie eis ipsis 
 
 eoq:: so Acad. 2, 127 eogitantes supera atque laclestia, and often. 
 
 acta vita : ' tlie life I have led '; cf. 62 honeste acta superior aetas ; so 
 
 Tusc. I, 109; P'am. 4, 13, 4. viventi : dative of reference. A. 
 
 235; G. 354; H. 384, 4, n. 3. 'As regards one who lives amid these 
 
 pursuits and tasks'. ita sensim etc.: sensim sine sensu (observe 
 
 the alliteration) is like metttes dementis in 16, where see n.^ Sensim 
 must have meant at one time 'perceptibly', then 'only just percep- 
 tibly ', then ' gradually ' and almost ' imperceptibly '. 
 
 39. quod . . . dicunt : not strictly logical, being put for quod careat, 
 ut dicunt. In cases like this the verb of saying is usually in the sub- 
 junctive. Cf. Roby, 1746; A. 341, Rem.; G. 541, Rem. 2; H. 516, II. i. 
 
 The indicative here is more vivid and forcible. munus . . . aufert : 
 
 to say that a gift robs one of anything is of course an oxymoron ; cf . n. 
 
 on 16 me?ites dementis. aetatis : aXmost ^^ setiectittis : cf. n. on 45. 
 
 id quod est etc: 'the greatest fault of youth'; ;'. e. the love of 
 
 p.easure. In this passage voluptas indicates pleasure of a sensual 
 kind, its ordinary sense, delectatio, oblectatio etc. being used of the 
 higher pleasures. In 51, however, we have voluptates agricolarum. 
 
 accipite : 'hear'; so a^ar^ often means 'to tell'. '^'\\.\i accipere 
 
 in this sense cf. the similar use of diroSe'xeo'^ai. Archytae : Archy- 
 
 tas (the subject of Horace's well-known ode, i, 28) was a contempo- 
 rary and friend of Plato, and a follower of the Pythagorean philosophy. 
 He wrote philosophical works, and was also famous as a mathemati- 
 cian and astronomer, besides being the leading statesman and general 
 of the commonwealth of Tarentum. For another saying of Archytas, 
 
 cf. Lael. 88. tradita est : 'was imparted to me ', /. <?., by word of 
 
 mouth. cum . . . Tarenti : 'when as a young man I stayed at 
 
 Tarentum '. For adidescens cf. n. on 26 senes. nullam . . . pes- 
 
 tem etc.: cf. Lael. 34 peste?n . . . cupiditatem ; Off. 2,9 consuctudo .. . 
 honestatetn ab utilitate secernens, qiia nulla pernicies maior hominum 
 
 vitae potuit afferri. capitaliorem : 'more deadly'; caput was 
 
 often equivalent to vita, so that capitalis comes to mean ' affecting the 
 life '. 
 
 P, 17. — 40. hinc etc.: cf. Cic. Hortensius fragm. quod turpe dam- 
 num, quod dedecus est quod non evocetur atque eliciatiir voluptate ? Ob
 
 4iJ NOTES TO CATO MAIOR. 8) 
 
 serve the singular patriae followed by the plural rerum publicarum ; 
 the plural oi p atria is rare. On the significance of this passage see 
 
 Lecky, Hist, of European Morals, I. p. 2ti, n. (Am. ed.). cum 
 
 hostibus etc. : attributive phrase; cf. Phil. 12, 27 coUoquia cum acer- 
 
 rimis hostibus. scelus : this word looks chiefly to the criminal 
 
 intention, whether it be carried into action or not, malum, /acinus to the 
 completed crime ; flagitium is sin rather than crime. Facintis in sense 
 is often rather narrower and lighter than scelus ; cf. Verr. 5, 170 /aci- 
 nus est vincire civem Romanum, scelus verberare, prope parricidium 
 
 necare. impelleret : sc. homines ; so nos is omitted after iubebal 
 
 below. excitari : 'stirred up'. In 39 and 41 we have the verb 
 
 in-citare ; for the difference between the two verbs cf. Qu. Fr. i, i, 45 
 hcuc non eo dicuntur, ut te oratio mea dor mien tern excitasse, 
 
 sed potius ut cur r en tern incitasse videatur. homini . . . de- 
 
 disset : cf. Acad, i, 7 nee ullum arbitror maius aut melius a dis datum 
 munus homini. Notice homini ' man ', in the same sense as hominibus, 
 
 above. muneri ac dono : the two words munus and donum are 
 
 often found together ; the difference in meaning is hardly perceptible 
 Donum implies the fact of giving, munus the generosity of the giver 
 
 tarn . . . inimicum : notice the separation of tam from inimicum 
 
 41. libidine : = 4in6vjj.ia ; tcmperantia = <Tw<^pocrvvt\. Dominari is 
 a very strong word, 'to tyrannize '; dominatio ■= rvpavpii. For locum 
 
 cf. Lael. 52 in tyranni vita nullus locus est amicitiae. consistere : 
 
 'find a foothold'. Cf. Fin. 4, 69 sapientia p e d e m ubi poneret 
 
 non ha be bat. fingere animo : 'to imagine'. tanta... 
 
 quanta ... maxima : 'the greatest that could possibly be enjoyed'. 
 The form of expression is common, e. g. Lael. 74 tanta quanta maxima 
 
 potest esse distantia. tam diu dum : this is not exactly equivalent 
 
 to the ordinary tam diu quam, but there is ellipsis — 'so long as this, 
 I mean while etc.'. Cf. Cat. 3, 16 tam diu, dum urbis moenibus con- 
 
 tinebatur ; Off. I, 2 tam diu . . . quoad . . . mente . . . ratione. . . 
 
 cogitatione : 'by thought, by reasoning, by imagination'. Cogitatio 
 like Siaroia has often the .sense of 'imagination'. The close juxtapo- 
 sition of words nearly synonymous is ciuite characteristic of Cicero's 
 
 Latin. quidem : concessive, as in 32 and often. maior 
 
 atque longior : ' very intense and protracted '. Superlatives might 
 have been expected, in view of quanta percipi posset maxima above. 
 Longus in the sense of 'long-continued' is rare in Ciceronian Latin, 
 excepting when, as in 66 longa aetate, it is joined with a word dis-
 
 88 NOTES TO CATO MAIOR. [41- 
 
 tinctly referring to time. For the general drift of the passage cf. Cic. 
 Hortensius (fragment) congniere cum cogitaiione magna voluptas corporh 
 non potest ; quis enim, cum utatur voluptate ea qua nulla possit maiof 
 ;sse, attendere animum, inire rationes, cogttare omnino quidquam potest ? 
 
 animi lumen: a common metaphor; e.g. Cic. Rep. 6, 12 tu, 
 
 Africane, ostendas oportebit patriae lumen animi tui. Ct. 36 Aaec . . . 
 exstinguuntur ; also below, 42 irientis oculos. C. Pontio : C. Pon- 
 tius Herennius, the father of C. Pontius Telesinus who defeated the 
 Romans at the Caudine Forks during the Second Samnite war, in 321 
 B. c. The father is several times mentioned by Livy 9, cc. i and 3; 
 
 cf. especially i, § 2 C. Pontiutn, patre longe prudentissimo natum. 
 
 Nearchus : mentioned by Plutarch, Cato 2, as a Pythagorean and 
 
 friend of Cato. permanserat : /. e. during the siege of Taren- 
 
 tum. interfuisset : not in accordance with English idiom; cf. n. 
 
 on 4 putassent ; also 44 devicerat. Plato etc.: although Plato 
 
 made two journeys to Italy and Sicily (or, as some authorities say, 
 three) it is scarcelj likely that he was present at Tarentum in the year 
 mentioned, 349 B. c, two years before his death, when he was of ad- 
 vanced age. The latest date assigned by other authorities for Plato's 
 
 last visit to the West is 361 B. c. reperio : sc. in annalibus ; so 
 
 in 15; cf. videmus in 26. 
 
 42. eflficeret : efficeret, liberet, and oporteret czn be properly rendered 
 into English only by the present tense. Although these verbs express 
 circumstances which conti7iue, since the general effect of old age is 
 being described, they are thrown into the past to suit the past tense 
 dicebam or dixi which, though not expressed, is really the principal 
 verb. Cf. below, 62, 78. consilium : 'deliberation '. 
 
 P. 18. — ut ita dicam : this softens the metaphor, as quasi ox quasi 
 quidam often does, and as oiov., axnrfp do in Greek [but not ws cttos 
 eiirelv, which is often wrongly said to be the equivalent of ut ita di- 
 cam ; see n. on Lael. 2]. The phrase mentis or aninti aciem praestrin- 
 gere oiXzw occurs without anything to soften the metaphor; <?. ^^. Fin. 
 
 4, 37. nee habet etc : 'and has no relations with virtue'. The 
 
 use of commercium in the metaphorical sense is common. invi- 
 
 tus : see ref. on 38 frequens. feci ut : a periphrasis not unusual. 
 
 A. 332, e; G. 557 ; H. 498, II. n. 2. T. Flaminini : see n. on i, 
 
 1. I. L. Flamininum : as praetor he commanded the fleet under 
 
 his brother Titus during the Macedonian war; in 192 B.C. he was 
 consul. Septem annis denotes seven complete years (cf. n. on 19), as
 
 43] NOTES TO CATO MAIOR. 8g 
 
 Cato was censor in 1S4. A reference to Livy 39, 43, 2 will show that 
 Cicero borrows his account of Flamininus' crime from the old annalist 
 Valerius Aniias. Livy also quotes (39, 42, 7) an account of the matter 
 given by Cato himself in a speech, which is even more disgraceful to 
 
 Flamininus. eicerem : the phrase commonly used is not eicere, 
 
 but moverc, aliqiiem senatu. ^Votare and nota (censoria) are technically 
 used of degradation or disfranchisement inflicted by the censors. For 
 
 the spelling see Roby, 144, 2 ; A. 10, d; H. 36, 4 and foot-note I. 
 
 fuisset : for the mood see A. 342 ; G. 666; H. 529, II. and n. i, i) ; for 
 
 the tense see Roby, 1491 ; A. 324, a, G. 233, 2; H. 471, 4. cum 
 
 ... Gallia: not 'when he was consul in Gaul' but 'when he was in 
 Gaul during his consulship '. Ci4m with the imperfect or pluperfect 
 subjunctive often has a sense differing very little from lh3.t oi cum 
 with the imperfect or pluperfect indicative. No doubt when the usage 
 originally arose, the clause with cum was regarded as expressing the 
 cause oi the action or event denoted by the principal verb; here the 
 presence of F. in Gaul might be regarded as a cause of the crime. It 
 is more than doubtful, however, whether in actual use the subjunctive 
 in these phrases continued to carry with it to Latin readers any idea 
 of cause. See Roby, 1720, Kennedy, 211 ; also A. 325, 323 and foot- 
 note I ; G. 586 with Rem.; H. 521, II. 2 and foot-note i. exora- 
 
 tus est: 'was persuaded'; cf. Liv. 39, 43. securi fenret : the 
 
 story was that L. Flamininus himself acted as executioner. eorum 
 
 qui ... assent : the subjunctive because of the class-notion, 'of such 
 
 persons as were '. Tito censore : /. e. in 189 B. c. ; see n. on i. 
 
 Flacco : L. Valerius Flaccus was the life-long friend of Cato, 
 
 and his colleague in the consulship and in the censorship. He en- 
 tirely favored Cato's political views. See Introd. imperi dede- 
 
 cus : Flamininus was at the time Roman governor of the district. 
 
 43 audivi e : Cic. uses midire ex, ab, and de aliquo, almost indif- 
 ferently. porro : ' in turn ' ; literally ' farther on ', here = ' farther 
 
 back'; cf. Livy 27, 51. C. Fabricium : seen, on 15. Cinea : 
 
 the famous diplomatist, minister of Pyrrhus. He was a pupil of De- 
 mosthenes and himself one of the most famous orators of his time. 
 Cineas was the ambassador who tried to negotiate jieace on the occa- 
 sion mentioned in 16. se sapientem profiteretur : the omission 
 
 of ^jj^ is common in such phrases; e.g. Fin. 5, 13 Strata physiciim si 
 voluit. Epicurus, who is licre meant (born 342 H. C, died 270), was 
 blamed for calling him.self (7o<p6% or sapiens. Others, says Cicero, who
 
 90 NOTES TO CATO MAIOR. [43 
 
 had borne the title had waited for the public to confer it on them (Fin. 
 
 2, 7). eumque : 'and yet he'; cf. n. on 13 vixitqiie. fa- 
 
 ceremus : for the tense cf. n. on 42 efficeret ; also expeteretur below. 
 ad . . . referenda : ' ought to be judged by the standard of pleas- 
 ure ', / e. anything which brings pleasure may be regarded as good, 
 and its opposite bad. So in Greek iwavacpfpeiu tI ds ri. On the 
 moral teachings of Epicurus consult Zeller, Stoics, Epicureans, and 
 Sceptics, Ch. 19; Ueberweg, History of Philosophy, § 59; Guyan, La 
 morale d'fipicure et ses rapports avec les doctrines contcmporaines. 
 
 Curium ... Coruncanium : see n. on 15. id...persua- 
 
 deretur : intransitive verbs are used in the passive only impersonally 
 (Roby, 1422; A. 230; G. 199, Rem. i ; H. 301, i); when so used the 
 dative may follow as in the active (see Madvig, 244, d; G. 208; H. 
 384, 5). A neuter pronoun in the singular sometimes, as here, accom- 
 panies the passive, and may be regarded as an adverbial accusative of 
 respect or extent, or as a nominative qualifying the impersonal subject. 
 The former is probably the real construction. Cf. Roby, 1423, and 
 
 Madvig, 229, d, Obs. i. Samnitibus : then in alliance with Pyr- 
 
 rhus. vixerat . . . cum : not to be taken literally of living in the 
 
 same house; the phrase merely indicates close friendship. In Acad. 
 2, 1 1 5 Cic. writes Diodoto qui mecutn vivit tot annos, qui habitat apml 
 me, clearly showing that the phrases vivere cum aliquo and habitare apuci 
 
 aliquem are not equivalent. P. Decio : this is P. Decius Mus, who 
 
 at the battle of Sentinum in 295 gave his life as a propitiatory offering 
 to the powers of the unseen world, in order to bring victory to the 
 Roman arms. His father had sacrificed himself in the same way at the 
 battle of Veseris (close to Vesuvius) in 340, fought against the Latins 
 
 and Campanians. devoverat : Liv. 10, 28, 13 (speech of Decius) 
 
 datuTH hoc nostra generi est 11 1 luendis pericidis publicis pi acuta simus ; 
 iam ego mecum hostiiim legiones mactajtdas Telluri et dis Matti- 
 
 bus dabo. aliquid etc.: 'some principle'; in his philosophical 
 
 works Cicero often confounds the Epicureans by quoting the action of 
 the Decii and others like it, as showing that pleasure is not the end 
 of existence. Cf. especially Fin. 2, 61 P. Decius cum se devoverat et 
 equo admisso in mediam aciem Latinorum imtebat, aliquid de voluptati- 
 bus suis cogitabat? Cf. also below, 75. With regard to uatura seen. 
 
 on 5. sua sponte : ' for its own sake ' ; * on its own account ' 
 
 Cf. Leg. I, 45 vera et falsa sua sponte tion aliena iudicantur, where a 
 few lines later sua natura occurs as equivalent to sua sponte ex=
 
 44j NOTES TO CATO MAIOR. 91 
 
 peteretur : em. iox peteretur \w the MSS. 'Y\\(i \io\6i?, expetere, expe- 
 tendum are technically used in Cicero's philosoi)liical \vor..s to express 
 the Greek alp^laQai, alptrov as applied to the finis or reAoy, the supreme 
 aim of moral action. Pn/c/ini>n above is a translation of the Greek 
 KaKov, a term constantly applied to the t«Aos, ixuticularly by the Stoics. 
 
 spreta et contempta : the first word is much the stronger of 
 
 the two ; speniere \s KUTacppofeiu, 'to scorn'; cotitcuDiere 6Kiywpf7a-dai, 
 ' to make light of ', ' hold of no account '. Contemnere is often no 
 stronger in sense than omittere, ' to pass by, neglect '. Cf. 65 contemni, 
 
 despici. optimus quisque : see A. 93, c; G. 305; H. 458, i. 
 
 P. 19. — 44. cruditate : 'indigestion'. insomniis : 'sleei> 
 
 lessness'; the singular insomniiiin occurs only once in prose (Tac. 
 
 Ann. II, 4). Insomnia, ae is found only in poetry and late prose. 
 
 divine : this word in Cic. often means nothing more than ' splendidly ', 
 
 'extraordinarily'. escam malorum : 'an enticement to evil' 
 
 (esca = ed-ca, from the root of edo). Plato in the Timaeus 69 D (a dia- 
 logue translated into Latin by Cicero, a fragment of whose translation 
 is still preserved) has r]Sovriu ntytaTov kukov SfXeap. Cf. also Cic. 
 Hortensius fr. 76 (ed. Halm) voluptates corporis quae vcre et graviter a 
 
 Platone dictae sunt illecebrae esse atqite escae malorum. modicis : 
 
 for the sake of variety Cic. chooses this, not moderatis, as the opposite 
 
 of Immoderatls. Trans, 'a moderate amount of goodfellowship'. 
 
 ^. ¥. =: Marci Jlllum. devicerat : pluperfect where a modern 
 
 would incline to use a perfect. The battle referred to is that of Mylae, 
 fought in 260; its memory was perpetuated by the decking of ihcfo- 
 rutn with the rostra of the captured ships ; the columna rostrata bore 
 
 a long inscription, a restored version of which still e.xists. cena : 
 
 so best spelt ; some good texts still print caena, but coena is decidedly 
 wrong, being based on the fiction that the Latin borrowed the Greek 
 word KOivi] and turned it into coena. cereo funali : ' the torch- 
 light'; cereo, the em. of Mommsen for crebro ; the fu mile was a torch 
 composed of withs or twigs twisted intf) a rope (funis) and dipped in 
 
 pitch or oil. sibi .. . sumpserat : Cic. seems to think that Duil- 
 
 lius assumed these honors on his own authority. This was jjrobably 
 not the case ; they were most likely conferred on him by a vote of the 
 comitia tributa. Cf. Liv. epit. 17 C. Duillius primus omnium Roma- 
 norum ducum navalls vlctorlae duxlt trlumphum, ob qiiam causam ei 
 perpetuus quoque honos habitus est, ut rez'ertentl a cena tlblclne cafient' 
 funale praeferretur. No other instance is known where these partioi
 
 92 NOTES TO CATO MAIOR. [44. 
 
 lar distinctions were decreed ; the nearest parallel lies in the right 
 accorded to Paulus Macedonicus and to Pompeius to wear the trium- 
 phal /i?om /;V/<2 for life on each occasion of tht hcdi. It maybe con- 
 jectured that the music and the torch were part of the ceremony on 
 the evening of a triumph when the triiimphator was escorted home. 
 
 Cf. Floras i, 18, 10, ed. Halm. nullo exemplo : 'without any 
 
 precedent '. privatus : any person \s privatiis who is not actually 
 
 in office at the moment referred to, whether he has led a public life or 
 
 not. licentiae : a strong word is used to mark the heinousness 
 
 of Duillius' supposed offence against ancestral custom. 
 
 45. alios : sc. noviino. primum : the corresponding deiuJe is 
 
 omitted, as often. sodalis : the sodalitates or sodalitia, brother- 
 hoods for the perpetuation of certain rites accompanied with feasting, 
 were immemorial institutions at Rome. The clause sodalitates ...ac- 
 ceptis must not be taken to mean that Cicero supposed these brother- 
 hoods to have been first instituted in the time of Cato; it is only 
 introduced to show that Cato, so far from being averse to good living, 
 assisted officially in the establishment of new clubs. Most of the so- 
 dalitates were closely connected with i\i& gens ; all members of 2i gens 
 were sodales and met together to keep up the old sacra, but in histor- 
 ical times fictitious kinship largely took the place of real kinship, and 
 feasting became almost the sole raison d'etre of these clubs. [See 
 Mommsen's treatise De collegiis et sodaliciis Jiomatiis.'\ The parallel 
 of the London City Companies readily suggests itself. The national 
 sodalitates or priesthoods such as those of the Sodales Titii, Lnperci, 
 
 Aitgustales etc. were somewhat different. autem : for the form of 
 
 the parenthesis cf. 7. Magnae Matris : the image of Cybele was 
 
 brought to Rome in 204 B. c. from Pessinus in Phrygia. See Liv. 29, 
 10. The Sacra are called Idaea from Mount Ida in Phrygia, which 
 was a great centre of the worship of Cybele. Acceptis, sc. in civitatem ; 
 the worship of strange gods was in principle illegal at Rome unless 
 
 expressly authorized by the State. igitur : the construction of 
 
 the sentence is broken by the introduction of the parenthesis, and a 
 fresh start is made with ep7ilabar igitur. Igitur is often thus used, like 
 our 'well then ', to pick up the broken thread of a sentence. So often 
 
 sed or ergo. fervor: Cf. Hor. Od. i, 16, 22 7ne qitoqne pectoris 
 
 temptavit in dulci iuventa fervor. aetatis, qua progrediente : 
 
 'belonging to that time of life, but as life advances'. The word aetas 
 has really two senses here ; in the first place it is bona aetas or inventus
 
 46] NOTES TO CATO MAI OR. 93 
 
 (cf. 39 where aefas = seitecii/s), in the second place 7'ita (for which sec 
 
 n. on 5). neque enim : the enim refers to modice. coetu . . . 
 
 sermonibus : for the order of the words see n. on i aninii tui. 
 
 metiebar : cf . n. on 43 referenda. accubitionem : a r'c.v Cicero- 
 
 tiiana, rarely found in other authors. vitae coniunctionem : ' a 
 
 common enjoyment of life '. turn .. . turn : here purely temporal, 
 
 'sometimes ... sometimes '; often however := 'both ... and '; cf. 7. 
 
 compotationem etc. : cf. Epist. ad Fam. 9, 24, 3. Compotatio = 
 
 crv/xiroaioi' ; concenatio ^= (Tvu^attvov. in eo genere : see n. on 4. 
 
 id : /. e. eating and drinking. 
 
 46. tempestivis . . . conviviis : 'even in protracted banc)uets'. 
 Those banquets which began early in order that they might last long 
 were naturally in bad repute, so that the phrase tempestivum convivintn 
 often has almost the sense of 'a debauch*. Thus in Att. 9, i, 3 Cic- 
 ero describes himself as being evil spoken of in tempestivis conviviis, 
 i. e. in dissolute society. Cf. pro Arch. 13. The customary dinner 
 hour at Rome was about three o'clock in the afternoon. The word 
 tempeslivtts, which in 5 means 'at the right time', here means 'before 
 the right time '. So in English ' in good time ' often means ' too 
 early'. See Becker's Callus, p- 451 et seq. qui pauci : the sub- 
 stitution of the nominative of the relative for the partitive genitive 
 (qiiorum) is not uncommon. A. 216, e; G. 36S, Rem. 2; H. 397, 2, n. 
 
 pauci admodum : Cic. usually says admodum pauci rather than 
 
 pauci adtnodum. vestra aetate : =^ eis qui sunt vestra aetate. Cl. 
 
 n. on 26 senectus. sermonis ... sustulit : notice the indicatives 
 
 auxit, sustulit, the relative clauses being attributive, though they might 
 fairly have been expected here to be causal. G. 627; H. 517, 2. In 
 
 this passage Cic. imitates Plato, Rep. 328 D. helium indicere : 
 
 common in the metaphorical sense; e. g. De Or. 2, 155 niiror cur phi- 
 losophiae prope bellum indixeris ; Hor. Sat. i, 5, 7 7'entri indico bclliim. 
 cuius est etc. : /. e. nature sanctions a certain amount of pleas- 
 ure. This is the Peripatetic notion of the 7nean, to which Cicero often 
 gives expression, as below, 77 ; also in Acad, i, 39; 2, 139; and in De 
 Off.; so Hor. Sat. i, i, 106 sunt certi denique fines quos ultra citraque 
 
 nequit consistere rectum ; cf. Od. 2, 10. non intellego ne : for the 
 
 negatives cf. nn. on 24, 27. 
 
 P. 20. — magisteria : generally explained as referring to the 
 practice of ai)pointing at each dinner a 'master of the feast', arbiter 
 bibendi or avfnrocnipx-ri^- This explanation is not quite correct
 
 94 NOTES TO CATO MAIOR. [4ft. 
 
 Mommsen shows in his work ^ de collegits* that each one of the coHegtit 
 or sodalicia annually appointed a tnagister ccnariim whose dutj It was 
 to attend to the club-dinners during his year of office and no doubt to 
 preside at them. That some office is meant more important than that 
 of the arbiter bibendi appointed for a particular feast is shown by the 
 words a maioribus itistitiita. It is scarcely likely that Cicero was igno- 
 rant of the Greek origin of the custom of appointing an arbiter bibendi. 
 
 et is sermo etc. : ' and the kind of talk in which following the 
 
 fashion of our fathers we engage, beginning at the upper table, as the 
 cup goes round '. The cup c'.rculated from left to right, not, as with 
 us, from right to left. The guests at a Roman dinner reclined on three 
 couches, placed at three tables ; two of the couches [lecti) were par- 
 allel, and the third was at right angles to the other two. The lectus 
 at which the cup began to circulate was summits, the next viedins, the 
 last imiis. For a siimmo cf. da {sc. bibere) a summo in Plaut. Asin. 5, 
 
 2,41. See Becker's Gallus, p. 471 et seq. sicut...est: 'as we 
 
 find '; so Off. i, 32 7it in fabulis est, and often. in Symposio: 
 
 2, 26. minuta : see n. on 52. rorantia : here with an active 
 
 sense, 'besprinkling', representing kini^^Ka.^iiv in Xenophon; often 
 however not different in sense from 'r(7j«(/rt '. -^— refrigeratio ... 
 hibernus : cf. closely 57 ubi et seq. Note the changes of expression 
 in passing from refrigeratio to sol {npricatio would have more exactly 
 corresponded with refrigeratio) and from aestate to hibernus (for hieme). 
 
 in Sabinis : 'when with the Sabines', who were celebrated for 
 
 their simplicity of life. Cato had an estate in the Sabine district. 
 
 convivium vicinorum compleo : ' I make up (/. e. to the proper num- 
 ber) a company of my neighbors'. quod . . . producimus : 'and 
 
 we continue our companionship to as late an hour as we can, with 
 changing talk'. The phrases 7milta node or de node 'late in the 
 night', fnidto die 'late in the day', are common; cf. also Att. 13, 9, i 
 multiis sermo ad multum diem; Rep. 6, 10 sermonem in multam noc- 
 tern prodnxim us. 
 
 47. at: so in 21, where see n. quasi titillatio : VciQ quasi, z.s 
 
 often in Cicero's writings, marks a translation from the Greek. Here 
 the Epicurean word yapyaXtcr/di^ is referred to; it is often in Cic. rep- 
 resented by titillatio: cf. N. I), i, 113; Fin. i, 39; Tusc. 3, 47. 
 
 bene : sc. dixit. affecto aetate : 'wrought on by age'. Cf. De 
 
 Or. 1 , 200 in eius injirmissima valetudine affedaque iam aetate, — — 
 Uteretume etc.: 'whether he still took pleasure in love'; uti-=sfrui
 
 +9] xNOTES TO CATO MAIOR. 95 
 
 Cf. Ovid, Met. 4, 259 dementer aniorihus uti with Cic. Tiisc. 4, 6S 
 
 venereis volicptatibus frui. di meliora : sc. duint ; this archaic 
 
 form usually occurs when the phrase is given in full. The story of 
 Sophocles is taken by Cicero from Plato (Rep. 329 b) who has 
 
 (iicprifin. istinc etc. : cf. the passage in Plato, Rep. I, 329 c. For 
 
 is/i/ic used otherwise than of place cf. iinde in 12 with n. agresti : 
 
 ' boorish ' ; rusticus denotes simply an ordinary countryman. 
 
 quamquam . • . ergo : these words may be scanned as a he.xameter 
 line, but the pause before ergo would prevent them from being taken 
 
 as averse. hoc non desiderare : 'this absence of regret'; the 
 
 words form the subject of est. So hoc non dolere in Fin. 2, iS. For 
 the pronoun in agreement with the infinitive treated as noun cf. Persius 
 1,9 istudvivere; 1,122 hoc ridere ineiiin. H. 538, 3. 
 
 48. si: 'even if, 'granting that'. bona aetas : 'the good 
 
 time of life ', /. e. youth. Tischer qu. Varro de Re Rustica 2, 6, 2 viares 
 feminaeque bona aetate = ' young '. For bona aetas = homines bona 
 
 aetate cf. n. on 26 senectus. ut diximus : not expressly, but the 
 
 opinion is implied in 44, 45. Turpione Ambivio: L. Ambivius 
 
 Turpio was the most famous actor of Cato's time, and appeared es- 
 pecially in Terence's plays. In old Latin commonly, occasionally in 
 the Latin of the best period, and often in Tacitus, the cognomen is 
 placed before the nomen when the praenomen is not mentioned. Cf. 
 Att. II, 12, I Balbo Cornelio. The usage is more common in Cicero's 
 
 writings than in those of his contemporaries. prima cavea : ' the 
 
 lower tier '. The later Roman theatres consisted of semicircular or 
 elliptic galleries, with rising tiers of seats; the level space partially 
 enclosed by the curve was the orchestra, which was bounded by the 
 stage in front. There can be little doubt that Cicero is guilty of 
 an anachronism here; his words do not suit the circumstances of 
 Cato's time. Till nearly the end of the Republic the theatres were 
 rude structures of wood, put up temporarily; it is even doubtful 
 whether they contained seats for the audience. Cato himself frus- 
 trated an attempt to establish a permanent theatre. propter : 
 
 'close by'. The adverbial use oi propter (rarely, if ever, met with 
 outside of Cicero) is denied by some scholars, but is well attested by 
 
 MSS. here and elsewhere. tantum ...est : these words qualify 
 
 dclectatur 
 
 49. ilia : put for illud, as in Greek toCto and Tt(5€ are often put 
 tor TovTO and reJSe. The words from animum to the end of the sen
 
 96 NOTES T^ CATO MAIOR. [49 
 
 tence are explanatory of ilia. quanti : ' how valuable 1 * but the 
 
 word may have exactly the opposite meaning if the context require it ; 
 
 thus in N. D. i, 55 and Rep. 6, 25 the sense is ' how worthless!' 
 
 stipendiis : ' campaigns '. The four words from lihidinis to inimici- 
 tiarum are to be taken in pairs, while ciipiditatum sums them up and 
 
 is in apposition to all. secum esse : cf. Tusc. i, 75; Pers. 4, 52 
 
 tecum habita. si .. . aliquod : the sense is scarcely different from 
 
 i\^dX oi si . . . quod ; the distinction is as slight as that in English be- 
 tween 'if ' followed by ' some ', and ' if ' followed by * any '. Cf. n. on 
 
 Lael. 24 si quando aliquid. pabulum : for the metaphorical sense 
 
 rendered less harsh by tamquain, cf. Acad. 2, 127; Tusc. 5, 66 pastus 
 
 animorum. studi : an explanatory genitive dependent on palm- 
 
 Intn. otiosa senectute : 'leisured age'; otium in the Latin of 
 
 Cicero does not imply idleness, but freedom from public business and 
 
 opportunity for the indulgence of literary and scientific tastes. 
 
 videbamus : for the tense cf. Lael. 37 Gracchiim rem ptchlicam vex- 
 atitetti ab amicis derelictum videbamus, i. e. ' we saw over a considerable 
 
 period '. See also 50, 79. in studio etc. : ' busied with the task 
 
 of almost measuring bit by bit (di-vietietidi) the heavens and the earth '. 
 
 For the sense cf. Hor. Od. i, 28 (of Archytas). Galium : consul 
 
 in 157 B.C., famous as an astronomer and as the first Roman who 
 predicted an eclipse before the battle of Pydna. See Liv. 44, 37. 
 
 P. 21. — describere : technically used of the drawing of mathe- 
 matical figures. Ingredior often has an infinitive dependent on it 
 even in the best Latin ; e. g. Cic. Top. i nos maiores 7-es scribere 
 ingrcssos. 
 
 50. acutis : requiring keenness of intellect. Naevius : see n. 
 
 on 20. Truculento . . . Pseudolo : these plays of Plautus (lived 
 
 from 254 to 1S4 B. c.) we still possess. The Truculentus is so named 
 from one of the characters, a slave of savage disposition who is whee- 
 dled; the Pseudolus from a cheating slave. The latter name is com- 
 monly supposed to be a transcription from a Greek word y\iev^v\os, 
 which however nowhere occurs; and as the change from Greek v to 
 Latin o is not found before /, Corssen assumes if euS-oAoy as the origi- 
 nal word. The form Pscudulus of the name is probably later than 
 
 Pseudolus. Livium : Livius Andronicus, the founder of Latin 
 
 literature (lived from about 2S5 to 204 B.C.), who translated the 
 Odyssey, also many Greek tragedies. Livius was a Greek captured 
 by Livius Salinator at Tarentum in 271; B.C.; for a time he was the
 
 5oJ MOTES TO CATO MAIOR. 97 
 
 slave of Livius, and, according to custom, took his name wnen set 
 free. For an account of his writings see Cruttwell's Hist, of Roman 
 
 Literature, Ch. 3; Sellar, Roman Poets of the Rej)., C'h. 3. do- 
 
 cuisset : 'had brought on to the stage'. Doccrc (like hihiaKnv in 
 Greek, which has the same use) meant originally to instruct the per- 
 formers in the play. Centone Tuditanoque consulibus : i.e 
 
 in 240 B. c. The use of que here is noticeable; wl len a date is given 
 by reference to the consuls of the year it is usual to insert et (not qut 
 or atque, which rarely occur) between the two names, if only the cogno- 
 tniim (as here) be given. If the full names be given, then they are 
 
 put side by side without et. Cf. n. on 10. Crassi : see n. on 27. 
 
 pontifici et civilis iuris : the ms pontijicium regarded mainly 
 
 the proper modes of conducting religious ceremonial. lus civile, which 
 is often used to denote the whole body of Roman Law, here includes 
 
 only the secular portion of that Law. Cf. n. on 38. huius P. 
 
 Scipionis : 'the present P. Scipio'. So in 14 /// awjw/^j' the present 
 consuls'; Rep. i, 14 Africamis hie, Pauli filius, and often. The P. 
 
 Scipio who is meant here is not Africanus, but Nasica Corculum. 
 
 flagrantis : 'all aglow'; so ardere studio in Acad. 2, 65. senes : 
 
 = cum seizes essent, so senem below. suadae meduUam : 'the 
 
 essence (lit. marrow) of persuasiveness'. The lines of Ennius are 
 preserved by Cicero, Brut. 58. Suada is a translation of ireiBdi, which 
 the Greek rhetoricians declared to be the end and aim of oratory. 
 This Cethegus was consul in 204 and in 203 defeated Mago in the N. 
 
 of Italy. exerceri : here reflexive in meaning. A. in, n. i ; G. 
 
 209; H. 465. videbamus : see n. on 49. comparandae : 
 
 for the idea oi possibility which the gerundive sometimes has (but only 
 in negative sentences or interrogative sentences implying a negative 
 answer, and in conditional clauses) see Madvig, 420, Obs. ; Roby, 
 1403. haec quidem : a short summary of the preceding argu- 
 ments, preparatory to a transition to a new subject, introduced by 
 venio mcnc ad. The succession of two clauses both containing quidem 
 seems awkward, but occurs in Fin. 5, 80 and elsewhere. hones- 
 turn sit : 'does him honor'. ut ante dixi : in 26, where see the 
 
 notes. potest esse : Meissner (n. on 27) says that Cicero's rule 
 
 is to sa.y potest esse, debet esse and the like, not esse potest and the like. 
 It is true that esse in such cases is very seldom separated from the 
 word on which it depends, but esse potest is just as common as potest 
 esse ; the difference to the sense is one of emphasis only, the esse hav- 
 ing more em[)hasis thrown on it in the latter case.
 
 98 NOTES TO CATO MAIOR. [51^ 
 
 51. mihi . . . videntur : see Introd. habent rationem cum; 
 
 'they have their reckonings with', 'their dealings with'; a phrase 
 
 of book-keeping. imperium : so Verg. Georg. i, 99 exa-cetqiu, 
 
 freqiiens tellurem atqiie impcrat agris ; ib. 2, 369 dura exerct 
 iviperia et rainos compescc Jlncntes ; Tac. Germ. 26 sola terrae seges im^ 
 
 perahir. sed alias . . . f aenore : put for sed semper cum faenore, 
 
 alias minore, plerumqiie maiore. vis ac natura : ' powers and con 
 
 stitution '. These two words are very often used by Cic. together, as 
 
 in Fin. I, 50 vis ac natura rerum. gremio : so Lucret. i, 250 
 
 pereunt imbres ubi eos pater aether In gremium matris terrai praecipita- 
 
 vit, imitated by Verg. Georg. 2, 325. mollito ac subacto : /. e. 
 
 by the plough, Suhigere, 'subdue', is a technical word of agriculture; 
 so Verg. Georg. 2, 50 scrobibus sicbactis ; see also below, 59. 
 
 P. 22. — occaecatum : 'hidden'. Caecus has the sense of 'un- 
 seen ' as well as that of ' unseeing ' or 'blind '. occatio : Cicero's 
 
 derivation, as well as Varro's (De Re Rust, i, 31, i) from occidere, be- 
 cause the earth is cut up, is unsound. Occa is rastrum, probably from 
 
 its sharp points (root ak-] ; occatio therefore is ' harrowing '. va- 
 
 pore : 'heat'. This word has not in the best Latin the meaning of 
 
 our 'vapor'. compressu : a word found only here in Cicero's 
 
 writings and elsewhere in Latin only in the ablative case, like so many 
 
 other nouns whose stem ends in -11. diffundit et elicit : ' expands 
 
 and lures forth '. herbescentem : this word occurs nowhere else 
 
 in Latin. nixa: A. 254, b\ G. 403, Rem. 3; H. 425, i, i), n. 
 
 fibris stirpium : so Tusc. 3, 13 radicum fibras. geniculato : 
 
 ' knotted '. The verb geniciilo, from genu, scarcely occurs excepting 
 in the passive participle, which is always used, as here, of plants. So 
 Plin. Nat. Hist. 16, 158 geniculata cetera gracilitas nodisque distincta, 
 
 speaking of the harimdo. spici : besides spica, the forms spicum 
 
 and spicus are occasionally found. Spici here is explanatory oifriigem. 
 
 '■ vallo : for the metaphor compare N. D. 2, 143 jnunitae sunt pal- 
 
 pebrae tatnqiiam vallo pilorum ; Lucr. 2, 537. 
 
 52. quid ego ... commemorem : this and similar formulae for 
 passing to a new subject are common ; cf. 53 quid ego . ..pro/eram etc. ; 
 often nam precedes the quid, as in Lael. 104. The ego has a slight 
 emphasis. Cato implies that his own devotion to grape-culture was so 
 
 well known as not to need description. ortus satus incrementa : 
 
 ' origin, cultivation, and growth '. For the omission of the copula see 
 n. on 53. ut : final, and slightly elliptic {' I say this that etc.') ; -io
 
 53] NOTES TO CATO MAIOR. ^g 
 
 in 6 (where see n.), -4. 56, 59, S2. requietem : the best MSS. of 
 
 Cic. sometimes give the other form requiem, as in Arch. 13. vim 
 
 ipsam : ' the inherent energy '• omnium . . . terra : a common peri- 
 phrasis for 'all plants'; cf. c. g. N. D. 2, 120. The Latin has no one 
 
 word to comprehend all vegetable products. quae . . . procreet : 
 
 • able to generate '. tantulo : strictly elliptic, implying quantuhim 
 
 re vera est. In such uses taut us and tanttdus differ slightly from viag- 
 
 nus and pan-us : they are more emphatic. acini vinaceo : ' a 
 
 grape-stone '. minutissimis : used here for tninitnis. Strictly 
 
 speaking tnimitiis ought to be used of things which are fragments of 
 larger things, mimitiis being really the participle passive of muaio. 
 In a well-known passage (Orat. 94) Cic. himself calls attention to the 
 theoretical incorrectness of the use, which, however, is found through- 
 out Latin literature. Cf. 46 pocula minuta; also below, 85 juiiiuti 
 
 philosophi. malleoli : vine-cuttings ; so called because a portion 
 
 of the parent stem was cut away with the new shoot, leaving the cut- 
 
 ting in the shape of a mallet. plantae : ' suckers *, shoots spring 
 
 ing out of the trunk. sarmenta : 'scions', shoots cut from 
 
 branches not from the trunk viviradices : 'quicksets', new 
 
 plants formed by dividing the roots of the mother plant. propa- 
 
 gines : 'layers', new plants formed by rooting a shoot in the earth 
 
 without severing it from the parent plant; Verg. Georg. 2, 26. 
 
 eadem : n. on 4 eainkin. claviculis : cf. N. D. 2, 120 vites sic 
 
 claviculis. ars agricolarum : agricolae arte freti, a strong instance 
 
 of the abstract put for the concrete. 
 
 53. eis : sc. samientis, those which have not been pruned away by 
 
 the knife. exsistit : 'springs up '. Exsistere in good Latin never 
 
 has the meaning of our ' exist ', /. e. ' to be in e.xistence ', but always 
 
 means * to conie into existence '. articulos : 'joints'; cf. 51 atlrno 
 
 geniadato. The word tanKjuam softens the metaphor in articuli, which 
 
 would properly be used only of the joints in the limbs of animals. 
 
 gemma : Cicero took the meaning 'gem ' or 'jewel ' to be the primary 
 sense of gemma and considered that the application to a bud was 
 metaphorical. .See the well-known passages, Orat. 81 and De Or. 3, 
 
 155. vestita pampinis : 'arrayed in the young foliage'. 
 
 fructu ... aspectu : aljjatives of respect, like ^^^j/a/// above. ca- 
 
 pitum iugatio : 'the linking together of their tops'; /. e. the uniting 
 of the tops of the stakes by cross-stakes. So the editors ; but Con- 
 ington on Verg. Georg. 2, 355 seems to take capita of the top-foliage
 
 lOO NOTES TO CATO MAIOR. L53- 
 
 of the vines, an interpetation which is quite possible. Those editors 
 are certainly wrong who remove the comma after iugatio and place it 
 after religatio, as though et were omitted between the two words. In 
 enumerations of more than two things Cic. either omits the copula 
 altogether or inserts it before each word after the first; but in enumer- 
 ating two things et cannot be omitted, except where there are several 
 
 sets or pai>-s of things. Cf. n. on 13. religatio : /. e. the tying 
 
 down of shoots so as to cause them to take root in the earth. Religa- 
 tio seems to occur only here. 
 
 P. 23. — aliorum immissio : ' the granting of free scope to others '. 
 Iiufnissio scarcely occurs elsewhere in good Latin. The metaphor is 
 from letting loose the reins in driving; cf. Verg. Georg. 2, 364; Plin. 
 N. H. 16, 141 atpressus immittitur in perticas asseresque ampictatione 
 ramorum ; Varro, R. R. i, 31, i vitis immittitur ad uvas pariendas. 
 Some, referring to Columella de Arbor, c. 7, take the word to mean 
 the setting in the earth of a shoot in order that it may take root before 
 being separated from the parent stem. The context, however, is 
 
 against this interpretation. irrigationes etc ; the plurals denote 
 
 more prominently than singulars would the repetition of the actions 
 
 expressed by these words. repastinationes : ' repeated hoeings '. 
 
 Thepastinum was a kind of pitchfork, used for turning over the ground 
 round about the vines, ])articularly when the young plants were being 
 put in. multo terra fecundior : see n. on 3 pariim . . . anctoritatis, 
 
 54. in eo libro : see Introd. doctus : often used of poets, not 
 
 only by Cicero but by most other Latin writers, more particularly by 
 
 the elegiac poets ; see also n. on 13. Hesiodus : the oldest Greek 
 
 poet after Homer. The poem referred to here is the"Ep7a koX 'H/xf pat, 
 which we still possess, along with the Theogony and the Shield of 
 
 Heracles. cum : concessive. saeculis : 'generations', as in 
 
 24. iuit : = 7Jixit. Laerten : the passage referred to is no 
 
 doubt the touching scene in Odyss. 24, 226, where Odysseus, after kill- 
 ing the suitors, finds his unhappy old father toiling in his garden. In 
 
 that passage nothing is said of manuring. lenientem : see n. on 
 
 1 1 dividenti. colentem etc. : the introduction of another parti- 
 ciple to explain lenientem. is far from elegant. Cidtione agri or some- 
 thing of the kind might have been expected. The collocation of 
 
 appete)itcm with occupatum in 56 is no less awkward. facit : n. 
 
 on 3 facimus res rusticae laetae sunt : ' the farmer's life is 
 
 gladdened '. apium : this form is oftener found in the best MSS.,
 
 $6] NOTES TO CATO MAIOR. loi 
 
 of prose writers at least, than the other form apum, which probably 
 
 was not used bv Cic. omnium : = omnis generis. consi- 
 
 tiones . . . insitiones : 'planting ... grafting'. On the varieties of 
 grafting and the skill required for it see Verg. Georg. 2, 73 seq. 
 
 55. possum: see n. on 24. ignoscetis : 'you will excuse 
 
 (me)'. provectus sum: 'I have been carried away'. Cicero 
 
 often uses prolabi in the same sense. in hac . . . consumpsit : 
 
 Cic. probably never, as later writers did, used eonsumere ^\\h. a simple 
 
 ablative. Curius : see n. on 1 5. a me : = a mca villa ; cf . n. 
 
 on 3 apud quern. admirari satis non possum: a favorite form 
 
 of expression with Cicero; e.g. De Or. i, 165. disciplinam : 
 
 'morals'; literally 'teaching '. 
 
 56. Curio : Plutarch, Cat. 2, says the ambassadors found him 
 cooking a dinner of herbs, and that Curius sent them away with the 
 remark that a man who dined in that way had no need of gold. The 
 present was not brought as a bribe, since the incident took place after 
 the war. Curius had become patronits of the Samnites, and they were 
 
 bringing the customary offering of clientes ; see Rep. 3, 40. ne : 
 
 here ^ nuni, a rare use; so Fin. 3, 44; Acad. 2, 116. sed venio 
 
 ad : so in 51 7'e)tio nunc ad. Redeo ad (see n. on 32) might have been 
 
 expected here. in agris erant : ' lived on their farms '. For 
 
 erant cf. n. on 21 sunt. id est senes : cf. 19 n. on senatum. 
 
 si quidem : often written as one word siquidem = fl'Trep. aranti : 
 
 emphatic position. Cincinnato : L. Quinctius Cincinnatus is 
 
 said to have been dictator twice ; in 458 B. c, when he saved the Ro- 
 man army, which was surrounded by the Aequians, and ended the war 
 in sixteen days from his appointment ; in 439, when Maelius was killed 
 and Cincinnatus was eighty years old. In our passage Cic. seems to 
 assume only one dictatorship. The story of Cincinnatus at the plough 
 
 is told in Livy 3, 26. factum : the technical term was dicere dicta- 
 
 torem, since he was nominated by tne consul on the advice of the 
 senate. dictatoris : in apposition with cuius. 
 
 p. 24. — Maelium : a rich plebeian, who distributed corn in time 
 of famine and was charged with courting the people in order to make 
 himself a king. Ahala summoned him before the dictator, and be- 
 cause he did not immediately obey, killed him with his own hand. 
 For this, .\hala became one of the heroes of his nation. See Liv. 4, 
 13. Citero often mentions him with praise. Cf in Catil. I. 3; p
 
 102 NOTES TO CATO MAIOR. [56- 
 
 Sestio 143, etc. appetentem : = quia appetebat ; so occupattim = 
 
 cum occupasset. viatores : literally 'travellers', so 'messengers'. 
 
 They formed a regularly organized corporation at Rome and were in 
 attendance on many of the magistrates. Those officers who had the 
 fasces had also lictors, who, however, generally remained in close at- 
 tendance and were not despatched on distant errands. The statement 
 of Cic. in the te.xt is repeated almost verbatim by Plin. N. H. 18, 21. 
 
 miserabilis : 'to be pitied'. The word does not quite answer 
 
 1 1 our ' miserable '. agri cultione : a rare expression, found else- 
 
 "here only in Verr. 3, 226 ; then not again till the ' Fathers '. baud 
 
 scio an nulla : since hand scio an is affirmative in Cicero, not negative 
 IS in some later writers, nulla must be read here, not ulla. Cf. 73 
 haud scio an 7nelius Ennius, ' probably Ennius speaks better '; also 74 
 incertmn an hoc ipso die, ' possibly to-day '. Roby, 2256 ; G. 459, Rem. ; 
 
 H. 529, II. 3, 2), n. 2. quam dixi : = de qua dixi, as in 53. 
 
 saturitate : the word is said to occur nowhere else in Latin. 
 
 quidam : /. e. the authors of the ferfia 7'ifnperatio senectuiis, whom 
 
 Cato refutes in 39, 59. porco . . . gallina : these words are used 
 
 collectively, as rosa often is; so Fin. 2, 65 polantem in rosa Thorium. 
 iam : ' further '. succidiam alteram : ' a second meat- 
 supply'. The word seems to be connected with caedo,z.w6. probably 
 originally meant 'slaughter'. In a fragment of Cato preserved by 
 Gellius 13, 24, 12 (in some editions 13, 25, 12) we find succidias huma- 
 nas facere. Varro, R. R. 2, 14 has the word in the sense of 'meat'. 
 
 conditiora facit : ' adds a zest to ' ; cf. condita in 10. super- 
 
 vacaneis operis : 'by the use of spare time'; literally 'by means of 
 toils that are left over ', /. e. after completing the ordinary work of 
 the farm. 
 
 57. ordinibus : cf. 59 ordines. brevi praecidam : ' I will 
 
 cut the matter short'. Y ox praecidam {sc. rem or scrmoncm) cf. Acad. 
 2, 133 praecide {sc. sermonetn) ; for brevi (^ ' in brief ', iv fipaxf^) cf. De 
 
 Or. I, 34 ne plura consecter comprehendam brevi. usu uberius : 
 
 cf. 53 fructu laetius . . . aspectu pulchrius. ad quern . . . retardat : 
 
 some have thought that there is zeugma here, supposing ad to be 
 suited only to invitat, not to retardat. That this is not the case is 
 clear from such passages as Caes. B. G. 7, 26, 2 palus Romanes ad 
 insequendum tardabat {= tardos faciebat) ; Cic. Sull. 49 nullius amicitia 
 ad pericula propulsanda impcdimur. On friiendiim see Madvig, 421, a, 
 Obs. 2 and 265, Obs. 2; G. 42S, Rem. 3, exc; H. 544, 2, n. 5. in-
 
 39] NOTES TO CATO MAIOR. 103 
 
 vitat atque allectat : one of the ' doublets ' of which Cicero is so 
 fond ; cf. Lael. 99 alUctant et iiivitant. 
 
 58. sibi habeant : sc. iiivenes ; contemptuous, as in Lael. 18 sihi 
 habeant sapicntiae nomen ; Sull. 26 sibi haberent lionores, sibi imperia 
 
 etc. ; cf. the formula of Roman divorce, tu tuas res tibi habeto. 
 
 hastas : in practising, the point was covered by a button, ///<?; cf. 
 
 Liv. 26, 51 praepilatis missilibus iacidati stent. clavam : cf. Vegc- 
 
 tius de Re Mil. i, 11 clavas ligneas pro gladiis tironibus dabant, eoqtie 
 modo exercebantiir ad palos ; luv. 6, 246. The pa/us is called stipes 
 
 bv Martial 7, 32. pilam . . . venationes . . . cursus : all national 
 
 amusements, well known to readers of Horace; sec Becker's Gallus. 
 VenatioHes, em. for natatioiies. talcs ... tesseras : A?//, ' knuckle- 
 bones ', were oblong, and rounded at the two ends ; the sides were 
 numbered i and 6 (i being opposite to 6), 3 and 4. Four A/// were 
 used at a time and they, like the tesserae, were generally thrown from 
 a box, fritilliis. The tesserae, of which three were used at a time, were 
 cubes, with the sides numbered from i to 6 in such a way that the 
 numbers on two opposite sides taken together always made 7. A sep- 
 arate name was used by dicers for almost every possible throw of the 
 tesserae and tali. The two best known are canis, when all the dice 
 turned up with the same number uppermost; and venits, when they 
 all showed different numbers. The word alea was general and appli- 
 cable to games of chance of every kind. These games, which were 
 forbidden by many ineffectual laws {^vetita legibus alea') were held to 
 
 be permissible for old men; see Mayor on luv. 14, 4. id ipsum : 
 
 sc. facitiftt ; the omission oi facer e is not uncommon. Roby, I44l ; 
 H. 368, 3, n. I. ut : em. for ordinary readings unum and utrum. 
 
 59. legite : 'continue to read'. Cf. De Or. i, 34 pergite, utfacitis, 
 adulescentes. In Tusc. 2, 62 it is stated that Africanus was a great 
 reader of Xenophon. 
 
 P. 25. — libro qui est de : so in Fat. i libris qui sunt de natura 
 deonim, and similarly elsewhere; but the periphrasis is often avoided, 
 
 as in Off. 2, 16 Dicaearchi liber de interitii liominum. qui : quique 
 
 might have been expected,, but the words above, qui ...familiari, are 
 
 regarded as parenthetical Oeconomicus : Cicero translates from 
 
 this work c. 4, 20-25. inscribitur : see n. on 13. regale : 
 
 ' worthy of a king ' ; different from regiutn. which would mean ' actu- 
 ally characteristic of kings'. Yet Cic. sometimes interchanges the 
 words ; thus regalis potestas in Har. Resp. 54 is the same as regia
 
 I04 NOTES TO CATO MAIOR. [^9- 
 
 poteslas in Phil, i, 3. loquitur cum Critobulo etc.: 'dis- 
 courses with Critobulus of how Cyrus etc.'. The construction of 
 loqui with ace. and inf. belongs to colloquial Latin, as does the con- 
 struction loqid aliquam rem for de aliqua re ; cf. Att. i, 5, 6 mecufn 
 Tadius lociitns est te ita scripsisse ; ib. 9, 13, i niera scelera loqiiuntiir. 
 
 Cyrum minorem : Cyrus the younger (cf. 79 Cyrus maior)^ 
 
 well known from Xenophon's Anabasis. As Cyrus never arrived at 
 the throne (having been killed at Cunaxa in 401 in his attempt to oust 
 his brother the king with the help of the 10,000 Greeks) regem is used 
 in the sense of 'prince ', as in Verr. 4, 61 and elsewhere ; ^aaiXivs is 
 used in exactly the same way in a passage of the Oeconomicus which 
 
 comes a little before the one Cic. is here rendering (4, 16). Ly- 
 
 sander : the great commander who in 405 B.C. won the battle of 
 Aegospotamos against the Athenians. Sardis : ace. pi. ; -is repre- 
 sents Gk. -6JS. consaeptum agrum : ' park ' ; the phrase is a 
 
 translation of Xenophon's TrapaSaa-ov; this will account for the omis- 
 sion of et before diligenter consitum. diligenter : ' carefully '. 
 
 proceritates : the plural probably indicates the height of each kind 
 
 of tree. quincuncem : thus : This was the 
 
 order of battle in the Roman army during a great part of its history. 
 The cause for this application of the term is rather difficult to see ; it 
 originally meant five-twelfths of an uncia ; possibly it was thus ap- 
 plied because by drawing lines between the points the letter V (five) 
 might be produced. As regards its application to trees, see Verg. 
 
 Georg 2, 277-284. puram : so the farmers talk of 'cleaning' the 
 
 land. dimensa : notice the passive use of this participle, origi- 
 nally deponent ; cf. n. on 4 adeptam. discripta : 'arranged'; so 
 
 discriptio a little farther on. Cf. n. on 5 descriptae. ornatum : 
 
 ' costume ', used by Latin writers of any dress a little unfamiliar. So 
 in Plant. Miles 4, 4, 41 (1177 r) ornatus naudericus. 
 
 60. impedit : sc. nos ; with this construction the pronoun is always 
 
 omitted. Valerium : when a young man, in 349 b. c, he engaged 
 
 in combat with a Gaul, in sight of the Roman and Gallic armies, and 
 came off victor by the aid of a raven, corvus ; hence the name Cor- 
 vinus (Liv. 7, 26). His first consulship was in 348, his last in 299; 
 Cic. has miscalculated. Valerius was also twice dictator and is said 
 
 to have held altogether 21 terms of curule offices. perduxisse : 
 
 sc. agri colendi studia. Cf. Lael. 33 quod — perduxissent. esset :
 
 6i] NOTES TO CATO MAIOR. 105 
 
 cf. n. on 21. aetate : here = the vigorous period of hfe ; cf. bona 
 
 aetas in 48. cursus honorum : ' official career '. huius : ille 
 
 and hie are not often found in the same sentence referring to the same 
 
 person. Eius would have been more regular here. media : cf. n. 
 
 on '^'^ constautis aetatis. 
 
 P. 26. — apex : ' the crown ', ' the highest glory '. The word meant 
 originally 'knot', being connected with ap-tus ap-isci ap-ere and other 
 words containing the idea of binding fast or grasping. It was prop- 
 erly applied to the olive-twig bound round with wool, which was stuck 
 in the cap worn by \he Jlamines and salii. It is sometimes employed 
 to translate SidSTj/xa (a word originally of similar meaning), the royal 
 insigne, as in Horace, Odes, 3, 21, 20 regum apices, with which cf. 
 Odes, I, 34, 14. The word is scarcely found elsewhere in a meta- 
 phorical sense. Our passage is imitated by Ammianus Marcellinus 
 (a great imitator of Cicero) 27, 7, 2 Rufinus velut apicem honoratae 
 senectutis praetendens. 
 
 61. Metello : see n. on 30. A. Atilio Calatino : consul in 
 
 258 B.C. and again in 254; dictator in 249, censor In 247. Cicero 
 classed him with old heroes like Curius and Fabricius (Plane. 60). 
 His tomb was on the via Appia outside the Porta Capena, close to the 
 
 well-known toinb of the Scipios (see Tusc. i, 13). in quern... 
 
 elogium : ' in whose honor there is the inscription '. With in qucm 
 = de quo cf. the occasional occurrence of (cora tivos in the sense of 
 irepi Tivos. elogium : Greek 4\fyCiov (so Curtius) : for the rep- 
 resentation of 6 by cf. oliva with lAoia, and Plautus' lopadas for AeVa- 
 
 5as. But cf. Roby, 929, d. hunc etc.: the inscription (which is 
 
 quoted by Cicero also in Fin. 2, 116) is strikingly like that on the 
 tomb of Scipio Barhattis which has actually come down to us, and 
 thus begins (Ritschl's recension) : 
 
 hone oino ploirime eosentiont Romai 
 duonoro optumo fnise viro viroro 
 
 i. e. hunc unum plurimi consentiunt Romac bonorum optimum fuisse 
 virum virorum. Ritschl thus completes the elogium of Atilus, by 
 comparison with others still i:)reserved : dictator (ending the second 
 line), Consul, censor, aedilis hie fiiit afud vos. But Cicero's words 
 (notum . . . sepulcro) seem to imply a longer inscription than one ot 
 three lines; the analogy of the Scipionic inscriptions points the same 
 way. The older monumental inscriptions of Rome were written in
 
 lo6 NOTES TO CATO MAIOR. (.61- 
 
 the Saturnian metre, which depended partly on accent. The normal 
 line ran thus : 
 
 but there were many deviations. unum : intensifies prttnartun\ 
 
 'the very first'; cf. the common use of iinus with a superlative adjec- 
 tive, for which see n. on Lael. i jinum etc. esset consentiens : 
 
 cf. n. on 26 agens aliquid. nuper : like modo (see n. on 27) nuper 
 
 is loosely used, and has its meaning defined by the conte.xt. Cf. n. on 
 Lael. 13. In Plin. Ep. i, 2, 2 the orator Calvus, a younger contemporary 
 
 of Cicero, is said to have existed nuper. Lepidum : pontifex maxi- 
 
 musirom 180 B. c, consul in 187 and in 175 ; censor in 179; he is said to 
 have been chosen princeps senatiis by si.x sets of censors in succession. 
 He died in 152. Paulo : see 29 L. Aemilius with n. Max- 
 imo : see 10 et seq. sententia : /. e. a set speech in the senate. 
 
 Cf. De Or. I, 38 is non acciirata orationis copia, sed nutu atque verbo 
 libertinos in iirbanas tribiis transtulit. honorata : see n. on 22. 
 
 62. in omni oratione : 'everywhere throughout my speech'. Tota 
 
 orations would have meant ' my speech viewed as a whole '. de- 
 
 fenderet : the tense is accommodated to that of dixi, according to 
 
 Latin custom; see n. on 42 efficeret. cani : sc. capilli ; the same 
 
 ellipsis is found in Ovid. Cf. calda {sc. aqua), latirea {sc. corona), nata- 
 
 lis [sc, dies), Latinae {sc. feriae), etc. ; also cereo in 44. fructus 
 
 ... extremes : 'receives the reward of influence at the last'. 
 
 63 appeti : ' to be courted ' ; decedi: * to take precedence ', literally 
 
 ' that there should be a yielding of the way '. assurgi : ' the honor 
 
 shown by rising'. Cf. luv. 13, 54 credebant grande nefas et morte pi- 
 
 andum si iuvenis vetulo non assurrexerat, where see Mayor's note. 
 
 deduci reduci : ' the escort from home and the attendance home- 
 ward '. The difference between these two words, which has often 
 been misunderstood, is shown by Val. Max. 2, i, 9 iuvenes senatus die 
 utique aliquem ex patribtts conscriptis ad curiam deducebant, affixi- 
 que valvis exspectabant donee reducendi etiam officio fungerentur. 
 
 consuli : probably refers to private legal consultations as well 
 
 as to the deliberations of the senate. ut quaeque optime : Cic. 
 
 often uses »/ ^^/ji^z/e" with superlatives, ?V(j! following; see n. on Lael. 
 
 19. Translate ut...ita 'in proportion as... so'. morata : from 
 
 7nos. modo : in 59. memoriae proditum est : in Verr. 5, 36 
 
 Cic. uses ad memoriam instead of the dative. The best writers have
 
 6s] NOTES TO CATO MAIOR. 107 
 
 memoriae prodere t^vlA prodi, 'for the recollection ^posterity ', memoria 
 
 prodi, ' to be handed down ly tradition ' ; but not memoria prodere. 
 
 ludis : sc. Panathenaicis, abl. of time. The Panathenaea was the 
 greatest of the Athenian festivals and was celebrated in honor of 
 Athene, patron goddess of the city, once in four years. The story 
 that follows is told in almost the same words by Val. Max. 4, 5, 
 ext. 2. 
 
 P. 27. — qui : at this point the O7'atio obliqiia is broken off, but it 
 is resumed in the next sentence, dixisse being dependent on proditum 
 
 est. legati cum essent : 'being ambassadors '. illi : ' in his 
 
 honor '. sessum recepisse : Val. Max. uses the same phrase ; 
 
 cf. Fam. ID, 32, 2 sessum dediicere ; N. D. 3, 74 sessum ire. 
 
 64. plausus multiplex: cf. Verg. Aen. 1,747 ingeminant pLmsu. 
 Cic. generally says pLncsus maxitmts. facere nolle : cf. the well- 
 known saying of Demosthenes, Olynth. 3, § 3 TreTreKr^ai yap to. irXeio) 
 Tuy irpayfiaTciii' iifias eKirecpevyei/ai T(f fir) fiovKfcrdai to StovTa iroielv, ^ 
 
 T(j5 fiii avvtevai. collegio : the college or board of augurs to which 
 
 Cato belonged. In his time there were nine members; later the num- 
 ber was increased. antecedit : sc. alios. sententiae princi- 
 
 patum : 'precedence in debate'. Meissner quotes Verr. 4, 142 ui 
 quisque aetate et honor e antecedit, it a primus solet sua sponte dicer e itaque 
 
 a ceteris ei concedittcr. honore : i. e. as regards office, past or 
 
 present. qui . . . sunt : actual praetors or consuls. compa- 
 
 randae : n. on 50. fabulam aetatis : cf. 5, 70, 85. The com- 
 parison of life to a play, and mankind to the players, is common in 
 all literature; e.g. 'All the world 's a stage, etc.'. When Augustus 
 was on his deathbed he asked his friends ecquid eis videretur mim utn 
 vitae commode transegisse (Suet. Aug. 99) ; cf. Gay's epitaph, ' Life 's 
 
 a jest, etc.'. corruisse : /. e. through fatigue ; cf. defetigationem 
 
 in 85. 
 
 65. at : see n. on 21. morum : cf. 7 in moribus est culpa, non in 
 
 aetate. ea vitia : /'. e. ea alia intia. • habent etc. : cf . Thucyd. 3, 
 
 44 ixovTi^ T( (Tvyyvwny)s non . . . videatur : 'not well grounded 
 
 indeed, but such as it may seem possible to allow ' /lie is often used 
 with quidem in making concessions where the English idiom requires no 
 pronoun. Roby, 2259; Madvig, 4S9, b; Kennedy, 65, n. 2; A. 151, e; 
 
 G. 292, Rem. 4 ; H. 450, 4, n. 2. contemni . . . despici : see n. on 
 
 43 spreta et contempta. moribus bonis et artibus : for the order 
 
 of the words cf. n. on i <nii»ii lid. in vita : ' in everyday life *
 
 I08 NOTES TO CATO MAIOR. [65- 
 
 Adelphis : Adelphi=^a.^(\<\>oi, The Brothers; this play of Ter 
 
 ence is still extant. diritas : ' harshness of temper ' ; but Suet. 
 
 Tib. 21 has diritas morum, and Varro sccna quern setiem Latitia vidii 
 dirissimum. Both dirus and diritas are rare in Cicero; the former 
 word does not once occur in the whole range of the speeches, the 
 latter scarcely excepting here and in Vat. 9; in Tusc. 3, 29 Cic. uses it 
 in translating from Euripides. 
 
 P. 28. — 66. sollicitam habere : ' to keep in trouble '. Sollicitus 
 is, literally, ' wholly in motion ', from sollus, which has the same root 
 with oXos, and citus ; cf. the rare words sollifides, solliferreus. The 
 perfect participle with habeo emphasizes the continuance of the effect 
 
 produced. Zumpt, 634; A. 292, c ; G. 230; H. 3SS, i, n. nos- 
 
 tram aetatem : cf. n. on 26 sencctus. esse longe : more usually 
 
 abesse. O miserum : ' (), wretched is that old man '. Cicero 
 
 oftener joins <3 with the accusative than with the nominative: he 
 rarely, if ever, uses the interjection with the vocative in direct address 
 
 to persons. extinguit animum : the doctrine of the annihilation 
 
 of the soul after death was held by many of Cicero's contemporaries, 
 professedly by the Epicureans {c. g. Lucretius, De Rerum Nat. 3, 417 
 et seq. ; cf. also Caesar's argument at the trial of the Catilinian con- 
 spirators. Sail. Bell. Catil. c. 51, Cic. in Catil. 3, c. 4), practically by 
 the Stoics, who taught that there is a future existence of limited though 
 
 indefinite length. deducit : cf. n. on 63. atqui : see n. on 6. 
 
 tertium . . . potest : ' nothing can be found as a third alternative ' : 
 
 so in Tusc. i, 82 qiioniam nihil tertium est. 
 
 67. quid timeam etc. : so Tusc. i, 25 quo modo igitur aut cur mor- 
 tem malum tibi videri dicis ? quae aut beatos nos efficiet, animis matten- 
 tibus, aut non miseros, sensu carentis ; ib. I, 1 18 ut aut in aeternam 
 domum remigremus aut omni sensu careamus. For mood see A. 268 ; 
 
 G. 251 ; H. 4S6, II. aut non miser . . . aut beatus : a dilemma, 
 
 but unsound and not conclusive ; for noti wiser is used with reference 
 to annihilation, and the soul may exist after death in a state of unhap- 
 
 piness. futurus sum : see n. on 6 futurum est. quamvis 
 
 sit : prose writers of the Republican period use quamvis with the sub- 
 junctive only; see Roby, 1624, 1627; A. 313, «,,?•; G. 608; H. 515, III. 
 
 and n. 3. cui : see n. on 38 vivetifi. ad vesperum esse 
 
 victurum : 'that he will be alive when evening comes', not 'that he 
 will live till the evening'. With the prepositions ad, sub, in the form 
 7iesper is generally used, not vespera. With this passage cf . Fin. 2, 92
 
 69] NOTES TO CATO MAI OR. ion 
 
 an id exploratum cuiqtiam potest esse quo tnodo sese habiturum sit corpus^ 
 non dice ad annum, sed ad vesperuni? Also cf. the title of one of 
 Varro's Menippean Satires, neseis quid vesper serus ve/iat, pnil).-il)ly a 
 
 proverb. aetas ilia ... adulescentes : some ^.lII)])ose that this 
 
 sentence was borrowed from Hippocrates. tristius : ' sez>eriorihus 
 
 reniediis*. Manutius. So Off. i, S3 iezdter aegrotantis leniter curaiit, 
 gravioribus aittem morbis perieulosas curationes et aiicipites adiiibere eo- 
 guiitur. The adverb tristius, which has in prose a superlative but no 
 
 positive, occurs in Fam. 4, 13, 5. mens ... ratio ... consilium : 
 
 cf. n. on 41. qui . .. nulli : cf. n. on 46 qui pauci ; but mdli here 
 
 almost = non. nullae . . . fuissent : /. e. the young men would have 
 
 brought every country to ruin ; see 20. cum . . . cum : see n. on 4. 
 
 68. infilio...in fratribus : cf. Lael. 9. As to Cato's son cf. 15, 
 
 84. tu : sc. sensisti. exspectatis ad : a rare construction, 
 
 perhaps without parallel ; exspectatis is an adjective and takes the 
 constxnction oi apttis, idoneus ttc, 'of whom hopes were entertained 
 
 as regards honor '. fratribus : the sons of Paulus Macedonicus , 
 
 two of them died within seven days (Fam. 4, 6, i), one just before and 
 
 one just after Paulus' great triumph in 167 B. c. idem : see n. on 
 
 4 eandem. insipienter : adversative asyndeton. incerta .. . 
 
 veris : chiasmus avoided. With the thought cf. Off. i, iS. at 
 
 ... at : the objection and its answer are both introduced by at, as here, 
 
 in 35. at . . . adulescens : these words look back to the preceding 
 
 sentence, to which they are an answer. ille ...hie : here hie de- 
 notes the person who is more important, ille the person who is less 
 important for the matter in hand; the former may therefore be re- 
 garded as nearer to the speaker, the latter as more remote. A. 102, 
 a\ G. 292, Rem. i ; H. 450, 2, n. 
 
 69. quamquam : see n. on 2 etsi. quid est . . . diu : cf. Tusc. 
 
 I, 94 quae vera aetas longa est, aut quid omni)w liomini longuin ? . . . quia 
 
 ultra nihil habemus, hoc longum dicimus. For est see n. on 72. 
 
 Tartessiorum . . . Gadibus : the whole of the south coast of Spain, 
 bore the name Tartessus, but the name is often confined to Gades, the 
 
 chief city. fuit : = z'/jt/A scriptum video: so in Acad. 2, 
 
 129; Div. I, 31; cf. also N. D. i, 72 ut videmus in scriptis ; Off. 2, 
 
 25 ut scriptum legimus ; also cf. n. on 26 videmus. Argantho- 
 
 nius : the story is from Herodotus i, 163. 
 
 p. 29. — aliquid extremum : sec n. on 5; cf. pro Marcello 27 
 effluxit : strongly aoristic in sense 'at once is gone '. tan-
 
 no NOTES TO CATO MAIOR. [69- 
 
 tum : 'only so much'. consecutus sis: 'you may have ob- 
 tained'. The subjunctive is here used in the indefinite second person 
 to give a hypothetical character to the statement of the verb. The in- 
 dicative migiit have been expected; the expression almost = consecutt 
 sitt/ius, conscLutiis aliijids est. Roby, 1546; G. 252, Rem. 3; H. 486, 
 
 III. virtute et recte factis : the same opinion is enforced in 
 
 Tusc. I, 109. quid sequatur : ' the future ' ; cf. Lucr. i, 459 trans- 
 
 actum quid sit in aefo, Turn quae res itistet, quid porro deinde sequatur. 
 quod . . . contentus : this passage with the whole conte.xt resem- 
 bles Lucretius 3)931-977; cf. especially 93S cur non ut plenus vitae 
 cOTwiva recedis ; 960 satiir ac plenus discedere rertim. Cf. also Hor 
 Sat. I, I, 117-118. 
 
 70. ut placeat : 'in order to secure approval'. peragenda : 
 
 cf. n. on 50 comparandae. plaudite : the Latin plays nearly al- 
 ways ended with this word, addressed by the actor to the audience ; 
 cf. Hor. A. P. 153 si plausoris eges aiclaea manentis et usque Sessuri 
 
 donee cantor ^vos plaudite' dicat. breve tempus etc. : one of the 
 
 poets has said that ' in small measures lives may perfect be '. Cf. also 
 Tusc. I, 109 nerno parurn diu vixit qtci virtutis perfectae perfecto functus 
 est munere ; Seneca, Ep. 77 quo modo fabula, sic vita: no7i quam diu, 
 
 sed quam bene acta sit refert. processerit : probably the subject 
 
 is sapiens, in which case aetate must also be supplied from aetatis ; the 
 
 subject may however be aetas. ostendit : ' gives promise of ' ; cf. 
 
 Fam. 9, 8, i etsi tnmtus (gladiatorial show) flagitare quamvis quis 
 ostenderit, tie populus quidem solet nisi concitatus. With the whole 
 passage cf. pro Cael. 76. 
 
 71. ut . . . dixi : in 9, 60, 62. secundum naturam : = kwto. cpvffiv, 
 
 a Stoic phrase; cf. n. on 5 tmturam optimam ducem. senibus : 
 
 dative of reference ; emori stands as subject to an implied est. 
 
 contingit : see n. on 8. exstinguitur : there is the same contrast 
 
 between opprimere and exstinguere in Lael. 78. quasi . . . evel- 
 
 luntur : it is rare to find in Cic. or the other prose writers of the best 
 period a verb in the indicative mood immediately dependent on quasi, 
 in the sense of sicid or quern ad modum. When two things are com- 
 pared by quasi ...ita, the indicative verb is nearly always put in the 
 second clause, and may be supplied in the clause with quasi ; very 
 rarely are there two different verbs for the two clauses. Cf. however 
 Plautus, Stich. 539 yiv/V ^//w, quasi nunc ego sum setiex ; Lucr. 3, 492 
 agens animain spumat quasi ...fervescunt undae. si... si: for the
 
 73j NOTES TO CATO MAIOR. m 
 
 more usnaJ si...s//!. accedam : see A. 342; G. 666; H. 529, II. 
 
 in portum : speaking of fleath, Cic. says in Tusc. 1, 118 portum 
 
 potius paratum nobis et perfugiuni putemus : quo utinant veils passis per- 
 vehi liceat ! Sin rejlatitibtts ventis reiciemur tamen eodetn paulo tardius 
 referamur neccsse est ; cf. also ib. I, 107. 
 
 P. 30. — 72. munus offici : see n. on 29. tueri : 'uphold'. 
 
 possit : subject indefinite. ex quo fit etc. : the argument 
 
 seems to be that youth knows how long it has to last and is therefore 
 
 less spirited than age, which knows not when it will end. ani- 
 
 mosior .. . fortior : Horace, Odes 2, 10, 21 rebus angiistis animosus 
 atqueforiis appare ; the two words are joined also in Cic. Mil. 92 : ani- 
 mosus, ' spirited '. hoc illud est etc. : ' this is the meaning of the 
 
 answer made by Solon etc'. Cf. Div. i, 122 hoc nimirum illud est 
 quod de Socrate accepimus, also the Greek phrase ^ tout' iKttvo. Est = 
 
 valet as in 69. Pisistratus : the despot of Athens, who seized the 
 
 power in 560 B.C. Plutarch, who tells the story, 'An Seni Sit Ge- 
 renda Respublica' c. 21, makes Solon speak to the friends of Pisistra- 
 tus, not to P. himself. quaerenti : see n. on 1 1 dividenti. 
 
 audaciter : Quintil. i, 6, 17 condemns those who used audaciter for 
 audacter, which latter form, he says, had been used by 'all orators'. 
 Yet the form audaciter is pretty well attested by MSS. here and else- 
 where in Cicero. [See Neue, Formenlehre, i'^ 662.] For the two 
 forms cf. diffi-ciliter, difficulter. Audaciter is of importance as showing 
 that c before / must have been pronounced just like c in any other po- 
 sition, not as in modern Italian. certis sensibus : Acad. 2, 19 
 
 integris incarruptisque sensibus. ipsa . . . quae : see n. on 26. H. 
 
 569, I. 2. coagmentavit : Cic. is fond of such metaphors; cf. 
 
 Orat. 77 verba verbis qtiasi coagmentari ; Phil. 7,21 docebo ne coagmen- 
 tari quidem paean /cj-.r^ (' that no patched-up peace can be made'). 
 
 conglutinavit : a still more favorite metaphor than coagmentare. 
 
 Cic. has conglutinare 7-etn (Or. i, 188) ; amicitias (Lael. 32 and Att. 7, 
 8, l); voluntates (Fam. 11, 27, 2); concordiani (Att. i, 17, 10); in Phil. 
 
 3. 28 Cic. says of Antony that he is totus ex 7'itiis conglutinatus. 
 
 lam : 'further', so below. conglutinatio : the noun occurs only 
 
 here and Orat. 78 c. verborutn. reliquum : not infrequently, as 
 
 here, used substantively with an adjective modifier. sine causa : 
 
 'without sufficient reason'. 
 
 73. vetat Pythagoras etc.: the passage is from Plato, Phaedo 
 61 A-62 c. Plato makes Socrates there profess to (piote Philolaus,
 
 [12 NOTES TO CATO MAIOR. [73- 
 
 the Pythagorean ; Cic. therefore refers the doctrine to Pythagoras 
 Cf. Tiisc. I, 74; Rep. 6, 15. The Stoics held the same view about 
 suicide, which they authorized in extreme cases, but much less freely 
 than is commonly supposed; cf. Sen. Ep. 117, 22 nihil mihi videtur 
 turpius quatn optare tnorfem. See Zeller, Stoics, Epicureans, and 
 Sceptics, Ch. 12, c (2); cf. also Lecky, Hist, of European Morals, I. 
 
 p. 228 et seq. (Am. ed.) imperatoris .. . praesidio : here Cic. 
 
 seems to understand Plato's (ppovpa as referring to warfare ; in Tusc. 
 
 and Rep. he understands it of a prison. sapientis : Solon was one 
 
 of the ' Seven Sages of Greece '. elogium : the distich is pre- 
 served by Plutarch, and runs thus : jurjSe fj.01 &K\av(rTos ddvaros fi.6\oi, 
 aWa (pi\ot(Tt KaWf'nroifii Oavocv SA.76a Koi (TTOvaxas. Cic. thus trans- 
 lates it in Tusc. i, 117 A/ors mea nc carcal lacrimis, linquamus amicis 
 Afaeroreni, itt celebrent ftmera cum gemitu. The epitaph of Ennius is 
 also quoted there and is declared to be better than that of Solon (cf. 
 
 Tusc. I, 34). volt se esse carum : 'he wishes to make out that 
 
 he is beloved ' ; volt esse cams would have had quite a different sense. 
 
 Cf. Fin. 5, 13 Strata physicum se volt, with Madvig's n. haud 
 
 scio an : see n. on 56. faxit : the subject is qiiisqiiam understood 
 
 from 7temo. For the form see A. 142, 12S, <>, 3; G. 191, 5; H. 240, 4. 
 The end of the epitaph is omitted here as in Tusc. i, 117, but is given 
 in Tusc. I, 34 cur? volito vivos per ora virum. Notice the allit- 
 eration. 
 
 74. isque : cf. n. on 13 vixitqiie. aut optandus aut nullus : 
 
 cf. 66 aut Jieglegenda . . . aut optanda ; nullus almost = nan as in 67, but 
 only in the Letters does Cic. (imitating Plautus and the other drama- 
 tists) attach nullus in this sense to the name of a particular person; 
 
 e. g. Att. 1 1, 24, 4 Philotimus nullus venit. sed . . . esse : ' but we 
 
 must con this lesson from our youth up'. For the passive sense of 
 meditatum cf. n. on 4 adeptam. In Tusc. i, 74 Cic, imitating Plato, 
 says tota philosophorum vita commentatio mortis est. So Seneca, tola 
 
 vita discendum est mori. sine qua . . . nemo potest : these words 
 
 bring the position of Cicero with regard to death wonderfully near 
 that of Lucretius : the latter argues that for peace of mind one must 
 believe ' milium esse sensum post mortem ' ; the former's lesson is 'aut 
 
 nullum esse sensum aut optandum '. timens : = si quis timet ; the 
 
 subject of poterit is the indefinite quis involved in timens. A. 310, a; 
 
 G. 670 ; H. 549, 2. qui : = quo modo, as in 4. animo con- 
 
 sistere : so in pro Quint. 77; also mente consistere in Phil. 2, 68; Div.
 
 77] NOTES TO CATO MAIOR. 113 
 
 2, 149; Q. Fr. 2, 3, 2 neque mente neque lingua neque ore consisrere. 
 The word is, literally, 'to stand firm', 'to get a firm foothold'. 
 
 P. 31. — 75- L- Brutum : fell in single combat with Aruns, son 
 of the exiled Tarquin ; see Liv. 2, 6. The accusatives Bruttmi etc. 
 are not the objects of recorder but the subjects of infinitives to be sup- 
 plied from profcctas. duos Decios : see n. on 43. cursum 
 
 equorum : the word eqiios would have been sufficient ; but this kind 
 of pleonasm is common in Latin ; see n. on Lael. 30 causae diligendi. 
 
 Atilius : i. e. Regulus, whose story is too well known to need 
 
 recounting. There are many contradictions and improbabilities about 
 
 it. Scipiones : see n. on 29. In Paradoxa i, 12 Cic. says of 
 
 them Carthaginietisiiim adventum corporibus suis intercludendum puta- 
 
 verunt. Poenis : on the dat. see A. 235, a; H. 384, 4, n. 2. 
 
 Paulum : n. on 29 L. Afviilius. collegae : M. Terentius Varro. 
 
 There is no reason to suppose that he was a worse general than many 
 other Romans who met Hannibal and were beaten; the early histo- 
 rians, being all aristocrats, fixed the disgrace of Cannae on the demo- 
 cratic consul. Varro's contemporaries were more just to him. Far 
 from reproaching him, the Senate commended his spirit, and several 
 
 times afterwards entrusted him with important business. Mar- 
 
 cellum : the captor of Syracuse in 212 B. c. He fell into an ambush 
 
 in 208 and was killed ; Hannibal buried him with military honors. 
 
 cuius interitum : abstract for concrete =qiiem, post interitum. 
 
 crudelissimus hostis : this, the traditional Roman view of Hannibal, 
 is the reverse of the truth, so far as extant testimony goes. See 
 Mommsen, Hist, of Rome, Bk. HI. Ch. 4; Ihne, Hist, of Rome, Bk. 
 IV. sed . . . arbitrarentur : these words are almost exactly re- 
 peated in Tusc. I, 89 and loi. rustici : cf. Arch. 24 nostri illi 
 
 fortes viri sed rustici ac milites ; also above, 24. 
 
 76, omnino : see n. on 9. num igitur etc.: cf. 33 nisi forte 
 
 et seq. constans : cf. n. on 33. ne . . . quidem : see n. on 27. 
 
 satietas vitae : cf. 85 senectus autem et seq., and satietas vivendi 
 
 in pro Marc. 27 ; also Tusc. i, 109 vita acta perficiat ut satis superque 
 vixisse videamur. 
 
 77. cernere : of the mind also in 82. With the context cf. Div. i, 
 63 animus appropinquatite morte tnulto est divinior ; facilius evenit app>ro- 
 
 pinquante morte ut aitimi futura augureutur. vestros patres : n. 
 
 on 15. The elder Laelius was prominent both as j;tneral and as states- 
 man. He commanded the fleet which co-operated with Scipio Afri-
 
 114 NOTES TO CATO MAIOK. [7; 
 
 canus in Spain and afterwards served with honor in Africa. He was 
 
 an intimate friend of Cato. See Liv. 26, 42 et seq. tuque : so in 
 
 Lael. 100 C. Fanni ct fii, Q. JMiici ; but above, 4 and 9 simply Scipio 
 
 et Laeli. quae est sola vita : cf. n. on vitam nullam in 7. 
 
 nam dum sumus etc.: the whole of this doctrine is Platonic; cf. 
 
 Lael. 13. munere necessitatis et ... opere : * function and task 
 
 allotted as by fate '. 
 
 P. 32. — immortalis : Cicero rarely mentions the gods without 
 
 this epithet. sparsisse : Horace calls the soul divinae particu- 
 
 la m aurae. tuerentur : rule, or guard, or care for. Most editors 
 
 wrongly take tuerentur to be for intucretttur, ' to look upon ', and re- 
 gard it as an intentional archaism. But cf. Rep. 6, 15 (where no 
 archaism can be intended) : liomiiies sunt hac lege generati, qui tueren- 
 tur ilium globum quae terra vacatur ; also tuentur below in 82. — — 
 contemplantes imitarentur : perhaps more Stoic than Platonic; the 
 Stoics laid great stress on the ethical value of a contemplation and- 
 imitation of the order of the universe. Cf. N. D. 2, 37 ipse homo ortus 
 est ad 7nundu?n contemplandum et imitandum ; Sen. Dial. 8, 5, i Na- 
 
 tura nos ad utrumque genuit, et cotttemplationi rerum et actioni. 
 
 modo : here tnodus seems to be the Platonic rh fifrptov, or perhaps a 
 reminiscence of the Aristotelian doctrine of the mean (n. on 46). 
 Translate 'in moderation and consistency of life'; and cf. Off. i, 93 
 rerum modus 'moderation in all things'. For constantia see n. on 4. 
 
 ita : cf. n. on 16 et tamen sic. 
 
 78. Pythagoran: see n. to 23. No ancient philosopher held mou 
 firmly than Pythagoras to belief in the immortality of the soul ; it 
 formed a part of his doctrine of Metempsychosis. He was also notctl 
 for his numerical speculations in Astronomy and Music. With 
 him is said to have originated the doctrine of the ' harmony of the 
 
 spheres'. qui essent : 'inasmuch as they were'. Cicero often 
 
 tries to make out a connection between Pythagoras and the early Ro- 
 mans ; cf. Tusc. 4, 2; also Liv. i, 18. ex universa mente : the 
 
 world-soul. Diog. l>aert 8 gives as Pythagorean the doctrine ^vxi)v 
 ilvfxi airSffTraa/xa tov aldepos Kot aQavarov. Similar doctrines occur in 
 Plato and the Stoics; cf. Div. i, no a qua (i. e. a natura deorum) ut 
 doctissimis sapicnfissimisque pldcuit, haustos animos et libatos kabetnus ; 
 Tusc. 5, 38 huinanits animus decerptus ex metite divina ; Sen. Dial. 12, 
 
 6, 7. haberemus : im]:erfect where the English requires the 
 
 present. A. 2S7, d; H. 495, V. Socrates : in Plato's Phaedo.
 
 y8] NOTES TO CAIO MAIOR. 115 
 
 immortalitate animorum : this is commoner than immortalitai 
 
 iiiiimi, for "the immortality of the soul'; so Lael. 14; Tusc. i, 80 
 oeteruitas tiuimorum. disseruisset : subjunctive because involv- 
 ing the statements of some other person than the speaker. A. 341, c\ 
 
 G. 630; n. 5j8, 1. is qui asset etc.: 'a man great enough to 
 
 have been declared wisest'. See n. on I-acl. 7 Apollinis ...iudicatum. 
 sic : cf. ita above. celeritas animorum : the ancients pic- 
 tured to themselves the mind as a substance capable of exceedingly 
 rapid movement; cf. Tusc. i, 43 nulla est celeritas quae possit cum an- 
 
 imi celeritate contendere. tantae scientiae : as the plural of scientia 
 
 is almost unknown in classical Latin, recent editors take scientiae here 
 as genitive, 'so many arts requiring so much knowledge'. In favor 
 of this interpretation are such passages as Acad. 2, 146 artem sine 
 scientia esse non posse ; Fin. 5, 26 lU omnes artes in aliqua scientia ver- 
 sentiir. Yet in De Or. i, 61 physica ista et tnathematica et quae paulo 
 ante ceteranim artium propria posuisti, scientiae sunt eorurn qui ilia pro- 
 
 fitentur it is very awkward to take scientiae as genitive. cumque 
 
 semper etc. • this argument is copied very closely from Plato's Phae- 
 
 drus, 245 c. principium motus : apx^? Kivr\aiu>s in Plato. se 
 
 ipse : cf. n. on 4 a se ipsi. cum simplex etc. : from Plato's 
 
 Phaedo, 78-80. The general drift of the argument is this : material 
 things decay because thev are compounded of parts that fall asunder; 
 there is nothing to show that the soul is so compounded ; therefore no 
 reason to believe that it will so decay. Notice the imperfects esset ... 
 Aaderet ... posset accommoda.t.ed to the tense oi persuasi above, although 
 the other subjunctives in the sentence are not; cf. n. on 42 efficeret. 
 
 neque . . . dissimile : in modern phraseology the whole of this 
 
 clause would be briefly expressed thus, — 'and was homogeneous'. 
 posset: ^7wy J-/ =' whereas if, the subject of posset being ani- 
 mus, and dividi being understood. magno argumento : iKavbv 
 
 TfKuvptoi' in PI. Phaed. 72 A. Belief in the immortality of the soul 
 
 naturally follows the acceptance of the doctrine of pre-existence. 
 
 homines scire etc.: See Plato, Phaedo, 72 E-73 B. The notion that 
 the souls of men existed before the bodies with which they are con- 
 nected has been held in all ages and has often found expression in 
 literature. The English poets have not infrequently alluded to it. 
 See Wordsworth's Ode on the Intimations of Immortality from the 
 Recollections of Early Childhood, 'Our birth is but a sleep and a 
 forgetting' etc. ; also, in Tennyson's Two Voices the passage begin 
 ning, —
 
 Il6 NOTES TO CATO MAIOR. [78^ 
 
 ' Yet how should I for certain hold, 
 Because my memory is so cold, 
 That I first was in human mould'? 
 
 reminisci et recordari : a double translation of Plato's &.vafitfMyfi(TKe- 
 adai, quite in Cicero's fashion ; the former word implies a momentary 
 
 act, the latter one of some duration. haec Platonis fere : ' so far 
 
 Plato '. 
 
 79. apud Xenophontem : Cyropaedia, 8, 7, 17; ior afud of. 30; 
 when Cic. says that a passage is 'in ' a certain author (not naming the 
 
 book) he uses apud, not in. maior; 'the elder'; cf. 59 Cyrurn 
 
 tninorem. nolite arbitrari : a common periphrasis. A. 269, a, 
 
 2 ; G. 264, II. ; H. 489, I. dum eram : the imperfect with dum 
 
 is not common; see Roby, 145S, c; A. 276, e, n. ; G. 572, 571 ; H. 519, 
 I., 467, 4 with n. 
 
 P. 33. — 80. nee... teneremus : the souls of the dead continue 
 to exert an influence on the living, or else their fame would not 
 
 remain; a weak argument. mihi . . . potuit : cf. 82 nemo... per- 
 
 suadebit. vivere . . . emori : adversative asyndeton. insipi- 
 
 entem : in Xen. i.<^pu>v, i. e. without power of thinking. sed : 
 
 ' but rather that . . . ' hominis natura : a periphrasis for homo ; 
 
 cf. Fin. 5, 33 intellegant, si qiiando naturam hominis dicam, hominem 
 
 dicere me ; nihil enim hoc differt. nihil . . . somnum : poets and 
 
 artists from Homer (II. 16, 682) onwards have pictured death as 
 sleep'i brother. Cf. Lessing, How the Ancients Represented Death. 
 
 81. atqui : see n. on 6. dormientium animi etc. : see Div. i, 
 
 60 where a passage of similar import is translated from Plato's Re- 
 public IX; ib. 115. remissi et liberi : cf. Div. i, 113 anitnus so- 
 
 lutus ac vacuus ; De Or. 2, 193 animo leni ac remisso. corporis : the 
 
 singular, though animi precedes; so in Lael. 13; Tusc. 2, 12, etc. 
 
 pulchritudinem : kSo-ixop; Cic. translates it by ortiatus in Acad. 2, 
 
 iig where hie ornatiis corresponds to hie mimdus a little earlier. 
 
 tuentur : see n. on 77 tuerentur. servabitis : future for imper- 
 ative. A. 269, /i G. 265, I ; H. 487, 4. 
 
 82. Cyrus etc. : see n. on 78. si placet : c-f. n. on 6 nisi mo- 
 
 lestiim est. nostra : = Romana = domestica 'v\ 12. nemo etc. : 
 
 this line of argument is often repeated in Cic. ; see Tusc. i, 32 et seq. ; 
 
 Arch. 29. duos avos . . . patruum : see nn. on 29. multos : 
 
 sc. alios. esse conatos : loosely put ior fuisse conaturos, as below, 
 
 suscepturum fiiisse. So in the direct narration we might have, though
 
 84] NOTES TO CATO MAIOR. n^ 
 
 exceptionally, non conabantur nisi cernerent for non conati essent nisi 
 
 vidissent. cernerent : see n. on 1 3 quaereretur. ut . . . glorier : 
 
 in Arch. 30 Cic. makes the same reflections in almost the same words 
 
 about his own achievements. aliquid : see n. on i quid. 
 
 P. 34. — si isdem etc.: cf. Arch. 29 si 7iihil animus praesentiret 
 
 ...dimicaret. aetatem : =vitam. traducere : cf. Tusc. 3, 25 
 
 volumus hoc quod datum est vitae tranquille placideque traducere. 
 
 nescio quo modo : A. 210,/, Rem.; G. 469, Rem. 2; H. 529, 5, 3). 
 
 erigens se : Acad. 2, 127 erigimur, elatiores fieri vidcmur. 
 
 baud . . . niteretur : in Cicero's speeches haud scarcely occurs e.xcept 
 before adverbs and the verb scio ; in the philosophical writings and in 
 
 the Letters before many other verbs. immortalitatis gloriam : 
 
 so Balb. 16 sempiterni nominis gloriam. Cf. also Arch. 26 tra/iimur 
 omnes studio laudis et optimus quisque maxime gloria ducitur. 
 
 83. non videre : either non videre or noti item was to be expected, 
 
 as Cicero does not often end sentences or clauses with 7ion. colui 
 
 et dilexi : so 26 coluntur et diliguntur. videndi : Cic. for the 
 
 most part avoids the genitive plural of the gerundive in agreement 
 with a noun, and uses the gerund as here. Meissner notes that Latin 
 has no verb with the sense ' to see again ', which a modern would use 
 
 here. conscripsi : in the Origines. quo : = ad quos ; see n. 
 
 on 12 fore unde. Pelian : a mistake of Cicero's. It was not 
 
 Pelias but his half-brother Aeson, father of lason, whom Medea made 
 young again by cutting him to pieces and boiling him in her enchanted 
 cauldron. She, however, induced the daughters of Pelias to try the 
 same experiment with their father ; the issue, of course, was very dif- 
 ferent. Plautus, Pseud. 3, 2, 80 seems to make the same mistake. 
 
 si quis deus : the present subjunctive is noticeable ; strictly, an im- 
 possible condition should require the past tense, but in vivid passages 
 an impossible condition is momentarily treated as possible. So Cic. 
 
 generally says si reviviscat aliquis, not revivisceret. decurso spa- 
 
 tio : 'when I have run my race '. See n. on 14. Lucretius 3, 1042 
 
 oddly has decurso lumine vitae. ad carceres a calce : carcercs 
 
 were the barriers behind which the horses and cars stood waiting for 
 the race ; calx (ypa/i/xij). literally ' a chalked line ', was what we should 
 call 'the winning post'. Cf. Lael. loi ; Tusc. i, 15 nunc video calcem 
 ud quam iurn sit decursum, iiihil sit praeterea extimescendum. 
 
 84. habeat : concessive. A. 266, c\ G. 257 ; H. 484, 3. multi 
 
 •t ei docti : as Nagelsbach, Stilistik § 25, 5, remarks, Cic. always
 
 Il8 MOTES TO CATO MAIOR. [85 
 
 uses this phrase and not tntilti docti. One of the books Cic. has in 
 view is no doubt that of Hegesias, a Cyrenaic philosopher, mentioned 
 
 in Tusc. I, 84. commorandi . . . divorsorium : ' a hostelry wherein 
 
 to sojourn '. The idea has been expressed in literature in a thousand 
 ways. Cf. Lucr. 3, 938 cur non ut plenus vitae con viva recedis ; 
 Hor. Sat. i, i, 118 vita cedat uti conviva mtitr. Cicero often insists 
 that heaven is the vera aeternaque domus of the soul (cf. Tusc. i, 118). 
 Cf. Epist. to the Hebrews, 13, 14 ' Here have we no continuing city, 
 
 but we seek one to come '. concilium coetumque : so in Rep. 
 
 6, 13 concilia coetusque hotninum quae civitates vocantur. The words 
 here seem to imply that the real civitas is above ; what seems to men 
 a civitas is merely a disorganized crowd. 
 
 P. 35. — Catonem meum : see 15, 68; so Cicero in his letters 
 
 often calls his own son mens Cicero. nemo vir : see n. on 21 
 
 qiiemquam senem. quod contra : = tt Tohvavriov, ' whereas on the 
 
 contrary'; cf. n. on Lael. 90 where, as well as here, many of the edi- 
 tors make the mistake of taking quod to be the accusative governed 
 
 by contra out of place. meum : sc. corpus cremari. quo : 
 
 put for ad quae, zs often. visus sum: 'people thought I bore 
 
 up bravely '. non quo . . . sed : a relative clause parallel with a 
 
 categorically affirmative clause. The usage is not uncommon, though 
 Cic. often has 7ton quo ... sed quia. For mood oi ferrem see A. 341, 
 d. Rem.; G. 541, Rem. i.; H. 516, H. 2. 
 
 85. dixisti : in 4. qui : here = cum ego, 'since I . . . '. ex- 
 
 torqueri volo : n. on 2 levari volo. minuti philosophi : for tlie 
 
 word miniitus cf. n. on 46; Cic. has mijiuti philosophi in Acad. 2, 75; 
 Div. I, 62; in Fin. I, 61 minuti et ang/isti [hoiuiues] ; in Brut. 265 m. 
 imperatores ; cf. Suet. Aug. 83 /«. pueri. sentiam : future indica- 
 tive. peractio : the noun is said to occur only here in Cic; cf. 
 
 however 64 peragere ; 70. haec .. .dicerem : the same words 
 
 occur at the end of the Laelius ; for habeo quod dicam Cic. often says 
 habeo dicere, as in Balb. 34.
 
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