[Footnote 653: Cato was a cognomen of the Porcia Gens, which was
Plebeian. The name Cato was first given to M. Porcius Cato Censorius,
who was consul B.C. 195 and censor B.C. 184. The father of the Cato
whose life is here written was M. Porcius Cato, a Tribunus Plebis, who
married Livia, a sister of the tribune M. Livius Drusus. This Cato,
the tribune, was the son of M. Porcius Cato Salonianus, who was the
son of Cato the Censor. Cato the Censor was therefore the
great-grandfather of the Cato whose life is here written. See the
_Life of Cato the Censor_ by Plutarch, c. 24. 97. This Cato was born
B.C. 95.]
[Footnote 654: The text of Plutarch says that Livius Drusus was the
uncle of Cato's mother, but this is a mistake, and accordingly
Xylander proposed to read [Greek: theio men onti pros tês mêtros] θείο
μὲν ὄντι πρὸς τῆς μητρός. But Sintenis supposes that Plutarch may have
misunderstood the Roman expression "avunculus maternus." Cato's father
had by his wife Livia a daughter Porcia, who married J. Domitius
Ahenobarbus. Livia's second husband was Q. Servilius Cæpio, by whom
she had a son Q. Servilius Cæpio, whom Plutarch calls Cato's brother,
and two daughters, named Servilia, one of whom married M. Junius
Brutus, the father of the Brutus who was one of Cæsar's assassins, and
the other married L. Licinius Lucullus (Life of Lucullus. c. 38).]
[Footnote 655: The word is [Greek: anamnêstikous] ἀναμνηστικούς. The
meaning of Plutarch is perhaps not quite clear. See the note in
Schaefer's edition.]
[Footnote 656: These were the Roman Socii, or Italian states, which
were in a kind of alliance with and subordination to Rome. They had to
furnish troops for the wars, and to share the burdens of the Roman
State in return for which they claimed the citizenship (Life of
Marius, c. 32).]
[Footnote 657: Or Silo (Life of Marius, c. 33).]
[Footnote 658: There is obviously an error here in Plutarch's text, as
Sintenis observes. The real meaning of what Pompædius said appears
from the context, and from a passage of Valerius Maximus (3. 1, 2),
who tells the same story.]
[Footnote 659: This sham fight was according to an old tradition
established by Æneas. It is described by Virgil, _Æneid_, v. 553, &c.
See Tacitus, _Annal._ xi. 11; and Dion Cassius, 43. c. 23, and 49. c.
43. These games (ludi) were also celebrated under the early Emperors.]
[Footnote 660: The text is literally "a place for the impious," not
_the_ place. But Plutarch may allude to the tortures of the wicked in
the regions below, according to the popular notions.]
[Footnote 661: The possession of a priestly office by a person who
also discharged the functions of civil life was common among the
Romans. The effect of this political institution was more extensive
than at first sight may appear, but the examination of such a question
belongs, as Plutarch sometimes observes, to another place.]
[Footnote 662: He is mentioned by Cicero (_De Offic._ ii. 24), but
some suppose that there were two Tyrian philosophers of that name.]
[Footnote 663: See Plutarch's Life of Cato the Censor, c. 19. This,
the first Roman Basilica, was erected B.C. 182 (Livy, 39. c. 44). A
basilica was a place for law business and the meeting of traders and
the like.]
[Footnote 664: The highest cast with four dice of six sides was
twenty-four points, and it was called Venus. The lowest cast was four
points, and it was called Canis. This is one explanation. But the
Venus is also explained to be the throw which resulted in all the dice
turning up with different faces. See the notes in Burmann's edition of
Suetonius, _Octav. Augustus_, c. 71. It is said that sometimes they
played with four-sided dice, sometimes with six-sided. The subject is
somewhat obscure, and the investigation not suited to all people.]
[Footnote 665: Probably C. Memmius Gemellus, tribune of the Plebs,
B.C. 66. See the Life of Lucullus, c. 37.]
[Footnote 666: This was Q. Cæcilius Metellus Pius Scipio, the son of
P. Cornelius Scipio Nasica, prætor B.C. 94. He was the adopted son of
Q. Metellus Pius, consul B.C. 80, who is mentioned in the Life of
Sulla, c. 28. This rival of Cato was the Metellus who was defeated by
Cæsar at the battle of Thapsus, and is often mentioned in this Life.
It is not said what legal process Cato could have instituted for the
loss of his promised marriage.]
[Footnote 667: This Greek poet, who was probably born about the close
of the eighth century B.C. at Paros, was noted for his biting Iambics,
which became proverbial.
"Archilochum proprio rabies armavit iambo."