cum enim id advenit, tum illud quod praeteriit, effluxit; tantum remanet,
quod virtute et recte factis consecutus sis. Horae quidem cedunt et dies et
menses et anni, nec praeteritum tempus umquam revertitur nec quid sequatur
sciri potest. Quod cuique temporis ad vivendum datur, eo debet esse
contentus. 70 Neque enim histrioni, ut placeat, peragenda fabula est, modo
in quocunque fuerit actu 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. 71 Fructus autem senectutis est, ut saepe dixi, ante
partorum bonorum 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, consumptus ignis exstinguitur, et quasi poma ex
arboribus, cruda si sunt, vix evelluntur, si matura et cocta, decidunt, sic
vitam adulescentibus vis aufert, senibus maturitas; quae quidem mihi tam
iucunda est, ut, quo propius ad mortem accedam, quasi terram videre videar
aliquandoque in portum ex longa navigatione esse venturus.
XX. 72 Senectutis autem nullus est certus terminus, 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 Solone 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. Iam omnis conglutinatio recens
aegre, inveterata facile divellitur. Ita fit ut illud breve vitae reliquum
nec avide appetendum senibus nec sine causa deserendum sit; vetatque
Pythagoras iniussu imperatoris, id est dei, de praesidio et statione vitae
decedere. 73 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, neque funera fletu_
_faxit_
74 Non censet lugendam esse mortem, quam immortalitas consequatur. Iam
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 neglegamus; sine qua
meditatione tranquillo animo esse nemo potest. Moriendum enim certe est, et
incertum an hoc ipso die. Mortem igitur omnibus horis impendentem timens
qui poterit animo consistere? 75 De qua non ita longa disputatione opus
esse videtur, cum recorder non L. Brutum, qui in liberanda patria est
interfectus, non duos Decios, qui ad voluntariam mortem cursum equorum
incitaverunt, non M. Atilium, qui ad supplicium est profectus ut fidem
hosti datam conservaret non duos Scipiones, qui iter Poenis vel corporibus
suis obstruere voluerunt, non avum tuum L. Paulum, qui morte luit collegae
in Cannensi ignominia temeritatem, non M. Marcellum, cuius interitum ne
crudelissimus 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 adulescentes, et ei quidem non solum indocti sed etiam rustici
contemnunt, id docti senes extimescent? 76 Omnino, ut mihi 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. 77 Non enim video, cur, quid ipse sentiam de 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 mihique
amicissimos, vivere arbitror et eam quidem vitam, quae est sola vita
nominanda. Nam dum sumus inclusi in his compagibus corporis, munere quodam
necessitatis et gravi opere perfungimur; est enim animus caelestis ex
altissimo domicilio depressus et quasi demersus in terram, locum divinae
naturae eternitatique contrarium. Sed credo deos immortalis sparsisse
animos in corpora humana, ut essent qui terras tuerentur quique caelestium
ordinem contemplantes imitarentur eum vitae modo atque constantia. Nec me
solum ratio ac disputatio impulit ut ita crederem, sed nobilitas etiam
summorum philosophorum et auctoritas.
78 Audiebam Pythagoran Pythagoriosque, incolas paene nostros, qui essent
Italici philosophi quondam nominati numquam dubitasse quin ex universa
mente divina delibatos animos haberemus. Demonstrabantur mihi praeterea
quae Socrates supremo vitae die de immortalitate animorum disseruisset, is
qui esset omnium sapientissimus oraculo Apollinis iudicatus. Quid multa?
Sic mihi persuasi, sic sentio, cum tanta celeritas animorum sit, tanta
memoria praeteritorum futurorumque prudentia, tot artes tantae scientiae,
tot inventa, non posse eam naturam, quae res eas contineat, esse mortalem;
cumque semper agitetur animus nec 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; magnoque esse argumento homines scire pleraque
ante quam nati sint, quod iam pueri, cum artis difficilis discant, ita
celeriter res innumerabilis arripiant, ut eas non tum primum accipere
videantur, sed reminisci et recordari. Haec Platonis fere. XXII. 79 Apud
Xenophontem autem moriens Cyrus maior haec dicit: 'nolite arbitrari, o mihi
carissimi filii, me, cum a vobis discessero, nusquam aut nullum fore. Nec
enim, dum eram vobiscum, animum meum videbatis, sed eum esse in hoc corpora
ex eis rebus quas gerebam intellegebatis. Eundem igitur esse creditote,
etiam si nullum videbitis. 80 Nec vero clarorum virorum post mortem honores
permanerent, si nihil eorum ipsorum animi efficerent, quo diutius memoriam
sui teneremus. Mihi quidem numquam persuaderi potuit animos dum in
corporibus essent mortalibus vivere, cum excessissent ex eis emori; nec
vero tum animum esse insipientem cum ex insipienti corpore evasisset, sed
cum omni admixtione corporis liberatus purus et integer esse coepisset, tum
esse sapientem. Atque etiam, cum hominis natura morte dissolvitur,
ceterarum rerum perspicuum est quo quaeque discedat, abeunt enim illuc
omnia, unde orta sunt; animus autem solus nec cum adest nec cum discessit
apparet. Iam vero videtis nihil esse morti tam simile quam somnum. 81 Atqui
dormientium 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 hanc omnem pulchritudinem
tuentur et regunt, memoriam nostri pie inviolateque servabitis.'
XXIII. 82 Cyrus quidem haec moriens; nos, si placet, nostra videamus. Nemo
umquam mihi, Scipio, persuadebit aut patrem tuum Paulum, aut duos avos
Paulum et Africanum, aut Africani patrem aut patruum, aut multos
praestantis viros, quos enumerare non est necesse, tanta esse conatos quae
ad posteritatis memoriam pertinerent, nisi animo cernerent posteritatem ad
ipsos pertinere. Anne censes, ut de me ipse aliquid more 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
prospiciebat, quasi, cum excessisset e vita, tum denique victurus esset.
Quod quidem ni ita se haberet ut animi immortales essent, haud optimi
cuiusque animus maxime ad immortalitatis gloriam niteretur. 83 Quid quod
sapientissimus 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 efferor 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 conscripsi; quo quidem me proficiscentem haud
sane quid facile retraxerit, nec tamquam Pelian recoxerit. Et si quis deus
mihi largiatur ut ex hac aetate repuerascam et in cunis vagiam, valde
recusem, nec vero velim quasi decurso spatio ad carceres a calce revocari.
84 Quid habet enim vita commodi? Quid non potius laboris? Sed habeat sane;
habet certe tamen aut satietatem aut modum. 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!
Proficiscar enim non ad eos solum viros, de quibus ante dixi, verum etiam
ad Catonem 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.
85 His mihi rebus, Scipio, id enim te cum Laelio admirari solere dixisti,
levis est senectus, nec solum non molesta, sed etiam iucunda. Quod si in
hoc erro, qui animos hominum immortalis esse credam, libenter erro nec mihi
hunc errorem, quo delector, dum vivo, extorqueri volo; sin mortuus, ut
quidam minuti philosophi 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, praesertim
adiuncta satietate.
Haec habui de senectute quae dicerem, ad quam utinam veniatis, ut ea, quae
ex me audistis, re experti probare possitis!
* * * * *
NOTES TO CATO MAIOR.
* * * * *
CATO MAIOR DE SENECTUTE (CATO THE ELDER ON 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, 1. In the former passage he adds
the descriptive words, addressed to Atticus, _qui est scriptus ad te de
senectute._ In a third notice, De Div. 2, 3, he gives the description
without the title, _liber is quem ad nostrum Atticum de senectute misimus._
It is likely that Cicero intended the essay to be known as the CATO MAIOR
DE SENECTUTE, the full title corresponding with LAELIUS DE AMICITIA. The
word _maior_ was necessary to distinguish the book from Cicero's eulogy of
the younger Cato (Uticensis), which seems to have gone by the name of CATO
simply.
P. 1. -- 1. O TITE etc.: the lines are a quotation from the _Annales_ of Q.
Ennius (born at Rudiae in Calabria 239 B.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, 10. Titus Quinctius Flamininus, who
commanded in 198 B.C. the Roman army opposed to Philip of Macedon, found
the king strongly posted on the mountains between Epirus and Thessaly. For
forty days Flamininus lingered, hoping to find some path which would give
him access to the enemy's quarters. A shepherd who knew every nook of the
mountains came before the general, and promised to lead the Roman soldiers
to the ground above Philip's camp. This was done, and Flamininus 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.
16, 11, 3 _'O Tite' tibi prodesse laetor_. -- QUID: accusative of respect
or extent; so _nihil_ in 30, _aliquid_ in 82. A.[56] 240, _a_; G. 331, 3;
H. 378, 2. -- ADI[)U]ERO: for _adi[=u]vero,_ the long vowel having become
short after the falling out of the _v_ between the two vowels. Catullus 66,
18 has _i[)u]erint_ at the end of a pentameter verse, and the same scanning
is found in Plautus and Terence. A. 128, _a_; G. 151, 1; H. 235. --
LEVASSO: a form of _levavero,_ which was originally _levaveso_. For the
formation of this class of future-perfects see Peile, _Introduction to
Greek and Latin Etymology,_ p. 295, ed. 3; also Roby, _Gram._ 1, 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 macero et defetigo_; Verg. Aen. 7, 345 _quam
... femineae ardentem curaeque iraeque coquebant_; Quint. 12, 10, 77
_sollititudo oratorem macerat et coquit_. -- VERS[=A]T: we have here the
original quantity of the vowel preserved, as in _poneb[=a]t_ below, 10; the
_a_ in _versat_ was originally as long as the _a_ in _vers[=a]s_. Plautus
has some parallels to this scanning (see Corssen, Aussprache 11², 488), but
it is rarely imitated by poets of the best period. Horace, however, has
_ar[=a]t_, Odes 3, 16, 26. A. 375, _g_, 5; H. 580, III n. 2. -- PRAEMI: the
genitive in _ĭ-ī_ from nouns in _ium_ only began to come into use at the
end of the Republic. A. 40, _b_; G. 29, Rem. 1; H. 51, 5. -- ISDEM: Cicero
may have written _isdem_ 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 Flaminīnus 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
extraordinarily early age of 30. In 197 he won the victory 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 was employed chiefly on diplomatic business concerning
Greece and the East. One of his embassies was to Prusias, king of Bithynia,
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 literature. -- ILLE VIR etc.: _i.e._ the
shepherd mentioned in n. on line 1. Livy 32, II, 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'; _re_ = _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 pronounced 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' (_subrusticum_), though formerly thought 'very
refined' (_politius_). 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, 1, n. 3. -- FIDĒI: this form of the genitive of _fides_ is
found also in Plautus, Aulularia 575, and Lucretius 5, 102. _Fidĕi_ as
genitive seems only to occur in late poets, but as dative it is found in a
fragment of Ennius. _Fidē_ as genitive occurs in Horace and Ovid. H. 585,
III. 1; Roby, 357, (c). -- QUAMQUAM: see n. on 2 _etsi_. -- SOLLICITARI
etc.: Cicero probably has not quoted the line as Ennius wrote it. The word
_sic_, at least, is evidently inserted on purpose to correspond with _ut_
before _Flamininum_, -- NOCTESQUE DIESQUE: the use of _que ... que_ for _et
... et_ is 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 diesque_ (Verr. 5, 112), _noctes et dies_
(Brut. 308 _etc._), _nodes ac dies_ (Arch. 29); cf. also Verg. Aen. 6, 127;
and νυκτας τε και ημαρ in Iliad 5, 490; but the collocations _dies
noctesque_, _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 mentioned 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 noctemque_ 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 _eandem
incu dem diem noctemque tundentibus;_ also three passages of Caesar: viz
Bell. Gall. 7, 42, 6 and 7, 77, 11; Bell. Civ. 1, 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. -- MODERATIONEM ...
AEQUITATEM: 'the self-control and even balance of your mind'. _Moderatio_
is in Cic. a common translation of σωφροσυνη. _Aequitas_ is 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 arduis servare mentem_'), cf. Tusc. 1, 97 _hanc
maximi animi aequitatem in ipsa morte._ said of Theramenes' undisturbed
composure before his execution. -- ANIMI TUI: for the position of these
words between _moderationem_ and _aequitatem_, to both of which nouns they
refer (a form of speech called by the Latin grammarians _coniunctio_), see
note on Laelius 8 _cum summi viri tum amicissimi_. -- COGNOMEN: _i.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 bringing
things from the provinces to Italy or Rome, and not _vice versa_, 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 provincia_ is common,
but not _Roma decedere_. As to the form _deportasse_, it may be remarked
that Cic. in the vast majority of instances uses the contracted and not the
full forms of the infinitives corresponding to perfects in -_avi_. So
_putassent_ in 4. An extensive collection of examples of this and similar
contractions may be found in Frohwein, Die Perfectbildungen auf -vi bei
Cicero; Gera, 1874. -- HUMANITATEM: 'culture', _i.e._ learning resulting in
gentleness and refinement of character. -- PRUDENTIAM: φρονησιν or
practical wisdom. Corn. Nepos (or his imitator) in his life of Atticus 17,
3 says of him _principum philosophorum ita percepta habuit praecepta ut his
ad vitam agendam non ad ostentationem uteretur_. -- ISDEM REBUS: _i.e._ the
state of public affairs at the time, see Introd. -- QUIBUS ME IPSUM:
strictly speaking the construction is inaccurate, since _suspicor
commoveri_ must be supplied, and Cicero does not really mean to say that he
merely _conjectures_ himself to be seriously affected by the state of
public affairs; _ego ipse commoveor_ would have accurately expressed his
meaning. The accusative is due to the attraction of _te_ above. -- MAIOR: =
_difficilior_ as often; _e.g._ Lael. 29 _quod maius est_. -- VISUM EST MIHI
CONSCRIBERE: = _placuit mihi_, '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 δοκει μοι κ.τ.λ. = 'I have made up my mind'. Cf. Tusc. 5, 12 _Non
mihi videtur ad beate vivendum satis posse virtutem_; ib. 5, 22 (a curious
passage) _mihi enim non videbatur quisquam esse beatus posse cum esset in
malis; in malis autem sapientem esse posse_; Off. 3, 71 _malitia quae volt
illa quidem videri se esse prudentiam_ ('craft which desires that people
should believe it to be wisdom'); Liv. 1, 10, 7 _dis visum nec 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
difficult, 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, 1, n. 1; 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 quem ad nostrum Atticum de senectute
misimus._