old men as lawyers, etc.?' So without ellipsis, Fam. 9, 21, 1 _quid tibi
ego in epistulis videor?_ -- INGENIA: = _suum cuique ingenium_; 'old men
retain their wits'. -- PERMANEAT: A. 266, _d_; G. 575; H. 513, I. --
STUDIUM ET INDUSTRIA: 'earnestness and activity'; not a case of hendiadys,
as some editors make it. Cf. n. on 15 _iuventute et viribus_. -- NEQUE EA
SOLUM: = ουδε ταυτα μονον, 'and that not only'. -- HONORATIS: this does not
correspond to our 'honored', but implies that the persons have held high
offices (_honores_); cf. 61 _senectus honorata praesertim_. Here translate
'statesmen'. -- IN VITA ... QUIETA: 'in an unofficial and retired life'.
There is chiasmus here, since _privata_ is contrasted with _honoratis_ and
_quieta_ with _claris_. -- SUMMAM SENECTUTEM: Sophocles died at the age of
90 in 405 B.C. -- QUOD PROPTER STUDIUM: 'from his devotion to this
occupation'. -- FILIIS: except Plutarch, who probably follows Cicero's
words, all the authorities tell the story of the poet's eldest son Iophon
only. The tale is full of improbabilities. -- REM: = _rem familiarem_ as in
1. -- PATRIBUS BONIS INTERDICI SOLET: 'fathers are often prevented from
managing their property'. For the construction cf. the expression
_interdicere alicui aqua et igni: interdici_ is here used impersonally with
_patribus_ in the dat.; A. 230; H. 384, 5; _bonis_ is abl. of separation
(deprivation). The fragment of the XII tables here referred to is thus
given in Dirksen's edition: _sei fouriosos aut prodicos (prodigus) escit
(erit) adenatorum centiliomque (gentiliumque) eius potestas estod, i.e._
the agnates (male relatives whose kinship with the _furiosus_ 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
urbanus_ (Paulus, Sent. 3, 4a, 7): '_quando tibi tua bona paterna avitaque
nequitia tua disperdis liberosque tuos ad egestatem perducis, ob eam rem
tibi ea re commercioque interdico_'. -- QUASI DESIPIENTEM: '‛ως
παραφρονουντα' says the author of the anonymous life of Sophocles. Cf.
Xenophon, Mem. 1, 2, 49. -- IN MANIBUS HABEBAT: 'had on hand' _i.e._ in
preparation. _Est in manibus_ 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 beginning ευιππου, ξενε, τασδε χωρας. -- VIDERETUR: _sc. esse_;
the infinitive is often omitted thus after verbs of desiring, thinking
etc., also verbs of speaking and hearing; cf. Lael. 18 _eam sapientiam
interpretantur_; ib. 29 _quam natam volunt_; ib. 64 _homines ex maxime raro
genere iudicare;_ Acad. 2, 12 _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 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. -- DEMOCRITUM: 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 variously given as 99
and as 80 years. -- QUEM 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, -en,_ 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 rerum_ 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', _i.e._ 'attend to this that I am going to say'. The
common use of αγε in Greek is exactly similar. -- UT ... OMITTAMUS: Cf. n.
on 52 _ut_. -- POSSUM NOMINARE: 'I am able to name'; in colloquial English
'I _might_ name'. The Latins occasionally use also a hypothetical form,
where _possim_ or _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 present to the writer's
mind. _E.g._ in Tusc. 1, 88 we have _dici hoc in te non potest; posset in
Tarquinio; at in mortuo ne intellegi quidem (potest)_, where the reason for
the change from _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, 1, 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 attributive phrase
qualifying _Romanos_ just as _rusticos_ does. -- NUMQUAM FERE: 'scarcely
ever'. -- MAIORA OPERA: 'farm work of any importance'. This use of _opera_
is common in Vergil's Georgics. -- NON: the repetition of the negative
after _numquam_ is common in Latin; in English _never ... not_ is found in
dialects only. Cf. Lael. 48 _non tantum ... non plus quam_. -- SERENDIS:
ablative of respect, 'as regards sowing'. See Roby 1210; Kennedy, 149. --
PERCIPIENDIS: so 70; cf. N.D. 2, 156 _neque enim serendi neque colendi, nec
tempestive demetendi percipiendi que fructus, neque condendi nec 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. -- SENT ... PROSINT: the line is given as Ribbeck
prints it. He scans it as a '_bacchius_', consisting of four feet, with the
measurement | v - - |, the last syllable of _saeclo_ seeming to be
shortened. Cicero quotes the same line in Tusc. 1, 31 adding _ut ait
(Statius) in Synephebis, quid spectans nisi etiam postera saecla ad se
pertinere? Saeclo_ = '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 Συνε φηβοι '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 deus formed monosyllables, except
occasionally in poetry, where _dei_, _deis_ were used. Even these
_dissyllabic_ forms scarcely occur before Ovid. -- ET: emphatic at the
beginning of a sentence: 'aye, and'. -- MELIUS: _sc. dixit_. -- ILLUD: 'the
following' A. 102, b, G. 292, 4; H. 450, 3. -- IDEM: _īdem_, not _ĭdem_. --
EDEPOL: literally, 'ah, god Pollux', _e_ being an interjection, _de_ a
shortened form of the vocative of _deus, pol_ abbreviated from _Pollux_.
The asseveration is mostly confined to comedy. The lines come from a play
by Statius called Plocium (πλοκιον '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 _quemquam
senem_, cf. the common expression _nemo homo_, 84 _nemo vir_, etc. where
two substantival words are placed side by side. -- VITI: see n. on 1, l 3
_praemi Viti_ here = _mali_; cf. Ter. Andr. 73 _ei vereor ne quid Andria
adportet mali_. -- SAT EST: _sat_ for _satis_ in Cicero's time was
old-fashioned and poetical. -- QUOD DIU: these words must be scanned as a
spondee. 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
Syrus _heu quam multa paenitenda incurrunt vivendo diu_. -- VOLT:
indefinite subject. -- VIDET: Tischer quotes Herod. 1, 32 (speech of Solon
to Croesus) εν γαρ τωι μακρωι χρονωι πολλα μεν εστιν ιδεειν, τα μη τις
εθελει, πολλα δε και παθεειν. -- TUM 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 compound 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 _pe_ (probably another form of _que_), found in _nem pe_,
_quis-p-iam_ 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 ‛ο, ‛η. The form was no doubt originally _eumpsum_, 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. 101; also below,
29. -- SAPIENTES SENES: neither of these words is used as an adjective
here; the whole expression = _sapientes, cum facti sunt senes_. -- LEVIOR:
cf. the fragm. of Callimachus: γηρασκει δ' ‛ο γερων κεινος ελαφροτερον, τον
κουροι φιλεουσι. -- COLUNTUR ET DILIGUNTUR: _colere_ rather implies the
external marks of respect (cf. _coli_ in 7), _diligere_ the inner feeling
of affection. -- PRAECEPTIS etc.: cf. Off. 1, 122 _ineuntis enim aetatis
inscitia senum constituenda et regenda prudentia est_. -- ME ... IUCUNDOS:
put for _me iucundum esse quam vos mihi estis iucundi_. The attraction of a
finite verb into the infinitive after _quam_ is not uncommon; cf. n. on 1
_quibus me ipsum_ (Roby, 1784, _b_; A. 336, _b_, Rem.; H. 524, 1, 2).
_Minus_, be it observed, does not qualify _intellego_, but _iucundos_. --
SED: here _analeptic_, _i.e._ it introduces a return to the subject proper
after a digression, so in 31. -- VIDETIS, UT ... SIT: here _ut = quo modo_;
'how'. -- SENECTUS ... CUIUSQUE: the abstract _senectus_ is put for _senes_
as in 34; hence _cuiusque, sc. senis_. So above _adulescentia_ =
_adulescentes_. -- AGENS ALIQUID: this phrase differs from _agat_ in that
while the subjunctive would express the _fact_ of action, the participial
phrase expresses rather the constant _tendency_ to act. _Agens aliquid_
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 moliri volunt_; Acad. 2, 22 _ut
moliatur aliquid et faciat_; N.D. 1, 2 _utrum di nihil agant, nihil
moliantur_; Mur. 82 _et agant et moliantur_. -- QUID ... ALIQUID: for the
ellipsis in _quid qui_ cf. n. on 22 _quid ... Addiscunt_ = προμανθανουσι =
learn on and on, go on learning. -- UT ... VIDEMUS: put, as Allen observes,
for _ut Solon fecit, quem videmus_. -- SOLONEM: see also 50. The line
(_versibus_ here is an exaggeration; in 50 it is _versiculus_) is preserved
by Plato in his Timaeus and by Plutarch, Sol. 31 γαερασκο δ' αει πολλα
διδασκομενος. The age of Solon at his death is variously given as 80 or 100
years. -- VIDEMUS: the Latins frequently use 'we see' for 'we read'. See n.
on Lael. 39, also below, 69 _ut scriptum video_. -- GLORIANTEM: A. 292,
_e_; G. 536, 527, Rem. 1; H. 535, I. 4. Notice the change to the infinitive
in _uti_ below. -- SENEX: _i.e. cum senex essem_; so 27 _adulescens
desiderabam_; 30 _memini 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 cupiens_ = 'thus,
_viz._ like one desiring'. Cf. n. on 12 _ita cupide fruebar quasi_; also 35
_tamquam ... sic_. _Quasi_ serves to soften the metaphor in _sitim_; cf. n.
on Lael. 3. -- CUPIENS: after _quasi_ a finite verb _(cuperem)_ 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 suum eadem quae_. -- EXEMPLIS: =
_pro exemplis_, or _exemplorum loco_ (cf. n. on 21 _Lysimachum_), 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 quibus
exemplis_ were put for _ea ipsa exempla quibus_. -- QUOD: = _ut cum 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 Euthydemus Socrates says that the boys
attending Connus' lessons laughed at him and called Connus
γεροντοδιδασκαλον. Cf. also Fam. 9, 22, 3 _Socraten fidibus docuit
nobilissimus fidicen; is Connus vocitatus est_; Val. Max. 8, 7, 8. -- IN
FIDIBUS: 'in the case of the lyre'. Tücking quotes Quintilian 9, 2, 5 _quod
in fidibus fieri vidimus_. The 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 _citharoedus, citharista_, when
referring to Greek professional players. The word _lyra_ too is rare in
early prose; it occurs in Tusc. 1, 4 in connection with a Greek, where in
the same sentence _fides_ is used as an equivalent. -- AUDIREM: for _audire
= legendo cognoscere_ see n. on 20. -- VELLEM: _sc. si possem_. --
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 _docere 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 ουδε (ου = ne, δε = quidem), 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: _locus_ (like
τοπος 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 certain heads; each head is called a
τοπος or _locus_, meaning literally the _place_ where a pleader is to look
for an argument when wanted. Hence _locus_ came to mean 'a cut-and-dried
argument' or, as here, a 'commonplace'. 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 repetition of the negative is common enough in Latin, as in some
English dialects. Cf. n. on 24. _Plus_ here = _magis_. -- QUOD EST: _sc.
tibi_, 'what you have', so Paradoxa 18 and 52 _satis esse, quod 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 verb
statement. Roby, 1544-1546; Madvig, 370, 494, Obs. 5, (6). -- VOX:
'utterance'; the word is used only of speeches 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 33), and about his power of
consuming food. He is said to have been a prominent disciple of Pythagoras.
-- ILLACRIMANS: beware of spelling _lacrima_ with either _ch_ for _c_ or
_y_ for _i_; these spellings are without justification. The _y_ rests on
the absurd assumption that the Latins borrowed their word _lacrima_
straight from the Greek δακρυ. -- DIXISSE: combinations like _dicitur
dixisse_ are exceedingly rare in good Latin. Cicero nearly always uses two
different verbs; _i.e._ he says _aiunt 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 replies,
whether the reply convey assent, or, as here, a retort. The usage is well
illustrated in Nägelsbach's Stilistik, § 197, 2. -- TAM: _sc. mortui sunt_.
-- NUGATOR: _nugari_ = ληρειν, 'to 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 quisque_. _Ex te_,
literally, 'out of yourself', _i.e._ 'from your real self's resources'. --
LATERIBUS: see n. on 14. -- AELIUS: his _cognomen_ 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 homo catus Aelius Sextus_. -- 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 Liv. 30, 1, 5 _iuris pontifici
peritissimus_) 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 by _modo_ and
_nuper_ depends entirely on the context; for _modo_ see Lael. 6 with note,
for _nuper_ below, n. on 61, 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', _i.e._
'continued', 'remained'. Some wrongly take the phrase to mean 'made
progress', 'increased', 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 -- SED TAMEN: 'no doubt -- but still'.
_Omnino_ (literally, 'altogether') has two almost exactly opposite uses --
(1) 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 tamen_ or _sed_ as in 45, but in Lael. 98 by the
less emphatic _autem_, while in Lael. 69 there is no introductory particle.
-- CANORUM ... SENECTUTE: _canorum_ implies the combination of power with
clearness in a voice. For the mixture of metaphors in _canorum splendescit_
edd. quote Soph. Phil. 189 αχω τηλεφανης; Cic. De Or. 2, 60 _illorum tactu
orationem meam quasi colorari_. -- 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: purposely put for
_nondum_, because more emphasis is thus thrown both on the time-word and on
the negation. The common view that _nondum_ was avoided because it would
have implied that Cato _expected_ to 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 is not very uncommon in Cicero, but
there are few examples of the usage in the speeches. Cf. Lael. 26 _et
quidquid_; so sometimes _que_ as above, 13; also Lael. 30 _ut nullo egeat
suaque omnia in se posita iudicet_. -- SENI: Madvig's em. for _senis_. In
Leg. 1, 11 allusion is made to the great change which advancing years had
wrought in Cicero's own impassioned oratory. He 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 only denotes public
speaking. -- QUIETUS ET REMISSUS: 'subdued and gentle'. The metaphor in
_remissus_ (which occurs also in 81) refers to the loosening of a
tight-stretched string; cf. _intentum_ etc. in 37 with n. With the whole
passage cf. Plin. Ep. 3, 1, 2 _nam iuvenes confusa adhuc quaedam et quasi
turbata non indecent; senibus placida omnia et ordinata conveniunt_. --
FACIT AUDIENTIAM: 'procures of itself a hearing for it'. In the words _per
se ipsa_ there is no doubt an allusion to the custom at large meetings in
ancient times whereby the _praeco_ or κηρυξ called on the people to listen
to the speakers. Cf. Liv. 43, 16, 8 _praeconem audientiam facere iussit_.
Note that this is the only classical use of the word _audientia_; it has
not the meaning of our 'audience' either in the sense of a body of
listeners, or as used in the expression 'to give audience'. -- COMPOSITA ET
MITIS: 'unimpassioned and smooth'. Cf. Quintil. 6, 2, 9 _affectus igitur
hos concitatos, illos mitis atque 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
mentioned in the last sentence. With _si nequeas_ cf. _nisi exerceas_ in 21
with n. -- SCIPIONI ET LAELIO: '_a_ Scipio and _a_ Laelius'; _i.e._ 'young
friends such as Scipio and Laelius are to me'. -- PRAECIPERE: here
absolute, = _praecepta dare_; usually an accusative follows. -- 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.