TRUCULENTO ... PSEUDOLO: these plays of Plautus (lived from 254 to 184
B.C.) we still possess. The Truculentus is so named from one of the
characters, a slave of savage disposition who is wheedled; the Pseudolus
from a cheating slave. The latter name is commonly supposed to be a
transcription from a Greek word ψευδυλος, which however nowhere occurs; and
as the change from Greek υ to Latin _o_ is not found before _l_, Corssen
assumes ψευδαλος as the original word. The form _Pseudulus_ of the name is
probably later than _Pseudolus_. -- LIVIUM: Livius Andronicus, the founder
of Latin literature (lived from about 285 to 204 B.C.), who translated the
Odyssey, also many Greek tragedies. Livius was a Greek captured by Livius
Salinator at Tarentum in 275 B.C.; for a time he was the slave of Livius,
and, according to custom, took his name when set free. For an account of
his writings see Cruttwell's Hist. of Roman Literature, Ch. 3; Sellar,
Roman Poets of the Rep., Ch. 3. -- DOCUISSET: 'had brought on to the
stage'. _Docere_ (like διδασκειν in Greek, which has the same use) meant
originally to instruct the performers in the play. -- CENTONE TUDITANOQUE
CONSULIBUS: _i.e._ in 240 B.C. The use of _que_ here is noticeable; when a
date is given by reference to the consuls of the year it is usual to insert
_et_ (not _que_ or _atque_, which rarely occur) between the two names, if
only the _cognomina_ (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 _ius pontificium_ regarded mainly
the proper modes of conducting religious ceremonial. _Ius 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 _hi consules_ 'the present consuls'; Rep. 1,
14 _Africanus hic, 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 senes essent_, so _senem_
below. -- SUADAE MEDULLAM: 'the essence (lit. marrow) of persuasiveness'.
The lines of Ennius are preserved by Cicero, Brut. 58. _Suada_ is a
translation of πειθω, 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. 111, n.
1; G. 209; H. 465. -- VIDEBAMUS: see n. on 49. -- COMPARANDAE: for the idea
of _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 arguments, preparatory to a transition to a
new subject, introduced by _venio nunc ad_. The succession of two clauses
both containing _quidem_ seems awkward, but occurs in Fin. 5, 80 and
elsewhere. -- HONESTUM 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 say _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_ having more emphasis thrown on it in the latter case.
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. 1, 99 _exercetque frequens tellurem atque imperat
agris_; ib. 2, 369 _dura exerce imperia et ramos compesce fluentes_; Tac.
Germ. 26 _sola terrae seges imperatur._ -- SED ALIAS ... FAENORE: put for
_sed semper cum faenore, alias minore, plerumque maiore_. -- VIS AC NATURA:
'powers and constitution'. These two words are very often used by Cic.
together, as in Fin. 1, 50 _vis ac natura rerum_. -- GREMIO: so Lucret. 1,
250 _pereunt imbres ubi eos pater aether In gremium matris terrai
praecipitavit_, imitated by Verg. Georg. 2, 325. -- MOLLITO AC SUBACTO:
_i.e._ by the plough. _Subigere_, 'subdue', is a technical word of
agriculture; so Verg. Georg. 2, 50 _scrobibus subactis_; see also below,
59.
P. 22. -- OCCAECATUM: 'hidden'. _Caecus_ has the sense of 'unseen' as well
as that of 'unseeing' or 'blind'. -- OCCATIO: Cicero's derivation, as well
as Varro's (De Re Rust. 1, 31, 1) from _occidere_, because the earth is cut
up, is unsound. _Occa_ is _rastrum_, probably from its _sharp_ points (root
_ak-_); _occatio_ therefore is 'harrowing'. -- VAPORE: '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 _-u_. --
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,
1, 1), n. -- FIBRIS STIRPIUM: so Tusc. 3, 13 _radicum fibras_. --
GENICULATO: 'knotted'. The verb _geniculo_, 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 _harundo_. -- SPICI: besides _spica_, the forms
_spicum_ and _spicus_ are occasionally found. _Spici_ here is explanatory
_frugem_. -- VALLO: for the metaphor compare N.D. 2, 143 _munitae sunt
palpebrae tamquam 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 ... proferam_ 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.'); so in 6 (where see n.), 24, 56,
59, 82. -- 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 periphrasis for 'all plants'; cf. _e.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
_quantulum re vera est_. In such uses _tantus_ and _tantulus_ differ
slightly from _magnus_ and _parvus_; they are more emphatic. -- ACINI
VINACEO: 'a grape-stone'. -- MINUTISSIMIS: used here for _minimis_.
Strictly speaking _minutus_ ought to be used of things which are fragments
of larger things, _minutus_ being really the participle passive of _minuo_.
In a well-known passage (Orat. 94) Cic. himself calls attention to the
theoretical incorrectness of the use, which, however, is found throughout
Latin literature. Cf. 46 _pocula minuta_; also below, 85 _minuti
philosophi_. -- MALLEOLI: vine-cuttings; so called because a portion of the
parent stem was cut away with the new shoot, leaving the cutting in the
shape of a mallet. -- PLANTAE: 'suckers', shoots springing 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. -- PROPAGINES: '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 _eandem_. -- 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. sarmentis_, those which have not been pruned away by the
knife. -- EXSISTIT: 'springs up'. _Exsistere_ in good Latin never has the
meaning of our 'exist', _i.e._ '_to be in_ existence', but always means
'_to come into_ existence'. -- ARTICULOS: 'joints'; cf. 51 _culmo
geniculato_. The word _tamquam_ 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: ablatives of
respect, like _gustatu_ above. -- CAPITUM IUGATIO: 'the linking together of
their tops'; _i.e._ the uniting of the tops of the stakes by cross-stakes.
So the editors; but Conington on Verg. Georg. 2, 355 seems to take _capita_
of the top-foliage 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
enumerating two things _et_ cannot be omitted, except where there are
several _sets_ or _pairs_ of things. Cf. n. on 13. -- RELIGATIO: _i.e._ the
tying down of shoots so as to cause them to take root in the earth.
_Religatio_ seems to occur only here.
P. 23. -- ALIORUM IMMISSIO: 'the granting of free scope to others'.
_Immissio_ 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 _cupressus immittitur in perticas asseresque amputatione ramorum_;
Varro, R.R. 1, 31, 1 _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'. The _pastinum_ was a kind of pitchfork, used for
turning over the ground round about the vines, particularly when the young
plants were being put in. -- MULTO TERRA FECUNDIOR: see n. on 3 _parum ...
auctoritatis_.
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 Εργα και ‛Ημεραι which we still possess,
along with the Theogony and the Shield of Heracles. -- CUM: concessive. --
SAECULIS: 'generations', as in 24. -- FUIT: = _vixit_. -- LAERTEN: the
passage referred to is no doubt the touching scene in Odyss. 24, 226, where
Odysseus, after killing the suitors, finds his unhappy old father toiling
in his garden. In that passage nothing is said of _manuring_. -- LENIENTEM:
see n. on 11 _dividenti_. -- COLENTEM etc.: the introduction of another
participle to explain _lenientem_ is far from elegant. _Cultione agri_ or
something of the kind might have been expected. The collocation of
_appetentem_ 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., of prose writers at
least, than the other form _apum_, which probably was not used by Cic. --
OMNIUM: = _omnis generis_. -- CONSITIONES ... 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 _consumere_ with a simple ablative. -- CURIUS: see n. on
15. -- A ME: = _a mea villa;_ cf. n. on 3 _apud quem_. -- ADMIRARI SATIS
NON POSSUM: a favorite form of expression with Cicero; _e.g._ De Or. 1,
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
_patronus_ of the Samnites, and they were bringing the customary offering
of _clientes_; see Rep. 3, 40. -- NE: here = num, a rare use; so Fin. 3,
44; Acad. 2, 116. -- SED VENIO AD: so in 51 _venio 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_ = ειπερ. --
ARANTI: emphatic position. -- CINCINNATO: L. Quinctius Cincinnatus is said
to have been dictator twice; in 458 B.C., when he saved the Roman 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 dictatorem_, since he was
nominated by the 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 because he did not immediately
obey, killed him with his own hand. For this, Ahala became one of the
heroes of his nation. See Liv. 4, 13. Cicero often mentions him with
praise. Cf. in Catil. I. 3; p. Sestio 143, etc. -- APPETENTEM: = _quia
appetebat_; so _occupatum_ = _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 attendance and were not despatched on distant
errands. The statement of Cic. in the text is repeated almost _verbatim_ by
Plin. N.H. 18, 21. -- MISERABILIS: 'to be pitied'. The word does not quite
answer to our 'miserable'. -- AGRI CULTIONE: a rare expression, found
elsewhere only in Verr. 3, 226; then not again till the 'Fathers'. -- HAUD
SCIO AN NULLA: since _haud scio an_ is affirmative in Cicero, not negative
as in some later writers, _nulla_ must be read here, not _ulla_. Cf. 73
_haud scio an melius Ennius_, 'probably Ennius speaks better'; also 74
_incertium an hoc ipso die_, 'possibly to-day'. Roby, 2256; G. 459, Rem.;
H. 529, II. 3, 20, n. 2. -- QUAM DIXI: = _de qua dixi_, as in 53. --
SATURITATE: the word is said to occur nowhere else in Latin. -- QUIDAM:
_i.e._ the authors of the _tertia vituperatio senectutis_, whom Cato
refutes in 39, 59. -- PORCO ... GALLINA: these words are used collectively,
as _rosa_ often is; so Fin. 2, 65 _potantem in rosa Thorium_. -- IAM:
'further'. -- SUCCIDIAM ALTERAM: 'a second meat-supply'. The word seems to
be connected with _caedo_, and probably originally meant 'slaughter'. In a
fragment of Cato preserved by Gellius 13, 24, 12 (in some editions 13, 25,
12) we find _succidias humanas facere_. Varro, R.R. 2, 14 has the word in
the sense of 'meat'. -- CONDITIORA FACIT: 'adds a zest to'; cf. _condita_
in 10. -- SUPERVACANEIS OPERIS: 'by the use of spare time'; literally 'by
means of toils that are left over', _i.e._ after completing the ordinary
work of the farm.
57. ORDINIBUS: cf. 59 _ordines_. -- BREVI PRAECIDAM: 'I will cut the matter
short', for _praecidam_ (_sc. rem_ or _sermonem_) cf. Acad. 2, 133
_praecide_ (_sc. sermonem_); for _brevi_ (= 'in brief', εν βραχει) cf. De
Or. 1, 34 _ne plura consecter comprehendam brevi_. -- USU UBERIUS: cf. 53
_fructu laetius ... aspectu pulchrius_. -- AD QUEM ... 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 Romanos ad insequendum tardabat_ (=
_tardos faciebat_); Cic. Sull. 49 _nullius amicitia ad pericula propulsanda
impedimur_. On _fruendum_ see Madvig, 421, _a_, Obs. 2 and 265, Obs. 2; G.
428, Rem. 3, exc.; H. 544, 2, n. 5. -- INVITAT ATQUE ALLECTAT: one of the
'doublets' of which Cicero is so fond; cf. Lael. 99 _allectant et
invitant_.
58. SIBI HABEANT: _sc. iuvenes_; contemptuous, as in Lael. 18 _sibi habeant
sapientiae nomen_ Sull. 26 _sibi haberent honores, sibi imperia_ etc.; cf.
the formula of Roman divorce, _tu tuas res tibi habeto_. -- HASTAS: in
practising, the point was covered by a button, _pila_; cf. Liv. 26, 51
_praepilatis missilibus iaculati sunt_. -- CLAVAM: cf. Vegetius de Re Mil.
1, 11 _clavas ligneas pro gladiis tironibus dabant, eoque modo exercebantur
ad palos_; Iuv. 6, 246. The _palus_ is called _stipes_ by Martial 7, 32. --
PILAM ... VENATIONES ... CURSUS: all national amusements, well known to
readers of Horace; see Becker's Gallus. _Venationes_, em. for _nataliones_.
-- TALOS ... TESSERAS: _tali_, 'knucklebones', were oblong, and rounded at
the two ends; the sides were numbered 1 and 6 (1 being opposite to 6), 3
and 4. Four _tali_ were used at a time and they, like the _tesserae_, were
generally thrown from a box, _fritillus_. The _tesserae_, of which three
were used at a time, were cubes, with the sides numbered from 1 to 6 in
such a way that the numbers on two opposite sides taken together always
made 7. A separate 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 _venus_, when they all
showed different numbers. The word _alea_ was general and applicable 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 Iuv. 14, 4. -- ID IPSUM: sc. _faciunt_; the omission
of _facere_ is not uncommon. Roby, 1441; H. 368, 3, n. 1. -- UT: em. for
ordinary readings _unum_ and _utrum_.
59. LEGITE: 'continue to read'. Cf. De Or. 1, 34 _pergite, ut facitis,
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. 1 _libris qui sunt de natura
deorum,_ and similarly elsewhere; but the periphrasis is often avoided, as
in Off. 2, 16 _Dicaearchi liber de interitu hominum_. -- 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 _regium_, which would mean 'actually characteristic of
kings'. Yet Cic. sometimes interchanges the words; thus _regalis potestas_
in Har. Resp. 54 is the same as _regia potestas_ in Phil. 1, 3. -- LOQUITUR
CUM CRITOBULO etc.: 'discourses with Critobulus of how Cyrus etc.'. The
construction of _loqui_ with acc. and inf. belongs to colloquial Latin, as
does the construction _loqui aliquam rem_ for _de aliqua re_; cf. Att. 1,
5, 6 _mecum Tadius locutus est te ita scripsisse_; ib. 9, 13, 1 _mera
scelera loquuntur_. -- 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; βασιλευς 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). -- LYSANDER: the great
commander who in 405 B.C. won the battle of Aegospotamos against the
Athenians. -- SARDIS: acc. pl.; _-is_ represents Gk. -εις. -- CONSAEPTUM
AGRUM: 'park'; the phrase is a translation of Xenophon's παραδεισον; this
will account for the omission 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 applied
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, originally 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 Plaut. Miles 4, 4, 41 (1177 R)
_ornatus nauclericus_.
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 Corvinus (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: cf. n. on 21. -- AETATE: here =
the vigorous period of life; cf. _bona aetas_ in 48. -- CURSUS HONORUM:
'official career'. -- HUIUS: _ille_ and _hic_ are not often found in the
same sentence referring to the same person. _Eius_ would have been more
regular here. -- MEDIA: cf. n. on 33 _constantis 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 properly applied to
the olive-twig bound round with wool, which was stuck in the cap worn by
the _flamines_ and _salii_. It is sometimes employed to translate διαδημα
(a word originally of similar meaning), the royal _insigne_, as in Horace,
Odes, 3, 21, 20 _regum apices_, with which cf. Odes, 1, 34, 14. The word is
scarcely found elsewhere in a metaphorical 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 (Planc. 60). His tomb was on the _via
Appia_ outside the _Porta Capena_, close to the well-known tomb of the
Scipios (see Tusc. 1, 13). -- IN QUEM ... ELOGIUM: 'in whose honor there is
the inscription'. With _in quem = de quo_ cf. the occasional occurrence of
κατα τινος in the sense of περι τινος. -- ELOGIUM: Greek ελεγειον (so
Curtius): for the representation of ε by _o_ cf. _oliva_ with ελαια, and
Plautus' lopadas for λεπαδας. 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 Barbatus_ which has actually come down to
us, and thus begins (Ritschl's recension):
_honc oino ploirime cosentiont Romai_
_duonoro optumo fuise viro viroro_
_i.e. hunc unum plurimi consentiunt Romae bonorum optimum fuisse virum
virorum_. Ritschl thus completes the _elogium_ of Atilus, by comparison
with others still preserved: _dictator_ (ending the second line), _Consul,
censor, aedilis hic fuit apud vos_. But Cicero's words (_nolum ...
sepulcro_) seem to imply a longer inscription than one of three lines; the
analogy of the Scipionic inscriptions points the same way. The older
monumental inscriptions of Rome were written in the Saturnian metre, which
depended partly on accent. The normal line ran thus:
v -' v - v -' v' | -' v - v -' v'
but there were many deviations. -- UNUM: intensifies _primarium_, 'the very
first'; cf. the common use of _unus_ with a superlative adjective, for
which see n. on Lael. 1 _unum_ 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 context. Cf. n. on Lael. 13. In
Plin. Ep. 1, 2, 2 the orator Calvus, a younger contemporary of Cicero, is
said to have existed _nuper_. -- LEPIDUM: _pontifex maximus_ from 180 B.C.,
consul in 187 and in 175; censor in 179; he is said to have been chosen
_princeps senatus_ by six sets of censors in succession. He died in 152. --
PAULO: see 29 _L. Aemilius_ with n. -- MAXIMO: see 10 _et seq_. --
SENTENTIA: _i.e._ a set speech in the senate. Cf. De Or. 1, 38 _is non
accurata orationis copia, sed nutu atque verbo libertinos in urbanas tribus
transtulit_. -- HONORATA: see n. on 22.
62. IN OMNI ORATIONE: 'everywhere throughout my speech'. _Tota oratione_
would have meant 'my speech viewed as a whole'. -- DEFENDERET: 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), laurea (sc. corona), natalis (sc. dies), Latinae
(sc. feriae)_, etc.; also _cereo_ in 44. -- FRUCTUS ... EXTREMOS: 'receives
the reward of influence at the last'.