he was murdered by his wife Clytaemnestra. Electra, their daughter,
contrived to save her young brother Orestes, and send him to the court
of Strophius, king of Phocis. After some years Orestes returned in
company with Pylades, the son of Strophius. At first he pretended to be
a messenger from Strophius, who had come to announce the death of
Orestes in a chariot race, in token of which he brought an urn
containing, he said, the ashes of the dead man. Finally, he made himself
known to Electra, and then slew Clytaemnestra and her lover Aegisthus.
+Sophocles+, 495-406, the great Athenian tragic poet, was thirty years
younger than Aeschylus and fifteen years older than Euripides. He is
said to have written 130 plays, but of these seven only have reached us,
of which the 'Electra,' here mentioned, is one.
6. +Oresti+. The gen. sing. of Greek proper names in _-es_ of the third
declension usually ends in _-i_, sometimes in _-is_. Hence we have nom.
and voc., Orestes; acc., Oresten and Orestem; gen., Oresti and Orestis;
dat., Oresti; abl., Orest[)e], rarely Orest[-e]. The plural, when used,
follows the first declension.
11. +quasi Oresti amplexus+. _Oresti_ is the gen. depending on _ossa_
understood.
12. +itaque+, etc., lit. 'and so when a play seemed to be represented,
(true) grief was represented.'
When the great English actor Macready played the part of Virginius, soon
after the death of his own daughter, he declared that his recent
experience of real grief gave a new force to his acting. Diderot, on the
other hand, in his famous _Paradoxe sur le Comédien_, maintains that the
emotions of the actor must be artificial, not real, to produce an
artistic effect.
XXXII.
2. +qui pro se ... advocaverunt+, 'they engaged men to plead their
case'; lit. 'who should speak for them,' _qui_ being used in a final
sense, and hence the subj. For this sense of _advocaverunt_ cf. the
English word 'advocate.'
4. +Demosthenes+, the greatest of Athenian orators, was born in 385 and
died in 322 B.C. As a statesman his whole policy was directed to
resisting the aggressions of the Macedonian kings Philip and Alexander
(cf. vi.). He made many bitter enemies, of whom +Demades+ (line 22) was
one of the most important. Demades was a warm supporter of the
Macedonian party, and, as he is known to have been an unprincipled man,
this story probably applies to him, and not to Demosthenes.
11. +lana multa ... circumvolutus+, lit. 'wrapped round as to his neck
with much wool.' _Collum_ is the acc. of respect.
12. +eo+, for that reason, therefore.
14. +non synanchen ... sed argyranchen+, 'that his throat was inflamed
not by cold, but by gold.' _Argyranche_ (#arguranchê#) is a sarcastic
word coined to imitate _synanche_ (#sunanchê#), 'an inflamed throat.'
15. +quin ... quoque+, 'nay he even prided himself upon it,' lit.
ascribed it as a glory (dat of purpose or complement, cf. viii. 4. note)
to himself. _Quinetiam_ is more common than the simple _quin_ in this
sense.
17. +quantum mercedis+. For this 'genitive of the thing measured,'
usually called the 'partitive genitive,' depending of a neuter pronoun,
cf. _id temporis_, xviii. 7. note, 'how much pay he had received for
acting.' _Accepisset_ is subj. after the dependent interrogative
_quantum_.
18. +uti ageret+, lit. in order to act, a final sentence. So '_ut
tacerem_'.
19. +talentum+, the Attic talent, £243 15s.
XXXIII.
1. +Marcus Tullius Cicero+, the famous Roman orator, was born near
Arpinum on Jan 3rd, 106 B.C. He was consul in 63 B.C., and was murdered
Dec 7th, 43 B.C., by the emissaries of M. Antonius.
+in Palatio+, the Palatium or Mons Palatinus was the hill on the S.W. of
the Roman Forum. On it the original city is said to have been built.
2. +in praesens+ sc. _tempus_, 'for the present'. _Praesens_, the pres.
participle of _praesum_, and _absens_, the pres. participle of _absum_,
are the only forms in which the pres. participle of _sum_ is found.
+P. Sulla+, the nephew of the great Dictator, L. Sulla, was accused of
complicity in the Catilinarian conspiracy. He was defended by Cicero and
Hortensius--the famous rival of Cicero, and, though certainly guilty,
was acquitted, 62 B.C.
+mutua ... tacita accepit+, 'accepted as a secret loan....'
+sestertium viciens+, 2,000,000 _sestertii_, _i.e._ about £19,000. The
unit for reckoning large sums was the _sestertius_ or _nummus_ (¼ of a
_denarius_, the ordinary silver coin in use, or 2½ asses), in value
about 2¼d. Up to 2,000 the cardinal numbers were prefixed, e.g. _centum
sestertii_, _mille sestertii_, etc. The gen. plur. of _sestertius_ is
_sestertium_, so 2,000 _sestertii_ is _duo millia sestertium_. This form
_sestertium_ in time became treated as if it were a neuter singular.
Hence for _duo millia sestertium_, _duo_ or _bina sestertia_ was
written, as the 'distributive' form of the numeral was often used. Hence
for sums from 2,000 up to 1,000,000 _sestertii_ we have _duo_ or _bina
sestertia_, _sexaginta_ or _sexagena sestertia_, etc. For sums above
1,000,000 _sestertii_ the numeral adverb was generally employed: thus,
2,000,000 _sestertii_ was written _viciens centena_ (or _centum_)
_millia sestertium_, which was generally contracted into _viciens
sestertium_, or _viciens_ alone.
4. +priusquam emeret+. _Priusquam_ and _antequam_, like other temporal
conjunctions, usually govern the indicative; but when they introduce an
event which is expected, and its occurrence prevented, _i.e._ when they
convey any idea of purpose, they usually require the subjunctive. Cf.
note on _dum iret_, xxv. 5. Translate, "before he _could_ buy."
+quod ... accepisset+, 'that he had accepted.' Fees to lawyers were
illegal at Rome; but the law was evaded in many ways.
10. +inter ridendum+, 'amidst his laughing.' Cf. note on the gerund,
xiii. 1.
+#akoinonoêtoi#+ (_akoin[)o]n[)o][-e]toi_), #a-koinos-noêtos (noêsis)#,
not having common sense. The word is not found in extant Greek works.
11. +cum ignoratis+, 'because you do not know that.' This use of _cum_
with the indic., giving a reason, is common in early writers (_e.g._
Plautus), but only used by Cicero after such words as _laudo_ and
_gratulor_. Later writers do not employ it.
12. +patris familias+, 'it is the custom of a prudent and careful master
of the household to say that he is not going to buy what he wishes to
purchase....' For the genitive, cf. _cuiusvis hominis est errare_, 'it
is any man's nature to err,' etc. The genitive may be explained by
saying that it depends upon some such word as _indoles_, 'nature,'
_officium_, 'duty,' etc., understood.
XXXIV.
3. +Mons Cispius+ was one of the peaks of Mons Esquilinus, on the E. of
the Forum.
+subeuntes montem+. Many intransitive verbs, especially verbs of motion,
gain a semi-transitive or transitive force by being compounded with
prepositions, chiefly prepositions which govern an acc., e.g. _adire_,
_circumvenire_, _adstare_, _adloqui_, _oppugnare_, etc. But many of
these compounds govern a dative, instead of, or as well as, an
accusative, e.g. _adlabi_, _succedere_. Some verbs compounded with
prepositions which govern an ablative take an accusative, e.g.
_convenire_, _expugnare_, etc.
4. +insulam+. _Insula_ was a house for poor people, let out in rooms or
flats to several families; as opposed to _domus_, the large mansion of a
single wealthy family.
+multis ... editam+, built to a great height with many floors.
7. +magni+, nominative, 'the profits of city property are great.'
8. +si quid remedii+. For the gen. cf. _id temporis_, xviii. 7. note,
'if any remedy could have been found to prevent houses burning so
constantly at Rome, I would have sold....'
10. +venum dedissem+. _Venum_ (neuter) is only found in the classical
period in the acc. sing., but Tacitus uses _veno_, and still later
writers _venui_. _Venum do_--often written as one word, _venumdo_,
contracted into _vendo_--is 'I give for sale'; _venum eo_--often written
_veneo_--is 'I am for sale.' For the acc. cf. _pessum dare_, 'I give to
destruction,' and _pessum ire_, 'I go to destruction.'
12. +annalem undevicensimum+, 'the nineteenth book of the history
(annals) of Q. Claudius....'
13. +Mitridati+, genitive; cf. _Oresti_, xxxi. 6. note.
14. +defenderes+, subj. after the dependent interrogative _quo_.
15. +L. Cornelius Sulla+, surnamed Felix, was born in 138 and died 78
B.C. He first distinguished himself in Africa, when serving under Marius
in the campaign against Jugurtha (107-106). In 88 he was appointed to
the command of the war against Mitridates, but Marius, eager to obtain
this for himself, got a new law passed transferring the command to
himself. Sulla thereupon marched upon Rome with his troops, and Marius
fled, only to return and deluge the streets of Rome with blood, when his
rival had sailed for the East. The siege of Athens here referred to took
place in 86: in 83 Sulla returned to Rome, and quickly overthrew the
remains of the Marian party, Marius having died in 86. In 81 Sulla was
appointed Dictator. He devoted two years to reforming the State, and
restoring the power of the senate and aristocracy, and then retired into
private life in 79. In the following year he died.
+Piraeum+. Piraeus, Munychia, and Phalerum were the three harbours of
Athens.
XXXV.
1. +Arion+. This story about Arion comes from the Greek historian
Herodotus. +Periander+ was "tyrant" of Corinth from 625 to 585 B.C. Like
most of the Greek "tyrants" he was a patron of art and literature.
+nobilis+ is common in the sense of 'famous,' as well as in its
technical use of one whose ancestors had held curule office.
+Methymnaeus+. Methymna was a town at the northern extremity of Lesbos.
5. +viseret+, the imperf. subj., because _proficiscitur_ is the
'historical present' standing for a past tense. Cf. xxi. 12. note.
8. +ut notiores+, 'as better known....'
10. +in altum+, 'the deep sea.'
11. +de necando Arione+, gerundial attraction. Cf. xiii. 7. note.
21. +carmen ... orthium+, Greek #nomos orthios#, lit. the loud, high
song, was the name for a shrill, stirring air.
XXXVI.
2. +cursum ... tenuerunt+, 'held on their course.'
4. +fluitanti sese homini subdidit+, 'placed itself under the floating
man.'
5. +incolumique corpore et ornatu+, abl. absol., 'carried him to land
(_devexit_) at Taenarum, in the country of Laconia, with body and
clothes unharmed.' _Taenarum_ is the acc. of 'place whither.'
+in terram Laconicam+, lit. 'to Taenarum into the land of Laconia.' So
'he set out for Carthage in Africa' is '_profectus est Carthaginem in
Africam_.'
6. +Taenarum+ was a promontory and town in the S.W. of Laconia, now
Cape Matapan.
7. +devexit+, 'carried _down_,' _i.e._ to land. The Greeks and Romans
spoke of the coast line as lower than both the inland country and the
'high' sea. Cf. the uses of #anabainô# and #katabainô#.
8. +talemque+, etc., lit. 'presented himself to King Periander, not
expecting him, in the same guise (_talem_) as he had been in (_qualis_)
(when) carried on the dolphin.'
+quasi falleret+. Cf. _quasi desiperet_, xv. 6. note.
12. +dissimulanter+, secretly, hiding the truth; _simulanter_,
feignedly, pretending what does not exist (the form _simulanter_ is
post-classical). This distinction between _simulo_ and _dissimulo_ is
expressed in the pentameter--
"_Quod non es simulas, dissimulasque quod es_,"
'you pretend what you are not, and hide what you are.'
13. +audissent+, subj. after the dept. interrogative '_ecquid_.'
+unde venissent+, subj. because a dept. sentence in the _interrogatio
obliqua_, after _interrogavit_.
18. +ire infitias+, 'to deny.' For the phrase, cf. _ire exequias_, 'to
attend a funeral.' The acc. in these phrases must be compared with the
'acc. of place whither' after a verb of motion, _e.g._ _Romam_, _domum_,
_rus ire_; and the acc. of the supine used to express purpose after a
verb of motion, e.g. _lusum it Maecenas, dormitum ego_ (Horace),
'Maecenas goes to play, I to sleep.'
20. +quod+, 'the fact that...,' introduces the substantival sentence
'_simulacra ... visuntur_' which is the subject of _est_.
21. +delphinus+ and +homo+ are in opposition with _simulacra_.
XXXVII.
1. +ruris colendi insolens+, 'ignorant of agriculture.' For the
gerundial attraction, cf. xiii. 1. note.
3. +qui ... sciret+, 'since he knew...,' the relative when used in a
causal sense governs the subjunctive.
10. +faceret+, subj. after the dept. interrogative _cur_; 'he asked
why he was making....'
13. +gratias agens+. The plural _gratias_ is always used with _agere_;
but after _referre_, _debere_, _sentire_, etc., the singular, _gratiam_,
is most commonly found.
15. +imperitus+ goes closely with _detruncat_. In English we should
use the adverb, 'ignorantly (or, in his ignorance) cuts the tops
off....'
+vites suas sibi omnes et oleas+, 'all the vines and olives that he
possessed.'
18. +pomis gignendis felicia+, lit. all the twigs 'productive for
bearing fruit,' _i.e._ 'all the fruit-bearing twigs.' _Pomis gignendis_
is the dative after _felicia_. For the gerundive attraction cf. xiii. 1.
note.
+felicia+. The root of _felix_ is the same as the root of _fecundus_
(fruitful), _fetus_ (offspring), etc. Hence the earliest meaning of
_felix_ is fruit-bearing: in this sense it is used in Lucretius, Ovid,
Livy, etc., and the adverb _felicius_ in Verg. (_hic segetes, illic
veniunt felicius uvae._--Georg. i. 54.)
XXXVIII.
1. +Mitridates VI+., king of Pontus, 120-63 B.C., was the most
powerful foe whom the Romans encountered in the East. The first
Mitridatic war was brought to a successful conclusion by Sulla in 84
B.C.; the second, 83-82 B.C., was uneventful; the third, 74-63 B.C., in
which Pompeius distinguished himself, ended in the flight and suicide of
the king, as described in line 8.
2. +quorum ... cavebat+, 'by the continual use of which he protected
himself from secret attempts at banquets'; _epularum_ is a descriptive
genitive depending on _insidiis_.
3. +quin ... est+. Cf. _quin quoque_, xxxii. 15. note, 'nay, he
even....'
+ostentandi gratia+, 'to show off.'
6. +in ultima regni+, 'to the most distant parts of his kingdom.'
9. +Q. Ennius+ (239-169 B.C.), though a Greek by birth, spent his life
at Rome, and was regarded by the Romans as the father of their poetry,
_alter Homerus_ (Horace). His most important work was the _Annales_, an
epic poem upon the history of Rome. Only a few fragments of his writings
have reached us.
10. +Osce+. The Osci were a primitive people who lived in Campania.
14. +lingua locutus est+, 'he spoke in the tongue and language of each
as skilfully as if he had been of that nation.'
XXXIX.
1. +eloquentiae discendae causarumque orandi cupidus+, lit. 'was
anxious to learn eloquence and to plead causes.'
+causarum orandi+, the genitive _orandi_ depends upon _cupidus_, and
_causarum_ is a genitive depending on the gerund _orandi_. This
construction (instead of the gerundial attraction, or the ordinary acc.
after the gerund) is very rare; but cf. _nobis fuit exemplorum eligendi
potestas_ (Cic de Juv. ii. 2), 'we had the power of choosing examples.'
+in disciplinam ... sese dedit+, 'entered himself as a pupil of
Protagoras,' lit. gave himself to the teaching of Protagoras.
3. +Protagoras+, of Abd[-e]ra, in Thrace, was born about 480 B.C. and
died 411 B.C. He came to Athens before the year 445, and there
established a school. He was the first Greek philosopher who called
himself a 'Sophist,' and taught for pay.
+daturumque+, etc. The order is--_promisit se daturum esse grandem
pecuniam mercedem_, 'promised to give a large sum as a remuneration....'
_Mercedem_ is in apposition with _pecuniam_.
6. +quo primo die+, 'on the first day on which he pleaded and won a
case'; the antecedent _primo die_ is attracted into the relative
clauses, a common construction in Latin. Cf. xxx. 2.
8. +causas ... reciperet+, 'did not undertake cases,' _i.e._ take
briefs.
12. +litem ... contestatur+ is the technical phrase for setting a suit
on foot by calling witnesses; 'he brings an action against Euathlus.'
17. +ex sententia+, in accordance with the votes of the judges.
'_Sententia_' is an expressed opinion, hence our 'sentence.'
18. +secundum te+, 'in your favour.'
24. +pro causa mea senserint+, 'shall have pronounced in my favour.'
XL.
1. +proelium Cannense+, 216 B.C. Cf. ix. 1. Note the use of the
adjective, where we use a subst. and prep., 'the battle of Cannae.'
2. +electos ... misit+, 'sent to Rome ten men chosen out of our
captives,' _i.e._ 'selected ten of our captives and sent them to Rome.'
Cp. xxi. 3. note.
3. +videretur+, 'if it seemed good to the Roman people.'
4. +quos alteri plures acciperent+, 'whom the one side received more
(than the other)'; _plures_ is acc. qualifying _quos_.
5. +argenti+, etc., 'a pound and a half of silver by weight.'
6. +hoc iusiurandum eos adegit+, 'bound them by this oath.' _Adigere
aliquem iusiurandum_, or _ad iusiurandum_, is literally to drive a man
to an oath, _i.e._ to make him take it. After the time of Livy the
construction _adigere aliquem iure iurando_, 'to bind a man by an oath,'
was more common.
12. +postliminio+, 'by the right of _postliminium_.' _Postliminium_ is
"the recovery of rights by a person returned from captivity, or the
recovery of rights over a person or thing recovered from hostile
possession" (Poste's _Gaius_, § 129), since a man by hostile capture
became the slave of the enemy, and so during the interval of captivity
his rights as a free citizen were suspended. The usual derivation given
is from _post_ and _limen_, 'a returning behind the threshold'; others
derive the _post_ from the same root as _potestas_ and _possessio_.
+liberatos religione+, 'freed from their obligation.'
19. +quoniam+, etc., lit. 'since, when they had left the enemy's camp,
they had returned to it (_eo lem._ lit. to the same place) on an
imaginary pretext, as if for some accidental reason, and so had again
left (the camp) not bound by an oath.'
24. +censores+. Two censors were elected every five years (_lustrum_);
they held office for 18 months. Their duties were (1) to take the
census, _i.e._ the register of the citizens and their property; (2) to
exercise a supervision over the morals of the citizens, and punish
defaulters by the _nota censoria_, and degrade them in various ways.
The consequence of the _nota_ was _ignominia_.
EXERCISES
TO BE TRANSLATED INTO LATIN.
[_The words in brackets are not to be translated._]
I.
1. Vergil used to produce his verses like a bear.
2. The verses of Vergil were at first rough and unfinished.
3. He used to polish and correct his rough verses like a bear.
4. That animal by licking gives features to its shapeless offspring.
5. All the verses of Vergil were afterwards polished and corrected.
6. The offspring of that animal is at first rough and shapeless.
7. It produces a shapeless offspring, but afterwards licks and forms it.
8. The rough verses were polished and corrected by Vergil, as (its)
offspring is licked and formed by that animal.
II.
1. Philemon was an author by no means equal to Menander.
2. Do you not blush, whenever you defeat me in such contests?
3. Philemon did not blush when he met Menander.
4. Philemon often defeated Menander in those contests.
5. Menander will meet Philemon by chance.
6. Menander, a writer of comedies, defeated Philemon by bribery.
7. Menander and Philemon were by no means equal.
8. How do you defeat me in these contests?
III.
1. A wonderful thing is told by Plutarch about the palm.
2. Great weights were placed by the philosophers on the stem of that
palm tree.
3. The tree will not yield, but will rise against the great weight.
4. They have made the palm the emblem of victory.
5. Why is this tree an emblem of victory in battle?
6. The stem of the tree was not bent by the weights placed upon it.
7. Philosophers tell many wonderful tales about this tree.
8. This tree was made by the Greeks the emblem of victory.
IV.
1. It is said that Xanthippe was the wife of Socrates the philosopher.
2. Socrates had a very bad-tempered wife, Xanthippe by name.
3. He did not drive his quarrelsome wife from home.
4. I can bear the impertinence of the others more easily.
5. The wife of Socrates was very quarrelsome both day and night.
6. The friends of Socrates wondered at his bad-tempered wife.
7. Why has your quarrelsome and bad-tempered wife not been driven from
home?
8. Alcibiades, the friend of Socrates, wondered at Xanthippe, the
quarrelsome wife of that philosopher.
V.
1. Voluntary labours used to strengthen the body of Socrates.
2. He used to stand day and night motionless.
3. Socrates lived in perfect health for almost his whole life.
4. A plague ravaged the city of Athens in the Peloponnesian war.
5. Socrates kept his bodily vigour during the plague which ravaged
Athens.
6. He used to stand with his eyes directed to the same place.
7. Socrates bore very many labours to strengthen his body.
8. He directed his eyes to the same place from one sunrise to the next
sunrise.
VI.
1. King Alexander had a wonderful horse called Bucephalas.
2. No one, except King Alexander, could mount this horse.
3. The king, seated on this horse, performed many brave deeds in the
Indian war.
4. Darts were thrown from all sides at King Alexander.
5. The king was carried back at full speed by the dying horse from the
middle of the battle.
6. A town, called Bucephalon, was built by Alexander in that place.
7. The horse was pierced by many wounds and fell down almost lifeless.
8. Alexander built a town in India, which he called Bucephalon in honour
of his wonderful horse Bucephalas.
VII.
1. Alcibiades was educated by his uncle Pericles.
2. A flute-player endeavoured to teach Alcibiades to play the flute.
3. The flute was handed to Alcibiades by his master.
4. The flute was thrown away and broken by the boy Alcibiades.
5. The Athenians unanimously ceased to play the flute.
6. The uncle caused the boy to be taught to play the flute.
7. The wise uncle caused many masters to be summoned.
8. Flute-playing was formerly considered by the Athenians a most
honourable accomplishment.
VIII.
1. The Samnites sent ambassadors to C. Fabricius, the Roman general.
2. They offered the Roman general a large sum of money as a gift.
3. Many things were lacking to the magnificence of his home.
4. Fabricius could control his eyes, mouth and ears.
5. Fabricius was unwilling to receive the money from the Samnites.
6. The Samnites know (how) to use the money.
7. Fabricius did many things for the Samnites after peace had been made.
8. The Roman general was unwilling to use the Samnite money.
IX.
1. The king had collected his forces on the plain.
2. King Antiochus was about to make war on his enemies, the Roman
people.
3. The army of the king was glittering with gold and silver trappings.
4. He manoeuvred his chariots, cavalry and elephants.
5. These things will be enough for the greedy Romans.
6. Many elephants had been collected by Antiochus.
7. Hannibal jeered at the cowardice of Antiochus' soldiers.
8. The king had collected chariots with sickles and elephants with
turrets.
X.
1. The death of Milo was wonderful and pitiable.
2. Athletics were abandoned by Milo (when) advanced in age.
3. A large oak was standing near the road.
4. He thrust his fingers into the hollows of the tree.
5. Milo endeavoured with his fingers to tear open the oak.
6. The tree returned to its natural position and shut in his hands.
7. The man was torn to pieces by wild beasts.
8. The oak was torn open by the hands of Milo.
XI.
1. The Roman senators used to enter the senate house with their sons.
2. The senators were consulting about a very important matter.
3. No one spoke about the matter, (which had been) adjourned to the next
day.
4. The mother of the boy Papirius was very anxious to hear the matter.
5. It is advantageous to the state for one man to have two wives.
6. The boy was unwilling to tell his mother those matters.
7. In that city one woman was not married to two men.
8. I must be silent, for I am not allowed to tell you this.
XII.
1. On hearing this she betook herself in alarm to the other women.
2. Next day a crowd of women came to the senate-house.
3. What is this crowd of women, and what do these demands mean?
4. The boy advances into the middle of the senate-house and says these
things.