Cato Maior de Senectute with Introduction and Notes by Marcus Tullius Cicero
page 69 of 168 (41%)
page 69 of 168 (41%)
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stronger than our 'excellent'; _excellentem perfectamque_ 'pre-eminent and
indeed faultless'. -- QUOD ... SENSERIM: this clause takes the place of an object to _admirari_. The subjunctive is used because the speaker reports his own reason for the wonder, formerly felt, as if according to the views of another person, and without affirming his holding the same view at the time of speaking. Madvig, 357, _a_, Obs. 1. A 341, _d_, Rem. -- ODIOSA: this word is not so strong as our 'hateful', but rather means 'wearisome', 'annoying'. In Plautus the frequent expression _odiosus es_ means, in colloquial English, 'you bore me'. Cf. 47 _odiosum et molestum_; 65 _odiosa offensio_. -- ONUS AETNA GRAVIUS: a proverbial expression with an allusion to Enceladus, who, after the defeat of the Giants by Juppiter, was said to have been imprisoned under Mt. Aetna. Cf. Eurip. Hercules Furens, 637; also Longfellow's poem, Enceladus. -- HAUD SANE DIFFICILEM: 'surely far from difficult'; cf. 83 _haud sane facile_. -- QUIBUS: a _dativus commodi_, 'those for whom there is no aid in themselves'. Cf. Lael. 79 _quibus in ipsis_. -- BENE BEATEQUE VIVENDUM: 'a virtuous and happy life'; 'virtue and happiness'; so _bene honesteque_ below, 70. -- QUI ... PETUNT: these are the Î±Ï ÏαÏκειÏ, men sufficient for themselves, '_in se toti teretes atque rotundi_'. We have here a reminiscence of the Stoic doctrine about the wise man, whose happiness is quite independent of everything outside himself, and is caused solely by his own virtue. Cicero represents the same Stoic theory in Lael. 7. Cf. Juv. Sat. 10, 357-362; also Seneca, De Cons. Sap. VIII, De Prov. I. 5. -- A SE IPSI: 'themselves from themselves,' so in 78 _se ipse moveat ... se ipse relucturus sit_; 84 _me ipse consolabar_. Expressions like _a se ipsis_ are quite uncommon in Cicero. Cf. n. on Lael. 5 _te ipse cognosces_; also see below, 38 _se ipsa_ 78 _se ipse_. -- NATURAE NECESSITAS: 'the inevitable conditions of nature.' Cf. 71 _quid est tam secundum naturam quam senibus emori?_ -- AFFERAT: subjunctive because _nihil quod_ = _nihil tale ut_. A 320, _a_; G. 633, 634; H. 503, I. -- QUO IN GENERE: _sc. rerum_; with this phrase the defining genitive is commonly |
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