Cato Maior de Senectute with Introduction and Notes by Marcus Tullius Cicero
page 76 of 168 (45%)
page 76 of 168 (45%)
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nature to deserve complaint'; _id quod erat_, etc. would have meant merely
'that one thing which was matter for complaint'. A. 320; G. 634, Rem. 1; H. 503, I. -- USU VENIRENT: the phrase _usu venire_ differs very little in meaning from _accidere_. _Usu_ is commonly explained as an ablative ('in practice', 'in experience'), but is quite as likely to be a dative of the sort generally called predicative ('to come as matter of experience'); cf. Verg. Aen. 1, 22 _venire excidio_; Plin. N.H. 28, 106 _odio_; Caes. B.G. 5, 27 _subsidio_. -- QUORUM ... MULTORUM: the first genitive is dependent on the second, so that _quorum = e quibus_. Notice the separation of _quorum_ from _multorum_ and of _multorum_ from _senectutem_. -- SINE QUERELLA: attribute of _senectutem_. A. 217, Rem.; H. 359, n. 1, 4), and n. 3. This form of attributive phrase, consisting of a preposition with a noun, is common; cf. 24 _ex agro Sabino rusticos Romanos_; 40 _cum hostibus clandestina colloquia_. _Querella_ is better spelling than _querela_. See Roby, 177, 2. -- QUI: 'men of such nature as to ...'. -- ET ... NEC: Roby 2241. The reason for the departure from the ordinary sequence of particles lies in the words _non moleste_. _Nec ...et _ is common; see 51, 53. -- LIBIDINUM VINCULIS etc.: Cic. is here thinking of the conversation between Socrates and Cephalus in Plato, Rep. 329 D, for which see Introd. -- MODERATI: 'self-controlled'; cf. n. on 1 _moderationem_; _difficiles_, 'peevish'; _inhumani_, 'unkindly'; _importunitas_, 'perversity'. _Importunitas_ seems to be used as the substantive corresponding in sense with the adjective _difficilis_. _Difficultas_, in the sense of 'peevishness', probably occurs only in Mur. 19. 8. DIXERIT QUISPIAM: 'some one will say presently'; a gentle way of introducing one's own objection. The mood of _dixerit_ is probably indicative, not subjunctive; see the thorough discussion in Roby, Gram., Vol. 2, Pref., p. CIV. _et seq_. -- OPES ET COPIAS: 'resources and means'. _Opes_ has a wider meaning than _copias_ (mere material wealth) and |
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