Cato Maior de Senectute with Introduction and Notes by Marcus Tullius Cicero
page 84 of 168 (50%)
page 84 of 168 (50%)
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Disputations_, and also in his _De Consolatione_ on the death of his
daughter. -- IN LUCE ... CIVIUM: 'in public and under the gaze of his fellow-countrymen'. Do not translate _in oculis_ by the English phrase 'in the eyes of', which has another sense. The metaphor in _lux_ is often used by Cicero, as Qu. Fr. 1, 1, 7 _in luce Asiae, in oculis provinciae_. -- NOTITIA: _notitia_ is general knowledge, often merely the result of superficial observation; _scientia_ is thorough knowledge, the result of elaboration and generalization. -- MULTAE LITTERAE: 'great literary attainments.' In this sense _magnae_ could not be used to represent 'great'. Note the ellipsis of _erant_. -- UT IN HOMINE ROMANO: 'considering that he was a Roman', or 'for a Roman'. On the backwardness of the Romans in literary pursuits see Teuffel, Hist. of Rom. Lit, § 2; cf. also Ritter, Hist. of Ancient Philosophy, Vol. IV. pp. 1-13, Eng. ed. In parenthetic clauses like this, the introductory _ut_ may convey two very different meanings according to the context. Thus in Acad. 2, 98 _homo acutus, ut Poenus_ is 'a keen witted man, _as might be expected of_ a Carthaginian' (cf Colum 1, 3, 8 _acutissimam gentem Poenos_) while Nepos, Epam. 5, 2 _exercitatum in dicendo ut Thebanum_ implies that oratory was _not_ to be expected of a Theban. -- DOMESTICA ... EXTERNA BELLA: here the _domestica bella_ are those wars which belong to the history of Rome, the _externa bella_ those wars which belong to the history of other states; but usually _domestica bella_ are civil wars, _externa_ foreign wars in which Rome is engaged; _e.g._ Leg. agr. 2, 90 _omnibus domesticis externisque bellis_; in Catil 2, 11 _omnia sunt externa unius virtute pacata; domesticum bellum manet, intus insidiae sunt_. The practice of reading military history was common among Roman commanders; see for instance Acad. 2, 3 of Lucullus; the practice is ridiculed by Marius in Sall. Iug. 85. -- ITA: _ita_ does not qualify _cupide_, and has not the sense of _tam_, it means rather 'in this state', 'under these conditions'; the words from _quasi_ to the end of the sentence really form an explanation of _ita_. This mode of expression is |
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