atque fallacium, ad voluptatem loquentium omnia, nihil ad veritatem. 92. Quum autem omnium rerum simulatio vitiosa est, tollit enim judicium veri idque adulterat, tum amicitiae repugnat maxime; delet enim veritatem sine qua nomen amicitiae valere non potest. Nam quum ami citiae vis sit in eo ut unus quasi animus fiat ex pluribus, qui id fieri poterit, si ne in uno quidem quoque unus animus erit idemque semper, sed varius, commutabilis, multiplex? 93. Quid enim potest esse tam flexibile, tam devium, quam animus ejus qui ad alterius non modo sensum ac voluntatem sed etiam vultum atque nutum convertitur ? Negat quis; nego: ait; aio: postremo imperavi egomet mihi ut ait idem Terentius, sed ille in Gnathonis persona: quod amici genus adhibere omnino levitatis est. 94. Multi autem Gnathonum similes quum sint loco, fortuna, fama superiores, horum est assentatio molesta, quum ad vanitatem accessit auctoritas. 95. Secerni autem blandus amicus a vero et internosci tam potest adhibita diligentia quam Ad voluptatem loquentium] Which Seyffert has adopted, is a better reading than Orelli's and Madvig's, ad voluntatem,' &c. as the argument shows. In c. 26, some inferior MSS. have ad ipsorum voluptatem.' The two words have been thus confounded. Gnathonis] The quotation is from the Eunuchus of Terence (ii. 2, 21). As to 'persona,' see De Am.c. 1.-'In Gnathonis persona:' which Seyffert has. Orelli has 'sub;' as to the Latinity of which there is some doubt. There is no doubt about 'in persona.' Multi autem, &c.] This has been misunderstood: multi Gnathonum similes' is the subject or nominative to 'sint:' Now as there are many Gnathos, who in birth, station, reputation stand higher, their flattery is intolerable, when the weight of their position is added to their mendacity.' The form of the English sentence must not mislead; it is only one member as far as superiores.' Vanitatem] Vanitas' is falsehood,' 'lying,' another name for 'assentatio,' the more grievous, when the rank or station of the flatterer gives it weight. See De Am. c. 26. omnia fucata et simulata a sinceris atque veris. Contio quae ex imperitissimis constat, tamen judicare solet quid intersit inter popularem, id est, assentatorem et levem civem, et inter constantem, severum, et gravem. 96. Quibus blanditiis C. Papirius nuper influebat in aures contionis, quum ferret legem de tribunis plebis reficiendis. Dissuasimus nos. Sed nihil de me: de Scipione dicam libentius. Quanta illi, Dii immortales, fuit gravitas, quanta in oratione majestas, ut facile ducem populi Romani non comitem diceres. Sed adfuistis, et est in manibus oratio. Itaque lex popularis suffragiis populi repudiata est. Atque ut ad me redeam, meministis, Q. Maximo fratre Scipio 6 Contio] A meeting or popular assembly. Seyffert has the true form. Some people are still writing nonsense about this word. Seyffert's note is this: "The orthography of the word contio, in place of the former reading concio, is confirmed by inscriptions, and the best MSS. of Cicero: and consequently it is not derived a conciendo, but a conveniendo, and from conventio was first formed coventio, and then contio." Orelli, who has 'concio,' says nothing of a MS. reading contio.' Professor Key is the first, as far as I know, who has restored the orthography of this word. The Bacchanalian inscription (ed. M. Egizio) has coventio.' Varro (De L. L. vi. 88, ed. Müller) has: "In Commentariis Consularibus scriptum sic invenio C. Calpurni, Cos. dicit, voca ad conventionem omnes Qui rites huc ad me." This is the same as 'vocare in contionem,' whence the identity of contio' end 'conventio' appears. Popularem,]Popularis,' one who supports the popular party against the 'boni' or optimates.' 6 Cicero puts an explanation of the C. Papirius] This is C. Papi- Est in manibus oratio.] This is the usual phrase to express that an oration was extant, and in circulation. Q. Maximo] See c. 19, note. K nis et L. Mancino consulibus, quam popularis lex de sacerdotiis C. Licinii Crassi videbatur. Cooptatio enim collegiorum ad populi beneficium transferebatur. Atque is primus instituit in forum versus agere cum populo; tamen illius vendibilem orationem, religio deorum immor C. Laelius was praetor in the consulship of Q. Fabius Maximus and L. Mancinus, B.C. 145. Five years after he was consul. Cooptatio] Cooptatio' was a term applied to the colleges of priests, to signify that they filled up vacancies in their own bodies by self-election. They were close corporations. The lex mentioned in the text was proposed B.c. 145, and its object was to give to the comitia the election of members to fill up vacant places in the priestly colleges. Such a lex might accordingly be called 'popularis.' The honours or the offices which the people conferred were called beneficia populi,' the favours of the 'populus.' As to other uses of this word, see Cicero (Pro Arch. c. 5; Ad Div. v. 20, ind the note of Manutius). Instituit] In this and like cases, signifies to "establish as a custom," or "to make the arrangements" for any thing, and is followed by an infinitive. 'Agere cum populo,' like the ordinary use of agere cum aliquo,' implies the transaction of something in the nature of business; and in a derived sense cum aliquo agi' may express any dealing of which a man is the object (De Am. 1), 'quum enim saepe mecum ageres,' &c.; (De Am. 3) cum illo. actum esse praeclare." 66 66 Agere cum populo,' according to Messala, quoted by Gellius (xiii. 15), means to propose some measure to the populus for their acceptance or rejection. In forum versus, &c.] According to Niebuhr, the place where the patricians held their elections was the comitium, and that of the plebeians was the forum; both of which were on the same level, and might be considered as forming one place, comprehended in the general term 'forum.' The old rostra separated the comitium from the plebeian forum, and up to the time mentioned in the text the tribunes, when they spoke from the rostra, turned their faces towards the comitium and the curia Hostilia. C. Licinius Crassus, according to the statement in the text, must have brought the populus, that is, the patricians, from the comitium to the forum to hear his harangue. If the forum was made the place of general meeting for the populus and the plebs, the tribunes must, of course, have turned their back to the comitium, and, their face to the forum, when they addressed a contio composed of the two bodies. According to Plutarch (Life of C. Gracchus, c. 5), whose version of the story shows that he hardly understood it, C. Gracchus 'was the first who turned his face the other way, to the forum.' There is the expression 'ad oceanum versus,' Caesar, B. G. vi. 33. Vendibilem] This word, which means 'saleable,' or ' for sale,' does not mean 'venal' in this passage. It was like a commodity talium (nobis defendentibus facile vincebat. Atque id actum est praetore me quinquennio ante quam consul sum factus. Ita re magis quam summa auctoritate causa illa defensa est. XXVI. 97. Quod si in scena, id est, in contione, in qua rebus fictis et adumbratis loci plurimum est, tamen verum valet, si modo id patefactum et illustratum est, quid in amicitia fieri oportet quae tota veritate perpenditur ? in qua nisi, ut dicitur, apertum pectus videas tuumque ostendas, nihil fidum, nihil exploratum habeas; ne amare quidem aut amari, quum id quam vere fiat ignores. Quamquam ista assentatio, quamvis perniciosa sit, nocere tamen nemini potest nisi ei qui eam recipit atque ea delectatur. which recommends itself, something that is readily passed off. So was the proposal of Crassus. The people liked it, and were ready to accept it, but they yielded to the religious argument of Laelius, founded on the old institutions of Rome. Summa auctoritate] Seyffert says that the best MSS. have 'summa.' Orelli marks summa' as being. in some MSS.; but he does not admit it into his text. Seyffert has well explained it. The opposition of Laelius succeeded more through the merits of his case than nis rank or station; for he was only praetor, as he tells us. If he had been consul, his position would have given him summa auctoritas; and it might have been said that he owed his success to the office that he held. No man is safe against flattery; but here we are taught that the self-deceiver runs most risk from it. He is prepared to let it work on him by his own good opinion of himself. Some men never flatter: they are too proud to do that, but they may accept flattery, for they take it to be truth and their due. Some will accept flattery from those whom they look on as inferiors and dependants, and give it to those who are their superiors. But it is a meanness of the meanest kind for a man to accept that from others which he knows to be vile when it comes from himself. Such a one has an unbounded conceit of himself, and an unbounded ^ Ita fit ut is assentatoribus patefaciat aures suas maxime, qui ipse sibi assentetur et se maxime ipse delectet. 98. Omnino est amans sui virtus; optime enim se ipsa novit quamque amabilis sit intelligit: ego autem non de virtute nunc loquor, sed de virtutis opinione. Virtute enim ipsa non tam multi praediti esse quam videri volunt. Hos delectat assentatio; his fictus ad ipsorum voluntatem sermo quum adhibetur, orationem illam vanam testimonium esse laudum suarum putant. Nulla est igitur haec amicitia, quum alter verum audire non vult, alter ad mentiendum paratus est. Nec parasitorum in comoediis assentatio nobis faceta videretur, nisi essent milites gloriosi. Magnas vero agere gratias Thais mihi? Satis erat respondere, magnas; ingentes, inquit. Semper auget assentator id quod is cujus ad voluntatem dicitur vult esse magnum. 99. Quamobrem, quamvis blanda ista vanitas apud eos valeat qui ipsi illam allectant atque invitant, tamen etiam graviores constantioresque admonendi sunt ut animum advertant ne callidá assentationé capiantur. Aperte enim adulantem nemo non videt, nisi qui contempt of others. He is said to know men, to know the world; but he falls into the mistake of misunderstanding others and himself too. The only defence against flattery is the hard lesson to know oneself; the first part of which lesson is a reasonable self-distrust. It is true, says Cicero (Omnino est, &c.), that virtue loves itself, for the virtuous man has a consciousness of merit; but Cicero is not speaking of the virtuous: he is speaking of those who suppose themselves to be virtuous and are not; or are content if they have the character of virtue only. See Plutarch, On Flattery, vol. i. ed. Wytt. |