M. TULLII CICERONIS

EPISTOLARUM LIBRI DUO. .

SELECTIONS from Cicero's letters might be made for various purposes. The purpose of the following selection ia for the teaching of the Latin language; and probably any other sixty letters might be selected which would answer the same end. I should have made the number larger if the limits of this little book allowed.

or

I was not able to get a copy of the original selection of J. Sturmius, which Ascham recommends as an elementary book for Latin scholars; but I have got a reprint of the book (Leipzig, 1741), which, besides three books of the selection of Sturmius, contains a fourth book of selections by Jonas Bittner, the whole revised by C. Daum rather not revised, for it is one of the most incorrect works that ever I saw. There is a London print of the selections dated 1669, which also contains four books. The title is Marci Tullii Ciceronis Epistolarum Libri iv. Cum postremis H. Stephani et D. Lambini Editionibus diligenter collati et quam accuratissime emendati. A Joanne Sturmio. In puerilem educationem confecti. Huic editioni accesserunt Graeca Latinis expressa.' appears from the Prefatory Letter of J. Sturmius to his brother Jacobus that his selection consisted of four books; and he gives a very good account of the reasons which guided him in making the selection. I think that his

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CICERONIS EPISTOLARUM LIBRI DUO. 177

book is better adapted to learn the Latin language from than any modern selection that I have seen; and it is very judiciously made. The first book contains fifty-seven letters, most of them short; and very few present any difficulty which a master cannot explain with little trouble. I have placed in this first book of selections the greater part of those selected by Sturmius for his first book, to which I have added a few others of the same kind. It would not be difficult to pick out about one hundred short letters. of this description, which, if well studied, would give a boy a very competent knowledge of the construction of easy Latin sentences. The letters in the second book I have taken partly from the second and third books of Sturmius, and partly I have selected them myself, being guided in the choice by the judgment that Sturmius has shown. I wish that I could have added a few more. This second book of letters is perhaps not more difficult than the first, except so far as greater length may cause some trouble to beginners; but many of them are of a different kind from the brief familiar letters of the first book.

The Zürich Letters (Second Series), edited for the Parker Society by the Rev. H. Robinson, contain two Latin letters of Ascham to J. Sturmius, and several from others to Sturmius. This series also contains some of Sturmius' letters, two of which are to Elizabeth; and there is one from Elizabeth to Sturmius, which is probably her own. Another to Sturmius is signed T. Smith. One of Ascham's letters to Sturmius (Ep. xxx.) contains some facts about the Queen's great readiness in Greek and Latin '. These Zürich letters, besides their historical

1 "Ipse nunquam (Deo sint gratiae) in majore gratia fui apud reginam serenissimam. Aliquid Graece aut Latine mecum quotidie legit."

N

178 CICERONIS EPISTOLARUM LIBRI DUO.

value, are worth reading as specimens of the excellent practical knowledge of Latin which most of the writers had. The letters of Jewell are almost faultless, and very lively and amusing.

The only difficulties in these letters of Cicero arise either from particular words or from the general matter. I have briefly explained a few of those terms which puzzle a learner, or even a teacher who has not turned his attention particularly to the letters of Cicero and to the technical terms which frequently occur in them. As to the matter, I have done enough to show what the letters are about, when such information was necessary; and by putting those to the same person together, I have somewhat diminished a difficulty which is inherent in all epistolary correspondence. Though the letters were selected solely for the language, I have chosen such as help to explain one another; and a reader will find that, when he has got through a few, he will have less trouble with the rest. I have taken many of those to Tiro; and indeed the whole book of letters to Tiro might have been well placed here. They are of the familiar affectionate kind, turn upon a few matters, of which Tiro's poor health is one; and they show the amiable side of the family of the Ciceros in their attachment to a faithful servant. Setting aside the difficulty of the matter, which in these letters is not great, there is no Latin author read in schools, either good or bad, whose language is easier for a boy than the language of these letters.

I have given the dates A. U. c. of the letters as they are given in Orelli's edition; but a few of the dates are not certain. I have used the notes of P. Manutius and those in the Variorum edition; and some of those in Süpfle's collection, for I happened to select several letters that he has selected, and before I saw his book.

M. TULLII CICERONIS

EPISTOLARUM LIBRI DUO.

LIB. I.

1. TULLIUS TERENTIAE SUAE S. D.

(XIV. 21. A. U. c. 704.)

S. V. B. E. V. Da operam ut convalescas. Quod opus erit, ut res tempusque postulat, provideas atque administres; et ad me de omnibus rebus quam saepissime literas mittas. Vale.

2. TULLIUS TERENTIAE SUAE S.

(XIV. 8. A. U. C. 704.)

S. V. B. E. E. V. Valetudinem tuam velim cures diligentissime. Nam mihi et scriptum et nuntiatum est te in febrim subito incidisse. Quod celeriter me fecisti de Caesaris literis certiorem, fecisti mihi gratum. Item

The following letters are addressed by Cicero to his wife Terentia.

1. s. V. B. E. V.] The Romans used many abbreviations in writing. These letters signify: 'si vales, bene est, valeo.'

2. Quod me fecisti] The neu

ter relative is often placed thus, to introduce a matter of which something is going to be said. There is another example at the beginning of the third letter.

Caesaris] C. Julius Caesar is

meant.

posthac, si quid opus erit, si quid acciderit novi, facies

ut sciam. Cura ut valeas.

Vale. D. iiii. Nonas Jun.

3. TULLIUS TERENTIAE SUAE S. D.

(XIV. 12. A. v. c. 706.)

Quod nos in Italiam salvos venisse gaudes, perpetuo gaudeas velim. Sed perturbati dolore animi magnisque injuriis metuo ne id consilii ceperimus quod non facile explicare possimus. Quare quantum potes adjuva. Quid autem possis mihi in mentem non venit. In viam quod te des hoc tempore nihil est : et longum est iter et non tutum: et non video quid prodesse possis si veneris. Vale. D. prid. Nonas Novemb. Brundisio.

4. TULLIUS TERENTIAE SUAE S. D.

(XIV. 19. A. U. c. 706.)

In maximis meis doloribus excruciat me valetudo Tulliae nostrae. De qua nihil est quod ad te plura scribam ; tibi enim aeque magnae curae esse certo scio. Quod me propius vultis accedere, video ita esse faciendum. Etiam ante fecissem, sed me multa impediverunt quae ne nunc quidem expedita sunt. Sed a Pomponio exspecto literas quas ad me quam primum perferendas cures velim. Da operam ut valeas.

D.] The abbreviation of datum,' or of datae,' that is, 'literae,' which signifies the time and place at which a letter was given to the letter-carrier, ' tabellarius ;' whence the Italian expression 'la data,' and the English'date' and 'dated.' Cicero says, Ad Q. Fr. ii. 15, "accepi tuas literas datas Placentia ;" and Ad Att. xi. 17, "properantibus_tabellariis alienis nanc epistolam dedi."

3. This letter was written upon Cicero's return to Italy, after the battle of Pharsalia, B.C. 48; and