M. TULLII CICERONIS CATO MAJOR SIVE DE SENECTUTE AD T. POMPONIUM ATTICUM. curam I. 1. O Tite, si quid eg adjuéro curamve levasso Quae nunc te coquit et versat in pectore fixa, 7 Ecquid erit praemî? Licet enim mihi versibus eisdem affari te, Attice, quibus affatur Flamininum Ille vir haud magna cum ré, sed plénu' fidei. Quamquam certo scio, non, ut Flamininum, Sollicitári te, Tité, sic noctesque diesque. Novi enim moderationem animi tui et aequitatem, teque non cognomen solum Athenis deportasse sed humanitatem 1. O Tite,] These verses are from Ennius, who is addressing T. Quinctius Flamininus, the conqueror of Philip V., king of Macedonia, B. c. 197. The life of Flamininus is written by Plutarch. Levasso] A form equivalent to 'levavero.' But the original ending of the future perfect of the indicative seems to have been 'eso;' and accordingly the form would be 'levaveso,' which is as easily shortened to 'levaso,' as 'levavero' is to 'levaro.' The second 's' in 'levasso' is superfluous. Ille vir] He means Ennius, a Greek, a native of Rudiae in Calabria, and the father of Roman epic poetry. Ennius was born B.C. 239. He became acquainted with Cato probably while Cato was praetor of Sardinia. There is an edition of the fragments of Ennius by F. Hessel, Amsterdam, 4to, 1707.—A. reads 'Flamininum vir ille haud magna cum re, sed plenu' fidei.' Fidei.] The penultima of the genitives of the fifth declension was originally long, but in prose it is usual to pronounce it short, unless the vowel 'i' precedes it. (Key's Grammar, p. 16.) The elision of the 's' before a consonant, as in 'plenus,' occurs frequently in Lucretius. Cognomen] His cognomen of et prudentiam intelligo. Et tamen te suspicor eisdem rebus quibus me ipsum interdum gravius commoveri, quarum consolatio et major est et in aliud tempus differenda. Nunc autem visum est mihi de senectute aliquid ad te conscribere. 2. Hoc enim onere (quod mihi commune tecum est aut jam urgentis aut certe adventantis) senectutis et te et me ipsum levari volo: etsi te quidem id modice ac sapienter sicut omnia) et ferre et laturum esse certo scio. Sed mihi, quum de senectute vellem aliquid scribere, tu occurrebas dignus eo munere (quo uterque nostrum communiter uteretur. Mihi quidem ita jucunda hujus libri confectio fuit ut non modo omnes absterserit senectutis molestias, sed effecerit mollem etiam et jucundam senectutem. Nunquam igitur laudari satis digne philosophia poterit, cui qui pareat omne tempus aetatis sine molestia possit degere. 3. Sed de ceteris et diximus multa et saepe dicemus: hunc librum de senectute ad te BY WHICH misimus. Omnem autem sermonem tribuimus non Tithono, ut Aristo Chius parum enim esset auctoritatis in fabula, sed M. Catoni seni, quo majorem auctoritatem haberet oratio. Apud quem Laelium et Scipionem facimus admirantes quod is tam facile senectutem ferat, iisque eum respondentem. Qui si eruditius videbitur disputare quam consuevit ipse in suis libris, attribuito litteris Graecis quarum constat eum perstudiosum fuisse in senectute. • Sed quid opus est plura ? Jam enim ipsius Catonis şermo explicabit nostram omnem de senectute sententiam. ADV. II. 4. SCIPIO. Saepenumero admirari soleo cum hoc C. Laelio quum ceterarum rerum tuam excellentem, M. Cato, perfectamque sapientiam, tum vel maxime quod nunquam senectutem tibi gravem esse senserim, quae plerisque seni'bus sic odiosa est ut onus se Aetna gravius dicant sus say, "and if a man should obey it," &c.; which is a poor sort of expression, for the cui' loses its place and its emphasis. On the translation of such forms as 'pareat' with 'possit' in the corresponding member, see Professor Key's Grammar, on the conjuga tions. Admirantes quod-ferat,] A comparison of like passages in which 'quod' is followed by the subjunctive will show that it belongs to the more general construction of the relative 'qui' with the subjunctive. Comp. De Sen. c. 2, 3, 4; De Am. c. 27. Suis libris,] M. Porcius Cato was a soldier, an orator, a farmer, and an author. He wrote a small treatise De Re Rustica, which is extant, and Origines, or a history of the early events of Italy, of which some fragments remain. The fragments of his orations are collected by Meyer, Orat. Rom. Fragm. pp. 11-151, 2nd ed. མི་པའི་ལ Cicero says (Brutus, c. 17) that he Quid opus] An ordinary ellip- 2. Ceterarum rerum, &c.] "Sane ceterarum rerum paterfamilias et prudens et attentus." Cic. Pro P. Quintio, c. 3. As to this position of the genitive, compare De Sen. c. 22,"ceterarum rerum;" and c. 23, "ut aliarum rerum.' Sic-ut] 'Sic' is used sometimes like ita,' and may be followed by 'ut' and the subjunctive, as in the expression (c. 1) "ita jucunda-fuit ut-absterserit." Similar usages of 'sic-ut' occur in De Sen. 8, sic avide,' &c.; and 6 IN HIGHT DIGREE CAS 15.0 TU MY Jol Frow tinere. CATO. Rem haud sane difficilem, Scipio et Laeli, admirari videmini. Quibus enim nihil est in ipsis opis ad bene beateque vivendum, iis omnis aetas gravis est: qui autem omnia bona a se ipsi petunt, iis nihil potest malum videri quod naturae necessitas afferat. Aetna] This treatise abounds in snort passages, the substance of which is taken from Greek writers. The original of this passage may be the Hercules Furens of Euripides, v. 631, -ἄχθος δὲ τὸ γῆρας ἀεὶ βαρύτερον Αἴτνας σκοπέλων ἐπὶ κρατὶ κεῖται. Quibus-iis] 'Is' is simply a word of reference, and as much so when it is placed after 'qui' as when it is before it; though the form of expression is more emphatic here, than if the two parts of the sentence changed their relative position. The English idiom adopts another order, but one that is much inferior in expressiveness: "for every period of life is irksome to those who have no resources in themselves;" but the emphasis, which quibus' has in the Latin by virtue of its place, is lost in this version. Yet it is possible to preserve the position of quibus' in the English; and, if such a rendering as the following should not be the best, it may serve to show the meaning of the position of 'quibus:' "for, if a man (quibus) Quo in genere est 1.5. in 'meritable conditions & nos. has no resources, &c., to such a one (iis)," &c. There are readings 'quibus-his,' and 'qui—his.' A se ipsi] Some MSS. have 'ipsi.' Others, which Orelli follows, have 'ipsis.' Quod-afferat.] This is part of the subject, of which is predicated, that it cannot appear bad. If part of the subject is thus placed after the predicate, which is generally the case when a negative is used, this disjoined part of the subject is expressed by 'qui' with . the subjunctive. The form of the sentence might be, "quod naturae necessitas affert, id non potest malum videri." Numerous examples of this use of the subjunctive occur. In the expression, "nihil habeo quod accusem senectutem (De Sen. 5), 'quod accusem,' &c., is the subject, the supposed existence of which is negatived. Indeed these forms of expression are conditional, as: "nihil autem molestum quod non desideres" (De Sen. 14): “in fact, if you don't care about having a thing, it gives you no uneasiness;" or, in other words, "nothing gives you uneasiness if you don't care about having it." "Cui parent nesciunt" (De Am. 15); "they are getting, they know not for whom;" they know not for whom they are getting." Here the logical subject is 'cui parent,' "for whom they are getting;" and of such, ignorance in the getters is predicated. In "nemo est enim 66 in primis senectus, quam ut adipiscantur omnes optant, eandem accusant adeptam: tanta est stultitiae inconstantia atque perversitas. Obrepere aiunt eam citius quam putavissent. Primum, quis coegit eos falsum putare? Qui enim citius adolescentiae senectus quam pueritiae adolescentia obrepit? Deinde, quî minus gravis esset iis senectus, si octingentesimum annum agerent quam octogesimum? Praeterita enim aetas quamvis longa quum effluxisset, nulla consolatione permulcere posset stultam senectutem. 5. Quocirca si sapientiam meam admirari soletis, quae utinam digna esset opinione vestra nostroque cognomine, in hoc sumus sapientes quod naturam opti ently expressed thus: "nemini fui Adeptam:] Several MSS. have Qui enim] As A. has it. Orelli has 'Quid enim? citius,' &c.; bat there is little MSS. authority for 'Quid enim,' &c. tam senex qui se annum non putet Nostroque cognomine,] The 'cognomen' of Sapiens or the Wise (De Am. c. 2). The reading 'vestroque cognomine' has less MSS. authority. If it is accepted, it must mean 'the cognomen that you give me,' as A. observes. Cicero (Verr. ii. 2, c. 2) says, “Itaque ille M. Cato Sapiens." In hoc quod sequimur] If this is considered as containing an independent affirmation, there is no difficulty about the use of the indicative. Comp. de Sen. c. 12, 13, 17; De Am. c. 5; Ad Q. Fr. 1. Such a passage as the following |