XXIII. 82. Nemo umquam mihi, Scipio, persuade-

bit aut patrem tuum Paulum aut duos avos, Paulum
30 et Africanum, aut Africani patrem aut patruum aut multos praestantes viros, quos enumerare non est necesse, tanta esse conatos, quae ad posteritatis me-
CHAPTERS XXII., XXIII. 35
inoriam pertinerent, nisi animo cernerent posteritatem ad se ipsos pertinere. An censes, ut de me ipse ali- quid more senum glorier, me tantos labores diurnos nocturnosque domi militiaeque suscepturum fuisse, si isdeni finibus gloriam meam, quibus vitani, essem ter- 5 minaturus ? Nonne multo melius fuisset otiosam ae- tatem et quietam sine ullo aut labore aut contentione traducere? Sed nescio quo modo animus erigens se posteritatem ita semper prospiciebat, quasi, cum ex- cessisset e vita, tiun denique victurus esset. Quod 10 quidem ni ita se haberet, ut animi inmortales essent, haud optimi cuiusque animus maxime ad immortali- tatem et gloriam niteretur. 83. Quid, quod sapientis- simus quisque aequissimo animo moritur, stultissimus iniquissimo? Nonne vobis videtur is animus, qui 15 plus cernat et longius, videre se ad meliora proficisci, ille autem, cuius obtusior sit acies, non videre ? Equi- dem efferor studio patres vestros, quos colui et dilexi, videndi, neque vero eos solos convenire aveo, quos ipse cognovi, sed illos etiam, de quibus audivi et legi 20 et ipse conscripsi. Quo quidem me proficiscentem haud sane quis facile retraxerit nec tamquam Peliam recoxerit. Et si quis deus mihi largiatur, ut ex hac aetate repuerascam et in cuiiis vagiani, valde recusem iiec vero velim quasi decurso spatio ad carceres a calce 25 revocari. 84. Quid habet enim vita commodi ? quid non potius laboris ? Sed habeat sane, habet certe tamen aut satietatem aut modum. Non hibet enim mihi deplorare vitain, quod multi, et ei docti, saepe fecerunt, neque me vixisse paenitet, quoniam ita vixi, 30 ut non frustra me natum existimem, et ex vita ita discedo tamquam ex hospitio, non tamquam e domo.
36 CATO MAIOR DE SENECTUTE
Commorandi enim natura devorsorium nobis, non habitandi dedit. O praeclarum diem, cum in illud divinum animorum concilium coetumque proficiscar cumque ex liac turba et colluvione discedam ! Pro-
5 ficiscar enim non ad eos solum viros, de quibus ante dixi, verum etiam ad Catonem meum, quo nemo vir melior natus est, nemo pietate praestantior ; cuius a me corpus est crematum, quod contra decuit ab illo meum, animus vero non me deserens, sed respectans
10 in ea profecto loca discessit, quo mihi ipsi cernebat esse veniendum. Quem ego meum casum fortiter ferre visus sum, non quo aequo animo ferrem, sed me ipse consolabar existimans non longinquum inter nos digressum et discessum fore. 85. His mihi rebus,
15 Scipio, (id enim te cum Laelio admirari solere dixisti) levis est senectus, nec solum non molesta, sed etiam iucunda. Quodsi in hoc erro, qui animos hominum immortales esse credam, libenter erro nec mihi hunc errorem, quo delector, dum vivo, extorqueri volo ; sin
20 mortuus, ut quidam minuti philosophi censent, nihil sentiam, non vereor, ne hunc errorem meum philo- sophi mortui irrideant. Quodsi non sumus immortales futuri, tamen exstingui homini suo tempore optabile est. Nam habet natura ut aliarum omnium rerum, sic
25 vivendi modum. Senectus autem aetatis est peractio tamquam fabulae, cuius defatigationem fugere debe- mus, praesertim adiuncta satietate.
Haec habui, de senectute quae dicerem; ad quam utinam perveniatis! ut ea, quae ex me audistis, re
30 experti probare possitis.
NOTES
CHAPTEH I.
Dedication to Atticus
1. 1.1 O Tite, etc. : these three lines, like the two below, are quoted from the Annals of the poet Ennius (see Introd. § 5). In their original context they are addressed by an Epirote shepherd to the Roman general, Titus Quinctius Flamininus ; Cicero here ap- plies them to his friend, Titus Pomponius Atticus (see Introd. § 2).
si quid te adiuero : if I help you at all. Flamininus in 198 b.c. had undertaken the direction of the campaign against Philip V. of Macedon. After landing in Epirus he was much embarrassed in his operations by the mountainous character of the country, until Charopus, a friendly Epirote chief , sent to him the shepherd already mentioned, to act as guide. The shepherd inquires whether he is to receive any reward in case he extricates the general from his present embarrassment ; quid is Accusative of ' Result Produced ' (Internal Object), — rew(?er amj help. A. & G.2 238, b ; B. 176, 2, a; H. 371, I, 2 ; II. adiuero is for the regular adiuvero, with shortening of the u (before a vowel) after the disappearance of the V.
levasso : an archaic future-perfect, equivalent in meaning to the customary form, levavero., though of different formation.
2. coquit: in this flgurative sense of ' vex,' 'harass,' coquo is confined chiefly to poetry.
versat : note the lengtli of the a. This was the original quan- tity of this termination, though it was already tending to become
1 The uumerical references in the notes are to page and line of the text.
2 A. & G. = AUen and Greenough's Latin Grammar ; B. = Bemiett ; H. = Harkness.
37
38 CATO MAIOR DE SENECTUTE
shortened in Ennius's day. Bolh he and rhxutus repeatedly treat the termination as short.
3. praemi : nouns in -ium and -ms regularly formed the geni- tive singular in a single i until after tlie time of Cicero. Hence that spelling is uniformly followed in this edition of the de Senectute.
4. licet enim, etc. : for I may address you.
versibus eisdem: in the ideutical lines ; eisdem is here espe- cially emphatic, as shown by its unusual position after its sub- stantive.
0. IUevir: /.
haud magna cum re: poor ; re is liere used in the sense of re familiari, 'property,' ' possessions.'
plenus fidei: i.e. loyal ; in early Latin final s was so lightly sounded that, as in the present instance, it often failed to ' make position.'
fidei : f,des, res, spes regularly formed the genitive and dative in -ei. Here, however, the e is long, Jidei. This seems to have been the original quantity, and appears often in Early Latin.
7. quamquam certo scio: and yet I know for certain ; quam- quam is here corrective, like the Greek KalroL.
9. novi: I am acquainted with, as contrasted with intellego (in the following line), / am aware of the fact.
moderationem et aequitatem : self-control and evenness.
10. cognomen : viz. Attictis, given in consequence of his long residence at Athens and his intimate acquaintance with Greek literature. Cognomen may designate either the family name, i.e. the third of the three names regularly possessed by every Roman (e.g. Cicero in Marcus Tullius Cicero), or a name added to indicate some personal trait or peculiarity, e.g. Sapiens, Africanus, Cuncta- tor. The name Atticus seems to have been applied to Cicero's friend first as a niark of personal distinction, and later to have replaced the original family name.
humanitatem et prudentiam : culture and good sense.
12. eisdem rebus : the allusion is to the existing political situ- ation. According as we place the composition of the de Senectute before or after Caesar's death, the reference will be to Caesar's threatened usurpation of regal power or to Antony's policy of self- aggrandizement.
NOTES 39
me ipsum : tlie thought is inaccurately expressed. We should have expected ego ipse (sc. commoveor), ' by which 1 myself ain disturbed.'
gravius : rather seriously.
18. quarum : for which, an extension of the ordinary force of the Objective Geuitive. B. App.i § 321.
maior : i.e. a larger thenie.
14. visum est mihi : / have decided.
15. ad te conscribere : i.e. to write and send to you ; hence ad with the accusative.
17. senectutis : Gicero was nowsbcty-t^^wn yp^ra ni s|xty-four._^ Senectus seems to have been an elastic term among the Romans, as ' old age ' is with us.
18. etsi: corrective, like quamquam above, p. 1, 1. 7.
te quidem : quidem serves to emphasize te, and to suggest a possible contrast between Atticus and Cicero. Cicero is sure that Atticus at any rate will bear old age philosophically, whatever his own attitude may prove to be.
19. Sed occurrebas : i.e. Cicero feels that Atticus, despite his natural equanimity and good sense, may nevertheless appreciate the tribute he offers.
2. 2. eo munere : of that trihute, viz. my essay on old age ; eo here is not correlative with quo, but refers back to the thought involved in scribere.
quo uteretur : a relative clause of purpose. uterque nostrum : i.e. Cicero in the writing and Atticus in the reading.
3. Mihi quidem : to me at any rate ; cf. te quidem, p. 1, 1. 18. 5. effecerit moUem etiam et iucundam senectutem : has
made old age actually easy and pleasant. Note the emphasis pro- duced by placing the predicate adjectives before their substantive, — an eraphasis further increased by the unusual position of etiam (after mollem, instead of before it) .
7. cui qui pareat, etc. : since he who obeys it (philosophy) can pass every period of life without annoyance, lit. he who obeys which can pass. The peculiarity of the passage lies in the fact that cui,
1 Appendix to Bennetfs Latin Granimar.
40 CATO MAIOR DE SENECTUTE
while serving to introduce possit, is itself governed by pareat, which is subordinate to possit; possit is a Subjunctive of Charac- teristic witli the accessory notion of cause. A. & G. 320, e ; B. 283, 3 ; jmreat is attracted to the inood of possit.
8. de ceteris : 07i other subjects. Outside of the nominative and accusative Cicero regularly uses an adjective in agreeraent with res, to denote 'other things,' 'raany things,' etc. So here (le ceteris rehus would have been the regular forni of expression ; yet the de Senectute shows several exceptions to this usage.
9. hunc librum : emphatic and contrasted with the writings suggested by de ceteris.
10. tribuimus: Ihaveputinthemouthof. Note the editorial * we.
11. Tithono : tlie son of Laoraedon. In response to theprayers of Aurora, who loved him, the gods had made Tithonus imraortal ; but they did not confer upon hira tlie boon of perpetual youth. Hence he is said to have shrivelled away and finally to have been changed into a grasshopper.
Aristo Ceus : Aristo of Ceos. Aristo was an uniniportant Peri- patetic pliilosopher wlio llourished about 225 b.c. As we gather froni tliis passage, he was the author of a dialogue on old age, in which lie liad made Tithonus the chief speaker. None of Aristo's Avorlis have come down to us.
12. in fabula : in a myth, i.e. in putting ray sentiments in the moutli of a niythical character like Tithonus.