M. Catoni seni : Marcus Cato the Elder (234-149 n.c. See

Intn)d. § 4, a). Cicero adds seni to distinguish this Cato frora his own conteraporary, M. Cato, called Uticensis, a great-grandson of the elder Cato.
13. apud quem : in whose presencr, or at nohose house. Laelium et Scipionem : see Introd. § 4, &, c. The participa-
tion of Laelius and Scipio in the conversation is extremely slight ; the de Senectute is in no proper sense a dialogue.
14. facimus: I represent.
admirantes: i.e. expressinfj their admiration.
10. eruditius : said with special reference to attainments in philosophy or literature.
17. in suis libris : of Cato's works tlie only one that has come down to us is the treatise on farming, de Agri Cultura. This work
NOTES 41
shows a total absence of literary skill, and inakes it clear why Cicero shoukl liave thought it necessary to apologize for the elabo- rate form in whicli Cato is made to set forth his views on old age.
quarum constat eum perBtudiosum fuisse: it is doubtful whether Cato's interest ever extended to the liner literary master- pieces of the Greeks. More likely such attention as he is reported to have given to Greek in his old age was confined to historical works in the Greek language ; these probably served as important sources in the composition of his Origines ; see Introd. § 4, a.
10. plura : supply in sense some such word as dicere.
CHAPTERS II.-V.
The young men express their admiration of the imy in which Cato bears the burdens of old age. Cato answers that the complaints against old age are not justijied; it is their authors loho are to blame. Enumeration of the charges brought against old age. Cato proposes to consider these in turn.
21. saepe numero : often ; sometimes written saepenumero.
22. cum . . . tum : not only . . . bnt also.
ceterarum rerum: in other things ; another instance of the extension of the Objective Genitive. See note on quarum con- solatio, p. 1, 1. 13.
23. vel maxime : vel is simply intensive.
24. quod senserim : the indicative is ordinarily used in causal clauses introduced by quod denoting the reason of the speaker, but the subjunctive may be used to indicate the reason of the speaker when the main verb refers to a past state of mind. That is the case here, — saepe numero admirari soleo being equivalent to ' I have often wondered.'
25. Aetna gravius: Cicero regularly confines his use of the Ablative of Comparison to negative expressions, interrogative ex- pressions implying a negative, and a few proverbial phrases such as mclle dulcius, vita carius, Aetna gravius.
27. rem haud sane diMcilem admirari videmini : the thought is inaccurately expressed. Cicero really raeans : ' What you won- der at, Scipio and Laelius, does not seem to me a really difficult
42 CATO MAIOR DE SENECTUTE
thiiig.' Cato does iiot mean to say that the young men seem to admire, — for their admiration vvas beyond question, — but simply that the thing which they admire does not seem remarkable to him.
28. Quibus enim, etc. : for to those who have no resources, etc. Quibus is Dative of Tossession.
30. a se ipsi : as usual, tjie intensive is joined with the subject instead of agreeing with the reflexive,
32. est: belongs.
in primis : especially ; sometimes written imprimis.
3. 1. adeptam: here used passively.
3. putassent: this represents a pluperfect indicative of direct discourse (putaveramus). Putaveram is frequently used in Latin, corresponding to the English ' I thought.'
Primum: elliptical, — in the Jirst place (let us inquire).
4. falsum putare : to think what was false ; falsum is here used as a substantive.
qui: how ; qui was originally an ablative or instrumental, but it early acquired tlie adverbial force of 'how.' Traces of its original case function may still be seen in quicum.
adulescentiae senectus, etc. : as liere used, adulescentia is the period from boyliood to old age, i.e. the period of growing powers.
7. quam si : quam si liere has the force of instead of.
8. praeterita aetas . . . cum effluxisset, etc. : the most nat- ural interpretation of this sentence seems to be this : ' even an unlimited period of past time would not be able, when once it was gone, to comf ort tlie f oolish age of these men I am talking about ' ; posset is the apodosis of a contrary-to-fact conditional sentence, the protasis of whicli is implied in quamvis longa (' were it never so long'). The use of the subjunctive in tlie clause cum effluxisset seems perfectly natural in this context, tliough it is differently explained by different scholars, and no exact parallel to the present passage can be cited.
11. opinione vestra : i.e. your good opinion.
12. nostro cognomine : viz. Sapiens ; see note on cognomen, p. 1, 1. 10.
in hoc sumus sapientes : tlie emphasis rests upon the words in hoc; the apodusis correspoiiding to the protasis si . . . soletis is to be supplied in tliought ; we niay understand some such thought
NOTES 43
as, ' I will say,' ' Let rae point out,' Sucli ellipses are frequent in Latin.
13. naturam, optimam ducem, aequimur : this was a cardinal doctrine of tlie Stoics, — ' to live according to Nature,' i.e. Nature's plan.
14. cum . . . discriptae sint: cum lias^a causal force. In view of Nature's wise allotment of tlie otlier parts of life, it is iiot likely tliat she has neglected old age. For a different reading and interpretation of this passage see Critical Appendix.
16. inerti poeta : an unskilful poet.
17. necesse fuit esse aliquid extremum: there had to be something Jinal.
tamquam : here, just as.
19. quasi vietum et caducum, etc. : we have here an instance of what may be called the ' apologetic ' quasi. Both tamquam and quasi are often thus used when the author employs a word or phrase in some unusual figurative sense, where an English writer might have added, 'so to speak,' 'if I may employ that term,' or something of the sort. Thus here the writer apologizes for his bold use of vietus, which properly meant 'bent,' 'twisted,' 'shriv- elled,' but which is here figuratively applied to the conditions of old age. Translate ; something shrivelled, so to speak, and ready to fall with the fulness of time. Aliquid is to be supplied with vietum and caducum.
20. molliter : calmly, patiently.
quid est enim, etc. : ' for what does the battle of the giants with the gods signify but rebellion against Nature.' Cato's last remarks had been devoted to emphasizing the importance of living in accordance with Nature's plan. We must do this, he says; otherwise we shall be rebelling against Nature, and against this the legend of the contest of the giants should warn us. For that legend typifies rebellion against Nature. See Critical Appendix.
22. Atqui: and yet; i.e. despite their agreement with what Cato has said, the young men wish to learn how old age may be made tolerable.
gratissimum : used substantively, — a thiug most loelcome to us.
ut . . . pollicear: to speak (lit. promise) for Scipio too, i.e. as well as for himself .
44 CATO MAIOR DE SENECTUTE
24. volumuB quidem certe: Laelius has just said that they both hoped (speramus) to become old, but realizing that this is asserting too much, he at once hastens to qualify this speramus by saying that at least they icished to become old men.
fieri: had the infiuitive depended directly upon speramus, it would regularly have taken the form nosfuturos esse ; but its con- struction is determined by volumus.
28. futurum est: different in force from erit ; erit would have referred the matter distinctly to the future ; fxiturum est indicates rather a present prospect, — ' is likely to prove agreeable.'
29. Volumus sane : ive reallf/ clo icish.
30. tamquam longam aliquam viam confeceris, etc. : the thought from here to the end of the sentence is closely modelled on Plato's Kepublic, I, 328 E.
quam nobis quoque ingrediendum sit: on lohich we too must enter. Tliis impersonal use of the periphrastic conjugation with a direct object occurs but twice in Cicero.
31. istuc . . . quale sit : to see what sort of thing that is to lohich you have come, lit. to see that thing . . . of what sort it is. (Prolepsis or Anticipation. A. & G. 334, c ; B. 374, 5.)
4. 2. pares cum paribus congregantur : note the reflexive meaning of the passive congregantur. For the thought, cf. the English 'Birds of a feather flock together.' In Greek the proverb is as old as Homer ; see Odyss. XVII, 218: cJs aiei Thv ofioiop d^ei eebs ws rbu o/xoTov. French and German also embody the same idea in trenchant form : ' Qui se ressemble s'assemble'; 'Gleich und Gleich gesellt sich gern.'
4. quae . . . deplorare solebant: owing to the interruption caused by the parenthesis, the writer here repeats the thought already expressed in querelis aequaJium, — complaints which they used to make, lit. which things they used to corhplain ; quae is accusative of 'Kesult Produced' (Internal Object). See note on quid, p. 1, 1. 1.