Petitorum haec est adhuc informata cogitatio. Nos in omni munere candidatorio fungendo summam adhibebimus diligentiam et fortasse, quoniam videtur in suffragiis multum posse Gallia, cum Romae a iudiciis forum refrixerit, excurremus mense Septembri legati ad Pisonem, ut Ianuario revertamur. Cum perspexero voluntates nobilium, scribam ad te. Cetera spero prolixa esse, his dumtaxat urbanis competitoribus. Illam manum tu mihi the margin of M has nuntiteri for nunc eteri. Bosius made a very ingenious guess (which of course he fortified by fabricated mss), that there is here a play on the word Thermum, which in Greek is Bépuor, a lupine, and the word cicer, a etch. The way in which he works out his idea is bad, for it conflicts with the context: but the suggestion recommends itself to those who remember that Cicero can hardly resist a play on a name. Could Cicero have written eo libenter Thermum ciceri consulem obduxerint, therefore (when the Flaminian way is finished) they will gladly enough run Thermus against Cicero, the lupine against the vetch. Or better, if we suppose that ciceri could be meant as a pun on Caesari, not Ciceroni, one might read eo libenter Thermum ciceri consulem accuderim, 'therefore I would be glad to pound up together (Thermus and Caesar) the lupine and the vetch in the consulship.' Bosius says he found libenter nunc ciceri in XY, which he changes to libenter Thermum ciceri: but he might have spared himself here his appeal to his non-existent codices, for we may almost say that Z and M have this very reading, so very frequent is the confusion between c and t, so that nunciteri and nuntiteri would very probably have been written by a copyist who found Bunciceri. Koch's and Kayser's reading, suggested by Corradus originally, libenter municipia consulem accipient (acceperint), is very wide of the mss; and, as Boot observes, 'consulem accipere non erat civium.' Wesenberg reads eum Caesari consulem accidere viderim, a reading chiefly founded on the conjecture of I. F. Gronovius. In favour of making ciceri a pun on Caesari, it may be mentioned that there is a play on Sosia and socius in Plaut. Amph. i. 1, 227, 228. However, against this theory it is a strong objection that ciceri would more naturally be a play on Ciceroni. The great Roman roads, such as the Appia, Flaminia, &c., were called viae praetoriae or consulares, and were overseen by curatores; the smaller roads which intersected them were called viae vicinales, and were under the charge of magistri pagorum.-Momm. St. R. ii. 650. informata] in outline,' okaypapnμένη (Plato); ὑπογεγραμμένη ὑποτετυπωμένη (Aristotle). Gallia] Gaul, i. e. Gallia Cispadana, had great influence on elections at Rome. Cicero says of Gaul, cf. a qua nos. . . tum petere consulatum solebamus, Phil. ii. 76. cum Romae] when the heat of business begins to cool down in the courts I shall take a run to Piso, not returning later than January.' Piso was consul 687 (b. c. 67), and since had been governor of Gallia Narbonensis. He was afterwards defended by Cicero on a charge of repetundae. The legatio libera is here referred to. It was a sort of unofficial embassy, which enabled a senator to leave Rome on his own private affairs at the expense of the State. Cicero speaks strongly against the institution, de Legg. iii. 18. The last four months of the year were so occupied by holidays and festivals that there was hardly any law business then in Rome. Cetera spero] "The rest I hope will be plain sailing, provided I have only to deal with the candidates who are now in the city,' or 'with my civilian rivals.' In pro Mur. 19, the profession of the jurists is called urbanam militiam respondendi, scribendi, cavendi, which, perhaps, rather favours the latter view. cura ut praestes, quoniam propius abes, Pompeii, nostri amici. Nega me ei iratum fore, si ad mea comitia non venerit. Atque haec huius modi sunt. 3. Sed est quod abs te mihi ignosci pervelim. Caecilius, avunculus tuus, a P. Vario cum magna pecunia fraudaretur, agere coepit cum eius fratre A. Caninio Satyro de iis rebus, quas eum dolo malo mancipio accepisse de Vario diceret. Una agebant ceteri creditores, in quibus erat L. Lucullus et P. Scipio et is, quem putabant magistrum fore, si bona venirent, L. Pontius. Verum hoc ridiculum est de magistro. Nunc cognosce rem. Rogavit me Caecilius, ut adessem contra Satyrum. Dies fere nullus est quin hic Satyrus domum meam ventitet. Observat L. Domitium maxime: me habet proximum. Fuit et mihi et Q. fratri magno usui in nostris petitionibus. 4. Sane sum perturbatus cum ipsius Satyri familiaritate tum Domitii, in quo uno maxime ambitio nostra nititur. Demonstravi haec Caecilio: simul et illud ostendi, si ipse unus cum illo uno contenderet, me ei satis facturum fuisse: nunc in causa universorum creditorum, hominum praesertim amplissimorum, qui sine eo, quem Caecilius suo nomine perhiberet, facile communem causam sustinerent, aequum esse eum et officio meo consulere et tempori. Durius accipere hoc mihi visus est quam vellem et quam homines belli 3. Sed est quod] But there is a matter for which I am very anxious to bespeak your kind indulgence. Caecilius, your uncle, having been defrauded of a large sum of money by Varius, has taken an action against A. Caninius Satyrus, the cousin of Varius, for some property which he says was fraudulently made over to him by Varius. All the other creditors made con.mon cause with Caecilius, among whom were Lucullus, Scipio, and Pontius, who, they expect, will act as salesmaster if there is an auction of the goods of Varius. However, it is absurd to talk about who will be salesmaster at present. Now, perpend (i.e. mark the matter for which I want your pardon):-Caecilius has asked me to appear for him against Satyrus. Hardly a day passes without Satyrus coming to my house. He is most attentive to Domitius, and next to me.' and cp. cum diceret, Att. i. 16, 2 (Ep. xxii.) This is what Dr. Kennedy calls the 'virtual oblique.' Cp. also Fam. vii. 16, 3, quod negent te respondere = quod, ut dicunt, non respondeas; Att. iv. 1, 6, quod tuto se negarent posse sententiam dicere = quod, ut dicebant, non possent: see also note on reliquisset, Ep. xxvii. 12. Mayor on Phil. ii. 7 compares the negligent expression in English, he went away because he said it was late,' = 'because it was late, as he said.' 4. perhiberet] without the aid of a lawyer specially retained by Caecilius on his own account.' The word perhiberet here bears a very unusual sense. Perhaps Cic. wrote prachiberet. Archaic terms are often found in connexion with legal transactions. acquum esse] it was fair that Caecilius should consider my obligations (to Satyrus and my position' (as candidate for consulship). For tempori, see Q. Fr. i. 1, 15, solent et postea prorsus ab instituta nostra paucorum dierum consuetudine longe refugit. Abs te peto, ut mihi hoc ignoscas et me existimes humanitate esse prohibitum, ne contra amici summam existimationem miserrimo eius tempore venirem, cum is omnia sua studia et officia in me contulisset. Quod si voles in me esse durior, ambitionem putabis mihi obstitisse. Ego autem arbitror, etiam si id sit, mihi ignoscendum esse: ἐπεὶ οὐχ ἱερήιον, οὐδὲ βοείην. Vides enim in quo cursu simus et quam omnes gratias non modo retinendas, verum etiam acquirendas putemus. Spero tibi me causam probasse, cupio quidem certe. 5. Hermathena et prorsus] and completely dropped our intimacy, which was only of a few days' standing.' ne contra amici] 'from appearing against a friend in a matter involving his political existence, and in the hour of his greatest need.' A conviction for dolus malus would have been followed by infamia. putabis] pray, regard it as'; this is the polite future, like opt. with ăv in Greek, e. g., xwpoîs av elow. ἐπεὶ οὐχ ἱερήιον] See Il. xxii. 159, It is for no paltry prize I am striving.' Cp. Virg. A. xii. 794. 5. Hermathena] 'I am wonderfully charmed with the statue you have sent me, and it is so happily placed that you would fancy my school to be an offering at its feet. Thus has Mr. Pretor, with his usual elegance (and with a skill which so far as it is possible conceals the absurdity of the words here ascribed to Cicero), rende red Klotz' correction of the obelized words, viz.: ut totum gymnasium eius àváqua esse videatur. If anyone can believe that Cicero wrote these words, let him not read the rest of this note. I believe what Cicero wrote to be ἡλίου ἄναμμα, ‘the sun's upkindled orb.' The reading of M. is eliu anaema. Here, as often, the Greek words are written in Latin characters. But it is singular that M is here reported to have a Greek 8, while the other characters are Roman. How does this happen? I have little doubt that this is a case of misreading of the ms. The Roman M in mss was very like a lying on its side. The word should therefore be read anamma, not anathma; àválŋua has no ms authority, but it was supposed that the writer of anaema must have meant àváOnua. Anamma, if I am right in my theory, has actually the authority of the only ms of whose evidence record is preserved. Cicero says, 'the Hermathena is so happily placed, that the whole gymnasium (looks most brilliant) seems to have got new life and light.' The ἄναμμα is common in the Stoic philosophy, with which Cicero was very familiar. The sun was described by the Stoics as avaμua νοερὸν ἐκ θαλάττης. This phrase is used by Stobaeus to describe Heraclitus' theory of the sun ; ep. οἱ δ' ἀστέρες ἐκ θαλάσσης μετὰ τοῦ ἡλίου ἀνάπτονται, Chrys. ap. Plut. Sto. rep.. 41. For the words avaμua and auua as common Stoic words, see Zeller, Stoics, p. 194 (Eng. Trans.) Cicero might have expressed quite the same idea if he had said ut toti gymnasio sol additus esse videatur, just as in Att. iv. 8a, 2, he writes postea vero quam Tyrannio mihi libros deposuit, mens addita videtur meis aedibus. Light and brilliancy were regarded by the Romans as the best qualities in a house. In Plaut. Most. iii. 1, 105-110, Tranio tells Theopropides that Philolaches has bought a house; Theopropides asks, what kind of a house; Tranio replies, speculiclaras clarorem merum, ‘mirror-bright, brilliancy itself,' to which the answer is bene hercle factum. Cp. also algentem rapiat cenatio solem, Juv. vii. 182; To me, claror merus applied to a house seems a very similar expression to ávaupa as used here. I hold that eius ἀνάθημα has no meaning; that ἡλίου ává0nua cannot mean 'a shrine of the sun,' or 'a place (or thing) consecrated to the sun; and that a room could not be described as 'an Elean offering.' In the passage from Pl. Most., I have given speculiclaras (the conjecture of Ellis) for speculo claras. Prof. Palmer would read speculoclarus as a characteristic instance of wrong composition in an O. L. poet. Speculo claras can hardly be right. lov tua valde me delectat et posita ita belle est, ut totum gymnasium teliu ana@mat esse videatur. Multum te amamus. XI. TO ATTICUS, AT ATHENS (ATT. I. 2). ROME, A. U. C. 689; B. C. 65; AET. CIC. 41. Export M. Cicero de filio sibi nato, de Catilina defendendo, de Attici adventu ad hominum nobilium voluntatem sibi conciliandam a se exspectato. CICERO ATTICO SAL. 1. L. Iulio Caesare C. Marcio Figulo consulibus filiolo me auctum scito salva Terentia. Abs te tam diu nihil litterarum? Ego de meis ad te rationibus scripsi antea diligenter. Hoc tempore Catilinam, competitorem nostrum, defendere cogitamus. Iudices habemus, quos voluimus, summa accusatoris voluntate. Spero, si absolutus erit, coniunctiorem illum nobis fore in ratione petitionis: sin aliter acciderit, humaniter feremus. 2. Tuo adventu nobis opus est maturo: nam prorsus summa hominum est opinio tuos familiares, nobiles homines, adversarios honori nostro fore. Ad eorum voluntatem mihi conciliandam maximo te mihi usui fore video. Qua re Ianuario mense, ut constituisti, cura ut Romae sis. 1. L. Iulio Caesare] 'Julius Caesar and Marcius Figulus having been elected consuls, let me tell you that on the same day I was blessed with a son, and that Terentia is doing well.' Cicero refers to the day on which the result of the election was declared; these men were only consules designati until the next year. summa accusatoris voluntate] He hints that the accuser, P. Clodius, was in collusion with Catiline, and exercised his right of reiectio, challenging,' against such jurors as were unfavourably disposed to the accused, a case of praevaricatio. humaniter feremus] with resignation,' i.e. as part of the chances and changes of this mortal life, ἀνθρωπίνως. Tusc. ii. 65, morbos toleranter atque humane ferunt. The meaning is not like a man' (avdpelws)-as Mr. Pretor has it. Plautus affects adverbs in -ter, even from adj. in -us a, um, such as saeviter, blanditer; the only adverbs in -ter in the letters derived from adjectives of three terminations are humaniter, inhumaniter (Q. Fr. iii. 1, 21, but inhumane, Off. iii. 30, and 2 Verr. i. 138), turbulenter, Fam. ii. 16, 7. Adverbs in -ter not from adjectives of three terminations, and peculiar to the letters, are, desperanter, furenter, immortaliter. 2. tuos familiares nobiles] Perhaps Hortensius, Crassus, and Lucullus, who do not seem to have been very friendly to Cicero. He constantly sneers at them in his subsequent letters. But perhaps be refers to the whole class of the nobiles who may have been prejudiced against a home novus cf. Sallust, Cat. 23, nobilitas quan pollui cons. credebat si eum quamvis egre gius homo novus adeptus foret. The latter theory is confirmed by Q. Cic. Comm. pet. 4; and the former by Att. i. 19, 6. LETTER OF THE FIFTH YEAR OF CICERO'S CORRESPONDENCE. EP. XII. FROM QUINTUS CICERO TO HIS BROTHER MARCUS. (Commonly called De Petitione Consulatus Liber, but more correctly called Commentariolum Petitionis.) A. U. C. 690; B. C. 64; AET. M. CICERONIS, 42. COSS L. JULIUS CAESAR C. MARCIUS FIGULUS. FOR my reasons for including this work in an edition of Cicero's Correspondence, see Introduction, p. 110, Appendix C. M. Cicero's speeches for this year were the Oratio in Toga Candida, and the speech for Q. Gallius. |