10.sed enim, ‘but indeed.’ Cf. the use ofἀλλὰ γὰρin Greek.
14.ore ... fit, ‘now becomes serious and more attentive’ (lit. ‘of a serious countenance and more attentive mind’).Oreandanimoare ablatives of quality.
19.nusquam loci, ‘nowhere in the world.’ The genitivesloci,locorum,gentiumandterrarumare frequently used with adverbs of place—ubi,quo,unde,usquam,nusquam, etc., e.g.ubi terrarum sumus(Cic.), ‘where on earth are we?’
1.Publius Cornelius Scipio Africanus Maiorwas born in 234B.C.He is first mentioned in 218B.C.at the battle of the Ticinus (cf.ix. 1. note), in which he is said to have saved the life of his fatherP.Scipio. He fought at Cannae, 216, and was chosen with App. Claudius to command the remains of the Roman army after that great disaster. In 212 he was unanimously elected aedile. When the tribunes objected to the election, because he was under the legal age, he replied, ‘If all the Quirites wish to make me aedile, I am old enough.’In 210, at the age of twenty-four, he was appointed to command the army in Spain, having come forward as a candidate for the post which all the old generals feared to accept. By 207 he had conquered almost the whole of that country from the Carthaginians. In 205 he was elected consul. He was anxious to cross over to Africa and end the war by a blow at Carthage itself, but the Senate, partly from jealousy, partly from timidity, opposed his plans and would only grant him the province of Sicily, with power to cross over to Africa if he thought it in the interests of the State; but this permission they endeavoured to render useless by refusing him an army. Volunteers however flocked from every part of Italy to his standard, and in 204 he was able to land in Africa with a large force. In 203 he defeated Hasdrubal and his ally Syphax, and in 202 brought the second Punic war to an end by a great victory at Zama over Hannibal, who had been recalled from Italy. In 201 peace was made, and Scipio, returning to Rome, received the agnomen Africanus, and was overwhelmed with every mark of honour. In 190 he served as legate under his brother,Lucius Scipio Asiaticus, in the war against Antiochus (cf.ix.andxvii.) On their return the accusations mentioned inxvi.and xvii. were made against the brothers. In 185 Scipio retired into private life, and died soon afterwards, probably in 183.
1.tribunus plebis. The tribuni plebis were appointed in 494, after the secession to Mons Sacer, to protect the plebeians against the patrician magistrates. At first they were two in number, afterwards they were increased to ten.
3.ut condicionibus, etc., ‘that peace might be made with him (i.e.Antiochus) on favourable conditions in the name of the Roman people.’
7.diem esse hodiernum, ‘that this is the day on which ...’ (lit. ‘that it is to-day on which ...’).
9.proelio. The battle of Zama, Oct. 19th, 202B.C.
11.simus, ‘let us not be ungrateful therefore to the gods....’
12.censeo, used parenthetically, ‘I propose.’ Cf.quaeso,ii. 4.
13.gratulatum, the supine in-um, used to express purpose after the verb ofmotion,eamus.
17.aedes, in sing., a ‘temple’ (a single room), in the plur., a ‘house’ (a collection of rooms). As distinguished fromtemplum,aedesis a simple building without division into rooms;templumis a large edifice consisting of many rooms, consecrated by the augurs, and belonging often to several deities.
18.sollemni.Sollemnis, fromsollus(cf.ὅλος,salvus), whole; prop. taking place every year, ‘established,’ especially of festivals; then, with the religious force predominating, ‘religious,’ ‘festive,’ ‘solemn.’
2.M. Porcius Cato, known as the Censor (234-149), first distinguished himself in the second Punic war; in 204-3 he served as Quaestor to Scipio Africanus in Sicily and Africa. From this time forward he became the declared enemy of the Scipios and their friends, who were introducing, he said, into Romethe luxury and refinement of degenerate Greece and ruining the simple and honest Roman character. He served with distinction in Spain, 195-4, and against Antiochus, 191. In 184 he was censor, and applied himself strenuously, but in vain, to stem the tide of Greek luxury. He was one of the ambassadors sent to Africa to arbitrate between Masinissa and the Carthaginians, and was so struck by the flourishing condition of Carthage, that on his return he insisted that, whilst that city existed, Rome would never be safe. Whenever he was called upon for his vote in the Senate, whatever the subject before the house was, he always concluded his remarks by ‘And I further am of opinion that Carthage must be destroyed (delendam esse Carthaginem).’ The third Punic war, which broke out soon after his death, was largely due to his influence.
5.L. Cornelius Scipio Asiaticusserved under his brother Africanus in Spain, and in 190 defeated Antiochus at Mount Sipylus. Cf.xvi. 1.
3.comparati in eum.Comparare hominem in aliquemis the regular phrase for procuring a man to attack another. ‘Having been set upon him....’
4.pecuniae ... rationem redderet, ‘to give an account of the money paid by Antiochus, and the spoil....’
9.allatum, i.e.dixit librum allatum esse, ‘he said that it had been brought.’
10.aerarium, the public treasury at Rome, in which, besides the State treasure, the standards of the legions and copies of all decrees of the Senate were kept. After the expulsion of the kings the Temple of Saturn, at the head of the Forum, was used for this purpose.
10.sed enim, ‘but indeed.’ Cf.xv. 10.
11.nec me ipse afficiam contumeliâ, ‘nor will I insult myself with my own lips (ipse).’
12.coram, ‘before their eyes.’
13.quod cui. The order isquod ab eo ratio praedae posceretur, cui salus ... deberet, ‘indignant that an account of the booty was demanded from a man, to whom the safety of the State and constitution ought to be ascribed.’
Acceptum aliquid referre alicui, lit. ‘to put down a thing as received to a man’s account,’ ‘to credit him with it’; a metaphor from banking.
2.Scipio Africanus“was unquestionably one of the greatest men of Rome, and he acquired at an early age the confidence and admiration of his countrymen. His enthusiastic mind led him to believe that he was a special favourite of the gods; and he never engaged in any public or private business without first going to the Capitol, where he sat some time alone, enjoying communication from the gods. For all he proposed or executed he alleged the divine approval; and the Roman people gave credit to his assertions, and regarded him as a being almost superior to the common race of men. There can be no doubt that Scipio believed himself in the divine revelations, which he asserted to have been vouchsafed to him, and the extraordinary success which attended all his enterprises must have deepened this belief.”—Smith’sClassical Dictionary.
3.noctis extremo, ‘at the end of night.’ The neuterextremumis used as a substantive, meaning ‘the end.’ Cf.extremo anni, Livy, xxxv. 11. 1;sub extremum noctis, Sil. 4. 88.
4.ventitare.Ventitois the frequentative form ofvenio. Frequentative or iterative verbs denote repeated action: they are of the first conjugation, and formed by adding-to,-so,-ito, or-itorto the supine stem, or, more rarely, to the clipt stem, ascan-to, ‘I sing often’;cur-so, ‘I run often’;rog-ito, ‘I ask often’;min-itor, ‘I threaten often’;haes-ito, ‘I stick fast.’Sometimes one frequentative verb is formed from another, ascant-itofromcanto.
ac iubere ... Iovis, ‘and to order the temple of Jupiter to be opened.’
5.quasi consultans. Cf.xv. 6. note.
7.id temporis. For this ‘genitive of the thing measured,’ depending on a neuter pronoun, expressing quantity, hence often called the ‘partitive genitive,’ cf.aliquid veri, falsi;id aetatis;nihil reliqui facere, ‘to leave nothing undone’ (Caes.);quantum mercedis(xxxii. 17.);si quid remedii(xxxiv. 8.), and such phrases asnavium quod ubique fuerat in unum locum coegerant(Caes.).Idin this phrase is in the accusative. Similar adverbial accusatives are—hoc noctis,magnam partem,suam vicem,multum, etc. The use of theacc. has arisen from an extended use of the cognate acc. after intransitive verbs (e.g.servire servitatem,dormire noctem,dolere aliquid, etc.).
quod in eum solum ... incurrerent, the order isaeditumi ... admirati, quod canes, semper in alios saevientes, neque latrarent neque incurrerent in eum solum id temporis in Capitolium ingredientem, ‘because he was the only man who entered the temple at that time, at whom the dogs, that always attacked others, did not bark and fly.’
14.re cibaria copiosum, ‘well supplied with provisions.’
15.eius potiundi. Gerundival attraction, cf.xiii. 1. note.
16.ius dicebat, ‘he was administering justice,’ the technical term.
18.in iure stare, oresse, ‘to stand,’ ‘present oneself before a magistrate’;in ius ire, ‘to go before a magistrate.’
19.vadimonium promittere, to promise or give security (bail) for a man’s appearance, ‘for what day and what place’ (i.e.for his appearance on what day and place) ‘he would order security to be given.’
iuberet, subj. after the dependent interrog.quem. Cf.x. 6. note.
21.sese, object. ofsistere, ‘ordered him to present himself on the third day in yonder place.’
22.atque ita factum, ‘and so it happened.’
vadari.Vador aliquem= ‘I bind a man over by bail’: the object. ofvadarihere ismilitem; “on the third day, on which he had ordered (them) to bind (the man) over to appear.”
1.capite.Caputdenotes the legal status of a citizen: he lost it “as much if he were struck off the roll of citizens as if his head were struck off his shoulders” (Wilkins,R. Lit. Primer). “I and two others were trying a friend on a capital charge.”
4.ad casum ... medendum, ‘to remedy so perilous a mischance.’
6.ad condemnandum, sc.hominem, ‘I gave my vote in silence for condemning the man.’
1.Favorinuswas a native of Arles, in Gaul; he was a famous philosopher, and resided at different periods of his life in Rome, Greece, and Asia Minor (about 110-130A.D.).
3.Curius. M’ Curius Dentatus, consul in 290, 275, and 274B.C., distinguished himself in the Samnite wars. He was a favourite hero of the Romans, and celebrated as a type of the old-fashioned virtue and frugality. The Samnites, it is said, once sent an embassy to him with costly gifts. The messengers found the great general sitting by his hearth, and roasting turnips. They proffered their gifts, but he rejected them, saying that he would rather rule over those who possessed gold than possess it himself.
4.Fabricius. Cf.viii. 1. note.
Coruncanius, consul 260B.C., fought with success against the Etruscans and against Pyrrus (cf.xxvii. 1. note); he was also a distinguished lawyer, and the first plebeian who became Pontifex Maximus.
5.his, abl. after the comparativeantiquiores.
antiquus, ‘former,’ ‘ancient,’ is used of what has existed in past time as opposed tonovus, what has not previously existed, new.Vetusdenotes what has existed for a long time, old, aged, opposed torĕcens, what has not existed for long, recent.
Horatii. The three brothers of the Horatian gens, who, according to the legend, in the reign of Tullus Hostilius, fought against the Curiatii, three brothers from Alba, to determine whether Rome or Alba was to exercise the supremacy.
6.Auruncorum, etc., genitives depending ofverbis, ‘used the language of the Aurunci,’ etc. The Aurunci, Sicani, and Pelasgi were old Italian races.
9.quasi loquare. Cf.xv. 6. note, ‘quasi desiperet.’
Euandri. The legend says that Euander, son of Hermes and an Arcadian nymph, about 60 years before the Trojan war, led a Pelasgian colony from Arcadia in Greece to Italy, and built the town of Pallantium at the foot of the Palatine hill. Vergil represents Euander as still alive when Aeneas came to Italy. (Aeneid, viii. 51.)
10.abhinc multis annis, ‘many years ago.’ To express‘how long ago,’abhincandanteare used with either abl. or acc. case. Cf.abhinc triennium huc commigravit, ‘she came hither three years ago’ (Ter.An.i. 70).
11.quae dicas, ‘anything that you say.’ The subj. (a consecutive subjunctive) after the relative marks the statement as indefinite;quae diciswould mean the particular words which you are actually using.
14.sit, subjunctive, because a dependent sentence in theoratio obliquaafterais.
16.C. Julius Caesar, the Dictator, 100-44B.C.This quotation is from his lost workDe Analogia, written, it is said, when he was crossing the Alps.
18.ut tamquam, ‘that you should avoid a rare word, as (you would avoid) a rock.’
1.T. Manlius Imperiosus Torquatuswas another of the favourite heroes of Roman history. His exploit here mentioned happened in 361. In 353 and again in 349 he was Dictator; in 347, 344, and 340, Consul. In this last year Torquatus and P. Decius Mus gained a great victory over the Latins near Mt. Vesuvius, and established the Roman supremacy in Latium. It was shortly before this battle that the disobedient act of his son occurred, mentioned at the end ofxxii.
3.torquis, a ‘twisted neck chain,’ as opposed tomonile(cf.ix. 6), which was made of beads, stones, etc., strung together.
ex hoste detractam induit, ‘he had taken from an enemy, and put on himself.’ A participle and verb are frequently used in Latin where in English two verbs are employed, e.g.scripsit se profectum celeriter adfore, ‘he wrote (to say) that he had set out and would soon arrive.’
4.fuerit, subj. after the dependent interrogativequis. Cf.x. 6. note.
6.cum ... processit, etc. The indicative is used in past time aftercum, when the conjunction is purely temporal, and equivalent toet tum. Cf.vi. 8 note.
7.nudus, ‘unarmed.’Nudusis used in many senses besides its usual one of ‘unclothed,’ ‘naked’:e.g.‘without atoga,’i.e.‘in a tunic only,’nudus ara, sere nudus(Verg.G.i. 299); ‘uncovered by turf,’silex nuda(Verg.E.i. 15); ‘leafless,’nudum nemus; ‘without a garrison,’urbs nuda praesidio(Cic.Att.vii. 13-1); ‘destitute,’nuda senectus(Juv.); ‘unadorned,’nuda oratio(Cic.), etc.
12.si quis ... vellet, uti prodiret, ‘that if any one was willing to fight him, he should step forward.’ The tenses are historic, becauseconclamantis the historical present, and therefore equivalent to a past tense. Primary tenses are sometimes used after a historic present, but historic tenses are more common.
17.scuto pedestri. Thescutumwas an oblong or oval shield (4 ft. by 2½ ft., Polybius), made of wood or wickerwork. It was borrowed from the Sabines and made the shield of the whole Roman army, superseding the large circularclipeus, when the Roman soldiers first began to receive pay, and to form a permanent army instead of an irregular militia (Livy, viii. 8. etc.).
cinctusin this connection is properly ‘surrounded’ with a girdle to support a shield or sword, hence ‘armed with.’
1.metu magno, ‘amid great anxiety.’ An ablative of manner, closely akin to the “ablative absolute.”
2.sua disciplina, ‘according to his custom,’i.e.way of fighting. Cf.eadem nos disciplina utimur, ‘our habits are the same’ (Plaut.As.i. 3. 49), anddisciplina militiae, bellica militaris, etc., ‘the art of war.’
3.cunctabundus. Cf.moribundus,vi. 11. note. The Gaul stood on the alert ready to parry a blow, and waiting his opportunity. Manlius disconcerted him by suddenly dashing him backwards.
7.eo pacto ei ..., etc., ‘in that way he got to close quarters with him (ei successit) under his Gallic sword, and wounded his chest with his Spanish sword (sc.gladio).’ The “Spanish sword” was a short weapon, fitted for thrusting and stabbing at close quarters; the “Gallic sword” a much longer and heavier weapon.
9.pectus hausit.Haurireof a weapon in the sense of ‘wounding,’ ‘tearing open,’ is found in Lucretius, Vergil, andoften in Ovid: probably the sword, etc., is regarded as devouring the flesh or drinking the blood (Conington). Cf. Verg.Aen.x. 313—
Huic gladio perque aerea suta,Per tunicam squalentem auro, latus haurit apertum.
Huic gladio perque aerea suta,
Per tunicam squalentem auro, latus haurit apertum.
‘With his sword, through brazen coat of mail and tunic stiff with gold, he wounded his unguarded side.’
17.speculatum. The supine is-um, expressing purpose after a verb of motion.
pugna interdicta, ‘though he had been forbidden to fight.’ Abl. absolute.
1.Agrum Pomptinum. The Ager Pomptinus was a low plain on the coast of Latium, between Circeii and Terracina; it was originally a fertile cornland, but after the third centuryB.C., it became more and more marshy, till at last the Pomptine marshes were the most malarious district in Italy. They were partially drained from time to time, but no permanent relief was afforded till the time of Pius VI. (1778). The district is still the most unhealthy in Italy.
3.vasta proceritate, abl. of description.
armis auro fulgentibus, abl. abs., ‘a man of enormous stature, with armour gleaming with gold.’
5.per contemptum et superbiam, ‘scornfully and haughtily.’ Cf.per vim, ‘forcibly,’ etc.
6.venire iubet, etc., ‘bids anyone out of the whole Roman army who dares to fight, to come forward and meet him,’ lit. ‘bids (him) come, if anyone dares.’Auderetis in historical time, becauseiubetis the historic present, standing for a past tense. Cf.xxi. 12. note.
8.tribunus militaris. Thetribuni militum, ormilitares, were the chief officers of the legion; there were originally three, afterwards six, to each legion.
ceteris ... ambiguis. Abl. absol., ‘since the rest hesitated.’
11.progreditur ... obviam, ‘advances to meet him.’
13.vis quaedam divina fit, ‘a miracle happens’: lit., a divine power is manifested.
16.laniabat ... revolabat, the imperfects denote repeated action.
21.statuam statuendam curavit, ‘had a statue set up’: for this use ofcurocf.xiii. 1. 4. note.
Augustus. Cf.xxix. 2. note.
in foro suo, the ‘Forum Augusti.’ There were three greatforaat Rome, the F. Augusti, the F. Magnum, Vetus, or Romanum, and the F. Julii.
23.monimentum, in apposition tosimulacrum.
1.Aesopuslived about 570B.C.Little is known about his life. He was a slave, but was freed by one of his masters, Iadmon of Samos. He is said to have visited Croesus, king of Lydia, and Pisistratus of Athens, and to have been sent by the former to Delphi to distribute a gift of money among the citizens. A dispute however arose, and he refused to give any of the money, so the angry men of Delphi threw him over a precipice. Later stories, without good authority, represent him as deformed.
e Phrygia. Cotioeum in Phrygia, Mesembria in Thrace, Samos, and Sardis each claimed to be the birthplace of Aesop.
2.utilia monitu suasuque. The abl. of the supine in-uis regularly used as an abl. of respect. Cf.nefas visu,turpe dictu,facile factu(xxvii. 7.), etc.
5.cum audiendi quadam inlecebra, lit. ‘with some charm of hearing.’
7.spem, etc., ‘that in matters (rerum) which a man can manage himself, hope and trust ought never to be placed in another, but in himself,’i.e.that a man ought not to rely upon another for what he can do himself.
10.Q. Ennius. Cf.xxxviii. 9.
satiris.Satiraorsatura(satur= full), properly a mixture of all sorts of things, originally denoted a work which dealt with many subjects; then the title was applied to poems which treated ‘didactically’ the follies and vices of mankind.
versibus quadratis,versus quadrati(square) are those containing eight or seven feet. These lines of Ennius are calledSeptenariiorTetrameter Catalecticverses. The principal feet in them are thetrochee¯ ¯ ˘, andspondee¯ ¯.
Hōc ĕr|īt tĭb(i) | ārgŭ|mēntūm | sēmpĕr | īn prōmp|tū sĭ|tum,Nē quĭd | ēxpēc|tēs ă|mīcōs, | quod tŭt(e) | ăgĕrĕ | possĭ|es.
Hōc ĕr|īt tĭb(i) | ārgŭ|mēntūm | sēmpĕr | īn prōmp|tū sĭ|tum,
Nē quĭd | ēxpēc|tēs ă|mīcōs, | quod tŭt(e) | ăgĕrĕ | possĭ|es.
12.semper in promptu situm, ‘ever ready at hand.’
13.ne quid, etc., ‘not to wait for your friends at all (quid) in a matter which (quod) you yourself can do.’
possies, old form ofpossis, pres. subj. ofpossum.
2.id temporis. Cf.xviii. 7. note, ‘at such a time, as a rule, that the harvest is at hand when its young ones are just becoming fledged.’
3.ea cassita, that particular lark about which the story is told.
congesserat, used absolutely (i.e.without an object) in the sense of making a nest, as we used the word ‘to build.’ Cf. Verg.Ecl.iii. 69,locum aeriae quo congessere columbae.
5.dum iret.Dum, like other temporal conjunctions, takes the indic. (in Oratio R.) whenstrictlytemporal, but the subj. is required when the notion of time is complicated with that of purpose, consequence, etc. In other words,dum, ‘whilst,’ always takes the indic.,dum, ‘until,’ the indic. usually, the subj. sometimes, viz., when the idea of expecting or waiting for something comes in. Here purpose is expressed: ‘to enable her to meanwhile go ...,’ ‘till she should go.’ Cf.priusquam emeret,xxxiii. 4. note.
6.quaesitum, ‘to seek for food ...’; the supine in-umexpressing purpose after a verb of motion. Cf.xvi. 13,xxii. 17.
7.si quid, etc., ‘if anything unusual happened.’ For the genitivequid rei, cf.id temporis,xviii. 7. note.
11.fac eas et roges, a less peremptory way of expressing a command than the simple imperative. Cf.scribas velim,cura ut scribas,scribe sis(forsi vis), instead ofscribe.
12.veniant, etc., subj. afterroges, ‘ask them to come ...’
15.orare, the historical infinite, used instead of a finite verb. In this construction, which is frequent in an animated description of a scene, the pres. inf. only is used (besides the two perfectsodisseandmeminisse, which have a presentmeaning). Dr. Kennedy (Pub. Sch. Lat. Gr., 332) treats it as analogous to the omission of parts of the verbsum(e.g.occisusforoccisus est), as it leaves out the expression of time, number, and person. ‘It is used to express the occurrence of actions without marking the order of time.’ (Roby.)
17.misit qui amicos roget.Rogetis in subj., because the relative expresses purpose: ‘has sent me to ask ....’Misitis the perfect proper, ‘has sent,’ a primary tense, hencerogetis in the pres. subj.
18.otioso animo esse, abl. of quality, lit. ‘bids them be of an easy mind,’i.e.‘bids them be easy in mind.’
4.isti, ironical, ‘those friends of yours are laggards.’
quin ... imus, ‘why do we not rather go ...?’ The conjunctionquin(=quî, an old ablative, and-ne) is thus used in exhortations and remonstrances (a) usually with the pres. indic., e.g.quin conscendimus equos?(Livy), ‘why do we not mount?’i.e.‘nay, mount at once’: (b) sometimes with the imperative,quin aspice me, ‘nay, look at me’;quin dic uno verbo, ‘just answer in a single word.’
5.cognatos.Cognatusis a kinsman by blood, either on the father’s or the mother’s side;agnatus, a blood relation on the father’s side;gentilis, a member of the samegens, and bearing the same gentile name,e.g.Cornelii, Fabii; all these three classes wereconsanguinei, related by blood;adfinis, a relation by marriage, or sometimes merely a neighbour.
8.cognatos adfinesque nullos ferme ..., lit. ‘as a rule no kinsmen and neighbours were so good-natured,’ she said, ‘as to make no delay in undertaking work, and to obey orders at once.’
14.valeant, ‘good-bye to ...,’i.e.let us have no more to do with....
18.id ubi ..., the order is,ubi mater audivit ex pullis dominum dixisse id....
19.tempus cedendi et abeundi, ‘it is time to go and be off.’
20.in ipso enim. The order is,vertitur enim iam in ipso, cuia res est, non in alio, unde petitur, lit. ‘for (the work) now depends upon the man himself, whose the property is,not upon another, from whom (the work) is asked,’i.e.who is asked to do the work.
1.Pyrrus(318-272B.C.), king of Epirus, was one of the most famous generals of his age. In 280 he was invited to Italy by the Tarentines to aid them in their struggle with Rome. He defeated the Romans in two great battles, near Heraclea on the Siris in 280, and near Asculum in 279, but his own troops suffered so severely that he concluded an armistice, and in 278 crossed to Sicily to help the Greek colonies in that island against the Carthaginians. The incident mentioned in this selection afforded the pretext for the truce. In 276 Pyrrus returned to Italy, but he was decisively defeated by Curius Dentatus near Beneventum and compelled to leave Italy. He went back to Epirus, and engaged in many new warlike enterprises. In 272, when retreating from Argos, he was stunned by a tile thrown by a woman, and slain by the pursuing soldiers. Hannibal is reported to have said, that of all the great generals the world had seen, Alexander was the greatest, Pyrrus the second, himself the third; or, according to another version, Pyrrus the first, Scipio the second, and himself the third.
in terra Italia, ‘in the land of Italy’; cf.xxxi. 7,in terra Graecia, sourbs Roma, etc., the two substantives being in apposition.
4.Fabricius. Cf.viii. 1. note.
7.facile factu, ‘easy to do.’ Cf.xxiv. 2.,utilia monitu et suasu, note.
12.salutem tutaretur, ‘should protect himself from...,’ ‘be on his guard against;’ lit. ‘protect his safety.’
13.laudes ... scripsisse, ‘it is said that Pyrrus wrote to the Roman people, praising and thanking them ...,’ lit. ‘wrote praises and thanks.’
populo Romano. Cf.ad senatum scripsit, line 9. The rule is that, if the verb expresses or implies motion,adwith the acc. is used to express the remoter object; if no motion is implied, the dative is used; so,misit hoc ad me, butdedit hoc mihi. Hence many verbs admit both constructions, as they fall on the line between expressing motion and not expressing it.Scribois one of these, for the letter has to besent, so motion is implied, but the verb itself expresses no motion. This rule, however, is not always observed even in prose, and far less so in poetry.
1.In circo maximo. The early Roman legends say that when Tarquinius Priscus had taken the town of Apiolae from the Latins, he commemorated his success by holding races and games in the Murcian Valley, between the Palatine and Aventine hills. Round the valley temporary platforms and stands were erected, and the course with its surroundings was called ‘Circus,’ either because the spectators stood in a circle or because the races went round in a circle. Soon a permanent building was erected in this valley. This was enlarged and beautified from time to time, and known as the Circus Maximus, to distinguish it from the many similar buildings which were erected in various parts of Rome. In the time of Julius Caesar the Circus Maximus was about 600 yards in length, and 200 in width, and held 150,000 people: a century later it could hold twice as many. The building was used chiefly for chariot-racing; but sometimes the area was flooded, and naval battles were represented, and often beasts were let loose in it to fight with one another, or with men, either condemned criminals and captives, orbestiari, specially trained for the purpose. This latter exhibition was calledvenatio, orpugna venationis. Animals were brought in almost incredible numbers from all parts of the Roman world to be thus slaughtered. Julius Caesar once turned 500 lions into the arena together, and Augustus, in the Monimentum Ancyranum, boasts that he had thus killed 3,500 elephants during his reign.
2.multae ibi ferae, sc.erant.
7.quasi admirans. Cf.quasi desiperet,xv. 6. note.
15.videres, ‘you might have seen.’ Cf. Livy,maesti, crederes victos, redeunt in castra, ‘you would have thought they had been defeated.’ This use is confined to the second person singular (‘you’ indefinite = one); the subjunctive is explained by treating the expression as part of a conditional sentence, the condition understood being the reality of the subject. ‘If you had been there, you might have seen....’
2.Caesar, probably Claudius, emperor 41-54A.D.; he was the fourth emperor—Augustus being the first, Tiberius the second, and Caligula the third. Caesar was originally the name of a patrician family of the Juliangens. The name was taken by Augustus (Octavianus), as the adopted son of the Dictator, C. Julius Caesar: by Tiberius, as the adopted son of Augustus Caesar: and it continued to be used by Caligula, Claudius, and Nero, as members, by adoption, or female descent, of Caesar’s family. This family became extinct with Nero, but succeeding emperors employed the name as part of their official title.
3.uniwithilli, ‘had spared him alone.’
pepercisset, subj. after the dependent interrogativecur.
5.proconsulari imperio. TheProconsulare Imperiumis the power held by a man who actspro consule, ‘in the place of a consul.’ As the number of Roman provinces increased, it became the custom under the Republic for men, who had held the office of consul, to accept the government of provinces for a year, and rule these with the “Imperium Proconsulare,” which was conferred by a special decree of the Senate and of the people. Under the Empire the provinces were divided into two groups: (1) the Senatorial Provinces (the more peaceful ones in which no large armies were maintained), which were governed withImperium Proconsulareby men who had been consuls or praetors:(2) the Imperial Provinces, which were governed withPraetorianpower byLegati Caesaris, who acted as the Emperor’s deputies.
Africam, the Roman name for the district round Carthage.
10.consilium fuit, ‘my plan was,’ ‘I purposed.’
14.debili ... pede. Abl. absol., ‘with one foot lame and bloodstained.’
22.volnere intimo expressi, ‘I pressed out from the bottom of the wound.’ Words compounded withab,cum,de, andexusually govern an abl., either with or (less frequently in prose) without the preposition repeated.
23.cruorem:cruoris ‘gore,’i.e.blood which has flowed from a wound;sanguis, either ‘gore,’ or blood circulating in the body.
1.triennium totum, acc. of duration of time; ‘for three whole years.’
2.eodemque et victu, abl. of matter; ‘on the same food also.’
nam quas, etc. The order is—‘ferebat ad specum mihi(to the cave for me),membra opimiora ferarum quas venabatur,’ the antecedentferarumbeing attracted into the relative sentence, and so becomingferas.
7.viam ... permensus, ‘having travelled a journey of almost three days.’
9.rei capitalis, the genitive of the charge used after verbs of condemning and acquitting.Res capitalisis a crime punishable by death or loss of civil rights,caputdenoting both life and civil status. Cf.xix. 1. note.
10.damnandum curavit. Cf.xiii. 1. 4. note.
11.quoque, the lion, as well as I, having been captured.
1.in terra Graecia. Cf.in terra Italia,xxvii. 1. note.
fama celebri, abl. of quality, ‘of great reputation.’
5.Athenis, ‘at Athens,’ the locative case. Cf.xi. 1. note.
Electram, etc. The order is—acturus Electram Sophoclis, debebat gestare urnam quasi cum Oresti ossibus, ‘being about to play the part of Sophocles’ Electra (i.e.the part of Electra in the play of Sophocles called ‘the Electra’) he had to carry an urn, supposed to contain (quasi cum) the bones of Orestes.’Women’s characters were played by men both on the Greek and on the Roman stage.
When Agamemnon, king of Argos and Mycenae, returned from the Trojan war, he was murdered by his wife Clytaemnestra. Electra, their daughter, contrived to save her young brother Orestes, and send him to the court of Strophius, king of Phocis. After some years Orestes returned in company with Pylades, the son of Strophius. At first he pretended to be a messenger from Strophius, who had come to announce the death of Orestes in a chariot race, in token of which he brought an urn containing, he said, the ashes of the dead man. Finally, he made himself known to Electra, and then slew Clytaemnestra and her lover Aegisthus.