rat, adierat, sperarat, victoria possideret, tamen non ante, quam illum vita expulisset, bellum confectum iudicarit. hunc tu hostem, Cato, contemnis, quocum per tot annos tot proeliis tot imperatores bella gesserant? cuius expulsi et eiecti vita tanti a Pompeio existimata est, ut morte eius nuntiata denique bellum confectum arbitraretur. hoc igitur in bello L. Murenam legatum fortissimi animi, summi consilii, maximi laboris cognitum esse defendimus, et hanc eius operam non minus ad consulatum adipiscendum quam hanc nostram forensem industriam dignitatis habuisse.

XVII. 'at enim in praeturae petitione prior renuntiatus est 35 Servius.' pergitisne vos tamquam ex syngrapha agere cum populo, ut, quem locum semel honoris cuipiam dederit, eundem in reliquis honoribus debeat? quod enim fretum, quem euripum tot motus, tantas, tam varias habere putatis agitationes commutationesque fluctuum, quantas perturbationes et quantos aestus habet ratio comitiorum? dies intermissus unus aut nox interposita saepe perturbat omnia et totam opinionem parva nonnumquam commutat aura rumoris. saepe etiam sine ulla aperta causa fit aliud atque existimaris, ut nonnumquam ita factum esse etiam populus admiretur, quasi vero non ipse fecerit. nihil est incertius vulgo, nihil obscurius voluntate 36 hominum, nihil fallacius ratione tota comitiorum. quis L. Philippum, summo ingenio, opera, gratia, nobilitate, a M.

a Pompeio] H. inserts this, and it seems to me the best conjecture. defendimus] cf. on § 5.

xvii. 35. at enim] cf. Madv. § 437 C.

pergitisne] The thought goes back, as H. says, to § 18.

locum honoris] place on the roll of office, 'precedence.'

quod enim etc.] Loosely quoted by Quint. VIII. vi. 49, with the remark illud vero longe speciosissimum genus orationis, in quo trium permixta est gratia, similitudinis, allegoriae, translationis.

fretum] especially the Sicilian. Euripum, esp. that between Euboea

and the mainland, said to ebb and flow 7 times a day: see Mr Tozer's Geography of Greece, Lecture vii, for the wonderful tides of this channel. 'What strait, what sound, think you, has its waves lashed by such violent storms or turned by such shifting tides as are the squalls and surges in the working of our elections?'

ratio] so § 36, and in § 4 with tempestatum.

comitiorum] For the comparison to a stormy sea cf. pro Planc. §§ 11, 15. aura] The abl., according to H. cf. Verg. Æn. VII. 646, ad nos vix tenuis rerum perlabitur aura.

quasi vero] so § 75, de Off. III. § 39.

Herennio superari posse arbitratus est? quis Q. Catulum, humanitate, sapientia, integritate antecellentem, a Cn. Mallio? quis M. Scaurum, hominem gravissimum, civem egregium, fortissimum senatorem, a Q. Maximo? non modo horum nihil ita fore putatum est, sed ne cum esset factum quidem, qua re ita factum esset, intellegi potuit. nam ut tempestates saepe certo aliquo caeli signo commoventur, saepe improviso nulla ex certa ratione obscura aliqua ex causa concitantur, sic in hac comitiorum tempestate populari saepe intellegas, quo signo commota sit, saepe ita obscura est, ut casu excitata esse videatur. XVIII. sed tamen si est reddenda ratio, duae res vehe- 37 menter in praetura desideratae sunt, quae ambae in consulatu multum Murenae profuerunt: una, exspectatio muneris, quae et rumore non nullo et studiis sermonibusque competitorum creverat, altera, quod ii, quos in provincia ac legatione omnis et liberalitatis et virtutis suae testis habuerat, nondum decesserant. horum utrumque ei fortuna ad consulatus petitionem reservavit. nam et L. Luculli exercitus, qui ad triumphum convenerat, idem comitiis L. Murenae praesto fuit, et munus amplissimum, quod petitio praeturae desiderarat, praetura

36. opera]='activity in the forum. H. cf. on § 22.

M. Herennio] consul in B.C. 93.
Gn. Mallio] consul 105.

Q. Fabio Maximo Eburno] in 116.

putatum est] Very rare, but found in de Div. I. § 84. Z.

nam ut etc.] Quoted loosely by Quint. VIII. iii. 80.

tempestates] For the metaphor cf. Dem. F. L. § 136, p. 383.

obscura est] sc. commota tempestas. esse videatur] cf. Quint. x. ii. 18, Tac. Dial. 23.

xviii. 37. ratio] if one must account for Murena's having been returned as praetor later than Sulpicius.

desideratae] the want of which was felt when he was standing for the praetorship.

muneris] He had not been aedile,

and had had no chance of giving any great show. The other candidates (and their agents) had made the most of this defect in Murena's qualifications for office.

creverat] had reached a great height, owing to a general report, and the remarks of rivals coloured with party-spirit.'

provincia] T. refers this to his service in Asia under his father. legatione] as legatus to Lucullus. decesserant] Regular word for quitting a province, § 68 etc., the triumph of Lucullus was deferred by intrigues from the year 66 B.C. to 63.

comitiis] at the election,' cf. gladiatoribus, § 67; this conjecture seems necessary to be adopted. MSS. comes.

L. Murenae] dative after praesto

fuit. H.

38 restituit. num tibi haec parva videntur adiumenta et subsidia consulatus? voluntas militum cum per se valet multitudine, cum apud suos gratia, tum vero in consule declarando multum etiam apud universum populum Romanum auctoritatis habet suffragatio militaris; imperatores enim comitiis consularibus, non verborum interpretes deliguntur. quare gravis est illa oratio: me saucium recreavit, me praeda donavit : hoc duce castra cepimus, signa contulimus: numquam iste plus militi laboris imposuit quam sibi sumpsit; ipse cum fortis, tum etiam felix.' hoc quanti putas esse ad famam hominum ac voluntatem? etenim si tanta illis comitiis religio est, ut adhuc semper omen valuerit praerogativae, quid mirum est in hoc felicitatis famam sermonemque valuisse ?

XIX. sed si haec leviora ducis, quae sunt gravissima, et hanc urbanam suffragationem militari anteponis, noli ludorum huius elegantiam et scaenae magnificentiam valde contemnere, quae huic admodum profuerunt. nam quid ego dicam populum ac vulgus imperitorum ludis magno opere delectari? minus est mirandum, quamquam huic causae id satis est; sunt enim populi ac multitudinis comitia. quare, si populo ludorum

restituit] As praetor urbanus he celebrated the ludi Apollinares with great splendour, thus the chance of winning popular favour, lost before, was 'given back' to him as his due. 38. cum...cum...tum] cf. pro. Rosc. Am. § 62, pro Rabir. § 2, de leg. Agr. 1. § 9.

valet multitudine] Plut. Lucull. 36, as H. well remarks, throws some light on Cicero's statements. Pompeius left him but 1600 soldiers to share his triumph, and even these shewed little eagerness in attending him, cf. § 69.

suffragatio] canvassing,' as also I believe in pro Planc. §§ 15, 44.

verborum interpretes] In which case the soldiers would be the worst of critics: the phrase is a hit at Sulpicius.

ipse] Personally. For the reception of a popular general cf. Velleius, II. 104, 5, at vero militum conspectu eius elicitae gaudio lacrimae......vide

magnificentia voluptati est, non est mirandum eam L. Murenae apud populum profuisse. sed si nosmet ipsi, qui et ab delec- 39 tatione communi negotiis impedimur et in ipsa occupatione delectationes alias multas habere possumus, ludis tamen oblectamur et ducimur, quid tu admirere de multitudine indocta? L. Otho, [vir fortis,] meus necessarius, equestri ordini restituit 40 non solum dignitatem, sed etiam voluptatem. itaque lex haec, quae ad ludos pertinet, est omnium gratissima, quod honestissimo ordini cum splendore fructus quoque iucunditatis est restitutus. quare delectant homines, mihi crede, ludi, etiam illos, qui dissimulant, non solum eos, qui fatentur. quod ego in mea petitione sensi; nam nos quoque habuimus scaenam competitricem. quodsi ego, qui trinos ludos aedilis feceram, tamen Antonii ludis commovebar, tibi, qui casu nullos feceras, nihil huius istam ipsam, quam irrides, argenteam scaenam

39. admirere de...] sc. wonder, not at the common herd, but at some fact in connexion with them; here, at their fondness for the shows. Madv. Fin. 1. § 4, who cf. ad Att. X. 17. 4, de diplomate admiraris.

indocta] Z. on vulgus § 38 well remarks that this is not at all the same as multitudo indoctorum.

40. L. Otho] The equites seem to have had some precedence of the plebs in the theatre (though they did not sit all together), as they had had in the circus from very early times. G. Gracchus had probably given them this distinction (Mommsen, bk. IV., ch. 3), Sulla deprived them of it. When then Roscius Otho, tribune B.C. 67, carried his law which gave them 14 rows of seats in the theatre all together immediately behind the orchestra (where the Senators sat), he did what may fairly be spoken of as restituit, so also Velleius, II. 32. 3, cf. Hor. E. 4. 15, Epp. 1. 1. 62, Prof. Mayor on Cic. Phil. II. § 44, Juv. III. 153.

ad ludos] In ad Att. II. 19. 3 we have mention of a lex Roscia frumentaria.

gratissima] it was a most unpopular measure. Cicero himself had in

64 B.C. sought to lessen the general dislike to it in the speech de L. Othone, now lost, cf. ad Att. II. I. 3.

trinos] not tres, as ludi denotes a compound object, which can be repeated and counted, so bina castra, quinae litterae. Madv. § 76 c, cf. bina spolia, Liv. I. 10.

aedilis] In B.C. 69. The three ludi were Cereales, Florales, Romani, as he tells us II in Verr. v. § 36; he had not however indulged in any great extravagance, de Off. II. § 59, and he claims that he did not owe his later distinctions to these shows.

Antonii] as praetor in B.C. 66. Their splendour made Cicero feel very anxious, as Antonius was in league with Catiline at the elections for 63.

casu] As praetor he did not get the urbana iurisdictio, and he had never been aedile.

argenteam] Probably some part of the stage was really covered with silver: the testimony of Plin. H. N. XXXIII. 3. 53 depends on the punctuation of the passage, and cannot be urged strongly. Even if (as I think) it does say literally what Cicero says here, we may doubt whether the present high-flown pas

41 adversatam putas? sed haec sane sint paria omnia: sit par forensis opera militari, militaris suffragatio urbanae, sit idem magnificentissimos et nullos umquam fecisse ludos: quid? in ipsa praetura nihilne existimas inter tuam et huius sortem interfuisse ?

XX. huius sors ea fuit, quam omnes tui necessarii tibi optabamus, iuris dicundi: in qua gloriam conciliat magnitudo negotii, gratiam aequitatis largitio: qua in sorte sapiens praetor, qualis hic fuit, offensionem vitat aequabilitate decernendi, benevolentiam adiungit lenitate audiendi: egregia et ad consulatum apta provincia, in qua laus aequitatis, integritatis, 42 facilitatis ad extremum ludorum voluptate concluditur. quid tua sors? tristis, atrox: quaestio peculatus, ex altera parte lacrimarum et squaloris, ex altera plena tabularum atque indicum. cogendi iudices inviti, retinendi contra voluntatem; scriba damnatus, ordo totus alienatus; Sullana gratificatio reprehensa, multi viri

sage be not the only authority for Pliny's statement.

41. sed haec......interfuisse?] Recapitulates from § 19. Z.

XX.

iuris dicundi] Since Sulla there had been eight praetors, two for the Civil Courts, the urbanus and the so-called peregrinus; the other six were for the Criminal Courts. Murena was lucky in drawing the lot for the practura urbana.

aequitatis] 'justice according to the spirit of the law,' opposed to the letter, as in § 27.

adiungit sc. sibi, 'wins,' cf. § 42, pro Rosc. Am. § 116, pro Cluent. § 3.

ad extremum] to crown all, it is finished off with'...not of time, for the ludi Apollinares fall on a. d. III. Non. Iul. (5th July). But I can find no parallel.

42. tristis, atrox] 'one of gloom and severity.

peculatus] One of the quaestiones perpetuae, dealing with misappropriation or theft of the public property. pecus originally moveable property. Freund well cf. Gell. XI. 18. 18, Auct. ad Herenn. 1. § 22.

fortes et prope pars civitatis

squaloris] The reus would appear in a squalida vestis. See App. A.

tabularum] account-books put in as evidence. cf. pro Fonteio § 12, unae tabulae proferantur.

indicum] so § 49, much the same as the later delatores, informers.'

scriba] The secretaries to the magistrates were called scribae; the scribae quaestorii and aedilicii were held in highest repute. They were citizens and had votes in elections. Freund. Their influence was great (de Leg. III. § 48 probably refers to them in particular), and also their duties, cf. II in Verr. III. § 183, where they are as here strangely spoken of as ordo (so ordo aratorum. II in Verr. II. § 17). Cicero seems to be thinking of a case in which a scriba had by his power over the State ledgers been guilty of peculatus either as principal or accessory. For form of sentence cf. Madv. § 442 a, obs. 2.

gratificatio] The free allotments of land by Sulla to his soldiers. cf. de leg. Agr. III. § 6, coniungitur impudens gratificatio cum acerba iniu