5 7 8 9 13 14 19 20 cum omnia ratione animoque lustraris, omnium societatum nulla est gravior, nulla carior, quam ea, quae cum republica est unicuique nostrum. Cari sunt parentes, cari liberi, propinqui, familiares; sed omnes omnium caritates patria una complexa est. vixerunt: euphemistic, 'finished their lives': cp. ad Attic. XIV. 21, sed mihi quidem ßeßiwral. Thus too Cicero is said to have announced the execution of the Catilinarian conspirators. laxati: cp. § 6, corporum vinculis. flammas: i.e. the stars. orbem: Greek o yaλağías (kúkλos), 'Milky way' (via lactea); acc. to Theophrastus, this was the parting, where the two hemispheres, of which the celestial sphere was composed, were joined together. Democritus rightly held that it was composed of innumerable little stars. (Macrob. I. xv.) cetera: the other heavenly bodies, as contrasted with the earth. aliena: 'borrowed', lit. 'belonging to another': cp. § 9, luna radiis solis accensa. iam: 'by this time': the longer Scipio gazed, the more insignificant did the earth appear. § 9. novem tibi: the dative (ethical) of the personal pronouns is frequently used to attract attention or denote surprise: the person referred to being supposed to have an interest in the matter: cp. Ecce tibi! and Quid mihi Celsus agit? omnia: Greek rò Tâv, the Universe. Plato (Repub. x. 616) represents the revolution of the Universe as a distaff turning round upon the knees of 'Аváyêŋ, and the orbits of the planets-which he arranges in the following order: celestial sphere, Saturn, Jupiter, Mars, Venus, Mercury, Sun, Moon—as a large hollow whorl (σpóvduλos) into which seven similar whorls have been successively inserted, in such a way that the rim of each projects a little beyond that of the one in which it is itself inserted; and while as a whole the distaff revolves uniformly in the same direction, these seven inner whorls P. C. 3 21 23 24 27 travel slowly round in an opposite direction, with different velocities: and, as they revolve, a siren standing on each circle and revolving with it, keeps uttering one note in one tone, so that the eight notes blend together in one harmony. [qui—conplectitur] Osann brackets as spurious: it is certainly redundant. summus ipse deus: cp. de N. D. 1. xiv. 37, Cleanthes autem— tum ipsum mundum Deum dicit esse, tum totius naturae menti atque animo tribuit hoc nomen, tum ultimum et altissimum, atque undique circumfusum et extremum omnia cingentem atque complexum ardorem, qui aether nominetur, certissimum Deum iudicat. Macrobius qui volvuntur: a bold licence, we should have expected in quo infixae sunt stellae, quae sempiterno cursu volvuntur. thinks that Cicero intentionally leaves open the disputed question, whether the fixed stars were really stationary or had a movement of their own, however imperceptible, independently of the celestial sphere. qui versantur: the celestial sphere (the outermost whorl), in its diurnal revolution from E. to W., as Macrobius explains, carried with it the inner spheres; which again had also a particular revolution of their own, from W. to E., through the signs of the zodiac. With contrario atque cp. similis ac. prosperus et s.: this planet was supposed to exercise a propitious influence over the lives and fortunes of men: Cicero (de N. D. II. 25) says: Iovem appellamus a iuvando; according to him, Iupiter= iuvans pater. Modern philologists, however, compare Dlouis, the old Italian name for Jupiter, and the Greek Zeus with the Sanscrit diva, 'heaven'; so that Jupiter=caeli pater: the root DIV, which they assume as underlying these words, signifying "brightness' or 'shining', may be plainly traced in the Latin words iubar, dies, dives, Diana, &c. (See Vanicek, Etymol.) Cp. Horat. Od. II. xvii. 23, te Iovis impio Tutela Saturno refulgens Eripuit. Persius, Sat. v. 50, Saturnumque gravem nostro Iove frangimus una. Iovis Martium: the genitive of possession frequently stands beside the adjective: cp. meus ipsius. 28 29 30 31 32 rutilus: the Greek name of Mars was o IIupóels: cp. de N. D. II. XX. 53. dux: so in Sophocles (Antig. 1147), Dionysus, as Sun-God, is invoked as rûp πveóvтwv Xopayòs äorpwv. Cp. Tuscul. I. xxviii. 68, dierum et noctium-moderatorem et ducem Solem. mens: cp. Milton, P. L. Bk v.: 'Thou Sun! of this great world both eye and soul'. 'Moon, that now meet'st the orient Sun, now fliest, 'In mystic dance, not without song, resound 'His praise, who out of darkness called up light'. temperatio is qui temperat: abstr. for concrete: cp. N. D. II. 49, cited § 4. lustret: some read collustret: cp. de N. D. II. 36, sol omnia clarissima luce collustrans: the simple form is not usual in this sense except in the poets: cp. Virgil, Aen. IV. 607, Lucret. V. 575. comites: Macrobius explains: Venus, Mercury and the Sun, respectively traverse the Zodiac in a year. He says that Plato places their orbits above the Sun (§ 9 n.), following the Egyptians, who held that Mercury and Venus revolve round the Sun : Venus in the outer and Mercury in the inner circle. P. 17. 5 nam introduces a parenthesis: 'as for that which, &c.': a common use of nam. 6 infima: the Earth being regarded as the central point of the Universe: medium infimum in sphaera est, de N. D. 11. xlv. 116, cp. Tuscc. v. xxiv. 69. nutu: 'inclination, downward tendency', Tŷ olkelą poπn, Planudes: cp. de N. D. II. xxxix. 98, terra-locata in media mundi sede, solida et globosa et undique ipsa in sese nutibus suis conglobata: cp. also Tusc. I. 40, where pondere is added as an explanation of nutu. 3-2 § 10. 9 ΙΟ 13 14 16 20 sonus: with this passage cp. Milton, P. L. 620 foll. 'Mystical danse, which yonder starry sphere 'Eccentric, intervolved yet regular 'Then most, when most irregular they seem; 'So smooths her charming tones, that God's own ear intervallis: according to the Pythagoreans, the intervals between the Planets (which determined the nature of the sounds produced by their revolution § 10, natura fert cet.) corresponded with the intervals of a certain musical scale: the soul of the Universe was conceived by them as a harmony. (See also Mr Pattison's note to Pope's Essay on Man, I. 202.) disiunctus; this is the reading of Macrobius: other MSS have coniunctus; in this case we should have to supply ex. pro rata parte: 'in proportion': according to Macrobius the distance between Sun and Earth was twice that from Earth to Moon; and from Earth to Venus thrice that from Earth to Sun, &c. ratione: 'according to a system', 'exactly'. incitari: cp. N. D. 11. xl. 103, stellae, quarum motus tum incitantur, tum retardantur. natura fert: Macrobius illustrates this by the difference in the sound produced by a rod in striking the air, according as the stroke is quick or slow. He remarks also: numquam sonus fit nisi aëre percusso. stellifer cursus: notice the hypallage: for caeli stelliferi cursus : this figure is more common in the poets. duorum: some edd. insert Mercurii et Veneris; which, of course, are the two referred to. 22 23 26 27 7 nodus: cp. § 4. Macrobius explains: neque planities sine tribus neque soliditas sine quattuor potest vinciri. Ergo septenarius numerus geminam vim obtinet vinciendi quia ambae partes eius vincula prima sortitae sunt, i.e. because the plane superficies and the cube are the simplest forms. imitati: cp. Quinctil. 1. 10, Pythagoras atque eum secuti acceptam sine dubio antiquitus opinionem vulgaverunt, mundum ipsum cius ratione esse compositum, quam postea sit lyra imitata. The heptachord was the correct final form of the Greek lyre. Cic. de Legg. II. xv. 39, cp. Virg. Aen. v1. 646, obloquitur numeris septem discrimina vocum, Iamque eadem digitis, iam pectine pulsat eburno. The tetrachord preceded it. § 11. obsurduerunt: 'have grown dull'; cp. Shakspere, Merchant of Venice, Act v. Sc. i.: 'Look how the floor of heaven 'Is thick inlaid with patines of bright gold. 'There's not the smallest orb which thou beholdest 'But in his motion like an angel sings, 'Still quiring to the young-eyed cherubins: 'But whilst this muddy vesture of decay 'Doth grossly close it in, we cannot hear it'. obsurdesco is not connected in any way with absurdus (rt svar found in σûp-cy and su-surr-us) 'out of tune'; but surdus (rt svarda, cp. sordes, Saxon svart, ‘swarthy') 'dark', ‘dull' (Vanicek, Etymol.). Catadupa: Tà Karádovтa, the Cataracts of the Nile. Seneca relates that a nation settled there by the Persians was unable to endure the noise, and had to be removed to a quieter place. Probably the story originated in the well-known fact that people living in the vicinity of a steam-hammer, for instance, in time lose all consciousness of that particular noise. § 12, P. 18. celebrit. serm. hom.: 'renown among men': hominum is added by Cicero to explain what he here means by celebritas (prim. signifi |