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XIII. ita- 28

tenuerunt, ut, quia in alicuius libris exempli causa id nomen invenerant, putarent, omnes mulieres, quae coemptionem facerent, Gaias vocari. iam illud mihi quidem mirum videri solet, tot homines tam ingeniosos post tot annos etiam nunc statuere non potuisse, utrum diem tertium an perendinum, iudicem an arbitrum, rem an litem dici oporteret. que, ut dixi, dignitas in ista scientia [consularis] numquam fuit, quae tota ex rebus fictis commenticiisque constaret, gratia vero multo etiam minus. quod enim omnibus patet et aeque promptum est mihi et adversario meo, id esse gratum nullo pacto potest, itaque non modo beneficii collocandi spem, sed etiam illud, quod aliquando fuit, licet consulere?' iam perdidistis. sapiens existimari nemo potest in ea prudentia, quae neque extra Romam usquam neque Romae rebus prolatis quidquam valet; peritus ideo nemo haberi potest, quod in eo, quod sciunt omnes, nullo modo possunt inter se discrepare;

have dropped the spirit and held fast to the mere letter.'

in alicuius libris] In some treatise on the forms of coemptio.

ut putarent] I prefer this with Z. and the MSS. so as actually to fancy that'.... This is of course mere banter on Cicero's part, as Gaius, Gaia, Titius, Titia, Seius, Seia etc. are legal personae ficticiae. Gaia seems to have been generally employed in forms of coemptio. Compare 'John Doe' and ‘Richard Roe. See Quint. I. vii. 28.

iam] 'now really,' 'upon my word.' cf. Phil. II. § 8, iam invideo magistro tuo, ib. § 19.

non potuisse] Of course these are merely the usual redundancies of legal caution. tertium according to Roman calculation would be=perendinum. arbitrum, either appointed by the parties, without interference of a magistrate, or by the magistrate after the preliminary hearing in iure. cf. on § 26. In this latter sense he was properly called iudex. In the XII Tables was 'iudici arbitrove.'

CIC. pro L. Mur.

xiii. 28. [consularis]. H. plausibly urges that this is most likely a gloss, as gratia is directly opposed to dignitas, and in § 25 Cicero says primum dignitas in tam tenui scientia non potest esse.

promptum] 'ready to hand.' cf. de Or. I. § 237, prompta defensio, II in Verr. IV. § 42.

aliquando] 'formerly,' i.e. before the days of Flavius.

licet consulere?] 'is it allowed to take your opinion?' a formal address to a jurist in the good old days of their power. So in jest Hor. Sat. II. 3. 192, ergo consulere et mox respondere licebit? consule.

prudentia] H. cf. Corn. Nep. Cimon 2 § 1, magnam prudentiam quum iuris civilis tum rei militaris.

rebus prolatis] In times of vacation, either (a) the regular iustitium edictum, or (b) caused by tumult and insurrection, or (c) generally, on either account. cf. Plaut. Capt. 78, 79, ubi res prolatae sunt, quom rus homines eunt, semul prolatae res sunt nostris dentibus.

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difficilis autem res ideo non putatur, quod et perpaucis et minime obscuris litteris continetur. itaque, si mihi homini vehementer occupato stomachum moveritis, triduo me iure consultum esse profitebor. etenim quae de scripto aguntur, scripta sunt omnia, neque tamen quidquam tam anguste scriptum est, quo ego non possim 'qua de re agitur' addere: quae consuluntur autem, minimo periculo respondentur. si id quod oportet, responderis, idem videare respondisse, quod Servius, sin aliter, etiam controversum ius nosse et tractare videare.

quapropter non solum illa gloria militaris vestris formulis atque actionibus anteponenda est, verum etiam dicendi consuetudo longe et multum isti vestrae exercitationi ad honorem antecellit. itaque mihi videntur plerique initio multo hoc

difficilis.. ...continetur] M. well compares de Orat. 1. § 192, omnia sunt enim posita ante oculos, collocata in usu cotidiano, in congressione hominum atque in foro; neque ita multis litteris aut voluminibus magnis continentur.

perpaucis litteris] i.e. libris. He is here speaking of the ius privatum, which at this time consisted only of (a) the XII Tables, (b) a few laws, (c) the edicta praetorum, (d) the verbal forms of procedure, such as those noticed above. Z. and H. me] He had studied under the great jurist Q. Mucius Scaevola in his youth, cf. Brutus § 306, and is said to have written a treatise de iure civili in artem redigendo, Gellius I.

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to Servius); give a different one, and you have gone so far as to detect a disputed point of law and are for trying an issue on it.'

quod Servius] i.e. recte. A severe compliment.

controversum ius] cf. de Orat. I. $242, ius quod ambigitur inter peritissimos, pro Caec. § 69, ius varium, Quint. XII. iii. 8. Add de Off. III. § 91.

tractare] to handle, examine.

29. formulis] written forms for judicial proceedings, beside which in Cicero's time still existed the old actiones (or legis actiones), verbal processes according to law. The latter had been productive of great hardship and injustice, and were eventually given up, Gaius IV. II, 30. For the formulae cf. pro Rosc. Com. §§ 24, 25.

ad honorem] in relation to office,' 'for attaining.' So § 38, ad famam. plerique] A hit at Sulpicius' early devotion to oratory, and his later abandonment of it. Cic. says of him, Brutus § 151, that after his return from Rhodes videtur mihi in secunda arte (sc. in iure civili) primus esse maluisse quam in prima (sc. in eloquentia) secundus Quint. XII. iii. 9.

cf.

maluisse, post, cum id adsequi non potuissent, istuc potissimum sunt delapsi. ut aiunt in Graecis artificibus eos auloedos esse, qui citharoedi fieri non potuerint, sic nonnullos videmus, qui oratores evadere non potuerint, eos ad iuris studium devenire. magnus dicendi labor, magna res, magna dignitas, summa autem gratia: etenim a vobis salubritas quaedam, ab iis, qui dicunt, salus ipsa petitur. deinde vestra responsa atque decreta et evertuntur saepe dicendo et sine defensione oratoris firma esse non possunt. in qua si satis profecissem, parcius de eius laude dicerem: nunc nihil de me dico, sed de iis, qui in dicendo magni sunt aut fuerunt.

XIV. duae sunt artes, quae possunt locare homines in am- 30 plissimo gradu dignitatis: una imperatoris, altera oratoris boni; ab hoc enim pacis ornamenta retinentur, ab illo belli pericula repelluntur. ceterae tamen virtutes ipsae per se multum valent, iustitia, fides, pudor, temperantia, quibus te, Servi, excellere omnes intellegunt, sed nunc de studiis ad honorem adpositis, non de insita cuiusque virtute disputo. omnia ista nobis studia de manibus excutiuntur, simul atque aliquis motu novo bellicum canere coepit. etenim, ut ait ingeniosus poëta et auctor valde bonus, proeliis promulgatis pellitur e medio

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cf. § 23.

tamen valent, sed] 'I am far from wishing to disparage the great worth of......, but they are not to the point just now, for'......

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pudor] 'honour,' as we say. cf. §64. ad honorem adpositis] suited to the attainment of office.' cf. II in Verr. I. § 30, menses ad agendum maxime appositos. T.

motu novo] raising a stir,' i. e. a revolution or invasion.

auctor] teacher, authority for a statement. cf. Tusc. D. IV. § 3, where Cato is gravissimus auctor, Hor. Carm. I. 28. 14, Juv. X. 30.

proeliis promulgatis] A phrase which sounds like a quotation from Ennius, and probably is; promulgare legem was to post it up 17 days at least before it was to be voted upon (in trinum nundinum). 'When warning of battle is given.'

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non solum ista vestra verbosa simulatio prudentiae, sed etiam ipsa illa domina rerum, sapientia: vi geritur res [publica], spernitur orator, non solum odiosus in dicendo ac loquax, verum etiam bonus: horridus miles amatur, vestrum vero studium totum iacet. non ex iure manum consertum, sed ferro, inquit, rem repetunt. quod si ita est, cedat, opinor, Sulpici, forum castris, otium militiae, stilus gladio, umbra soli: sit denique in civitate ea prima ars, propter quam ipsa est civitas omnium princeps.

verum haec Cato nimium nos nostris verbis magna facere demonstrat et oblitos esse bellum illud omne Mithridaticum cum mulierculis esse gestum. quod ego longe secus existimo, iudices, deque eo pauca disseram; neque enim causa in hoc continetur. nam si omnia bella, quae cum Graecis gessimus, contemnenda sunt, derideatur de rege Pyrrho triumphus M'. Curii, de Philippo T. Flaminini, de Aetolis M. Fulvii, de rege

simulatio prudentiae] your longwinded put-on learning.' The abstract for concrete, cf. annalium vetustas, § 16.

sapientia] eloquence. M. T. H., but from their quotations I doubt this; it may refer to such men as Virgil's pietate gravis ac meritis, who in the sedition (En. I. 148 foll.) regit dictis animos et pectora mulcet. So Laelius was called sapiens. See § 66, note.

res publica] The latter word is in all the MSS. save one; Cicero throws it in, just as non solum... verum etiam, to give his own turn of meaning to the quotation.

bonus] Cicero seems to make this mean 'good' = successful. But I fancy it was meant by Ennius as the honest pleader,' or, in Scotch phrase, 'the pleader, honest man,' merely a general term of approval, in opposition to horridus.

vero] 'as for your profession, it is utterly prostrated;' iacet, cf. §§ 17, 45.

ex iure] cf. on § 26: here it is opposed to ferro, manum conserere

being used in a double sense of (a) legal claiming of property, (b) fighting. consertum, the supine, sc. vo

cant or eunt.

These lines from Ennius, Annal. VII., are quoted in full by Gellius XX. 10. 4. pellitur e medio sapientia, vi geritur res; spernitur orator bonus, horridus miles amatur. haut doctis dictis certantes nec maledictis, miscent inter sese inimicitias agitantes. non ex iure manum consertum, sed magis ferro rem repetunt regnumque petunt, vadunt solida vi.

forum castris] Not so in his poem de suis temporibus, fragm. 1, cedant arma togae.

umbra soli] sc. a sedentary life to an active one, cf. Prof. Mayor's note. on Juv. VII. 105.

31. mulierculis] 'weak women,' opposed to viri in Lael. § 46. T. neque enim] refers to pauca.

Pyrrho] battle of Beneventum B.C. 275 or 276, triumph in same year. Mommsen, bk. II. c. 7.

Philippo] Kynoskephalae 197, triumph 194. Mommsen, bk. III. c. 8. Aetolis] 189, triumph 187.

Perse L. Pauli, de Pseudophilippo Q. Metelli, de Corinthiis L. Mummii sin haec bella gravissima victoriaeque eorum bellorum gratissimae fuerunt, cur Asiaticae nationes atque ille a te hostis contemnitur? atqui ex veterum rerum monumentis vel maximum bellum populum Romanum cum rege Antiocho gessisse video: cuius belli victor L. Scipio aequa parta cum Publio fratre gloria, quam laudem ille Africa oppressa cognomine ipso prae se ferebat, eandem hic sibi ex Asiae nomine adsumpsit. quo quidem in bello virtus enituit egregia M. 32 Catonis, proavi tui: quo ille, cum esset, ut ego mihi statuam, talis, qualem te esse video, numquam cum Scipione esset profectus, si cum mulierculis bellandum arbitraretur. neque vero cum P. Africano senatus egisset, ut legatus fratri proficisceretur, cum ipse paulo ante Hannibale ex Italia expulso, ex Africa eiecto, Karthagine oppressa, maximis periculis rem publicam liberasset, nisi illud grave bellum et vehemens puta

Perse] Pydna 168, triumph 167. Pseudophilippo] 148, triumph 146. Mommsen, bk. IV. c. I.

Corinthiis] 146, triumph 145. Mommsen, bk. IV. c. I.

gratissimae] Only in one bad MS. but gravissimae is clearly wrong. ‘A great relief.'

victoriae bellorum] cf. § 1, comitiorum precatio.

Asiaticae] H. well remarks that this refers to what we call Asia Minor, where Greek was generally spoken; hence it agrees well with cum Graecis above. For nationes cf. on § 69.

contemnitur] sing. as fuit § 15. Antiocho] B.C. 192-190. Mommsen bk III. c. 9.

belli victor] so Stat. Theb. IX. 624, da visere belli victorem.

aequa parta] Of the various restorations of this passage, this of Kay. ser and Sorof seems to me the best. MSS. mostly si qua parta. The statement is grossly exaggerated.

ille] because Publius was the elder and greater of the two; hic then answers it, otherwise it would

be superfluous. Z. cf. de Leg. II. §5. nomine] sc. Asiaticus.

32. M. Catonis] in 191 B.C. at the battle of Thermopylae. Liv. XXXVI. 18, Plut. Cato 13.

statuam] so I prefer to read with the MSS., as better than statuo in both sense and authority: 'to set him in my mind's eye.'

cum Scipione] These words are to be kept, as (a) if he went with M'. Acilius Glabrio, the inaccuracy is one into which Cicero might well have fallen, and (b) Z. has shewn that he is very possibly right.

arbitraretur and below putaretur] For the tense cf. Madv. § 347 h, obs. 2. had he thought (=been thinking) that'..

neque vero] 'nor yet again.'

egisset] For all the ingenuity of Z. I still think that this statement and those in Phil. XI. § 17, and Liv. XXXVII. I, are quite at variance. The two latter seem to be different versions, the present one an oratorical misrepresentation, of the same story.

fratri] dat. after legatus.

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