302 



THE POPULAR EDUCATOR. 



an intimate and critical acquaintance with the history of his 

 country, and a sound knowledge of the political principles on 

 which the Roman constitution had been built up. His style has 

 always been allowed to be perfect, " Ciceronian " Latin having 

 passed into a proverb, and it is the ideal to which all the writers 

 of Latin prose in the Middle Ages and subsequently have 

 endeavoured to attain. It is distinguished by its simple elegance 

 and singular absence of mannerism ; the words are selected and 

 the sentences constructed and balanced with a careful attention 

 to the laws of rhythm and harmonious propriety, which, in a 

 writer so voluminous, may well excite our astonishment and 

 challenge our imitation. In the extracts given below we have 

 endeavoured to give the reader a specimen of Cicero's powers in 

 each of the branches of literature in which he chiefly dis- 

 tinguished himself philosophy, oratory, and letter-writing 

 though our space is far too limited to allow us to do anything 

 like justice either to the quantity or the quality of his writings. 

 Cicero's philosophical works, always faultlessly written, contain, 

 every now and then, passages of singular beauty. The follow- 

 ing eloquent apostrophe to philosophy, taken from the " Tus- 

 culan Disputations," a series of imaginary discourses and 

 conversations held at his villa at Tusculum, has always been 

 greatly admired : 



CICERO. "Tusc. DISP.," V. 2. 



Sed et hujus culpas, 1 et ceterorum vitiorum peccatorumque nos- 

 trorum omnis a philosophia petenda correctio est : cujus in sinum 

 cum a primis temporibus aetatis nostrae voluntas studiumque nos 

 contulisset, his gravissimis casibus 2 in eundem portum, 3 ex quo 

 eramus egressi, magna jactati tempestate confugimus. O vitae 

 Philosophia dux! O virtutis indagatrix, expultrixque vitiorum! 

 quid non modo nos, sed omnino vita hominum sine te esse potuis- 

 set ? tu urbes peperisti ; tu dissipates homines in societatem vitae 

 convocasti ; tu eos inter se primo domiciliis, deinde conjugiis, 

 turn literarum et vocum communione junxisti ; tu inventrix 

 legum, tu magistra morum et discipline fuisti : ad te confu- 

 gimus, a te opem petimus : tibi nos, ut antea magna ex parte, 

 sic nunc penitus totosque tradimus. Est autem unus dies 

 bene et ex praeceptis tuis actus, peccanti immortalitati 4 antepo- 

 nendus. Cujus igitur potius opibus utamur quam tuis ? quae et 

 vitaa tranquillitatem largita nobis es, et terrorem mortis sustu- 

 listi ? Ac Philosophia quidem, tan turn abest, ut 5 proinde ac de 

 hominum vita est merita, laudetur ; ut, a plerisque neglecta, a 

 multis etiam vituperetur. Vituperare quisquam vitas parentem, 

 et hoc parricidio 6 se inquinare audet ? Et tarn impie ingratus 

 esse, ut earn accuset, quam vereri deberet, etiam si minus 

 percipere potuisset ? 



NOTES. 



1. Hujus culpse. The error to which Cicero had just before alluded 

 of magnifying and exaggerating our misfortunes. 



2. His casibus. He probably alludes to Caesar's death, or perhaps 

 .more generally to the civil wars of the period. 



3. Euudem portum, etc., philosophical retirement and contem- 

 plation. 



4. Peccanti immortalitati, on eternity of sin. The reader will per- 

 force be reminded of the more pious ejaculation of the Psalmist, " One 

 day in thy courts is better than a thousand." 



5. Tantum abest, ut, etc., is so far from being praised as it deserves, that 

 it is even roiled at. 



6. Hoc parricidio, by the guilt of such a parricidal act. 



The following extract is the vigorous commencement of the 

 first of Cicero's speeches against Catiline, the story 6f whose 

 conspiracy, and its detection by Cicero, we have already given 

 in our extracts from Sallust's account of the transaction. In 

 spite of the fact that his treason was well known, Catiline still 

 had the audacity to appear in the Senate ; and it was while he 

 was sitting there that Cicero attacked him in the following in- 

 dignant words : 



CICERO. " IN CATILINAM," I. 1. 



Quousque tandem, 1 Catilina, abutere patientia nostra? 

 Quamdiu etiam 2 furor iste tuus nos eludet ? Quern ad finem 

 sese effrenata jactabit audacia ? Nihilne te nocturnum prsesidium 

 Palatii, 3 nihil urbis vigiliae, nihil timor populi, nihil concursus 

 bonorum omnium, nihil hie munitissimus 4 habendi senatus 5 

 locus, nihil horum ora vultusque moverunt ? Patere tua con- 

 rilia non sentis ? Constrictam'' jam horum omnium scientia 

 teneri conjurationem tuam non vides ? Quid proxima, 7 quid 

 superiore nocte egeris, ubi fueris, quos convocaveris, quid consilii 

 cceperis, quern nostrum ignorare arbitraris ? O tempora I s O 



mores ! senatus hsec intelligit : consul videt : hie tamen vivlt. 

 Vivit ? immovero in senatum venit, fit publici consilii particeps : 

 notat et designat oculis ad caedem unumquemque nostrum. 

 Nos autem, fortes viri, satisfacere rei publicae videmur, si istius 

 furorem ac tela vitemus. Ad mortem te Catilina, duci jussu 

 consulii jam pridem oportebat ; in te conferri pestem quam tu 

 in nos omnes jamdiu machinaris. An vero vir amplissimus P. 

 Scipio, 9 pontifex maximus, Ti. Gracchum mediocriter 10 labefac- 

 tantem statum rei publicas privatus interf ecit. Catilinam orbem 

 terras csede atque incendiis vastare cupientem, nos consules 11 per- 

 feremus. Nam ilia nimis antiqua prastereo, quod C. Servilius 

 Ahala, 12 Sp. Maslium novis rebus studentem 13 manu sua occidit. 

 Fuit, fuit ista quondam in hac re publica virtus, ut viri fortes 

 acrioribus suppliciis civem perniciosum quam acerbisaimum 

 hostem coercerent. Habemus senatus consultum 14 in te, 

 Catilina, vehemens et grave, non deest rei publicae consilium 

 atque auctoritas hujus 10 ordinis : nos, nos, dico aperte, consules 

 desumus. 



1. Tandem, to what length will it go, when will it cease ? 



2. Quamdiu etiam, how long still ? 



3. Palatii, the ascent to the Palatine Hill from the Via Sacra had 

 been occupied by an armed force. 



4. Munitissimus, most strongly defended. 



5. Habendi seuatus. The participle in dus agreeing with the noun, 

 in preference to the gerund governing the noun habendi senatum. 



6. Constrictam,. stifled, restrained. 



7. Proxima. The speech was delivered on the 8th of November ; on 

 the 6th superiore (= priore) a meeting of the conspirators had been 

 held at the house of M. Lseca. 



8. O tempora, etc. The degeneracy of the age consisted in the fact 

 that Catiline could still show his face, without danger of being put to 

 death. 



9. P. Scipio. This was P. Scipio Nasica Serapio, Pontifex Maxiinus, 

 who led the rout that attacked Ti. Gracchus and killed him, B.C. 133. 

 Long. 



10. Mediocriter, etc., who was only sapping the foundations of tho 

 state, to a mode/ate extent. 



11. Privatus consules. If he did this as a private man, how much 

 more should we, who are the constituted authorities, act in a similar 

 way in this case ? 



12. C. Servilius Ahala. Ahola killed Mselius because he refused to. 

 obey the orders, of the dictator, Cincinnatus. long. 



13. Studentem. Studeo, with ace., means to study; with dat., to 

 be bent upon, to aim, at ; novis rebus, a resolution. 



14. Senatus cousultum. This was a decree passed on the 21st of 

 October previous, by which the consuls received authority to employ 

 force of arms. Long. 



15. Hujus, the senatorial order. 



The following is one of Cicero's letters to his friend Atticus, 

 which will serve as a specimen of his style in this branch of 

 literature : 



CICERO. " EPISTOKE AD ATTICTJM," 1. 15. 



Asiam Quinto; suavissimo fratri, obtigisse audisti: non 

 enim dubito, quin cclerius tibi hoc rumor, quam ullius nostrum 

 litterae nuntiarint. Nunc quoniam et laudis avidissimi semper 

 fuimus, 1 et praeter ceteros <(>i\f\\rivfs 2 et sumns et habemur, et 

 multorum odia atque inimicitias reipublicaa causa suscepimus, 

 TTCWTOITJJ apeTTjs (j.Lfj.vf)o~Kto, curaque et effice, ut ab omnibus et 

 laudemur et amemur, His de rebus plura ad te in ea epistola* 

 scribam, quam ipsi Quinto 1 dabo. Tu me, velim, 4 certiorem 

 facias, quid de meis mandatis egeris, atque etiam, quid de tuo 

 negotio. Nam ut Brundisio 5 profectus es, nulla mihi abs te 

 redditaa litterae. Valde aveo scire, quid agas. Idib. Mart. 6 



Cicero's brother Quintus has just obtained the government of 

 the province of Asia (Asia Minor), and Cicero writes to Atticus 

 to ask him to endeavour to strengthen his hands. 



NOTES. 



1. Fuimus. Cicero by this expression completely identifies himself 

 with the welfare of his brother. 



2. <p,\e\Arvef. Cicero very frequently makes use of Greek words 

 and phrases in his familiar letters, just as we often use French ; a 

 knowledge of Greek being considered in a Eoinan a mark of a polite 

 education, as French with us. 



3. Ea epistola. There are extant some letters of Cicero to his 

 brother, on the occasion of bis appointment, full of excellent advice on 

 these points. 



4. Tu me, velim, etc., please let me know. 



5. Brundisio.- A town on the south-west coast of Italy, the usual 

 starting-point for Greece. 



