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The Project Gutenberg eBook of ... Cic. as the c before a guttural condemned in n. on 34. For the argument see n. on 80 quasi vero quaeratur quid sit non quid videatur. Primum interest: for om. of deinde cf. 45, 46. Imbecillius: cf. I. 41. Edormiverunt: "have slept off the effects," cf. ap?ß???e?? in Homer. Relaxentur: cf. a? ?e?a? t?? ????? Aristoph. Ran. 700, relaxare is used in the neut. sense in D.F. II. 94. Alcmaeonis: the Alcmaeon of Ennius is often quoted by Cic., e.g. D.F. IV. 62. §53. Sustinet: epe?e?; see on 94. Aliquando sustinere: the point of the Academic remark lay in the fact that in the state of madness the ep??? of the sapiens becomes habitual; he gives up the attempt to distinguish between true and false visa. Lucullus answers that, did no distinction exist, he would give up the attempt to draw it, even in the sane condition. Confundere: so 58, 110, Sext. A.M. VIII. 56 (s???e??s? ta p?a?µata), ib. VIII. 157 (s???e?µe? t?? ß???), VIII. 372 (????? s??? ee? t?? f???s?f?? ??t?s??), Plut. De Communi Notit. adv. Stoicos p. 1077 (??? pa?ta p?a?µata s???e??s?). Utimur: "we have to put up with," so ???s?a? is used in Gk. Ebriosorum: "habitual drunkards," more invidious than vinolenti above. Illud attendimus: Goer., and Orelli write num illud, but the emphatic ille is often thus introduced by itself in questions, a good ex. occurs in 136. Proferremus: this must apparently be added to the exx. qu. by Madv. on D.F. II. 35 of the subj. used to denote "non id quod fieret factumve esset, sed quod fieri debuerit." As such passages are often misunderstood, I note that they can be most rationally explained as elliptic constructions in which a condition is expressed without its consequence. We have an exact parallel in English, e.g. "tu dictis Albane maneres" may fairly be translated, "hadst thou but kept to thy word, Alban!" Here the condition "if thou hadst kept, etc." stands without the consequence "thou wouldst not have died," or something of the kind. Such a condition may be expressed without si, just as in Eng. without "if," cf. Iuv. III. 78 and Mayor's n. The use of the Greek optative to express a wish (with e? ?a?, etc., and even without e?) is susceptible of the same explanation. The Latin subj. has many such points of similarity with the Gk. optative, having absorbed most of the functions of the lost Lat. optative. [Madv. on D.F. II. 35 seems to imply that he prefers the hypothesis of a suppressed protasis, but as in his Gram. 351 b, obs. 4 he attempts no elucidation, I cannot be certain.] §§54—63. Summary. The Academics fail to see that such doctrines do away with all probability even. Their talk about twins and seals is childish (54). They press into their service the old physical philosophers, though ordinarily none are so much ridiculed by them (55). Democritus may say that innumerable worlds exist in every particular similar to ours, but I appeal to more cultivated physicists, who maintain that each thing has its own peculiar marks (55, 56). The Servilii were distinguished from one another by their friends, and Delian breeders of fowls could tell from the appearance of an egg which hen had laid it (56, 57). We however, do not much care whether we are able to distinguish eggs from one another or not. Another thing that they say is absurd, viz. that there may be distinction between individual sensations, but not between classes of sensations (58). Equally absurd are those "probable and undisturbed" sensations they profess to follow. The doctrine that true and false sensations are indistinguishable logically leads to the unqualified ep??? of Arcesilas (59). What nonsense they talk about inquiring after the truth, and about the bad influence of authority! (60). Can you, Cicero, the panegyrist of philosophy, plunge us into more than Cimmerian darkness? (61) By holding that knowledge is impossible you weaken the force of your famous oath that you "knew all about" Catiline. Thus ended Lucullus, amid the continued wonder of Hortensius (62, 63). Then Catulus said that he should not be surprised if the speech of Lucullus were to induce me to change my view (63). §54. Ne hoc quidem: the common trans. "not even" for "ne quidem" is often inappropriate. Trans. here "they do not see this either," cf. n. on I. 5. Habeant: the slight alteration habeat introduced by Goer. and Orelli quite destroys the point of the sentence. Quod nolunt: cf. 44. An sano: Lamb. an ut sano, which Halm approves, and Baiter reads. Similitudines: cf. 84—86. The impossibility http://www.gutenberg.org/files/14970/14970-h/14970-h.htm[1/5/2010 10:31:57 AM]
The Project Gutenberg eBook of ... of distinguishing between twins, eggs, the impressions of seals, etc. was a favourite theme with the sceptics, while the Stoics contended that no two things were absolutely alike. Aristo the Chian, who maintained the Stoic view, was practically refuted by his fellow pupil Persaeus, who took two twins, and made one deposit money with Aristo, while the other after a time asked for the money back and received it. On this subject cf. Sextus A.M. VII. 408—410. Negat esse: in phrases like this Cic. nearly always places esse second, especially at the end of a clause. Cur eo non estis contenti: Lucullus here ignores the question at issue, which concerned the amount of similarity. The dogmatists maintained that the similarity between two phenomena could never be great enough to render it impossible to guard against mistaking the one for the other, the sceptics argued that it could. Quod rerum natura non patitur: again Lucullus confounds essential with phenomenal difference, and so misses his mark; cf. n. on 50. Nulla re differens: cf. the nihil differens of 99, the substitution of which here would perhaps make the sentence clearer. The words are a trans. of the common Gk. term apa?a??a?t?? (Sext. A.M. VII. 252, etc.). Ulla communitas: I am astonished to find Bait. returning to the reading of Lamb. nulla after the fine note of Madv. (Em. 154), approved by Halm and other recent edd. The opinion maintained by the Stoics may be stated thus suo quidque genere est tale, quale est, nec est in duobus aut pluribus nulla re differens ulla communitas (??de ??pa??e? ep?µ??? apa?a??a?t??). This opinion is negatived by non patitur ut and it will be evident at a glance that the only change required is to put the two verbs (est) into the subjunctive. The change of ulla into nulla is in no way needed. Ut [sibi] sint: sibi is clearly wrong here. Madv., in a note communicated privately to Halm and printed by the latter on p. 854 of Bait. and Halm's ed of the philosophical works, proposed to read nulla re differens communitas visi? Sint et ova etc. omitting ulla and ut and changing visi into sibi (cf. Faber's em. novas for bonas in 72). This ingenious but, as I think, improbable conj. Madv. has just repeated in the second vol. of his Adversaria. Lamb. reads at tibi sint, Dav. at si vis, sint, Christ ut tibi sint, Bait. ut si sint after C.F.W. Muller, I should prefer sui for sibi (SVI for SIBI). B is very frequently written for V in the MSS., and I would easily slip in. Eosdem: once more we have Lucullus' chronic and perhaps intentional misconception of the sceptic position; see n. on 50. Before leaving this section, I may point out that the ep?µ??? or ep?µ???a t?? fa?tas??? supplies Sext. with one of the sceptic t??p??, see Pyrrh. Hyp. I. 124. §55. Irridentur: the contradictions of physical philosophers were the constant sport of the sceptics, cf. Sext. A.M. IX. 1. Absolute ita paris: Halm as well as Bait. after Christ, brackets ita; if any change be needed, it would be better to place it before undique. For this opinion of Democr. see R. and P. 45. Et eo quidem innumerabilis: this is the quite untenable reading of the MSS., for which no satisfactory em. has yet been proposed, cf. 125. Nihil differat, nihil intersit: these two verbs often appear together in Cic., e.g.D.F. III. 25. §56. Potiusque: this adversative use of que is common with potius, e.g.D.F. I. 51. Cf. T.D. II. 55 ingemescere nonnum quam viro concessum est, idque raro, also ac potius, Ad Att. I. 10, etc. Proprietates: the ?d??t?te? or ?d??µata of Sextus, the doctrine of course involves the whole question at issue between dogmatism and scepticism. Cognoscebantur: Dav. dignoscebantur, Walker internoscebantur. The MSS. reading is right, cf. 86. Consuetudine: cf. 42, "experience". Minimum: an adverb like summum. §57. Dinotatas: so the MSS., probably correctly, though Forc. does not recognise the word. Most edd. change it into denotatas. Artem: te????, a set of rules. In proverbio: so venire in proverbium, in proverbii usum venire, proverbii locum obtinere, proverbii loco dici are all used. Salvis rebus: not an uncommon phrase, e.g. Ad Fam. IV. 1. Gallinas: cf. fragm. 19 of the Acad. Post. The similarity of eggs was discussed ad nauseam by the sceptics and dogmatists. Hermagoras the Stoic actually wrote a book entitled, ?? s??p?a (egg investigation) ? pe?? s?f? ste?a? p??? ??ad?µa?????, mentioned by Suidas. §58. Contra nos: the sense requires nos, but all Halm's MSS. except one read vos. Non internoscere: this is the reading of all the MSS., and is correct, though Orelli omits non. The sense is, "we are quite content not to be able to distinguish between the eggs, we shall not on that http://www.gutenberg.org/files/14970/14970-h/14970-h.htm[1/5/2010 10:31:57 AM]
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