academica of cicero. - 912 Freedom Library
academica of cicero. - 912 Freedom Library
academica of cicero. - 912 Freedom Library
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The Project Gutenberg eBook <strong>of</strong> ...<br />
So there <strong>of</strong>ten flits before me a vision <strong>of</strong> his face, as he grumbles, it may be, that my part in the<br />
treatise is more liberally sustained than his; a charge which you will perceive to be untrue [183] ."<br />
Cicero, then, feared Varro's temper, and perhaps his knowledge and real critical fastidiousness.<br />
Before these explanations Atticus had concluded that Cicero was afraid <strong>of</strong> the effect the work<br />
might produce on the public. This notion Cicero assured him to be wrong; the only cause for his<br />
vacillation was his doubt as to how Varro would receive the dedication [184] . Atticus would seem<br />
to have repeatedly communicated with Varro, and to have assured Cicero that there was no cause<br />
for fear; but the latter refused to take a general assurance, and anxiously asked for a detailed<br />
account <strong>of</strong> the reasons from which it proceeded [185] . In order to stimulate his friend, Atticus<br />
affirmed that Varro was jealous <strong>of</strong> some to whom Cicero had shown more favour [186] . We find<br />
Cicero eagerly asking for more information, on this point: was it Brutus <strong>of</strong> whom Varro was<br />
jealous? It seems strange that Cicero should not have entered into correspondence with Varro<br />
himself. Etiquette seems to have required that the recipient <strong>of</strong> a dedication should be assumed<br />
ignorant <strong>of</strong> the intentions <strong>of</strong> the donor till they were on the point <strong>of</strong> being actually carried out.<br />
Thus although Cicero saw Brutus frequently while at Tusculum, he apparently did not speak to<br />
him about the De Finibus, but employed Atticus to ascertain his feeling about the dedication [187] .<br />
Cicero's own judgment about the completed second edition <strong>of</strong> the Academica is <strong>of</strong>ten given in the<br />
letters. He tells us that it extended, on the whole, to greater length than the first, though much had<br />
been omitted; he adds, "Unless human self love deceives me, the books have been so finished<br />
that the Greeks themselves have nothing in the same department <strong>of</strong> literature to approach them....<br />
This edition will be more brilliant, more terse, and altogether better than the last [188] ." Again:<br />
"The Antiochean portion has all the point <strong>of</strong> Antiochus combined with any polish my style may<br />
possess [189] ." Also: "I have finished the book with I know not what success, but with a care<br />
which nothing could surpass [190] ." The binding and adornment <strong>of</strong> the presentation copy for<br />
Varro received great attention, and the letter accompanying it was carefully elaborated [191] . Yet<br />
after everything had been done and the book had been sent to Atticus at Rome, Cicero was still<br />
uneasy as to the reception it would meet with from Varro. He wrote thus to Atticus: "I tell you<br />
again and again that the presentation will be at your own risk. So if you begin to hesitate, let us<br />
desert to Brutus, who is also a follower <strong>of</strong> Antiochus. 0 Academy, on the wing as thou wert ever<br />
wont, flitting now hither, now thither!" Atticus on his part "shuddered" at the idea <strong>of</strong> taking the<br />
responsibility [192] . After the work had passed into his hands, Cicero begged him to take all<br />
precautions to prevent it from getting into circulation until they could meet one another in<br />
Rome [193] . This warning was necessary, because Balbus and Caerellia had just managed to get<br />
access to the De Finibus [194] . In a letter, dated apparently a day or two later, Cicero declared his<br />
intention to meet Atticus at Rome and send the work to Varro, should it be judged advisable to<br />
do so, after a consultation [195] . The meeting ultimately did not take place, but Cicero left the four<br />
books in Atticus' power, promising to approve any course that might be taken [196] . Atticus wrote<br />
to say that as soon as Varro came to Rome the books would be sent to him. "By this time, then,"<br />
says Cicero, when he gets the letter, "you have taken the fatal step; oh dear! if you only knew at<br />
what peril to yourself! Perhaps my letter stopped you, although you had not read it when you<br />
wrote. I long to hear how the matter stands [197] ." Again, a little later: "You have been bold<br />
enough, then, to give Varro the books? I await his judgment upon them, but when will he read<br />
them?" Varro probably received the books in the first fortnight <strong>of</strong> August, 45 B.C., when Cicero<br />
was hard at work on the Tusculan Disputations [198] . A copy <strong>of</strong> the first edition had already got<br />
into Varro's hands, as we learn from a letter, in which Cicero begs Atticus to ask Varro to make<br />
some alterations in his copy <strong>of</strong> the Academica, at a time when the fate <strong>of</strong> the second edition was<br />
still undecided [199] . From this fact we may conclude that Cicero had given up all hope <strong>of</strong><br />
suppressing the first edition. If he consoles Atticus for the uselessness <strong>of</strong> his copies <strong>of</strong> the first<br />
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