academica of cicero. - 912 Freedom Library

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to a proposal on the part of Cic. to discuss thoroughly the difference between
Antiochus and Philo. Varro agrees, and promises an exposition of the principles of
Antiochus (13, 14).
§1. Noster: our common friend. Varro was much more the friend of Atticus than of Cic., see
Introd. p. 37. Nuntiatum: the spelling nunciatum is a mistake, cf. Corssen, Ausspr. I. p. 51. A M.
Varrone: from M. Varro's house news came. Audissemus: Cic. uses the contracted forms of such
subjunctives, as well as the full forms, but not intermediate forms like audiissemus. Confestim:
note how artfully Cic. uses the dramatic form of the dialogue in order to magnify his attachment
for Varro. Ab eius villa: the prep is absent from the MSS., but Wesenberg (Em. M.T. Cic.
Epistolarum, p. 62) shows that it must be inserted. Cic. writes abesse Roma (Ad Fam. V. 15, 4),
patria (T.D. V. 106) etc., but not abesse officio (De Off. I. 43, where Wes. alters it) or the like.
Satis eum longo intervallo: so all the MSS.; but Halm, after Davies, reads se visentum for satis
eum, quoting Ad Att. I. 4, Madv. tum for eum (Baiter and Halm's ed. of 1861, p. 854). The text is
sound; the repetition of pronouns (illum, eum) is quite Ciceronian. The emphatic ille is often
repeated by the unemphatic is, cf. T.D. III. 71, and M.D.F. V. 22. I may note that the separation of
satis from longo by the word eum is quite in Cicero's style (see my note on 25 quanta id magis).
Some editors stumble (Goerenz miserably) by taking intervallo of distance in space, instead of
duration in time, while others wrongly press satis, which only means "tolerably," to mean
"sufficiently." The words satis longo intervallo simply = "after a tolerably long halt." For the
clause ut mos, etc., cf. De Or. II. 13.
§2. Hic pauca primo: for the omission of locuti, cf. the very similar passages in D.F. I. 14, III. 8,
also my note on 14. Atque ea: Halm brackets ea, quite needlessly, for its insertion is like Cic.
Ecquid forte Roma novi: Roma is the ablative, and some verb like attulisset is omitted. (So
Turnebus.) To take it as nom., understanding faciat, is clearly wrong. Percontari: the spelling
percunctari rests on false derivation (Corss. I. 36). Ecquid ipse novi: cf. De Or. II. 13. The MSS.
have et si quid, bad Latin altered by Manutius. Istum: some edd. ipsum, but Cic. often makes a
speaker use iste of a person who is present. Goer. qu. Brut. 125, De Or. II. 228. Velit: Walker
reads velis with St Jerome. For quod velit = quod quis velit, cf. De Or. I. 30. In manibus: so
often, cf. Cat. Mai. 38. Idque: MSS. have in the place of this quod with variants que, quae, qui,
quo. Dav. gave quia, which was the vulgate reading down to Halm, who reads idque, after Christ.
Ad hunc enim ipsum: MSS. have eum for enim (exc. Halm's G). Such a combination of pronouns
is vainly defended by Goer.; for expressions like me illum ipsum (Ad Att. II. 1, 11) are not in
point. Of course if quia be read above, eum must be ejected altogether. Quaedam institui: the De
Lingua Latina; see Ad. Att XIII. 12.
§3. E Libone: the father-in-law of Sext. Pompeius; see Cæsar B. Civ. III. 5, 16, 24. Nihil enim
eius modi again all MSS. except Halm's G. have eum for enim. Christ conj. enim eum; so Baiter.
Illud ... requirere: i.e. the question which follows; cf. requiris in 4. Tecum simul: Halm's G om.
tecum; but cf. De Or. III. 330. Mandare monumentis—letteris illustrare : common phrases in Cic.,
e.g. D.F. I. 1, T.D. I. 1, De Div. II. 4. Monumentis: this, and not monimentis (Halm) or
monementis, is probably the right spelling; cf. Corss. II. 314. Ortam a: Cic. always writes the
prep. after ortus; cf. M.D.F. V. 69. Genus: regularly used by Cic. as opus by Quintilian to mean
"department of literature." Ea res: one of Halm's MSS. followed by Baiter has ars; on the other
hand Bentley (if the amicus so often quoted in Davies' notes be really he) reads artibus for rebus
below. The slight variation, however, from res to artibus is such as Cic. loves. Ceteris: the
spelling caeteris (Klotz) is absolutely wrong, cf. Corss. I. 325. Antecedat: some MSS. give
antecellat. a frequent variant, cf. De Off. I. 105
§4. Deliberatam—agitatam: Cic. as usual exaggerates the knowledge possessed by the personae
of the dialogue; cf. Introd. p. 38, De Or. II. 1. In promptu: so II. 10. Quod ista ipsa ... cogitavi:
Goer., who half a page back had made merry over the gloss hunters, here himself scented a
miserable gloss; Schutz, Goerenz's echo expels the words. Yet they are thoroughly like Cic. (cf.
De Div. II. 1, Cat. Mai. 38), and moreover nothing is more Ciceronian than the repetition of
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