NOTES ON THE FRAGMENTS.
BOOK I.
1. Mnesarchus: see II. 69, De Or. I. 45, and Dict. Biogr. 'Antipater'; cf. II. 143, De Off. III. 50. Evidently this fragment belongs to that historical justification of the New Academy with which I suppose Cicero to have concluded the first book.
2. The word concinere occurs D.F. IV. 60, N.D. I. 16, in both which places it is used of the Stoics, who are said re concinere, verbis discrepare with the other schools. This opinion of Antiochus Cic. had already mentioned 43, and probably repeated in this fragment. Krische remarks that Augustine, Cont. Acad. II. 14, 15, seems to have imitated that part of Cicero's exposition to which this fragment belongs. If so Cic. must have condemned the unwarrantable verbal innovations of Zeno in order to excuse the extreme scepticism of Arcesilas (Krische, p. 58).
BOOK II.
3. This fragm. clearly forms part of those anticipatory sceptical arguments which Cic. in the first edition had included in his answer to Hortensius, see Introd. p. 55. The argument probably ran thus: What seems so level as the sea? Yet it is easy to prove that it is really not level.
4. On this I have nothing to remark.
5. There is nothing distinctive about this which might enable us to determine its connection with the dialogue. Probably Zeno is the person who serius adamavit honores.
6. The changing aspects of the same thing are pointed to here as invalidating the evidence of the senses.
7. This passage has the same aim as the last and closely resembles Lucullus 105.
8. The fact that the eye and hand need such guides shows how untrustworthy the senses are. A similar argument occurs in Luc. 86. Perpendiculum is a plumb line, norma a mason's square, the word being probably a corruption of the Greek γνωμων (Curt. Grundz p. 169, ed. 3), regula, a rule.
9. The different colours which the same persons show in different conditions, when young and when old, when sick and when healthy, when sober and when drunken, are brought forward to prove how little of permanence there is even in the least fleeting of the objects of sense.
10. Urinari is to dive; for the derivation see Curt. Grundz p. 326. A diver would be in exactly the position of the fish noticed in Luc. 81, which are unable to see that which lies immediately above them and so illustrate the narrow limits of the power of vision.
11. Evidently an attempt to prove the sense of smell untrustworthy. Different people pass different judgments on one and the same odour. The student will observe that the above extracts formed part of an argument intended to show the deceptive character of the senses. To these should probably be added fragm. 32. Fr. 19 shows that the impossibility of distinguishing eggs one from another, which had been brought forward in the Catulus, was allowed to stand in the second edition, other difficulties of the kind, such as those connected with the bent oar, the pigeon's neck, the twins, the impressions of seals (Luc. 19, 54), would also appear in both editions. The result of these assaults on the senses must have been summed up in the phrase cuncta dubitanda esse which Augustine quotes from the Academica Posteriora (see fragm. 36).
BOOK III.
12. This forms part of Varro's answer to Cicero, which corresponded in substance to Lucullus' speech in the Academica Priora The drift of this extract was most likely this: just as there is a limit beyond which the battle against criminals cannot be maintained, so after a certain point we must cease to fight against perverse sceptics and let them take their own way. See another view in Krische, p. 62.
13. Krische believes that this fragment formed part of an attempt to show that the senses were trustworthy, in the course of which the clearness with which the fishes were seen leaping from the water was brought up as evidence. (In Luc. 81, on the other hand, Cic. drew an argument hostile to the senses from the consideration of the fish.) The explanation seems to me very improbable. The words bear such a striking resemblance to those in Luc. 125 (ut nos nunc simus ad Baulos Puteolosque videmus, sic innumerabilis paribus in locis esse isdem de rebus disputantis) that I am inclined to think that the reference in Nonius ought to be to Book IV. and not Book III., and that Cic., when he changed the scene from Bauli to the Lucrine lake, also changed Puteolosque into pisciculosque exultantes for the sufficient reason that Puteoli was not visible from Varro's villa on the Lucrine.
14. The passion for knowledge in the human heart was doubtless used by Varro as an argument in favour of assuming absolute knowledge to be attainable. The same line is taken in Luc. 31, D.F. III. 17, and elsewhere.
15. It is so much easier to find parallels to this in Cicero's speech than in that of Lucullus in the Academica Priora that I think the reference in Nonius must be wrong. The talk about freedom suits a sceptic better than a dogmatist (see Luc. 105, 120, and Cic.'s words in 8 of the same). If my conjecture is right this fragment belongs to Book IV. Krische gives a different opinion, but very hesitatingly, p. 63.
16. This may well have formed part of Varro's explanation of the καταληψις, temeritas being as much deprecated by the Antiocheans and Stoics as by the Academics cf. I. 42.
17. I conjecture malleo (a hammer) for the corrupt malcho, and think that in the second ed. some comparison from building operations to illustrate the fixity of knowledge gained through the καταληψεις was added to a passage which would correspond in substance with 27 of the Lucullus. I note in Vitruvius, quoted by Forc. s.v. malleolus, a similar expression (naves malleolis confixae) and in Pliny Nat. Hist. XXXIV. 14 navis fixa malleo. Adfixa therefore in this passage must have agreed with some lost noun either in the neut. plur. or fem. sing.
18. This and fragm. 19 evidently hang very closely together. As Krische notes, the Stoic εναργεια had evidently been translated earlier in the book by perspicuitas as in Luc. 17.
BOOK IV.
Further information on all these passages will be found in my notes on the parallel passages of the Lucullus.
21. Viam evidently a mistake for the umbram of Luc. 70.
23. The best MS. of Nonius points to flavum for ravum (Luc. 105). Most likely an alteration was made in the second edition, as Krische supposes, p. 64.
28. Corpusculis: Luc. 121 has corporibus. Krische's opinion that this latter word was in the second edition changed into the former may be supported from I. 6, which he does not notice. The conj. is confirmed by Aug. Contr. Ac. III. 23.
29. Magnis obscurata: in Luc. 122 it is crassis occultata, so that we have another alteration, see Krische, p. 64.
30. Only slight differences appear in the MSS. of the Luc. 123, viz. contraria, for in c., ad vestigia for contra v.
31. Luc. 137 has dixi for dictus. As Cic. does not often leave out est with the passive verb, Nonius has probably quoted wrongly. It will be noted that the fragments of Book III. correspond to the first half of the Luc., those of Book IV. to the second half. Cic. therefore divided the Luc. into two portions at or about 63.
UNCERTAIN BOOKS.
32. I have already said that this most likely belonged to the preliminary assault on the senses made by Cic. in the second book.
33. In the Introd. p. 55 I have given my opinion that the substance of Catulus' speech which unfolded the doctrine of the probabile was incorporated with Cicero's speech in the second book of this edition. To that part this fragment must probably be referred.
34. This important fragment clearly belongs to Book II., and is a jocular application of the Carneadean probabile, as may be seen from the words probabiliter posse confici.
35. Krische assigns this to the end of Varro's speech in the third Book. With this opinion I find it quite impossible to agree. A passage in the Lucullus (60) proves to demonstration that in the first edition this allusion to the esoteric teaching of the Academy could only have occurred either in the speech of Catulus or in that of Cicero. As no reason whatever appears to account for its transference to Varro I prefer to regard it as belonging to Cic.'s exposition of the positive side of Academic doctrine in the second book. Cic. repeatedly insists that the Academic school must not be supposed to have no truths to maintain, see Luc. 119, also 66 and N.D. I. 12. Also Aug. Contra. Ac. II. 29.
36. It is difficult to see where this passage could have been included if not in that prooemium to the third book which is mentioned Ad. Att. XVI. 6, 4. I may here add that Krische seems to me wrong in holding that the whole four books formed one discussion, finished within the limits of a single day. Why interrupt the discussion by the insertion of a prologue of so general a nature as to be taken from a stock which Cic. kept on hand ready made? (Cf. Ad Att. as above.)
Besides the actual fragments of the second edition, many indications of its contents are preserved in the work of Augustine entitled Contra Academicos, which, though written in support of dogmatic opinions, imitated throughout the second edition of the Academica of Cic. No writings of the Classical period had so great an influence on the culture and opinions of Augustine as the Academica and the lost Hortensius. I give, partly from Krische, the scattered indications of the contents of the former which are to be gathered from the bishop's works. In Aug. Contr. Ac. II. 14, 15, we have what appears to be a summary of the lost part of Book I. to the following effect. The New Academy must not be regarded as having revolted against the Old, all that it did was to discuss that new doctrine of καταληψις advanced by Zeno. The doctrine of ακαταληψια though present to the minds of the ancients had never taken distinct shape, because it had met with no opposition. The Old Academy was rather enriched than attacked by the New. Antiochus, in adopting Stoicism under the name of the Old Academy, made it appear that there was a strife between it and the New. With Antiochus the historical exposition of Cic. must have ended. From this portion of the first book, Aug. derived his opinion (Contra. Ac. II. 1) that New Academicism was excusable from the necessities of the age in which it appeared. Indications of Book II. in Aug. are scarce, but to it I refer Contra. Ac. I. 7 placuit Ciceroni nostro beatum esse qui verum investigat etiam si ad eius inventionem non valeat pervenire, also ibid. III. 10 illis (Academicis) placuit esse posse hominem sapientem, et tamen in hominem scientiam cadere non posse. These I refer to Cicero's development of the probabile in Book II., although I ought to say that Krische, p. 65, maintains that the substance of Catulus' exposition in the Ac. Priora transferred to Book IV. of the Ac. Posteriora. As this would leave very meagre material for Book II., nothing indeed excepting the provisional proof of the deceptiveness of the senses, I cannot accede to his arrangement; mine, I may remark, involves a much smaller departure from the first edition. Allusions in Aug. to the attack on the senses by Cic. in Book II. are difficult to fix, as they apply equally well to the later attack in Book IV. As to Books III. and IV., I do not think it necessary here to prove from Aug. the points of agreement between them and the Lucullus, which will find a better place in my notes on the latter, but merely give the divergences which appear from other sources. These are the translation of σοφισματα by cavillationes in Luc. 75 (Seneca Ep. III.), and the insertion in 118 of essentia as a translation of ουσια.
BOOK II.
ENTITLED LUCULLUS.
§§1—12. Summary. Lucullus, though an able and cultivated man, was absent from Rome on public service too long during his earlier years to attain to glory in the forum (1). He unexpectedly proved a great general. This was due to his untiring study and his marvellous memory (2). He had to wait long for the reward of his merits as a commander and civil administrator, and was allowed no triumph till just before my consulship. What I owed to him in those troublous times I cannot now tell (3). He was not merely a general; he was also a philosopher, having learned much from Antiochus and read much for himself (4). Those enemies of Greek culture who think a Roman noble ought not to know philosophy, must be referred to the examples of Cato and Africanus (5). Others think that famous men should not be introduced into dialogues of the kind. Are they then, when they meet, to be silent or to talk about trifles? I, in applying myself to philosophy, have neglected no public duty, nor do I think the fame of illustrious citizens diminished, but enriched, by a reputation for philosophical knowledge (6). Those who hold that the interlocutors in these dialogues had no such knowledge show that they can make their envy reach beyond the grave. Some critics do not approve the particular philosophy which I follow—the Academic. This is natural, but they must know that Academicism puts no stop to inquiry (7). My school is free from the fetters of dogma; other schools are enslaved to authority (8). The dogmatists say they bow to the authority of the wise man. How can they find out the wise man without hearing all opinions? This subject was discussed by myself, Catulus, Lucullus, and Hortensius, the day after the discussion reported in the Catulus (9). Catulus called on Lucullus to defend the doctrines of Antiochus. This Lucullus believed himself able to do, although the doctrines had suffered in the discussion of the day before (10). He spoke thus: At Alexandria I heard discussions between Heraclitus Tyrius the pupil of Clitomachus and Philo, and Antiochus. At that very time the books mentioned by Catulus yesterday came into the hands of Antiochus, who was so angry that he wrote a book against his old teacher (11 and 12). I will now give the substance of the disputes between Heraclitus and Antiochus, omitting the remarks made by the latter against Philo (12).
§1. Luculli: see Introd. p. 58, and Dict. Biog. Digna homini nobili: a good deal of learning would have been considered unworthy of a man like Lucullus, see Introd. p. 30. Percepta: "gained," "won;" cf. percipere fruges, "to reap," Cat. Mai. 24. Caruit: "was cut off from;" carere comes from a root skar meaning to divide, see Corss. I. 403. For the three nouns with a singular verb see Madv. Gram. 213 A, who confines the usage to nouns denoting things and impersonal ideas. If the common reading dissensit in De Or. III. 68 is right, the restriction does not hold. Admodum: "to a degree." Fratre: this brother was adopted by a M. Terentius Varro, and was a man of distinction also; see Dict. Biog. Magna cum gloria: a ref. to Dict. Biog. will show that the whole affair was discreditable to the father; to our notions, the sons would have gained greater glory by letting it drop. Quaestor: to Sulla, who employed him chiefly in the civil administration of Asia. Continuo: without any interval. Legis praemio: this seems to mean "by the favour of a special law," passed of course by Sulla, who had restored the old lex annalis in all its rigour, and yet excepted his own officers from its operation. Prooemio, which has been proposed, would not be Latin, see De Leg. II. 16. Consulatum: he seems to have been absent during the years 84—74, in the East. Superiorum: scarcely that of Sulla.
§2. Laus: "merit," as often, so praemium, Virg. Aen. XII. 437, means a deed worthy of reward. Non admodum exspectabatur: Cic. forgets that Luc. had served with distinction in the Social War and the first Mithridatic war. In Asia pace: three good MSS. have Asiae; Baiter ejects Asia; Guilelmus read in Asia in pace (which Davies conjectures, though he prints Asiae). Consumere followed by an ablative without in is excessively rare in Cic. Madv. D.F. V. 53 denies the use altogether. In addition, however, to our passage, I note hoc loco consumitur in T.D. IV. 23, where Baiter's two texts (1861 and 1863) give no variants. Pace here perhaps ought to be taken adverbially, like tranqullo. Indocilem: this is simply passive, = "untaught," as in Prop. I. 2, 12, Ov. Fast. III. 119 (the last qu. by Dav.). Forc. s.v. is wrong in making it active. Factus: = perfectus; cf. Hor. Sat. I. 5, 33 homo factus ad unguem, Cic. De Or. III. 184, In Verr. IV. 126. So effectus in silver Latin. Rebus gestis: military history, so often. Divinam quandam memoriam: the same phrase in De Or. II. 360. Rerum, verborum: same distinction in De Or. II. 359. Oblivisci se malle: the same story is told D.F. II. 104, De Or. II. 299. The ancient art of memory was begun by Simonides (who is the person denoted here by cuidam) and completed by Metrodorus of Scepsis, for whom see De Or. II. 360. Consignamus: cf. consignatae in animis notiones in T.D. I. 57. litteris must be an ablative of the instrument. Mandare monum.: cf. I. 3. Insculptas: rare in the metaphorical use, cf. N.D. I. 45.
§3. Genere: "department" cf. I. 3. Navalibus pugnis: ναυμαχιαις. Instrumento et adparatu: κατασκευη και παρασκευη. Rex: Mithridates. Quos legisset: = de quibus l.; cf. the use of the passive verb so common in Ovid, e.g. Trist. IV. 4, 14. I take of course rex to be nom. to legisset, the suggestion of a friend that Lucullus is nom. and that quos legisset = quorum commentarios legisset I think improbable. Hodie: Drakenborch on Livy V. 27 wants to read hodieque, which however, is not Ciceronian. In passages like De Or. I. 103 and Verr. V. 64, the que connects clauses and does not modify hodie. On this subject see Madv. Opuscula I. 390. Etsi: M.D.F. V. 68, shows that in Cic. a parenthetic clause with etsi always has a common verb with its principal clause; a rule not observed by the silver writers. The same holds of quamquam, see n. on I. 5. Calumnia: properly a fraudulent use of litigation, συκοφαντια. The chief enemy was the infamous Memmius who prosecuted him. In urbem: until his triumph Luc. would remain outside the city. Profuisset: this ought properly to be profuerit, but the conditional dicerem changes it. Potius ... quam ... communicem: n. on 23.
§4. Sunt ... celebrata: cf. I. 11, 17 for the collocation of the words. Externa ... interiora: cf. De Div. II. 124 sed haec quoque in promptu, nunc interiora videamus. Pro quaestore: for this Faber wrote quaestor, arguing that as Luc. was Sulla's quaestor and Sulla sent him to Egypt, he could not be pro quaestor. But surely after the first year he would be pro quaestor. Dav. reads quaestor here and 11, saying "veterem lectionem iugulavit Faber". Ea memoria ... quam: Bentl., Halm, Baiter give qua, Halm refers to Bentl. on Hor. Sat. I. 6, 15. A passage like ours is D.F. I. 29, ista sis aequitate, quam ostendis, where one MS. has qua. Read Madvig's lucid note there. De quibus audiebat: Madv. Em. 121 makes this equivalent to de eis rebus de quibus, the necessity of which explanation, though approved by Halm, I fail to see. The form of expression is very common in Cic., and the relative always refers to an actually expressed antecedent, cf. e.g. Cat. Mai. 83. I take quibus as simply = libris.
§5. Ac: strong, as often, = και μην. Personarum: public characters, προσωπων πολεως (Ad. Fam. XV. 17, 2), so personas 6. Multi ... plures: cf. Introd. p. 30. Reliqui: many MSS. insert qui by dittographia, as I think, though Halm, as well as Bait., retains it. On the retention or omission of this qui will depend the choice of putant or putent below. Earum rerum disputationem: for disp. followed by genitive see n. on I. 33. Non ita decoram: for this feeling see Introd. p. 30. For non ita cf. the Lowland Scottish "no just sae". Historiae loquantur: hist. means in Cic. rather "memoirs" than "history," which is better expressed by res gestae. Note that the verb loqui not dicere is used, and cf. n. on 101. Legatione: to the kings in Egypt and the East in alliance with Rome. The censorship was in 199 B.C. About the embassy see Dict. Biogr. art. 'Panactius'. Auctorem: one would think this simple and sound enough, Bentl. however read fautorem, Dav. auditorem.
§6. Illigari: "entangled" as though in something bad. For this use Forc. qu. Liv. XXXIII. 21, Tac. Ann. XIII. 40. Aut ludicros sermones: = aut clar. vir. serm. ludic. esse oporteat. Rerum leviorum: a similar argument in D.F. I. 12. Quodam in libro: the Hortensius. Gradu: so the word "degree" was once used, e.g. "a squire of low degree" in the ballad. De opera publica detrahamus: the dative often follows this verb, as in D.F. III. 7 nihil operae reipublicae detrahens, a passage often wrongly taken. Operae is the dat. after the verb, not the gen. after nihil, reip. the gen. after operae, like opera publica here, not the dat. after detrahens. Nisi forensem: the early oratorical works may fairly be said to have this character; scarcely, however, the De Republica or the De Leg. both of which fall within the period spoken of. Ut plurimis prosimus: cf. Introd. p. 29. Non modo non minui, sed: notice non modo ... sed thrice over in two sentences.
§7. Sunt ... qui negent: and truly, see Introd. p. 38. In Cat. Mai. §3 Cic. actually apologises for making Cato more learned than he really was. Mortuis: Catulus died in 60, Lucullus about 57, Hortensius 50. Contra omnis dicere quae videntur: MSS. mostly insert qui between dicere and quae, one of the best however has dicere quae aliis as a correction, while another has the marginal reading qui scire sibi videntur. The omission of qui, which I conjectured, but now see occurs in a MS. (Pal. 2) referred to by Halm, gives admirable sense. Verum invenire: cf. 60. Contentione: = φιλονεικια as usual. In ... rebus obscuritas: cf. I. 44 rerum obscuritate. Infirmitas: cf. I. 44 imbecillos animos. Antiquissimi et doctissimi: on the other hand recentissima quaeque sunt correcta et emendata maxime I. 13. Diffisi: one of the best MSS. has diffissi, which reminds one of the spelling divisssiones, asserted to be Ciceronian in Quint. Inst. Or. I. 7, 20. In utramque partem: επ' αμφοτερα, cf. I. 45. Exprimant: "embody," cf. n. on I. 19.
§8. Probabilia: πιθανα, for which see 33. Sequi: "act upon," cf. 99-101. Liberiores et solutiores: these two words frequently occur together in Cic. and illustrate his love for petty variations; see 105, also T.D. V. 43, De Div. I. 4, De Rep. IV. 4, N.D. I. 56, Orat. 64. Integra: "untrammelled," cf. the phrase "non mihi integrum est"—"I have committed my self." Et quasi: MSS. have et quibus et quasi. Cogimur: for this Academic freedom see Introd. p. 18. Amico cuidam: Orelli after Lamb. cuipiam; for the difference see Madv. Gram. 493 b, c.
§9. Ut potuerint, potuerunt: thus Lamb. corrected the MSS. reading which was simply ut potuerunt, "granting that they had the ability, they gained it by hearing all things, now as a matter of fact they did decide on a single hearing," etc. Iudicaverunt autem: so Lamb. for MSS. aut. Muretus, by what Dav. calls an "arguta hariolatio," read an for aut and put a note of interrogation at contulerunt. C.F. Hermann (Schneidewin's Philologus VII. 466) introduces by conj. a sad confusion into the text, but no other good critic since Madvig's remarks in Em. 125 has impugned Lambinus' reading. Goerenz indeed, followed by the faithful Schutz, kept the MSS. reading with the insertion of aut between sed and ut at the beginning; of this Madv. says "non solum Latina non est, sed sanae menti repugnat." For the proceeding which Cic. deprecates, cf. N.D. I. 10, De Leg. I. 36. Quam adamaverunt: "which they have learned to love;" the ad has the same force as προ in προμανθανειν, which means "to learn on and on, to learn by degrees" (cf. προυμαθον στεργειν κακοις), not, as the lexica absurdly say, "to learn beforehand, i.e. to learn thoroughly." Constantissime: "most consistently". Quae est ad Baulos: cf. Introd. p. 57. In spatio: this xystus was a colonnade with one side open to the sea, called ξυστος from its polished floor and pillars. Consedimus: n. on I. 14.
§10. Servatam oportuit: a construction very characteristic of Terence, found, but rarely, in Cic. and Livy. In promptu ... reconditiora: cf. in promptu ... interiora in De Div. II. 124, also Ac. I. 4. Quae dico: Goer. is exceedingly troubled by the pres. tense and wishes to read dixero. But the substitution of the pres. for the future is common enough in all languages cf. Iuv. IV. 130 with Mayor's copious note. Si non fuerint: so all Halm's best MSS. Two, however, of Davies' have si vera etc. In support of the text, see I. 9 (sunt ista) and note. Labefactata: this is only found as an alteration in the best MSS. and in Ed. Rom. (1471); the others have labefacta. Orelli's statement (note to his separate text of the Academica 1827) that Cic. commonly uses the perfect labefeci and the part, labefactus is quite wrong. The former is indeed the vulg. reading in Pro Sestio 101, the latter in De Haruspicum Responsis 60, but the last of these two passages is doubtful. Cic. as a rule prefers long forms like sustentatus, which occurs with labefactatus in Cat. Mai. 20. For the perfect labefactavit cf. I. 33. Agam igitur: Cic. rather overdoes the attempt to force on his readers a belief in the learning of Lucullus.
§11. Pro quaestore: cf. 4. Essem: MSS. issem, whence Goer. conj. Alexandriam issem. Heraclitus Tyrius: scarcely known except from this passage. Clitomachum: for this philosopher see Zeller 532. Quae nunc prope dimissa revocatur: sc. a Cicerone. Philo's only notable pupils had combined to form the so called "Old Academy," and when Cic. wrote the Academica the New Academic dialectic had been without a representative for many years. Cf. Introd. p. 21. Libri duo: cf. I. 13. Heri for this indication of the contents of the lost Catulus, see Introd. p. 50. Implorans: "appealing to," the true meaning being "to appeal to with tears," see Corss. I. 361. Philonis: sc. esse. Scriptum agnoscebat: i.e. it was an actual work of Ph. Tetrilius: some MSS. are said to have Tetrinius, and the name Tertinius is found on Inscr. One good MS. has Tretilius, which may be a mistake for Tertilius, a name formed like Pompilius, Quintilius, Sextilius. Qy, should Petrilius, a derivative from the word for four, be read? Petrilius and Pompilius would then agree like Petronius and Pomponius, Petreius and Pompeius. For the formation of these names see Corss. I. 116. Rogus: an ill omened and unknown name. Rocus, as Ursinus pointed out, occurs on denarii of the gens Creperia. De Philone ... ab eo ipso: note the change of prep. "from Philo's lips," "from his copy." De and ex are common in Cic. after audire, while ab is rather rarer. See M.D.F. I. 39, and for describere ab aliquo cf. a te in Ad Att. XIII. 22, 3.
§12. Dicta Philoni: for this see Introd. p. 50. It cannot mean what Goer. makes it mean, "coram Philone." I think it probable that Philoni is a marginal explanation foisted on the text. As to the statements of Catulus the elder, they are made clear by 18. Academicos: i.e. novos, who are here treated as the true Academics, though Antiochus himself claimed the title. Aristo: see Introd. p. 11. Aristone: Diog. VII. 164 mentions an Aristo of Alexandria, a Peripatetic, who may be the same. Dio seems unknown. Negat: see n. on 18. Lenior: some MSS. levior, as is usual with these two words. In 11 one of the earliest editions has leviter for leniter.
§§13—18. Summary. Cicero seems to me to have acted like a seditious tribune, in appealing to famous old philosophers as supporters of scepticism (13), Those very philosophers, with the exception of Empedocles, seem to me, if anything, too dogmatic (14). Even if they were often in doubt, do you suppose that no advance has been made during so many centuries by the investigations of so many men of ability? Arcesilas was a rebel against a good philosophy, just as Ti. Gracchus was a rebel against a good government (15). Has nothing really been learned since the time of Arcesilas? His opinions have had scanty, though brilliant support (16). Now many dogmatists think that no argument ought to be held with a sceptic, since argument can add nothing to the innate clearness of true sensations (17). Most however do allow of discussion with sceptics. Philo in his innovations was induced to state falsehoods, and incurred all the evils he wished to avoid, his rejection of Zeno's definition of the καταληπτικη φαντασια really led him back to that utter scepticism from which he was fleeing. We then must either maintain Zeno's definition or give in to the sceptics (18).
§13. Rursus exorsus est: cf. exorsus in 10. Popularis: δημοτικους. Ii a: so Dav. for MSS. iam. Tum ad hos: so MSS., Dav. aut hos. The omission of the verb venire is very common in Cic.'s letters. C. Flaminium: the general at lake Trasimene. Aliquot annis: one good MS. has annos, cf. T.D. I. 4, where all the best MSS. have annos. The ablative is always used to express point of time, and indeed it may be doubted whether the best writers ever use any accusative in that sense, though they do occasionally use the ablative to express duration (cf. Prop. I. 6, 7 and Madv. Gram. 235, 2). L. Cassium: this is L. Cassius Longinus Ravilla, a man of good family, who carried a ballot bill (De Leg. III. 35), he was the author of the cui bono principle and so severe a judge as to be called scopulus reorum. Pompeium: apparently the man who made the disgraceful treaty with Numantia repudiated by home in 139 B.C. P. Africanum: i.e. the younger, who supported the ballot bill of Cassius, but seems to have done nothing else for the democrats. Fratres: Lamb. viros, but cf. Brut. 98. P. Scaevolam: the pontifex, consul in the year Tib. Gracchus was killed, when he refused to use violence against the tribunes. The only connection these brothers had with the schemes of Gracchus seems to be that they were consulted by him as lawyers, about the legal effect the bills would have. Ut videmus ... ut suspicantur: Halm with Gruter brackets these words on the ground that the statement about Marius implies that the demagogues lie about all but him. Those words need not imply so much, and if they did, Cic. may be allowed the inconsistency.
§14. Similiter: it is noticeable that five MSS. of Halm have simile. Xenophanem: so Victorius for the MSS. Xenoplatonem. Ed. Rom. (1471) has Cenonem, which would point to Zenonem, but Cic. does not often name Zeno of Elea. Saturninus: of the question why he was an enemy of Lucullus, Goer. says frustra quaeritur. Saturninus was the persistent enemy of Metellus Numidicus, who was the uncle of Lucullus by marriage. Arcesilae calumnia: this was a common charge, cf. Academicorum calumnia in N.D. II. 20 and calumnia in 18 and 65 of this book. So August. Contra Acad. II. 1 speaks of Academicorum vel calumnia vel pertinacia vel pericacia. Democriti verecundia: Cic. always has a kind of tenderness for Democritus, as Madv. on D.F. I. 20 remarks, cf. De Div. II. 30 where Democr. is made an exception to the general arrogantia of the physici. Empedocles quidem ... videatur: cf. 74. The exordium of his poem is meant, though there is nothing in it so strong as the words of the text, see R. and P. 108. Quale sit: the emphasis is on sit, the sceptic regards only phenomenal, not essential existence. Quasi modo nascentes: Ciacconus thought this spurious, cf. however T.D. II. 5 ut oratorum laus ... senescat ... , philosophia nascatur.
§15. haesitaverunt: Goer. cf. De Or. I. 40. Constitutam: so in 14. Delitisceret: this is the right spelling, not delitesceret, which one good MS. has here, see Corssen II. 285. Negavissent: "had denied, as they said." Tollendus est: a statement which is criticised in 74. Nominibus differentis ... dissenserunt: genuine Antiochean opinions, see the Academica Posteriora 17, 43. De se ipse: very frequent in Cic. (cf. Madv. Gram. 487 b). Diceret: this is omitted by the MSS., but one has agnosceret on the margin; see n. on 88. Fannius: in his "Annals." The same statement is quoted in De Or. II. 270, Brutus 299. Brutus had written an epitome of this work of Fannius (Ad Att. XII. 5, 3).
§16. Veteribus: Bentley's em. of MSS. vetera: C.F. Hermann (Schneid Philol. VII. 457), thinking the departure from the MSS. too great, keeps vetera and changes incognita into incondita, comparing De Or. I. 197, III. 173. A glance, however, at the exx. in Forc. will show that the word always means merely "disordered, confused" in Cic. The difference here is not one between order and no order, but between knowledge and no knowledge, so that incognita is far better. I am not at all certain that the MSS. reading needs alteration. If kept the sense would be: "but let us suppose, for sake of argument, that the doctrines of the ancients were not knowledge, but mere opinion." The conj. of Kayser veri nota for vetera (cf. 76) and investigatum below, is fanciful and improbable. Quod investigata sunt: "in that an investigation was made." Herm. again disturbs the text which since Madv. Em. 127 supported it (quoting T.D. V. 15, Liv. XXXV. 16) had been settled. Holding that illa in the former sentence cannot be the subj. of the verb, he rashly ejects nihilne est igitur actum as a dittographia (!) from 15 nihilne explicatum, and reads quot for quod with Bentl. For the meaning cf. T.D. III. 69 and Arist. on the progress of philosophy as there quoted. Arcesilas Zenoni ... obtrectans: see n. on I. 34. These charges were brought by each school against the other. In Plutarch Adv. Colotem p. 1121 F, want of novelty is charged against Arcesilas, and the charge is at once joyfully accepted by Plut. The scepticism of Arcesilas was often excused by the provocation Zeno gave, see Aug. Contra Acad. II. 14, 15 and notes on fragm. 2 and 35 of the Academica Posteriora. Immutatione verborum: n. on I. 33. This phrase has also technical meanings; it translates the Greek τροποι (Brut. 69) and αλληγορια in De Or. II. 261, where an ex. is given. Definitiones: n. on 18. Tenebras obducere: such expressions abound in Cic. where the New Academy is mentioned, cf. 30 (lucem eripere), N.D. I. 6 (noctem obfundere) Aug. Contra Ac. III. 14 (quasdam nebulas obfundere), also the joke of Aug. II. 29 tenebrae quae patronae Academicorum solent esse. Non admodum probata: cf. the passage of Polybius qu. by Zeller 533. Lacyde: the most important passages in ancient authorities concerning him are quoted by Zeller 506. It is important to note that Arcesilas left no writings so that Lacydes became the source of information about his teacher's doctrines. Tenuit: cf. the use of obtinere in De Or. I. 45. In Aeschine: so Dav. for the confused MSS. reading. For this philosopher see Zeller 533. As two MSS. have hac nonne Christ conj. Hagnone which Halm, as well as Baiter takes; Zeller 533 seems to adopt this and at once confuses the supposed philosopher with one Agnon just mentioned in Quint. II. 17, 15. There is not the slightest reason for this, Agnon and Hagnon being known, if known at all, from these two passages only.
§17. Patrocinium: for the word cf. N.D. I. 6. Non defuit: such patronage was wanting in the time of Arcesilas (16). Faciendum omnino non putabant: "Epictetus (Arrian, Diss. I. 27, 15) quietly suppresses a sceptic by saying ουκ αγω σχολην προς ταυτα" (Zeller 85, n.). In another passage (Arrian, I. 5) Epict. says it is no more use arguing with a sceptic than with a corpse. Ullam rationem disputare: the same constr. occurs in 74 and Pro Caecina 15, Verr. Act. I. 24. Antipatrum: cf. fragm. 1 of Book I. Verbum e verbo: so 31, D.F. III. 15, T.D. III. 7, not verbum de verbo, which Goer. asserts to be the usual form. Comprehensio: cf. I. 41. Ut Graeci: for the ellipse of the verb cf. I. 44 ut Democritus. Evidentiam: other translations proposed by Cic. were illustratio (Quint. VI. 2, 32) and perspicientia (De Off. I. 15). Fabricemur: cf. 87, 119, 121. Me appellabat: Cic. was the great advocate for the Latinisation of Greek terms (D.F. III. 15). Sed tamen: this often resumes the interrupted narrative, see Madv. Gram. 480. Ipsa evidentia: note that the verb evidere is not Latin.
§18. Sustinere: cf. 70. Pertinaciam: the exact meaning of this may be seen from D.F. II. 107, III. 1. It denotes the character which cannot recognise a defeat in argument and refuses to see the force of an opponent's reasoning. For the application of the term to the Academics, cf. n. on 14, 66, also I. 44 and D.F. V. 94, N.D. I. 13, in the last of which passages the Academy is called procax. Mentitur: cf. 12. Ita negaret: this ita corresponds to si below,—a common sequence of particles in Cic., cf. 19. Ακαταληπτον: the conj. of Turnebus καταληπτον is unnecessary, on account of the negative contained in negaret. Visum: cf. I. 40. Trivimus: cf. I. 27. Visum igitur: the Greek of this definition will be found in Zeller 86. The words impressum effictumque are equivalent to εναπεσφραγισμενη και εναπομεμαγμενη in the Gk. It must not be forgotten that the Stoics held a sensation to be a real alteration (‛ετεροιωσις) of the material substance of the soul through the action of some external thing, which impresses its image on the soul as a seal does on wax, cf. Zeller 76 and 77 with footnotes. Ex eo unde esset ... unde non esset: this translation corresponds closely to the definition given by Sextus in four out of the six passages referred to by Zeller (in Adv. Math. VIII. 86 Pyrrh. Hypotyp. III. 242, the definition is clipt), and in Diog. Laert. VII. 50 (in 46 he gives a clipt form like that of Sextus in the two passages just referred to). It is worth remarking (as Petrus Valentia did, p. 290 of Orelli's reprint of his Academica) that Cic. omits to represent the words κατ' αυτο το ‛υπαρχον. Sextus Adv. Math. VII. 249 considers them essential to the definition and instances Orestes who looking at Electra, mistook her for an Erinys. The φαντασια therefore which he had although απο ‛υπαρχοντος (proceeding from an actually existent thing) was not κατα το ‛υπαρχον, i.e. did not truly represent that existent thing. Aug. Cont. Acad. II. 11 quotes Cicero's definition and condenses it thus; his signis verum posse comprehendi quae signa non potest habere quod falsum est. Iudicium: κριτηριον, a test to distinguish between the unknown and the known. Eo, quo minime volt: several things are clear, (1) that Philo headed a reaction towards dogmatism, (2) that he based the possibility of knowledge on a ground quite different from the καταληπτικη φαντασια, which he pronounced impossible, (3) that he distorted the views of Carneades to suit his own. As to (1) all ancient testimony is clear, cf. 11, Sextus Pyrr. Hyp. I. 235, who tells us that while the Carneadeans believed all things to be ακαταληπτα, Philo held them to be καταληπτα, and Numenius in Euseb. Praep. Ev. XIV. 8, p. 739, who treats him throughout his notice as a renegade. (2) is evident from the Academica and from Sextus as quoted above. The foundation for knowledge which he substituted is more difficult to comprehend. Sextus indeed tells us that he held things to be in their own nature καταληπτα (‛οσον δε επι τη φυσει των πραγματων αυτων καταλ.). But Arcesilas and Carneades would not have attempted to disprove this; they never tried to show that things in themselves were incognisable, but that human faculties do not avail to give information about them. Unless therefore Philo deluded himself with words, there was nothing new to him about such a doctrine. The Stoics by their καταληπτικη φαντασια professed to be able to get at the thing in itself, in its real being, if then Philo did away with the καταλ. φαντ. and substituted no other mode of curing the defects alleged by Arcesilas and Carneades to reside in sense, he was fairly open to the retort of Antiochus given in the text. Numenius treats his polemic against the καταλ. φαντ. as a mere feint intended to cover his retreat towards dogmatism. A glimpse of his position is afforded in 112 of this book, where we may suppose Cic. to be expressing the views of Philo, and not those of Clitomachus as he usually does. It would seem from that passage that he defined the cognisable to be "quod impressum esset e vero" (φαντασια απο ‛υπαρχοντος εναπομεμαγμενη), refusing to add "quo modo imprimi non posset a falso (‛οια ουκ αν γενοιτο απο μη ‛υπαρχοντος), cf. my n. on the passage. Thus defined, he most likely tried to show that the cognisable was equivalent to the δηλον or πιθανον of Carneades, hence he eagerly pressed the doubtful statement of the latter that the wise man would "opine," that is, would pronounce definite judgments on phenomena. (See 78 of this book.) The scarcity of references to Philo in ancient authorities does not allow of a more exact view of his doctrine. Modern inquiry has been able to add little or nothing to the elucidation given in 1596 by Petrus Valentia in his book entitled Academica (pp. 313—316 of the reprint by Orelli). With regard to (3), it it not difficult to see wherein Philo's "lie" consisted. He denied the popular view of Arcesilas and Carneades, that they were apostles of doubt, to be correct (12). I may add that from the mention of Philo's ethical works at the outset of Stobaeus' Ethica, he would appear to have afterwards left dialectic and devoted himself to ethics. What is important for us is, that Cic. never seems to have made himself the defender of the new Philonian dialectic. By him the dialectic of Carneades is treated as genuinely Academic. Revolvitur: cf. De Div. II. 13, also 148 of this book. Eam definitionem: it is noteworthy that the whole war between the sceptics and the dogmatists was waged over the definition of the single sensation. Knowledge, it was thought, was a homogeneous compound of these sense atoms, if I may so call them, on all hands it was allowed that all knowledge ultimately rests on sense; therefore its possibility depends on the truth of the individual perception of sense.
§§19—29. Summary. If the senses are healthy and unimpaired, they give perfectly true information about external things. Not that I maintain the truth of every sensation, Epicurus must see to that. Things which impede the action of the senses must always be removed, in practice we always do remove them where we can (19). What power the cultivated senses of painters and musicians have! How keen is the sense of touch! (20). After the perceptions of sense come the equally clear perceptions of the mind, which are in a certain way perceptions of sense, since they come through sense, these rise in complexity till we arrive at definitions and ideas (21). If these ideas may possibly be false, logic memory, and all kinds of arts are at once rendered impossible (22). That true perception is possible, is seen from moral action. Who would act, if the things on which he takes action might prove to be false? (23) How can wisdom be wisdom if she has nothing certain to guide her? There must he some ground on which action can proceed (24). Credence must be given to the thing which impels us to action, otherwise action is impossible (25). The doctrines of the New Academy would put an end to all processes of reasoning. The fleeting and uncertain can never be discovered. Rational proof requires that something, once veiled, should be brought to light (26). Syllogisms are rendered useless, philosophy too cannot exist unless her dogmas have a sure basis (27). Hence the Academics have been urged to allow their dogma that perception is impossible, to be a certain perception of their minds. This, Carneades said, would be inconsistent, since the very dogma excludes the supposition that there can be any true perception (28). Antiochus declared that the Academics could not be held to be philosophers if they had not even confidence in their one dogma (29).