장음표시 사용
11쪽
IN reading the work of any author, but especialty an ancient one, it is of the first importance to realise the conditions under which the work was written. And is we areto understand the mood in which Cicero composed this Dialogue we must try to picture to ourselves the time Whenit was written. Happily it is not in this case dissiculi to doso, sor we know the date and the circumstances of iis composition. Cicero was sad and anxious for private no tessthan public reasons. The Dialogue was written in the springos B.C. 44. In the preceding year his home was filled withsorro by the death of his favourite claughter Tullia. ΤΟ Cicero's affectionate nature this was a heavy blo' and it may be that Cato's wores about the death of his son see ia, 3 83) are an indirect expression of Cicero'S own seeling. But this was not ait: his home had been brohen up by tWo divorces, first stom Terentia and then Dom Publilia. Andis he turneo stom his domestic to his public liis there was litile or nothing to cheer him. Iulius Caesar had justperished, stabbed to death on the Ides of Μarch. Cicero, who vlewed Caesar With prosound distrusi, may have been more appalied than disheartened by the news. Ηe may have hoped that the old Republic would ralty again and recover the constitutional position it held before Μarius, Sulla and Caesar had overpoWered it by military force.
12쪽
But such hopes were soon disappotnted. Antony Was forthe moment the master of the siluation, and Cicero Wasaisaid of him and his poticy. It was clear that the restor tion of the Republic, which was Cicero's cherished hope, was not Antony's immediate objeci or destre. Μ mve the tWo men were personat opponenis, and Cicero could
not holp seeling that so long as Antony was in power hehimself was in perit. From est this sonow, anxiety, andalam Cicero took refuge in study and composition. Itamazes us to read the list of Works which he wrote atthis desperate crisis. Besides the two Essays on Oid Age and Friendshis, he found time to write a long theologicalwork, in Which he discussed the Nature of the Gods, the Histo os Divination, and the Laws of Fate. To his sonhe wrote a treatise calleo De Officiis,' and to his frieno Atticus a Work on Glory.'
For eighteen centuries this Dialogue has been one of thebest known and most popular of classical writings. And this need not surprise us, for the subject is one os permanent interest, the essay iS Shori and easy, and written with manifest Pleasure, and in Some passages, eSpecialty to ards theciose, there is the irresistible charm of noble language on anoble theme. Μontaigne, the French Essayist, sald of it, il donne Pappetit de vieiller,' and though we may not altshare his enthusiasm, no thoughtsul reader can eScape the insection os the cheersul spirit which pervades it. The treatise is in the forin os an imaginary dialogue. Cato, Scipio, and Laelius are the dramatis personae, and itis Supposed to talie place B.C. ISO, When Cato Was 83, and the other two hetween 3o and 4o years old. The idea of a
13쪽
Plato as a convenient and picturesque Way os discussing a question stom various potnis os vlew. But Cicero neversucceeded in catching the dramatic charm os Plato. In the PreSent CaSe, sor example, there is nothing interesting in the Characters of Scipio and Laelius. They take litile partin the discussion, and Cato salis too soon into a monologue,unenlivened by question and reply.
literata and philosophic aspeci, and though in a Work of this kind the former is usually, and reasonably, quite Subordinate to the lalter, yet in the case of the De Senectute,' the oneiS almoSi as important as the other. The fact is that Cicero Was not So much a philosopher as a master os style, and wemay read this treatise with great alvantage sor the meresahe of iis gracesul and lucio Latinity. of this somethingwill he salo later On. But it would clearly be a great mistahe to lose sight of the thought in studying the words that express them. Andthis leaos us to consider the line os argument Whicli Cicero PurSueS. Spe ing generally, he wishes to prove that an
Oid man can be usefui, strong, and has , and he does this by examining one by one the chies complainis usually urgedagainst Oid Age. They are stated and ans ered by Cato alone, and it is a great pity, stom the dramatic potnt ofvie , that the Dialogue encls where the refutation of thesecomplainis heginS.It iS unnecessary to repeat here the analysis which you Willfind given with the texi, hut it may be of Some use to ovea Shori criticism of the methods and arguments employed. Notice first how rich the Dialogue is in biographicat illustration. Oid Age is trealed almost like a client in a caseos libet, and Cato summons the great meri os
14쪽
CICERO DE SENECTUTEhe seems to say, that Oid Age has no ple ure because ithas no passions Z I cali Sophocles and Curius to disproveit. Do you say that age incapacitates men sor publicbusinessῖ I cali Fabius and Μetellus. Are old menalways infimay Here is Μasinissa. Does an old man Iosethe power of thinking and writingi I cali Gorgias and Plato and Ennius.' secondiri you cannot fati to observe hoW largely Cicerodraws stoin the writings of the Greelis. Vou will harcllyfind it possibie to appreciate the Dialogue unless you firatteam something os What was taught by PIaso and the Moses. The Romans in the clays of Cicero were sorely in need os a religion in which they could helieve. They had no longerany living faith in Faunus or Terminus, or even Iuppiter and
Diana. And as men in time of sorrow and old age Crave Some religious comfori, they turned for heip to the speculations of the Greelis. Cicero did his countrymen a great service by mising these old thoughis and theories live again in his translations. He had no very fixed convictions of his own, but he made his readers think seriously. His tendency was to choose out and blend together the bestiessons hom Plato and the Stoics, and we find this to hetrue in a marked degree in the case of the De Senectute.'Cato is such a prominent figure in the work that we willi e Stoicism first. The great maxim of this philosophywas Live according to Nature.' By this the Stoics meant that men must order their lives in obedience to the laws of Nature. This was the royal road to happiness and requireclthe exercise of four chies viriues unice, Misaeom, Braverri Temperance. This last virtve is insisted on with specialemphasis in this dialogue. A happy old age is declared tobe impossibie is it is not Munded on a temperate youth. The Stoic found in himself alone the Source of happiness, a se ipse omnia bona suis '; and his alm was to misehimself independent of externat pleasures and pains. Heconsidered that in certa in cases a man was persectly justifieo in committing sulcide, hut that for most men it was as much
15쪽
INTRODUCTIONan act of treason as for a soldier, iniussu imperatoris, toleave his post. Lastly, they taught their discipies that thehighest and most divine life was one absorbed in the contemplation os Nature, caelestium ordinem conumstanus, and imitating her regularity and conSistenCy. A very seW words must now he added on one or two potnis of Plato's philosophy. Throughout the Dialogue there are many allusions and translations stom Plato, especialty stomthe Republic But at the end we have, So to Speis, a Summary os Plato's vlews on the Immortality of the Soul Let me try to state those views as simply as I can. In facingiliis tremendous problem Plato had, you muSt remember, norevelation to guide him such as we have in the Bible, but hecame to the conclusion that our fouis were distinci stom ourbodies, and of such a nature that they cannot die. The arguments he used to prove this Mere three- I) The foui is entiremaster of itS own movemenis, Le. our thoughis and wilis are
16쪽
a) This Introduction would not he complete without Some account of the leading characters, and especialty of Cato. Cicero had probahly two objecis in view when heselected this remarhable man as the exponent of his vlewS. In the first place, he was a most excellent instanCe of a Vigorous old man ; and seconely, he was a representative of thh dars when the Roman Republic was at iis best. Voumust take care not to confuse the two Catos,- Io Uticensis, So called hecause he committed sulcide at Utica Soonerthan yield to Iulius Caesar, and M. Porcius Caro, his grandiather, who is the chies character in the De Senectute The lalter Was horn about B.C. 234, Os a militarysamily, and at the age of Io he joined the Roman army. The Secono Punic War was then at iis height. Hannibal was raVaging Italy, and Fabius was the great generat of theday, and under him the young Cato assisted in the captureos Tarentum, B.C. 23. ΤwO years later he fought at thebatile of the Metaurus, where Hasdrubal was deseated anclkillecl. In I he was appotnted Q estor in Sicily under P. Corn. Scipio. Seven years after iliis he hecame Praetor, and received the province of Sardinia, where, as in Sicily, his administration was characterised by inflexibie economy and Simplicity. In B. C. I93 he was elected Consul With Valerius Flaccus, and this time the province of Spain seli to his lol. On his retum he celebrated a triumph. In I9Ι he went to Greece On the staff of Μ' Acilius Glabrio to fight Antiochus the Great, who had invaded that country at the instigation ofHannibal. It was on this occasion that he, With only one companion, performed a daring exploit at Thermopylae.
paSS, Su rised the troops of Antiochus, and Ied their ownto Victory. Cato was allowed the honour os reporting this Success at Rome in person. He tanded at Brundisium. and in five clays reached the capital on Dot. In B.C. I 8s he was
17쪽
INTRODUCTIONappointeo Censor, and it is sor his conduci of this ossice that we know him best. He purged the Senate os corruptand immores members, improved the Water-Supply, and taxed the extravagant luxuries of the rich. His contempt and suspicion of Greek life and literature
morat fibre of his countrymen, and confuse their ideas os right and wrong. It seems Strange theresore that Cicero fhould have put into Cato's mouth so many quotations Dom
perhaps for the salie of his son's education. But though hewas such an exclusive and uncompromiung Roman, he was always on the fide of justice and clemency to arcis the provinciais. In illustration os this it should not be largotienthat his last public act Was to speah in hehalf of the Lusitani who had heen the victims of Gatha's treachery in
muscular with vigorous exerciSe. His conversation was
18쪽
more sensitive than his heari,' and on another OCCasio
Washing in the nursery ; in his helialf also he set himself tolearn Greela, a language for which he had always seli a
contrast to the times in which he lived, a living protest in favour of simplicity and integrity among a peopte WhoWere fast hecoming enervated by Corruption and luxurn η ) of the other two characters, Scipio and Laelius, Ineed say but litile. They were affectionate frienes, and the ' De Amicitia ' is a monument of their friendship. Scipio Was not by blood a Scipio. His fuit name was Publius Cornelius Scipio Aemilianus Africanus Μinor, and it lamis, RS it were, an epitome of his lila, for he was a Scipio byadoption, Aemilianus by birth, Africanus by conquest, Minor to distinguish him stom his grandiather by adoption the great conqueror of Hannibal. He was the adopted son of the eidest son os Scipio Africanus Μajor. His reallather was L. Aemilius Paullus, who conquered PerSeus at
Pydna, and in this batile the young Scipio fought with
19쪽
INTRODUCTIONos very varied poWers, a good ossicer, a bold statesman, with a genuine love sor Greeli thought and literature, and to Cicero he appeared the patiem os ali a Romanshould he. o Laelius was about the fame age as Scipio, had me Same lastes, though not the Same powers. He took pari in the campaim against Viriathus in Spain. His cognomen
I propose to add in conclusion a sew remares on thestyle of Cicero, as illustrated in this Dialogue. We readsome authors without Close regard to the WordS they usedand the style in which they wrote. But with Cicero it is different. It is not enough to maSter ωhat he says: weought also to study hom he says it. The Style in Whicha man writes is illustrative of his Character. Caesari Com- . mentaries, sor instance, are like CaeSar,-direCt, Simple, Clear. So likewise you can read Cicero's Character in his language. It is rhetorical throughout. Even When he is discussing apoint of philosophy we Seem to be listening to speech in the law-couri or Senate. The words are Caresully balanced, the arguments dressed out to the beSt advantage, everyphraSe Seems arranged on a definite principie.
I) Notice the structure of the Perio . The Period is a long Stately Sentence, each part of whicli is inseparablyconnected With the rest. It is more characteristic of an oratorical than a historical style, and Cicero used it With great effeci. Instances of the Period may be found in 9, 4 63, 7 a. Remember that in translating Such passages into English, you must breali them into fhorterclauseS, RS We preser delached sentences to the long roli of the Period. et) The O er of the wo s. -Τhe natural order of a
20쪽
3) Pisonasm.-We osten find that Cicero gives suinessand weight to his sentences by adding a word or WordAwhich seem at first sight superfluous : 3 28, quietus et remissus; 3 77, ratio ac disputatio ; 3 78, reminisci et recordari; g 8 I, remissi et liberi, tuentur et regunt. 6 Chiasmus.-This device, though it strictly Comes under the head of No. 2, deserves special notice. It is theterm used to describe two parallel clauses in which theorder of the words is reversed. See 3 26, inerS Sit . . . Sit operosa; 3 48, adulescentia laetatur . . . delectatur SeneC-tuS ; 77, aetatum Occidunt . . . OCCidunt SenectutiS.