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1. Credo ego vos mirari = θαυμάζοιτε. iudices, Introd. § 13. quid sit quod, what is (the reason) why . . . : cf. 99, quid erat quod, and 138. nobilissimi, §§ 15, 77, 149. aetate, Introd. § 1, ingenio (ability) =facultate dicendi, §§ 5, 9, 62; auctoritate, § 3, quod nondum ad rem publicam accessi. omnes hi, the friends of Sex. Roscius : see Introd. § 7. Up to defendere ipsi the sentence is concessive : It is true that all . . . think, etc.; but they do not dare, etc. For the omission of the adversative particle Richter compares § 2, si qui istorum dixisset . . . ego si omnia dixero. §§ 42, 57, 58. adesse, cf. § 2. Others join adesse in hac causa, but the addition has no force in an allusion to the advocati, i.e. the friends who supported the accused merely by their presence in court. novo, unheard of, strange; cf. § 30, crimen incredibile. scelere, abstract, wickedness, villainy, as in §§ 7, 12, 17, 25, 28, etc. defendi: notice two special meanings of this verb in the present speech; here, to ward off, repel ; in § 136 to support or strive for (an undertaking). officium, as hospites, § 15.
Quid ergo? introduces a question which the speaker only suggests in order to negative it at once : cf. § 122, quid igitur? and see § 36, first note. praeter ceteros: see § 145, note. quia: quod would better answer the question quae rea impulit? Before quia supply causam recepi. amplitudo, the especial attribute of the ordo senatorius; cf. de Dome sua, § 55, ordo amplissimus. si verbum de re publica fecisset, if he had in a single word touched on politics. fieri necesse est. In narrating the sale of the property of Sex. Roscius, allusion must be made to the proscriptions and Sulla's regime. multo plura, etc.; i.e. a mere hint, from a prominent man, of his political opinions, would be caught up and exaggerated by the audience.
exire atque . . . emanare, i.e. will not be reported so far by word of mouth, and so be liable to be exaggerated and misrepresented. Note the slightness of antithesis between this and multo plura . . . dixisse putaretur, which words would rather lead on to the thought, but my words will not be taken for more than they are worth. concedi . . . ignosci, synonymous terms used for variety; cf. § 10 sub fin., praebeas . . . impertias. vel occultum esse differs only verbally from exire atque emanare above; but here there is a distinct antithesis with neque obscurum potest esse. ad rem publicam accessi. Cicero did not enter on the quaestorship until five years later. ignoscendi ratio, pardoning; a periphrasis for the nonexistent verbal subst. of ignoscere. Nägelsbach, Lat. Stil. § 27, quotes ad Q. Fr. 1 .1.18, praecipiendi rationem = teaching, theorising, with other instances. cognoscendi. Cognoscere is the technical term for inquiry into a crime; a process which had been abandoned for the summary procedure of the proscriptions. For the paronomasia, cf. Ter. Heaut. 2.1.5, Mihi si umquam filius erit, ne ille facili me utetur patre : Nam et cognoscendi et ignoscendi dabitur peccati locus: and in this speech, § 18, suspiciosum . . . perspicuum; § 42, confirmaret . . . infirmem; § 89, derogo . . . adrogo; § 135, videtis . . . invidetis; § 117, praediis . . . praemiis; § 112, offers . . . officio . . . officis . . . obstas. Landgraf quotes these among many instances of the Asianum genus dicendi, i.e. the artificial florid style, followed at first by Cicero before he studied under Melon in Rhodes.
dicerent, sc. causam: see § 5, note. ita petitum sit . . .; the request was made to others ita, only in such a manner, i.e. backed by only such moderate claims, that they felt they could equally comply or not, without violating friendship. For ita in this limiting sense see § 55, note. utrumvis, to undertake the defence or decline it; cf. § 83. ii contenderunt, Introd. § 7.
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