iorum imagines, ipse ornatum ac vestitum pristinum 30 recuperabit. Omnia, iudices, haec amissa sunt, omnia generis, nominis, honoris insignia atque ornamenta unius iudicii calamitate occiderunt. Sed ne extinctor patriae, ne proditor, ne hostis appelletur, ne hanc labem tanti sceleris in familia relinquat, id laborat, 35 id metuit, ne denique hic miser coniurati et conscelerati et proditoris filius nominetur; huic puero, qui est ei vita sua multo carior, metuit, cui honoris integros fructus non sit traditurus, ne aeternam memoriam dedecoris relinquat. Hic vos orat, iudices, parvus, ut 89 se aliquando si non integra fortuna, at ut adflicta 41 patri suo gratulari sinatis. Huic misero notiora sunt itinera iudiciorum et fori quam campi et disciplinarum. Non iam de vita P. Sullae, iudices, sed de sepultura contenditur; vita erepta est superiore iudicio, nunc, ne 45 corpus eiciatur, laboramus. Quid enim est huic reliqui, quod eum in hac vita teneat, aut quid est, quam

of all these ornamenta: see on | This parenthetical use of ut ('as incolumem, § 61. 19.

36. hic miser. Sulla's young son, who was present (hic: cf. § 62. 5) in court: see Exc. II. § 14.

...

37. huic puero metuit ne, etc., for this boy he fears that, etc.:' puero should be placed in the subordinate clause as ind. obj. of relinquat, but is placed in the main clause for emphasis by the attraction noted on Sullam, § 66. 20. For case of puero with metuit, A. 227 c; G. 347; H. 385 II. 1; B. 187 1 a.

§ 89. 41-43. at ut adflicta, 'at least as far as may be in his afflic

tion:' with adflicta sc. fortuna.

far as possible in,' 'considering'
'for') with an ellipsis of the verb
(fit, fieri potest) is quite rare.
itinera iudiciorum, for itinera
ad iudicia: he had accompanied his
father to and fro to excite sympa-
thy for him. campi, the regular
place of exercise. disciplina-
rum, 'schools.'

44-46. vita, a common exaggeration for status. Sulla's life was not at stake, but all that made life valuable in the eyes of a Roman noble. eiciatur, a reference to exile, the one penalty for conspiracy more severe than those already imposed upon him for bribery.

ob rem haec cuiquam vita videatur? XXXII. Nuper is homo fuit in civitate P. Sulla, ut nemo ei se neque honore neque gratia neque fortunis anteferret, nunc spoliatus omni dignitate, quae erepta sunt, non repetit ; 5 quod fortuna in malis reliqui fecit, ut cum parente, cum liberis, cum fratre, cum his necessariis lugere suam calamitatem liceat, id sibi ne eripiatis, vos, iudices, 90 obtestatur. Te ipsum iam, Torquate, expletum huius miseriis esse par erat, et, si nihil aliud Sullae nisi 10 consulatum abstulissetis, tamen eo contentos vos esse oportebat; honoris enim contentio vos ad causam, non inimicitiae deduxerunt. Sed cum huic omnia cum honore detracta sint, cum in hac fortuna miserrima ac luctuosissima destitutus sit, quid est, quod expetas 15 amplius? Lucisne hanc usuram eripere vis plenam lacrimarum atque maeroris, in qua cum maximo cruciatu ac dolore retinetur? Libenter reddiderit adempta ignominia foedissimi criminis. An vero inimicum ut expellas? cuius ex miseriis, si esses crudelissimus, 91 videndo fructum caperes maiorem quam audiendo.

48. haec, for hoc attracted to 28. cum honore, 'together with vita: see on II. 23. 31. vita, the office,' et honor. Lucisne 'real life: cf. "It is not all of hanc usuram, for lucisne huius life to live, Nor all of death to u., by the attraction noticed on hoc die," and see similar force of vir numero, § 77. 4. usuram, 'right to enjoy,' as in I. 29. 4.

in III. 12. 41.

17-19. reddiderit, 'will surrender it at once:' for tense cf. § 28. 28, and see on IV. 11. 1. Express the protasis in a si clause.

2-6. se anteferret, 'took precedence.' parente, his mother. liberis, the son mentioned above and a step-son Memmius. fratre, ut expellas depends upon vis, 63. as does also the infinitive eripere,

§ 90. 10-15. vos, the prosecutor 1. 15. Such double constructions and his father. honoris conten- are found in all writers: cf. quitio, struggle for office,' i.e.. the bus, II. 25. 12. cuius at eius; consulship of 65; so in ll. 13 and see on in quo § 21, 3,

miserum et infelicem illum diem, quo consul omnibus 21 centuriis P. Sulla renuntiatus est, o falsam spem, o volucrem fortunam, o caecam cupiditatem, o praeposteram gratulationem ! Quam cito illa omnia ex laetitia et voluptate ad luctum et lacrimas reciderunt, 25 ut, qui paulo ante consul designatus fuisset, repente nullum vestigium retineret pristinae dignitatis! Quid enim erat mali, quod huic spoliato fama, honore, fortunis deesse videretur? aut cui novae calamitati locus ullus relictus esse? Urget eadem fortuna, quae coe- 30 pit, repperit novum maerorem, non patitur hominem calamitosum uno malo adflictum uno in luctu perire.

XXXIII. Sed iam impedior egomet, iudices, dolore 92 animi, ne de huius miseria plura dicam. Vestrae sunt iam partes, iudices, in vestra mansuetudine atque humanitate causam totam repono. Vos reiectione interposita nihil suspicantibus nobis repentini in nos iudices 5 consedistis ab accusatoribus delecti ad spem acerbitatis, a fortuna nobis ad praesidium innocentiae constituti. Ut ego, quid de me populus Romanus existimaret, quia severus in improbos fueram, laboravi et, quae prima innocentis mihi defensio est oblata, suscepi, sic 10 vos severitatem iudiciorum, quae per hos menses in homines audacissimos facta sunt, lenitate ac misericordia mitigate. Hoc cum a vobis impetrare causa 93

6

§ 91. 21-30. omnibus centu- § 92. 4-10. reiectione interriis, 'unanimously,' probably a posita, at the time for the chalrhetorical exaggeration. centu-lenging,' another (cf. §§ 78, 79) riis, p. 59, § 30 f. relictus esse: hardship of the present trial: see sc. videbatur, from videretur, 1. 29; on ad iudices in Title. a forcf. § 78. 22. coepit: sc. urgere, as tuna: see on § 71. 25. quid . . . coepi is not used absolutely (i.e., existimaret depends upon labowithout a dependent inf. expressed ravi, 'I was anxious.' defensio, or supplied) in Cicero. antecedent attracted to relative

ipsa debet, tum est vestri animi atque virtutis decla15 rare non esse eos vos, ad quos potissimum interposita reiectione devenire convenerit. In quo ego vos, iudices, quantum meus in vos amor postulat, tantum hortor, ut communi studio, quoniam in re publica coniuncti sumus, mansuetudine et misericordia nostra 20 falsam a nobis crudelitatis famam repellamus.

clause as often: for meaning see | same contemptuous tone Mur. on § 71. 30. 29. 32. convenerit, it will

§ 93. 15. potissimum, 'rather prove convenient:' SC. accusathan to any others,' here of per- toribus; the mood is subj. of sons; of time § 45. 5, of place characteristic, the tense is for Mur. 75. 15. the fut. perf. ind. in quo: cf. 16. devenire, 'resort,' in the § 87. 14.

$1.

§ 2.

$3.

EXCURSUS V.

ROMAN CORRESPONDENCE.

1. SENDING LETTERS. The Romans had no public postal service. Official despatches were carried by special messengers (statores), and to these the subject communities had to furnish horses, carts, and vessels on demand. Private letters were usually delivered by slaves (tabellarii) of the correspondents. For long distances, especially beyond seas, such service was very expensive, and, except for the most urgent matters, recourse was had to travellers and traders going in the desired direction. Persons intending to travel notified their friends of their departure in time for letters to be written, and also carried letters, if requested, for entire strangers.

There was, of course, great danger that letters carried thus might be lost or might fall into the wrong hands. It was customary, therefore, to send a copy of the letter (litterae eodem [or uno] exemplo), or at least an abstract of its contents, by another person, and the meaning was often disguised by the use of fictitious names understood by the correspondents only, or by employing regular cipher codes.

The time made by letters carried under such circumstances is

remarkable. The tabellarii travelled from forty to fifty miles a day in carts, and from twenty-six to twenty-seven on foot. Under favorable conditions much better time was possible: a letter could go from Rome to Brundisium (three hundred and seventy mill. pass.) in five days, on to Dyrrhachium in five more, reaching Athens in twenty-one days from its departure; and letters from Caesar in Britain reached Cicero in Rome in from twenty-seven to thirty-four days. In the time of Washington a month was the usual time for a letter to take in going from the Eastern to the Southern States in winter.

II. WRITING MATERIALS. For ordinary brief communications § 4. the Romans used tablets (tabellae) made of firwood or ivory. These were of various sizes, fastened together in sets of two or more by wire hinges. The inner faces were slightly hollowed out, and the depression was nearly filled with wax, so as to leave a raised rim about the edges. Upon the wax letters were traced with an ivory or metal tool (stilus, graphium) having one end pointed like a pencil for writing, and the other flat, like a paper-cutter, for smoothing the wax. With this flat end mistakes could be corrected, or the whole letter erased and the tabellae prepared for use on other occasions.

For longer communications another material (papyrus) was used, § 5. resembling our paper, but rough and coarse. It was made from the reed of the same name, obtained in Egypt. Upon this papyrus, or charta, they wrote with a pen made of a split reed (calamus) and ink (atramentum) made of soot mixed with resinous gums. The ink could be washed off with a damp sponge, which the writer kept by him for the correction of errors. The tendency of the poor ink to blot and spread upon the poorer paper accounts for the continued use of the bulky tabellae.

These rude writing materials, and the extensive correspondence § 6. carried on by every Roman of birth and position, made it impossible for him to write any but the most important of his letters, or those to his dearest friends, with his own hand. The place of the stenographer and typewriter of to-day was taken by slaves or freedmen, often highly educated, who wrote at the dictation of the master. Such slaves were called in general terms librarii, more particularly servi ab epistolis, servi a manu, or amanuenses.

III. THE LETTER (litterae, epistola). Of the six parts of a modern § 7. letter, the date, address, salutation, body, complimentary close, and signature, the address and complimentary close are entirely wanting in Latin letters, and the date is but rarely given. The delivery of the letters by special messengers (§ 1) made the date and address less necessary than now, and the straightforwardness of the Latin language knew no such meaningless phrases as our 'your obedient servant,' 'yours truly,' 'yours, etc.'

The DATE when expressed will be found at the end of the § 8.