EDITED BY DRS. SCHMITZ AND ZUMPT. M. TULLII CICERONIS ORATIONES SELECTAE XII. PHILADELPHIA: BLANCHARD AND LEA. 1852. PREFACE. THE text of the twelve orations in this collection is mainly based upon that of Orelli's edition of Cicero's select orations, which was published at Zurich in 1836. Most of the emendations of R. Klotz (who has published a complete edition of Cicero's orations, Leipzig, 1835-39, 3 vols. 8vo.), which are approved of by Orelli, have been received into the text of the present edition; while the doubtful readings, marked by Orelli with †, have been changed chiefly according to his own suggestions- because it appeared to be inconsistent with the character of a school-book to render the meaning obscure by leaving the reading doubtful, or by printing a passage in a fragmentary form. As far as the notes are concerned, advantage has been taken of the school editions of Otto, Crusius, Weiske, Matthiæ, of Wernsdorf's edition of the Philippics, and of C. G. Zumpt's edition of the orations against Verres, as well as of other editions of particular orations. Use has also been made of the great Neapolitan edition of 1777, in which are printed the commentaries of Muretus, Lambinus, Manutius, Abramius. Hotomannus, Camerarius, Graevius, Garatonius, Ferratius, and others; and in which all that is necessary is so satisfactorily explained, that the more recent commentators have rarely been able to give anything new or better. According to the plan of the series of which this volume forms a part, a biographic sketch of Cicero has been prefixed; but those who wish for further information about the author, must be referred to Middleton's excellent life, which cannot be strongly enough recommended to the student, as the production of an ardent admirer of the great Roman orator, and as a work written in a most amiable spirit J. RICHTER. BERLIN, April, 1849. (iii) INTRODUCTION. the same year. M. TULLIUS CICERO was born on the 3d of January в. c. 106, during the consulship of C. Atilius Serranus and Q. Servilius Caepio, at a villa near Arpinum, a municipium in the south-eastern part of Latium. His family was one of the most ancient and noble of the district, and ranked among the Roman equites. The rough warrior C. Marius was a native of the same township as Cicero ; and Cn. Pompey was born in The origin of the name Cicero is uncertain; though it is more probable that it arose from the cultivation of peas (cicer), peculiar to his family-just as other families owed their names to similar occupations-than that it should have been derived from a disfiguring mole resembling a pea. Cicero received the rudiments of his education in the house of his father, who, far from the bustling turmoil of Rome, in his splendid villa, in a wild and romantic part of the country, devoted his time to study and the education of his sons. As soon as Marcus-who, at an early age, showed extraordinary talents-was sufficiently prepared for the higher branches of study, he was sent to Rome, where his father had a house, and where he devoted himself with zeal, and the most brilliant success, to the study of philosophy and oratory. In these subjects he enjoyed the instructions of the most renowned men of both Rome and Greece. In his sixteenth year he assumed, according to custom, the toga virilis, and henceforth became a zealous student of practical eloquence in the Forum; at the same time he pursued the study of the Roman law and of rhetoric with such success, that in his twentyfirst year he wrote a work on rhetoric, of which a portion is still extant. The fearful period of the civil war between the parties of Marius and Sulla fortunately did not induce him to exchange |
