eum…superatum (407): sc. esse; inf. phrase with flagitium fuisset, it would have been a disgrace for him….
407. utrum…utilius: sc. erat; with armis…certare an venenis in 409–10, which (of the two actions) was more expedient, to contend….
409. seiunxit: seiungere, to separate.
411. sin: conj., but if.
Themistocles Museo Archelogico Nazionale Naples, Italy
Scala/Art Resource, NY.
395Fabricius and Pyrrhus. Id quidem cum saepe alias, tum Pyrrhi bello a C. Fabricio consule iterum et a senatu nostro iudicatum est. Cum enim rex Pyrrhus populo Romano bellum ultro intulisset, cumque de imperio certamen esset cum rege generoso ac potenti, perfuga ab eo venit in castra Fabricii eique est pollicitus, 400 si praemium sibi proposuisset, se, ut clam venisset, sic clam in Pyrrhi castra rediturum et eum veneno necaturum. Hunc Fabricius reducendum curavit ad Pyrrhum idque eius factum laudatum a senatu est. Atqui, si speciem utilitatis opinionemque quaerimus, magnum illud bellum perfuga unus et gravem adversarium 405 imperii sustulisset, sed magnum dedecus et flagitium fuisset, quicum laudis certamen fuisset, eum non virtute sed scelere superatum. Utrum igitur utilius vel Fabricio, qui talis in hac urbe qualis Aristides Athenis fuit, vel senatui nostro, qui numquam utilitatem a dignitate seiunxit, armis cum hoste certare 410 an venenis? Si gloriae causa imperium expetendum est, scelus absit, in quo non potest esse gloria; sin ipsae opes expetuntur quoquo modo, non poterunt utiles esse cum infamia.
413. L. Philippi Q. f.: = Luci Philippi Quinti fili, of Lucius Philippus the son of Quintus.
414. sententia: opinion, proposal, i.e., ut…redderemus.
quas civitates: the antecedent is incorporated into its rel. cl. = eae civitates quas.
L. Sulla:Lucius Cornelius Sulla, conservative military and political rival of Gaius Marius and finally, in 82–79 B.C., dictator.
pecunia accepta: i.e., after a lump-sum payment to Rome’s treasury.
ex:in accordance with.
415. vectigales: vectigalis, tributary, liable to taxes (vectigal).
417. est adsensus: adsentiri, to agree with, assent to.
418. at…igitur: an imagined objection to Cicero’s point.
quousque: adv., how far, how long.
420. fultum esse: fulcire, to prop up, support.
421. odium et infamia: potest and utile agree with odium, the nearer of the two subjs.
424. Sol: i.e., Apollo, here in his role as god of the sun.
426. currum: currus, chariot.
constitit: here, stood firmly (on the ground).
427. ictu: ictus, blow, stroke.
fulminis: fulmen,lightning, thunderbolt.
deflagravit: deflagrare,to destroy by fire or, here, be destroyed by fire.
fuerat: for the more usual contrary to fact fuisset, it would have been.
promissum…non esse servatum (428):for the promise…, subj. of fuerat.
429. quid quod: what of the fact that.
Theseus: the legendary hero and king of early Athens. As a special favorite, Theseus had received from Neptune the promise to fulfill any three requests which Theseus might make of him; when Theseus wrongly suspected Hippolytus, his son, of having an affair with his wife Phaedra, he prayed for his son’s death.
431. interitum: interitus, destruction, ruin
patri: DAT. OF AGENT.
432. noverca: stepmother.
impetrato: impetrare,to obtain, gain, accomplish, succeed in a request.
luctibus: luctus,grief, sorrow.
434. Agamemnon: the commander of the Greek forces in the Trojan war, Agamemnon sacrificed his daughter Iphigenia to Diana to atone for a crime and thus gain favorable winds for his expedition to Troy.
435. devovisset: devovere, to vow, consecrate.
Dianae:Diana (the Greek Artemis), goddess of the hunt.
436. immolavit: immolare, to sacrifice.
qua: ABL. OF COMPARISON.