of its kind, excellent; no passage has been included that presents any serious difficulty in language or matter. In the arrangement of the passages, variety has been sought; yet, where the subject of two passages was akin, they have been placed together. In general, the earlier passages are somewhat easier than the later. After choosing the extracts, I have tried in various ways to make them more accessible and attractive to the inexperienced reader. (1) A prefatory note has been prefixed to each passage; this should be read before translation is attempted. (2) Though the original text has in no case been re-written, whole sentences or clauses have been omitted where this seemed desirable. For obvious reasons this was done more often in prose extracts than in verse. (3) The punctuation has been completely revised, and a large number of commas added. To a novice, a comma is often as good as an explanatory note. (4) The long vowels have been marked. This device often makes it easier to discover the meaning; and it is of importance for a further reason. For Latin literature depends in a peculiar degree upon the appeal it makes to the ear, so that anyone, who reads either Virgil or Cicero without constant regard to the quantities, cannot really appreciate their excellence. Each one of these passages should be read aloud both before and after it is translated. (5) As there still remained a few points in each extract, which seemed likely to puzzle those for whom the book was intended, these have been explained as briefly as possible in explanatory notes at the end of the text. If the right passages have been chosen and suitable methods of simplification have been adopted, I may hope that the book will, in some measure, do what it is meant to do. J. D. D. March 20, 1912. Aeneas visited his father Anchises in the world below, where Anchises prophesied the future glory of Rome and showed him the heroes, yet unborn, who were to make Rome famous. 'The Greeks will be unrivalled in sculpture, eloquence, and astronomy, the Romans in law and government.' Excudent alii spīrantia mollius aera, Ōrābunt causās melius, caelique meātūs mento; Hae tibi erunt artēs, pacisque imponere mōrem, Parcere subiectis et debellare superbōs. VIRGIL, Aeneid vi 846-853. 1 5 D. S. L. 2 Military Glory 2. Military Glory Murena was elected consul in 63 B.C. He was then Cicero defended prosecuted for bribery at the election. him; he tells Servius, one of the prosecutors, that Murena's military distinction is a stronger claim to the consulship than Servius's knowledge of law. Sed, ut ad studiōrum artiumque contentionem revertāmur, quî potest dubitārī, quin ad consulātum adipiscendum multō plūs adferat dignitatis rei militāris quam iūris cīvīlis glōria? Vigilās tū 5 dē nocte, ut tuis consultoribus respondeās, ille, ut eō, quō intendit, mātūrē cum exercitū perveniat; tē gallōrum, illum būcinārum cantus exsuscitat; tū actiōnem instruis, ille aciem instruit. Tu cavēs, nē tuī consultōrēs, ille, nē urbēs aut castra capian10 tur; ille tenet ac scit, ut hostium copiae, tū, ut aquae pluviae arceantur; ille exercitātus est in propagandis finibus, tū in regendīs. Ac nimirum, dicendum est enim quod sentiō, reī mīlitāris virtūs praestat ceteris omnibus. Haec nomen populō 15 Rōmānō, haec huic urbi aeternam glōriam peperit; haec orbem terrarum pārēre huic imperio coëgit. Omnes urbānae res, omnia haec nostra praeclara studia, et haec forensis laus et industria, latent in tūtēlā ac praesidiō bellicae virtutis. Simul atque 20 increpuit suspīciō tumultus, artēs īlicō nostrae conticescunt. CICERO, Pro Murena 22. |