SELENORAES Orlord. OF CICERO: WITH AN ENGLISH COMMENTARY, AND HISTORICAL, GEOGRAPHICAL, AND LEGAL INDEXES. BY CHARLES ANTHON, LL.D. JAY-PROFESSOR OF ANCIENT LITERATURE IN COLUMBIA COLLEGE, WITH ADDITIONS AND EMENDATIONS, BY JAMES BOYD, LL.D. ONE OF THE MASTERS OF THE HIGH SCHOOL, EDINBURGH. LONDON: PRINTED FOR THOMAS TEGG, 73, CHEAPSIDE. PREFACE. IN forming the text of the present work, the editor has taken Ernesti's for his basis, but without any slavish adherence to the opinions and decisions of that distinguished commentator. Wherever a reading presented itself, calculated in the editor's opinion to throw more light on the meaning of Cicero than the received lection could impart, he has not hesitated to adopt it; and he flatters himself that the result of his labours, in this department, will prove acceptable to all who are qualified to pass an opinion upon his efforts. The commentary, it will be perceived, is far from being a scanty one. If there be any author that stands in need of full and copious illustration, it undoubtedly is Cicero in the orations which have come down to us. The train of thought must be continually laid open to the young scholar, to enable him to appreciate, in their full force and beauty, these brilliant memorials of other days; and the allusions, in which the orator is so fond of indulging, must be carefully and fully explained. Unless this be done, the speeches of Cicero become a dead letter, and time is only wasted in their perusal. |