11 Cicero, De Amicitia 18–19
Before you begin
Review The Logic of Latin to see how a more precise understanding of sīc, itaque, enim, & namque can help you understand the sequence of thought in this and all future passages.
Laelius begins his discourse on friendship by affirming from the outset that only truly “good” men (viros bonos) can be friends, and so he needs to define in what sense he is using the term “good.” He does this in one very long sentence at the beginning, so hold get ready!
| 1 | Sed hoc prīmum sentiō, nisi in bonīs, amīcitiam esse nōn posse… |
| 2 | [19] Quī ita sē gerunt, ita vīvunt, ut eōrum probētur fidēs, integritās, aequitās, līberālitās, |
| 3 | nec sit in eīs ūlla cupiditās, libīdō, audācia |
| 4 | sintque magnā cōnstantiā — ut iī fuērunt, modo quōs nōmināvī — |
| 5 | hōs virōs bonōs (ut habitī sunt) sīc etiam appellandōs pūtēmus, quia sequantur, |
| 6 | quantum hominēs possunt, nātūram optimam bene vīvendī ducem. |
| 7 | Sīc enim mihi perspicere videor, ita nātōs esse nōs, |
| 8 | ut inter omnēs esset societās quaedam, māior autem, ut quisque proxumē accēderet. |
| 1 | bonīs: [viris]. |
| 2 | quī: the relative clause precedes its antecedent (hōs virōs bonōs), as often. This formulation is especially common in Roman legal formulae.
sē gerunt: idiomatic, “behave, act”. ut: please remember that not all ut clauses are purpose clauses; note especially the ita “trigger” for the ut clause here (and below). |
| 4 | magnā cōnstantiā: ablatives of description/quality must be modified by an adjective, “strength of character.”
ut…fuērunt: the verb is indicative; what does that reveal about the use of ut? remember also that ut can also govern an indicative verb for comparative and temporal clauses. iī…nōmināvī: in a preceding section Laelius had mentioned three paradigmatically “good” Romans: Gaius Fabricius (famed for austerity and incorruptibility), Manius Curius Dentatus (scourge of the would-be tyrant, Appius Claudius Crassus, and who chose a turnip and Roman dominion over a bribe of gold and avarice), and Tiberius Coruncanius (first plebeian pontifex maximus, first public instructor of law, and scourge of the invading king, Pyrrhus). modo: the vowel quantities reveal that this is the adverb (i.e., it is not a form of modus). ut habitī sunt: “as they were held (in mind)”, and so, “considered”. sīc: not “thus”, here; but “in the same manner/way.” |
| 5 | putēmus: finally the main verb! why subjunctive and what construction do you expect after such a verb of “thinking”? |
| 6 | nātūram: “nature” is a key concept in Stoicism, since the best way to live is “according to Nature”. Nature has made us in such a way that we seek a bond (societās) with each other, and, in fact, nature provides no bond stronger than friendship; it is even stronger than kinship…
ducem: here, feminine, as occasionally in Cicero, Vergil, and Ovid when it appears in reference to a feminine (as natūra, here). perspicere videor: “I seem to myself to see clearly…” and so, more idiomatically, “it seems clear to me that…” + accusative + infinitive. |
| 6-7 | Sīc…esset: result clause, triggered by the sīc. |
| 8 | proxumē: = the adverb proximē; in earlier Latin “u” is often used in place of “i”
accēderet: this comparative clause is embedded inside another subordinate clause and so its verb is “attracted” into the subjunctive as well. |
Interrogata
- Consider these Roman virtues — fides, integritās, aequitās, līberālitās — which Cicero identifies as the cardinal virtues in his work Dē Officiīs. How do they differ from each other — and from the modern derivative? You might look at each in a major dictionary (e.g., Logeion) to get a fullter sense of their meaning.
