Study Questions

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44

Study Questions:

• Parse visne.
• Identify and explain the mood of inspiciamus.
• Identify and explain the mood of ordiamur.
• On what noun does the genitive patris depend?
• Parse inquies.
• Identify and explain the case of audaciae tuae.
• What did the lex Roscia stipulate? When was it passed?
• What noun does the adjective virilem modify?
• Who was Curio?

Stylistic Appreciation:

• How would you describe the overall tone Cicero adopts in this paragraph? Can you point to specific details in the text that epitomize it?
• What is the rhetorical effect of the word order in the sentence etenim est pietatis plena defensio?
• Discuss Cicero’s choice of adverbs and adjectives in the second half of the passage, with an eye to the contrast between the seemingly banal (certus, statim, certa, parva, cito, certo) and the more elaborate (virilem, muliebrem, vulgare, meretricio, stabili).

Discussion Points:

• What’s Cicero cooking up here (cf. decoxisse, decoctoribus, decoxisset) — or how does he construe a plot reminiscent of Peter Greenaway’s The Cook, the Thief, His Wife, & Her Lover — with Antony performing in all four roles?
• Clothes make the wo/man: discuss the fashion-show staged in this paragraph (cf. praetextatum, virilem (sc. togam), muliebrem togam, stolam).
• Why is cross-dressing funny? Discuss with reference to contemporary takes, such as Some Like it Hot, Tootsie, or The World According to Garp.
• Can you think of more recent instances in which public figures are shamed for (alleged) misdemeanors in their youth? What’s your take on this practice?

45 

46 

Study Questions: 

• What kind of construction is quo tempore? 
• What kind of ablatives are familiaritate and congressione? 
• What norms and institutions does Cicero evoke with the formulation patrio iure et potestate? 
• What are the swords that Cicero claims he and his audience see (cf. illis quos videmus gladiis)? 
• What kind of conditional sequence does nisi introduce? 
• What does Cicero refer to with maledictis? 
• Parse ausus esses.  

Stylistic Appreciation: 

• Identify the stylistic features by which Cicero announces that he came to the rescue (quo tempore ... sustuli!). 
• The middle sentence of the paragraph begins and ends with p-alliteration: patri persuasi ... patrio iure et potestate prohiberet. What (if anything) does Cicero thereby wish to emphasize? 
• Analyze the rhetorical design of the ut-clause (ut aes alienum ... prohiberet). 

Discussion Points: 

• What advice would you have given to Curio pater in this situation? 
• To what extent (if at all) should parents be responsible for the extravagances of their offspring? 

47 

Study Questions: 

• Parse omittamus.
• Parse eo.
• Parse perstringam.
• Explain the syntax of quae (quae peto ut...). 
• What kind of ablative is multo? 
• ut facitis: what is the meaning of ut here? 
• Parse incidamus.

48

Study Questions: 

• What case is Clodio? How does it fit into the syntax of the sentence? 
• What is the antecedent of qui? 
• What are Antony’s beneficia towards Cicero? 
• What is the verb of the clause eius omnium incendiorum fax? 
• What is the antecedent of cuius? 
• Parse domi.
• Identify and explain the mood of dicam. 
• Parse senatus.
• What is the verb of the sentence inde iter ... et religiones? 
• What kind of accusative is Alexandriam? 
• Parse qui (tum inde reditus). 
• What is the verb of the question qui tum inde reditus aut qualis? 
• What are the verbs in the sentence prius in ultimam Galliam ex Aegypto quam domum? 
• Explain the mood of poneres. 
• Where is Sisapo? 

49 

Study Questions: 

• What is the sense of ad in the gerundive phrase ad quaesturam petendam? 
• Parse aude.
• Parse paterer.
• Explain the grammar and syntax of quo (quidem tempore). 
• What construction is approbante populo Romano? 
• What does the -que in cumque link? 
• Parse conarere.
• Parse interfecisses and explain the tense and mood. 
• What does rem illam refer to? 
• Identify and explain the mood of dicas. 
• What kind of clause does quamquam introduce? 

Stylistic Appreciation: 

• Analyze the rhetorical design of the cum-clause cumque eam rem tua sponte conarere, non impulsu meo. 
• Analyze how Cicero brings personal pronouns and possessive adjectives into play in this paragraph (te; parentem tuam; mihi ... a te; ne loqui quidem sum te passus; ... sum cultus a te, tu a me observatus ...; tua sponte conarere, non impulsu meo; ... te non existimare ...; mihi pro tuis in me iniuriis; impulsu meo; te ultro mihi idem illud deferentem; ad tuam gloriam ... ad meam gratiam). 

Discussion Points: 

• The paragraph is stuffed full with technical terms to do with socio-political relations in republican Rome such as satis facere, gratia, colo, observare, as well as practices that smoothed the economy of friendship and patronage, such as letters of recommendation (cf. acceperam iam ante Caesaris litteras). How does Cicero get invective mileage out of this idiom? 

50

Study Questions: 

• What construction is perditis vitae rationibus? 
• What kind of genitives are egestatis, aeris alieni, and nequitiae? On what noun do they depend? 
• Explain the syntax of perfugium. 
• Explain the syntax of te (ibi te cum...) 
• Explain the syntax of the two infinitives explere and haurire. What case are they in? 
• What construction does ducebas govern? 
• Who does viri tui refer to? 
• What kind of ablative is scelere? 
• Parse reperietis.

Stylistic Appreciation: 

• What is the effect of the absence of connectives in the opening sentences (quaestor ... ducebas), in particular the two asyndetic tricola sine senatus consulto, sine sorte, sine lege and egestatis, aeris alieni, nequitiae ... profugium, and the polysyndeton in the following cum-clause (ibi te cum et illius largitionibus et tuis rapinis explevisses) and the rest of the paragraph (in se atque in domesticum decus; impure et intemperanter; in nos fortunasque nostras; impie ac nefarie)? 
• What does the hyperbaton id enim unum ... perfugium enact? 
• Analyze the rhetorical design of Cicero’s transition from a focus on domesticum decus to one on universa res publica.

Discussion Points: 

• What image of Caesar do you get from this paragraph? To what extent is it historically accurate? 
• What is the scelus that Cicero refers to at the end of the paragraph? Why does he call it the source of all evils? 
• How does Cicero entwine the personal and the political here? 

78

Study Questions: 

• Parse domi and foris. 
• Explain the syntax of te (... respondisses te rei tuae...). 
• What is the verb in the sentence sed nimis multa de nugis? 
• Identify and explain the mood of veniamus. 
• Parse redeunti and explain its syntax. 
• Parse isti.
• Whom does ei refer to? 
• What is the antecedent of quem? 
• What is the verb of the relative clause introduced by quem? 
• Parse cognorat.

Stylistic Appreciation: 

• How does design enhance sense in the sentence factus es ei rursus nescio quo modo familiaris? 
• Cicero must want to have himself say -isti ... isti ... -isti this way — so why? 

Discussion Points: 

• What kind of principles (moral, utilitarian, any) do you apply in choosing your friends? What do you think of Caesar’s approach? 
• Can we (ever) tell from what they write to each other if any Romans were what we’d like to think of as friends? (E.g. Cicero and ... Atticus?) 

79

Study Questions: 

• How does qua fit into the syntax of the sentence? 
• What kind of clause does quanta introduce? What noun does quanta modify?
• What case is it in? 
• What kind of genitive is vestrum? 
• What kind of ut-clause is ut peteret? 
• What is the accusative object of peteret, intervertit, and transtulit?
• How do promissum et receptum fit into the sentence? 
• Who does eius [in the phrase eius perfidiae] refer to? 
• Parse copiosius and paratius. 
• What kind of ablative is multo? 

Stylistic Appreciation: 

• What might praeclare commendatus be dripping with? 
• Why might Cicero rely on a rhetorical question (... quis ignorat?) when invoking the notoriety of Caesar’s and Antony’s perfidy towards Dolabella? 
• Analyze the rhetorical design of invectus est ... quam nunc ego. 

Discussion Points: 

• Discuss the implications of the passives in the passage (iussus es; renuntiari; est impulsus, inductus, elusus; cogimur). 
• What kind of picture does Cicero draw of Caesar’s coterie here? How does he position himself (and the rest of the senators) within Caesar’s universe? 

80

Study Questions: 

• What is the subject accusative and the verb of the indirect statement introduced by ostendisset? 
• Explain the syntax of Dolabellam. 
• Explain the syntax of quem. 
• Why are faceret and diceret in the imperfect subjunctive? 
• What kind of clause does ut introduce? 
• Explain the syntax of id. 
• What does the -que after id link? 
• Explain the syntax of quo. 

Stylistic Appreciation: 

• Analyze the rhetorical design of the exclamation Hic autem ... di boni! 
• What is the rhetorical effect of the parenthesis quem negant ... et diceret?

Discussion Points: 

• What role and function did ‘religious objections’ play in the political culture of the Roman republic? Can you think of possible advantages of involving the gods in this way in political decision-making? 
• Compare and contrast the appeals to the divine sphere in ancient Rome with the ways in which the supernatural is brought into play in contemporary politics. 

81

Study Questions: 

• Explain how istud fits into the syntax of its sentence. 
• Parse sacerdoti.
• What do you need to supply to complete the ne-clause (vide ne...)?
• Whom does Cicero have in mind when he says nos (nos enim...)? 
• What is the difference between nuntiatio and spectio? 
• Parse esto.
• Explain the syntax of hoc and imperite. 
• Identify and explain the case of viti. 
• What kind of ablative is comitiis (quod neque licet comitiis per leges...)? 
• What construction is comitiis habitis? 

Stylistic Appreciation: 

• How does Cicero generate a sense of ridicule at Antony’s supposed stupidity and a sense of outrage at his impudence in this paragraph? 

Discussion Points: 

• Explore the ways in which Cicero draws on Rome’s civic religion to expose Antony as supposedly ignorant. Then ask yourself whether Antony did not know very well exactly what he was doing. 

82

Study Questions: 

• Parse recordamini. What is its accusative object? 
• What noun does eius depend on? 
• Parse Idus.
• What is the verb in the sentence quis ... abiectus? 
• Explain the tense and mood of venderet. 

Stylistic Appreciation: 

• What is the point of the hyperbaton eius ... consulatum? 
• In the second half of the passage (ecce ... dixi), how does Cicero rhetorically re-enact what he claimed was an extremely smooth and quick dispatch of proceedings? 

Discussion Points: 

• What associations do you think Cicero wanted to invoke with the image of Antony sticking his head into the rear end of Caesar’s litter (caput in aversam lecticam inserens)? 
• How’s your grasp of Roman voting assemblies? Can you explain what the technical terms in this passage mean (sortitio praerogativa, renuntiatur (2x), prima classis, suffragia, secunda classis)? 

83

Study Questions: 

• What construction is confecto negotio? 
• Who was C. Laelius? 
• Identify and explain the tense and mood of diceres. 
• Identify and explain the case of impudentiam singularem. 
• Parse servasse.
• What kind of ablative is tanto? 
• What noun does magna modify? 
• What kind of ablative is calamitate? 
• Explain the syntax of plura. 
• What kind of clause does ne introduce? 

Stylistic Appreciation: 

• Analyze the rhetorical design of quid videras, quid senseras, quid audieras? 
• What is the point of the hyperbaton magna ... calamitate? 
• What stylistic device is Cicero playing with in augur auguri, consul consuli obnuntiasti? 

Discussion Points: 

• How sincere do you think Cicero was when he conjured the prospect of divine punishment because of Antony’s alleged abuse of the auspices? And is ‘sincerity’ a useful category for discussing rhetoric involving the divine sphere? 

84

Study Questions: 

• Parse cognoscite. 
• Parse voles (quamdiu ... voles; cum voles). 
• Explain the use of cum (cum voles). 
• Explain the syntax of ea. 
• How does augur fit into the syntax of its sentence? 
• What are the Lupercalia? 
• Parse veniamus. 
• What happened in the porticus Minucia? 
• What’s up with the campus Leontinus? 

Stylistic Appreciation: 

• Cicero here alternates between addressing the senate, engaging Antony, speaking in the first person plural, and adopting the point of view of a participant observer. What is the rhetorical effect of these variations in perspective? 
• What are the devices Cicero uses to create a vivid (and visceral) description of Antony’s reaction to his mentioning of the Lupercalia? 

Discussion Points: 

• How does Cicero bring the theme of augural manipulation to a close and segue into the following topic? 

85

Study Questions: 

• Parse amictus. 
• What are the verbs in the sentences gemitus toto foro and unde diadema? 
• Explain the case of domo. 
• How does meditatum et cogitatum scelus fit into the syntax of the sentence? 
• What aspect(s) of the imperfect are in play in imponebas and reiciebat?
• Parse scelerate. 
• How does dominum fit into the syntax of the sentence? 
• Parse idem. How does it fit into the sentence? 
• Why is temptares in the subjunctive? 
• Why is posset in the subjunctive? 

Stylistic Appreciation: 

• Discuss Cicero’s use of tenses (present, imperfect, pluperfect) in this paragraph. 

Discussion Points: 

• Do you find Cicero’s account of the incident entirely plausible? What do you think happened in the Roman forum on 15 February 44 BCE — and why? 

86

Study Questions: 

• Explain Cicero’s use of the imperfects captabas and abiciebas. 
• What kind of ut-clause is ut servires? 
• What kind of subjunctive is peteres? 
• Parse paterere. What kind of ut-clauses are ut omnia paterere and ut facile servires? 
• Identify and explain the case of hoc (quid hoc turpius...?). 
• Identify and explain the case of sensus. 
• What is the antecedent of the relative pronoun qui (qui abiecerit)?

Stylistic Appreciation: 

• Analyze the rhetorical design of haec te ... oratio.

Discussion Points: 

• At the end of the paragraph, Cicero argues that Antony deserves to be dead — indeed, ought to have been killed for his attempt to crown Caesar king. In what scenarios (if any) do you endorse capital punishment as a justified response to politically motivated actions? 

87 

Study Questions: 

• Parse ascribi. 
• What are the fasti? 
• Who is the subject of the first sentence (At etiam ... noluisse)? 
• How does uti fit into the syntax of the sentence? 
• Explain the syntax of odisse and bibere. 
• Parse consistes. 
• Explain the grammar of qui (locus...). 
• What is the antecedent of quae? 
• What case is Romae? 

Stylistic Appreciation: 

• Analyze the style of the proposed inscription C. Caesari ... uti noluisse. 
• What is the rhetorical effect of Cicero’s m-ing in iam iam minime miror? 

Discussion Points: 

• What we seem to capture here is Antony’s (and Caesar’s) version in retrospect of what happened at the Lupercalia. How does it differ from Cicero’s? 

88

Study Questions: 

• Parse redeamus. 
• What kind of ablative is Idibus Martiis? 
• Parse fuit ... acturus. 
• Identify and explain the tense and the mood of egisses. 
• Explain the syntax of te and me. 
• Parse incidi. 
• What case is eis rebus? 
• Parse formido. 

Stylistic Appreciation: 

• Discuss Cicero’s use of the future (perfect) and the subjunctive in this paragraph. 
• What are the stylistic features that Cicero uses to capture Antony’s flight from the senate house after Caesar’s murder (quae tua fuga ... recepisti!)? 

Discussion Points: 

• Reconstruct the events — and the likely motivations and psychology of the main actors — in the wake of Caesar’s assassination. Why did the conspirators only kill Caesar and not also his main supporters? 

89

Study Questions: 

• What case is auguria? 
• Why might dicebam be in the imperfect? 
• Explain the syntax of me (cum me ad te ire vellent). 
• What kind of clause is ut ... adhortarer? 
• Parse desisses. 
• How is tui to be construed? 
• Parse mansi. 
• What days does Cicero refer to with illo die, postero [die] and post diem tertium? 
• Where was the temple of Tellus? 

Stylistic Appreciation: 

• Analyze the rhetorical design and the ideological punch of neque ... credidi. 

Discussion Points: 

• Was Cicero correct in thinking that any compromise with Antony was bound to fail? 

90

Study Questions: 

• Explain the syntax of qui. 
• Parse miseret. 
• Parse invideris. 
• What kind of conditional sequence does Cicero use with fuisses – potuisses?
• What noun does ea modify? 
• What construction is me quidem dissentiente? What is the force of quidem?
• Parse funeri. 

Stylistic Appreciation: 

• How does design reinforce sense in the sentence quamquam bonum ... audacia? 

Discussion Points: 

• Do you agree with Cicero that the republican commonwealth and peace could have been restored had Antony continued to collaborate with the senate? 

91

Study Questions: 

• What is the verb of the opening sentence (Tua ... cohortatio)? 
• How does et eas ... et eas fit into the sentence? 
• What does the et after perditorum link? 
• What kind of construction is quasi fuligine abstersa? 
• What kind of ablative is reliquis diebus? 
• Parse senatus. 
• What noun does qua modify? What case is it in? 
• Parse Idus. 
• neve: what does the enclitic conjunction -ve link? 
• Why is dixeris in the subjunctive? 
• What is the main clause in the sentence optimum vero ... sustulisti? 
• What noun does the genitive dictaturae depend on? What kind of genitive is it? 
• Explain the syntax of quo (quo quidem facto). 
• What kind of genitive is regni? 
• What kind of clause does ut (ut eius omnem...) introduce? 
• What does eius refer back to? 

Stylistic Appreciation: 

• Analyze the design of the opening sentence (Tua ... cohortatio). 
• What is the rhetorical effect of the anaphoric tu, tu, inquam? 

Discussion Points: 

• Why was the funeral of Caesar such a charged moment? 

92

Study Questions: 

• What noun does omnia modify? 
• What construction is te gubernante? 
• Parse sui. 
• What construction is inspectantibus vobis? 
• Parse venibant. 
• What construction is stante re publica? 

Stylistic Appreciation: 

• Analyze the dramatic trajectory of the first sentence (constituta ... metuebam). 

Discussion Points: 

• Explore the political and financial relationships between Rome and its (conquered) provinces in late-republican times. To what extent does the paragraph here foreshadow the realities of the principate? 
• Cicero accuses Antony of something akin to treason. Was he a ‘traitor of the people’? Who is a traitor of the people? 

100

Study Questions: 

• Identify and explain the mood of redeamus. 
• How does quae ... Antonius fit into the syntax of the sentence? 
• Identify and explain the mood of egisset and dixisset. 
• What kind of construction is quo auctore? 
• Parse veneunt. 
• Identify and explain the case of percursationem. 
• What kind of ablative is mense Aprili atque Maio? 
• Identify and explain the case of Capuam. 
• Parse abieris. 

Stylistic Appreciation: 

• Discuss the design and rhetorical force of the question quae tua fuit cognitio?
• How does design reinforce theme in the sentence acta enim Caesaris ... dixisset Antonius?

 Discussion Points: 

• Why does Cicero use a string of rhetorical questions to attack Antony’s handling of Caesar’s state papers? 
• How does Cicero manage the transition from one topic (Caesar’s acta) to the next (Antony’s journey and doings in Southern Italy)? 

101

Study Questions: 

• How does Cui fit into the syntax of the sentence? 
• Parse minitaris. 
• What kind of clause does utinam introduce? 
• What does ‘paene’ refer (back) to? 
• Parse conere and explain the mood. 
• Parse apparatus. 
• How do you reconcile the relative pronoun qui (nominative masculine singular, referring back to agrum Campanum) with a first person plural verb (putabamus)? 
• Identify and explain the tense and mood of querar. 
• Parse the adjectives Campana and Leontina. What noun do they modify? 
• Parse sanasset and explain the tense and mood. 
• Parse rhetori. 
• What noun needs to be supplied after duo? 

Stylistic Appreciation: 

• What might the homoioteleuton in quid furiosam vinulentiam tuam proferam emphasize?
• Discuss the positioning of deictic and pronominal adjectives in tua ista detrimenta sunt, illa nostra. 

Discussion Points: 

• Can you think of more recent instances in history where individuals benefitted financially from close association with powerful politicians? (Put differently, to what extent is kleptocracy a universal?) 

102

Study Questions: 

• Parse Casilinum and explain its case. Where is Casilinum located? 
• Identify and explain the mood of respondissem. 
• Why is posses in the imperfect subjunctive? 
• Explain the syntax of auspicato. 
• Parse rescripsi. 
• What construction is omni auspiciorum iure turbato? 
• What kind of ablative is paucis annis. 
• Explain the syntax of cuius. What noun does it refer back to? 
• What kind of clause are ut ... tolleres and ut ... circumduceres?

Stylistic Appreciation: 

• Discuss the design of the opening sentence (Deduxisti ... deduxerat). 
• After consuluisti, ‘tu quidem’ is technically speaking unnecessary — why does Cicero add it nevertheless? 

Discussion Points: 

• Do you find it plausible that Antony consulted Cicero on a religious technicality to do with his settlement policy? 

103

Study Questions: 

• On what noun does the genitive M. Varronis depend? 
• Parse inquies. 
• On what noun do the genitives heredum (2x) depend? 
• Identify and explain the tense and mood of valeat and valeant. 
• What are the antecedents of quibus (2x)? 
• Parse venisse. 
• Identify and explain the case of Alexandriam. 
• Identify and explain the mood of emeret. 

Stylistic Appreciation: 

• Analyze the design of the sentence Varronis quidem ... audivit? 

Discussion Points: 

• How does Cicero play off Caesar against Antony in this paragraph? 

104

Study Questions: 

• Parse nullius. 
• Identify and explain the case of curae and pluribus. 
• What kind of clause is ut redderet? 
• How does satis fit into the syntax of the sentence? 
• Parse remove. 
• Parse intelleges. 
• Identify and explain the case of illis sedibus. 
• What kind of accusative is multos dies? 

Stylistic Appreciation: 

• What are the stylistic devices Cicero uses to underscore the disgraceful conduct of Antony and his mates at Varro’s villa? 
• What work is the tragic quote doing here? 

Discussion Points: 

• What would you do as a lodger in Varro’s villa? 

105

Study Questions: 

• What does the -que after omnis link? 
• What construction is te inquilino? 
• Parse salutatum. 
• Identify and explain the case of Casino, Aquino, and Interamna.

Stylistic Appreciation: 

• Discuss the stylistic devices Cicero uses to hail Varro’s learning. 
• Discuss the stylistic devices Cicero uses to lambast Antony’s depravity. 

Discussion Points: 

• Compare and contrast Cicero’s depiction of Antony’s conduct in Varro’s villa in §§ 104–05 with contemporary frat-boy comedies such as Animal House: what is (or isn’t) funny — and why? 

106

Study Questions: 

• Parse ei: whom does the pronoun refer to? 
• Who is the subject of processit? 
• What is a municipium? 
• What is the meaning of ut in ut mortuus? 
• Explain the syntax of qui (qui cum essent devii). 
• What is the significance of Cicero’s use of the imperfect subjunctive in tamquam si esset consul? 
• NB: We don’t know why the text here has become garbled beyond restoration (to date). It doesn’t happen often in Cicero’s classic speeches. 
• Parse and explain the syntax of esse resalutatum. 
• On what noun does the genitive poculorum depend? 

Stylistic Appreciation: 

• What stylistic devices does Cicero use in his portrayal of Antony’s alleged mistreatment of locals on his journey back to Rome? 

Discussion Points: 

• Discuss the implications of Cicero challenging Antony’s status as consul (cf. tamquam si esset consul). 

107

Study Questions: 

• Identify and explain the mood of commemorem. 
• Locate the Sidicini and the town of Puteoli on a map. 
• Who were C. Cassius and the (two) Bruti? 
• Who was Basilus? 
• Parse adoptassent and explain the mood. 
• What construction is qua re tibi nuntiata? 
• Explain the syntax of qua. 
• Parse evenerit and explain the mood. 

Stylistic Appreciation: 

• What stylistic features help to underscore Cicero’s spitting contempt in illas istius minas contumeliasque commemorem? 

Discussion Points: 

• Why would the Sidicini and the inhabitants of Puteoli side with the liberators? 
• What does patronage of local communities by leading Roman aristocrats entail? 
• What episode does Cicero refer to when he talks about the destruction of the ‘tomb’ by Antony’s colleague Dolabella? 

108

Study Questions: 

• What kind of accusative is Romam? 
• Parsetotius. 
• Explain the grammar and sense of agmine quadrato. 
• How do you account for the genitive in the phrase scutorum lecticas? 
• What construction is his ... inveteratis? 
• Identify and explain the case of Kalendis Iuniis. 

Stylistic Appreciation: 

• Analyze the design of the sentence memineramus ... videramus. 
• Identify the stylistic devices that Cicero employs to contrast a bad past with a worse present in this paragraph. 

Discussion Points: 

• How do you think Antony would have advertised his return to Rome? 

109

Study Questions: 

• Identify and explain the case of senatu. 
• Why is egeret in the (imperfect) subjunctive? 
• What is the antecedent of qui? 
• Identify and explain the case of lucri sui. 
• What kind of clause is ut rem publicam concutere possit? 
• What kind of ablative is lege? 
• What is the antecedent of quod? 
• Identify and explain the case of infimis civibus. 

Stylistic Appreciation: 

• In this paragraph, we get a cascade of main clauses, with the verbs in the perfect tense: desideravit – laetatus est – effecit – evertit – prorogavit – rescidit – sustulit – promulgavit – fecit – deportavit. What is the rhetorical effect? And what does the principle, stated in the present tense halfway through the paragraph (in publicis nihil est lege gravius; in privatis firmissimum est testamentum), add to the overall design and rhetorical impact? 

Discussion Points: 

• Is Cicero here making mountains out of molehills? 

110

Study Questions: 

• In the phrase in Caesaris memoria, what kind of genitive is Caesaris?
• Explain the grammar of quem (quem is honorem...). 
• Parse inauguraris. 
• Parse sume. 
• Identify and explain the case of destestabilem hominem. 
• How is mortui to be construed? 
• Explain the syntax of the sentence quaero ... ignores. 

Stylistic Appreciation: 

• What is the tone of the initial question (Et tu ... mortuum)? 
• Discuss the rhetorical force and arrangement of pulvinar, simulacrum, fastigium, flaminem. (Make sure you know what each of these items refers to.) 
• Analyze the design of est ergo flamen, ut Iovi, ut Marti, ut Quirino, sic divo Iulio M. Antonius. 
• Cicero shows a notable preference for asyndeton in this paragraph. Why? 
• What figure of thought does Cicero use in sive quod tyranni sacerdos es sive quod mortui and aut undique religionem tolle aut usque quaque conserva? Why is it effective? 

Discussion Points: 

• Cicero here blasts Antony for inconsistency in his attitude towards Caesar. What might account for such ‘qualified devotion’ to the dead dictator on Antony’s part? 

111

Study Questions: 

• Parse vis. 
• What kind of ablative are quaestu and dignitate? 
• What is the verb in the sentence quid ad haec tandem? 
• How does the genitive phrase hominis simplicis fit into the sentence? 
• What is the antecedent of cui? 

Stylistic Appreciation: 

• Cicero here blasts Antony for his lack of eloquence. What ensures that he does so eloquently? 

Discussion Points: 

• Explore the role of ancestors in Roman culture — and political oratory. Who was Antony’s avus? 

112

Study Questions: 

• Parse praeterita. 
• Identify and explain the mood of omittamus. 
• Parse inquam. 
• Parse Concordiae. What does it refer to? 
• Who are the Ituraeans? 
• Explain the syntax of perire. 
• What kind of ablatives are caritate and benevolentia? 

Stylistic Appreciation: 

• Analyze the design and the rhetorical force of the accusative objects of defende.
• Discuss the rhetorical power of the sequence of rhetorical questions introduced by cur (4x). 

Discussion Points: 

• Do you agree with Cicero that the best ‘bodyguard’ a statesman can have is the devotion and benevolence he inspires among his fellow-citizens? 

113

Study Questions: 

• Explain the construction utinam salvis nobis. 
• Parse egeris. 
• Why does Cicero call Antony’s wife Fulvia minime avara? 
• Parse volent. 
• Identify and explain the mood of cedant. 
• What kind of genitive is pacis? 
• What kind of genitive is malorum omnium? 
• What kind of ablatives are bello and morte? 

Stylistic Appreciation: 

• What makes the first two sentences (Eripiet ... diuturnus) ‘a brilliant opening to a passage of high rhetoric’? (Lacey 1986: 240). 
• With the phrase gubernacula rei publicae Cicero brings the well-known metaphor of the ‘ship of state’ into play (with gubernacula as metonym for the ship): what does the metaphor contribute to his rhetorical agenda? 

Discussion Points: 

• Who are the political agents in this paragraph? Can you bring them into systematic correlation? 
• Do you agree with Cicero that slavery is worse than death? 
• What do you think freedom consists in? 

114

Study Questions: 

• Who was Tarquinius? 
• What case is Romae? 
• Who were Sp. Cassius, Sp. Maelius, and M. Manlius? 
• Explain the construction regni appetendi. 
• In the phrase in regnum appetentem does the preposition in govern the noun regnum or the participle appetentem? 
• What noun does the genitive phrase pulcherrimi facti depend on? 
• What word does the partitive genitive fructus depend on? 

Stylistic Appreciation: 

• How does Cicero differentiate the recent from the distant past? 
• Consider Cicero’s use of the verb facere in this paragraph: exemplum facti — fecerat — fecerunt — (impetum) fecerunt— ipsum factum — (in ipsa conscientia) pulcherrimi facti. Why does he insist so much on ‘deed’ and ‘done’? 
• Why is mortali immortalitatem ‘an effective use of adnominatio’ (Ramsey)? 

Discussion Points: 

• In what ways is the murder of Caesar particularly glorious? 
• What does immortality consist of for Cicero in this paragraph? 
• How would you justify tyrannicide? 

115

Study Questions: 

• Parse recordare. 
• Parse senatus. 
• What noun governs the genitive tuorum? 
• Parse intelleges. 
• Why is intersit in the subjunctive? 
• Parse quidam. 
• What kind of dative is ei? 

Stylistic Appreciation: 

• Analyze the rhetorical craftsmanship of sed nimirum ... non habent. 
• What is the effect of the asyndetic paratactic opening sequence (three imperatives — recordare, pone, confer — followed by tum intelleges)? 

Discussion Points: 

• What does vera laus consist in for Cicero? 
• What is a stronger motivation for ethical conduct: desire for praise or fear of punishment? 

116

Study Questions: 

• Parse ferent. 
• Identify and explain the case of dies et noctes. 
• What kind of ablative is ulla re? 
• What kind of accusative is multos annos? 
• Parse cogitarat. 

Stylistic Appreciation: 

• What is the rhetorical effect of Cicero’s penchant for asyndetic enumerations in this paragraph? (See esp. ingenium, ratio, memoria, litterae, cura, cogitatio, diligentia and muneribus, monumentis, congiariis, epulis, but also magno labore, magnis periculis and suos praemiis, adversarios clementiae specie.) 
• What are your thoughts on Cicero’s repeated use of the attribute magnus? (res ... at tamen magnas, magno labore, magnis periculis)?
• After concluding two sentences with the verb (effecerat; delenierat), why does Cicero depart from standard word order in the last sentence and lead with the verb (attulerat)? 

Discussion Points: 

• Does Cicero get his assessment of Caesar right? 
• What accounts for the rise of autocratic demagogues? Are they born or made? 

117

Study Questions: 

• What kind of ablatives are cupiditate and ceteris ... rebus? 
• What are the subject and the verb of the sentence starting sed ex plurimis malis...? 
• What kind of ablative is ab illo? 
• Parse inusta. 
• What does the genitive boni depend on? 
• Explain the syntax of satis. 
• What kind of ablatives are re, beneficio, and fama? 
• Parse ferent. 

Stylistic Appreciation: 

• What do the stylistic devices on display here, such as alliteration or asyndetic tricola, contribute to the tone of the passage? 

Discussion Points: 

• Do you share Cicero’s view of tyrannicide? 
• ‘We don’t get fooled again’. This passage is often thought to be the nub of the whole speech. Does it read that way? 

118

Study Questions: 

• What tense is curretur? 
• Why are ortus sis and vivas in the subjunctive? 
• Parse considera. 
• How are we to construe mecum? 
• Parse voles. 
• Parse redi. 
• Parse videris. 
• Parse defendi. 
• Parse obtulerim and explain the mood. 

Stylistic Appreciation: 

• What is the rhetorical effect of the impersonal passive curretur? 
• How does Cicero pile pressure on Antony? 

Discussion Points: 

• What do you think of Cicero’s self-promotion, i.e. that he has led a life devoted to selfless service to the state? 
• Would you sacrifice your life for the welfare of the state? 
• What do you make of Cicero’s birth imagery?

119

Study Questions: 

• What kind of accusative is annos ... viginti? 
• Parse consulari and seni and explain how they fit into the syntax of the sentence. 
• What kind of ablative is quanto? 
• What kind of dative is mihi? 
• Parse perfuncto and explain how it fits into the sentence. 
• Identify and explain the case of hoc (mihi maius). 

Stylistic Appreciation: 

• Discuss the effect of the numerous reiterations of the same word (negavi / negabo; mortem immaturam / mors; optanda ... est / opto; cuique / quisque) in the final paragraph. 
• Explore Cicero’s pregnant use of the letter ‘m’ in this paragraph (mortem immaturam; mihi [... optanda] mors [est]; moriens; mihi maius [ab dis] immortalibus). How does sound reinforce sense? 

Discussion Points: 

• Did Cicero reap what he sowed? 
• Should Antony have got the message?