Pro S. Roscio Amerino

96 CICERO : PRO ROSCIO. [CH. XXV.
unique penalty for parricide, showed themselves much wiser than
Solon.
[See Index for Solon.]
Ch. XXV.— 1. itaque : this belongs in sense to the words singulare
suppliciiun invenerunt. Logically, the whole sentence would run :
itaque maiores nostri in impios singulare suppUcium invenerunt,
qvxyrum consilium et sapientia cum muUis ex rebus, tum ex hac re
intelligi potest ; but the original construction of the sentence is
altered, owing to the reference to other nations, which is intended
to introduce the comparison with the Athenians. multis ex rebus :
" from many other things."
6. prudentissima ; predicative, completing the meaning of
fuisse.
7. dum ea reriim potita est; "so long as it enjoyed the Bupremacy,"
i.e. over Greece. The Athenian supremacy or "Hegemony"
lasted frora 478 to 404 B.c. potita est ; potior is rare in the sense of
" to be in possession of anything." Dvm, meaning " all the time
that," as here, takes a past tense in historic sequence ; in the meaning
of "during the time that" it takes the present indicative,
whatever the sequence.
9. quibus bodie quoque utuntur : Greece had been placed, since
its subjugation in 146 b.c, under the general supervision of the
govemor of the province of Macedonia ; but Athens, Sparta, and
some other states were liberae civitates and preserved their autonomy,
including the right of jurisdietion.
10. scripserit ; subjunctive in dependence on an accusative and
infinitive phrase. Halm proposes scripsit for the MSS. reading
scripserit. Utuntur is indicative, though dependent on the subjunctive
scripserit, since it occurs in a relative olause introduced by
Cicero for the benefit of his hearers (cp. 24, 12).
11. necasset ; subjunctive in a clause dependent on the subjunctive
clause cur . . . constituisset, which is a dependent question ;
necasset represents the future perfeet indicative (necaverit) of direct
speech.
13. sanxerit . . . videretur : the time of the direct statement is
retained (Solon de eo nihil sanxit, ne videretur).
17. supplicium in parricidas singulare ; the Lex Cornelia de
sicariis et veneficis whieh established the quaestio inter sicarios,
before wbich Roscius was tried, had special clauses relating to
parricidium ; it provided that for this offence the old poena cullei
(line 20) should be enforced (Introd. § 8) ; it ahoprobably ordained
that the trial of so unnatural a crime sliould take place extra
ordinem, i.e. apart from the regular list of criminal cases.
19. potuisset ; "had not been able " ; the pluperfect is used
because the action represented in potuisset (i.e. the murder itself)
comes in time before the consideration of thepena.lty (submoverentur).
The subjunctive is due to the clause being dependent on a subjunctive
dependent clause.