Pro S. Roscio Amerino

CH. I.] NOTES. 69
11. ne istius quidem : ne quidem = "not even," with the emphasised
word between ne and quidem. aliis : dative of indrect object
&lter praereptam, a verb of taking away.
12. praereptam : note the perfect, "to wish to have it snatched
away."
13. quia si quis . . . : there are four contrasted clauses, the first
two dependiog on qida, the last two on quod, andall four giving the
answer to quae res . . . impulit ? The four clauses are qiiia . . .
putaretur ; ego . . . poterit ; deinde quod . . . prudentiam ; ego . . .
poterit.
15. verbum: "a single word." re publica: "political events."
The defenders of Roscius would have been forced to allude to the
proscriptions, and this might have given offence to Sulla. See
Introd., §3.
16. dixisset: subjunctive in " sub-dependence " on the infinitive
dixisse, itself depending on putaretur.
17. si : =
etiamsi.
18. nequaquam . . . poterit: allusions made by distinguished
men to poUtical events would, when disseminated, be liable to
misinterpretation and distortion ; but no importance would attach
to those made by one who was young and coniparatively unknown.
21. temere : with dicto, " a careless remark." concedi : so.
potest.
have not yet entered
. 23. nondum ad rempublicam accessi : "I
|on public life," i.e. held a State otiice. Cicero was at this time
I (80 B.c.) in his twenty-seventh year, and he could not hold even the
f lowest magistracy (the quaestorship) till he was thirty. As a
t matter of fact, he became quaestor five years later (75 B.c), when
? he was in his thirty-second year.
24. tametsi, etc. : a bold allusion to the Sullan proscriptions,
when thousands were put to death without a trial. ignoscendi
ratio : "the old method of lenient judgment"; the periijhrasis
with the gerund is used here because there is no verbal noun from
ignosco, and the point of the reference to ignosci (line 23) would be
lost if the word for " pardon " were unconnected with ignosco.
25. cognoscendi consuetudo " : the haliit of careful investigation."
Cognoscendi refers to cognitio, thc teclinical expression for the investigation
(usually extraordinary) of a crime by a magistrate.
27. petitum sit : subjunctive (in an indirect question) after
forsitan, = fors sit an, " there would be a chance whether," i.e.
"perchance." It is really a double question with the first part
suppressed {an does not nierely = num), " it is a chance whether [it
may happen otherwise, or more probably] others may have ..."
ut . . . ut : the first tU introduces a dependent command, the second
(corresponding to ita) a consecutive clause. dicerent : sc. causam.
utrumvis " : one or the other," i.e. to undertake the defence
or to decline it. salvo officio : ablative of attendant circurastances,
" without any breach of obligation."
28. ii : the homines nobilissimi of line 2.