Sec.6. Illigari: “entangled” as though in something bad. For this use Forc. qu. Liv. XXXIII. 21, Tac. Ann. XIII. 40. Aut ludicros sermones: = aut clar. vir. serm. ludic. esse oporteat. Rerum leviorum: a similar argument in D.F. I. 12. Quodam in libro: the Hortensius. Gradu: so the word “degree” was once used, e.g. “a squire of low degree” in the ballad. De opera publica detrahamus: the dative often follows this verb, as in D.F. III. 7 nihil operae reipublicae detrahens, a passage often wrongly taken. Operae is the dat. after the verb, not the gen. after nihil, reip. the gen. after operae, like opera publica here, not the dat. after detrahens. Nisi forensem: the early oratorical works may fairly be said to have this character; scarcely, however, the De Republica or the De Leg. both of which fall within the period spoken of. Ut plurimis prosimus: cf. Introd. p. 29. Non modo non minui, sed: notice non modo ... sed thrice over in two sentences.
Sec.7. Sunt ... qui negent: and truly, see Introd. p. 38. In Cat. Mai. Sec.3 Cic. actually apologises for making Cato more learned than he really was. Mortuis: Catulus died in 60, Lucullus about 57, Hortensius 50. Contra omnis dicere quae videntur: MSS. mostly insert qui between dicere and quae, one of the best however has dicere quae aliis as a correction, while another has the marginal reading qui scire sibi videntur. The omission of qui, which I conjectured, but now see occurs in a MS. (Pal. 2) referred to by Halm, gives admirable sense. Verum invenire: cf. 60. Contentione: = [Greek: philoneikia] as usual. In ... rebus obscuritas: cf. I. 44 rerum obscuritate. Infirmitas: cf. I. 44 imbecillos animos. Antiquissimi et doctissimi: on the other hand recentissima quaeque sunt correcta et emendata maxime I. 13. Diffisi: one of the best MSS. has diffissi, which reminds one of the spelling divisssiones, asserted to be Ciceronian in Quint. Inst. Or. I. 7, 20. In utramque partem: [Greek: ep’ amphotera], cf. I. 45. Exprimant: “embody,” cf. n. on I. 19.