377 uni (sc. Catoni), as the only true representative of the wise man of the Stoics.—Haskins.
381 secta (sc. via, lit. a beaten way) here = disciplina = principles.
381-383 servare modum . . . mundo. These expressions are Stoic maxims. Lucan (the nephew of Seneca) depicts the Stoic idea of virtue in the character of Cato.
382-383 patriaeque . . . mundo. Cato’s aim is patriae impendere vitam. His devotion to the service of humanity is complete; it is his part toti genitum se credere mundo. But this humanity includes Rome in the first place, the rest of the world in a quite secondary sense.—H.
386-387 hirtam togam = a coarse (lit. hairy) toga.
389 honesti = τοῦ καλοῦ. Cicero defines honestum as aut ipsa virtus, aut res gesta virtute.
Cato Uticensis. ‘He was like Caesar alone in this, that he had clear political convictions and acted on them not only with consistency but with justice and humanity. It is “his vain faith and courage” that alone lights up the dark hours of the falling Commonwealth:—
’Victrix causa deis placuit, sed victa Catoni.’—W. F.