[§66]. Turpissimum: cf. I. [45], N.D. I. 1. Opiner: opinio or δοξα is judgment based on insufficient grounds. Sed quaerimus de sapiente: cf. [115], T.D. IV. 55, 59 also De Or. III. 75 non quid ego sed quid orator. Magnus ... opinator: Aug. Contra Acad. III. 31 qu. this passage wrongly as from the Hortensius. He imitates it, ibid. I. 15 magnus definitor. Qua fidunt, etc.: these lines are part of Cic.'s Aratea, and are quoted in N.D. II. 105, 106. Phoenices: the same fact is mentioned by Ovid, Fasti III. 107, Tristia IV. 3, 1. Sed Helicen: the best MSS. om. ad, which Orelli places before Helicen. Elimatas: the MSS. are divided between this and limatas. Elimare, though a very rare word occurs Ad Att. XVI. 7, 3. Visis cedo: cf. n. on [38]. Vim maximam: so summum munus is applied to the same course of action in D.F. III. 31. Cogitatione: "idea". Temeritate: cf. I. [42], De Div. I. 7, and the charge of προπετεια constantly brought against the dogmatists by Sext. Praepostere: in a disorderly fashion, taking the wrong thing first.
[§67]. Aliquando ... opinabitur: this of course is only true if you grant the Academic doctrine, nihil posse percipi. Secundum illud ... etiam opinari: it seems at first sight as though adsentiri and opinari ought to change places in this passage, as Manut. proposes. The difficulty lies in the words secundum illud, which, it has been supposed, must refer back to the second premiss of Arcesilas' argument. But if the passage be translated thus, "Carneades sometimes granted as a second premiss the following statement, that the wise man sometimes does opine" the difficulty vanishes. The argument of Carneades would then run thus, (1) Si ulli rei, etc. as above, (2) adsentietur autem aliquando, (3) opinabitur igitur.
[§68]. Adsentiri quicquam: only with neuter pronouns like this could adsentiri be followed by an accusative case. Sustinenda est: εφεκτεον. Iis quae possunt: these words MSS. om. Tam in praecipiti: for the position of in cf. n. on I. [25]. The best MSS. have here tamen in. Madv. altered tamen to tam in n. on D.F. V. 26. The two words are often confused, as in T.D. IV. 7, cf. also n. on I. [16]. Sin autem, etc.: cf. the passage of Lactantius De Falsa Sapientia III. 3, qu. by P. Valentia (p. 278 of Orelli's reprint) si neque sciri quicquam potest, ut Socrates docuit, neque opinari, oportet, ut Zeno, tota philosophia sublata est. Nitamur ... percipi: "let us struggle to prove the proposition, etc." The construction is, I believe, unexampled so that I suspect hoc, or some such word, to have fallen out between igitur and nihil.
[§69]. Non acrius: one of the early editions omits non while Goer. reads acutius and puts a note of interrogation at defensitaverat. M. Em. 161 points out the absurdity of making Cic. say that the old arguments of Antiochus in favour of Academicism were weaker than his new arguments against it. Quis enim: so Lamb. for MSS. quisquam enim. Excogitavit: on interrogations not introduced by a particle of any kind see Madv. Gram. 450. Eadem dicit: on the subject in hand, of course. Taken without this limitation the proposition is not strictly true, see n. on [132]. Sensisse: = iudicasse, n. on I. [22]. Mnesarchi ... Dardani: see Dict. Biogr.
[§70]. Revocata est: Manut. here wished to read renovata, cf. n. on I. [14]. Nominis dignitatem, etc.: hence Aug. Contra Acad. III. 41 calls him foeneus ille Platonicus Antiochus (that tulchan Platonist). Gloriae causa: cf. Aug. ibid. II. 15 Antiochus gloriae cupidior quam veritatis. Facere dicerent: so Camerarius for the MSS. facerent. Sustinere: cf. [115] sustinuero Epicureos. Sub Novis: Faber's brilliant em. for the MSS. sub nubes. The Novae Tabernae were in the forum, and are often mentioned by Cic. and Livy. In De Or. II. 266 a story is told of Caesar, who, while speaking sub Veteribus, points to a "tabula" which hangs sub Novis. The excellence of Faber's em. may be felt by comparing that of Manut. sub nube, and that of Lamb. nisi sub nube. I have before remarked that b is frequently written in MSS. for v. Maenianorum: projecting eaves, according to Festus s.v. They were probably named from their inventor like Vitelliana, Vatinia etc.
[§71]. Quoque ... argumento: the sentence is anacoluthic, the broken thread is picked up by quod argumentum near the end. Utrum: the neuter pronoun, not the so called conjunction, the two alternatives are marked by ne and an. The same usage is found in D.F. II. 60, T.D. IV. 9, and must be carefully distinguished from the use of utrum ... ne ... an, which occurs not unfrequently in Cic., e g De Invent. II. 115 utrum copiane sit agri an penuria consideratur. On this point cf. M. Em. 163, Gram. 452, obs. 1, 2, Zumpt on Cic. Verr. IV. 73. Honesti inane nomen esse: a modern would be inclined to write honestum, in apposition to nomen, cf. D.F. V. 18 voluptatis alii putant primum appetitum. Voluptatem etc.: for the conversion of Dionysius (called ‛ο μεταθεμενος) from Stoicism to Epicureanism cf. T.D. II. 60, Diog. Laert. VII. 166—7. A vero: "coming from a reality," cf. [41], n. Is curavit: Goer. reads his, "solet V. D. in hoc pronomen saevire," says Madv. The scribes often prefix h to parts of the pronoun is, and Goer. generally patronises their vulgar error.
[§§72]—[78]. Summary. You accuse me of appealing to ancient names like a revolutionist, yet Anaxagoras, Democritus, and Metrodorus, philosophers of the highest position, protest against the truth of sense knowledge, and deny the possibility of knowledge altogether ([72], [73]). Empedocles, Xenophanes, and Parmenides all declaim against sense knowledge. You said that Socrates and Plato must not be classed with these. Why? Socrates said he knew nothing but his own ignorance, while Plato pursued the same theme in all his works ([74]). Now do you see that I do not merely name, but take for my models famous men? Even Chrysippus stated many difficulties concerning the senses and general experience. You say he solved them, even if he did, which I do not believe, he admitted that it was not easy to escape being ensnared by them ([75]). The Cyrenaics too held that they knew nothing about things external to themselves. The sincerity of Arcesilas may be seen thus ([76]). Zeno held strongly that the wise man ought to keep clear from opinion. Arcesilas agreed but this without knowledge was impossible. Knowledge consists of perceptions. Arcesilas therefore demanded a definition of perception. This definition Arcesilas combated. This is the controversy which has lasted to our time. Do away with opinion and perception, and the εποχη of Arcesilas follows at once ([77], [78]).
[§72]. De antiquis philosophis: on account of the somewhat awkward constr. Lamb. read antiquos philosophos. Popularis: cf. [13]. Res non bonas: MSS. om. non, which Or. added with two very early editions. Faber ingeniously supposed the true reading to be novas, which would be written nobas, and then pass into bonas. Nivem nigram: this deliverance of Anaxagoras is very often referred to by Sextus. In P.H. I. 33 he quotes it as an instance of the refutation of φαινομενα by means of νοουμενα, "Αναξαγορας τωι λευκην ειναι την χιονα, ανετιθει ‛οτι χιων εστιν ‛υδορ πεπηγος το δε ‛υδορ εστι μελαν και ‛η χιων αρα μελαινα." There is an obscure joke on this in Ad Qu. Fratrem II. 13, 1 risi nivem atram ... teque hilari animo esse et prompto ad iocandum valde me iuvat. Sophistes: here treated as the demagogue of philosophy. Ostentationis: = επιδειξεος.
[§73]. Democrito: Cic., as Madv. remarks on D.F. I. 20, always exaggerates the merits of Democr. in order to depreciate the Epicureans, cf. T.D. I. 22, De Div. I. 5, II. 139, N.D. I. 120, De Or. I. 42. Quintae classis: a metaphor from the Roman military order. Qui veri esse aliquid, etc.: cf. N.D. I. 12 non enim sumus ii quibus nihil verum esse videatur, sed ii qui omnibus veris falsa quaedam adiuncta dicamus. Non obscuros sed tenebricosos: "not merely dim but darkened." There is a reference here to the σκοτιη γνωσις of Democr., by which he meant that knowledge which stops at the superficial appearances of things as shown by sense. He was, however, by no means a sceptic, for he also held a γνησιη γνωσις, dealing with the realities of material existence, the atoms and the void, which exist ετεηι and not merely νομωι as appearances do. See R. and P. 51.
[§74]. Furere: cf. [14]. Orbat sensibus: cf. [61], and for the belief of Empedocles about the possibility of επιστημη see the remarks of Sextus A.M. VII. 123—4 qu. R. and P. 107, who say "patet errare eos qui scepticis adnumerandum Empedoclem putabant." Sonum fundere: similar expressions occur in T.D. III. 42, V. 73, D.F. II. 48. Parmenides, Xenophanes: these are the last men who ought to be charged with scepticism. They advanced indeed arguments against sense-knowledge, but held that real knowledge was attainable by the reason. Cf. Grote, Plato I. 54, Zeller 501, R. and P. on Xenophanes and Parmenides. Minus bonis: Dav. qu. Plut. De Audit. 45 A, μεμψαιτο δ' αν τις Παρμενιδου την στιχοποιιαν. Quamquam: on the proper use of quamquam in clauses where the verb is not expressed see M.D.F. V. 68 and cf. I. [5]. Quasi irati: for the use of quasi = almost cf. In Verr. Act. I. 22, Orat. 41. Aiebas removendum: for om. of esse see n. on I. [43]. Perscripti sunt: cf. n. on I. [16]. Scire se nihil se scire: cf. I. [16], [44]. The words referred to are in Plat. Apol. 21 εοικα γουν τουτου σμικρωι τινι αυτωι τουτωι σοφωτερος ειναι, ‛οτι α μη οιδα ουδε οιομαι ειδεναι, a very different statement from the nihil sciri posse by which Cic. interprets it (cf. R. and P. 148). That επιστημη in the strict sense is impossible, is a doctrine which Socrates would have left to the Sophists. De Platone: the doctrine above mentioned is an absurd one to foist upon Plato. The dialogues of search as they are called, while exposing sham knowledge, all assume that the real επιστημη is attainable. Ironiam: the word was given in its Greek form in [15]. Nulla fuit ratio persequi: n. on [17].