haec, i.e. all that is around us, the houses, temples, etc.
C. Caesaris, now praetor designatus.
recordatur, 'remembers.' Cicero suggests that the recollection influenced Silanus, not that he actually mentioned the precedents.
aut necessitatem, etc. Each aut still further qualifies the idea of death. So far from being a punishment, it is the common necessity of our nature, or may even sometimes be an actual benefit.
municipiis, 'provincial towns.' See [on 2. 24].
si velis. Subj. because contingency is expressed by 'habere videtur' (= 'habeat'), 'seems to have,' 'might have.' Cf. [1. 2] 'satisfacere videmur si vitemus.' The sense is: it would be unfair to order any town to undertake the duty, and difficult to induce any to do so if they merely asked it as a favour.
[§8].
Adiungit, sc. Caesar.
aut per senatum, etc., i.e. either by a 'senatus consultum,' or a 'lex' passed by the Comitia.
illi antiqui, the well-known writers of old time. The order of the words is 'illi antiqui voluerunt eius modi quaedam supplicia apud inferos impiis constituta esse.' voluerunt, lit. 'wished,' i.e. 'would have had us believe.' Cf. Virg. Aen. 1. 626 'Seque ortum antiqua Teucrorum ab stirpe volebat.' Contrast Cicero's language here (where he is speaking to a more intelligent audience) with that in [3. 18-22].