[Footnote 47: It is impossible to give the force of the original here, which plays on the word tabula. The Latin is, "vindicem enim novarum tabularum novam tabulam vidimus," novae tabulae meaning as is well known a law for the abolition of debts, nova tabula in the singular an advertisement of (Trebellius's) property being to be sold.]
[Footnote 48: Here too is a succession of puns. Lysidicus is derived from the Greek [Greek: lyo] to loosen and [Greek: dikae], justice. Cimber is a proper name, and also means one of the nation of the Cimbri, Germanus is a German, and germanus a brother, and he means here to impute to Caius Cimber that he had murdered his brother.]
[Footnote 49: Compare St Paul,—"For if the trumpet give an uncertain sound, who shall prepare himself to the battle?" 1 Cor. xiv 8.]
[Footnote 50: That is, without being crucified like a slave.]
[Footnote 51: The Latin here is "Itaque Caesaris munera rosit,"—playing on the name mus, mouse; but Orellius thinks the whole passage corrupt, and indeed there is evident corruption in the text here in many places.]
[Footnote 52: He means Lucius Aemilius Paullus, and Caius Claudius
Marcellus, who were consuls the year after Servius Sulpicius and
Marcus Claudius Marcellus, A.U.C. 704.]
[Footnote 53: These two were tribunes of the people, who had been dispossessed of their offices by Julius Caesar.]
[Footnote 54: There is some difficulty here. Many editors propose to read "offen lerint" which Orellius thinks would hardly be Latin. He says, "Antonius is here speaking of those veterans who had deserted him indeed but who, at the time of his writing this letter, had not acted against him". Therefore, he says it is open to them to become reconciled to him again (wishing to conciliate them, and to alarm his enemies). On the other hand, Cicero replies, Nothing is so open to them now as to do what their duty to the republic requires. That is to say, openly to attack you, whose party they have already abandoned.]
[Footnote 55: There were two wine feasts, Vinalia, at Rome: the vinalia urbano, celebrated on the twenty-third of April; and the vinalia rustica, on the nineteenth of October. This was the urbana vinalia; on which occasion the wine casks which had been filled in the autumn were tasted for the first time.]
[Footnote 56: There is much dispute as to who is meant here. Some say
Cicero refers to Amphion, some to Orpheus, and some to Mercury; the
Romans certainly did attribute the civilization of men to Mercury, as
Horace says—