[133] With greater arrogance than ever—Ferocius quam solitus erat.
[134] To Marcus Tullius Cicero—Cicero was now in his forty-third year, and had filled the office of quaestor, aedile, and praetor.
[135] A man of no family—Novus homo. A term applied to such as could not boast of any ancestor that had held any curule magistracy, that is, had been consul, praetor, censor, or chief aedile.
[136] XXIV. Manlius—He had been an officer in the army of Sylla, and, having been distinguished for his services, had been placed at the head of a colony of veterans settled about Faesulae: but he had squandered his property in extravagance. See Plutarch, Vit. Cic., Dio Cassius, and Appian.
[137] Faesulae—A town of Etruria, at the foot of the Appennines,
At evening from the top of Fesole,
Or in Valdarno to descry new lands, etc.
Par. L. i. 28.
[138] XXV. Sempronia—Of the same gens as the two Gracchi. She was the wife of Decimus Brutus.
[139] Sing, play, and dance—Psallere, saltare. As psallo signifies both to play on a musical instrument, and to sing to it while playing, I have thought it necessary to give both senses in the translation.
[140] By no means despicable—Haud absurdum. Compare, Bene dicere haud absurdum est, c. 8.
[141] She was distinguished, etc.—Multae facetiae, multusque lepos inerat. Both facetiae and lepos mean "agreeableness, humor, pleasantry," but lepos here seems to refer to diction, as in Cic. Orat. i. 7: Magnus in jocando lepos.