( c) non stipendiis sed triumphis est erudita.Ĭicero starts by posing a rhetorical question ( quis … debuit?) that demands the obvious answer: ‘nobody’. (iv) cuius adulescentia ad scientiam rei militaris ( a) non alienis praeceptis sed suis imperiis, ( b) non offensionibus belli sed victoriis, ( c) plures provincias confecit quam alii concupiverunt ( b) plura bello gessit quam ceteri legerunt, ( a) saepius cum hoste conflixit quam quisquam cum inimico concertavit, ( b) ineunte adulescentia maximi ipse exercitus imperator

( a) extrema pueritia miles in exercitu fuit summi imperatoris,

( b) ad patris exercitum atque in militiae disciplinam profectus est ( a) e ludo atque e pueritiae disciplinis bello maximo atque acerrimis hostibus ¶ 5 Leave a comment on paragraph 5 0 quis igitur hoc homine scientior umquam aut fuit aut esse debuit? Accordingly, watch out for comparative forms: they make a frequent appearance! In § 28 alone, there are four: scientior, saepius, plura, and plures – all designed to illustrate Pompey’s unparalleled knowledge of military matters. He does so from here on out by means of a systematic ‘compare and contrast’ that pitches Pompey against an anonymous collective of ‘everyone else’. After setting out his ideal, Cicero proceeds to look for it in reality. Cicero moves from knowledge based on experience ( scientia rei militaris) to innate ability/personal qualities/overall excellence ( virtus) to impact on/perception by others in socio-political settings ( auctoritas) to endorsement/support from the gods ( felicitas). ¶ 4 Leave a comment on paragraph 4 0 scientiam rei militaris, virtutem, auctoritatem, felicitatem: an asyndetic list that is arranged climactically. res here means something akin to ‘qualities’. has is thus best translated ‘the following’. scientiam rei militaris, virtutem, auctoritatem, felicitatem stand in apposition to quattuor has res. One could say in English ‘as follows’, but this would be a bit cumbersome. ¶ 3 Leave a comment on paragraph 3 0 Ego enim sic existimo, in summo imperatore quattuor has res inesse oportere: scientiam rei militaris, virtutem, auctoritatem, felicitatem: the sic sets up the indirect statement in summo imperatore quattuor has res inesse oportere: see OLD s.v. Pompey thereby emerges as the living embodiment of the perfect general. (Note the unequal distribution: scientia militaris receives 1 paragraph, virtus 14, auctoritas 4, and felicitas 2: is there a rationale for this?) Throughout, he aims to demonstrate that it is impossible to imagine anyone possessing any of these qualities to a higher degree than Pompey – let alone all four together.

The first quality in the list, scientia rei militaris, which is also the least complex, receives the briefest coverage: Cicero deals with it in the rest of § 28, before moving on to virtus (§§ 29-42), auctoritas (§§ 43-46), and felicitas (§§ 47-48). These attributes serve Cicero as blueprint for the rest of §§ 28-49. His summus imperator has four essential attributes – scientia rei militaris (‘knowledge of military affairs’), virtus (‘overall excellence’), auctoritas (‘commanding prestige’ or ‘authority’), and felicitas (‘divine blessing’). In the first sentence of the paragraph, he defines, in the abstract, his ideal of the consummate military leader or perfect general. To do so, he briefly switches registers: he theorizes. EXPERIENCEĬicero now explicates the reasons for his judgement that Pompey has outperformed both his contemporaries and the Romans of old. ¶ 1 Leave a comment on paragraph 1 0 28: THE PERFECT GENERAL, POMPEY THE KID, AND MR.

Imperator rome cicero