IUGLANTES VITAI FERIMUS

1. LATIN IUGLANTES VITAI FERIMUS CLODIA (extract from Cicero pro Caelio) GCSE Type Questions These are not exhaustive ~ they are designed to give you some ideas about the sorts of things you need to be thinking about. Suggestion: on each slide start by ensuring that you know what the Latin means!

2. LATIN IUGLANTES VITAI FERIMUS CLODIA From Cicero Pro Caelio cum ex nobili genere in familiam clarissimam nupsisses, cur tibi Caelius tam coniunctus fuit? Click here for translation Who is Cicero speaking to here? Clodia who has allegedly arranged for Caelius to be prosecuted. Who is the Caelius referred to here? He had been Clodia’s lover and had dumped her. She allegedly had then arranged for a prosecution of him in revenge. He was from a middle ranking family. Why does Cicero sound surprised that Caelius was “so close/intimate” with the lady? Caelius’ father was an eques and came from the provinces. Caelius went up the political career ladder but was clearly not from one of the top families. Clodia on the other hand came from one of the most ancient and most noble of Roman families (ex nobili genere) and had married well (in familiam clarissimam); therefore to Cicero it would be surprising in normal circumstances for Clodia to be involved with Caelius – but as Cicero is trying to point out, she is a sex-crazed middle aged woman who is not fussy who she goes with.

3. LATIN IUGLANTES VITAI FERIMUS CLODIA From Cicero Pro Caelio cum ex nobili genere in familiam clarissimam nupsisses, cur tibi Caelius tam coniunctus fuit? Comment on the opening clause: “cum … nupsisses”; what is the effect on the jury Cicero is aiming for? Cicero starts by stressing through the use of nobili (noble) and clarissimam (very well known) just how high status Clodia is, both in her own ancestry (genere) and also in the family into which she married or was married (familiam). Having set the scene like this and underlined so hard how high status she is, his question: “why then was she so involved with Caelius” (the son of an eques, a provincial from Interamna) provides even more contrast and makes her actions even more puzzling to a Roman for whom status and family are absolutely at the top of the list; one guesses that a Roman man would find it odd that a woman would endanger status and family as Clodia did in order to indulge her penchant for younger men, for, as it were, “a bit of rough”!

4. LATIN IUGLANTES VITAI FERIMUS CLODIA From Cicero Pro Caelio neque enim cognatus fuit neque mariti tui amicus. Click here for translation What are the two points Cicero makes about Caelius’ relationship to Clodia? (1)He was not related to her; (2) He was not a friend of her husband. These are the two circumstances in which it would be appropriate for a male to be close to a married woman. Comment on the repetition of neque ~ what is the effect Cicero is trying to make? He uses the double neque to make more emphatic the absence of the two conditions on which Caelius could have been close to Clodia and thereby he highlights the puzzling nature of the liaison between Clodia, the high status lady, and Caelius, a middle of the road, “middle class” citizen.

5. LATIN IUGLANTES VITAI FERIMUS CLODIA From Cicero Pro Caelio quid igitur fuit nisi quaedam temeritas ac libido? Click here for translation Explain what Cicero means by temeritas and libido temeritas is rashness, heedlessness, lack of thought – quite the opposite of the thoughtful deliberation with which a Roman should behave. libido is selfish passion – very unacceptable in a society in which mutual support and co-operation is the glue that holds the society together. Why does Cicero use these words to describe the relationship between Caelius and Clodia? In order to show that his client, Caelius, is an injured party who is being vindictively harrassed by a spurned Clodia, he needs to paint a picture of a Clodia who is “out of control”, does not follow “the social rules and expectations”, is “out of order”, does not behave in the ways considered acceptable for a high status married woman. Using these two words, which express everything that a respectable, high status, married Roman woman was not, helps to emphasise and sharpen that picture.

6. LATIN IUGLANTES VITAI FERIMUS CLODIA From Cicero Pro Caelio Click here for translation accusatores quidem libidines, amores, adulteria, Baias, convivia, cantus, navigia iactant; affirmantque se nihil te invita dicere. The list of accusations about Caelius’ behaviour ~ how does Cicero use language to emphasise the awfulness of the alleged behaviours by Caelius? The use of asyndeton – no connectives – helps to keep the list tight and sharp; one can imagine Cicero emphasising each item with perhaps a chop of the hand. Baiae ~ where is it? Why does it appear in this list? Down on the Bay of Naples – the area where Vesuvius is, the summer holiday destination of well off Romans. It had a reputation as a lively place where the restraints of life in the capital, Rome, could be put aside for a while! So it fits well in a list of unrespectable behaviours.

7. LATIN IUGLANTES VITAI FERIMUS CLODIA From Cicero Pro Caelio accusatores quidem libidines, amores, adulteria, Baias, convivia, cantus, navigia iactant; affirmantque se nihil te invita dicere. Translate: “affirmantque se nihil te invita dicere”. And they declare that they are saying nothing with you unwilling/ without your agreement. What point is Cicero trying to make by saying this? He is backing Clodia into a corner. His argument: If she is agreeing to these statements about Caelius’ behaviour, she must be equally guilty of them since she was with him and involved with him; He goes on to make two more points in the argument: If she denies the truth of the allegations, then the case against Caelius collapses If she admits that her accusation and her evidence are not trustworthy, she loses any credibility.

8. LATIN IUGLANTES VITAI FERIMUS CLODIA From Cicero Pro Caelio Click here for translation has accusationes, quas tu insane in forum inque iudicium deferri voluisti, aut refutare te oportet aut fateri nihil credendum esse neque crimini tuo neque testimonio. Why does Cicero say that Clodia is acting insane? As he has just pointed out, whichever way she plays it, pressing the charge against Caelius or denying it all happened, she can only lose; therefore her behaviour, her decisions, are crazy because in her vindictiveness she did not think through the consequences of her actions. What are the two alternatives that Cicero offers Clodia? She can either deny the accusations which crazily she wanted brought into the forum (i.e. “the public domain”) and into the law court or she must confess that no trust can be placed either in the charge she is making (against Caelius) or in her evidence.

9. LATIN IUGLANTES VITAI FERIMUS CLODIA From Cicero Pro Caelio has accusationes, quas tu insane in forum inque iudicium deferri voluisti, aut refutare te oportet aut fateri nihil credendum esse neque crimini tuo neque testimonio. Comment on the effect that Cicero creates by repeating neque towards the end of the sentence. Like the earlier example neque cognatus…. neque amicus…; the emphasis here is how completely discredited Clodia is – imagine Cicero spitting out these neques. The point Cicero is making is emphasised even more by being preceded by another pair of alternatives: aut refutare …. aut fateri..

10. LATIN IUGLANTES VITAI FERIMUS CLODIA From Cicero Pro Caelio Click here for translation vicinum iuvenem conspexisti; candor eius te et proceritas, vultus oculique pepulerunt; saepius videre voluisti; fuisti non numquam in eisdem hortis; What are the things about Caelius that attracted Clodia? The dazzling whiteness of his skin, his height, his face/ expression and his eyes. Comment on Cicero’s use of language in this section, as he describes Clodia trying to ensnare Caelius. Four short unornamented sentences – conspexisti, pepulerunt, voluisti, fuisti - convey the speed and the intensity of Clodia’s attempt to “pull” Caelius; also two pairs of words – candor et proceritas and vultus oculique – give a little elegant symmetry to the picture of Clodia being love struck The double negative of non numquam (not never = “quite a lot”) underlines and emphasises how often she arranged to “bump into” Caelius in public gardens.

11. LATIN IUGLANTES VITAI FERIMUS CLODIA From Cicero Pro Caelio Click here for translation tu, femina nobilis, vis illum filium patris parci ac tenacis habere tuis divitiis devinctum; Why does Cicero describe Clodia as femina nobilis at this point in his speech? He has built up a picture for us of an immoral and sexually charged woman – here he reminds the jury that she is a noblewoman and that should imply restraint and modesty of behaviour; that phrase helps to “put the knife in”. How does Cicero describe Caelius’ father? Suggest reasons why. He describes Caelius’ father as parcus (miserly) and tenax (stingy, hanging on to his money). Cicero is suggesting that Caelius had never had much money because his father was stingy, so he was dazzled by the wealth that Clodia was offering him and ensnaring him with (divitiis devinctum). Therefore the fault if there is one lies with Clodia’s immoral use of her wealth rather than with Caelius who was a pawn in her game.

12. LATIN IUGLANTES VITAI FERIMUS CLODIA From Cicero Pro Caelio tu, femina nobilis, vis illum filium patris parci ac tenacis habere tuis divitiis devinctum; Comment on the sounds Cicero uses in the last two words; what effect is he trying to get? The pairings of the ‘d’ and the ‘v’ in both the words makes for a very emphatic end to the sentence and underlines the way Clodia ensnares young men with her wealth; try saying the words aloud! What point is Cicero making about Clodia with the last three words – tuis divitiis devinctum That Clodia has huge wealth and she uses it for immoral purposes to entice younger men to be her lovers. Not quite “Desperate Housewives” but getting close! In Clodia’s world wealth is not something you should flaunt too openly – remember that senators and generally people of that class should not engage in business: money making is something best left to the equites.

13. LATIN IUGLANTES VITAI FERIMUS CLODIA From Cicero Pro Caelio non potes; calcitrat, respuit, non putat tua dona esse tanti; confer te alio. Click here for translation Cicero is addressing Clodia and describing Caelius’ rejection of her; how does Cicero use sounds to emphasise his contempt for her? From what he has said we know his view of Clodia and therefore his approval of Caelius’ action in rejecting her. The letter ‘p’ is repeated three times: potes, respuit, putat; very useful for Cicero to be able to “spit out” (try it!) these words to show his utter contempt for Clodia.

14. LATIN IUGLANTES VITAI FERIMUS CLODIA From Cicero Pro Caelio emisti hortos prope Tiberim, in eo loco quo omnes iuvenes natandi causa veniunt. Click here for translation Translate this sentence. You have bought gardens near the Tiber, in that place to which all the young men come to swim. How does this point support the case that Cicero is trying to make about Clodia? He has established that her relationship with Caelius was libido – lust. He has alleged that she was involved in the goings on in Baiae and elsewhere – lust again. He has alleged that she fancied Caelius because of his beauty – lust again; he alleges that she used her wealth quite wrongly to dazzle and entice him into a relationship. The point here of her buying a place so she could spy on naked young men widens Cicero’s point – the lust and inappropriate behaviour is not just to do with Caelius, it is part of the woman’s nature.

15. LATIN IUGLANTES VITAI FERIMUS CLODIA From Cicero Pro Caelio Click here for translation hinc licet condiciones cotidie legas; cur huic, qui te spernit, molesta es? Who is huic? Caelius Cicero’s question “cur huic qui te spernit molesta es” is rhetorical – it is not really expecting an answer; explain why Cicero asks it nevertheless? Why are you annoying this man who rejects you?: the answer in Cicero’s mind is “ (a) because you are annoyed at being dumped by him and you cannot ‘move on’ and (b) you are an over-sexed middle aged woman”. He has already informed the jury that Clodia had bought gardens near the Tiber so that she could gawp at young men bathing and made the point that she can make as many ‘pick ups’ as she likes there;therefore the over-sexed middle aged woman is catered for; he wants the jury to conclude therefore from all this that Clodia has arranged for Caelius to be prosecuted because she is a vindictive, sad old ‘slapper’