and the like. -- AT: there is an ellipsis here such
as 'those young men's muscles are powerful but ...'. This elliptic use of
_at_ is common in sudden exclamations of grief, annoyance, surprise etc. --
VERO: this is common in emphatic replies, whether the reply convey assent,
or, as here, a retort. The usage is well illustrated in Naegelsbach's
Stilistik, Sec. 197, 2. -- TAM: _sc. mortui sunt_. -- NUGATOR: _nugari_ =
[Greek: lerein], 'to trifle'. -- EX TE: Cato here identifies a man's person
with his soul and intellect, the body being regarded as a mere dress; cf.
Rep. 6, 26 _mens cuiusque is est quisque_. _Ex te_, literally, 'out of
yourself', _i.e._ 'from your real self's resources'. -- LATERIBUS: see n.
on 14. -- AELIUS: his _cognomen_ was Paetus; he was consul in 198, and
censor in 194 B.C. He was one of the earliest and most famous writers on
Roman Law. His great commentary on the XII tables is often referred to by
Cicero, who several times quotes Ennius' line about him. -- _egregie
cordatus homo catus Aelius Sextus_. -- TALE: _sc. dixit_. -- CORUNCANIUS:
n. on 15. -- P. CRASSUS: consul in 205 B.C. with the elder Africanus;
pontifex maximus from 212 to his death in 183. He was famous both as a
lawyer (see below, 50; also Liv. 30, 1, 5 _iuris pontifici peritissimus_)
and as a statesman (see 61). _Modo_ therefore covers a space of at least 33
years, so that it cannot well be translated by our 'lately'; say rather
'nearer our time'. The amount of time implied by _modo_ and _nuper_ depends
entirely on the context; for _modo_ see Lael. 6 with note, for _nuper_
below, n. on 61, where it is used of Crassus as _modo_ is here. --
PRAESCRIBEBANTUR: the meaning is that these lawyers practised in old age as
jurisconsults, _i.e._ according to old Roman custom, they gave audience in
the early hours of the day to all who chose to consult them about legal
difficulties. -- EST PROVECTA: literally 'was carried forward', _i.e._
'continued', 'remained'. Some wrongly take the phrase to mean 'made
progress', 'increased', a sense which would require the imperfect,
_provehebatur_. -- PRUDENTIA: here, as often, 'legal skill'.

28. ORATOR: emphatic position. -- SENECTUTE: causal ablative; not 'in age',
but 'owing to age'. -- OMNINO -- SED TAMEN: 'no doubt -- but still'.
_Omnino_ (literally, 'altogether') has two almost exactly opposite uses --
(1) the affirmative, cf. 9; (2) the concessive, which we have here and in
45. The circumstance which