n oxymoron, but _argute_ need not only imply
_clearness_, it means merely "acutely". _Quantum possum_: some MSS. have
_quantam_, which is scarcely Latin, since in Cic. an accusative only
follows _nequeo_, _volo_, _malo_, _possum_, and such verbs when an
infinitive can be readily supplied to govern it. For _velle_ see a good
instance in _D.F._ III. 68, where consult Madv. _Constantiam_: the notions
of firmness, consistency, and clearness of mind are bound up in this word,
cf. II. 53. _Apud Platonem_: _Timaeus_, 47 B, often quoted or imitated by
Cic., cf. _De Leg._ I. 58, _Laelius_ 20, 47, _T.D._ I. 64.

Sec.8. _Id est ... jubeo_: these words have been naturally supposed a gloss.
But Cicero is nothing if not tautological; he is fond of placing slight
variations in phrase side by side. See some remarkable instances of
slightly varied phrases connected by _id est_ in _D.F._ I. 72, II. 6, 90. I
therefore hold Halm and Baiter to be wrong in bracketing the words. _Ea a_:
Lamb., objecting to the sound (which is indeed not like Cic.), would read
_e_ for _a_, which Halm would also prefer. _De_, _ab_, and _ex_ follow
_haurire_ indifferently in Cic. _Rivulos consectentur_: so Wordsworth, "to
hunt the waterfalls". The metaphor involved in _fontibus--rivulos_ is often
applied by Cic. to philosophy, see esp. a sarcastic passage about Epicurus
in _N.D._ I. 120. _Nihil enim magno opere_: _magno opere_ should be written
in two words, not as _magnopere_, cf. the phrases _maximo opere_, _nimio
opere_, the same holds good of _tanto opere_, _quanto opere_. _L. Aelii_:
MSS. _Laelii_. The person meant is L. Aelius Stilo or Praeconinus, the
master of Varro, and the earliest systematic grammarian of Rome. See
Quintil. _Inst. Or._ X. 1, 99, Gellius X. 21, Sueton. _Gramm._ 3.
_Occasum_: an unusual metaphor. _Menippum_: a Cynic satirist, see _Dict.
Biogr._ Considerable fragments of Varro's Menippean Satires remain, and
have often been edited--most recently by Riese (published by Teubner).
_Imitati non interpretati_: Cic. _D.F._ I. 7, gives his opinion as to the
right use to be made of Greek models. _+Quae quo_: these words are
evidently wrong. Halm after Faber ejects _quae_, and is followed by Baiter.
Varro is thus made to say that he stated many things dialectically, _in
order that_ the populace might be enticed to read. To my mind the fault
lies in the word _quo_, for which I should prefer to read _cum_ (=_quom_,
which would be written _quo_ in the