edition.

_Cato maior_, or _de Senectute_, a dialogue placed in 150 B.C. in
which Cato, addressing Scipio and Laelius, set forth the praises of
old age. The idea is drawn from Aristo of Chios, and the materials
largely derived from Xenophon and Plato.

_Laelius_, or _de Amicitia_, a dialogue between Laelius and his
sons-in-law, in which he sets forth the theory of friendship, speaking
with special reference to the recent death of Scipio. Cicero here
draws from a work of Theophrastus on the same subject and from
Aristotle.

(iv.) _Letters._--Those preserved are (1) _ad Familiares_, i.-xvi.; (2)
_ad Atticum_, i.-xvi.; (3) _ad Quintum_, i.-iii., _ad Brutum_, i.-ii.
Some thirty-five other books of letters were known to antiquity, e.g. to
Caesar, to Pompey, to Octavian and to his son Marcus.

The collection includes nearly one hundred letters written by other
persons. Thus, the eighth Book _ad Fam._ consists entirely of letters
from Caelius to Cicero when in Cilicia. When writing to Atticus Cicero
frequently sent copies of letters which he had received. There is a
great variety in the style not only of Cicero's correspondents, but also
of Cicero himself. Caelius writes in a breezy, school-boy style; the
Latinity of Plancus is Ciceronian in character; the letter of Sulpicius
to Cicero on the death of Tullia is a masterpiece of style; Matius
writes a most dignified letter justifying his affectionate regard for
Caesar's memory. There is an amazingly indiscreet letter of Quintus to
his brother's freedman, Tiro, in which he says of the consuls-elect,
Hirtius and Pansa, that he would hesitate to put one of them in charge
of a village on the frontier, and the other in that of the basement of a
tavern (_Fam._ xvi. 27. 2). Several of his correspondents are
indifferent stylists. Cato labours to express himself in an awkward and
laconic epistle, apologizing for its length. Metellus Celer is very
rude, but gives himself away in every word. Antony writes bad Latin,
while Cicero himself writes in various styles. We have such a _cri de
coeur_ as his few words to one of the conspirators after Caesar's
murder, "I congratulate you. I rejoice for myself. I love you. I watch
your interests; I wish for your love and to be informed what you are
doing and what is being done" (_Fam._ vi. 15). When writing to Atticus
he eschews all ornamentation, uses short sentences, colloquial idioms,
rare diminutives and continually quotes