, _b_; G. 208; H. 384, 5). A
neuter pronoun in the singular sometimes, as here, accompanies the passive,
and may be regarded as an adverbial accusative of respect or extent, or as
a nominative qualifying the impersonal subject. The former is probably the
real construction. Cf. Roby, 1423, and Madvig, 229, _b_, Obs. 1. --
SAMNITIBUS: then in alliance with Pyrrhus. -- VIXERAT ... CUM: not to be
taken literally of living in the same house; the phrase merely indicates
close friendship. In Acad. 2, 115 Cic. writes _Diodoto qui mecum vivit tot
annos, qui habitat apud me_, clearly showing that the phrases _vivere cum
aliquo_ and _habitare apud aliquem_ are not equivalent. -- P. DECIO: this
is P. Decius Mus, who at the battle of Sentinum in 295 gave his life as a
propitiatory offering to the powers of the unseen world, in order to bring
victory to the Roman arms. His father had sacrificed himself in the same
way at the battle of Veseris (close to Vesuvius) in 340, fought against the
Latins and Campanians. -- DEVOVERAT: Liv. 10, 28, 13 (speech of Decius)
_datum hoc: nostro generi est ut luendis periculis publicis piacula simus;
iam ego mecum hostium legiones mactandas Telluri et dis Manibus dabo_. --
ALIQUID etc.: 'some principle'; in his philosophical works Cicero often
confounds the Epicureans by quoting the action of the Decii and others like
it, as showing that pleasure is not the end of existence. Cf. especially
Fin. 2, 61 _P. Decius cum se devoverat et equo admisso in mediam aciem
Latinorum irruebat, aliquid de voluptatibus suis cogitabat?_ Cf. also
below, 75. With regard to _natura_ see n. on 5. -- SUA SPONTE: 'for its own
sake'; 'on its own account'. Cf. Leg. 1, 45 _vera et falsa sua sponte non
aliena iudicantur_, where a few lines later _sua natura_ occurs as
equivalent to _sua sponte_. -- EX PETERETUR: em. for _peteretur_ in the
MSS. The words _expetere_, _expetendum_ are technically used in Cicero's
philosophical works to express the Greek [Greek: haireisthai], [Greek:
haireton] as applied to the _finis_ or [Greek: telos], the supreme aim of
moral action. _Pulchrum_ above is a translation of the Greek [Greek:
kalon], a term constantly applied to the [Greek: telos], particularly by
the Stoics. -- SPRETA ET CONTEMPTA: the first word is much the stronger of
the two; _spernere_ is [Greek: kataphronein], 'to scorn'; _contemnere_
[Greek: oligoreisthai], 'to make light of', 'hold of no account'.
_Contemnere_ is often no stronge