Accusative and infinitive (indirect statement)

After verbs of saying, thinking, knowing and perceiving, Latin reports a statement as an accusative subject with an infinitive verb; translate it as a "that" clause.

Examples

• nec laedi posse me ab horum ullo compertum habeo 2.1and I have found that I cannot be harmed by any of them
• sed et praescriptum esse tibi temporis terminum 2.4but also that a limit of time has been set for you
• graviora esse quae per cupidinem, quam quae per iram admittuntur 2.10that the sins committed through desire are more serious than those committed through anger
• nec ullam aliam vitam ab ea, quam degit, amittere quenquam 2.14that no one loses any other life than the one he is living

In the text 255

• I.1 Ab avo meo Vero accepisse agnosco, moris esse candidi, et ab iracundia alieni.agnosco "I acknowledge" introduces an indirect statement with the perfect infinitive accepisse "to have received". Its subject, me "that I", is left out because it is the same person as the subject of agnosco: "I acknowledge (that I) received". Only here is the verb of receiving written out; in the sections that follow it is mostly left out and must be supplied.
• I.7 A Rustico, quod in eam cogitationem devenerim, morum correctione curationeque indigere me:eam "this" points forward: the thought is spelled out by the accusative and infinitive indigere me "that I needed". indigere takes the ablative of the thing needed: correctione curationeque "correction and treatment".
• I.8 adhaec, quod in ipso, tanquam in exemplari vivo, evidenter cernere licuit, posse eundem, prout occasiones se dabant, et vehementissimum et remissum esse.What could be seen is an accusative and infinitive: eundem "the same man" is the subject of posse "could", and vehementissimum and remissum agree with it as predicates of esse: "that the same man could be both very intense and relaxed". et … et "both … and".
• I.8 quodque hominem viderim, qui peritiam suam et in theorematibus tradendis solertiam, bonorum suorum minimum existimare se, palam faceret.Read it from the end. palam faceret "he made plain"; what he made plain is an accusative and infinitive, existimare se "that he considered". The objects of existimare stand first, peritiam suam et … solertiam "his experience and his skill", and minimum "the least" is the predicate: he thought them the least of bonorum suorum "his good things". minimum is neuter, "the least thing", though the nouns are feminine.
• I.12 Ab Alexandro Platonico, ne crebro, neve nisi necessitate adactus, aut dicto aut scripto significem alicui, non vacare me:What Marcus is not to tell people is an accusative and infinitive: non vacare me "that I am not free", i.e. "that I have no time"; vacare is "to be empty, to have leisure". The subjunctive significem is present, as if the understood verb were "I have learned"; in §13 Gataker will use the imperfect.
• I.15 adhaec quod ita se gerebat, ut fidem quibusvis faceret; quaecunque diceret, ex animi sententia dixisse; quaecunque faceret, animo haud malo fecisse.
• I.15 quod nemo quisquam inventus sit, qui vel contemptui ab illo haberi se existimaret, vel praestantiorem se illo opinaretur.
• I.16 acclamationes omnemque adulationem reprimere: imperio quae necessaria erant, sedulo custodire; sumptus caute attemperare; de rebus istiusmodi sugillantes patienter sustinere.For these items Gataker drops back to infinitives, as after "(I saw) him …": "(I saw him) check acclamations, guard …, keep spending in measure, bear patiently …". Their subject, eum, the father, is understood.
• I.17 quod principi patrique eidem subditus fuerim, qui me a fastu omni alienum redderet; fidemque faceret, posse in aula ita degi, ut nec satellitio, nec vestitu insigniore, nec funalibus statuisque istiusmodi, atque apparatu consimili opus sit:fidem facere 'to create belief, convince' takes the accusative and infinitive, like a verb of saying. Here posse has no subject but the impersonal passive degi: 'that it can be lived', 'that one can live, at court'.
• I.17 sed posse eum, qui rebus praeest, ita contrahere sese, ut ad privati speciem proxime accedat, nec propterea tamen, vel demissius, vel remissius se gerat in eis, quae pro republica ad morem imperatorium sunt exequenda.This is still what the ruler convinced him of (fidem faceret): the accusative eum with the infinitive posse, 'but that he who is at the head of affairs can draw himself in'. praeesse 'to be in charge of' takes the dative rebus.
• I.17 quod progressus non fecerim ampliores in rhetorica, poetica, studiisque aliis ejusmodi, quae me forsan praepeditum detinuissent, si in eis me feliciter profecisse sensissem.Accusative and infinitive after sensissem: 'that I had made good progress'. profecisse is from proficio 'to advance', not from proficiscor 'to set out' (whose participle profectas comes below).
• I.17 quod nutritios meos ad honores, quod expetere ipsi videbantur mihi, mature evexerim, nec spe distulerim, cum juvenes adhuc essent, deinceps id facturum me.differre aliquem is 'to put someone off'. spe 'with the hope' is spelled out by the accusative and infinitive deinceps id facturum me, with esse understood: 'with the hope that I would do it later'. The cum clause in between belongs to that hope: 'since they were still young'.
• I.17 quod, quotiescunque animus fuit pauperi alicui, aut alias indigo, opem ferre, nunquam responsum est, non suppetere nummos mihi, unde id fieret:responsum est 'it was answered' is an impersonal passive that introduces an accusative and infinitive: 'I was never told that I did not have the money'. As with obtigere above, the verb of the quod clause is indicative: Gataker gives this item as a plain fact.
• II.1 nec laedi posse me ab horum ullo compertum habeo; (neque enim inhonesta re aliqua me quisquam involverit) sed nec succensere congeneri possum, eumve odisse.compertum habeo "I hold as found out", i.e. "I know for certain", takes an accusative and infinitive: me … posse "that I can". The nec at the head of the clause belongs in sense to posse: "that I cannot be harmed".
• II.2 tu ergo sic tecum: senex es: partem tui principem servire ulterius ne siveris; sed nec motibus a communione humana alienis raptari, nec quicquam, quod fato destinatum tibi fuerit, vel jam ascitum aversari, vel futurum pavere.
• II.4 sed et praescriptum esse tibi temporis terminum: quod nisi ad animum serenandum accommodaveris, avolaturum est illud, te simul abrepto, nec deinceps rediturum.This still depends on advertas, across the full stop, but now as an indirect statement: the accusative terminum with the infinitive praescriptum esse, 'that a limit of time has been set'. sed et means 'but also'.
• II.10 Philosophice Theophrastus, in peccatis inter se conferendis (prout vulgo conferri solent) dicit; graviora esse quae per cupidinem, quam quae per iram admittuntur.After dicit the statement is reported: its verb becomes an infinitive (esse) and its subject goes into the accusative. The subject here is 'those things' (ea, left out) quae per cupidinem (admittuntur), and graviora agrees with it.
• II.10 recte igitur, nec indigne philosopho, pronunciavit, amplioris esse criminis, quod cum voluptate, quam quod cum dolore admittitur.Reported speech again, after pronunciavit 'he declared': the infinitive esse has as its subject the clause quod cum voluptate (admittitur) 'what is committed with pleasure'.
• II.11 nec errorem tam immanem admisisset unquam, sive per impotentiam, sive per imperitiam, ut bona ac mala, bonis malisque ex aequo hominibus, nullo facto discrimine, contingere pateretur.pateretur is from the deponent patior 'allow', which takes an accusative and infinitive: 'allow good and bad things to happen'. bona ac mala are neuter plural adjectives used as nouns.
• II.12 quid sit ipsum mori; quodque siquis rem ipsam per se intueatur, cogitationeque ab illa submoverit ea omnia, quibus tanquam larvis horrendis instructa imaginationi nostrae se objicit, nihil esse aliud comperiet quam opus naturae.quodque = et quod "and that": a statement of fact, still an object of considerare. Inside it, comperiet "he will find" takes an accusative and infinitive, nihil esse aliud quam opus naturae "that it is nothing other than a work of nature"; the accusative subject "it" (death) is left to be understood.
• II.13 nec intelligit interim sufficere sibi, ut cum eo, quem intra se gerit, genio versetur, eumque legitime colat.
• II.14 Etiamsi ter mille annos victurus esses, et totidem insuper myriadas, illud tamen meminisse debes, nec ullam aliam vitam ab ea, quam degit, amittere quenquam; nec aliam ab ea, quam amittit, degere.illud "this" points forward to an accusative and infinitive: "that no one loses …". quenquam (Gataker's spelling of quemquam) is the accusative subject of both amittere and degere; nec … nec "neither … nor" with ullam gives "no one loses any other … nor lives any other".
• II.14 eademque ratione id quod amittitur, momentaneum tantum esse constat.
• II.14 itaque nihil interesse, per centum, an per ducentos, an per tempus interminatum, eadem quis visurus sit.
• III.1 Non est hoc tantum nobis cogitandum, singulis diebus absumi vitam, minoremque ejusdem superesse portionem:hoc "this" is spelled out by two accusatives with infinitives, as after a verb of thinking: absumi vitam "that life is being used up" and minorem … superesse portionem "that a smaller portion remains". singulis diebus "on each single day" is an ablative of time: "day by day".
• III.2 quemadmodum panis cum coquitur, particulas quasdam diffindi cernimus.Read cernimus "we see" first. What we see is an accusative and infinitive, particulas quasdam diffindi "certain small parts being split apart": after verbs of seeing, as of saying, Latin uses this construction. panis "bread" belongs to the cum clause but stands in front of cum: "when bread is baked"; cum with the indicative coquitur is a plain "when".
• III.4 unde palam fiat extemplo, esse omnia apud te simplicia, benevolaque animalis sicut socialis, et cogitationes omnes neglectim habentis, quaecunque voluptatem aut luxum ullo modo respiciant;unde "from which" (from such an answer) looks back across Gataker's full stop; it gives the result of answering so, and its verb is subjunctive: palam fiat "it would become plain". What becomes plain is an accusative and infinitive: esse omnia apud te simplicia, benevolaque "that everything in you is simple and kindly". apud te "with you" here means "in you, in your mind".
• III.4 aut aemulationem etiam, aut invidentiam et suspicionem, aut aliud quidlibet, de quo proloqui pudeat, hoc te vel illud in animo habuisse.
• III.4 et illa quidem honesta praestat, ista optima esse persuasum habet.persuasum habere "to have (it) persuaded" means "to be firmly convinced": habere with a perfect passive participle stresses a settled state. What he is convinced of is the accusative and infinitive ista optima esse "that these are the best".
• III.4 meminit etiam, cognatum esse rationale omne: et naturae ipsius humanae rationem ab unoquoque hoc exigere, ut hominum quorumvis curam habeat.meminit "he remembers" is perfect in form but present in meaning, like memini "I remember". It governs accusatives and infinitives: cognatum esse rationale omne "that everything rational is akin", rationem … exigere "that the principle … demands", and in the next sentence existimationem esse capessendam.
• III.4 porro nec a quibuslibet existimationem esse capessendam, sed ab eis tantum, qui naturae consentaneam vitam agunt.
• III.5 porro vultus adsit hilaris; animusque ita comparatus, ut nec externo aliquo indigeas ministerio, nec tranquillitate ea, quam ab aliis suppeditari necesse sit.necesse est takes an accusative and infinitive, here quam … suppeditari, literally "which it is necessary to be supplied by others": "the kind of calm which must be supplied by others". sit is subjunctive because the clause belongs to the result clause.
• III.6 bono siquidem rationali et publicum spectante nihil extraneum exadversum consistere fas est; vulgi, puta, existimationem, principatus, divitias, aut vitam voluptuariam.
• III.8 neque vero vitam hujus non consummatam fatum unquam abruperit. perinde ac si tragoedum dixerit quis ante fabulam peractam scena cessisse.What one might say is an accusative and infinitive: "that a tragic actor had left the stage". ante fabulam peractam, literally "before the play finished", is Latin's way of saying "before the play was over" (compare ante urbem conditam, "before the founding of the city"). The image: an actor who walks off in mid-play leaves his part unfinished; the good man never does.
• III.10 meminerisque insuper, unumquemque praesens tantummodo aetatis spatium, quod puncti instar obtinet, vivere:After a verb of remembering comes an accusative and infinitive: "that each person lives". unumquemque is the accusative subject and praesens … spatium the object: each lives only "the present span of life".
• III.13 et rem quamque, etiam levissimam, ita peragas, ut qui memineris duo ista esse invicem connexa.Accusative and infinitive after memineris: "that these two (the divine and the human) are bound to each other". connexa is the participle of connecto "tie together", used with esse as a predicate.
• III.16 ad quem par est accedere purum, pacatum, promptum, sponte sua fato suo sese accommodantem.The infinitive accedere has an understood subject, "one" (in effect the good man), which would be in the accusative; the adjectives purum, pacatum, promptum and the participle accommodantem agree with it: "for one to come pure, at peace, ready, fitting oneself …".
• IV.3 perpendens tecum dogma illud, homines alterum alterius caussa natos esse; tum aequanimitatem esse justitiae portionem; porro invitos delinquere;The doctrine is given as an accusative and infinitive: homines … natos esse "that human beings have been born" (natos esse is the perfect infinitive of the deponent nascor). alterum alterius caussa "one for the sake of the other" is the Latin for "for one another's sake". caussa + genitive "for the sake of" follows its genitive; caussa is Gataker's spelling of causa.Two more accusatives with infinitives depend on perpendens: aequanimitatem esse … portionem "that equanimity is a part of justice", and invitos delinquere "that (people) do wrong unwillingly", where homines is understood and invitos agrees with it. tum … porro … denique "then … further … finally" mark the steps of the list.
• IV.3 reduc tibi in memoriam disjunctivum illud, aut numinis providentia, aut atomorum concursu constant universa: vel ea etiam argumenta, quibus liquido demonstratur, mundum istum civitatis instar obtinere.instar + genitive is "the likeness of, as good as", and instar obtinere "to hold the place of, rank as": "that this world is, as it were, a city", the Stoic city shared by gods and men. It is an accusative and infinitive after the impersonal passive demonstratur "it is shown".
• IV.3 at tu considera, mentem tuam ubi semel agnita vi propria, subduxerit sese, spiritui sive leniter sive aspere moto neutiquam immisceri.considera "consider" takes an accusative and infinitive: mentem tuam … immisceri "that your mind is mixed", made negative by neutiquam "in no way". immisceri "to be mingled with" takes the dative spiritui, the breath or bodily spirit that carries feeling. It may be moved sive leniter sive aspere "whether gently or roughly", i.e. by pleasure or by pain.
• IV.6 siquis aliter vult esse, idem ficum succo acri carere velit.
• IV.6 illud interim omnino memineris, brevi futurum; ut vestrum uterque defungatur: tum paulo post ne nomina quidem utriusque superfutura.
• IV.10 Cogita, etiam juste contingere, quicquid contingit,After cogita "consider" comes an accusative and infinitive, here with a whole clause as its subject: quicquid contingit … contingere "that whatever happens happens". etiam juste "justly as well": not only by necessity, as the next sentence explains.
• IV.10 id quod si sedulo observaveris, facile deprehendes; non ex connexione duntaxat necessaria, sed ex ratione justa consequi universa, et tanquam ab eo, qui pro dignitate cuique suum tribuit, provenire.deprehendes "you will discover" governs an accusative and infinitive: universa "all things" with two infinitives, consequi "follow" (a deponent) and provenire "come". non … duntaxat … sed "not merely … but": things follow from a necessary chain of causes, and also from a just reason.
• IV.11 Tu ne ea opineris, quae is autumat, qui contumelia te afficit; vel etiam quae ille autumare te vult. verum res ipsas, quomodo vere se habeant, cogites.volo "want" takes an accusative and infinitive when someone else is to act: te autumare "you to maintain". So: "the things he wants you to maintain", the views he would like to put into your head.
• IV.12 veruntamen sententiae mutatio ista niti semper debet probabilitate aliqua, vel justum esse, vel in publicum utile, vel aliud hujusmodi, id ad quod transitur, non autem quod jucundum aut gloriosum existat.An accusative and infinitive spells out the plausible ground, with its subject held back to the end: id ad quod transitur "that to which one goes over". So: "(namely) that what one goes over to is just, or useful to the public, or something else of this kind". Supply esse with utile and aliud. transitur is an impersonal passive of transeo, "it is gone over", i.e. "one goes over". in publicum "for the public good".
• IV.19 Qui de fama posthuma solicitus est, non cogitat fore, ut unusquisque eorum qui ipsius meminerint, mox fato sit concessurus;
• IV.19 finge, vero et immortales, qui tui meminerint, memoriamque tui et ipsam immortalem fore, quid hoc ad te tamen?finge "imagine, suppose" is the imperative of fingo; like a verb of thinking it takes the accusative and infinitive. In the first statement the subject eos and the infinitive esse are left out: "suppose (those) who remember you (to be) even immortal". et here is "even".
• IV.21 hoc respondere licebit, si pro concesso sumatur, animas corporibus esse superstites.pro concesso sumere is "to take as granted": concesso is a participle used as a noun, "(a thing) granted". sumatur is impersonal, "if it is taken", and what is taken is the accusative and infinitive animas … esse superstites "that souls survive"; superstes takes the dative, corporibus. The subjunctive sumatur marks the condition as a mere supposition, made for the sake of argument.
• IV.32 illi vero cum primis sunt memoria recolendi, quos ipse noris aliquando se rebus inanibus distinuisse, cum id interim facere, quod conditioni propriae consentaneum erat, huic firmiter inhaerere, eodemque contentum esse, neglexerint.noris is the short form of noveris, perfect subjunctive of nosco; the perfect novi means "I know", so "whom you yourself know". It takes an accusative and infinitive: quos is the subject of distinuisse "to have kept busy" and se its object, "who kept themselves busy". The subjunctive marks the kind of men meant: "such men as you yourself know".
• IV.32 illud etiam istic meminisse oportet, in actione unaquaque eam, quae adhibetur, curam, pro rei dignitate ac congruentia esse attemperandam.
• IV.36 Hoc jugiter considera, omnia ista quae fiunt, mutatione fieri.Hoc "this" is the object of considera and is spelled out by an accusative and infinitive: omnia ista … mutatione fieri "that all these things come to be through change". fiunt and fieri are forms of fio "come to be, happen"; mutatione is an ablative of means.
• IV.36 et assuesce te cogitationi isti, nihil aeque diligere universi naturam, ac ea quae jam existunt mutare, et ex eis sic mutatis nova germina refingere.
• IV.36 etenim semina ea sola opinari, quae in terram uterumque dejiciuntur, plebeium est nimis.
• IV.39 hoc est, ne censeat aut malum aut bonum esse, quod viro malo bonoque pariter potest obvenire.
• IV.40 Cogita jugiter, mundum esse animalis unius instar, quod materiam unam, animamque unam obtineat:Cogita "think" takes an accusative and infinitive: mundum esse "that the world is". instar is an indeclinable noun, "the likeness, the equivalent", with a genitive: animalis unius instar "the likeness of one living creature", i.e. "like a single living being".
• IV.46 item nihil tanquam per somnum agendum, dicendumve. siquidem dormientes quoque multa agere, et dicere videmur.
• IV.47 Quemadmodum si Deorum quis praediceret tibi, aut cras, aut summum perendie, moriturum te, haud in magno poneres, nisi animi esses abjectissimi, perendie potius quam crastino mori.What the god foretells is an accusative with infinitive: te "you" is the subject, and moriturum stands for moriturum esse, the future infinitive "to be going to die" (future participle + esse, and the esse is often left out). So: "that you will die". morior is deponent, but its future participle moriturus is active in sense, like every future participle.
• IV.49 aut naturae humanae adversari quicquam dixeris, quod secundum ejusdem voluntatem contingit?
• V.5 multa tamen sunt alia, de quibus dicere nequeas, non esse te ad ea aptum natum.What you cannot say is an accusative and infinitive: te … natum esse "that you were born", split up by other words, with aptum "fit" agreeing with te: "that you were not born fit for them". ad ea "for them" repeats de quibus "about which"; Latin repeats the reference where English would not.
• V.6 est enim societatis legem colentis proprium hoc, ut sentiat se secundum legem illam agere; utque velit etiam, per Jovem, eum quocum sic agit, id persentiscere.After a verb of perceiving Latin uses the accusative and infinitive: sentiat se … agere "he perceives himself to act", i.e. "that he is acting". The same pattern follows velit: eum … id persentiscere "(he wants) that man to perceive it".
• V.8 Cujusmodi illud est, quod dici solet, Aesculapium huic vel illi coordinasse, ut equitet, ut frigida proluatur, ut discalceatus incedat:The saying is reported in the accusative and infinitive: Aesculapium … coordinasse "(that) Aesculapius has prescribed". Aesculapius (Greek Asclepius) was the god of healing: the sick slept in his temples and received treatments in dreams, so "Asclepius has prescribed" was a common phrase. coordinasse is short for coordinavisse; coordinare "arrange, appoint", a late Latin word, renders the Greek word for a doctor's prescribing.
• V.8 atque hinc est quod ea convenire nobis dicimus: quomodo lapides quadratos in moenibus aut pyramidibus convenire dicunt artifices, cum sibi invicem scite compositi coaptantur.hinc est quod "hence it is that": the quod clause is the subject of est. ea convenire nobis is an accusative and infinitive after dicimus: "we say that these things fit us". convenire + dative is "to fit, suit".
• V.9 verum, ubi excussum aliquando te senseris, regredere, pluribusque pro officii humani ratione gestis contentus sis; atque illud, ad quod regrederis, fac diligas.
• V.9 illud autem memineris, philosophiam ea sola velle, quae natura tua ipsa velit.memineris is a jussive subjunctive ("you should remember") of memini, perfect in form, present in meaning. illud "this" points ahead to the accusative and infinitive philosophiam … velle "that philosophy wants". Inside it, velit is subjunctive because the quae clause belongs to the thought being reported.
• V.10 Res quidem ipsae adeo sunt abditae, ut philosophis haud paucis, nec vulgaribus eis, omnino percipi nil posse visum sit,
• V.10 mores autem eorum, quibuscum degis, si adverteris, tales esse comperies, ut etiam gratissimum quemlibet vix sustineas, ut ne adjiciam seipsum etiam vix sustinere quenquam.
• V.10 contra potius solari se quemque par fuerit, dissolutionem sui naturalem operiendo, moramque interea haud gravate ferendo, dum duobus hisce acquiescit prorsus;
• V.10 altero nimirum, nihil obtingere sibi posse, quod non sit universi naturae consentaneum; altero, in sua esse potestate situm, ut nihil faciat praeter genii Deique sui voluntatem.
• V.12 Eas nunc et quaeras licet, utrum in honore habendae, aut in bonis censendae sint res hujusmodi, quibus animo prius conceptis illud commode possit adjici, homini istis instructo prae opulentia sua non suppetere, ubi ventris onus deponat.
• V.16 imbue ergo illam cogitationibus istiusmodi. verbi gratia; ubicunque vivere, ibidem et bene vivere licere.The thoughts are given in reported form, as things to be thought: licere is the infinitive of licet, "(that) it is allowed". Spoken plainly the thought would run ubi vivere licet, ibi et bene vivere licet "where one may live, there one may also live well". Gataker has ubicunque "wherever" and ibidem "in that same place", and says licere only once, at the end; vivere and bene vivere are infinitives used as subjects of it.
• V.16 in aula vero vivere licere: ergo et in aula bene vivere dari.
• V.16 et rursus, cujus gratia quidque conditum est, ad id agendum esse conditum; ad quod autem agendum conditum est, ad id ferri:
• V.16 ad quod fertur vero, in eo finem suum situm habere: in quo autem finis rei cujusque situs est, eodem utile bonumque ejusdem constare.The last link: "in what the end of each thing is placed, in that same thing its advantage and its good consist". utile and bonum are neuter adjectives used as nouns, accusative subjects of the infinitive constare; ejusdem "of the same" refers back to rei. A thing's good is not somewhere apart from its purpose: it lies where its end lies.
• V.16 ad hanc enim natos esse nos, supra demonstratum est.demonstratum est "it has been shown" has as its subject the accusative and infinitive nos natos esse ad hanc "that we were born for this (fellowship)". natos esse is the perfect infinitive of the deponent nascor. supra "above" points to earlier passages where Marcus argued that rational beings are made for one another.
• V.16 an non enim liquet plane, deteriora quaeque praestantiorum gratia esse condita, praestantiora sui invicem?praestantiorum gratia "for the sake of the superior (things)": gratia in the ablative follows its genitive, as in verbi gratia. esse condita is the perfect passive infinitive, "to have been made", agreeing with its subject deteriora quaeque "all the inferior things" (neuter plural; quaeque is from quisque "each, every"). With the second subject, praestantiora, supply esse condita again: the superior were made sui invicem (gratia) "for the sake of one another".
• V.18 indignum est autem ignorantiam et arrogantiam prudentia plus posse.
• V.25 ego nunc habeo, quod nunc habere me vult rerum natura; facioque quod nunc me facere vult natura mea.volo takes an accusative and infinitive: me habere vult "wants me to have". quod "what" is the object of habere, and the whole clause is the object of habeo: "I have what (nature) wants me to have".
• V.31 cogita et vitae tuae historiam jam esse consummatam, munereque tuo te jam defunctum.cogita "consider" takes an accusative and infinitive: historiam … esse consummatam "that the story is complete". et here means "also". The picture is of a finished book: the history of your life is already written to its end.
• V.33 istius tempus donec obvenerit, quid suffecerit, nisi ut Deos colas celebresque; hominibus benefacias, sustineas eos eisdemque abstineas; meminerisque ea omnia, quae extra corpusculi animulaeque tuae terminos consistunt, nec tua esse, nec in potestate tua sita?memineris "remember" takes an accusative and infinitive: ea omnia … nec tua esse "that all those things are not yours". In the second half supply esse with sita: "nor placed in your power". corpusculi animulaeque "your poor body and little soul": both diminutives belittle what is ours, and still everything beyond them belongs to someone else.
• V.36 nec si in rebus mediis hisce detrimentum sustinuerunt, ideo laedi eos existimes.
• V.36 sed quemadmodum senex discedens alumni turbinem poscebat, cum turbinem tamen, hoc est, ludicrum quiddam, esse meminisset: ita et istic te geras.
• V.36 num ergo et te fatuum esse necesse est, quia illi sunt?
• VI.13 Quemadmodum de obsoniis atque eduliis ejusmodi cogitare licet, hoc piscis esse cadaver, hoc avis, hoc suis:What one thinks follows as an accusative and infinitive: hoc … esse cadaver "that this is a corpse". With avis and suis supply esse cadaver. All three are genitives: piscis "of a fish" and avis "of a bird" look like nominatives, and suis "of a pig" is from sus, not a form of suus "his own".
• VI.13 ac rursus, de falerno, esse uvulae succum; de purpura, esse oviculae capillos conchylii cruore tinctos;The definitions go on as accusative and infinitive with the subject left out (id "it" is understood), still depending on cogitare licet: "of Falernian wine, (that it) is the juice of a little grape". Falernian, from northern Campania, was the most prized wine of Italy. The diminutives uvula "little grape" and ovicula "little sheep" shrink the precious things to something small and plain.
• VI.13 de coitu, esse intestini frictionem, mucique cum convulsione quadam excretionem:
• VI.16 omnino necesse erit macerari te, ubi horum tibi aliquid defuerit; et de Diis etiam saepenumero conqueri.This time necesse erit has an accusative and infinitive: te macerari "that you be tormented". macerare is "to soak, soften", and in the passive "to be worn away, to fret". conqueri "to complain", a deponent, depends on necesse erit too, with te still its subject.
• VI.19 Noli, siquid tibi fuerit effectu difficile, opinari ideo, hominem nullum id posse.After a verb of thinking, what is thought goes into the accusative and infinitive: hominem nullum id posse "that no man can do it", literally "no man to be able (to do) it". The subject of the reported thought, hominem nullum, is in the accusative; id is the object of posse, with facere understood.
• VI.19 Sed siquid fuerit, quod possit quisquam, hominisque sit munus, id te quoque assequi posse existimes.
• VI.26 proinde et istic pari modo memineris, officium omne quasi numeris quibusdam absolvi:memineris is the perfect subjunctive of memini used as a jussive, "you should remember". What is to be remembered is an accusative and infinitive: officium omne … absolvi "that every duty is completed".
• VI.26 quibus observatis, oportet te nec perturbatum, nec indignationem indignatione pensantem, sed recta pergentem perficere quod prae manibus est.
• VI.27 Crudele quiddam est, non permittere hominibus, ut ad ea ferantur, quae ad se pertinere sibique conducere opinantur.Inside the relative clause stands an accusative and infinitive: quae is the subject of pertinere and conducere, and the whole depends on opinantur: "which they think concern them and benefit them". se and sibi refer to the men, the subject of opinantur.
• VI.27 atqui hoc tu illis quodammodo non permittis facere, cum peccare illos aegre fers.
• VI.29 Turpe est in vitae tuae instituto, prius animam tibi deficere, quam corpus deficiat.
• VI.31 et somno excusso, ubi intellexeris, somnia mera fuisse, quae te conturbabant, ista vigilans jam denuo intuere, quo modo illa es intuitus, quae in somniis vidisti.Accusative and infinitive after intellexeris. Its subject is the relative clause quae te conturbabant "the things that were troubling you" (with ea understood), and somnia mera is the predicate: "that what was troubling you was mere dreams". The imperfect conturbabant looks back from the moment of waking.
• VI.35 num ferendum ergo, architectum medicumve artis suae rationem pluris facere, quam hominem suae, quae est illi cum Diis ipsis communis?
• VI.40 proinde magis illam vereri oportet; existimandumque tibi, si secundum illius voluntatem te habueris degerisque, omnia tibi ex animi sententia se habere.
• VI.41 Siquid eorum, quae extra arbitrium tuum sunt, bonum malumve esse praesumpseris,
• VI.41 necesse erit, ut ubi istiusmodi vel in malum incideris, vel bono excideris, Deos incuses, oderis homines, qui horum alterutrius tibi vel autores fuerint, vel etiam fore suspicaris.
• VI.42 quomodo dormientes quoque Heraclitus, opinor, operarios esse dixit, et ad ea quae in mundo aguntur, operas conferre.An accusative and infinitive after dixit: dormientes … operarios esse "that the sleepers are workers". Heraclitus of Ephesus, the early philosopher, said that even those asleep are workers in what goes on in the world. Marcus takes the sleepers as the second group above, those who do their share without knowing it. opinor "I think" shows him quoting from memory.
• VI.45 sed et illud adjiciatur, quod in universum observatione habita deprehendes, quicquid alicui conducit, etiam aliis conducere.The accusative and infinitive gives the content of illud: "(namely) that whatever benefits someone benefits others too". The subject of the infinitive conducere is the whole clause quicquid alicui conducit. quicquid is the usual spelling of quidquid "whatever".
• VI.47 Istud jugiter cogita, omnis generis, omniumque tam studiorum, quam et nationum, homines, mortem obiisse.Istud "this" points ahead to the accusative and infinitive, which says what to think: homines mortem obiisse "that men have met death". mortem obire, literally "to go to meet death", is a common way of saying "to die"; obiisse is its perfect infinitive. jugiter "continually" has Gataker's j.
• VI.47 eo nimirum nos concedere oportet, quo tot oratores diserti, tot philosophi verendi, Heraclitus, Pythagoras, Socrates;
• VI.47 hos omnes jam olim occubuisse memineris.
• VI.51 In actione aliena ambitiosus bonum suum situm opinatur: in passione sua voluptuarius: in actione sua vir prudens.opinatur "thinks" introduces an accusative and infinitive with esse left out: bonum suum situm (esse) "that his own good is placed, lies". situs is the participle of sino, used for "placed, situated", and in with the ablative says where. ambitiosus "the ambitious man" is an adjective used as a noun: one who lives for praise, which only other people can give.
• VI.57 an minus posse putas mentis errorem, quam apud arquatum bilem, apud lymphaticum virus?an opens a second question, "or …?". After putas comes an accusative and infinitive: mentis errorem minus posse "that error of mind has less power". After quam "than" the second terms are accusative too, bilem and virus, with posse understood. The man in error can no more help how things seem to him than the sick man can, so anger at him is misplaced.
• VII.3 intelligere nihilominus, tanti quemque esse, quanti illud est in quo studium posuerit.
• VII.13 sin partem duntaxat esse te dixeris, homines ex animo nondum diligis,sin "but if" opens the alternative to the si clause before. dixeris is again a future perfect, "if you (shall) have said", and it takes an accusative and infinitive: te is the subject, partem duntaxat "merely a part" the predicate, "that you are merely a part".
• VII.15 Quicquid vel fecerit vel dixerit quisquam, probum esse me oportet.
• VII.15 haud aliter, quam si aurum aut smaragdus aut purpura ita jugiter diceret, Quicquid fecerit dixeritve quisquam, smaragdum esse me oportet, nitoremque meum retinere.
• VII.18 an non vides simile quiddam esse et mutationem tui, nec universi naturae minus necessarium?an non expects "yes", as in 7.16: "do you not see …?". It governs an accusative and infinitive: mutationem tui is the subject of esse, simile quiddam "something similar" the predicate, and et means "too": "that your change too is something similar".
• VII.22 hoc fiet, si una succurrat tibi, tum esse tibi cognatos, tum inscios invitosque peccare: adhaec, paulo post utrosque vestrum morti concessuros: prae omnibus denique, nihil eos te laesisse.What is to occur to you is put in the accusative and infinitive, the form Latin uses for a thought: (eos) esse tibi cognatos "that they are your kin", (eos) inscios invitosque peccare "that they do wrong unknowing and unwilling". The subject eos "they" is carried over from the first sentence. una "at the same time": let these thoughts come together with the wrong itself.prae omnibus "before all (else)" marks the chief point, which the next sentence explains. In the accusative and infinitive eos is the subject and te the object: "that they have harmed you". nihil is used as an adverb, "not at all, in no way".
• VII.24 ex hoc ipso autem intelligas licet esse praeter rationem.
• VII.26 Cum adversus te quicquid peccaverit quis, considera statim, quid bonum malumve esse ratus id egerit.
• VII.26 forsan enim vel idem illud, quod ille, vel aliud quidpiam ejusmodi, ipse pariter cum illo bonum esse opinaris.The verb opinaris "you think" (a deponent) comes last, with an accusative and infinitive: you think idem illud … bonum esse "that same thing to be good". idem … quod ille is "the same as he (thinks good)", with the verb understood. ipse "you yourself" is stressed, and pariter cum illo "equally with him" drives it home: if you share his error, you can hardly be angry at it.
• VII.26 hoc si fuerit, et illi te ignoscere oportet.
• VII.31 meminisse suffecerit, lege certa pleraque ferri, aut paucis saltem duntaxat exceptis.What is to be remembered is an accusative and infinitive: pleraque ferri "that most things are carried along", lege certa "by fixed law". pleraque is neuter plural, "most things".
• VII.34 illud item dispice, sicut arenarum cumuli alii aliis superingesti priora abscondunt; perinde in vita contingere, ut antegressa a succedentibus quam celerrime abscondantur.illud "this" points ahead to what you are to see: perinde in vita contingere "that it happens in the same way in life", an accusative and infinitive. The comparison (sicut …) is set in first, and perinde "just so" answers sicut "just as".
• VII.35 Cui igitur animus sublimis fuerit, quique et tempus omne, et substantiam omnem contempletur; nunquid huic magnum quiddam putas posse videri hominis vitam?nunquid opens a question that expects the answer "no": "surely you do not think …?" After putas comes an accusative and infinitive, hominis vitam posse videri "that the life of man can seem", with magnum quiddam "something great" as its predicate, also accusative, and huic "to him" the dative with videri.
• VII.37 Indignum est, vultum animo obsequentem, pro ejus imperio conformare et componere semet; ipsum autem animum ad suiipsius arbitrium non conformari et componi.The subject of indignum est "it is unworthy" is two accusative-and-infinitive clauses: vultum … conformare … semet "that the face shapes itself" and ipsum animum … non conformari "that the mind itself is not shaped". semet is se "itself" with the emphatic ending -met.
• VII.40 Spicas velut frugiferas, sic vitam meti: Ut hic sit, ille non sit.Verse from Euripides' lost Hypsipyle, quoted again in 11.6. meti is the present passive infinitive of meto "reap", with vitam as its accusative subject: "that life is reaped". The verb that governs it, "it must be", is in the lines Marcus leaves out; Cicero's Latin version of the passage (Tusculans 3.59) runs vita omnibus metenda ut fruges, "life must be reaped by all like the crops".
• VII.44 Parum recte censes, mi homo, si hominem, qui vel ullius sit usus, existimas mortis vitaeque discrimen in numero aliquo habiturum;After existimas comes an accusative and infinitive with esse left out: hominem … habiturum (esse) "that a man will hold". in numero aliquo habere is "to count (something) of any account". discrimen, properly "a dividing line", is here the hazard between death and life.
• VII.44 nec hoc duntaxat consideraturum, id quod agit, justum an injustum, hominisque probi an improbi sit.Still governed by existimas: "and (that he) will not consider this alone". hoc "this" is spelled out by the question that follows.
• VII.45 quocunque loco semet collocaverit quis, statum eum sibi optimum ducens, aut a principe fuerit collocatus, eum hunc tueri (uti mihi videtur) oportet,
• VII.46 sed istis Deo dimissis, et mulierculis etiam fide adhibita, fieri non posse ut fatum quisquam quoquo modo effugiat; hoc deinceps ei perpendendum, quomodo tempus hoc, quo victurus sit, quam optime exigat.
• VII.48 Quin et de hominibus sermonem instituentem, contemplari oportet, quasi de specula quadam desuper, terrestria quoque ista,oportet 'it is right, one ought' takes an accusative and infinitive. Here the accusative is the participle instituentem alone, with no noun: 'one who is setting out a discourse about human beings', that is, anyone who would talk about mankind. sermonem instituere is 'to begin a discourse, to hold forth'.
• VII.58 denique in utroque horum memineris, medium quiddam esse illud, circa quod actio versatur.An accusative and infinitive after memineris: illud "that thing" is the subject and medium quiddam "something intermediate" the predicate. medium is the Stoic "indifferent" (Greek adiaphoron), neither good nor bad in itself. illud circa quod actio versatur "that about which the action turns" is what an action works on: a loss, a pain, an insult. Only the use you make of it is good or bad.
• VII.60 Corpus etiam fixum esse oportet, ut nec motu, nec gestu temere jactetur.
• VII.64 In dolore omni hoc praesto sit, nec turpem eum esse, nec mentem gubernatricem facere deteriorem.An accusative and infinitive spelling out hoc: eum "it", i.e. pain (dolor is masculine), is the subject of both esse and facere. gubernatrix, the feminine of gubernator "helmsman", stands beside the feminine mentem like an adjective: "the governing mind", the ruling part of the Stoics. In facere deteriorem "make worse" the comparative is a predicate, as in English.
• VII.64 in plerisque vero horum Epicuri illud tibi adsit, nec intolerandum, nec aeternum esse, si terminorum memor fueris, nec opinionem adjeceris.The saying is an accusative and infinitive whose subject is left out: (pain) "is neither unbearable nor everlasting"; intolerandum and aeternum are masculine, agreeing with an understood dolorem. Epicurus taught that severe pain is short and long pain is mild. terminorum memor "mindful of the limits": pain has bounds, in strength and in time, and remembering them keeps it in proportion. memor takes the genitive.
• VII.64 illud etiam memineris, multa taedio nos afficere, quae non advertimus eandem cum dolore rationem habere, verbi gratia, dormitare, quando vigilare libet, aestu affici, fastidio laborare.
• VII.64 quoties ergo horum aliquid aegre fers, dic tibi, dolori succumbere te.dic is one of the four short imperatives (dic, duc, fac, fer). What you are to say is an accusative and infinitive: te "you", its subject, is held to the end for weight, and succumbo "sink under, give way" takes the dative dolori: "that you are giving in to pain". These small vexations are pain in disguise, and fretting at them is being beaten by pain. aegre ferre "take hard" is the idiom of 7.58.
• VII.66 Unde constat nobis Socratem clara fuisse reliquisque praestantiore indole?
• VII.66 nec ab universo assignatum quicquam, aut tanquam peregrinum quid excipiens, aut tanquam intolerandum sustinens, nec carunculae affectionibus mentem passus coaffici.patior "allow" takes an accusative and infinitive: mentem … coaffici "his mind to be affected along with". coaffici is not a classical word: Gataker builds it from co- "together" and afficio to render the Greek for "feeling with". caruncula, a diminutive of caro "flesh", is scornful: "this poor bit of flesh", the body; affectionibus "by the feelings" is an ablative of cause.
• VII.67 hoc semper memineris; sed et illud, paucissimis ad beate vivendum opus esse.
• VII.67 quodque etiamsi desperes dialecticae aut naturalis scientiae peritiam, nihil esse tamen quod animam despondeas, quasi liber et modestus fieri nequeas, et communitatis cultor, et obsequens Deo.quodque "and that" begins a third thing to remember, as if a quod clause with a verb of its own were coming; but after the etiamsi clause the sentence turns into an accusative and infinitive, nihil esse "that there is nothing", as after memineris. The quod is left without a verb: a mixed construction.
• VII.70 Dii, immortales cum sint, non aegre ferunt tamen, quod per aevum tam immensum ipsos oporteat omnino, tot talesque qui sint, improbos jugiter sustinere.oportet "it is necessary" takes an accusative and infinitive: ipsos … sustinere "that they themselves bear with". ipsos refers back to the gods. The object, improbos "the wicked", is an adjective used as a noun.
• VII.71 Ridiculum est malitiam cum tuam, quod potes, non effugias, fugere te velle, quod non potes, alienam.The subject of Ridiculum est "it is ridiculous" is an accusative and infinitive, te velle fugere "that you want to flee"; ridiculum is neuter to agree with it.
• VII.72 Quicquid intellectualis socialisque facultas, nec ad intellectum nec ad usum socialem facere deprehenderit, idipsum inferius se merito judicat.Quicquid "whatever" is the accusative subject of facere in an accusative and infinitive after deprehenderit "finds": "whatever (the faculty) finds to contribute neither to …". It is taken up by idipsum "that very thing" (id ipsum, written as one word) in the main clause. facere ad means "to be of service to, contribute to".
• VIII.1 siquidem cum aliis haud paucis, tum et tibiipsi compertum est, a philosophia longe te abesse.compertum est "it has been found out, it is known for certain" (from comperio); the datives say to whom it is known. What is known is an accusative and infinitive: te abesse "that you are far away" from philosophy.
• VIII.4 Eadem nihilominus facturos memineris, etiamsi tu te ruperis.memineris "you should remember" is a perfect-form subjunctive with present meaning, used as a gentle command. What to remember is an accusative and infinitive with its subject and esse both left out: (eos) eadem facturos (esse) "that they will do the same things". The people who vex you will go on as before.
• VIII.5 simul memineris, probum esse te oportere.What to remember is an infinitive clause whose verb is the impersonal oportere "that it is needful"; oportet in turn takes an accusative and infinitive, te probum esse "that you be good". So: "remember that you must be a good man". memineris is a gentle command, as in section 4.
• VIII.10 bonum autem quodque necessario etiam est utile; quodque est ejusmodi, id viro bono proboque curae esse oportet.
• VIII.12 Quando somnum gravatim excutis, reminiscere, et conditioni tuae et naturae humanae consentaneum esse, ut actiones ad communitatem conducentes edas, cum dormire etiam brutis animantibus commune sit.
• VIII.14 simul et hoc succurret, necessario facere illum quae facit.succurrere "to run to help" also means "to come into one's mind". Its subject hoc is explained by the accusative and infinitive that follows: necessario facere illum "that he necessarily does". quae facit "the things which he does" is the object, with its antecedent (ea) left out. A man acts from his beliefs and, while he holds them, cannot act otherwise.
• VIII.15 Memineris, aeque turpe esse mirari quenquam tanquam de re insueta, quod ea mundus, quorum ferax est, profert; ac mirari quenquam, quod ficus ficus ferat, aut mirari medicum, quod quis febricitaverit, gubernatorem, quod ventus adversus flaverit.aeque … ac "just as … as" weighs two things that are equally shameful. Each is itself an accusative and infinitive serving as the subject of turpe esse: mirari quenquam "for anyone to wonder", with quenquam the subject of mirari. Further on, medicum and gubernatorem are subjects of mirari in the same way.
• VIII.16 Memineris, aeque tibi liberum esse sententiam mutare et corrigenti parere, atque in re cepta ulla persistere.
• VIII.25 horum ergo memineris, aut compagem tui dissipatum iri, aut extinctum spiritum, aut migraturum, atque alibi iri dispositum.A future passive infinitive: the supine dissipatum with iri, the passive infinitive of eo "go", used impersonally. Literally "that there is a going to scatter the structure of you", that is, "that the structure of you will be scattered". The supine never changes its ending, so dissipatum does not agree with the feminine compagem, which is its object. tui is the genitive of tu: "the structure of you", the compound that makes up your body.
• VIII.28 at illi licet etiam inter dolores serenitatem suam tranquillitatemque servare, nec opinari malum esse.An accusative and infinitive with its subject left out: "and not to think (that it, pain) is an evil". malum is the predicate, accusative to match the understood subject. opinor is deponent: passive in form, active in meaning.
• VIII.36 Ne confundat te vitae tuae totius cogitatio: neque animo simul complectere, quot qualesque molestias superventuras esse tibi verisimile sit.
• VIII.36 tum cogita tecum, nec quod futurum est, nec quod praeteritum est, sed id semper duntaxat quod praesens est, molestiam tibi facessere.cogita "think" introduces an accusative and infinitive: "(think) that … causes you trouble". The subjects of facessere are three clauses: quod futurum est "what is to come", quod praeteritum est "what is past", and id … quod praesens est "that which is present", where id is the accusative subject. molestiam facessere is "to make trouble".
• VIII.44 qui famam posthumam affectant potius, non cogitant, alios quosdam ejusmodi fore posteros illos, quales isti sunt, quos nunc gravatim ferunt.An accusative and infinitive after cogitant. Its subject is posteros illos "those people of later times", placed after the verb fore "will be" (the future infinitive of esse); the predicate is alios quosdam ejusmodi "certain others of that kind". ejusmodi … quales "of such a kind … as": "just such people as these are".
• VIII.48 Memineris, inexpugnabilem fieri mentem, quando in se contracta, ipsa se contenta manet, dummodo nil faciat quod ipsa nolit, tametsi non ratione, sed obstinatione mera instructa sit.In the accusative and infinitive mentem is the subject, fieri "becomes" the verb, and inexpugnabilem the predicate, agreeing with mentem. A town is inexpugnabilis when it cannot be taken by storm (expugnare); the military picture goes on below with arx "citadel" and praesidium "stronghold".
• VIII.49 nunciatur tibi, hunc vel illum tibi conviciatum.nunciatur "it is reported" is impersonal and introduces an accusative and infinitive: hunc vel illum "this man or that" is the subject, and conviciatum stands for conviciatum esse, with esse left out, as often. convicior "to rail at, abuse" is deponent and takes the dative: tibi.
• VIII.49 non et illud laesum esse te.
• VIII.49 video, puerulum aegrotare. hoc video.puerulum aegrotare is an accusative and infinitive, the object of video: "I see that the little boy is ill". hoc video "this I see" sums it up again, marking exactly what the eyes report. puerulus is the diminutive of puer.
• VIII.52 Qui nescit esse mundum, ubi sit nescit.Qui has no antecedent: "he who". esse mundum is an accusative and infinitive, "that there is a world", a mundus in the sense of an ordered whole (Greek kosmos). Most translators take the Greek as "what the world is", as in the next sentence (quid mundus sit); Gataker's Latin says "that there is a world".
• VIII.57 cujusmodi vero res sit radius, perspicere licet, si per angustum aliquod foramen lumen a Sole profectum in domicilium tenebricosum subingredi videris.After videris "you see", what is seen is an accusative and infinitive: lumen … subingredi "the light steal in". profectum "having set out" is the perfect participle of the deponent proficiscor, and subingredi is a deponent infinitive, passive in form. videris is the perfect subjunctive of video, not the present passive "you seem"; the subjunctive is used because "you" here means anyone.
• VIII.57 talem ergo mentis solutionem et diffusionem esse oportet, non effusionem utique, sed extensionem, quaeque adversus obvia quaelibet impedimenta non violentam et impetuosam collisionem adhibeat,oportet "it is necessary" takes an accusative and infinitive: solutionem et diffusionem … esse talem "that the mind's outflow and spreading be such". talem "such" looks back to the sunlight: the mind must go out to things as light does. solutio, literally "a loosening", here means the mind's flowing out; Gataker uses two nouns for one Greek word meaning "pouring".
• VIII.61 In mentem alterius cujusque descende; sed et in tuam ipsius descendere quemlibet patere.
• IX.1 adversus haec eadem eum pariter esse ex aequo affectum, qui naturae ductum sequi desiderat, quo naturae consentire possit.Here at last is what oportet governs: eum … esse affectum "that he be disposed", an accusative and infinitive. haec eadem "these same things" takes up quae from the first part. ex aequo affectum esse adversus "to be equally disposed towards" answers nature's own ex aequo se habet ad, and pariter "likewise" makes the match: man should be as even towards these things as nature is. affectus is the perfect participle of afficio.
• IX.1 quicunque ergo adversus dolorem et voluptatem, vel mortem et vitam, vel gloriam et ignominiam, ad quae rerum natura ex aequo se habet, non ex aequo afficitur, impie hunc agere liquido constat.
• IX.1 per hoc autem quod dicitur universi naturam istis ex aequo uti, intelligo ista ex aequo evenire ex serie quadam rerum prodeuntium sibique invicem succedentium juxta antiquissimum quendam providentiae motum,The last sentence of the section is long, and is split in two at the comma after motum. Marcus now explains his own phrase. per hoc … quod dicitur "by this which is said", that is, "by the saying"; what is said is an accusative and infinitive, universi naturam istis ex aequo uti "that the nature of the universe uses these things equally". uti "to use", from the deponent utor, takes the ablative istis.intelligo "I understand" here means "I mean (by it)", and takes another accusative and infinitive: ista ex aequo evenire "that these things happen equally", to good and bad alike, with no favour shown.
• IX.3 cujusmodi enim res est, adolescere, senescere, crescere, adultum esse, barbatum esse, dentire, canescere, serere, praegnantem esse, parere, aliaque id genus opera naturalia, quae vitae tuae secum ferunt aetates, ejusmodi plane res est et dissolvi.With esse the adjective goes into the accusative, as if agreeing with an unexpressed subject "someone": adultum esse "(for someone) to be full-grown". praegnantem is feminine, since only a woman is pregnant.
• IX.3 etiamsi enim offendi eis te neutiquam oportet, sed curare eos, placideque ferre; meminisse tamen licuerit, quod ab hominibus haud idem tecum sentientibus discessurus es.
• IX.9 ad terram mole sua fertur terrestre quodvis; in idem confluit humidum omne; et aereum itidem quodcunque. ut necesse sit vi aliqua intercludi ea, id ne faciant.
• IX.11 si minus, memineris, hoc fine clementiam tibi datam esse. et Dii autem adversus tales clementer se gerunt.memineris "you should remember" is the perfect subjunctive of memini, used as a gentle command. What is to be remembered is an accusative and infinitive: clementiam … datam esse "that gentleness has been given". hoc fine "with this end", an ablative, means "for this purpose": gentleness was given you for just such cases.
• IX.22 ad delinquentis cujusvis, ut consideres, inscius an consulto deliquerit; cogitesque simul esse tibi cognatum.cogites is the second verb of the same ut clause. After it comes an accusative and infinitive whose subject, eum "he", is left out: "(that he) is akin to you". cognatum agrees with the missing eum.
• IX.23 quaecunque igitur actio tua ad finem hunc vel immediate vel mediate non tendit, ita vitam tuam divellit, nec unam eandemque esse patitur,patior "allow" takes an accusative and infinitive; here the accusative, vitam "(your) life", is understood from before: "does not allow (it) to be one and the same". unam eandemque agree with it.
• IX.27 facile videbis, nihil esse quod te angat, quicquid illi de te judicent.
• IX.33 Corrumpentur brevi, quaecunque vides: corrumpentur brevi, et qui corrumpi haec vident.Again a relative clause with no antecedent is the subject: qui … vident "those who see". After a verb of seeing comes an accusative and infinitive, haec corrumpi "these things perishing". et is "also": the watchers perish too.
• IX.35 ecquis ergo dixerit omnia et facta fuisse, et semper factum iri mala?Two infinitives of reported speech share the subject omnia and the predicate mala "bad". facta fuisse is a perfect passive infinitive, "to have been made", with fuisse for the usual esse. factum iri is the future passive infinitive: the supine factum with iri, the passive infinitive of eo "go", literally "that there is a going to make". The supine never changes its ending, so factum does not agree with omnia: "that all things have been made bad and will always be made bad".
• IX.35 nec penes Deos, qui tot fuerint, potentiam extitisse corrigendi ista, quo minus mundus ad mala ista addiceretur, quibus perpetim teneretur implicitus?Still governed by dixerit: "and (would anyone say) that no power has existed …". nec "and not" negates extitisse, whose subject is potentiam; penes Deos is "in the hands of the gods". qui tot fuerint "so many as they have been" is subjunctive because it is part of what the speaker would say, with a concessive tone: "many as they are". corrigendi ista is a gerund with an object, "of setting these things right".
• IX.40 sed dices fortasse, Deos ista in potestate tua posuisse.An accusative and infinitive after dices: "that the gods have put these things in your power". With pono, in takes the ablative: "put in", where the thing then stays.
• IX.40 quanquam quis dixerit, Deos nobis opem non conferre ad ea etiam quae in nobis sita sunt?
• IX.42 est enim hic impudentium illorum unus, quos in mundo esse necesse est.unus with a partitive genitive is "one of": impudentium illorum unus "one of those shameless people". necesse est "it is necessary" here takes an accusative and infinitive, quos … esse: "whom it is necessary to exist in the world", that is, "who must exist". esse has its full sense, "to exist".
• IX.42 ubi enim recordatus fueris, fieri non posse, quin existat hoc genus hominum; mox erga singulos mitius te habiturus es.
• IX.42 nihil enim horum, quibus succenses, quenquam fecisse deprehendes, quod mentem tuam deteriorem reddat.deprehendes "you will find" takes an accusative and infinitive, quenquam … fecisse "that anyone has done", and the negative is carried by the object nihil: "that anyone has done nothing", in English "that none of them has done anything". quisquam "anyone" is the word Latin uses in a negative sentence; quenquam is Gataker's spelling of quemquam. horum "of these" is a partitive genitive with quenquam, and quibus is dative because succenseo "be angry with" takes the dative.
• IX.42 quodque cum ratio occasiones tibi justas suppeditet cogitandi, probabile esse illum hoc esse admissurum, tum tamen hoc oblitus, admisisse illum admiraris.
• IX.42 peccatum enim proculdubio est tuum, sive quod hominem sic affectum credidisti fidem tibi servaturum, sive beneficium cum dares, quod non absolute dedisti nec tanquam qui totum actionis tuae fructum jam statim percepisses.credidisti "you believed" takes an accusative and infinitive with esse left out: hominem … servaturum (esse) "that a man … would keep", the future infinitive. sic affectum "so disposed", of such a character, is the perfect participle of afficio. fidem servare with a dative is "to keep faith with".
• X.1 sed statu praesenti acquiesces, et praesentibus oblectabere quibusque, et persuasum habitura es, cuncta tibi adesse, cuncta tibi bene se habere;persuasum habere "to hold it as settled" is "to be convinced", and it brings in accusatives and infinitives: cuncta tibi adesse "that all things are at hand for you", cuncta tibi bene se habere "that all is well with you" (se habere with an adverb means "to be" in some state). habitura es is the future participle with es again, like futura es.
• X.1 sed et a Deis provenire, beneque habitura, quaecunque ipsis concedere visum est, et quaecunque concessuri sunt,
• X.3 memineris tamen, natura esse comparatum te, ad quidlibet ferendum, quod in opinione tua situm est, ut tolerabile faciat, vel conducere tibi, vel officii esse, ut illud facias, censendo.
• X.6 Sive atomi obtinent, sive natura regit universa; hoc primo statuatur, partem esse me universi a natura administrati.
• X.6 deinde, necessitudine me quadam partibus generis ejusdem esse conjunctum.
• X.6 ubi ergo meminerim, partem esse me universi istiusmodi, futurum est, ut quicquid evenerit, gratum mihi acceptumque sit.
• X.6 quemadmodum civi illi vitam prospere fluere quivis existimet, qui in actionibus quae civitatis secum ejusdem consortibus utiles sint, obeundis constanter perrexerit, et quicquid civitas ipsi attribuerit, gratanter acceperit.
• X.7 Universi partes, quotquot, inquam, mundi ambitu continentur, corrumpi necesse est.necesse est "it is necessary" takes an accusative and infinitive: partes … corrumpi "that the parts be corrupted". So partes, which could be nominative, is accusative here, the subject of the infinitive: "the parts must be corrupted".
• X.7 nunquid autem dicemus, aut naturam ipsam instituisse partes suas malo afficere, et ita condidisse, ut in malum incidere non nata tantum essent, sed in malum etiam necessario inciderent?An accusative and infinitive after dicemus: naturam ipsam is the subject of instituisse and later of condidisse. instituere with an infinitive is "to set about, undertake" to do something, and afficere aliquem aliqua re is "to visit something on someone": malo afficere "to afflict with evil".
• X.7 sin, misso quis naturae nomine, ita nata esse dicere voluerit, vide quam ridiculum sit, ut qui dicat universi partes mutare natas, idem hoc ipsum mutare illas, tanquam quod praeter rerum ipsarum naturam contingat, miretur et aegre ferat:
• X.7 quanquam ponatur, illud ipsum te valde addicere huic peculiariter sic affecto, nihil tamen obstabit, quo minus verum sit quod jam dictum est.
• X.8 memineris autem, prudentis nomen tibi denotare singularum rerum considerationem, animadversionemque sedulam.memineris is the perfect subjunctive of memini, used as a polite command: "you should remember". It takes an accusative and infinitive, nomen … denotare "that the name signifies", and it governs the next two sentences too, where denotare is understood. prudentis nomen "the name of 'prudent'": the genitive names the word, as before.
• X.8 sin excidere, nec statum tueri posse te senseris, in angulum aliquem, ubi possis aliquid, audacter te conferas;senseris "you (shall) feel" takes an accusative and infinitive, with te the subject of both excidere "to be falling out (of the names)" and posse "to be able". statum tueri "to hold one's position" is a soldier's phrase.
• X.8 ad nominum autem istorum recordationem, multum conducet meminisse Deorum, quodque nolunt illi ratione praeditos ipsis adulari, sed similes ipsis fieri.nolunt "they do not want" takes an accusative and infinitive: ratione praeditos … adulari "that those endowed with reason should flatter". ipsis "them" refers back to the gods, the subject, doing the work of a reflexive; it is dative with adulari, which takes either the dative or the accusative, and with similes "like". The gods are honoured by imitation, not by flattery.
• X.8 meminisse et, ficum esse quae ea quae ficus sunt facit; canem, quae canis; apem, quae apis; et hominem pariter, qui quae hominis.
• X.11 corpus exuit, qui sic affectus est, reputansque secum, mox esse sibi, relictis his omnibus, ab hominibus discedendum, totum sese permittit, justitiae, in eis quae ab ipso fiunt; universi naturae, in eis quae obveniunt ipsi.
• X.23 Illud tibi semper constet, ejusmodi quiddam agrum esse, cujusmodi est locus alius quilibet.
• X.23 eademque esse omnia istic agentibus, quae eis, qui in montium verticibus, vel in litorum crepidinibus, vel alibi ubicunque volueris, versantur.
• X.27 Cogita tecum jugiter, qualia nunc sunt omnia, talia prius actitata; cogita et talia futura esse.futura esse is the future infinitive of sum: "that such things will be". Past, present and future are one play, put on again and again.
• X.28 considera et fato nos illigatos teneri: et rationali animali soli datum esse, ut eis quae eveniunt, sponte obsequi possit; cum sequi ipsum omnibus sit necessarium.considera "consider" takes two accusatives and infinitives, joined by et … et "both … and": first fato nos illigatos teneri "that we are held bound by fate", then rationali animali soli datum esse "that it has been granted to the rational creature alone". illigatos teneri "to be held bound": teneo with the participle stresses a lasting state. fato is taken as ablative, "by fate"; it could also be dative, "bound to fate".
• X.30 praesertim, si succurrerit una, cogi hominem. quid enim faceret?succurrere here means "occur (to someone)", "come to mind"; its subject is the accusative and infinitive cogi hominem "that the man is compelled". una is the adverb "together, at the same time", not the numeral "one".
• X.31 ita enim perspectum jugiter habebis, humana omnia fumum ac nihil esse,An accusative and infinitive gives what you will see: "that all human things are smoke and nothing". Its subject humana omnia "all human things" is a neuter plural used as a noun; the predicates fumum and nihil are accusative too, because they describe an accusative subject. nihil is a noun here: "nothing at all".
• X.31 praesertim, si simul fueris recordatus, quicquid semel mutarit, per spatium temporis infinitum non esse amplius futurum.What you remember is an accusative and infinitive. The clause quicquid semel mutarit "whatever has once changed" is its subject, and esse … futurum, split by amplius, is the future infinitive: "will no longer exist". mutarit is the short form of mutaverit, subjunctive because it stands inside the reported thought.
• X.32 Nulli liceat vere de te dicere, non esse te simplicem, aut non esse te bonum.What is not to be said is an accusative and infinitive: "that you are not simple, or that you are not good". simplex, literally "one-fold", is "sincere, straightforward, without pretence".
• X.33 quicquid enim hoc fuerit, vel facere idipsum, vel dicere licet, nec obtendas, impediri te.
• X.33 tu ergo ob oculos istud habens, rationem per omnia facilitate ferri eadem plane, qua ignis sursum, lapis deorsum, per declive cylindrus, nihil quaeras ulterius.
• X.33 in summa memineris, civem indigenam nihil laedere, ni civitatem laedat: civitatem nihil laedere, ni legem laedat.After memineris comes an accusative and infinitive with two accusatives: nihil is the subject and civem indigenam the object, "that nothing harms the native citizen". The order does not show which is which; the sense does. laedat is subjunctive because the ni clause stands inside the reported statement. indigena "born in the land" renders the Greek "citizen by nature": every man is born a citizen of the world-city, whose law is the reason of nature.
• X.35 et stomachi valentis, adversus edulia quaevis pariter se habere; sicut molam ad omnia, ad quae molenda condita est.Why is molam accusative? It is the subject of the infinitive se habere understood once more: "just as (it is the mark of) a mill (to be so disposed) towards everything". Gataker keeps the accusative of the Greek, where the stomach too is the subject of an infinitive. A mill grinds whatever grain is put in, without choosing.
• X.36 non erat revera asper nostri cuiquam: sensi tamen, tacite illum damnasse nos.sensi "I felt, I sensed" takes an accusative and infinitive: illum damnasse nos "that he condemned us". damnasse is the short form of damnavisse, the perfect infinitive. tacite "silently" belongs with damnasse, though it stands before illum: he never said a word, yet we felt judged.
• X.36 illi, inquam, ipsi elatum me optant, tanquam qui levamen forsan hinc aliquod sperent.optare "to wish" takes an accusative and infinitive, with esse left out: me elatum (esse) "that I be carried out". efferre, as in 10.34, is to carry a body out of the house for burial: they want him dead and gone. The participle is elatum, from effero, whose parts are efferō, efferre, extulī, ēlātum.
• X.38 Memento illud quod te velut fidiculis citat, esse intra te reconditum quiddam.memento "remember" takes an accusative and infinitive: illud … esse … quiddam "that that (which works you) is something". reconditum "hidden away", the participle of recondo, agrees with quiddam.
• XI.6 Primo tragoediae invectae sunt, quae casuum et eventuum homines commonefacerent, quo et ista sic fieri nata monerentur; nec quibus in scena oblectarentur, ea in scena majori, gravatim sustinerent:
• XI.6 cum viderint non posse haec aliter transigi, et quod perferant ea etiam illi qui exclamant, Eheu, Cithaeron.cum with the subjunctive gives the reason: "since they have seen". viderint has two objects joined by et: first an accusative and infinitive, non posse haec aliter transigi "that these things cannot be played out otherwise", then a quod clause with the subjunctive, "that even they bear them". transigo "carry through to the end" suits both a play and a life.
• XI.6 Et, Spicas velut frugiferas, sic vitam meti.From Euripides' lost Hypsipyle, as in 7.40. meti is the present passive infinitive of meto "reap", with vitam as its subject in the accusative: "(it must be) that life is reaped", the governing verb standing in lines Marcus leaves out. velut … sic "as … so": as ripe ears are reaped, so is life; one man lives on, another is cut down.
• XI.6 (nam et ab istis utilia dici nonnulla, nemo est qui nesciat.)
• XI.7 Quam liquido compertum habes, nullum aliud vitae institutum ad philosophandum magis esse idoneum, quam hoc in quo jam versaris?compertum habes introduces an accusative and infinitive: institutum "way of life" is the subject of esse, and idoneum "suited" agrees with it. ad philosophandum, ad with the gerund of the deponent philosophor, says what it is suited for: "for philosophising".
• XI.8 quem plantarum cultores dicere solent, confruticari quidem, sed non configurari.quem is a relative that opens a new sentence, "and this one": it is the accusative subject of the infinitives that dicere introduces. "Which (shoot) the growers of plants usually say grows together …" is, in English, "of which gardeners usually say that it grows together …".
• XI.10 hoc si datur, sequetur, naturam eam quae est consummatissima, caeterasque omnes in se complectitur, artificis solertiae neutiquam concedere.sequetur "it will follow" is used impersonally and introduces an accusative and infinitive: naturam … concedere "that nature yields". concedo with the dative is "give way to, come second to": artificis solertiae neutiquam concedere "is in no way second to a craftsman's skill".
• XI.13 interius enim ita affectum esse oportet, ut ipsi Dii videant, hominem esse te, qui nihil quicquam indigne aegreve ferat.
• XI.15 fronti inscriptam statim oportuit vocem hanc, in oculis ipsis relucere statim, quomodo animus se habeat: sicut in amantis oculo cuncta statim dignoscit amasius.
• XI.15 talem plane virum simplicem bonumque oportet esse, qualis is qui hircum olet; ut qui astiterit, simulac accesserit, velit, nolit ipse, protinus persentiscat.
• XI.18 quin et altius rem repete: vel atomos obtinere, vel naturam universa disponere.Two accusatives and infinitives state the first principle, as if after a verb of thinking: "(remember that) either atoms hold sway, or nature orders all things". These are Marcus's usual two alternatives: the world is either a chance swirl of atoms, as Epicurus taught, or it is governed by a providential nature, as the Stoics hold. obtinere without an object means "hold the field, prevail"; universa "all things" is the neuter plural object of disponere.
• XI.18 hoc si est, deteriora constat praestantiorum causa esse condita, praestantiora sui invicem.
• XI.18 itaque injustos, ingratos, avaros, vicinis injurios dici se non sustinent.sustineo "bear, endure" takes an accusative and infinitive: se dici "that they be called". The names they are called are accusative to agree with se. That they are ashamed of these names shows that they do not choose to be what they are. vicinis is the dative with injurios: "harmful to their neighbours".
• XI.18 Sexto, quando quam maxime indignaris, vel aegre fers, memineris momentaneam esse vitam humanam, omnesque nos brevi componendos fore.memineris is a perfect subjunctive used as a polite command; memini has perfect forms and a present meaning. It takes two accusatives and infinitives: vitam … esse and nos … fore.
• XI.18 Septimo, non esse actiones aliorum, quae nos conturbant; sunt enim hae in mentibus ipsorum sitae: sed opiniones tantum nostras.The seventh heading is an accusative and infinitive with cogita understood: "(think) that it is not the actions of others that trouble us". The relative clause quae nos conturbant makes it a cleft sentence, like English "it is not … that …".
• XI.18 sed quomodo tollam? reputando nihil tibi inhonestum contigisse.
• XI.18 Nono, mansuetudinem insuperabilem esse, si genuina fuerit, non personata et fucata.The ninth heading is again an accusative and infinitive with cogita understood: "(think) that gentleness is invincible".
• XI.18 monstraveris etiam scite, et generatim ostenderis, nec apes ita se gerere, nec eorum ullum, quae gregatim agere nata sunt, animantium.An accusative and infinitive after ostenderis: "that neither bees behave like this". apes is accusative plural; se gerere "behave".
• XI.18 adversus iram vero praesto sit illud; irasci haud virile esse; sed mansuetum placidumque animi affectum, ut humanius quiddam, ita et masculum magis.
• XI.19 quartum esto, quicquid conscientia tibi dictaverit, fore per illud, ut pars tui divinior devicta succumbat viliori, corpori nempe mortali ejusque crassis voluptatibus.fore ut with the subjunctive, "that it will come about that", is the usual way to give a clause a future infinitive: "that the more divine part of you, beaten, will give way". tui is the genitive of tu, "the part of you", and divinior the comparative of divinus. The more divine part is reason, the mind that rules.
• XI.20 an non iniquum est ergo, mentem tantum tuam immorigeram esse, nec statione sua acquiescere?The subject of iniquum est is an accusative and infinitive: "that your mind alone should be disobedient". immorigerus "uncompliant" is the negative of morigerus "compliant, humouring" (from mos "humour, will" and gero): of all your parts, the mind alone will not do as it is bid. tantum "only, alone" goes with mentem.
• XI.21 quemadmodum enim opinio eadem non est de omnibus quae vulgo hominum quoquo modo bona videntur, sed de certis quibusdam, communibus nempe: ad eundem modum et scopum illum qui est civilis et communioni congruus proponi oportet.
• XI.34 alioqui spicas etiam demeti, infaustum fuerit.
• XI.37 Artem assensum praebendi inveniendam idem monebat.
• XI.37 et conatus ita cohibendos esse, ut cum exceptione fiant, ut societatis jus spectent, ut pro rei cujusque dignitate adhibeantur.
• XII.5 hoc vero siquidem sic se habet, pro certo scias, aliter facturos eos fuisse, si aliter fieri oporteret.
• XII.5 vel hinc ergo, quod aliter se habet, si aliter saltem se habet, compertum habeas, fieri non oportuisse.compertum habere "to hold as found out", i.e. "to know for certain" (as in 2.1), takes an accusative and infinitive. oportuisse is the perfect infinitive of the impersonal oportet: "that it was not right for it to happen", that is, to happen the way you would have it.
• XII.6 Illis etiam assuesce, quae fieri posse desperas.assuescere "to get used to" takes the dative: illis "to those things". In the relative clause the relative is itself the subject of an accusative and infinitive: quae fieri posse desperas "which you despair can be done", the things you think beyond you. Practice makes them possible, as the next sentence shows.
• XII.9 In decretorum usu, pugili, non gladiatori similem esse te oportet.
• XII.16 Ubi obrepserit tibi cogitatio, peccasse aliquem, haec tu tibi, Unde novi, an peccatum hoc sit; aut si peccavit, an peccati ipse se reum peregerit?obrepere "to creep up on" takes the dative (tibi). ubi with the future perfect looks ahead: "when the thought has crept up on you". The thought itself is an accusative and infinitive in apposition to cogitatio: peccasse aliquem "that someone has done wrong"; peccasse is the short form of peccavisse.
• XII.16 tum illud memineris, eum qui improbos delinquere non vult, parem esse illi, qui ficum in ficubus succum acrem gerere; et infantes vagire, et equum hinnire, aliaque ejusmodi quae necessaria sunt, nolit.velle with an accusative and infinitive is "to want someone to do something": improbos delinquere non vult "does not want the wicked to do wrong". par "equal, like" takes the dative: parem esse illi "is like that man".
• XII.16 hunc tu, si tantum posse te putas, sana.
• XII.19 Sentias tandem aliquando, aliquid esse in te praestantius ac divinius eis quae affectus in te excitant, et quasi fidiculis quibusdam distrahunt te.
• XII.21 Cogita tecum, brevi fore, ut nec ipse ullus usquam futurus sis, nec quicquam eorum quae vides, nec horum quisquam qui nunc vivunt.
• XII.24 in eis vero quae extrinsecus eveniunt, vel forte fortuna quodque vel providentia obvenire.The infinitive obvenire with its subject quodque "each thing" in the accusative is a reported statement, and the verb it depends on is left out: "(remember) that each thing comes either by chance or by providence". forte fortuna is an old fixed phrase, two ablatives side by side, "by chance and luck", i.e. "by mere chance". Marcus often weighs such alternatives against each other (as in 12.14).
• XII.26 Quando moleste fers quicquam; oblitus es, omnia secundum universi naturam fieri.oblitus es "you have forgotten" is the perfect of the deponent obliviscor. Like a verb of knowing, it takes an accusative and infinitive: omnia … fieri "that all things happen". The whole section is a list of forgotten truths, and nearly all of them depend on this oblitus es or on the second one below.
• XII.26 item peccatum alterius nihil ad te.
• XII.26 adhaec, quicquid fit, ita semper factum, semperque futurum, et nunc etiam ubique fieri.
• XII.26 oblitus es, et mentem cujusque Deum esse, et divinitus defluxisse. et, nihil esse cujusquam proprium;Two accusatives with esse: mentem is the subject, Deum the predicate, "that the mind of each man is God". For the Stoics the mind in us is a portion of the divine reason that runs through the world, so it "has flowed down from God" (divinitus defluxisse). divinitus is an adverb, "from God, from heaven".
• XII.26 sed et filiolum, et corpusculum, et animulam ipsam inde prodiisse.Still after oblitus es: "but that (your) little son, little body and little soul itself have come from there". The three diminutives (filiolus from filius, corpusculum from corpus, animula from anima) are tender and belittling at once, as in the Greek. inde "from there" points back to divinitus: they come from God, so they are not ours. sed et is "but also"; prodiisse is the perfect infinitive of prodeo "come forth".
• XII.26 sed et, opinione constare cuncta.
• XII.28 Interrogantibus, ubi Deos conspicatus, aut unde esse compertum habens, hos ita veneraris, responsum sit.compertum habeo "I hold as found out" means "I know for certain". What is known is esse "(that they) exist", with Deos understood as its subject.
• XII.28 pari igitur ratione et Deos, cum eorum potentiam jugiter experiar, propterea et esse compertum habeo et veneror.
• XII.34 Nihil magis ad mortem contemnendam incitaverit, quam si consideres, etiam eos qui voluptatem in bonis, dolorem in malis habent, eam tamen contempsisse.What you are to consider is an accusative and infinitive: eos … contempsisse "that those … have despised it", where eam is death. in bonis habere means "to count among good things"; habent serves both halves. Marcus means the Epicureans, who held pleasure to be the good and pain the evil, and yet faced death calmly.