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Clauses with cum: when, since, although

cum with the indicative means "when"; with the subjunctive it means "when", "since" or "although, whereas", and only the sense decides which.

First make sure it is not the preposition: cum + an ablative noun, with no verb of its own, is "with" (cum dolore, cum voluptate).

cum + indicative: "when, whenever", a plain statement of time: cum voluptati vel dolori succumbit "when it gives in to pleasure or pain".

cum + subjunctive: "when" (in past narrative, with the imperfect or pluperfect), "since" (cum nec honesta ea, nec inhonesta sint "since they are neither honourable nor shameful"), or "although, whereas". A tamen in the main clause points to "although".

cum … tum is a pair, "both … and especially" (see paired words).

Examples

  • ego vero, cum et naturam boni norim 2.1but I, since I know the nature of the good
  • cum is sponte sua ad laedendum feratur 2.10whereas the other rushes of his own accord to do harm
  • cum nec honesta ea, nec inhonesta sint 2.11since they are neither honourable nor shameful
  • tertio contumelia se afficit, cum voluptati vel dolori succumbit 2.16thirdly, it disgraces itself when it gives in to pleasure or pain

In the text 84

  • I.9 quodque nec iracundiae, nec perturbationis alius alicujus, indicium exhibebat; sed cum affectibus immunis prorsus existeret, ad affectum genuinum erat tamen propensissimus:cum with the subjunctive existeret means "although", answered by tamen "yet". The two uses of affectus pull against each other: affectibus immunis "free from passions" (ablative of separation), yet ad affectum genuinum propensissimus "most inclined to natural affection", the love one has for one's own.
  • I.16 quod, cum secundum majorum instituta omnia exequeretur, ne hoc quidem affectaverat, ut majorum instituta praecise observare videretur.cum with the subjunctive here means "although": he did keep the ancestral customs, but without making a show of it. exequeretur is Gataker's spelling of exsequeretur. majores "the greater (ones)" is the regular word for "ancestors"; it is the comparative of magnus.
  • I.16 utpote cum is esset, qui non ad celebritatem ex rebus a se gestis acquirendam, sed id duntaxat quod facto erat opus, respiceret.
  • 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.
  • I.17 quod cum Rustico saepe succenserem nihil ultra admiserim, cujus poenitere me posset.cum with the subjunctive here means 'although'. succensere 'to be angry with' takes the dative, Rustico: Rusticus, his Stoic teacher (see section 7).
  • I.17 quod cum philosophandi cupiditas incessisset, non in sophistam aliquem inciderim, nec commentariis evolvendis, vel syllogismis resolvendis, vel meteorologicis discutiendis, tempus deses contriverim. etenim ista omnia Diis adjutoribus ac Fortuna indigebant.cum with the pluperfect subjunctive: 'when the desire had come over me'. philosophandi is the genitive of the gerund of the deponent philosophor, 'of philosophising', with cupiditas; incedere 'come upon' is used of feelings that seize someone.
  • II.1 ego vero, cum et naturam boni norim, quod honestum, malique, quod inhonestum sit, ipsamque adeo delinquentis naturam, quod congener mihi sit, non tam quod sanguinis seminisque ejusdem, quam quod mentis ac portionis divinae mecum particeps;cum with the subjunctive here means "since". norim is the short form of noverim, perfect subjunctive of nosco "get to know"; because novi "I have got to know" means "I know", norim means "I know".
  • II.10 atque omnino alter ei similior existit, qui prior laesus, doloris ratione ad irascendum adigitur: cum is sponte sua ad laedendum feratur, qui ad perpetrandum quidquam cupidine ducitur.cum + subjunctive here sets the second man against the first: 'whereas he … is carried'. It can also be felt as causal, 'since', giving the reason why the angry man is the more excusable.
  • II.11 atqui mors, et vita, honor et ignominia, dolor et voluptas, opes et paupertas, ista omnia bonis pariter malisque contingunt, cum nec honesta ea nec inhonesta sint.cum + subjunctive is causal here: 'since they are neither honourable nor shameful'. honesta and inhonesta are predicates agreeing with ea (nom. pl. n.).
  • II.14 praesens siquidem duntaxat uterque tempus amittit, cum hoc duntaxat habeat, nec amittere possit quis, quod non habet.cum with the subjunctive (habeat, possit) here means "since": "since this is all he has, and no one can lose what he does not have". nec … quis is "and no one", with quis indefinite as in neque … quis above.
  • II.16 deinde cum vel hominem quemcunque aversatur, vel laedendi consilio adversatur alicui. hujusmodi sunt autem irascentium animae.cum with the indicative (aversatur, adversatur) simply means "when"; so too in the items that follow. The main verb contumelia se afficit is understood from the first sentence.
  • II.16 cum etiam minutissima quaeque ita sint agenda, ut ad finem ipsum referantur. finis autem animantium rationis participum hic est, ut civitatis ac politiae antiquissimae rationi legibusque obsequantur.cum with the subjunctive (sint) here means "since": it gives the reason why aimless action is an insult, added after a full stop as an afterthought. quisque with a superlative means "every … -est one": minutissima quaeque "even the very smallest things, every one of them".
  • II.17 nihil temere aut ficte simulateque agentem, sibi sufficientem, cum ut alii faciant aut ne faciant quid, opus nil habeat:cum + subjunctive habeat: "since it has no need at all" (nil is the short form of nihil). opus habere "to have need" works like opus est "there is need", which takes either the ablative of the thing needed (opus est consilio "there is need of advice") or, as here, a clause: ut alii faciant aut ne faciant quid "that others should do, or not do, anything". After ne, quid means "anything".
  • III.2 quemadmodum panis cum coquitur, particulas quasdam diffindi cernimus.
  • III.3 Chaldaei, cum multorum mortem praedixissent, morti demum et ipsi concesserunt.cum with the pluperfect subjunctive tells what had happened before the main event: "when (after) they had foretold". In narrative Latin puts such a cum clause in the subjunctive, where English has a plain "when". There is a note of contrast too: they foretold the deaths of others, yet died themselves.
  • III.3 Alexander, Pompeius, C. Caesar, cum tot urbes funditus evertissent, tot hominum myriades in praelio cecidissent, ipsi quoque tandem vita excesserunt.One cum governs two pluperfect subjunctives, set side by side without "and"; the repeated tot "so many" binds them: "after they had overthrown so many cities, (and) cut down so many tens of thousands of men".
  • III.3 Heraclitus, de mundi conflagratione cum prolixe disseruisset, aqua intercute viscera distentus, stercoreque oblitus bubulo, interiit.cum "after" stands inside its own clause, behind de mundi conflagratione, which is put first for emphasis. Heraclitus taught that the world would end in fire; the irony is that he died of too much water.
  • III.3 an non enim praestantius est id quod inservit? cum alter mens et genius, alter limus et sanies sit?cum with the subjunctive sit here means "since"; the question mark carries the question on into the reason for it. One sit serves both halves: alter "the one" (the mind) is mind and divine spirit (genius, the god within each man), alter "the other" (the body) is mud and gore. alter is masculine, taking the gender of genius and limus, although the things meant (id quod inservit and vas) are neuter; Gataker's own edition (1652) prints alter … alter too.
  • III.4 Vir ita compositus, quo minus in optimorum numero censeatur, jam nihil est, cum deorum sacerdos ac minister quidam existat, eoque quod intra se gerit, numine rite utatur.
  • III.6 sin praestabilius nihil offenderis, genio in te collocato, cum ita fuerit comparatus, ut motus suos omnes sibi subjecerit, et visa quaeque diligenter exploret,cum with the subjunctive: "when it has been so prepared that …". fuerit comparatus is the perfect passive subjunctive, made of the participle and fuerit. The result clause runs on through four more verbs into the next line.
  • III.11 caeterum ego, cum norim, ideo adversus illum benevole justeque me gero, juxta societatis legem a natura latam.cum with the subjunctive means "since". norim is short for noverim, perfect subjunctive of nosco; because novi "I have learned" means "I know", norim means "I know". Its object, what suits nature, is understood from the sentence before.
  • IV.3 hoc autem totum vulgarium cum primis est hominum. cum liceat, quocunque ipse volueris tempore, in teipsum secedere.cum with the subjunctive here gives a reason: "since it is allowed". Gataker sets the clause off with a full stop, but it still explains what comes before: seeking retreats elsewhere is ordinary, since you can withdraw into yourself at any time. licet "it is allowed" is impersonal; what is allowed is the infinitive secedere "to withdraw". The person allowed is not named, but ipse volueris shows it is you.
  • IV.5 cum nihil subsit, quod animali intellectu praedito non congruat, vel constitutionis ejusdem rationi repugnet.cum with the subjunctive here gives a reason: "since there is nothing underlying it". It explains the last words: nothing in death to be ashamed of, since nothing in it is out of keeping with a rational being. subsum "lie beneath" means "be found in it, underlie it".
  • IV.24 pleraque enim eorum quae dicere et facere consuevimus, cum necessaria non sint, si amputaverimus, a negotiis multo vacabit magis, minusque perturbata futura est nobis vita nostra.
  • IV.30 panes, inquit, cum desint, rationi tamen insisto.cum with the subjunctive desint here means "although": "though loaves are lacking (to me)". panes "loaves, bread" is the subject of desint, put before cum to stress it, and tamen "still" in the main clause answers the "although". inquit "he says" is slipped into the quotation, like English "says he".
  • IV.30 mihi vero, inquit alter, cum nec ex disciplinae exercitio qui praeberi solet, commeatus suppetat, persisto tamen.
  • IV.32 simulque considera, quam multi cum in rebus istiusmodi enixe se contendissent, paulo post occiderint, et in elementa sua resoluti sint.cum with the pluperfect subjunctive contendissent tells what had happened first: "after they had strained themselves". se contendere is "to stretch oneself, exert oneself"; enixe "with all their might". In paulo post "a little later", post is an adverb and paulo "by a little" measures it.
  • 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.cum with the subjunctive neglexerint sets one thing against another: "while all the time they neglected". The objects of neglexerint are three infinitives: facere "to do", inhaerere "to cling" (with the dative huic "to this"), and contentum esse "to be content" (with the ablative eodem "with the same"). contentum is singular because it is said of anyone at all: "to be content oneself".
  • IV.48 quot philosophi, postquam de morte et immortalitate tam multa disseruissent: quot strenui bellatores, cum multos trucidassent:
  • V.1 Mane, cum gravatim exurgis, in promptu sit tecum hoc modo disserere; Ad opus humanum jam expergiscor.cum with the indicative is simply "when": "whenever you get up". gravatim "heavily, with reluctance" is an adverb from gravor "find a thing heavy, be unwilling". exurgis is Gataker's spelling of exsurgis "you get up". The "you" is Marcus himself, as throughout the book.
  • V.1 cum tibi actiones societatem humanam spectantes sordeant magis, quam ut pari industria dignae censeantur.cum with the subjunctive here sets one case against another: "whereas, while". The craftsmen give everything to their work, whereas to you the work of society seems cheap. sordeo "be dirty" means, with a dative, "to seem mean, cheap to someone": tibi … sordeant "seem cheap to you".
  • V.5 an non intelligis quam multa praestare cum jam possis, ad quae inhabilitatis naturalis aut ineptitudinis nullus suppetit praetextus, sponte tamen in eis inferior adhuc persistis?an non …? again expects the answer "yes". quam multa "how many things" is the object of praestare inside the cum clause, and in eis "in them" takes it up again in the main clause: "how many things, though you can already show them, … you yet stay inferior in them". cum with the subjunctive possis is "though", and tamen "yet" answers it.
  • 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.cum with the indicative is plain "when". sibi invicem "to one another" (literally "to themselves in turn"). compositi "put together" agrees with the stones, the subject of coaptantur "are fitted"; scite "skilfully, neatly".
  • V.8 cum nec natura quaelibet quicquam ferat, quod non ei mundo, qui ab ipsa administratur, congruens existat.cum with the subjunctive here means "since". nec has the force of "not even": "since not even any nature you please brings anything …". If no ordinary nature brings what is unsuited to the thing it governs, still less does the nature of the universe.
  • V.9 ipsa vero prudentia quid gratius compereris, cum facultatem intelligentia scientiaque in te praeditam ejusmodi cogitaveris, quae nusquam impingat, sed in omni re prospere feratur?
  • V.12 alioqui enim non offenderet et tanquam dictu indignum repudiaretur, si de illis enunciaretur; cum de divitiis eisque fortunae bonis quae ad luxum pompamve ferunt, tanquam apte sciteque dictum, admittamus.cum with the subjunctive admittamus here means "whereas", setting the second case against the first. eisque fortunae bonis "and those goods of fortune" (wealth, rank and the like), quae ad luxum pompamve ferunt "which lead to luxury or display".
  • V.26 quod si alia ratione se ad mentem subvexerint, quatenus nempe ea corpori unita est, tunc sensui, cum a natura sit, non est obnitendum,
  • V.28 proinde, tu quoque ratione cum sis praeditus, rationali facultate tua eandem in illo excitato, errorem ostendito, commonefacito.cum with the subjunctive sis gives a reason: "since you too are endowed with reason". Latin can put words in front of their conjunction for emphasis: tu quoque ratione comes first because the argument turns on it. You too have reason; the subject of the commands that follow is the same tu.
  • VI.1 mens rectrix ejusdem, nullam in se maleficii caussam habet; cum malitiam in se nullam habeat; neque malefacit cuiquam, nec a quoquam laeditur.cum with the subjunctive here gives the reason: "since it has no malice in itself". Matter has no power of its own, and the mind that moves it has no wish to harm; so no evil comes from either.
  • VI.13 gravis enim impostor fastus est; et tum maxime effascinat, cum circa ea quis versatur, quae studio digna videntur.
  • VI.15 perinde ac si avicularum praetervolantium aliquam diligere quis inciperet, cum ea e conspectu statim abscesserit.cum with the subjunctive gives the circumstance that makes such love absurd: "when it has at once gone out of sight". The perfect abscesserit says the bird is gone almost before it is seen.
  • VI.27 atqui hoc tu illis quodammodo non permittis facere, cum peccare illos aegre fers.cum with the indicative means "when" in the sense "in that, by the very fact that": your resentment is itself the refusal. aegre ferre "to bear with difficulty, take it ill" takes an accusative and infinitive: peccare illos "that they do wrong".
  • VI.27 feruntur enim prorsus, cum peccant, ad ea de quibus ipsi sic opinantur.
  • VI.45 conducibilis vero vocabulum in sensu communi nunc sumatur, cum de rebus mediis adhibetur.
  • VII.26 Cum adversus te quicquid peccaverit quis, considera statim, quid bonum malumve esse ratus id egerit.cum with the future perfect looks ahead: "when anyone shall have done wrong", in English "when anyone has wronged you". quicquid peccare is "to commit whatever wrong": the neuter pronoun is the inner object of a verb that has no object of its own. quis is the indefinite "anyone".
  • VII.36 Male audire, cum benefacias, regium est.cum "when" with the subjunctive; the second person is the general "you", "when one does good". The pairing is the point: a king does good, is abused for it, and bears it.
  • VII.58 In omni casu eos ob oculos habeas, quibus eadem cum contigissent, aegre tulerunt, pro insueto habuerunt, quiritati sunt.
  • VII.61 Ars vivendi est luctatoriae quam saltatoriae similior. cum in hoc sit posita, ut adversus contingentia improvisa in procinctu semper quis ac immotus consistat.
  • 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.
  • VII.70 tu vero, qui mox es desiturus, malos tolerando defetisceris? idque cum ex eorum ipse sis numero.idque "and that too" adds a sharper point. cum with the subjunctive is "when", with a sense of "although": "and that when you yourself are one of their number". eorum "of them" sits inside the phrase ex … numero "of the number".
  • VIII.3 illis vero, cum ea neutiquam perspecta haberent, de quam multis solicitos esse necesse fuit? quam multis rebus inservire?cum with the subjunctive haberent gives the reason: "since they had by no means seen into those things". The words answer the philosophers' res ipsas perspectas habebant: a perfect participle with habere stresses knowledge held, "to have (things) seen through". ea "those things" are the realities with their forms and matter; neutiquam "by no means" is a strong "not".
  • VIII.7 cum hominis natura pars sit naturae impediri nesciae, rationalis, justae.cum with the subjunctive here means "whereas": it sets man against the leaf. Gataker puts a full stop before it, but it finishes the contrast begun with hoc tantum interest.
  • 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.cum with the subjunctive here sets up a contrast, "whereas". The infinitive dormire is the subject, used as a noun: "sleeping is common". brutis animantibus "to the dumb animals" is dative with commune; brutus means heavy, dull, without reason.
  • VIII.34 Verum benignitatem ejus considera, qua hominem cohonestavit: cum et in ipso posuerit, ne primitus ab universo revelleretur, et facultatem tribuerit, ubi fuerit revulsus, redeundi denuoque coalescendi, et partis ordinem, quem tenuerat, recuperandi.cum with the subjunctive gives the reason: "since he has both …". in ipso ponere is "to put in man's own hands", and the ne clause says what: "that he should not be torn away". revelleretur is imperfect subjunctive because the perfect posuerit is treated as a past tense. primitus "in the first place": not to be broken off at all is in our power.
  • VIII.50 et illi tamen quo projiciant habent, cum universi natura nihil extra se habeat;cum with the subjunctive here marks a contrast: "whereas". universi is the neuter of universus used as a noun, "the universe". Nature has no rubbish heap outside the world, because there is nothing outside it.
  • VIII.50 sed, quod in hac ejus arte maxime mireris, cum se certis terminis circumscripserit, quicquid intra se corrumpi, senescere, ac inutile fieri videtur, in semet convertit, aliaque ex his ipsis nova producit;cum with the perfect subjunctive: "since she has enclosed herself within fixed bounds". circumscribere is to draw a line round; certis terminis is an ablative of means. Because she has no outside, whatever she discards must stay within her.
  • VIII.60 mens enim tam cum cavet, quam cum considerat, recta fertur, nec minus ad scopum sibi propositum tendit.tam … quam "as much … as" joins two cum clauses meaning "when": "as much when it is on its guard as when it is weighing things up". An arrow can only fly straight; the mind, even when it holds back in caution or turns a question over, is still going straight to its mark.
  • IX.1 cum enim universi natura animalia rationalia sui invicem gratia condiderit, ut sibi invicem pro cujusque dignitate prosint, nec ulla ratione sibi invicem obsint, qui naturae placitum hoc violat, impie prorsus agit adversus numinum omnium antiquissimum.cum with the subjunctive condiderit gives a reason: "since the nature of the universe has made …". Everything up to obsint belongs to this cum clause and the ut clause that hangs on it; the main clause begins after the comma, at qui naturae placitum hoc violat. universi is the neuter of universus used as a noun, "the universe".
  • IX.1 cum mali saepenumero voluptatibus diffluant, eisque rebus, quibus eae comparantur, abundent; boni contra in dolore versentur, atque in casus ejusmodi, qui dolorem solent parere, incidant.cum with the subjunctive gives the grounds of the complaint: "since the bad often …". All four verbs of the clause are subjunctive: diffluant, abundent, versentur, incidant. diffluere "to flow apart, melt away" is used of men who go soft in luxury: voluptatibus diffluant "they melt away in pleasures", that is, they wallow in them.
  • IX.1 quo a principio illa ad hanc rerum omnium ordinationem et adornationem se contulit, cum rationes quasdam rerum futurarum apud se concepisset, et facultates quasdam existentiarum, transmutationum, et successionum istiusmodi foecundas discrevisset.cum with the pluperfect subjunctive: "when it had conceived", that is, "having first conceived". Gataker uses it for a Greek past participle. rationes are the Stoic "seed principles" (logoi spermatikoi): the patterns of all things that were to be, held in providence's mind, apud se "within itself", before they came to be. futurarum, the future participle of sum, agrees with rerum: "of things to come".
  • IX.21 cumque alias haud paucas differentias mutationesque deprehenderis, interroga te, ecquid in his grave sit.
  • IX.32 Supervacanea multa, quae molestiam tibi pariunt, praecidere, cum in opinione tua tota sita sint, animumque angustiis exemptum plurimum dilatare poteris,cum with the subjunctive here gives the reason: "since they lie wholly in your opinion". sita sint, from situs "placed" (the participle of sino), means "lie, are found". tota agrees with the neuter plural things but is best read as an adverb, "entirely": they trouble you only because you judge them troublesome, and so you can cut them away.
  • IX.32 cum et immensum sit quod ortum praecesserit, et interminatum pariter, quod interitum sit consecuturum.cum with the subjunctive, "whereas", sets the short span against the time on either side of it. et … et is "both … and". Each half has a relative clause for its subject: quod ortum praecesserit "what went before the birth", and quod interitum sit consecuturum "what will follow the end"; immensum and interminatum are their predicates.
  • IX.41 Ego, cum decumberem, inquit Epicurus, non de corporis affectionibus cum eis, qui invisebant me, colloquia habebam, nec istiusmodi sermonibus illos alloquebar,inquit "he says" is set inside the quoted words, as English puts "says Epicurus" in the middle of a quotation. Gataker uses no quotation marks; Epicurus's words run on to agebatur, and Ego "I" is the subject of habebam. cum with the imperfect subjunctive decumberem gives the circumstances, "when I was lying ill": decumbere is "to lie down", and so "to take to one's bed".
  • 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.The order is shuffled: read quod, cum beneficium dares, non absolute dedisti "because, when you were giving a kindness, you did not give it unconditionally". beneficium is pulled to the front and is the object of both verbs. absolute "absolutely" here means "without strings", expecting nothing back.
  • IX.42 ad eundem et homo cum ad benefaciendum natus sit, ubi beneficum quippiam, aut quod in commune conducat, egerit, illud fecit ad quod conditus est, et quod suum est obtinuit.ad eundem "in the same (way)", with modum "way" understood, answers quemadmodum (quem ad modum "in which way", "just as") in the last sentence; et is "too". cum with the subjunctive here is "since": "since man was born to do good". ad benefaciendum, ad with the gerund, gives the purpose, "for doing good"; natus sit is the perfect of the deponent nascor "be born".
  • X.6 cum hoc naturae omnes in commune sortiantur: mundi vero natura et hoc amplius obtineat, quod a nulla caussa externa cogi possit, ut sibi ipsi noxium quicquam producat.cum with the subjunctive here is "since". The clause gives the reason for the sentence before; Gataker puts a full stop where we would put a comma. sortiri is "to get by lot": hoc in commune sortiantur "they have this as their common lot", i.e. every nature shares the rule that it makes nothing against itself.
  • X.7 hoc autem, cum sit necessarium, si et malum illis fuerit, cum universo sane sequius ageretur, cum partes ejus in alteratione frequenti agerent, et ad corrumpendum multifariam essent comparatae.
  • X.12 Ecquis suspicionis usus est, cum quid fieri oporteat considerare praesto sit?cum with the subjunctive here means "when, since". Its subject is the infinitive considerare: "when considering is at hand", that is, "when you are free to consider". The object of considerare is the indirect question quid fieri oporteat "what ought to be done".
  • 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.cum with the subjunctive here sets one fact against another, "whereas": "whereas merely following is necessary for all". The infinitive sequi is the subject, a verbal noun, and ipsum "itself, by itself" agrees with it as a neuter. The point lies in obsequi against sequi: all things must follow what happens; only a rational being can go along with it willingly.
  • X.36 hoc si inter moriendum cogitaveris, libentius discedes; cum ita tecum rem putaveris,cum with the future perfect: "when you have reckoned". putare has its old sense "to reckon, to count up", as one settles an account; ita "like this" points to the reckoning itself, which follows in the first person.
  • XI.1 cum arborum fructus, quodque istis in animalibus respondet, alii carpant.This clause finishes the sentence before it, after Gataker's full stop. cum with the subjunctive here sets up a contrast, "whereas": the soul enjoys its own fruit, while the fruit of trees, and its counterpart in animals (their milk, wool or young), is enjoyed by others.
  • XI.6 cum viderint non posse haec aliter transigi, et quod perferant ea etiam illi qui exclamant, Eheu, Cithaeron.
  • XI.11 Si, quarum persecutio et fuga perturbat te, res eae ad te non accedunt, sed ad illas ipse quodammodo accedis, cum ipsae interim immotae maneant;cum with the subjunctive here is "while, whereas": "while they themselves meanwhile remain unmoved".
  • XI.12 Uniformis prorsus est animae sphaera, cum nec ad exterius quicquam se extendit, nec cum eodem ullo intus concurrit, nec considit et comprimitur;cum with the indicative is "when, whenever": it states the condition, not a cause. Three ways of losing shape follow, each with nec: reaching out towards external things, shrinking inwards, and sinking under pressure. The last pair, considit et comprimitur "settles and is pressed together", is one picture of collapse.
  • XI.13 annon amplecteris, quod universi naturae nunc est tempestivum, cum homo sis ad hoc compositus positusque, ut id fieri, quocunque tandem modo, velis, quod in commune conducat?cum with the subjunctive sis is "since". compositus positusque "put together and put in place" plays on pono: you were made for this and set here for this. ad hoc … ut "for this, namely that": hoc points ahead to the ut clause, which says what you were made for.
  • XI.16 nec accedit ad nos, sed quiescit; nos autem sumus, qui judicia de his proferimus atque nobis ipsis inscribimus, cum nec inscribere in nobis situm sit, et si clanculum irrepserint, statim obliterare:cum with the subjunctive here sets up a contrast: "though, when in fact". in nobis situm est "it is placed in us" means "it lies in our power". Its subjects are the two infinitives, nec inscribere "not to write" and statim obliterare "to wipe out at once", joined by nec … et "both not … and". So it is up to us both not to write such judgements at all and, if one has slipped in, to erase it at once.
  • XI.28 quaeque amicis suis dixerit, pudore suffusis pedemque retrahentibus, cum sic indutum illum conspicarentur.cum with the imperfect subjunctive: "when they saw". conspicor "catch sight of" is deponent, passive in form; indutum "dressed", from induo, describes illum "him".
  • XI.33 assidet huic, qui puerulum requirit, cum non amplius conceditur.cum with the indicative marks the time: "when it is no longer granted". The child was a loan from nature; to want it back after the loan is called in is like wanting figs out of season.
  • XII.1 ad pietatis normam, dum quicquid destinatur tibi diligis; cum et tibi hoc natura tulerit, et huic te:cum with the subjunctive here means "since". The second half leaves out the subject and verb, which are the same as in the first: et tibi hoc natura tulerit, et huic te (natura tulerit) "nature has brought both this to you and you to this". ferre here is "bring, bring forth": your lot was made for you and you for it, which is why loving it is piety.
  • XII.1 si igitur, cum in exitu fere jam sis, missis caeteris omnibus, id duntaxat, quod in te principatum gerit et divinum est, in pretio ac honore habueris;cum with the subjunctive here gives both the time and the reason: "now that you are already almost at the exit". exitus "a going out" is the departure from life: Marcus was old and near his death when he wrote this last book.
  • XII.6 nam et sinistra manus, cum ad alia opera per desuetudinem inepta sit, fraenum quam dextra validius tenet; quia huic operi assuevit.
  • XII.15 An cum lucernae lumen, usquedum extinguatur, luceat, nec splendorem amittat suum; tu admissurus es, ut in te veritas, justitia, temperantia ante extinctum temet extinguatur?An at the head of a question shows surprise or indignation: "Or is it really so that …?" cum with the subjunctive sets two things side by side, "whereas, while": the lamp shines to the end; will you go dark early? usquedum "until" (usque dum, "all the way until") has its verb extinguatur in the subjunctive because it stands inside the cum clause.
  • XII.36 terminat enim hanc, qui ejusdem olim componendae cum fuerit, nunc et dissolvendae autor est.