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The gerund (agendo, laedendi)

The gerund is a verbal noun, "doing", in -ndi, -ndo, -ndum; it has no nominative (the infinitive does that job) and does not agree with any noun.

  • genitive -ndi "of doing": after nouns and adjectives such as consilium, ars, opportunitas, cupidus, and with causa "for the sake of": laedendi consilio "with the intention of harming"
  • accusative -ndum, only after a preposition, mostly ad "for, to": ad irascendum adigitur "is driven to anger"
  • ablative -ndo "by doing", or after in, de, ex: agendo "by being busy", in delinquendo "in doing wrong"

A gerund can take an object (honorem … vindicandi), but Latin more often makes the object the noun and the gerundive agree with it (honoris vindicandi); see the gerundive.

To tell it from the gerundive: the gerund is always neuter singular and stands alone; the gerundive agrees with a noun.

Examples

  • honorem autem tibi tuum vindicandi, haud erit amplius opportunitas 2.6and there will be no further chance to claim your honour for yourself
  • dum vitam agendo conterunt 2.7while they wear out their lives by being busy
  • ad irascendum adigitur 2.10is driven to anger
  • vel laedendi consilio adversatur alicui 2.16or opposes someone with the intention of harming him

In the text 87

  • I.3 A matre, pietatis studium, et largiendi promptitudinem: nec a malo patrando tantum, sed cogitando etiam, continere.pietatis is an objective genitive, "zeal for piety". largiendi is the genitive of the gerund of the deponent largior "give freely": "readiness of giving", i.e. "readiness to give".
  • I.7 quodque ad aemulationem ambitionemque Sophisticam nullus declinaverim, vel de theorematibus aliquid conscribendo, vel oratiunculas hortatorias declamando, vel exercitia obire operasque edere potis speciem praebendo, quo ad stuporem ac admirationem mei homines traherem.Three gerunds in the ablative, "by writing …, by declaiming …, by presenting …", give the ways in which Marcus might have gone over to the sophists. A gerund keeps the construction of its verb and can take an object: aliquid conscribendo "by writing something", oratiunculas … declamando "by declaiming little speeches", speciem praebendo "by presenting an appearance".
  • I.10 idque sub specie vel respondendi, vel calculum dictis contribuendi, vel de re ipsa, non autem de dictione, una dispiciendi, vel per aliam aliquam istiusmodi scitam, sed quae oblique facta sit, commonefactionem.idque "and that too" looks back to proponere: the right word is to be put forward under cover. sub specie "under the guise" takes three genitive gerunds, respondendi "of answering", contribuendi "of adding", dispiciendi "of looking into", each brought in by vel "either … or".
  • I.16 quod amicis vel coenandi secum, vel abstinendi optionem liberam permittebat, nec peregre euntem comitari, nisi ipsis allubesceret, necesse erat:coenandi and abstinendi are gerunds in the genitive, depending on optionem: "a choice of dining with him or of staying away". vel … vel "either … or". Gataker spells cena, cenare "dinner, dine" as coena, coenare.necesse erat "it was necessary" has the infinitive comitari as its subject: "nor was it necessary (for them) to accompany him going abroad, unless they felt like it". comitari is the infinitive of the deponent comitor, and euntem "(him) going" is its object.
  • I.16 quod in consiliis, quid facto opus esset, accurate perquirendo constanter insistebat, nec specie rerum obvia quavis acquiescens, indagationem incidebat.insistere "to keep at, persist in" takes the dative, here the gerund perquirendo: "to keep steadily at searching out carefully".
  • I.16 quod etiam amicorum retinendi studiosus; nec fastidio mutans, nec insane diligens.The verb is left out: supply erat, "that (he was) eager …". retinendi is a gerund, "of keeping", depending on studiosus "eager for", and its object stands in the genitive, amicorum, as sometimes happens with a genitive gerund: "eager for the keeping of friends".
  • I.16 non illi intempestivus balneorum usus; non aedificandi studium insanum,aedificandi is a gerund in the genitive, depending on studium: "a passion for building". Many emperors built lavishly; he did not.
  • 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.
  • II.6 honorem autem tibi tuum vindicandi, haud erit amplius opportunitas.vindicandi is the genitive of the gerund, a verbal noun 'of claiming', depending on opportunitas: 'opportunity of claiming'. Like a verb it takes a direct object, honorem … tuum. The whole gerund phrase comes before the noun it depends on, so it is best read last: 'there will be no more chance of claiming your honour for yourself'.
  • II.7 nugas siquidem agunt actuosi haud pauci, dum vitam agendo conterunt, sed scopum, ad quem conatus suos cogitationesque omnes dirigant, sibi propositum nullum habent.agendo is the ablative of the gerund of ago, 'by doing': they wear out their lives by sheer activity. Gataker plays on agunt … agendo: much doing, nothing done.
  • II.10 qui vero per cupidinem delinquit, quia voluptate vincitur, intemperantior quodammodo, et in peccando effoeminatior videtur.peccando is a gerund (a verbal noun) in the ablative after in: 'in doing wrong', i.e. 'in his wrongdoing'. It is from pecco 'do wrong', the verb of peccatis in the first sentence; delinquit just before says the same.
  • 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.ad + a gerund in the accusative gives the goal: 'to being angry', 'to doing harm', 'to committing'. In ad perpetrandum quidquam the gerund keeps a direct object, quidquam 'anything'.
  • II.16 deinde cum vel hominem quemcunque aversatur, vel laedendi consilio adversatur alicui. hujusmodi sunt autem irascentium animae.laedendi is the genitive of the gerund, "of harming", depending on consilio: "with the intention of harming". The ablative consilio tells in what spirit the soul opposes someone.
  • III.2 attamen intercisa et hiantia ista, quamvis ab artis pistoriae instituto aliena, decoris speciem quandam prae se ferunt, et comedendi desiderium suo modo irritant.comedendi is the gerund in the genitive, "of eating", depending on desiderium: "the desire of eating", i.e. "the desire to eat".
  • III.4 puta, cogitando, quid iste vel ille agat, et quorsum hoc vel illud agat, quid loquatur, quid cogitet, quid machinetur, et caetera.cogitando is the gerund of cogito in the ablative, "by thinking": it says how the rest of life would be worn away. Like a verb, it takes objects, here the questions that follow.
  • III.16 huic tanquam Deo, decenter obsequi; nihil a veritate alienum proloquendo, nihil a justitiae ratione devium exequendo.proloquendo and exequendo are gerunds in the ablative, "by speaking out", "by carrying out": they say how he obeys. A gerund, though a noun, can take an object like a verb: nihil … alienum "nothing foreign", nihil … devium "nothing straying". exequor is Gataker's spelling of exsequor. Both verbs are deponent, but their gerunds are active like all gerunds.
  • IV.20 itaque laudando nec melius, nec deterius efficitur.laudando is the ablative of the gerund, "by praising". The gerund is active in form, but here the sense is passive: "by (its) being praised".
  • IV.24 istud enim non eam duntaxat, quae bona agendo, sed et eam, quae pauca agendo comparatur, tranquillitatem producit.agendo is the gerund, the verbal noun, in the ablative of means: "by doing". Being a verb, it can take an object: bona agendo "by doing good things", pauca agendo "by doing few things". The verb comparatur "is gained" is written only once, in the second clause, and must be understood in the first.
  • IV.24 siquidem id agendo fiet, ut nec actiones consequantur supervacaneae.
  • IV.26 huc summa redit; brevis est vita: quod instat tempus lucrandum est, considerate justeque agendo.agendo "by acting" is the gerund in the ablative of means. As a verb it is described by adverbs, not adjectives: considerate justeque "thoughtfully and justly".
  • IV.33 caeteri enim statim atque expiraverint, ignoti ac ne fando quidem auditi fiunt.ne … quidem "not even" encloses the word it stresses, fando, the ablative gerund of the deponent fari "to speak": "by speaking". fando audire is an old idiom, "to hear by report, by hearsay": they are not even heard of by word of mouth. ignoti and auditi are predicates with fiunt "they become".
  • V.1 Nunquid ergo ad oblectandum te natus es? non autem ad faciendum aut agendum aliquid?ad with a gerund, like ad with a gerundive, gives a purpose: ad oblectandum "for delighting". The gerund is a verbal noun and can take an object, here te "yourself": "to give yourself pleasure". (One could also read oblectandum as a gerundive agreeing with te; the sense is the same.)
  • V.1 At quiete quoque opus est, inquis. Est fateor; sed quiescendi modum etiam natura praescripsit.quiescendi is the genitive of the gerund, a verbal noun: "of resting". modus here is "measure, limit": quiescendi modum "a limit to resting". praescripsit "has laid down" is a perfect for a rule nature set once and for all.
  • V.1 praescripsit et edendi atque bibendi. tu vero ultra modum, ultra id quod sufficit, in istis procedis.
  • V.1 caeterum in agendo secus te geris, et intra id quod poteras, contines te.caeterum "but, for the rest" is Gataker's spelling of ceterum. in agendo "in acting" is the ablative of the gerund after in. te gerere "to carry oneself" means "to behave", and secus "otherwise": in action you do the opposite of what you do in eating and sleeping.
  • V.4 Per ea quae naturae sunt consentanea incedo, donec occumbens tandem conquiescam, eo expirando, unde spiritum quotidie haurio,eo is the adverb "thither, into that", and unde "from where" answers it: "breathing out into that (the air) from which I draw breath every day". expirando, Gataker's spelling of exspirando, and recidendo in the next part are ablatives of the gerund: they say how the rest will come. exspirare is also "to breathe one's last".
  • V.4 eoque recidendo, unde et seminium mei pater, et sanguinem mater, et lac nutrix collegit;recido "fall back" (from cado "fall") is a different verb from recīdo "cut back" (from caedo "cut"). eo … unde again: "falling back into that from which …", here the earth, which gave everything my body is made of.
  • V.5 hoc tantummodo nomine si notari poteras, quod tardiori hebetiorique ingenio natus sis, exercitatione vitium istud corrigere conandum fuerat, hebetudinem tuam neque insuper habendo, neque in eadem tibi complacendo.Two ablative gerunds of manner, "by neither … nor …". insuper habere "to hold as over and above" is an idiom for "to disregard, make light of": hebetudinem … insuper habendo "disregarding your dullness". complacere "to be pleasing" with tibi is "to be pleased with yourself", and in eadem "in the same" means in your dullness.
  • V.6 tu autem, si id quod dixeram recte intelligere volueris, noli metuere, ne hac de caussa benefaciendi occasionem ullam sis omissurus.hac de caussa "for this reason": the preposition stands between adjective and noun, a common order; caussa is Gataker's spelling of causa. benefaciendi is a gerund depending on occasionem: "an opportunity of doing good". Understood rightly, knowing what you do will never make you hold back from a good deed.
  • V.10 contra potius solari se quemque par fuerit, dissolutionem sui naturalem operiendo, moramque interea haud gravate ferendo, dum duobus hisce acquiescit prorsus;Two gerunds in the ablative, ablatives of manner: they say how he consoles himself. operiendo "by awaiting" is from the deponent operior "wait for", not operio "cover"; ferendo "by bearing". Each takes an object like a verb: dissolutionem sui naturalem "his own natural dissolution", moram "the delay". haud gravate "not reluctantly", i.e. willingly.
  • VI.6 Optimus injuriam ulciscendi modus est, inferenti ne sis similis.ulciscendi "of avenging" is the gerund of the deponent ulciscor, in the genitive with modus: "the way of avenging". A gerund is a verbal noun, but it can still take an object, here injuriam "a wrong".
  • VI.11 tenoris enim servandi valentior fies, ad eum jugiter recurrendo.recurrendo "by running back" is a gerund in the ablative, of means. eum "it" is the tenor; jugiter "continually". The more often you return, the less you will stray.
  • VI.15 quale enim quiddam est aerem semel traxisse, mox reddere, quod momentis singulis facimus; tale quiddam est et totam illam respirandi facultatem, quam heri et nudiustertius in ortu acceperas, eo redonare, unde primo hauseras.respirandi is a gerund in the genitive: "the faculty of breathing". eo … unde "to the place … from which": dying is giving back the whole power of breathing to where it came from. The pluperfects acceperas "you had received" and hauseras "you had drawn" look back from that moment of giving back.
  • VI.20 Inter exercendum, siquis unguibus lancinaverit, aut capite alliso plagam impegerit, nullam indignationis notam edimus, nec offendimur, nec tanquam insidiatorem deinceps suspectum hunc habemus.inter with the gerund means "while, in the course of": inter exercendum "while exercising". The picture is the gymnasium or wrestling ground, where scratches and knocks from a partner are part of the training and nobody takes them as an attack.
  • VI.41 at si ea sola, quae arbitrii sunt nostri, bona malaque censuerimus, nulla jam supererit amplius caussa, aut Deum incusandi, aut inimicitias adversus hominem quenquam gerendi.caussa is Gataker's spelling of causa. Two gerunds in the genitive depend on it, each with its own object: Deum incusandi "of blaming God", inimicitias gerendi "of carrying on enmities" (inimicitias gerere is the idiom). Note the change from Deos "the gods" above to Deum "God": Marcus speaks of the divine either way.
  • VI.46 Quemadmodum afficere te solent ea quae in theatro locisque ejusmodi repraesentantur, ut eadem semper uniformiter exhibita, spectandi satietatem pariant: eodem modo et in vita tota sis affectus.
  • VI.52 neque enim habent in se res ipsae vim ullam judicia nostra eliciendi.eliciendi "of drawing out" is a gerund in the genitive, depending on vim "power": "the power of drawing out". A gerund can take a direct object, here judicia nostra "our judgements". neque enim "for … not": things cannot force an opinion on us; we form it ourselves.
  • VI.59 Perpende tecum, quales sint quibus placere cupis, et quarum rerum potiundi caussa id velis, quibusque officiis ista demerearis.potiundi is an old form of potiendi, the gerund of the deponent potior "get possession of", which takes the genitive, here quarum rerum "what things". caussa (Gataker's spelling of causa) placed after a genitive means "for the sake of": "for the sake of gaining what things". id "this" is the pleasing of those people.
  • VII.16 in ipsius voluntate situm est, ut ne ad motus istiusmodi opinando se commoveat.opinando is the ablative of the gerund of the deponent opinor "form an opinion": "by opining", by its own judgements. motus is accusative plural of the fourth declension, "movements" of the soul, emotions such as fear and grief.
  • 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.vivendi is the genitive of the gerund, the verb used as a noun: ars vivendi "the art of living".
  • VII.67 hoc semper memineris; sed et illud, paucissimis ad beate vivendum opus esse.
  • VII.70 tu vero, qui mox es desiturus, malos tolerando defetisceris? idque cum ex eorum ipse sis numero.defetisceris is the present of the deponent defetiscor "grow weary, give up" (its participle is defessus "worn out"). tolerando is the gerund of tolero "bear", in the ablative of cause, "through bearing", with malos "the wicked" as its object: "do you grow weary of bearing with the wicked?". There is no question word; the tone makes it a reproach.
  • VII.74 Emolumentum capiendo nemo defatigatur.capiendo is the gerund of capio, the verbal noun "taking", in the ablative of cause: "wearied by taking", that is, "tired of taking". Like a verb, the gerund takes a direct object: emolumentum capiendo "by taking benefit". emolumentum capere is "to receive benefit, to profit". defatigatur is passive, "is tired out", where English says "grows tired".
  • VII.74 noli ergo defatigari emolumentum in eo capiendo, quod alteri praestas.
  • VIII.7 prospere autem procedit rationalis natura, ubi in cogitando nec falso, nec incerto assentitur, impulsus suos ad opera, quae societatem juvent, sola dirigit,
  • VIII.19 tu ergo ad quid? nunquid ad oblectandum te?nunquid opens a question expecting the answer no: "surely not…?". oblectandum is a gerund in the accusative after ad, giving the purpose, and it takes te as its object: "for delighting yourself", that is, for pleasure. The same question is asked in 5.1: nunquid ergo ad oblectandum te natus es?
  • VIII.29 Imaginationes dele; saepe tecum sic loquendo, In potestate mea nunc situm est, ut nulla in hac anima existat improbitas, nulla cupiditas, nulla omnino perturbatio:loquendo is the ablative of the gerund of the deponent loquor: "by speaking". It says how the impressions are wiped out: by often saying to yourself (tecum "with yourself") the words that follow, which are given in the first person as Marcus's own.
  • 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.Three gerunds in the genitive depend on facultatem "the power": redeundi "of returning", coalescendi "of growing together", recuperandi "of recovering". The last takes a direct object, partis ordinem "the place of a part"; Latin could also turn this into a gerundive (ordinis recuperandi). The ubi clause stands between facultatem and its genitives.
  • VIII.47 neque enim non agendi caussa in te est.agendi is the gerund, "of acting", depending on caussa; non negates the gerund alone, so non agendi caussa is "the cause of not acting". neque enim "for … not" then denies the whole: "for the cause of (your) not acting is not in you". If something stronger stops you, the failure is not yours.
  • VIII.57 itaque ab extendendo radii ejus nomen sortiti sunt.extendendo is the gerund, the verbal noun, in the ablative after ab: "from stretching out". nomen sortiri, with the deponent sortior "get by lot", is "to get a name"; sortiti sunt is its perfect. The play on words belongs to the Greek, where the word for rays, aktines, was linked with ekteinesthai "to be stretched out"; Latin radius has no such link with extendere.
  • IX.1 itaque qui sciens volens mentitur, impie agit, in quantum fallendo injuste agit;in quantum "to the extent that, in so far as" (literally "into how much") states the respect in which the charge holds: the deliberate liar is impious just in this, that he is unjust, and the first sentence has shown that injustice is impiety. fallendo is the gerund of fallo "deceive", an ablative of means: "by deceiving". The deceived man is wronged.
  • IX.1 et qui voluptatem sectatur, injuriam inferendo non abstinebit. hoc autem aperte impium.abstinere "to keep away from" takes the ablative of what one keeps from, here the gerund inferendo "from inflicting". The gerund has its own object, injuriam "a wrong": injuriam inferre "to inflict a wrong, do injury". The man who lives for pleasure will sooner or later wrong others to get it, and the section began by showing that injustice is impiety.
  • IX.9 observando autem id, quod loquor, comperies.observando "by observing" is the gerund in the ablative, of means: "if you watch, you will find (the truth of) what I say". id, quod loquor "that which I say" is the object of comperies.
  • IX.10 etiamsi autem usus formulam hanc loquendi viti ac similibus praecipue attribuerit, nihil tamen hoc obstat, quo minus et de illis dicatur.
  • IX.34 tum quando vel vituperando obesse, vel laudando prodesse cuiquam videntur, quanto cum fastu id faciant.vituperando and laudando are gerunds in the ablative, "by blaming", "by praising". obesse "to harm" and prodesse "to help", compounds of sum, both take the dative, and the one cuiquam "anyone" serves both. Both infinitives depend on videntur "they seem".
  • IX.35 nec penes Deos, qui tot fuerint, potentiam extitisse corrigendi ista, quo minus mundus ad mala ista addiceretur, quibus perpetim teneretur implicitus?
  • IX.42 quodque cum ratio occasiones tibi justas suppeditet cogitandi, probabile esse illum hoc esse admissurum, tum tamen hoc oblitus, admisisse illum admiraris.The gerund cogitandi "of thinking" depends on occasiones: "good grounds for thinking". What you would think follows as an accusative and infinitive, probabile esse "that it was likely", and its subject is a second one, illum hoc esse admissurum "that he would commit this". admissurum esse is the future infinitive of admitto, which with a fault as object means "commit".
  • 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.
  • 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.4 Siquis fallitur, docendo comiter huic errorem suum indica.docendo is the gerund in the ablative, "by teaching", and comiter "kindly, courteously" goes with it. indica is the imperative of indico (1st conj.) "point out", with the dative huic "to him" and the object errorem suum "his error". suum refers to huic: a reflexive may point to the person the sentence is about, not only to its grammatical subject.
  • 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.The second cum is the conjunction "since", with the subjunctive. in alteratione agere is "to live in a state of alteration". ad corrumpendum is a gerund of purpose, active in form but passive in sense: "(made) for being corrupted", that is, built in many ways to perish.
  • X.12 denique si aliud quippiam, quo minus ea procedas, obstiterit, prout occasiones praesentes se obtulerint, considerate progredi, ei quod justum tibi visum fuerit, adhaerendo?adhaerendo is the ablative of the gerund, "by holding fast", and like its verb adhaerere it takes a dative, ei "to that". In quod justum tibi visum fuerit "what has seemed just to you", videri "to seem" takes a predicate in the nominative, justum. The question mark after adhaerendo closes the question begun with Ecquis.
  • X.12 hoc enim assequi, ut juste agas, optimum est: nec nisi ab hoc aberrando excideris.
  • X.16 Ne ulterius occupere totus, disserendo qualis vir bonus sit, sed enitendo ut ipse sis.Two gerunds in the ablative, both with occupere, name what you are busy with: not with disserendo "discussing", but with enitendo "striving". After disserendo comes an indirect question, so its verb is subjunctive: qualis vir bonus sit "what sort of man a good man is". After enitendo comes an ut clause of effort, "striving that you yourself may be", where sis leaves out its complement: supply vir bonus. The sentence sets talking about goodness against being good.
  • X.18 Rerum praesentium unamquamque advertendo, considera eam jam dissolutam, et in mutatione et quasi putrefactione quadam, aut dissipatione, constitutam, sive ut mori quodammodo nata sit.advertendo is a gerund in the ablative, "by turning (your mind) to", and like a verb it takes a direct object, unamquamque. unamquamque is feminine because rem "thing" is understood: "each one of the present things", with rerum praesentium as a partitive genitive.
  • X.30 puta, argentum in bonis habendo, vel voluptatem, vel gloriolam, vel aliud istiusmodi.habendo is the ablative of the gerund, "by holding", and like a verb it takes a direct object: argentum … habendo "by counting money". in bonis habere is "to count among good things", the very error the Stoics found in most wrongdoing. voluptatem, gloriolam and aliud are further objects of the same habendo.
  • X.31 quam pulcram bene agendi materiam occasionemque subterfugis?quam with an adjective asks or exclaims "how": quam pulcram … materiam "how fine a material" (pulcram is Gataker's spelling of pulchram). bene agendi is a gerund in the genitive depending on both nouns: "material and occasion for acting well". Gataker adds pulcram and bene agendi to the bare Greek "what material and occasion are you fleeing?"
  • X.34 commune autem omnium est, breve existendi spatium.communis can take a genitive, "common to": commune omnium "common to all". The subject comes after the comma: breve existendi spatium "a brief span of existing", where existendi is a gerund, the verbal noun in the genitive.
  • X.36 hoc si inter moriendum cogitaveris, libentius discedes; cum ita tecum rem putaveris,inter with the gerund means "while …-ing": inter moriendum "while dying". The gerund is the verbal noun; morior is deponent, but its gerund has the ordinary form.
  • XI.1 neque enim sic se habet, quo modo in saltando aut in fabulam agendo aliisque ejusmodi, in quibus siquid incideris, actio tota fit mutila;in governs the gerund agendo "acting" (ablative), and fabulam is the gerund's own object: "in acting a play". Classical Latin would usually turn this into the gerundive, in fabula agenda; Gataker sets the object between the preposition and the gerund. saltando "dancing" is a plain gerund after in.
  • XI.5 Quam artem profiteris? bene vivendi.The answer leaves out artem: "(the art) of living well", with the genitive of the gerund vivendi. The Greek answer is "to be good"; Gataker gives the usual Latin name for what philosophy teaches.
  • XI.6 sed et quo spectet totum hoc poesios hujusmodi et fabularum agendi institutum.poesios is a Greek-style genitive of poesis "poetry", copying the Greek ending. fabularum agendi "of acting plays" is a gerund with its object in the genitive, an occasional turn in Latin; the usual form would be the gerundive, fabularum agendarum.
  • XI.7 Quam liquido compertum habes, nullum aliud vitae institutum ad philosophandum magis esse idoneum, quam hoc in quo jam versaris?
  • XI.9 Qui ad rationis rectae normam progredienti obsistunt tibi, sicut a recte agendo avertere te nequeunt, ita nec benevolum erga illos affectum excutiant tibi.
  • XI.16 Optime vivendi facultas haec est in anima sita, si adversus res indifferentes indifferenter se habeat.vivendi is a gerund in the genitive, "of living", depending on facultas "power, capacity"; being a verb, it can still take an adverb, optime "best", the superlative of bene: "this power of living best". haec "this" agrees with facultas. est … sita "is placed, lies" uses the participle of sino in its sense "situated".
  • XI.17 Cogita tecum, unde prodierit unumquodque, et ex quibus consistat, et in quid mutet, et ubi mutaverit, quale futurum sit, et quod mutando mali nil patitur.
  • XI.18 omnis etenim anima, prout veritate privatur invita, sic etiam erga quemque pro dignitate cujusque gerendi se peritia.gerendi is a gerund in the genitive, depending on peritia; like a verb it takes an object, se. se gerere is "to conduct oneself, behave".
  • XI.18 sed quomodo tollam? reputando nihil tibi inhonestum contigisse.reputando is the ablative of the gerund, "by reflecting"; it takes an accusative and infinitive, nihil … contigisse "that nothing … has happened". contingo with the dative is "happen to, befall".
  • XI.19 Mentis affectiones quatuor potissimum sunt jugiter cavendae, et ubi deprehensae fuerint, confestim inducendae, de singulis earum sic censendo:censendo is the gerund, the verbal noun, in the ablative: "by judging thus about each of them". sic "thus" points forward: the verdict on each fault follows the colon. earum "of them" means the affectiones.
  • XI.29 Nec in scribendo, nec in legendo aliis praecipias, nisi prius praeceptum fuerit tibi.in with the ablative of the gerund: "in writing", "in reading", the first lessons of every schoolboy. nec … nec "neither … nor".
  • XI.30 Cum liber haud sis, jus loquendi non habes.
  • XI.32 Dura suos fundendo incessent verba parentes.fundendo is the ablative of the gerund, "by pouring out", and like a verb it takes an object, dura verba. incessent is the future of incesso "attack, assail": "they will assail".
  • XI.37 Artem assensum praebendi inveniendam idem monebat.
  • XII.2 qui enim circumjectam sibi carnem non respexerit, nec de vestitu, domicilio, fama, aut apparatu instructuque reliquo cogitando, negotium ullum facesset sibi.cogitando "by thinking" is the ablative of the gerund, and de with the ablatives says what the thinking is about. apparatu instructuque reliquo "the rest of the display and equipment" is all the outward show a man wraps round himself. negotium facessere alicui is an idiom, "to make trouble for someone"; here for oneself, sibi. facesset is the future of facesso.
  • XII.10 Res ipsas quales sint intuere, in materiam, formam, finem dividendo.dividendo, the ablative of the gerund, is "by dividing". This is the Stoic analysis Marcus uses again and again: the materia a thing is made of; its forma, the active cause that shapes the matter (the Greek says "cause"); and its finis, the end it serves. 12.18 gives the same list and adds time.
  • XII.18 curaeque sit tibi hoc ipsum in formam, materiam, finem, et tempus, intra quod desiturum sit, distinguendo explicare.explicare, literally "to unfold, unroll", is to lay a thing open so that it can be seen; distinguendo "by dividing", the ablative of the gerund, says how: by sorting it in "into" four heads. They are the questions a Stoic put to anything: what shapes it (forma), what it is made of (materia), what it is for (finis), and how long it will last (tempus). Gataker's forma renders a Greek word for the causal, active part of a thing.
  • XII.29 quid enim superest, nisi vita frui, bonum bono ita adnectendo, ut ne minimum quidem intervallum bono vacuum relinquatur.adnectendo is a gerund in the ablative of means, "by joining", and like a verb it takes a direct object, bonum, and a dative, bono: "by joining good to good". The same word in two cases side by side makes the picture: each good act tied straight on to the next, like links in a chain.