Domestic Discord

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Arpinum
Cicero’s birthplace. It is about 60 miles south-east of Rome.
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ex quo ego veni ad ea quae fueramus ego et tu inter nos de sorore in Tusculano locuti
'fueramus' is a sort of pluperfect - it adds a note of finality and Cicero is apologising for raising again a matter apparently already settled. 'inter nos' makes it clear that no one else was present
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nihil tam vidi mite, nihil tam placatum
nihil...nihil - Cicero begins the passage with a strong negative to highlight that the actual subject matter of the letter will be negative. The negativity is further strengthened by the anaphora of 'tam'
3 of 28
Pomponia and Quintus
Atticus' sister (Pomponia) is married to Cicero's brother (Quintus)
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nihil tam placatum
placatum is neuter because the person's behaviour is being described
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meus frater...sororem tuam
neat playing with word order - the possessive adjectives (meus and tuam) frame the nouns in a chiasmus (ABBA) which draws attention to the contrast, "my" brother...."your" sister.
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ille sic dies
short sentence - for effect - closes off the first part of the story
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Arcanum
where Quintus had an estate
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humanissime Quintus
Quintus is described as humanissime, not just courteous but the superlative to make his behaviour stand out even more.
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'Pomponia' inquit, 'tu invita mulieres, ego viros accivero'
Future perfect is used as it's more polite than the future simple. The balanced phrases (tu...ego) draw out the courtesy of the request but the verb position is varied, serves to make the direct speech more interesting in terms of rhythm
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"'"'
Cicero employs direct speech to vary his story
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dulcius
comparative intensifies the courtliness of Quintus
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cum verbis tum animo ac vultu
cum.....tum intensifies the feeling.
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'ego ipsa sum'
emphatic way she is said to speak displays her as pompous and melodramatic
14 of 28
'en!' inquit mihi, 'haec ego patior cotidie'
'en' is solitary for effect of the exclamation of his discontent and 'cotidie' is held back to the end of the phrase to emphasise how much he has to put up with Pomponia and to create pathos for Quintus
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Statius
Statius was Quintus' favourite servant which Pomponia seems to be jealous of
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'quid quaeso istuc erat?'
another example of direct speech and a rhetorical question to vary the narrative and add diversity. suffix '-ce' adds emphasis
17 of 28
absurde at aspere
the effect of this alliteration is to o emphasise Cicero’s shock at Pomponia’s word
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verbis vultuque
alliteration to reflect the aggression in Pomponia’s conduct
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dissimulavi dolens
alliteration to stress Cicero's struggle to 'conceal his annoyance' and his agitation with Pomponia
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quid multa?
standard expression to finish a detailed explanation
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nihil...nihil
repetition of 'nihil' here is to reinforce Cicero's original theme of negativity
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lenius...asperius
two comparatives strengthen the contrast of Quintus and Pomponia's behaviour
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meo fratre lenius....asperius tua sorore
order of words in chiasmus - juxtaposition of middle words (lenius & asperius) and separation of 'fratre' & 'sorore' to represent how different their behaviour is.
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meo fratre lenius....asperius tua sorore
Word order is to emphasise Cicero's point - his brother was an angel, Atticus' sister was the other thing
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et multa praetereo
suggests that this was only one example of many and gives a strong conclusion to this part of the letter
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humanitatem
Cicero here describes Pomponia’s lack of courtesy whereas it was previously used for Cicero’s brother in the superlative form. This contrasts their behaviour even more. Cicero leaves us in no doubt as to whom he favours.
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vel ipsi hoc licet
vel intensifies ipsi
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Other cards in this set

Card 2

Front

'fueramus' is a sort of pluperfect - it adds a note of finality and Cicero is apologising for raising again a matter apparently already settled. 'inter nos' makes it clear that no one else was present

Back

ex quo ego veni ad ea quae fueramus ego et tu inter nos de sorore in Tusculano locuti

Card 3

Front

nihil...nihil - Cicero begins the passage with a strong negative to highlight that the actual subject matter of the letter will be negative. The negativity is further strengthened by the anaphora of 'tam'

Back

Preview of the back of card 3

Card 4

Front

Atticus' sister (Pomponia) is married to Cicero's brother (Quintus)

Back

Preview of the back of card 4

Card 5

Front

placatum is neuter because the person's behaviour is being described

Back

Preview of the back of card 5
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