# Endnotes explained — Tusculan Disputations

> Chapter companion for Tusculan Disputations by Cicero.

## What happens

This chapter contains the endnotes for the Tusculan Disputations, providing explanatory references, biographical notes on philosophers and historical figures, and clarifications of Latin and Greek terms used in the main text.

## Themes in this chapter

### Roman Cultural Pride

The endnotes highlight Roman figures and events, such as Scipio Nasica, Appius Claudius Caecus, and the Via Appia, reflecting Roman heritage.

### Philosophy as Medicine for the Soul

Biographical notes on philosophers like Archytas, Dicaearchus, and Aristoxenus underscore the role of philosophy in understanding the soul and life.

## Character check-ins

### Cicero

Author of the Tusculan Disputations; referenced throughout the endnotes as the source of the text.

### Tiberius Gracchus

Mentioned in the context of his reelection to the tribunate and his death in the riots of 133 BC, led by Scipio Nasica.

### Archytas

Native of Tarentum, mathematician and geometrician; said to have saved Plato's life and influenced Aristotle.

### Dicaearchus

Native of Messana, pupil of Aristotle; known as a geographer, politician, historian, and philosopher.

### Aristoxenus

Native of Tarentum, pupil of Aristotle; held the soul to be a harmony of the body and was a great musician.

### Simonides

Celebrated poet of Ceos, perfecter of elegiac poetry; inventor of a method of aiding the memory.

### Isocrates

Born at Athens, pupil of Gorgias, Prodicus, and Socrates; opened a successful school of rhetoric.

### Anacharsis

Scythian philosopher who visited Athens during Solon's time; admired for simplicity and acute observations.

## Key lines

> Cicero means Scipio Nasica, who, in the riots consequent on the reelection of Tiberius Gracchus to the tribunate, 133 BC , having called in vain on the consul, Mucius Scaevola, to save the republic, attacked Gracchus himself, who was slain in the tumult.

Cicero refers to Scipio Nasica, who during the riots after Tiberius Gracchus's reelection in 133 BC, unsuccessfully appealed to the consul to save the republic and then attacked Gracchus, resulting in Gracchus's death.

_Clarifies the identity of Scipio Nasica and the context of Gracchus's death._

> Archytas was a native of Tarentum, and is said to have saved the life of Plato by his influence with the tyrant Dionysius. He was especially great as a mathematician and geometrician, so that Horace calls him Maris et terra numeroque carentis arenæ Mensorem.

Archytas, from Tarentum, reportedly saved Plato's life using his influence with Dionysius. He excelled in mathematics and geometry, leading Horace to call him a measurer of sea, land, and countless sand.

_Provides biographical details on Archytas and his reputation._

## Links

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