Metrum 7

Meter: Iambic trimeter alternating with iambic dimeter. In the trimeter, the anceps (x) of the first and third metra may be either u or - or uu; caesura always occurs after the first element of the second metron.

line 2

summum: sc. bonum esse.

line 3

cernat: jussive subjunctive: "let him perceive."

line 4

artum: "narrow, hemmed-in."

line 5

replere non ualentis: "not able to fill."

line 6

pudebit: sc. eum. For the construction, see on 1P4.19.

line 8

leuari: "lighten, ease."
gestiunt: translate as second person plural after the vocative o superbi; B. seems here to have erred. (For an attempt to defend B., see Gruber ad loc.)

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explicet: "loosen."

line 11

titulis: "titles, inscriptions."

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aequatque summis infima: cf. 2P2.9.

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Fabricii: Fabricius, the hero of the war with Pyrrhus (c. 280 B.C.), renowned for an austere and virtuous way of life.

line 16

16: There is no need to decide which Brutus (the expeller of kings or the assassin of Caesar) and which Cato (the consul of 195 and later censor renowned for strict morals and hostility to Carthage or the contemporary and opponent of Caesar) B. has in mind; all were proverbial heroes.
quid: "[to] what [purpose]?"

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superstes: nominative, modifies fama.

line 19

quod: "because."
uocabula: i.e., "names."

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Iacetis: sc. superbi (line 7).

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aura: ablative.

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hoc: i.e., the "immortality" of fame.