fate Copy link Outline I. In philosoph. sense, the necessary connexion of cause and effect1. fātum2. nĕcessĭtas, Cic.II. In looser sense, some vague supernatural powerIII. Calamity, death (q. v.)1. fātum2. cāsus, ūs, m. (any casualty)3. exĭtus, ūs, m. (end)IV. The name of certain goddesses presiding over destiny • fate: I. In philosoph. sense, the necessary connexion of cause and effect: 1. fātum: defined by Cic. thus: fatum id appello, quod Graeci εὶμαρμένην, id est, ordinem seriemque causarum, quum causa causae nexa rem ex se gignat, Cic. Div. 1, 55, 125: Cic. thus describes both fatalism and free-will: quum duae sententiae fuissent veterum philosophorum, una, eorum qui censerent omnia ita fieri, ut id fatum vim necessitatis afferret; altera, eorum quibus videretur, sine ullo fato esse animorum motus voluntarios, Cic. Fat. 17, 39: if all things happen by f., they happen in accordance with an antecedent cause, si omnia fato fiunt, fiunt causa antecedente, Cic. l. c. § 40. 2. nĕcessĭtas, Cic.: v. supr.: more fully, fatalis necessitas, Lact.: v. necessity. II. In looser sense, some vague supernatural power: fātum (more usual sense of the word): the very name of f. savours of old-womanish superstition, anile sane et plenum superstitionis fati nomen ipsum, Cic. Div. 2, 8, 20: if it is your f. to recover of this disease, you will recover, si f. tibi est ex hoc morbo convalescere, ... convalesces, Cic.: often in pl.: the f.s hate granted nothing greater or better to the world, nihil majus meliusve terris fata donavere, Hor.: had not the immortal gods well nigh altered the very f.s, nisi dii immortales prope f. ipsa flexissent, Cic. Cat. 3, 8, 19. III. Calamity, death (q. v.) 1. fātum: I am confident some f. overhangs them, quibus ego confido impendere f. aliquod, Cic.: they buried themselves in their tents and bewailed their f., abditi in tabernaculis suum f. querebantur, Caes.: a day of destruction and f., exitii ac f. dies, Cic.: to meet one's f., fato fungi, Quint.; fato concedere, Plin.; fato obire, Tac. 2. cāsus, ūs, m. (any casualty): the f. of Saturninus and the Gracchi, Saturnini et Gracchorum c., Caes.: as if lamenting the f. of their country, quasi c. (civitatis) dolens, Sall.: they perished one by one f., another by another, alius alio c. periit, Suet.: Liv. 3. exĭtus, ūs, m. (end): such was the f. of Eumenes, Eumenes talem ex. vitae habuit, Nep.: but exitus should not be used alone in this sense: v. death. Phr.: the condition and f. of slaves is lowest of all, est autem infima conditio et fortuna servorum, Cic.: to complain of one's hard f., adversam fortunam conqueri, Pac. ap. Cic. (v. fortune, misfortune): an iron f., sors ferrea, Ov. (v. lot): books of f., libri fatales, Liv.: such was the f. of Priam, haec finis Priami fatorum; hic exitus illum sorte tulit, Virg. Aen. 2, 554: prepared for either f., in utrumque paratus, Virg. Aen. 2, 61. IV. The name of certain goddesses presiding over destiny: Parca (usu. in pl.): hasten on, ye ages so blest, said the f.s to their spindles, talia saecla suis, dixerunt, currite, fusis Parcae, Virg. Ec. 4, 46: Hor.