factum në mihi quidem, qui mūniceps, nisi proximē 15 auditum est, non quia minus illō clarissimō Arriae factō, sed quia minor ipsa. Valē. PLINY, Letters vi 24. 21. An Irrelevant Speaker Martial complains that the barrister, whom he has employed, will not speak about the facts of the case and prefers to declaim on events of past history. 22. Nōn dē vi neque caede nec venēnō Et Sullas Mariosque Muciosque MARTIAL vi 19. Dulce et Decorum est pro Patria Mori In April 43 B.C. Antony was defeated by the forces of the senate which included the legion called Martia. When the news reached Rome, Cicero made his last speech in the senate, including this noble address to the soldiers who had fallen. Ō fortūnāta mors, quae, nātūrae debita, prō patria est potissimum reddita! Vōs vērō patriae nātōs iūdicō; quōrum etiam nōmen ā Marte est, ut idem deus urbem hanc gentibus, vōs huic urbī, 20 Dulce et Decorum est pro Patria Mori 5 genuisse videātur. In fuga foeda mors est, in victōriā glōriōsa; etenim Mars ipse ex aciē fortissimum quemque pignerārī solet. Illi igitur impii, quos cecidistis, etiam ad inferos poenās parricīdii luent; vōs vērō, qui extrēmum spīritum 10 in victōriā effūdistis, piōrum estis sēdem et locum consecuti. Brevis ā nātūrā nōbīs vīta data est; at memoria bene redditae vitae sempiterna; quae sī nōn esset longior quam haec vīta, quis esset tam āmens, qui maximīs labōribus et periculis ad 15 summam laudem glōriamque contenderet? Actum igitur praeclare vobiscum, fortissimi, dum vixistis, nunc vērō etiam sanctissimī mīlitēs, quod vestra virtus neque oblīviōne eōrum, qui nunc sunt, nec reticentia posterōrum sepulta esse poterit, cum võbis 20 immortale monimentum suis paene manibus senātus populusque Romānus exstruxerit. Multi saepe exercitus Pūnicīs, Gallicīs, Italicīs bellis clārī et magni fuerunt, nec tamen ullīs tāle genus honōris tribūtum est. Atque utinam mãiōra possēmus, 25 quandoquidem ā vōbīs maxima accēpimus! Vōs ab urbe furentem Antōnium āvertistis; vōs redire mōlientem reppulistis. Erit igitur exstructa mōlēs opere magnifico, incisaeque litterae, dīvīnae virtutis testēs sempiternae; numquamque de vōbīs eōrum, 30 qui aut videbunt vestrum monimentum aut audient, gratissimus sermo conticescet. Ita pro mortali condicione vitae immortalitātem estis consecuti. CICERO, Philippic xiv 32, 33. 23. Sheep and Oxen Mere gratitude should make it impossible for man to kill sheep and oxen for food, those animals which in life feed him with their milk, clothe him with their wool, plough his fields, and carry home his harvest. Quid meruistis, ovēs, placidum pecus, inque tuendōs Nātum hominēs, plēnō quae fertis in übere nectar, OVID, Metamorphoses xv 116-129. Lesbia, whom Catullus loved, had lost her pet sparrow; and upon this little sparrow, dead nearly 2000 years ago, this famous and lovely poem was written. Lūgēte, Ō Venerēs Cupidinesque, Et quantum est hominum venustiōrum ! ΙΟ Passer, deliciae meae puellae, At vōbīs male sit, malae tenebrae Flendō turgiduli rubent ocelli. CATULLUS iii. 25. An Epitaph The epitaph was written for the tomb of Paris, a famous actor, who was buried by the side of the Via Flaminia, the great road leading from Rome to the north. Quisquis Flaminiam teris, viator, Nōlī nōbile praeterire marmor. Atque omnes Venerēs Cupidinesque MARTIAL Xi 13. 26. Hannibal and Africanus This conversation took place about 193 B.C. when Hannibal was an exile at the court of Antiochus and Scipio Africanus came there on an embassy. Hannibal implies that his conqueror, Scipio, is the greatest of all military commanders. Claudius P. Africānum in eā fuisse lēgātiōne tradit, eumque Ephesi collocutum cum Hannibale, et sermōnem ūnum etiam refert: quaerenti Africānō, quem fuisse maximum imperātōrem Hannibal crēderet, respondisse, Alexandrum Macedonum regem, 5 quod parvā manu innumerābilēs exercitus fūdisset, quodque ultimas oras, quās vīsere suprā spem hūmānam esset, peragrasset. Quaerenti deinde, quem secundum pōneret, Pyrrhum dixisse; castra mētārī prīmum docuisse; ad hoc neminem ēle- to gantius loca cepisse, praesidia disposuisse; artem etiam conciliandī sibi hominēs eam habuisse, ut Italicae gentes rēgis externi quam populī Rōmānī, tam diu principis in ea terrā, imperium mallent. Exsequenti, quem tertium duceret, haud dubiē 15 sēmet ipsum dixisse. Tum rīsum obortum Scīpiōnī, et subiēcisse: 'Quidnam tu dīcerēs, sī mē vīcissēs ? ' 'Tum vērō mē' inquit 'et ante Alexandrum et ante Pyrrhum et ante aliōs omnes imperātōrēs esse.' LIVY XXXV 14, 5. 20 |