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Adspiciam nullōs hodiernā lūce dolentēs,
Et Niobēs lacrimās supprimat ipse lapis;
Alcyonum positīs requiescant ōra querellis;

Increpet absumptum nec sua māter Ityn.
Tūque, ō cara mihī, fēlīcibus ēdita pinnīs,
Surge, et poscentēs iusta precare deōs.
Ac primum pūrā somnum tibi discute lympha,
Et nitidās presso pollice finge comās.

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Dein, quã prīmūm oculōs cēpistī veste Properti, 15 Indue, nec vacuum flōre relinque caput.

Et pete, qua pollēs, ut sit tibi forma perennis, Inque meum semper stent tua regna caput.

PROPERTIUS iv 10, 1–18.

42. A Studious Sportsman

Pliny tells Tacitus, the famous historian, who was his friend and contemporary, how he has contrived to combine study with sport. He seems to have bagged his boars with very little exertion.

Rīdēbis, et licet rīdeas. Ego ille, quem nôstī, aprōs tres et quidem pulcherrimōs cēpī. Ipse? inquis. Ipse; non tamen ut omnino ab inertia mea et quiete discederem. Ad rētia sedēbam; erat in proximō non vēnābulum aut lancea sed 5 stilus et pugillārēs; meditābar aliquid enotabamque, ut, si manūs vacuās, plēnās tamen cērās reportarem. Non est quod contemnās hōc studendi genus: mirum est, ut animus agitātiōne mōtūque

10 corporis excitetur. Iam undique silvae et sõlitūdō ipsumque illud silentium, quod vēnātiōnī datur, magna cogitationis incitamenta sunt. Proinde, cum vēnābere, licēbit, auctōre mē, ut pānārium et lagunculam, sic etiam pugillārēs ferās; ex15 periēris, non Diānam magis montibus quam Minervam inerrare. Valē.

PLINY, Letters i 6.

43. Alpheus and Arethusa

The nymph Arethusa tells how the river Alpheus loved her and told his love one day when she was bathing and swimming in his waters.

Lassa revertebar, memini, Stymphalide silva; Aestus erat, magnumque labor geminaverat aes

tum.

Inveniō sine vortice aquas, sine murmure euntēs, Perspicuas ad humum, per quas numerabilis altē 5 Calculus omnis erat, quās tū vix īre putārēs. Cāna salicta dabant nūtrītaque pōpulus undā Sponte suā nātās rīpīs declivibus umbrās. Accessī, primumque pedis vestīgia tinxī, Poplite deinde tenus. Neque eō contenta, recingor,

10 Molliaque impōnō salicī vēlāmina curvae, Nūdaque mergor aquis. Quās dum feriōque trahō

que

Mille modīs labēns, excussaque bracchia iactō, Nescio quod medio sensi sub gurgite murmur,

Territaque insistō propiōris margine rīpae.

'Quō properās, Arethūsa?' suis Alpheus ab undīs, 15 'Quō properas?' iterum rauco mihi dixerat ōre.

OVID, Metamorphoses v 585-600.

44. A Winter Scene

Martial describes the crops and live-stock on an Italian farm near Baiae.

Hic farta premitur angulō Cerēs omni,
Et multa fragrat testa senibus auctumnīs.
Hic post Novembrēs, imminente iam brūmā,
Sērās putātor horridus refert ūvās.
Truces in altă valle mūgiunt taurī,
Vitulusque inermi fronte prurit in pugnam.
Vagātur omnis turba sordidae chortis-
Argūtus anser gemmeique pāvōnēs,
Nōmenque debet quae rubentibus pinnīs,
Et picta perdix, Numidicaeque guttatae,
Et impiorum phāsiana Colchōrum.

Gemit hinc palumbus, inde cereus turtur,
Sonantque turres plausibus columbārum
Avidī secuntur vilicae sinum porci,
Mātremque plenam mollis agnus expectat.
MARTIAL iii 58, 6-21.

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42 Where the Strength of a Tortoise lies

45. Where the Strength of a Tortoise lies

Flamininus warns the Achaeans that they will be safer against attack if they do not claim the island of Zacynthus. Zacynthus, now Zante, is one of the Ionian islands, eight miles to the west of the Peloponnese.

Hieroclēs, missīs ultrò ad Diophanem, praetōrem Achaeōrum, nuntiīs, pecūniā pactus, insulam Zacynthum Achaeīs tradidit. Id praemium belli suum esse aequum censebant Rōmānī: nōn 5 enim M'. Acilium consulem legiōnēsque Rōmānās Diophani et Achaeis ad Thermopylās pugnasse. Diophanes adversus haec purgare interdum sēsē gentemque, interdum de iure facti disserere. Quidam Achaeōrum et initiō eam sẽ rem as10 pernātōs testābantur, et tunc pertinaciam increpitābant praetōris; auctoribusque iis decretum est, ut T. Quinctio ea res permitteretur. Erat Quinctius sīcut adversantibus asper, ita, si cederēs, īdem plācābilis. Omissa contentione võcis vul15 tūsque, ‘Sī ūtilem' inquit 'possessionem eius insulae censerem Achaeīs esse, auctor essem senātuī populoque Rōmānō, ut eam vōs habere sinerent. Ceterum, sīcut testudinem, ubi collecta in suum tegumen est, tūtam ad omnes ictus videō esse, 20 ubi exserit partēs aliquas, quodcumque nūdāvit, obnoxium atque infirmum habere, haud dissimiliter vōs, Achaei, clausōs undique marī, quae intrā Peloponnesī sunt terminōs, ea et iungere vōbīs et

iuncta tuērī facile, simul aviditāte plūra amplectendi hinc excēdātis, nūda vōbīs omnia, quae extrā 25 sint, et exposita ad omnes ictus esse.' Adsentienti omni concilio, nec Diophane ultra tendere ausō, Zacynthus Rōmānīs trāditur.

LIVY xxxvi 32.

46. The Defeated Rival

The bull, beaten by his rival, leaves his familiar pasture and trains himself to renew the struggle. Then, when fit for the fray, he dashes upon his foe like a great billow rolling to land and crashing on the rocks.

Pascitur in magnā Sīlā formōsa iuvenca;
Illī alternantēs multā vī proelia miscent
Vulneribus crebris, lavit äter corpora sanguis,
Versaque in obnixōs urgentur cornua vastō
Cum gemitu; reboant silvaeque et longus Olym-

pus.

Nec mōs bellantēs unā stabulāre, sed alter
Victus abit, longeque ignōtīs exulat ōrīs,
Multa gemens ignōminiam plāgāsque superbī
Victoris, tum quōs āmīsit inultus amōrēs;
Et stabula aspectans regnis excessit avītīs.
Ergō omni cūrā vīrēs exercet, et inter
Dūra iacet pernox instrātō saxa cubīlī,
Frondibus hirsūtīs et carice pastus acūtā,
Et temptat sēsē, atque īrasci in cornua discit,
Arboris obnixus trunco, ventosque lacessit
Ictibus, et sparsā ad pugnam prōlūdit harēnā.
Post, ubi collectum rōbur viresque refectae,

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