18 A Woman's Brave Deed Sed tua nunc volucres adstant super ossa marīnae; est. Infelix Aquilō, raptae timor Orīthyĩae, Quae spolia ex illō tanta fuēre tibi? 15 Aut quidnam fractā gaudēs, Neptūne, carīnā? Portabat sanctos alveus ille virōs. Paete, quid aetatem numeras? Quid cara natantī Māter in ōre tibi est? Nōn habet unda deōs. PROPERTIUS iv 7, 1-18. 20. A Woman's Brave Deed Pliny remarks that courageous actions, if performed by obscure persons, do not gain their due reward of fame. Quam multum interest, à quo quidque fïat! Eadem enim facta, claritāte vel obscuritāte facientium, aut tolluntur altissimē aut humillimē deprimuntur. Navigābam per Lārium nostrum, 5 cum senior amicus ostendit mihi villam atque etiam cubiculum, quod in lacum prōminet; ‘Ex hōc' inquit aliquando municeps nostra cum marītō se praecipitavit.' Causam requīsīvi. Marītus ex diutino morbo ulceribus putrescebat; uxor, 10 ut inspiceret, exegit; neque enim quemquam fidelius indicatūrum, possetne sānārī. Vīdit, dēspērāvit; hortāta est ut moreretur, comesque ipsa mortis, dux immō et exemplum et necessitās, fuit. Nam sē cum marīto ligavit abiecitque in lacum. Quod An Irrelevant Speaker 19 factum nē mihi quidem, quī mūniceps, nisi proximē 15 auditum est, non quia minus illo clarissimō Arriae facto, 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. Nōn de vi neque caede nec venēnō Et Sullas Mariosque Müciosque MARTIAL Vi 19. 22. 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 dēbita, prō patria est potissimum reddita! Vōs vērō patriae nātōs iudicō; quōrum etiam nōmen à Marte est, ut idem deus urbem hanc gentibus, vōs huic urbi, 5 20 Dulce et Decorum est pro Patria Mori 5 genuisse videatur. In fugă foeda mors est, in victōriā glōriōsa; etenim Mars ipse ex acie fortissimum quemque pignerārī solet. Illi igitur impii, quos cecīdistis, etiam ad inferōs poenās parricīdiī 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 gloriamque contenderet? Actum igitur praeclārē vōbiscum, fortissimī, dum vixistis, nunc vērō etiam sanctissimi milites, quod vestra virtūs neque oblīviōne eōrum, qui nunc sunt, nec reticentia posterōrum sepulta esse poterit, cum vōbīs 20 immortale monimentum suis paene manibus senātus populusque Romanus exstruxerit. Multi saepe exercitus Pūnicīs, Gallicīs, Italicīs bellīs clārī et magni fuerunt, nec tamen ullīs tāle genus honōris tribūtum est. Atque utinam māiōra possēmus, 25 quandoquidem ā vōbīs maxima accepimus! Võs ab urbe furentem Antōnium avertistis; vōs redire mōlientem reppulistis. Erit igitur exstructa mōlēs opere magnifico, incisaeque litterae, dīvīnae virtutis testēs sempiternae; numquamque de vōbīs eōrum, 30 qui aut vidēbunt vestrum monimentum aut audient, grātissimus sermo conticescet. mortali condicione vitae immortalitātem consecuti. Ita pro estis CICERO, Philippic xiv 32, 33. Sheep and Oxen 21 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, Praebētis, vītāque magis quam morte iuvātis? 24. The Dead Sparrow 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 Cupīdinēsque, Et quantum est hominum venustiōrum! IO 5 ΙΟ 15 5 Passer, dēliciae 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, viātor, Nōli nōbile praeterire marmor. MARTIAL Xi 13. |