163-178.- Well, some one may say, we all did the same when young. Yes, but Lateranus is of an age to serve his country and his emperor on the frontiers, and yet if Caesar wished to send him there, he must look for him in a cook-shop with the lowest of the low. Defensor culpae dicet mihi, "fecimus et nos haec iuvenes." fovisti errorem. Esto; desisti nempe, nec ultra Breve sit, quod turpiter audes; quaedam cum prima resecentur crimina barba; indulge veniam pueris: Lateranus ad illos thermarum calices inscriptaque lintea vadit, maturus bello, Armeniae Syriaeque tuendis 165 amnibus et Rheno atque Istro; praestare Neronem securum valet haec aetas. 170 Mitte Ostia, Caesar, mitte sed in magna legatum quaere popina; 175 179-182.--If one of your slaves behaved so, you would send him at once to the ergastula. Quid facias talem sortitus, Pontice, servum ? 180 183-197.-Then again you, Damasippus, condescend to act “the Ghost" in the mime of Catullus; and the people, which should blush for you, applauds. Surely death were preferable to such disgrace! Quid, si numquam adeo foedis adeoque pudendis utimur exemplis, ut non peiora supersint? nec dubitant celsi praetoris vendere ludis. Finge tamen gladios inde, atque hinc pulpita poni: quid satius? Mortem sic quisquam exhorruit, ut sit zelotypus Thymeles, stupidi collega Corinthi? 185 190 195 198-210. Then worst of all, we have Gracchus appearing as a gladiator, nay more, as a retiarius, recognisable by every one. Res haud mira tamen, citharoedo principe, mimus nequiquam effudit, nudum ad spectacula vultum 205 effundit P. 200 205 210 211-230.-If the people only dared, do you think they would hesitate to prefer Seneca to Nero, the matricide?—Nero who sang on the public stage, who wrote the Troica, who disgraced the busts of his family with his parsley crowns? : Libera si dentur populo suffragia, quis tam perditus, ut dubitet Senecam praeferre Neroni; cuius supplicio non debuit una parari simia, nec serpens unus, nec culleus unus? Par Agamemnonidae crimen; sed causa facit rem dissimilem. Quippe ille deis auctoribus ultor patris erat caesi media inter pocula sed nec Electrae iugulo se polluit aut Spartani sanguine coniugii; nullis aconita propinquis miscuit, in scena nunquam cantavit Orestes, Troica non scripsit. Quid enim Verginius armis debuit ulcisci magis, aut cum Vindice Galba, quod Nero tam saeva crudaque tyrannide fecit? Haec opera atque hae sunt generosi principis artes, gaudentis foedo peregrina ad pulpita cantu prostitui, Graiaeque apium meruisse coronae. Maiorum effigies habeant insignia vocis : ante pedes Domiti longum tu pone Thyestae syrma vel Antigonae, personam vel Menalippes, et de marmoreo citharam suspende colosso. 231-236. 215 220 225 230 Catiline was nobly born, so was Cethegus; and yet like barbarous Gauls they tried to fire the city. Quid, Catilina, tuis natalibus atque Cethegi inveniet quisquam sublimius? Arma tamen vos nocturna et flammas domibus templisque parastis, ut Braccatorum pueri Senonumque minores, 223 quid P. w. ausi, quod liceat tunica punire molesta. Sed vigilat consul vexillaque vestra coercet. 66 235 237-244.-On the other hand, Cicero the novus homo" gained a title from free Rome, which Augustus hardly won after the bloodshed of Actium. Hic novus Arpinas, ignobilis et modo Romae 240 245-253.-Marius also rose from the ranks to be the saviour of his country. Arpinas alius Volscorum in monte solebat poscere mercedes, alieno lassus aratro ; nodosam post haec frangebat vertice vitem, si lentus pigra muniret castra dolabra : 245 hic tamen et Cimbros et summa pericula rerum excipit, et solus trepidantem protegit urbem; atque ideo, postquam ad Cimbros stragemque volabant qui nunquam attigerant maiora cadavera corvi, nobilis ornatur lauro collega secunda. 250 254-260.-And the plebeian Decii sacrificed their lives for their fellow-soldiers, while the last good king was born from a slave. Plebeiae Deciorum animae, plebeia fuerunt nomina pro totis legionibus hi tamen et pro 239 monte et ponte S. gente p. w. erasa P. 255 omnibus auxiliis atque omni pube Latina sufficiunt dis infernis Terraeque parenti: pluris enim Decii, quam quae servantur ab illis. Ancilla natus trabeam et diadema Quirini et fasces meruit, regum ultimus ille bonorum. 260 261-268. The sons of Brutus again tried to betray the state, while it was a slave who preserved it. Prodita laxabant portarum claustra tyrannis exsulibus iuvenes ipsius consulis et quos magnum aliquid dubia pro libertate deceret, quod miraretur cum Coclite Mucius et quae imperii fines, Tiberinum, virgo natavit. Occulta ad Patres produxit crimina servus, matronis lugendus: at illos verbera iustis adficiunt poenis et legum prima securis. 265 269-275.-Go back far enough, and you will find that we are all descended from shepherds or-worse. Malo pater tibi sit Thersites, dummodo tu sis Aeacidae similis Vulcanique arma capessas quam te Thersitae similem producat Achilles. Et tamen, ut longe repetas longeque revolvas nomen, ab infami gentem deducis asylo. Maiorum primus quisquis fuit ille tuorum, aut pastor fuit aut-illud, quod dicere nolo. 270 Vulcaniaque p. w. 270 275 |