Gellius: NOCTES ATTICAE

1 Dissertation of Favorinus the philosopher, by which he advised a noble woman to nourish the children she had borne, not by the milk of employed nurses, but with her own milk.

[1] Nuntiatum quondam est Fauorino philosopho nobis praesentibus uxorem auditoris sectatorisque sui paululum ante enixam auctumque eum esse nato filio.

[1] It was once announced to the philosopher Favorinus, we being present, that the wife of his auditor and follower had a little before been delivered, and that he had been augmented by a newborn son.

[2] 'Eamus' inquit 'et puerperam uisum et patri gratulatum.'

[2] 'Let us go,' he said, 'to see the woman in childbed and to congratulate the father.'

[3] Is erat loci senatorii ex familia nobiliore. Imus una, qui tum aderamus, prosecutique eum sumus ad domum, quo pergebat, et cum eo simul introgressi sumus.

[3] He was of senatorial rank, from a nobler family. We went along together, we who were then present, and accompanied him to the house to which he was proceeding, and entered together with him.

[4] Tum in primis aedibus complexus hominem congratulatusque adsedit. Atque ubi percontatus est, quam diutinum puerperium et quam laboriosi nixus fuissent, puellamque defessam labore ac uigilia somnum capere cognouit, fabulari instituit prolixius et: 'nihil' inquit 'dubito, quin filium lacte suo nutritura sit.'

[4] Then, in the front rooms, having embraced the man and congratulated him, he sat down. And when he had inquired how prolonged the labor and how laborious the throes had been, and learned that the young woman, wearied by toil and wakefulness, was taking sleep, he began to chat more at length and said: 'I do not doubt at all that she will nourish the son with her own milk.'

[5] Sed cum mater puellae parcendum esse ei diceret adhibendasque puero nutrices, ne ad dolores, quos in enitendo tulisset, munus quoque nutricationis graue ac difficile accederet, 'oro te,' inquit 'mulier, sine eam totam integram matrem esse filii sui.

[5] But when the girl’s mother said that she ought to be spared and that nurses be provided for the boy, lest, in addition to the dolors which she had borne in parturition, the office of nursing, heavy and difficult, be added, 'I beg you,' he said, 'woman, allow her to be a whole, unimpaired mother to her son.'

[6] Quod est enim hoc contra naturam inperfectum atque dimidiatum matris genus peperisse ac statim a sese abiecisse? aluisse in utero sanguine suo nescio quid, quod non uideret, non alere nunc suo lacte, quod uideat, iam uiuentem, iam hominem, iam matris officia inplorantem?

[6] For what is this, against nature, an imperfect and dimidiated kind of motherhood—to have borne and straightway cast him away from herself? to have nourished in the womb with her own blood I know not what, which she did not see, and not to nourish now with her own milk that which she does see, now living, now a human being, now imploring a mother’s offices?

[7] An tu quoque' inquit 'putas naturam feminis mammarum ubera quasi quosdam uenustiores naeuulos non liberum alendorum, sed ornandi pectoris causa dedisse?

[7] Or do you also,' she says, 'think that nature has given to women the mammary breasts as if certain rather more charming little beauty-marks, not for the nourishing of children, but for the sake of ornamenting the chest?'

[8] Sic enim, quod a uobis scilicet abest, pleraeque istae prodigiosae mulieres fontem illum sanctissimum corporis, generis humani educatorem, arefacere et exstinguere cum periculo quoque auersi corruptique lactis laborant, tamquam pulcritudinis sibi insignia deuenustet, quod quidem faciunt eadem uecordia, qua quibusdam commenticiis fraudibus nituntur, ut fetus quoque ipsi in corpore suo concepti aboriantur, ne aequor illud uentris inrugetur ac de grauitate oneris et labore partus fatiscat.

[8] For thus, that which is of course lacking to you, most of those prodigious women strive to dry up and extinguish that most holy fountain of the body, the educator of the human race, and they even suffer the danger of milk turned back and corrupted, as though it would de-beautify for them the insignia of their pulchritude; which indeed they do with the same derangement, by which they rely on certain contrived frauds, so that the offspring themselves conceived in their own body may also miscarry, lest that level expanse of the belly be wrinkled and, from the heaviness of the burden and the toil of childbirth, give way.

[9] Quod cum sit publica detestatione communique odio dignum in ipsis hominem primordiis, dum fingitur, dum animatur, inter ipsas artificis naturae manus interfectum ire, quantulum hinc abest iam perfectum, iam genitum, iam filium proprii atque consueti atque cogniti sanguinis alimonia priuare?

[9] Since this is worthy of public detestation and common hatred—that a human being, in his very beginnings, while he is being fashioned, while he is being animated, should be killed in the very hands of nature the artificer—how little removed from this is it to deprive, now perfected, now born, now a son of one’s own, accustomed, and known blood, of aliment?

[10] '"Sed nihil interest," – hoc enim dicitur – "dum alatur et uiuat, cuius id lacte fiat."

[10] '"But it makes no difference," – for this is what is said – "so long as it is nourished and lives, by whose milk that is done."

[11] Cur igitur iste, qui hoc dicit, si in capessendis naturae sensibus tam obsurduit, non id quoque nihil interesse putat, cuius in corpore cuiusque ex sanguine concretus homo et coalitus sit?

[11] Why then does that man, who says this, if he has grown so deaf in seizing upon nature’s senses, not think that it likewise makes no difference in whose body and from whose blood the human being has been congealed and coalesced?

[12] an quia spiritu multo et calore exalbuit, non idem sanguis est nunc in uberibus, qui in utero fuit?

[12] Or because, having been whitened by much spirit and heat, is the blood now in the breasts not the same as that which was in the uterus?

[13] nonne hac quoque in re sollertia naturae euidens est, quod, postquam sanguis ille opifex in penetralibus suis omne corpus hominis finxit, aduentante iam partus tempore in supernas se partis perfert, ad fouenda uitae atque lucis rudimenta praesto est et recens natis notum et familiarem uictum offert?

[13] Is not the skill of nature evident in this matter too, that, after that artisan-blood in its own inner chambers has fashioned the whole body of the human being, with the time of birth now approaching it carries itself into the upper parts, is at hand to foster the rudiments of life and light, and offers to the newborn a nourishment known and familiar?

[14] Quamobrem non frustra creditum est, sicut ualeat ad fingendas corporis atque animi similitudines uis et natura seminis, non secus ad eandem rem lactis quoque ingenia et proprietates ualere.

[14] Wherefore it has not been believed in vain that, just as the force and nature of the seed avail for shaping the likenesses of body and mind, so likewise the dispositions and properties of milk also avail for the same thing.

[15] Neque in hominibus id solum, sed in pecudibus quoque animaduersum. Nam si ouium lacte haedi aut caprarum agni alantur, constat ferme in his lanam duriorem, in illis capillum gigni teneriorem.

[15] Nor is this observed in human beings only, but in the beasts of the flock as well. For if kids are nourished on the milk of sheep, or lambs on that of goats, it is generally agreed that in the lambs a harder wool is generated, in the kids a softer hair.

[16] In arboribus etiam et frugibus maior plerumque uis et potestas est ad earum indolem uel detrectandam uel augendam aquarum atque terrarum, quae alunt, quam ipsius, quod iacitur, seminis, ac saepe uideas arborem laetam et nitentem in locum alium transpositam deterioris terrae suco deperisse.

[16] Even in trees and in fruits, the greater force and power most often belongs, for either detracting from or augmenting their native disposition, to the waters and soils that nourish them, rather than to the seed itself that is cast; and you may often see a tree, cheerful and gleaming, when transposed into another place, perish from the juice of a poorer soil.

[17] Quae, malum, igitur ratio est nobilitatem istam nati modo hominis corpusque et animum bene ingeniatis primordiis inchoatum insitiuo degenerique alimento lactis alieni corrumpere? praesertim si ista, quam ad praebendum lactem adhibebitis, aut serua aut seruilis est et, ut plerumque solet, externae et barbarae nationis est, si inproba, si informis, si inpudica, si temulenta est; nam plerumque sine discrimine, quaecumque id temporis lactans est, adhiberi solet.

[17] What, the mischief, therefore, is the rationale to corrupt that nobility of a just-born human, and the body and soul begun with beginnings well endowed by nature, by a grafted and degenerate nutriment of alien milk? especially if the woman whom you will employ to provide the milk is either a slave or servile and, as very often happens, of a foreign and barbarian nation; if she is wicked, if misshapen, if immodest, if drunken; for generally, without discrimination, whichever woman is at that time lactating is accustomed to be employed.

[18] Patiemurne igitur infantem hunc nostrum pernicioso contagio infici et spiritum ducere in animum atque in corpus suum ex corpore et animo deterrimo?

[18] Shall we then suffer this our infant to be infected by a pernicious contagion and to draw spirit into his mind and into his body from a most depraved body and mind?

[19] Id hercle ipsum est, quod saepenumero miramur, quosdam pudicarum mulierum liberos parentum suorum neque corporibus neque animis similes existere.

[19] That, by Hercules, is the very thing which we very often marvel at: that certain children of modest women prove dissimilar to their parents, neither in bodies nor in minds.

[20] Scite igitur et perite noster Maro, quod cum uersus illos Homeri consectaretur:

[20] Cleverly, therefore, and expertly did our Maro, in that, when he was following those verses of Homer:

οὐκ ἄρα σοί γε πατὴρ ἦν ἱππότα Πηλεύς,
οὐδὲ Θέτις μήτηρ· γλαυκὴ δέ σε τίκτε θάλασσα
πέτραι τ' ἠλίβατοι, ὅτι τοι νόος ἐστὶν ἀπηνής,

surely then horseman Peleus was not your father,
nor Thetis your mother; rather the glaucous sea bore you,
and sheer, inaccessible rocks, since your mind is pitiless,

non partionem solam tamquam ille, quem sequebatur, sed alituram quoque feram et saeuam criminatus est; addidit enim hoc de suo:

he charged not the birthing alone, like that one whom he was following, but also a wild and savage rearing; for he added this from his own:

Hyrcanaeque admorunt ubera tigres,

And Hyrcanian tigers have proffered their teats,

quoniam uidelicet in moribus inolescendis magnam fere partem ingenium altricis et natura lactis tenet, quae iam a principio imbuta paterni seminis concretione ex matris etiam corpore et animo recentem indolem configurat.

since, evidently, in the in-growing of morals, the nurse’s nature and the nature of the milk hold almost the greater part; which, already from the beginning, imbued with the concretion of the paternal seed, from the mother’s body and mind too, configures the recent indole.

[21] 'Et praeter haec autem, quis illud etiam neglegere aspernarique possit, quod, quae partus suos deserunt ablegantque a sese et aliis nutriendos dedunt, uinculum illud coagulumque animi atque amoris, quo parentes cum filiis natura consociat, interscindunt aut certe quidem diluunt deteruntque?

[21] 'And besides these things, however, who could also neglect and spurn this, that those who desert their offspring and remove them from themselves and hand them over to others to be nursed cut asunder that bond and coagulum of spirit and of love by which nature associates parents with children, or at any rate indeed dilute and wear it away?

[22] Nam ubi infantis aliorsum dati facta ex oculis amolitiost, uigor ille maternae flagrantiae sensim atque paulatim restinguitur, omnisque inpatientissimae sollicitudinis strepitus consilescit, neque multo minor amendati ad nutricem aliam filii quam morte amissi obliuiost.

[22] For once the infant, assigned elsewhere, has been removed from her eyes, that vigor of maternal ardor is gradually and little by little extinguished, and the whole clamor of most impatient solicitude grows silent; nor is the oblivion of a son sent away to another nurse much less than that of one lost by death.

[23] Ipsius quoque infantis adfectio animi, amoris, consuetudinis in ea sola, unde alitur, occupatur et proinde, ut in expositis usu uenit, matris, quae genuit, neque sensum ullum neque desiderium capit. Ac propterea oblitteratis et abolitis natiuae pietatis elementis, quicquid ita educati liberi amare patrem atque matrem uidentur, magnam fere partem non naturalis ille amor est, sed ciuilis et opinabilis.'

[23] Moreover, the very disposition of the infant’s mind—of affection, of love, of consuetude—is preoccupied with that alone by which he is nourished, and accordingly, as comes by usage in the case of the exposed, he takes neither any sense nor any longing for the mother who bore him. And therefore, with the elements of native piety obliterated and abolished, whatever love children thus reared seem to bear toward father and mother, for the greatest part that love is not natural, but civic and opinion‑based.'

[24] Haec Fauorinum dicentem audiui Graeca oratione. Cuius sententias communis utilitatis gratia, quantum meminisse potui, rettuli, amoenitates uero et copias ubertatesque uerborum Latina omnis facundia uix quaedam indipisci potuerit, mea tenuitas nequaquam.

[24] I heard Favorinus saying these things in Greek oration. For the sake of common utility I have reported his sentiments, as far as I could remember; but the amenities and copiousness and luxuriant abundance of his words not even all Latin eloquence could scarcely attain even in part, my own tenuity by no means.

II Quod Annaeus Seneca iudicans de Q. Ennio deque M. Tullio leui futtilique iudicio fuit.

2 That Annaeus Seneca, judging about Q. Ennius and about M. Tullius, was of a light and futile judgment.

[1] De Annaeo Seneca partim existimant ut de scriptore minime utili, cuius libros adtingere nullum pretium operae sit, quod oratio eius uulgaria uideatur et protrita, res atque sententiae aut inepto inanique impetu sint aut leui et causidicali argutia, eruditio autem uernacula et plebeia nihilque ex ueterum scriptis habens neque gratiae neque dignitatis. Alii uero elegantiae quidem in uerbis parum esse non infitias eunt, sed et rerum, quas dicat, scientiam doctrinamque ei non deesse dicunt et in uitiis morum obiurgandis seueritatem grauitatemque non inuenustam.

[1] Some think about Annaeus Seneca as about a writer least useful, whose books it is no price of the effort to touch—that is, not worth the trouble to approach—because his diction seems vulgar and worn-out, his matters and sentences either with a foolish and empty impetus or with a slight and causidical (lawyerly) subtlety; and his erudition vernacular and plebeian, having nothing from the writings of the ancients of either grace or dignity. Others, however, do not deny that there is but little elegance in his words, yet they say that knowledge and doctrine of the things he says are not lacking to him, and in rebuking the vices of morals a severity and gravity not ungraceful.

[2] Mihi de omni eius ingenio deque omni scripto iudicium censuramque facere non necessum est; sed quod de M. Cicerone et Q. Ennio et P. Vergilio iudicauit, ea res cuimodi sit, ad considerandum ponemus.

[2] For me to deliver a judgment and censure on all his genius and on all his writing is not necessary; but as to what he judged concerning M. Cicero and Q. Ennius and P. Vergilius, of what sort that matter is, we shall set forth for consideration.

[3] In libro enim uicesimo secundo epistularum moralium, quas ad Lucilium conposuit, deridiculos uersus Q. Ennium de Cetego antiquo uiro fecisse hos dicit:

[3] For in the 22nd book of the Moral Epistles, which he composed to Lucilius, he says that Q. Ennius made these derisory verses about Cethegus, an ancient man:

is dictust ollis popularibus olim, qui tum uiuebant homines atque aeuum agitabant, flos delibatus populi Suada medulla.

he was called by those fellow-citizens long ago,
who then were living men and were spending their lifetime,
the culled flower of the people, and the marrow of Suada marrow.

[4] Ac deinde scribit de isdem uersibus uerba haec: 'Admiror eloquentissimos uiros et deditos Ennio pro optimis ridicula laudasse. Cicero certe inter bonos eius uersus et hos refert.'

[4] And then he writes these words about the same verses: ‘I marvel that the most eloquent men and those devoted to Ennius have praised ridiculous things as the best. Cicero certainly counts even these among his good verses.’

[5] Atque id etiam de Cicerone dicit: 'Non miror' inquit 'fuisse, qui hos uersus scriberet, cum fuerit, qui laudaret; nisi forte Cicero summus orator agebat causam suam et uolebat suos uersus uideri bonos.'

[5] And he also says this about Cicero: 'I do not marvel,' he says, 'that there was someone to write these verses, since there was someone to praise them; unless perhaps Cicero, the supreme orator, was pleading his own cause and wished his own verses to appear good.'

[6] Postea hoc etiam addidit insulsissime: 'Aput ipsum quoque' inquit 'Ciceronem inuenies etiam in prosa oratione quaedam, ex quibus intellegas illum non perdidisse operam, quod Ennium legit.'

[6] Afterwards he added this also, most insipidly: 'With Cicero himself too,' he says, 'you will find even in prose oration certain things, from which you may understand that he did not lose his labor, in that he read Ennius.'

[7] Ponit deinde, quae apud Ciceronem reprehendat quasi Enniana, quod ita scripserit in libris de republica: 'ut Menelao Laconi quaedam fuit suauiloquens iucunditas', et quod alio in loco dixerit: 'breuiloquentiam in dicendo colat.'

[7] Then he sets forth what he censures in Cicero as if Ennian, because he wrote thus in the books On the Republic: 'that to Menelaus the Laconian there was a certain suaviloquent pleasantness,' and that in another place he said: 'let him cultivate breviloquence in speaking.'

[8] Atque ibi homo nugator Ciceronis errores deprecatur et 'non fuit' inquit 'Ciceronis hoc uitium, sed temporis; necesse erat haec dici, cum illa legerentur.'

[8] And there the trifling fellow deprecates Cicero’s errors and says, 'it was not,' he says, 'the vice of Cicero, but of the time; it was necessary that these things be said, when those things were being read.'

[9] Deinde adscribit Ciceronem haec ipsa interposuisse ad effugiendam infamiam nimis lasciuae orationis et nitidae.

[9] Then he appends that Cicero himself interposed these very things to escape the infamy of an overly lascivious and polished style.

[10] De Vergilio quoque eodem in loco uerba haec ponit: 'Vergilius quoque noster non ex alia causa duros quosdam uersus et enormes et aliquid supra mensuram trahentis interposuit, quam ut Ennianus populus adgnosceret in nouo carmine aliquid antiquitatis.'

[10] He also sets down these words about Vergil in the same place: 'Our Vergil too interposed certain hard verses, enormous and dragging somewhat beyond measure, for no other cause than that the Ennian public might recognize in a new poem something of antiquity.'

[11] Sed iam uerborum Senecae piget; haec tamen inepti et insubidi hominis ioca non praeteribo: 'Quidam sunt' inquit 'tam magni sensus Q. Ennii, ut, licet scripti sint inter hircosos, possint tamen inter unguentatos placere'; et, cum reprehendisset uersus, quos supra de Cetego posuimus: 'qui huiuscemodi' inquit 'uersus amant, liqueat tibi eosdem admirari et Soterici lectos.'

[11] But now I am weary of Seneca’s words; nevertheless I will not pass over these jests of an inept and insipid man: 'There are,' he says, 'such great sentiments of Q. Ennius, that, although they were written among the rank-smelling, yet they can please among the perfumed'; and, when he had found fault with the verses which we set above about Cethegus: 'those who love verses of this kind,' he says, 'let it be clear to you that they likewise admire Sotericus’s couches.'

[12] Dignus sane Seneca uideatur lectione ac studio adulescentium, qui honorem coloremque ueteris orationis Soterici lectis compararit quasi minimae scilicet gratiae et relictis iam contemptisque.

[12] Truly Seneca may seem worthy of the reading and study of youths, he who has compared the honor and color of ancient oration to Sotericus’s couches, as, namely, of the least grace, and already left behind and despised.

[13] Audias tamen commemorari ac referri pauca quaedam, quae idem ipse Seneca bene dixerit, quale est illud, quod in hominem auarum et auidum et pecuniae sitientem dixit: 'Quid enim refert, quantum habeas? multo illud plus est, quod non habes.'

[13] You may nevertheless hear a few things mentioned and recounted which that very same Seneca said well, such as this, which he said against a man avaricious and avid and thirsting for money: 'For what does it matter, how much you have? By much more is that which you do not have.'

[14] Benene hoc? sane bene; sed adulescentium indolem non tam iuuant, quae bene dicta sunt, quam inficiunt, quae pessime, multoque tanto magis, si et plura sunt, quae deteriora sunt, et quaedam in his non pro ἐνθυμήματι aliquo rei paruae ac simplicis, sed in re ancipiti pro consilio dicuntur.

[14] Is this good? assuredly good; but the disposition of adolescents is not so much aided by the things that are well said as it is infected by those that are said worst, and by so much the more, if there are more of the worse ones, and if some among these are spoken not as an enthymeme of some small and simple matter, but, in an ambiguous matter, are spoken as counsel.

III 'Lictoris' uocabulum qua ratione conceptum ortumque sit; et super eo diuersae sententiae Valgi Rufi et Tulli Tironis.

3
The vocable 'Lictor': by what rationale
it was conceived and arose; and, concerning this, the differing
opinions of Valgus Rufus and Tullius Tiro.

[1] Valgius Rufus in secundo librorum, quos inscripsit de rebus per epistulam quaesitis, 'lictorem' dicit a 'ligando' appellatum esse, quod, cum magistratus populi Romani uirgis quempiam uerberari iussissent, crura eius et manus ligari uincirique a uiatore solita sint, isque, qui ex conlegio uiatorum officium ligandi haberet, 'lictor' sit appellatus; utiturque ad eam rem testimonio M. Tulli uerbaque eius refert ex oratione, quae dicta est pro C. Rabirio:

[1] Valgius Rufus, in the second of the books which he inscribed On Matters Inquired by Letter, says that “lictor” was named from “binding,” because, when the magistrates of the Roman People had ordered someone to be beaten with rods, his legs and hands were accustomed to be bound and shackled by a viator; and the one who, from the college of viators, had the duty of binding was called a “lictor.” He also employs for that point the testimony of M. Tullius and cites his words from the oration which was delivered on behalf of Gaius Rabirius:

[2] 'Lictor', inquit 'conliga manus.' Haec ita Valgius.

[2] 'Lictor,' he says, 'bind the hands.' Thus Valgius.

[3] Et nos sane cum illo sentimus; sed Tiro Tullius, M. Ciceronis libertus, 'lictorem' uel a 'limo' uel a 'licio' dictum scripsit: 'Licio enim transuerso, quod "limum" appellatur, qui magistratibus' inquit 'praeministrabant, cincti erant.'

[3] And we surely agree with him; but Tiro Tullius, M. Cicero’s freedman, wrote that “lictor” was said either from “limus” or from “licium”: “for with a transverse licium, which is called a ‘limus,’ those who ministered to the magistrates,” he says, “were girt.”

[4] Si quis autem est, qui propterea putat probabilius esse, quod Tiro dixit, quoniam prima syllaba in 'lictore', sicuti in 'licio', producta est et in eo uerbo, quod est 'ligo', correpta est, nihil ad rem istuc pertinet. Nam sicut a 'ligando' 'lictor', et a 'legendo' 'lector' et a 'uiendo' 'uitor' et 'tuendo' 'tutor' et 'struendo' 'structor' productis, quae corripiebantur, uocalibus dicta sunt.

[4] But if there is anyone who for that reason thinks what Tiro said more probable, because the first syllable in 'lictor', just as in 'licio', is lengthened, and in that verb which is 'ligo' it is shortened, that has nothing to do with the matter. For just as from 'ligando' 'lictor', and from 'legendo' 'lector' and from 'uindo' 'uitor' and from 'tuendo' 'tutor' and from 'struendo' 'structor' have been said with the vowels lengthened which were being shortened.

IV Versus accepti ex Q. Ennii septimo annalium, quibus depingitur finiturque ingenium comitasque hominis minoris erga amicum superiorem.

4 Verses excerpted from the seventh book of Q. Ennius’s Annals, in which are depicted and defined the ingenium and comity of a lesser man toward a friend who is his superior.

[1] Descriptum definitumque est a Quinto Ennio in annali septimo graphice admodum sciteque sub historia Gemini Seruili, uiri nobilis, quo ingenio, qua comitate, qua modestia, qua fide, qua linguae parsimonia, qua loquendi oportunitate, quanta rerum antiquarum morumque ueterum ac nouorum scientia quantaque seruandi tuendique secreti religione, qualibus denique ad minuendas uitae molestias fomentis, leuamentis, solaciis amicum esse conueniat hominis genere et fortuna superioris.

[1] It has been described and defined by Quintus Ennius in the seventh Annal, very graphically and most skillfully, under the story of Geminus Servilius, a noble man: with what disposition, with what comitas, with what modesty, with what fidelity, with what parsimony of the tongue, with what opportuneness of speaking, with how great knowledge of ancient matters and of old and new morals, and with how great a religion of keeping and guarding a secret, and finally with what balms, alleviations, consolations for lessening the annoyances of life, it is fitting to be a friend to a man superior in birth and fortune.

[2] Eos ego uersus non minus frequenti adsiduoque memoratu dignos puto quam philosophorum de officiis decreta.

[2] I deem those verses no less worthy of frequent and assiduous remembrance than the decrees of the philosophers on duties.

[3] Ad hoc color quidam uetustatis in his uersibus tam reuerendus est, suauitas tam inpromisca tamque a fuco omni remota est, ut mea quidem sententia pro antiquis sacratisque amicitiae legibus obseruandi, tenendi colendique sint.

[3] In addition, a certain color of antiquity in these verses is so reverend, and the suavity is so unpromiscuous and so removed from all cosmetic coloring, that, in my judgment, they ought to be observed, held, and cultivated as the ancient and consecrated laws of friendship.

[4] Quapropter adscribendos eos existimaui, si quis iam statim desideraret:

[4] Wherefore I judged them to be inscribed, if anyone should already immediately desire them:

haece locutus uocat, quocum bene saepe libenter mensam sermonesque suos rerumque suarum †comiter inpertit, magnam cum lassus diei partem fuisset de summis rebus regundis consilio indu foro lato sanctoque senatu; cui res audacter magnas paruasque iocumque eloqueretur et cuncta malaque et bona dictu euomeret, si qui uellet, tutoque locaret, quocum multa uolup gaudia clamque palamque; ingenium, cui nulla malum sententia suadet ut faceret facinus leuis aut mala; doctus, fidelis, suauis homo, facundus, suo contentus, beatus, scitus, secunda loquens in tempore, commodus, uerbum paucum, multa tenens antiqua, sepulta uetustas quae facit et mores ueteresque nouosque tenentem, multorum ueterum leges diuumque hominumque; prudentem qui dicta loquiue tacereue posset: hunc inter pugnas conpellat Seruilius sic.

having spoken these things he summons the man, with whom he had often, and gladly to good effect,
shared his table and his conversations and the matters of his own,
graciously imparted; when, wearied, he had spent a great part of the day
on the highest matters of ruling,
with counsel in the broad forum and the hallowed senate;
to whom he would audaciously utter things great and small and jest,
and pour out everything, both ill and good to be said,
if he wished, and lodge it safely;
with whom many delights, pleasures both secretly and openly;
a disposition whom no evil judgment persuades
to do a light or wicked deed; learned, faithful,
a pleasant man, eloquent, content with his own, blessed,
knowing, speaking favorable things in season, accommodating, a word-
few, holding many ancient things, what buried antiquity produces,
and holding to mores both old and new,
the laws of many ancients and of gods and men;
prudent, who could speak sayings or be silent;
Servilius addresses him thus amid the battles.

[5] L. Aelium Stilonem dicere solitum ferunt Q. Ennium de semet ipso haec scripsisse picturamque istam morum et ingenii ipsius Q. Ennii factam esse.

[5] They report that L. Aelius Stilo used to say that Q. Ennius had written these things about himself, and that that portrait of the mores and genius of Q. Ennius himself had been made.

V Sermo Tauri philosophi de modo atque ratione tolerandi doloris secundum Stoicorum decreta.

5 Discourse of Taurus the philosopher on the mode and reason of tolerating pain according to the decrees of the Stoics.

[1] Cum Delphos ad Pythia conuentumque totius ferme Graeciae uisendum philosophus Taurus iret nosque ei comites essemus inque eo itinere Lebadiam uenissemus, quod est oppidum anticum in terra Boeotia, adfertur ibi ad Taurum amicum eius quempiam, nobilem in Stoica disciplina philosophum, aegra ualitudine oppressum decumbere.

[1] When the philosopher Taurus was going to Delphi to see the Pythia and the convention of almost the whole of Greece, and we were his companions, and on that journey we had come to Lebadia, which is an ancient town in the land of Boeotia, a report is brought there to Taurus that a certain friend of his, a philosopher noble in the Stoic discipline, was lying prostrate, oppressed by sickly health.

[2] Tunc omisso itinere, quod alioquin maturandum erat, et relictis uehiculis pergit eum propere uidere, nosque de more, quem in locum cumque iret, secuti sumus. Et ubi ad aedes, in quis ille aegrotus erat, peruenimus, uidemus hominem doloribus cruciatibusque alui, quod Graeci κόλον dicunt, et febri simul rapida adflictari gemitusque ex eo conpressos erumpere spiritusque et anhelitus e pectore eius euadere non dolorem magis indicantes quam pugnam aduersum dolorem.

[2] Then, with the journey—which otherwise had to be hastened—set aside, and the vehicles left behind, he goes on to see him quickly, and we, according to custom, followed him to whatever place he went. And when we arrived at the house in which that sick man was, we see a man afflicted by pains and torments of the belly, which the Greeks call κόλον, and at the same time by a swift fever; and compressed groans were bursting forth from him, and breaths and pantings were escaping from his chest, indicating not so much pain as a combat against pain.

[3] Post deinde, cum Taurus et medicos accersisset conlocutusque de facienda medela esset et eum ipsum ad retinendam patientiam testimonio tolerantiae, quam uidebat, perhibito stabilisset egressique inde ad uehicula et ad comites rediremus: 'uidistis' inquit Taurus 'non sane iucundum spectaculum, sed cognitu tamen utile, congredientes conpugnantesque philosophum et dolorem. Faciebat uis illa et natura morbi, quod erat suum, distractionem cruciatumque membrorum, faciebat contra ratio et natura animi, quod erat aeque suum: perpetiebatur et cohibebat coercebatque infra sese uiolentias effrenati doloris. Nullos eiulatus, nullas conplorationes, ne ullas quidem uoces indecoras edebat, signa tamen quaedam, sicut uidistis, existebant uirtutis et corporis de possessione hominis pugnantium.'

[3] Afterwards, when Taurus had summoned the physicians and had conferred about the remedy to be made, and had strengthened that very man for the retention of patience by the testimony of the tolerance which he observed, and we, having gone out from there, were returning to the vehicles and to our companions: 'you saw,' says Taurus, 'not indeed a pleasant spectacle, yet one useful to know: the philosopher and the pain coming to grips and battling. That force and the nature of the disease did what was its own—rending and tormenting of the limbs; against it reason and the nature of the mind did what was equally its own: he endured, and held in, and coerced beneath himself the violences of unbridled pain. He uttered no ululations, no lamentations, not even any unseemly words; nevertheless certain signs, as you saw, were appearing—of virtue and of the body fighting over the possession of the man.'

[4] Tum e sectatoribus Tauri iuuenis in disciplinis philosophiae non ignauus: 'si tanta' inquit 'doloris acerbitas est, ut contra uoluntatem contraque iudicium animi nitatur inuitumque hominem cogat ad gemendum confitendumque de malo morbi saeuientis, cur dolor aput Stoicos indifferens esse dicitur, non malum? cur deinde aut stoicus homo cogi aliquid potest aut dolor cogere, cum et dolorem Stoici nihil cogere et sapientem nihil cogi posse dicant?'

[4] Then from among Taurus’s followers a young man not inactive in the disciplines of philosophy said: 'If the bitterness of pain is so great that it strains against the will and against the judgment of the mind and compels a man, unwilling, to groan and to confess about the evil of a raging disease, why is pain among the Stoics said to be “indifferent,” not an evil? Why then either can a Stoic man be compelled to anything, or can pain compel, since the Stoics say both that pain compels nothing and that the wise man can be compelled to nothing?'

[5] Ad ea Taurus uultu iam propemodum laetiore – delectatus enim uidebatur inlecebra quaestionis – : 'si iam amicus' inquit 'hic noster melius ualeret, gemitus eiusmodi necessarios a calumnia defendisset et hanc, opinor, tibi quaestionem dissoluisset, me autem scis cum Stoicis non bene conuenire uel cum Stoica potius; est enim pleraque et sibi et nobis incongruens, sicut libro, quem super ea re composuimus, declaratur.

[5] To these things Taurus, with his countenance now almost more cheerful – for he seemed delighted by the allurement of the question –: 'if now,' he says, 'this friend of ours were in better health, he would have defended the necessary groans of this sort from calumny and, I think, would have resolved this question for you; but you know that I do not agree well with the Stoics, or rather with Stoic doctrine; for most of it is incongruent both with itself and with us, as is made clear in the book which we have composed on that matter.'

[6] Sed ut tibi a me mos geratur, dicam ego indoctius, ut aiunt, et apertius, quae fuisse dicturum puto sinuosius atque sollertius, si quis nunc adesset Stoicorum; nosti enim, credo, uerbum illud uetus et peruolgatum:

[6] But so that your wish be accommodated by me, I will speak more unlearnedly, as they say, and more openly, those things which I think would be said more sinuously and more skillfully, if some one of the Stoics were now present; for you know, I believe, that old and very common saying:

ἀμαθέστερόν πως εἰπὲ καὶ σαφέστερον λέγε.

say it somewhat more unlearnedly, and speak more clearly.

Atque hinc exorsus de dolore atque de gemitu Stoici aegrotantis ita disseruit:

And from here, having begun, he thus discoursed concerning pain and the groaning of an ailing Stoic:

[7] 'Natura' inquit 'omnium rerum, quae nos genuit, induit nobis inoleuitque in ipsis statim principiis, quibus nati sumus, amorem nostri et caritatem ita prorsus, ut nihil quicquam esset carius pensiusque nobis quam nosmet ipsi, atque hoc esse fundamentum ratast conseruandae hominum perpetuitatis, si unusquisque nostrum, simul atque editus in lucem foret, harum prius rerum sensum adfectionemque caperet, quae a ueteribus philosophis τὰ πρῶτα κατὰ φύσιν appellata sunt: ut omnibus scilicet corporis sui commodis gauderet, ab incommodis omnibus abhorreret. Postea per incrementa aetatis exorta e seminibus suis ratiost et utendi consilii reputatio et honestatis utilitatisque uerae contemplatio subtiliorque et exploratior commodorumque dilectus; atque ita prae ceteris omnibus enituit et praefulsit decori et honesti dignitas ac, si ei retinendae obtinendaeue incommodum extrinsecus aliquod obstaret, contemptum est; neque aliud esse uere et simpliciter bonum nisi honestum, aliud quicquam malum, nisi quod turpe esset, existimatum est. Reliqua omnia, quae in medio forent ac neque honesta essent neque turpia, neque bona esse neque mala decretum est.

[7] 'Nature,' he said, 'of all things, which begot us, invested us and grew in us at the very first principles in which we were born, a love of ourselves and an affection so absolutely that nothing at all was dearer and more precious to us than we ourselves; and he judged this to be the foundation for preserving the perpetuity of humankind, if each one of us, as soon as he were brought forth into the light, should first take hold of a sense and affection of those things which the ancient philosophers called “the first things according to nature”: namely, that he should rejoice in all the conveniences of his body, and shrink from all inconveniences. Afterward, through the increments of age, reason sprang from its seeds and the reckoning of employing counsel, and a contemplation of honesty and true utility, and a more subtle and more well-tested discrimination of advantages and; and thus, before all other things, the dignity of decorum and the honest shone forth and beamed out, and, if some external inconvenience should stand in the way of retaining or obtaining it, it was despised; nor was anything considered to be truly and simply good except the honest, nor anything at all evil, except what was base. All the rest, which would be in the middle and neither honorable nor base, were decreed to be neither good nor evil.'

Productiones tamen et reiectiones suis quaeque momentis distinctae diuisaeque sunt, quae προηγμένα et ἀποπροηγμένα ipsi uocant. Propterea uoluptas quoque et dolor, quod ad finem ipsum bene beateque uiuendi pertinet, et in mediis relicta et neque in bonis neque in malis iudicata sunt.

Nevertheless, productions and rejections, each distinguished and divided by their own weights, are what they themselves call προηγμένα and ἀποπροηγμένα. Therefore pleasure too and pain, with respect to the very end of living well and blessedly, have been left among the things in the middle and have been judged to be neither among goods nor among evils.

[8] Sed enim quoniam his primis sensibus doloris uoluptatisque ante consilii et rationis exortum recens natus homo inbutus est et uoluptati quidem natura conciliatus, a dolore autem quasi a graui quodam inimico abiunctus alienatusque est, idcirco adfectiones istas primitus penitusque inditas ratio post addita conuellere ab stirpe atque extinguere uix potest. Pugnat autem cum his semper et exultantis eas opprimit obteritque et parere sibi atque oboedire cogit.

[8] But indeed, since with these first senses of pain and pleasure, before the rising of counsel and reason, the newly born human is imbued, and is by nature conciliated to pleasure, but from pain, as from a certain grievous enemy, is severed and alienated, therefore reason, added afterwards, can scarcely tear up by the root and extinguish those affections implanted from the first and through-and-through. Yet it fights with these always, and, when they exult, it oppresses and crushes them, and compels them to comply with it and to obey.

[9] Itaque uidistis philosophum ratione decreti sui nixum cum petulantia morbi dolorisque exultantia conluctantem, nihil cedentem, nihil confitentem neque, ut plerique dolentes solent, heiulantem atque lamentantem ac miserum sese et infelicem appellantem, sed acres tantum anhelitus et robustos gemitus edentem, signa atque indicia non uicti nec obpressi a dolore, sed uincere eum atque obprimere enitentis.

[9] And so you saw the philosopher, leaning on the reason of his decree, wrestling with the petulance of disease and the exultancy of pain, yielding nothing, confessing nothing, nor, as most who are in pain are wont, whining and lamenting and calling himself miserable and infelicitous, but emitting only keen breathings and robust groans, signs and indicia not of one conquered nor oppressed by pain, but of one striving to conquer it and to oppress it.

[10] 'Sed haut scio,' inquit 'an dicat aliquis, ipsum illud, quod pugnat, quod gemit, si malum dolor non est, cur necesse est gemere et pugnare? Quia enim omnia, quae non sunt mala, molestia quoque omni non carent, sed sunt pleraque noxa quidem magna et pernicie priuata, quia non sunt turpia, contra naturae tamen mansuetudinem lenitatemque opposita sunt et infesta per obscuram quandam et necessariam ipsius naturae consequentiam. Haec ergo uir sapiens tolerare et eluctari potest, non admittere omnino in sensum sui non potest; ἀναλγησία enim atque ἀπάθεια non meo tantum,' inquit 'sed quorundam etiam ex eadem porticu prudentiorum hominum, sicuti iudicio Panaetii, grauis atque docti uiri, inprobata abiectaque est.

[10] 'But I hardly know,' he says, 'whether someone may say this: that very thing which fights, which groans—if pain is not an evil, why is it necessary to groan and to fight? For indeed all things that are not evils are not free from every molestation either; rather many are indeed deprived of great noxious harm and pernicious ruin, since they are not of turpitude, yet they are opposed and hostile to nature’s mansuetude and lenity through a certain obscure and necessary consequence of nature itself. These, therefore, the wise man can tolerate and struggle out of; not to admit them at all into his own sense he cannot; for ἀναλγησία and ἀπάθεια have been disapproved and cast aside not by me only,' he says, 'but even by some of the more prudent men of the same portico, as by the judgment of Panaetius, a weighty and learned man.'

[11] 'Sed cur contra uoluntatem suam gemitus facere cogitur philosophus Stoicus, quem nihil cogi posse dicunt? Nihil sane potest cogi uir sapiens, cum est rationi obtinendae locus: cum uero natura cogit, ratio quoque a natura data cogitur. Quaere etiam, si uidetur, cur manu alicuius ob oculos suos repente agitata inuitus coniueat, cur fulgente caelo a luminis iactu non sua sponte et caput et oculos declinet, cur tonitru uehementius facto sensim pauescat, cur sternumentis quatiatur, cur aut in ardoribus solis aestuet aut in pruinis inmanibus obrigescat.

[11] 'But why is the Stoic philosopher compelled to utter groans against his will, whom they say can be compelled by nothing? Nothing indeed can the wise man be compelled to, when there is room for reason to prevail; but when nature compels, reason too, given by nature, is compelled. Inquire also, if it seems good, why, when someone’s hand is suddenly waved before his eyes, he involuntarily blinks; why, when the sky is flashing, at the cast of the light he not of his own accord bends aside both head and eyes; why, when the thunder becomes more vehement, he little by little grows afraid; why he is shaken by sneezings; why he either swelters in the ardors of the sun or stiffens in immense frosts.'

[12] Haec enim et pleraque alia non uoluntas nec consilium nec ratio moderatur, set naturae necessitatisque decreta sunt.

[12] For these and very many other things are governed neither by will nor by counsel nor by reason, but are decrees of nature and necessity.

[13] 'Fortitudo autem non east, quae contra naturam monstri uicem nititur ultraque modum eius egreditur aut stupore animi aut inmanitate aut quadam misera et necessaria in perpetiendis doloribus exercitatione, qualem fuisse accepimus ferum quendam in ludo Caesaris gladiatorem, qui, cum uulnera eius a medicis exsecabantur, ridere solitus fuit; sed ea uera et proba fortitudost, quam maiores nostri scientiam esse dixerunt rerum tolerandarum et non tolerandarum.

[13] 'But fortitude is not that which, in the guise of a monster, struggles against nature and goes beyond its measure, either by stupor of mind or by inhumanity or by a certain wretched and necessary exercise in the enduring of pains, such as we have learned there was a certain fierce gladiator in Caesar’s training-school, who, when his wounds were being excised by the physicians, was wont to laugh; but that is the true and approved fortitude, which our ancestors said is the science of things to be endured and not to be endured.

[14] Per quod apparet esse quaedam intolerabilia, a quibus fortes uiri aut obeundis abhorreant aut sustinendis.'

[14] Whereby it appears that there are certain things intolerable, from which brave men either abhor to go to meet, or to sustain.'

[15] Cum haec Taurus dixisset uidereturque in eandem rem plura etiam dicturus, peruentum est ad uehicula, et conscendimus.

[15] When Taurus had said these things and seemed about to say more on the same matter, we came to the carriages, and we boarded.

VI De aenigmate.

6 On the enigma.

[1] Quae Graeci dicunt 'aenigmata', hoc genus quidam ex nostris ueteribus 'scirpos' appellauerunt. Quale est quod nuper inuenimus per hercle anticum, perquam lepidum, tribus uersibus senariis compositum aenigma, quod reliquimus inenarratum, ut legentium coniecturas in requirendo acueremus.

[1] What the Greeks call 'aenigmata', some of our ancients have appellated this kind 'scirps'. Such is the enigma which we lately found—by Hercules, antique and exceedingly charming—composed in three senarian verses, which we left unexpounded, so that we might sharpen the conjectures of readers in the seeking.

[2] Versus tres hi sunt:

[2] These three verses are:

semel minusne an bis minus sit nescio, an utrumque eorum; ut quondam audiui dicier, Ioui ipsi regi noluit concedere.

whether it be once less or twice less, I do not know,
or both of them; as I once heard it said,
it did not wish to concede to Jove himself, the king.

[3] Hoc qui nolet diutius aput sese quaerere, inueniet quid sit in M. Varronis de sermone Latino ad Marcellum libro secundo.

[3] Whoever is unwilling to inquire about this longer by himself will find what it is in the second book of M. Varro’s On the Latin Language to Marcellus.

VII Quam ob causam Cn. Dolabella proconsul ream mulierem ueneficii confitentemque ad Ariopagitas reiecerit.

7 For what reason Gnaeus Dolabella, proconsul, referred a woman defendant confessing to poisoning to the Areopagites.

[1] Ad Cn. Dolabellam proconsulari imperio prouinciam Asiam obtinentem deducta mulier Smyrnaea est.

[1] To Cn. Dolabella, who was holding the province of Asia with proconsular imperium, a Smyrnaean woman was brought.

[2] Eadem mulier uirum et filium eodem tempore uenenis clam datis uita interfecerat atque id fecisse se confitebatur dicebatque habuisse se faciendi causam, quoniam idem illi maritus et filius alterum filium mulieris ex uiro priore genitum, adulescentem optimum et innocentissimum, exceptum insidiis occidissent.

[2] The same woman had deprived her husband and her son of life at the same time by poisons secretly given, and she confessed that she had done this and said that she had had a cause for doing it, since that same husband and son had slain the woman’s other son, born from a prior husband—an excellent and most innocent young man—having been taken by ambush.

[3] Idque ita esse factum controuersia non erat. Dolabella retulit ad consilium.

[3] And that this had been done thus was not a matter of controversy. Dolabella referred it to the council.

[4] Nemo quisquam ex consilio sententiam ferre in causa tam ancipiti audebat, quod et confessum ueneficium, quo maritus et filius necati forent, non admittendum inpunitum uidebatur et digna tamen poena in homines sceleratos uindicatum fuisset.

[4] No one at all from the council dared to deliver a sentence in so two‑edged a case, because both the confessed poisoning, whereby the husband and the son had been slain, did not seem admissible to go unpunished, and yet it would nonetheless have been vindicated with a fitting penalty upon criminal men.

[5] Dolabella eam rem Athenas ad Ariopagitas ut ad iudices grauiores exercitatioresque reiecit.

[5] Dolabella referred that matter to Athens, to the Areopagites, as to judges graver and more experienced.

[6] Ariopagitae cognita causa accusatorem mulieris et ipsam, quae accusabatur, centesimo anno adesse iusserunt.

[6] The Areopagites, the cause having been examined, ordered the accuser of the woman and the woman herself, who was being accused, to be present in the hundredth year.

[7] Sic neque absolutum mulieris ueneficium est, quod per leges non licuit, neque nocens damnata poenitaque, quae digna uenia fuit.

[7] Thus neither was the woman's venefice (poisoning) absolved, which was not permitted by the laws, nor was the nocent (guilty) woman condemned and punished, who was worthy of pardon.

[8] Scripta haec historiast in libro Valerii Maximi factorum et dictorum memorabilium nono.

[8] This history is written in the 9th book of Valerius Maximus’s Memorable Deeds and Sayings.

VIII Reditiones in gratiam nobilium uirorum memoratu dignae.

8 Reconciliations into grace of noble nobles
men, worthy of commemoration.

[1] P. Africanus superior et Tiberius Gracchus, Tiberii et C. Gracchorum pater, rerum gestarum magnitudine et honorum atque uitae dignitate inlustres uiri, dissenserunt saepenumero de republica et ea siue qua alia re non amici fuerunt.

[1] P. Africanus the elder and Tiberius Gracchus, the father of Tiberius and Gaius Gracchus, men illustrious by the greatness of their deeds and by the dignity of their honors and of their life, very often dissented about the republic, and on that account, or by whatever other matter, were not friends.

[2] Ea simultas cum diu mansisset et sollemni die epulum Ioui libaretur atque ob id sacrificium senatus in Capitolio epularetur, fors fuit, ut aput eandem mensam duo illi iunctim locarentur.

[2] When that rivalry had lasted long, and on a solemn day the banquet to Jupiter was being libated, and on account of that sacrifice the senate was feasting on the Capitol, it was chance that those two were placed side by side at the same table.

[3] Tum quasi diis inmortalibus arbitris in conuiuio Iouis optimi maximi dexteras eorum conducentibus repente amicissimi facti. Neque solum amicitia incepta, sed adfinitas simul instituta;

[3] Then, as if with the immortal gods as arbiters, at the banquet of Jupiter Best and Greatest bringing together their right hands, they suddenly became most friendly. Nor was friendship alone begun, but an affinity by marriage was at the same time instituted;

[4] nam P. Scipio filiam uirginem habens iam uiro maturam ibi tunc eodem in loco despondit eam Tiberio Graccho, quem probauerat elegeratque exploratissimo iudicii tempore, dum inimicus est.

[4] for P. Scipio, having a daughter a virgin already mature for a husband, there then in the same place betrothed her to Tiberius Gracchus, whom he had approved and had elected at a most thoroughly tested time of judgment, while he was his enemy.

[5] Aemilius quoque Lepidus et Fuluius Flaccus nobili genere amplissimisque honoribus et summo loco in ciuitate praediti odio inter sese graui et simultate diutina conflictati sunt.

[5] Likewise Aemilius Lepidus and Fulvius Flaccus, of noble lineage and endowed with the most ample honors and with the highest station in the state, were engaged with one another in grave hatred and a long-standing rivalry.

[6] Postea populus eos simul censores facit. Atque illi, ubi uoce praeconis renuntiati sunt, ibidem in campo statim nondum dimissa contione ultro uterque et pari uoluntate coniuncti complexique sunt exque eo die et in ipsa censura et postea iugi concordia fidissime amicissimeque uixerunt.

[6] Afterwards the people made them censors together. And they, when they had been proclaimed by the voice of the herald, there on the field, immediately, the assembly not yet dismissed, each of their own accord and with equal will joined and embraced one another; and from that day, both in the censorship itself and thereafter, in unbroken concord they lived most faithfully and most amicably.

IX Quae dicantur uocabula ancipitia; et quod 'honoris' quoque uocabulum ancipiti sententia fuerit.

9 Which are called ambiguous vocables; and that the vocable 'honoris' too has been of ambiguous sense.

[1] Est plurifariam uidere atque animaduertere in ueteribus scriptis pleraque uocabula, quae nunc in sermonibus uulgi unam certamque rem demonstrent, ita fuisse media et communia, ut significare et capere possent duas inter se res contrarias. Ex quibus quaedam satis nota sunt, ut 'tempestas', 'ualitudo', 'facinus', 'dolus', 'gratia', 'industria'.

[1] It may be seen and observed in many places in ancient writings that very many vocables, which now in the speeches of the common people designate one single and certain thing, were then so neutral and common as to be able to signify and encompass two things contrary to one another. Of these some are quite well known, such as 'tempestas', 'valitudo', 'facinus', 'dolus', 'gratia', 'industria'.

[2] Haec enim fere iam uulgatum est ancipitia esse et utroqueuersus dici posse. 'Periculum' etiam et 'uenenum' et 'contagium' non, uti nunc dicuntur, pro malis tantum dicta esse multum exemplorum huiusmodi reperias.

[2] For it is now almost a commonplace that these are ambivalent and can be said both ways. 'Peril' as well as 'venom' and 'contagion' you may find from many examples were not, as they are now said, used only for evils.

[3] Sed 'honorem' quoque mediam uocem fuisse et ita appellatum, ut etiam malus honos diceretur et significaret iniuriam, id profecto rarissimum est.

[3] But that 'honor' too was a middle word and was so appellated, such that even bad honor was said and signified an injury—this, assuredly, is most rare.

[4] Quintus autem Metellus Numidicus in oratione, quam de triumpho suo dixit, his uerbis usus est: 'Qua in re quanto uniuersi me unum antistatis, tanto uobis quam mihi maiorem iniuriam atque contumeliam facit, Quirites, et quanto probi iniuriam facilius accipiunt, quam alteri tradunt, tanto ille uobis quam mihi peiorem honorem habuit; nam me iniuriam ferre, uos facere uult, Quirites, ut hic conquestio, istic uituperatio relinquatur.'

[4] But Quintus Metellus Numidicus, in the oration which he delivered about his triumph, used these words: 'In this matter, the more you all set me alone before the rest, by so much the greater an injury and contumely he does to you than to me, Quirites; and the more upright men more easily accept an injury than hand it on to another, by so much did that man hold a worse honor for you than for me; for he wishes me to bear the injury, you to do it, Quirites, so that here complaint, there vituperation may be left.'

[5] 'Honorem' inquit 'peiorem uobis habuit quam mihi'; cuius uerbi sententia est, quam ipse quoque supra dicit: 'maiore uos adfecit iniuria et contumelia quam me'.

[5] 'Honor,' he says, 'he had worse for you than for me'; the sense of which phrase is, as he himself also says above: 'he has inflicted upon you a greater injury and contumely than upon me'.

[6] Praeter huius autem uerbi notionem adscribendam esse hanc sententiam ex oratione Quinti Metelli existimaui, ut depingeremus Socratis decretum: κάκιον εἶναι τὸ ἀδικεῖν ἢ τὸ ἀδικεῖσθαι.

[6] Besides the notion of this word, I judged that this sentiment ought to be ascribed from the oration of Quintus Metellus, so that we might portray Socrates’ decree: that to do injustice is worse than to suffer injustice.

X Quod 'aeditumus' uerbum Latinum sit.

10 That the word 'aeditumus' is Latin.

[1] 'Aeditimus' uerbum Latinum est et uetus, ea forma dictum qua 'finitimus' et 'legitimus'.

[1] 'Aeditimus' is a Latin word and ancient, said in the same form as 'finitimus' and 'legitimus'.

[2] Sed pro eo a plerisque nunc 'aedituus' dicitur noua et commenticia usurpatione quasi a tuendis aedibus appellatus.

[2] But in its place, by most people now, 'aedituus' is said, by a new and fabricated usurpation, as if named from guarding the temple.

[3] Satis hoc esse potuit admonendi gratia dixisse * * * propter agrestes quosdam et indomitos certatores, qui nisi auctoritatibus adhibitis non comprimuntur.

[3] It could have been enough, for the sake of admonition, to have said this * * * on account of certain rustic and untamed contenders, who are not restrained unless authorities are applied.

[4] M. Varro in libro secundo ad Marcellum de Latino sermone 'aeditumum' dici oportere censet magis quam 'aedituum', quod alterum sit recenti nouitate fictum, alterum antiqua origine incorruptum.

[4] M. Varro, in the second book to Marcellus on the Latin language, judges that 'aeditumum' ought to be said rather than 'aedituum', because the one has been fabricated by recent novelty, the other is uncorrupted in ancient origin.

[5] Laeuius quoque, ut opinor, in Protesilaodamia 'claustritumum' dixit, qui claustris ianuae praeesset, eadem scilicet figura qua 'aeditumum' dici uidebat, qui aedibus praeest.

[5] Laevius too, as I suppose, in the Protesilaodamia said 'claustritumum' for one who presided over the bars of the door, namely by the same formation by which he saw 'aeditumum' to be said, for one who presides over the aedes (temple).

[6] In Verrem M. Tullii in exemplaribus fidelissimis ita inueni scriptum: 'Aeditumi custodesque mature sentiunt', in libris autem hoc uulgariis 'aeditui' scriptum est.

[6] Against Verres of M. Tullius in the most faithful exemplars I found it written thus: 'Aeditumi custodesque mature sentiunt', but in the common books 'aeditui' is written.

[7] Pomponii fabula atellania est, quae ita scripta est: Aeditumus. In qua hic uersus est:

[7] There is an Atellan farce by Pomponius, which is written thus: Aeditumus. In which this verse is:

qui postquam tibi appareo atque aeditumor in templo tuo.

who, after I appear to you and am appointed temple-warden in your temple.

[8] Titus autem Lucretius in carmine suo pro 'aedituis' 'aedituentes' appellat.

[8] But Titus Lucretius in his poem calls them 'aedituentes' instead of 'aeditui'.

XI Errare istos, qui spe et fiducia latendi peccent, cum latebra peccati perpetua nulla sit; et super ea re Peregrini philosophi sermo et Sophocli poetae sententia.

11 Those err who sin in the hope and confidence of concealment, since no hiding-place of sin is perpetual; and on this matter the discourse of the philosopher Peregrinus and the opinion of the poet Sophocles.

[1] Philosophum nomine Peregrinum, cui postea cognomentum Proteus factum est, uirum grauem atque constantem, uidimus, cum Athenis essemus, deuersantem in quodam tugurio extra urbem. Cumque ad eum frequenter uentitaremus, multa hercle dicere eum utiliter et honeste audiuimus. In quibus id fuit, quod praecipuum auditu meminimus.

[1] We saw a philosopher named Peregrinus, to whom afterward the cognomen Proteus was given, a grave and constant man, when we were at Athens, lodging in a certain hovel outside the city. And as we used to go to him frequently, we heard him—by Hercules—say many things usefully and honorably. Among which was this, which we especially remember to have heard as preeminent.

[2] Virum quidem sapientem non peccaturum esse dicebat, etiamsi peccasse eum dii atque homines ignoraturi forent.

[2] He said that, indeed, a wise man would not sin, even if the gods and men were going to be ignorant that he had sinned.

[3] Non enim poenae aut infamiae metu non esse peccandum censebat, sed iusti honestique studio et officio.

[3] For he judged that one ought not to sin, not out of fear of penalty or of infamy, but out of zeal and duty for the just and the honorable.

[4] Si qui tamen non essent tali uel ingenio uel disciplina praediti, uti se ui sua ac sponte facile a peccando tenerent, eos omnis tunc peccare procliuius existimabat, cum latere posse id peccatum putarent inpunitatemque ex ea latebra sperarent;

[4] If there were any, however, not endowed with such either native ingenium or discipline, so as by their own force and of their own accord to hold themselves easily from sinning, he judged all such then to sin more proclively, when they thought that that sin could lie hidden and hoped for impunity from that hiding-place;

[5] 'at si sciant' inquit 'homines nihil omnium rerum diutius posse celari, repressius pudentiusque peccabitur.'

[5] 'But if men know,' he says, 'that nothing of all things can be concealed for a longer time, they will sin more repressedly and more modestly.'

[6] Propterea uersus istos Sophocli, prudentissimi poetarum, in ore esse habendos dicebat:

[6] Therefore, he used to say that those verses of Sophocles, the most prudent of poets, ought to be kept on the lips:

πρὸς ταῦτα κρύπτε μηδέν, ὡς ἅπανθ' ὁρῶν καὶ πάντ' ἀκούων πάντ' ἀναπτύσσει χρόνος.

to this, hide nothing, since time, seeing all
and hearing all, unfolds all.

[7] Alius quidam ueterum poetarum, cuius nomen mihi nunc memoriae non est, Veritatem Temporis filiam esse dixit.

[7] A certain other of the ancient poets, whose name is not now in my memory, said that Truth is the daughter of Time.

XII Faceta responsio M. Ciceronis amolientis a se crimen manifesti mendacii.

12 A witty response of M. Cicero removing from himself the charge of manifest mendacity.

[1] Haec quoque disciplina rhetorica est callide et cum astu res criminosas citra periculum confiteri, ut, si obiectum sit turpe aliquid, quod negari non queat, responsione ioculari eludas et rem facias risu magis dignam quam crimine, sicut fecisse Ciceronem scriptum est, cum id, quod infitiari non poterat, urbano facetoque dicto diluit.

[1] This too is a rhetorical discipline: cleverly and with astuteness to confess criminal matters without peril, so that, if something shameful be objected which cannot be denied, you elude it with a jocular response and make the matter more worthy of laughter than of a charge, just as it is written that Cicero did, when that which he could not deny he washed away with an urbane and facetious saying.

[2] Nam cum emere uellet in Palatio domum et pecuniam in praesens non haberet, a P. Sulla, qui tum reus erat, mutua sestertium uiciens tacita accepit.

[2] For when he wished to buy a house on the Palatine and did not have money at hand, from Publius Sulla, who at that time was a defendant, he received a tacit loan of 2,000,000 sesterces.

[3] Ea res tamen, priusquam emeret, prodita est et in uulgus exiuit, obiectumque ei est, quod pecuniam domus emendae causa a reo accepisset.

[3] This matter, however, before he bought it, was divulged and went out into the public, and it was objected to him that he had received money from a defendant for the purpose of buying a house.

[4] Tum Cicero inopinata obprobratione permotus accepisse se negauit ac domum quoque se empturum negauit atque 'adeo' inquit 'uerum sit accepisse me pecuniam, si domum emero'. Sed cum postea emisset et hoc mendacium in senatu ei ab inimicis obiceretur, risit satis atque inter ridendum: 'ἀκοινονόητοι' inquit 'homines estis, cum ignoratis prudentis et cauti patrisfamilias esse, quod emere uelit, empturum sese negare propter competitores emptionis.'

[4] Then Cicero, moved by an unexpected opprobrium, denied that he had received it and also denied that he would buy the house, and said: 'so may it be true that I have received the money, if I buy the house.' But when afterwards he had bought it, and this mendacity was cast at him in the Senate by his enemies, he laughed sufficiently and, in the midst of laughing, said: 'you are men without common sense, since you do not know that it is of a prudent and cautious paterfamilias to deny, on account of competitors in the purchase, that he will buy what he wishes to buy.'

XIII 'Intra Kalendas' cum dicitur, quid significet, utrum 'ante Kalendas' an 'Kalendis' an utrumque; atque inibi, quid sit in oratione M. Tulli 'intra oceanum' et 'intra montem Taurum' et in quadam epistula 'intra modum'.

13 'Within the Kalends' when it is said, what it signifies, whether 'before the Kalends' or 'on the Kalends' or both; and therein, what in the oration of M. Tullius 'within the ocean' and 'within the Taurus mountain' and in a certain epistle 'within measure' is meant.

[1] Cum Romae a consulibus iudex extra ordinem datus pronuntiare 'intra Kalendas' iussus essem, Sulpicium Apollinarem, doctum hominem, percontatus sum, an his uerbis 'intra Kalendas' ipsae quoque Kalendae tenerentur, dixique ei me iudicem datum Kalendasque mihi prodictas, ut intra eum diem pronuntiarem.

[1] When at Rome I had been given as an extraordinary judge by the consuls and was ordered to pronounce “within the Kalends,” I questioned Sulpicius Apollinaris, a learned man, whether by these words “within the Kalends” the Kalends themselves were also included, and I told him that I had been appointed judge and that the Kalends had been set for me, so that I should pronounce within that day.

[2] 'Cur' inquit 'hoc me potius rogas quam ex istis aliquem peritis studiosisque iuris, quos adhibere in consilium iudicaturi soletis?'

[2] 'Why,' he says, 'do you rather ask this of me than of some one of those men skilled and studious in law, whom you, about to judge, are accustomed to call in to counsel?'

[3] Tum illi ego ita respondi: 'Si aut de uetere' inquam 'iure et recepto aut controuerso et ambiguo aut nouo et constituendo discendum esset, issem plane sciscitatum ad istos, quos dicis;

[3] Then to him I thus replied: 'If either about old and received law,' I said, 'or about controverted and ambiguous, or about new and to-be-constituted, there were something to be learned, I would plainly have gone to inquire of those whom you mention;

[4] sed cum uerborum Latinorum sententia, usus, ratio exploranda sit, scaeuus profecto et caecus animi forem, si, cum haberem tui copiam, issem magis ad alium quam ad te.'

[4] 'but since the sense, usage, and ratio of Latin words must be explored, I should indeed be scaevus—askew—and blind of mind, if, when I had access to you, I had gone rather to another than to you.'

[5] 'Audi igitur' inquit 'de ratione uerbi quid existimem, sed eo tamen pacto, ut id facias, non quod ego de proprietate uocis disseruero, sed quod in ea re omnium pluriumue consensu obseruari cognoueris; non enim uerborum tantum communium uerae atque propriae significationes longiore usu mutantur, sed legum quoque ipsarum iussa consensu tacito oblitterantur.'

[5] 'Listen then,' he says, 'what I think about the rationale of the word; but on this condition, that you do, not what I shall have discoursed about the propriety of the word, but what you have learned is observed in that matter by the consensus of all or at least of the more; for not only are the true and proper significations of common words changed by longer use, but the commands of the laws themselves are also obliterated by tacit consensus.'

[6] Tum deinde disseruit me et plerisque aliis audientibus in hunc ferme modum: 'Cum dies' inquit 'ita praefinita est, ut iudex "intra Kalendas" pronuntiet, occupauit iam haec omnes opinio non esse dubium, quin ante Kalendas iure pronuntietur, et id tantum ambigi uideo, quod tu quaeris, an Kalendis quoque iure pronuntietur.

[6] Then thereafter he discoursed, with me and several others listening, in about this manner: 'When a day has been pre-defined such that the judge pronounces "within the Kalends," this opinion has already preoccupied everyone—that there is no doubt that it is lawfully pronounced before the Kalends; and I see that only this is in dispute, the very point you inquire about, whether on the Kalends as well it is lawfully pronounced.'

[7] Ipsum autem uerbum sic procul dubio natum est atque ita sese habet, ut, cum dicitur "intra Kalendas", non alius accipi dies debeat, quam solae Kalendae. Nam tres istae uoces "intra, citra, ultra", quibus certi locorum fines demonstrantur, singularibus apud ueteres syllabis appellabantur "in, cis, uls".

[7] But the very word itself is thus, beyond doubt, born and so stands, that, when "intra the Kalends" is said, no other day ought to be understood than the Kalends alone. For those three vocables "intra, citra, ultra", by which the fixed bounds of places are indicated, were among the ancients called by single syllables "in, cis, uls".

[8] Haec deinde particulae quoniam paruo exiguoque sonitu obscurius promebantur, addita est tribus omnibus eadem syllaba, et quod dicebatur "cis Tiberim" et "uls Tiberim", dici coeptum est "citra Tiberim" et "ultra Tiberim"; item quod erat "in", accedente eadem syllaba "intra" factum est.

[8] Then, since this particle, because it was uttered more obscurely with a small and slight sound, the same syllable was added to all three, and what was said "cis Tiberim" and "uls Tiberim" began to be said "citra Tiberim" and "ultra Tiberim"; likewise what was "in," with the same syllable added, became "intra."

[9] Sunt ergo haec omnia quasi contermina iunctis inter se finibus cohaerentia: "intra oppidum", "ultra oppidum", "citra oppidum", ex quibus "intra", sicuti dixi, "in" significat;

[9] Therefore all these are, as it were, conterminous, cohering with boundaries joined among themselves: "intra oppidum", "ultra oppidum", "citra oppidum", from which "intra", as I said, signifies "in";

[10] nam qui dicit "intra oppidum", "intra cubiculum", "intra ferias", non dicit aliud quam "in oppido", "in cubiculo", "in feriis".

[10] for he who says "within the town", "within the cubicle", "within the holidays", says nothing other than "in the town", "in the cubicle", "on the holidays".

[11] "Intra Kalendas" igitur non "ante Kalendas" est, sed "in Kalendis", id est eo ipso die, quo Kalendae sunt.

[11] "Within the Kalends" therefore is not "before the Kalends," but "on the Kalends," that is, on that very day on which the Kalends are.

[12] Itaque secundum uerbi ipsius rationem, qui iussus est "intra Kalendas" pronuntiare, nisi Kalendis pronuntiet, contra iussum uocis facit;

[12] And so, according to the rationale of the word itself, he who has been ordered to "pronounce within the Kalends," unless he pronounces on the Kalends, acts contrary to the order of the wording;

[13] nam si ante id fiat, non "intra" pronuntiat, sed "citra".

[13] for if it be done before that, he does not pronounce "within," but "on this side."

[14] Nescio quo autem pacto recepta uulgo interpretatio est absurdissima, ut "intra Kalendas" significare uideatur etiam "citra Kalendas" uel "ante Kalendas"; nihil enim ferme interest.

[14] I do not know by what means, moreover, a commonly received interpretation is most absurd, namely that "within the Kalends" seems also to signify "on this side of the Kalends" or "before the Kalends"; for there is hardly any difference.

[15] Atque insuper dubitatur, an Kalendis quoque pronuntiari possit, quando neque ultra neque citra, set, quod inter haec medium est, "intra Kalendas", id est Kalendis, pronuntiandum sit.

[15] And moreover it is doubted whether it can also be pronounced on the Kalends, since neither "ultra" nor "citra," but what is the mean between these, "intra Kalendas," that is, on the Kalends, ought to be pronounced.

[16] Sed nimirum consuetudo uicit, quae cum omnium domina rerum, tum maxime uerborum est.'

[16] But surely custom has prevailed, which, being the mistress of all things, is most especially of words.'

[17] Ea omnia cum Apollinaris scite perquam atque enucleate disputauisset, tum ego haec dixi: 'Cordi' inquam 'mihi fuit, priusquam ad te irem, quaerere explorareque, quonam modo ueteres nostri particula ista, qua de agitur, usi sint, atque ita inuenimus Tullium in tertia in Verrem scripsisse istoc modo: "Locus intra oceanum iam nullus est neque tam longincus neque tam reconditus, quo non per haec tempora nostrorum hominum libido iniquitasque peruaserit."

[17] When Apollinaris had disputed very cleverly and most lucidly about all those things, then I said this: 'It was dear to my heart,' I say, 'before I came to you, to inquire and to explore by what mode our Ancients used that particle which is in question; and thus we found that Tullius, in the third Against Verres, wrote in this fashion: "There is now no place within the ocean either so remote or so recondite, whither in these times the lust and iniquity of our men has not pervaded."'

[18] "Intra oceanum" dicit contra rationem tuam; non enim uult, opinor, dicere "in oceano"; terras enim demonstrat omnis, quae oceano ambiuntur, ad quas a nostris hominibus adiri potest: quae sunt "citra oceanum", non "in oceano"; neque enim uideri potest insulas significare nescio quas, quae penitus esse intra aequora ipsa oceani dicuntur.'

[18] He says "within the ocean" against your reasoning; for he does not wish, I suppose, to say "in the ocean"; for he demonstrates all the lands which are encompassed by the ocean, to which it can be approached by our people: which are "on this side of the ocean," not "in the ocean"; nor, indeed, can he seem to signify some islands I know not what, which are said to be deep within the very waters of the ocean.'

[19] Tunc Sulpicius Apollinaris renidens: 'non me hercule inargute' inquit 'nec incallide opposuisti hoc Tullianum; sed Cicero "intra oceanum" non, ut tu interpretare, "citra oceanum" dixit.

[19] Then Sulpicius Apollinaris, beaming, said: 'by Hercules, not unshrewdly' he said 'nor unskillfully have you opposed this Tullian piece; but Cicero said "within the ocean," not, as you interpret, "on this side of the ocean."

[20] Quid enim potest dici "citra oceanum" esse, cum undique oceanus circumscribat omnis terras et ambiat? Nam "citra" quod est, id extra est; qui autem potest "intra" esse dici, quod extra est? Sed si ex una tantum parte orbis oceanus foret, tum, quae terra ad eam partem foret, "citra oceanum" esse dici posset uel "ante oceanum"; cum uero omnis terras omnifariam et undiqueuersum circumfluat, nihil citra eum est, sed undarum illius ambitu terris omnibus conuallatis in medio eius sunt omnia, quae intra oras eius inclusa sunt, sicuti hercle sol non citra caelum uertitur, sed in caelo et intra caelum.'

[20] For what, indeed, can be said to be "on this side of the ocean," when on every side the ocean circumscribes and surrounds all lands? For that which is "on this side" is outside; but how can that be said to be "within" which is outside? But if the ocean were on only one side of the orb, then the land that was toward that side could be said to be "on this side of the ocean," or "before the ocean"; but since it flows around all lands in every direction and on every side, nothing is on this side of it; rather, with all the lands hemmed in by the circuit of its waves, in its midst are all things that are enclosed within its shores—just as, by Hercules, the sun is not turned on this side of the sky, but in the sky and within the sky.'

[21] Haec tunc Apollinaris scite acuteque dicere uisus est. Set postea in libro M. Tullii epistularum ad Seruium Sulpicium sic dictum esse inuenimus 'intra modum', ut 'intra Kalendas' dicunt, qui dicere 'citra Kalendas' uolunt.

[21] These things then Apollinaris seemed to say cleverly and acutely. But afterwards, in the book of M. Tullius’s letters to Servius Sulpicius, we found it said thus, ‘intra modum,’ just as those who wish to say ‘citra Kalendas’ say ‘intra Kalendas.’

[22] Verba haec Ciceronis sunt, quae adposui: 'Sed tamen, quoniam effugi eius offensionem, qui fortasse arbitraretur me hanc rem publicam non putare, si perpetuo tacerem, modice hoc faciam aut etiam intra modum, ut et illius uoluntati et meis studiis seruiam.'

[22] These are the words of Cicero, which I have appended: 'But yet, since I have escaped his offense, who perhaps would think that I do not consider this commonwealth, if I were perpetually silent, I will do this moderately, or even within measure, so that I may serve both his will and my pursuits.'

[23] 'Modice' dixerat 'hoc', id est cum modo aequo et pari;

[23] 'Moderately' he had said 'this ', that is, with a fair and equal measure;

[24] deinde, quasi hoc displiceret et corrigere id uellet, addit: 'aut etiam intra modum', per quod ostendit minus sese id facturum esse, quam quod fieri modice uideretur, id est non ad ipsum modum, set retro paululum et citra modum.

[24] then, as if this displeased him and he wished to correct it, he adds: 'or even within measure,' whereby he shows that he will do it less than what would seem to be done moderately, that is, not to the very measure, but a little back and short of the measure.

[25] In oratione etiam, quam pro P. Sestio scripsit, 'intra montem Taurum' sic dicit, ut non significet 'in monte Tauro', sed 'usque ad montem cum ipso monte'.

[25] Also, in the oration which he wrote on behalf of P. Sestius, he says 'intra montem Taurum' in such a way that it does not signify 'on Mount Taurus', but 'up to the mountain, together with the mountain itself'.

[26] Verba sunt haec ipsius M. Tullii ex ea, qua dixi, oratione: 'Antiochum Magnum illum maiores nostri magna belli contentione terra marique superatum intra montem Taurum regnare iusserunt; Asiam, qua illum multarunt, Attalo, ut is in ea regnaret, condonarunt.'

[26] These are the words of M. Tullius himself from that speech which I mentioned: 'That Antiochus the Great, our ancestors, after he had been overcome on land and sea in a great contention of war, ordered to reign within Mount Taurus; Asia, with which they mulcted him, they bestowed upon Attalus, that he might reign in it.'

[27] 'Intra montem' inquit 'Taurum regnare iusserunt', quod non proinde est, ut 'intra cubiculum' dicimus, nisi uideri potest id esse 'intra montem', quod est intra regiones, quae Tauri montis obiectu separantur.

[27] 'Intra montem,' he says, 'Taurum regnare iusserunt,' which is not the same as when we say 'within a bedchamber,' unless it can be seen that this is 'within the mountain' in the sense of within the regions which are separated by the interposition of Mount Taurus.

[28] Nam sicuti qui intra cubiculum est, is non in cubiculi parietibus, sed intra parietes est, quibus cubiculum includitur, qui tamen ipsi quoque parietes in cubiculo sunt, ita, qui regnat 'intra montem Taurum', non solum in monte Tauro regnat, sed in his etiam regionibus, quae Tauro monte clauduntur.

[28] For just as he who is within the bedchamber is not in the bedchamber’s walls, but is within the walls by which the bedchamber is enclosed—yet those very walls themselves are also in the bedchamber—so he who reigns 'within Mount Taurus' reigns not only on Mount Taurus, but also in those regions which are enclosed by Mount Taurus.

[29] Num igitur secundum istam uerborum M. Tullii similitudinem, qui iubetur 'intra Kalendas' pronuntiare, is et ante Kalendas et ipsis Kalendis iure pronuntiare potest? Neque id fit quasi priuilegio quodam inscitae consuetudinis, sed certa rationis obseruatione, quoniam omne tempus, quod Kalendarum die includitur, 'intra Kalendas' esse recte dicitur.

[29] Accordingly then, according to that likeness of phrasing in M. Tullius’s words, the one who is ordered to pronounce “within the Kalends,” can he with right pronounce both before the Kalends and on the Kalends themselves? Nor does this occur as if by some privilege of unlearned custom, but by a definite observance of reason, since all the time which is included in the day of the Kalends is rightly said to be “within the Kalends.”

XIV 'Saltem' particula quam uim habeat et quam originem.

14 'Saltem,' the particle, what force it has and what origin.

[1] 'Saltem' particula quam haberet principem significationem quaeque uocis istius origo esset, quaerebamus.

[1] We were inquiring what principal signification the particle "saltem" would have and what the origin of that word would be.

[2] Ita enim primitus factam esse apparet, ut non uideatur, sicuti quaedam supplementa orationis, temere et incondite adsumpta.

[2] For it appears to have been fashioned originally, such that it does not seem, like certain supplements of speech, to have been assumed rashly and in an unarranged manner.

[3] Atque erat, qui diceret legisse se in grammaticis commentariis P. Nigidii 'saltem' ex eo dictum, quod esset 'si aliter', idque ipsum dici solitum per defectionem, nam plenam esse sententiam: 'si aliter non potest'.

[3] And there was someone who said he had read in the grammatical commentaries of P. Nigidius that 'saltem' was derived from this, since it was 'si aliter', and that this very expression was accustomed to be said by ellipsis; for the full sentence is: 'si aliter non potest'.

[4] Sed id nos in isdem commentariis Nigidii, cum eos non, opinor, incuriose legissemus, nusquam inuenimus.

[4] But we nowhere found that in those same commentaries of Nigidius, although, I think, we had read them not carelessly.

[5] Videntur autem uerba ista 'si aliter non potest' a significatione quidem uoculae huius, de qua quaerimus, non abhorrere. Set tot uerba tamen in paucissimas litteras cludere inprobae cuiusdam subtilitatis est.

[5] The words in question, 'if otherwise it cannot be,' do not, indeed, seem to be at variance with the signification of this little vocable about which we are inquiring. But to shut so many words into the very fewest letters is a kind of impudent subtlety.

[6] Fuit etiam, qui diceret, homo in libris atque in litteris adsiduus, 'saltem' sibi dictum uideri 'u' littera media extrita; 'salutem' enim ante dictum, quod nos 'saltem' diceremus. 'Nam cum alia quaedam petita et non impetrata sunt, tum solemus' inquit 'quasi extremum aliquid petituri, quod negari minime debeat, dicere "hoc saltem fieri aut dari oportere", tamquam salutem postremo petentes, quam impetrari certe et obtineri sit aequissimum.'

[6] There was also one who would say, a man assiduous in books and in letters, that 'saltem' seemed to him to be said with the middle letter 'u' rubbed out; for 'salutem' had formerly been said, what we would say as 'saltem.' 'For when certain other things have been asked and not obtained, then we are accustomed,' he says, 'as if about to ask for something ultimate, which ought by no means to be denied, to say "this at least ought to be done or given," as though at the last asking for safety (salutem), which it is most equitable should certainly be obtained and held.'

[7] Sed hoc itidem non inlepide quidem fictum nimis tamen esse uidetur commenticium. Censuimus igitur amplius quaerendum.

[7] But this likewise, though indeed not inelegantly contrived, nevertheless seems too commentitious. We therefore judged that further inquiry was required.

XV Quod Sisenna in libris historiarum aduerbiis huiuscemodi saepenumero usus est: 'celatim', 'uellicatim', 'saltuatim'.

15 That Sisenna in the books of histories very often used adverbs of this kind: 'celatim', 'uellicatim', 'saltuatim'.

[1] Cum lectitaremus historiam Sisennae adsidue, huiuscemodi figurae aduerbia in oratione eius animaduertimus, cuimodi sunt haec: 'cursim', 'properatim', 'celatim', 'uellicatim', 'saltuatim'.

[1] As we kept reading Sisenna’s history assiduously, we noticed adverbs of such a figure in his oration, of which sort are these: 'cursim', 'properatim', 'celatim', 'uellicatim', 'saltuatim'.

[2] Ex quibus duo prima, quia sunt notiora, exemplis non indigebant; reliqua in historiarum sexto sic scripta sunt: 'Quam maxime celatim poterat, in insidiis suos disponit.' Item alio in loco: 'Nos una aestate in Asia et Graecia gesta litteris idcirco continentia mandauimus, ne uellicatim aut saltuatim scribendo lectorum animos impediremus.'

[2] Of which the first two, because they are more well-known, did not need examples; the remaining are written thus in the sixth book of the Histories: 'As covertly as he could, he arranges his men in ambush.' Likewise in another place: 'We therefore committed to letters with continuity the things done in one summer in Asia and Greece, lest by writing by-snatches or by-leaps we impede the readers’ minds.'