Geta Recounts the Young Men's Love and Marriage — Terence, Phormio, lines 70–143, Latin & English

Sic est ingenium.

Such is his character.

Oh, regem me esse oportuit.

Oh, I ought to have been a king!

Abeuntes ambo hic tum senes, me filiis

Both the old men having departed then, they leave me

Relinquunt quasi magistrum.

as a sort of guardian to their sons.

O Geta, provinciam

Oh Geta,

Cepisti duram.

you undertook a hard task!

Mihi usus venit, hoc scio:

I found it out by experience, that I know;

Memini relinqui me Deo irato meo.¹

I remember that I was left behind when my god was angry with me.

Coepi adversari primo. Quid verbis opus est?

At first I began to oppose them. What need is there of words?

Seni fidelis dum sum, scapulas perdidi.

While I was faithful to the old man, I ruined my shoulder-blades.

Venere in mentem mihi istaec; "Namque inscitia est,

These words came into my mind: “For is it not folly

Adversum stimulum calces?"

to kick against the pricks?”

Coepi iis omnia

I began to do everything for them,

Facere, obsequi quae vellent.

to comply with whatever they wished.

Scisti uti foro.

You knew how to adapt to the market.

Noster mali nihil quicquam primo. Hic Phaedria

Our young master did nothing wrong at first. But this Phaedria

Continuo quandam nactus est puellulam

immediately met with a certain girl,

Citharistriam: hanc amare coepit perdite.

a cithara-player, and began to love her to distraction.

Ea serviebat lenoni impurissimo;

She belonged to a most filthy pimp;

Neque quod daretur quicquam: id curarant patres.

and there was nothing to be given to her, for the fathers had taken care of that.

Restabat aliud nihil nisi oculos pascere,

Nothing else remained but to feed his eyes,

Sectari, in ludum ducere, et reducere.

to follow her, to lead her to the school, and bring her back.

Nos otiosi operam dabamus Phaedriae.

We, having nothing to do, gave our assistance to Phaedria.

In quo haec discebat ludo, exadversum ei loco

Opposite to that school where she was learning,

Tonstrina erat quaedam. Hic solebamus fere

there was a certain barber’s shop. Here we were mostly accustomed

Plerumque eam opperiri dum inde iret domum.

to wait for her until she went home from there.

Interea, dum sedemus illi, intervenit

Meanwhile, while we were sitting there, a certain young man

Adolescens quidam lacrimans. Nos mirarier.²

came in weeping. We wondered.

Rogamus quid sit? "Nunquam aeque," inquit, "ac modo

We asked what was the matter. “Never,” said he, “as just now,

Paupertas mihi onus visum est et miserum et grave.

has poverty seemed to me a wretched and heavy burden.

Modo quandam vidi virginem hic viciniae

Just now I saw a certain maiden in this neighborhood

Miseram suam matrem lamentari mortuam.

weeping for her dead mother.

Ea sita erat exadversum: neque illi benevolens

She was laid out opposite; and there was no well-wisher,

Neque notus neque cognatus extra unam aniculam

nor acquaintance, nor relative near her, except one poor old woman,

Quisquam aderat qui adiutaret funus. Miseritum est.

to help with the funeral. I pitied her.

100

Virgo ipsa facie egregia." Quid verbis opus est?

The girl itself was of extraordinary beauty.” What need of words?

Commorat omnes nos. Ibi continuo Antipho,

He moved us all. Thereupon Antipho immediately said,

"Vultisne eamus visere?" alius, "Censeo;

”Shall we go and see?” Another said, “I think so;

Eamus: due nos, sodes." Imus; venimus;

let us go; lead us, please.” We go, we arrive,

Videmus. Virgo pulchra; et quo magis diceres,

we see her. The girl was beautiful; and what would make you say so all the more,

105

Nihil aderat adiumenti ad pulchritudinem.

there was no help to her beauty.

Capillus passus, nudus pes, ipsa horrida,

Her hair disheveled, her feet bare, herself neglected,

Lacrimae, vestitus turpis; ut, ni vis boni

tears, her clothing mean; so that, unless a force of beauty

In ipsa inesset forma, haec formam extinguerent.³

had been in her very form, these things would have extinguished it.

Ille qui illam amabat fidicinam tantummodo,

He who loved only that music-girl said,

110

"Satis," inquit, "scita est:" noster vero—

”She is pretty enough”; but ours—

Iam scio:

I know already:

Amare coepit.

he began to love her.

Scin quam? Quo evadat vide.

Do you know how much? See where it ends.

Postridie ad anum recta pergit: obsecrat

The next day he goes straight to the old woman; he begs her

Sibi ut eius faciat copiam. Illa enim se negat;

to grant him access to her. But she refuses him,

Neque eum aequum facere ait: illam civem esse Atticam,

and says he is not doing what is right: that the girl is an Athenian citizen,

115

Bonam, bonis prognatam: si uxorem velit,

respectable, and born of respectable parents; if he wants her as his wife,

Lege id licere facere; sin aliter, negat.

he is allowed to do so by law; but if otherwise, she refuses.

Noster quid ageret nescire; et illam ducere

Ours did not know what to do; he both desired

Cupiebat, et metuebat absentem patrem.

to marry her, and feared his absent father.

Non, si redisset, ei pater veniam daret?

Would not his father, if he returned, grant him pardon?

120

Ille indotatam virginem atque ignobilem

Would he allow him to marry a dowerless girl of obscure birth?

Daret illi? Nunquam faceret.

He would never do it.

Quid fit denique?

What happens at last?

Quid fiat? Est parasitus quidam Phormio,

What happens? There is a certain parasite, Phormio,

Homo confidens; qui illum Di omnes perduint.

a bold man; may all the gods destroy him!

Quid is fecit?

What did he do?

Hoc consilium quod dicam dedit.

He gave the plan which I am going to tell you.

125

Lex est, ut orbae qui sunt genere proximi

”There is a law that orphans must marry those who are nearest of kin

Eis nubant; et illos ducere eadem haec lex iubet.

to them; and this same law commands those relatives to marry them.

Ego te cognatum dicam, et tibi scribam dicam:

I will say you are a relative, and I will bring a suit against you;

Paternum amicum me assimulabo virginis:

I will pretend to be a friend of the maiden’s father;

Ad iudices veniemus. Qui fuerit pater,

we shall come before the judges. Who her father was,

130

Quae mater, qui cognata tibi sit, omnia haec

who her mother, how she is related to you, all these things

Confingam, quod erit mihi bonum atque commodum.

I will fabricate, as it will be good and convenient for me.

Quum tu horum nihil refelles, vincam scilicet.

When you refute none of these, I shall of course win.

Pater aderit: mihi paratae lites: quid mea?

Your father will return; lawsuits will be ready for me; what do I care?

Illa quidem nostra erit."

She indeed will be ours.”

Iocularem audaciam!

What a laughable boldness!

135

Persuasum est homini; factum est; ventum est; vincimur:

The man was persuaded; it was done; we came; we are beaten;

Duxit.

he married her.

Quid narras?

What are you telling me?

Hoc quod audis.

Just what you hear.

O Geta,

Quid te futurum est?

what will become of you?

Nescio hercle: unum hoc scio;

By Hercules, I do not know. I know this one thing:

Quod fors feret feremus aequo animo.

whatever fortune brings, we shall bear it with an equal mind.

Placet.

I am pleased.

Hem, istuc viri est officium.

Indeed, that is the duty of a man.

In me omnis spes mihi est.

All my hope is in myself.

140

Laudo.

I praise you.

Ad precatorem adeam credo, qui mihi

I suppose I shall go to some intercessor, who for me

Sic oret;⁴ "Nunc amitte, quaeso, hunc: caeterum

will plead thus: “Forgive him now, I pray; but

Posthac, si quicquam, nihil precor;" tantummodo

hereafter, if he does anything, I ask nothing”; only

Non addat: "Ubi ego hinc abiero, vel occidito."

let him not add: “When I have gone away from here, even kill him.”

Syntax notes4 items

74Memini relinqui me Deo irato meo.
me relinqui is an infinitive clause serving as the object of memini ("I remember"). Deo irato meo is constructed as an ablative absolute ("my god being angry with me," implying being under an unlucky star).
92mirarier
A "historical infinitive" used in the main clause to heighten the narrative tension. Morphologically, it is an archaic form of the present infinitive of the deponent verb mirari ("to wonder").
107ni vis boni / In ipsa inesset forma, haec formam extinguerent.
An unreal conditional sentence referring to past time, where the imperfect subjunctive is used in both the protasis (ni...inesset) and the apodosis (extinguerent). In early Latin (especially comedy), the imperfect subjunctive frequently refers to unfulfilled past conditions rather than present ones.
140bqui mihi / Sic oret
The subjunctive oret is used in a relative clause introduced by qui, expressing purpose or characteristic ("the kind of person who would plead for me").

Translated by Gemini 3.5 Flash (published 2026-05-22) · Revision history (5, latest 2026-09-22)

2026-09-22 AI review — source 2
2026-09-21 AI review — source 3

urn:cts:latinLit:phi0134.phi004.humanitext-lat2:70-143