The Poet's Defense and Micio's Educational Views — Terence, Adelphoe, lines production–70, Latin & English

production

ADELPHI. ACTA LUDIS FUNEBRIBUS AEMILII PAULLI QUOS FECERE Q. FABIUS MAXIMUS, P. CORNELIUS AFRICANUS. EGERE L. ATTILIUS PRAENESTINUS, MINUTIUS PROTHIMUS. MODOS FECIT FLACCUS CLAUDII, TIBIIS SARRANIS. FACTA GRAECA MENANDRU L. ANICIO M. CORNELIO COSS.

THE BROTHERS. Performed at the funeral games of Lucius Aemilius Paullus, which were celebrated by Quintus Fabius Maximus and Publius Cornelius Africanus. Acted by Lucius Atilius Praenestinus and Minutius Prothimus. Flaccus, the slave of Claudius, composed the music, for Tyrian flutes. Taken from the Greek of Menander. In the consulship of Lucius Anicius and Marcus Cornelius.

POSTQUAM Poëta sensit scripturam suam

Since the Poet perceived that his writing

Ab iniquis observari, et adversarios

is being watched by malicious critics, and that his adversaries

Rapere in peiorem partem quam acturi sumus,¹

distort into a worse sense the play which we are about to act,

Indicio de se ipse erit;² vos eritis iudices

he himself will be the witness about himself; you shall be the judges

Laudine an vitio duci id factum oporteat.

whether this deed ought to be reckoned as a praise or as a fault.

Synapothnescontes Diphili comoedia est.

”Synapothnescontes” is a comedy of Diphilus.

Eam Commorientes Plautus fecit fabulam.

Plautus made it into the play “Commorientes.”

In Graeca adolescens est qui lenoni eripuit

In the Greek original, there is a youth who snatched a courtesan from a pimp

Meretricem in prima fabula. Eum Plautus locum

at the beginning of the play. That scene Plautus

Reliquit integrum: eum hic locum sumpsit sibi

left untouched; this poet took that very scene for himself

In Adelphos; verbum de verbo expressum extulit.

into “The Brothers,” and translated it word for word.

Eam nos acturi sumus novam: pernoscite

We are about to act it as a new play; examine thoroughly

Furtumne factum existimetis, an locum

whether you think a theft has been committed, or a scene

Reprehensum qui praeteritus negligentia est.³

has been recovered which had been passed over by negligence.

Nam quod isti dicunt malevoli, homines nobiles

For as to what those malevolent critics say, that noble men

Eum adiutare, assidueque una scribere;

assist him, and constantly write along with him;

Quod illi maledictum vehemens esse existimant

what they consider to be a heavy slander,

Eam laudem hic ducit maximam, quum illis placet

this poet regards as the greatest praise, since he pleases those

Qui vobis universis et populo placent;

who please all of you and the public;

Quorum opera in bello, in otio, in negotio,

whose services in war, in leisure, in business,

Suo quisque tempore usus est sine superbia.

everyone has made use of in his own time, without their pride.

Dehinc ne exspectetis argumentum fabulae:

Henceforth do not expect the plot of the play:

Senes qui primi venient ii partem aperient;

the old men who will come first will disclose a part of it;

In agendo partem ostendent. Facite, aequanimitas

in the acting they will show a part. See to it that your impartiality

Poëtae ad scribendum augeat industriam.

may increase the poet’s industry in writing.

Storax—Non rediit hac nocte a coena Aeschinus,

Storax!—Aeschinus has not returned from the dinner-party tonight,

Neque servulorum quisquam qui adversum ierant.⁴

nor any of the young slaves who had gone to meet him.

Profecto hoc vere dicunt: si absis uspiam,

Indeed, people say this truly: if you are away anywhere,

Aut ubi si cesses, evenire ea satius est

or if you linger anywhere, it is better for those things to happen

Quae in te uxor dicit et quae in animo cogitat

which an angry wife says against you and thinks in her mind,

Irata quam illa quae parentes propitii.

than those things which well-disposed parents imagine.

Uxor si cesses aut te amare cogitat,

A wife, if you linger, thinks either that you are in love,

Aut tete amari, aut potare, aut animo obsequi;

or that you are loved, or that you are drinking, or indulging your inclination,

Et tibi bene esse soli quum sibi sit male.

and that you alone are enjoying yourself, while she herself is miserable.

Ego quia non rediit filius quae cogito, et

But as to me, because my son has not returned, what things do I imagine, and

Quibus nunc sollicitor rebus! ne aut ille alserit,

by what cares am I now anxious! lest he either has caught cold,

Aut uspiam ceciderit, aut perfregerit

or has fallen somewhere, or has broken

Aliquid. Vah, quemquamne hominem in animum instituere⁵ aut

something. Ah! that any man should take to his heart or

Parare quod sit carius quam ipse est sibi?

acquire what is dearer to him than he is to himself!

Atqui ex me hic non natus est, sed ex fratre. Is adeo

And yet, this boy was not born of me, but of my brother. He indeed

Dissimili studio est iam inde ab adolescentia.

has been of a very different disposition even from his youth.

Ego hanc clementem vitam urbanam atque otium

I have pursued this easy town life and leisure,

Secutus sum; et, quod fortunatum isti putant,

and, what people consider fortunate,

Uxorem numquam habui. Ille contra haec omnia:

I have never had a wife. He, on the contrary, in all these things:

Ruri agere vitam; semper parce ac duriter

leads his life in the country; always keeps himself sparingly

Se habere: uxorem duxit; nati filii

and harshly: he married; two sons

Duo: inde ego hunc maiorem adoptavi mihi;

were born: from them I adopted this elder one for myself;

Eduxi a parvulo; habui, amavi pro meo;

I brought him up from a little child; I regarded and loved him as my own;

In eo me oblecto; solum id est carum mihi.

in him I delight, this alone is dear to me.

Ille ut item contra me habeat facio sedulo:

I study diligently that he, in turn, may hold me in the same esteem:

Do, praetermitto: non necesse habeo omnia

I give, I overlook; I do not consider it necessary to do all things

Pro meo iure agere. Postremo alii clanculum

according to my strict right. Finally, what other youths do secretly from

Patres quae faciunt, quae fert adolescentia,

their fathers, things which youth brings on,

Ea ne me celet consuefeci filium;

I have accustomed my son not to conceal those things from me;

Nam qui mentiri aut fallere insuerit patrem, aut

for he who has accustomed himself to lie to or deceive his father, or

Audebit, tanto magis audebit caeteros.

shall dare to do so, will dare to do so all the more to others.

Pudore et liberalitate liberos

I believe that it is better to restrain children

Retinere satius esse credo quam metu.

by a sense of shame and gentlemanly treatment than by fear.

Haec fratri mecum non convenient neque placent.

These things do not agree between my brother and me, nor do they please him.

Venit ad me saepe clamitans, "Quid agis, Micio?

He often comes to me, crying out: “What are you doing, Micio?

Cur perdis adolescentem nobis? cur amat?

Why do you ruin our youth? Why does he love?

Cur potat? cur tu his rebus sumtum suggeris?

Why does he drink? Why do you supply the expense for these things?

Vestitu nimio indulges; nimium ineptus es."

You indulge him with too much clothing; you are too foolish.”

Nimium ipse est durus praeter aequumque et bonum:

He himself is too harsh, beyond what is just and good;

Et errat longe mea quidem sententia

and he errs widely, in my opinion at least,

Qui imperium credat⁶ gravius esse aut stabilius

who believes that authority is more weighty or more stable

Vi quod fit quam illud quod amicitia adiungitur.

which is established by force, than that which is united by friendship.

Mea sic est ratio, et sic animum induco meum:

This is my principle, and thus I persuade my mind:

Malo coactus qui suum officium facit

he who does his duty compelled by fear of punishment,

Dum id rescitum iri credit tantisper cavet:

as long as he believes it will be found out, is on his guard only so long;

Syntax notes6 items

3peiorem partem quam acturi sumus
The expression rapere in peiorem partem is an idiomatic construction meaning "to distort into a worse sense" or "to misinterpret maliciously." In the relative clause quam acturi sumus (which we are about to perform), the antecedent (such as fabulam) is omitted, and the relative pronoun agrees with it in the accusative case.
4indicio de se ipse erit
indicio is a predicative dative (dative of purpose or effect). Combined with the main verb erit, it forms a structure similar to a double dative construction, meaning "he himself will serve as a proof/witness concerning himself."
14reprehensum qui praeteritus negligentia est
reprehensum is the perfect passive participle of reprehendo (to recover, reclaim, rescue). In this context, it does not mean "criticized" but rather "recovered" or "reclaimed" (referring to a scene passed over by Plautus). It is modified by the relative clause qui praeteritus... est.
27adversum ierant
The phrase adversum ire (or adversus ire), taking an omitted dative referring to Aeschinus, is an idiomatic military or domestic term meaning "to go to meet" or "to fetch home" (a master from a social event).
38quemquamne hominem in animum instituere
An accusative with infinitive construction (quemquam hominem ... instituere aut parare) used to express exclamation or indignant question. The enclitic -ne indicates a strong question with a tone of grief or disbelief: "That any man should take to his heart...!"
66qui imperium credat
The relative pronoun qui introduces a subjunctive verb credat, which is a relative clause of characteristic, defining a general class of persons: "the kind of person who believes..." rather than describing a specific individual's factual action.

Translated by Gemini 3.5 Flash (published 2026-05-22)urn:cts:latinLit:phi0134.phi006.humanitext-lat2:production-70