- Source
- Horace, Satires, Epistles and Ars Poetica. Fairclough, H. Rushton (Henry Rushton), editor. London: William Heinemann Ltd.; Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 1929.
- Translation
- AI-generated (gemini-3.5-flash) — machine translation; may contain errors
- Languages
- 日本語 · English · 简体中文 · 한국어
- CTS URN
- urn:cts:latinLit:phi0893.phi005.humanitext-lat2:1.11.1-1.11.30
- Generated
- Humanitext Reader · reader.humanitext.ai · 2026-10-27
The poet addresses Bullatius, who is traveling through Eastern cities, asserting that true happiness and peace of mind depend on one's inner disposition rather than external places.
Quid tibi visa Chios, Bullati, notaque Lesbos,
How did Chios seem to you, Bullatius, and famous Lesbos?
quid concinna Samos, quid Croesi regia Sardis,
How did lovely Samos, and Sardis, the royal palace of Croesus?
Zmyrna quid et Colophon? maiora minorave fama,
How did Zmyrna and Colophon? Are they greater or smaller than their fame?
cunctane prae Campo et Tiberino flumine sordent?
Do they all seem worthless compared to the Campus and the Tiber river?
an venit in votum Attalicis ex urbibus una,
Or did one of the Attalic cities enter into your wish?
an Lebedum laudas odio maris atque viarum?
Or do you praise Lebedus from hatred of the sea and of journeys?
scis Lebedus quid sit: Gabiis desertior atque
You know what Lebedus is: a village more deserted than Gabii and
Fidenis vicus; tamen illic vivere vellem,1
Fidenae; yet there I would wish to live,
oblitusque meorum, obliviscendus et illis,
and forgotten by my people, to be forgotten by them too,
Neptunum procul e terra spectare furentem.
to watch raging Neptune from afar from the land.
Sed neque qui Capua Romam petit, imbre lutoque
But neither he who seeks Rome from Capua, splashed with rain and mud,
aspersus, volet in caupona vivere; nec qui
will wish to live in a tavern; nor he who
frigus collegit, furnos et balnea laudat
has caught a chill praises ovens and baths
ut fortunatam plene praestantia vitam;
as fully presenting a happy life;
nec si te validus iactaverit Auster in alto,
nor if a strong South wind has tossed you on the deep,
idcirco navem trans Aegaeum mare vendas.
would you on that account sell your ship across the Aegean Sea.
Incolumi2 Rhodos et Mytilene pulchra facit quod
To a healthy man, Rhodes and beautiful Mytilene do what
paenula solstitio, campestre nivalibus auris,
a heavy cloak does in the summer solstice, a loincloth in snowy winds,
per brumam Tiberis, Sextili mense caminus.
the Tiber in midwinter, a fireplace in the month of August.
dum licet ac voltum servat Fortuna benignum,
While it is permitted and Fortune keeps a kind face,
Romae laudetur Samos et Chios et Rhodos absens,
let Samos and Chios and Rhodes be praised at Rome, though absent.
tu quamcumque deus tibi fortunaverit horam
Whatever hour God has favored you with,
grata sume manu, neu dulcia differ in annum;
take it with a grateful hand, nor defer sweet things to another year;
ut quocumque loco fueris vixisse libenter
so that in whatever place you have been, you may say that you lived
te dicas, nam si ratio et prudentia curas,
gladly. For if reason and wisdom take away cares,
non locus effusi late maris arbiter aufert,
and not a place that commands the wide-spread sea,
caelum, non animum, mutant,3 qui trans mare currunt,
they change the sky, not their mind, who run across the sea.
strenua nos exercet inertia:4 navibus atque
A busy idleness harries us; with ships and
quadrigis petimus bene vivere, quod petis hic est,
chariots we seek to live well. What you seek is here,
est Ulubris, animus si te non deficit aequus.
it is even at Ulubrae, if a balanced mind does not fail you.
- 1.11.8vivere vellem
The imperfect subjunctive vellem (from volo) expresses a present wish that is difficult or impossible to realize ("I would wish to live").
- 1.11.17Incolumi
Dative singular of the adjective incolumis ("unharmed", "sound"). It functions here as a dative of reference ("to a person of sound mind"), pointing to the person for whom things like heavy cloaks in summer are useless or inappropriate.
- 1.11.27caelum, non animum, mutant
A famous maxim of Horace. caelum (sky/climate) and animum (mind/spirit) are contrasted, both serving as direct accusative objects of mutant (they change). The subject is the relative clause qui trans mare currunt (those who run across the sea).
- 1.11.28strenua... inertia
An oxymoron meaning "busy idleness" or "active laziness." The adjective strenua and the noun inertia are joined to describe the restless and self-defeating efforts of people traveling around in search of peace of mind.