Futility of Wealth and the Pursuit of True Wisdom — Horace, Epistles Book 2 (2.2.146–2.2.216), Latin & English

146

Si tibi nulla sitim finiret copia lymphae,

If no abundance of water could quench your thirst,

narrares medicis: quod,¹ quanto plura parasti,

you would tell the doctors: but that, by how much more you have acquired,

tanto plura cupis, nulline faterier audes?

by so much more you desire, do you dare to confess to no one?

si volnus tibi monstrata radice vel herba

If your wound, by a prescribed root or herb,

150

non fieret levius, fugeres radice vel herba

did not become lighter, you would avoid being cured by root or herb

proficiente nihil curarier: audieras, cui

that profited nothing: you had heard that to whomsoever

rem di donarent, illi decedere pravam

the gods gave wealth, from him departed perverse

stultitiam; et cum sis nihilo sapientior ex quo

folly; and though you are not a whit wiser since

plenior es, tamen uteris monitoribus isdem?

you have been richer, do you still employ the same advisors?

155

At si divitiae prudentem reddere possent,

But if riches could make you wise,

si cupidum timidumque minus te, nempe ruberes,

if they could make you less covetous and fearful, surely you would blush

viveret in terris te si quis avarior uno.

if anyone lived on earth more avaricious than you alone.

si proprium est, quod quis libra mercatus et aere est,

If that is one’s own, which one has bought with scale and bronze,

quaedam, si credis consultis, mancipat usus;²

some things, if you believe the lawyers, usage makes one’s own;

160

qui te pascit ager tuus est, et vilicus Orbi,

the field which feeds you is yours, and the bailiff of Orbius,

cum segetes occat tibi mox frumenta daturas,

when he harrows the fields soon to give grain to you,

te dominum sentit, das nummos, accipis uvam,

he feels you as master. You give coins, you receive grapes,

pullos, ova, cadum temeti: nempe modo isto

chickens, eggs, a jar of wine: indeed, in that manner

paulatim mercaris agrum, fortasse trecentis

by degrees you purchase the field, bought perhaps for three hundred

165

aut etiam supra nummorum milibus emptum.

or even more thousands of coins.

quid refert, vivas numerato nuper an olim?

What does it matter, whether you live on what was paid for recently or long ago?

emptor Aricini quondam Veientis et arvi

The buyer of an Arician or a Veientian field once

emptum cenat holus, quamvis aliter putat; emptis

sups on bought greens, though he thinks otherwise; with bought

sub noctem gelidam lignis calefactat aënum;

logs under the cold night he heats his copper kettle;

170

sed vocat usque suum, qua populus adsita certis

but he calls it all his own, up to where the planted poplar with fixed

limitibus vicina refugit iurgia; tamquam

boundaries avoids neighboring disputes; as if

sit proprium quicquam, puncto quod mobilis horae

anything were one’s own, which in a moment of a fleeting hour

nunc prece, nunc pretio, nunc vi, nunc morte suprema

now by prayer, now by price, now by force, now by final death

permutet dominos et cedat in altera iura.

it changes masters and passes into other hands.

175

sic quia perpetuus nulli datur usus, et heres

Thus since perpetual use is granted to no one, and heir

heredem alterius velut unda supervenit undam,

overtakes another’s heir as wave overtakes wave,

quid vici prosunt aut horrea? quidve Calabris

what do manors or granaries profit? or what Lucanian pastures

saltibus adiecti Lucani, si metit Orcus

added to Calabrian, if Orcus reaps

grandia cum parvis, non exorabilis auro?

great things with small, not to be appeased by gold?

180

Gemmas, marmor, ebur, Tyrrhena sigilla, tabellas,

Gems, marble, ivory, Etruscan statuettes, paintings,

argentum, vestes Gaetulo murice tinctas

silver, garments dyed with Gaetulian purple,

sunt qui non habeant, est qui non curat habere,

there are those who do not have, there is one who does not care to have.

cur alter fratrum cessare et ludere et ungui

Why one of two brothers prefers to idle and play and be anointed

praeferat Herodis palmetis pinguibus, alter

rather than the rich palm-groves of Herod, while the other,

185

dives et importunus ad umbram lucis ab ortu

rich and restless, from sunrise to the shadow of night,

silvestrem flammis et ferro mitiget agrum,

tames his woody field with flames and iron,

scit Genius, natale comes qui temperat astrum,

the Genius knows, the companion who tempers our birth star,

naturae deus humanae, mortalis in unum

the god of human nature, mortal for each single

quodque caput,³ voltu mutabilis, albus et ater.

head, changeable in aspect, white and black.

190

utar et ex modico, quantum res poscet, acervo

I will use, and from my moderate heap, as much as need demands, I will take,

tollam, nec metuam quid de me iudicet heres,

nor will I fear what my heir may judge of me,

quod non plura datis invenerit; et tamen idem

because he has not found more than what was left to him; and yet the same I

scire volam, quantum simplex hilarisque nepoti

will wish to know, how much the simple and cheerful differs from the prodigal,

discrepet et quantum discordet parcus avaro.

and how much the frugal differs from the miserly.

195

distat enim, spargas tua prodigus, an neque sumptum

For there is a difference, whether you scatter your wealth like a prodigal, or neither make expense

invitus facias neque plura parare labores,

unwillingly nor labor to acquire more,

ac potius, puer ut festis Quinquatribus olim,

but rather, as once a boy in the festive Quinquatrus,

exiguo gratoque fruaris tempore raptim,

you enjoy the brief and pleasant time hastily.

pauperies immunda domus procul absit: ego, utrum

Let sordid poverty be far from my house: whether I

200

nave ferar magna an parva, ferar unus et idem.

am carried in a large ship or a small one, I shall be carried one and the same.

non agimur tumidis velis Aquilone secundo:

We are not driven with swelling sails by a favorable North wind;

non tamen adversis aetatem ducimus Austris,

yet we do not lead our life under adverse South winds;

viribus, ingenio, specie, virtute, loco, re

in strength, genius, appearance, virtue, station, fortune,

extremi primorum, extremis usque priores.

the last of the first, yet always ahead of the last.

205

Non es avarus: abi. quid? cetera iam simul isto

You are not covetous: depart. What? Have the other vices now along with that

cum vitio fugere? caret tibi pectus inani

vice fled? Does your breast lack empty

ambitione? caret mortis formidine et ira?

ambition? does it lack the fear of death and anger?

somnia, terrores magicos, miracula, sagas,

Do you laugh at dreams, magic terrors, wonders, witches,

nocturnos lemures portentaque Thessala rides?

nightly ghosts, and Thessalian portents?

210

natalis grate numeras? ignoscis amicis?

Do you gratefully count your birthdays? Do you forgive your friends?

lenior et melior fis accedente senecta?

Do you become gentler and better as old age approaches?

quid te exempta iuvat spinis de pluribus una?

What does it help you that one thorn is pulled out of many?

vivere si recte nescis, decede peritis,

If you do not know how to live rightly, make way for those who do.

lusisti satis, edisti satis atque bibisti:

You have played enough, you have eaten enough and drunk enough:

215

tempus abire tibi est, ne potum largius aequo⁴

it is time for you to depart, lest after drinking more than is fit

rideat et pulset lasciva decentius aetas.

the age which is more becomingly wanton mock and push you.

Syntax notes4 items

2.2.147quod
Introduces a noun clause ("the fact that...") acting as the direct object of the verb of confessing (faterier audes), explaining the mental disease of greed corresponding to physical thirst.
2.2.159mancipat usus
Refers to the Roman legal concept of "usucapio" (acquisition of property by long use). The subject usus (usage) is poetically said to perform the act of formal transfer (mancipat).
2.2.188mortalis in unum / quodque caput
caput is a synecdoche for "individual person/life". It expresses the philosophical view that the personal Genius is mortal and dies along with the individual it accompanies.
2.2.215potum largius aequo
potum is an accusative perfect participle modifying the omitted pronoun te (you). largius aequo is an idiomatic comparative phrase meaning "more abundantly than what is fair/proper".

Translated by Gemini 3.5 Flash (published 2026-05-22) · Revision history (1, latest 2026-09-22)

2026-09-22 AI review — source 1

urn:cts:latinLit:phi0893.phi005.humanitext-lat2:2.2.146-2.2.216