- Source
- Ovid. P. Ovidius Naso, Volume 1: Amores, Epistulae, Medicamina faciei femineae, Ars amatoria, Remedia amoris. Ehwald, Rudolf; Merkel, Rudolph; editors. Leipzig: B. G. Teubner, 1907.
- 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:phi0959.phi001.humanitext-lat2:1.9.1-1.9.46
- Generated
- Humanitext Reader · reader.humanitext.ai · 2026-10-27
Ovid compares lovers to soldiers through their shared endurance of night vigils, arduous journeys, and strategic attacks, noting that even great mythological heroes were driven by love. He concludes that love rescued him from his own former laziness and turned him into an active soldier of Cupid.
Militat omnis amans, et habet sua castra Cupido;
Every lover is a soldier, and Cupid has his own camp;
Attice, crede mihi, militat omnis amans.
Atticus, believe me, every lover is a soldier.
Quae bello est habilis, Veneri quoque convenit aetas.
The age which is fit for war is also suitable for Venus.
Turpe senex miles, turpe senilis amor.
An old soldier is a shameful thing, and shameful is elderly love.
Quos petiere1 duces animos in milite forti,
The spirit which leaders seek in a brave soldier,
Hos petit in socio bella puella viro.
a beautiful girl seeks in the man who is her companion.
Pervigilant ambo; terra requiescit uterque —
Both keep watch through the night; each rests on the ground —
Ille fores dominae servat, at ille ducis.
the one guards the doors of his mistress, the other those of his general.
Militis officium longa est via; mitte2 puellam,
The soldier’s duty is a long road; send the girl away,
Strenuus exempto fine sequetur amans.
the active lover will follow without end.
Ibit in adversos montes duplicataque nimbo
He will go against opposing mountains and rivers doubled by storms,
Flumina, congestas exteret ille nives,
he will tread down the piled-up snows,
Nec freta pressurus tumidos causabitur Euros
nor, about to cross the seas, will he plead the swollen East winds as an excuse,
Aptaque verrendis sidera quaeret aquis.3
nor will he seek stars suitable for sweeping the waters.
Quis nisi vel miles vel amans et frigora noctis
Who but either a soldier or a lover will endure the cold of night
Et denso mixtas perferet imbre nives?
and the snows mixed with heavy rain?
Mittitur infestos alter speculator in hostes;
One is sent into the hostile enemy as a scout;
In rivale oculos alter, ut hoste, tenet.
the other keeps his eyes on his rival, as if on an enemy.
Ille graves urbes, hic durae limen amicae
The former besieges heavy cities, the latter the threshold of a harsh mistress;
Obsidet; hic portas frangit, at ille fores.
this one breaks gates, but that one breaks doors.
Saepe soporatos invadere profuit hostes
Often it has been useful to attack sleeping enemies
Caedere et armata vulgus inerme manu.
and to slaughter an unarmed crowd with an armed hand.
Sic fera Threicii ceciderunt agmina Rhesi,
Thus fell the fierce troops of Thracian Rhesus,
Et dominum capti deseruistis equi.
and you, captured horses, deserted your master.
Nempe maritorum somnis utuntur amantes,
Surely, lovers make use of the sleep of husbands,
Et sua sopitis hostibus arma movent.
and move their weapons while the enemy is asleep.
Custodum transire manus vigilumque catervas
To pass through the hands of guards and crowds of watchmen
Militis et miseri semper amantis opus.
is always the task of the soldier and of the wretched lover.
Mars dubius nec certa Venus; victique resurgunt,
Mars is doubtful and Venus not certain; and the defeated rise again,
Quosque neges4 umquam posse iacere, cadunt.
and those fall whom you would say could never lie low.
Ergo desidiam quicumque vocabat amorem,
Therefore, whoever used to call love laziness,
Desinat. ingenii est experientis amor.
let him cease. Love is of an enterprising nature.
Ardet in abducta Briseide magnus Achilles —
Great Achilles burns for the abducted Briseis —
Dum licet, Argeas frangite, Troes, opes!
Trojans, while it is permitted, shatter the Argive power!
Hector ab Andromaches conplexibus ibat ad arma,
Hector went from the embraces of Andromache to arms,
Et, galeam capiti quae daret, uxor erat.
and it was his wife who put the helmet on his head.
Summa ducum, Atrides, visa Priameide5 fertur
The highest of leaders, the son of Atreus, is said, when the daughter of Priam was seen,
Maenadis effusis obstipuisse comis.
to have been amazed by her hair, spread out like a Maenad’s.
Mars quoque deprensus fabrilia vincula sensit;
Mars also, when caught, felt the craftsman’s chains;
Notior in caelo fabula nulla fuit.
no story was better known in heaven.
Ipse ego segnis eram discinctaque in otia natus;
I myself was sluggish and born for unbuttoned leisure;
Mollierant animos lectus et umbra meos.
the bed and the shade had softened my mind.
Inpulit ignavum formosae cura puellae
Care for a beautiful girl impelled me, sluggard,
Iussit et in castris aera merere suis.
and ordered me to earn my pay in her camp.
Inde vides agilem nocturnaque bella gerentem.
Thence you see me agile and waging nocturnal wars.
Qui nolet fieri desidiosus, amet!
Let him who does not wish to become lazy, love!
- 1.9.5petiere
A poetic shortened form of petiverunt (third-person plural perfect active indicative), not an infinitive. The antecedent animos is attracted into the relative clause Quos... animos.
- 1.9.9mitte
Imperative of the verb mitto (to send, dismiss). Here it carries a conditional force, implying "send the girl away/on a journey [and] the active lover will follow without end."
- 1.9.14verrendis sidera quaeret aquis
The adjective apta (suitable) takes the gerundive construction verrendis aquis (for sweeping the waters), either in the dative or ablative case depending on apta.
- 1.9.30neges
Present subjunctive second-person singular used as a generalizing potential ("one would deny / you would say... not"). The relative clause refers to the omitted subject of cadunt.
- 1.9.37visa Priameide
Ablative absolute ("the daughter of Priam having been seen"). The main subject Atrides (Agamemnon) is the subject of the nominative with infinitive construction obstipuisse governed by the personal verb of reporting fertur ("is said to have been amazed").