Humanitext Reader

Horace · Satires §2.7.61-2.7.118

The Master Enslaved to Passion and Davus Silenced

Passage 29 of 30 · Latin

Summary

Davus argues that his master is a slave to his passions—such as adultery, art collecting, and gluttony—and contrasts this with the self-mastery of a truly free wise man. In the end, a furious Horace silences his slave by threatening to send him to hard labor on his Sabine estate.

§2.7.61contractum genibus tangas caput? estne marito
doubled up with your knees touching your head?
§2.7.62matronae peccantis in ambo iusta potestas, §2.7.63in corruptorem vel iustior? illa tamen se
Has not the husband of the adulterous matron a just power over both, and an even more just power over the corruptor?
§2.7.64non habitu mutatve loco peccatve superne, §2.7.65cum te formidet mulier neque credat amanti.
Yet she does not change her dress or her place, nor does she sin in the active role, since the woman dreads you and does not trust her lover.
§2.7.66ibis sub furcam prudens dominoque furenti §2.7.67conmittes rem omnem et vitam et cum corpore famam
You, fully aware, will go under the fork, and surrender all your property, your life, your body, and your reputation to a furious husband.
§2.7.68evasti: credo, metues doctusque cavebis: §2.7.69quaeres, quando iterum paveas iterumque perire §2.7.70possis, o totiens servus.
You have escaped: I suppose you will fear and, having learned your lesson, be cautious; but instead, you will seek when you may tremble again and when you may perish again, oh, so many times a slave!
quae belua ruptis, §2.7.71cum semel effugit, reddit se prava catenis?
What beast, having once escaped, when it has broken its chains, returns in its perversity to them?
§2.7.72“non sum moechus” ais.
"I am not an adulterer," you say.
neque ego hercule fur, ubi vasa §2.7.73praetereo sapiens argentea.
Nor am I, by Hercules, a thief, when I discreetly pass by your silver vessels.
tolle periclum: §2.7.74iam vaga prosiliet frenis natura remotis.
Remove the danger: soon vagrant nature will leap forward, the reins being removed.
§2.7.75tune mihi dominus, rerum imperiis hominumque §2.7.76tot tantisque minor, quem ter vindicta quaterque §2.7.77inposita haud umquam misera formidine privet?
Are you then my master, you who are subject to so many and so great commands of things and men, whom the rod of manumission, thrice or four times laid upon you, can never rid of wretched fear?
§2.7.78adde super, dictis quod non levius valeat; nam, §2.7.79sive vicarius est, qui servo paret, uti mos §2.7.80vester ait, seu conservus, tibi quid sum ego? nempe
Add to this what is of no less weight than what has been said; for whether he who obeys a slave is a substitute slave, as your custom says, or a fellow slave, what am I to you?
§2.7.81tu, mihi qui imperitas, aliis servis miser atque §2.7.82duceris ut nervis alienis mobile lignum.
Surely, you, who command me, are yourself a miserable slave to others, and are led like a wooden puppet moved by wires held by another.
§2.7.83quisnam igitur liber? sapiens sibi qui imperiosus,
Who then is free?
§2.7.84quem neque pauperies neque mors neque vincula terrent, §2.7.85responsare cupidinibus, contemnere honores §2.7.86fortis, et in se ipso totus, teres atque rotundus, §2.7.87externi nequid valeat per leve morari, §2.7.88in quem manca ruit semper fortuna.
The wise man who is master over himself, whom neither poverty, nor death, nor chains terrify, strong to resist his lusts, to despise honors, and complete in himself, smooth and round, so that nothing external can rest on his polished surface, and against whom fortune ever rushes with shattered power.
potesne §2.7.89ex his ut proprium quid noscere? quinque talenta
Can you recognize any of these traits as your own?
§2.7.90poscit te mulier, vexat foribusque repulsum §2.7.91perfundit gelida, rursus vocat: eripe turpi §2.7.92colla iugo Liber, “liber sum” dic age. non quis.
A woman demands five talents of you, torments you, shuts you out, and douses you with cold water, then calls you back again: snatch your neck from this foul yoke, come, say "I am free!" You cannot.
§2.7.93urget enim dominus mentem non lenis et acris §2.7.94subiectat lasso stimulos versatque negantem.
For a master, not gentle, urges your mind, applies sharp spurs to you when weary, and turns you when you resist.
§2.7.95vel cum Pausiaca torpes, insane, tabella, §2.7.96qui peccas minus atque ego, cum Fulvi Rutubaeque §2.7.97aut Pacideiani contento poplite miror §2.7.98proelia rubrica picta aut carbone, velut si §2.7.99re vera pugnent, feriant vitentque moventes
Or when you stand spellbound before a picture by Pausias, madman, how do you sin less than I do when I admire the battles of Fulvius and Rutuba or of Pacideianus, drawn with red ochre or charcoal with tensed hamstrings, as if the men were fighting in reality, striking and parrying, moving their weapons?
§2.7.100arma viri? nequam et cessator Davus; at ipse §2.7.101subtilis veterum iudex et callidus audis.
Davus is a worthless slacker; but you yourself are called a subtle and skillful judge of ancient art.
§2.7.102nil ego, si ducor libo fumante: tibi ingens §2.7.103virtus atque animus cenis responsat opimis?
I am of no account if I am led by a smoking cake; does your great virtue and spirit resist rich dinners?
§2.7.104obsequium ventris mihi perniciosius est cur?
Why is my obedience to my belly more destructive?
§2.7.105tergo plector enim. qui tu inpunitior illa, §2.7.106quae parvo sumi nequeunt, obsonia captas?
For I am flogged on the back; how are you more unpunished when you hunt after those dainties which cannot be obtained at small cost?
§2.7.107nempe inamarescunt epulae sine fine petitae §2.7.108inlusique pedes vitiosum ferre recusant §2.7.109corpus.
To be sure, feasts sought without end turn bitter, and the cheated feet refuse to carry the diseased body.
an hic peccat, sub noctem qui puer uvam §2.7.110furtiva mutat strigili: qui praedia vendit,
Does that boy sin who, towards nightfall, exchanges a stolen strigil for a bunch of grapes?
§2.7.111nil servile gulae parens habet? adde, quod idem
And has he who sells his estates to obey his gullet nothing of the slave?
§2.7.112non horam tecum esse potes, non otia recte §2.7.113ponere teque ipsum vitas fugitivus et erro, §2.7.114iam vino quaerens, iam somno fallere curam, §2.7.115frustra: nam comes atra premit sequiturque fugacem. ’ §2.7.116‘unde mihi lapidem?’ ‘quorsum est opus?’ ‘unde sagittas?’ §2.7.117‘aut insanit homo aut versus facit. ’ ‘ocius hinc te §2.7.118ni rapis, accedes opera agro nona Sabino. ’
Add that you cannot bear to be with yourself for an hour, nor employ your leisure aright, and you avoid yourself, a fugitive and a vagrant, seeking now with wine, now with sleep, to elude your care— in vain, for the dark companion presses upon you and pursues you as you flee." "Where can I find a stone?" "What is the need of it?" "Where can I find arrows?" "The man is either mad or making verses." "If you do not pack yourself off quickly from here, you shall go as the ninth laborer to my Sabine farm."

Notes

  1. §2.7.61contractum genibus tangas caput — The present subjunctive `tangas` is used in a questioning exclamation ("would you touch...?"). `contractum` agrees with `caput`, and `genibus` is an ablative of instrument/manner ("touching your knees").
  2. §2.7.63peccatve superne — `peccat superne` literally means "sins from above", referring either to the passive role of the woman in sexual matters or to her not taking the active, superior role of a seducer.
  3. §2.7.75tot tantisque minor — `minor` is a comparative adjective meaning "inferior to" or "subject to", taking the ablative `imperiis` with its genitives `rerum... hominumque` and modifying adjectives `tot tantisque`.
  4. §2.7.86teres atque rotundus — A famous metaphor for the self-sufficiency of the Stoic sage. `teres atque rotundus` (smooth and round) describes a sphere on whose surface no external obstacle or misfortune can find a hold.
  5. §2.7.101subtilis veterum iudex et callidus audis — `audis` is used here in the Greek sense (like κλύειν/ἀκούειν) meaning "to be called" or "to have the reputation of being".
  6. §2.7.118opera agro nona Sabino — `opera` is a nominative singular meaning "worker/laborer" in apposition to the subject. Horace's Sabine estate was managed by eight slave laborers, making the threat of sending Davus as the "ninth laborer" an exile to hard agricultural labor.

Cite this passage

Horace, Satires §2.7.61-2.7.118. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:latinLit:phi0893.phi004.humanitext-lat2:2.7.61-2.7.118

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