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Horace · Epistles §1.12.1-1.12.29

Letter to Iccius: Contentment with Wealth and Philosophy

Passage 13 of 29 · Latin

Summary

The poet advises Iccius to be content with his present wealth and continue his philosophical studies, while encouraging him to welcome Grosphus as a friend and reporting Rome's recent military and diplomatic victories.

§1.12.1Fructibus Agrippae Siculis, quos colligis, Ieci, §1.12.2si recte frueris, non est ut copia maior §1.12.3ab Iove donari possit tibi.
If you make a right use of Agrippa's Sicilian revenues, which you collect, Iccius, there is no way that a greater abundance can be granted to you by Jove.
tolle querellas: §1.12.4pauper enim non est, cui rerum suppetit usus,
Put away complaints: for he is not poor, who has the sufficient use of things.
§1.12.5si ventri bene, si lateri est pedibusque tuis, nil §1.12.6divitiae poterunt regales addere maius.
If it is well with your belly, with your side, and with your feet, royal riches will be able to add nothing greater.
§1.12.7si forte in medio positorum abstemius herbis §1.12.8vivis et urtica, sic vives protinus, ut te §1.12.9confestim liquidus Fortunae rivus inauret, §1.12.10vel quia naturam mutare pecunia nescit, §1.12.11vel quia cuncta putas una virtute minora.
If by chance, abstemious in the midst of things set before you, you live on herbs and nettles, you will go on living just so, even though the clear stream of Fortune should suddenly gild you with gold, either because money cannot change nature, or because you consider all things inferior to virtue alone.
§1.12.12Miramur, si Democriti pecus edit agellos §1.12.13cultaque, dum peregre est animus sine corpore velox; §1.12.14cum tu inter scabiem tantam et contagia lucri §1.12.15nil parvum sapias et adhuc sublimia cures: §1.12.16quae mare compescant causae, quid temperet annum, §1.12.17stellae sponte sua iussaene vagentur et errent, §1.12.18quid premat obscurum lunae, quid proferat orbem, §1.12.19quid velit et possit rerum concordia discors, §1.12.20Empedocles an Stertinium deliret acumen.
Are we to wonder if Democritus's cattle eat his little fields and crops, while his swift mind is abroad without his body, when you, amid such an itch and contagion of gain, taste of nothing small, and still care for sublime things: what causes control the sea, what regulates the year, whether stars wander and stray of their own accord or by command, what hides the dark orb of the moon, what brings it forth, what the discordant harmony of things wills and can do, whether Empedocles or the genius of Stertinius is raving?
§1.12.21Verum seu piscis seu porrum et caepe trucidas, §1.12.22utere Pompeio Grospho et, si quid petet, ultro §1.12.23defer; nil Grosphus nisi verum orabit et aequum,
But whether you slaughter fish or leeks and onions, make use of Pompeius Grosphus, and if he asks for anything, willingly grant it; Grosphus will ask for nothing but what is right and fair.
§1.12.24vilis amicorum est annona, bonis ubi quid deest.
The market price of friends is cheap when good men lack anything.
§1.12.25Ne tamen ignores, quo sit Romana loco res, §1.12.26Cantaber Agrippae, Claudi virtute Neronis §1.12.27Armenius cecidit; ius imperiumque Phraates §1.12.28Caesaris accepit genibus minor; aurea fruges §1.12.29Italiae pleno defudit Copia cornu.
Yet, lest you be ignorant of the state of Roman affairs: the Cantabrian has fallen by the valor of Agrippa, the Armenian by that of Claudius Nero; Phraates, on bended knees, has accepted the law and empire of Caesar; golden Plenty has poured forth her crops from her full horn upon Italy.

Notes

  1. 1.12.2non est ut — The phrase 'non est ut' followed by the subjunctive (possit) is an impersonal construction meaning 'it is not possible that' or 'there is no way that.'
  2. 1.12.5si ventri bene — The idiom 'bene est' + dative (ventri, lateri, pedibus) means 'it is well with...' Here, the verb 'est' is omitted after 'ventri' and supplied by 'est' after 'lateri'.
  3. 1.12.8ut — Within the correlative structure 'sic... ut', the conjunction 'ut' introduces a concessive clause ('even though', 'although') with the subjunctive 'inauret'.
  4. 1.12.14cum — The conjunction 'cum' is used here in an adversative or concessive sense ('while', 'whereas'), governing the subjunctives sapias and cures, contrasting Democritus's detachment with Iccius's ability to maintain lofty interests in the very midst of worldly pursuits.
  5. 1.12.24vilis amicorum est annona — The word 'annona' (properly the price of corn or market value) is used metaphorically. It literally means 'the market price of friends is cheap when good men lack something,' implying that lasting friendship can be easily (and cheaply) acquired by helping them.

Cite this passage

Horace, Epistles §1.12.1-1.12.29. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:latinLit:phi0893.phi005.humanitext-lat2:1.12.1-1.12.29

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