§10.1omnibus in terris, quae sunt a Gadibus usque §10.2Auroram et Gangen, pauci dinoscere possunt §10.3vera bona atque illis multum diversa, remota §10.4erroris nebula, quid enim ratione timemus
In all the lands which stretch from Gades even to the Dawn and the Ganges, few are able to distinguish true goods and those things widely different and far removed from them, once the mist of error is removed.
§10.5aut cupimus? quid tam dextro pede, concipis, ut te §10.6conatus non paeniteat votique peracti? §10.7evertere domos totas optantibus ipsis §10.8di faciles, nocitura toga, nocitura petuntur §10.9militia;
For what do we fear or desire with reason? What do you conceive under such a lucky omen that you do not regret your attempt and your accomplished vow? Compliant gods have overturned whole houses at the desire of their owners themselves; things that will harm are sought in peaceful life, and things that will harm in military service.
torrens dicendi copia multis §10.10et sua mortifera est facundia, viribus ille §10.11confisus periit admirandisque lacertis, §10.12sed plures nimia congesta pecunia cura §10.13strangulat et cuncta exuperans patrimonia census §10.14quanto delphinis ballaena Britannica maior, §10.15temporibus diris igitur iussuque Neronis §10.16Longinum et magnos Senecae praedivitis hortos §10.17clausit et egregias Lateranorum obsidet aedes §10.18tota cohors: rarus venit in cenacula miles. §10.19pauca licet portes argenti vascula puri §10.20nocte iter ingressus, gladium centumque timebis §10.21et motae ad lunam trepidans harundinis umbram §10.22cantabit vacuus coram latrone viator. §10.23Prima fere vota et cunctis notissima templis §10.24divitiae, crescant ut opes, ut maxima toto §10.25nostra sit arca foro.
A rushing torrent of speech is to many their own deadly eloquence; that man, trusting in his strength and his wonderful arms, perished. But more are strangled by money amassed with too much care, and by a fortune which surpasses all patrimonies by as much as a British whale is larger than dolphins. Therefore, in those dire times and by Nero's command, a whole cohort shut up Longinus, besieged the great gardens of the ultra-wealthy Seneca, and surrounded the splendid mansion of the Laterani; rarely does a soldier come into a garret. Though you carry but a few small vessels of pure silver when you set out on a journey by night, you will fear the sword and the pole, and tremble at the shadow of a reed shaking in the moonlight; the empty traveler will sing in the face of the robber. Almost the first of prayers, and the most well known in all the temples, is for riches; that our wealth may increase, and that our money-chest may be the largest in the whole forum.
sed nulla aconita bibuntur §10.26fictilibus: tunc illa time, cum pocula sumes §10.27geminata et lato Setinum ardebit in auro. §10.28iamne igitur laudas quod de sapientibus alter §10.29ridebat, quotiens de limine moverat unum §10.30protuleratque pedem, flebat contrarius auctor? §10.31sed facilis cuivis rigidi censura cachinni: §10.32mirandum est unde ille oculis suffecerit umor. §10.33perpetuo risu pulmonem agitare solebat §10.34Democritus, quamquam non essent urbibus illis §10.35praetextae trabeae fasces lectica tribunal; §10.36quid si vidisset praetorem curribus altis §10.37extantem et medii sublimem pulvere circi §10.38in tunica Iovis et pictae Sarrana ferentem §10.39ex umeris aulaea togae magnaeque coronae §10.40tantum orbem, quanto cervix non sufficit ulla? §10.41quippe tenet sudans hanc publicus et, sibi consul §10.42ne placeat, curru servus portatur eodem, §10.43da nunc et volucrem, sceptro quae surgit eburno, §10.44illinc cornicines, hinc praecedentia longi §10.45agminis officia et niveos ad frena Quirites, §10.46defossa in loculos quos sportula fecit amicos, §10.47tunc quoque materiam risus invenit ad omnis §10.48occursus hominum, cuius prudentia monstrat §10.49summos posse viros et magna exempla daturos §10.50vervecum in patria crassoque sub aere nasci. §10.51ridebat curas nec non et gaudia vulgi, §10.52interdum et lacrimas, cum Fortunae ipse minaci §10.53mandaret laqueum mediumque ostenderet unguem. §10.54Ergo supervacua aut quae perniciosa petuntur §10.55propter quae fas est genua incerare deorum! §10.56quosdam praecipiat subiecta potentia magnae §10.57invidiae, mergit longa atque insignis honorum §10.58pagina, descendunt statuae restemque sequuntur, §10.59ipsas deinde rotas bigarum inpacta securis §10.60caedit et inmeritis franguntur crura caballis; §10.61iam strident ignes, iam follibus atque caminis §10.62ardet adoratum populo caput et crepat ingens §10.63Seianus, deinde ex facie toto orbe secunda §10.64fiunt urceoli pelves sartago matellae. §10.65pone domi laurus, duc in Capitolia magnum
But no aconite is drunk from earthenware; fear that when you take up cups studded with gems and the Setine wine glows in broad gold. Do you now therefore approve of the fact that, of the wise men, one used to laugh as often as he moved his foot and advanced one step from his threshold, while the opposing author wept? But the criticism of a harsh laugh is easy for anyone; the wonder is whence that moisture sufficed for the eyes of the other. Democritus used to shake his lungs with continuous laughter, although there were not in those cities the bordered togas, the state robes, the fasces, the litter, the tribunal. What if he had seen the praetor standing high in his lofty chariot and sublime in the dust of the middle of the Circus, wearing the tunic of Jupiter and carrying from his shoulders the Tyrian tapestry of an embroidered toga, and a massive crown of so great a circle that no neck is sufficient for it? For a sweating public slave holds this crown, and, lest the consul should please himself, a slave is carried in the very same chariot; add now the bird which rises on the ivory scepter, there the horn-blowers, here the preceding duties of a long procession, and the Quirites clad in snow-white at the reins, whom the dole buried deep in their purses has made his friends. Even then he found material for laughter at every meeting of men; his wisdom shows that the greatest men, destined to give grand examples, can be born in the home country of blockheads and under a heavy atmosphere. He used to laugh at the cares and also the joys of the mob, and sometimes their tears, while to threatening Fortune he himself would bid a halter and show her his middle finger. Therefore, the things we petition for, for which it is lawful to wax the knees of the gods, are either superfluous or ruinous! Some are cast down headlong by power subjected to great envy; a long and illustrious list of honors sinks them; down come their statues and follow the rope; then the driven axe chops the very wheels of the chariots and the legs of the innocent horses are broken. Now the fires hiss, now with bellows and furnaces glows that head once adored by the people, and the great Seianus crackles; then, from that face second in the whole world, are made water-pitchers, basins, a frying-pan, and chamber-pots. Hang up laurels at your house, lead to the Capitol a great and white-chalked bull!
§10.66cretatumque bovem! Seianus ducitur unco §10.67spectandus, gaudent omnes: ‘quae labra, quis illi
Seianus is dragged by a hook, a spectacle for all; everyone rejoices: "What lips he had, what a countenance!
§10.68vultus erat! numquam, si quid mihi credis, amavi
Believe me, I never loved this man.
§10.69hunc hominem, sed quo cecidit sub crimine? quisnam
But under what charge did he fall?
§10.70delator? quibus indicibus, quo teste probavit?’
Who was the informer?