§10.149percussa oceano Niloque admota tepenti, §10.150rursus ad Aethiopum populos aliosque elephantos!
beaten by the ocean and bordering on the warm Nile, and extending back to the peoples of the Ethiopians and other elephants!
§10.151additur imperiis Hispania, Pyrenaeum §10.152transilit; opposuit natura Alpemque nivemque: §10.153diducit scopulos et montem rumpit aceto,
Spain is added to his empires, he leaps over the Pyrenees; nature opposed both Alps and snow: he cleaves the rocks and bursts the mountain with vinegar.
§10.154iam tenet Italiam, tamen ultra pergere tendit: §10.155acti,
inquit, ‘nihil est, nisi Poeno milite portas §10.156frangimus et media vexillum pono Subura. ’ §10.157o qualis facies et quali digna tabella, §10.158cum Gaetula ducem portaret belua luscum!
Now he holds Italy, yet he strives to go further: he says, "Nothing is done, unless we break the gates with Carthaginian soldiers and I place my banner in the middle of Subura." Oh, what a face, and what a picture it would have been worthy of, when the Gaetulian beast carried the one-eyed commander!
§10.159exitus ergo quis est? o gloria, vincitur idem §10.160nempe et in exilium praeceps fugit atque ibi magnus §10.161mirandusque cliens sedet ad praetoria regis, §10.162donec Bithyno libeat vigilare tyranno,
What then is his end? Oh glory! This same man is indeed conquered and flees headlong into exile, and there, a great and wondrous client, he sits at the palace of the king, until it pleases the Bithynian tyrant to wake up.
§10.163finem animae, quae res humanas miscuit olim, §10.164non gladii, non saxa dabunt nec tela, sed ille §10.165Cannarum vindex et tanti sanguinis ultor
No swords, no stones, no spears will bring the end of that life which once threw human affairs into confusion, but that avenger of Cannae and punisher of so much blood, a single ring.
Go, madman, and run through the cruel Alps, that you may please schoolboys and become a topic of declamation!
§10.168Unus Pellaeo iuveni non sufficit orbis; §10.169aestuat infelix angusto limite mundi §10.170ut Gyarae clausus scopulis parvaque Seripho; §10.171cum tamen a figulis munitam intraverit urbem, §10.172sarcophago contentus erit.
One world does not suffice for the young man of Pella; unhappy, he chafes within the narrow limit of the universe as if shut up on the rocks of Gyara or small Seriphos; yet when he has entered the city fortified by brickmakers, he will be content with a sarcophagus.
mors sola fatetur §10.173quantula sint hominum corpuscula.
Death alone confesses how very small the little bodies of men are.
creditur olim §10.174velificatus Athos et quidquid Graecia mendax §10.175audet in historia, constratum classibus isdem §10.176suppositumque rotis solidum mare, credimus altos §10.177defecisse amnes epotaque flumina Medo §10.178prandente et madidis cantat quae Sostratus alis;
It was once believed that Athos was sailed through, and whatever else lying Greece dares in history; that the solid sea was paved by those same fleets and laid under chariot wheels; we believe that deep rivers failed and streams were drunk dry by the Mede while dining, and all things that Sostratus sings with wet wings.
§10.179ille tamen qualis rediit Salamine relicta, §10.180in Corum atque Eurum solitus saevire flagellis §10.181barbarus Aeolio numquam hoc in carcere passos, §10.182ipsum conpedibus qui vinxerat Ennosigaeum:
But how did that barbarian return after leaving Salamis, who was accustomed to rage with whips against the North-west and South-east winds which never suffered such treatment in their Aeolian cave, he who had bound the Earth-shaker himself with fetters?
§10.183mitius id sane, quod non et stigmate dignum §10.184credidit; huic quisquam vellet servire deorum?
That indeed was rather merciful, since he did not also believe him worthy of a brand; would any of the gods wish to serve him?
§10.185sed qualis rediit? nempe una nave, cruentis §10.186fluctibus ac tarda per densa cadavera prora,
But how did he return? Truly, with a single ship, through bloody waves and with a slow prow through dense corpses.
§10.187has totiens optata exegit gloria poenas.
This is the punishment that glory, so often wished for, exacted.
§10.188Da spatium vitae, multos da, Iuppiter, annos
: §10.189hoc recto vultu, solum hoc, et pallidus optas, §10.190sed quam continuis et quantis longa senectus
"Grant a space of life, grant many years, O Jupiter!" This you wish for with a healthy face, this only, and when pale; but how continuous and how great are the evils with which a long old age is filled!
§10.191plena malis! deformem et taetrum ante omnia vultum §10.192dissimilemque sui, deformem pro cute pellem §10.193pendentisque genas et talis aspice rugas §10.194quales, umbriferos ubi pandit Thabraca saltus, §10.195in vetula scalpit iam mater simia bucca.
First of all, a face deformed and hideous, unlike itself, a hideous hide instead of skin and sagging cheeks, and look at such wrinkles as a mother ape scratches on her old cheek where shady Thabraca spreads its glades.
§10.196plurima sunt iuvenum discrimina; pulchrior ille §10.197hoc atque ille alio, multum hic robustior illo: §10.198una senum facies, cum voce trementia membra §10.199et iam leve caput madidique infantia nasi, §10.200frangendus misero gingiva panis inermi;
There are many differences among the young; one is more beautiful than this one, and that one than another, this one is much more robust than that; but the face of old men is one and the same: limbs trembling with their voice, a head already bald, and the second childhood of a runny nose; bread must be broken by the wretched man with toothless gums.
He is so heavy to his wife, his children, and himself, that he would move disgust even in the legacy-hunter Cossus.
§10.203non eadem vini atque cibi torpente palato §10.204gaudia, nam coitus iam longa oblivio, vel si §10.205coneris, iacet exiguus cum ramice nervus §10.206et quamvis tota palpetur nocte, iacebit.
With a numbed palate, the pleasures of wine and food are no longer the same; for sexual union is now a long-forgotten thing, or if you try, the tiny organ lies flat with its hernia, and though it be fondled all night long, it will lie flat.
§10.207anne aliquid sperare potest haec inguinis aegri
Can this grayness of an ailing groin hope for anything?
§10.208canities? quid quod merito suspecta libido est §10.209quae venerem adfectat sine viribus? Aspice partis §10.210nunc damnum alterius, nam quae cantante voluptas, §10.211sit licet eximius, citharoedo sive Seleuco §10.212et quibus aurata mos est fulgere lacerna?
What of the fact that a lust is deservedly suspect which affects desire without strength? Now behold the loss of another part; for what pleasure is there in a singer, even if he be outstanding, or a citharist, or Seleucus, and those whose custom it is to shine in a gilded cloak?
What does it matter in which part of the vast theater he sits, who can scarcely hear the horn-blowers and the trumpet concerts?
§10.215concentus? clamore opus est, ut sentiat auris §10.216quem dicat venisse puer, quot nuntiet horas.
There is need of a shout for the ear to perceive whom his slave says has come, or how many hours he announces.
§10.217Praeterea minimus gelido iam in corpore sanguis §10.218febre calet sola, circumsilit agmine facto §10.219morborum omne genus, quorum si nomina quaeras, §10.220promptius expediam quot amaverit Oppia moechos, §10.221quot Themison aegros autumno occident uno,
Moreover, the very little blood now in his cold body is warmed only by fever; all kinds of diseases dance around in a formed troop; if you should ask their names, I could more quickly set forth how many adulterers Oppia loved, how many sick people Themison killed in a single autumn.