had favored him, and if the secure old age of the prince had been caught off guard, at this very hour they would call Sejanus Augustus.
§10.77Augustum, iam pridem, ex quo suffragia nulli §10.78vendimus, effudit curas; nam qui dabat olim §10.79imperium fasces legiones omnia, nunc se §10.80continet atque duas tantum res anxius optat, §10.81panem et circenses.
Long ago, ever since we sold our votes to no one, the public has cast away its cares; for that which once gave command, fasces, legions, everything, now restrains itself and anxiously desires only two things: bread and circuses.
Perituros audio multos. §10.82nil dubium, magna est fornacula. ‘pallidulus mi §10.83Bruttidius meus ad Martis fuit obvius aram; §10.84quam timeo, victus ne poenas exigat Aiax, §10.85ut male defensus. ’ ‘curramus praecipites et §10.86dum iacet in ripa, calcemus Caesaris hostem. ’ §10.87‘sed videant servi, ne quis neget et pavidum in ius §10.88cervice obstricta dominum trahat. ’ Hi sermones §10.89tunc de Seiano, secreta haec murmura vulgi,
"I hear many are to perish." "No doubt; the furnace is large." "My pale friend Bruttidius met me at the altar of Mars; how I fear lest the defeated Ajax exact punishment, as having been poorly defended." "Let us run headlong and, while he lies on the bank, let us trample on Caesar's enemy." "But let our slaves see, lest anyone deny it and drag his trembling master to court with a bound neck." These were the conversations then about Sejanus, these were the secret murmurs of the crowd.
§10.90visne salutari sicut Seianus, habere §10.91tantundem, atque illi summas donare curules, §10.92illum exercitibus praeponere, tutor haberi §10.93principis angusta Caprearum in rupe sedentis §10.94cum grege Chaldaeo? vis certe pila cohortes
Would you like to be greeted as Sejanus was, to have as much wealth, and to bestow on one the highest curule chairs, to put another in charge of armies, and to be regarded as the guardian of the prince sitting on the narrow rock of Capreae with his Chaldean herd?
§10.95egregios equites et castra domestica; quidni
You certainly want javelins, cohorts, illustrious knights, and domestic camps; why should you not desire these?
§10.96haec cupias? et qui nolunt occidere quemquam, §10.97posse volunt, sed quae praeclara et prospera tanti,
Even those who do not wish to kill anyone wish to have the power to do so.
§10.98ut rebus laetis par sit mensura malorum?
But what illustrious and prosperous things are of such value, that the measure of evils is equal to happy things?
§10.99huius qui trahitur praetextam sumere mavis, §10.100an Fidenarum Gabiorumque esse potestas §10.101et de mensura ius dicere, vasa minora §10.102frangere pannosus vacuis aedilis Vlubris?
Would you rather take up the bordered toga of this man who is being dragged along, or be the authority of Fidenae or Gabii, and pronounce judgment on measure, and break smaller vessels as a ragged aedilis in empty Ulubrae?
§10.103ergo quid optandum foret ignorasse fateris §10.104Seianum; nam qui nimios optabat honores §10.105et nimias poscebat opes, numerosa parabat §10.106excelsae turris tabulata, unde altior esset §10.107casus et inpulsae praeceps inmane ruinae.
Therefore, you will confess that Sejanus was ignorant of what should have been wished for; for he who desired excessive honors and demanded excessive wealth was preparing numerous stories of a lofty tower, whence his fall would be higher and the headlong ruin of the pushed tower would be immense.
§10.108quid Crassos, quid Pompeios evertit et illum, §10.109ad sua qui domitos deduxit flagra Quirites?
What overturned the Crassi, what the Pompeys, and him who brought back the subdued Quirites to his own whips?
To be sure, it was the highest place sought by every art, and great vows heard by malignant deities.
§10.112ad generum Cereris sine caede ac vulnere pauci §10.113descendunt reges et sicca morte tyranni.
Few kings descend to the son-in-law of Ceres without slaughter and wound, and tyrants rarely die a bloodless death.
§10.114Eloquium ac famam Demosthenis aut Ciceronis §10.115incipit optare et totis quinquatribus optat §10.116quisquis adhuc uno parcam colit asse Minervam, §10.117quem sequitur custos augustae vernula capsae.
The eloquence and fame of Demosthenes or Cicero begins to be wished for, and during the whole Quinquatrus every boy prays, whoever still worships a frugal Minerva with a single as, whom a little slave-boy, keeper of his narrow book-box, follows.
§10.118eloquio sed uterque perit orator, utrumque §10.119largus et exundans leto dedit ingenii fons.
But each orator perished by his eloquence; each was sent to death by a generous and overflowing fountain of talent.
§10.120ingenio manus est et cervix caesa, nec umquam §10.121sanguine causidici maduerunt rostra pusilli.
By talent, the hand and neck were cut off; and never have the rostra been wet with the blood of a petty advocate.
§10.122o fortunatam natam me consule Romam
: §10.123Antoni gladios potuit contemnere, si sic §10.124omnia dixisset, videnda poemata malo
"O fortunate Rome, born when I was consul!" If he had spoken all things thus, he could have despised Antonius's swords.
§10.125quam te, conspicuae divina Philippica famae, §10.126volvens a prima quae proxima, saevus et illum §10.127exitus eripuit, quem mirabantur Athenae §10.128torrentem et pleni moderantem frena theatri.
I prefer to read your verses, divine Philippic of conspicuous fame, rolling the next after the first, than you; and a cruel end snatched away him also, whom Athens used to admire as he rushed like a torrent and held the reins of the crowded theater.
§10.129dis ille adversis genitus fatoque sinistro, §10.130quem pater ardentis massae fuligine lippus §10.131a carbone et forcipibus gladiosque paranti §10.132incude et luteo Vulcano ad rhetora misit.
Born with adverse gods and a sinister fate, whom his father, blear-eyed with the soot of the glowing mass, sent to the rhetorician from coal, pincers, the anvil that prepares swords, and a dirty Vulcan.
§10.133Bellorum exuviae, truncis adfixa tropaeis §10.134lorica et fracta de casside buccula pendens §10.135et curtum temone iugum victaeque triremis §10.136aplustre et summo tristis captivus in arcu §10.137humanis maiora bonis creduntur.
The spoils of war, a breastplate fixed to truncated trophies, a cheek-piece hanging from a broken helmet, a yoke short of its pole, the stern-ornament of a conquered trireme, and a sad captive on top of an arch, are believed to be greater than human goods.
ad hoc se §10.138Romanus Graiusque et barbarus induperator §10.139erexit, causas discriminis atque laboris §10.140inde habuit;
To this the Roman, the Greek, and the barbarian commander have aroused themselves; from this they have had the causes of danger and toil.
tanto maior famae sitis est quam §10.141virtutis, quis enim virtutem amplectitur ipsam,
So much greater is the thirst for fame than for virtue; for who embraces virtue itself, if you take away the rewards?
§10.142praemia si tollas? patriam tamen obruit olim §10.143gloria paucorum et laudis titulique cupido §10.144haesuri saxis cinerum custodibus, ad quae §10.145discutienda valent sterilis mala robora fici, §10.146quandoquidem data sunt ipsis quoque fata sepulcris.
Yet the glory of a few has sometimes overwhelmed their country, and the desire for praise and a title that will cling to the stones that guard their ashes, which the harsh strength of the barren fig tree is able to shatter, since fates are given to tombs themselves also.
§10.147Expende Hannibalem; quot libras in duce summo
Weigh Hannibal; how many pounds will you find in that greatest general?
§10.148invenies? hic est, quem non capit Africa Mauro
This is he, whom Africa, washed