§11.69asparagi, posito quos legit vilica fuso; §11.70grandia praeterea tortoque calentia faeno §11.71ova adsunt ipsis cum matribus, et servatae §11.72parte anni quales fuerant in vitibus uvae, §11.73Signinum Syriumque pirum, de corbibus isdem §11.74aemula Picenis et odoris mala recentis §11.75nec metuenda tibi, siccatum frigore postquam §11.76autumnum et crudi posuere pericula suci.
wild asparagus, which the bailiff’s wife gathered, having laid down her spindle; moreover, large eggs, warm from the twisted hay, are present together with the hens themselves that laid them, and grapes preserved for a part of the year, just as they had been on the vines, Signian and Syrian pears, and from the same baskets apples competing with those of Picenum and of fresh odor, not to be feared by you, after the cold has dried the autumn moisture and they have laid aside the dangers of their raw juice.
§11.77Haec olim nostri iam luxuriosa senatus §11.78cena fuit; Curius parvo quae legerat horto §11.79ipse focis brevibus ponebat holuscula, quae nunc §11.80squalidus in magna fastidit compede fossor, §11.81qui meminit calidae sapiat quid vulva popinae.
This was once the already luxurious dinner of our senate; Curius himself would place on his small hearth the small herbs which he had gathered in his little garden, which now a dirty digger in a great fetter disdains, who remembers what the sow’s womb of a warm cookshop tastes like.
§11.82sicci terga suis rara pendentia crate §11.83moris erat quondam festis servare diebus §11.84et natalicium cognatis ponere lardum §11.85accedente nova, si quam dabat hostia, carne.
It was once the custom on festive days to keep the back of a dried pig hanging from a wide rack, and to set before kinsmen the birthday bacon, with fresh meat added, if a victim provided any.
§11.86cognatorum aliquis titulo ter consulis atque §11.87castrorum imperiis et dictatoris honore §11.88functus ad has epulas solito maturius ibat, §11.89erectum domito referens a monte ligonem.
Some one of the kinsmen, who had performed the title of thrice consul, and the commands of the camps, and the honor of dictator, would go to these feasts earlier than usual, carrying back his spade from the subdued mountain.
§11.90cum tremerent autem Fabios durumque Catonem §11.91et Scauros et Fabricium, rigidique severos §11.92censoris mores etiam collega timeret, §11.93nemo inter curas et seria duxit habendum, §11.94qualis in Oceani fluctu testudo nataret, §11.95clarum Troiugenis factura et nobile fulcrum; §11.96sed nudo latere et parvis frons aerea lectis §11.97vile coronati caput ostendebat aselli, §11.98ad quod lascivi ludebant ruris alumni: §11.99tales ergo cibi, qualis domus atque supellex.
Moreover, when they trembled at the Fabii and the harsh Cato and the Scauri and Fabricius, and when even a colleague feared the severe morals of a rigid censor, no one thought that among his cares and serious concerns it should be held, what kind of tortoise was swimming in the wave of the Ocean, destined to make a splendid and noble couch-leg for the descendants of Troy; but on small couches with bare sides, a bronze front showed the cheap head of a garlanded little ass, at which the playful children of the countryside used to sport: such therefore were the foods, as were the house and the furniture.
§11.100Tunc rudis et Graias mirari nescius artes §11.101urbibus eversis praedarum in parte reperta §11.102magnorum artificum frangebat pocula miles, §11.103ut phaleris gauderet equus caelataque cassis §11.104Romuleae simulacra ferae mansuescere iussae §11.105imperii fato, geminos sub rupe Quirinos, §11.106ac nudam effigiem clipeo venientis et hasta §11.107pendentisque dei perituro ostenderet hosti,
Then the soldier, rude and not knowing how to admire Greek arts, when cities were overthrown, in his found share of the spoils, would break the cups of great artists, so that his horse might rejoice in horse-trappings, and his engraved helmet might show to the doomed enemy the images of the Romulean wild beast ordered to grow tame by the fate of the empire, the twin Quirini under the rock, and the naked effigy of the god coming with shield and spear and hanging in the air.
§11.108ponebant igitur Tusco farrata catino: §11.109argenti quod erat, solis fulgebat in armis, §11.110omnia tunc, quibus invideas si lividulus sis.
Therefore they would serve their spelt-porridge in a Tuscan dish: what silver there was, shone only in arms; everything then was such as you would envy, if you were a little jealous.
§11.111templorum quoque maiestas praesentior, et vox §11.112nocte fere media mediamque audita per urbem §11.113litore ab Oceani Gallis venientibus et dis §11.114officium vatis pergentibus, his monuit nos, §11.115hanc rebus Latiis curam praestare solebat §11.116fictilis et nullo violatus Iuppiter auro.
The majesty of the temples also was more present, and a voice heard almost in the middle of the night, and through the middle of the city, when the Gauls were coming from the shore of the Ocean and the gods were performing the duty of a prophet, warned us by these; a clay Jupiter, violated by no gold, was accustomed to afford this care to Latium’s affairs.
§11.117Illa domi natas nostraque ex arbore mensas §11.118tempora viderunt; hos lignum stabat ad usus, §11.119annosam si forte nucem deiecerat Eurus, §11.120at nunc divitibus cenandi nulla voluptas, §11.121nil rhombus, nil damma sapit, putere videntur §11.122unguenta atque rosae, latos nisi sustinet orbes §11.123grande ebur et magno sublimis pardus hiatu §11.124dentibus ex illis quos mittit porta Syenes §11.125et Mauri celeres et Mauro obscurior Indus, §11.126et quos deposuit Nabataeo belua saltu §11.127iam nimios capitique graves, hinc surgit orexis, §11.128hinc stomacho vires; nam pes argenteus illis, §11.129anulus in digito quod ferreus, ergo superbum §11.130convivam caveo, qui me sibi comparat et res §11.131despicit exiguas, adeo nulla uncia nobis §11.132est eboris, nec tessellae nec calculus ex hac §11.133materia, quin ipsa manubria cultellorum §11.134ossea. non tamen his ulla umquam obsonia fiunt §11.135rancidula aut ideo peior gallina secatur.
Those times saw tables born at home and from our own tree; the wood stood for these uses, if by chance the East wind had cast down an ancient walnut tree; but now to the rich there is no pleasure in dining, turbot and venison taste of nothing, perfumes and roses seem to stink, unless large ivory supports the broad circular tables, and a tall leopard with a wide gape, made from those tusks which the gate of Syene sends, and the swift Moors, and the Indian darker than the Moor, and those which the beast deposited in the Nabataean forest, now too numerous and heavy for its head; hence rises appetite, hence strength to the stomach; for a silver leg to them is like carrying an iron ring on the finger; therefore I avoid a proud guest who compares me to himself and despises my small circumstances; indeed, we have not a single ounce of ivory, nor are our dice nor our counter made of this material; indeed, the very handles of our knives are bone; yet by these no food ever becomes rancid, nor is a chicken cut the worse because of it.
§11.136sed nec structor erit cui cedere debeat omnis §11.137pergula, discipulus Trypheri doctoris, aput quem §11.138sumine cum magno lepus atque aper et pygargus
But neither will there be a carver to whom every school should yield, a disciple of the teacher Trypherus, at whose house a hare, a wild boar, and a gazelle, together with a large sow’s udder, are carved.