§8.1Stemmata quid faciunt? quid prodest, Pontice, longo §8.2sanguine censeri, pictos ostendere vultus §8.3maiorum et stantis in curribus Aemilianos §8.4et Curios iam dimidios umerosque minorem §8.5Corvinum et Galbam auriculis nasoque carentem?
What do pedigree charts do? What does it profit, Ponticus, to be rated by a long lineage, to show the painted faces of ancestors, and the Aemiliani standing in chariots, and the Curii now half-ruined, and Corvinus short of shoulders, and Galba lacking ears and nose?
§8.6quis fructus generis tabula iactare capaci §8.7Corvinum, posthac multa contingere virga §8.8fumosos equitum cum dictatore magistros, §8.9si coram Lepidis male vivitur? effigies quo
What is the fruit of boasting of Corvinus on a spacious family tree, and of tracing back to smoky masters of the horse together with a dictator along many a genealogical line, if one lives wickedly in front of the Lepidi?
§8.10tot bellatorum, si luditur alea pernox §8.11ante Numantinos, si dormire incipis ortu §8.12Luciferi, quo signa duces et castra movebant?
To what purpose is the image of so many warriors, if the dice are played all night long before the Numantini, if you begin to sleep at the rising of Lucifer, when the generals used to move their standards and camps?
§8.13cur Allobrogicis et magna gaudeat ara §8.14natus in Herculeo Fabius lare, si cupidus, si §8.15vanus et Euganea quantumvis mollior agna, §8.16si tenerum attritus Catinensi pumice lumbum §8.17squalentis traducit avos, emptorque veneni §8.18frangenda miseram funestat imagine gentem?
Why should Fabius, born in the Herculean hearth, rejoice in his Allobrogian title and the Great Altar, if he is greedy, if he is vain and softer than any Euganean lamb, if, having smoothed his tender loin with Catinian pumice, he exposes his rugged ancestors to ridicule, and, as a buyer of poison, defiles his wretched clan with an image that ought to be broken?
Though ancient waxen images adorn the halls everywhere, virtue is the sole and unique nobility.
§8.21Paulus vel Cossus vel Drusus moribus esto, §8.22hos ante effigies maiorum pone tuorum, §8.23praecedant ipsas illi te consule virgas.
Be a Paulus, or a Cossus, or a Drusus in character; place these before the images of your ancestors; let them precede the very fasces themselves when you are consul.
§8.24prima mihi debes animi bona.
You owe me first the good qualities of the mind.
sanctus haberi §8.25iustitiaeque tenax factis dictisque mereris?
Do you deserve to be held sacred and tenacious of justice in deeds and words?
§8.26agnosco procerem: salve Gaetulice, seu tu §8.27Silanus, quocumque alio de sanguine rarus §8.28civis et egregius patriae contingis ovanti, §8.29exclamare libet, populus quod clamat Osiri §8.30invento.
I recognize the nobleman: hail, Gaetulicus, or you, Silanus, or from whatever other blood, a rare citizen and excellent, you fall to the lot of your rejoicing country, one feels like crying out what the people shout when Osiris is found.
quis enim generosum dixerit hunc qui §8.31indignus genere et praeclaro nomine tantum
For who would call him noble who is unworthy of his race and distinguished only by an illustrious name?
§8.32insignis? nanum cuiusdam Atlanta vocamus, §8.33Aethiopem Cycnum, pravam extortamque puellam §8.34Europen; canibus pigris scabieque vetusta §8.35levibus et siccae lambentibus ora lucernae §8.36nomen erit pardus tigris leo, si quid adhuc est §8.37quod fremat in terris violentius; ergo cavebis §8.38et metues ne tu sic Creticus aut Camerinus.
We call a certain person's dwarf "Atlas," an Ethiopian "Swan," a crooked and twisted girl "Europa"; to lazy dogs, bald from old mange, and licking the mouth of a dry lamp, the name will be Leopard, Tiger, Lion, if there is anything else that roars more violently on earth; therefore you will be careful and fear lest you be called a Creticus or Camerinus in this way.
§8.39His ego quem monui? tecum est mihi sermo, Rubelli
Whom have I warned with these words?
§8.40Blande, tumes alto Drusorum stemmate, tamquam §8.41feceris ipse aliquid propter quod nobilis esses, §8.42ut te conciperet quae sanguine fulget Iuli, §8.43non quae ventoso conducta sub aggere texit,
My talk is with you, Rubellius Blandus; you swell with the high pedigree of the Drusi, as if you yourself had done something for which you should be noble, so that she who shines with the blood of Iulus should conceive you, and not she who wove, hired under the windy mound.
§8.44vos humiles,
inquis, ‘volgi pars ultima nostri, §8.45quorum nemo queat patriam monstrare parentis; §8.46ast ego Cecropides. ’ vivas et originis huius §8.47gaudia longa feras, tamen ima plebe Quiritem §8.48facundum invenies: solet hic defendere causas §8.49nobilis indocti; veniet de plebe togata §8.50qui iuris nodos et legum aenigmata solvat; §8.51hinc petit Euphraten iuvenis domitique Batavi §8.52custodes aquilas, armis industrius.
"You low-born people," you say, "the very dregs of our populace, none of whom could show his father's homeland; but I am a descendant of Cecrops." May you live and bring long joys from this origin; yet among the lowest plebeians you will find an eloquent Roman: he is accustomed to defend the causes of an unlearned nobleman; from the gowned crowd of the commons will come one who can untie the knots of law and solve the riddles of statutes; from here, the youth active in arms seeks the Euphrates and the eagles guarding the conquered Batavi.
at tu §8.53nil nisi Cecropides, truncoque simillimus Hermae: §8.54nullo quippe alio vineis discrimine quam quod §8.55illi marmoreum caput est, tua vivit imago.
But you are nothing but a Cecropid, most like a headless Herm: for indeed by no other difference do you excel than that his head is of marble, while your image is alive.
Tell me, offspring of Trojans: who thinks dumb animals are noble unless they are strong?
§8.58sic laudamus equum, facili cui plurima palma §8.59fervet et exultat rauco victoria circo; §8.60nobilis hic, quocumque venit de gramine, cuius §8.61clara fuga ante alios et primus in aequore pulvis, §8.62sed venale pecus Coryphaei posteritas et §8.63Hirpini, si rara iugo victoria sedit; §8.64nil ibi maiorum respectus, gratia nulla §8.65umbrarum; dominos pretiis mutare iubentur §8.66exiguis, trito ducunt epiraedia collo §8.67segnipedes dignique molam versare nepotes,
For indeed we praise the swift horse, for whom many a palm of victory is hot and victory exults in the noisy circus; he is noble, from whatever pasture he comes, whose flight is illustrious before others and whose dust is first on the track, but the offspring of Coryphaeus and Hirpinus become a saleable herd if rare victory has sat on their yoke; there is no respect for ancestors there, no favor for shades; they are ordered to change masters for petty prices, and they draw carts with chafed necks, slow-footed descendants worthy of turning the millstone.