§prPost deum semper patrem colui secundamque reverentiam genitori meo debui, sequitur ergo hanc summi dei venerationem epicedion patris mei.
After God, I have always cherished my father and owed my second reverence to my parent; therefore, this veneration of the supreme God is followed by the epicedium of my father.
titulus a Graecis auctoribus defunctorum honri dicatus, non ambitiosus, sed religiosus: quem commendo lectori meo, sive is filius est seu pater sive utrumque, neque, ut laudet, exigo;
This title, dedicated by Greek authors to the honor of the deceased, is not boastful but religious; which I commend to my reader, whether he is a son or a father or both, and I do not demand that he praise it, but I ask that he love it.
set, ut amet, postulo, neque vero nunc patrem meum laudo, quod ille non eget et ego functum oblectatione viventium onerare non debeo, neque dico nisi quod agnoscunt, qui parti aetatis eius interfuerunt.
Nor indeed do I now praise my father, because he does not need it, and I ought not to burden the departed with the amusement of the living; nor do I say anything except what those who were present during a part of his life recognize.
falsum me autem morte eius obita dicere et verum tacere eiusdem piaculi existimo, imagini ipsius hi versus subscripti sunt neque minus in opusculorum meorum seriem relati.
Moreover, I consider it the same sacrilege to speak falsely after his death and to keep silent about the truth. These verses were written under his portrait, and no less included in the collection of my small works.
alia omnia mea displicent mihi; hoc relegisse amo.
All my other things displease me; I love to have reread this.
I, Ausonius by name, not the least in the art of healing, and, if you had known my times, I was the first.
§3vicinas urbes colui patriaque domoque, §4Vasates patria, sed lare Burdigalam, §5curia me duplex et uterque senatus habebat §6muneris exsortem, nomine participem, §7non opulens nec egens, parcus sine sordibus egi: §8victum, habitum, mores semper eadem habui, §9sermone inpromptus Latio, verum Attica lingua §10suffecit culti vocibus eloquii.
I inhabited neighboring cities, with respect to my native land and home, Vasates as my native country, but Burdigala as my home, a double curia and both senates held me, exempt from duties, but a sharer in name, neither wealthy nor needy, I lived frugally without sordidness; I always maintained the same food, attire, and character; slow of speech in Latin, but the Attic tongue sufficed with the expressions of refined eloquence.
I offered the help of my unbought art to all who asked, and my duty was performed with devotion.
I strove to present the judgment of good men concerning me; I myself, with myself as judge, was never pleasing to myself.
§15officia in multos diverso debita cultu §16personis, meritis, tempore distribui, §17litibus abstinui: non auxi, non minui rem; §18indice me nullus, set neque teste, perit, §19invidi numquam; cupere atque ambire refugi; §20iurare aut falsum dicere par habui.
Duties owed to many with diverse respect, I distributed according to persons, merits, and timing; I abstained from lawsuits; I neither increased nor diminished my property; by my accusation, and indeed by my testimony, no one perished; I never envied; I fled from coveting and striving for office; I held swearing and speaking falsely as equal.
§21factio me sibi non, non coniuratio iunxit: §22sincero colui foedere amicitias, §23felicem scivi non qui, quod vellet, haberet, §24set qui per fatum non data non cuperet.
Faction did not join me to itself, nor did conspiracy; I cultivated friendships with a sincere treaty; I knew that man to be happy, not who possessed what he wished, but who did not desire what was not given by fate.
Not one who thrusts himself forward, nor talkative, seeing what was in front, I did not enter places hidden by doors and curtains.
§27famam, quae posset vitam lacerare bonorum, §28non finxi et, veram si scierim, tacui, §29ira procul, spes vana procul, procul anxia cura §30inque bonis hominum gaudia falsa procul.
Slander that could tear apart the life of good men, I did not devise, and, if I knew it to be true, I kept silent; anger far away, vain hope far away, anxious care far away, and false joys in the goods of men far away.
§31vitati coetus eiuratique tumultus §32et semper fictae principum amicitiae, §33deliquisse nihil numquam laudem esse putavi §34atque bonos mores legibus antetuli.
Gatherings were avoided and tumults sworn off, and the ever-false friendships of princes; I never thought that having committed no fault was a matter for praise, and I preferred good character to laws.
Prone to anger, I hastened to hide my emotion, and I paid the penalty to myself for my lightheartedness.
a harmonious marriage for forty-five years without blame, I had but one; we brought forth four children.
The first died while nursing; but he who was the last in age, perished in unrefined youth, not unrefined himself.
§41maximus ad summum columen pervenit honorum, §42praefectus Gallis et Libyae et Latio, §43tranquillus, clemens, oculis, voce, ore serenus, §44in genitore suo mente animoque puer.
The eldest reached the highest peak of honors, prefect of the Gauls, of Libya, and of Latium, calm, merciful, serene in eyes, voice, and face, in respect to his father, a boy in mind and spirit.
I saw both his son and his son-in-law as proconsuls; I had a certain hope that he himself would be consul.
§47matronale decus possedit filia, cuius §48egregia et nuptae laus erat et viduae, §49quae nati generique et progeneri simul omnium §50multiplici inlustres vidit honore domos.
My daughter possessed the honor of a matron, whose excellent praise was for her both as a wife and as a widow, who saw the houses of her son, son-in-law, and grandson-in-law all at once illustrious with manifold honor.
§51ipse nec adfectans nec detrectator honorum §52praefectus magni nuncupor Illyrici, §53haec me fortunae larga indulgentia suasit §54numine adorato vitae obitum petere, §55ne fortunatae spatium inviolabile vitae §56fatali morsu stringeret ulla dies.
I myself, neither seeking after nor a rejecter of honors, am named prefect of great Illyricum; this generous indulgence of fortune persuaded me, having adored the divine power, to seek the end of life, lest any day, with fatal bite, should curtail the inviolable span of my fortunate life.
§57optinui auditaeque preces: spem, vota, timorem §58sopitus placido fine relinquo aliis, §59inter maerentes, sed non ego maestus, amicos §60dispositis iacui funeris arbitriis.
I obtained it, and my prayers were heard: hope, vows, fear, allayed by a peaceful end, I leave to others; among mourning friends, but I myself not sorrowful, I lay down, with the arrangements for my funeral set in order.
Ninety years without a staff, in my whole body I completed, unimpaired in all my duties.