§1ignoscenda istaec an cognoscenda rearis, §2adtento, Drepani, perlege iudicio, §3aequanimus fiam te iudice, sive legenda,
Whether you think these verses should be pardoned or scrutinized, read them through, Drepanius, with attentive judgment, I shall be at peace with you as judge, whether you think the poems we have offered should be read or should be hidden.
§4sive tegenda putes carmina, quae dedimus, §5nam primum est meruisse tuum, Pacate, favorem: §6proxima defensi cura pudoris erit.
For the first thing is to have deserved your favor, Pacatus; the next care will be for my defended modesty.
I am able to bear the censorship of a severe reader, and I am able to please myself with modest praise.
The horse knows how to love the sound of his patted neck, and knows, unafraid, how to endure the supple whips.
What a cultivation censor Aristarchus and the rule of Zenodotus demanded for Maeonian Homer!
§13pone obelos igitur primorum stigmata vatum: §14palmas, non culpas esse putabo meas; §15et correcta magis quam condemnata vocabo, §16adponet docti quae mihi lima viri.
Therefore, place your obeli, the marks of the foremost poets: I shall think them my palms of victory, not my faults; and I shall call them corrected rather than condemned, which the file of a learned man will apply to me.
Meanwhile, about to undergo the weight of such great judgment, I shall wish to please; if not, to remain hidden.
§19Septem sapientes, nomen quibus istud dedit §20Ssuperior aetas nec secuta sustulit, §21hodie in orchestram palliati prodeunt,
The Seven Sages, to whom the former age gave that name and the succeeding age did not take away, today come forth into the orchestra clad in Greek cloaks.
Why do you blush, Roman in a toga, because such famous men will enter the stage?
This is shameful for us, but not also for the Athenians, for whom the theater serves as the senate-house.
§26nostris negotis sua loca sortito data: §27campus comitiis, ut conscriptis curia, §28forum atque rostra separat ius 1 civium,
To our duties their own places have been allotted: the Campus for the comitia, as the senate-house for the senators, and the law of the citizens separates the Forum and the Rostra.
§29una est Athenis atque in omni Graecia §30ad consulendum publici sedes loci, §31quam in urbe nostra sero luxus condidit,
There is only one public seat for consultation in Athens and in all of Greece, which luxury established late in our city.
Formerly, the aedile used to give a wooden stage, quickly erected with no stone structure.
§34Murena sic et Gallius: nota eloquar, §35postquam potentes nec verentes sumptuum §36nomen perenne crediderunt, si semel §37constructa moles saxeo fundamine §38in omne tempus conderet ludis locum:
Thus did Murena and Gallius: I speak of well-known things, after powerful men who did not fear expense believed that their name would be eternal, if once a structure built with a stone foundation established a place for the games for all time.
§39cuneata crevit haec theatri inmanitas: §40Pompeius hanc et Balbus et Caesar dedit §41Octavianus concertantes sumptibus.
This vastness of the theater with its wedge-shaped seats grew; Pompey gave this, and Balbus, and Caesar Octavian, competing in expenses.
§42sed quid ego istaec? non hac de causa huc prodii,
But why do I speak of these things?
§43ut expedirem, quis theatra, quis forum, §44quis condidisset privas partes moenium: §45set ut verendos disque laudatos viros §46praegrederer aperiremque, quid vellent sibi.
I did not come out for this reason, to explain who had built theaters, who the Forum, who the private parts of the walls: but that I might precede the venerable men praised by the gods and reveal what they mean.
They are accustomed to pronounce their own maxims, which any of the wise has already anticipated.
§49scitis profecto, quae sint; set si memoria §50rebus vetustis claudit, veniet ludius §51edissertator harum, quas teneo minus.
You surely know what they are; but if memory fails in ancient matters, an actor will come as an explicator of these maxims, which I hold less in mind.
§52DELPHIS Solonem scripse fama est Atticum §53γνῶθι σεαυτόν, quod Latinum est: nosce te. §54multi hoc Laconis esse Chilonis putant.
There is a rumor that Athenian Solon wrote at Delphi "gnothi seauton", which in Latin is: "nosce te." Many think this belongs to Laconian Chilon.
§55Spartane Chilon, sit tuum necne, ambigunt, §56quod iuxta fertur, ὄρα τέλοσ μακροῦ βίου, §57finem intueri longae vitae qui iubes.
Spartan Chilon, whether it is yours or not, they dispute, which is reported next to it, "hora telos makrou biou", who bids us to look upon the end of a long life.
§58multi hoc Solonem dixe Croeso existimant.
Many think Solon said this to Croesus.
And there is a rumor that Pittacus of Lesbos said "gignoske kairon": he bids that you know the time.
§61set καιρὸσ iste tempestivum tempus est.
But that "kairos" is the opportune time.
§62Bias Prieneus dixit οἱ πλεῖστοι κακοί, §63quod est Latinum, plures hominum sunt mali; §64set inperitos scito, quos dixit malos.
Bias of Priene said "hoi pleistoi kakoi", which is in Latin: "the majority of men are bad"; but know that those he called bad were the ignorant.
"melete to pan", this belongs to Periander of Corinth, who thinks that practice can do everything.
Cleobulus of Lindus says "ariston metron" is: that is, the best measure for all.
But Thales brought forth "engua, para d' ata", who forbids us to give surety, because loss stands near as a guarantor.
§71hoc nos monere faeneratis non placet.
It does not please us to warn the usurers of this.
§72Dixi: recedam, legifer venit Solon.
I have spoken: I shall withdraw, the lawgiver Solon comes.
According to Greek custom, I, Solon, step onto the stage, to whom the fame of the seven sages gave the palm.