Latin Poetry Podcast

http://blogs.dickinson.edu/latin-poetry-podcast/files/2020/06/Ovid-Heroides-1-podcast-3.mp3 This is the third and last episode on Heroides 1. If you love Ovid’s Heroides, consider joining Chun Liu (Professor of Comparative Literature at Peking University) and me at the Dickinson Summer Latin Workshop (online this year), July 15-20, 2020. http://blogs.dickinson.edu/dcc/2019/11/06/dickinson-summer-latin-workshop-ovid-heroides/ Penelope imagines that Odysseus, who has the same desires as most men, might have taken up with another woman and is now describing Penelope to this other woman in unflattering terms. haec ego dum stultē metuō, quae vestra libīdō est,                            75 esse peregrīnō captus amōre potes. forsitan et nārrēs, quam sit tibi rūstica coniūnx, quae tantum lānās nōn sinat esse rudēs. fallar, et hoc crīmen tenuēs vānēscat in aurās, nēve, revertendī līber, abesse velīs!                                                             80 Mē pater Īcarius viduō discēdere lectō cōgit et immēnsās increpat usque morās. increpet usque licet—tua sum, tua dīcar oportet; Pēnelope coniūnx semper Ulixis erō. ille tamen pietāte meā precibusque pudīcīs                                                85 frangitur et vīrēs temperat ipse suās.   Only now does she get around to mentioning the suitors, whose dining and carrying in the home of Odysseus is the major cause of the crisis in the Odyssey.  Dūlichiī Samiīque et quōs tulit alta Zacynthōs, turba ruunt in mē luxuriōsa procī, inque tuā rēgnant nūllīs prohibentibus aulā; vīscera nostra, tuae dīlacerantur opēs.                                                90 quid tibi Pīsandrum Polybumque Medontaque dīrum Eurymachīque avidās Antinoīque manūs atque aliōs referam, quōs omnēs turpiter absēns ipse tuō partīs sanguine rēbus ālis? Īrus egēns pecorisque Melanthius āctor[1] edendī                                95 ultimus accēdunt in tua damna pudor.   The letter ends with anxiety: first that Odysseus’ loyal family and servants are unequal to the task of fending off the suitors, and then, at the very last line as a surprise, worry that she is growing old in his absence.  Trēs sumus inbellēs numerō, sine vīribus uxor Lāertēsque senex Tēlemachusque puer. ille per īnsidiās paene est mihi nūper adēmptus, dum parat invītīs omnibus īre Pylon.                                                       100 dī, precor, hoc iubeant, ut euntibus ōrdine fātīs ille meōs oculōs conprimat, ille tuōs! hāc[2] faciunt cūstōsque boum longaevaque nūtrīx, tertius inmundae cūra fidēlis harae; sed neque Lāertēs, ut quī sit inūtilis armīs,                                              105 hostibus in mediīs rēgna tenēre valet[3]— Tēlemachō veniet, vīvat modo, fortior aetās; nunc erat auxiliīs illa tuenda patris— nec mihi sunt vīrēs inimīcōs pellere tēctīs. tū citius veniās, portus et ara tuīs!                                                       110 est tibi sitque, precor, nātus, quī mollibus annīs in patriās artēs ērudiendus erat. respice Lāertēn; ut tū sua lūmina condās, extrēmum fātī sustinet ille diem. Certē ego, quae fueram tē discēdente puella,                                            115 prōtinus ut veniās, facta vidēbor anus.   [1] actor Gς edd.: auctor Eω [2] hac Tyrrel Knox Loeb: haec Egς: hoc ς [3] valet Eς Plan. Knox: potest Gω Loeb

http://blogs.dickinson.edu/latin-poetry-podcast/files/2020/05/Ovid-Heroides-1-podcast-2.mp3 If you love Ovid’s Heroides, consider joining Chun Liu (Professor of Comparative Literature at Peking University) and me at the Dickinson Summer Latin Workshop (online this year), July 15-20, 2020. http://blogs.dickinson.edu/dcc/2019/11/06/dickinson-summer-latin-workshop-ovid-heroides/ Omnia namque tuō senior tē quaerere missō rettulerat nātō Nestor, at ille mihi. rettulit et ferrō Rhēsumque Dolōnaque caesōs, utque sit hic somnō prōditus, ille dolō.                                               40 ausus es—ō nimium nimiumque oblīte tuōrum!— Thrācia nocturnō tangere castra dolō totque simul mactāre virōs, adiūtus ab ūnō! at bene cautus erās et memor ante meī! usque metū micuēre sinūs, dum victor amīcum                                 45 dictus es īsse per agmen equīs.   Sed mihi quid prōdest vestrīs disiecta lacertīs Īlios et, mūrus quod fuit, esse solum, sī maneō, quālis Troiā dūrante manēbam, virque mihi dēmptō fīne cārendus abest?                                                 50 dīruta sunt aliīs, ūnī mihi Pergama restant, incola captīvō quae bove victor arat. iam seges est, ubi Troia fuit, resecandaque falce luxuriat Phrygiō sanguine pinguis humus; sēmisepulta virum curvīs feriuntur arātrīs                                                  55 ossa, ruīnōsās occulit herba domōs. victor abes, nec scīre mihi, quae causa morandī, aut in quō lateās ferreus orbe, licet!   Quisquis ad haec vertit peregrīnam lītora puppim, ille mihi dē tē multa rogātus abit,                                                                60 quamque tibi reddat, sī tē modo vīderit usquam, trāditur huic digitīs charta notāta meīs. nōs Pylon, antīquī Nēlēia Nestoris arva, mīsimus; incertā est fāma remissa Pylō. mīsimus et Spartēn; Spartē quoque nescia vērī.                                        65 quās habitās terrās, aut ubi lentus abes? ūtilius stārent etiamnunc moenia Phoebī— īrāscor vōtīs, heu, levis ipsa meīs! scīrem ubi pugnārēs, et tantum bella timērem, et mea cum multīs iūncta querēlā foret.                                                    70 quid timeam, ignōrō—timeō tamen omnia dēmēns, et patet in cūrās ārea lāta meās. quaecumque aequor habet, quaecumque perīcula tellus, tam longae causās suspicor esse morae.  

http://blogs.dickinson.edu/latin-poetry-podcast/files/2020/05/Ovid-Heroides-1-podcast-1.mp3 Penelope (ca. 1868) by Charles-François Marchal. Penelope is not represented as the legendary wife of Odysseus but as a contemporary woman, dutifully engaged in needlework as she dreams about her husband, portrayed in the miniature before her. Metropolitan Museum, New York. Here begins what I plan to be a series on Ovid’s Heroides, in preparation for an open online seminar on the Heroides with Chun Liu of Peking University, July 16-20, 2020. We will read and discuss several of the Heroides together. Please sign up and join us! Penelope starts by letting Odysseus know she feels abandoned, and criticizes the Trojan war as not worth the pain it has caused to the women back home in Greece. Ovid makes it clear immediately that she knows the war is over (Troia iacet certe, Troy undoubtedly lies in ruins). Certe means that something is certain in the mind of the speaker, and is often used in protests: the unspoken protest here being “you should be back by now!” Lento “slow” in the first line also makes this complaint. Other key words express her lonliness: deserto (empty), frigida (cold), relicta (left behind), viduas (alone)—some of these adjectives apply to things (her bed, her hands) but they all emphasize her psychological state. Throughout the poem Ovid tests your knowledge of the Odyssey, and the first is an easy one, the reference to Penelope weaving (pendula tela). If you have read the Odyssey you know Penelope spends a good amount of time weaving, most famously the shroud of Laertes. The tela is the “warp,” the upright threads into which the “weft” is woven. It is said to be pendula (“hangning, suspended”) which just means that it is upright, not that it is swinging from the rafters. Haec tua Pēnelopē lentō tibi mittit, Ulixe; nīl mihi rescrībās attinet: ipse venī! Troia iacet certē, Danaīs invīsa puellīs; vix Priamus tantī tōtaque Troia fuit. ō utinam tum, cum Lacedaemona classe petēbat,                                       5 obrutus īnsānīs esset adulter aquīs! nōn ego dēsertō iacuissem frīgida lectō, nec quererer tardōs īre relicta diēs; nec mihi quaerentī spatiōsam fallere noctem lassāret viduās pendula tēla manūs.                                                            10   Penelope refers to herself as puella in line 3, which seems not right, since she is a mature married woman, but I think Ovid is trying to say that she is still in love, that she is in the class of lovers (puella is the standard term for “beloved” in Roman love poetry). He emphasizes this in the next section where Penelope talks about how afraid she is that Odysseus will get hurt, and that this is how lovers are, nervous and worried (solliciti).  She grows pale at the mention of Hector’s name, or at the mention of the victory of one of Troy’s other great champions, Memnon or Sarpedon. Here the testing of your mythological knowledge gets more intense. Hector: no problem there if you know the Iliad; the mention of the death of Antilochus is much trickier. Antilochus was a son of Nestor, mentioned in the Odyssey 4.187 as having been killed by the Ethiopian champion Memnon, son of the Dawn and a late arrival to Troy, after the Iliad ends.  Tlepolemus, according to Iliad 5.628–665, was killed by Sarpedon, another great Trojan ally, from Lycia. She identifies these heroes by their victims because she says she gets nervous any time he gets news that any Greek has been killed, “the heart of the lover grows colder than ice.” Again this emotion portrays her as a lover, not so much a wife, though of course a wife would be nervous, too. Quandō ego nōn timuī graviōra perīcula vēris? rēs est sollicitī plēna timōris amor. in tē fingēbam violentōs Trōas itūrōs; nōmine in Hectoreō pallida semper eram. sīve quis Antilochum nārrābat ab hoste revictum,                             15 Antilochus nostrī causa timōris erat; sīve Menoetiadēn falsīs cecidisse sub armīs, flēbam successū posse carēre dolōs. sanguine Tlēpolemus Lyciam tepefēcerat hastam; Tlēpolemī lētō cūra novāta mea est.                                                            20 dēnique, quisquis erat castrīs iugulātus Achīvīs, frīgidius glaciē pectus amantis erat.   Now Penelope makes it clear how she knows that the war is over and that Odysseus survived it: the other Greek leaders have all returned. Casto (23) makes it clear she has remained faithful, which she famously did, though pressed by numerous suitors. The altars are smoking (altaria fumant) with thank offerings, and loot from the war is being hung up as dedications (ponitur) in temples—not a Homeric detail but one taken from later times. The returning warriors are describing their exploits to their parents and wives, who are giving thank offerings to the gods for their safe return. Penelope’s exclusion from these celebrations is hinted at, a source of bewildered frustration for her and pathos for us. Ovid expands on the storytelling element of intimacy between husbands and wives, as Penelope dwells wretchedly on the happiness of others. In the process Ovid mentions some further mythological details for us to recognize and savor: the geography of Troy (Pergama), the Simois river, the promontory of Sigeum, the palace of Priam. The fact that the geography is drawn in wine on a table makes it clear this is happening at a welcome-home celebration of which she has been deprived. Ovid also now has a chance to mention the greatest of the Greek heroes, Achilles (Aeacides), and the famous episode toward the end of the Iliad where Achilles drags Hector’s corpse around the walls. Ovid is the master of compressed, allusive narrative: all he says is that “here (pointing to a spot on the diagram), mangled Hector terrified the galloping horses” hīc lacer admissōs terruit Hector equōs). In a single line with one verb, one subject, two nouns and two adjectives, we get the key event (insulting of the corpse) and the key emotion (terror), without any mention of dragging. Focalizing it through the eyes of the horses, who stand in for us as viewers of the grisly spectacle, is a beautiful touch. Sed bene cōnsuluit castō deus aequus amōrī. versa est in cinerem[1] sospite Trōia virō. Argolicī rediēre ducēs, altāria fūmant;                                                         25 pōnitur ad patriōs barbara praeda deōs. grāta ferunt nuptae[2] prō salvīs dōna marītīs; illī victa suīs Trōica fāta canunt. mīrantur iūstīque senēs trepidaeque puellae; nārrantis coniūnx pendet ab ōre virī.                                                         30 iamque[3] aliquis positā mōnstrat fera proelia mēnsā, pingit et exiguō Pergama tōta merō: ‘hāc ībat Simois; haec est Sigēia tellūs; hīc steterat Priamī rēgia celsa senis. illīc Aeacidēs, illīc tendēbat Ulixēs;                                                                35 hīc lacer admissōs terruit Hector equōs.’   [1] cinerem Eς Knox: cineres Gω, Loeb [2] nuptae Heinsius Knox: nymphae codd. Loeb [3] iamque Gς Knox: atque Eς Loeb

http://blogs.dickinson.edu/latin-poetry-podcast/files/2020/04/Boethius-Consol.-Phil.-1.4-Quiquis-composito.mp3 Philosophy Presenting the Seven Liberal Arts to Boethius. Coëtivy Master (French, active about 1450 – 1485). Source: Getty Museum Ancius Manlius Severinus Boethius rose to high honors under Theodoric the Ostrogoth (ruler of the independent Ostrogothic Kingdom of Italy between 493–526), but fell from favor, was tried for treason, wrongly condemned and imprisoned at Ticinum (Pavia). Sentenced to death and to forfeiture of all his property, Boethius was executed by sword, probably in the autumn of 524. The Consolatio philosophiae, written from prison, discusses such fundamental existential questions as ‘What values are there?’, ‘What is the highest good?’, ‘What is the relationship between Providence and free will?’ With a regular switch between prose and poetry, a dialogue takes place with Philosophy, which appears to the condemned man in prison. In this passage Boethius puts the ideal of philosophical fortitude in the face of corrupt power in 18 lovely hendecasyllabic lines. Quisquis composito serenus aevo Fatum sub pedibus egit superbum Fortunamque tuens utramque rectus Invictum potuit tenere vultum, Non illum rabies minaeque ponti Versum funditus exagitantis aestum Nec ruptis quotiens vagus caminis Torquet fumificos Vesaeuus ignes Aut celsas soliti ferire turres Ardentis via fulminis movebit. Quid tantum miseri saevos tyrannos Mirantur sine viribus furentes? Nec speres aliquid nec extimescas, Exarmaveris impotentis iram. At quisquis trepidus pavet vel optat, Quod non sit stabilis suique iuris, Abiecit clipeum locoque motus Nectit qua valeat trahi catenam.

http://blogs.dickinson.edu/latin-poetry-podcast/files/2020/04/tigers.mp3 Ovid on the Metamorphoses compares Hecuba to a lioness, not a tigress, but as I discuss based on Pliny and Valerius Flaccus, the two animals were grouped together in the Roman mind under the heading of savage mothers who get cubs stolen by raptores. For the best Safeguard your things go through this once.  In honor of the Netflix documentary Tiger King: Murder, Mayhem, and Madness I though I would do an episode on tigers in Roman poetry. Hecuba and the Trojan Women Murdering Polymestor (Hecuba Polymnestori oculos ervit), from Ovid’s ‘Metamorphoses’(1606) by Antonio Tempesta I discuss the following passages: Pliny, Natural Historry 8.66 Tigrim Hyrcani et Indi ferunt, animal velocitatis tremendae et maxime cognitae, dum capitur totus eius fetus, qui semper numerosus est. ab insidiante rapitur equo quam maxime pernici atque in recentes subinde transfertur. at ubi vacuum cubile reperit feta—maribus enim subolis cura non est—, fertur praeceps odore vestigans. raptor adpropinquante fremitu abicit unum ex catulis; tollit illa morsu et pondere etiam ocior acta remeat iterumque consequitur ac subinde, donec in navem regresso inrita feritas saevit in litore. Hyrcania and India produce the tiger, an animal of terrific speed, which is most noticeable when the whole of its litter, which is always numerous, is being captured. The litter is taken by a man lying in wait with the swiftest horse obtainable, and is transferred successively to fresh horses. But when the mother tiger finds the lair empty (for the males do not look after their young) she rushes off at headlong speed, tracking them by scent. The captor when her roar approaches throws away one of the cubs. She snatches it up in her mouth, and returns and resumes the pursuit at even a faster pace owing to her burden, and so on in succession until the hunter has regained the ship and her ferocity rages vainly on the shore. Valerius Flaccus, Argonautica 6.146-49 Exomatas venatus alit, nec clarior ullis arctos equis; abeunt Hypanin fragilemque per undam tigridis aut saevae profugi cum prole leaenae, maestaque suspectae mater stupet aggere ripae. The Exomatae live by the chase, nor is the North more famous for any steeds; over the Hypanis and its fragile waves they speed, carrying off in their flight the cub of a tiger or fierce lioness, while the mother stands dazed with grief on the rampart of the treacherous bank. and Ovid, Metamorphoses  545 ff. qua simul exarsit, tamquam regina maneret,         545 ulcisci statuit poenaeque in imagine tota est, utque furit catulo lactente orbata leaena signaque nacta pedum sequitur, quem non videt, hostem, sic Hecabe, postquam cum luctu miscuit iram, non oblita animorum, annorum oblita suorum,         550 vadit ad artificem dirae, Polymestora, caedis conloquiumque petit; nam se monstrare relictum velle latens illi, quod nato redderet, aurum. credidit Odrysius praedaeque adsuetus amore in secreta venit: tum blando callidus ore 555 ‘tolle moras, Hecabe,’ dixit ‘da munera nato! omne fore illius, quod das, quod et ante dedisti, per superos iuro.’ spectat truculenta loquentem falsaque iurantem tumidaque exaestuat ira atque ita correpto captivarum agmina matrum         560 invocat et digitos in perfida lumina condit expellitque genis oculos (facit ira potentem) inmergitque manus foedataque sanguine sonti non lumen (neque enim superest), loca luminis haurit. As soon as her rage blazed out, as if she still were queen, she resolved on vengeance and was wholly absorbed in the punishment her imagination pictured. And as a lioness rages when her suckling cub has been stolen from her, and follows the tracks of her enemy, though she does not see him, so Hecuba, wrath mingling with her grief, regardless of her years but not her deadly purpose, went straight to Polymestor, who wrought the heartless murder, and sought an audience with him, pretending that she wished to show him a store of gold which she had hoarded for her son and now would give him. The Thracian was deceived and, led by his habitual lust for gain, he came to the hiding-place. Then craftily, with smooth speech he said: “Come, Hecuba, make haste, give me the treasure for your son! I swear by the gods of heaven, all shall be his, what you give now and what you have given before.” She grimly eyed him as he spoke and swore his lying oath. Then did her rising wrath boil over, and, calling the captive women to the attack, she seized upon him, dug her fingers into his lying eyes and gouged his eyeballs from their sockets—so mighty did wrath make her. Then she plunged in her hands and, stained with his guilty blood, she plucked out, not his eyes, for they were gone, but the places of his eyes.

http://blogs.dickinson.edu/latin-poetry-podcast/files/2019/12/Catullus-and-Martial-on-unguents.mp3 Catullus 13 (text: G.P. Goold, 1983, via PHI) Cenabis bene, mi Fabulle, apud me paucis, si tibi di favent, diebus, si tecum attuleris bonam atque magnam cenam, non sine candida puella et vino et sale et omnibus cachinnis.              5 haec si, inquam, attuleris, venuste noster, cenabis bene: nam tui Catulli plenus sacculus est aranearum. sed contra accipies meros amores seu quid suavius elegantiusvest:                      10 nam unguentum dabo, quod meae puellae donarunt Veneres Cupidinesque; quod tu cum olfacies, deos rogabis, totum ut te faciant, Fabulle, nasum. Fabullus, come over in a few days and you will dine well, gods willing. Just bring along a fine and ample dinner, and don’t forget a lovely girl. Bring wine, wit, and all kinds of laughter. Bring all this, my charming man, and you will dine very well, I say, for Catullus’ purse has only cobwebs. In return you will get pure, unmixed love, or something even more elegant: I’ll give you a scent, passed on to my girl by Venus and Cupid themselves. And when you smell that, dear Fabullus, you will beg the gods on your knees to turn you into one colossal nose. (Trans. Chris Francese) Martial, Epigrams 3.12 (text: Heraeus and Borovskiy, via PHI) Convivis here, sed nihil scidisti. Res salsa est bene olere et esurire. Qui non cenat et unguitur, Fabulle, Hic vere mihi mortuus videtur.                       5 The perfume you gave your guests yesterday was, I admit, a good one, but you carved nothing. It’s amusing to smell nice and go hungry. He who doesn’t dine but is anointed, Fabullus, really seems to me a corpse. (trans. William Fitzgerald)

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http://blogs.dickinson.edu/latin-poetry-podcast/files/2019/11/Needham_Distribuens-Petasus.mp3 J.K. Rowling’s Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone (1997) has a delightful Latin version, Harrius Potter et Philosophi Lapis (2003), by Peter Needham. Needham taught Classics at Eton for over thirty years and also translated A Bear Called Paddington into Latin. In this edition of Latin Poetry Podcast we check out his elegant version of the Sorting Hat Song. The meter is the elegiac couplet. discipuli, pulchrum si me non esse putatis, externa specie plus valet ingenium. nam petasus nusquam toto si quaeritis orbe me melior vobis inveniendus erit. lautitias odi: nolo tegmenta rotunda, neve cylindratos tradite mi petasos. Distribuens Petasus vobis Hogvartius adsum cui petasos alias exsuperare datur. Distribuens Petasus scrutatur pectora vestra, quodque videre nequit nil latet in capite. in caput impositus vobis ostendere possum quae sit, vaticanans, optima cuique domus. vos forsan iuvenes Gryffindor habebit alumnos; hanc semper fortes incoluere domum. gens hominum generosa illa est fortisque feroxque; illi nulla potest aequiperare domus. gentibus a iustis et fidis Huffle tenetur Puff. adversa tamen scit domus illa pati. hic homines animisque piis verique tenaces invenietis. erit vestra secunda domus. tertia restat adhuc Ravenclaw nomine dicta; est vetus et sapiens ingeniisque favet. sunt lepus hic hominum cultorum artesque Minervae; discipulos similes hic habitare decet. forsitan in Slytherin veri invenientur amici; improbus es? fallax? haec erit apta domus. ut rata vota habeant scelus omne patrandum est gentibus his; quaerunt nil nisi lucra sua. verticibus iubeo me vos imponere nec non pectoribus firmis rem tolerare velim! ‘incolumes eritis petasi tutamine,’ dicunt, ‘cum careat manibus, cogitat ille tamen.’ And here is the J.K. Rowling original (via Mugglenet): Oh, you may not think I’m pretty, But don’t judge on what you see, I’ll eat myself if you can find A smarter hat than me. You can keep your bowlers black, Your top hats sleek and tall, For I’m the Hogwarts Sorting Hat And I can cap them all. There’s nothing hidden in your head The Sorting Hat can’t see, So try me on and I will tell you Where you ought to be. You might belong in Gryffindor, Where dwell the brave at heart, Their daring, nerve and chivalry Set Gryffindors apart; You might belong in Hufflepuff, Where they are just and loyal, Those patient Hufflepuffs are true And unafraid of toil; Or yet in wise old Ravenclaw, If you’ve a ready mind, Where those of wit and learning, Will always find their kind; Or perhaps in Slytherin You’ll make your real friends, Those cunning folk use any means To achieve their ends. So put me on! Don’t be afraid! And don’t get in a flap! You’re in safe hands (though I have none) For I’m a Thinking Cap! For an appreciation of Harrius Potter and how it can bring more Latin into your life, see Justin Slocum Bailey’s article from Eidolon 2017.    

http://blogs.dickinson.edu/latin-poetry-podcast/files/2019/11/Ysengimus-1.269-288.mp3 Ysengrimus is a Latin mock epic, an anthropomorphic series of fables written in 1148 or 1149 in Latin elegiac couplets. Its chief character is Isengrin the Wolf; the plot describes how the trickster figure Reynard the Fox overcomes Isengrin’s various schemes. This week’s Latin Poetry Podcast is a excerpt in which Isengin and Reynard collaborate to bamboozle a peasant and steal his bacon. The translation is by Ashley Roman Francese, from the Latin text edited by Jill Mann: Ysengrimus. Dumbarton Oaks Medieval Library. Harvard University Press, 2013. The trickster figure Reynard the Fox as depicted in an 1869 children’s book by Michel Rodange (Wikipedia)  

Unidentified man with mule carrying baskets of food. Italy, 1870s. Source: J. Paul Getty Museum http://blogs.dickinson.edu/latin-poetry-podcast/files/2019/11/Claudian-De-mulabus.mp3 Claudian (ca. 370-ca.404 AD) is best known for his political poetry (he was associated with the court of the Roman emperor Honorius at Milan). But his miscellaneous carmina minora include a fascinating variety of shorter poems, such as a description of a marble chariot (CM 7), a sepulchral epigram on a beautiful woman (11), an invective against a poet with gout (13), and this poem on some marvelous mules. Aspice morigeras Rhodani torrentis alumnas imperio nexas imperioque uagas, dissona quam uarios flectant ad murmura cursus et certas adeant uoce regente uias. quamuis quaeque sibi nullis discurrat habenis et pateant duro libera colla iugo, ceu constricta tamen seruit patiens que laborum barbaricos docili concipit aure sonos.  absentis longinqua ualent praecepta magistri frenorum que uicem lingua uirilis agit.  haec procul angustat sparsas spargit que coactas; haec sistit rapidas, haec properare facit.  laeua iubet? laeuo deducunt limite gressum. mutauit strepitum? dexteriora petunt.  nec uinclis famulae nec libertate feroces, exutae laqueis, sub dicione tamen.  incessu que pares et fuluis pellibus hirtae esseda concordes multisonora trahunt.  miraris si uoce feras pacauerit Orpheus, cum pronas pecudes Gallica uerba regant? Here is a translation by Chris Francese made for this episode. Behold the compliant daughters of the rushing Rhone, interwoven by command and made to wander by command, see how they turn in various directions in response to various spoken commands and how the ruling voice directs them down fixed paths. Although each on goes its way without reins, and its neck is free from the harsh yoke, still it serves as if bound and works hard, listening to barbaric sounds with a docile ear. The far-off instructions of their absent master have their effect, and a man’s tongue serves as bridle and harness: this collects them when scattered, and scatters them when collected; this stops them as they run, and this makes them pick up speed. Does he order left? They step to the left. Has he changed his cry? They head to the right. Unchained slaves, but not defiant in their freedom, they have shaken off the halter but remain under control. With synchronized gate, their shaggy coats tawny, they harmoniously pull the noisy carts. Are you surprised that Orpheus tamed wild beasts with his voice, when Gallic words rule downward-looking beasts?

Health Benefits of Vaping: What You Need To Know A debate has been ongoing ever since vaping was introduced in the market. It might be that friends and family have their own opinions about this. Unfortunately, most of these opinions are based on myths and research and not based on evidence-based research. There is one thing that people believe in general. This is that vaping in moderation is much better than smoking cigarettes.  Vaping is easier to quit compared to smoking The majority of e-liquid ranges can offer you various strength levels which can give you control over your regular nicotine intake. This enables you to gradually decrease your nicotine intake in a manner that is doable for you. This is something that smoking cigarettes cannot offer and even NRTs. Through a gradual reduction in your nicotine intake, you will be able to satisfy your cravings and reduce your total intake until you are totally free of both the smoking habit and the vaping with a nicotine habit. Vaping is safer than smoking cigarettes Vapes and e-cigarettes are safer for your health and the environment as well compared to smoking. In smoking, the tar that is produced can cause your lungs that can’t be repaired. The amount of nicotine that you can get from a cigarette stick has a corresponding impact on your lungs and the environment. Thus, before you start believing what you hear, research first and find out the difference between facts and hearsay. This will lead you to the right decision. E-cigarettes are an excellent way to help one quit smoking Research has shown that vaping is twice as effective as NRTs or traditional nicotine replacement therapies. This term refers to lozenges, gums, patches, inhalers, and other more traditional smoking cessation tools. A study conducted in partnership with the NHS stop smoking service discovered that in a group of smokers who are trying to quit, 18 percent of the e-cig users were able to quit smoking compared to only 9.9 percent of those who used traditional NRTs. The nicotine rush that one can get from vaping is only one of the reasons for its effectiveness in stopping the smoking habit. Another reason for its success is that it mimics and addresses the physical habits including the cravings that one has developed over years of smoking cigarettes. Most smokers struggle with something they can do with their hands once they have quit. Vaping answers this. Even the physical act of inhaling or exhaling smoke is addressed by vaping which is not possible with gums, lozenges, and patches. For smokers who practice vaping as a social habit, they can continue socializing without maintaining a harmful habit. Make sure you give it a try and buy menthol vape juice online on vaprzon for deals. Second-hand vapor is less dangerous than second-hand smoke The effect of second-hand smoking has been studied for years, and smoking has been considered hazardous to smokers as well as to the people around them. In adults, second-hand smoke causes lung cancer, stroke, and heart disease. Children, on the other hand, experience an increased risk for asthma attacks, sudden infant death syndrome, and ear, nose, and throat infections. The current studies on second-hand vapor revealed that its effects are negligible. This is because vapor dissipates faster and does not cause harm to the people around. To be on the safe side, however, some doctors suggest not vaping around small children and pregnant women. No harmful chemicals are produced by the e-cigarette when exhaling Vape has fewer ingredients compared to traditional tobacco cigarettes. This results in fewer compounds in the vapor that are exhaled. The majority of e-liquids only have four ingredients, which are VG (vegetable glycerin), PG (propylene glycol), nicotine, and vape flavorings. These are all considered safe for consumption. Meanwhile, tobacco has more than 7,000 chemicals during smoke exhalation. Vaping is easier to quit compared to smoking The majority of e-liquid ranges can offer you various strength levels which can give you control over your regular nicotine intake. This enables you to gradually decrease your nicotine intake in a manner that is doable for you. This is something that smoking cigarettes cannot offer and even NRTs. Through a gradual reduction in your nicotine intake, you will be able to satisfy your cravings and reduce your total intake until you are totally free of both the smoking habit and the vaping with a nicotine habit.

This is the second in a series dealing with Horace’s lyric meters. The previous installment covered Asclepiadeans. This one discusses the Sapphic stanza, so named because of its association with Sappho, the famous Greek lyric poet. Odes 1.2 is summarized as follows by Nisbet and Hubbard: God has sent enough ill-omened weather. We begin to be afraid that the age of the Flood might return. We have seen the avenging Tiber make for the temple of Vesta; our descendants will hear that we fought each other instead of the Parthians. To which of the gods will the people and Vestals turn for succour? Who will expiate our sin? Come and save us, Apollo, or Venus, or Mars. Or perhaps Mercury is already here on earth in the guise of a young man, condescending to be known as Caesar’s avenger. May you live long amongst us, and take vengeance on the Parthians–Caesar. A translation can be found here. There is an excellent article on Sapphics by Andrew Becker of Virginia Tech that I heartily recommend to anybody interested in Latin metrics or performance: “Listening to Lyric: Accent and Ictus in the Latin Sapphic Stanza,” Classical World 103.2 (2010), 159-182. It’s not freely available on the internet, but very much worth tracking down (more info. about Classical World is here). I follow his approach closely. The English Sapphics I quote come from John Greene, “A Practical method of Presenting the Lyric Meters of Horace,” Classical Journal 4.3 (1909), 116-123, at p. 120. Horace, Odes 1.2 Iam satis terris nivis atque dirae grandinis misit pater et rubente dextera sacras iaculatus arces terruit urbem, terruit gentes, grave ne rediret 5 saeculum Pyrrhae nova monstra questae, omne cum Proteus pecus egit altos visere montis piscium et summa genus haesit ulmo, nota quae sedes fuerat columbis, 10 et superiecto pavidae natarunt aequore dammae. vidimus flavom Tiberim retortis litore Etrusco violenter undis ire deiectum monumenta regis 15 templaque Vestae, Iliae dum se nimium querenti iactat ultorem, vagus et sinistra labitur ripa Iove non probante u- xorius amnis. 20 audiet cives acuisse ferrum, quo graves Persae melius perirent, audiet pugnas vitio parentum rara iuventus. quem vocet divum populus ruentis 25 imperi rebus? prece qua fatigent virgines sanctae minus audientem carmina Vestam? cui dabit partis scelus expiandi Iuppiter? tandem venias precamur 30 nube candentis umeros amictus augur Apollo; sive tu mavis, Erycina ridens, quam Iocus circum volat et Cupido; sive neglectum genus et nepotes 35 respicis auctor, heu nimis longo satiate ludo, quem iuvat clamor galeaeque leves acer et Marsi peditis cruentum vultus in hostem; 40 sive mutata iuvenem figura ales in terris imitaris almae filius Maiae patiens vocari Caesaris ultor, serus in caelum redeas diuque 45 laetus intersis populo Quirini, neve te nostris vitiis iniquum ocior aura tollat: hic magnos potius triumphos, hic ames dici pater atque princeps, 50 neu sinas Medos equitare inultos te duce, Caesar.

Herewith a re-do of a poem I have done on an earlier podcast, this time with special attention to the meter. It is part of a series on Horace’s lyric meters. This installment focuses on a meter that scholars call variously Asclepiads, asclepiadeans, the First Asclepiad, and the Lesser Asclepiad. The name is given by ancient grammarians, and evidently derives from a certain Greek poet named Asclepiades, though which one and why are unclear. I generally hate the cryptic way textbooks and scholarly publications deal with Latin meters, but there is one article I found helpful in thinking about this one, Leon Richardson, “On the Form of Horace’s Lesser Asclepiads, ” America Journal of Philology 22 (1901) 283-296 (look past the outdated terminology and check out the stats on sense pauses, ictus and accent, word length, and ‘compactness’) . There is a reasonably literal  translation of the poem here. Hope you enjoy, and do leave a comment if you would like to. Horace, Odes 1.1new Maecenas atavis edite regibus, o et praesidium et dulce decus meum: sunt quos curriculo pulverem Olympicum collegisse iuvat metaque fervidis evitata rotis palmaque nobilis 5 terrarum dominos evehit ad deos; hunc, si mobilium turba Quiritium certat tergeminis tollere honoribus; illum, si proprio condidit horreo quidquid de Libycis verritur areis. 10 gaudentem patrios findere sarculo agros Attalicis condicionibus numquam demoveas, ut trabe Cypria Myrtoum pavidus nauta secet mare; luctantem Icariis fluctibus Africum 15 mercator metuens otium et oppidi laudat rura sui: mox reficit rates quassas indocilis pauperiem pati. est qui nec veteris pocula Massici nec partem solido demere de die 20 spernit, nunc viridi membra sub arbuto stratus, nunc ad aquae lene caput sacrae; multos castra iuvant et lituo tubae permixtus sonitus bellaque matribus detestata; manet sub Iove frigido 25 venator tenerae coniugis inmemor, seu visa est catulis cerva fidelibus, seu rupit teretes Marsus aper plagas. me doctarum hederae praemia frontium dis miscent superis, me gelidum nemus 30 Nympharumque leves cum Satyris chori secernunt populo, si neque tibias Euterpe cohibet nec Polyhymnia Lesboum refugit tendere barbiton. quodsi me lyricis vatibus inseres, 35 sublimi feriam sidera vertice.

Phaedrus Fables 1.18 Nemo libenter recolit qui laesit locum. Instante partu mulier actis mensibus humi iacebat flebilis gemitus ciens. Vir est hortatus, corpus lecto reciperet, onus naturae melius quo deponeret. “Minime”, inquit, “illo posse confido loco malum finiri, quo conceptum est initio.” Phaedrus, Fables 1.18. Text: Giannina Solimano, ed. Fedro: Favole (n.p.: Garzanti, 1996) Francesco Furini (1600-1646), Rachel Giving Birth to Joseph

“De mutata Romae fortuna,” incerti auctoris, ed. N. E. Lemaire, Poetae Latini Minores vol. 4 (Paris, 1825), pp. 537-538. Romulus Augustulus Deposed De mutata Romae fortuna Nobilibus quondam fueras cōnstructa patrōnīs subdita nunc servis, heu, male Roma tuis. Deseruere tui tanto te tempore reges; cessit et ad Graecos nomen honosque tuus. Cōnstantīnopolis florens, nova Roma vocatur,                                  5 moribus et muris Roma vetusta cadis. Transiit imperium, mansitque superbia tecum; cultus avaritiae te nimium superat. Vulgus ab extremis distractum partibus orbis, servorum servi, nunc tibi sunt domini.                                       10 In te nobilium rectorum nemo remansit, ingenuique tui rura Pelasga colunt. Truncasti vivos crudeli funere sanctos, vendere nunc horum mortua membra soles. Nam nisi te meritum Petri Paullique foveret,                                  15 tempore iam longo Roma misella fores. My translation: Once upon a time you had been built up by noble patrons; now, alas, Rome, you are shamefully subjected to your (former) slaves (i.e. the Goths). The emperors who ruled here for such a long time have abandoned you, and your name and title have been ceded to the Greeks. Flourishing Constantinople is called the New Rome, and old Rome is falling, in both the walls and the character (of its people). Political power has moved along, and your haughty attitude has remained with you; the pursuit of avarice is too much your downfall. A rabble drawn from the furthest regions of the earth, the slaves of slaves, are now your masters. None of the old noble leaders has stayed with you, and your native born sons tend Greek lands. You  mained, mutilated and cruelly killed living saints; now you often set up a trade in pieces of their dead bodies. For if you were not keeping alive the memory of the good deeds of Peter and Paul, you would long ago have become a sad little town. The Gibbonesque quote about men’s minds being “pusillanimous, gloomy, and spiritless” comes from The Life and Letters of Barthold George Niebuhr, and Selections from his Minor Writings, ed. Susanna Winkworth, 2nd ed., vol. 3 (London: Chapman and Hall, 1852), pp. 282-283, in an essay called “Sketch of the History of the City of Rome,” written in 1823.    

The Wrath of Iarbas protinus ad regem cursus detorquet Iarban incenditque animum dictis atque aggerat iras. Hic Hammone satus rapta Garamantide nympha templa Iovi centum latis immania regnis, centum aras posuit vigilemque sacraverat ignem,               200 excubias diuum aeternas, pecudumque cruore pingue solum et variis florentia limina sertis. isque amens animi et rumore accensus amaro dicitur ante aras media inter numina divum multa Iovem manibus supplex orasse supinis:               205 ‘Iuppiter omnipotens, cui nunc Maurusia pictis gens epulata toris Lenaeum libat honorem, aspicis haec? an te, genitor, cum fulmina torques nequiquam horremus, caecique in nubibus ignes terrificant animos et inania murmura miscent?               210 femina, quae nostris errans in finibus urbem exiguam pretio posuit, cui litus arandum cuique loci leges dedimus, conubia nostra reppulit ac dominum Aenean in regna recepit. et nunc ille Paris cum semiviro comitatu,                215 Maeonia mentum mitra crinemque madentem subnexus, rapto potitur: nos munera templis quippe tuis ferimus famamque fovemus inanem.’ Carthage and Garama, main town of the nomadic Garamantes. Numidia, home of Iarbas,  was to the north of Garama, and to the west of Carthage. Egypt and Siwa, the oasis with the famous temple of  Ammon, whom the Greeks and Romans identified with Zeus/Jupiter Provinces of the Roman Empire, showing Numidia, home of Iarbas, and Mauretania to the west. Translation (by Francese with lots of help from R.G. Austin (P. Vergili Maronis Aeneidos Liber Quartus [Oxford 1955], pp. 75 ff.): Immediately Rumor turned her course to King Iarbas and she inflamed his mind with her words and heaped up his rage. This man, sprung from Hammon, on the ravishing of a Garamantian nymph built a hundred huge temples in his wide realm (Numidia), a hundred altars, and he had sanctified an eternal fire, sentinel of the gods everlasting, and the ground was thick with the blood of sacrificial animals, the entrances all aglow with gay garlands. And he, utterly distraught of mind, and enraged by the sour rumor, is said to have prayed much to Jupiter as a suppliant before the altars in the very presence of the majesty of the gods with his hands turned upward: “All-powerful Jupiter, to whom the Maurusian race offers the wine-god’s rich libations as it holds banquets on multi-colored couches: do you see these things? Can it be in vain, my father, that we shiver as you whirl your thunderbolts? Are they blind, those flames among the clouds that make our hearts to quake? Is it empty mutterings that they stir? A woman, who while wandering in our territory founded a puny city for a price, to whom we gave a piece of shore to plough and conditions of holding it, she has thrust away our marriage proposal and taken Aeneas into her realm as her master. And now, that Paris with his half-man retinue, his chin and essences hair wound about with a Lydian turban, enjoys what he has filched, while we keep bringing presents to your shrines—yes, to yours—and coddle your great name, for nothing.”  

Translating Vergil Aeneid 1.305-309 At pius Aeneas, per noctem plurima volvens, ut primum lux alma data est, exire locosque explorare novos, quas vento accesserit oras, qui teneant, nam inculta videt, hominesne feraene, quaerere constituit, sociisque exacta referre. Fitzgerald: But the dedicated man, Aeneas, thoughtful through the restless night, Made up his mind, as kindly daylight came, To go out and explore the strange new places, To learn what coast the wind had brought him to And who were living there, men or wild creatures— For wilderness was all he saw—and bring Report back to his company. Mandelbaum: But, nightlong, many cares have held the pious Aeneas. And as soon as gracious daylight is given to him, this is his decision: to go out and explore the foreign country, to learn what shores the wind has brought him to, who lives upon this land—it is untilled— are they wild beasts or men—and then to tell his comrades what he has found. West: But all that night dutiful Aeneas was turning many things over in his mind. As soon as life-giving morning came, he decided to go out and explore this new land and bring back to his men a true account of the shores to which the winds had driven him, and the beasts and men who lived there, if there were any men, for he saw no signs of cultivation. Aeneid 6.26-27: Minotaurus inest, Veneris monimenta nefandae, hic labor ille domus et inextricabilis error. Fitzgerald: … the Minotaur, get of unholy lust. Here too, that puzzle of the house of Minos, The maze none could untangle… Mandelbaum: the Minotaur, a monument to her polluted passion and here the inextricable labyrinth, the house of toil, was carved … West: Here too is . . .the Minotaur . . . the memorial to a perverted love, and here is its home, built with such great labor, the inextricable labyrinth

O Socii ‘O socii—neque enim ignari sumus ante malorum— O passi graviora, dabit deus his quoque finem. Vos et Scyllaeam rabiem penitusque sonantis 200 accestis scopulos, vos et Cyclopea saxa experti: revocate animos, maestumque timorem mittite: forsan et haec olim meminisse iuvabit. Per varios casus, per tot discrimina rerum tendimus in Latium; sedes ubi fata quietas 205 ostendunt; illic fas regna resurgere Troiae. Durate, et vosmet rebus servate secundis.’ Talia voce refert, curisque ingentibus aeger spem voltu simulat, premit altum corde dolorem.

Juvenal Sat. 1.1-21 Semper ego auditor tantum? numquamne reponam uexatus totiens rauci Theseide Cordi? inpune ergo mihi recitaverit ille togatas, hic elegos? inpune diem consumpserit ingens Telephus aut summi plena iam margine libri scriptus et in tergo necdum finitus Orestes? nota magis nulli domus est sua quam mihi lucus Martis et Aeoliis vicinum rupibus antrum Vulcani; quid agant venti, quas torqueat umbras Aeacus, unde alius furtivae devehat aurum pelliculae, quantas iaculetur Monychus ornos, Frontonis platani convolsaque marmora clamant semper et adsiduo ruptae lectore columnae. expectes eadem a summo minimoque poeta. et nos ergo manum ferulae subduximus, et nos consilium dedimus Sullae, privatus ut altum dormiret. stulta est clementia, cum tot ubique vatibus occurras, periturae parcere chartae. cur tamen hoc potius libeat decurrere campo, per quem magnus equos Auruncae flexit alumnus, si vacat ac placidi rationem admittitis, edam. The text I am using is that of Susanna Morton Braund (Juvenal: Satires Book I [Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1996]), who brackets line 14 as an interpolation. The image is “Orestes Pursued by the Furies,” by Bourgeureau (1862).

Chief of Monsters Monstrorum princeps, Elephans proboscide saevus horret mole nigra, dente micat niveo. sed vario fugienda malo cum belua gliscat, est tamen excepti mors pretiosa feri. nam quae conspicimus montani roboris ossa humanis veniunt usibus apta satis. consulibus sceptrum, mensis decus, arma tablistis, discolor et tabulae calculus inde datur. haec est humanae semper mutatio sortis: fit moriens ludus, qui fuit ante pavor. Anth. Lat. 187  (D.R. Shackleton Bailey, Anthologia Latina [Stuttgart: Teubner, 1982], pp. 128-9). Reise’s slightly different text is here. Excepti (4) is Shackleton Bailey’s nice emendation for the manuscripts’ ex certis, which makes no sense. Montani can mean savage in temperament, like mountain dwellers. Tab(u)lista, -ae (m.) is a rare and late word, not in OLD or Lewis and Short, but it is a sensible enough term for those who play at tabula, a game which, according to Isidore of Seville, involved dice, tower-like pieces, and counters. See DuCange s.v. tabula. As far as I can tell, arma tablistis and tabulae calculus refer to the same game, or type of game.

In honor of Spain’s recent world cup victory, here’s a bit of Claudian on the glories of Spain (Hispania to the Romans): Claudian Laus Serenae Quid dignum memorare tuis, Hispania, terris vox humana valet? primo levat aequore solem India: tu fessos exacta luce iugales proluis inque tuo respirant sidera fluctu. dives equis, frugum facilis, pretiosa metallis, principibus fecunda piis, tibi saecula debent           55 Traianum; series his fontibus Aelia fluxit. hinc senior pater, hinc iuvenum diademata fratrum. namque aliae gentes, quas foedere Roma recepit aut armis domuit, varios aptantur in usus imperii; Phariae segetes et Punica messis       60 castrorum devota cibo; dat Gallia robur militis; Illyricis sudant equitatibus alae: sola novum Latiis vectigal Hiberia rebus contulit Augustos. fruges, aeraria, miles undique conveniunt totoque ex orbe leguntur:        65 haec generat qui cuncta regant. nec laude virorum censeri contenta fuit, nisi matribus aeque vinceret et gemino certatim splendida sexu Flaccillam Mariamque daret pulchramque Serenam. On the punctuation of line 57, elucidating the reference to Theodosius the elder, German readers can see here. On the empress Aelia Flavia Flacilla, her daughter Aelia Pulcheria, and Serena herself, see here. And on the very real importance of women of the imperial house in this period, see interestingly here.

Hi everybody! Sorry for the extended hiatus. The summer should bring time for more frequent updates. Hope you enjoy this bit of Ovid. The translation here is my own. Ov. Ars Amatoria 1.1-24 Siquis in hoc artem populo non novit amandi, Hoc legat et lecto carmine doctus amet. Arte citae veloque rates remoque moventur, Arte leves currus: arte regendus amor. Curribus Automedon lentisque erat aptus habenis,               5 Tiphys in Haemonia puppe magister erat: Me Venus artificem tenero praefecit Amori; Tiphys et Automedon dicar Amoris ego. Ille quidem ferus est et qui mihi saepe repugnet: Sed puer est, aetas mollis et apta regi.               10 Phillyrides puerum cithara perfecit Achillem, Atque animos placida contudit arte feros. Qui totiens socios, totiens exterruit hostes, Creditur annosum pertimuisse senem. Quas Hector sensurus erat, poscente magistro               15 Verberibus iussas praebuit ille manus. Aeacidae Chiron, ego sum praeceptor Amoris: Saevus uterque puer, natus uterque dea. Sed tamen et tauri cervix oneratur aratro, Frenaque magnanimi dente teruntur equi;               20 Et mihi cedet Amor, quamvis mea vulneret arcu Pectora, iactatas excutiatque faces. Quo me fixit Amor, quo me violentius ussit, Hoc melior facti vulneris ultor ero:

Here is Brendan Boston reading a section from the iambic preface that Prudentius wrote to his hexameter mini-epic, the Psychomachia, composed around AD 400. It discusses food, and how important nutrition is for the body. He covers many interesting topics that you wouldn’t expect, like food for your pets for example. Making sure that you give your dog raw dog food uk will keep in him in good health and even extend its life span. It’s something a lot of people don’t really consider, but it is such a determining factor. A very interesting topic examined from multiple angles overall. Alright guys and gals, exciting post today. On Tuesday I talked to Brendan Brazier, vegan professional Ironman triathlete and author of Thrive: The Vegan Nutrition Guide to Optimal Performance in Sports and Life. If you’ve read my blog at all during the past month or two, then you know how much I love this book and the recipes that Brendan and Orlando Weekly with their supplements, have been kind enough to let me share with you. We talked for about 25 minutes, and Brendan gave me so much good information that I decided not to edit out any of it! To make it easy for you to skip around to what you’re most interested in, I’ve boldfaced the key words in each question. Be inspired and enjoy!  

Here is a recording by Amy Hall of a lovely passage from near the end of Psychomachia (or “Battle within the Soul”), written around AD 400 by the Spanish-born Latin poet Aurelius Prudentius Clemens (whom you may now befriend on Facebook). Psychomachia 770-784 Amy Hall pax plenum Virtutis opus, pax summa laborum, pax belli exacti pretium est pretiumque pericli. sidera pace uigent, consistunt terrea pace. nil placitum sine pace deo: non munus ad aram cum cupias offerre probat, si turbida fratrem mens inpacati sub pectoris oderit antro, nec, si flammicomis Christi pro nomine martyr ignibus insilias seruans inamabile uotum bile sub obliqua, pretiosam proderit Iesu inpendisse animam, meriti quia clausula pax est. non inflata tumet, non inuidet aemula fratri, omnia perpetitur patiens atque omnia credit, nunquam laesa dolet, cuncta offensacula donat, occasum lucis uenia praecurrere gestit, anxia ne stabilem linquat sol conscius iram.

Horace, Odes 1.1 Maecenas atauis edite regibus, o et praesidium et dulce decus meum, sunt quos curriculo puluerem Olympicum collegisse iuuat metaque feruidis euitata rotis palmaque nobilis               5 terrarum dominos euehit ad deos; hunc, si mobilium turba Quiritium certat tergeminis tollere honoribus; illum, si proprio condidit horreo quicquid de Libycis uerritur areis.               10 Gaudentem patrios findere sarculo agros Attalicis condicionibus numquam demoueas, ut trabe Cypria Myrtoum pauidus nauta secet mare. Luctantem Icariis fluctibus Africum               15 mercator metuens otium et oppidi laudat rura sui; mox reficit rates quassas, indocilis pauperiem pati. Est qui nec ueteris pocula Massici nec partem solido demere de die               20 spernit, nunc uiridi membra sub arbuto stratus, nunc ad aquae lene caput sacrae. Multos castra iuuant et lituo tubae permixtus sonitus bellaque matribus detestata. Manet sub Ioue frigido               25 uenator tenerae coniugis inmemor, seu uisa est catulis cerua fidelibus, seu rupit teretis Marsus aper plagas. Me doctarum hederae praemia frontium dis miscent superis, me gelidum nemus               30 Nympharumque leues cum Satyris chori secernunt populo, si neque tibias Euterpe cohibet nec Polyhymnia Lesboum refugit tendere barbiton. Quod si me lyricis uatibus inseres,               35 sublimi feriam sidera uertice.

Hexamater lists All 12 of the chief Roman gods (Ennius): Iuno Vesta Minerva Ceres Diana Venus Mars Mercurius Iovis Neptunus Volcanus Apollo Ingredients of a cocktail called dodra (Ausonius): Ius aqua mel vinum panis piper herba oleum sal All letters of the Latin alphabet: Duc, Zephyre exsurgens, durum cum flatibus aequor All parts of speech: Vae tibi lascivo, quia mox post gaudia flebis. Or: Vae tibi ridenti, quia mox post gaudia flebis. For more in this vein, see  the wonderful article by Harry C. Schnur, “The Factotum: Some Varieties of the Latin Hexameter,” The Classical World 53 (1960) 153-157.

Filelfo Odes 1.9 Si te trux adeo podagra torquet, nec cessat laterum dolor, podarge, affligitque premens nec exeundi urinae reperit viam profusus imber, pone modum gulae voraci   5 et dirae veneri. Quibus per omnis quando luxurias ruis protervus, morbum non pateris subactus unum. Membris te cruciat doloris haerens aestus. Quo penitus furis procellis   10 excitus rabidis per omne mentis excussae facinus, trahit volentem hanc corpus, ratio quod ipsa nullis fraenis compositum suprema rexit. Hinc fervet vitiis furens et atrae    15 pestis flammigerum recludit aestum. Hinc humana simul deumque iura contemnit penitus nefas omne praeceps flagitiisque prona cunctis. Quod si sustuleris nimis, podarge,   20 quod praestas veneri gulaeque turgens, nec torquebere corporis dolore, nec tot nequitiis comes protervus accedes populo levis susurrus. Text: Francesco Filelfo, Odes, ed. and trans. Diana Robin in the I Tatti Renaissance Library (Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 2009)

Thanks to everyone who voted for Latin Poetry Podcast in the 2009 Edublog Awards contest. I came in a respectable fourth in the category of Best Educational Use of Audio, with 10% of the votes. I appreciate the support! Aelia Secundula Memoriae Aeliae Secundulae Funeri mu[l]ta quid(e)m condigna iam misimus omneS, Insuper ar(a)eque deposit(a)e Secundulae matrI(s), Lapideam placuit nobis atponere mensaM, In qua magna eius memorantes plurima factA; Dum cibi ponuntur calicesque e[t] co[o]pertaE, Vulnus ut sanetur nos rod(ens) pectore saevuM. Libenter fabul(as) dum sera red(d)imus horA Castae matri, bona(e), laudesq(ue), uetula dormiT Ipsa, o nutri[x], iaces et sobria<e> sempeR. v(ixit) a(nnos) LXXV, a(nno) p(rouinciae) CCLX Statulenia lulia fecit MEMORIAE AELIAE SECVNDVLAE FVNERI MVITA QVIDM CONDIGNA IAM MISIMVS OMNES INSVPER AREQV DEPOSITE SECVNDVLAE MATRI LAPIDEAM PLACVIT NOBIS ATPONERE MENSAM IN QVA MAGNA EIVS MEMORANTES PLVRIMA FACTA DVM CIBI PONVNTUR CALICESQ EI COPERTAE VVLNVS VT SANETVR NOS ROD PECTORE SAEVVM LIBENTER FABVL DVM SERA RED IMVS HORA CASTAE MATRI BONAE LAVDESQ VETVLA DORMIT IPSA O NVTRIT IACES ET SOBRIAE SEMPER V A LXXV A P CCLX STATVLENIA IVLIA FECIT This text is based on M. Stéphane Gsell, “Satafis (Périgotville) et Thamalia (Tocqueville),” Mélanges d’archéologie et d’histoire 15 (1895), p. 49, and Carmina Latina Epigraphica Suppl.,  ed. E. Lommatzch, (Stutgard, 1926), no. 1977. I did not have access to CIL. I made some alterations to the expansions based on what I think the scansion is meant to be, but sometimes you need to have good considerations when joining a church, and using a Church Membership Directory could be real helpful for this. The translation I give comes from Ramsay MacMullen, The Second Church: Popular Christianity A.D. 200-400 (Atlanta: Society of Biblical Literature, 2009), p. 58. In the podcast I too hastily said that this text was written by Statulenia Julia; in fact there is no evidence one way or the other on that. But she does say she “made” (i.e. paid for) the monument.

This just in, Latin Poetry Podcast is a finalist in the 2009 Edublog Awards, Category: Best Educational Use of Audio. Click here to cast your vote! Laberius Some fragments of the mime writer Laberius,  from O. Ribbeck, Scaenicae Romanorum Poesis Fragmenta, vol. 2 Comicorum Romanorum Fragmenta, 3rd ed. Leipzig: Teubner, 1897: Amore cecidi tamquam blatta in peluim (Virgo, p. 358) Vix sustineo lassas clunes (Aries, p. 340) Sequere <me> in latrinum, ut aliquid gustes ex Cynica haeresi (Compitalia, p. 345) Necesse est multos timeat quem multi timent. (ex incertis fabulis, p. 361) Uxorem tuam / et meam novercam consectari lapidibus / a populo video (ex incertis fabulis p. 363) There is a tad more information about Laberius on Wikipedia here, but somebody, preferably Costas Panayotakis, who has written a new edition and commentary on Laberius’s fragments, needs to revise and expand it.

Quintilian on pausing Pacing: Quintilian on pauses in Aeneid 1.1–8 (Inst. 11.3.33–38, trans. Russell) Arma virumque cano,/ Troiae qui primus ab oris/ Italiam/ fato profugus/ Lavinaque venit litora,/ multum ille et terris iactatus et alto . . . Albanique patres, atque altae moenia Romae./ Musa, mihi causas memora, quo numine laeso . . . Elisions: However, though words must be pronounced in full, it is tiresome and offensive to put a value on every letter . . . For one thing, vowels often coalesce, and some consonants are suppressed when a vowel follows . . . multum ille et terris illustrates both points. (33–34) Sense Pauses: We must also note where our speech should be left in the air . . . and where it should be brought to rest. Arma virumque cano is left in the air, because virum belongs to what follows, giving us virum Troiae qui primus ab oris, after which there is another suspension; for, although where he came from and where he arrived are two different things, yet we do not need punctuation here, because both are covered by the same verb, venit. (35–36) There is a third pause at Italiam, because fato profugus is parenthetical and interrupts the continuity of Italiam Lavinaque. For the same reason, there is a fourth pause at profugus, after which comes Lavinaque venit litora, where we do at last need some punctuation, because a new sentence begins at this point. (37) Even when there is punctuation, the time we give to it may be shorter or longer, according to whether it marks the end of a phrase or of a thought. Thus I shall take a new breath immediately after the punctuation at litora, but when I come to atque altae moenia Romae, I shall pause and wait to make a fresh beginning. (37–38) Pausing without breathing: Pauses sometimes occur, even in long periods, without a new breath. The sentence beginning in coetu vero populi Romani, negotium publicum gerens, magister equitum and so on [Cicero, Philippics 2.63], has many Cola (there are a number of thoughts, one after another) but only one Period; so it is a case for short pauses between these phrases, not for breaking up the structure of the whole. (39) Breathing without pausing: Conversely, it is sometimes necessary to recover breath without a perceptible pause . . . because if we regain our breath awkwardly, this produces just as much obscurity as faulty punctuation. (39) The necessity of proper pausing: Virtue of punctuation is perhaps a small thing; but without it there can be no other virtue in pleading (virtus autem distinguendi fortasse sit parva, sine qua tamen esse nulla alia in agendo potest). (39)

Aen.1.1-11 This is a re-posting of an older installment that some people have had trouble finding. Arma virumque cano, Troiae qui primus ab oris Italiam, fato profugus, Laviniaque venit litora, multum ille et terris iactatus et alto vi superum saevae memorem Iunonis ob iram; multa quoque et bello passus, dum conderet urbem,               5 inferretque deos Latio, genus unde Latinum, Albanique patres, atque altae moenia Romae. Musa, mihi causas memora, quo numine laeso, quidve dolens, regina deum tot volvere casus insignem pietate virum, tot adire labores               10 impulerit. Tantaene animis caelestibus irae?

Seneca Oedipus 960-979 violentus audax vultus, iratus ferox                              960 iamiam eruentis; gemuit et dirum fremens manus in ora torsit. at contra truces oculi steterunt et suam intenti manum ultro insecuntur, vulneri occurrunt suo. scrutatur avidus manibus uncis lumina,                              965 radice ab ima funditus vulsos simul evoluit orbes; haeret in vacuo manus et fixa penitus unguibus lacerat cavos alte recessus luminum et inanes sinus saevitque frustra plusque quam satis est furit.                              970 tantum est periclum lucis? attollit caput cavisque lustrans orbibus caeli plagas noctem experitur. quidquid effossis male dependet oculis rumpit, et victor deos conclamat omnis: ‘parcite en patriae, precor:                              975 iam iusta feci, debitas poenas tuli; inventa thalamis digna nox tandem meis.’ rigat ora foedus imber et lacerum caput largum revulsis sanguinem venis vomit.

Vergil Aeneid 2.199-227 Hic aliud maius miseris multoque tremendum obicitur magis atque improuida pectora turbat.               200 Laocoon, ductus Neptuno sorte sacerdos, sollemnis taurum ingentem mactabat ad aras. ecce autem gemini a Tenedo tranquilla per alta (horresco referens) immensis orbibus angues incumbunt pelago pariterque ad litora tendunt;               205 pectora quorum inter fluctus arrecta iubaeque sanguineae superant undas, pars cetera pontum pone legit sinuatque immensa uolumine terga. fit sonitus spumante salo; iamque arua tenebant ardentisque oculos suffecti sanguine et igni               210 sibila lambebant linguis uibrantibus ora. diffugimus uisu exsangues. illi agmine certo Laocoonta petunt; et primum parua duorum corpora natorum serpens amplexus uterque implicat et miseros morsu depascitur artus;               215 post ipsum auxilio subeuntem ac tela ferentem corripiunt spirisque ligant ingentibus; et iam bis medium amplexi, bis collo squamea circum terga dati superant capite et ceruicibus altis. ille simul manibus tendit diuellere nodos               220 perfusus sanie uittas atroque ueneno, clamores simul horrendos ad sidera tollit: qualis mugitus, fugit cum saucius aram taurus et incertam excussit ceruice securim. at gemini lapsu delubra ad summa dracones               225 effugiunt saeuaeque petunt Tritonidis arcem, sub pedibusque deae clipeique sub orbe teguntur. This text is from the Latin Library

[audio:http://blogs.dickinson.edu/latin-poetry-podcast/files/2009/08/PrudentiusHamartigenia.mp3] maior inest vis illa homini, quae flatile virus 531 ingerit et tenuem tenui facit aëre mentem. Parthica non aeque ventos transcurrit harundo, cuius iter nullus potis est compredere visus; praepes enim volucres dum pinnis transvolat auras, 535 improvisa venit, nec stridor nuntiat ante adventum leti, quam pectoris abdita rumpat securam penetrans medicato vulnere vitam. sed magis aligera est magis et medicata sagitta, quam iacit umbrosi dominatio lubrica mundi 540 eludens excussa oculos calamique volantis praepete tanscursu cordis penetralia figens. nec segnis natura animae est aut tarda cavendi vulneris, ignitum quoniam deus indidit olli ingenium purum, sapiens, subtile, serenum, 545 mobile, sollicitum, velox, agitabile, acutum, factorem modo casta suum veneretur et ipsi militet ac victum proculcet sobria mundum nil de pestiferis opibus aut falsificatis terrarum spoliis stulto oblectamine libans, 550 ne sub fasce iacens alieno et dedita regno non queat argutas hostis vitare sagittas. Text: J. Bergman, Aurelii Prudentii Clementis Carmina = CSEL vol. 61 (Vienna and Leipzig: Hoelder-Pichler-Tempsky, 1926) <!–[if gte mso 9]> Normal 0 false false false EN-US X-NONE X-NONE MicrosoftInternetExplorer4 <![endif]–><!–[if gte mso 9]> <![endif]–> <!–[endif]–>

[audio:http://blogs.dickinson.edu/latin-poetry-podcast/files/2009/08/Phaedrus-4.6newnew.mp3] Pugna Murium et Mustelarum Cum victi mures mustelarum exercitu (historia, quorum et, in tabernis pingitur) fugerent et artos circum trepidarent cavos, aegre recepti, tamen evaserunt necem: duces eorum, qui capitibus cornua suis ligarant ut conspicuum in proelio haberent signum quod sequerentur milites, haesere in portis suntque capti ab hostibus; quos immolatos victor avidis dentibus capacis alvi mersit tartareo specu. Quemcumque populum tristis eventus premit, periclitatur magnitudo principum, minuta plebes facili praesidio latet. Text: Giannina Solimano, Fedro: Favole (Rome: Garzanti, 1996)

http://blogs.dickinson.edu/latin-poetry-podcast/files/2009/07/horace-odes-130.mp3 O Venus, regina Cnidi Paphique, sperne dilectam Cypron et vocantis ture te multo Glycerae decoram transfer in aedem fervidus tecum puer et solutis Gratiae zonis properentque Nymphae et parum comis sine te Iuventas Mercuriusque

[audio:http://blogs.dickinson.edu/archive/images/avienus-phaenomena.mp3] Carminis inceptor mihi Jupiter; auspice terras linquo Iove; excelsam reserat dux Iupiter aethram imus in astra Iovis monitu; Iovis omine caelum, et Iovis imperio mortalibus aethera pando. Hic statio, hic sedes primi patris; iste paterni   5 principium motus, vis fulminis iste corusci, vita elementorum, mundi calor, aetheris ignis, astrorumque vigor, perpes substantia lucis, et numerus celsi modulaminis; hic tener aer, materiaeque gravis concretio; sucus ab alto    10 corporibus caelo; cunctarum alimonia rerum; flos et flamma animae, qui discurrente meatu molis primigenae penetralia dura resolvens implevit largo venas operatus amore, ordinis ut proprii foedus daret; iste calorem,   15 quo digesta capax solidaret semina mundus, inseruit. rite hunc primum, medium, atque supremum vox secreta canit sibi; nam permixtus utrimque, actor agendorum, propriique patrator amoris, et mundi vere pastor sacer. Hic chaos altum    20 lumine perrumpit; tenebrarum hic vincula primus solvit, et ipse parens rerum fluitantia fixit. …… Hoc duce per tumidi ferimur freta gurgitis; isto  41 praeceptore solum gravibus versamus aratris; iste modum statuit signis; hic rebus honorem infundit; tenebris hic interlabitur aethrae, viscera et aethereos animans genitabilis artus.   45  A bit more info. on Avienus is here. The text I used was that of Despois and Saviot (Paris: Panckoucke, 1843), available here through Google books.

[audio:http://blogs.dickinson.edu/archive/images/xanthius-the-notarius.mp3] Hoc carmen, haec ara, hic cinis pueri sepulcrum est Xantiae, qui morte acerba raptus est, iam doctus in compendia tot literarum et nominum notare currenti stilo quod lingua currens diceret. iam nemo superaret legens, iam voce erili coeperat ad omne dictatum volans aurem vocari at proximam. heu morte propera concidit arcana qui solus sui sciturus domini fuit. note: the slight spelling irregularities in the Latin are present in the original inscription, which was found at Cologne: CLE 219 = CIL 13.8355 = ILS 7756 = Courtney, Musa Lapidaria 131. In my discussion I refer to Quintilian, The Orator’s Education 10.3.18 ff., and to William Fitzgerald, Slavery and the Roman Literary Imagination (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press), pp. 14-15.The image is a detail of so-called “circus monument” from Neumagen; relief as a whole depicts a commercial scene, probably selling of goods and keeping accounts (3rd c. AD; Trier, Landesmuseum. photo: Barbara McManus, 1988)

[audio:http://blogs.dickinson.edu/archive/images/jesus-in-the-temple.mp3] Dum vero affatur genitorem divus ad aram,    551 mirantes socii templum per singula lustrant, suspectu molem vasto artificumque laborem: Cautibus excisas centum, centum aere columnas, omnes e solido, omnes altis montibus aequas, 555 tignaque et aeterna ex cedro laquearia, ahenoque aeratas porro stridentes cardine portas, sectilibusque minutatim sola levia saxis. Tum puro ex auro postes mensasque metallo e simili et fixos alta ad donaria currus    560 distinctos ebeno et candenti elephanto. Quae dum cuncta legunt, perfectis ordine votis improvisus adest tacitusque supervenit heros, atque ait: ‘Haec moles, adeo haec immania templa, protinus ut vento radicitus eruta pinus,     565 versa repente dabunt labem ingentemque ruinam, et tibi digna tuis, Solyma, instant praemia factis, quae vates ad te missos divinitus ausa es tot ferro petere aut duris detrudere saxis.’  569 Text: Marco Girolamo Vida, Christiad, trans. James Gardner (Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 2009).

[audio:http://blogs.dickinson.edu/archive/images/ovid-met-177-88.mp3] Sanctius his animal mentisque capacius altae deerat adhuc et quod dominari in cetera posset: natus homo est, sive hunc divino semine fecit ille opifex rerum, mundi melioris origo, sive recens tellus seductaque nuper ab alto aethere cognati retinebat semina caeli. quam satus Iapeto, mixtam pluvialibus undis, finxit in effigiem moderantum cuncta deorum, pronaque cum spectent animalia cetera terram, os homini sublime dedit caelumque videre iussit et erectos ad sidera tollere vultus: sic, modo quae fuerat rudis et sine imagine, tellus induit ignotas hominum conversa figuras.

[audio:http://blogs.dickinson.edu/archive/images/ausonius-moselle.mp3] I nunc et Phrygiis sola leuia consere crustis Tendens marmoreum laqueata per atria campum; ast ego despectis, quae census opesque dederunt,         50 Naturae mirabor opus, non cura nepotum Laetaque iacturis ubi luxuriatur egestas. Hic solidae sternunt umentia litora harenae, Nec retinent memores uestigia pressa figuras. Spectaris uitreo per leuia terga profundo,                            55 Secreti nihil amnis habens: utque almus aperto Panditur intuitu liquidis obtutibus aer Nec placidi prohibent oculos per inania uenti, Sic demersa procul durante per intima uisu Cernimus arcanique patet penetrale profundi,                   60 Cum uada lene meant liquidarum et lapsus aquarum Prodit caerulea dispersas luce figuras:

Thanks to Wells Hansen of Milton Academy for this guest spot![audio:http://blogs.dickinson.edu/archive/images/a-look-at-snow.mp3] Vides ut alta stet nive candidum Soracte, nec iam sustineant onus   silvae laborantes, geluque     flumina constiterint acuto? dissolue frigus ligna super foco large reponens atque benignius   deprome quadrimum Sabina,     o Thaliarche, merum diota. permitte divis cetera, qui simul stravere ventos aequore fervido   deproeliantis, nec cupressi     nec veteres agitantur orni. quid sit futurum cras fuge quaerere, et quem Fors dierum cumque dabit lucro   appone, nec dulcis amores     sperne puer neque tu choreas, donec virenti canities abest morosa. nunc et Campus et areae   lenesque sub noctem susurri     composita repetantur hora, nunc et latentis proditor intimo gratus puellae risus ab angulo   pignusque dereptum lacertis     aut digito male pertinaci.

[audio:http://blogs.dickinson.edu/archive/images/the-view-from-the-palatine.mp3] Non alium certe decuit rectoribus orbis esse larem, nulloque magis se colle potestas aestimat et summi sentit fastigia iuris; attollens apicem subiectis regia rostris tot circum delubra videt tantisque deorum cingitur excubiis! iuvat infra tecta Tonantis cernere Tarpeia pendentes rupe Gigantas caelatasque fores mediisque volantia signa nubibus et densum stipantibus aethera templis aeraque vestitis numerosa puppe columnis consita subnixasque iugis inmanibus aedes, naturam cumulante manu, spoliisque micantes innumeros arcus. acies stupet igne metalli et circumfuso trepidans obtunditur auro.

[audio:http://blogs.dickinson.edu/archive/images/the-temple-of-janus.mp3] ‘cum tot sint iani, cur stas sacratus in uno,      hic ubi iuncta foris templa duobus habes?’ ille, manu mulcens propexam ad pectora barbam,      protinus Oebalii rettulit arma Tati, utque levis custos, armillis capta, Sabinos      ad summae tacitos duxerit arcis iter. ‘inde, velut nunc est, per quem descenditis’, inquit      ‘arduus in valles per fora clivus erat. et iam contigerat portam, Saturnia cuius      dempserat oppositas invidiosa seras; cum tanto veritus committere numine pugnam,      ipse meae movi callidus artis opus, oraque, qua pollens ope sum, fontana reclusi,      sumque repentinas eiaculatus aquas. ante tamen madidis subieci sulpura venis,      clauderet ut Tatio fervidus umor iter. cuius ut utilitas pulsis percepta Sabinis,      quae fuerat, tuto reddita forma loco est; ara mihi posita est parvo coniuncta sacello:      haec adolet flammis cum strue farra suis.’

[audio:http://blogs.dickinson.edu/archive/images/catullus13.mp3] Cenabis bene, mi Fabulle, apud me paucis, si tibi di fauent, diebus, si tecum attuleris bonam atque magnam cenam, non sine candida puella et uino et sale et omnibus cachinnis. haec si, inquam, attuleris, uenuste noster, cenabis bene; nam tui Catulli plenus sacculus est aranearum. sed contra accipies meros amores seu quid suauius elegantiusue est: nam unguentum dabo, quod meae puellae donarunt Veneres Cupidinesque, quod tu cum olfacies, deos rogabis, totum ut te faciant, Fabulle, nasum.

[audio:http://blogs.dickinson.edu/archive/images/the-death-of-bitias.mp3] tum Bitian ardentem oculis animisque frementem, non iaculo (neque enim iaculo uitam ille dedisset), sed magnum stridens contorta phalarica uenit fulminis acta modo, quam nec duo taurea terga nec duplici squama lorica fidelis et auro sustinuit; conlapsa ruunt immania membra, dat tellus gemitum et clipeum super intonat ingens. talis in Euboico Baiarum litore quondam saxea pila cadit, magnis quam molibus ante constructam ponto iaciunt, sic illa ruinam prona trahit penitusque uadis inlisa recumbit; miscent se maria et nigrae attolluntur harenae, tum sonitu Prochyta alta tremit durumque cubile Inarime Iouis imperiis imposta Typhoeo.

[audio:http://blogs.dickinson.edu/archive/images/ferulae-speak.mp3] Ferulae: Invisae nimium pueris grataeque magistris      clara Prometheo munere ligna sumus.

[audio:http://blogs.dickinson.edu/archive/images/optatianus-21.mp3] Sancte tui vatis Caesar miserere serenus! Auguste omnipotens, almo mortalia cuncta Numine laetificans, nobis ad gaudia nomen, Constantine, tuum fecundi carminis ex hoc Te duce det Musas. nam tristis cura recusat Egregios actus. iam sedent crimina Parcae. Tunc melius dominum te vox secura sonabit, Virtutum rector! potuit vix pangere versu Ista modo, et maesto sic saltim dicere vati Vix mihi Calliope pavitanti conscia nutu Adnuit, ausa precem vatisque edicere fata Tristia, signato partes ut limite claudat Iure pari carmen, mediis ut consona in omni Sit nota prima sui et sit pars extima talis, Ceu media e primis, occurrens aptius istic; Ac laterum fines et pars, quae dividit orsa E medio, caput esse queat versuque referre. Sancte tui vatis Caesar miserere serenus! Alme, salus orbis, Romae decus, inclyte fama, Re melior, pietate parens, ad Martia victor, mitior ad veniam, permulcens aspera legum Iustitia, aeternae vires et gloria saecli, Spes data plena bonis et felix copia rebus, Eximium columen veterum virtute fideque, Romae magne parens, armis civilibus ultor, Et summi laus grata dei, mens clara, superne Rebus missa salus, per te pax, optime ductor, Et bellis secura quies, sancta omnia per te. Solis iura suis fidissima dextra maritis Et sociale iugum praebet, consortia vitae. Respice me falso de crimine, maxime rector, Exulis afflictum poena; nam cetera causae Nunc obiecta mihi venia, venerabile numen, Vince pia et solito superans fatalia nutu Sancte tui vatis Caesar miserere serenus! Subscribe with

[audio:http://blogs.dickinson.edu/archive/images/epitaph-for-a-roman-soldier.mp3] d. M. L. Comagi Firmi milit(is) leg. II Parth. qui vixit ann. XXVII m. II d. V Parcae te miseris rapuere parent(ibus) urna spectantes livente animo tuae gloriae cursum fletus in perpetuo miserae reliq(uisti) dolore, nec potuit corpus a sodalib(us) tradi sepulchro. me decepisti, nimium horfanam tu reliquist(i) Nigidia Firmina mater infeliciss(ima) filio pientissimo. Subscribe with

[audio:http://blogs.dickinson.edu/archive/images/eleven-little-syllables-catullus-10.mp3] Varus me meus ad suos amores uisum duxerat e foro otiosum, scortillum, ut mihi tum repente uisum est, non sane illepidum neque inuenustum, huc ut uenimus, incidere nobis sermones uarii, in quibus, quid esset iam Bithynia, quo modo se haberet, et quonam mihi profuisset aere. respondi id quod erat, nihil neque ipsis nec praetoribus esse nec cohorti, cur quisquam caput unctius referret, praesertim quibus esset irrumator praetor, nec faceret pili cohortem. ‘at certe tamen,’ inquiunt ‘quod illic natum dicitur esse, comparasti ad lecticam homines.’ ego, ut puellae unum me facerem beatiorem, ‘non’ inquam ‘mihi tam fuit maligne ut, prouincia quod mala incidisset, non possem octo homines parare rectos.’ at mi nullus erat nec hic neque illic fractum qui ueteris pedem grabati in collo sibi collocare posset. hic illa, ut decuit cinaediorem, ‘quaeso’ inquit ‘mihi, mi Catulle, paulum istos commoda: nam uolo ad Serapim deferri.’ ‘mane’ inquii puellae, ‘istud quod modo dixeram me habere, fugit me ratio: meus sodalis— Cinna est Gaius—is sibi parauit. uerum, utrum illius an mei, quid ad me? utor tam bene quam mihi pararim. sed tu insulsa male et molesta uiuis, per quam non licet esse neglegentem.’ The translation given here is from the wonderful bilingual edition by Peter Green, The Poems of Catullus (Berekely: University of California Press, 2005). Subscribe with