Laudator Temporis Acti

Cicero, Pro Murena 25.51 (tr. C. MacDonald; he = Catiline):

For he then said that the State had two bodies, one frail with a weak head, the other strong but with no head at all; and provided that it showed itself worthy of his leadership this body would never go short of a head so long as he was alive.

tum enim dixit duo corpora esse rei publicae, unum debile infirmo capite, alterum firmum sine capite; huic, si ita de se meritum esset, caput se vivo non defuturum.

Plutarch, Life of Cicero 14.4 (tr. Bernadotte Perrin ; he = Catiline):

"What dreadful thing, pray," said he, "am I doing, if, when there are two bodies, one lean and wasted, but with a head, and the other headless, but strong and large, I myself become a head for this?"

"τί γὰρ," ἔφη, "πράττω δεινόν, εἰ, δυεῖν σωμάτων ὄντων, τοῦ μέν ἰσχνοῦ καὶ κατεφθινηκότος, ἔχοντος δὲ κεφαλήν, τοῦ δ᾽ ἀκεφάλου μέν, ἰσχυροῦ δὲ καὶ μεγάλου, τούτῳ κεφαλὴν αὐτὸς ἐπιτίθημι;"

Genoa, Museo di Archeologia Ligure, inventario RCGE 1049 (click once or twice to enlarge): Hat tip: Eric Thomson.

Livy 21.2.6 (on Hasdrubal; tr. B.O. Foster):

But peace brought him no security. A barbarian whose master he had put to death murdered him in broad daylight, and when seized by the bystanders he looked as happy as though he had escaped. Even when put to the torture, his delight at the success of his attempt mastered his pain and his face wore a smiling expression.

ceterum nihilo ei pax tutior fuit; barbarus eum quidam palam ob iram interfecti ab eo domini obtruncavit; comprensusque ab circumstantibus haud alio quam si evasisset vultu tormentis quoque cum laceraretur, eo fuit habitu oris ut superante laetitia dolores ridentis etiam speciem praebuerit.

Valerius Maximum 3.3 ext 7 (tr. D.R. Shackleton Bailey):

A barbarian slave, angry with Hasdrubal because he had killed his master, suddenly attacked and slew him. Apprehended, he suffered all manner of torments, but resolutely maintained upon his face the joy his vengeance had given him.

servus barbarus Hasdrubalem, quod dominum suum occidisset graviter ferens, subito adgressus interemit, cumque comprehensus omni modo cruciaretur, laetitiam tamen, quam ex vindicta ceperat, in ore constantissime retinuit.

Livy 10.38.5-12 (293 BC; tr. B.O. Foster):

[5] There, at about the middle of the camp, they had enclosed an area, extending approximately two hundred feet in all directions, with wicker hurdles, and roofed it over with linen. [6] In this place they offered sacrifice in accordance with directions read from an old linen roll. The celebrant was one Ovius Paccius, an aged man, who claimed to derive this ceremony from an ancient ritual of the Samnites which the forefathers of those present had formerly employed when they had gone secretly about to get Capua away from the Etruscans. [7] On the conclusion of the sacrifice, the general by his apparitor commanded to be summoned all those of the highest degree in birth and deeds of arms; and one by one they were introduced. [8] Besides other ceremonial preparations, such as might avail to strike the mind with religious awe, there was a place all enclosed, with altars in the midst and slaughtered victims lying about, and round them a guard of centurions with drawn swords. [9] The man was brought up to the altar, more like a victim than a partaker in the rite, and was sworn not to divulge what he should there see or hear. [10] They then compelled him to take an oath in accordance with a certain dreadful form of words, whereby he invoked a curse upon his head, his household, and his family, if he went not into battle where his generals led the way, or if he either fled from the line himself or saw any other fleeing and did not instantly cut him down. [11] Some there were at first who refused to take this oath; these were beheaded before the altars, where they lay amongst the slaughtered victims — a warning to the rest not to refuse. [12] When the leading Samnites had been bound by this imprecation, the general named ten of them and bade them choose every man another, and so to proceed until they had brought their number up to sixteen thousand. These were named the "Linen Legion," from the roof of the enclosure wherein the nobles had been sworn, and were given splendid arms and crested helmets, to distinguish them from the rest.

[5] ibi mediis fere castris locus est consaeptus cratibus pluteisque et linteis contectus, patens ducentos maxime pedes in omnes pariter partes. [6] ibi ex libro vetere linteo lecto sacrificatum sacerdote Ovio Paccio quodam, homine magno natu, qui se id sacrum petere adfirmabat ex vetusta Samnitium religione, qua quondam usi maiores eorum fuissent cum adimendae Etruscis Capuae clandestinum cepissent consilium. [7] sacrificio perfecto per viatorem imperator acciri iubebat nobilissimum quemque genere factisque: [8] singuli introducebantur. erat cum alius apparatus sacri qui perfundere religione animum posset, tum in loco circa omni contecto arae in medio victimaeque circa caesae et circumstantes centuriones strictis gladiis. [9] admovebatur altaribus magis ut victima quam ut sacri particeps adigebaturque iure iurando quae visa auditaque in eo loco essent, non enuntiaturum. [10] dein iurare cogebant diro quodam carmine, in exsecrationem capitis familiaeque et stirpis composito, nisi isset in proelium quo imperatores duxissent et si aut ipse ex acie fugisset aut si quem fugientem vidisset non extemplo occidisset. [11] id primo quidam abnuentes iuraturos se obtruncati circa altaria sunt; iacentes deinde inter stragem victimarum documento ceteris fuere ne abnuerent. [12] primoribus Samnitium ea detestatione obstrictis, decem nominatis ab imperatore, eis dictum, ut vir virum legerent donec sedecim milium numerum confecissent. ea legio linteata ab integumento consaepti, in quo sacrata nobilitas erat, appellata est: his arma insignia data et cristatae galeae, ut inter ceteros eminerent.

I don't understand why Foster in section 7 translated viatorem by another Latin word (apparitor). I would translate it as agent — see Oxford Latin Dictionary, s.v. uiator, sense 2.

Update: Kevin Muse points out to me that apparitor appears in English dictionaries.

Cicero, Pro Murena 13 (tr. C. MacDonald):

Cato calls Murena a dancer. Strong language from a forceful prosecution, if there is any truth in it; slanderous abuse, if it is false. A man of your stature, then, Marcus Cato, should not pick a piece of dirt from the street corner or from parasites' invective or lightly abuse a consul of the Roman people in this way. You should look around for the other vices with which a man must be tainted before you can sustain this charge. Hardly anyone dances except in his cups, either by himself or at any respectable party, unless of course he is out of his mind. Dancing comes at the end of a seasonable meal, in attractive surroundings and after a wealth of sensuous enjoyment. You are seizing upon this climax of debauchery but leave out those attendant vices without which it cannot exist. You do not produce any disgraceful party, any love-making, riotous behaviour, loose and extravagant living, and since there is no sign of behaviour that goes by the name of pleasure but is really vice, do you think that you can find the shadow of debauchery where you cannot find the substance?

Saltatorem appellat L. Murenam Cato. Maledictum est, si vere obicitur, vehementis accusatoris, sin falso, maledici conviciatoris. Qua re cum ista sis auctoritate, non debes, M. Cato, adripere maledictum ex trivio aut ex scurrarum aliquo convicio neque temere consulem populi Romani saltatorem vocare, sed circumspicere quibus praeterea vitiis adfectum esse necesse sit eum cui vere istud obici possit. Nemo enim fere saltat sobrius, nisi forte insanit, neque in solitudine neque in convivio moderato atque honesto. Tempestivi convivi, amoeni loci, multarum deliciarum comes est extrema saltatio. Tu mihi adripis hoc quod necesse est omnium vitiorum esse postremum, relinquis illa quibus remotis hoc vitium omnino esse non potest? Nullum turpe convivium, non amor, non comissatio, non libido, non sumptus ostenditur, et, cum ea non reperiantur quae voluptatis nomen habent quamquam vitiosa sunt, in quo ipsam luxuriam reperire non potes, in eo te umbram luxuriae reperturum putas?

Elaine Fantham ad loc.:

[I]t is most unlikely that Servius and his subscriptores had produced the charge of being a "dancer" out of the blue. Did it spring from allegations (not acknowledged by Cicero) of bad behavior or debauchery committed by Licinius Murena after returning from military service? Did his antagonists depict him as a party animal like Verres and his associates or Catiline's cronies, who danced nudi (not naked but clad only in a tunic or subligaculum); cf. Verr. 2.3.23; Cat. 2.23; Pis. 22? Our locus classicus for dancing as ill-becoming a consul is Gabinius, against whom Cicero's chief sources of mockery were his carefully curled hairstyle and his dancing (saltatrix calamistrata, Red. Sen. 13), and Nepos, who introduced his Lives of Foreign Generals with an expression of surprise that Greek biographers praised Epaminondas of Thebes for his skillful dancing and flute-playing. Roman gentlemen did not dance: hence Demea's mockery of Micio dancing with a skipping rope between his daughter-in-law and a sex-slave (Ter. Ad. 752) and Cicero's report that the orator Titius pranced so much as he spoke that his name was given to a kind of dance (Brut. 225). However, we need to distinguish such solo performance from dancing in a religious rite and note the changing associations of saltare with the coming of pantomime under Augustus. Cicero maintains that no one dances unless drunk, nemo fere saltat sobrius. But such behavior may have been pretty common in the parties of the younger generation. And what form did this dancing take? We are not talking about dancing with a sexual partner or as part of a male group. Perhaps the best evidence is the Ionic solo number performed by Plautus's Pseudolus (Ps. 1274), a staggering display of teetering pyrotechnics. For ladies dancing, cf. Sempronia in Sall. Cat. 25 saltare elegantius quam necesse est probae and Horace Od. 2.12.19 on Licymnia dancing (ludere) ceremonially with other women.

Diogenes Laertius 6.2.69 (on Diogenes the Cynic; tr. R.D. Hicks):

Being asked what was the most beautiful thing in the world, he replied, "Freedom of speech."

ἐρωτηθεὶς τί κάλλιστον ἐν ἀνθρώποις, ἔφη, "παρρησία."

This is fragment 473 of Diogenes the Cynic in Gabriele Giannantoni, ed., Socraticorum Reliquiae, Vol. II (Naples: Bibliopolis, 1983), p. 585.

Joachim du Bellay (1522-1560), Les Regrets, sonnet 5, tr. Richard Helgerson:

Those who are in love will sing their loves. Those who love honor will sing of glory. Those who are near the king will publicize his victory. Those who are courtiers will boast of their favors.

Those who love the arts will speak of learning. Those who are virtuous will make themselves known for it. Those who love wine will talk of drinking. Those who have leisure will write tales.

Those who speak ill of others will take pleasure in slander. Those who are less irksome will tell jokes for a laugh. Those who are more valiant will boast of their valor.

Those who are overly pleased with themselves will sing their own praises. Those who wish to flatter will make an angel of a devil. I, who am unhappy, will complain of my unhappiness.

Ceulx qui sont amoureux, leurs amours chanteront,
Ceulx qui ayment l'honneur, chanteront de la gloire,
Ceulx qui sont pres du Roy, publiront sa victoire,
Ceulx qui sont courtisans, leurs faveurs vanteront,

Ceulx qui ayment les arts, les sciences diront,
Ceulx qui sont vertueux, pour tels se feront croire,
Ceulx qui ayment le vin, deviseront de boire,
Ceulx qui sont de loisir, de fables escriront,

Ceulx qui sont mesdisans, se plairont à mesdire,
Ceulx qui sont moins fascheux, diront des mots pour rire,
Ceulx qui sont plus vaillans, vanteront leur valeur,

Ceulx qui se plaisent trop, chanteront leur louange,
Ceulx qui veulent flater, feront d'un diable un ange:
Moy, qui suis malheureux, je plaindray mon malheur.

Walter Savage Landor (1775-1864), "Blucher and Sandt," Imaginary Conversations (Sandt speaking):

Many things are true which we do not believe to be true; but more are false which we do not suspect of falsehood.

Aristophanes, Frogs 341-353 (my translation):

Raising flaming torches in your hands you have come,
Iacchus, o Iacchus,
Light-bearing star of nocturnal rite.
The meadow gleams with light.
Old men's knees leap.
They shake off pains
And lengthy lapses of old years
By sacred worship.
But you, shining with a torch,
As you advance, lead forth to the flowering marshy
Ground, o blessed one, the dancing youthful band.

ἐγείρων φλογέας λαμπάδας ἐν χερσὶ προσήκεις,        340
Ἴακχ᾽ ὦ Ἴακχε,
νυκτέρου τελετῆς φωσφόρος ἀστήρ.
φλογὶ φέγγεται δὲ λειμών·
γόνυ πάλλεται γερόντων·        345
ἀποσείονται δὲ λύπας
χρονίους τ᾽ ἐτῶν παλαιῶν ἐνιαυτοὺς
ἱερᾶς ὑπὸ τιμῆς.
σὺ δὲ λαμπάδι φέγγων        350
προβάδην ἔξαγ᾽ ἐπ᾽ ἀνθηρὸν ἕλειον
δάπεδον χοροποιόν, μάκαρ, ἥβην.

Critical apparatus from N.G. Wilson's Oxford Classical Text edition:

Matthew 15:37 (tr. Robert K. Brown), in The New Greek-English Interlinear New Testament ... Translators: Robert K. Brown and Philip W. Comfort (Wheaton: Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., 1990), p. 60:

AND EVERYONE-ATE AND THEY WERE SATISFIED AND THE LEFTOVERS OF THE FRAGMENTS WERE SEVEN BASKETS FULL.

The Greek (from the United Bible Societies' 4th corrected edition):

καὶ ἔφαγον πάντες καὶ ἐχορτάσθησαν καὶ τὸ περισσεῦον τῶν κλασμάτων ἦραν ἑπτὰ σπυρίδας πλήρεις.

Brown seems to have regarded ἦραν as some form of the copulative verb εἰμί (perhaps confusing it with the imperfect ἦσαν), but in fact it's the aorist of the transitive verb αἴρω = lift up, remove.

Labels: typographical and other errors

Aeschylus, Libation Bearers 122-123 (tr. Herbert Weir Smyth, slightly modified):

                              ELECTRA
And is this a righteous thing for me to ask of Heaven?
                              CHORUS
How not? To requite an enemy evil for evil?

                              ΗΛΕΚΤΡΑ
καὶ ταῦτά μοὔστιν εὐσεβῆ θεῶν πάρα;
                              ΧΟΡΟΣ
πῶς δ᾿ οὔ, τὸν ἐχθρόν γ᾿ ἀνταμείβεσθαι κακοῖς;

See also William Allan, "The Ethics of Retaliatory Violence in Athenian Tragedy," Mnemosyne 66.4/5 (2013) 593-615 (at 602-603).