Laudator Temporis Acti

Horace, Epodes 4.5-6 (tr. Niall Rudd):

You may strut around as proudly as you like on account of your money—
fortune does not alter breeding.

licet superbus ambules pecunia,
fortuna non mutat genus.

David Mankin ad loc.:

5 licet 'although'; cf. 15.19n.

superbus: a term of opprobrium, especially in political contexts (2.7n.).

ambules 'strut' (OLD s.v. 4), a manner of walking that H. found particularly hateful (5.71, 8.14 (cf. 17.41), S. 1.2.25, 4.51, 66). There may be a reference here to Cat. 29.6-7 (of Mamurra) et ille nunc superbus et superfluens I perambulabit omnium cubilia; cf. 5.69n. ambulo is unpoetic and possibly colloquial (Blok (1961) 65, ThLL 1 1870).

pecunia: cf. Ep. 1.6.36-7 scilicet uxorem cum dote fidemque et amicos I et genus et formam regina Pecunia donat.

6 fortuna 'good luck' (C. 1.31.10, 37.11, 3.27.75, 4.4.71, S. 1.9.45, Ep. 1.5.12, 8.17, 2.1.32), but still only luck (C. 1.34, 3.29.49-56). Cf. 13.7n.

genus '(low) birth'; cf. C. 2.4.15, 4.7.23, S. 2.5.8, Ep. 1.6.37 (5n.), 20.22. The speaker's view of the importance of ancestry is very different from that expressed by H. in S. 1.6 (4 intro.).