Sunday, January 19, 2025
Two Bodies
Cicero, Pro Murena 25.51 (tr. C. MacDonald; he = Catiline):
‹Older
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.Plutarch, Life of Cicero 14.4 (tr. Bernadotte Perrin ; he = Catiline):
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.
"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;"
