Letter 47 Flashcards
Libenter ex is, qui a te veniunt, cognovi familiariter te cum servis tuis vivere. Hoc prudentiam tuam, hoc eruditionem decet. “Servi sunt.” Immo homines. “Servi sunt.” Immo contubernales. “Servi sunt.” Immo humiles amici. “Servi sunt.” Immo conservi, si cogitaveris tantundem in utrosque licere fortunae.
I have happily learnt, from those who come from you, that you live on friendly terms with your slaves. This fits your good sense and education. ‘They are slaves’ certainly not, they are humans. ‘They are slaves’ certainly not, they are our housemates. ‘They are slaves’ certainly not, they are our lowborn friends. ‘They are slaves’ certainly not, they are our fellow slaves, if you considered just as much fortune is allowed over both (of us).
lib…viv- indirect discourse
immo- carrying a neg force
hoc- subject referring back to previous statement
Itaque rideo istos, qui turpe existimant cum servo suo cenare. Quare, nisi quia superbissima consuetudo cenanti domino stantium servorum turbam circumdedit? Est ille plus quam capit, et ingenti aviditate onerat distentum ventrem ac desuetum iam ventris officio, ut maiore opera omnia egerat quam ingessit; at infelicibus servis movere labra ne in hoc quidem, ut loquantur, licet.
In this way I mock/scorn those who considers eating with his slaves disgraceful. Why (do I laugh), only because arrogant habit surrounds a master eating in a crowd of standing slaves? That man is more than he takes and with enormous greed burdens his swelling stomach and now unaccustomed to the work of a stomach, so that he can discharge with greater effort than he did on ingesting. And it is not even aloowed to the unlucky slaves to move their lips so as to speak.
ne…quidem- not even
Virga murmur omne conpescitur, et ne fortuita quidem verberibus excepta sunt, tussis, sternumenta, singultus. Magno malo ulla voce interpellatum silentium luitur. Nocte tota ieiuni mutique perstant.
All murmurs are kept in check by the rod, not even chance sounds were exempt from lashes - a cough, a sneeze, a hiccup. Interrupted silence by a single sound is paid for by a huge penalty. All night, they stand, starving and silent.
interp- perfect pass part. neuter nom
nocete tota- abl time when
Sic fit, ut isti de domino loquantur, quibus coram domino loqui non licet. At illi, quibus non tantum coram dominis, sed cum ipsis erat sermo, quorum os non consuebatur, parati erant pro domino porrigere cervicem, periculum inminens in caput suum avertere; in conviviis loquebantur, sed in tormentis tacebant.
So it happens that those to whom it is not allowed to speak in the presence of their master, speak about their master. And those, to whom not only in the presence of their masters but had conversations with their master himself, of whose mouths were not stitched up, were prepared to offer their necks for their master, and turn threatening danger on their own heads. They spoke at banquets but were silent in torture.
Deinde eiusdem arrogantiae proverbium iactatur, totidem hostes esse quot servos. Non habemus illos hostes, sed facimus.
Alia interim crudelia, inhumana praetereo, quod ne tamquam hominibus quidem, sed tamquam iumentis abutimur.
Then the saying was established from that same arrogance, there are as many enemies as slaves. We don’t have them as enemies but we make them.
Meanwhile, I pass over the other cruel and inhumane things, for we mistreat them, not so much as humans, but as beasts.
iac- lit. tossed/thrown
Cum ad cenandum discubuimus, alius sputa detergit, alius reliquias temulentorum toro subditus colligit. Alius pretiosas aves scindit; per pectus et clunes certis ductibus circumferens eruditam manum frusta excutit, infelix, qui huic uni rei vivit, ut altilia decenter secet, nisi quod miserior est, qui hoc voluptatis causa docet quam qui necessitatis discit.
When we reclined for dinner, one wipes up spit, another collecting leftovers under the couch from drunks. One carves expensive birds, he shakes off bits, circling his clever hand around them, with sure leadings through the breast and rumps, unlucky, he who lives for this one thing, that proper carving of fat, except what is more miserable, who teaches for the sake of pleasure, than he who learns it from necessity.
Alius vini minister in muliebrem modum ornatus cum aetate luctatur; non potest effugere pueritiam, retrahitur, iamque militari habitu glaber retritis pilis aut penitus evulsis tota nocte pervigilat, quam inter ebrietatem domini ac libidinem dividit et in cubiculo vir, in convivio puer est.
Another, the minister of wine, having been adorned in feminine fashion, struggles with old age. he is not able to escape boyhood, drawn back, already he holds a soldiers guise, beardless, hair shaved or plucked deep within, he keeps watch all night, which he divides between his master’s drunkeness and his lust, in the bedroom he is a man, in the party he is a boy.
aetate - old supplied.
Alius, cui convivarum censura permissa est, perstat infelix et exspectat, quos adulatio et intemperantia aut gulae aut linguae revocet in crastinum. Adice obsonatores, quibus dominici palati notitia subtilis est, qui sciunt, cuius illum rei sapor excitet, cuius delectet aspectus, cuius novitate nauseabundus erigi possit, quid iam ipsa satietate fastidiat, quid illo die esuriat.
Another, to whom judgement of the guests is allocated. The unlucky on stands around and watches out for those whom flattery and excess either of the throat or tongue, calls back tomorrow. Turn your attention the caterers, the knowledge to them of their mater’s palate is precise, who know, of what flavoured thing excites him, of what sights are pleasing, of what novelty the nauseous man is able to be roused by, what he would now despise from satiety itself, and what he hungers for on that day.
censure- gerund of ceneo
Cum his cenare non sustinet et maiestatis suae deminutionem putat ad eandem mensam cum servo suo accedere. Di melius!
Quot ex istis dominos habet! Stare ante limen Callisti dominum suum vidi et eum, qui illi inpegerat titulum, qui inter reicula mancipia produxerat, aliis intrantibus excludi. Rettulit illi gratiam servus ille in primam decuriam coniectus, in qua vocem praeco experitur; et ipse illum invicem apologavit, et ipse non iudicavit domo sua dignum. Dominus Callistum vendidit; sed domino quam multa Callistus!
with these slaves he cannot bear to dine and he would think his dignity diminished to join at the same table alongside his slaves. Lord above! How many masters he has from this class! I have seen, standing at the threshold of Callistus, his master and he, who had pinned a bill of sale on him and had put him up for sale among worthless slaves, is shut out while others go in. That slave brought returned thanks to him, having been thrown into the first lot (of sale), in which the cryer practises his voice, and the salve himself, in turn, spurned and judged him unworthy for his house. The master sold Callistus but how much has Callistus made his master pay for!
di melius- lit. better gods
titulum- bill of sale
produco- lit. bring out/lead
aliis intrantibus- abl abls with present ppl
quam multa- supply fecit
Vis tu cogitare istum, quem servum tuum vocas, ex isdem seminibus ortum eodem frui caelo, aeque spirare, aeque vivere, aeque mori! tam tu illum videre ingenuum potes quam ille te servum. Mariana clade multos splendidissime natos, senatorium per militiam auspicantes gradum, fortuna depressit, alium ex illis pastorem, alium custodem casae fecit; contemne nunc eius fortunae hominem, in quam transire, dum contemnis, potes.
You would do good to remember that he, whom you call your salve, rose from the same seeds and enjoys the same sky, and equally breathes, lives and dies! you are able to see that man as free-born as you are able to see that man as a slave. In the disaster of Marius, many of very distinguished birth, began the senatorial steps through the military, fortune fortune sunk and made one of them a Shepard, another the guard of a house. Despise then, men of that fortune, into which you are able to pass while you despise them.
vis cogitare- set phrase (be good enough to think…)
Mariana clade- abl time when
fortuna- takes depressit and fecit
contemne- imperative
dum- following verbs always stay present
Nolo in ingentem me locum inmittere et de usu servorum disputare, in quos superbissimi, crudelissimi, contumeliosissimi sumus. Haec tamen praecepti mei summa est: sic cum inferiore vivas, quemadmodum tecum superiorem velis vivere. Quotiens in mentem venerit, quantum tibi in servum liceat, veniat in mentem tantundem in te domino tuo licere. “At ego,” inquis, “nullum habeo dominum.” Bona aetas est; forsitan habebis. Nescis, qua aetate Hecuba servire coeperit, qua Croesus, qua Darei mater, qua Platon, qua Diogenes?
I do not want to place myself into a great debate to dispute about the use of slaves, against whom we are the most rude, the cruelest and abusive. However, this is the highest point of my advice: this live with your lessers, in the manner you wish your superiors to live with you. As often as it comes into your mind how much is allowed to you against/over your slave, let it come into your mind that just as much is allowed against/over you to your master. ‘But I,’ you say, ‘have no master.’ It is a good age (you are young), but perhaps you will have one. Do you not know in which age Hecuba began to be a slave, or Croesus or the mother of Darius, or Plato or Diogenes?
Vive cum servo clementer, comiter quoque, et in sermonem illum admitte et in consilium et in convictum. Hoc loco adclamabit mihi tota manus delicatorum: “Nihil hac re humilius, nihil turpius.” Hos ego eosdem deprehendam alienorum servorum osculantes manum. Ne illud quidem videtis, quam omnem invidiam maiores nostri dominis, omnem contumeliam servis detraxerint? Dominum patrem familiae appellaverunt, servos, quod etiam in mimis adhuc durat, familiares
Live with your slaves kindly, even politely, and admit them into your conversations and plans and living. At this point/place, an entire group of spoilt men will shout at me, ‘Nothing is more humiliating, nothing more disgraceful than this thing.’ These of them (these men) I will surprise kissing the hand of another’s slave. You not even see this, how our ancestors took away all envy from our masters, all humiliation from slaves? They address the masters as ‘Father of the household’ and slaves as family, which still endures up till now in mine.
Instituerunt diem festum, non quo solo cum servis domini vescerentur, sed quo utique; honores illis in domo gerere, ius dicere permiserunt et domum pusillam rem publicam esse iudicaverunt.
“Quid ergo? Omnes servos admovebo mensae meae?” Non magis quam omnes liberos. Erras, si existimas me quosdam quasi sordidioris operae reiecturum, ut puta illum mulionem et illum bubulcum; non ministeriis illos aestimabo, sed moribus.
They placed the days of festivals, not only on which the masters ate with their slaves, but on which at least. They allowed the slaves to bear honours in the house and to speak the law that the master judged to be small republic.
‘Therefore what? I will bring all my slaves to my table?’ No more than all freedmen. You make a mistake, if you expect me to reject some lower working people, as for example, the man who drives mules and he who is a herdsman; I do not judge those by their work, but by character.
Sibi quisque dat mores, ministeria casus adsignat. Quidam cenent tecum, quia digni sunt, quidam, ut sint. Si quid enim in illis. ex sordida conversatione servile est, honestiorum convictus excutiet. Non est, mi Lucili, quod amicum tantum in foro et in curia quaeras; si diligenter adtenderis, et domi invenies. Saepe bona materia cessat sine artifice; tempta, et experiere. Quemadmodum stultus est, qui equum empturus non ipsum inspicit, sed stratum eius ac frenos, sic stultissimus est, qui hominem aut ex veste aut ex condicione, quae vestis modo nobis circumdata est, aestimat.
Each man gives character to himself, chance assigns work. Let some dine with you because they are worthy, and others that they may be. For if anything in them, is servile from sordid conversations, association with honest men will shake it out. It is not, my Lucullus, that you should seek all friends in the forum or senate. If you pay careful attention, you may even find them at home. Often good material departs without a craftsman. Try and find out. For instance, he is stupid, the one who, about to buy a horse, does not inspect it, but his saddle-blanket and bridle, thus he is the most stupid, he who judges men either from his clothes or from his rank, which is only the clothes we put around us.
digni- gen of quality.
“Servus est.” Sed fortasse liber animo. “Servus est.” Hoc illi nocebit? Ostende, quis non sit; alius libidini servit, alius avaritiae, alius ambitioni, omnes timori. Dabo consularem aniculae servientem, dabo ancillulae divitem, ostendam nobilissimos iuvenes mancipia pantomimorum! Nulla servitus turpior est quam voluntaria.
‘He is a slave.’ But perhaps he is free in his mind/soul. ‘He is a slave.’ Will that harm him? Show me anyone who is not; one is a slave to lust, another to greed, another to ambition, all to fear. I will give you a consul who is a slave to his old wife, I will you a slave to riches, I will show the noblest young men who are enslaved to a pantomime player! No slavery is more unsightly than voluntary.
