“When the existence and safety of so many nations depend upon your single life, and so large a part of the world has chosen you for its head, it is cruel of you to court death.”
Cum tot in hac anima populorum vita salusque
pendeat et tantus caput hoc sibi fecerit orbis,
saevitia est voluisse mori.
Marcus Annaeus Lucanus book Pharsalia
Book V, line 685 (tr. J. D. Duff).
Pharsalia
“He would rather burst a city gate than find it open to admit him.”
Non tam portas intrare patentis
quam fregisse juvat.
Marcus Annaeus Lucanus book Pharsalia
Book II, line 443 (tr. J. D. Duff).
Pharsalia
“The mere shadow of a mighty name he stood.”
Stat magni nominis umbra.
Marcus Annaeus Lucanus book Pharsalia
Book I, line 135 (tr. J. D. Duff); of Pompey the Great.
Pharsalia
“Thus each by his fears adds strength to rumour, and all dread the unconfirmed dangers invented by themselves.”
Sic quisque pavendo
dat vires famae, nulloque auctore malorum
quae finxere timent.
Marcus Annaeus Lucanus book Pharsalia
Book I, line 484 (tr. J. D. Duff).
Pharsalia
“The chain of causes comes down from the creation of the world.”
A prima descendit origine mundi
causarum series.
Marcus Annaeus Lucanus book Pharsalia
Book VI, line 611 (tr. J. D. Duff).
Pharsalia
“But Caesar, headlong in all his designs,
thought nothing done while anything remained to do.”
Sed Caesar in omnia praeceps,<br/>nil actum credens, cum quid superesset agendum.
Marcus Annaeus Lucanus book Pharsalia
Sed Caesar in omnia praeceps,
nil actum credens, cum quid superesset agendum.
Book II, line 656 (tr. J. D. Duff).
Pharsalia
“I have a wife, I have sons; all these hostages have I given to fortune.”
Coniunx<br/>est mihi, sunt nati; dedimus tot pignora fatis.
Marcus Annaeus Lucanus book Pharsalia
Coniunx
est mihi, sunt nati; dedimus tot pignora fatis.
Book VII, line 661 (tr. J. D. Duff).
Pharsalia
“No life is short that gives a man time to slay himself.”
Vita brevis nulli superest qui tempus in illa
quaerendae sibi mortis habet.
Marcus Annaeus Lucanus book Pharsalia
Book IV, line 478 (tr. J. D. Duff).
Pharsalia
“Legality conferred on crime.”
Iusque datum sceleri.
Marcus Annaeus Lucanus book Pharsalia
Book I, line 2 (tr. J. D. Duff).
Pharsalia
“The sin of thousands always goes unpunished.”
Quidquid multis peccatur inultum est.
Marcus Annaeus Lucanus book Pharsalia
Book V, line 260 (tr. J. D. Duff).
Pharsalia
“We praise loyalty, but it pays the price when it supports those whom Fortune crushes.”
Dat poenas laudata fides, cum sustinet inquit
quos fortuna premit.
Marcus Annaeus Lucanus book Pharsalia
Book VIII, line 485 (tr. J. D. Duff).
Pharsalia
“Let the mind of man be blind to coming doom; he fears, but leave him hope.”
Sit caeca futuri
mens hominum fati; liceat sperare timenti.
Marcus Annaeus Lucanus book Pharsalia
Book II, line 14 (tr. J. D. Duff).
Pharsalia
“Such was the character, such the inflexible rule of austere Cato – to observe moderation and hold fast to the limit, to follow nature, to give his life for his country, to believe that he was born to serve the whole world and not himself.”
Hi mores, haec duri inmota Catonis
secta fuit, servare modum finemque tenere
naturamque sequi patriaeque inpendere vitam
nec sibi sed toti genitum se credere mundo.
Marcus Annaeus Lucanus book Pharsalia
Book II, line 380 (tr. J. D. Duff).
Pharsalia
“If great renown is won by true merit, and if virtue is considered in itself and apart from success, then all that we praise in any of our ancestors was Fortune's gift.”
Si veris magna paratur
fama bonis et si successu nuda remoto
inspicitur virtus, quidquid laudamus in ullo
maiorum, fortuna fuit.
Marcus Annaeus Lucanus book Pharsalia
Book IX, line 593 (tr. J. D. Duff).
Pharsalia
“Best gift of all
The knowledge how to die; next, death compelled.”
Scire mori sors prima viris, sed proxima cogi.
Marcus Annaeus Lucanus book Pharsalia
Book IX, line 211 (tr. E. Ridley).
Pharsalia
“Discordant concord.”
Concordia discors.
Marcus Annaeus Lucanus book Pharsalia
Book I, line 98 (tr. Matthew Fox).
Pharsalia
“Wars worse than civil.”
Bella...plus quam civilia.
Marcus Annaeus Lucanus book Pharsalia
Book I, line 1 (tr. Christopher Marlowe).
Pharsalia
“Ignorantque datos, ne quisquam seruiat, enses.”
Marcus Annaeus Lucanus book Pharsalia
Men are ignorant that the purpose of the sword is to save every man from slavery.
Book IV, line 579 (tr. J. D. Duff).
E. Ridley's translation:
: The sword was given for this, that none need live a slave.
Pharsalia