Tag: Cicero

Fortitudinis quaedam praecepta sunt ac paene leges, quae effeminari virum vetant in dolore. quamobrem turpe putandum est, non dico dolere (nam id quidem est interdum necesse), sed ‘saxum illud Lemnium’ clamore Philocteteo ‘funestare’,

quod eiulatu, questu, gemitu, fremitibus
resonando mutum flebiles voces refert.

huic Epicurus praecentet, si potest, cui

e viperino morsu venae viscerum
veneno imbutae taetros cruciatus cient!

sic Epicurus: ‘Philocteta, si gravis dolor, brevis.’ at iam decimum annum in spelunca iacet.
(Cicero, De Finibus Bonorum et Malorum 2.94)

Courage has its precepts and its rules, rules of constraining force, that forbid a man to show womanish weakness in pain. Hence it must be considered a disgrace, I do not say to feel pain (that is sometimes inevitable), but that ‘rock of Lemnos to outrage’* with the cries of a Philoctetes,

Till the dumb stones utter a voice of weeping,
Echoing his wails and plaints, his sighs and groanings.

Let Epicurus soothe with his spells, if he can, the man whose

Veins and vitals, from the viper’s fang
Envenom’d, throb with pangs of anguish dire.

Thus Epicurus: ‘Philoctetes! If pain is severe, it is short.’ Oh, but he has been languishing in his cave these ten years past.

* Quoted probably from the Philoctetes of Attius.

(tr. Harris Rackham, with his note)

Quatenus autem sint ridicula tractanda oratori, perquam diligenter videndum est, id quod in quarto loco quaerendi posueramus. nam nec insignis improbitas, et scelere iuncta, nec rursus miseria insignis agitata ridetur: facinorosos enim maiore quadam vi quam ridiculi vulnerari volunt; miseros illudi nolunt nisi se forte iactant. parcendum est autem maxime caritati hominum, ne temere in eos dicas qui diliguntur. haec igitur adhibenda est primum in iocando moderatio.
(Cicero, De Oratore 2.237-238)

But the limits within which things laughable are to be handled by the orator, that fourth question we put to ourselves, is one calling for most careful consideration. For neither outstanding wickedness, such as involves crime, nor, on the other hand, outstanding wretchedness is assailed by ridicule, for the public would have the villainous hurt by a weapon rather more formidable than ridicule; while they dislike mockery of the wretched, except perhaps if these bear themselves arrogantly. And you must be especially tender of popular esteem, so that you do not inconsiderately speak ill of the well-beloved. Such then is the restraint that, above all else, must be practised in jesting. (tr. Edward William Sutton)

Tune, cum te ac tuam vitam nosses, in Siciliam tecum grandem praetextatum filium ducebas, ut, etiamsi natura puerum a paternis vitiis atque a generis similitudine abduceret, consuetudo tamen eum et disciplina degenerare non sineret? fac enim fuisse in eo C. Laelii aut M. Catonis materiem atque indolem: quid ex eo boni sperari atque effici potest, qui in patris luxurie sic vixerit ut nullum umquam pudicum neque sobrium convivium viderit, qui in epulis cotidianis adulta aetate per triennium inter impudicas mulieres et intemperantes viros versatus sit, nihil umquam audierit a patre quo pudentior aut melior esset, nihil umquam patrem facere viderit quod cum imitatus esset non, id quod turpissimum est, patris similis putaretur?
(Cicero, In Verrem 2.3.159-160)

How could you, Verres, knowing yourself and the life you lead, take with you to Sicily a young son who was no longer a child, so that, even if his natural bent tended to wean him from his father’s vices and make him unlike his family, habit and training might nevertheless keep him true to type? Suppose there had been in him the stuff and the disposition to make a Laelius or a Cato of him, what good could be hoped for, or produced from, a boy living amid his father’s debaucheries, so that he never set eyes on one decent or sober dinner-party; a boy who day by day for three years spent his adolescence feasting with unchaste women and intoxicated men, who never heard his father say anything that could make him more modest or virtuous, or do anything that he could copy without incurring the foul disgrace of being recognized as his father’s son? (tr. Leonard Hugh Graham Greenwood)

Qua re, patres conscripti, consulite vobis, prospicite patriae, conservate vos, coniuges, liberos fortunasque vestras, populi Romani nomen salutemque defendite; mihi parcere ac de me cogitare desinite. nam primum debeo sperare omnis deos qui huic urbi praesident pro eo mihi ac mereor relaturos esse gratiam; deinde, si quid obtigerit, aequo animo paratoque moriar. nam neque turpis mors forti viro potest accidere neque immatura consulari nec misera sapienti.
(Cicero, In Catilinam 4.3)

Take thought for yourselves, therefore, gentlemen; look to the preservation of your fatherland, save yourselves, your wives, your children and your fortunes, defend the name of the Roman people and their very existence; stop protecting me and cease your concern for me. Firstly, I am bound to hope that all the gods who watch over this city will recompense me as I deserve; and secondly, if anything happens to me, I shall die calm and resigned. A brave man’s death cannot bring dishonour, a consul’s cannot be before its time, a philosopher’s cannot bring sorrow. (tr. Coll Macdonald)

Nihil est tam populare quam bonitas, nulla de virtutibus tuis plurimis nec admirabilior nec gratior misericordia est. homines enim ad deos nulla re propius accedunt quam salutem hominibus dando; nihil habet nec fortuna tua maius quam ut possis, nec natura melius quam  ut velis servare quam plurimos.
(Cicero, Pro Ligario 37-38)

Nothing is so dear to the people as kindness, and none of your many high qualities arouses such admiration and such pleasure as your compassion. For in nothing do men more nearly approach divinity than in doing good to their fellow-men; your situation has nothing prouder in it than the power, your character nothing in it more noble than the wish, to preserve all whom you can. (tr. Nevile Hunter Watts)