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| Ardeat ipsa licet, tormentis gaudet amantis—Though she is aflame herself, she delights in the torments of her lover. | 1 |
| At vindictum bonum vita jucundius ipsa. Nempe hoc indocti—But revenge is a blessing sweeter than life itself; so rude men feel. | 2 |
| Aude aliquid brevibus Gyaris et carcere dignum, / Si vis esse aliquis—Dare to do something worthy of transportation and imprisonment, if you wish to be somebody. | 3 |
| Cantabit vacuus coram latrone viator—The penniless traveller will sing in presence of the robber. | 4 |
| Capistrum maritale—The matrimonial halter. | 5 |
| Captum te nidore suæ putat ille culinæ—He thinks he has caught you with the savoury smell of his kitchen. | 6 |
| Carior est illis homo quam sibi—Man is dearer to them (i.e., the gods) than to himself. | 7 |
| Cedunt grammatici; vincuntur rhetores / Turba tacet—The grammarians give way; the rhetoricians are beaten off; all the assemblage is silent. | 8 |
| Crambe repetita—Cabbage repeated (kills). | 9 |
| Crescit amor nummi quantum ipsa pecunia crescit—The love of money increases as wealth increases. | 10 |
| Damna minus consueta movent—Losses we are accustomed to, affect us little. | 11 |
| Dat veniam corvis, vexat censura columbas—He pardons the ravens, but visits with censure the doves. | 12 |
| De male quæsitis vix gaudet tertius hæres—A third heir seldom enjoys what is dishonestly acquired. | 13 |
| Defendit numerus junctæque umbone phalanges—Their numbers protect them and their compact array. | 14 |
| Difficile est satiram non scribere—It is difficult not to indulge in (lit. to write) satire. | 15 |
| Dives qui fieri vult, / Et cito vult fieri—He who wishes to become rich, is desirous of becoming so at once. | 16 |
| Divine Philosophy, by whose pure light / We first distinguish, then pursue the right; / Thy power the breast from every error frees, / And weeds out all its vices by degrees. | 17 |
| Dociles imitandis / Turpibus ac pravis omnes sumus—We are all easily taught to imitate what is base and depraved. | 18 |
| E cœlo descendit [Greek]—From heaven came down the precept, “Know thyself.” | 19 |
| Ecce iterum Crispinus!—Another Crispinus, by Jove! (a profligate at the court of Domitian). | 20 |
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| Esto, ut nunc multi, dives tibi, pauper amicis—Be, as many now are, rich to yourself, poor to your friends. | 21 |
| Et qui nolunt occidere quenquam / Posse volunt—Even those who have no wish to kill another would like to have the power. | 22 |
| Ex humili magna ad fastigia rerum / Extollit, quoties voluit fortuna jocari—As oft as Fortune is in a freakish mood, she raises men from a humble station to the imposing summit of things. | 23 |
| Exigite ut mores teneros ceu pollice ducat, / Ut si quis cera vultum facit—Require him as with his thumb to mould their youthful morals, just as one fashions a face with plastic wax. | 24 |
| Facies tua computat annos—Your face records your age. | 25 |
| Facinus majoris abollæ—A crime of a very deep dye (lit. one committed by a man who wears the garb of a philosopher). | 26 |
| Fallit enim vitium, specie virtutis et umbra, / Cum sit triste habitu, vultuque et veste severum—For vice deceives under an appearance and shadow of virtue when it is subdued in manner and severe in countenance and dress. | 27 |
| Farrago libelli—The medley of that book of mine. | 28 |
| For rarely do we meet in one combined / A beauteous body and a virtuous mind. | 29 |
| Fortem posce animum mortis terrore carentem, / Qui spatium vitæ extremum inter munera ponat Naturæ—Pray for a strong soul free from the fear of death, which regards the final period of life among the gifts of Nature. | 30 |
| Fronti nulla fides—There is no trusting external appearances (lit. features). | 31 |
| Fumum, et opes, strepitumque Romæ—The smoke, the wealth, and din of the town. | 32 |
| Galeatum sero duelli pœnitet—After donning the helmet it is too late to repent of war, i.e., after enlistment. | 33 |
| Grammaticus Rhetor Geometres Pictor Aliptes / Augur Schœnobates Medicus Magus—omnia novit—Grammarian, rhetorician, geometrician, painter, anointer, augur, tight-rope dancer, physician, magician—he knows everything. | 34 |
| Grex totus in agris / Unius scabie cadit—The entire flock in the fields dies of the disease introduced by one. | 35 |
| Has patitur pœnas peccandi sola voluntas, / Nam scelus intra se tacitum qui cogitat ullum, / Facti crimen habet—Such penalties does the mere intention to sin suffer; for he who meditates any secret wickedness within himself incurs the guilt of the deed. | 36 |
| Haud facile emergunt quorum virtutibus obstat / Res angusta domi—Not easily do those attain to distinction whose abilities are cramped by domestic poverty. | 37 |
| Hic vivimus ambitiosa / Paupertate omnes—We all live here in a state of ostentatious poverty. | 38 |
| Hinc subitæ mortes atque intestata senectus—Hence (from sensual indulgence) sudden deaths and intestate old age. | 39 |
| Hoc volo, hoc jubeo; sit pro ratione voluntas—This I wish, this I require: be my will instead of reason. | 40 |
| I, demens! et sævas curre per Alpes, / Ut pueris placeas, et declamatio fias—Go, madman, and run over the savage Alps to please schoolboys, and become the subject of declamation. Of Hannibal. | 41 |
| Ille crucem sceleris pretium tulit, hic diadema—That one man has found a cross the reward of his guilt; this one, a diadem. | 42 |
| Ille igitur nunquam direxit brachia contra / Torrentem; nec civis erat qui libera posset / Verba animi proferre, et vitam impendere vero—He never exerted his arms against the torrent, nor was he a citizen who would frankly utter the sentiments of his mind, and stake his life for the truth. | 43 |
| Immortale odium et nunquam sanabile vulnus—A deadly hatred, and a wound that can never be healed. On the effects of religious contention between neighbours. | 44 |
| In solo vivendi causa palato est—To gratify the palate is the sole object of their existence. | 45 |
| Inde iræ et lacrimæ—Hence rage and tears. | 46 |
| Indica tigris agit rabida cum tigride pacem / Perpetuam: sævis inter se convenit ursis. / Ast homini ferrum letale incude nefanda / Produxisse parum est—The Indian tigers live in perpetual peace with each rabid tigress; savage bears agree among themselves, but man without remorse beats out the deadly sword on the accursed anvil. | 47 |
| Inflatum plenumque Nerone propinquo—Puffed up and full of his relationship to Nero. | 48 |
| Inter nos sanctissima divitiarum / Majestas—Among us the most sacred majesty is that of riches. | 49 |
| Interea gustus elementa per omnia quærunt, / Nunquam animo pretiis obstantibus; interius si / Attendas, magis ilia juvant, quæ pluris emuntur—Meantime they search for relishes through all the elements, with minds regardless of expense; look at it closely, those things please more which cost the higher price. | 50 |
| Intolerabilius nihil est quam fœmina dives—There is nothing more insufferable than a rich woman. | 51 |
| Invidia Siculi non invenere tyranni / Tormentum majus—Sicilian tyrants invented nothing that is a greater torment than envy. | 52 |
| Jucundum et carum sterilis facit uxor amicum—A wife who has no children makes (to her husband’s heirs) a dear and engaging friend. | 53 |
| Lingua mali pars pessima servi—His tongue is the worst part of a bad servant. | 54 |
| Lucri bonus est odor ex re / Qualibet—The smell of gain is good, from whatever it proceeds. | 55 |
| Major famæ sitis est quam / Virtutis; quis enim virtutem amplectitur ipsam, / Præmia si tollas?—The thirst for fame is greater than that for virtue; for, if you take away its reward, who would embrace virtue? | 56 |
| Majore tumultu / Planguntur nummi quam funera, nemo dolorem / Fingit in hoc casu / … Ploratur lacrimis amissa pecunia veris—Money is bewailed with a greater tumult than death. No one feigns grief in this case…. The loss of money is deplored with true tears. | 57 |
| Maxima debetur pueris reverentia—The greatest respect is due to youth (lit. our boys). | 58 |
| Maxima quæque domus servis est plena superbis—Every great house is full of haughty servants. | 59 |
| Me nemo ministro / Fur erit—No one shall play the thief with my help. | 60 |
| Mens sana in corpore sano—A sound mind in a sound body. | 61 |
| Minuti / Semper et infirmi est animi exiguique voluptas / Ultio—Revenge is ever the delight of a stinted and weak and petty mind. | 62 |
| Miremur te non tua—Let me have something to admire in yourself, not in what belongs to you. | 63 |
| Misera est magni custodia census—The custody of a large fortune is a wretched business. | 64 |
| Miserum est aliorum incumbere famæ / Ne collapsa ruant subductis tecta columnis—It is a wretched thing to lean for support on the reputation of others, lest the roof should fall in ruins when the pillars are withdrawn. | 65 |
| Mobilis et varia est ferme natura malorum—Misfortunes generally are of a variable and changeable nature. | 66 |
| Mollissima corda / Humano generi dare se natura fatetur, / Quæ lachrymas dedit: hæc nostri pars optima sensus—Nature confesses that she gives the tenderest of hearts to the human race when she gave them tears. This is the best part of our sensations. | 67 |
| Monstro quod ipse tibi possis dare: semita certe / Tranquillæ per virtutem patet unica vitæ—I show you what you can do for yourself; the only path to a tranquil life lies through virtue. | 68 |
| Monstrum nulla virtute redemptum / A vitiis—A monster whose vices are not redeemed by a single virtue. | 69 |
| Mors sola fatetur / Quantula sint hominum corpuscula—Death alone discloses how insignificant are the puny bodies of us men. | 70 |
| Mugitus labyrinthi—The bellowing of the labyrinth (a threadbare theme among weak poets). | 71 |
| Multi / Committunt eadem diverso crimina fato, / Ille crucem sceleris pretium tulit, hic diadema—Many commit the same crimes with a different destiny; one bears a cross as the price of his villany, another wears a crown. | 72 |
| Nam dives qui fieri vult, / Et cito vult fieri—He who wishes to become rich wishes to become so quickly too. | 73 |
| Nam pro jucundis aptissima quæque dabunt di, / Carior est illis homo quam sibi—The gods will give what is most suitable rather than what is most pleasing; man is dearer to them than he is to himself. | 74 |
| Nam quum magna malæ superest audacia causæ, / Creditur a multis fiducia—When great impudence comes to the help of a bad cause, it is taken by many for honest confidence. | 75 |
| Nam scelus intra se tacitum qui cogitat ullum / Facti crimen habet—He who secretly meditates a crime has all the guilt of the deed. | 76 |
| Natio comœda est—The nation is composed of actors. | 77 |
| Nec Veneris pharetris macer est, aut lampade fervet: / Inde faces ardent, veniunt a dote sagittæ—He is not made thin by Venus’ quiver, nor does he burn with her torch; it is from this that his fires are fed, from her dowry the arrows come. | 78 |
| Nemo malus felix, minime corruptor—No bad man is happy, least of all a seducer. | 79 |
| Nemo mathematicus genium indemnatus habebit—No astronomer will be held a genius until he is condemned. | 80 |
| Nemo repente fuit turpissimus—No man ever became extremely wicked all at once. | 81 |
| Nihil est quod credere de se / Non possit—There is nothing that it (i.e., power, potestas) cannot believe itself capable of. | 82 |
| Nil dictu fœdum visuque hæc limina tangat, / Intra quæ puer est—Let nothing filthy to be said or seen touch this threshold, within which there is a boy. | 83 |
| Nil erit ulterius quod nostris moribus addat / Posteritas; eadem cupient facientque minores: Omne in præcipiti vitium stetit—There will be nothing left for posterity to add to our manners; our descendants will wish for and do the same things as we do; every vice has reached its culminating point. | 84 |
| Nil habet infelix paupertas durius in se, / Quam quod ridiculos homines facit—Unhappy poverty has nothing in it more galling than this, that it makes men ridiculous. | 85 |
| Non possum ferre, Quirites, / Græcam urbem—I cannot, Romans, emdure a Grecian city, i.e., Greek or effeminate manners in stern old Rome. | 86 |
| Nos te, / Nos facimus, Fortuna, deam—It is we, O Fortune, we that make thee a goddess. | 87 |
| Noscenda est mensura sui spectandaque rebus / In summis minimisque—A man should know his own measure, and have regard to it in the smallest matters as well as the greatest. | 88 |
| Nosse volunt omnes, mercedem solvere nemo—All wish to know, but no one to pay the fee. | 89 |
| Nulla fere causa est, in qua non fœmina litem moverit—There’s hardly a strife in which a woman has not been a prime mover. | 90 |
| Nulla unquam de vita hominis cunctatio longa est—No delay is too long when the life of a man is at stake. | 91 |
| Nullum numen habes si sit prudentia; nos te / Nosfacimus, Fortuna, deam cœloque locamus—Thou hast no divine power, O Fortune, where there is prudence; it is we who make a goddess of thee, and place thee in heaven. | 92 |
| Nunc patimur longæ pacis mala; sævior armis / Luxuria incubuit, victumque ulciscitur orbem—Now we suffer the evils of long peace; luxury more cruel than war broods over us and avenges a conquered world. | 93 |
| Nunquam aliud natura, aliud sapientia dicit—Nature never says one thing and wisdom another. | 94 |
| O Corydon, Corydon, secretum divitis ullum / Esse putas? Servi ut taceant, jumenta loquentur, / Et canis, et postes, et marmora—O Corydon, Corydon, do you think anything a rich man does can be kept secret? Even if his servants say nothing, his beasts of burden, and dogs, and door-posts, and marble slabs will speak. | 95 |
| O qualis facies et quali digna tabella!—Oh, what a face and what a picture it would have been a subject for! | 96 |
| Occidit miseros crambe repetita magistros—Cabbage repeated is the death of the wretched masters. | 97 |
| Omne animi vitium tanto conspectius in se / Crimen habet, quanto major qui peccat habetur—Every vice of the mind involves a condemnation the more glaring, the higher the rank of the person who is guilty. | 98 |
| Omne in præcipiti vitium stetit—Every vice ever stands on the brink of a precipice. | 99 |
| Omnia Græce! / Cum sit turpe magis nostris nescire Latine—All things must be in Greek! when it is more shameful for our Romans to be ignorant of Latin. | 100 |
| Omnia Romæ / Cum pretio—All things may be bought at Rome with money. | 101 |
| Omnibus in terris, quæ sunt a Gadibus usque / Auroram et Gangem, pauci dignoscere possunt / Vera bona, atque illis multum diversa, remota / Erroris nebula—In all the lands which stretch from Gades even to the region of the dawn and the Ganges, there are few who are able by removing the mist of error to distinguish between what is really good and what is widely diverse. | 102 |
| One man receives crucifixion as the reward of his villainy; another a regal crown. | 103 |
| Orandum est ut sit mens sana in corpore sano—We should pray for a sound mind in a sound body. | 104 |
| Panem et circenses—Bread and the games of the circus (what the Roman plebs took sole interest in). | 105 |
| Pauci dignoscere possunt / Vera bona, atque illis multum diversa—Few men can distinguish the genuinely good from the reverse. | 106 |
| Perierunt tempora longi / Servitii—My long period of service has led to no advancement. | 107 |
| Ploratur lacrymis amissa pecunia veris—The loss of money is bewailed with unaffected tears. | 108 |
| Plurima sunt quæ / Non audent homines pertusa dicere læna—There are very many things that men, when their cloaks have got holes in them, dare not say. | 109 |
| Plus aloes quam mellis habet—She has more of the aloe than the honey. | 110 |
| Plus etenim fati valet hora benigni / Quam si nos Veneris commendet epistola Marti—A moment of smiling fortune is of more avail (to a soldier) than if he were recommended to Mars by an epistle from Venus. | 111 |
| Poetica surgit / Tempestas—A storm is gathering in the poetic world. | 112 |
| Ponamus nimios gemitus; flagrantior æquo / Non debet dolor esse viri, nec vulnere major—Let us dismiss excessive laments; a man’s grief should not be immoderate, nor greater than the wound received. | 113 |
| Pone seram, cohibe; sed quis custodiet ipsos / Custodes? cauta est, et ab illis incipit uxor—Fasten the bolt and restrain her; but who is to watch over the watchers themselves? The wife is cunning, and will begin with them. | 114 |
| Probitas laudatur, et alget—Integrity is praised and is left out in the cold. | 115 |
| Quam continuis et quantis longa senectus / Plena malis!—How incessant and great are the ills with which a prolonged old age is replete. | 116 |
| Quamvis digressu veteris confusus amici / Laudo tamen—Though distressed at the departure of my old friend, yet I commend him for going. | 117 |
| Quanta est gula, quæ sibi totos / Ponit apros, animal propter convivia natum—What a glutton is he who has whole boars served up for him, an animal created for banquets alone. | 118 |
| Quantum quisque sua nummorum servat in arca / Tantum habet et fidei—The credit of every man is in proportion to the number of coins he keeps in his chest. | 119 |
| Quicquid agunt homines, votum, timor, ira, voluptas, / Gaudia, discursus, nostri est farrago libelli—Whatever men are engaged in, their wishes and fear, anger, pleasures, joys, runnings to and fro, form the medley of my book. | 120 |
| Quid enim ratione timemus / Aut cupimus?—What do we fear or desire with reason? | 121 |
| Quid enim salvis infamia nummis?—What matters infamy when the money is safe? | 122 |
| Quid prodest, Pontice, longo / Sanguine censeri, pictosque ostendere vultus / Majorum?—What boots it, Ponticus, to be accounted of a long line, and to display the painted busts of our ancestors? | 123 |
| Quid Romæ faciam? mentiri nescio—What should I do at Rome? I know not how to lie. | 124 |
| Quis enim virtutem amplectitur ipsam, / Præmia si tollas?—For who would embrace virtue herself if you took away the reward? | 125 |
| Rara avis in terris, nigroque similima cygno—A bird rarely seen on earth, and very much resembling a black swan. | 126 |
| Rara est adeo concordia formæ / Atque pudicitiæ—So rare is the union of beauty with modesty. | 127 |
| Rari quippe boni; numero vix sunt totidem quot / Thebarum portæ, vel divitis ostia Nili—Rare indeed are the good; in number they are scarcely as many as the gates of Thebes or the mouths of the fertile Nile. | 128 |
| Raro sermo illis, et magna libido tacendi—They seldom speak, and have a great conceit of holding their tongues. | 129 |
| Rarus enim ferme sensus communis in illa / Fortuna—Common sense is generally rare in that position of life, i.e., in high rank. | 130 |
| Res angusta domi—Straitened circumstances at home. | 131 |
| Sævi inter se conveniunt ursi—Even savage bears agree among themselves. | 132 |
| Sanctus haberi / Justitiæque tenax, factis dictisque mereris? / Agnosco procerem—If you deserve to be held a man without blame, and tenacious of justice both in word and deed, then I recognise in you the nobleman. | 133 |
| Scilicet expectes, ut tradet mater honestos / Atque alios mores, quam quos habet?—Can you expect that the mother will teach good morals or others than her own. | 134 |
| Scire volunt omnes, mercedem solvere nemo—All would like to know, but few to pay the price. | 135 |
| Scire volunt secreta domus, atque inde timeri—They wish to know of the family secrets, and so to be feared. | 136 |
| Secreta hæc murmura vulgi—Those secret whisperings of the populace. | 137 |
| Sed vatem egregium cui non sit publica vena, / Qui nihil expositum soleat deducere, nec qui / Communi feriat carmen triviale moneta, / Hunc qualem nequeo monstrare, et sentio tantum, / Anxietate carens animus facit—A poet of superior merit, whose vein is of no vulgar kind, who never winds off anything trite, nor coins a trivial poem at the public mint, I cannot describe, but only recognise as a man whose soul is free from all anxiety. | 138 |
| Semper habet lit es alternaque jurgia lectus, / In quo nupta jacet; minimum dormitur in illo—The bed in which a wife lies is always the scene of quarrels and mutual recriminations; there is very little chance of sleep there. | 139 |
| Serpentum major concordia; parcit / Cognatis maculis similis fera. Quando leoni / Fortior eripuit vitam leo?—There is greater concord among serpents than among men; a wild beast of a like kind spares kindred spots. When did a stronger lion deprive another of life? | 140 |
| Si natura negat, facit indignatio versum—If nature denies the power, indignation makes verses. | 141 |
| Stemmata quid faciunt? Quid prodest, Pontice, longo / Sanguine censeri?—What do pedigrees avail? Of what advantage, Ponticus, is it to be rated by the antiquity of your race? | 142 |
| Stulta maritali jam porrigit ora capistro—He is now stretching out his foolish head to the matrimonial halter. | 143 |
| Summa bona putas, aliena vivere quadra—You think it the chief good to live on another’s crumbs. | 144 |
| Summum crede nefas animam præferre pudori, / Et propter vitam vivendi perdere causas—Consider it to be the height of impiety to prefer life to honour, and, for the sake of merely living, to sacrifice the objects of living. | 145 |
| Tenet insanabile multos / Scribendi cacoëthes—An incurable itch for writing possesses many. | 146 |
| Terra malos homines nunc educat, atque pusillos—The earth now supports many bad and weak men. | 147 |
| Tertius e cœlo cecidit Cato—A third Cato has come down from heaven. In mockery. | 148 |
| The tongue is the worst part of a bad servant. | 149 |
| Torrens dicendi copia multis / Et sua mortifera est facundia—To many a torrent flow of speech and their own eloquence is fatal. | 150 |
| Turba Remi sequitur fortunam, ut semper, et odit / Damnatos—The Roman mob follows the lead of fortune, as it always does, and hates those that are condemned. | 151 |
| Uberibus semper lacrymis, semperque paratis / In statione sua, atque expectantibus illam / Quo jubeat manare modo—With tears always in abundance, and always ready at their station, and awaiting her signal to flow as she bids them. Of a pettish woman. | 152 |
| Unde / Ingenium par materiæ?—Where can we find talent equal to the subject? | 153 |
| Unde habeas quærit nemo; sed oportet habere—Whence you have got your wealth, nobody inquires; but you must have it. | 154 |
| Unde tibi frontem libertatemque parentis, / Cum facias pejora senex?—Whence can your authority and liberty as a parent come, when you, who are old, do worse things? | 155 |
| Unus Pellæo juveni non sufficit orbis; / Æstuat infelix angusto limite mundi—One world is not enough for the youth of Pella; the unhappy man frets at the narrow limits of the world. Of Alexander the Great. | 156 |
| Ut mos est—As the custom is. | 157 |
| Uxorem, Posthume, ducis? / Dic qua Tisiphone, quibus exagitare colubris—Are you marrying a wife, Posthumous? By what Fury, say, by what snakes are you driven mad? | 158 |
| Vacuus cantat coram latrone viator—The traveller with an empty purse sings in the face of the robber. | 159 |
| Velocius ac citius nos / Corrumpunt vitiorum exempla domestica, magnis / Cum subeant animos auctoribus—The examples of vice at home more easily and more quickly corrupt us than others, since they steal into our minds under the highest authority. | 160 |
| Verbosa ac grandis epistola venit / A Capreis—A verbose and haughty epistle came from Capreæ (the Emperor Tiberius’s palace). | 161 |
| Victrix fortunæ sapientia—Wisdom overcomes fortune. | 162 |
| Virtus laudatur et alget—Virtue is praised and is left to freeze in the cold. | 163 |
| Virtutibus obstat / Res angusta domi—Straitened domestic means obstruct the path to virtue. | 164 |
| Vitam impendere vero—To devote one’s life to the truth. | 165 |
| Voluptates commendat rarior usus—Pleasures are enhanced that are sparingly enjoyed. | 166 |
| We deem those happy who, from their experience of life, have learned to bear its ills without descanting on the burden. | 167 |
| We do not commonly find men of superior sense amongst those of the highest fortune. | 168 |
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