Hoyt & Roberts, comps. Hoyts New Cyclopedia of Practical Quotations. 1922.
Rome
Si fueris Romæ, Romano vivito more; Si fueris alibi, vivito sicut ibi. If you are at Rome live in the Roman style; if you are elsewhere live as they live elsewhere. St. Ambrose to St. Augustine. Quoted by Jeremy Taylor. Ductor Dubitantium. I. 1. 5.
When I am at Rome I fast as the Romans do; when I am at Milan I do not fast. So likewise you, whatever church you come to, observe the custom of the place, if you would neither give offence to others, nor take offence from them. Another version of St. Ambroses advice.
When I am at Rome, I fast on a Saturday: when I am at Milan I do not. Do the same. Follow the custom of the church where you are. St. Augustine gives this as the advice of St. Ambrose to him. See Epistle to Januarius. II. 18. Also Epistle 36.
Now conquering Rome doth conquered Rome inter, And she the vanquished is, and vanquisher. To show us where she stood there rests alone Tiber; and that too hastens to be gone. Learn, hence what fortune can. Towns glide away; And rivers, which are still in motion, stay. Joachim du BellayAntiquitez de Rome. (Third stanza of this poem taken from Janus Vitalis.) Trans. by William Browne, from a Latin version of the same by Janus VitalisIn Urbem Romam Qualis est hodie. See Gordon Goodwins ed. of Poems of William Browne. Trans. also by Spenser, in Complaints.
You cheer my heart, who build as if Rome would be eternal. Augustus Cæsar to Piso. See PlutarchApothegms. Eternal Rome said by Tibullus. II. 5. 23. Repeated by Ammianus MarcellinusRerum Gestarum. XVI. Ch. X. 14.
Quod tantis Romana manus contexuit annis Proditor unus iners angusto tempore vertit. What Roman power slowly built, an unarmed traitor instantly overthrew. ClaudianusIn Rufinum. II. 52.
In tears I tossed my coin from Trevis edge. A coin unsordid as a bond of love And, with the instinct of the homing dove, I gave to Rome my rendezvous and pledge. And when imperious Death Has quenched my flame of breath, Oh, let me join the faithful shades that throng that fount above. Robert Underwood JohnsonItalian Rhapsody.
Tous chemins vont à Rome; ainsi nos concurrents Crurent, pouvoir choisir des sentiers différents. All roads lead to Rome, but our antagonists think we should choose different paths. La FontaineLe Juge Arbitre. Fable XII.
Rome was not built in a day. Latin in Palingenius. (1537). Beaumont and FletcherLittle French Lawyer. Act I. Sc. 3. Same idea No se ganó Zamora en una hora.Zamora was not conquered in an hour. CervantesDon Quixote. II. 23.
See the wild Waste of all-devouring years! How Rome her own sad Sepulchre appears, With nodding arches, broken temples spread! The very Tombs now vanishd like their dead! PopeMoral Essays. Epistle to Addison.
I am in Rome! Oft as the morning ray Visits these eyes, waking at once I cry, Whence this excess of joy? What has befallen me? And from within a thrilling voice replies, Thou art in Rome! A thousand busy thoughts Rush on my mind, a thousand images; And I spring up as girt to run a race! Saml RogersRome.
Utinam populus Romanus unam cervicem haberet! Would that the Roman people had but one neck! Suetonius. In Life of Caligula ascribes it to Caligula. Seneca and Dion Cassius credit it to the same. Ascribed to Nero by others.