On Mar 14, 5:27=A0am, "Ed Cryer" <e...@[EMAIL PROTECTED]
> wrote:
> Iamque opus exegi, quod nec Iovis ira nec ignis
> nec poterit ferrum nec edax abolere vetustas.
> *** volet, illa dies, quae nil nisi cor****is huius
> ius habet, incerti spatium mihi finiat aevi:
> parte tamen meliore mei super alta perennis
> astra ferar, nomenque erit indelebile nostrum,
> quaque patet domitis Romana potentia terris,
> ore legar populi, perque omnia saecula fama,
> siquid habent veri vatum praesagia, vivam.
>
> =A0(And now the work is done, that Jupiter's anger, fire or sword cannot
> erase, nor the gnawing tooth of time. Let that day, that only has power
> over my body, end, when it will, my uncertain span of years: yet the
> best part of me will be borne, immortal, beyond the distant stars.
> Wherever Rome's influence extends, over the lands it has civilised, I
> will be spoken, on people's lips: and, famous through all the ages, if
> there is truth in poet's prophecies, -vivam - I shall live.)
>
> Ed
>
> P.S. The translation was taken from Perseus. I'm struck by "quaque patet
> domitis Romana potentia terris," translated by "Wherever Rome's
> influence extends, over the lands it has civilised".
> "Domitis" =3D civilised? I think we'd opt for "mastered". But there's
> something here that's reflected in Vergil's comment on Roman grandeur,
> in the Aeneid;
> "tu regere imperio populos, Romane, memento
> (hae tibi erunt artes), pacique imponere morem,
> parcere subiectis et debellare superbos."
> (Do thou remember, Romans, to rule the peoples (such will be your
> talents), and impose the fa****on of peace, to spare the beaten and bring
> down the proud)
> (my translation)
>
> It's just completely ****d and undisguised imperialism; no hint of
> veiling it with any kind of hypocritical altruism; just bring the
> barbarian buggers to heel!
Nice one, Ed. I've never read Perseus myself and it's very interesting
that here was another Latin poet who was prepared to trumpet his
genius, which here is linked with the genius of Rome. Modesty
certainly wasn't part of the Roman personality. I'm not even sure they
had a word corresponding to our 'modesty'. My Latin dictionary gives
me 3 words : modestia, pudor and verecundia, all of which seem to have
a strong emotive connotation, as in shame, shyness and so on, whereas
in English 'modesty' seems to signify a more formal kind of self-
presentation. Maybe 'gravitas' is the nearest Roman equivalent.
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