Final Project
Morgan Rostamian /
- Created on 2021-11-26 23:15:47
- Modified on 2021-12-01 22:35:23
- Translated by Ross
- Aligned by Morgan Rostamian
Latin
English
Tum Lucilius " Ne egere quidem videtur " inquit " oratione prima pars . Quid enim potest esse tam apertum tamque perspicuum , cum caelum suspeximus caelestiaque contemplati sumus , quam esse aliquod numen praestantissimae mentis quo haec regantur ? quod ni ita esset , qui potuisset adsensu omnium dicere Ennius
" aspice hoc sublime candens , quem invocant omnes Iovem "
—illum vero et Iovem et dominatorem rerum et omnia motu regentem et , ut idem Ennius , " patrem divumque hominumque " et praesentem ac praepotentem deum ? quod qui dubitet , haud sane intellego cur non idem sol sit an nullus sit dubitare possit ; qui enim est hoc illo evidentius ? Quod nisi cognitum conprehensumque animis haberemus , non tam stabilis opinio permaneret nec confirmaretur diuturnitate temporis nec una cum saeclis aetatibusque hominum inveterare potuisset . etenim videmus ceteras opiniones fictas atque vanas diuturnitate extabuisse . quis enim hippocentaurum fuisse aut Chimaeram putat , quaeve anus tam excors inveniri potest quae illa quae quondam credebantur apud inferos portenta extimescat ? opinionis enim commenta delet dies , naturae iudicia confirmat . Itaque et in nostro populo et in ceteris deorum cultus religionumque sanctitates existunt in dies maiores atque meliores ; idque evenit non temere nec casu , sed quod et praesentes saepe di vim suam declarant .
Ut et apud Regillum bello Latinorum , cum A . Postumius dictator cum Octavio Mamillio Tusculano proelio dimicaret , in nostra acie Castor et Pollux ex equis pugnare visi sunt , et recentiore memoria idem Tyndaridae Persem victum nuntiaverunt . P . enim Vatinius avus huius adulescentis , cum e praefectura Reatina Romam venienti noctu duo iuvenes cum equis albis dixissent regem Persem illo die captum , cum senatui nuntiavisset , primo quasi temere de re publica locutus in carcerem coniectus est , post a Paulo litteris allatis cum idem dies constitisset , et agro a senatu et vacatione donatus est .
" aspice hoc sublime candens , quem invocant omnes Iovem "
—illum vero et Iovem et dominatorem rerum et omnia motu regentem et , ut idem Ennius , " patrem divumque hominumque " et praesentem ac praepotentem deum ? quod qui dubitet , haud sane intellego cur non idem sol sit an nullus sit dubitare possit ; qui enim est hoc illo evidentius ? Quod nisi cognitum conprehensumque animis haberemus , non tam stabilis opinio permaneret nec confirmaretur diuturnitate temporis nec una cum saeclis aetatibusque hominum inveterare potuisset . etenim videmus ceteras opiniones fictas atque vanas diuturnitate extabuisse . quis enim hippocentaurum fuisse aut Chimaeram putat , quaeve anus tam excors inveniri potest quae illa quae quondam credebantur apud inferos portenta extimescat ? opinionis enim commenta delet dies , naturae iudicia confirmat . Itaque et in nostro populo et in ceteris deorum cultus religionumque sanctitates existunt in dies maiores atque meliores ; idque evenit non temere nec casu , sed quod et praesentes saepe di vim suam declarant .
Ut et apud Regillum bello Latinorum , cum A . Postumius dictator cum Octavio Mamillio Tusculano proelio dimicaret , in nostra acie Castor et Pollux ex equis pugnare visi sunt , et recentiore memoria idem Tyndaridae Persem victum nuntiaverunt . P . enim Vatinius avus huius adulescentis , cum e praefectura Reatina Romam venienti noctu duo iuvenes cum equis albis dixissent regem Persem illo die captum , cum senatui nuntiavisset , primo quasi temere de re publica locutus in carcerem coniectus est , post a Paulo litteris allatis cum idem dies constitisset , et agro a senatu et vacatione donatus est .
'
Very
well
,
'
said
Lucilius
,
'
but
the
first
proposition
-
that
divine
beings
exist
-
seems
to
need
no
words
of
mine
.
For
what
could
be
more
clear
and
obvious
,
when
we
look
up
to
the
sky
and
contemplate
the
heavens
,
than
that
there
is
some
divinity
of
superior
intelligence
,
by
which
they
are
controlled
?
If
it
were
not
so
,
how
could
Ennius
have
been
universally
applauded
when
he
wrote
:
' Lift up your eyes to that bright firmament , Which men call Jupiter ' ,
and not only Jupiter but the lord of the universe , who sways all nature by his nod and is , as Ennius says , " the father both of gods and men " , a present and a mighty god . If anyone doubts this , then so far as I can see he might just as well doubt the existence of the sun . For the one is as plain as the other . And if this were not clearly known and manifest to our intelligence , the faith of men would not have remained so constant , would not have deepened with the lapse of time , and taken ever firmer root throughout the ages and the generations of mankind . For we see that other superstitious beliefs and vain imaginings have died out with the passing years . For who today believes that the centaur or the chimaera ever existed ? Could anyone nowadays discover a single old gossip-woman so simple-minded that she fears such monsters of the underworld , in which men formerly believed ? Time washes away the fancies of imagination but confirms the judgements of nature . And so , both in our own country and in others , the worship of the gods and the sanctity of religion grow firmer and fairer day by day . And this does not happen blindly or by chance but because the gods time and again declare their presence .
' For example , at Lake Regillus in the Latin War , when Aulus Postumius was in command in the battle against Octavius Mamilius of Tusculum , Castor and Pollux were seen fighting on horseback in our ranks . And in more recent times they appeared to announce the defeat of Perses of Macedon . When Publius Vatinius , the grandfather of our young con temporary , was travelling by night to Rome from Reate , of which he was governor , two young men on white horses told him that Perses had been captured that very day , and when he arrived in Rome he announced it to the Senate . Whereupon he was promptly thrown into prison for contempt of the assembly . But afterwards , when dispatches from Paulus confirmed the king ' s capture on that very day , this same Vatinius was granted lands and special privileges by senatorial decree .
' Lift up your eyes to that bright firmament , Which men call Jupiter ' ,
and not only Jupiter but the lord of the universe , who sways all nature by his nod and is , as Ennius says , " the father both of gods and men " , a present and a mighty god . If anyone doubts this , then so far as I can see he might just as well doubt the existence of the sun . For the one is as plain as the other . And if this were not clearly known and manifest to our intelligence , the faith of men would not have remained so constant , would not have deepened with the lapse of time , and taken ever firmer root throughout the ages and the generations of mankind . For we see that other superstitious beliefs and vain imaginings have died out with the passing years . For who today believes that the centaur or the chimaera ever existed ? Could anyone nowadays discover a single old gossip-woman so simple-minded that she fears such monsters of the underworld , in which men formerly believed ? Time washes away the fancies of imagination but confirms the judgements of nature . And so , both in our own country and in others , the worship of the gods and the sanctity of religion grow firmer and fairer day by day . And this does not happen blindly or by chance but because the gods time and again declare their presence .
' For example , at Lake Regillus in the Latin War , when Aulus Postumius was in command in the battle against Octavius Mamilius of Tusculum , Castor and Pollux were seen fighting on horseback in our ranks . And in more recent times they appeared to announce the defeat of Perses of Macedon . When Publius Vatinius , the grandfather of our young con temporary , was travelling by night to Rome from Reate , of which he was governor , two young men on white horses told him that Perses had been captured that very day , and when he arrived in Rome he announced it to the Senate . Whereupon he was promptly thrown into prison for contempt of the assembly . But afterwards , when dispatches from Paulus confirmed the king ' s capture on that very day , this same Vatinius was granted lands and special privileges by senatorial decree .