Suetonius on Nero
When self image and legacy are worlds apart, Nero said this:"Qualis artifex pereo!""What an artist dies in me!"Qualis: ”what kind of" or "what a”; an exclamatory phrase.Artifex: artist; in the nominat...
17 Feb 20252min
Tacitus on the Germans
Some inherit privilege, others earn command. Tacitus on the Germans."Reges ex nobilitate, duces ex virtute sumunt.""They choose their kings from nobility, their leaders from virtue."Reges: kingsEx nob...
16 Feb 20252min
Terence - on love
Everyone who has loved has fought, and Terence doesn’t think this is a bad thing."Amantium irae amoris integratio est.""The quarrels of lovers are the renewal of love."Amantium ("of lovers") is the ge...
14 Feb 20252min
Sophocles shows the fear of one who has lost their mind
The great Ulysses knows to avoid the once great Ajax who has lost his mind.Videre mentis compotem compos queam.I wish to see him in possession of his mind and self-controlled.Videre: to seeMentis: of ...
3 Feb 20252min
Petronius on the high life
Want to live like the rich and famous? Petronius satirises the high life in opulent RomeHic nescio quid boni debet esse.This must be something good, I don’t know what.Hic (this) is a demonstrative pro...
12 Aug 20242min
Virgil - Aeneid II
Ever felt someone is trying to dupe you? Laocoon knew but it would not save him or his countrymen. quidquid id est, timeo Danaos et dona ferentis. Whatever it is, I fear the Greeks even when bringing ...
11 Aug 20242min
Seneca on life and death
Seneca faces up to that most valuable of things, time and how to spend our precious moments, when facing into his own mortality. Quid agam? mors me sequitur, fugit vita.What should I do? Death follows...
10 Aug 20242min
Persius on vanity
Something trivial getting under your skin? Persius knows this!O curas hominum! O quantum est in rebus inane!Oh, the cares of humans! Oh, how much is vain in their affairs!O is an exclamation or interj...
9 Aug 20242min
