aleator classicus

Reading at Random in Classical Literature

Archive for the ‘Lucan’ Category

Lucan, Civil War 1.81-82

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in se magna ruunt: laetis hunc numina rebus
crescendi posuere modum.

Great things collapse upon themselves; the gods have set this limit to growth for prosperous things.

Written by aleatorclassicus

September 1, 2013 at 12:00 PM

Posted in Lucan

Lucan, Civil War 5.260

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quidquid multis peccatur inultum est.

A sin that is committed by many goes unpunished.

Written by aleatorclassicus

May 13, 2012 at 12:00 PM

Posted in Lucan

Lucan, Civil War 7.825-830

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After the battle of Pharsalus, animals come to pick over the bodies. This is just the beginning of this section, which continues in the same vein for 20 lines.

non solum Haemonii funesta ad pabula belli
Bistonii venere lupi, tabemque cruentae
caedis odorati Pholoen liquere leones.
tunc ursae latebras, obscaeni tecta domosque
deseruere canes et quidquid nare sagaci
aëra non sanum motumque cadavere sentit.

It was not only the wolves of Bistonia that came to the mournful fodder of the Haemonian war, and the lions left Pholoe when they smelled the putrefaction of the bloody slaughter. Then did the bears leave their lairs, the impure dogs left houses and homes, and every animal which with its acute nostrils perceives air that is unwholesome and corpse-disturbed.

Written by aleatorclassicus

July 13, 2011 at 12:00 PM

Posted in Lucan

Lucan, Civil War 4.702

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Often quoted as a little proverb.

audendo magnus tegitur timor.

Great fear is concealed beneath daring.

Written by aleatorclassicus

September 12, 2010 at 12:00 PM

Posted in Lucan