Luxorius 65 (Rosenblum)

Dating from the 6th century AD, Luxorius is one of the latest authors to have appeared on this blog. Here are his ‘couplets on the sayings of the seven wise men’.

Solon praecipuus, fertur qui natus Athenis,
finem prolixae dixit te cernere vitae.

Chilon, quem patria egregium Lacedaemona misit,
hoc prudenter ait te ipsum ut cognoscere possis.

ex Mitylenaeis fuerat qui Pittacus oris,
te, ne quid nimis ut cupias, exquirere dixit.

Thales ingenio sapiens Milesius acri
errorem in terris firmat non caelitus esse.

inde Prienaea Bias tellure creatus
plures esse malos divina voce probavit.

urbe Periander genitus, cui fama Corintho est,
omnia constituit tecum ut meditando revolvas.

Cleobulus, proprium clamat quem Lindia civem,
omne, inquit, magnum est quod mensura optima librat.

The distinguished Solon, who is reported to have been born in Athens, said that you should look to the end of a long life.

Chilon, the eminent man whom his homeland of Sparta sent forth, said this: that you can know yourself.

Pittacus, who was from the shores of Mitylene, said that you should seek to desire nothing in excess.

Thales, the Milesian wise man with a keen natural ability, declares that a mistake on earth is not down to the gods.

Then Bias, begotten in the land of Priene, showed, in his divine voice, that most people are evil.

Periander, born in the city that has the famous name of Corinth, decided that you can reflect on everything by meditating with yourself.

Cleobulus, whom Lindus claims as its own citizen, said ‘Everything is great which the best measuring keeps in balance.’