si enim pecunias aequari non placet, si ingenia omnium paria esse non possunt, iura certe paria debent esse eorum inter se, qui sunt cives in eadem re publica. quid est enim civitas nisi iuris societas?
(Cic. Rep. 1.32)
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For if it is not agreeable that wealth be made equitable, if it is not possible that the talents of all be alike, the protection under the law ought to be the same for all who are citizens in the same commonwealth. For what is a state except a joint venture for justice?
quare cum lex sit civilis societatis vinculum, ius autem legis aequale, quo iure societas civium teneri potest, cum par non sit condicio civium?
Since, therefore, the law is the bond of a society of citizens, and, what's more, justice under the law is an equal thing for all, by what justice can a society of citizens be maintained, when citizens do not live on the same terms?
tam enim esse clemens tyrannus quam inportunus potest; ut hoc populorum intersit, utrum comi domino an aspero serviant; quin serviant quidem, fieri non potest.
(Cic. Rep. 1.33)
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For insofar as a tyrant may be kind, he can just the same be cruel; and so this is the only difference among those who live under such rulers, whether they serve an affable or harsh master; indeed it cannot be but that they serve him.
We love Prof. Machado! “Students in Associate Professor of Classics Dominic Machado's community-based learning course worked with middle school students in the Marlborough School District to help bring the Latin language to life for the younger audience.” magazine.holycross.edu/stories/anci...
By their fruits you shall know them: surely people do not gather grapes from thorns or figs from thistles?
ἀπὸ τῶν καρπῶν αὐτῶν ἐπιγνώσεσθε αὐτούς· μήτι συλλέγουσιν ἀπὸ ἀκανθῶν σταφυλὰς ἢ ἀπὸ τριβόλων σῦκα;
(Matthew 7:16)
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“But though all the vials of wrath descend upon our heads, the Ides of March are our consolation.”
Sed omnia licet concurrant, Idus Martiae consolantur.
(Cic. Att. 358.2/XIV.5; trans. Shackleton Bailey)
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Don't look a *checks notes* gift-snake in the mouth...
gnomai.com/stories/zeus...
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And they cannot get their fill of the din of evil war.
οὐδὲ δύνανται | φυλόπιδος κορέσασθαι ὁμοιίου πτολέμοιο.
(Hom. Il. 13.634f)
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τότε λέγει αὐτῷ ὁ Ἰησοῦς, Ἀπόστρεψον τὴν μάχαιράν σου εἰς τὸν τόπον αὐτῆς, πάντες γὰρ οἱ λαβόντες μάχαιραν ἐν μαχαίρῃ ἀπολοῦνται.
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Thereupon Jesus says to him, “Put back your sword in its place, for all who take the sword in hand shall be destroyed by the sword.”
(Matthew 26:52)
ἐρωτηθεὶς γάρ, ὡς ἔοικεν, ἥτις οἰκεῖται κάλλιστα τῶν πόλεων, “Ἐκείνη,” εἶπεν, “ἐν ᾗ τῶν ἀδικουμένων οὐχ ἧττον οἱ μὴ ἀδικούμενοι προβάλλονται καὶ κολάζουσι τοὺς ἀδικοῦντας.”
(Plut. Sol. 18.5)
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When asked, I suppose, which is the finest city to live in, he (i.e. Solon) said: “That city in which those who are not victims of injustice pursue and punish villains with no less vigor than the victims themselves.”
nupta, quid exspectas? non tu pollentibus herbis
nec prece nec magico carmine mater eris;
excipe fecundae patienter verbera dextrae,
iam socer optatum nomen habebit avi.
(Ov. Fast. 2.425-8)
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Wedded wife, what are you waiting for? You'll not become a mother through potent herb, nor by prayer or magic verse; bear now with fortitude the blows of a fecund hand, and forthwith your husband's father will have the longed-for name of grandfather.
A mosaic with the text "Febrarius" and an image of a Lupercus, a priest of the Lupercalia, brandishing a whip, preparing to strike a women in the presence of two others.
Dr. Ovid, fertility specialist, recommends Lupercalia:
ο]ἰ μὲν ἰππήων στρότον οἰ δὲ πέσδων
οἰ δὲ νάων φαῖσ᾿ ἐπ[ὶ] γᾶν μέλαι[ν]αν
ἔ]μμεναι κάλλιστον, ἔγω δὲ κῆν᾿ ὄτ-
τω τις ἔραται·
(Sappho fr. 16)
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Some say a force of cavalry is the finest thing on the black earth; others claim a host of infantry, and others of ships; but I say it is whatever you love.
οὐ χρῆ κάκοισι θῦμον ἐπιτρέπην,
προκόψομεν γὰρ οὐδὲν ἀσάμενοι,
ὦ Βύκχι, φαρμάκων δ᾿ ἄριστον
οἶνον ἐνεικαμένοις μεθύσθην.
(Alc. 335 = Athen. 10.430b–c)
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We must not relinquish our soul to evils,
for we shall get nowhere wallowing in misery,
Bycchis: the finest cure for our ills is
to bring some wine and get drunk.
Kyrnos, this city is yet the city, but its people are manifestly different…
Κύρνε, πόλις μὲν ἔθ᾿ ἥδε πόλις, λαοὶ δὲ δὴ ἄλλοι…
(Theognis 1.53)
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Now available in student-accessible format!
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Without friend, without law, without home is that man who loves horrid war among his own people.
ἀφρήτωρ ἀθέμιστος ἀνέστιός ἐστιν ἐκεῖνος
ὃς πολέμου ἔραται ἐπιδημίου ὀκρυόεντος.
(Hom. Il. 9.63f)
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The cold crept subtly, all the way to the very marrow and bone.
ὁ κρυμὸς δὲ εἰσεδύετο λεπτὸς μέχρι μυελῶν αὐτῶν καὶ ὀστέων.
(Alciphron 3.40.2)
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Now, there will be no contest, Quirites; they will always test your spirit, but they will not contend with your strength.
Nec nunc erit certamen, Quirites; animos vestros illi temptabunt semper, vires non experientur.
(Liv. 4.5.4)
"Οὐπώποτε ἐγὼ κατὰ τὴν Ἀττικὴν ὑπέμεινα τοιοῦτον χειμῶνα."
Μάνδρης ἔσω τις πρόβατα συλλέγων δείλης
κνηκὸν μετ᾿ αὐτῶν λύκον ἔμελλε συγκλείειν.
ὁ κύων δ᾿ ἰδὼν πρὸς αὐτὸν εἶπε “πῶς σπεύδεις
τὰ πρόβατα σῶσαι, τοῦτον εἰσαγὼν ἥμιν;”
(Babrius 113)
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Someone gathering his sheep within the fold one evening
was about to shut a tawny wolf inside with them.
Seeing this, his dog said to him: “How are you serious
about keeping the sheep safe, when you’re introducing this one among us?”