I don’t have a
roof, or a house, or a homeland
Instead the whole
world, both city & countryside
are available to
me as a home.
--Hipparchia, published in Mulierum Graecarum (1735) p. 68, Translated into Latin by Christian Wolff
Ουχ εις πάτρας
μοι πύργος ου μία λέγη
Πάσης δὲ χέρσε καὶ πόλισμα καὶ δόμος
Ἕτοιμος
ἡμῖν ἐνδιαιτᾶσθαι πάρα.
Non turris una,
nec casa una patriae
mihi est, sed
universae arces terrae,& domus
parata nobis mansio & caenacula.
|
Name: Cicero Date: 106 – 43 BCE Region: Rome [modern Italy] Citation: De Re Publica [Somnium Scipionis] 6.26 |
Just keep going, and know that *you* are not mortal, just
your body is. You are not defined by your body. It’s a person’s mind that
defines them, not their physical form. Know that you are a god, since it is a
god that thrives, that feels, that remembers, that anticipates, that regulates,
controls, and moves the body that is given to them, just like the supreme being [1] does to the world. Just as an eternal god
Tu vero enitere et sic habeto, non esse te mortalem,
sed corpus hoc; nec enim tu is es, quem forma
ista declarat, sed mens cuiusque is est quisque, non ea figura, quae
digito demonstrari potest. Deum te igitur
scito esse, si quidem est deus, qui viget, qui sentit, qui meminit, qui
providet, qui tam regit et moderatur et movet id corpus, cui praepositus est,
quam hunc mundum ille princeps deus, et ut mundum ex quadam parte mortalem ipse
deus aeternus, sic fragile corpus animus sempiternus movet.
Cicero [Marcus Tullius Cicero; 106 – 43 BCE, modern Italy]
was an Italian-born Roman statesman and author who lived during the
complexities of Rome’s transition from Republic to monarchy. Cicero spent most
of his life in service of his country, serving as both a lawyer, senator, and
even consul [Roman equivalent of president]. He is known for
his suppression of the failed governmental coup in 63 BCE known as the
Catilinarian conspiracy that occurred during his consulship. After the rise of
Octavian [later known as the first Roman emperor Augustus], his views fell out
of favor and he was eventually put to death during the proscriptions under the
Second Triumvirate [Octavian, Marc Antony and Lepidus]. He was a prolific
author in a wide range in genres, and his literary style was adopted by
Petrarch as the default model for the Latin language.
|
Name: Antipater of Sidon Date: 2nd – 1st century BCE Region: Sidon [modern Lebanon] Citation: Greek Anthology 7.413 |
Hipparchia was a famous Cynic philosopher who
lived during the late 4th or early 3rd century BCE. According to tradition,
Hipparchia rejected her role as an Athenian noblewoman to marry the famous
Cynic philosopher Crates, and spent the remainder of her life following the
ascetic lifestyle of a Cynic. Although she was a prolific author, only
fragments of her writing remain.
No longer dwelling in the lifestyle
of the wide-belted ladies,
I, Hipparchia, have chosen the manly life
of a Cynic.
Pretty robes and stylish shoes no
longer work for me;
Neither do pretty hair-nets.
A rugged staff is my companion, as
well as a double-layered cloak, and
The rough ground is my home.
To me, my life is better than
Atalanta’s,
Since wisdom is so much better than
jogging.
|
οὐχὶ βαθυστόλμων Ἱππαρχία ἔργα γυναικῶν, τῶν δὲ Κυνῶν ἑλόμαν ῥωμαλέον βίοτον οὐδέ μοι ἀμπεχόναι περονήτιδες, οὐ βαθύπελμος εὔμαρὶς, οὐ λιπόων εὔαδε κεκρύφαλος: οὐλὰς δὲ σκίπωνι συνέμπορος, ἅ τε συνῳδὸς δίπλαξ, καὶ κοίτας βλῆμα χαμαιλεχέος. ἄμμι δὲ Μαιναλίας κάρ’ῥων μνάμα Ἀταλάντας τόσσον, ὅσον σοφία κρέσσον ὀριδρομίας. |
Non ego feminei mores Hipparchia sexus, sed mare sum forte corde secuta canes. Non placuit pallam substringens fibula,
non pes vinctus, et unguentis oblita vitta mihi: sed baculus nudique pedes, quaeque
artubus haeret Diplois, inque locum dura cubilis humus. Maenaliae tantum potior mea vita puellae, quanto venari quam sapuisse minus. Translated into Latin by Hugo
Grotius |
Antipater of Sidon [2nd – 1st century BCE, modern Lebanon] was a Greek poet who lived under Roman rule during the 2nd and 1st centuries BCE. Dozens of his poems were preserved in the Greek Anthology.
|
Name: Cicero Date: 106 – 43 BCE Region: Rome [modern Italy] Citation: On Divination 2.60 |
In this passage, Cicero denounces superstitious
exposure of intersex children:
Are you really frightened by “omens” of unusual
animal or human births? Long story short: all of these occur for one reason,
and one reason only. Anything that is born, whatever it is, is caused
naturally. Even if it happens to be unusual, it cannot occur “unnaturally.”
Whenever something new and rare occurs, go ahead and investigate the cause, if
you can. Even if you analyze the facts and still cannot find the reason, remember that
nothing can occur without reason, and put aside the knee-jerk panic that the
novelty of the occurrence gave you. Once you do this,
nothing will frighten you: not earthquakes, not weather patterns, not rain
showers of blood or stones, not falling stars, nor will-‘o-the-wisps.
An vero illa nos terrent, si quando
aliqua portentosa aut ex pecude aut ex homine nata dicuntur? Quorum omnium, ne
sim longior, una ratio est. Quicquid enim oritur, qualecumque est, causam
habeat a natura necesse est, ut, etiamsi praeter consuetudinem extiterit,
praeter naturam tamen non possit existere. Causam igitur investigato in re nova
atque admirabili, si poteris; si nullam reperies, illud tamen exploratum
habeto, nihil fieri potuisse sine causa, eumque terrorem, quem tibi rei novitas
adtulerit, naturae ratione depellito. Ita te nec terrae fremitus nec caeli
discessus nec lapideus aut sanguineus imber nec traiectio stellae nec faces
visae terrebunt.
Cicero [Marcus Tullius Cicero; 106 – 43 BCE, modern Italy]
was an Italian-born Roman statesman and author who lived during the
complexities of Rome’s transition from Republic to monarchy. Cicero spent most
of his life in service of his country, serving as both a lawyer, senator, and
even consul [Roman equivalent of president]. He is known for
his suppression of the failed governmental coup in 63 BCE known as the
Catilinarian conspiracy that occurred during his consulship. After the rise of
Octavian [later known as the first Roman emperor Augustus], his views fell out
of favor and he was eventually put to death during the proscriptions under the
Second Triumvirate [Octavian, Marc Antony and Lepidus]. He was a prolific
author in a wide range in genres, and his literary style was adopted by
Petrarch as the default model for the Latin language.
