“Eripitur nobis iam pridem cara puella:
et tu me lacrimas fundere, amice, vetas?
nullae sunt inimicitiae nisi amoris acerbae:
ipsum me iugula, lenior hostis ero.
possum ego in alterius positam spectare lacerto?...
"...nec mea dicetur, quae modo dicta meast?
omnia vertuntur: certe vertuntur amores:
vinceris a victis, haec in amore rotast.
magni saepe duces, magni cecidere tyranni,
et Thebae steterunt altaque Troia fuit....
"munera quanta dedi vel qualia carmina feci!
illa tamen numquam ferrea dixit ‘amo.’”
Propertius 2.8.1-12
‘My darling girl, my long-term squeeze, has been stolen from me:
Yet you, my so-called friend, refuse to shed a tear?
There’s no more needle more bitter than that of love:
Just slit my throat, I’ll hate you less.
Can I bear to see her guddled in another’s embrace?...
'Is she not to be called mine? She was but a moment ago!
Everything changes: and for damn sure love changes too:
You’re conquered by the conquered – so roll Love’s wheels....
'Great figures – generals and tyrants – come a cropper,
Even Thebes and the teetering towers of Troy toppled.
What bounties I bestowed, what songs I penned!
But my iron maiden never said “I love you.”’
Propertius there on the vagaries of the fortunes of Love.
The Image at the head of this thread is 'Beata Beatrix' by Dante Gabriel Rossetti, ca. 1864-1870.
Ancient Coin of the Day: I’ve been remiss in coin threads this week, so let’s get back to it with this base-silver tetradrachm from Alexandria, ca. AD 66-67, one of a series celebrating Nero.
This is a great example of Julio-Claudian provincial coinage, part of a series of five base-silver tetradrachms that were issued by Alexandria to celebrate Nero's victories on the 'festival circuit' of Greek games.
The Legend that was universal to the series was ΝΕΡΩ ΚΛΑΥ ΚΑΙΣ ΣΕΒ ΓΕΡ ΑΥ - 'Nero Claudius Caesar Augustus Germanicus' - with the Legend on the Reverse being specific to each set of games, in this case ΠΟΣΕΙΔΩΝ ΙΣΘΜΙΟΣ – ‘Isthmian Poseidon’.
“O me felicem! nox o mihi candida! et o tu
lectule deliciis facte beate meis!
quam multa apposita narrâmus verba lucerna,
quantaque sublato lumine rixa fuit!
nam modo nudatis mecumst luctata papillis,
interdum tunica duxit operta moram...
"illa meos somno lapsos patefecit ocellos
ore suo et dixit ‘sicine, lente, iaces?’
quam vario amplexu mutâmus bracchia! quantum
oscula sunt labris nostra morata tuis!”
Propertius 2.15.1-10
‘Damn me, I’m blessed! What a night! And you,
My bed, became a shrine to the delights of love!
How many sweet nothings we whispered in the lamplight;
What a kerfuffle when the light burned low!
Sometimes my love’s bare breasts pressed against my chest,...
#EpigraphyTuesday - A cracking piece today, with the bronze tablets preserving elements of Claudius' speech to the Senate in AD 48 on admitting Gauls to the Senate.
Discovered in 1528, the bronze panels record Claudius' response to a request from the leading citizens of Gallia Comata that they should be allowed to hold public office in Rome.
Claudius' attempts to convince the Senate of the sense of this proposal include historical examples of 'foreigners' who had brought great benefit to Rome, including the early kings Numa Pompilius and Tarquinius Priscus.
“Tu ne quaesieris, scire nefas, quem mihi, quem tibi
finem di dederint, Leuconoe, nec Babylonios
temptaris numeros. ut melius, quidquid erit, pati,
seu pluris hiemes seu tribuit Iuppiter ultimam,
quae nunc oppositis debilitat pumicibus mare...
"...Tyrrhenum! sapias, vina liques, et spatio brevi
spem longam reseces. dum loquimur, fugerit invida
aetas: carpe diem, quam minimum credula postero.”
Horace Odes 1.11
'Do not ask what fate the gods have given to us,
To you and me - It's not right that we know, Leuconoe.
Don't go meddling with Babylonian horoscopes.
How much better to endure it, whatever IT might be:
Whether Jupiter has granted us more winters,...
The inscription was discovered prior to 1601 in Risingham, the site of the Roman fort of Habitancum, on Dere Street - which ran from York to Corbridge.
Text:
"D(is) M(anibus)
Blescius
Diovicus
filiae
suae
vixsit
an(n)um
I et die(s) XXI"
A quick #EpigraphyTuesday thread to get my day going, with this dedicatory statue group of Dionysus from the Mithraeum in London: ca. 4th Century AD. #Roman