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Mar 28 9 tweets 3 min read Twitter logo Read on Twitter
#LatinForTheDay – 28 March #Apocolocyntosis

“dumque nimis citharam fraternaque carmina laudant,
plus solito nevere manus, humanaque fata
laudatum transcendit opus. “ne demite, Parcae”
Phoebus ait “vincat mortalis tempora vitae
ille, mihi similis vultu similisque decore...
"nec cantu nec voce minor. felicia lassis
saecula praestabit legumque silentia rumpet.
qualis discutiens fugientia Lucifer astra
aut qualis surgit redeuntibus Hesperus astris,
qualis cum primum tenebris Aurora solutis
induxit rubicunda diem, Sol aspicit orbem...
"lucidus, et primos a carcere concitat axes:
talis Caesar adest, talem iam Roma Neronem
aspiciet. flagrat nitidus fulgore remisso
vultus, et adfuso cervix formosa capillo.”

Seneca, Apocolocyntosis 4.18-32
‘While they praised to high heaven their brother’s song and lyre,
Their hands had spun more than they should, their handiwork
Exceeded the human span. “Do not unravel it, Fates,” commanded
Apollo, “Let him surpass the limits of a mortal life:...
'He who is my equal in form and beauty, and who is in no way less
Than me in song or voice! He will establish a blessed age for the
Weary and he will burst the dam of silence that has stifled the law.
He is like the Morning Star, at whose rising the other stars scatter;...
'Or like the Evening Star, at whose rising the others return;
Or like the Sun – who gleams as Dawn dissolves the darkness and
Brings in the day – gazing down, shining-faced, upon the earth,
As he speeds his chariot forth from the starting gate....
'Now such a Caesar stands ready, now Rome shall gaze at such a
Nero. His shining face beams forth a gentle radiance, as does
His lovely neck with its cascade of flowing hair.”’
In this extract from the Apocolocyntosis, we see the extent of the praise lavished on Nero, as the Fates - while being entertained by Apollo - spin out a golden thread for the emperor-in-waiting ("aurea formoso descendunt saecula filo").
The Image at the head of this thread is 'The Fates Gathering in the Stars' by Elihu Vedder, 1887 (Art Institute of Chicago: 1919.1).

Link - artic.edu/artworks/74967…

#LatinForTheDay #Apocolocyntosis 🧵

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More from @DocCrom

Mar 29
#LatinForTheDay – 29 March #Virgil

“ergo aderat promissa dies et tempora Parcae
debita complerant, cum Turni iniuria Matrem
admonuit ratibus sacris depellere taedas.
hic primum nova lux oculis offulsit et ingens
visus ab Aurora caelum transcurrere nimbus... Image
"Idaeique chori; tum vox horrenda per auras
excidit et Troum Rutulorumque agmina complet:
“ne trepidate meas, Teucri, defendere navis
neve armate manus; maria ante exurere Turno
quam sacras dabitur pinus. vos ite solutae,
ite deae pelagi; genetrix iubet.” et sua quaeque...
"continuo puppes abrumpunt vincula ripis
delphinumque modo demersis aequora rostris
ima petunt. hinc virgineae (mirabile monstrum)
reddunt se totidem facies pontoque feruntur.”

Virgil, Aeneid 9.107-121
Read 9 tweets
Mar 28
#EpigraphyTuesday – something different today with the so-called ‘Tabula Rondanini’, an example of the ‘Tabulae Iliacae’, where scenes from the Trojan Cycle are depicted: ca. 1st Century AD. #Myth

Image: National Museum, Warsaw (147975 MNW). Link - cyfrowe.mnw.art.pl/en/catalog/611…
These tablets – some 22 are known – were long dismissed as being intended for “a clientèle unacquainted with Homer himself” (Horsfall, 1979: 34), seen as the type of object appreciated by characters such as Petronius’ Trimalchio. However, more recent work has questioned this.
The designs on this tablet are drawn from Book 10 of Homer’s Odyssey, focussing on the encounter of Odysseus with Circe. Thus, we see Circe’s palace with the key actors meeting. They are clearly named with Greek dipinti.
Read 8 tweets
Mar 28
Ancient Coin of the Day: Today is about Didius Julianus, the man who bought the position of Emperor from the Praetorian Guard on this day, 28 March, in AD 193. #ACOTD #Numismatics #Rome 🧵

Image: RIC IV Didius Julianus 1; MoFA Boston (1999.514). Link - numismatics.org/ocre/id/ric.4.… ImageImage
Following their killing of Pertinax on 28 March AD 193, the Praetorian Guard decided to auction off the position of emperor to the highest bidder. Didius Julianus won the day, promising 25,000 sesterces per man (Dio 74.11.5), beginning his brief nine-week reign.
The Obverse of this coin shows a laureate portrait of Didius Julianus, with the Legend IMP CAES M DID IVLIAN AVG – ‘Emperor Caesar Marcus Didius Julianus Augustus’. Image
Read 12 tweets
Mar 27
#LatinForTheDay – 27 March #Ovid

“est quaedam—quicumque volet cognoscere lenam,
audiat!—est quaedam nomine Dipsas anus.
ex re nomen habet—nigri non illa parentem
Memnonis in roseis sobria vidit equis.
illa magas artes Aeaeaque carmina novit... Image
"...inque caput liquidas arte recurvat aquas;
scit bene, quid gramen, quid torto concita rhombo
licia, quid valeat virus amantis equae.
cum voluit, toto glomerantur nubila caelo;
cum voluit, puro fulget in orbe dies.
sanguine, siqua fides, stillantia sidera vidi;...
"...purpureus Lunae sanguine vultus erat.
hanc ego nocturnas versam volitare per umbras
suspicor et pluma corpus anile tegi.”

Ovid, Amores 1.8.1-14
Read 9 tweets
Nov 11, 2022
#LatinForTheDay – 11 November #Seneca

“O magne Olympi rector et mundi arbiter,
iam statue tandem gravibus aerumnis modum
finemque cladi. nulla lux umquam mihi
secura fulsit; finis alterius mali
gradus est futuri. protinus reduci novus
paratur hostis; antequam laetam domum... Image
"contingat, aliud iussus ad bellum meat;
nec ulla requies, tempus aut ullum vacat,
nisi dum iubetur. sequitur a primo statim
infesta Iuno; numquid immunis fuit
infantis aetas? monstra superavit prius
quam nosse posset.”

Seneca the Younger, Hercules 205-216
‘Mighty ruler of Olympus, master of the cosmos,
Set an end to our wearying troubles, set an end
To this ruin at long last! Each new-breaking dawn
Sees me in a cold-sweat; his every end of suffering
Is merely the beginning of the next. As soon as he...
Read 7 tweets
Nov 10, 2022
#LatinForTheDay – 10 November #Seneca

“Soror Tonantis—hoc enim solum mihi
nomen relictum est—semper alienum Iovem
ac templa summi vidua deserui aetheris,
locumque caelo pulsa paelicibus dedi;
tellus colenda est, paelices caelum tenent.
hinc Arctos alta parte glacialis poli... Image
"sublime classes sidus Argolicas agit;
hinc, qua recenti vere laxatur dies,
Tyriae per undas vector Europae nitet;
illinc timendum ratibus ac ponto gregem
passim vagantes exerunt Atlantides.”

Seneca the Younger, Hercules 1-11
‘The Thunderer’s SISTER, that’s the only tag which remains
For me now! Now more widow than wife, I have left Jove the
Ever-unfaithful – that reprobate love-rat – and the abode of heaven.
Pushed from the skies, I yield my place to his trollops;...
Read 7 tweets

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