Sat I:19-44 Why Choose Satire?

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  • Created by: Lydia22
  • Created on: 25-03-20 17:33
cur tamen hoc potius libeat decurrere campo per quem magnus equos Auruncae flexit alumnus, si vacat ac placidi rationem admittitis, edam.
Why I still choose to go driving over the very plain Where Lucilius the great, from Aurunca, steered his team, I’ll explain, if you’ve time to hear my reasons, quietly.
1 of 11
Cum tener uxorem ducat spado, Mevia Tuscum figat aprum et nuda teneat venabula mamma,
When a tender ****** takes him a wife; when Mevia Fights a Tuscan boar, with bare breasts, gripping the spear;
2 of 11
patricios omnis opibus cum provocet unus quo tondente gravis iuveni mihi barba sonabat,
When a fellow can match all the aristocrats in wealth, Who made me cry with pain when he used to shave me;
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cum pars Niliacae plebis, cum verna Canopi Crispinus Tyrias umero revocante lacernas ventilet aestivum digitis sudantibus aurum, nec sufferre queat maioris pondera gemmae,
When a pleb from the Nile, when a slave from Canopus, One Crispinus, hitching his Tyrian cloak on his shoulder, Wafts the gold of summer about on his sweaty fingers, Simply unable to suffer the dreadful weight of a gem;
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difficile est saturam non scribere,
It’s hard not to write satire!
5 of 11
nam quis iniquae tam patiens urbis, tam ferreus, ut teneat se, causidici nova cum veniat lectica Mathonis plena ipso,
For who’s so tolerant of Rome’s Iniquities, so made of steel they can contain themselves When along comes that lawyer Matho’s brand new litter, Full of himself;
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post hunc magni delator amici et cito rapturus de nobilitate comesa quod superest,
behind, one who informed on a powerful Friend, ready to steal any scraps from the noble carcase,
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quem Massa timet, quem munere palpat Carus et a trepido Thymele summissa Latino?
Whom Massa the stool-pigeon fears, and Carus sweetens With gifts, like Thymele, in the farce, fed by fearful Latinus;
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cum te summoveant qui testamenta merentur noctibus, in caelum quos evenit optima summi nunc via processus, vetulae vesica beatae?
When you’re shoved by men who earn a place in the will By night, men raised to the gods by the wide road now To highest advancement, by a rich old woman’s ‘purse’?
9 of 11
unciolam Proculeius habet, sed Gillo deuncem, partes quisque suas ad mensuram inguinis heres,
To Proculeius just one twelfth share, but to Gillo eleven, Each heir gets the portion that matches their performance.
10 of 11
accipiat sane mercedem sanguinis, et sic palleat ut nudis pressit qui calcibus anguem aut Lugudunensem rhetor dicturus ad aram.
May they turn truly pale as they ****** their blood-money, Like a man with bare feet who’s stepped on a snake, Or the next loser to speak, at Caligula’s altar in Lyon.
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Other cards in this set

Card 2

Front

Cum tener uxorem ducat spado, Mevia Tuscum figat aprum et nuda teneat venabula mamma,

Back

When a tender ****** takes him a wife; when Mevia Fights a Tuscan boar, with bare breasts, gripping the spear;

Card 3

Front

patricios omnis opibus cum provocet unus quo tondente gravis iuveni mihi barba sonabat,

Back

Preview of the front of card 3

Card 4

Front

cum pars Niliacae plebis, cum verna Canopi Crispinus Tyrias umero revocante lacernas ventilet aestivum digitis sudantibus aurum, nec sufferre queat maioris pondera gemmae,

Back

Preview of the front of card 4

Card 5

Front

difficile est saturam non scribere,

Back

Preview of the front of card 5
View more cards

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