Sat. 1.6.1Nōn quia, Maecēnās, Lȳdōrum quidquid Etrūscōs
incoluit fīnīs, nēmō generōsior est tē,
nec quod avus tibi māternus fuit atque paternus
ōlim quī magnīs legiōnibus imperitārent,
5ut plērīque solent, nāsō suspendis aduncō
ignōtōs, ut mē lībertīnō patre nātum.Not because, Maecenas, of all the Lydians who have settled the Etruscan lands, no one is of nobler birth than you, nor because your grandfathers on your mother's and your father's side once commanded great legions, do you, as most people do, turn up your nose at men of unknown birth, such as me, the son of a freedman. Sat. 1.6.7Cum referre negās, quālī sit quisque parente
nātus, dum ingenuus, persuādēs hoc tibi vērē,
ante potestātem Tullī atque ignōbile regnum
10multōs saepe virōs nūllīs maiōribus ortōs
et vīxisse probōs amplīs et honōribus auctōs;When you say it does not matter from what parent each man is born, provided he is freeborn, you rightly persuade yourself of this, that before the power of Tullius and his lowborn reign many men often sprang from no ancestors at all and yet lived upright lives and were raised to high honours; Sat. 1.6.12contrā Laevīnum, Valerī genus, unde Superbus
Tarquinius regnō pulsus fūgit, ūnīus assis
nōn umquam pretiō plūris licuisse, notante
15iūdice quō nōstī, populō, quī stultus honōrēs
saepe dat indignīs et fāmae servit ineptus,
quī stupet in titulīs et imāginibus.while Laevinus, on the contrary, of the stock of Valerius, by whom Tarquin the Proud was driven from his throne and fled, was never valued at a penny more, even in the estimation of the judge you know, the people, who foolishly often give honours to the unworthy and are stupidly slaves to reputation, who gape at inscriptions and ancestral masks.
Sat. 1.6.17Quid oportet
nōs facere ā volgō longē longēque remōtōs?What should we do, who are far, far removed from the common herd? Sat. 1.6.19Namque Estō: populus Laevīnō māllet honōrem
20quam Deciō mandāre novō cēnsorque movēret
Appius, ingenuō sī nōn essem patre nātus:
vel meritō, quoniam in propriā nōn pelle quiēssem.For grant it: the people would rather entrust office to Laevinus than to Decius, a new man, and Appius as censor would strike me off, if I were not born of a freeborn father: and rightly so, since I had not stayed quiet in my own skin. Sat. 1.6.23Sed fulgente trahit cōnstrictōs glōria currū
nōn minus ignōtōs generōsīs.But Glory drags along, bound to her glittering chariot, the unknown no less than the well-born. Sat. 1.6.24Quō tibi, Tullī,
25sūmere dēpositum clāvom fierīque tribūnō?What good was it to you, Tullius, to take up again the stripe you had laid aside and become a tribune? Sat. 1.6.26Invidia adcrēvit, prīvātō quae minor esset.Envy has grown upon you, which would be less if you were a private man.
Sat. 1.6.27Nam ut quisque īnsānus nigrīs medium impediit crūs
pellibus et lātum dēmīsit pectore clāvom,
audit continuō 'Quis homō hic est?For as soon as any madman has bound the middle of his leg with black leather and let the broad stripe fall down his chest, he hears at once, 'Who is this man? Sat. 1.6.29Quō patre nātus?'
30ut sīquī aegrōtet quō morbō Barrus, habērī
et cupiat fōrmōsus, eat quācumque, puellīs
iniciat cūram quaerendī singula, quālī
sit faciē, sūrā, quālī pede, dente, capillō:
sīc quī prōmittit cīvīs, urbem sibi cūrae,
35imperium fore et ītaliam, dēlūbra Deōrum,
quō patre sit nātus, num ignōtā mātre inhonestus,
omnīs mortālīs cūrāre et quaerere cōgit.Who was his father?' Just as, if someone suffering from Barrus' disease longs to be thought handsome, wherever he goes he makes the girls curious to inquire into each detail, what his face is like, his calf, his foot, his teeth, his hair: so the man who promises to take care of the citizens, the city, the empire and Italy, the shrines of the gods, compels all mortals to take an interest and ask who his father was, whether he is disgraced by an unknown mother.
Sat. 1.6.38'Tūne, Syrī Dāmae aut Dionȳsī fīlius, audēs
dēicere dē saxō cīvīs aut trādere Cadmō?'
40'at Novius collēga gradū post mē sedet ūnō;'Do you, the son of Syrus, Dama or Dionysius, dare to hurl citizens from the Rock or hand them over to Cadmus?' 'But my colleague Novius sits one row behind me; Sat. 1.6.41namque est ille, pater quod erat meus.' 'hoc tibi Paulus
et Messalla vidēris?for he is what my father was.' 'Do you think yourself a Paulus and a Messalla on that account? Sat. 1.6.42At hic, sī plōstra ducenta
concurrantque forō tria fūnera, magna sonābit,
cornua quod vincatque tubās: saltem tenet hoc nōs.'
45nunc ad mē redeō lībertīnō patre nātum,
quem rōdunt omnēs lībertīnō patre nātum,
nunc, quia, Maecēnās, tibi sum convīctor, at ōlim,
quod mihi pārēret legiō Rōmāna tribūnō.But this man, if two hundred wagons and three funerals were to clash in the forum, will make a great noise that would drown horns and trumpets: that at least holds our attention.' Now I return to myself, the son of a freedman, whom everyone carps at as the son of a freedman, now because, Maecenas, I am your companion, but formerly because a Roman legion obeyed me as tribune.
Sat. 1.6.49Dissimile hoc illī est, quia nōn, ut forsit honōrem
50iūre mihi invideat quīvīs, ita tē quoque amīcum,
praesertim cautum dignōs adsūmere, prāvā
ambitiōne procul.This case is unlike that, because, though anyone might perhaps rightly begrudge me the office, he should not likewise begrudge me you as a friend, especially as you are careful to take on only the worthy, far from crooked ambition. Sat. 1.6.52Fēlīcem dīcere nōn hoc
mē possim, cāsū quod tē sortītus amīcum;I could not call myself lucky in this, that I won you as a friend by chance; Sat. 1.6.54nūlla etenim mihi tē fors obtulit: optimus ōlim
55Vergilius, post hunc Varius dīxēre, quid essem.for it was no chance that put you in my way: excellent Virgil some time ago, and after him Varius, told you what I was. Sat. 1.6.56Ut vēnī cōram, singultim pauca locūtus —
īnfāns namque pudor prohibēbat plūra prōfārī —
nōn ego mē clārō nātum patre, nōn ego circum
mē Satureiānō vectārī rūra caballō,
60sed quod eram narrō.When I came before you, I said a few halting words — for speechless modesty kept me from saying more — I do not tell you that I was born of a famous father, nor that I ride round my estates on a Saturian nag, but I tell you what I was.
Sat. 1.6.60Respondēs, ut tuus est mōs,
pauca;You reply, as is your way, briefly; Sat. 1.6.61abeō, et revocās nōnō post mēnse iubēsque
esse in amīcōrum numerō.I leave, and you call me back nine months later and bid me be among your friends. Sat. 1.6.62Magnum hoc ego dūcō,
quod placuī tibi, quī turpī sēcernis honestum
nōn patre praeclārō, sed vītā et pectore pūrō.I count it a great thing that I pleased you, who distinguish the honourable from the base not by an illustrious father, but by a life and a heart that are pure. Sat. 1.6.65Atquī sī vitiīs mediocribus ac mea paucīs
mendōsa est nātūra, aliōquī rēcta, velut sī
ēgregiō īnspersōs reprendās corpore naevōs,
sī neque avāritiam neque sordēs nec mala lūstra
obiciet vērē quisquam mihi, pūrus et īnsōns,
70ut mē collaudem, sī et vīvō cārus amīcīs,
causa fuit pater hīs;And yet if my nature is flawed by moderate faults, and few of them, but otherwise upright, as if you were to find fault with moles scattered over a fine body, if no one will truly charge me with greed or meanness or haunting low dens, if — to sing my own praises — I live pure and blameless, and am dear to my friends, my father was the cause of this; Sat. 1.6.71quī macrō pauper agellō
nōluit in Flāvī lūdum mē mittere, magnī
quō puerī magnīs ē centuriōnibus ortī
laevō suspēnsī loculōs tabulamque lacertō
75ībant octōnōs referentēs Īdibus aeris,
sed puerum est ausus Rōmam portāre docendum
artīs quās doceat quīvīs eques atque senātor
sēmet prognātōs.who, though poor, with a lean little farm, refused to send me to the school of Flavius, where the grand sons of grand centurions used to go, their satchels and tablets hanging from their left arms, bringing their eight coppers on the Ides, but dared to take his boy to Rome to be taught the arts which any knight or senator would have his own offspring taught.
Sat. 1.6.78Vestem servōsque sequentīs,
in magnō ut populō, sīquī vīdisset, avītā
80ex rē praebērī sūmptūs mihi crēderet illōs.If anyone had seen my clothes and the slaves attending me, as is done in a great city, he would have believed that such expense was supplied to me from an ancestral fortune. Sat. 1.6.81Ipse mihi custōs incorruptissimus omnīs
circum doctōrēs aderat.He himself, the most incorruptible of guardians, was with me at all my teachers. Sat. 1.6.82Quid multa?Why say more? Sat. 1.6.82Pudīcum,
quī prīmus virtūtis honōs, servāvit ab omnī
nōn sōlum factō, vērum opprobriō quoque turpī
85nec timuit, sibi nē vitiō quis verteret, ōlim
sī praecō parvās aut, ut fuit ipse, coāctor
mercēdēs sequerer;He kept me chaste, which is the first honour of virtue, not only from every deed but also from shameful reproach, and he was not afraid that someone would hold it against him if one day I were to pursue small fees as an auctioneer or, as he himself had been, a collector; Sat. 1.6.87neque ego essem questus.nor would I have complained. Sat. 1.6.87At hōc nunc
laus illī dēbētur et ā mē grātia maior.But as it is, for this he is owed greater praise and greater thanks from me.
Sat. 1.6.89Nīl mē paeniteat sānum patris huius, eōque
90nōn, ut magna dolō factum negat esse suō pars,
quod nōn ingenuōs habeat clārōsque parentēs,
sīc mē dēfendam.Never while I am sane could I be ashamed of such a father, and so I shall not defend myself as a great many do, who say it is no fault of theirs that they do not have freeborn and famous parents. Sat. 1.6.92Longē mea discrepat istīs
et vōx et ratiō.Both my words and my thinking differ widely from theirs. Sat. 1.6.93Nam sī nātūra iubēret
ā certīs annīs aevum remeāre perāctum
95atque aliōs legere, ad fastum quōscumque parentēs
optāret sibi quisque, meīs contentus honestōs
fascibus et sellīs nōllem mihi sūmere, dēmēns
iūdiciō volgī, sānus fortasse tuō, quod
nōllem onus haud umquam solitus portāre molestum.For if nature were to bid us, from a certain age, to retrace the years already lived and to choose other parents, whatever ones each would wish for himself to suit his pride, I, content with my own, would not wish to take parents honoured with the rods and chairs of office, mad in the judgement of the crowd, but perhaps sane in yours, because I would not want to bear a troublesome burden I was never used to carrying.
Sat. 1.6.100Nam mihi continuō maior quaerenda foret rēs
atque salūtandī plūrēs, dūcendus et ūnus
et comes alter, utī nē sōlus rūsve peregrēvē
exīrem, plūrēs cālōnēs atque caballī
pāscendī, dūcenda petorrita.For at once I would have to acquire a larger fortune and receive more callers, take along one or two companions so as not to go off to the country or abroad alone, feed more stable-boys and horses, and take along carriages. Sat. 1.6.104Nunc mihi curtō
105īre licet mūlō vel sī libet ūsque Tarentum,
mantica cui lumbōs onere ulceret atque eques armōs.As it is, I may go on a bobtailed mule, even as far as Tarentum if I like, with saddlebags galling its loins with their weight and its rider galling its shoulders. Sat. 1.6.107Obiciet nēmō sordīs mihi, quās tibi, Tullī,
cum Tīburte viā praetōrem quīnque secuntur
tē puerī, lasanum portantēs oenophorumque.No one will charge me with meanness, as they do you, Tullius, when on the road to Tibur five slaves follow you, a praetor, carrying a chamber pot and a wine jar. Sat. 1.6.110Hōc ego commodius quam tū, praeclārē senātor,
mīlibus atque aliīs vīvō.In this, and in a thousand other ways, I live more comfortably than you, illustrious senator.
Sat. 1.6.111Quācumque libīdō est,
incēdō sōlus, percontor quantī holus ac fār,
fallācem Circum vespertīnumque pererrō
saepe forum, adsistō dīvīnīs, inde domum mē
115ad porrī et ciceris referō laganīque catīnum;Wherever the fancy takes me, I go alone; I ask the price of vegetables and flour; I often stroll round the cheating Circus and the Forum in the evening; I stand by the fortune-tellers; then I take myself home to a dish of leeks, chickpeas and pancakes; Sat. 1.6.116cēna ministrātur puerīs tribus et lapis albus
pōcula cum cyathō duo sustinet, adstat echīnus
vīlis, cum paterā guttus, Campāna supellex.dinner is served by three slaves, and a white stone slab holds two cups with a ladle; beside them stands a cheap bowl, a jug with a saucer, Campanian ware. Sat. 1.6.119Deinde eō dormītum, nōn sollicitus, mihi quod crās
120surgendum sit māne, obeundus Marsya, quī sē
voltum ferre negat Noviōrum posse minōris.Then I go to sleep, not worried that I must get up early tomorrow and visit Marsyas, who says he cannot bear the face of the younger Novius. Sat. 1.6.122Ad quartam iaceō;I lie in bed till the fourth hour; Sat. 1.6.122post hanc vagor aut ego lēctō
aut scrīptō quod mē tacitum iuvet unguor olīvō,
nōn quō fraudātīs inmundus Natta lucernīs.after that I wander about, or, having read or written something that pleases me in quiet, I am rubbed with oil, not such as filthy Natta steals from the lamps.
Sat. 1.6.125Ast ubi mē fessum sōl ācrior īre lavātum
admonuit, fugiō campum lūsumque trigōnem.But when the fiercer sun has warned me, tired, to go and bathe, I flee the Campus and the game of three-handed ball. Sat. 1.6.127Prānsus nōn avidē, quantum interpellet inānī
ventre diem dūrāre, domesticus ōtior.Having lunched lightly, just enough to keep me from going through the day on an empty stomach, I idle at home. Sat. 1.6.128Haec est
vīta solūtōrum miserā ambitiōne gravīque;This is the life of those freed from wretched and burdensome ambition; Sat. 1.6.130hīs mē cōnsōlor vīctūrum suāvius ac sī
quaestor avus pater atque meus patruusque fuisset.with these things I console myself that I shall live more pleasantly than if my grandfather had been a quaestor, and my father and my uncle too.