#LatinForTheDay - 15 February

"‘Esse quid hoc dicam vivis quod fama negatur
et sua quod rarus tempora lector amat?’
hi sunt invidiae nimirum, Regule, mores,
praeferat antiquos semper ut illa novis.
sic veterem ingrati Pompei quaerimus umbram...

"ic laudant Catuli vilia templa senes.
Ennius est lectus salvo tibi, Roma, Marone,
et sua riserunt saecula Maeoniden,
rara coronato plausere theatra Menandro,
norat Nasonem sola Corinna suum....

"vos tamen o nostri ne festinate libelli:
si post fata venit gloria, non propero."

Martial, Epigrams 5.10

'"What am I to say of the fact that fame is denied the living?
That it is rare for a reader to love his own times?"...

'Ah, Regulus, undoubtedly this is the custom of Envy:
As she always prefers the old to the new.
Thus we ingrates seek out Pompey's old shady spot, and
The oldies heap praise on Catulus' modest temple.
Ah Rome, your favoured tome was Ennius while Virgil lived,...

'Hell, even Homer was scoffed at by his fellows.
The theatres rarely rang with applause for a victorious Menander;
Only Corinna really knew her Ovid.
So you, my little books, don't be in such a hurry:
I'm in no rush if glory comes only AFTER death.'

The Image at the head of this thread is the so-called 'Sappho' fresco from Insula Occidentalis (VI.17), Pompeii.

A woman holds a polyptych of wax tablets, raising a stylus to her lips (Museo Archeologico Nazionale di Napoli (Inv. Nr. 9084)).