Gellius I: Fabricius, Xanthippe, et Sibyllini Gellius I: Fabricius, Xanthippe, and Sibyllini

I.14. I.14. Quid dixerit feceritque C. Fabricius, magna vir gloria magnisque rebus gestis, sed familiae pecuniaeque inops, cum ei Samnites tamquam indigenti grave aurum donarent. What was said and done by Gaius Fabricius, a man of great renown and great deeds, but the families of the establishment and little money, with a great amount of gold to give up to him the Samnites offered him that is in need. 1 Iulius Hyginus in libro de vita rebusque inlustrium virorum sexto legatos dicit a Samnitibus ad C. Fabricium, imperatorem populi Romani, venisse et memoratis multis magnisque rebus, quae bene ac benivole post redditam pacem Samnitibus fecisset, obtulisse dono grandem pecuniam orasseque, uti acciperet utereturque, atque id facere Samnites dixisse, quod viderent multa ad splendorem domus atque victus defieri neque pro amplitudine dignitateque lautum paratum esse. Julius Hyginus noted in the book of the distinction, however, of the men of the sixth year of life and property 1 says that a deputation from the Samnites came to Gaius Fabricius and, among emperors of the Roman people, and after mentioning his many important things, of kindness and generosity to the Samnites since peace restored, offered him a present of a large sum of money, begging, that he would accept and use it and then it is to make the Samnites, to have said, they would have seen the greatness of the dignity of his, many would not be acting according to the brightness of the house apart for the rite and manner of living was ready to be unmade. 2 Tum Fabricium planas manus ab auribus ad oculos et infra deinceps ad nares et ad os et ad gulam atque inde porro ad ventrem imum deduxisse et legatis ita respondisse: dum illis omnibus membris, quae attigisset, obsistere atque imperare posset, numquam quicquam defuturum; propterea se pecuniam, qua nihil sibi esset usus, ab his, quibus eam sciret usui esse, non accipere. 2 Then Fabricius brought down the flat hands from the ears to the eyes, and below them to the nose, and to the mouth, and to the esophagus, and thence further to the belly; therefore that he did not receive the money, which he had no use for himself, from those to whom he knew it was of use.

I.17. Quanta cum animi aequitate toleraverit Socrates uxoris ingenium intractabile; atque inibi quid M. Varro in quadam satura de officio mariti scripserit. What an untouchable temper of his wife Socrates endured with impartiality; and also what M. Varro wrote in a satire on the duty of a husband. 1 Xanthippe, Socratis philosophi uxor, morosa admodum fuisse fertur et iurgiosa irarumque et molestiarum muliebrium per diem perque noctem scatebat. 1 Xanthippe, the wife of the philosopher Socrates, is said to have been very mannerisms, and was quarreling with tantrums and female annoyances day and night. 2 Has eius intemperies in maritum Alcibiades demiratus interrogavit Socraten, quaenam ratio esset, cur mulierem tam acerbam domo non exigeret. 2 Alcibiades, astonished at this intemperance toward her husband, asked Socrates what was the reason why he should not demand so severe a woman at home. 3 "Quoniam," inquit Socrates "cum illam domi talem perpetior, insuesco et exerceor, ut ceterorum quoque foris petulantiam et iniuriam facilius feram." 3 "For," says Socrates, "when I endure such a thing at home, I am accustomed and exercised, so that I may more easily bear the petulance of the rest outside, and the injury of others." 4 Secundum hanc sententiam M. quoque Varro in satura Menippea, quam de officio mariti scripsit: "Vitium" inquit "uxoris aut tollendum aut ferendum est. 4 According to this opinion also M. Varro, in Menippea's satire, which he wrote about the office of her husband: "It is the fault of the wife," he says, "that we must either take away or bear it. Qui tollit vitium, uxorem commodiorem praestat; qui fert, sese meliorem facit." He who removes vice makes a wife more convenient; he who takes it does himself better." 5 Haec verba Varronis "tollere" et "ferre" lepide quidem composita sunt, sed "tollere" apparet dictum pro "corrigere". 5 These words of Varro "to take" and "to bear" are indeed cleverly composed, but "to take" appears to have been said instead of "correcting". 6 Id etiam apparet eiusmodi vitium uxoris, si corrigi non possit, ferendum esse Varronem censuisse, quod ferri scilicet a viro honeste potest; vitia enim flagitiis leviora sunt. 6 It also appears that Varro thought that such a vice of his wife, if it could not be corrected, ought to be borne, which, to wit, can be borne by the man honorably; for vices are less important than crimes.

I.19. Historia super libris Sibyllinis ac de Tarquinio Superbo rege. History of the Sibylline books and of King Tarquinius Superbus 1 In antiquis annalibus memoria super libris Sibyllinis haec prodita est: 2 Anus hospita atque incognita ad Tarquinium Superbum regem adiit novem libros ferens, quos esse dicebat divina oracula; eos velle venundare. 1 In the ancient annals this story has been recorded over the books of the Sibylline: 2 An old woman, an inmate and unknown, went to King Tarquinius Superbus, carrying nine books, which he said were divine oracles; to be willing to sell them. 3 Tarquinius pretium percontatus est. 3 Tarquin asked the price. Mulier nimium atque inmensum poposcit; 4 rex, quasi anus aetate desiperet, derisit. The woman demanded too much; 4 The king ridiculed him, as if an old woman was insensible with age. 5 Tum illa foculum coram cum igni apponit, tris libros ex novem deurit et, ecquid reliquos sex eodem pretio emere vellet, regem interrogavit. 5 Then, when he sets a stove before the fire, he burns three out of the nine books, and asked the king whether he would buy the rest of the six at the same price. 6 Sed enim Tarquinius id multo risit magis dixitque anum iam procul dubio delirare. 6 But Tarquin laughed this much the more, and said that the old woman was now without a doubt crazy. 7 Mulier ibidem statim tris alios libros exussit atque id ipsum denuo placide rogat, ut tris reliquos eodem illo pretio emat. 7 The woman immediately burned up three other books there, and calmly begs for the same thing again to buy the other three at that same price. 8 Tarquinius ore iam serio atque attentiore animo fit, eam constantiam confidentiamque non insuper habendam intellegit, libros tris reliquos mercatur nihilo minore pretio, quam quod erat petitum pro omnibus. 9 Sed eam mulierem tunc a Tarquinio digressam postea nusquam loci visam constitit. 9 But it is assured that that woman then, after she had separated from Tarquinius, was nowhere in sight of the place. 10 Libri tres in sacrarium conditi "Sibyllini" appellati; 11 ad eos quasi ad oraculum quindecimviri adeunt, cum di immortales publice consulendi sunt. 10 The three books founded in the shrine are called "Sibylin"; 11 They approach them as if to the oracle of the fifteenth, when the immortal gods were publicly consulted.