Marcus Valerius Martialis
1st-2nd c. AD (over 1,900 years ago)
Trans. RMBullard
Latin (Silver Age)
VII
Qualiter in Scythica religatus rupe Prometheus
adsiduam nimio pectore pauit auem,
[In like manner, Prometheus, tied down upon a cliff in Scythia, grew fearful of his eternal lifespan, his heart exceeding its limit,]
nuda Caledonia sic uiscera praebuit urso
non falsa pendens in cruce Laureolus.
[and thusly Laureolus, not hanging upon any fictional cross, provided his naked innards to a bear from Caledonia.]
Viuebant laceri membris stillantibus artus 5
[His body parts clung to life, even as they are torn from their bleeding limbs,]
inque omni nusquam corpore corpus erat.
[and in the entirety of his body, there never was a body.]
Denique supplicium dignum tulit:
[At last he endured a worthy punishment:]
ille parentis
uel domini iugulum foderat ense nocens,
[or rather, a dangerous man would had slit his master's throat with a sword,]
templa uel arcano demens spoliauerat auro,
[or a psycho would have robbed our temples of their sacred gold,]
subdiderat saeuas uel tibi, Roma, faces. 10
[or someone would have turned their savage torches upon you, Rome.]
Vicerat antiquae sceleratus crimina famae,
[An evildoer had once managed to commit crimes of the old type,]
in quo, quae fuerat fabula, poena fuit.
[at which point in time, there was once a punishment, that it had become the subject of fables.]
