|
Quotes by Augustus
For some reason, the search engines have indexed this page and there has been numerous hits. This is not how this page is going to be in the future, but meanwhile, these are some of the translated sayings of Augustus. See also his humourous quotes, his account of his own deeds and the sourcebook.
I know some web-sites, like worldofquotes.com, attribute “Nothing common can seem worthy of you” [Lat., Nihil vulgare te dignum videri potest] to Augustus, but since I have not found the source, it is not in the table.
First Person
| Original |
English translation |
Source(s) |
Context |
Notes |
| [In greek] |
I found Rome of clay; I leave it to you of marble |
Cassius Dio 56.30.3 |
At his death-bed |
cf. Suetonius Div Aug 28 |
| Ita mali salvam ac sospitem rem p. sistere in sua sede liceat atque eius rei fructum percipere, quem peto, ut optimi status auctor dicar et moriens ut feram mecum spem, mansura in vestigio suo fundamenta rei p. quae iecero. |
May it be my privilege to have the happiness of establishing the commonwealth on a firm and secure basis and thus enjoy the reward which I desire, but only if I may be called the author of the best possible government; and bear with me the hope when I die that the foundations which I have laid for its future government, will stand firm and stable. |
Suetonius Div Aug 28 |
|
|
| |
Don’t you believe it. |
Macro. 2.4.4 |
|
|
| |
To seek to keep the established constitution unchanged argues a good citizen and a good man. |
Macro. 2.4.18 |
Of Cato |
|
| |
Make haste slowly |
Suetonius Div Aug 25 |
|
|
| |
Well done is quickly done |
Suetonius Div Aug 25 |
|
|
| |
Give me a safe commander, not a rash one |
Suetonius Div Aug 25 |
|
|
| Livia, ostri coniugii memor vive, ac vale. |
Livia, keep our marriage alive, and farewell. |
Suetonius Div Aug 99 |
Augustus' last words |
|
| |
If I have played my part well, clap your hands, and dismiss me with applause from the stage. |
Suetonius Div Aug 99 |
Augustus' dying speech. |
From a theatrical tag in Greek comedy |
| |
I like treachery, but I cannot say anything good of traitors. |
Plutarch Mor 207A; Plutarch Romulus 17.3 |
Of Rhoemetalces, king of the Thracians.
About.com lists this as a quotation by Julius Caesar. That is not likely. Rhoemetalces reigned in Thrace from 11 BCE - 12 CE.
|
From the Loeb Classical Library, translated by Frank Cole Babbitt. |
| |
No risk attends the meed that silence brings. |
Plutarch Mor 207C-D |
to Athenodorus, his tutor |
From the Loeb Classical Library, translated by Frank Cole Babbitt. |
| |
Do you young men listen to an old man, to whom old men listened when he was young. |
Plutarch Mor 207E-F |
to the young nobles who were causing an uproar |
From the Loeb Classical Library, translated by Frank Cole Babbitt. |
| |
You make my heart glad by building thus, as if Rome is to be eternal. |
Plutarch Mor 208A |
to Piso who built his house with great care from the foundation to the roof-tree |
From the Loeb Classical Library, translated by Frank Cole Babbitt. |
Third Person
| Original |
English translation |
Source(s) |
Context |
Notes |
| ...marmoream se relinquere, quam latericiam accepisset. |
...he so beautified it that he could justly boast that he had found it built of brick and left it in marble.
|
Suetonius Div Aug 28 |
|
More commonly, "Marmoream relinquo, quam latericiam accepi" - "I found Rome a city of bricks and left it a city of marble." cf. Dio 56.30.3 |
| |
He learned that Alexander, having completed nearly all his conquests by the time he was thirty- two years old, was at an utter loss to know what he should do during the rest of his life, whereat Augustus expressed his surprise that Alexander did not regard it as a greater task to set in order the empire which he had won than to win it. |
Plutarch Mor 207D |
|
From the Loeb Classical Library, translated by Frank Cole Babbitt. |
|
|
|
|
