Laudatio Turiae 2a–9a

Introduction

The Laudatio Turiae is an inscription that records the life events of an outstanding Roman woman, Turia, whose full identity is lost to us. Her husband set up this remarkable funerary inscription to record his love for his wife and her daring acts to hide and protect him during the civil wars of the first century BCE. Traditionally, scholars have identified the husband as Quintus Lucretius Vespillo, who was consul in 19 BCE. However, the portion of the inscription that records their names is missing, and scholars generally are uncertain of the pair’s actual identities. While the full inscription is 180 lines long, this portion recounts Turia’s efforts to help her husband hide from political persecution in 49 BCE, during the civil war between Julius Caesar and Pompey the Great.

Text

Amplissima subsidia fugae1 meae praestitisti. Ornamentis2

vitam meam instruxisti, cum omne aurum margaritaque

corpori3 tuo detracta4 tradidisti mihi — et subinde familia5,

nummis, fructibus, callide deceptis adversariorum

custodibus, absentiam meam locupletasti6. Pro7 vita rogabas 5

absentis — quod ut8 conarere9 virtus tua te hortabatur. Verbis

tuis victa10 me munibat11 clementia eorum, contra quos ea12

parabas. Semper tamen vox tua est firmitate animi emissa.

Interea agmen13 ex repertis hominibus a Milone, cuius domus

emptione potitus eram cum esset exsul14, belli15 civilis 10

occasionibus irrupturum et direpturum prospere reiecisti et

defendisti domum nostram.

Vocab Definition Vocab Definition
absens, -ntis absent absentia, -ae, f. absence
adversarius, -i, m. hostis, -is amplus, -a, -um abundant
callidus, -a, -um clever civilis, -e civil
clementia, -ae, f. mercy conor, -ari to try
contra (+ ACC) in front of decipio, -ere, -cepi, -ceptum to deceive
detraho, -ere, -traxi, -tractum to take off diripio, -ere, -ripui, -reptum to plunder
emitto, -ere to send forth emptio, -onis, f. purchase
ex (+ ABL) of exsul, -is, m./f. an exile
firmitas, -atis, f. strength fructus, -us, m. provisions
hortor, -ari to urge instruo, -ere, instruxi to provide
irrumpo, -ere, -rupi, ruptum to break in locupleto, -are, -avi to enrich
margaritum, -i, n. jewelry Milo, -nis, m. Titus Annius Milo, a local politician
munio, -ire to strengthen nummus, -i, m. pecunia, -ae
occasio, -onis, f. opportunity potior, -iri, -itus sum emo, -ere
prosper, -a, -um felix, -icis reicio, -ere, -ieci, -iectum to drive back
reperio, -ire, repperi, repertus lego, -ere subinde repeatedly
_subsidium, -_i, n. auxilium, -i    

Commentary

  1. fugae meae: Turia’s husband, an ally of Pompey, was forced to flee after Julius Caesar defeated Pompey’s forces at the Battle of Pharsalus in 49 BCE. ↩

  2. ornamentis = “with the things I needed” ↩

  3. corpori = corpore ↩

  4. detracta: refers to omne aurum margaritaque ↩

  5. familia = servis. The term here refers not to the father, mother, child, etc., but to those that make up the extended Roman family (i.e., those who are enslaved). ↩

  6. locupletasti = locupletavisti ↩

  7. Pro vita rogabas absentis = “you begged for my life while (I was) absent.” To whom she pleaded is not clear, but absentis probably indicates that her husband was abroad. ↩

  8. ut conarere: a command indirectly stated after hortabatur ↩

  9. conarere = conareris ↩

  10. victa = victorum. Despite its neuter plural form, this participle describes the same men to whom eorum and quos refer (i.e., those who had the means to intercede on Vespillo’s behalf). The feminine singular form is due possibly to the author’s artful intent that the word agree with clementia. ↩

  11. munibat = muniebat ↩

  12. ea: refers to verbis tuis ↩

  13. agmen: “posse (of armed men)” is perhaps the best translation, as it refers to the men Milo commonly used to intimidate and harass political opponents. ↩

  14. exsul: Milo was exiled from Rome in 52 BC, after being convicted of election bribery and violence in the murder of one of his political opponents, Publius Clodius Pulcher. ↩

  15. belli civilis: The civil war between Julius Caesar and Pompey the Great, which lasted from 49 BCE to 45 BCE. ↩

All material is taken, with gratitude, from The Latin Library as well as my own work, available under the Creative Commons Attribution Share-Alike license CC BY-SA 4.0