Iusta precor: quae me nuper praedata puella est,
aut amet aut faciat, cur ego semper amem!
a, nimium volui—tantum patiatur amari;
audierit nostras tot Cytherea preces!
I pray for just things: may the girl who has recently plundered me either love me or give me reason why I should always love! Ah, I asked too much—let her only endure being loved; may Cytherea have heard all these prayers of mine!
This elegiac passage reflects common themes in Roman love poetry, particularly the concept of love as a form of warfare or plunder (expressed through praedata). The speaker positions himself as a victim of love, using military metaphors that were popular in Roman erotic verse.
The name Cytherea refers to Venus/Aphrodite, derived from the island of Cythera where she was said to have first emerged from the sea. Romans frequently appealed to Venus in matters of love, viewing her as both benefactor and tormentor of lovers. The progressive scaling back of the speaker’s requests - from demanding love, to simply asking for a reason to love, to finally just wanting his love to be tolerated - demonstrates a rhetorical device known as correctio, where the speaker adjusts his statement to appear more reasonable or modest.
Accipe, per longos tibi qui deserviat annos;
accipe, qui pura norit amare fide!
si me non veterum commendant magna parentum
nomina, si nostri sanguinis auctor eques,
nec meus innumeris renovatur campus aratris,
temperat et sumptus parcus uterque parens—
Accept one who would serve you through long years; accept one who knows how to love with pure faithfulness! Even if great names of ancient ancestors do not recommend me, if the founder of our bloodline was (merely) a knight, and my field is not renewed by countless plows, and each of my thrifty parents restrains expenses—
The text reflects Roman social hierarchy and values around ancestry and wealth. The speaker acknowledges his relatively modest background, mentioning equestrian (knight) status - the second tier of Roman nobility below senators. This was still privileged, but perhaps not sufficient for his romantic aspirations.
Agricultural wealth was a traditional mark of Roman nobility, with extensive farmland worked by multiple plows indicating significant property holdings. The reference to “countless plows” (innumeris aratris) evokes the ideal of the wealthy Roman landowner. The mention of frugal parents (parcus uterque parens) might suggest either actual modest means or traditional Roman virtues of restraint and careful management of resources. The Romans highly valued these qualities even in wealthy families, seeing them as characteristics of proper Roman behavior in contrast to perceived Eastern luxury and excess.
The theme of service in love (deserviat) draws on the common elegiac trope of servitium amoris - the lover as willing slave to the beloved, a literary convention that inverted normal Roman social relationships.
at Phoebus comitesque novem vitisque repertor
hac faciunt, et me qui tibi donat, Amor,
et nulli cessura fides, sine crimine mores
nudaque simplicitas purpureusque pudor.
non mihi mille placent, non sum desultor amoris:
tu mihi, siqua fides, cura perennis eris.
But Phoebus and the nine companions and the discoverer of the vine favor this path, and Love, who gives me to you, and my loyalty that will yield to none, my blameless character and naked simplicity and blushing modesty. A thousand girls do not please me, I am not one who jumps from love to love: you will be, if there is any faith, my eternal concern.
This elegiac passage invokes several divine patrons of poetry and love. Phoebus Apollo represents poetry and prophecy, while the nine Muses are the divine inspirers of different artistic pursuits. The “discoverer of the vine” refers to Bacchus (Dionysus), god of wine and ecstatic inspiration. Together, these deities were considered essential to poetic creation in Roman culture.
The description of moral qualities reflects Roman ethical ideals: fides (loyalty/faithfulness), mores sine crimine (blameless character), and pudor (modesty/propriety) were highly valued virtues. The image of “blushing modesty” (purpureus pudor) was particularly associated with young Roman women of good breeding. The metaphor of the desultor (circus performer who jumped between horses) to describe romantic fickleness is a particularly vivid example of how Romans drew imagery from their entertainment culture for poetic purposes.
The final declaration of eternal devotion to a single lover stands in deliberate contrast to stereotypical male behavior in Roman society, where multiple sexual relationships were common and generally accepted for men. This rejection of promiscuity in favor of exclusive devotion was a characteristic pose of Roman love elegy.
tecum, quos dederint annos mihi fila sororum,
vivere contingat teque dolente mori!
te mihi materiem felicem in carmina praebe—
provenient causa carmina digna sua.
May it be my fortune to live with you through whatever years the threads of the sisters have granted me, and to die while you grieve! Offer yourself to me as happy material for my songs—songs worthy of their subject will come forth.
The reference to “fila sororum” (threads of the sisters) alludes to the three Fates (Parcae in Latin, Moirai in Greek) who controlled human destiny. Clotho spun the thread of life, Lachesis measured it, and Atropos cut it. This was a powerful metaphor in ancient thought for the predetermined nature of human lifespan.
The concept of dying while one’s beloved grieves (te dolente mori) reflects a common motif in Roman love poetry - the desire for proof of genuine affection through mourning. Roman funerary customs placed great importance on demonstrative grieving, particularly by women.
The last couplet touches on the metaliterary aspect common in Roman poetry, where the process of creating verse becomes part of the subject matter itself. The idea that the beloved serves as inspiration (materia) for poetry was a fundamental concept in Roman love elegy, creating a reciprocal relationship where the poet gains fame through his verses while immortalizing his love.
carmine nomen habent exterrita cornibus Io
et quam fluminea lusit adulter ave,
quaeque super pontum simulato vecta iuvenco
virginea tenuit cornua vara manu.
nos quoque per totum pariter cantabimur orbem,
iunctaque semper erunt nomina nostra tuis.
Through poetry they have their fame: Io frightened by her horns, and she whom the adulterer deceived in the form of a river bird, and she who, carried across the sea on a counterfeit bull, held the curved horns with her maiden hand. We too shall equally be sung throughout the whole world, and our names will always be joined with yours.
The text alludes to three famous mythological tales of Jupiter’s transformations and love affairs. Io was a priestess whom Jupiter desired; she was transformed into a heifer either by Jupiter to hide her from Juno, or by Juno herself in jealousy. The “river bird” refers to Jupiter’s transformation into a swan to seduce Leda. The third story is that of Europa, whom Jupiter, disguised as a white bull, carried across the sea to Crete.
These myths were extremely popular subjects in both literature and visual arts throughout antiquity. The reference to “having fame through poetry” (carmine nomen habent) acknowledges how literary treatment immortalized these stories, particularly through works like Ovid’s Metamorphoses. The phrase also reflects the ancient understanding of poetry as a vehicle for conferring immortal fame.
The final couplet suggests the speaker’s desire to achieve similar poetic immortality alongside their beloved, a common theme in Roman love poetry. The idea of names being “joined” (iuncta) creates a permanent literary coupling that parallels the divine-mortal unions in the mythological examples.