Ammianus Marcellinus, Res Gestae, John C. Rolfe (Translator), 16.10.16

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[16] To this prince Ormisda, who was standing near him, and whose departure from Persia I have described above,¹ replied with native wit: First, Sire, said he, command a like stable to be built, if you can; let the steed which you propose to create range as widely as this which we see. When Ormisda was asked directly what he thought of Rome, he said that he took comfort² in this fact alone, that he had learned that even there men were mortal.

Res Gestae. Ammianus Marcellinus. John C. Rolfe (Translator). Cambridge, MA. 1935-1940.

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Current edition Perseus

History (English) (Ammianus Marcellinus. Ammianus Marcellinus, with an English translation, Vols. I-III. Rolfe, John C., translator. Cambridge, MA; London: Harvard University Press; W. Heinemann, 1935-1940 (printing).)

Editions (1)

Res Gestae Perseus (Ammianus Marcellinus. Ammianus Marcellinus, with an English translation, Vols. I-III. Rolfe, John C., editor. Cambridge, MA; London: Harvard University Press; W. Heinemann, 1935-1940 (printing).) — 16.10.16 focus

[16] Cui prope adstans regalis Ormisda, cuius e Perside discessum supra monstravimus, respondit astu gentili: Ante inquit imperator, stabulum tale condi iubeto, si vales; equus¹ quem fabricare disponis, ita late succedat, ut iste quem videmus. Is ipse interrogatus quid de Roma sentiret, id tantum sibi placuisse aiebat, quod didicisset ibi quoque homines mori.

Notes on the current edition

History

1. In 323 (Zosimus, ii. 27); hence in one of the lost books of Ammianus.

2. Valesius read displicuisse, and was followed by Gibbon. Robert Heron (pseudonym of John Pinkerton) in Letters of Literature (London, 1789), xii., p. 68, discusses this remark at some length, disagreeing with Gibbon. He thinks that the prince’s envy at the pleasures of the inhabitants of Rome could only be moderated by the reflection that their pleasures were transitory.

Ammianus Marcellinus Res Gestae 16.10.16

John C. Rolfe (Translator)

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