Respect the ancient stock, nor make
The Latian tribes their style forsake,
Nor Troy’s nor Teucer’s surname take,
Nor garb nor language let them change
For foreign speech and vesture strange,
But still abide the same:
Let Latium prosper as she will,
Their thrones let Alban monarchs fill;
Let Rome be glorious on the earth,
The centre of Italian worth;
But fallen Troy be fallen still,
The nation and the name.[Ne vetus indigenas nomen mutare Latinos
neu Troas fieri iubeas Teucrosque vocari
aut vocem mutare viros aut vertere vestem.
Sit Latium, sint Albani per saecula reges,
sit Romana potens Itala virtute propago:
occidit, occideritque sinas cum nomine Troia.]Virgil (70-19 BC) Roman poet [b. Publius Vergilius Maro; also Vergil]
The Aeneid [Ænē̆is], Book 12, l. 823ff (12.823-828) [Juno] (29-19 BC) [tr. Conington (1866)]
(Source)
Juno agreeing to Jove to let the Trojans win the war for Italy, but only if they become assimilated into the nations they warred against, losing their culture and identity.
(Source (Latin)). Alternate translations:Let not the Latins change their ancient name,
Nor let them be call'd Trojans I beseech,
Nor yet to change their habit, nor their speech;
Let it be Latium, and for ever be
The Alban fathers in great Italie;
Let Romans by their valour conquer all.
Troy's slain: and with her let the name now fall.
[tr. Ogilby (1649)]But let the Latins still retain their name,
Speak the same language which they spoke before,
Wear the same habits which their grandsires wore.
Call them not Trojans: perish the renown
And name of Troy, with that detested town.
Latium be Latium still; let Alba reign
And Rome's immortal majesty remain.
[tr. Dryden (1697)]You will not command the natives of Latium to change their ancient name, or become Trojans, and be called Teucri, or to change their language or alter their dress. Let Latium subsist; let the kings of Alba subsist through the ages; let the sons of Rome rise to imperial power by means of Italian valour: Troy hath perished, and suffer it to perish with its name forever.
[tr. Davidson/Buckley (1854)]Bid not the Latins change their ancient name;
Trojans and Teucri let them not be called,
Nor change their speech or garb. Be it Latium still.
Let Alban monarchs through the centuries reign;
Let Rome's posterity attain their might
Through virtue of Italia. Troy hath fallen.
Then let it fall forever with its name.
[tr. Cranch (1872), l. 1044ff]Bid thou not the native Latins change their name of old, nor become Trojans and take the Teucrian name, or change their language, or alter their attire: let Latium be, let Alban kings endure through ages, let Italian valour be potent in the race of Rome. Troy is fallen; let her and her name lie where they fell.
[tr. Mackail (1885)]Let them not change their ancient name, those earth-born Latin men,
Nor turn them into Trojan folk, or call them Teucrians then:
Let not that manfolk shift their tongue, or cast their garb aside;
Let Latium and the Alban kings through many an age abide,
And cherish thou the Roman stem with worth of Italy:
Troy-town is dead: Troy and its name for ever let them die!
[tr. Morris (1900)]Ne'er let the children of the soil disown
The name of Latins; turn them not, I pray,
To Trojan folk, to be as Teucrians known.
Ne'er let Italia's children put away
The garb they wear, the language of to-day
Let Latium flourish, and abide the same,
And Alban kings through distant ages sway.
Let Rome through Latin prowess wax in fame;
But fall'n is Troy, and fall'n for ever be her name.
[tr. Taylor (1907), st. 108, l. 955ff]Let not the Latins lose
their ancient, native name. Bid them not pass
for Trojans, nor be hailed as Teucer's sons;
no alien speech, no alien garb impose.
Let it be Latium ever; let the lords
of Alba unto distant ages reign;
let the strong, master blood of Rome receive
the manhood and the might of Italy.
Troy perished: let its name and glory die!
[tr. Williams (1910)]Command not the native Latins to change their ancient name, nor to become Trojans and be called Teucrians, nor to change their tongue and alter their attire: let Latium be, let Alban kings endure through ages, let be a Roman stock, strong in Italian valour: fallen is Troy, and fallen let her be, together with her name!
[tr. Fairclough (1918)]Do not command the Latins, native-born,
To change their language, to be known as Trojans,
To alter speech or garb; let them be Latium,
Let Alban kings endure through all the ages,
Let Roman stock, strong in Italian valor,
Prevail: since Troy has fallen, let her name
Perish and be forgotten.
[tr. Humphries (1951)]Do not command the indigenous Latins to change their ancient
Name, to beocme Trojans and to be called the Teucrians:
Allow them to keep the old language and their traditional dress:
Let it be Latium for ever, and the kings be Alban kings;
Let the line be Roman, the qualities making it great be Italian.
Troy's gone; may it be gone in name as well as reality.
[tr. Day-Lewis (1952)]Do not let the native-
born Latins lose their ancient name, become
Trojans, or be called Teucrians; do not
make such men change their language or their dress.
Let Latium still be, let Alban kings
still rule for ages; let the sons of Rome
be powerful in their Italian courage.
Troy now is fallen; let her name fall, too.
[tr. Mandelbaum (1971), l. 1093ff]Never command the land's own Latin folk
To change their old name, to become new Trojans,
Known as Teucrians; never make them alter
Dialect or dress. Let Latium be.
Let there be Alban kings for generations,
And let Italian valor be the strength
Of Rome in after times. Once and for all
Troy fell, and with her name let her like fallen.
[tr. Fitzgerald (1981), l. 1116ff]Do not command the Latins to change their ancient name in their own land, to become Trojans and be called Teucrians. They are men. Do not make them change their voice or native dress. Let there be Latium. Let the Alban kings live on from generation to generation and the stock of Rome be made mighty by the manly courage of Italy. Troy has fallen. Let it lie, Troy and the name of Troy.
[tr. West (1990)]Don’t order the native Latins to change their ancient name,
to become Trojans or be called Teucrians,
or change their language, or alter their clothing.
Let Latium still exist, let there be Alban kings through the ages,
let there be Roman offspring strong in Italian virtue:
Troy has fallen, let her stay fallen, along with her name.
[tr. Kline (2002)]Never command the Latins, here on native soil,
to exchange their age-old name,
to become Trojans, called the kin of Teucer,
alter their language, change their style of dress.
Let Latium endure. Let Alban kings hold sway for all time.
Let Roman stock grow strong with Italian strength.
Troy has fallen -- and fallen let her stay --
with the very name of Troy!
[tr. Fagles (2006), l. 954ff]Do not allow the Latins to change their ancient name
either in becoming Trojans or being called Teucrians.
Don’t let them change their language or their clothing,
may it be Latium, may there be Alban kings for generations;
may the Roman race be strong through Italian power.
It fell: let Troy perish with its name.
[tr. @sentantiq (2015)]
Quotations about:
Troy
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