Thinking about Friendship

Lis mihi cum Balbo est, tu Balbum offendere non vis, Pontice: cum Licino est, hic quoque magnus homo est. Vexat saepe meum Patrobas confinis agellum, contra libertum Caesaris ire times. Abnegat et retinet nostrum Laronia servum, respondes “Orba est, dives, anus, vidua”. Non bene, crede mihi, servo servitur amico: sit liber, dominus qui volet esse meus. I’m taking Balbus to court, and hoped that you... “Balbus is someone I’d rather not offend”. Ponticus, I need aid with Licinus too... “He’s a great man as well”, explains my friend. Patrobas next door trespasses on my field... “He’s Caesar’s freedman. ’Fraid we’ll have to yield”. Laronya borrowed my slave — which she denies And keeps him... “Piquant. Rich, old, no dependents? Someone should marry her before she dies...”. Really, a patron who must dance attendance On other patrons is no friend for me. The friend who wants my service must be free. Sono in lite con Balbo; tu Balbo offender non vuoi, Pontico. Con Licino: anche costui è un grand’uomo. Il mio vicino Patroba danneggia il mio campicello; ma tu non osi andare contro un liberto di Cesare. Un mio schiavo non vuole, no, rendermi indietro Laronia; rispondi: “È senza figli, e ricca, e vedova, e vecchia”. Credimi, è brutto servire un amico ch’è servo egli pure; libero sia, chi vuole essere il mio signore.

Martial, Epigrams, Book 2, XXXII
English translation by Alistair Elliot
Italian translation by Giuseppe Lipparini

West Bengal, India: Rescue workers and villagers gather near a collapsed bridge in Phansidewa village on the outskirts of Siliguri near the Bangladesh–India border. Photo: Diptendu Dutta/AFP/Getty Images.