
XXIII.
EVENTUS STULTORUM MA-
gister.
TEmeritas stultitiam comitatur; citiusque inconsultum ho-
minem praecipitat in periculum, quàm animadvertat.[1] At
serae sunt hominum lamentationes, prorsusque vituperandae,
quas occupatas in iis lugendis cernimus, quae vitio suo & in-
considerantia contigerunt. Ita fit ut eventus sit stultorum ma-
gister, qui nunquam nisi icti sapiunt. Turpissimum est eum,
qui ad Rempublicam administrandam vocatur, temeritatis &
imprudentiae redargui. quae vitia sine magno periculo civita-
tis in eum qui magistratum gerit, non cadit: fitque saepius ut
imprudens non solùm suae fatuitatis, & inanimadvertentiae
poenas gerat, sed totam civitatem in commune trahat excidium.
Neque satis tutum est priusquam initium rectè considerave-
ris, de exitu consilium capere. Praeterita reprehendi possunt,
corrigi non possunt. Scitum est, periculum ex aliis facere, tibi
quod ex usu siet.[2] Sapienter cogitant, qui temporibus secundis
casus adversos formidant. Omnes, cùm secundae res sunt, tum
maximè secum meditari oportet quo pacto adversam aerum-
nam ferant. Serò sapiunt, qui imprudentia sua in pericu-
lum lapsi, poenitentia & dolore sese cruciant.
Stulti enim est dicere non
putabam.

XXIII.
EVENTUS STULTORUM MAGISTER.[5]
Accident is the master of fools
HAec decuit[6] primae tentare in flore iuventae,
Cùm tibi tot palmas detulit alta Croton.
Quae doceat serò, turpi discenda pudore,
Stultorum eventus multa magister habet.[7]
It was proper to attempt things like this in the flower of first youth, when lofty Croton bestowed so many palms on you. The outcome, teacher of the foolish, has many things to teach later on, which have to be learned with shaming disgrace.
1. This draws on the idea of the unadvised and rash man (‘homo inconsultus et temerarius’) from Cicero’s Oratio pro Rege Deiotaro, 6.16.
2. A quote from Terence (‘Try out the danger on others, which may be of use to you’), Heautontimorumenos, Act 2, sc. 1.
3. Corrected from the Errata.
4. Rutilius Saravesa, a lawyer from Venice. Also the dedicatee for the first emblem of the 1588 collection ([FBOa001]).
5. The Greek text in the pictura comes from Hesiod, Works and Days, 218.
6. Corrected from the Errata.
7. The story of Milo of Croton, the famous Greek athlete, who failed to recognise in his older age that he would be unable to perform the feats of his youth, and paid for his rashness with his life (as depicted in the pictura). Cf. Coustau, ‘In elatos’ ([FCPb113]).
Related Emblems
Iconclass Keywords
Relating to the image:
- adult man [31D14] Search | Browse Iconclass
- armour [45C22] Search | Browse Iconclass
- base (~ column, pillar) [48C1613] Search | Browse Iconclass
- beasts of prey, predatory animals (with NAME) [25F23(LION)] Search | Browse Iconclass
- birds [25F3] Search | Browse Iconclass
- death of Milon of Croton: he has his hands trapped in a tree trunk and is attacked by lions or wolves [98B(MILON)68] Search | Browse Iconclass
- dragon [25FF411] Search | Browse Iconclass
- forest, wood [25H15] Search | Browse Iconclass
- Greek script [49L13] Search | Browse Iconclass
- inscription [49L8] Search | Browse Iconclass
- net «« KEY (415) TO 43C1 sports, games ~ animals [43C1(+415)] Search | Browse Iconclass
- snakes [25F42] Search | Browse Iconclass
- stem, trunk «« KEY (21) TO 25G plants; vegetation [25G(+21)] Search | Browse Iconclass
Relating to the text:
- Action; 'Operatione manifesta' (Ripa) [54D2] Search | Browse Iconclass
- Effect, Result [51CC1] Search | Browse Iconclass
- Folly, Foolishness; 'Pazzia', 'Sciocchezza', 'Stoltitia' (Ripa) [52AA51] Search | Browse Iconclass
- Milon of Croton carries a young bullock on his shoulders [98B(MILON)51] Search | Browse Iconclass
- Shame [57A4] Search | Browse Iconclass
- teacher and pupil [49B24] Search | Browse Iconclass
- Temporal Relationship [51F] Search | Browse Iconclass
- trees (with NAME) [25G3(PALM-TREE)] Search | Browse Iconclass
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