
ETIAM FEROCISSIMOS
DOMARI.
Even the fiercest are tamed.

Romanum postquám eloquium, Cicerone perempto
Perdiderat[1] patria [=patriae]
pestis acerba suae
Inscendit currus victor vinxitque leones[2]
Compulit & durum colla subire iugum
Magnanimos cessisse suis Antonius armis
Ambage hac cupiens significare duces.
After Antony, that grievous bane of his country, had destroyed eloquence by slaying Cicero, he mounted his chariot in triumph and yoked to it lions, forcing their necks to bow to the harsh yoke, desiring by this symbolic act to indicate that great leaders had given way before his military might.
1. ‘had destroyed eloquence by slaying Cicero’. Cicero was considered Rome’s greatest orator - his name was held by many to be synonymous with eloquence itself; see Quintilian, Institutio oratoria 10.1.112. Mark Antony had Cicero murdered in 43 BC in revenge for his scathing attacks in the fourteen ‘Philippic’ orations. See Seneca the Elder, Suasoriae 6.17.
2. Cf. Pliny, Natural History 8.21.55: Antony was the first to yoke lions to a chariot in Rome...by this unnatural sight giving people to understand that noble spirits were at that time bowing to the yoke.
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- beasts of prey, predatory animals: lion (+ movements of animal(s)) [25F23(LION)(+52)] Search | Browse Iconclass
- beasts of prey, predatory animals: lion (+ animal with mouth wide open) [25F23(LION)(+5733)] Search | Browse Iconclass
- sitting on an elevation (+ forward) [31A2352(+61)] Search | Browse Iconclass
- arm stretched forward (+ holding something) [31A2512(+933)] Search | Browse Iconclass
- beard [31A534] Search | Browse Iconclass
- adult man [31D14] Search | Browse Iconclass
- ancient forms of military vehicles: chariot, battle wagon, etc. [4.50E+32] Search | Browse Iconclass
- gear for legs and feet (+ men's clothes) [41D233(+81)] Search | Browse Iconclass
- the soldier; the soldier's life [45B] Search | Browse Iconclass
- casting weapons: spear [45C11(SPEAR)] Search | Browse Iconclass
- armour [45C22] Search | Browse Iconclass
- helmet [45C221] Search | Browse Iconclass
- harness [46C1411] Search | Browse Iconclass
- four-wheeled vehicle drawn by two animals [46C1442] Search | Browse Iconclass
- (story of) Mark Antony non-aggressive activities of person from classical history [98B(MARK ANTONY)5] Search | Browse Iconclass
Relating to the text:
- Eloquence; 'Eloquenza', 'Fermezza & Gravità dell'Oratione' (Ripa) [52D3] Search | Browse Iconclass
- Authority, Power; 'Dominio', 'Giurisdittione' (Ripa) (+ emblematical representation of concept) [53C11(+4):54F2(+2)] Search | Browse Iconclass
- Vehemence, Violence, Fierceness; 'Sforza con Inganno', 'Violenza' (Ripa) [54AA4] Search | Browse Iconclass
- Arrogance; 'Arroganza' (Ripa) [57AA644] Search | Browse Iconclass
- death of Cicero: he is slain by soldiers at the order of the triumvirs [98B(CICERO)68] Search | Browse Iconclass
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Ex arduis perpetuum nomen.
Lasting renown won through tribulation
Crediderat platani ramis sua pignora passer,
Et bene ni saevo visa dracone forent.
Glutiit hic pullos omnes, miseramque parentem
Saxeus, & tali dignus obire nece.
Haec, nisi mentitur Calchas, monumenta laboris
Sunt longi, cuius fama perennis eat.[1]
A sparrow had entrusted her young to the branches of a plane-tree, and all would have been well, if they had not been observed by a merciless snake. This creature devoured all the chicks and the hapless parent too, a stony-hearted beast, turned to stone as it deserved. Unless Calchas speaks falsely, these are the tokens of long toil, the fame of which will go on through all the years.
1. See Homer, Iliad 2.299ff. for this portent which occurred at Aulis, where the Greek fleet was waiting to sail for Troy. Calchas the seer interpreted the eating of the eight chicks and their mother, followed by the death of the snake, as foretelling the nine-year battle for Troy, followed by success.
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- song-birds: sparrow (+ nest, den, burrow) [25F32(SPARROW)(+421)] Search | Browse Iconclass
- snakes (+ animal with prey) [25F42(+452)] Search | Browse Iconclass
- snakes (+ climbing animal(s)) [25F42(+5222)] Search | Browse Iconclass
- dragon [25FF411] Search | Browse Iconclass
- trees (+ stem, trunk) [25G3(+21)] Search | Browse Iconclass
- flowers [25G41] Search | Browse Iconclass
- a snake is turned into stone by Jupiter, after swallowing eight young birds and their mother (when the Greeks are assembled in Aulis before sailing to Troy) [97N72] Search | Browse Iconclass
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- Punishment; 'Castigo', 'Pena', 'Punitione' (Ripa) [57BB13] Search | Browse Iconclass
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- sacrifice to Jupiter and Apollo: a snake swallows a nest of eight young birds and their mother; the augur Calchas explains the portent [94D12] Search | Browse Iconclass
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