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EMBLEMA XXVIII.

Concordiae symbolum.

A symbol of Concord

Cornicum mira inter se concordia vitae est,
Mutua statque illis intemerata fides.[1][2]
Hinc volucres haec sceptra gerunt, quod scilicet omnes
Consensu populi stantque caduntque Duces.
Quem si de medio tollas discordia praeceps
Advolat, & secum regia fata trahit.

Marvellous is the unanimity between crows as they live together, and their mutual loyalty stands firm and unsullied! For this reason the sceptre carries these birds. Assuredly all leaders stand and fall by the consent of the people. If you take away consent, tumultuous discord comes flying in and drags kings down in its wake.

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Das XXVIII.

Zeichen der einigkeit.

Gantz einig under in fürwar
Leben die Krähen wunderbar
Halten einander auch darzu
Treuw und liebe in guter ruh
Daher die Vögel halten than
Den Scepter dmit zu zeigen an
Das auß der Underthon einigkeit
Den Herrn entstandt freudt oder leidt
So du aber die selb hebst auff
So kompt die zwitracht schnell zuhauff
Und nimbt mit ir das Regiment
Hinweg, und macht damit ein endt.

Notes:

1.  See Aelian, De natura animalium 3.9. on the mutual love and loyalty of crows.

2.  Variant reading, Inque vicem nunquam contaminata fides, ‘and their loyalty to each other, never dishonoured’.


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Non vulganda consilia.

Keep counsels secret.

Limine quod caeco obscura & caligine monstrum[1]
Gnosiacis clausit Daedalus in latebris:
Depictum Romana phalanx in praelia gestat,
Semiviroque nitent signa superba[2] bove,
Nosque monent, debere ducum secreta[3] latere
Consilia, auctori cognita techna nocet.

The monster that Daedalus imprisoned in its Cretan lair, with hidden entrance and obscuring darkness, the Roman phalanx carries painted into battle; the proud standards flash with the half-man bull. These remind us that the secret plans of leaders must stay hid. A ruse once known brings harm to its author.

Notes:

1.  ‘The monster that Daedalus imprisoned’, i.e. the Minotaur, the half-man, half-bull monster kept in the famous Labyrinth at Knossos, which Daedalus, the Athenian master-craftsman, constructed for King Minos.

2.  According to Pliny, Natural History 10.5.16, before the second consulship of Marius (104 BC) Roman standards bore variously eagles, wolves, minotaurs, horses and boars. Marius made the eagle universal.

3.  Cf. Festus, De verborum significatu (135 Lindsay): the Minotaur appears among the military standards, because the plans of leaders should be no less concealed than was the Minotaur’s lair, the Labyrinth.


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