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Opulentia tyranni, paupertas
subiectorum.
A wealthy ruler means poor subjects
EMBLEMA CXLVII.
Humani quod splen est corporis, in populi re
Hoc Caesar[1] fiscum dixerat esse suum.
Splene aucto, reliqui tabescunt corporis artus;
Fisco aucto, arguitur civica pauperies.
It was a saying of Caesar that the imperial treasury has the same relation to the people as the spleen has to the human body: if the spleen is enlarged, all the other members of the body waste away. A swollen treasury is proof of poverty among the citizens.
1. The Emperor Trajan, one of the five ‘Good Emperors’. See Aurelius Victor, Epitome de Caesaribus, 42.21; Erasmus, Apophthegmata, 8.
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Relating to the image:
- adult female (human being) «« KEY (822) TO 31A the (nude) human figure; 'Corpo humano' (Ripa) [31A(+822)] Search | Browse Iconclass
- bed [41A761] Search | Browse Iconclass
- bedroom [41A23] Search | Browse Iconclass
- cushion [41A7221] Search | Browse Iconclass
- diseases affecting parts of the body [31A463:31A22323] Search | Browse Iconclass
- hangings and drapery [41A422] Search | Browse Iconclass
- head held in the hand(s), with elbows leaning on an elevation or on the knees [31A25312] Search | Browse Iconclass
- lying on one side, with uplifted upper part of the body and leaning on the arm [31A2364] Search | Browse Iconclass
- sick-bed [49G21] Search | Browse Iconclass
- standing, leaning, sitting or lying with legs crossed - AA - female human figure (+ lying) [31AA2627(+56)] Search | Browse Iconclass
- window [41A33] Search | Browse Iconclass
Relating to the text:
- bad government [44B620] Search | Browse Iconclass
- official acts of rulers, e.g. royal acts (ruler giving audience, granting mercy, etc.; ruler and his subjects) [44B12] Search | Browse Iconclass
- Poverty; 'Povertà ', 'Povertà del doni', 'Povertà in uno ch'habbia bell'ingegno' (Ripa) (+ emblematical representation of concept) [55BB1(+4):44C1] Search | Browse Iconclass
- the story of the justice of Trajan [98B(TRAJAN)51] Search | Browse Iconclass
- Wealth, Opulence; 'Opulenza', 'Richezza' (Ripa) (+ emblematical representation of concept) [55B1(+4):44B119] Search | Browse Iconclass
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