
XVI.
ANTIQUA NOVIS SEMPER PRAE-
fert livor.
DUm vir meliore ingenio praeditus inter homines vivit, non
est quòd suae virtutis praemium expectet integrum. id rarò
ante mortem cuiquam accidit, ut calumnias malorum suae vir-
tuti insidiantes non senserit. Virtutem praesentem odimus,
absentem quaerimus invidi. Mos est hominum, ut nolint eun-
dem pluribus rebus excellere. Non enim invidetur, nisi prae-
stanti florentique fortunae. Invidentia nihil aliud est, quàm
aegritudo ex alterius rebus secundis. Virtuti & gloriae maxi-
mè invideri solet. Est huius saeculi labes quaedam & macula,
Virtuti praesenti invidere, ac dignitatis illius florem infringe-
re velle. Sed praeter culpam & peccatum, homini accidere ni-
hil potest, quod sit horribile aut pertimescendum. Si virtus
dormiat, excitatur ab invidia: praestoque adest Princeps forti-
tudo, quae bonum virum tanto animo esse coget, ut omnia quae
possint homini evenire contemnat, & pro nihilo putet. Natu-
rale hoc est vitium, splendorem alienum non ferre patien-
ter, semperque absentia praesentibus, antiqua novis praeferre:
Et quò quis magis est stolidus, eò magis temera-
riè de ignotis ferre iudicium
solet.

XVI.
Ioanni Posthio Archiatro Palatino.[1]
ANTIQUA NOVIS SEMPER PRAEFERT LIVOR.
Envy always prefers old things to new
GLoria rara venit meritus dum vivimus. ipsa
Tum primùm à summo funere fama venit.
Post habet antiquis nova livor, & obstrepit ultro.
In scirpo nodum quaeret, & inveniet.
Glory rarely comes for what we deserve while we live. Fame itself only comes later when someone has died. Envy puts new things after old and shouts about it besides. She will find a problem where there is none.*
*lit: If she looks for a knot in a bullrush, she will find it. Proverb, A. Otto, ed., Die Sprichwörter und sprichwörtlichen Redensarten der Römer (Leipzig : Teubner, 1890), 312-3.
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Relating to the image:
- adult man (+ five persons) [31D14(+75)] Search | Browse Iconclass
- adult woman [31D15] Search | Browse Iconclass
- book [49M32] Search | Browse Iconclass
- coat, cape [41D212] Search | Browse Iconclass
- dress, gown [41D211] Search | Browse Iconclass
- Envy; 'Invidia' (Ripa) ~ personification of one of the Seven Deadly Sins [11N32] Search | Browse Iconclass
- index finger forwards, pointing, indicating [31A25552] Search | Browse Iconclass
- Invidia (Envy) as Roman personification [96A5(INVIDIA)] Search | Browse Iconclass
- monument, statue [25I152] Search | Browse Iconclass
- sitting on an elevation [31A2352] Search | Browse Iconclass
- snakes [25F42] Search | Browse Iconclass
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Relating to the text:
- Honour, Glory; 'Ampiezza della Gloria', 'Gloria', 'Gloria de prencipi', 'Gloria & Honore', 'Honore', 'Sublimatà della Gloria' (Ripa) [59B31] Search | Browse Iconclass
- Jealousy; 'Gelosia', 'Rammarico del ben'altrui' (Ripa) [57AA76] Search | Browse Iconclass
- Mortality, Extinction of Life [58BB1] Search | Browse Iconclass
- Newness [51F51] Search | Browse Iconclass
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- past [23A31] Search | Browse Iconclass
- plants and herbs (with NAME) [25G4(BULRUSH)] Search | Browse Iconclass
- plants and herbs (with NAME) [25G4(REED)] Search | Browse Iconclass
- Praise, Approbation, Approval; 'Lode' (Ripa) [57B1] Search | Browse Iconclass
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