De vetere Romano Imperio - 1938
De
vetere Romano Imperio (“On the ancient Roman empire”) is a
prose text which Ficari wrote in 1934 for the first edition of the Concorso
nazionale di prosa Latina (“National competition of Latin prose”).
Although no first prize was awarded for the first edition of the Concorso,
Ficari’s Latin text was among those deemed worthy of a special mention (Sacré
2019: 8). De vetere Romano Imperio does not focus on Fascism
itself, but is conceived as a contribution to “expanding the power of the
fatherland” (ad opes patriae augendas, par. I). For this purpose, Ficari
proposes the ancient Romans’ political and civic conduct as an example for the
Italians to follow, and discusses the qualities which according to him ensured
Rome’s success. Among these, he mentions the combination of physical and moral
strength (parr. I-II), the resilience in difficult or adverse events (par.
III), as well as frugality, honesty and courage (par. IV). De vetere
Romano Imperio was published in the journal Il Mondo
Classico (Ficari 1938b) and then as part of a booklet collecting the
Latin prose texts which Ficari wrote for the first three editions of the Concorso
nazionale di prosa latina (Ficari 1938a: 9-16).
Bibliography
Latin
texts
Ficari, Quirino. 1938a. ‘De vetere Romani
imperio ad iuvenes corpora ludis exercentes monita’. Il mondo classico 8
(1–2): 59–61.
———. 1938b. Orationes in certamina
primum alterum tertium ab Instituto Collegioque Romanis rebus procurandis
indicta missae. Pisauri: Ex Typis G. Federici.
Secondary
sources
Sacrè, Dirk. 2019. ‘De certamine solutae
orationis Latinae Italico (1934-1949) et de aliis quibusdam
certaminibus.’ Melissa 209: 7–14.
Nicolò
Bettegazzi
CAESARIS AVGVSTI
Quamquam multa in Africano erant, ac maiora, quae laudanda essent, laudatus ille est, quod fuisset abstinens: armis qui vicerat, Hannibal oppressus est Campana mollitia. in altero eversam Carthaginem laus continentiae superavit, cum copiosissimae opulentissimaeque urbis nihil domus eius praeferret praeter nomen ac memoriam; in altero traiecta Alpium iuga, tot caesorum consularium exercituum gloriam, tot victorias infestisque signis territam Urbem omnemque spem futuri temporis exstinxit una hieme confecta virtus. integritatem Fabrici magis quam bis fusas legiones Pyrrhus timuit: adflictam in acie sortem erexit constantia Reguli, Poenumque enervarat iamque vincebat illa deinde in cognomen versa dictatoris Maximi prudentia ac perseverantia: ipsam Cannensem cladem satis ferme minuit nulla metus significatio ac paene amovit omnium illa ordinum frequentia et gratiae Varroni revertenti actae, quod de republica non desperasset, qui extrema supplicia, si ductor Poenorum fuisset, esset daturus. Caudi fraudem eluserunt remissi deditique consules, piacula pro populo cruciatibus iraeque hostium sese ipsi offerentes e Romanis civibus iniusta sponsione Samnites factos. illa scilicet, quae robora corporum amiserant vel aegre defendebant, recuperare ac tueri potuerunt strenua alacritas et sollertia invictumque consilium. quae quidem non singulorum hominum erant, sed temporum, cum nondum obrepere coepissent animorum morbi, inritamenta vitiorum, nec privatas aedes locupletaret praeda, sed in aerarium invecta publica sublevaret tributa. et quoniam honestae causae honesta victoria succedebat, finis armorum aditum consilio praebebat: quam ob rem mites in subiectos, benevoli in socios, beneficiis, non iniuriis, populos sibi devinciebant, ut summa auctoritate summum incrementum summaque tutela comprehenderetur opinioque vulgo increbresceret patrocinium orbis terrae verius quam imperium illud esse nominandum.
Vim temperatam di quoque provehunt
In maius».