27 Quintilis, anno incerto — memoria piratarum · Hodie in historia
Dramatized
Hodie annos abhinc multos — mense fere hoc — navis mea in ora Asiae a piratis capta est. Viginti talenta postulaverunt. Risī: 'Quinquaginta dabo, quia maior sum.' Risere et ipsī, stulti. Ego autem inter illos legere solebam, recitare, dormire — sed semper cum vultū qui dīceret: 'Cruciābimini.' Promissum servāvī. Piratae docuerunt mē quod senatus non potuit: pretium suī statuendum est ab ipsō, non ab hoste. Et patientia — patientia ipsa — telum est, si oculī interim calculum agunt. Nunc, cum Quintilis meus sit et mare pacatum videam, recordor: non semper victoria est gladiorum. Interdum est sedēre inter ridentes, numerare.
Explain more
Anno 75 a.C.n., Caesar ad Rhodum navigabat ut a rhetore Apollonio Molone doceretur. Piratae Cilices navem cepērunt. Post redemptum, classem privātam parāvit, captōs cruciāvit — sed prius iugulāvit, quod hoc humanius esse dīxit.
Why it matters
Haec res ostendit duas rēs Caesaris: aestimātiōnem suī immōtam, et morem promissa exigendī. Posterius ad Rūbicōnem quoque pertinuit.
Try today
Hostis tuus te minorēm aestimet? Noli contrādīcere statim. Numerā. Tempus tuum constitue. Pretium tuum ipse dic.
What is true / dramatized: Dramatized. Educational entertainment — not a primary historical source.
Plutarchus, Caesar 1.32; Suetonius, Divus Iulius 4. Notae: summa redemptiōnis apud auctōrēs variat; quadraginta talenta Plutarchus, quinquaginta alii.
Difficulty: medium · ~3 min
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