Don’t Be Fooled By the Rocks That I Got: I’m Still Agathocles from the Block

Ausonius, Epigrams VIII

“The story goes that Agathocles the king dined with earthenware, and often burdened his table with Samian mud. He placed his shabby trays next to gem-encrusted vases, and he would mix riches and poverty at the same time. When someone asked him why, he said, ‘I, who am the king of Sicily, was born of a lowly potter. Whoever has come forth as a rich man from a humble station should hold lady Fortune in reverence.'”

Fama est, fictilibus coenasse Agathoclea regem,
atque abacum Samio saepe onerasse luto.
Fercula gemmatis cum poneret horrida vasis,
Et misceret opes pauperiemque simul:
Quaerenti causam, respondit: Rex ego qui sum
Sicaniae, figulo sum genitore satus.
Fortunam reverenter habe, quicumque repente
Dives ab exili progrediere loco.

 

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