The Satires of A. Persius Flaccus

Note 1, 1 — A. PERSIUS FLACCUS (continued 3)

Reading edition

1. O curas hominum! O quantum est in rebus inane! Homines and res are both used for ‘the world,’ sometimes singly, sometimes together. Res is often to be omitted in translation, or another turn given. O quantum est in rebus inane, ‘Vanity of vanities’—a suitable Stoic text. There seems to be no allusion to Lucretius’s common phrase, in rebus inane.

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