Virgil, Aeneid VI.620
Melphi speaks
Discite iustitiam moniti, et non temnere divos.
The priest translates
«Learn justice, you who have been warned, and not to scorn the gods.»
And interprets
This line has the tone of a warning, and it is best heard as one, not as a condemnation. It invites you to look honestly at how you are behaving: at work, with money, with the people who depend on you. Perhaps there is a small shortcut that seems harmless, a deal that is not quite clean, a promise treated lightly. The line tells you to learn while there is still time, now that the warning has come. It also reminds you of respect: for what is greater than you, for shared rules, for the people around you. Correcting your course now costs little; later it will cost much more.
The historical translations
Annibal Caro (1581)
Imparate da me voi che mirate
La pena mia: non violate il giusto,
Riverite gli Dei. Tra questi tali
Imparate da me voi che mirate
La pena mia: non violate il giusto,
Riverite gli Dei. Tra questi tali
Theodore C. Williams (1910)
‘0, ere too late, learn justice and fear God!’
‘0, ere too late, learn justice and fear God!’
Source
Publius Vergilius Maro, Aeneis, ed. J. B. Greenough (1900)
Virgil, Aeneid VI.620