"Salus Populī Lex Summa Estō"
Elegiac Meter





mē retinēre credis quīn scrībam carmina acerba?
(sēsē - ut vēra dīcam - quis retinēre potest?)
cūria nunc partim - populī quae tōta salūtem
dēliberat variī - consulit ipsa suae.
rīdet iam tōtus - nisi nōn terrae stupet orbis -
"Illīc* optima lex estne salus populī?"
______
cf. Prop. 1.19.11: illīc, quicquid erō, semper tua dīcar imāgō

Do you think that I can keep from writing bitter songs
(Who - to tell that truth - can hold back?)
Part of the senate - which, in its entire
deliberates over the health of a diverse people -
now looks to its health alone.
Now the entire world - if it isn't in shock -
snickers: "is that really the place where they say
"The Health of the People
Shall be the highest Law -
"Salus Populī Lex Summa Estō"?