That which I have tested by the applause I get here in the theatre, no Grand Duke in the world dares to shatter—by what a lot does slavery here beat yonder freedom!
Quae ego in theatro hic meis probavi plausibus
Ea non audere quemquam regem rumpere,
quanto libertatem hanc hic superat servitus.
Ea non audere quemquam regem rumpere,
quanto libertatem hanc hic superat servitus.
Original text (Latin)
Share this quote
Notes from Wikiquote
The reference is perhaps to Q. Caecilius Metellus | W. Y. Sellar, The Roman Poets of the Republic, 3rd ed. (1905), ch. 3, p. 57: note 20 | What I in the theatre here have made good by the applause given to me, to think that any of these great people should now dare to interfere with! How much better thing is the slavery here (i.e. represented in this play), than the liberty we actually enjoy? | Alan A. Stambusky, "Roman Comedy on Trial in the Republic", ETJ, vol. 29, no. 1 (1977), p. 30 | What I have won approval for by plaudits here in the theatre,
With that no ruler whatever shall dare to interfere.