Martial 6.72: Fur notae nimium rapacitatis

by Tom Gardner

Fur notae nimium rapacitatis
compilare Cilix uolebat hortum,
ingenti sed erat, Fabulle, in horto
praeter marmoreum nihil Priapum.
Dum non volt uacua manu redire,
ipsum subripuit Cilix Priapum.

Cilix — a thief of all too well-known rapacity —
wanted to rob a garden,
but there was, Fabullus, in that huge garden,
nothing, save for a marble Priapus.
As he didn’t want to return empty-handed,
Cilix snatched away that very Priapus.