Eram Quod Es: the Quote of the Week

Eram quod es, eris quod sum.  – Horace (?)

Eram quod es, eris quod sum. I was what you are, you will be what I am. When I ask my students what they think it means, most of them think of an adult speaking to an adolescent. Which makes sense, from their perspective. Those of us who are a little closer to the other end of our lives might recognize it as a voice from beyond the grave. And, indeed, it used to adorn many a tombstone.  

I don’t bring it up to be morbid. This is simply my quote for the week.  For quite a few years now I’ve posted a “Quote of the Week,” a sententia aurea, at the top of the whiteboard in my classroom. The sententiae serve several purposes.  They are examples of how Latin is still with us a millennium and a half after the fall of Rome. They also provide a context for vocabulary words. I can’t tell you, for example, how many of my students have told me that they know how to translate vicerunt because Veni, Vidi, Vici had been our Quote of the Week earlier in the year.

A Lesson in Esse

This particular sententia has occupied its particular place on my calendar for many years. When I first compiled my collection of weekly quotes, I was working in a Catholic school. Catholics make a special point of remembering the dead in November, which begins with All Saints Day on the 1st, and All Souls Day on the 2nd. I’ve continued to post it for the last nine years in my public-school classroom as well. After all, every one of us can see ourselves in it.  

This particular quote is example of another purpose of the sententiae.  They often serve as living illustrations of various points of Latin grammar, usage, or style. This one covers all those bases (and more). Let’s start with grammar. The Latin verb esse, “to be,” is irregular in the present system (present, imperfect, and future tenses). This short sentence can help students remember the key features of each of those tenses. Here, for instance, are the present tense forms of the verb:

sum – I am	sumus – we are
es – you are	estis – you (pl) are
est – he, she, it is	sunt – they are

Notice that there are two different verb stems.  Three of the forms begin with su-, the other three with e-. Our Quote of the week uses one of each (es and sum).

More Tenses

The imperfect tense expresses incomplete action in the past.  All the forms of esse use the stem era- in the imperfect tense. The first word in the quote, the imperfect form eram, “I was,” is a helpful reminder. Likewise, five of the six forms of esse in the future tense begin with eri-. The first word of the second clause in the sentence, the future tense form eris, “you will be,” gives us an example of that. All three present system tenses of esse are represented in this brief sentence.

This quote also nicely illustrates a couple points of Latin style.  For instance, Latin authors like to squeeze as much meaning as possible out of the fewest words.  If they can do so with forms or endings rather than extra words, so much the better.  Notice that of the six words that make up the two clauses in the sentence are really only two words: quod, and four different forms of esse. Most of the impact of the statement comes simply from changing the person and tense of esse.

X Marks the Spot

We also have a fine example of a figure of speech dear to Latin poets and orators both, chiasmus. The term comes from the Greek letter chi, which looks like our X. It involves reversing, “criss-crossing,” words, forms, or structures in a sentence.  For instance, parvus magnitudine, fortitudine magnus, “small in size, in courage great.” If we designate the nominative adjectives in this example with the letter “A” and the ablative nouns with “B” we can see the typical pattern ABBA. Chiasmus is often used to enhance a comparison or emphasize a contrast or antithesis.

This sentence actually contains two distinct examples of chiasmus. Here’s one. The initial clause begins with a first-person form and ends with a second, the final clause begins with second-person form and ends with a first:

Eram quod es, eris quod sum –                  

1st  quod  2nd, 2nd quod 1st

We have an added bonus here, by the way. Since English relies so heavily on word order for syntactic meaning, chiasmus often sounds awkward or doesn’t work at all in our language.  In this case, it works just as well in English as in Latin:

I was what you are, you will be what I am

1st  what  2nd,          2nd what 1st

We also have, for lack of a better term, temporal chiasmus.  That is, the time sequence is switched around in the two clauses. In the first clause the verb whose tense is earlier comes first (imperfect before present). We switch that around in the second clause (future before present):

Eram quod es, eris quod sum –                  

prior  quod  later, later quod prior

Is that You, Horace?

This sententia also has an interesting backstory that leads into a discussion of one of the greatest Latin writers. The quote is often attributed to the poet Horace. I doubt, however, that he actually said it. For one thing, Horace has remained popular for over 2,000 years. His works have never gone out of print, so to speak, and this line doesn’t appear in any of them. While it’s possible that a few lesser works did not survive, no other classical writer cites Horace as the source of this quote.

Nonetheless, I can see why people might associate the sententia with Horace. He often used his poetry to develop themes from Epicurean philosophy.  One of those themes is indeed the inevitability of death.  In one of his epistles, for example, he advises the poet Tibullus

inter spem curamque, timores inter et iras
omnem crede diem tibi diluxisse supremum (Odes 1.4)

Between hope and care, amid fears and rages

Believe every day that dawns is your last

Horace discusses death, however, primarily to underscore the Epicurean imperative to enjoy life in the here and now. The most famous example is Ode 1.11, the “carpe diem” ode. Here again he points to the inevitability and the closeness of death:

  Ut melius quicquid erit pati!
Seu pluris hiemes seu tribuit Iuppiter ultimam . . .

How much better to endure whatever will be!

Whether Jupiter bestows many winters, or a final one . . .

His purpose here, as always, is not to dwell on death for its own sake, but rather to advise making the most of the present:  

      . . . sapias, vina liques et spatio brevi
spem longam reseces. Dum loquimur, fugerit invida
aetas: carpe diem, quam minimum credula postero. (Odes 1.11)

You should be wise, you should strain the wine and, time being short,

trim back long hope.  While we are speaking, a jealous age has fled:

harvest the day, trust in the future as little as possible.

Memento Mori

Horace has few poems that are primarily memento mori poems.  The one that best fits the bill starts out with:

Eheu fugaces, Postume, Postume,
labuntur anni nec pietas moram
     rugis et instanti senectae
     adferet indomitaeque morti (Ode 2.14)

Alas, Postumus, Postumus, the fleeting

years slip away, and piety brings

no delay of wrinkles, impending old age,

and unconquerable death.

Even here, Horace’s narrative voice doesn’t come from beyond the grave as does the narrator of eram quod es.  Rather, the Epicurean poet is still discussing death from the perspective of a living man, advising another to enjoy life while it lasts. Horace’s focus is life, even when death is his topic.

Packing a Punch

So no, I don’t think Horace is our author. Discussing the Horatian angle does, however, does facilitate an introduction to one of the all-time great poets. At the same time, it gives younger students a more positive spin on the sententia. Frosting on the cake, as they say. As you can see, these six little words (two little words?) pack quite a punch. And this quote is not unique.  That’s why the Quote of the Week, the Sententia Aurea, has been a part of my classroom routine for so long. Stay tuned – there’s more to come!

Featured image above created with Canva AI.