exemptam?

VII.

Then I said: "Thou thyself knowest that the ambition of mortal things
hath borne as little sway with me as with any, but I desired matter of
action, lest old age should come upon me ere I had done anything." To
which she answered: "This is the only thing which is able to entice such
minds as, being well qualified by nature, are not yet fully brought to
full excellence by the perfecting of virtues, I mean desire of glory,
and fame of best deserts towards their commonwealth, which how slender
it is, and void of all weight, consider this: thou hast learnt by
astronomical demonstrations that the compass of the whole earth compared
to the scope of heaven is no bigger than a pin's point, which is as much
as to say that, if it be conferred with the greatness of the celestial
sphere, it hath no bigness at all. And of this so small a region in the
world only the fourth part is known to be inhabited by living creatures
known to us, as Ptolemy[117] proveth. From which fourth part, if thou
takest away in imagination the seas, the marsh grounds, and all other
desert places, there will scarcely be left any room at all for men to
inhabit. Wherefore, enclosed and shut up in this smallest point of that
other point, do you think of extending your fame and enlarging your
name? But what great or heroical matter can that glory have, which is
pent up in so small and narrow bounds? Besides that the little compass
of this small habitation is inhabited by many nations, different in
language, fashions, and conversation, to which by reason of the
difficulties in travelling, the diversity of speech, and the scarcity of
traffic, not only the Fame of particular men but even of cities can
hardly come. Finally, in the age of Marcus Tullius, as he himself
writeth,[118] the fame of the Roman Commonwealth had not passed the
mountain Caucasus, and yet it was then in the most flourishing estate,
fearful even to the Parthians and to the rest of the nations about.
Seest thou therefore how strait and narrow that glory is which you
labour to enlarge and increase? Where the fame of the Roman name could
not pass, can the glory of a Roman man penetrate? Moreover, the customs
and laws of diverse nations do so much differ the one from the other,
that the same thing which some commend as laudable, others condemn as
deserving punishment. So that if a man be delighted with the