MQ snapped: After all that blethering, what I'm saying is that I am at loss to figure out how the quote is a display of ego.
Not you, not you, Maxie. It was a kick at Seneca - although I hadn't been able to remember whether it was him or Cicero who said it.
And, flagellating himself furiously: I guess that's a good demonstration of why one should not use foreign language quotes without being certain of their meaning.
It's never stopped me - as you will have noticed.
And, I was puzzled by "orbs", and inserted the signature line in the hope that one of the Latin literati here might be able to validate it, or correct it. Having never studied Latin, I couldn't shake the feeling that "orbs" looked wrong, and that the word should have been "orbis" instead.
Well, you're a quick study and it was well-spotted. It should, indeed, be "orbis" (he said ducking for cover). From memory (which you already know has its little lapses), the world word is orbis -is (m). Another member of this worthy forum (at least) knows more Latin than I do and may wish to correct me.
I suspect that if Seneca was alive today, he would be saying, in English: "The whole universe is my homeland". Patria meant more than just "country" to the Romans, and omnis orbis terrarum was the biggest "thing" they knew of. Romans tended to be bloody parochial, though. Look at the origins of the word "barbarian".
