Latin Proverbs: Archimedes' Circles

I just went to see the latest/last Indiana Jones movie, and I really enjoyed it, way more than I even expected. Plus... it involved Archimedes. I don't want to give too much away, but suffice to say: the invasion of Syracuse is important to the plot of the movie. 

So, last week I had happened to post a famous quote attributed to Archimedes in the diminutive proverbs, so in honor of the Archimedes moment in the movie, I wanted to write a post about that one now: Noli turbare circulos meos! 

The most famous saying attributed to Archimedes is "Eureka!" (and that is also relevant to the movie), but this saying is quite famous also, and it has a Wikipedia article of its own. The story goes that when Syracuse was invaded by the Romans in 212 B.C.E., the Roman general sent soldiers to capture Archimedes, but when the soldiers found him, he shouted at them to not disturb his drawing in the sand, and an angry soldier then killed him.

The version in Valerius Maximus 8.7.7 goes: Noli, obsecro, istum disturbare, "Please do not disturb it" (where "it" refers to the sand where Archimedes was drawing something). Here's the Latin:

8.7.ext.7 Archimedis quoque fructuosam industriam fuisse dicerem, nisi eadem illi et dedisset uitam et abstulisset: captis enim Syracusis Marcellus, <etsi> machinationibus eius multum ac diu uictoriam suam inhibitam senserat, eximia tamen hominis prudentia delectatus ut capiti illius parceretur edixit, paene tantum gloriae in Archimede seruato quantum in oppressis Syracusis reponens. at is, dum animo et oculis in terra defixis formas describit, militi, qui praedandi gratia domum inruperat strictoque super caput gladio quisnam esset interrogabat, propter nimiam cupiditatem inuestigandi quod requirebat nomen suum indicare non potuit, sed protecto manibus puluere 'noli' inquit, 'obsecro, istum disturbare', ac perinde quasi neglegens imperii uictoris obtruncatus sanguine suo artis suae liniamenta confudit. quo accidit ut propter idem studium modo donaretur uita, modo spoliaretur.

It's intense: obtruncatus (slain), sanguine suo (with his blood) artis suae liniamenta (the lines of his work) confudit (he jumbled).

I'll just say that this is not the version of Archimedes' life as it plays out in the Indiana Jones movie! And if you are curious about the tomb of Archimedes, you can read more about that here: The Curious Case of the Tomb of Archimedes.

Here's a painting by Thomas DeGeorge:

Here's a sculpture in Berlin:

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