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It manus in gyrum; paullatim singula viresDeperdunt proprias; color est E pluribus unus. Spins round the stirring hand; lose by degreesTheir separate powers the parts, and comes at lastFrom many several colors one that rules.   Virgil

Source: VIRGIL, Moretum, lines 1034, The Works of Virgil, trans. into English verse by John Augustine Wilstach, vol. 1, p. 123 .Moretum literally means garden herbs. From Virgils minor poems, this is a tribute to common things and plebian associations. The lines are laudatory of early habits and rustic poverty. They close with a description of the ingredients and mode of preparation of a salad composed of garlic, parsley, rue, and onions, seasoned with cheese, salt, coriander, and vinegar, and finally sprinkled with oil.The poem is a brief one, of uncertain, but probably early date. But, brief as it is, and insignificant as it seems to be, certain of its words formulate the talisman of our National Government.So that we may say, with probable truth, that, in describing an Italian salad, a frugal shepherd of the Roman Republic dictated that motto [E pluribus unum] which has served as the symbol of union for States in a hemisphere then unknown, for a Republic which uses, with enthusiasm, even the language of that illustrious government to which it is indebted, under so many forms, for safe precedents and wise examples . · This quote is about uncategorised · Search on Google Books to find all references and sources for this quotation.

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