Minha própria pequenez recorre a teu mais justo favor: a amizade em Valério Máximo

Abstract

This paper proposes a Brazilian Portuguese translation of the opening (1.pr.) and the passage on friendship (4.7) of Facta et dicta memorabilia (Memorable Deeds and Sayings) by Valerius Maximus. Thus, the text is introduced by its author, enabling us to grasp a virtue that has one of the longest definitions in the work. The objective, in line with the proposals of Antoine Berman (2007 [1985]), was to maintain the reader’s sense of estrangement from a literary work from the first century CE, while making concessions — such as explanatory notes — to avoid a blurred reading of a text that has not yet been widely translated in Brazil. Brief comments addressing the characteristics of Maximus’s work and the translation process precede the translated text.