_Domitiano de S. Johanne ad portam Lat._
Ergo ut inultus eas? sed nec tamen ibis inultus,
Sic violare ausus meque meosque deos.
Ure oleo, lictor. Oleo parat urere lictor:
Sed quem uri lictor credidit, unctus erat.
Te quoque sic olei virtus malefida fefellit?
Sic tua te Pallas, Domitiane, juvat?
_To Domitian, concerning St. John commanded to be cast into a caldron of
boiling oil._
Thou go unpunish'd? That shall never be,
Since thou hast dar'd to mock my gods and me.
Burn him in oil!--The lictor oil prepares:
Behold the Saint anointed unawares!
With such elusive virtue was the oil fraught!
Such aid thy olive-loving Pallas brought![89] R. WI.