aut coniuratum querimur splendere serenum.
Ipsa quoque internis furiis exercita plebis 50
securas iam Roma leva tranquillior arces;
surge, precor, veneranda parens, et certa secundis
fide deis, humilemque metum depone senectae.
urbs aequaeva polo, tum demum ferrea sumet
ius in te Lachesis, cum sic mutaverit axem 55
foederibus natura novis, ut flumine verso
inriget Aegyptum Tanais, Maeotida Nilus,
Eurus ab occasu, Zephyrus se promat ab Indis
Caucasiisque iugis calido nigrantibus Austro
Gaetulas Aquilo glacie constringat harenas. 60
Fatales hucusque manus, crebrisque notatae
prodigiis abiere minae. nec sidera pacem
semper habent, ipsumque Iovem turbante Typhoeo,
si fas est, tremuisse ferunt, cum brachia centum
montibus armaret totidem spiramque retorquens 65
lamberet attonitas erectis anguibus Arctos.
quid mirum, si regna labor mortalia vexat,
cum gemini fratres, genuit quos asper Aloeus,
Martem subdiderint vinclis et in astra negatas
temptarint munire vias steteritque revulsis 70
paene tribus scopulis caelesti machina bello?
sed caret eventu nimius furor; improba numquam
spes laetata diu, nec pervenere iuventae
robur Aloidae, dum vellere Pelion Otus
nititur, occubuit Phoebo, moriensque Ephialtes 75
in latus obliquam proiecit languidus Ossam.
* * * * *
Page 131
keep the promise of their waters or complain that the sunshine
conspires against us with its splendour.
Thou, too, Rome, so long vexed with internal discord, lift up thy hills
at last more peacefully in safety. Arise, honoured mother, be sure that
God’s favour is with thee; banish the lowly timorousness of age. City
that art coëval with the world, inexorable Lachesis shall not exercise
against thee her rights of destruction until Nature has so changed the
immutable laws of the universe that Tanais turn his course and water
Egypt, Nile flow into Lake Maeotis, Eurus blow from the west, Zephyr
from India, and the south wind rage in tempest o’er the summit of
Caucasus, while that of the north binds the deserts of Africa with its
frost.
Thus far came the fatal hordes; now their threats, whereof so many
omens warned us, have vanished away. Heaven’s self was not always at
peace: they tell how even Jove trembled (if one may dare to say so)
when Typhoeus attacked him, arming his hundred hands with a hundred
mountains and touching the astonished constellation of the Bear with
his towering snaky coils. What wonder if trouble harasses mortal realms
when cruel Aloeus’ two sons cast Mars in chains and attempted to build
that forbidden road to the stars so that the universe almost ceased to
move, what time the three rocks[46] were uprooted in the war of heaven?
But their blind fury was of no effect; wicked hopes never exult for
long. Aloeus’ children never reached man’s estate; Otus, attempting to
uproot Pelion, was stricken down by Phoebus, and Ephialtes as he died
wearily let Ossa fall athwart his side.
[46] _i.e._ the mountains Pelion, Ossa and Olympus.
* * * * *
Page 132
Adspice, Roma, tuum iam vertice celsior hostem,
adspice quam rarum referens inglorius agmen
Italia detrusus eat quantumque priori
dissimilis, qui cuncta sibi cessura ruenti 80
pollicitus patrii numen iuraverat Histri
non nisi calcatis loricam ponere rostris.
o rerum fatique vices! qui foeda parabat
Romanas ad stupra nurus, sua pignora vidit
coniugibus permixta trahi; qui mente profundas 85
hauserat urbis opes, ultro victoribus ipse
praeda fuit; nostri quondam qui militis auro
adgressus temptare fidem, desertus ab omni
gente sua manibusque redit truncatus et armis.
Hoc quoque, quod veniam leti valuere mereri, 90
si positis pendas odiis, ignoscere pulchrum
iam misero poenaeque genus vidisse precantem.
quae vindicta prior quam cum formido superbos
flectit et adsuetum spoliis adfligit egestas?
sed magis ex aliis fluxit dementia causis, 95
consulitur dum, Roma, tibi. tua cura coëgit
inclusis aperire fugam, ne peior in arto
saeviret rabies venturae conscia mortis;
nec tanti nomen stirpemque abolere Getarum,
ut propius peterere, fuit. procul arceat altus 100
Iuppiter, ut delubra Numae sedesque Quirini
barbaries oculis saltem temerare profanis
possit et arcanum tanti deprendere regni.
* * * * *
Page 133
Lift up thy head, Rome, and behold thine enemy; see how, leading
back in dishonour a shattered host, he is cast forth from Italy. How
different is he from what he was when he sware that everything should
yield to his onset and took an oath by Danube whom he and his fathers
worshipped that he would never unbuckle his breastplate until he had
marched in triumph through the Forum. How strange are the changes Fate
brings about! He who destined the women of Rome as victims of his
lust has seen his own wives and children led away captive; he who in
imagination had drained the countless wealth of our city became himself
his victor’s easy prey; he who once sought to corrupt the loyalty of
our troops has been deserted by his own people and has returned to his
country beggared of men and arms.
Then too if, laying hatred aside, thou shouldest weigh the cause that
won them pardon from their doom, surely to spare a fallen foe is itself
a triumph and to see him on his knees punishment enough. What vengeance
so satisfying as when terror makes pride stoop, and want bows down him
who before bore spoils? But our clemency was in part due to another
cause, for we thought of thee, O Rome. Concern for thee constrained us
to offer a way of escape to the beleaguered foe lest, with the fear
of death before their eyes, their rage should grow the more terrible
for being confined. An enemy before thy very walls would have been too
heavy a price to pay for the destruction of the race and name of the
Getae. May Jove from on high forbid that the barbarian should outrage
even with a glance Numa’s shrine or Romulus’ temple, or discover aught
of the secrets of our empire.
* * * * *
Page 134
Quamquam, si veterum certamina rite recordor,
tunc etiam, pulchra cum libertate vigerent 105
et proprio late florerent milite patres,
semper ab his famae petiere insignia bellis,
quae diversa procul tuto trans aequora vires
exercere dabant: currus regumque catenae
inter abundantis fati ludibria ductae. 110
at vero Italiam quotiens circumstetit atrox
tempestas ipsumque caput laesura pependit,
non illis vani ratio ventosa furoris,
sed graviter spectata salus ductorque placebat,
non qui praecipiti traheret semel omnia casu, 115
sed qui maturo vel laeta vel aspera rerum
consilio momenta regens, nec tristibus impar
nec pro successu nimius, spatiumque morandi
vincendique modum mutatis nosset habenis.
cautius ingentes morbos et proxima cordi 120
ulcera Paeoniae tractat sollertia curae
parcendoque secat, ferro ne largius acto
inrevocandus eat sectis vitalibus error.
Sublimi certe Curium canit ore vetustas,
Aeaciden Italo pepulit qui litore Pyrrhum, 125
nec magis insignis Pauli Mariique triumphus,
qui captos niveis reges egere quadrigis;
plus fuga laudatur Pyrrhi quam vincla Iugurthae;
et, quamvis gemina fessum iam clade fugavit,
post Decii lituos et nulli pervia culpae 130
pectora Fabricii, donis invicta vel armis,
* * * * *
Page 135
And yet--if duly I recall ancient conflicts--then also when, fair
liberty lending vigour, the senate was everywhere successful with
native troops, they sought trophies from such wars as were waged far
away across the sea where our soldiers could exercise their courage
without danger to their homes; chariots and fettered kings were
accounted but the shows that overflowing fortune gave. But whenever
a dread storm burst upon Italy or hung threateningly over her head
their thought was not how to give vent to profitless fury but how
best at such a crisis to secure the safety of the state. The leader
of their choice was not he who hazarded all on one rash throw but one
who gave careful thought to each eventuality, were it fortunate or the
reverse, one who could bear adversity with fortitude and success with
moderation, and by slackening or tightening the reins of government
knew how to make use of victory and to temporize after a setback. The
physician’s skill deals more carefully with grave diseases and ulcers
that are near the heart: here he is more sparing of the knife for fear
lest the blade, driven too deep, should slip and sever beyond healing
some vital organ.
Proud assuredly is the strain in which bards of old sing of Curius
who drove Pyrrhus, son of Aeacus, from the shores of Italy;[47] not
more resplendent were the triumphs of Paulus and of Marius who dragged
captive kings behind their white-horsed chariots. The expulsion of
Pyrrhus is more praised than the capture of Jugurtha; and although
Curius drove out a prince whose spirit had already been broken by two
reverses, at the hands of Decius and of the blameless Fabricius whom
neither bribes
[47] After his defeat by Curius Dentatus near Beneventum in 277
B.C. Pyrrhus, king of Epirus, was forced to evacuate Italy.
Claudian, in this section, is at pains tactfully to justify
Stilicho’s _expulsion_ of Alaric from Italy, as opposed to his
_capture_.
* * * * *
Page 136
plena datur Curio pulsi victoria Pyrrhi.
quanto maius opus solo Stilichone peractum
cernimus! his validam gentem, quam dura nivosis
educat Ursa plagis, non Chaonas atque Molossos, 135
quos Epirus alit, nec Dodonaea subegit
agmina fatidicam frustra iactantia quercum.
Primus fulmineum lento luctamine Poenum
compressit Fabius, campo post ausus aperto
Marcellus vinci docuit, sed tertia virtus 140
Scipiadae Latiis tandem deterruit oris.
unus in hoc Stilicho diversis artibus hoste
tris potuit complere duces fregitque furentem
cunctando vicitque manu victumque relegat.
Atque haec tanta brevi. miscentem incendia Pyrrhum
sustinuit toto maerens Oenotria lustro, 146
et prope ter senas Itali per graminis herbas
Massylus Poeno sonipes vastante cucurrit
Hannibalemque senem vix ad sua reppulit arva
vindex sera patrum post bellum nata iuventus. 150
his celer effecit, bruma ne longior una
esset hiems rerum, primis sed mensibus aestas
temperiem caelo pariter patriaeque[48] referret.
Sed quid ego Hannibalem contra Pyrrhumque tot annis
certatum memorem, vilis cum Spartacus omne 155
per latus Italiae ferro bacchatus et igni
consulibusque palam totiens congressus inertes
exuerit castris dominos et strage pudenda
[48] codd. _belloque_; Birt suggests _regnoque_; Postgate _patriaeque_.
* * * * *
Page 137
nor arms could overcome, yet the whole glory of that expulsion is given
to him. But how much greater the task we see fulfilled by Stilicho
alone! He has conquered not Chaones or Molossi, Epirot tribes, nor
yet the armies of Dodona that idly boast their prophetic grove, but a
mighty people whose home lies in those snowy regions beneath the icy
constellation of the Bear.
Fabius was the first to stay by his slow struggles Hannibal’s lightning
rush; then Marcellus, meeting him in the open field, taught him defeat,
but it was the valour of Scipio that drove him from the shores of
Italy. In the case of our latest foe Stilicho succeeded in combining in
himself the diverse skill of all these three; he broke their frenzy by
delaying, vanquished them in battle and drove the vanquished host from
Italy.
And all this in so short a time. Full five years did Italy mourn
beneath the scattered fires of Pyrrhus, for well-nigh eighteen years
did the African steeds of the Carthaginians tread down and devastate
our harvests, and it was a second generation, born after the outbreak
of the war, that, exacting a tardy vengeance for the first, with
difficulty drove an aged Hannibal back to his own country. Stilicho
acted more quickly: he saw to it that the winter of our distress should
last but one winter[49] but that spring in its earliest months should
bring back fair weather alike to heaven and to fatherland.
Why should I make mention of the wars waged all those weary years
against Hannibal and Pyrrhus when that vile gladiator Spartacus,
ravaging all the countryside with fire and sword, oft engaged the
consuls in open war and, driving out its feeble masters
[49] The winter of 401-402.
* * * * *
Page 138
fuderit imbelles aquilas servilibus armis?
nos terrorum expers et luxu mollior aetas 160
deficimus queruli, si bos abductus aratro,
si libata seges. non hanc ergastula nobis
inmisere manum nec coniurantis harenae
turba fuit; qualem Stilicho deiecerit hostem,
Thraces et Haemonii poterunt Moesique fateri. 165
Frigida ter decies nudatum frondibus Haemum
tendit hiems vestire gelu totiensque solutis
ver nivibus viridem monti reparavit amictum,
ex quo iam patrios gens haec oblita Triones
atque Histrum transvecta semel vestigia fixit 170
Threicio funesta solo. seu fata vocabant
seu gravis ira deum, seriem meditata ruinis,
ex illo, quocumque vagos impegit Erinys,
grandinis aut morbi ritu per devia rerum,
praecipites per clausa ruunt, nec contigit ullis 175
amnibus aut scopulis proprias defendere terras.
nil Rhodope, nil vastus Athos, nil profuit Hebrus
Odrysiis; facili contemptum Strymona saltu
et frustra rapidum damnant Haliacmona Bessi.
nubibus intactum Macedo miratur Olympum 180
more pererratum campi; gemit inrita Tempe
Thessalus et domitis inrisam cautibus Oeten.
Sperchiusque et virginibus dilectus Enipeus
barbaricas lavere comas. non obice Pindi
servati Dryopes nec nubifer Actia texit 185
litora Leucates; ipsae, quae durius olim
restiterant Medis, primo conamine ruptae
* * * * *
Page 139
from the Roman camp, put to rout the unwarlike eagles defeated with
shameful carnage by a band of slaves? We, unused to war’s alarms,
an age enervated with luxury, grumble and give up in despair if a
ploughing ox is looted or our harvest so much as touched. It was no
slaves’ prison that loosed on us the Getic hordes; these were not a
crowd of rebellious gladiators. Thrace, Haemus and Moesia can tell you
what manner of foe Stilicho expelled. Thrice ten times has chill winter
cast her snowy mantle over leafless Haemus; as oft has spring, when
those snows were melted, renewed the mountain’s verdant cloak since the
Getic race, forgetful of its native stars and once having crossed the
Danube, set destructive foot on Thracian soil. Whether fate led them
or the heavy anger of the gods planning disaster upon disaster, from
that day, whithersoever the Furies have driven those errant bands, they
have poured pell-mell over remote lands, over every obstacle, like a
storm of hail or a pestilence. No streams or rocks availed to defend
their country. Neither Rhodope nor huge Athos nor Hebrus could save
Thrace; the Bessi cursed the Strymon crossed with scornful ease and the
Haliacmon that flowed swiftly and to no purpose. The Macedonians in
amaze saw Olympus, too high even for clouds, trodden by them as it had
been a plain. Thessaly bewails the uselessness of Tempe and conquered
Oeta’s ridges made a mock. Sperchius and Enipeus, loved of maidens,
served to wash the barbarians’ hair. The barrier of Pindus could not
save the Dryopes nor cloud-capped Leucates the coasts of Actium.
Thermopylae itself that had once more boldly withstood the Persians
yielded a passage
* * * * *
Page 140
Thermopylae; vallata mari Scironia rupes
et duo continuo conectens aequora muro
Isthmos et angusti patuerunt claustra Lechaei: 190
nec tibi Parrhasios licuit munire colonos
frondosis, Erymanthe, iugis, equitataque summi
culmina Taygeti trepidae vidistis Amyclae.
Tandem supplicium cunctis pro montibus Alpes
exegere Getas; tandem tot flumina victor 195
vindicat Eridanus. docuit nunc exitus alte
fatorum secreta regi. quisquamne reclusis
Alpibus ulterius Latii fore credidit umbram?
nonne velut capta rumor miserabilis urbe
trans freta, trans Gallos Pyrenaeumque cucurrit? 200
Famaque nigrantes succincta pavoribus alas
secum cuncta trahens a Gadibus usque Britannum
terruit Oceanum et nostro procul axe remotam
insolito belli tremefecit murmure Thylen?
Mandemusne Noti flabris quoscumque timores 205
pertulimus, festae doleant ne tristibus aures?
an potius meminisse iuvat semperque vicissim
gaudia praemissi cumulant inopina dolores?
utque sub occidua iactatis Pleiade nautis
commendat placidum maris inclementia portum, 210
sic mihi tunc maior Stilicho, cum laeta periclis
metior atque illi redeunt in corda tumultus.
Nonne videbantur, quamvis adamante rigentes,
turribus invalidis fragiles procumbere muri
ferrataeque Getis ultro se pandere portae? 215
* * * * *
Page 141
at the first onset. Sciron’s cliffs protected by the waves, the wall
that joins sea to sea across the Isthmus of Corinth, the narrow pass of
Lechaeum, all lay open to their approach. Thou, Erymanthus, couldst not
protect the people of Arcadia with thy leafy ridges and thou, Amyclae,
didst tremble to see the enemy’s cavalry on the heights of Taygetus.
At last, however, the Alps avenged on the Getae the disgrace of all
mountains else and victorious Eridanus that of all other rivers. The
event has proved that deep hidden are the ways of destiny. Who would
have believed that, once a passage had been forced over the Alps, so
much as the shadow of Italy’s name would survive? Did not the awful
report of Rome’s fall cross the sea and spread beyond Gaul and over the
Pyrenees? Did not Rumour, her sable wing sped on with panic, sweeping
all before her in her flight, affright Ocean from Britain’s coast to
Gades’ city and far away from our world make distant Thule tremble with
the unaccustomed echoes of war?
And shall we fling to the South-wind’s blasts all the terrors we
endured, lest mid feasting sadness trouble our ears? Or rather does
such memory delight and does precursive pain ever changefully heighten
unexpected joy? Even as to sailors storm-tossed at the Pleiads’ setting
the rudeness of the sea commends the harbour’s calm, so to me does
Stilicho appear greater when I compare happiness with hazard and all
those troubles come again before my mind.
Did not our steel-girt walls seem to fall at the enemy’s attack, feeble
as the towers that crowned them, and our doors of iron to open of their
own accord to give him entry? It seemed as though
* * * * *
Page 142
nec vallum densaeque sudes arcere volantes
cornipedum saltus? iamiam conscendere puppes
Sardoniosque habitare sinus et inhospita Cyrni
saxa parant vitamque freto spumante tueri.
ipsa etiam diffisa brevi Trinacria ponto, 220
si rerum natura sinat, discedere longe
optat et Ionium refugo laxare Peloro.
fultaque despiciens auro laquearia dives
tutior Aeoliis mallet vixisse cavernis;
iamque oneri creduntur opes tandemque libido 225
haesit avaritiae gravioribus obruta curis.
utque est ingenioque loquax et plurima fingi
permittens credique timor, tunc somnia vulgo
narrari, tunc monstra deum monitusque sinistri:
quid meditentur aves, quid cum mortalibus aether
fulmineo velit igne loqui, quid carmine poscat 231
fatidico custos Romani carbasus aevi.
territat adsiduus lunae labor atraque Phoebe
noctibus aerisonas crebris ululata per urbes.
nec credunt vetito fraudatam Sole sororem 235
telluris subeunte globo, sed castra secutas
barbara Thessalidas patriis lunare venenis
incestare iubar. tunc anni signa prioris
et si quod fortasse quies neglexerat omen,
addit cura novis: lapidosos grandinis ictus 240
molitasque examen apes passimque crematas
* * * * *
Page 143
no rampart nor palisade were stout enough to withstand his cavalry’s
wind-swift onset. Even now they[50] make ready to go aboard their
ships, to dwell in Sardinia’s creeks and Corsica’s rocky, inhospitable
coast, and to guard their lives behind the foaming main. Sicily
herself, mistrusting the narrow strait, would fain retreat, did but
Nature permit, and open a wider passage for the Ionian waves by
withdrawing Pelorus. The rich, setting no store by their fretted
golden ceilings, would rather have lived in greater security in an
Aeolian cave. Soon, too, wealth was considered a burden, and greed
of gain was curbed at last by reason of anxieties more overwhelming.
Then--for that fear is by nature a babbler and allows all sorts of
tales to be invented and believed--dreams, portents, and omens of
ill were discussed on all sides. What, men asked, did that flight of
birds portend, what message would heaven fain deliver to mortals by
the thunderbolt, what did those prophetic books demand that guard the
destiny of Rome? Constant eclipses of the moon alarmed us and night
after night throughout the cities of Italy sounded wailings and the
beating of brazen gongs to scare the shadow from off her darkened
face. Men would not believe that the moon had been defrauded of her
brother the sun, forbidden to give light by the interposition of the
earth; they thought that Thessalian witches, accompanying the barbarian
armies, were darkening her rays with their country’s magic spells. Then
with these new portents their troubled minds link the signs of the past
year and any omens that perchance peaceful days had neglected--showers
of stones, bees swarming in strange places, furious
[50] _i.e._ the inhabitants of Italy.
* * * * *
Page 144
perbacchata domos nullis incendia causis
et numquam caelo spectatum impune cometem,
qui primum roseo Phoebi prolatus ab ortu,
qua micat astrigera senior cum coniuge Cepheus; 245
inde Lycaoniam paulatim expulsus ad Arcton
crine vago Getici foedavit sidera Plaustri,
donec in exiguum moriens vanesceret ignem.
Sed gravius mentes caesorum ostenta luporum
horrificant. duo quippe lupi sub principis ora, 250
dum campis exercet equos, violenter adorti
agmen et excepti telis inmane relatu
prodigium miramque notam duxere futuri.
nam simul humano geminas de corpore palmas
utraque perfossis emisit belua costis: 255
illo laeva tremens, hoc dextera ventre latebat
intentis ambae digitis et sanguine vivo.
scrutari si vera velis, fera nuntia Martis
ora sub Augusti casurum prodidit hostem,
utque manus utero virides patuere retecto, 260
Romula post ruptas virtus sic emicat Alpes.
sed malus interpres rerum metus omne trahebat
augurium peiore via, truncataque membra
nutricemque lupam Romae regnoque minari.
tunc reputant annos interceptoque volatu 265
vulturis incidunt properatis saecula metis.
Solus erat Stilicho, qui desperantibus augur
sponderet meliora manu, dubiaeque salutis
* * * * *
Page 145
fires destroying houses from no known cause, a comet--ne’er seen in
heaven without disaster--which first rose where Phoebus lifts his rosy
morning beam and old Cepheus shines together with starry Andromeda,
his spouse; then it withdrew little by little to the constellation of
Lycaon’s daughter[51] and with its errant tail dimmed the stars of the
Getic Wain until at last its dying fires grew feeble and vanished.
But what terrified men’s minds still more was the portent of the two
slaughtered wolves. Ay, before the Emperor’s face as he practised his
cavalry upon the plain two wolves savagely attacked his escort. Slain
by darts they disclosed a horrid portent and a wondrous sign of what
was to be. In each animal, on its being cut open, was found a human
hand, in the stomach of one a left hand, in that of the other a right
was discovered, both still twitching, the fingers stretched out and
suffused with living blood. Wouldest thou search out the truth, the
beast as messenger of Mars foretold that the foe would fall before
the emperor’s eyes. As the hands were found to be living when the
stomachs were cut open, so, when the Alps had been broken through,
the might of Rome was to be discovered unimpaired. But fear, ever a
poor interpreter, read disaster in the portent; severed hands, ’twas
said, and nursing wolf threatened destruction on Rome and her empire.
Then they reckoned up the years and, cutting off the flight of the
twelfth vulture, tried to shorten the centuries of Rome’s existence by
hastening the end.[52]
’Twas Stilicho alone who by his courage assured despairing Rome the
promise of a better fate; at
[51] _i.e._ The Great Bear.
[52] The twelve vultures seen by Romulus (Livy i. 7. 1) were
interpreted as twelve centuries of Roman power. Taking the
traditional date of the founding of the city (754 B.C.) more than
eleven centuries had already passed.
* * * * *
Page 146
dux idem vatesque fuit. “durate parumper”
inquit “et excussis muliebribus ore querellis 270
fatorum toleremus onus. nil nautica prosunt
turbatae lamenta rati nec segnibus undae
planctibus aut vanis mitescunt flamina votis.
nunc instare manu, toto nunc robore niti
communi pro luce decet: succurrere velis, 275
exhaurire fretum, varios aptare rudentes
omnibus et docti iussis parere magistri.
non, si perfidia nacti penetrabile tempus
inrupere Getae, nostras dum Raetia vires
occupat atque alio desudant Marte cohortes, 280
idcirco spes omnis abit. mirabile posset
esse mihi, si fraude nova vel calle reperto
barbarus ignotas invaderet inscius Alpes;
nunc vero geminis clades repetita tyrannis
famosum vulgavit iter nec nota fefellit 285
semita praestructum bellis civilibus hostem.
per solitas venere vias, aditusque sequendos
barbarico Romana dedit discordia bello.
“Sed nec praeteritis haec res incognita saeclis:
saepe lacessitam, sed non impune, fatemur 290
Ausoniam. haec Senonum restinxit sanguine flammas,
haec et Teutonico quondam patefacta furori
colla catenati vidit squalentia Cimbri.
vile decus, quod non erexit praevius horror;
ingentes generant discrimina magna triumphos. 295
“Quid turpes iam mente fugas, quid Gallica rura
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this crisis he showed himself by his courage at once general and seer.
“A little patience,” said he; “away with womanly repinings: let us bear
with fortitude whatever fate lays upon us. What good do the sailors’
cries do to the storm-driven vessel? Neither waves nor winds will abate
their fury for coward tears or useless prayer. Now for the general
safety it befits us to use every effort, to struggle with all our
strength--to attend to the sails, work the pumps, manage the various
ropes, and obey every order of the skilful captain. Because the Getae
have broken through, seizing by treachery the hour for striking home,
what time Raetia claimed our attention and our regiments were busied
with another war--not for that is all hope lost. Marvel indeed I might,
if by some new guile, some discovered path, the barbarian ignorantly
marched over the unexplored Alps; now, however, the successive defeats
of the two tyrants[53] have made the road notorious, nor has the foeman
missed the well-known track that was built for him by our civil strife.
They have come a well-known way and Roman discord has opened the
approach to barbaric war.
“Past generations have known a like fate. Full often, we know, has
Italy been attacked--but never without the enemy’s paying dear. With
their own blood did our country extinguish the fires lit by the Senones
and, once the victim of a German invasion, she soon saw the squalid
necks of Teutons and Cimbri loaded with the chains of captivity. Of
little value is that glory whose worth has not been augmented by
previous hardship; ’tis great dangers that beget great triumphs.
“Do you meditate shameful flight and fix your
[53] Maximus and Eugenius.
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respicitis Latioque libet post terga relicto
longinquum profugis Ararim praecingere castris?
scilicet Arctois concessa gentibus urbe
considet regnum Rhodano capitique superstes 300
truncus erit? vestros stimulant si pignora sensus,
me quoque non impar naturae cura remordet,
nec ferro sic corda rigent ut nosse recusem
quam sanctum soceri nomen, quam dulce mariti,
quantus prolis amor. sed numquam oblita decoris
obscaenam latebram pietas ignava requiret. 306
nec vobis fortis monitor, mihi cautior uni:
hic coniunx, hic progenies, hic carior omni
luce gener; pars nulla mei subducta procellae.
accipe tu nostrae, tellus Oenotria, mentis 310
vincula communes tecum subeuntia casus,
exiguamque moram muris impende tuendis,
dum redeo lectum referens in classica robur.”
His dictis pavidi firmavit inertia vulgi
pectora migrantisque fugam compescuit aulae; 315
ausaque tum primum tenebris emergere pulsis
Hesperia, ut secum iunxisse pericula vidit
Augustum, tantoque sui stetit obside fati.
protinus, umbrosa vestit qua litus oliva
Larius et dulci mentitur Nerea fluctu, 320
parva puppe lacum praetervolat; ocius inde
scandit inaccessos brumali sidere montes
nil hiemis caelive memor. sic ille relinquens
ieiunos antro catulos inmanior exit
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eyes on Gaul? Would you leave Latium and establish on the banks of the
Saône a camp of refugees? Is Rome to be ceded to Arctic tribes, our
empire to settle on the Rhone, and shall the trunk survive the head?
If the thought of your children has any weight with you, remember that
I too am not unaffected by similar feelings of nature; my heart is not
so hard that I do not nor will not recognize the sacred ties that bind
son to father-in-law, wife to husband and children to sire. But never,
forgetting honour, shall cowardly affection seek refuge in ignominious
flight. Nor do I give you bold advice, more careful for myself alone;
here is my family, my wife, and her father whom I love more than life
itself; not one of my relations is beyond the reach of this tempest.
O land of Italy, know that my heart is set on bearing with thee
whatsoever ills thou art called on to bear. Romans, hold your walls but
for a short while till I return, bringing back to the sound of trumpets
the flower of your host.”
With these words he instilled courage into the fearful hearts of the
citizens and checked any inclination towards flight in the Court. The
dark shadow fled and Italy dared raise her head once more seeing her
emperor ready to share her perils, and stood her ground with such
a hostage for fortune. Where Larius clothes his banks with shady
olive-trees and with his fresh water imitates the sea’s salt waves,
Stilicho crossed the lake with all speed in a small boat. Next he
ascended those mountains, inaccessible in winter, with no thought for
the season or the weather. Even so a lion, leaving his starving cubs
within the
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hiberna sub nocte leo tacitusque per altas 325
incedit furiale nives; stant colla pruinis
aspera; flaventes adstringit stiria saetas;
nec meminit leti nimbosve aut frigora curat,
dum natis alimenta parat.
Sublimis in Arcton
prominet Hercyniae confinis Raetia silvae, 330
quae se Danuvii iactat Rhenique parentem
utraque Romuleo praetendens flumina regno:
primo fonte breves, alto mox gurgite regnant
et fluvios cogunt unda coëunte minores
in nomen transire suum. te Cimbrica Tethys 335
divisum bifido consumit, Rhene, meatu;
Thracia quinque vadis Histrum vorat Amphitrite:
ambo habiles remis, ambo glacialia secti
terga rotis, ambo Boreae Martique sodales.
sed latus, Hesperiae quo Raetia iungitur orae, 340
praeruptis ferit astra iugis panditque tremendam
vix aestate viam. multi ceu Gorgone visa
obriguere gelu; multos hausere profundae
vasta mole nives, cumque ipsis saepe iuvencis
naufraga candenti merguntur plaustra barathro. 345
interdum subitam glacie labente ruinam
mons dedit et tepidis fundamina subruit astris
pendenti male fida solo.
Per talia tendit
frigoribus mediis Stilicho loca. nulla Lyaei
pocula; rara Ceres; raptos contentus in armis 350
delibasse cibos madidoque oneratus amictu
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cave, issues forth hunger-maddened some winter night and with silent
tread goes out across the deep snow with murder in his heart, his mane
frozen about his shoulders, and icicles clinging to his tawny coat;
nought recks he of death nor cares for snow nor frost if only he can
procure food for his little ones.
Near to the Hercynian forest the uplands of Raetia stretch out towards
the north, Raetia, proud parent of Danube and Rhine, twain rivers that
she sets to guard the empire of Rome. Small are their streams at first,
but soon they grow in depth and like kings compel the lesser waters to
pass with tributary wave beneath their name. The Cimbric ocean receives
Rhine’s flood outpoured through his two mouths; the Thracian wave
swallows that of Ister flowing out through five channels. Both rivers
are navigable though both bear at times the marks of chariot-wheels
upon their frozen surface; stout allies both of the north wind and the
god of war. But on the side where Raetia marches with Italy precipitous
mountains touch the sky, scarce even in summer offering an awful path.
Many a man has there been frozen to death as though he had looked on
the Gorgon’s head; many have been engulfed beneath vast masses of snow,
and often are carts and the oxen that draw them plunged into the white
depths of the crevasse. Sometimes the mountain plunges downwards in an
avalanche of ice, loosening neath a warmer sky foundations that trust
vainly in the precipitous slope.
Such was the country over which Stilicho passed in mid winter. No wine
was there; Ceres’ gifts were sparing; ’twas enough to snatch a hurried
meal, eaten sword in hand, while, burdened with rain-drenched
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algentem pulsabat equum. nec mollia fesso
strata dedere torum; tenebris si caeca repressit
nox iter, aut spelaea subit metuenda ferarum
aut pastorali iacuit sub culmine fultus 355
cervicem clipeo. stat pallidus hospite magno
pastor et ignoto praeclarum nomine vultum
rustica sordenti genetrix ostendit alumno.
illa sub horrendis praedura cubilia silvis,
illi sub nivibus somni curaeque laborque 360
pervigil hanc requiem terris, haec otia rebus
insperata dabant; illae tibi, Roma, salutem
Alpinae peperere casae.
Iam foedera gentes
exuerant Latiique audita clade feroces
Vindelicos saltus et Norica rura tenebant. 365
ac veluti famuli, mendax quos mortis erilis
nuntius in luxum falso rumore resolvit,
dum marcent epulis atque inter vina chorosque
persultat vacuis effrena licentia tectis,
si reducem dominum sors improvisa revexit, 370
haerent attoniti libertatemque perosus
conscia servilis praecordia concutit horror:
sic ducis adspectu cuncti stupuere rebelles,
inque uno princeps Latiumque et tota refulsit
Roma viro. frons laeta parum, non tristior aequo,
non deiecta malis, mixta sed nobilis ira: 376
qualis in Herculeo, quotiens infanda iubebat
Eurystheus, fuit ore dolor vel qualis in atram
sollicitus nubem maesto Iove cogitur aether.
“Tantane vos” inquit “Getici fiducia belli 380
erigit? hinc animo frustra tumuistis inani?
non ita Romanum fati violentia nomen
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cloak, he urged on his half-frozen steed. No soft bed received his
weary limbs. If the darkness forced him to halt in his advance he would
either enter some dreadful beast’s den or sleep in some shepherd’s hut,
his head pillowed upon his shield. The shepherd stands pale at the
sight of his stately guest, and ignorant of his name the rustic mother
points out to her squalid infant the glory of his face. It was those
hard couches beneath the rough pines, those nights amid the snow, all
that care and anxious toil, that won this peace for the world, this
tranquillity it had despaired of for the empire. From out those Alpine
huts, Rome, came thy salvation.
Now had the peoples broken their treaties and, encouraged by the news
of Latium’s trouble, had seized upon the glades of Vindelicia and
the fields of Noricum. Like slaves whom news of their master’s death
lures into luxury with an idle tale, if mid the debauch and while wild
licence riots with wine and dance some unexpected chance bring back
their lord, then they stand panic-stricken and, abhorring liberty,
servile terror shakes their guilty souls; so all the rebels were struck
with terror at the sight of the general and in one man the Emperor,
Latium and all Rome blazed before their eyes. Joy sat not upon his
countenance nor excess of gloom nor yet dejection by reason of Rome’s
reverses but nobility and indignation mixed, such as filled Hercules at
Eurystheus’ inhuman orders, or such as dims the face of heaven when at
Jove’s frown the troubled sky is gathered into a murky cloud.
“Put ye such faith,” he cried, “in Getic arms? Is it they that swell
your hearts with empty pride? Fate has not brought Rome’s name so low
that she
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opprimit, ut vestros nequeat punire tumultus
parte sui. ne vos longe sermone petito
demorer, exemplum veteris cognoscite facti: 385
cum ferus Ausonias perfringeret Hannibal arces
et Trebiam saevo geminassent funere Cannae,
nequiquam Emathium pepulit spes vana Philippum,
ut velut adflictos ferro temptaret inerti.
Romanos commovit atrox iniuria patres, 390
urgerent maiora licet, graviterque tulere,
urbibus inter se claris de culmine rerum
congressis, aliquid gentes audere minores.
nec poenam differre placet, sed bella gerenti
Punica Laevino regis quoque proelia mandant. 395
paruit imperiis consul, fususque Philippus,
vilia dum gravibus populis interserit arma,
praetereunte manu didicit non esse potentum
temptandas, mediis quamvis in luctibus, iras.”
Hoc monitu pariter nascentia bella repressit 400
et bello quaesivit opes legitque precantes
auxilio mensus numerum, qui congruus esset
nec gravis Italiae formidandusve regenti.
Nec minus accepto nostrae rumore cohortes
(sic ducis urget amor) properantibus undique signis
conveniunt, visoque animi Stilichone recepti 406
singultus varios lacrimosaque gaudia miscent:
sic armenta boum, vastis quae turbida silvis
sparsit hiems, cantus ac sibila nota magistri
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cannot punish your rebellion with but a handful of her forces. Not
to delay you with foreign tales, hear this example from your deeds
of old. When warlike Hannibal was spreading destruction throughout
the cities of Italy, and Cannae had doubled Trebia’s cruel losses, a
vain hope drove Philip of Macedon to turn his feeble sword against a
people which, as he thought, was in difficulties. The monstrous insult
roused the Roman Fathers, although more pressing dangers were crowding
upon them, and they took it ill that, while two great cities were
disputing the mastery of the world, a lesser race should be insolent.
They determine upon instant vengeance and command Laevinus, even while
he conducts the war with Carthage, to do battle also with the king of
Macedonia. The consul obeyed his orders, and Philip, intruding his
feeble arms between mighty nations, was routed by a passing band and
learned that it does not do to tempt the anger of powerful peoples even
when they are in distress.”
With this warning Stilicho alike checked the threatened war and won
new allies for war, enrolling them at their entreaty and setting such
number to their forces as should best suit--neither a burden to Italy
nor a terror to its lord.
Then, indeed, at the news of his return, the legions, such love they
bore their general, hastened together from every side, and at the sight
of Stilicho their courage revived and they broke out into sobbings and
tears of joy. So when a herd of cattle has been scattered throughout
some vast forest by the storm’s violence the beasts eagerly make for
the sound of the ox-herd’s well-known song or whistle and
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Page 156
certatim repetunt et avitae pascua vallis 410
inque vicem se voce regunt gaudentque fideles
reddere mugitus et, qua sonus attigit aurem,
rara per obscuras adparent cornua frondes.
adcurrit vicina manus, quam Raetia nuper
Vandalicis auctam spoliis defensa probavit; 415
venit et extremis legio praetenta Britannis,
quae Scotto dat frena truci ferroque notatas
perlegit exanimes Picto moriente figuras;
agmina quin etiam flavis obiecta Sygambris
quaeque domant Chattos inmansuetosque Cheruscos,
huc omnes vertere minas tutumque remotis 421
excubiis Rhenum solo terrore relinquunt.
ullane posteritas credet? Germania quondam
illa ferox populis, quae vix instantibus olim
principibus tota poterat cum mole teneri, 425
iam sese placidam praebet Stilichonis habenis,
ut nec praesidiis nudato limite temptet
expositum calcare solum nec transeat amnem,
incustoditam metuens attingere ripam.
Celsior o cunctis unique aequande Camillo! 430
vestris namque armis Alarici fracta quievit
ac Brenni rabies; confusis rebus uterque
divinam tribuistis opem, sed tardior ille
iam captae vindex patriae, tu sospitis ultor.
o quantum mutata tuo fortuna regressu! 435
ut sese pariter diffudit in omnia regni
membra vigor vivusque redit color urbibus aegris!
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the pasture of their native vale, guiding their steps in answer to
his voice and glad faithfully to reply with lowing, while, wherever
his tones fall upon their ear, horns show themselves here and there
through the dark foliage. First hasten up the neighbouring troops,
their loyalty attested by their defence of Raetia and their mass of
spoil from Vindelicia; next the legion that had been left to guard
Britain,[54] the legion that kept the fierce Scots in check, whose men
had scanned the strange devices tattooed on the faces of the dying
Picts. Even the legions that faced the flaxen-haired Sygambri, and
those who held the Chatti and wild Cherusci in subjection hither turned
their threatening arms, leaving the Rhine, whose garrison they had
formed, defended by but one thing--the fear of Rome. Will any posterity
credit the tale? Germany, once the home of peoples so proud and fierce
that former emperors could scarce keep them in check with the whole
weight of their armies, now offers herself so willing a follower of
Stilicho’s guiding hand that she neither attempts an invasion of the
territory exposed to her attack by the removal of its frontier troops
nor crosses the stream, too timid to approach an undefended bank.
Greater art thou, Stilicho, than all; thine only rival is Camillus,
whose arms broke the rash power of Brennus as thine have broken that of
Alaric. At a time of dire peril ye both gave the aid of gods; but he
too late avenged a captured Rome, thou one still safe. What a reversal
of fortune did thy return bring about! A new vigour returned to every
part of our empire alike, and the glow of health came back to our
suffering cities. A
[54] Legio II. Augusta. The legion referred to in l. 414 is probably
III. Italica.
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Page 158
creditur Herculeis lucem renovasse lacertis
femina dilecti fatis impensa mariti;
et iuvenem spretae laniatum fraude novercae 440
non sine Circaeis Latonia reddidit herbis.
Cretaque, si verax narratur fabula, vidit
Minoum rupto puerum prodire sepulchro,
quem senior vates avium clangore repertum
gramine restituit: mirae nam munere sortis 445
dulcia mella necem, vitam dedit horridus anguis.
at tuus adventus non unum corpus ab umbris,
sed tot communi populos sub morte iacentes
totaque Tartareis e faucibus oppida traxit.
Ipso Roma die (nec adhuc ostenditur auctor) 450
personuit venisse ducem, laetisque Quirites
vocibus auspicium certi plausere triumphi,
muniti Stilichone suo. quis gaudia vero
principis, amplexus alacris quis disserat aulae?
pulveris ambiguam nubem speculamur ab altis 455
turribus, incerti socios adportet an hostes
ille globus. mentem suspensa silentia librant,
donec pulvereo sub turbine sideris instar
emicuit Stilichonis apex et cognita fulsit
canities. gavisa repens per moenia clamor 460
tollitur “ipse venit.” portas secura per omnes
turba salutatis effunditur obvia signis.
non iam dilectus miseri nec falce per agros
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Page 159
woman, so the story goes, who died to save the life of a loved husband,
was recalled to the upper world by the might of Hercules. Diana with
the help of Circe’s magic herbs restored to life Hippolytus whom the
scorned passion of a stepmother had caused to be torn in pieces. Crete,
if the fable be true, saw Glaucus, son of Minos, issue living from the
tomb; his body was discovered by the cries of birds to Polyidus, the
aged seer, who restored him to life by means of simples; strange indeed
was the ruling of fate which apportioned sweet honey as the cause
of his death and a hideous serpent as the restorer of his life.[55]
But thy return, Stilicho, recalled not one body from the shades but
countless peoples sunk in a common death, and snatched whole towns from
the jaws of Hell.
That very day Rome rang with the report (though none ever knew its
author) that the hero had arrived, and the citizens, assured of
Stilicho’s protection, applauded this augury of certain victory. Who
could tell of the Emperor’s joy, who of the courtiers’ eager greetings?
From the lofty battlements we sight a distant cloud of dust and know
not whether its obscurity conceals friend or foe. Suspense keeps us all
in silence. Then suddenly from that dusty cloud emerged the helm of
Stilicho, glittering like a star, and we recognized his gleaming white
hair. Up rose the happy shout from the walls: “’Tis he.” Safe at last
the crowd surges out through the gates to meet and greet the army’s
return. Gone for ever are our wretched impressed levies; no longer
[55] Glaucus, son of Minos, fell into a vat of honey and was
drowned. Polyidus, the seer, led by an oracle, discovered the body,
and was, at Minos’ command, immured with it in a tomb until he
should find a means of restoring it to life. Two snakes approached
the corpse, one of which Polyidus slew. Observing the other bring
its dead companion to life by placing a certain herb in its mouth,
Polyidus applied the same method with success to the resuscitation
of Glaucus (Hyginus, _Fab._ 136. Both Sophocles and Euripides wrote
tragedies on the subject; see Soph. _Frag._ ed. Pearson, vol. ii.
pp. 56 _sqq._).
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Page 160
deposita iaculum vibrans ignobile messor
nec temptat[56] clipeum proiectis sumere rastris 465
Bellona ridente Ceres humilisque novorum
seditio clamosa ducum: sed vera iuventus,
verus ductor adest et vivida Martis imago.
Prospera sed quantum nostrae spes addita menti,
tantum exempta Getis, qui vertice proximus astris
post Alpes iam cuncta sibi promisit apertas 471
nil superesse ratus, postquam tot lumina pubis,
tot subitos pedites, equitum tot conspicit alas
cinctaque fluminibus crebris ac moenibus arva
seque velut clausum laqueis, sub pectore furtim 475
aestuat et nimium prono fervore petitae
iam piget Italiae, sperataque Roma teneri
visa procul. magni subeunt iam taedia coepti.
occultat tamen ore metum primosque suorum
consultare iubet bellis annisque verendos. 480
crinigeri sedere patres, pellita Getarum
curia, quos plagis decorat numerosa cicatrix
et tremulos regit hasta gradus et nititur altis
pro baculo contis non exarmata senectus.
hic aliquis gravior natu, cui plurima dictis 485
consiliisque fides, defixus lumina terrae
concutiensque comam capuloque adclinis eburno:
“Si numero non fallor” ait “tricesima currit
bruma fere, rapidum postquam transnavimus Histrum,
Romanamque manum tantis eludimus annis. 490
sed numquam Mavors adeo constrinxit in artum
[56] _temptat_ codd.; Birt _temptans_.
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Page 161
does the reaper, laying aside his sickle, try to hurl the impotent
javelin, nor Ceres lay aside her harrow and, to the amusement of
Bellona, essay the buckler. Stilled are the noisy wrangles of untried
leaders; here is Rome’s true strength, her true leader, Mars in human
form.
The more happy hopes grew in our hearts the more they deserted the
Getae, who, touching the stars with their heads, after crossing the
Alps accounted all their own and deemed nothing left to do. But when
they saw all our glorious youth, all the quickly levied infantry, all
the squadrons of horse, a countryside protected by so many rivers and
fortresses, and themselves caught in a snare, a trouble they dared not
voice seized their hearts and a regret that they had invaded Italy with
too forward eagerness; and Rome they hoped within their grasp seemed
far away. Weariness of their mighty undertaking steals over them. Yet
Alaric’s face conceals his fear; he bids to the council of war those
whose age or prowess had gained them the dignity of leadership. There
sat the senate of long-haired, skin-clad Getic leaders. Many a scar
received in battle adorned their faces, spears guide their tottering
steps and, instead of a staff, old age, refusing to disarm, supports
itself on their tall shafts. Then arose one older than the rest,
trusted for his counsel and advice, who, fixing his gaze upon the
ground, shaking his hoary locks and leaning on his ivory hilt, thus
spake: “If I miscount not the years this is well-nigh the thirtieth
winter since we swam across the swift Ister. All that time we have
escaped defeat at the hands of Rome. Yet never, Alaric, has Mars
brought your fortunes to such
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Page 162
res, Alarice, tuas. per tot certamina docto
crede seni, qui te tenero vice patris ab aevo
gestatum parva solitus donare pharetra
atque aptare breves umeris puerilibus arcus: 495
saepe quidem frustra monui, servator ut icti
foederis Emathia tutus tellure maneres;
sed quoniam calidae rapuit te flamma iuventae,
nunc saltem, si cura tibi manet ulla tuorum,
his claustris evade, precor, dumque agmina longe,
dum licet, Hesperiis praeceps elabere terris, 501
ne nova praedari cupiens et parta reponas
pastorique lupus scelerum delicta priorum
intra saepta luas. quid palmitis uber Etrusci,
quid mihi nescioquam proprio cum Thybride Romam
semper in ore geris? referunt si vera parentes, 506
hanc urbem insano nullus qui Marte petivit
laetatus violasse redit; nec numina sedem
destituunt: iactata procul dicuntur in hostem
fulmina divinique volant pro moenibus ignes, 510
seu caelum seu Roma tonat. si temnis Olympum,
a magno Stilichone cave, qui semper iniquos
Fortuna famulante premit. scis ipse, per oras
Arcadiae quam densa rogis cumulaverit ossa,
sanguine quam largo Graios calefecerit amnes; 515
extinctusque fores, ni te sub nomine legum
proditio regnique favor texisset Eoi.”
Talia grandaevum flammata fronte loquentem
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Page 163
straits. Take the advice of an old man who has been through countless
fights, one who like a father was wont to give thee in thine earliest
youth little quivers to sling across thy back and to fit short bows
to thy young shoulders. Often did I urge in vain that thou should’st
observe the treaty and remain safe at home in Emathia. But if the fire
of hot youth hurried thee into war, now at least, I beg thee, make
good thine escape from out this net if thou hast any love left for
thy people. The enemy’s forces are far away; thou hast the chance;
flee headlong from Italy’s lands lest, in thy desire for fresh spoils,
thou lose even what thou hast got and like a wolf pay the penalty
of former depredations to the shepherd by being killed within the
sheepfold. Why dost thou have ever on thy lips the richness of Tuscan
vineyards and some Rome or other with its Tiber? If our parents speak
sooth, never has any who has assailed that city in mad war returned
to boast that he has done her violence. The gods desert not their own
home; thunderbolts, they tell, are hurled from afar upon her foes
and unearthly fires flash before her walls, whether ’tis heaven or
Rome that thunders. If thou fearest not the gods beware the might of
Stilicho; fortune is ever on his side against assaulting enemies. Thou
thyself knowest how high with bones he piled our funeral pyres in
Arcadia, and with what vast outpourings of our blood he made the rivers
of Greece run warm; and thou hadst been killed had not treason in the
guise of law and the goodwill of the Emperor of the East protected
thee.”
While the elder spake thus Alaric, eyeing him
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Page 164
obliquisque tuens oculis non pertulit ultra,
sed rupit rabidas accensa superbia voces: 520
“Si non mentis inops fraudataque sensibus aetas
praeberet veniam, numquam haec opprobria linguae
turpia Danuvius me sospite ferret inultus.
anne, tot Augustos Hebro qui teste fugavi,
te patiar suadente fugam, cum cesserit omnis 525
obsequiis natura meis? subsidere nostris
sub pedibus montes, arescere vidimus amnes.
non ita di Getici faxint manesque parentum,
ut mea converso relegam vestigia cursu.
hanc ego vel victor regno vel morte tenebo 530
victus humum. per tot populos urbesque cucurri,
fregi Alpes galeisque Padum victricibus hausi:
quid restat nisi Roma mihi? gens robore nostra
tum quoque pollebat, nullis cum fideret armis.
at nunc Illyrici postquam mihi tradita iura 535
meque suum fecere ducem, tot tela, tot enses,
tot galeas multo Thracum sudore paravi
inque meos usus vectigal vertere ferri
oppida legitimo iussu Romana coëgi.
sic me fata fovent; ipsi, quos omnibus annis 540
vastabam, servire dati: nocitura gementes
arma dabant flammisque diu mollitus et arte
in sua damna chalybs fabro lugente rubebat.
hortantes his adde deos. non somnia nobis
nec volucres, sed clara palam vox edita luco: 545
‘rumpe omnes, Alarice, moras; hoc impiger anno
Alpibus Italiae ruptis penetrabis ad urbem.’
* * * * *
Page 165
askance with fiery brow, brooked his words no longer, but his enkindled
pride broke forth in furious speech: “Did not witless age that has
deprived thee of thy senses grant thee indulgence never, on my life,
should Danube listen unavenged to such coward insults. Am I who have
routed so many emperors (Hebrus’ river is my witness) to endure flight
at thine advice--I whom all nature obeys? Have I not seen the mountains
levelled at my feet, the rivers dried up? Never may my country’s gods,
the spirits of my forefathers, allow that I retrace my footsteps on
a backward path. This land shall be mine whether I hold it in fee as
conqueror or in death as conquered. I have overrun so many peoples
and cities, I have burst through the Alps and drunk of the waters of
Eridanus from out a victor’s helmet. What is left me but Rome? My
nation was strong even when it has no allied arms to help it. But
now that I hold sway over Illyria, now that its people has made me
their leader, I have forced the Thracians to forge me spears, swords,
helmets with the sweat of their brows, and Roman towns (whose rightful
overlord I now am) to contribute iron for mine own uses. Thus is fate
on my side. Rome, whose territories I have laid waste year by year,
has become my slave. ’Tis she has supplied me with arms; her own metal
has glowed in the furnace, artfully molten and fashioned for her own
undoing by reluctant smiths. The gods, too, urge me on. Not for me are
dreams or birds but the clear cry uttered openly from the sacred grove:
‘Away with delay, Alaric; boldly cross the Italian Alps this year and
thou shalt reach the city.’ Thus far the
* * * * *
Page 166
huc iter usque datur. quis iam post talia segnis
ambigat aut caelo dubitet parere vocanti?”
Sic ait hortatusque suos belloque viaeque 550
instruit. attollunt vanos oracula fastus.
o semper tacita sortes ambage malignae
eventuque patens et nescia vatibus ipsis
veri sera fides! Ligurum regione suprema
pervenit ad fluvium miri cognominis “Urbem,” 555
atque illic domitus vix tandem interprete casu
agnovit dubiis inlusa vocabula fatis.
Nec non et Stilicho pugnam poscentia movit
pleno castra gradu dictisque instigat euntes:
“nunc nunc, o socii, temeratae sumite tandem 560
Italiae poenas, obsessi principis armis
excusate nefas deploratumque Timavo
vulnus et Alpinum gladiis abolete pudorem.
hic est, quem totiens campis fudistis Achivis,
quem discors odiisque anceps civilibus orbis, 565
non sua vis tutata diu, dum foedera fallax
ludit et alternae periuria venditat aulae.
credite nunc omnes, quas dira Britannia gentes,
quas Hister, quas Rhenus alit, pendere paratas
in speculis: uno tot proelia vincite bello. 570
Romanum reparate decus molemque labantis
imperii fulcite umeris; hic omnia campus
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Page 167
path is mine. Who so cowardly as to dally after this encouragement or
to hesitate to obey the call of Heaven?”
So he spake and made ready his army to take the road, exhorting them to
combat. Prophecy serves to augment his vain pride. Ah! for the grudging
oracles ever dumb with mystic utterance; ’tis the event alone that (too
late) discloses the true meaning which the seers themselves could not
read. Alaric reached the farthest confines of Liguria where flows a
river with the strange name of the City.[57] There he suffered defeat
and even then scarcely realized (though that defeat made it clear) that
fate had tricked him with an ambiguous word.
Stilicho, too, fails not: at full speed he advanced his army clamorous
for battle and spurs their march with these words: “Friends of Rome,
the time has now come for you to exact vengeance for outraged Italy.
Wipe out the disgrace which the investment of your emperor by his
foes has brought upon you, and let your swords end the shame which
the defeat on the Timavus[58] and the enemy’s passage of the Alps has
caused to Rome. This is the foe whom ye so often put to flight on the
plains of Greece, whom not their own valour but a world torn by civil
strife has kept safe thus far, as they treacherously mock at treaties
and traffic in perjury now with the West, now the East. Reflect that all
the fierce peoples of Britain and the tribes who dwell on Danube’s and
Rhine’s banks are watching and stand ready. Win a victory now and so be
conquerors in many an unfought war. Restore Rome to her former glory;
the frame of empire is tottering; let your shoulders support it. A
[57] The river on whose banks Pollentia stood. Sozomenes (ix. 6)
mentions the oracle.
[58] Little is known of this battle. It is to be attributed
presumably to (?) November 401 and is doubtless connected with
Alaric’s attempt on Aquileia (Jerome, _Contra Ruf._ iii. 21).
* * * * *
Page 168
vindicat, haec mundo pacem victoria sancit.
non in Threiciis Haemi decernimus oris
nec super Alpheas umbrantia Maenala ripas 575
constitimus; non hic Tegean Argosque tuemur:
visceribus mediis ipsoque in corde videtis
bella geri. patrem clipeis defendite Thybrim.”
talia nunc pediti, turmae nunc mixtus equestri
dicta dabat.
Simul externis praecepta ferebat 580
auxiliis. ibat patiens dicionis Alanus,
qua nostrae iussere tubae, mortemque petendam
pro Latio docuit gentis praefectus Alanae,
cui natura breves animis ingentibus artus
finxerat inmanique oculos infecerat ira; 585
vulneribus pars nulla vacat rescissaque contis
gloria foedati splendet iactantior oris.
ille tamen mandante procul Stilichone citatis
acceleravit equis Italamque momordit harenam.
felix Elysiisque plagis et carmine dignus, 590
qui male suspectam nobis impensius arsit
vel leto purgare fidem; qui iudice ferro
diluit inmeritum laudato sanguine crimen!
morte viri turbatus eques flectebat habenas
totaque praeciso nutassent agmina cornu, 595
ni celer instructa Stilicho legione secutus
subsidiis peditum pugnam instaurasset equestrem.
Quis Musis ipsoque licet Paeane recepto
enarrare queat, quantum Gradivus in illa
luce suae dederit fundator originis urbi? 600
altius haud umquam toto descendimus ense
in iugulum Scythiae, tanta nec clade superbum
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Page 169
single battle and all will be well; but one victory and the world’s
peace will be assured. We fight not on the slopes of Thracian Haemus
nor await our foe where Maenalus throws his shadow across the banks of
Alpheus. We defend not Tegea nor Argos. No: as ye see, the scene of war
is the very centre and heart of Italy. Protect Father Tiber with your
shields.” Thus spake Stilicho to foot and horse.
Orders were at the same time sent to the auxiliary troops. The Alans,
now subject to Roman rule, followed our trumpets’ call, taught by
their chief to lay down their lives in the cause of Italy. Small was
his stature but great his soul and fierce anger blazed from his eyes.
Covered with wounds was he and with a visage rendered the more glorious
and the more proud by reason of the scar some spear-thrust had left. At
Stilicho’s command he hastened up with his cavalry, fated to bite the
soil of Italy in death. Happy warrior, worthy of the Elysian fields and
of my meed of song, who wast eager even at the cost of life to cleanse
thy loyalty from stain! The sword that spilled thy generous blood, it
was thy judge, acquitting thee of that most unjust charge of treachery.
Thrown into confusion by the hero’s death his horsemen turned rein
and, its flank thus exposed, the whole host would have reeled had not
Stilicho quickly gathered a legion and hastening to the spot rallied
the cavalry to the fight with infantry support.
What poet, were he inspired by the Muses or even by Apollo himself,
could relate the blessings showered that day by Mars upon the city
whose founder he himself was? Never was the sword of Rome plunged so
deep in the Scythians’ throat;
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Page 170
contudimus Tanain vel cornua fregimus Histri.
invisum miles sitiens haurire cruorem
per varias vestes onerataque plaustra metallo 605
transit et argenti cumulos et caedis avarus
contemptas proculcat opes; pretiosior auro
sanguis erat; passim neglecti prodiga lucri
turba furens strictis odium mucronibus explet.
purpureos cultus absumptique igne Valentis 610
exuvias miserisque graves crateras ab Argis
raptaque flagranti spirantia signa Corintho
callidus ante pedes venientibus obicit hostis
incassum; neque enim feralis praeda moratur,
sed iustos praebent stimulos monumenta doloris. 615
Adseritur ferro captivum vulgus, et omnes
diversae vocis populi, quos traxerat hostis
servitio, tandem dominorum strage redempti
blanda cruentatis adfigunt oscula dextris
desertosque lares et pignora laeta revisunt. 620
miratur sua quemque domus cladesque renarrant
ordine; tum grati referunt miracula belli.
Quis tibi tunc, Alarice, dolor, cum Marte perirent
divitiae spoliisque diu quaesita supellex
pulsaretque tuas ululatus coniugis aures, 625
coniugis, invicto dudum quae freta marito
demens Ausonidum gemmata monilia matrum
Romanasque alta famulas cervice petebat!
* * * * *
Page 171
never was Tanais’ pride abased by such a crushing defeat nor the horns
of Ister so broken. Thirsting to drink the enemy’s hateful blood our
soldiers passed by rich and varied raiment, carts laden with gold,
heaps of silver, and, eager for the foe’s destruction, spurned his
wealth. They held blood of more account than gold; none of them would
stoop to pick up the fortune that lay at their feet but drew their
swords and sated their wild fury. The crafty foe threw in the path
of our advancing troops the robes of scarlet dye, and other spoils
reft from Valens[59] who perished in the flames, heavy mixing-bowls
looted from unhappy Argos and lifelike statues rescued from burning
Corinth--all in vain, for this ill-omened booty, so far from delaying
our men, reminded them of past reverses and so the more inflamed their
righteous indignation.
The crowd of prisoners is loosed from its fetters and all the peoples
of different tongue whom the Getae had led away captive. Freed at last
by the slaughter of their captors they plant thankful kisses on the
bloody hands of their deliverers and hasten back to their long-lost
homes and their dear children. At each his household looks in wonder
as they tell the story of their woes and then recount the marvel of
welcome victory.
What must then have been thy despair, Alaric, when ruin overwhelmed thy
wealth and all that gear that years of robbing had won thee, when there
struck thine ear the cries of that wife of thine who, too confident
in her long unconquered husband, demanded in her madness the jewelled
necklaces of Italian matrons for her proud neck and Roman girls for her
tire-women! The fair girls
[59] At Adrianople, Aug. 9, 378; see Introduction, p. vii.
* * * * *
Page 172
scilicet Argolicas Ephyreiadasque puellas
coeperat et pulchras iam fastidire Lacaenas. 630
sed dea quae nimiis obstat Rhamnusia votis
ingemuit flexitque rotam: domat aspera victos
pauperies, unoque die Romana rependit
quidquid ter denis acies amisimus annis.
O celebranda mihi cunctis Pollentia saeclis! 635
o meritum nomen! felicibus apta triumphis!
virtutis fatale solum, memorabile bustum
barbariae! nam saepe locis ac finibus illis
plena lacessito rediit vindicta Quirino.
illic Oceani stagnis excita supremis 640
Cimbrica tempestas alias emissa per Alpes
isdem procubuit campis. iam protinus aetas
adveniens geminae gentis permisceat ossa
et duplices signet titulos commune tropaeum:
“hic Cimbros fortesque Getas, Stilichone peremptos
et Mario claris ducibus, tegit Itala tellus. 646
discite vesanae Romam non temnere gentes.”
* * * * *
Page 173
of Greece from Corinth and Sparta were, forsooth, not good enough now
for so great a lady. But Nemesis, the goddess worshipped at Rhamnus,
she whose pleasure it is to check unbridled desire, was wroth and
turned her wheel; harsh poverty overwhelms the vanquished, and in one
day Rome’s arm requites all that we have lost in thirty years.
Thy glory, Pollentia, shall live for ever; worthy is thy name to be
celebrated by my song, a fit theme for rejoicing and for triumph. Fate
pre-ordained thee to be the scene of our victory and the burial-place
of the barbarians. Full often have thy fields and plains seen ample
vengeance exacted for aggression against the descendants of Romulus.
’Twas there, in that same countryside, that the Cimbric hordes, bearing
down upon Rome from Ocean’s farthest shore and crossing the Alps by
another pass, suffered their final defeat. The coming generation
should mingle the bones of these two races and engrave with this one
inscription the monument which records our double victory: “Here
beneath the soil of Italy lie the bodies of brave Cimbri and Getae:
their death they owed to our famous generals Marius and Stilicho.
Learn, presumptuous peoples, not to despise Rome.”
* * * * *
Page 174
CARMINUM MINORUM CORPUSCULUM
I. (XIII.)
_Ad Stilichonem._
Solitas galea fulgere comas,
Stilicho, molli necte corona.
cessent litui saevumque procul
Martem felix taeda releget.
tractus ab aula rursus in aulam 5
redeat sanguis. patris officiis
iunge potenti pignora dextra.
gener Augusti pridem fueras,
nunc rursus eris socer Augusti.
quae iam rabies livoris erit? 10
vel quis dabitur color invidiae?
Stilicho socer est, pater est Stilicho.
II. (LXXXV.)
_Descriptio portus Smyrnensis._
Urbs in conspectu montana cacumina velat
tranquillo praetenta mari. ducentia portum
cornua pacatas removent Aquilonibus undas.
hic exarmatum terris cingentibus aequor
clauditur et placidam discit servare quietem. 5
* * * * *
Page 175
SHORTER POEMS
I. (XIII.)
_To Stilicho._
Crown with a wreath of flowers, Stilicho, that head more often graced
with the shining helmet. Bid cease the trumpets and let the happy
marriage-torch banish fierce war afar. Let the blood derived from
a kingly race flow on through royal veins. Do a father’s duty and
establish the firm bond of wedlock between thy daughter and adoptive
son. Thou wert an emperor’s son-in-law; now an emperor will be thine.
What cause is there now for envy, what excuse for jealousy? Stilicho is
at once father and father-in-law.
II. (LXXXV.)
_Description of the harbour at Smyrna._
The city that meets our gaze veils the mountain peaks, fronting a
tranquil sea. The two headlands that enclose the harbour protect the
quiet water from the north wind. Here the sea is disarmed by the
encircling land and learns to lie in undisturbed tranquillity.
* * * * *
Page 176
III. (LXXXI.)
_Ad Aeternalem._
Quidquid Castalio de gurgite Phoebus anhelat,
quidquid fatidico mugit cortina recessu,
carmina sunt; sed verba negant communia Musae.
carmina sola loquor: sic me meus implet Apollo.
IV. (LIV.)
_Descriptio armenti._
Non tales quondam species tulit armentorum
tellus tergemino subdita Geryoni.
non tales, Clitumne, lavas in gurgite tauros,
Tarpeio referunt quos pia vota Iovi.
non talis Tyrias sparsisse iuvencus harenas 5
dicitur, optatum quando revexit onus.
non Cretaeus ager nec amati conscia tauri
Gnosos nec similes paverit Ida feros.
ipse et dispariles monstro commissus in artus
qui crimen matris prodidit[60] ore novo 10
Cres puer haud talem potuisset reddere formam,
portassent totum si fera membra patrem.
[60] _prodidit_ cod. Med. (and Cuiacius). Birt _condidit_.
* * * * *
Page 177
III. (LXXXI.)
_To Aeternalis._[61]
Phoebus’ every breath from the Castalian spring, the tripod’s every
moan within the shrine of prophecy--all these are poetry. Of prose the
Muses will have none. In poetry only can I express myself, so wholly
does my patron, Apollo, possess me.
IV. (LIV.)
_Description of a Herd._
Not such were the beauteous herds that the land once ruled over by
triple Geryon produced. Not such the bulls thou bathest, Clitumnus,
in thy stream for pious vows to offer duly to Tarpeian Jove. Not such
the steer that, they say, scattered the sand of Tyre[62] what time
he brought home his well-loved burden. Not the fields of Crete, nor
Gnossos that knew of passion for a bull, nor Ida could have pastured
the like. Even he whose monstrous figure united ill-assorted limbs,
the Cretan child[63] who by his strange form revealed his mother’s
shame--even he could scarce have shown a shape so fair had _all_ his
rough limbs resembled those of his sire.
[61] Aeternalis was proconsul of Asia in 396 (_Cod. Theod._ iv. 4.
3, xi. 39. 12).
[62] _Tyrias_, because Europa was the daughter of Phoenix,
eponymous king of Phoenicia. Ovid depicts her as being carried away
from Tyre (_Fasti_ v. 605; _Met._ ii. 845).
[63] _i.e._ the Minotaur.
* * * * *
Page 178
V. (LXXXVI.)
_Est in conspectu longe locus._
Est procul ingenti regio summota recessu,
insula qua resides fluctus mitescere cogit
in longum producta latus, fractasque per undas
ardua tranquillo curvantur brachia portu.
VI. (LXXVIII.)
_Rimanti telum ira facit._
In iaculum, quodcumque gerit, dementia mutat.
omnibus armatur rabies. pro cuspide ferri
cuncta volant, dum dextra ferox in vulnera saevit.
pro telo geritur quidquid suggesserit ira.
VII. (LXXXVII.)
_De quadriga marmorea._
1.
Quis dedit innumeros uno de marmore vultus?
surgit in aurigam currus, paribusque lupatis
unanimi frenantur equi: quos forma diremit,
materies cognata tenet discrimine nullo.
2.
Vir redit in currum; ducuntur ab axe iugales;
ex alio se quisque facit. quae tanta potestas?
una silex tot membra ligat ductusque per artem
mons patiens ferri varios mutatur in artus.
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Page 179
V. (LXXXVI.)
_A distant Scene._
There is a place deep buried in a huge bay where an island, stretching
far out into the sea, stills the rough waves to quiet, and steep
cliffs, jutting out into the broken water, curve themselves into a
peaceful harbourage.
VI. (LXXVIII.)[64]
_Anger affords a weapon to him who seeks one._
Whate’er it carries, that rage converts into a weapon. Wrath supplies
all with arms. When an angry man thirsts for blood anything will serve
him for a spear. Fury turns a stick into a cudgel.
VII. (LXXXVII.)
_Statue of a Chariot._
1. Who had the skill to fashion so many figures out of one block
of marble? The chariot melts into the charioteer; the horses with
one common accord obey the same reins. These are distinguishable by
their various forms but made from one and the same material without
distinction.
2. The driver is of one piece with the car: to this are attached the
steeds, each joined to, and proceeding out of, another. How admirable
the artist’s skill! A single block combines within itself all these
bodies: one mass of marble by submitting to the chisel has grown into
all these various shapes.
[64] See Introduction, p. xviii, note 2.
* * * * *
Page 180
VIII. (LXIX.)
_De Polycaste et Perdicca._
Quid non saevus Amor flammarum numine cogat?
sanguinis en fetum mater amare timet.
pectore dum niveo miserum tenet anxia nutrix,
inlicitos ignes iam fovet ipsa parens.
ultrices pharetras tandem depone, Cupido. 5
consule iam Venerem: forsan et ipsa dolet.
IX. (XLV.)
_De hystrice._
Audieram memorande tuas Stymphale volucres
spicula vulnifico quondam sparsisse volatu,
nec mihi credibilis ferratae fabula pinnae
visa diu. datur ecce fides et cognitus hystrix
Herculeas adfirmat aves.
Os longius illi 5
adsimulat porcum. mentitae cornua saetae
summa fronte rigent. oculis rubet igneus ardor.
parva sub hirsuto catuli vestigia dorso.
hanc tamen exiguam miro natura tueri
praesidio dignata feram: stat corpore toto 10
silva minax, iaculisque rigens in proelia crescit
picturata seges; quorum cute fixa tenaci
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Page 181
VIII. (LXIX.)
_Of Polycaste and Perdiccas._[65]
To what deeds of cruelty will the flames of love not inspire mankind?
Here is a mother who dares not love her child, the fruit of her body.
Holding the unhappy boy to her snowy breast and wishing to give him
suck, she conceives for him, though she is his mother, a shameful
passion. Cupid, thou goest too far; put down thy cruel quiver. Consult
Venus; mayhap she feels like pangs.
IX. (XLV.)
_The Porcupine._
I had heard the strange tale, Stymphalus, that the birds that haunted
thy marshes let fall from them arrows of death in their flight, and for
long I could not bring myself to believe this story of iron feathers.
But here is proof: the porcupine who is surely related to those birds
of Hercules is their warrant.
His long snout is like that of a swine. Stiff bristles like horns
stand up from his forehead. Red and fierce are his fiery eyes. Under
his bristly back are short legs like those of a small dog. Small as
this animal is, nevertheless Nature has seen fit to dower him with
a wonderful means of defence. All over the body grows a threatening
thicket: a harvest of brightly coloured spears bristles up ready
[65] Perdiccas, the young hunter, is said to have fallen in love
with his mother Polycaste (or Polycarpe)=the Earth (see _Mythogr.
Lat._ ii. 130). Claudian inverts the story. For details see Höfer
in Roscher’s lexicon, art. “Perdix,” col. 1953.
* * * * *
Page 182
alba subit radix, alternantesque colorum
tincta vices, spatiis internigrantibus, exit
in solidae speciem pinnae, tenuataque furtim 15
levis in extremum sese producit acumen.
Sed non haec acies ritu silvestris echini
fixa manet. crebris propugnat iactibus ultro
et longe sua membra tegit, tortumque per auras
evolat excusso nativum missile tergo. 20
interdum fugiens Parthorum more sequentem
vulnerat; interdum positis velut ordine castris
terrificum densa mucronum verberat unda
et consanguineis hastilibus asperat armos:
militat omne ferae corpus vibrataque rauco 25
terga fragore sonant. stimulis accensa tubarum
agmina conlatis credas confligere signis:
tantus in angusto strepitus furit. additur armis
calliditas parcusque sui tumor iraque numquam
prodiga telorum, caute contenta minari 30
nec nisi servandae iactus impendere vitae.
error abest: certum sollertia destinat ictum
nil spatio fallente modum, servatque tenorem
mota cutis doctique regit conamina nisus.
Quid labor humanus tantum ratione sagaci 35
proficit? eripiunt trucibus Gortynia capris
cornua; subiectis eadem lentescere cogunt
ignibus; intendunt taurino viscere nervos;
instruitur pinnis ferroque armatur harundo.
ecce brevis propriis munitur bestia telis 40
* * * * *
Page 183
for battle. The roots of these weapons are white and are firmly fixed
in the animal’s skin. The quills are themselves parti-coloured with
black bands and come to a stiff quill-like point, diminishing in
diameter towards the tip which is smooth and sharp.
But his armoury is not fixed like that of the woodland hedgehog. He
can take the offensive and also protect himself at a distance by the
frequent discharge of these darts of his, hurling through the air the
flying missiles which his own back supplies. At times like the flying
Parthian he wounds his pursuers; at times he entrenches himself and
strikes his foe by the discharge of a storm of these terrible weapons
which bristle on his shoulders out of which they grow. He fights with
his whole body, and his back, as it moves, emits a raucous sound. You
would think it was the trumpet’s note stirring an army to close with
the foe and fight. Small is the animal but great the din. Besides his
arms he displays cunning and a cold, calculated fury that never wastes
its weapons but cautiously contents itself with threats, for he never
expends a dart but in defence of his life. His aim is sure; the blow,
such is his skill, unerring, nor can distance delude his range. The
motion of his skin in the act of discharging ensures the speed, and
accurately directs the flight, of the weapon.
Has human endeavour, with reason to guide it, ever done the like?
Men rob of their horns the wild goats of Crete, then they force them
to become pliant over the fire[66]; they use the guts of cattle to
string their bows; they tip their arrows with iron and wing them with
feathers. But here is a small animal whose arms are contained in his
own body
[66] In the making of bows.
* * * * *
Page 184
externam nec quaerit opem; fert omnia secum:
se pharetra, sese iaculo, sese utitur arcu.
unum animal cunctas bellorum possidet artes.
Quodsi omnis nostrae paulatim industria vitae
fluxit ab exemplis, quidquid procul appetit hostem,
hinc reor inventum, morem hinc traxisse Cydonas 46
bellandi Parthosque retro didicisse ferire
prima sagittiferae pecudis documenta secutos.
X. (XCII.)
_De birro castoreo._
Nominis umbra manet veteris; nam dicere birrum,
si Castor iuret, castoreum nequeo.
sex emptus solidis! quid sit, iam scire potestis:
si mihi nulla fides, credite vel pretio.
XI. (XCI.)
_In sepulchrum speciosae._
Pulchris stare diu Parcarum lege negatur.
magna repente ruunt; summa cadunt subito.
hic formosa iacet: Veneris sortita figuram
egregiumque decus invidiam meruit.
XII. (LXXXIV.)
_De balneis Quintianis quae in via posita erant._
Fontibus in liquidis paulum requiesce, viator,
atque tuum rursus carpe refectus iter.
* * * * *
Page 185
and who needs no external defence. He carries all his own arms; himself
his own quiver, arrow, and bow. Alone he possesses all the resources of
war.
But if all human activities as they grow have had their source in
imitation we may see here the exemplar of combat by means of missiles.
It is from him that the Cretans learned to shoot and the Parthians to
strike while in flight. These did but follow the example of the animal
that is armed with arrows.
X. (XCII.)
_Of Beaver’s Overcoat._[67]
’Tis but the shadow of a name that is left. I cannot call it a coat of
beaver, not though Beaver swear it is one. It cost six shillings. Now
you know what it is like. If you don’t believe me, believe the price.
XI. (XCI.)
_On the Tomb of a Beauty._
Fate allows not beauty a long life: sudden is the end of all that is
noble and pre-eminent. Here lies a lovely woman: hers was the beauty of
Venus and hers the illwill of Heaven for a gift so rare.
XII. (LXXXIV.)
_Quintius’ Baths._
Stay awhile and bathe in these waters, traveller; then set forth again
upon thy journey refreshed.
[67] Claudian is, I think, punning on _castor_=a beaver, and
Castor, the name of the owner of the coat. But _castor_ in l. 2
might be taken to refer either to the god or to the animal.
* * * * *
Page 186
lympharum dominum nimium miraberis, hospes,
inter dura viae balnea qui posuit.
XIII. (LXXIX.)
_In podagrum qui carmina sua non stare dicebat._
Quae tibi cum pedibus ratio? quid carmina culpas?
scandere qui nescis, versiculos laceras?
“claudicat hic versus; haec” inquit “syllaba nutat”;
atque nihil prorsus stare putat podager
XIV. (LXXXII.)
_Ad Maximum qui ei mel misit._
Dulcia dona mihi semper tu, Maxime, mittis,
et, quidquid mittis, mella putare decet.
XV. (LXXXIX.)
_De paupere amante_
Paupertas me saeva domat dirusque Cupido:
sed toleranda fames, non tolerandus amor.
XVI. (XC.)
_De eodem._
Esuriens pauper telis incendor amoris.
inter utrumque malum deligo pauperiem.
* * * * *
Page 187
An thou become its guest, warm will be thy gratitude towards him that
built this bath and set it by the side of this long dusty road.
XIII. (LXXIX.)
_To a gouty Critic._
Canst thou talk of feet? Dost blame my verses and criticize my lines,
thou whose own feet are so weak? This couplet, you say, will scarcely
stand: the scansion is shaky. Dear friend, a gouty man thinks nothing
at all can stand.
XIV. (LXXXII.)
_To thank Maximus for a Gift of Honey._
Thou dost ever send me sweet gifts, Maximus; ’tis honey whatsoever thou
sendest, methinks.
XV. (LXXXIX.)
_The Poor Lover._
Biting poverty and cruel Cupid are my foes. Hunger I can endure; love I
cannot.
XVI. (XC.)
_The Same._
A hungry pauper am I, a victim fallen to love. Two ills; but poverty is
the lesser.
* * * * *
Page 188
XVII. (L.)
_De piis fratribus et de statuis eorum quae sunt apud Catinam._
Adspice sudantes venerando pondere fratres,
divino meritos semper honore coli,
iusta quibus rapidae cessit reverentia flammae
et mirata vagas reppulit Aetna faces.
complexi manibus fultos cervice parentes 5
attollunt vultus accelerantque gradus.
grandaevi gemina sublimes prole feruntur
et cara natos implicuere mora.
nonne vides, ut saeva senex incendia monstret?
ut trepido genetrix invocet ore deos? 10
erexit formido comam, perque omne metallum
fusus in attonito palluit aere tremor.
in iuvenum membris animosus cernitur horror
atque oneri metuens impavidusque sui.
reiectae vento chlamydes. dextram exerit ille 15
contentus laeva sustinuisse patrem;
ast illi duplices in nodum colligit ulnas
cautior in sexu debiliore labor.
hoc quoque praeteriens oculis ne forte relinquas,
artificis tacitae quod meruere manus: 20
nam consanguineos eadem cum forma figuret,
hic propior matri fit tamen, ille patri.
* * * * *
Page 189
XVII. (L.)
_On the Statues of Two Brothers at Catina._[68]
See these two brothers toiling beneath a burden piety bade them bear.
They deserve the tribute of divine honours at the hands of all men: at
the sight of them the respectful flames ceased their ravages and Etna
in admiration restrained his flooding lava. Seizing their parents they
set them upon their shoulders and, with eyes raised to heaven, hasten
their steps. The aged parents, thus carried aloft by their two sons,
impede their flight, but dear to the children is that very delay. See,
the old man points to the cruel flames; the aged mother’s trembling
lips call upon the gods for help. Fear has set their hair on end, the
bronze is terror-stricken and a pale shiver runs over all the metal. In
the countenances of the sons is seen courage in face of danger, and, if
fear, then fear for their burdens, none for themselves. The wind has
blown back their cloaks. One raises his right hand; his left is enough
to sustain his aged sire. But the other needs must clasp his burden
with both arms, taking greater care for that it is his mother, one of
the weaker sex, that he bears. This, too, as thou passest by, leave
not unnoted, for well the craftsman’s dumb hands deserve such regard;
both he has moulded with a likeness such as brothers bear, yet the one
resembles rather his mother, the other his father.
[68] The story of the _pietas_ of these brothers has often been
told or referred to: the better known passages are Senec. _De
benef._ iii. 37. 2; Martial vii. 24. 5; Sil. Ital. xiv. 197.
Hyginus (_Fab._ 154) gives the story though with different names.
The brothers’ heads appear both on Sicilian and Roman coins, _e.g._
Head, _Hist. Num._ 117; _Brit. Mus. Cat._ Sicily 52, Nos. 70-79;
Babelon, _Monn. de la répub._ i. 539, ii. 353.
* * * * *
Page 190
dissimiles annos sollertia temperat artis:
alter in alterius redditur ore parens,
et nova germanis paribus discrimina praebens 25
divisit vultus cum pietate faber.
O bene naturae memores, documenta supernae
iustitiae, iuvenum numina, vota senum:
qui spretis opibus medios properastis in ignes
nil praeter sanctam tollere canitiem. 30
haud equidem inmerito tanta virtute repressas
Enceladi fauces obriguisse reor.
ipse redundantem frenavit Mulciber Aetnam,
laederet exempli ne monumenta pii.
senserunt elementa fidem. pater adfuit aether 35
terraque maternum sedula iuvit onus.
quodsi notus amor provexit in astra Laconas,
Aenean Phrygio raptus ab igne pater,
si vetus Argolicos inlustrat gloria fratres,
qui sua materno colla dedere iugo: 40
cur non Amphinomo, cur non tibi, fortis Anapi,
aeternum Siculus templa dicavit honos?
plura licet summae dederit Trinacria laudi,
noverit hoc maius se genuisse nihil;
nec doleat damnis, quae devius intulit ardor, 45
nec gemat exustas igne furente domos.
non potuit pietas flamma cessante probari:
emptum est ingenti clade perenne decus.
* * * * *
Page 191
The artist’s cunning has succeeded in expressing a difference of age
in their faces, though a likeness to either parent is apparent in the
features of both the sons; while, to ensure a further dissimilarity in
that resemblance, he has varied the tenderness that either countenance
expresses.
Faithful were ye to Nature’s law, bright example of divine justice,
model for youth, fond hope of age! Wealth ye despised, and dashed
into the flames to rescue nought save your venerable parents. Not
undeservedly, methinks, did such piety quench the fires in Enceladus’
jaws. Vulcan himself checked the flow of molten lava from Etna that
it should not harm those patterns of filial duty. The very elements
were influenced thereby: father air and mother earth did their best to
lighten the burden.
If signal piety raised Castor and Pollux to the skies, if Aeneas won
immortality by rescuing his sire from burning Troy, if ancient story
has rendered famous the names of those Argive brothers, Cleobis and
Biton,[69] who harnessed themselves to their mother’s car, why does
not Sicily dedicate a temple to the ageless memory of Amphinomos and
Anapius? Though the three-cornered isle has many titles to fame, let
her be sure that she has never given birth to a nobler deed. Let her
not weep the destruction wrought by the spreading flames nor lament the
houses burned down by the fire’s fury. The flames abating had never put
affection to the proof; the great disaster purchased immortal fame.
[69] Herodotus tells their story in book i. 31.
* * * * *
Page 192
XVIII. (LI.)
_De mulabus Gallicis._
Adspice morigeras Rhodani torrentis alumnas
imperio nexas imperioque vagas,
dissona quam varios flectant ad murmura cursus
et certas adeant voce regente vias.
quamvis quaeque sibi nullis discurrat habenis 5
et pateant duro libera colla iugo,
ceu constricta tamen servit patiensque laborum
barbaricos docili concipit aure sonos.
absentis longinqua valent praecepta magistri,
frenorumque vicem lingua virilis agit. 10
haec procul angustat sparsas spargitque coactas:
haec sistit rapidas, haec properare facit.
laeva iubet: laevo deducunt limite gressum.
mutavit strepitum: dexteriora petunt.
nec vinclis famulae nec libertate feroces, 15
exutae laqueis, sub dicione tamen
consensuque pares et fulvis pellibus hirtae
esseda concordes multisonora trahunt.
miraris, si voce feras pacaverit Orpheus,
cum pronas pecudes Gallica verba regant? 20
XIX. (XLIII.)
_Epistula ad Gennadium exproconsule._
Italiae commune decus, Rubiconis amoeni
incola, Romani fama secunda fori,
* * * * *
Page 193
XVIII. (LI.)
_Of French Mules._
Behold the docile children of fast-flowing Rhone that at their master’s
word come together and at that word disperse. See how they go this way
or that according to the different cries he utters, and, guided only by
his voice, take the path he would have them take. Though each unguided
by the rein takes his own course and no collar presses upon their necks
they obey as though harnessed and, insensible to fatigue, hear and
follow the directions shouted by their barbarous master. Though far
away from their owner they nevertheless respect his commands, obeying
the word of the muleteer as it were a bridle. It is his voice that even
at a distance gathers them together when scattered or scatters them
when gathered together; this that checks their haste or quickens their
dragging steps. Does he shout “left,” they turn them to the left: does
he alter his cry to “right,” to the right they go. Slaves, yet without
bonds, free, but without licence, they go unbridled but obedient.
Covered with tawny pelts they haul along the rumbling carts, each
cheerfully doing his fair share. Dost thou wonder that Orpheus tamed
the wild beasts with his song when the words of a Gaul can guide these
swift-footed mules?
XIX. (XLIII.)
_Letter to Gennadius,[70] ex-Proconsul._
Glory of all Italy, who dwellest on the pleasant banks of Rubicon,
ornament of the Roman bar
[70] Gennadius was by birth a Syrian (Synesius, _Ep._ 30); prefect
of Egypt in 396 (_Cod. Theod._ xiv. 27. 1). He seems to have lived
at Ravenna (_Rubiconis incola_). Birt (praef. p. xviii) thinks that
line 2 refers to Symmachus, Gennadius’ contemporary, not to Cicero.
* * * * *
Page 194
Graiorum populis et nostro cognite Nilo
(utraque gens fasces horret amatque tuos):
carmina ieiunas poscis solantia fauces? 5
testor amicitiam nulla fuisse domi.
nam mihi mox nidum pennis confisa relinquunt
et lare contempto non reditura volant.
XX. (LII.)
_De sene Veronensi qui Suburbium numquam egressus est._
Felix, qui propriis aevum transegit in arvis,
ipsa domus puerum quem videt, ipsa senem;
qui baculo nitens in qua reptavit harena
unius numerat saecula longa casae.
illum non vario traxit fortuna tumultu, 5
nec bibit ignotas mobilis hospes aquas.
non freta mercator tremuit, non classica miles,
non rauci lites pertulit ille fori.
indocilis rerum, vicinae nescius urbis
adspectu fruitur liberiore poli. 10
frugibus alternis, non consule computat annum:
autumnum pomis, ver sibi flore notat.
idem condit ager soles idemque reducit,
metiturque suo rusticus orbe diem,
ingentem meminit parvo qui germine quercum 15
aequaevumque videt consenuisse nemus,
* * * * *
Page 195
second only to Cicero, well known to the peoples of Greece and to
Egypt, land of my birth (for both have feared and loved thy rule), dost
thou ask for poems to appease thy hungry throat?
By our friendship, I swear there are none at home. My verses soon learn
to trust to their own wings and leave the nest, flying far afield nor
ever returning to their humble home.
XX. (LII.)
_Of an old Man of Verona who never left his home._
Happy he who has passed his whole life mid his own fields, he of whose
birth and old age the same house is witness; he whose stick supports
his tottering steps o’er the very ground whereon he crawled as a baby
and whose memory knows but of one cottage as the scene where so long a
life was played out. No turns of fortune vexed him with their sudden
storms;[71] he never travelled nor drank the waters of unknown rivers.
He was never a trader to fear the seas nor a soldier to dread the
trumpet’s call; never did he face the noisy wrangles of the courts.
Unpractised in affairs, unfamiliar with the neighbouring town, he finds
his delight in a freer view of the sky above him. For him the recurring
seasons, not the consuls, mark the year: he knows autumn by his fruits
and spring by her flowers. From the selfsame fields he watches the sun
rise and set, and, at his work, measures the day with his own round of
toils. He remembers yon mighty oak an acorn, and sees the plantation,
set when he was born, grown old along
[71] This proves the poem to have been written before the Gothic
irruption of 401. Abraham Cowley translated this poem (_Essays and
Plays, etc._, Camb. Press, 1906, p. 447).
* * * * *
Page 196
proxima cui nigris Verona remotior Indis
Benacumque putat litora Rubra lacum.
sed tamen indomitae vires firmisque lacertis
aetas robustum tertia cernit avum. 20
erret et extremos alter scrutetur Hiberos:
plus habet hic vitae, plus habet ille viae.
XXI. (LXXX.)
_De Theodoro et Hadriano._
Manlius indulget somno noctesque diesque;
insomnis Pharius sacra profana rapit.
omnibus hoc, Italae gentes, exposcite votis,
Manlius ut vigilet, dormiat ut Pharius.
XXII. (XXXIX.)
_Deprecatio ad Hadrianum._
Usque adeone tuae producitur impetus irae?
nullus erit finis lacrimis? subitisque favorem
permutas odiis? quo mens ignara nocendi,
quo sensus abiere pii? tantumne licebit
invidiae? tantum strepitus valuere maligni? 5
Me dolor incautus, me lubrica duxerit aetas,
me tumor impulerit, me devius egerit ardor:
te tamen haud decuit paribus concurrere telis.
humanae superos numquam tetigere querellae
nec vaga securum penetrant convicia caelum. 10
* * * * *
Page 197
with him. Neighbouring Verona is, for him, more distant than
sun-scorched India; Benacus he accounts as the Red Sea. But his
strength is unimpaired and the third generation see in him a sturdy,
stout-armed grandsire. Let who will be a wanderer and explore farthest
Spain: such may have more of a journey; he of Verona has more of a
life.[72]
XXI. (LXXX.)
_Of Theodore and Hadrian._[73]
Manlius Theodorus sleeps night and day; the sleepless Egyptian
steals alike from gods and men. Peoples of Italy, be this your one
prayer--that Manlius keep awake and the Egyptian sleep.
XXII. (XXXIX.)
_Apology to Hadrian._
Must the violence of thine anger last so long? Are my tears never to
cease to flow? Dost thou thus suddenly turn thy favour to hatred?
Where, then, is that leniency that knows not to harm any, that
loving-kindness? Shall envy have such licence? Has the clamour of
calumny so prevailed?
What though rash wrath, though heedless youth tempted me, though pride
urged, though passion led me astray, yet shouldst _thou_ be above
meeting me with like weapons. Human murmurs never touch the gods nor do
the loose railings of man disturb the peace of heaven. My punishment has
[72] Claudian plays on the words _vitae_ and _viae_.
[73] For M. see xvi. and note (and Introduction, p. xv). H.
was _comes sacrarum largitionum_ in the East in 395, _magister
officiorum_ in 397, praetorian prefect of Italy 401. This epigram
was probably written in 396: the apology (next poem) perhaps the
same year.
* * * * *
Page 198
excessit iam poena modum. concede iacenti.
en adsum; veniam confessus crimina posco.
Manibus Hectoreis atrox ignovit Achilles.
ultrices Furias matris placavit Orestes.
reddidit Alcides Priamo, quas ceperat, arces. 15
Pellaeum iuvenem regum flexere ruinae:
Darium famulis manibus doluisse peremptum
fertur et ingenti solatus fata sepulchro;
tradita captivo spatiosior India Poro.
conditor hic patriae; sic hostibus ille pepercit; 20
hunc virtus tua digna sequi. quemcumque deorum
laesimus, insultet iugulo pascatque furorem.
Gratia defluxit, sequitur feralis egestas;
desolata domus, caris spoliamur amicis:
hunc tormenta necant, hic undique truditur exul. 25
quid superest damnis? quae saeva pericula restant?
Emollit rabiem praedae mortisque facultas.
praetereunt subiecta ferae, torvique leones,
quae stravisse calent, eadem prostrata relinquunt
nec nisi bellantis gaudent cervice iuvenci 30
nobiliore fame. secuit nascentia vota
livor et ingesto turbavit gaudia luctu:
iamiam suppliciis fessos humilesque serenus
respice. quid tanta dignaris mole clientem?
in brevibus numquam sese probat Aeolus undis, 35
nec capit angustus Boreae certamina collis:
Alpes ille quatit, Rhodopeia culmina lassat.
incubuit numquam caelestis flamma salictis
* * * * *
Page 199
been too severe; spare a fallen foe. Behold me; I confess my faults and
ask pardon for my sin.
Fierce Achilles showed mercy to the shade of Hector, Orestes appeased
his mother’s avenging furies, Hercules restored to Priam the cities
which he had taken. A king’s overthrow won the pity of Pella’s youthful
monarch, who wept, men say, for the death of Darius at a slave’s
hand, and consoled his ghost with a lofty mausoleum. To captive Porus
Alexander gave back an ampler kingdom. ’Twas thus the founder of our
country[74] spared his conquered foes. Thine own nobility demands that
thou shouldst follow his example. If it is one of the gods that I have
insulted let him send down punishment upon me and sate his anger.
Now that I have lost thy favour I am become a prey to grinding poverty,
my house is desolate, my friends reft from me. Death with torture is
the fate of one, exile of another. What further losses can I suffer?
What more cruel plagues can befall me?
The power to despoil and kill softens anger. Wild beasts turn away from
their stricken prey, and fierce lions, eager to destroy, abandon the
dead victim, and with a nobler hunger riot only in the flesh of the
warlike steer. Envy has snapped the thread of my prosperity and turned
my happiness into mourning. I am fordone with punishment and my pride
is broken; look on me again with favour. Is a humble client worth so
heavy a weight of anger? Aeolus makes not trial of himself where the
sea’s waters are shallow; no lowly hill encounters Boreas’ blasts; ’tis
the Alps he shakes, the summit of Rhodope he harasses. Never doth the
lightning
[74] Alexander is called the founder of Claudian’s country (Egypt)
because the first Ptolemy was one of his generals and became king
of Egypt on Alexander’s death.
* * * * *
Page 200
nec parvi frutices iram meruere Tonantis:
ingentes quercus, annosas fulminat ornos. 40
Hoc pro supplicibus ramis, pro fronde Minervae,
hoc carmen pro ture damus. miserere tuorum.
me, precor, heu, me redde mihi gravibusque medere
vulneribus vitamque iube famamque reverti.
quae per te cecidit, per te fortuna resurgat. 45
sanus Achilleis remeavit Telephus herbis,
cuius pertulerat vires, et sensit in uno
letalem placidamque manum; medicina per hostem
contigit, et pepulit quos fecerat ipse dolores.
Quodsi nec precibus fletu nec flecteris ullo, 50
eripe calcatis non prospera cingula Musis,
eripe militiam, comitem me pelle sodalis.[75]
scilicet insignis de paupere vate triumphus.
scilicet egregiis ornabere victor opimis.
inruat in miseros cognata potentia cives; 55
audiat haec commune solum longeque carinis
nota Pharos, flentemque attollens gurgite vultum
nostra gemat Nilus numerosis funera ripis.
XXIII. (LXXIV.)
_Deprecatio in Alethium quaestorem._
Sic non Aethiopum campos aestate pererrem
nec Scythieo brumam sub Iove nudus agam,
[75] Birt _sodali_ (EV AJ); _sodalis_ R.
* * * * *
Page 201
strike the humble willows nor do the modest shrubs deserve the
Thunder’s angry bolt; lofty oaks and agèd elms are his victims.
Instead of the suppliant’s branch plucked from Minerva’s sacred olive,
instead of incense, I offer thee this poem. Have mercy on thy servant.
Restore me, even me, to my former state, heal my cruel wounds, bid life
and honour return to me. Do thou, who didst overthrow my fortune, build
it up again. Telephus came back cured by the magic of Achilles.[76] The
same hand dealt death and healing--an enemy restoring him to health by
the assuagement of the very pains he had inflicted.
But if neither my prayers nor my tears can soften thee, spurn the Muses
with thy foot and take away my unlucky decorations, deprive me of my
rank, cast me aside who was once thy companion. A noteworthy victory
this thou hast won over a poor poet; redoubtable indeed the spoils that
will grace such a triumph. Let a fellow-countryman’s power overwhelm
his wretched fellows.[77] Be my fate told to our common fatherland and
to Pharos, known of all who sail the distant seas, and let Father Nile
raise his weeping head from out the flood and mourn my cruel case along
the banks of all his seven mouths.
XXIII. (LXXIV.)
_Apology to Alethius, the Quaestor._[78]
As I hope never to cross the plains of Ethiopia beneath a summer sun,
never to pass a winter naked
[76] Telephus, wounded by Achilles’ spear, could only be cured by
his “wounder.” In return for such information about Troy as should
lead to its capture, Achilles cured Telephus by means of the rust
on the spear that had inflicted the wound.
_Herbis_ must here mean simply magic (_cf._ Prop. iv. 7. 72), but
it is curious, and _hasta_ (_e_) is tempting.
[77] Both Hadrian and Claudian were Egyptians.
[78] Nothing is known about this Alethius.
* * * * *
Page 202
sic non imbriferam noctem ducentibus Haedis
Ionio credam turgida vela mari,
sic non Tartareo Furiarum verbere pulsus 5
irati relegam carmina grammatici:
nulla meos traxit petulans audacia sensus,
liberior iusto nec mihi lingua fuit.
versiculos, fateor, non cauta voce notavi,
heu miser! ignorans, quam grave crimen erat. 10
Orpheos alii libros impune lacessunt
nec tua securum te, Maro, fama vehit;
ipse parens vatum, princeps Heliconis, Homerus
iudicis excepit tela severa notae.
sed non Vergilius, sed non accusat Homerus: 15
neuter enim quaestor, pauper uterque fuit.
en moveo plausus! en pallidus omnia laudo
et clarum repeto terque quaterque “sophos”!
ignoscat placidus tandem flatusque remittat
et tuto recitet quod libet ore: placet. 20
XXIV. (LXXXIII.)
_De lucusta._
Horret apex capitis; medio fera lumina surgunt
vertice; cognatus dorso durescit amictus.
armavit natura cutem dumique rubentes
cuspidibus parvis multos acuere rubores.
* * * * *
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beneath the northern pole, never to entrust my bellying sails to the
Ionian Sea what time the Kids bring round the rainy nights, never,
driven by the Furies’ hellish blows, to re-read the verses of an angry
pedant,[79] ’twas not, I swear, impudent effrontery that moved me, nor
did my tongue exceed a just outspokenness. I admit I incautiously found
fault with a few lines, not realizing, luckless wight, the heinousness
of my offence. Others attack the books of Orpheus and nothing is said;
nor does thy fame, Maro, support thee in safety. The very father of
poetry, Homer, lord of Helicon, knew the stigma of the censor’s pen.
Yet neither Vergil nor Homer complains, for neither was a quaestor and
both were poor. See, then, I applaud! See, in terror I praise every
word and loudly cry again and again “bravo!” Let him be appeased and
pardon at last, let him cease from wrath--and with secure voice recite
whate’er he will; I applaud.
XXIV. (LXXXIII.)
_The Lobster._
Long horns project from his head; fierce eyes stand out from his
forehead; his back is protected by the armour of his self-grown shell.
Nature herself has rendered his skin a sufficient defence, covering it
with small, red, pointed spikes.
[79] The “pedant” is doubtless Alethius himself and the “verses”
the very poem which Claudian has already read once and criticized
unfavourably.
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XXV. (XXX., XXXI.)
_Epithalamium dictum Palladio V. C. tribuno et notario et Celerinae._
PRAEFATIO
Carmina per thalamum quamvis festina negare
nec volui genero nec potui socero.
hic socius, dux ille mihi nostrique per aulam
ordinis hic consors emicat, ille prior.
hunc mihi coniungit studiis communibus aetas; 5
hunc mihi praeponit vel senium vel honos.
carmen amor generi, soceri reverentia poscit
officio vatis, militis obsequio.
Forte Venus blando quaesitum frigore somnum
vitibus intexti gremio successerat antri
densaque sidereos per gramina fuderat artus
adclinis florum cumulo; crispatur opaca
pampinus et musto sudantem ventilat uvam. 5
ora decet neglecta sopor; fastidit amictum
aestus et exuto translucent pectore frondes.
Idaliae iuxta famulae triplexque vicissim
nexa sub ingenti requiescit Gratia quercu.
pennati passim pueri quo quemque vocavit 10
umbra iacent; fluitant arcus ramisque propinquis
pendentes placido suspirant igne pharetrae.
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XXV (XXX, XXXI)
_Epithalamium of Palladius and Celerina._[80]
PREFACE
Asked to improvise a song in honour of a marriage I find myself
unwilling to refuse the bridegroom and unable to say no to his
father-in-law. The former was my comrade-in-arms, the latter my
general; at court the first is of equal rank with me, the second my
superior. Similarity of age and pursuits made me a friend of Palladius;
age and dignity set Celerinus far above me. The love I bear the one
demands my good offices as a poet, the awe in which I hold the other a
soldier’s obedience: I must sing.
It chanced that Venus had one day retired into the bosom of a cave
overgrown with vine to woo sleep mid its alluring cool, and had laid
her goddess limbs on the thick grass, her head upon a heap of flowers.
The vine branches stir gently in the breeze and sway the full-veined
grapes. Slumber befits the disorder of her brow, the midday heat will
none of coverings, and the leaves show through them the gleam of her
bare breast. Round her lie the nymphs of Ida and hard by beneath a
lofty oak-tree the three Graces sleep with interlaced arms. Here
and there, where’er the shade invites them, repose winged Cupids.
Their bows are unstrung and their quivers hang from the branches of
neighbouring trees, instinct with latent fire. Some
[80] This poem and the marriage it celebrates probably belong to
the year 399. We know little of P. save that he was the friend and
colleague (_tribunus et notarius, cf._ Introduction, p. xii) of
Claudian. His father (l. 61) was probably prefect of Egypt in 382
(_Cod. Theod._ viii. 5. 37). Celerina’s grandfather held the same
post (l. 73); her father (ll. 82 _et sqq._)--the _socer_ of line 2
of the preface--was _primicerius notariorum_ (so Godefroy on _Cod.
Theod._ vi. 2).
* * * * *
Page 206
pars vigiles ludunt aut per virgulta vagantes
scrutantur nidos avium vel roscida laeti
mala legunt donum Veneri flexusque sequuntur 15
palmitis et summas pennis librantur in ulmos;
defendunt alii lucum Dryadasque procaces
spectandi cupidas et rustica numina pellunt
silvestresque deos longeque tuentibus antrum
flammea lascivis intendunt spicula Faunis: 20
cum subito varius vicina clamor ab urbe
et fausti iuvenum plausus mixtaeque choreis
auditae per rura lyrae. Celerina per omnes
Italiae canitur montes omnisque maritum
Palladium resonabat ager.
Pervenit ad aures 25
vox iucunda deae strepituque excita resedit
et reliquum nitido detersit pollice somnum
utque fuit, turbata comas, intecta papillas,
mollibus exurgit stratis interque suorum
agmen et innumeros Hymenaeum quaerit Amores 30
(hunc Musa genitum legit Cytherea ducemque
praefecit thalamis; nullum iunxisse cubile
hoc sine nec primas fas est attollere taedas).
conspicitur tandem. platano namque ille sub alta
fusus inaequales cera texebat avenas 35
Maenaliosque modos et pastoralia labris
murmura temptabat relegens orisque recursu
dissimilem tenui variabat harundine ventum.
Restitit ut vidit Venerem, digitisque remissis
ad terram tacito defluxit fistula flatu. 40
* * * * *
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wake and play or wander through the thickets in search of birds’ nests
or take delight in plucking dewy apples as a gift for Venus or hunt the
gadding vine for grapes, and, poised on their wings, climb its branches
to the very tops of the elm-trees. Others keep guard over the wood and
drive off the wanton, curious Dryads, the country gods and the woodland
deities, discharging flaming darts at the amorous Fauns who try from
a distance to catch a glimpse of Venus’ bower. Suddenly there arose
cries and shoutings from the neighbouring city; joyous acclamations of
youth and the strains of the lyre accompanying dancing in the streets.
Through all the hills of Italy the name of Celerina is chanted and
every field re-echoes that of her husband Palladius.
The pleasant sound reached the goddess’ ears; aroused by the noise
she sat up and with her fair hands rubbed from her eyes the residue
of sleep; then, just as she was, her hair disordered, her breasts
uncovered, she leapt from her soft couch and summoned Hymen from among
the unnumbered Loves that formed her bodyguard. (Him, son of the Muse,
Cytherea chose out and made the patron god of marriage. Without his
sanction is no entry into wedlock nor is it lawful but with his leave
to uplift the first wedding-torches.) At last he is found. There he lay
stretched beneath a tall plane-tree joining with wax pipes of unequal
length, seeking to repeat with his lips Maenalian measures and pastoral
tunes, while, as his mouth ran over them, he varied his breathing upon
the slender reed.
Seeing Venus he stopped; noiseless to the ground from out the nerveless
grasp of his fingers fell the
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dulce micant oculi; niveas infecerat igni
solque pudorque genas; dubiam lanuginis umbram
caesaries intonsa tegit. prior ipsa silentem
compellat:
“Numquamne, puer, dilecta relinques
carmina? maternis numquam satiabere donis 45
dedite Musarum studio nimiumque parentis
aemule? quid medio tecum modularis in aestu?
iamne tibi sordent citharae? iam lustra Lycaei
atque pecus cordi redituraque rupibus Echo?
huc ades et tantae nobis edissere causas 50
laetitiae, cui pompa toro tam clara resultet,
quae nova dotetur virgo: patriamque genusque
pande, quibus terris orti, quo semine ducti.
haud ignarus enim, nec te conubia fallunt
ulla; tuo primae libantur[81] foedere noctes.” 55
Ille refert: “equidem dudum te, diva, morantem
mirabar, quod adhuc tanti secura maneres
coniugii. non parva tibi mandatur origo.
fascibus insignes et legum culmine fultae
convenere domus et qui lectissimus orbi 60
sanguis erat. rubris quae fluctibus insula latrat,
qui locus Aethiopum, quae sic impervia famae
secessit regio, quo non rumore secundo
Palladii penetravit amor mentisque benigna
temperies doctique sales et grata senectus? 65
[81] Birt _librantur_ (MSS.); Delphin ed. _libantur_.
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pipe. Affection lights up his eyes; a modest blush suffuses those
sun-browned cheeks so snowy-white by nature, clothed, too, with the
scarce seen down of youth where ceased the ne’er cut hair. Silent he
stood and the goddess first addressed him. “Wilt thou, boy, never leave
thy beloved song? Wilt thou never have enough of thy mother’s gifts,
ever devoted to the Muses’ task and too eager to rival thy parent[82]?
What is it thou dost practise all alone in the midday heat? Dost thou
now despise the lyre and seekest thou rather the woods of Lycaeus and
the herds and Echo resounding from the rocks? Come hither and tell me
the reason for this general rejoicing. What marriage is this that is
attended with such ceremony and such demonstrations of joy? Who is the
newly dowered bride? Of what country, what race are they that are wed?
Tell me from what land they spring and what their parentage. Needs must
thou know, for no marriage can take place without thee and by covenant
with thee are wedlock’s joys first tasted.”
He replied: “Long have I been wondering, goddess, at thy delay, and
marvelled that thou didst take no notice of so world-famed an union.
They are no common folk that now submit them to thy laws. Two families
are united illustrious with consulships, upheld by the highest offices,
in whose veins flows the noblest blood of all the world. What island on
whose coasts thunder the waves of the Red Sea, what tract of Ethiopia,
what land so far withdrawn from human intercourse but has heard the
blessings that the affection of his country calls down on the head of
Palladius’ sire for his clemency, his learning, his wit, his genial
age? He has trodden
[82] _i.e._ Calliope. Venus is in effect saying to him: attend to
your own business, play your own instrument (the _cithara_ )and do
not seek the haunts, and imitate the pipes, of Pan.
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per cunctos iit ille gradus aulaeque labores
emensus tenuit summae fastigia sedis
Eoum stabili moderatus iure senatum.
hic splendor iuveni. cunabula prima puellae
Danuvius veteresque Tomi. Mavortia matris 70
nobilitas spoliis armisque exultat avitis
inmensamque trahit Celerini robore lucem,
qui quondam Meroën iussus Nilumque tueri,
cum sibi post obitus et Parthica fulmina Cari[83]
sceptra daret miles rebusque imponere vellet, 75
despexit fremitus et praetulit otia regno;
respuit ingestum, quod vi, quod poscere ferro
posthabita pietate solent. tum purpura primum
inferior virtute fuit meruitque repulsam
obvia maiestas. doluit Fortuna minorem 80
se confessa viro. magnum delata potestas,
maiorem contempta probat.
“Cognomina sumpsit
plena ducum genitor. paulatim vectus ad altum
princeps militiae, qua non inlustrior extat
altera, cunctorum tabulas adsignat honorum, 85
regnorum tractat numeros, constringit in unum
sparsas imperii vires cuneosque recenset
dispositos: quae Sarmaticis custodia ripis,
quae saevis obiecta Getis, quae Saxona frenat
vel Scottum legio, quantae cinxere cohortes 90
Oceanum, quanto pacatur milite Rhenus.
[83] Birt _caro_ (the reading of E and V); _Cari_ Heinsius.
* * * * *
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every rung of the ladder of honours, has held every place at court,
and reached the highest of all offices, directing the deliberations of
the senate of the East with a sure authority. Such is the bridegroom’s
brilliance. The bride first saw the light in the old city of Tomi by
the mouth of the Danube. She is descended on her mother’s side from
noble ancestors famed in war and enriched by war’s spoils and derives
especial glory from the renown of that stalwart Celerinus who, when
appointed to the defence of Meroë and the Nile, and, after the death by
lightning of Carus[84] in Parthia, offered the throne and dominion of
the world by his soldiers, paid no heed to their clamour and preferred
repose to an empire. Of his own will he refused when it was offered
that which men will use every sort of violence and outrage every sort
of right to acquire. For the first time virtue was reckoned above a
throne and sovereignty, making offer of herself, met with a refusal.
Sadly did Fortune confess herself beaten by a mortal. Great it is to
deserve high office, still greater to have despised it.