(V.)
After the subjugation of the Alpine tribes and the salvation of the
kingdoms of Italy the heavens welcomed the Emperor Theodosius[56] to
the place of honour due to his worth, and so shone the brighter by
the addition of another star. Then was the power of Rome entrusted
to thy care, Stilicho; in thy hands was placed the governance of the
world. The brothers’ twin majesty and the armies of either royal court
were given into thy charge. But Rufinus (for cruelty and crime brook
not peace, and a tainted mouth will not forgo its draughts of blood),
Rufinus, I say, began once more to inflame the world with wicked wars
and to disturb peace with accustomed sedition. Thus to himself: “How
shall I assure my slender hopes of survival? By what means beat back
the rising storm? On all sides are hate and the threat of arms. What am
I to do? No help can I find in soldier’s weapon or emperor’s favour.
Instant dangers ring me round and a gleaming sword hangs above my head.
What is left but to plunge the world into fresh troubles and draw down
innocent peoples in my ruin? Gladly will I perish if the world does
too; general destruction shall console me for
[56] Theodosius died in January 395, not long after his defeat of
Eugenius at the Frigidus River (near Aquileia), September 5-6, 394
(see Introduction, p. ix).
* * * * *
Page 60
exitium commune dabit nec territus ante 20
discedam: cum luce simul linquenda potestas.”
Haec fatus, ventis veluti si frena resolvat
Aeolus, abrupto gentes sic obice fudit
laxavitque viam bellis et, nequa maneret
inmunis regio, cladem divisit in orbem 25
disposuitque nefas. alii per terga ferocis
Danuvii solidata ruunt expertaque remos
frangunt stagna rotis; alii per Caspia claustra
Armeniasque nives inopino tramite ducti
invadunt Orientis opes. iam pascua fumant 30
Cappadocum volucrumque parens Argaeus equorum,
iam rubet altus Halys nec se defendit iniquo
monte Cilix. Syriae tractus vastantur amoeni
adsuetumque choris et laeta plebe canorum
proterit imbellem sonipes hostilis Orontem. 35
hinc planctus Asiae; Geticis Europa catervis
ludibrio praedaeque datur frondentis ad usque
Dalmatiae fines: omnis quae mobile Ponti
aequor et Adriacas tellus interiacet undas
squalet inops pecudum, nullis habitata colonis, 40
instar anhelantis Libyae, quae torrida semper
solibus humano nescit mansuescere cultu.
Thessalus ardet ager; reticet pastore fugato
Pelion; Emathias ignis populatur aristas.
nam plaga Pannoniae miserandaque moenia Thracum
arvaque Mysorum iam nulli flebile damnum, 46
sed cursus sollemnis erat campusque furori
expositus, sensumque malis detraxerat usus.
eheu quam brevibus pereunt ingentia fatis!
* * * * *
Page 61
mine own death, nor will I die (for I am no coward) till I have
accomplished this. I will not lay down my power before my life.”
So spake he, and as if Aeolus unchained the winds so he, breaking their
bonds, let loose the nations, clearing the way for war; and, that no
land should be free therefrom, apportioned ruin throughout the world,
parcelling out destruction. Some pour across the frozen surface of
swift-flowing Danube and break with the chariot wheel what erstwhile
knew but the oar; others invade the wealthy East, led through the
Caspian Gates and over the Armenian snows by a newly-discovered pass.
The fields of Cappadocia reek with slaughter; Argaeus, father of swift
horses, is laid waste. Halys’ deep waters run red and the Cilician
cannot defend himself in his precipitous mountains. The pleasant plains
of Syria are devastated, and the enemy’s cavalry thunders along the
banks of Orontes, home hitherto of the dance and of a happy people’s
song. Hence comes mourning to Asia, while Europe is left to be the
sport and prey of Getic hordes even to the borders of fertile Dalmatia.
All that tract of land lying between the stormy Euxine and the Adriatic
is laid waste and plundered, no inhabitants dwell there; ’tis like
torrid Africa whose sun-scorched plains never grow kindlier through
human tillage. Thessaly is afire; Pelion silent, his shepherds put to
flight; flames bring destruction on Macedonia’s crops. For Pannonia’s
plain, the Thracians’ helpless cities, the fields of Mysia were ruined
but now none wept; year by year came the invader, unsheltered was the
countryside from havoc and custom had robbed suffering of its sting.
Alas, in how swift ruin perish
* * * * *
Page 62
imperium tanto quaesitum sanguine, tanto 50
servatum, quod mille ducum peperere labores,
quod tantis Romana manus contexuit annis,
proditor unus iners angusto tempore vertit.
Urbs etiam, magnae quae ducitur aemula Romae
et Calchedonias contra despectat harenas, 55
iam non finitimo Martis terrore movetur,
sed propius lucere faces et rauca sonare
cornua vibratisque peti fastigia telis
adspicit. hi vigili muros statione tueri,
hi iunctis properant portus munire carinis. 60
obsessa tamen ille ferus laetatur in urbe
exultatque malis summaeque ex culmine turris
impia vicini cernit spectacula campi:
vinctas ire nurus, nunc in vada proxima mergi
seminecem, hunc subito percussum vulnere labi 65
dum fugit, hunc animam portis efflare sub ipsis;
nec canos prodesse seni puerique cruore
maternos undare sinus. inmensa voluptas
et risus plerumque subit; dolor afficit unus,
quod feriat non ipse manu. videt omnia late 70
exceptis incensa suis et crimine tanto
luxuriat carumque sibi non abnuit hostem;
iactabatque ultro, quod soli castra paterent
sermonumque foret vicibus permissa potestas.
egregii quotiens exisset foederis auctor, 75
stipatur sociis, circumque armata clientum
* * * * *
Page 63
even the greatest things! An empire won and kept at the expense of so
much bloodshed, born from the toils of countless leaders, knit together
through so many years by Roman hands, one coward traitor overthrew in
the twinkling of an eye.
That city,[57] too, called of men the rival of great Rome, that looks
across to Chalcedon’s strand, is stricken now with terror at no
neighbouring war; nearer home it observes the flash of torches, the
trumpet’s call, and its own roofs the target for an enemy’s artillery.
Some guard the walls with watchful outposts, others hasten to fortify
the harbour with a chain of ships. But fierce Rufinus is full of joy in
the leaguered city and exults in its misfortunes, gazing at the awful
spectacle of the surrounding country from the summit of a lofty tower.
He watches the procession of women in chains, sees one poor half-dead
wretch drowned in the water hard by, another, stricken as he fled,
sink down beneath the sudden wound, another breathe out his life at
the tower’s very gates; he rejoices that no respect is shown to grey
hairs and that mother’s breasts are drenched with their children’s
blood. Great is his pleasure thereat; from time to time he laughs and
knows but one regret--that it is not his own hand that strikes. He sees
the whole countryside (except for his own lands) ablaze, and has joy
of his great wickedness, making no secret of the fact that the city’s
foes are his friends. It is his boast, moreover, that to him alone the
enemy camp opened its gates, and that there was allowed right of parley
between them. Whene’er he issued forth to arrange some wondrous truce
his companions thronged him round and an armed band of dependents
[57] Constantinople.
* * * * *
Page 64
agmina privatis ibant famulantia signis;
ipse inter medios, ne qua de parte relinquat
barbariem, revocat fulvas in pectora pelles
frenaque et inmanes pharetras arcusque sonoros 80
adsimulat mentemque palam proclamat amictu,
nec pudet Ausonios currus et iura regentem
sumere deformes ritus vestemque Getarum;
insignemque habitum Latii mutare coactae
maerent captivae pellito iudice leges. 85
Quis populi tum vultus erat! quae murmura furtim!
(nam miseris ne flere quidem aut lenire dolorem
colloquiis impune licet): “quonam usque feremus
exitiale iugum? durae quis terminus umquam
sortis erit? quis nos funesto turbine rerum 90
aut tantis solvet lacrimis, quos barbarus illinc,
hinc Rufinus agit, quibus arva fretumque negatur?
magna quidem per rura lues, sed maior oberrat
intra tecta timor. tandem succurre ruenti
heu patriae, Stilicho! dilecta hic pignora certe, 95
hic domus, hic thalamis primum genialibus omen,
hic tibi felices erexit regia taedas.
vel solus sperate veni. te proelia viso
languescent avidique cadet dementia monstri.”
Talibus urgetur discors Aurora procellis. 100
at Stilicho, Zephyris cum primum bruma remitti
et iuga diffusis nudari coepta pruinis,
partibus Italiae tuta sub pace relictis
utraque castra movens Phoebi properabat ad ortus,
* * * * *
Page 65
danced attendance on a civilian’s standards. Rufinus himself in their
midst drapes tawny skins of beasts about his breast (thorough in his
barbarity), and uses harness and huge quivers and twanging bows like
those of the Getae--his dress openly showing the temper of his mind.
One who drives a consul’s chariot and enjoys a consul’s powers has no
shame to adopt the manners and dress of barbarians; Roman law, obliged
to change her noble garment, mourns her slavery to a skin-clad judge.
What looks then on men’s faces! What furtive murmurs! For, poor
wretches, they could not even weep nor, without risk, ease their grief
in converse. “How long shall we bear this deadly yoke? What end shall
there ever be to our hard lot? Who will free us from this death-fraught
anarchy, this day of tears? On this side the barbarian hems us in,
on that Rufinus oppresses us; land and sea are alike denied us. A
pestilence stalks through the country: yes, but a deadlier terror
haunts our houses. Stilicho, delay no more but succour thy dying land;
of a truth here are thy children, here thy home, here were taken those
first auspices for thy marriage, so blessed with children, here the
palace was illumined with the torches of happy wedlock. Nay, come even
though alone, thou for whom we long; wars will perish at thy sight and
the ravening monster’s rage subside.”
Such were the tempests that vexed the turbulent East. But so soon as
ever winter had given place to the winds of spring and the hills began
to lose their covering of snow, Stilicho, leaving the fields of Italy
in peace and safety, set in motion his two armies and hastened to the
lands of the sunrise, combining
* * * * *
Page 66
Gallica discretis Eoaque robora turmis 105
amplexus. numquam tantae dicione sub una
convenere manus nec tot discrimina vocum:
illinc Armeniae vibratis crinibus alae
herbida collectae facili velamina nodo;
inde truces flavo comitantur vertice Galli, 110
quos Rhodanus velox, Araris quos tardior ambit
et quos nascentes explorat gurgite Rhenus
quosque rigat retro pernicior unda Garunnae,
Oceani pleno quotiens impellitur aestu.
mens eadem cunctis animique recentia ponunt 115
vulnera; non odit victus victorve superbit.
et quamvis praesens tumor et civilia nuper
classica bellatrixque etiamnunc ira caleret,
in ducis eximii conspiravere favorem.
haud aliter Xerxen toto simul orbe secutus. 120
narratur rapuisse vagos exercitus amnes
et telis umbrasse diem, cum classibus iret
per scopulos tectumque pedes contemneret aequor.
Vix Alpes egressus erat nec iam amplius errat
barbarus adventumque timens se cogit in unam 125
planitiem tutoque includit pascua gyro:
tum duplici fossa non exuperabile vallum
asperat alternis sudibus murique locata
in speciem caesis obtendit plaustra iuvencis.
At procul exanguis Rufinum perculit horror; 130
infectae pallore genae; stetit ore gelato
incertus peteretne fugam, veniamne subactus
* * * * *
Page 67
the so different squadrons of Gaul and of the East. Never before did
there meet together under one command such numerous bands, never in one
army such a babel of tongues. Here were curly-haired Armenian cavalry,
their green cloaks fastened with a loose knot, fierce Gauls with golden
locks accompanied them, some from the banks of the swift-flowing Rhone,
or the more sluggish Saône, some whose infant bodies Rhine’s flood
had laved, or who had been washed by the waves of the Garonne that
flow more rapidly towards, than from, their source, whenever they are
driven back by Ocean’s full tide. One common purpose inspires them
all; grudges lately harboured are laid aside; the vanquished feels
no hate, the victor shows no pride. And despite of present unrest,
of the trumpet’s late challenge to civil strife, and of warlike rage
still aglow, yet were all at one in their support of their great
leader. So it is said that the army that followed Xerxes, gathered into
one from all quarters of the world, drank up whole rivers in their
courses, obscured the sun with the rain of their arrows, passed through
mountains on board ship, and walked the bridged sea with contemptuous
foot.
Scarce had Stilicho crossed the Alps when the barbarian hordes began to
restrict their forays and for fear of his approach gathered together
in the plain and enclosed their pasture lands within a defensive ring.
They then built an impregnable fortification with a double moat,
planted stakes two deep at intervals along its summit and set wagons
rigged with ox-hide all round like a wall.
Panic fear seized upon Rufinus as he saw this from afar, and his cheeks
grew pale. He stood with ice-cold face, not knowing whether to fly, to
own himself
* * * * *
Page 68
posceret an fidos sese transferret in hostes.
quid nunc divitiae, quid fulvi vasta metalli
congeries, quid purpureis effulta columnis 135
atria prolataeve iuvant ad sidera moles?
audit iter numeratque dies spatioque viarum
metitur vitam. torquetur pace futura
nec recipit somnos et saepe cubilibus amens
excutitur poenamque luit formidine poenae. 140
sed redit in rabiem scelerumque inmane resumit
ingenium sacrasque fores praedivitis aulae
intrat et Arcadium mixto terrore precatur:
“Per fratris regale iubar, per facta parentis
aetherii floremque tui te deprecor aevi, 145
eripe me gladiis; liceat Stilichonis iniquas
evitare minas. in nostram Gallia caedem
coniurata venit. quidquid rigat ultima Tethys,
extremos ultra volitat gens si qua Britannos,
mota mihi. tantis capiendi credimur armis? 150
tot signis unum petitur caput? unde cruoris
ista sitis? geminum caeli sibi vindicat axem
et nullum vult esse parem. succumbere poscit
cuncta sibi: regit Italiam Libyamque coercet;
Hispanis Gallisque iubet; non orbita solis, 155
non illum natura capit. quascumque paravit
hic Augustus opes et quas post bella recepit,
solus habet, possessa semel nec reddere curat.
scilicet ille quidem tranquilla pace fruatur;
nos premat obsidio? quid partem invadere temptat?
deserat Illyricos fines; Eoa remittat 161
* * * * *
Page 69
beaten and sue for mercy, or go over to an enemy whose good faith
his treachery had assured. Of what use now were his riches, his vast
stores of golden ore, his halls upheld with red marble pillars, his
sky-towering palace? He hears of Stilicho’s march and counts the days,
measuring his term of life according to the distance of his enemy from
him. He is troubled with thoughts of coming peace and cannot sleep,
often starts up distraught from his bed and suffers as punishment the
fear of punishment. But his fury repossesses him and, regaining his
genius for crime, he enters the sacred portal of the rich palace and
addresses Arcadius with prayers and threats: “By thy brother’s royal
star, by the deeds of thy divine sire and the flower of thine own age,
I beg thee deliver me from the edge of the sword; let me escape the
cruel threatenings of Stilicho. All Gaul is sworn to my destruction.
Tethys’ extreme coasts, the wandering tribes beyond the farthest
Britons are stirred up against me. Am I thought fit prey for all those
armies? Are so many standards advanced against a solitary man? Whence
comes this lust for blood? Stilicho lays claim to either hemisphere and
will brook no equal. The world forsooth must lie at his feet. Italy
is his kingdom, Libya his dominion, Spain and Gaul his empire. The
sun’s path circumscribes him not, no nor the whole universe. All the
wealth collected here by Theodosius or received by him after the war
is Stilicho’s alone, and he has small mind to restore what he has once
acquired. Is he to enjoy his gains in peace and quietness while ’tis
mine to stand a siege? Why should he encroach on thy share? Let him
leave Illyria, send back his Eastern troops, divide the
* * * * *
Page 70
agmina; fraternas ex aequo dividat hastas,
nec sceptri tantum fueris, sed militis heres.
quodsi dissimulas nostrae succurrere morti
nec prohibere paras, Manes et sidera testor: 165
haec cervix non sola cadet; miscebitur alter
sanguis; nec Stygias ferar incomitatus ad undas
nec mea securus ridebit funera victor!”
Haec ubi, dictatur facinus missusque repente
qui ferat extortas invito principe voces. 170
Interea Stilicho iam laetior hoste propinquo
nec multo spatii distantibus aequore vallis
pugnandi cupidas accendit voce cohortes.
Armeniis frons laeva datur; per cornua Gallos
dexteriora locat. spumis ignescere frena, 175
pulveris extolli nimbos lateque videres
surgere purpureis undantes anguibus hastas
serpentumque vago caelum saevire volatu.
implet Thessaliam ferri nitor antraque docti
cornipedis, teneroque amnis reptatus Achilli 180
et nemus Oetaeum radiat. clamore nivalis
Ossa tonat pulsoque fragor geminatur Olympo.
intumuit virtus et lucis prodigus arsit
impetus; haud illos rupes, haud alta vetarent
flumina: praecipiti stravissent omnia cursu. 185
Si tunc his animis acies collata fuisset,
prodita non tantas vidisset Graecia caedes,
oppida semoto Pelopeia Marte vigerent,
* * * * *
Page 71
hosts fairly between the two brothers, and do thou not be heir to the
sceptre only but to thy forces. But if thou neglect to come to mine aid
and make not ready to prevent my death, this head of mine shall not
fall alone--by the dead and the stars I swear it. The blood of another
shall be mingled with mine. I will not go unaccompanied to the waters
of Styx nor shall the victor be free to exult in my death.”
So saying he dictates a treasonable letter and sends therewith an
emissary to bear the message extorted from the emperor’s unwilling lips.
Meanwhile Stilicho, exulting in the thought of advancing upon the
foe and of the narrow stretch of country that separated him from the
fortifications, inflames with his words the hearts of his troops
already thirsting for battle. On the left wing are posted the
Armenians, farther to the right the Gauls. A beholder might have seen
bits covered with warm foam, clouds of dust uprising, and on all sides
waving banners bearing the device of a scarlet dragon; the very air
seemed to teem with these fierce flying monsters. The glint of steel
fills all Thessaly and the cave of the wise Centaur; the river whose
banks supported Achilles’ baby footsteps and the forests of Oeta are
agleam with arms, snowy Ossa re-echoes to the sound and Olympus smitten
therewith sends it back twofold. Hearts beat high with a courage that
is lavish of life. Neither precipice nor deep river could check their
advance: their headlong speed would have overthrown all barriers.
If the two armies had then joined battle in this temper ruined Greece
would not have witnessed such disaster as she did, the cities of the
Peloponnese would still have been flourishing untouched by the hand
* * * * *
Page 72
starent Arcadiae, starent Lacedaemonis arces;
non mare fumasset geminum flagrante Corintho 190
nec fera Cecropiae traxissent vincula matres.
illa dies potuit nostris imponere finem
cladibus et sceleris causas auferre futuri.
invida pro quantum rapuit Fortuna triumphum!
inter equos interque tubas mandata feruntur 195
regia et armati veniunt ductoris ad aures.
Obstupuit; simul ira virum, simul obruit ingens
maeror et ignavo tantum licuisse nocenti
miratur. dubios anceps sententia volvit
eventus: peragat pugnas an fortia coepta 200
deserat? Illyricis ardet succurrere damnis;
praeceptis obstare timet. reverentia frangit
virtutis stimulos: hinc publica commoda suadent,
hinc metus invidiae. tandem indignatus ad astra
extollit palmas et ab imo pectore fatur: 205
“Numina Romanis necdum satiata ruinis,
si iuvat imperium penitus de stirpe revelli,
uno si placuit deleri saecula lapsu,
si piget humani generis, prorumpat in arva
libertas effrena maris vel limite iusto 210
devius errantes Phaëthon confundat habenas.
cur per Rufinum geritur? procumbere mundum
hoc auctore pudet. mediis revocamur ab armis
(pro dolor!) et strictos deponere cogimur enses.
vos, arsurae urbes perituraque moenia, testor: 215
cedo equidem et miserum permitto casibus orbem
flectite signa, duces. redeat iam miles Eous.
* * * * *
Page 73
of war, Arcadia and Sparta’s citadel would have remained unravaged.
Burning Corinth would not have heated the waves of her two seas, nor
would cruel chains have led in captivity the matrons of Athens. That
day might have set an end to our disasters and destroyed the seeds of
future calamities. For shame, envious Fortune, of what a triumph didst
thou rob us! The kingly mandate came to Stilicho in arms amid the
cavalry and the trumpets’ din.
He stood amazed; anger and great grief o’erwhelm the hero and he
wonders that such power for ill is allowed a coward. His wavering mind
ponders the uncertain issue: shall he continue his advance or fail his
brave beginnings? He longs to stem Illyria’s ruin but fears to disobey
orders. Loyalty annuls the prickings-on of valour. The public good
urges him one way, fear of the emperor’s displeasure another. At length
in his distress he raises his hands to heaven and speaks from deep
within his heart: “Ye gods not yet glutted with Rome’s destruction, if
ye will that our empire be utterly uprooted, if ye have resolved to
blot out all the centuries with one blow, if ye repent you of the race
of man, then let the sea’s unrestrained fury burst forth upon the land
or let Phaëthon, deviating from his ordained course, drive his straying
chariot at random. Shall Rufinus be your tool? ’Twere shame that such
an one should be the author of the world’s destruction. O the grief of
it! recalled in mid fight; forced to lay down the swords we have drawn!
Cities marked out for the flames, walls doomed to destruction, I call
you to witness: see, I retire; I leave the unhappy world to its fate.
Turn your banners, captains; to your homes, soldiers of the east. Needs
must we obey.
* * * * *
Page 74
parendum est. taceant litui. prohibete sagittas.
parcite contiguo--Rufinus praecipit!--hosti.”
His dictis omnes una fremuere manipli 220
quantum non Italo percussa Ceraunia fluctu,
quantum non madidis elisa tonitrua Cauris,
secernique negant ereptaque proelia poscunt,
insignemque ducem populus defendit uterque
et sibi quisque trahit. magno certatur amore, 225
alternamque fidem non inlaudata lacessit
seditio talique simul clamore queruntur:
“Quis mihi nudatos enses, quis tela lacertis
excutit et solvi curvatos imperat arcus?
quisnam audet stricto leges imponere ferro? 230
inflammata semel nescit mitescere virtus.
iam mihi barbaricos sitientia pila cruores
sponte volant ultroque manus mucrone furenti
ducitur et siccum gladium vagina recusat.
non patiar. semperne Getis discordia nostra 235
proderit? en iterum belli civilis imago!
quid consanguineas acies, quid dividis olim
concordes aquilas? non dissociabile corpus
coniunctumque sumus. te qua libet ire sequemur.
te vel Hyperboreo damnatam sidere Thylen, 240
te vel ad incensas Libyae comitabor harenas.
Indorum si stagna petas Rubrique recessus
litoris, auriferum veniam poturus Hydaspen;
si calcare Notum secretaque noscere Nili
nascentis iubeas, mundum post terga relinquam; 245
* * * * *
Page 75
Silence, ye clarions; men, forbear to shoot. The foe is at hand, spare
him; ’tis Rufinus’ command.”
At these words an unanimous roar went up from all the companies. With
less din are the cliffs of Ceraunia buffeted by the Italian sea or the
thunders evoked from the western winds’ wet storm-clouds. They will
not separate, and demand the battle of which they have been defrauded.
East and west claim the leadership of that illustrious chief. It is a
contest of affection; insubordination that none can blame threatens to
sap the loyalty of both armies who thus utter their common complaint:
“Who is it robs us of our drawn swords? Who strikes the lance from our
hand and bids us unstring the bent bow? Who dares dictate to an army
under arms? Valour once roused knows no abatement. Spears thirsting for
barbarian blood cast themselves from out our hands; our headlong blades
force our vengeful arms to follow them; our very scabbards refuse to
sheath an unblooded sword. I will not bear it. Shall the Getae ever
profit by our dissension? Behold once more the shadow of civil war.
Why dost thou seek to separate armies whose blood is one, standards of
immemorial alliance? We are a body one and indivisible. Thee will we
follow whithersoever thou goest; thee will we accompany even as far as
Thule lying ice-bound beneath the pole-star, or to the burning sands of
Libya. Should thy path be by the waters of Ind, or the bays of the Red
Sea,[58] I would go drink Hydaspes’ golden stream. Shouldst thou bid me
fare south and search out the hidden sources of the stripling Nile, I
would leave behind me the world
[58] By the _mare rubrum_ the ancients meant the Indian Ocean. The
Hydaspes is the modern Jhylum.
* * * * *
Page 76
et quocumque loco Stilicho tentoria figat,
haec patria est.”
Dux inde vetat: “desistite, quaeso.
atque avidam differte manum. cadat iste minacis
invidiae cumulus. non est victoria tanti,
ut videar vicisse mihi. vos fida iuventus 250
ite, mei quondam socii.” nec plura locutus
flexit iter: vacuo qualis discedit hiatu
impatiens remeare leo, quem plurima cuspis
et pastorales pepulerunt igne catervae,
inclinatque iubas demissaque lumina velat 255
et trepidas maesto rimatur murmure silvas.
Ut sese legio vidit disiuncta relinqui,
ingentem tollit gemitum galeasque solutis
umectat lacrimis pressamque morantia vocem
thoracum validos pulsant suspiria nexus: 260
“tradimur, heu, tantumque sequi prohibemur
amorem!”
exclamant. “spernisne tuas, dux optime, dextras,
quas tibi victrices totiens Bellona probavit?
nos adeo viles? adeo felicior axis
Hesperius, meruit qui te rectore teneri? 265
quid nobis patriam, quid cara revisere tandem
pignora dilectosve iuvat coluisse penates?
te sine dulce nihil. iam formidata tyranni
tempestas subeunda mihi, qui forte nefandas
iam parat insidias, qui nos aut turpibus Hunis 270
aut impacatis famulos praebebit Alanis;
quamquam non adeo robur defecerit omne
tantave gestandi fuerit penuria ferri.
tu, licet occiduo maneas sub cardine caeli,
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I know. Wheresoever Stilicho plants his tent there is my fatherland.”
But Stilicho said them nay: “Cease, I beg you,” he cried, “stay your
eager hands. Suffer to disperse the mountain of hatred that towers over
me. I hold not victory so dear that I would fain seem to win it for
myself. Loyal gentlemen, so long my fellow-soldiers, get you gone.” He
said no more but turned away, as a lion loath to retire makes off with
empty maw when the serried spears and the burning branches in the hands
of the shepherd band drive him back and he droops his mane and closes
his downcast eyes and with a disappointed roar pushes his way through
the trembling forest.
When the armies saw that they had been parted and left, they groaned
deeply and bedewed their helmets with a stream of tears. The sighs that
refused egress to their smothered words shook the strong fastenings of
their breastplates. “We are betrayed,” they cried, “and forbidden to
follow him we love so well. Dost thou despise, matchless chief, thine
own right hands which have so often won thee the victory? Are we thus
vile? Is the Western sky to be the happier which has won the right to
enjoy thy rule? What boots it to return to our country, to see once
more our children dear after so long an absence, to live again in the
home we love? Without thee is no joy. Now must I face the tyrant’s
dread wrath; mayhap e’en now he is making ready against me some wicked
snare and will make me a slave to the foul Huns or restless Alans. Yet
is not my strength altogether perished nor so complete my powerlessness
to wield the sword. Rest thou beneath the sun’s westering course,
Stilicho, thou art still
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tu mihi dux semper, Stilicho, nostramque vel absens
experiere fidem. dabitur tibi debita pridem 276
victima: promissis longe placabere sacris.”
Tristior Haemoniis miles digressus ab oris
tangebat Macetum fines murosque subibat,
Thessalonica, tuos. sensu dolor haeret in alto 280
abditus et tacitas vindictae praestruit iras,
spectaturque favens odiis locus aptaque leto
tempora. nec quisquam tanta de pube repertus,
proderet incautis qui corda minantia verbis.
quae non posteritas, quae non mirabitur aetas 285
tanti consilium vulgi potuisse taceri
aut facinus tam grande tegi mentisque calorem
non sermone viae, non inter pocula rumpi?
aequalis tantam tenuit constantia turbam
et fuit arcanum populo. percurritur Haemus, 290
deseritur Rhodope Thracumque per ardua tendunt,
donec ad Herculei perventum nominis urbem.
Ut cessisse ducem, propius venisse cohortes
cognita Rufino, magna cervice triumphat
omnia tuta ratus sceptrumque capessere fervet 295
et coniuratos hortatur voce clientes:
“vicimus, expulimus, facilis iam copia regni.
nullus ab hoste timor. quis enim, quem poscere solum
horruit, hunc tanto munitum milite vincat?
quis ferat armatum, quem non superavit inermem?
i nunc, exitium nobis meditare remotus 301
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ever our general, and though we be not together thou shalt still know
our loyalty. Long has a victim been owed thee; he shall be sacrificed
and thou placated by an immolation promised of old.”
Sad at heart the army left Thessaly, reached the borders of Macedon,
and arrived before the walls of Thessalonica. Indignation deep hid in
their hearts prepares the silent wrath of revenge. They look for a
place where they may wreak their vengeance and a moment propitious for
the blow, and of all that vast army not one is found to divulge with
incautious speech his heart’s intent. What succeeding age and time
but will marvel that a plot so widespread could be kept hid, a deed
of such vast import concealed; that the ardour of their minds was not
rendered of no avail by the chance word of a soldier on the march or a
drunkard’s babbling? But discretion ruled all alike and the people’s
secret was kept. The army crossed the Hebrus, left Rhodope behind, and
struck across the uplands of Thrace until it came to the city called
after Hercules.[59]
When Rufinus learned that Stilicho had retired and that his troops were
approaching he held his head high in triumph, believing everything
safe, and, anxious to seize the power, inflamed his traitorous minions
with this speech: “We have conquered; have driven off our enemy;
empire is within my grasp, nor have we anything to fear from the foe.
Will one who dared not approach me when I stood alone defeat me now
that I am strengthened by the addition of so great a force? Who could
stand against him armed whom unarmed he could not conquer? Plot my
destruction in exile, friend
[59] Probably Heraclea, at the west end of the Propontis.
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incassum, Stilicho, dum nos longissima tellus
dividat et mediis Nereus interstrepat undis.
Alpinas transire tibi me sospite rupes
haud dabitur. iaculis illinc me figere tempta. 305
quaere ferox ensem, qui nostra ad moenia tendi
possit ab Italia. non te documenta priorum,
non exempla vetant? quisnam conatus adire
has iactat vitasse manus? detrusimus orbe
te medio tantisque simul spoliavimus armis. 310
nunc epulis tempus, socii, nunc larga parare
munera donandumque novis legionibus aurum!
opportuna meis oritur lux crastina votis.
quod nolit rex ipse velit iubeatque coactus
in partem mihi regna dari. contingat in uno 315
privati fugisse modum crimenque tyranni.”
Talibus adclamat dictis infame nocentum
concilium, qui perpetuis crevere rapinis
et quos una facit Rufino causa sodales,
inlicitum duxisse nihil; funesta tacere 320
nexus amicitiae. iamiam conubia laeti
despondent aliena sibi frustraque vicissim
promittunt, quae quisque petat, quas devoret urbes.
Coeperat humanos alto sopire labores
nox gremio, nigrasque sopor diffuderat alas. 325
ille diu curis animum stimulantibus aegre
labitur in somnos. toto vix corde quierat,
ecce videt diras adludere protinus umbras,
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Stilicho. What harm can that do so long as a vast stretch of country
divide us and Nereus’ waves thunder between? Thou shalt have no chance
of crossing the rocky Alps while I live. Transfix me from thence with
thine arrows, if thou canst. Seek in thy fury a sword that from Italy
shall reach my city’s walls. Does not the experience and the example
of those who have tried before deter thee? Who that has dared approach
can boast escape from my hands? I have driven thee from the centre of
the civilized world and at the same time deprived thee of thy great
army. Now, my friends, is come the time for feasting and making ready
bountiful gifts and bestowing gold upon these new legions. To-morrow’s
light dawns prosperously for my purpose. Needs must the emperor will
what he would not and bid a portion of his empire to be given to me.
Mine alone be the happy fortune to rise above a private estate and yet
escape the charge of tyranny.”
To such words they shout acclaim--that vile band of traitors, waxed fat
on plunder, whom one principle makes fellows with Rufinus, the holding
nothing unlawful, and whose bond of friendship is to guard guilt in
silence. Straightway they joyfully promise themselves foreign wives and
all to no purpose forecast the booty they will win and the cities they
will sack.
Night had begun to soothe human toils in her deep bosom and sleep had
spread his black wings when Rufinus, whose mind had long been a prey to
anxiety, sank into a troubled slumber. Scarce had quiet fastened on his
heart when, lo, he sees flit before his eyes the dread ghosts of those
whom he
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Page 82
quas dedit ipse neci; quarum quae clarior una
visa loqui: “pro! surge toro. quid plurima volvis 330
anxius? haec requiem rebus finemque labori
adlatura dies: omni iam plebe redibis
altior et laeti manibus portabere vulgi.”
has canit ambages. occulto fallitur ille
omine nec capitis sentit praesagia fixi. 335
Iam summum radiis stringebat Lucifer Haemum
festinamque rotam solito properantior urget
tandem Rufini visurus funera Titan:
desiluit stratis densaeque capacia turbae
atria regifico iussit splendere paratu 340
exceptura dapes et, quod post vota daretur,
insculpi propriis aurum fatale figuris.
ipse salutatum reduces post proelia turmas
iam regale tumens et principe celsior ibat
collaque femineo solvebat mollia gestu 345
imperii certus, tegeret ceu purpura dudum
corpus et ardentes ambirent tempora gemmae.
Urbis ab angusto tractu, qua vergit in austrum,
planities vicina patet: nam cetera pontus
circuit exiguo dirimi se limite passus. 350
hic ultrix acies ornatu lucida Martis
explicuit cuneos. pedites in parte sinistra
consistunt. equites illinc poscentia cursum
ora reluctantur pressis sedare lupatis;
hinc alii saevum cristato vertice nutant 355
et tremulos umeris gaudent vibrare colores,
quos operit formatque chalybs; coniuncta per artem
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Page 83
had killed. Of them one, more distinct than the rest, seemed thus
to address him: “Up from thy couch! why schemes thine anxious mind
further? This coming day shall bring thee rest and end thy toils. High
above the people shalt thou be raised, and happy crowds shall carry
thee in their arms.” Such was the ambiguous prophecy of the ghost,
but Rufinus observed not the hidden omen and saw not it foretold the
elevation of his severed head upon a spear.
Now Lucifer touched the peak of Haemus with his rays and Titan urged
his hastening wheel quicker than his wont, so soon to see at last the
death of Rufinus. Rufinus himself leapt from his bed and bade make
ready the capacious palace with regal splendour in preparation for the
feast; the gold to be given in largesse he ordered to be stamped with
his own fateful image. Himself went to welcome the troops returning
from the battle in kingly pride and arrogance above a prince’s. Sure
now of empire he wore a woman’s raiment about his neck; as though the
purple already clothed his limbs and the jewelled crown blazed upon his
brow.
Hard by a crowded quarter of the city of Constantinople, towards the
south, there lies a plain. The rest is surrounded by the sea which
here allows itself to be parted by a narrow way. Here the avenging
army, bright with the panoply of the war god, disposes its squadrons.
On the left stands the infantry. Over against them the cavalry seek
to restrain their eager steeds by holding tight the reins. Here nod
the savage waving plumes whose wearers rejoice to shake the flashing
colours of their shoulder-armour; for steel clothes them on and gives
them their shape; the limbs within
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Page 84
flexilis inductis animatur lamina membris;
horribiles visu: credas simulacra moveri
ferrea cognatoque viros spirare metallo. 360
par vestitus equis: ferrata fronte minantur
ferratosque levant securi vulneris armos.
diviso stat quisque loco, metuenda voluptas
cernenti pulcherque timor, spirisque remissis
mansuescunt varii vento cessante dracones. 365
Augustus veneranda prior vexilla salutat.
Rufinus sequitur, quo fallere cuncta solebat
callidus adfatu, devotaque brachia laudat;
nomine quemque vocat; natos patresque reversis
nuntiat incolumes. illi dum plurima ficto 370
certatim sermone petunt, extendere longos
a tergo flexus insperatoque suprema
circuitu sociare parant; decrescere campus
incipit, et clipeis in se redeuntia iunctis
curvo paulatim sinuantur cornua ductu: 375
sic ligat inmensa virides indagine saltus
venator; sic attonitos ad litora pisces
aequoreus populator agit rarosque plagarum
contrahit anfractus et hiantes colligit oras.
excludunt alios. cingi se fervidus ille 380
nescit adhuc graviterque adprensa veste morantem
increpat Augustum: scandat sublime tribunal,
participem sceptri, socium declaret honoris--cum
subito stringunt gladios; vox desuper ingens
infremuit: “nobis etiam, deterrime, nobis 385
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Page 85
give life to the armour’s pliant scales so artfully conjoined, and
strike terror into the beholder. ’Tis as though iron statues moved and
men lived cast from that same metal. The horses are armed in the same
way; their heads are encased in threatening iron, their forequarters
move beneath steel plates protecting them from wounds; each stands
alone, a pleasure yet a dread to behold, beautiful, yet terrible, and
as the wind drops the parti-coloured dragons[60] sink with relaxing
coils into repose.
The emperor first salutes the hallowed standards; Rufinus follows him,
speaking with that crafty voice wherewith he deceived all, praising
their devoted arms and addressing each by name. He tells those who have
returned that their sons and fathers are still alive. The soldiers,
observing a feigned rivalry in asking questions, begin to extend their
long lines behind his back and to join up the ends so as to form a
circle unnoticed by Rufinus. The space in the centre grows smaller
and the wings meeting with serried shields gradually form into one
lessening circle. Even so the huntsman surrounds the grassy glades with
his widespread snares: so the spoiler of the ocean drives to land the
frightened fish, narrowing the circuit of his nets and closing up all
possible ways of egress. All others they exclude. In his eagerness he
notes not yet that he is being surrounded and, strongly seizing his
robe, chides the hesitating emperor: let him mount the lofty platform
and declare him sharer in his sceptre, partaker in his dignities--when
suddenly they draw their swords and above the rest there rang out a
mighty voice; “Basest of the base, didst
[60] Claudian refers to the devices emblazoned upon the banners.
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Page 86
sperasti famulas imponere posse catenas?
unde redi nescis? patiarne audire satelles,
qui leges aliis libertatemque reduxi?
bis domitum civile nefas, bis rupimus Alpes.
tot nos bella docent nulli servire tyranno.” 390
Deriguit. spes nulla fugae; seges undique ferri
circumfusa micat; dextra laevaque revinctus
haesit et ensiferae stupuit mucrone coronae,
ut fera, quae nuper montes amisit avitos
altorumque exul nemorum damnatur harenae 395
muneribus, commota ruit; vir murmure contra
hortatur nixusque genu venabula tendit;
illa pavet strepitus cuneosque erecta theatri
respicit et tanti miratur sibila vulgi.
Unus per medios audendi pronior ense 400
prosilit exerto dictisque et vulnere torvus
impetit: “hac Stilicho, quem iactas pellere, dextra
te ferit; hoc absens invadit viscera ferro.”
sic fatur meritoque latus transverberat ictu.
Felix illa manus, talem quae prima cruorem 405
hauserit et fessi poenam libaverit orbis!
mox omnes laniant hastis artusque trementes
dilacerant; uno tot corpore tela tepescunt
et non infecto puduit mucrone reverti.
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Page 87
thou hope to cast upon _us_ the yoke of slavery? Knowest thou not
whence I return? Shall I allow myself to be called another’s servant,
I who gave laws to others and restored the reign of liberty? Two civil
wars have I quenched, twice forced the barrier of the Alps. These many
battles have taught me to serve no tyrant.”
Rufinus stood rooted to earth. There is no hope of escape, for a
forest of flashing spears hems him in. Shut in on the right hand and
on the left he stood and gazed in wonder on the drawn blades of the
armed throng; as a beast who has lately left his native hills, driven
in exile from the wooded mountains and condemned to the gladiatorial
shows, rushes into the arena while over against him the gladiator,
heartened by the crowd’s applause kneels and holds out his spear. The
beast, alarmed at the noise, gazes with head erect upon the rows of
seats in the amphitheatre and hears with amazement the murmuring of the
crowd.
Then one more daring than the rest drew his sword and leapt forward
from the crowd and with fierce words and flashing eye rushed upon
Rufinus crying: “It is the hand of Stilicho whom thou vauntest that
thou didst expel that smites thee; his sword, which thou thoughtest far
away, that pierces thy heart.” So spake he and transfixed Rufinus’ side
with a well-deserved thrust.
Happy the hand that first spilt such vile blood and poured out
vengeance for a world made weary. Straightway all pierce him with
their spears and tear quivering limb from limb; one single body warms
all these weapons with its blood; shame to him whose sword returns
unstained therewith.
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Page 88
hi vultus avidos et adhuc spirantia vellunt 410
lumina, truncatos alii rapuere lacertos.
amputat ille pedes, umerum quatit ille solutis
nexibus; hic fracti reserat curvamina dorsi;
hic iecur, hic cordis fibras, hic pandit anhelas
pulmonis latebras. spatium non invenit ira 415
nec locus est odiis. consumpto funere vix tum
deseritur sparsumque perit per tela cadaver.
sic mons Aonius rubuit, cum Penthea ferrent
Maenades aut subito mutatum Actaeona cornu
traderet insanis Latonia visa Molossis. 420
criminibusne tuis credis, Fortuna, mederi
et male donatum certas aequare favorem
suppliciis? una tot milia morte rependis?
eversis agedum Rufinum divide terris.
da caput Odrysiis, truncum mereantur Achivi. 425
quid reliquis dabitur? nec singula membra peremptis
sufficiunt populis.
Vacuo plebs undique muro
iam secura fluit; senibus non obstitit aetas
virginibusve pudor; viduae, quibus ille maritos
abstulit, orbataeque ruunt ad gaudia matres 430
insultantque alacres. laceros iuvat ire per artus
pressaque calcato vestigia sanguine tingui.
nec minus adsiduis flagrant elidere saxis
prodigiale caput, quod iam de cuspide summa
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They stamp on that face of greed and while yet he lives pluck out his
eyes; others seize and carry off his severed arms. One cuts off his
foot, another wrenches a shoulder from the torn sinews; one lays bare
the ribs of the cleft spine, another his liver, his heart, his still
panting lungs. There is not space enough to satisfy their anger nor
room to wreak their hate. Scarce when his death had been accomplished
do they leave him; his body is hacked in pieces and the fragments borne
on the soldiers’ spears. Thus red with blood ran the Boeotian mountain
when the Maenads caused Pentheus’ destruction or when Latona’s daughter
seen by Actaeon betrayed the huntsman, suddenly transformed into a
stag, to the fury of her Molossian hounds. Dost thou hope, Fortune,
thus to right thy wrongs? Seekest thou to atone by this meting out
of punishment for favour ill bestowed? Dost thou with one death make
payment for ten thousand murders? Come, portion out Rufinus’ corpse
among the lands he has wronged. Give the Thracians his head; let Greece
have as her due his body. What shall be given the rest? Give but a limb
apiece, there are not enough for the peoples he has ruined.
The citizens leave the town and hasten exulting to the spot from every
quarter, old men and girls among them whom nor age nor sex could keep
at home. Widows whose husbands he had killed, mothers whose children he
had murdered hurry to the joyful scene with eager steps. They are fain
to trample the torn limbs and stain their deep pressed feet with the
blood. So, too, they eagerly hurl a shower of stones at the monstrous
head, nodding from the summit of the spear that transfixed it as it
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Page 90
nutabat digna rediens ad moenia pompa. 435
dextera quin etiam ludo concessa vagatur
aera petens poenasque animi persolvit avari
terribili lucro vivosque imitata retentus
cogitur adductis digitos inflectere nervis.
Desinat elatis quisquam confidere rebus 440
instabilesque deos ac lubrica numina discat.
illa manus, quae sceptra sibi gestanda parabat,
cuius se totiens summisit ad oscula supplex
nobilitas, inhumata diu miseroque revulsa
corpore feralem quaestum post fata reposcit. 445
adspiciat quisquis nimium sublata secundis
colla gerit: triviis calcandus spargitur ecce,
qui sibi pyramidas, qui non cedentia templis
ornatura suos extruxit culmina manes,
et qui Sidonio velari credidit ostro, 450
nudus pascit aves. iacet en, qui possidet orbem,
exiguae telluris inops et pulvere raro
per partes tegitur nusquam totiensque sepultus.
Senserunt convexa necem tellusque nefandum
amolitur onus iam respirantibus astris. 455
infernos gravat umbra lacus. pater Aeacus horret
intrantemque etiam latratu Cerberus urget.
tune animae, quas ille fero sub iure peremit,
circumstant nigrique trahunt ad iudicis urnam
infesto fremitu: veluti pastoris in ora 460
commotae glomerantur apes, qui dulcia raptu
mella vehit, pennasque cient et spicula tendunt
et tenuis saxi per propugnacula cinctae
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Page 91
was carried back in merited splendour to the city. Nay his hand too,
made over to their mockery, goes a-begging for alms, and with its awful
gains pays the penalty for his greedy soul, while forced, in mimicry of
its living clutch, to draw up the fingers by their sinews.
Put not now your trust in prosperity; learn that the gods are
inconstant and heaven untrustworthy. That hand which sought to wield a
sceptre, which a humbled nobility stooped so often to kiss, now torn
from its wretched trunk and left long unburied begs after death a
baneful alms. Let him gaze on this whoso carries his head high in pride
of prosperity, see trodden under foot at the cross-roads him who built
pyramids for himself and a tomb, large as a temple, to the glory of his
own ghost. He who trusted to be clothed in Tyrian purple is now a naked
corpse and food for birds. See, he who owns the world lies denied six
foot of earth, half covered with a sprinkling of dust, given no grave
yet given so many.
Heaven knew of his death and earth is freed of her hated burden, now
that the stars can breathe again. His shade oppresses the rivers of
Hell. Old Aeacus shudders and Cerberus bays to stop, in this case,
the _entry_ of a ghost. Then those shades which he had sent to death
beneath his cruel laws flock round him and hale him away with horrid
shoutings to the tribunal of the gloomy judge: even as bees whom a
shepherd has disturbed swarm round his head when he would rob them of
their sweet honey, and flutter their wings and put forth their stings,
making them ready for battle in the fastnesses of their little rock,
and seek to defend the
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Page 92
rimosam patriam dilectaque pumicis antra
defendunt pronoque favos examine velant. 465
Est locus infaustis quo conciliantur in unum
Cocytos Phlegethonque vadis; inamoenus uterque
alveus; hic volvit lacrimas, hic igne redundat.
turris per geminos, flammis vicinior, amnes
porrigitur solidoque rigens adamante sinistrum 470
proluit igne latus; dextro Cocytia findit
aequora triste gemens et fletu concita plangit.
huc post emeritam mortalia saecula vitam
deveniunt. ibi nulla manent discrimina fati,
nullus honos vanoque exutum nomine regem 475
proturbat plebeius egens. quaesitor in alto
conspicuus solio pertemptat crimina Minos
et iustis dirimit sontes. quos nolle fateri
viderit, ad rigidi transmittit verbera fratris.
nam iuxta Rhadamanthys agit. cum gesta superni
curriculi totosque diu perspexerit actus, 481
exaequat damnum meritis et muta ferarum
cogit vincla pati. truculentos ingerit ursis
praedonesque lupis; fallaces vulpibus addit.
at qui desidia semper vinoque gravatus, 485
indulgens Veneri, voluit torpescere luxu,
hunc suis inmundi pingues detrudit in artus.
qui iusto plus esse loquax arcanaque suevit
prodere, piscosas fertur victurus in undas,
ut nimiam pensent aeterna silentia vocem. 490
quos ubi per varias annis ter mille figuras
egit, Lethaeo purgatos flumine tandem
rursus ad humanae revocat primordia formae.
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Page 93
crevices of their home, their beloved pumice-stone cave, swarming over
the honeycombs therein.
There is a place where the unhallowed rivers of Cocytus and Phlegethon
mingle their dread streams of tears and fire. Between the rivers yet
nearer to that of Phlegethon there juts a tower stiff with solid
adamant that bathes its left side in the flames; its right hand wall
extends into Cocytus’ stream and echoes the lamentation of the river
of tears. Hither come all the children of men whose life is ended;
here there abide no marks of earthly fortune; no reverence is shown;
the common beggar ousts the king, now stripped of his empty title.
Seen afar on his lofty throne the judge Minos examines the charges and
separates the wicked from the righteous. Those whom he sees unwilling
to confess their sins he remits to the lash of his stern brother; for
he, Rhadamanthus, is busy close at hand. When he has closely examined
the deeds of their earthly life and all that they did therein, he
suits the punishment to their crimes and makes them undergo the bonds
of dumb animals. The spirits of the cruel enter into bears, of the
rapacious into wolves, of the treacherous into foxes. Those, on the
other hand, who were ever sunk in sloth, sodden with wine, given to
venery, sluggish from excesses, he compelled to enter the fat bodies of
filthy swine. Was any above measure talkative, a betrayer of secrets,
he was carried off, a fish, to live in the waters amid his kind, that
in eternal silence he might atone for his garrulity. When for thrice a
thousand years he had forced these through countless diverse shapes,
he sends them back once more to the beginnings of human form purged at
last with Lethe’s stream.
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Tum quoque, dum lites Stygiique negotia solvit
dura fori veteresque reos ex ordine quaerit, 495
Rufinum procul ecce notat visuque severo
lustrat et ex imo concussa sede profatur:
“Huc superum labes, huc insatiabilis auri
proluvies pretioque nihil non ause parato,
quodque mihi summum scelus est, huc improbe legum
venditor, Arctoi stimulator perfide Martis! 501
cuius ob innumeras strages angustus Averni
iam sinus et plena lassatur portitor alno.
quid demens manifesta negas? en pectus inustae
deformant maculae vitiisque inolevit imago 505
nec sese commissa tegunt. genus omne dolorum
in te ferre libet: dubio tibi pendula rupes
inmineat lapsu, volucer te torqueat axis,
te refugi fallant latices atque ore natanti
arescat decepta sitis, dapibusque relictis 510
in tua mansurus migret praecordia vultur.
quamquam omnes alii, quos haec tormenta fatigant,
pars quota sunt, Rufine, tui! quid tale vel audax
fulmine Salmoneus vel lingua Tantalus egit
aut inconsulto Tityos deliquit amore? 515
cunctorum si facta simul iungantur in unum,
praecedes numero. cui tanta piacula quisquam
supplicio conferre valet? quid denique dignum
omnibus inveniam, vincant cum singula poenas?
tollite de mediis animarum dedecus umbris. 520
adspexisse sat est. oculis iam parcite nostris
et Ditis purgate domos. agitate flagellis
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So then while he settles these suits, dread business of that infernal
court, while he examines in due order the criminals of old, he marks
afar Rufinus, scans him with a stern scrutiny and speaks, shaking his
throne to its foundation. “Hither, Rufinus, scourge of the world,
bottomless sink of gold who wouldst dare aught for money; hither
conscienceless seller of justice (that crime of crimes), faithless
cause of that northern war whose thousand slaughtered victims now
throng Hell’s narrow entry and weigh down Charon’s crowded barque.
Madman, why deny what all know? The foul stains of wickedness are
branded upon thy heart, thy crimes have made their impress on thy
spirit and thy sins cannot be hid. Right glad I am to sentence thee to
every kind of punishment. O’er thee shall hang the threatening rock
the moment of whose fall thou knowest not. The circling wheel shall
rack thee. Thy lips the stream’s waves shall flee, thirst shall parch
thee to whose chin its elusive waters mount. The vulture shall leave
his former prey and feast for ever on thy heart. And yet all these,
Rufinus, whom the like punishments torment, how paltry their wickedness
compared with thine! Did bold Salmoneus’ thunderbolt or Tantalus’
tongue ever do like wrong or Tityos so offend with his mad love? Join
all their crimes together yet wilt thou surpass them. What sufficient
atonement can be found for such wickedness? What to match thy sum of
crimes whose single misdeeds outmatch all punishment? Shades, remove
from this our ghostly company that presence that disgraces it. To have
seen once is enough. Have mercy now on our eyes, and cleanse the realm
of Dis. Drive
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trans Styga, trans Erebum, vacuo mandate barathro
infra Titanum tenebras infraque recessus
Tartareos ipsumque[61] Chaos, qua noctis opacae 525
fundamenta latent; praeceps ibi mersus anhelet,
dum rotat astra polus, feriunt dum litora venti.”
[61] MSS. have _nostrumque_.
* * * * *
Page 97
him with whips beyond the Styx, beyond Erebus; thrust him down into the
empty pit beneath the lightless prison of the Titans, below the depths
of Tartarus and Chaos’ own realm, where lie the foundations of thickest
midnight; deep hidden there let him live while ever the vault of heaven
carries round the stars and the winds beat upon the land.”
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DE BELLO GILDONICO
LIBER I
(XV.)
Redditus imperiis Auster subiectaque rursus
alterius convexa poli. rectore sub uno
conspirat geminus frenis communibus orbis.
iunximus Europen Libyae. concordia fratrum
plena redit. patriis solum quod defuit armis, 5
tertius occubuit nati virtute tyrannus.
horret adhuc animus manifestaque gaudia differt,
dum stupet et tanto cunctatur credere voto.
necdum Cinyphias exercitus attigit oras:
iam domitus Gildo. nullis victoria nodis 10
haesit, non spatio terrae, non obice ponti.
congressum profugum captum vox nuntiat una
rumoremque sui praevenit laurea belli.
quo, precor, haec effecta deo? robusta vetusque
tempore tam parvo potuit dementia vinci? 15
quem veniens indixit hiems, ver perculit hostem.
* * * * *
Page 99
THE WAR AGAINST GILDO[62]