(XV.)
The kingdom of the south is restored to our empire, the sky of that
other hemisphere is once more brought into subjection. East and West
live in amity and concord beneath the sway of one ruler. We have joined
Europe again to Africa, and unswerving singleness of purpose unites the
brother emperors. The would-be third participant of empire has fallen
before the prowess of Honorius the son--that one victory that failed
to grace the arms of Theodosius, the father. Still is my mind troubled
and admits not the universal joy for very amazement, nor can believe
the fulfilment of its heart-felt prayers. Not yet had the army landed
upon Africa’s[63] coasts when Gildo yielded to defeat. No difficulties
delayed our victorious arms, neither length of march nor intervening
ocean. One and the same word brings news of the conflict, the flight,
the capture of Gildo. The news of victory outstripped the news of the
war that occasioned it. What god wrought this for us? Could madness so
strong, so deep-seated be overcome so soon? The enemy whom early winter
brought upon us, spring destroyed.
[62] For the details of Gildo’s rebellion see Introduction, p. x.
[63] The Cinyps is a river in Libya; _cf._ Virg. _Georg._ iii. 312.
* * * * *
Page 100
Exitium iam Roma timens et fessa negatis
frugibus ad rapidi limen tendebat Olympi
non solito vultu nec qualis iura Britannis
dividit aut trepidos summittit fascibus Indos. 20
vox tenuis tardique gradus oculique iacentes
interius; fugere genae; ieiuna lacertos
exedit macies. umeris vix sustinet aegris
squalentem clipeum; laxata casside prodit
canitiem plenamque trahit rubiginis hastam. 25
attigit ut tandem caelum genibusque Tonantis
procubuit, tales orditur maesta querellas:
“Si mea mansuris meruerunt moenia nasci,
Iuppiter, auguriis, si stant inmota Sibyllae
carmina, Tarpeias si necdum respuis arces: 30
advenio supplex, non ut proculcet Araxen
consul ovans nostraeve premant pharetrata secures
Susa, nec ut Rubris aquilas figamus harenis.
haec nobis, haec ante dabas; nunc pabula tantum
Roma precor. miserere tuae, pater optinae, gentis, 35
extremam defende famem. satiavimus iram
si qua fuit; lugenda Getis et flenda Suebis
hausimus; ipsa meos horreret Parthia casus.
quid referam morbive luem tumulosve repletos
stragibus et crebras corrupto sidere mortes? 40
aut fluvium per tecta vagum summisque minatum
collibus? ingentes vexi summersa carinas
remorumque sonos et Pyrrhae saecula sensi.
“Ei mihi, quo Latiae vires urbisque potestas
* * * * *
Page 101
Rome, the goddess, fearing for her city’s destruction and weak with
corn withheld, hastened to the threshold of revolving Olympus with
looks unlike her own; not with such countenance does she assign laws
to the Britons, or subject the frightened Indians to her rule. Feeble
her voice, slow her step, her eyes deep buried. Her cheeks were sunken
and hunger had wasted her limbs. Scarce can her weak shoulders support
her unpolished shield. Her ill-fitting helmet shows her grey hairs and
the spear she carries is a mass of rust. At last she reaches heaven and
falls at the Thunderer’s feet and utters this mournful complaint: “If
prophecy rightly foretold the permanence of the rising walls of Rome;
if the Sibyl’s verse is unalterable; if thou art not yet wearied of
our city and the Capitol, I come to thee as a suppliant. My prayer is
not that a consul may march in triumph along Araxes’ banks, nor that
Rome’s power may crush the archer Persians and Susa their capital, nor
yet that we may plant our standards on the Red Sea’s strand. All this
thou grantedst us of old. ’Tis but food I, Rome, ask for now; father,
take pity on thy chosen race and ease us of this hunger unto death.
Whatever thy displeasure, we have surely sated it. The very Getae and
Suebi would pity our sufferings; Parthia’s self would shudder at my
disasters. What need have I to mention the pestilence, the heaps of
corpses, the numberless deaths wherewith the very air is corrupted? Why
tell of Tiber’s flooded stream, sweeping betwixt roofs and threatening
the very hills? My submerged city has borne mighty ships, echoed the
sound of oars, and experienced Pyrrha’s flood.
“Woe is me, whither are fled the power of Latium
* * * * *
Page 102
decidit! in qualem paulatim fluximus umbram! 45
armato quondam populo patrumque vigebam
conciliis; domui terras urbesque revinxi
legibus: ad solem victrix utrumque cucurri.
postquam iura ferox in se communia Caesar
transtulit et lapsi mores desuetaque priscis 50
artibus in gremium pacis servile recessi,
tot mihi pro meritis Libyam Nilumque dedere,
ut dominam plebem bellatoremque senatum
classibus aestivis alerent geminoque vicissim
litore diversi complerent horrea venti. 55
stabat certa salus: Memphis si forte negasset,
pensabam Pharium Gaetulis messibus annum,
frugiferas certare rates lateque videbam
Punica Niliacis concurrere carbasa velis.
cum subiit par Roma mihi divisaque sumpsit 60
aequales Aurora togas, Aegyptia rura
in partem cessere novae. spes unica nobis
restabat Libyae, quae vix aegreque fovebat;
solo ducta Noto, numquam secura futuri,
semper inops, ventique fidem poscebat et anni. 65
hanc quoque nunc Gildo rapuit sub fine cadentis
autumni. pavido metimur caerula voto,
puppis si qua venit, si quid fortasse potenti
vel pudor extorsit domino vel praedo reliquit.
pascimur arbitrio Mauri nec debita reddi, 70
* * * * *
Page 103
and the might of Rome? To what a shadow of our former glory are we
by gradual decline arrived! Time was when my men bore arms and my
greybeards met in council; mistress of the world was I and lawgiver
to mankind. From rising to setting sun I sped in triumph. When proud
Caesar had transferred my people’s power to himself, when manners
became corrupt and forgetful of war’s old discipline I declined into
the servile lap of peace, the emperors rewarded me with Africa and
Egypt that they might nourish the sovereign people and the Senate,
arbiter of peace and war, by means of summer-sped fleets, and that the
winds, blowing alternately from either shore, should fill our granaries
with corn. Our provisioning was secure. Should Memphis perchance have
denied us food, I would make up for the failure of Egypt’s harvest by
the African supply. I saw competition between grain-bearing vessels,
and where’er I looked I beheld the fleet of Carthage strive in rivalry
with that of the Nile. When a second Rome arose and the Eastern Empire
assumed the toga of the West, Egypt fell beneath that new sway. Africa
remained our only hope and scarcely did she suffice to feed us, whose
corn-ships none but the south wind wafted across. Her promise for the
future was insecure, as, ever helpless, she demanded the loyalty of the
wind and of the season.[64] This province, too, Gildo seized towards
the close of autumn. Anxiously and prayerfully we scan the blue sea to
glance a coming sail in the fond hope that perchance a sense of shame
has extorted somewhat from the powerful tyrant, or the conqueror left
some corner unconquered. We are fed at the pleasure of the Moor,
[64] Claudian means that the African corn-supply was not always to
be relied upon because (1) there might be a bad season, (2) there
might be unfavourable winds.
* * * * *
Page 104
sed sua concedi iactat gaudetque diurnos
ut famulae praebere cibos vitamque famemque
librat barbarico fastu vulgique superbit
fletibus et tantae suspendit fata ruinae.
Romuleas vendit segetes et possidet arva 75
vulneribus quaesita meis. ideone tot annos
flebile cum tumida bellum Carthagine gessi?
idcirco voluit contempta luce reverti
Regulus? hoc damnis, genitor, Cannensibus emi?
incassum totiens lituis navalibus arsit 80
Hispanum Siculumque fretum vastataque tellus
totque duces caesi ruptaque emissus ab Alpe
Poenus et attonitae iam proximus Hannibal urbi?
scilicet ut domitis frueretur barbarus Afris,
muro sustinui Martem noctesque cruentas 85
Collina pro turre tuli? Gildonis ad usum
Carthago ter victa ruit? hoc mille gementis
Italiae clades impensaque saecula bellis,
hoc Fabius fortisque mihi Marcellus agebant,
ut Gildo cumularet opes? haurire venena 90
compulimus dirum Syphacem fractumque Metello
traximus inmanem Marii sub vincla Iugurtham,
et Numidae Gildonis erunt? pro funera tanta,
pro labor! in Bocchi regnum sudavit uterque
Scipio. Romano vicistis sanguine Mauri. 95
ille diu miles populus, qui praefuit orbi,
qui trabeas et sceptra dabat, quem semper in armis
horribilem gentes, placidum sensere subactae,
* * * * *
Page 105
who boasts that he does not repay a debt but that he gives us of his
own, and rejoices to apportion out my daily food to me, as though I
were his slave; with a barbarian’s pride he weighs me life or death
by hunger, triumphs in a people’s tears, and holds above our heads
an universal destruction. He sells Rome’s crops and possesses land
won by my wounds. Was it for this that I waged lamentable war with
proud Carthage for so many years? For this that Regulus reckoned
his life as naught and would fain return to his captors? Is this my
reward, father, for my losses on Cannae’s field? Have the Spanish and
Sicilian seas resounded so often to our navies’ clarion for naught?
For naught my lands been laid waste, so many of my generals slain,
the Carthaginian invader broken his way through the Alps, Hannibal
approached my affrighted capital? Have I kept the foe at bay with my
walls and spent nights of slaughter before the Colline gate to enable a
barbarian to reap the fruits of conquered Africa? Has thrice-conquered
Carthage fallen for Gildo’s benefit? Was this the object of mourning
Italy’s thousand disasters, of centuries spent in war, of Fabius’ and
Marcellus’ deeds of daring--that Gildo should heap him up riches? We
forced cruel Syphax to drink poison, drove fierce Iugurtha, whose power
Metellus had broken, beneath Marius’ yoke--and shall Africa be Gildo’s?
Alas for our toil and those many deaths: the two Scipios have laboured,
it seems, to further Bocchus’[65] native rule; Roman blood has given
victory to the Moors. That long warlike race, lord of the world, that
appointed consuls and kings, whom foreign nations found ever formidable
in war, though gentle once they had
[65] Bocchus, properly a king of Mauritania, stands here typically for
any native monarch.
* * * * *
Page 106
nunc inhonorus egens perfert miserabile pacis
supplicium nulloque palam circumdatus hoste 100
obsessi discrimen habet. per singula letum
impendet momenta mihi dubitandaque pauci
praescribunt alimenta dies, heu prospera fata!
quid mihi septenos montes turbamque dedistis,
quae parvo non possit ali? felicior essem 105
angustis opibus; mallem tolerare Sabinos
et Veios; brevior duxi securius aevum.
ipsa nocet moles. utinam remeare liceret
ad veteres fines et moenia pauperis Anci.
sufficerent Etrusca mihi Campanaque culta 110
et Quincti Curiique seges, patriaeque petenti
rusticus inferret proprias dictator aristas.
“Nunc quid agam? Libyam Gildo tenet, altera Nilum.
ast ego, quae terras umeris pontumque subegi,
deseror: emeritae iam praemia nulla senectae. 115
di, quibus iratis crevi, succurrite tandem,
exorate patrem; tuque o si sponte per altum
vecta Palatinis mutasti collibus Idam
praelatoque lavas Phrygios Almone leones,
maternis precibus natum iam flecte, Cybebe. 120
sin prohibent Parcae falsisque elusa vetustas
auspiciis, alio saltem prosternite casu
et poenae mutate genus. Porsenna reducat
Tarquinios; renovet ferales Allia pugnas;
me potius saevi manibus permittite Pyrrhi, 125
* * * * *
Page 107
been subdued, dishonoured now and poverty-stricken, bends beneath the
cruel lash of peace, and though not openly beleaguered by any foe yet
has all the hazard of a siege. Destruction threatens me hourly; a few
days will set a limit to my uncertain food-supply. Out upon thee,
prosperity! Why hast thou given me seven hills and such a population
as a small supply cannot nourish? Happier I, had my power been less.
Better to have put up with the Sabines and Veii; in narrower bonds I
passed securer days. My very magnitude undoes me; would that I could
return to my former boundaries and the walls of poor Ancus. Enough for
me then would be the ploughlands of Etruria and Campania, the farms
of Cincinnatus and Curius, and at his country’s prayer the rustic
dictator[66] would bring his home-grown wheat.
“What am I to do now? Gildo holds Libya, another[67] Egypt; while
I, who subdued land and sea with my strong arm, am left to perish.
Veteran of so many wars, can I claim no reward in mine old age? Ye
gods in whose despite, it seems, I increased, now aid me at the last;
pray Jove for me. And thou, Cybele, if ever of thine own free will
thou wert carried over the sea and in exchange for Mount Ida tookest
the hills of Rome and didst bathe thy Phrygian lions in Almo’s more
favoured stream, move now thy son[68] with a mother’s entreaties. But
if the fates forbid and our first founder was misled by augury untrue,
o’erwhelm me at least in some different ruin, and change the nature of
my punishment. Let Porsenna bring back the Tarquins; let Allia renew
her bloody battle. Let me fall rather into the hands of cruel
[66] Doubtless a reference to Cincinnatus.
[67] Claudian means by “_altera_” the Eastern Empire.
[68] _i.e._ Jupiter.
* * * * *
Page 108
me Senonum furiis, Brenni me reddite flammis.
cuncta fame leviora mihi.”
Sic fata refusis
obticuit lacrimis. mater Cytherea parensque
flet Mavors sanctaeque memor Tritonia Vestae,
nec Cybele sicco nec stabat lumine Iuno. 130
maerent indigetes et si quos Roma recepit
aut dedit ipsa deos. genitor iam corde remitti
coeperat et sacrum dextra sedare tumultum,
cum procul insanis quatiens ululatibus axem
et contusa genas mediis adparet in astris 135
Africa: rescissae vestes et spicea passim
serta iacent; lacero crinales vertice dentes
et fractum pendebat ebur, talique superbas
inrupit clamore fores:
“Quid magne moraris
Iuppiter avulso nexu pelagique solutis 140
legibus iratum populis inmittere fratrem?
mergi prima peto; veniant praerupta Pachyno
aequora, laxatis subsidant Syrtibus urbes.
si mihi Gildonem nequeunt abducere fata,
me rape Gildoni. felicior illa perustae 145
pars Libyae, nimio quae se munita calore
defendit tantique vacat secura tyranni.
crescat zona rubens; medius flagrantis Olympi
me quoque limes agat; melius deserta iacebo
vomeris impatiens. pulsis dominentur aristis 150
dipsades et sitiens attollat glaeba cerastas.
quid me temperies iuvit? quid mitior aether?
Gildoni fecunda fui. iam solis habenae
* * * * *
Page 109
Pyrrhus; abandon me to the fury of the Senones or the flames of
Brennus. Welcome all this rather than to starve!”
So spake she, and upwelling tears choked her voice. Venus, mother of
Aeneas, wept, and Mars, father of Romulus and Minerva, mindful of
Vesta’s sacred charge.[69] Nor Cybele nor Juno stood with dry eyes. The
heroes mourn and all the gods whose worship Rome received from without
or herself inaugurated. And now began the heart of Jove to soften. With
hand outstretched he was checking the murmurings of the gods when,
shaking heaven with distraught cries, Africa, her cheeks torn, appeared
in the distance advancing amid the stars. Torn was her raiment,
scattered her crown of corn. Her head was wounded and the ivory comb
that secured her hair hung loose and broken. She rushed into Heaven’s
halls shouting thus: “Great Jove, why delayest thou to loose the bonds
of sea, to break its decree and hurl thy brother[70] in wrath against
the land? May I be the first to be overwhelmed. Welcome the broken
waters from Pachynus’ cape; sink my cities in the freed Syrtes. If so
be fate cannot rid me of Gildo, rid Gildo of me. Happier that region of
Libya that defends itself by means of its own excessive heat and thus
knows not the irksome rule of so savage a tyrant. Let the torrid zone
spread. Let the midmost path of the scorching sky burn me also. Better
I lay a desert nor ever suffered the plough. Let the dust-snake lord
it in a cornless land and the thirsty earth give birth to nought but
vipers. What avails me a healthy climate, a milder air? My fruitfulness
is but for
[69] _i.e._ the Palladium, the image of Pallas (=Minerva), rescued by
Metellus from the burning temple of Vesta, 241 B.C.
[70] _i.e._ Neptune.
* * * * *
Page 110
bis senas torquent hiemes, cervicibus ex quo
haeret triste iugum. nostris iam luctibus ille 155
consenuit regnumque sibi tot vindicat annos.
atque utinam regnum! privato iure tenemur
exigui specie fundi. quod Nilus et Atlas
dissidet, occiduis quod Gadibus arida Barce
quodque Paraetonio secedit litore Tingi, 160
hoc sibi transcripsit proprium. pars tertia mundi
unius praedonis ager.
“Distantibus idem
inter se vitiis cinctus: quodcumque profunda
traxit avaritia, luxu peiore refundit.
instat terribilis vivis, morientibus heres, 165
virginibus raptor, thalamis obscaenus adulter.
nulla quies: oritur praeda cessante libido,
divitibusque dies et nox metuenda maritis.
quisquis vel locuples pulchra vel coniuge notus,
crimine pulsatur falso; si crimina desunt, 170
accitus conviva perit. mors nulla refugit
artificem: varios sucos spumasque requirit
serpentum virides et adhuc ignota novercis
gramina. si quisquam vultu praesentia damnet
liberiusve gemat, dapibus crudelis in ipsis 175
emicat ad nutum stricto mucrone minister.
fixus quisque toro tacita formidine libat
carnifices epulas incertaque pocula pallens
haurit et intentos capiti circumspicit enses.
splendet Tartareo furialis mensa paratu 180
caede madens, atrox gladio, suspecta veneno.
* * * * *
Page 111
Gildo. Twelve courses has the sun’s chariot run since first I wore this
sorry yoke. He has now grown old amid our miseries and these many years
have set their seal upon his rule. Rule--would it were rule: a private
owner possesses me, as it had been some pelting farm. From Nile to
Atlas’ mount, from scorched Barce to western Gades, from Tingi[71] to
Egypt’s coast Gildo has appropriated the land as his own. A third of
the world belongs to one robber-chief.
“He is a prey to the most diverse vices: whatsoe’er his bottomless
greed has stolen, a yet more insatiable profligacy squanders. He is the
terror of the living, the heir of the dead, the violator of the unwed,
and the foul corrupter of the marriage-bed. He is never quiet; when
greed is sated lust is rampant; day is a misery to the rich, night to
the married. Is any wealthy or known to possess a beautiful wife, he is
overwhelmed by some trumped-up charge. If no charge be brought against
him, he is asked to a banquet and there murdered. No form of death but
is known to this artist in crime. He investigates the properties of
different poisons and serpents’ livid venom and knows of deadly herbs
unknown even to stepmothers. If any condemns what he sees by a look or
sighs with too much freedom, at the very festal board out darts some
henchman with drawn sword at a nod from his master. Each glued to his
seat tastes in silent fear of the deadly banquet; drains, pale of face,
the treacherous cup, and looks around at the weapons that threaten
his life. The deadly board is decked in infernal splendour, wet with
slaughter, dreadful with fear of sword and suspected poison. When wine
has
[71] Tangiers.
* * * * *
Page 112
ut vino calefacta Venus, tum saevior ardet
luxuries, mixtis redolent unguenta coronis:
crinitos inter famulos pubemque canoram
orbatas iubet ire nurus nuperque peremptis 185
adridere viris. Phalarim tormentaque flammae
profuit et Siculi mugitus ferre iuvenci
quam tales audire choros. nec damna pudoris
turpia sufficiunt: Mauris clarissima quaeque
fastidita datur. media Carthagine ductae 190
barbara Sidoniae subeunt conubia matres;
Aethiopem nobis generum, Nasamona maritum
ingerit; exterret cunabula discolor infans.
his fretus sociis ipso iam principe maior
incedit; peditum praecurrunt agmina longe; 195
circumdant equitum turmae regesque clientes,
quos nostris ditat spoliis. proturbat avita
quemque domo; veteres detrudit rure colonos.
exiliis dispersa feror. numquamne reverti
fas erit errantesque solo iam reddere cives?” 200
Iret adhuc in verba dolor, ni Iuppiter alto
coepisset solio (voces adamante notabat
Atropos et Lachesis iungebat stamina dictis):
“nec te, Roma, diu nec te patiemur inultam,
Africa. communem prosternet Honorius hostem. 205
pergite securae. vestrum vis nulla tenorem
separat et soli famulabitur Africa Romae.”
Dixit et adflavit Romam meliore iuventa.
continuo redit ille vigor seniique colorem
mutavere comae. solidatam crista resurgens 210
* * * * *
Page 113
inflamed the passions, his lust rages more savagely; ’midst the mingled
smell of scents and flowers, ’midst curled minions and youthful choirs
he bids go sport the widowed wives whose husbands he but a moment ago
has murdered. Better Phalaris and the torments of his furnace, better
to listen to the bellowings of the Sicilian bull than to such songs as
these. Nor is the base sacrifice of their good name enough. When tired
of each noblest matron Gildo hands her over to the Moors. Married in
Carthage city these Sidonian mothers needs must mate with barbarians.
He thrusts upon me an Ethiopian as a son-in-law, a Berber as a husband.
The hideous half-breed child affrights its cradle. Thanks to those
base allies his state is more regal than that of the emperor himself.
Before him goes a body of foot-soldiers, squadrons of cavalry surround
him and client kings whom he enriches with our spoils. He drives one
and all from their ancestral houses and expels husbandmen from farms so
long theirs. My people are scattered in exile. Are my citizens never to
return from their wanderings to their native soil?”
She would have spoken further in her grief had not Jove begun from his
lofty throne--Atropos wrote down his words in adamant and Lachesis spun
them in with her thread--“Neither thou, Rome, nor yet thou, Africa,
will we suffer to go long unavenged. Honorius shall disperse your
common foe. Go in peace. No violence shall part your companionship;
Africa shall serve Rome, and Rome alone.”
He spake and breathed into Rome a youth renewed. Straightway her former
strength returned, and her hair put off its grey of eld; her helmet
grew solid,
* * * * *
Page 114
erexit galeam clipeique recanduit orbis
et levis excussa micuit rubigine cornus.
Umentes iam noctis equos Lethaeaque Somnus
frena regens tacito volvebat sidera curru.
iam duo divorum proceres, maiorque minorque 215
Theodosii, pacem laturi gentibus ibant,
qui Iovis arcanos monitus mandataque ferrent
fratribus et geminis sancirent foedera regnis:
sic cum praecipites artem vicere procellae
adsiduoque gemens undarum verbere nutat 220
descensura ratis, caeca sub nocte vocati
naufraga Ledaei sustentant vela Lacones.
circulus ut patuit Lunae, secuere meatus
diversos: Italas senior tendebat in oras;
at pater, intrantem Pontum qua Bosphorus artat,
Arcadii thalamis urbique inlapsus Eoae. 226
quem simulac vidit natus (nam clara nitebat
Cynthia), permixto tremuerunt gaudia fletu
complexuque fovens, quos non speraverat, artus
“O mihi post Alpes nunc primum reddite,” dixit, 230
“unde tuis optatus ades? da tangere dextram,
qua gentes cecidere ferae. quis tale removit
praesidium terris? ut te mortalia pridem
implorant longeque pium fortemque requirunt!”
Cui pater in tales rupit suspiria voces: 235
“hoc erat? in fratres medio discordia Mauro
nascitur et mundus germanaque dissidet aula?
* * * * *
Page 115
upright stood the plumes, the round shield shone once more, and gone
was every trace of rust from her wingèd, gleaming spear.
Sleep was now driving the dew-drenched steeds of night, guiding them
with the reins of Lethe and carrying round the stars in her silent
course, when the elder and the younger Theodosius,[72] chief among the
heroes divine, came to bring peace to men. They bore Jove’s secret
message and mandate to the two brothers and ratified the treaty between
the two empires. So when at dead of night the driving tempest has
brought the helmsman’s skill to nought and the sinking ship groans
and shudders at the waves’ ceaseless shock, Leda’s Spartan-born sons
sustain the foundering bark in answer to the sailors’ prayers. At
the rise of the full moon the twain parted. The elder directed his
steps towards the coasts of Italy, the younger visited the couch of
Arcadius, gliding down to that Eastern city where Bosporus narrows the
entrance to the Euxine. As soon as the son saw his father (for the moon
was shining brightly), he wept, yet trembled for joy, and embracing
that form he had little hoped ever to embrace again, said: “O thou
restored now to me for the first time since thy triumphs in the Alps,
whence comest thou to thy loving son? Let me touch that hand that has
conquered so many barbarian races! Who hath robbed the world of such a
defender? How long a while has mankind prayed thine aid, and missed thy
goodness and thy might!”
Sighing, the father made answer: “Was it for this? Is a Moor become a
cause of discord between two brothers? Does the empire and court of the
[72] Theodosius the younger is, of course, Theodosius I., the
Emperor (see Introduction, p. vii). Theodosius the elder was his
father. He was an able and trusted general of Valentinian I., who
restored quiet in Britain (368-370), defeated the Alamanni (370),
and crushed the revolt of Firmus, Gildo’s brother (see line 333 of
this poem) in Africa (? 372-374). His death was brought about by
Merobaudes, Gratian’s minister (_cf._ viii. 26-9).
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Gildonisne salus tanti sit palma furoris?
scilicet egregius morum magnoque tuendus
et cuius meritis pietas in fratre recedat! 240
invito[73] genitore, vide, civile calebat
discidium; dubio stabant Romana sub ictu;
quis procul Armenius vel quis Maeotide ripa
rex ignotus agit, qui me non iuvit euntem
auxilio? fovere Getae, venere Geloni. 245
solus at hic non puppe data, non milite misso
subsedit fluitante fide. si signa petisset
obvia, detecto summissius hoste dolerem:
restitit in speculis fati turbaque reductus
libravit geminas eventu iudice vires 250
ad rerum momenta cliens seseque daturus
victori; fortuna simul cum mente pependit.
o si non cupidis essem praereptus ab astris,
exemplum sequerer Tulli laniandaque dumis
impia diversis aptarem membra quadrigis. 255
germani nunc usque tui responsa colebat:
en iterum calcat. tali te credere monstro
post patrem fratremque paras? sed magna rependit
inque tuam sortem numerosas transtulit urbes!
ergo fas pretio cedet? mercede placebit 260
proditio? taceo, laesi quod transfuga fratris,
quod levis ingenio. quamvis discrimine summo
proditor adportet suspensa morte salutem
numquam gratus erit. damnamus luce reperta
[73] MSS. _in primo_; Birt suggests _invito_, Koch
_infirmo_.
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East quarrel with those of the West? Can Gildo’s salvation be fit
guerdon for this mad rivalry? Great no doubt are his virtues, great
should be the price paid to preserve them and such his merits as to
banish affection in a brother. Look you, though I, thy sire, willed it
not, civil war raged; the fortunes of Rome stood on a razor’s edge.
Was there a distant king of Armenia, an unknown monarch by Maeotis’
shore but sent aid to mine enterprises? The Getae gave me succour, the
Geloni came to my assistance. Gildo alone sent not a man, not a ship,
but waited the issue in wavering loyalty. Had he sought the confronting
host as an open foe my wrath had been less bitter. He stood apart on
Fortune’s watchtower and, withdrawn from the throng, weighed this side
against that, meaning to let the event decide him, dependent upon the
turn things might take and ready to embrace the side of the victor.
His fortune hung in the balance as well as his intention. Had I not
been hurried to heaven by the impatient stars I would have followed
the example of Tullus Hostilius and dragged the impious wretch limb
from limb fastened to chariots driven different ways through thorn
bushes.[74] Up to this time he has owed obedience to thy brother, now
behold he spurns his commands. After thy father’s and thy brother’s
fate art thou ready to trust thyself to such a villain? Is thine answer
that he maketh great return and hath brought over many cities to thine
allegiance? Shall honour, then, give place to utility? Can gain render
treachery welcome? I make no mention of his cruel betrayal of thy
brother; of his fickle nature; were a traitor to bring safety even when
at peril’s height death threatened, never shall he win gratitude. When
our life is saved
[74] See note on viii. 401.
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perfidiam nec nos patimur committere tali. 265
hoc genus emptori cives cum moenibus offert,
hoc vendit patriam. plerique in tempus abusi
mox odere tamen: tenuit sic Graia Philippus
oppida; Pellaeo libertas concidit auro.
Romani scelerum semper sprevere ministros. 270
noxia pollicitum domino miscere venena
Fabricius regi nudata fraude remisit,
infesto quem Marte petit, bellumque negavit
per famuli patrare nefas, ductosque Camillus
trans murum pueros obsessae reddidit urbi. 275
“Traduntur poenis alii, cum proelia tollunt;
hic manet ut moveat? quod respuit alter in hostem,
suscipis in fratrem? longi pro dedecus aevi!
cui placet, australes Gildo condonat habenas
tantaque mutatos sequitur provincia mores. 280
quaslibet ad partes animus nutaverit anceps,
transfundit secum Libyam refluumque malignus
commodat imperium. Mauri fuit Africa munus.
tollite Massylas fraudes, removete bilingues
insidias et verba soli spirantia virus. 285
ne consanguineis certetur comminus armis,
ne, precor. haec trucibus Thebis, haec digna Mycenis;
in Mauros hoc crimen eat.
“Quid noster iniquum
molitur Stilicho? quando non ille iubenti
paruit? an quisquam nobis devinctior extat? 290
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we condemn the treachery nor brook to entrust ourselves to such
protection. ’Tis this sort that offers for purchase cities and their
inhabitants, that sells its fatherland. Most make use of such for the
moment but soon learn to hate them. ’Twas thus that Philip held the
cities of Greece; liberty fell before the attack of Macedonian gold.
Rome has ever despised the ministers of guilt. Fabricius, discovering
the plot, sent back to King Pyrrhus the slave who had promised to
mingle deadly poison for his lord; fierce war raged between them, but
Fabricius refused to end it by means of the treachery of a slave.
Camillus, too, gave back to the beleaguered city the boys brought to
his camp from out the walls.
“These were consigned to punishment for seeking to put an end to wars.
Is Gildo to live that he may kindle them? Takest thou such measures
against thy brother as another would disdain to take against an enemy?
O shame for unending ages! Gildo entrusts the governance of the south
to whom he will; the great province of Africa obeys a tyrant’s whim.
To whichever side his fickle mind inclines, he carries Libya over with
him and malignantly subjects it to a rule shifting as the tide. Africa
was the gift of the Moor. Away with the trickery of the Massyli, their
treacherous wiles and their words that breathe forth the poison of
their land. Let not brother wage war on brother, I pray. That were
worthy of cruel Thebes and Mycenae; let that accusation be levelled
against the Moors.
“What wrong is Stilicho devising? when did he fail in his obedience?
than him what more loyal
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ut sileam varios mecum quos gesserit actus,
quae vidi post fata, loquar. cum divus abirem,
res incompositas (fateor) tumidasque reliqui.
stringebat vetitos etiamnum exercitus enses
Alpinis odiis, alternaque iurgia victi 295
victoresque dabant. vix haec amentia nostris
excubiis, nedum puero rectore quiesset.
heu quantum timui vobis, quid libera tanti
militis auderet moles, cum patre remoto
ferveret iam laeta novis! dissensus acerbus 300
et gravior consensus erat. tunc ipse paterna
successit pietate mihi tenerumque rudemque
fovit et in veros eduxit principis annos,
Rufinumque tibi, quem tu tremuisse fateris,
depulit. hunc solum memorem solumque fidelem 305
experior. volui si quid, dum vita maneret,
aut visus voluisse, gerit; venerabilis illi
ceu praesens numenque vocor. si tanta recusas,
at soceri reverere faces, at respice fratris
conubium pignusque meae regale Serenae. 310
debueras etiam fraternis obvius ire
hostibus, ille tuis. quae gens, quis Rhenus et Hister
vos opibus iunctos conspirantesque tulisset?
sed tantum permitte, cadat. nil poscimus ultra.
ille licet sese praetentis Syrtibus armet 315
oppositoque Atlante tegat, licet arva referta
anguibus et solis medios obiecerit aestus:
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supporter have we? I will not mention the various brave deeds he did
while yet with me; of those only I will tell which I saw after my
death. When I was raised to heaven disorder--I admit it--and tumult
did I leave behind me. The army was still drawing the forbidden sword
in that Alpine war, and conquerors and conquered gave alternate cause
for dissension. Scarce could this madness have been calmed by my
vigilance, much less by a boy’s rule. Ah, how I feared for you what
the uncontrolled might of such vast armies might dare, when, your
sire removed, there came the fevered delight in change! Dangerous was
discord, more dangerous still unanimity. ’Twas then that Stilicho took
my place in paternal love for thee, tended thine immature youth, and
brought thee to the years and estate of an emperor. ’Twas he drove back
Rufinus whom thou didst confess thou fearedst. Gratitude and loyalty
I find in him alone. Did I want or seem to want aught, while yet I
lived he accomplished it. Now I am dead he worships me as worthy of
veneration and an ever present helper. If the thought of his goodness
move thee not, at least show respect to thy brother’s father-in-law:
bethink thee of Honorius’ marriage, the royal espousal of my niece
Serena. Thou oughtest to face thy brother’s foes, he thine. Could
any nation, could the combined forces of Rhine and Danube have stood
against you twain allied? Enough! bring about but the defeat of Gildo:
I ask nought else. Though he entrench himself behind the protecting
Syrtes and rely for safety on the intervening ocean; though he think to
be defended by reason of his serpent-infested country and the fierce
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Page 122
novi consilium, novi Stilichonis in omnes
aequalem casus animum: penetrabit harenas,
inveniet virtute viam.”
Sic divus et inde 320
sic natus: “iussis, genitor, parebitur ultro.
amplector praecepta libens, nec carior alter
cognato Stilichone mihi. commissa profanus
ille luat; redeat iam tutior Africa fratri.”
Talia dum longo secum sermone retexunt, 325
Hesperiam pervenit avus castumque cubile
ingreditur, Tyrio quo fusus Honorius ostro
carpebat teneros Maria cum coniuge somnos.
adsistit capiti; tunc sic per somnia fatur:
“Tantane devictos tenuit fiducia Mauros, 330
care nepos? iterum post me coniurat in arma
progenies vesana Iubae bellumque resumit
victoris cum stirpe sui? Firmumne iacentem
obliti Libyam nostro sudore receptam
rursus habent? ausus Latio contendere Gildo 335
germani nec fata timet? nunc ire profecto,
nunc vellem notosque senex ostendere vultus:
nonne meam fugiet Maurus cum viderit umbram?
quid dubitas? exsurge toris, invade rebellem,
captivum mihi redde meum. desiste morari. 340
hoc generi fatale tuo: dum sanguis in orbe
noster erit, semper pallebit regia Bocchi.
iungantur spoliis Firmi Gildonis opima;
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sun’s mid-day heat, yet well I know Stilicho’s ingenuity--that mind of
his equal to any emergency. He will force his way through the desert,
his own greatness will lead him.”
Thus spake the dead emperor, whereon thus the son answered: “Right
willingly, father, will I fulfil thy commands: ever ready am I to
welcome thy behests. None is dearer to me than my kinsman Stilicho. Let
the impious Gildo atone for his wrongs, and Africa be restored to my
brother still safer than before.”
While father and son thus debated in long converse, Theodosius the
grandfather made his way to Italy and entered the chaste bedchamber
where on his couch of Tyrian purple Honorius lay in sweet sleep by the
side of his wife Maria. At his head he stood and thus spake to him in
a dream. “What rash confidence is this, dear grandson, that fills the
conquered Moors? Does the mad race descended from Juba, the people whom
I subdued, once more conspire to oppose Rome’s power and recommence the
war with its conqueror’s grandson? Have they forgotten the defeat of
Firmus[75]? Do they think to repossess Libya won back by the sweat of
battle? Dares Gildo strive with Rome? Does he not fear his brother’s
fate. Fain would I go myself, old though I be, and show him the face
he knows but too well. Will not the Moor flee my very shade, should
he behold it? Why delayest thou? Up from thy bed; attack the rebel;
give me back my prisoner; waste no more time. ’Tis Fate’s gift to thy
family. While yet the race of Theodosius treads the earth the palace of
Bocchus shall go in fear. Let the spoils of Gildo be added to those of
Firmus;
[75] Firmus, brother of Gildo, had, during the reign of
Valentinian, risen against the oppressive government of Romanus,
count of Africa, and had been defeated by Theodosius the elder.
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exornet geminos Maurusia laurea currus:
una domus totiens una de gente triumphet. 345
di bene, quod tantis interlabentibus annis
servati Firmusque mihi fraterque nepoti.”
dixit et adflatus vicino sole refugit.
At iuvenem stimulis inmanibus aemula virtus
exacuit; iam puppe vehi, iam stagna secare 350
fervet et absentes invadere cuspide Mauros.
tum iubet acciri socerum dextramque vocato
conserit et, quae sit potior sententia, quaerit:
“Per somnos mihi, sancte pater, iam saepe futura
panduntur multaeque canunt praesagia noctes. 355
namque procul Libycos venatu cingere saltus
et iuga rimari canibus Gaetula videbar.
maerebat regio saevi vastata leonis
incursu; pecudum strages passimque iuvenci
semineces et adhuc infecta mapalia tabo 360
sparsaque sanguineis pastorum funera campis.
adgredior latebras monstri mirumque relatu
conspicio: dilapsus honos, cervice minaces
defluxere iubae; fractos inglorius armos
supposuit, servile gemens; iniectaque vincla 365
unguibus et subitae collo sonuere catenae.
nunc etiam paribus secum certare tropaeis
hortator me cogit avus. quonam usque remoti
cunctamur? decuit pridem complere biremes
et pelagi superare moras. transmittere primus 370
ipse paro; quaecumque meo gens barbara nutu
stringitur, adveniat: Germania cuncta feratur
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let the bays of Mauretania deck chariots twain and one house triumph
thus many times over one race. Thanks be to the gods who have
interposed so many years between the sacrifice of Firmus to my arms and
that of Firmus’ brother to those of my grandson.” He spake, then fled,
as he felt the breath of the approaching dawn.
Then emulous courage roused the emperor with insistent goad. He burns
to set sail, to cleave the main, to assail with the spear the distant
Moors. So he summons his father-in-law[76] and clasping his hand asks
what course of action he advises. “Full often, reverend sire, is
the future revealed to me in dreams; many a night brings prophecy.
Methought I surrounded in hunting the distant glades of Africa and
scoured the Gaetulian mountains with my hounds. The district was
distressed by reason of the incursions of a ravening lion. On all sides
were slaughtered beasts and mangled heifers, and still their homesteads
ran red with blood, and corpses of many a shepherd lay weltering in
the bloody fields. I approached the beast’s cave and saw a sight
wonderful to relate. Gone was that noble form, drooping on the neck the
threatening mane; there he crouched, defeated, humbled, with slavish
moans; fetters were upon his paws and a chain clanked of a sudden on
his neck. Now, too, my grandsire eagerly urges me to rival his triumphs
with my own. Why, he asked, did I delay and hesitate so long? Already
my ships should have been manned and the sea’s threatened opposition
overcome. I myself am ready to cross in the first vessel. Let every
foreign nation that is bound beneath my rule come to our aid. Let all
Germany be transported and
[76] _i.e._ Stilicho.
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navibus et socia comitentur classe Sygambri.
pallida translatum iam sentiat Africa Rhenum. 374
an patiar tot probra sedens iuvenisque relinquam
quae tenui rexique puer? bis noster ad Alpes
alterius genitor defensum regna cucurrit.
nos praedae faciles insultandique iacemus?”
Finierat. Stilicho contra cui talia reddit:
“adversine tubam princeps dignabere Mauri? 380
auferet ignavus clari solacia leti.
te bellante mori? decernet Honorius inde,
hinc Gildo? prius astra Chaos miscebit Averno.
vindictam mandasse sat est; plus nominis horror
quam tuus ensis aget. minuit praesentia famam. 385
qui stetit aequatur campo, collataque nescit
maiestatem acies. sed quod magis utile factu
atque hosti gravius (sensus adverte) docebo
est illi patribus, sed non et moribus isdem
Mascezel, fugiens qui dira piacula fratris 390
spesque suas vitamque tuo commisit asylo.
hunc ubi temptatis frustra mactare nequivit
insidiis, patrias in pignora contulit iras
et, quos ipse sinu parvos gestaverat, una
occidit iuvenes inhumataque corpora vulgo 395
dispulit et tumulo cognatas arcuit umbras
naturamque simul fratremque hominemque cruentus
exuit et tenuem caesis invidit harenam.
hoc facinus refugo damnavit sole Mycenas
avertitque diem; sceleri sed reddidit Atreus 400
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the Sygambri come with allied fleet. Let trembling Africa now have
experience of the dwellers on Rhine’s banks. Or shall I sit here and
submit to such disgrace? Shall I relinquish, now that I am a man, what
I ruled and governed as a boy? Twice my father hurried to the Alps to
defend another’s realm. Am I to be an easy prey, an object of scorn?”
He ended and Stilicho thus made answer: “Wilt thou, an emperor, deign
to challenge a Moor to fight? Is that coward to have the consolation of
death in battle at thy hand? Shall Honorius fight on our side and Gildo
on the other? Ere that, chaos shall plunge the stars into Hell. ’Tis
enough to command his punishment. Thy name shall strike greater terror
into him than thy sword. Presence will minish awe; he who stands in the
lists admits equality, and struggling hosts regard not majesty. Listen
and I will tell thee something at once more profitable for thyself and
of more effect against the enemy. Gildo has a brother of like descent
but unlike in character, Mascezel, who, avoiding the evil courses of
his brother, has entrusted his hopes and his life to thy keeping. When
Gildo, after many vain attempts, found no means to kill Mascezel,
he turned his anger from the father to the children and slew those
whom himself had nursed as infants in his arms; then cast aside their
unburied bodies and refused sepulchre to the shades of those that had
been his kin. The bloody tyrant stifled all natural feelings, forgot he
was a brother, forgot he was a man, and begrudged the slain a handful
of dust. ’Twas a like deed brought its ill repute upon Mycenae, that
put the sun to rout and turned back the day. But while Atreus paid back
crime for crime and had excuse
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crimen et infandas excusat coniuge mensas.
hic odium, non poena fuit. te perdita iura,
te pater ultorem, te nudi pulvere manes,
te pietas polluta rogat; si flentibus aram
et proprium miseris numen statuistis, Athenae, 405
si Pandionias planctu traxere phalanges
Inachides belloque rogos meruere maritis,
si maesto squalore comae lacrimisque senatum
in Numidas pulsus solio commovit Adherbal:
hunc quoque nunc Gildo, tanto quem funere mersit,
hunc doleat venisse ducem seseque minorem 411
supplicibus sciat esse tuis. quem sede fugavit,
hunc praeceps fugiat, fregit quem clade, tremiscat
agnoscatque suum, trahitur dum victima, fratrem.”
Haec ubi sederunt genero, notissima Marti 415
robora, praecipuos electa pube maniplos
disponit portuque rates instaurat Etrusco.
Herculeam suus Alcides Ioviamque cohortem
rex ducit superum, premitur nec signifer ullo
pondere: festinant adeo vexilla moveri. 420
Nervius insequitur meritusque vocabula Felix
dictaque ab Augusto legio nomenque probantes
invicti clipeoque animosi teste Leones.
Dictis ante tamen princeps confirmat ituros
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for the bloody banquet in the unfaithfulness of his wife, Gildo’s
motive was hatred, not vengeance. Violated rights, the sorrowing
father, the unburied dead, the unnatural crime all call upon thee as
avenger. If thou, Athens, didst dedicate an altar to the sorrowing and
ordain to those that mourn a special deity, if the women of Argos won
to their aid the Athenian phalanx by their tears and bought burial for
their slain lords at the price of war;[77] if Adherbal, driven from his
throne, roused the Senate against the Numidians by the sad appeal of
unkempt locks and by his tears, then let Gildo be sorry that now this
man also whom he has crushed by so many murders is come into the field
against him, and let him learn that he must bow before thy suppliants.
Let Gildo flee headlong before him whom he put to flight and fear him
whom he o’erwhelmed with the murder of his children. As he is being
dragged off to the slaughter let him recognize his brother’s hand.”
When this advice had been accepted by his son-in-law, Stilicho made
ready for war the most famous regiments in the army, selecting
therefrom special companies of picked men; he further prepared
the fleet in the harbours of Etruria. Alcides himself commands
the Herculean cohort; the king of the gods leads the Jovian. No
standard-bearer feels the weight of his eagle, so readily do the very
standards press forward. The Nervian cohort follows and the Felix, well
deserving its name, the legion, too, named after Augustus, that well
called The Un-conquered, and the brave regiment of the Lion[78] to
whose name their shields bear witness.
But before they start the emperor, standing upon a platform of earth,
heartens them with his words:
[77] A reference to the support given by Theseus, King of Athens,
to Adrastus, King of Argos, when the Thebans had refused to allow
the burial of the Argives slain at Thebes; _cf._ Eur. _Supplices_.
[78] Orosius (vii. 36. 6) says Mascezel only had 5000 men. The
legion may have been leg. viii. Augusta. The other names are those
of various _numeri_ (the unit of the post-Diocletianic army).
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aggere conspicuus; stat circumfusa iuventus 425
nixa hastis pronasque ferox accommodat aures:
“Gildonem domitura manus, promissa minasque
tempus agi. si quid pro me doluistis, in armis
ostentate mihi; iusto magnoque triumpho
civiles abolete notas; sciat orbis Eous 430
sitque palam Gallos causa, non robore vinci.
nec vos, barbariem quamvis collegerit omnem,
terreat. an Mauri fremitum raucosque repulsus
umbonum et vestros passuri comminus enses?
non contra clipeis tectos gladiisque micantes 435
ibitis: in solis longe fiducia telis.
exarmatus erit, cum missile torserit, hostis.
dextra movet iaculum, praetentat pallia laeva;
cetera nudus eques. sonipes ignarus habenae;
virga regit. non ulla fides, non agminis ordo: 440
arma oneri, fuga praesidio. conubia mille;
non illis generis nexus, non pignora curae:
sed numero languet pietas. haec copia vulgi.
umbratus dux ipse rosis et marcidus ibit
unguentis crudusque cibo titubansque Lyaeo, 445
confectus senio, morbis stuprisque solutus.
excitet incestos turmalis bucina somnos,
imploret citharas cantatricesque choreas
offensus stridore tubae discatque coactus,
quas vigilat Veneri, castris impendere noctes. 450
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leaning upon their spears the soldiers throng around him and attune
their ready ears to his inspiring voice. “My men, so soon to bring
defeat upon Gildo, now is the time to fulfil your promises and make
good your threats. If you felt indignation on my behalf, now take up
arms and prove it. Wash out the stain of civil war by means of a great
and deserved triumph. Let the empire of the East know, let it be plain
to all the world, that Gaul can only owe defeat to the badness of a
cause, not to her enemies’ strength.[79] Let not Gildo affright you
though he have all barbary at his back. Shall Moors stand up against
the shock of your clashing shields and the near threat of your swords?
You shall not oppose men armed with shields or shining blades. These
savages put their trust in javelins hurled from afar. Once he has
discharged his missile the enemy will be disarmed. With his right hand
he hurls his spear, with his left he holds his cloak before him; no
other armour has the horseman. His steed knows not the rein; a whip
controls it. Obedience and discipline are unknown in their ranks. Their
arms are a burden to them, their salvation lies in flight. Though each
has many wives, ties of family bind them not, nor have they any love
for their children whose very number causes affection to fail. Such
are the troops. The chief will come to battle crowned with roses,
drenched with scents, his last feast still undigested; drunken with
wine, foredone with eld, enervated with disease and venery. Let the war
trumpet rouse him from a bed of incest, let him beg aid of lutes and
choirs, for he likes not the clarion’s note, and let him learn (all
unwilling) to spend in war nights that he now dedicates to love.
[79] He appeals to the Gallic element of the army to atone for its
previous support of Maximus and Eugenius.
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“Nonne mori satius, vitae quam ferre pudorem?
nam quae iam regio restat, si dedita Mauris
regibus Illyricis accesserit Africa damnis?
ins Latium, quod tunc Meroë Rubroque solebat
Oceano cingi, Tyrrhena clauditur unda; 455
et cui non Nilus, non intulit India metas,
Romani iam finis erit Trinacria regni.
ite recepturi, praedo quem sustulit, axem
ereptumque Notum; caput insuperabile rerum
aut ruet in vestris aut stabit Roma lacertis. 460
tot mihi debetis populos, tot rura, tot urbes
amissas. uno Libyam defendite bello.
vestros imperium remos et vestra sequatur
carbasa. despectas trans aequora ducite leges.
tertia iam solito cervix mucrone rotetur 465
tandem funereis finem positura tyrannis.”
Omina conveniunt dicto fulvusque Tonantis
armiger a liquida cunctis spectantibus aethra
correptum pedibus curvis innexuit hydrum,
dumque reluctantem morsu partitur obunco, 470
haesit in ungue caput; truncatus decidit anguis.
ilicet auguriis alacres per saxa citati
torrentesque ruunt; nec mons aut silva retardat:
pendula ceu parvis moturae bella colonis
ingenti clangore grues aestiva relinquunt 475
Thracia, cum tepido permutant Strymona Nilo:
ordinibus variis per nubila texitur ales
littera pennarumque notis conscribitur aër.
Ut fluctus tetigere maris, tunc acrior arsit
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“Is not death preferable to a life disgraced? If, in addition to the
loss of Illyria, Africa is to be surrendered to Moorish kings, what
lands still remain to us? The empire of Italy, once bounded by the Nile
and the Red Sea, is limited to-day by the sea of Tuscany; shall Sicily
now be the most distant province of Roman rule, to which in days of old
neither Egypt nor India set an end? Go: win back that southern realm
a rebel has reft from me. It depends on your arms whether Rome, the
unconquerable mistress of the world, stands or falls. You owe me so
many peoples, countries, cities lost. Fight but one battle in defence
of Libya. Let empire restored attend on your oars and sails. Give back
to Africa the laws of Rome she now disregards. Let history repeat
itself, and the sword smite from its trunk the head of this third
tyrant[80] and so end at last the series of bloody usurpers.”
An omen confirms his word and before the eyes of all, the tawny bird,
armour-bearer of Jove, swoops down from the open sky and seizes a
snake in his curved talons; and while the eagle tears his struggling
prey with his hooked beak, his claws are embedded in its head. The
severed body falls to earth. Straightway the soldiers come hurrying
up, crossing rocks and streams in their eagerness at the call of this
portent. Neither mountains nor woods delay them. Even as the cranes
leave their summer home of Thrace clamorously to join issue in doubtful
war with the Pygmies, when they desert the Strymon for warm-watered
Nile, the letter[81] traced by the speeding line stands out against the
clouds and the heaven is stamped with the figure of their flight.
When they reached the coast still fiercer blazed
[80] The other two being Maximus and Eugenius.
[81] _i.e._ the Greek Λ.
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impetus; adripiunt naves ipsique rudentes 480
expediunt et vela legunt et cornua summis
adsociant malis; quatitur Tyrrhena tumultu
ora nec Alpheae capiunt navalia Pisae:
sic Agamemnoniam vindex cum Graecia classem
solveret, innumeris fervebat vocibus Aulis. 485
non illos strepitus impendentisque procellae
signa nec adventus dubii deterruit Austri.
“vellite” proclamant “socii, iam vellite funem.
per vada Gildonem quamvis adversa petamus.
ad bellum nos trudat hiems per devia ponti. 490
quassatis cupio tellurem figere rostris.
heu nimium segnes, cauta qui mente notatis,
si revolant mergi, graditur si litore cornix.
ora licet maculis adsperserit occiduus sol
lunaque conceptis livescat turgida Cauris 495
et contusa vagos iaculentur sidera crines;
imbribus umescant Haedi nimbosaque Taurum
ducat Hyas totusque fretis descendat Orion:
certa fides caeli, sed maior Honorius auctor;
illius auspiciis inmensa per aequora miles, 500
non Plaustris Arctove regor. contemne Booten,
navita, turbinibus mediis permitte carinas.
si mihi tempestas Libyam ventique negabunt,
Augusti Fortuna dabit.”
Iam classis in altum
provehitur; dextra Ligures, Etruria laeva 505
linquitur et caecis vitatur Corsica saxis.
humanae specie plantae se magna figurat
insula (Sardiniam veteres dixere coloni),
dives ager frugum, Poenos Italosve petenti
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their enthusiasm. They seize upon the ships and themselves make ready
the hawsers; furl the sails and fix the yards to the masts. Etruria’s
shore is shaken with their uproar and Arcadian-founded Pisa cannot
contain so great a number of ships. So Aulis rang with countless voices
what time avenging Greece loosed the cables of Agamemnon’s fleet. No
storm-blast deterred them nor threat of coming tempest nor the presence
of the treacherous south wind. “Seize the rope, fellow-soldiers,”
they cry, “seize the rope: let us sail against Gildo though the very
seas be against us. Let the storm drive us to battle by how crooked
so ever a course. Fain would I seize upon that shore though my ships’
beaks be shattered. Cowards ye, who cautiously observe whether or no
the sea-gulls fly back or the crow pace the beach. What if clouds
fleck the face of the setting sun or a stormy moon wear the halo that
betokens hurricane? What if comets wave their spreading tails, or the
constellation of the Kids threatens rain, or the cloudy Hyades lead
forth the Bull and all Orion sink ’neath the waves? Put your trust in
the sky, but put more in Honorius. Beneath his auspices I, his soldier,
range the boundless seas nor look to the Plough or the Bear to guide
me. Make no account of Boötes, sailor; launch your bark in mid tempest.
If winds and storms deny me Libya, my emperor’s fortune will grant it.”
The fleet is launched. They pass Liguria on their right hand, Etruria
on their left, avoiding the sunken reefs of Corsica. There lies an
island formed like a human foot (Sardinia its former inhabitants called
it), an island rich in the produce of its fields, and conveniently
situated for them who sail either to
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opportuna situ: quae pars vicinior Afris, 510
plana solo, ratibus clemens; quae respicit Arcton,
inmitis, scopulosa, procax subitisque sonora
flatibus; insanos infamat navita montes.
hic hominum pecudumque lues, sic[82] pestifer aër
saevit et exclusis regnant Aquilonibus Austri. 515
Quos ubi luctatis procul effugere carinis,
per diversa ruunt sinuosae litora terrae.
pars adit antiqua ductos Carthagine Sulcos;
partem litoreo complectitur Olbia muro.
urbs Libyam contra Tyrio fundata potenti 520
tenditur in longum Caralis tenuemque per undas
obvia dimittit fracturum flamina collem;
efficitur portus medium mare, tutaque ventis
omnibus ingenti mansuescunt stagna recessu.
hanc omni petiere manu prorisque reductis 525
suspensa Zephyros expectant classe faventes.
[82] Birt, following the MSS., _si_. Older editions _huic …
huic_. I print _sic_.
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Africa or Italy. The part that faces Africa is flat and affords good
anchorage for ships; the northern shore is inhospitable, rock-bound,
stormy, and loud with sudden gales. The sailor curses these wild
cliffs. Here the pestilence falls on men and beasts, so plague-ridden
and deadly is the air, so omnipotent the South wind and the North winds
banished.
When their much buffeted vessels had given a wide berth to these
dangers, they came to land at different places on the broken
coast-line. Some are beached at Sulci, a city founded by Carthage of
old. The sea-wall of Olbia shelters others. The city of Caralis over
against the coast of Libya, a colony of great Phoenician Carthage, juts
out into the sea and extends into the waves, a little promontory that
breaks the force of the opposing winds. Thus in the midst a harbour
is found and in a huge bay the quiet waters lie safe from every wind.
For this harbour they make with every effort, and reversing their
vessels they await the favouring breezes of the west wind with fleet at
anchor.[83]
[83] This poem was never properly finished; see Introduction, p. xi.
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IN EUTROPIUM
LIBER I
(XVIII.)
Semiferos partus metuendaque pignora matri
moenibus et mediis auditum nocte luporum
murmur et attonito pecudes pastore locutas
et lapidum duras hiemes nimboque minacem
sanguineo rubuisse Iovem puteosque cruore 5
mutatos visasque polo concurrere lunas
et geminos soles mirari desinat orbis:
omnia cesserunt eunucho consule monstra.
heu terrae caelique pudor! trabeata per urbes
ostentatur anus titulumque effeminat anni. 10
pandite pontifices Cumanae carmina vatis,
fulmineos sollers Etruria consulat ignes
inmersumque nefas fibris exploret haruspex,
quae nova portendant superi. Nilusne meatu
devius et nostri temptat iam transfuga mundi 15
se Rubro miscere mari? ruptone Niphate
rursum barbaricis Oriens vastabitur armis?
an morbi ventura lues? an nulla colono
responsura seges? quae tantas expiet iras
victima? quo diras iugulo placabimus aras? 20
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AGAINST EUTROPIUS