(XVIII.)
Let the world cease to wonder at the births of creatures half human,
half bestial, at monstrous babes that affright their own mothers, at
the howling of wolves heard by night in the cities, at beasts that
speak to their astonied herds, at stones falling like rain, at the
blood-red threatening storm clouds, at wells of water changed to gore,
at moons that clash in mid heaven and at twin suns. All portents pale
before our eunuch consul. O shame to heaven and earth! Our cities
behold an old woman decked in a consul’s robe who gives a woman’s name
to the year.[84] Open the pages of the Cumaean Sibyl, ye pontifs; let
wise Etrurian seers consult the lightning’s flash, and the soothsayer
search out the awful portent hidden in the entrails. What new dread
warning is this the gods give? Does Nile desert his bed and leaving
Roman soil seek to mix his waters with those of the Red Sea? Does cleft
Niphates[85] once more let through a host of eastern barbarians to
ravage our lands? Does a pestilence threaten us? Or shall no harvest
repay the farmer? What victim can expiate divine anger such as this?
What offering appease the cruel altars? The consul’s
[84] For the consulship of Eutropius see Introduction, p. xv.
[85] A mountain in Armenia.
* * * * *
Page 140
consule lustrandi fasces ipsoque litandum
prodigio; quodcumque parant hoc omine fata,
Eutropius cervice luat sic omnia nobis.[86]
Hoc regni, Fortuna, tenes? quaenam ista iocandi
saevitia? humanis quantum bacchabere rebus? 25
si tibi servili placuit foedare curules
crimine, procedat laxata compede consul,
rupta Quirinales sumant ergastula cinctus;
da saltem quemcumque virum. discrimina quaedam
sunt famulis splendorque suus, maculamque minorem
condicionis habet, domino qui vixerit uno. 31
si pelagi fluctus, Libyae si discis harenas,
Eutropii numerabis eros. quot iura, quot ille
mutavit tabulas vel quanta vocabula vertit!
nudatus quotiens, medicum dum consulit emptor, 35
ne qua per occultum lateat iactura dolorem!
omnes paenituit pretii venumque redibat,
dum vendi potuit. postquam deforme cadaver
mansit et in rugas totus defluxit aniles,
iam specie doni certatim limine pellunt 40
et foedum ignaris properant obtrudere munus.
tot translata iugis summisit colla, vetustum
servitium semperque novum, nec destitit umquam,
saepe tamen coepit.
Cunabula prima cruentis
debet suppliciis; rapitur castrandus ab ipso 45
[86] Birt begins the new paragraph at _sic_, printing a comma at
_nobis_. Alternatively, read _volvis_ for _nobis_ (so Cuiacius’
codd.).
* * * * *
Page 141
own blood must cleanse the consular insignia, the monster itself must
be sacrificed. Whatever it be that fate prepares for us and shows forth
by such an omen, let Eutropius’ death, I pray, avert it all.
Fortune, is thy power so all-embracing? What is this savage humour of
thine? To what lengths wilt thou sport with us poor mortals? If it
was thy will to disgrace the consul’s chair with a servile occupant
let some “consul” come forward with broken chains, let an escaped
jail-bird don the robes of Quirinus--but at least give us a man. There
are grades even among slaves and a certain dignity; that slave who has
served but one master holds a position of less infamy. Canst thou count
the waves of the sea, the grains of Africa’s sands, if so thou canst
number Eutropius’ masters. How many owners has he had, in how many
sale-catalogues has he appeared, how often has he changed his name! How
often has he been stripped while buyer consulted doctor whether there
lurked any flaw by reason of some hidden disease! All repented having
bought him and he always returned to the slave-market while he could
yet fetch a price. When he became but a foul corpse-like body, a mass
of senile pendulous flesh, his masters were anxious to rid their houses
of him by giving him away as a present and made haste to foist the
loathsome gift on an unsuspecting friend. To so many different yokes
did he submit his neck, this slave, old in years but ever new to the
house; there was no end to his servitude though many beginnings.
He is destined from his very cradle to bloody tortures; straight from
his mother’s womb he is hurried away to be made a eunuch; no sooner
born
* * * * *
Page 142
ubere; suscipiunt matris post viscera poenae.
advolat Armenius certo mucrone recisos
edoctus mollire mares damnoque nefandum
aucturus pretium; fecundum corporis imbrem[87]
sedibus exhaurit geminis unoque sub ictu 50
eripit officium patris nomenque mariti.
ambiguus vitae iacuit, penitusque supremum
in cerebrum secti traxerunt frigora nervi.
Laudemusne manum, quae vires abstulit hosti,
an potius fato causam tribuisse queramur? 55
profuerat mansisse virum; felicior extat
opprobrio; serviret adhuc, si fortior esset.
Inde per Assyriae trahitur commercia ripae;
hinc fora venalis Galata ductore frequentat
permutatque domos varias; quis nomina possit 60
tanta sequi? miles stabuli Ptolomaeus in illis
notior: hic longo lassatus paelicis usu
donat Arinthaeo; neque enim iam dignus haberi
nec maturus emi. cum fastiditus abiret,
quam gemuit, quanto planxit divortia luctu! 65
“haec erat, heu, Ptolomaee, fides? hoc profuit aetas
in gremio consumpta tuo lectusque iugalis
et ducti totiens inter praesaepia somni?
libertas promissa perit? viduumne relinquis
Eutropium tantasque premunt oblivia noctes, 70
crudelis? generis pro sors durissima nostri!
femina, cum senuit, retinet conubia partu,
[87] codd. _ignem_; Postgate _imbrem_.
* * * * *
Page 143
than he becomes a prey to suffering. Up hastens the Armenian, skilled
by operating with unerring knife to make males womanish and to increase
their loathly value by such loss. He drains the body’s life-giving
fluid from its double source and with one blow deprives his victim of
a father’s function and the name of husband. Eutropius lay doubtful
of life, and the severed sinews drew a numbness deep down into his
furthest brain.
Are we to praise the hand that robbed an enemy of his strength? Or
shall we rather blame the fates? It would have been better had he
remained a man; his very disgrace has proved a blessing to him. Had he
had his full manly vigour he would still have been a slave.
After this he is dragged from one Assyrian mart to another; next in
the train of a Galatian slave-merchant he stands for sale in many a
market and knows many diverse houses. Who could tell the names of all
his buyers? Among these Ptolemy, servant of the post-house,[88] was one
of the better known. Then Ptolemy, tired of Eutropius’ long service to
his lusts, gives him to Arinthaeus;--gives, for he is no longer worth
keeping nor old enough to be bought. How the scorned minion wept at his
departure, with what grief did he lament that divorce! “Was this thy
fidelity, Ptolemy? Is this my reward for a youth lived in thine arms,
for the bed of marriage and those many nights spent together in the
inn? Must I lose my promised liberty? Leav’st thou Eutropius a widow,
cruel wretch, forgetful of such wonderful nights of love? How hard is
the lot of my kind! When a woman grows old her children cement the
marriage tie and
[88] I take Ptolemy to have been a _stationarius_, _i.e._ a servant
in a public post-house, but there is possibly some covert allusion
to _stabulum_ in the sense of _prostibulum_, a brothel.
* * * * *
Page 144
uxorisque decus matris reverentia pensat.
nos Lucina fugit, nec pignore nitimur ullo.
cum forma dilapsus amor; defloruit oris 75
gratia: qua miseri scapulas tutabimur arte?
qua placeam ratione senex?”
Sic fatus acutum
adgreditur lenonis opus, nec segnis ad artem
mens erat officiique capax omnesque pudoris
hauserat insidias. custodia nulla tuendo 80
fida toro; nulli poterant excludere vectes:
ille vel aerata Danaën in turre latentem
eliceret. fletus domini fingebat amantis,
indomitasque mora, pretio lenibat avaras
lascivasque iocis; non blandior ullus euntis 85
ancillae tetigisse latus leviterque reductis
vestibus occulto crimen mandasse susurro
nec furtis quaesisse locum nec fraude reperta
cautior elusi fremitus vitare mariti.
haud aliter iuvenum flammis Ephyreia Lais 90
e gemino ditata mari; cum serta refudit
canities, iam turba procax noctisque recedit
ambitus et raro pulsatur ianua tactu,
seque reformidat speculo damnante senectus;
stat tamen atque alias succingit lena ministras 95
dilectumque diu quamvis longaeva lupanar
circuit et retinent mores, quod perdidit aetas.
* * * * *
Page 145
a mother’s dignity compensates for the lost charms of a wife. Me
Lucina, goddess of childbirth, will not come near; I have no children
on whom to rely. Love perishes with my beauty; the roses of my cheeks
are faded. What wits can save my wretched back from blows? How can I,
an old man, please?”
So saying he entered upon the skilled profession of a pander. His whole
heart was in his work; he knew his business well and was master of
every stratagem for the undoing of chastity. No amount of vigilance
could protect the marriage-bed from his attack; no bars could shut
him out. He would have haled even Danaë from her refuge in the brazen
tower. He would represent his patron as dying of love. Was the lady
stubborn, he would win her by his patience; was she greedy, by a gift;
flighty, he would corrupt her with a jest. None could arrest the
attention of a maidservant with so neat a touch as he, none twitch
aside a dress so lightly and whisper his shameful message in her ear.
Never was any so skilled to choose a scene for the criminal meeting, or
so clever at avoiding the wrath of the cuckold husband should the plot
be discovered. One thought of Lais of Corinth, to whom the enamoured
youth of that city brought wealth from its twin seas, who, when her
grey hair could no longer go crowned with roses, when the emulous crowd
of her admirers ceased nightly to haunt her doors and but few were left
to knock thereat, when before the mirror’s verdict age shrank back in
horror from itself, yet stood, still faithful to her calling, and as a
pander dressed others for the part, haunting still the brothel she had
loved so well and so long, and still pandering to the tastes old age
forbade her.
* * * * *
Page 146
Hinc honor Eutropio; cumque omnibus unica virtus
esset in eunuchis thalamos servare pudicos,
solus adulteriis crevit. nec verbera tergo 100
cessavere tamen, quotiens decepta libido
irati caluisset eri, frustraque rogantem
iactantemque suos tot iam per lustra labores
dotalem genero nutritoremque puellae
tradidit. Eous rector consulque futurus 105
pectebat dominae crines et saepe lavanti
nudus in argento lympham gestabat alumnae.
et cum se rapido fessam proiecerat aestu,
patricius roseis pavonum ventilat alis.
Iamque aevo laxata cutis, sulcisque genarum 110
corruerat passa facies rugosior uva:
flava minus presso finduntur vomere rura,
nec vento sic vela tremunt. miserabile turpes
exedere caput tineae; deserta patebant
intervalla comae: qualis sitientibus arvis 115
arida ieiunae seges interlucet aristae
vel qualis gelidis pluma labente pruinis
arboris inmoritur trunco brumalis hirundo.
scilicet ut trabeis iniuria cresceret olim,
has in fronte notas, hoc dedecus addidit oris 120
luxuriae Fortuna suae: cum pallida nudis
ossibus horrorem dominis praeberet imago
decolor et macies occursu laederet omnes,
* * * * *
Page 147
Hence sprang Eutropius’ fame; for, though a eunuch’s one virtue be to
guard the chastity of the marriage-chamber, here was one (and one only)
who grew great through adulteries. But the lash fell as before on his
back whenever his master’s criminal passion was through him frustrated.
Then it was in vain that he prayed for forgiveness and reminded his
lord of all those years of faithful service; he would find himself
handed over to a son-in-law as part of the bride’s dowry. Thus he would
become a lady’s-maid, and so the future consul and governor of the East
would comb his mistress’ locks or stand naked holding a silver vessel
of water wherein his charge could wash herself. And when overcome by
the heat she threw herself upon her couch, there would stand this
patrician fanning her with bright peacock feathers.
And now his skin had grown loose with age; his face, more wrinkled
than a raisin, had fallen in by reason of the lines in his cheeks.
Less deep the furrows cloven in the cornfield by the plough, the folds
wrought in the sails by the wind. Loathsome grubs ate away his head
and bare patches appeared amid his hair. It was as though clumps of
dry barren corn dotted a sun-parched field, or as if a swallow were
dying in winter sitting on a branch, moulting in the frosty weather.
Truly, that the outrage to the consul’s office might one day be the
greater, Fortune added to her gift of wealth this brand upon his brow,
this deformity of face. When his pallor and fleshless bones had roused
feelings of revulsion in his masters’ hearts, and his foul complexion
and lean body offended all who came
* * * * *
Page 148
aut pueris latura metus aut taedia mensis
aut crimen famulis aut procedentibus omen, 125
et nihil exhausto caperent in stipite lucri:
(sternere quippe toros vel caedere ligna culinae
membra negant; aurum, vestes, arcana tueri
mens infida vetat; quis enim committere vellet
lenoni thalamum?): tandem ceu funus acerbum 130
infaustamque suis trusere penatibus umbram.
contemptu iam liber erat: sic pastor obesum
lacte canem ferroque ligat pascitque revinctum,
dum validus servare gregem vigilique rapaces
latratu terrere lupos; cum tardior idem 135
iam scabie laceras deiecit sordidus aures,
solvit et exuto lucratur vincula collo.
Est ubi despectus nimius iuvat. undique pulso
per cunctas licuit fraudes impune vagari
et fatis aperire viam. pro quisquis Olympi 140
summa tenes, tanto libuit mortalia risu
vertere? qui servi non est admissus in usum,
suscipitur regnis, et quem privata ministrum
dedignata domus, moderantem sustinet aula.
ut primum vetulam texere palatia vulpem, 145
quis non ingemuit? quis non inrepere sacris
obsequiis doluit totiens venale cadaver?
ipsi quin etiam tali consorte fremebant
regales famuli, quibus est inlustrior ordo
servitii, sociumque diu sprevere superbi. 150
* * * * *
Page 149
in contact with him, scaring children, disgusting those that sat at
meat, disgracing his fellow-slaves, or terrifying as with an evil omen
those that met him; when his masters ceased to derive any advantage
from that withered trunk (for his wasted limbs refused even to make
the beds or cut wood for the kitchen fire, while his faithless nature
forbade their entrusting him with the charge of gold or vesture
or the secrets of the house--who could bring him to entrust his
marriage-chamber to a pander?), then at last they thrust him from their
houses like a troublesome corpse or an ill-omened ghost. He was now
free--for everyone despised him. So a shepherd chains up a dog and
fattens him with milk while yet his strength avails to guard the flock
and, ever watchful, to scare away wolves with his barking. But when
later this same dog grows old and dirty and droops his mangy ears he
looses him, and, taking off his collar, at least saves that.
Universal contempt is sometimes a boon. Driven out by all, he could
freely range amid every sort of crime, and open a way for destiny. Oh
thou, whosoe’er thou art, that holdest sway in Olympus, was it thy
humour to make such mockery of mankind? He who was not suffered to
perform the duties of a slave is admitted to the administration of
an empire; him whom a private house scorned as a servant, a palace
tolerates as its lord. When first the consular residence received this
old vixen, who did not lament? Who grieved not to see an oft-sold
corpse worm itself into the sacred service of the emperor? Nay, the
very palace-servants, holding a prouder rank in slavery, murmured at
such a colleague and long haughtily scorned his company.
* * * * *
Page 150
Cernite, quem Latiis poscant adnectere fastis:
cuius et eunuchos puduit! sed vilior ante
obscurae latuit pars ignotissima turbae,
donec Abundanti furiis--qui rebus Eois
exitium primumque sibi produxit--ab imis 155
evectus thalamis summos invasit honores.
quam bene dispositum terris, ut dignus iniqui
fructus consilii primis auctoribus instet.
sic multos fluvio vates arente per annos
hospite qui caeso monuit placare Tonantem, 160
inventas primus Busiridis imbuit aras
et cecidit saevi, quod dixerat, hostia sacri.
sic opifex tauri tormentorumque repertor,
qui funesta novo fabricaverat aera dolori,
primus inexpertum Siculo cogente tyranno 165
sensit opus docuitque suum mugire iuvencum.
nullius Eutropius, quam qui se protulit, ante
direptas possedit opes nullumque priorem
perculit exilio solumque hoc rite peregit,
auctorem damnare suum.
Postquam obsitus aevo 170
semivir excelsam rerum sublatus in arcem,
quod nec vota pati nec fingere somnia possunt,
vidit sub pedibus leges subiectaque colla
nobilium tantumque sibi permittere fata,
qui nihil optasset plus libertate mereri, 175
* * * * *
Page 151
See what manner of man they seek to connect with the annals of Rome:
the very eunuchs were ashamed of him. At first of no account, he lay
hid, the most unknown unit of an unregarded throng, till thanks to the
mad folly of Abundantius[89] (who brought ruin on the empire of the
East and, ere that, upon himself) he was advanced from the most menial
office to the highest honours. What a happy dispensation of providence
it is that in this world the results of ill counsel fall first upon
its instigators! Thus the seer who advised Busiris to placate the
Thunderer’s wrath, what time Nile’s flood had long run dry, with a
stranger’s blood himself first stained that tyrant’s altar with his
own and fell a victim of the horrid sacrifice he had advised. Thus he
who made the brazen bull and devised that new form of torture, casting
the deadly bronze as an instrument of torment, was (at the bidding of
the Sicilian tyrant) the first to make trial of the unhanselled image,
and to teach his own bull to roar. So with Eutropius: on no man’s
goods did he sooner seize than on those of him by whom he had been
raised to power; none did he drive sooner into exile and thus, by the
condemnation of his patron, was to thank for one righteous action.
When this half-man, worn out with age, had been raised to that pinnacle
of glory for which he never would have dared to pray, of which never
to dream; when he had seen law at his feet, the heads of the nobility
inclined before him, and fortune heaping such gifts upon one whose only
hope and prayer had been to gain his freedom, he straightway forgot
[89] By birth a Scythian. Entered the Roman army under Gratian
and reached the position of _magister utriusque militiae_ under
Theodosius. Consul in 393 (Zosim. v. 10. 5) and banished three
years later to Pityus, thanks to the machinations of Eutropius.
* * * * *
Page 152
iamiam dissimulat dominos alteque tumescunt
serviles animi. procerum squalore repletus
carcer et exulibus Meroë campique gemescunt
Aethiopum; poenis hominum plaga personat ardens;
Marmaricus claris violatur caedibus Hammon. 180
Asperius nihil est humili cum surgit in altum:
cuncta ferit dum cuncta timet, desaevit in omnes
ut se posse putent, nec belua taetrior ulla
quam servi rabies in libera terga furentis;
agnoscit gemitus et poenae parcere nescit, 185
quam subiit, dominique memor, quem verberat, odit.
adde, quod eunuchus nulla pietate movetur
nec generi natisve cavet. clementia cunctis
in similes, animosque ligant consortia damni;
iste nec eunuchis placidus.
Sed peius in aurum 190
aestuat; hoc uno fruitur succisa libido.
quid nervos secuisse iuvat? vis nulla cruentam
castrat avaritiam. parvis exercita furtis
quae vastare penum neglectaque sueverat arcae
claustra remoliri, nunc uberiore rapina 195
peccat in orbe manus. quidquid se Tigris ab Haemo
dividit, hoc certa proponit merce locandum
institor imperii, caupo famosus honorum.
hic Asiam villa pactus regit; ille redemit
coniugis ornatu Syriam; dolet ille paterna 200
Bithynos mutasse domo. subfixa patenti
vestibulo pretiis distinguit regula gentes:
* * * * *
Page 153
his former masters, and his slave’s mind swelled high within him. The
prisons were filled with degraded nobles, Meroë and the plains of
Ethiopia re-echoed to the weeping of exiles; the desert rang with the
punishment of men; the temple of Jupiter Ammon in Africa was stained
with gentle blood.
Nothing is so cruel as a man raised from lowly station to prosperity;
he strikes everything, for he fears everything; he vents his rage on
all, that all may deem he has the power. No beast so fearful as the
rage of a slave let loose on free-born backs; their groans are familiar
to him, and he cannot be sparing of punishment that he himself has
undergone; remembering his own master he hates the man he lashes. Being
a eunuch also he is moved by no natural affection and has no care for
family or children. All are moved to pity by those whose circumstances
are like their own; similitude of ills is a close bond. Yet he is kind
not even to eunuchs.
His passion for gold increases--the only passion his mutilated body
can indulge. Of what use was emasculation? The knife is powerless
against reckless avarice. That hand so well practised in petty thefts,
accustomed to rifle a cupboard or remove the bolt from the unwatched
coffer, now finds richer spoils and the whole world to rob. All the
country between the Tigris and Mount Haemus he exposes for sale at a
fixed price, this huckster of empire, this infamous dealer in honours.
This man governs Asia for the which his villa has paid. That man buys
Syria with his wife’s jewels. Another repents of having taken Bithynia
in exchange for his paternal mansion. Fixed above the open doors of his
hall is a list giving the provinces and their
* * * * *
Page 154
tot Galatae, tot Pontus eat, tot Lydia nummis;
si Lyciam tenuisse velis, tot millia ponas,
si Phrygas, adde; parum! propriae solacia sorti 205
communes vult esse notas et venditus ipse
vendere cuncta cupit. certantum saepe duorum
diversum suspendit onus; cum pondere index
vergit, et in geminas nutat provincia lances.
Non pudet heu, superi, populos venire sub hasta?
vendentis certe pudeat, quod iure sepultum 211
mancipium tot regna tenet, tot distrahit urbes.
pollentem solio Croesum victoria Cyri
fregit, ut eunucho flueret Pactolus et Hermus?
Attalus heredem voluit te, Roma, relinqui, 215
restitit Antiochus praescripto margine Tauri,
indomitos curru Servilius egit Isauros
et Pharos Augusto iacuit vel Creta Metello,
ne non Eutropio quaestus numerosior esset?
in mercem veniunt Cilices, Iudaea, Sophene 220
Romanusque labor Pompeianique triumphi.
Quo struis hos auri cumulos? quae pignora tantis
succedent opibus? nubas ducasve licebit:
numquam mater eris, numquam pater; hoc tibi ferrum,
hoc natura negat. te grandibus India gemmis, 225
te foliis Arabes ditent, te vellere Seres:
nullus inops adeo, nullum sic urget egestas,
ut velit Eutropii fortunam et membra pacisci.
Iamque oblita sui nec sobria divitiis mens
* * * * *
Page 155
prices: so much for Galatia, for Pontus so much, so much will buy
one Lydia. Would you govern Lycia? Then lay down so many thousands.
Phrygia? A little more. He wishes everything to be marked with its
price to console him for his own fortune and, himself so often sold,
he wants to sell everything. When two are rivals he suspends in
the balance their opposed payment; along with the weight the judge
inclines, and a province hangs wavering in a pair of scales.
Ye gods, are ye not ashamed that whole peoples are sold beneath the
hammer? At least let it shame you of the seller, when a slave, a
chattel the law counts dead, possesses so many kingdoms and retails so
many cities. Did Cyrus’ victory oust mighty Croesus from his throne
that Pactolus and Hermus should roll their waves for a eunuch? Did
Attalus make you, Rome, his heir, was Antiochus confined within the
appointed bounds of Taurus, did Servilius enjoy a triumph over the
hitherto unconquered Isaurians, did Egypt fall before Augustus, and
Crete before Metellus, to ensure Eutropius a sufficient income?[90]
Cilicia, Judaea, Sophene, all Rome’s labours and Pompey’s triumphs, are
there to sell.
Why heap up these riches? Hast thou children to succeed to them? Marry
or be married, thou canst never be a mother or a father: the former
nature hath denied thee, the latter the surgeon’s knife. India may
enrich thee with enormous jewels, Arabia with her spices, China with
her silks; none so needy, none so poverty-stricken as to wish to have
Eutropius’ fortune and therewith Eutropius’ body.
And now his mind, forgetful of its true nature and
[90] Attalus, King of Pergamum, left his kingdom by will to Rome,
133 B.C. It became the province of Asia. The terms mentioned here
were imposed on Antiochus, King of Syria, in 189 B.C. P. Servilius
crossed the Taurus and subdued the Isauri 78 B.C.; Crete was
conquered by Q. Metellus between 68 and 66 B.C.
* * * * *
Page 156
in miseras leges hominumque negotia ludit. 230
iudicat eunuchus; quid iam de consule miror?
prodigium, quodcumque gerit. quae pagina lites
sic actas meminit? quibus umquam saecula terris
eunuchi videre forum? sed ne qua vacaret
pars ignominia neu quid restaret inausum, 235
arma etiam violare parat portentaque monstris
aggerat et secum petulans amentia certat.
erubuit Mavors aversaque risit Enyo
dedecus Eoum, quotiens intenta sagittis
et pharetra fulgens anus exercetur Amazon 240
arbiter aut quotiens belli pacisque recurrit
adloquiturque Getas. gaudet cum viderit hostis
et sentit iam deesse viros. incendia fumant,
muris nulla fides, squalent populatibus agri
et medio spes sola mari. trans Phasin aguntur 245
Cappadocum matres, stabulisque abducta paternis
Caucasias captiva bibunt armenta pruinas
et Scythicis mutant Argaei pabula silvis.
extra Cimmerias, Taurorum claustra, paludes
flos Syriae servit. spoliis nec sufficit atrox 250
barbarus: in caedem vertunt fastidia praedae.
Ille tamen (quid enim servum mollemque pudebit?
aut quid in hoc poterit vultu flagrare ruboris?)
pro victore redit: peditum vexilla sequuntur
et turmae similes eunuchorumque manipli, 255
Hellespontiacis legio dignissima signis.
obvius ire cliens defensoremque reversum
complecti. placet ipse sibi laxasque laborat
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Page 157
drunken with riches, makes sport of wretched law and the affairs of
men. A eunuch is judge. Why now wonder that he is consul? Whatever he
does is a prodigy. Can the annals of the law show cases so mishandled?
What age or what country has ever witnessed a eunuch’s jurisdiction?
That nought might remain undisgraced, nought unattempted, he even makes
him ready to outrage arms, heaps portent on portent and wanton folly
seeks to outdo itself. Mars blushed, Bellona scoffed and turned her
from the disgrace of the East whene’er with arrows strung and flashing
quiver the aged Amazon practises battle or hurries back as arbiter of
peace and war to hold parley with the Getae. Our enemies rejoiced at
the sight and felt that at last we were lacking in _men_. Towns were
set ablaze; walls offered no security. The countryside was ravaged
and brought to ruin. Mid-ocean alone gave hope. Women of Cappadocia
were driven into captivity across the river Phasis; stolen from the
stalls of their homesteads, the captive herds drink the snowy streams
of Caucasus, and the flocks exchange the pastures of Mount Argaeus[91]
for the woods of Scythia. Beyond the Cimmerian marshes, defence of the
Tauric tribes, the youth of Syria are slaves. Too vast for the fierce
barbarians are the spoils; glutted with booty they turn to slaughter.
Yet Eutropius (can a slave, an effeminate, feel shame? Could a blush
grace such a countenance?), Eutropius returns in triumph. There follow
companies of foot, squadrons like their general, maniples of eunuchs,
an army worthy Priapus’ standards. His creatures meet him and embrace
their saviour on his return.[92] Great is his self-esteem; he struggles
[91] A mountain in Cappadocia.
[92] Claudian is scarcely fair to Eutropius. The reference here is
to the campaign of 398 in which Eutropius succeeded in driving the
Huns back behind the Caucasus.
* * * * *
Page 158
distendisse genas fictumque inflatus anhelat,
pulvere respersus tineas et solibus ora 260
pallidior, verbisque sonat plorabile quiddam
ultra nequitiam fractis et proelia narrat:
perque suam tremula testatur voce sororem,
defecisse vagas ad publica commoda vires;
cedere livori nec sustentare procellas 265
invidiae; mergique fretis spumantibus orat.
exoretque utinam! dum talia fatur ineptas
deterget lacrimas atque inter singula dicta
flebile suspirat: qualis venit arida socrus
longinquam visura nurum; vix lassa resedit 270
et iam vina petit.
Quid te, turpissime, bellis
inseris aut saevi pertemptas Pallada campi?
tu potes alterius studiis haerere Minervae
et telas, non tela pati, tu stamina nosse,
tu segnes operum sollers urgere puellas 275
et niveam dominae pensis involvere lanam.
vel, si sacra placent, habeas pro Marte Cybeben;
rauca Celaenaeos ad tympana disce furores.
cymbala ferre licet pectusque inlidere pinu
inguinis et reliquum Phrygiis abscidere cultris. 280
arma relinque viris. geminam quid dividis aulam
conarisque pios odiis committere fratres?
te magis, ah demens, veterem si respicis artem,
conciliare decet.
Gestis pro talibus annum
* * * * *
Page 159
to swell out his pendulous cheeks and feigns a heavy panting; his lousy
head dust-sprinkled and his face bleached whiter by the sun, he sobs
out some pitiful complaint with voice more effeminate than effeminacy’s
self and tells of battles. In tremulous tones he calls his sister to
witness that he has spent his strength for his country’s need; that
he yields to envy and cannot stand up against the storms of jealousy
and prays to be drowned in the foaming seas. Would God his prayer had
been granted! Thus speaking, he wipes away the silly tears, sighing and
sobbing between each word; like a withered old dame travelled far to
visit her son’s daughter--scarce seated aweary and already she asks for
wine.
Why busy thy foul self with wars? Why attempt battle on the bloody
field? ’Tis to the arts of that other Minerva thou shouldst apply
thyself. The distaff, not the dart should be thine; thine to spin
the thread, and, cunning craftsman that thou art, to urge on the
spinning-maids when lazy; thine to wind the snowy wool for thy
mistress’ weaving. Or, wouldst thou be a devotee, let Cybele, not Mars,
be the object of thy worship. Learn to imitate the madness of the
Corybantes to the accompaniment of rolling drums. Thou mayest carry
cymbals, pierce thy breast with the sacred pine, and with Phrygian
knife destroy what yet is left of thy virility. Leave arms to men. Why
seek to divide the two empires and embroil loving brothers in strife?
Madman, remember thy former trade; ’twere more fitting thou shouldst
endeavour to reconcile them.
It is for deeds like this that Eutropius demands
* * * * *
Page 160
flagitet Eutropius, ne quid non polluat unus, 285
dux acies, iudex praetoria, tempora consul!
Nil adeo foedum, quod non exacta vetustas
ediderit longique labor commiserit aevi.
Oedipodes matrem, natam duxisse Thyestes
cantatur, peperit fratres Iocasta marito 290
et Pelopea sibi. Thebas ac funera Troiae
tristis Erechthei deplorat scaena theatri.
in volucrem Tereus, Cadmus se vertit in anguem.
Scylla novos mirata canes. hunc arbore figit,
elevat hunc pluma, squamis hunc fabula vestit, 295
hunc solvit fluvio. numquam spado consul in orbe
nec iudex ductorve fuit! quodcumque virorum
est decus, eunuchi scelus est. exempla creantur
quae socci superent risus luctusque cothurni.
Quam pulcher conspectus erat, cum tenderet artus
exangues onerante toga cinctuque gravatus 301
indutoque senex obscaenior iret in auro:
humani qualis simulator simius oris,
quem puer adridens pretioso stamine Serum
velavit nudasque nates ac terga reliquit, 305
ludibrium mensis; erecto pectore dives
ambulat et claro sese deformat amictu.
candida pollutos comitatur curia fasces,
forsitan et dominus. praebet miracula lictor
* * * * *
Page 161
this year of office, to ensure that by his efforts alone he leaves
nothing not dishonoured, ruining the army as its general, the courts as
their judge, the imperial fasti as a consul.
No portent so monstrous but time past has given it birth and the labour
of bygone centuries produced it. Legend tells us that Oedipus married
his mother and Thyestes his daughter; Jocasta bare brothers to her
husband, Thyestes’s daughter gave birth to her own brother. Athenian
tragedy tells the sad tale of Thebes and the baneful war of Troy.
Tereus was changed into a bird, Cadmus into a snake; Scylla looked in
amaze on the dogs that girt her waist. Ancient story relates how one
was transformed into a tree and thus attached to earth, how another
grew wings and flew, how a third was clothed with scales and yet
another melted into a river. But no country has ever had a eunuch for a
consul or judge or general. What in a man is honourable is disgraceful
in an emasculate. Here is an example to surpass all that is most
laughable in comedy, most lamentable in tragedy.
A pleasant sight in truth to see him strain his sapless limbs beneath
the weight of the toga, borne down by the wearing of his consular
dress; the gold of his raiment rendered his decrepitude even more
hideous. ’Twas as though an ape, man’s imitator, had been decked out
in sport with precious silken garments by a boy who had left his back
and quarters uncovered to amuse the guests at supper. Thus richly
dressed he walks upright and seems the more loathsome by reason of his
brilliant trappings. Dressed in white the senate, perhaps even his
master,[93] accompanies the dishonoured fasces. Behold a portent! A
lictor more noble than the
[93] _i.e._ the Emperor.
* * * * *
Page 162
consule nobilior libertatemque daturus, 310
quam necdum meruit. scandit sublime tribunal
atque inter proprias laudes Aegyptia iactat
somnia prostratosque canit se vate tyrannos.
scilicet in dubio vindex Bellona pependit,
dum spado Tiresias enervatusque Melampus 315
reptat ab extremo referens oracula Nilo.
Obstrepuere avium voces, exhorruit annus
nomen, et insanum gemino proclamat ab ore
eunuchumque vetat fastis accedere Ianus:
sumeret inlicitos etenim si femina fasces, 320
esset turpe minus. Medis levibusque Sabaeis
imperat hic sexus, reginarumque sub armis
barbariae pars magna iacet: gens nulla probatur,
eunuchi quae sceptra ferat. Tritonia, Phoebe,
Terra, Ceres, Cybele, Iuno, Latona coluntur: 325
eunuchi quae templa dei, quas vidimus aras?
inde sacerdotes; haec intrat pectora Phoebus;
inde canunt Delphi; Troianam sola Minervam
virginitas Vestalis adit flammasque tuetur:
hi nullas meriti vittas semperque profani. 330
nascitur ad fructum mulier prolemque futuram:
hoc genus inventum est ut serviat. Herculis arcu
concidit Hippolyte; Danai fugere bipennem,
Penthesilea, tuam; claras Carthaginis arces
creditur et centum portis Babylona superbam 335
femineus struxisse labor. quid nobile gessit
* * * * *
Page 163
consul, and a man about to grant to others a liberty which he has not
yet himself won. He mounts the lofty platform and amid a torrent of
self-laudation boasts of a prophetic dream he had in Egypt[94] and of
the defeat of tyrants which he foretold. No doubt the goddess of war
stayed her avenging hand and waited till that emasculate Tiresias, that
unmanned Melampus, could crawl back with oracles culled from farthest
Nile.
Loud sang the prophetic birds in warning. The year shuddered at the
thought of bearing Eutropius’ name, and Janus proclaimed the madness of
the choice from his two mouths, forbidding a eunuch to have access to
his annals. Had a woman assumed the fasces, though this were illegal
it were nevertheless less disgraceful. Women bear sway among the Medes
and swift Sabaeans; half barbary is governed by martial queens. We know
of no people who endure a eunuch’s rule. Worship is paid to Pallas,
Phoebe, Vesta, Ceres, Cybele, Juno, and Latona; have we ever seen a
temple built or altars raised to a eunuch god? From among women are
priestesses chosen; Phoebus enters into their hearts; through their
voices the Delphian oracle speaks; none but the Vestal Virgins approach
the shrine of Trojan Minerva and tend her flame: eunuchs have never
deserved the fillet and are always unholy. A woman is born that she
may bear children and perpetuate the human race; the tribe of eunuchs
was made for servitude. Hippolyte fell but by the arrow of Hercules;
the Greeks fled before Penthesilea’s axe; Carthage, far-famed citadel,
proud Babylon with her hundred gates, are both said to have been built
by a woman’s hand. What noble deed did
[94] In 394 Arcadius had sent Eutropius to the Thebaid to consult
a certain Christian prophet, John, upon the result of Eugenius’
revolt (Sozom. vii. 22. 7, 8).
* * * * *
Page 164
eunuchus? quae bella tulit? quas condidit urbes?
illas praeterea rerum natura creavit,
hos fecere manus: seu prima Semiramis astu
Assyriis mentita virum, ne vocis acutae 340
mollities levesve genae se prodere possent,
hos sibi coniunxit similes; seu Parthica ferro
luxuries vetuit nasci lanuginis umbram
servatoque diu puerili flore coegit
arte retardatam Veneri servire iuventam. 345
Fama prius falso similis vanoque videri
ficta ioco; levior volitare per oppida rumor
riderique nefas: veluti nigrantibus alis
audiretur olor, corvo certante ligustris.
atque aliquis gravior morum: “si talibus, inquit, 350
creditur et nimiis turgent mendacia monstris,
iam testudo volat, profert iam cornua vultur;
prona petunt retro fluvii iuga; Gadibus ortum
Carmani texere diem; iam frugibus aptum
aequor et adsuetum silvis delphina videbo; 355
iam cochleis homines iunctos et quidquid inane
nutrit Iudaicis quae pingitur India velis.”
Subicit et mixtis salibus lascivior alter:
“miraris? nihil est, quod non in pectore magnum
concipit Eutropius. semper nova, grandia semper
diligit et celeri degustat singula sensu. 361
nil timet a tergo; vigilantibus undique curis
nocte dieque patet; lenis facilisque moveri
supplicibus mediaque tamen mollissimus ira
nil negat et sese vel non poscentibus offert; 365
* * * * *
Page 165
a eunuch ever do? What wars did such an one fight, what cities did he
found? Moreover, nature created the former, the hand of man the latter,
whether it was from fear of being betrayed by her shrill woman’s voice
and her hairless cheeks that clever Semiramis, to disguise her sex from
the Assyrians, first surrounded herself with beings like her, or the
Parthians employed the knife to stop the growth of the first down of
manhood and forced their boys, kept boys by artifice, to serve their
lusts by thus lengthening the years of youthful charm.
At first the rumour of Eutropius’ consulship seemed false and invented
as a jest. A vague story spread from city to city; the crime was
laughed at as one would laugh to hear of a swan with black wings or
a crow as white as privet. Thus spake one of weighty character: “If
such things are believed and swollen lies tell of unheard of monsters,
then the tortoise can fly, the vulture grow horns, rivers flow back
and mount the hills whence they spring, the sun rise behind Gades and
set amid the Carmanians of India; I shall soon see ocean fit nursery
for plants and the dolphin a denizen of the woods; beings half-men,
half-snails and all the vain imaginings of India depicted on Jewish
curtains.”
Then another adds, jesting with a more wanton wit: “Dost thou wonder?
Nothing great is there that Eutropius does not conceive in his heart.
He ever loves novelty, ever size, and is quick to taste everything in
turn. He fears no assault from the rear; night and day he is ready with
watchful care; soft, easily moved by entreaty, and, even in the midst
of his passion, tenderest of men, he never says ‘no,’ and is ever at
the disposal even of
* * * * *
Page 166
quod libet ingenio, subigit traditque fruendum;
quidquid amas, dabit ilia manus; communiter omni
fungitur officio gaudetque potentia flecti.
hoc quoque conciliis peperit meritoque laborum,
accipit et trabeas argutae praemia dextrae.” 370
Postquam vera fides facinus vulgavit Eoum
gentibus et Romae iam certius impulit aures,
“Eutropiumne etiam nostra dignabimur ira?
hic quoque Romani meruit pars esse doloris?”
sic effata rapit caeli per inania cursum 375
diva potens unoque Padum translapsa volatu
castra sui rectoris adit. tum forte decorus
cum Stilichone gener pacem implorantibus ultro
Germanis responsa dabat, legesque Caucis
arduus et flavis signabat iura Suebis. 380
his tribuit reges, his obside foedera sancit
indicto; bellorum alios transcribit in usus,
militet ut nostris detonsa Sygambria signis.
laeta subit Romam pietas et gaudia paene
moverunt lacrimas tantoque exultat alumno: 385
sic armenta suo iam defensante iuvenco
celsius adsurgunt erectae cornua matri,
sic iam terribilem stabulis dominumque ferarum
crescere miratur genetrix Massyla leonem.
dimovit nebulam iuvenique adparuit ingens. 390
tum sic orsa loqui:
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Page 167
those that solicit him not. Whatever the senses desire he cultivates
and offers for another’s enjoyment. That hand will give whatever thou
wouldest have. He performs the functions of all alike; his dignity
loves to unbend. His meetings[95] and his deserving labours have won
him this reward,[96] and he receives the consul’s robe in recompense
for the work of his skilful hand.”
When the rumour concerning this disgrace of the eastern empire was
known to be true and had impressed belief on Roman ears, Rome’s goddess
thus spake: “Is Eutropius worthy of mine ire? Is such an one fit
cause for Roman grief?” So saying the mighty goddess winged her way
through the heavens and with one stroke of her pinions passed beyond
the Po and approached the camp of her emperor. It happened that even
then the august Honorius, assisted by his father-in-law Stilicho, was
making answer to the Germans who had come of their own accord to sue
for peace. From his lofty throne he was dictating laws to the Cauci
and giving a constitution to the flaxen-haired Suebi. Over these he
sets a king, with those he signs a treaty now that hostages have been
demanded; others he enters on the list as serviceable allies in war,
so that in future the Sygambrians will cut off their flowing locks and
serve beneath our banners. Joy and love so fill the goddess’ heart that
she well nigh weeps, so great is her happy pride in her illustrious
foster-child. So when a bullock fights in defence of the herd his
mother lifts her own horns more proudly; so the African lioness
gazes with admiration on her cub as he grows to be the terror of the
farmsteads and the future king of beasts. Rome lays aside her veil of
cloud and towers above the youthful warrior, then thus begins.
[95] With a play upon the sexual meaning of the word: indeed the
whole passage, from l. 358 is a mass of obscene innuendo.
[96] _i.e._ the consulship.
* * * * *
Page 168
“Quantum te principe possim,
non longinqua docent, domito quod Saxone Tethys
mitior aut fracto secura Britannia Picto;
ante pedes humili Franco tristique Suebo
perfruor et nostrum video, Germanice, Rhenum. 395
sed quid agam? discors Oriens felicibus actis
invidet atque alio Phoebi de cardine surgunt
crimina, ne toto conspiret corpore regnum.
Gildonis taceo magna cum laude receptam
perfidiam et fretos Eoo robore Mauros. 400
quae suscepta fames, quantum discriminis urbi,
ni tua vel soceri numquam non provida virtus
australem Arctois pensasset frugibus annum!
invectae Rhodani Tiberina per ostia classes
Cinyphiisque ferax Araris successit aristis. 405
Teutonicus vomer Pyrenaeique iuvenci
sudavere mihi; segetes mirantur Hiberas
horrea; nec Libyae senserunt damna rebellis
iam transalpina contenti messe Quirites.
ille quidem solvit meritas (scit Tabraca) poenas, 410
ut pereat quicumque tuis conflixerit armis.
“Ecce repens isdem clades a partibus exit
terrorisque minus, sed plus habitura pudoris
Eutropius consul, pridem tolerare fatemur
hoc genus, Arsacio postquam se regia fastu 415
sustulit et nostros corrupit Parthia mores,
praefecti sed adhuc gemmis vestique dabantur
custodes sacroque adhibere silentia somno;
* * * * *
Page 169
“Examples near at hand testify to the extent of my power now thou art
emperor. The Saxon is conquered and the seas safe; the Picts have
been defeated and Britain is secure. I love to see at my feet the
humbled Franks and broken Suebi, and I behold the Rhine mine own,
Germanicus.[97] Yet what am I to do? The discordant East envies our
prosperity, and beneath that other sky, lo! wickedness flourishes to
prevent our empire’s breathing in harmony with one body. I make no
mention of Gildo’s treason, detected so gloriously in spite of the
power of the East on which the rebel Moor relied. For what extremes of
famine did we not then look? How dire a danger overhung our city, had
not thy valour or the ever-provident diligence of thy father-in-law
supplied corn from the north in place of that from the south! Up
Tiber’s estuary there sailed ships from the Rhine, and the Saône’s
fertile banks made good the lost harvests of Africa. For me the Germans
ploughed and the Spaniards’ oxen sweated; my granaries marvel at
Iberian corn, nor did my citizens, now satisfied with harvests from
beyond the Alps, feel the defection of revolted Africa. Gildo, however,
paid the penalty for his treason as Tabraca can witness. So perish all
who take up arms against thee!
“Lo! on a sudden from that same clime comes another scourge, less
terrible indeed but even more shameful, the consulship of Eutropius. I
admit I have long learned to tolerate this unmanned tribe, ever since
the court exalted itself with Arsacid pomp and the example of Parthia
corrupted our morals. But till now they were but set to guard jewels
and raiment, and to secure silence for the imperial slumber. Never
beyond the sleeping-chamber
[97] She calls him _Germanicus_ because of his pacification of Germany;
see Introduction, p. x.
* * * * *
Page 170
militia eunuchi numquam progressa cubili,
non vita spondente fidem, sed inertia tutum 420
mentis pignus erat. secreta monilia servent,
ornatus curent Tyrios: a fronte recedant
imperii. tenero tractari pectore nescit
publica maiestas. numquam vel in aequore puppim
vidimus eunuchi clavo parere magistri. 425
nos adeo sperni faciles? orbisque carina
vilior? auroram sane, quae talia ferre
gaudet, et adsuetas sceptris muliebribus urbes
possideant; quid belliferam communibus urunt
Italiam maculis nocituraque probra severis 430
ammiscent populis? peregrina piacula forti
pellantur longe Latio nec transeat Alpes
dedecus; in solis, quibus extitit, haereat arvis.
scribat Halys, scribat famae contemptor Orontes:
per te perque tuos obtestor Roma triumphos, 435
nesciat hoc Thybris, numquam poscentibus olim
qui dare Dentatis annos Fabiisque solebat.
Martius eunuchi repetet suffragia campus?
Aemilios inter servatoresque Camillos
Eutropius? iam Chrysogonis tua, Brute, potestas 440
Narcissisque datur? natos hoc dedere poenae
profuit et misero civem praeponere patri?
hoc mihi Ianiculo positis Etruria castris
quaesiit et tantum fluvio Porsenna remotus?
hoc meruit vel ponte Cocles vel Mucius igne? 445
visceribus frustra castum Lucretia ferrum
* * * * *
Page 171
did the eunuch’s service pass; not their lives gave guarantee of
loyalty but their dull wits were a sure pledge. Let them guard hidden
store of pearls and Tyrian-dyed vestments; they must quit high offices
of state. The majesty of Rome cannot devolve upon an effeminate. Never
have we seen so much as a ship at sea obey the helm in the hands of a
eunuch-captain. Are we then so despicable? Is the whole world of less
account than a ship? Let eunuchs govern the East by all means, for the
East rejoices in such rulers, let them lord it over cities accustomed
to a woman’s sway: why disfigure warlike Italy with the general brand
and defile her austere peoples with their deadly profligacy? Drive
this foreign pollution from out the boundaries of manly Latium; suffer
not this thing of shame to cross the Alps; let it remain fixed in
the country of its birth. Let the river Halys or Orontes, careless
of its reputation, add such a name to its annals: I, Rome, beg thee
by thy life and triumphs, let not Tiber suffer this disgrace--Tiber
whose way was to give the consulship to such men as Dentatus and
Fabius though they asked not for it. Shall the Field of Mars witness
the canvassing of an eunuch? Is Eutropius to stand with Aemilii and
Camilli, saviours of their country? Is thy office, Brutus, now to be
given to a Chrysogonus or a Narcissus[98]? Is this the reward for
giving up thy sons to punishment and setting the citizen’s duty before
the father’s grief? Was it for this that the Tuscans made their camp on
the Janiculum and Porsenna was but the river’s span from our gates? For
this that Horatius kept the bridge and Mucius braved the flames? Was it
all to no purpose that
[98] Notorious freedmen and tools respectively of Sulla and the Emperor
Claudius.
* * * * *
Page 172
mersit et attonitum tranavit Cloelia Thybrim?
Eutropio fasces adservabantur adempti
Tarquiniis? quemcumque meae vexere curules,
laxato veniat socium aversatus Averno. 450
impensi sacris Decii prorumpite bustis
Torquatique truces animosaque pauperis umbra
Fabricii tuque o, si forte inferna piorum
iugera et Elysias scindis, Serrane, novales.
Poeno Scipiadae, Poeno praeclare Lutati, 455
Sicania Marcelle ferox, gens Claudia surgas[99]
et Curii veteres; et, qui sub iure negasti
vivere Caesareo, parvo procede sepulcro
Eutropium passure Cato; remcate tenebris,
agmina Brutorum Corvinorumque catervae. 460
eunuchi vestros habitus, insignia sumunt
ambigui Romana mares; rapuere tremendas
Hannibali Pyrrhoque togas; flabella perosi
adspirant trabeis; iam non umbracula gestant
virginibus, Latias ausi vibrare secures! 465
“Linquite femineas infelix turba latebras,
alter quos pepulit sexus nec suscipit alter,
execti Veneris stimulos et vulnere casti
(mixta duplex aetas; inter puerumque senemque
nil medium): falsi complete sedilia patres; 470
ite novi proceres infecundoque senatu
Eutropium stipate ducem; celebrate tribunal
pro thalamis, verso iam discite more curules,
non matrum pilenta sequi.
[99] MSS. have _surgat_.
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Page 173
chaste Lucretia plunged the dagger into her bosom and Cloelia swam
the astonished Tiber? Were the fasces reft from Tarquin to be given
to Eutropius? Let Hell ope her jaws and all who have sat in my
curule chair come and turn their backs upon their colleague. Decii,
self-sacrificed for your country’s good, come forth from your graves;
and you, fierce Torquati; and thou, too, great-hearted shade of poor
Fabricius. Serranus, come thou hither, if now thou ploughest the
acres of the holy dead and cleavest the fallow lands of Elysium. Come
Scipios, Lutatius, famed for your victories over Carthage, Marcellus,
conqueror of Sicily, rise from the dead, thou Claudian race, you
progeny of Curius. Cato, thou who wouldst not live beneath Caesar’s
rule, come thou forth from thy simple tomb and brave the sight of
Eutropius. Immortal bands of Bruti and Corvini, return to earth.
Eunuchs don your robes of office, sexless beings assume the insignia
of Rome. They have laid hands on the toga that inspired Hannibal
and Pyrrhus with terror. They now despise the fan and aspire to the
consul’s cloak. No longer do they carry the maidenly parasol for they
have dared to wield the axes of Latium.
“Unhappy band, leave your womanly fastnesses, you whom the male sex
has discarded and the female will not adopt. The knife has cut out the
stings of love and by that wounding you are pure. A mixture are you
of two ages--child and greybeard and nought between. Take your seats,
fathers in name alone. Come new lords, come sterile senate, throng your
leader Eutropius. Fill the judgement-seat, not the bedchamber. Change
your habits and learn to follow the consul’s chair, not the woman’s
litter.
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“Ne prisca revolvam
neu numerem, quantis iniuria mille per annos 475
sit retro ducibus, quanti foedabitur aevi
canities, unam subeant quot saecula culpam:
inter Arinthaei fastos et nomen erile
servus erit dominoque suos aequalis honores
inseret! heu semper Ptolomaei noxia mundo 480
mancipia! en alio laedor graviore Pothino
et patior maius Phario scelus. ille cruorem
consulis unius Pellaeis ensibus hausit;
inquinat hic omnes.
“Si nil privata movebunt,
at tu principibus, vestrae tu prospice causae 485
regalesque averte notas. hunc accipit unum
aula magistratum: vobis patribusque recurrit
hic alternus honos. in crimen euntibus annis
parce, quater consul! contagia fascibus, oro,
defendas ignava tuis neu tradita libris 490
omina vestitusque meos, quibus omne, quod ambit
oceanus, domui, tanta caligine mergi
calcarique sinas. nam quae iam bella geramus
mollibus auspiciis? quae iam conubia prolem
vel frugem latura seges? quid fertile terris, 495
quid plenum sterili possit sub consule nasci?
eunuchi si iura dabunt legesque tenebunt,
ducant pensa viri mutatoque ordine rerum
vivat Amazonio confusa licentia ritu.
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“I would not cite examples from remote antiquity nor count the
countless magistrates of past history whom he thus outrages. But
think how the reverence due to all past ages will be impaired, on how
many centuries one man’s shame will set its mark. Amid the annals
that record the name of Arinthaeus,[100] his master, will be found
the slave, and he will enter his own honours as equal to those of
his owner. The slaves of Egypt’s kings have ever been a curse to the
world; behold I suffer from a worse than Pothinus and bear a wrong more
flagrant than that of which Egypt was once the scene. Pothinus’ sword
at Alexandria spilled the blood of a single consul;[101] Eutropius
brings dishonour on all.
“If the fate of subjects cannot move thee, yet have thou regard for
princes, for your common cause, and remove this stain on royalty. The
consulship is the sole office the emperor deigns to accept; alternately
the honour passes to Court and Senate. Thou who hast thyself been four
times consul spare succeeding consuls this infamy. I pray thee, protect
the fasces, so often thine, from the pollution of a eunuch’s hand; let
not the omens handed down in our sacred books, let not those robes of
mine wherewith I have subdued everything within Ocean’s stream, be
plunged in so great darkness and trodden under foot. What kind of wars
can we wage now that a eunuch takes the auspices? What marriage, what
harvest will be fruitful? What fertility, what abundance is possible
beneath a consul stricken with sterility? If eunuchs shall give
judgement and determine laws, then let men card wool and live like the
Amazons, confusion and licence dispossessing the order of nature.
[100] Arinthaeus had held the high position of _magister peditum_.
He died in 379.
[101] Pothinus, the creature of Ptolemy Dionysius, was instrumental
in killing Pompey in Egypt in 48 B.C.
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Page 176
“Quid trahor ulterius? Stilicho, quid vincere differs,
dum certare pudet? nescis quod turpior hostis 501
laetitia maiore cadit? piratica Magnum
erigit, inlustrat servilis laurea Crassum.
adnuis. agnosco fremitum, quo palluit Eurus,
quo Mauri Gildoque ruit. quid Martia signa 505
sollicitas? non est iaculis hastisve petendus:
conscia succumbent audito verbere terga,
ut Scytha post multos rediens exercitus annos,
cum sibi servilis pro finibus obvia pubes
iret et arceret dominos tellure reversos, 510
armatam ostensis aciem fudere flagellis:
notus ab inceptis ignobile reppulit horror
vulgus et addictus sub verbere torpuit ensis.”
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Page 177
“What need of further words? Why, Stilicho, dost thou delay to conquer
because ashamed to fight? Knowest thou not that the viler a foe the
greater the rejoicing at his overthrow? His defeat of the pirates
extended the fame of great Pompey; his victory in the Servile War gave
an added glory to Crassus. Thou acceptest my charge: I recognize the
clamour that terrified the East and drove Gildo and his Moors to their
destruction. Why sound the trump of war? No need to attack him with
javelin or spear. At the crack of the whip will be bowed the back that
has felt its blows. Even so when after many years the Scythian army
came back from the wars and was met on the confines of its native land
by the usurping crowd of slaves who sought to keep their returning
masters from their country; with displayed whips they routed the armed
ranks; back from its enterprise the familiar terror drove the servile
mob, and at threat of the lash the bondsman’s sword grew dull.”
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Page 178
IN EUTROPIUM
LIBER SECUNDUS. PRAEFATIO
(XIX.)
Qui modo sublimes rerum flectebat habenas
patricius, rursum verbera nota timet
et solitos tardae passurus compedis orbes
in dominos vanas luget abisse minas.
culmine deiectum vitae Fortuna priori 5
reddidit, insano iam satiata ioco.
scindere nunc alia meditatur ligna securi
fascibus et tandem vapulat ipse suis.
ille citas consul poenas se consule solvit:
annus qui trabeas hic dedit exilium. 10
infaustum populis in se quoque vertitur omen;
saevit in auctorem prodigiosus honos.
abluto penitus respirant nomine fasti
maturamque luem sanior aula vomit.
dissimulant socii coniuratique recedunt, 15
procumbit pariter cum duce tota cohors;
non acie victi, non seditione coacti;
nec pereunt ritu quo periere viri.
concidit exiguae dementia vulnere chartae;
confecit saevum littera Martis opus. 20
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Page 179
AGAINST EUTROPIUS