Claudian: PANEGYRICUS DICTUS PROBINO ET OLYBRIO CONSULIBUS

Sol, qui flammigeris mundum conplexus habenis
volvis inexhausto redeuntia saecula motu,
sparge diem meliore coma, crinemque repexi
blandius elato surgant temone iugales
efflantes roseum frenis spumantibus ignem

Sun, who, embracing the world with flame-bearing reins,
you roll the returning ages with inexhaustible motion,
strew the day with a better lock, and, with your hair recombed,
let your yoke-horses rise more gently with the pole lifted,
exhaling rosy fire from foaming reins

iam nova germanis vestigia torqueat annus
consulibus, laetique petant exordia menses.
Scis genus Auchenium, nec te latuere potentes
Amniadae, nam saepe soles ductoribus illis
instaurare vias et cursibus addere nomen

now let the year for the brother consuls turn its new tracks,
and let the months, rejoicing, seek their beginnings.
You know the Auchenian race, nor have the mighty River-born
escaped you, for you are often wont, for those leaders,
to renew the ways and to add your name to the courses

his neque per dubium pendet Fortuna favorem
nec novit mutare vices, sed fixus in omnes
cognatos procedit honos. Quemcumque require
hac de stirpe virum: certum est de consule nasci.
Per fasces numerantur avi semperque renata

for these, Fortune does not hang her favor in doubt,
nor does she know how to change the vicissitudes; but fixed upon all
the kindred the honor proceeds. Whomever you seek
of this stock as a man: it is certain he is of consular birth.
By the fasces the grandsires are counted, and ever reborn.

nobilitate virent, et prolem fata secuntur
continuum simili servantia lege tenorem.
Nec quisquam procerum temptat, licet aere vetusto
floreat et claro cingatur Roma senatu,
se iactare parem, sed prima sede relicta

they flourish with nobility, and the Fates follow the offspring
maintaining a continuous tenor by a similar law.
Nor does any of the nobles attempt, although with ancient bronze
Rome may flourish and be girded with a renowned senate,
to vaunt himself a peer, but, the first seat left

Aucheniis de iure licet certare secundo:
haud secus ac tacitam Luna regnante per aethram
sidereae cedunt acies, cum fratre recusso
aemulus adversis flagraverit ignibus orbis;
tum iubar Arcturi languet, tum fulva Leonis

By right it is permitted to the Auchenians to contend for the second place:
not otherwise than, the Moon reigning through the silent ether,
the sidereal battle-lines yield, when, her brother driven back,
the rival orb has blazed with opposing fires;
then the radiance of Arcturus languishes, then the fulvous Lion

ira perit, Plaustro iam rara intermicat Arctos
indignata tegi, iam caligantibus armis
debilis Orion dextram miratur inertem.
Quem prius adgrediar? Veteris quis facta Probini
nesciat aut nimias laudes ignoret Olybri?

wrath perishes; by the Wagon the Bear now twinkles intermittently,
indignant to be veiled; now with caliginous arms
enfeebled Orion marvels at his right hand inert.
Whom should I first address? Who does not know the deeds of the elder Probinus
or ignore the excessive praises of Olybrius?

Vivit adhuc conpletque vagis sermonibus aures
gloria fusa Probi, quam non ventura silebunt
lustra nec ignotam rapiet sub nube vetustas.
Illum fama vehit trans aequora transque remotas
Tethyos ambages Atlanteosque recessus.

Still lives and fills the ears with wandering discourses
the diffused glory of Probus, which coming lustrums will not
silence, nor will antiquity snatch it, unknown, beneath a cloud.
Him Fame carries across the seas and across the remote
windings of Tethys and the Atlantean recesses.

Audiit et gelido si quem Maeotica pascit
sub Iove vel calido si quis coniunctus in axe
nascentem te, Nile, bibit. Virtutibus ille
Fortunam domuit numquamque levantibus alte
intumuit rebus; sed mens circumflua luxu

He has been heard even by whoever the Maeotic land nourishes
under the icy sky, or if anyone, conjoined on the hot axis,
drinks you, Nile, at your birth. By his virtues he subdued Fortune
and never swelled high with uplifting things; but his mind, overflowing with luxury

noverat intactum vitio servare rigorem.
Hic non divitias nigrantibus abdidit antris
nec tenebris damnavit opes; sed largior imbre
sueverat innumeras hominum ditare catervas.
Quippe velut denso currentia munera nimbo

He knew how to preserve a rigor untouched by vice.
This man did not hide riches in black caverns
nor condemn his wealth to darkness; but with a more bounteous shower
he was accustomed to enrich innumerable crowds of men.
Indeed, as if gifts were coursing from a dense rain-cloud

cernere semper erat, populis undare penates
adsiduis, intrare inopes, remeare beatos.
Praeceps illa manus fluvios superabat Hiberos
aurea dona vomens † si quis † tellure revulsa
† sollicitis fodiens miratur collibus aurum:

it was always to be seen, the households to surge with continual peoples,
the poor to enter, to return blessed.
That headlong hand surpassed the Iberian rivers,
spewing forth golden gifts — † if anyone † with the earth torn up
† digging marvels at gold in the anxious hills:

quantum stagna Tagi rudibus stillantia venis
effluxere decus, quanto pretiosa metallo
Hermi ripa micat, quantas per Lydia culta
despumat rutilas dives Pactolus harenas.
Non, mihi centenis pateant si vocibus ora

how much glory the pools of the Tagus, dripping from raw veins, have effused;
with how much precious metal the bank of the Hermus sparkles;
how many rutilant sands the rich Pactolus foams out through cultivated Lydia.
Not—were mouths with a hundred voices to lie open to me—

multifidusque ruat centum per pectora Phoebus,
acta Probi narrare queam, quot in ordine gentes
rexerit, ad summi quotiens fastigia iuris
venerit, Italiae late cum frena teneret
Illyricosque sinus et quos arat Africa campos.

and though multifid Phoebus should rush down through a hundred breasts,
I could narrate the acts of Probus, how many nations
he has ruled in order, how often he has come to the heights of supreme jurisdiction,
when he broadly held the reins of Italy,
and the Illyrian gulfs and the fields that Africa plows.

Sed nati vicere patrem, solique merentur
victores audire Probi. Non contigit illi
talis honos, prima cum parte viresceret aevi,
nec consul cum fratre fuit. Vos nulla fatigat
cura diu maiora petens, non anxia mentem

But the sons have overcome the father, and they alone merit
to be called victors of Probus. Such an honor did not befall him,
as he grew strong in the first part of his age,
nor was he consul with his brother. No care, seeking greater things for a long time, wearies you,
nor does anxious care weary the mind.

spes agit et longo tendit praecordia voto:
coepistis quo finis erat. Primordia vestra
vix pauci meruere senes, metasque tenetis
ante genas dulces quam flos iuvenilis inumbret
oraque ridenti lanugine vestiat aetas.

Hope drives and stretches the inmost heart with a long desire:
you have begun where the end was. Your beginnings
very few old men have deserved, and you hold the goals
before the sweet cheeks are overshadowed by the flower of youth
and age clothes the faces with smiling down.

Tu, precor, ignarum doceas, Parnasia, vatem,
quis deus ambobus tanti sit muneris auctor.
Postquam fulmineis inpellens viribus hostem
belliger Augustus trepidas laxaverat Alpes
Roma Probo cupiens dignas persolvere grates

You, I pray, Parnassian one, teach the ignorant poet,
which god is the author, for both, of so great a gift.
After, with fulminant forces driving the foe,
the warlike Augustus had unbarred the trembling Alps,
Rome, wishing to render worthy thanks to Probus,

sedula pro natis dominum flexura rogando
ire parat. Famuli currum iunxere volantem
Impetus horribilisque Metus, qui semper agentem
proelia cum fremitu Romam comitantur anhelo,
sive petat Parthos seu cuspide turbet Hydaspen.

sedulous, to bend the lord by entreaty for her sons,
she prepares to go. The servants have yoked the flying chariot
Impetus and Horrible Fear, who always
accompany Rome driving battles with a panting roar,
whether she seeks the Parthians or troubles Hydaspes with her spear-point.

Hic ligat axe rotas; hic sub iuga ferrea nectit
cornipedes rigidisque docet servire lupatis.
Ipsa, triumphatis quae possidet aethera regnis,
adsilit innuptae ritus imitata Minervae.
Nam neque caesariem crinali stringere cultu

Here he ties the wheels to the axle; here he fastens beneath iron yokes
the hoofed steeds and teaches them to serve rigid curb-bits.
She herself, who possesses the aether with kingdoms triumphed over,
springs forth, imitating the rites of unmarried Minerva.
For neither to draw tight her tresses with a hair-ornament

colla nec ornatu patitur mollire retorto;
dextrum nuda latus, niveos exerta lacertos,
audacem retegit mammam, laxumque coercens
mordet gemma sinum; nodus, qui sublevat ensem
album puniceo pectus discriminat ostro.

nor does she allow her neck to soften with twisted ornament;
her right flank bare, her snow-white upper arms exposed,
she reveals a bold breast, and, restraining the loose fold,
a gem bites the bosom; a knot, which supports the sword,
marks off the white breast with crimson purple.

Miscetur decori virtus pulcherque severo
armatur terrore pudor, galeaeque minaci
flava cruentarum praetenditur umbra iubarum,
et formidato clipeus Titana lacessit
lumine, quem tota variarat Mulciber arte:

Virtue is mingled with decor, and the fair with the severe;
and modesty is armed with terror, and from the menacing helmet
the golden shadow of bloodied plumes is stretched before,
and the shield with dreaded light challenges the Titan,
which Mulciber had variegated with all his art:

hic patris Mavortis amor fetusque notantur
Romulei; pius amnis inest et belva nutrix;
electro Thybris, pueri formantur in auro;
fingunt aera lupam; Mavors adamante coruscat.
Iam, simul emissis rapido velocior Euro

here are marked the love of father Mavors and the Romulean offspring; the pious river is present and the nurse-beast; in electrum the Tiber, the boys are fashioned in gold; they shape a she-wolf in bronze; Mavors flashes with adamant. Now, at once, once they are sent forth, swifter than the rapid Eurus

100

fertur equis, stridunt Zephyri cursuque rotarum
saucia dividuis clarescunt nubila sulcis.
Nec traxere moras, sed lapsu protinus uno,
quem poscunt, tetigere locum, qua fine sub imo
angustant aditum curvis anfractibus Alpes

he is borne by horses, the Zephyrs shriek and the coursing of the wheels,
the clouds, wounded, grow bright with dividing furrows.
Nor did they draw out delays, but with a single glide at once
they touched the place which they demand, where at the lowermost border
the Alps narrow the approach with curved anfractuous windings.

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claustraque congestis scopulis durissima tendunt,
non alia reseranda manu, sed pervia tantum
Augusto geminisque fidem mentita tyrannis.
Semirutae turres avulsaque moenia fumant;
crescunt in cumulum strages vallemque profundam

and the most unyielding barriers, with crags heaped together, stretch forth,
not to be unbarred by any other hand, but passable only to Augustus, and to the twin tyrannies a pledge belied.
Half-ruined towers and torn-off walls smoke;
heaps of slaughter grow into a mound, and the deep valley

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aequavere iugis; stagnant inmersa cruore
corpora; turbantur permixto funere Manes.
Haud procul exhausto laetus certamine victor
caespite gramineo consederat arbore fultus
adclines umeros; dominum gavisa coronat

they made [the valley] level with the ridges; bodies, submerged in gore, stagnate;
the Manes are troubled by a commingled burial. Not far off, the victor, glad with the struggle spent,
had sat down on a grassy sod, propped by a tree, his shoulders leaning;
rejoicing, it crowns its master.

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terra suum, surguntque toris maioribus herbae.
Sudor adhuc per membra calet creberque recurrit
halitus et placidi radiant in casside vultus:
qualis letifera populatus caede Gelonos
procubat horrendus Getico Gradivus in Haemo;

the earth crowns her own, and grasses spring up into larger cushions.
Sweat still is warm along his limbs and his frequent breath returns,
and both the breath and his placid features radiate in the helmet:
such as, having ravaged the Geloni with death-bringing slaughter,
dread Gradivus sprawls upon Getic Haemus.

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exuvias Bellona levat, Bellona tepentes
pulvere solvit equos, inmensaque cornus in † hastam
porrigitur tremulisqe ferit splendoribus Hebrum.
Ut stetit ante ducem discussas Roma per auras,
conscia ter sonuit rupes et inhorruit atrum

Bellona lifts the spoils; Bellona unyokes the horses, warm with dust,
and the immense cornel-wood is extended into the † spear,
and with trembling splendors she strikes the Hebrus.
As Rome stood before the leader through the dispelled airs,
the conscious cliff rang thrice, and the blackness shuddered

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maiestate nemus. Prior hic 'o numen amicum'
dux ait 'et legum genetrix longeque regendo
circumfusa polo consorsque adiuncta Tonanti,
dic agedum, quae causa viae? Cur deseris arces
Ausonias caelumque tuum?

the grove with majesty. Here first the leader says: ‘o friendly numen,
and mother of laws, and, far and wide by ruling, suffused around the sky,
and partner joined to the Thunderer,
come now, say, what is the cause of the journey? Why do you abandon the Ausonian citadels
and your heaven?’

Dic, maxima rerum!

Speak, greatest of things!

130

Non ego vel Libycos cessem tolerare vapores
Sarmaticosve pati medio sub frigore Coros,
si tu, Roma, velis; pro te quascumque per oras
ibimus et nulla sub tempestate timentes
solstitio Meroen, bruma temptabimus Histrum'.

I would not even hesitate to endure Libyan vapors,
nor to suffer Sarmatian Cauri beneath the midst of frost,
if you, Rome, should will; for you, through whatever shores
we shall go, and, fearing no storm in any weather,
at the solstice we will attempt Meroë, in midwinter the Ister (Danube).

135

Tum regina refert: 'non me latet, inclute rector,
quam tua pro Latio victricia castra laborent,
nec quod servitium rursus furiaeque rebelles
edomitae paribus sub te cecidere triumphis.
Sed, precor, hoc donum cum libertate recenti

Then the queen replies: 'it does not escape me, illustrious rector,
how your victorious camps toil on behalf of Latium,
nor that servitude and rebellious Furies,
once subdued, have fallen under you with equal triumphs.
But, I pray, this gift together with the recent liberty

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adicias, si vera manet reverentia nostri.
Sunt mihi pubentes alto de semine fratres,
pignora cara Probi, festa quos luce creatos
ipsa meo fovi gremio. Cunabula parvis
ipsa dedi, cum matris onus Lucina beatum

add this besides, if true reverence for me remains.
I have brothers grown to manhood from high stock,
dear pledges of Probus, whom, born on a festive day,
I myself cherished in my lap. For the little ones their cradles
I myself gave, when Lucina made a mother’s burden blessed.

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solveret et magnos proferrent sidera partus.
His ego nec Decios pulchros fortesve Metellos
praetulerim, non qui poenum domuere ferocem,
Scipiadas Gallisque genus fatale Camillos.
Pieriis pollent studiis multoque redundant

might release, and the stars might bring forth great births.
Before these I would not prefer the fair Decii nor the brave Metelli,
nor those who subdued the fierce Punic foe,
the Scipios and the Camilli, a stock fatal to the Gauls.
They prevail in Pierian studies and overflow abundantly

150

eloquio; nec desidiis dapibusque paratis
indulgere iuvat nec tanta licentia vitae
arripit aut mores aetas lasciva relaxat:
sed gravibus curis animum sortita senilem
ignea longaevo frenatur corde iuventus.

in eloquence; nor does it please to indulge in idleness and prepared banquets, nor does so great a license of life
seize them, or does the wanton age relax their morals:
but, having by heavy cares obtained an old man’s mind,
fiery youth is curbed by an aged heart.

155

Illis, quam propriam ducunt ab origine, sortem
oramus praebere velis annique futurum
devoveas venientis iter. Non inproba posco,
non insueta dabis: domus haec de more requirit.
Adnue: sic nobis Scythicus famuletur Araxes,

To them, the lot which they deem proper from their origin,
we pray you may be willing to grant, and that you devote the coming year's
journey. I do not ask improper things,
you will give nothing unwonted: this house requires it by custom.
Assent: thus may the Scythian Araxes serve us,

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sic Rhenus per utrumque latus, Medisque subactis
nostra Semiramiae timeant insignia turres;
sic fluat adtonitus Romana per oppida Ganges'.
Ductor ad haec: 'Optata iubes ultroque volentem,
diva rogas; non haec precibus temptanda fuissent.

so may the Rhine serve on either flank, and, with the Medes subdued,
may the towers of Semiramis fear our insignia;
so may the Ganges, astonished, flow through Roman towns.'
The Leader to this: 'You command things desired, and you ask one already willing besides,
goddess; these things would not have had to be assayed by prayers.'

165

Usque adeone meam condunt oblivia mentem,
ut pigeat meminisse Probi, quo vindice totam
vidimus Hesperiam fessasque resurgere gentes?
Ante dabunt hiemes Nilum, per flumina damnae
errabunt glacieque niger damnabitur Indus,

Do oblivions to such an extent bury my mind,
that it irks me to remember Probus, under whose vindicator we saw
all Hesperia and the weary gentes rise again?
Sooner will winters yield the Nile, the fallow-deer will wander through the rivers,
and the black Indus will be condemned by ice,

170

ante Thyesteis iterum conterrita mensis
intercisa dies refugos vertetur in ortus,
quam Probus a nostro possit discedere sensu'.
Dixerat et velox iam nuntius advolat urbem.
Extemplo strepuere chori collesque canoris

Sooner, again terrified by Thyestean tables,
will the day, cut in twain, be reverted to its retreating risings,
than Probus can depart from our mind'.
He had spoken, and already a swift messenger flies to the city.
At once the choirs resounded, and the hills with canorous song

175

plausibus inpulsi septena voce resultant.
Laetatur veneranda parens et pollice docto
iam parat auratas trabeas cinctus micantes
stamine, quod molli tondent de stipite Seres
frondea lanigerae carpentes vellera silvae,

impelled by applause they resound with sevenfold voice.
The venerable mother rejoices and, with a skilled thumb,
already prepares gilded trabeae, gleaming cinctures
with the warp, which the Seres shear from the soft stem,
plucking the leafy fleeces of the wool-bearing forest,

180

et longum tenues tractus producit in aurum
filaque concreto cogit squalere metallo.
Qualis purpureas praebebat candida vestes
numinibus Latona suis, cum sacra redirent
ad loca nutricis iam non errantia Deli,

and she draws out slender stretches into long gold,
and compels the threads to bristle with hardened metal.
Such as fair Latona supplied purple garments
to her own divinities, when the sacred rites were returning
to the nurse’s places, now no longer wandering, to Delos,

185

illa feros saltus et desolata relinquens
Maenala lassato certis venatibus arcu,
Phoebus adhuc nigris rorantia tela venenis
extincto Pythone ferens—tunc insula notos
lambit amica pedes ridetque Aegaeus alumnis

she, leaving the wild glades and the desolate Maenalus,
with her bow wearied by sure hunts,
Phoebus, still bearing shafts dripping with black venoms,
with Python slain—then the island fondly
licks the well-known feet, and the Aegean smiles upon its nurslings

190

lenior et blando testatur gaudia fluctu—:
sic Proba praecipuo natos exornat amictu,
quae decorat mundum, cuius Romana potestas
fetibus augetur. Credas ex aethere lapsam
stare Pudicitiam, vel sacro ture vocatam

gentler too and with a blandishing wave attests its joys—:
thus Proba adorns her sons with an exceptional mantle,
she who adorns the world, by whose issue the Roman power
is augmented. You would think Pudicitia, fallen from the aether,
to stand, or summoned by sacred incense

195

Iunonem Inachiis oculos advertere templis.
Talem nulla refert antiquis pagina libris
nec Latiae cecinere tubae nec Graia vetustas.
Coniuge digna Probo; nam coetibus extat
femineis, quantum superminet ille maritos.

Juno turned her eyes to the Inachian temples.
Such a one no page recounts in ancient books,
nor did Latian trumpets sing, nor Greek antiquity.
A spouse worthy of Probus; for in women’s assemblies she stands out
as much as he overtops husbands.

200

Ceu sibi certantes, sexus quid posset uterque,
hunc legere torum. Taceat Nereida nuptam
Pelion. O duplici fecundam consule matrem
felicemque uterum, qui nomina parturit annis!
Ut sceptrum gessere manu membrisque rigentes

As if competing with themselves, to see what each sex could accomplish,
they chose this marriage-bed. Let Pelion be silent about the Nereid as bride.
O mother fertile in a double consul, and happy the womb
which brings forth names to the years! As they bore the scepter in hand and, stiff in their limbs,

205

aptavere togas, signum dat summus hiulca
nube Pater gratamque facem per inane rotantes
prospera vibrati tonuerunt omnia nimbi.
Accepit sonitus curvis Tiberinus in antris,
ima valle sedens. Adrectis auribus haesit,

they fitted their togas; the Highest Father gives a signal from a yawning
cloud, and, whirling a welcome torch through the void,
all things thundered as the favorable clouds, having been shaken, quivered.
Tiberinus received the sounds in his curving caverns,
sitting in the lowest valley. With ears pricked he hung fast,

210

unde repentinus caeli fragor. Ilicet herbis
pallentes thalamos et structa cubilia musco
deserit ac Nymphis urnam commendat erilem.
Illi glauca nitent hirsuto lumina vultu
caeruleis infecta notis, reddentia patrem

whence a sudden crash of heaven. Straightway he deserts his pallid chambers with grasses and beds constructed with moss, and commends the master’s urn to the Nymphs. For him, glaucous eyes shine in a shaggy countenance, imbued with cerulean marks, rendering the father

215

Oceanum; crispo densantur gramine colla;
vertice luxuriat toto crinalis harundo,
quam neque fas Zephyris frangi nec sole perustam
aestivo candore mori, sed vivida frondet
aequaevum conplexa caput. Taurina levantur

Oceanus; the necks are thickened with crisped grass;
over the whole crown the crinal reed luxuriates,
which it is not lawful for the Zephyrs to break nor, scorched by the sun,
to die of summer radiance, but, living, it leafs
embracing a coeval head. Bull-horns are lifted

220

cornua temporibus raucos sudantia rivos;
destillant per pectus aquae; frons hispida manat
imbribus; in liquidos fontes se barba repectit.
Palla graves umeros velat, quam neverat uxor
Ilia percurrens vitreas sub gurgite telas.

the horns at his temples sweat out raucous rivulets;
waters distill down over his chest; his shaggy brow runs
with rain; his beard combs itself back into liquid fountains.
A pall veils his heavy shoulders, which his wife Ilia had woven,
running through glassy warps beneath the whirlpool.

225

Est in Romuleo procumbens insula Thybri,
qua medius geminas interfluit alveus urbes
discretas subeunte freto, pariterque minantes
ardua turrigerae surgunt in culmina ripae.
Hic stetit et subitum prospexit ab aggere votum:

There lies, in the Romulean Tiber, a reclining island,
where the mid channel flows between twin cities
set apart as the strait goes beneath, and equally menacing
the steep, tower-bearing banks rise to their summits.
Here he stood and from the embankment foresaw a sudden vow:

230

unanimos fratres cuncto stipante senatu
ire forum strictasque procul radiare secures
atque uno biiuges tolli de limine fasces.
Obstipuit visu suspensaque gaudia vocem
oppressam tenuere die; mox inchoat ore:

the unanimous brothers, with the whole Senate thronging around,
to go to the Forum and the drawn axes to radiate from afar,
and the two-yoked fasces to be lifted from a single threshold.
He was astonished at the sight, and his suspended joys
held his oppressed voice for the day; soon he begins with his mouth:

235

'Respice, si tales iactas aluisse fluentis,
Eurota Spartane, tuis. Quid protulit aequum
falsus olor, valido quamvis decernere caestu
noverit et ratibus saevas arcere procellas?
En nova Ledaeis suboles fulgentior astris,

'Look back, if you boast that your streams have nourished such men,
Eurotas, Spartan. What equal did the deceitful swan bring forth,
though he knew to contend with the strong caestus
and to ward off savage storms from ships?
Behold a new offspring more radiant than the Ledaean stars,

240

ecce mei cives, quorum iam Signifer optat
adventum stellisque parat convexa futuris.
Iam per noctivagos dominetur Olybrius axes
pro Polluce rubens, pro Castore flamma Probini.
Ipsi vela regent, ipsis donantibus auras

behold my fellow citizens, whose Sign-bearer already longs for their arrival and prepares the vaulted convexities with future stars.
Now let Olybrius rule over the night-wandering axles,
ruddy in place of Pollux, the flame of Probinus in place of Castor.
They themselves will steer the sails, they themselves bestowing the breezes

245

navita tranquillo moderabitur aequore pinum.
Nunc pateras libare deis, nunc solvere multo
nectare corda libet. Niveos iam pandite coetus,
Naides, et totum violis praetexite fontem.
Mella ferant silvae; iam profluat ebrius amnis

the mariner will steer the pine-ship on a tranquil sea.
Now it pleases to offer libations to the gods with paterae, now to loosen hearts with much
nectar. Now spread your snow-white choirs, Naiads, and fringe the whole spring with violets.
Let the woods bear honey; now let the drunken river flow forth

250

mutatis in vina vadis; iam sponte per agros
sudent inriguae spirantia balsama venae.
Currat qui sociae roget in convivia mensae
indigenas fluvios, Italis quicumque suberrant
montibus Alpinasque bibunt de more pruinas,

with the shallows changed into wines; now of their own accord through the fields
let irrigating veins sweat breathing balsams.
Let him run who would invite to the banquets of a companion table
the native rivers, whoever wander beneath Italian mountains
and drink, according to custom, Alpine frosts,

255

Vulturnusque rapax et Nar vitiatus odoro
sulphure tardatusque suis erroribus Ufens
et Phaetonteae perpessus damna ruinae
Eridanus flavaeque terens querceta Maricae
Liris et Oebaliae qui temperat arva Galaesus.

and the rapacious Vulturnus and the Nar vitiated with odorous sulfur,
and the Ufens, slowed by its own meanders,
and the Eridanus, having endured the losses of Phaethontean ruin,
and the Liris, wearing down the oak-groves of tawny Marica,
and the Galaesus, who tempers the Oebalian fields.

260

semper honoratus nostris celebrabitur undis
iste dies, semper dapibus recoletur opimis'.
Sic ait et Nymphae patris praecepta secutae
tecta parant epulis ostroque infecta corusco
umida gemmiferis inluxit regia mensis.

always honored by our waters, this day will be celebrated
this day will always be recalled with opulent banquets'.
Thus he spoke, and the Nymphs, following their father's precepts,
prepare the halls for feasts; and the watery palace, imbued with gleaming purple,
shone upon gem-bearing tables.

265

O bene signatum fraterno nomine tempus,
o consanguineis felix auctoribus anne,
incipe quadrifidum phoebi torquere laborem.
Prima tibi procedat hiemps non frigore torpens,
non canas vestita nives, non aspera ventis,

O well-marked time with a fraternal name,
O year happy with consanguine authors,
begin to turn the quadrifid labor of Phoebus.
Let the first winter proceed for you, not torpid with cold,
not clad in hoary snows, not rough with winds,

270

sed tepido calefacta Noto; ver inde serenum
protinus, et liquidi clementior aura Favoni
pratis te croceis pingat; te messibus aestas
induat, autumnusque madentibus ambiat uvis.
omni nobilior lustro tibi gloria soli

but warmed by the tepid Notus; then let spring be serene straightway,
and the more clement breeze of limpid Favonius paint you with saffron meadows;
let summer clothe you with harvests, and autumn surround you with dripping grapes.
for you, the glory of the soil more noble in every lustrum

275

contigit, exactum numquam memorata per aevum,
germanos habuisse duces; te cuncta loquetur
tellus; te variis scribent in floribus Horae,
longaque perpetui ducent in saecula fasti.

it has come to pass, a thing never recorded through the elapsed age,
to have had brothers as leaders; all the earth will speak of you;
the Hours will write you in variegated flowers,
and the long annals will draw you into the ages perpetual.