Lucan: DE BELLO CIVILI SIVE PHARSALIA

Vt primum terras Pompei colla secutus
attigit et diras calcauit Caesar harenas,
pugnauit fortuna ducis fatumque nocentis
Aegypti, regnum Lagi Romana sub arma
iret, an eriperet mundo Memphiticus ensis                  5
uictoris uictique caput. tua profuit umbra,
Magne, tui socerum rapuere a sanguine manes,
ne populus post te Nilum Romanus amaret.
inde Paraetoniam fertur securus in urbem
pignore tam saeui sceleris sua signa secutam.                  10
sed fremitu uolgi fasces et iura querentis
inferri Romana suis discordia sensit
pectora et ancipites animos, Magnumque perisse
non sibi. tum uoltu semper celante pauorem
intrepidus superum sedes et templa uetusti                  15

As soon as, having followed Pompey’s heights, he touched the lands
and trod the dreadful sands, Fortune contended with the leader and the fate
of harmful Egypt, whether the Memphite sword would go under Roman arms
to take Lagi’s kingdom, or to snatch away the head of victor and vanquished                  5
Your shade availed, Magnus; the shades took your father‑in‑law from blood,
lest the Roman people after you should love the Nile.
Thence Paraetonius is said to have borne secure into the city
as pledge the signs of so savage a crime having followed.                  10
But by the roar of the crowd demanding fasces and laws
Rome perceived discord brought upon her own breasts and wavering minds,
and that Magnus had perished not for himself. Then, ever hiding fear with his countenance,
intrepid about the seats of the gods and the temples of ancient worship                  15

numinis antiquas Macetum testantia uires
circumit, et nulla captus dulcedine rerum,
non auro cultuque deum, non moenibus urbis,
effossum tumulis cupide descendit in antrum.
illic Pellaei proles uaesana Philippi,                  20
felix praedo, iacet, terrarum uindice fato
raptus: sacratis totum spargenda per orbem
membra uiri posuere adytis; fortuna pepercit
manibus, et regni durauit ad ultima fatum.
nam sibi libertas umquam si redderet orbem                  25
ludibrio seruatus erat, non utile mundo
editus exemplum, terras tot posse sub uno
esse uiro. Macetum fines latebrasque suorum
deseruit uictasque patri despexit Athenas,
perque Asiae populos fatis urguentibus actus                  30

the ancient powers of the numen surround Macetus bearing witness
and, seized by no sweetness of things,
not by gold nor by the worship of gods, nor by the walls of the city,
he greedily descended, dug from his tombs, into a cave.
there lies the Pellaean offspring, lawless son of Philip,                  20
the fortunate plunderer, taken as avenger of the lands by fate: to be scattered through the world
the limbs of the man they placed in sacred shrines; fortune spared his hands,
and endured the fate of the kingdom to its last.
for if ever liberty could restore the world to him,                  25
he had been kept as a derision, not set forth as a useful example to the world, that so many lands could be under one man. Macetus abandoned his borders and the hiding-places of his people
and, conquered, looked down on his father Athens,
and driven through the peoples of Asia by urging fates                  30

humana cum strage ruit gladiumque per omnis
exegit gentes, ignotos miscuit amnes
Persarum Euphraten, Indorum sanguine Gangen,
terrarum fatale malum fulmenque quod omnis
percuteret pariter populos et sidus iniquum                  35
gentibus. Oceano classes inferre parabat
exteriore mari. non illi flamma nec undae
nec sterilis Libye nec Syrticus obstitit Hammon.
isset in occasus mundi deuexa secutus
ambissetque polos Nilumque a fonte bibisset:                  40
occurrit suprema dies, naturaque solum
hunc potuit finem uaesano ponere regi;
qui secum inuidia, quo totum ceperat orbem,
abstulit imperium, nulloque herede relicto
totius fati lacerandas praebuit urbes.                  45

with human slaughter he rushed and drove his sword through all peoples
and mingled unknown rivers — the Persians' Euphrates, the Indians' Ganges with blood —
the fatal evil of the lands, a thunderbolt that would strike alike all
peoples, and an inauspicious star for the nations                  35
he was preparing to bring fleets to the Ocean from the outer sea. Not flame nor waves
nor sterile Libya nor the Syrtic Hammon opposed him.
He would have gone to the westernmost slopes of the world, followed the tilted climes,
and encircled the poles and drunk the Nile from its source:                  40
the supreme day encountered him, and Nature alone
could place this end on the mad king; who, with the envy by which he had seized the whole orb,
took away his dominion, and leaving no heir behind
exposed the cities of the entire fate to be rent apart.                  45

sed cecidit Babylone sua Parthoque uerendus.
pro pudor, Eoi propius timuere sarisas
quam nunc pila timent populi. licet usque sub Arcton
regnemus Zephyrique domos terrasque premamus
flagrantis post terga Noti, cedemus in ortus                  50
Arsacidum domino. non felix Parthia Crassis
exiguae secura fuit prouincia Pellae.
     iam Pelusiaco ueniens a gurgite Nili
rex puer inbellis populi sedauerat iras,
obside quo pacis Pellaea tutus in aula                  55
Caesar erat, cum se parua Cleopatra biremi
corrupto custode Phari laxare catenas
intulit Emathiis ignaro Caesare tectis,
dedecus Aegypti, Latii feralis Erinys,
Romano non casta malo.

but it fell, Babylon, and to the venerable Parthian.
for shame, they feared the Eastern sarissas more closely
than now the peoples fear the pila; though we rule even beneath the Bear
and press Zephyrian homes and lands
with the flames of the South at our backs, we shall yield to the eastings                  50
to the Arsacid lord. Parthia was not fortunate for Crassus,
nor was the small province of Pella secure.
     now, coming from the Pelusiac whirl of the Nile
the boy-king had soothed the unbelligerent peoples’ angers,
for whose hostage Pellaean peace Caesar was safe in the hall                  55
when little Cleopatra, with a corrupted guardian of the Pharos,
loosed the chains and brought him into Emathian roofs with Caesar unaware,—
the disgrace of Egypt, Latium’s deadly Fury,
unchaste with respect to Roman ill.

quantum inpulit Argos 60

how much he drove upon Argos 60

Iliacasque domos facie Spartana nocenti,
Hesperios auxit tantum Cleopatra furores.
terruit illa suo, si fas, Capitolia sistro
et Romana petit inbelli signa Canopo
Caesare captiuo Pharios ductura triumphos;                  65
Leucadioque fuit dubius sub gurgite casus,
an mundum ne nostra quidem matrona teneret.
hoc animi nox illa dedit quae prima cubili
miscuit incestam ducibus Ptolemaida nostris.
quis tibi uaesani ueniam non donet amoris,                  70
Antoni, durum cum Caesaris hauserit ignis
pectus? et in media rabie medioque furore
et Pompeianis habitata manibus aula
sanguine Thessalicae cladis perfusus adulter
admisit Venerem curis, et miscuit armis                  75

Iliac houses she harmed by a Spartan aspect,
Cleopatra increased western madnesses so greatly.
She terrified the Capitolia with her sistrum, if it be lawful to say,
and sought Roman standards at peaceable Canopus,
about to lead Pharian triumphs with Caesar captive;                  65
And under the Leucadian surge her fate was doubtful,
whether even our matron would not hold the world.
That night of the mind gave that which first in the couch
mingled the incestuous Ptolemaida with our commanders.
What pardon of raging love will not be granted you,                  70
Antony, when the stern fire of Caesar has filled your breast?
And in the midst of madness and in the very height of fury,
and with a palace held by Pompeian hands,
the adulterer, drenched in the blood of the Thessalian slaughter,
admitted Venus among his cares, and mingled love with arms                  75

inlicitosque toros et non ex coniuge partus.
pro pudor, oblitus Magni tibi, Iulia, fratres
obscaena de matre dedit, partesque fugatas
passus in extremis Libyae coalescere regnis
tempora Niliaco turpis dependit amori,                  80
dum donare Pharon, dum non sibi uincere mauolt.
quem formae confisa suae Cleopatra sine ullis
tristis adit lacrimis, simulatum compta dolorem
qua decuit, ueluti laceros dispersa capillos,
et sic orsa loqui: 'siqua est, o maxime Caesar,                  85
nobilitas, Pharii proles clarissima Lagi,
exul in aeternum sceptris depulsa paternis,
ni tua restituit ueteri me dextera fato,
conplector regina pedes. tu gentibus aequum
sidus ades nostris. non urbes prima tenebo                  90

and illicit beds and children not born of a wife.
for shame—forgetful of the Great one, O Julia, thy brothers—
she gave obscene things concerning her mother, and suffered the parts scattered
to be reunited at the farthest reaches of Libya's kingdoms;
she hung disgraceful seasons on Nile-born love,                  80
while to bestow Pharon, while to prefer not to conquer herself.
Whom, trusting in her own beauty, Cleopatra approached without any
sad tears; having dressed to feign grief as was fitting,
like one with dishevelled hair scattered, and thus began to speak:
'If there be any, O greatest Caesar,                  85
nobility, the most famous offspring of Pharian Lagus,
a father exiled forever, thrust from paternal sceptres,
unless thy right hand restore me to my ancient fate,
I clasp the feet of my king. Be thou a star equal to our peoples.
I will not first hold cities                  90

femina Niliacas: nullo discrimine sexus
reginam scit ferre Pharos. lege summa perempti
uerba patris, qui iura mihi communia regni
et thalamos cum fratre dedit. puer ipse sororem,
sit modo liber, amat; sed habet sub iure Pothini 95
adfectus ensesque suos.

woman of the Nile: in no distinction of sex
does Pharos know how to bear a queen. By the highest law, the words of my slain father,
who gave to me the common rights of the kingdom
and the bridal-chambers with my brother. The boy himself loves his sister,
so only that he be free; but under the authority of Pothinus he has 95
his affections and his swords.

nil ipsa paterni
iuris inire peto: culpa tantoque pudore
solue domum, remoue funesta satellitis arma
et regem regnare iube. quantosne tumores
mente gerit famulus! Magni ceruice reuolsa                  100
iam tibi, sed procul hoc auertant fata, minatur.
sat fuit indignum, Caesar, mundoque tibique
Pompeium facinus meritumque fuisse Pothini.'
     nequiquam duras temptasset Caesaris aures:
uoltus adest precibus faciesque incesta perorat.                  105

I seek to enter into no part of my paternal authority: by fault and by so great a shame loosen the house, remove the deadly arms of the satellites and bid the king to reign. How many swellings the servant bears in his mind! Torn now from the neck of the Great, he already threatens you, but may the fates avert this far away.100
It was enough, Caesar, and foul to both the world and to you that Pompeius' deed should have been Pothinus' merit.'
in vain she would have tried Caesar's hardened ears: her countenance is present and the unchaste visage pleads with supplications. 105

exigit infandam corrupto iudice noctem.
pax ubi parta ducis donisque ingentibus empta est,
excepere epulae tantarum gaudia rerum,
explicuitque suos magno Cleopatra tumultu
nondum translatos Romana in saecula luxus.                  110
ipse locus templi, quod uix corruptior aetas
extruat, instar erat, laqueataque tecta ferebant
diuitias crassumque trabes absconderat aurum.
nec summis crustata domus sectisque nitebat
marmoribus, stabatque sibi non segnis achates                  115
purpureusque lapis, totaque effusus in aula
calcabatur onyx; hebenus Mareotica uastos
non operit postes sed stat pro robore uili,
auxilium non forma domus. ebur atria uestit,
et suffecta manu foribus testudinis Indae                  120

he passed the unspeakable night with a corrupt judge.
when peace was won for the leader and bought with mighty gifts,
the banquets received the joys of so great a fortune,
and Cleopatra displayed her own luxuries, not yet transferred
into Roman ages, with great tumult.                  110
the very site of the temple, which scarcely a more corrupt age would raise,
served as a model, and paneled roofs bore riches,
and the thick beams had concealed gold.
nor did the house gleam with the finest polished marbles alone,
and there stood, not lazy, an agate for itself, and purple stone,                  115
and onyx, poured throughout the hall, was trod underfoot; ebony
did not cover the vast Mareotic posts but stood there in place of cheap oak,and the doors were overlaid by Indian tortoise-shell workmanship                  120

terga sedent, crebro maculas distincta zmaragdo.
fulget gemma toris, et iaspide fulua supellex
<stat mensas onerans, uariaque triclinia ueste>                  122a
strata micant, Tyrio cuius pars maxima fuco
cocta diu uirus non uno duxit aeno,
pars auro plumata nitet, pars ignea cocco,                  125
ut mos est Phariis miscendi licia telis.
tum famulae numerus turbae populusque minister.
discolor hos sanguis, alios distinxerat aetas;
haec Libycos, pars tam flauos gerit altera crines
ut nullis Caesar Rheni se dicat in aruis                  130
tam rutilas uidisse comas; pars sanguinis usti
torta caput refugosque gerens a fronte capillos;
nec non infelix ferro mollita iuuentus
atque exsecta uirum: stat contra fortior aetas
uix ulla fuscante tamen lanugine malas.                  135

they sit with backs turned, oft marked with spots variegate by smaragd.
the gem gleams on the couches, and tawny furniture with jasper
<sets up tables loaded, and triclinia clad in varied cloth>                  122a
the spread linens flash, of which the greater part was dyed with Tyrian purple,
the dye long boiled drew not from one bronze pot alone,
part shines gilt with gold, part fiery with coccum,                  125
as is the custom among the Pharians to mingle threads on their looms.
then the number of maidservants, a throng and a people of attendants.
varying blood stained some, age had marked others;
these bear Libyan looks, another part wears such yellow hair
that Caesar would not say he had seen such reddish locks in any fields of the Rhine                  130
so ruddy to have beheld; part, of burnt blood,
wears a twisted head and hairs swept back from the brow;
and likewise unlucky youth softened by the sword
and men excised: standing opposite, a stronger age
scarcely any, however, with down darkening their cheeks.                  135

     discubuere illic reges maiorque potestas
Caesar; et inmodice formam fucata nocentem,
nec sceptris contenta suis nec fratre marito,
plena maris rubri spoliis, colloque comisque
diuitias Cleopatra gerit cultuque laborat.                  140
candida Sidonio perlucent pectora filo,
quod Nilotis acus conpressum pectine Serum
soluit et extenso laxauit stamina uelo.
dentibus hic niueis sectos Atlantide silua
inposuere orbes, quales ad Caesaris ora                  145
nec capto uenere Iuba. pro caecus et amens
ambitione furor, ciuilia bella gerenti
diuitias aperire suas, incendere mentem
hospitis armati. non sit licet ille nefando
Marte paratus opes mundi quaesisse ruina;                  150

     there reclined the kings and greater power, Caesar; and, injuring with painted beauty beyond measure,
neither content with his own scepters nor with a brother‑husband,
rich with the spoils of the Red Sea, Cleopatra wears riches in neck and hair
and toils in her attire and adornment.                  140
her white breasts shine translucent with Sidonian thread,
that which a Nile‑born needle, pressed by a comb, unfastened the held‑up Serum
and loosened the stretched fibers with its web. Here with snow‑white teeth
they set round discs cut from Atlantian wood, such as to Caesar’s face                  145
not even Juba brought in captivity. For blind and mad with ambition is the frenzy
of one waging civil wars, to open his riches, to inflame the mind
of an armed guest. Although it may not be allowed that he, prepared by wicked
Mars, sought the wealth of the world by ruin;                  150

pone duces priscos et nomina pauperis aeui
Fabricios Curiosque graues, hic ille recumbat
sordidus Etruscis abductus consul aratris:
optabit patriae talem duxisse triumphum.
     infudere epulas auro, quod terra, quod aer,                  155
quod pelagus Nilusque dedit, quod luxus inani
ambitione furens toto quaesiuit in orbe
non mandante fame; multas uolucresque ferasque
Aegypti posuere deos, manibusque ministrat
Niliacas crystallos aquas, gemmaeque capaces                  160
excepere merum, sed non Mareotidos uuae,
nobile sed paucis senium cui contulit annis
indomitum Meroe cogens spumare Falernum.
accipiunt sertas nardo florente coronas
et numquam fugiente rosa, multumque madenti                  165

place aside the ancient leaders and the names of a poorer age,
the grave Fabricii and Curii, here that one lies back
soiled, a consul dragged to Etruscan ploughs:
he will wish that his country had won such a triumph.
     they poured out feasts in gold, what the earth, what the air,                  155
what the sea and the Nile gave, what luxury, raging with vain
ambition, sought throughout the whole orb
not ruled by want; they set up many birds and beasts
as Egyptian gods, and with hands ministered
the Nile’s crystalline waters, and gems capacious                  160
received unmixed wine, but not the Mareotic grapes,
noble, but to few conferring an old age in years;
indomitable Meroe forcing even Falernian to foam.
they take garlands of blooming nard for crowns
and of the never-fleeing rose, and much, dripping                  165

infudere comae quod nondum euanuit aura
cinnamon externa nec perdidit aera terrae,
aduectumque recens uicinae messis amomon.
discit opes Caesar spoliati perdere mundi
et gessisse pudet genero cum paupere bellum                  170
et causas Martis Phariis cum gentibus optat.
     postquam epulis Bacchoque modum lassata uoluptas
inposuit, longis Caesar producere noctem
inchoat adloquiis, summaque in sede iacentem
linigerum placidis conpellat Acorea dictis.                  175
'o sacris deuote senex, quodque arguit aetas
non neclecte deis, Phariae primordia gentis
terrarumque situs uolgique edissere mores
et ritus formasque deum; quodcumque uetustis
insculptum est adytis profer, noscique uolentes                  180

to pour upon her hair what the breeze has not yet scattered — external cinnamon nor has the air of the earth lost it — and fresh amomum brought from the neighboring harvest.
Caesar learns to squander the riches of the plundered world, and it shames him that he waged war with a poor son-in-law                  170
and he chooses the causes of Mars among the Pharian peoples.
     after she, having set a bound to feasts and to Bacchus, wearied, imposed measure on pleasure, Caesar begins to lengthen the night with long discourses, and, addressing the linen-clad one lying on the highest seat, with placid words he thus urges Acorea.                  175
'O devoted old man of the sacred rites, and you whom age, not negligently, calls to the gods, disclose the origins of the Pharian race
and the situation of the lands, and proclaim to the people the customs and rites and forms of the gods; whatever is carved in the ancient shrines bring forth, desiring to be known                  180

prode deos. si Cecropium sua sacra Platona
maiores docuere tui, quis dignior umquam
hoc fuit auditu mundique capacior hospes?
fama quidem generi Pharias me duxit ad urbes,
sed tamen et uestri; media inter proelia semper                  185
stellarum caelique plagis superisque uacaui,
nec meus Eudoxi uincetur fastibus annus.
sed, cum tanta meo uiuat sub pectore uirtus,
tantus amor ueri, nihil est quod noscere malim
quam fluuii causas per saecula tanta latentis                  190
ignotumque caput: spes sit mihi certa uidendi
Niliacos fontes, bellum ciuile relinquam.'
finierat, contraque sacer sic orsus Acoreus:
     'fas mihi magnorum, Caesar, secreta parentum
edere ad hoc aeui populis ignota profanis.                  195

bring forth the gods. If Cecropian Plato taught his sacred rites to your ancestors, who was ever more worthy
of this hearing and a more capacious guest of the world?
Fame indeed led me to the cities of the Pharian race,
but also to yours; always I stood amid the battles between                  185
the stars and the regions of heaven and the upper spheres free of care,
nor shall my year be conquered by Eudoxus’ chronicles.
But, since so great a virtue lives beneath my breast,
so great a love of truth, there is nothing I would prefer to know
than the causes of a river hiding so many ages through the centuries                  190
and its unknown source: let it be my hope certain to see
the Nile’s fountains; I will leave the civil war.'
He had finished, and the sacred Acoreus thus began in reply:
     'it is lawful for me, great Caesar, to disclose the secrets of mighty ancestors
to the peoples of this age, unknown to profane men.                  195

sit pietas aliis miracula tanta silere;
ast ego caelicolis gratum reor ire per omnis
hoc opus et sacras populis notescere leges.
sideribus, quae sola fugam moderantur Olympi
occurruntque polo, diuersa potentia prima                  200
mundi lege data est. sol tempora diuidit aeui,
mutat nocte diem, radiisque potentibus astra
ire uetat cursusque uagos statione moratur;
luna suis uicibus Tethyn terrenaque miscet;
frigida Saturno glacies et zona niualis                  205
cessit; habet uentos incertaque fulmina Mauors;
sub Ioue temperies et numquam turbidus aer;
at fecunda Venus cunctarum semina rerum
possidet; inmensae Cyllenius arbiter undaest.
hunc ubi pars caeli tenuit, qua mixta Leonis                  210

let piety be silent about such great miracles for others;
but I think this work is pleasing to the caelicolis to go through all
and that the sacred laws be made known to the peoples.
to the sidera, which alone govern the flight of Olympus
and meet the pole, a diverse first potentia                  200
of the world was given by law. the sun divides the seasons of age,
changes day with night, forbids the stars to go with powerful rays,
and detains wandering courses at their station;
the moon in her turns mingles the earthly with Tethys;
cold ice yields to Saturn and the snowy zone                  205
has departed; Mavors holds the winds and uncertain lightnings;
under Jove is temperate calm and an air never turbulent;
but fruitful Venus possesses the seeds of all things
and Cyllenius, arbiter of the immense wave, rules the sea.
when that part of the sky held him, in which mixed with Leo                  210

sidera sunt Cancro, rapidos qua Sirius ignes
exerit et uarii mutator circulus anni
Aegoceron Cancrumque tenet, cui subdita Nili
ora latent, quae cum dominus percussit aquarum
igne superiecto, tunc Nilus fonte soluto,                   215
exit ut Oceanus lunaribus incrementis,
iussus adest, auctusque suos non ante coartat
quam nox aestiuas a sole receperit horas.
     uana fides ueterum, Nilo, quod crescat in arua,
Aethiopum prodesse niues. non Arctos in illis                  220
montibus aut Boreas. testis tibi sole perusti
ipse color populi calidique uaporibus Austri.
adde quod omne caput fluuii, quodcumque soluta
praecipitat glacies, ingresso uere tumescit
prima tabe niuis: Nilus neque suscitat undas                  225
ante Canis radios nec ripis alligat amnem
ante parem nocti Libra sub iudice Phoebum.
inde etiam leges aliarum nescit aquarum,
nec tumet hibernus, cum longe sole remoto
officiis caret unda suis: dare iussus iniquo                  230

the stars lie in Cancer, where Sirius wields his rapid fires
and the variegated circuit of the changing year holds Aegoceron and Cancer, to whom the shores of the Nile are subject and lie hidden; which, when its lord strikes the waters with a fire set above them, then the Nile, its spring loosened, 215
comes forth like Ocean with lunar increases, appears when summoned, and, being swollen, does not constrain its swells
until night has received back the summer hours from the sun.
vain is the faith of the ancients, Nile, that snow growing on the fields of the Ethiopians benefits you. Not Arctos in those
mountains nor Boreas. The sun-scorched color of the people and the vapors of the hot South wind are witness to you.220
add that every head of the river, whatever ice that, loosed, plunges down,
swells at the coming of spring with the first thaw of snow: the Nile neither raises waves
before the rays of the Dog-star nor binds the stream to its banks before Libra, matched to the night under Phoebus’ judgment.225
thence it knows not the laws of other waters either, nor does it swell in winter, when, the sun far removed,
the wave lacks its duties: being ordered to give to the undeserving230

temperiem caelo mediis aestatibus exit
sub torrente plaga, neu terras dissipet ignis
Nilus adest mundo contraque incensa Leonis
ora tumet Cancroque suam torrente Syenen
inploratus adest, nec campos liberat undis                  235
donec in autumnum declinet Phoebus et umbras
extendat Meroe. quis causas reddere possit?
sic iussit natura parens discurrere Nilum,
sic opus est mundo. Zephyros quoque uana uetustas
his ascripsit aquis, quorum stata tempora flatus                  240
continuique dies et in aera longa potestas,
uel quod ab occiduo depellunt nubila caelo
trans Noton et fluuio cogunt incumbere nimbos,
uel quod aquas totiens rumpentis litora Nili
adsiduo feriunt coguntque resistere fluctu:                  245

the heat issues from heaven in mid‑summer
beneath the torrid zone, lest fire scatter the lands;
the Nile is present, and the region, burned by Leo opposite,
swells, and to Cancer its mouth at torrid Syene
comes implored, nor frees the fields with floods 235
until Phoebus declines into autumn and lengthens the shades
as far as Meroe. Who can render the causes?
thus ordered parent Nature the Nile to run abroad,
thus is it needful for the world. Vain antiquity moreover
ascribed Zephyrs to these waters, whose fixed seasons of breath 240
and the long dominion of their force in the air are said to be—
either because clouds driven from the west across the sky
compel storms to lean upon the south and the river,
or because the shores, which the Nile so often breaks,
beat incessantly and force the things to withstand the swell:

ille mora cursus aduersique obice ponti
aestuat in campos. sunt qui spiramina terris
esse putent magnosque cauae conpagis hiatus.
commeat hac penitus tacitis discursibus unda
frigore ab Arctoo medium reuocata sub axem,                  250
cum Phoebus pressit Meroen tellusque perusta
illuc duxit aquas; trahitur Gangesque Padusque
per tacitum mundi: tunc omnia flumina Nilus
uno fonte uomens non uno gurgite perfert.
rumor ab Oceano, qui terras alligat omnes,                  255
exundante procul uiolentum erumpere Nilum
aequoreosque sales longo mitescere tractu.
nec non Oceano pasci Phoebumque polosque
credimus: hunc, calidi tetigit cum bracchia Cancri,
sol rapit, atque undae plus quam quod digerat aer                  260

that delay of course and the adverse obstacle of the sea
boils forth into the fields. There are those who judge them to be breathings to the lands
and great chasms in the joining of the beds.
Through these wholly secret courses the wave journeys back and forth,
recalled from Arctic cold to the middle axis,                  250
when Phoebus pressed Meroe and the sun‑scorched land led the waters thither; the Ganges and the Padus
are drawn through the silent world: then all rivers the Nile,
spewing from one fountain, bears them not in a single gulf.
A rumor from Ocean, who binds all the lands,                  255
surging forth from far, declares the violent Nile to burst out,
and the sea’s salts to be tempered by a long sweep. Nor do we fail to believe that Ocean nourishes Phoebus and the poles:
him, when the warm arms of Cancer have touched, the sun snatches away, and the waves more than what the air can digest                  260

tollitur; hoc noctes referunt Niloque profundunt.
ast ego, si tantam ius est mihi soluere litem,
quasdam, Caesar, aquas post mundi sera peracti
saecula concussis terrarum erumpere uenis
non id agente deo, quasdam conpage sub ipsa                  265
cum toto coepisse reor, quas ille creator
atque opifex rerum certo sub iure coercet.
     quae tibi noscendi Nilum, Romane, cupido est,
et Phariis Persisque fuit Macetumque tyrannis,
nullaque non aetas uoluit conferre futuris                  270
notitiam; sed uincit adhuc natura latendi.
summus Alexander regum, quem Memphis adorat,
inuidit Nilo, misitque per ultima terrae
Aethiopum lectos: illos rubicunda perusti
zona poli tenuit; Nilum uidere calentem.                  275

is raised; the nights bring this back and plunge it into the deep Nile.
But I, if it is permitted me to settle so great a dispute,
Caesar, think that some waters, after the late ages of the world are finished,with the whole, which that creator and maker of things restrains under a sure law.
which desire is yours to know the Nile, Roman, and which was for the Pharian and Persian tyrannies and for the Macedonian rule,
and no age refused to add knowledge to posterity; but nature still overcomes concealment.
Alexander, greatest of kings, whom Memphis worships,
envied the Nile, and sent chosen men through the farthest parts of the earth of the Ethiopians: a ruddy zone, scorched, held those toward the pole; they saw the Nile warm.

uenit ad occasus mundique extrema Sesostris
et Pharios currus regum ceruicibus egit;
ante tamen uestros amnes, Rhodanumque Padumque,
quam Nilum de fonte bibit. uaesanus in ortus
Cambyses longi populos peruenit ad aeui, 280
defectusque epulis et pastus caede suorum
ignoto te, Nile, redit. non fabula mendax
ausa loqui de fonte tuo est.

Sesostris came to the west and to the world’s extremities
and drove Pharian chariots upon the necks of kings;
yet even before your rivers, the Rhone and the Po,
had drunk the Nile from its source. Mad from his birth,
Cambyses arrived among peoples of long standing and age, 280
and, spent by feasts and fed on the slaughter of his own,
returns to you, Nile, unknown. It is no lying tale
that dared to speak of your fountain.

ubicumque uideris
quaereris, et nulli contingit gloria genti
ut Nilo sit laeta suo. tua flumina prodam,                  285
qua deus undarum celator, Nile, tuarum
te mihi nosse dedit. medio consurgis ab axe;
ausus in ardentem ripas attollere Cancrum
in Borean is rectus aquis mediumque Booten
(cursus in occasus flexu torquetur et ortus,                   290
nunc Arabum populis, Libycis nunc aequus harenis),
teque uident primi, quaerunt tamen hi quoque, Seres,
Aethiopumque feris alieno gurgite campos,
et te terrarum nescit cui debeat orbis.
arcanum natura caput non prodidit ulli,                  295

wherever you are seen
you are sought, and no glory falls to any nation
that the Nile should be glad to its own. I will disclose your rivers,                  285
by which the god, concealer of your waves, Nile, has granted me to know you. From the mid‑axis you rise;
daring to lift the Crab upon the burning banks you go straight into northern waters and Bootes in the midst
(the course is by a turning bent to setting and rising,                   290
now favourable to the Arab peoples, now equal to Libyan sands),
and the first behold you, yet these too seek you, the Seres,
and the Ethiopians, and peoples whose plains are of foreign surge,
and the globe of lands knows not to whom it ought to owe you.
Nature has revealed the hidden head to no one,                  295

nec licuit populis paruum te, Nile, uidere,
amouitque sinus et gentes maluit ortus
mirari quam nosse tuos. consurgere in ipsis
ius tibi solstitiis, aliena crescere bruma
atque hiemes adferre tuas, solique uagari 300
concessum per utrosque polos. hic quaeritur ortus,
illic finis aquae.

nor was it allowed that peoples should see you little, Nile,
and they loved your bays and the peoples preferred to admire rather than to know your origins
to you it is a right to rise at the very solstices, for foreign winter to increase
and to bring your winters, and to wander alone 300
granted through both poles. here the source is sought,
there the end of the waters.

late tibi gurgite rupto
ambitur nigris Meroe fecunda colonis,
laeta comis hebeni, quae quamuis arbore multa
frondeat aestatem nulla sibi mitigat umbra, 305
linea tam rectum mundi ferit illa Leonem.
inde plagas Phoebi damnum non passus aquarum
praeueheris sterilesque diu metiris harenas,
nunc omnes unum uires collectus in amnem,
nunc uagus et spargens facilem tibi cedere ripam. 310

wide for you with ruptured flood
is girded fertile Meroe by black colonists,
rich in glossy ebony foliage, which although it puts forth much leaf
as a tree, no shade lessens the summer for itself, 305
that line so straight of the world strikes the Lion. From there, not suffering Phoebus’ loss of waters,
you are borne forward and for a long while you measure barren sands,
now all your strength collected into one stream,
now roaming and scattering, readily yielding an easy bank to you. 310

rursus multifidas reuocat piger alueus undas,
qua dirimunt Arabum populis Aegyptia rura
regni claustra Philae. mox te deserta secantem,
qua iungunt nostrum rubro commercia ponto,
mollis lapsus agit. quis te tam lene fluentem 315
moturum totas uiolenti gurgitis iras,
Nile, putet?

again the sluggish channel recalls the many‑cleft waves,
where Philae’s bounds of the realm sever the Egyptian fields from the peoples of the Arabs,
soon a soft glide drives you cutting through deserted places,
where trade joins our sea with the Red Sea,
mollis lapsus agit. quis te tam lene fluentem 315
to stir up all the wrath of a violent gurgle,
Nile, would think?

sed, cum lapsus abrupta uiarum
excepere tuos et praecipites cataractae
ac nusquam uetitis ullas obsistere cautes
indignaris aquis, spuma tunc astra lacessis, 320
cuncta fremunt undis, ac multo murmure montis
spumeus inuitis canescit fluctibus amnis.
hinc, Abaton quam nostra uocat ueneranda uetustas,
terra potens primos sentit percussa tumultus
et scopuli, placuit fluuii quos dicere uenas, 325

but when the slips of the roads, abrupt,
took up your falls and the headlong cataracts,
and you are angered at the waters for not nowhere allowing any rocks to resist,
then the foam provokes the stars, 320
all things roar with the waves, and with the great murmur of the mountain
the foamy river grows white with unwilling floods.
hence, Abaton, which our venerable antiquity names,
the powerful land feels the first-struck tumult
and the crags, and it pleased to call the river’s channels veins, 325

quod manifesta noui primum dant signa tumoris.
hinc montes natura uagis circumdedit undis,
qui Libyae te, Nile, negent; quos inter in alta
it conualle tacens iam moribus unda receptis.
prima tibi campos permittit apertaque Memphis                  330
rura modumque uetat crescendi ponere ripas.'
     sic uelut in tuta securi pace trahebant
noctis iter mediae. sed non uaesana Pothini
mens inbuta semel sacra iam caede uacabat
a scelerum motu: Magno nihil ille perempto                  335
iam putat esse nefas; habitant sub pectore manes
ultricesque deae dant in noua monstra furorem.
dignatur uiles isto quoque sanguine dextras
quo Fortuna parat uictos perfundere patres,
poenaque ciuilis belli, uindicta senatus                  340

which first give manifest signs of a new swelling.
From here nature set mountains round about with wandering waves,
which would deny thee, Nile, to Libya; between which the silent valley
goes, the wave now received by the accustomed shores.
the first permits thee open fields and Memphis’ plains                  330
and forbids to set a limit for the banks’ growing.'
     thus as if in secure, safe peace they drew out
the journey of the middle night. But not insane was Pothinus’ mind,
once imbued with sacred rites, now free from restraint at the motion of crimes:
with Magnus slain he thinks there is now no longer any nefas;                  335
the shades dwell under his breast and the avenging goddess gives fury into new omens.
He deigns also to wet his base right hand with that blood
with which Fortune prepares to sprinkle the conquered fathers,
and the punishment of civil war, the senate’s vindicta                  340

paene data est famulo. procul hoc auertite, fata,
crimen, ut haec Bruto ceruix absente secetur.
in scelus it Pharium Romani poena tyranni,
exemplumque perit. struit audax inrita fatis
nec parat occultae caedem committere fraudi 345
inuictumque ducem detecto Marte lacessit.
tantum animi delicta dabant, ut colla ferire
Caesaris et socerum iungi tibi, Magne, iuberet;
atque haec dicta monet famulos perferre fideles
ad Pompeianae socium sibi caedis Achillam, 350
quem puer inbellis cunctis praefecerat armis
et dederat ferrum, nullo sibi iure retento,
in cunctos in seque simul.

almost given to the famulus. Far off, O fates, avert this crimen,
that this neck be cut off in Brutus’ absence.
Upon the crime goes the Pharian poena of the Roman tyrant,
and the exemplum perishes. The audax builds things vain against the fates
nor prepares to commit a hidden caedes by fraud 345
and provokes the invictus leader with war laid bare.
So great the delicta of spirit were, that they ordered you to strike the colla
of Caesar and to join a socer to you, Magne;
and these words advise the fideles servants to carry through
to Achilles, partner in Pompeian slaughter, for himself 350
whom, as a boy, he had set over all unwarlike arms
and had given the ferrum, retaining no right to himself,
against all and upon himself at once.

'tu mollibus' inquit
'nunc incumbe toris et pinguis exige somnos:
inuasit Cleopatra domum, nec prodita tantum est 355

'you of the soft,' he said
'now lie upon the soft couches and exact rich slumbers:
Cleopatra has invaded the house, nor has she only been betrayed 355

sed donata Pharos. cessas accurrere solus
ad dominae thalamos? nubit soror inpia fratri,
nam Latio iam nupta duci est, interque maritos
discurrens Aegypton habet Romamque meretur.
expugnare senem potuit Cleopatra uenenis: 360
crede, miser, puero, quem nox si iunxerit una
et semel amplexus incesto pectore passus
hauserit obscaenum titulo pietatis amorem,
meque tuumque caput per singula forsitan illi
oscula donabit.

but Pharos having been given. do you delay to run alone
to the mistress’s thalamus? the impious sister will marry your brother,
for she is already married in Latium to a dux, and running among husbands
she possesses Egypt and earns Rome.
Cleopatra could subdue the old man with poisons: 360
believe, wretch, the boy, whom if night shall join to him once
and having once embraced, suffering with an incestuous breast,
shall have drained a shameful love by the name of piety,
and perhaps will give kisses to me and your head, one by one, to him.

crucibus flammisque luemus 365
si fuerit formonsa soror. nil undique restat
auxilii: rex hinc coniunx, hinc Caesar adulter.
et sumus, ut fatear, tam saeua iudice sontes:
quem non e nobis credit Cleopatra nocentem
a quo casta fuit? per te quod fecimus una 370

with crosses and flames we shall expiate 365
if the sister is formosa. no aid remains anywhere:
a king husband on this side, on that side Caesar the adulterer.
and we are, I confess, so guilty before a savage judge:
whom among us does Cleopatra not deem harmful—of whom was she chaste?370

perdidimusque nefas, perque ictum sanguine Magni
foedus, ades; subito bellum molire tumultu,
inrue; nocturnas rumpamus funere taedas
crudelemque toris dominam mactemus in ipsis
cum quocumque uiro. nec nos deterreat ausis 375
Hesperii fortuna ducis, quae sustulit illum
inposuitque orbi: communis gloria nobis,
nos quoque sublimes Magnus facit. aspice litus,
spem nostri sceleris; pollutos consule fluctus
quid liceat nobis, tumulumque e puluere paruo 380
aspice Pompei non omnia membra tegentem.
quem metuis, par huius erat.

and we have committed the sacrilege, and by the stroke, by the blood of Magnus, the pact is stained; be present;
make suddenly war in riot, rush in;
let us break the nocturnal torches with funeral rites
and slaughter the cruel mistress on the very couches
with whichever husband. Nor let the fortune of the Western leader, which raised him up
and set him over the world, deter us from these daring deeds 375
—his common glory is ours, Magnus too makes us lofty. Behold the shore,
the hope of our crime; consult the polluted waves what is permitted to us, and behold Pompey's tomb, not hiding all his limbs under that small dust 380
Whom you fear was of equal mettle to this man.

non sanguine clari
(quid refert?) nec opes populorum et regna mouemus:
ad scelus ingentis fati sumus. attrahit illos
in nostras fortuna manus: en, altera uenit 385

not by the blood of the famous
(what does it matter?) nor do we upset the riches of peoples and realms:
we are pledged to the crime of mighty Fate. Fortune draws their hands
into our own: behold, another comes 385

uictima nobilior. placemus caede secunda
Hesperias gentes: iugulus mihi Caesaris haustus
hoc praestare potest, Pompei caede nocentis
ut populus Romanus amet. quid nomina tanta
horremus uiresque ducis, quibus ille relictis 390
miles erit?

A nobler victim. We shall placate the Hesperian peoples with a second slaughter: a draught drawn from Caesar’s gullet can procure this for me, that the Roman people love the slaughter of guilty Pompey. Why should we shudder at such great names and at the forces of a leader, by which, those things left behind 390
what soldier will there be?

nox haec peraget ciuilia bella
inferiasque dabit populis et mittet ad umbras
quod debetur adhuc mundo caput. ite feroces
Caesaris in iugulum; praestet Lagea iuuentus
hoc regi, Romana sibi. tu parce morari. 395
plenum epulis madidumque mero Venerique paratum
inuenies: aude, superi tot uota Catonum
Brutorumque tibi tribuent.' non lentus Achillas
suadenti parere nefas haud clara mouendis,
ut mos, signa dedit castris nec prodidit arma 400

this night will finish the civil wars
and will give funeral rites to the peoples and will send to the shades
what head still is owed to the world. Go, fierce ones,
to Caesar’s throat; let Lagea’s youth accomplish
this for the king, for Rome herself. You, forbear to delay. 395
you will find it full with feasts and soaked in wine and prepared for Venus:
dare; the gods above will grant to you so many vows of the Catones
and of the Bruti.' Nor was Achillas slow
to obey the persuader to commit impious acts not hard to set in motion,
and, as is the custom, he gave the standards to the camps and did not betray the arms 400

ullius clangore tubae: temere omnia saeui
instrumenta rapit belli. pars maxima turbae
plebis erat Latiae, sed tanta obliuio mentis
cepit in externos corrupto milite mores
ut duce sub famulo iussuque satellitis irent 405
quos erat indignum Phario parere tyranno.
nulla fides pietasque uiris qui castra secuntur,
uenalesque manus; ibi fas ubi proxima merces:
aere merent paruo, iugulumque in Caesaris ire
non sibi dant. pro fas!

to no trumpet’s clang: rashly every instrument of savage war swept up.
the greatest part of the throng was of the Latin plebs, but so great an oblivion of mind
seized their manners toward outsiders, the soldier corrupted,
that they went under a leader as a servant and by the order of satellites 405
whom it was unworthy to obey a Pharian tyrant.
no faith nor piety remained in the men who follow the camp,
and mercenary hands; there is right where the nearest merchandise is:
they are paid with little bronze, and will not give themselves to go to Caesar’s throat.
For shame!

ubi non ciuilia bella 410
inuenit imperii fatum miserabile nostri?
Thessaliae subducta acies in litore Nili
more furit patrio. quid plus te, Magne, recepto
ausa foret Lagea domus? dat scilicet omnis
dextera quod debet superis, nullique uacare 415

where does he not find civil wars 410
the miserable fate of our empire? The Thessalian battle-line drawn up on the Nile’s shore
rages in a native fashion. What further daring, O Magnus, would the Lagean house
have, once you were received? Clearly every right hand renders what is due to the gods, and that none be left idle 415

fas est Romano. Latium sic scindere corpus
dis placitum: non in soceri generique fauorem
discedunt populi; ciuilia bella satelles
mouit, et in partem Romani uenit Achillas;
et nisi fata manus a sanguine Caesaris arcent 420
hae uincent partes. aderat maturus uterque,
et districta epulis ad cunctas aula patebat
insidias, poteratque cruor per regia fundi
pocula Caesareus mensaeque incumbere ceruix.
sed metuunt belli trepidos in nocte tumultus, 425
ne caedes confusa manu permissaque fatis
te, Ptolemaee, trahat.

It is right for a Roman to rend Latium’s body thus,
pleasing to the gods: the peoples do not part for the favour
of father-in-law and son-in-law; attendant civil wars
stir, and Achillas comes over to the Roman’s side;
and unless the fates and hands restrain blood from Caesar 420
these factions will prevail. Each arrived in season,
and with the feasts tightened the court lay open to every
ambush, and blood could pour through the royal cups
and the Caesar’s neck lean over the board of the table.
but they fear the fearful alarms of war in the night 425
lest slaughter, confused by a hand and entrusted to the fates,
draw you, Ptolemy.

tanta est fiducia ferri,
non rapuere nefas; summi contempta facultas
est operis; uisum famulis reparabile damnum
illam mactandi dimittere Caesaris horam. 430

so great was the confidence in the sword, that they did not reckon the deed unlawful; the supreme man’s wealth, scorned, was but material for action; to the servants it seemed the damage reparable, and they let slip that hour of sacrificing Caesar. 430

seruatur poenas in aperta luce daturus;
donata est nox una duci, uixitque Pothini
munere Phoebeos Caesar dilatus in ortus.
     Lucifer a Casia prospexit rupe diemque
misit in Aegypton primo quoque sole calentem,                  435
cum procul a muris acies non sparsa maniplis
nec uaga conspicitur, sed iustos qualis ad hostes
recta fronte uenit: passuri comminus arma
laturique ruunt. at Caesar moenibus urbis
diffisus foribus clausae se protegit aulae                  440
degeneres passus latebras. nec tota uacabat
regia conpresso: minima collegerat arma
parte domus.

he is to be kept to suffer penalties to be delivered in open light;
one night was granted to the leader, and Caesar lived, delayed in Pothinus’ charge, until the Phoebean rising.
     Lucifer from the Casian crag looked forth and sent the day
burning even upon Egypt with the first sun,                  435
when from far off the battle-line is seen not scattered in maniples
nor wandering, but just as, with a straight front, it comes against the enemies:
about to endure, they rush to close combat bearing arms
and to charge. But Caesar, mistrusting the gates of the closed palace,
protects himself within the sealed aula,                  440
having suffered degenerate hiding-places. Nor was the whole royal house idle
with pressure: it had gathered even the smallest arms in part of the dwelling.

tangunt animos iraeque metusque,
et timet incursus indignaturque timere.
sic fremit in paruis fera nobilis abdita claustris 445

they touch the minds, and both angers and fears,
and he fears incursions and is indignant to fear.
thus in small hidden enclosures the noble beast roars 445

et frangit rabidos praemorso carcere dentes,
nec secus in Siculis fureret tua flamma cauernis,
obstrueret summam siquis tibi, Mulciber, Aetnam.
audax Thessalici nuper qui rupe sub Haemi
Hesperiae cunctos proceres aciemque senatus                  450
Pompeiumque ducem causa sperare uetante
non timuit fatumque sibi promisit iniquum,
expauit seruile nefas, intraque penates
obruitur telis. quem non uiolasset Alanus,
non Scytha, non fixo qui ludit in hospite Maurus,                  455
hic, cui Romani spatium non sufficit orbis,
paruaque regna putet Tyriis cum Gadibus Indos,
ceu puer inbellis uel captis femina muris,
quaerit tuta domus; spem uitae in limine clauso
ponit, et incerto lustrat uagus atria cursu,                  460

and he breaks savage teeth, gnawn within prison,
nor less in Sicilian caverns would your flame, Mulciber, rage,
if anyone should bar for you the summit of Aetna.
bold he, who lately from the Thessalian cliff beneath Haemus
hoped all the chiefs and the battle-line of the senate afar off                  450
and Pompey as leader, forbidding cause, did not fear fate and promised unjust fate to himself,
he dreaded the servile crime, and is overwhelmed within the penates by weapons.
whom neither the Alanian had violated,
nor the Scythian, nor the Moor who plays as settled guest,                  455
this man, for whom the Roman orb is not enough of a space,
and who would reckon small realms — the Indians for the Tyrians with Gades —
like a boy untrained for war or a woman deprived of captured walls,
seeks a safe house; he sets his hope of life on a closed threshold
and, wandering, traverses the halls with uncertain course,                  460

non sine rege tamen, quem ducit in omnia secum
sumpturus poenas et grata piacula morti
missurusque tuum, si non sint tela nec ignes,
in famulos, Ptolemaee, caput. sic barbara Colchis
creditur ultorem metuens regnique fugaeque 465
ense suo fratrisque simul ceruice parata
expectasse patrem. cogunt tamen ultima rerum
spem pacis temptare ducem, missusque satelles
regius, ut saeuos absentis uoce tyranni
corriperet famulos, quo bellum auctore mouerent. 470
sed neque ius mundi ualuit nec foedera sancta
gentibus, orator regis pacisque sequester
<quin caderet ferro.

not without a king, however, whom he leads with him into all things,
about to take up punishments and gracious piacula for Death,
and about to send your head, Ptolemaee, into the hands of servants, if there be no spears nor fires.
thus barbarous Colchis is thought to have awaited the avenger, fearing both the king and flight 465
with its own sword and with the brother’s neck alike prepared
to expect the father. yet the last turns of affairs
force them to try the hope of peace in a leader, and a royal satelles was sent
that he might rebuke with the absent tyrant’s voice the savage household,
by which they stirred the war with him as author. 470
but neither the law of the world availed nor the sacred foedera for the peoples, the king’s orator and broker of peace
<nay, he fell by the sword.

quamquam quis talia facta> 472a
aestimat in numero scelerum ponenda tuorum,
tot monstris Aegypte nocens? non Thessala tellus
uastaque regna Iubae, non Pontus et inpia signa 475

although who would reckon such deeds 472a
to be set in the number of thy crimes, O Egypt, guilty of so many monsters?
not the Thessalian land nor the vast realms of Juba, nor Pontus and impious standards 475

Pharnacis et gelido circumfluus orbis Hibero
tantum ausus scelerum, non Syrtis barbara, quantum
deliciae fecere tuae. premit undique bellum,
inque domum iam tela cadunt quassantque penates.
non aries uno moturus limina pulsu                  480
fracturusque domum, non ulla est machina belli,
nec flammis mandatur opus; sed caeca iuuentus
consilii uastos ambit diuisa penates,
et nusquam totis incursat uiribus agmen.
fata uetant, murique uicem Fortuna tuetur.                  485
     nec non et ratibus temptatur regia, qua se
protulit in medios audaci margine fluctus
luxuriosa domus. sed adest defensor ubique
Caesar et hos aditus gladiis, hos ignibus arcet,
obsessusque gerit, tanta est constantia mentis,                  490

Around Pharnaces and the icy circuit of the Hiber only dared so great crimes, not the barbarian Syrtes so much as your delights have wrought. War presses in from every side, and now weapons fall into the house and batter the household gods. No ram will with a single thrust move the thresholds, nor is there any war-engine to break the house, nor is the work committed to flames; but a blind youth, devoid of counsel, surrounds the scattered penates, and nowhere does the host charge with all its strength. The fates forbid, and Fortune in turn guards the walls. And the royal house is even tried by boats, where the luxurious dwelling thrusts itself out upon the bold margin into the mid-waves. But Caesar is present as defender everywhere, and with swords he closes these approaches, with fires he keeps off those, and he carries the siege,—so great is the steadfastness of his mind. 490

expugnantis opus. piceo iubet unguine tinctas
lampadas inmitti iunctis in uela carinis;
nec piger ignis erat per stuppea uincula perque
manantis cera tabulas, et tempore eodem
transtraque nautarum summique arsere ceruchi. 495
iam prope semustae merguntur in aequora classes,
iamque hostes et tela natant. nec puppibus ignis
incubuit solis; sed quae uicina fuere
tecta mari longis rapuere uaporibus ignem,
et cladem fouere Noti, percussaque flamma 500
turbine non alio motu per tecta cucurrit
quam solet aetherio lampas decurrere sulco
materiaque carens atque ardens aere solo.
illa lues paulum clausa reuocauit ab aula
urbis in auxilium populos.

an operation of sacking. He orders lamps smeared with pitch and unguent
to be thrust in, fastened to the sails and to the joined keels;
nor was the fire lazy through the hempen bonds and through
the boards dripping with wax, and at the same time
the thwarts and the topmost tar of the sailors burned. 495
now the half-charred fleets sink into the seas,
and now the enemies and their weapons swim. Nor did fire
lie only on the sterns; but those houses near the sea
snatched up fire with long-drawn vapors,
and fostered the ruin of the South Wind, and struck with flame 500
ran through the roofs by a blast no other motion than
a torch accustomed to run down the airy furrow,
devoid of matter and burning on the brazen ground.
That plague, once a little contained, recalled from the palace
the peoples of the city to lend their aid.

nec tempora cladis 505

nor the seasons of the calamity 505

perdidit in somnos, sed caeca nocte carinis
insiluit Caesar semper feliciter usus
praecipiti cursu bellorum, et tempore rapto
nunc claustrum pelagi cepit Pharon. insula quondam
in medio stetit illa mari sub tempore uatis 510
Proteos, at nunc est Pellaeis proxima muris.
illa duci geminos bellorum praestitit usus.
abstulit excursus et fauces aequoris hosti
Caesar et auxiliis ut uidit libera ponti
ostia, non fatum meriti poenasque Pothini 515
distulit ulterius. sed non, qua debuit, ira,
non cruce, non flammis rapuit, non dente ferarum:
[heu facinus, gladio ceruix male caesa pependit]
Magni morte perit.

he consigned himself to slumbers, but in blind night Caesar leapt upon the keels, ever happily using a headlong course in wars; and with the seized moment he now took the sea-barrier Pharon. once that island stood in mid-sea beneath the time of the seer Proteos 510
Proteos, but now it is nearest to the Pellaean walls. that experience afforded the leader twofold uses of war. Caesar robbed the enemy of sorties and of the mouths of the sea, and when he saw the mouths of the sea free for the bridge, he postponed further the fate and penalties merited by Pothinus 515
but not, as was owed, by wrath, not by the cross, not by flames, not by the teeth of beasts: [heu facinus, gladio cervix male caesa pependit] he perishes by the death of the Great one.

nec non subrepta paratis
a famulo Ganymede dolis peruenit ad hostis 520

and even, having been carried off by plots prepared by the servant Ganymede, he reached the enemy 520

Caesaris Arsinoe; quae castra carentia rege
ut proles Lagea tenet, famulumque tyranni
terribilem iusto transegit Achillea ferro.
altera, Magne, tuis iam uictima mittitur umbris;
nec satis hoc Fortuna putat. procul absit ut ista 525
uindictae sit summa tuae. non ipse tyrannus
sufficit in poenas, non omnis regia Lagi:
dum patrii ueniant in uiscera Caesaris enses
Magnus inultus erit.

Caesar’s Arsinoe; whose camp, lacking a king,
as the offspring of Lagea holds, and pierced the terrible steward
of the tyrant with just Achilles’ sword.
The other, Magnus, is now sent as a victim to your shades;
and Fortune deems this not enough. Far be it that that thing 525
should be the sum of your vengeance. The tyrant himself does not suffice for penalties, not all the royal house of Lagea:
while the native swords come into Caesar’s entrails
Magnus will remain unavenged.

sed non auctore furoris
sublato cecidit rabies; nam rursus in arma                  530
auspiciis Ganymedis eunt ac multa secundo
proelia Marte gerunt. potuit discrimine summo
Caesaris una dies in famam et saecula mitti.
     molis in exiguae spatio stipantibus armis
dum parat in uacuas Martem transferre carinas,                  535

but with the author of the fury not removed the madness did not fall away; for again they go to arms under the auspices of Ganymede                  530
and wage many battles with Mars favorable. At the highest crisis one day could have been sent of Caesar into fame and the ages.
     while he, packing the mass into a small space with arms,
prepares to transfer Mars into empty keels,                  535

dux Latius tota subitus formidine belli
cingitur: hinc densae praetexunt litora classes,
hinc tergo insultant pedites. uia nulla salutis,
non fuga, non uirtus; uix spes quoque mortis honestae.
non acie fusa nec magnae stragis aceruis 540
uincendus tum Caesar erat sed sanguine nullo.
captus sorte loci pendet; dubiusque timeret
optaretne mori respexit in agmine denso
Scaeuam perpetuae meritum iam nomina famae
ad campos, Epidamne, tuos, ubi solus apertis 545
obsedit muris calcantem moenia Magnum.

the leader Latius, suddenly beset by the dread of war,
is girdled all around: here dense fleets hem the shores,
there at his rear the footsoldiers press hard. No road of safety,
neither flight nor valor; scarcely even the hope of an honorable death.
not by a drawn line of battle nor by great heaps of slaughter 540
could Caesar then be conquered — and yet with no blood. Taken by the fortune of the place he hangs; uncertain whether he should fear
or choose to die he looked back into the thick of the host
and saw Scaeva, owed now a name of everlasting fame,545
he beset the walls trampling mighty Magnus.