Lucan: DE BELLO CIVILI SIVE PHARSALIA

At procul extremis terrarum Caesar in oris
Martem saeuus agit non multa caede nocentem
maxima sed fati ducibus momenta daturum.
iure pari rector castris Afranius illis
ac Petreius erat; concordia duxit in aequas                  5
imperium commune uices, tutelaque ualli
peruigil alterno paret custodia signo.
his praeter Latias acies erat inpiger Astur
Vettonesque leues profugique a gente uetusta
Gallorum Celtae miscentes nomen Hiberis.                  10
     colle tumet modico lenique excreuit in altum
pingue solum tumulo; super hunc fundata uetusta
surgit Ilerda manu; placidis praelabitur undis
Hesperios inter Sicoris non ultimus amnis,
saxeus ingenti quem pons amplectitur arcu                  15

But far off on the utmost shores of the earth Caesar fiercely wages Mars, harming not by much slaughter but about to give the greatest moments to the leaders of fate.
By equal right the governor of the camp was Afranius to those men
and Petreius; concord led to equal                  5
the common command in turns, and the ward of the rampart
keeps a sleepless watch, obeying the alternating signal.
Besides these was a brisk Latian battle-line Astur
and the light Vettones and fugitives from an ancient people,10
     then a hill swells with a modest rise and gently grows high,
its soil rich with a mound; upon this an ancient founded
Ilerda rises by the hand; it glides amid placid waves
not last among the Hesperian streams of the Sicoris,
which a massive stone bridge embraces with a great arch                  15

hibernas passurus aquas. at proxima rupes
signa tenet Magni, nec Caesar colle minore
castra leuat; medius dirimit tentoria gurges.
explicat hinc tellus campos effusa patentis
uix oculo prendente modum, camposque coerces,                  20
Cinga rapax, uetitus fluctus et litora cursu
Oceani pepulisse tuo; nam gurgite mixto
qui praestat terris aufert tibi nomen Hiberus.
     prima dies belli cessauit Marte cruento
spectandasque ducum uires numerosaque signa                  25
exposuit. piguit sceleris; pudor arma furentum
continuit, patriaeque et ruptis legibus unum
donauere diem; prono cum Caesar Olympo
in noctem subita circumdedit agmina fossa,
dum primae perstant acies, hostemque fefellit                  30

to ford the wintry waters. But the nearest cliff
holds Magnus’ standards, nor does Caesar raise his camp
on the lesser hill; a gulf sundered the tents between.
From here the land unfolds, poured out, the open fields
scarcely keeping measure to an eye that takes them in, and a rapacious Cinga restrains the fields,                  20
forbidden that the waves and shores by the course
of your Ocean should have been driven; for the stream, mingled with the sea,
which excels the lands, bestows upon you the name Hiberus.
     the first day of war ceased with bloody Mars,
and displayed the strengths of the commanders and the numerous standards                  25
to be beheld. Shame repented of the crime; modesty restrained the arms of the frenzied;
and they granted one day to the fatherland and to laws that had been broken; when Caesar, bent forward from Olympus,
by a sudden trench enclosed the troops into the night,
while the foremost ranks endured, and he beguiled the enemy.                  30

et prope consertis obduxit castra maniplis.
luce noua collem subito conscendere cursu,
qui medius tutam castris dirimebat Ilerdam,
imperat. huc hostem pariter terrorque pudorque
inpulit, et rapto tumulum prior agmine cepit. 35
his uirtus ferrumque locum promittit, at illis
ipse locus. miles rupes oneratus in altas
nititur, aduersoque acies in monte supina
haeret et in tergum casura umbone sequentis
erigitur.

and near, with the ranks closely joined, he drew up the camp of maniples.
at new light he orders to mount the hill suddenly at a run,
the hill which, standing in the middle, parted safe Ilerda from the camps,
he commands. To this place both the enemy and terror and shame
drove alike, and having seized the small mound the vanguard first took it. 35
to these men valour and the sword promise the position, but to those men
the position itself. The soldier, laden, strives up onto the high rocks,
and the line, lying backwards on the opposing ridge, clings and, about to fall upon the back
of the man following, rises up on his shield.

nulli telum uibrare uacauit, 40
dum labat et fixo firmat uestigia pilo,
dum scopulos stirpesque tenent atque hoste relicto
caedunt ense uiam. uidit lapsura ruina
agmina dux equitemque iubet succedere bello
munitumque latus laeuo praeducere gyro. 45

nulli had leisure to brandish a weapon, 40
while one slips and plants his footing with a fixed pilum,
while they grasp rocks and roots and, the foe left behind,
cut a way with the sword. The leader saw the columns about to fall with ruin
and ordered the horse to come up into the battle,
and to wheel forward the fortified left flank in a circuit. 45

sic pedes ex facili nulloque urguente receptus,
inritus et uictor subducto Marte pependit.
     hactenus armorum discrimina: cetera bello
fata dedit uariis incertus motibus aer.
pigro bruma gelu siccisque Aquilonibus haerens                  50
aethere constricto pluuias in nube tenebat.
urebant montana niues camposque iacentis
non duraturae conspecto sole pruinae,
atque omnis propior mergenti sidera caelo
aruerat tellus hiberno dura sereno.                   55
sed postquam uernus calidum Titana recepit
sidera respiciens delapsae portitor Helles,
atque iterum aequatis ad iustae pondera Librae
temporibus uicere dies, tum sole relicto
Cynthia, quo primum cornu dubitanda refulsit,                  60
exclusit Borean flammasque accepit in Euro.
ille suo nubes quascumque inuenit in axe
torsit in occiduum Nabataeis flatibus orbem,
et quas sentit Arabs et quas Gangetica tellus
exhalat nebulas, quidquid concrescere primus                  65

thus the feet, from facile ground and with no one urging, received him not,
vain and vanquished he hung, Mars withdrawn beneath him.
     so far the distinctions of arms: the rest to war
the fates gave to the air, uncertain with shifting motions.
in sluggish winter, by frost and clinging dry North Winds                  50
the constricted ether held rains bound within a cloud.
mountain snows and the fields lying under not-lasting hoar
blazed at the sight of the sun; and every nearer star sinking from the sky
the earth had withered, hard beneath the wintry clear.                   55
but after Titan’s warm season received the hot stars of spring
and the ferryman of Hellespont looking back had slipped down,
and again the scales of just Libra, balanced to their due weights,
time conquered the days, then with the sun withdrawn
Cynthia, at the first horn where doubtful light shone,                  60
shut out the Boreal fires and took the flames into the Eurus.
that wind twisted whatever clouds it found on its axis
into a western circle with Nabataean blasts,
and whatever mists the Arab feels and whatever the Ganges land exhales

sol patitur, quidquid caeli fuscator Eoi
inpulerat Corus, quidquid defenderat Indos.
incendere diem nubes oriente remotae
nec medio potuere graues incumbere mundo
sed nimbos rapuere fuga. uacat imbribus Arctos                  70
et Notos, in solam Calpen fluit umidus aer.
hic, ubi iam Zephyri fines, et summus Olympi
cardo tenet Tethyn, uetitae transcurrere densos
inuoluere globos, congestumque aeris atri
uix recipit spatium quod separat aethere terram.                   75
iamque polo pressae largos densantur in imbres
spissataeque fluunt; nec seruant fulmina flammas
quamuis crebra micent: extinguunt fulgura nimbi.
hinc inperfecto conplectitur aera gyro
arcus uix ulla uariatus luce colorem                  80
Oceanumque bibit raptosque ad nubila fluctus
pertulit et caelo defusum reddidit aequor.
iamque Pyrenaeae, quas numquam soluere Titan
eualuit, fluxere niues, fractoque madescunt
saxa gelu. tum quae solitis e fontibus exit                  85

the sun endures whatever the East-born Corus, darkener of the sky,
had driven, whatever he had defended for the Indians.
Clouds, driven off from the east, could not kindle the day
nor could they press heavy upon the middle world,
but they snatched the storm-clouds away in flight. The Arctic is free for rains                  70
and the Souths; moist air flows into Calpe alone.
Here, where now the Zephyrs’ bounds are, and high Tethys
holds the hinge of Olympus, forbidden to rush across dense
enwrapping globes, the packed air of dark cloud
scarcely receives the space that separates earth from aether.                  75
And now thickening rains are condensed in the pressed sky
and pour down; nor do the bolts keep their flames,
though they flash often: the thunderclouds put out the lightnings.
From here the unfinished arc of the heavens is folded in a circle
scarce varied in any light with color,                  80
and drinks the Ocean and bears the snatched waves to the clouds
and restores the poured sea back to the sky.
And now the snows flowed over the Pyrenees, which Titan never could unloose,
and rocks grow moist with broken frost. Then those waters which usually rise from springs                  85

non habet unda uias, tam largas alueus omnis
a ripis accepit aquas. iam naufraga campo
Caesaris arma natant, inpulsaque gurgite multo
castra labant; alto restagnant flumina uallo.
non pecorum raptus faciles, non pabula mersi                  90
ulla ferunt sulci; tectarum errore uiarum
fallitur occultis sparsus populator in agris.
iamque comes semper magnorum prima malorum
saeua fames aderat, nulloque obsessus ab hoste
miles eget: toto censu non prodigus emit                  95
exiguam Cererem. pro lucri pallida tabes!
non dest prolato ieiunus uenditor auro.
iam tumuli collesque latent, iam flumina cuncta
condidit una palus uastaque uoragine mersit,
absorpsit penitus rupes ac tecta ferarum                  100

no wave has ways; so wide every channel has taken in waters from the banks
now Caesar’s shipwrecked arms float on the field, and the camps, driven by the mighty surge,
slide; rivers stand back, stagnant behind a deep rampart.
the seizure of cattle is not easy, nor do any furrows bear fodder drowned beneath the waters                  90
the marauder, scattered through the fields, is deceived by the confusion of roofs and roads hidden.
and now the ever‑present first companion of great evils,
fierce hunger, was there; and the soldier, besieged by no enemy,
needed nothing: not prodigal with the whole census he buys                  95
a meager Ceres. O pale wasting for the sake of gain!
the hungry seller does not fail when gold is offered.
now tombs and hills lie hidden, now a single marsh
has closed up all the rivers and plunged them in a vast gulf,
has wholly swallowed rocks and the lairs of beasts                  100

detulit atque ipsas hausit, subitisque frementis
uerticibus contorsit aquas et reppulit aestus
fortior Oceani. nec Phoebum surgere sentit
nox subtexta polo: rerum discrimina miscet
deformis caeli facies iunctaeque tenebrae.                  105
sic mundi pars ima iacet, quam zona niualis
perpetuaeque premunt hiemes: non sidera caelo
ulla uidet, sterili non quicquam frigore gignit
sed glacie medios signorum temperat ignes.
sic, o summe parens mundi, sic, sorte secunda                  110
aequorei rector, facias, Neptune tridentis,
et tu perpetuis inpendas aera nimbis,
tu remeare uetes quoscumque emiseris aestus.
non habeant amnes decliuem ad litora cursum
sed pelagi referantur aquis, concussaque tellus                  115

and drew them in and drained them, and with sudden surging
he hurled the waters from their summits and repelled the tide,
stronger than the Ocean. Nor does the night, woven beneath the pole, feel Phoebus rise:
the deform visage of the sky mingles the crises of things and the joined darknesses.                  105
thus lies the lowest part of the world, which the wintry zone
and perpetual winters press upon: it sees no stars in the sky,
breeding nothing by sterile cold, but with ice it tempers the fires of the constellations in their midst.
Thus, O highest parent of the world, thus, by second lot                  110
ruler of the watery realm, do you, Neptune of the trident, make it so,
and pour out your bronze into perpetual storms,
that whatever waves you sent may return again.
Let the rivers have no downhill course to the shores
but be borne back to the sea by the waters of the deep, and let the shaken earth                  115

laxet iter fluuiis: hos campos Rhenus inundet,
hos Rhodanus; uastos obliquent flumina fontes.
Riphaeas huc solue niues, huc stagna lacusque
et pigras, ubicumque iacent, effunde paludes
et miseras bellis ciuilibus eripe terras.                  120
     sed paruo Fortuna uiri contenta pauore
plena redit, solitoque magis fauere secundi
et ueniam meruere dei. iam rarior aer,
et par Phoebus aquis densas in uellera nubes
sparserat, et noctes uentura luce rubebant,                  125
seruatoque loco rerum discessit ab astris
umor, et ima petit quidquid pendebat aquarum.
tollere silua comas, stagnis emergere colles
incipiunt uisoque die durescere ualles.
utque habuit ripas Sicoris camposque reliquit                  130

let the rivers widen their course: let the Rhenus flood these plains,
let the Rhodanus inundate these; the rivers will divert vast springs askew.
Break up here the Riphaean snows, here the stagnant lakes and pools,
and pour out the sluggish marshes wherever they lie, and snatch miserable lands from civil wars.                  120
     but Fortune, content with the man's small dread,
returns full, more inclined than usual to favour the second (fortunate),
and they deserved the god's grace. Now the air grows clearer,
and Phoebus had strewn thick clouds into fleeces upon the waters,
and the nights blushed with the coming light,                  125
and, the place of things preserved, the moisture withdrew from the stars
and sought the lowest whatever of the hanging waters.
The woods begin to lift their hair, hills to emerge from the pools
and the valleys to harden at sight of day.
And as it had held the banks of the Sicoris and left the fields                  130

primum cana salix madefacto uimine paruam
texitur in puppem caesoque inducta iuuenco
uectoris patiens tumidum super emicat amnem.
sic Venetus stagnante Pado fusoque Britannus
nauigat Oceano; sic, cum tenet omnia Nilus,                  135
conseritur bibula Memphitis cumba papyro.
his ratibus traiecta manus festinat utrimque
succisum curuare nemus, fluuiique ferocis
incrementa timens non primis robora ripis
inposuit, medios pontem distendit in agros.                  140
ac, nequid Sicoris repetitis audeat undis,
spargitur in sulcos et scisso gurgite riuis
dat poenas maioris aquae. postquam omnia fatis
Caesaris ire uidet, celsam Petreius Ilerdam
deserit et noti diffisus uiribus orbis                  145

first a gray willow, its twig soaked, is woven into a small stern,
and, fitted over a slaughtered young-ox to bear the burden,
it swells and jets above the swollen stream.
thus the Venetian sails when the Po is stagnant, and the Briton
sails the Ocean when it is poured forth; thus, when the Nile holds all things,
a papyrus craft is bound together at thirsty Memphis.                  135
with these rafts having crossed, the band hastens on either side
to bend the coppiced grove, and, fearing the increases of the savage river,
did not plant timbers upon the foremost banks,
but stretched a bridge into the mid fields.                  140
and, lest aught of the Sicoris, with waves renewed, dare to return,
he scatters it into furrows and, with the channel cleft, gives penalties to the larger water.
after he sees all things go according to the fates of Caesar,
Petreius abandons lofty Ilerda and, mistrusting the forces of the known world,                  145

indomitos quaerit populos et semper in arma
mortis amore feros et tendit in ultima mundi.
     nudatos Caesar colles desertaque castra
conspiciens capere arma iubet nec quaerere pontem
nec uada, sed duris fluuium superare lacertis.                  150
paretur, rapuitque ruens in proelia miles
quod fugiens timuisset iter. mox uda receptis
membra fouent armis gelidosque a gurgite cursu
restituunt artus, donec decresceret umbra
in medium surgente die; iamque agmina summa                  155
carpit eques, dubiique fugae pugnaeque tenentur.
     attollunt campo geminae iuga saxea rupes
ualle caua media; tellus hinc ardua celsos
continuat colles, tutae quos inter opaco
anfractu latuere uiae; quibus hoste potito                  160

he seeks untamed peoples and ever into arms
ferocious by a love of death, and presses toward the ends of the world.
     Caesar, seeing the hills laid bare and the camps deserted,
orders them to seize arms and not to seek a bridge
nor fords, but to overcome the rivers with hardy brawns.                  150
they prepare, and rushing into battle the soldier snatched up
what, fleeing, he would have feared on the march. Soon, with arms received wet,
they warm their limbs and from the cold stream’s course
restore their bodies, until the shadow decreased
as the day rose to mid-heaven; and now the foremost ranks
the horseman seizes, and they are held wavering between flight and fight.
     on the plain they lift twin rocky ridges
with a hollow valley between; the high land here stretches out lofty hills,
safe whose ways lay hidden among the shady
winding; which, the enemy having gained                  160

faucibus emitti terrarum in deuia Martem
inque feras gentes Caesar uidet. 'ite sine ullo
ordine' ait 'raptumque fuga conuertite bellum
et faciem pugnae uoltusque inferte minaces;
nec liceat pauidis ignaua occumbere morte: 165
excipiant recto fugientes pectore ferrum.'
dixit et ad montis tendentem praeuenit hostem.
illic exiguo paulum distantia uallo
castra locant. postquam spatio languentia nullo
mutua conspicuos habuerunt lumina uoltus, 170
[hic fratres natosque suos uidere patresque]
deprensum est ciuile nefas.

from the jaws of the lands Mars is sent into the remote places
and Caesar sees him among the savage peoples. "Go without any
order," he says, "and turn the war, once seized, into flight
and bring the face of battle and threatening countenances;
nor may it be permitted that the cowardly fall to a shameful death: 165
let those fleeing receive the sword upon an upright breast."
He spoke and anticipated the enemy making for the mountain.
There they pitch camp with a short distance of rampart between them
After, with no interval at all and fainting, their faces held each other's conspicuous eyes, 170
[here brothers and their sons and fathers saw]
a civic crime was detected.

tenuere parumper
ora metu, tantum nutu motoque salutant
ense suos. mox, ut stimulis maioribus ardens
rupit amor leges, audet transcendere uallum 175

They held their faces for a little while in fear, and only with a nod and with the sword moved they greet their own. Soon, as Love, burning with greater goads, broke the laws, he dares to cross over the rampart 175

miles, in amplexus effusas tendere palmas.
hospitis ille ciet nomen, uocat ille propinquum,
admonet hunc studiis consors puerilibus aetas;
nec Romanus erat, qui non agnouerat hostem.
arma rigant lacrimis, singultibus oscula rumpunt,                  180
et quamuis nullo maculatus sanguine miles
quae potuit fecisse timet. quid pectora pulsas?
quid, uaesane, gemis? fletus quid fundis inanis
nec te sponte tua sceleri parere fateris?
usque adeone times quem tu facis ipse timendum?                  185
classica det bello, saeuos tu neclege cantus;
signa ferat, cessa: iam iam ciuilis Erinys
concidet et Caesar generum priuatus amabit.
     nunc ades, aeterno conplectens omnia nexu,
o rerum mixtique salus Concordia mundi                  190

the soldier, to embrace, stretches forth his outpoured palms.
the guest strikes up the name, he calls the near one,
their shared boyhood urges this companion to remember;
and there was no Roman who did not recognise his enemy.
armour is wetted with tears, sobs burst their kisses apart,                  180
and although the soldier is stained by no blood he fears what he might have done. Why do you beat your breast?
why, unhappy man, do you moan? what is this empty shedding of tears
and do you not confess of your own accord to obey crime?
do you so constantly fear him whom you yourself make to be feared?                  185
sound the trumpets for war, neglect not savage songs;
bear the standards, delay: now, now the civil Fury
will fall and Caesar, deprived, will love a son‑in‑law.
     now be present, embracing all things with an eternal bond,
O Concord, salvation of things and of the mixed world                  190

et sacer orbis amor: magnum nunc saecula nostra
uenturi discrimen habent. periere latebrae
tot scelerum, populo uenia est erepta nocenti:
agnouere suos. pro numine fata sinistro
exigua requie tantas augentia clades! 195
pax erat, et castris miles permixtus utrisque
errabat; duro concordes caespite mensas
instituunt et permixto libamina Baccho;
graminei luxere foci, iunctoque cubili
extrahit insomnis bellorum fabula noctes, 200
quo primum steterint campo, qua lancea dextra
exierit.

and the world's sacred love: our ages now have a great crisis about to come.
the lurking-places of so many crimes have perished, pardon has been snatched from a guilty people:
they have recognised their own. for a hostile divinity, the fates with scant repose increase such calamities! 195
there was peace, and a soldier, mingled in both camps, wandered;
agreeing on the hard turf they set up tables and libations mixed with Bacchus;
the grassy hearths shone, and with bed joined the sleepless tale of wars draws out the nights, 200
to the place where first they stood on the plain, and by which spear the right hand sallied forth.

dum quae gesserunt fortia iactant
et dum multa negant, quod solum fata petebant,
est miseris renouata fides, atque omne futurum
creuit amore nefas. nam postquam foedera pacis 205

while they vaunt the brave deeds they carried out
and while they deny many things, that which alone the fates sought,
for the wretched a renewed fides exists, and every thing future
grew into crime from love. For after the treaties of peace 205

cognita Petreio, seque et sua tradita uenum
castra uidet, famulas scelerata ad proelia dextras
excitat atque hostis turba stipatus inermis
praecipitat castris iunctosque amplexibus ense
separat et multo disturbat sanguine pacem. 210
addidit ira ferox moturas proelia uoces.
'inmemor o patriae, signorum obliorum,
non potes hoc causae, miles, praestare, senatus
adsertor uicto redeas ut Caesare? certe,
ut uincare, potes. dum ferrum, incertaque fata, 215
quique fluat multo non derit uolnere sanguis,
ibitis ad dominum damnataque signa feretis,
utque habeat famulos nullo discrimine Caesar
exorandus erit?

having learned of Petreius, and seeing himself and his camps handed over, he stirs up wicked right hands of attendants to the battles, and the unarmed throng, pressed by the enemy, rushes headlong into the camps and with the sword severs those joined in embraces and disturbs peace with abundant blood. 210
Fierce wrath added voices that would set the battles in motion. "O unmindful of your country, forgetter of the standards, can you not, soldier, accomplish this for the cause — that, as defender of the senate, you return conquered to Caesar? Certainly, you can, if to conquer. While iron, uncertain fates, and the blood that will flow from many a wound are not lacking, 215
you will go to your master and carry the condemned standards, and how shall Caesar be entreated so as to have servants without distinction?"

ducibus quoque uita petita est?
numquam nostra salus pretium mercesque nefandae 220

Was life also sought from our leaders?
was our safety never the price and the wage of a nefarious 220

proditionis erit: non hoc ciuilia bella,
ut uiuamus, agunt. trahimur sub nomine pacis.
non chalybem gentes penitus fugiente metallo
eruerent, nulli uallarent oppida muri,
non sonipes in bella ferox, non iret in aequor 225
turrigeras classis pelago sparsura carinas,
si bene libertas umquam pro pace daretur.
hostes nempe meos sceleri iurata nefando
sacramenta tenent; at uobis uilior hoc est
uestra fides, quod pro causa pugnantibus aequa 230
et ueniam sperare licet. pro dira pudoris
funera!

it will be treachery: these are not civil wars, they say, for our living. we are dragged under the name of peace.
peoples would not wrest from utterly fleeing metal the very steel, no walls would protect any towns,
no war-horse fierce for battle, no towered fleet would go onto the sea
to scatter prows across the deep, if indeed liberty were ever given for peace. 225
my enemies, surely, hold oaths sworn to wicked crime as their bonds; but cheaper for you is your faith, that to those fighting for a cause it is lawful
even to hope for mercy. for the dreadful funerals of modesty!

nunc toto fatorum ignarus in orbe,
Magne, paras acies mundique extrema tenentis
sollicitas reges, cum forsan foedere nostro
iam tibi sit promissa salus.' sic fatur et omnis 235

now, ignorant of the whole orb of fates,
Great one, you prepare battle-lines and, holding the world's extremities,
disturb kings, since perhaps by our pact already to you is promised safety.' Thus he speaks and all 235

concussit mentes scelerumque reduxit amorem.
sic, ubi desuetae siluis in carcere clauso
mansueuere ferae et uoltus posuere minaces
atque hominem didicere pati, si torrida paruos
uenit in ora cruor, redeunt rabiesque furorque                  240
admonitaeque tument gustato sanguine fauces;
feruet et a trepido uix abstinet ira magistro.
itur in omne nefas, et, quae fortuna deorum
inuidia caeca bellorum in nocte tulisset,
fecit monstra fides. inter mensasque torosque                  245
quae modo conplexu fouerunt pectora caedunt;
et quamuis primo ferrum strinxere gementes,
ut dextrae iusti gladius dissuasor adhaesit,
dum feriunt, odere suos, animosque labantis
confirmant ictu. feruent iam castra tumultu,                  250

it struck the minds and restored the love of crime.
Thus, when beasts unaccustomed to the woods, shut in a closed prison,
grew tame and put aside threatening faces
and learned to endure a man, if scorching
blood comes to their small mouths, madness and fury return                  240
and, warned, their throats swell having tasted blood;
anger boils and scarcely refrains from the trembling master.
All wickedness is set in motion, and what blind envy of the gods’ fortune
had borne in the night of wars, faith made into monsters.
Among couches and tables those whom but now embrace had warmed the hearts they cut down;                  245
and although at first they drew the sword with groans,
while the just blade of the right hand clung as a deterrent,
as they strike they hate their own and, with a blow, confirm wavering spirits.
Now the camps boil with tumult,                  250

ac, uelut occultum pereat scelus, omnia monstra                  252
in facie posuere ducum: iuuat esse nocentis.
     tu, Caesar, quamuis spoliatus milite multo,
agnoscis superos; neque enim tibi maior in aruis                  255
Emathiis fortuna fuit nec Phocidos undis
Massiliae, Phario nec tantum est aequore gestum,
hoc siquidem solo ciuilis crimine belli
dux causae melioris eris. polluta nefanda
agmina caede duces iunctis committere castris                  260

and, as if the hidden crime should perish, they set all omens in the faces of the leaders: it pleases the guilty to be apparent.
     you, Caesar, although robbed of much soldiery,
acknowledge the gods above; for neither greater fortune was in the Emathian fields                  255
nor on the Phocian waves of Massilia, nor is so much borne on the Pharian sea;
if indeed by this one civil crime of war
you will be leader of a better cause. The impious ranks
stained with accursed slaughter join their commanders in contiguous camps                  260

non audent, altaeque ad moenia rursus Ilerdae
intendere fugam. campos eques obuius omnis
abstulit et siccis inclusit collibus hostem.
tunc inopes undae praerupta cingere fossa
Caesar auet nec castra pati contingere ripas                  265
aut circum largos curuari bracchia fontes.
     ut leti uidere uiam, conuersus in iram
praecipitem timor est. miles non utile clausis
auxilium mactauit equos, tandemque coactus
spe posita damnare fugam casurus in hostes                  270
fertur.

they do not dare, and to the high walls of Ilerda again to direct their flight.
the cavalry meeting him swept away every plain
and shut the enemy in the dry hills.
then Caesar wishes to gird the helpless waters with a steep ditch
and not suffer the camp to touch the banks 265
or for arms to be curved around the broad springs.
when they saw the way of death, fear, turned to anger,
is headlong. The soldier did not spare horses, useless in enclosures,
to aid; and at last, having been compelled,270
forward.

ut effuso Caesar decurrere passu
uidit et ad certam deuotos tendere mortem,
'tela tene iam, miles', ait 'ferrumque ruenti
subtrahe: non ullo constet mihi sanguine bellum.
uincitur haut gratis iugulo qui prouocat hostem. 275

as Caesar saw them break into a run with scattered pace
and the devoted ones hastening toward certain death,
'hold your spears now, soldier,' he said, 'and draw your sword back from the man rushing on:
let not the war be settled to my account by any man's blood.
he who provokes the enemy is not easily overcome at the throat.' 275

en, sibi uilis adest inuisa luce iuuentus
iam damno peritura meo; non sentiet ictus,
incumbet gladiis, gaudebit sanguine fuso.
deserat hic feruor mentes, cadat impetus amens,
perdant uelle mori.' sic deflagrare minaces                  280
in cassum et uetito passus languescere bello,
substituit merso dum nox sua lumina Phoebo.
inde, ubi nulla data est miscendae copia mortis,
paulatim cadit ira ferox mentesque tepescunt,
saucia maiores animos ut pectora gestant,                  285
dum dolor est ictusque recens et mobile neruis
conamen calidus praebet cruor ossaque nondum
adduxere cutem: si conscius ensis adacti
stat uictor tenuitque manus, tum frigidus artus
alligat atque animum subducto robore torpor,                  290

Behold, cheap to himself, youth hateful to the light
is now present, about to perish by my doom; he will not feel the blows,
will throw himself onto swords, will exult at blood poured forth.
This heat abandons minds, let frenzy fall away,
let them lose the will to die.' Thus to blaze threateningly in vain                  280
and, having suffered to languish in a war forbidden,
he endures while night, submerged, replaces Phoebus' lights.
Thereafter, when no chance is given to mingle death,
fierce wrath slowly falls and minds grow tepid,
the greater breasts bear wounds as their chests endure,                  285
while the pain and the wound are fresh and the hot blood
gives a living effort and the bones have not yet
drawn the skin taut: if the sword, conscious of being driven in,
stands victor and holds the hands fast, then cold limbs
bind and a torpor, with strength withdrawn, seizes the soul,                  290

postquam sicca rigens astrinxit uolnera sanguis.
iamque inopes undae primum tellure refossa
occultos latices abstrusaque flumina quaerunt;
nec solum rastris durisque ligonibus arua
sed gladiis fodere suis, puteusque cauati                  295
montis ad inrigui premitur fastigia campi.
non se tam penitus, tam longe luce relicta
merserit Astyrici scrutator pallidus auri.
non tamen aut tectis sonuerunt cursibus amnes
aut micuere noui percusso pumice fontes,                  300
antra nec exiguo stillant sudantia rore
aut inpulsa leui turbatur glarea uena.
tunc exhausta super multo sudore iuuentus
extrahitur duris silicum lassata metallis;
quoque minus possent siccos tolerare uapores                  305

after the drying, the stiff blood bound the wounds.
and now the impoverished waves, first dug up from the earth, seek hidden latices and rivers concealed;
not only with rakes and hard mattocks did they till the fields but with their swords they dig, and the well hollowed in the mountain is pressed against the ridges of the watered plain.                  295
the pale prospector of Astyricus would not so thoroughly, so far from light, have plunged himself into the depths.
yet neither did streams resound in hidden courses beneath roofs nor did new springs gleam struck from pumice,                  300
nor do caverns drip, sweating with a scanty dew, nor is the vein, when lightly struck, the gravel disturbed.
then the youths, exhausted with great sweat, are drawn forth, wearied by the hard flints and the metals;
and the less able they are to endure the dry vapours                  305

quaesitae fecistis aquae. nec languida fessi
corpora sustentant epulis, mensasque perosi
auxilium fecere famem. si mollius aruum
prodidit umorem, pinguis manus utraque glaebas
exprimit ora super; nigro si turbida limo                  310
conluuies inmota iacet, cadit omnis in haustus
certatim obscaenos miles moriensque recepit
quas nollet uicturus aquas; rituque ferarum
distentas siccant pecudes, et lacte negato
sordidus exhausto sorbetur ab ubere sanguis.                  315
tunc herbas frondesque terunt, et rore madentis
destringunt ramos et siquos palmite crudo
arboris aut tenera sucos pressere medulla.
     o fortunati, fugiens quos barbarus hostis
fontibus inmixto strauit per rura ueneno.                  320

you have sought out waters. Nor do weary bodies sustain
themselves on languid feasts, and hunger, hateful of tables,
has made aid of food. If the softer soil
has yielded moisture, each hand presses the fat clods
out with its face above; if a turbid flood lies
stagnant in black mud, all falls into draughts in contest,
the soldier, dying, receives the filthy waters
which he would not have drunk living; and after the fashion of beasts
they dry the distended flocks, and with milk denied
the foul blood is sucked from the emptied udder.
then they gnaw herbs and leaves, and with the dew-wet
they strip off branches, and if any have pressed sap
from the raw vine or the tender marrow of a tree.
O fortunate ones, whom the barbarous foe, fleeing,
strewn through the fields with a poison mixed in the springs.

hos licet in fluuios saniem tabemque ferarum,
pallida Dictaeis, Caesar, nascentia saxis
infundas aconita palam, Romana iuuentus
non decepta bibet. torrentur uiscera flamma
oraque sicca rigent squamosis aspera linguis;                  325
iam marcent uenae, nulloque umore rigatus
aeris alternos angustat pulmo meatus,
rescissoque nocent suspiria dura palato;
pandunt ora tamen nociturumque aera captant.
expectant imbres, quorum modo cuncta natabant                  330
inpulsu, et siccis uoltus in nubibus haerent.
quoque magis miseros undae ieiunia soluant
non super arentem Meroen Cancrique sub axe,
qua nudi Garamantes arant, sedere, sed inter
stagnantem Sicorim et rapidum deprensus Hiberum                  335

though you may pour these into rivers — the gore, the pestilence of beasts,
pale Caesar, springing from the Dictaean rocks, and openly cast aconite, the Roman youth,
not deceived, will not drink. Their entrails parch with flame
and dry mouths stiffen with rough, scaly tongues;                  325
now the veins wither, and, watered by no moisture,
the air constricts the alternate passages of the lung,
and with the palate torn the harsh sighs do harm;
yet they open their mouths and snatch at the air that will harm them.
They await rains, by whose impulse all things were just afloat                  330
and their faces cling to the dry clouds. And the more they hope the waves will loosen
the hunger of the wretched, not over parched Meroe and under the Cancrian axis,
where the naked Garamantes plough, but to sit among the stagnant Sicoris and the swift-caught Hiberus;                  335

spectat uicinos sitiens exercitus amnes.
     iam domiti cessere duces, pacisque petendae
auctor damnatis supplex Afranius armis
semianimes in castra trahens hostilia turmas
uictoris stetit ante pedes. seruata precanti                  340
maiestas non fracta malis, interque priorem
fortunam casusque nouos gerit omnia uicti,
sed ducis, et ueniam securo pectore poscit.
'si me degeneri strauissent fata sub hoste,
non derat fortis rapiendo dextera leto;                  345
at nunc causa mihi est orandae sola salutis
dignum donanda, Caesar, te credere uita.
non partis studiis agimur nec sumpsimus arma
consiliis inimica tuis. nos denique bellum
inuenit ciuile duces, causaeque priori,                  350

the thirsty army watches the neighboring rivers.
     now the subdued chiefs yielded, and Afranius, condemned as the author of peace to be sought, a suppliant, half-alive, dragging hostile squadrons into the camp with arms, stood before the feet of the victor. preserved to the petitioner                  340
majesty not broken by troubles, and among the former fortune and new mishaps the conquered bear all things, but he begs mercy of the general with an unworried heart.
'If fate had overthrown me beneath a degenerate enemy,
my right hand would not have failed to snatch brave death by seizing it;                  345
but now my cause is alone to ask for life worthy to be given, Caesar, to entrust to you. We are not driven by factional zeal nor have we taken up arms against your counsels. At last civil war found us, leaders and causes prior,                   350

dum potuit, seruata fides. nil fata moramur:
tradimus Hesperias gentes, aperimus Eoas,
securumque orbis patimur post terga relicti.
nec cruor effusus campis tibi bella peregit
nec ferrum lassaeque manus: hoc hostibus unum, 355
quod uincas, ignosce tuis. nec magna petuntur:
otia des fessis, uitam patiaris inermis
degere quam tribuis.

while it could be, faith was kept. we defer nothing to the Fates:
we consign the Hesperian peoples, we open the Eoan lands,
and suffer the peaceful orb left behind upon our backs.
no blood poured on the fields has fought your wars,
nor iron nor weary hands: grant this one thing to your enemies, 355
that if you conquer, forgive your own. no great things are sought:
give rest to the tired; allow us to live unarmed rather than the life you bestow.

campis prostrata iacere
agmina nostra putes; nec enim felicibus armis
misceri damnata decet, partemque triumphi                  360
captos ferre tui: turba haec sua fata peregit.
hoc petimus, uictos ne tecum uincere cogas.'
     dixerat; at Caesar facilis uoltuque serenus
flectitur atque usus belli poenamque remittit.
ut primum iustae placuerunt foedera pacis,                  365
incustoditos decurrit miles ad amnes,
incumbit ripis permissaque flumina turbat.
continuus multis subitarum tractus aquarum
aera non passus uacuis discurrere uenis
artauit clausitque animam; nec feruida pestis                  370

think that our ranks lie prostrate on the fields;
     for it befits not one doomed to be mixed with fortunate arms,
nor to bear, as part of your triumph,                360
the captured: this crowd has endured its own fates.
this we beg, that you not compel the vanquished to conquer with you.'
     he had spoken; but Caesar, tractable and serene of countenance,
is moved and relaxes the uses of war and its penalty.
as soon as the just bonds of peace were agreed upon,                365
unwatched soldiers ran down to the rivers,
pressed upon the banks and troubled the streams left unguarded.
a continuous tract of sudden waters, drawn out for many,
not suffering the air to run through empty veins,                  370
constricted and closed the breath; nor did the fervid pestilence

cedit adhuc, sed morbus egens iam gurgite plenis
uisceribus sibi poscit aquas. mox robora neruis
et uires rediere uiris. o prodiga rerum
luxuries numquam paruo contenta paratis
et quaesitorum terra pelagoque ciborum 375
ambitiosa fames et lautae gloria mensae,
discite quam paruo liceat producere uitam
et quantum natura petat.

he still yields, but the needy disease now, gullet full,
with entrails demands waters for itself. soon returned were strength to the nerves
and powers to the men. O prodigal luxury of things,
never content with little prepared, and the sought-from land and sea foods' covetous hunger 375
and the glory of the lavish table, learn how little it is permitted to prolong life
and how much nature demands.

non erigit aegros
nobilis ignoto diffusus consule Bacchus,
non auro murraque bibunt, sed gurgite puro 380
uita redit. satis est populis fluuiusque Ceresque.
heu miseri qui bella gerunt! tunc arma relinquens
uictori miles spoliato pectore tutus
innocuusque suas curarum liber in urbes
spargitur.

Bacchus, noble though poured out under an unknown consul, does not raise the sick;
they do not drink of gold and myrrh, but from a pure stream 380
life returns. The river and Ceres suffice for the peoples.
ah, unhappy those who wage wars! then, the soldier, abandoning arms,
secure for the victor with his breast stripped,
harmless and free from his cares the man is scattered into the cities.

o quantum donata pace potitos 385

o how great a boon, having been bestowed peace and possessed, 385

excussis umquam ferrum uibrasse lacertis
paenituit, tolerasse sitim frustraque rogasse
prospera bella deos! nempe usis Marte secundo
tot dubiae restant acies, tot in orbe labores;
ut numquam fortuna labet successibus anceps, 390
uincendum totiens; terras fundendus in omnis
est cruor et Caesar per tot sua fata sequendus.
felix qui potuit mundi nutante ruina
quo iaceat iam scire loco. non proelia fessos
ulla uocant, certos non rumpunt classica somnos. 395
iam coniunx natique rudes et sordida tecta
et non deductos recipit sua terra colonos.
hoc quoque securis oneris fortuna remisit,
sollicitus menti quod abest fauor: ille salutis
est auctor, dux ille fuit.

having ever shaken the iron from his arm repented,
to have endured thirst and begged the gods in vain for prosperous wars! for indeed with Mars favorable in use
so many dubious battle-lines remain, so many labors in the world;
so that Fortune never slides without risk in successes, to be conquered so often; blood must be poured over all the lands
and Caesar must be followed through so many fates.
happy is he who could, with the world’s ruin rocking, already know in what place it now lies. No battles call the weary,
no trumpets break settled sleeps. Now wife and children receive rough and sordid roofs
and his own land does not receive the colonists brought down. This also Fortune relaxed of the burden of the axe,
because favour was absent and anxious to the mind: he was the author of salvation, he was that leader.

sic proelia soli 400

thus battles alone 400

felices nullo spectant ciuilia uoto.
     non eadem belli totum fortuna per orbem
constitit, in partes aliquid sed Caesaris ausa est.
qua maris Hadriaci longas ferit unda Salonas
et tepidum in molles Zephyros excurrit Iader,                  405
illic bellaci confisus gente Curictum,
quos alit Hadriaco tellus circumflua ponto,
clauditur extrema residens Antonius ora
cautus ab incursu belli, si sola recedat,
expugnat quae tuta, fames. non pabula tellus                  410
pascendis summittit equis, non proserit ullam
flaua Ceres segetem; spoliarat gramine campum
miles et attonso miseris iam dentibus aruo
castrorum siccas de caespite uolserat herbas.
ut primum aduersae socios in litore terrae                  415

happy, they behold civil wars with no wish.
     the fortune of war did not stand the same through the whole orb,
but ventured to favor Caesar in some parts.
where the wave of the Hadriac sea strikes long Salonae
and the Iader runs out into the mild Zephyrs,                  405
there, trusting in the warlike Curictan folk,
whom the land that flows round the Hadriac sea nourishes,
Antonius, remaining, shuts off the farthest shores,
cautious of the onrush of war; if famine should come alone,
it conquers what is safe. The earth sends no fodder                  410
for feeding horses, nor will yellow Ceres yield any crop;
the soldier had stripped the plain of grass and, with the furrow
already rent by miserable teeth, had torn up from the turf
the camps’ dry herbs. As soon as hostile allies on the shore of the land                  415

et Basilum uidere ducem, noua furta per aequor
exquisita fugae. neque enim de more carinas
extendunt puppesque leuant, sed firma gerendis
molibus insolito contexunt robora ductu.
namque ratem uacuae sustentant undique cupae                  420
quarum porrectis series constricta catenis
ordinibus geminis obliquas excipit alnos;
nec gerit expositum telis in fronte patenti
remigium, sed, quod trabibus circumdedit aequor,
hoc ferit et taciti praebet miracula cursus,                  425
quod nec uela ferat nec apertas uerberet undas.
tum freta seruantur, dum se declinibus undis
aestus agat refluoque mari nudentur harenae.
iamque relabenti crescebant litora ponto:
missa ratis prono defertur lapsa profundo                  430

and to see Basil as leader, new deceits across the sea
devised for escape. For they do not, according to custom, spread ships
and raise their prows, but with a steadfast handling
they weave timbers into strengths for carrying burdens unusual.
for they sustain a raft of hollow tubs from every side 420
whose stretched-out series, bound by chains,a steering exposed to weapons on its open front,425
which neither carries sails nor smites the open waves. Then the straits are kept, while the tide430

et geminae comites. cunctas super ardua turris
eminet et tremulis tabulata minantia pinnis.
noluit Illyricae custos Octauius undae
confestim temptare ratem, celeresque carinas
continuit, cursu crescat dum praeda secundo,                  435
et temere ingressos repetendum inuitat ad aequor
pace maris. sic, dum pauidos formidine ceruos
claudat odoratae metuentis aera pinnae
aut dum dispositis attollat retia uaris,
uenator tenet ora leuis clamosa Molossi,                  440
Spartanos Cretasque ligat, nec creditur ulli
silua cani, nisi qui presso uestigia rostro
colligit et praeda nescit latrare reperta
contentus tremulo monstrasse cubilia loro.
nec mora, conplentur moles, auideque petitis                  445

and twin companions. a lofty tower rises above all and storyed galleries threaten with trembling pinnacles.
Octavius, guardian of the Illyrian wave, would not at once try the raft of the sea,
but restrained the swift keels, bidding that the booty increase with a favorable run,
and he invites those who rashly have embarked to be recalled to the deep
by the peace of the sea. thus, while the light muzzle of the clamorous Molossus
holds the stags terrified with fear, or while he lifts up nets set in various ways,
the hunter keeps the mouths of the barking dogs, he fetters Spartans and Cretans, nor is any
forest believed by any hound, unless he with pressed snout collects the tracks
and, content with having shown the lairs found, not knowing to bark at the prey,
displays them on a trembling leash. nor is there delay, the masses are filled, and eagerly sought 445

insula deseritur ratibus, quo tempore primas
inpedit ad noctem iam lux extrema tenebras.
at Pompeianus fraudes innectere ponto
antiqua parat arte Cilix, passusque uacare
summa freti medio suspendit uincula ponto                  450
et laxe fluitare sinit, religatque catenas
rupis ab Illyricae scopulis. nec prima nec illam
quae sequitur tardata ratis, sed tertia moles
haesit et ad cautes adducto fune secuta est.
inpendent caua saxa mari, ruituraque semper                  455
stat, mirum, moles et siluis aequor inumbrat.
huc fractas Aquilone rates summersaque pontus
corpora saepe tulit caecisque abscondit in antris;
restituit raptus tectum mare, cumque cauernae
euomuere fretum contorti uerticis undae                  460

the island is deserted of boats, at that hour when the utmost light already checks the first darkness of night.
but Pompeian, to weave deceits upon the sea, prepares by the ancient Cilician art, and having permitted the top of the tide to be free,
hangs the chains suspended in the mid-sea                  450
and lets them float loosely, and fastens the chains to the cliff of Illyrian rocks. Neither the first nor the second
raft, delayed, held, but the third mass stuck and, with a rope led, followed to the crags.
hollow rocks overhang the sea, and a mass ever ready to fall stands, wondrously, and the sea is shaded by woods.                  455
hither the north wind often bore broken ships and the submerged sea carried bodies and hid them in blind caves;
the sea restored the seized roof, and when the caverns vomited forth the strait with the contorted crest of a wave                  460

Tauromenitanam uincunt feruore Charybdim.
hic Opiterginis moles onerata colonis
constitit; hanc omni puppes statione solutae
circumeunt, alii rupes ac litora conplent.
Vulteius tacitas sensit sub gurgite fraudes                  465
(dux erat ille ratis); frustra qui uincula ferro
rumpere conatus poscit spe proelia nulla
incertus qua terga daret, qua pectora bello.
hoc tamen in casu quantum deprensa ualebat
effecit uirtus: inter tot milia captae                  470
circumfusa rati et plenam uix inde cohortem
pugna fuit, non longa quidem; nam condidit umbra
nox lucem dubiam pacemque habuere tenebrae.
     tum sic attonitam uenturaque fata pauentem
rexit magnanima Vulteius uoce cohortem:                  475

Tauromenitan sea Charybdis masters with her boiling fervor.
here the mole of Opitergium, laden with colonists, came to rest; the ships, their stations cast off, sail around it, others fill the rocks and shores.
Vulteius felt the silent frauds beneath the gulf                  465
(he was the leader of that raft); in vain he who strove to break the cables with iron demanded battles with no hope, uncertain whether to turn his back or his breast to the fight.
yet in this case as much as seized courage could avail accomplished it: among so many taken                  470
the raft, surrounded, and thence scarcely a full cohort, there was a fight, not long indeed; for night hid the dubious light with its shadow and darkness held the peace.
     then thus, the cohort amazed and fearing the fates to come,
magnanimous Vulteius ruled them with his voice:                  475

'libera non ultra parua quam nocte iuuentus,
consulite extremis angusto in tempore rebus.
uita breuis nulli superest qui tempus in illa
quaerendae sibi mortis habet; nec gloria leti
inferior, iuuenes, admoto occurrere fato. 480
omnibus incerto uenturae tempore uitae
par animi laus est et, quos speraueris, annos
perdere et extremae momentum abrumpere lucis,
accersas dum fata manu: non cogitur ullus
uelle mori. fuga nulla patet, stant undique nostris 485
intenti ciues iugulis: decernite letum,
et metus omnis abest. cupias quodcumque necesse est.
non tamen in caeca bellorum nube cadendum est
aut cum permixtas acies sua tela tenebris
inuoluent.

'free no longer than youth, as brief as night,
take counsel for the last things in this narrow hour of affairs.
short life remains for no one who in that time
has for himself the seeking of death; nor is the glory of death,
young men, less, to meet fate when it is brought near. 480
at an uncertain hour of the life to come a praise of equal spirit is due to all,
and to lose the years you have hoped for and to break off the last moment of light,
while you summon Fate with your hand: no one is compelled
to will death. no escape lies open, citizens stand everywhere intent upon our throats 485
decide on death, and all fear is gone. desire whatever is necessary.
yet we must not fall into the blind cloud of wars
or, when the battle-lines are intermixed, be wrapped by their weapons in darkness.'

conferta iacent cum corpora campo, 490

packed close they lie with bodies upon the field, 490

in medium mors omnis abit, perit obruta uirtus:
nos in conspicua sociis hostique carina
constituere dei; praebebunt aequora testes,
praebebunt terrae, summis dabit insula saxis,
spectabunt geminae diuerso litore partes.                  495
nescio quod nostris magnum et memorabile fatis
exemplum, Fortuna, paras. quaecumque per aeuum
exhibuit monimenta fides seruataque ferro
militiae pietas, transisset nostra iuuentus.
namque suis pro te gladiis incumbere, Caesar,                  500
esse parum scimus; sed non maiora supersunt
obsessis tanti quae pignora demus amoris.
abscidit nostrae multum fors inuida laudi,
quod non cum senibus capti natisque tenemur.
indomitos sciat esse uiros timeatque furentis                  505

into the midst goes all death, overwhelmed virtue perishes:
we are set on the conspicuous prow to our comrades and the foe
of a god; the seas will bear witness,
the lands will bear witness, an island will give testimony with its highest rocks,
the twin parts will behold on a different shore. 495
I know not what great and memorable example for our fates
you, Fortune, prepare. Whatever through the age
faith has displayed as memorials and the loyalty of the soldiery kept with the sword,
our youth would have outlived. For we know that to press, Caesar,
with our own swords in your cause is too little; yet no greater pledges remain
which we might give of so great a love to those besieged.
envious chance has cut off much from our praise,
that we are not held with captives old men and sons.
let him know that men are indomitable and let him fear the raging ones 505

et morti faciles animos et gaudeat hostis
non plures haesisse rates. temptare parabunt
foederibus turpique uolent corrumpere uita.
o utinam, quo plus habeat mors unica famae,
promittant ueniam, iubeant sperare salutem, 510
ne nos, cum calido fodiemus uiscera ferro,
desperasse putent. magna uirtute merendum est,
Caesar ut amissis inter tot milia paucis
hoc damnum clademque uocet.

and may souls be ready for death and may the foe rejoice
that not more ships were entangled. They will prepare to attempt
by treaties and would corrupt life with shame.
O that, insofar as a single death adds more to fame,
they would promise pardon, bid us hope for safety, 510
that they not think us desperate when we plunge hot iron into our entrails,
we must, by great courage, deserve that
Caesar, with so many thousands lost and only a few left,
should call this a loss and slaughter.

dent fata recessum
emittantque licet, uitare instantia nolim. 515
proieci uitam, comites, totusque futurae
mortis agor stimulis: furor est. agnoscere solis
permissum, quos iam tangit uicinia fati,
uicturosque dei celant, ut uiuere durent,
felix esse mori.' sic cunctas sustulit ardor 520

let the fates grant retreat
and though they may send it forth, I would not avoid the urgings. 515
I have cast away life, comrades, and am wholly driven by the goads of coming
death: it is madness. Only to those whom the nearness of fate now touches
is it permitted to know, and the gods hide that they will be victors, so that they may endure to live,
‘happy to die.’ Thus ardor removed all hesitation. 520

mobilium mentes iuuenum. cum sidera caeli
ante ducis uoces oculis umentibus omnes
aspicerent flexoque Vrsae temone pauerent,
idem, cum fortes animos praecepta subissent,
optauere diem. nec segnis uergere ponto                  525
tunc erat astra polus; nam sol Ledaea tenebat
sidera, uicino cum lux altissima Cancro est;
nox tum Thessalicas urguebat parua sagittas.
     detegit orta dies stantis in rupibus Histros
pugnacesque mari Graia cum classe Liburnos.                  530
temptauere prius suspenso uincere bello
foederibus, fieret captis si dulcior ipsa
mortis uita mora.

of mutable minds of the youths. When they all, with eyes moist, beheld the stars of heaven before the leader’s voice
and, the rudder of the Ursa having been turned, trembled,
they, the same, when they had submitted to the commands with brave spirits,
desired the day. Nor was the pole slow to lean toward the sea                  525
then the sky was full of stars; for the sun held the Ledaean constellations,
when the very highest light is in neighbouring Cancer;
then night drove on its small Thessalian arrows.
     daybreak disclosed the Hister standing on the rocks
and the Greeks, warlike at sea, with their Liburnian fleet.                  530
They first tried to prevail by treaties with the war suspended,
if life itself, sweeter than death, would become a respite for the captured.

stabat deuota iuuentus
damnata iam luce ferox securaque pugnae
promisso sibi fine manu, nullique tumultus 535

the devoted youth stood
already condemned to the light, fierce and careless of combat,
with the promised end in hand, and recking of no tumult 535

excussere uiris mentes ad summa paratas;
innumerasque simul pauci terraque marique
sustinuere manus: tanta est fiducia mortis.
utque satis bello uisum est fluxisse cruoris
uersus ab hoste furor. primus dux ipse carinae                  540
Vulteius iugulo poscens iam fata retecto
'ecquis' ait 'iuuenum est cuius sit dextra cruore
digna meo certaque fide per uolnera nostra
testetur se uelle mori?' nec plura locuto
uiscera non unus iam dudum transigit ensis.                  545
conlaudat cunctos, sed eum cui uolnera prima
debebat grato moriens interficit ictu.
concurrunt alii totumque in partibus unis
bellorum fecere nefas. sic semine Cadmi
emicuit Dircaea cohors ceciditque suorum                  550

they shook off men’s minds to the heights prepared;
and a few with many hands alike on land and sea
withstood: so great is the trust in death.
and as it seemed enough in war that the stream of blood
had ebbed away from the foe’s madness. First the leader himself of the ship
Vulteius, the throat now demanding fates revealed,
"is there," he said, "any of the youths whose right hand
is worthy with my blood and who with sure loyalty through our wounds
will bear witness that he wishes to die?" and with no more spoken
not one now long since refrains his sword from piercing flesh.
he praises all together, but he kills him to whom the first wounds
were owed, dying, with a grateful stroke.
others run together and make the whole in single parts
the crimes of wars. Thus from Cadmus’ seed
the Dircean cohort burst forth and fell of their own.

uolneribus, dirum Thebanis fratribus omen;
Phasidos et campis insomni dente creati
terrigenae missa magicis e cantibus ira
cognato tantos inplerunt sanguine sulcos,
ipsaque inexpertis quod primum fecerat herbis 555
expauit Medea nefas. sic mutua pacti
fata cadunt iuuenes, minimumque in morte uirorum
mors uirtutis habet. pariter sternuntque caduntque
uolnere letali, nec quemquam dextra fefellit
cum feriat moriente manu.

wounds, a dire omen for the Theban brothers;
and the earth-born of Phasis, created from the sleepless tooth
and sent forth to the fields by magic chants, full of anger,
with kin’s blood they filled so many furrows,
and Medea herself, who first had wrought the crime with herbs upon the inexperienced, 555
took fright at the wickedness. Thus the mutual fates of the pact fall on the youths, and in the death of men virtue counts for least.
They alike lay low and fall by a lethal wound, nor did any right hand deceive
when it struck the hand that was dying.

nec uolnus adactis 560
debetur gladiis: percussum est pectore ferrum
et iuguli pressere manum. cum sorte cruenta
fratribus incurrunt fratres natusque parenti,
haud trepidante tamen toto cum pondere dextra
exegere enses. pietas ferientibus una 565

nor is the wound owing to thrusts 560
by swords alone: a blade was struck into a breast
and they pressed a hand upon the throat. With bloody lot
brothers run upon brothers and a son upon his parent,
yet not trembling did the right hand with its whole weight
drive home the swords. Piety, striking alike, together 565

non repetisse fuit. iam latis uiscera lapsa
semianimes traxere foris multumque cruorem
infudere mari. despectam cernere lucem
uictoresque suos uoltu spectare superbo
et mortem sentire iuuat.

it was not necessary to seek them back. now, their broad entrails having slipped out,
half-alive they dragged them forth and poured much blood
into the sea. it delights to see the light despised
and to behold one’s victors with a proud visage
and to feel death.

iam strage cruenta                  570
conspicitur cumulata ratis, bustisque remittunt
corpora uictores, ducibus mirantibus ulli
esse ducem tanti. nullam maiore locuta est
ore ratem totum discurrens Fama per orbem.
non tamen ignauae post haec exempla uirorum                  575
percipient gentes quam sit non ardua uirtus
seruitium fugisse manu, sed regna timentur
ob ferrum et saeuis libertas uritur armis,
ignorantque datos, ne quisquam seruiat, enses.
mors, utinam pauidos uitae subducere nolles,                  580

now a raft piled with the bloody slaughter is seen                  570
the victors send the bodies back to the pyres, the leaders wondering that any one
should be leader of so great a thing. Fame, running about the whole orb, spoke with no
greater voice of any raft. Yet the nations, not slothful, after these examples of men                  575
will perceive how not arduous virtue is to have driven off servitude by the hand; but kingdoms are feared for the sword, and liberty is consumed by savage arms,
and they do not know that swords are granted so that no one might serve. O Death, would that you would not be unwilling to withdraw the faint‑hearted from life,                  580

sed uirtus te sola daret.
     non segnior illo
Marte fuit, qui tum Libycis exarsit in aruis.
namque rates audax Lilybaeo litore soluit
Curio, nec forti uelis Aquilone recepto
inter semirutas magnae Carthaginis arces                  585
et Clipeam tenuit stationis litora notae,
primaque castra locat cano procul aequore, qua se
Bagrada lentus agit siccae sulcator harenae.
inde petit tumulos exesasque undique rupes,
Antaei quas regna uocat non uana uetustas.                  590
nominis antiqui cupientem noscere causas
cognita per multos docuit rudis incola patres.
     'nondum post genitos Tellus ecfeta gigantas
terribilem Libycis partum concepit in antris.
nec tam iusta fuit terrarum gloria Typhon                  595

but virtue alone would grant you.
     he was no less eager than that
Mars who then blazed forth in Libyan fields.
for bold Curio launched his ships from the Lilybaeum shore
and, with stout sails taken by the North Wind,
held his station between the half-ruined towers of great Carthage                  585
and the Clipeus shore known for its anchorage,
and set his first camp upon the sounding sea far off, where
the Bagrada, sluggish, ploughs the dry sand.
thence he seeks tombs and cliffs dug out on every side,
which an age not vain calls the realms of Antaeus of ancient name                  590
the rude local, instructed by ancestors made known through many fathers,     'not yet, after the born, had Earth, spent, in Libyan caves
conceived the terrible giant Ecphyta (?) as offspring.
nor was Typhon so justly the glory of the lands                  595

aut Tityos Briareusque ferox; caeloque pepercit
quod non Phlegraeis Antaeum sustulit aruis.
hoc quoque tam uastas cumulauit munere uires
Terra sui fetus, quod, cum tetigere parentem,
iam defecta uigent renouato robore membra.                  600
haec illi spelunca domus; latuisse sub alta
rupe ferunt, epulas raptos habuisse leones;
ad somnos non terga ferae praebere cubile
adsuerunt, non silua torum, uiresque resumit
in nuda tellure iacens. periere coloni                  605
aruorum Libyae, pereunt quos appulit aequor;
auxilioque diu uirtus non usa cadendi
terrae spernit opes: inuictus robore cunctis,
quamuis staret, erat. tandem uolgata cruenti
fama mali terras monstris aequorque leuantem                  610

or fierce Tityos or Briareus; and Heaven spared what Antaeus did not lift from the Phlegraean fields.
Earth too amassed such vast strengths by that gift,
the offspring of herself, that when they touched their parent,
their limbs, already spent, revived with renewed vigor.                  600
this cave was their house; they say they lay hidden beneath a high cliff,
they had lions snatched for feasts;
for sleep the beasts were accustomed not to present their backs as a couch,
not the forest a bed, and he regains his strength
lying on the bare earth. The tillers perished                  605
of Libya’s fields, those whom the sea cast ashore perish;
and virtue, long unused to help in falling,though he stood, he was. At last the rumor, spread of the bloody ill,
that the lands and the sea were being raised by monsters,                  610

magnanimum Alciden Libycas exciuit in oras.
ille Cleonaei proiecit terga leonis,
Antaeus Libyci; perfudit membra liquore
hospes Olympiacae seruato more palaestrae,
ille parum fidens pedibus contingere matrem                  615
auxilium membris calidas infudit harenas.
conseruere manus et multo bracchia nexu;
colla diu grauibus frustra temptata lacertis,
inmotumque caput fixa cum fronte tenetur,
miranturque habuisse parem. nec uiribus uti                  620
Alcides primo uoluit certamine totis,
exhausitque uirum, quod creber anhelitus illi
prodidit et gelidus fesso de corpore sudor.
tum ceruix lassata quati, tum pectore pectus
urgueri, tunc obliqua percussa labare                  625

he roused great-souled Alcides to the Libyan shores.
     he flung off the back of the Cleonaean lion, Antaeus the Libyan;
the guest of Olympia poured liquid over his limbs, keeping the custom of the palaestra,
he, little trusting that his feet would touch the mother, poured warm sands as aid onto his limbs                  615
they clasped hands and their arms were joined in a great bond;
necks long tried in vain by heavy biceps, and the unmoving head is held with fixed brow,
and they marvel that they had an equal. Nor did Alcides wish to use all his strength
in the first whole contest, and he exhausted the man, which frequent gasps betrayed to him
and cold sweat from the weary body. Then the neck, tired, trembles; then chest presses on chest;
then, struck obliquely, to reel staggers.                  625

crura manu. iam terga uiri cedentia uictor
alligat et medium conpressis ilibus artat
inguinaque insertis pedibus distendit et omnem
explicuit per membra uirum. rapit arida tellus
sudorem; calido conplentur sanguine uenae, 630
intumuere tori, totosque induruit artus
Herculeosque nouo laxauit corpore nodos.
constitit Alcides stupefactus robore tanto,
nec sic Inachiis, quamuis rudis esset, in undis
desectam timuit reparatis anguibus hydram. 635
conflixere pares, Telluris uiribus ille,
ille suis.

he binds the man’s yielding legs with his hands, the victor
and, pressing his thighs together, compresses the midriff
and, with feet set into the groin, he stretches and unfolds
the whole man through his limbs. The dry earth drinks up
the sweat; the veins are filled with hot blood, 630
the couches swell, and the limbs harden throughout
and the Herculean knots relax in the renewed body.
Alcides stood amazed at so great a strength,
nor even thus did he, though inexperienced in the Inachian waves,635
They clashed as equals, that one with the forces of Earth,
this one with his own.

numquam saeuae sperare nouercae
plus licuit: uidet exhaustos sudoribus artus
ceruicemque uiri, siccam cum ferret Olympum.
utque iterum fessis iniecit bracchia membris 640

it was never permitted to hope for more from a cruel stepmother:
she sees his limbs exhausted with sweats
and the man's neck, dry although he was bearing Olympus.
and when again he cast his arms upon the weary limbs 640

non expectatis Antaeus uiribus hostis
sponte cadit maiorque accepto robore surgit.
quisquis inest terris in fessos spiritus artus
egeritur, Tellusque uiro luctante laborat.
ut tandem auxilium tactae prodesse parentis                  645
Alcides sensit, 'standum est tibi,' dixit 'et ultra
non credere solo, sternique uetabere terra.
haerebis pressis intra mea pectora membris:
huc, Antaee, cades.' sic fatus sustulit alte
nitentem in terras iuuenem. morientis in artus                  650
non potuit nati Tellus permittere uires:
Alcides medio tenuit iam pectora pigro
stricta gelu terrisque diu non credidit hostem.
hinc, aeui ueteris custos, famosa uetustas,
miratrixque sui, signauit nomine terras.                  655

Do not expect that Antaeus, the foe in strength,
falls of his own will, and rises greater from strength received.
Whenever the spirit within the lands drives the limbs weary,
and Earth struggles against the struggling man.
When at last Alcides perceived that the aid of the touched parent would avail,                  645
Alcides felt, he said, "You must stand, and no longer
trust only the ground, nor shall you be laid low by the earth.
You will cling, pressed within my breast by your limbs:
here, Antaeus, you shall fall." Thus having spoken he lifted high
the shining youth to the lands. The Earth could not allow the strength                  650
of her son, dying, to enter his limbs: Alcides now held him in the middle,
his chest bound by numbing cold, and for a long time did not trust the earth as enemy.
Hence, the guardian of old age, famed antiquity,
and admirer of herself, marked the lands with a name.                  655

sed maiora dedit cognomina collibus istis
Poenum qui Latiis reuocauit ab arcibus hostem
Scipio; nam sedes Libyca tellure potito
haec fuit. en, ueteris cernis uestigia ualli.
Romana hos primum tenuit uictoria campos.'                  660
     Curio laetatus, tamquam fortuna locorum
bella gerat seruetque ducum sibi fata priorum,
felici non fausta loco tentoria ponens
indulsit castris et collibus abstulit omen
sollicitatque feros non aequis uiribus hostis.                   665
     omnis Romanis quae cesserat Africa signis
tum Vari sub iure fuit; qui robore quamquam
confisus Latio regis tamen undique uires
exciuit, Libycas gentis, extremaque mundi
signa suum comitata Iubam. non fusior ulli                  670
terra fuit domino: qua sunt longissima, regna
cardine ab occiduo uicinus Gadibus Atlans
terminat, a medio confinis Syrtibus Hammon;
at, qua lata iacet, uasti plaga feruida regni
distinet Oceanum zonaeque exusta calentis.                  675

but greater surnames these hills gave
to Poenum whom Scipio called back from the Latian citadels, the foe;
for once this land had become a seat possessed by Libyan earth.
Behold, you see the traces of an ancient rampart.
Roman victory first held these fields.'                  660
     Curio, rejoicing, as if the fortune of the places
would wage wars and preserve for himself the fates of earlier leaders,
setting his tents in a prosperous, not ill-omened spot, 665
     all Africa that had yielded to the Roman standards
was then under the law of Varius; who, although trustingaccompanying his Juba. No land was vaster for any lord:                  670
the earth stretched far: its realms, most extensive, from the western hinge near Gades the Atlantic
terminate, from the middle bordering on the Syrtes Hammon;separates the Ocean and the parched zones that burn with heat.                  675

sufficiunt spatio populi: tot castra secuntur,
Autololes Numidaeque uagi semperque paratus
inculto Gaetulus equo, tum concolor Indo
Maurus, inops Nasamon, mixti Garamante perusto
Marmaridae uolucres, aequaturusque sagittas                  680
Medorum, tremulum cum torsit missile, Mazax,
et gens quae nudo residens Massylia dorso
ora leui flectit frenorum nescia uirga,
et solitus uacuis errare mapalibus Afer
uenator ferrique simul fiducia non est                  685
uestibus iratos laxis operire leones.
nec solum studiis ciuilibus arma parabat
priuatae sed bella dabat Iuba concitus irae.
hunc quoque quo superos humanaque polluit anno
lege tribunicia solio depellere auorum                  690

Peoples suffice for the space: so many camps follow,
Autololes and wandering Numidians and ever-ready
Gaetulus on the uncultivated horse, then the uniformly hued Indian
Moor, needy Nasamone, Garamantes mixed through burnt
Marmaridae, winged, and Mazax, who would match the Medes' arrows,
when he hurled his trembling missile, and the folk who, Massylia sitting with a bare
back, turn their faces to the light bit, ignorant of the rein's rod,
and the Afer, accustomed to wander empty mapalia, a hunter
and in iron at once has no confidence to clothe angry lions with loose garments.
Nor did Juba prepare arms only for civil ambitions; roused by anger he gave
private wars. Him also — whom both the gods and human law defiled in that year — to depose from the tribunician seat of his ancestors by law 690

Curio temptarat, Libyamque auferre tyranno
dum regnum te, Roma, facit. memor ille doloris
hoc bellum sceptri fructum putat esse retenti.
hac igitur regis trepidat iam Curio fama
et quod Caesareis numquam deuota iuuentus                  695
illa nimis castris nec Rheni miles in undis
exploratus erat, Corfini captus in arce,
infidusque nouis ducibus dubiusque priori
fas utrumque putat. sed, postquam languida segni
cernit cuncta metu nocturnaque munera ualli                  700
desolata fuga, trepida sic mente profatur:
     'audendo magnus tegitur timor; arma capessam
ipse prior.

Curio had tried to carry off Libya from the tyrant
while he makes you a kingdom, Rome. mindful of that pain
he thinks this war to be the fruit of the scepter withheld.
Therefore Curio now trembles at that rumor of the king
and that the youth never devoted to Caesar                  695
that man no soldier of the Rhine tried in the waves
was taken in Corfinium's citadel,
and unfaithful to the new leaders and doubtful about the former one
he reckons either course lawful. but, after he sees all things languishing from sluggish
fear and the nightly duties of the rampart abandoned by flight                  700
desolate, he with a trembling mind thus speaks:
     'by daring great fear is covered; I will first take up arms
myself.

campum miles descendat in aequum
dum meus est; uariam semper dant otia mentem.
eripe consilium pugna: cum dira uoluptas 705

let the soldier descend upon the level field
while it is mine; leisure ever gives the mind a varied turn.
snatch away counsel with battle: when dire pleasure 705

ense subit presso, galeae texere pudorem,
quis conferre duces meminit, quis pendere causas?
qua stetit inde fauet; ueluti fatalis harenae
muneribus non ira uetus concurrere cogit
productos, odere pares.' sic fatus apertis                  710
instruxit campis acies; quem blanda futuris
deceptura malis belli fortuna recepit.
nam pepulit Varum campo nudataque foeda
terga fuga, donec uetuerunt castra, cecidit.
     tristia sed postquam superati proelia Vari                  715
sunt audita Iubae, laetus quod gloria belli
sit rebus seruata suis, rapit agmina furtim,
obscuratque suam per iussa silentia famam
hoc solum incauto metuentis ab hoste, timeri.
mittitur, exigua qui proelia prima lacessat                  720

he draws his sword while pressed in, helmets cover their shame,
who recalls to bring together the leaders, who to suspend the causes?
where he there stood he favours; just as the fatal sand
does not drive old wrath to clash with gifts against the brought‑forth, they hated equals.' Thus having spoken, with plains uncovered
he drew up the battle‑lines; whom a flattering fortune, about to deceive with future evils,
received. For he drove Varus from the field and the foul backs laid bare by flight;
until the camps forbade, he fell. But after Varus's sad battles were overcome
and heard by Juba, joyful that the glory of war
had been preserved for his own affairs, he seizes the forces stealthily,
and by commanded silences obscures his fame—this alone, fearing to be feared by the unwary enemy, to be feared.
He is sent, he who provokes the first skirmishes of petty battles

eliciatque manu, Numidis a rege secundus,
ut sibi commissi simulator Sabbura belli;
ipse caua regni uires in ualle retentat:
aspidas ut Pharias cauda sollertior hostis
ludit et iratas incerta prouocat umbra                  725
obliquusque caput uanas serpentis in auras
effusae tuto conprendit guttura morsu
letiferam citra saniem; tunc inrita pestis
exprimitur faucesque fluunt pereunte ueneno.
fraudibus euentum dederat fortuna, feroxque                  730
non exploratis occulti uiribus hostis
Curio nocturnum castris erumpere cogit
ignotisque equitem late decurrere campis.
ipse sub aurorae primos excedere motus
signa iubet castris, multum frustraque rogatus                  735

and he draws forth by hand, seconded by a Numidian king,
so that Sabbura, a simulator of the command entrusted to him, may be to his purpose;
he himself holds the hollow forces of the realm fast in the valley:
as the Pharian asp, the enemy more cunning than a tail,
plays and with uncertain shadow provokes the angry shades                  725
and obliquely seizes the head the serpent casts into empty airs,
and safely with a bite confines the throat spread forth,
a deadly wound without gore; then the pestilence vents vainly
and the jaws run with poison as it dies away.
By frauds had fortune given the event, and fierce though                  730
the hidden strength of the enemy not scouted,
Curio urges his men to burst forth from the nocturnal camp
and to dash far and wide the horsemen through unknown fields.
He himself orders the standards to depart at the first motions of dawn from the camp,
much and in vain entreated for delay.                  735

ut Libycas metuat fraudes infectaque semper
Punica bella dolis. leti fortuna propinqui
tradiderat fatis iuuenem, bellumque trahebat
auctorem ciuile suum. super ardua ducit
saxa, super cautes, abrupto limite signa;                  740
cum procul e summis conspecti collibus hostes
fraude sua cessere parum, dum colle relicto
effusam patulis aciem committeret aruis.
ille fugam credens simulatae nescius artis,
ut uictor, mersos aciem deiecit in agros.                  745
ut primum patuere doli, Numidaeque fugaces
undique conpletis clauserunt montibus agmen,
obstipuit dux ipse simul perituraque turba.
non timidi petiere fugam, non proelia fortes,
quippe ubi non sonipes motus clangore tubarum                  750

that he should fear Libyan frauds and the Punic wars ever fashioned by deceit. The fortune of death had handed the youth, near at hand, over to the fates, and was dragging along the author of his own civil war. He leads over lofty summits, rocks above rocks, crags, and with a broken ridge sets the standards;                  740
when from the high hills the enemies, seen afar, yielded little to his deceit, while, the hill left behind, he would commit his poured-out battle-line upon the open fields. He, believing it flight and ignorant of the feigned art, like a victor, thrust the routed line into the plains.                  745
As soon as the stratagems were laid bare, the Numidians, swift in flight, closed the column on every side with the surrounding mountains filled in, and the leader himself and the doomed crowd were struck dumb. Neither the timid sought flight nor the brave sought battle there, for in that place the horses' motion was not urged by the clang of trumpets                  750

saxa quatit pulsu rigidos uexantia frenos
ora terens spargitque iubas et subrigit auris
incertoque pedum pugnat non stare tumultu:
fessa iacet ceruix, fumant sudoribus artus
oraque proiecta squalent arentia lingua,                  755
pectora rauca gemunt, quae creber anhelitus urguet,
et defecta grauis longe trahit ilia pulsus
siccaque sanguineis durescit spuma lupatis.
iamque gradum neque uerberibus stimulisque coacti
nec quamuis crebris iussi calcaribus addunt:                  760
uolneribus coguntur equi; nec profuit ulli
cornipedis rupisse moras, neque enim impetus ille
incursusque fuit: tantum perfertur ad hostis
et spatium iaculis oblato uolnere donat.
at, uagus Afer equos ut primum emisit in agmen,                   765
tum campi tremuere sono, terraque soluta,
quantus Bistonio torquetur turbine, puluis
aera nube sua texit traxitque tenebras.
ut uero in pedites fatum miserabile belli
incubuit, nullo dubii discrimine Martis                  770

swaying the rigid bits, shaking the bridles with a beat
he rubs his mouth and sprinkles his mane and pricks his ear up
and in the uncertain tumult of feet struggles not to stand:
the neck lies weary, the limbs steam with sweat
and the mouths cast down, the parched tongues gape with dust,                  755
the hoarse chests groan, driven by frequent panting,
and that heavy flank draws out the pulse from afar
and the dry foam hardens on their bloody muzzles.
and now neither by blows nor by spurs, though urged with many commands,
do the horses add pace for wounds inflicted:                  760
the riders are compelled by their wounds; and it benefited no one
to break off delays for the horned-steed, for that assault
was no onset of charge: it is borne only against the enemy
and gives a space to the spears with a wound offered.
but, when the roaming African first sent his horses into the line,                  765
then the plains trembled with a sound, the earth shook loose,
as when a whirlwind torments Bistonian dust, the air
was veiled by its cloud and drew down darkness.
but when misurable fate fell upon the infantry of war,770

ancipites steterunt casus, set tempora pugnae
mors tenuit; neque enim licuit procurrere contra
et miscere manus. sic undique saepta iuuentus
comminus obliquis et rectis eminus hastis
obruitur, non uolneribus nec sanguine solum,                  775
telorum nimbo peritura et pondere ferri.
ergo acies tantae paruum spissantur in orbem,
ac, siquis metuens medium correpsit in agmen,
uix inpune suos inter conuertitur enses;
densaturque globus, quantum pede prima relato                  780
constrinxit gyros acies. non arma mouendi
iam locus est pressis, stipataque membra teruntur;
frangitur armatum conliso pectore pectus.
non tam laeta tulit uictor spectacula Maurus
quam Fortuna dabat; fluuios non ille cruoris                  785

twofold chances stood poised, but death held the times of the fight;
for it was not permitted to rush forward against and mingle hands.
Thus the youth, hemmed in on every side, at close quarters by oblique and from-afar spears
was overwhelmed, not only by wounds and blood,
but by a shower of missiles doomed to fall and by the weight of iron.775
Therefore the ranks of so many were compressed into a small orb,
and if anyone, fearing, checked into the middle of the line,
scarcely unpunished did his own swords in turn turn upon his men;
and the mass is tightened, as far as the front step drew back the circle,
the line enclosed its rounds. No longer is there room for the moving of arms;
pressed together, packed limbs are ground;
breast upon breast of the armored is broken in collision.
The Moorish victor bore not so joyful spectacles
as Fortune offered; he did not see rivers of blood—785

membrorumque uidet lapsum et ferientia terram
corpora: conpressum turba stetit omne cadauer.
     excitet inuisas dirae Carthaginis umbras
inferiis fortuna nouis, ferat ista cruentus
Hannibal et Poeni tam dira piacula manes.                  790
Romanam, superi, Libyca tellure ruinam
Pompeio prodesse nefas uotisque senatus.
Africa nos potius uincat sibi. Curio, fusas
ut uidit campis acies et cernere tantas
permisit clades conpressus sanguine puluis,                  795
non tulit adflictis animam producere rebus
aut sperare fugam, ceciditque in strage suorum
inpiger ad letum et fortis uirtute coacta.
     quid nunc rostra tibi prosunt turbata forumque
unde tribunicia plebeius signifer arce                  800

and he sees limbs fallen and bodies striking the ground:
the whole throng stood a compressed corpse.
     may fortune raise up for the hateful shades of dreadful Carthage
new offerings to the infernal rites; let bloody
Hannibal bear those expiations and the Poenean manes so dire.                  790
O gods above, it is a sacrilege that Roman ruin
on Libyan soil should prove advantageous to Pompey and the vows of the senate.
Let Africa rather conquer us for herself. Curio, when he saw the lines
routed on the fields and beheld such great disasters
permitted, a dust pressed with blood,                   795
could not endure to thrust his life forward from afflicted affairs
or to hope for flight, and he fell in the slaughter of his men,
eager to death and forced by gathered virtue.
     what now avail to you the rostra and the troubled forum
whence the plebeian signifer was raised to the tribunician citadel?                  800

arma dabas populis? quid prodita iura senatus
et gener atque socer bello concurrere iussi?
ante iaces quam dira duces Pharsalia confert,
spectandumque tibi bellum ciuile negatum est.
has urbi miserae uestro de sanguine poenas                  805
ferre datis, luitis iugulo sic arma, potentes.
felix Roma quidem ciuisque habitura beatos,
si libertatis superis tam cura placeret
quam uindicta placet. Libycas, en, nobile corpus,
pascit aues nullo contectus Curio busto.                  810
at tibi nos, quando non proderit ista silere
a quibus omne aeui senium sua fama repellit,
digna damus, iuuenis, meritae praeconia uitae.
haut alium tanta ciuem tulit indole Roma
aut cui plus leges deberent recta sequenti;                  815

Did you give arms to the peoples? Why were the laws of the senate betrayed
and father-in-law and son-in-law ordered to clash in war?
You lie here before the dreadful leaders join at Pharsalia,
and the sight of a civil war has been denied to you.
You grant that these penalties be borne for our wretched city from your blood,                  805
you pay thus for the sword with your throat, O powerful ones.
Happy indeed would Rome be and her citizens blessed,
if the gods above cared for liberty as much
as they delight in vengeance. Behold, a noble Libyan body,
Curio feeds the birds, not covered by any tombstone.                  810
But to you, since silence will profit nothing,
from whom the fame of every age repels old age itself,
we give, young man, the praises due to a well-deserved life.
Not another city bore a citizen of such character as Rome did
nor one to whom the laws ought more to have owed straightforward obedience;                  815

perdita tunc urbi nocuerunt saecula, postquam
ambitus et luxus et opum metuenda facultas
transuerso mentem dubiam torrente tulerunt,
momentumque fuit mutatus Curio rerum
Gallorum captus spoliis et Caesaris auro. 820
ius licet in iugulos nostros sibi fecerit ensis
Sulla potens Mariusque ferox et Cinna cruentus
Caesareaeque domus series, cui tanta potestas
concessa est? emere omnes, hic uendidit urbem.

those ruined ages then harmed the city, after
bribery and luxury and the fearsome faculty of wealth
bore away a doubtful mind with a perverse torrent,
and there was a moment Curio’s fortunes were changed,
captured by the spoils of the Gauls and by Caesar’s gold. 820
though the sword has made law upon our throats—Sulla powerful, Marius fierce, and bloody Cinna,
and the succession of the Caesarean house, to whom such power
was granted? To buy everyone; this one sold the city.