Manilius: ASTRONOMICON

Quid tam sollicitis vitam consumimus annis
torquemurque metu caecaque cupidine rerum
aeternisque senes curis, dum quaerimus, aevum
perdimus et nullo votorum fine beati
victuros agimus semper nec vivimus umquam,

Why do we consume life in such anxious years,
and are racked by fear and by the blind cupidity of things,
and, old with eternal cares; while we seek, we waste our aeon,
and, blessed by no finish of our vows,
we always act as though we are going to live, and we never live at all,

pauperiorque bonis quisque est, quia plura requirit
nec quod habet numerat, tantum quod non habet optat,
cumque sibi parvos usus natura reposcat
materiam struimus magnae per vota ruinae
luxuriamque lucris emimus luxuque rapinas,

and each is poorer in goods, because he requires more
nor does he count what he has, only what he does not have he opts for,
and when Nature demands small uses for herself
we pile up material for a great ruin through vows
and we buy luxury with lucre, and with luxury, rapine,

et summum census pretium est effundere censum?
solvite, mortales, animos curasque levate
totque supervacuis vitam deplete querellis.
fata regunt orbem, certa stant omnia lege
longaque per certos signantur tempora casus.

and is the highest price of wealth to pour out the wealth?
release, mortals, your spirits and lighten your cares
and do not deplete life with so many superfluous complaints.
the Fates rule the orb; all things stand by a fixed law
and long times are marked by certain events.

nascentes morimur, finisque ab origine pendet.
hinc et opes et regna fluunt et, saepius orta,
paupertas, artesque datae moresque creatis
et vitia et laudes, damna et compendia rerum.
nemo carere dato poterit nec habere negatum

As we are born, we die, and the end depends on the origin.
Hence both opulence and realms flow, and, more often arisen,
poverty; and arts are given and mores to the created,
and vices and praises, the damages and the profits of things.
No one will be able to lack what has been given nor to have what has been denied

fortunamve suis invitam prendere votis
aut fugere instantem: sors est sua cuique ferenda.
an, nisi fata darent leges vitaeque necisque,
fugissent ignes Aenean, Troia sub uno
non eversa viro fatis vicisset in ipsis?

or to seize Fortune unwilling to their own vows,
or to flee the one pressing on: each must bear his own lot.
Or, unless the Fates were giving the laws of life and of death,
would the fires have fled from Aeneas, would not Troy,
overthrown under one man, have conquered even in the very Fates themselves?

aut lupa proiectos nutrisset Martia fratres,
Roma casis enata foret, pecudumque magistri
in Capitolinos duxissent fulmina montes,
includive sua potuisset Iuppiter arce,
captus et <a> captis orbis foret: igne sepulto

or the she-wolf of Mars would have nursed the cast-out brothers,
Rome would have been born from huts, and the masters of cattle
would have led thunderbolts to the Capitoline mountains,
or Jupiter could have enclosed in his own citadel,
and the orb would have been captured and <a> with the captured: with the fire buried

vulneribus victor repetisset Mucius urbem,
solus et oppositis clausisset Horatius armis
pontem urbemque simul, rupisset foedera virgo,
tresque sub unius fratres virtute iacerent?
nulla acies tantum vicit: pendebat ab uno

would Mucius, a victor, have returned to the city with wounds,
and would Horatius alone, with opposing arms, have closed
the bridge and the city at once, would a maiden have broken the treaties,
and would three brothers have lain low by the valor of one?
no battle-line won so much: it hung upon one

Roma viro regnumque orbis sortita iacebat.
quid referam Cannas admotaque moenibus arma
Varronemque fuga magnum                  38a
Fabiumque morando                  39b
postque tuos, Trasimenne, lacus,                  39a
cum vincere posset,                  38b
accepisse iugum victae Carthaginis arces,

Rome, having by a man drawn the sovereignty of the world, lay.
what should I recount of Cannae and of arms brought up to the walls
and Varro great in flight                  38a
and Fabius by delaying                  39b
and, after your lakes, Trasimene,                  39a
that, when he could win,                  38b
the citadels of conquered Carthage accepted the yoke,

seque ratum Hannibalem nostris cecidisse catenis
exitium generis furtiva morte luisse?
adde etiam Latias acies Romamque suismet
pugnantem membris, adice et civilia bella
et Cimbrum in Mario Mariumque in carcere victum.

and to have deemed Hannibal to have fallen by our chains,
to have paid the ruin of the race with a furtive death?
add also the Latian battle-lines and Rome fighting with her very own
members, add too the civil wars,
and the Cimbrian conquered in Marius, and Marius conquered in prison.

quod, consul totiens, exul, quod <de> exule consul
adiacuit Libycis compar iactura ruinis
eque crepidinibus cepit Carthaginis urbem,
hoc, nisi fata darent, numquam fortuna tulisset.
quis te Niliaco periturum litore, Magne,

that, so often a consul, an exile; that, from an exile, a consul,
he lay adjacent to the Libyan ruins, a comparable loss to the ruins,
and from the very foundations he took the city of Carthage,—
this, unless the Fates granted it, Fortune would never have borne.
who would have thought you to perish on the Nile shore, Magnus,

post victas Mithridatis opes pelagusque receptum
et tris emenso meritos ex orbe triumphos,
cum te iam posses alium componere Magnum,
crederet, ut corpus sepeliret naufragus ignis
eiectaeque rogum facerent fragmenta carinae?

after the powers of Mithridates were conquered and the sea reclaimed
and, with the world measured out, three triumphs deserved from it,
when you could already set yourself as another Great,
would one believe that, to bury your body, shipwrecked fire
and the fragments of a cast-up keel would make a pyre?

quis tantum mutare potest sine numine fati?
ille etiam caelo genitus caeloque receptus,
cum bene compositis victor civilibus armis
iura togae regeret, totiens praedicta cavere
vulnera non potuit: toto spectante senatu,

who can change so much without the numen of Fate?
he too, begotten of heaven and received into heaven,
when, a victor, with the civil arms well composed,
was governing the laws of the toga, to avoid so often predicted
wounds he could not: with the whole senate looking on,

indicium dextra retinens nomenque, cruore
delevit proprio, possent ut vincere fata.
quid numerem eversas urbes regumque ruinas,
inque rogo Croesum Priamique in litore truncum,
cui nec Troia rogus? quid Xerxen, maius et ipso

holding in his right hand the indication and the name, with his own blood
he deleted it, so that the fates might be able to conquer.
why should I enumerate overturned cities and the ruins of kings,
and Croesus on the pyre, and the trunk of Priam on the shore,
for whom not even Troy was a pyre? what of Xerxes, greater even than himself

naufragium pelago? quid capto sanguine regem
Romanis positum, raptosque ex ignibus ignes
cedentemque viro flammam quae templa ferebat?
quot subitae veniunt validorum in corpora mortes
seque ipsae rursus fugiunt errantque per ignes!

a shipwreck on the sea? Why the king, of captive blood,
set over the Romans, and fires snatched from fires,
and the flame yielding to the man, which was bearing his temples?
how many sudden deaths come into the bodies of the strong,
and they themselves again flee and wander through the fires!

ex ipsis quidam elati rediere sepulcris,
atque his vita duplex, illis vix contigit una.
ecce levis perimit morbus graviorque remittit;
succumbunt artes, rationis vincitur usus,
cura nocet, cessare iuvat, mora saepe malorum

some, borne out, returned from the very sepulchers,
and to these a double life; to those scarcely one befell.
behold, a slight disease destroys, and a graver remits;
the arts succumb, the use of reason is vanquished,
care harms, to cease is helpful, delay of evils often

dat pausas; laeduntque cibi parcuntque venena.
degenerant nati patribus vincuntque parentes
ingeniumque suum retinent; transitque per illum,
ex illo fortuna venit. furit alter amore
et pontum tranare potest et vertere Troiam,

it gives pauses; and foods harm and venoms spare.
sons degenerate from their fathers and surpass their parents,
and retain their own genius; and through him it passes,
from him Fortune comes. another rages with love
and can swim the sea and overturn Troy,

alterius frons est scribendis legibus apta.
ecce patrem nati perimunt natosque parentes
mutuaque armati coeunt in vulnera fratres.
non hominum hoc bellum est; coguntur tanta moveri
inque suas ferri poenas lacerandaque membra.

another man’s brow is apt for writing laws.
behold, sons slay the father, and parents their sons,
and armed brothers come together into mutual wounds.
this is not the war of men; so great forces are compelled to be moved,
and to be borne into their own punishments, and their limbs to be lacerated.

quod Decios non omne tulit, non omne Camillos
tempus et invicta devictum mente Catonem,
materies in rem superat sed lege repugnat.
et neque paupertas breviores excipit annos
nec sunt immensis opibus venalia fata,

what time has borne—not every Decius, not every Camillus—and Cato, conquered with an unconquered mind,
the material for the case is more than enough, but it clashes with the law.
and neither does poverty receive briefer years
nor are fates for sale for immense wealth,

sed rapit ex tecto funus Fortuna superbo
indicitque rogum summis statuitque sepulcrum.
quantum est hoc regnum, quod regibus imperat ipsis!
quin etiam infelix virtus et noxia felix,
et male consultis pretium est, prudentia fallit;

but Fortune snatches a corpse from the proud roof
and proclaims the pyre for the highest and sets up the sepulcher.
how great is this kingdom, which commands kings themselves!
nay even virtue is unlucky and the noxious is lucky,
and there is a reward for ill counsels, prudence deceives;

nec Fortuna probat causas, sequiturque merentis,
sed vaga per cunctos nullo discrimine fertur.
scilicet est aliud, quod nos cogatque regatque,
maius, et in proprias ducat mortalia leges
attribuatque suos ex se nascentibus annos

nor does Fortune approve causes, nor follow the deserving,
but, wandering, she is borne through all with no discrimination.
surely there is something else, which both compels and regulates us,
greater, and leads mortal things into its own laws
and attributes its own years to those born from itself

100

fortunaeque vices. permiscet saepe ferarum
corpora cum membris hominum: non seminis ille
partus erit; quid enim nobis commune ferisque,
quisve in portenti noxam peccarit adulter?
astra novant formas caelumque interserit ora.

and Fortune’s vicissitudes. It often commingles the bodies of wild beasts with the limbs of men: that offspring will not be of seed; for what have we in common with wild beasts, or what adulterer has sinned to the blame of the portent? The stars renew forms and the sky intersperses visages.

105

denique, si non est, fati cur traditur ordo,
cunctaque temporibus certis ventura canuntur?
nec tamen haec ratio facinus defendere pergit
virtutemve suis fraudare in praemia donis.
nam neque mortiferas quisquam minus oderit herbas

and finally, if it is not, why is the order of fate handed down,
and are all things to come chanted for fixed times?
nor, however, does this reasoning proceed to defend crime
or to defraud virtue, in the matter of rewards, of its own gifts.
for neither will anyone hate deadly herbs less

110

quod non arbitrio veniunt sed semine certo,
gratia nec levior tribuetur dulcibus escis
quod natura dedit fruges, non ulla voluntas.
sic hominum meritis tanto sit gloria maior
quod caelo laudem debent, rursusque nocentis

since they come not by arbitrary choice but by a sure seed,
nor will a lighter grace be bestowed upon sweet foods
since nature gave the crops, not any will.
thus let glory be so much greater to the merits of men
that they owe their praise to heaven, and in turn the guilty

115

oderimus magis in culpam poenasque creatos.
nec refert scelus unde cadat, scelus esse fatendum.
hoc quoque fatale est, sic ipsum expendere fatum.
[quod quoniam docui, superest nunc ordine certo
caelestis fabricare gradus, qui ducere flexo

let us rather hate those created for guilt and penalties.
nor does it matter whence the crime falls; it must be confessed to be crime.
this too is fatal: thus to weigh out fate itself.
[since I have taught this, it now remains in certain order
to fabricate the celestial steps, which are to lead with a bending

120

tramite pendentem valeant ad sidera vatem]
     Nunc tibi signorum mores summumque colorem
et studia et varias artes ex ordine reddam.
     Dives fecundis Aries in vellera lanis
exutusque novis rursum spem semper habebit,

may be able to lead the poet, hanging on the path, to the stars]
     Now to you I will render in order the manners of the signs and the chief color
and the pursuits and the various arts.
     Aries, rich in fruitful wools for fleeces,
and, stripped, will again always have a hope for new ones,

125

naufragiumque inter subitum censusque beatos
crescendo cadet et votis in damna feretur,
in vulgumque dabit fructus et mille per artes
vellera diversos ex se parientia quaestus:
nunc glomerare rudis nunc rursus solvere lanas,

and between sudden shipwreck and wealthy fortunes
by growing it will fall, and by vows be borne into losses,
and to the common crowd it will give fruits, and through a thousand arts
fleeces bringing forth from themselves diverse gains:
now, unskilled, to ball up, now again to unloose the wools,

130

nunc tenuare levi filo nunc ducere telas,
nunc emere et varias in quaestum vendere vestes,
quis sine non poterant ullae subsistere gentes
vel sine luxuria. tantum est opus, ipsa suismet
asseruit Pallas manibus dignumque putavit,

now to attenuate with light thread, now to draw the webs,
now to buy and to sell for gain various garments,
without which no peoples at all could subsist
even without luxury. So great is the work, Pallas herself asserted it with her very own hands and deemed it worthy,

135

seque in Arachnaeo magnam putat esse triumpho.
haec studia et similis dicet nascentibus artes,
et dubia in trepido praecordia pectore finget
seque sua semper cupientia vendere laude.
Taurus simplicibus dotabit rura colonis

and she thinks there is for herself great in the Arachnean triumph.
she will assign these pursuits and similar arts to those being born,
and will fashion wavering hearts in a trembling breast,
and themselves always desiring to vend themselves by their own praise.
Taurus will endow the fields to simple farmers

140

pacatisque labor veniet; nec praemia laudis
sed terrae tribuet partus. summittit in astris
colla iugumque suis poscit cervicibus ipse.
ille suis Phoebi portat cum cornibus orbem
militiam indicit terris et segnia rura

and with things pacified toil will come; and it will bestow not the prizes of praise but the produce of the earth. he lowers in the stars his neck and himself demands the yoke for his own neck. that one bears with his own horns the orb of Phoebus, he proclaims military service upon the lands and the slothful fields

145

in veteres revocat cultus, dux ipse laboris,
nec iacet in sulcis solvitque in pulvere pectus.
Serranos Curiosque tulit fascesque per arva
tradidit, eque suo dictator venit aratro.
laudis amor tacitae; mentes et corpora tarda

he calls back to the old cultivations, himself a leader of labor,
nor does he lie in the furrows, and he bares his breast in the dust.
he brought forth the Serrani and the Curii and handed down the fasces through the fields,
and from his own plow a dictator came.
a love of tacit praise; minds and bodies tardy

150

mole valent, habitatque puer sub fronte Cupido.
Mollius e Geminis studium est et mitior aetas
per varios cantus modulataque vocibus ora
et gracilis calamos et nervis insita verba
ingenitumque sonum: labor est etiam ipse voluptas.

they are strong by mass, and the boy Cupid dwells beneath the brow.
Softer from Gemini is the pursuit and the age gentler,
through various songs and mouths modulated by voices,
and slender reeds and words set into strings,
and an inborn sound: the labor is itself also a delight.

155

arma procul lituosque volunt tristemque senectam,
otia et aeternam peragunt in amore iuventam.
inveniunt et in astra vias numerisque modisque
consummant orbem postque ipsos sidera linquunt:
natura ingenio minor est perque omnia servit.

they want weapons and war-trumpets far away, and a sad old age,
and they pass their leisures and an eternal youth in love.
they also find pathways into the stars, and by numbers and by modes
they consummate the orb, and leave the stars behind themselves:
Nature is lesser than ingenuity and serves through all things.

160

in tot fecundi Gemini commenta feruntur.
Cancer ad ardentem fulgens in cardine metam,
quam Phoebus summis revocatus cursibus ambit,
articulum mundi retinet lucesque reflectit.
ille tenax animi nullosque effusus in usus

so many inventions are ascribed to the fecund Gemini.
Cancer, shining at the burning turning-post on the hinge,
which Phoebus, recalled in his highest courses, circles,
holds the joint of the world and reflects the lights.
he, tenacious of mind and effused into no uses

165

attribuit varios quaestus artemque lucrorum:
merce peregrina fortunam ferre per urbes
et gravia annonae speculantem incendia ventis
credere opes orbisque orbi bona vendere posse
totque per ignotas commercia iungere terras

he assigns various profits and the art of lucre:
with foreign merchandise to carry fortune through the cities,
and, watching for the grave conflagrations of the grain-supply, to entrust his wealth to the winds,
and to be able to sell the goods of the world to the world,
and to link so many commerces across unknown lands

170

atque alio sub sole novas exquirere praedas
et rerum pretio subitos componere census.
ignava et, celeris optando sortibus annos,
dulcibus usuris aequo Iove tempora vendit.
ingenium sollers suaque in compendia pugnax.

and under another sun to seek out new prey
and to put together sudden fortunes by the price of things.
idle too, and, by selecting swift maturities for principals,
it sells time at sweet usuries, under an even Jove.
a shrewd ingenuity, and pugnacious for its own profits.

175

Quis dubitet, vasti quae sit natura Leonis
quasque suo dictet signo nascentibus artes?
ille novas semper pugnas, nova bella ferarum
apparat, et spolio vivit pecorumque rapinis;
hos habet hoc studium, postes ornare superbos

Who would doubt what the nature of the vast Lion is,
and what arts it dictates to those being born under its sign?
he ever prepares new combats, new wars of wild beasts,
and lives on spoil and on the rapine of herds;
these have this zeal: to adorn proud doorposts

180

pellibus et captas domibus praefigere praedas
et pacare metu silvas et vivere rapto.
sunt quorum similis animos nec moenia frenent,
sed pecudum mandris media grassentur in urbe
et laceros artus suspendant fronte tabernae

and to fasten skins and captured spoils before their houses,
and to pacify the forests by fear and to live by rapine.
there are some whose kindred spirits not even walls restrain,
but with droves of cattle they stride through the midst of the city
and hang torn limbs from the front of the tavern

185

luxuriaeque parent caedem mortesque lucrentur.
ingenium ad subitas iras facilisque recessus
aequale et puro sententia pectore simplex.
At quibus Erigone dixit nascentibus aevum
ad studium ducet mores et pectora doctis

and they obey luxury and win lucre from slaughter and deaths.
a temperament to sudden rages and to easy retreats,
their judgment equable and, with a pure heart, straightforward.
But for those to whom Erigone has assigned the age at their birth,
the age will lead their mores to study and their hearts to learned things

191

artibus instituet, nec tam compendia census
quam causas viresque dabit perquirere rerum.
illa decus linguae faciet regnumque loquendi
atque oculos mentis, qui possint cernere cuncta

she will instruct in the arts, and will grant to pursue not so much the shortcuts of wealth as to inquire into the causes and forces of things.
she will make the ornament of language and the kingdom of speaking,
and the eyes of the mind, which can discern all things

195

quamvis occultis naturae condita causis.
hinc et scriptor erit velox, cui littera verbum est
quique notis linguam superet cursimque loquentis
excipiat longas nova per compendia voces.
in vitio bona sunt: teneros pudor impedit annos,

although established by nature’s hidden causes.
hence too there will be a swift scribe, for whom a letter is a word,
and who with signs outstrips the tongue and, of one speaking swiftly,
takes down long utterances by new compendia.
in fault there are goods: modesty hampers tender years,

200

magnaque naturae cohibendo munera frenat
ora magisterio nodisque coercita Virgo.

and the Virgin, constrained by magistery and by knots, by cohibiting the great gifts of nature, bridles the mouths
held in check by instruction and by knots.

190

nec fecundus erit (quid mirum in virgine?) partus.

nor will the birth be fecund (what wonder in a virgin?)

202

Librantes noctem Chelae cum tempore lucis
per nova maturi post annum munera Bacchi
mensurae tribuent usus ac pondera rerum

The Chelae, balancing night with the time of light,
through the new gifts of ripe Bacchus after a year,
will bestow the uses of measure and the weights of things

205

et Palamedeis certantem viribus ortum,
qui primus numeros rebus, qui nomina summis
imposuit certumque modum propriasque figuras.
hic etiam legum tabulas et condita iura
noverit atque notis levibus pendentia verba,

and a rising contending with the Palamedean powers,
who first imposed numbers upon things, who set names upon sums,
and a fixed measure and their own figures.
he would also know the tablets of laws and the enacted rights,
and words hanging upon slight notations,

210

et licitum sciet, et vetitum quae poena sequatur,
perpetuus populi privato in limine praetor.
non alio potius genitus sit Servius astro,
qui leges proprias posuit, cum iura retexit.
denique, in ambiguo fuerit quodcumque locatum

and he will know what is licit, and what penalty follows the forbidden,
a perpetual praetor of the people at a private threshold.
nor was Servius rather born under any other star,
he who set down his own laws, when he re-wove the laws.
finally, whatever has been placed in ambiguity

215

et rectoris egens, diriment examina Librae.
Scorpios armata violenta cuspide cauda,
qua, sua cum Phoebi currum per sidera ducit,
rimatur terras et sulcis semina miscet,
in bellum ardentis animos et Martia castra

and, lacking a rector, the balances that divide the weighings, Libra.
Scorpio, with a tail armed with a violent cusp,
by which, when he drives his own chariot through Phoebus’s constellations,
he probes the lands and mixes seeds with furrows,
inflames to war the spirits that burn, and the Martial camps.

220

efficit et multo gaudentem sanguine mentem
nec praeda quam caede magis. quin ipsa sub armis
pax agitur: capiunt saltus silvasque peragrant,
nunc hominum, nunc bella gerunt violenta ferarum,
nunc caput in mortem vendunt et funus harenae,

it also produces a mind rejoicing in much blood,
and more in slaughter than in prey. Nay, peace itself is transacted under arms:
they take to the mountain-pastures and range through the woods,
now they wage violent wars of men, now of beasts,
now they sell their life to death and a funeral to the arena,

225

atque hostem sibi quisque parat, cum bella quiescunt.
sunt quibus et simulacra placent et ludus in armis
(tantus amor pugnae), discuntque per otia bellum
et quodcumque pari studium producitur arte.
At, quibus in bifero Centauri corpore sors est

and each one prepares an enemy for himself, when wars are at rest.
there are those to whom even simulacra please and play in arms
(so great is the love of battle), and they learn war through leisure,
and whatever is brought forward by a zeal matching the craft.
But, for those whose lot is in the double-formed body of the Centaur,

230

nascendi concessa, libet subiungere currus,
ardentis et equos ad mollia ducere frena
et totis armenta sequi pascentia campis,
quadrupedum omne genus positis domitare magistris,
exorare tigres rabiemque auferre leoni

the lot of being born granted, it pleases to yoke chariots,
and to lead ardent horses to pliant reins,
and to follow herds grazing through the whole fields,
to domesticate every kind of quadruped with the trainers set aside,
to win over tigers and take away rage from the lion

235

cumque elephante loqui tantamque aptare loquendo
artibus humanis varia ad spectacula molem.
quippe ferae mixtum est hominis per sidera corpus
impositumque manet, quocirca regnat in illas.
quodque intenta gerit curvato spicula cornu,

and even to converse with the elephant and, by speaking, to fit such a mass by human arts for various spectacles.
indeed, through the stars, the body of the wild beast is mingled with that of man and remains imposed, wherefore he reigns over them.
and because he bears missiles with the curved horn (bow) drawn,

240

et nervos tribuit membris et acumina cordi
et celeris motus nec delassabile pectus.
Vesta tuos, Capricorne, fovet penetralibus ignes:
hinc artes studiumque trahis. nam quidquid in usus
ignis eget poscitque novas ad munera flammas

and it has bestowed sinews upon the limbs and acumen to the heart
and swift movements and a breast not to be wearied.
Vesta cherishes your fires, Capricorn, in her inmost sanctuaries:
from here you draw arts and study. For whatever for uses
needs fire and calls for new flames for duties

245

sub te censendum est. scrutari caeca metalla,
depositas et opes terrarum exurere venis,
materiamque manu certa duplicare erit a te,
quidquid et argento fabricetur, quidquid et auro.
quod ferrum calidi solvant atque aera camini

under you it must be reckoned. to search the hidden mines,
and to burn out from the veins the deposited wealth of the lands,
and to duplicate the material with a sure hand will be yours,
whatever is fabricated in silver, whatever also in gold.
what iron and bronzes the hot furnaces dissolve

250

consummentque foci Cererem, tua munera surgent.
addis et in vestes studium mercemque fugantem
frigora, brumalem servans per saecula sortem,
qua retrahis ductas summa ad fastigia noctes
nascentemque facis revocatis lucibus annum.

and the hearths will consume Ceres, and your gifts will rise.
you also add industry into garments and a merchandise that puts the colds to flight,
preserving a brumal lot through the ages,
by which you draw back the nights drawn out to their highest pinnacles
and make the newborn year, the lights being recalled.

255

hinc et mobilitas rerum, mutataque saepe
mens natat; et                  257a
Veneri mixto cum crimine servit                  258b
pars prior, at                  258a
melior iuncto sub pisce senecta est.                  257b
     Ille quoque, inflexa fontem qui proicit urna,

Hence too the mobility of things, and often changed,
the mind floats; and                  257a
serves Venus, with crime mixed in,                  258b
the prior part; but                  258a
better is old age under the joined fish.                  257b
     That one too, who with a bent urn pours forth a fountain,

259

cognatas tribuit iuvenalis Aquarius artes:
cernere sub terris undas, inducere terris,
ipsaque conversis aspergere fluctibus astra
litoribusque novis per luxum illudere ponto
et varios fabricare lacus et flumina ficta
et peregrinantis domibus suspendere rivos.

the youthful Aquarius assigns cognate arts:
to discern waves beneath the earth, to lead them into the earth,
and to sprinkle the very stars with upturned billows,
and, through luxury, to sport with the sea by new shores,
and to fashion various lakes and feigned rivers,
and to suspend wandering streams in houses.

265

mille sub hoc habitant artes, quas temperat unda.
quippe etiam mundi faciem sedesque movebit
sidereas caelumque novum versabit in orbem.
<tempore non ullo subolem taedebit Aquari,> 268a
quae per aquas veniunt, operum, fontesque sequuntur.

under this a thousand arts dwell, which the wave tempers.
indeed he will also move the face of the world and the sidereal seats,
and will turn a new heaven in its orbit.
<at no time will the progeny of Aquarius be wearied,> 268a
which come through waters, the sources of works, and follow the fountains.

mite genus dulcesque fluunt a sidere partus,
pectora nec sordent; faciles in damna feruntur;
nec dest nec superest census. sic profluit urna.
Ultima quos gemini producunt sidera Pisces,
his erit in pontum studium, vitamque profundo
credent et puppes aut puppibus arma parabunt,

gentle the race, and sweet offsprings flow from the constellation,
nor are their hearts sordid; they are easy to be borne toward losses;
neither is the census lacking nor in excess. thus the urn flows forth.
The last stars, the twin Pisces, bring forth those for whom,
there will be zeal for the sea, and to the deep they will entrust life,
and they will trust to ships, or they will prepare arms for ships,

275

quidquid et in proprios pelagus desiderat usus.
innumerae veniunt artes: vix nomina rebus
sufficiunt, tot sunt parvae quoque membra carinae.
adde gubernandi studium, quod venit in astra
et pontum caelo vincit. bene noverit orbem

and whatever the sea desires also for its own proper uses.
innumerable arts come: scarcely do names suffice for the things
so many are the parts even of a small keel.
add the zeal for governing, which comes into the stars
and conquers the deep by the sky. he will well know the orb

280

fluminaque et portus, mundum ventosque, necesse est
iamque huc atque illuc agilem convertere clavum
et frenare ratem fluctusque effundere rector,
iam remis agere et lentas inflectere tonsas.
quin placidum ductis everrere retibus aequor

and the rivers and the ports, the world and the winds, it is needful
and now to turn the nimble helm here and there,
and for the helmsman to rein the vessel and pour off the billows,
now to drive with oars and to bend the pliant blades.
nay rather, to sweep the placid level with the nets drawn

285

litoribusque suis populos exponere captos
aut uncos celare cibis aut carcere fraudem,
navalis etiam pugnas, pendentia bella,
attribuunt pelagique infectos sanguine fluctus.
fecundum genus est natis et amica voluntas

and to their own shores to disembark captured peoples
or to conceal hooks with baits or the fraud of a prison,
even naval combats, wars hanging in the balance,
they assign, and the billows of the sea stained with blood.
A fecund race it is in offspring and a friendly will

290

et celeres motus mutataque cuncta per aevum.
     Hos tribuunt mores atque has nascentibus artes
bis sex materia propria pollentia signa.
     Sed nihil in semet totum valet: omnia vires
cum certis sociant signis sub partibus aequis

and swift motions and all things changed through time.
     These mores they assign and these arts to the newborn,
the twice six signs, prevailing with their own proper matter.
     But nothing in itself prevails entire: all the forces
they associate with certain signs under equal parts.

295

et velut hospitio mundi commercia iungunt
conceduntque suas partes retinentibus astris.
quam partem Graiae dixere decanica gentes.
a numero nomen positum est, quod partibus astra
condita tricenis triplici sub sorte feruntur

and, as by the world’s hospitality, they join commerce,
and they concede their shares to the stars that retain them.
which portion the Greek peoples have called decanic.
from the number the name is set, because the stars
established in thirtyfold parts are borne under a triple allotment

300

et tribuunt denas in se coeuntibus astris
inque vicem ternis habitantur sidera signis.
sic altis natura manet consaepta tenebris
et verum in caeco est multaque ambagine rerum;
nec brevis est usus nec amat compendia caelum,

and they distribute tens as the stars come together among themselves
and in turn the stars are inhabited by signs in threes.
thus nature remains enclosed in deep tenebrous darkness
and the true is in the dark, and with much ambage of things;
nor is the use brief, nor does heaven love compendia,

305

verum aliis alia opposita est et fallit imago
mentiturque suas vires et munera celat.
quae tibi non oculis, alta sed mente fuganda est
caligo, penitusque deus, non fronte, notandus.
Nunc quae sint coniuncta quibus quove ordine reddam,

but for different people different things are set in opposition, and the image deceives,
and it lies about its own forces and hides its gifts.
which for you must be put to flight not by the eyes, but by a lofty mind,
and god must be noted deep within, not on the front.
Now I will render which things are conjoined with which, and in what order,

310

ne lateant aliae vires aliena per astra.
namque Aries primam partem sibi vindicat ipsi,
altera sors Tauro, Geminis pars tertia cedit.
sidera sic inter divisum dicitur astrum
totque dabit vires dominos quotcumque recepit.

lest other powers lie hidden through alien stars.
for Aries claims the first part for itself,
a second lot to Taurus, a third part yields to the Twins.
thus the star is said to be divided among the stars,
and it will grant as many powers, as many lords, as it has received.

315

diversa in Tauro ratio est, nec parte sub ulla
censetur: Cancro primam mediamque Leoni,
extremam Erigonae tribuit. natura per astrum
stat tamen et proprias miscet per singula vires.
Libra decem partes Geminorum prima capessit,

The arrangement is different in Taurus, nor is it reckoned under any portion:
it assigns the first to Cancer, the middle to Leo,
the last to Erigone. Yet nature stands throughout the star
and blends its own proper powers through each several part.
Libra, first, seizes ten parts of Gemini,

320

Scorpios adiunctas; Centauri tertia pars est,
nec quicquam numero discernitur, ordine cedit.
Cancer in adversum Capricorni derigit astrum
bis quinas primum partes, dignatus in illo
temporis articulo sub quo censetur et ipse,

the adjoining to Scorpio; the third part is of the Centaur,
nor is anything distinguished by number; it yields to order.
Cancer directs toward the opposite star of Capricorn
the first twice-five parts, being deemed worthy in that
article of time under which he himself too is counted.

325

quod facit aequalis luces brumalibus umbris
cognatamque gerit diverso in cardine legem;
alterius partis perfundit Aquarius ignes,
quem subeunt Pisces extremo sidere Cancri.
at Leo consortis meminit sub lege trigoni

which makes the lights equal to the brumal shades
and bears a kindred law on the opposite hinge;
Aquarius drenches the fires of the other part,
whom Pisces succeed at the far star of Cancer.
but Leo remembers under the law of the consort trigon

330

Lanigerumque ducem recipit Taurumque quadrato
coniunctum sibi; sub Geminis pars tertia fertur:
hos quoque contingit per senos linea flexus.
praecipuum Erigone Cancro concedit honorem
cui primam tribuit partem; vicina relicta est

and it receives the wool-bearing leader and the Bull joined to it by a square;
under the Twins the third part is borne:
the line of bending also touches these at sixes.
Erigone concedes the preeminent honor to Cancer,
to whom she grants the first part; the neighbor is left behind.

335

vicino, Nemeaee, tibi; pars ipsius una est
quae fastidito concessa est iure potiri.
sed Libra exemplo gaudet, pariterque regentem
noctes atque dies diverso in tempore secum
Lanigerum sequitur: veris iuga temperat ille,

neighbor to you, Nemean one; and one part of herself is that which, the right being disdained, has been conceded to possess dominion.
but Libra rejoices in the example, and follows along with itself the Ram, ruling nights and days equally at a different time:
he tempers the yokes of spring,

340

haec autumnalis componit lucibus umbras:
nulli concedit primam, traditque sequenti
vicinam partem; Centauri tertia summa est.
Scorpios in prima Capricornum parte locavit,
alterius dominum fecit cui nomen ab undis,

this autumnal one composes the shades with the lights:
it concedes the first to no one, and hands over to the following
the neighboring part; the third portion is the Centaur’s.
he has placed Scorpio in the first part of Capricorn,
and made lord of the other the one whose name is from the waves,

345

extremas voluit partes sub Piscibus esse.
at qui contento minitatur spicula nervo
Lanigero primas tradit sub iure trigoni
et medias Tauro partes Geminisque supremas.
nec manet ingrati Capricornus crimine turpis

he wished the farthest parts to be under the Fishes.
but he who threatens darts with a taut bowstring
to the Wool-bearer he hands over the first under the law of the trigon,
and the middle parts to Taurus and the highest to the Twins.
nor does Capricorn remain foul with the crime of ingratitude

350

sed munus reddit Cancro recipitque receptus
principiumque sui donat; coniuncta Leonis
regna ferunt, summas partes et Virginis esse.
fontibus aeternis gaudens urnaque fluenti
iura sui Librae permittit prima regenda,

but he renders the gift to Cancer and, received, receives it back,
and he donates the beginning of himself; they report that the conjoined
realms are Leo’s, and that the highest parts are Virgo’s as well.
rejoicing in eternal fountains and in the flowing urn,
he permits the rights of himself to be ruled first by Libra,

355

haerentisque decem partes Nepa vindicat ipsi;
summas Centaurus retinet iuvenale per astrum.
iam superant gemini Pisces, qui sidera claudunt.
Lanigero primos tradunt in finibus usus,
perque decem medias partes tu, Taure, receptus;

and the ten adhering parts the Scorpion claims for itself;
the Centaur retains the highest parts throughout the youthful star.
now the twin Fishes, who close the constellations, prevail.
to the Fleece-bearer they hand over the first uses at the boundaries,
and through the ten middle parts, you, Taurus, are received;

360

quod superest, ipsi sumunt, utque orbe feruntur
extremo sic et sortis pars ultima cedit.
Haec ratio retegit latitantis robora mundi
in plurisque modos repetitaque nomina caelum
dividit et melius sociat, quo saepius, orbem.

what remains, they themselves take; and as they are borne at the extreme of the orb, so too the final part of the lot yields.
This method uncovers the strengths of the world lying hidden and divides the heaven into more modes and repeated names, and, the more frequently, better associates the orb.

365

nec tua sub titulis fallantur pectora notis:
dissimulant, non ostendunt mortalibus astra.
altius est acies animi mittenda sagacis
inque alio quaerendum aliud iunctisque sequendum
viribus; et, cuius signi quis parte creatur,

nor let your breast be deceived beneath familiar titles:
they dissimulate, the stars do not display to mortals.
higher must the acuity of a sagacious mind be sent,
and in another place another thing must be sought, and with conjoined
forces pursued; and, in which part of which sign one is created,

370

eius habet mores atque illo nascitur astro.
talis per denas sortes natura feretur.
testis erit varius sub eodem sidere fetus,
quodque in tam multis animantum milibus, uno
quae veniunt signo, tot sunt, quot corpora, mores,

he has its mores and is born under that star.
such will nature be borne through the ten lots.
a various offspring under the same star will be witness,
and that, among so many thousands of animate beings that come under one sign,
there are as many mores as bodies,

375

et genus externum referunt aliena per astra,
confusique fluunt partus hominum atque ferarum.
scilicet in partes iunguntur condita pluris
diversasque ferunt proprio sub nomine leges.
nec tantum lanas Aries nec Taurus aratra

and they convey an external kind through alien stars,
and the births of men and of wild beasts flow commingled.
surely, things composed are joined into several parts
and, under their own name, they bear diverse laws.
nor does Aries only yield wools, nor Taurus the ploughs

380

nec Gemini Musas nec merces Cancer amabit,
nec Leo venator veniet nec Virgo magistra,
mensuris aut Libra potens aut Scorpios armis
Centaurusque feris, igni Capricornus et undis
ipse suis Iuvenis geminique per aequora Pisces;

nor will the Twins love the Muses, nor will Cancer love merchandise,
nor will the Lion come as a hunter, nor the Virgin as a teacher,
nor will Libra be powerful in measures, nor Scorpius in arms,
nor the Centaur in wild beasts, nor Capricorn in fire and in waves,
nor the Youth himself in his own waters, and the twin Fishes over the level waters;

385

mixta sed in pluris sociantur sidera vires.
'Multum' inquis 'tenuemque iubes me ferre laborem,
rursus et in magna mergis caligine mentem,
cernere cum facili lucem ratione viderer.'
quod quaeris, deus est: conaris scandere caelum

but, when mingled, the powers of the stars are associated into more.
'“Great and delicate” you say “a labor you bid me to bear,
and again you plunge my mind into a great gloom,
when I seemed to discern the light with an easy reason.”'
what you seek is a god: you are trying to scale the heaven

390

fataque fatali genitus cognoscere lege
et transire tuum pectus mundoque potiri.
pro pretio labor est nec sunt immunia tanta,
ne mirere viae flexus rerumque catenas.
admitti potuisse sat est: sint cetera nostra.

and to know the fates, begotten by a fatal law,
and to transcend your own breast and to possess the world.
the labor is in proportion to the price, nor are such great things exempt;
do not marvel at the bends of the way and the chains of things.
to have been able to be admitted is enough: let the rest be ours.

395

at nisi perfossis fugiet te montibus aurum,
obstabitque suis opibus super addita tellus.
ut veniant gemmae, totus transibitur orbis,
nec lapidum pretio pelagus cepisse pigebit.
annua solliciti consument vota coloni,

but unless the mountains are perforated, the gold will flee you,
and the earth added above will obstruct its own opulence.
that gems may come, the whole orb will be traversed,
nor will it irk to have taken the sea at the price of stones.
the annual vows of the anxious farmer will consume,

400

et quantae mercedis erunt fallacia rura!
quaeremus lucrum ventis Martemque sequemur
in praedas. pudeat tanto bona velle caduca.

and how great a wage the treacherous fields will yield!
we will seek lucre on the winds and we will follow Mars into plunder
let it shame us to want goods so perishable.

luxuriae quoque militia est, vigilatque ruinis
venter, et, ut pereant, suspirant saepe nepotes.

Luxury too has its militia, and the belly keeps vigil over ruins
and, that they may perish, descendants often sigh.

405

quid caelo dabimus? quantum est, quo veneat omne?
impendendus homo est, deus esse ut possit in ipso.

what shall we give to heaven? how great is that price, at which everything is sold?
man is to be expended, so that God may be able to be in him.

Hac tibi nascentum mores sunt lege notandi.
nec satis est signis dominantia discere signa
per denos numeros et quae sint insita cuique;

By this law the mores of the newborn are to be noted by you.
nor is it enough from the signs to learn the dominant signs
through tens of numbers and what are inborn in each;

410

sed proprias partes ipsas spectare memento
vel glacie rigidas vel quas exusserit ignis,
et sterilis <sine> utroque tamen, quas largior umor
quasve minor iusto vitiat. namque omnia mixtis
viribus et vario consurgunt sidera textu.

but remember to observe the very proper parts themselves,
whether rigid with ice or those which fire has burned out,
and sterile too without either, those which a more copious moisture vitiates
or which, less than the due measure, vitiates. For the stars all arise
with mixed forces and with a varied weaving.

415

est aequale nihil. terrenos aspice tractus
et maris et variis fugientia flumina ripis:
crimen ubique frequens et laudi noxia iuncta est.
sic sterilis tellus laetis intervenit arvis
ac subito rumpit parvo discrimine foedus;

nothing is equal. look upon the terrestrial tracts
and of the sea, and the rivers fleeing along varied banks:
fault is everywhere frequent, and what is noxious to praise is joined to it.
thus sterile earth intervenes amid fruitful fields
and suddenly breaks the pact by a small distinction;

420

et modo portus erat pelagi iam vasta charybdis,
laudatique cadit post paulum gratia ponti;
et nunc per scopulos, nunc campis labitur amnis,
et, faciens iter aut quaerens, curritve reditve.
sic etiam caeli partes variantur in astris:

and at one time it was a harbor of the sea, now a vast charybdis,
and the grace of the lauded sea falls after a little;
and now through rocks, now over fields the river glides,
and, making a journey or seeking, whether it courses or returns.
thus also the parts of the sky are varied among the stars:

425

ut signum signo, sic a se discrepat ipsum
momentoque negat vires usumque salubrem,
quodque per has geritur partes sine fruge creatur
aut cadit aut multis sentit bona mixta querellis.
hae mihi signandae proprio sunt carmine partes.

As sign from sign, so the thing itself differs from itself,
and in a moment it denies powers and healthful use,
and whatever is carried on through these parts is created without fruit,
or falls, or feels its goods mixed with many complaints.
These parts are to be marked by me with a proper song.

430

sed quis tot numeros totiens sub lege referre,
tot partes iterare queat, tot dicere summas,
perque paris causas faciem mutare loquendi?
<dum canimus verum, non aspera ponere, ut illis> 433a
incidimus, sic verba piget; sed gratia derit,
in vanumque labor cedit quem despicit auris.
sed mihi per carmen fatalia iura ferenti
et sacros caeli motus ad iussa loquendum est,
nec fingenda datur, tantum monstranda figura.

but who could so often, under rule, recount so many numbers,
repeat so many parts, say so many totals,
and, through like causes, change the face of speaking?
<while we sing the truth, not to set harsh things, as when upon them> 433a
we fall, thus it irks to speak; but grace will be lacking,
and the labor goes to vain which the ear despises.
but for me, bearing by song the fated ordinances
and the sacred motions of the sky, I must speak at the commands,
nor is it granted to feign; only the figure is to be shown.

ostendisse deum nimis est: dabit ipse sibimet
pondera. nec fas est verbis splendescere mundum:

to have displayed God is too much: he himself will give himself his weights
nor is it right for the world to grow resplendent by words:

440

rebus erit maior. nec parva est gratia nostri
oris, si tantum poterit signare canenda.
accipe damnandae quae sint per sidera partes.
Lanigeri pars quarta nocet nec sexta salubris;
septima par illi ac decima est decimaeque secunda

it will be greater in deeds. nor is the grace of our mouth small, if it can mark as much as must be sung.
receive which parts are to be condemned according to the stars.
of the Wool-bearer, the 4th part harms, nor is the 6th salubrious;
the 7th is equal to it, and the 10th and the second of the 10th

445

quaeque duas duplicant summas septemque novemque;
unaque viginti numeris pars addita laedit
et quinta et duram consummans septima partem.
Tauri nona mala est, similis cui tertia pars est
post decimam nec non decimae pars septima iuncta;

and those which double two totals, both seven and nine;
and the one part added to the number twenty harms
and the fifth, and the seventh, completing the hard part.
Of Taurus the ninth is evil, to which the third part is similar
after the tenth, and likewise the seventh part joined to the tenth;

450

bisque undena notans et bis duodena nocentes
quaeque decem trisque ingeminat fraudatque duobus
triginta numeros et tu, tricesima summa, es.
Pestifera in Geminis pars prima et tertia signi,
septima non melior, ter quintae noxia par est,

marking twice eleven and twice twelve as noxious,
and that which doubles ten and three and defrauds the thirty numbers by two,
and you, the thirtieth total, are.
Pestiferous in Gemini is the first and the third part of the sign,
the seventh no better; thrice the fifth a pair is noxious,

455

unaque bis denis brevior nocet unaque maior,
et similis noxae veniet vicesima quinta
cumque duae subeunt vel cum se quattuor addunt.
Nec Cancri prima immunis nec tertia pars est
nec sexta; octava est similis, decimaque peracta

and both the one shorter by twice ten harms, and the one greater,
and the twenty-fifth will come similar in harm,
and when two come up or when four add themselves.
Nor is the first part of Cancer immune nor the third part,
nor the sixth; the eighth is similar, and, the tenth completed,

460

prima rapit, nec ter quintae clementior usus;
septima post decimam luctum et vicesima portat
et quinta accedens et septima nonaque summa.
Tu quoque contactu primo, Nemeaee, timendus,
et quarta sub parte premis; bis quinta salubri

the first carries off, nor is the experience of the thrice-five gentler;
the seventh after the tenth bears mourning, and the twentieth,
and, as it comes on, the twenty-fifth, and, at the end, the twenty-seventh and the twenty-ninth.
You too, Nemean one, are to be feared at first contact,
and you press under the fourth part; the twice-five is health-giving.

465

terque caret caelo, vicesima et altera laedit;
e tribus appositis vitiat totidemque secutis
ultima, nec prima melior tricesima pars est.
Erigones nec pars prima est nec sexta nec una
ad decimam nec quarta nec octava utilis umquam;

and three times it lacks the sky, the twentieth and the next harms;
out of three adjoining it vitiates, and as many following
the last; nor is the first part better than the thirtieth.
Of Erigone neither the first part is, nor the sixth, nor the one
leading to the tenth, nor the fourth, nor the eighth, ever useful;

470

proxima viginti numeris et quarta timenda est,
et quae ter decimam claudit sors ultima partem.
Et quinta in Chelis et septima inutilis astri,
tertia et undecimae decimaeque est septima iuncta
quartaque bis denis actis et septima et ambae

the next, at the tally of twenty, and the fourth, is to be feared,
and the last lot that closes the thirtieth part.
And in the Claws the fifth and the seventh of the constellation are useless,
the seventh is joined to the third and to the eleventh and to the tenth,
and the fourth, with twice ten completed, and the seventh, and both

475

quae numerum claudunt nona et tricesima partes.
Scorpios in prima reus est, cui tertia par est
et sexta et decima et quae ter tibi quinta notatur,
undecimam geminans et quae vicesima quinta est
octavoque manet numero nonumque capessit.

which close the number, the ninth and thirtieth parts.
Scorpio is culpable in the first; to which the third is equal
and the sixth and the tenth and that which for you is marked as the fifth thrice,
doubling the eleventh, and that which is the twenty-fifth,
and it remains by the eighth number and takes up the ninth.

480

Si te fata sinant, quartam ne selige partem
Centauri; fuge et octavam; sex bisve peractis
octo, bis aut denis, metuendus dicitur aer,
cumque iterum duodena refert aut terna decemque
aut septena quater, vel cum ter dena figurat.

If the fates should allow you, do not choose the fourth part of the Centaur; flee also the eighth;
at six, or when eight have been completed twice, or at twice ten, the air is said to be to-be-feared,
and when again it brings back twelve, or three and ten,
or seven four times, or when it shapes thrice ten.

485

     Nec pars optanda est Capricorni septima; nona
consentit decimamque sequens quam tertia signat
et tribus aut una quae te, vicesima, fraudat
quaeve auget quinto numero vel septima fertur.
     Pars est prima nocens fundentis semper Aquari,                  489a
damnanda et decimae succedens prima peractae
tertiaque et quinta et numero quae condita nono est
et post viginti prima et vicesima quinta
cumque illa quartam accumulans vicesima nona.
     Tertia per geminos et quinta et septima Pisces,
undecima et decimae metuenda est septima iuncta;

     Nor is the seventh part of Capricorn to be desired; the ninth consents, and the one following the tenth which the third signs, and the twentieth, which by three or by one defrauds you, or which is said to augment by the fifth number or by the seventh.
     The first part of ever-pouring Aquarius is harmful,                  489a
and to be condemned is the first succeeding the completed tenth, and the third and the fifth and that which is founded in the ninth number, and, after twenty, the first and the twenty-fifth, and along with that, the twenty-ninth accumulating a fourth.
     The third through the Twins and the fifth and the seventh through Pisces, the eleventh and the seventh joined to the tenth are to be feared;

495

et quinta in quinos numeros revocata duasque
accipiens ultra summas metuenda feretur.
Hae partes sterilem ducunt et frigore et igni
aera vel sicco vel quod superaverit umor,
si rapidus Mavors ignes iaculatur in illum

and the fifth, recalled into fivefold numbers and
receiving two beyond the sums, will be borne as to be feared.
These parts lead the air to barrenness both by cold and by fire,
either dry, or whatever moisture shall have prevailed,
if rapid Mars hurls fires into it

500

Saturnusve suam glaciem <Phoebeve propinquis
quem trahit a terris rorem> Phoebusve calores.                  501a
     Nec te perceptis signorum cura relinquat
partibus: in tempus quaedam mutantur, et ortu
accipiunt proprias vires ultraque remittunt.
     Namque, ubi se summis Aries extollet ab undis

Or Saturn his own ice, <or Phoebe the dew which she draws from lands nearby>, or Phoebus the heats.                  501a
     Nor let concern for the parts of the signs, once perceived, leave you:
at times certain things are changed, and at rising they receive their proper powers and thereafter remit them.
     For, when Aries lifts itself from the highest waves

505

et cervice prior flexa quam cornibus ibit,
non contenta suo generabit pectora censu
et dabit in praedas animos solvetque pudorem:
tantum audere iuvat. sic ipse in cornua fertur
ut ruat aut vincat. non illos sedibus isdem

and he will go, the neck first bowed, rather than with the horns,
he will beget hearts not content with their own wealth
and will set minds on booty and will loosen modesty:
so pleasant it is to dare so much. thus he himself is borne into the horns
so that he may crash down or conquer. not them in the same seats

510

mollia per placidas delectant otia curas,
sed iuvat ignotas semper transire per urbes
scrutarique novum pelagus totius et esse
orbis in hospitio. testis tibi Laniger ipse,
cum vitreum findens auravit vellere pontum

soft leisures delight through placid cares,
but it pleases always to transit through unknown cities
and to scrutinize a new sea and to be
in the hospitality of the whole world. Witness for you the Wool-bearer himself,
when, cleaving the vitreous sea, he gilded it with his fleece

515

orbatumque sua Phrixum per fata sorore
Phasidos ad ripas et Colchida tergore vexit.
At, quos prima creant nascentis sidera Tauri,
feminei incedunt. nec longe causa petenda est,
si modo per causas naturam quaerere fas est:

and he carried Phrixus, bereft of his own sister by fate,
to the banks of the Phasis and to Colchis upon his back.
But those whom the first stars of the nascent Bull beget,
they move in a feminine way. Nor is the cause to be sought far,
if only it is permitted to seek nature through causes:

520

aversus venit in caelum divesque puellis,
Pleiadum parvo referens glomeramine sidus.
accedunt et ruris opes, propriaque iuvencum
dote per inversos exornat vomere campos.
Sed, Geminos aequa cum profert unda tegitque

He comes into the sky turned away and rich with maidens,
bearing the Pleiads’ star with its small cluster.
And the riches of the countryside accrue, and with the young bullocks’ own dowry
he adorns the fields, upturned by the ploughshare.
But, when the level wave brings forth and covers the Twins

525

parte, dabit studia et doctas producet ad artes.
nec triste ingenium sed dulci tincta lepore
corda creat, vocisque bonis citharaeque sonantis
instruit, et dotes cantus cum pectore iungit.
At, niger obscura Cancer cum nube feretur,

in part, it will grant pursuits and will bring forth to learned arts.
nor a gloomy disposition, but hearts tinged with sweet charm
it creates; and with a good voice and a resounding cithara
it equips, and it joins the endowments of song with the heart.
But, when black Cancer is borne with a dark cloud,

530

qua velut exustus Phoebeis ignibus ignis
deficit et multa fuscat caligine sidus,
lumina deficient partus, geminamque creatis
mortem fata dabunt: se quisque et vivit et effert.
Sicui per summas avidus produxerit undas

where as if a fire burnt out by Phoebean fires the fire fails and the star is darkened with much murk,
lights will fail the births, and the Fates will give to those begotten a twin death:
each man both lives and bears himself out.
If to someone, eager, it shall have drawn him out over the highest waves

535

ora Leo et scandat malis hiscentibus orbem,
ille patri natisque reus, quas ceperit ipse,
non legabit opes, censumque immerget in ipso.
tanta fames animumque cibi tam dira cupido
corripit, ut capiat semet nec compleat umquam,

let Leo rise and climb the circle with gaping jaws,
he, guilty to father and sons, the riches which he himself has seized
will not bequeath, and he will plunge the account into himself.
so great a hunger and so dire a desire of food
seizes the mind, that he takes in himself and never fills himself,

540

inque epulas funus revocet pretiumque sepulcri.
Erigone surgens, quae rexit saecula prisca
iustitia rursusque eadem labentia fugit,
alta per imperium tribuit fastigia summum,
rectoremque dabit legum iurisque sacrati

and recall a funeral to banquets and the price of a sepulchre.
Erigone rising, who ruled the ancient ages
with Justice, and the same again fled the lapsing ones,
she will bestow the lofty pinnacles of empire, the supreme,
and will give a ruler of the laws and of consecrated right

545

sancta pudicitia divorum templa colentem.
Sed, cum autumnales coeperunt surgere Chelae,
felix aequato genitus sub pondere Librae.
iudex examen sistet vitaeque necisque
imponetque iugum terris legesque rogabit.

Sacred Pudicitia, honoring the temples of the gods.
But, when the autumnal Chelae began to rise,
happy is he born under the balanced weight of Libra.
as judge he will set the balance of life and death
and he will impose the yoke upon the lands and will propose laws.

550

illum urbes et regna trement nutuque regentur
unius et caeli post terras iura manebunt.
Scorpios extremae cum tollet lumina caudae,
siquis erit stellis tunc suffragantibus ortus,
urbibus augebit terras iunctisque iuvencis

cities and kingdoms will tremble at him, and by the nod of a single man they will be ruled,
and, after the lands, the laws of the sky will abide.
When Scorpius lifts the lights of his farthest tail,
if anyone shall be born then with the stars giving suffrage,
he will augment cities, the lands, and with yoked bullocks

555

moenia succinctus curvo describet aratro,
aut sternet positas urbes inque arva reducet
oppida et in domibus maturas reddet aristas.
tanta erit et virtus et cum virtute potestas.
Nec non Arcitenens, prima cum veste resurgit,

girt up he will trace the walls with a curved plough,
or he will lay low established cities and lead the towns back into fields,
and within houses he will render the ears ripe.
so great will be both virtue and, with virtue, power.
Nor yet will the Bow-bearer be lacking, when with his first vesture he rises again,

560

pectora clara dabit bello, magnisque triumphis
conspicuum patrias victorem ducet ad arces,
altaque nunc statuet nunc idem moenia vertet.
sed nimium indulgens rebus Fortuna secundis
invidet in facie saevitque asperrima fronti.

he will grant illustrious hearts for war, and with great triumphs
he will lead the conspicuous victor to the fatherland’s citadels,
and now he will set up lofty walls, now the same will overturn walls.
but Fortune, overindulgent to prosperous affairs,
envies to the face and rages most harshly at the brow.

565

horrendus bello Trebiam Cannasque lacumque
ante fugam tali pensabat imagine victor.
Ultimus in caudae Capricornus acumine summo
militiam in ponto dictat puppisque colendae
dura ministeria et tenui discrimine mortis.

horrendous in war, the Trebia, Cannae, and the lake
before his flight the victor was balancing with such an image.
the Capricorn, last at the very point of the tail,
dictates military service on the deep and the hard ministries of a stern to be tended,
and with a slender margin from death.

570

     Quod si quem sanctumque velis castumque probumque
hic tibi nascetur cum primus Aquarius exit.
     Ne velit et primos animus procedere Pisces,
garrulitas odiosa datur linguaeque venenum
verba maligna novas mutantis semper ad aures

     But if you should wish someone holy and chaste and upright,
here for you he will be born when first Aquarius comes forth.
     Nor let your mind wish that the first Pisces proceed;
odious garrulity is given, and venom to the tongue—
malignant words ever changing to new ears

575

criminaque ad populum populi ferre ore bilingui.
nulla fides inerit natis, sed summa libido
ardentem medios animum iubet ire per ignes.
scilicet in piscem sese Cytherea novavit,
cum Babyloniacas summersa profugit in undas

and to carry the crimes of the people to the people with a double-tongued mouth.
no faith will be in the offspring, but the utmost libido
bids the burning mind to go through the midst of fires.
of course Cytherea transformed herself into a fish,
when, submerged, she fled into the Babylonian waves

580

anguipedem alatos umeros Typhona ferentem,
inseruitque suos squamosis Piscibus ignes.
nec solus fuerit geminis sub Piscibus ortus:
frater erit dulcisve soror, materve duorum.
Nunc age diversis dominantia sidera terris

bearing Typhon, snake-footed, with winged shoulders,
and she inserted her own fires into the scaly Fishes.
nor will he alone have been born under the twin Fishes:
there will be a brother or a sweet sister, or the mother of two.
Now come, the stars dominating different lands

585

percipe. sed summa est rerum referenda figura.
quattuor in partes caeli discribitur orbis,
nascentem lapsumque diem mediosque calores
teque, Helice.

perceive. but the summary figure of things must be reported.
the orb is distributed into four parts of the heaven,
the nascent and the falling day and the midmost heats
and you, Helice.

totidem venti de partibus isdem
erumpunt secumque gerunt per inania bella.

just so many winds from the same parts
erupt, and they wage wars among themselves through the inane.

590

asper ab axe ruit Boreas, fugit Eurus ab ortu,
Auster amat medium solem Zephyrusque profectum.
hos inter binae mediis e partibus aurae
exspirant similis mutato nomine flatus.
ipsa natat tellus pelagi lustrata corona

harsh from the axis Boreas rushes, Eurus flees from the orient,
Auster loves the mid sun, and Zephyrus the sun that has set out.
between these, twin breezes from the middle parts
breathe out similar blasts, the name being changed.
the earth itself swims, lustrated by the sea’s crown

595

cingentis medium liquidis amplexibus orbem,
inque sinus pontum recipit, qui vespere ab atro
admissus dextra Numidas Libyamque calentem
alluit et magnae quondam Carthaginis arces,
litoraque in Syrtes revocans sinuata vadosas

encircling the middle of the orb with liquid embraces,
and into its bays it receives the sea, which, admitted from the black West at evening,
on the right bathes the Numidians and hot Libya,
and the citadels of once-great Carthage,
and, recalling the shores, sinuated, into the shallow Syrtes

600

rursum usque ad Nilum derectis fluctibus exit.
laeva freti caedunt Hispanas aequora gentes
teque in vicinis haerentem, Gallia, terris
Italiaeque urbes dextram sinuantis in undam
usque canes ad, Scylla, tuos avidamque Charybdin.

again it goes out with its waves directed straight as far as the Nile.
on the left of the strait the Spanish peoples cleave the waters
and you, Gaul, clinging to neighboring lands,
and the cities of Italy by the wave of the strait that bends its right hand,
all the way to your hounds, Scylla, and ravenous Charybdis.

605

hac ubi se primum porta mare fudit, <aperto>
enatat Ionio laxasque vagatur in undas
et, prius ut, laeva se fundens circuit omnem
Italiam, Hadriaco mutatum nomina ponto,
Eridanique bibit fluctus, vetat aequore bellum

here, where through this gateway the sea first poured itself, <open>
it swims out into the Ionian and wanders on broad waves
and, as before, pouring itself to the left, it circuits all
Italy, its name changed to the Adriatic deep,
and drinks the waves of the Eridanus, it forbids war upon the sea

610

Illyricum, Epirumque lavat claramque Corinthum
et Peloponnesi patulas circumvolat oras;
rursus et in laevum refluit vastoque recessu
Thessaliae fines et Achaica praeterit arva.
hinc penitus iuvenisque freto mersaeque puellae

it washes Illyricum and Epirus and famed Corinth
and circles around the spacious shores of the Peloponnesus;
again it flows back to the left and, with a vast recess,
passes by the borders of Thessaly and the Achaean fields.
from here, deep within, both the youth and the maiden submerged in the strait

615

truditur invitum, faucesque Propontis aperto
Euxino iniungit ponto Maeotis et undis,
quae tergo coniuncta manet fontemque ministrat.
inde ubi in angustas revocatus navita fauces
Hellespontiacis iterum se fluctibus effert,

it is thrust, unwilling, and the Maeotis yokes the jaws of the Propontis to the opened Euxine sea and its waves,
which, joined at the back, remains and supplies the fount.
from there, when the sailor, recalled into the narrow throats,
again bears himself forth upon the Hellespontine waves,

620

Icarium Aegaeumque secat laevaque nitentis
miratur populos Asiae totidemque tropaea
quot loca et innumeras gentes Taurumque minantem
fluctibus et Cilicum populos Syriamque perustam
ingentique sinu fugientis aequora terras,

He cleaves the Icarian and the Aegean, and on his left admires the shining peoples of Asia, and trophies just as many as places, and numberless nations, and Taurus menacing the waves, and the peoples of the Cilicians, and Syria scorched, and, with a vast gulf, the seas fleeing the lands,

625

donec in Aegyptum redeunt curvata per undas
litora Niliacis iterum morientia ripis.
haec medium terris circumdat linea pontum
atque his undarum tractum constringit harenis.
mille iacent mediae diffusa per aequora terrae.

until into Egypt the shores, curved through the waves, return, dying again at the Nile’s banks.
this line surrounds the sea set in the middle of the lands
and with these sands constricts the tract of the waves.
a thousand lands lie spread through the mid-seas.

630

Sardiniam in Libyco signant vestigia plantae,
Trinacria Italia tantum praecisa recessit,
adversa Euboicos miratur Graecia montes,
Aegaeis Crete civem sortita Tonantem
Aegyptique Cypros pulsatur fluctibus amnis.

In the Libyan sea, the footprints of the sole mark Sardinia,
Trinacria, cut off, has withdrawn only so far from Italy,
Greece, opposite, marvels at the Euboean mountains,
Crete in the Aegean, having by lot gotten the Thunderer as a citizen,
and Cyprus too of Egypt is beaten by the billows of the river.

635

<has praeter terras, celebrat quas maxima fama,> 635a
totque minore solo tamen emergentia ponto
litora, inaequalis Cycladas Delonque Rhodonque
Aulidaque et Tenedon vicinaque Corsica terris
litora Sardiniae primumque intrantis in orbem
Oceani victricem Ebusum et Balearica rura,

<besides these lands, which the greatest fame celebrates,> 635a
and so many shores, however, emerging with lesser soil from the sea,
the unequal Cyclades and Delos and Rhodes,
and Aulis and Tenedos, and Corsica, its shores neighboring the lands of Sardinia,
and, first for one entering into the circle of the Ocean, victorious Ebusus and the Balearic fields,

640

innumeri surgunt scopuli montesque per altum.
Nec tantum ex una pontus sibi parte reclusit
faucibus abruptis orbem; nam litora plura
impulit oceano Phorcys, sed montibus altis
est vetitus totam ne vinceret aequore terram.

innumerable crags and mountains rise through the deep.
Nor has the sea unclosed to itself the orb from one part only
with precipitous straits; for Phorcys has impelled more shores
into the Ocean, but by high mountains he has been forbidden,
lest he should conquer the whole land with the level sea.

645

namque inter borean ortumque aestate nitentem
in longum angusto penetrabilis aequore fluctus
pervenit et patulis tum demum funditur arvis
Caspiaque Euxini similis facit aequora ponti.
altera sub medium solem duo bella perinde

for between Boreas and the summer-shining sunrise
a surge, penetrable through a narrow sea, reaches far in length
and then at last is poured out upon broad fields,
and makes the Caspian waters like to the Euxine Pontus.
the other beneath the mid sun, two wars likewise

650

intulit Oceanus terris. nam Persica fluctus
arva tenet, titulum pelagi praedatus ab isdem
quae rigat ipse locis, latoque infunditur orbe.
nec procul in mollis Arabas terramque ferentem
delicias variaeque novos radicis odores

ocean has brought it into the lands. for the persian wave
holds fields, having plundered the title of the sea from those same
places which he himself waters, and pours into a broad orb.
nor far off into the gentle arabs and the land bearing
delights and the various new odors of root

655

leniter affundit gemmantia litora pontus,
et terrae mare nomen habet. media illa duobus
* 657a
quondam Carthago regnum sortita sub armis,
ignibus Alpinas cum contudit Hannibal arces,
fecit et aeternum Trebiam Cannasque sepulcris

the sea gently pours upon the gemmed shores,
and the sea bears the name of the land. that, in the middle between two
* 657a
once Carthage, having won a kingdom under arms,
when Hannibal crushed the Alpine citadels with fires,
and made the Trebia and Cannae eternal with sepulchres

660

obruit et Libyam Latias infudit in urbes.
huc varias pestes diversaque monstra ferarum
congessit bellis natura infesta futuris.
horrendos angues habitataque membra veneno
et mortis pastu viventia, crimina terrae,

and he overwhelmed and poured Libya into the Latian cities.
hither Nature, hostile to the wars to come, piled together various plagues and diverse monsters of the wild.
horrendous snakes and limbs inhabited by poison
and beings living on the feeding of death, the crimes of the earth,

665

et vastos elephantas habet, saevosque leones
in poenas fecunda suas parit horrida tellus
et portentosos cercopum ludit in ortus
ac sterili peior siccas infestat harenas,
donec ad Aegypti ponat sua iura colonos.

and it has vast elephants, and savage lions;
and the horrid earth, fecund for its own punishments, brings forth;
and it sports with the portentous births of the Cercopes,
and, worse than sterile, it infests the dry sands,
until it sets its own laws upon the colonists of Egypt.

670

inde Asiae populi divesque per omnia tellus:
auratique fluunt amnes gemmisque relucet
pontus, odoratae spirant medicamina silvae:
India notitia maior, Parthique vel orbis
alter, et in caelum surgentis moenia Tauri

thence the peoples of Asia and a land rich in all things:
and golden rivers flow, and with gems gleams back
the sea, and the fragrant forests breathe medicaments:
India greater in notice, and the Parthians—or a world
other, and the ramparts of Taurus rising into the sky

675

totque illum circa diverso nomine gentes
ad Tanain Scythicis dirimentem fluctibus orbes
Maeotisque lacus Euxinique aspera ponti.
[aequora et extremum Propontidos Hellespontum]
hanc Asiae metam posuit natura potentis.

and so many peoples around it under diverse names
to the Tanais, dividing the orbs with Scythian billows,
and the lakes of Maeotis and the harshness of the Euxine sea.
[the waters and the farthest Hellespont of the Propontis]
Nature has set this as the boundary of mighty Asia.

680

quod superest Europa tenet, quae prima natantem
fluctibus excepitque Iovem taurumque resolvit,
ponere passa suos ignes, onerique iugavit.
ille puellari donavit nomine litus
et monumenta sui titulo sacravit amoris.

what remains Europe holds, which first received Jove swimming
in the waves and released the bull,
allowed him to set down his own fires, and yoked herself to the burden.
he endowed the shore with the maiden’s name
and consecrated the monuments of his love with a title.

685

maxima terra viris et fecundissima doctis
artibus: in regnum florentes oris Athenae;
Sparta manu, Thebae divis, et rege vel uno
princeps Pella domus, Troiani gratia belli;
Thessalia Epirosque potens vicinaque ripa

the land greatest in men and most fecund in learned arts;
Athens flourishing on the shores into a kingdom;
Sparta by the hand, Thebes by the gods, and the house of Pella,
foremost with even a single king, by the grace of the Trojan war;
Thessaly and Epirus mighty, and the neighboring shore

690

Illyris, et Thrace Martem sortita colonum,
et stupefacta suos inter Germania partus;
Gallia per census, Hispania maxima bellis;
Italia in summa, quam rerum maxima Roma
imposuit terris caeloque adiungitur ipsa.

Illyria, and Thrace, having drawn Mars as a colonist,
and Germany, stupefied at her own offspring among her;
Gaul for her censuses, Spain greatest in wars;
Italy, in sum, which Rome, greatest of things, has imposed upon the lands,
and she herself is adjoined to the sky.

695

Hos erit in fines orbis pontusque vocandus,
quem deus in partes per singula dividit astra
ac sua cuique dedit tutelae regna per orbem
et proprias gentes atque urbes addidit altas,
in quibus assererent praestantis sidera vires.

As these confines the orb and the sea are to be called,
which God divides into parts through each several star,
and to each he gave kingdoms for tutelage throughout the orb,
and he added their own peoples and lofty cities,
in which the stars might assert excelling powers.

700

ac, velut humana est signis discripta figura,
et, quamquam communis eat tutela per omne
corpus, et in proprium divisis artubus exit
(namque Aries capiti, Taurus cervicibus haeret,
bracchia sub Geminis censentur, pectora Cancro,

and, just as the human figure is mapped out by signs,
and, although a common tutelage goes through the whole
body, it, with the limbs divided, passes into their own proper parts
(for Aries clings to the head, Taurus to the neck,
the arms are counted under Gemini, the breast to Cancer,

705

te scapulae, Nemeaee, vocant teque ilia, Virgo,
Libra colit clunes et Scorpios inguine regnat,
et femina Arcitenens, genua et Capricornus amavit,
cruraque defendit Iuvenis, vestigia Pisces),
sic alias aliud terras sibi vindicat astrum.

the shoulder-blades call you, Nemean one, and the flanks call you too, Virgin,
Libra tends the buttocks and Scorpio reigns in the groin,
and the thighs the Bow-bearer, and Capricorn has loved the knees,
and the legs the Youth defends, the feet the Fishes),
thus in like manner another star claims other lands for itself.

710

Idcirco in varias leges variasque figuras
dispositum genus est hominum, proprioque colore
formantur gentes, sociataque iura per artus
materiamque parem privato foedere signant.
flava per ingentis surgit Germania partus,

Therefore into various laws and various figures the race of humans has been disposed,
and nations are formed with their proper color;
and associated rights they mark upon the limbs and upon like matter by a private covenant.
flaxen Germany rises through enormous births,

715

Gallia vicino minus est infecta rubore,
asperior solidos Hispania contrahit artus.
Martia Romanis urbis pater induit ora
Gradivumque Venus miscens bene temperat artus,
perque coloratas subtilis Graecia gentes

Gaul is less infected by the neighboring redness,
harsher Spain contracts solid limbs.
the father of the Martial city clothes Roman faces,
and Venus, mixing with Gradivus, well tempers the limbs,
and subtle Greece through the colored peoples

720

gymnasium praefert vultu fortisque palaestras,
et Syriam produnt torti per tempora crines.
Aethiopes maculant orbem tenebrisque figurant
perfusas hominum gentes; minus India tostos
progenerat;                  725a
tellusque natans Aegyptia Nilo                  726b
lenius irriguis infuscat corpora campis
iam propior                  726a
mediumque facit moderata tenorem.                  725b
Phoebus harenosis Afrorum pulvere terris

displays the gymnasium in its look and the stalwart palaestrae,
and hair twisted about the temples betrays Syria.
The Aethiopians stain the world and with darkness fashion
the peoples of men, suffused; India begets less scorched                  725a
and the Egyptian land, floating with the Nile,                  726b
more gently darkens bodies with its irrigated fields
now nearer                  726a
and, moderated, makes a middle tenor.                  725b
Phoebus in the sandy lands of the Africans with dust

728

exsiccat populos, et Mauretania nomen
oris habet titulumque suo fert ipsa colore.
adde sonos totidem vocum, totidem insere linguas
et mores pro sorte paris ritusque locorum;
adde genus proprium simili sub semine frugum
et Cererem varia redeuntem messe per urbes
nec paribus siliquas referentem viribus omnis,

he desiccates the peoples, and Mauretania holds the name of the coast and itself bears a title from its own color.
add just as many sounds of voices, insert just as many tongues,
and mores matched to their lot and the rites of the locales;
add a proper genus under a similar seed of crops,
and Ceres returning with a various harvest through the cities,
and not all bringing back pods with equal vigor,

735

nec te, Bacche, pari donantem munere terras
atque alias aliis fundentem collibus uvas,
cinnama nec totis passim nascentia campis;
diversas pecudum facies propriasque ferarum
et duplici clausos elephantas carcere terrae.

nor you, Bacchus, granting the lands an equal gift,
and pouring out different grapes for different hills,
nor cinnamon springing everywhere over whole fields;
the diverse forms of flocks and the proper kinds of wild beasts,
and elephants enclosed by the twofold prison of the earth.

740

quot partes orbis, totidem sub partibus orbes,
ut certis discripta nitent regionibus astra
perfunduntque suo subiectas aere gentes.
     Laniger in medio sortitus sidera mundo,
<lance ubi sol aequa pensat noctemque diemque>                  744a
Cancrum inter gelidumque <Caprum> per tempora veris,
asserit in vires pontum quem vicerat ipse,
virgine delapsa cum fratrem ad litora vexit
et minui deflevit onus dorsumque levari.
illum etiam venerata colit vicina Propontis
et Syriae gentes et laxo Persis amictu

as many divisions of the orb as there are, just so many orbs under the divisions, as the stars, mapped out into fixed regions, shine and suffuse the peoples beneath with their own air.
The Fleece-bearer, having been allotted his stars in the middle of the world,
<where with a scale the sun weighs night and day equally> 744a
between Cancer and the icy <Goat> through the seasons of spring,
claims for his powers the sea which he himself had conquered,
when, the maiden having slipped off, he bore the brother to the shores
and wept that the burden was diminished and his back lightened.
Him too the neighboring Propontis, having paid worship, reveres,
and the peoples of Syria and the Persian with loose-worn mantle.

750

vestibus ipsa suis haerens Nilusque tumescens
in Cancrum et tellus Aegypti iussa natare.
Taurus habet Scythiae montes Asiamque potentem
et mollis Arabas, silvarum ditia regna.
Euxinus Scythicos pontus sinuatus in arcus

she herself clinging to her own garments, and the Nile swelling
ordered to swim into Cancer, and the land of Egypt.
Taurus holds the mountains of Scythia and potent Asia
and the soft Arabs, kingdoms rich in forests.
the Euxine Pontus, curved into Scythian arcs

755

sub Geminis te, Phoebe, colit; vos Thracia, fratres,
ultimus et sola vos tranans colit Indica Ganges.
ardent Aethiopes Cancro, cui plurimus ignis:
hoc color ipse docet. Phrygia, Nemeaee, potiris
Idaeae matris famulus regnoque feroci

under the Twins, you, Phoebus, it worships; you, brothers, Thrace,
and the farthest Indian Ganges, crossing alone, worships you.
the Ethiopians burn under Cancer, to which there is very much fire:
this the color itself teaches. Phrygia, O Nemean one, you possess,
as the servant of the Idaean Mother and of a fierce realm.

760

Cappadocum Armeniaeque iugis; Bithynia dives
te colit et Macetum tellus, quae vicerat orbem.
Virgine sub casta felix terraque marique
est Rhodos, hospitium recturi principis orbem,
tumque domus vere Solis, cui tota sacrata est,

upon the ridges of the Cappadocians and of Armenia; rich Bithynia
worships you, and the land of the Macedons, which had conquered the world.
Under the chaste Virgin, happy both on land and sea,
is Rhodes, the hostelry of the prince destined to rule the world,
and truly the house of the Sun, to whom it is all consecrated,

765

cum caperet lumen magni sub Caesare mundi;
Ioniae quoque sunt urbes et Dorica rura,
Arcades antiqui celebrataque Caria fama.
quod potius colat Italiam, si seligat, astrum
quam quod cuncta regit, quod rerum pondera novit,

when it received the light of the great world under Caesar;
there are also the cities of Ionia and the Dorian fields,
the ancient Arcadians and Caria celebrated by fame.
what star would rather cherish Italy, if it should choose,
than that which rules all things, which knows the weights of things,

770

designat summas et iniquum separat aequo,
tempora quo pendent, coeunt quo noxque diesque?
Hesperiam sua Libra tenet, qua condita Roma
orbis et imperium retinet discrimina rerum,
lancibus et positas gentes tollitque premitque,

it designates the sums and separates the iniquitous from the equitable,
on which the seasons hang, by which both night and day come together?
Its own Libra holds Hesperia, under which, with Rome founded,
she retains rule of the world and the discriminations of affairs,
and with her scale-pans she both lifts up and presses down the nations set upon them,

775

qua genitus Caesar melius nunc condidit urbem
et propriis frenat pendentem nutibus orbem.
inferius victae sidus Carthaginis arces
et Libyam Aegyptique latus donataque rura
Cyrenes lacrimis radicis Scorpios acris

where the begotten Caesar has now better founded the city
and with his own nods reins in the world hanging on them.
Lower down, the star of conquered Carthage’s citadels,
and Libya and the flank of Egypt and the donated fields
of Cyrene—fierce Scorpius at the tears of the root

780

eligit, Italiaeque tamen respectat ad undas
Sardiniamque tenet fusasque per aequora terras.
Cnosia Centauro tellus circumdata ponto
paret, et in geminum Minois filius astrum
ipse venit geminus. celeris hinc Creta sagittas

he chooses, and yet he looks back toward the waves of Italy,
and he holds Sardinia and the lands spread over the level waters.
the Cnossian land, surrounded by the sea, obeys the Centaur,
and into the twin constellation the son of Minos himself comes twin.
from here swift Crete speeds arrows

785

asserit intentosque imitatur sideris arcus.
insula Trinacriae fluitantem ad iura sororem
subsequitur Triviae sub eodem condita signo,
proximaque Italiae tenui divisa profundo
ora paris sequitur leges nec sidere rupta est.

it fits the arrows and imitates the star’s taut bows.
an island follows the floating sister of Trinacria to her laws,
founded beneath the same sign of Trivia,
and the shore nearest to Italy, divided by a slender deep,
follows equal laws and is not broken by a different star.

790

tu, Capricorne, regis quidquid sub sole cadente
est positum gelidamque Helicen quod tangit ab illo,
Hispanas gentes et quot fert Gallia dives;
teque feris dignam tantum, Germania, matrem
asserit ambiguum sidus terraeque marisque

you, Capricorn, rule whatever under the setting sun
is set, and whatever from there touches chilly Helice,
the Hispanic peoples and as many as rich Gaul bears;
and you, Germany, as a mother so worthy of wild beasts,
the ambiguous star of land and of sea asserts

795

aestibus assiduis pontum terrasque sequentem.
sed Iuvenis nudos formatus mollior artus
Aegyptum ad tepidam Tyriasque recedit <in arces>
et Cilicum gentes vicinaque Caribus arva.
Piscibus Euphrates datus est, ubi <ab> his ope sumpta

with assiduous tides pursuing the sea and the lands.
but the Youth, fashioned with softer, naked limbs,
withdraws to tepid Egypt and to the Tyrian <citadels>
and to the nations of the Cilicians and the fields neighboring the Carians.
The Euphrates has been given to the Fishes, where, <from> them, aid having been taken

800

cum fugeret Typhona Venus subsedit in undis,
et Tigris et rubri radiantia litora ponti.

when Venus, fleeing Typhon, subsided into the waves,
and the Tigris and the radiant shores of the Red Sea.

806

magna iacet tellus magnis circumdata ripis

a great land lies, surrounded by great banks

802

Parthis et <a> Parthis domitae per saecula gentes,
Bactraque <et> Aethiopes, Babylon et Susa Ninosque,
nominaque innumeris vix complectenda figuris.

The Parthians and <a> the peoples tamed by the Parthians through the ages,
and Bactra <and> the Ethiopians, Babylon and Susa and the people of Ninus,
and names scarcely to be comprehended by innumerable figures.

805

Sic divisa manet tellus per sidera cuncta,

Thus, divided, the earth remains under all the stars,

807

e quibus in proprias partes sunt iura trahenda;
namque eadem, quae sunt signis, commercia servant,
utque illa inter se coeunt odioque repugnant,

from which the laws are to be drawn into their proper parts;
for they keep the same commerces that are for the signs,
and as those come together among themselves and repugn with hatred,

810

nunc adversa polo, nunc et coniuncta trigono,
quaeque alia in varios affectus causa gubernat,
sic terrae terris respondent, urbibus urbes,
litora litoribus, regnis contraria regna;
sic erit et sedes fugienda petendaque cuique,

now opposed in the sky, now even conjoined by a trine,
and whatever other cause governs into various affections,
thus lands answer to lands, cities to cities,
shores to shores, kingdoms to opposing kingdoms;
so too for each there will be a seat to be fled and to be sought,

815

sic speranda fides, sic et metuenda pericla,
ut genus in terram caelo descendit ab alto.
Percipe nunc etiam quae sint ecliptica Graio
nomine, quod certos quasi delassata per annos
non numquam cessant sterili torpentia motu.

thus trust is to be hoped for, thus also perils to be feared,
as the race descends to earth from high heaven.
Perceive now also what the ecliptica are, by the Greek name,
because, as if wearied through fixed years,
they sometimes cease, growing numb with barren motion.

820

scilicet immenso nihil est aequale sub aevo
perpetuosque tenet flores unumque tenorem,
mutantur sed cuncta die variantque per annos;
et fecunda suis absistunt frugibus arva
continuosque negant partus effeta creando,

Surely under the immense age nothing is equal,
nor does anything hold perpetual blossoms and a single tenor,
but all things are changed with the day and vary through the years;
and the fertile fields withdraw from their own fruits,
and, effete from creating, deny continuous births,

825

rursus quae fuerant steriles ad semina terrae
post nova sufficiunt nullo mandante tributa.
concutitur tellus validis compagibus haerens
subducitque solum pedibus; natat orbis in ipso
et vomit Oceanus pontum sitiensque resorbet

Again the lands which had been sterile for seed
after new tributes suffice with no one commanding.
The earth, clinging in strong joinings, is shaken
and withdraws the ground from under the feet; the orb floats upon it
and Ocean vomits the sea and, thirsting, reabsorbs it

830

nec sese ipse capit. sic quondam merserat urbes,
humani generis cum solus constitit heres
Deucalion scopuloque orbem possedit in uno.
nec non, cum patrias Phaethon temptavit habenas,
arserunt gentes timuitque incendia caelum

nor does it contain itself.
thus once it had submerged cities,
when Deucalion stood as the sole heir of the human race
and possessed the world on a single crag.
and likewise, when Phaethon attempted his father’s reins,
the nations burned, and heaven feared the conflagrations

835

fugeruntque novas ardentia sidera flammas
atque uno metuit condi natura sepulcro.
in tantum longo mutantur tempore cuncta
atque iterum in semet redeunt. sic tempore certo
signa quoque amittunt vires sumuntque receptas.

and the burning stars fled the new flames,
and Nature feared to be buried in a single sepulcher.
to such an extent are all things changed in a long time
and again return into themselves. thus, at an appointed time,
the signs too lose their powers and take up again the powers recovered.

840

causa patet, quod, Luna quibus defecit in astris
orba sui fratris noctisque immersa tenebris,
cum medius Phoebi radios intercipit orbis
nec trahit assuetum quo fulget Delia lumen,
haec quoque signa suo pariter cum sidere languent

the cause is patent, because, in whatever stars the Moon has suffered eclipse
bereft of her own brother and immersed in the shadows of night,
when the middle orb intercepts the rays of Phoebus
and Delia does not draw the accustomed light by which she gleams,
these signs too languish equally along with their star

845

incurvata simul solitoque exempta vigori
et velut elatam Phoeben in funere lugent.
ipsa docet titulo se causa: ecliptica signa
dixere antiqui. pariter sed bina laborant,
nec vicina loco sed quae contraria fulgent,

curved at once and stripped of their accustomed vigor
and they mourn as if Phoebe were borne aloft at a funeral.
the cause itself teaches itself by its title: ecliptic signs
the ancients called them. But in like manner a pair suffer,
not neighboring in place but those which shine opposite,

850

sicut Luna suo tum tantum deficit orbe
cum Phoebum adversis currentem non videt astris.
nec tamen aequali languescunt tempore cuncta,
sed modo in affectus totus producitur annus,
nunc brevius lassata manent, nunc longius astra

just as the Moon only then is eclipsed in her own orb
when she does not see Phoebus running with the opposing stars.
nor, however, do all things grow faint for an equal time,
but at times the whole year is prolonged into afflictions,
now the wearied remain for a shorter time, now the stars for a longer

855

exceduntque suo Phoebeia tempora casu.
atque, ubi perfectum est spatium quod cuique dicatur
impleruntque suos certa statione labores
bina per adversum caelum fulgentia signa,
tum vice bina labant ipsis haerentia casus,

and the Phoebeian seasons also depart by their own happening.
and, when the span which is assigned to each is complete
and the two signs, shining across the opposite heaven, have fulfilled their labors at a fixed station,
then in turn twin falls, adhering to them, waver,

860

quae prius in terras veniunt terrasque relinquunt,
sidereo non ut pugnet contrarius orbi
sed, qua mundus agit cursus, inclinet et ipse,
amissasque negant vires, nec munera tanta
nec similis reddunt noxas. locus omnia vertit.

which first come into the lands and leave the lands,
not so that a contrary may fight the sidereal orb
but that, whither the world drives its courses, it too may incline,
and they deny the powers lost, nor do they render gifts so great
nor similar harms. place turns all things.

865

Sed quid tam tenui prodest ratione nitentem
scrutari mundum, si mens sua cuique repugnat
spemque timor tollit prohibetque a limine caeli?
'conditur en' inquit 'vasto natura recessu
mortalisque fugit visus et pectora nostra,

But what does it profit, striving to scrutinize the world with so tenuous a reason,
if to each man his own mind resists,
and fear takes away hope and forbids from the threshold of heaven?
“Lo,” he says, “nature is hidden in a vast recess
and flees mortal sights and our breasts,”

870

nec prodesse potest quod fatis cuncta reguntur,
cum fatum nulla possit ratione videri.'
quid iuvat in semet sua per convicia ferri
et fraudare bonis, quae nec deus invidet ipse,
quosque dedit natura oculos deponere mentis?

nor can it profit that all things are governed by the fates,
since fate can by no reason be seen.'
what avails it to bear oneself against oneself with one’s own insults
and to defraud oneself of good things, which not even god himself envies,
and to lay aside the eyes of the mind which nature has given?

875

perspicimus caelum, cur non et munera caeli?
<mens humana potest propria discedere sede> 876a
inque ipsos penitus mundi descendere census
seminibusque suis tantam componere molem
et partum caeli sua per nutricia ferre
extremumque sequi pontum terraeque subire

We discern the sky, why not also the gifts of the sky?
<the human mind can depart from its own seat> 876a
and to descend deep into the very assessments of the world
and with its own seeds to compose so great a mass
and to carry heaven’s offspring through its own nurses
and to follow the extreme sea and to go beneath the earth

880

pendentis tractus et toto vivere in orbe.
[quanta et pars superet rationem discere noctis]
iam nusquam natura latet; pervidimus omnem
et capto potimur mundo nostrumque parentem
pars sua perspicimus genitique accedimus astris.

the stretches of what hangs and to live in the whole orb.
[and what portion surpasses reason to learn about night]
now nowhere does nature lie hidden; we have seen through it all
and, the world captured, we possess it, and our parent—our own part we perceive—
and, being begotten, we draw near to the stars.

885

an dubium est habitare deum sub pectore nostro
in caelumque redire animas caeloque venire,
utque sit ex omni constructus corpore mundus
aeris atque ignis summi terraeque marisque
hospitium menti totum quae infusa gubernet,

or is it doubtful that a god dwells beneath our breast,
and that souls return to heaven and come from heaven,
and that the world is constructed out of every body,
of air and of highest fire and of earth and of sea,
a lodging for the Mind, the whole of which, infused, she governs,

890

sic esse in nobis terrenae corpora sortis
sanguineasque animas animo, qui cuncta gubernat
dispensatque hominem? quid mirum, noscere mundum
si possunt homines, quibus est et mundus in ipsis
exemplumque dei quisque est in imagine parva?

thus there are in us bodies of earthly lot
and sanguine souls; and a Mind, who governs all, dispenses the human being?
what wonder, if men can know the world,
for whom the world also is within themselves,
and each is an exemplar of God in a small image?

895

an cuiquam genitos, nisi caelo, credere fas est
esse homines? proiecta iacent animalia cuncta
in terra vel mersa vadis, vel in aere pendent,
omnibus una quies venter<que Venusque voluptas,
mole valens sola corpus> censumque per artus, 899a
et, quia consilium non est, et lingua remissa.
unus <in> inspectus rerum viresque loquendi
ingeniumque capax variasque educitur artes
hic partus, qui cuncta regit: secessit in urbes,
edomuit terram ad fruges, animalia cepit
imposuitque viam ponto, stetit unus in arcem

Or is it lawful to believe that men are begotten from any but the sky?
all the animals lie cast down on the earth, or are plunged in the shallows, or hang in the air,
for all, one repose and pleasure are the belly< and Venus,
strong only in bulk, the body> and its valuation through the limbs, 899a
and, because there is no counsel, also the tongue is relaxed.
one the inspection of things and the powers of speaking,
and a mind capacious, and he is led forth to manifold arts—
this is the offspring who rules all things: he withdrew into cities,
he subdued the earth to crops, he captured animals,
and he imposed a way upon the sea, he alone stood upon the citadel.

905

erectus capitis victorque ad sidera mittit
sidereos oculos propiusque aspectat Olympum
inquiritque Iovem; nec sola fronte deorum
contentus manet, et caelum scrutatur in alvo
cognatumque sequens corpus se quaerit in astris.

upright of head and as victor he sends his sidereal eyes to the stars,
and gazes more closely upon Olympus,
and inquires into Jove; nor, content with the mere brow of the gods,
does he remain, and he scrutinizes the heaven in its womb,
and, following the kindred body, he seeks himself in the stars.

910

huic in tanta fidem petimus, quam saepe volucres
accipiunt trepidaeque suo sub pectore fibrae.
an minus est sacris rationem ducere signis
quam pecudum mortes aviumque attendere cantus?
atque ideo faciem caeli non invidet orbi

to this, in matters so great, we seek credence, which often the birds
receive, and the trembling fibers beneath their own breast.
or is it less to deduce reason from sacred signs
than to attend to the deaths of cattle and the songs of birds?
and therefore he does not begrudge the face of the sky to the orb

915

ipse deus vultusque suos corpusque recludit
volvendo semper seque ipsum inculcat et offert,
ut bene cognosci possit doceatque videntis,
qualis eat, cogatque suas attendere leges.
ipse vocat nostros animos ad sidera mundus

the god himself uncovers his visages and his body,
by ever rolling he inculcates and offers himself,
so that he may be well known and may teach the beholders,
of what sort he goes, and may compel them to attend to his laws.
the world itself calls our spirits to the stars

920

nec patitur, quia non condit, sua iura latere.
quis putet esse nefas nosci, quod cernere fas est?
nec contemne tuas quasi parvo in pectore vires:
quod valet, immensum est. sic auri pondera parvi
exsuperant pretio numerosos aeris acervos;

nor does he suffer, since he does not conceal, his own laws to lie hidden.
who would think it nefarious to be known, what it is lawful by divine right to behold?
nor contemn your powers as though in a small breast:
what has worth is immense. thus the weights of little gold
surpass in price the numerous heaps of copper;

925

sic adamas, punctum lapidis, pretiosior auro est;
parvula sic totum pervisit pupula caelum,
quoque vident oculi minimum est, cum maxima cernant;
sic animi sedes tenui sub corde locata
per totum angusto regnat de limite corpus.

thus the adamant, a speck of stone, is more precious than gold;
thus the tiny pupil surveys the whole heaven,
and that by which the eyes see is the least, though they discern the greatest;
thus the seat of the mind, placed beneath the slender heart,
reigns over the whole body from its narrow boundary.

930

materiae ne quaere modum, sed perspice vires,
quas ratio, non pondus, habet: ratio omnia vincit.
ne dubites homini divinos credere visus,
iam facit ipse deos mittitque ad sidera numen,
maius et Augusto crescet sub principe caelum.

do not seek a measure for matter, but look closely at the forces,
which reason, not weight, possesses: reason conquers all.
do not hesitate to believe that man has divine visions,
now he himself makes gods and sends divinity to the stars,
and under Augustus as princeps heaven will grow greater.