Martial: EPIGRAMMATON LIBRI

Barbara pyramidum sileat miracula Memphis,
     Assyrius iactet nec Babylona labor;
nec Triuiae templo molles laudentur Iones,
     dissimulet Delon cornibus ara frequens
aere nec uacuo pendentia Mausolea                              5
     laudibus inmodicis Cares in astra ferant.
Omnis Caesareo cedit labor Amphitheatro,
     unum pro cunctis fama loquetur opus.

Let barbarian Memphis be silent about the miracles of the pyramids,
     nor let Assyrian toil vaunt Babylon;
nor let the soft Ionians be praised for the temple of Trivia,
     let the altar crowded with horns conceal Delos;
nor let the Mausolea hanging in empty air                              5
     be carried to the stars by the Carians with immoderate praises.
All labor yields to the Caesarean Amphitheater,
     one work will speak by fame for all.

Hic ubi sidereus propius uidet astra colossus
     et crescunt media pegmata celsa uia,
inuidiosa feri radiabant atria regis
     unaque iam tota stabat in urbe domus;
hic ubi conspicui uenerabilis Amphitheatri               5
     erigitur moles, stagna Neronis erant;
hic ubi miramur uelocia munera thermas,
     abstulerat miseris tecta superbus ager;
Claudia diffusas ubi porticus explicat umbras,
    ultima pars aulae deficientis erat.               10
Reddita Roma sibi est et sunt te preside, Caesar,
     deliciae populi, quae fuerant domini.

Here, where the starry Colossus sees the stars more closely
     and lofty scaffoldings rise in the middle of the way,
the odious halls of the fierce king were beaming,
     and already a single house stood in the whole city;
here, where the venerable mass of the conspicuous Amphitheater               5
     is raised, there were Nero’s pools;
here, where we marvel at the swift gifts, the baths,
     the proud estate had taken away roofs from the wretched;
where the Claudia Portico unfolds its diffused shades,
    there was the farthest part of the failing palace.               10
Rome has been given back to herself, and with you presiding, Caesar,
     the people’s delights are what had been a master’s.

III

Quae tam seposita est, quae gens tam barbara, Caesar,
     ex qua spectator non sit in urbe tua?
Venit ab Orpheo cultor Rhodopeius Haemo,
     uenit et epolo Sarmata pastus equo,
et qui prima bibit deprensi flumina Nili,               5
     et quem supremae Tethyos unda ferit;
festinauit Arabs, festinauere Sabaei,
     et Cilices nimbis hic maduere suis.
Crinibus in nodum tortis uenere Sygambri,
     atque aliter tortis crinibus Aethiopes.               10
Vox diuersa sonat populorum, tum tamen una est,
     cum uerus patriae diceris esse pater.

What land is so sequestered, what race so barbarous, Caesar,
     from which there is not a spectator in your city?
From Orpheus’s Rhodopean Haemus a cultivator has come,
     and has come too the Sarmatian, fed on horse, with horse’s milk drunk,
and he who drinks the first streams of the captured Nile,               5
     and him whom the wave of farthest Tethys strikes;
the Arab hastened, the Sabaeans hastened,
     and the Cilicians here were drenched by their own rainclouds.
The Sugambri came with hair twisted into a knot,
     and Ethiopians with hair twisted otherwise.               10
The voice of the peoples sounds diverse, yet then it is one,
     when you are said to be the true father of the fatherland.

Turba grauis paci placidaeque inimica quieti,
     quae semper miseras sollicitabat opes,
traducta est +Getulis+ nec cepit harena nocentis:
     et delator habet quod dabat exilium.
Exulat Ausonia profugus delator ab urbe:               5
     haec licet inpensis principis adnumeres.

A crowd grievous to peace and an enemy to placid quiet,
     which always harassed miserable means,
has been transferred to the Getulians, nor did the sand take in the guilty:
     and the delator has the exile which he used to give.
The delator, a fugitive, is in exile from the Ausonian city:               5
     these things you may reckon among the emperor’s expenses.

Iunctam Pasiphaen Dictaeo credite tauro:
uidimus, accepit fabula prisca fidem.
Nec se miretur, Caesar, longaeua uetustas:
quidquid fama canit, praestat harena tibi.

Believe Pasiphaë joined to the Dictean bull:
we have seen it; the ancient fable has received credence.
Nor let long‑lived Antiquity marvel at itself, Caesar:
whatever Fame sings, the arena furnishes for you.

Belliger inuictis quod Mars tibi seruit in armis,
non satis est, Caesar, seruit et ipsa Venus.

That warlike Mars serves you in invincible arms,
is not enough, Caesar; even Venus herself serves.

VIb

Prostratum uasta Nemees in ualle leonem
nobile et Herculeum fama canebat opus.
Prisca fides taceat: nam post tua munera, Caesar,
hoc iam femineo Marte fatemur agi.

The lion laid low in the vast valley of Nemea—
fame was singing a noble and Herculean work.
Let ancient credence be silent: for after your spectacles, Caesar,
we now confess that this is achieved by a feminine Mars.

VII

Qualiter in Scythica religatus rupe Prometheus
     adsiduam nimio pectore pauit auem,
nuda Caledonia sic uiscera praebuit urso
     non falsa pendens in cruce Laureolus.
Viuebant laceri membris stillantibus artus               5
     inque omni nusquam corpore corpus erat.
Denique supplicium dignum tulit: ille parentis
     uel domini iugulum foderat ense nocens,
templa uel arcano demens spoliauerat auro,
     subdiderat saeuas uel tibi, Roma, faces.               10
Vicerat antiquae sceleratus crimina famae,
     in quo, quae fuerat fabula, poena fuit.

How, bound on a Scythian crag, Prometheus
     fed the incessant bird with his too-overburdened breast,
just so, like a naked Caledonian, he offered his entrails to the bear —
     Laureolus hanging on a not-fictitious cross.
His torn limbs lived, with joints dripping,               5
     and in the whole body nowhere was there a body.
In fine, he bore a punishment worthy of him: he, guilty,
     had dug the throat of a parent or a master with a sword,
or, mad, had despoiled temples of hidden gold,
     or had thrust savage torches beneath you, Rome.               10
The criminal had surpassed the crimes of ancient fame —
     in him, what had been a fable was the penalty.

VIII

Daedale, Lucano cum sic lacereris ab urso,
quam cuperes pinnas nunc habuisse tuas!

Daedalus, since you are thus being torn by a Lucanian bear,
how you would wish now to have had your own pinions!

Praestitit exhibitus tota tibi, Caesar, harena
quae non promisit proelia rhinoceros.
O quam terribilis exarsit pronus in iras!
Quantus erat taurus, cui pila taurus erat!

Exhibited to you, Caesar, in the whole arena,
the rhinoceros supplied the battles which it had not promised.
O how terrible he blazed up, prone to wrath!
How great a bull he was, for whom a bull was a ball!

Laeserat ingrato leo perfidus ore magistrum,
     ausus tam notas contemerare manus,
sed dignas tanto persoluit crimine poenas,
     et qui non tulerat uerbera, tela tulit.
Quos decet esse hominum tali sub principe mores,               5
     qui iubet ingenium mitius esse feris!

The perfidious lion had wounded his master with an ungrateful mouth,
     daring to contaminate such well-known hands,
but he paid penalties worthy of so great a crime,
     and he who had not borne lashes, bore javelins.
What manners befit men under such a prince,               5
     who commands that disposition be gentler to beasts!

Praeceps sanguinea dum se rotat ursus harena,
     inplicitam uisco perdidit ille fugam.
Splendida iam tecto cessent uenabula ferro,
     nec uolet excussa lancea torta manu;
deprendat uacuo uenator in aere praedam,               5
     si captare feras aucupis arte placet.

Headlong, while the bear whirls itself on the blood-stained arena,
     he lost his escape, entangled by birdlime.
Let the splendid hunting-spears now fall idle, their iron sheathed,
     nor let the hurled lance fly, whirled by a twisting hand;
let the hunter seize his prey in the empty air,               5
     if it pleases to catch wild beasts by the fowler’s art.

XII

Inter Caesareae discrimina saeua Dianae
     fixisset grauidam cum leuis hasta suem,
exiluit partus miserae de uulnere matris.
     O Lucina ferox, hoc peperisse fuit?
Pluribus illa mori uoluisset saucia telis,               5
     omnibus ut natis triste pateret iter.

Amid the savage perils of Caesar’s Diana,
     when a light spear had transfixed a pregnant sow,
the offspring leapt out from the wound of the wretched mother.
     O fierce Lucina, was this to have given birth?
She, wounded by more weapons, would have wished to die,               5
     that for all her young a grim path might lie open.

Quis negat esse satum materno funere Bacchum?
sic genitum numen credite: nata fera est.

Who denies that Bacchus was sown from his maternal funeral?
thus believe the divinity begotten: a feral thing was born.

XIII

Icta graui telo confossaque uulnere mater
sus pariter uitam perdidit atque dedit.
O quam certa fuit librato dextera ferro!
Hanc ego Lucinae credo fuisse manum.

Struck by a heavy weapon and pierced with a wound, the mother
sow at the same time lost life and gave it.
O how sure was the right hand with the balanced blade!
I believe this to have been the hand of Lucina.

Experta est numen moriens utriusque Dianae, 5
quaque soluta parens quaque perempta fera est.

Dying she experienced the numen of both Dianas, 5
both in that the parent was delivered and in that the wild beast was slain.

XIV

Sus fera iam grauior maturi pignori uentris
emisit fetum, uolnere facta parens;
nec iacuit partus, sed matre cadente cucurrit.
O quantum est subitis casibus ingenium!

The wild sow, now heavier with the mature pledge of her womb,
sent forth the fetus, made a mother by a wound;
nor did the offspring lie still, but as the mother fell it ran.
O how great is ingenuity in sudden emergencies!

Summa tuae, Meleagre, fuit quae gloria famae,
     quantast Carpophori portio, fusus aper!
Ille et praecipiti uenabula condidit urso,
     primus in Arctoi qui fuit arce poli,
strauit et ignota spectandum mole leonem,               5
     herculeas potuit qui decuisse manus,
et uolucrem longo porrexit uulnere pardum.
     Praemia cum tandem ferret, adhuc poterat.

The summit of your famed glory, Meleager, was a boar laid low—how great a portion of Carpophorus is that!
     That man too planted hunting-spears in a headlong bear,
the one who was first in the citadel of the Arctic pole,
     and he strewed a lion, to be gazed at for its unknown mass,               5
     which could have adorned Herculean hands,
and he stretched the fleet pard with a long wound.
     When at last he bore the prizes, he still was able.

XVI

Raptus abit media quod ad aethera taurus harena,
non fuit hoc artis, sed pietatis opus.

That the bull, snatched away, goes off to the aether from the midst of the arena,
this was not a work of art, but of piety.

XVIb

16b

Vexerat Europen fraterna per aequora taurus:
at nunc Alciden taurus in astra tulit.
Caesaris atque Iouis confer nunc, fama, iuuencos:
par onus ut tulerint, altius iste tulit.

The bull had vexed Europa through her brother’s waters:
but now a bull has borne Alcides into the stars.
Now, Fame, compare the young bulls of Caesar and of Jove:
though they bore an equal burden, this one bore higher.

XVII

Quod pius et supplex elephas te, Caesar, adorat
hic modo qui tauro tam metuendus erat,
non facit hoc iussus, nulloque docente magistro,
crede mihi, nostrum sentit et ille deum.

That the pious and suppliant elephant adores you, Caesar—
he who just now was so to be feared by the bull—
he does not do this by command, and with no teacher instructing;
believe me, he too senses our god.

XVIII

Lambere securi dextram consueta magistri
     tigris, ab Hyrcano gloria rara iugo,
saeua ferum rabido lacerauit dente leonem:
     res noua, non ullis cognita temporibus.
Ausa est tale nihil, siluis dum uixit in altis:               5
     postquam inter nos est, plus feritatis habet.

The tigress, accustomed to lick without fear the right hand of her master,
     a rare glory from the Hyrcanian ridge,
savage, has torn the fierce lion with a rabid tooth:
     a new thing, known in no times.
She dared nothing of such a kind, while she lived in the high forests:               5
     after she is among us, she has more ferity.

XIX

Qui modo per totam flammis stimulatus harenam
sustulerat raptas taurus in astra pilas.
Occubuit tandem cornuto adore petitus,
dum facilem tolli sic elephanta putat.

He who just now, stimulated by flames, through the whole arena
had lifted the snatched javelins to the stars—the bull—
fell at last, assailed by a horned spear,
while he thinks that an elephant is thus easy to be lifted.

Cum peteret pars haec Myrinum, pars illa Triumphum,
promisit pariter Caesar utraque manu.
Non potuit melius litem finire iocosam.
O dulce inuicti principis ingenium!

When this side was asking for Myrinus, that side for Triumph,
Caesar promised both equally with each hand.
He could not have better ended the jocose quarrel.
O sweet ingenuity of the invincible prince!

XXI

Quidquid in Orpheo Rhodope spectasse theatro
     dicitur, exhibuit, Caesar, harena tibi.
Repserunt scopuli mirandaque silua cucurrit,
     quale fuisse nemus creditur Hesperidum.
Adfuit inmixtum pecori genus omne ferarum               5
     et supra uatem multa pependit auis,
ipse sed ingrato iacuit laceratus ab urso.

Whatever is said to have been seen in Orpheus’s theater on Rhodope
     the arena, Caesar, exhibited to you.
The crags crept and the wondrous forest ran,
     such as the grove of the Hesperides is believed to have been.
There was present, mingled with the herd, every kind of wild beast               5
     and many a bird hung above the poet,
but he himself lay torn by an ungrateful bear.

Haec tantum res est facta [par' 'istorian].

Only this matter was done [according to the historian].

XXIb

21b

Orphea quod subito tellus emisit hiatu
ursam elisuram, uenit ab Eurydice.

That the earth suddenly emitted from a hiatus a she-bear to crush Orpheus
this came from Eurydice.

XXII

Sollicitant pauidi dum rhinocerota magistri
     seque diu magnae colligit ira ferae,
desperabantur promissi proelia Martis;
     sed tandem rediit cognitus ante furor.
Namque grauem cornu gemino sic extulit ursum,               5
     iactat ut inpositas taurus in astra pilas:

While the timorous trainers goad the rhinoceros,
     and the fierce beast for a long time gathers itself in great wrath,
the promised battles of Mars were despaired of;
     but at last the formerly known fury returned.
For with his twin horn he thus lifted the heavy bear,               5
     as a bull flings to the stars the javelins set upon it:

XXIII

Norica tam certo uenabula dirigit ictu
     fortis adhuc teneri dextera Carpophori.
Ille tulit geminos facili ceruice iuuencos,
     illi cessit atrox bubalus atque uison:
               5hunc leo cum fugeret, praeceps in tela cucurrit.
     I nunc et lentas corripe, turba, moras!

Norican hunting-spears the strong right hand of still-tender Carpophorus directs with so sure a stroke;
     he bore twin young bulls upon his easy neck,
and to him the fierce buffalo and the bison yielded:
               5as the lion fled from this man, headlong it ran onto the spears.
     Go now, crowd, and reproach the lingering delays!

XXIV

Si quis ades longis serus spectator ab oris,
     cui lux prima sacri muneris ista fuit,
ne te decipiat ratibus naualis Enyo
     et par unda fretis, hic modo terra fuit.
Non credis? specta, dum lassant aequora Martem:               5
     parua mora est, dices 'Hic modo pontus erat.'

If you are present, a late spectator from distant shores,
     to whom this was the first light of the sacred show,
let not naval Enyo deceive you with ships
     and with a wave equal to the seas; here just now there was land.
Do you not believe? Look, while the waters weary Mars:               5
     a brief delay, and you will say, 'Here just now there was sea.'

XXV

Quod nocturna tibi, Leandre, pepercerit unda
desine mirari: Caesaris unda fuit.

That the nocturnal wave has spared you, Leander—
cease to marvel: it was Caesar’s wave.

XXVb

25b

Cum peteret dulces audax Leandros amores
et fessus tumidis iam premeretur aquis,
sic miser instantes adfatus dicitur undas:
'Parcite dum propero, mergite cum redeo.'

When audacious Leander was seeking sweet loves
and, weary, was now being pressed by the tumid waters,
thus the wretch is said to have addressed the pressing waves:
'Spare me while I hasten, drown me when I return.'

XXVI

Lusit Nereidum docilis chorus aequore toto
     et uario faciles ordine pinxit aquas.
Fuscina dente minax recto fuit, ancora curuo:
     credidimus remum credidimusque ratem,
et gratum nautis sidus fulgere Laconum               5
     lataque perspicuo uela tumere sinu.
Quis tantas liquidis artes inuenit in undis?

The teachable chorus of Nereids played over the whole sea
     and in varied order painted the pliant waters.
The trident was menacing with a straight tooth, the anchor with a curved:
     we believed the oar and we believed the ship,
and the star of the Laconians, welcome to sailors, was shining               5
     and the broad sails were swelling with a transparent curve.
Who discovered such great arts in liquid waves?

aut docuit lusus hos Thetis aut didicit.

either Thetis taught these games, or she learned them.

XXVII

Saecula Carpophorum, Caesar, si prisca tulissent,
     non Porthaoniam barbara terra feram,
non Marathon taurum, Nemee frondosa leonem,
     Arcas Maenalium non timuisset aprum.
Hoc armante manus hydrae mors una fuisset,               5
     huic percussa foret tota Chimaera semel.
Igniferos possit sine Colchide iungere tauros,
     possit utramque feram uincere Pasiphaes.

If the former ages, Caesar, had brought forth Carpophorus,
     no barbarous land would have borne the Porthaonian beast,
not Marathon a bull, leafy Nemea a lion,
     the Arcadian would not have feared the Maenalian boar.
With this man arming his hands, the Hydra would have had a single death,               5
     for him the whole Chimera would have been smitten at once.
He could yoke the fire-bearing bulls without a Colchian,
     he could conquer both beasts of Pasiphae.

Si uetus aequorei reuocetur fabula monstri,
Hesionen soluet solus et Andromedan. 10
Herculeae laudis numeretur gloria: plus est
bis denas pariter perdomuisse feras.

If the old fable of the sea‑monster were recalled,
he alone would release Hesione and Andromeda. 10
Let the glory of Herculean laud be numbered: it is more
to have thoroughly subdued twenty wild beasts alike.

XXVIII

Augusti labor hic fuerat committere classes
     et freta nauali sollicitare tuba.
Caesaris haec nostri pars est quota? uidit in undis
     et Thetis ignotas et Galatea feras;
uidit in aequoreo feruentes puluere currus               5
     et domini Triton isse putauit equos:
dumque parat saeuis ratibus fera proelia Nereus,
     horruit in liquidis ire pedestris aquis.

Augustus’s labor had been to engage the fleets
     and to agitate the straits with the naval trumpet.
What portion of our Caesar is this? saw upon the waves
     both Thetis and Galatea unknown beasts;
saw in sea-dust the chariots seething               5
     and Triton thought the lord’s horses had gone;
and while Nereus prepares fierce battles with savage ships,
     he shuddered to go on foot in the liquid waters.

Quidquid et in Circo spectatur et Amphitheatro,
id diues, Caesar, praestitit unda tibi. 10
Fucinus et diri taceantur stagna Neronis:
hanc norint unam saecula naumachiam.

Whatever is beheld both in the Circus and in the Amphitheater,
that the rich wave, Caesar, has furnished for you. 10
Let Fucinus and the pools of dread Nero be silent:
let the ages know this one naumachy.

XXIX

Cum traheret Priscus, traheret certamina Verus,
     esset et aequalis Mars utriusque diu,
missio saepe uiris magno clamore petita est;
     sed Caesar legi paruit ipse suae; -
lex erat, ad digitum posita concurrere parma: -               5
     quod licuit, lances donaque saepe dedit.
Inuentus tamen est finis discriminis aequi:
     pugnauere pares, subcubuere pares.
Misit utrique rudes et palmas Caesar utrique:
     hoc pretium uirtus ingeniosa tulit.               10
Contigit hoc nullo nisi te sub principe, Caesar:
     cum duo pugnarent, uictor uterque fuit.

While Priscus drew it out, while Verus drew out the contests,
     and the Mars of each was for a long time equal,
a discharge was often sought for the men with great clamor;
     but Caesar himself obeyed his own lex; -
the lex was: with the parma set, they should clash on to the digit: -               5
     what was permitted, he often gave—lances and gifts.
Yet an end was found to the even discrimination:
     they fought as equals, they yielded as equals.
Caesar sent to each the rudes and the palms to each:
     this prize ingenious virtus bore away.               10
This befell under no princeps except you, Caesar:
     when two fought, each was victor.

XXX

Concita ueloces fugeret cum damma Molossos
     et uaria lentas necteret arte moras,
Caesaris ante pedes supplex similisque roganti
     constitit, et praedam non tetigere canes.
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .               5
     haec intellecto principe dona tulit.
Numen habet Caesar: sacra est haec, sacra potestas,
     credite: mentiri non didicere ferae.

When, driven, the doe was fleeing the swift Molossians
     and with varied art was weaving lingering delays,
before Caesar’s feet she halted, a suppliant and as if beseeching,
     and the hounds did not touch the prey.
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .               5
     she, once the Princeps understood, carried off these gifts.
Caesar has numen: this, this power is sacred,
     believe it: wild beasts have not learned to lie.

XXXI

Da ueniam subitis: non displicuisse meretur,
festinat, Caesar, qui placuisse tibi.

Grant pardon for the impromptus: he merits not to have displeased,
he hastens, Caesar, who to have pleased you.

XXXII

Cedere maiori uirtutis fama secunda est.
Illa grauis palma est, quam minor hostis habet.

To yield to a greater is virtue’s second fame.
That is a grave palm which a lesser enemy holds.

XXXIII

Flauia gens, quantum tibi tertius abstulit heres!
paene fuit tanti, non habuisse duos.

Flavian clan, how much the third heir has taken from you!
it was almost worth it, not to have had two.