May: SUPPLEMENTUM PHARSALIAE

Jamque propinquabat bellum, Libyâque nefandi
Concurrunt iterum gladii, quos Thessala tellus
Vidisset. Pugnâ cur, Dî, voluistis in illâ
Restare exiguum nequidquam sanguinis Urbi,
Ut flueret torrente novo, fieretque secundum

And now war was drawing near, and in Libya the nefarious
swords clash again, which the Thessalian earth
had seen. Why, Gods, did you will in that battle
that there remain, to no purpose, a scant remnant of blood for the City,
so that it might flow in a new torrent, and become a second

Hîc civile nefas? unâ num clade pudebat
(Quantumvis magnâ) Romanam exscindere gentem?
Aut unâ tanti populi regione jacere
Non est passa graves tristis Fortuna ruinas?

Here, a civil nefarious crime? with one single disaster (however great) did it shame you to extirpate the Roman nation?
Or with one region alone for so great a people to lie did sad Fortune not allow the grave ruins?

Jam Roma in Libyâ est. Latii quae terra triumphos

Now Rome is in Libya. What triumphs the land of Latium

Spectâsset toties, jam tristia vulnera spectat.
Sed, levibus tantum pugnis contenta, parumper
Fortuna extremi differt certamina Martis:
Tot subito gentes perituraque millia leto
Condemnare pudet; nec adhuc feralia Thapsi

SHe had so often looked on; now she looks upon sad wounds.
But, content with only light skirmishes, for a little while
Fortune defers the contests of final Mars:
she is ashamed to condemn to sudden death so many nations and thousands doomed to perish,
nor yet the funereal scenes at Thapsus.

Arva Jubae casus magni, vel triste videbunt
Scipiadae exitium, donec coëuntia signa
Ductorum, atque aliquos belli Ruspina tumultus
Vidit, et exhibuit tantae praecludia cladis.
Scipiadae a castris rex (in sua regna reversus,

The fields of Juba will behold the fall of the great, or the sad destruction of the Scipiades,
until the coalescing standards of the leaders,
and Ruspina saw some tumults of war,
and displayed the preludes of so great a disaster.
the king from Scipio’s camp (returned into his own realms,

Quae longe infestis populatur Sittius armis)
Discedit paulum; plenamque hostilibus armis
Advenit Libyen unâ legione, relicto
Robore militiae Lilybaeo in litore, Caesar.
Nec, de more suo, dederat mandata relictis

(which Sittius lays waste far and wide with hostile arms)
He withdraws a little; and he arrives at Libya, full of hostile arms, with one legion,
leaving the strength of the soldiery on the Lilybaean shore, Caesar.
Nor, according to his custom, had he given orders to those left behind

Militibus, quo conveniant, quae signa sequantur,
Quemve petant protum, permittens omnia fatis,
Fortunaeque suae fidens. Cur, Caesar inique,
Non pudet in minimis toties instare favori
Fortunae, et toties casus tentare per omnes?

To the soldiers—where they should convene, what standards they should follow,
and what port they should seek—he entrusted everything to the Fates,
and trusted in his own Fortune. Why, unjust Caesar,
does it not shame you, in the smallest things, so often to press upon the favor
of Fortune, and so often to try every chance?

Non tibi sat visum est, bello quod semper aperto
Res agit illa tuas, et tantos conficit hostes,
Cum plenâ pugnas acie, sine milite ni te
Protegat, et tua prospiciens temeraria coepta
Dirigat in melius, ducis objectumque periclis

It did not seem enough to you, that, with war ever open,
she manages your affairs, and brings to completion such great enemies,
when you fight with a full battle line, you would be without soldiery unless she
protect you, and, foreseeing your temerarious undertakings,
direct them for the better, and you, the leader, exposed to perils

Privatis toties redimat caput? an tibi parvum est
Effugisse Phari insidias, parvâque carinâ
Nocturni tutum vicisse pericula ponti?
Cur Divae, imperium tibi quae promiserit orbis,
Casibus exiguis pretiosum absumis amorem?

Shall private men so often ransom your head? or is it a small thing for you
to have escaped the Pharian snares, and with a small keel
to have safely overcome the dangers of the nocturnal sea?
Why do you, for the Goddess who promised you the imperium of the world,
squander a precious love on paltry chances?

Postquam Andrumeti frustra corrumpere fidum
Considium, qui Scipiadae servaverat urbem
Praesidiis, Caesar tentaverat; ordine certo,
Instructâque redit legione, nec urbe potiri,
Sed tuto remeare, cupit. Sed vix fuga tanto

After, at Andrumetum, to corrupt in vain the faithful
Considius, who had kept the city for the Scipiad
with garrisons, Caesar had attempted; in fixed order,
and with his legion drawn up he returns, desiring not to gain possession of the city,
but to go back in safety. But scarcely a flight so great

Induperatori concessa est tuta; frequentes
Considii erumpunt equites, atque agmina turbant.
Summaque ductoris laus est, et Caesar digna,
Ruspinam salvis potuisse redire catervis.
Sola urbes inter Libycas jam Caesarianae

A safe return was granted to the commander; in large numbers
Considius’s cavalry erupt, and they disturb the battle-lines.
And the highest praise of the leader, and worthy of Caesar,
was to have been able to return to Ruspina with the troops safe.
Only the cities among the Libyans are now Caesarian.

Perfugium tenui restat Ruspina cohorti.
Hinc iterum ductor fatis egressus eisdem,
Dum cepit Leptim, et firmavit robore, paene
Amisit rursus reditum. Labienus in armis
Acer erat; validisque vias praecluserat omnes

Refuge remains for the meager Ruspina cohort.
From here again the leader, going forth to the same fates,
while he seized Leptis and fortified it with strength, almost
lost his return again. Labienus in arms
was keen; and with strong forces he had closed off all the ways

Insidiis. Virtute opus est, et Caesare toto.
Fortunâque ejus summâ jam tempus egebat.
Et vicêre viri virtus, fortunaque: visae
Tempore sunt apto insidiae; victorque cruento,
Perque viros, perque arma, viam mucrone recludit;

Ambushes. There is need of valor, and of Caesar entire.
And the time already was in need of his highest fortune.
And the men’s virtue, and fortune, conquered: the ambushes were seen
at a fitting time; and the victor,
through men and through arms, opens a way with a bloody point;

Bisque fugam Caesar solam vincendo paravit.
Dum prope signa ducum vidit Ruspina duorum,
Infestasque aquilas, Utiquae Pompeius agebat.
Hanc Cato praesidiis tenuit; cum sic Cato sanctus
Alloquitur juvenem, et dictis castigat amicis;

Twice by conquering Caesar prepared only flight.
While near the standards of the two leaders he saw Ruspina,
and the hostile eagles; and at Utica Pompeius was campaigning.
This city Cato held with garrisons; when thus the saintly Cato
addresses the young man, and with friendly words castigates him;

"Surge animis, Pompei; magnum patris assere nomen,
"Et generis fatum tanti. Scrutare remotos
"Terrarum tractus, per regnaque dissita quaere,
"Quantus erat famâ genitor, quantasque reliquit
"Nominis haeredi, solo vel nomine, vires,

"Rise in spirit, Pompey; assert the great name of your father,
"And the fate of so great a lineage. Scrutinize the remote
"tracts of the lands, and through scattered realms inquire,
"how great in fame your progenitor was, and how great powers he left
"to the heir of the name, by the name alone—even by the name,

"Pompeii nato gladios quae terrae negabit?
"Quae tibi non classes (armis pacata paternis)
"Aequora praebebunt? hostis te viribus aequum
"Tanta facit fama, et mundo venerabile nomen.
"Si libet Occiduos orbis tentare recessus,

"To the son of Pompey, what lands will deny swords?
"What seas to you (pacified by paternal arms)
"will not provide fleets?—the equal in forces to a foe
"such great fame makes you, and a name venerable to the world.
"If it pleases you to try the Occidental recesses of the world,

"Hispanosque armare truces, tua signa sequetur
"Cantaber, et Celtis sociatus nomen Iberus;
"Et tota Herculeis pubes a Gadibus, altos
"Ad Pyrenaeos, extremaque litora mundi.
"Si nihil omnino patriae miseranda moveret

"and to arm the grim Spaniards, your standards the Cantabrian will follow,
"and the Iberian name, allied with the Celts;
"and all the youth from Herculean Gades, to the lofty
"Pyrenees, and the farthest shores of the world.
"If nothing at all of your pitiable fatherland were to move you

"Afflictae facies, si nil moritura moveret
"Libertas, possesque hilaris servire tyranno;
"Te privata tamen facerent mala Caesaris hostem.
"Si pater arma tuus pro libertate gerebat,
"Nullus in Emathiis plus, quam tu, perdidit arvis:

"If the afflicted faces, if Liberty about to die moved nothing,
"and you could blithely serve a tyrant;
"yet your private ills would make you Caesar’s enemy.
"If your father bore arms for Liberty,
"no one in the Emathian fields lost more than you:"

"Sed sibi si genitor campo pugnavit in illo,
"Multo sunt tua damna illic majora; tibique
"Abstulit imperium victoria Caesaris orbis.
"Sed bona, quae moriens genitor tibi vera reliquit,
"Sunt vitae exemplum, et gestarum imitatio rerum.

"But even if your begetter fought on that field on his own behalf,
"your losses there are by much greater; and from you
"Caesar’s victory over the world has taken away the imperium.
"But the goods which, as he was dying, your father truly bequeathed to you,
"are an exemplar of life, and an imitation of deeds accomplished.

"Haec tibi perpetuo, quae non invisa potestas
"Caesaris, aut Fortuna, potest auferre, manebunt.
"Labentem patriam teneris suscepit ab annis,
"Nullus adhuc titulis, nulloque insignis honore:
"Nec vires habuit, nisi quas virtute paravit.

"These things for you in perpetuity, which neither the odious power
"of Caesar nor Fortune can take away, will remain.
"He took up a sinking fatherland from tender years,
"As yet with no titles, and distinguished by no honor:
"Nor did he have powers, except those which he procured by virtue.

"Quantos ille duces juvenili ardore subegit,
"Cum Marii moestam lacerasset factio Romam,
"Et miseram assiduis implesset caedibus urbem!
"Quot tum pro patriâ felicia bella peregit!
"Illius auspiciis audax est Carbo peremtus,

"How many leaders did he subdue with juvenile ardor,
"When the faction of Marius had torn mournful Rome,
"And had filled the wretched city with continual slaughters!
"How many successful wars then did he carry through for the fatherland!
"Under his auspices bold Carbo was slain,

100

"Et cecidit terris Sertorius exsul Iberis.
"Praeclarum Libyco (dignus tunc nomine Magni)
"Duxit (adhuc Romanus eques) de rege triumphum.
"Haec fecit, nondumque tuos excesserat annos.

"And Sertorius, an exile, fell in the Iberian lands.
"An illustrious Libyan—then worthy of the name 'Great'—
"triumph he led—still a Roman equestrian—over a king.
"These things he accomplished, and had not yet exceeded your years.

"Sed tu cur Libycis resides privatus in oris?

"But you, why do you reside, as a private man, on Libyan shores?

105

"Unius auxilium dextrae praestare valebis
"Hîc tantum patriae: procul hinc tu collige vires,
"Et libertati ductor succurre cadenti:
"Vel dignam tantis natalibus oppete mortem. "
Nil contra juvenis; sed (tamquam Roma Catonis

"You will be able to provide the aid of a single right hand
"Here only to your fatherland; far from here gather your forces,
"And as leader succor Liberty as she falls:
"Or meet a death worthy of such great birth. "
Nothing in reply, the youth; but (as though Rome were Cato’s

110

Ex ore admoneat, promantve oracula vocem)
Obsequitur citius dicto; et, dans carbasa ventis,
Digreditur Libycis, nunquam rediturus, ab oris,
Ut cadat Europâ magnus, ductorque per agros
Tot ferat Hispanos Romanae vulnera gentis,

whether she warn from her mouth, or bring forth the voice of oracles)
He obeys the command more swiftly; and, giving the canvases to the winds,
he departs from the Libyan shores, never to return,
so that in Europe the Great may fall, and as a leader across the fields
he may bring so many Spanish wounds upon the Roman race,

115

Quot prima Emathiis victoria Caesaris arvis
Proxima vel faciet Libycis. Nimis invida quamquam,
Nobilis o Pompei! longae tibi fata negârunt
(Quae patri dederant) felicia tempora vitae;
Morte tamen patrem aequabis, magnaque ruinâ;

How many the first victory of Caesar on the Emathian fields
or else the next will make on the Libyan. Although too envious,
O noble Pompey! the Fates denied to you long fortunate times
(which they had given to your father) of life;
yet by death you will equal your father, and by a great ruin.

120

Nec fera fatalem vincet Pharsalia Mundam.
Sicaniis Caesar vires jam nactus ab oris
Protinus Uzzitae excelsum prope moenia montem
Occupat. Huc ducunt, collatis undique signis,
Rex Juba Scipiadesque suas ad proelia turmas.

Nor will fierce Pharsalia surpass fatal Munda.
Caesar, now having gained forces from the Sicilian shores,
straightway seizes a lofty mountain near the walls of Uzitta.
Hither they lead, with the standards gathered from every side,
King Juba and the Scipiads their squadrons to the battle.

125

Conspectu Uzzitae bellum jam constitit omne.
Scipio detrectat pugnam; nec dulcia tantis
Uzzitae fato damnantur cladibus arva;
Quamvis ter Caesar, certaminis acer amore,
Instruit armatas acies, ter provocat hostes.

In the sight of Uzzita all the war now stood still.
Scipio declines the fight; nor are Uzzita’s sweet fields by fate condemned to such great disasters;
Although three times Caesar, keen with love of contest,
arrays the armed battle-lines, three times he provokes the enemies.

130

Sed nullam pugnae cum spem superesse videbat,
Destituit rursus montem; et laeto omine Thapsi,
Nocte iter emensus, fatalia venit in arva.
Illic Virgilius valido castella tenebat
Milite, Scipiadae fidus, causaeque senatûs.

But when he saw that no hope of battle remained,
he abandons the mountain again; and, with a glad omen at Thapsus,
having traversed the journey by night, he came into the fateful fields.
There Virgilius was holding the forts with strong soldiery,
faithful to Scipio and to the senate’s cause.

135

Scipiadae regisque Jubae vexilia sequuntur
Ad Thapsum, quamvis cladis praesaga futurae
Aethera non cessant dare signa minacia. Lumen
Horridius tenebris praebebant fulgura: stellae
Insolitae visae; intonuit sine nubibus aër;

The vexilla of the Scipiad and of King Juba follow to Thapsus,
although the aether, presaging the future calamity, does not cease to give minatory signs. Light
more horrid than darkness the lightning-flashes supplied: stars
Unusual were seen; the air thundered without clouds;

140

Et fragor armorum nocturnas terruit auras;
Aeratâ moestus manavit casside sudor;
Et dura attonitis ardebant pila maniplis.
Vix poterant, infausto examine tecta, revelli
Signa solo; noctu Libycorum audita leonum

And the crash of arms terrified the nocturnal airs;
Mournful sweat flowed from the brazen helmet;
And hard javelins blazed for the thunderstruck maniples.
Scarcely could the standards be wrenched from the soil, the roofs overlaid by an ill-omened swarm;
At night the lions of Libya were heard

145

Murmura saeva: solum Thapsi, montesque, moveri,
Coeliferumque Atlanta, putant: non laeta videtur
Ulla avis; infaustus bubo, nocturnaque castris
Strix queritur: nec, cum Superbi mortalibus ista
Prodigia ostendunt, clades vitare futuras,

Fierce murmurs: they think the soil of Thapsus, and the mountains, are being moved, and Atlas the heaven-bearer; no bird seems glad; the ill-omened horned-owl, and the nocturnal strix, laments at the camps: nor, when the Gods Above show these prodigies to mortals, do they avoid the disasters to come,

150

Sed tantum trepidare, docent. Feralia Thapsi
Scipiadae peritura acies jam venit in arva,
Quae tot damnâssent crudelia fata ruinis.
Aequore, quo Siculis Libye disjungitur oris,
Alluitur longo tractu paeninsula Thapsus,

But they teach only to tremble. The funereal battle-line of the Scipiad, destined to perish, has now come into the fields of Thapsus,
which would doom so many to cruel fates in ruins.
By the sea, by which Libya is disjoined from the Sicilian shores,
Thapsus, a peninsula, is washed along a long stretch,

155

Quâ spectat Borean: adversâ parte palude
Cingitur: in medio est aditus terrestris ad urbem.
Hanc isthmon, quamvis non late extenditur, altum
Dividit in medio stagnum, binasque relinquit
Angustas utrimque vias. Haec Caesar ad ora

Where it looks toward Boreas: on the opposite side it is girdled
by a marsh: in the middle there is a terrestrial approach to the city.
This isthmus, although it does not extend widely, a deep
lagoon divides in the middle, and leaves twin
narrow ways on either side. To these shores Caesar

160

Exteriora isthmi pervenerat agmine laeto;
Castraque munierat vallis fossâque profundâ,
Quâ Thapsum spectant; ne forsan terga suorum
In pugnâ opprimerent hostes ex urbe ruentes.
Sed fauces paene angustas obsederat isthmi

He had reached the outer parts of the isthmus with a joyful column;
and had fortified the camp with rampart and deep ditch,
on the side which looks toward Thapsus; lest perhaps the enemies,
rushing out from the city, should overwhelm the backs of his men in battle.
But he had occupied the almost narrow defiles of the isthmus

165

Scipio; Caesareis adversaque castra locâsset,
Magnum opus intendens, si non cita pugna daretur,
Aggeribus structis, ductâque ad litora fossâ,
Deceptos illis includere faucibus hostes.
Sed coeptum celare suum, vel ferre paratus

Scipio; when he had placed camps opposite to the Caesarians,
aiming at a great work, if a swift battle were not given,
with ramparts erected, and a ditch drawn to the shores,
to enclose the enemies, once deceived, in those narrows.
But prepared either to conceal his undertaking, or to carry it through

170

Incursum belli, pulchro instruit ordine turmas.
Romanas medio legiones ipse gubernat;
Tot varias dextro gentes sua signa secutas
Rex Juba ducebat cornu; laevumque tenebat
In Libycis Varus, Gallis Labienus in armis

For the onset of war, he arrays the squadrons in fair order.
He himself governs the Roman legions in the center;
King Juba was leading on the right wing so many diverse nations that had followed his standards;
and the left was held
by Varus with Libyans in arms, by Labienus with Gauls in arms.

175

Teutonicisque ferox; alarum frontibus, altis
Aggeribus bello similes, stabant elephantes.
His juncti Gaetuli equites Numidaeque steterunt.
Pone feras variae gentes levia arma gerebant;
Armati jaculis Mauri: pharetrisque veneno

Fierce with Teutons; on the fronts of the wings, like high ramparts in war, stood the elephants.
To these were joined Gaetulian horsemen, and the Numidians took their stand.
Behind the beasts, diverse peoples were bearing light arms;
the Mauri armed with javelins: and with quivers with venom

180

Illita gestabant scelerati spicula Mibae.
Caesaris at postquam instructam procede vidit
Scipiades aciem, clara sic voce cohortes
Incitat: "O Romana manus, spes sola senatûs,
"Et patriae tutela! animis si robora posset

The wicked Mibae were bearing darts smeared with poison in their quivers.
But after the Scipiad saw Caesar’s battle line, drawn up, advancing,
thus with a clear voice he stirs the cohorts:
"O Roman band, the senate’s sole hope,
"And the fatherland’s tutelage! if strength could to spirits

185

"Addere ductoris facundia, quanta diserto
"Argumenta darent miserae tot vulnera Romae,
"Viribus exstictae leges, venerandaque jura,
"Ipsaque libertas armis oppressa nefandis!
"Si patriae clades, si publica damna movere

"To add would be the leader’s facundity, how great arguments
"so many wounds of wretched Rome would give to the disert one,
"the laws extinguished by force, and the venerable rights,
"and Liberty herself oppressed by nefarious arms!
"If the fatherland’s disasters, if the public damages move

190

"Nil poterant mentes; cui non Pharsalia luctus
"Exhibuit proprios, privataque funera? quis non
"Aut fratres illic aut natos moeret ademtos?
"Jam nunc ultrices spectant tot pignora dextras,
"Tot cari Manes. Tanto hîc nos justius arma

"Minds could do nothing; to whom did Pharsalia not display
"their own griefs and private funerals? who does not
"there mourn brothers or sons taken away?
"Already now so many pledges look toward avenging right hands,
"so many dear Manes. By so much the more justly here do we [take up] arms

195

"Induimus, quam Thessalicis Pompeius in arvis,
"Quanto Thessalicis augentur crimina campis
"Caesaris. Accedent tam justae Numina causae.
"Nec, quoniam Emathiâ cecidit sub Caesare Roma,
"Vos transîsse Deos, Romanaque jura perosos,

"We don them, more just than Pompey on the Thessalian fields;
"by how much the crimes of Caesar are increased on the Thessalian plains.
"To so just a cause the Numina will come in addition.
"Nor, because in Emathia Rome fell beneath Caesar,
"have you gods withdrawn, hating Roman laws,

200

"Credite. Pompeio solitum Fortuna negavit,
"Non Urbi, auxilium: toties lassata triumphis
"Privati, verita est, ne, si cecidesset in arvis
"Emathiis Caesar, deceptus crederet orbis
"Non Romae, sed Pompeio, donâsse triumphum,

"Believe it. Fortune denied the accustomed aid to Pompey,
"not to the City; so often wearied by the triumphs
"of a private man, she feared lest, if Caesar had fallen in the
"Emathian fields, the world, deceived, would believe
"that it had granted the triumph not to Rome, but to Pompey,

205

"Privatique fuisse Deam. Non amplius Urbem
"Destituet Fortuna suam; fatisve nefandi
"Caesaris Ausoniae sacras succumbere leges,
"Imperiumque, sinet. Non sunt haec signa Deorum
"Iratorum Urbi, (si me non omina fallunt)

"and that the Goddess had belonged to a private man.
"No longer will Fortune abandon her own City;
"nor, by the fates of impious Caesar, will she allow
"the sacred laws of Ausonia, and the Imperium, to succumb.
"These are not signs of gods angered at the City, (if omens do not deceive me)

210

"Ductorem vobis, Libyco pugnantibus orbe,
"Quod dant Scipiadem. Felicia nominis hujus
"Fat hîc, aut Afros non est memorare necesse
"(Quos non ulla potest regio nescire) triumphos.
"Talia fas nobis sperare est; non minor armat

"As a leader for you, battling in the Libyan world,
"that they grant a Scipiad. The felicitous Fates of this name here,
"nor is it necessary to recount the African triumphs
"(which no region can be ignorant of).
"Such things it is right for us to hope; no lesser one arms

215

"Nos pietas: Latii nec nominis Hannibal hostis
"Caesare deterior. Patriae junxêre salutem
"Cum vestrâ Superi. Manibus reddetur eisdem
"Roma sibi et vobis.

"For us—Piety: nor is Hannibal, enemy of the Latin name,
"worse than Caesar. The Gods Above have joined the safety
"of the fatherland with yours. To the same hands shall be restored
"Rome to herself and to you.

Virtute arcessite fatum.
"Communi proprios cum libertate penates,

Summon fate by virtue.
"Your own Penates with common liberty,

220

"Conjugia atque domos, istis conquirite campis. "
Militis erigitur virtus: animosa cohortes
Ira subit Latias, pugnaeque accendit amore.
Nec minus interea vario clamore fremebat
Dissona turba Jubae, et belli undique signa petebat.

"Seek out marriages and homes, on those fields. "
The soldier’s valor is aroused: high-spirited stand the Latin cohorts;
wrath comes upon them and kindles them with love of battle.
No less meanwhile, with varied clamor, Juba’s dissonant throng was roaring,
and on every side it was seeking the signs of war.

225

Caesar, ut optatum Dîs advenisse secundis
Pugnandi vidit tempus, sic voce cohortes
Incitat audaces: "Dextris victricibus iste
"Ultimus, en, sudor, qui tot mercede labores
"Pensabit dignâ, qui tot livore negatos

Caesar, when he saw that, with the gods favorable, the longed-for time for fighting had arrived,
thus with his voice he incites the bold cohorts: "With victorious right hands this
"last, behold, sweat, which with a worthy wage
"will recompense so many labors, which so many times envy has denied

230

"Hactenus, et magnâ meritos virtute, triumphos
"Asseret. Ista dies, quascumque aut Gallia laurus,
"Aut Rheni gentes, aut victa Britannis, debent
"Virtuti dudum vestrae, nuperve subactae
"Promittunt gentes, invitis hostibus, omnes,

"Thus far—and the triumphs earned by great valor—it shall secure.
"This day, whatever laurels either Gaul,
"or the peoples of the Rhine, or the Britons, conquered, owe
"to your valor long since, and whatever peoples recently subdued
"promise, all, with the enemies unwilling,

235

"Invito livore, dabit: longeque triumphum
"Majorem de rege Jubâ victoribus addet.
"Nec dubitare mihi fas est; fallentia nunquam
"Signa, truces oculos video, vultusque minaces.
"Victores novisse suos fragmenta ruinae

"In spite of begrudging envy, she will grant it: and by far she will add to the victors a greater triumph over King Juba.
"Nor is it lawful for me to doubt; I see signs never deceiving, fierce eyes and menacing faces.
"The fragments of a ruin have recognized their victors

240

"Emathiae discant. " Dixisset plura: repente
Cum fera de dextro cecinerunt classica cornu,
Prosiliuntque acres (nec eas retinere tribunus
Centuriove potest) ad proelia sponte catervae.
Non inhibet Caesar, sed laxat frena furori.

"Let them learn of Emathia. " He would have said more: suddenly
when the fierce war-trumpets sounded from the right-hand wing,
and the keen troops leap forth (nor can a tribune
or a centurion restrain them) of their own accord to the battles.
Caesar does not inhibit, but loosens the reins to the fury.

245

Carcere sic pronus nimium ad certamina currus
Cum forte erumpit, lorisque auriga retentis
Frustra inhibere studet, tandem dat victus habenas.
Utraque jam tanto concurrunt agmina motu,
Quanto (si longae flexum natura Maleae

Thus, when from the starting-gate a chariot, too headlong for the contests,
bursts out by chance, and the charioteer, with the reins held back,
strives in vain to inhibit it, at last, overcome, he gives the reins.
Both battle-lines now rush together with such great motion,
as much as (if the nature of long Malea’s bend

250

Donaret nautis) adversis bina coirent
Aequora gurgitibus. Pulsat fragor aethera; montes
Undique vicini excipiunt, resonantque furentes
Pugnantûm voces. Siculas it clamor ad oras.
Huncque repercutiunt Lilybeïa saxa, timentque

would grant to the sailors) the twin seas would come together with opposing
waters in their whirlpools. The crash beats the aether; the mountains
neighboring on every side take it up, and the raging
voices of the combatants resound. The clamor goes to the Sicilian shores.
And the Lilybaean rocks re-echo this, and they fear

255

Vel sonitum belli terrâ retinere quietâ.
Non ita, pinifero Boreas cum Thracius Ossae
Incubuit, resonant quassatae turbine silvae;
Murmure nec tanto Nilus, cum de Cataractis
Praecipitat duris illisas cautibus undas,

Or to retain the sound of war with the earth at rest.
Not so, when Thracian Boreas has brooded upon pine-bearing Ossa,
the shaken forests resound with the whirlwind;
nor with so great a murmur does the Nile, when from the Cataracts
it precipitates waves dashed against the hard rocks,

260

Astra lavans, surdas habitantibus obstruit aures.
Scipiadae dulcis stimulat vindicta catervas:
Caesareas ingens premit indignatio turmas,
Quod nova defuncto succedant proelia Magno;
Inventusque alius ductor civilibus armis.

Bathing the stars, it obstructs the ears of the inhabitants, making them deaf.
The sweet vengeance of the Scipio-born goads the companies:
a vast indignation presses the Caesarean troops,
that new battles succeed with Magnus deceased;
and another leader has been found for civil arms.

265

Sanguine merguntur campi, vicinaque multo
Tincta cruore palus; et quod tot vulnera rubrum
Emittunt flumen, fecundam putria terrae
Alligat in glebam, et steriles connectit arenas.
Inter utramque aciem volitat feralis Enyo,

The fields are submerged in blood, and the neighboring marsh
is dyed with much gore; and the river, red with what so many
wounds send forth, binds the putrid things into a fruitful clod
of earth, and knits together the barren sands.
Between both battle-lines flits funereal Enyo,

270

Lampada funestam quatiens. Reseraverat antrum
Tartareus rector pallens; utque arma nefanda
Spectarent, caperentque sui solatia fati,
Invisas illuc Libyes emiserat umbras.
Undique consedêre arvis, nigrâque coronâ

shaking a funereal torch. He had unbarred the cavern
the pallid Tartarean ruler; and so that they might behold the nefarious
arms, and take consolations of their own fate,
thither he had sent forth the detested Libyan shades.
On every side they sat down upon the fields, and with a black corona

275

Infecêre diem, versatilis umbra Jugurthae,
Hannibalis saevi Manes, captique Syphacis:
Qui nunc eversas secum Carthaginis arces
Ignovêre Deis, postquam feralia campi
Proelia Thapsiaci, et Latios vidêre furores.

They stained the day, the versatile shade of Jugurtha,
the Manes of savage Hannibal, and of captured Syphax:
who now, the citadels of Carthage overthrown along with themselves,
have forgiven the gods, after the funereal battles
of the Thapsian plain, and the Latian furies they beheld.

280

Sed tamen Ausoniae civilia vulnera dextrae
Afra luet tellus; et plus vastabitur, aetas
Proxima quam reparare potest. Inarata jacebunt
Arva; ruentque suis vacuatae civibus urbes.
Quaeque viri coluêre, ferae nunc rura tenebunt.

But yet the African earth will atone for the Ausonian right hand’s civil wounds;
and it will be more devastated than the next age can repair. Unploughed shall the
fields lie; and cities, vacated of their own citizens, will collapse.
And the countrysides which men cultivated, wild beasts will now hold.

285

Quâ reges olim per gentes jura dederunt,
Tigris erit, pardusque, et habebunt regna leones.
Innocuus vivet serpens, et nulla, venenis
Dum deerunt homines, pestis censebitur orbi.
Caesareis leviter percussi pectora telis,

Where kings once through the nations gave laws,
there will be the tiger and the pard, and lions will hold kingdoms.
The innocuous serpent will live, and no pest,
so long as men are lacking to the poisons, will be reckoned for the world.
the breasts lightly smitten by Caesarean missiles,

290

In sua conversis elephantes agmina frenis
Praecipites rabie currunt: tum robore densos
Indomito turbant cuneos, atque agmina regis
Prosternunt confusa Jubae: nil arte valebant
Rectores miseri, nil vi; Fortuna regebat

With their reins turned back upon their own ranks, the elephants run headlong in rabid rage:
then with indomitable strength they throw into disorder the dense wedges,
and lay low the ranks of King Juba, in confusion:
nothing by art availed,
the wretched drivers, nothing by force; Fortune was ruling.

295

Sola feras, contraque suos pro Caesare misit.
Illi hostes, illi socii, dum nemo gubernat,
Quos Fortuna facit. Vicinum elephantibus agmen,
Gaetuli Numidaeque equites crudeliter illic
Calcabantur humi. Vastâ pars mole ferarum

She alone sent the beasts, and against their own, for Caesar, dispatched them.
They are enemies, they are allies, while no one governs—such as Fortune makes them.
The column near the elephants,
the Gaetulian and Numidian horsemen were cruelly there
trampled underfoot on the ground. A vast part by the vast mass of the beasts

300

Contrita est; fossas pars praecipitantur in altas.
Tunc infelices, tutelâ orbati elephantûm,
Tot Libyae populi, et gentes levia arma gerentes,
Caeduntur cumulis passim, jugulisque fatigant
Caesareos solis; nec stantes amplius hosti

It is crushed; a part are hurled headlong into deep ditches.
Then the unfortunate, bereft of the tutelage of the elephants,
so many peoples of Libya, and nations bearing light arms,
are cut down in heaps everywhere, and with their throats alone they weary
the Caesareans; nor do they stand any longer to the foe

305

Hic bellum, sed praeda, manent. Hastilibus igne
Duratis quid Bamurae jam nuda juventus?
Quid levibus contra Romanos comminus hostes
Autololes jaculis?

Here war, but booty, await. With spear-shafts hardened by fire
what can the Bamurae’s youth, now naked, do?
What can the Autololes, hand-to-hand against the Romans,
with light javelins?

Nil illis ignea plantae
Vis prodest, cursusque levi velocior aurâ.

No power of fiery soles profits them,
and their running is swifter than the light breeze.

310

Non bene Cinyphiis hirsuit tegmina capri
Pectora defendunt: vix, contra Caesaris enses,
Aes ferrumque valent. Implentur sanguine fossae:
Moesta madet tellus; et de tot gentibus unus
Purpureus caesis infecit pascua torrens.

Not well do the shaggy coverings of the Cinyphian goat defend the chests;
scarcely, against Caesar’s swords, do bronze and iron avail.
The fosses are filled with sanguine blood:
the mournful earth is drenched; and out of so many nations one
purple torrent, from the slain, stained the pastures.

315

Non Juba, per mortes hominum, privataque fata,
Sed gentes pariter caesas, populosque jacentes,
Metitur, quantis pereunt sibi regna ruinis.
Nec sua post tantam cladem munita putavit
Castra satis, miseram victis praestare salutem;

Not Juba, by the deaths of men and private fates,
but by nations equally cut down and peoples lying low,
measures how great the ruins are by which kingdoms perish for themselves.
Nor did he, after so great a disaster, deem his fortified camp sufficient
to afford to the vanquished a wretched safety.

320

Sed, cum Petreio fugiens, tentoria cunctis
Splendida divitiis hosti permisit avaro.
Quae cito Caesarei, victorum terga sequentes,
Diripiunt, opibusque Jubae, tantisque potiti
Bellorum exuviis, operum mercede, priusquam

But, fleeing with Petreius, he permitted to the avaricious enemy the tents of all,
resplendent with riches. Which the Caesareans, quickly, following the backs of the victors,
plunder, and, having gotten Juba’s wealth and such great spoils of wars,
as the wage of their works, before

325

Sanguinolenta fuit victoria plena, fruuntur.
Sed non tam celeri bellum pro Caesare cursu,
Quâ Latiis stabat vallatus Scipio turmis,
Atque pares fulsêre aquilae, Fortuna peregit.
Hîc incerta diu varii stetit alea belli;

Blood-stained was the victory; they enjoy it in full.
But not with so swift a course did the war for Caesar,
as where Scipio stood entrenched with Latin troops,
and the eagles glittered equal, did Fortune bring it to completion.
Here for a long time stood the uncertain die of the changeful war;

330

Hîc haesit fatum, et dubiis Victoria pennis.
Inter utrumque agmen visa est volitare; repellit
Viribus haec acies vires; alternaque dextras
Crimina civiles foedant; dum maxima regnant
Hîc odia, hîc caedes; animos in proelia tamquam

Here fate hung, and Victory on doubtful wings.
Between both battle-lines she was seen to flit; this battle-line repels
forces with forces; and in turn right hands
are befouled by civil crimes; while the greatest reign—
here hatreds, here slaughters; spirits into battles as though

335

Causa mala augeret; tantoque ardentior ira,
Quo scelerata magis. Dubitant ostendere fata,
Quid tandem Romae fortunave Caesaris esset.
Ex acie tandem Libycae fugêre cohortes,
Quae duce sub Varo steterant; dare terga coactus

The evil cause would augment; and the wrath burned the more ardently, the more criminal it was.
The Fates hesitate to reveal what at last would be the lot of Rome or the fortune of Caesar.
At last the Libyan cohorts fled from the battle-line,
which had stood under their leader Varus; Varus, compelled to turn his back

340

Dux simul; et tu, Gallorum, Labiene, tuorum
Corpora caesa videns, Thapsi funesta relinquis
Arva gemens; aliis demum civilibus armis,
Romanisque iterum servate furoribus, arvo
Pars Latiae cladis Mundano magna jacebis.

Dux at the same time; and you, Labienus of the Gauls, seeing the bodies of your own cut down,
you leave, groaning, the funereal fields of Thapsus;
at last for other civil arms,
and kept for Roman furors again, on the field
of Munda you will lie, a great share of Latian disaster.

345

Nec fato occumbes, (acerrime Caesaris hostis)
Dum potis est certare suo cum Caesare Roma.
Scipio ut adversas videt increbrescere vires,
Cedentesque suas, nec jam reparabile bellum,
Fluctuat ancipiti divisus pectora curâ;

Nor will you succumb to fate, (fiercest enemy of Caesar)
so long as Rome is able to contend with her own Caesar.
When Scipio sees the adverse forces increase,
and his own give way, and the war now irreparable,
he wavers, his breast divided by a twofold care;

350

Ingerat an medios sese moriturus in hostes,
Ut, populi caput Hesperii, ductorque senatûs,
Summo in honore cadat felix, Stygiasque per undas
Maxima Romani descendat nominis umbra:
An speraret adhuc, atque ultra fidere fatis

Should he thrust himself, doomed to die, into the midst of the enemies,
so that, the head of the Hesperian people and leader of the senate,
he might fall fortunate in the highest honor, and, through the Stygian waves,
the greatest shade of the Roman name might descend:
or should he still hope, and trust further in the fates

355

Ausoniis, tantoque velit superesse dolori.
Decepit tandem fiducia vana futuri
Successûs miserum, pulchrumque excussit amorem
Mortis: ut Emathiâ, caput oblatura superbo
Victori, Magnum spes dira fefellerat olim.

for the Ausonians, and to wish to survive so great a sorrow.
At last a vain confidence of future Success deceived the wretched man,
and shook off the beautiful love of Death:
as in Emathia, about to offer up the headship to the proud Victor,
dire Hope had once deceived the Great.

360

Hos animo casus volventem concitus aufert
Scipiadem ex acie sonipes; cum territa passim
Agmina coeperunt toto discurrere campo;
Cedentesque equites tutas petiêre latebras
Montibus Uzzitae; peditum pars magna petebat

Turning these misfortunes over in his mind, the impetuous steed
bears the Scipiad off from the battle-line; when the terrified
ranks began to disperse over the whole field;
and the withdrawing horsemen sought safe hiding-places
in the mountains of Uzzita; a great part of the foot-soldiers was seeking

365

Castra Jubae, si forte brevem praestare salutem
Defessis alti poterant munimina valli.
Sed, postquam se deceptos, et castra cruentis
Caesareis possessa vident, tum tela cohortes
Victae proiiciunt, et inermia brachia tendunt.

Juba’s camp, if by chance it could provide brief safety
to the weary, the fortifications of the high rampart could.
But, after they see that they have been deceived, and that the camp is possessed
by the bloody Caesarians, then the conquered cohorts
throw down their missiles, and stretch out their unarmed arms.

370

Sed nihil (o rabies civilis dira furoris!)
Profuit, heu! miseris submissio: caede nefandâ
Sternuntur, quamvis gladios inhibere suorum
Contendit Caesar frustra, et clamore furentes
Increpuit magno, "Cives nunc esse memento,

But nothing (O rabies of civil fury, dire!)
profited, alas! the wretched, their submission: by unspeakable slaughter
they are laid low, although Caesar strove in vain to inhibit the swords of his own,
and with a great clamor he rebuked the raging men,
"Remember now to be citizens,

375

"Non hostes, miles; partum virtute triumphum
"Cur feritate novâ maculas? Haec, sanguine sero
"Quam paris, invidia est plus quam victoria nobis. "
Saepius haec moestus clamat; pars nullaque belli
Civilis tum Caesar erat. Sed perdere cives

"Not enemies, soldier; the triumph won by virtue
"Why do you stain with new ferocity? This, with belated blood,
"which you beget, is for us more envy than victory. "
Mournful, he cries these things again and again; and Caesar then was no part at all
of the civil war. But to destroy fellow-citizens

380

Quae toties poterant, non jam servare valebant,
Jussa ducis: jugulant miserandâ caede cohortes
Scipiadae, strictisque odium mucronibus explent,
Invito duce, Caesarei; et qui jussa per annos
Tot ducis implêssent magni crudelia semper,

They who so often could, were now no longer strong to keep the leader’s commands:
they slaughter the Scipiads’ cohorts with pitiable butchery,
and with drawn sword-points they fulfill their hatred,
their leader unwilling, the Caesarians; and they who through so many years
had ever fulfilled the cruel orders of a great leader,

385

Nunc solum, cum justa dedit mandata, rebellant.
Jam vero ingentem pro Caesare fata ruinam
Sparsissent campis, et tecta cadavere tota
Planities funesta jacet; tandemque sequendo
Defessas Caesar revocans ad signa cohortes,

Now only, when he has given just mandates, they rebel.
Already indeed the Fates would have strewn immense ruin for Caesar
over the fields, and the roofs with cadavers, the whole funereal plain lies;
and at length, by pursuing, Caesar, recalling the wearied cohorts to the standards,

390

Prospera divitiis regum certamina donat.

Favorable Fortune bestows the battles of kings with riches.