May: SUPPLEMENTUM PHARSALIAE

Jam se, post clades tantas, tot vulnera gentis
Ausoniae, et strages populorum, absumserat ipsum
Civilis furor; et terris pax alma refulsit.
Defessis iterum rebus sperare quietem
Coperunt populi; non tristia bella timebant,

Now, after such great disasters, so many wounds of the Ausonian nation and the slaughters of peoples, the Civil fury had consumed even itself; and kindly peace shone forth upon the lands.
With affairs worn out, the peoples began again to hope for quiet;
they did not fear sad wars,

Omnia dum tenuit Caesar; nec in orbe potestas
Altera, nec fuerit communis Roma duobus.
Hunc supra invidiam Fortuna evexerat; hujus
Regnum amat, ut tutum, populus: nam quem magis optent
Custodem pacis, quam qui fortissimus armis

While Caesar held all things; nor in the orb was there another power, nor has Rome been common to two.
Fortune had raised this man above envy; the people love his reign, as safe:
for whom would they more desire as Guardian of peace than the one who is very strongest in arms

Semper erat, nulloque unquam devictus ab hoste?
Plebs libertatem, solâ contenta salute,
Romula projecit; nec, post tot prolia, pacem,
Quamvis cum domino veniat pax ista, recusat.
Nec solum vulgus domino servire paratum

Was he always, and never by any foe vanquished?
The plebs, content with safety alone,
has cast away Romulean liberty; nor, after so many battles, peace,
although that peace comes with a master, does it refuse.
Nor is the common vulgus alone prepared to serve a master

Caesaris imperium votis amplectitur: illud
Et procerum pars magna cupit; tranquillaque Patres
Tempora lassati exoptant; quos (fulgura summos
Ut feriunt montes) feriunt discrimina saevi
Praecipue belli, et gaudens feralis Enyo

He embraces with vows the command of Caesar: that
a great part of the nobles also desires; and the Fathers,
wearied, long for tranquil times; whom (as lightnings strike
the highest mountains) the perils of savage war strike especially,
and funereal Enyo, rejoicing,

Sanguine nobilium semper: nec nomen inane
Jam libertatis (dudum ipsa eversa fuisset)
Sanguine jam retinere student: vix ipsa videtur
Libertas tanti: neque ficto Caesaris augent
Obsequio titulos: sed vero pectore tantos,

Always with the blood of nobles: nor do they now strive
now to retain the empty name of liberty (since she herself would long since have been overthrown)
with blood: Liberty herself scarcely seems worth so much:
nor do they augment their titles with feigned obedience to Caesar,
but with a true breast so great,

Ne sibi rege minor videatur Caesar, honores
Decernunt, quantos nequeat privatus habere.
Perpetuum dictatorem, patriaeque parentem
Appellant Patres; denos ut consul in annos
Designaretur, statuunt; altâque curuli

Lest Caesar seem less than a king to himself, they decree honors
such as a private citizen could not possess.
Perpetual Dictator and Parent of the Fatherland
the Fathers call him; that for ten years as consul
he be designated, they decree; and on the high curule

Ipse ut supremus Romanâ censor in urbe,
Veste triumphali indutus, lauroque sederet
Perpetuâ ornatus. Necnon, de principe Numen
Ut fieret victor, donant altaria, sacra,
Atque templa, quibus pulcherrima juncta Dearum

that he himself, as the supreme censor in the Roman city,
clad in triumphal vesture, and might sit, laurel-crowned,
adorned perpetually. And likewise, that the prince, as victor, should be made a Numen,
they bestow altars, sacred rites,
and temples, to which the most beautiful of the goddesses are joined

Illius adstabat statuae Clementia sacrae.
Caesareo faciunt Vestales nomine vota;
Et quo quaeque die victoria contigit illi
(Civilis quamquam) celebrantur festa per Urbem.
Crederet hoc aliquis? cum sint feralia fastis

Clemency stood by his sacred statue.
The Vestals make vows in Caesar’s name;
and on whatever day each victory befell him
(though civil) festivals are celebrated throughout the City.
Would anyone believe this? although they are funereal in the Fasti

Et Trebia et Cannae Romanis nomina; Mundae,
Thessaliae, Thapsique, dies jam laeta vocentur
Tempora? Pompeiique necem, sanctique Catonis,
Scipiadaeque, albis designet Roma lapillis!
Nullus restat honor, quem non assumere possit

Both Trebia and Cannae are Roman names; shall the days of Munda,
of Thessaly, and of Thapsus already be called glad times?
and Pompey’s death, and of holy Cato,
and of the Scipiads, shall Rome mark with white pebbles!
No honor remains which she cannot assume.

Jam sibi; victori tanta est concessa potestas.
Quid nunc imperio securam Caesaris urbem,
Et tandem optatâ, pro libertate, quiete
Laetantem, possit civilia rursus in arma,
Rursus in horrendas populos impellere clades?

Now to himself; so great a power has been conceded to the victor.
What now could drive the city, secure under Caesar’s imperium,
and rejoicing in the longed-for quiet at last, in place of liberty,
back into civil arms,
back to impel the peoples into horrendous calamities?

Quid tantas victoris opes, stabilitaque regna
Eruere? an non tam facile est suprema tueri
Quam dare Dîs Superis; an non mortalibus ulla
Firma datur, nullisque malis violanda, potestas?
Nullane livorem poterit transcendere virtus?

Why tear up such great wealth of the victor, and kingdoms made stable?
Or is it not just as easy to guard the supreme as it was for the Gods Above to grant them;
or is no power given to mortals firm and not to be violated by any evils?
Will no virtue be able to transcend envy?

Nec tantum meriti spatium est, quod non capit ulla
Invidiae rabies? O summis lubrica semper
Et minitans statio! non te tua plurima virtus
Securum, Caesar, praestat, non robur in armis,
Non bonitas, tantasque aequans elementia vires.

Nor is the span of merit so great but that some rabid fury of Envy seizes it?
O slippery and ever menacing station at the summits!
not your very many virtues make you secure, Caesar,
Not strength in arms,
Nor goodness, and clemency equaling such great powers.

Supplicibus frustra veniam, victisque salutem,
Exsulibusque Urbem permittis; Romula frustra
Imperia exornare studes, dum legibus orbem
Emendas prudens, aut oppida diruta condis
Magnificus. Tantis jamdudum exstincta ruinis,

You grant pardon to suppliants in vain, and safety to the conquered, and you allow the City to exiles; in vain you strive to adorn the Romulean empires, while, prudent, you amend the world with laws, or, magnificent, you found towns laid in ruins. Long since extinguished by such great ruins,

Per te stat Carthago, novisque impleta colonis
Exsurgit, nuribus non jam metuenda Latinis.
Tu quoque restauras, Latiisque habitanda Corinthi
Monia das bimaris; nec famam auctoribus ullam
Detrahis antiquis; sed adhuc retinere vetusta

Through you Carthage stands, and, filled with new colonists,
rises up, no longer to be feared by Latin daughters-in-law.
You also restore, and to the Latins you give Corinth,
the bimarine city, to be inhabited with its walls; nor do you detract any repute
from the ancient authors; but that the things of old still retain

Nomina permittis totum vulgata per orbem.
Non tamen haec fatum avertunt, nec regna tueri
Usurpata diu possunt: non mentibus ulla
Conciliare jugum generosis munera possunt;
Nec libertatem clementia pensat ademtam.

You permit the names, spread through the whole orb.
Yet these do not avert fate, nor can realms usurped for long be maintained:
nor can any gifts conciliate a yoke to noble minds;
nor does clemency compensate for freedom taken away.

Invidiae stimulos ergo ut lenire furentis,
Et capite insidias, quas maturare quietem
Non nescit, Caesar factis avertere possit,
Necnon externo maculas abstergere bello
Civilies; cum jam Crassi vindicta perîsset

Therefore, in order to lenify the goads of raging Envy,
and the insidious plots against his head, which do not fail to mature “rest,”
Caesar might be able to avert them by deeds,
and likewise absterge by a foreign war the civil stains;
since by now the vindication of Crassus had perished.

Debita jamdudum Latio; jussu ille senatûs,
(Ne Patrum imminui videatur sacra potestas)
Decretoque togae, mandari Parthica bella
Suppliciter petiit, felix ut, more retento
Romulei antiquo populi, legionibus iret

Long owed already to Latium; by the order of the senate he, (lest the sacred power of the Fathers seem to be diminished), and by decree of the toga, as a suppliant petitioned that the Parthian wars be entrusted, so that, fortunate, with the ancient custom of the Romulean people retained, he might go with the legions

Tessera: sicque alacri compellat voce senatum:
"Si mihi, conscripti Patres, quaesita potestas
"Esset, ut immani saevâque tyrannide solus
"Regnarem; ut quodcumque jubet furor impius, aut mens
"Aegra metu, aut suadet luxus, vel prava libido,

Watchword: and thus he addresses the senate with a lively voice:
"If to me, Conscript Fathers, power had been procured
"that I might reign alone by a monstrous and savage tyranny;
"that whatever an impious fury commands, or a mind
"sick with fear, or luxury persuades, or depraved libido,

"Exsequerer; tanto non tempore dissimulata
"Consilia, et furiae latuissent pectoris hujus;
"Jamdudum gladios sensisset Roma nefandos.
"Sed non nos vitiis famulantia gessimus arma,
"Nec factura Urbi, sed detractura, tyrannos.

"I would execute; plans not dissimulated for so long a time
"and the furies of this breast would not have lain hidden;
"long since Rome would have felt the nefarious swords.
"But we have not borne arms serving vices,
"nor arms to make tyrants for the City, but to drag them down.

"Libertatis erit custos victoria nostra,
"Et legum: nec, si non haec perspecta fuissent
"Numinibus, nostrae favissent Numina causae.
"Cur gravis metuenda, Patres, sit nostra potestas,
"Quae vitam tot devictis dedit hostibus, et tot

"Our victory will be the guardian of liberty,
"And of the laws: nor, if these things had not been discerned
"by the divinities, would the divine powers have favored our cause.
"Why should our power, Fathers, be grievous and to be feared,
"which gave life to so many vanquished enemies, and to so many

100

"Exsulibus reditum? quis jussu Caesaris unquam,
"Dun siluêre tubae, jugulatus concidit hostis?
"Scipiadae chartas post Thapsi bella cremavi
"Non lectas, ne quos victor deprendere possem,
"Et punire hostes: potius quam caede tueri

"A return for the exiles? what enemy ever, by Caesar’s order,
"while the trumpets were silent, fell jugulated?
"I burned the Scipio’s papers after the wars of Thapsus,
"unread, lest as victor I might be able to apprehend any,
"and punish enemies: rather than to protect by slaughter

105

"Nobilium hanc vitam, nescire pericula nostra
"Elegi: necnon invitus (Numina testor)
"Civilem sumsi gladium, dum praemia justa
"Bellorum bello conquirere, proque triumphis,
"Quos tot trans Alpes annos, Pontumque Britannum,

"I chose this life of nobles, not to be aware of our dangers;
"And, unwilling besides (I call the Numina to witness),
"I took up the civil sword, while to acquire by war the just rewards
"of wars, and in place of triumphs,
"which for so many years beyond the Alps, and the British Pontus,

110

"Et Rhenum merui vincendo, vincere cogor
"Rursus; et invidiam his armis, quibus ante feroces
"Edomui Britonas, Suevos, Gallosque, domare.
"His îsdem forsan, vobis mandantibus, armis
"(Si non in patriam paucorum injuria bellum

"And I have merited the Rhine by conquering, I am compelled to conquer again;
"and to tame with these arms the envy, with which earlier I subdued the ferocious Britons, Suevi, and Gauls.
"With these same arms, perhaps, at your mandate,
"(if not the injury of a few [bring] war upon the fatherland

115

"Vertisset) Latiis Babylon spoliata tropaeis
"Jamdudum nostros lenisset clade dolores,
"Ultimaque Ausonias tremuissent Bactra secures.
"Haec jam bella mihi Numen peragenda reliquit.
"Ad Parthos, Patres, si vos decernitis, ibo;

"(had turned) Babylon, despoiled of Latin trophies,
"would long since have soothed our pains by her calamity,
"and farthest Bactra would have trembled at Ausonian axes.
"These wars now the Numen has left to be accomplished by me.
"To the Parthians, Fathers, if you decree, I will go;

120

"Et simul ac Tauri de cornibus aureus exit
"Phoebus, ad Eoas victricia signa pharetras
"Convertam. Ausonias aquilas, amissaque signa,
"Aut referam, aut moriar; dignis aut cladibus ultus
"Tunc erit, aut caeso comitatus Caesare, Crassus."

"And as soon as golden Phoebus goes forth from the horns of the Bull,
"I will turn the victorious standards toward the Eastern quivers.
"The Ausonian eagles, and the lost standards, either I shall carry back, or I shall die;
"then Crassus will have been avenged with worthy slaughters, or Crassus, accompanied by a Caesar cut down."

125

Assensêre Patres: placuit tam nobile bellum,
Et tantus ductor: cui Parthica bella senatus
Nequidquam mandat. Coeptis ingentibus obstant
Fata; nec Ausoniae decus hoc, nec Caesaris armis,
Concedunt. Iterum redeunt civilia bella,

The Fathers assented: so noble a war pleased, and so great a leader; to whom the Senate vainly entrusts the Parthian wars. The Fates oppose the vast undertakings; nor do they concede this glory to Ausonia, nor to Caesar’s arms. Civil wars return again,

130

Et populi abrumpit tristis Fortuna quietem.
Sola quies jam Caesar erat; cum Caesare rursus
Pax Romana perit: cujus mors dira pianda est
Cladibus innumeris, laceroque cruentior orbi,
Quam tot viventis feralia bella fuissent.

And sad Fortune breaks the people’s quiet.
Caesar was now the sole repose; with Caesar, again
the Roman Peace perishes: whose dire death must be expiated
by innumerable disasters, and more blood-stained for a torn world,
than so many deathly wars while he was living would have been.

135

Fata ducis mortem accelerant; pars magna senatûs
Conjurat trepidi; nec qui de parte stetissent
Adversâ solum, et noti jam Caesaris hostes,
Spurius, et Naso, Rubrius, Servilius audax,
Donatusque semel veniâ Ligarius, atque

The Fates hasten the leader’s death; a great part of the senate,
fearful, conspires; nor only those who had stood
on the opposing side, and the by-now well-known enemies of Caesar,
Spurius, and Naso, Rubrius, bold Servilius,
and Ligarius, once endowed with pardon, as well—and

140

Caecilius; sed qui vulgo creduntur amici
Illius, adjungunt sese. Trebonius inter
Hos fuit, et Casca, et Cimber; nec Cassius acer
Defuit insidiis, qui libertatis ademtae
(Quamvis urbanâ praeturâ a Caesare nuper

Caecilius; but those who are commonly believed to be his friends
of him, adjoin themselves. Among these was Trebonius,
and Casca, and Cimber; nor did keen Cassius
fail the plots, he who, with liberty taken away
(although with the urban praetorship by Caesar recently

145

Donatus) vindex nunquam non esse volebat.
Jungitur his Decimus, notissimus inter amicos
Caesaris, ingratus, cui Transalpina fuisset
Gallia Caesareo nuper commissa favore.
Non illum conjuncta fides, non nomen amici,

Bestowed) he always wanted to be the avenger.
Is joined to these Decimus, most well-known among the friends
of Caesar, ungrateful, to whom Transalpine
Gaul had recently been committed by Caesar’s favor.
Neither conjoined faith held him, nor the name of friend,

150

Deterrere potest. Nec adhuc sat firma videtur
Conjurata manus, quamvis pars tanta senatûs,
Totque simul proceres sanxissent foedera dira:
Te quoque, flos juvenum Latiorum, et nobile nomen,
Brute, petunt coepti socium, caedisque nefandae

It can deter. Nor yet does the sworn-together band seem firm enough,
although so great a part of the Senate,
and so many grandees at once had sanctioned dire pacts:
You too, flower of the youths of Latium, and a noble name,
Brutus, they seek as a partner of the undertaking, and of nefarious slaughter

155

Participem; ut tantae pietatem obtendere culpae,
Et dare jus sceleri, posset venerabile Bruti
Nomen apud populos. Hic libertatis ademtae
Et patriae vindex natalibus esse videtur
A Superis designatus; tua, maxime Brute,

as a participant; so that the venerable name of Brutus among the peoples might be able to put forth piety for so great a culpability, and to give a right to the crime. This man seems by his birth to be the vindicator of stripped-away liberty and of the fatherland, designated by the Supernals; yours, greatest Brutus,

160

Progenies, primus qui nomine consulis annos
Signâsti Latios, pulsis ex urbe tyrannis.
Urbis erat praetor Brutus: cui Cassius arctis
Junctus amicitiis, (ut eodem junctus honore)
Et tunc immensis cupiebat jungier ausis.

Progeny, you who first with the name of consul marked the Latin years,
with the tyrants driven from the city.
Brutus was praetor of the city: to whom Cassius was joined
in close friendships (as joined in the same honor),
and then he desired to be joined to immense undertakings.

165

Hunc quoque, cum notas intravit Cassius aedes,
Invenit moestum, et tacite surgentia regna
Damnantem. Tales versat dum pectore curas,
Cassius aggreditur: "Non vanis, Brute, querelis
"Tempus eget. Sat jam votis tacitoque dolori

Him also, when Cassius entered the well-known house,
he found mournful, and silently condemning the rising kingship.
While he turns such cares in his breast,
Cassius addresses him: "Not with vain, Brutus, complaints
"does the time have need. Enough now for vows and for silent dolor.

170

"Concessum est, sat consiliis: nunc vindice dextrâ
"Utendum. Ultorem sperat te Roma; tuamque
"Libertas oppressa manum jam, Brute, requirit.
"Hoc a te exspectat populus, tacitque precatur.
"Haec sellis statuisque tuis inscripta legebas,

"It has been granted; enough of counsels: now the avenging right hand
"must be used. Rome hopes for you as Avenger; and your
"Liberty, oppressed, now, Brutus, requires your hand.
"This the People expects from you, and silently prays.
"These things you were reading inscribed upon your seats and statues,

175

"Auctore ignoto. Non a te munera vana,
"Venatus ludosque, petunt, aut talia: sola,
"Reddita libertas, Bruto praetore, videtur
"Dignum munus eis. Forsan, dum regna relinquat
"Caesar, et imperium, quod per tot bella petebat,

"By an unknown author. Not from you do they seek vain gifts,
"the hunt and the games, or such things: the sole
"liberty restored, with Brutus as praetor, seems
"a worthy gift to them. Perhaps, while Caesar relinquishes
"kingship and imperium, which through so many wars he was seeking,

180

"Deponat sponte, exspectas. Non sufficit illi
"Dictatoris honor, quis libera novit honorem
"Roma illum. Quodcumque potest donare senatus,
"Posse negare putat; nec jam suprema potestas
"Victori satis est, nisi sit quoque sola potestas.

"You expect him to lay it down of his own accord. Not sufficient for him is the honor of Dictator—what honor did free Rome ever recognize for him?
"Whatever the senate can grant, he thinks he can refuse; nor now is the supreme power enough for the Victor, unless it be also the sole power.

185

"Vera ideo imperii quaerens insignia, sceptrum
"Et diadema petit: probat hoc (quod vidimus omnes)
"Sacra tribunorum (dum detraxêre coronam
"Caesareae nuper status) violata potestas.
"An coram populo (quamvis tum respuit) illi

"Therefore, seeking the true insignia of empire, he asks for the scepter
"And the diadem: this is proved (which we all saw)
"By the sacrosanct power of the tribunes—violated—(while the orders
"Recently removed the crown from Caesar’s statue).
"Or before the people (although he then refused) to him

190

"Obtulit invito diadema Antonius audax?
"An non, ut populum tentaret, ut ambitiosis
"Artibus hoc sciret, quo vultu regna, priusquam
"Se regem faceret, pateretur Romula pubes?
"Mactetur dominus: libertatemque (paratae

"Did bold Antony offer the diadem to one unwilling?
"Or not, so that he might test the people, so that by ambitious
"arts he might know this—with what countenance the Romulean youth would endure
"kingship, before he made himself king?
"Let the lord be sacrificed: and liberty (prepared

195

"Servitio quamvis) reddat mors Caesaris Urbi.
"Et festinanda est; si paulum, Brute, moramur,
"Dum redeat laeto post Parthica bella triumpho,
"Majore invidiâ caedes peragenda manebit."
Ingemuit Brutus, tristique has pectore voces

"And let it be sacrificed, the master: and liberty—though ready for servitude—may the death of Caesar restore to the City.
"And it must be hastened; if we delay a little, Brutus,
"until he returns with joyful triumph after the Parthian wars,
"the slaughter to be carried through will remain with greater odium."
Brutus groaned, and from his breast these sad words

200

Edidit: "O Cassi! frustra, quod Numina nobis
"Imposuêre, jugum jam detrectamus acerbum.
"An libertatem Superi, causamque senatûs,
"Tot damnaverunt bellis, tot cladibus, ut jam
"Insidiis possint et proditione tueri?

He uttered: "O Cassius! in vain do we now refuse the bitter yoke
"which the Numina have imposed upon us.
"Or have the supernal gods condemned liberty and the cause of the senate
"to so many wars, to so many disasters, that now
"they can be kept safe by insidious plots and by treachery?"

205

"Ah! potius bello pereat, quo crevit, aperto
"Libertas populi Latii, quam caede dolosâ,
"Fraudibus, et gladio occulto videatur egere.
"Talibus insidiis hostes, civesque nefandos,
"Vincere Romani duxêre ignobile prisci.

"Ah! rather let the Liberty of the Latin people perish in open war, wherein it grew,
"than seem to employ treacherous slaughter,
"frauds, and the hidden sword.
"By such insidious stratagems, to conquer enemies and nefarious citizens,
"the ancient Romans deemed ignoble.

210

"Incertae potius patriam permittere belli
"Fortunae voluit, quam si te tollere, Pyrrhe,
"Fabricius: nec non, quamvis Sertorius audax
"Hostis erat patriae, turpis Perpena vocatur
"Proditor a cunctis. Quis tanto sanguine Sullam

"He wished rather to entrust the fatherland to the Fortune of uncertain war
"than to remove you, Pyrrhus, Fabricius: and likewise, although Sertorius, a bold
"enemy of the fatherland, was, foul Perpena is called a traitor by all.
"Who, at so great a cost of blood, would call Sulla

215

"Carnificem imbutum positurum regna putavit?
"Quis tamen occultis tantum mactare tyrannum
"Insidiis conatus erat? quis Caesaris audet
"Praeferre imperio crudelia tempora Sullae,
"Ni furias praeferre Deis audebit? Ut illi

"Did he think a blood-imbued executioner would lay down his reign?
"Who, however, had attempted to slaughter a tyrant by occult snares alone?
"Who dares to prefer the cruel times of Sulla to Caesar’s imperium,
"unless he will dare to prefer the Furies to the Gods? As for that man

220

"Degeneres nimium proceres, pavidique, vocantur,
"Qui tantum subiêre jugum; sic Caesaris ista
"Virtuti et meritis ingrata vocabitur aetas;
"Plusque senes illi damnabunt crimina nostra,
"Tempora qui saevi meminêre immania Sullae.

"Degenerate beyond measure the nobles, and timorous, are called,
"Who have undergone so great a yoke; thus this age of Caesar
"Will be called ungrateful to his virtue and merits;
"And those old men will the more condemn our crimes,
"Who remember the immense, savage times of Sulla.

225

"Sed me praecipue miserum quâ cuncta notabit
"Posteritas famâ, quem tanto Caesar amore,
"Totque sibi meritis semper devinxit? Iniqua
"Est mea sors; liber nequeo gratusque manere.
"O! utinam tunc, cum, plebeiâ casside tectus,

"But me, most wretched, how will all Posterity mark with fame,
"whom Caesar, by so great love,
"and by so many merits to himself, has always bound? Unjust
"is my lot; I cannot be free and remain grateful.
"O! Would that then, when, covered with a plebeian casque,

230

"Caesaris intentus jugulo per tela ruebam,
"Thessalicâ Brutus cecidisset strage, priusquam
"Donâsset vitâ victor; tunc liber ad umbras
"Venissem Stygias; vel, si pia Numina dextram
"Hanc bene rexissent, uno feliciter ictu

"Intent on Caesar's jugular, I was rushing through the missiles,
"Brutus would have fallen in Thessalian slaughter, before
"the victor had granted life; then, free, to the Stygian shades
"I would have come; or, if the pious Numina had well guided
"this right hand, with a single stroke happily

235

"(Ni sibi Pompeius regnum quoque victor in illo
"Quaesîsset camo) libertas parta fuisset.
"Exspecta, o Cassi! quid tandem Numina nobis,
"Quidve hostes facient Parthi." Cui talia contra
Cassius; "Exoptes Parthis si, Brute, triumphum

"(If Pompey, as victor, had not sought for himself a kingship also in that
"bridle,) liberty would have been won.
"Wait, O Cassius! what at last the Divinities for us,
"and what the enemy Parthians will do." To whom, in reply, such things
Cassius; "If, Brutus, you long for a triumph for the Parthians

240

"De Latio, patriae es factus, non Caesaris, hostis:
"Quod procul avertant Superi. Rationibus erras,
"Brute, tuis: ingrata vocas, quae justa vocabit
"Posteritas: et, dum vis non ingratus haberi,
"Impius es: nec, quae patriae sunt debita, donis

"With regard to Latium, you have made yourself the enemy of your fatherland, not of Caesar:
"May the Gods Above avert that far away. You err in your own reasonings,
"Brutus: you call ungrateful what Posterity will call just;
"and, while you wish not to be held ungrateful,
"You are impious: nor are the things which are owed to the fatherland gifts

245

"Privati debere potes: corrupta vocatur
"Haec, non justa, fides. Quo plus te dona ligârunt
"Illius, hoc magis es patriae justusque piusque.
"Heu!

"You can be indebted to a private person: this is called
"corrupt, not just, faith. The more that man’s gifts have bound
"you, by that much the more you are both just and pious to the fatherland. "Alas!

quantam, tibi si non esset Caesar amicus,
"Detrahet famam facto Fortuna merenti!

how much, if Caesar were not a friend to you,
"Fortune would detract fame from a deed deserving it!

250

"Cum plus privatis affectibus indulgere,
"Quam patriae servire tuae, te crederet orbis.
"Si tamen exemplis opus est, illum adspice priscum
"Brutorum generis, libertatisque, parentem,
"Romanos primus qui nomine consulis annos

"While the world would believe you to indulge your private affections more,
"Than to serve your fatherland.
"If, however, there is need of examples, look upon that ancient one,
"the parent of the race of the Brutuses, and of liberty,
"who first marked the Roman years with the name of consul

255

"Signavit. Proprios natos, dum regna fovebant,
"Supplicio affectos spectavit fronte serenâ.
"Exuit ille patrem Brutus, dum civis haberi
"Vult pius. An tibi plus sunt munera Caesaris, illi
"Quam natura fuit?

"He sealed it. His own sons, while they were fostering kingship,
"he beheld, sentenced to punishment, with a serene brow.
"That Brutus put off the father, while he wishes to be held a dutiful citizen.
"Or are Caesar’s gifts worth more to you than nature was to him?

Sed justior ultio nostra

But our vengeance is more just

260

"Tempore jam facta est. Pro libertate vetustâ,
"Tot confirmatâ magnae per saecula Romae,
"Quid nunc egisset Brutus, qui talia fecit,
"Cum nova libertas, et reges nuper abacti?"
Hac postquam juvenem flexisset Cassius arte,

"By Time it has already been done. For the ancient liberty,
"So often confirmed through the ages of great Rome,
"What would Brutus now have done, he who did such things,
"when liberty is new, and the kings recently driven out?"
After this, when Cassius had bent the youth by this art,

265

Cum Decimo proceres reliqui venêre; datâque
Acceptâque fide, sanxerunt foedera dira;
Et libertatem amissam, quam sanguine tanto
Tot bellis frustra quaesîssent, quaeque, Deorum
Decretis, nunquam reditura, reliquerat orbem,

With Decimus the remaining nobles came; and, pledge given
and accepted, they sanctioned dire treaties;
and the liberty lost, which with so great blood
in so many wars they had sought in vain, and which, by the Gods’
decrees, never to return, had left the world,

270

Caesaris infandâ decepti caede requirunt.
Jamque propinquabant Martis tibi, maxime Caesar,
Fatales Idus; nec tanta instantia possunt
Funera Dî celare; dies nec vatibus illa
Augurisbusque venire potest ignota: loquuntur

Deceived, they demand the unspeakable slaughter of Caesar.
And now, to you, greatest Caesar, the fateful Ides of Mars were drawing near;
nor, with so great an imminence, can the gods hide the funerals;
nor can that day come unknown to seers
and augurs: they speak

275

Hoc solitae volucres, hoc exta minacia fatum.
Has Idus frustra monuit Spurinna timendas.
Sol quoque moesta dedit tantae praesagia mortis:
Lugenti similem, madidâ nunc iride cinctum,
Nunc caput obscurâ tectum ferrugine, solem

This the accustomed birds, this the menacing entrails declared: the fate.
Spurinna in vain warned that these Ides were to be feared.
The Sun also gave mournful presages of so great a death:
like one lamenting, now encircled with a wet rainbow,
now with its head covered by a dark ferruginous gloom, the Sun

280

Attoniti vidêre homines; pecudesque locutae.
Destituêre amnes cursum; terraeque cavernas
Spiritus erumpens detexerat. Imbre tumescens
Eridanus subito vicinos merserat agros:
Et, subito ad ripas rediens, per prata reliquit

Astonished, men saw; and the cattle spoke.
The rivers abandoned their course; and a spirit bursting forth had laid bare the caverns of the earth.
Swelling with rain
Eridanus had suddenly submerged the neighboring fields:
And, suddenly returning to its banks, it left through the meadows

285

Innumeros angues, et prodigiosa nigrorum
Corpora serpentûm: totidem prope Tibridis ora
Destituit pisces refluum mare litore sicco.
Caesaream propiora necem sed signa notabant.
Nam, quos victor equos finito Marte sacrârat

Countless snakes, and the prodigious bodies of black
serpents: almost as many fish the refluent sea left near the mouths
of the Tiber on the dry shore.
But signs were marking out a nearer Caesarean death.
For the horses which, as victor, he had consecrated with war ended

290

Caesar, et emeritos bellis permiserat alto
Depasci nemore, et per dulcia rura vagari,
Ante necem domini multis luxêre diebus.
Non illis amnes, non illis pascua curae;
Sed lacrymis prata humectant: caedemque cruentam

Caesar had permitted them, veterans of wars, to browse in a lofty grove and to wander through sweet countrysides,
before their master’s slaughter they mourned for many days.
For them, neither rivers nor pastures were a care;
but with tears they moisten the meadows, and the bloody slaughter

295

Praecedente die, cum lauri regia ramum
Ore avis exiguum volitans gestaverat, illam
E silvis volucrum crudelis turba secuta est,
Et Pompeianâ captam laceravit in aulâ.
Horrida prodigiis adexerat nox ultima vitae

On the preceding day, when a small bird, flying, had carried in its mouth a branch of the royal laurel,
a cruel throng of birds followed her from the woods,
and, captured, tore her to pieces in Pompey’s hall.
The last night of life had grown horrid with prodigies.

300

Caesareae; diris turbata Palatia monstris
Excutiunt somnum cunctis; et flebile totis
Aedibus auditur murmur. Patuêre reclusae
Sponte fores; raucum dederant crepitantia Martis
Arma sonum; moestisque canes ululatibus implent

Of Caesar; the Palaces, troubled by dire monsters,
shake sleep from all; and a tearful
murmur is heard through all the halls. The doors,
unbarred, gaped open of their own accord; the crepitating Arms
of Mars had given a raucous sound; and dogs fill with mournful ululations

305

Atria; ferales effundit saepe querelas
Strix nocturna suas, infaustaque carmina bubo.
Morpheus intravit mediâ jam nocte cubile,
Quo Tyrio formosa cubans Calpurnia lecto
Carpebat magno teneros cum conjuge somnos.

Atria; the nocturnal strix often pours out its funereal laments,
and the bubo intones ill-omened songs.
Morpheus entered the bedchamber, with midnight now come,
where fair Calpurnia, reclining on a Tyrian bed,
was plucking tender slumbers with her great consort.

310

In faciem occisi vertens se Caesaris, adstat
Ante torum miserae, lacertâ veste cruentus:
Vulnera mille patent, qualem te crastina, Caesar,
Lux populo ostendet. Diris exterrita visis
Ingemit, et lacrymans Calpurnia brachia somno

Turning himself into the face of the slain Caesar, he stands
before the couch of the wretched woman, bloody, with his garment torn:
A thousand wounds gape, such as you, Caesar,
the morrow’s light will show to the people. Terrified by dire visions
she groans, and, weeping, Calpurnia raises her arms from sleep

315

Per lectum, prensura virum, movet; invenit illum
Incolumem; sed vix (nam jam turbata soporem
Excussit) putat incolumem; vix sensibus ipsa
Credidit; attonitae tam somnia fixa manebant.
Oscula dat moestae Caesar, causamque doloris

Across the bed, about to grasp the man, she moves; she finds him
unharmed; but scarcely (for now, disturbed, she has shaken off sleep)
does she deem him unharmed; scarcely did she trust her senses
herself; so fixed did the dreams remain for the astonished one.
Caesar gives kisses to the mournful woman, and the cause of her sorrow

320

Quaerenti, visum narrat Calpurnia triste.
Quod dum narrat, adhuc trepidat, lacrymasque recentes
Effundit; pectusque ulnis amplexa virile
Sidereis, orat ne vana haec somnia credat,
Neve ostenta Deûm contemnat; Martis ut Idus,

To the one asking, Calpurnia narrates a sad vision.
While she tells it, she still trembles, and she pours out fresh
tears; and, clasping with her sidereal arms the manly
breast, she begs that he not believe these dreams to be vain,
nor scorn the portents of the gods; that the Ides of March,

325

Quae male tunc aderant, et quid Spurinna moneret,
Quidque alii vates, reputet; nec jam sua, tantis
Praemonitus signis, nescire pericula vellet;
Utque manere domi placeat; lucemque sequentem
Hanc unam, si non propriae donare saluti,

Let him reconsider what things were then ill at hand, and what Spurinna was admonishing,
and what the other seers, let him reconsider; nor now, forewarned by such
signs, would he wish to be ignorant of his dangers;
and that it may please him to remain at home; and the following light
this one alone, if not to bestow upon his own safety,

330

Conjugis at saltem vellet onare timori.
Hispanas iterum, dum tanta pericula restant,
Dimissas nuper monuit revocare cohortes,
Et stipatores fidos: non esse pavoris,
Sed pietatis, opus, Divorum ostenta timere.

But at least he would wish to grant to his wife’s fear.
Again the Spanish cohorts, while such great dangers remain,
lately dismissed, he admonished to recall,
and trusty bodyguards: that it is not the work of panic,
but of piety, to fear the portents of the gods.

335

Cuui Caesar contra: "Plus me, Calpurnia, luctus
"Et lactymae movêre tuae, quam tristia vatum
"Responsa, infaustae volucres, aut ulla dierum
"Vana superstitio poterant, Ostenta timere
"Si nunc inciperem, quae non mihi tempora posthac

To this Caesar in reply: "More, Calpurnia, have your griefs
"And tears moved me than the gloomy Responses of prophets,
"the inauspicious birds, or any Vain superstition of days
"could; if I were now to begin to fear Portents,
"what times hereafter would not be so for me?

340

"Anxia transirent? quae lux jucunda maneret?
"Aut quae libertas?

"Would anxious times pass? What jocund light would remain?
"Or what freedom?

frustra servire timori
"(Dum nec luce frui, nec mortem arcere, licebit)
"Cogar: et huic capiti, quod Roma veretur, aruspex
"Jus dabit, et vanus semper dominabitur augur.

to serve fear in vain
"(While it will be permitted neither to enjoy the light, nor to ward off death)"
"I shall be compelled: and to this head, which Rome reveres, the haruspex
"will give judgment, and the vain augur will always dominate.

345

"Si mortem mihi Roma paret, dubiaene saluti
"Proderit una dies? aut cur differre laborem,
"Quam nequeo vitare, necem? semperne timere
"Exoptem potius, quam certâ occumbere morte?

"If Rome prepares death for me, to doubtful safety
"Will one day profit? or why defer the labor,
"Which I cannot avoid, the death? shall I opt to fear always
"Rather than to succumb to certain death?

"Cur tamen insidias timeam? cur Roma salutem

"Why, however, should I fear ambushes? why should Rome grant safety

350

"Non potius nostram exoptet? partâque quiete,
"Caesaris imperio, post tot civilia bella,
"Post rabiem tantam, lassatus gaudeat orbis?
"Pax mundi mea sola salus; nece Caesaris, enses
"Stringentur rursus; rursus lacerabitur orbis;

"Would she not rather long for our safety? and, with peace obtained,
"by Caesar’s imperium, after so many civil wars,
"after so great a frenzy, let the wearied world rejoice?
"The peace of the world is my only salvation; with the slaying of Caesar, the swords
"will be drawn again; again the world will be torn;

355

"Moestaque Romano tingetur sanguine tellus.
"Sed, si non homini satis esset cura diei,
"Ni nocturna alias facerent insomnia curas,
"Dic mihi, nam Morpheus nobis contraria misit
"Somnia, queis potius credes? hac nocte volâsse

"And the mournful earth will be tinged with Roman blood.
"But if for a man the care of the day were not sufficient,
"if nocturnal insomnia did not make other cares,
"tell me, for Morpheus has sent to us contrary dreams,
"dreams—to which will you rather give credence? that this night he has flown

360

"Ad coelem, dextramque Jovis tetigisse, serenâ
"Et majestate indutus sedisse videbar.
"Quid nisi fausta et magna mihi haec (si credere vellem
"Talibus omnino) portendere somnia possunt?"
Jam jubar Aurorae pallentia vicerat astra.

"To heaven, and to have touched the right hand of Jove, and, clothed
"with serene majesty, to have sat, I seemed.
"What, unless auspicious and great things for me (if I were altogether willing
"to believe such things), can these dreams portend?"
Already the effulgence of Aurora had vanquished the paling stars.

365

Prosiluit stratis Caesar, moestaeque reliquit
Conjugis amplexus; magnaeque capacia turbae,
Et tantos pariter mox exceptura clientes,
Magnifico splendent excelsa Palatia cultu.
Festini proceres, magnique ad limina Patres,

Caesar sprang from the bed, and left the embraces of his mournful consort; and the lofty Palaces, capacious for a great throng and soon likewise to receive so many clients, shine resplendent with magnificent adornment. The hurrying grandees, and the great Fathers, to the thresholds,

370

Luce salutatum primâ venêre, domumque
Admissi implêrunt. Animus non omnibus unus:
Caesareo quidam vere laetantur honore:
Pars alia, invidiae stimulis agitata nefandis,
Quem mactare parant, falso venerantur honore;

At first light they came to offer salutations, and, admitted, they filled the house.
The mind is not one and the same in all: some truly rejoice in the Caesarean honor;
another part, driven by the nefarious stimuli of envy,
the very one whom they prepare to immolate, they venerate with false honor;

375

Et funesta animis, linguis dum fausta, precantur.
Ante alios Decimus, cui fallere nomen amici
Praecipue dederat, ductorem saepe morantem
Incitat: et spretis hortatur adire senatum
Prodigiis. Tandem, Patrum famulante catervâ,

And, funereal to their spirits, while favorable upon their tongues, they pray.
Before the others Decimus, to whom the name of friend had especially given leave to deceive,
incites the leader, often delaying;
and, the prodigies scorned, he urges him to go to the senate.
At length, with the throng of the Fathers attendant in service,

380

Progreditur Caesar. Quamvis ostendere caedem
Venturam Superi non cessavêre minaces,
Progreditur tamen; atque (o mira potentia fati!)
Dum transit, chartam oblatam, quae nomina tanta
Conjuratorum, facinusque ex ordine totum,

Caesar proceeds. Although the High Ones, menacing, did not cease to show the slaughter to come,
yet he proceeds; and (O wondrous potency of fate!)
while he passes, a paper is offered, which contained the great names
of the conspirators, and the whole crime in order,

385

Detegit, ante sinu, quam sit perlecta, recondit;
Funestamque intrat fatis urgentibus aedem.
Caesaris intenti jugulo stant undique Patres,
Et conjurati proceres; altamque curulem
Circumdant. Primo adspectu cecidêre parumper

He uncovers it; before it has been read, he stows it in his bosom;
and, with the Fates urging, he enters the funest temple.
On every side stand the Fathers, intent upon Caesar’s throat,
and the conspirator nobles; and they surround the high curule [chair].
At the first sight they wavered for a moment

390

Audaces animi, et fortes tremuêre lacerti.
Jam paene inceptum damnant. Armare videtur
Ingens fama ducem, majestas laurea frontis,
Terribilis decor, et gestarum gloria rerum.
Nunc fortuna viri nimium comperta, favorque

Bold spirits, and strong upper arms shuddered.
Now they almost condemn the enterprise. He seems to be armed
by immense fame, the majesty laurel-crowning his brow,
the terrible beauty, and the glory of deeds achieved.
Now the man’s fortune, too well known, and favor

395

Perpetuus Superûm, terrent: nec, quantus in armis
Caesar, ut audaci stipatus milite turmas
Fuderat hostiles toties, totiesque per omnes
Terrarum tractus victricia signa tulisset,
Mentibus occursat: sed quanta pericula solus

the perpetual favor of the gods, terrify them: nor does how great in arms
Caesar was—how, thronged with audacious soldiery, the hostile squadrons
he so often routed, and so often through all the tracts
of the lands he had borne victorious standards—occur to their minds;
but how great dangers, alone, he has faced

400

Vicit, Fortunâ tantum comitante, Deisque:
Qualiter Aegypti insidias, pontique procellas
Nocturnas, saevosque intra sua castra tumultus
Militis irati evasit. Cur jam caput istud
Numina destituant? Versant dum talia, rursus

He prevailed, with Fortune only accompanying, and with the gods:
just as he escaped the ambushes of Egypt, and the nocturnal storms
of the sea, and the savage tumults within his own camp
of angry soldiery. Why now should the divinities
forsake that head? While they revolve such things, again

405

Pectoribus vindicta redit; pellitque timorem
Libertatis amor nimius. Primusque curulem
Tillius accedens, tamquam pro fratre rogatum,
Purpureum ex humeris subito divellit amictum.
Mirantique duci primum prope guttura vulnus

Vengeance returns to their breasts; and it drives out fear
an excessive love of liberty.
And Tillius, first approaching the curule seat, as though to petition
on behalf of his brother, suddenly tears the purple mantle from his shoulders.
And to the marveling leader, the first wound near the throat

410

Dat Casca: haud impune quidem; nam brachia Cascae
Transfigit Caesar, primumque ulciscitur ictum.
Prosiliens, alio tardatur vulnere, donec
Circumstare videt strictis mucronibus omnes.
Sentit se Caesar funestâ indagine cingi:

Casca strikes: not with impunity indeed; for Caesar pierces Casca’s arms, and avenges the first blow first. Leaping up, he is delayed by another wound, until he sees them all standing around with drawn blades. Caesar perceives himself to be girded by deadly toils:

415

Et, qui ferratas acies, densasque catervas,
Rupisset toties campo, tutamque per hostes
Fecerat ense viam, nullâ virtute togatas
Insidias vitare potest. Obvolvit amictu
Tum caput; et vultum, dum Martia pectora praebet

And he, who had so many times broken iron-clad battle-lines and dense cohorts on the field, and had made a safe way through the enemies with his sword, by no valor can he avoid the toga-clad ambushes. He then veils his head with his cloak; and his face, while he offers his martial breast

420

Tot manibus fodienda, tegit; reprimitque querelas,
Ne tantam possit gemitu corrumpere famam;
Interea tacito secum haec in pectore volvens:
"Hoc saltem, Fortuna, placet, quod nulla superbo
"Victori capitis nostri est concessa potestas,

he covers it—a face to be gouged by so many hands; and he represses his laments,
lest he might corrupt so great renown by a groan;
meanwhile revolving these things with himself in his silent breast:
"This at least, Fortune, pleases, that no power over our head
"has been granted to the proud Victor,

425

"Nec domini jussu pereo. Mactatus iniquis
"Insidiis, quas Roma mihi subjecta paravit,
"Occumbo princeps orbis, numerumque Deorum
"Aucturus posthac." Tandem, per vulnera mille,
Spiritus erumpit: saevis qui semper in armis

"Nor do I perish by a lord’s order. Slaughtered by iniquitous
treacheries, which Rome, subject to me, prepared for me,
I fall as prince of the world, and the number of the Gods
I shall augment hereafter." At last, through a thousand wounds,
the spirit bursts forth: he who ever was in savage arms

430

Inviolatus erat, violatae victima pacis
Hîc cadit: atque togae, quas bello laeserat, aedes
Ipse suo moriens perfundit sanguine Caesar.

He had been inviolate, a victim of violated peace
Here he falls; and the house of the toga, which he had injured by war,
Caesar himself, dying, drenches with his own blood.