Prudentius: LIBER PERISTEPHANON

Antiqua fanorum parens,
iam Roma Christo dedita,
Laurentio uictrix duce
ritum triumfas barbarum. Reges superbos uiceras
populosque frenis presseras,
nunc monstruosis idolis
inponis imperii iugum. Haec sola derat gloria
urbis togatae insignibus,
feritate capta gentium
domaret ut spurcum Iouem,

Ancient parent of fanes,
now Rome devoted to Christ,
with Lawrence as a conquering leader
you triumph over the barbarian rite. You had conquered proud kings
and had pressed peoples with bridles,
now upon monstrous idols
you impose the yoke of empire. This alone was lacking to the glory
of the toga-clad city's insignia,
that, the ferocity of the nations captured,
it might tame foul Jove,

non turbulentis uiribus
Cossi, Camilli aut Caesaris,
sed martyris Laurentii
non incruento proelio. Armata pugnauit Fides
proprii cruoris prodiga;
nam morte mortem diruit
ac semet inpendit sibi. Fore hoc sacerdos dixerat
iam Xystus adfixus cruci
Laurentium flentem uidens
crucis sub ipso stipite:

not by the turbulent forces
of cossus, camillus, or caesar,
but by the martyr laurentius
in a not-bloodless battle. Armed, Faith fought
prodigal of her own blood;
for by death she shattered death
and even expended herself for herself. That this would be the priest had said—
already xystus affixed to the cross—
seeing laurentius weeping
beneath the very post of the cross:

'Desiste discessu meo
fletum dolenter fundere!
praecedo, frater; tu quoque
post hoc sequeris triduum.' Extrema uox episcopi,
praenuntiatrix gloriae,
nihil fefellit; nam dies
praedicta palmare praetulit. Qua uoce, quantis laudibus
celebrabo mortis ordinem,
quo passionem carmine
digne retexens concinam?

'Desist, at my departure,
from dolorously pouring forth weeping!
I precede, brother; you too
after this will follow in three days.' The last utterance of the bishop,
fore-announcing glory,
was not false in anything; for the predicted day
brought forth the victor’s palm. With what voice, with how great praises
shall I celebrate the order of the death,
wherein, reweaving the Passion in song,
shall I worthily sing in concord?

hic primus e septem uiris,
qui stant ad aram proximi,
leuuita sublimis gradu
et ceteris praestantior, claustris sacrorum praeerat
caelestis arcanum domus
fidis gubernans clauibus
uotasque dispensans opes. Versat famem pecuniae
praefectus urbi regiae,
minister insani ducis,
exactor auri et sanguinis,

here the first of seven men,
who stand nearest to the altar,
a levite exalted in grade
and more preeminent than the rest,
he presided over the enclosures of the sacred,
the arcane of the celestial house,
steering with faithful keys
and dispensing the vowed riches. He stirs a hunger for money
the prefect of the royal city,
the minister of a mad leader,
the exactor of gold and of blood,

qua ui latentes eruat
nummos operta existimans
talenta sub sacrariis
cumulosque congestos tegi. Laurentium sisti iubet,
exquirit arcam ditibus
massis refertam et fulgidae
montes monetae conditos. 'Soletis', inquit, 'conqueri
saeuire nos iusto amplius,
cum christiana corpora
plus quam cruente scindimus.

by what force he might dig out the hidden
coins, supposing the talents beneath the sanctuaries
and piled-up heaps to be covered. He orders Lawrence to be brought in,
he seeks a chest crammed with rich
ingots and mountains of gleaming
coin laid up. “You are wont,” he says, “to complain
that we rage more than is just,
when we tear Christian bodies
more than bloodily.

Abest atrocioribus
censura feruens motibus,
blande et quiete efflagito,
quod sponte obire debeas. Hunc esse uestris orgiis
moremque et artem proditum est,
hanc disciplinam foederis,
libent ut auro antistites. Argenteis scyfis ferunt
fumare sacrum sanguinem
auroque nocturnis sacris
adstare fixos cereos.

Absent is a censure, fervent with more atrocious motions,
I beg gently and quietly,
what you ought to undertake of your own accord. It has been divulged that this is for your orgies
the custom and the craft,
this discipline of the covenant,
that the priests are fond of gold. In silver cups they make
the holy blood smoke,
and at nocturnal sacred rites
fixed candles stand in gold.

Tum summa cura est fratribus,
ut sermo testatur loquax,
offerre fundis uenditis.
sestertiorum milia. Addicta auorum praedia
foedis sub auctionibus
successor exheres gemit
sanctis egens parentibus.

Then the highest care is for the brothers,
as loquacious report bears witness,
to offer, with estates sold.
thousands of sesterces. The ancestral estates, adjudged
under foul auctions,
the successor, disinherited, groans,
bereft of his sainted parents.

haec occuluntur abditis
ecclesiarum in angulis
et summa pietas creditur
nudare dulces liberos.

these things are occulted in the hidden corners
of the churches,
and supreme piety is believed
to denude sweet children.

Deprome thensauros, malis
suadendo quos praestrigiis
exaggeratos obtines,
nigrante quos claudis specu. hoc poscit usus publicus,
hoc fiscus, hoc aerarium,
ut dedita stipendiis
ducem iuuet pecunia. Sic dogma uestrum est,
suum quibusque reddito.

Bring forth the treasures, by persuading the wicked with prestiges
which you hold exaggerated,
which you shut up in a blackening cavern. this the public use demands,
this the fisc, this the aerarium,
that, dedicated to stipends,
the money may aid the leader. Thus your dogma is,
‘render to each his own.’

en, Caesar agnoscit suum
nomisma nummis inditum.

Behold, Caesar recognizes his own
nomisma set upon the coins.

Quod Caesaris scis, Caesari
da, nempe iustum postulo.
ni fallor, haud ullam tuus
signat deus pecuniam, nec, cum ueniret aureos
secum Filippos detulit,
praecepta sed uerbis dedit
inanis a marsuppio. Inplete dictorum fidem,
qua uos per orbem uenditis,
nummos libenter reddite,
estote uerbis diuites!'

What you know is Caesar’s, give to Caesar; indeed I demand what is just.
unless I am mistaken, your god stamps no money at all, nor, when he came, did he bring golden Philippi with him,
but gave precepts with words, empty as to the purse.
Make good the faith of your sayings,
which you vend throughout the orb,
gladly return the coins,
be wealthy in words!'

Nil asperum Laurentius
refert ad ista aut turbidum,
sed ut paratus obsequi
obtemperanter adnuit. 'Est diues', inquit, 'non nego,
habetque nostra ecclesia
opumque et auri plurimum
nec quisquam in orbe est ditior. Is ipse tantum non habet
argenteorum enigmatum
Augustus arcem possidens,
cui nummus omnis scribitur.

Laurence reports nothing harsh
in reply to those things, nor turbid,
but, as one prepared to comply,
he nodded assent obediently. “He is rich,” he says, “I do not deny it,
and our church has
a very great abundance of wealth and of gold,
nor is anyone in the world richer. He himself has almost nothing
of silver enigmas—
the Augustus possessing the citadel,
to whom every coin is inscribed.

Sed nec recuso prodere
locupletis arcam numinis,
uulgabo cuncta et proferam,
pretiosa quae Christus tenet. Vnum sed orans flagito:
indutiarum paululum,
quo fungat efficacius
promissionis munere, dum tota digestim mihi
Christi supellex scribitur;
nam calculanda primitus,
tum subnotanda est summula'.

But neither do I refuse to disclose
the coffer of the wealthy numen,
I will publish all and proffer
the precious things which Christ holds. But praying I beg one thing:
a little respite,
that the office of the promise may be discharged more efficaciously,
while the whole, in an itemized digest, for me
the appurtenances of Christ are written up;
for the small total must first be calculated,
then the little sum must be noted beneath.'

Laetus tumescit gaudio
praefectus ac spem deuorat
aurum, uelut iam conditum
domi maneret, gestiens. Pepigere tempus tridui,
laudatus inde absoluitur
Laurentius, sponsor sui
et sponsor ingentis lucri. Tribus per urbem cursitat
diebus infirma agmina
omnesque, qui poscunt stipem,
cogens in unum et congregans.

Glad, he swells with joy
the prefect, and he devours the hope
of gold, as though, already stored,
it remained at home, exulting. They agreed upon a time of three days,
thereupon Lawrence, praised, is released,
Lawrence, sponsor of himself
and sponsor of immense lucre. For three days through the city he runs about
the feeble ranks
and all who ask alms,
gathering into one and congregating.

Illic utrisque obtutibus
orbes cauatos praeferens
baculo regebat praeuio
errore nutantem gradum et claudus infracto genu
uel crure trunco semipes
breuiorue planta ex altera
gressum trahebat inparem. Est, ulcerosis artubus
qui tabe corrupta fluat,
est, cuius arens dextera
neruos in ulnam contrahat.

There, with both gazes
bearing hollowed orbs,
with a leading staff he was steering
a step wavering in errancy; and the lame man, with a broken knee,
or with a maimed leg, a half-foot,
or shorter in the sole on the other side,
would drag an unequal gait. There is one, with ulcerous limbs,
who oozes with corruption by putrid tabes,
there is one whose arid right hand
draws the nerves into the ulna.

Tales plateis omnibus
exquirit, adsuetos ali
ecclesiae matris penu,
quos ipse promus nouerat. Recenset exim singulos
scribens uiritim nomina,
longo et locatos ordine
adstare pro templo iubet. Praescriptus et iam fluxerat
dies: furebat feruidus
iudex auaro spiritu
promissa solui efflagitans.

Such as these through all the streets
he seeks out, those accustomed to be nourished
by the pantry of Mother Church,
whom he himself, the steward, had known. Then he reviews them one by one
writing the names individually,
and he orders them, arranged in a long order,
to stand before the church. And the prescribed day had already flowed by:
the fervid judge was raging
with an avaricious spirit,
demanding that the promises be paid.

Tum martyr: 'Adsistas uelim
coramque dispositas opes
mirere, quas noster deus
praediues in sanctis habet. Videbis ingens atrium
fulgere uasis aureis
et per patentes porticus
structos talentis ordines.' It ille nec pudet sequi.
uentum ad sacratam ianuam,
stabant cateruae pauperum
inculta uisu examina.

Then the martyr: 'I would have you stand by
and marvel at the wealth set out before you,
which our God, opulent, has among the saints. You will see a vast atrium
gleam with golden vessels,
and along the open porticoes
rows heaped with talents.' He goes, nor is he ashamed to follow.
they came to the sacred doorway,
there stood throngs of the poor,
swarms unkempt to the sight.

Fragor rogantum tollitur,
praefectus horrescit stupens,
conuersus in Laurentium
oculisque turbatis minax. Contra ille: 'quid frendens', ait,
'minitaris aut quid displicet?
num sordida haec aut uilia,
num dispuenda existimas? Aurum, quod ardenter sitis,
effossa gignunt rudera
et de metallis squalidis
poenalis excudit labor,

The clamor of the petitioners is lifted,
the prefect shudders, astonished,
turning toward Lawrence,
and, with perturbed eyes, menacing. In reply he: 'Why the gnashing,' he says,
'do you threaten, or what is displeasing?
Are these things sordid or vile,
do you think them to be spat upon? The gold, which you ardently thirst after,
excavated rubble brings forth,
and from squalid mines
penal labor hammers out,

torrens uel amnis turbidis
uoluens harenis inplicat;
quod terrulentum ac sordidum
flammis necesse est decoqui. Pudor per aurum soluitur,
uiolatur auro integritas,
pax occidit, fides petit,
leges et ipsae intercidunt. Quid tu uenenum gloriae
extollis et magni putas?

a torrent or a river, rolling with turbid sands, entangles it;
what is earthy and sordid must needs be decocted by flames. shame is dissolved by gold,
integrity is violated by gold,
peace perishes, good faith is assailed,
and the laws themselves even fall away. why do you extol the venom of glory
and think it great?

si quaeris aurum uerius,
lux est et humanum genus.

if you seek a truer gold,
it is light and the human race.

Hi sunt alumni luminis,
quos corpus artat debile,
ne per salutem uiscerum
mens insolescat turgida. Cum membra morbus dissicit,
animus uiget robustior,
membris uicissim fortibus
uis sauciatur sensuum. Nam sanguis in culpam calens
minus ministrat uirium,
si feruor effetus malis
elumbe uirus contrahat.

These are the fosterlings of the Light,
whom a feeble body confines,
lest through the health of the viscera
the mind, turgid, grow insolent. When sickness rends the limbs,
the spirit flourishes more robust,
but, with the limbs in turn strong,
the force of the senses is wounded. For blood, hot for guilt,
ministers less of strength,
if the fervor, exhausted by evils,
should contract a nerveless poison.

Si forte detur optio,
malim dolore asperrimo
fragmenta membrorum pati
et pulcher intus uiuere. Committe formas pestium
et confer alternas lues:
carnisne morbus foedior,
an mentis et morum ulcera? Nostri per artus debiles
intus decoris integri
sensum uenusti innoxium
laboris expertes gerunt,

If by chance a choice be given,
I would prefer, with the harshest pain,
to suffer the fragments of my limbs,
and to live fair within. Set the forms of pestilences together,
and compare alternate plagues:
is the disease of the flesh fouler,
or the ulcers of mind and of morals? Through our feeble limbs
within they bear a harmless sense of intact comeliness,
a sense of grace, exempt from toil,

uestros ualentes corpore
interna corrumpit lepra
errorque mancum claudicat
et caeca fraus nihil uidet. Quemuis tuorum principum,
qui ueste et ore praenitent,
magis probabo debilem,
quam quis meorum est pauperum. Hunc, qui superbit serico,
quem currus inflatum uehit,
hydrops aquosus lucido
tendit ueneno intrinsecus.

your men strong in body
an inner leprosy corrupts,
and error limps, maimed,
and blind fraud sees nothing.
Whomever of your princes,
who are resplendent in vesture and countenance,
I will more approve a debilitated one—
one who is of my poor—.
This man, who is proud in silk,
whom a chariot carries, inflated,
a watery dropsy with lucid poison
distends from within.

Ast hic auarus contrahit
manus recuruas et uolam
plicans aduncis unguibus
laxare neruos non ualet. Istum libido faetida
per scorta tractum publica
luto et cloacis inquinat,
dum spurca mendicat stupra. Quid?

But here the avaricious man contracts his recurved hands, and, folding the palm with hooked nails, is not able to loosen the sinews.
A fetid libido, dragged through public harlots, befouls him with mud and sewers,
while he begs for filthy debaucheries. What?

ille feruens ambitu
sitimque honoris aestuans
mersisne anhelat febribus
atque igne uenarum furit?

he, burning with ambition,
and sweltering with the thirst of honor,
does he pant with fevers sunk deep,
and rage with the fire of his veins?

Quisquis tacendi intemperans
silenda prurit prodere,
uexatur et scalpit iecur
scabiemque cordis sustinet. Quid inuidorum pectorum
strumas retexam turgidas,
quid purulenta et liuida
malignitatum uulnera? Tute ipse, qui Romam regis,
contemptor aeterni dei,
dum daemonum sordes colis,
morbo laboras regio.

Whoever, intemperate in keeping silence,
itches to betray things that should be kept silent,
is vexed and scratches his liver,
and endures the itch of the heart. Why should I unweave the swollen goiters of envious breasts,
why the purulent and livid
wounds of malignities? You yourself, who rule Rome,
despiser of the eternal God,
while you cultivate the filth of demons,
suffer from the royal disease.

Hi, quos superbus despicis,
quos execrandos iudicas,
breui ulcerosos exuent
artus et incolumes erunt, cum carne corruptissima
tandem soluti ac liberi
pulcherrimo uitae statu
in arce lucebunt patris, non sordidati aut debiles,
sicut uidentur interim,
sed purpurantibus stolis
clari et coronis aureis.

These, whom in pride you despise,
whom you judge to be accursed,
soon will put off ulcerated limbs
and will be whole; when, from the most corrupt flesh
at last released and free,
in the most beautiful state of life
they will shine on the Father’s citadel,
not befouled or feeble,
as they seem for the interim,
but bright in purpled stoles
and with golden crowns.

Tunc, si facultas subpetat,
coram tuis obtutibus
istos potentes saeculi
uelim recensendos dari. Pannis uideres obsitos
et mucculentis naribus,
mentum saliuis uuidum
lipposque palfebra putri. Peccante nil est taetrius,
nil tam leprosum aut putidum,
cruda est cicatrix criminum
oletque ut antrum tartari.

Then, if the faculty should be at hand,
before your gazes
those potent ones of the age
I would wish to be given for review. You would see them clothed in rags
and with mucous-laden nostrils,
a chin moist with spittle,
and bleary-eyed with a putrid eyelid. Nothing is more foul than the sinner,
nothing so leprous or putrid,
the cicatrix of crimes is raw,
and it stinks like the cavern of Tartarus.

Animabus inuersa uice
corrupta forma infligitur,
quas pulcher aspectus prius
in corpore oblectauerat. En ergo nummos aureos,
quos proxime spoponderam,
quos nec fauillis obruat
ruina nec fur subtrahat. Nunc addo gemmas nobiles,
ne pauperem Christum putes,
gemmas corusci luminis,
ornatur hoc templum quibus.

To souls, in an inverse turn,
a corrupted form is inflicted,
whom a fair aspect before
had in the body delighted. Lo then the golden coins,
which I had just pledged,
which neither ruin may cover
with embers nor thief subtract. Now I add noble gems,
lest you deem Christ poor,
gems of coruscant light,
with which this temple is adorned.

Cernis sacratas uirgines,
miraris intactas anus
primique post damnum tori
ignis secundi nescias. Hoc est monile ecclesiae,
his illa gemmis comitur,
dotata sic Christo placet,
sic ornat altum uerticem. Eccum talenta, suscipe,
ornabis urbem Romulam,
ditabis et rem principis,
fies et ipse ditior.'

You behold consecrated virgins,
you marvel at untouched old women,
and after the first loss of the marriage-bed
you know not a second fire. This is the necklace of the church,
with these gems she is adorned,
endowed thus she pleases Christ,
thus she adorns her lofty head. Behold the talents; receive them,
you will adorn the Romulean city,
and you will enrich the resources of the princeps,
and you yourself will become richer.'

'Ridemur', exclamat furens
praefectus, 'et miris modis
per tot figuras ludimur,
et uiuit insanum caput! Inpune tantas, furcifer.
strofas cauillo mimico
te nexuisse existimas,
dum scurra saltas fabulam?

'We are ridiculed,' exclaims, raging, the prefect, 'and in wondrous ways
through so many figures we are played with,
and the insane head lives! With impunity, gallows-bird.
strophes with a mimic cavil
you think you have woven,
while as a buffoon you dance a fable?

Concinna uisa urbanitas
tractare nosmet ludicris,
egon cachinnis uenditus
acroma festiuum fui?

A polished-seeming urbanity
to treat us ourselves with ludicrous amusements,
I, sold to cachinnations
was I a festive spectacle?

Adeone nulla austeritas,
censura nulla est fascibus,
adeon securem publicam
mollis retudit lenitas? Dicis: 'libenter oppetam,
uotiua mors est martyri' --
est ista uobis, nouimus,
persuasionis uanitas --; sed non uolenti inpertiam:
praestetur ut mortis citae
conpendiosus exitus,
petite raptim non dabo.

Is there then no austerity at all,
is there no censure in the fasces,
to such a degree the public axe
has soft lenity blunted? You say: 'I will gladly meet [death],
a votive death is for the martyr' --
that is for you, we know,
a vanity of persuasion --; but I will not impart it to the willing:
that the compendious exit of swift death
be provided,
seek it in haste I will not give.

Vitam tenebo et differam
poenis morarum iugibus,
et mors inextricabilis
longos dolores protrahet. Prunas tepentes sternite,
ne feruor ignitus nimis
os contumacis occupet
et cordis intret abdita. Vapor senescens langueat,
qui fusus adflatu leui
tormenta sensim temperet
semustulati corporis.

I will hold to life and I will defer, with the penalties of perpetual delays,
and inextricable death will protract long pains. Lay down tepid coals,
lest fiery fervor too much seize the mouth of the contumacious
and enter the heart’s hidden recesses. Let the aging vapor languish,
which, poured by a light breath,
may gradually temper the torments
of the half-cremated body.

Bene est, quod ipse ex omnibus
mysteriarches incidit,
hic solus exemplum dabit,
quid mox timere debeant. Conscende constratum rogum,
decumbe digno lectulo,
tunc, si libebit, disputa
nil esse Vulcanum meum!' Haec fante praefecto truces
hinc inde tortores parant
nudare amictu martyrem,
uincire membra et tendere.

It is well, that the mysteriarch himself, out of all,
has fallen into our hands; this one alone will give an example,
what they ought soon to fear. Mount the laid-out pyre,
lie down on the worthy little couch,
then, if it will please you, argue
that my vulcan is nothing!' As the prefect was saying these things the grim
torturers on this side and that prepare
to strip the martyr of his mantle,
to bind the limbs and to stretch them.

Illi os decore splenduit
fulgorque circumfusus est;
talem reuertens legifer
de monte uultum detulit, Iudaea quem plebs aureo
boue inquinata et decolor
expauit et faciem retro
detorsit inpatiens dei. Talemque et ille praetulit
oris corusci gloriam
Stefanus per imbrem saxeum
caelos apertos intuens.

His face shone with beauty,
and a splendor was circumfused around;
such a countenance, returning, the lawgiver
brought down from the mountain,
at which the Judaean plebs, defiled by the golden calf and drained of color,
trembled, and their face backward
they twisted, unable to endure God. And such too did he display,
the glory of a coruscating face,
Stephen, through the stony rain,
gazing upon the heavens opened.

Inluminatum hoc eminus
recens piatis fratribus,
baptisma quos nuper datum
Christi capaces fecerat; ast inpiorum caecitas,
os oblitum noctis situ
nigrante sub uelamine
obducta clarum non uidet, Aegyptiae plagae in modum,
quae, cum tenebris barbaros
damnaret, Hebraeis diem
sudo exhibebat lumine.

Illuminated, this from afar
was fresh to the pious brothers,
whom the baptism lately given
had made capable of Christ; but the blindness of the impious,
a face smeared with the mould of night
overcast beneath a blackening veil,
drawn over, does not see the bright, in the manner of the Egyptian plague,
which, while it condemned the barbarians
with darkness, for the Hebrews displayed day
with limpid light.

Quin ipsa odoris qualitas,
adusta quam reddit cutis,
diuersa utrosque permouet:
his nidor, illis nectar est. Idemque sensus dispari
uariatus aura aut adficit
horrore nares uindice
aut mulcet oblectamine. Sic ignis aeternus deus,
nam Christus ignis uerus est;
is ipse conplet lumine
iustos et urit noxios.

Nay, even the very quality of the odor,
which the scorched skin gives back,
moves both parties differently:
to these it is reek, to those nectar. And the same sense, varied
by a different breeze, either affects
the nostrils with avenging horror
or soothes with delectation. Thus the eternal fire, God—
for Christ is the true fire—
he himself fills with light
the just and burns the guilty.

Postquam uapor diutinus
decoxit exustum latus,
ultro e catasta iudicem
conpellat adfatu breui: 'Conuerte partem corporis
satis crematam iugiter
et fac periclum, quid tuus
Vulcanus ardens egerit.' Praefectus inuerti iubet,
tunc ille: 'coctum est, deuora
et experimentum cape,
sit crudum an assum suauius!'

After the long-lasting vapor
has cooked down the charred flank,
of his own accord from the rack he
addresses the judge with a brief address: "Turn the part of the body
that has been quite burned continually,
and make a trial of what your
blazing Vulcan has wrought." The prefect orders it to be turned;
then he: "It is cooked; devour,
and take the experiment,
whether raw or roast is more pleasant!"

Haec ludibundus dixerat,
caelum deinde suspicit
et congemescens obsecrat
miseratus urbem Romulam: 'O Christe, nomen unicum,
O splendor, O uirtus patris,
O factor orbis et poli
atque auctor horum moenium, qui sceptra Romae in uertice
rerum locasti, sanciens
mundum Quirinali togae
seruire et armis cedere,

He had said these things playfully,
then he looks up to heaven
and, groaning, he beseeches,
moved to pity for the Romulan city: 'O Christ, the unique name,
O splendor, O virtue of the Father,
O maker of the orb and pole
and author of these walls,
you who have placed the scepters of Rome at the summit
of affairs, sanctioning
that the world serve the Quirinal toga
and yield to arms,

ut discrepantum gentium
mores et obseruantiam
linguasque et ingenia et sacra
unis domares legibus! En omne sub regnum Remi
mortale concessit genus,
idem loquuntur dissoni
ritus, id ipsum sentiunt. Hoc destinatum, quo magis
ius christiani nominis,
quodcumque terrarum iacet,
uno inligaret uinculo.

so that of differing nations
the customs and observance
and the tongues and talents and sacred rites
you might tame by single laws! Behold, all under the reign of Remus
the mortal race has yielded,
the dissonant speak the same,
rites; they sense that very same thing. This was destined, so that all the more
the law of the christian name,
whatever of the lands lies,
might bind with one bond.

Da, Christe, Romanis tuis,
sit christiana ut ciuitas,
per quam dedisti, ut ceteris
mens una sacrorum foret! Confoederantur omnia
hinc inde membra in symbolum,
mansuescit orbis subditus,
mansuescat et summum caput. Aduertat abiunctas plagas
coire in unam gratiam,
fiat fidelis Romulus
et ipse iam credat Numa.

Grant, O Christ, to your Romans,
that the city may be Christian,
through which you granted that for the others
there should be one mind of sacred things! From here and there all the members
are confederated into the Symbol,
the subject world grows gentle,
let the highest head grow gentle as well. Let it take note that the sundered regions
are coming together into one grace,
let Romulus become faithful,
and let Numa himself now believe.

Confundit error Troicus
adhuc Catonum curiam
ueneratus occultis focis
Frygum penates exules. Ianum bifrontem et Sterculum
colit senatus, horreo
tot monstra patrum dicere
et festa Saturni senis. Absterge, Christe, hoc dedecus!

The Trojan error still confounds the Catos’ curia,
having venerated at hidden hearths
the exiled Penates of the Phrygians. The senate worships
two-faced Janus and Sterculus; I shudder
to speak of so many monstrosities of the fathers
and the festivals of old Saturn. Wipe away, Christ, this disgrace!

emitte Gabriel tuum,
agnoscat ut uerum deum
errans Iuli caecitas!

Send forth your Gabriel,
that it may acknowledge the true God
the erring blindness of Iulus!

Et iam tenemus obsides
fidissimos huius spei,
hic nempe iam regnant duo
apostolorum principes, alter uocator gentium,
alter cathedram possidens
primam recludit creditas
aeternitatis ianuas. Discede, adulter Iuppiter,
stupro sororis oblite,
relinque Romam liberam
plebemque iam Christi fuge!

And now we hold the most trustworthy pledges of this hope,
here indeed now there reign two
princes of the apostles, the one the summoner of the nations (Gentiles),
the other, possessing the first cathedra,
unlocks the entrusted gates
of eternity. Depart, adulterous Jupiter,
forgetful of the defilement with your sister,
leave Rome free
and flee now the people of Christ!

Te Paulus hinc exterminat,
te sanguis exturbat Petri,
tibi id, quod ipse armaueras,
factum Neronis, officit. Video futurum principem
quandoque, qui seruus dei
taetris sacrorum sordibus
seruire Romam non sinat, qui templa claudat uectibus,
ualuas eburnas obstruat,
nefasta damnet limina
obdens aenos pessulos.

Paul from here exterminates you,
the blood of Peter drives you out;
that thing which you yourself had armed,
the deed of Nero, works against you. I see a prince to be one day,
who, a servant of God,
will not allow Rome to serve the grim sordidness of rites,
who will shut the temples with bars,
block the ivory valves,
doom the nefarious thresholds,
bolting brazen bolts.

Tunc plura ab omni sanguine
tandem nitebunt marmora,
stabunt et aera innoxia,
quae nunc habentur idola.' Hic finis orandi fuit
et finis idem uinculi
carnalis: erupit uolens
uocem secutus spiritus. Vexere corpus subditis
ceruicibus quidam partes,
quos mira libertas uiri
ambire Christum suaserat.

Then more marbles will at last shine from every lineage,
and bronzes too will stand harmless,
which now are held to be idols.' Here was the end of praying
and likewise the end of the carnal bond: the spirit burst forth, willing,
following the voice. Certain men carried the body with submissive
necks, each taking their parts,
whom the wondrous liberty of the man had persuaded
to court Christ.

Repens medullas indoles
adflarat et coegerat
amore sublimis dei
odisse nugas pristinas. Refrixit ex illo die
cultus deorum turpium:
plebs in sacellis rarior,
Christi ad tribunal curritur. Sic dimicans Laurentius
non ense praecinxit latus,
hostile sed ferrum retro
torquens in auctorem tulit.

A sudden disposition had breathed upon the marrow
had breathed upon and had compelled
by the love of the sublime God
to hate former trifles. From that day
the cult of the shameful gods grew cold:
the plebs in the shrines more sparse,
to the tribunal of Christ one runs. Thus fighting Lawrence
did not gird his side with a sword,
but the hostile steel backward
twisting upon its author, he turned it.

Dum daemon inuictum dei
testem lacessit proelio,
perfossus ipse concidit
et stratus aeternum iacet. Mors illa sancti martyris
mors uera templorum fuit,
tunc Vesta Palladios lares
inpune sensit deseri. Quidquid Quiritum sueuerat
orare simpuuium Numae,
Christi frequentans atria,
hymnis resultat martyrem.

While the demon provokes the unconquered
witness of God in battle,
he himself, pierced through, falls,
and, laid low, lies forever. That death of the holy martyr
was the true death of the temples,
then Vesta felt the Palladian Lares
to be deserted with impunity. Whatever of the Quirites had been accustomed
to pray to Numa’s simpuvium,
frequenting Christ’s halls,
resounds with hymns to the martyr.

Ipsa et senatus lumina,
quondam luperci aut flamines,
apostolorum et martyrum
exosculantur limina. Videmus inlustres domos,
sexu ex utroque nobiles,
offerre uotis pignera
clarissimorum liberum. Vittatus olim pontifex
adscitur in signum crucis
acdemque, Laurenti, tuam
Vestalis intrat Claudia.

Even the very lights of the senate,
once Luperci or Flamens,
kiss the thresholds
of apostles and martyrs.
We see illustrious houses,
noble from either sex,
offer as pledges to their vows
the children of the most illustrious.
The once fillet-wearing pontifex
is enrolled into the sign of the cross,
and, Laurence, your shrine
the Vestal Claudia enters.

O ter quaterque et septies
beatus urbis incola,
qui te ac tuorum comminus
sedem celebrat ossuum, cui propter aduolui licet,
qui fletibus spargit locum,
qui pectus in terram premit,
qui uota fundit murmure! Nos Vasco Hiberus diuidit
binis remotos Alpibus
trans Cottianorum iuga
trans et Pyrenas ninguidos.

O thrice and four times and seven times
blessed inhabitant of the city,
who at close hand celebrates you and the seat
of your bones, and of your own; to whom it is permitted to roll up close,
who sprinkles the place with tears,
who presses his breast upon the earth,
who pours out vows with a murmur! Us the Basque Ebro divides,
remote by a double mountains, beyond the ridges of the Cottians,
and beyond the snow-laden Pyrenees.

Vix fama nota est, abditis
quam plena sanctis Roma sit,
quam diues urbanum solum
sacris sepulcris floreat. Sed qui caremus his bonis
nec sanguinis uestigia
uidere coram possumus,
caelum intuemur eminus. Sic, sancte Laurenti, tuam
nos passionem quaerimus,
est aula nam duplex tibi,
hic corporis, rorentis polo.

Hardly is the report known, how
full with hidden saints Rome is,
how rich the urban soil
blossoms with sacred sepulchers.
But we who lack these goods
nor can we the vestiges of blood
see face to face,
we gaze upon heaven from afar.
Thus, holy Laurence, your
passion we seek,
for a double hall is yours,
here of the body, in the dewy pole.

Illic inenarrabili
allectus urbi municeps
aeternae in arce curiae
gestas coronam ciuicam. Videor uidere inlustribus
gemmis coruscantem uirum,
quem Roma caelestis sibi
legit perennem consulem. Quae sit potestas credita
et muneris quantum datum,
probant Quiritum gaudia,
quibus rogatus adnuis.

There, adlected as a fellow-citizen to the inenarrable city,
eternal, in the citadel of the Curia
you bear the civic crown. I seem to see, with illustrious
gems, a man coruscating,
whom celestial Rome for herself
chooses as perpetual consul. What power has been entrusted
and how great the office given,
the joys of the Quirites attest,
to whose petitions you nod assent.

Quod quisque supplex postulat,
fert inpetratum prospero,
poscunt, iocantur, indicant,
et tristis haut ullus redit, ceu praesto semper adsies
tuosque alumnos urbicos
lactante conplexus sinu
paterno amore nutrias. Hos inter, o Christi decus,
audi poetam rusticum,
cordis fatentem crimina
et facta prodentem sua.

What each suppliant asks,
he brings back obtained in prosperous wise,
they petition, they jest, they indicate,
and no one returns sad, as though you were always at hand,
and your urban alumni,
embraced at a lactating bosom,
you nourish with paternal love. Among these, O ornament of Christ,
hear the rustic poet,
confessing the crimes of the heart
and disclosing his deeds.

Indignus agnosco et scio,
quem Christus ipse exaudiat,
sed per patronos martyras
potest medellam consequi. Audi benignus supplicem
Christi reum Prudentium
et seruientem corpori
absolue uinclis saeculi!

Unworthy I acknowledge and I know myself,
whom Christ himself would hearken to,
yet through patron martyrs
he can obtain a remedy. Hear kindly the suppliant
Prudentius, Christ’s accused,
and one serving the body—
absolve from the bonds of the world!