Sidonius Apollinaris: CARMINA

Cum iuvenem super astra Iovem natura locaret
      susciperetque novus regna vetusta deus,
certavere suum venerari numina numen
      disparibusque modis par cecinere sophos.
Mars clangente tuba patris praeconia dixit

When nature was placing the young Jove above the stars
      and the new god was taking up the ancient realms,
the divinities vied that their numen might venerate his numen
      and with disparate modes they sang “sophos” equally.
Mars, with a clanging trumpet, spoke the father’s proclamations

      laudavitque sono fulmina fulmineo;
Arcas et Arcitenens fidibus strepuere sonoris,
      doctior hic citharae pulsibus, ille lyrae;
Castalidumque chorus vario modulamine plausit,
      carminibus, cannis, pollice, voce, pede.

      and with a thunderous sound he praised the thunderbolts;
The Arcadian and the Bow-Bearer resounded on sonorous strings,
      this one more learned in the strokes of the cithara, that one of the lyre;
and the chorus of the Castalids applauded with varied modulation,
      with songs, reeds, thumb, voice, foot.

sed post caelicolas etiam mediocria fertur
      cantica semideum sustinuisse deus.
tunc Faunis Dryades Satyrisque Mimallones aptae
      fuderunt lepidum, rustica turba, melos.
alta cicuticines liquerunt Maenala Panes

but after the celestials, the god is said even to have endured
      the mediocre songs of the demigods.
then the Mimallones, apt to Fauns and Dryads and Satyrs,
      poured forth a charming melody, a rustic throng.
the Pans, reed-pipers, left lofty Maenalus

      postque chelyn placuit fistula rauca Iovi.
hos inter Chiron, ad plectra sonantia saltans,
      flexit inepta sui membra facetus equi;
semivir audiri meruit meruitque placere,
      quamvis hinnitum, dum canit, ille daret.

      and after the tortoise-shell lyre, the raucous reed-pipe pleased Jove.
among these, Chiron, dancing to the resounding plectra,
      wittily bent the inept limbs of his own horse-body;
the half-man deserved to be heard and deserved to please,
      although he, while he sang, would give a whinny.

ergo sacrum dives et pauper lingua litabat
      summaque tunc voti victima cantus erat.
sic nos, o Caesar, nostri spes maxima saecli,
      post magnos proceres parvula tura damus,
audacter docto coram Victore canentes,

therefore rich and poor alike performed the sacred offering with the tongue
      and then song was the supreme victim of the vow.
thus we, O Caesar, greatest hope of our age,
      after the great nobles, we offer little incense,
boldly singing before the learned Victor,

      aut Phoebi aut vestro qui solet ore loqui;
qui licet aeterna sit vobis quaestor in aula,
      aeternum nobis ille magister erit.
ergo colat variae te, princeps, hostia linguae;
      nam nova templa tibi pectora nostra facis.

      who is wont to speak either by the mouth of Phoebus or by yours;
who, although he may be quaestor to you in the eternal court,
      will be an eternal teacher to us.
therefore let the victim of varied tongues worship you, princeps;
      for you make our hearts new temples for you.

CARMEN II

POEM 2

PANEGYRICUS.

PANEGYRIC.

Auspicio et numero fasces, Auguste, secundos
erige et effulgens trabealis mole metalli
annum pande novum consul vetus, ac sine fastu
scribere bis fastis; quamquam diademate erinem
fastigatus eas umerosque ex more priorum

By auspice and in their number, Augustus, raise the second fasces,
and, effulgent, the trabeal robe with its mass of metal;
unfold the new year, seasoned consul, and, without haughtiness,
be written twice in the Fasti; although, crowned with the diadem and a woolen fillet,
you go, and your shoulders according to the custom of the forefathers

includat Sarrana chlamys, te picta togarum
purpura plus capiat, quia res est semper ab aevo
rara frequens consul. tuque o cui laurea, Iane,
annua debetur, religa torpore soluto
quavis fronde comas, subita nec luce pavescạs

let the Tyrian chlamys enclose, let the painted purple of the togas take you more, since a frequent consul is from of old a rare thing. and you, O Janus, to whom the laurel is owed yearly, rebind, with torpor loosed, your locks with any leaf, and do not quail at the sudden light

principis aut rerum credas elementa moveri.
nil natura novat: sol hic quoque venit ab ortu.
hic est, o proceres, petiit quem Romula virtus
et quem vester amor; cui se ceu victa procellis
atque carens rectore ratis res publica fractam

you would think that the elements of the world are being moved by a prince.
nature innovates nothing: the sun here too comes from the east.
this is he, O nobles, whom Romulean valor sought,
and whom your love sought; to whom, like a ship conquered by storms
and lacking a helmsman, the Republic, a raft, gave itself shattered.

intulit, ut digno melius flectenda magistro,
ne tempestates, ne te, pirata, timeret.
te prece ruricola expetiit, te foedere iunctus
adsensu, te castra tubis, te curia plausu,
te punctis scripsere tribus collegaque misit

she committed herself, to be better steered by a worthy master,
that she might not fear the tempests, nor you, pirate.
you the rustic sought with prayer, you the ally, joined by treaty,
with assent; you the camp with trumpets, you the curia with applause,
you the tribes inscribed with their points and sent a colleague

te nobis regnumque tibi; suffragia tot sunt
quanta legit mundus. fateor, trepidavimus omnes,
ne vellet collega pius permittere voto
publica vota tuo. credet Ventura propago:
in nos ut possint, princeps, sic cuncta licere,

you to us, and the kingship to you; the suffrages are as many
as the world casts. I confess, we all trembled,
lest the dutiful colleague might wish to commit to a vote
the public votes to your will. The coming progeny will believe:
that against us, princeps, thus all things are permitted, so that they can,

de te non totum licuit tibi. facta priorum
exsuperas, Auguste Leo; nam regna super stat
qui regnare iubet: melius res publica vestra
nunc erit una magis, quae sic est facta duorum.
salve, sceptrorum columen, regina Orientis,

concerning you, not everything was permitted to you. you surpass the deeds of your predecessors, Augustus Leo; for he who bids to reign stands above kingdoms: your Republic will now be better, more one, which thus has been made of two. hail, pillar of scepters, queen of the East,

orbis Roma tui, rerum mihi principe misso
iam non Eoo solum veneranda Quiriti,
imperii sedes, sed plus pretiosa, quod extas
imperii genetrix. Rhodopen quae portat et Haemum,
Thracum terra tua est, heroum fertilis ora.

the Rome of your orb, with the princeps of affairs sent to me
now not to be venerated by the Eoan Quirite alone,
the seat of empire, but more precious, because you stand forth
as the empire’s genetrix. She who bears Rhodope and Haemus,
the land of the Thracians is yours, a shore fertile in heroes.

excipit hic natos glacies et matris ab alvo
artus infantum molles nix civica durat.
pectore vix alitur quisquam, sed ab ubere tractus
plus potat per vulnus equum; sic lacte relicto
virtutem gens tota bibit. crevere parumper:

here ice receives the newborn, and from the mother’s womb
the soft limbs of infants the civic snow hardens.
scarcely is anyone nourished at the breast, but, drawn to the udder,
he drinks more from the horse through a wound; thus, milk left behind,
the whole nation drinks virtue. they have grown a little:

mox pugnam ludunt iaculis; hos suggerit illis
nutrix plaga iocos; pueri venatibus apti
lustra feris vacuant, rapto ditata iuventus
iura colit gladii, consummatamque senectam
non ferro finire pudet: tali ordine vitae

soon they play at battle with javelins; the nurse with a lash supplies these games to them
the boys apt for hunts; they empty the lairs of wild beasts, youth enriched by plunder
cultivates the rights of the sword, and a completed old age
is not ashamed to finish by steel: in such an order of life

cives Martis agunt. at tu circumflua ponto
Europae atque Asiae commissam carpis utrimquc
temperiem; nam Bistonios Aquilonis hiatus
proxima Calchidici sensim tuba temperat Euri.
interea te Susa tremunt ac supplice cultu

the citizens of Mars conduct their lives. but you, encircled by the sea,
you pluck from both sides the temperateness of the place where Europe and Asia are joined;
for the Bistonian gaps of Aquilon
are gently tempered by the nearby trumpet of the Chalcidic Eurus.
meanwhile Susa trembles at you and with suppliant worship

flectit Achaemenius lunatum Persa tiaram.
Indus odorifero crinem madefactus amomo
in tua lucra feris exarmat guttur alumnis,
ut pandum dependat ebur; sic trunca reportat
Bosphoreis elefas inglorius ora tributis.

The Achaemenian Persian bends his lunated tiara.
The Indian, his hair soaked with odoriferous amomum,
for your gains disarms the throat of his wild nurslings,
so that the arched ivory may hang down; thus he carries back
the elephant, its mouth truncated, inglorious, to the Bosporus as tributes.

porrigis ingentem spatiosis moenibus urbem,
quam tamen angustam populus facit; itur in aequor
molibus et veteres tellus nova contrahit undas,
namque Dicarchaeae translatus pulvis harenae
intratis solidatur aquis durataque massa

you stretch a vast city with spacious walls,
which, however, the populace makes narrow; men go upon the sea
by moles, and new earth constricts the ancient waves,
for the dust of Dicarchaean sand, transferred,
is solidified with the waters admitted, and the mass, hardened

sustinet advectos peregrino in gurgite campos.
sic te dispositam spectantemque undique portus,
vallatam pelago terrarum commoda cingunt.
Fortunata satis, Romae partita triumphos,
et iam non querimur: valeat divisio regni.

it sustains imported fields in the foreign deep.
thus, laid out and looking on every side, the harbors behold you,
ramparted by the sea, the commodities of the lands encircle you.
Fortunate enough, having shared triumphs with Rome,
and now we do not complain: let the division of the kingdom stand.

concordant lancis partes; dum pondera nostra
suscipis, aequasti. tali tu civis ab urbe
Procopio genitore micas; cui prisca propago
Augustis venit a proavis, quem dicere digno
non datur eloquio, nec si modo surgat Averno

the sides of the scale-pan are in concord; while you take up our weights,
you have equalized them. such a citizen from such a city you sparkle,
with Procopius as father; to whom an ancient lineage
comes from the Augusti as great-grandfathers, whom to speak with worthy eloquence
it is not granted, not even if just now he should rise from Avernus

qui cantu flexit scopulos digitisque canoris
compulit auritas ad plectrum currere silvas,
cum starent Hebri latices cursuque ligato
Huic quondam iuveni reparatio credita pacis

who by song bent the crags and with tuneful fingers
compelled the eared woods to run to the plectrum,
when the waters of the Hebrus stood and, their course bound,
to this young man once the restoration of peace was entrusted

Assyriae; stupuit primis se Parthus in annis
consilium non ferre senis; conterritus haesit
quisque sedet sub rege satraps: ita vinxerat omnes
legati genius. tremuerunt Medica rura,
quaeque draconigenae portas non clauserat hosti,

of Assyria; the Parthian marveled that, in his earliest years,
he did not bear the counsel of an old man; thunder-struck he stayed fixed,
each satrap who sits beneath the king: thus had the envoy’s genius bound them all.
the Median fields trembled,
and even that which had not closed its gates to the dragon-born enemy,

tum demum Babylon nimis est sibi visa patere.
partibus at postquam statuit nova formula foedus
Procopio dictante magis, iuratur ab illis
ignis et unda deus nec non rata pacta futura
hic divos testatur avos. Chaldaeus in extis

then at last Babylon seemed to itself to lie too open.
but after a new formula set a treaty between the parties
with Procopius rather dictating, it is sworn by them
by fire and wave as god, and also that the pacts will be ratified
here he calls his divine ancestors to witness. The Chaldean in the entrails

pontificum de more senex arcana peregit
murmura; gemmantem pateram rex ipse retentans
fudit turicremis carchesia cernuus aris.
suscipit hinc reducem duplicati culmen honoris:
patricius necnon peditumque equitumque magister

the old man, according to the custom of the pontiffs, performed arcane murmurs;
the king himself, holding the gemmed patera,
bowed, poured the carchesium-cups at the incense-burning altars.
thence, returned, he receives the summit of doubled honor:
a patrician and also master of the foot and of the horse

praeficitur castris, ubi Tauri claustra cohercens
Aethiopasque vagos belli terrore relegans
gurgite pacato famulum spectaret Orontem.
Huic socer Anthemius, praefectus, consul et idem,
iudiciis populos atque annum nomine rexit.

he is put in command of the camps, where, restraining the passes of Taurus
and relegating the wandering Ethiopians by the terror of war,
with the flood calmed he might behold the Orontes as a servant.
to him his father-in-law Anthemius, prefect and likewise consul,
ruled the peoples by judgments and the year by his name.

purpureos Fortuna viros cum murice semper
prosequitur, solum hoc tantum mutatur in illis,
ut regnet qui consul erat. sed omittimus omnes.
iam tu ad plectra veni, tritus cui casside crinis
ad diadema venit, rutilum cui Caesaris ostrum

Fortune always attends purple(-clad) men with murex-purple,
only this alone is changed in them,
that he reigns who was consul. But we omit them all.
Now you come to the plectra, he whose hair, worn by the helmet,
has come to the diadem, to whom the ruddy purple of Caesar

100

deposito thorace datur sceptroque replenda
mucrone est vacuata manus. cunabula vestra
imperii fulsere notis et praescia tellus
aurea converso promisit saecula fetu.
te nascente ferunt exorto flumina melle

with the cuirass laid aside, the hand is given to the scepter to be refilled,
emptied of the point. Your cradles
shone with the signs of empire, and the prescient earth
promised golden ages with its offspring transformed.
at your birth, they say, the rivers ran with honey sprung up

105

dulcatis cunctata vadis oleique liquores
isse per attonitas bacca pendente trapetas.
protulit undantem segetem sine semine campus
et sine se natis invidit pampinus uvis.
hibernae rubuere rosae spretoque rigore

sweetened, they lingered in the shallows, and the liquors of oil
went through the astonished presses with the berry hanging.
the field brought forth an undulating crop without seed
and the vine-leaf begrudged grapes born without itself.
winter roses blushed, and, the chill scorned

110

lilia permixtis insultavere pruinis.
tale puerperium quotiens Lucina resolvit,
mos elementorum cedit regnique futuri
fit rerum novitate fides. venisse beatos
sic loquitur natura deos: constantis Iuli 115
lambebant teneros incendia blanda capillos;
Astyages Cyro pellendus forte nepoti
inguinis expavit diffusum vite racemum;
praebuit intrepido mammas lupa feta Quirino;
Iulius in lucem venit, dum laurea flagrat;

lilies bounded over the intermingled frosts.
whenever Lucina unlooses such a childbirth,
the law of the elements yields, and of the future kingdom
assurance is made by the novelty of things. thus speaks nature, that the blessed gods have come:
of steadfast Iulus 115
caressing fires were licking his tender hair;
Astyages, destined to be expelled by his grandson Cyrus,
grew afraid at a vine’s grape-cluster spread from his groin;
a newly-delivered she‑wolf proffered her teats to intrepid Quirinus;
Julius came into the light, while the laurel blazes;

120

magnus Alexander nec non Augustus habentur
concepti serpente deo Phoebumque Iovemque
divisere sibi: namque horum quaesiit unus
Cinyfia sub Syrte patrem; maculis genetricis
alter Phoebigenam sese gaudebat haberi, 125
Paeonii iactans Epidauria signa draconis.
multos cinxerunt aquilae subitumque per orbem
lusit venturas famulatrix penna coronas.
ast hunc, egregii proceres, ad sceptra vocari
iam tum nosse datum est, laribus cum forte paternis

great Alexander and likewise Augustus are held
to have been conceived by a serpent-god, and Phoebus and Jove
they apportioned to themselves: for of these one sought
a father beneath the Cinyphian Syrtis; by his mother's markings
the other rejoiced to be held as born of Phoebus, 125
vaunting the Epidaurian signs of the Paeonian serpent.
eagles encircled many, and suddenly throughout the orb
the handmaid feather sported with crowns to come.
but that this man, illustrious nobles, was being called to scepters
already then it was granted to know, when at his paternal Lares

130

protulit excisus iam non sua germina palmes.
imperii ver illud erat; sub imagine frondis
dextra per arentem florebant omina virgam.
at postquam primos infans exegerat annos,
reptabat super arma patris, quamque arta terebat

a vine-shoot, already cut back, put forth shoots not its own.
that was the spring of empire; beneath the image of foliage
omens were flowering, in the right hand, along the arid rod.
but after the infant had passed his first years,
he crawled over his father's arms, and whatever was close-wrought he was wearing down

135

lammina cervicem gemina complexus ab ulna
livida laxatis intrabat ad oscula cristis.
ludus erat puero raptas ex hoste sagittas
festina tractare manu captosque per arcus
flexa reluctantes in cornua trudere nervos,

having hugged the plate at his neck with both forearms,
with the bluish crests loosened he would come in for kisses.
it was a game for the boy to handle with hurrying hand the arrows snatched from the foe,
and, having taken the bows, to thrust the strings, captured, through them,
and, bent and resisting, to push the cords onto the horns.

140

nunc tremulum tenero iaculum torquere lacerto
inque frementis equi dorsum cum pondere conti
indutas Chalybum saltu transferre catenas,
inventas agitare feras et fronde latentes
quaerere, deprensas modo claudere cassibus artis,

now to whirl the trembling javelin with his tender arm,
and onto the back of a neighing horse, with the weight of the lance,
to shift, with a leap, the Chalybian chains he had donned,
to drive the beasts once found and to seek those hiding in the frondage,
and, once seized, to shut them in close-meshed toils,

145

nunc torto penetrare veru: tum saepe fragore
laudari comitum, frendens cum belua ferrum
ferret et intratos exirent arma per armos.
conde Pelethronios, alacer puer et venator,
Aeacida, titulos, quamquam subiecta magistri

now to penetrate with a whirled javelin: then to be often praised
by his companions at the crash, when the beast, gnashing, would bear the iron,
and the weapons that had entered would go out through its shoulders.
lay up Pelethronian titles, eager boy and hunter,
Aeacid, though subject to a teacher

150

terga premens et ob hoc securus lustra pererrans
tu potius regereris equo. non principe nostro
spicula direxit melius Pythona superstans
Paean, cum vacua turbatus paene pharetra
figeret innumeris numerosa volumina telis.

pressing their backs and, for this reason, secure, roaming through the lairs
you would rather be guided on a horse. not better than our princeps
did Paean, standing over the Python, direct his darts,
when, with his quiver almost empty and in turmoil,
he was fixing the numerous coils with innumerable missiles.

155

Nec minus haec inter veteres audire sophistas:
Mileto quod crete Thales vadimonia culpas,
Lindie quod Cleobule canis 'modus optimus esto',
ex Efyra totum meditaris quod Periander,
Attice quodve Solon finem bene respicis aevi,

No less do you hear these among the ancient sophists:
that, from Miletus, Thales surely blames court-bonds;
that, Lindian Cleobulus, you sing "let measure be best";
that, from Ephyra, you meditate wholly what Periander taught,
or, Attic one, that Solon looks well to the end of life,

160

Prienaee Bia, quod plus tibi turba malorum est,
noscere quod tempus, Lesbo sate Pittace, suades,
quod se nosse omnes vis, ex Lacedaemone Chilon.
praeterea didicit varias, nova dogmata, sectas:
quicquid laudatum est Scythicis Anacharsis in arvis.

Bias of Priene, that the crowd is, for the most part, a mob of bad men,
Pittacus, sprung from Lesbos, that one should know the time, you urge,
Chilon from Lacedaemon, that you wish all to know themselves.
furthermore he learned various, new dogmas, sects:
whatever was praised by Anacharsis in the Scythian fields.

165

quicquid legifero profecit Sparta Lycurgo,
quicquid Erechtheis Cynicorum turba volutat
gymnasiis, imitata tuos, Epicure, sodales;
quicquid nil verum statuens Academia duplex
personat, arroso quicquid sapit ungue Cleanthes,

whatever Sparta accomplished by law-bearing Lycurgus,
whatever the Cynic crowd in the Erechthean gymnasia turns over,
imitating your comrades, Epicurus;
whatever the double Academy, establishing nothing true, proclaims,
whatever Cleanthes savors with his gnawed nail,

170

quicquid Pythagoras, Democritus, Heraclitus
deflevit, risit, tacuit; quodcumque Platonis
ingenium, quod in arce fuit, docet ordine terno,
quae vel Aristoteles, partitus membra loquendi,
argumentosis dat retia syllogismis;

whatever Pythagoras, Democritus, Heraclitus
wept over, laughed at, kept silent about; whatever the genius
of Plato, which was in the citadel, teaches in a triple order,
what things even Aristotle, having partitioned the members of discourse,
casts nets with argumentative syllogisms;

175

quicquid Anaximenes, Euclides, Archyta, Zenon,
Arcesilas, Chrysippus Anaxagorasque dederunt,
Socraticusque animus post fatum in Faedone vivus,
despiciens vastas tenuato in crure catenas,
cum tremeret mors ipsa reum ferretque venenum

whatever Anaximenes, Euclid, Archytas, Zeno,
Arcesilaus, Chrysippus and Anaxagoras have given,
and the Socratic spirit, alive after Fate, in the Phaedo,
looking down upon the vast chains on his emaciated leg,
when even Death itself trembled and bore the poison to the defendant

180

pallida securo lictoris dextra magistro.
praeterea quicquid Latialibus indere libris
prisca aetas studuit, totum percurrere suetus;
Mantua quas acies pelagique pericula lusit
Zmyrnaeas imitata tubas, quamcumque loquendi

the lictor’s right hand pale, the master untroubled.
besides, whatever into Latian books
the ancient age strove to insert, he was accustomed to run through entire;
the battle-lines and the perils of the sea which Mantua played,
imitating the Smyrnaean trumpets, whatever of speaking

185

Arpinas dat consul opem, sine fine secutus
fabro progenitum, spreto cui patre polita
eloquiis plus lingua fuit, vel quicquid in aevum
mittunt Euganeis Patavina volumina chartis;
qua Crispus brevitate placet, quo pondere Varro,

The Arpinate consul gives aid, pursuing without end one begotten from a smith, for whom, his father scorned, the tongue was the more, polished with eloquences; or whatever the Paduan volumes send into the ages on Euganean papers; wherein Crispus pleases by brevity, with what weight Varro,

190

quo genio Plautus, quo fulmine Quintilianus,
qua pompa Tacitus numquam sine laude loquendus.
His hunc formatum studiis, natalibus ortum,
moribus imbutum, princeps cui mundus ab Euro
ad Zephyrum tunc sceptra dabat, cui nubilis atque

with what genius Plautus, with what thunderbolt Quintilian,
with what pomp Tacitus—never to be spoken of without praise.
This man, formed by these studies, sprung from his birth,
imbued with mores, a prince to whom the world from Eurus
to Zephyrus then was giving the scepters, to whom marriageable also

195

unica purpureos debebat nata nepotes,
elegit generum: sed non ut deside luxu
fortuna soceri contentus et otia captans
nil sibi deberet; comitis sed iure recepto
Danuvii ripas et tractum limitis ampli

the only-born daughter owed purple-clad grandsons,
she chose a son-in-law: but not so that, with slothful luxury
content with the fortune of his father-in-law and grasping at leisure,
he should owe nothing to himself; but, with the right of Count received,
he took on the banks of the Danube and the stretch of the broad frontier

200

circuit, hortatur, disponit, discutit, armat.
sic sub patre Pius moderatus castra parentis,
sic Marcus vivente Pio, post iura daturi,
innumerabilibus legionibus imperitabant.
hinc reduci datur omnis honos, et utrique magister

he makes the circuit, exhorts, arranges, scrutinizes, arms.
thus under his father, Pius governed his parent’s camp,
thus Marcus, while Pius lived, afterwards to give laws,
were commanding innumerable legions.
hence to the returning one every honor is given, and to both, a master

205

militiae consulque micat, coniuncta potestas
patricii, celerique gradu privata cucurrit
culmina conscenditque senum puer ipse curulem,
sedit et emerito iuvenis veteranus in auro.
Iamque parens divos: sed vobis nulla cupido

he shines in militia and as consul, the conjoined power
of a patrician, and with swift step from the private he ran
to the summits and the boy himself mounted the elders’ curule seat,
and, service earned, the young man sat a veteran in gold.
And now a parent of gods: but for you no desire

210

imperii; longam diademata passa repulsam
insignem legere virum, quem deinde legentem
spernere non posses. soli tibi contulit uni
hoc Fortuna decus, quamquam te posceret ordo,
ut lectus princeps mage quam videare relictus:

of empire; after a long repulse the diadems
elected a distinguished man, whom thereafter, when electing,
you could not spurn. To you alone, to you uniquely, Fortune bestowed
this honor, although the Order was calling for you,
that you appear a chosen prince rather than seem left behind:

215

post socerum augustum regnas, sed non tibi venit
purpura per thalamos et coniunx regia regno
laus potius quam causa fuit; nam iuris habenis
non generum legit res publica, sed generosum.
fallor, bis gemino nisi cardine rem probat orbis:

after your august father-in-law you reign, but not to you did the purple come
through bridal chambers; and your royal consort was to the reign
praise rather than cause; for with the reins of law
the commonwealth chose not a son-in-law, but a noble man.
I am mistaken, unless the orb proves the matter on its twice-twinned hinge:

220

ambit te Zephyrus rectorem, destinat Eurus,
ad Boream pugnas et formidaris ad Austrum.
Ante tamen quam te socium collega crearet,
perstrinxisse libet, quos Illyris ora triumphos
viderit, excisam quae se Valameris ab armis

the West Wind courts you as helmsman, the East Wind designates you,
to the North you wage battles, and to the South you are dreaded.
Yet before your colleague made you his associate,
it pleases me to touch briefly what triumphs the Illyrian shore
has seen, which confessed itself cut down by the arms of Valamer

225

forte ducis nostri vitio deserta gemebat.
haud aliter, caesus quondam cum Caepio robur
dedidit Ausonium, subita cogente ruina
electura ducem post guttura fracta Iugurthae
ultum Arpinatem Calpurnia foedera lixam

by chance, through our leader’s fault, the abandoned land was groaning.
not otherwise, when Caepio was once cut down, the Ausonian core
surrendered, a sudden collapse compelling,
about to choose a leader—after Jugurtha’s throat was broken—
the Arpinate sutler, to avenge the Calpurnian treaties.

230

opposuit rabido res publica territa Cimbro.
hic primum ut vestras aquilas provincia vidit,
desiit hostiles confestim horrere dracones.
ilicet edomiti bello praedaque carentes
mox ipsi tua praeda iacent. sed omittimus istos

the Commonwealth, terrified, set you in opposition to the rabid Cimbrian.
here first, as soon as the province saw your eagles,
she at once ceased to dread the hostile dragons.
straightway, subdued in war and bereft of booty,
soon they themselves lie as your prey. But let us pass over these

235

ut populatores: belli magis acta revolvo,
quod bellum non parva manus nec carcere fracto
ad gladiaturam tu Spartace vincte, parasti,
sed Scythicae vaga turba plagae, feritatis abundans,
dira, rapax, vehemens, ipsis quoque gentibus illic

as ravagers: I rather revolve the acts of war,
a war which not a small band, nor you, Spartacus, bound, with the prison broken,
for gladiature prepared, but a wandering throng of the Scythian quarter,
abounding in ferity, dire, rapacious, vehement, even to the peoples themselves there

240

barbara barbaricis, cuius dux Hormidac atque
civis erat. quis tale solum est murique genusque.
Albus Hyperboreis Tanais qua vallibus actus
Riphaea de caute cadit, iacet axe sub ursae
gens animis membrisque minax: ita vultibus ipsis

barbarous to barbarians, whose leader and fellow-citizen was Hormidac.
what land is such, and what sort of wall!
the white Tanais, where driven through Hyperborean valleys,
falls from the Riphaean crag, it lies beneath the axle of the Bear;
a race menacing in spirit and in limbs: so in their very faces

245

infantum suus horror inest, consurgit in artum
massa rotunda caput; geminis sub fronte cavernis
visus adest oculis absentibus; acta cerebri
in cameram vix ad refugos lux pervenit orbes,
non tamen et clausos; nam fornice non spatioso

there is in them the peculiar horror of infants, a rounded mass
rises up into a narrow head; beneath the brow, in twin caverns,
sight is present though the eyes are absent; the light, driven
into the chamber of the brain, scarcely reaches the retreating orbs,
yet not shut either; for with the vault not spacious

250

magna vident spatia, et maioris luminis usum
perspicua in puteis compensant puncta profundis.
tum, ne per malas excrescat fistula duplex,
obtundit teneras circumdata fascia nares,
ut galeis cedant: sic propter proelia natos

they see great spaces, and the transparent points in the deep wells compensate for the use of greater light.
then, lest a double pipe sprout through the cheeks,
a band wrapped around blunts the tender nostrils,
so that they yield to helmets: thus born for battles

255

maternus deformat amor, quia tensa genarum
non interiecto fit latior area naso.
cetera pars est pulchra viris: stant pectora vasta,
insignes umeri, succincta sub ilibus alvus.
forma quidem pediti media est, procera sed extat,

maternal love disfigures, because the area of the cheeks, stretched,
becomes broader with no nose interposed.
the rest of the person is handsome in the men: vast chests stand,
distinguished shoulders, a belly girded up beneath the flanks.
the form indeed of the foot-soldier is middling, but the tall one stands out,

260

si cernas equites: sic longi saepe putantur,
si sedeant. vix matre carens ut constitit infans,
mox praebet dorsum sonipes; cognata reare
membra viris: ita semper equo ceu fixus adhaeret
rector; cornipedum tergo gens altera fertur,

if you behold the equestrians: thus they are often thought tall, when they sit. scarcely has the infant, bereft of his mother, stood upright, when soon the hoof-sounding steed offers its back; you would suppose the limbs to be cognate with the men: thus the rider always clings to the horse as if fixed; another people is borne on the back of hoof-footed beasts,

265

haec habitat. teretes arcus et spicula cordi,
terribiles certaeque manus iaculisque ferendae
mortis fixa fides et non peccante sub ictu
edoctus peccare furor. gens ista repente
erumpens solidumque rotis transvecta per Histrum

here this race dwells. sleek bows and darts are dear to the heart,
terrible and sure are their hands, and a fixed faith that death is to be borne
by their javelins, and a frenzy taught to sin even with the blow not erring.
that nation, bursting forth suddenly and carried by wheels across the solid Ister

270

venerat et sectas inciderat orbita lymphas.
hanc tu directus per Dacica rura vagantem
contra is, aggrederis, superas, includis; et ut te
metato spatio castrorum Serdica vidit,
obsidione premis. quae te sic tempore multo

it had come, and the wheel-rut had cut into the sundered waters.
this one, as she wandered through the Dacian fields, you, straight, go to meet,
you attack, you overcome, you enclose; and when Serdica saw you
with the measured space of the camp,
you press it with a siege. which thus for a long time

275

in vallo positum stupuit, quod miles in agros
nec licitis nec furtivis excursibus ibat.
cui deesset cum saepe Ceres semperque Lyaeus,
disciplina tamen non defuit; inde propinquo
hoste magis timuere ducem. sic denique factum est,

set on the rampart, it was astonished that the soldier was not going out into the fields
on excursions, neither licensed nor furtive.
though Ceres was often lacking to him and Lyaeus always,
yet discipline did not fail; hence, with the enemy near,
they feared the leader more. thus finally it came about,

280

ut socius tum forte tuus, mox proditor, illis
frustra terga daret commissae tempore pugnae.
qui iam cum fugeret flexo pede cornua nudans,
tu stabas acie solus, te sparsa fugaci
expetiit ductore manus, te Marte pedestri

so that then your comrade by chance, soon a traitor, would in vain turn his back to them
at the time of the joined battle.
who now, as he fled, with his foot turned, baring the wings,
you stood alone in the battle-line; you the band, scattered with its leader in flight,
sought out; you, in war on foot

285

sudantem repetebat eques, tua signa secutus
non se desertum sensit certamine miles.
i nunc et veteris profer praeconia Tulli,
aetas cana patrum, quod pulchro hortamine mendax
occuluit refugi nutantia foedera Metti.

the horseman, following your standards, kept returning to you as you sweated,
the foot-soldier did not feel himself deserted in the contest.
go now and bring forth the proclamations of ancient Tullus,
hoary age of the fathers, which with fair exhortation the lying
Mettius the deserter concealed, the wavering treaties.

290

nil simile est fallique tuum tibi non placet hostem.
tunc vicit miles, dum se putat esse iuvandum;
hic vicit, postquam se comperit esse relictum.
dux fugit, insequeris; renovat certamina, vincis;
clauditur, expugnas; elabitur, obruis atque

nothing is like this, and it does not please you that your enemy be deceived.
then the soldier conquered, while he thought himself to be aided;
he conquered, after he discovered himself to be abandoned.
the leader flees, you pursue; he renews the contests, you conquer;
he is shut in, you storm; he slips out, you overwhelm and

295

Sarmaticae paci pretium sua funera ponis.
paretur, iussum subiit iam transfuga letum
atque peregrino cecidit tua victima ferro.
ecce iterum, si forte placet, conflige, vetustas;
Hannibal ille ferox ad poenam forte petitus,

You set your own funerals as the price for Sarmatian peace.
let it be prepared; the deserter has now undergone the commanded death
and your victim has fallen by a foreign blade.
behold again, if perhaps it pleases, clash, Antiquity;
that fierce Hannibal, perhaps marked for punishment,

300

etsi non habuit ius vitae fine supremo,
certe habuit mortis: quem caecus carcer et uncus
et quem expectabat fracturus guttura lictor,
hausit Bebrycio constantior hospite virus;
nam te qui fugit, mandata morte peremptus,

although he did not have the right of life at the ultimate limit,
surely he had the right of death: him whom blind prison and the hook,
and whom the lictor, about to break the throat, was awaiting,
he drained a poison, more steadfast than his Bebrycian host;
for he who fled you, destroyed by an appointed death,

305

non tam victoris periit quam iudicis ore.
Nunc ades, o Paean, lauro cui grypas obuncos
docta lupata ligant, quotiens per frondea lora
flectis penniferos ederis bicoloribus armos;
huc converte chelyn: non est modo dicere tempus

he perished not so much by the victor’s as by the judge’s mouth.
Now be present, O Paean, for whom the trained curb-bits with laurel bind the hooked griffins,
whenever through leafy reins
you bend the wing-bearing, two-colored shoulders;
turn your lyre hither: it is not now the time to speak

310

Pythona exstinctum nec bis septena sonare
vulnera Tantalidum, quorum tibi funera servat
cantus et aeterno vivunt in carmine mortes.
vos quoque, Castalides, paucis quo numine nobis
venerit Anthemius gemini cum foedere regni

not to sound the slain Python nor the twice-seven wounds
of the Tantalids, whose funerals your song preserves for you
and whose deaths live in eternal song.
you too, Castalids, in a few words, by whose divinity to us
Anthemius has come with the compact of a twin reign

315

pandite: pax rerum misit qui bella gubernet.
Auxerat Augustus naturae lege Severus
divorum numerum; quem mox Oenotria casum
vidit ut aerei de rupibus Appennini
pergit caerulei vitreas ad Thybridis aedes,

open: the peace of affairs has sent one to govern wars.
Severus Augustus, by the law of nature, had augmented
the number of the divinities; whose fall Oenotria soon
saw, as from the airy crags of the Apennine he proceeds
to the glassy halls of the cerulean Tiber.

320

non galea conclusa genas (nec sutilis illi
circulus inpactis loricam texuit hamis),
sed nudata caput; pro crine racemifer exit
plurima per frontem constringens oppida palmes,
perque umeros teretes, rutilantes perque lacertos

not with a helmet enclosing her cheeks (nor did a sewed circle weave for her a cuirass with driven-in hooks),
but the head bared; in place of hair a grape-bearing vine-shoot goes forth,
binding many towns across her forehead, and over the rounded shoulders, and over the rutilant upper arms

325

pendula gemmiferae mordebant suppara bullae.
segnior incedit senio venerandaque membra
viticomam retinens baculi vice flectit ad ulmum.
sed tamen Vbertas sequitur: quacumque propinquat,
incessu fecundat iter; comitataque gressum

the gem-bearing bullae were biting the hanging garment.
slower she advances with age and bends her venerable limbs,
holding her vine-hair, in place of a staff she bends toward an elm.
but nevertheless Ubertas follows: wherever she draws near,
by her gait she makes the path fruitful; and, having accompanied the step

330

laeta per impressas rorat Vindemia plantas.
ilicet ingreditur Tiberini gurgitis antrum;
currebat fluvius residens et harundinis altae
concolor in viridi fluitabat silva capillo.
dat sonitum mento unda cadens, licet hispida saetis

joyous Vintage bedews the impressed soles.
straightway she enters the cavern of the Tiberine whirlpool;
the river was running, seated, and of the tall reed
a wood, of like color, was floating in his green hair.
the wave, falling, gives a sound at his chin, albeit rough with bristles

335

suppositis multum sedaret barba fragorem.
pectore ructabat latices lapsuque citato
sulcabat madidam iam torrens alveus alvum.
terretur veniente dea manibusque remissis
remus et urna cadunt. veniae tum verba paranti

his beard, placed beneath, greatly would soften the crashing.
from his breast he eructated the waters, and with a hurried glide
the torrent’s channel was furrowing his belly, now dripping-wet.
he is terrified at the goddess coming, and, his hands relaxed,
the oar and the urn fall. then, as he was preparing words for pardon

340

illa prior: 'venio viduatam praesule nostro
per te, si placeat, lacrimis inflectere Romam:
expetat Aurorae partes fastuque remoto
hoc unum praestet, iam plus dignetur amari.
instrue quas quaerat vires orbique iacenti

she first: 'I come to bend Rome, widowed of our prelate,
through you, if it should please, by tears:
let her seek the parts of Aurora, and, with haughtiness removed,
let her grant this one thing, let her now deign to be more loved.
instruct what forces she should seek, and for the prostrate world

345

quo poscat dic orbe caput. quemcumque creavit
axe meo natum, confestim fregit in illo
imperii fortuna rotas. hinc Vandalus hostis
urget et in nostrum numerosa classe quotannis
militat excidium, conversoque ordine fati

say in what region of the world she should demand a head. whoever she has created as born beneath my axis, Fortune straightway broke the wheels of empire upon him. hence the Vandal foe presses and, with a numerous fleet year by year, campaigns for our destruction, and with the order of fate reversed

350

torrida Caucaseos infert mihi Byrsa furores.
praeterea invictus Ricimer, quem publica fata
respiciunt, proprio solus vix Marte repellit
piratam per rura vagum, qui proelia vitans
victorem fugitivus agit. quis sufferat hostem,

the torrid Byrsa brings upon me Caucasian furies.
besides, the unconquered Ricimer, whom the public fates regard,
with his own Mars alone scarcely repels the pirate roaming through the fields,
who, shunning battles, as a fugitive makes the victor a fugitive. who could endure the foe,

355

qui pacem pugnamque negat? nam foedera nulla
cum Ricimere iacit. quem cur nimis oderit audi.

who refuses peace and battle? for he strikes no treaties
with Ricimer. hear why he hates him excessively.

incertum crepat ille patrem, cum serva sit illi
certa parens; nunc ut regis sit filius, effert
matris adulterium. tum livet, quod Ricimerem

He rails about an uncertain father, though for him a slave-woman is a certain parent;
now, so that he may be the son of a king, he brings up his mother's adultery.
then he is livid that Ricimer

360

in regnum duo regna vocant; nam patre Suebus,
a genetrice Getes. simul et reminiscitur illud,
quod Tartesiacis avus huius Vallia terris
Vandalicas turmas et iuncti Martis Halanos
stravit et occiduam texere cadavera Calpen.

into the kingship two kingdoms call him; for by his father a Suebian,
by his mother a Getic. At the same time he also recalls this,
that in the Tartessian lands this man’s grandsire Vallia
laid low the Vandal troops and the Alans, conjoined to Mars,
and corpses covered Occidental Calpe.

365

quid veteres narrare fugas, quid damna priorum?
Agrigentini recolit dispendia campi.
inde furit, quod se docuit satis iste nepotem
illius esse viri, quo viso, Vandale, semper
terga dabas. nam non Siculis illustrior arvis

why narrate the ancient flights, why the losses of the former?
he recalls the losses of the Agrigentine plain.
thence he rages, because this man has shown enough that he is the grandson
of that man, at the sight of whom, Vandal, you always gave your backs.
for not more illustrious in the Sicilian fields

370

tu, Marcelle, redis, per quem tellure marique
nostra Syracosios presserunt arma penates;
nec tu, cui currum Curii superare, Metelle,
contigit, ostentans nobis elefanta frequentem,
grex niger albentes tegeret cum mole iugales

you, Marcellus, return, through whom on land and sea
our arms pressed the Syracusan household gods;
and you too, Metellus, to whom it befell to surpass the chariot of Curius,
displaying to us a numerous troop of elephants,
when the black herd with its mass covered the white-yoked team

375

auctoremque suum celaret pompa triumphi.
Noricus Ostrogothum quod continet, iste timetur;
Gallia quod Rheni Martem ligat, iste pavori est.
quod consanguineo me Vandalus hostis Halano
diripuit radente, suis hic ultus ab armis.

and would hide its author beneath the pomp of triumph.
He is feared by Noricum, which contains the Ostrogoth;
he is an object of dread to Gaul, because he binds the Mars of the Rhine.
that which the Vandal foe tore me from my consanguine, the Alan, as he swept by, here he has avenged by his own arms.

380

sed tamen unus homo est nec tanta pericula solus
tollere, sed differre potest: modo principe nobis
est opus armato, veterum qui more parentum
non mandet sed bella gerat, quem signa moventem
terra vel unda tremant, ut tandem iure recepto

but yet he is one man and cannot alone lift such great perils,
but he can defer them: only an armed prince is our need,
who in the manner of the ancient forefathers
does not mandate but wages wars, at whose moving of the standards
earth or wave would tremble, so that at length, with Right recovered.

385

Romula desuetas moderentur classica classes.'
Audiit illa pater, simul annuit. itur in urbem.
continuo videt ipse deam, summissus adorat,
pectus et exertam tetigerunt cornua mammam:
mandatas fert inde preces.

'Let the Romulean war-trumpets direct the long-disused fleets.'
She was heard by the Father; at once he nodded assent. They go into the city.
Immediately he himself sees the goddess; submissive, he adores;
the horns touched his breast and her exposed breast.
From there he bears the mandated prayers.

quas diva secuta

which the goddess followed

390

apparat ire viam. laxatos torva capillos
stringit et inclusae latuerunt casside turres;
infula laurus erat. bullis hostilibus asper
applicat a laeva surgentem balteus ensem.
inseritur clipeo victrix manus; illius orbem

she prepares to go the way. she tightens her loosened grim locks,
and the towers, enclosed, lay hidden beneath the casque;
her fillet was laurel. rough with hostile bosses,
the belt presses the uprearing sword at her left.
her conquering hand is inserted into the shield; its circle

395

Martigenae, lupa, Thybris, Amor, Mars, Ilia complent
fibula mordaci refugas a pectore vestes
dente capit. micat hasta minax, quercusque trophaeis
curva tremit placidoque deam sub fasce fatigat.
perpetuo stat planta solo, sed fascia primos

The Mars-born, the she-wolf, the Tiber, Love, Mars, Ilia fill
its circle; the fibula with mordacious tooth seizes the garments fleeing back from the breast;
the menacing spear flashes, and the oak, curved with trophies,
shivers, and under the placid bundle it wearies the goddess.
with the sole planted on the ground perpetually he stands, but the band binds the first

400

sistitur ad digitos, retinacula bina cothurnis
mittit in adversum vincto de fomite pollex,
quae stringant crepidas et concurrentibus ansis
vinclorum pandas texant per crura catenas.
ergo, sicut erat, liquidam transvecta per aethram

it is halted at the toes, twin retinacula for the buskins;
the big toe, bound with padding, sends to the opposite side;
to tighten the sandals, and with the meeting loops
to weave the bowed chains of the bindings along the shins.
therefore, just as she was, carried across the limpid aether

405

nascentis petiit tepidos Hyperionis ortus.
Est locus Oceani, longinquis proximus Indis,
axe sub Eoo, Nabataeum tensus in Eurum:
ver ibi continuum est, interpellata nec ullis
frigoribus pallescit humus, sed flore perenni

she sought the warm risings of the newborn Hyperion.
There is a place of Ocean, nearest to the far Indians,
under the Eoan axis, stretched toward the Nabataean Eurus:
there spring is continuous, nor by any colds is the soil blanched,
but with a perennial flower

410

picta peregrinos ignorant arva rigores;
halant rura rosis, indiscriptosque per agros
fragrat odor; violam, cytisum, serpylla, ligustrum,
lilia, narcissos, casiam, colocasia, caltas,
costum, malobathrum, myrrhas, opobalsama, tura

the painted fields are ignorant of alien chills;
the countryside exhales with roses, and across the fields
an indescribable odor is fragrant; violet, cytisus, serpyllum, privet,
lilies, narcissi, cassia, colocasia, marigolds,
costus, malabathrum, myrrhs, opobalsams, incenses

415

parturiunt campi; nec non pulsante senecta
hinc rediviva petit vicinus cinnama Phoenix,
hic domus Aurorae rutilo crustante metallo
bacarum praefert leves asprata lapillos.
diripiunt diversa oculos et ab arte magistra

the fields are in labor; and indeed, with senescence beating, from here the neighboring redivive Phoenix seeks cinnamons,
here the house of Aurora, with rutilant metal encrusting, displays light little stones roughened with berries.
diverse things snatch the eyes, and by a masterly art

420

hoc vincit quodcumque vides; sed conditur omnis
sub domina praesente decor, nimioque rubore
gemmarum varios perdit, quia possidet, ignes.
fundebat coma pexa crocos flexoque lacerto
lutea depressus comebat tempora pecten.

This conquers whatever you see; but all decor is concealed under the present mistress, and with excessive blush it makes the varied fires of gems lose out, because it possesses them. Her combed hair was pouring forth crocus-hues, and with her arm bent a pressed-down comb was grooming the golden temples.

425

fundebant oculi radios; color igneus illis,
non tamen ardor erat, quamvis de nocte recussa
excepti soleant sudorem fingere rores.
pectora bis cingunt zonae, parvisque papillis
invidiam facit ipse sinus; pars extima pepli

the eyes poured out rays; a fiery color was in them,
yet there was no ardor, although dews, beaten back from the night and caught,
are accustomed to counterfeit sweat.
two girdles encircle the breasts, and the very bosom, with small nipples,
creates envy; the outermost part of the peplos

430

perfert puniceas ad crura rubentia rugas.
sic regina sedet solio; sceptri vice dextram
lampadis hasta replet; Nox adstat proxima divae,
iam refugos conversa pedes, ac pone tribunal
promit Lux summum vix intellecta cacumen.

bears crimson pleats down to the reddening shins.
thus the queen sits on her throne; in the stead of a scepter, her right hand
is filled by the spear-shaft of a torch; Night stands next to the goddess,
now, turned, her feet in retreat, and behind the tribunal
Light, scarcely perceived, puts forth her topmost summit.

435

hinc Romam liquido venientem tramite cernens
exiluit propere et blandis prior orsa loquelis:
'quid, caput o mundi,' dixit, 'mea regna revisis?
quidve iubes?' paulum illa silens atque aspera miscens
mitibus haec coepit: 'venio (desiste moveri

from here, seeing Rome coming along a limpid track
she leapt forth in haste and was the first to begin with blandishing words:
'why, O head of the world,' she said, 'do you revisit my realms?
or what do you command?' she, silent for a little and mixing harsh things
with mild, began thus: 'I come (cease to be moved

440

nec multum trepida), non ut mihi pressus Araxes
imposito sub ponte fluat nec ut ordine prisco
Indicus Ausonia potetur casside Ganges,
aut ut tigriferi pharetrata per arva Niphatis
depopuletur ovans Artaxata Caspia consul.

not much alarmed), not that for me the pressed-down Araxes
flow beneath an imposed bridge, nor that in the ancient order
the Indian Ganges be mastered by an Ausonian casque,
or that, through the quiver-bearing fields of tiger-bearing Niphates,
the Caspian consul, exultant, depopulate Artaxata.

445

non Pori modo regna precor nec ut hisce lacertis
frangat Hydaspeas aries inpactus Erythras.
non in Bactra feror nec committentia pugnas
nostra Semiramiae rident ad classica portae.
Arsacias non quaero domus nec tessera castris

I do not pray for Porus’s realms only, nor that with these very sinews a battering-ram, driven home, shatter the Hydaspes and the Erythraean waters.
I am not borne to Bactra, nor do the gates of Semiramis, that bring battles to issue, smile at our war-trumpets.
I do not seek the Arsacid houses, nor the watchword for the camps.

450

in Tesifonta datur. totum hunc tibi cessimus axem.
et nec sic mereor, nostram ut tueare senectam?
omne quod Euphraten Tigrimque interiacet, olim
sola tenes; res empta mihi est de sanguine Crassi,
ad Carrhas pretium scripsi; nec inulta remansi

in Ctesiphon it is given. this whole axis we have yielded to you.
and not even thus do I deserve, that you should watch over my old age?
all that lies between the Euphrates and the Tigris, for a long time
you alone hold; the affair has been bought for me with the blood of Crassus,
at Carrhae I wrote down the price; nor did I remain unavenged

455

aut periit sic emptus ager; si fallo, probasti,
Ventidio mactate Sapor. nec sufficit istud:
Armenias Pontumque dedi, quo Marte petitum
dicat Sulla tibi; forsan non creditur uni:
consule Lucullum. taceo iam Cycladas omnes:

or the field thus bought has perished; if I deceive, you have proved it,
Sapor, slaughtered by Ventidius. nor does that suffice:
I gave up the Armenias and Pontus; let Sulla tell you with what Mars it was sought;
perhaps one is not believed:
consult Lucullus. I am silent now about all the Cyclades:

460

adquisita meo servit tibi Creta Metello.
transcripsi Cilicas: hos Magnus fuderat olim.
adieci Syriae, quos nunc moderaris, Isauros:
hos quoque sub nostris domuit Servilius armis.
concessi Aetolos veteres Acheloiaque arva,

Crete, acquired by my Metellus, serves you.
I resettled the Cilicians: Magnus had routed them once.
I added to Syria the Isaurians, whom you now administer:
Servilius too subdued these under our arms.
I conceded the ancient Aetolians and the fields of Achelous,

465

transfudi Attalicum male credula testamentum,
Epirum retines: tu scis, cui debeat illam
Pyrrhus. in Illyricum specto te mittere iura
ac Macetum terras: et habes tu, Paule, nepotes.
Aegypti frumenta dedi: mihi vicerat olim

I transferred the Attalid, all-too-credulous testament,
you retain Epirus: you know to whom Pyrrhus owes it.
I look to you to send laws into Illyricum
and the lands of the Macedons: and you have, Paulus, grandsons.
I granted Egypt’s grain: for me he had conquered once before

470

Leucadiis Agrippa fretis. Iudaea tenetur
sub dicione tua, tamquam tu miseris illuc
insignem cum patre Titum. tibi Cypria merces
fertur; pugnaces ego pauper laudo Catones.
Dorica te tellus et Achaica rura tremiscunt,

Agrippa at the Leucadian straits.
Judea is held under your dominion, as though you had sent there
Titus, illustrious, with his father. To you the Cyprian merchandise
is borne; I, a poor man, praise the pugnacious Catones.
The Doric land and the Achaean fields tremble at you,

475

tendis et in bimarem felicia regna Corinthon:
dic, Byzantinus quis rem tibi Mummius egit?
Sed si forte placet veteres sopire querelas,
Anthemium concede mihi. sit partibus istis
Augustus longumque Leo; mea iura gubernet

you also stretch toward bimarine Corinth, felicitous realms:
tell, as a Byzantine, which Mummius managed the matter for you?
But if by chance it pleases you to lull the old quarrels,
grant me Anthemius. Let Augustus be for those parts
and Leo long-lived; let him govern my rights.

480

quem petii; patrio vestiri murice natam
gaudeat Euphemiam sidus divale parentis.
adice praeterea privatum ad publica foedus:
sit socer Augustus genero Ricimere beatus;
nobilitate micant: est vobis regia virgo,

whom I sought; let Euphemia, the divine star of her parent, rejoice that the daughter is vested in paternal purple.
add moreover a private bond to the public pact:
let Augustus be blessed as father-in-law to his son-in-law Ricimer;
they shine with nobility: there is for you a royal maiden,

485

regius ille mihi. si concors annuis istud,
mox Libyam sperare dabis. circumspice taedas
antiquas: par nulla tibi sic copula praesto est.
proferat hic veterum thalamos diserimine partos
Grraecia, ni pudor est: repäratis Pisa quadrigis

that one is royal for me. if, in concord, you assent to this,
soon you will allow me to hope for Libya. look around at the ancient
wedding-torches: no bond equal to you is thus at hand.
let Greece here bring forth the bridal-chambers won by contest among the ancients,
unless shame forbids: Pisa, with the four-horse chariots restored

490

suscitet Oenomaum, natae quem fraude cadentem
cerea destituit resolutis axibus obex;
procedat Colchis prius agnita virgo marito
crimine quam sexu; spectet de carcere circi
pallentes Atalanta procos et poma decori

let him rouse Oenomaus, whom, falling by his daughter’s fraud,
the waxen pin, with the axles loosened, deserted;
let the Colchian maiden come forth, acknowledged by a husband
earlier for her crime than for her sex; let Atalanta from the starting-gate of the circus behold
her pallid suitors and the apples of adornment

495

Hippomenis iam non pro solo colligat auro;
Deianira, tuas Achelous gymnade pinguis
illustret taedas et ab Hercule pressus anhelo
lassatum foveat rivis rivalibus hostem:
quantumvis veteris repetam conubia saecli,

Let Hippomenes now not gather for mere gold;
Deianira, let Achelous, well-fleshed for the gymnic bout, illuminate your torches, and, pressed by panting Hercules,
let him cherish with rival rivulets the wearied foe:
however much I may recall the marriages of an age of old,

500

transcendunt hic heroas, heroidas illa.
hos thalamos, Ricimer, Virtus tibi pronuba poscit
atque Dionaeam dat Martia laurea myrtum.
ergo age, trade virum non otia pigra foventem
deliciisque gravem, sed quem modo nauticus urit

here these surpass heroes, those surpass heroines.
these bridal chambers, Ricimer, Virtue as pronuba demands for you
and the Martial laurel bestows the Dionean myrtle.
therefore come, hand over a husband not fostering sluggish leisures
and weighed down with delights, but one whom just now sea-war sears

505

aestus Abydenique sinus et Sestias ora
Hellespontiacis circumclamata procellis;
quas pelagi fauces non sic tenuisse vel illum
crediderim, cui ruptus Athos, cui remige Medo
turgida silvosam currebant vela per Alpem;

the surge and the gulf of Abydos and the Sestian shore,
clamored-around by Hellespontic tempests;
which straits of the sea I would not believe even that man to have held so—
he for whom Athos was broken through, for whom, with a Mede as oarsman,
turgid sails were running through the sylvan Alp;

510

nec Lucullanis sic haec freta cincta carinis,
segnis ad insignem sedit cum Cyzicon hostis,
qui cogente fame cognata cadavera mandens
vixit morte sua. sed quid mea vota retardo?
trade magis.' tum pauca refert Tithonia coniunx:

nor were these straits thus girt with Lucullan keels,
when the sluggish foe sat before illustrious Cyzicus,
who, with hunger compelling, chewing kindred cadavers,
lived by his own death. But why do I delay my vows?
“Hand it over rather.” Then the Tithonian consort utters a few words:

515

'duc age, sancta parens, quamquam mihi maximus usus
invicti summique ducis, dum mitior extes
et non disiunctas melius moderemur habenas.
nam si forte placet veterum meminisse laborum,
et qui pro patria vestri pugnaret Iuli,

'lead on, come, holy mother, although for me there is the greatest advantage in an unconquered and supreme leader, while you are gentler and we may better govern reins not disjoined.
for if perhaps it pleases to remember the toils of the ancients,
even he who would fight for the fatherland of your Iulus,

520

ut nil plus dicam, prior hinc ego Memnona misi.'
Finierant; geminas iunxit Concordia partes,
electo tandem potitur quod principe Roma.
nunc aliquos voto simili vel amore, Vetustas,
te legisse crepa, numquam non invida summis

‘so that I say nothing more, earlier from here I sent Memnon.’
They had finished; Concord joined the twin parts,
Rome at last obtains the Princeps whom it elected.
now, Antiquity, brag that you too have chosen some by a like vote or love,
you never not envious of the highest.

525

emeritisque viris. Brenni contra arma Camillum
profer ab exilio Cincinnatoque secures
expulso Caesone refer flentemque parentem
a rastris ad rostra roga, miseroque tumultu
pelle prius quos victa petas; si ruperit Alpes

and for veterans. Against the arms of Brennus bring forth Camillus
from exile, and the axes for Cincinnatus;
with Caeso expelled, recall, and summon the weeping parent
from the rakes to the Rostra; and with wretched tumult
drive off first those whom, when defeated, you would seek; if he should break through the Alps

530

Poenus, ad afflictos condemnatosque recurre;
improbus ut rubeat Barcina clade Metaurus,
multatus tibi consul agat, qui milia fundens
Hasdrubalis, rutilum sibi cum fabricaverit ensem,
concretum gerat ipse caput. longe altera nostri

Carthaginian, return to the afflicted and condemned;
that the shameless one may blush, the Metaurus with the Barcine disaster—
let a fined consul plead your case, who, pouring out Hasdrubal’s thousands,
when he has forged for himself a ruddy sword, shall himself carry the clotted head.
far off another of ours

535

gratia iudicii est: scit se non laesus amari.
Sed mea iam nimii propellunt carbasa flatus;
siste, Camena, modos tenues, portumque petenti
iam placido sedeat mihi carminis ancora fundo.
at tamen, o princeps, quae nunc tibi classis et arma

it is the grace of judgment: he knows, unhurt, that he is loved.
But already excessive blasts propel my canvas;
halt, Muse, the slender measures, and, as I seek harbor,
may the anchor of my song now settle for me on a placid bottom.
but yet, o princeps, what fleet and arms are now yours

540

tractentur, quam magna geras quam tempore parvo,
si mea vota deus produxerit, ordine recto
aut genero bis mox aut te ter consule dicam.
nam modo nos iam festa vocant, et ad Ulpia poscunt
te fora donabis quos libertate Quirites,

let it be treated, how great things you carry on in how brief a time,
if God shall prolong my vows, in right order
I shall tell either of a son-in-law twice soon, or of you as consul thrice.
for just now the festivals already call us, and to the Ulpian fora demand you;
to bestow with liberty those whom you will make Quirites,

545

quorum gaudentes exceptant verbera malae.
perge, pater patriae, felix atque omine fausto
captivos vincture novos absolve vetustos.

whose cheeks, rejoicing, catch the lashes.
proceed, father of the fatherland, fortunate and with auspicious omen
bind the new captives, release the old.

CARMEN III

POEM 3

AD LIBELLVM.

TO THE LITTLE BOOK.

Quid faceret laetas segetes, quod tempus amandum
      messibus et gregibus, vitibus atque apibus,
ad Maecenatis quondam sunt edita nomen:
      hinc, Maro, post audes arma virumque loqui.
at mihi Petrus erit Maecenas temporis huius,

What makes the fields joyful, what season is to be loved
      for harvests and for herds, for vines and for bees,
were once published under Maecenas’s name:
      hence, Maro, afterward you dare to speak of arms and the man.
but for me Peter will be the Maecenas of this time,

      nam famae pelagus sidere curro suo.
si probat, emittit, si damnat carmina, celat,
      nec nos ronchisono rhinocerote notat.
i, liber: hic nostrum tutatur, crede, pudorem;
      hoc censore etiam displicuisse placet.

      for I run the sea of fame by its own star.
if he approves, he sends them forth; if he condemns the songs, he hides them,
      nor does he mark us with a snore-sounding rhinoceros.
go, book: this man, believe it, safeguards our modesty;
      with this censor, even to have displeased is pleasing.

CARMEN IV

POEM 4

PRAEFATIO PANEGYRICI DICTI D. N. IMP. CAESARI IVLIO VALERIO MAIORIANO AUGUSTO.

PREFACE OF THE PANEGYRIC DELIVERED TO OUR LORD, THE EMPEROR CAESAR JULIUS VALERIUS MAJORIANUS AUGUSTUS.

Tityrus ut quondam patulae sub tegmine fagi
      volveret inflatos murmura per calamos,
praestitit afflicto ius vitae Caesar et agri,
      nec stetit ad tenuem celsior ira reum;
sed rus concessum dum largo in principe laudat,

As once Tityrus beneath the covering of a spreading beech
      would roll inflated murmurs through the reeds,
Caesar granted to the afflicted the right of life and of land,
      nor did loftier wrath stand against the slight defendant;
but while he praises the countryside granted, in a bountiful prince,

      caelum pro terris rustica Musa dedit;
nec fuit inferius Phoebeia dona referre:
      fecerat hic dominum, fecit et ille deum.
et tibi, Flacce, acies Bruti Cassique secuto
      carminis est auctor qui fuit et veniae.

      the rustic Muse gave heaven in place of lands;
nor was it inferior to return Phoebeian gifts:
      this one had made him a master, and that one made him a god.
and to you, Flaccus, who followed the battle-lines of Brutus and Cassius,
      the author of the song is he who was also the author of pardon.

sic mihi diverso nuper sub Marte cadenti
      iussisti erecto, victor, ut essem animo.
serviat ergo tibi servati lingua poetae
      atque meae vitae laus tua sit pretium.
non ego mordaci fodiam modo dente Maronem

thus to me, lately falling under adverse Mars,
      you, victor, ordered that I be with spirit uplifted.
let, therefore, the tongue of the saved poet serve you,
      and let your praise be the price of my life.
I will not now dig at Maro with a biting tooth

nec civem carpam, terra Sabella, tuum.
res minor ingenio nobis, sed Caesare maior;
vincant eloquio, dummodo nos domino.

nor will I carp at your citizen, Sabellian land.
the cause is lesser in talent for us, but greater in Caesar;
let them prevail in eloquence, provided that we prevail by our lord.

CARMEN V
PANEGYRICUS.

POEM 5
PANEGYRIC.

Concipe praeteritos, res publica, mente triumphos:
imperium iam consul habet, quem purpura non plus
quam lorica operit, cuius diademata frontem
non luxu sed lege tegunt, meritisque laborum
post palmam palmata venit; decora omnia regni

Conceive the past triumphs, Republic, in your mind:
now the consul holds imperium, whom the purple covers no more
than the cuirass does, whose diadems cover his brow
not by luxury but by law, and by the merits of labors,
after the palm, the palm-embroidered robe comes; all the ornaments of kingship

accumulant fasces et princeps consule crescit.
personat ergo tuum caelo, rure, urbibus, undis
exultans Europa sophos, quod rector haberis,
victor qui fueras. fateor, trepidaverat orbis,
dum non vis vicisse tibi nimioque pudore,

they accumulate the fasces, and the princeps grows with the consul.
therefore to heaven, to the countryside, to the cities, to the waves resounds
exulting Europe your “sophos,” since you are held as rector,
you who had been victor. I confess, the world had trembled,
while you did not wish to have conquered for yourself, and by excessive modesty,

quod regnum mereare, doles tristique repulsa
non moderanda subis quae defendenda putasti.
Sederat exerto bellatrix pectore Roma,
cristatum turrita caput, cui pone capaci
casside prolapsus perfundit terga capillus.

that you merit the kingdom, you grieve, and with a sad repulse
you undergo things not to be moderated, which you thought ought to be defended.
warlike Rome had sat with breast bared,
her head turreted, crested; behind, upon a capacious
helmet, the hair, having slipped down, drenches her back.

laetitiam censura manet terrorque pudore
crescit, et invita superat virtute venustas.
ostricolor pepli textus, quem fibula torto
mordax dente forat; tum quicquid mamma refundit
tegminis, hoc patulo concludit gemma recessu.

joy abides under censure, and terror grows with modesty;
and, though unwilling, loveliness is overcome by virtue.
the oyster-colored weave of the peplos, which the brooch with a twisted,
biting tooth bores; then whatever of the covering the breast lets spill back,
this a gem encloses in a gaping recess.

hinc fulcit rutilus spatioso circite laevum
umbo latus; videas hic crasso fusa metallo
antra Rheae fetamque lupam, quam fauce retecta
blandiri quoque terror erat; quamquam illa vorare
Martigenas et picta timet; pars proxima Thybrim

hence a ruddy boss, with a spacious circuit, props the left flank;
here you might see, cast in thick metal,
the caverns of Rhea and the whelped she-wolf, at whose bared throat
even her fawning was a terror; although she, painted, fears to devour
the Mars-born; the part nearest [shows] the Tiber.

exprimit; hic scabri fusus sub pumice tofi
proflabat madidum per guttura glauca soporem;
pectus palla tegit, quam neverat Ilia coniunx,
liquenti quae iuncta toro vult murmura lymphis
tollere et undosi somnum servare mariti.

it portrays; here, stretched beneath the rough pumice of the tufa,
he was blowing forth damp slumber through glaucous throats;
a mantle covers his chest, which his Ilian spouse had woven,
which, joined to the liquid couch, wishes to lift the murmurs with the waters
and to preserve the sleep of her wave-tossed husband.

ista micant clipeo; cuspis trabe surgit eburna,
ebria caede virum. propter Bellona trophaeum
exstruit et quercum captivo pondere curvat.
consurgit solium saxis, quae caesa rubenti
Aethiopum de monte cadunt, ubi sole propinquo

those flash on the shield; the spear-point rises on an ivory shaft,
drunk with the slaughter of men. Nearby Bellona raises a trophy
and bends the oak with captive weight.
A throne rises with stones, which, hewn, fall from the ruddy
mountain of the Ethiopians, where the sun is near

nativa exustas afflavit purpura rupes.
iungitur hic Synnas, Nomadum lapis additur istic,
antiquum mentitus ebur; post caute Laconum
marmoris herbosi radians interviret ordo.
ergo ut se mediam solio dedit, advolat omnis

native purple has breathed upon the scorched crags.
here Synnadic stone is joined, the stone of the Nomads is added there,
counterfeiting ancient ivory; next, carefully, the row
of grassy Laconian marble, shining, grows green between.
therefore, when she set herself in the middle on the throne, all flies to her

terra simul, tum quaeque suos provincia fructus
exposuit: fert Indus ebur, Chaldaeus amomum,
Assyrius gemmas, Ser vellera, tura Sabaeus,
Atthis mel, Phoenix palmas, Lacedaemon olivum,
Arcas equos, Epirus equas, pecuaria Gallus,

the earth at once, and then each province its own fruits displayed:
the Indian bears ivory, the Chaldaean amomum,
the Assyrian gems, the Ser fleeces, the Sabaean incense,
Attic honey, the Phoenician palms, Lacedaemon olive-oil,
the Arcadian horses, Epirus mares, the Gaul livestock,

arma Chalybs, frumenta Libys, Campanus Iacchum,
aurum Lydus, Arabs guttam, Panchaia myrrham,
Pontus castorea, blattam Tyrus, aera Corinthus;
Sardinia argentum, naves Hispania defert,
fulminis et lapidem; scopulos iaculabile fulgur

the Chalybian brings arms, the Libyan grain, Campania Iacchus,
the Lydian gold, the Arab gum, Panchaia myrrh,
Pontus castoreum, Tyre purple-dye, Corinth bronze;
Sardinia silver, Spain delivers ships,
and the stone of the thunderbolt; lightning hurlable at crags

fucat et accensam silicem fecunda maritat
ira deum; quotiens caelum se commovet illic,
plus ibi terra valet. subito flens Africa nigras
procubuit lacerata genas et cernua frontem
iam male fecundas in vertice fregit aristas

and the fertile wrath of the gods dyes and weds the kindled flint;
whenever the sky there stirs itself,
there the earth prevails more. Suddenly, weeping, Africa
fell forward, her black cheeks torn, and, headlong, her brow,
has now broken upon her crown the ill-fecund ears.

ac sic orsa loqui est: 'venio pars tertia mundi,
infelix felice uno. famula satus olim
hic praedo et dominis extinctis barbara dudum
sceptra tenet tellure mea penitusque fugata
nobilitate furens quod non est non amat hospes.

and thus she began to speak: 'I come, the third part of the world,
unhappy, happy in one thing. Slave-born once,
here a brigand, and with my lords extinguished, a barbarian long since
holds the scepters upon my soil, and with nobility utterly put to flight,
the stranger, raging, does not love what is not his.'

o Latii sopite vigor, tua moenia ridet
insidiis cessisse suis: non concutis hastam?
non pro me vel capta doles? tua nempe putantur
surgere fata malis et celsior esse ruina.
sed melius, quod terror abit: iam vincere restat,

o slumbering vigor of Latium, it laughs that your walls have yielded to its own insidious plots:
do you not brandish the spear?
do you not grieve for me, even taken?
surely your fates are thought to rise by evils and the ruin to be loftier.
but better, that terror departs: now to conquer remains,

si pugnas, ut victa soles. Porsenna superbum
Tarquinium inpingens complevit milite Tusco
Ianiculum quondam; sed dum perrumpere portas
obsidione parat, totam te pertulit uno
Coclitis in clipeo; presserunt milia solum

if you fight, as when vanquished you are wont. Porsenna, driving in the proud Tarquin, once filled the Janiculum with Tuscan soldiery; but while he prepares to break through the gates by siege, he bore you whole on Cocles’ single shield; thousands pressed the ground

multa virum pendente via; nec ponte soluto,
cum caderet, cecidit. rex idem denique morte
admonitus scribae didicit sibi bella moveri
non solum cum bella forent; mox pace petita
in regnum rediit, non tam feriente fugatus

many men, with the way hanging; nor, the bridge loosened,
when it was falling, did he fall. the same king at last, warned by the death
of the scribe, learned that wars were being stirred up against himself
not only when there were wars; soon, peace having been sought,
he returned into his kingdom, not so much driven to flight by one striking

quam flagrante viro. steterat nam corde gelato
Scaevola et apposito dextram damnaverat igni,
plus felix peccante manu, cum forte satelles
palleret constante reo tormentaque capti
is fugeret qui tortor erat. Brennum tremuisti,

than by the man blazing. For Scaevola had stood with a gelid heart
and had condemned his right hand to the fire set beside,
more fortunate with his erring hand, when by chance the guard
grew pale, the defendant constant, and fled the torments of the captive
he who was the torturer. You trembled at Brennus,

post melior: quodcumque tuum est, quodcumque vocaris,
iam solus Tarpeius erat; sed reppulit unus
tum quoque totam aciem, Senones dum garrulus anser
nuntiat et vigilat vestrum sine milite fatum.
me quoque (da veniam, quod bellum gessimus olim)

afterwards you were better: whatever is yours, whatever you are called,
by then the Tarpeian alone remained; but a single man
then too drove back the whole battle line, while the garrulous goose
announces and keeps vigil over your fate without soldiery.
me too (grant pardon, that we once waged war)

post Trebiam Cannasque domas, Romanaque tecta
Hannibal ante meus quam nostra Scipio vidit.
quid merui? fatis cogor tibi bella movere,
cum volo, cum nolo. trepidus te territat hostis,
sed tutus claudente freto, velut hispidus alta

after the Trebia and Cannae you subdue, and the Roman roofs
Hannibal, mine, saw before our Scipio did.
what have I deserved? by the fates I am compelled to move wars against you,
when I wish, when I do not wish. a tremulous enemy terrifies you,
but safe with the strait closing him in, like a bristly one upon the deep

sus prope tesqua iacet claususque cacuminat albis
os nigrum telis gravidum; circumlatrat ingens
turba canum, si forte velit concurrere campo:
ille per obiectos vepres tumet atque superbit,
vi tenuis fortisque loco, dum proximus heia

a boar lies near the waste-lands, and, shut in, he points up with white
weapons his black muzzle, laden with weapons; a huge
pack of dogs barks around, if by chance he should wish to clash on the field:
he swells and grows superb through the brambles set before him,
slight in force and strong by the place, while the nearest—hey!

venator de colle sonet: vox nota magistri
lassatam reparat rabiem; tum vulnera caecus
fastidit sentire furor. quid proelia differs?
quid mare formidas, pro cuius saepe triumphis
et caelum pugnare solet? quid quod tibi princeps

let the hunter sound from the hill: the familiar voice of the master revives the wearied fury; then blind rage disdains to feel wounds. why do you delay battles? why do you fear the sea, for whose triumphs even the sky is often wont to fight? what of the fact that for you the prince

100

est nunc praeterea eximius, quem saecula clamant
venturum excidio Libyae, qui tertius ex me
accipiet nomen? debent hoc fata labori,
Maioriane, tuo. quem cur conscendere classem
ac portus intrare meos urbemque subire,

there is now, moreover, an exceptional one, whom the ages cry out
will come for Libya’s destruction, who as the third from me
will receive a name? the Fates owe this to your labor,
Majorian, yours. why should he board the fleet
and enter my ports and approach the city,

105

si iubeas, cupiam, paucis ex ordine fabor.
'Fertur, Pannoniae qua Martia pollet Acincus,
Illyricum rexisse solum cum tractibus Histri
huius avus; nam Theudosius, quo tempore Sirmi
Augustum sumpsit nomen, per utramque magistrum

if you bid, I am willing; in a few words I will speak in order.
'It is said, where in Pannonia martial Acincus holds sway,
his grandfather ruled the Illyrian soil with the tracts of the Ister;
for Theodosius, at the time when at Sirmium
he assumed the name Augustus, made him master over both

110

militiam ad partes regni venturus Eoas
Maiorianum habuit. Latiis sunt condita fastis
facta ducis, quotiens Scythicis illata colonis
classica presserunt Hypanim, Peucenque rigentem
mente salutatis irrisit lixa pruinis.

coming to the Eastern parts of the realm for military service, he had Majorian in his soldiery.
the deeds of the leader have been recorded in the Latin fasti,
how often the fleets, brought against the Scythian colonists,
pressed upon the Hypanis and the rigid Peuce,
and the sutler, with the frosts having been saluted in his mind, mocked them.

115

hunc socerum pater huius habet, vir clarus et uno
culmine militiae semper contentus, ut unum
casibus in dubiis iunctus sequeretur amicum.
non semel oblatis temptavit fascibus illum
Aetio rapere aula suo, sed perstitit ille,

the father of this man has this one as a father-in-law, a renowned man and always content with a single pinnacle of military service, so that, joined, he might follow one friend in doubtful fortunes.
not once did the court, with proffered fasces, try to snatch him from Aetius to itself,
but he stood firm,

120

maior honoratis: coepit pretiosior esse
sic pretio non capta fides. erat ille quod olim
quaestor consulibus: tractabat publica iure
aera suo; tantumque modum servabat, ut illum
narraret rumor iam rebus parcere nati.

greater among the honored: his faith, not captured by a price, began to be more precious thus.
he was what once the quaestor was to the consuls: he handled the public moneys by his own right;
and he kept such measure that rumor said he was already sparing the resources of his son.

125

Senserat hoc sed forte ducis iam livida coniunx
augeri famam pueri, suffusaque bili
coxerat internum per barbara corda venenum.
ilicet explorat caelum totamque volutis
percurrit mathesim numeris, interrogat umbras,

She had sensed this, but by chance the leader’s consort, now livid,
that the boy’s fame was being augmented, and, suffused with bile,
had cooked internal venom through her barbarian heart.
straightway she explores the sky and runs through the whole mathesis
with revolutions by numbers, she questions the shades,

130

fulmina rimatur, fibras videt, undique gaudens
secretum rapuisse deo. sic torva Pelasgum
Colchis in aplustri steterat trepidante marito
Absyrtum sparsura patri facturaque caesi
germani plus morte nefas, dum funere pugnat

she scrutinizes the lightnings, she sees the entrails, rejoicing on every side
to have snatched a secret from a god. Thus the grim Colchian among the Pelasgians
had stood on the apluster at the stern, with her husband trembling,
about to strew Apsyrtus for her father and to perpetrate, in the slaughtered
brother, a nefarious wrong greater than death, while she battles by a funeral

135

et fratrem sibi tela facit: vel cum obruit ignem
taurorum plus ipsa calens texitque trementem
frigida flamma virum, quem defendente veneno
inter flagrantes perhibent alsisse iuvencos.
ergo animi dudum impatiens, postquam audiit isti

and she makes her brother her weapon for herself: or when she smothered the fire
of the bulls, she herself the hotter, and covered the trembling
man with a chilly flame, whom, with the poison protecting, they say
to have grown cold among the blazing young bulls.
therefore, long impatient in spirit, after she heard that for that man

140

imperium et longum statui, laniata lacertos
ingreditur qua strata viri vocemque furentem
his rumpit: 'secure iaces, oblite tuorum,
o piger: et mundo princeps (sic saecula poscunt)
Maiorianus erit; clamant hoc sidera signis,

after she heard that rule, and a long one, had been decreed, with her upper arms torn
she enters where the man lay strewn, and she breaks his raging voice
with these [words]: “carefree you lie, forgetful of your own,
o sluggard: and Majorian will be princeps for the world (thus do the ages demand);
the stars cry this with their signs,”

145

hoc homines votis. isti quid sidera quaero,
fatum aliud cui fecit amor? nil fortius illo,
et puer est cupidus numquam sed parcus habendi,
pauper adhuc iam spargit opes, ingentia suadet
consilia et sequitur, totum quod cogitat altum est,

This men [ask] in vows. For him, why do I seek the stars,
for whom Love has fashioned another fate? Nothing is stronger than it,
and the boy is desirous, never parsimonious of possessing,
though poor as yet, he already scatters wealth; he urges mighty counsels
and follows them; all that he cogitates is lofty,

150

urget quod sperat. ludum si forte retexam,
consumpsit quicquid iaculis fecisse putaris
istius una dies: tribus hunc tremuere sagittis
anguis, cervus, aper, non sic libravit in hostem
spicula qui nato serpentis corpore cincto

he presses what he hopes for. if perchance I retell the sport,
a single day of that boy exhausted whatever you would think he had done with javelins;
with three arrows a snake, a stag, a boar trembled at him;
not thus did he poise his darts against the enemy,
he whose son was girdled with a serpent’s body

155

plus timuit, cum succurrit, dum iactibus isdem
interitum vitamque daret stabilemque teneret
corde tremente manum, totamque exiret in artem
spe propiore metus, dans inter membra duorum
unius mortem. libeat decernere caestu:

more he feared, when he ran to help, while with the same casts
he gave both destruction and life, and with a trembling heart held
his hand steady, and fear, with nearer hope, passed wholly into art,
giving, amid the limbs of two, the death of one. let it be pleasing to decide by the caestus:

160

cessit Eryx Siculus, simili nec floruit arte
Sparta, Therapnaea pugilem cum gymnade pinguem
stratus Bebryciis Amycus suspexit harenis.
qui vigor in pedibus! frustra sibi natus Ofelte
Sicaniam tribuit palmam, plantasque superbas

the Sicilian Eryx yielded, nor did Sparta flourish in a like art,
when Amycus, laid low on the Bebrycian sands, looked up at the Therapnaean boxer with his plump trainer.
what vigor in his feet! in vain, born to Ofeltes, he assigned the palm to Sicania,
and the proud soles

165

haud ita per siccam Nemeen citus extulit Arcas,
cuius in Aetolo volitantem pulvere matrem
horruit Hippomenes, multo qui caespite circi
contemptu praemissus erat, cum carceris antro
emicuit pernix populo trepidante virago,

Not so swiftly through dry Nemea did the Arcadian bear himself forth,
whose mother, flying in Aetolian dust, Hippomenes shuddered to see, he
who had been sent off in advance by contempt for the much turf of the circus,
when from the cavern of the starting-gate the nimble virago darted out,
the people trembling,

170

nil toto tactura gradu, cum pallidus ille
respiceret medium post se decrescere campum
et longas ad signa vias flatuque propinquo
pressus in hostili iam curreret anxius umbra,
donec ad anfractum metae iam iamque relictus

touching nothing in her whole stride, while that pallid man
looked back and saw the middle of the field dwindling behind him,
and the long ways to the standards, and, pressed by the near breath,
already ran anxious beneath a hostile shadow,
until at the bend of the turning-post he was again and again left behind

175

concita ter sparso fregit vestigia pomo.
qui videt hunc equitem, Ledaeum spernit alumnum
ac iuvenem, Sthenoboea, tuum. cui terga vetustas
pennati largitur equi Lyciamque Chimaeram
quem superasse refert, vulnus cum sustulit unum

thrice, when set in motion, she broke her footsteps by the apple scattered.
whoever sees this horseman scorns the Ledaean fosterling
and your young man, Sthenoboea. to whom antiquity grants
the back of the winged horse and relates that he overcame the Lycian Chimaera,
when he sustained but a single wound.

180

tres animas. vitam tum si tibi fata dedissent,
Maioriane ferox, vetuisses Castora frenos,
Pollucem caestus, Alconem spicula nosse,
Bellerofonteis insultaturus opimis.
si clipeum capiat, vincit Telamone creatum,

three souls. then if the fates had given you life, fierce Majorian, you would have forbidden Castor the reins, Pollux the cestus, Alcon to know the arrows, you being about to trample upon Bellerophontean rich spoils. if he should take up a shield, he vanquishes the one begotten of Telamon,

185

qui puppes inter Graias contra Hectoris ignem
ipsam etiam infidi classem defendit Vlixis.
missile si quanto iaculetur pondere quaeris,
segnius insertae trepidans pro fasce Camillae
excussit telum Metabus, nec turbine tanto

who, amid the Greek ships, against Hector’s fire
defended even the fleet of treacherous Ulysses himself.
if you ask with what weight he hurls a missile,
Metabus, trembling for Camilla, inserted as a bundle,
shot forth the spear more slowly, nor with so great a whirl

190

stridula Pelidae per Troilon exiit ornus;
nec sic heroum tardantem busta Creontem
Atticus Aegides rupit Marathonide quercu;
nec sic intortum violatae Phoebados ultrix
in Danaos fulmen iecit, cum Graecia Troiae

the shrilling ash-spear of the son of Peleus went out through Troilus;
nor in such wise did the Attic son of Aegeus shatter Creon, tarrying among the heroes’ pyres, with the Marathonian oak;
nor thus did the avenger of the violated Phoebas hurl upon the Danaans a twisted thunderbolt, when Greece was at Troy

195

noctem habuit similemque facem fixusque Caferei
cautibus inter aquas flammam ructabat Oileus.
parva loquor. quid quod, quotiens tibi bella geruntur,
discipulus, non miles adest? et fingit alumnum:
aemulus econtra spectat, quod viceris odit

he had the night and a like torch; and Oileus, fixed on the Capherean crags, was belching flame amid the waters.
I speak small things. What of the fact that, whenever wars are waged for you,
a disciple, not a soldier, is present? and he fashions the fosterling:
the rival on the contrary looks on, he hates what you have conquered

200

et quos vincis amat; totus dormitat ad istum
magnus Alexander, patris quem gloria torsit.
quid faciam infelix? nato quae regna parabo
exclusa sceptris Geticis, res publica si me
praeterit et parvus super hoc Gaudentius huius

and he loves those whom you conquer; beside that one great Alexander wholly dozes, he whom his father's glory tormented.
what shall I do, unlucky? what realms shall I prepare for my son,
I, excluded from Getic scepters, if the Republic bypasses me
and, besides this, this man's little Gaudentius

205

calcatur fatis? istum iam Gallia laudat
quodque per Europam est. rigidis hunc abluit undis
Rhenus, Arar, Rhodanus, Mosa, Matrona, Sequana, Ledus,
Clitis, Elaris, Atax, Vacalis: Ligerimque bipenni
excisum per frusta bibit. cum bella timentes

is he trampled by the fates? now Gaul praises him, and whatever there is throughout Europe. the Rhenus, Arar, Rhodanus, Mosa, Matrona, Sequana, Ledus, Clitis, Elaris, Atax, Vacalis bathe him with rigid waves; and he drinks the Liger, cut into pieces by the two‑edged axe. when, fearing wars

210

defendit Turonos, aberas; post tempore parvo
pugnastis pariter, Francus qua Cloio patentes
Atrebatum terras pervaserat. hic coeuntes
claudebant angusta vias arcuque subactum
vicum Helenam flumenque simul sub tramite longo

he defended the Turoni (Tours), you were away; after a short time
you fought together, where the Frank Chlodio had overrun the open
lands of the Atrebates. There, converging,
they were closing the ways in narrow places, and the Vicus Helena
and the river alike, forced beneath an arch under a long causeway

215

artus suppositis trabibus transmiserat agger.
illic te posito pugnabat pōnte sub ipso
Maiorianus eques. fors ripae colle propinquo
barbaricus resonabat hymen Scythicisque choreis
nubebat flavo similis nova nupta marito.

a narrow causeway had carried across, with timbers set beneath.
There, with you posted, Majorianus, a cavalryman, was fighting right beneath the bridge itself.
perhaps on a hill near the bank the barbarian wedding-song was resounding,
and with Scythian choruses a new bride, similar to her blond husband, was wedding.

220

hos ergo, ut perhibent, stravit; crepitabat ad ictus
cassis et oppositis hastarum verbera thorax
arcebat squamis, donec conversa fugatus
hostis terga dedit; plaustris rutilare videres
barbarici vaga festa tori coniectaque passim

these therefore, as they relate, he laid low; the helmet was rattling at the blows,
and the cuirass warded off the lashes of spears with its overlapping scales,
until, turning, the routed enemy gave their backs; you would have seen
the wagons ruddy-glitter with the roving barbaric bridal-feast and
things cast everywhere

225

fercula captivasque dapes cirroque madente
ferre coronatos redolentia serta lebetas.
ilicet increscit Mavors thalamique refringit
plus ardens Bellona faces; rapit esseda victor
nubentemque nurum. non sic Pholoetica monstra

to bear the courses and captive banquets, and cauldrons crowned
with fragrant garlands, with a dripping wisp; straightway Mars swells,
and Bellona, more ardent, breaks the torches of the bridal chamber;
the victor seizes the war-chariots and the bride-to-be.
not thus the Pholoean monsters

230

atque Pelethronios Lapithas Semeleius Euhan
miscuit, Haemonias dum flammant orgia matres
et Venerem Martemque cient ac prima cruentos
consumunt ad bella cibos Bacchoque rotato
pocula tela putant, cum crudescente tumultu

and the Semeleian Euhan mingled the Pelethronian Lapiths,
while Haemonian mothers inflame the orgies,
and they summon Venus and Mars, and as first foods for wars
they consume bloody viands; and with Bacchus whirled around
they deem cups to be weapons, as the tumult grows bloodier

235

polluit Emathium sanguis Centauricus Othryn.
nec plus nubigenum celebrentur iurgia fratrum:
hic quoque monstra domat, rutili quibus arce cerebri
ad frontem coma tracta iacet nudataque cervix
saetarum per damna nitet, tum lumine glauco

Centauric blood pollutes Emathian Othrys.
nor are the quarrels of the cloud-born brothers celebrated more:
here too he tames monsters, for whom the citadel of their ruddy brain
lies with hair drawn to the forehead, and the neck, laid bare,
shines through the loss of bristles, then with a glaucous light

240

albet aquosa acies ac vultibus undique rasis
pro barba tenues perarantur pectine cristae.
strictius assutae vestes procera cohercent
membra virum, patet his altato tegmine poples,
latus et angustam suspendit balteus alvum.

the watery gaze looks pale, and with faces shaven everywhere
in place of a beard, thin crests are furrowed by the comb.
garments sewn more tightly constrain the tall limbs of the man,
with the covering lifted, the ham lies exposed,
and a belt girds the flank and holds up the narrow waist.

245

excussisse citas vastum per inane bipennes
et plagae praescisse locum clipeosque rotare
ludus et intortas praecedere saltibus hastas
inque hostem venisse prius; puerilibus annis
est belli maturus amor. si forte premantur

to have brandished swift double-axes through the vast void
and to have foreknown the place of the stroke and to whirl the shields
is sport, and to anticipate with leaps the hurled spears
and to have come first against the enemy; in boyish years
there is a mature love of war. If by chance they are pressed

250

seu numero seu sorte loci, mors obruit illos,
non timor; invicti perstant animoque supersunt
iam prope post animam. tales te teste fugavit
et laudante viros. quisnam ferat?

whether by number or by the lot of the place, death overwhelmed them,
not fear; unconquered they stand fast and in spirit remain
now almost beyond their soul. such men he routed, you as witness
and praising the men. who could endure it?

omnia tecum,
te sine multa facit. pugnant pro principe cuncti:

everything with you,
without you much is done. all fight for the prince:

255

quam timeo, ne iam iste sibi! si regna tenebit,
huic vincis quodcumque domas. nil fata relinquunt
hic medium: percussor enim si respuis esse,
servus eris. certe recto si tramite servat
sidera Chaldaeus, novit si gramina Colchus,

how I fear, lest now that man be for himself! if he will hold the realms,
for this man you conquer whatever you subdue. the fates leave
no middle here: for if you refuse to be a striker, you will be a slave.
surely, if by a straight path the Chaldaean observes the stars,
if the Colchian knows the herbs,

260

fulgura si Tuscus, si Thessalus elicit umbras,
si Lyciae sortes sapiunt, si nostra volatu
fata locuntur aves, doctis balatibus Hammon
si sanctum sub Syrte gemit, si denique verum
Phoebe, Themis, Dodona, canis, post tempora nostra

if the Tuscan elicits lightnings, if the Thessalian elicits shades,
if the Lycian sortes are wise, if our birds speak fates by their flight,
if Ammon with learned bleatings groans the sacred beneath the Syrtis,
if finally you, Phoebus, Themis, Dodona, sing truth, after our times

265

Iulius hic Augustus erit. coniunctus amore
praeterea est iuveni, grandis quem spiritus armat
regis avi. quo te vertas?

This Julius will be Augustus. moreover, he is joined by love
in addition to the youth, whom the great spirit of his kingly grandsire arms.
where will you turn?

ad culmina mundi
hic fatum fert, ambo animum. consurge simulque
aggredere ignaros; neutrum mactare valebis,

to the pinnacles of the world
this one bears fate, both bear spirit. Surge up and at once
attack the ignorant; you will not be able to slay either of them,

270

si iubeas utrumque mori; sed necte dolosas
blanditias uni, ferro tamen iste petatur.
quid loquor incassum? nihil est, quod tanta cavemus?

if you bid that both die; but weave deceitful
blandishments for the one, yet let that one be sought with steel.
why do I speak in vain? is there nothing that we so greatly beware of?

ut regnet, victurus erit?' commotus in iras
Aetius sic pauca refert: 'compesce furentis

'Will he live so that he may rule?' Aetius, stirred to wrath, thus replies in a few words: 'restrain the raging

275

impia vota animi: mortem mandare valebo
insontis, taceam nostri? quisquamne precatur,
ut sine criminibus crimen fiat bene nasci?
ad poenam quis fata vocet? tua viscera ferro,
Maioriane, petam, Phoebus si nocte refulget,

impious vows of the mind: shall I be able to command the death of an innocent, and keep silence about one of ours?
does anyone pray that, without crimes, it become a crime to be well-born?
who would call the fates to punishment?
I will seek your vitals with iron, Majorian, if Phoebus shines by night,

280

luna die, duplex ponto si plaustra novatur
Parrhasis, Atlantem Tanais, si Bagrada cernit
Caucason, Hercynii nemoris si stipite lintris
texta Nabataeum pro Rheno sulcat Hydaspen,
si bibit Hispanus Gangem tepidisque ab Erythris

the moon by day, if the wains are made double upon the sea
Parrhasian, if the Tanais beholds Atlas, if the Bagrada beholds
the Caucasus, if, with a trunk of the Hercynian forest, skiffs
woven furrow the Nabataean Hydaspes instead of the Rhine,
if the Spaniard drinks the Ganges and from the tepid Erythraean

285

ad Tartesiacum venit Indus aquator Hiberum,
si se Pollucis perfundit sanguine Castor,
Thesea Pirithoi, Pyladen si stravit Orestae
vel furibunda manus, raperet cum Taurica sacra
matricida pius. sed ne sprevisse dolorem

to the Tartessian Hiberus comes the Indian water-drawer,
if Castor drenches himself in the blood of Pollux,
if he laid low Theseus, friend of Pirithous, and Pylades, friend of Orestes,
or a frenzied hand, when the pious matricide was snatching the Tauric sacra,
but not to have scorned the grief.

290

forte tuum videar, vivat careatque parumper
militia. heu potuit nobis, nisi triste putasses,
fortunam debere suam.' sic fatur et illum
rure iubet patrio suetos mutare labores,
fatorum currente rota, quo disceret agri

lest I perhaps seem to have spurned your sorrow, let him live and be without military service for a little while.
alas, he could have owed his fortune to us, if you had not thought it grievous.'
thus he speaks, and orders him to exchange his accustomed labors for work in his ancestral countryside,
the wheel of the Fates running on, so that he might learn the business of the field

295

quid possessorem maneat, quos denique mores
ius civile paret, ne solam militis artem
ferret ad imperium. suspenderat ilicet arma
emeritus iuvenis, sterilis ieiunia terrae
vomere fecundans. sic quondam consule curvo

what may await the possessor, what mores at last
the civil law prepares, so that he might not carry only a soldier’s art
to command. Straightway the veteran youth had hung up his arms,
making the barren earth’s fastings fruitful with the ploughshare.
thus once, with Curvus as consul

300

vertebas campos, paulum si pace sequestra
classica laxasses, fortis eui laeva regebat
stivam post aquilas, humili dum iuncta camino
victoris fumum biberet palmata bubulci.
Principis interea gladio lacrimabile fatum

you were turning the fields, if for a little while, with peace as sequestrator
you had slackened the war-trumpets; his brave left hand was guiding
the plough-handle after the eagles, while, joined to the low hearth,
the palm-bearing left hand of the victorious ploughman drank the smoke.
Meanwhile, by the sword of the Princeps, a lamentable fate

305

clauserat Aetius; cuius quo tutius ille
magna Palatinis coniungeret agmina turmis,
evocat hunc precibus; sed non se poena moratur
sanguinis effusi (numerum collegerat ergo,
non animum populi); ferri mala crimina ferro

Aetius had been shut away; him, that he might the more safely join great columns to the Palatine squads,
he calls forth with entreaties; but the penalty for shed blood does not delay itself (he had gathered, then,
the number, not the spirit of the people); the evil crimes of steel are met with steel.

310

solvit et in vestram plus concidit ille ruinam.
iam tunc imperium praesentis principis aurea
volvebant bona fata colu; sed publica damna
invidiam fugere viri. quicumque fuerunt
nomen in Augustum lecti, tenuere relictum

he paid them, and that man fell the more into your ruin.
already then the good Fates were spinning with a golden distaff
the empire of the present princeps; but the public losses
fled the man’s odium. Whoever were chosen
to the name Augustus held what was left behind.

315

Caesaribus solium: postquam tu capta laboras,
hic quod habet fecit. Traianum Nerva vocavit,
cum pignus iam victor erat; Germanicus esset
ut titulis, meritis fuerat. res ordine currit;
hanc ambit famam, quisquis sic incipit. olim

the throne for the Caesars: after you, captured, you toil,
this man did what he had to do. Nerva called Trajan,
when, as a pledge, he was already a victor; that he might be
Germanicus in his titles, as he had been in his merits.
the affair runs in order; whoever thus begins courts this fame. once

320

post Capreas Tiberi, post turpia numina Gai,
censuram Claudi, citharam thalamosque Neronis,
post speculi immanis pompam, quo se ille videbat
hinc turpis, quod pulcher, Otho, post quina Vitelli
milia famosi ventris damnata barathro,

after the Capreae of Tiberius, after the filthy divinities of Gaius,
the censorship of Claudius, the cithara and bridal-chambers of Nero,
after the pomp of the enormous mirror, in which he would behold himself—
ugly on this side, because handsome—Otho, after the five thousand of Vitellius’s
notorious belly, condemned to the abyss,

325

his titulis princeps lectus similique labore
Vespasianus erat. sed ne fortasse latronis
me clausam virtute putes, consumpsit in illo
vim gentis vitae vitium; Scythicam feritatem
non vires, sed vota tenent, spoliisque potitus

by these titles the prince was chosen, and with similar labor
was Vespasian. But lest perchance you think me shut in
by a bandit’s virtue, in that man the vice of life consumed
the force of the gens; Scythic ferocity is held, not by forces, but by vows, and, having gotten the spoils

330

immensis robur luxu iam perdidit omne,
quo valuit, dum pauper erat. mea viscera pro se
in me nunc armat; laceror tot capta per annos
iure suo, virtute mea, fecundaque poenis
quos patiar pario. propriis nil conficit armis:

by immeasurable luxury he has now lost all the strength
by which he prevailed, while he was poor. He now arms my entrails for himself
against me; I am torn, captured through so many years,
by his right, by my virtue, and, fertile in punishments,
I bring forth the pains which I shall suffer. By his own arms he accomplishes nothing:

335

Gaetulis, Nomadis, Garamantibus Autololisque,
Arzuge, Marmarida, Psyllo, Nasamone timetur
segnis, et ingenti ferrum iam nescit ab auro.
ipsi autem color exsanguis, quem crapula vexat
et pallens pinguedo tenet, ganeaque perenni

By the Gaetulians, the Nomad, the Garamantes and the Autololes,
by the Arzuges, the Marmaridan, the Psyllus, the Nasamon, it is feared
sluggish, and in enormous wealth now does not know iron from gold.
but their own complexion is bloodless, which crapulence vexes
and a pallid fatness holds, and by a perennial debauch

340

pressus acescentem stomachus non explicat auram.
par est vita suis; non sic Barcaeus opimam
Hannibal ad Capuam periit, cum fortia bello
inter delicias mollirent corpora Baiae
et se Lucrinas qua vergit Gaurus in undas

the pressed stomach does not expel the acescent air.
their life is on a par with their own; not thus did Barcaean
Hannibal perish at opulent Capua, when Baiae mollified
bodies stout in war amid delicacies, and where Gaurus verges toward the Lucrine waves

345

bracchia Massylus iactaret nigra natator.
atque ideo hunc dominum saltem post saecula tanta
ultorem mihi redde, precor, ne dimicet ultra
Carthago Italiam contra.' sic fata dolore
ingemuit lacrimisque preces adiuvit obortis.

the Massylian swimmer was tossing his black arms.
and therefore, at least after so many ages, render me this lord as an avenger, I pray, lest Carthage fight any longer
against Italy.' Thus having spoken, she groaned with grief and aided her prayers with tears that had sprung forth.

350

his haec Roma refert: 'longas succinge querelas,
o devota mihi: vindex tibi nomine divum
Maiorianus erit. sed paucis pauca retexam.
ex quo Theudosius communia iura fugato
reddidit auctoris fratri, cui guttura fregit

to these things Rome replies: 'gird up your long laments,
O devoted to me: Majorian will be your avenger in the name of the gods.
but I will reweave a few things in a few words.
from the time when Theodosius, the usurper having been put to flight,
restored the common rights to the author’s brother, whose throat he broke

355

post in se vertenda manus, mea Gallia rerum
ignoratur adhuc dominis ignaraque servit.
ex illo multum periit, quia principe clauso,
quisquis erat, miseri diversis partibus orbis
vastari sollemne fuit. quae vita placeret,

afterward the hand was to be turned against itself,
my Gaul is still unknown to the masters of affairs and, unknowing, serves.
from that time much perished, since, with the prince enclosed,
whoever there was, it was customary that the wretched world in diverse parts be laid waste.
what life would be pleasing,

360

cum rector moderandus erat? contempta tot annos
nobilitas iacuit: pretium res publica forti
rettulit invidiam. princeps haec omnia noster
corrigit atque tuum vires ex gentibus addens
ad bellum per bella venit: nam maximus isse est,

when a ruler was needed to steer? the nobility, scorned for so many years, lay prostrate: the Republic rendered envy as the price to the brave. our prince corrects all these things, and adding to your forces from the nations, he comes to war through wars: for the greatest thing is to have gone,

365

non pugnasse labor. terimus cur tempora verbis?
pervenit et vincit.' tali sermone peractum
concilium, verbisque deae famulante metallo
aurea concordes traxerunt fila sorores.

not to have fought is the labor. Why do we wear away time with words?
he arrives and conquers.' With such discourse the council was concluded,
and, with the metal of the goddess serving the words,
the concordant sisters drew the golden threads.

Hos me, quos cecini, Romae Libyaeque labores

These labors of Rome and Libya, which I sang

370

vota hominum docuere loqui; iam tempus ad illa
ferre pedem, quae fanda mihi vel Apolline muto:
pro Musis Mars vester erit. conscenderat Alpes
Raetorumque iugo per longa silentia ductus
Romano exierat populato trux Alamannus

the vows of men have taught me to speak; now it is time to carry my step to those things
which must be spoken by me even with Apollo mute: in place of the Muses your Mars shall be.
He had mounted the Alps and, guided along the ridge of the Raetians through long silences,
the grim Alamann had gone forth, the Roman land plundered

375

perque Cani quondam dictos de nomine eampos
in praedam centum novies dimiserat hostes.
iamque magister eras: Burconem dirigis illuc
exigua comitante manu, sed sufficit istud,
cum pugnare iubes; certa est victoria nostris

and through the fields once called by the name of Cani
he had sent 900 enemies for plunder.
and now you were commander: you direct Burco thither
with a small band accompanying, but that suffices,
when you order battle; victory is certain for our men

380

te mandasse acies; peragit fortuna triumphum
non populo, sed amore tuo; nolo agmina campo,
quo mittis paucos. felix te respicit iste
eventus belli. certatum est iure magistri,
Augusti fato nuper: post hostis aperto

that you had commanded the battle-lines; Fortune completes the triumph
not by the people, but by your love; I do not want columns in the field,
where you send a few. Happy, that outcome of war looks upon you.
the contest has been waged by the right of the master,
lately by the fate of the Augustus: after the enemy laid open

385

errabat lentus pelago, postquam ordine vobis
ordo omnis regnum dederat, plebs, curia. miles,
et collega simul. Campanam flantibus Austris
ingrediens terram securum milite Mauro
agricolam aggreditur; pinguis per transtra sedebat

he was wandering sluggish on the deep, after in due order to you
every order had given the kingdom—the plebs, the curia, the soldier,
and the colleague as well. Entering the Campanian land with the south winds blowing,
he attacks a farmer, carefree because of a Moorish soldier;
the plump man was sitting across the thwarts

390

Vandalus opperiens praedam, quam iusserat illuc
captivo capiente trahi. sed vestra repente
inter utrumque hostem dederant sese agmina planis,
quae pelagus collemque secant portumque reducto
efficiunt flexu fluvii. perterrita primum

The Vandal, awaiting the booty, which he had ordered to be dragged thither, a captive seizing it. but suddenly your battle-lines had placed themselves on the plains between each enemy, which cut the sea and the hill and, by the river’s drawn-back flexure, make a harbor. terrified at first

395

montes turba petit, trabibus quae clausa relictis
praedae praeda fuit; tum concitus agmine toto
in pugnam pirata coit: pars lintre cavata
iam dociles exponit equos, pars ferrea texta
concolor induitur, teretes pars explicat arcus

the throng seeks the mountains, which, enclosed by beams left behind,
became booty for the booty; then, quickened with the whole column,
into battle the pirate assembles: part, with a hollowed skiff,
now disembarks the tractable horses, part the iron-woven
like-colored mail puts on, part unfurls the well-turned bows

400

spiculaque infusum ferro latura venenum,
quae feriant bis missa semel. iam textilis anguis
discurrit per utramque aciem, cui guttur adactis
turgescit zephyris; patulo mentitur hiatu
iratam pictura famem, pannoque furorem

and darts to bear a venom infused into the iron,
which, though sent once, strike twice. now the textile serpent
runs through both battle-lines, whose throat, with zephyrs
driven in, swells; with a gaping maw the picture feigns
angry hunger, and with cloth, fury

405

aura facit, quotiens crassatur vertile tergum
flatibus, et nimium iam non capit alvus inane.
at tuba terrisono strepuit grave rauca fragore,
responsat clamor lituis, virtusque repente
ignavis vel parva furit. cadit undique ferrum,

the breeze gives it life, whenever the turning back thickens
with blasts, and the belly now no longer contains too much emptiness.
but the trumpet, hoarse, resounded with an earth‑sounding heavy crash,
a shout answers the clarions, and valor suddenly
even in cowards, though small, rages. iron falls on every side,

410

hinc tamen in iugulos: hunc torta falarica iactu
proterit, ad mortem vix cessatura secundam:
hunc conti rotat ictus; equo ruit aclyde fossus
ille veruque alius; iacet hic simul alite telo,
absentem passus dextram; pars poplite secto

from here, however, upon the throats: this one a falarica, whirled in the cast, crushes, scarcely about to stop short of a second death; this one a blow of the pike whirls; from his horse that one falls, pierced by an aclys, and another by a spear; this one lies together with the winged weapon, having suffered a right hand that was absent; some, hamstrung with the back of the knee cut

415

mortis ad invidiam vivit, partemque cerebri
hic galeae cum parte rapit, fortique lacerto
disicit ancipiti miserabile sinciput ense.
ut primum versis dat tergum Vandalus armis,
succedit caedes pugnae: discrimine nullo

he lives to the envy of death, and here he snatches a portion of the brain
along with a portion of the helmet, and with a strong arm
he tears apart the pitiable half-skull with a two-edged sword.
as soon as the Vandal, with arms turned, gives his back,
slaughter succeeds to battle: with no distinction

420

sternuntur passim campis, et fortia quaeque
fecit iners. trepidante fuga mare pallidus intrat
et naves pertransit eques, turpique natatu
de pelago ad cymbam rediit. sic tertia Pyrrhi
quondam pugna fuit: caesis cum milibus illum

they are laid low everywhere on the plains, and even the inert did each brave thing.
with flight in trepidation he, pallid, enters the sea
and the horseman traverses to the ships, and by shameful swimming
he returned from the deep to a skiff. thus once was the third battle of Pyrrhus:
with thousands cut down, him

425

Dentatus premeret, lacerae vix fragmina classis
traxit in Epirum, qui Chaonas atque Molossos,
qui Thracum Macetumque manus per litora vestra
sparserat et cuius vires Oenotria pallens
ipsaque, quae petiit, trepidaverat uncta Tarentus.

Dentatus pressing him hard, he dragged into Epirus the scant fragments of a torn fleet,
he who had scattered the Chaonians and the Molossians,
who had scattered the bands of Thracians and Macedonians along your shores,
and at whose strength Oenotria, paling,
and even Tarentum itself, sleek with oil, which he sought, had trembled.

430

hostibus expulsis campum qui maximus extat
iam lustrare vacat: videas hic strage sub illa
utrorumque animos; nullus non pectore caesus,
quisquis vester erat: nullus non terga foratus,
illorum quisquis. clamant hoc vulnera primi

with the enemies expelled, it is now free to survey the field which stands forth as the greatest;
you might see here, beneath that slaughter, the spirits of both sides;
none not hewn in the breast, whoever was of yours;
none not the backs pierced, whoever was of theirs.
the wounds of the foremost proclaim this.

435

praedonum tum forte ducis, cui regis avari
narratur nupsisse soror, qui pulvere caeco
clausus et elisus pilis vestigia turpis
gestat adhuc probrosa fugae. sic agmina vestra
cum spoliis campum retinent et Marte fruuntur.

then by chance of the brigands’ leader, to whom the avaricious king’s
sister is reported to have wed, who, shut in by blind
dust and battered by javelins, still bears the opprobrious vestiges
of his shameful flight. Thus your ranks
with the spoils retain the field and enjoy Mars.

440

interea duplici texis dum litore classem
inferno superoque mari, cadit omnis in aequor
silva tibi nimiumque diu per utrumque recisus,
Appennine, latus navalique arbore dives
non minus in pelagus nemorum quam mittis aquarum.

meanwhile, while you weave a fleet along the twin shore
upon the lower and the upper sea, all the forest falls into the level sea for you,
and for too long, Apennine, your flank has been cut away on either side,
rich in naval timber,
you send into the deep no less of groves than of waters.

445

Gallia continuis quamquam sit lassa tributis,
hoc censu placuisse. cupit nec pondera sentit,
quae prodesse probat, non tantis maior Atrides
Carpathium texit ratibus, cum Doricus hostis
Sigeas rapturus opes Rhoeteia clausit

Gaul, though she is wearied by continual tributes,
has been pleased by this levy. She desires it and does not feel the burdens,
which she proves to be beneficial, not with so great did the elder Atrides
cover the Carpathian sea with ships, when the Doric enemy
about to snatch the Sigean wealth, closed Rhoeteia.

450

Pergama; nec tantae Seston iuncturus Abydo
Xerxes classis erat, tumidas cum sterneret undas
et pontum sub ponte daret, cum stagna superbo
irrupit temerata gradu turmaeque frequentes
Hellespontiaco persultavere profundo;

Pergamum; nor was the fleet of Xerxes, to join Sestos to Abydos, so great, when he leveled the swollen waves and gave the sea beneath a bridge, when upon the pools he burst with a proud step, and crowded squadrons leapt across the Hellespontine deep;

455

nec sic Leucadio classis Mareotica portu
Actiacas abscondit aquas, in bella mariti
dum venit a Fario dotalis turba Canopo,
cum patrio Cleopatra ferox circumdata sistro
milite vel piceo fulvas onerata carinas

nor thus did the Mareotic fleet in the Leucadian harbor
hide the Actian waters, while to her husband’s wars the dotal throng
came from Pharian Canopus, when Cleopatra, fierce, girt with her native sistrum,
surrounded by soldiery, loaded the tawny keels with pitch-dark troops

460

Dorida diffusam premeret Ptolomaide gaza,
hoc tu non cultu pugnas, sed more priorum
dite magis ferro, merito cui subiacet aurum
divitis ignavi. tales ne sperne rebelles:
etsi non acies, decorant tamen ista triumphos.

Ptolemaic treasure would weigh upon Doris spread wide,
you do not fight with such attire, but in the manner of the forefathers,
richer rather in iron, to which the gold of the wealthy sluggard justly lies subject.
do not spurn rebels of that sort:
although not battle-lines, yet these things adorn triumphs.

465

nec me Lageam stirpem memorasse pigebit
hostis ad exemplum vestri; namque auguror isdem
regnis fortunam similem, cum luxus in illa
parte sit aequalis, nec peior Caesar in ista.
ilicet aggrederis quod nullus tempore nostro

nor will it irk me to have recalled the Lagid stock,
taking your enemy by way of example; for I augur for the same
realms a similar fortune, since luxury in that
quarter is equal, and Caesar is no worse in this one.
straightway you will undertake what no one in our time

470

Augustus potuit: rigidum septemplicis Histri
agmen in arma rapis. nam quicquid languidus axis
cardine Sithonio sub Parrhase parturit ursa,
hoc totum tua signa pavet; Bastarna, Suebus,
Pannonius, Neurus, Chunus, Geta, Dacus, Halanus,

Augustus could do it: the rigid column of the sevenfold Ister you sweep into arms.
for whatever the languid axis, beneath the Sithonian pivot, the Parrhasian Bear is teeming with,
all this whole region trembles at your standards; the Bastarnae, the Suebian,
the Pannonian, the Neurian, the Hun, the Getan, the Dacian, the Alan,

475

Bellonothus, Rugus, Burgundio, Vesus, Alites,
Bisalta, Ostrogothus, Procrustes, Sarmata, Moschus
post aquilas venere tuas; tibi militat omnis
Caucasus et Scythicae potor Tanaiticus undae.
quid faciat fortuna viri? quascumque minatur,

Bellonothus, Rugus, Burgundian, Vesus, Alites,
Bisalta, Ostrogoth, Procrustes, Sarmatian, Moschian
after your eagles they came; for you the whole
Caucasus fights, and the Tanaïtic drinker of the Scythian wave.
what can a man's fortune do? whatever she threatens,

480

has tremuit iam Roma manus; modo principe sub te,
ne metuat, prope parva putat, nisi serviat illi
quod timuit regnante alio. iam castra movebas
et te diversis stipabant milia signis:
obsequium gens una negat, quae nuper ab Histro

Rome has already trembled at these bands; now, with you as prince,
so that she need not fear, she thinks them almost small—provided that what she feared
when another was reigning serves her. Already you were moving camp,
and thousands with diverse standards were crowding about you:
one nation alone denies obedience, which lately from the Ister

485

rettulit indomitum solito truculentior agmen,
quod dominis per bella caret populoque superbo
Tuldila plectendas in proelia suggerit iras.
hic tu vix armis positis iterum arma retractas:
Bistonides veluti Ciconum cum forte pruinas

brought back an indomitable column, more truculent than usual,
which through wars is free from masters and from a haughty people;
Tuldila urges wrath, to be chastised, into battles.
here you, with arms scarcely laid aside, take up arms again:
like the Bistonian women when by chance the frosts of the Cicones

490

Ogygiis complent thiasis, seu Strymonos arvis,
seu se per Rhodopen, seu qua nimbosus in aequor
volvit Hyperboreis in cautibus Ismarus Hebrum
dat somno vaga turba, simul lassata quiescunt
orgia et ad biforem reboat nec tibia flatum;

They fill Ogygian thiasoi, whether on the fields of the Strymon,
or along Rhodope, or where stormy Ismarus on Hyperborean crags
rolls the Hebrus into the sea; the wandering crowd gives itself to sleep,
at once the wearied orgies grow quiet, and the pipe does not
boom back its breath to the two-bored reed;

495

vix requies, iam ponte ligant, rotat enthea thyrsum
Bassaris et maculis Erythraeae nebridos horrens
excitat Odrysios ad marcida tympana mystas.
tu tamen hanc differs poenam, sed sanguinis auctor
maioris, dum parcis, eras. non pertulit ultra

scarcely is there rest, already they lash into a bridge; the Bassaris whirls the entheos thyrsus,
and, bristling with the spots of Erythraean fawn-skins,
rouses the Odrysian mystae to the withered drums.
you, however, defer this penalty; yet, the author of greater blood, while you spare, you were.
he did not endure further

500

hoc pro te plus cauta manus vestrumque pudorem
sprevit pro vobis; primi cadit hostia belli,
quisque rebellis erat. praedam quoque dividis illis,
mens devota quibus fuerat: quae territa servit
exemplo, gaudet pretio. Pharsalica Caesar

In this, for your sake, a more cautious hand spurned this and your pudor for you all;
the first victim of the war falls, whoever was rebellious.
You also divide the plunder to those to whom your mind had been devoted:
which, terrified, serves by example, rejoices in the price.
Pharsalian Caesar

505

arva petens subitas ferro compescuit iras:
sed sua membra secans et causae mole coactus
flevit quos perimit: vestris haec proficit armis
seditio; quodcumque iubes, nisi barbarus audit,
hinc cadit, ut miles timeat. iam tempore brumae

seeking the fields, he restrained sudden wraths with iron:
but cutting his own members and compelled by the burden of the cause
he weeps for those whom he destroys: this sedition profits your arms;
whatever you bid, unless he be a barbarian, he heeds it,
from this one falls, so that the soldier may fear. now at the season of winter

510

Alpes marmoreas atque occurrentia iuncto
saxa polo rupesque vitri siccamque minantes
per scopulos pluviam primus pede carpis et idem
lubrica praemisso firmas vestigia conto,
coeperat ad rupis medium quae maxima turba est

The marmoreal Alps and rocks meeting the conjoined
pole, and vitreous cliffs, and, through the crags, threatening
a dry rainfall, you first with your foot pick your way, and likewise
with a pole sent ahead you steady your steps on the slippery places,
the greatest throng had begun toward the middle of the cliff

515

interno squalere gelu, quod colle supino
artatis conclusa viis reptare rigenti
non poterat revoluta solo: fors unus ab illo
agmine, canentem cuius rota triverat Histrum,
exclamat: 'gladios malo et sollemne quieta

to be scaly with inward frost, because, on a downhill hill,
shut in by narrowed ways, it could not crawl along, stiff,
once rolled upon the frozen ground: by chance one man from that
column, whose wheel had ground the hoary Hister (Danube),
cries out: 'I prefer swords and the customary quiet

520

quod frigus de morte venit; mea torpor inerti
membra rigore ligat, quodam mihi corpus adustum
frigoris igne perit. sequimur sine fine labori
instantem iuvenem; quisquis fortissimus ille est
aut rex aut populus, castris modo clausus aprica

what a cold comes from death; a torpor binds my inert
limbs with rigor; my body, scorched by a certain fire
of cold, perishes. we follow the youth pressing upon toil
without end; whoever that bravest one is,
whether king or people, just now shut within sunlit camps

525

vel sub pelle iacet; nos anni vertimus usum.
quod iubet hic, lex rebus erit; non flectitur umquam
a coeptis damnumque putat, si temporis iras
vel per damna timet. qua dicam gente creatum,
quem Scytha non patior? cuius lac tigridis infans

or he lies under a hide; we turn the year’s use.
what he commands will be law for affairs; he is never bent
from his undertakings, and he deems it a loss if he fears the angers
of time, even amid losses. Of what nation shall I say him created,
whom I, a Scythian, do not endure? whose infant the milk of a tigress

530

Hyrcana sub rupe bibit? quae sustulit istum
axe meo gravior tellus? en vertice summo
algentes cogit turmas ac frigora ridet,
dum solus plus mente calet. cum classica regis
Arctoi sequerer, Romani principis arma

Does he drink beneath a Hyrcanian crag? What land, heavier under my axis, has raised that man? Lo, on the highest summit he gathers the freezing ranks and laughs at the cold, while he alone is warmer in mind. When I was following the war-trumpets of the Arctic king, the arms of the Roman prince

535

Caesareumque larem luxu torpere perenni
audieram: dominos nil prodest isse priores,
si rex hic quoque fortis erat.' maiora parantem
dicere de scopulo verbis accendis amaris:
'quisquis es, oppositi metuis qui lubrica clivi,

and that the Caesarean hearth was torpid with perennial luxury
I had heard: that former masters availed nothing,
if the king here too was brave.' As I was preparing to speak greater things,
from the crag you inflame me with bitter words:
'whoever you are, you who fear the slippery parts of the opposite slope,

540

frange cutem pendentis aquae scalptoque fluento
sit tibi lympha gradus. turpes depone querelas:
otia frigus habent. numquid mihi membra biformis
Hylaei natura dedit? num Pegasus alis
adiuvit quicquid gradior pennasque volanti

break the skin of the hanging water, and with the sculpted stream
let the water be your step. lay down shameful complaints:
idleness harbors cold. did nature give me the limbs of biform
Hylaeus? did Pegasus with wings
aid my every step, and feathers to the flier

545

dat Calais Zetusque mihi, quem ninguida cernis
calcantem iam dorsa iugi? vos frigora frangunt,
vos Alpes? iam iam studeam pensare pruinas:
aestatem sub Syrte dabo.' sic agmina voce
erigis exemploque levas; primusque labores

Do Calais and Zetes give me, whom you see already treading the snowy backs of the ridge?
do frosts break you, do the Alps?
even now, now I will strive to counterbalance the frosts:
I will give summer beneath the Syrtis.' Thus with your voice you raise the columns
and by your example you lighten them; and you are first in labors

550

aggrederis quoscumque iubes; tum cetera paret
turba libens, servit propriis cum legibus auctor.
Qui tibi praeterea comites quantusque magister
militiae, vestrum post vos qui compulit agmen,
sed non invitum? dignus, cui cederet uni

you set upon whomever you order; then the rest of the crowd gladly obeys,
and the author himself serves his own laws.
What companions besides are yours, and how great a master
of soldiery, who drove your column after you,
yet not unwilling? worthy, to whom alone one would yield

555

Sulla acie, genio Fabius, pietate Metellus.
Appius eloquio, vi Fulvius, arte Camillus.
si praefecturae quantus moderetur honorem
vir quaeras, tendit patulos qua Gallia fines,
vix habuit mores similes, cui teste senatu.

Sulla in the battle line, in genius Fabius, in piety Metellus.
Appius in eloquence, in force Fulvius, in skill Camillus.
If you ask how great a man would govern the honor of the prefecture,
where Gaul stretches its broad borders,
it has scarcely had his like in character, as the senate bears witness.

560

in se etiam tractum comnriserat Vlpius ensem.
qui dictat modo iura Getis, sub iudice vestro
pellitus ravum praeconem suscipit hostis.
quid loquar hic illum, qui scrinia sacra gubernat,
qui, cum civilis dispenset partis habenas,

even against himself Ulpius had pitied the drawn sword.
he who now dictates laws to the Getae, under your judge
the pelt-clad foe receives a tawny herald.
what shall I say here of him who governs the sacred scrinia,
who, while he dispenses the reins of the civil part,

565

sustinet armati curas, interprete sub quo
flectitur ad vestras gens effera condiciones?
quid laudare Petrum parvis, temeraria Clio,
viribus aggrederis? cuius dignatur ab ore
Caesar in orbe loqui, licet et quaestore diserto

he sustains the cares of the man-at-arms; with him as interpreter
the savage nation is bent to your conditions?
reckless Clio, with small powers you undertake to praise Peter,
from whose mouth Caesar deigns to speak in the world, though there is also
an eloquent quaestor

570

polleat; attamen hic nuper, placidissime princeps,
obside percepto nostrae de moenibus urbis
visceribus miseris insertum depulit ensem.
et quia lassatis nimium spes unica rebus
venisti, nostris, petimus, succurre ruinis,

let him prevail; yet this man recently, most gentle prince,
with a hostage received from the walls of our city,
drove out the sword thrust into our wretched entrails.
and because, for our excessively wearied affairs, the sole hope,
you have come, we beg, succor our ruins,

575

Lugdunumque tuam, dum praeteris, aspice victor:
otia post nimios poscit te fracta labores.
cui pacem das, redde animum: lassata iuvenci
cervix deposito melius post sulcat aratro
telluris glaebam solidae. bove, fruge, colono,

And your Lugdunum, while you pass by, look upon, victor:
rest after excessive labors the broken one begs of you.
to whom you give peace, restore spirit: the weary neck
of the young ox, the plow set down, afterwards furrows better
the clod of solid earth. with ox, grain, and farmer,

580

civibus exhausta est. stantis fortuna latebat;
dum capitur, vae quanta fuit! post gaudia, princeps,
delectat meminisse mali. populatibus, igni
etsi concidimus, veniens tamen omnia tecum
restituis: fuimus vestri quia causa triumphi,

was drained of its citizens. Its fortune while standing lay hidden;
while it is taken, alas how great it was! After joys, princeps,
it delights to remember the ill. Though we fell to ravagings and to fire,
yet as you come you restore everything with you:
for we were the cause of your triumph,

585

ipsa ruina placet. cum victor scandere currum
incipies crinemque sacrum tibi more priorum
nectet muralis, vallaris, civica laurus
et regum aspicient Capitolia fulva catenas,
cum vesties Romam spoliis, cum divite cera

the ruin itself pleases. when, victorious, you begin to mount the chariot
and the mural, vallary, civic laurel, in the manner of the forefathers, will bind your sacred hair for you,
and the Capitol will gaze upon the golden chains of kings,
when you will clothe Rome with spoils, when with rich wax

590

pinges Cinyfii captiva mapalia Bocchi,
ipse per obstantes populos raucosque fragores
praecedam et tenui, sicut nunc, carmine dicam
te geminas Syrtes, Alpes te, te mare magnum,
te freta, te Libycas pariter domuisse catervas,

you will paint the captive huts of Cinyphian Bocchus,
I myself shall precede through obstructing peoples and raucous uproars
and with a slender song, as now, I shall speak
that you have tamed the twin Syrtes, you the Alps, you the great sea,
you the straits, you likewise the Libyan battalions,

595

ante tamen vicisse mihi. quod lumina flectis
quodque serenato miseros iam respicis ore,
exultare libet: memini, cum parcere velles,
hic tibi vultus erat; mitis dat signa venustas.
annue: sic vestris respiret Byrsa trophaeis,

yet first let it be mine to have prevailed. that you bend your eyes,
and that with a serene face you now look upon the wretched,
it is sweet to exult: I remember, when you wished to spare,
this was your expression; gentle grace gives signs.
grant assent: thus may Byrsa breathe again with your trophies,

600

sic Parthus certum fugiat Maurusque timore
albus eat; sic Susa tremant positisque pharetris
exarmata tuum circumstent Bactra tribunal.

thus may the Parthian flee the sure stroke, and the Moor go white with fear; thus may Susa tremble and, their quivers laid aside, disarmed Bactra stand around your tribunal.

CARMEN VI

POEM 6

PRAEFATIO PANEGYRICI DICTI AVITO AUGUSTO.

PREFACE OF THE PANEGYRIC DELIVERED TO AVITUS AUGUSTUS.

Pallados armisonae festum dum cantibus ortum
      personat Hismario Thracia vate chelys,
et dum Mopsopium stipantur per Marathonem
      qui steterant fluvii quaeque cucurrit humus,
dulcisonum quatitur fidibus dum pectine murmur,

While the festival, at its rising, of arms-resounding Pallas the chelys voices with songs,
      the Thracian lyre, with an Ismarian bard, resounds;
and while through Marathon are thronged the Mopsopian rivers that had stood,
      and the soil that had run,
while the sweet-sounding murmur is shaken on the strings by the plectrum,

      has perhibent laudes laude probasse deam:
'diva, Gigantei fudit quam tempore belli
      armatus partus vertice dividuo,
quam neque Deliacis peperit Latona sub antris,
      fixura errantem Cyclada pignoribus,

      they report that the goddess approved these praises with praise:
'goddess, whom, at the time of the Gigantean war,
      an armed birth poured forth from a cloven crown,
whom Latona did not bear beneath the Delian caves,
      intending to fix the wandering Cyclad with pledges,

nec quae Cadmeis pariens Alciden in oris
      suspendit triplici nocte puerperium,
nec cuius pluvio turris madefacta metallo est,
      cum matrem impleret filius aurigena:
sed te, cum trepidum spectaret Flegra Tonantem,

nor she who, bringing forth Alcides on Cadmean shores,
      delayed her delivery for a triple night;
nor she whose tower was made wet by a rainy metal,
      when the gold-born son filled his mother:
but thee, when Phlegra beheld the trembling Thunderer,

      impulit excussam vertice ruptus apex:
cumque deos solae traherent in proelia vires,
      confusum valde te sine robur erat:
protulit ut mox te patrius, Sapientia, vertex,
      tum mage vicerunt, te cum habuere dei.

      the ruptured apex drove you, shaken from the vertex:
and when sheer forces alone were dragging the gods into battles,
      without you the strength was greatly confounded:
as soon as the fatherly vertex brought you forth, Wisdom,
      then they conquered the more, when the gods had you.

te propter cessit, manibus constructa tremendis,
      iam prope per rutilum machina tensa polum.
Pindus, Othrys, Pholoe dextris cecidere Gigantum,
      decidit et Rhoeti iam gravis Ossa manu,
sternitur Aegaeon, Briareus, Ephialta Mimasque,

because of you it yielded, the engine constructed by tremendous hands,
      the engine, now almost stretched through the ruddy pole.
Pindus, Othrys, Pholoe fell by the right hands of the Giants,
      and Ossa too fell, now heavy by Rhoetus’s hand,
Aegaeon, Briareus, Ephialtes, and Mimas are laid low,

      Aretoas sueti lambere calce rotas.
Enceladus patri iacuit fratrique Typhoeus:
      Euboicam hic rupem sustinet, hic Siculam.'
hinc sese ad totam genetricem transtulit Orpheus
      et docuit chordas dicere Calliopam.

      Aretoas, accustomed to lick the wheels with the heel.
Enceladus lay for the father, and Typhoeus for the brother:
      this one supports the Euboean rock, this one the Sicilian.'
from here Orpheus betook himself to the All-mother
      and taught the strings to speak Calliope.

assurrexerunt Musae sub laude sororis
      et placuit divae carmine plus pietas.
quod si maternas laudes cantasse favori est
      nec valeo priscas aequiperare fides,
publicus hic pater est, vovi cui carmen, Avitus:

the Muses arose at the praise of their sister
      and piety pleased the goddess more by a song.
but if to have sung maternal praises makes for favor
      nor am I able to match the ancient strings,
here is a public father, Avitus, to whom I vowed a song:

materia est maior, si mihi Musa minor.

the material is greater, if for me the Muse is lesser.

CARMEN VII

POEM 7

PANEGYRICUS.

PANEGYRIC.

Phoebe, peragrato tandem visurus in orbe
quem possis perferre parem, da lumina caelo:
sufficit hic terris. nec se iam signifer astris
iactet, Marmaricus quem vertice conterit Atlans:
sidera sunt isti. quae sicut mersa nitescunt,

Phoebus, with the world traversed, at last about to see
one whom you can bear as an equal, give lights to the sky:
this man suffices for the lands. Nor let the sign-bearer now
boast himself among the stars, whom the Marmaric Atlas crushes with his summit:
the stars are his—which, just as when plunged, glisten,

adversis sic Roma micat, cui fixus ab ortu
ordo fuit crevisse malis. modo principe surget
consule; nempe, patres, collatos cernere fasces
vos iuvat et sociam sceptris mandasse curulem:
credite, plus dabitis: currus. iam necte bifrontes,

thus Rome shines in adversities, whose fixed order from birth
has been to grow through misfortunes. now under a prince it will rise,
under a consul; indeed, fathers, it pleases you to see the fasces shared
and to have entrusted the curule seat as partner to the scepters:
believe it, you will grant more: chariots. now yoke the two-fronted,

anceps lane, comas duplicique accingere lauro.
principis anterior, iam consulis iste coruscat
annus, et emerita trabeis diademata crescunt.
incassum iam, Musa, paves, quod propulit Auster
vela ratis nostrae; pelago quia currere famae

two-faced Janus, gird your locks with double laurel.
earlier as princeps, now as consul this year flashes,
and, with trabeae earned, the diadems increase.
in vain now, Muse, you fear that Auster has driven back
the sails of our ship; because upon the sea of fame to run

coepimus, en sidus, quod nos per caerula servet.
Forte pater superum prospexit ab aethere terras:
ecce viget quodcumque videt; mundum reparasse
aspexisse fuit; solus fovet omnia nutus.
iamque ut conveniant superi, Tegeaticus Arcas

we have begun, behold a star, to guard us through the cerulean deeps.
By chance the Father of the gods looked out from the ether upon the lands:
lo, whatever he sees flourishes; to have looked was to have restored the world;
his nod alone fosters all things.
and now, that the gods may convene, the Tegean Arcadian

nunc plantis, nunc fronte volat; vix contigit arva:
et toto descendit avo. mare, terra vel aer
indigenas misere deos. germane Tonantis,
prime venis, viridi qui Dorida findere curru
suetus in attonita spargis cito terga serenum;

now with his soles, now with his brow he flies; he scarcely touched the fields:
and down all his grandsire he descends. Sea, land, or air
sent their indigenous gods. Brother of the Thunderer,
first you come, you who are wont to cleave Doris with your green chariot,
and upon the astonied backs you swiftly scatter serene calm;

umentes Nymphas Forcus comitatur ibique
glaucus, Glauce, venis, vatum et certissime Proteu,
certus eras. longo veniunt post ordine divi:
pampineus Liber, Mars trux, Tirynthius hirtus,
nuda Venus, fecunda Ceres, pharetrata Diana,

dewy Nymphs Phorcus accompanies, and there
Glaucus, Glauce, you come, and you too, Proteus, most certain of seers,
you were certain. Afterward the gods come in long order:
vine-wreathed Liber, truculent Mars, the hirsute Tirynthian,
nude Venus, fecund Ceres, quiver-bearing Diana,

Iuno gravis, prudens Pallas, turrita Cybebe,
Saturnus profugus, vaga Cynthia, Phoebus ephebus,
Pan pavidus, Fauni rigidi, Satyri petulantes.
convenere etiam caelum virtute tenentes:
Castor equo, Pollux caestu, Perseius harpe,

Juno weighty, Pallas prudent, tower‑crowned Cybele,
Saturn the exile, wandering Cynthia, Phoebus the ephebe,
Pan fearful, the rigid Fauns, the petulant Satyrs.
There also convened those holding the sky by valor:
Castor with the horse, Pollux with the caestus, Perseus with the harpe,

fulmine Vulcanus, Tiphys rate, gente Quirinus.
quis canat hic aulam caeli, rutilantia cuius
ipsa pavimentum sunt sidera? iam pater aureo
tranquillus sese solio locat, inde priores
consedere dei (fluviis quoque contigit illo,

Vulcan with the thunderbolt, Tiphys with the ship, Quirinus with his people.
who could here sing the hall of heaven, whose very pavement the stars themselves are, rutilant?
now the Father, tranquil, seats himself on the golden throne; then the elder
gods sat down (to that station it also befell the rivers,

sed senibus, residere loco, tibi, maxime fluctu
Eridane et flavis in pocula fracte Sicambris,
Rhene tumens Scythiaeque vagis equitate catervis
Hister et ignotum plus notus, Nile, per ortum):
cum procul erecta caeli de parte trahebat

but for the elders, to sit in place, for you, Eridanus, greatest in flood,
and you, Rhine, swollen, broken into cups by the blond Sicambri,
the Hister, too, with Scythia’s wandering cavalry bands,
and you, Nile, more known for an unknown source in your rising):
when from a far-uplifted part of the sky he was drawing

pigros Roma gradus, curvato cernua collo
ora ferens; pendent crines de vertice, tecti
pulvere, non galea, clipeusque inpingitur aegris
gressibus, et pondus, non terror fertur in hasta.
utque pii genibus primum est adfusa Tonantis,

Rome bears sluggish steps, her face downcast, with neck bent; her hair hangs from her crown, covered with dust, not with a helmet, and the shield is banged along by weary steps, and weight, not terror, is carried in the spear. And as the pious one was first prostrate at the knees of the Thunderer,

'testor, sancte parens', inquit, 'te numen et illud,
quicquid Roma fui: summo satis obruta fato
invideo abiectis; pondus non sustinet ampli
culminis arta domus nec fulmen vallibus instat.
quid, rogo, bis seno mihi vulture Tuscus aruspex

'I call to witness, holy father,' she says, 'you as numen, and that other—whatever I, Rome, once was: sufficiently overwhelmed by highest fate I envy the abject; a narrow house does not sustain the weight of a lofty roof, nor does the thunderbolt press upon the valleys. What, I ask, with twice six vultures for me, the Tuscan haruspex

portendit? iaciens primae cur moenia genti
ominibus iam celsa fui, dum collis Etrusci
fundamenta iugis aperis mihi, Romule pauper?
plus gladio secura fui, cum turbine iuncto
me Rutulus, Veiens, pariterque Auruncus et Aequus,

does he portend? why, laying the walls for the prime nation,
lofty already by omens was I, while you open for me, poor Romulus,
the foundations of the Etruscan hill upon the ridges?
I was more secure by the sword, when, with whirlwind joined,
me the Rutulian, the Veientine, and likewise the Auruncan and the Aequian,

Hernicus et Volscus premerent. sat magna videbar
et tibi, dum rumpit vitiatum femina ferro
corpus et ad castum remeas, pudor erute, vulnus.
iam cum vallatam socio me clausit Etrusco
Tarquinius: pro Muci ignes!

Hernicus and the Volscus were pressing me. I seemed great enough
even to you as well, while a woman tears with iron her violated
body—and, Shame, you return to chastity—pluck out the wound.
now when Tarquinius shut me in, walled with a rampart, with an Etruscan
ally: ah, the fires of Mucius!

pro Coclitis undae!

for Cocles—the waves!

pro dolor! hic quonam est, qui sub mea iura redegit
Samnitem Gurges? Volsci qui terga cecidit,
Marcius et, Senones fundens, dictator et exul?
Fabricii vitam vellem, mortes Deciorum,
vel sic vincentem vel sic victos: mea redde

alas! where then is he who brought under my laws the Samnite—Gurges?
who smote the backs of the Volsci—Marcius; and, scattering the Senones, the dictator and the exile?
I would wish the life of the Fabricii, the deaths of the Decii,
either thus conquering or thus conquered: give me back my own

principia. heu! quo nunc pompae ditesque triumphi
et pauper consul?

headquarters. alas! where now are the pomps and opulent triumphs
and the poor consul?

Libycum mea terruit axem
cuspis et infido posui iuga tertia Poeno.
Indorum Ganges, Colchorum Phasis, Araxes
Armeniae, Ger Aethiopum Tanaisque Getarum

My spear-point terrified the Libyan axis,
and I set the third yoke upon the faithless Punic.
The Ganges of the Indians, the Phasis of the Colchians, the Araxes
of Armenia, the Ger of the Aethiopians, and the Tanais of the Getae

Thybrinum tremuere meum. me Teutone iuncto
quondam fracte subis Cimber, gladiisque gravatas
ante manus solas iussi portare catenas.
vae mihi! qualis eram, cum per mea iussa iuberent
Sulla, Asiagenes, Curius, Paulus, Pompeius

My Tiber trembled. Cimber, once broken, you submit to me with the Teuton yoked;
and hands weighed down with swords I ordered before to carry only chains.
alas for me! what sort I was, when at my mandates there would command
Sulla, Asiagenes, Curius, Paulus, Pompeius

Tigrani, Antiocho, Pyrrho, Perseo, Mithridati
pacem, regna, fugam, vectigal, vincla, venenum.
Sauromatem taceo ac Moschum solitosque cruentum
lac potare Getas ac pocula tingere venis
vel, cum diffugiunt, fugiendos tum mage Persas.

To Tigranes, Antiochus, Pyrrhus, Perseus, Mithridates—
peace, kingdoms, flight, tribute, chains, poison.
I am silent about the Sarmatian and the Moschian and the Getae,
accustomed to drink bloody milk and to dip their cups in veins,
or the Persians, who, when they scatter, are then all the more to be fled.

nec terras dixisse sat est: fulgentibus armis
tot maria intravi duee, te longeque remotas
sole sub occiduo gentes. victricia Caesar
signa Caledonios transvexit ad usque Britannos;
fuderit et quamquam Scotum et cum Saxone Pictum,

nor is it enough to have said “lands”: with gleaming arms
I have entered so many seas, with you as leader, and peoples far remote
beneath the setting sun. Caesar has carried
the victorious standards across to the Caledonian Britons;
and he has routed the Scot and, along with the Saxon, the Pict,

hostes quaesivit, quem iam natura vetabat
quaerere plus homines. vidit te frangere Leucas,
trux Auguste, Pharon, dum classicus Actia miles
stagna quatit profugisque bibax Antonius armis
incestam vacuat patrio Ptolomaida regno.

he sought enemies, whom now Nature forbade
men to seek further. He saw you shatter Leucas,
grim Augustus, and Pharos, while the naval Actian soldier
shakes the waters, and bibulous Antony, with arms in flight,
empties the incestuous Ptolemaïs of her paternal kingdom.

cumque prius stricto quererer de cardine mundi,
nec limes nunc ipsa mihi. plus, summe deorum,
sum iusto tibi visa potens, quod Parthicus ultro
restituit mea signa Sapor positoque tiara
funera Crassorum flevit, dum purgat. et hinc iam,

and whereas earlier, with the hinge of the world drawn tight, I used to complain,
nor now is there any limit for me myself. More, highest of the gods,
I have seemed to you more powerful than is just, because Parthian Sapor of his own accord
restored my standards, and, with the tiara set aside,
he wept the funerals of the Crassi while he made expiation. And from this now,

100

pro dolor! excusso populi iure atque senatus,
quod timui, incurri; sum tota in principe, tota
principis, et fio lacerum de Caesare regnum,
quae quondam regina fui; Capreasque Tiberi
et caligas Gai Claudi censura secuta est

Alas, grief! with the right of the people and of the senate shaken off,
what I feared, I have run into; I am wholly in the princeps, wholly
the princeps’s, and I become a torn kingdom out of Caesar,
I who once was a queen; and the Capreae of Tiberius
and the boots of Gaius were followed by the censorship of Claudius

105

et vir morte Nero; tristi Pisone verendum
Galbam sternis, Otho, speculo qui pulcher haberi
dum captas, ego turpis eram; mihi foeda Vitelli
intulit ingluvies ventrem, qui tempore parvo
regnans sero perit; lassam post inclitus armis

and Nero, a man in death; with gloomy Piso you lay low the Galba to be revered, Otho, you who, while you strive to be held handsome by a mirror, I was ugly; upon me the foul gluttony of Vitellius imposed a paunch, who, reigning for a short time, perished too late; after [me], weary, the illustrious in arms

110

Vespasianus habet, Titus hinc, post hunc quoque frater;
post quem tranquillus vix ine mihi reddere Nerva
coepit, adoptivo factus de Caesare maior;
Vlpius inde venit, quo formidata Sicambris
Agrippina fuit, fortis, pius, integer, acer.

Vespasian holds it, then Titus; after him also the brother;
after whom the tranquil Nerva scarcely began to restore to me,
having been made greater by an adoptive Caesar;
Ulpius then came, under whom Agrippina was dreaded by the Sicambri—
brave, pious, unimpaired, keen.

115

talem capta precor. Traianum nescio si quis
aequiperet, ni fors iterum tu, Gallia, mittas
qui vincat.' lacrimae vocem clausere precantis,
et quicquid superest, luctus rogat. undique caeli
assurgunt proceres, Mars, Cypris, Romulus et qui

such a one, I, a captive, pray for. Trajan—I do not know if anyone
would equal, unless perhaps again you, Gaul, should send
one who would surpass.' Tears shut the voice of the suppliant,
and whatever remains, grief begs. From all quarters of heaven
the nobles rise up, Mars, Cypris, Romulus, and he who

120

auctores tibi, Roma, dei; iam mitior ipsa
flectitur atque iras veteres Saturnia donat.
Iuppiter ista refert: 'Fatum quo cuncta reguntur
quoque ego, non licuit frangi. sat celsa laborant
semper, et elatas nostro de munere vires

authors to you, Rome, are the gods; now the Saturnian herself grows milder,
is bent, and grants/remits her ancient wraths.
Jupiter reports these things: “The Fate by which all things are governed,
and by which I too am [governed], has not been permitted to be broken. Enough: the lofty
ever labor, and the exalted powers, raised by our gift”

125

invidit Fortuna sibi; sed concipe magnos,
quamquam fracta, animos. si te Porsenna soluto
plus timuit de ponte fremens, si moenia capta
mox Brenni videre fugam, si denique dirum
Hannibalem iuncto terrae caelique tumultu

Fortune has envied herself; but, though broken, conceive great spirits.
if Porsenna, roaring, feared you more with the bridge undone,
if, though the walls were taken, they soon beheld Brennus’s flight,
if at last dread Hannibal, with the tumult of earth and sky conjoined

130

reppulimus (cum castra tuis iam proxima muris
starent, Collina fulmen pro turre cucurrit,
atque illic iterum timuit natura paventem
post Flegram pugnare Iovem): torpentia tolle
lumina, detersam mentem caligo relinquat.

we have driven back (when the camps already stood next to your walls,
the Colline thunderbolt ran before the tower,
and there again Nature feared that Jove, panic‑struck after Phlegra,
would fight): lift up your torpid eyes,
let the gloom leave your scoured mind.

135

te mirum est vinci; incipies cum vincere, mirum
non erit. utque tibi pateat quo surgere tandem
fessa modo possis, paucis, cognosce, docebo.
Est mihi, quae Latio se sanguine tollit alumnam,
tellus clara viris, cui non dedit optima quondam

you marvel at being conquered; when you begin to conquer, it will not be a marvel.
and so that it may be plain to you by what means, weary as you are, you may at last be able to rise, learn in few words: I will teach.
I have a land, which by blood raises herself as a foster-daughter to Latium,
a land renowned for men, to which the best once did not grant

140

rerum opifex natura parem; fecundus ab urbe
pollet ager, primo qui vix proscissus aratro
semina tarda sitit vel luxuriante iuvenco
arcana exponit piceam pinguedine glaebam.
assurrexit huic, coxit quod torridus Auster,

the maker of things, Nature, has given no equal;
a fecund field prevails, away from the city,
which, scarcely broken by a first plow
thirsts for tardy seeds, or, with a luxuriant young bullock, lays bare the secret clod, pitch-dark with richness.
there has sprung up for it what the torrid South Wind has baked,

145

Niliacum Libycumque solum, collataque semper
arida Mygdoniae damnarunt Gargara falces;
Apulus et Calaber cessit. spes unica rerum,
hanc, Arverne, colens nulli pede cedis in armis,
quosvis vincis equo. testis mihi Caesaris esto

Nilotic and Libyan soil, and Gargara, when compared, have always condemned the ever-dry sickles of Mygdonia;
the Apulian and the Calabrian have yielded. The sole hope of resources—by cultivating this, Arvernian, you yield to no one in arms;
you conquer anyone on a horse. Let Caesar be my witness.

150

hic nimium fortuna pavens, cum colle repulsus
Gergoviae castris miles vix restitit ipsis.
hos ego tam fortes volui, sed cedere Avitum
dum tibi, Roma, paro, rutilat cui maxima dudum
stemmata complexum germen, palmata cucurrit

Here Fortune, too fearful, when driven back from the hill,
at Gergovia the soldier scarcely stood firm within the very camp.
These men so brave I wished; but while I prepare that the ancestral
stock yield to you, Rome, for whom the germ encompassed by the greatest
stemmata has long glowed, has run palm-clad,

155

per proavos, gentisque suae te teste, Philagri,
patricius resplendet apex. sed portio quanta est
haec laudum, laudare patres, quos quippe curules
et praefecturas constat debere nepoti?
sint alii, per quos se postuma iactet origo,

through great-grandfathers, and of his own clan with you as witness, Philagrius,
the patrician apex shines resplendent. But how small a portion of praises is this—
to praise the fathers, to whom, indeed, curule offices
and prefectures are acknowledged to be owed by the grandson?
let there be others, through whom a posthumous origin may vaunt itself,

160

et priscum titulis numeret genus alter: Avite,
nobilitas tu solus avos. libet edere tanti
gesta viri et primam paucis percurrere vitam.
Solverat in partum generosa puerpera casti
ventris onus; manifesta dedi mox signa futuri

and let another number his ancient lineage by titles: Avitus,
you alone—nobility—are your ancestors. it pleases me to publish
the deeds of so great a man and to run through his earliest life in a few words.
The noble parturient had loosed into birth the burden
of a chaste womb; I soon gave manifest signs of the future

165

principis ac totam fausto trepidi patris aulam
implevi augurio, licet idem grandia nati
culparet fata et pueri iam regna videret.
sed sibi commissum tanto sub pignore cernens
mundi depositum, ne quid tibi, Roma, periret,

and I filled with auspicious augury the hall of my anxious father, the prince, and all of it,
although that same man faulted the grand fates of the son and already saw the child’s realms.
but, seeing that the world’s deposit had been entrusted to himself under so great a pledge,
lest anything for you, Rome, should perish,

170

iuvit fortunam studio. lactantia primum
membra dedit nivibus, glaciemque irrumpere plantis
iussit et attritas parvum ridere pruinas.
surgentes animi Musis formantur et illo
quo Cicerone tonas; didicit quoque facta tuorum

he helped fortune by zeal. first he gave his milk-fed limbs to the snows, and he ordered his soles to break through the ice, and, a small boy, to laugh at the chafing frosts. the rising powers of mind are shaped by the Muses, and by that Cicero with whom you thunder; he also learned the deeds of your own.

175

ante ducum; didicit pugnas libroque relegit
quae gereret campo. primus vix coeperat esse
ex infante puer, rabidam cum forte cruentis
rictibus atque escas ieiuna fauce parantem
plus catulis stravit (fuerant nam fragmina propter)

before the generals; he learned battles and re-read in a book
those which he would conduct on the field. He had scarcely first begun to be
a boy out of an infant, when by chance a rabid creature with bloody
jaws, and preparing meat with a hungry maw,
greater than whelps he struck down (for there were scraps nearby)

180

arrepta de caute lupam, fractusque molari
dissiluit vertex et saxum vulnere sedit.
sic meus Alcides, Nemeae dum saltibus errat,
occurrit monstro vacuus, non robora portans,
non pharetras; stetit ira fremens atque hoste propinquo

having snatched the she-wolf from the crag, and shattered by a millstone-boulder,
her crown burst asunder, and the rock sat fast in the wound.
so did my Alcides, while he wanders the glades of Nemea,
meet the monster unarmed, carrying no oaken club,
no quivers; he stood, roaring with wrath, and with the enemy close by

185

consuluit solos virtus decepta lacertos.
parva quidem, dicenda tamen: quis promptior isto
tensa catenati summittere colla Molossi,
et lustris recubare feras, interprete nare
discere non visas et in aere quaerere plantas?

his valour, though deceived, consulted his upper arms alone.
small indeed, yet to be said: who was readier than that man
to press down the taut necks of a chain-bound Molossian hound,
and to make the beasts recline in their lairs, to learn, with the nose as interpreter,
things not seen, and to seek the footprints in the air?

190

iam si forte suem latratibus improbus Vmber
terruit, albentes nigro sub gutture lunas
frangere ludus erat colluctantique lacerto
vasta per adversas venabula cogere praedas.
quam pulchrum, cum forte domum post lustra revertens

now, if by chance with his barkings the shameless Umbrian frightened a sow,
to shatter the whitening moons beneath the black throat was play,
and with a wrestling upper arm to drive the vast spoils through opposing hunting-spears.
how beautiful, when by chance returning home after the lairs

195

horrore splenderet apri virtusque repugnans
proderet invitum per fortia facta pudorem!
sic Pandioniis castae Tritonidos arvis
Hippolytus roseo sudum radiabat ab ore,
sed simili, gemino flagrans cum Cressa furore

he would shine with the bristling dread of the boar, and his valor, resisting, would betray against his will his modesty through mighty deeds!
thus in the Pandionian fields of the chaste Tritonid
Hippolytus was radiating a clear brightness from his rosy face,
but the Cretan woman, blazing with a similar, twin frenzy

200

transiit affectu matres et fraude novercas.
quid volucrum studium, dat quas natura rapaces
in vulgus prope cognatum? quis doctior isto
instituit varias per nubila iungere lites?
alite vincit aves, celerique per aethera plausu

he surpassed mothers in affection and stepmothers in fraud.
what zeal of the birds, whom nature gives rapacious
against a populace almost kindred? who more learned than this one
has trained to yoke diverse contests through the clouds?
as a winged ally he conquers birds, with swift beating through the aether

205

hoc nulli melius pugnator militat unguis.
nec minus haec inter civilia iura secutus
eligitur primus, iuvenis, solus, mala fractae
alliget ut patriae poscatque informe recidi
vectigal. procerum tum forte potentior illic,

in this, no claw fights better for a combatant.
no less, having followed these even among civil statutes,
he is chosen first, a youth, alone, so that he may bind the ills of a shattered
fatherland and may demand that the shapeless tax be cut back;
then perchance more powerful there than the nobles,

210

post etiam princeps, Constantius omnia praestat,
indole defixus tanta et miratus in annis
parvis grande bonum vel in ore precantis ephebi
verba senis. ducis hinc pugnas et foedera regum
pandere, Roma, libet, variis incussa procellis

afterwards too the princeps, Constantius, bestows everything,
fixed upon such innate character and admiring, in small years,
a great good—yes, on the mouth of a supplicating ephebe
the words of an old man. From here it pleases to unfold, Rome,
the battles of the leader and the treaties of kings, you smitten by various tempests

215

bellorum regi Getico tua Gallia pacis
pignora iussa dare est, inter quae nobilis obses
tu, Theodore, venis, quem pro pietate propinqui
expetis in media pelliti principis aula
tutus, Avite, fide; probat hoc iam Theudoris altum

to the king of wars, the Getic, your Gaul has been commanded to give pledges of peace;
among which, a noble hostage, you, Theodore, come, whom, out of a kinsman’s devotion,
you, Avitus, claim in the very hall of the fur-clad prince, safe by good faith; this already proves Theodoric’s lofty

220

exemplum officii. res mira et digna relatu,
quod fueris blandus, regi placuisse feroci.
hinc te paulatim praelibat sensibus imis
atque animis: vult esse suum; sed spernis amicum
plus quam Romanum gerere. stupet ille repulsam

an example of duty. a wondrous thing and worthy of being related,
that, being gracious, you have pleased a fierce king.
hence he little by little pre-tastes you with his inmost senses
and thoughts: he wants you to be his; but you disdain to conduct yourself
as a friend rather than as a Roman. he is astonished at the repulse

225

et plus inde places. rigidum sic, Pyrrhe, videbas
Fabricium, ingestas animo cum divite fugit
pauper opes, regem temnens, dum supplice censu
pignus amicitiae vili mendicat ab auro.
Aetium interea, Scythico quia saepe duello est

and the more you please because of it. Thus, Pyrrhus, you saw Fabricius unbending, when, poor, with a rich spirit he fled the heaped-in wealth, scorning the king, while with a suppliant purse he begs from the gold a cheap pledge of friendship. Meanwhile Aetius, because he is often in Scythian war, is

230

edoctus, sequeris; qui, quamquam celsus in armis.
nil sine te gessit, cum plurima tute sine illo.
nam post Iuthungos et Norica bella subacto
victor Vindelico Belgam, Burgundio quem trux
presserat, absolvit iunctus tibi. vincitur illic

instructed, you follow; he, although lofty in arms.
did nothing without you, while you yourself did very many things without him.
for after the Iuthungi and the Norican wars, with the Vindelician subdued,
as victor he freed the Belgian, whom the savage Burgundian
had oppressed, joined to you. He is conquered there

235

cursu Herulus, Chunus iaculis Francusque natatu,
Sauromata clipeo, Salius pede, falce Gelonus,
vulnere vel si quis plangit, cui flesse feriri est
ac ferro perarasse genas vultuque minaci
rubra cicatricum vestigia defodisse.

in running the Herulian, the Hun with javelins, and the Frank in swimming,
the Sarmatian with the shield, the Salian on foot, the Gelonian with the sickle,
or if anyone laments by a wound, for whom to have wept is to be struck,
and to have furrowed the cheeks with iron and, with a menacing countenance,
to have sunk the red traces of scars.

240

Illustri iam tum donatur celsus honore.
squameus et rutilis etiamnunc livida cristis
ora gerens vix arma domum sordentia castris
rettulerat: nova bella iterum pugnamque sub ipsis
iam patriae muris periturus commovet hostis,

Already then he, lofty, is endowed with illustrious honor.
scaly, and with ruddy crests, even now bearing a livid face,
he had scarcely brought home arms begrimed by the camp:
the enemy, about to perish, again stirs new wars and combat
now beneath the very walls of his fatherland,

245

Litorius Scythicos equites tum forte subacto
celsus Aremorico Geticum rapiebat in agmen
per terras, Arverne, tuas, qui proxima quaeque
discursu, flammis, ferro, feritate, rapinis
delebant, pacis fallentes nomen inane.

Litorius, then by chance, with Armorica subdued,
aloft was sweeping the Scythian horse against the Getic host
through your lands, Arvernian, who all that was nearest
by excursions, by flames, by iron, by ferocity, by rapines
were obliterating, belying the empty name of peace.

250

huius tum famulum quidam truculentior horum,
mox feriende, feris; ruit ille et tristia fata
commendat domino absenti partemque futuram
vindictae moriens Stygium spe portat ad amnem.
et iam fama viro turres portasque tuenti

then a certain one of these, more truculent, the servant of this man,
soon to be struck down by wild beasts; he rushes and commends his grim fates
to his absent lord, and, dying, bears in hope to the Stygian river
the future share of vengeance. And now the report to the man watching
the towers and gates

255

intuitu pavidae plebis perfert scelus actum.
excutitur, restat, pallet, rubet, alget et ardet,
ac sibimet multas vultum variata per unum
ira facit facies, vel, qui mos saepe dolenti,
plus amat extinctum; tandem prorumpit et arma,

the look of the fearful crowd conveys that the crime has been accomplished.
he is shaken, he stands fast, he grows pale, he reddens, he freezes and he burns,
and anger, varied upon a single visage, makes many faces for himself,
or—as is often the custom for one in pain—he loves the slain more;
at last he bursts forth and rushes to arms,

260

arma fremit, pinguisque etiamnum sanguine fertur
lorica, obtusus per barbara vulnera contus
atque sub assiduis dentatus caedibus ensis.
includit suras ocreis capitique micantem
imponit galeam, fulvus cui crescit in altum

he roars for arms, and the corselet, still even now rich with blood, is borne;
and the sword, blunted and battered through barbarian wounds and notched beneath incessant slaughters.
he encloses his calves with greaves and upon his head he sets the flashing
helmet, on which a tawny crest rises aloft

265

conus et iratam iaculatur vertice lucem.
et iam scandit equum vulsisque a cardine portis
emicat; adsistunt socio Virtusque Dolorque
et Pudor: armatas pilo petit impiger alas
pugnando pugnam quaerens, pavidumque per agmen

and the crest hurls an angry light from its crown.
and now he mounts the horse, and with the gates wrenched from the hinge
he darts out; stand by as comrade Virtue and Pain
and Shame: untiring he assails the armed wings with his javelin,
seeking battle by battling, and through the trembling line

270

multorum interitu compensat quod latet unus.
sic Phrygium Emathia victorem cuspide poscens
Aeacides caeso luctum frenavit amico
per mortes tot, Troia, tuas, iam vilia per se
agmina contentus ruere, strictumque per amplos

he compensates by the destruction of many that one lies hidden.
thus, demanding with his spear the Phrygian victor on Emathian ground,
the Aeacid, his friend slain, bridled his grief
through so many of your deaths, Troy, now content by himself
to hurl through the ranks as things of cheap worth, and the drawn [blade] through wide

275

exerere gladium populos; natat obruta tellus
sanguine, dumque hebetat turba grave caedua telum,
absens in cuncto sibi vulnere iam cadit Hector.
proditus ut tandem tanti qui causa tumultus,
inquit Avitus: 'Age, Scythica nutrite sub arcto

to unsheathe the sword against peoples; the earth, overwhelmed, swims with blood,
and while the hewn-down throng blunts the heavy weapon,
Hector, though absent, now falls in every wound as his own.
when at last the one who was the cause of so great a tumult is brought to light,
says Avitus: 'Come, you nurtured beneath the Scythian Bear

280

qui furis et caeso tantum qui fidis inermi,
congredere armato. multum tibi praestitit ira
iam mea: concessi pugnam iubeoque resistas;
certantem mactasse iuvat.' sic fatur et aequor
prosilit in medium, nec non ferus advenit hostis.

you who rage, and you who trust only in a felled unarmed foe,
come meet an armed man. My wrath has already afforded you much:
I have yielded the fight, and I bid you to desist;
it pleases me to have slaughtered one contending.' Thus he speaks, and onto the level
he leaps into the midst, and no less the fierce enemy arrives.

285

ut primum pectus vel comminus ora tulere,
hic ira tremit, ille metu. iam cetera turba
diversis trepidat votis variosque per ictus
pendet ab eventu. sed postquam prima, secunda
tertiaque acta rota est, venit ecce et celsa cruentum

as soon as breast or, at close quarters, face endured,
this one trembles with wrath, that one with fear. now the rest of the crowd
quivers with divergent vows and, through the varied blows,
hangs upon the outcome. but after the first, the second,
and the third lap has been driven, behold, there comes even, aloft, the bloody

290

perforat hasta virum, post et confinia dorsi
cedit transfosso ruptus bis pectore thorax.
et dum per duplicem sanguis singultat hiatum,
dividua ancipitem carpserunt vulnera vitam.
Haec post gesta viri (temet, Styx livida, testor)

the spear perforates the man, and then even the confines of the back;
the cuirass, shattered through, yields, his breast twice transfixed.
and while the blood sobs through the double yawning gap,
the divided wounds have ravaged his wavering life.
After these deeds of the man (I call you yourself to witness, livid Styx)

295

intemerata mihi praefectus iura regebat:
et caput hoc sibimet solitis defessa ruinis
Gallia suscipiens Getica pallebat ab ira.
nil prece, nil pretio, nil milite fractus agebat
Aetius; capto terrarum damna patebant

a prefect was ruling for me inviolate laws:
and Gaul, taking this head to herself, worn out by her accustomed ruins,
was paling at Getic wrath.
Aetius, broken by nothing—neither by prayer, nor by price, nor by soldiery—pressed on;
with the foe captured, the losses of the lands lay open.

300

Litorio; in Rhodanum proprios producere fines
Theudoridae fixum, nec erat pugnare necesse,
sed migrare Getis. rabidam trux asperat iram
victor; quod sensit Scythicum pro moenibus hostem,
imputat; et nil est gravius, si forsitan umquam

to Litorius; for the Theudoridae it was fixed to stretch their own borders to the Rhône,
nor was it necessary to fight, but for the Getae to migrate.
The grim victor sharpens his rabid wrath;
he charges it to them that they sensed a Scythian enemy before their walls,
and nothing is more grievous, if perhaps ever

305

vincere contingat, trepido. postquam undique nullum
praesidium ducibusque tuis nil, Roma, relictum est,
foedus, Avite, novas; saevum tua pagina regem
lecta domat; iussisse sat est te quod rogat orbis.
credent hoc umquam gentes populique futuri?

nothing is graver, if by chance it should ever befall a panic‑stricken man to win. after on every side no
protection and nothing was left to your leaders, Rome,
you renew the compact, Avitus; your page the savage king
once read, tames; it is enough that you have ordered what the world begs.
will nations and peoples to come ever believe this?

310

littera Romani cassat quod, barbare, vincis.
iura igitur rexit; namque hoc quoque par fuit, ut tum
assertor fieret legum qui nunc erit auctor,
ne dandus populis princeps, caput, induperator,
Caesar et Augustus solum fera proelia nosset.

the letter of the Roman cancels what you, barbarian, conquer.
he therefore set the laws aright; for this too was fitting, that then
he who now will be the author of laws should become their asserter,
lest the prince to be given to the peoples, the head, the emperor,
Caesar and Augustus, should know only savage battles.

315

Iam praefecturae perfunctus culmine tandem
se dederat ruri (numquam tamen otia, numquam
desidia imbellis: studiumque et cura quieto
armorum semper): subito cum rupta tumultu
barbaries totas in te transfuderat arctos,

Already, the summit of the prefecture at last discharged,
he had given himself to the countryside (never, however, leisures, never
unwarlike sloth: and the study and care of arms, even in quiet,
always): when suddenly, with tumult breaking forth,
barbarism had poured the whole Arctic regions upon you,

320

Gallia. pugnacem Rugum comitante Gelono
Gepida trux sequitur; Seyrum Burgundio cogit;
Chunus, Bellonotus, Neurus, Bastarna, Toringus,
Bructerus, ulvosa vel quem Nicer alluit unda,
prorumpit Francus; cecidit cito secta bipenni

Gaul. the warlike Rugian, with a Gelon accompanying
a grim Gepid follows; the Burgundian drives the Seyr;
the Hun, the Bellonote, the Neurian, the Bastarna, the Thuringian,
the Bructerian, or the one whom the weed-grown wave of the Nicer bathes,
the Frank bursts forth; quickly it fell, cut by the double-axe

325

Hercynia in lintres et Rhenum texuit alno;
et iam terrificis diffuderat Attila turmis
in campos se, Belga, tuos. vix liquerat Alpes
Aetius, tenue et rarum sine milite ducens
robur in auxiliis, Geticum male credulus agmen

Hercynia with alder wove into skiffs and the Rhine;
and already Attila had spread himself with terrifying troops
into your plains, Belgian. Scarcely had Aetius left the Alps,
bringing, in auxiliaries, a slight and sparse strength, without soldiery,
ill‑trusting in a Getic host

330

incassum propriis praesumens adfore castris.
nuntius at postquam ductorem perculit, Hunos
iam prope contemptum propriis in sedibus hostem
expectare Getas, versat vagus omnia secum
consilia et mentem curarum fluctibus urget,

in vain presuming that they would be present at his own camp.
but when the messenger has struck the leader, that the Huns
are awaiting the Getae in their own seats, the enemy now almost despised,
he, unsettled, turns over all counsels with himself
and presses his mind with the billows of cares,

335

tandem nutanti sedit sententia celsum
exorare virum, collectisque omnibus una
principibus coram supplex sic talibus infit:
'orbis, Avite, salus, cui non nova gloria nunc est,
quod rogat Aetius; voluisti, et non nocet hostis;

at last his wavering resolve settled to beseech the lofty
man, and, all the chiefs gathered together as one,
before them as a suppliant he thus begins with such words:
'O Avitus, salvation of the world, to whom glory now is no new thing,
what Aetius asks is this; you have willed it, and the enemy does not harm;

340

vis: prodest. inclusa tenes tot milia nutu,
et populis Geticis sola est tua gratia limes;
infensi semper nobis pacem tibi praestant.
victrices, i, prome aquilas; fac, optime, Chunos,
quorum forte prior fuga nos concusserat olim,

will it: it profits. you hold so many thousands enclosed at a nod,
and for the Getic peoples your favor alone is the boundary;
ever hostile to us, they furnish peace to you.
bring forth, go, the victorious eagles; see to it, best one, that the Huns,
whose earlier flight perhaps had once shaken us,

345

bis victos prodesse mihi.' sic fatur, et ille
pollicitus votum fecit spem. protinus inde
avolat et famulas in proelia concitat iras.
ibant pellitae post classica Romula turmae,
ad nomen currente Geta; timet aere vocari

'the twice-conquered to profit me.' Thus he speaks, and the other,
having promised, made the vow a hope. Forthwith from there
he flies off and incites his attendant wraths to battles.
The fur-clad Romulan squadrons were going after the war-trumpets,
with the Getan running at the roll-call; he fears to be summoned by the bronze

350

dirutus, opprobrium. non damnum barbarus horrens.
hos ad bella trahit iam tum spes orbis Avitus,
vel iam privatus vel adhuc. sic cinnama busto
collis Erythraei portans Phoebeius ales
concitat omne avium vulgus; famulantia currunt

shattered, an opprobrium. the barbarian does not shudder at loss.
these to wars already then draws Avitus, the hope of the world,
either already a private man or still yet. thus, carrying cinnamon from the pyre
of the Erythraean hill, the Phoebeian bird
rouses the whole throng of birds; the attendant ones run

355

agmina, et angustus pennas non explicat aer.
Iam prope fata tui bis senas vulturis alas
complebant (scis namque tuos, scis, Roma, labores):
Aetium Placidus mactavit semivir amens.
vixque tuo impositum capiti diadema, Petroni:

the formations, and the narrow air does not unfold wings.
Already the fates were nearly completing the twice-six wings of your vulture (for you know your labors, you know them, Rome):
Placidus, the half-man, the madman, immolated Aetius.
and scarcely was the diadem set upon your head, Petronius:

360

ilico barbaries, nec non sibi capta videri
Roma Getis tellusque suo cessura furori.
raptores ceu forte lupi, quis nare sagaci
monstrat odor pinguem clausis ab ovilibus auram,
irritant acuuntque famem portantque rapinae

Immediately barbarism, and likewise to the Getae Rome seemed
taken for themselves, and the land about to yield to their own fury.
like rapacious wolves, to whom with a keen nostril
the odor points out the rich air from the closed sheepfolds,
they goad and whet their hunger and bear themselves to rapine

365

in vultu speciem, patulo ieiunia rictu
fallentes; iam iamque tener spe frangitur agnus,
atque absens avido crepitat iam praeda palato.
quin et Aremoricus piratam Saxona tractus
sperabat, cui pelle salum sulcare Britannum

a semblance on the face, with gaping maw beguiling their fasts;
and now, now the tender lamb is broken in their hope,
and, though absent, the prey already crackles on the greedy palate.
nay, even the Armorican tract expected the Saxon pirate,
who with hide furrows the British swell

370

ludus et assuto glaucum mare findere lembo.
Francus Germanum primum Belgamque secundum
sternebat, Rhenumque ferox, Alamanne, bibebas
Romani ripis et utroque superbus in agro
vel civis vel victor eras. sed perdita cernens

and it was sport to cleave the glaucous sea with a sewn skiff.
the Frank was laying low the German first and the Belgian next,
and you, fierce Alamann, were drinking the Rhine,
and on the Roman banks and in either territory, proud, you were either citizen or victor.
but, seeing them lost

375

terrarum spatia princeps iam Maximus, unum
quod fuit in rebus, peditumque equitumque magistrum
te sibi, Avite, legit. collati rumor honoris
invenit agricolam, flexi dum forte ligonis
exercet dentes vel pando pronus aratro

the expanses of the lands—now princeps Maximus—chose for himself you, Avitus, the single one that there was in affairs, and the master of foot and horse.
the report of the honor conferred found the farmer, while by chance he works the teeth of a bent hoe, or, bent forward, the curved plow

380

vertit inexcoctam per pinguia iugera glaebam.
sic quondam ad patriae res fractas pauper arator,
Cincinnate, venis, veterem cum te induit uxor
ante boves trabeam dictatoremque salignae
excepere fores atque ad sua tecta ferentem

he turns the unbaked clod through the rich acres.
thus once, to the broken affairs of the fatherland, you came, poor ploughman,
Cincinnatus, when your wife put upon you the old trabea
there before the oxen; and the willow doors received the dictator
as he was bearing it to his own roof

385

quod non persevit, turpique e fasce gravata
vile triumphalis portavit purpura semen.
Vt primum ingesti pondus suscepit honoris,
legas qui veniam poscant, Alamanne, furori,
Saxonis incursus cessat, Chattumque palustri

what he did not sow, and weighed down from a shameful bundle,
the triumphal purple carried a cheap seed.
As soon as he took up the weight of the honor forced upon him,
appoint envoys to beg pardon, Alemann, for your frenzy,
the Saxon’s incursion ceases, and the Chattian in the marsh

390

alligat Albis aqua; vixque hoc ter menstrua totum
luna videt, iamque ad populos ac rura feroci
tenta Getae pertendit iter, qua pulsus ab aestu
Oceanus refluum spargit per culta Garumnam;
in flumen currente mari transcendit amarus

the water of the Elbe binds; and scarcely does the monthly moon see all this thrice,
and now he stretches his journey to the peoples and fields assailed by the fierce Getae,
where, driven back by the tide, Ocean scatters the refluxing Garonne through the cultivated lands;
the bitter sea, with the sea running, passes over into the river.

395

blanda fluenta latex, fluviique impacta per alveum
salsa peregrinum sibi navigat unda profundum.
hic iam disposito laxantes frena duello
Vesorum proceres raptim suspendit ab ira
rumor, succincto referens diplomate Avitum

the coaxing liquid pours its streams, and the salted wave, driven through the river’s channel, sails a foreign deep as its own.
Here now, relaxing the reins on the arranged war,
swift rumor holds back from wrath the chiefs of the Vesii,
reporting Avitus with a concise diploma.

400

iam Geticas intrare domos positaque parumper
mole magisterii legati iura subisse.
obstupuere duces pariter Seythicusque senatus
et timuere, suam pacem ne forte negaret.
sic rutilus Phaethonta levem cum carperet axis

now to enter the Getic homes, and, the weight of the magistery set aside for a little while,
to have come under the rights of a legate.
the leaders equally and the Scythic senate were astonished,
and they feared, lest he perhaps deny their peace.
thus, when the ruddy axle was bearing the light Phaethon

405

iam pallente die flagrantique excita mundo
pax elementorum fureret vel sicca propinquus
saeviret per stagna vapor limusque sitiret
pulvereo ponti fundo, tunc unica Phoebi
insuetum clemens extinxit flamma calorem.

now, with the day paling and the world stirred to blaze
the peace of the elements was raging, and the dry vapor nearby
was raging through the pools, and the slime was thirsting
at the dusty bottom of the sea; then the single gentle
flame of Phoebus extinguished the unaccustomed heat.

410

Hic aliquis tum forte Getes, dum falce recocta
ictibus informat saxoque cacuminat ensem,
iam promptus caluisse tubis, iam iamque frequenti
caede sepulturus terram non hoste sepulto,
claruit ut primum nomen venientis Aviti,

Here some Getic fellow then by chance, while with a retempered sickle
he shapes by strokes and with a rock points his sword,
now ready to have grown hot at the trumpets, now even now about to bury
the earth with frequent slaughter, the foe not buried,
as soon as the name of Avitus coming rang out,

415

exclamat: 'periit bellum, date rursus aratra.
otia si replico priscae bene nota quietis,
non semel iste mihi ferrum tulit. o pudor!

he exclaims: 'war has perished, give again the ploughs.
if I unroll the leisures, well known, of pristine quiet,
more than once that one has brought iron upon me. o shame!

o di!
tantum posse fidem! quid foedera lenta minaris,
in damnum mihi fide meum? compendia pacis

o gods!
that fidelity can be so powerful! why do you threaten slow treaties,
to my harm my own good faith? the profits of peace

420

et praestare iubes nos et debere: quis umquam
crederet? en Getici reges, parere volentes,
inferius regnasse putant. nec dicere saltim
desidiae obtentu possum te proelia nolle:
pacem fortis amas. iam partes sternit Avitus;

and you bid us both to render and to owe: who would ever
believe it? look, the Getic kings, willing to obey,
think they have reigned lower. nor can I even say
under the pretext of sloth that you do not want battles:
being brave, you love peace. already Avitus lays low the parties;

425

insuper et Geticas praemissus continet iras
Messianus; adhuc mandasti, et ponimus arma.
quid restat, quod posse velis? quod non sumus hostes,
parva reor; prisco tu si mihi notus in actu es,
auxiliaris ero.

moreover even the Getic wraths are restrained by Messianus, sent ahead;
thus far you have commanded, and we lay down our arms.
what remains—what would you have us be able to do?
that we are not enemies, I reckon a small thing; if you are known to me in action as of old,
I will be an auxiliary.

vel sic pugnare licebit.'

or thus it will be permitted to fight.'

430

Haec secum rigido Vesus dum corde volutat,
ventum in conspectum fuerat; rex atque magister
propter constiterant; hic vultu erectus, at ille
laetitia erubuit veniamque rubore poposcit.
post hinc germano regis, hinc rege retento

While Vesus with rigid heart revolves these things with himself,
they had come into sight; the king and the master
had halted nearby; the one with countenance uplifted, but the other
blushed with joy and with his blush asked for pardon.
after this, on this side the king’s brother, on that side with the king held back

435

Palladiam implicitis manibus subiere Tolosam.
band secus insertis ad pulvinaria palmis
Romulus et Tatius foedus iecere, parentum
cum ferro et rabidis cognato in Marte maritis
Hersilia inseruit Pallantis colle Sabinas.

They approached Palladian Toulouse with hands entwined.
just so, with palms laid upon the sacred couches,
Romulus and Tatius struck a treaty, when
their parents with steel and their husbands rabid in kindred Mars,
Hersilia inserted the Sabine women between them on Pallas’ hill.

440

Interea incautam furtivis Vandalus armis
te capit, infidoque tibi Burgundio ductu
extorquet trepidas mactandi principis iras.
heu facinus! in bella iterum quartosque labores
perfida Elisseae crudeseunt classica Byrsae.

Meanwhile the Vandal, with stealthy arms, seizes you off your guard;
and a Burgundian, with faithless guidance for you,
wrenches forth the quaking wrath of a prince bent on slaughter.
alas, what a crime! into wars again, and a fourth round of labors,
the war-trumpets of perfidious Byrsa of Elissa grow bloody anew.

445

nutristis quod, fata, malum? conscenderat arces
Euandri Massyla phalanx montesque Quirini
Marmarici pressere pedes rursusque revexit
quae captiva dedit quondam stipendia Barce.
exilium patrum, plebis mala, principe caeso

what evil have you nourished, o fates? the Massylian phalanx had ascended the citadels of Evander, and Marmarician feet pressed the hills of Quirinus; and Barca has borne back again the stipends which, as a captive, she once paid. the exile of the fathers, the woes of the plebs, with the prince slain

450

captivum imperium ad Geticas rumor tulit aures.
luce nova veterum coetus de more Getarum
contrahitur; stat prisca annis viridisque senectus
consiliis; squalent vestes ac sordida macro
lintea pinguescunt tergo, nec tangere possunt

report bore the captive empire to Getic ears.
at new light the assembly of the elders of the Getae, according to custom,
is convened; old age, ancient in years and green in counsels, takes its stand;
garments are squalid, and filthy linens grow greasy on a lean
back, nor can they touch

455

altatae suram pelles, ac poplite nudo
peronem pauper nodus suspendit equinum.
Postquam in consilium seniorum venit honora
pauperies pacisque simul rex verba poposcit,
dux ait: 'optassem patriis securus in arvis

hide-leggings raised to the calf, and, with the knee bare,
a poor knot suspended a horsehide buskin.
After honorable poverty came into the council of elders
and at the same time the king asked for words of peace,
the leader said: 'I would have wished, secure in my fatherland’s fields

460

emeritam, fateor, semper fovisse quietem,
ex quo militiae post munia trina superbum
praefecturae apicem quarto iam culmine rexi.
sed dum me nostri princeps modo Maximus orbis,
ignarum, absentem, procerum per mille repulsas

I confess, I have always cherished well‑earned quietude,
since, after the three duties of soldiery, I have steered the proud
apex of the prefecture, now at a fourth summit.
But while the ruler of our world, for the moment Maximus,
without my knowing, in my absence, through a thousand rebuffs of the nobles

465

ad lituos post iura vocat voluitque sonoris
praeconem mutare tubis, promptissimus istud
arripui officium, vos quo legatus adirem.
foedera prisca precor, quae nune meus ille teneret,
iussissem si forte, senex, cui semper Avitum

after the laws he summons to the trumpets and wished to replace
the herald with sonorous trumpets; most ready I seized that
office, by which as legate I might approach you.
I pray for the ancient treaties, which now that man of mine would uphold,
if perchance I had ordered it, old man, to whom Avitus always

470

sectari crevisse fuit. tractare solebam
res Geticas olim; scis te nescisse frequenter
quae suasi nisi facta. tamen fortuna priorem
abripuit genium; periit quodcumque merebar
cum genitore tuo. Narbonem tabe solutum

to follow Avitus had been how he grew up. I used once to handle
Gothic affairs; you know that you often did not know
what I had advised unless when accomplished. Yet Fortune snatched away my earlier
genius; whatever I was meriting perished together
with your father. Narbo, dissolved by wasting disease,

475

ambierat (tu parvus eras), trepidantia cingens
nailia in infames iam iamque coegerat escas;
iam tristis propriae credebat defore praedae,
si clausus fortasse perit, cum nostra probavit
consilia et refugo laxavit moenia bello.

he had encircled (you were little), surrounding the trembling dockyards,
and had now and now driven them into infamous fuel;
already the grim one was believing he would be without his own prey,
if, shut in, it perhaps perished, when he approved
our counsels and relaxed the walls, the war receding.

480

teque ipsum (sunt ecce senes) hoc pectore fultum
hae flentem tenuere manus, si forsitan altrix
te mihi, cum nolles, lactandum tolleret. ecce
advenio et prisci repeto modo pignus amoris.
si tibi nulla fides, nulla est reverentia patris,

and you yourself (behold, they are aged) supported on this breast
these hands held you weeping, if perchance a nurse
would lift you to me, to be suckled, when you were unwilling. behold,
I come and in the ancient fashion I reclaim the pledge of love.
if you have no fidelity, there is no reverence for a father,

485

i durus pacemque nega.' prorumpit ab omni
murmur concilio fremitusque et proelia damnans
seditiosa ciet concordem turba tumultum.
tum rex effatur: 'dudum, dux inclite, culpo
poscere te pacem nostram, cum cogere possis

“go, harsh one, and deny peace.’ From every council there bursts forth a murmur and a roar, and, condemning battles, the seditious crowd rouses a concordant tumult.
then the king speaks: ‘for long, illustrious leader, I blame that you demand our peace, when you could compel

490

servitium, trahere ac populos in bella sequaces.
ne, quaeso, invidiam patrio mihi nomine inuras:
quid mereor, si nulla iubes? suadere sub illo
quod poteras, modo velle sat est, solumque moratur,
quod cupias nescisse Getas. mihi Romula dudum

servitude, to drag compliant peoples into wars.
do not, I beg, sear upon me ill-will with my ancestral name:
what do I merit, if you command nothing? to persuade under that one
what you could; now to will is enough, and the only thing that delays
is that the Getae have not known what you desire. to me Romula long since

495

per te iura placent, parvumque ediscere iussit
ad tua verba pater, docili quo prisca Maronis
carmine molliret Scythicos mihi pagina mores;
iam pacem tum velle doces. sed percipe, quae sit
condicio obsequii: forsan rata pacta probabis.

through you the laws are pleasing, and my father ordered me, a small boy, to learn by heart according to your words,
by which a page, with the ancient song of Maro, might mollify for me Scythian manners;
already then you teach to want peace. But perceive what the condition of obedience is:
perhaps you will approve ratified pacts.

500

testor, Koma, tuum nobis venerabile nomen
et socium de Marte genus (vel quicquid ab aevo,
nil te mundus habet melius, nil ipsa senatu),
me pacem servare tibi vel velle abolere
quae noster peccavit avus, quem fuscat id unum,

I call to witness, Rome, your name venerable to us,
and the race allied from Mars (or whatever from of old,
the world holds nothing better than you, nothing she herself than the Senate),
that I keep peace for you, or wish to abolish
what our ancestor has sinned, whom that one thing darkens,

505

quod te, Roma, capit; sed di si vota secundant,
excidii veteris crimen purgare valebit
ultio praesentis, si tu, dux inclite, solum
Augusti subeas nomen. quid lumina flectis?
invitum plus esse decet. non cogimus istud,

which pleases you, Rome; but if the gods second prayers,
the vengeance of the present will avail to purge the guilt of the ancient destruction,
if you, illustrious leader, would assume only the name of Augustus.
why do you turn your eyes?
it befits to be more unwilling. we do not compel that,

510

sed contestamur: Romae sum te duce amicus,
principe te miles. regnum non praeripis ulli,
nec quisquam Latias Augustus possidet arces;
qua vacat, aula tua est. testor, non sufficit istud,
ne noceam; atque tuo hoc utinam diademate fiat,

but we attest: at Rome I am, with you as leader, a friend,
with you as princeps, a soldier. you do not snatch a kingship from anyone,
nor does any Augustus possess the Latin citadels;
where it is vacant, the palace is yours. I bear witness: that does not suffice,
that I do no harm; and would that this be brought to pass by your diadem,

515

ut prosim! suadere meum est; nam Gallia si te
compulerit, quae iure potest, tibi pareat orbis,
ne pereat,' dixit pariterque in verba petita
dat sanctam cum fratre fidem. discedis, Avite,
maestus, qui Gallos scires non posse latere

that I may be of use! To persuade is my part; for if Gaul should compel you, which by right it can, let the world obey you, lest it perish,' he said, and at the same time into the requested words he gives sacred faith together with his brother. You depart, Avitus, sorrowful, you who knew that the Gauls could not lie hidden

520

quid possint servire Getae te principe. namque
civibus ut patuit trepidis te foedera ferre,
occurrunt alacres ignaroque ante tribunal
sternunt; utque satis sibimet numerosa coisse
nobilitas visa est, quam saxa nivalia Cotti

what the Getae can accomplish in service with you as prince. For when it became clear to the anxious citizens that you were bringing treaties, they run to meet you, eager, and, you unaware, they prostrate themselves before the tribunal; and when the nobility seemed to themselves to have assembled in sufficient numbers, which the snowy rocks of Cottus

525

despectant, variis nec non quam partibus ambit
Tyrrheni Rhenique liquor, vel longa Pyrenei
quam iuga ab Hispano seclusam iure cohercent,
aggreditur nimio curarum pondere tristem
gaudens turba virum. procerum tum maximus unus,

look down upon it; and in various parts as well the waters of the Tyrrhenian and the Rhine encircle it,
or the long ridges of the Pyrenees
by right constrain her, secluded from the Spanish,
the throng, rejoicing, addresses the man sad with an excessive weight of cares
then one, the greatest of the nobles,

530

dignus qui patriae personam sumeret, infit:
'quam nos per varios dudum fortuna labores
principe sub puero laceris terat aspera rebus,
fors longum, dux magne, queri, cum quippe dolentum
maxima pars fueris, patriae dum vulnera lugens

worthy to assume the persona of the fatherland, he begins:
'how Fortune for a long time has led us through various labors,
beneath a boy-prince, how roughly she grinds our lacerated affairs,
perhaps it would be long, great leader, to complain, since indeed of the sufferers
you have been the greatest part, while mourning the fatherland’s wounds

535

sollicitudinibus vehementibus exagitaris.
has nobis inter clades ae funera mundi
mors vixisse fuit. sed dum per verba parentum
ignavas colimus leges sanctumque putamus
rem veterem per damna sequi, portavimus umbram

you are harried by vehement solicitudes.
these, for us, amid the calamities and funerals of the world,
to have lived was death. but while by the words of our parents
we cultivate ignoble laws and think it sacred
to follow the old thing through losses, we have borne a shadow.

540

imperii, generis contenti ferre vetusti
et vitia ac solitam vestiri murice gentem
more magis quam iure pati. promptissima nuper
fulsit condicio, proprias qua Gallia vires
exereret, trepidam dum Maximus occupat urbem:

of the empire, content to bear an ancient stock
and to endure the vices and the people accustomed to be robed in purple
to suffer custom more than law. Most ready lately
the condition shone forth, by which Gaul might exercise her own forces,
while Maximus seizes the trembling city:

545

orbem sät potuit, si te sibi tota magistro
regna reformasset. quis nostrum Belgica rura,
litus Aremorici, Geticas quis moverit iras,
non latet: his tantis tibi cessimus, inclite, bellis.
nunc iam summa vocant; dubio sub tempore regnum

the world could well have stood secure, if all the kingdoms had refashioned themselves with you as master;
who of us stirred the Belgic fields,
the Armorican shore, who moved the Getic wraths,
is not hidden: to such great wars we yielded to you, illustrious one.
now already the highest matters call; the realm under a doubtful time

550

non regit ignavus. postponitur ambitus omnis,
ultima cum claros quaerunt: post damna Ticini
ac Trebiae trepidans raptim res publica venit
ad Fabium. Cannas celebres Varrone fugato
Scipiadumque etiam turgentem funere Poenum

the coward does not rule. all canvassing is postponed,
when last extremities seek the renowned: after the losses at the Ticinus
and the Trebia, trembling, the commonwealth came swiftly
to Fabius. at the famous Cannae, with Varro put to flight,
and the Carthaginian swelling even with the funeral of the Scipios

555

Livius electus fregit. captivus, ut aiunt,
orbis in urbe iacet; princeps perit, hic caput omne
nunc habet imperium. petimus, conscende tribunal,
erige collapsos; non hoc modo tempora poscunt,
ut Romam plus alter amet. ne forte reare

Livius, elected, shattered him. the captive world, as they say,
lies in the city; the leader has perished, this man now holds the whole
imperium. we beg, ascend the tribunal,
raise up the collapsed; the times do not in this way demand
that another love Rome more. lest perchance you suppose

560

te regno non esse parem: cum Brennica signa
Tarpeium premerent, scis, tum res publica nostra
tota Camillus erat, patriae qui debitus ultor
texit fumantes hostili strage favillas.
non tibi centurias aurum populare paravit,

that you are not a peer to kingship: when the Brennic standards
were pressing the Tarpeian, you know, then our republic
was wholly Camillus, who, the owed avenger of his fatherland,
covered the smoking embers with hostile slaughter.
gold did not prepare the centuries to be won over for you,

565

nec modo venales numerosoque asse redemptae
concurrunt ad puncta tribus; suffragia mundi
nullus emit. pauper legeris; quod sufficit unum,
es meritis dives. patriae cur vota moraris,
quae iubet ut iubeas? haec est sententia cunctis:

nor do tribes, for sale and bought with many an as, flock to the voting points; the suffrages of the world no one buys. you will be chosen though poor; in the one thing that suffices, you are rich—in merits. why do you delay the votes of the fatherland, which bids that you should bid? this is the judgment of all:

570

si dominus fis, liber ero.' fragor atria complet
Uierni, quo forte loco pia turba senatus
detulerat vim, vota, preces. locus, hora diesque
dicitur imperio felix, ac protinus illic
nobilium excubias gaudens sollertia mandat.

‘if you become lord, I shall be free.’ the din fills the halls of Vienne,
to which place by chance the dutiful throng of the senate
had brought their influence, vows, and prayers. the place, the hour, and the day
are said to be fortunate for dominion, and straightway there
glad shrewdness assigns the watches of the nobles.

575

Tertia lux refugis Hyperiona fuderat astris;
concurrunt proceres, ac milite circumfuso
aggere composito statuunt ac torque coronant
castrensi maestum donantque insignia regni;
iam prius induerat solas de principe curas.

The third light had poured out Hyperion as the stars fled;
the nobles run together, and, with the soldiery poured around,
with the rampart arranged they set him up and crown with the camp torque
the mournful man, and they bestow the insignia of kingship;
already before he had assumed cares solely about the prince.

580

haud alio quondam vultu Tirynthius heros
pondera suscepit caeli simul atque novercae,
cum Libyca se rupe gigas subduceret et cum
tutior Herculeo sedisset machina dorso.
Hunc tibi, Roma, dedi, patulis dum Gallia campis

with no other countenance once the Tirynthian hero
took up the weights of heaven and of his stepmother at once,
when from the Libyan crag the giant withdrew himself and when
the machine sat safer on the Herculean back.
This one I have given to you, Rome, while Gaul on the broad plains

585

intonat Augustum plausu faustumque fragorem
portat in exsanguem Boreas iam fortior Austrum.
hic tibi restituet Libyen per vincula quarta,
et cuius solum amissas post saecula multa
Pannonias revocavit iter, iam credere promptum est,

it thunders “Augustus” with applause, and the North Wind, now stronger, carries the auspicious crash into the bloodless South.
this man will restore Libya to you by means of a fourth chaining,
and since the mere march of whom brought back the lost Pannonias after many ages,
it is now easy to believe,

590

quid faciat bellis. o quas tibi saepe iugabit
inflictis gentes aquilis, qui maxima regni
omina privatus fugit, cum forte vianti
excuteret praepes plebeium motus amictum!
laetior at tanto modo principe, prisca deorum,

what he will do in wars. O how many nations he will often yoke for you, with the eagles driven in, he who, as a private man, fled the greatest omens of rule, when, as he chanced to be traveling, a swift bird shook off his plebeian cloak, as it was stirred! Yet happier by so great a prince only now, O pristine rites of the gods,

595

Roma, parens, attolle genas ac turpe veternum
depone; en princeps faciet iuvenescere maior,
quam pueri fecere senem.' finem pater ore
vix dederat: plausere dei fremitusque cucurrit
concilio. felix tempus nevere sorores

Rome, parent, lift up your cheeks and lay aside the shameful torpor;
lo, a greater prince will make you grow young, than boys made you old.'
The father had scarcely given an end with his mouth: the gods applauded,
and a murmur ran through the council. The Sisters spun a happy time

600

imperiis, Auguste, tuis et consulis anno
fulva volubilibus duxerunt saecula pensis.

under your imperial commands, Augustus, and in the year of your consulship
the golden ages have been spun out with whirling spindles.

CARMEN VIII

POEM 8

AD PRISCUM VALERIANUM VIRUM PRAEFECTORIUM.

TO PRISCUS VALERIANUS, A MAN OF PREFECTORIAL RANK.

Prisce, decus semper nostrum, cui principe Avito
cognatum sociat purpura celsa genus,
ad tua cum nostrae currant examina nugae,
dico: 'state, vagae; quo properatis? amat.
destrictus semper censor qui diligit extat;

Priscus, our ever glory, to whom, with Emperor Avitus, the lofty purple associates a cognate lineage,
when our trifles run to your examinations,
I say: ‘Stand, wanderers; whither are you hastening? he loves.
a strict censor always stands forth who esteems;

dura fronte legit mollis amicitia.
nil totum prodest adiectum laudibus illud,
Vlpia quod rutilat porticus aere meo
vel quod adhuc populo simul et plaudente senatu
ad nostrum reboat concava Roma sophos.'

gentle friendship reads with a hard brow.
that thing added to praises profits nothing at all,
that the Ulpian portico glows with my bronze,
or that, with the people and the Senate applauding together even now,
hollow Rome echoes back to our “sophos.”'

respondent illae: 'properabimus, ibimus, et nos
non retines: tanto iudice culpa placet.
cognitor hoc nullus melior; bene carmina pensat
contemptu tardo, iudicio celeri.'
et quia non potui temeraria sistere verba,

they respond: 'we shall hasten, we shall go, and you do not restrain us: with so great a judge the fault pleases. no better arbiter of this; he weighs poems well, with slow contempt, with swift judgment.' and because I could not check rash words,

hoc rogo, ne dubites lecta dicare rogo.

this I ask: do not hesitate to dedicate the things read to the pyre.

CARMEN IX

POEM 9

AD FELICEM.
LARGAM SOLLIUS HANC APOLLINARIS
FELICI DOMINO PIOQUE FRATRI
DICIT SIDONIUS SUUS SALUTEM.

TO FELIX.
SOLLIUS APOLLINARIS THIS BOUNTIFUL
TO LORD FELIX AND PIOUS BROTHER
SIDONIUS, YOURS, SENDS GREETING.

Dic, dic quod peto, Magne, dic, amabo,
Felix nomine, mente, honore, forma,

Say, say what I ask, Great One, say, please,
Felix in name, in mind, in honor, in form,

natis, coniuge, fratribus, parente,
germanis genitoris atque matris
et summo patruelium Camillo,
quid nugas temerarias amici,
sparsit quas tenerae iocus iuventae,

to his children, consort, brothers, parent,
the full siblings of his father and of his mother,
and to Camillus, the foremost of the paternal cousins,
what rash trifles of a friend,
which the jest of tender youth scattered,

in formam redigi iubes libelli,
ingentem simul et repente fascem
conflari invidiae et perire chartam?
mandatis famulor, sed ante testor,
lector quas patieris hic salebras.

you bid it be shaped into the form of a booklet,
a vast bundle of ill-will at once and suddenly
to be forged, and the paper to perish?
I serve your mandates, but first I attest,
reader, what rough places you will suffer here.

Non nos currimus aggerem vetustum
nec quicquam invenies, ubi priorum
antiquas terat orbitas Thalia,
non hic antipodas salumque rubrum,
non hic Memnonios canemus Indos

We do not run the ancient causeway
nor will you find anything where Thalia
wears down the ancient wheel-tracks of our predecessors,
not here the Antipodes and the Red Sea,
not here shall we sing the Memnonian Indians

Aurorae face civica perustos;
non Artaxata, Susa, Bactra, Carrhas,
non coctam Babylona personabo,
quae largum fluvio patens alumno
inclusum bibit hinc et inde Tigrim

those scorched by Dawn’s civil torch;
not Artaxata, Susa, Bactra, Carrhas,
I will not give voice to baked Babylon,
which, lying open to its bountiful fosterling river,
drinks the enclosed Tigris on this side and on that

25.
non hic Assyriis Ninum priorem,
non Medis caput Arbacen profabor,
nec quam divite, cum refugit hostem,
arsit Sardanapallus in favilla.
non Cyrum Astyagis loquar nepotem,

25.
not here will I proclaim Ninus, first among the Assyrians,
nor Arbaces, the head of the Medes, will I profess,
nor how, rich as he was, when he fled the foe,
Sardanapalus burned into ash.
nor will I speak of Cyrus, the grandson of Astyages,

nutritum ubere quem ferunt canino,
cuius non valuit rapacitatem
vel Lydi satiare gaza Croesi;
cuius nec feritas subacta tunc est,
caesis milibus ante cum ducentis 35
in vallis Scythicae coactus artum
orbatae ad Tomyris veniret utrem.
Non hic Cecropios leges triumphos.
vel si quo Marathon rubet duello,
aut, cum milia mille concitaret,

whom they say was nursed at a canine udder,
whose rapacity not even the treasure of Lydian Croesus was able to satiate;
nor then was his ferocity subdued,
when two hundred thousands had previously been slain, 35
forced into the narrow of a Scythian valley
so that he came to the wineskin of bereaved Tomyris.
Not here the Cecropian laws, the triumphs.
or wherever Marathon reddens with battle,
or, when he roused a thousand thousands,

inflatum numerositate Xerxen,
atque hunc fluminibus satis profundis
confestim ebibitis adhuc sitisse;
nec non Thermopylas et Helles undas
spretis obicibus soli salique

Xerxes, inflated by numerosity,
and that he, with rivers sufficiently deep
immediately drunk dry, still was thirsty;
and likewise Thermopylae and Helle’s waves,
with the obstacles of soil and brine spurned

insanis equitasse cum catervis
admissoque in Athon tumente ponto
iuxta frondiferae cacumen Alpis
scalptas classibus isse per cavernas.
Non prolem Garamantici Tonantis,

to have ridden with insane squadrons
and, with the swelling sea admitted into Athos,
near the summit of the frondiferous Alp,
to have gone with fleets through sculpted caverns.
Not the offspring of the Garamantic Thunderer,

regnis principibusque principantem,
porrectas Asiae loquar paterno
actum fulmine pervolasse terras
et primum Darii tumultuantes
praefectos satrapasque perculisse,

ruling over kingdoms and princes,
shall I say he flew through the outstretched lands of Asia,
driven by his paternal thunderbolt,
and first struck down Darius’s tumultuating
prefects and satraps,

mox ipsum solio patrum superbum
cognatosque sibi deos crepantem
captis coniuge, liberis, parente
in casus hominis redire iussum;
qui cum maxima bella concitasset

soon the man himself, proud upon the throne of his fathers,
and proclaiming the gods as his kin,
with his spouse, children, and parent captured,
was bidden to return to the fortunes of a man;
who, after he had stirred up the greatest wars

tota et Persidis undique gregatae
uno constituisset arma campo,
hoc solum perhibetur assecutus,
dormire ut melius liberet hosti.
Non vectos Minyas loquente silva 65
dicam Phasiaco stetisse portu,
forma percita cum ducis Pelasgi
molliret rabidos virago tauros,
nec tum territa, cum suus colonus
post anguis domiti satos molares

and had marshaled on a single field all the arms of Persia gathered from every side,
he is reported to have achieved only this,
that it allowed the enemy to sleep the better.
I will not say that the Minyans, borne thither, stood in the Phasian harbor while the speaking wood 65
spoke, when a virago, stirred by the beauty of the Pelasgian leader,
softened the raging bulls,
nor then was she terrified, when her own husbandman,
after the molars of the tamed serpent were sown,

armatas tremebundus inter herbas
florere in segetem stuperet hostem
et pugnantibus hinc et hinc aristis
supra belliferas madere glaebas
culmosos viridi cruore fratres.

trembling among the armed grasses,
he would be astonished that the enemy bloomed into a crop,
and, with ears battling on this side and that,
that above the war-bearing clods there were drenched
stalky brothers with green gore.

Non hic terrigenam loquar cohortem
admixto mage vividam veneno,
cui praeter speciem modo carentem
angues corporibus voluminosis
alte squamea crura porrigentes

I will not here speak of the earth-born cohort
more vivid with venom admixed,
which, lacking only in mere appearance,
snakes with voluminous bodies,
stretching aloft their scaly limbs.

in vestigia fauce desinebant.
sic formae triplicis procax iuventus
tellurem pede proterens voraci
currebat capitum stupenda gressu
et, cum classica numinum sonabant,

ended at the feet in a maw.
thus the bold youth of triple form,
trampling the earth with a ravenous foot,
ran, stupendous in stride, with its heads;
and, when the war-trumpets of the divinities were sounding,

mox contra tonitrus resibilante
audebat superos ciere planta.
nec Flegrae legis ampliata rura,
missi dum volitant per astra montes
Pindus, Pelion, Ossa, Olympus, Othrys

soon, with his sole laughing back against the thunders,
he dared to summon the gods above with his foot.
nor the fields of Phlegra enlarged by law,
while the sent mountains were flying through the stars—
Pindus, Pelion, Ossa, Olympus, Othrys

cum silvis, gregibus, feris, pruinis,
saxis, fontibus, oppidis levati
vibrantum spatiosiore dextra.
Non hic Herculis excolam labores,
cui sus, cerva, leo, gigas, Amazon,

with forests, flocks, wild beasts, frosts,
upraised with rocks, springs, towns,
by the more spacious right hand of the brandishers.
I shall not here elaborate the labors of Hercules,
for whom the sow, the hind, the lion, the Giant, the Amazon,

hospes, taurus, Eryx, aves, Lycus, fur,
Nessus, Lips, iuga, poma, virgo, serpens,
Oete, Thraces equi, boves Hiberae,
luctator fluvius, canis triformis
portatusque polus polum dederunt.

host, bull, Eryx, birds, Lycus, thief,
Nessus, Lips, yokes, apples, maiden, serpent,
Oeta, Thracian horses, Iberian cattle,
the wrestler river, the three-formed dog
and the sky once borne gave the pole.

100

Non hic Elida nobilem quadrigis
nec notam nimis amnis ex amore
versu prosequar, ut per ima ponti
Alpheus fluat atque transmarina
in fluctus cadat unda coniugales.

Not here will I pursue in verse Elis, noble for chariots,
nor the river too well-known for love,
how through the depths of the sea
Alpheus flows, and beyond the sea
his wave falls into conjugal waves.

105

Non hic Tantaleam domum retexam,
qua mixtum Pelopea per parentem est
prolis facta soror novoque monstro
infamem genuit pater nepotem;
nil maestum hic canitur; nec esculentam

I will not here reweave the Tantalid house,
in which, by a Pelopid through a parent, a mingling made the offspring a sister,
and by a new monster the father begot an infamous grandson;
nothing mournful is sung here; nor the edible

110

fletus pingimus ad dapem Thyestae,
fratris crimine qui miser voratis
vivum pignoribus fuit sepulcrum,
cum post has epulas repente flexis
Titan curribus occidens ad ortum

we paint tears at the feast of Thyestes,
who, wretched, by his brother’s crime was a living sepulcher
with his pledges (children) devoured, when after these banquets suddenly,
with his chariots turned, Titan, setting, went to his rising

115

convivam fugeret, diem fugaret.
Nec Fryx pastor erit tibi legendus,
decrescens cui Dindymon reciso
fertur vertice texuisse classem,
cum iussu Veneris patrocinantis

would flee the banquet-guest, would put the day to flight.
Nor is the Phrygian shepherd to be read by you,
for whom Dindymon, diminishing with its summit cut away,
is said to have roofed over the fleet with its peak,
when, by the order of Venus the patroness,

120

terras Oebalias et hospitales
raptor depopulatus est Amyclas,
praedam trans pelagus petens sequacem.
sed nec Pergama nec decenne bellum
nec saevas Agamemnonis phalangas

the Oebalian lands and hospitable
Amyclae the ravisher laid waste,
seeking across the sea the following prey.
but neither Pergamum nor the ten-year war
nor the savage phalanxes of Agamemnon

125

nec periuria persequar Sinonis,
arx quo Palladio dicata signo
pellaci reserata proditore
portantem pedites equum recepit.
Non hic Maeoniae stilo Camenae

nor will I pursue the perjuries of Sinon,
the citadel, which was dedicated to the Palladian sign,
unlocked by a deceitful betrayer,
received the horse carrying foot-soldiers.
Not here by the stylus of the Maeonian Camena

130

civis Dulichiique Thessalique
virtutem sapientiamque narro,
quorum hic Peliaco putatur antro
venatu, fidibus, palaestra et herbis
sub Saturnigena sene institutus,

the citizen of Dulichium and the Thessalian—of whose virtue and sapience I tell—of whom this one is thought in the Pelian cave to have been instructed in the hunt, on the strings, in the palestra, and in herbs under the Saturn-born old man,

135

dum nunc lustra terens puer ferarum
passim per Pholoen iacet nivosam,
nunc praesepibus accubans amatis
dormit mollius in iuba magistri;
inde Scyriadum datus parenti

while now, traversing the lairs, a boy among wild beasts
he lies everywhere through snowy Pholoe,
now, reclining at the beloved stalls,
he sleeps more softly on his master's mane;
thence given to the parent of the Scyrians

140

falsae nomina pertulisse Pyrrhae
atque inter tetricae choros Minervae
occultos Veneri rotasse thyrsos;
postremo ad Frygiae sonum rapinae
tractus laudibus Hectoris trahendi.

to have borne the names of the false Pyrrha,
and among the choruses of stern Minerva
to have whirled hidden thyrsi for Venus;
at last, at the sound of the Phrygian rapine,
drawn by the praises of dragging Hector.

145

ast illum, cui contigit paternam
quartum post Ithacam redire lustrum,
nec Zmyrnae satis explicat volumen.
nam quis continuare possit illos
quos terra et pelago tulit labores:

but that man, to whom it befell to return to paternal Ithaca after the fourth lustrum,
nor does the Smyrnaean volume sufficiently explicate it.
for who could continue those labors
which land and sea bore:

150

raptum Palladium, repertum Achillem,
captum praepetibus Dolona plantis
et Rhesi niveas prius quadrigas,
Xanthi quam biberent fluenta, tractas,
ereptam quoque quam deus patronus,

the Palladium carried off, Achilles found,
Dolon captured with fleet feet,
and Rhesus’ snowy-white four-horse chariot,
drawn off before they could drink the streams of Xanthus,
and also her whom the patron god snatched away,

155

Filocteta, tibi dedit pharetram.
Aiacem Telamonium furentem,
quod sese ante rates agente causam
pugnacis tulit eloquens coronam,
vitatum hinc Polyphemon atque Circen

Philoctetes, to you he gave the quiver.
Ajax the Telamonian, raging,
because, before the ships, with himself pleading the case,
the eloquent one carried off the crown from the pugnacious one,
thence avoided Polyphemus and Circe

160

et Laestrygonii famem tyranni,
tum pomaria divitis, Calypso et
Sirenas pereuntibus placentes,
vitatas tenebras facemque Naupli
et Scyllae rabidum voracis inguen

and the hunger of the Laestrygonian tyrant,
then the orchards of the wealthy, Calypso and
the Sirens, pleasing to those perishing,
the shunned darkness and the torch of Nauplius,
and the rabid groin of voracious Scylla

165

vel Tauromenitana quos Charybdis
ructato scopulos cavat profunde?
Non divos specialibus faventes
agris, urbibus insulisque canto,
Saturnum Latio Iovemque Cretae

or the Tauromenitan rocks which Charybdis
hollows the crags out deep by her belching?
I do not sing of gods favoring particular
fields, cities, and islands, Saturn for Latium and Jove for Crete

170

Iunonemque Samo Rhodoque Solem,
Hennae Persephonen, Minervam Hymetto,
Vulcanum Liparae, Papho Dionen,
Argis Persea, Lampsaco Priapum,
Thebis Euhion Ilioque Vestam,

and Juno at Samos and the Sun at Rhodes,
Persephone at Henna, Minerva at Hymettus,
Vulcan at Lipara, Dione at Paphos,
Perseus at Argos, Priapus at Lampsacus,
Euhion at Thebes and Vesta at Ilium,

175

Thymbrae Delion, Arcadem Lycaeo,
Martem Thracibus ac Scythis Dianam,
quos fecere deos dicata templa,
tus, sal, far, mola vel superfluarum
consecratio caerimoniarum.

at Thymbra the Delian, the Arcadian on Lycaeus,
Mars for the Thracians and for the Scythians Diana,
whom dedicated temples made gods,
incense, salt, spelt, mola, or the consecration
of superfluous ceremonies.

180

Non eum Triptolemo verendam Eleusin,
qui primas populis dedere aristas
pastis Chaonium per ilicetum,
non Apin Mareoticum sonabo
ad Memphitica sistra concitari.

I will not sound forth the venerable Eleusis of Triptolemus,
who gave to the peoples the first ears,
with Chaonian [oxen] pastured through the holm‑oak grove,
nor will I sing the Mareotic Apis
stirred at the Memphitic sistrums.

185

non dicam Lacedaemonos iuventam
unctas Tyndaridis dicasse luctas,
doctos quos patriis palen Therapnis
gymnas Bebrycii tremit theatri;
non sortes Lyciasque Caeritumque,

not will I speak of the Lacedaemonian youth
as having dedicated oiled wrestlings to the Tyndarid,
the skilled men whom the native palaestra of Therapne
the gymnasia of the Bebrycian theatre tremble at;
nor the lots, both Lycian and Caerite,

190

responsa aut Themidis priora Delphis,
nec quae fulmine Tuscus expiato
saeptum numina quaerit ad bidental;
nec quos Euganeum bibens Timavum
colle Antenoreo videbat augur

nor the earlier responses of Themis at Delphi,
nor what, the thunderbolt expiated, the Tuscan
seeks—the numina—at the fenced bidental;
nor those whom, drinking the Euganean Timavus,
from the Antenorean hill the augur used to see

195

divos Thessalicam movere pugnam;
nec quos Amphiaraus et Melampus
* *
ex ipsis rapuit deos favillis
per templum male fluctuante flamma
gaudens lumine perdito Metellus.

that the gods stirred the Thessalian battle;
nor those which Amphiaraus and Melampus
* *
Metellus, rejoicing with his light lost, snatched the gods from the very embers,
while the flame was heaving ill through the temple.

200

non hic Cinyfius canetur Hammon
mitratum caput elevans harenis,
vix se post hecatombion litatum
suetus promere Syrtium barathro.
non hic Dindyma nec crepante buxo

not here will the Cinyphian Ammon be sung,
lifting his mitred head from the sands,
hardly, after a hecatomb has appeased him,
accustomed to bring himself forth from the abyss of the Syrtis.
not here the Dindymian rites nor the rattling boxwood

205

Curetas Berecynthiam sonantes,
non Bacchum trieterica exerentem
describam et tremulas furore festo
ire in Bassaridas vel infulatos
aram ad turicremam rotare mystas.

I will not describe the Curetes sounding Berecyntian strains,
nor Bacchus performing the trieteric rites,
nor the trembling Bassarids going in festival frenzy,
or the filleted mystae whirling toward the incense-burning altar.

210

Non hic Hesiodea pinguis Ascrae
spectes carmina Pindarique chordas;
non hic socciferi iocos Menandri,
non laesi Archilochi feros iambos,
vel plus Stesichori graves Camenas,

Not here will you behold the Hesiodic songs of rich Ascra,
and the chords of Pindar;
not here the jests of soccus-wearing Menander,
nor the fierce iambics of offended Archilochus,
nor yet the weightier Camenae of Stesichorus,

215

aut quod composuit puella Lesbis,
non quod Mantua contumax Homero
adiecit Latiaribus loquelis,
aequari sibimet subinde livens
busto Parthenopam Maroniano;

or what the Lesbian maiden composed,
not what Mantua, contumacious toward Homer,
added to Latian speeches,
begrudging continually that Parthenope be made equal to herself
on account of the Maronian tomb;

220

non quod post satiras epistularum
sermonumque sales novumque epodon,
libros carminis ac poeticam artem
Phoebi laudibus et vagae Dianae
conscriptis voluit sonare Flaccus;

not because, after the Satires, the Epistles’
witticisms and the new book of Epodes,
the books of song and the poetic art
with praises of Phoebus and of wandering Diana
composed, Flaccus wished to sound forth;

225

non quod Papinius tuus meusque
inter Labdacios sonat furores
aut cum forte pedum minore rhythmo
pingit gemmea prata silvularum.
Non quod Corduba praepotens alumnis

not because your Papinius and mine
resounds among the Labdacid frenzies
or when by chance with a rhythm of fewer feet
he paints the gemmy meadows of the little groves.
Not because Corduba, very powerful in its alumni

230

facundum ciet hic putes legendum,
quorum unus colit hispidum Platona
incassumque suum monet Neronem,
orchestram quatit alter Euripidis,
pictum faecibus Aeschylon secutus

here you would think he summons the eloquent to be read,
of whom one cultivates shaggy Plato
and in vain warns his own Nero,
another shakes the orchestra of Euripides,
having followed Aeschylus painted with dregs

235

aut plaustris solitum sonare Thespin,
qui post pulpita trita sub cothurno
ducebant olidae marem capellae;
pugnam tertius ille Gallicani
dixit Caesaris, ut gener socerque

or Thespis, accustomed to resound from wagons,
who, after the trodden stage-boards, under the cothurnus,
used to lead the he-goat, the male of the rank-smelling she-goat;
a third told the battle of the Gallican Caesar,
how the son-in-law and the father-in-law

240

cognata impulerint in arma Romam,
tantum dans lacrimas suis Philippis,
ut credat Cremerae levem ruinam,
infra et censeat Alliam dolendam
ac Brenni in trutina Iovem redemptum,

that kindred have impelled Rome into arms,
granting so many tears to his own Philippi,
that he would deem the ruin of the Cremera light,
and would reckon the Allia to be mourned as inferior,
and Jupiter redeemed in Brennus’s balance,

245

postponat Trebiam gravesque Cannas,
stragem nec Trasimenicam loquatur,
fratres Scipiadas putet silendos,
quos Tartesiacus retentat orbis,
Eufraten taceat male appetitum,

let him postpone the Trebia and the grievous Cannae,
nor let him speak of the Trasimenean slaughter,
let him think the Scipiad brothers should be hushed,
whom the Tartessian world holds back,
let him be silent about the ill-attempted Euphrates,

250

Crassorum et madidas cruore Carrhas
vel quos, Spartace, consulum solebas
victrici gladios fugare sica,
ipsum nec fleat ille plus duellum,
quod post Cimbrica turbidus trophaea

and the Carrhae of the Crassi, soaked with gore;
or those, Spartacus, in which you were wont
to put the consuls’ swords to flight with a victorious dagger,
nor let him weep the duel itself more,
which, after the Cimbrian trophies, turbulent

255

et vinctum Nasamonium Iugurtham,
dum quaerit Mithridaticum triumphum,
Arpinas voluit movere Sullae.
Non Gaetulicus hic tibi legetur,
non Marsus, Pedo, Silius, Tibullus,

and Jugurtha the Nasamonian bound,
while he seeks the Mithridatic triumph,
the Arpinate wished to remove it from Sulla.
No Gaetulicus will be read to you here,
nor Marsus, Pedo, Silius, Tibullus,

260

non quod Sulpiciae iocus Thaliae
scripsit blandiloquum suo Caleno,
non Persi rigor aut lepos Properti,
sed nec centimeter Terentianus.
non Lucilius hic Lucretiusque est,

not that which the jest of Sulpicia’s Thalia
wrote, blandiloquent, to her own Calenus,
not the rigor of Persius nor the charm of Propertius,
but not even the Terentian trimeter.
here there is not Lucilius nor Lucretius,

265

non Turnus, Memor, Ennius, Catullus,
Stella et Septimius Petroniusque
aut mordax sine fine Martialis,
non qui tempore Caesaris secundi
aeterno incoluit Tomos reatu,

not Turnus, Memor, Ennius, Catullus,
Stella and Septimius and Petronius
or Martial, mordacious without end,
not he who in the time of the second Caesar
inhabited Tomi under an eternal charge,

270

nec qui consimili deinde casu
ad vulgi tenuem strepentis auram
irati fuit histrionis exul,
non Pelusiaco satus Canopo,
qui ferruginei toros mariti

nor he who then by a similar chance
toward the slight breeze of the clamoring vulgar crowd
became an exile through an angry actor;
not the one sprung from Pelusiac Canopus,
who told of the marriage-beds of a dusky husband

275

et Musa canit inferos superna,
nec qui iam patribus fuere nostris
primo tempore maximi sodales,
quorum unus Bonifatium secutus
nec non praecipitem Sebastianum

and the Muse sings of the infernal with supernal strains,
nor yet those who had already been for our fathers
the greatest companions in the first time,
one of whom, having followed Boniface,
and likewise headlong Sebastian

280

natales puer horruit Cadurcos
plus Pandionias amans Athenas:
cuius si varium legas poema,
tunc Phoebum vel Hyantias puellas
potata madidas ab Hippocrene,

the boy shuddered at Cadurcan birthplaces
loving Pandionian Athens more:
if you read his varied poem,
then you would think Phoebus or the Hyantian maidens,
soaked after drinking from Hippocrene,

285

tunc Amphiona filiumque Maiae,
tunc vatem Rhodopeium sonare
collato modulamine arbitreris.
Non tu hic nunc legeris tuumque fulmen,
o dignissime Quintianus alter,

then Amphion and the son of Maia,
then the Rhodopeian bard to sound
with a collated modulation you would judge.
You would not think that you yourself are being read here now, and your thunderbolt,
O most worthy, a second Quintianus,

290

spernens qui Ligurum solum et penates
mutato lare Gallias amasti,
inter classica, signa, pila, turmas
laudans Aetium vacansque libro,
in castris hederate laureatis.

you who, spurning the soil and Penates of the Ligurians,
with your home changed, you loved Gaul,
amid trumpets, standards, javelins, squadrons,
praising Aetius and at leisure for a book,
in camps ivy-wreathed and laurel-crowned.

295

sed nec tertius ille nunc legetur,
Baetin qui patrium semel relinquens
undosae petiit sitim Ravennae,
plosores cui fulgidam Quirites
et carus popularitate princeps

but nor will that third now be read,
who, once leaving his native Baetis,
sought the thirst of wave-washed Ravenna,
for whom the Quirites as applauders
and the prince dear for popularity shone resplendent

300

Traiano statuam foro locarunt.
Sed ne tu mihi comparare temptes,
quos multo minor ipse plus adoro,
Paulinum Ampeliumque Symmachumque,
Messalam ingenii satis profundi

They placed a statue for Trajan in the forum.
But do not you try to compare for me,
those whom I, far the lesser myself, the more I adore,
Paulinus and Ampelius and Symmachus,
Messala, of genius sufficiently profound

305

et nulli modo Martium secundum,
dicendi arte nova parem vetustis
Petrum et cum loquitur nimis stupendum,
vel quem municipalibus poetis
praeponit bene Vilicum senatus,

and in no way second to Martial,
equal to the ancients by a new art of speaking,
Peter too, and, when he speaks, exceedingly astounding,
or him—Vilicus—whom the senate rightly sets before
the municipal poets,

310

nostrum aut quos retinet solum disertos,
dulcem Anthedion et mihi magistri
musas sat venerabiles Hoeni,
acrem Lampridium, catum Leonem
praestantemque tuba Severianum

our own, or the eloquent whom our soil retains,
the sweet Anthedion, and to me the quite venerable Muses of my teacher Hoenus,
the keen Lampridius, the shrewd Leo,
and Severianus outstanding with the trumpet

315

et sic scribere non minus valentem,
Marcus Quintilianus ut solebat.
Nos valde sterilis modos Camenae
rarae credimus hos brevique chartae,
quae scombros merito piperque portet.

and one no less potent to write thus,
as Marcus Quintilianus used to.
We, very sterile in the modes of a scant Muse,
commit these to a brief sheet,
which deservedly may carry mackerels and pepper.

320

nam quisnam deus hoc dabit reiectae,
ut vel suscipiens bonos odores,
nardum ac pinguia Nicerotianis
quae fragrant alabastra tincta sucis,
Indo cinnamon ex rogo petitum,

for what god will grant this to the cast-off,
that even, while taking in good odors,
nard and the unctuous Nicerotian alabaster-flasks
which, tinctured with juices, are fragrant,
Indian cinnamon fetched from the pyre,

325

quo Phoenix iuvenescit occidendo,
costum, malobathrum, rosas, amomum,
myrrham, tus, opobalsamumque servet?
quapropter facinus meum tuere
et condiscipuli tibi obsequentis

by which the Phoenix grows young by dying,
costus, malobathrum, roses, amomum,
myrrh, frankincense, and opobalsamum may he preserve?
wherefore guard my deed
and the fellow-student obedient to you

330

incautum precor asseras pudorem.
germanum tamen ante sed memento,
doctrinae columen, Probum advocare,
isti qui valet exarationi
destrictum bonus applicare theta.

I pray you assert my incautious modesty.
yet remember first, however,
to summon Probus, the column of learning,
who is able, for this exaration,
to apply the unsheathed theta well.

335

novi sed bene, non refello culpam,
nec doctis placet impudens poeta;
sed nec turgida contumeliosi
lectoris nimium verebor ora,
si tamquam gravior severiorque

but I know well, I do not refute the blame,
nor does an impudent poet please the learned;
but neither shall I overmuch fear the turgid mouths
of a contumelious reader,
if as though more weighty and more severe

340

nostrae Terpsichores iocum refutans
rugato Cato tertius labello
narem rhinoceroticam minetur.
non te terreat hic nimis peritus;
verum si cupias probare, tanta

refuting the joke of our Terpsichore,
the third Cato, with a wrinkled little lip,
may threaten a rhinocerotic nose.
let not this too-expert fellow terrify you;
but if you wish to approve, so great

345

nullus scit, mihi crede, quanta nescit.

no one knows, believe me, how much he does not know.

CARMEN X

POEM 10

PRAEFATIO EPITHALAMII RURICIO ET IBERIAE DICTI.

PREFACE OF THE EPITHALAMIUM COMPOSED FOR RURICIUS AND IBERIA.

Flucticolae cum festa nurus Pagasaea per antra
rupe sub Emathia Pelion explicuit,
angustabat humum superum satis ampla supellex;
certabant gazis hinc polus, hinc pelagus;
ducebatque choros viridi prope tectus amictu

When the sea-dwelling Pagasaean bride, festal, through the caverns
beneath the Emathian crag, unfolded Pelion,
the rather ample furnishings were narrowing the upper ground;
on this side the pole, on that the sea, were contending with treasures;
and, near at hand, almost covered by a green mantle, he led the dances

caeruleae pallae concolor ipse socer;
nympha quoque in thalamos veniens de gurgite nuda
vestiti coepit membra timere viri.
tum divum quicumque aderat terrore remoto
quo quis pollebat lusit in officio.

the father-in-law himself, of like color to the sea-blue mantle;
the nymph too, coming naked from the whirlpool into the bridal-chamber,
began to fear the limbs of the clothed man.
then, with terror removed, whichever of the gods was present
played in his office with that wherein each excelled.

Iuppiter emisit tepidum sine pondere fulmen
et dixit: 'melius nunc Cytherea calet.'
Pollux tum caestu laudatus, Castor habenis,
Pallas tum cristis, Delia tum pharetris;
Alcides clava, Mavors tum lusit in hasta,

Jupiter emitted a tepid, weightless thunderbolt
and said: 'Cytherea is warmer now.'
Pollux then, lauded for the caestus, Castor for the reins,
Pallas then for her crests, Delia then for her quivers;
Alcides for the club, Mavors then played with the spear,

Arcas tum virga, nebride tum Bromius.
hic et Pipliadas induxerat optimus Orpheus
chordis, voce, manu, carminibus, calamis.
ambitiosus Hymen totas ibi contulit artes;
qui non ingenio, fors placuit genio.

The Arcadian then with his wand, Bromius then with the fawn-skin.
Here too the excellent Orpheus had brought in the Pimplaïads (the Muses)
with strings, with voice, with hand, with songs, with reeds.
Ambitious Hymen there marshaled all his arts;
who, not by ingenuity—by chance he pleased his Genius.

fescennina tamen non sunt admissa, priusquam
intonuit solita noster Apollo lyra.

yet the Fescennine jests were not admitted, before
our Apollo resounded with his accustomed lyre.

CARMEN XI

POEM 11

EPITHALAMIUM.

Inter Cyaneas, Ephyraea cacumina, cautes
qua super Idalium levat Orithyion in aethram
exesi sale montis apex. ubi forte vagantem,
dum fugit, et fixit trepidus Symplegada Tifys,
atque recurrentem ructatum ad rauca Maleam

Between the Cyanean cliffs, the Ephyraean summits, the crags,
where above Idalium the Orithyion lifts into the ether
the mountain’s apex gnawed by salt. There, by chance, one wandering,
while he flees, and, trembling, Tiphys fixed upon the Symplegade,
and, running back belched toward hoarse Malea

exit in Isthmiacum pelagus claudentibus alis
saxorum de rupe sinus, quo saepe recessu
sic tamquam toto coeat de lumine caeli,
artatur collecta dies tremulasque per undas
insequitur secreta vadi, transmittitur alto

there opens into the Isthmian sea, with the wings of rocks closing,
from the cliff a bay, where often, by a recess,
thus as though the whole light of the sky coalesced,
the day, collected, is constrained, and along the tremulous waves
it pursues the secret places of the shoal, and is transmitted to the deep

perfusus splendore latex miroque relatu
lympha bibit solem tenuique inserta fluento
perforat arenti radio lux sicca liquorem.
Profecit studio spatium; nam Lemnius illic
ceu templum lusit Veneri fulmenque relinquens

the liquid, suffused with splendor, and with a marvelous rebound,
the water drinks the sun, and light, inserted into the thin-flowing stream,
dry, with a parched ray perforates the liquid.
The span has advanced by zeal; for there the Lemnian,
as though playing at a temple for Venus, relinquishing the thunderbolt

hic ferrugineus fumavit saepe Pyragmon.
hic lapis est, de quinque locis dans quinque colores,
Aethiopus, Frygius, Parius, Poenus, Lacedaemon,
purpureus, viridis, maculosus, eburnus et albus.
postes chrysolithi fulvus diffulgurat ardor;

here the ferruginous Pyragmon has often smoked.
here is a stone, from five places giving five colors,
Ethiopian, Phrygian, Parian, Punic, Lacedaemonian,
purple, green, speckled, eburnean, and white.
a tawny ardor of chrysolite makes the doorposts flash forth;

myrrhina, sardonyches, amethystus Hiberus, iaspis
Indus, Chalcidicus, Scythicus, beryllus, achates
attollunt duplices argenti cardine valvas,
per quas inclusi lucem vomit umbra smaragdi;
limina crassus onyx crustat propterque hyacinthi

myrrhines, sardonyxes, Iberian amethyst, jasper
Indian, Chalcidian, Scythian, beryl, agate
lift up the double doors on a silver hinge,
through which the enclosed shadow of the emerald vomits light;
the thresholds thick onyx encrusts, and beside them hyacinths

caerula concordem faciunt in stagna colorem.
exterior non compta silex, sed prominet alte
asper ab assiduo lympharum verbere pumex.
interiore loco simulavit Mulciber auro
extantes late scopulos atque arte magistra

the deep-blue hues make a concordant color in the pools.
outside the flint is not groomed, but it juts high,
a pumice, rough from the incessant lash of the waters.
in the inner place Mulciber fashioned in gold
crags standing out far and wide, and, with art as mistress

ingenti cultu naturae inculta fefellit,
huic operi insistens, quod necdum noverat illa
quae post Lemniacis damnavit furta catenis.
squameus huc Triton duplicis confinia dorsi
qua coeunt supra sinuamina tortilis alvi

with vast cultivation he beguiled nature’s uncultivated;
persisting in this work, which she had not yet known,
she who afterward condemned the thefts with Lemnian chains.
here the scaly Triton, the confines of a double back,
where above the sinuosities of the twisted belly come together

inter aquas calido portabat corde Dionen.
sed premit adiecto radiantis pondere conchae
semiferi Galatea latus, quod pollice fixo
vellit, et occulto spondet conubia tactu.
tum gaudens torquente ioco subridet amator

among the waters he was carrying Dione with a warm heart.
but Galatea presses the side of the half-beast, with the added weight of a radiant shell,
which, with her thumb fixed, she plucks,
and by a hidden touch pledges connubial bonds.
then, rejoicing at the twisting jest, the lover smiles

vulnere iamque suam parcenti pistre flagellat.
pone subit turmis flagrantibus agmen Amorum;
hic cohibet delphina rosis, viridique iuvenco
hic vectus spretis pendet per cornua frenis;
hi stantes motu titubant plantaque madenti

and now he lashes his own reluctant sea-monster with a wound.
behind there comes up, in blazing squadrons, the column of Cupids;
here one restrains a dolphin with roses, and here
borne on a green young bull he hangs by the horns, the reins spurned;
these, standing, totter with the motion and with a dripping sole

labuntur firmantque pedum vestigia pennis,
illa recurvato demiserat ora lacerto
mollia; marcebant violae graviorque sopore
coeperat attritu florum descendere cervix.
solus de numero fratrum qui pulchrior ille est

they glide and steady the footprints of their feet with wings,
she had let down her soft face upon her bent upper arm;
the violets were drooping, and, heavier with sleep,
her neck had begun to descend from the chafing of the flowers.
he alone, that one who is the fairer of the band of brothers,

deerat Amor, dum festa parat celeberrima Gallis,
quae socer Ommatius, magnorum maior avorum
patriciaeque nepos gentis, natae generoque
excolit auspiciis faustis. sed fulsit ut ille
forte dies, matrem celeri petit ipse volatu,

love was absent, while he prepares the most celebrated festivals for the Gauls,
which Ommatius the father-in-law, elder sprung from great grandsires
and descendant of a patrician clan, for his daughter and son-in-law
embellishes with auspicious auspices. but as that day by chance shone,
he himself seeks his mother with swift flight,

cuius fax, arcus, gorytus pendebat. at ille
cernuus et laevae pendens in margine palmae
libratos per inane pedes adverberat alis,
oscula sic matris carpens somnoque refusae
semisopora levi scalpebat lumina penna.

whose torch, bow, and quiver were hanging. but he,
headlong and hanging on the edge of her left palm,
lashes his poised feet through the void with his wings,
thus snatching his mother’s kisses, and with her relaxed by sleep,
he was tickling the half-asleep eyes with a light feather.

tum prior his alacer coepit: 'nova gaudia porto
felicis praedae, genetrix. calet ille superbus
Ruricius nostris facibus dulcique veneno
tactus votivum suspirat corde dolorem.
esset si praesens aetas, impenderet illi

then, first, eager, he began: 'I bring new joys of a fortunate prey, mother. That proud Ruricius burns at our torches and, touched by the sweet poison, he sighs in his heart a votive pain. If the present season were at hand, it would impend over him

Lemnias imperium, Cressa stamen labyrinthi,
Alceste vitam, Circe herbas, poma Calypso,
Scylla comas, Atalanta pedes, Medea furores,
Hippodame ceras, cygno Iove nata coronam;
huic Dido in ferrum, simul in suspendia Phyllis,

Lemnian dominion, the Cretan woman’s thread of the labyrinth,
Alcestis her life, Circe her herbs, Calypso apples,
Scylla her tresses, Atalanta her feet, Medea her furors,
Hippodame wax, she born of Jove in the form of a swan a crown;
for this man Dido onto the sword, and Phyllis at the same time into the noose,

Euadne in flammas et Sestias isset in undas.'
His haec illa refert: 'Gaudemus, nate, rebellem
quod vincis laudasque virum; sed forma puellae est,
quam si spectasset quondam Stheneboeius heros,
non pro contemptu domuisset monstra Chimaerae;

Evadne into the flames and the Sestian maiden into the waves would have gone.'
To these she replies thus: 'We rejoice, son, that you conquer and praise the rebel man; but it is a maiden’s beauty,
which, if once the Stheneboean hero had beheld,
not for contempt would he have tamed the monsters of the Chimaera;

Thermodontiaca vel qui genetrice superbus
sprevit Gnosiacae temeraria vota novercae,
hac visa occiderat, fateor, sed crimine vero;
et si iudicio forsan mihi quarta fuisset,
me quoque Rhoetea damnasset pastor in Ida;

the Thermodontian, or he who, proud of his mother,
spurned the rash vows of the Cnossian stepmother,
at the sight of this girl would have perished, I confess, but on a true charge;
and if perhaps a fourth had been mine for judgment,
the shepherd on Rhoetean Ida would have condemned me too;

'vincere' vel 'si optas, istam da, malo, puellam'
dixerat: hanc dederam formam pro munere formae:
tantus honor geniusque genis; collata rubori
pallida blatta latet depressaque lumine vultus
nigrescunt vincto bacarum fulgura collo.

'“to win,” or “if you desire, give me that girl instead, I prefer,”'
he had said: I had given this form as a gift in return for form;
so great an honor and genius to the cheeks; bestowed upon the blush
the pale kermes-dye lies hidden, and the face, its light pressed down,
grows dark, and the lightnings of berries bound on the neck turn black.

te quoque multimodis ambisset, Hiberia, ludis
axe Pelops, cursu Hippomenes luctaque Achelous,
Aeneas bellis, spectatus Gorgone Perseus;
nec minor haec species, totiens cui Iuppiter esset
Delia, taurus, olor, satyrus, draco, fulmen et aurum.

you too, Iberia, he would have wooed in many modes, with games:
Pelops with the axle, Hippomenes with the race, and Achelous with wrestling,
Aeneas with wars, Perseus renowned by the Gorgon;
nor would this beauty be lesser, for whom Jupiter would so often be
Delia, a bull, a swan, a satyr, a dragon, a thunderbolt, and gold.

quare age, iungantur; nam census, forma genusque
conveniunt: nil hic dispar tua fixit arundo.
sed quid vota moror?' dixit currumque poposcit,
cui dederant crystalla iugum, quae frigore primo;
orbis adhuc teneri glacies ubi Caucason auget,

therefore come, let them be joined; for census, form, and lineage
agree: your shaft has fixed here nothing mismatched.
'but why do I delay vows?' he said, and he called for the chariot,
to which crystals had given the yoke, which at the first frost;
where the ice of the still-tender orb augments Caucasus,

strinxit Hyperboreis Tanaitica crusta pruinis
naturam sumens gemmae, quia perdidit undae.
perforat hanc fulvo formatus temo metallo;
miserat hoc fluvius, cuius sub gurgite Nymphae
Mygdonium fovere Midam, qui pauper in auro

the Tanaitic crust tightened it with Hyperborean hoarfrosts,
taking on the nature of a gem, because it had lost that of a wave.
a pole, formed of fulvous metal, pierces this;
a river had sent this, beneath whose whirlpool the Nymphs
warmed Mygdonian Midas, who was poor in gold

100

ditavit versis Pactoli flumina votis.
splendet perspicuo radios rota margine cingens
Marmaricae de fauce ferae, dum belua curvis
dentibus excussis gemit exarmarier ora;
misit et hoc munus tepidas qui nudus Erythras,

he enriched the streams of the Pactolus with his wishes turned back.
the wheel shines, encircling its spokes with a transparent rim,
from the maw of a Marmaric beast, while the brute, its curved
teeth shaken out, groans that its mouth is being disarmed;
and this gift too was sent by him who, naked, haunts the tepid Erythraean waters,

105

concolor Aethiopi vel crinem pinguis amomo,
fluxus odoratis vexat venatibus Indus,
illa tamen pasci suetos per Cypron olores
vittata stringit myrto, quis cetera tensis
lactea puniceo sinuantur colla corallo.

of like hue to an Ethiopian, or hair rich with amomum,
the loose-haired Indian harasses with fragrant huntings;
she, however, wreathed with myrtle, draws in the swans accustomed to feed through Cyprus,
for whom, with cords drawn taut, the other milky necks are curved with crimson coral.

110

Ergo iter aggressi: pendens rota sulcat inanem
aera et in liquido non solvitur orbita tractu.
hic triplex uno comitatur Gratia nexu,
hic redolet patulo Fortunae Copia cornu,
hic spargit calathis, sed flores Flora perennes,

Therefore, having undertaken the journey: the hanging wheel furrows the empty air, and in the liquid sweep the orbit is not dissolved.
here the triple Grace accompanies in a single bond,
here Plenty is redolent with Fortune’s wide-open horn,
here Flora scatters from baskets—but flowers everlasting,

115

hic Cererem Siculam Farius comitatur Osiris,
hic gravidos Pomona sinus pro tempore portat,
hic Pallas madidis venit inter prela trapetis,
hic distincta latus maculosa nebride Thyias
Indica Echionio Bromii rotat orgia thyrso,

here Pharian Osiris accompanies Sicilian Ceres,
here Pomona carries her laden laps according to the season,
here Pallas comes among the presses with dripping olive-mills,
here a Thyiad, her side distinguished with a dappled fawnskin,
whirls the Indian orgies of Bromius with an Echionian thyrsus,

120

hic et Sigeis specubus qui Dindyma ludit
iam sectus recalet Corybas, cui gutture ravo
ignem per bifores regemunt cava buxa cavernas.
Sic ventum ad thalamos: tus, nardum, balsama, myrrhae
hic sunt, hic Phoenix busti dat cinnama vivi,

here too, in the Sigean caverns, the Corybas who plays at Dindyma,
now gashed, grows hot again; for whom, with a hoarse throat,
the hollow boxwood drives the fire through twin-doored caverns.
thus they came to the bridal chambers: incense, nard, balsams, myrrhs
are here; here the Phoenix of a living pyre gives cinnamon,

125

proxima quin etiam festorum afflata calore
iam minus alget hiemps, speciemque tenentia vernam
hoc dant vota loco, quod non dant tempora mundo.
tum Paphie dextram iuvenis dextramque puellae
complectens paucis cecinit sollemnia dictis,

and indeed even the days nearest to the festivals, afflated by the heat,
now winter chills less, and things holding a vernal aspect
vows grant to this place what the seasons grant not to the world.
then the Paphian, clasping the right hand of the youth and the right hand of the girl,
sang the solemn rites with a few words,

130

ne facerent vel verba moram: 'feliciter aevum
ducite concordes; sint nati sintque nepotes;
cernat et in proavo sibimet quod pronepos optet.'

so that not even words might cause delay: 'happily lead your lifetime in concord; let there be sons and let there be grandsons; and let the great-grandson see in the great-grandfather, for himself, what he himself would wish.'

CARMEN XII

POEM 12

AD V. C. CATVLLINVM.

TO THE MOST DISTINGUISHED MAN CATULLINUS.

Quid me, etsi valeam, parare carmen
Fescenninicolae iubes Diones
inter crinigeras situm catervas
et Germanica verba sustinentem,
laudantem tetrico subinde vultu

Why do you, even if I am able, bid me to prepare a poem,
O Diones, a cultivator of Fescennine verse,
situated among shaggy-haired cohorts,
and putting up with Germanic words,
praising, now and then, with a grim visage

quod Burgundio cantat esculentus,
infundens acido comam butyro?
vis dicam tibi, quid poema frangat?
ex hoc barbaricis abacta plectris
spernit senipedem stilum Thalia,

what the gluttonous Burgundian sings,
drenching his hair with sour butter?
do you wish me to tell you what breaks the poem?
from this, Thalia, driven away from barbaric plectra,
spurns the six-footed style,

ex quo septipedes videt patronos.
felices oculos tuos et aures
felicemque libet vocare nasum
cui non allia sordidaeque caepae
ructant mane novo decem apparatus,

from which the seven-footers see patrons.
it pleases me to call your eyes and ears happy
and happy as well the nose
to which not garlicks and filthy onions
belch up, at new morning, ten courses,

quem non ut vetulum patris parentem
nutricisque virum die nec orto
tot tantique petunt simul gigantes,
quot vix Alcinoi culina ferret.
Sed iam Musa tacet tenetque habenas

whom not, as though the aged parent of his father,
and the nurse’s husband, with the day not yet risen,
so many and so great giants assail at once,
as many as the kitchen of Alcinous could scarcely bear.
but now the Muse is silent and holds the reins

paucis hendecasyllabis iocata,
ne quisquam satiram vel hos vocaret.

having jested in a few hendecasyllables,
lest anyone call it satire or these lines.

CARMEN XIII

POEM 13

AD IMPERATOREM MAIORIANVM.

TO EMPEROR MAJORIAN.

Amphitryoniaden perhibet veneranda vetustas,
      dum relevat terras, promeruisse polos.
sed licet in nuda torvus confregerit ulna
      ille Cleonaeae guttura rauca ferae,
et quamquam ardenti gladio vix straverit hydram,

The Amphitryoniad, venerable antiquity avers,
      while he relieves the lands, to have merited the poles.
but although, grim, with bare forearm he shattered
      the hoarse throat of the Cleonaean beast,
and although with a burning sword he scarcely laid low the hydra,

      cum duplices pareret vulnere mors animas,
captivumque ferens silva ex Erymanthide monstrum
      exarmata feri riserit ora suis,
collaque flammigenae disrumpens fumida furis
      tandem directas iusserit ire boves,

      when Death by a wound would beget twin lives,
and, bearing captive the monster from the Erymanthian forest,
      the disarmed jaws of the savage boar may have laughed at him;
and, bursting the smoky necks of the fire-begotten thief,
      at last he ordered the straight-driven oxen to go,

taurus, cerva, Gigas, hospes, luctator, Amazon,
      Thraex, canis, Hesperides sint monimenta viri,
nulla tamen fuso prior est Geryone pugna,
      uni tergeminum cui tulit ille caput.
haec quondam Alcides; at tu Tirynthius alter,

the bull, the hind, the Giant, the host, the wrestler, the Amazon,
      let the Thracian, the hound, the Hesperides be the monuments of the man,
yet, before the distaff, no fight is earlier than the fight with Geryon,
      to one man he bore that threefold head.
these once did Alcides; but you, another Tirynthian,

      sed princeps, magni maxima cura dei,
quem draco, cervus, aper paribus sensere sagittis,
      cum dens, cum virus, cum fuga nil valuit,
Geryonen nos esse puta monstrumque tributum;
      hinc capita, ut vivam, tu mihi tolle tria.

      but prince, the greatest care of the great god,
whom the dragon, stag, and boar felt with equal arrows,
      when tooth, when venom, when flight availed nothing,
think us to be Geryon and the monster assigned;
      from here, take away for me three heads, that I may live.

Has supplex famulus preces dicavit
responsum opperiens pium ac salubre.
ut reddas patriam simulque vitam
Lugdunum exonerans suis ruinis,
hoc te Sidonius tuus precatur:

These prayers a suppliant servant has dedicated,
awaiting a response pious and salutary.
that you may restore his fatherland and his life together,
exonerating Lyon of its own ruins,
this your Sidonius beseeches you:

sic te Sidonio recocta fuco
multos purpura vestiat per annos;
sic lustro imperii perennis acto
quinquennalia fascibus dicentur;
sic ripae duplicis tumore fracto

so may purple, re-cooked in Sidonian dye,
clothe you for many years;
so, a lustrum of your perennial empire completed,
the quinquennalia will be proclaimed for the fasces;
so, the swelling of the double bank being broken

detonsus Vachalim bibat Sigamber.
quod si contuleris tuo poetae,
mandem perpetuis legenda fastis
quaecumque egregiis geris triumphis.
nam nunc Musa loquax tacet tributo,

let the shorn Sicambrian drink the Vahalis.
but if you should confer upon your poet,
I would commit to the perpetual Fasti, to be read,
whatever you accomplish in illustrious triumphs.
for now the loquacious Muse is silent under the tribute,

quae pro Virgilio Terentioque
sextantes legit unciasque fisci,
Marsyaeque timet manum ac rudentem,
qui Phoebi ex odio vetustiore
nunc suspendia vatibus minatur.

which, on behalf of Virgil and Terence,
assesses the sixths and the ounces of the fisc,
and fears the hand and the rope of Marsyas,
who, from an older hatred of Phoebus,
now threatens hangings for poets.

CARMEN XIV

POEM 14

SIDONIUS POLEMIO SUO SALUTEM.

SIDONIUS TO HIS POLEMIUS, GREETINGS.

1. Dum post profectionem tuam, mi Polemi, frater amantissime, mecum granditer
reputo, quatinus in votis tuis philosophi fescennina cantarem, obrepsit materia, qua
decursa facile dinosci valet magis me doctrinae quam causae tuae habuisse rationem.
omissa itaque epithalamii teneritudine per asperrimas philosophiae et salebrosissimas
regiones stilum traxi; quarum talis ordo est, ut sine plurimis novis verbis, quae praefata
pace reliquorum eloquentum specialiter tibi et Complatonicis tuis nota sunt, nugae
ipsae non valuerint expediri. 2. videris, utrum aures quorundam per imperitiam temere
mentionem centri, proportionis, diastematum, climatum vel myrarum epithalamio con
ducibilem non putent.

1. While, after your departure, my Polemius, most loving brother, I ponder deeply with myself how I might, at your wish, sing the philosopher’s Fescennine verses, a subject slipped upon me; once it had been traversed, it can easily be discerned that I had had regard more to doctrine than to your cause. therefore, the tenderness of the epithalamium being laid aside, I dragged my stylus through the roughest and most rugged regions of philosophy; whose order is such that, without very many new words—which, with the aforesaid peace of the remaining eloquent men, are especially known to you and your co‑Platonics—the trifles themselves could not have been set forth. 2. You will see whether the ears of certain people, through inexperience, rashly reckon the mention of the center, of proportion, of diastemata, of climates, or of myrae as not con
ducible to an epithalamium.

illud certe consulari viro vere Magno, quaestorio viro Domnulo,
spectabili viro Leone ducibus audacter affirmo, musicam et astrologiam, quae sunt
infra arithmeticam consequentia membra philosophiae, nullatenus posse sine hisce
nominibus indicari; quae si quispiam ut Graeca, sicut sunt, et peregrina verba con
tempserit, noverit sibi aut super huiuscemodi artis mentione supersedendum aut nihil
omnino se aut certe non ad assem Latiari lingua hinc posse disserere. 3. quod si aliquis
secus atque assero rem se habere censuerit, do quidem absens obtrectatoribus manus;
sed noverint sententiam meam discrepantia sentientis sine Marco Varrone, sine Sereno,
non Septimio, sed Sammonico, sine Censorino, qui de die natali volumen illustre con
fecit, non posse damnari. 4. lecturus es hic etiam novum verbum, id est essentiam;
sed scias hoc ipsum dixisse Ciceronem; nam essentiam nec non et indoloriam
nominavit, addens: 'licet enim novis rebus nova nomina imponere'; et recte dixit.

this I boldly affirm to you leaders—the consular man truly Magnus, the quaestorian man Domnulus,
the spectabilis man Leo—that music and astrology, which are consequent members of philosophy
subordinate to arithmetic, can in no wise be indicated without these names; which, if anyone, as Greek,
as indeed they are, and foreign words, has despised, let him know that either he must forbear altogether
from mention of an art of this kind, or that he can say nothing at all, or at any rate not down to the as,
in the Latin tongue on this subject. 3. But if anyone should judge that the matter stands otherwise than I assert,
I, though absent, indeed yield the hand to detractors; but let them know that my opinion, though differing from his,
cannot be condemned without Marcus Varro, without Serenus—not Septimius, but Sammonicus—without Censorinus,
who composed an illustrious volume On the Birthday. 4. You will read here also a new word, that is, essentia;
but know that Cicero himself used this very term; for he named essentia and also indoloria, adding: “for it is permitted
to impose new names on new things”; and he spoke rightly.

nam
sicut ab eo quod est verbi gratia sapere et intellegere sapientiam et intellegentiam
nominamus, regulariter et ab eo quod est esse essentiam non tacemus.
igitur, quoniam tui amoris studio inductus homo Gallus scholae sophisticae intromisi
materiam, vel te potissimum facti mei deprecatorem requiro. illi Venus vel Amorum
commenticia pigmenta tribuantur, cui defuerit sic posse laudari.

for
just as from that which is, for example, to be wise (sapere) and to understand (intellegere), we name sapience and intelligence,
so also, by rule, from that which is to be (esse) we do not keep silence about essence.
therefore, since, induced by the zeal of your love, as a Gallic man I have introduced material of the sophistic school,
I ask you above all to be the advocate of my deed. let Venus or the commentitious pigments of the Loves be granted to him to whom the ability to be praised thus is lacking.

vale.

farewell.

PRAEFATIO EPITHALAMII POLEMIO ET ARANEOLAE DICTI.

PREFACE OF THE EPITHALAMIUM SPOKEN FOR POLEMIUS AND ARANEOLA.

Prosper conubio dies coruscat,
quem Clotho niveis benigna pensis,
albus quem picei lapillus Indi,
quem pacis simul arbor et iuventae
aeternumque virens oliva signet.

Propitious for the connubial union, the day flashes,
which kindly Clotho with snowy spinnings,
which the white pebble of the pitch-dark Indian,
which the tree of peace and of youth together,
and the ever-green olive may mark.

eia, Calliope, nitente palma
da sacri laticis loquacitatem,
quem fodit pede Pegasus volanti
cognato madidus iubam veneno.
non hic impietas, nec hanc puellam

Come, Calliope, with a shining palm,
grant the loquacity of the sacred liquid,
which Pegasus with his flying foot dug,
his mane drenched with a kindred venom.
not here impiety, nor this girl

donat mortibus ambitus procorum;
non hic Oenomai cruenta circo
audit pacta Pelops nec insequentem
pallens Hippomenes ad ima metae
tardat Schoenida ter cadente pomo;

nor does the rivalry of suitors give the girl over to deaths;
not here does Pelops hear in the circus the bloody pacts of Oenomaus
nor does pallid Hippomenes
at the base of the turning-post
delay the Schoenid pursuing, with an apple falling thrice;

non hic Herculeas videt palaestras
Aetola Calydon stupens ab arce,
cum cornu fluvii superbientis
Alcides premeret, subinde fessum
undoso refovens ab hoste pectus;

not here does Aetolian Calydon, amazed, from its citadel behold the Herculean palaestras,
when Alcides pressed the horn of the vaunting river,
ever and anon refreshing his weary breast from the billowy foe;

sed doctus iuvenis decensque virgo,
ortu culmina Galliae tenentes
iunguntur: cito, diva, necte chordas,
nec quod detonuit Camena maior,
nostram pauperiem silere cogas.

but a learned youth and a comely maiden,
by birth holding the pinnacles of Gaul,
are joined: quickly, goddess, weave the cords,
and do not, because the greater Muse has thundered,
compel our poverty to be silent.

ad taedas Thetidis probante Phoebo
et Chiron cecinit minore plectro,
nec risit pia turba rusticantem,
quamvis saepe senex biformis illic
carmen rumperet hinniente cantu.

for the wedding torches of Thetis, with Phoebus approving,
and Chiron sang with a lesser plectrum,
nor did the pious throng laugh at him rusticating,
although often the two-formed old man there
broke the song with a whinnying chant.

CARMEN XV

POEM 15

EPITHALAMIUM.

Forte procellosi remeans ex arce Caferei,
Phoebados Iliacae raptum satis ulta pudorem,
Pallas Erechtheo Xanthum mutabat Hymetto.
aurato micat aere caput, maiusque serenum
de terrore capit; posito nam fulmine necdum

By chance, returning from the stormy citadel of Caphereus,
Pallas, having sufficiently avenged the ravished modesty of the Trojan priestess of Phoebus,
was exchanging the Xanthus for the Erechthean Hymettus.
her head flashes with gilded bronze, and she takes on a serenity greater than terror,
for, the thunderbolt having been set aside, not yet

Cinyphio Tritone truces hilaraverat artus.
Gorgo tenet pectus medium, factura videnti
et truncata moras; nitet insidiosa superbum
effigies vivitque anima pereunte venustas;
alta cerastarum spiris caput asperat atrum

With the Cinyphian Triton she had gladdened her fierce limbs.
The Gorgon occupies the middle of her breast, about to make delays for the beholder even when truncated;
the treacherous image shines upon the proud breast
and loveliness lives as the soul perishes;
she bristles her dark head with the high coils of horned serpents.

congeries, torquet maculosa volumina mordax
crinis, et irati dant sibila taetra capilli.
squameus ad mediam thorax non pervenit alvum
post chalybem pendente peplo; tegit extima limbi
circite palla pedes, qui cum sub veste moventur,

a mass; the biting hair twists maculate coils,
and the irate hairs give grim hisses.
the scaly thorax does not reach to the mid-belly
with a peplos hanging behind the steel; the palla covers the feet
with the outermost edge of the hem in circuit, which, when they move under the garment,

crispato rigidae crepitant in syrmate rugae.
laevam parma tegit Flegraei plena tumultus:
hic rotat excussum vibrans in sidera Pindum
Enceladus, rabido fit missilis Ossa Typhoeo;
Porfyrion Pangaea rapit, Rhodopenque Adamastor

the stiff wrinkles crackle in the crimped train.
her left a parma covers, full of the tumult of Phlegra:
here Enceladus, brandishing, whirls Pindus, shaken loose, into the stars,
for raging Typhoeus Ossa becomes a missile;
Porphyrion snatches up Pangaea, and Adamastor Rhodope

Strymonio cum fonte levat, veniensque superne
intorto calidum restinguit flumine fulmen;
hic Pallas Pallanta petit, cui Gorgone visa
invenit solidum iam lancea tarda cadaver;
hic Lemnon pro fratre Mimas contra aegida torquet

Strymon with its spring he heaves up, and coming from above
with a twisted river he quenches the hot thunderbolt;
here Pallas targets Pallas; to whom, with the Gorgon seen,
the tardy spear finds the body now solid as stone;
here Mimas, for his brother, hurls Lemnos against the aegis

impulsumque quatit iaculabilis insula caelum:
plurimus hic Briareus populoso corpore pugnat,
cognatam portans aciem, cui vertice ab uno
cernas ramosis palmas fruticare lacertis.
nec species solas monstris, dedit arte furorem

and a jaculable island shakes the stricken heaven:
here Briareus, multitudinous, fights with a populous body,
bearing a kindred battle-line, in whom from a single crown
you might discern the palms to fruticate with ramose upper-arms.
nor shapes alone to the monsters; he gave fury by art

Mulciber, atque ipsas timuit quas finxerat iras.
hastam dextra tenet, nuper quam valle Aracynthi
ipsa sibi posita Pallas protraxit oliva.
hoc steterat genio, super ut vestigia divae
labentes teneat Marathonia baca trapetas.

Mulciber, and he feared the very rages which he had fashioned.
He holds a spear in his right hand, which recently in the valley of Aracynthus
Pallas herself drew forth for herself from the olive she had planted.
By this ingenuity it had stood, so that, above the goddess’s footprints,
the Marathonian berry may hold the gliding millstones.

Hic duo templa micant; quorum supereminet unus
ut meritis, sic sede locus, qui continet alta
scrutantes ratione viros, quid machina caeli,
quid tellus, quid fossa maris, quid turbidus aer,
quid noctis lucisque vice s, quid menstrua lunae

Here two temples glitter; of which one overtops—
as in merits, so in its seat the place—, which contains men
searching the heights by reason, what the machinery of heaven is,
what earth is, what the trench of the sea, what the turbulent air,
what the alternation of night and light is, what the monthly courses of the moon

incrementa parent, totidem cur damna sequantur.
ilicet hic summi resident septem sapientes,
innumerabilium primordia philosophorum:
Thales Mileto genitus vadimonia damnat;
Lindie tu Cleobule iubes, modus optimus ut sit;

they set forth increases, and why just as many losses follow.
here forthwith the seven supreme Sages reside,
the first-beginnings of innumerable philosophers:
Thales, born at Miletus, condemns bail-bonds;
you, Cleobulus of Lindus, order that measure be best;

tu meditans totura decoras, Periandre, Corinthon;
Atticus inde Solon 'ne quid nimis' approbat unum:
Prienaee Bia, plures ais esse malignos;
tu Mytilene satus cognoscere, Pittace, tempus,
noscere sese ipsum, Chilon Spartane, docebas;

you, contemplating, you grace all Corinth, Periander;
thence the Attic Solon approves one thing: 'nothing in excess':
Prienian Bias, you say that more are malign;
you, born at Mytilene, Pittacus, to know the time,
to know oneself, Spartan Chilon, you used to teach;

asserit hic Samius post docta silentia lustri
Pythagoras, solidum princeps quod musica mundum
temperet et certis concentum reddat ab astris,
signaque, zodiacus quae circulus axe supremo
terna quater retinet, proprio non currere motu,

here asserts the Samian, after the learned silences of a lustrum,
Pythagoras, as the first, that music tempers the solid world
and renders a concent from the fixed stars,
and that the signs, which the zodiacal circle on the highest axis
holds four times three, do not run by their own motion,

aequis inter se spatiis tamen esse locata
fixaque signifero pariter quoque cernua ferri,
praecipuumque etiam septem vaga sidera cantum
hinc dare, perfectus numerus quod uterque habeatur,
hoc numero affirmans, hoc ordine cuncta rotari;

yet to be placed at equal intervals among themselves,
and fixed, and likewise to be borne headlong by the sign-bearer;
and that the seven wandering stars give from here a preeminent song,
because each is held to be a perfect number,
affirming that by this number, in this order, all things are rotated.

falciferi Cronon ire senis per summa polorum,
Martis contiguum medio Iove pergere sidus,
post hos iam quarto se flectere tramite Solem,
sic placidam Paphien servare diastema quintum,
Arcadium sexto, Lunam sic orbe supremo

that the sickle-bearing Cronus, the old man, goes through the summits of the poles,
that the star contiguous to Mars proceeds, with Jove in the middle,
that after these now the Sun bends itself along the fourth track,
thus the placid Paphian keeps the fifth interval,
the Arcadian the sixth, thus the Moon in the supreme orb

ter denas tropico prope currere climate myras.
si quos ergo chelys, si quos lyra, tibia si quos
ediderint cum voce modos, exemplar ad istud
ponderibus positis, quantum proportio suadet,
intervalla sequi septeni sideris edit;

to run nearly thrice ten myriads in the tropical clime.
if therefore the chelys, if the lyre, if the pipe
shall have produced modes with voice, according to this exemplar,
with the weights set in place, so far as proportion persuades,
to follow the intervals which the sevenfold star brings forth;

harmoniam dicens etiam, quod quattuor istis
sic sedeant elementa modis, ut pondere magnis
sit locus inferior; media tellure quod autem
perfecte medium est, imum patet esse rotundi;
hinc fieri, ut terram levior superemicet unda,

speaking also of harmony, that by these four
the elements sit in such modes, that by great weights
the place is lower; and that, with earth in the middle,
what is perfectly the middle is evident to be the bottom of the round;
hence it comes to pass that, lighter than earth, the wave overtops from above,

altior his quoque sit qui purior eminet aer,
omnia concludat caelum levitate suprema,
pendeat et totum simul hoc ab origine centri.
Thales hic etiam numeris perquirit et astris.
defectum ut Phoebi nec non Lunaeque laborem

higher than these too is the air which, being purer, stands out,
and heaven, by utmost lightness, encloses all things,
and this whole thing alike hangs from the origin of the center.
Here Thales too investigates by numbers and by the stars,
how the eclipse of Phoebus and likewise the Moon’s eclipse

nuntiet anterius; sed rebus inutile ponit
principium, dum credit aquis subsistere mundum.
huius discipuli versa est sententia dicens
principiis propriis semper res quasque creari,
singula qui quosdam fontes decernit habere

may announce beforehand; but he sets for things a principle useless, since he believes the world to subsist upon waters.
the opinion of his disciples is reversed, saying
that each thing is always created from its own proper principles,
who determine that individual things have certain founts

aeternum irriguos ac rerum semine plenos.
hunc etiam sequitur, qui gignere cuncta putabat
hunc aerem, pariterque deos sic autumat ortos.
quartus Anaxagoras Thaletica dogmata servat,
sed divinum animum sentit, qui fecerit orbem.

eternal, irrigating and full of the seed of things.
him also follows the one who thought that this air begets all things,
and likewise he opines that thus the gods arose.
the fourth, Anaxagoras, preserves Thaletic dogmata,
but senses a divine mind, which made the orb.

iunior huic iunctus residet collega, sed idem
materiam cunctis creaturis aera credens
iudicat inde deum, faceret quo cuncta, tulisse.
post hos Arcesilas divina mente paratam
conicit hanc molem, confectam partibus illis,

a junior colleague joined to him sits; but he likewise,
believing air to be the matter for all creatures,
judges that from it God took that with which he made all things.
after these, Arcesilaus conjectures this mass, prepared by a divine mind,
fashioned from those parts,

quas atomos vocat ipse leves. Socratica post hunc
secta micat, quae de naturae pondere migrans
ad mores hominum limandos transtulit usum.
hanc sectam perhibent summum excoluisse Platona,
sed triplici formasse modo, dum primus et unus

which he himself calls light atoms. After him the Socratic sect gleams,
which, migrating from nature’s weight,
transferred its practice to the refining of the morals of men.
they aver that Plato cultivated this sect supremely,
but fashioned it in a threefold mode, while being first and single

100

physica vel logico, logicum vel iungit ad ethos.
invenit hic princeps quid prima essentia distet
a summo sextoque bono, cum denique saxa
sint tantum penitusque nihil nisi esse probentur;
proxima succedant, quibus esse et vivere promptum est,

he joins physics to logic, or joins logic to ethos.
this princeps discovered how the first essence differs
from the highest and the sixth good, since, finally, rocks
are only, and deep within are proved to be nothing except to be;
let the next rank succeed, for whom being and living are ready,

105

addere quis possis nil amplius, arbor et herba;
tertia sit pecorum, quorum esse et vivere motu
non caret et sensu; mortales quarta deinde
respiciat factura suos, quibus esse, moveri,
vivere cum sensu datur, et supereminet illud,

to which you could add nothing more: tree and herb;
let a third be of the herds, whose being and living do not lack motion
and sense; a fourth then let look to its own mortals,
to whom it is granted to be, to be moved,
to live with sense, and that which over-tops it,

110

quod sapiunt veroque valent discernere falsum;
quinta creaturas superas substantia prodat,
quas quidam dixere deos, quia corpora sumant
contemplanda homini, paulo post ipsa relinquant
inque suam redeant, si qua est tenuissima, formam;

which are wise and can by the true discern the false;
let a fifth substance bring forth the supernal creatures,
which some have called gods, because they assume bodies
to be contemplated by man, and shortly after they themselves leave them
and return into their own, if there is any most tenuous, form;

115

sic fieri, ut pateat substantia summa creator,
sexta tamen supraque nihil sed cuncta sub ipso;
hoc in gymnasio Polemi Sapientia vitam
excolit adiunctamque suo fovet ipsa Platoni;
obviet et quamquam totis Academia sectis

thus it comes to be, that the highest substance, the creator, be laid open,
sixth, however, and above it nothing, but all things beneath himself;
in this gymnasium of Polemo Wisdom cultivates life
and herself fosters the life conjoined to her own Plato;
and the Academy, although with all its sects, opposes

120

atque neget verum, veris hunc laudibus ornat.
Stoica post istos, sed concordantibus ipsis,
Chrysippus Zenonque docent praecepta tenere.
exclusi prope iam Cynici, sed limine restant;
ast Epicureos eliminat undique virtus.

and although it denies the true, it adorns him with true praises.
After these, the Stoic school, but they themselves being in agreement,
Chrysippus and Zeno teach one to hold fast to the precepts.
The Cynics are now almost excluded, but they remain at the threshold;
but Virtue on all sides eliminates the Epicureans.

125

At parte ex alia textrino prima Minervae
palla Iovis rutilat, cuius bis coctus aeno
serica Sidonius fucabat stamina murex.
ebria nec solum spirat conchylia sandix;
insertum nam fulgur habet, filoque rigenti

But on another side, in Minerva’s foremost weaving‑room,
the robe of Jove glows ruddy, whose seric threads
the Sidonian murex, twice‑boiled in a bronze cauldron, dyed.
Nor does only the shell‑dye sandyx breathe, inebriate;
for it has lightning inlaid, and with a stiff thread

130

ardebat gravidum de fragmine fulminis ostrum.
hic viridis proprio Glaucus pendebat amictu;
undabant hic arte sinus, fictoque tumore
mersabat pandas tempestas texta carinas.
Amphitryoniadi surgebat tertia vestis:

the purple blazed, pregnant with a fragment of lightning.
here green Glaucus hung in his own mantle;
here the billows swelled by art, and with a feigned swelling
the woven tempest submerged the arched hulls.
for the Amphitryoniad a third garment was rising:

135

parvulus hic gemino cinctus serpente novercae
inscius arridet monstris ludumque putando
insidias, dum nescit, amat vultuque dolentis
extingui deflet, quos ipse interficit, angues.
praeterea sparsis sunt haec subiecta figuris:

here the little boy, girded with his stepmother’s twin serpents,
unknowing he smiles at the monsters and, thinking it a game,
he loves the insidious snares while he does not know, and with the face of one in pain
he weeps that the snakes—whom he himself kills—are being extinguished.
besides, these things are set beneath in scattered figures:

140

sus, leo, cerva, gigans, taurus, iuga, Cerberus, hydra,
hospes, Nessus, Eryx, volucres, Thrax, Cacus, Amazon,
grex, fluvius, Libs, poma, Lycus, virgo, polus, Oete.
hoc opus, et si quid superest quod numina vestit,
virgineae posuere manus. sed in agmine toto

boar, lion, hind, giant, bull, yokes, Cerberus, hydra,
guest, Nessus, Eryx, birds, Thracian, Cacus, Amazon,
herd, river, Libs, apples, Lycus, maiden, pole, Oete.
this is the work, and if anything remains that clothes the divinities,
maidenly hands have set it in place. but in the whole marching line

145

inter Cecropias Ephyreiadasque puellas
Araneola micat; proprias conferre laborat
ipsa Minerva manus calathisque evicta recedens
cum tenet haec telas, vult haec plus tela tenere.
hic igitur proavi trabeas imitata rigentes

among Cecropian and Ephyreian maidens
Araneola gleams; she strives to compare
her own hands with Minerva herself, and, beaten at the work-baskets, withdrawing,
when this one holds the webs, that one wants to hold more webs.
here therefore, having imitated her great-grandfather’s stiff trabeae

150

palmatam parat ipsa patri, qua consul et idem
Agricolam contingat avum doceatque nepotes
non abavi solum, sed avi quoque iungere fasces.
texuerat tamen et chlamydes, quibus ille magister
per Tartesiacas conspectus splenduit urbes

she herself prepares for her father a palm-embroidered robe, by which, as consul and likewise, he may reach Agricola as grandsire and may teach the grandsons to yoke fasces not only with a great-great-grandfather, but with a grandfather as well.
nevertheless she had also woven chlamydes, in which that magister, seen through the Tartessian cities, shone splendidly

155

et quibus ingestae sub tempore praefecturae
conspicuus sanctas reddit se praesule leges.
attamen in trabea segmento luserat alto
quod priscis illustre toris. Ithacesia primum
fabula Dulichiique lares formantur et ipsam

and, with the prefecture laid upon him for a time,
conspicuous, he as presider restores the sacred laws.
yet on the trabea he had toyed with a lofty segment
one illustrious on ancient couches. First the Ithacan
tale and the Dulichian Lares are fashioned, and herself

160

Penelopam tardas texit distexere telas.
Taenaron hic frustra bis rapta coniuge pulsat
Thrax fidibus, legem postquam temeravit Averni,
et prodesse putans iterum non respicit umbram.
hic vovet Alceste praelato coniuge vitam

Penelope weaves to unweave her delaying webs.
Here he in vain assails Taenarus, his spouse twice snatched,
the Thracian with his strings, after he violated the law of Avernus,
and, thinking it to profit, does not look back at the shade again.
here Alcestis vows her life, her spouse set before herself

165

rumpere, quam cernas Parearum vellere in ipso
nondum pernetam fato praestante salutem.
hic nox natarum Danai lucebat in auro,
quinquaginta enses genitor quibus impius aptat
et dat concordem discordia iussa furorem;

to break, which you might see in the very fleece of the Parcae,
a safety not yet fully woven, with fate providing deliverance.
here the night of the daughters of Danaus was shining in gold,
fifty swords which their sire impiously fits for them,
and discordant orders give a concordant fury;

170

solus Hypermestrae servatus munere Lynceus
effugit; aspicias illam sibi parva paventem
et pro dimisso tantum pallere marito.
iamque Iovem in formas mutat, quibus ille tenere
Mnemosynam, Europam, Semelen, Ledam, Cynosuram

alone Lynceus, preserved by Hypermestra’s gift, escaped;
you might behold her, small, trembling for herself,
and to grow pale only for the husband dismissed.
and now he transforms Jove into the forms with which that one held
Mnemosyne, Europa, Semele, Leda, Cynosura

175

serpens, bos, fulmen, cygnus, Dietynna solebat,
iamque opus in turrem Danaae pluviamque metalli
ibat et hic alio stillabat Iuppiter auro,
cum virgo aspiciens vidit Tritonida verso
lumine doctisonas spectare libentius artes;

he used to become a serpent, a bull, a thunderbolt, a swan, Dictynna,
and now the work was going toward Danaë’s tower and the rain of metal,
it went, and here too Jupiter was dripping with another gold,
when the maiden, looking, saw the Triton-born, with a turned gaze,
to be gazing more gladly upon the learned-sounding arts;

180

commutat commota manus ac pollice docto
pingere philosophi victricem Laida coepit,
quae Cynici per menta feri rugosaque colla
rupit odoratam redolenti forcipe barbam.
subrisit Pallas castoque haec addidit ore:

She, her hand stirred, changes, and with a skillful thumb
began to paint Lais, the philosopher’s victress,
who through the chins and wrinkled neck of the fierce Cynic
tore the fragrant beard with a redolent forceps.
Pallas smiled and with chaste mouth added these things:

185

'non nostra ulterius ridebis dogmata, virgo
philosopho nuptura meo; mage flammea sumens
hoc mater sine texat opus. consurge, sophorum
egregium Polemi decus, ac nunc Stoica tandem
pone supercilia et Cynicos imitatus amantes

'you will no longer laugh at our dogmas, maiden
betrothed to my philosopher; rather, taking up the bridal veil,
let your mother be allowed to weave this work. Arise, eminent
ornament of the wise, Polemon, and now at last set down your Stoic
brows, and, imitating the Cynic lovers

190

incipies iterum parvum mihi ferre Platona.'
haerentem tali compellat voce magister:
'perge libens, neu tu damnes fortasse iugari,
quod noster iubet ille senex, qui non piger hausit
numina contemplans Anyto pallente venenum.'

‘you will begin again to bear for me a little Plato.’
the teacher addresses the hesitating one with such a voice:
‘go forward gladly, and do not perhaps condemn being yoked,
which that old man of ours bids, who, not slothful, drained
the poison while contemplating the numina, Anytus turning pale.’

195

Dixerat; ille simul surgit vultuque modesto
tetrica nodosae commendat pallia clavae.
amborum tum diva comas viridantis olivae
pace ligat, nectit dextras ac foedera mandat,
Nymphidius quae cernat avus; probat Atropos omen

He had spoken; at once he rises, and with a modest countenance
he entrusts his austere cloaks to the knotted club.
then the goddess in peace binds the hair of both with the tresses of green olive,
she entwines their right hands and enjoins treaties,
for the grandsire Nymphidius to behold; Atropos approves the omen

200

fulvaque concordes iunxerunt fila sorores,

and the concordant sisters joined the fulvous threads,

CARMEN XVI

POEM 16

EUCHARISTON AD FAUSTUM EPISCOPUM.

EUCHARISTON TO BISHOP FAUSTUS.

Phoebum et ter ternas decima cum Pallade Musas
Orpheaque et laticem simulatum fontis equini
Ogygiamque chelyn, quae saxa sequacia flectens
cantibus auritos erexit carmine muros,
sperne, fidis; magis ille veni nunc spiritus, oro,

Phoebus and the thrice-three Muses, with Pallas as the tenth,
and Orpheus and the simulated liquor of the equine fountain,
and the Ogygian lyre, which, bending the compliant rocks,
by its songs raised the listening walls with song,
spurn, O strings; rather let that spirit come now, I pray,

pontificem dicture tuum, qui pectora priscae
intrasti Mariae, rapiens cum tympana siccus
Israel appensi per concava gurgitis iret
aggeribus vallatus aquae mediasque per undas
pulverulenta tuum clamaret turba triumphum;

about to declare your Pontiff, you who entered the breast of ancient
Mary, seizing the timbrels, when dry-shod Israel, while the waters hung aloft,
went through the hollows of the whirlpool, walled by embankments of water,
and through the midst of the waves the dusty crowd
was crying your triumph;

quique manum Iudith ferientem colla Olofernis
iuvisti, exciso iacuit cum gutture truncus
et fragilis valido latuit bene sexus in ictu;
expresso vel qui complens de vellere pelvem
inficiensque dehinc non tacto vellere terram

and you who aided the hand of Judith striking the neck of Holofernes
when the trunk lay with the throat cut out
and the fragile sex was well hidden in a mighty blow;
or you who, the fleece expressed, filled a basin from the fleece
and thereafter staining the earth with the fleece not touched

firmasti Gedeona, tubis inserte canoris
spiritus (et solo venit victoria cantu);
quique etiam adsumptum pecorosi de grege Iesse
afflasti regem, plaustro cum foederis arcam
imponens hostis nullo moderante bubulco

you made firm Gideon, O Spirit inserted into canorous trumpets
Spirit (and victory came by song alone);
and you also afflated the king taken from Jesse’s cattle-rich flock,
the enemy placing the ark of the covenant upon a cart,
with no oxherd guiding

proderet obscaenum turgenti podice morbum;
quique trium quondam puerorum in fauce sonasti,
quos in Chaldaei positos fornace tyranni
roscida combusto madefecit flamma camino;
quique volubilibus spatiantem tractibus alvi

would disclose the obscene disease by a turgid anus;
and you who once sounded in the throat of the three boys,
whom, placed in the furnace of the Chaldaean tyrant,
a dewy flame moistened, with the kiln combusting;
and you who, as he wandered through the rolling tracts of a belly

complesti Ionam, resonant dum viscera monstri
introrsum psallente cibo vel pondera ventris
ieiuni plenique tamen vate intemerato
ructat cruda fames, quem singultantibus extis
esuriens vomuit suspenso belua morsu;

you filled Jonah, while the viscera of the monster resound,
with the food psalm-singing inward, or the weights of the belly;
fasting and yet full, with the prophet inviolate,
raw hunger belches, him whom, with hiccupping entrails,
the esurient beast vomited with its bite held in suspense;

quique duplex quondam venisti in pectus Helisei,
Thesbiten cum forte senem iam flammeus axis
tolleret et scissam linquens pro munere pellem
hispidus ardentes auriga intraret habenas;
quique etiam Heliam terris missure secundum

and you who once came double into the breast of Elisha,
when by chance the fiery chariot was now lifting the Thesbite old man
and, leaving the torn pelt as a gift
the shaggy charioteer entered upon the blazing reins;
and you who also are about to send Elijah to the earth a second time

Zachariae iusti linguam placate ligasti,
dum faceret serum rugosa puerpera patrem,
edita significans iusso reticere propheta,
gratia cum fulsit, nosset se ut lex tacituram;
quique etiam nascens ex virgine semine nullo,

You calmly bound the tongue of righteous Zechariah,
while the wrinkled woman in childbed made him a father late,
signifying that the prophet, by command, should keep silence when brought forth,
when grace shone, so that the law might know itself destined to be silent;
and you also, being born from a virgin with no seed,

ante ullum tempus deus atque in tempore Christus,
ad corpus quantum spectat, tu te ipse creasti;
qui visum caecis, gressum quoque reddere claudis,
auditum surdis, mutis laxare loquelam
suetus ad hoc etiam venisti, ut mortua membra

before any time, god, and in time, christ,
as far as the body is concerned, you yourself created yourself;
you who to the blind render back vision, and also to the lame the step,
to the deaf hearing, to the mute loosen speech,
accustomed to this, you also came, in order that dead limbs

lecto, sandapila, tumulo consurgere possint;
quique etiam poenas suscepta in carne tulisti,
sustentans alapas, ludibria, verbera, vepres,
sortem, vincla, crucem, clavos, fei, missile, acetum,
postremo mortem, sed surrecturus, adisti,

that from bed, bier, and tomb the dead limbs might be able to rise;
and you also bore penalties in flesh assumed,
sustaining slaps, mockeries, scourges, briars,
lot, chains, cross, nails, gall, missile, vinegar,
at last death, yet about to rise, you approached,

eripiens quicquid veteris migraverat hostis
in ius per nostrum facinus, cum femina prima
praeceptum solvens culpa nos perpete vinxit;
(qui cum te interitu petiit nec repperit in te
quod posset proprium convincere, perdidit omne,

snatching away whatever had migrated into the legal right of the ancient enemy through our crime, when the first woman, loosing the precept, bound us with perpetual guilt; (who, when he sought your death and did not find in you anything that he could convict as proper to himself, he lost everything,

quod lapsu dedit Eva suo; chirographon illum,
quo pervasus homo est, haec compensatio rupit.
expers peccati pro peccatoribus amplum
fis pretium veteremque novus vice faenoris Adam
dum moreris de morte rapis. sic mortua mors est,

what Eve gave by her own lapse;
that chirograph,
by which man was overrun, this compensation broke.
free of sin, for sinners you become an ample price,
and, the new Adam for the old, in lieu of usury, while you die you snatch from death. Thus death is dead,

sic sese insidiis, quas fecerat, ipsa fefellit.
nam dum indiscrete petit insontemque reosque,
egit, ut absolvi possent et crimine nexi);
quique etiam iustos ad tempus surgere tecum
iussisti cineres, cum tectis tempore longo

thus she herself was deceived by the snares which she had made.
for while indiscriminately she attacks both the innocent and the guilty,
she brought it about that even those bound by crime could be absolved);
and you, who also ordered the just ashes to rise with you for a time,
when for a long time they had been covered

irrupit festina salus infusaque raptim
excussit tumulis solidatas vita favillas, –
da Faustum laudare tuum, da solvere grates,
quas et post debere iuvat. te, magne sacerdos,
barbitus hic noster plectro licet impare cantat.

swift salvation burst in, and, infused in haste,
life shook from the tombs the solidified ashes, —
grant to praise your Faustus, grant to pay thanks,
which it is pleasing even afterward to owe. You, great priest,
this our lyre sings, though with an unequal plectrum.

Haec igitur prima est vel causa vel actio laudum,
quod mihi germani, dum lubrica volvitur aetas,
servatus tecum domini per dona probatur
nec fama titubante pudor; te respicit istud
quantumcumque bonum; merces debebitur illi,

Therefore this is the first either cause or action of praises,
that for me my brother, while the slippery age rolls on,
is shown to have been preserved with you by the Lord’s gifts,
and, with fame not tottering, his modesty; that looks back to you,
whatever good it is; a recompense will be owed to Him,

ille tibi. sit laus, si labi noluit, eius;
nam quod nec potuit, totum ad te iure redundat.
praeterea quod me pridem Reios venientem,
cum Procyon fureret, cum solis torridus ignis
flexilibus rimis sitientes scriberet agros,

he to you. let the praise be his, if he was unwilling to slip;
for what he could not, all by right redounds to you.
moreover, that when some time ago I was coming to the Reii,
while Procyon was raging, when the torrid fire of the sun
was inscribing the thirsty fields with pliant fissures,

hospite te nostros excepit protinus aestus
pax, domus, umbra, latex, benedictio, mensa, cubile.
omnibus attamen his sat praestat quod voluisti,
ut sanctae matris sanctum quoque limen adirem.
derigui, fateor, mihi conscius atque repente

with you as host, straightway our heat was received by peace, home, shade, water, benediction, table, bed.
yet above all these, what you wished sufficiently excels,
that I also might approach the sacred threshold of the holy mother.
I grew rigid, I confess, conscious to myself, and suddenly

tinxit adorantem pavido reverentia vultum;
nec secus intremui, quam si me forte Rebeccae
Israel aut Samuel crinitus duceret Annae.
quapropter te vel votis sine fine colentes
affectum magnum per carmina parva fatemur.

reverence tinged my adoring face with fearful awe;
nor did I tremble otherwise, as if perchance Rebecca’s
Israel, or Samuel the long-haired of Anna, were leading me.
wherefore we, honoring you even with vows without end,
confess great affection through little songs.

Seu te flammatae syrtes et inhospita tesqua
seu caeno viridante palus seu nigra recessu
incultum mage saxa tenent, ubi sole remoto
concava longaevas asservant antra tenebras:
seu te praeruptis porrecta in rupibus Alpis

Whether the flaming Syrtes and inhospitable wastes hold you,
or a marsh with greening slime, or one black in its recess,
or else the rocks rather hold the uncultivated ground, where, the sun withdrawn,
concave caverns preserve age-long darkness:
or the Alps, outstretched on precipitous crags

succinctos gelido libantem caespite somnos,
anachoreta, tremit (quae quamquam frigora portet,
conceptum Christi numquam domat illa calorem),
qua nunc Helias, nunc te iubet ire Iohannes,
nunc duo Macarii, nunc et Paphnutius heros,

sipping brief, girded sleep on the icy turf,
the anchorite trembles (who, although she carries the frosts,
never does that chill tame the warmth conceived of Christ),
where now Elijah, now John bids you go,
now the two Macarii, and now too the hero Paphnutius,

100

nunc Or, nunc Ammon, nunc Sarmata, nunc Hilarion,
nunc vocat in tunica nudus te Antonius illa,
quam fecit palmae foliis manus alma magistri;
seu te Lirinus priscum complexa parentem est,
qua tu iam fractus pro magna saepe quiete

now Or, now Ammon, now the Sarmatian, now Hilarion,
now naked Antony calls you into that tunic,
which the kindly hand of the master made from the palm’s leaves;
or Lérins has embraced you, an ancient parent,
where you, already broken, for great repose often

105

discipulis servire venis vixque otia somni,
vix coctos capture cibos abstemius aevum
ducis et insertis pingis ieiunia psalmis,
fratribus insinuans, quantos illa insula plana
miserit in caelum montes, quae sancta Caprasi

you come to serve the disciples, and scarcely the leisures of sleep,
scarcely to snatch cooked foods; abstemious, you lead your life
and you adorn your fasts with psalms inserted,
insinuating to the brethren how great mountains that level island
has sent into heaven, which is sacred to Caprasius.

110

vita senis iuvenisque Lupi, quae gratia patrem
mansit Honoratum, fuerit quis Maximus ille,
urbem tu cuius monachosque antistes et abbas
bis successor agis, celebrans quoque laudibus illis
Eucherii venientis iter, redeuntis Hilari;

the life of the elder and the youth Lupus, what grace abode with Father Honoratus, who that Maximus was, you who as pontiff and abbot act as the twice-successor of his city and his monks, celebrating also with those praises the journey of Eucherius coming, of Hilary returning;

115

seu te commissus populus tenet et minor audet
te medio tumidos maiorum temnere mores;
seu tu sollicitus curas, qua languidus esca
quave peregrinus vivat, quid pascat et illum,
lubrica crura cui tenuat sub compede carcer;

whether the entrusted people holds you and the lesser dares
you in the midst to contemn the tumid manners of the elders;
or you, solicitous, care by what food the languid
or by what the pilgrim may live, what may feed even him,
whose slippery legs the prison under the fetter makes thin;

120

seu mage funeribus mentem distractus humandis,
livida defuncti si pauperis ossa virescant,
infastiditum fers ipse ad busta cadaver;
seu te conspicuis gradibus venerabilis arae
contionaturum plebs sedula circumsistit,

or if rather your mind is distracted by funerals to be buried,
if the livid bones of a poor deceased grow green,
you yourself bear the un-disdained corpse to the tombs;
or if on the conspicuous steps of the venerable altar
the sedulous plebs stands around you, about to harangue,

125

expositae legis bibat auribus ut medicinam:
quicquid agis, quocumque loci es, semper mihi Faustus,
semper Honoratus, semper quoque Maximus esto.

so that he may drink in with his ears the medicine of the law set forth:
whatever you do, wherever you are, always be to me Faustus,
always Honoratus, and likewise always Maximus.

CARMEN XVII

POEM 17

AD V. C. OMMATIUM.

TO OMMATIUS, A MOST DISTINGUISHED MAN.

Quattuor ante dies quam lux Sextilis adusti
      prima spiciferum proferat orbe caput,
natalis nostris decimus sextusque coletur,
      adventu felix qui petit esse tuo.
non tibi gemmatis ponentur prandia mensis,

Four days before the day when the first light of parched August
      first brings forth the grain-bearing head over the world,
the sixteenth will be celebrated as my birthday,
      which seeks to be fortunate by your arrival.
no luncheon will be set for you on gem-studded tables,

      Assyrius murex nec tibi sigma dabit;
nec per multiplices abaco splendente cavernas
      argenti nigri pondera defodiam;
nec scyphus hic dabitur, rutilo cui forte metallo
crustatum stringat tortilis ansa latus.

      Neither Assyrian murex nor a sigma will be given to you;
nor through the manifold caverns of a shining abacus
      shall I bury weights of dark silver;
nor shall a cup be given here, whose side a twisted handle perhaps
overlaid with ruddy metal clasps.

      fercula sunt nobis mediocria, non ita facta,
mensurae ut grandis suppleat ars pretium.
      non panes Libyca solitos flavescere Syrte
accipiet Galli rustica mensa tui.
      vina mihi non sunt Gazetica, Chia, Falerna

      our dishes are mediocre, not so made
that art might supply the price of a great measure.
      the rustic table of your Gallus will not receive loaves
accustomed to grow golden in the Libyan Syrtis.
      I do not have Gazetic, Chian, Falernian wines

quaeque Saraptano palmite missa bibas.
      pocula non hic sunt illustria nomine pagi,
quod posuit nostris ipse triumvir agris.
      tu tamen ut venias petimus; dabit omnia Christus,
hic mihi qui patriam fecit amore tuo.

and those sent from the Saraptan vine for you to drink.
      the cups here are not illustrious by the name of a district,
which the Triumvir himself placed upon our fields.
      yet we ask that you come; Christ will give all things,
who here for me has made a fatherland by your love.

CARMEN XVIII

POEM 18

DE BALNEIS VILLAE SUAE.

ON THE BATHS OF HIS VILLA.

Si quis Avitacum dignaris visere nostram,
      non tibi displiceat: sic quod habes placeat.
aemula Baiano tolluntur culmina cono
      parque cothurnato vertice fulget apex.
garrula Gauranis plus murmurat unda fluentis

If you deign to visit our Avitacum,
      let it not displease you: so may what you have please you.
rivaling Baiae, the roof-crests are lifted in a cone,
      and with a buskined summit an equal apex gleams.
the garrulous wave murmurs more than the Gauran streams flowing

      contigui collis lapsa supercilio.
Lucrinum stagnum dives Campania nollet,
      aequora si nostri cerneret illa lacus.
illud puniceis ornatur litus echinis,
      piscibus in nostris, hospes, utrumque vides.

      having slipped from the brow of the contiguous hill.
Rich Campania would not wish the Lucrine lagoon,
      if it beheld those waters of our lake.
that shore is adorned with crimson sea-urchins,
      in our waters, guest, you see both.

si libet et placido partiris gaudia corde,
quisquis ades, Baias tu facis hic animo.

if it pleases and you share joys with a placid heart,
whoever you are who are here, you make Baiae here in your mind.

CARMEN XIX

POEM 19

DE PISCINA.

ON THE FISHPOND.

Intrate algentes post balnea torrida fluctus,
ut solidet calidam frigore lympha cutem;
et licet hoc solo mergatis membra liquore,
per stagnum nostrum lumina vestra natant.

Enter the algid waves after the torrid baths,
so that the water may solidify the warm skin with cold;
and even if you immerse your limbs in this liquid only,
through our pool your eyes swim.

CARMEN XX

POEM 20

AD ECDICIUM SORORIUM SUUM.

TO ECDICIUS, HIS BROTHER-IN-LAW.

Natalis noster Nonas instare Novembres
admonet: occurras non rogo, sed iubeo.
sit tecum coniunx, duo nunc properate; sed illud
post annum optamus tertius ut venias.

Our birthday reminds us that the Nones of November are drawing near:
I do not ask you to come meet me, I order it.
Let your spouse be with you; now hurry, you two; but this
we hope: that after a year you may come as the third.

CARMEN XXI

POEM 21

DE PISCIBUS NOCTE CAPTIS.

ABOUT FISH CAUGHT AT NIGHT.

Quattuor haec primum pisces nox insuit hamis;
inde duos tenui, tu quoque sume duos.
quos misi, sunt maiores; rectissimus ordo est;
namque animae nostrae portio maior eras.

First, this night stitched four fish onto the hooks;
then I kept two; you also take two.
those I sent are larger; this is the straightest order;
for you were the greater portion of our soul.

CARMEN XXII

POEM 22

SIDONIUS PONTIO LEONTIO SUO SALUTEM.

SIDONIUS TO HIS PONTIUS LEONTIUS, GREETING.

1. Dum apud Narbonem quondam Martium dictum sed nuper factum moras necto,
subiit animum quospiam secundum amorem tuum hexametros concinnare vel condere,
quibus lectis oppido scires, etsi utrique nostrum disparatis aequo plusculum locis Lar
familiaris incolitur, non idcirco tam nobis animum dissidere quam patriam. 2. habes
igitur hic Dionysum inter triumphi Indici oblectamenta marcentem; habes et Phoebum,
quem tibi iure poetico inquilinum factum constat ex numine, illum scilicet Phoebum
Anthedii mei perfamiliarem, cuius collegio vir praefectus non modo musicos quosque,
verum etiam geometras, arithmeticos et astrologos disserendi arte supervenit; si
quidem nullum hoc exactius compertum habere censuerim, quid sidera zodiaci obliqua,
quid planetarum vaga, quid exotici sparsa praevaleant. 3. nam ita his, ut sic dixerim,
membris philosophiae claret, ut videatur mihi Iulianum Vertacum, Fullonium Saturni-
num, in libris matheseos peritissimos conditores, absque interprete ingenio tantum
suffragante didicisse.

1. While at Narbo, once called “Martial” by name but lately made so in fact, I weave delays,
it came into my mind to polish or to compose certain hexameters in accord with your love,
on reading which you would know right well that, although for each of us our household Lar
is inhabited in places somewhat more than evenly sundered, not therefore does our spirit disagree so much as our fatherland. 2. You have here Dionysus languishing among the entertainments of an Indian triumph; you also have Phoebus,
whom by poetic right it is settled has been made a lodger with you from his divinity, that Phoebus, namely,
most intimate with my Anthedius, in whose fellowship the man, a prefect, surpasses not only every musician,
but even geometers, arithmeticians, and astrologers by the art of discoursing; since indeed I would judge nothing to be more exactly ascertained than this: what the oblique stars of the zodiac,
what the wandering of the planets, what the scattered exotic ones prevail to do. 3. For in these, so to speak,
limbs of philosophy he shines, so that he seems to me to have learned Julianus Vertacus and Fullonius Saturna-
ninus, the most skilled founders in the books of mathesis, without an interpreter, with genius alone giving support.

nos vestigia doctrinae ipsius adorantes coram canoro cygno
ravum anserem profitemur.
Quid te amplius moror? Burgum tuam, quo iure amicum decuit, meam feci,
probe sciens vel materiam tibi esse placituram, etiamsi ex solido poema displiceat.

we, adoring the footprints of his doctrine itself, before a tuneful swan
profess ourselves a raucous goose.
Why do I delay you any further? Your Burgus, by the right which befits a friend, I have made my own,
well knowing that the material will be pleasing to you, even if the poem, taken as a whole, displeases.

BURGUS PONTII LEONTII.

BOROUGH OF PONTIUS LEONTIUS.

Bistonii stabulum regis, Busiridis aras,
Antiphatae mensas et Taurica regna Thoantis
atque Ithaci ingenio fraudatum luce Cyclopa
portantem frontis campo per concava montis
par prope transfossi tenebrosum luminis antrum,

Bistonian king’s stable, the altars of Busiris,
the tables of Antiphates and the Tauric realms of Thoas,
and the Cyclops defrauded of light by the Ithacan’s ingenuity,
bearing, across the hollows of the mountain, on the field of his forehead,
the tenebrous cavern of light, nearly the equal of a transfixed light,

hospes, adi, si quis Burgum taciturus adisti.
et licet in carmen non passim laxet habenas
Phoebus et hic totis non pandat carbasa fandi,
quisque tamen tantos non laudans ore penates
inspicis, inspiceris: resonat sine voce voluntas,

Guest, come near, if in any way you have come to Burgum intending to be silent.
and though Phoebus does not everywhere loosen the reins into song
and here does not spread the sails of speaking to the full,
yet whoever, not praising with the mouth, beholds such great Penates,
you look, you are looked upon: the will resounds without a voice,

nam tua te tacitum livere silentia clamant.
Ergo age, Pierias, Erato, mihi percute chordas;
responsent Satyri, digitumque pedemque moventes
ludant et tremulo non rumpant cantica saltu.
quicquid forte Dryas vel quicquid Hamadryas umquam

for your silences proclaim you, tacit, to be envious.
Therefore come, Pierian Erato, strike the strings for me;
let the Satyrs respond, moving finger and foot,
let them play and not break the songs with a tremulous leap.
whatever perhaps a Dryad or whatever a Hamadryad ever

conexis sibimet festum plausere Napaeis,
dependant modo, Bürge, tibi, vel Naidas istic,
Nereidum chorus alme, doce, cum forte Garumna
huc redeunte venis pontumque in flumine sulcas.
pande igitur causas, Erato, laribusque sit ede

with the Napaeae linked together among themselves, they applauded the feast,
let them now hang, Bürge, for you, even the Naiads here,
kindly chorus of Nereids, teach, when perchance the Garonne
returning hither you come and furrow the sea in the river.
therefore unfold the causes, Erato, and to the Lares also tell what it is

quis genius; tantum non est sine praesule culmen.
Forte sagittiferas Euan populatus Erythras
vite capistratas cogebat ad esseda tigres;
intrabat duplicem qua temo racemifer arcum,
marcidus ipse sedet curru, madet ardua cervix

what genius; scarcely is any summit without a presiding patron.
By chance Euan, having laid waste the arrow-bearing Erythrians,
was driving to the chariots tigers haltered with vine;
where the cluster-bearing pole entered the double arch,
he himself sits languid on the chariot, his lofty neck is soaked

sudati de rore meri, caput aurea rumpunt
cornua et indigenam iaculantur fulminis ignem
(sumpserat hoc nascens primum, cum transiit olim
in patrium de matre femur); fert tempus utrumque
veris opes rutilosque ligat vindemia flores;

sweating with the dew of unmixed wine, golden horns burst through his head and hurl the native fire of the thunderbolt (he had first assumed this at his birth, when once he passed from his mother into his father’s thigh); time carries them both, the wealth of spring, and the vintage binds the ruddy blossoms;

cantharus et thyrsus dextra laevaque feruntur,
nec tegit exertos, sed tangit palla lacertos;
dulce natant oculi, quos si fors vertit in hostem,
attonitos, solum dum cernit, inebriat Indos.
tum salebris saliens quotiens se concutit axis,

the cantharus and the thyrsus are carried in the right and in the left,
and the mantle does not cover the bared upper arms, but touches them;
sweetly the eyes swim, which, if by chance he turns them upon an enemy,
his glance intoxicates the Indians, thunderstruck, merely by seeing;
then, as often as the axle, leaping on roughnesses, jolts itself,

passim deciduo perfunditur orbita musto.
Bassaridas, Satyros, Panas Faunosque docebat
ludere Silenus iam numine plenus alumno,
sed comptus tamen ille caput; nam vertice nudo
amissos sertis studet excusare capillos.

everywhere the track is drenched with the falling must.
He was teaching the Bassarids, Satyrs, Pans and Fauns
to play, Silenus, now full of his pupil’s numen,
yet he had his head adorned; for upon his bare crown
he strives to make up for the lost hairs with garlands.

corniger inde novi fit Ganges pompa triumphi;
cernuus inpexam faciem stetit ore madenti et
arentes vitreis adiuvit fletibus undas;
coniectas in vincla manus post terga revinxit
pampinus; hic sensim captivo umore refusus

then the horned Ganges becomes part of the pomp of the new triumph;
head-down he stood, his face uncombed, with a dripping mouth, and
he helped the parching waves with glassy tears;
a vine-leaf re-bound behind his back the hands cast into fetters;
this one, little by little, was suffused with captive moisture

sponte refrondescit per brachia roscida palmes.
necnon et rapti coniunx ibi vincta mariti
it croceas demissa genas vetitaque recondi
lampade cum Solis radiis Aurora rubebat.
adfuit hic etiam post perdita cinnama Phoenix,

of its own accord the vine-shoot re-leafs along the dewy arms.
and likewise there the consort of the snatched-away husband, bound,
goes with saffron-hued cheeks downcast and, forbidden to be hidden away,
when Dawn was reddening with her lamp and the rays of the Sun.
here too was present the Phoenix, even after its cinnamons were lost,

formidans mortem sibi non superesse secundam.
succedit captiva cohors, quae fercula gazis
fert onerata suis; ebur hic hebenusque vel aurum
et niveae piceo raptae de pectore baccae
gestantur; quicumque nihil sustentat, odoris

fearing that for himself a second death did not remain.
there succeeds the captive cohort, which bears trays burdened
with its own treasures; ivory here and ebony or even gold,
and snow-white berries snatched from a pitch-black breast
are carried; whoever bears nothing, bears the scent.

mittitur in nexus; videas hic ipsa placere
supplicia et virides violis halare catenas.
ultima nigrantes incedunt praeda elefanti;
informis cui forma gregi: riget hispida dorso
vix ferrum passura cutis; quippe improba cratem

he is sent into bonds; here you might see the punishments themselves to be pleasing
and the green chains exhale violets.
last advance, blackening, the prey of the elephant;
for which herd shapelessness is a shape: the hide, bristly on the back, stands stiff, hardly about to suffer iron;
since the relentless one the hurdle

nativam nec tela forant, contracta vicissim
tensaque terga feris crepitant usuque cavendi
pellunt excussis impactum missile rugis.
Iamque iter ad Thebas per magnum victor agebat
aera et ad summas erexerat orgia nubes,

nor do weapons bore the native hide, and the beasts’ backs,
alternately contracted and taut, crackle, and by the habit of evading
they drive off the impacting missile with shaken-out wrinkles.
And now the victor was making his journey to Thebes through the vast
air, and had raised his orgies to the topmost clouds,

cum videt Aonia venientem Delion arce.
grypas et ipse tenet: vultus his laurea curvos
fronde lupata ligant; hederis quoque circumplexis
pendula lora virent; sensim fera subvolat ales
aerias terraeque vias, ne forte citato

when he sees the Delian coming from the Aonian citadel.
he too holds griffins: with laurel foliage, bitted,
they bind their curved muzzles; with ivy also entwined,
the hanging reins are verdant; slowly the winged beast glides
along the aerial and the earthly ways, lest perhaps, at a quickened

alarum strepitu lignosas frangat habenas.
aeternum nitet ipse genas; crevere corymbis
tempora et auratum verrit coma concolor axem;
laeva parte tenet vasta dulcedine raucam
caelato Pythone lyram, pars dextra sagittas

lest by the beating of wings he break the wooden reins.
he himself gleams, his cheeks everlasting; his temples have grown thick with clusters,
and hair of the same hue sweeps the gilded axle;
with his left he holds a lyre hoarse with vast sweetness,
embossed with Python; his right holds the arrows

continet atque alio resonantes murmure nervos.
ibant Pipliades pariter mediumque noveno
circumsistentes umbrabant syrmate currum.
pendet per teretes tripodas Epidaurius anguis
diffusus sanctum per colla salubria virus.

he holds, and with the other, the strings resounding with a murmur.
the Pipleian maidens were going together, and with a ninth in the middle
standing around they shaded the chariot with their train.
the Epidaurian serpent hangs along the terete tripods,
spreading its sacred, salubrious venom along the necks.

hic et crinisatas iungebat Pegasus alas,
portans doctiloquo facundum crure Creontem.
Vt sese iunxere chori, consurgit uterque
fratris in amplexus, sed paulo segnior Euan,
dum pudet instabiles, si surgat, prodere plantas.

here too Pegasus was joining his hair-tressed wings,
bearing Creon, facund and learned-speaking, upon his thigh.
As the choruses joined themselves, each rises
into his brother’s embraces, but Euan a little slower,
while he is ashamed, if he should rise, to betray his unsteady soles.

tum Phoebus: 'quo pergis?' ait, 'num forte nocentes,
Bacche, petis Thebas? te cretus Echione nempe
abnegat esse deum. linque haec, rogo, moenia, linque,
et mecum mage flecte rotas.

then Phoebus: 'where are you going?' he says, 'are you by chance seeking guilty Thebes, Bacchus?
the one begotten of Echion, surely, denies that you are a god. leave these walls, I ask, leave them,
and rather turn your wheels with me.'

despexit Agaue
te colere et nosmet Niobe; riget inde superba,

Agave has disdained
to honor you, and Niobe us ourselves; from that she stands proud, rigid,

vulnera tot patiens quot spectat vulnera ventris,
optantemque mori gravius elementia fixit;
parcere saepe malum est sensumque inferre dolori.
ipsa autem nato occiso Pentheia mater,
amplius ut furiat, numquid non sana futura est?

suffering as many wounds as he beholds the wounds of his belly,
and clemency transfixed more grievously one desiring to die;
to spare is often an evil and to bring sense into pain.
but the mother of Pentheus herself, her son slain,
that she may rage the more—will she by any chance be going to be sane?

ergone Aonios colles habitare valemus,
cum patris extincti thalamis potietur adulter,
frater natorum, coniunx genetricis habendus,
vitricus ipse suus? cordi est si iungere gressum,
dicam qua pariter sedem tellure locemus.

then are we able to inhabit the Aonian hills,
while an adulterer takes possession of the marriage-bed of a slain father,
to be held the brother of the children, the consort of the mother,
and himself his own stepfather?
if it is your heart’s wish to join your step, I will say in what land we may together locate a seat.

100

Est locus irrigua qua rupe, Garumna rotate,
et tu qui simili festinus in aequora lapsu
exis curvata, Durani muscose, saburra,
iam pigrescentes sensim confunditis amnes.
currit in adversum hic pontus multoque recursu

There is a place where, by a watered crag, O rolling Garonne,
and you too, who with a like glide hasten into the level waters,
come forth arched, O mossy gravel-bed of the Duranus,
you little by little blend the now-slowing streams.
here the sea runs against them and with much back-surge

105

flumina quas volvunt et spernit et expetit undas.
at cum summotus lunaribus incrementis
ipse Garumna suos in dorsa recolligit aestus,
praecipiti fluctu raptim redit atque videtur
in fontem iam non refluus sed defluus ire.

it both spurns and seeks the waves which the rivers roll.
but when, withdrawn by lunar increments,
the Garonne itself gathers back its own tides onto its backs,
it swiftly returns with a headlong surge and seems
to go toward its source now not as reflowing but as flowing down.

110

tum recipit laticem quamvis minor ille minorem
stagnanti de fratre suum, turgescit et ipse
Oceano propriasque facit sibi litora ripas.
hos inter fluvios, uni mage proximus undae, est
aethera mons rumpens alta spectabilis arce,

then he receives the liquid—although he, being the lesser, [receives] the lesser, his own, from his stagnating brother—and he too swells
with the Ocean and makes for himself as his own shores for banks.
Between these rivers, nearest to the single wave, there is
a mountain bursting the aether, remarkable with a lofty citadel,

115

plus celsos habiturus eros vernamque senatum.
quem generis princeps Paulinus Pontius olim,
cum Latius patriae dominabitur, ambiet altis
moenibus, et celsae transmittent aera turres;
quarum culminibus sedeant commune micantes

destined to hold yet more lofty heroes and a native senate.
which Paulinus Pontius, chief of his lineage, once,
when the Latian shall dominate the fatherland, will encircle with high
walls, and lofty towers will transmit the air;
on whose summits there may sit, glittering in common

120

pompa vel auxilium; non illos machina muros,
non aries, non alta strues vel proximus agger,
non quae stridentes torquet catapulta molares,
sed nec testudo nec vinea nec rota currens
iam positis scalis umquam quassare valebunt.

pomp or aid; no engine against those walls,
no ram, no lofty piles nor the neighboring rampart,
not the strident millstones which the catapult hurls,
nor yet the tortoise nor the vinea nor the running wheel
will ever, with ladders already set, be able to shake them.

125

cernere iam videor quae sint tibi, Burge, futura
(diceris sic); namque domus de flumine surgunt
splendentesque sedent per propugnacula thermae.
hic cum vexatur piceis aquilonibus aestus,
scrupeus asprata latrare crepidine pumex

I already seem to discern what things are destined for you, Burge,
(you are so called); for houses rise from the river
and splendid baths sit along the battlements.
Here, when the tide is vexed by pitch-black north winds,
the scabrous pumice barks along the roughened quay

130

incipit; at fractis saliens e cautibus altum
excutitur torrens ipsisque aspergine tectis
impluit ac tollit nautas et saepe iocoso
ludit naufragio; nam tempestate peracta
destituit refluens missas in balnea classes.

it begins; but, leaping from the broken crags, the torrent is cast up on high
and with spray upon the roofs themselves it rains down and lifts the sailors, and often
plays with a jocose shipwreck; for when the tempest is finished
the refluent water abandons the fleets sent into the baths.

135

ipsa autem quantis, quibus aut sunt fulta columnis!
cedat puniceo pretiosus livor in antro
Synnados, et Nomadum qui portat eburnea saxa,
collis et herbosis quae vernant marmora venis;
candentem iam nolo Paron, iam nolo Caryston;

but the edifice itself—by how great, by what columns is it supported!
let the precious bluish stain yield to Tyrian-purple in the cavern of Synnada,
and the hill of the Nomads that carries ivory-like stones,
and the marbles that grow green with grassy veins;
I no longer want gleaming Paros, I no longer want Carystus;

140

vilior est rubro quae pendet purpura saxo.
et ne posteritas dubitet, quis conditor extet,
fixus in introitu lapis est; hic nomina signat
auctorum; sed propter aqua, et vestigia pressa
quae rapit et fuso detergit gurgite caenum.

cheaper is the purple that hangs from the red stone.
and lest posterity doubt who the founder may be,
a stone is fixed at the entrance; this marks the names
of the authors; but nearby there is water, and the pressed footprints
which it sweeps away and with a poured-out whirlpool washes the mud clean.

145

sectilibus paries tabulis crustatus ad aurea
tecta venit, fulvo nimis abscondenda metallo;
nam locuples fortuna domus non passa latere
divitias prodit, cum sic sua culmina celat.
haec post assurgit duplicemque supervenit aedem

a wall incrusted with sectile panels comes up to the golden
roofs, too splendid to be hidden by tawny metal;
for the wealthy fortune of the house, not having allowed its riches to lie hidden,
betrays them, when thus it veils its own pinnacles.
after this it surges up and supervenes upon the double shrine

150

porticus ipsa duplex, duplici non cognita plaustro.
quarum unam molli subductam vertice curvae
obversis paulum respectant cornibus alae.
ipsa diem natum cernit sinuamine dextro,
fronte videns medium, laevo visura cadentem.

the portico itself double, not known to a double wagon.
of which one, drawn up with the gentle vertex of a curve,
the wings, with their horns a little turned toward, look back at one another.
itself discerns the day newborn by a right-hand sinuation,
with its front seeing the middle, on the left destined to see the setting.

155

non perdit quicquam trino de cardine caeli
et totum solem lunata per atria servat.
sacra tridentiferi Iovis hic armenta profundo
Pharnacis immergit genitor; percussa securi
corpora cornipedum certasque rubescere plagas

it loses nothing from the threefold hinge of the sky,
and through lunate atria it preserves the whole sun.
here the sire of Pharnaces plunges the sacred herds of trident-bearing Jove into the deep;
the bodies of the hoof-footed, struck with the hatchet,
and the sure strokes to grow red.

160

sanguineo de rore putes; stat vulneris horror
verus, et occisis vivit pictura quadrigis.
Ponticus hinc rector numerosis Cyzicon armis
claudit; at hinc sociis consul Lucullus opem fert,
compulsusque famis discrimina summa subire

you would think it from sanguine dew; the horror of the wound stands true,
and the painting lives with the four-horse chariots slain.
on one side the Pontic ruler encloses Cyzicus with numerous arms;
but on the other the consul Lucullus brings aid to the allies,
and, compelled by famine, to undergo the utmost hazards

165

invidet obsesso miles Mithridaticus hosti.
enatat hic pelagus Romani militis ardor
et chartam madido transportat corpore siccam.
desuper in longum porrectis horrea tectis
crescunt atque amplis angustant fructibus aedes.

the Mithridatic soldier envies the besieged foe.
here the ardor of the Roman soldier swims across the sea
and transports a paper dry with a drenched body.
from above, with roofs stretched out in length, the storehouses
grow and, with ample produce, constrict the houses.

170

huc veniet calidis quantum metit Africa terris,
quantum vel Calaber, quantum colit Apulus acer,
quanta Leontino turgescit messis acervo,
quantum Mygdonio committunt Gargara sulco,
quantum, quae tacitis Cererem venerata choreis,

hither will come as much as Africa reaps from its hot lands,
as much as either the Calabrian, as much as the keen Apulian cultivates,
how great a harvest swells in the Leontine heap,
as much as Gargara commit to the Mygdonian furrow,
as much as those who, with silent choruses, have venerated Ceres,

175

Attica Triptolemo civi condebat Eleusin,
cum populis hominum glandem linquentibus olim
fulva fruge data iam saecula fulva perirent.
porticus ad gelidos patet hinc aestiva triones;
hinc calor innocuus thermis hiemalibus exit

Attica was founding Eleusis for the citizen Triptolemus,
when the peoples of mankind in former times were leaving off the acorn,
and, golden-yellow grain having been given, now the tawny ages were passing away.
from here the summer portico lies open toward the icy Bears;
from here an innocuous warmth issues for the winter baths

180

atque locum tempus mollit; quippe illa rigori
pars est apta magis; nam quod fugit ora Leonis,
inde Lycaoniae rabiem male sustinet Vrsae.
arcis at in thermas longe venit altior amnis
et cadit in montem patulisque canalibus actus

and time, too, softens the place; for that part is more suited to rigour; for what flees the Lion’s mouth, from there it ill endures the Lycaonian Bear’s rage. but from the citadel a higher river comes far into the thermal baths, and falls upon the mountain and, driven through patulous channels

185

circumfert clausum cava per divortia flumen.
occiduum ad solem post horrea surgit opaca
quae dominis hiberna domus: strepit hic bona flamma
appositas depasta trabes; sinuata camino
ardentis perit unda globi fractoque flagello

the hollow river carries around the enclosed stream through divergences.
toward the setting sun, behind the granaries, rises the shadowy
house which is the masters’ winter home: here a good flame crackles,
having devoured the beams set near; the sinuous wave of the burning globe,
coiled in the chimney, perishes, and with the lash broken

190

spargit lentatum per culmina tota vaporem.
continuata dehinc videas quae conditor ausus
aemula Palladiis textrina educere templis.
hac celsi quondam coniunx reverenda Leonti,
qua non ulla magis nurus umquam Pontia gaudet

it scatters a tempered vapor over all the rooftops.
then you might see, set in succession, what the founder dared
to raise: a textrine emulous of the temples of Pallas.
here the venerable spouse of lofty Leontius,
than whom no Pontic daughter-in-law ever rejoices more

195

illustris pro sorte viri, celebrabitur aede
vel Syrias vacuasse colus vel serica fila
per cannas torsisse leves vel stamme fulvo
praegnantis fusi mollitum nesse metallum.
parietibus post hinc rutilat quae machina iunctis

illustrious in proportion to her husband's lot, she will be celebrated in the shrine
either for distaffs to have emptied Syria or for silken threads
to have been twisted through light canes, or with tawny warp
to have woven the softened metal of a pregnant spindle.
after this, there glows red the machine whose walls are joined

200

fert recutitorum primordia Iudaeorum.
perpetuum pictura micat; nec tempore longo
depretiata suas turpant pigmenta figuras.
Flecteris ad laevam: te porticus accipit ampla
directis curvata viis, ubi margine summo

bears the origins of the circumcised Jews.
the picture gleams perpetual; nor over a long time
do its pigments, depreciated, defile their figures.
you turn to the left: a spacious portico receives you,
curved with straight ways, where at the top margin

205

pendet et artatis stat saxea silva columnis.
alta volubilibus patet hic cenatio valvis;
fusilis euripus propter; cadit unda superne
ante fores pendente lacu, venamque secuti
undosa inveniunt nantes cenacula pisces.

there both hangs and stands, a stony forest on close-set columns.
here a lofty dining room stands open with revolving doors;
a cast euripus beside; a wave falls from above
before the doors, with a suspended pool, and, following the vein,
the swimming fish find wave-washed dining rooms.

210

comminus erigitur vel prima vel extima turris;
mos erit hic dominis hibernum sigma locare.
huius conspicuo residens in culmine saepe
dilectum nostris Musis simul atque capellis
aspiciam montem; lauri spatiabor in istis

close by there rises either the first or the farthest tower;
it will be the custom here for the masters to set the winter sigma.
sitting often on this one's conspicuous summit
i shall look upon the mountain beloved by our Muses and by our little she-goats as well;
among these laurels i shall take my walk.

215

frondibus, hic trepidam credam mihi credere Daphnen.
iam si forte gradus geminam convertis ad Arcton,
ut venias in templa dei, qui maximus ille est,
deliciis redolent iunctis apotheca penusque;
hic multus tu, frater, eris. 'iam divide sedem,

among the leaves, here I shall believe that trembling Daphne entrusts herself to me.
now if by chance you turn your steps toward the twin Bear,
so that you may come into the temples of the god, who is the greatest,
the storeroom and pantry are redolent with joined delights;
here you will be often, brother. 'now assign the seat,

220

cessurus mihi fonte meo, quem monte fluentem
umbrat multicavus spatioso circite fornix.
non eget hic cultu, dedit huic natura decorem.
nil fictum placuisse placet, non pompa per artem
ulla, resultanti non comet malleus ictu

you will yield to me at my spring, which, flowing from the mountain,
a many-caverned vault with a spacious circuit shades.
here it has no need of cultivation; Nature has given it beauty.
it pleases that nothing feigned has pleased, no pomp through art
at all, nor does the hammer meet with a rebounding stroke

225

saxa, nec exesum supplebunt marmora tofum.
hic fons Castaliae nobis vice sufficit undae.
cetera dives habe; colles tua iura tremiscant;
captivos hic solve tuos, et per iuga Burgi
laeta relaxatae fiant vineta catenae.'

stones, nor will marbles make up for the eaten-away tufa.
this spring suffices for us in place of the Castalian wave.
let the rich man have the rest; let the hills tremble at your laws;
free your captives here, and through the ridges of the Burg
let the vineyards become glad with the chain relaxed.'

230

Confirmat vocem iamiam prope sobrius istam
Silenus, pariterque chori cecinere faventes:
'Nysa, vale Bromio, Phoebo Parnase bivertex.
non istum Naxus, non istum Cirrha requirat,
sed mage perpetuo Burgus placitura petatur.'

Now almost sober, Silenus confirms that utterance,
and the favoring choirs likewise sang:
'Nysa, farewell to Bromius; two-peaked Parnassus, to Phoebus.
let neither Naxos seek him, nor Cirrha seek him,
but rather let Burgus be sought, destined to please perpetually.'

235

5. Ecce, quotiens tibi libuerit pateris capacioribus hilarare convivium, misi quod
inter scyphos et amystidas tuas legas. subveneris verecundiae meae, si in sobrias
aures ista non venerint; nec iniuria hoc ac secus atque aequum est flagito, quando
quidem Baccho meo iudicium decemvirale passuro tempestivius quam convenit
tribunal erigitur. 6. si quis autem carmen prolixius eatenus duxerit esse culpandum,
quod epigrammatis excesserit paucitatem, istum liquido patet neque balneas Etrusci
neque Herculem Surrentinum neque comas Flavii Earini neque Tibur Vopisci neque
omnino quicquam de Papinii nostri silvulis lectitasse; quas omnes descriptiones vir
ille praeiudicatissimus non distichorum aut tetrastichorum stringit angustiis, sed
potius, ut lyricus Flaccus in artis poeticae volumine praecipit, multis isdemque
purpureis locorum communium pannis semel inchoatas materias decenter extendit.

5. Behold, whenever it pleases you to cheer a banquet with more capacious bowls, I have sent something for you to read among your cups and amystides. You will come to the aid of my modesty if these things do not come into sober ears; nor do I demand this unjustly or otherwise than is equitable, since for my Bacchus, who is about to undergo a decemviral judgment, a tribunal is being erected more seasonably than is fitting. 6. If anyone, moreover, should judge the poem too long on the ground that it has exceeded the paucity of an epigram, it is clear that that person has not been reading either the Baths of Etruscus or the Surrentine Hercules or the locks of Flavius Earinus or the Tibur of Vopiscus or, in general, anything from the little Silvae of our Papinius; all which descriptions that most precedent‑setting man does not compress within the narrowness of distichs or tetrastichs, but rather, as the lyric Flaccus prescribes in the volume of the Art of Poetry, fittingly extends subjects once begun with many, and those purple, patches of commonplaces.

haec me ad defensionis exemplum posuisse sufficiat, ne haec ipsa longitudinis depre-
catio longa videatur. vale.

Let it suffice that I have set these things as an example of a defense, lest this very depre-
cation of length seem long. Farewell.

CARMEN XXIII

POEM 23

AD CONSENTIUM.

TO CONSENTIUS.

Cum iam pro meritis tuis pararem,
Consenti. columen decusque morum,
vestrae laudibus hospitalitatis
cantum impendere pauperis cicutae,
ultro in carmina tu tubam recludens

When already I was preparing,
Consenti., the pillar and ornament of morals,
with praises of your hospitality
to devote the song of a poor hemlock-pipe,
you, of your own accord, unclosing the trumpet for my songs

converso ordine versibus citasti
suetum ludere sic magis sodalem.
paret Musa tibi, sed impudentem
multo cautius hinc stilum movebit;
nam cum carmina postules diserte,

with the order reversed you have cited in verses
the companion more accustomed thus to play.
the Muse obeys you, but the impudent
stylus from hence will move much more cautiously;
for since you demand songs expressed eloquently,

suades scribere, sed facis tacere.
nuper quadrupedante cum citato
ires Phocida Sestiasque Baias,
illustres titulisque proeliisque
urbes per duo consulum trophaea,

you urge me to write, but you make me be silent.
lately, with a galloping quadruped spurred on,
you were going to Phocis and the Sestian Baiae,
cities illustrious with inscriptions and with battles
for the two trophies of the consuls,

(nam Martem tulit ista Iulianum
et Bruto duce nauticum furorem,
äst haec Teutonicas cruenta pugnas,
erectum et Marium cadente Cimbro)
misisti mihi multiplex poema,

(for that one bore the Julian Mars
and, with Brutus as leader, the nautical furor,
but this one the Teutonic bloody battles,
and Marius erect as the Cimbrian was falling)
you have sent me a multiplex poem,

doctum, nobile, forte, delicatum.
ibant hexametri superbientes
et vestigia iuncta, sed minora,
per quinos elegi pedes ferebant;
misisti et, triplicis metrum trochaei

learned, noble, brave, delicate.
the hexameters went strutting
and with joined footsteps, but smaller,
the elegiacs bore along through five feet apiece;
you also sent, the meter of the triple trochee

spondeo comitante dactyloque,
dulces hendecasyllabos, tuumque
blando faenore Sollium ligasti.
usuram petimurque reddimusque;
nam quod carmine pro tuo rependo,

I promise, with the dactyl accompanying,
sweet hendecasyllables, and you
have bound your Sollius with a coaxing usury.
we are exacted interest and we repay it;
for what I repay with a song in return for yours,

hoc centesima laudium tuarum est.
Quid primum venerer colamque pro te?
ni fallor, patriam patremque iuxta;
qui quamquam sibi vindicare summum
possit iure locum, tamen necesse est

this is the hundredth of your praises.
What first should I venerate and cultivate for you?
unless I am mistaken, your fatherland and your father alike;
who, although he could by right claim for himself the highest
place, nevertheless it is necessary

illam vincere, quae parit parentes.
salve, Narbo potens salubritate,
urbe et rure simul bonus videri,
muris, civibus, ambitu, tabernis,
portis, porticibus, foro, theatro,

that one must prevail, which begets parents.
hail, Narbo, potent in salubrity,
seeming good both in city and in countryside at once,
in walls, in citizens, in extent, in shops,
in gates, in porticoes, in the forum, in the theatre,

delubris, capitoliis, monetis,
thermis, arcubus, horreis, macellis,
pratis, fontibus, insulis, salinis,
stagnis, flumine, merce, ponte, ponto;
unus qui venerere iure divos

with shrines, capitols, mints,
baths, arches, storehouses, market-halls,
meadows, springs, islands, salt-works,
pools, a river, merchandise, a bridge, the sea;
the only one who by right venerates the gods

Lenaeum, Cererem, Palem, Minervam
spicis, palmite, pascuis, trapetis.
solis fise viris nec expetito
naturae auxilio procul relictis
promens montibus altius cacumen,

Lenaean [Bacchus], Ceres, Pales, Minerva
with ears of grain, with vine-shoot, with pastures, with olive-presses.
relying on men alone, and with nature’s aid not sought,
nature’s help left far away, you projecting
a summit higher than the mountains,

non te fossa patens nec hispidarum
obiectu sudium coronat agger;
non tu marmora, bratteam vitrumque,
non testudinis Indicae nitorem,
non si quas eboris trabes refractis

not you does an open fosse nor, by the obstacle of bristling stakes,
a rampart encircle;
not you marbles, gold-foil and glass,
not the sheen of the Indian tortoise-shell,
nor, if there be any, beams of ivory with broken

rostris Marmarici dedere barri,
figis moenibus aureasque portas
exornas asaroticis lapillis;
sed per semirutas superbus arces,
ostendens veteris decus duelli,

the Marmaric elephants have given their tusks to the prows,
you fasten to the walls, and the golden gates
you adorn with asarotic little stones;
but, proud, through half-ruined citadels,
displaying the glory of an old war,

quassatos geris ictibus molares,
laudandis pretiosior ruinis.
sint urbes aliae situ minaces,
quas vires humiles per alta condunt,
et per praecipites locata cristas

you bear large blocks shaken by blows,
more precious for ruins worthy of praise.
let there be other cities menacing by their site,
which humble forces establish along the heights,
and set along precipitous crests

numquam moenia caesa glorientur:
tu pulsate places fidemque fortem
oppugnatio passa publicavit,
Hinc te Martius ille rector atque
magno patre prior, decus Getarum,

let hewn walls never vaunt themselves:
you, though battered, are pleasing, and your stout fidelity
an assault endured has published,
Hence that Martial ruler, and
prior to his great father, the ornament of the Getae,

Romanae columen salusque gentis,
Theudericus amat sibique fidum
adversos probat ante per tumultus.
sed non hinc videare forte turpis,
quod te machina crebra perforavit;

The pillar and salvation of the Roman nation,
Theoderic loves you and deems you faithful to himself
and has already tested you through adverse tumults.
but do not from this perhaps seem shameful,
that the siege-engine, time and again, has pierced you;

namque in corpore fortium virorum
laus est amplior amplior cicatrix.
in castris Marathoniis merentem
vulnus non habuisse grande probrum est:
inter Publicolas manu feroces

for indeed on the body of brave men
the cicatrix is more ample, more ample praise.
for one serving in the Marathonian camps,
not to have had a wound is a great reproach:
among the Publicolae, fierce in hand

trunco Mucius eminet lacerto;
vallum Caesaris opprimente Magno
inter tot facies ab hoste tutas
luscus Scaeva fuit magis decorus.
laus est ardua dura sustinere;

Mucius stands out with a maimed arm;
with Magnus pressing Caesar’s rampart
among so many faces safe from the enemy
the one-eyed Scaeva was more glorious.
it is a lofty praise to endure hard things;

ignavis, timidis et improbatis
multum fingitur otiosa virtus.
Quid quod Caesaribus ferax creandis,
felix prole virum, simul dedisti
natos cum genitore principantes?

for the idle, the timid, and the reprobate,
much otiose virtue is feigned.
What of your being fertile for begetting Caesars,
fortunate in the progeny of men, that at the same time you have given
sons ruling with their sire?

nam quis Persidis expeditionem
aut victricia castra praeteribit
Cari principis et perambulatum
Romanis legionibus Niphaten,
tum cum fulmine captus imperator

for who will overlook the expedition of Persia,
or the victorious camp of the princeps Carus, and Niphates
traversed by Roman legions,
then, when the emperor, seized by a thunderbolt,

vitam fulminibus parem peregit?
His tu civibus, urbe, rure pollens
Consenti mihi gignis alme patrem,
illum cui nitidi sales rigorque
Romanus fuit Attico in lepore.

did he pass a life equal to thunderbolts?
With these citizens, you, powerful in city and countryside
Consentia, kindly, you beget for me a father,
that man for whom gleaming wits and the Roman rigor
were in Attic charm.

100

hunc Miletius et Thales stupere
auditum potuit simulque Lindi est
notus qui Cleobulus inter arces,
et tu, qui, Periandre, de Corintho es,
et tu, quem dederat, Bias, Priene,

this man Thales the Milesian could be astounded at, on hearing,
and likewise he is known to the one of Lindus, who is Cleobulus, among the citadels,
and you, Periander, who are from Corinth,
and you, Bias, whom Priene had given,

105

et tu, Pittace, Lesbius sophistes,
et tu, qui tetricis potens Athenis
vincis Socraticas, Solon, palaestras,
et tu, Tyndareis satus Therapnis,
Chilon, legifero prior Lycurgo.

and you too, Pittacus, Lesbian sophist,
and you too, who in austere Athens are mighty,
you conquer the Socratic palaestras, Solon,
and you too, born of Tyndarean Therapnae,
Chilon, prior to law-bearing Lycurgus.

110

non hic, si voluit vacante cura
quis sit sideribus notare cursus,
diversas Arato vias cucurrit;
non hunc, cum geometricas ad artes
mentem composuit, sequi valebat

not this man, if he wished, with care at leisure,
to note what the course is for the stars,
ran ways divergent from Aratus;
nor, when to the geometric arts
he composed his mind, was it possible to follow him.

115

Euclides spatium sciens Olympi;
non hunc, si voluit rotare rhythmos,
quicquam proposito virum morari
Chrysippus potuisset ex acervo.
hic cum Amphioniae studebat arti

Euclid, knowing the expanse of Olympus;
not him, if he wished to rotate rhythms,
could anything delay the man from his purpose—
not even Chrysippus from his heap could have;
here, when he was studying the Amphionian art

120

plectro, pollice, voce tibiaque,
Thrax vates, deus Arcas atque Phoebus
omni carmine post erant et ipsas
Musas non ita musicas putares.
hic si syrmate cultus et cothurno

with plectrum, thumb, voice, and pipe,
the Thracian bard, the Arcadian god, and Phoebus
were behind in every song, and even the very
Muses you would not judge so musical.
this man, if attired with train and buskin

125

intrasset semel Atticum theatrum,
cessissent Sophocles et Euripides;
aut si pulpita personare socco
comoedus voluisset, huic levato
palmam tu digito dares, Menander.

had he once entered the Attic theater,
Sophocles and Euripides would have yielded;
or if, with the soccus, to make the stage-boards resound,
as a comedian he had wished, to him, with finger raised,
you would award the palm, Menander.

130

hic cum senipedem stilum polibat
Zmyrnaeae cute doctus officinae
aut cum se historiae dabat severae,
primos vix poterant locos tueri
torrens Herodotus, tonans Homerus.

this man, when he was polishing the six-footed stylus,
trained on the hide of the Smyrnaean workshop,
or when he devoted himself to severe history,
the torrential Herodotus, the thundering Homer,
could scarcely maintain the first places.

135

non isto potior fuisset, olim
qui Pandioniam movebat arte
orator caveam tumultuosus,
seu luscum raperetur in Philippum,
causam seu Ctesiphontis actitaret,

no better than this one would have been, of old,
the tumultuous orator who with Pandionian art stirred the cavea,
whether he was swept into attacking one‑eyed Philip,
or whether he was pleading the cause of Ctesiphon,

140

vir semper popularitate crescens
et iuste residens in arce fandi,
qui fabro genitore procreatus
oris maluit expolire limam.
quid vos eloquii canam Latini,

the man ever increasing by popularity
and justly sitting on the citadel of speaking,
who, begotten of a craftsman for a father,
preferred to polish the file of his mouth.
what shall i sing to you of Latin eloquence,

145

Arpinas, Patavine, Mantuane,
et te, comica qui doces, Terenti,
et te, tempore qui satus severo
Graios, Flaute, sales lepore transis,
et te multimoda satis verendum

Arpinate, Paduan, Mantuan,
and you, who teach the comic art, Terence,
and you, who were begotten in a severe time,
surpass the Greek sallies with charm, Plautus,
and you, quite to-be-revered for your many modes

150

scriptorum numerositate, Varro,
et te, qui brevitate, Crispe, polles,
et qui pro ingenio fluente nulli,
Corneli Tacite, es tacendus ori,
et te Massiliensium per hortos

by the numerosity of writings, Varro,
and you, Crispus, who prevail by brevity,
and you who, in flowing genius, are second to none,
Cornelius Tacitus, must be kept silent by my mouth,
and you through the gardens of the Massilians

155

sacri stipitis, Arbiter, colonum
Hellespontiaco parem Priapo,
et te carmina per libidinosa
notum, Naso tener, Tomosque missum,
quondam Caesareae nimis puellae

sacred stake’s cultivator, Arbiter,
equal to the Hellespontiac Priapus,
and you, through libidinous songs
known, tender Naso, and sent to Tomis,
once overly familiar with Caesar’s girl

160

ficto nomine subditum Corinnae?
quid celsos Senecas loquar vel illum
quem dat Bilbilis alta Martialem,
terrarum indigenas Hibericarum?
quid quos duplicibus iugata taedis

substituted under the fictitious name Corinna?
why should I speak of the exalted Senecas, or him
whom lofty Bilbilis gives, Martial,
indigenous to the Iberian lands?
why those who, yoked with double wedding-torches

165

Argentaria pallidat poetas?
quid multos varii stili retexam?
arguti, teneri, graves, dicaces,
si Consentius affuit, latebant.
Huic summi ingenii viro simulque

Does the bank make poets grow pale?
why should I reweave many of diverse style?
keen, tender, grave, dicacious,
if Consentius was present, they lay hidden.
To this man of the highest genius and likewise

170

summae nobilitatis atque formae
iuncta est femina, quae domum ad mariti
prisci insignia transferens Iovini
implevit trabeis larem sophistae.
sic intra proprios tibi penates,

a woman of the highest nobility and beauty
was joined, who, to her husband’s house
transferring the insignia of Priscus Jovinus,
filled the sophist’s hearth with consular trabeae.
thus, for you, within your own Penates,

175

Consenti, patriae decus superbum,
fastis vivit avus paterque libris.
Haec per stemmata te satis potentem,
morum culmine sed potentiorem,
non possim merita sonare laude,

Consentius, proud ornament of the fatherland,
in the Fasti your grandsire lives, and your father in books.
These, through pedigrees, make you sufficiently powerful,
but more powerful by the pinnacle of morals,
I could not sound forth your merits with deserved praise,

180

nec si me Odrysio canens in antro,
qua late trepidantibus fluentis
cautes per Ciconum resultat Hebrus,
princeps instituisset ille vatum,
cum dulces animata saxa chordae

nor, even if, singing in the Odrysian cave,
where, far and wide, with trembling currents,
the Hebrus resounds through the crags of the Cicones,
that prince of bards had instructed me,
when the sweet chords had animated the rocks

185

ferrent per Rhodopen trahente cantu
et versa vice fontibus ligatis
terras currere cogerent anhelas,
nec non Hismara solibus paterent
aurita chelyn expetente silva

would carry through Rhodope as the song drew along
and, with the turn reversed and the springs bound,
would compel the panting lands to run,
and Ismara too would lie open to the suns,
as the forest sought the eared tortoise-shell lyre

190

et nulli resolubiles calori
curvata ruerent nives ab Ossa,
stantem aut Strymona Bistones viderent,
cum carmen rapidus latex sitiret;
nec si Peliaco datus bimembri

and resoluble by no heat
the snows, bent, would rush down from Ossa,
or the Bistones would see the Strymon standing,
when the rapid stream would thirst for a song;
nor even if he were given to the Peleian two-formed

195

ad Centaurica plectra constitissem,
hinnitum duplicis timens magistri;
nec si me docuisset ille fari,
iussus pascere qui gregem est clientis
Amphrysi ad fluvium deus bubulcus,

had I taken my stand at Centaurian strings,
fearing the whinny of my two‑formed master;
nor even if that one had taught me to speak,
the god, a cattle‑herder, who was ordered to pasture the herd of a client
by the river Amphrysus,

200

quod ferrugineos Cyclopas arcu
stravit sub Liparensibus caminis
vibrans plus grave fulmen in sagitta.
Iam primo tenero calentem ab ortu
excepere sinu novem sorores,

for that he struck down the dusky Cyclopes with a bow
beneath the Liparian furnaces, brandishing a heavier thunderbolt in an arrow.
Already from his first tender rising, warm from birth,
the nine sisters received him in their bosom,

205

et te de genetrice vagientem
tinxerunt vitreae vado Hippocrenes:
tunc, hac mersus aqua, loquacis undae
pro fluctu mage litteras bibisti.
hinc tu iam puer aptior magistro,

and you, wailing from your mother,
the glassy waters of Hippocrene dipped you in the ford:
then, plunged in this water, from the loquacious wave
you drank, rather than the surge, letters.
hence you, even as a boy, more apt than your teacher,

210

quicquid rhetoricae institutionis,
quicquid grammaticalis aut palaestrae est,
sicut iam tener hauseras, vorasti.
et iam te aula tulit piusque princeps
inter conspicuos statim locavit,

whatever of rhetorical instruction,
whatever of grammatical or of the palaestra there is,
just as, already tender, you had imbibed, you devoured.
and now the court has borne you and the pious prince
immediately placed you among the conspicuous,

215

consistoria quos habent, tribunos;
iamque et purpureus in arce regni
praeesse officiis tuis solebat,
mores nobilitate quod merebant:
tantum culminis et decus stupendum

tribunes, which the consistories have;
and now even the Purple-wearer in the citadel of the realm
was accustomed to have you preside over the offices,
because your character by nobility merited it:
so great a height and a stupendous honor

220

scripti annalibus indicant honores.
Hinc tu militiam secutus amplam,
castrensem licet ampliare censum
per suffragia iusta debuisses,
sollemnis tamen abstinens lucelli

written in the annals the honors make it known.
Hence you, having pursued an ample military career,
although you ought to have enlarged your military income
by rightful suffrages,
yet, abstaining from the customary petty lucre

225

fama plus locuples domum redisti
solum, quod dederas, tuum putando.
tum si forte fuit quod imperator
Eoas soceri venire in aures
fido interprete vellet et perito,

you returned home richer in fame,
by deeming as yours only what you had given.
then, if by chance there was something that the emperor
wished to come into the Eastern ears of his father-in-law,
he would want it with a faithful and expert interpreter,

230

te commercia duplicis loquelae
doctum solvere protinus legebat.
o, sodes, quotiens tibi loquenti
Byzantina sophos dedere regna,
et te seu Latiariter sonantem 235
tamquam Romulea satum Subura,
seu linguae Argolicae rotunditate
undantem Marathone ceu creatum
plaudentes stupuere Bosphorani
mirati minus Atticos alumnos?

you, skilled to unravel the commerce of double speech,
he would straightway elect to resolve it.
O, pray, how often, as you were speaking,
did the Byzantine realms bestow cries of “sophos,”
and you, whether sounding in Latian fashion 235
as though begotten in the Romulean Subura,
or with the roundedness of the Argolic tongue
billowing, as if created at Marathon,
the Bosporans, applauding, stood amazed,
admiring you as little less than Attic pupils?

240

hinc si foedera solverentur orbis,
pacem te medio darent feroces
Chunus, Sauromates, Getes, Gelonus;
tu Tuncrum et Vachalim, Visurgin, Albin,
Francorum et penitissimas paludes

then, if the covenants of the world were loosed,
the fierce would grant peace with you as mediator—
the Hun, the Sarmatian, the Getae, the Gelon;
you would bring under sway the Tuncrus and the Vahalis, the Weser, the Elbe,
and the innermost marshes of the Franks

245

intrares venerantibus Sigambris
solis moribus inter arma tutus,
tu Maeotida Caspiasque portas,
tu fluxis equitata Bactra Parthis
constans intrepidusque sic adires,

you would enter, the Sigambri paying homage,
safe among arms by character alone,
you would approach the Maeotian and Caspian gates,
you would approach Bactra, ridden by the shifting Parthians
steadfast and intrepid thus you would draw near,

250

ut fastu posito tumentis aulae
qui supra satrapas sedet tyrannus
ructans semideum propinquitates
lunatum tibi flecteret tiaram.
tu, si publica fata non vetarent,

so that, with the haughtiness of the swollen court set aside,
the tyrant who sits above the satraps,
belching demigod propinquities,
would bend to you his lunate tiara.
you, if the public fates did not forbid,

255

ut Byrsam peteres vel Africanae
telluris Tanaiticum rebellem,
confestim posito furore Martis
post piratica damna destinaret
plenas mercibus institor carinas,

so that you might seek Byrsa or the Tanitic rebel of African soil,
immediately, the fury of Mars set aside,
after piratical losses the trader would designate
hulls full with merchandise,

260

et per te bene pace restituta
non ultra mihi bella navigarent.
Iam si seria forte terminantem
te spectacula ceperant theatri,
pallebat chorus omnis histrionum,

and through you, with peace well restored,
no longer would wars sail against me.
Now, if perchance the spectacles of the theater
had seized you as you were finishing serious matters,
the whole chorus of actors grew pale,

265

tamquam si Arcitenens novemque Musae
propter pulpita iudices sederent.
coram te Caramallus aut Phabaton
clausis faucibus et loquente gestu
nutu, crure, genu, manu, rotatu

as if the Bow-bearer and the nine Muses
were sitting as judges beside the stage.
before you Caramallus or Phabathon,
with jaws closed and with gesture speaking,
by nod, by leg, by knee, by hand, by rotation

270

toto in schemate vel semel latebit,
sive Aeetias et suus Iason
inducuntur ibi ferusque Phasis,
qui iactos super arva Colcha dentes
expavit, fruticante cum duello

in the whole schema he will even once lie concealed,
whether Aeetes and his own Jason
are brought on there, and the savage Phasis,
which grew afraid at the teeth cast upon the Colchian fields,
as the duel was sprouting into scrub

275

spicis spicula mixta fluctuarent;
sive prandia quis refert Thyestae
seu vestros, Philomela torva, planctus,
discerptum aut puerum cibumque factum
iamiam coniugis innocentioris;

when darts mixed with ears of grain were billowing;
or if anyone recounts Thyestes’ luncheons
or your laments, grim Philomela,
or the boy torn to pieces and made into food
by now for the husband of the more innocent spouse;

280

seu raptus Tyrios Iovemque taurum
spreto fulmine fronte plus timendum;
seu turris Danaae refertur illic,
cum multum pluvio rigata censu est,
dans plus aurea furta quam metalla;

whether the abduction of the Tyrian maid and Jove the bull,
his thunderbolt scorned, more to be feared for his brow;
or the tower of Danae is recounted there,
when it has been much drenched by a pluvial wealth,
giving more golden thefts than metal;

285

seu Ledam quis agit Phrygemque ephebum
aptans ad cyathos facit Tonanti
suco nectaris esse dulciorem:
seu Martem simulat modo in catenas
missum Lemniacas, modo aut repulso

or whether someone portrays Leda and the Phrygian ephebe,
fitting him to the cups, he makes him sweeter to the Thunderer
than the juice of nectar:
or he simulates Mars now sent into Lemnian chains,
now, or else repelled

290

formam imponit apri caputque saetis
et tergum asperat hispidisque malis
leve incurvat ebur, vel ille fingit
hirtam dorsa feram repanda tela
attritu assiduo cacuminantem;

he imposes the form of a boar and roughens with bristles the head
and the back, and with bristly cheeks
he lightly bends the ivory, or he fashions
the shaggy beast, its back rough, the backward-curved weapons
sharpening to a point by continual rubbing;

295

seu Perseia virgo vindicata
illic luditur harpe coniugali;
seu quod carminis atque fabularum
clausa ad Pergama dat bilustre bellum.
quid dicam citharistrias, choraulas,

whether the Persean maiden rescued—there the conjugal harp is played;
or that twice-illustrious war which song and tales deliver to closed Pergama.
what shall I say of citharists, choraules,

300

mimos, schoenobatas, gelasianos,
cannas, plectra, iocos, palen, rudentem
coram te trepidanter explicare?
nam circensibus ipse quanta ludis
victor gesseris intonante Roma,

mimes, schoenobates, gelasians,
reeds, plectra, jests, wrestling, the rope
to unfold tremblingly before you?
for at the circus-games what great things you yourself,
as victor, have achieved, while Rome was thundering,

305

laetam par fuit exarare Musam.
Ianus forte suas bifrons Kalendas
anni tempora circinante Phoebo
sumendas referebat ad curules.
mos est Caesaris hic die bis uno

it was fitting to inscribe a joyful Muse.
two-faced Janus by chance his own Kalends
with Phoebus compassing the seasons of the year
was declaring to be taken up for the curule seats.
it is the custom of Caesar on this day, twice in one

310

(privatos vocitant) parare ludos.
tunc coetus iuvenum sed aulicorum
Elei simulacra torva campi
exercet spatiantibus quadrigis.
et iam te urna petit cietque raucae

(they call them private) to prepare games.
then a gathering of youths, but of courtiers,
practises the grim simulacra of the Eleian field
with four-horse chariots as they pace.
and now the urn seeks you and the hoarse ... summons

315

acclamatio sibilans coronae;
tum qua est ianua consulumque sedes,
ambit quam paries utrimque senis
cryptis carceribusque fornicatus,
uno e quattuor axe forte lecto

the hissing acclamation of the crowd;
then where is the doorway and the seat of the consuls,
which a wall encircles on either side with six
crypts and prisons, arched,
one axle by chance chosen out of four

320

curvas ingrederis premens habenas.
id collega tuus simulque vobis
pars adversa facit; micant colores,
albus vel venetus, virens rubensque,
vestra insignia. continent ministri

you enter the curves, pressing the reins.
that your teammate does, and likewise against you the opposing side acts;
the colors flash,
white or blue, green and red,
your insignia. the attendants hold them in check

325

ora et lora manus iubasque tortas
cogunt flexilibus latere nodis
hortanturque obiter, iuvantque blandis
ultro plausibus et voluptuosum
dictant quadrupedantibus furorem.

the hands compel mouths and reins and twisted manes
to lie hidden by pliant knots,
and they encourage in passing, and help with soothing
applause unbidden, and they dictate to the quadrupeds
a voluptuous fury as they four-foot along.

330

illi ad claustra fremunt repagulisque
incumbunt simul ac per obseratas
transfumant tabulas et ante cursum
campus flatibus occupatur absens.
impellunt, trepidant, trahunt, repugnant,

they roar at the barriers and upon the bolts
they lie incumbent, and as soon as through the barred
planks they transfume, and before the course
the field, though absent, is occupied by their blasts.
they impel, they trepidate, they drag, they resist,

335

ardescunt, saliunt, timent, timentur,
nec gressum cohibent, sed inquieto
duratum pede stipitem flagellant.
tandem murmure bucinae strepentis
suspensas tubicen vocans quadrigas

they blaze up, they leap, they fear, they are feared,
nor do they restrain their step, but with a restless
foot they flagellate the hardened stake.
at last, with the murmur of the blaring trumpet
the trumpeter calling the suspended chariots

340

effundit celeres in arva currus;
non sic fulminis impetus trisulci,
non pulsa Scythico sagitta nervo,
non sulcus rapide cadentis astri,
non fundis Balearibus rotata 345
umquam sic liquidos poli meatus
rupit plumbea glandium procella.
cedit terra rotis et orbitarum
moto pulvere sordidatur aer;
instant verberibus simul regentes,

he lets loose the swift chariots into the fields;
not so the impetus of the three-pronged thunderbolt,
not the arrow shot from a Scythian string,
not the furrow of a rapidly falling star,
not a stone whirled by Balearic slings 345
has ever thus broken the limpid courses of the sky
as the leaden storm of bullets.
the earth yields to the wheels, and by the ruts’
dust set in motion the air is soiled;
at once the drivers press on with lashes,

350

iamque et pectora prona de covinno
extensi rapiuntur et iugales
trans armos feriunt vacante tergo,
nec cernas cito cernuos magistros
temones mage sufferant an axes.

and now too, with chests prone, stretched out from the chariot
they are snatched away, and the yoke-horses
they strike across the shoulders, the back being vacant,
nor could you quickly discern whether the headlong masters
are borne more by the shafts or by the axles.

355

iam vos ex oculis velut volantes
consumpto spatio patentiore
campus clauserat artus arte factus,
per quem longam, humilem duplamque muro
Euripus sibi machinam tetendit.

already the field, narrow and made by art, had shut you from our eyes as if flying,
once the more open space was consumed;
through it the Euripus stretched for itself a machine long, low, and double with a wall.

360

ut meta ulterior remisit omnes,
fit collega tuus prior duobus,
qui te transierant; ita ipse quartus
gyri condicione tum fuisti.
curae est id mediis, ut ille primus

as the farther turning-post sent all back,
your colleague becomes ahead of two
who had passed you; thus you yourself were fourth
by the condition of the circuit then.
this is a concern to those in the middle, that he be first

365

pressus dexteriore concitatu,
partem si patefecerit sinistram
totas ad podium ferens habenas,
curru praetereatur intus acto.
tu conamine duplicatus ipso

pressed by a right-hand quickening,
if he opens the left side,
bearing all the reins toward the podium,
let him be overtaken with the chariot driven on the inside.
you, your very exertion redoubled

370

stringis quadriiugos et arte summa
in gyrum bene septimum reservas;
instabant alii manu atque voce,
passim et deciduis in arva guttis
rectorum alipedumque sudor ibat.

you tighten the four-horse team, and with utmost art
you keep them well for the seventh circuit in the turn;
others pressed on with hand and with voice,
and everywhere, in falling drops, onto the fields
went the sweat of the drivers and the wing-footed horses.

375

raucus corda ferit fragor faventum
atque ipsis pariter viris equisque
fit cursu calor et timore frigus.
itur sic semel, itur et secundo,
est sic tertius atque quartus orbis;

the raucous roar of the favoring crowd strikes hearts
and in the very men and the horses alike
heat is made by the course and cold by fear.
so they go once, and they go a second time,
thus the third and the fourth circuit;

380

quinto circite non valens sequentum
pondus ferre prior retorquet axem,
quod velocibus imperans quadrigis
exhaustos sibi senserat iugales;
iam sexto reditu perexplicato

in the fifth circuit, not being able to bear the weight of those following,
the leader twists back his axle,
because, commanding the swift quadrigae,
he had sensed his yoke-mates exhausted for him;
now, with the sixth return fully unrolled

385

iamque et praemia flagitante vulgo
pars contraria nil timens tuam vim
securas prior orbitas terebat,
tensis cum subito sinu lupatis,
tensis pectoribus, pede ante fixo,

and now too, with the crowd clamoring for the prizes,
the opposing faction, fearing nothing of your might,
was first grinding out the circuits care-free,
when suddenly, with the wolf-bits in a tightened curve,
with chests strained, with the forefoot planted in front,

390

quantum auriga suos solebat ille
raptans Oenomaum tremente Pisa,
tantum tu rapidos teris iugales.
hic compendia flexuosa metae
unus dum premit, incitatus a te

as much as that charioteer used to with his own,
dragging Oenomaus, with Pisa trembling,
so much you wear down your rapid yoked team.
here the sinuous shortcuts of the turning-post
while one alone presses, incited by you

395

elatas semel impetu quadrigas
iuncto non valuit plicare gyro,
quem tu, quod sine lege praeteriret,
transisti remanens, ab arte restans.
alter dum popularitate gaudet,

the four-horse team, once lifted by an impetus,
he was not able to fold in the close-joined gyre,
whom you, because he would go past without law,
outstripped by remaining, holding fast by art.
another, while he rejoices in popularity,

400

dexter sub cuneis nimis cucurrit.
hunc, dum obliquat iter diuque lentus
sero cornipedes citat flagello,
tortum tramite transis ipse recto.
hic te incautius assecutus hostis

the right-hand rival ran too fast beneath the tiers.
this one, while he slants his course and, slow for a long time,
too late urges on the hoof-footed steeds with the whip,
you yourself pass him, on a straight track, while his is twisted.
here an enemy, having rather incautiously caught up with you

405

sperans anticipasse iam priorem
transversum venit impudens in axem;
incurvantur equi, proterva crurum
intrat turba rotas quaterque terni
artantur radii, repleta donec

hoping he had already outstripped the one in front
shameless he comes crosswise into the axle;
the horses bend aside, the headstrong throng of legs
enters the wheels, and four times three
spokes are compressed, until it is filled

410

intervalla crepent volubilisque
frangat margo pedes; ibi ipse quintus
curru praecipitatus obruente
montem multiplici facit ruina,
turpans prociduam cruore frontem.

let the intervals rattle and the rolling
rim shatter feet; there he himself, the fifth,
hurled headlong, the chariot burying him,
makes a mountain with manifold ruin,
defiling his fallen brow with gore.

415

miscet cuncta fragor resuscitatus,
quantum non cyparissifer Lycaeus,
quantum non nemorosa tollit Ossa
crebras inrequieta per procellas,
quantum nec reboant volutae ab austro

the resuscitated crash mixes all things,
more than cypress-bearing Lycaeus,
more than leafy Ossa raises frequent uproars
through restless tempests,
more than the things rolled by the south wind re-echo

420

Doris Trinacris aut, voraginoso
quae vallat sale Bosphorum, Propontis.
hic mox praecipit aequus imperator
palmis serica, torquibus coronas
coniungi et meritum remunerari,

Sicilian Doris, or the Propontis, which girds the Bosporus with voraginous brine.
hereupon the equitable emperor soon commands
that crowns, silks, and neck-torques be placed in their palms,
and that desert be remunerated,

425

victis ire iubens satis pudendis
villis versicoloribus tapetas.
Iam vero iuvenalibus peractis
quem te praebueris sequente in aevo
intra aulam soceri mei expetitus

ordering tapestries with versicolored nap, quite shameful, to go to the conquered.
Now indeed, with juvenile matters completed,
what you will have shown yourself to be in the following age,
sought within the hall of my father-in-law

430

curam cum moderatus es Palati,
chartis posterioribus loquemur,
si plus temporibus vacat futuris;
nunc quam diximus hospitalitatem
paucis personet obsequens Thalia.

when you have moderated the care of the Palace,
we shall speak in later papers,
if more leisure is available in future times;
now let the hospitality which we have spoken of
resound in a few words by obliging Thalia.

435

O dulcis domus, o pii penates,
quos (res difficilis sibique discors)
libertas simul excolit pudorque!
o convivia, fabulae, libelli,
risus, serietas, dicacitates,

O sweet home, o pious Penates,
whom (a difficult thing and at odds with itself)
liberty and modesty together cultivate!
o convivial feasts, fables, little books,
laughter, seriousness, witticisms,

440

occursus, comitatus unus idem,
seu delubra dei colenda nobis,
tecta illustria seu videnda Livi,

encounters, a retinue one and the same,
whether the shrines of the god to be worshiped by us,
or the illustrious roofs of Livy to be seen,

445

sive ad pontificem gradus ferendi,

or whether steps are to be taken to the pontiff,

443

sive ad culmina Marcii Myronis,
sive ad doctiloqui Leonis aedes

whether to the summits of Marcius Myron,
or to the doctiloquent Leo’s house

446

(quo bis sex tabulas docente iuris
ultro Claudius Appius lateret
claro obscurior in decemviratu;
at si dicat epos metrumque rhythmis

(under whose teaching of law
nay, even Appius Claudius would lie hidden,
more obscure in the famous decemvirate;
but if he should speak an epic and yoke the meter to rhythms

450

flectat commaticis tonante plectro,
mordacem faciat silere Flaccum,
quamvis post satiras lyramque tendat
ille ad Pindaricum volare cygnum);
seu nos, Magne, tuus favor tenebat,

let him bend to commatic measures with a thundering plectrum,
let him make mordacious Flaccus fall silent,
although after the Satires and though he stretch the lyre
he aims to fly toward the Pindaric swan);
or if, Magnus, your favor was holding us,

455

multis praedite dotibus virorum,
forma, nobilitate, mente, censu;
(cuius si varios eam per actus,
centum et ferrea lasset ora laude,
constans, ingeniosus efficaxque,

endowed with many manly endowments,
in form, nobility, mind, wealth;
(of whom, if I should go through his various acts,
a hundred iron mouths would be wearied with laud,
steadfast, ingenious, and efficacious,

460

prudens arbiter, optimus propinquus,
nil fraudans genii sibi vel ulli
pevsonas, loca, tempus intuendo);
seu nos atria vestra continebant,
Marcelline meus, perite legum

prudent arbiter, best kinsman,
defrauding the genius in nothing, for himself or for anyone,
by considering persons, places, time);
whether your atria were holding us,
my Marcelline, skilled in the laws

465

(qui, verax nimis et nimis severus,
asper crederis esse nescienti;
at si te bene quispiam probavit,
noscit quod velit ipse iudicare;
nam numquam metuis loqui quod aequum est,

(who, too veracious and too severe,
you are thought harsh by the unknowing;
but if someone has well approved you,
he knows that he himself wishes to judge;
for you never fear to speak what is equitable,

470

si te Sulla premat ferusque Carbo,
si tristes Marii trucesque Cinnae,
et si forte tuum caput latusque
circumstent gladii triumvirales);
seu nos Limpidii lares habebant,

(if Sulla should press you and fierce Carbo,
if the gloomy Mariuses and the truculent Cinnae,
and if by chance your head and flank
be surrounded by the triumviral swords);
or whether the Lares of Limpidius were hosting us,

475

civis magnifici virique summi,
fraternam bene regulam sequentis;
seu nos eximii simul tenebat
nectens officiositas Marini,
cuius sedulitas sodalitasque

of a magnificent citizen and of a supreme man,
one following well the fraternal rule;
or the dutifulness of Marinus, eximious, was holding us together,
interlacing,
whose sedulity and sodality

480

aeterna mihi laude sunt colendae;
seu quoscumque alios videre fratres
cordi utrique fuit, quibus vacasse
laudandam reor occupationem;
horum nomina cum referre versu

are to be honored by me with eternal laud;
or whichever other brethren to see
was dear to each of our hearts, for whom I reckon
the having been at leisure a laudable occupation;
when to recount the names of these in verse

485

affectus cupiat, metrum recusat.
Hinc nos ad propriam domum vocabas,
cum mane exierat novum et calescens
horam sol dabat alteram secundam.
hic promens teretes pilas trochosque,

though affection may desire it, the meter refuses.
Hence you were calling us to your own house,
when the morning had come forth new and warming
the sun was giving the second hour.
here, bringing out terete balls and hoops,

490

hic talos crepitantibus fritillis
nos ad verbera tractuum struentes,
tamquam Naupliades, repertor artis,
gaudebas hilarem ciere rixam.
hinc ad balnea, non Neroniana

here, with knucklebones and rattling dice-boxes,
you, arranging us at the striped tracks of the board,
like the Naupliad, inventor of the art,
took delight in stirring up a cheerful quarrel.
from here to the baths, not the Neronian

495

nec quae Agrippa dedit vel ille cuius
bustum Dalmaticae vident Salonae,
ad thermas tamen ire, sed libebat
privato bene praebitas pudori.
post quas nos tua pocula et tuarum

not those which Agrippa gave, nor those of him whose
tomb the Dalmatian Salonae behold;
to the baths, however, to go, but you preferred
those well provided for private modesty.
after which, your cups and of your

500

Musarum medius torus tenebat,
quales nec statuas imaginesque
aere aut marmoribus coloribusque
Mentor, Praxiteles, Scopas dederunt,
quantas nec Polycletus ipse finxit

The middle couch of the Muses was holding us,
statues and images such as neither
in bronze or in marbles and in colors
Mentor, Praxiteles, Scopas gave,
nor as great as Polyclitus himself fashioned.

505

nec fit Fidiaco figura caelo.
Sed iam te veniam loquacitati
quingenti hendecasyllabi precantur.
tantum, etsi placeat, poema longum est.
iam iam sufficit, ipse et impediris

nor is a figure fashioned by a Phidian chisel.
But now five hundred hendecasyllables beg you for pardon for talkativeness.
only, even if it pleases, the poem is long.
now now it suffices, you yourself too are hindered

510

multum in carmine perlegens amicum,
dormitantibus otiosiorem.

reading through much of a friend in the poem,
more otiose for those dozing.

CARMEN XXIV

POEM 24

PANEGYRICUS.

PANEGYRIC.

PROPEMPTICON AD LIBELLUM.
Egressus foribus meis, libelle,
hanc servare viam, precor, memento,
quae nostros bene ducit ad sodales,
quorum nomina sedulus notavi;
antiquus tibi nec teratur agger,

PROPEMPTICON TO THE LITTLE BOOK.
Having gone out from my doors, little book,
remember, I pray, to keep this road
which well leads to our comrades,
whose names I have sedulously noted;
nor let the ancient causeway be worn down for you,

cuius per spatium satis vetustis
nomen Caesareum viret columnis;
sed sensim gradere, et moras habendo
affectum celerem moves amicis.
Ac primum Domiti larem severi

through whose span the Caesarean name is verdant upon quite ancient columns;
but step gently, and by holding delays
you stir a swift affection in friends.
And first the Lar of stern Domitius

intrabis trepidantibus Camenis:
tam censorius haud fuit vel ille,
quem risisse semel ferunt in aevo;
sed gaudere potes rigore docto:
hic si te probat, omnibus placebis.

you will enter with the Muses trembling:
not even that one was so censorious,
whom they say laughed once in his lifetime;
but you can rejoice in learned rigor:
if he approves you here, you will please all.

hinc te suscipiet benigna Brivas,
sancti quae fovet ossa Iuliani,
quae dum mortua mortuis putantur,
vivens e tumulo micat potestas.
hinc iam dexteriora carpis arva

from here benign Brivas will receive you,
which cherishes the bones of Saint Julian,
which, though the dead are reckoned dead by the dead,
a living power flashes from the tomb.
from here now you take the more rightward fields

emensusque iugum die sub uno
flavum crastinus aspicis Triobrem;
tum terram Gabalum satis nivosam
et, quantum indigenae volunt putari,
sublimem in puteo videbis urbem.

and having traversed the ridge in a single day
on the morrow you behold the golden Triobre;
then the land of the Gabali, quite snowy,
and, as much as the natives wish it to be reckoned,
you will see a lofty city in a well.

hinc te temporis ad mei Laconas
Iustinum rapies suumque fratrem,
quorum notus amor per orbis ora
calcat Pirithoumque Theseumque
et fidum rabidi sodalem Orestae.

from here you will snatch yourself to the Laconians of my time
Justin and his brother,
whose noted love through the world’s shores
tramples Pirithous and Theseus
and the faithful comrade of rabid Orestes.

horum cum fueris sinu receptus,
ibis Trevidon et calumniosis
vicinum nimis, heu, iugum Rutenis.
hic docti invenies patrem Tonanti,
rectorem columenque Galliarum,

when you have been received into the bosom of these men,
you will go to Trevidon and to the ridge,
too near a neighbor, alas, to the calumnious Ruteni.
here you will find the father of learned Tonantius,
the ruler and pillar of the Gauls,

prisci Ferreolum parem Syagri,
coniunx Papianilla quem pudico
curas participans iuvat labore,
qualis nec Tanaquil fuit nec illa,
quam tu, Tricipitine, procreasti,

Ferreolus, the peer of ancient Syagrius,
whose spouse Papianilla, sharing his cares, helps him with modest labor,
such as neither Tanaquil was nor that one,
whom you, Tricipitine, begot,

qualis nec Phrygiae dicata Vestae
quae contra satis Albulam tumentem
duxit virgineo ratem capillo.
hinc te Laesora, Caucason Scytharum
vincens, aspiciet citusque Tarnis,

such as not even she dedicated to the Phrygian Vesta,
who, against the sufficiently swelling Albula,
led a raft with maidenly hair.
from here Laesora, conquering the Scythians’ Caucasus,
will look upon you, and the swift Tarnis,

limosum et solido sapore pressum
piscem perspicua gerens in unda.
hic Zeti et Calais tibi adde pennas
nimbosumque iugum fugax caveto:
namque est assiduae ferax procellae;

muddy and pressed with solid savor
bearing fish in the transparent wave.
here add to yourself the wings of Zetes and Calais
and, as one in flight, beware the cloud-laden ridge:
for it is fertile of incessant storm;

sed quamvis rapido ferare cursu,
lassum te Voroangus obtinebit.
nostrum hic invenies Apollinarem,
seu contra rabidi leonis aestus
vestit frigore marmorum penates,

but although you be borne in rapid course,
the Voroangus will catch you wearied.
here you will find our Apollinaris,
whether against the heats of the raging Lion
he clothes his Penates with the chill of marbles,

sive hortis spatiatur in repostis,
quales mellifera virent in Hybla,
quales Corycium senem beantes
fuscabat picei latex Galaesi;
sive inter violas, thymum, ligustrum,

whether he strolls in secluded gardens,
such as grow green in melliferous Hybla,
such as, blessing the Corycian old man,
the liquid of pitchy Galaesus shaded;
or among violets, thyme, privet,

serpyllum, casiam, crocum atque caltam,
narcissos hyaeinthinosque flores
spernit quam pretii petitor ampli
glaebam turifer advehit Sabaeus;
seu ficto potius specu quiescit

wild thyme, cassia, crocus and marigold,
narcissi and hyacinthine flowers
he spurns—the clod which the seeker of ample price,
the incense-bearing Sabaean, brings in;
or rather he rests in a fashioned grotto

collis margine, qua nemus reflexum
nativam dare porticum laborans
non lucum arboribus facit, sed antrum.
quis pomaria prisca regis Indi
hic nunc comparet aureasque vites

on the margin of the hill, where the grove, bending back, laboring to give a native portico,
does not make a grove with trees, but a cavern.
who would now compare here the ancient orchards of the Indian king,
and golden vines?

electro viridante pampinatas,
cum Porus posuit crepante gaza
fulvo ex palmite vineam metalli
gemmarum fluitantibus racemis?
Hinc tu Cottion ibis atque Avito

vine-leafed with greening electrum,
when Porus set up, with clinking treasure,
from a tawny vine-shoot a vineyard of metal,
with the swaying clusters of gems?
Hence you will go to Cottius and to Avitus

nostro dicis 'ave '; dehinc 'valeto'.
debes obsequium viro perenne.
nam, dent hinc veniam mei propinqui,
non nobis prior est parens amico.
hinc te iam Fidulus, decus bonorum

to our man you say 'hail '; then 'farewell'.
you owe perennial deference to the man.
for, let my kinsmen grant pardon in this,
no parent is prior to a friend for us.
hence now Fidulus, the glory of the good

et nec Tetradio satis secundus
morum dotibus aut tenore recti,
sancta suscipit hospitalitate.
exin tende gradum Tribusque Villis
Thaumastum expete, quemlibet duorum:

and, by no means second to Tetradius
in moral endowments or in the tenor of rectitude,
he receives with sacred hospitality.
thereafter stretch your step, and at the Three Villas
seek Thaumastus, whichever of the two:

quorum iunior est mihi sodalis
et collega simul graduque frater;
quod si fors senior tibi invenitur,
hunc pronus prope patruum saluta.
hinc ad consulis ampla tecta Magni

of whom the younger is my companion
and at once a colleague and a brother by grade;
but if by chance the elder is found by you,
salute him readily, almost as an uncle.
from here to the ample halls of the consul Magnus

Felicemque tuum veni, libelle;
et te bybliotheca qua paterna est,
qualis nec tetrici fuit Filagri,
admitti faciet Probus probatum;
hic saepe Eulaliae meae legeris,

and come, little booklet, felicitous in your own right;
and into that bibliotheca which is ancestral,
such as not even the dour Philagrius possessed,
Probus will cause you, approved, to be admitted;
here you will often be read by my Eulalia,

cuius Cecropiae pares Minervae
mores et rigidi senes et ipse
quondam purpureus socer timebant.
Sed iam sufficit: ecce linque portum;
ne te pondere plus premam saburrae,

whose mores, equal to the Cecropian Minerva,
the rigid elders and even the purple-clad father-in-law once feared.
But now it suffices: behold, leave the harbor;
lest I press you down more with the weight of ballast,

100

his in versibus ancoram levato.

with these verses, raise the anchor.