Silius Italicus: PUNICA

Ordior arma, quibus caelo se gloria tollit
Aeneadum, patiturque ferox Oenotria iura
Carthago. da, Musa, decus memorare laborum
antiquae Hesperiae, quantosque ad bella crearit
et quot Roma uiros, sacri cum perfida pacti            5
gens Cadmea super regno certamina mouit,
quaesitumque diu, qua tandem poneret arce
terrarum Fortuna caput. ter Marte sinistro
iuratumque Ioui foedus conuentaque patrum
Sidonii fregere duces, atque impius ensis            10
ter placitam suasit temerando rumpere pacem.
sed medio finem bello excidiumque uicissim
molitae gentes, propiusque fuere periclo
quis superare datum: reserauit Dardanus arces
ductor Agenoreas, obsessa Palatia uallo            15

I begin the arms, by which to heaven the glory of the Aeneads lifts itself,
and Carthage, fierce, suffers Oenotria’s laws.
Grant, Muse, to recount the honor of the labors
of ancient Hesperia, and how many men for wars she created,
and how many men Rome, when the Cadmean race, treacherous to the sacred pact,            5
stirred contests over the kingship,
and long it was sought in what citadel at last Fortune would set
the head of the lands. Thrice, with Mars adverse,
the treaty sworn to Jove and the agreements of the fathers
the Sidonian leaders broke, and the impious sword            10
by profaning thrice counseled to rupture the peace once agreed.
But in the midst the nations in turn strove for an end to the war and for destruction,
and those to whom it was granted to overcome were nearer to peril:
the Dardan leader unbarred the Agenorean citadels,
the Palatia were besieged with a rampart.            15

Poenorum ac muris defendit Roma salutem.
     Tantarum causas irarum odiumque perenni
seruatum studio et mandata nepotibus arma
fas aperire mihi superasque recludere mentes.
iamque adeo magni repetam primordia motus.            20
     Pygmalioneis quondam per caerula terris
pollutum fugiens fraterno crimine regnum
fatali Dido Libyes appellitur orae.

and Rome defended her safety with Punic walls and with her ramparts.
     It is right for me to lay open the causes of such great wraths and the odium preserved with perennial zeal, and the arms mandated to descendants, and to reclude the minds above.
and now indeed I shall seek back the beginnings of the great commotion.            20
     Once, from the Pygmalionian lands, across the cerulean, fleeing a realm polluted by a fraternal crime, Dido by fate makes landfall on the Libyan shore.

tum pretio mercata locos noua moenia ponit,
cingere qua secto permissum litora tauro. 25
hic Iuno ante Argos (sic credidit alta uetustas),
ante Agamemnoniam, gratissima tecta, Mycenen
optauit profugis aeternam condere gentem.
uerum ubi magnanimis Romam caput urbibus alte
exerere ac missas etiam trans aequora classes 30

then, having bargained for the places at a price, she sets up new walls,
where it was permitted to encircle the shores with a bull-hide cut up. 25
here Juno—before Argos (thus did lofty antiquity believe),
before Agamemnonian Mycenae, her most pleasing roofs—
chose to found for the exiles an eternal nation.
but when Rome, the head of magnanimous cities, began on high
to rear itself and even to send fleets across the seas, 30

totum signa uidet uictricia ferre per orbem,
iam propius metuens bellandi corda furore
Phoenicum extimulat. sed enim conamine primae
contuso pugnae fractisque in gurgite coeptis
Sicanio Libycis, iterum instaurata capessens            35
arma remolitur; dux agmina sufficit unus
turbanti terras pontumque mouere paranti.
     Iamque deae cunctas sibi belliger induit iras
Hannibal: hunc audet solum componere fatis.
sanguineo tum laeta uiro atque in regna Latini            40
turbine mox saeuo uenientum haud inscia cladum,
'Intulerit Latio, spreta me, Troius' inquit
'exul Dardaniam et bis numina capta penates
sceptraque fundarit uictor Lauinia Teucris,
dum Romana tuae, Ticine, cadauera ripae            45

she sees the victorious standards carry through the whole world,
now, drawing nearer and afraid, she goads the hearts of the Phoenicians to the fury of warring.
but indeed, with the effort of the first fight bruised and the beginnings for the Libyans shattered in the Sicanian whirlpool,
again, taking up arms renewed, she sets them in motion; one leader suffices for the ranks
to him who is disturbing the lands and preparing to move the deep.35
And now Hannibal puts on to himself all the warlike wraths of the goddess:
she dares to match this man alone with the fates.
then, rejoicing in the blood-stained man and not unknowing that into the realms of Latin
a savage whirlwind of coming disasters would soon come, she says, ‘The Trojan exile,
with me spurned, has brought Dardania into Latium and, the divine powers and Penates twice captured,40
has founded the Lavinian scepters for the Teucrians,
so long as, O Ticino, the Roman corpses are on your banks.’45

non capiant, famulusque mihi per Celtica rura
sanguine Pergameo Trebia et stipantibus armis
corporibusque uirum retro fluat, ac sua largo
stagna reformidet Trasimennus turbida tabo,
dum Cannas tumulum Hesperiae campumque cruore            50
Ausonio mersum sublimis Iapyga cernam
teque uadi dubium coeuntibus, Aufide, ripis
per clipeos galeasque uirum caesosque per artus
uix iter Hadriaci rumpentem ad litora ponti.'
haec ait ac iuuenem facta ad Mauortia flammat.            55
     Ingenio motus auidus fideique sinister
is fuit, exuperans astu, sed deuius aequi.
armato nullus diuum pudor: improba uirtus
et pacis despectus honos, penitusque medullis
sanguinis humani flagrat sitis. his super, aeui            60

may not contain them, and let the Trebia, my servant, through the Celtic fields,
with Pergamean blood and with arms and bodies of men crowding it, flow backward; and let Trasimene
fear its own pools, turbid with copious gore, and shrink; until I behold Cannae
a burial-mound of Hesperia and the plain submerged with Ausonian blood,            50
from aloft on the Iapyx, and you too, O Aufidus, doubtful of ford with the banks coming together,
scarcely breaking a path to the shores of the Adriatic sea
through men’s shields and helmets and through the hewn limbs of the slain.'
She said these things and inflames the youth to Mavortian deeds.            55
     By temperament he was greedy when stirred and ill toward good faith,
preeminent in craft, but straying from the just.
for the man in arms there was no reverence of the gods: a shameless valor,
and the honor of peace despised, and deep in his marrow
a thirst for human blood blazes. Besides these, of his age            60

flore uirens hauet Aegatis abolere, parentum
dedecus, ac Siculo demergere foedera ponto.
dat mentem Iuno ac laudum spe corda fatigat.
iamque aut nocturno penetrat Capitolia uisu
aut rapidis fertur per summas passibus Alpis. 65
saepe etiam famuli turbato ad limina somno
expauere trucem per uasta silentia uocem
ac largo sudore uirum inuenere futuras
miscentem pugnas et inania bella gerentem.

flourishing in his bloom he longs to abolish the Aegates, the disgrace of his forefathers, and to sink the treaties in the Sicilian deep.
Juno gives him purpose and wears out his heart with hope of praises.
and now either he penetrates the Capitoline by nocturnal vision
or is borne with rapid steps over the highest Alps. 65
often even the servants, their sleep disturbed at the thresholds,
have started at a savage voice through the vast silences,
and in copious sweat they have found the man commingling future battles
and waging inane wars.

Hanc rabiem in finis Italum Saturniaque arua 70
addiderat iam tum puero ~patrius furor oscus~
Sarrana prisci Barcae de gente uetustos
a Belo numerabat auos. namque orba marito
cum fugeret Dido famulam Tyron, impia diri
Belides iuuenis uitauerat arma tyranni 75

To this rabid rage against the bounds of the Italians and the Saturnian fields 70
the ~paternal Oscan fury~ had already, even then when a boy, added;
he counted as his ancient grandsires from Belus, from the Tyrian gens of old Barca.
for when Dido, bereft of her husband, was fleeing servile Tyre, a Belid youth
had shunned the impious arms of the dread tyrant. 75

et se participem casus sociarat in omnis.
nobilis hoc ortu et dextra spectatus Hamilcar,
ut fari primamque datum distinguere lingua
Hannibali uocem, sollers nutrire furores,
Romanum seuit puerili in pectore bellum.            80
     Vrbe fuit media sacrum genetricis Elissae
manibus et patria Tyriis formidine cultum,
quod taxi circum et piceae squalentibus umbris
abdiderant caelique arcebant lumine, templum.
hoc sese, ut perhibent, curis mortalibus olim             85
exuerat regina loco.

and had allied himself as a participant in all fortunes.
Hamilcar, noble in this origin and renowned for his right hand,
when it was granted to speak and to distinguish with the tongue
for Hannibal his first voice, adept at nourishing furies,
he sowed Roman war in the boyish breast.            80
     In the middle of the city there was a shrine of mother Elissa,
sacred to her Manes and, by the Tyrians of the fatherland, worshiped with dread,
a temple which the yews and pitch-pines around, with squalid shades,
had hidden and were warding off the light of the sky.
here, as they report, the queen had once divested herself of mortal cares in this place.            85

stant marmore maesto
effigies, Belusque parens omnisque nepotum
a Belo series, stat gloria gentis Agenor
et qui longa dedit terris cognomina Phoenix.
ipsa sedet tandem aeternum coniuncta Sychaeo. 90

effigies stand in mournful marble,
and Belus the parent and the whole series of descendants
from Belus; the glory of the race, Agenor, stands,
and Phoenix, who gave long cognomina to the lands.
she herself sits at last, eternally joined to Sychaeus. 90

ante pedes ensis Phrygius iacet, ordine centum
stant arae caelique deis Ereboque potenti.
hic, crine effuso, atque Hennaeae numina diuae
atque Acheronta uocat Stygia cum ueste sacerdos.
immugit tellus rumpitque horrenda per umbras 95
sibila; inaccensi flagrant altaribus ignes.

before the feet lies a Phrygian sword, in order a hundred
altars stand, for the gods of heaven and of mighty Erebus.
here, with hair unbound, and the numina of the Hennaean goddess,
and Acheron the priest calls upon, in Stygian vesture.
the earth bellows and bursts forth dreadful hisses through the shades 95
unkindled fires blaze on the altars.

tum magico uolitant cantu per inania manes
exciti, uultusque in marmore sudat Elissae.
Hannibal haec patrio iussu ad penetralia fertur,
ingressique habitus atque ora explorat Hamilcar.            100
non ille euhantis Massylae palluit iras,
non diros templi ritus aspersaque tabo
limina et audito surgentis carmine flammas.
     Olli permulcens genitor caput oscula libat
attollitque animos hortando et talibus implet:            105

then by a magical chant the shades, roused, flit through the void;
and Elissa’s face sweats in the marble.
Hannibal, by his father’s command, is borne to the innermost sancta,
and Hamilcar, upon entering, examines the appearances and the faces.            100
he did not grow pale at the rages of the Euhoe-crying Massylian,
nor at the dire rites of the temple and the thresholds splashed with gore,
and at the flames that, once the chant is heard, spring up.
     To him his begetter, soothing his head, offers kisses,
and by exhorting he lifts his spirits and fills him with such words:            105

'Gens recidiua Phrygum Cadmeae stirpis alumnos
foederibus non aequa premit. si fata negarint
dedecus id patriae nostra depellere dextra,
haec tua sit laus, nate, uelis. age, concipe bella
latura exitium Laurentibus: horreat ortus 110
iam pubes Tyrrhena tuos, partusque recusent
te surgente, puer, Latiae producere matres.'
his acuit stimulis subicitque haud mollia dictu:
'Romanos terra atque undis, ubi competet aetas,
ferro ignique sequar Rhoeteaque fata reuoluam. 115
non superi mihi, non Martem cohibentia pacta,
non celsae obstiterint Alpes Tarpeiaque saxa.

'The reborn race of the Phrygians oppresses the pupils of the Cadmean stock with treaties not equal. If the fates should deny that disgrace to our fatherland to be driven off by my right hand, let this be your praise, son, if you will. Come, conceive wars that will bring destruction to the Laurentine folk: let the Tyrrhene youth already shudder at your origins, 110
and let the Latin mothers, as you rise, boy, refuse to bring forth offspring.'
With these goads he sharpens him and adds words not soft to say:
'I will pursue the Romans on land and on the waves, when my age is fit, with iron and fire, and I will roll back the Rhoetean fates. 115
Neither the gods above for me, nor pacts restraining Mars, nor the lofty Alps and the Tarpeian rocks shall have stood in the way.

hanc mentem iuro nostri per numina Martis,
per manes, regina, tuos.' tum nigra triformi
hostia mactatur diuae, raptimque recludit 120

I swear this purpose by the numina of our Mars,
by your shades, O queen.' Then a black victim is sacrificed to the triple-formed
goddess, and he swiftly opens 120

spirantis artus poscens responsa sacerdos
ac fugientem animam properatis consulit extis.
Ast ubi quaesitas artis de more uetustae
intrauit mentes superum, sic deinde profatur:
'Aetolos late consterni milite campos 125
Idaeoque lacus flagrantis sanguine cerno.
quanta procul moles scopulis ad sidera tendit,
cuius in aerio pendent tua uertice castra!

the priest, demanding answers from the breathing limbs,
and he consults the fleeing spirit in the hurried entrails.
But when, according to the usage of the ancient art,
the sought responses had entered the minds of the gods, he then speaks forth thus:
'I behold the Aetolian fields far and wide strewn with soldiery, 125
and the Idaean lakes blazing with blood. How great a mass, afar,
with its crags reaches toward the stars,
on whose airy summit your encampments hang!

iamque iugis agmen rapitur: trepidantia fumant
moenia, et Hesperio tellus porrecta sub axe 130
Sidoniis lucet flammis. fluit ecce cruentus
Eridanus. iacet ore truci super arma uirosque
tertia qui tulerit sublimis opima Tonanti.

and now the column is swept along the ridges: the trembling walls smoke, and the land stretched beneath the hesperian axis shines with sidonian flames. 130
behold, bloody Eridanus flows. he lies with a grim visage upon arms and men—
he who, aloft, has borne the third rich spoils to the Thunderer.

heu quaenam subitis horrescit turbida nimbis
tempestas, ruptoque polo micat igneus aether! 135

Alas, what tempest, turbid with sudden nimbus-clouds, shudders,
and the igneous aether flashes, the pole ruptured! 135

magna parant superi: tonat alti regia caeli,
bellantemque Iouem cerno.' uenientia fata
scire ultra uetuit Iuno, fibraeque repente
conticuere: latent casus longique labores.
     Sic clausum linquens arcano pectore bellum            140
atque hominum finem Gadis Calpenque secutus,
dum fert Herculeis Garamantica signa columnis,
occubuit saeuo Tyrius certamine ductor.
     Interea rerum Hasdrubali traduntur habenae,
occidui qui solis opes et uulgus Hiberum            145
Baeticolasque uiros furiis agitabat iniquis.

the high gods prepare great things: the palace of lofty heaven thunders,
and I behold Jupiter warring.' Juno forbade to know further the coming fates,
and the entrails suddenly fell silent: disasters and long labors lie hidden.
     Thus, leaving the war shut within his secret breast,            140
and having followed to the limit of humankind Gades and Calpe,
while he carries the Garamantian standards to the Herculean columns,
the Tyrian leader fell in cruel combat.
     Meanwhile the reins of affairs are handed over to Hasdrubal,
who was goading with iniquitous furies the wealth of the setting sun and the Iberian throng            145
and the Baeticolan men.

tristia corda duci, simul immedicabilis ira,
et fructus regni feritas erat; asper amore
sanguinis, et metui demens credebat honorem,
nec nota docilis poena satiare furores. 150

the leader’s heart was grim, and at the same time an irremediable wrath,
and the fruit of his reign was ferity; harsh in his love
of blood, and, demented, he believed being feared to be honor,
nor could a punishment, known to make one docile, sate his frenzies. 150

ore excellentem et spectatum fortibus ausis
antiqua de stirpe Tagum, superumque hominumque
immemor, erecto suffixum robore maestis
ostentabat ouans populis sine funere regem.
auriferi Tagus ascito cognomine fontis 155
perque antra et ripas nymphis ululatur Hiberis.
Maeonium non ille uadum, non Lydia mallet
stagna sibi, nec qui riguo perfunditur auro
campum atque inlatis Hermi flauescit harenis.

distinguished in countenance and renowned for brave ventures,
Tagus, from ancient stock; and, unmindful of gods and men,
he, exulting, displayed to the mournful peoples the king affixed
to an upright timber, without funeral rites.
the gold-bearing Tagus, with the assumed cognomen of the fountain, 155
is ululated through caverns and along the banks by Iberian nymphs.
He would not prefer for himself the Maeonian ford, nor the Lydian
pools, nor the field which is drenched with irrigating gold
and grows yellow with the brought-in sands of the Hermus.

primus inire manu, postremus ponere Martem. 160
cum rapidum effusis ageret sublimis habenis
quadrupedem, non ense uirum, non eminus hasta
sistere erat: uolitabat ouans aciesque per ambas
iam Tagus auratis agnoscebatur in armis.
quem postquam diro suspensum robore uidit 165

the first to enter hand-to-hand, the last to lay down Mars. 160
when, aloft, with loosened reins he was driving the rapid steed,
there was no stopping the man with sword, nor from afar with spear:
he was flitting exultant, and through both battle-lines
by now Tagus was being recognized in aurate arms.
whom, after he saw suspended on a dire trunk, 165

deformem leti famulus, clam corripit ensem
dilectum domino pernixque inrumpit in aulam
atque immite ferit geminato uulnere pectus.
at Poeni, succensa ira turbataque luctu
et saeuis gens laeta, ruunt tormentaque portant.            170
non ignes candensque chalybs, non uerbera passim
ictibus innumeris lacerum scindentia corpus,
carnificaeue manus penitusue infusa medullis
pestis et in medio lucentes uulnere flammae
cessauere; ferum uisu dictuque, per artem            175
saeuitiae extenti, quantum tormenta iubebant
creuerunt artus, atque omni sanguine rapto
ossa liquefactis fumarunt feruida membris.
mens intacta manet: superat ridetque dolores
spectanti similis, fessosque labore ministros            180

hideous in death, a servant, secretly snatches up the sword
beloved to his master, and nimbly bursts into the hall
and strikes his pitiless breast with a twin wound.
But the Carthaginians, their anger kindled and disturbed by grief,
and a people glad in savageries, rush in and bring tortures.            170
neither fires and white‑hot chalybs, nor scourges everywhere
rending asunder the torn body with numberless blows,
nor carnificial hands, nor the plague poured deep into the marrows,
and flames shining in the midst of the wound,
brought any cessation; savage to see and to say, by the craft            175
of cruelty, stretched out, as far as the torments commanded,
the limbs “grew,” and, with all blood snatched away,
the bones smoked, seething, in the liquefied members.
The mind remains untouched: he overmasters and laughs at the pains,
like one looking on, and at the ministers wearied with their toil.            180

increpitat dominique crucem clamore reposcit.
Haec inter spretae miseranda piacula poenae
erepto trepidus ductore exercitus una
Hannibalem uoce atque alacri certamine poscit.
hinc studia accendit patriae uirtutis imago, 185
hinc fama in populos iurati didita belli,
hinc uirides ausis anni feruorque decorus
atque armata dolis mens et uis insita fandi.

he reproaches and with a shout reclaims his Lord’s cross.
Meanwhile, amid these things, the pitiable piacular expiations of the scorned penalty,
with the leader snatched away, the trembling army as one
calls for Hannibal with one voice and with brisk rivalry.
from this the image of ancestral virtue enkindles their zeal, 185
from this the fame, diffused among peoples, of a sworn war,
from this the years green for daring and a decorous fervor,
and a mind armed with wiles and an innate force of speaking.

     Primi ductorem Libyes clamore salutant,
mox et Pyrenes populi et bellator Hiberus.            190
continuoque ferox oritur fiducia menti,
cessisse imperio tantum terraeque marisque.
Aeoliis candens Austris et lampade Phoebi
aestifero Libye torretur subdita Cancro,
aut ingens Asiae latus, aut pars tertia terris.            195

     First the Libyans hail the leader with a shout,
soon too the peoples of the Pyrenees and the warlike Iberian.            190
and straightway a fierce confidence arises in his mind,
that so much of land and sea had yielded to his command.
Glowing with Aeolian south-winds and the lamp of Phoebus,
Libya is scorched, lying beneath estival Cancer,
either a vast flank of Asia, or the third part of the lands.            195

terminus huic roseos amnis Lageus ad ortus
septeno impellens tumefactum gurgite pontum.
at qua diuersas clementior aspicit Arctos,
Herculeo dirimente freto, diducta propinquis
Europes uidet arua iugis. ultra obsidet aequor, 200
nec patitur nomen proferri longius Atlas,
Atlas subducto tracturus uertice caelum.

its boundary toward the rosy risings is the river Lageus,
driving the sea, swollen, with a sevenfold surge. But where it more gently looks upon the diverse Bears,
with the Herculean strait dividing, it beholds the fields of Europe drawn apart by neighboring ridges.
Beyond, the sea hems it in, 200
nor does Atlas permit the name to be carried farther,
Atlas, to bear the sky on his upraised crown.

sidera nubiferum fulcit caput, aetheriasque
erigit aeternum compages ardua ceruix.
canet barba gelu, frontemque immanibus umbris 205
pinea silua premit. uastant caua tempora uenti,
nimbosoque ruunt spumantia flumina rictu.

his cloud-bearing head props the stars, and his lofty
neck eternally raises the aetherial structures. his beard is hoary with frost, and a pine-forest weighs upon his brow with enormous shadows 205
the winds ravage his hollow temples, and foaming rivers rush forth from his storm-cloudy gaping mouth.

tum geminas laterum cautes maria alta fatigant,
atque ubi fessus equos Titan immersit anhelos,
flammiferum condunt fumanti gurgite currum. 210

then the deep seas wear down the twin crags of the flanks,
and when the Titan, weary, has plunged his panting horses,
they hide the flame-bearing chariot in the smoking gulf. 210

sed qua se campis squalentibus Africa tendit,
serpentum largo coquitur fecunda ueneno,
felix qua pinguis mitis plaga temperat agros,
nec Cerere Hennaea Phario nec uicta colono.
hic passim exultant Nomades, gens inscia freni, 215
quis inter geminas per ludum mobilis aures
quadrupedem flectit non cedens uirga lupatis.
altrix bellorum bellatorumque uirorum
tellus nec fidens nudo sine fraudibus ensi.

but where Africa stretches itself into squalid plains,
it, fertile in the abundant venom of serpents, is parched,
where a happy, rich, mild zone tempers the fields,
nor is it beaten by Hennaean Ceres nor by the Egyptian husbandman.
here everywhere the Nomads exult, a people unknowing of the bridle, 215
for whom between the twin ears, in play, a nimble switch
bends the quadruped, the rod not yielding to wolf‑toothed bits.
a nurse of wars and of warrior men
a land not trusting to the naked sword without wiles.

Altera complebant Hispanae castra cohortes, 220
auxilia Europae genitoris parta tropaeis.
Martius hinc campos sonipes hinnitibus implet,
hinc iuga cornipedes erecti bellica raptant:
non Eleus eat campo feruentior axis.
prodiga gens animae et properare facillima mortem. 225

The other camp the Spanish cohorts filled, 220
auxiliaries of the father of Europe, gained by trophies.
On this side the Martial war-steed fills the plains with neighings,
on that side the hoofed ones, rearing, drag the warlike yokes:
nor would the axle of Helios go more fervent over the field.
a race prodigal of life and most facile at hastening death. 225

namque ubi transcendit florentis uiribus annos,
impatiens aeui spernit nouisse senectam,
et fati modus in dextra est. hic omne metallum:
electri gemino pallent de semine uenae,
atque atros chalybis fetus humus horrida nutrit. 230
sed scelerum causas operit deus. Astur auarus
uisceribus lacerae telluris mergitur imis
et redit infelix effosso concolor auro.

for when he transcends the years flourishing in vigor,
impatient of age he scorns to have come to know senescence,
and the measure of fate is in his right hand. here is every metal:
the veins of electrum grow pale, from a twin seed,
and the rough soil nourishes the black offspring of steel. 230
but god veils the causes of crimes. the greedy Asturian
is plunged into the inmost entrails of the lacerated earth,
and returns ill-fated, the same color as the gold dug out.

hic certant, Pactole, tibi Duriusque Tagusque,
quique super Grauios lucentis uoluit harenas            235
infernae populis referens obliuia Lethes.
nec Cereri terra indocilis nec inhospita Baccho,
nullaque Palladia sese magis arbore tollit.
     Hae postquam Tyrio gentes cessere tyranno,
utque dati rerum freni, tunc arte paterna            240

here the Durius and the Tagus vie with you, Pactolus,
and the one who has rolled shining sands over the Gravii,            235
bringing back to the peoples the oblivions of infernal Lethe.
nor is the land unteachable to Ceres nor inhospitable to Bacchus,
nor does it raise itself more by any Palladian tree.
     After these nations yielded to the Tyrian tyrant,
and when the reins of affairs were given, then by paternal art            240

conciliare uiros, armis consulta senatus
uertere, nunc donis. primus sumpsisse laborem,
primus iter carpsisse pedes partemque subire,
si ualli festinet opus. nec cetera segnis
quaecumque ad laudem stimulant, somnumque negabat 245
naturae noctemque uigil ducebat in armis.

to conciliate men, to overturn the senate’s decrees now by arms, now by gifts. He was the first to take up the toil, the first to pick out the road on foot and to undergo his share, if the work of the rampart was pressing. Nor in the rest was he sluggish, whatever things spur toward praise, and he denied to nature sleep and, wakeful, he passed the night under arms. 245

interdum proiectus humi turbaeque Libyssae
insignis sagulo duris certare maniplis;
celsus et in magno praecedens agmine ductor
imperium perferre suum; tum uertice nudo 250
excipere insanos imbris caelique ruinam.
spectarunt Poeni, tremuitque exterritus Astur,
torquentem cum tela Iouem permixtaque nimbis
fulmina et excussos uentorum flatibus ignes
turbato transiret equo, nec puluere fessum 255

sometimes, flung to the ground and, conspicuous to the Libyan crowd by his sagulum,
to contend with the tough maniples; and, lofty, as a leader going before in a great column,
to carry through his imperium; then, with bare head, 250
to receive the mad downpours and the ruin of the sky.
the Carthaginians looked on, and the Asturian, terror-struck, trembled,
when Jupiter was hurling missiles, and thunderbolts mingled with the nimbus-clouds,
and fires shaken out by the blasts of the winds, as he crossed on his startled horse,
nor wearied by the dust, 255

agminis ardenti labefecit Sirius astro.
flammiferis tellus radiis cum exusta dehiscit,
candentique globo medius coquit aethera feruor,
femineum putat umenti iacuisse sub umbra
exercetque sitim et spectato fonte recedit. 260
idem correptis sternacem ad proelia frenis
frangere ecum et famam letalis amare lacerti
ignotique amnis tranare sonantia saxa
atque e diuersa socios accersere ripa.
idem expugnati primus stetit aggere muri, 265
et quotiens campo rapidus fera proelia miscet,
qua sparsit ferrum, latus rubet aequore limes.

he shook the column with Sirius’s burning star.
when the earth, scorched by flame-bearing rays, yawns open,
and in mid-sky the fervor with a glowing globe seethes the ether,
he deems it womanly to have lain beneath moist shade,
and he exercises thirst and, the fountain having been beheld, withdraws. 260
the same man, with the reins seized, to the fray breaks a thrower-horse,
and loves the fame of a lethal arm,
and to swim the resounding rocks of an unknown stream
and to summon his comrades from the opposite bank.
the same, first, stood upon the rampart of a stormed wall, 265
and as often as, swift, he mixes fierce battles on the field,
where he has scattered iron, the wide line reddens in a level expanse.

ergo instat fatis, et rumpere foedera certus,
quo datur, interea Romam comprendere bello
gaudet et extremis pulsat Capitolia terris. 270

therefore he presses on by the Fates, and, resolved to break the treaties,
so far as it is granted, meanwhile he rejoices to seize Rome by war,
and from the farthest lands he beats upon the Capitolia. 270

Prima Saguntinas turbarunt classica portas,
bellaque sumpta uiro belli maioris amore.
haud procul Herculei tollunt se litore muri,
clementer crescente iugo, quis nobile nomen
conditus excelso sacrauit colle Zacynthos. 275
hic comes Alcidae remeabat in agmine Thebas
Geryone extincto caeloque ea facta ferebat.
tris animas namque id monstrum, tris corpore dextras
armarat ternaque caput ceruice gerebat.

First the war-clarions disturbed the Saguntine gates,
and wars were undertaken by the man for the love of a greater war.
not far from the Herculean shore the walls lift themselves,
with the ridge gently increasing; by which Zacynthus, interred on a lofty hill, consecrated a noble name. 275
here the comrade of Alcides was marching back in the column to Thebes,
with Geryon slain, and he was bearing those deeds to heaven.
for that monster had armed three souls, three right hands on its body,
and bore a head on a triple neck.

haud alium uidit tellus, cui ponere finem 280
non posset mors una uiro, duraeque sorores
tertia bis rupto torquerent stamina filo.
hinc spolia ostentabat ouans captiuaque uictor
armenta ad fontis medio feruore uocabat,
cum tumidas fauces accensis sole uenenis 285

the earth saw no other, for whom a single death could not set an end 280
and the harsh sisters would twist the strands, the third having twice broken
the thread. Thence, exultant, he would display the spoils, and as victor
he called the captured herds to the springs in the mid heat,
when, with the poisons kindled by the sun, the swollen throats 285

calcatus rupit letali uulnere serpens
Inachiumque uirum terris prostrauit Hiberis.
mox profugi ducente Noto aduertere coloni,
insula quos genuit Graio circumflua ponto
et, quae auxit quondam Laertia regna, Zacynthos.            290
firmauit tenues ortus mox Daunia pubes
sedis inops, misit largo quam diues alumno
magnanimis regnata uiris, nunc Ardea nomen.
libertas populis pacto seruata decusque
maiorum, et Poenis u<r>bi imperitare negatum.            295
     Admouet abrupto flagrantia foedere ductor
Sidonius castra et latos quatit agmine campos.

the trampled serpent burst forth with a lethal wound,
and prostrated the Inachian man upon Iberian lands.
soon the refugee colonists, with Notus leading, turned their course,
whom an island, surrounded by the Greek sea, begot,
and Zacynthos, which once augmented the Laertian realms.            290
soon the Daunian youth, destitute of a seat, strengthened their slight beginnings,
whom a wealthy city—ruled by great-souled men, now by name Ardea—
sent forth as a lavish fosterling. liberty for the peoples was kept by compact and the honor
of the ancestors, and the Punics were forbidden to command the city.            295
     The Sidonian leader brings up his camps, the pact torn asunder in flagrant breach,
and shakes the broad fields with his column.

ipse caput quassans circumlustrauit anhelo
muros saeuus equo, mensusque pauentia tecta
pandere iamdudum portas et cedere uallo 300

he himself, shaking his head, savage on his panting horse, went around surveying
the walls, and, having taken the measure of the panic‑stricken roofs,
[judged them] long since to open the gates and cede the rampart 300

imperat et longe clausis sua foedera, longe
Ausoniam fore, nec ueniae spem Marte subactis:
scita patrum et leges et iura fidemque deosque
in dextra nunc esse sua. uerba ocius acer
intorto sancit iaculo figitque per arma 305
stantem pro muro et minitantem uana Caicum.
concidit exacti medius per uiscera teli,
effusisque simul praerupto ex aggere membris
uictori moriens tepefactam ret<t>ulit hastam.

he commands that for those shut in his treaties be far away, that Ausonia be far away, and no hope of pardon for those subdued by Mars: the decrees of the Fathers and the laws and the rights and the faith and the gods are now in his own right hand. Swiftly the fierce one sanctions his words with a thong-twisted javelin and pierces, through the armor, Caicus standing before the wall and threatening vain things. 305
he falls, the driven spear through the midst of his entrails, and with his limbs at once poured out from the precipitous rampart, dying he returned to the victor the spear, warmed.

at multo ducis exemplum clamore secuti 310
inuoluunt atra telorum moenia nube.
clara nec in numero uirtus latet: obuia quisque
ora duci portans ceu solus bella capessit.
hic crebram fundit Baliari uerbere glandem
terque leui ducta circum caput altus habena 315

but, with much clamor following the leader’s example 310
they wrap the walls in a black cloud of missiles.
nor does illustrious valor lie hidden in the numbers: each man,
presenting his face to meet the leader, as though he alone takes up the wars.
this one pours out frequent bullets with Balearic lash,
and, lofty, with a light thong drawn thrice around his head. 315

permissum uentis a<b>scondit in aera telum,
hic ualido librat stridentia saxa lacerto,
huic impulsa leui torquetur lancea nodo.
ante omnis ductor patriis insignis in armis
nunc picea iactat fumantem lampada flamma,            320
nunc sude, nunc iaculo, nunc saxis impiger instat
aut hydro imbutas, bis noxia tela, sagittas
contendit neruo atque insultat fraude pharetrae,
Dacus ut armiferis Geticae telluris in oris
spicula quae patrio gaudens acuisse ueneno            325
fundit apud ripas inopina binominis Histri.
     Cura subit, collem turrita cingere fronte
castelloque urbem circumuallare frequenti.

he hides in the air a missile permitted to the winds,
here with a strong upper-arm he poises shrilling stones,
for this one a lance is whirled, impelled by a light knot.
before all, the leader, distinguished in his native arms,
now brandishes a torch smoking with pitchy flame,            320
now with stake, now with javelin, now with stones he presses on untiring,
or arrows imbued with hydra-venom, twice-noxious missiles,
he strains on the string and exults in the treachery of the quiver,
as a Dacian on the arms-bearing shores of Getic land
who, rejoicing to have sharpened his darts with native poison,            325
pours them unlooked-for along the banks of the two-named Ister.
     Care arises, to gird the hill with a turreted brow
and to circumvallate the city with frequent forts.

heu priscis numen populis, at nomine solo
in terris iam nota Fides! stat dura iuuentus 330

Alas, the divinity for ancient peoples, but by name alone
now known on earth, Faith! The stern youth stands 330

ereptamque fugam et claudi uidet aggere muros,
sed dignam Ausonia mortem putat esse Sagunto
seruata cecidisse fide. iamque acrius omnis
intendunt uires: adductis stridula neruis
Phocais effundit uastos balista molaris; 335
atque eadem ingentis mutato pondere teli
ferratam excutiens ornum media agmina rumpit.
alternus resonat clangor.

and he sees flight snatched away and the walls shut in by a rampart,
but he deems it a death worthy of Ausonia to have fallen at Saguntum with faith kept.
And now all more keenly stretch their forces: with the sinews drawn taut, the shrilling
Phocian ballista pours out vast millstones; 335
and the same engine, with the weight of the mighty missile changed,
hurling forth an iron-shod ash, bursts the battle-lines in their midst.
alternating clangor resounds.

certamine tanto
conseruere acies, ueluti circumdata uallo
Roma foret, clamantque super: 'Tot milia, gentes 340
inter tela satae, iam capto stamus in hoste?
nonne pudet coepti, pudet ominis? en bona uirtus
primitiaeque ducis!

with so great a struggle
the battle-lines kept locked, as if Rome were surrounded by a rampart,
and from above they shout: ‘So many thousands, peoples sown among missiles, 340
do we now stand idle with the enemy taken?
are we not ashamed of the enterprise, ashamed of the omen? Lo, good valor
and the first-fruits of the leader!’

taline implere paramus
Italiam fama, talis praemittere pugnas?'
Accensae exultant mentes, haustusque medullis 345

Are we thus preparing to fill Italy with fame, to send forth such battles?'
Kindled, minds exult, and a draught drunk into the marrows 345

Hannibal exagitat, stimulantque sequentia bella.
inuadunt manibus uallum caesasque relincunt
deiecti muris dextras. subit arduus agger
imponitque globos pugnantum desuper urbi.

Hannibal drives them, and the ensuing wars spur them.
they invade the rampart with their hands and leave behind
cast down from the walls, their right hands. a steep embankment climbs up
and sets masses of combatants upon the city from above.

armauit clausos ac portis arcuit hostem            350
librari multa consueta phalarica dextra,
horrendum uisu robur celsisque niuosae
Pyrenes trabs lecta iugis, cui plurima cuspis,
uix muris toleranda lues, sed cetera pingui
uncta pice atque atro circumlita sulphure fumant.            355
fulminis haec ritu summis e moenibus arcis
incita, sulcatum tremula secat aera flamma,
qualis sanguineo praestringit lumina crine
ad terram caelo decurrens ignea lampas.
haec ictu rapido pugnantum saepe per auras,            360

he armed the shut-in and at the gates warded off the enemy,            350
many phalarica accustomed to be hurled by the right hand,
a horror to behold, an oak-beam chosen from the lofty ridges of the snow-clad
Pyrenees, with a very massive point—a plague scarcely to be endured
by walls; but the rest, smeared with rich pitch and coated all around with black
sulphur, smokes.            355
launched after the manner of lightning from the highest ramparts of the citadel,
it cleaves the furrowed air with a quivering flame,
like a fiery lamp, with blood-red hair, that dazzles the eyes
as it runs down from sky to earth.
this, with rapid impact, often through the air over the fighters,            360

attonito ductore, tulit fumantia membra;
haec uastae lateri turris cum turbine fixa,
dum penitus pluteis Vulcanum exercet adesis,
arma uirosque simul pressit flagrante ruina.
tandem condensis artae testudinis armis 365
subducti Poeni uallo caecaque latebra
pandunt prolapsam suffossis moenibus urbem.
terribilem in sonitum procumbens aggere uicto
Herculeus labor atque immania saxa resoluens
mugitum ingentem caeli dedit.

with the commander astonished, it bore off smoking limbs;
this, fixed with a whirlwind to the flank of a vast tower,
while deep within it set Vulcan to work on the gnawed-through mantelets,
crushed arms and men alike with blazing ruin.
at length, under the dense arms of a close-knit testudo 365
the Carthaginians, drawn beneath the rampart and by a blind hiding-place,
lay open the city, collapsed with the walls undermined.
falling, with the rampart conquered and the immense stones loosening,
the Herculean labor gave a terrible sound into a roar
and sent a mighty bellowing to the sky.

Alpibus altis 370
aeriae rupes scopulorum mole reuulsa
haud aliter scindunt resonanti fragmine montem.
surgebat cumulis etiam tum prorutus agger,
obstabatque iacens uallum, ni protinus instent
hinc atque hinc acies media pugnare ruina. 375

On the high Alps 370
airy crags, torn away by the mass of rocks,
not otherwise split the mountain with a resounding crash.
Even then the overthrown earthwork was rising in heaps,
and the rampart lying there would have obstructed, had not at once
on this side and that the battle-lines pressed on to fight amid the central ruin. 375

     Emicat ante omnis primaeuo flore iuuentae
insignis Rutulo Murrus de sanguine (at idem
matre Saguntina Graius geminoque parente
Dulichios Italis miscebat prole nepotes).
hic magno socios Aradum clamore uocantem,            380
qua corpus loricam inter galeamque patescit,
conantis motus speculatus, cuspide sistit,
prostratumque premens telo, uoce insuper urget:
'Fallax Poene, iaces; certe Capitolia primus
scandebas uictor. quae tanta licentia uoti?            385
nunc Stygio fer bella Ioui!' tum feruidus hastam
aduersi torquens defigit in inguine ~Hiberi,
oraque dum calcat iam singultantia leto,
'Hac iter est' inquit 'uobis ad moenia Romae,
o metuenda manus. sic, quo properatis, eundum.'            390

     He flashes forth before all, distinguished in the prime flower of youth,
Murrus of Rutulian blood (and yet the same man,
Greek by a Saguntine mother, and with a twin parentage
was mixing Dulichian descendants with Italians in his progeny).
This man, Aradus who was calling his comrades with a great shout,            380
where the body lies open between cuirass and helmet,
having spied out his attempted movements, he checks with his spear-point,
and, pressing the prostrate man with the weapon, he presses him besides with his voice:
“Deceitful Punic, you lie; surely you were the first
to climb the Capitoline as victor. What such license of your vow?            385
Now carry wars to Stygian Jove!” Then, ardent, whirling the spear
of his adversary, he drives it into the groin of the Iberian,
and while he treads upon the face now sobbing in death,
“This is the path,” he says, “for you to the walls of Rome,
O band to be feared. Thus, to where you hasten, it must be gone.”            390

mox instaurantis pugnam circumsilit arma
et rapto nudum clipeo latus haurit Hiberi.
diues agri, diues pecoris famaeque negatus
bella feris arcu iaculoque agitabat Hiberus,
felix heu nemorum et uitae laudandus opacae, 395
si sua per patrios tenuisset spicula saltus.
hunc miseratus adest infesto uulnere Ladmus.

soon, as one renewing the fight, he springs around in arms,
and, the shield having been snatched, he drinks/pierces the Iberian’s bare flank.
rich in land, rich in cattle, and denied to fame,
the Iberian used to wage wars upon wild beasts with bow and javelin,
happy—alas!—for the groves and to be praised for a shadowed life, 395
if he had kept his darts for his native forests.
Ladmus, pitying him, comes with a hostile wound.

cui saeuum adridens 'Narrabis Hamilcaris umbris
hanc' inquit 'dextram, quae iam post funera uulgi
Hannibalem uobis comitem dabit,' et ferit alte 400
insurgens gladio cristatae cassidis aera
perque ipsum tegimen crepitantia dissipat ossa.
tum frontem Chreme<te>s intonsam umbrante capillo
saeptus et horrentis effingens crine galeros,
tum Masulis crudaque uirens ad bella senecta 405

to whom, smiling savagely, he says, 'You shall tell Hamilcar’s shades of this right hand, which now, after the funerals of the common crowd, will give Hannibal to you as a companion,' and, rising high, he strikes with his sword the bronze of the crested casque, 400
and through the covering itself he scatters the crackling bones. Then Chremetes, his brow overshadowed by unshorn hair, enclosed and fashioning caps with his bristling locks like helmets, then Masulis, and an old age raw yet green for wars, 405

Kartalo, non pauidus fetas mulcere leaenas,
flumineaque urna caelatus Bagrada parmam
et uastae Nasamon Syrtis populator Hiempsal,
audax in fluctu laceras captare carinas,
una omnes dextraque cadunt iraque perempti;            410
nec non serpentem diro exarmare ueneno
doctus Athyr tactuque grauis sopire chelydros
ac dubiam admoto subolem explorare ceraste.
tu quoque fatidicis Garamanticus accola lucis
insignis flexo galeam per tempora cornu,            415
heu frustra reditum sortes tibi saepe locutas
mentitumque Iouem increpitans, occumbis, Hiarba.
et iam corporibus cumulatus creuerat agger,
perfusaeque atra fumabant caede ruinae.
tum ductorem auido clamore in proelia poscit:            420

Kartalo, not timid to soothe teeming lionesses,
and the Bagrada, embossed upon his shield with a fluvial urn,
and Hiempsal, devastator of the Syrtis of the vast Nasamones,
audacious amid the wave to snatch shattered hulks,
together they all fall, slain by right hand and by wrath;            410
and also Athyr, taught to disarm the serpent of its dire venom,
and, formidable by his touch, to lull chelydri to sleep,
and to test the doubtful brood of the cerastes by bringing it near.
You too, a Garamantic dweller of the prophetic groves,
notable with a horn curved along the temples on your helmet,            415
alas, though the lots have often told you of a return in vain,
rebuking Jupiter as a liar, you fall, Hiarba.
And now the rampart, heaped with bodies, had grown,
and the ruins, drenched with black slaughter, were smoking.
Then with eager clamor they demand the leader into the fray:            420

fulmineus ceu Spartanis latratibus actus,
cum siluam occursu uenantum perdidit, hirto
horrescit saetis dorso et postrema capessit
proelia, canentem mandens aper ore cruorem,
~iamque gemet geminum contra uenabula dentem.            425
     At parte ex alia, qua se insperata iuuentus
extulerat portis, ceu spicula nulla manusque
uim ferre exitiumue queant, permixtus utrisque
Hannibal agminibus passim furit et quatit ensem,
cantato nuper senior quem fecerat igni            430
litore ab Hesperidum Temisus, qui carmine pollens
fidebat magica ferrum crudescere lingua:
quantus Bistoniis late Gradiuus in oris
belligero rapitur curru telumque coruscans,
Titanum quo pulsa cohors, flagrantia bella            435

lightning-swift, as if driven by Spartan bayings,
when, confronted by the hunters, he has lost the wood, with shaggy
back he bristles with bristles and he takes up last battles,
the boar, chewing in his mouth the foaming gore,
~and now he groans, bracing his twin tusks against the hunting-spears.            425
     But on the other side, where the unhoped-for youth
had lifted itself out through the gates, as if no javelins nor hands
could carry force or deal destruction, Hannibal, mingled with both
columns, rages everywhere and shakes his sword,
which Temisus, an elder from the shore of the Hesperides, had lately forged with a spell-charmed fire,            430
who, powerful in song, trusted that by a magical tongue the iron would grow bloodthirsty:
as great as Gradivus far and wide on the Bistonian shores
is swept along in his war-bearing chariot, and, brandishing his spear,
by which the cohort of the Titans was repulsed, the blazing wars            435

cornipedum adflatu domat et stridoribus axis.
iamque Hostum Rutulumque Pholum ingentemque Metiscum,
iam Lygdum Duriumque simul flauumque Galaesum
et geminos, Chromin atque Gyan, demiserat umbris,
Daunum etiam, grata quo non spectatior alter 440
uoce mouere fora atque orando fingere mentes
nec legum custos sollertior, aspera telis
dicta admiscentem: 'Quaenam te, Poene, paternae
huc adigunt Furiae? non haec Sidonia tecta
feminea fabricata manu pretioue parata, 445
exulibusue datum dimensis litus harenis.

he subdues by the breath of the hoofed ones and by the screechings of the axle.
and by now Hostus and the Rutulian Pholus and huge Metiscus,
by now Lygdus and Durius together and blond Galaesus,
and the twins, Chromis and Gyas, he had sent down to the shades,
Daunus as well, than whom no other was more conspicuous by a pleasing voice to move the fora and by orating to fashion minds, 440
nor a more skillful guardian of laws, intermixing words rough with weapons: ‘What paternal Furies, Carthaginian, drive you hither?
these are not Sidonian roofs built by a woman’s hand or procured by a price,
nor a shore given to exiles with the sands measured out.

fundamenta deum Romanaque foedera cernis.'
ast illum toto iactantem talia campo
ingenti raptum nisu medioque uirorum
auulsum inter tela globo et post terga reuinctum 450

'do you see the foundations of the gods and the Roman foedera?'
but him, as he was hurling such words over the whole plain,
rapt with a huge effort and avulsed from the midst of men,
wrenched out amid the weapons by the mass, and bound behind his back 450

Hannibal ad poenam lentae mandauerat irae,
increpitansque suos inferri signa iubebat,
perque ipsos caedis cumulos stragemque iacentum
monstrabat furibundus iter cunctosque ciebat
nomine et in praedas stantem dabat improbus urbem.            455
     Sed postquam a trepidis allatum feruere partem
diuersam Marte infausto, Murroque secundos
hunc superos tribuisse diem, ruit ocius amens
lymphato cursu atque ingentis deserit actus.
letiferum nutant fulgentes uertice cristae,            460
crine ut flammifero terret fera regna cometes
sanguineum spargens ignem: uomit atra rubentis
fax caelo radios, ac saeua luce coruscum
scintillat sidus terrisque extrema minatur.
praecipiti dant tela uiam, dant signa uirique,            465

Hannibal had consigned to the penalty of his slow wrath,
and, reproaching his men, was ordering the standards to be borne in,
and through the very heaps of slaughter and the carnage of the fallen
he showed the path, frenzied, and was rousing all
by name, and, shameless, was delivering the standing city to plunder.            455
     But after it was reported by the panic-struck that the opposite sector was seething
with ill-starred Mars, and that to Murrus the gods above had granted
this day as favorable, he rushes more swiftly, out of his mind,
with a frenzied course, and abandons vast undertakings.
the gleaming crests on his head nod lethal, as with fire-bearing hair a comet terrifies the savage realms,sowing blood-red fire: a black torch vomits into the sky rays glowing red,
and with cruel light the flickering star scintillates and threatens doom to the lands.
with his precipitate rush weapons give way, standards give way, and men too.            465

atque ambae trepidant acies. iacit igneus hastae
dirum lumen apex, ac late fulgurat umbo.
talis ubi Aegaeo surgente ad sidera ponto
per longum uasto Cori cum murmure fluctus
suspensum in terras portat mare, frigida nautis 470
corda tremunt: sonat ille procul flatuque tumescens
curuatis pauidas tramittit Cycladas undis.

and both battle-lines tremble. The fiery apex of the spear casts a dire light, and the boss flashes far and wide.
such, when on the Aegean, the sea rising to the stars,
over a long reach the wave of Corus with vast murmur
carries the sea, suspended, onto the lands, the sailors’ cold 470
hearts tremble: it roars from afar, and swelling with its blast
it sweeps across the timorous Cyclades with arched waves.

non cuncta e muris unum incessentia tela
fumantesque ante ora faces, non saxa per artem
tormentis excussa tenent. ut tegmina primum 475
fulgentis galeae conspexit et arma cruento
<c>ontra solem auro rutilantia, turbidus infit:
'En, qui res Libycas inceptaque tanta retardet,
Romani Murrus belli mora. foedera, faxo,
iam noscas, quid uana queant et uester Hiberus. 480

not all the weapons unceasing from the walls,
nor the torches smoking before their faces, nor stones, by art
shot from the engines, restrain him. As soon as he first saw the coverings 475
of a gleaming helmet and arms, against the blood-red
<c>ontra sun, glowing with gold, in turmoil he begins:
'Lo, the one who delays Libyan affairs and so great undertakings—
Murrus, the delay of the Roman war. The pacts, I will make sure,
you now learn what empty things can do, and what your Hiberus avails.' 480

fer tecum castamque fidem seruataque iura:
deceptos mihi linque deos.' cui talia Murrus:
'Exoptatus ades. mens olim proelia poscit
speque tui flagrat capitis: fer debita fraudum
praemia et Italiam tellure inquire sub ima.            485
longum in Dardanios finis iter atque niualem
Pyrenen Alpesque tibi mea dextera donat.'
     Haec inter cernens subeuntem comminus hostem
praeruptumque loci fidum sibi, corripit ingens
aggere conuulso saxum et nitentis in ora            490
deuoluit, pronoque silex ruit incitus ictu.
subsedit duro concussus fragmine muri.

carry with you your chaste faith and the preserved laws:
leave to me the deceived gods." To whom Murrus thus:
"Longed-for, you are here. My mind has long demanded battles
and burns with hope of your head: bring the due prizes of frauds,
and seek out Italy beneath the lowest earth.            485
the bounds for your long journey into the Dardanians—my right hand grants you the snowy
Pyrenees and the Alps."
     Meanwhile, seeing the enemy coming up at close quarters
and the precipitousness of the place as trusty to him, he snatches up a huge
rock, torn from the rampart, and rolls it down upon the faces of those striving up,            490
and the flint rushes down with an impetuous, slanting blow.
he sank down, struck by a hard fragment of the wall.

tum pudor accendit mentem, nec conscia fallit
uirtus pressa loco; frendens luctatur et aegro
scandit in aduersum per saxa uetantia nisu. 495

Then shame inflamed his mind, nor does conscious virtue, pressed by the place, fail; gnashing, he struggles and with a sickly effort
he climbs against the adverse slope through forbidding rocks. 495

sed postquam propior uicino lumine fulsit
et tota se mole tulit, uelut incita clausum
agmina Poenorum cingant, et cuncta pauentem
castra premant, lato Murrus caligat in hoste.
mille simul dextrae densusque micare uidetur 500
ensis et innumerae nutare in casside cristae.
conclamant utrimque acies, ceu tota Saguntos
igne micet.

but after he, nearer, shone with neighboring light,
and bore himself in his whole mass, as if the incited
columns of the Punics were encircling the enclosed man, and all the camps
were pressing the trembling one, Murrus grows dark before the broad foe.
at once a thousand right hands, and the sword to flash thickly, seem to glitter 500
and numberless crests to nod in the helmet.
the battle-lines on both sides shout together, as if all Saguntum
were flickering with fire.

trahit instanti languentia leto
membra pauens Murrus supremaque uota capessit:
'Conditor Alcide, cuius uestigia sacra            505
incolimus, terrae minitantem auerte procellam,
si tua non segni defenso moenia dextra.'
     Dumque orat caeloque attollit lumina supplex,
'Cerne', ait 'an nostris longe Tirynthius ausis
iustius adfuerit. ni displicet aemula uirtus,            510

Murrus, afraid, drags his limbs languishing with the pressing death, and he takes up his final vows:
'Founder, Alcides, whose sacred vestiges we inhabit,            505
avert the tempest threatening the land,
if your right hand, not sluggish in defense, guards the walls.'
     And while he prays and, a suppliant, uplifts his eyes to heaven,
'Behold,' he says, 'whether the Tirynthian would have been far more justly present to our ventures,
unless rival virtue displeases.'            510

haud me dissimilem, Alcide, primoribus annis
agnosces, inuicte, tuis. fer numen amicum
et, Troiae quondam primis memorate ruinis,
dexter ades Phrygiae delenti stirpis alumnos.'
sic Poenus pressumque ira simul exigit ensem 515
qua capuli statuere morae, teloque relato
horrida labentis perfunditur arma cruore.
ilicet ingenti casu turbata iuuentus
procurrit: nota arma uiri corpusque superbo
uictori spoliare negant.

you will recognize me not dissimilar, Alcides, to your earliest years,
unconquered. Bring a friendly numen, and, once remembered at Troy’s first ruins,
be right-hand present to the destroyer of the nurslings of Phrygian stock.'
thus the Punic man drives the sword, pressed home in anger, to where the checks of the hilt are set, 515
and, the weapon drawn back, the bristling arms of the collapsing man are drenched with gore.
straightway the youth, thrown into turmoil by the huge fall,
runs forward: they refuse to despoil the well-known arms of the man and his body
for the proud victor.

coit aucta uicissim 520
hortando manus, et glomerata mole feruntur.
hinc saxis galea, hinc clipeus sonat aereus hastis.
incessunt sudibus librataque pondera plumbi
certatim iaciunt.

the band, augmented in turn by exhortation, 520
comes together, and they are borne forward in a conglomerated mass.
on this side the helmet rings with stones, on that the bronze shield with spears.
they advance with stakes, and the librated weights of lead
they hurl in rivalry.

decisae uertice cristae,
direptumque decus nutantum in caede iubarum. 525

crests cut off at the crown,
and the decoration of manes, nodding in slaughter, torn away. 525

iamque agitur largus per membra fluentia sudor,
et stant loricae squamis horrentia tela.
nec requies tegimenue datur mutare sub ictu.
genua labant, fessique umeri gestamina laxant.

and now a copious sweat is driven over their limbs, flowing,
and the cuirasses stand, bristling with scales, with weapons fixed in them.
nor is respite or covering granted to be changed under the blow.
the knees wobble, and weary shoulders slacken their burdens of gear.

tum creber penitusque trahens suspiria sicco 530
fumat ab ore uapor, nisuque elisus anhelo
auditur gemitus fractumque in casside murmur.
mente aduersa domat gaudetque nitescere duris
uirtutem et decoris pretio discrimina pensat.
Hic subitus scisso densa inter nubila caelo 535
erupit quatiens terram fragor, et super ipsas
bis pater intonuit geminato fulmine pugnas.

then, drawing frequent and deep sighs, from a dry mouth vapor fumes, 530
and, forced out by panting strain,
a groan is heard and a broken murmur in the helmet.
with a mind set against [himself] he subdues and rejoices that virtue shines through hardships,
and he weighs the crises at the price of honor.
Here, sudden, with the sky rent amid dense clouds, 535
a crash burst forth, shaking the earth, and over the battles themselves
twice the Father thundered with a doubled lightning-bolt.

inde inter nubes uentorum turbine caeco
ultrix iniusti uibrauit lancea belli
ac femine aduerso librata cuspide sedit. 540

thence amid the clouds, in the blind whirlwind of the winds
the avenging lance of unjust war vibrated
and, poised with its point, it settled in the opposing thigh. 540

Tarpeiae rupes superisque habitabile saxum
et uos, uirginea lucentes semper in ara
Laomedonteae, Troiana altaria, flammae,
heu quantum uobis fallacis imagine teli
promisere dei! propius si pressa furenti            545
hasta foret, clausae starent mortalibus Alpes,
nec, Trasimenne, tuis nunc Allia cederet undis.
     Sed Iuno, aspectans Pyrenes uertice celsae
naua rudimenta et primos in Marte calores,
ut uidet impressum coniecta cuspide uulnus,            550
aduolat obscura circumdata nube per auras
et ualidam duris euellit ab ossibus hastam.

Tarpeian cliffs and the rock habitable for the gods above,
and you, flames, ever shining on the maiden altar,
O Trojan altars of Laomedon, alas how much the gods
promised you by the semblance of a treacherous weapon! If the spear,
pressed closer upon the raging man, had been fixed, the Alps would stand closed to mortals,            545
nor, Trasimene, would the Allia now yield to your waters.
     But Juno, looking from the summit of the lofty Pyrenae
at the zealous rudiments and first heats in Mars (war),
when she sees the wound stamped in by the hurled spear-point,            550
flies down through the airs, wrapped in a dark cloud,
and wrenches the sturdy spear from the hard bones.

ille tegit clipeo fusum per membra cruorem,
tardaque paulatim et dubio uestigia nisu
alternata trahens, auersus ab aggere cedit. 555

He covers with his shield the blood poured over his limbs,
and, with slow steps, little by little, and with uncertain effort,
dragging alternating steps, he, turned away from the rampart, gives ground. 555

Nox tandem optatis terras pontumque tenebris
condidit et pugnas erepta luce diremit.
at durae inuigilant mentes molemque reponunt,
noctis opus. clausos acuunt extrema pericli
et fractis rebus uiolentior ultima uirtus. 560
hinc puer inualidique senes, hinc femina ferre
certat opem in dubiis miserando naua labori,
saxaque mananti subuectat uulnere miles.

Night at last with the longed-for darkness buried the lands and the sea,
and with the light snatched away broke off the battles.
but hardy minds keep vigil and replace the mass, the work of the night.
the extremes of peril sharpen the shut-in,
and in broken fortunes the ultimate valor is more violent. 560
on this side a boy and feeble old men, on that a woman strives
to bear aid in doubtful crises, busy for pitiable toil,
and a soldier, with his wound streaming, bears up the rocks.

iam patribus clarisque senum sua munia curae:
concurrunt lectosque uiros hortantur et orant 565
defessis subeant rebus reuocentque salutem
et Latia extremis implorent casibus arma.
'Ite citi, remis uelisque impellite puppim.
saucia dum castris clausa est fera, tempore Martis
utendum est rupto et grassandum ad clara periclis. 570

now for the fathers and the illustrious elders their own duties are a concern:
they run together and exhort and entreat chosen men 565
to take on the exhausted fortunes and recall salvation,
and to implore Latin arms in their extremest crises.
'Go swiftly, drive the stern with oars and sails.
while the wild beast is wounded and shut within the camp, the time of Mars
must be used when it is broken open, and one must push on to renown through perils.' 570

ite citi, deflete fidem murosque ruentis
antiquaque domo meliora accersite fata.
mandati summa est: dum stat, remeate, Saguntos.'
ast illi celerant, qua proxima litora, gressum
et fugiunt tumido per spumea caerula uelo.            575
     Pellebat somnos Tithoni roscida coniunx,
ac rutilus primis sonipes hinnitibus altos
adflarat montis roseasque mouebat habenas.
iam celsa e muris extructa mole iuuentus
clausam nocturnis ostentat turribus urbem.            580
rerum omnes pendent actus, et milite maesto
laxata obsidio, ac pugnandi substitit ardor,
inque ducem uersae tanto discrimine curae.

go swiftly, bewail the faith and the walls collapsing,
and for the ancient home summon better fates.
the sum of the mandate is: ‘while it stands, return, Saguntines.’
but they hasten their step to where the nearest shores,
and flee through the foamy cerulean with swollen sail.            575
     the dewy spouse of Tithonus was banishing sleep,
and the ruddy hoofed-steed with his first neighings had breathed upon
the high mountains and was moving the rosy reins.
now from the walls, with a lofty mass upbuilt, the youth
displays the city enclosed by towers raised in the night.            580
all the courses of events hang in the balance, and with the soldier sad
the siege is loosened, and the ardor of fighting has halted,
and in so great a crisis their cares have turned toward the leader.

Interea Rutulis longinqua per aequora uectis
Herculei ponto coepere existere colles 585

Meanwhile, with the Rutulians borne through distant seas,
the Herculean hills began to appear from the sea. 585

et nebulosa iugis attollere saxa Monoeci.
Thracius hos Boreas scopulos immitia regna
solus habet semperque rigens nunc litora pulsat,
nunc ipsas alis plangit stridentibus Alpes,
atque ubi se terris glaciali fundit ab Arcto, 590
haud ulli contra fiducia surgere uento.
uerticibus torquet rapidis mare, fractaque anhelant
aequora, et iniecto conduntur gurgite montes,
iamque uolans Rhenum Rhodanumque in nubila tollit.

and to raise the nebulous rocks of Monoecus on its ridges.
The Thracian Boreas alone holds these crags, his harsh realms,
ever rigid, now he beats the shores,
now with shrilling wings he smites the Alps themselves,
and when he pours himself upon the lands from the glacial North, 590
no wind has confidence to rise against him.
He twists the sea with rapid vortices, and the shattered
levels pant, and mountains are buried by the hurled-in gulf,
and now flying he lifts the Rhine and the Rhone into the clouds.

hunc postquam Boreae dirum euasere furorem, 595
alternos maesti casus bellique marisque
et dubium rerum euentum sermone uolutant.
'O patria, o Fidei domus inclita, quo tua nunc sunt
fata loco? sacraene manent in collibus arces?

after they had escaped this dire fury of Boreas, 595
sad, they turn over in discourse the alternating chances of war and sea,
and the dubious outcome of affairs.
'O fatherland, O renowned house of Faith, in what place are your fates now?
do the sacred citadels remain upon the hills?

an cinis (heu superi) tanto de nomine restat? 600

or is cinder (alas, you gods above) all that remains of so great a name? 600

ferte leues auras flatusque ciete secundos,
si nondum insultat templorum Poenicus ignis
culminibus, Latiaeque ualent succurrere classes.'
     Talibus inlacrimant noctemque diemque querelis,
donec Laurentis puppis defertur ad oras,            605
qua pater acceptis Anienis ditior undis
in pontum flauo descendit gurgite Thybris.
hinc consanguineae subeunt iam moenia Romae.
     Concilium uocat augustum castaque beatos
paupertate patres ac nomina parta triumphis            610
consul et aequantem superos uirtute senatum.

bear light breezes and rouse favorable blasts,
if the Punic fire does not yet trample upon the temple-roofs,
and the Latin fleets have strength to bring succor.'
     with such laments they weep through night and day,
until the ship is borne to the Laurentian shores,            605
where father Tiber, richer with the waters of the received Anio,
descends to the deep with tawny whirlpool. from there they draw near now to the kindred walls of Rome.
     he calls an august council—the fathers blessed
by chaste poverty and names earned by triumphs,            610
the consul, and a senate matching the gods above in virtue.

facta animosa uiros et recti sacra cupido
attollunt, hirtaeque togae neglectaque mensa
dexteraque a curuis capulo non segnis aratris.
exiguo faciles et opum non indiga corda, 615

spirited deeds and the sacred desire for rectitude uplift men, and shaggy togas and a neglected table,
and a right hand, from the curved ploughs, not sluggish upon the hilt.
easy with little, and hearts not indigent of wealth, 615

ad paruos curru remeabant saepe penates.
     In foribus sacris primoque in limine templi
captiui currus, belli decus, armaque rapta
pugnantum ducibus saeuaeque in Marte secures,
perfossi clipei et seruantia tela cruorem            620
claustraque portarum pendent: hic Punica bella,
Aegatis cernas fusaque per aequora classe
exactam ponto Libyen testantia rostra.
hic galeae Senonum pensatique improbus auri
arbiter ensis inest, Gallisque ex arce fugatis            625
arma reuertentis pompa gestata Camilli,
hic spolia Aeacidae, hic Epirotica signa
et Ligurum horrentes coni parmaeque relatae
Hispana de gente rudes Alpinaque gaesa.
     Sed postquam clades patefecit et horrida bella            630

they often returned by chariot to their modest Penates.
     On the sacred doors and on the very threshold of the temple
hang captured chariots, the glory of war, and arms snatched
from the leaders of combatants, and axes in savage Mars,
pierced shields and weapons preserving the gore,            620
and the bars of gates: here you might behold the Punic wars,
the Aegates, and across the waters a routed fleet,
beaks testifying that Libya was driven from the deep.
here are the helmets of the Senones and the shameless sword,
arbiter of weighed gold; and, with the Gauls routed from the citadel,            625
the arms borne in the triumphal pomp of returning Camillus;
here the spoils of the Aeacid, here Epirote standards,
and of the Ligurians bristling helm-cones, and small shields brought back,
rough, from the Hispanic race, and Alpine gaesa.
     But after disaster laid bare and horrid wars            630

orantum squalor, praesens astare Sagunti
ante oculos uisa est extrema precantis imago.
tum senior maesto Sicoris sic incipit ore:
'Sacrata gens clara fide, quam rite fatentur
Marte satam populi ferro parere subacti, 635
ne crede emensum leuia ob discrimina pontum.
uidimus obsessam patriam murosque trementis,
et, quem insana freta aut coetus genuere ferarum,
uidimus Hannibalem.

the squalor of the supplicants; the present, final image of pleading Saguntum seemed to stand before our eyes.
then the elder Sicoris thus begins with a mournful countenance:
'Sacred nation, famed for faith, whom peoples duly confess to be begotten by Mars, the subdued to iron obey, 635
do not believe that for slight dangers we have traversed the sea.
we have seen our fatherland besieged and the walls trembling,
and him whom mad straits or companies of wild beasts engendered,
we have seen Hannibal.

procul his a moenibus, oro,
arcete, o superi, nostroque in Marte tenete 640
fatiferae iuuenem dextrae! qua mole sonantis
exigit ille trabes! et quantus crescit in armis!

far from these walls, I beg,
ward off, O gods above, and hold in our Mars 640
the youth of the fate-bearing right hand! with what mass he drives forth the resounding beams!
and how great he grows in arms!

trans iuga Pyrenes, medium indignatus Hiberum,
exciuit Calpen et mersos Syrtis harenis
molitur populos maioraque moenia quaerit. 645

across the ridges of the Pyrenees, disdaining the mid Ebro,
he roused Calpe and stirs to action the peoples drowned by the sands of the Syrtis,
and he seeks greater walls. 645

omnis Hiber, omnis rapidis fera Gallia turmis,            656
omnis ab aestifero sitiens Libys imminet axe.
spumeus hic medio qui surgit ab aequore fluctus,            646
si prohibere piget, uestras effringet in urbes.
an tanti pretium motus ruptique per enses
foederis hoc iuueni iurata in bella ruenti
creditis, ut statuat superatae iura Sagunto?            650

every Iberian, all Gaul fierce with rapid squadrons,            656
every Libyan, parched beneath the heat-bearing sky, threatens.
this spumy wave which rises from the mid-sea,            646
if you are loath to check it, will break into your cities.
or do you believe this to be the price of so great a motion and of a treaty ruptured by swords—
to a youth rushing into sworn wars—
that he should set laws upon conquered Saguntum?            650

ocius ite, uiri, et nascentem extinguite flammam,
ne serae redeant post aucta pericula curae.
quamquam o, si nullus terror, non obruta iam nunc
semina fumarent belli, uestraene Sagunto
spernendum consanguineam protendere dextram? 655
per uos culta diu Rutulae primordia gentis 658
Laurentemque larem et genetricis pignora Troiae,
conseruate pios, qui permutare coacti
Acrisioneis Tirynthia culmina muris.
uos etiam Zanclen Siculi contra arma tyranni
iuuisse egregium, uos et Campana tueri
moenia, depulso Samnitum robore, dignum
Sigeis duxistis auis.

go more swiftly, men, and extinguish the nascent flame,
lest belated cares return after dangers augmented.
although—O, if there were no terror—would not even now the seeds
of war, not yet smothered, be smoking? Is it for you, at Saguntum,
to scorn to stretch forth the kindred right hand? 655
through you the beginnings of the Rutulian race were long cherished, 658
and the Laurentine hearth and the pledges of mother Troy;
preserve the pious, who were compelled to exchange
the Tirynthian heights for Acrisionian walls.
you too aided Zancle against the arms of a Sicilian tyrant,
and you deemed it worthy to guard the Campanian walls,
the strength of the Samnites driven off, worthy
of your Sigean ancestors.

uetus incola Dauni, 665

an old inhabitant of Daunia, 665

testor uos, fontes et stagna arcana Numici,
cum felix nimium dimitteret Ardea pubem,
sacra domumque ferens et aui penetralia Turni
ultra Pyrenen Laurentia nomina duxi.
cur ut decisa atque auulsa a corpore membra            670
despiciar, nosterque luat cur foedera sanguis?'
     Tandem, ut finitae uoces, (miserabile uisu)
summissi palmas, lacerato tegmine uestis,
adfigunt proni squalentia corpora terrae.
inde agitant consulta patres curasque fatigant.            675
Lentulus, ut cernens accensae tecta Sagunti,
poscendum poenae iuuenem celerique negantis
exuri bello Carthaginis arua iubebat.

I call you to witness, springs and arcane pools of the Numicus,
when Ardea was sending forth its youth too fortunate,
bearing the sacra and the household and the inner shrines of my grandsire Turnus
I led the Laurentian name beyond the Pyrenees.
why should I be despised as if limbs cut off and torn from the body            670
and why should our blood pay the price for the treaties?'
     At last, when the voices were ended (pitiable to behold),
with palms lowered, their garment’s covering torn,
they fasten their squalid bodies to the earth, face-down.
then the Fathers drive deliberations and weary out their cares.            675
Lentulus, as though seeing the roofs of Saguntum ablaze,
declared that the youth must be demanded for penalty, and that, for those refusing,
the fields of Carthage should be burned with swift war.

at Fabius, cauta speculator mente futuri
nec laetus dubiis parcusque lacessere Martem 680

but Fabius, a speculator of the future with a cautious mind
and not glad in uncertainties and sparing to provoke Mars 680

et melior clauso bellum producere ferro,
prima super tantis rebus pensanda, ducisne
ceperit arma furor, patres an signa moueri
censuerint, mittique uiros, qui exacta reportent.
prouidus haec ritu uatis fundebat ab alto 685
pectore praemeditans Fabius surgentia bella,
ut saepe e celsa grandaeuus puppe magister,
prospiciens signis uenturum in carbasa Corum,
summo iam dudum substringit lintea malo.
sed lacrimae atque ira mixtus dolor impulit omnis 690
praecipitare latens fatum, lectique senatu,
qui ductorem adeant; si perstet surdus in armis
pactorum, uertant inde ad Carthaginis arces
nec diuum oblitis indicere bella morentur.

and better to prolong the war with the iron closed,
the first point to be weighed concerning such great matters: whether
the leader’s frenzy has taken up arms, or the fathers have decreed
that the standards be moved, and that men be sent to report what has been exacted.
provident Fabius was pouring these things forth in the rite of a vates from his deep 685
breast, premeditating the wars that were rising,
as often an aged master from a lofty poop,
looking out by the signs that Corus will come into the canvas,
has long since tightened the canvas to the topmost mast.
but a pain mingled of tears and wrath drove all to precipitate the hidden fate, 690
and men were chosen by the senate
to go to the leader; if he persists deaf in arms
to the pacts, then let them turn thence to the citadels of Carthage
and, the gods not forgotten, let them not delay to proclaim war.