Silius Italicus: PUNICA

Iam terra glaciale caput fecundaque nimbis
tempora et austrifero nebulosam uertice frontem
immitis condebat Hiems, blandisque salubre
uer Zephyris tepido mulcebat rura sereno.
prorumpit Capua Poenus uicinaque late            5
praemisso terrore quatit, ceu condita bruma,
dum Riphaea rigent Aquilonis flamina, tandem
euoluit serpens arcano membra cubili
et spondente die nouus emicat atque coruscum
fert caput et saniem sublatis faucibus efflat.            10
at Libyci ducis ut fulserunt signa per agros,
desolata metu cuncta, et suadente pauore
uallo se clausere simul trepidique salutis
expectant ipsis metuentes moenibus hostem.
    Sed non ille uigor qui ruptis Alpibus arma            15

Now harsh Winter was covering the earth’s glacial head, the seasons fruitful with rain, and its brow clouded at an Auster-bearing summit;
and health-giving Spring with coaxing Zephyrs was soothing the fields with warm, clear weather.
The Punic bursts forth from Capua and shakes far and wide the neighboring regions, terror sent ahead,            5
as, with winter laid up, while the blasts of Aquilo at the Riphaean heights stiffen, at length
a serpent unwinds its limbs from its secret couch, and, day giving pledge, new it darts forth and bears a coruscant
head and breathes out sanies with uplifted jaws.            10
But when the standards of the Libyan leader flashed across the fields,
all things were desolated by fear, and, fear persuading, at once they shut themselves with a rampart, and, trembling, for safety
they await the enemy, fearing him within their very walls.
    But not the vigor that, the Alps broken through, bore his arms—            15

intulerat dederatque uias Trebiaque potitus
Maeonios Italo scelerauit sanguine fluctus
tunc inerat. molli luxu madefacta meroque
~inlecebris somni torpentia membra fluebant.
quis gelidas suetum noctes thorace grauatis 20
sub Ioue non aequo trahere et tentoria saepe
spernere, ubi hiberna ruerent cum grandine nimbi,
ac ne nocte quidem clipeiue ensesue reposti,
non pharetrae aut iacula, et pro membris arma fuere,
tum graue cassis onus maioraque pondera uisa 25
parmarum ac nullis fusae stridoribus hastae.

he had forced a way and opened routes, and, master of the Trebia, had defiled the Maeonian billows with Italian blood—then that vigor was within him. soaked with soft luxury and with wine, ~by the allurements of sleep their torpid limbs were melting.
those who were wont to drag through icy nights, their bodies weighed down with corselet, beneath an unfair Jove, 20
and often to spurn tents when wintry rain-clouds rushed with hail,
and not even at night were shields or swords laid aside,
nor quivers or javelins, and arms were instead of limbs—
then the heavy burden of the helmet and the greater weights seemed, 25
of small shields, and spears were cast with no whistles at all.

    Prima instaurantem sensit certamina mitis
Parthenope, non diues opum, non spreta uigoris,
sed portus traxere ducem secura uolentem
aequora, quae peteret ueniens Carthagine puppis.            30
Sirenum dedit una suum (memorabile) nomen            33

    First did gentle Parthenope feel him renewing the contests—
not rich in opulence, not despised for vigor,
but her harbors drew the leader, the safe waters, willing,
which a ship coming from Carthage would seek.            30
One of the Sirens gave her its own (memorable) name            33

Parthenope muris Acheloias, aequore cuius
regnauere diu cantus, cum dulce per undas
exitium miseris caneret non prospera nautis.
nunc molles urbi ritus atque hospita Musis            31
otia et exemptum curis grauioribus aeuum.
haec pone adgressus (nam frontem clauserat aequor)            37
moenia non ullas ualuit perfringere Poenus
tota mole uias frustraque inglorius ausi
pulsauit quatiens obstructas ariete portas.            40

Parthenope with Achelousian walls, upon whose sea
songs long reigned, when she sang sweet destruction across the waves,
not prosperous to sailors, for the wretched.
now soft rites for the city and leisures hospitable to the Muses            31
and a life exempt from graver cares.
Having approached these walls from the rear (for the sea had closed the front)            37
the Carthaginian was not able to break through any ways,
with his whole mass, and in vain, inglorious in his daring,
he struck the gates, blocked, shaking them with a ram.            40

stabat Cannarum Graia ad munimina uictor
nequiquam et cautae mentis consulta probabat
euentu, qui post Dauni stagnantia regna
sanguine Tarpeias ire abstinuisset ad arces.
'En, qui nos segnes et nescire addere cursum 45
factis iactastis, quod uobis scandere nuper
non acie ex ipsa concessum moenia Romae,
intrate atque epulas promissas sede Tonantis
his, quae Graia manus defendit, reddite tectis.'
talia iactabat famaeque pudore futurae, 50
inritus incepti prima si absisteret urbe,
audebat cuncta atque acuebat fraudibus enses.
sed subitae muris flammae totoque fluebant
aggeris anfractu tela improuisa per auras.

he, the victor, was standing by the Greek muniments of Cannae
in vain, and was proving by the event the counsels of a cautious mind,
who, after the stagnant realms of Daunus,
would have refrained to go with blood to the Tarpeian citadels.
'Lo, you who have bragged that we are sluggish and do not know how to add speed 45
to deeds, because to you it was not granted lately to scale the walls of Rome
straight from the battle-line,
enter, and the banquets promised in the seat of the Thunderer
give back to these roofs which a Greek hand defends.'
he was tossing out such words, and, from shame of future fame, 50
if he should desist from the first city, balked in his beginning,
he dared all things and was whetting swords with stratagems.
but sudden flames were upon the walls, and along the whole winding
of the rampart unforeseen missiles were streaming through the air.

haud secus, occuluit saxi quo uertice fetus 55
ales fulua Iouis, tacito si ad culmina nisu
euasit serpens terretque propincus hiatu,
illa hostem rostro atque adsuetis fulmina ferre
unguibus incessens nidi circumuolat orbem.
Tandem ad uicinos Cumarum uertere portus 60

not otherwise, where, on the peak of a rock, the tawny bird of Jove has concealed her brood, 55
if a serpent has by silent effort gained the summits and, close by, terrifies with its gaping maw,
she, assailing the foe with her beak and with talons accustomed to bear the thunderbolts,
wheeling, circles the rim of the nest.
At length they turned to the neighboring harbors of Cumae 60

defessus subiit uarioque lacessere motu
fortunam et famae turbando obstare sinistrae.
sed custos urbi Gracchus tutela uel ipsis
certior arcebat muris iterumque sedere
portis atque aditus iterum sperare uetabat. 65
lustrat inops animi rimaturque omnia circum
alite uectus equo rursusque hortatibus infit
laudum agitare suos: 'Pro di, quis terminus' inquit
'ante urbes standi Graias, oblite tuorum
factorum miles? quis erit modus?

wearied he resorted to provoke Fortune with varied motion,
and by throwing things into turmoil to stand against sinister Fame.
but Gracchus, guardian for the city, a tutelage more sure even than the walls
themselves, was warding him off, and was forbidding again to sit
at the gates and again to hope for the approaches. 65
bereft in spirit he surveys and searches out everything around,
borne on a winged horse, and again he begins with exhortations
to drive his men to praises: 'O gods, what boundary,' he says,
'of standing before Graian cities, soldier forgetful
of your deeds? what will be the measure?

Alpibus astat 70
nimirum maior moles, et scandere caelum
pulsantis iubeo scopulos. quamquam altera detur
si similis tellus, aliaeque repente sub astra
exsurgant rupes, non ibis et arduus arma
me ducente feres? tene heu Cumanus hiantem 75

By the Alps there stands 70
surely a greater mass, and I bid you to scale the crags
that strike against the sky. Although if another land be granted,
like to it, and other cliffs suddenly surge up beneath the stars,
will you not go, and, though it be arduous, bear arms with me leading?
is it you—alas—a Cuman, gaping 75

agger adhuc murusque tenet Gracchusue, moueri
non ausus portis? paruo in discrimine cerno
                      . . . . . . . . . . .                                                77a
an uobis gentes quaecumque labore parastis
casu gesta putent? per uos Tyrrhena fauentum
stagna deum, per ego et Trebiam cineresque Sagunti            80
obtestor, dignos iam uosmet reddite uestra
quam trahitis fama et reuocate in pectora Cannas.'
    Sic ductor fessas luxu attritasque secundis
erigere et uerbis temptabat sistere mentes.

does the rampart and wall still hold, or Gracchus, not daring
to be moved from the gates? I discern a slight distinction
                      . . . . . . . . . . .                                                77a
or do the nations, whatever you have prepared by toil, think the deeds
were done by chance? By you I call to witness the Tyrrhenian pools
of the favoring gods, and by the Trebia and the ashes of Saguntum            80
I adjure you, make yourselves now worthy of the fame
which you drag along, and call back into your hearts Cannae.'
    Thus the leader was trying to raise them, tired and worn by luxury
and by successes, and to steady their minds with words.

atque hic perlustrans aditus fulgentia cernit 85
arcis templa iugo, quorum tum Virrius, altae
immitis ductor Capuae, primordia pandit.
'Non est hoc' inquit 'nostri, quod suspicis, aeui:
maiores fecere manus. cum regna timeret
Dictaei regis (sic fama est) linquere terras 90

and here, surveying the approaches, he beholds the gleaming 85
temples of the citadel on the ridge, whose origins then Virrius, the grim
leader of lofty Capua, lays open. 'This is not,' he says, 'of our age, that which
you gaze upon: greater hands made it. When he feared
to leave the lands of the realms of the Dictaean king (so the report is) 90

Daedalus inuenit nec toto signa sequenti
orbe dare, aetherias aliena tollere in auras
ausus se penna atque homini monstrare uolatus.
suspensum hic librans media inter nubila corpus
enauit superosque nouus conterruit ales. 95
natum etiam docuit falsae sub imagine plumae
attemptare uias uolucrum, lapsumque solutis
pennarum remis et non felicibus alis
turbida plaudentem uidit freta. dumque dolori
indulget subito motis ad pectora palmis, 100
nescius heu planctu duxit moderante uolatus.

Daedalus invented, nor to the whole following world
to give signs, dared to lift himself with a pinion into the aetherial
alien airs and to demonstrate to man the flights.
here, poising his body suspended amid the clouds,
he swam forth, and, a new bird, terrified the gods above. 95
he even taught his son, under the guise of a false plumage,
to attempt the ways of the winged; and him slipping, with the oar-blades
of his feathers loosened, and with wings not felicitous,
he saw beating the troubled straits. And while he indulges
his grief, with palms suddenly moved to his breast, 100
alas, unknowing, he steered his flights, the beating controlling them.

hic pro nubiuago gratus pia templa meatu
instituit Phoebi atque audacis exuit alas.'
Virrius haec: sed enim ductor numerabat inertis
atque actos sine Marte dies ac stare pudebat. 105

here, in return for his cloud-wandering course, grateful, he instituted pious temples to Phoebus and shed the audacious wings.'
Virrius said these things: but indeed the leader was counting the inert
and the days spent without Mars, and he was ashamed to stand still. 105

ingemit aduersis respectansque inrita tecta
urbe Dicarchea parat exsatiare dolorem.
hic quoque nunc pelagus, nunc muri saxea moles
officit audenti defensantumque labores.
dumque tenet socios dura atque obsaepta uiarum 110
rumpere nitentis lentus labor, ipse propinqua
stagnorum terraeque simul miracula lustrat.

he groans at adversities, and, looking back at the unavailing roofs,
he prepares in the city Dicarchea to satiate his grief.
here too, now the sea, now the stony mass of the wall,
hinder his daring, and the labors of the defenders.
and while slow toil holds his comrades, striving to break through the hard and obstructed ways 110
he himself surveys the nearby marvels
of the pools and of the land at once.

    Primores adsunt Capuae: docet ille, tepentes
unde ferant nomen Baiae, comitemque dedisse
Dulichiae puppis stagno sua nomina monstrat.            115
ast hic Lucrino mansisse uocabula quondam
Cocyti memorat medioque in gurgite ponti
Herculeum commendat iter, qua discidit aequor
Amphitryoniades armenti uictor Hiberi.
ille, olim populis dictum Styga, nomine uerso            120
stagna inter celebrem nunc mitia monstrat Auernum:
tum tristi nemore atque umbris nigrantibus horrens
et formidatus uolucri letale uomebat
suffuso uirus caelo Stygiaque per urbes
religione sacer saeuum retinebat honorem.            125

    The chiefs of Capua are present: he teaches whence Baiae bear their name from warmth,
and shows that the companion of the Dulichian ship gave to the stagnant pool its own names.            115
but this one recounts that by the Lucrine there once remained the appellations
of Cocytus, and in the mid-whirlpool of the sea he commends the Herculean way,
where the Son of Amphitryon, victor of the Iberian herd, split the sea.
he, the one once called by peoples the Styx, with the name reversed,
now shows gentle Avernus amid the celebrated pools:            120
then, bristling with a dreary grove and blackening shades,
and dreaded by the winged thing, it used to vomit lethal poison
with the sky suffused, and, sacred by Stygian religion through the cities,
it kept a savage honor.            125

huic uicina palus (fama est Acherontis ad undas
pandere iter) caecas stagnante uoragine fauces
laxat et horrendos aperit telluris hiatus
interdumque nouo perturbat lumine manis.
at iuxta caligantis longumque per aeuum            130
infernis pressas nebulis pallente sub umbra
Cimmerias iacuisse domos noctemque profundam
Tartareae narrant urbis. tum sulphure et igni
semper anhelantis coctoque bitumine campos
ostentant. tellus, atro exundante uapore            135
suspirans ustisque diu calefacta medullis,
aestuat et Stygios exhalat in aera flatus;
~parturit et tremulis metuendum exsibilat antris,
interdumque, cauas luctatus rumpere sedis
aut exire fretis, sonitu lugubre minaci            140

near to this is a marsh (the report is that to the waves of Acheron
it opens a way) with its stagnant whirlpool loosens blind jaws
and opens the dreadful yawns of the earth,
and sometimes with a new light it perturbs the shades.
but nearby, in gloom and through a long age            130
pressed by infernal mists beneath a pallid shadow
they tell that the Cimmerian homes had lain, and the deep night
of the Tartarean city. then fields ever panting
with sulphur and fire and with baked bitumen they display.
the earth, as black vapor floods out,            135
sighing and long heated with its marrows scorched,
seethes and exhales Stygian breaths into the air;
~she is in labor and hisses forth a thing to be feared from trembling caves,
and sometimes, having struggled to burst the hollow seats
or to go out by straits, with a mournful, menacing sound            140

Mulciber immugit lacerataque uiscera terrae
mandit et exesos labefactat murmure montis.
tradunt Herculea prostratos mole Gigantas
tellurem iniectam quatere, et spiramine anhelo
torreri late campos, quotiensque minantur 145
rumpere compagem impositam, expallescere caelum.
apparet Prochyte saeuum sortita Mimanta,
apparet procul Inar<i>me, quae turbine nigro
fumantem premit Iapetum flammasque rebelli
ore eiectantem et, si quando euadere detur, 150
bella Ioui rursus superisque iterare uolentem.

Mulciber bellows, and the torn viscera of the earth
he gnaws, and with a murmur he makes the eaten-away mountains totter.
They hand down that the Giants, laid low by Herculean mass,
shake the earth cast upon them, and by panting breath
the fields far and wide are scorched; and whenever they threaten 145
to break the imposed compages, the sky grows pale.
Prochyte appears, having drawn savage Mimas by lot;
afar appears Inar<i>me, which with a black whirlwind
presses smoking Iapetus and, from a rebellious mouth,
spews out flames, and, if ever it be allowed to escape, 150
would wish to renew wars against Jove and the gods above.

monstrantur Vesuuina iuga atque in uertice summo
depasti flammis scopuli stratusque ruina
mons circum atque Aetnae fatis certantia saxa.
necnon Misenum seruantem Idaea sepulcro 155

are shown the Vesuvian ridges, and on the topmost summit
crags depastured by flames, and the mountain all around strewn with ruin,
and rocks contending with Aetna’s fates.
and likewise Misenus, keeping the Idaean in a sepulcher 155

nomina et Herculeos uidet ipso in litore Baulos:
miratur pelagique minas terraeque labores.
    Quae postquam perspecta uiro, regressus ad altos
inde Pheretiadum muros, frondentia laeto
palmite deuastat Nysaea cacumina Gauri.            160
hinc ad Chalcidicam transfert citus agmina Nolam.
campo Nola sedet crebris circumdata in orbem
turribus et celso facilem tutatur adiri
planitiem uallo, sed, qui non turribus arma
defendenda daret, uerum ultro moenia dextra            165
protegeret, Marcellus opem auxiliumque ferebat.

he sees the names and the Herculean Bauli on the shore itself:
he marvels at the menaces of the sea and the labors of the land.
After these things had been thoroughly viewed by the man, returning thence to the high
walls of the Pheretiadae, he lays waste the Nysaean summits of Gaurus,
leafy with a glad vine-shoot. 160
from here he swiftly transfers his columns to Chalcidian Nola.
Nola sits on the plain, girt all around with frequent towers
and with a lofty rampart safeguards a flat approach easy to reach,
but, to the end that he might not grant arms to be defended by towers,
but rather of his own accord protect the walls with his right hand,
Marcellus was bringing help and succor.

isque ubi Agenoream procul aduentare per aequor
et ferri ad muros nubem uidet, 'Arma, cruentus
hostis adest, capite arma, uiri' clamatque capitque.
circumstant rapidi iuuenes aptantque frementi 170
sanguineas de more iubas. sonat inde, citato
agmina disponens passu: 'Tu limina dextrae
seruabis portae, Nero; tu conuerte cohortes
ad laeuam patrias et Larinatia signa,
clarum Volscorum, Tulli, decus.

and when he sees from afar the Agenorean drawing near over the level expanse
and a cloud being borne to the walls, he shouts, 'Arms, the blood-stained
enemy is at hand; take up arms, men,' and he himself takes them. Swift youths surround him and fit, as he rages, 170
the blood-red crests according to custom. Then he sounds forth, arranging
the columns with quickened step: 'You will guard the threshold
of the right-hand gate, Nero; you, wheel the cohorts
to the left, and the native and Larinatian standards,
O Tullius, bright honor of the Volsci.'

ast ubi iusso, 175

but when, as ordered, 175

per tacitum ruptis subita ui fundite portis
telorum in campos nimbum. ferar ipse reuulsa
in medios equitumque traham certamina porta.'
    Dumque ea Marcellus, iam claustra reuellere Poeni
et scalis spretis temptabant rumpere muros.            180
insonuere tubae passim clamorque uirorum
hinnitusque, simul litui raucoque tumultu
cornua et in membris concussa furentibus arma.
fertur acerba lues disiectis incita portis
effusaeque ruunt inopino flumine turmae,            185
improbus ut fractis exundat molibus amnis,
propulsum ut Borea scopulis impingitur aequor,
ut rupto terras inuadunt carcere uenti.

through the quiet, with the gates broken open by sudden force, pour out upon the plains a cloud of missiles.
I myself will be borne, the gate wrenched away, into the midst, and I will draw the combats, and those of the horsemen, to me.'
And while Marcellus [said] these things, already the Poeni were trying to tear off the bars and, the ladders scorned, were attempting to break the walls. 180
the trumpets resounded everywhere, and the clamor of men
and the neighing, at once the lituuses and, with raucous tumult,
the horns, and arms shaken on raging limbs.
a bitter pestilence is borne along, urged on with the gates torn asunder,
and the squadrons, poured out, rush in an unlooked-for torrent, 185
as an unbridled river, with its embankments broken, overflows,
as the sea, driven by Boreas, is dashed upon the rocks,
as the winds, their prison broken, invade the lands.

nec torrente Libys uiso armorumque uirumque
deiectus spe s<t>are ualet. dux Dardanus instat 190

nor, with the torrent seen of arms and of men,
the Libyan, cast down from hope, is not able to stand. The Dardanian leader presses on 190

attonito, praegressus equo, tergisque ruentum
incumbens hasta socios nunc uoce fatigat:
'Perge, age, fer gressus. dexter deus, horaque nostra est.
hac iter ad muros Capuae,' nunc rursus in hostem
conuersus: 'Sta.

Thunderstruck, having gone on ahead on horseback, and, leaning with his spear upon the backs of those rushing, he now urges his comrades with his voice:
‘Press on, come, carry your steps. A favorable god is with us, and the hour is ours.
This is the way to the walls of Capua,’ now again turned toward the enemy:
‘Stand.

quo raperis? non terga tuorum, 195
te, ductor Libyae, increpito: sta. campus et arma
et Mars in manibus.

Whither are you being carried? Not the backs of your men, 195
you, leader of Libya, I rebuke: stand. The field and arms
and Mars are in hand.

dimitto e caede cohortes:
spectemur soli. Marcellus proelia posco.'
sic rector Latius, iuuenique inuadere pugnam
Barcaeo suadebat honor pretiumque pericli. 200
Sed non haec placido cernebat pectore Iuno
coeptoque auertit suprema in fata ruentem.
sistere perculsos ille et reuocare laborat:
'Talesne e gremio Capuae tectisque sinistris
egredimur?

‘I dismiss the cohorts from the slaughter: let us be seen alone. I, Marcellus, demand battle.’
thus spoke the Latin ruler, and honor and the price of peril were urging the youth to attack the fight with the Barcid. 200
But Juno did not behold these things with a placid breast, and from the undertaken attempt she turned aside the one rushing toward final fates.
he struggles to halt the panic-struck and to call them back:
‘Are we going forth thus from the bosom of Capua and from sinister roofs?

state, o miseri, quis gloria summa 205

stand, o wretches, who has the supreme glory 205

dedecori est. nil uos hodie, mihi credite, terga
uertentis fidum expectat. meruistis ut omnis
ingruat Ausonia, et saeuo Mauorte parastis
ne qua spes fusos pacis uitaeque maneret.'
uincebat clamore tubas uocisque uigore 210
quamuis obstructas saeuus penetrabat in auris.

it is a disgrace. Nothing, believe me, faithful awaits you today, if you turn your backs. You have deserved that all Ausonia should press upon you, and with savage Mars you have prepared that no hope of peace and of life should remain for the routed.' He was outstripping the trumpets with his clamor and with the vigor of his voice 210
though, savage, he was penetrating into ears, however stopped up.

    Polydamanteis iuuenis Pedianus in armis
bella agitabat atrox Troianaque semina et ortus
atque Antenorea sese de stirpe ferebat,
haud leuior generis fama sacroque Timauo            215
gloria et Euganeis dilectum nomen in oris.
huic pater Eridanus Venetaeque ex ordine gentes
atque Apono gaudens populus, seu bella cieret
seu Musas placidus doctaeque silentia uitae
mallet et Aonio plectro mulcere labores,            220

    A youth Pedianus, Polydamantian in arms,
was waging fierce wars, and he vaunted Trojan seeds and origins
and that he was from Antenorean stock,
no slighter the renown of his lineage, and by the sacred Timavus            215
glory, and a name beloved on the Euganean shores.
To him father Eridanus and the Venetic peoples in their order
and the people rejoicing at Aponus, whether he might stir wars
or, placid, prefer the Muses and the silences of a learned life
and with Aonian plectrum to soothe labors,            220

non ullum dixere parem, nec notior alter
Gradiuo iuuenis nec Phoebo notior alter.
qui postquam, effusis urgens uestigia frenis
Poenorum, iuxta galeam atque insigne perempti
agnouit spolium Pauli (puer illa gerebat            225
non paruo laetus ductoris munere Cinyps,
dilectus Poeno Cinyps, quo gratior ora
non fuit ac nulla nituit plus fronte decoris:
quale micat semperque nouum est quod Tiburis aura
pascit ebur, uel qui miro candoris honore            230
lucet in aure lapis rubris aduectus ab undis.)—
quem postquam egregium cristis et casside nota
fulgentem extremo Pedianus in agmine uidit,
ceu subita ante oculos Pauli emersisset imago
sedibus infernis amissaque posceret arma,            235

they declared him without any equal, nor was any other youth more renowned to Gradivus nor more renowned to Phoebus.
who, after he, with the reins let loose, pressing upon the tracks of the Carthaginians,
recognized nearby the helmet and the badge of the slain Paulus as spoil
(a boy, Cinyps, was wearing them, glad with the no small gift of the leader,            225
Cinyps beloved by the Carthaginian, than whom no face was more pleasing,
nor did any brow shine with more beauty:
like the ivory which glitters and is ever-new, which the breeze of Tibur nourishes,
or the stone that, with wondrous honor of whiteness, shines in the ear, carried from the red waves.)—            230
whom, after the Pedian youth saw, distinguished by crests and the known helmet,
gleaming at the far end of the battle-line,
as if the image of Paulus had suddenly emerged before his eyes
from the infernal seats and were demanding back the arms that had been lost,            235

inuadit frendens: 'Tune, ignauissime, sacri
portabis capitis, quae non sine crimine uester
inuidiaque deum gestaret tegmina ductor?
en Paulus.' uocat inde uiri ad spectacula manis
et fugientis agit costis penetrabile telum. 240
tum delapsus equo galeam atque insignia magni
consulis abrumpit dextra spoliatque nitentem.
soluitur omne decus leto, niueosque per artus
it Stygius color et formae populatur honores.

he assails, gnashing: 'Will you, most craven, carry the coverings of the sacred head, which your leader bore not without crime and the gods’ envy? Lo, Paulus.' Then he calls the man’s shades to the spectacle and drives a penetrating weapon into the ribs of the fleeing one. 240
then, slipping from his horse, he tears off with his right hand the helmet and the insignia of the great consul and despoils the shining man.
all grace is unloosed by death, and over the snow-white limbs goes a Stygian color and the honors of the form are ravaged.

ambrosiae cecidere comae, uiolataque ceruix 245
marmoreum in iugulum collo labente recumbit.
haud secus Oceano rediens Cythereius ignis,
cum sese Veneri iactat splendore refecto,
si subita inuadat nubes, hebetatur et atris
decrescens tenebris languentia lumina condit. 250

the ambrosial locks fell, and the violated neck, 245
with the neck slipping, reclines upon the marble throat.
not otherwise the Cytherean fire returning from Ocean,
when it flaunts itself to Venus with brightness restored,
if a sudden cloud should invade, is dulled and, in black
shadows waning, hides its languishing lights. 250

ipse etiam rapta Pedianus casside nudos
attonitus stupet ad uultus irasque coercet.
tum galeam magno socium clamore reportans
immitem quatiebat ecum, spumantia saeuo
frena cruentantem morsu. cui turbidus armis 255
obuia Marcellus rapido tulit ora tumultu
adgnoscensque decus 'Macte <o> uirtutis auitae,
macte Antenoride!

he too, Pedianus, with his helmet snatched away, at the bare
features stands thunderstruck and restrains his angers.
then, bringing back the helmet amid the great clamor of his comrades,
he was shaking the fierce steed, who with savage bite was blooding
the foaming reins. To meet him, Marcellus, turbulent with arms, 255
bore his face in swift tumult,
and recognizing the glory: “Well done in ancestral virtue, <o>,
well done, Antenorid!”

nunc' inquit 'rapta petamus,
quod superest, Libyci ductoris tegmina,' et ardens
terrificis saeuam fundit stridoribus hastam. 260
nec forsan uoti uanus foret, obuia ni uis
Gestaris opposito tenuisset corpore telum.
qui dum uicinis ductorem protegit armis,
transabiit non hunc sitiens grauis hasta cruorem
ingentisque minas mutata morte peregit. 265

'now,' he says, 'let us seek, with the seized spoils, what remains: the coverings of the Libyan leader,' and burning he pours forth the savage spear with terrifying shrieks. 260
nor perhaps would he have been vain of his vow, had not the force of Gestar, with his body set against it, held the weapon.
who, while he protects the leader with neighboring arms,
the heavy spear, not thirsting for this man’s blood, passed through him
and with a changed death fulfilled its huge menaces. 265

auehitur raptim ductor discrimine leti
turbatus cursumque furens ad castra capessit.
Iamque fugae immodicus tendit certamine gressum
praecipitem uersis Poenorum exercitus armis.
adsequitur telis hostis, longasque uiritim 270
exsatiant iras cladum caeloque cruentos
certatim ostentant et dis ultoribus enses.

the leader is borne off swiftly, troubled by the peril of death,
and, raging, he takes up his course to the camp.
And now, immoderate in flight, he stretches his step at a run,
headlong, the army of the Punics with their arms turned in retreat.
the enemy overtakes with missiles, and man-by-man they sate their long
wraths for the calamities, and in rivalry display to the sky their bloodied 270
swords and to the avenging gods.

ille dies primus docuit, quod credere nemo
auderet superis, Martis certamine sisti
posse ducem Libyae. raptant currusque uirosque 275
Massylamque feram, et uiuis auulsa reportant
tegmina bellantum atque abeunt, sub cuspide terga
contenti uidisse ducis. tum Martis adaequant
Marcellum decori: graditur comitante triumpho
maior quam ferret cum uictor opima Tonanti. 280

That day first taught what no one would dare believe of the gods: that the leader of Libya could be halted in the contest of Mars. They snatch chariots and men, and the fierce Massylian, and they carry back the teguments of warriors torn from the living, and depart, content to have seen the leader’s back beneath the spear-point. 275
Then they make Marcellus equal to Mars in glory: he strides with triumph accompanying, greater than when, as victor, he would bear the spolia opima to the Thunderer. 280

Inde furens, postquam uallo uix depulit hostem,
ductor Agenoreus 'Quando hanc quantoque cruore
hostili labem eluerim? mea terga uidere
contigit Ausoniae? mene,' inquit 'summe deorum,
post Trebiam statuis tam turpi funere dignum? 285
uosque, inuicta diu, nunc heu sine Marte iuuentus,
debellata bonis Capuae, non degener ipse
gestorum Ausoniis uerti uictricia signa:
uobis terga dedi.

Then, raging, after he had scarcely driven the foe from the rampart,
the Agenorean leader: 'When—and with how much enemy blood—shall I wash out
this stain? Has it befallen Ausonia to behold
my back? Me,' he says, 'O highest of the gods, after the Trebia, do you deem
worthy of so shameful a death?' 285
and you, long unconquered, alas now without Mars, you youth,
overthrown by the delights of Capua, that I, no degenerate,
of my deeds should have turned the victory-bearing standards to the Ausonians:
to you I gave my back.

uidi, cum ad bella uocarem,
non secus atque Italo fugere a ductore pauentis. 290
quid relicum prisci Martis tibi, qui dare terga
me reuocante potes?' fundebat talia Poenus.
at Latiae sese Nolana ad moenia turmae
portantes spolia insigni clamore ferebant.
At consueta grauis per longum audire suorum 295

I saw, when I was calling to war,
no otherwise than as the panic-struck flee from an Italian leader, they fled. 290
what remains to you of old-time Mars, you who can turn your backs
while I am calling you back?' The Carthaginian was pouring forth such words.
but the Latin squadrons were carrying themselves to the Nolan walls,
bearing the spoils with remarkable clamor.
But, stern, long-accustomed to listen for a long time to his own men 295

euentus Roma et numquam recreata secundis,
adlato tandem faustae certamine pugnae
erigitur primoque deum se munere tollit.
ante omnis pigra in Martem fugiensque laborum,
dum bellum tonat, et sese furata iuuentus 300
dat poenas latebrae. tum, qui dulcedine uitae
inuenere dolos iurataque foedera Poeno
corrupere, notant et purgant crimine gentem.

Rome, schooled by events and never revived by favorable successes,
with the encounter of an auspicious combat at last brought,
is lifted up and for the first time raises herself by a gift of the gods.
before all, the youth, sluggish for Mars and fleeing from labors,
while war thunders, and the youth, having stolen itself away, pays penalties for its hiding-places. 300
then those who, by the sweetness of life, discovered deceits and corrupted the sworn treaties to the Carthaginian,
they brand, and they purge the nation of the crime.

punitur patriam meditati linquere terram
consilium infelix scelerataque culpa Metelli. 305
talia corda uirum. sed enim nec femina cessat
mente aequare uiros et laudis poscere partem.
omnis, prae sese portans capitisque manusque
antiquum decus ac derepta monilia collo,
certatim matrona ruit belloque ministrant. 310

is punished, to leave his fatherland’s land,
the unlucky counsel and criminal guilt of Metellus. 305
such are the hearts of men. But indeed nor does the woman cease
to equal the men in mind and to demand a portion of praise.
each, bearing before her the ancient ornament of head and hands
and the necklaces torn from the neck,
the matrons rush in rivalry and minister to the war. 310

haud tanta cessisse uiros in tempore tali
laudis sorte piget, factoque in saecula ituro
laetantur tribuisse locum. tum celsa senatus
subsequitur turba. in medium certamine magno
priuatae cumulantur opes.

it does not at all displease the men, in such a time, to have yielded to so great a share of praise,
and they rejoice to have given place to a deed destined to go on through the ages.
then the lofty throng of the senate follows.
into the midst, with great competition,
private wealth is cumulated.

nudare penatis 315
ac nihil arcanos uitae melioris ad usus
seposuisse iuuat. coit et sine nomine uulgus.
corpore sic toto ac membris Roma omnibus usa,
exanguis rursus tollebat ad aethera uultus.

to strip the Penates 315
and to have put aside nothing for the arcane uses of a better life
it pleases. The crowd without a name gathers too.
thus, Rome, having used her whole body and all her limbs,
bloodless, was again lifting her face to the aether.

Addunt spem miseris dulcem Parnasia Cirrha 320
portantes responsa uiri. nam laeta ferebant
exaudisse adytis, sacra cum uoce tonaret
antrum et mugiret Phoebo iam intrata sacerdos:
'Soluite, gens Veneris, grauioris corde timores:
aduersa et quicquid duri sub Marte manebat 325

The Parnassian Cirrha adds sweet hope to the wretched, carrying the responses of the god; 320
for they were joyfully reporting that they had heard from the adyta,
when the cavern thundered with a sacred voice and bellowed,
the priestess now entered to Phoebus:
'Loosen, race of Venus, from your heart the heavier fears:
the adversities, and whatever of hardness under Mars was remaining 325

exhaustum est uobis. restant leuiora laborum
et sine pernicie terror. dis uota precesque
ferte modo et tepidos aris libate cruores,
neu date terga malis.

it has been exhausted for you. lighter labors remain
and a terror without ruin. to the gods vows and prayers
bring only, and libate warm blood upon the altars,
nor give your backs to evils.

aderit Gradiuus, et ipse
Delius auertet propiora pericula uates            330
Troianos notus semper minuisse labores.
sed uero, sed enim ante omnis altaria fument
centum festa Ioui: centum cadat hostia cultris.
ille trucem belli nubem saeuasque procellas
in Libyam uiolentus aget: spectabitis ipsi            335
aegida turbato quatientem in proelia mundo.'
atque ea Parnasi postquam clamata sub antris
adlatum, uulgique deus peruenit ad auris,
in Capitolinas certatim scanditur arces,
sternunturque Ioui et delubrum sanguine honorant;            340

Gradivus will be present, and he himself
the Delian prophet will turn away the nearer dangers            330
known always to have diminished the labors of the Trojans.
but indeed, but in truth, before all, let the altars smoke;
let a hundred festivals be for Jove: let a hundred victims fall to the knives.
he will drive the grim cloud of war and the savage storms
into Libya with violence: you yourselves will behold            335
him brandishing the aegis for battles, with the world thrown into turmoil.'
And after these things had been cried beneath the caves of Parnassus
and the god’s message had been brought, and reached the ears of the multitude,
in rivalry the Capitoline citadels are ascended,
and things are strewn for Jove and they honor the shrine with blood;            340

tum paeana canunt responsaque fida precantur.
Interea adsuetis senior Torquatus in armis
Sardoas patrio quatiebat milite terras.
namque ortum Iliaca iactans ab origine nomen
in bella Hampsagoras Tyrios renouata uocarat. 345
proles pulchra uiro nec tali digna parente
Hostus erat, cuius fretus fulgente iuuenta
ipse asper paci crudos sine uiribus annos
barbarici studio ritus refouebat in armis.

then they sing the paean and pray for faithful responses.
Meanwhile the elder Torquatus, in accustomed arms,
was shaking the Sardinian lands with fatherland soldiery.
for vaunting a name sprung from Iliac origin
Hampsagoras had called the Tyrians to wars renewed. 345
a fair offspring to the man, yet not worthy of such a parent,
was Hostus; relying on whose gleaming youth
he himself, harsh to peace, the raw years without strength
was rekindling in arms with zeal for barbaric rite.

isque ubi Torquatum raptim properata ferentem 350
signa uidet pugnaeque auidas accedere dextras,
fraude loci nota latebrosa per auia saltus
euolat et prouisa fugae compendia captans
uirgulta tegitur ualle ac frondentibus umbris.
Insula fluctisono circumuallata profundo 355

and when he sees Torquatus swiftly bearing the readied standards 350
and right hands eager for battle drawing near,
by a fraud of the place, well-known, through the pathless, hiding-places of the woodland
he flies out and, seizing foreseen shortcuts for flight,
he is covered by brushwood in a valley and by leafy shades.
The island, girdled by the wave-sounding profound 355

fastigatur aquis compressaque gurgite terras
enormis cohibet nudae sub imagine plantae:
inde Ichnusa prius Grais memorata colonis.
mox Libyci Sardus generoso sanguine fidens
Herculis ex sese mutauit nomina terrae. 360
adfluxere etiam et sedes posuere coactas
dispersi pelago post eruta Pergama Teucri.
nec paruum decus, aduecto cum classe paterna
agmine Thespiadum, terris, Iol<a>e, dedisti.

is shaped by the waters, and, compressed by the surge, the vast bulk holds to the likeness of a naked footprint:
thence it was earlier remembered as Ichnusa by Greek colonists.
soon Sardus the Libyan, trusting in his noble blood of Hercules, changed the land’s name from himself. 360
there also flowed in, and they set enforced dwellings, the Teucrians scattered on the sea after Pergama was overthrown.
nor was it a small honor that you, Iolaus, gave to the lands, when, with your father’s fleet, you brought a column of Thespiads.

fama est, cum laceris Actaeon flebile membris 365
supplicium lueret spectatae <in> fonte Dianae,
attonitum nouitate mali fugisse parentem
per freta Aristaeum et Sardoos isse recessus.
Cyrenen monstrasse ferunt noua litora matrem.
serpentum tellus pura ac uiduata uenenis, 370

the report is that, when Actaeon with lacerated limbs was paying a lamentable punishment for having beheld Diana in the fountain, 365
Aristaeus, thunderstruck at the novelty of the ill, fled his parent across the straits and went to Sardinian recesses.
they say his mother Cyrene showed him new shores.
a land pure and bereft of serpents and of poisons, 370

sed tristis caelo et multa uitiata palude.
qua uidet Italiam, saxoso torrida dorso
exercet scopulis late freta pallidaque intus
arua coquit nimium, Cancro fumantibus Austris.
cetera propensae Cereris nutrita fauore. 375
Hoc habitu terrae nemorosa per inuia crebro
Torquatum eludens Hostus Sidonia pugnae
tela expectabat sociosque laboris Hiberos.

but gloomy in sky and much marred by marsh.
where it sees Italy, parched on a rocky ridge
it harries far and wide the straits with reefs, and within
it overcooks the pallid fields too much, with the Auster winds smoking in Cancer.
the rest nourished by the favor of well‑disposed Ceres. 375
In this condition of the land, through wooded trackless places repeatedly,
dodging Torquatus, Hostus was awaiting the Sidonian weapons of battle
and the Iberian comrades of toil.

qui postquam appulsis animos auxere carinis,
haud mora: prorumpit latebris, aduersaque late 380
agmina inhorrescunt, longumque coire uidetur
et conferre gradum. media interualla patentis
corripiunt campi properatis eminus hastis,
donec ad expertos enses, fidissima tela,
peruentum. dira inde lues: caeduntque caduntque 385

who, after they had raised their spirits when the ships made landfall,
no delay: he bursts from his hiding, and far and wide the opposing 380
ranks bristle, and the long battle-line seems to come together
and to close the step. The middle intervals of the open
plain they seize with spears from afar, hurled in haste,
until it came to tried swords, the most faithful weapons;
then a dire plague: they slaughter and they fall 385

alternique animas saeuo in mucrone relincunt.
Non equidem innumeras caedes totque horrida facta
sperarim tanto digne pro nomine rerum
pandere nec dictis bellantum aequare calorem.
sed uos, Calliope, nostro donate labori 390
nota parum magni longo tradantur ut aeuo
facta uiri, et meritum uati sacremus honorem.

and in turn they leave their souls on the savage point.
Not indeed would I hope to unfold the countless slaughters and so many horrid deeds worthily for so great a name of affairs, nor to equal with words the heat of the warriors.
but you, Calliope, grant to our labor that the deeds of the man, too little known, be handed down to the great long age, 390
and let us consecrate to the poet the honor that is deserved.

Ennius, antiqua Messapi ab origine regis,
miscebat primas acies, Latiaeque superbum
uitis adornabat dextra<m> decus. hispida tellus 395
miserunt Calabri: Rudiae genuere uetustae,
nunc Rudiae solo memorabile nomen alumno.
is prima in pugna (uates ut Thracius olim,
infestam bello quateret cum Cyzicus Argo,
spicula deposito Rhodopeia pectine torsit) 400

Ennius, from the ancient origin of King Messapus,
was mingling the foremost battle-lines, and with his right hand was adorning
the proud ornament of the Latian vitis. The rough land—the Calabrians— 395
sent him: ancient Rudiae begot him,
now Rudiae has a name memorable for its native son alone.
he, in the front of the fight (as once the Thracian vates,
when Cyzicus, hostile in war, battered the Argo,
hurled his missiles with the Rhodopeian plectrum laid aside) 400

spectandum sese non parua strage uirorum
fecerat, et dextrae gliscebat caedibus ardor.
aduolat aeternum sperans fore pelleret Hostus
si tantam labem, ac perlibrat uiribus hastam.
risit nube sedens uani conamina coepti 405
et telum procul in uentos dimisit Apollo,
ac super his: 'Nimium iuuenis nimiumque superbi
sperata hausisti.

he had made himself a spectacle by no small slaughter of men,
and the ardor of his right hand was waxing with slaughters.
Hostus swoops in, hoping it would be forever that he might drive away
so great a stain, and he poises the spear with his strength.
sitting on a cloud Apollo laughed at the attempts of the vain undertaking 405
and sent the weapon far off into the winds,
and moreover over these things: 'Too much, young man, and too superbly
you have imbibed things hoped for.

sacer hic ac magna sororum
Aonidum cura est et dignus Apolline uates.
hic canet inlustri primus bella Itala uersu 410
attolletque duces caelo, resonare docebit
hic Lat<i>is <H>elicona modis nec cedet honore
Ascraeo famaue seni.' sic Phoebus, et Hosto
ultrix per geminum transcurrit tempus harundo.
uertuntur iuuenis casu perculsa per agros 415

this man is sacred and a great concern of the sisters
of the Aonides, and a poet worthy of Apollo.
he will sing first of the Italian wars in illustrious verse 410
and will raise the leaders to heaven, he will teach
Helicon to resound for the Latins with modes, nor will he yield in honor
to the Ascraean old man or in fame.' So Phoebus, and through Hostus
an avenging reed ran across both temples.
the ranks, struck by the youth’s fall, are turned in rout through the fields 415

agmina, et effusae pariter dant terga cateruae.
tum pater audita nati nece turbidus irae
barbaricum atque immane gemens transfigit anhelum
pectus et ad manis urget uestigia nati.
At Libyae ductor, Marcello fractus et acri 420
contusus pugna, campos damnarat et arma:
uerterat ad miseras non aequi Martis Acerras.

the ranks, and the scattered bands alike give their backs.
then the father, the death of his son having been heard, turbid with wrath,
groaning in barbaric and monstrous wise, transfixed his panting
breast and pressed his footsteps toward the shades of his son.
But the leader of Libya, broken by Marcellus and by the keen 420
battle bruised, had renounced the plains and arms:
he had turned toward wretched Acerrae, with Mars not even-handed.

inde, ubi permisit flammis atque ensibus urbem,
Nuceriae nihilo leuior nec parcior ira
incussit sese atque aequauit moenia terrae. 425
post Casilina sibi multum obluctatus iniquis
defendentum armis aegre reserauerat astu
limina et obsessis uitam pensauerat auro.
iamque in Dauniacos transfundens agmina campos
flectebat rabiem quo praeda uel ira uocasset. 430

then, when he permitted the city to flames and swords,
against Nuceria a wrath no whit lighter nor more sparing
he hurled himself and equalized the walls with the earth. 425
afterward at Casilina, having wrestled much against the unjust
arms of the defenders, he had with difficulty unbarred the thresholds
by astuteness and had weighed out life to the besieged for gold.
and now, pouring his columns into the Daunian fields,
he was turning his rage wherever plunder or anger had called. 430

fumabat uersis incensa Petilia tectis,
infelix fidei miseraeque secunda Sagunto,
at quondam Herculeam seruare superba pharetram.
Verterat et mentem Tyria ad conata Tarentus,
portisque intrarant Poeni. sed enim arce corusca, 435
fisa loco, manus Ausoniae stipata sedebat.

was smoking, Petilia, inflamed with its roofs overturned,
unlucky, second to Saguntum in faith and in misery,
yet once proud to preserve the Herculean quiver.
Tarentum too had turned its mind toward Tyrian attempts,
and the Carthaginians had entered the gates. But indeed, in the gleaming citadel, 435
trusting in the position, a close-packed band of Ausonians sat.

hic, miranda mouens, classem quae condita portu
astabat (namque angustis e faucibus aequor
erumpit scopulos inter patuloque recessu
infundit campis secretum gurgite pontum)— 440
inclusas igitur, quibus haud enare dabatur
arce superposita, claustris maris extulit astu
perque auersa tulit portatas arua carinas.
lubrica roboreis aderant substramina plaustris,
atque recens caesi tergo prolapsa iuuenci 445

here, working marvels, the fleet which, hidden in the port,
stood (for from narrow throats the sea erupts
between crags, and with a gaping recess
pours, upon the plains, a secret sea with its gulf)— 440
therefore the ships, shut in, to which it was by no means given to put to sea,
with a citadel set above, he by craft raised from the sea’s locks
and through the back-way across the fields bore the transported hulls.
slippery underlays were at hand for the oaken wagons,
and fresh hides, slipped from the back of a newly slaughtered young bullock, 445

aequoream rota ducebat per gramina puppim.
et iam per collis dumosque ad litus adacta
innabat pelago ueniens sine remige classis.
Nuntius interea uectis non more carinis
terrentem freta curarum feruoribus implet, 450
dum procul Oebalios amet expugnare nepotes
et primus rostris sulcet naualibus arua,
adsessos Capuae muros: claustra ipsa reuelli
portarum, ac totum miseris incurrere bellum.

the wheel was drawing the sea-going ship over the grasses.
and now, driven over hills and thickets to the shore,
the fleet, coming in without a rower, was floating on the sea.
Meanwhile a messenger, not in the manner of ships conveyed on oars,
fills him, terrifying the straits, with the fervors of cares, 450
while from afar he longs to storm the Oebalian descendants
and to be the first to furrow the fields with naval beaks,
that the walls of Capua are besieged: that the very bars of the gates have been torn out,
and that the whole war is rushing upon the wretched.

linquit coepta ferox, pennasque addente pudore 455
atque ira simul immani per proxima motu
euolat et minitans auida ad certamina fertur.
haud secus, amisso tigris si concita fetu
emicet, attonitae paucis lustratur in horis
Caucasus et saltu tramittitur alite Ganges, 460

she leaves her beginnings, fierce, and with shame adding wings and at the same time with immense wrath, she flies through the nearest places in her rush and, threatening, is borne greedy for combats. Not otherwise, if a tigress, stirred when her brood is lost, should dart forth, in a few hours the Caucasus is traversed in her thunderstruck frenzy, and the Ganges is overpassed in a winged leap, 460

donec fulmineo partus uestigia cursu
colligat et rabiem prenso consumat in hoste.
Obuius huic sparso Centenius agmine raptim
funditur audendi prauus facilisque periclis,
sed paruum decus Hannibali. nam uitis honore 465
perfunctus Latiae subito stimularat agrestis
semermemque manum sternendam obiecerat hosti.

until she with fulminous speed gathers the tracks of her offspring
and spends her rage upon the grasped foe.
To meet her, Centenius with a scattered column in haste
is poured out, perverse in daring and facile toward perils,
but a small glory for Hannibal. For, having been invested with the honor of the Latin vine-rod, 465
he had suddenly spurred the rustics and had thrown a half-armed band before the enemy to be laid low.

bis septem demissa neci (nec substitit agmen)
milia, bis septem, quae non sollertior ense,
sed genus insignis, iustis ducebat in armis 470
Fuluius: ast aeque per corpora fusa iacentum
raptum iter est, uictorque moram non passus eundi.
exequiae tantum famam nomenque uolentem
mitificae mentis tenuerunt funere laeto.
namque per insidias, infandum, et ab hospite caesus, 475

twice seven thousands sent down to death (nor did the column halt),
thousands, twice seven, which not more skillful with the sword,
but distinguished by birth, Fulvius was leading in just arms; 470
but equally the snatched route is through the bodies of those strewn and lying,
and the victor did not allow delay of going. Only the exequies held back
his fame and name eager to fly, by a glad funeral of a gentle mind.
for by ambush—unspeakable—and slain by his host,
475

conloquium et promissa petit dum perfida gentis
Lucanae, Gracchus caeco circumdatus astu
occiderat, laudemque Libys rapiebat humandi.
Sed nun<c>, ut scitum celerare ad moenia Poenum,
<h>a<u>d stabat res ulla loco: iam consul uterque 480
praecipites aderant, Nola uis omnis, et Arpis
aeui floridior Fabius rapida arma ferebat.
hinc Nero et hinc uolucris Silanus nocte dieque
impellebat agens properata ad bella cohortis.

while he sought a conference and the promises from the treacherous Lucanian tribe, Gracchus, surrounded by a blind stratagem, had fallen, and the Libyan was seizing the credit of the burial.
But now, since it had been decreed that the Carthaginian hasten to the walls, nothing stood still: by now each consul in headlong haste was at hand, 480
all the force of Nola, and at Arpi Fabius, in the flower of his age, was bearing rapid arms. On this side Nero and on that the fleet-winged Silanus, night and day, were pressing on, driving the cohorts hurried to war.

undique conueniunt, pariterque opponere cunctos            485
uni ductores iuueni placet. arduus ipse
Tifata insidit, propior qua moenibus instat
collis, et e tumulis subiectam despicit urbem.
uerum ubi tot sese circumfundentibus armis
uallatas socium portas unaque negari             490
intrauisse sibi Capuaeque erumpere cernit,
anxius euentus, nunc ferro frangere coetum
obstantum meditatur, init nunc auia coepto
consilia atque astu quaerit tot milia portis
abstrahere artatis cinctosque resoluere muros.            495

From every side they convene, and it pleases the leaders equally to oppose all against one youth; 485
he himself, lofty, takes seat on Tifata, where a hill presses nearer to the walls, and from the tumuli looks down on the city lying beneath.
But when, with so many arms pouring around, he perceives that the gates of the allies are palisaded and that entrance has been denied to him, and that Capua is bursting out,
anxious for the outcome, now he meditates to break with iron the crowd of those standing in the way, now he enters pathless counsels for his undertaking and seeks by astu to abstract so many thousands from the straitened gates and to loosen the encircled walls. 495

sic igitur secum curasque ita corde fatigat:
'Quo, mens aegra, uocas? rursusne pericula sumam
non aecus regione loci, Capuaque uidente
terga dabo? an residens uicini uertice montis
excindi ante oculos patiar socialia tecta? 500
non ita me experti Fabius Fabiique magister
turbatum, Hesperio cum clausos milite collis
euasi uictor sparsosque per arua iuuencos
iactare accensis stimulaui cornibus ignes.

thus therefore with himself, and so he wearies his heart with cares:
'Whither, ailing mind, do you call? Shall I again take up dangers
not equitable in the region of the place, and, with Capua looking on,
shall I give my back? Or, sitting on the summit of the neighboring mountain,
shall I allow the allied roofs to be cut down before my eyes? 500
not so did Fabius and Fabius’s master find me
disturbed, when, the hills shut in by Hesperian soldiery,
I escaped as victor and stimulated the young bulls scattered over the fields
to toss fires with their kindled horns.

haud dum omnes abiere doli. defendere nobis            505
si Capuam ereptum est, dabitur circumdare Romam.'
    Haec postquam placita, et tenuit sententia mentem,
non expectato, Titan dum gurgite lucem
spirantis proferret equos, impellit in agmen
uoce manuque uiros et coepta immania pandit:            510

not yet have all stratagems departed. ‘If to defend Capua has been snatched from us, it will be granted to encircle Rome.’            505
    After these things were pleasing, and the sentiment held his mind,
not waiting for Titan to bring forth light from the deep for his breathing
horses, he drives the men into the column with voice and hand,
and he unfolds the immense undertakings begun:            510

'Perge, age, uince omnem, miles, uirtute laborem
et quantum humani possunt se tendere passus,
arduus accelera. Romam petis. hoc iter Alpes,
hoc Cannae strauere tibi.

'Go on, come now, soldier, conquer every labor by virtue,
and as far as human steps can stretch themselves,
hasten up the steep. You seek Rome. For this journey the Alps,
for this, Cannae have paved the way for you.

eia, incute muris
umbonem Iliacis Capuaeque repende ruinas:            515
quam tanti fuerit cadere, ut Palatia cernas
et demigrantem Tarpeia sede Tonantem.'
    Instincti glomerant gressus. Roma auribus haeret,
Roma oculis, creduntque ducis sollertibus actis
aptius id coeptum, quam si duxisset ab ipso            520
fatali Aeneadis campo. Vulturna citata
tramittunt alno uada postremique relincunt
tardandis Italis corruptas igne carinas.

Come now, drive the boss against the Trojan walls,
and weigh out the ruins of Capua in return; 515
how worth so great a fall it would be, that you might behold the Palatia,
and the Thunderer migrating from the Tarpeian seat.'
Urged on, they mass their steps. Rome clings to their ears,
Rome to their eyes, and they believe, by the leader’s skillful deeds,
that this undertaking is more apt than if he had led it from the very
fated field of the Aeneads. Hastening, they cross the shallows of the Vulturnus
by alder-boat, and, last of all, they leave behind hulls ruined by fire
to delay the Italians.

tum Sidicina legunt pernicibus arua maniplis
Threiciamque Calen, uestras a nomine nati, 525

then they skim the Sidicine fields with fleet maniples
and Thracian Cales, born from your name, 525

Orith<y>ia, domos. hinc Allifanus Iaccho
haud inamatus ager nymphisque habitata Casinis
rura euastantur. mox et uicinus Aquinas
et quae fumantem texere Giganta Fregellae
agmine carpuntur uolucri.

Orithyia, to their homes. from here the Allifanian field, not unloved by Iacchus,
and the lands of Casinum, inhabited by nymphs, are laid waste. soon too neighboring Aquinum,
and Fregellae, which covered the smoking Giant,
are harried by the winged column.

fert concitus inde 530
per iuga celsa gradum, duris qua rupibus haeret
bellator Frusino, et surgit suspensa tumenti
dorso frugiferis Cerealis Anagnia glaebis.
iamque adeo est campos ingressus et arua Labici,
linquens Telegoni pulsatos ariete muros, 535
haud dignam inter tanta moram. nec amoena retentant
Algida nec iuxta Iunonis tecta Gabinae.

in haste he bears himself from there 530
across the lofty ridges, where warlike Frusino clings to harsh crags
and Anagnia, Cereal with fruit-bearing glebes, rises poised on a swelling back.
And now indeed he has entered the plains and the fields of Labicum,
leaving the walls of Telegonus battered by the ram, 535
no delay worthy amid such great matters. Nor do the pleasant Algida detain,
nor the nearby roofs of Juno of Gabii.

praeceps ad ripas immani turbine fertur,
sulphureis gelidus qua serpit leniter undis
ad genitorem Anio labens sine murmure Thybrim. 540

Headlong to the banks he is borne by an immense eddy,
where the gelid Anio creeps gently with sulphureous waves
slipping without murmur to his begetter, the Tiber. 540

    Hic ut signa ferox dimensaque castra locauit
et ripas tremefecit eques, perterrita pulsis
Ilia prima uadis sacro se coniugis antro
condidit, et cunctae fugerunt gurgite nymphae.
at matres Latiae, ceu moenia nulla supersint,            545
attonitae passim furibundis gressibus errant.
ante oculos astant lacerae trepidantibus umbrae,
quaeque grauem ad Trebiam quaeque ad Ticina fluenta
oppetiere necem: Paulus Gracchusque cruenti
Flaminiusque simul, miseris ante ora uagantur.            550
clausit turba uias.

    Here, when the fierce one placed the standards and set the measured camp,
and the horseman made the banks tremble, Ilia, terrified at the struck
shallows, was the first to hide herself in the sacred cave of her consort,
and all the nymphs fled the flood. But the Latin mothers, as if no walls remained,            545
thunderstruck, wander everywhere with frenzied steps. Before their trembling eyes stand torn shades,
those who met a grievous death at the Trebia and those at the streams of the Ticinus:
Paulus and Gracchus and the bloody Flaminius as well,
they wander before the faces of the wretched.            550
the crowd closed the ways.

stat celsus et asper ab ira
ingentemque metum toruo domat ore senatus.
interdum tamen erumpunt sub casside fusae
per tacitum lacrimae: quidnam Fortuna minetur,
quidue parent superi? pubes dispersa per altas 555

he stands tall and harsh with anger,
and with a grim face he subdues the immense fear of the senate.
yet sometimes tears, poured out beneath the helmet,
burst forth through the hush: what indeed does Fortune threaten,
or what are the gods above preparing? the youth, scattered through the high 555

stat turris atque huc uentum sub corde uolutat
ut iam Roma satis credat defendere muros.
Poenus ut ad somnos uix totam cursibus actae
indulsit pubi noctem, uigil ipse nec ullam
ad requiem facilis credensque abscedere uitae 560
quod sopor eripiat tempus, radiantibus armis
induitur Nomadumque iubet prorumpere turmas.
inde leuis frenis circum pauitantia fertur
quadrupedante sono perculsae moenia Romae.

a tower stands, and he turns over in his heart that it has come to this
that now Rome should believe it enough to defend her walls.
The Punic, when he scarcely granted to the whole youth, driven by marches, the whole night for sleep,
himself wakeful and not amenable to any rest,
and believing it to be a withdrawal from life 560
whatever time sleep snatches, in radiant arms he is clothed,
and he orders the squadrons of the Nomads to burst forth.
then, light in the reins, he is borne around the quaking
walls of stricken Rome with the four-footed sound.

nunc aditus lustrat, clausas nunc cuspide pulsat 565
infesta portas fruiturque timore pauentum.
nunc lentus celsis astans in collibus intrat
urbem oculis discitque locos causasque locorum.
ac legeret uisu cuncta et penetraret in omnis
spectando partis, ni magno turbine adesset 570

now he surveys the approaches, now with his spear-point he strikes the closed gates 565
the gates in hostile fashion, and he enjoys the fear of the trembling.
now, slow, standing on the lofty hills, he enters
the city with his eyes and learns the places and the causes of the places.
and he would read with sight all things and would penetrate into every
part by gazing, if there had not come with a great whirlwind 570

Fuluius haud tota Capuae obsidione relicta.
tum demum castris turmas inflexit ouantis
spectata ductor satiatus pectora Roma.
atque ubi nox depulsa polo primaque rubescit
lampade Neptunus reuocatque Aurora labores, 575
effundit rupto persultans agmina uallo
et, quantum clamare ualet: 'Per plurima uestra,
o socii, decora et sacras in sanguine dextras,
uobis ite pares et tantum audete sub armis
quantum Roma timet.

Fulvius, the siege of Capua not wholly left behind.
then at last he bent the rejoicing squadrons back to the camp,
the leader, his heart sated with Rome now seen.
and when night is driven from the sky and Neptune reddens
with his first lamp, and Dawn calls back labors, 575
he pours out the battle-lines, vaulting over the broken rampart,
and, as much as he is able to cry: ‘By your very many honors,
O comrades, and your right hands hallowed in blood,
go equal to yourselves, and dare under arms only as much
as Rome fears.

reliquam hanc excindite molem: 580
nil quod uincatis toto restabit in orbe.
neu populi uos Martigenae tardarit origo:
intratam Senonum capietis milibus urbem
adsuetamque capi. fortasse curulibus altis
iam uos exemplo proauorum ad nobile letum 585

Raze this remaining mass: 580
nothing will remain in the whole orb for you to conquer.
nor let the origin of a Mars-born people delay you:
you will seize a city entered by the thousands of the Senones
and accustomed to be taken. Perhaps now the high curule seats,
by the example of your forefathers, summon you to a noble death 585

expectant de more senes mortique parantur.'
Talibus hic Poenus, sed contra Oenotria pubes
non ullas uoces ducis aut praecepta requirit.
sat matres stimulant natique et cara supinas
tendentum palmas lacrimantiaque ora parentum. 590
ostentant paruos uagituque incita pulsant
corda uirum, armatis infigunt oscula dextris.
ire uolunt et pro muris opponere densi
pectora respectantque suos fletumque resorbent.

‘the old men, as is the custom, await and are prepared for death.’
With such words this Carthaginian; but in reply the Oenotrian youth
seeks no words of a leader nor any commands.
enough the mothers and the sons spur them, and the dear upturned
palms of parents stretching forth and their tear-sodden faces. 590
they display their little ones and, stirred by their wailing, they strike
the hearts of the men, they fasten kisses on armed right hands.
they wish to go and, in dense array, to set their breasts before
the walls, and they look back at their own and swallow back their tears.

ut uero impulso patefactae cardine portae 595
et simul erupit motis exercitus armis,
funditur immixtus gemitu precibusque per altos
ad caelum muros clangor, sparsaeque solutis
crinibus exululant matres atque ubera nudant.
Fuluius anteuolans agmen 'Quis nesciat' inquit 600

But when indeed, with the hinge driven, the gate was thrown open, 595
and at once the army burst forth, its arms set in motion,
a clangor, mingled with groaning and with prayers, pours forth through the high
walls to heaven, and the mothers, with hair loosened and strewn, ululate and bare their breasts.
Fulvius, flying ahead of the column, says, 'Who does not know' 600

'non sponte ad nostros Poenum uenisse penatis?
a portis fugit Capuae.' subnectere plura
conantem tristis caeli cum murmure uasto
turbauit fragor et subita de nube procellae.
Iuppiter Aethiopum remeans tellure minantem 605
Romuleo Poenum ut uidit succedere uallo,
caelicolis raptim excitis defendere tecta
Dardana et in septem discurrere iusserat arces.

'Has the Punic come to our Penates not of his own will? He flees from the gates of Capua.' As he was attempting to subjoin more, a grim crash of the sky with vast murmuring disturbed him, and a sudden squall from a cloud.
Jupiter, returning from the land of the Ethiopians, when he saw the threatening Punic advancing to the Romulean rampart, 605
ordered, the heaven-dwellers having been swiftly aroused, that the Dardan roofs be defended
and that they run about the seven citadels.

ipse e Tarpeio sublimis uertice cuncta,
et uentos simul et nubes et grandinis iras 610
fulminaque et tonitrus et nimbos conciet atros.
concussi tremuere poli, caelumque tenebris
clauditur, et terras caeco nox condit amictu.
instat tempestas oculis, hostique propinquo
Roma latet.

he himself from the Tarpeian summit on high, all things,
and at once both winds and clouds and the rages of hail 610
and fulminations and thunders and black storm-clouds he musters.
the shaken poles trembled, and the sky is closed with darkness,
and blind night buries the lands with a mantle.
the tempest stands before the eyes, and with the enemy at hand
Rome lies hidden.

iactae in turmas per nubila flammae 615

flames hurled into the ranks through the clouds 615

stridorem seruant, membrisque insibilat ignis.
hinc Notus, hinc Boreas, hinc fuscis Africus alis
bella mouent, quantis animos et pectora possint
irati satiare Iouis. fluit agmen aquarum
turbine confusum piceo et nigrante procella 620
atque omnis circa campos spumantibus undis
inuoluit.

they keep a shrieking, and fire hisses into their limbs.
from here Notus, from here Boreas, from here Africus with dusky wings
set wars in motion, as great as may be able
to satiate the minds and breasts of angry Jove. The host of waters flows
confused in a pitchy whirlwind and a blackening squall 620
and all the fields around, with foaming waves,
it envelops.

celsus summo de culmine montis
regnator superum sublata fulmina dextra
librauit clipeoque ducis non cedere certi
incussit. summa liquefacta est cuspis in hasta, 625
et fluxit ceu correptus fornacibus ensis.
Ambustis sed enim ductor Sidonius armis
sistebat socios et caecum e nubibus ignem
murmuraque a uentis misceri uana docebat.

Lofty from the topmost summit of the mountain
the ruler of the gods, with right hand having raised the thunderbolts,
poised them and drove them upon the shield of the leader resolved not to cede.
The tip on the spear was melted, and it flowed as a sword seized by forges, 625
and it flowed as though a blade caught by furnaces.
But indeed the Sidonian leader, with his arms scorched,
was checking his comrades and was teaching that the blind fire is from the clouds
and that the rumblings are vainly mingled by the winds.

tandem, post clades socium caelique ruinam, 630

at last, after the calamities of the allies and the sky’s ruin, 630

non hoste in nimbis uiso, non ense, referri
signa iubet castris maestasque resuscitat iras:
'Ventis debebis nimirum hiemisque procellis
unum, Roma, diem. sed non te crastina nobis
lux umquam eripiet, descendat Iuppiter ipse 635
in terras licet.' infrendens dum talia fatur,
ecce serenato clarum iubar emicat axe,
purgatusque nitet discussis nubibus aether.
Aeneadae sensere deum telisque repostis
summissas tendunt alta ad Capitolia dextras 640
et festa cingunt montis penetralia lauro.

with no foe seen in the storm-clouds, with no steel, he does not bid the standards be carried back to the camp, and he rekindles the mournful wraths:
'To the winds and to winter’s tempests, Rome, you will owe one day, to be sure. But never will the light of tomorrow snatch you from us, though Jupiter himself descend 635
to earth.' While, gnashing, he says such things, lo, with the axis cleared the bright radiance flashes forth, and the ether shines, cleansed, the clouds having been scattered.
The Aeneadae sensed the god, and with weapons laid away they stretch their lowered right hands toward the lofty Capitol 640
and wreathe the innermost shrines of the hill with festal laurel.

tum uultus, modo non paruo sudore madentis,
nunc laetos Iouis aspectant: 'Da, summe deorum,
da, pater, ut sacro Libys inter proelia telo
concidat. haud alia potis est occumbere dextra.' 645

then their faces, just now drenched with no small sweat,
now gaze joyful at Jove’s aspect: ‘Grant, highest of the gods,
grant, father, that the Libyan fall amid battles by the sacred weapon.
by no other right hand is he able to meet death.’ 645

    Sic adeo orantes pressere silentia, postquam
abstulerat terras nigrantibus Hesperus umbris.
quem simul attollens rutilantem lampada Titan
obruit et uitae rediit mortalibus usus,
Poenus adest, nec se castris Oenotria pubes            650
continet. haud dum enses stricti, mediumque iacebat
tantum ad bella loci, quantum tramittere iactae
sufficerent hastae, cum fulgor hebescere caeli
per subitum coepit, densaeque subire tenebrae,
atque dies fugere, atque armari ad proelia rursus            655
Iuppiter.

    Thus indeed, praying, they settled into silence, after Hesperus had carried off the lands with black shadows.
whom, as soon as Titan, lifting his rutilant lamp, overwhelms and the business of life returns to mortals,
the Punic foe is at hand, nor does the Oenotrian youth keep to the camp.            650
The swords not yet drawn, and only so much ground lay between for battle as sufficed for hurled spears to traverse, when the brilliance of the sky suddenly began to grow dim, and dense shadows began to come on,
and day to flee, and Jupiter to arm himself for battles again.            655

incumbunt uenti, crassusque rotante
Austro nimborum feruet globus. intonat ipse,
quod tremat et Rhodope Taurusque et Pindus et Atlas.
audiuere lacus Erebi, mersusque profundis
agnouit tenebris caelestia bella Typhoeus. 660

the winds bear down, and a thick globe of storm-clouds seethes with the whirling
Auster; he himself thunders, so that both Rhodope and Taurus and Pindus and Atlas
tremble. The lakes of Erebus heard, and Typhoeus, plunged in the deep
darknesses, recognized the celestial wars. 660

inuadit Notus ac, piceam cum grandine multa
intorquens nubem, cunctantem et uana minantem
circumagit castrisque ducem succedere cogit.
    Verum ubi depositis saepsit sese aggere telis,
laeta serenati facies aperitur Olympi,            665
nullaque tam mitem credas habuisse Tonantem
fulmina, nec placido commota tonitrua caelo.
durat et adfirmans non ultra spondet in ipsos
~uenturam~ crebra diem, modo patria uirtus
in dextras redeat, nec Romam excindere Poeni            670
credant esse nefas.

Notus attacks and, hurling a pitch-black cloud with much hail, whips about the one delaying and threatening in vain, and compels the leader to withdraw into the camp.
But when, the weapons laid aside, he fenced himself with the rampart, the glad face of a serene Olympus is opened, 665
and you would believe that never had the Thunderer borne such gentle thunderbolts, nor thunderclaps been stirred from a placid sky. He holds firm and, giving assurance, promises that no longer will the frequent day ~come~ upon them, provided only that ancestral valor return into their right hands, and that the Poeni not believe it to be nefas to tear down Rome. 670

ubi nam tunc fulmina tandem
inuiti latuisse Iouis, cum sterneret ensis
Aetolos campos? ubi, cum Tyrrhena natarent
stagna cruore uirum? 'Pugnat pro moenibus' inquit
'si rector superum tot iactis fulmine telis, 675

where then at last did the thunderbolts of unwilling Jove lie hidden
when the sword was laying low the Aetolian fields? where, when the Tyrrhenian
pools were swimming with the blood of men? 'He fights for the walls,' he says,
'if the ruler of the gods, with so many thunderbolt-darts hurled, 675

inter tot motus cur me contra arma ferentem
adflixisse piget? uentis hiemique fugaces
terga damus. remeet, quaeso, mens illa uigorque,
qua uobis, cum pacta patrum, cum foedera adessent,
integrare acies placitum.' sic pectora flammat, 680
donec ecum Titan spumantia frena resoluat.

amid so many motions, why does it irk me that, bearing arms against them, I have let myself be cast down? We give fleeing backs to the winds and to winter. Let that mind return, I pray, and that vigor, with which, when the pacts of the fathers, when the treaties were present, it was your resolve to reintegrate the battle-lines.' Thus he inflames their hearts, 680
until Titan loosens the foaming reins from his steed.

nec nox composuit curas, somnusue frementem
ausus adire uirum, et redeunt cum luce furores.
rursus in arma uocat trepidos clipeoque tremendum
increpat atque armis imitatur murmura caeli.            685
    Vt uero accepit tantum confidere diuis
Ausonios patres, summissaque Baetis ad oras
auxilia, et noctu progressum moenibus agmen,
sic agitare fremens obsessos otia, iamque
securam Hannibalis Romam, uiolentior instat.            690

nor did night compose his cares, nor did sleep dare to approach the raging man, and with the light his frenzies return.
again he calls the trembling to arms and with his shield clangs a fearsome rebuke and with his arms imitates the murmurs of the sky. 685
but when he learned that the ausonian fathers trusted so greatly in the divinities, and that succors had been sent to the shores of the baetis, and that by night a column had moved up to the walls, thus, roaring, he harasses the besieged in their leisure, and now, rome carefree of hannibal, he presses on more violently. 690

iamque propinquabat muro, cum Iuppiter aegram
Iunonem adloquitur curis mulcetque monendo:
'Nullane Sidonio iuueni, coniunxque sororque
cara mihi, non ulla umquam sine fine feroci
addes frena uiro? fuerit delere Saguntum, 695
exaequare Alpes, imponere uincula sacro
Eridano, foedare lacus: etiamne parabit
nostras ille domos, nostras perrumpere in arces?
siste uirum.

And now he was approaching the wall, when Jupiter addresses ailing Juno and soothes her by admonishing: '
Will you in no way, to the Sidonian youth, wife and sister dear to me, will you never set any reins upon the ferocious man?
let it have been to destroy Saguntum, 695
to level the Alps, to impose bonds upon the sacred
Eridanus, to defile the lakes: will he even prepare
to burst through our homes, our citadels?
stay the man.'

namque, ut cernis, iam flagitat ignes
et parat accensis imitari fulmina flammis.'            700
    His dictis grates agit ac turbata per auras
deuolat et prensa iuuenis Saturnia dextra
'Quo ruis, o uecors, maioraque bella capessis
mortali quam ferre datum?' Iuno inquit (et atram
dimouit nubem ueroque apparuit ore)            705

for, as you see, already he demands fires
and prepares to imitate lightning-bolts with kindled flames.'            700
    At these words she gives thanks and, troubled, through the breezes
flies down, and, the youth’s right hand seized, the Saturnian says,
'Whither do you rush, O witless one, and undertake wars
greater than it has been given a mortal to bear?' says Juno (and she moved aside
the black cloud and appeared with her true face)            705

'non tibi cum Phrygio res Laurentiue colono:
en, age (namque, oculis amota nube parumper,
cernere cuncta dabo), surgit qua celsus ad auras,
aspice, montis apex, uocitata Palatia regi
Parrhasio plena tenet et resonante pharetra 710
intenditque arcum et pugnas meditatur Apollo.
at, qua uicinis tollit se collibus altae
molis Auentinus, uiden', ut Latonia uirgo
accensas quatiat Phlegethontis gurgite taedas
exertos auide pugnae nudata lacertos? 715
parte alia, cerne, ut saeuis Gradiuus in armis
implerit dictum proprio de nomine campum.
hinc Ianus mouet arma manu, mouet inde Quirinus,
quisque suo de colle deus.

'your contest is not with a Phrygian or a Laurentine ploughman:
lo, come (for, the cloud removed from your eyes for a little,
I will grant you to discern all things), where the high summit rises to the breezes,
look, the mountain’s apex, called the Palatine from the Parrhasian king,
Apollo holds it, his quiver resounding, and he bends the bow and meditates battles. 710
but where the Aventine, of lofty mass, lifts itself with neighboring
hills, do you see how the Latonian virgin
shakes torches kindled in Phlegethon’s whirl,
her arms thrust out for fight, stripped bare, eagerly?
elsewhere, behold how savage Gradivus in arms
has filled the field named from his own name.
on this side Janus brandishes weapons with his hand, on that Quirinus,
each god from his own hill.

sed enim aspice, quantus
aegida commoueat nimbos flammasque uomentem 720

but indeed look, how great a one
shakes the aegis, spewing nimbus-clouds and flames 720

Iuppiter et quantis pascat ferus ignibus iras.
huc uultus flecte atque aude spectare Tonantem:
quas hiemes, quantos concusso uertice cernis
sub nutu tonitrus! oculis qui fulgurat ignis!

Jupiter, and with how great fires the fierce one feeds his wraths.
hither bend your gaze and dare to behold the Thunderer:
what winters, what mighty thunders you discern with his crest shaken
under his nod! what fire flashes to the eyes!

cede deis tandem et Titania desine bella.'            725
sic adfata uirum indocilem pacisque modique,
mirantem superum uultus et flammea membra
abstrahit ac pacem terris caeloque reponit.
    Respectans abit et castris auulsa moueri
signa iubet ductor remeaturumque minatur.            730
redditur extemplo flagrantior aethere lampas,
et tremula infuso resplendent caerula Phoebo.
at procul e muris uidere ut signa reuelli
Aeneadae uersumque ducem, tacita ora uicissim
ostentant nutuque docent quod credere magno            735

‘yield to the gods at last and, Titaness, cease the wars.’            725
thus having addressed the man untaught of peace and of measure,
marveling at the faces of the gods and the fiery limbs,
she draws him away and restores peace to the lands and to the sky.
    Looking back she departs and, torn from the camp, orders the standards
to be moved, and the leader threatens that he will return home.            730
at once a torch is rendered more blazing in the aether,
and the trembling blue expanse shines with Phoebus poured in.
but far off from the walls the Aeneadae saw how the standards were being torn up
and the leader turned about; in turn they display silent faces
and by a nod teach what to believe to their great [chief].            735

non audent haerente metu, nec abire uolentis
sed fraudem insidiasque putant et Punica corda,
ac tacitae natis infigunt oscula matres:
donec procedens oculis sese abstulit agmen
suspectosque dolos dempto terrore resoluit.            740
tum uero passim sacra in Capitolia pergunt
inque uicem amplexi permixta uoce triumphum
Tarpeii clamant Iouis ac delubra coronant.
iamque omnis pandunt portas: ruit undique laetum
non sperata petens dudum sibi gaudia uulgus.            745
hi spectant, quo fixa loco tentoria regis
astiterint, hi, qua celsus de sede uocatas
adfatus fuerit turmas, ubi belliger Astur
atque ubi atrox Garamas saeuusque tetenderit Hammon.
corpora nunc uiua sparguntur gurgitis unda,            750

they do not dare, with clinging fear, nor are they willing to depart,
but they think it a fraud and ambush and Punic hearts,
and silent mothers imprint kisses on their offspring:
until the column, advancing, withdrew itself from their eyes
and, terror removed, dissolved the suspected deceits.            740
then indeed everywhere they go with sacred things to the Capitoline,
and, embracing in turn, with mingled voice they shout “triumph”
of Tarpeian Jove and they crown the shrines.
and now they throw open all the gates: from everywhere rushes the joyful
crowd seeking for itself joys long not hoped for.            745
these look at the place where the king’s tents
stood fastened; those, from what high seat, exalted, he addressed
the summoned troops; where the warlike Astur,
and where the grim Garamas and the savage Hammon pitched their camp.
now living bodies are sprinkled with the wave of the whirl of water,            750

nunc Anienicolis statuunt altaria nymphis.
tum festam repetunt lustratis moenibus urbem.

now they set up altars for the Anio-dwelling nymphs.
then, the walls having been lustrated, they revisit the festive city.