Statius: SILVAE

Diu multumque dubitavi, Stella iuvenis optime et in studiis nostris eminentissime, qua parte evolvisti, an hos libellos, qui mihi subito calore et quadam festinandi voluptate fluxerunt, cum singuli de sinu meo pro [ . . . . ] congregatos ipse dimitterem. quid enim o [ . . . . ] quoque auctoritate editionis onerari, quo adhuc pro Thebaide mea, quamvis me reliquerit, timeo? sed et Culicem legimus et Batrachomachiam etiam agnoscimus, nec quisquam est inlustrium poetarum qui non aliquid operibus suis stilo remissiore praeluserit.

I long and much hesitated, Stella, most excellent youth and most eminent in our studies, on which side you unrolled, whether I should send forth these little books, which flowed from me with sudden heat and a certain pleasure of hastening, when I myself should dismiss them, each gathered from my bosom for [ . . . . ]. For why indeed should I also be burdened by the authority of publication ō [ . . . . ], by which I still fear for my Thebaid, although it has left me? But we read the Culex and even recognize the Batrachomachia, nor is there any of the illustrious poets who has not first essayed something in his works with a pen somewhat more relaxed.

quid quod haec serum erat continere, cum illa vos certe quorum honori data sunt haberetis? sed apud ceteros necesse est multum illis pereat ex venia, cum amiserint quam solam habuerunt gratiam celeritatis. nullum enim ex illis biduo longius tractum, quaedam et in singulis diebus effusa.

What of the fact that it was too late to restrain these things, when those things which were given to your honour you would certainly have had? But for the others much must, by leave, perish for them, since they have lost the one favour they possessed, the favour of celerity. For none of them is prolonged beyond two days, some even being dispensed in single days.

quam timeo ne verum istuc versus quoque ipsi de se probent!
Primus libellus sacrosanctum habet testem: sumendum enim erat 'a Iove principium.' centum hos versus, quos in ecum maximum feci, indulgentissimo imperatori postero die quam dedicaverat opus, tradere est iussum. 'potuisti illud'--dicet aliquis--'et ante vidisse.' respondebis illi tu, Stella carissime, qui epithalamium tuum, quod mihi iniunxeras, scis biduo scriptum.

which I fear lest that very thing those verses themselves may prove of themselves!
The first little book has a sacrosanct witness: for it was necessary to take 'the beginning from Jove.' These one hundred verses, which I made the greatest in it, were ordered to be delivered to the most indulgent emperor on the day after he had dedicated the work. 'You could have seen that before,'—someone will say—'and earlier.' You will answer him, most dear Stella, who knows that your epithalamium, which you had enjoined on me, was written in two days.

audacter mehercles, sed tantum tamen hexametros habet et fortasse tu pro collega mentieris. Manilius certe Vopiscus, vir eruditissmus et qui praecipue vindicat a situ litteras iam paene fugientes, solet ultro quoque nomine meo gloriari villam Tiburtinam suam descriptam a nobis uno die. sequitur libellus Rutilio Gallico convalescenti dedicatus, de quo nihil dico, ne videar defuncti testis occasione mentiri.

boldly, by Hercules, but it has only six‑foot lines and perhaps you lie for your colleague. Manilius certainly Vopiscus, a most learned man and one who especially rescues letters from ruin, now almost fleeing, is wont moreover to boast in my name that his Tiburtine villa was described by us in one day. A little book follows, dedicated to Rutilius Gallus recovering, of which I say nothing, lest I seem to lie by the testimony of a deceased man.

nam Claudi Etrusci testimonium est, qui balneolum a me suum intra moram cenae recepit. in fine sunt kalendae Decembres, quibus utique creditur: noctem enim illam felicissimam et voluptatibus publicis inexpertam. . . .

for Claudius the Etruscan is a witness, who received his little bath-house from me during the delay of the dinner. at the end are the Kalends of December, which certainly are believed: for that night most felicitous and inexperienced in public pleasures. . . .

I. ECVS MAXIMVS DOMITIANI IMP.

1. ECVS MAXIMVS OF DOMITIAN THE EMPEROR.

Quae superinposito moles geminata colosso
stat Latium complexa forum? caelone peractum
fluxit opus? Siculis an conformata caminis
effigies lassum Steropem Brontemque reliquit?

What doubled mass set upon the overhanging colossus
stands embracing the Latian forum? Was the work finished by the sky-god and did the work flow away?
Or, formed in Sicilian forges, did the image leave weary Steropes and Brontes?

an te Palladiae talem, Germanice, nobis           5
effecere manus, qualem modo frena tenentem
Rhenus et attoniti vidit domus ardua Daci?
nunc age Fama prior notum per saecula nomen
Dardanii miretur equi cui vertice sacro
Dindymon et caesis decrevit frondibus Ide:          10
hunc neque discissis cepissent Pergama muris,
nec grege permixto pueri innuptaeque puellae
ipse nec Aeneas nec magnus duceret Hector.
adde quod ille nocens saevosque amplexus Achivos,
hunc mitis commendat eques: iuvat ora tueri          15

Did the hands of Pallas, O Germanicus, make for us such a one          5
as just now the Rhine saw holding the reins, and the lofty house of the Dacian folk saw astonished?
Now come, let Fame beforehand marvel through the ages at the well-known name
of the Dardanian horse, to whom Dindymon with its sacred summit
and Ida with her lopped boughs have decreed sacred:          10
neither would Pergamum with its torn-down walls have captured this one,
nor would Aeneas himself nor great Hector lead him amid a mixed flock of boys and unwed girls.
Add that that one embraces the harmful and savage Achaeans,
this gentle steed commends: it delights to gaze upon their faces          15

mixta notis belli placidamque gerentia pacem.
Nec veris maiora putes: par forma decorque,
par honor. exhaustis Martem non altius armis
Bistonius portat sonipes magnoque superbit
pondere, nec tardo raptus prope flumina cursu 20
fumat et ingenti propellit Strymona flatu.

bearing peace mingled with the familiar tokens of war.
Nor think truer things greater: equal in shape and grace,
equal in honor. With his arms spent Mars is not borne higher by the Bistonian war-steed,
which prides itself on its great weight, nor, snatched up in a slow course near the rivers, 20
does it steam and with mighty blast drive off the Strymon.

par operi sedes. hinc obvia limina pandit
qui fessus bellis adsertae munere prolis
primus iter nostris ostendit in aethera divis;
discit et e vultu quantum tu mitior armis, 25
qui nec in externos facilis saevire furores
das Cattis Dacisque fidem: te signa ferente
et minor in leges iret gener et Cato castris.
at laterum passus hinc Iulia tecta tuentur,
illinc belligeri sublimis regia Pauli, 30

A fitting seat for the work. From here he throws open the thresholds that meet him
— he who, weary with wars and by the offered gift of offspring,
first showed the way for our gods into the heavens;
and learns also from your countenance how much gentler you are in arms, 25
who is not given to rage against foreign peoples, giving trust to the Catti and the Daci: with you bearing the standards
even the son‑in‑law would go less to laws and Cato to the camps.
But, the walls having suffered, on this side the Julian roofs look on,
on that side the warlike palace of lofty Paulus, 30

terga pater blandoque videt Concordia vultu.
ipse autem puro celsum caput aere saeptus
templa superfulges et prospectare videris,
an nova contemptis surgant Palatia flammis
pulchrius, an tacita vigilet face Troicus ignis 35
atque exploratas iam laudet Vesta ministras.
Dextra vetat pugnas, laevam Tritonia virgo
non gravat et sectae praetendit colla Medusae.

the father sees their backs and Concordia with a bland countenance.
he himself, however, encased about the lofty head in bright bronze,
shines above the temples and you will see him look out,
whether new Palaces, contemptuous of flames, may rise more fair,
or whether Trojan fire may keep watch with a silent torch 35
and Vesta already praise her tried ministras. The right hand forbids fights, the Tritonian virgin
does not burden the left and holds forth Medusa’s severed neck.

ceu stimulis accendit equum, nec dulcior usquam
lecta deae sedes, nec si, Pater, ipse teneres. 40
pectora, quae mundi valeant evolvere curas
et quis se totis Temese dedit hausta metallis.
it tergo demissa chlamys, latus ense quieto
securum, magnus quanto mucrone minatur
noctibus hibernis et sidera terret Orion. 45

as one kindles a horse with spurs, nor is the goddess’s chosen seat sweeter anywhere, nor, Father, if you yourself were to hold hearts which could unroll the world’s cares and who gave himself to Temese, drained by drawn metals. Thus the cloak let down from the back, the flank at rest with the sword secure, how greatly with its point he threatens, and Orion terrifies the stars with winter nights 40

     At sonipes habitus animosque imitatus equestris
acrius attollit vultus cursumque minatur;
cui rigidis stant colla iubis vivusque per armos
impetus, et tantis calcaribus ilia late
suffectura patent. vacuae pro cespite terrae          50
aerea captivi crinem tegit ungula Rheni.
hunc et Adrasteus visum extimuisset Arion,
et pavet aspiciens Ledaeus ab aede propinqua
Cyllarus: hic domini numquam mutabit habenas
perpetuus frenis atque uni serviet astro.          55
     Vix sola suffieiunt insessaque pondere toto
subter anhelat humus, nec ferro aut aere: laborant
sub genio, teneat quamvis aeterna crepido,
quae superingesti portaret culmina montis
caeliferique attrita genu durasset Atlantis.          60

     But the high-stepping horse, his bearing and spirit imitating the rider’s, more fiercely lifts his face and threatens his course;
to whom the necks stand with rigid manes and a living impulse runs through the shoulders, and the flanks, ready to be filled by such spurs, lie open far and wide.
For the vacant turf of the earth the brazen hoof, the captive hoof of the Rhine, covers the mane of hair.
Even Adrasteus would have recoiled at the sight of him, and Ledaeus, looking out from the nearby shrine, trembles like Cyllarus: this one will never change his master’s reins,
he will be perpetual in bits and will serve a single star alone.          55
     Scarcely does the ground beneath pant under the whole weight seated upon it, and not from iron or bronze: they toil beneath that spirit, though it might hold an everlasting shoe,
which, overloaded, would carry the summits of the mountain, and worn down by the knee of heaven-bearing Atlas would have endured.          60

     Nec longae traxere morae. iuvat ipsa labores
forma dei praesens, operique intenta iuventus
miratur plus posse manus. strepit ardua pulsu
machina; continuus septem per culmina ventis
it fragor et magnae figit vaga murmura Romae.          65
     Ipse loci custos, cuius sacrata vorago
famosique lacus nomen memorabile servant,
innumeros aeris sonitus et verbere crudo
ut sensit mugire forum, movet horrida sancto
ora situ meritaque caput venerabile quercu.          70
ac primum ingentes habitus lucemque coruscam
expavit maioris equi terque ardua mersit
colla lacu trepidans, laetus mox praeside viso:
'salve, magnorum proles genitorque deorum,
auditum longe numen mihi!

     Nor did long delays drag on. The very form of the god present delights the labors, and the youth intent upon the work marvels that his hands can do more. The lofty engine rattles with the blow; a continuous crash goes over seven peaks with the winds
it travels, and fastens wandering murmurs upon great Rome.          65
     The very guardian of the place, whose sacred abyss and the famous lake preserve a memorable name,
when he perceived the forum to bellow with innumerable clangs of bronze and with the harsh lash,
stirs his shaggy face and, by sacred age and merits, moves the venerable head of the oak.          70
and at first feared the vast form and the glittering light; thrice he plunged the lofty necks of the greater horse into the lake, trembling, soon rejoicing at the guardian seen:
'Hail, offspring of the great and sire of the gods, a numen is heard by me from afar!'

nunc mea felix, 75

now, my happy one, 75

nunc veneranda palus, cum te prope nosse tuumque
immortale iubar vicina sede tueri
concessum. semel auctor ego inventorque salutis
Romuleae: tu bella Iovis, tu proelia Rheni,
tu civile nefas, tu tardum in foedera montem          80
longo Marte domas. quod si te nostra tulissent
saecula, temptasses me non audente profundo
ire lacu, set Roma tuas tenuisset habenas.'
     Cedat equus Latiae qui contra templa Diones
Caesarei stat sede fori quem traderis ausus          85
Pellaeo, Lysippe, duci; mox Caesaris ora
mirata cervice tulit: vix lumine fesso
explores quam longus in hunc despectus ab illo.

quis rudis usque adeo qui non, ut viderit ambos,
tantum dicat equos quantum distare regentes? 90

who so utterly unskilled is there who, when he has seen both,
would not say of the horses just as much as of how far apart the drivers stand? 90

Non hoc imbriferas hiemes opus aut Iovis ignem
tergeminum, Aeolii non agmina carceris horret
annorumve moras: stabit, dum terra polusque,
dum Romana dies. hoc et sub nocte silenti,
cum superis terrena placent, tua turba relicto 95
labetur caelo miscebitque oscula iuxta.
ibit in amplexus natus fraterque paterque
et soror: una locum cervix dabit omnibus astris.

Not by this need of rainy winters nor by Jove’s threefold fire
tergeminum, nor will the ranks of Aeolian prison dread
delays of years: it will stand, while earth and pole,
while a Roman day. This also under the silent night,
when earthly things please the gods above, your throng, with you left 95
will glide to heaven and mingle kisses beside.
your son will go into embraces and brother and father
and sister: one neck will yield a place to all the stars.

     Vtere perpetuum populi magnique senatus
munere. Apelleae cuperent te scribere cerae,          100
optassetque novo similem te ponere templo
Atticus Elei senior Iovis, et tua mitis
ora Tarans, tua sidereas imitantia flammas
lumina contempto mallet Rhodos aspera Phoebo.
certus ames terras et quae tibi templa dicamus.          105

     Make use of the perpetual gift of the people and of the great senate
munere. The wax of Apelles would desire to write you down,          100
and would have chosen to set you, like a new one, in a temple;
Attic, elder of Eleusis of Jove, and your gentle Tarentine
face, your lights imitating starry flames,
Rhodes, scorning Phoebus, would rather prefer; be sure to love the lands and the temples which we dedicate to you.          105

ipse colas; nec te caeli iuvet aula, tuosque
laetus huic dono videas dare tura nepotes.

May you yourself dwell there; nor may the heavenly hall delight you, and may you, rejoicing, see your grandchildren offer incense to this as a gift.

II. EPITHALAMION IN STELLAM ET VIOLENTILLAM

CHAPTER 2. EPITHALAMION TO STELLA AND VIOLENTILLA

Vnde sacro Latii sonuerunt carmine montes?
cui, Paean, nova plectra moves umeroque comanti
facundum suspendis ebur? procul ecce canoro
demigrant Helicone deae quatiuntque novena
lampade sollemnem thalamis coeuntibus ignem 5
et de Pieriis vocalem fontibus undam.

From what source did the Latian mountains sound with sacred song?
To whom, Paean, do you strike new plectra and suspend eloquent ivory on your comely shoulder?
Behold, the goddess migrates away from Helicon, and with the ninth torch they shake the customary fire for the bridal chambers coming together 5
and from Pierian springs a vocal wave.

quas inter vultu petulans Elegea propinquat
celsior adsueto divasque hortatur et ambit
alternum fultura pedem, decimamque videri
se cupit et medias fallit permixta sorores. 10
ipsa manu nuptam genetrix Aeneia duxit
lumine demissam et dulci probitate rubentem,
ipsa toros et sacra parat coetuque Latino
dissimulata deam crinem vultusque genasque
temperat atque nova gestit minor ire marita. 15

among whom, with a saucy face Elegea draws near
taller she encourages and courts the accustomed goddess and surrounds
the alternate supporting foot, and longs to be seen the tenth,
and cheats the middle sisters mingled together. 10
the mother Aeneia herself led the bride by the hand,
with eyes cast down and blushing with sweet modesty,
she herself prepares the marriage-beds and the sacred rites and for the Latin gathering
dissembling a goddess restrains her hair and her face and cheeks
and composes herself and yearns to go as a new younger bride. 15

Nosco diem causasque sacri: te concinit iste
(pande fores!) te, Stella, chorus; tibi Phoebus et Euhan
et de Maenalia volucer Tegeaticus umbra
serta ferunt. nec blandus Amor nec Gratia cessat
amplexum niveos optatae coniugis artus 20
floribus innumeris et olenti spargere nimbo.
tu modo fronte rosas, violis modo lilia mixta
excipis et dominae niveis a vultibus obstas.

I know the day and causes of the sacred rite: that one chants you
(open the doors!) you, Stella, the chorus; to you Phoebus and Euhan
and the winged Tegeatic shade from Maenalus
bring garlands. Nor do flattering Love nor Grace cease
to cast an embrace about the snowy limbs of the wished-for bride 20
to strew innumerable flowers and a fragrant mist. You now with your brow take roses, now lilies mixed with violets
you receive, and with your snowy face you stand before the mistress.

     Ergo dies aderat Parcarum conditus albo
vellere, quo Stellae Violentillaeque professus          25
clamaretur hymen. cedant curaeque metusque,
cessent mendaces obliqui carminis astus,
fama tace: subiit leges et frena momordit
ille solutus amor, consumpta est fabula vulgi
et narrata diu viderunt oscula cives.          30

Therefore the day of the Parcae was at hand, appointed with a white fleece,
by which the marriage of Stella and Violentilla was proclaimed 25
let cares and fears yield; let the mendacious arts of oblique song cease;
be silent, rumor: laws arose and that loose love bit its reins;
the popular tale was exhausted, and the citizens, long having it told, saw the kisses.

tu tamen attonitus, quamvis data copia tantae
noctis, adhuc optas permissaque numine dextro
vota paves. pone o dulcis suspiria vates,
pone: tua est. licet expositum per limen aperto
ire redire gradu: iam nusquam ianitor aut lex 35
aut pudor.

you, however, astonished, although so great an opportunity of night has been given,
you still long, and, with the right-hand divinity having allowed, you tremble at the vows. put away, O sweet bard, your sighs,
put them away: it is yours. it is permitted, exposed, to go and return through the open threshold by step: now nowhere is there a doorkeeper or law 35
or modesty.

amplexu tandem satiare petito
(contigit!) et duras pariter reminiscere noctes.
digna quidem merces, et si tibi Iuno labores
Herculeos, Stygiis et si concurrere monstris
fata darent, si Cyaneos raperere per aestus 40
hanc propter: tanti Pisaea lege trementem
currere et Oenomai fremitus audire sequentis.
nec si Dardania pastor temerarius Ida
sedisses, haec dona forent, nec si alma per auras
te potius prensum aveheret Tithonia biga. 45

to sate at last the embraced desire (it happened!) and likewise to recall the hard nights.
A worthy reward indeed; and if Juno had granted you labors Herculean, and if the fates had granted that you should contend with Stygian monsters,
if to snatch this woman through Cyanean tides for that cause: 40
to run trembling by the Pisaean law and to hear the roar of Oenomaus pursuing.
Nor if, rash Dardanian shepherd, you had sat upon Ida would these gifts be, nor if kindly Dawn had rather, having seized you, carry you off in Tithonus’ chariot. 45

     Sed quae causa toros inopinaque gaudia vatis
attulit, hic mecum, dum fervent agmine postes
atriaque et multa pulsantur limina virga,
hic, Erato iucunda, doce. vacat apta movere
colloquia, et docti norunt audire penates.           50
     Forte, serenati qua stat plaga lactea caeli,
alma Venus thalamo pulsa modo nocte iacebat
amplexu duro Getici resoluta mariti.

     But what cause brought the couch and the unexpected joys to the poet, tell here with me, while doors and halls boil with a throng and many thresholds are struck by the rod,
     here, pleasant Erato, instruct. It is fitting to move discourse, and the learned know how to hear the household Penates.           50
     Perhaps, in what serene region of the milky heaven she stands, kind Venus, having been driven from the chamber, just now lay by night, freed from the hard embrace of her Getic husband.

fulcra torosque deae tenerum premit agmen Amorum;
signa petunt quas ferre faces, quae pectora figi 55
imperet; an terris saevire an malit in undis,
an miscere deos an adhuc vexare Tonantem.
ipsi animus nondum nec cordi fixa voluntas:
fessa iacet stratis, ubi quondam conscia culpae
Lemnia deprenso repserunt vincula lecto. 60

the supports and couches of the goddess the tender host of Loves presses;
they seek the signs which torches to bear, which to be fixed to pierce hearts 55
whether it prefers to rage on lands or to rage in the waves,
whether to mingle the gods or still to harass the Thunderer.
their very spirit not yet, nor a settled will fixed in the heart:
weary it lies upon the couches, where once the Lemnian bonds, conscious of guilt,
crept loose from the bed when they were caught. 60

hic puer e turba volucrum, cui plurimus ignis
ore manuque levi numquam frustrata sagitta,
agmine de medio tenera sic dulce profatur
voce (pharetrati pressere silentia fratres):
'scis ut, mater,' ait 'nulla mihi dextera segnis 65
militia: quemcumque hominum divumque dedisti,
uritur. at quondam lacrimis et supplice dextra
et votis precibusque virum concede moveri,
o genetrix: duro nec enim ex adamante creati,
sed tua turba sumus. clarus de gente Latina 70
est iuvenis, quem patriciis maioribus ortum
nobilitas gavisa tulit praesagaque formae
protinus e nostro posuit cognomina caelo.

this boy from the throng of winged ones, to whom a very great fire never frustrates the arrow by mouth and by light hand,
from the middle of the line thus utters with a tender, sweet voice (his quiver-bearing brothers pressed silence):
'you know, mother,' he says, 'that no right hand is unready for me in warfare: whomever of men or gods you have given,
is set aflame. But once, with tears and suppliant right hand
and with vows and prayers, grant that the man be moved, O mother: for we are not made of hard adamant,
but we are your throng. A youth is renowned from the Latin race, 70
whom nobility, rejoicing in patrician ancestors, bore forth, and whose presaging beauty forthwith from our heaven
bestowed surnames.'

hunc egomet tota quondam (tibi dulce) pharetra
improbus et densa trepidantem cuspide fixi. 75

I myself once (sweet to you) wickedly fixed this one in my whole quiver, trembling, with a dense point. 75

quamvis Ausoniis multum gener ille petitus
matribus, edomui victum dominaeque potentis
ferre iugum et longos iussi sperare per annos.
ast illam summa leviter (sic namque iubebas)
lampade parcentes et inerti strinximus arcu. 80
ex illo quantos iuvenis premat anxius ignes,
testis ego attonitus, quantum me nocte dieque
urgentem ferat: haud ulli vehementior umquam
incubui, genetrix, iterataque vulnera fodi.
vidi ego et immiti cupidum decurrere campo 85
Hippomenen, nec sic meta pallebat in ipsa.

although that son, much sought by Ausonian mothers, I subdued, made submissive to bear the yoke of a powerful mistress, and was bid to hope for long years. But lightly we restrained that one at the summit (for thus you bade), sparing the lamp and drawing with an idle bow. 80
from that time how many fires the anxious youth presses upon, I am astonished witness how much he bears me urging by night and day: never did I ever press more violently upon any, O mother, nor bury repeated wounds. I also saw Hippomenes, eager for the cruel field, run down, nor did the turning-post itself grow so pale. 85

vidi et Abydeni iuvenis certantia remis
brachia laudavique manus et saepe natanti
praeluxi: minor ille calor quo saeva tepebant
aequora: tu veteres, iuvenis, transgressus amores. 90

I saw also an Abydene youth contending with oars
his arms and praised hands, and often I shone forth to the swimming man:
that lesser warmth by which the seas grew fierce was less;
you, young man, having passed beyond old loves. 90

ipse ego te tantos stupui durasse per aestus
firmavique animos blandisque madentia plumis
lumina detersi. quotiens mihi questus Apollo
sic vatem maerere suum! iam, mater, amatos
indulge thalamos.

i myself was amazed that you endured such great heats
and steadied your spirits, and with flattering, soaking lashes
I wiped away your eyes. How often did Apollo, in complaint to me,
thus bid the seer mourn his own! now, mother, grant the beloved
bridal chambers.

noster comes ille piusque          95
signifer armiferos poterat memorare labores
claraque facta virum et torrentes sanguine campos;
sic tibi plectra dedit, mitisque incedere vates
maluit et nostra laurum subtexere myrto.
hic iuvenuapsus suaque aut externa revolvit          100
vulnera; pro! quanta est Paphii reverentia, mater,
numinis: hic nostrae deflevit fata columbae.'
     Finis erat: tenera matris cervice pependit
blandus et admotis tepefecit pectora pennis.

our companion that dutiful one          95
the standard-bearer, could recount warlike labors
and the bright deeds of the man and the fields running with blood;
thus he gave you plectra, and the gentle bard
preferred to go forth and to weave our laurel beneath myrtle.
hic iuvenis suaque aut externa revolvit          100
his wounds, whether inward or outward; pro! how great is the reverence of Paphos, mother,
of the divine power: here he bewailed the fate of our dove.'
     That was the end: he hung upon his mother's tender neck
gentle, and with wings laid to her warmed her breasts.

illa refert vultum non aspernata rogari: 105

she turns back her face, not having scorned to be entreated: 105

'grande quidem rarumque viris, quos ipsa probavi,
Pierius votum iuvenis cupit. hanc ego, formae
egregium mirata decus cui gloria patrum
et generis certabat honos, tellure cadentem
excepi fovique sinu; nec colla genasque 110
comere nec pingui crinem deducere amomo
cessavit mea, nate, manus. mihi dulcis imago
prosiluit.

'A great and indeed rare thing for men, whom she herself approved,
the Pierian youth longs for as a vow. This one I, marveling at the outstanding beauty,
whose glory of fathers and honour of line strove, falling to the ground
I received and cherished in my bosom; nor did my hand, my son, cease
to comb her neck and cheeks 110
nor to draw down her hair with rich amomum balm. A sweet image
leapt forth to me.'

celsae procul aspice frontis honores
suggestumque comae. Latias metire quid ultra
emineat matres: quantum Latonia Nymphas 115
virgo premit quantumque egomet Nereidas exsto.
haec et caeruleis mecum consurgere digna
fluctibus et nostra potuit considere concha,
et si flammigeras potuisset scandere sedes
hasque intrare domos, ipsi erraretis, Amores. 120

Behold afar the honours of her lofty brow
and the dais of her hair. Measure how far beyond 115
she towers above Latin mothers: as much as Latonian Diana represses the Nymphs,
and as much as I myself outstand the Nereids. These things were worthy to rise with me
on the blue waves and to settle in my shell, 120
and had she been able to mount the flame-bearing seats and enter these houses, you Loves would wander yourselves.

huic quamvis census dederim largita beatos,
vincit opes animo. queritor iam Seras avaros
angustum spoliare nemus Clymeneaque deesse
germina nec virides satis inlacrimare sorores,
vellera Sidonio iam pauca rubescere tabo 125
raraque longaevis nivibus crystalla gelari.
huic Hermum fulvoque Tagum decurrere limo,
nec satis ad cultus; huic Inda monilia Glaucum
Proteaque atque omnem Nereida quaerere iussi.

To him, though I have granted estates that made him blessed, riches yield to the spirit. The claimant now complains that Seras the avaricious robs the narrow grove,
and that Clymene's shoots are lacking, nor do the green sisters weep enough,
that fleeces Sidonian now few blush with gore 125
and that rare crystals of long-lived snows congeal. I bid the Hermus and the tawny Tagus run down with slime,
not enough for cultivation; for him I ordered Indian necklaces, the blue Glaucus,
Proteus and every Nereid to be sought.

hanc si Thessalicos vidisses, Phoebe, per agros, 130
erraret secura Daphne. si in litore Naxi
Theseum iuxta foret haec conspecta cubile,
Gnosida desertam profugus liquisset et Euhan.
quod nisi me longis placasset Iuno querelis,
falsus huic pennas et cornua sumeret aethrae 135

hanc si Thessalicos vidisses, Phoebe, per agros, 130
erraret secura Daphne. si in litore Naxi
Theseum iuxta foret haec conspecta cubile,
Gnosida desertam profugus liquisset et Euhan. quod nisi me longis placasset Iuno querelis,
falsus huic pennas et cornua sumeret aethrae 135

rector, in hanc vero cecidisset Iuppiter auro.
sed dabitur iuveni cui tu, mea summa potestas,
nate, cupis, thalami quamvis iuga ferre secundi
saepe neget maerens. ipsam iam cedere sensi
inque vicem tepuisse viro.' sic fata levavit 140
sidereos artus thalamique egressa superbum
limen Amyclaeos ad frena citavit olores.

rector, in hanc vero cecidisset Iuppiter auro.
sed dabitur iuveni cui tu, mea summa potestas,
nate, cupis, thalami quamvis iuga ferre secundi
saepe neget maerens. ipsam iam cedere sensi
inque vicem tepuisse viro.' Sic fata levavit 140
sidereos artus thalamique egressa superbum
limen Amyclaeos ad frena citavit olores.

iungit Amor laetamque vehens per nubila matrem
gemmato temone sedet. iam Thybridis arces
Iliacae: pandit nitidos domus alta penates 145
claraque, gaudentes plauserunt limina cygni.
Digna deae sedes, nitidis nec sordet ab astris.

Love joins and, bearing the joyful mother through the clouds, sits upon a gem‑studded pole.
Now the Ilian heights by the Tiber: the lofty house unfolds its shining Penates 145
and the bright thresholds, rejoicing, the swan applauded.
Worthy seat of the goddess, nor does it grow sullied by the shining stars.

hic Libycus Phrygiusque silex, hic dura Laconum
saxa virent, hic flexus onyx et concolor alto
vena mari, rupesque nitent quis purpura saepe 150

here Libyan and Phrygian flint, here the hard Laconian rocks are green, here the sinuous onyx and a vein the same color as the deep sea, and the cliffs gleam, often purple 150

Oebalis et Tyrii moderator livet aeni.
pendent innumeris fastigia nixa columnis,
robora Dalmatico lucent satiata metallo.
excludunt radios silvis demissa vetustis
frigora, perspicui vivunt in marmore fontes. 155
nec servat natura vices: hic Sirius alget,
bruma tepet, versumque domus sibi temperat annum.

The Oebalian and Tyrian bronze shows a greenish hue.
innumerable columns uphold the hanging roofs,
strong timbers gleam, sated with Dalmatian metal.
shades let down from ancient woods shut out the rays and the chill,
clear springs live in translucent marble. 155
nor does nature keep her turns: here Sirius grows cold,
winter warms, and the house turns the year to its own course.

Exsultat visu tectisque potentis alumnae
non secus alma Venus quam si Paphon aequore ab alto
Idaliasque domos Erycinaque templa subiret. 160
tunc ipsam solo reclinem adfata cubili:
'quonam hic usque sopor vacuique modestia lecti,
o mihi Laurentes inter dilecta puellas?
quis morum fideique modus? numquamne virili
summittere iugo?

The powerful foster-daughter exults in sight and in the roofs, not unlike kind Venus, as if she were to visit Paphos from the deep sea and the Idalian homes and the temples of Erycina. 160
then addressing her, she reclines her on a couch upon the ground: 'what is this long sleep and the modesty of an empty bed,
O me, Laurentes among the beloved girls? what measure of manners and of fidelity? never to submit to the manly yoke?'

veniet iam tristior aetas. 165

A sadder age will now come.165

exerce formam et fugientibus utere donis:
non ideo tibi tale decus vultusque superbos
meque dedi viduos ut transmittare per annos,
ceu non cara mihi. satis o nimiumque priores
despexisse procos. at enim hic tibi sanguine toto 170
deditus unam omnes inter miratur amatque,
nec formae nec stirpis egens: nam docta per urbem
carmina qui iuvenes, quae non didicere puellae?

exercise your beauty and make use of gifts for those who flee:
not for that reason did I give you such adornment and proud looks, and myself made widowed to be borne through the years, as if not dear to me. enough — O far too much — to have despised earlier suitors. but behold this one, wholly devoted to you with all his blood, 170
he alone among all admires and loves you, nor lacking in beauty nor in stock: for a youth schooled through the city in songs — which girl did not learn them?

hunc et bissenos (sic indulgentia pergat
praesidis Ausonii!) cernes attollere fasces 175
ante diem; certe iam nunc Cybeleia movit
limina et Euboicae carmen legit ille Sibyllae.
iamque parens Latius, cuius praenoscere mentem
fas mihi, purpureos habitus iuvenique curule
indulgebit ebur, Dacasque (et gloria maior) 180

you will see him also lift these twice-twenty (so may the indulgence of the Ausonian praeses endure!) fasces 175
before the day; certainly even now he has moved the Cybeleian thresholds
and that Euboean song the Sibyl reads. And now Latius the parent, whose mind it is lawful for me to foreknow,
will grant purple robes and curule ivory to the young man,
and the Dacians too (and greater glory) 180

exuvias laurosque dabit celebrare recentes.
ergo age, iunge toros atque otia deme iuventae.
quas ego non gentes, quae non face corda iugali?

He will grant spoils and fresh laurels to celebrate.
Therefore come, join the couches and strip youth of its leisures.
What peoples will I not, what hearts will not be kindled by the nuptial torch?

alituum pecudumque mihi durique ferarum
non renuere greges; ipsum in conubia terrae 185
aethera, cum pluviis rarescunt nubila, solvo.
sic rerum series mundique revertitur aetas.
unde novum Troiae decus ardentumque deorum
raptorem, Phrygio si non ego iuncta marito?

the flocks of birds and of sheep and of savage beasts did not refuse me; I loosen even the very heavens into marriages with the earth 185
when the clouds thin with rains. Thus the order of things and the age of the world are returned. Whence a new glory of Troy and a burning rapt-or of the gods, had I not been joined to a Phrygian husband?

Lydius unde meos iterasset Thybris Iulos?          190
quis septemgeminae posuisset moenia Romae
imperii Latiale caput, ni Dardana furto
cepisset Martem, nec me prohibente, sacerdos?'
     His mulcet dictis tacitaeque inspirat honorem
conubii. redeunt animo iam dona precesque          195

Whence would the Lydian Tiber have borne back my Iulus?          190
who would have set up the sevenfold-walled ramparts of Rome,
the Latian head of empire, if a Trojan by stealth
had not seized Mars, and I, the priest, had not been opposing?'
     With these words he soothes and breathes a silent honour into the marriage;
gifts and prayers already return to the spirit          195

et lacrimae vigilesque viri prope limina questus,
Asteris et vatis totam cantata per urbem,
Asteris ante dapes, nocte Asteris, Asteris ortu,
quantum non clamatus Hylas. iamque aspera coepit
flectere corda libens et iam sibi dura videri.          200
     Macte toris, Latios inter placidissime vates,
quod durum permensus iter coeptique laboris
prendisti portus. nitidae sic transfuga Pisae
amnis in externos longe flammatus amores
flumina demerso trahit intemerata canali,          205
donec Sicanios tandem prolatus anhelo
ore bibat fontes: miratur dulcia Nais
oscula nec credit pelago venisse maritum.

and tears and the wakeful lament of the man near the thresholds,
sung through the whole city for Asteris and the prophet,
Asteris before the feasts, Asteris by night, Asteris at dawn,
so that Hylas was not loudly called. and now the harsh began
willingly to bend hearts and already to seem hard to himself.          200
     Hail to the couches, most placid of seers among the Latins,
for having endured the hard road and the toil begun
you have taken harbour. thus the fleeing river of gleaming Pisa
inflamed for loves far abroad drags untouched streams
into a submerged channel,          205
until at last borne onward it drinks Sicilian springs with a panting mouth: the Naiad marvels at the sweet kisses
and does not believe that her husband has come from the sea.

Quis tibi tunc alacri caelestum in munere claro,
Stella, dies? quanto salierunt pectora voto, 210

What day then to you, O sprightly Star, in the bright celestial office,
Stella, what day? how greatly did hearts leap with eager vow, 210

dulcia cum dominae dexter conubia vultus
adnuit! ire polo nitidosque errare per axes
visus. Amyclaeis minus exsultavit harenis
pastor ad Idaeas Helena veniente carinas;
Thessala nec talem viderunt Pelea Tempe, 215
cum Thetin Haemoniis Chiron accedere terris
erecto prospexit equo.

when the right hand of the mistress consented to sweet nuptial looks
and it seemed fit to go to the sky and to wander through the bright axes,
the shepherd on the Amyclaean sands leapt up less at Helen’s coming to the Idaean keels;
nor did Thessalian Tempe behold such a Peleus, 215
when Chiron saw Thetis approach in the Haemonian lands from his upright steed.

quam longa morantur
sidera! quam segnis votis Aurora mariti!
At procul ut Stellae thalamos sensere parari
Letous vatum pater et Semeleius Euhan, 220
hic movet Ortygia, movet hic rapida agmina Nysa.

how long the stars delay! how slow to vows is Aurora for her husband!
But far off, as the Stars perceived the bridal chambers to be prepared
Letous vatum pater and Semeleius Euhan, 220
here Ortygia moves, here the swift ranks of Nysa move.

huic Lycii montes gelidaeque umbracula Thymbrae
et Parnasus honos: illi Pangaea resultant
Ismaraque et quondam genialis litora Naxi.
tunc caras iniere fores comitique canoro 225

To him the Lycian mountains and the icy shades of Thymbraeus and the honour of Parnassus: to him Pangaea resounded and Ismara and the once genial shores of Naxos. Then they entered beloved doors and joined the tuneful company 225

hic chelyn, hic flavam maculoso nebrida tergo,
hic thyrsos, hic plectra ferunt; hic enthea lauro
tempora, Minoa crinem premit ille corona.
     Vixdum emissa dies, et iam socialia praesto
omina, iam festa fervet domus utraque pompa.          230
fronde virent postes, ecfulgent compita flammis,
et pars immensae gaudet celeberrima Romae.
omnis honos, cuncti veniunt ad limina fasces,
omnis plebeio teritur praetexta tumultu;
hinc eques, hinc iuvenum questus, stola mixta laborat.          235
felices utrosque vocant, sed in agmine plures
invidere viro.

here the chelys (lyre), here the yellow cloak with a spotted back,
here the thyrsi, here the plectra they bear; here the inspired decked with laurel
they garland their temples, that Minoan crown presses the hair.
     Scarcely is the day sent forth, and now the communal omens stand ready
now each house seethes with festive pomp.          230
the doorposts green with foliage, the crossroads glitter with flames,
and a most celebrated part rejoices in vast Rome.
every honor, all come to the thresholds with fasces,
every praetexta is worn down by plebeian tumult;
hence the eques, hence the youths’ complaints, the mixed stola labors.          235
they call both happy, yet in the procession more envied is the man.

iamdudum poste reclinis
quaerit Hymen thalamis intactum dicere carmen
quo vatem mulcere queat. dat Iuno verenda
vincula, et insigni geminat Concordia taeda. 240

already for a long while reclining at the post
Hymen seeks to sing an untouched song to the chambers
by which he may soothe the bard. Venerable Juno gives
the venerable bonds, and illustrious Concord doubles the nuptial torch. 240

hic fuit ille dies: noctem canat ipse maritus,
quantum nosse licet. sic victa sopore doloso
Martia fluminea posuit latus Ilia ripa;
non talis niveos strinxit Lavinia vultus
cum Turno spectante rubet; non Claudia talis 245
respexit populos mota iam virgo carina.
Nunc opus, Aonidum comites tripodumque ministri,
diversis certare modis: eat enthea vittis
atque hederis redimita cohors, ut pollet ovanti
quisque lyra.

that was the day: let the husband himself sing the night,
as far as it is permitted to know. Thus, overcome by treacherous sleep,
Martian Ilia laid her side upon the river bank;
not such did Lavinia touch her snowy face
when, blushing with Turnus looking on; not such a Claudia 245
looked back upon the peoples, the keel already moved by the maiden.
Now the work, companions of the Aonians and ministers of the tripod,
to contend in diverse modes: go the inspired choir
garlanded with ribbons and ivy, that each may show his power
with a triumphant lyre.

sed praecipui qui nobile gressu 250
extremo fraudatis opus, date carmina festis
digna toris. hunc ipse Coo plaudente Philitas
Callimachusque senex Vmbroque Propertius antro
ambissent laudare diem, nec tristis in ipsis
Naso Tomis divesque foco lucente Tibullus. 255

but you, foremost, who with noble gait 250
cheated at the last of your task, give songs for the festivals
worthy of the couches. Philitas of Cos himself applauding this,
and Callimachus the old man and Propertius to the Umbrian grotto
would have come to praise the day, nor was Naso sad even at Tomi
and Tibullus, wealthy with a shining hearth. 255

     Me certe non unus amor simplexque canendi
causa trahit: tecum similes iunctaeque Camenae,
Stella, mihi, multumque pares bacchamur ad aras
et sociam doctis haurimus ab amnibus undam.
at te nascentem gremio mea prima recepit          260
Parthenope, dulcisque solo tu gloria nostro
reptasti. nitidum consurgat ad aethera tellus
Eubois et pulchra tumeat Sebethos alumna;
nec sibi sulpureis Lucrinae Naides antris
nec Pompeiani placeant magis otia Sarni.          265
     Heia age, praeclaros Latio properate nepotes,
qui leges, qui castra legant, qui carmina ludant.

     Surely not one love, nor a mere simple cause of singing, draws me: with you, Stella, like and joined Camenae, to me, and we revel much alike at the altars and draw up as companions from learned streams the flowing wave.
at your birth my first Parthenope received you in her bosom,          260
and sweet glory crept you into our soil. Let the bright land rise up to the ether for the Euboans and let fair Sebethus swell as a foster-child;
nor may the Naiads of Lucrine in their sulphurous caves nor the pastimes of Pompeian Sarnus please themselves more.      Heia come, hasten forth, illustrious descendants for Latium,
you who shall read laws, who shall marshal camps, who shall play songs.

acceleret partu decimum bona Cynthia mensem,
sed parcat Lucina precor; tuque ipse parenti
parce, puer, ne mollem uterum, ne stantia laedas 270

May good Cynthia hasten the tenth month with birth,
but may Lucina spare, I pray; and you yourself spare the mother, boy, do not wound the soft womb, do not harm the standing waters 270

pectora; cumque tuos tacito natura recessu
formarit vultus, multum de patre decoris,
plus de matre feras. at tu, pulcherrima forma
Italidum, tandem merito possessa marito,
vincla diu quaesita fove: sic damna decoris 275
nulla tibi; longe virides sic flore iuventae
perdurent vultus, tardeque haec forma senescat.

breasts; and when Nature, in her silent retreat, has fashioned your features, you will carry much of your father's beauty, and more from your mother. But you, most comely in the form of the Italians, at last deservedly possessed by a husband, cherish the bonds long sought: thus no loss of beauty for you; may your face remain green far into the bloom of youth, 275
and may this form grow old slowly.

III. VILLA TIBVRTINA MANILII VOPISCI

3. VILLA TIBURTINA OF MANILIUS VOPISCUS

Cernere facundi Tibur glaciale Vopisci
si quis et inserto geminos Aniene penates,
aut potuit sociae commercia noscere ripae
certantisque sibi dominum defendere villas,
illum nec calido latravit Sirius astro          5
nec gravis aspexit Nemeae frondentis alumnus:
talis hiems tectis, frangunt sic improba solem
frigora, Pisaeumque domus non aestuat annum.
     Ipsa manu tenera tecum scripsisse Voluptas
                                    . . .                                             9a
tunc Venus Idaliis unxit fastigia sucis
permulsitque comis blandumque reliquit honorem
sedibus et volucres vetuit discedere natos.
     O longum memoranda dies!

Behold Tibur of eloquent Vopiscus, icy to see, if anyone, having set the twin Penates in the Aniene, or could learn the commerce of the allied bank and defend for himself the villas contesting for a master, neither did the Sirius, barking with a warm star, bay at him          5
nor did the heavy foster-son of leafy Nemea cast a glance upon him: such a winter upon roofs, thus the cruel colds break the sun, and the house of Pisaeum does not glow through the year.
     Pleasure herself with a tender hand had written with you
                                    . . .                                             9a
then Venus anointed the eaves with Idalian juices
and stroked with her hair and left a flattering honor,
and forbade the winged offspring to depart from their seats.
     O a long day to be remembered!

quae mente reporto
gaudia, quam lassos per tot miracula visus!
ingenium quam mite solo, quae forma beatis 15
ante manus artemque locis! non largius usquam
indulsit natura sibi.

the joys which I recall in my mind
what sights, worn through so many marvels!
what genius, how gentle to the soil, what beauty to the blessed 15
before hands and art in places! Nature nowhere indulged herself more lavishly.

nemora alta citatis
incubuere vadis; fallax responsat imago
frondibus, et longas eadem fugit umbra per undas.
ipse Anien (miranda fides) infraque superque 20

deep groves rested over the swift shallows;
a deceptive image answers in the leaves,
and the same long shadow flees along the waves.
the Anien himself (marvelous to believe) beneath and above 20

saxeus hic tumidam rabiem spumosaque ponit
murmura, ceu placidi veritus turbare Vopisci
Pieriosque dies et habentes carmina somnos.
litus utrumque domi, nec te mitissimus amnis
dividit: alternas servant praetoria ripas, 25
non externa sibi fluviorum obstare queruntur.
Sestiacos nunc Fama sinus pelagusque natatum
iactet et audaci victos delphinas ephebo:
hic aeterna quies, nullis hic iura procellis,
numquam fervor aquis.

this rocky stream here lays down swollen rage and foamy murmurs,
as if fearing to disturb the placid Vopiscus and the Pierian days and the song‑bearing sleeps.
both shores at home, nor does the gentlest amnis divide you:25
the praetorian banks keep watch in alternation, they complain that no foreign rivers oppose them to themselves.
Let Fame now toss the Sestian bays and the sea for having been swum, and the dolphins overcome by the audacious ephebe;
here is eternal quiet, here no laws for storms, never fervor in the waters.

datur hic transmittere visus 30
et voces et paene manus. sic Chalcida fluctus
expellunt fluvii, sic dissociata profundo
Bruttia Sicanium circumspicit ora Pelorum.
Quid primum mediumve canam, quo fine quiescam?

auratasne trabes an Mauros undique postes 35

whether the beams were gilded or the posts were Moorish on every side 35

an picturata lucentia marmora vena
mirer, an emissas per cuncta cubilia nymphas?
huc oculis, huc mente trahor. venerabile dicam
lucorum senium?

Shall I admire the marbles gleaming with painted vein,
or the nymphs sent forth to lie through all the couches?
hither with my eyes, hither with my mind I am drawn. Shall I call venerable
the old age of the groves?

te, quae vada fluminis infra
cernis, an ad silvas quae respicis, aula, tacentis,           40
qua tibi tota quies offensaque turbine nullo
nox silet et nigros imitantia murmura somnos?
an quae graminea suscepta crepidine fumant
balnea et impositum ripis algentibus ignem,
quaque vaporiferis iunctus fornacibus amnis          45
ridet anhelantes vicino flumine nymphas?
     Vidi artes veterumque manus variisque metalla
viva modis.

you — whether the shallows of the river which you see below,
or the woods which you look back to, the silent hall,          40
where for you all repose, and no offence of storm disturbs, where night is silent and murmurs that imitate black sleep? Or those baths, taken up on a grassy ledge, smoke,
and a fire set upon the freezing banks burns,
and where a stream joined to steam-bearing furnaces          45
laughs the panting nymphs by the neighboring river?     I saw the arts and the hands of the ancients, and metals alive in various modes.

labor est auri memorare figuras
aut ebur aut dignas digitis contingere gemmas;
quicquid et argento primum vel in aere minori 50

It is a labor to recall the figures in gold
or ivory, or to touch gems worthy of the fingers;
whatever first is in silver or in lesser bronze 50

lusit, et enormes manus est experta colossos.
dum vagor aspectu visusque per omnia duco,
calcabam necopinus opes. nam splendor ab alto
defluus et nitidum referentes aera testae
monstravere solum, varias ubi picta per artes 55
gaudet humus superatque novis asarota figuris.

she played, and her enormous hands have tried the colossi.
while I wander and lead my gaze and sight through all things,
I was treading unexpectedly on riches. For a splendour flowing down from on high
and the shining bronzes and brazen vessels showed only the ground, where the earth, painted by various arts, 55
rejoices and surpasses with new encrusted figures.

expavere gradus.
Quid nunc iungentia mirer
aut quid partitis distantia tecta trichoris?
quid te, quae mediis servata penatibus arbor
tecta per et postes liquidas emergis in auras, 60
quo non sub domino saevas passura bipennes?

the steps recoiled in fear.
What now am I to marvel at — the roofs that join, or the distance of roofs parted for the trichoris?
what are you, who, kept among the middle penates, roofed through and by the door-posts, emerge into the liquid airs, 60
to which, under no lord, will the two-edged axes not be about to suffer cruel usage?

et nunc ignaro forsan vel lubrica Nais
vel non abruptos tibi demet Hamadryas annos.
quid referam alternas gemino super aggere mensas
albentesque lacus altosque in gurgite fontes? 65

and now perhaps either an unwitting Nais
or a slippery Nais, or a Hamadryad will cut away from you years not severed abruptly.
what shall I recount — alternating tables upon a twin rampart
and whitish lakes and deep springs in the whirl? 65

teque, per obliquum penitus quae laberis amnem,
Marcia, et audaci transcurris flumina plumbo?
an solum Ioniis sub fluctibus Elidis amnem
dulcis ad Aetnaeos deducat semita portus?
illic ipse antris Anien et fonte relicto, 70
nocte sub arcana glaucos exutus amictus
huc illuc fragili prosternit pectora musco,
aut ingens in stagna cadit vitreasque natatu
plaudit aquas.

and you, Marcia, who glide along the river that flows wholly oblique,
and do you run across rivers with audacious lead?
or does a path alone lead the sweet river of Elis beneath Ionian waves to Aetnean harbors?
there himself, the Anien left to his caves and his fountain forsaken, 70
by night under secret cover, his sea‑green cloak put off,
here and there he spreads his breast upon the fragile moss,
or falls huge into the pools and with swimming beats the glassy waters.

illa recubat Tiburnus in umbra,
illic sulpureos cupit Albula mergere crines; 75
haec domus Egeriae nemoralem abiungere Phoeben
et Dryadum viduare choris algentia possit
Taygeta et silvis accersere Pana Lycaeis.
quod ni templa darent alias Tirynthia sortes,
et Praenestinae poterant migrare sorores. 80

there Tiburnus reclines in the shade,
there Albula longs to plunge her sulphureous locks; 75
this house of Egeria could sever Phoebe from the grove
and bereave her of the choruses of Dryads, and call forth Taygete
and summon Pan to the Lycaean woods.
which, were it not that the Tirynthian oracles gave other temples,
and the Praenestine sisters were able to migrate. 80

     Quid bifera Alcinoi laudem pomaria vosque,
qui numquam vacui prodistis in aethera, rami?
cedant Telegoni, cedant Laurentia Turni
iugera Lucrinaeque domus litusque cruenti
Antiphatae; cedant vitreae iuga perfida Circes          85
Dulichiis ululata lupis, arcesque superbae
Anxyris et sedes Phrygio quas mitis alumno
debet anus; cedant, quae te iam solibus artis
avia nimbosa revocabunt litora bruma.
     Scilicet hic illi meditantur pondera mores;          90
hic premitur fecunda quies, virtusque serena
fronte gravis sanusque nitor luxuque carentes
deliciae, quas ipse suis digressus Athenis
mallet deserto senior Gargettius horto;
haec per et Aegaeas hiemes Pliadumque nivosum          95

     Why the praise of Alcinoüs’ fruit-bearing orchards, and you, branches, who never have come forth empty into the air?
Let the estates of Telegonus yield, let the Laurentian acres yield, and the Lucrine house and the blood-stained shore of Antiphates;
let the treacherous ridges of glassy Circe yield,          85
the howled-at wolves of Dulichium, and the proud citadels Anxyris and the seats which the old woman owes to her gentle foster-son of Phrygia;
let them yield, those shores now to be recalled to you by the sunless art of winter’s paths.
     Surely here they meditate on weights and customs for him;          90
here fruitful quiet is kept down, and serene virtue, solemn of brow, and a healthy brightness devoid of luxury, and the delights which he himself, having departed from his Athens, the elder Gargettius would prefer in his deserted garden;
these endure through Aegean winters and the snowy Pleiades          95

sidus et Oleniis dignum petiisse sub astris,
si Maleae credenda ratis Siculosque per aestus
sit via: cur oculis sordet vicina voluptas?
hic tua Tiburtes Faunos chelys et iuvat ipsum
Alciden dictumque lyra maiore Catillum; 100
seu tibi Pindaricis animus contendere plectris,
sive chelyn tollas heroa ad robora, sive
liventem satiram nigra rubigine turbes,
seu tua non alia splendescat epistola cura.
Digne Midae Croesique bonis et Perside gaza, 105
macte bonis animi, cuius stagnantia rura
debuit et flavis Hermus transcurrere ripis
et limo splendente Tagus.

that a constellation and things Olenian were worthy to be sought beneath the stars,
if a ship must be trusted to Malea and there be a route through Sicilian swells:
why does the nearby pleasure grow dim to the eyes?
hic tua Tiburtes Faunos chelys et iuvat ipsum
Alciden dictumque lyra maiore Catillum; 100
seu tibi Pindaricis animus contendere plectris,
sive chelyn tollas heroa ad robora, sive
liventem satiram nigra rubigine turbes,
seu tua non alia splendescat epistola cura.
Worthy of the goods of Midas and Croesus and Persian treasure, 105
macte bonis animi, cuius stagnantia rura
debuit et flavis Hermus transcurrere ripis
et limo splendente Tagus.

sic docta frequentes
otia, sic omni detectus pectora nube
finem Nestoreae precor egrediare senectae.

sic, docta, frequentes otia; sic, omni detectus pectora nube,
finem Nestoreae precor egrediare senectae.

IV. SOTERIA RVTILII GALLICI

4. SOTERIA OF RUTILIUS GALLUS

Estis, io, superi, nec inexorabile Clotho
volvit opus, videt alma pios Astraea Iovique
conciliata redit, dubitataque sidera cernit
Gallicus. es caelo dive, es, Germanice, cordi
(quis neget?): erubuit tanto spoliare ministro 5
imperium Fortuna tuum. stat proxima cervix
ponderis immensi damnosaque fila senectae
exuit atque alios melior revirescit in annos.

You are, io, gods above, nor does inexorable Clotho spin the work;
kind Astraea sees the pious and, reconciled to Jove, returns, and the Gallic man discerns the once-doubted stars.
You are, divine one from heaven, you are, Germanicus, dear to the heart (who will deny?): Fortune blushed to strip your empire by so great a plunderer 5
a neck of immense weight stands near and casts off the baleful threads of old age, and, better, grows green again into years.

ergo alacres quae signa colunt urbana cohortes,
inque sinum quae saepe tuum fora turbida questum 10
confugiunt leges, urbesque ubicumque togatae
quae tua longinquis implorant iura querelis,
certent laetitia, nosterque ex ordine collis
confremat, et sileant peioris murmura famae.
quippe manet longumque aevo redeunte manebit 15

therefore the eager urban cohorts that guard your standards,
and the tumultuous fora, which often as a complaint flee into your bosom 10
take refuge in the laws, and towns wherever robed in the toga
that with distant querulousness implore your rights,
may vie in joy, and our hill from rank to rank
roar together, and let the murmurs of worse fame be silenced.
for he indeed remains, and will remain long as the returning age endures 15

quem penes intrepidae mitis custodia Romae,
nec tantum induerint fatis nova saecula crimen
aut instaurati peccaverit ara Tarenti.
     Ast ego nec Phoebum, quamquam mihi surda sine illo
plectra, nec Aonias decima cum Pallade divas          20
aut mitem Tegeae Dircesve hortabor alumnum;
ipse veni viresque novas animumque ministra,
qui caneris; docto nec enim sine numine tantus
Ausoniae decora ampla togae centumque dedisti
iudicium mentemque viris. licet enthea vatis           25
excludat Piplea sitim nec conscia detur
Pirene: largos potius mihi gurges in haustus
qui rapitur de fonte tuo, seu plana solutis
quom struis orsa modis seu quom tibi dulcis in artem
frangitur et nostras curat facundia leges.          30

whom mild custody holds within fearless Rome,
nor will new ages have so clothed with fate a crime
or the restored altar of Tarentum have sinned.
     But I will neither Phoebus, although to me his strings are deaf without him
nor the Aonian tenth with Pallas shall I urge the divine goddesses          20
nor a gentle pupil of Tegea or Dirce;
I myself come and minister new strengths and mind,
which you are sung; for not without divine will did you give so great
ornament to Ausonia’s broad toga and a hundredfold judgment
and a mind to men. Though the inspired seer’s thirst          25
shut out the Pimplean spring and Pirene be not made conscious:
rather let a generous whirlpool be poured to me in draughts
which is snatched from your fountain, whether you spread plain measures loose
when you begin the composed strains or when, sweet in your art,
eloquence is broken and tends to our laws.          30

quare age, si Cereri sua dona merumque Lyaeo
reddimus, et dives praedae tamen accipit omni
exuvias Diana tholo captivaque tela
Bellipotens; nec tu (quando tibi, Gallice, maius
eloquium fandique opibus sublimis abundas) 35
sperne coli tenuiore lyra. vaga cingitur astris
luna, et in Oceanum rivi cecidere minores.
Quae tibi sollicitus persolvit praemia morum
urbis amor!

Therefore then, if to Ceres we restore her gifts and to Lyæus the wine, and yet Diana takes the spoils of every prey and the captured weapons upon her dome — Bellipotent; nor you (since you, Gallic, abound in a greater eloquence and in lofty resources of speech) spurn to be worshipped with a more slender lyre. 35
the moon is girded with wandering stars, and the lesser streams have fallen into the Ocean.
Which the city's love, anxious, pays you as the rewards of your manners!

quae tum patrumque equitumque notavi
lumina et ignarae plebis lugere potentes! 40
non labente Numa timuit sic curia felix,
Pompeio nec celsus eques nec femina Bruto.
hoc illud: tristis invitum audire catenas;
parcere verberibus nec qua iubet alta potestas
ire, set armatas multum sibi demere vires 45

which then I noted — the lights of fathers and of the knights,
and the mighty to mourn the unsuspecting common people! 40
the curia, happy with Numa not failing, did not fear thus,
neither the exalted eques for Pompey nor the woman for Brutus. hoc illud: sad to hear chains unwillingly;
to spare the lashes not, nor to go where high power commands,
but to strip armed men very much of their strength. 45

dignarique manus humilis et verba precantum;
reddere iura foro nec proturbare curules,
et ferrum mulcere toga. sic itur in alta
pectora, sic mixto reverentia fidit amori.
Ipsa etiam cunctos gravis inclementia fati 50
terruit et subiti praeceps iuvenile pericli,
nil cunctante malo.

And deign the humble hand and words of supplicants;
to restore rights in the forum and not to thrust aside the curule chairs,
and to soothe the sword with the toga. Thus one is borne into lofty
breasts, thus reverence, mingled, trusts in love. Even the heavy severity of fate 50
terrified all, and hurled the youthful headlong into sudden peril,
no one lingering against the evil.

non illud culpa senectae
(quippe ea bis senis vixdum orsa excedere lustris),
sed labor intendens animique in membra vigentis
imperium vigilesque suo pro Caesare curae, 55
dulce opus. hinc fessos penitus subrepsit in artus
insidiosa quies et pigra oblivio vitae.
Tunc deus, Alpini qui iuxta culmina dorsi
signat Apollineos sancto cognomine lucos,
respicit heu tanti pridem securus alumni.

not that the fault of old age
(for indeed she had scarcely begun to pass beyond twice sixty years' lustra),
but the toil of intent mind and of a spirit vigorous in the limbs, the command and the wakeful cares for his Caesar's sake, 55
a sweet task. Hence insidious rest and the lazy oblivion of life crept wholly into the wearied limbs.
Then the god, who marks with the holy name the Apollonian groves beside the summits of the Alpine ridge,
looks back, alas, once careless of so great a pupil.

praegressusque moras: 'hinc mecum, Epidauria proles,
hinc' ait 'i gaudens: datur (aggredienda facultas!)
ingentem recreare virum. teneamus adorti
(tendatis iam fila!) colos. ne fulminis atri
sit metus: has ultro laudarit Iuppiter artes. 65
nam neque plebeiam aut dextro sine numine cretam
servo animam.

and having pushed past delays: 'hither with me, Epidaurian offspring,
hither,' he said, 'go rejoicing: it is given (an opportunity to be approached!)
to renew a mighty man. Let us, having attacked, hold the tillers
(now stretch the threads!) that there be no fear of the black thunderbolt:
Jupiter will of his own accord praise these arts. 65
for I do not preserve a plebeian life, nor a life molded without the right divine will, with my right hand.

atque adeo breviter, dum tecta subimus,
expediam. genus ipse suis permissaque retro
nobilitas; nec origo latet, sed luce sequente
vincitur et magno gaudet cessisse nepoti. 70
prima togae virtus illi quoque: clarus et ingens
eloquio; mox innumeris exercita castris
occiduas primasque domos et sole sub omni
permeruit iurata manus, nec in otia pacis
permissum laxare animos ferrumque recingi. 75

and so, briefly, while we enter the buildings, I will set forth. His line itself and the nobility entrusted to his ancestors lie behind; nor is his origin hidden, but with the following light is surpassed and rejoices to have passed to a great descendant. 70
the first virtue of the toga to him also: famed and mighty in eloquence; soon, trained in countless camps, his sworn hand made western and foremost homes and all beneath the sun to tremble, nor in the leisure of peace was it permitted to relax the spirit or to unbelt the sword. 75

hunc Galatea vigens ausa est incessere bello
(me quoque!) perque novem timuit Pamphylia messes
Pannoniusque ferox arcuque horrenda fugaci
Armenia et patiens Latii iam pontis Araxes.
quid geminos fasces magnaeque iterata revolvam 80
iura Asiae? velit illa quidem ter habere quaterque
hunc sibi, sed revocant fasti maiorque curulis
nec permissa semel.

this man Galatea, vigorous, dared to press upon in war
(me too!) and for nine harvests Pamphylia feared, and the Pannonian fierce, and Armenia dreadful with the swift bow,
and the Araxes, now bearing the bridge of Latium. what twin fasces and the oft-repeated laws of great Asia shall I revolve?80
she would indeed wish to have this man three or four times to herself, but the fasti recall, and the higher curule powers do not permit what once has been granted.

Libyci quid mira tributi
obsequia et missum media de pace triumphum
laudem et opes tantas? nec qui mandaverat ausus 85
expectare fuit: gaudet Trasimennus et Alpes
Cannensesque animae; primusque insigne tributum
ipse palam laeta poscebat Regulus umbra.
non vacat Arctoas acies Rhenumque rebellem
captivaeque preces Veledae et, quae maxima nuper 90

What wondrous obeisances of Libyan tribute and a triumph sent forth about a negotiated peace, such praise and such riches? nor was he who had commanded it daring to wait: 85
Trasimennus and the Alps rejoice, and the souls of Cannae; and first the conspicuous tribute-insignia the shade of Regulus himself joyfully demanded openly. there is no leisure for the Arctic hosts and the rebellious Rhine and the captive prayers of Veleda and, which lately the greatest 90

gloria, depositam Dacis pereuntibus Vrbem
pandere, cum tanti lectus rectoris habenas,
Gallice, Fortuna non admirante subisti.
hunc igitur, si digna loquor, rapiemus iniquo,
nate, Iovi. rogat hoc Latiae pater inclitus urbis, 95
et meruit; neque enim frustra mihi nuper honora
carmina patricio pueri sonuistis in ostro.

Glory, to unfold the City laid aside to the dying Dacians
you underwent, Gallic Fortune, when chosen for the reins of so great a ruler, not marveling.
therefore we shall snatch this one away to unjust fate, O son of Jove. the famed father of the Latin city asks this, 95
and he deserved it; for not in vain lately have you sounded honors to me — the songs of a patrician boy in purple.

si qua salutifero gemini Chironis in antro
herba, tholo quodcumque tibi Troiana recondit
Pergamus aut medicis felix Epidaurus harenis 100
educat, Idaea profert quam Creta sub umbra
dictamni florentis opem, quoque anguis abundat
spumatu: iungam ipse manus atque omne benigne
virus, odoriferis Arabum quod doctus in arvis
aut Amphrysiaco pastor de gramine carpsit.' 105

if any salutary herb in the cave of Chiron the twin, whatever Pergamus of Troy conceals for you in a tholos or lucky Epidaurus nurtures on medicinal sands for physicians, Idaean brings forth — which Crete under the shade of flourishing Dictamnus yields as aid, and which the serpent abounds in foam: I myself will join hands and every kindly virus, which a shepherd learned in the odoriferous fields of the Arabs or plucked from Amphrysiac grass.' 105

Dixerat. inveniunt positos iam segniter artus
pugnantemque animam; ritu se cingit uterque
Paeonio monstrantque simul parentque volentes,
donec letiferas vario medicamine pestes
et suspecta mali ruperunt nubila somni. 110
adiuvat ipse deos morboque valentior omni
occupat auxilium. citius non arte refectus
Telephus Haemonia, nec quae metuentis Atridae
saeva Machaonio coierunt vulnera suco.

He had spoken. They find the limbs now placed sluggishly
and the soul fighting; each girds himself in the Paeonian rite
and at once both show and willingly administer remedies,
until with diverse medicament they burst the deadly plagues
and the suspected clouds of baleful sleep. 110
he himself aids the gods and, stronger than every sickness,
takes up the succor. Not swifter, by art restored,
was Haemonian Telephus, nor were the wounds that befell fierce
Machaon healed by the sap of the son of Atreus.

Quis mihi tot coetus inter populique patrumque 115
sit curae votique locus? tamen ardua testor
sidera teque, pater vatum Thymbraee, quis omni
luce mihi, quis nocte timor, dum postibus haerens
assiduus nunc aure vigil nunc lumine cuncta
auguror; immensae veluti conexa carinae 120

Who for me among so many meetings of people and of fathers 115
is a place of care and of vow? Yet I call to witness the lofty stars and you, father of the Thymbraean seers; who by every daylight is to me, who by night is dread, while clinging to the thresholds I, constant, now watch with ear, now with light foretell all things; as if the ribs of a vast keel were joined 120

cumba minor, cum saevit hiems, pro parte furentis
parva receptat aquas et eodem volvitur austro.
Nectite nunc laetae candentia fila, sorores,
nectite! nemo modum transmissi computet aevi:
hic vitae natalis erit.

the smaller skiff, when winter rages, for part of the furious sea takes in little waters and is rolled by the same south wind.
Weave now, joyful sisters, the shining threads, weave! let no one compute the measure of the life passed: here will be the natal hour of life.

tu Troica dignus 125
saecula et Euboici transcendere pulveris annos
Nestoreosque situs! qua nunc tibi pauper acerra
digna litem? nec si vacuet Mevania valles,
aut praestent niveos Clitumna novalia tauros,
sufficiam.

you worthy of Trojan 125
ages and to surpass the years of Euboean dust
and the Nestorian sites! What now to you is a humble incense-box
worthy of dispute? nor if the Mevane valleys were empty,
or the Clitumnus plains should provide snow-white bulls,
would I be sufficient.

sed saepe deis hos inter honores 130
caespes et exiguo placuerunt farra salino.

but often among the gods these, among honors, 130
turf and a little salted grain have pleased.

V. BALNEVM CLAVDII ETRVSCI

5. BATH OF CLAUDIUS THE ETRUSCAN

Non Helicona gravi pulsat chelys enthea plectro,
nec lassata voco totiens mihi numina, Musas;
et te, Phoebe, choris et te dimittimus, Euhan;
tu quoque muta ferae, volucer Tegeaee, sonorae
terga premas: alios poscunt mea carmina coetus. 5
Naidas, undarum dominas, regemque corusci
ignis adhuc fessum Siculaque incude rubentem
elicuisse satis. paulum arma nocentia, Thebae,
ponite: dilecto volo lascivire sodali.
iunge, puer, cyathos et ne numerare labora 10
cunctantemque incende chelyn; discede Laborque
Curaque, dum nitidis canimus gemmantia saxis
balnea dumque procax vittis hederisque, soluta
fronde verecunda, Clio mea ludit Etrusco.

My inspired chelys does not with a heavy plectrum strike Helicon,
nor, weary, do I so often summon to me the divine presences, O Muses;
and you, Phoebus, to the choruses, and you we dismiss, Euhan;
you too, mute wild one, winged Tegean, sonorous,
press your backs: other gatherings demand my songs. 5
Naids, mistresses of the waves, and the king of glittering fire, still wearily drawn forth,
and the Sicilian anvil glowing red, suffice to have been called out. Lay down a little your harmful arms, Thebes,
I wish to frisk with a beloved comrade. Join, boy, the cups and do not toil to number them 10
and set on fire the hesitating chelys; depart, Labor
and Care, while we sing of baths gemmed with shining stones,
and while the bath, bold with fillets and ivy, with loosened
bashful foliage, my Clio plays Etruscan.

ite, deae virides, liquidosque advertite vultus 15

Go, green goddesses, and turn your bright faces 15

et vitreum teneris crinem redimite corymbis,
veste nihil tectae, quales emergitis altis
fontibus et visu Satyros torquetis amantes.
non vos quae culpa decus infamastis aquarum,
sollicitare iuvat; procul hinc et fonte doloso           20
Salmacis et viduae Cebrenidos arida luctu
flumina et Herculei praedatrix cedat alumni.
vos mihi quae Latium septenaque culmina, Nymphae,
incolitis Thybrimque novis attollitis undis,
quas praeceps Anien atque exceptura natatus          25
Virgo iuvat Marsasque nives et frigora ducens
Marcia, praecelsis quarum vaga molibus unda
crescit et innumero pendens transmittitur arcu:
vestrum opus aggredimur, vestra est quam carmine molli
pando domus. non umquam aliis habitastis in antris          30

and bind your glassy hair with tender corymbs,
with nothing covered by a garment, such as you emerge from high
fountains, and at the sight you vex loving Satyrs.
Not you—who by some fault have sullied the honor of the waters—
do you delight to molest; depart far hence and from the deceitful spring          20
let Salmacis and the widowed Cebrenian streams, parched with grief,
and the river that preyed on Hercules give way to the nursling.
You who for me inhabit Latium and its seven summits, Nymphs,
and raise the Tiber with new waves,
which the headlong Anio will meet and receive by swimming          25
the Maiden aids, and Marcia, bringing snows and cold of Mars,
whose wandering wave grows upon lofty mounds
and is transmitted hanging in countless arc:
we undertake your task; it is yours which with a gentle song
I lay open the house. You never dwelt in other caves          30

ditius. ipsa manus tenuit Cytherea mariti
monstravitque artes; neu vilis flamma caminos
ureret, ipsa faces volucrum succendit amorum.
non huc admissae Thasos aut undosa Carystos;
maeret onyx longe, queriturque exclusus ophites: 35
sola nitet flavis Nomadum decisa metallis
purpura, sola cavo Phrygiae quam Synnados antro
ipse cruentavit maculis lucentibus Attis
quaeque Tyri niveas secat et Sidonia rupes.

richer. Cytherea herself held the hand of her husband
and showed the arts; nor would base flame burn the hearths,
love itself kindled the torches of winged loves. Not hither were admitted Thasos or wave-beaten Carystos;
onyx laments afar, and the excluded ophites complain: 35
alone shines the purple cut from the yellow metals of the Nomads,
alone Phrygia’s cloth, which in Synnada’s hollow cave Attis himself stained with gleaming spots,
and which Tyrian and Sidonian rock cleaves snowy white.

vix locus Eurotae, viridis cum regula longo 40
Synnada distinctu variat. non limina cessant,
effulgent camerae, vario fastigia vitro
in species animoque nitent. stupet ipse beatas
circumplexus opes et parcius imperat ignis.

Scarcely a place of the Eurotas, green with a long stripe; Synnada varies by its distinction. 40
No thresholds cease; the chambers gleam, the varied roofs shine with glass into forms and glitter to the eye.
He himself is astonished, embracing the blessed riches, and the fire rules more sparingly.

multus ubique dies, radiis ubi culmina totis 45

a long day everywhere, where the summits gleam with full rays 45

perforat atque alio sol improbus uritur aestu.
nil ibi plebeium; nusquam Temesaea notabis
aera, sed argento felix propellitur unda
argentoque cadit, labrisque nitentibus instat
delicias mirata suas et abire recusat.          50
     Extra autem niveo qui margine caerulus amnis
vivit et in summum fundo patet omnis ab imo
cui non ire lacu pigrosque exsolvere amictus
suadeat? hoc mallet nasci Cytherea profundo,
hic te perspicuum melius, Narcisse, videres,          55
hic velox Hecate velit et deprensa lavari.

the sun pierces through and is burned by another shameless heat.
there is nothing plebeian there; nowhere will you note Temesaean bronze,
but the wave is driven by silver, lucky with silver it falls
and falls upon the shining lips and presses its delights, marveling at its own, and refuses to depart.          50
     But outside, the bluish river that lives with a snowy margin
and everywhere lies open from the very bottom to the utmost deep—
who would not advise you to go into the pool and to loose your idle garments?
Would that Cytherea were born in the deep;
here, Narcissus, you would appear more clearly,          55
here swift Hecate would even wish to be washed when seized.

Quid nunc strata solo referam tabulata crepantis
auditura pilas, ubi languidus ignis inerrat
aedibus et tenuem volvunt hypocausta vaporem?
nec si Baianis veniat novus hospes ab oris, 60

What now shall I tell of floors laid on the ground, of creaking planks that will hear the balls,
where languid fire wanders through the rooms and the hypocausts roll up a thin steam? nor if a new guest should come from the Baian shores, 60

talia despiciet (fas sit componere magnis
parva), Neronea nec qui modo lotus in unda,
hic iterum sudare neget. macte, oro, nitenti
ingenio curaque puer! tecum ista senescant,
et tua iam melius discat fortuna renasci!

He will despise such things (may it be right to set small things beside great), nor will he who but now bathed in a Neronian wave refuse here to sweat again.
Bravo, I pray, O boy of shining genius and care! May those things grow old with you, and may your fortune from now on learn better how to be reborn!

VI. KALENDAE DECEMBRES

6. KALENDS OF DECEMBER

Et Phoebus pater et severa Pallas
et Musae procul ite feriatae:
Iani vos revocabimus kalendis.
Saturnus mihi compede exsoluta
et multo gravidus mero December          5
et ridens Iocus et Sales protervi
adsint, dum refero diem beatum
laeti Caesaris ebriamque ~parcen~.
     Vix aurora novos movebat ortus,
iam bellaria linea pluebant:          10
hunc rorem veniens profudit eurus.
quicquid nobile Ponticis nucetis,
fecundis cadit aut iugis Idymes;
quod ramis pia germinat Damascos,
et quod percoquit ~aebosia~ Caunos,           15

And Phoebus the father and stern Pallas
and the Muses, far-off, go — be celebrated:
Janus, we will call you back at the Kalends.
Saturn to me with his chain undone
and December heavy with much wine          5
and laughing Jest and insolent Wits
be present, while I relate the blessed day
of joyful Caesar and the drunkenness ~be spared~.
     Scarcely did Aurora move her new risings,
already battle-winds rained along the line:          10
this dew the east wind, coming, poured down.
Whatever noble in Pontic nuts,
falls upon fruitful Idymian slopes or ridges;
that which piously sprouts Damascus on its branches,
and that which thoroughly ripens ~aebosia~ Caunus,          15

largis gratuitum cadit rapinis;
molles gaioli lucuntulique
et massis Amerina non perustis
et mustaceus et latente palma
praegnantes caryotides cadebant.          20
non tantis Hyas inserena nimbis
terras obruit aut soluta Plias,
qualis per cuneos hiems Latinos
plebem grandine contudit serena.
ducat nubila Iuppiter per orbem          25
et latis pluvias minetur agris,
dum nostri Iovis hi ferantur imbres.
     Ecce autem caveas subit per omnis
insignis specie decora cultu
plebes altera, non minor sedente.          30

falling gratis from lavish rapines;
soft gaioli and shining ones
and Amerine loaves not over-burnt
and must-cakes and, a hidden palm,
pregnant caryatids were falling.          20
not with so great Hyades of stormy clouds
does he overwhelm the lands, nor the loosened Pleiades,
as winter through the Latin passes
crushes the folk with clear hail. Let Jupiter drive the clouds through the orb          25
and threaten broad rains upon the fields,
while those rains of our Jove are borne.
     Behold moreover through every hollow-way advances
a populace conspicuous in appearance, adorned in dress,
another people, no less when they sit.          30

hi panaria candidasque mappas
subvectant epulasque lautiores;
illi marcida vina largiuntur:
Idaeos totidem putes ministros.
Orbem, qua melior severiorque est, 35
et gentes alis insemel togatas;
et cum tot populos, beate, pascas,
hunc Annona diem superba nescit.
i nunc saecula compara, Vetustas,
antiqui Iovis aureumque tempus: 40
non sic libera vina tunc fluebant
nec tardum seges occupabat annum.

these bread-baskets and white napkins
convey and more luxurious feasts;
they lavish mellow wines:
you would think as many Idaean attendants. 35
the orb, where better and sterner is, and peoples once toga-clad with wings;
and though you, O blessed one, feed so many peoples,
this proud Annona knows not this day.
go now compare the ages, Antiquity,
and the ancient time of Jupiter and the golden age: 40
not thus did free wines then flow
nor did a late harvest seize the year.

una vescitur omnis ordo mensa,
parvi, femina, plebs, eques, senatus:
libertas reverentiam remisit. 45

One table feeds every order together:
the small, the woman, the plebeian, the eques, the senate:
liberty has relaxed reverence. 45

et tu quin etiam (quis hoc vocari,
quis promittere possit hoc deorum?)
nobiscum socias dapes inisti.
iam se, quisquis is est, inops beatus
convivam ducis esse gloriatur.          50
     Hos inter fremitus novosque luxus
spectandi levis effugit voluptas:
stat sexus rudis, insciusque ferri
ut pugnas capit improbus viriles!
credas ad Tanain ferumque Phasim          55
Thermodontiacas calere turmas.

and you moreover (who can call this, who can promise this of the gods?) have joined feasts with us. now he, whoever he is, poor yet blessed, boasts that he is a guest of a leader. 50
Amid these roarings and new luxuries the light pleasure of watching flees: the crude sex stands, and, ignorant of being carried off, the shameless man seizes upon manly fights! you would believe that to the Tanais and the savage Phasis 55
the Thermodontian squadrons grow hot.

hic audax subit ordo pumilorum,
quos natura brevis statim peracta
nodosum semel in globum ligavit.
edunt vulnera conseruntque dextras 60

here a daring order of little men approaches,
whom brief nature, once completed, bound into a knotty ball.
they deal wounds and clasp right hands 60

et mortem sibi (qua manu!) minantur.
ridet Mars pater et cruenta Virtus,
casuraeque vagis grues rapinis
mirantur pugiles ferociores.
Iam noctis propioribus sub umbris 65
dives sparsio quos agit tumultus!

and they threaten death to themselves (with what a hand!) Mars the father laughs and bloody Virtue,
cranes of roaming plunder marvel at the more ferocious pugilists about to fall.
Now in the nearer shadows of night 65
what wealthy dissipation that tumult drives them to!

hic intrant faciles emi puellae,
hic agnoscitur omne quod theatris
aut forma placet aut probatur arte.
hoc plaudunt grege Lydiae tumentes, 70
illic cymbala tinnulaeque Gades,
illic agmina confremunt Syrorum,
hic plebs scenica quique comminutis
permutant vitreis gregale sulpur.
Inter quae subito cadunt volatu 75

here enter easily bought girls,
here everything is known that in theaters
either by beauty pleases or by art is approved.
this the Lydian throng, swelling, applaud, 70
there cymbals and tinkling bells of Gades,
there ranks of Syrians roar together,
here the stage rabble and those who with crushed
glass exchange common sulphur for profit.
Among which suddenly fall in flight 75

immensae volucrum per astra nubes,
quas Nilus sacer horridusque Phasis,
quas udo Numidae legunt sub austro.
desunt qui rapiant, sinusque pleni
gaudent dum nova lucra comparantur. 80
tollunt innumeras ad astra voces
Saturnalia principis sonantes,
et dulci dominum favore clamant:
hoc solum vetuit licere Caesar.
Vixdum caerula nox subibat orbem, 85
descendit media nitens harena
densas flammeus orbis inter umbras
vincens Gnosiacae facem coronae.

vast clouds of birds through the stars,
which the sacred Nile and the dread Phasis,
which the damp Numidian shore gathers under the south wind. there are none to snatch them, and their full breasts rejoice while new gains are being procured. 80
they lift innumerable voices to the stars, sounding the prince’s Saturnalia,
and with sweet favour cry out for their lord:
this alone Caesar forbade to be permitted. Scarcely had the dark-blue night climbed the orb, 85
a shining sand descended in the midst,
a flaming orb conquering amid the dense shadows
the torch of the Gnosian crown.

conlucet polus ignibus nihilque
obscurae patitur licere nocti. 90

the sky gleams with fires, and the dark night permits nothing to be allowed. 90

fugit pigra Quies, inersque Somnus
haec cernens alias abit in urbes.
     Quis spectacula, quis iocos licentes,
quis convivia, quis dapes inemptas,
largi flumina quis canat Lyaei?          95
iam iam deficio tuoque Baccho
in serum trahor ebrius soporem.
     Quos ibit procul hic dies per annos!

Lazy Quiet and sluggish Sleep flee, and seeing these things go off to other cities.
     Who will seek spectacles, who licentious amusements,
who banquets, who unbought feasts,
who will sing of the lavish rivers of Lyaeus?          95
now, now I fail, and by your Bacchus am dragged into late drunken sleep.
     What days will this go forth to distant years!

quam nullo sacer exolescet aevo!
dum montes Latii paterque Thybris, 100
dum stabit tua Roma dumque terris
quod reddis Capitolium manebit.

which, holy, will in no age grow old!
while the hills of Latium and the father Tiber, 100
while your Rome shall stand, and while the Capitol which you restore shall remain in the lands.