Claudian, volume 2 (of 2)
by Claudius Claudianus · English, Latin · Gutenberg #51444 · 689,220 chars · public domain (US)
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Title: Claudian, volume 2 (of 2)
Author: Claudius Claudianus
Translator: Maurice Platnauer
Release date: March 14, 2016 [eBook #51444]
Most recently updated: October 23, 2024
Language: English, Latin
Other information and formats: www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/51444
Credits: Produced by Ted Garvin and the Online Distributed
Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net
*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK CLAUDIAN, VOLUME 2 (OF 2) ***
Transcriber’s Note:
Erroneous references to c. m. 53 in the Index have been changed to c. m.
52 (there is no c. m. 53).
Volume 1 is available as Project Gutenberg ebook number 51443.
THE LOEB CLASSICAL LIBRARY
EDITED BY
E. CAPPS, PH.D., LL.D.
T. E. PAGE, LITT.D.
W. H. D. ROUSE, LITT.D.
CLAUDIAN
II
CLAUDIAN
WITH AN ENGLISH TRANSLATION BY
MAURICE PLATNAUER
SOMETIME HONORARY SCHOLAR OF NEW COLLEGE, OXFORD
ASSISTANT MASTER AT WINCHESTER COLLEGE
IN TWO VOLUMES
II
LONDON: WILLIAM HEINEMANN
NEW YORK: G. P. PUTNAM’S SONS
MCMXXII
CONTENTS OF VOLUME II
PAGE
ON STILICHIO’S CONSULSHIP--
BOOK II 3
BOOK III: PREFACE 39
BOOK III 43
PANEGYRIC ON THE SIXTH CONSULSHIP OF THE
EMPEROR HONORIUS (A.D. 404)--
PREFACE 71
THE PANEGYRIC 75
THE GOTHIC WAR--
PREFACE 125
THE GOTHIC WAR 127
SHORTER POEMS 175
RAPE OF PROSERPINE--
BOOK I: PREFACE 293
BOOK I 293
BOOK II: PREFACE 315
BOOK II 319
BOOK III 345
INDEX OF POEMS 379
INDEX OF PROPER NAMES 383
* * * * *
Page 1
CLAUDIAN
* * * * *
Page 2
CLAUDII CLAUDIANI CARMINA
DE CONSULATU STILICHONIS
LIBER SECUNDUS
(XXII.)
Hactenus armatae laudes: nunc qualibus orbem
moribus et quanto frenet metuendus amore,
quo tandem flexus trabeas auctore rogantes
induerit fastisque suum concesserit annum,
mitior incipiat fidibus iam Musa remissis. 5
Principio magni custos dementia mundi,
quae Iovis incoluit zonam, quae temperat aethram
frigoris et flammae medio, quae maxima natu
caelicolum. nam prima chaos Clementia solvit
congeriem miserata rudem vultuque sereno 10
discussis tenebris in lucem saecula fudit.
haec dea pro templis et ture calentibus aris
te fruitur posuitque suas hoc pectore sedes.
haec docet ut poenis hominum vel sanguine pasci
turpe ferumque putes; ut ferrum, Marte cruentum, 16
siccum pace feras; ut non infensus alendis
* * * * *
Page 3
THE POEMS OF CLAUDIAN
ON STILICHO’S CONSULSHIP
BOOK II
(XXII.)
Thus far the warrior’s praise! Now let my gentler Muse relax the
strings and tell by what virtues he governs the world, tempering fear
with love, say what counsel moved him at last to assume those consular
robes that cried out to him, and bestowed on our annals a year named
after himself.
In the beginning Love[1] was the guardian of this vast universe, she
who dwelt in the sphere of Jove, who attempers the sky ’twixt cold and
heat, who is eldest of the immortals. For Love, pitying the elemental
confusion, first disentangled Chaos; with a smile she scattered the
darkness and bathed the world in light. She dwelleth now not in temples
nor by altars warm with incense but in thy heart wherein she has made
her home. Taught by her thou accountest it cruel and barbarous to
batten on suffering and human slaughter; the sword that drips blood in
war thou wearest unstained in peace;
[1] Claudian seems to have in his mind partly the Epicurean
doctrine of ἔρως and partly the personification of the _Clementia
Caesaris_, well known as a legend on so many Roman coins. See,
also, for _Clementia_ as a goddess, Claud. xvii. 166, and Stat.
_Theb._ xii. 481 _et sqq._
* * * * *
Page 4
materiem praestes odiis; ut sontibus ultro
ignovisse velis, deponas ocius iram
quam moveas, precibus numquam implacabilis obstes,
obvia prosternas prostrataque more leonum 20
despicias, alacres ardent qui frangere tauros,
transiliunt praedas humiles. hac ipse magistra
das veniam victis, hac exorante calores
horrificos et quae, numquam nocitura, timentur
iurgia contentus solo terrore coerces 25
aetherii patris exemplo, qui cuncta sonoro
concutiens tonitru Cyclopum spicula differt
in scopulos et monstra maris nostrique cruoris
parcus in Oetaeis exercet fulmina silvis.
Huic divae germana Fides eademque sorori 30
corde tuo delubra tenens sese omnibus actis
inserit. haec docuit nullo livescere fuco,
numquam falsa loqui, numquam promissa morari;
invisos odisse palam, non virus in alto
condere, non laetam speciem praemittere fraudi, 35
sed certum mentique parem componere vultum;
occulto saevire vetat, prodesse remittit.
haec et amicitias longo plus tempore firmat
mansuroque adamante ligat; nec mobile mutat
ingenium, parvae strepitu nec vincula noxae 40
dissolvi patitur, nec fastidire priorem
inlicitur veniente novo. benefacta tenere,
respuere offensas facilis, pariterque minoris
officii magnique memor superare laborat
* * * * *
Page 5
though angered thou feedest with no fuel the flame of hatred; thou
forgivest the guilty even before they ask, thou layest aside thy wrath
more readily than thou art moved to wrath, thou never turnest a deaf
ear to prayers, all who oppose thee thou overthrowest, but deignest not
to touch them when overthrown, like a lion who lusts to rend in pieces
the fierce bull, but passes by the cowering prey. At her bidding thou
extendest pardon to the conquered; at her prayer thou refrainest the
dread fires of thine anger and those threats, not the less terrible for
being unfulfilled; it is enough for thee to inspire awe, even as the
heavenly Father who, shaking the world with his loud thunder, hurls the
bolts of the Cyclops upon rocks and sea-monsters and, sparing the blood
of man, expends his lightnings on the forests of Oeta.
Good Faith too, Love’s sister, has made her shrine in thy heart and
joins herself to all thine actions. She has taught thee to practise no
hypocrisy, never to speak falsehood, never to postpone the fulfilment
of thy promises; to hate openly those thou hatest, and not to hide the
poison of resentment in thy heart nor let a false smile mask treachery
but to make thy countenance the sure mirror of thy mind. She gainsayeth
secret vengeance but encourageth secret benefits. She strengthens
friendships also, that grow more firm by lapse of time and binds them
with chains of lasting adamant; not hers is the fickle change of mood,
nor does she permit close ties to be broken by the rumour of some
petty injury, nor is she lured to scorn the old friend when a new one
comes. Mindful of past benefits, quick to forget wrongs, she remembers
services alike small or great and strives to outdo
* * * * *
Page 6
utque hostes armis, meritis sic vincit amicos. 45
haec fovet absentes, haec longe sola remotis
consulit, haec nullis avidam rumoribus aurem
pandit, ut ignarum numquam laesura clientem
insidiosa tuos alienent murmura sensus.
Nec vivis adnexus amor meminisse sepultos 50
desinit; in prolem transcurrit gratia patrum.
hac tu Theodosium, tenuit dum sceptra, colebas,
hac etiam post fata colis; nec pignora curas
plus tua quam natos, dederat quos ille monendos
tutandosque tibi. iustos nimiumque fideles 55
fama putat, qui, cum possint commissa negare,
maluerint nullo violati reddere quaestu:
at Stilicho non divitias aurique relictum
pondus, sed geminos axes tantumque reservat
depositum teneris, quantum sol igneus ambit. 60
quid non intrepidus credas, cui regia tuto
creditur?
Hoc clipeo munitus Honorius altum
non gemuit patrem vitaeque et lucis in ipso
limine, contemptus numquam, dat iura subactis
gentibus et secum sentit crevisse triumphos. 65
quem tu sic placida formas, sic mente severa,
ut neque desidiae tradas, dum pronus ad omne
quod libet obsequeris, nec contra nixus ovantem
confringas animum: secreto consona regno
ceu iuvenem doceas, moles quid publica poscat: 70
ceu sanctum venerere senem patriisque gubernes
imperium monitis; dominum summissus adores;
obsequiis moderere ducem, pietate parentem.
* * * * *
Page 7
them, overcoming friends with devotion as an enemy with arms. She
safeguards the absent and is the sole protector of those far away; she
opens not a greedy ear to rumours, so that never does the stealthy
whisper that would injure some unsuspecting client estrange thy
sympathies.
Nor does the love that clings to the living forget the dead, and the
gratitude a father earned is paid to his children. This kept thee loyal
to Theodosius while yet he wielded the sceptre, loyal, too, after his
death; nor carest thou more for thine own offspring than for the sons
he entrusted to thy guidance and protection. Just and most faithful
does Fame account those, who, though they might deny a trust, have
chosen rather to fulfil it, unpolluted by greed of gain; but it is not
riches, not a huge heritage of gold that Stilicho holds in trust for
the young heirs, but two hemispheres and all that is embraced within
the sun’s fiery orbit. What wouldst thou not fearlessly entrust to him
to whom a kingdom is entrusted safely?
Defended by this buckler Honorius did not mourn his noble sire, and
on life’s very threshold, ne’er scorned by any, he dictates laws to
conquered races and sees his triumphs increase with his years. Him thou
dost seek to shape as with kindly so with severe mind; neither to sloth
dost thou deliver him by a ready yielding to all his wishes, nor by
opposing dost thou crush his eager spirit: as a youth thou teachest him
in secret a king’s lesson--his duty to his people; as a reverend senior
thou payest him honour and governest the empire at a father’s bidding;
to thy lord thou givest humble worship; thou guidest thy master with
obedience, thy sire
* * * * *
Page 8
hinc fuit ut primos in coniuge disceret ignes
ordirique virum non luxuriante iuventa, 75
sed cum lege tori, casto cum foedere vellet.
principe tu felix genero: felicior ille
te socero.
Fratrem levior nec cura tuetur
Arcadium; nec, si quid iners atque impia turba
praetendens proprio nomen regale furori 80
audeat, adscribis iuveni. discordia quippe
cum fremeret, numquam Stilicho sic canduit ira,
saepe lacessitus probris gladiisque petitus,
ut bello furias ultum, quas pertulit, iret
inlicito causamque daret civilibus armis: 85
cuius fulta fide mediis dissensibus aulae
intemeratorum stabat reverentia fratrum.
quin et Sidonias chlamydes et cingula bacis
aspera gemmatasque togas viridesque smaragdo
loricas galeasque redundantes hyacinthis 90
gestatosque patri capulis radiantibus enses
et vario lapidum distinctas igne coronas
dividis ex aequo, ne non augusta supellex
ornatusque pares geminis heredibus essent.
mittitur et miles, quamvis certamine partes 95
iam tumeant. hostem muniri robore mavis
quam peccare fidem: permittis iusta petenti
idque negas solum, cuius mox ipse repulsa
gaudeat et quidquid fuerat deforme mereri.
Omnes praeterea, puro quae crimina pellunt 100
ore, deae iunxere choros unoque receptae
* * * * *
Page 9
with love. Hence it was that he knew not passion before matrimony and
preferred to vindicate his manhood not in a youth of debauchery, but
in the chaste bonds of legal wedlock. Blessed art thou in having an
emperor for a son-in-law; more blessed he with thee for father.
Care no less tender watched over Honorius’ brother, Arcadius. Rightly
thou ascribest not to that youth the outrages of the feeble, vicious
mob that seeks to screen its own mad folly behind the name of a king.
Nay, even when discord raged never did Stilicho so burn with anger,
though oft assailed by insult, oft attacked with the sword, that he
sought to avenge the frenzy he endured by unholy war and give a handle
to civil strife; stayed on his loyalty, mid all the factions of a
court, the hallowed friendship of those brothers stood inviolate. Nay
more, thou dividedst equally with him Sidonian cloaks, belts studded
with pearls, jewelled togas, breastplates thick with green emeralds,
helmets flashing with sapphires, swords with gleaming handles thy sire
had wielded, crowns bright with the glint of manifold jewels, that
both might be equal heirs of their imperial sire’s rich furniture and
apparel. Thou didst send soldiers to Byzantium also, though civil
strife was already raising its head. Rather wouldst thou reinforce a
foe than fail thy pledge; all that he fairly asks thou grantest and
refusest only that the withholding of which he himself will shortly
approve, and that to obtain which were shameful.
Moreover, all the virtues whose pure aspect puts all wickedness to
flight live conjoined in thee and, dwelling within thine heart, aid
thee in the
* * * * *
Page 10
pectore diversos tecum cinguntur in usus.
Iustitia utilibus rectum praeponere suadet
communesque sequi leges iniustaque numquam
largiri sociis. durum Patientia corpus 105
instruit, ut nulli cupiat cessisse labori;
Temperies, ut casta petas; Prudentia, ne quid
inconsultus agas; Constantia, futtile ne quid
infirmumque geras. procul importuna fugantur
numina, monstriferis quae Tartarus edidit antris: 110
ac primam scelerum matrem, quae semper habendo
plus sitiens patulis rimatur faucibus aurum,
trudis Avaritiam; cuius foedissima nutrix
Ambitio, quae vestibulis foribusque potentum
excubat et pretiis commercia pascit honorum, 115
pulsa simul. nec te gurges corruptior aevi
traxit ad exemplum, qui iam firmaverat annis
crimen et in legem rapiendi verterat usum.
denique non dives sub te pro rure paterno
vel laribus pallet; non insidiator oberrat 120
facturus quemcumque reum. non obruta virtus
paupertate latet. lectos ex omnibus oris
evehis et meritum, non quae cunabula, quaeris,
et qualis non unde satus. sub teste benigno
vivitur; egregios invitant praemia mores. 125
hinc priscae redeunt artes; felicibus inde
ingeniis aperitur iter despectaque Musae
colla levant, opibusque fluens et pauper eodem
nititur ad fructum studio, cum cernat uterque
quod nec inops iaceat probitas nec inertia surgat 130
divitiis.
Nec te iucunda fronte fefellit
* * * * *
Page 11
manifold businesses of life. Justice teaches thee to prefer the right
to the useful, to obey the general laws of mankind and never to enrich
thy friends at other’s cost. Patience strengthens thy body so that it
seeks never to yield to toil. Temperance guides thee to chaste desires.
Prudence will have thee do nought without forethought, Constancy nought
without decision and firm purpose. The deadly vices which Tartarus
sends up from his monstrous abyss fly far from thee; but first and
foremost thou banishest Avarice, mother of crimes, greedy for more the
more she possesses, searching ever open-mouthed for gold; with her
thou drivest out her most foul nurse, Ambition, who watches at the
gate of the powerful and haunts their dwelling-places, cherishing the
sale of honours for gold. This age’s more turbid stream of corruption
has not drawn thee to follow its examples--corruption which had with
lapse of time established crime and turned the custom of rapine into a
law. Beneath thy rule the rich tremble not for the safety of ancestral
lands or houses; no informer stalks the world set on making no matter
whom his victim. Virtue suffers no eclipse by poverty. Thou exaltest
men of all countries, asking what are their merits not their place of
birth, what their character not whence their origin. A generous prince
takes note of our life; rewards allure into the ways of virtue. Hence
it comes that the arts of old flourish once more; the path to fortune
is open to genius, while poesy again raises her despised head. Rich and
poor strive with equal zeal towards their ends, for both see that, as
poverty cannot depress merit, so riches cannot elevate incapacity.
Fair-fronted wantonness deceives thee not, wantonness,
* * * * *
Page 12
luxuries, praedulce malum, quae dedita semper
corporis arbitriis hebetat caligine sensus
membraque Circaeis effeminat acrius herbis,
blanda quidem vultus, sed qua non taetrior ulla 135
interius: fucata genas et amicta dolosis
inlecebris torvos auro circumlinit hydros.
illa voluptatum multos innexuit hamis:
te numquam conata capit. non prava libido
stupris advigilat; non tempora somnus agendi 140
frustratur; nullo citharae convivia cantu,
non pueri lasciva sonant. quis cernere curis
te vacuum potuit? quis tota mente remissum
aut indulgentem dapibus, ni causa iuberet
laetitiae? non indecores aeraria lassant 145
expensae; parvo non improba littera libro
absentum condonat opes. a milite parcus
diligeris; neque enim neglectas pace cohortes
tunc ditas, cum bella fremunt. scis nulla placere
munera, quae metuens illis, quos spreverat, offert 150
serus et incassum servati prodigus auri.
antevenis tempus non expectantibus ultro
munificus mensaeque adhibes et nomine quemque
compellas clari, sub te quod gesserat olim,
admonitum facti, figendaque sensibus addis 155
verba, quibus magni geminatur gratia nodi.[2]
Nec, si quid tribuas, iactatum saepius idem
exprobrare soles nec, quos promoveris, alto
turgidus adloqueris fastu nec prospera flatus
[2] I retain Birt’s _nodi_ (VPTI), but _doni_ (V2 and the other MSS.)
is very tempting.
* * * * *
Page 13
that sweet curse, which surrendering to the arbitrament of the body
dulls the wits with darkness, enervating the limbs with bane more
deadly than that of Circe. Fair, indeed, is her face but none is fouler
within; dyed are her cheeks; clothed about is she with treacherous
lures, and deadly vipers hide them in her golden hair. Many hath she
caught with the bait of pleasure, thee, though often has she tried,
she has never ensnared. No lust bids thee wake for adultery’s sake,
nor does sleep cheat the hours of toil. Neither the strains of the
lyre nor the wanton song of boys accompany thy repast. Has any seen
thee free from care, thy mind entirely at rest, or indulging in the
banquet unless some public rejoicing commanded? No shameful expenditure
strains the resources of the treasury, no pitiless missive in a tiny
roll disposes of the property of the absent. Though thrifty thou art
beloved of the army, for thou neglectest not thy soldiers in peace, and
dost not only enrich them when war is toward. Thou knowest that belated
gifts, offered in fear to those hitherto scorned, earn no gratitude:
’tis but a useless flinging away of gold as uselessly hoarded. Thou
preventest thy soldier’s needs and art generous over and above their
expectations; thou callest them to thy board and addressest each by
his name, mindful of all the brave deeds ever done by each beneath thy
banners. To thy gifts thou addest praises that will ever be remembered,
whereby the grace of your close bond is doubled.
When bountiful thou dost not also turn the bounty into a reproach, nor
dost thou address those whom thou hast advanced with the language of
disdainful patronage; nor yet does prosperity make thee
* * * * *
Page 14
attollunt nimios. quin ipsa Superbia longe 160
discessit, vitium rebus sollemne secundis
virtutumque ingrata comes. contingere passim
adfarique licet. non inter pocula sermo
captatur, pura sed libertate loquendi
seria quisque iocis nulla formidine miscet. 165
quem videt Augusti socerum regnique parentem,
miratur conviva parem, cum tanta potestas
civem lenis agat. te doctus prisca loquentem,
te matura senex audit, te fortia miles 169
adspersis salibus, quibus haud Amphiona quisquam
praeferat Aonios meditantem carmine muros
nec velit Orpheo migrantes pectine silvas.
Hinc amor, hinc veris et non fallacibus omnes
pro te solliciti votis; hinc nomen ubique
plausibus, auratis celebrant hinc ora figuris. 175
quae non incudes streperent, quae flamma vacaret
fabrilis, quantis fluerent fornacibus aera
effigies ductura tuas, quis devius esset
angulus aut regio quae non pro numine vultus
dilectos coleret, talem ni semper honorem 180
respueres? decus hoc rapiat, quem falsa timentum
munera decipiunt, qui se diffidit amari.
hoc solus sprevisse potest, qui iure meretur.
Undique legati properant generique sub ore
in tua centenas optant praeconia voces. 185
grates Gallus agit, quod limite tutus inermi
et metuens hostile nihil nova culmina totis
* * * * *
Page 15
puffed up. Nay, pride itself is far removed from thee, pride, a vice
so familiar in success, ungracious attendant on the virtues. All, no
matter when or where, may meet and address thee. Talk over the wine is
not watched, but each guest, at liberty to say just what he pleases,
mingles grave converse with gay and fears not for his words. Each
marvels to find an equal in the emperor’s father-in-law and the father
of his country, when one so powerful acts the citizen so graciously.
With the learned thou discoursest of antiquity, with the aged of
experience, with the soldier of valiant deeds, and dost mingle thy talk
with such pleasant wit that none would rather hear the strains whereby
Amphion built the walls of Thebes or Orpheu’s lute drew the woods to
follow him.
Hence all love thee, all anxiously pray heaven for thee with no
feigned intercession, all shout applause at the mention of thy name
and reproduce thy form in gilded statues. What anvil should not ring,
what forge be idle, from what vast furnaces should bronze not flow
that is to shape thine image? What corner of the world, what region so
remote but should worship thy beloved countenance as divine,--hadst
thou not always refused such honour? Nay, let him snatch at such glory
whom hollow gifts inspired by fear can beguile and who despairs of a
people’s love. He who in truth deserves can alone afford to despise
them.
Embassies arrive from every quarter and in the presence of thy
son-in-law pray for a hundred voices to herald thy renown. The Gallic
envoy gives thee thanks for that, safe from attack though no legion
guards his frontier, and fearing no hostile
* * * * *
Page 16
aedificat ripis et saevum gentibus amnem
Thybridis in morem domibus praevelat amoenis.
hinc Poeni cumulant laudes, quod rura tyranno 190
libera possideant; hinc obsidione solutus
Pannonius potorque Savi, quod clausa tot annis
oppida laxatis ausus iam pandere portis
rursum cote novat nigras rubigine falces
exesosque situ cogit splendere ligones 195
agnoscitque casas et collibus oscula notis
figit et impresso glaebis non credit aratro,
exsectis,[3] inculta dabant quas saecula, silvis
restituit terras et opacum vitibus Histrum
conserit et patrium vectigal solvere gaudet, 200
inmunis qui clade fuit. te sospite fas est
vexatum laceri corpus iuvenescere regni.
sub tot principibus quaecumque amisimus olim,
tu reddis. solo poterit Stilichone medente
crescere Romanum vulnus tectura cicatrix; 205
inque suos tandem fines redeunte colono
Illyricis iterum ditabitur aula tributis.
Nec tamen humano cedit caeleste favori
iudicium: cingunt superi concordibus unum
praesidiis hostesque tuos aut litore produnt 210
aut totum oppositi claudunt fugientibus aequor
aut in se vertunt furiis aut militis ense
[3] Birt suggests _exsectisque_.
* * * * *
Page 17
incursion, he builds new dwelling-places along the banks of the Rhine
and fringes the river, famed once for the savagery of its tribes, with
houses as pleasant as those by Tiber’s stream. Here Carthaginians
crown thy praise, because they possess their lands delivered from
the tyrant’s rule; there the Pannonian, freed from the blockade, and
he who drinks the Save, grateful because he now dare throw open the
gates of cities closed for so many years. Such sharpen once more
upon the whetstone their sickles dark with rust and cause their
mattocks, foul with want of use, to shine as of old. Each sees again
his well-remembered cottage, kisses his native hills, and can scarce
believe real the furrows cut by his heavy plough. He hews down the
forests and renders again fit for cultivation fields which generations
had let run wild. Once more he covers the banks of the Danube with
vineyards and rejoices to pay the taxes his forefathers paid, for it
was bloodshed that brought immunity. While thou art safe, heaven allows
the harassed body of our distracted empire to regain its youthful
vigour. Thou dost restore all that we have lost of old under so many
princes. Only when Stilicho’s hand brings remedy can grow a scar to
hide Roman wounds, and when at last the husbandman of Illyria returns
to his farms the treasury will again be enriched with Illyrian tribute.
But heaven’s judgement is not a whit behind man’s favour. The gods
unite for thine especial protection and deliver thine enemy into thy
hands upon the sea shore or hinder his flight by the ocean’s immense
barrier or make him turn his arms madly against himself; and so, a
second Pentheus, he is hewn in
* * * * *
Page 18
bacchati laniant Pentheo corpora ritu;
insidias retegunt et in ipsa cubilia fraudum
ducunt ceu tenera venantem nare Molossi. 215
ominibus ventura notant aut alite monstrant
aut monitos certa dignantur imagine somnos.
Pro quibus innumerae trabearum insignia terrae
certatim petiere tibi. poscentibus ipse
restiteras et mens, aliorum prona favori, 220
iudex dura sui, facibus succensa pudoris
tarda verecundis excusat praemia causis.
ergo avidae tantosque novi spe consulis annos
elusae dominae pergunt ad limina Romae,
si minus adnuerit precibus, vel cogere certae 225
cunctantem votoque moras auferre paratae.
conveniunt ad tecta deae, quae candida lucent
monte Palatino. glaucis tum prima Minervae
nexa comam foliis fulvaque intexta micantem
veste Tagum tales profert Hispania voces: 230
“Cuncta mihi semper Stilicho, quaecumque poposci,
concessit tantumque suos invidit honores.
Augusti potuit soceri contemnere fasces:
iam negat et genero. si non ut ductor ab orbe
quem regit, accipiat saltem cognatus ab aula. 235
exiguumne putat, quod sic amplexus Hiberam
progeniem nostros inmoto iure nepotes
sustinet, ut patrium commendet purpura Baetim?
quod pulchro Mariae fecundat germine regnum?
* * * * *
Page 19
pieces by his own soldier’s frenzied blades. The gods discover for thee
plots against thy life and lead thee to the very lair of treason, even
as Molossan hounds guide the huntsman with their subtle scent. They
show forth the future by omens or by birds or they deign to give thee
clear warning in dreams.
For which thing’s sake countless lands in rivalry have sought for thee
the consul’s robe, but thou thyself didst oppose their desire, and
thy mind, so ready to grant favour to another, so rigorous a critic
of itself, kindling with the torch of modesty, with bashful pleading
deprecates that late reward. And so, anxious to see accomplished the
hopes, vainly conceived through so many years, of seeing in thee their
new consul, they hasten to the gates of royal Rome, determined, should
she not listen to their entreaties, to constrain her hesitation,
and prepared to sweep away all hindrances that delay their prayer.
They meet at the temple of the goddess that shines bright upon the
Palatine.[4] First to speak was Spain, her head crowned with a
grey-leaved garland from Minerva’s olive and golden Tagus woven into
her shining robe: “Everything that I have ever asked of Stilicho he has
granted me, and has begrudged only honour for himself. Once he found
it in his heart to refuse the consulship at the hands of an emperor,
his father-in-law; he now refuses it also from his son-in-law. If not
as a guardian from the world he rules, at least let him receive it as
a kinsman from his emperor. Counts he it a small thing that, taking
my offspring to his arms, he so upholds my grandsons[5] in their
undisturbed rule, that the purple ennobles their native Baetis? That by
means of fair Maria he dowers
[4] The temple, that is, of the goddess Roma.
[5] Arcadius and Honorius who, as sons of Theodosius, the Spaniard, are
grandsons of Spain.
* * * * *
Page 20
quod dominis speratur avus?” 240
Tum flava repexo
Gallia crine ferox evinctaque torque decoro
binaque gaesa tenens animoso pectore fatur:
“qui mihi Germanos solus Francosque subegit,
cur nondum legitur fastis? cur pagina tantum
nescit adhuc nomen, quod iam numerare decebat? 245
usque adeone levis pacati gloria Rheni?”
Inde Caledonio velata Britannia monstro,
ferro picta genas, cuius vestigia verrit
caerulus Oceanique aestum mentitur amictus:
“me quoque vicinis pereuntem gentibus” inquit 250
“munivit Stilicho, totam cum Scottus Hivernen
movit et infesto spumavit remige Tethys.
illius effectum curis, ne tela timerem
Scottica, ne Pictum tremerem, ne litore toto
prospicerem dubiis venturum Saxona ventis.” 255
Tum spicis et dente comas inlustris eburno
et calido rubicunda die sic Africa fatur:
“sperabam nullas trabeis Gildone perempto
nasci posse moras. etiam nunc ille repugnat
et tanto dubitat fasces praebere triumpho, 260
qui mihi Maurorum penitus lacrimabile nomen
ignorare dedit?”
Post has Oenotria lentis
vitibus intorquens hederas et palmite largo
vina fluens: “si vos adeo Stilichone curules
augeri flagratis” ait “quas sola iuvare 265
fama potest, quanto me dignius incitat ardor,
* * * * *
Page 21
Rome with a dynasty? That he is looked to as the ancestor of kings?”
Then warlike Gaul, her hair combed back, a rich necklace about her
neck, and javelins twain in her hands, thus spake with kindling heart:
“Why is his title not yet read in the annals of Rome, who by his own
might o’ercame for me the Germans and the Franks? Why is the page of
history still ignorant of a name that by now should have been inscribed
therein so often? Is, then, bringing peace to the Rhine so light a
title to fame?”
Next spake Britain clothed in the skin of some Caledonian beast, her
cheeks tattooed, and an azure cloak, rivalling the swell of ocean,
sweeping to her feet: “Stilicho gave aid to me also when at the mercy
of neighbouring tribes, what time the Scots roused all Hibernia against
me and the sea foamed to the beat of hostile oars. Thanks to his care I
had no need to fear the Scottish arms or tremble at the Pict, or keep
watch along all my coasts for the Saxon who would come whatever wind
might blow.”
Then up spake Africa, her hair gay with wheat ears and an ivory comb
and her face all sun-burned: “I hoped that after Gildo’s death no
obstacle could prevent Stilicho’s acceptance of the consulship. Does
he even yet refuse and hesitate to honour with the fasces so great a
triumph--he who has enabled me utterly to forget the tearful name of
Moor?”
After these came Italy, pliant vine and ivy interlacing on her head,
pressing the wine from plentiful ripe grapes. Said she: “If you are
thus eager that Stilicho should augment the dignity of the curule
chair, you to whom the mere report can bring delight, how much more
rightly does a longing
* * * * *
Page 22
ut praesente fruar conscendentemque tribunal
prosequar atque anni pandentem claustra salutem?”
Talibus alternant studiis Romamque precantes,
pro cunctis, hortantur, eat. nec segnius illa 270
paruit officio, raptis sed protinus armis
ocior excusso per nubila sidere tendit.
transvehitur Tuscos Appenninusque volatu
stringitur. Eridanus clipei iam fulgurat umbra;
constitit ante ducem tetrica nec Pallade vultum 275
deterior nec Marte minor. tremit orbe corusco
iam domus et summae tangunt laquearia cristae:
tum prior attonitum gratis adfata querellis:
“Servatas, Stilicho, per te, venerande, curules,
ornatas necdum fateor. quid profuit anni 280
servilem pepulisse notam? defendis honorem
quem fugis, et spernis tota quem mole tueris?
respuis oblatum, pro quo labente resistis?
quae iam causa morae? quo me cunctabere rursus
ingenio? nullus Boreae metus, omnis et Austri 285
ora silet: cecidit Maurus, Germania cessit
et Ianum pax alta ligat. te consule necdum
digna feror? titulumne levem parvique nitoris
credimus, Augusti quo se decorare fatentur,
sub iuga quo gentes captivis regibus egi? 290
“Non, si prodigiis casus natura futuros
signat, polluimur macula. quod reris, Eois
* * * * *
Page 23
inspire me to enjoy his presence, to attend him as he mounts his seat
and to salute his opening of the new year’s course?”
One after another they pour forth these entreaties and beg Rome to
approach Stilicho in the name of them all. Right swiftly she obeyed
their behest and seizing at once her arms winged her way quicker than
a shooting star through the clouds of heaven. Over Etruria she flew,
grazed the Apennines in her flight, and lit Eridanu’s wave with the
reflexion of her shield. She stood before the general, imposing as
mighty Pallas, terrible as Mars. The palace trembled at the glitter of
her aegis and her helmet plumes brushed the pannelled ceiling. Then as
he stood astonished she first addressed him with flattering reproaches:
“I acknowledge, revered Stilicho, that thou hast saved but not yet
brought honour to the curule chair. Of what avail to have rid the year
of the brand of slavery? Dost thou defend a dignity thou shunnest?
scorn what with all thy might thou madest? reject when offered what
thou didst save when falling? Why dost thou hold back? Why disappoint
my prayers? No danger threatens from the north, the south is quiet; the
Moors have been subdued, Germany has yielded, profound peace holds fast
the doors of Janu’s temple. Am I not yet worthy to have thee for my
consul? Can we believe that office unimportant and of slender dignity
to hold which emperors think themselves honoured, that office by means
of which I have caused conquered peoples and captive kings to pass
beneath the yoke?
“If nature by her portents foreshadow coming ills I am not besmirched
therewith. Nay, that thou
* * * * *
Page 24
omen erat. quamquam nullis mihi cognita rebus
fabula; vix tanto risit de crimine rumor.
opprobrii stat nulla fides nec littera venit 295
vulgatura nefas: in quo vel maxima virtus
est tua quod, nostros qui consulis omnia patres,
de monstris taceas. pellendi denique nulla
dedecoris sanctum violant oracula coetum
nec mea funestum versavit curia nomen. 300
pars sceleris dubitasse fuit: quaecumque profana
pagina de primo venisset limine Phoebi,
ante fretum deleta mihi, ne turpia castis
auribus Italiae fatorum[6] exempla nocerent.
publicus ille furor, quantum tua cura peregit, 305
secretum meruit. laetetur quisquis Eoos
scribere desierit fastos: portenta Gabinos
ista latent; propriam labem texisse laborent.
cur ego, quem numquam didici sensive creatum,
gratuler exemptum? delicti paenitet illos: 310
nos nec credidimus.
“Fuerit tamen omnibus unum
crimen et ad nostras manaverit usque secures:
plus ideo sumenda tibi fastigia vitas,
ne pereat tam priscus honos, qui portus honorum
semper erat. nullo sarciri consule damnum 315
excepto Stilichone potest. bene praescia tempus
mens tua distulerat; titulo tunc crescere posses,
nunc per te titulus. consul succurre gravatis
consulibus, quicumque fuit, quicumque futurus;
annum redde tuum, quem iam secura sequatur 320
[6] Birt prints _factorum_ (EΠ); the other MSS. have _fatorum_; Koch
suggests _fractorum_ (in the sense of “effeminate”).
* * * * *
Page 25
countest ill omen was for the East. Yet no facts confirm the tale I
have heard; Rumour’s self scarce smiled at such a tale of guilt.[7] The
disgrace has no proof; no letter came to divulge the wicked secret. In
this lies thine especial virtue, that, while consulting the senate on
every question, thou hast not mentioned this portent. No decree for the
suppression of this scandal has impaired the dignity of this august
assembly, nor has that ill-omened name been heard in my senate. To have
hesitated would have been to share his guilt. All letters telling of
this profanation that came from the far East were destroyed e’er they
could cross the sea, that fortune’s shameful turn should not offend the
chaste ears of Italy. That infatuation of a people was best rewarded
with silence--and how strenuous were thine endeavours that it should so
be! Joy should be his who needs no longer pen the annals of the East.
Our Latin story knows no such blot: let others take pains to conceal
their own disgrace. Why should I applaud the downfall of one of whose
elevation I never heard nor knew? ’Tis for the guilty to repent; we
have never even believed.
“Yet had the guilt of all been one and this pollution stained _our_
axes, all the more shouldst thou have taken the high office thou dost
shun lest that ancient dignity--ever the goal of all dignities--should
be destroyed. No consul, save Stilicho alone, can repair that ruin.
With what foreknowledge had thy soul delayed the hour: once it would
have added lustre unto thee, now thou dost add lustre unto it. Do thou
as consul wipe out the insult offered to all consuls that have been and
yet shall be. Give thy name to the year that posterity
[7] Claudian is referring to the consulship of Eutropius.
* * * * *
Page 26
posteritas nec iam doleat defensa vetustas.
sic trabeis ultor Stilicho Brutusque repertor.
libertas populi primo tunc consule Bruto
reddita per fasces; hic fascibus expulit ipsis
servitium. instituit sublimem Brutus honorem; 325
adseruit Stilicho. plus est servasse repertum,
quam quaesisse novum. quid tardius ore rubenti
adnuis et solitus frontem circumfluit ignis?
tandem vince tuum, vincis qui cuncta, pudorem.
“Hos etiam, quamvis corrumpi munere nullo 330
te certum est, mirare libens ac suscipe cinctus,
quos tibi divino mecum Tritonia duxit
pectine: tincta simul repetito murice fila
contulimus pensis et eodem nevimus auro,
aurea quo Lachesis sub te mihi saecula texit. 335
hic ego promissam subolem sperataque mundo
pignora praelusi. veram mox ipse probabis
me vatem nostraeque fidem venientia telae
fata dabunt.”
Dixit gremioque rigentia profert
dona, graves auro trabeas. insigne Minervam 340
spirat opus, rutilis hic pingitur aula columnis
et sacri Mariae partus; Lucina dolores
solatur; residet fulgente puerpera lecto;
sollicitae iuxta pallescunt gaudia matris.
susceptum puerum redimitae tempora Nymphae 345
auri fonte lavant: teneros de stamine risus
vagitusque audire putes. iam creverat infans
* * * * *
Page 27
may dwell thereafter securely, and that antiquity, thus vindicated,
may cease from her complaints. Brutus was the founder of the office,
let Stilicho be its avenger. Brutus, the first consul, won liberty for
the Roman people by means of the consular fasces: Stilicho banished
the taint of slavery from those fasces. Brutus instituted this supreme
dignity; Stilicho saved it; and it is greater to preserve what already
is than to create that which is not. Why do thy blushes grant so tardy
an acceptance of our prayers? Why does the accustomed flush o’erspread
thy brow? World-conqueror, conquer now thine own diffidence.
“Full well I know that no gift can seduce thee, yet be pleased to
admire and receive this cloak, woven for thee on no mortal loom by
Minerva and myself. Twice together have we dipped the thread that goes
to make the cloth in purple dye and interwoven therewith that same gold
of which Lachesis has woven the golden centuries that are to be mine
beneath thy rule. See here I have prefigured thy destined progeny,
those thy children for whom the world prays; soon shalt thou confess me
a true prophet and coming fate prove that my embroidery is true.”
She spake and drew from her bosom the gift, a consul’s cloak, stiff
and heavy with gold. The glorious woof breathes Minerva’s skill. Here
is depicted a palace with columns of red marble and Maria’s sacred
travail. Lucina eases her labour. On a splendid couch lies the young
mother, by her side sits her own mother, pale with anxiety yet happy
withal. The flower-crowned Nymphs take up the babe and wash him in a
golden basin. Almost could one hear rising from the embroidery the
little child’s mingled laughter and wailing. And now the babe
* * * * *
Page 28
ore ferens patrem: Stilicho maturior aevi
Martia recturo tradit praecepta nepoti.
parte alia spumis fucantem Serica frena 350
sanguineis primae signatus flore iuventae
Eucherius flectebat equum iaculisque vel areu
aurea purpureos tollentes cornua cervos
aureus ipse ferit. Venus hic invecta columbis
tertia regali iungit conubia nexu, 355
pennatique nurum circumstipantur Amores
progenitam Augustis Augustorumque sororem.
Eucherius trepido iam flammea sublevat ore
virginis; adridet retro Thermantia fratri.
iam domus haec utroque petit diademata sexu 360
reginasque parit reginarumque maritos.
Talibus invitat donis dextraque gerendum
diva simul porrexit ebur; sollemnibus urnam
commovet auspiciis avibusque incepta secundat.
tunc habiles armis umeros iam vestibus ambit 365
Romuleis; Latii sederunt pectore cultus
loricaeque locum decuit toga. talis ab Histro
vel Scythico victor rediens Gradivus ab axe
deposito mitis clipeo candentibus urbem
ingreditur trabeatus equis; spatiosa Quirinus 370
frena regit currumque patris Bellona cruentum
ditibus exuviis tendens ad sidera quercum
praecedit, lictorque Metus cum fratre Pavore
barbara ferratis innectunt colla catenis
* * * * *
Page 29
had grown up, recalling his father in countenance; Stilicho, riper in
years, teaches his grandson, the emperor that is to be, the science
of war. In another part Eucherius, the down of early manhood on his
cheeks, rode his horse that flecked its silken reins with bloody foam.
Woven himself of gold he smites with javelin or arrow the purple stags
that raise their golden horns. Here Venus, borne in her dove-drawn
chariot, unites for the third time the hero’s family with the princely
house[8] and the winged Loves throng the affianced bride, daughter and
sister of an emperor. Eucherius now lifts the veil from the bashful
maiden’s face; Thermantia smiles upon her brother’s joy. This house now
seeks the crown in the person of either sex, it gives birth to queens
and the husbands of queens.
Such are the gifts wherewith the goddess sought to win Stilicho,
handing to him at the same time the ivory staff.[9] She shook the urn
to obtain the customary signs and confirmed the beginning of his task
by favourable auspices. Then she clothed with the vesture of Romulus
those shoulders better accustomed to armour. The garb of Latium covers
his breast and the toga graces what erstwhile the cuirass protected.
Thus Mars, returning victorious from the Danube or the Scythian clime,
a god of peace now his shield is laid aside, enters the city wearing
the consul’s cloak and in a chariot drawn by white horses; Quirinus
directs the ample reins and Bellona marches before her father’s car
holding aloft the bloody oak-branch decked with the spoils won in
single combat; Fear and his brother Terror are the lictors and cast
chains of iron on the necks of captive
[8] Claudian seems to refer to the marriages (1) of Stilicho and
Serena; (2) of Honorius and Maria (both, of course, accomplished
facts); and (3) of Eucherius, son of Stilicho, and Placidia
(the “nurus”), sister of Honorius. As a matter of fact Placidia
subsequently married Ataulf, brother-in-law of Alaric.
[9] One of the insignia of the consulship.
* * * * *
Page 30
velati galeas lauro, propiusque iugales 375
formido ingentem vibrat succincta securim.
Vidit ut optato se consule Roma potitam:
“nunc” ait “Elysii lucos inrumpere campi,
nunc libet, ut tanti Curiis miracula voti
Fabriciisque feram, famae qui vulnere nuper 380
calcatam Severe togam: iam prata choreis
pulsent nec rigidos pudeat lusisse Catones.
audiat hoc senior Brutus Poenisque tremendi
Scipiadae, geminis tandem quod libera damnis
unius auxilio fasces Libyamque recepi. 385
quod superest unum precibus, fortissime consul,
adde meis, urbique tuum largire parumper,
quem rogat, adventum, quam tu belloque fameque
depulsa terris iterum regnare dedisti.
splendida suscipiant alium te rostra Camillum, 390
ultorem videant servatoremque Quirites
et populus quem ductor ames: quibus Africa per te
nec prius auditas Rhodanus iam donat aristas,
ut mihi vel Massyla Ceres vel Gallica prosit
fertilitas messesque vehat nunc umidus Auster, 395
nunc Aquilo, cunctis ditescant horrea ventis.
“Quae tunc Flaminiam stipabunt milia vulgi!
fallax o quotiens pulvis deludet amorem
suspensum, veniens omni dum crederis hora!
spectabunt cupidae matres, spargentur et omnes 400
flore viae, superet cum Pincia culmina consul
* * * * *
Page 31
barbarians, their helmets wreathed with laurel, while Panic, her robe
upgirt, walks by the yoke-horses, brandishing a mighty battle-axe.
When Rome saw herself possessed of the consul for whom she had prayed,
“Now,” she said, “fain would I hasten to the fields and woods of
Elysium to bear the news of this wondrous answer to our universal
prayer to the Curii and Fabricii who have wept for the dignity of the
consul’s toga so lately outraged. Let them now tread the meads in
joyous dance and the austere Catos not blush to join their sport. Let
the elder Brutus hear the news and the Scipios, terror of Carthage,
learn that by one man’s help I have been rescued from a double danger
and have recovered both Libya and the fasces. One thing only is left,
and do thou, brave consul, add it to my prayers--bestow awhile that
presence she entreats upon the city which thou hast rescued from war
and famine, and restored to the overlordship of the world. Let our
famous rostrum welcome a second Camillus and our citizens look upon
their avenger and saviour, ay, and the common people whom thou, their
leader, lovest, the people to whom Africa, because of thee, offers
her harvests and the Rhone her crops till now unheard of, whereby
Libyan fields and Gallic abundance are at my service and now the rainy
south-wind and now the north wafts grain to my shores and my granaries
are full whatever breeze may blow.
“What thousands will then throng the Flaminian Way! How often will the
deceptive dust disappoint the loving expectation of those who trust to
see thee arrive every minute! Anxiously our mothers watch for thee;
every road will be strewn with flowers
* * * * *
Page 32
arduus, antiqui species Romana senatus.
Pompeiana dabunt quantos proscaenia plausus!
ad caelum quotiens vallis tibi Murcia ducet
nomen Aventino Pallanteoque recussum! 405
nunc te conspiciam castris, permitte, relictis
mox et cum genero trabeis visura secundis.”
Haec dum Roma refert, iam Fama loquacibus alis
pervolat Oceanum, linguis et mille citatos
festinare iubet proceres, nullique senectus, 410
non iter hibernis obstant nec flatibus Alpes:
vincit amor. meriti pridem clarique vetustis
fascibus ad socii properant et vindicis annum.
sic ubi fecunda reparavit morte iuventam
et patrios idem cineres collectaque portat 415
unguibus ossa piis Nilique ad litora tendens
unicus extremo Phoenix procedit ab Euro:
conveniunt aquilae cunctaeque ex orbe volucres,
ut Solis mirentur avem; procul ignea lucet
ales, odorati redolent cui cinnama busti. 420
Nec minor in caelo chorus est; exultat uterque
Theodosius divique tui; Sol ipse quadrigis
vere coronatis dignum tibi praeparat annum.
Est ignota procul nostraeque impervia menti,
vix adeunda deis, annorum squalida mater, 425
inmensi spelunca aevi, quae tempora vasto
suppeditat revocatque sinu. complectitur antrum,
omnia qui placido consumit numine, serpens
perpetuumque viret squamis caudamque reductam
ore vorat tacito relegens exordia lapsu. 430
* * * * *
Page 33
while the consul, true image of Rome’s ancient senate, climbs the steep
summit of the Pincian hill. What applause from the theatre of Pompey!
How often will the Murcian valley raise to heaven thy name re-echoed by
Aventine and Palatine! Leave the camp and let me behold thee now, soon
to see thee, consul for a second time, along with thy son-in-law.”
While Rome so spake, Fame, on wings of rumour, flies over the sea and
with her thousand tongues bids the chiefs speed to the capital. Not
one can age hold back, nor the long journey, nor the Alp’s wintry
blasts; Love wins the victory. Veterans whom the fasces ennobled long
since hasten to greet the year of their colleague and avenger. So when
by that birth in death the Phoenix renews its youth and gathers its
father’s ashes and carries them lovingly in its talons, winging its
way, sole of its kind, from the extreme east to Nile’s coasts, the
eagles gather together and all the fowls from every quarter to marvel
at the bird of the sun; afar its living plumage shines, itself redolent
of the spices of its father’s fragrant pyre.
There is like joy in heaven: the two Theodosii and thine own protecting
deities are glad; the Sun himself, decking his chariot with spring
flowers, prepares a year worthy of thee.
Far away, all unknown, beyond the range of mortal minds, scarce to be
approached by the gods, is a cavern of immense age, hoary mother of
the years, her vast breast at once the cradle and the tomb of time. A
serpent[10] surrounds this cave, engulfing everything with slow but
all-devouring jaws; never ceases the glint of his green scales. His
mouth devours the back-bending tail as with silent movement he traces
his own beginning. Before
[10] Eternity, in the sense of endless time, was pictured by the
Egyptians as a snake devouring its own tail; _cf._ Plut. _De Is. et
Osir._ i. 2, p. 5.
* * * * *
Page 34
vestibuli custos vultu longaeva decoro
ante fores Natura sedet, cunctisque volantes
dependent membris animae. mansura verendus
scribit iura senex, numeros qui dividit astris
et cursus stabilesque moras, quibus omnia vivunt 435
ac pereunt fixis cum legibus. ille recenset,
incertum quid Martis iter certumque Tonantis
prospiciat mundo; quid velox semita Lunae
pigraque Saturni; quantum Cytherea sereno
curriculo Phoebique comes Cyllenius erret. 440
Illius ut magno Sol limine constitit antri,
occurrit Natura potens seniorque superbis
canitiem inclinat radiis. tum sponte reclusus
laxavit postes adamas, penetrale profundum
panditur et sedes aevique arcana patescunt. 445
hic habitant vario facies distincta metallo
saecula certa locis: illic glomerantur aena,
hic ferrata rigent, illic argentea candent.
eximia regione domus, contingere terris
difficilis, rutili stabat grex aureus anni: 450
quorum praecipuum pretioso corpore Titan
signandum Stilichone legit; tunc imperat omnes
pone sequi dictisque simul compellat euntes:
“En, cui distulimus melioris saecla metalli,
consul adest. ite optati mortalibus anni, 455
ducite virtutes; hominum florescite rursus
ingeniis hilares Baccho frugumque feraces.
non inter geminos Anguis glaciale Triones
sibilet, inmodico nec frigore saeviat Ursa.
* * * * *
Page 35
the entrance sits Nature, guardian of the threshold, of age immense
yet ever lovely, around whom throng and flit spirits on every side. A
venerable old man writes down immutable laws: he fixes the number of
stars in each constellation and causes these to move and those to be
at rest, whereby everything lives or dies by pre-ordained laws. ’Tis
he decides Mar’s uncertain orbit, Jupiter’s fixed course through the
heaven, the swift path of the moon, and the slow march of Saturn; he
limits the wanderings of Venu’s bright chariot and of Mercury, Phoebu’s
companion.
When the Sun rested upon the spacious threshold of this cavern dame
Nature ran to meet him and the old man bent a hoary head before his
proud rays. The adamantine door swung open of its own accord and
revealed the vast interior, displaying the house and the secrets of
Time. Here in their appointed places dwell the ages, their aspect
marked by varying metals: there are piled those of brass; here those
of iron stand stiff; there the silver ones gleam bright. In a fairer
part of the cave, shy of contact with the earth, stood the group of
golden years; of these Phoebus chooses the one of richest substance
to be marked with the name of Stilicho. Then, bidding the rest follow
behind him, he addresses them thus as they pass. “Lo! the consul is at
hand for whom we have delayed an age of nobler ore. Go ye, years long
prayed for by man, bring back virtue; let genius flourish once more;
may Bacchus give you joy and fruitful Ceres bless you. Let not the
constellation of the Serpent breathe forth too icy an air from between
the two Ploughing Oxen nor the Bear vent his excessive
* * * * *
Page 36
non toto fremat ore[11] Leo, nec brachia Cancri 460
urat atrox aestas, madidae nec prodigus urnae
semina praerupto dissolvat Aquarius imbre.
Phrixeus roseo producat fertile cornu
ver Aries, pingues nec grandine tundat olivas
Scorpius; autumni maturet germina Virgo, 465
lenior et gravidis adlatret Sirius uvis.”
Sic fatus croceis rorantes ignibus hortos
ingreditur vallemque suam, quam flammeus ambit
rivus et inriguis largum iubar ingerit herbis,
quas Solis pascuntur equi; flagrantibus inde 470
caesariem sertis et lutea lora iubasque
subligat alipedum. gelidas hinc Lucifer ornat,
hinc Aurora comas iuxtaque adludit habenis
aureus et nomen praetendit consulis Annus:
inque novos iterum revoluto cardine cursus 475
scribunt aetheriis Stilichonem sidera fastis.
[11] _ore_ Π; the other MSS. give _igne_. But _ore_ better corresponds
with _brachia_.
* * * * *
Page 37
cold; let not the Lion rage with his gaping maw nor pitiless summer
inflame the claws of Cancer. Let not Aquarius, too prodigal of his
rainy urn, flood the young seedlings with sudden storms. Let Phrixu’s
ram, his horns twined with roses, extend the fertile spring and let not
the Scorpion beat down the ripe olives with his hail. Let the Virgin
mature the fruits of Autumn and the Dog-star, more gentle than his
wont, refrain from barking at the heavy grape-clusters.”
So saying he entered his garden starred with fiery dew, the valley
round which runs a river of flame feeding with its bounteous rays
the dripping weeds whereon the horses of the sun do pasture. Here he
gathers fragrant flowers wherewith he decks the heads, the golden
reins, and manes of his steeds. With leaves from hence Lucifer and
Aurora entwine their oozy locks. Hard by the golden year, displaying
the consul’s name, smiles upon his chariot, and the stars, recommencing
their courses, inscribe the name of Stilicho in the annals of the sky.
* * * * *
Page 38
DE CONSULATU STILICHONIS
LIBER TERTIUS
PRAEFATIO
(XXIII.)
Maior Scipiades, Italis qui solus ab oris
in proprium vertit Punica bella caput,
non sine Pieriis exercuit artibus arma:
semper erat vatum maxima cura duci.
gaudet enim virtus testes sibi iungere Musas; 5
carmen amat quisquis carmine digna gerit.
ergo seu patriis primaevus manibus ultor
subderet Hispanum legibus Oceanum,
seu Tyrias certa fracturus cuspide vires
inferret Libyco signa tremenda mari, 10
haerebat doctus lateri castrisque solebat
omnibus in medias Ennius ire tubas,
illi post lituos pedites favere canenti
laudavitque nova caede cruentus eques.
cumque triumpharet gemina Carthagine victa 15
(hanc vindex patri vicerat, hanc patriae),
* * * * *
Page 39
ON STILICHO’S CONSULSHIP
BOOK III
PREFACE
(XXIII.)
The elder Scipio, who single-handed turned the Punic wars back from
Italy’s coasts to their own home, fought not his battles unmindful of
the Muse’s art; poets were ever the hero’s special care. For valour is
always fain to seek alliance with the Muses that they may bear witness
to her deeds; he loves song whose exploits deserve the meed of song.
Therefore, whether to avenge his sire’s[12] death the young warrior
brought into subjection the Spanish seas or embarked upon the Libyan
wave his dreadful standards, resolved to break with sure spear the
strength of Carthage, the poet Ennius was ever at his side and in all
his campaigns followed the trumpet’s call into the midst of the fray.
Him after the battle the soldiers loved to hear sing, and the trooper,
still dripping with blood, would applaud his verses. When Scipio had
triumphed over either Carthage--over the one to avenge his sire, over
the other his fatherland--and when at last, after the
[12] P. Cornelius Scipio (_cos._ 218 B.C.) was defeated and killed
by Hasdrubal in Spain in 211 B.C. The famous P. Cornelius Scipio
Africanus was the younger of his two sons.
* * * * *
Page 40
cum longi Libyam tandem post funera belli
ante suas maestam cogeret ire rotas:
advexit reduces secum Victoria Musas
et sertum vati Martia laurus erat. 20
Noster Scipiades Stilicho, quo concidit alter
Hannibal antiquo saevior Hannibale,
te mihi post quintos annorum Roma recursus
reddidit et votis iussit adesse suis.
* * * * *
Page 41
disasters of a long war, he drove weeping Libya a captive before his
chariot wheel, Victory brought back the Muses in her train and Mar’s
laurel crowned the poet’s brow.
Thee, Stilicho, our new Scipio, conqueror of a second Hannibal more
terrible than the first,--thee after five long years Rome has given
back to me and bidden me celebrate the completion of her vows.
* * * * *
Page 42
LIBER TERTIUS
(XXIV.)
Quem populi plausu, procerum quem voce petebas,
adspice, Roma, virum. iam tempora desine longae
dinumerare viae visoque adsurgere semper
pulvere: non dubiis ultra torquebere votis.
totus adest oculis, aderat qui mentibus olim, 5
spe maior, fama melior. venerare curulem,
quae tibi restituit fasces; complectere dextram,
sub iuga quae Poenos iterum Romana redegit.
excipe magnanimum pectus, quo frena reguntur
imperii, cuius libratur sensibus orbis. 10
os sacrum, quod in aere colis, miraris in auro,
cerne libens: hic est felix bellator ubique,
defensor Libyae, Rheni pacator et Histri.
Ostentare suos prisco si more labores
et gentes cuperet vulgo monstrare subactas, 15
certassent utroque pares a cardine laurus:
haec Alamannorum spoliis, Australibus illa
ditior exuviis; illinc flavente Sygambri
* * * * *
Page 43
BOOK III
(XXIV.)
Behold, O Rome, the hero whose presence the cries of thy people and the
voice of thy nobles has long demanded. Cease now to count the stages
of his long journey and to rise as though to greet him at the sight
of every storm of dust; no further shall uncertainty torment thee.
Full before thine eye is he who was long before thy mind, greater than
thy hopes, more glorious than his fame. Honour thou the consul who
has restored its dignity to the consulship; grasp the hand which has
made the Carthaginians pass once more under the Roman yoke. Welcome
the noble heart that directs the reins of empire and secures by its
providence the equipoise of the world. Look with joy upon the sacred
face thou worshippest cast in bronze and adorest in gold. Behold
the warrior successful in every field, the defender of Africa, the
conqueror of Rhine and Danube.
Should he wish in accordance with ancient custom to display the picture
of his labours and show to the people the tribes he has subdued,
crowns of laurel from north and south would contend in equally matched
rivalry. Here is a triumph rich with the spoils of the Germans, there
with those of the South; here would pass the Sygambri with their yellow
* * * * *
Page 44
caesarie, nigris hinc Mauri crinibus irent.
ipse albis veheretur equis currumque secutus 20
laurigerum festo fremuisset carmine miles.
hi famulos traherent reges; hi facta metallo
oppida vel montes captivaque flumina ferrent.
hinc Libyci fractis lugerent cornibus amnes;
inde catenato gemeret Germania Rheno. 25
sed non inmodicus proprii iactator honoris
consul, Roma, tuus. non illum praemia tantum
quam labor ipse iuvat; strepitus fastidit inanes
inque animis hominum pompa meliore triumphat.
Non alium certe Romanae clarius arces 30
suscepere ducem, nec cum cedente rediret
Fabricius Pyrrho nec cum Capitolia curru
Pellaeae domitor Paullus conscenderet aulae.
nec similis Latias patefecit gloria portas
post Numidas Mario, post classica Martis Eoi 35
Pompeio. nulli pars aemula defuit umquam,
quae gravis obstreperet laudi, stimulisque malignis
facta sequebatur quamvis ingentia livor:
solus hic invidiae fines virtute reliquit
humanumque modum. quis enim livescere possit, 40
quod numquam pereant stellae? quod Iuppiter olim
possideat caelum? quod noverit omnia Phoebus?
est aliquod meriti spatium, quod nulla furentis
invidiae mensura capit. ductoribus illis
praeterea diversus erat favor: aequior ille 45
patribus invisus plebi; popularibus illi
munito studiis languebat gratia patrum.
* * * * *
Page 45
locks, there the black-haired Moors. He himself would be drawn in a
laurel-decked chariot by white horses, and followed by his soldiers
chanting their festive songs. Some would lead captive kings, others
carry conquered towns wrought in bronze or mountains or rivers. Here
would go in sad procession the river-gods of Libya, their horns broken,
there Germany and the Rhine god in chains. Yet is not thy consul, O
Rome, an unbridled boaster of his own prowess. ’Tis not the rewards of
toil but the toil itself that he loves. He scorns empty applause and
celebrates a happier triumph in the hearts of his fellow-citizens.
Of a surety the citadel of Rome has never welcomed home any of her
generals with greater magnificence, no, not even Fabricius when he
returned after the surrender of Pyrrhus, nor Aemilius Paulus, conqueror
of Pella’s king, when he ascended the Capitol in his chariot. No such
triumph as this threw open the gates of Rome to Marius after his
conquest of Numidia or to Pompey after his victories in the East.
Each of these suffered from a rival faction that murmured uneasily
against their success, and envy pursued their actions, no matter how
noble, with spiteful stings. Stilicho alone was raised above the
range of envy and the measure of mankind. For who could be jealous of
the star’s eternity, of Jove’s ancient rule in heaven, of Phoebu’s
omniscience[13]? There are some merits so transcendent that furious
envy’s bounds cannot contain them. Moreover, those other heroes owed a
divided allegiance: one gained the favour of the nobles, but was hated
of the people, one, supported by the suffrage of the commons, enjoyed
but faintly the favour of the
[13] Phoebus is said to “know everything” because, as the sun, he is
the all-beholding (πανόπτης).
* * * * *
Page 46
omnis in hoc uno variis discordia cessit
ordinibus; laetatur eques plauditque senator
votaque patricio certant plebeia favori. 50
O felix servata vocat quem Roma parentem!
o mundi communis amor, cui militat omnis
Gallia, quem regum thalamis Hispania nectit,
cuius et adventum crebris petiere Quirites
vocibus et genero meruit praestante senatus! 55
non sic virginibus flores, non frugibus imbres,
prospera non fessis optantur flamina nautis,
ut tuus adspectus populo. quae numine tanto
litora fatidicas attollunt Delia laurus,
venturi quotiens adfulsit Apollinis arcus? 60
quae sic aurifero Pactoli fonte tumescit
Lydia, cum domitis adparuit Euhius Indis?
nonne vides et plebe vias et tecta latere
matribus? his, Stilicho, cunctis inopina reluxit
te victore salus! septem circumspice montes, 65
qui solis radios auri fulgore lacessunt,
indutosque arcus spoliis aequataque templa
nubibus et quidquid tanti struxere triumphi.
quantum profueris, quantam servaveris urbem,
attonitis metire oculis. haec fabula certe 70
cuncta forent, si Poenus adhuc incumberet Austro.
Mos erat in veterum castris, ut tempora quercu
velaret, validis fuso qui viribus hoste
casurum potuit morti subducere civem.
* * * * *
Page 47
senate. In Stilicho’s case alone class rivalry has not raised its head:
the knights welcome him with joy, the senate with enthusiasm, while the
people’s prayers rival the goodwill of the nobles.
Blessed mortal, whom the Rome that thou hast saved calls her father;
darling of the world to whose banner flocks the whole of Gaul, whom
Spain connects by marriage with the imperial house, for whose advent
the citizens cried with ceaseless prayer, and whose presence the senate
owed to thine illustrious son-in-law. Not such a girl’s delight in
flowers, not such the desire of the crops for rain, or of weary sailors
for a prosperous breeze as is the longing of thy people for the sight
of thee. Under no such influence as this do the prophetic laurels
wave on Delo’s coast when the brightness of Apollo’s bow announces
the deity’s approach. Never did Pactolus’ golden wave so swell in
pride when Bacchus from conquered Ind visited his banks. Markest thou
not how the roads cannot be seen for the people, the roofs for the
matrons? Thanks to thy victories, Stilicho, salvation has dawned on
all beyond their hopes. Look round on Rome’s seven hills whose sheen
of gold rivals the very sun’s rays; see the arches decked with spoil,
the temples towering to the sky, and all the buildings that celebrate
this signal triumph. Let thine astonished glance measure the magnitude
of the city thou hast saved and the immensity of thy services. All this
would live but in the memory were the African still master of the south.
It was the custom in campaigns of olden time to crown with oak the brow
of him who by his valour had put the enemy to flight and succeeded in
rescuing a fellow-citizen from imminent death.
* * * * *
Page 48
at tibi quae poterit pro tantis civica reddi 75
moenibus? aut quantae pensabunt facta coronae?
nec solam populi vitam debere fatetur
armis Roma tuis; sed, quo iucundior esset
lucis honoratae fructus, venerabile famae
pondus et amissas vires et regna recepit. 80
iam non praetumidi supplex Orientis ademptam
legatis poscit Libyam famulosve precatur
(dictu turpe) suos: sed robore freta Gabino
te duce Romana tandem se vindicat ira.
ipsa iubet signis bellaturoque togatus 85
imperat et spectant aquilae decreta senatus.
ipsa tibi trabeas ultro dedit, ipsa curulem
obtulit ultori fastosque ornare coëgit.
Nil perdit decoris prisci nec libera quaerit
saecula, cum donet fasces, cum proelia mandet; 90
seque etiam crevisse videt. quis Gallica rura,
quis meminit Latio Senonum servisse ligones?
aut quibus exemplis fecunda Thybris ab Arcto
vexit Lingonico sudatas vomere messes?
illa seges non auxilium modo praebuit urbi, 95
sed fuit indicio, quantum tibi, Roma, liceret:
admonuit dominae gentes instarque tropaei
rettulit ignotum gelidis vectigal ab oris.
Hoc quoque maiestas augescit plena Quirini,
* * * * *
Page 49
But to thee what civic crown can we give for the salvation of so many
cities? Or what honours can recompense thy deeds? Nor is it only for
her people’s life that Rome owns herself a debtor to thine arms, but
that so she might have sweeter enjoyment of this glorious dawn she
has won back her ancient burden of renown, her lost strength and her
conquered kingdoms. No longer do her ambassadors kneel suppliant before
the proud East and beg that Libya may be given back to her; gone the
shameful spectacle of our city a suitor to her own slaves. No, relying
now on her native Latin vigour, Rome under thy leadership fights her
own battles with Roman spirit. She herself bids the standards advance;
the toga-clad consul directs the future conqueror, and the eagles
wait upon the orders of the senate. Of her own free choice hath Rome
bestowed on thee the consul’s robe, offered thee, her avenger, the
curule chair and compelled thee to adorn her annals.
Nothing of her ancient dignity hath she lost, no regret has she for the
age of republican freedom, since it is she who bestows the consular
honour, she who gives the order for battle. Nay, she sees the growth
of her power. Whose memory can recall a time when the fields of Gaul
and the hoes of the Senones were at our service? Has it ever happened
before that Tiber’s wave has carried grain from the fertile north over
the ploughing of whose fields the Lingones have toiled? Such a harvest
not only fulfilled Rome’s needs but also demonstrated the greatness of
her power; it reminded the peoples who was their mistress and brought
in triumph from those chill climes a tribute never before paid.
This, too, augments the majesty of Rome that the
* * * * *
Page 50
rectores Libyae populo quod iudice pallent 100
et post emeritas moderator quisque secures
discrimen letale subit, quid Poenus arator
intulerit, madidus quantum transmiserit Auster.
ardua qui late terris responsa dedere,
hic trepidant humiles; tremuit quos Africa nuper, 105
cernunt rostra reos. cani virtutibus aevi
materiam pandit Stilicho populumque vetusti
culminis inmemorem dominandi rursus in usum
excitat, ut magnos calcet metuendus honores,
pendat iustitia crimen, pietate remittat 110
errorem purosque probet damnetque nocentes
et patrias iterum clemens exerceat artes.
Fallitur egregio quisquis sub principe credit
servitium. numquam libertas gratior extat
quam sub rege pio. quos praeficit ipse regendis 115
rebus, ad arbitrium plebis patrumque reducit
conceditque libens, meritis seu praemia poscant
seu punire velint. posito iam purpura fastu
de se iudicium non indignatur haberi.
sic docuit regnare socer, sic cauta iuventae 120
frena dedit, teneros sic moribus induit annos
verior Augusti genitor, fiducia belli,
pacis consilium: per quem squalore remoto
pristina Romuleis infloruit artibus aetas,
per quem fracta diu translataque paene potestas 125
* * * * *
Page 51
chiefs of Libya tremble before the judgement-throne of our people, and
that, his office ended, each governor must account under pain of death
for all the corn the Carthaginian farmer has brought in, all that the
rainy south-wind has dispatched to Rome. Those who of late uttered
their proud judgements to broad domains here are cowed and tremble;
those whom Africa held in dread Rome’s forum sees accused.
Stilicho gives scope for the virtues of a bygone age and rouses a
people, forgetful of their former glory, to resume their accustomed
sovereignty, to make themselves feared, to tread powerful magistrates
beneath their heel, to mete out to crime its due reward, to show mercy
towards the erring, favour to the innocent, punishment to the guilty,
and to exercise once more their native virtue of clemency.
He errs who thinks that submission to a noble prince is slavery; never
does liberty show more fair than beneath a good king. Those he himself
appoints to rule he in turn brings before the judgement-seat of people
and senate, and gladly yields whether they claim reward for merit or
seek for punishment. Now the purple lays aside its pride and disdains
not to have judgement passed upon itself. Such were the principles of
rule taught by Stilicho to his son-in-law, Honorius; ’twas thus he
guided his youth with the reins of prudence, and with precepts such
as these directed his tender years, a truer father to the emperor
than Theodosius, his stay in war, his adviser in peace. Thanks to him
dishonour is banished and our age blossoms with Rome’s ancient virtues;
thanks to him power, long degraded and all but transferred,[14] no
longer, forgetful
[14] _i.e._ (apparently) to Constantinople. Throughout this
confused passage Claudian seems to be labouring the point that now
the capital of the West (Rome) is restored to an equal importance
with that of the East (Constantinople).
* * * * *
Page 52
non oblita sui servilibus exulat arvis,
in proprium sed ducta larem victricia reddit
fata solo fruiturque iterum, quibus haeserat olim,
auspiciis capitique errantia membra reponit.
Proxime dis consul, tantae qui prospicis urbi, 130
qua nihil in terris complectitur altius aether,
cuius nec spatium visus nec corda decorem
nec laudem vox ulla capit; quae luce metalli
aemula vicinis fastigia conserit astris;
quae septem scopulis zonas imitatur Olympi; 135
armorum legumque parens quae fundit in omnes
imperium primique dedit cunabula iuris.
haec est exiguis quae finibus orta tetendit
in geminos axes parvaque a sede profecta
dispersit cum sole manus. haec obvia fatis 140
innumeras uno gereret cum tempore pugnas,
Hispanas caperet, Siculas obsideret urbes
et Gallum terris prosterneret, aequore Poenum,
numquam succubuit damnis et territa nullo
vulnere post Cannas maior Trebiamque fremebat 145
et, cum iam premerent flammae murumque feriret
hostis, in extremos aciem mittebat Hiberos
nec stetit Oceano remisque ingressa profundum
vincendos alio quaesivit in orbe Britannos.
haec est in gremium victos quae sola recepit 150
humanumque genus communi nomine fovit
matris, non dominae ritu, civesque vocavit
quos domuit nexuque pio longinqua revinxit.
* * * * *
Page 53
of itself, is exiled in lands of servitude but, returned to its
rightful home, restores to Italy its victorious destiny, enjoys the
promised auspices of its foundation and gives back its scattered limbs
to the head of the empire.
Consul, all but peer of the gods, protector of a city greater than
any that upon earth the air encompasseth, whose amplitude no eye can
measure, whose beauty no imagination can picture, whose praise no
voice can sound, who raises a golden head amid the neighbouring stars
and with her seven hills imitates the seven regions of heaven, mother
of arms and of law, who extends her sway o’er all the earth and was
the earliest cradle of justice, this is the city which, sprung from
humble beginnings, has stretched to either pole, and from one small
place extended its power so as to be co-terminous with the sun’s light.
Open to the blows of fate while at one and the same time she fought
a thousand battles, conquered Spain, laid siege to the cities of
Sicily, subdued Gaul by land and Carthage by sea, never did she yield
to her losses nor show fear at any blow, but rose to greater heights
of courage after the disasters of Cannae and Trebia, and, while the
enemy’s fire threatened her, and her foe[15] smote upon her walls,
sent an army against the furthest Iberians. Nor did Ocean bar her
way; launching upon the deep, she sought in another world for Britons
to be vanquished. ’Tis she alone who has received the conquered into
her bosom and like a mother, not an empress, protected the human race
with a common name, summoning those whom she has defeated to share her
citizenship and drawing together distant races with bonds of
[15] Hannibal.
* * * * *
Page 54
huius pacificis debemus moribus omnes,
quod veluti patriis regionibus utitur hospes; 155
quod sedem mutare licet; quod cernere Thylen
lusus et horrendos quondam penetrare recessus;
quod bibimus passim Rhodanum, potamus Orontem;
quod cuncti gens una sumus. nec terminus umquam
Romanae dicionis erit, nam cetera regna 160
luxuries vitiis odiisque superbia vertit:
sic male sublimes fregit Spartanus Athenas
atque idem Thebis cecidit; sic Medus ademit
Assyrio Medoque tulit moderamina Perses;
subiecit Persen Macedo, cessurus et ipse 165
Romanis. haec auguriis firmata Sibyllae,
haec sacris animata Numae. huic[16] fulmina vibrat
Iuppiter; hanc tota Tritonia Gorgone velat.
arcanas huc Vesta faces, huc orgia Bacchus
transtulit et Phrygios genetrix turrita leones; 170
huc defensurus morbos Epidaurius hospes
reptavit placido tractu, vectumque per undas
insula Paeonium texit Tiberina draconem.
Hanc tu cum superis, Stilicho praeclare, tueris,
protegis hanc clipeo patriam regumque ducumque 175
praecipueque tuam. dedit haec exordia lucis
Eucherio puerumque ferens hic regia mater
Augusto monstravit avo; laetatus at ille
sustulit in Tyria reptantem veste nepotem,
Romaque venturi gaudebat praescia fati, 180
quod te iam tanto meruisset pignore civem.
Nec tamen ingratum nec, qui benefacta referre
[16] Birt keeps the _hinc_ of the better MSS., comparing xxvi. 509 seu
caelum seu Roma tonat; _huic_ ς.
* * * * *
Page 55
affection. To her rule of peace we owe it that the world is our home,
that we can live where we please, and that to visit Thule and explore
its once dreaded wilds is but a sport; thanks to her all and sundry
may drink the waters of the Rhone and quaff Orontes’ stream, thanks
to her we are all one people. Nor will there ever be a limit to the
empire of Rome, for luxury and its attendant vices, and pride with
sequent hate have brought to ruin all kingdoms else. ’Twas thus that
Sparta laid low the foolish pride of Athens but to fall herself a
victim to Thebes; thus that the Mede deprived the Assyrian of empire
and the Persian the Mede. Macedonia subdued Persia and was herself to
yield to Rome. But Rome found her strength in the oracles of the Sibyl,
her vigour in the hallowed laws of Numa. For her Jove brandishes his
thunderbolts; ’tis she to whom Minerva offers the full protection of
her shield; to her Vesta brought her sacred flame, Bacchus his rites,
and the turret-crowned mother of the gods her Phrygian lions. Hither to
keep disease at bay came, gliding with steady motion, the snake whose
home was Epidaurus, and Tiber’s isle gave shelter to the Paeonian[17]
serpent from beyond the sea.
This is the city whom thou, Stilicho, and heaven guard, her thou
protectest, mother of kings and generals, mother, above all, of thee.
Here Eucherius first beheld the light, here the queen his mother showed
the babe to his imperial grandsire who rejoiced to lift a grandson
upon his knee and to let him crawl upon his purple robes. Rome had
foreknowledge of his destined glory and was glad, for so dear a pledge
would keep thee ever her faithful citizen.
But think not this people ungrateful nor such as
[17] _i.e._ Aesculapius. “Paeonian” from the Greek Παιών, the Healer.
* * * * *
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nesciat, hunc credas populum. si volvere priscos
annales libeat: quotiens hic proelia sumpsit
pro sociis! quotiens dono concessit amicis 185
regibus Ausonio quaesitas sanguine terras!
publica sed numquam tanto se gratia fudit
adsensu: quis enim princeps non omnibus egit
obsequiis dominum sese patremque vocari,
quod tibi continuis resonant convexa diebus? 190
macte novis consul titulis! Mavortia plebes
te dominum Bruto non indignante fatetur
et, quod adhuc nullo potuit terrore coacta
libertas Romana pati, Stilichonis amori
detulit. exultant avidi, quocumque decorus 195
conspiciare loco, nomenque ad sidera tollunt
nec vaga dilecto satiantur lumina vultu:
seu circum trabeis fulgentibus aureus intres,
seu celebres ludos, solio seu fultus eburno
cingas iure forum, denso seu turbine vulgi 200
circumfusa tuae conscendant rostra secures.
Quae vero procerum voces, quam certa fuere
gaudia, cum totis exurgens ardua pennis
ipsa duci sacras Victoria panderet aedes!
o palma viridi gaudens et amica tropaeis 205
custos imperii virgo, quae sola mederis
vulneribus nullumque doces sentire laborem,
seu tibi Dictaeae placuerunt astra Coronae
seu magis aestivo sedes vicina Leoni,
seu sceptrum sublime Iovis seu Palladis ambis 210
aegida, seu fessi mulces suspiria Martis,
adsis perpetuum Latio votisque senatus
adnue, diva, tui. Stilicho tua saepius ornet
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Page 57
knows not how to repay benefits. Turn but the pages of history and thou
wilt find how often it has faced war for an ally’s sake, how often
bestowed as a gift on friendly monarchs lands won at the expense of
Italian blood. Yet never were public thanks poured forth with such
consent. For what prince has not sought with every blandishment to be
called lord and father--titles which the amphitheatres echo back to
thee day after day? Hail, consul, to thy new titles! Mars’ people calls
thee lord and Brutus gainsays them not; what till now no terror could
compel Rome’s free citizens to endure, they freely offered to their
love for Stilicho. Wheresoever thy shining form is seen they haste to
greet thee and raise to heaven thy name; nor is their wandering gaze
ever sated with looking upon thee whom they love when thou enterest the
Circus in thy shining robes of gold or art present at the games or,
seated on thine ivory throne, dispensest justice in the forum or, with
thine attendant lictors, mountest the rostrum thronged with the dense
and surging crowd.
But what were the acclamations of the great, how unfeigned their
rejoicings when Victory, soaring aloft with outspread wings, herself
threw open her holy temple to the hero? Maiden that lovest the green
bay, thou that art decked in robes of triumph, guardian of our empire,
sole healer of our wounds, that makest our toils as though they were
not, whether it pleaseth thee to dwell amid the stars of Ariadne’s
crown or nearer to the fervid Lion, whether thou art seated on the
lofty sceptre of Jove or Pallas’ shield or calmest the sighs of weary
Mars, be ever present to Latium and grant, goddess, the prayers of thy
senate. May Stilicho often crown thy portals
* * * * *
Page 58
limina teque simul rediens in castra reducat.
hunc bellis comitare favens, hunc redde togatum 215
consiliis. semper placidis te moribus egit
servavitque piam victis nec polluit umquam
laurum saevitia. cives nec fronte superba
despicit aut trepidam vexat legionibus urbem;
sed verus patriae consul cessantibus armis 220
contentus lictore venit nec inutile quaerit
ferri praesidium solo munitus amore.
Magnarum nec parcus opum geminare profundas
distulit impensas, sed post miracula castris
edita vel genero Romae maiora reservat. 225
auratos Rhodiis imbres nascente Minerva
indulsisse Iovem perhibent, Bacchoque paternum
iam pulsante femur mutatus palluit Hermus
in pretium, votique famem passurus avari
ditabat rutilo quidquid Mida tangeret auro; 230
fabula seu verum canitur: tua copia vicit
fontem Hermi tactumque Midae pluviamque Tonantis.
obscurat veteres obscurabitque futuros
par donis armisque manus: si solveret ignis
quot dedit inmanes vili pro pondere massas 235
argenti, potuere lacus et flumina fundi.
Nec tibi, quae pariter silvis dominaris et astris,
exiguam Stilicho movit, Latonia, curam:
tu quoque nobilibus spectacula nostra laboras
inlustrare feris summoque in vertice rupis 240
Alpinae socias arcu cessante pudicas
* * * * *
Page 59
and bear thee back with him to his armies. Accompany and bless him in
war and give him back in robes of peace to our council-chambers. Always
has he brought thee home in a spirit of mercy and kept thee kindly to
the vanquished nor ever stained thy laurels with cruelty. He neither
looks with disdain on his fellow-citizens nor harries the anxious city
with his legionaries; but true consul now that the war is ended he
comes accompanied only by his lictors nor seeks the useless protection
of the sword, guarded only by a people’s love.
Handling his great wealth in no niggard spirit he does not hesitate to
double his lavish expenses and after giving wondrous games in honour
of his soldiery and of Honorius reserves yet greater for Rome. They
say that Jove at Minerva’s birth showered gold upon lucky Rhodes; that
while Bacchus forced an egress from his father’s thigh Hermus grew
pale and turned to that same metal; that Midas, fated to suffer hunger
as a punishment for his greed, converted to shining gold everything
that he touched. Be these stories true or false thy liberality exceeds
the waters of Hermus, the touch of Midas, the Thunderer’s shower. Thy
hands, as prodigal of gifts as of daring deeds, o’ershadow the past
and will o’ershadow the future. Should fire have melted the countless
mass of silver thou bestowest as though it were the cheapest of metals,
lakes and rivers of silver might have been formed.
Thou too, Latonia, queen alike of the woods and of the stars, art
moved by no small care for Stilicho; thou toilest to distinguish our
spectacles with the forest’s noblest denizens, and on the dizzy summits
of Alpine rocks layest aside thy bow and summonest
* * * * *
Page 60
et pharetratarum comitum inviolabile cogis
concilium. veniunt umeros et brachia nudae
armataeque manus iaculis et terga sagittis,
incomptae pulchraeque tamen; sudoribus ora 245
pulverulenta rubent, sexum nec cruda fatetur
virginitas; sine lege comae; duo cingula vestem
crure tenus pendere vetant. praecedit amicas
flava Leontodame, sequitur nutrita Lycaeo
Nebrophone telisque domat quae Maenala Thero. 250
ignea Cretaea properat Britomartis ab Ida
et cursu Zephyris numquam cessura Lycaste.
iungunt se geminae metuenda feris Hecaërge
et soror, optatum numen venantibus, Opis
progenitae Scythia: divas nemorumque potentes 255
fecit Hyperboreis Delos praelata pruinis.
hae septem venere duces; exercitus alter
Nympharum incedunt, acies formosa Dianae,
centum Taygeti, centum de vertice Cynthi
et totidem casto genuit quas flumine Ladon. 260
has ubi collectas vidit, sic Delia coepit:
“O sociae, mecum thalami quae iura perosae
virgineo gelidos percurritis agmine montes,
cernitis ut Latio superi communibus ornent
hunc annum studiis? quantos Neptunus equorum 265
donet ab orbe greges? laudi quod nulla canendae
fratris plectra vacent? nostram quoque sentiat idem
quam meritis debemus opem. non spicula poscit
iste labor; maneant clausis nunc sicca pharetris,
omnis et a solitis noster venatibus arcus 270
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Page 61
thy virgin companions and the chaste band of thy quiver-bearing
followers. Thither they come, their shoulders and arms bare, spears
in their hands and arrows slung across their backs, beautiful though
unadorned; red their cheeks, dusty and suffused with sweat; their
fierce virginity betrays not their sex; disordered their hair; girdles
twain prevent their dresses from flowing down below their knees.
Golden-haired Leontodame precedes her comrades, Nebrophone, foster
child of Mount Lycaeus, follows her, and Thero whose arrows hold
Maenalus in subjection. Fiery Britomartis hastens from Cretan Ida and
Lycaste, peer of the western winds in flight. There join them the twin
sisters Hecaërge, terror of beasts, and Opis, deity beloved of hunters,
Scythian maids; their preference for Delos[18] over the frosts of the
north made them goddesses and queens of the woods. These were the seven
chiefs who came; there followed them a second band of Nymphs, Diana’s
lovely company, a hundred from Taygetus, a hundred from Cynthus’
summit, a hundred more whose first home was beside the chaste waters of
Ladon. When she saw these gathered together Delia thus began:
“Friends who hate the rites of wedlock even as I hate them, who scour
the snowy mountains in virgin companies, mark you how the gods with
unanimous favour glorify this year for Latium? How many herds of horses
Neptune provides from every quarter of the world? How that none of
my brother Apollo’s lyres can refrain from sounding the praises of
Stilicho? From us too let Stilicho receive the favour we justly owe
him; the task needs no javelin; let our arrows remain bloodless in our
unopened quivers. Let every bow refrain from its
[18] _i.e._ they became goddesses through association with Diana whose
chosen island was Delos.
* * * * *
Page 62
temperet; in solam cruor hic servetur harenam.
retibus et clatris dilata morte tenendae
ducendaeque ferae. cupidas arcete sagittas;
consulis in plausum casuris parcite monstris.
acceleret divisa manus: mihi cursus anhelas 275
tenditur ad Syrtes, mecum Dictynna Lycaste
et comes Opis eat; steriles iuvat ire per aestus:
namque feras aliis tellus Maurusia donum
praebuit, huic soli debet sed victa tributum.
dum nos horribiles Libyae scrutamur alumnos, 280
Europae vos interea perquirite saltus
et scopulos. posita ludat formidine pastor
securisque canat Stilichonem fistula silvis.
pacet muneribus montes qui legibus urbes.”
Dixit et extemplo frondosa fertur ab Alpe 285
trans pelagus; cervi currum subiere iugales,
quos decus esse deae primi sub limine caeli
roscida fecundis concepit Luna cavernis:
par nitor intactis nivibus; frons discolor auro
germinat et spatio summas aequantia fagos 290
cornua ramoso surgunt procera metallo.
Opis frena tenet, fert retia rara Lycaste
auratasque plagas, inmortalesque Molossi
latrantes mediis circum iuga nubibus ibant.
quinque aliae paribus (Phoebe sic iusserat) armis 295
diversa regione ruunt ducitque cohortem
quaeque suam. variae formis et gente sequuntur
ingenioque canes. illae gravioribus aptae
morsibus, hae pedibus celeres, hae nare sagaces,
* * * * *
Page 63
wonted hunting and the blood of our prey be spilled but in the arena.
Not for now their death; close the glades with net and cages and lead
the beasts captive; withhold your impatient arrows; spare the monsters
of the forest whose death shall win applause for our consul. Divide
and haste in every direction; my breathless course is towards the
Syrtes; do you, Cretan Lycaste and Opis, bear me company. My purpose
is to traverse the unfruitful desert; Mauretania has given ere now her
animals to other consuls as a gift, to this consul alone she owes them
as a conquered land owes tribute. While we track out the dread progeny
of Libya do you hunt the glades and rocks of Europe. Let joy banish
fear from the shepherd’s breast and his pipe hymn Stilicho in the
dreadless forests. As his laws have given peace to the cities so let
his shows give peace to the mountains.”
She spake and straightway is borne from the leafy Alps across the sea.
Hinds bow their necks to her chariot’s yoke, hinds whom the dewy moon
conceived in her fertile caverns beneath the threshold of the morning
sky to be the glory of the goddess. White their skins as driven snow;
gold marks their foreheads whence spring branching golden horns lofty
as the tallest beech-trees. Opis holds the reins. Lycaste carries the
fine-wrought nets and golden snares, and deathless Molossian hounds run
barking about the chariot amid the clouds. Five others thus equipped
(such were Diana’s orders) hasten this way and that, each at the head
of her own company; there follow them dogs of various shape, breed and
character; some whose heavy jowls fit them for big game, some swift of
foot,
* * * * *
Page 64
hirsutaeque fremunt Cressae tenuesque Lacaenae 300
magnaque taurorum fracturae colla Britannae.
Dalmatiae lucos abruptaque brachia Pindi
sparsa comam Britomartis agit. tu Gallica cingis
lustra, Leontodame, Germanorumque paludes
eruis et si quis defensus harundine Rheni 305
vastus aper nimio dentes curvaverat aevo.
nubiferas Alpes Appenninique recessus
Garganique nives Hecaërge prompta fatigat.
speluncas canibus Thero rimatur Hiberas
informesque cavis ursos detrudit ab antris, 310
quorum saepe Tagus manantes sanguine rictus
non satiavit aquis et quos iam frigore segnes
Pyrenaea tegit latebrosis frondibus ilex.
Cyrnaeis Siculisque iugis venata virago
Nebrophone cervos aliasque in vincula cogit 315
non saevas pecudes, sed luxuriantis harenae
delicias, pompam nemorum.
Quodcumque tremendum
dentibus aut insigne iubis aut nobile cornu
aut rigidum saetis, capitur decus omne timorque
silvarum. non cauta latent, non mole resistunt 320
fortia, non volucri fugiunt pernicia cursu.
haec laqueis innexa gemunt; haec clausa feruntur
ilignis domibus. fabri nec tigna polire
sufficiunt; rudibus fagis texuntur et ornis
frondentes caveae. ratibus pars ibat onustis 325
per freta vel fluvios: exanguis dextera torpet
remigis et propriam metuebat navita mercem.
per terram pars ducta rotis, longoque morantur
* * * * *
Page 65
some keen of scent; shaggy Cretans bay, slender Spartans, and Britons
that can break the backs of mighty bulls. Britomartis scours the woods
of Dalmatia and the precipitous ridges of Pindus, her hair flying in
the wind. Thou, Leontodame, surroundest the glades of Gaul and huntest
the marshes of Germany, tracking out any huge boar, his tusks flexed
with age, that may have taken shelter among the sedges that flank the
Rhine. Swift Hecaërge tires the cloud-capped Alps, the valleys of the
Apennines, and the snows of Garganus. Thero with her dogs explores the
caves of Spain and from their recesses ousts the horrid bears of whose
bloody jaws full oft Tagus’ flood has failed to quench the thirst,
and whose bodies, numbed with cold, the holm-oak of the Pyrenees
o’ershadows with its leaves. The manlike maiden Nebrophone hunts the
mountains of Corsica and Sicily and captures deer and other harmless
beasts, beasts that are the joy of the rich amphitheatre and the glory
of the woods.
Whatsoever inspires fear with its teeth, wonder with its mane, awe
with its horns and bristling coat--all the beauty, all the terror of
the forest is taken. Guile protects them not; neither strength nor
weight avails them; their speed saves not the fleet of foot. Some roar
enmeshed in snares; some are thrust into wooden cages and carried off.
There are not carpenters enough to fashion the wood; leafy prisons
are constructed of unhewn beech and elm. Boats laden with some of the
animals traverse seas and rivers; bloodless from terror the rower’s
hand is stayed, for the sailor fears the merchandise he carries. Others
are transported over land in wagons that block the roads with the long
procession,
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Page 66
ordine plaustra vias montanis plena triumphis
et fera sollicitis vehitur captiva iuvencis, 330
explebat quibus ante famem, quotiensque reflexi
conspexere boves, pavidi temone recedunt.
Iamque pererratis Libyae flagrantibus oris
legerat eximios Phoebi germana leones,
Hesperidas qui saepe fugant ventoque citatis 335
terrificant Atlanta iubis armentaque longe
vastant Aethiopum quorumque impune fragosa
murmura pastorum numquam venere per aures.
non illos taedae ardentes, non strata superne
lapsuro virgulta solo, non vocibus haedi 340
pendentis stimulata fames, non fossa fefellit;
ultro se voluere capi gaudentque videri
tantae praeda deae. respirant pascua tandem;
agricolae reserant iam tuta mapalia Mauri,
tum virides pardos et cetera colligit Austri 345
prodigia inmanesque simul Latonia dentes,
qui secti ferro in tabulas auroque micantes
inscripti rutilum caelato consule nomen
per proceres et vulgus eant. stupor omnibus Indis
plurimus ereptis elephas inglorius errat 350
dentibus: insedit nigra cervice gementum
et fixum dea quassat ebur penitusque cruentis
stirpibus avulsis patulos exarmat hiatus,
ipsos quin etiam nobis miracula vellet
ducere: sed pigra cunctari mole veretur. 355
Tyrrhenas fetus Libycos amplexa per undas
* * * * *
Page 67
bearing the spoils of the mountains. The wild beast is borne a captive
by those troubled cattle on whom in times past he sated his hunger, and
each time that the oxen turned and looked at their burden they pull
away in terror from the pole.
By now Phoebus’ sister had wandered o’er the torrid plains of Libya and
chosen out superb lions who had often put the Hesperides to flight,
filled Atlas with alarm at their wind-tossed manes, and plundered far
and wide the flocks of Ethiopia, lions whose terrible cries had never
struck upon the herdsmen’s ears but as heralding their destruction.
To catch them had been used no blazing torches, no twigs strewn over
turf undermined; the voice of a tethered kid had not allured their
hunger nor had a diggèd pit ensnared them: of their own free will they
gave themselves up to capture and rejoiced at being seen the prey of
so great a goddess. At length the countryside breathes again and the
Moorish farmers unbar their now safe huts. Then Latonia collected
grey-spotted[19] leopards and other marvels of the south and huge ivory
tusks which, carved with iron into plaques and inlaid with gold to
form the glistening inscription of the consul’s name, should pass in
procession among lords and commons. All India stood in speechless amaze
to see many an elephant go shorn of the glory of his tusks. Seated
upon their black necks despite their cries the goddess shook the fixèd
ivory and tearing it up from its bloody roots disarmed the monstrous
mouths. Nay, she fain would have brought the elephants themselves as a
spectacle but feared that their vast weight would retard the ships.
Fiercely o’er the Tyrrhene wave echoes the fleet
[19] Literally “green.” Latin (and Greek) colour epithets are often
strangely at variance with ours.
* * * * *
Page 68
classis torva[20] sonat, caudamque in puppe retorquens
ad proram iacet usque leo: vix sublevat unum
tarda ratis! fremitus stagnis auditur in imis
cunctaque prosiliunt cete terrenaque Nereus 360
confert monstra suis et non aequare fatetur.
aequora sic victor quotiens per rubra Lyaeus
navigat, intorquet clavum Silenus et acres
adsudant tonsis Satyri taurinaque pulsu
Baccharum Bromios invitant tympana remos: 365
transtra ligant hederae, malum circumflua vestit
pampinus, antennis inlabitur ebria serpens,
perque mero madidos currunt saliuntque rudentes
lynces et insolitae mirantur carbasa tigres.
[20] _torva_ Birt; MSS. have _turba_.
* * * * *
Page 69
that holds the Libyan breed, and, as he coils his tail upon the stern,
a lion stretches to the prow; that single beast the labouring bark can
scarce uplift; deep down below the waters is heard the roaring. Out
rushes the leviathan. Neptune compares these land prodigies to his and
admits that his are not their equal. So whene’er victorious Bacchus
ploughs the Red Sea’s waves, Silenus sways the helm, the urgent Satyrs
sweat upon their oars and the oxhide drums, smitten by the Bacchants,
summon the rowers of Bromius to toil at the thwarts; ivy-wreaths deck
the benches, the pliant vine entwines the mast; a drunken snake glides
out upon the yardarms; lynxes run and leap along the sheets that drip
with wine, and unaccustomed tigers stare in amaze at the canvas.
* * * * *
Page 70
PANEGYRICUS DE SEXTO CONSULATU HONORII AUGUSTI
PRAEFATIO
(XXVII.)
Omnia, quae sensu volvuntur vota diurno,
pectore sopito reddit amica quies.
venator defessa toro cum membra reponit,
mens tamen ad silvas et sua lustra redit.
iudicibus lites, aurigae somnia currus 5
vanaque nocturnis meta cavetur equis.
furto gaudet amans, permutat navita merces
et vigil elapsas quaerit avarus opes,
blandaque largitur frustra sitientibus aegris
inriguus gelido pocula fonte sopor. 10
Me quoque Musarum studium sub nocte silenti
artibus adsuetis sollicitare solet.
namque poli media stellantis in arce videbar
ante pedes summi carmina ferre Iovis;
utque favet somnus, plaudebant numina dictis 15
et circumfusi sacra corona chori.
Enceladus mihi carmen erat victusque Typhoeus:
hic subit Inarimen, hunc gravis Aetna domat.
* * * * *
Page 71
PANEGYRIC ON THE SIXTH CONSULSHIP OF THE EMPEROR HONORIUS (A.D. 404)
PREFACE
(XXVII.)
All things that with waking sense desire ponders kindly repose brings
back to the slumbering mind. The huntsman stretches his weary limbs
upon the couch, yet his mind ever returns to the woods where his quarry
lurks. The judge dreams of law-suits, the charioteer of his chariot
the nightly steeds of which he guides past a shadowy turning-point.
The lover repeats love’s mysteries, the merchant makes exchange of
goods, the miser still watchfully grasps at elusive riches, and to
thirsty sufferers all-pervading sleep offers from a cooling spring idly
alluring draughts.
I am a lover of the Muses and in the silent night I too am haunted by
that my accustomed task. For meseemed I stood upon the very summit of
the starry sky and laid my songs at Jove’s feet, and, in the flattery
of sleep, the gods and all the sacred band gathered about Jove’s throne
gave applause to my words. I sang of Enceladus and conquered Typhoeus,
the first a prisoner beneath Inarime, the second oppressed by the
weight of Etna. How
* * * * *
Page 72
quam laetum post bella Iovem susceperat aether
Phlegraeae referens praemia militiae! 20
Additur ecce fides nec me mea lusit imago,
inrita nec falsum somnia misit ebur.
en princeps, en orbis apex aequatus Olympo!
en quales memini, turba verenda, deos!
fingere nil maius potuit sopor, altaque vati 25
conventum caelo praebuit aula parem.
* * * * *
Page 73
joyous was that Jove whom, after the war with the giants, heaven
welcomed, enriched with the spoils from Phlegra’s field!
My dream has come true; ’twas no vain imagining; nor did the false
ivory gate[21] send forth an unaccomplished dream. Behold our lord,
behold earth towering to heaven’s height! Here before me are gods such
as I then saw, gods worthy of all reverence. Nought greater could
dreams have fancied; this noble assembly offers the poet an audience
like to that of heaven.
[21] A reference to the famous epilogue of Verg. _Aen._ vi. (ll.
893-96). Dreams which come through the ivory gate are false, those
which issue from the gate of horn, true.
* * * * *
Page 74
PANEGYRICUS
(XXVIII.)
Aurea Fortunae Reduci si templa priores
ob reditum vovere ducum, non dignius umquam
haec dea pro meritis amplas sibi posceret aedes,
quam sua cum pariter trabeis reparatur et urbi
maiestas: neque enim campus sollemnis et urna 5
luditur in morem, species nec dissona coetu
aut peregrina nitet simulati iuris imago.
indigenas habitus nativa palatia sumunt,
et, patriis plebem castris sociante Quirino,
Mars augusta sui renovat suffragia campi. 10
qualis erit terris, quem mons Euandrius offert
Romanis avibus, quem Thybris inaugurat, annus?
quamquam omnes, quicumque tui cognominis, anni
semper inoffensum dederint successibus omen
sintque tropaea tuas semper comitata secures, 15
hic tamen ante omnes miro promittitur ortu,
urbis et Augusti geminato numine felix.
namque velut stellas Babylonia cura salubres
optima tunc spondet mortalibus edere fata,
caelicolae cum celsa tenent summoque feruntur 20
* * * * *
Page 75
THE PANEGYRIC
(XXVIII.)
If our ancestors vowed temples to “Home-bringing Fortune” in honour of
the return of their generals, never would this goddess more worthily
claim for her services a noble temple than when their proper majesty
is restored alike to the consulship and to Rome. The annual election
in the Campus Martius is not the accustomed farce, nor see we a consul
of other race than his electors nor a foreigner claiming pretended
rights.[22] The palace now our own wears a native dress, and while
Quirinus associates the people with the armies of Italy, Mars gives
back to his own Field its imperial suffrage. What will the year be
like for mortals that is ushered in by omens on the Palatine Hill
so favourable to true sons of Rome and inaugurated on the banks of
the Tiber? ’Tis true that years marked by thy name have ever been
rich in omens of success and that victory has always accompanied thy
consulship, yet by its wondrous dawn is this year set before all
years, blessed by the twofold deity of Rome and of her Emperor. For as
Babylonian lore gives assurance that propitious stars do then promise
the best fortune to mortals when they hold the summit of the sky and
their course is at the zenith, not dimming their
[22] Claudian means that this year there is a real election (_cf._
Lucan, v. 392 for a similar passage) and that the new consul is a
true Roman.
* * * * *
Page 76
cardine nec radios humili statione recondunt:
haud aliter Latiae sublimis Signifer aulae,
imperii sidus propria cum sede locavit,
auget spes Italas; et certius omina surgunt
victrici concepta solo.
Cum pulcher Apollo 25
lustrat Hyperboreas Delphis cessantibus aras,
nil tum Castaliae rivis communibus undae
dissimiles, vili nec discrepat arbore laurus,
antraque maesta silent inconsultique recessus.
at si Phoebus adest et frenis grypha iugalem 30
Riphaeo tripodas repetens detorsit ab axe,
tunc silvae, tunc antra loqui, tunc vivere fontes,
tunc sacer horror aquis adytisque effunditur Echo
clarior et doctae spirant praesagia rupes.
ecce Palatino crevit reverentia monti 35
exultatque habitante deo potioraque Delphis
supplicibus late populis oracula pandit
atque suas ad signa iubet revirescere laurus.
Non alium certe decuit rectoribus orbis
esse larem, nulloque magis se colle potestas 40
aestimat et summi sentit fastigia iuris;
attollens apicem subiectis regia rostris
tot circum delubra videt tantisque deorum
cingitur excubiis! iuvat infra tecta Tonantis
cernere Tarpeia pendentes rupe Gigantas 45
caelatasque fores mediisque volantia signa
nubibus et densum stipantibus aethera templis
aeraque vestitis numerosa puppe columnis
consita subnixasque iugis inmanibus aedes,
* * * * *
Page 77
light by a low position in the sky; so the Standard-bearer of the Latin
palace[23] at _his_ zenith gives hope of a brighter future for Italy in
placing the star of our empire in its true position. Omens that have
their origin in Rome’s victorious soil are the more sure of fulfilment.
When fair Apollo leaves Delphi’s shrine and visits the altars of the
north, Castalia’s waters differ in no wise from those of any common
stream, nor the laurel from any common tree; sad and silent is the
cave and the shrine without a worshipper. But if Phoebus is there,
Phoebus returned from Scythian climes to his Delphic tripod, guiding
thither his yoked griffins, the woods, the caves regain their voice,
the streams their life; the sacred ripple revisits the face of the
waters, a clearer echo resounds from the shrine and the now inspired
rocks tremble to the voice of prophecy. Now the Palatine Mount is
exalted with honour and rejoices in the return of its native deity;
far and wide among the suppliant peoples it spreads oracles surer even
than those of Delphi and bids its laurels grow green again to deck the
standards of Rome.
Of a truth no other city could fitly be the home of the world’s rulers;
on this hill is majesty most herself, and knows the height of her
supreme sway; the palace, raising its head above the forum that lies
at its feet, sees around it so many temples and is surrounded by so
many protecting deities. See below the Thunderer’s temple the Giants
suspended from the Tarpeian rock, behold the sculptured doors, the
cloud-capped statues, the sky-towering temples, the brazen prows of
many a vessel welded on to lofty columns, the temples built on massy
crags where the
[23] _i.e._ the Emperor. _Signifer_ also means the zodiac. Claudian
puns on the ambiguity.
* * * * *
Page 78
naturam cumulante manu, spoliisque micantes 50
innumeros arcus. acies stupet igne metalli
et circumfuso trepidans obtunditur auro.
Agnoscisne tuos, princeps venerande, penates?
haec sunt, quae primis olim miratus in annis
patre pio monstrante puer. nil optimus ille 55
divorum toto meruit felicius aevo,
quam quod Romuleis victor sub moenibus egit
te consorte dies, cum se melioribus addens
exemplis civem gereret terrore remoto,
alternos cum plebe iocos dilectaque passus 60
iurgia patriciasque domos privataque passim
visere deposito dignatus limina fastu.
publicus hinc ardescit amor, cum moribus aequis
inclinat populo regale modestia culmen.
teque rudem vitae, quamvis diademate necdum 65
cingebare comas, socium sumebat honorum
purpureo fotum gremio, parvumque triumphis
imbuit et magnis docuit praeludere fatis.
et linguis variae gentes missique rogatum
foedera Persarum proceres cum patre sedentem 70
hac quondam videre domo positoque tiaram
summisere genu. tecum praelarga vocavit
ditandas ad dona tribus; fulgentia tecum
collecti trabeatus adit delubra senatus
Romano puerum gaudens offerre favori, 75
ut novus imperio iam tunc adsuesceret heres.
* * * * *
Page 79
hand of man has added to the work of nature, the countless triumphal
arches glittering with spoils. The eyes are dazed by the blaze of metal
and blink outwearied by the surrounding gold.
Adored Prince, dost thou recognize thy house? ’Tis the same that thy
loving sire showed to thy wondering eyes while yet thou wert a boy of
tender years. Never in all his life did Theodosius, best of all the
gods, better deserve our love than when, triumphant over all his foes,
he came with thee to Rome to sojourn within its walls, and there,
following the example of the noblest emperors, lived as a simple
citizen, not seeking to inspire terror by his name but condescending
to exchange banter and harmless raillery with the people and as ready
to lay aside his rank and visit the homes of the poor as to enter the
palaces of the noble. ’Tis thus the public love is kindled when with
just humanity modesty bids royal state stoop to the people. And thee,
while still but a boy, though the crown had not yet encircled thy head,
thy father took to share his honours,[24] cherishing thee in his royal
bosom, giving thy youth its first taste of triumphs and teaching it
the prelude of its mighty destiny. Peoples of every tongue and Persian
chiefs sent to solicit alliance in Rome[25] once saw thee seated with
thy father in this very palace and bowing the knee laid their crowns at
thy feet. Thou wert at his side when he summoned the tribes to receive
a bounteous largess: with thee he entered the hallowed portals of the
assembled senate clad in the consul’s robe, right glad to introduce his
son to the goodwill of the Roman Fathers, that so his youthful heir
might grow familiar with empire.
[24] Honorius was made Augustus Nov. 20, 393, shortly after his ninth
birthday.
[25] The Persians seem to have sent embassies to Rome both in 387 and
389 (Themistius, _Orat._ xix. p. 227).
* * * * *
Page 80
Hinc tibi concreta radice tenacius haesit
et penitus totis inolevit Roma medullis,
dilectaeque urbis tenero conceptus ab ungue
tecum crevit amor. nec te mutare reversum 80
evaluit propria nutritor Bosphorus arce.
et quotiens optare tibi quae moenia malles
adludens genitor regni pro parte dedisset,
divitis Aurorae solium sortemque paratam
sponte remittebas fratri: “regat ille volentes 85
Assyrios; habeat Pharium cum Tigride Nilum;
contingat mea Roma mihi.” nec vota fefellit
eventus. Fortuna novum molita tyrannum
iam tibi quaerebat Latium belloque secundo
protinus Eoa velox accitus ab aula 90
suscipis Hesperiam patrio bis Marte receptam.
ipsa per Illyricas urbes Oriente relicto
ire Serena comes nullo deterrita casu,
materna te mente fovens Latioque futurum
rectorem generumque sibi seniore supernas 95
iam repetente plagas. illo sub cardine rerum
sedula servatum per tot discrimina pignus
restituit sceptris patrui castrisque mariti.
certavit pietate domus, fidaeque reductum
coniugis officio Stilichonis cura recepit. 100
Felix ille parens, qui te secures Olympum
succedente petit! quam laetus ab aethere cernit
se factis crevisse tuis! duo namque fuere
* * * * *
Page 81
Hence taking firmer root the love of Rome clung to thee more closely
and grew strong, deep-planted in all thy heart. As thou grewest the
affection which thou hadst found in childhood for the city grew too;
nor was Bosporus, whose cherished town was thy nurse, able on thy
return to seduce thee from that love. Every time that thy sire in sport
gave thee thy choice of whatsoever cities thou didst prefer to govern
as thy share of empire, thou didst leave to thy brother Arcadius the
throne and riches of the East and the lands which by inheritance should
be his. “Let him rule over the servile Assyrians,” thou saidst, “let
Nile, the river of Egypt, and the Tigris be his; let me have my beloved
Rome.” Thy wishes have been fulfilled. Fortune set up a new tyrant
only to ensure for thee the governance of Latium. So soon as ever the
war was brought to a successful conclusion thou wert summoned from the
court of Byzantium to undertake the rule of Italy twice conquered by
thy father’s arms. Serena herself left the East and accompanied thee
in thy journey across Illyria: fearless in face of danger she bestowed
a mother’s care on thee who wert to be lord of Latium and her own
son-in-law after Theodosius’ translation to the sky. She kept careful
guard over the child entrusted to her protection through the dangers of
that critical time and brought thee safe to her uncle’s throne and her
husband’s army. Stilicho and Serena vied in love toward thee and what
Serena’s care had brought safe home Stilicho’s affection welcomed there.
Happy father to enter heaven with no fears for the future; he knew that
thou wert to succeed him. With what joy he looks down from above and
sees his glory enhanced by thine exploits! Europe and
* * * * *
Page 82
Europae Libyaeque hostes: Maurusius Atlas
Gildonis Furias, Alaricum barbara Peuce 105
nutrierat, qui saepe tuum sprevere profana
mente patrem. Thracum venienti e[26] finibus alter
Hebri clausit aquas; alter praecepta vocantis
respuit auxiliisque ad proxima bella negatis
abiurata palam Libyae possederat arva: 110
quorum nunc meritam repetens non inmemor iram
suppliciis fruitur natoque ultore triumphat.
ense Thyestiadae poenas exegit Orestes,
sed mixtum pietate nefas dubitandaque caedis
gloria, materno laudem cum crimine pensat; 115
pavit Iuleos inviso sanguine manes
Augustus, sed falsa pii praeconia sumpsit
in luctum patriae civili strage parentans:
at tibi causa patris rerum coniuncta saluti
bellorum duplicat laurus, isdemque tropaeis 120
reddita libertas orbi, vindicta parenti.
Sed mihi iam pridem captum Parnasia Maurum
Pieriis egit fidibus chelys; arma Getarum
nuper apud socerum plectro celebrata recenti.
adventus nunc sacra tui libet edere Musis 125
grataque patratis exordia sumere bellis.
Iam Pollentini tenuatus funere campi
concessaque sibi (rerum sic admonet usus)
luce, tot amissis sociis atque omnibus una
direptis opibus, Latio discedere iussus 130
[26] Birt prints the _venientem finibus_ of A and B (the other MSS.
have _veniens e_), and the _aquis_ (l. 108) of the better MSS. I
have adopted Heinsius’ emendation _venienti_ with some hesitation.
* * * * *
Page 83
Africa were alike threatened by foes: from Mount Atlas came fierce
Gildo; Alaric from Peuce’s savage isle. Often had both with impious
daring set at nought the commands of thy sire. When he came from the
lands of Thrace Alaric closed against him the waters of the Danube;
Gildo scorned his command and, refusing assistance for a neighbouring
war, had seized on the fields of Libya he had long forsworn. Theodosius
recalls the anger he then justly felt and rejoices to witness their
discomfiture, proud to have his son for his avenger. Orestes’ sword
took vengeance on the son of Thyestes[27]; but guilt was blent with
piety, and the sword-stroke brings doubtful glory when honour is
balanced by a mother’s murder; Augustus sated the shade of Caesar with
his enemies’ blood, but he made a false advertisement of piety when, to
the grief of his fatherland, he offered the blood of citizens to his
father’s ghost. But for thee thy sire’s cause, linked as it is with the
general safety, doubles thy warlike fame; the same victory that has
avenged thy sire has restored peace to the world.
My lyre inspired by the Muses of Pieria has long since sung of the
defeat and capture of the Moor; but of late, too, in Stilicho’s
presence I have celebrated in verse the wars against the Getae. To-day
I would fain sing the glories of thy home-coming and, ceasing to tell
of wars, would prelude a theme of thankfulness.
Alaric, his hopes ruined by his bloody defeat at Pollentia, though
policy dictated that his life should be spared, was nevertheless
deserted by all his allies and bereft of all his resources. He was
forced to leave Latium and to retrace his steps in ruin and
[27] Aegisthus.
* * * * *
Page 84
hostis et inmensi revolutus culmine fati
turpe retexit iter. qualis piratica puppis,
quae cunctis infensa fretis scelerumque referta
divitiis multasque diu populata carinas
incidit in magnam bellatricemque triremim, 135
dum praedam de more putat; viduataque caesis
remigibus, scissis velorum debilis alis,
orba gubernaclis, antennis saucia fractis
ludibrium pelagi vento iactatur et unda,
vastato tandem poenas luitura profundo: 140
talis ab urbe minas retro flectebat inanes
Italiam fugiens, et quae venientibus ante
prona fuit, iam difficilis, iam dura reversis.
clausa putat sibi cuncta pavor, retroque relictos
quos modo temnebat, rediens exhorruit amnes. 145
Undosa tum forte domo vitreisque sub antris
rerum ignarus adhuc ingentes pectore curas
volvebat pater Eridanus: quis bella maneret
exitus? imperiumne Iovi legesque placerent
et vitae Romana quies, an iura perosus 150
ad priscos pecudum damnaret saecula ritus?
talia dum secum movet anxius, advolat una
Naiadum resoluta comam, complexaque patrem
“en Alaricus” ait “non qualem nuper ovantem
vidimus; exangues, genitor, mirabere vultus. 155
percensere manum tantaque ex gente iuvabit
relliquias numerasse breves. iam desine maesta
fronte queri Nymphasque choris iam redde sorores.”
Dixerat; ille caput placidis sublime fluentis
extulit, et totis lucem spargentia ripis 160
* * * * *
Page 85
disgrace; such was the complete reversal of his fortune.[28] As when a
pirate ship, the terror of every sea, laden with the spoils of violence
and the booty taken from many a captured merchantman, falls in with
a great man-of-war and hopes to secure it for its prey as vessels
heretofore, then indeed crippled by the slaughter of its oarsmen and
the rending of its sails, deprived of its rudder and all but destroyed
by the breaking of its yardarms, it is driven this way and that at the
mercy of wind and wave and at last pays the penalty for its piracy;
even so Alaric turned backwards his vain threatenings, fleeing from
Italy that, once so easy for his advance, was now so difficult for his
retreat. His fear makes him believe every road barred, and rivers,
erstwhile left behind in scorn, fill him with alarm on his return.
Meanwhile, as it fell out, father Eridanus in his watery home beneath
the crystal caverns, ignorant as yet of what had happened, was
pondering weighty cares. What, he wondered, would be the outcome of
the war: would Jove approve empire and law and Rome’s days of peace,
or would he, abhorring order, condemn future ages to the primal ways
of brute beasts? As he anxiously ponders such things one of the Naiads
with hair unbound came and embraced her sire and said, “Alaric is other
now than once we saw him in his hour of triumph: thou wilt wonder at
the pallor of his countenance. Joy it will be to reckon up his army and
number the remains of so great a host. Frown no more nor complain; let
my sister nymphs once more enjoy their dances.”
So spake she and he lifted his gracious head above the gliding stream
and on his dripping forehead
[28] Claudian did not live to see the next “reversal of fortune,”
Alaric’s capture of Rome six years later.
* * * * *
Page 86
aurea roranti micuerunt cornua vultu.
non illi madidum vulgaris harundine crinem
velat honos; rami caput umbravere virentes
Heliadum totisque fluunt electra capillis.
palla tegit latos umeros, curruque paterno 165
intextus Phaëthon glaucos incendit amictus.
fultaque sub gremio caelatis nobilis astris
aetherium probat urna decus. namque omnia luctus
argumenta sui Titan signavit Olympo:
mutatumque senem plumis et fronde sorores 170
et fluvium, nati qui vulnera lavit anheli;
stat gelidis Auriga plagis; vestigia fratris
germanae servant Hyades, Cygnique sodalis
lacteus extentas adspergit circulus alas;
stelliger Eridanus sinuatis flexibus errans 175
clara Noti convexa rigat gladioque tremendum
gurgite sidereo subterluit Oriona.
Hoc deus effulgens habitu prospexit euntes
deiecta cervice Getas; tunc talia fatur:
“sicine mutatis properas, Alarice, reverti 180
consiliis? Italae sic te iam paenitet orae?
nec iam cornipedem Thybrino gramine pascis,
ut rebare, tuum? Tuscis nec figis aratrum
collibus? o cunctis Erebi dignissime poenis,
tune Giganteis urbem temptare deorum 185
adgressus furiis? nec te meus, improbe, saltem
terruit exemplo Phaëthon, qui fulmina praeceps
in nostris efflavit aquis, dum flammea caeli
* * * * *
Page 87
gleamed the golden horns that cast their brilliance all along the
banks. No common crown of reeds adorned his oozy locks. The green
branches of the daughters of the sun[29] shadowed his head and amber
dripped from all his hair. A cloak was flung over his broad shoulders,
a cloak whose grey texture was set aflame with an embroidery of
Phaëthon and his father’s chariot. Resting beneath his breast an urn
glorious with engraved stars makes clear its heaven-sent beauty. For
there Phoebus had set in the sky all the sad stories of his woe: Cycnus
changed into a swan, Phaëthon’s sisters transformed into trees, and
the river that washed the wounds of his dying son; the charioteer is
there in his icy zone, the Hyades follow on their brother’s traces,
while the Milky Way sprinkles the outstretched wings of Cycnus who
bears him company; the constellation of Eridanus[30] himself wets the
clear southern sky in its tortuous course and with starry stream flows
beneath Orion’s dread sword.
Glorious in such guise the god looked forth and saw the Getae advancing
with bowed necks. Then he spake: “What, Alaric, hast thou then changed
thy plans? Why hastenest thou back? Art wearied so soon of the coasts
of Italy? Feedest thou not thy horses on Tiber’s grassy bank as thou
thoughtest to do? Drivest not the plough on Etruria’s hills? Fit object
of all the punishments of Hell, thinkest thou to attack the city of the
gods with a Giant’s rage? If none other, was not my Phaëthon a warning
to thee, Phaëthon fall’n from heaven to quench his flames in my waters,
what time he
[29] The poplar.
[30] Eridanus was a mythical river of the far West, generally
identified with the Latin Padus (mod. Po). Phaëthon is said to
have fallen into it when he attempted to drive the horses of his
father, the sun. After this Eridanus, the river god, became a
constellation--hence Eridanus is said to “wet” the southern sky.
* * * * *
Page 88
flectere terrenis meditatur frena lacertis
mortalique diem sperat diffundere vultu? 190
crede mihi, simili bacchatur crimine, quisquis
adspirat Romae spoliis aut Solis habenis.”
Sic fatus Ligures Venetosque erectior amnes
magna voce ciet. frondentibus umida ripis
colla levant: pulcher Ticinus et Addua visu 195
caerulus et velox Athesis tardusque meatu
Mincius inque novem consurgens ora Timavus.
insultant omnes profugo pacataque laetum
invitant ad prata pecus; iam Pana Lycaeum,
iam Dryadas revocant et rustica numina Faunos. 200
Tu quoque non parvum Getico, Verona, triumpho
adiungis cumulum, nec plus Pollentia rebus
contulit Ausoniis aut moenia vindicis Hastae.
hic, rursus dum pacta movet damnisque coactus
extremo mutare parat praesentia casu, 205
nil sibi periurum sensit prodesse furorem
converti nec fata loco, multisque suorum
diras pavit aves, inimicaque corpora volvens
Ionios Athesis mutavit sanguine fluctus.
Oblatum Stilicho violato foedere Martem 210
omnibus adripuit votis, ubi Roma periclo
iam procul et belli medio Padus arbiter ibat.
iamque opportunam motu strepuisse rebelli
gaudet perfidiam praebensque exempla labori
sustinet accensos aestivo pulvere soles. 215
ipse manu metuendus adest inopinaque cunctis
* * * * *
Page 89
sought with mortal hand to hold the fiery reins of the sky and hoped to
spread day’s brilliance from a mortal countenance? ’Tis the same mad
crime, I tell thee, whosoever aspires to spoil Rome or drive the sun’s
chariot.”
So spake he, and rising yet farther out of the stream he loudly
summoned the rivers of Liguria and Venetia. These raise their dripping
heads from among their leafy banks, fair Ticinus, blue Addua, swift
Athesis, slow Mincius, and Timavus with his nine mouths. All mock at
the fugitive and recall the happy flocks to the now peaceful meadows;
Lycaean Pan is bidden to return and the Dryads and Fauns, gods of the
countryside.
Thou too, Verona,[31] didst add no small makeweight to Rome’s victory
over the Getae; not even Pollentia nor the walls of avenging Hasta did
more for the salvation of Italy. Here, as once again he breaks his
bond, and driven by his losses risks all in the attempt to change his
present fortune, Alaric learned that his mad treachery availed him
nothing and that change of place changes not destiny. The vultures
fed on the countless bodies of his slain, and Athesis, carrying down
the corpses of Rome’s enemies in its stream, turned the waters of the
Ionian sea into blood.
The treaty violated, Stilicho with all eagerness grasped at the
conflict proffered where Rome was now far away from danger and Padus
flowed between witnessing the strife. He rejoices that now opportune
treachery has broken out in rebellious risings and, setting an example
of endurance, he shirks neither fiery sun nor scorching dust. Himself
he is everywhere with dreadful arm; he stations troops
[31] The chroniclers do not mention this battle. It is probably to be
attributed to the summer of 403.
* * * * *
Page 90
instruit arma locis et qua vocat usus ab omni
parte venit. fesso si deficit agmine miles,
utitur auxiliis damni securus, et astu
debilitat saevum cognatis viribus Histrum 220
et duplici lucro committens proelia vertit
in se barbariem nobis utrimque cadentem.
ipsum te caperet letoque, Alarice, dedisset,
ni calor incauti male festinatus Alani
dispositum turbasset opus; prope captus anhelum 225
verbere cogis equum, nec te vitasse dolemus.
i potius genti reliquus tantisque superstes
Danuvii populis, i, nostrum vive tropaeum.
Non tamen ingenium tantis se cladibus atrox
deicit: occulto temptabat tramite montes, 230
si qua per scopulos subitas exquirere posset
in Raetos Gallosque vias. sed fortior obstat
cura ducis. quis enim divinum fallere pectus
possit et excubiis vigilantia lumina regni?
cuius consilium non umquam repperit hostis 235
nec potuit texisse suum. secreta Getarum
nosse prior celerique dolis occurrere sensu.
Omnibus exclusus coeptis consedit in uno
colle tremens; frondesque licet depastus amaras
arboreo figat sonipes in cortice morsus 240
et taetris collecta cibis annique vapore
* * * * *
Page 91
at every point, even where the enemy little expected them, and hastens
in any and every direction to the succour of him who needs it. If the
soldiers flag with wearied ranks he throws the auxiliaries into the
line heedless of their loss; thus he cunningly weakens the savage
tribes of the Danube by opposing one tribe to another and with twofold
gain joins battle that turns barbarians against themselves to perish
in either army for our sake. Thee too, Alaric, he had captured and
delivered over to death had not the hasty zeal of the rash Alan chief
upset his carefully laid scheme. All but a prisoner thou dost lash thy
panting steed, nor do we regret that escape. Rather get thee gone, thou
last remnant of thy race, sole survivor of so many Danubian tribes; get
thee gone, the living witness of Rome’s triumph.
Yet was his[32] fierce spirit not cast down by these great reverses;
he still attempted to discover an unknown path across the mountains,
hoping that over their rocky summits he might fall suddenly on the
peoples of Raetia and Gaul. But Stilicho’s more soldierly vigilance
put a stop to his projects. Who indeed could hope to deceive that
unsleeping brain, those godlike eyes that watched o’er Italy? Never
did an enemy succeed in discovering Stilicho’s plans or had power to
conceal his own. Before they knew them themselves the secrets of the
Getae were known to Stilicho, whose generalship was quick to meet their
every ruse.
Baulked in every attempt Alaric camped panic-stricken on a single hill.
Though the horses, feeding on bitter leaves, gnawed even the tree-bark,
though pestilence raged, brought on by foul food and
[32] _i.e._ Alaric’s.
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Page 92
saeviat aucta lues et miles probra superbus
ingerat obsesso captivaque pignora monstret:
non tamen aut morbi tabes aut omne periclum
docta subire fames aut praedae luctus ademptae 245
aut pudor aut dictis movere procacibus irae,
ut male temptato totiens se credere campo
comminus auderet. nulla est victoria maior,
quam quae confessos animo quoque subiugat hostes.
iamque frequens rarum decerpere transfuga robur 250
coeperat inque dies numerus decrescere castris,
nec iam deditio paucis occulta parari,
sed cunei totaeque palam discedere turmae.
consequitur vanoque fremens clamore retentat
cumque suis iam bella gerit; mox nomina supplex 255
cum fletu precibusque ciet veterumque laborum
admonet et frustra iugulum parcentibus offert,
defixoque malis animo sua membra suasque
cernit abire manus: qualis Cybeleia quassans
Hyblaeus procul aera senex revocare fugaces 260
tinnitu conatur apes, quae sponte relictis
descivere favis, sonituque exhaustus inani
raptas mellis opes solitaeque oblita latebrae
perfida deplorat vacuis examina ceris.
Ergo ubi praeclusae voci laxata remisit 265
frena dolor, notas oculis umentibus Alpes
adspicit et nimium diversi stamine fati
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Page 93
aggravated by the season’s heat, though the soldiers arrogantly heaped
abuse on their beleaguered leader and reminded him of their captured
children; yet neither the ravages of disease nor famine that teaches
men to face all dangers, nor grief for spoils lost, nor the voice of
shame nor anger at bitter gibes could tempt him to brave the perils
of a hand-to-hand fight, tried so often before and with such ill
success. What triumph more complete than that of extorting from a
conquered foe the admission that he is conquered? And now numbers of
deserters began to weaken his already reduced strength and day by day
his forces were diminished. Sedition was not now the hidden work of
a few but meant the open defection of whole sections and squadrons.
Their general rides after them and with angry curses and vain clamour
seeks to hold them back, waging war now on his own troops. He weeps,
calls the men by name, recalls them with prayers and supplications; he
reminds them of past campaigns and all to no purpose offers his throat
to their reluctant hands. His mind a prey to melancholy he sees his
forces desert him, his army melt away, even as an old bee-master of
Hybla, beating Cybele’s gong, tries, by means of that noise, to recall
his scattered bees who have wantonly left their combs and fled the
hive, till, himself wearied of the useless sound, he weeps the loss
of his store of honey and cries out upon the faithless swarm that has
forgotten its accustomed home and left its cells empty.
And so when grief loosed the string of his tongue that had long been
mute he looked with tear-dimmed eyes upon the well-known Alps and
pondered upon his present retreat, attended by a fate so different
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Page 94
praesentes reditus fortunatosque revolvit
ingressus: solo peragens tum murmure bellum
protento leviter frangebat moenia conto 270
inridens scopulos; nunc desolatus et expes
debita pulsato reddit spectacula monti.
tunc sic Ausonium respectans aethera fatur:
“Heu regio funesta Getis, heu terra sinistris
auguriis calcata mihi, satiare nocentum 275
cladibus et tandem nostris inflectere poenis!
en ego, qui toto sublimior orbe ferebar
ante tuum felix aditum, ceu legibus exul
addictusque reus flatu propiore sequentum
terga premor. quae prima miser, quae funera dictis
posteriora querar? non me Pollentia tantum 281
nec captae cruciastis opes; hoc aspera fati
sors tulerit Martisque vices. non funditus armis
concideram; stipatus adhuc equitumque catervis
integer ad montes reliquo cum robore cessi, 285
quos Appenninum perhibent. hunc esse ferebat
incola, qui Siculum porrectus ad usque Pelorum
finibus ab Ligurum populos complectitur omnes
Italiae geminumque latus stringentia longe
utraque perpetuo discriminat aequora tractu. 290
haec ego continuum si per iuga tendere cursum,
ut prior iratae fuerat sententia menti,
iam desperata voluissem luce, quid ultra?
omnibus oppeterem fama maiore perustis!
et certe moriens propius te, Roma, viderem, 295
ipsaque per cultas segetes mors nostra secuto
victori damnosa foret. sed pignora nobis
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Page 95
from that which had prospered his advance. Then with a single whisper
he made war, with an outstretched spear lightly overthrew walls,
making a mock of precipices; now deserted and in despair he offered
a just spectacle to the mountains he had so scornfully crossed. Then
looking up at the sky of Italy he said: “Land of death for the Getae,
trod by me with such omens of disaster, let thy wrath be now appeased
by the sacrifice of so many of the guilty; let my sufferings at last
excite thy compassion. Behold me, once lord of the world, the friend
of fortune till I invaded thee; now, like an exile or an adjudged
criminal, I feel upon my back the nearer breath of my pursuers. Alas!
which of my disasters shall I lament first, which last? Not thou,
Pollentia, nor ye, my captured treasures, have thus tortured me; be
that destiny’s harsh lot or the chance of war. I had not then lost
all my forces; with troops still at my back, with my cavalry intact,
I retired with the remnant of my army to the hills they call the
Apennines. Its inhabitants told me that this mountain stretched from
the confines of Liguria as far as the promontory of Pelorus in Sicily
and embraced all the peoples of Italy, dividing with its unbroken chain
the two seas that wash their country’s two coasts. If I had pursued
the plan that anger first dictated to me and had in my desperation
continued my march along its crest, what lay beyond? Giving everything
to the flames I might have died with loftier fame. Ay, and my dying
eyes had beheld thee, Rome, from not so far away, and my very death
would have cost the victor dear as he pursued me over the well-tilled
cornfields. But Rome held my
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Page 96
Romanus carasque nurus praedamque tenebat.
hoc magis exertum raperem succinctior agmen.
“Heu, quibus insidiis, qua me circumdedit arte 300
fatalis semper Stilicho! dum parcere fingit,
rettudit[33] hostiles animos bellumque remenso
evaluit transferre Pado. pro foedera saevo
deteriora iugo! tunc vis extincta Getarum;
tunc mihi, tunc letum pepigi. violentior armis 305
omnibus expugnat nostram clementia gentem,
Mars gravior sub pace latet, capiorque vicissim
fraudibus ipse meis. quis iam solacia fesso
consiliumve dabit? socius suspectior hoste.
“Atque utinam cunctos licuisset perdere bello! 310
nam quisquis duro cecidit certamine, numquam
desinit esse meus. melius mucrone perirent,
auferretque mihi luctu leviore sodales
victa manus quam laesa fides. nullusne clientum
permanet? offensi comites, odere propinqui. 315
quid moror invisam lucem? qua sede recondam
naufragii fragmenta mei? quaeve arva requiram,
in quibus haud umquam Stilicho nimiumque potentis
Italiae nomen nostras circumsonet aures?”
Haec memorans instante fugam Stilichone tetendit
expertas horrens aquilas; comitatur euntem 321
Pallor et atra Fames et saucia lividus ora
Luctus et inferno stridentes agmine Morbi.
lustralem tum rite facem, cui lumen odorum
[33] _rettudit_ Isengr. mg.; Birt reads _rettulit_, following EVA.
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Page 97
children captive, my wives, my wealth--yet, freed from such hindrances,
my advance had been the more rapid.
“With what cunning, with what skill, did Stilicho, that ever fatal
enemy, ensnare me! His pretended mercy did but blunt my warlike spirit,
and availed him to shift the war backwards across the Po. A curse on
that armistice, more damaging than the yoke of slavery. ’Twas then the
cause of the Getae was undone, then that I signed my own death-warrant.
More rudely than any weapon did mercy destroy our people, beneath that
semblance of peace lay the deadliest form of war, and I myself fell
into the snare I had laid for others. I am weary of it all; where shall
I find comfort or counsel? I fear my friends more than my foes.
“Would God I had lost them all on that field. He is ever mine that
has fallen in hard conflict. Better all had perished by the sword;
less bitter had been my grief for losses inflicted by a victorious foe
than for those brought upon me by treachery. Is there not left one
faithful follower? My comrades have turned against me, my friends hate
me. My life is a burden; why prolong it? Where hide the remnants of
my shipwrecked fortunes? To what land shall I flee where the names of
Stilicho and all too powerful Italy shall not sound for ever in mine
ears?”
So spake he, and with Stilicho pressing hard upon him fled in terror
before our eagles. With him goes Pallor, black Hunger, Despair with
bloodless, wounded countenance and a hellish company of shrieking
Diseases. Then the learnèd priest whirls around the sick body[34] the
torch of purification
[34] _i.e._ the sick body of Italy which has to be purified after
the polluting presence of Alaric. With “rore pio spargens” _cf._
Verg. _Aen._ vi. 230, and for the throwing over the head of the
purificatory instrument see Verg. _Ec._ viii. 102.
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sulphure caeruleo nigroque bitumine fumat, 325
circum membra rotat doctus purganda sacerdos
rore pio spargens, et dira fugantibus herbis
numina purificumque Iovem Triviamque precatus
trans caput aversis manibus iaculatur in Austrum
secum rapturas cantata piacula taedas. 330
Acrior interea visendi principis ardor
accendit cum plebe patres et saepe negatum
flagitat adventum; nec tali publica vota
consensu tradunt atavi caluisse per urbem,
Dacica bellipotens cum fregerat Ulpius arma 335
atque indignantes in iura redegerat Arctos,
cum fasces cinxere Hypanin mirataque leges
Romanum stupuit Maeotia terra tribunal.
nec tantis patriae studiis ad templa vocatus,
clemens Marce, redis, cum gentibus undique cinctam
exuit Hesperiam paribus Fortuna periclis. 341
laus ibi nulla ducum; nam flammeus imber in hostem
decidit; hunc dorso trepidum fumante ferebat
ambustus sonipes; hic tabescente solutus
subsedit galea liquefactaque fulgure cuspis 345
canduit et subitis fluxere vaporibus enses.
tum contenta polo mortalis nescia teli
pugna fuit: Chaldaea mago seu carmina ritu
armavere deos, seu, quod reor, omne Tonantis
obsequium Marci mores potuere mereri. 350
nunc quoque praesidium Latio non deesset Olympi,
deficeret si nostra manus; sed providus aether
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Page 99
with its smoky, odorous flame of blue sulphur and black bitumen;
he sprinkles the limbs with holy water and with herbs that banish
evil influences and, praying to Jove the Purifier and to Diana, with
back-turned hands throws over his head towards the South the torches
which are to carry off with them the spells cast over the sick.
Meanwhile the ardent desire of both senate and people to behold their
emperor demands his often denied return. Not with such consent, our
grandsires report, were public vows eagerly offered throughout the
city when warlike Trajan had broken the power of Dacia and reduced
the indignant north once more to subjection, what time the Scythian
river Hypanis beheld the Roman axes and Lake Maeotis looked in amaze
on a Roman court administering Roman law. It was a lesser enthusiasm
which recalled the gentle Marcus Aurelius to give thanks in Rome’s
temples for Fortune’s deliverance of Italy from a similar pressure of
surrounding nations. Then ’twas no thanks to the generals: one man his
scorched courser bore trembling on its smoking back; another sank down
beneath his fire-wasted helmet; spears glowed molten by lightning and
swords vanished suddenly into smoke. Heaven it was that fought that
battle with no mortal weapons, whether it was that Chaldean seers[35]
had by their magic spells won over the gods to our side or, as I rather
think, that Marcus’ blameless life had power to win the Thunder’s
homage. To-day, also, assuredly Heaven’s favour would not be wanting to
Latium should our own hand fail, but a beneficent providence has
[35] Claudian refers to the famous legend of the “Thundering”
legion, saved from dying of lack of water by a miraculous
rain-storm. This miracle occurred during M. Aurelius’ war against
the Marcomanni (_circ._ A.D. 175) and is attributed (1) to the
prayers of the Christians; (2) to an Egyptian magician on Marcus’
staff (Dio Cassius lxxi. 8. 10); (3) to the emperor’s own prayers.
* * * * *
Page 100
noluit humano titulos auferre labori,
ne tibi iam, princeps, soceri sudore paratam,
quam meruit virtus, ambirent fulmina laurum. 355
Iam totiens missi proceres responsa morandi
rettulerant, donec differri longius urbis
communes non passa preces penetralibus altis
prosiluit vultusque palam confessa coruscos
impulit ipsa suis cunctantem Roma querellis: 360
“Dissimulata diu tristes in amore repulsas
vestra parens, Auguste, queror. quonam usque tenebit
praelatus mea vota Ligus? vetitumque propinqua
luce frui, spatiis discernens gaudia parvis,
torquebit Rubicon vicino nomine Thybrim? 365
nonne semel sprevisse satis, cum reddita bellis
Africa venturi lusit spe principis urbem
nec duras tantis precibus permovimus aures?
ast ego frenabam geminos, quibus altior ires,
electi candoris equos et nominis arcum 370
iam molita tui, per quem radiante decorus
ingrederere toga, pugnae monumenta dicabam
defensam titulo Libyam testata perenni.
iamque parabantur pompae simulacra futurae
Tarpeio spectanda Iovi: caelata metallo 375
classis ut auratum sulcaret remige fluctum,
ut Massyla tuos anteirent oppida currus
* * * * *
Page 101
shown itself unwilling to rob human endeavour of its honour or to
let the lightning win the crown of laurel which the efforts of thy
father-in-law, Stilicho, have secured for thy brows.
Full often had the nobles, sent to urge thy return, brought back the
answer that as yet thou couldst not come, until Rome herself, unable
to bear any longer the frustration of her citizens’ common prayer,
came forth from the depths of her sanctuary and, openly displaying her
radiant face, urged the hesitating emperor with complaints of her own.
“Too long, my emperor, have I, thy mother, borne in silence the hurt
thy refusal to return hath done me. How long shall favoured Liguria
possess that for which I desire? How long shall the Rubicon, separating
me from the object of my prayers by so narrow a space, torture the
Tiber by the all-but-presence of that divine being whose nearer sojourn
it is not allowed to enjoy? Was it not enough to have scorned me once
when Africa, again at war, mocked the city with hopes of its emperor’s
coming, nor could we move thine obstinate ears with all our prayers?
Yet did I harness for thee two steeds whiter than snow to draw the
chariot wherein thou shouldst ride; already had I builded in thy name
a triumphal arch through the which thou shouldst pass clad in the garb
of victory, and I was dedicating it as a memorial of the war with an
inscription to be the undying witness of the salvation of Libya. Even
then were being prepared for Jove to see from the Tarpeian rock models
for the coming triumph: a fleet of ships was cast in metal, ships whose
oar-blades smote the golden sea; the cities of Africa were made to go
before thy chariot and
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Palladiaque comas innexus harundine Triton
edomitis veheretur aquis et in aere trementem
succinctae famulum ferrent Atlanta cohortes, 380
ipse Iugurthinam subiturus carcere poenam
praeberet fera colla iugo, vi captus et armis,
non Bocchi Syllaeque dolis.
“Sed prima remitto.
num praesens etiam Getici me laurea belli
declinare potest? sedesve capacior ulla 385
tantae laudis erit? tua te benefacta morantem
conveniunt, meritisque suis obnoxia virtus
quod servavit amat. iam flavescentia centum
messibus aestivae detondent Gargara falces,
spectatosque iterum nulli celebrantia ludos 390
circumflexa rapit centenus saecula consul:
his annis, qui lustra mihi bis dena recensent,
nostra ter Augustos intra pomeria vidi,
temporibus variis; eadem sed causa tropaei
civilis dissensus erat. venere superbi, 395
scilicet ut Latio respersos sanguine currus
adspicerem! quisquamne piae laetanda parenti
natorum lamenta putet? periere tyranni,
sed nobis periere tamen. cum Gallica vulgo
proelia iactaret, tacuit Pharsalica Caesar. 400
namque inter socias acies cognataque signa
ut vinci miserum, numquam vicisse decorum.
restituat priscum per te iam gloria morem
verior, et fructum sincerae laudis ab hoste
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Page 103
Triton, with his conquered waters and his head crowned with Minerva’s
sacred reeds; crowds of slaves with upgirt dresses bore a figure of
trembling Atlas cast in bronze; Gildo himself, destined to undergo in
prison the punishment once meted out to Jugurtha, offered his stubborn
neck to the yoke, Gildo fallen a captive to the arms of Rome, not to
the treachery of a Bocchus and a Sulla.[36]
“But I pass over what has been. Can the present triumph, too, of the
Getic war escape me? Does any spot give ampler room to so great renown?
The very blessings thou hast bestowed beg thee not to delay, and thy
generosity, constrained by its own fair deeds, must needs love those
whom it has saved. Now for a hundred summers the reaper’s sickle
has gathered the yellow harvest of Gargarus; already the consul has
introduced the games that occur but once in a century and upon which
no man looks twice. During these years which number twice ten lustres,
I have but thrice[37] seen an emperor enter my walls in triumph; all
at different times but for the same reason--civil war. Did they come
in their pride that I should see their chariots stained with Italy’s
blood? Can any think a mother finds joy in the tears of her offspring?
The tyrants were slain, but even they were my children. Caesar boasted
him of his victories over the Gauls; he said nought about Pharsalia.
Where the two sides bear the same standards and are of one blood, as
defeat is ever shameful so victory brings no honour. See thou to it
that now a truer glory crown our arms; give me back the joy, long a
stranger to me, of honest
[36] Bocchus, king of Mauretania, treacherously delivered up his
kinsman Jugurtha to Marius. Sulla acted as the agent of the Roman
general in this matter.
[37] In a century so replete with civil war as the fourth it is
hard to say which particular three instances Claudian has in mind.
One is no doubt Constantine’s defeat of Maxentius, after which we
know that he entered Rome in triumph; the other two may refer to
Theodosius’ victories over Eugenius and Maximus.
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Page 104
desuetam iam redde mihi iustisque furoris 405
externi spoliis sontes absolve triumphos.
“Quem, precor, ad finem laribus seiuncta potestas
exulat imperiumque suis a sedibus errat?
cur mea quae cunctis tribuere palatia nomen
neglecto squalent senio? nec creditur orbis 410
illinc posse regi? medium non deserit umquam
caeli Phoebus iter, radiis tamen omnia lustrat.
segnius an veteres Histrum Rhenumque tenebant,
qui nostram coluere domum? leviusve timebant
Tigris et Euphrates, cum foedera Medus et Indus 415
hinc peteret pacemque mea speraret ab arce?
hic illi mansere viri, quos mutua virtus
legit et in nomen Romanis rebus adoptans
iudicio pulchram seriem, non sanguine duxit;
hic proles atavum deducens Aelia Nervam 420
tranquillique Pii bellatoresque Severi.
hunc civis dignare chorum conspectaque dudum
ora refer, pompam recolens ut mente priorem,
quem tenero patris comitem susceperat aevo, 424
nunc duce cum socero iuvenem te Thybris adoret.”
Orantem medio princeps sermone refovit:
“numquam aliquid frustra per me voluisse dolebis,
o dea, nec legum fas est occurrere matri.
sed nec post Libyam (falsis ne perge querellis
incusare tuos) patriae mandata vocantis 430
sprevimus: advectae misso Stilichone curules,
ut nostras tibi, Roma, vices pro principe consul
impleret generoque socer. vidistis in illo
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Page 105
fame won from the enemy, and make good guilty triumphs by the lawful
spoils of foreign madness.
“How long shall our emperor’s rule be a stranger to its true home and
his governance stray from its rightful seat? Why does my palace which
has given its name to all palaces mourn in neglected decay? Cannot
the world be ruled therefrom? Phoebus never deserts his centre path
though his beams are shed upon all. Was the hand of those old emperors
who made me their home any lighter laid upon the tribes of Danube and
Rhine? Was the awe felt by those of Tigris and Euphrates any less
real when Mede and Indian came to this my capital of Rome to beg for
alliance or sue for peace? Here dwelt those emperors whom merit chose
for merit, and so, adopting them as consuls for the Roman state, made
judgement not blood continue a noble line. Here lived the Aelian family
that traced its descent from Nerva, the peaceful Antonines, the warlike
Severi. Thou art a citizen; disdain not such a band; give us back the
countenance we beheld long since, that Father Tiber, remembering the
glory that was, may with thy father-in-law welcome thee as a man whom
as a boy he saw leave my city at his father’s side.”
While yet she entreated the emperor reassured her with these words:
“Never shalt thou complain that I have been deaf to thine entreaties; I
could not thwart thee, goddess, who art the mother of our laws. Bring
no railing accusation against thy sons. Did I disregard my country’s
call after the African war? Nay, I sent thee Stilicho to sit in the
curule chair to take my place, a consul instead of an emperor, a
father- instead of a son-in-law. In him thy
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Page 106
me quoque; sic credit pietas non sanguine solo,
sed claris potius factis experta parentem. 435
cuncta quidem centum nequeam perstringere linguis,
quae pro me mundoque gerit; sed ab omnibus unum,
si fama necdum patuit, te, Roma, docebo
subiectum nostris oculis et cuius agendi
spectator vel causa fui. 440
“Populator Achivae
Bistoniaeque plagae, crebris successibus amens
et ruptas animis spirans inmanibus Alpes
iam Ligurum trepidis admoverat agmina muris
tutior auxilio brumae (quo gentibus illis
sidere consueti favet inclementia caeli) 445
meque minabatur calcato obsidere vallo
spem vano terrore fovens, si forte, remotis
praesidiis, urgente metu, qua vellet obirem
condicione fidem; nec me timor impulit ullus
et duce venturo fretum memoremque tuorum, 450
Roma, ducum, quibus haud umquam vel morte parata
foedus lucis amor pepigit dispendia famae.
nox erat et late stellarum more videbam
barbaricos ardere focos; iam classica primos
excierant vigiles, gelida cum pulcher ab Arcto 455
adventat Stilicho. medius sed clauserat hostis
inter me socerumque viam pontemque tenebat,
Addua quo scissas spumosior incitat undas.
quid faceret? differret iter? discrimina nullas
nostra dabant adeunda moras. perrumperet agmen?
sed paucis comitatus erat; nam plurima retro, 461
dum nobis properat succurrere, liquerat arma
extera vel nostras acies. hoc ille locatus
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Page 107
citizens saw also myself; so my love believes, for it has found that
not blood alone but rather glorious deeds can show a parent. Had I a
hundred tongues I could not touch on all the benefits he has bestowed
upon me and upon the empire; one deed alone of them all will I recount
to thee, goddess, if so be it is as yet unknown to thee, a deed of
which I was the spectator or the cause.
“Alaric had laid waste Greece and the coasts of Thrace and in the
mad pride of his many victories and the arrogance inspired by his
crossing of the Alps had laid siege to the trembling cities of Liguria
with winter as his ally--a season that favours a race accustomed to
inclement skies; he then threatened to break down my defences and to
lay strait siege to me also, bolstering up his hopes with the thought
that, at the terror of his name and in fear of having none to aid me,
I should come to terms with him on any conditions he chose. But I felt
no fear, for I relied on the advance of Stilicho, and was mindful,
O goddess, of those thy leaders who, even in face of death, never
through base love of life made terms at the cost of honour. It was
night; where’er I looked I saw the watchfires of the enemy shining
like stars. The bugle had already summoned the soldiers to the first
watch when glorious Stilicho arrived from the frozen north. But the
enemy held the road between my father-in-law and myself, and the bridge
whose obstructing piers churn turbid Addua to yet fuller foam. What was
Stilicho to do? Halt? My danger forbade the least delay. Break through
the enemy’s line? His force was too small. In hastening to my aid he
had left behind him many auxiliaries and legionary troops. Placed in
this dilemma he
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Page 108
ancipiti, longum socias tardumque putavit
expectasse manus et nostra pericula tendit 465
posthabitis pulsare suis mediumque per hostem
flammatus virtute pia propriaeque salutis
inmemor et stricto prosternens obvia ferro
barbara fulmineo secuit tentoria cursu.
“Nunc mihi Tydiden attollant carmina vatum, 470
quod iuncto fidens Ithaco patefacta Dolonis
indicio dapibusque simul religataque somno
Thracia sopiti penetraverit agmina Rhesi
Graiaque rettulerit captos ad castra iugales,
quorum, si qua fides augentibus omnia Musis, 475
impetus excessit Zephyros candorque pruinas.
ecce virum, taciti nulla qui fraude soporis
ense palam sibi pandit iter remeatque cruentus
et Diomedeis tantum praeclarior ausis,
quantum lux tenebris manifestaque proelia furtis! 480
adde quod et ripis steterat munitior hostis
et cui nec vigilem fas est componere Rhesum:
Thrax erat, hic Thracum domitor. non tela retardant,
obice non haesit fluvii. sic ille minacem
Tyrrhenam labente manum pro ponte repellens 485
traiecit clipeo Thybrim, quo texerat urbem,
Tarquinio mirante Cocles mediisque superbus
Porsennam respexit aquis. celer Addua nostro
sulcatus socero: sed, cum transnaret, Etruscis
ille dabat tergum, Geticis hic pectora bellis. 490
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thought it long and tedious to wait for reinforcements and, putting
aside his own peril, was eager only to deliver me from mine; inspired
by the courage that is born of love, heedless of his own danger, he
broke through the enemy’s midst and, sword in hand, cutting down all
who sought to bar his passage, he passed like lightning through the
barbarians’ camp.
“Now let poets’ songs praise me the son of Tydeus because, relying on
Odysseus’ help when the way was opened by Dolon’s wiles and all was
sunk in feasting and slumber, he broke into the Thracian camp of Rhesus
and brought back to the Greek lines his captured steeds, which--if we
may trust the too generous Muses--surpassed the winds in speed, the
snows in whiteness. Here was a man who, with no treachery ’mid silent
slumber, clave a path for himself with his sword in the open light of
day and arrived within our lines covered with blood, thus surpassing
the brave deeds of Diomede by as much as day surpasses night and open
battle ambush. Alaric’s position, moreover, on the river bank was a
stronger one, and he himself a warrior with whom Rhesus, even when
awake, could not be compared. Rhesus was king, Alaric the conqueror,
of Thrace. Neither weapons nor the river’s bar could stop Stilicho. So
Horatius, standing on the falling bridge, drave back the threatening
hosts of Etruria and then swam the Tiber, still carrying the shield
wherewith to the amazement of Tarquin he had defended Rome, and from
mid stream looked back with scornful gaze upon Porsenna. ’Twas the
swift Addua my father breasted; but, as he swam the flood, Horatius
turned his back upon the Etruscans, Stilicho faced the barbarian foe.
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“Exere nunc doctos tantae certamina laudis,
Roma, choros et, quanta tuis facundia pollet
ingeniis, nostrum digno sonet ore parentem.”
Dixit et antiquae muros egressa Ravennae
signa movet; iamque ora Padi portusque relinquit 495
flumineos, certis ubi legibus advena Nereus
aestuat et pronas puppes nunc amne secundo,
nunc redeunte vehit nudataque litora fluctu
deserit, Oceani lunaribus aemula damnis.
laetior hinc Fano recipit Fortuna vetusto, 500
despiciturque vagus praerupta valle Metaurus,
qua mons arte patens vivo se perforat arcu
admisitque viam sectae per viscera rupis,
exuperans delubra Iovis saxoque minantes
Appenninigenis cultas pastoribus aras. 505
quin et Clitumni sacras victoribus undas,
candida quae Latiis praebent armenta triumphis,
visere cura fuit; nec te miracula fontis
praetereunt, tacito passu quem si quis adiret,
lentus erat; si voce gradum maiore citasset, 510
commixtis fervebat aquis; cumque omnibus una
sit natura vadis, similes ut corporis undas
ostendant, haec sola novam iactantia sortem
humanos properant imitari flumina mores.
celsa dehinc patulum prospectans Narnia campum 515
regali calcatur equo, rarique coloris
non procul amnis abest, urbi qui nominis auctor:
ilice sub densa silvis artatus opacis
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Page 111
“Now, O Rome, lead forth the chorus that shall hymn a contest of such
high renown and let thy best genius with all its eloquence voice the
well-merited praises of my foster parent.”
So spake he and, issuing from the walls of old Ravenna, advanced his
standards. He crossed the mouths of the Po and left behind him that
river harbour[38] where, in fixed succession, in flows the foaming
main and bears up the vessels that ride there at anchor on forward
and backward flowing stream, and again deserts the waveless shore,
like moon-led tides upon the marge of Ocean. Next he comes to the
old city of Fortune’s Temple that bids him glad welcome and from its
height looks down upon Metaurus threading its rocky valley where
an arch, tunnelled through the living rock, affords a path through
the mountain’s very heart, rising above the temple of Jove and the
dizzy altars set up by the shepherds of the Apennines. ’Twas thy
good pleasure, too, to visit Clitumnus’ wave,[39] beloved of them
that triumph, for thence do victors get them white-coated animals
for sacrifice at Rome. Thou markest well also the stream’s strange
property, flowing gently on when one approaches with silent step, but
swirling and eddying should one hasten with louder utterance; and while
it is the common nature of water to mirror the exact image of the body
it alone boasts the strange power that it mimics not human form but
human character. Next thy royal charger treads the streets of Narnia,
looking out from its eminence upon the plain below: not far therefrom
flows the strange-coloured stream which gives the town its name, its
sulphurous waters
[38] Classis Portus, a harbour formed by means of the Fossa
Augusta which led the southern arm of the Po to Ravenna. It was in
existence in 38 B.C. (App. _B.C._ v. 78, 80) and held 250 ships
(Jordanes, _Get._ 150; _cf._ Pliny, _H.N._ iii. 119; Sid. Apol.
_Epp._ i. 5. 5).
[39] For a description of the Clitumnus see Pliny, _Epp._ viii. 8.
* * * * *
Page 112
inter utrumque iugum tortis anfractibus albet.
inde salutato libatis Thybride lymphis 520
excipiunt arcus operosaque semita vastis
molibus et quidquid tantae praemittitur urbi.
Ac velut officiis trepidantibus ora puellae
spe propiore tori mater sollertior ornat
adveniente proco vestesque et cingula comit 525
saepe manu viridique angustat iaspide pectus
substringitque comam gemmis et colla monili
circuit et bacis onerat candentibus aures:
sic oculis placitura tuis insignior auctis
collibus et nota maior se Roma videndam 530
obtulit. addebant pulchrum nova moenia vultum
audito perfecta recens rumore Getarum,
profecitque opifex decori timor, et vice mira,
quam pax intulerat, bello discussa senectus
erexit subitas turres cunctosque coëgit 535
septem continuo colles iuvenescere muro.
ipse favens votis solitoque decentior aër,
quamvis adsiduo noctem foedaverat imbre,
principis et solis radiis detersa removit
nubila; namque ideo pluviis turbaverat omnes 540
ante dies lunamque rudem madefecerat Auster,
ut tibi servatum scirent convexa serenum.
Omne Palatino quod pons a colle recedit
Mulvius et quantum licuit consurgere tectis,
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Page 113
flowing in tortuous course between opposed mountains through dense
forests of holm-oak. Then when in greeting to Father Tiber thou hast
poured a libation of his waters thou art welcomed by Rome’s arches and
all the magnificent buildings which line the roads of that noble city’s
suburbs.
And as a careful mother at the approach of her daughter’s lover does
all that trembling hand can do to enhance the charms that are to win
a husband, oft readjusts dress and girdle, confines her breast with
bands of green jasper, gathers up her hair with jewels, sets a necklace
about her neck, and hangs glistening pearls from her ears, so Rome,
in order to be pleasing in thy sight, offers herself to thy admiring
gaze more glorious and with hills made higher and herself greater than
thou hadst known her. Still fairer than of old she seemed by reason
of those new walls that the rumour of the Getae’s approach had just
caused to be built; fear was the architect of that beauteous work and,
by a strange freak of fortune, war put an end to the decay that peace
had brought. For fear it was that caused the sudden upspringing of all
those towers and renewed the youth of Rome’s seven hills by enclosing
them all within one long wall. Even the weather listened favourably
to our prayers and was finer than its wont, although continuous rain
had spoiled the preceding night; but the clouds melted away before the
glory of the sun and the emperor. All the days before had the south
wind troubled with rain and dimmed the moon’s young disc that heaven
might know it was for thee that the sunshine waited.
One huge crowd filled all the slope between the Palatine hill and the
Mulvian bridge and as far up
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Page 114
una replet turbae facies: undare videres 545
ima viris, altas effulgere matribus aedes.
exultant iuvenes aequaevi principis annis;
temnunt prisca senes et in hunc sibi prospera fati
gratantur durasse diem moderataque laudant
tempora, quod clemens aditu, quod pectore solus 550
Romanos vetuit currum praecedere patres:
cum tamen Eucherius, cui regius undique sanguis,
atque Augusta soror fratri praeberet ovanti
militis obsequium; sic illum dura parentis
instituit pietas in se vel pignora parci 555
quique neget nato, procerum quod praestat honori.
haec sibi curva[40] senum maturaque comprobat aetas
idque inter veteris speciem praesentis et aulae
iudicat: hunc civem, dominos venisse priores.
Conspicuas tum flore genas, diademate crinem 560
membraque gemmato trabeae viridantia cinctu
et fortes umeros et certatura Lyaeo
inter Erythraeas surgentia colla smaragdos
mirari sine fine nurus; ignaraque virgo,
cui simplex calet ore pudor, per singula cernens 565
nutricem consultat anum: quid fixa draconum
ora velint? ventis fluitent an vera minentur
sibila suspensum rapturi faucibus hostem?
ut chalybe indutos equites et in aere latentes
vidit cornipedes: “quanam de gente” rogabat 570
“ferrati venere viri? quae terra metallo
nascentes informat equos? num Lemnius auctor
[40] _curva_ Birt; codd. _cura_.
* * * * *
Page 115
as it was possible to go on the house roofs; the ground seethed with
men, the lofty buildings were aglow with women. Those who are young
rejoice in an emperor of their own age, the old cease to belaud the
past and count their destiny happy that they have lived to see such
a day, blessing the kindly times when a prince so easy of access, so
singular in courtesy, forbade the senators of Rome to march before
his chariot, even though Eucherius, in whose veins ran regal blood on
father’s and on mother’s side, and his own sister did honour to his
triumph like simple soldiers. Such has been the teaching of that stern
but loving parent who showed no more favour to his children than to
himself, and refused a son honours he granted to nobles. Bent age and
upstanding youth alike are loud in his praises and, comparing the new
with the ancient rule, recognize in Honorius a true citizen, in his
predecessors tyrants.
The women of Rome never tire of gazing at those blooming cheeks, those
crowned locks, those limbs clothed in the consul’s jasper-studded
robes, those mighty shoulders, and that neck, beauteous as Bacchus’
own, with its necklace of Red Sea emeralds. Many an innocent maid,
while simple modesty blushes in her cheek, would bend her gaze o’er
all and inquire of her aged nurse the meaning of the dragons on the
colours. “Do they,” she would ask, “but wave in the air or is theirs a
veritable hiss, uttered as they are about to seize an enemy in their
jaws?” When she sees the mail-clad knights and brazen-armoured horses
she would fain know whence that iron race of men is sprung and what
land it is gives birth to steeds of bronze. “Has the god of Lemnos,”
* * * * *
Page 116
indidit hinnitum ferro simulacraque belli
viva dedit?” gaudet metuens et pollice monstrat.
quod picturatas galeae Iunonia cristas 575
ornet avis vel quod rigidos vibrata per armos
rubra sub aurato crispentur serica dorso.
Tunc tibi magnorum mercem Fortuna laborum
persolvit, Stilicho, curru cum vectus eodem
urbe triumphantem generum florente iuventa 580
conspiceres illumque diem sub corde referres,
quo tibi confusa dubiis formidine rebus
infantem genitor moriens commisit alendum.
virtutes variae fructus sensere receptos;
depositum servasse, fides; constantia, parvum 585
praefecisse orbi; pietas, fovisse propinquum.
hic est ille puer, qui nunc ad rostra Quirites
evocat et solio fultus genitoris eburno
gestarum patribus causas ex ordine rerum
eventusque refert veterumque exempla secutus 590
digerit imperii sub iudice facta senatu.
nil cumulat verbis quae nil fiducia celat;
fucati sermonis opem mens conscia laudis
abnuit. agnoscunt proceres; habituque Gabino
principis et ducibus circumstipata togatis 595
iure paludatae iam curia militat aulae.
adfuit ipsa suis ales Victoria templis
Romanae tutela togae: quae divite penna
patricii reverenda fovet sacraria coetus
* * * * *
Page 117
she would ask, “bestowed on metal the power to neigh, and forged living
statues for the fight?” Joy and fear fill her mind; she points with her
finger how Juno’s bird decks the gay crests upon their helmets, or how,
beneath the golden armour on their horses’ backs, the red silk waves
and ripples over the strong shoulders.
Then it was, Stilicho, that Fortune repaid thee for the labour of
so many years when, mounted in the same chariot, thou sawest thy
son-in-law in his prime pass in triumph through the streets of Rome,
and didst recall that day when in troubled terror mid uncertain fortune
the dying father entrusted his son to thy care. Now thy many virtues
have found their meet reward: loyalty that has kept safe that which was
confided to it, singleness of purpose that made a boy the master of
the world, affection that has bestowed such loving care on an adopted
son. This is the boy who to-day summons Rome’s citizens to the place
of meeting and from his father’s ivory throne tells to the fathers the
causes and the issues of his acts, and, following ancient precedent,
directs the deeds of empire at the judgement-seat of the Senate. He
piles up no words, for confidence has nothing to conceal; his mind,
conscious of true worth, refuses the aid of artificial speech. The
senators learn to know him; their chief wears the Gabine[41] garb, and
thronged with generals in the rôle of peace the Senate-house prepares
for service under the auspices of the warlike court. Winged victory
herself, Rome’s faithful guardian, was in her temple;[42] her golden
pinions stretched in protection over the holy sanctuary where the
fathers meet together, and she herself, a tireless
[41] See note on vii. 3.
[42] A reference to the statue of Victory in the Senate House.
Ambrose had persuaded Gratian to turn it out (A.D. 384) but
Honorius had had it replaced (_cf._ xxiii. 19 and Paulinus, _Vita
S. Ambr._ viii. § 26).
* * * * *
Page 118
castrorumque eadem comes indefessa tuorum 600
nunc tandem fruitur votis atque omne futurum
te Romae seseque tibi promittit in aevum.
Hinc te iam patriis laribus via nomine vero
sacra refert. flagrat studiis concordia vulgi,
quam non inlecebris dispersi colligis auri; 605
nec tibi venales captant aeraria plausus
corruptura fidem: meritis offertur inemptus
pura mente favor. nam munere carior omni
obstringit sua quemque salus. procul ambitus erret!
non quaerit pretium, vitam qui debet amori. 610
O quantum populo secreti numinis addit
imperii praesens genius! quantamque rependit
maiestas alterna vicem, cum regia circi
conexum gradibus veneratur purpura vulgus,
adsensuque cavae sublatus in aethera vallis 615
plebis adoratae reboat fragor, unaque totis
intonat Augustum septenis arcibus Echo!
nec solis hic cursus equis: adsueta quadrigis
cingunt arva trabes, subitaeque adspectus harenae
diffundit Libycos aliena valle cruores. 620
haec et belligeros exercuit area lusus,
armatos haec saepe choros, certaque vagandi
textas lege fugas inconfusosque recursus
et pulchras errorum artes iucundaque Martis
cernimus. insonuit cum verbere signa magister, 625
* * * * *
Page 119
attendant on thine armies, now at last has had her wish granted and is
able to promise that for all time to come thou shalt be Rome’s guardian
and she thine.
Hence the Sacred Way (now truly named) brings thee back to thy home.
Eagerly breaks out the world’s one-hearted welcome, that thou dost
not woo with lure of scattered gold; nor for thee does the treasury,
seeking to corrupt good faith, court venal applause; to worth
unpurchased love is offered by a pure heart. For life that is dearer
than any gift makes all thy debtors. Away with wooing of applause! He
can ask no payment who owes his life to love.
Oh what mysterious power over the people does the Empire’s
guardian-genius bring! What majesty bows to majesty as the prince, clad
in imperial scarlet, returns the salutations of the people that crowd
the tiers of the Circus! The shouts of the adoring populace rising from
that immense circle thunder to the sky, while the echoes of Rome’s
seven hills repeat as with one voice the name of Honorius. Nor does the
Circus display only horse-races; its floor, whereon chariots were wont
to drive, is surrounded by a palisade, and in this new amphitheatre, so
far, so different, from their native valleys, Libyan lions shed their
blood. This is the scene, too, of a military display; here we often
see armed bands advancing and retiring in mazèd movements that are
nevertheless executed according to a fixed plan; we watch them wheel
in perfect order, extend with disciplined precision, affording us the
pleasing spectacle of mimic warfare. The leader cracks his whip and a
thousand bodies execute in unison
* * * * *
Page 120
mutatos edunt pariter tot pectora motus
in latus adlisis clipeis aut rursus in altum
vibratis; grave parma sonat, mucronis acutum
murmur, et umbonum pulsu modulante resultans
ferreus alterno concentus clauditur ense. 630
una omnis summissa phalanx tantaeque salutant
te, princeps, galeae. partitis inde catervis
in varios docto discurritur ordine gyros,
quos neque semiviri Gortynia tecta iuvenci
flumina nec crebro vincant Maeandria flexu. 635
discreto revoluta gradu torquentur in orbes
agmina, perpetuisque inmoto cardine claustris
Ianus bella premens laeta sub imagine pugnae
armorum innocuos paci largitur honores.
Iamque novum fastis aperit felicibus annum 640
ore coronatus gemino; iam Thybris in uno
et Bruti cernit trabeas et sceptra Quirini.
consule laetatur post plurima saecula viso
Pallanteus apex; agnoscunt rostra curules
auditas quondam proavis, desuetaque cingit 645
regius auratis fora fascibus Ulpia lictor,
et sextas Getica praevelans fronde secures
colla triumphati proculcat Honorius Histri.
exeat in populos cunctis inlustrior annus,
natus fonte suo, quem non aliena per arva 650
induit hospes honos, cuius cunabula fovit
curia, quem primi tandem videre Quirites,
quem domitis auspex peperit Victoria bellis!
* * * * *
Page 121
their new movements; now they clap their bucklers to their sides,
now they brandish them above their heads; deeply sound the clashing
shields, sharply ring the engaging swords, and, to the rhythm of beaten
targes, the echoing song of steel is punctuated by the interclash of
weapons. Suddenly the whole phalanx falls on its knees before thee and
a thousand helmets bow down in reverence. Then the companies separate,
wheeling and counter-wheeling with ordered skill, following a course
more tortuous than the corridors of the Minotaur’s Cretan palace or the
reaches of Meander’s wandering stream. Then wheeling apart they form
with circular masses, and Janus,[43] emprisoning war behind his ever
unopening doors, after a happy mimicry of battle bestows on peace the
innocent rewards of combat.
And now, his double head crowned with laurel, Janus opens the new year
with auspicious calendar; now Tiber sees united in Honorius Brutus’
consular robe and Romulus’ kingly sceptre. The Palatine hill rejoices
after many generations again to look upon a consul; the rostra learn
to know the curule chair famed of old among our forefathers, and royal
lictors, a long unwonted sight, encircle with their golden fasces the
Forum of Trajan; while Honorius, wreathing with Getic laurels the axes
borne for the sixth time before him, places a conqueror’s foot upon
the neck of subdued Danube. Let this year springing from its true
source go forth among the nations more glorious than any--a year the
consul inaugurated, not a stranger in a strange land, whose cradle the
Senate-house guarded, that Roman citizens first beheld, that Victory,
all wars o’ercome, auspiciously
[43] Mentioned, no doubt, as symbolical of the New Year.
* * * * *
Page 122
hunc et privati titulis famulantibus anni
et, quos armipotens genitor retroque priores 655
diversis gessere locis, ceu numen adorent;
hunc et quinque tui vel quos habiturus in urbe
post alios, Auguste, colant. licet unus in omnes
consul eas, magno sextus tamen iste superbit
nomine: praeteritis melior, venientibus auctor. 660
* * * * *
Page 123
brought to birth. Years in which mere commoners held the consulship,
and ye years when Theodosius and his predecessors graced that office
in Rome or elsewhere, count your honours as nought and worship this
present year. Ay, you five previous consulships of Honorius, even you
that our emperor shall hold in Rome in the days to come, give place to
this one. Wert thou, Honorius, to be consul every year, yet is this thy
sixth to be magnified above all thy consulships, excelling all that are
past and model of all that are to come.
* * * * *
Page 124
DE BELLO GOTHICO
PRAEFATIO
(XXV.)
Post resides annos longo velut excita somno
Romanis fruitur nostra Thalia choris.
optatos renovant eadem mihi culmina coetus,
personat et noto Pythia vate domus:
consulis hic fasces cecini Libyamque receptam, 5
hic mihi prostratis bella canenda Getis.
Sed prior effigiem tribuit successus aënam,
oraque patricius nostra dicavit honos;
adnuit his princeps titulum poscente senatu;
respice iudicium quam grave, Musa, subis! 10
ingenio minuit merces properata favorem:
carminibus veniam praemia tanta negant;
et magis intento studium censore laborat,
quod legimur medio conspicimurque foro.
Materies tamen ipsa iuvat solitumque timorem 15
dicturo magna sedula parte levat.
nam mihi conciliat gratas impensius aures
vel meritum belli vel Stilichonis amor.
* * * * *
Page 125
THE GOTHIC WAR
PREFACE
(XXV.)
After years of sloth my Muse, as if startled from long slumber,
rejoices to sing a Roman song to Roman ears. Once more the same halls
bring the gathering I longed for, and Apollo’s temple echoes to the
voice of a familiar bard. ’Twas here I sang of the consular fasces
and of the winning back of Libya and here must I sing of the war that
overthrew the Getae.
But my former success won for me a brazen statue[44] and the Fathers
set up my likeness in my honour; at the Senate’s prayer the Emperor
allowed the claim--bethink thee, Muse, how strict a judgement thou
dost face! Wit wins less favour when too soon rewarded, and so great a
gift refuses indulgence for my song. Now that my name is read and my
features are known in the forum my Muse labours for a sterner critic
than before.
Yet my theme itself brings cheer and, as I begin to speak, eagerly
lightens much of my accustomed fear. A gracious and more devoted
hearing is secured for me, be it by the war’s deserving or be it by
Stilicho’s love.
[44] For Claudian’s statue see Introduction, p. xii. For a similar
honour conceded to Sidonius _cf._ Sid. Apol. _Epp._ ix. 16. 3;
_Carm._ viii. 8.
* * * * *
Page 126
(XXVI.)
Intacti cum claustra freti, coëuntibus aequor
armatum scopulis, audax inrumperet Argo
Aeetam Colchosque petens, propiore periclo
omnibus attonitis, solus post numina Tiphys
incolumem tenui damno servasse carinam 5
fertur et ancipitem montis vitasse ruinam
deceptoque vagae concursu rupis in altum
victricem duxisse ratem; stupuere superbae
arte viri domitae Symplegades et nova passae
iura soli cunctis faciles iam puppibus haerent, 10
ut vinci didicere semel. quodsi ardua Tiphyn
navis ob innocuae meritum sic gloria vexit,
quae tibi pro tanti pulso discrimine regni
sufficient laudes, Stilicho? licet omnia vates
in maius celebrata ferant ipsamque secandis 15
Argois trabibus iactent sudasse Minervam
nec nemoris muti iunxisse carentia sensu
robora, sed caeso Tomari Iovis augure luco
arbore praesaga tabulas animasse loquaces.
plurima sed quamvis variis miracula monstris 20
ingeminent, teneras victuri carmine mentes,
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