---
title: "Fescennine Verses · Fescennina de nuptiis Honorii Augusti"
author: "Claudian"
translator: "Maurice Platnauer"
languages: [la, en]
shelf: "Classical Latin"
section: 1 of 1
url: https://scriptura.si/works/claudian-fescennine-verses/1/
cite: "Claudian, tr. Maurice Platnauer, Fescennine Verses · Fescennina de nuptiis Honorii Augusti, section 1. Scriptura (scriptura.si), https://scriptura.si/works/claudian-fescennine-verses/1/"
---

# Fescennine Verses · Fescennina de nuptiis Honorii Augusti

*Claudian, tr. Maurice Platnauer*

Wedding songs for the emperor Honorius and Maria, daughter of Stilicho.

> Latin: ed. Maurice Platnauer, from the Perseus Digital Library (canonical-latinLit, stoa0089.stoa007, CC BY-SA 4.0).

> English: Maurice Platnauer, from the Perseus Digital Library (stoa0089.stoa007.perseus-eng1). Notes are not included.

> Rows follow the references the two texts share (chapters and sections), cut where both reach the end of a sentence.

## 1. Poems 1–4

Source: https://scriptura.si/works/claudian-fescennine-verses/1/ · cite a paragraph as https://scriptura.si/works/claudian-fescennine-verses/1/#p-N

[¶0] Prince fairer than the day star who shootest thine arrows with an aim more sure than the Parthian's rider more daring than the Geloni, what praise shall match thy lofty mind, what praise thy brilliant beauty? Leda would rather have thee her son than Castor; Thetis counts thee dearer than her own Achilles; Delos' isle admits thee Apollo's victor; Lydia puts Bacchus second to thee. When in the heat of the chase thou guidest thy coursing steed amid the towering holm-oaks and thy tossing locks stream out upon the wind, the beasts of their own accord will fall before thine arrows and the lion, right gladly wounded by a prince's sacred hand will welcome thy spear and be proud so to die. Venus scorns Adonis returned from the dead, Diana disapproves Hippolytus recalled to life. When after thy toils thou seekest the shade of a green plane-tree or shunnest Sirius' extreme heat in some cool grot and freest thy wearied limbs in sleep, what a passion of love will inflame the Dryads' hearts! how many a Naiad will steal up with trembling foot and snatch an unmarked kiss! Who, though he be more uncivilized than the wild Scythians and more cruel even than the beasts, but will, when he has seen near at hand thy transcendent loveliness, offer thee a ready servitude? Who will not willingly seize the chains of slavery and demand the yoke for a neck as yet free? Hadst thou o'er the heights of snowy Caucasus gone against the cruel Amazons in all thy beauty, that warrior band had fled the fight and called to mind again their proper sex; Hippolyte, amid the trumpets' din, forgetful of her sire, had weakly laid aside her drawn battleaxe, and with half-bared breast loosed the girdle all Hercules' strength availed not to loose. Thy beauty alone would have ended the war. Blessed is she who will soon call thee husband and unite herself to thee with the bonds of first love.

> Latin: princeps corusco sidere pulclirior,
Parthis sagittas tendere doctior,
eques Gelonis imperiosior,
quae digna mentis laus erit arduae?
quae digna formae laus erit igneae?
te Leda mallet quam dare Castorem;
praefert Achilli te proprio Thetis;
victum fatetur Delos Apollinem:
credit minorem Lydia Liberum.
tu cum per altas impiger ilices
freno citatum cornipedem reges
ludentque ventis instabiles comae^
telis iacebunt sponte tuis ferae
gaudensque sacris vulneribus leo
admittet hastam morte superbior.
Venus reversum spernit Adonidem,
damnat reductum Cynthia Virbium.
cum post labores sub platani voles
virentis umbra vel gelido specu
torrentiorem fallere Sirium
et membra somno fessa resolveris:
quantus uret tum Dryadas calor!
quot aestuantes ancipiti gradu
furtiva carpent oscula Naides!
quis vero acerbis horridior Scythis,
quis beluarum corde furentior,
qui, cum micantem te prope viderit,
non optet ultro servitium pati,
qui non catenas adripiat libens
colloque poscat vincula libero?
tu si nivalis per iuga Caucasi
saevas petisses pulcher Amazonas,
peltata pugnas desereret cohors
sexu recepto; patris et inmemor
inter frementes Hippolyte tubas
strictam securim languida poneret
et seminudo pectore cingulum
forti negatum solveret Herculi,
bellumque solus conficeret decor.
Beata, quae te mox faciet virum
primisque sese iunget amoribus.

[¶1] Come, earth, wreathed about with nuptial spring, do honour to thy master's marriage-feast. Sing, woods and rivers all, sing, deep of ocean. Give your blessing, too, Ligurian plains and yours, Venetian hills. Let Alpine heights on a sudden clothe themselves with rose-bushes and the fields of ice grow red. Let the Adige re-echo the sound of choric lays and meandering Mincius whisper gently through his reeds and Padus make answer with his amber-dripping alders. Let Tiber's banks now ring with the voices of Rome's full-fed citizens and the golden city, rejoicing in her lord's marriage, crown her seven hills with flowers. Let Spain hear afar, Spain the cradle of the imperial race, where is a house that is mother of emperors, rich in crowns of laurel, whose triumphs can scarce be numbered. Hence came the bride-groom's sire, hence the bride's mother; from either branch flows the blood of the Caesars, like twin streams reunited. Let rich herbage clothe Baetis' banks and Tagus swell his golden flood; may Ocean, ancestor of the imperial race, make merry in his crystal caves. Let East and West, the two brothers' realms, join in their applause, and peace and joy fill the cities illumined by the sun at his rising and at his setting. Be still, ye storms of the north and ye mad blasts of Caurus; sounding Auster, sink to rest. Let Zephyrus have sole rule over this year of triumph.

> Latin: Age cuncta nuptiali
redimita vere tellus
celebra toros eriles;
omne nemus cum fluviis,
omne canat profundum
Ligures favete campi,
Veneti favete montes,
subitisque se rosetis
vestiat Alpinus apex
et rubeant pruinae.
Athesis strepat choreis
calamisque flexuosus
leve Mincius susurret
et Padus electriferis
admoduletur alnis;
epulisque iam repleto
resonet Quirite Thybris
dominique laeta votis
aurea septemgeminas
Roma coronet arces.
procul audiant Hiberi,
fluit unde semen aulae,
ubi plena laurearum
imperio feta domus
vix numeral triumphos.
habet hinc patrem maritus,
habet hinc puella matrem
geminaque parte ductum
Caesareum flumineo
stemma recurrit ortu.
decorent virecta Baetim,
Tagus intumescat auro
generisque procreator
sub vitreis Oceanus
luxurietur antris.
Oriensque regna fratrum
simul Occidensque plaudat;
placide iocentur urbes,
quaeque novo quaeque nitent
deficiente Phoebo.
Aquiloniae procellae,
rabidi tacete Cauri,
taceat sonorus Auster.
solus ovantem Zephyrus
perdominetur annum.

[¶2] Twine with a soft garland, Stilicho, the locks whereon a helmet is wont to shine. Let the trumpets of war cease and the propitious torch of marriage banish savage Mars afar. Let regal blood unite once more with regal blood. Perform a father's office and unite these children with thine illustrious hand. Thou didst marry an emperor's daughter, now, in turn, thy daughter shall marry an emperor. What room is here for the madness of jealousy? What excuse for envy? Stilicho is father both of bride and bridegroom.

> Latin: Solitas galea fulgere comas,
Stilicho, molli necte corona,
cessent litui saevumque procul
Martem felix taeda releget.
tractus ab aula rursus in aulam
redeat sanguis, patris officiis
iunge potenti pignora dextra.
gener Augusti pridem fueras,
nunc rursus eris socer Augusti.
quae iam rabies livoris erit?
vel quis dabitur color invidiae?
Stilicho socer est, pater est Stilicho.

[¶3] Hesperus, loved of Venus, rises and shines for the marriage with his Idalian 1 rays. Maiden shame now overcomes the anxious bride; her veil now shows traces of innocent tears. Hesitate not to be close in thine attacks, young lover, e'en though she oppose thee savagely with cruel finger-nail. None can enjoy the scents of spring nor steal the honey of Hybla from its fastnesses if he fears that thorns may scratch his face. Thorns arm the rose and bees find a defence for their honey. The refusals of coyness do but increase the joy; the desire for that which flies us is the more inflamed; sweeter is the kiss snatched through tears. How oft wilt thou say: “Better this than ten victories over the yellow-haired Sarmatae”! Breathe a new loyalty into your breasts and let your senses kindle a flame that shall never be extinguished. May your clasped hands form a bond more close than that betwixt ivy and leafy oak tree or poplar and pliant vine. Be the frequent kisses that ye give and receive breathed more softly than those of plaintive doves, and when lips have united soul to soul let sleep still your throbbing breath. Be the purple couch warm with your princely wooing, and a new stain ennoble coverlets ruddy with Tyrian dye. Then leap victorious from the marriage-bed, scarred with the night's encounter. All night long let the music of the flute resound and the crowd, set free from law's harsh restraints, with larger licence indulge the permitted jest. Soldiers, make merry with your leaders, girls with boys. Be this the cry that re-echoes from pole to pole, among the peoples, over the seas: “Fair Honorius weds with Maria.”

> Latin: Attollens thalamis Idalium iubar
dilectus Veneri nascitur Hesperus,
iam nuptae trepidat sollicitus pudor,
iam produnt lacrimas flammea simplices.
ne cessa, iuvenis, comminus adgredi,
impacata licet saeviat unguibus.
non quisquam fruitur veris odoribus
Hyblaeos latebris nec spoliat favos,
si fronti caveat, si timeat rubos;
armat spina rosas, mella tegunt apes.
crescunt difficili gaudia iurgio
accenditque magis, quae refugit, Venus,
quod flenti tuleris, plus sapit osculum.
dices “o!” quotiens, “hoc mihi dulcius
quam flavos deciens vincere Sarmatas!”
Adspirate novam pectoribus fidem
mansuramque facem tradite sensibus.
tam iunctis manibus nectite vincula,
quam frondens hedera stringitur aesculus,
quam lento premitur palmite populus,
et murmur querula blandius alite
Unguis adsiduo reddite mutuis.
et labris animum conciliantibus
alternum rapiat somnus anhelitum.
amplexu caleat purpura regio
et vestes Tyrio sanguine fulgidas
alter virgineus nobilitet cruor.
tum victor madido prosilias toro
nocturni referens vulnera proelii.
Ducant pervigiles carmina tibiae
permissisque iocis turba licentior
exultet tetricis libera legibus.
passim cum ducibus ludite milites,
passim cum pueris ludite virgines.
haec vox aetheriis insonet axibus,
haec vox per populos, per mare transeat!
“formosus Mariam ducit Honorius.”