---
title: "Pharsalia · De Bello Civili"
author: "Lucan"
translator: "Sir Edward Ridley"
languages: [la, en]
shelf: "Classical Latin"
url: https://scriptura.si/works/lucan-pharsalia/
cite: "Lucan, tr. Sir Edward Ridley, Pharsalia · De Bello Civili. Scriptura (scriptura.si), https://scriptura.si/works/lucan-pharsalia/"
---

# Pharsalia · De Bello Civili

*Lucan, tr. Sir Edward Ridley*

The civil war between Caesar and Pompey as dark epic, written under Nero by a poet he forced to die at twenty-five.

> Latin: ed. Karl Hermann Weise, from the Perseus Digital Library (canonical-latinLit, phi0917.phi001, CC BY-SA 4.0).

> English: Sir Edward Ridley, from the Perseus Digital Library (phi0917.phi001.perseus-eng2). Notes are not included.

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

## Contents

1. [Book I · lines 1–290](https://scriptura.si/works/lucan-pharsalia/1.md)
2. [Book I · lines 291–695](https://scriptura.si/works/lucan-pharsalia/2.md)
3. [Book II · lines 1–438](https://scriptura.si/works/lucan-pharsalia/3.md)
4. [Book II · lines 439–736](https://scriptura.si/works/lucan-pharsalia/4.md)
5. [Book III · lines 1–398](https://scriptura.si/works/lucan-pharsalia/5.md)
6. [Book III · lines 399–762](https://scriptura.si/works/lucan-pharsalia/6.md)
7. [Book IV · lines 1–582](https://scriptura.si/works/lucan-pharsalia/7.md)
8. [Book IV · lines 583–824](https://scriptura.si/works/lucan-pharsalia/8.md)
9. [Book V · lines 1–475](https://scriptura.si/works/lucan-pharsalia/9.md)
10. [Book V · lines 476–815](https://scriptura.si/works/lucan-pharsalia/10.md)
11. [Book VI · lines 1–506](https://scriptura.si/works/lucan-pharsalia/11.md)
12. [Book VI · lines 507–830](https://scriptura.si/works/lucan-pharsalia/12.md)
13. [Book VII · lines 1–459](https://scriptura.si/works/lucan-pharsalia/13.md)
14. [Book VII · lines 460–872](https://scriptura.si/works/lucan-pharsalia/14.md)
15. [Book VIII · lines 1–455](https://scriptura.si/works/lucan-pharsalia/15.md)
16. [Book VIII · lines 456–872](https://scriptura.si/works/lucan-pharsalia/16.md)
17. [Book IX · lines 1–409](https://scriptura.si/works/lucan-pharsalia/17.md)
18. [Book IX · lines 410–838](https://scriptura.si/works/lucan-pharsalia/18.md)
19. [Book IX · lines 839–1108](https://scriptura.si/works/lucan-pharsalia/19.md)
20. [Book X · lines 1–331](https://scriptura.si/works/lucan-pharsalia/20.md)
21. [Book X · lines 332–546](https://scriptura.si/works/lucan-pharsalia/21.md)

## 1. Book I · lines 1–290

Source: https://scriptura.si/works/lucan-pharsalia/1/ · cite a paragraph as https://scriptura.si/works/lucan-pharsalia/1/#p-N

[¶0] WARS worse than civil on Emathian plains,
And crime let loose we sing: how Rome's high race
Plunged in her vitals her victorious sword;
Armies akin embattled, with the force
Of all the shaken earth bent on the fray;
And burst asunder, to the common guilt,
A kingdom's compact; eagle with eagle met,
Standard to standard, spear opposed to spear.
Whence, citizens, this rage, this boundless lust
To sate barbarians with the blood of Rome?
Did not the shade of Crassus, wandering still,
Cry for his vengeance? Could ye not have spoiled,
To deck your trophies, haughty Babylon?
Why wage campaigns that send no laurels home?
What lands, what oceans might have been the prize
Of all the blood thus shed in civil strife!
Where Titan rises, where night hides the stars,
'Neath southern noons with fiery rays aflame,
Or where keen frost that never yields to spring
In icy fetters binds the Scythian main:
Long since barbarian Araxes' stream,
And all the distant East, and those who know
(If any such there be) the birth of Nile,
Had felt our yoke. Then, then, with all the world
Beneath thee, Rome, if for nefarious war
Such be thy passion, turn upon thyself:
Not yet was wanting for thy sword a foe.
That crumbled houses and half-ruined homes
Now mark our cities; that the ancient streets
Scarce hear the footfall of the passer-by;
That mighty fragments lie beside the walls;
That hearths are desolate; that far and wide
Fields thick with bramble and untilled for years
Demand the labours of the hind in vain:
All this nor Pyrrhus caused, nor Punic chief,
Nor sword thrust deep. 'Twas civil strife alone
That dealt the wound and left the death behind.
Yet if the fates could find no other way
For Nero's coming, nor the gods with ease
Gain thrones in heaven; and if the Thunderer
Prevailed not till the giants' war was done,
We plain no more, ye gods! for such a boon
All wickedness be welcome and all crime;
Thronged with our dead be dire Pharsalia's fields,
Be Punic ghosts avenged by Roman blood;
Add, Caesar, to these ills the Mutin toils;
Perusia's dearth; on Munda's final field
The shock of battle joined; let Leucas' Cape
Shatter the routed navies; servile hands
Unsheath the sword on fiery Etna's slopes:
Still Rome is gainer by the civil war.
Thou, Caesar, art her prize. When thou shalt choose,
Thy watch relieved, to seek at length the stars,
All heaven rejoicing; and shalt hold a throne,
Or else elect to govern Phoebus' car
And light a subject world that shall not dread
To owe her brightness to a different Sun;
All shall concede thy right: do what thou wilt,
Select thy Godhead, and the central clime
Whence thou shalt rule the world with power divine.
And yet the Northern or the Southern Pole
We pray thee, choose not; but in rays direct
Vouchsafe thy radiance to thy city Rome.
Press thou on either side, the universe
Should lose its equipoise: take thou the midst,
And weight the scales, and let that part of heaven
Where Caesar sits be evermore serene
And smile upon us with unclouded blue.
Then may all men lay down their arms, and peace
Through all the nations reign, and shut the gates
That close the temple of the God of War.
Be thou my help, to me e'en now divine!
Let Delphi's steep her own Apollo guard,
And Nysa keep her Bacchus, uninvoked.
Rome is my subject and my muse art thou!
First of such deeds I purpose to unfold
The causes task immense what drove to arms
A maddened nation and from all the world
Struck peace away.
By envious fate's decrees
Abide not long the mightiest lords of earth;
Too great the burden, great shall be the fall.
Thus Rome o'ergrew her strength. So when that hour,
The last in all the centuries, shall sound
The world's disruption, all things shall revert
To that primaeval chaos, stars on stars
Shall crash; and fiery meteors from the sky
Plunge in the ocean. Earth shall then no more
Front with her bulwark the encroaching sea:
The moon, indignant at her path oblique,
Shall drive her chariot 'gainst her brother Sun
And claim the day for hers; and discord huge
Shall rend the spheres asunder. On themselves
The great are dashed: such end the gods have set
To height of power: nor ever Fortune shares
With other lands the weapons of her spite
Against a nation lord of land and sea.
Thou, Rome, degraded, sold, the common prey
Of triple despots, of a tyrant rule
Partnered as ne'er before-thyself art cause
Of all the ills. Ye chiefs, with greed of power
Blind, leagued for evil, is your force conjoined
To hold the world in common as your prize?
So long as Sea on Earth and Earth on Air
Lean for support while Titan runs his course,
And night with day divides an equal sphere,
No king shall brook his fellow, nor shall rule
Endure a rival. Search no foreign lands:
These walls are proof that in their infant days
A hamlet, not the world, was prize enough
To cause the shedding of a brothers blood.
Concord, on discord based, brief time endured,
Unwelcome to the rivals; and alone
Crassus delayed the advent of the war.
Like to the slender neck that separates
The seas of Graecia: should it be engulfed
Then would th' Ionian and Aegean mains
Break each on other: thus when Crassus fell,
Who held apart the chiefs, in piteous death,
And stained Assyria's plains with Latian blood,
Defeat in Parthia loosed the war in Rome.
More in that victory than ye thought was won,
Ye sons of Arsaces; your conquered foes
Took at your hands the rage of civil strife.
By sword the realm is parted; and the state
Supreme o'er earth and sea, wide as the world,
Could not find space for two. For Julia bore,
Cut off by fate unpitying, the bond
Of that ill-omened marriage and the pledge
Of blood united, to the shades below.
Hadst thou but longer stayed, it had been thine
To keep the parent and the spouse apart,
Strike sword from grasp and join the threatening hands;
As Sabine matrons in the days of old
Joined in the midst the bridegroom and the sire.
With thee all trust was buried, and the chiefs
Could give their courage vent, and rushed to war.
Lest newer glories triumphs past obscure,
Late conquered Gaul the bays from pirates won,
This, Magnus, is thy fear; thy roll of fame,
Of glorious deeds accomplished for the state
Allows no equal; nor will Caesar's pride
A prior rival in his triumphs brook;
Which had the right 'twere impious to enquire;
Each for his cause can vouch a judge supreme;
The victor, heaven: the vanquished, Cato, thee.
Nor were they like to like: the one in years
Now verging towards decay, in times of peace
Had unlearned war; but thirsting for applause
Gave to the people much, and proud of fame
His former glory cared not to renew,
But joyed in plaudits of the theatre,
His gift to Rome: his triumphs in the past,
Himself the shadow of a mighty name.
As when some oak, in fruitful field sublime,
Adorned with venerable spoils, and gifts
Of bygone leaders, by its weight to earth
With feeble roots still clings; its naked arms
And hollow trunk, though leafless, give a shade;
And though condemned beneath the tempest's shock
To speedy fall, amid the sturdier trees
In sacred grandeur rules the forest still.
No such repute had Caesar won, nor fame;
But energy was his that could not rest-
The only shame he knew was not to win.
Keen and unvanquished, where revenge or hope
Might call, resistless would he strike the blow
With sword unpitying: every victory won
Reaped to the full; the favour of the gods
Pressed to the utmost; all that stayed his course
Aimed at the summit of power, was thrust aside:
Triumph his joy, though ruin marked his track.
As parts the clouds a bolt by winds compelled,
With crack of riven air and crash of worlds,
And veils the light of day, and on mankind,
Blasting their vision with its flames oblique,
Sheds deadly fright; then turning to its home,
Nought but the air opposing, through its path
Spreads havoc, and collects its scattered fires.
Such were the hidden motives of the chiefs;
But in the public life the seeds of war
Their hold had taken, such as are the doom
Of potent nations: and when fortune poured
Through Roman gates the booty of a world,
The curse of luxury, chief bane of states,
Fell on her sons. Farewell the ancient ways!
Behold the pomp profuse, the houses decked
With ornament; their hunger loathed the food
Of former days; men wore attire for dames
Scarce fitly fashioned; poverty was scorned,
Fruitful of warriors; and from all the world
Came that which ruins nations; while the fields
Furrowed of yore by great Camillus' plough,
Or by the mattock which a Curius held,
Lost their once narrow bounds, and widening tracts
By hinds unknown were tilled. No nation this
To sheathe the sword, with tranquil peace content
And with her liberties; but prone to ire;
Crime holding light as though by want compelled:
Great was the glory in the minds of men,
Ambition lawful even at point of sword,
To rise above their country: might their law:
Decrees were forced from Senate and from Plebs:
Consul and Tribune broke the laws alike:
Bought were the fasces, and the people sold
For gain their favour: bribery's fatal curse
Stained every yearly contest of the Field.
Then covetous usury rose, and interest
Was greedier with the seasons; and all trust
Was crushed; and many found a boon in war.
Caesar has crossed the Alps, his mighty soul
Great tumults pondering and the coming shock.
Now on the marge of Rubicon, he saw,
In face most sorrowful and ghostly guise,
His trembling country's image; huge it seemed
Through mists of night obscure; and hoary hair
Streamed from the lofty front with turrets crowned:
Torn were her locks and naked were her arms.
Then thus, with broken sighs the Vision spake:
What seek ye, men of Rome? and whither hence
Bear ye my standards? If by right ye come,
My citizens, stay here; these are the bounds;
No further dare.' But Caesar's hair was stiff
With horror as he gazed, and ghastly dread
Restrained his footsteps on the further bank.
Then spake he, ' Thunderer, who from the rock
Tarpeian seest the wall of mighty Rome;
Gods of my race who watched o'er Troy of old;
Thou Jove of Alba's height, and Vestal fires,
And rites of Romulus erst rapt to heaven,
And God-like Rome; be friendly to my quest.
Not with offence or hostile arms I come,
Thy Caesar, conqueror by land and sea,
Thy soldier here and wheresoe'er thou wilt:
No other's; his, his only be the guilt
Whose acts make me thy foe.' He gives the word
And bids his standards cross the swollen stream.
So in the wastes of Afric's burning clime
The lion crouches as his foes draw near,
Feeding his wrath the while, his lashing tail
Provokes his fury; stiff upon his neck
Bristles his mane: deep from his gaping jaws
Resounds the muttered growl, and should a lance
Or javelin reach him from the hunter's ring,
Scorning the puny scratch he bounds afield.
From modest fountain blood-red Rubicon
In summer's heat flows on; his pigmy tide
Creeps through the valleys and with slender marge
Divides the Italian peasant from the Gaul.
Then winter gave him strength, and fraught with rain
The third day's crescent moon; while Eastern winds
Thawed from the Alpine slopes the yielding snow.
The cavalry first form across the stream
To break the torrent's force; the rest with ease
Beneath their shelter gain the further bank.
When Caesar crossed and trod beneath his feet
The soil of Italy's forbidden fields,
Here,' spake he, 'peace, here broken laws be left;
Farewell to treaties. Fortune, lead me on;
War is our judge, and in the fates our trust.'
Then in the shades of night he leads the troops
Swifter than Balearic sling or shaft
Winged by retreating Parthian, to the walls
Of threatened Rimini, while fled the stars,
Save Lucifer, before the coming sun,
Whose fires were veiled in clouds, by south wind driven,
Or else at heaven's command: and thus drew on
The first dark morning of the civil war.
Now stood the troops within the captured town,
Their standards planted; and the trumpet clang
Rang forth in harsh alarums, giving note
Of impious strife: roused from their sleep the men
Rushed to the hall and snatched the ancient arms
Long hanging through the years of peace; the shield
With crumbling frame; dark with the tooth of rust
Their swords; and javelins with blunted point.
But when the well-known signs and eagles shone,
And Caesar towering o'er the throng was seen,
They shook for terror, fear possessed their limbs,
And thoughts unuttered stirred within their souls.
O miserable those to whom their home
Denies the peace that all men else enjoy!
Placed as we are beside the Northern bounds
And scarce a footstep from the restless Gaul,
We fall the first; would that our lot had been
Beneath the Eastern sky, or frozen North,
To lead a wandering life, rather than keep
' The gates of Latium. Brennus sacked the town
' And Hannibal, and all the Teuton hosts.
' This is the path when Rome's the prize of war.'
Deep in their breasts they breathed the silent moan;
But dared not speak their sorrow nor their fear.
As when in winter all the fields are still,
And birds are voiceless, and no murmured sound
Breaks on the silence of the central sea;
So deep the stillness. But when through the shades
The day had broken, lo! the torch of war!
For by the hand of Fate is swift dispersed
All Caesar's shame of battle, and his mind
Scarce doubted more; and Fortune toiled to make
His action just and give him cause for arms.
For while Rome wavered and her patriots' names
Were loud and frequent in the mouths of men,
The Senate angered and in scorn of right
Drove out the Tribunes who withstood their will.
To Caesar's troops already on the march
They haste with Curio, who in former days
With bold and venal tongue had dared to speak
For Freedom, and to voice the people's wrongs,
And summon to their side the chiefs in arms.
Who, when he saw that Caesar doubted still,
Spake out; ' So long as I the rostrum held
' By this my voice against the Senate's will
' Was thy command prolonged, and to thy side
' By me were drawn the wavering men of Rome.
' Mute now are laws in war; we from our hearths
Are driven, yet willing exiles; for thine arms
Shall make us citizens of Rome again.
'Strike; for no strength as yet the foe hath gained.
'To pause when ready is to court defeat:
'Like risk, like labour, thou hast known before,
'But never such reward. Could Gallia hold
'Thine armies ten long years ere victory came,
'That little nook of earth? One paltry fight
'Or twain, fought out by thy resistless hand,
'And Rome for thee shall have subdued the world:
'Tis true no triumph now would bring thee home;
'No captive tribes would grace thy chariot wheels
'Winding in pomp around the ancient hill:
'Spite, gnawing spite, denies thee all thy due;
For all thy conquests, for a world well won
'Scarce shalt thou go unpunished. Yet 'tis fate
'Thou should'st subdue thy kinsman: share the world
'With him thou canst not; rule thou canst, alone.'

> Latin: Praefatur poeta argumentum. Conqueritur de bello ipso. Alloquitur Neronem. De causis belli internis. Aemulatio inter Pompeium et Caesarem, mortuo Crasso. Luxuries Romana. Caesar Rubiconem transit, Ariminumque invadit. Queruntur incolae eius regionis, sese primos cuiusque belli sentire damna. Accedit Curio, Roma expulsus, ad Caesarem, eumque ad bellum hortatur. Caesar milites alloquitur. Dubiis militibus, Laelius item ad bellum hortatur. Adsentiunt milites. Ergo Caesar Romam petit. Enumerantur copiae. Fama maior vero Romae de eius adventu. Metus populi. Fugiunt senatores et cives, et ipse Pompeius. Prodigia visa enarrantur. Ea propter consulitur Tuscus vates Aruns. Lustratur urbs. Sacrificium fit infaustum. Mala praesagit Aruns. Item Figulus. Item matrona quaedam.
Prooemium de prodigiis. Melius esse, nulla fieri. Describitur turbatus Romae status. Queruntur matronae. Queruntur viri, quorum aliquis senior prolixa oratione de superiori bello civili inter Marium Syllamque gesto disserit. Interritus tamen his omnibus, Brutus noctu ad Catonem adit, eumque alloquitur, et quaerit, quod sit consilium suum. Respondet Cato: se Pompeium secuturum, et ad idem faciendum Brutum incitat. Dum ii colloquuntur inter se, intrat Marcia, quam Cato sibi nuptam, olim Hortensio cesserat; ea, mortuo Hortensio, iterum Catonis matrimonium petit, in bellum eum secutura. Ergo iunguntur statim, praesente Bruto. Interea Pompeius in Campaniam cesserat; describitur Apenninus mons cum fluminibus suis. Caesar omnem Italiam occupat; fugiunt Libo, Thermus, Sylla, Varus, Lentulus, Scipio ex oppidis suis, quae tenuerunt. Domitius Corfinii, ponte rupto fluvioque supra ripam emisso, morari Caesarem conatur; ille tamen transit flumen; dumque obsidere parat Corfinium, cives Domitium ei tradunt, quem Caesar libertate invitum etiam donat. Interim Pompeius suas cohortes alloquitur, proeliumque promittit in posterum diem. Non acclamantibus tamen militibus, cedit usque ad Brundusium. Describitur eius oppidi situs. Dimittit filium Pompeius in Asiam, ad sollicitandos reges. Ipse in Epirum transire parat. Persequitur Pompeium Caesar, mareque praecludere vallo molitur. Pompeius Italiam relinquit. Caesar Brundusium intrat.
Pompeio naviganti in somnio apparet Iulia, uxor quondam eius, cruentumque fore bellum praedicit. Appellit ad Epirum Pompeius. Caesar Curio mandat, ut ex Sicilia annonam procuret. Deinde Romam tendit. Romae timor. Senatus Caesari obnoxius. Unus Metellus tribunus se opponit aerarium spoliaturis. Minatur ei Caesar. Cotta Metellum ad cedendum hortatur. Aperitur templum, aerariumque inde profertur. Interim Pompeius copias ex Graecia Asiaque cogit; quae recensentur. Caesar in Hispaniam iturus ad Massiliam tendit, quae fida manserat Pompeio. Mittunt Massilienses legatos ad eum, civile bellum deprecantes. Caesar tamen Massiliam obsidet. Describuntur munitiones. Lucum iubet Caesar exscindi sacrum, cogitque ipse renuentes milites. Caesar in Hispaniam proficiscens, Trebonio mandat oppugnationem. Agger iacitur; pugnatur; acceditur ad muros; vinea agitur. Erumpunt noctu Massilienses, hostesque profligant terra. Igitur mari res tentatur. Brutus adest cum classe. Navalis fit pugna. Ea uberius per singuli facinora describitur. Vincuntur Massilienses, Brutusque victor evadit.
Interea Caesar in Hispaniam venit, ubi Afranius et Petreius legati praeerant copiis Pompeianis vel potius Romanis Iberisque cum illis coniunctis. Ad Ilerdam res geritur. Fit proelium. Vere adveniente aquarum fiunt fluctus, et inundantur castra. Fames oritur et annonae caritas. Diluvium. Denique aquae recedunt; Petreius Ilerda abit. Caesar eum persequens pugnam facit. Fugientem hostem Caesar a tergo iubet excipi. Castra locantur utrimque et a Pompeianis et Caesarianis. Agnoscunt se invicem cives, et manus copulant, et pocula iungunt. At Petreius suos abigit, eosque alloquitur. Bellum recipitur. Fuga fit Pompeianorum Ilerdam versus. Caesar eos aqua intercludit. Describitur Pompeianorum aquae inopia. Afranius pacem petit a Caesare. Fit pax. Recreantur adversarii et milites et incolae. Interim Antonius, Caesaris legatus, in ora Dalmatica Salonis obsidetur a Pompeianis. Conantur Caesariani effugere noctu ratibus iunctis. Quarum duae feliciter elabuntur. At intercepti a Pompeianis qui tertia vehuntur, semet ipsos invicem ad unum omnes interficiunt. Curio interim, ex Sicilia ad Bagradam fluvium in Africa appellit prope Uticam, edoceturque ab incola quodam de ea regione, deque Herculis ibi contra Antaeum rebus gestis, et de Scipione. Curio Varum pellit. Contra Iubam pugnat; sed circumventus eius insidiis, ipse cum copiis perit. Apostrophe ad Curionem.
Sub initio anni consules in Epiro in exercitu Pompeii comitia habent. Lentulus patres alloquitur hortaturque ut Pompeium iubeant esse ducem. Id quod fit. Dein reges, qui auxilia miserant, laudati. Appius Pompeianus consulit oraculum Delphicum, quod diu siluerat. Describitur oraculum. Aperitur templum. Pythia dehortatur. Adigitur tamen ut tripoda conscendat. Furor eam invadit. Eloquitur oraculum de Appio ipso ante Pharsalicam pugnam in Euboea insula morituro. Apostrophe ad oraculum. Exit Pythia templo, animumque humanum recipit. Apostrophe ad Appium. Interim redux ex Hispania Caesar, deprehendit milites ad pacem inclinantes, bellumque pertaesos, et tumultuantes idcirco. Caesar interritus eos alloquitur, minaturque. Mutatur militum animus. Caesar Brundusium eos mittit ibique classem parare iubet. Ipse Romam it, resque ibi ordinat. Inde Brundusium, media hieme. Confirmat milites. Traiicit fretum, adque Palaesten appellit in Epiro. Dein ad Dyrrhachium castra fiunt. Caesarem moratur, ne pugna statim fiat, Antonius, Brundusii relictus, hiemeque ne eum sequeretur impeditus. Caesar decernit solus Brundusium navigare, Antoniumque accersere. Ergo ad litus it. Ibi cymbam deprehendit, eiusque dominum Amyclam quendam ex somno excitat, promissisque magnis adigit, ut secum fretum transiiciat. Tempestas fit. Timet nauta. Confirmat eum Caesar. Describitur tempestas. Ad Italiam appellit Caesar. Redeuntem deinde sui carpunt milites, quod sese reliquerit. Transiiciunt Brundusio reliquae copiae. Pompeius uxorem Corneliam Lesbum dimittit, quo tuta sit a bello. Alloquitur eam. Illa respondet. Cornelia conscendit navem. Lesbum navigat.
Caesar, frustra provocato ad pugnam Pompeio, ad Dyrrhachium tendit. Pompeius iter ei praecludit. Describitur oppidi situs. Caesar obsidionem molitur, castellaque exstruit. Qua re animadversa, Pompeius facit eruptiones, ut distrahat Caesaris copias. Fames oritur et lues in Pompeii exercitu. Item fames in Caesaris. Pompeius castellum aliquod oppugnat, ac paene expugnasset, nisi defensum esset a Scaeva, forti viro, cuius egregie factum enarratur. Repulsus hac parte Pompeius alia castella aggreditur, capitque unum eorum. Caesar recipere illud conatur, sed frustra. Ergo in Thessaliam it, eoque eum sequitur Pompeius. Describitur Thessaliae situs. Uterque castra locant, copiis trepide rerum exitum spectantibus. Inter Pompeianos erat Sextus, Magni filius. Is, magicorum arcanorum studiosus, futura scire avens, spretis verioribus oraculis, veneficas Thessaliae adit. Quarum artes describuntur. Earum una Erichtho, reliquarum more spreto, urbes fugit, desertaque incolit, cadavera inquirens laceransque et ad suas artes adhibens. Ergo eam Sextus cum comitibus noctu investigat, invenitque sedentem et multam carmine caedem Thessaliae precantem. Alloquitur eam, rogatque, ut, quid futurum sit, ex mortuo aliquo se scientem faciat. Respondet illa, se facturam quod rogaverit. Ergo eligit sibi unum ex cadaveribus. Id unco pertrahitur ad caveam veneficae. Describitur locus, et ornatus Erichthus. Pavet Sextus. Confirmat eum Erichtho. Efficit illa, arte et carminibus, ut reviviscat cadaver. Iubet illud Erichtho fata eloqui. Ergo eloquitur, et infausta quidem et omnino Romanis et imprimis Pompeiis. Quo facto demum Erichtho, rogo incenso, cadaver mori patitur, Sextumque, ad castra redeuntem, comitatur.
Nocte ante pugnam Pompeius inani somnii specie luditur. Orto sole, cupidis pugnae militibus, ipsoque Cicerone hortante, Magnus, quamquam invitus, signum pugnae dat. Milites se parant. Prodigia narrantur. Populi metuunt. Vates quidam in Italia superiore praedicat pugnam ea ipsa die inter Pompeium et Caesarem pugnari. Describitur Pompeii acies. Laetus eam conspicit Caesar. Caesar militesque suos alloquitur. Arripiunt arma. Pompeius alloquitur suos. Conqueritur poeta de funesto Romae bello, deque amissa per pugnam Pharsalicam libertate Romana. Primus pugnam inchoat Crastinus Caesarianus. Describitur furor pugnantium. Caesar Pompeianos ab latere adoritur. Pelluntur Pompeii equites, e barbaris populis collecti. Centrum tamen resistit, ubi Romani. Abhorret poeta ab descriptione pugnae. Caesar suos hortatur. Brutus in exercitu Pompeii. Cadunt patricii; cadit Domitius. Horret queriturque pugnam poeta. Fugit Pompeius equo. Apostrophe ad eum. Pompeius Larissam venit; dein pergit in fuga. Caesar castra Pompeii occupat. Inhumata iacent cadavera. Ferae ad dapes veniunt. Apostrophe.
Pompeius in fuga ad litus maris devenit. Conscendit cymbam, eamque Lesbum dirigi iubet, ubi Cornelia uxor; cuius animi status describitur. Appellit ad Lesbum Pompeius. Solatur uxorem. Respondet Cornelia. Mitylenaei Pompeium ad se invitant. Ille eos laudat. Abit tamen Lesbo cum Cornelia, lugentibus incolis. Pompeius nocte in navi sedens loquitur cum gubernatore, quem iubet vitare Thessaliam Italiamque, ceterum navis cursum Fortunae committere. Sole orto eum assequuntur et Sextus filius, et alii proceres amicique. Ex his legat Deiotarum ad Orientis populos, auxilia conquisitum. Ille igitur, servili habitu indutus, escendit e navi in litus Asiae. Pompeius praeternavigat Ephesum, Samum, Rhodum, Pamphyliam, Taurum. In Cilicia alloquitur comites suos, solatur, suadetque, ut secum ad Parthos Eoasque gentes proficiscantur. Nam Aegyptiorum fidem aut Maurorum esse suspectam. Illi renuunt, respondetque Lentulus, hortans ut Aegyptum eat. Ergo Cyprum tendit. Inde traiecto mari, Pharon praenavigat, et ad Pelusium appellit. Ibi audit, regem in propinquo adesse; ergo flectit iter. Rex autem de Pompeii adventu comperit; ergo concilium convocat. In eo concilio Pothinus suadet regi, ut interimat Pompeium. Ergo Ptolemaeus Achillam ablegat. Apostrophe poetae. Achillas parva rate ad Pompeii navem accedens, invitat eum nomine regis, suadetque, ut ratem suam conscendat. Solus ergo conscendit. Ibi eum confodiunt Septimius et Achillas. Postrema Pompeius facit verba. Conqueritur, facinore viso, Cornelia fugiente navi sua. Septimius Pompeii caput abscidit, Achillaeque tradit. Apostrophe. Reliquum cadaver in mare proiectum servat Cordus, qui ex insula Cypra Pompeium secutus erat, in litusque affert, ibique comburit, deinde sepelit ossa, lapidemque imponit cum inscriptione. Apostrophe de Pompeii fato, deque Aegypto, illiusque tumulo.
At anima Pompeii, busto relicto, evolat ad piorum sedes, indeque terram despicit, et implet pectora suorum, Bruti et Catonis. Cato, iam totus Pompeianus, cum copiarum reliquiis Corcyram petit. Inde Cretam, ac denique Africam, ubi classem Pompeii deprehendunt, in qua Cornelia. Illa enim viso Pompeii sepulcro lamentata erat, nolueratque Aegypto abire, hortata Sextum, ut ipse in bellum proficisceretur; deinde in imam navis partem sese abdiderat. Ea ad Cyprum appulerat; dein ad Africam denuo, ad Catonis alteriusque Pompeii filii castra. Ibi Sextus edocet fratrem de nece patris. Ille Aegyptum petere vult. At Cato retinet. Cornelia in litus egressa ibi comburit Magni vestes et arma et insignia quae gesserat, loco ut essent cineris sibi; funusque instituit. Laudat Pompeium egregia oratione Cato. Milites interea Catonis fremunt, belloque abscedere postulant. Et primus Cilix Tarchondimotus; quem carpit Cato. At respondet ei alius ex illis, se Pompeium secutos esse, non civile bellum; velle abire domum. Indignatur Cato, et oratione eos retinet. Exercentur armis milites; expugnantur Cyrenaeorum oppida. Regnum deinde Iubae petitur navibus. Syrtes describuntur. Tempestas oritur. Ibi aliae naves alio deferuntur. Pars ad Tritonis paludem. Depingitur ea regio fabulosa. Sylva ibi olim aurea Hesperidum, fluviusque Letho. Hinc classis, syrtibus liberata, in Libyae ora stationem capit. At Cato, morae impatiens, suadet egredi in continentem, terraque per arenas iter facere. Describitur Libya, et mala iter ibi facientibus perpetienda. Arena conflictantur milites, sitim patiuntur. Ad Iovis Hammonis sedem perveniunt. Describitur eius situs. Labienus hortatur, ut consulant oraculum. At Cato non opus esse ait ei, qui sciat fortiter moriendum esse forti viro. Ita abeunt templo. Pergunt, praeeunte Catone; deveniunt ad fontem serpentibus plenum, e quo bibunt, hortante duce, illaesi. Quaerit poeta, unde tanta in Africa serpentum copia? Ergo facit digressionem de Phorcyadibus Medusaque, quae describitur. Narratur Perseus Gorgoni caput abscidisse, deinde per aera super Libyam volasse, ubi ex cruore Gorgonis destillante serpentes enati sint; qui describuntur. Per ea loca dum Cato iter facit, multi a serpentibus interimuntur, quorum mortes enarrantur. Queruntur milites. Catonis fortitudo constans. Lenitur malum a Psyllis, venenum exsugentibus. Denique Leptin perveniunt. Caesar interim, Pompeium quaerens, Hellespontum adit, Troiamque, cuius regio describitur; deinde Aegyptum. Ibi satelles regius ei obviam venit, Pompeii caput offerens. Lacrimatur Caesar, quamvis laetus, increpatque satellitem regemque. Pompeii manes placare eos iubet.
Caesar, inter dubiae fidei Aegyptios intrepide versans, Alexandriam venit, locumque adit, quo Alexandri magni ossa dicebantur esse condita. De Alexandro Eoisque populis declamatio poetae. Interim rex puer, Ptolemaeus, sedato populo suo, apud Caesarem est; ad quem et astu advehitur Cleopatra. Declamatio de illa. Cleopatra Caesarem alloquitur supplex, rogatque ut se fratremque contra Pothini satellitis impotentiam tutetur. Adnuit Caesar. Luxuries Aegyptiorum describitur. Accumbunt epulis. Depingitur ornatus et forma Cleopatrae, luxusque in convivio. Caesar in convivio alloquitur Achoreum sacerdotem summum, ab eoque cupit se edoceri de diis Aegyptiorum, deque Nili fontibus. Ille ergo primum de Sole planetisque et Zodiaco, deinde de Nilo disserit, cuius incrementi caussas latere adhuc ait, pariter atque fontes. Cursum enarrat. Interim Pothinus Achillam excitat ad Caesaris necem. Is igitur, collectis militibus, ad regiam accedit. Caesar portas claudi iubet, regemque obsidem apud se retinet. Adversarii oppugnant aedes. Caesar ubique adest. Etiam navibus res geritur. Caesar, rate conscensa, cum navibus Pharon occupat. Dein Pothinum punit, abscisso eius capite. Interea minor regis filia Arsinoe, regia relicta, ad exeritum venit, Achillaque interemto, Ganymedi copias mandat; qui deinde contra Caesarem bellum facit. Caesar in summis periculus meminit Scaevae illius fortissimi ( ), pariter quondam in castello, atque ipse, obsessi. Atque ibi carmen imperfectum desinit.
Bella per Emathios plus quam civilia campos
Iusque datum sceleri canimus, populumque potentem
In sua victrici conversum viscera dextra,
Cognatasque acies, et rupto foedere regni,
Certatum totis concussi viribus orbis
In commune nefas, infestisque obvia signis
Signa, pares aquilas, et pila minantia pilis.
Quis furor, o cives, quae tanta licentia ferri,
Gentibus invisis Latium praebere cruorem?
Cumque superba foret Babylon spolianda tropaeis
Ausoniis, umbraque erraret Crassus inulta,
Bella geri placuit nullos habitura triumphos?
Heu quantum terrae potuit pelagique parari
Hoc, quem civiles hauserunt, sanguine, dextrae,
Unde venit Titan, et nox ubi sidera condit,
Quaque dies medius flagrantibus aestuat horis,
Et qua bruma, rigens ac nescia vere remitti,
Adstringit Scythico glacialem frigore pontum!
Sub iuga iam Seres, iam barbarus isset Araxes,
Et gens si qua iacet nascenti conscia Nilo.
Tunc, si tantus amor belli tibi, Roma, nefandi,
Totum sub Latias leges cum miseris orbem,
In te verte manus: nondum tibi defuit hostis.
At nunc semirutis pendent quod moenia tectis
Urbibus Italiae, lapsisque ingentia muris
Saxa iacent, nulloque domus custode tenentur
Rarus et antiquis habitator in urbibus errat,
Horrida quod dumis multosque inarata per annos
Hesperia est, desuntque manus poscentibus arvis,
Non tu, Pyrrhe ferox, nec tantis cladibus auctor
Poenus erit: nulli penitus discindere ferro
Contigit: alta sedent civilis vulnera dextrae.
Quodsi non aliam venturo fata Neroni
Invenere viam, magnoque aeterna parantur
Regna deis, coelumque suo servire tonanti
Non nisi saevorum potuit post bella Gigantum:
Iam nihil, o superi, querimur: scelera ipsa nefasque
Hac mercede placent: diros Pharsalia campos
Impleat, et Poeni saturentur sanguine manes;
Ultima funesta concurrant proelia Munda.
His, Caesar, Perusina fames, Mutinaeque labores
Accedant fatis; et quas premit aspera classes
Leucas; et ardenti servilia bella sub Aetna:
Multum Roma tamen debet civilibus armis,
Quod tibi res acta est. Te, quum, statione peracta,
Astra petes serus, praelati regia coeli
Excipiet, gaudente polo, seu sceptra tenere,
Seu te flammigeros Phoebi conscendere currus,
Telluremque nihil mutato sole timentem
Igne vago lustrare iuvet: tibi numine ab omni
Cedetur, iurique tuo natura relinquet,
Quis deus esse velis, ubi regnum ponere mundi.
Sed neque in Arctoo sedem tibi legeris orbe,
Nec polus aversi calidus qua vergitur Austri;
Unde tuam videas obliquo sidere Romam.
Aetheris immensi partem si presseris unam,
Sentiet axis onus. Librati pondera coeli
Orbe tene medio: pars aetheris illa sereni
Tota vacet, nullaeque obstent a Caesare nubes.
Tunc genus humanum positis sibi consulat armis,
Inque vicem gens omnis amet: Pax missa per orbem
Ferrea belligeri compescat limina Iani.
Sed mihi iam numen: nec, si te pectore vates
Accipio, Cirrhaea velim secreta moventem
Sollicitare deum, Bacchumque avertere Nysa.
Tu satis ad dandas Romana in carmina vires.
Fert animus causas tantarum expromere rerum,
Immensumque aperitur opus, quid in arma furentem
Impulerit populum, quid pacem excusserit orbi.
Invida fatorum series, summisque negatum
Stare diu; nimioque graves sub pondere lapsus;
Nec se Roma ferens. Sic, quum, compage soluta,
Saecula tot mundi suprema coegerit hora,
Anticum repetent iterum chaos omnia; mixtis
Sidera sideribus concurrent: ignea pontum
Astra petent: tellus extendere litora nolet,
Excutietque fretum: fratri contraria Phoebe
Ibit, et, oblicum bigas agitare per orbem
Indignata, diem poscet sibi: totaque discors
Machina divulsi turbabit foedera mundi.
In se magna ruunt: laetis hunc numina rebus
Crescendi posuere modum. Nec gentibus ullis
Commodat in populum, terrae pelagique potentem,
Invidiam Fortuna suam. Tu caussa malorum,
Facta tribus dominis communis, Roma, nec umquam
In turbam missi feralia foedera regni.
O male concordes nimiaque cupidine caeci,
Quid miscere iuvat vires, orbemque tenere
In medio? Dum terra fretum, terramque levabit
Aer, et longi volvent Titana labores,
Noxque diem coelo totidem per signa sequetur,
Nulla fides regni sociis, omnisque potestas
Impatiens consortis erit. Nec gentibus ullis
Credite, nec longe fatorum exempla petantur.
Fraterno primi maduerunt sanguine muri.
Nec pretium tanti tellus pontusque furoris
Tunc erat: exiguum dominos commisit asylum.
Temporis augusti mansit concordia discors;
Paxque fuit non sponte ducum. Nam sola futuri
Crassus erat belli medius mora. Qualiter, undas
Qui secat et geminum gracilis mare separat Isthmos,
Nec patitur conferre fretum; si terra recedat,
Ionium Aegaeo franget mare: sic, ubi, saeva
Arma ducum dirimens, miserando funere Crassus
Assyrias Latio maculavit sanguine Carras,
Parthica Romanos solverunt damna furores.
Plus illa vobis acie, quam creditis, actum est,
Arsacidae: bellum victis civile dedistis.
Dividitur ferro regnum: populique potentis,
Quae mare, quae terras, quae totum continet orbem,
Non cepit fortuna duos. Nam pignora iuncti
Sanguinis, et diro ferales omine tedas
Abstulit ad manes, Parcarum, Iulia, saeva
Intercepta manu. Quodsi tibi fata dedissent
Maiores in luce moras, tu sola furentes
Inde virum poteras atque hinc retinere parentem,
Armatasque manus excusso iungere ferro,
Ut generos mediae soceris iunxere Sabinae.
Morte tua discussa fides, bellumque movere
Permissum ducibus. Stimulos dedit aemula virtus.
Tu, nova ne veteres obscurent facta triumphos,
Et victis cedat piratica laurea Gallis,
Magne, times: te iam series ususque laborum
Erigit, impatiensque loci fortuna secundi.
Nec quemquam iam ferre potest Caesarve priorem,
Pompeiusve parem. Quis iustius induit arma,
Scire nefas: magno se iudice quisque tuetur:
Victrix caussa deis placuit, sed victa Catoni
Nec coiere pares: alter, vergentibus annis
In senium, longoque togae tranquillior usu,
Dedidicit iam pace ducem; famaeque petitor,
Multa dare in vulgus; totus popularibus auris
Impelli, plausuque sui gaudere theatri:
Nec reparare novas vires, multumque priori
Credere fortunae. Stat magni nominis umbra:
Qualis frugifero quercus sublimis in agro,
Exuvias veteres populi sacrataque gestans
Dona ducum, nec iam validis radicibus haerens,
Pondere fixa suo est; nudosque per aera ramos
Effundens, trunco, non frondibus, efficit umbram;
Et quamvis primo nutet casura sub Euro,
Tot circum silvae firmo se robore tollant,
Sola tamen colitur. Sed non in Caesare tantum
Nomen erat, nec fama ducis: sed nescia virtus
Stare loco: solusque pudor, non vincere bello.
Acer et indomitus; quo spes, quoque ira vocasset,
Ferre manum, et numquam temerando parcere ferro:
Successus urgere suos, instare favori
Numinis: impellens, quidquid sibi, summa petenti,
Obstaret, gaudensque viam fecisse ruina.
Qualiter expressum ventis per nubila fulmen
Aetheris impulsi sonitu mundique fragore
Emicuit, rupitque diem, populosque paventes
Terruit, obliqua praestringens lumina flamma.
In sua templa furit: nullaque exire vetante
Materia, magnamque cadens, magnamque revertens
Dat stragem late, sparsosque recolligit ignes.
Hae ducibus caussae suberant: sed publica belli
Semina, quae populos semper mersere potentes.
Namque ut opes mundo nimias fortuna subacto
Intulit, et rebus mores cessere secundis,
Praedaque et hostiles luxum suasere rapinae:
Non auro tectisque modus: mensasque priores
Aspernata fames: cultus, gestare decoros
Vix nuribus, rapuere mares: foecunda virorum
Paupertas fugitur, totoque accersitur orbe,
Quo gens quaeque perit. Tum longos iungere fines
Agrorum, et quondam duro sulcata Camilli
Vomere, et antiquos Curiorum passa ligones
Longa sub ignotis extendere rura colonis.
Non erat is populus, quem pax tranquilla iuvaret,
Quem sua libertas immotis pasceret armis.
Inde irae faciles; et, quod suasisset egestas,
Vile nefas; magnumque decus, ferroque petendum,
Plus patria potuisse sua; mensuraque iuris
Vis erat: hinc leges et plebiscita coactae,
Et cum consulibus turbantes iura tribuni:
Hinc rapti fasces pretio, sectorque favoris
Ipse sui populus; letalisque ambitus urbi,
Annua venali referens certamina Campo:
Hinc usura vorax, avidumque in tempora foenus,
Et concussa fides, et multis utile bellum.
Iam gelidas Caesar cursu superaverat Alpes,
Ingentesque animo motus, bellumque futurum
Ceperat. Ut ventum est parvi Rubiconis ad undas,
Ingens visa duci Patriae trepidantis imago
Clara per obscuram vultu moestissima noctem,
Turrigero canos effundens vertice crines,
Caesarie lacera, nudisque adstare lacertis,
Et gemitu permixta loqui: Quo tenditis ultra?
Quo fertis mea signa, viri? Si iure venitis,
Si cives, huc usque licet. Tum perculit horror
Membra ducis; riguere comae, gressusque coercens
Languor in extrema tenuit vestigia ripa.
Mox ait: O magnae qui moenia prospicis urbis
Tarpeia de rupe, Tonans, Phrygiique penates
Gentis Iuleae, et rapti secreta Quirini,
Et residens celsa Latialis Iuppiter Alba,
Vestalesque foci, summique o numinis instar
Roma, fave coeptis. Non te furialibus armis
Persequor. En, adsum, victor terraque marique
Caesar, ubique tuus, liceat modo, nunc quoque, miles.
Ille erit, ille nocens, qui me tibi fecerit hostem.
Inde moras solvit belli, tumidumque per amnem
Signa tulit propere: sicut squalentibus arvis
Aestiferae Libyes viso leo comminus hoste
Subsedit dubius, totam dum colligit iram;
Mox ubi se saevae stimulavit verbere caudae
Erexitque iubas, vasto et grave murmur hiatu
Infremuit: tum, torta levis si lancea Mauri
Haereat, aut latum subeant venabula pectus,
Per ferrum, tanti securus vulneris, exit.
Fonte cadit modico, parvisque impellitur undis
Puniceus Rubicon, cum fervida canduit aestas:
Perque imas serpit valles, et Gallica certus
Limes ab Ausoniis disterminat arva colonis.
Tum vires praebebat hiems, atque auxerat undas
Tertia iam gravido pluvialis Cynthia cornu,
Et madidis Euri resolutae flatibus Alpes.
Primus in oblicum sonipes opponitur amnem,
Excepturus aquas: molli tum cetera rumpit
Turba vado faciles iam fracti fluminis undas.
Caesar ut adversam, superato gurgite, ripam
Attigit, Hesperiae vetitis et constitit arvis:
Hic, ait, hic pacem temerataque iura relinquo;
Te, Fortuna, sequor. Procul hinc iam foedera sunto.
Credidimus fatis. Utendum est iudice bello.
Sic fatus, noctis tenebris rapit agmina ductor
Impiger, et torto Balearis verbere fundae
Ocior, et missa Parthi post terga sagitta;
Vicinumque minax invadit Ariminum. Ignes
Solis lucifero fugiebant astra relicto,
Iamque dies primos belli visura tumultus
Exoritur. Seu sponte deum, seu turbidus Auster
Impulerit, moestam tenuerunt nubila lucem.
Constitit ut capto iussus deponere miles
Signa fore, stridor lituum clangorque tubarum
Non pia concinuit cum rauco classica cornu.
Rupta quies populi, stratisque excita iuventus
Diripuit sacris adfixa penatibus arma,
Quae pax longa dabat: nuda iam crate fluentes
Invadunt clypeos, curvataque cuspide pile,
Et scabros nigrae morsu rubiginis enses.
Ut notae fulsere aquilae Romanaque signa,
Et celsus medio conspectus in agmine Caesar,
Diriguere metu, gelidus pavor occupat artus,
Et tacito mutos volvunt in pectore questus:
O male vicinis haec moenia condita Gallis,
O tristi damnata loco! Pax alta per omnes
Et tranquilla quies populos: nos praeda furentum
Primaque castra sumus. Melius, Fortuna, dedisses
Orbe sub Eoo sedem gelidaque sub Areto,
Errantesque domos, Latii quam claustra tueri.
Nos primi Senonum motus, Cimbrumque furentem
Vidimus, et Martem Libyes, cursumque furoris
Teutonici. Quoties Romam Fortuna lacessit,
Hac iter est bellis. Gemitu sic quisque latenti,
Non ausus timuisse palam: vox nulla dolori
Credita: sed quantum, volucres cum bruma coercet,
Rura silent, mediusque tacet sine murmure pontus,
Tanta quies. Noctis gelidas lux solverat umbras:
Ecce faces belli, dubiaeque in proelia menti
Urgentes addunt stimulos cunctasque pudoris
Rumpunt fata moras: iustos Fortuna laborat
Esse ducis motus, et causas invenit armis.
Expulit ancipiti discordes urbe tribunos
Victo iure minax iactatis curia Gracchis.
Hos iam mota ducis vicinaque signa petentes
Audax venali comitatur Curio lingua:
Vox quondam populi, libertatemque tueri
Ausus, et armatos plebi miscere potentes.
Utque ducem varias volventem pectore curas
Conspexit: Dum voce tuae potuere iuvari,
Caesar, ait, partes, quamvis nolente senatu,
Traximus imperium tunc, cum mihi Rostra tenere
Ius erat, et dubios in te transferre Quirites.
Sed postquam leges bello siluere coactae,
Pellimur e patriis laribus, patimurque volentes
Exsilium: tua nos faciet victoria cives.
Dum trepidant nullo firmatae robore partes,
Tolle moras. Semper nocuit differre paratis.
Par labor atque metus pretio maiore petuntur.
Bellantem geminis tenuit te Gallia lustris,
Pars quota terrarum! Facili si proelia pauca
Gesseris eventu, tibi Roma subegerit orbem.
Nunc neque te longi remeantem pompa triumphi
Excipit, aut sacras poscunt Capitolia lauros.
Livor edax tibi cuncta negat: gentesque subactas
Vix impune feres. Socerum depellere regno
Decretum genero est. Partiri non potes orbem:

## 2. Book I · lines 291–695

Source: https://scriptura.si/works/lucan-pharsalia/2/ · cite a paragraph as https://scriptura.si/works/lucan-pharsalia/2/#p-N

[¶0] As when at Elis' festival a horse
In stable pent gnaws at his prison bars
Impatient, and should clamour from without
Strike on his ear, bounds furious at restraint,
So then was Caesar, eager for the fight,
Stirred by the words of Curio. To the ranks
He bids his soldiers; with majestic mien
And hand commanding silence as they come.
Comrades,' he cried, ' victorious returned,
'Who by my side for ten long years have faced,
'Mid Alpine winters and on Arctic shores,
'The thousand dangers of the battle-field—
Is this our country's welcome, this her prize
' For death and wounds and Roman blood outpoured?
' Rome arms her choicest sons; the sturdy oaks
' Are felled to make a fleet;-what could she more
' If from the Alps fierce Hannibal were come
' With all his Punic host? " By land and sea
' Caesar shall fly!" Fly? Though in adverse war
' Our best had fallen, and the savage Gaul
' Were hard upon our track, we would not fly.
'And now, when fortune smiles and kindly gods
' Beckon us on to glory! -Let him come
' Fresh from his years of peace, with all his crowd
' Of conscript burgesses, Marcellus' tongue
' And Cato's empty name! We will not fly.
' Shall Eastern hordes and greedy hirelings keep
' Their loved Pompeius ever at the helm?
' Shall chariots of triumph be for him
'Though youth and law forbad them? Shall he seize
' On Rome's chief honours ne'er to be resigned?
' And what of harvests blighted through the world
' And ghastly famine made to serve his ends?
' Who hath forgotten how Pompeius' bands
' Seized on the forum? the grim sheen of swords
' When outraged justice trembled, and the spears
' Hemmed in the judgment-seat where Milo stood?
' And now when worn and old and ripe for rest,
' Greedy of power, the impious sword again
' He draws. As tigers in Hyrcanian woods
' Wandering, or in the caves that saw their birth,
' Once having lapped the blood of slaughtered kine,
' Shall never cease from rage; e'en so this whelp
' Of cruel Sulla, nursed in civil war,
' Outstrips his master; and the tongue which licked
' That reeking weapon ever thirsts for more.
' Stain once the lips with blood, no other meal
' They shall enjoy. And shall there be no end
' Of these long years of power and of crime?
' Nay, this one lesson, ere it be too late,
' Learn of thy gentle Sulla-to retire!
' Of old his victory o'er Cilician thieves
' And Pontus' weary monarch gave him fame,
' By poison scarce attained. His latest prize
' Shall I be, Caesar, I, who would not quit
' My conquering eagles at his proud command?
' Nay, if no triumph is reserved for me,
' Let these at least of long and toilsome war
''Neath other leaders the rewards enjoy.
' Where shall the weary soldier find his rest?
' What cottage homes their joys, what fields their fruit
' Shall to our veterans yield? Will Magnus say
' That pirates only till the fields aright?
' Unfurl your standards; victory gilds them yet,
' As through those glorious years. Deny our rights!
' He that denies them makes our quarrel just.
' Nay! use the strength that we have made our own.
' No booty seek we, nor imperial power.
' This would-be ruler of subservient Rome
'We force to quit his grasp; and Heaven shall smile
'On those who seek to drag the tyrant down.'
Thus Caesar spake; but doubtful murmurs ran
Throughout the crowd; their household gods and homes
Made pause their minds though long inured to blood:
But fear of Caesar and the pride of war
Drew them to him. Then Laelius, who wore
The well-earned crown for Roman life preserved,
The foremost Captain of the army, spake:
'O greatest leader of the Roman name,
'If thou dost ask it, and the law permits,
'I tell thee all: our just complaint is this,
'That gifted with such strength thou didst refrain
'From using it. Hadst thou no trust in us?
'While the hot life-blood fills these glowing veins,
' While these strong arms avail to hurl the lance,
'Wilt thou in peace endure the Senate's rule?
'Is civil conquest then so base and vile?
'Lead us through Scythian deserts, lead us where
'The inhospitable Syrtes line the shore
'Of Afric's burning sands, or where thou wilt:
'This hand, to leave a conquered world behind,
'Held firm the oar that tamed the Northern Sea
And Rhine's swift torrent foaming to the main.
'To follow thee fate gives me now the power:
'The will was mine before. No citizen
'I count the man 'gainst whom thy trumpets sound.
'By ten campaigns of victory, I swear,
'By all thy triumphs, bid me plunge the sword
'In sire or brother or in pregnant spouse,
By this unwilling hand the deed were done:
'Bid spoil the gods and set the fanes ablaze,
Great Juno's shrine were kindled with our fires;
'Bid plant our arms o'er Tuscan Tiber's stream,
'Italian land I'll quarter for the camp:
'Bid raze the wall, I'll drive the fatal ram
'And rive the stones asunder, though the prize
' Were Rome herself.' His comrades lift their hands
And vow to follow wheresoever he leads.
And such a clamour rends the sky as when
Some Thracian blast on Ossa's pine-clad rocks
Falls headlong, and the loud re-echoing woods,
Or bending, or rebounding from the stroke,
In sounding chorus lift the roar on high.
When Caesar saw them welcome thus the war
And Fortune leading on, and favouring fates,
He seized the moment, called his troops from Gaul,
And breaking up his camp set on for Rome.

> Latin: Solus habere potes. Sic postquam fatus, et ipsi
In bellum prono tantum tamen addidit irae,
Accenditque ducem, quantum clamore iuvatur
Eleus sonipes, quamvis iam carcere clauso
Immineat foribus, pronusque repagula laxet.
Convocat armatos extemplo ad signa maniplos:
Utque satis trepidum, turba coeunte, tumultum
Composuit, vultu dextraque silentia iussit:
Bellorum o socii, qui, mille pericula Martis
Mecum, ait, experti, decimo iam vincitis anno,
Hoc cruor Aretois meruit diffusus in arvis,
Vulneraque et mortes, hiemesque sub Alpibus actae?
Non secus ingenti bellorum Roma tumultu
Concutitur, quam si Poenus transcenderit Alpes
Hannibal. Implentur valido tirone cohortes:
In classem cadit omne nemus: terraque marique
Iussus Caesar agi. Quid? si mihi signa iacerent
Marte sub adverso, ruerentque in terga feroces
Gallorum populi? Nunc, cum Fortuna secundis
Mecum rebus agat, superique ad summa vocantes,
Tentamur. Veniat dux longa pace solutus,
Milite cum subito, partesque in bella togatae,
Marcellusque loquax, et nomina vana Catones.
Scilicet extremi Pompeium emtique clientes
Continuo per tot sociabunt tempora regno?
Ille reget currus, nondum patientibus annis?
Ille semel raptos numquam dimittet honores?
Quid iam rura querar totum suppressa per orbem,
Ac iussam servire famem? Quis castra timenti
Nescit mixta foro? gladii cum triste minantes
Iudicium insolita trepidum cinxere corona,
Atque auso medias perrumpere milite leges
Pompeiana reum clauserunt signa Milonem?
Nunc quoque ne lassum teneat privata senectus,
Bella nefanda parat, suetus civilibus armis,
Et docilis Sullam scelerum vicisse magistrum.
Utque ferae tigres numquam posuere furorem,
Quas nemore Hyrcano, matrum dum lustra sequuntur,
Altus caesorum pavit cruor armentorum;
Sic et Sullanum solito tibi lambere ferrum
Durat, Magne, sitis. Nullus semel ore receptus
Pollutas patitur sanguis mansuescere fauces.
Quem tamen inveniet tam longa potentia finem?
Quis scelerum modus est? Ex hoc te iam, improbe, regno
Ille tuus saltem doceat discedere Sulla.
Post Cilicasne vagos, et lassi Pontica regis
Proelia, barbarico vix consummata veneno,
Ultima Pompeio dabitur provincia Caesar,
Quod non, victrices aquilas deponere iussus,
Paruerim? Mihi si merces erepta laborum est,
His saltem longi, non cum duce, praemia belli
Reddantur: miles sub quolibet iste triumphet.
Conferet exsanguis quo se post bella senectus?
Quae sedes erit emeritis? quae rura dabuntur,
Quae noster veteranus aret? quae moenia fessis?
An melius fient piratae, Magne, coloni?
Tollite iampridem victricia, tollite signa:
Viribus utendum est, quas fecimus: arma tenenti
Omnia dat, qui iusta negat. Nec numina deerunt:
Nam nec praeda meis, neque regnum quaeritur armis:
Detrahimus dominos urbi servire paratae.
Dixerat: at dubium non claro murmure vulgus
Secum incerta fremit: pietas patriique penates
Quamquam caede feras mentes animosque tumentes
Frangunt; sed diro ferri revocantur amore
Ductorisque metu. Summi tunc munera pili
Laelius, emeritique gerens insignia doni,
Servati civis referentem praemia quercum:
Si licet, exclamat, Romani maxime rector
Nominis et ius est, veras expromere voces;
Quod tam lenta tuas tenuit patientia vires,
Conquerimur. Deeratne tibi fiducia nostri?
Dum movet haec calidus spirantia corpora sanguis,
Et dum pila valent fortes torquere lacerti,
Degenerem patiere togam, regnumque senatus?
Usque adeo miserum est, civili vincere bello?
Duc age per Scythiae populos, per inhospita Syrtis
Litora, per calidas Libyae sitientis arenas.
Haec manus, ut victum post terga relinqueret orbem,
Oceani tumidas remo compescuit undas:
Fregit et Arctoo spumantem vertice Rhenum.
Iussa sequi tam posse mihi, quam velle necesse est.
Nec civis meus est, in quem tua classica, Caesar,
Audiero. Per signa decem felicia castris,
Perque tuos iuro quocumque ex hoste triumphos;
Pectore si fratris gladium, iuguloque parentis
Condere me iubeas, plenaeque in viscera partu
Coniugis, invita peragam tamen omnia dextra;
Si spoliare deos, ignemque immittere templis,
Numina miscebit castrensis flamma Monetae;
Castra super Tusci si ponere Tybridis undas,
Hesperios audax veniam metator in agros.
Tu quoscumque voles in planum effundere muros,
His aries actus disperget saxa lacertis:
Illa licet, penitus tolli quam iusseris urbem,
Roma sit. His cunctae simul adsensere cohortes,
Elatasque alte, quaecumque ad bella vocaret,
Promisere manus. It tantus ad aethera clamor,
Quantus, piniferae Boreas cum Thracius Ossae
Rupibus incubuit, curvato robore pressae
Fit sonus, aut rursus redeuntis in aethera silvae.
Caesar ut acceptum tam prono milite bellum,
Fataque ferre videt, ne quo languore moretur
Fortunam, sparsas per Gallica rura cohortes
Evocat, et Romam motis petit undique signis.

[¶1] The tents are vacant by Lake Leman's side;
The camps upon the beetling crags of Vosges
No longer hold the warlike Lingon down,
Fierce in his painted arms; Isere is left,
Who past his shallows gliding, flows at last
Into the current of more famous Rhone,
To reach the ocean in another name.
The fair-haired people of Cevennes are free:
Soft Aude rejoicing bears no Roman keel,
Nor pleasant Var, since then Italia's bound;
The harbour sacred to Alcides' name
Where hollow crags encroach upon the sea,
Is left in freedom: there nor Zephyr gains
Nor Caurus access, but the Circian blast
Forbids the roadstead by Monaecus' hold.
Left is the doubtful shore, which the vast sea
And land alternate claim, whene'er the tide
Pours in amain or when the wave rolls back
Be it the wind which thus compels the deep
From furthest pole, and leaves it at the flood;
Or else the moon that makes the tide to swell,
Or else, in search of fuel for his fires,
The sun draws heavenward the ocean wave; -
Whatever the cause that may control the main
I leave to others; let the gods for me
Lock in their breasts the secrets of the world.
Those who keep watch beside the western shore
Have moved their standards home; the happy Gaul
Rejoices in their absence; fair Garonne
Through peaceful meads glides onward to the sea.
And where the river broadens, neath the cape
Her quiet harbour sleeps. No outstretched arm
Except in mimic war now hurls the lance.
No skilful warrior of Seine directs
The chariot scythed against his country's foe.
Now rest the Belgians, and th' Arvernian race
That boasts our kinship by descent from Troy;
And those brave rebels whose undaunted hands
Were dipped in Cotta's blood, and those who wear
Sarmatian garb. Batavia's warriors fierce
No longer listen for the trumpet's call,
Nor those who dwell where Rhone's swift eddies sweep
Saone to the ocean; nor the mountain tribes
Who dwell about its source. Thou, too, oh Treves,
Rejoicest that the war has left thy bounds.
Ligurian tribes, now shorn, in ancient days
First of the long-haired nations, on whose necks
Once flowed the auburn locks in pride supreme;
And those who pacify with blood accursed
Savage Teutates, Hesus' horrid shrines,
And Taranis' altars, cruel as were those
Loved by Diana, goddess of the north;
All these now rest in peace. And you, ye Bards,
Whose martial lays send down to distant times
The fame of valorous deeds in battle done,
Pour forth in safety more abundant song.
While you, ye Druids, when the war was done,
To mysteries strange and hateful rites returned:
To you alone 'tis given the heavenly gods
To know or not to know; secluded groves
Your dwelling-place, and forests far remote.
If what ye sing be true, the shades of men
Seek not the dismal homes of Erebus
Or death's pale kingdoms; but the breath of life
Still rules these bodies in another age-
Life on this hand and that, and death between.
Happy the peoples 'neath the Northern Star
In this their false belief; for them no fear
Of that which frights all others: they with hands
And hearts undaunted rush upon the foe
And scorn to spare the life that shall return.
Ye too depart who kept the banks of Rhine
Safe from the foe, and leave the Teuton tribes
Free at their will to march upon the world.
When strength increased gave hope of greater deeds
Caesar dispersed throughout Italia's bounds
His countless bands, and filled the neighbouring towns.
Then empty rumour to well-grounded fear
Gave strength, and heralding the coming war
In hundred voices 'midst the people spread.
One cries in terror, ' Swift the squadrons come
' Where Nar with Tiber joins: and where, in meads
'By oxen loved, Mevania spreads her walls,
'Fierce Caesar hurries his barbarian horse.
' With all his eagles and his standards joined
'He leads the throng that sweeps along the land.'
Nor as they knew him do they paint the chief,
But stronger than the truth, and pitiless
And fiercer far-as from his conquered foes
Advancing; in his rear the peoples march,
Snatched from their homes between the Rhine and Alps,
To sack the city while her sons look on.
Thus each man's panic thought swells rumour's lie:
They fear the phantoms they themselves create.
Nor did the terror seize the crowd alone:
But fled the Fathers, to the Consuls first
Issuing their hated order, as for war;
And doubting of the peril, doubting too
Where safety lay, through all the choking gates
In dense array they urged the people forth.
Thou wouldst believe that blazing to the torch
Were men's abodes, or nodding to their fall.
So streamed they onwards, frenzied with affright,
As though in exile only could they find
Hope for their country. So, when southern blasts
From Libyan whirlpools drive the boundless main,
And mast and sail crash down upon a ship
With ponderous weight, but still the frame is sound,
Her crew and captain leap into the sea,
Each making shipwreck for himself. 'Twas thus
They passed the city gates and fled to war.
No aged parent now could stay his son;
Nor wife her spouse, nor did they pray the gods
To grant the safety of their fatherland.
None linger on the threshold for a look
Of their loved city, though perchance the last.
Ye gods, who lavish priceless gifts on men,
Nor care to guard them given! thus was Rome
Teeming with conquered nations, whose vast walls
Had compassed all mankind, by coward hands
To coming Caesar left an easy prey.
The Roman soldier, when in foreign lands
Pressed by the enemy, in narrow trench
And hurried mound finds guard enough to make
His tented sleep secure: thou Rome alone
Upon the rumour of advancing war
Art left a desert, and thy battlements
Not trusted for a night. Yet for their fear
This one excuse was left; Pompeius fled.

> Latin: Deseruere cavo tentoria fixa Lemano,
Castraque, quae, Vogesi curvam super ardua rupem,
Pugnaces pictis cohibebant Lingonas armis.
Hi vada liquerunt Isarae, qui, gurgite ductus
Per tam multa suo, famae maioris in amnem
Lapsus, ad aequoreas nomen non pertulit undas.
Solvuntur flavi longa statione Rutheni:
Mitis Atax Latias gaudet non ferre carinas,
Finis et Hesperiae, promoto limite, Varus:
Quaque sub Herculeo sacratus numine portus
Urget rupe cava pelagus: non Corus in illum
Ius habet, aut Zephyrus: solus sua litora turbat
Circius, et tuta prohibet statione Monoeci.
Quaque iacet litus dubium, quod terra fretumque
Vindicat alternis vicibus, cum funditur ingens
Oceanus, vel cum refugis se fluctibus aufert.
Ventus ab extremo pelagus sic axe volutet,
Destituatque ferens; an sidere mota secundo
Tethyos unda vagae lunaribus aestuet horis;
Flammiger an Titan, ut alentes hauriat undas,
Erigat Oceanum, fluctusque ad sidera ducat,
Quaerite, quos agitat mundi labor: at mihi semper
Tu, quaecumque moves tam crebros causa meatus,
Ut superi voluere, late. Tunc rura Nemetis
Qui tenet, et ripas Aturi, qua litore curvo
Molliter admissum claudit Tarbellicus aequor,
Signa movet, gaudetque amoto Santonus hoste:
Et Biturix, longisque leves Suessones in armis:
Optimus excusso Leucus Rhemusque lacerto,
Optima gens flexis in gyrum Sequana frenis:
Et docilis rector rostrati Belga covini:
Arvernique ausi Latios se fingere fratres,
Sanguine ab Iliaco populi; nimiumque rebellis
Nervius, et caesi pollutus sanguine Cottae;
Et qui te laxis imitantur, Sarmata, braccis,
Vangiones: Batavique truces, quos aere recurvo
Stridentes acuere tubae: qua Cinga pererrat
Gurgite: qua Rhodanus raptum velocibus undis
In mare fert Ararim: qua montibus ardua summis
Gens habitat cana pendentes rupe Gebennas:
[Pictones immunes subigunt sua rura; nec ultra]
[Instabiles Turonas circumsita castra coercent.]
I[n nebulis, Meduana, tuis marcere perosus]
[Andus, iam placida Ligeris recreatur ab unda;]
[Inclyta Caesareis Genabos dissolvitur alis.]
Tu quoque laetatus converti proelia, Trevir:
Et nunc tonse Ligur, quondam per colla decors
Crinibus effusis toti praelate Comatae:
Et quibus immitis placatur sanguine diro
Teutates, horrensque feris altaribus Hesus,
Et Taranis Scythicae non mitior ara Dianae.
Vos quoque, qui fortes animas, belloque peremtas
Laudibus in longum vates dimittitis aevum,
Plurima securi fudistis carmina, Bardi.
Et vos barbaricos ritus moremque sinistrum
Sacrorum, Druidae, positis repetistis ab armis.
Solis nosse deos et coeli numina vobis,
Aut solis nescire datum. Nemora alta remotis
Incolitis lucis. Vobis auctoribus, umbrae
Non tacitas Erebi sedes Ditisque profundi
Pallida regna petunt: regit idem spiritus artus
Orbe alio: longae (canitis si cognita) vitae
Mors media est. Certe populi, quos despicit Arctos,
Felices errore suo, quos ille timorum
Maximus haud urget, leti metus. Inde ruendi
In ferrum mens prona viris, animaeque capaces
Mortis: et ignavum, rediturae parcere vitae.
Et vos, cirrigeros bellis arcere Caycos
Oppositi, petitis Romam, Rhenique feroces
Deseritis ripas, et apertum gentibus orbem.
Caesar, ut immensae collecto robore vires
Audendi maiora fidem fecere, per omnem
Spargitur Italiam, vicinaque moenia complet.
Vana quoque ad veros accessit fama timores,
Irrupitque animos populi, clademque futuram
Intulit, et velox properantis nuntia belli
Innumeras solvit falsa in praeconia linguas.
Est, qui, tauriferis ubi se Mevania campis
Explicat, audaces ruere in certamina turmas
Adferat, et, qua Nar Tiberino illabitur amni,
Barbaricas saevi discurrere Caesaris alas:
Ipsum, omnes aquilas collataque signa ferentem,
Agmine non uno densisque incedere castris.
Nec, qualem meminere, vident: maiorque ferusque
Mentibus occurrit, victoque immanior hoste.
Hunc inter Rhenum populos Alpesque iacentes,
Finibus Arctois patriaque a sede revulsos,
Pone sequi, iussamque feris a gentibus urbem,
Romano spectante, rapi. Sic quisque pavendo
Dat vires famae: nulloque auctore malorum,
Quae finxere timent. Nec solum vulgus inani
Perculsum terrore pavet: sed curia et ipsi
Sedibus exsiluere Patres, invisaque belli
Consulibus fugiens mandat decreta senatus.
Tunc quae tuta petant, et quae metuenda relinquant,
Incerti, quo quemque fugae tulit impetus, urgent
Praecipitem populum serieque haerentia longa
Agmina prorumpunt. Credas, aut tecta nefandas
Corripuisse faces, aut iam, quatiente ruina,
Nutantes pendere domos: sic turba per urbem
Praecipiti lymphata gradu, velut unica rebus
Spes foret adflictis, patrios excedere muros,
Inconsulta ruit. Qualis, cum turbidus Auster
Repulit a Libycis immensum Syrtibus aequor,
Fractaque veliferi sonuerunt pondera mali,
Desilit in fluctus, deserta puppe, magister
Navitaque, et, nondum sparsa compage carinae,
Naufragium sibi quisque facit: sic, urbe relicta,
In bellum fugitur. Nullum iam languidus aevo
Evaluit revocare parens, coniunxve maritum
Fletibus, aut patrii, dubiae dum vota salutis
Conciperent, tenuere Lares: nec limine quisquam
Haesit et extremo tunc forsitan urbis amatae
Plenus abit visu: ruit irrevocabile vulgus.
O faciles dare summa deos, eademque tueri
Difficiles! Urbem, populis victisque frequentem
Gentibus, et generis, coeat si turba, capacem
Humani, facilem venturo Caesare praedam
Ignavae liquere manus. Cum pressus ab hoste
Clauditur externis miles Romanus in oris,
Effugit exiguo nocturne pericula vallo,
Et subitus rapti munimine cespitis agger
Praebet securos intra tentoria somnos:
Tu tantum audito bellorum nomine, Roma,
Desereris; nox una tuis non credita muris.
Danda tamen venia est, tantorum danda pavorum:
Pompeio fugiente, timent. Tum ne qua futuri

[¶2] Nor found they room for hope; for nature gave
Unerring portents of worse ills to come.
The angry gods filled earth and air and sea
With frequent prodigies; in darkest nights
Strange constellations sparkled through the gloom:
The pole was all afire, and torches flew
Across the depths of heaven; with horrid hair
A blazing comet stretched from east to west
And threatened change to kingdoms. From the blue
Pale lightning flashed, and in the murky air
The fire took divers shapes; a lance afar
Would seem to quiver or a misty torch;
A noiseless thunderbolt from cloudless sky
Rushed down, and drawing fire in northern parts
Plunged on the summit of the Alban mount.
The stars that run their courses in the void
Of night, came forth at noontide, and the moon
Whose orb complete gave back her brother's rays,
Hid by the shade of earth, grew pale and wan.
The sun himself, when poised in mid career,
Shrouded his burning car in blackest gloom
And plunged the world in darkness, so that men
Despaired of day-like as he veiled his light
From that fell banquet which Mycenae saw.
The jaws of Etna were agape with flame
That rose not heavenwards, but headlong fell
In smoking stream upon th' Italian flank.
Then black Charybdis, from her boundless depth,
Threw up a gory sea. In piteous tones
Howled the wild dogs; the Vestal fire was snatched
From off the altar; and the flame that crowned
The Latin festival was split in twain,
As on the Theban pyre, in ancient days;
Earth tottered on its base: the mighty Alps
From off their summits shook th' eternal snow.
In huge upheaval Ocean raised his waves
O'er Calpe's rock and Atlas' hoary head.
The native gods shed tears, and holy sweat
Dropped from the idols; gifts in temples fell:
Foul birds defiled the day; beasts left the woods
And made their lair among the streets of Rome.
All this we hear; nay more: dumb oxen spake;
Monsters were brought to birth and mothers shrieked
At their own offspring; words of dire import
From Cumae's prophetess were noised abroad.
Bellona's priests with bleeding arms, and slaves
Of Cybele's worship, with ensanguined hair,
Howled chants of havoc and of woe to men.
Arms clashed; and sounding in the pathless woods
Were heard strange voices; spirits walked the earth:
And dead men's ashes muttered from the urn.
Those who live near the walls desert their homes,
For lo! with hissing serpents in her hair,
Waving in downward whirl a blazing pine,
A fiend patrols the town, like that which erst
At Thebes urged on Agave, or which hurled
Lycurgus' bolts, or that which as he came
From Hades seen, at haughty Juno's word,
Brought terror to the soul of Hercules.
Trumpets like those that summon armies forth
Were heard re-echoing in the silent night:
And from the earth arising Sulla's ghost
Sang gloomy oracles, and by Anio's wave
All fled the homesteads, frighted by the shade
Of Marius waking from his broken tomb.
In such dismay they summon, as of yore,
The Tuscan sages to the nation's aid.
Aruns, the eldest, leaving his abode
In desolate Luca, came, well versed in all
The lore of omens; knowing what may mean
The flight of hovering bird, the pulse that beats
In offered victims, and the levin bolt.
All monsters first, by most unnatural birth
Brought into being, in accursed flames
He bids consume. Then round the walls of Rome
Each trembling citizen in turn proceeds.
The priests, chief guardians of the public faith,
With holy sprinkling purge the open space
That borders on the wall; in sacred garb
Follows the lesser crowd: the Vestals come
By priestess led with laurel crown bedecked,
To whom alone is given the right to see
Minerva's effigy that came from Troy.
Next come the keepers of the sacred books
And fate's predictions; who from Almo's brook
Bring back Cybebe laved; the augur too
Taught to observe sinister flight of birds;
And those who serve the banquets to the gods;
And Titian brethren; and the priest of Mars,
Proud of the buckler that adorns his neck;
By him the Flamen, on his noble head
The cap of office. While they tread the path
That winds around the walls, the aged seer
Collects the thunderbolts that fell from heaven,
And lays them deep in earth, with muttered words
Naming the spot accursed. Next a steer,
Picked for his swelling neck and beauteous form,
He leads to the altar, and with slanting knife
Spreads on his brow the meal, and pours the wine.
The victim's struggles prove the gods averse;
But when the servers press upon his horns
He bends the knee and yields him to the blow.
No crimson torrent issues at the stroke,
But from the wound a dark empoisoned stream
Ebbs slowly downward. Aruns at the sight
Aghast, upon the entrails of the beast
Essayed to read the anger of the gods.
Their very colour terrified the seer;
Spotted they were and pale, with sable streaks
Of lukewarm gore bespread; the liver damp
With foul disease, and on the hostile part
The angry veins defiant; of the lungs
The fibre hid, and through the vital parts
The membrane small; the heart has ceased to throb;
Blood oozes through the ducts; the caul is split:
And, fatal omen of impending ill,
One lobe o'ergrows the other; of the twain
The one lies flat and sick, the other beats
And keeps the pulse in rapid strokes astir.
Disaster's near approach thus learned, he cries-
' Whatever may be the purpose of the gods,
' Tis not for me to tell; this offered beast
' Not Jove possesses, but the gods below.
' We dare not speak our fears, yet fear doth make
' The future worse than fact. May all the gods
' Prosper the tokens, and the sacrifice
' Be void of truth, and Tages (famous seer)
' Have vainly taught these mysteries.' Such his words
Involved, mysterious.

> Latin: Spes saltem trepidas mentes levet, addita fati
Peioris manifesta fides, superique minaces
Prodigiis terras implerunt, aethera, pontum.
Ignota obscurae viderunt sidera noctes,
Ardentemque polum flammis, coeloque volantes
Obliquas per inane faces, crinemque timendi
Sideris, et terris nutantem regna cometen.
Fulgura fallaci micuerunt crebra sereno,
Et varias ignis denso dedit aere formas:
Nunc iaculum longo, nunc sparso lumine lampas
Emicuit coelo. Tacitum sine nubibus ullis
Fulmen, et Arctois rapiens e partibus ignem,
Percussit Latiale caput: stellaeque minores
Per vacuum solitae noctis decurrere tempus,
In medium venere diem: cornuque coacto
Iam Phoebe toto fratrem cum redderet orbe,
Terrarum subita percussa expalluit umbra.
Ipse caput medio Titan cum ferret Olympo,
Condidit ardentes atra caligine currus,
Involvitque orbem tenebris, gentesque coegit
Desperare diem: qualem fugiente per ortus
Sole Thyesteae noctem duxere Mycenae.
Ora ferox Siculae laxavit Mulciber Aetnae;
Nec tulit in coelum flammas, sed vertice prono
Ignis in Hesperium cecidit latus. Atra Charybdis
Sanguineum fundo torsit mare. Flebile saevi
Latravere canes. Vestali raptus ab ara
Ignis; et ostendens confectas flamma Latinas
Scinditur in partes, geminoque cacumine surgit,
Thebanos imitata rogos. Tunc cardine tellus
Subsedit, veteremque, iugis nutantibus, Alpes
Discussere nivem. Tethys maioribus undis
Hesperiam Calpen, summumque implevit Atlanta.
Indigetes flevisse deos, urbisque laborem
Testatos sudore Lares, delapsaque templis
Dona suis, dirasque diem foedasse volucres
Accipimus; silvisque feras sub nocte relictis
Audaces media posuisse cubilia Roma.
tunc pecudum faciles humana ad murmura linguae,
Monstrosique hominum partus numeroque modoque
Membrorum, matremque suus conterruit infans:
Diraque per populum Cumanae carmina vatis
Vulgantur. Tunc, quos sectis Bellona lacertis
Saeva movet, cecinere deos: crinemque rotantes
Sanguineum populis ulularunt tristia Galli.
Compositis plenae gemuerunt ossibus urnae.
Tunc fragor armorum, magnaeque per avia voces
Auditae nemorum: et venientes comminus umbrae.
Quique colunt iunctos extremis moenibus agros,
Diffugiunt: ingens urbem cingebat Erinnys,
Excutiens pronam flagranti vertice pinum,
Stridentesque comas: Thebanam qualis Agaven
Impulit, aut saevi contorsit tela Lycurgi
Eumenis: aut qualem iussu Iunonis iniquae
Horruit Alcides, viso iam Dite, Megaeram.
Insonuere tubae, et quanto clamore cohortes
Miscentur, tantum nox atra silentibus umbris
Edidit. Et medio visi consurgere Campo
Tristia Sullani cecinere oracula manes:
Tollentemque caput gelidas Anienis ad undas
Agricolae fracto Marium fugere sepulchro.
Haec propter placuit Tuscos de more vetusto
Acciri vates. Quorum qui maximus aevo
Aruns incoluit desertae moenia Lucae,
Fulminis edoctus motus, venasque calentes
Fibrarum, et monitus volitantis in aere pennae,
Monstra iubet primum, nullo quae semine discors
Protulerat natura, rapi, sterilique nefandos
Ex utero fetus infaustis urere flammis.
Mox iubet et totam pavidis a civibus urbem
Ambiri, et festo purgantes moenia lustro,
Longa per extremos pomoeria cingere fines
Pontifices, sacri quibus est permissa potestas.
Turba minor ritu sequitur succincta Gabino,
Vestalemque chorum ducit vittata sacerdos,
Troianam soli cui fas vidisse Minervam.
Tunc qui fata deum secretaque carmina servant,
Et lotam parvo revocant Almone Cybellen:
Et doctus volucres augur servare sinistras:
Septemvirque epulis festis, Titiique sodales:
Et Salius, laeto portans ancilia collo:
Attollensque apicem generoso vertice Flamen.
Dumque illi effusam longis anfractibus urbem
Circueunt, Aruns dispersos fulminis ignes
Colligit, et terrae moesto cum murmure condit,
Datque locis nomen sacris. tunc admovet aris
Electa cervice marem. Iam fundere Bacchum
Ceperat, obliquoque molas inducere cultro:
Impatiensque diu non grati victima sacri,
Cornua succincti premerent cum torva ministri,
Deposito victum praebebat poplite collum.
Nec cruor emicuit solitus: sed vulnere largo
Diffusum rutilo nigrum pro sanguine virus.
Palluit attonitus sacris feralibus Aruns,
Atque iram superum raptis quaesivit in extis.
Terruit ipse color vatem: nam pallida taetris
Viscera tincta notis, gelidoque infecta cruore
Plurimus adsperso variabat sanguine livor.
Cernit tabe iecur madidum: venasque minaces
Hostili de parte videt. Pulmonis anheli
Fibra latet, parvusque secat vitalia limes.
Cor iacet: et saniem per hiantes viscera rimas
Emittunt: produntque suas omenta latebras.
Quodque (nefas) nullis impune apparuit extis,
Ecce, videt capiti fibrarum increscere molem
Alterius capitis: pars aegra et marcida pendet,
Pars micat et celeri venas movet improba pulsu.
His ubi concepit magnorum fata malorum,
Exclamat: Vix fas, superi, quaecumque monetis
Prodere me populis: neque enim tibi summe litavi
Iuppiter hoc sacrum: caesique in pectora tauri
Inferni venere dei. Non fanda timemus:
Sed venient maiora metu. Di visa secundent,
Et fibris sit nulla fides; sed conditor artis
Finxerit ista Tages. Flexa sic omina Tuscus
Involvens multaque tegens ambage canebat.

[¶3] Figulus, to whom
For knowledge of the secret depths of space
And laws harmonious that guide the stars
Memphis could find no peer, then spake at large:
' Either,' he said, ' the world and countless orbs
' Throughout the ages wander at their will;
' Or, if the fates control them, ruin huge
' Hangs o'er this city and o'er all mankind.
' Shall Earth yawn open and engulph the towns?
' Shall scorching heat usurp the temperate air
' And fields refuse their timely fruit? The streams
' Flow mixed with poison? In what plague, ye gods,
'In what destruction shall ye wreak your ire?
'Whate'er the truth, the days in which we live
' Shall find a doom for many. Had the star
' Of baleful Saturn, frigid in the height,
' Kindled his lurid fires, the sky had poured
'Its torrents forth as in Deucalion's time,
' And whelmed the world in waters. Or if thou,
' Phoebus, beside the Nemean lion fierce
' Wert driving now thy chariot, flames should seize
'The universe and set the air ablaze.
' These are at peace; but, Mars, why art thou bent
' On kindling thus the Scorpion, his tail
' Portending evil and his claws aflame?
' Deep sunk is kindly Jupiter, and dull
' Sweet Venus' star, and rapid Mercury
' Stays on his course: Mars only holds the sky.
'Why does Orion's sword too brightly shine?
' Why planets leave their paths and through the void
'Thus journey on obscure? Tis war that comes,
' Fierce rabid war: the sword shall bear the rule
' Confounding justice; hateful crime usurp
' The name of virtue; and the havoc spread
' Through many a year. But why entreat the gods?
' The end Rome longs for and the final peace
'Comes with a despot. Draw thou out thy chain
'Of lengthening slaughter, and (for such thy fate)
' Make good thy liberty through civil war.'
The frightened people heard, and as they heard
His words prophetic made them fear the more.
But worse remained; for as on Pindus' slopes
Possessed with fury from the Theban god
Speeds some Bacchante, thus in Roman streets
Behold a matron run, who, in her trance,
Relieves her bosom of the god within.
' Where dost thou snatch me, Paean, to what shore
'Through airy regions borne? I see the snows
'Of Thracian mountains; and Philippi's plains
'Lie broad beneath. But why these battle lines,
'No foe to vanquish-Rome on either hand?
'Again I wander 'neath the rosy hues
'That paint thine eastern skies, where regal Nile
'Meets with his flowing wave the rising tide.
'Known to mine eyes that mutilated trunk
' That lies upon the sand! Across the seas
'By changing whirlpools to the burning climes
'Of Libya borne, again I see the hosts
'From Thracia brought by fate's command. And now
'Thou bear'st me o'er the cloud-compelling Alps
'And Pyrenean summits; next to Rome.
'There in mid-Senate see the closing scene
'Of this foul war in foulest murder done.
'Again the factions rise; through all the world
Once more I pass; but give me some new land,
'Some other region, Phoebus, to behold
'Washed by the Pontic billows! for these eyes
'Already once have seen Philippi's plains! '
The frenzy left her and she speechless fell.

> Latin: At Figulus, cui cura deos secretaque coeli
Nosse fuit, quem non stellarum Aegyptia Memphis
Aequaret visu, numerisque moventibus astra,
Aut hic errat, ait, nulla cum lege per aevum
Mundus, et incerto discurrunt sidera motu:
Aut, si fata movent, Urbi generique paratur
Humano matura lues. Terraene dehiscent,
Subsidentque urbes? an tollet fervidus aer
Temperiem? segetes tellus infida negabit?
Omnis an infusis miscebitur unda venenis?
Quod cladis genus, o superi, qua peste paratis
Saevitiam? Extremi multorum tempus in unum
Convenere dies. Summo si frigida coelo
Stella nocens nigros Saturni accenderet ignes,
Deucalioneos fudisset Aquarius imbres,
Totaque diffuso latuisset in aequore tellus.
Si saevum radiis Nemeaeum, Phoebe, Leonem
Nunc premeres, toto fluerent incendia mundo,
Succensusque tuis flagrasset curribus aether.
Hi cessant ignes: tu, qui flagrante minacem
Scorpion incendis cauda, chelasque peruris,
Quid tantum, Gradive, paras? Nam mitis in alto
Iuppiter occasu premitur, Venerisque salubre
Sidus hebet, motuque celer Cyllenius haeret,
Et coelum Mars solus habet. Cur signa meatus
Deseruere suos, mundoque obscura feruntur:
Ensiferi nimium fulget latus Orionis?
Imminet armorum rabies: ferrique potestas
Confundet ius omne manu: scelerique nefando
Nomen erit virtus: multosque exibit in annos
Hic furor. Et superos quid prodest poscere finem?
Cum domino pax ista venit. Duc, Roma, malorum
Continuam seriem, clademque in tempora multa
Extrahe, civili tantum iam libera bello.
Terruerant satis haec pavidam praesagia plebem:
Sed maiora premunt. Nam qualis vertice Pindi
Edonis Ogygio decurrit plena Lyaeo:
Talis et attonitam rapitur matrona per urbem,
Vocibus his prodens urgentem pectora Phoebum:
Quo feror, o Paean? Qua me super aethera raptam
Constituis terra? Video Pangaea nivosis
Cana iugis, latoque Aemi sub rupe Philippos.
Quis furor hic, o Phoebe, doce: quo tela manusque
Romanae miscent acies, bellumque sine hoste est?
Quo diversa feror? Primos me ducis in ortus,
Qua mare Lagei mutatur gurgite Nili.
Hunc ego, fluminea deformis truncus arena
Qui iacet, agnosco: dubiam super aequora Syrtin
Arentemque feror Libyen, quo tristis Erinnys
Transtulit Emathias acies. Nunc desuper Alpis
Nubiferae colles, atque aeriam Pyrenen
Abripimur. Patriae sedes remeamus in urbis,
Impiaque in medio peraguntur bella senatu.
Consurgunt partes iterum, totumque per orbem
Rursus eo. Nova da mihi cernere litora Ponti,
Telluremque novam: vidi iam, Phoebe, Philippos.
Haec ait, et lasso iacuit defecta furore.

## 3. Book II · lines 1–438

Source: https://scriptura.si/works/lucan-pharsalia/3/ · cite a paragraph as https://scriptura.si/works/lucan-pharsalia/3/#p-N

[¶0] THUS was made plain the anger of the gods;
The world gave signs of war: Nature reversed
In monstrous tumult fraught with prodigies
Her laws, and prescient spake the coming guilt.
How seemed it just to thee, Olympus' king,
That suffering mortals at thy doom should know
By dreadful omens massacres to come?
Or did the primal parent of the world
When first the flames gave way and yielding left
Matter unformed to his subduing hand,
And realms unbalanced, fix by stern decree
Unalterable laws to bind the whole
(Himself, too, bound by law), so that for aye
All Nature moves within its fated bounds?
Or, is Chance sovereign over all, and we
The sport of Fortune and her turning wheel?
Whate'er be truth, keep thou the future veiled
From mortal vision, and amid their fears
May men still hope.
Thus known how great the woes
The world should suffer, from the truth divine,
A solemn fast was called, the courts were closed,
All men in private garb; no purple hem
Adorned the togas of the chiefs of Rome;
No plaints were uttered, and a voiceless grief
Lay deep in every bosom: as when death
Knocks at some door but enters not as yet,
Before the mother calls the name aloud
Or bids her grieving maidens beat the breast,
While still she marks the glazing eye, and soothes
The stiffening limbs and gazes on the face,
In dread, not sorrow yet, in wondering awe
Of death approaching: and with mind distraught
Clings to the dying in a last embrace.
The matrons laid aside their wonted garb:
Crowds filled the temples-on the unpitying stones
Some dashed their bosoms; others bathed with tears
The statues of the gods; some tore their hair
Upon the holy threshold, and with shrieks
And vows unceasing called upon the names
Of those whom mortals supplicate. Nor all
Lay in the Thunderer's fane: at every shrine
Some prayers were offered which refused would bring
Reproach on heaven. One whose livid arms
Were dark with blows, whose cheeks with tears bedewed,
Cried, 'Now, unhappy mothers, rend the lock,
Nor keep your sorrows till the battle day:
Now ye may weep: when either chieftain wins
Rejoice ye must.' Thus sorrow stirs itself.
Meanwhile the men in seeking either camp
And marching onward in the path to war,
Address the cruel gods in just complaint.
Happy the youths who born in Punic days
On Cannae's uplands or by Trebia's stream
Fought and were slain! What wretched lot is ours!
No peace we ask for: let the nations rage;
Rouse fiercest cities! may the world find arms
To wage a war with Rome: let Parthian hosts
Rush forth from Susa; Scythian Ister curb
' No more the Massagete: unconquered Rhine
' Let loose from furthest North her fair-haired tribes:
' Elbe, pour thy Suevians forth! Let us be foes
' Of all the peoples. May the Getan press
' Here, and the Dacian there; Pompeius meet
'The Eastern archers, Caesar in the West
' Confront th' Iberian. Leave to Rome no hand
' To raise against herself in civil strife.
' Or, if Italia by the gods be doomed,
' Let all the sky, fierce Parent, be dissolved
'And falling on the earth in flaming bolts,
' Their hands still bloodless, strike both leaders down,
' With both their hosts! Why plunge in novel crime
' To settle which of them shall rule in Rome?
' Scarce were it worth the price of civil war
' To hinder either.' Thus the patriot voice
Still found an utterance, soon to speak no more.
Meantime, the aged fathers o'er their fates
In anguish grieved, detesting life prolonged
That brought with it another civil war.

> Latin: Iamque irae patuere deum, manifestaque belli
Signa dedit mundus: legesque et foedera rerum
Praescia monstrifero vertit natura tumultu,
Indixitque nefas. Cur hanc tibi, rector Olympi,
Sollicitis visum mortalibus addere curam,
Noscant venturas ut dira per omina clades?
Sive parens rerum cum primum informia regna
Materiemque rudem flamma cedente recepit,
Finxit in aeternum caussas, qua cuncta coercet,
Se quoque lege tenens, et saecula iussa ferentem
Fatorum immoto divisit limite mundum:
Sive nihil positum est, sed Fors incerta vagatur,
Fertque refertque vices, et habet mortalia casus:
Sit subitum, quodcumque paras: sit caeca futuri
Mens hominum fati: liceat sperare timenti.
Ergo ubi concipiunt, quantis sit cladibus orbi
Constatura fides superum, ferale per urbem
Iustitium: latuit plebeio tectus amictu
Omnis honos: nullos comitata est purpura fasces.
Tunc questus tenuere suos, magnusque per omnes
Errabat sine voce dolor. Sic funere primo
Attonitae tacuere domus, cum corpora nondum
Conclamata iacent, nec mater crine soluto
Exigit ad saevos famularum brachia planctus:
Sed cum membra premit fugiente rigentia vita,
Vultusque exanimes, oculosque in morte natantes,
Necdum est ille dolor, sed iam metus: incubat amens,
Miraturque malum. Cultus matrona priores
Deposuit: moestaeque tenent delubra catervae.
Hae lacrimis sparsere deos, hae pectora duro
Adfixere solo, lacerasque in limine sacro
Attonitae fudere comas, votisque vocari
Adsuetas crebris feriunt ululatibus aures.
Nec cunctae summi templo iacuere Tonantis:
Divisere deos, et nullis defuit aris
Invidiam factura parens: quarum una madentes
Scissa genas, planctu liventes atra lacertos,
Nunc, ait, o miserae contundite pectora matres,
Nunc laniate comas, neve hunc differte dolorem,
Et summis servate malis: nunc flere potestas,
Dum pendet fortuna ducum: cum vicerit alter,
Gaudendum est. His se stimulis dolor ipse lacessit.
Nec non bella viri diversaque castra petentes
Effundunt iustas in numina saeva querelas:
O miserae sortis, quod non in Punica nati
Tempora, Cannarum fuimus Trebiaeque iuventus.
Non pacem petimus, superi: date gentibus iras:
Nunc urbes excite feras: coniuret in armis
Mundus: Achaemeniis decurrant Medica Susis
Agmina: Massageten Sythicus non adliget Ister:
Fundat ab extremo flavos Aquilone Suevos
Albis, et indomitum Rheni caput: omnibus hostes
Reddite nos populis: civile avertite bellum.
Hinc Dacus premat, inde Getes: occurrat Iberis
Alter, ad Eoas hic vertat signa pharetras:
Nulla vacet tibi, Roma, manus. Vel perdere nomen
Si placet Hesperium, superi, collapsus in ignem
Plurimus ad terram per fulmina decidat aether.
Saeve parens, utrasque simul partesque ducesque,
Dum nondum meruere, feri. Tantone novorum
Proventu scelerum quaerunt, uter imperet Urbi?
Vix tanti fuerat, civilia bella movere,
Ut neuter. Tales pietas peritura querelas
Egerit. At miseros angit sua cura parentes,
Oderuntque gravis vivacia fata senectae,
Servatosque iterum bellis civilibus annos.

[¶1] And thus spake one, to justify his fears:
' No other deeds the fates laid up in store
' When Marius, victor over Teuton hosts,
' Afric's high conqueror, cast out from Rome,
'Lay hid in marshy ooze, at thy behest,
' O Fortune! by the yielding soil concealed
' And waving rushes; but ere long the chains
' Of prison wore his weak and aged frame,
' And lengthened squalor: thus he paid for crime
' His punishment beforehand; doomed to die
' Consul in triumph over wasted Rome.
'Death oft refused him; and the very foe,
' In act of slaughter, shuddered in the stroke
' And dropped the weapon from his nerveless hand.
' For through the prison gloom a flame of light
' He saw; the deities of crime abhorred;
' The Marius to come. A voice proclaimed
' Mysterious, " Hold! the fates permit thee not
' " That neck to sever. Many a death he owes
' " To time's predestined laws ere his shall come;
' " Cease from thy madness. If ye seek revenge
' " For that he blotted out your Cimbrian tribes,
' " Let this man live, live out his fated days."
' Not as their darling did the gods protect
' The man of blood, but for his ruthless hand
' Fit to prepare that sacrifice of gore
' Which fate demanded. By the sea's despite
' Borne to our foes, Jugurtha's wasted realm
' He saw, now conquered; there in squalid huts
' Awhile he lay, and trod the hostile dust
' Of Carthage, and his ruin matched with hers:
' Each from the other's fate some solace drew,
' And prostrate, pardoned heaven. On Libyan soil
' Fresh fury gathering, next, when Fortune smiled
'The prisons he threw wide and freed the slaves.
' Forth rushed the murderous bands, their melted chains
' Forged into weapons for his ruffian needs.
' No charge he gave to mere recruits in guilt
' Who brought not to the camp some proof of crime.
' How dread that day when conquering Marius seized
' The city's ramparts! with what fated speed
' Death strode upon his victims! plebs alike
' And nobles perished; far and near the sword
' Struck at his pleasure, till the temple floors
'Ran wet with slaughter and the crimson stream
' Befouled with slippery gore the holy walls.
' No age found pity: men of failing years,
' Just tottering to the grave, were hurled to death;
' From infants, in their being's earliest dawn,
' The growing life was severed. For what crime?
'Twas cause enough for death that they could die.
' The fury grew: soon 'twas a sluggard's part
' To seek the guilty: hundreds died to swell
'The tale of victims. Shamed by empty hands,
' The bloodstained conqueror snatched a reeking head
' From neck unknown. One way of life remained,
' To kiss with shuddering lips the red right hand.
' Degenerate people! Had ye hearts of men,
' Though ye were threatened by a thousand swords,
' Far rather death than centuries of life
' Bought at such price; much more that breathing space
' Till Sulla comes again. But time would fail
' In weeping for the deaths of all who fell.
'Encircled by innumerable bands
' Fell Baebius, his limbs asunder torn,
' His vitals dragged abroad. Antonius too,
' Prophet of ill, whose hoary head was placed,
' Dripping with blood, upon the festal board.
' There headless fell the Crassi; mangled frames
'Neath Fimbria's falchion: and the prison cells
' Were wet with tribunes' blood. Hard by the fane
' Where dwells the goddess and the sacred fire,
' Fell aged Scaevola, though that gory hand
' Had spared him, but the feeble tide of blood
' Still left the flame alive upon the hearth.
' That selfsame year the seventh time restored
' The Consul's rods; that year to Marius brought
' The end of life, when he at Fortune's hands
' All ills had suffered; all her goods enjoyed.
' And what of those who at the Sacriport
' And Colline gate were slain, then, when the rule
' Of Earth and all her nations almost left
' This city for another, and the chiefs
' Who led the Samnite hoped that Rome might bleed
' More than at Caudium's Forks she bled of old?
' Then came great Sulla to avenge the dead,
' And all the blood still left within her frame
' Drew from the city; for the surgeon knife
' Which shore the cancerous limbs cut in too deep,
' And shed the life stream from still healthy veins.
' True that the guilty fell, but not before
' All else had perished. Hatred had free course
' And anger reigned unbridled by the law.
' The victor's voice spake once; but each man struck
' Just as he wished or willed. The fatal steel
' Urged by the servant laid the master low.
' Sons dripped with gore of sires; and brothers fought
' For the foul trophy of a father slain,
' Or slew each other for the price of blood.
' Men sought the tombs and, mingling with the dead,
' Hoped for escape; the wild beasts' dens were full.
' One strangled died; another from the height
' Fell headlong down upon the unpitying earth,
' And from the encrimsoned victor snatched his death:
' One built his funeral pyre and oped his veins,
' And scaled the furnace ere his blood was gone.
' Borne through the trembling town the leaders' heads
' Were piled in middle forum: hence men knew
' Of murders else unpublished. Not on gates
' Of Diomedes, tyrant king of Thrace,
' Nor of Antaeus, Libya's giant brood,
' Were hung such horrors; nor in Pisa's hall
'Were seen and wept for when the suitors died.
' Decay had touched the features of the slain
' When round the mouldering heap, with trembling steps
' The grief-struck parents sought and stole their dead.
' I, too, the body of my brother slain
' Thought to remove, my victim to the peace
' Which Sulla made, and place his loved remains
' On the forbidden pyre. The head I found,
' But not the butchered corse.
Why now renew
' The tale of Catulus's shade appeased?
' And those dread tortures which the living frame
' Of Marius suffered at the tomb of him
' Who haply wished them not? Pierced, mangled, torn-
' Nor speech nor grasp was left: his every limb
' Maimed, hacked and riven; yet the fatal blow
' The murderers with savage purpose spared.
''Twere scarce believed that one poor mortal frame
' Such agonies could bear ere death should come.
' Thus crushed beneath some ruin lie the dead;
' Thus shapeless from the deep are borne the drowned.
' Why spoil delight by mutilating thus,
' The head of Marius? To please Sulla's heart
' That mangled visage must be known to all.
' Fortune, high goddess of Praeneste's fane,
' Saw all her townsmen hurried to their deaths
' In one fell instant. All the hope of Rome,
' The flower of Latium, stained with blood the field
' Where once the peaceful tribes their votes declared.
' Famine and Sword, the raging sky and sea,
' And Earth upheaved, have laid such numbers low:
' But ne'er one man's revenge. Between the slain
' And living victims there was space no more,
' Death thus let slip, to deal the fatal blow.
' Hardly when struck they fell; the severed head
' Scarce toppled from the shoulders; but the slain
' Blent in a weighty pile of massacre
' Pressed out the life and helped the murderer's arm.
' Secure from stain upon his lofty throne,
' Unshuddering sat the author of the whole,
' Nor feared that at his word such thousands fell.
'At length the Tuscan flood received the dead
' The first upon his waves; the last on those
' That lay beneath them; vessels in their course
' Were stayed, and while the lower current flowed
' Yet to the sea, the upper stood on high
Dammed back by carnage. Through the streets meanwhile
' In headlong torrents ran a tide of blood,
' Which furrowing its path through town and field
'Forced the slow river on. But now his banks
' No longer held him, and the dead were thrown
' Back on the fields above. With labour huge
'At length he struggled to his goal and stretched
' In crimson streak across the Tuscan Sea.
' For deeds like these, shall Sulla now be styled
' " Darling of Fortune," " Saviour of the State "?
' For these, a tomb in middle field of Mars
' Record his fame? Like horrors now return
' For us to suffer; and the civil war
' Thus shall be waged again and thus shall end.
'Yet worse disasters may our fears suggest,
' For now with greater carnage of mankind
' The rival hosts in weightier battle meet.
' To exiled Marius, the prize of war
' Was Rome regained; triumphant Sulla knew
' No greater joy than on his hated foes
' To wreak his vengeance with unsparing sword.
'But these more powerful rivals Fortune calls
' To worse ambitions; nor would either chief
'For such reward as Sulla's wage the war.'
Thus, mindful of his youth, the aged man
Wept for the past, but feared the coming days.

> Latin: Atque aliquis, magno quaerens exempla timori,
Non alios, inquit, motus tunc fata parabant,
Cum post Teutonicos victor Libycosque triumphos
Exsul limosa Marius caput abdidit ulva.
Stagna udi texere soli laxaeque paludes
Depositum, Fortuna, tuum: mox vincula ferri
Exedere senem, longusque in carcere paedor.
Consul e eversa felix moriturus in Urbe
Poenas ante dabat scelerum. Mors ipsa refugit
Saepe virum, frustraque hosti concessa potestas
Sanguinis invisi: primo qui caedis in ictu
Diriguit, ferrumque manu torpente remisit.
Viderat immensum tenebroso in carcere lumen
Terribilesque deas scelerum, Mariumque futurum;
Audieratque pavens: Fas haec contingere non est
Colla tibi: debet multas hic legibus aevi,
Ante suam, mortes: vanum depone furorem.
Si libet ulcisci deletae funera gentis,
Hunc, Cimbri, servate senem. Non ille favore
Numinis, ingenti superum protectus ab ira,
Vir ferus, et Romam cupienti perdere fato
Suffciens. Idem pelago delatus iniquo
Hostilem in terram, vacuisque mapalibus actus,
Nuda triumphati iacuit per regna Iugurthae,
Et Poenos pressit cineres. Solatia fati
Carthago Mariusque tulit: pariterue iacentes
Ignovere deis. Libycas ibi colligit iras.
Ut primum fortuna redit, servilia solvit
Agmina: conflato saevas ergastula ferro
Exeruere manus. Nulli gestanda dabantur
Signa ducis, nisi qui scelerum iam fecerat usum,
Attuleratque in castra nefas. Pro fata! quis ille,
Quis fuit ille dies, Marius quo moenia victor
Corripuit! quantoque gradu mors saeva cucurrit!
Nobilitas cum plebe perit: lateque vagatur
Ensis, et a nullo revocatum est pectore ferrum.
Stat cruor in templis: multaque rubentia caede
Lubrica saxa madent. Nulli sua profuit aetas.
Non senis extremum piguit vergentibus annis
Praecipitasse diem: nec prima in limine vitae
Infantis miseri nascentia rumpere fata.
Crimine quo parvi caedem potuere mereri?
Sed satis est iam, posse mori. Trahit ipse furoris
Impetus: et, visum lenti, quaesisse nocentem.
In numerum pars magna perit: rapuitque cruentus
Victor ab ignota vultus cervice recisos,
Dum vacua pudet ire manu. Spes una salutis,
Oscula pollutae fixisse trementia dextrae.
Mille licet gladii mortis nova signa sequantur,
Degener o populus, vix saecula longa decorum
Sic meruisse viris, nedum breve dedecus aevi,
Et vitam, dum Sulla redit. Cui funera vulgi
Flere vacet? Vix te sparsum per viscera, Baebi,
Innumeras intercarpentis membra coronae
Discerpsisse manus: aut te, praesage malorum
Antoni, cuius laceris pendentia canis
Ora ferens miles festae rorantia mensae
Imposuit. Truncos laceravit Fimbria Crassos.
Saeva Tribunicio maduerunt robora tabo.
Te quoque neglectum violatae, Scaevola, dextrae
Ante ipsum penetrale deae semperque calentes
Mactavere focos: parvum sed fessa senectus
Sanguinis effudit iugulo, flammisque pepercit.
Septimus haec sequitur, repetitis fascibus, annus:
Ille fuit vitae Mario modus, omnia passo,
Quae peior fortuna potest, atque omnibus uso,
Quae melior: mensoque, homini quid fata pararent.
Iam, quot apud Sacri cecidere cadavera portum,
Aut Collina tulit stratas quot porta catervas,
Tunc cum paene caput mundi rerumque potestas
Mutavit translata locum, Romanaque Samnis
Ultra Caudinas speravit vulnera Furcas!
Sulla quoque immensis accessit cladibus ultor.
Ille quod exiguum restabat sanguinis Urbi
Hausit: dumque nimis iam putria membra recidit,
Excessit medicina modum, nimiumque secuta est,
Qua morbi duxere, manus. Periere nocentes;
Sed cum iam soli possent superesse nocentes.
Tum data libertas odiis, resolutaque legum
Frenis ira ruit. Non uni cuncta dabantur,
Sed fecit sibi quisque nefas. Semel omnia victor
Iusserat. Infandum domini per viscera ferrum
Exegit famulus: nati maduere paterno
Sanguine. Certatum est, cui cervix caesa parentis
Cederet: in fratrum ceciderunt praemia fratres.
Busta repleta fuga, permixtaque viva sepultis
Corpora: nec populum latebrae cepere ferarum.
Hic laqueo fauces elisaque guttura fregit:
Hic, se praecipiti iaculatus pondere, dura
Dissiluit percussus humo; mortesque cruento
Victori rapuere suas: hic robora busti
Exstruit ipse sui, necdum omni sanguine fuso
Desilit in flammas, et, dum licet, occupat ignes.
Colla ducum pilo trepidam gestata per Urbem,
Et medio congesta foro. Cognoscitur illic,
Quidquid ubique iacet scelerum. Non Thracia tantum
Vidit Bistonii stabulis pendere tyranni;
Postibus Antaei Libye: nec Graecia moerens
Tot laceros artus Pisaea flevit in aula.
Cum iam tabe fluunt, confusaque tempore multo
Amisere notas, miserorum dextra parentum
Colligit, et pavido subducit cognita furto.
Meque ipsum memini, caesi deformia fratris
Ora rogo cupidum vetitisque imponere flammis,
Omnia Sullanae lustrasse cadavera pacis,
Perque omnes truncos, cum qua cervice recisum
Conveniat, quaesisse caput. Quid sanguine manes
Placatos Catuli referam? cum victima tristes
Inferias Marius forsan nolentibus umbris
Pendit, inexpleto non fanda piacula busto:
Cum laceros artus, aequataque vulnera membris
Vidimus, et toto quamvis in corpore caeso
Nil animae letale datum, moremque nefandae
Dirum saevitiae, pereuntis parcere morti.
Avulsae cecidere manus, exsectaque lingua
Palpitat, et muto vacuum ferit aera motu.
Hic aures, alius spiramina naris aduncae
Amputat: ille cavis evolvit sedibus orbes,
Ultimaque effundit spectatis lumina membris.
Vix erit ulla fides, tam saevi criminis unum
Tot poenas cepisse caput. Sic mole ruinae
Fracta sub ingenti miscentur pondere membra:
Nec magis informes veniunt ad litora trunci,
Qui medio periere freto. Quid perdere fructum
Iuvit, et, ut vilem, Marii confundere vultum?
Ut scelus hoc Sullas caedesque ostensa placeret,
Agnoscendus erat. Vidit Fortuna colonos
Praenestina suos cunctos simul ense recisos,
Unius populum pereuntem tempore mortis.
Tunc flos Hesperiae, Latii iam sola iuventus,
Concidit, et miserae maculavit ovilia Romae.
Tot simul infesto iuvenes occumbere leto,
Saepe fames, pelagique furor, subitaeque ruinae,
Aut coeli terraeque lues, aut bellica clades
Numquam poena fuit. Densi vix agmina vulgi
Inter et exsangues, immissa morte, catervas
Victores movere manus. Vix caede peracta
Procumbunt, dubiaque labant cervice: sed illos
Magna premit strages: peraguntque cadavera partem
Caedis: viva graves elidunt corpora trunci.
Intrepidus tanti sedit securus ab alto
Spectator sceleris: miseri tot milia vulgi
Non piguit iussisse mori. Congesta recepit
Omnia Tyrrhenus Sullana cadavera gurges.
In fluvium primi cecidere, in corpora summi.
Praecipites haesere rates, et strage cruenta
Interruptus aquis fluxit prior amnis in aequor.
Ad molem stetit unda sequens, dum sanguinis alti
Vis sibi fecit iter, campumque effusa per omnem,
Praecipitique ruens Tiberina ad flumina rivo
Haerentes adiuvit aquas: nec iam alveus amnem,
Nec retinent ripae, redditque cadavera campo.
Tandem Tyrrhenas vix eluctatus in undas
Sanguine caeruleum torrenti dividit aequor.
Hisne Salus rerum, Felix his Sulla vocari,
His meruit tumulum medio sibi tollere Campo?
Haec rursus patienda manent: hoc ordine belli
Ibitur: hic stabit civilibus exitus armis.
Quamquam agitant graviora metus, multumque coitur
Humani generis maiore in praelia damno,
Exsulibus Mariis bellorum maxima merces
Roma recepta fuit: nec plus victoria Sullae
Praestitit, invisas penitus quam tollere partes.
Hos alio, Fortuna, vocas, olimque potentes
Concurrunt. Neuter civilia bella moveret,
Contentus, quo Sulla fuit. Sic moesta senectus
Praeteritique memor flebat, metuensque futuri.

[¶2] Such terrors found in haughty Brutus' breast
No home. When others sat them down to fear
He did not so, but in the dewy night
When the great wain was turning round the pole
He sought his kinsman Cato's humble home.
Him sleepless did he find, not for himself
Fearing, but pondering the fates of Rome,
And deep in public cares. And thus he spake:
'O thou in whom that virtue, which of yore
Took flight from earth, now finds its only home,
Outcast to all besides, but safe with thee:
Vouchsafe thy counsel to my wavering soul
And make my weakness strength. While Caesar some,
Pompeius others, follow in the fight,
Cato is Brutus' guide. Art thou for peace,
Holding thy footsteps in a tottering world
Unshaken? Or wilt thou with the leaders' crimes
And with the people's fury take thy part,
And by thy presence purge the war of guilt?
In impious battles men unsheath the sword;
But each by cause impelled: the household crime;
Laws feared in peace; want by the sword removed;
And credit, in the ruin of a world
Blending its ruin. Drawn by hope of gain,
And not by thirst for blood, they seek the camp.
Shall Cato for war's sake make war alone?
What profits it through all these wicked years
That thou hast lived untainted? This were all
Thy meed of virtue, that the wars which find
Guilt in all else, shall make thee guilty too.
' Ye gods, permit not that this fatal strife
Should stir those hands to action! When the clouds
Of flying javelins hiss upon the air,
Let not a dart be thine; nor spent in vain
Such virtue! All the fury of the war
' Shall launch itself on thee, for who, when faint
' And wounded, would not rush upon thy sword,
'Take thence his death, and make the murder thine?
'Do thou live on thy peaceful life apart
'As on their paths the stars unshaken roll.
'The lower air that verges on the earth
' Gives flame and fury to the levin bolt;
' The deeps below the world engulph the winds
' And tracts of flaming fire. By Jove's decree
'Olympus rears his summit o'er the clouds:
'In lowlier valleys storms and winds contend,
' But peace eternal reigns upon the heights.
'What joy for Caesar, if the tidings come
'That such a citizen has joined the war?
' Glad would he see thee e'en in Magnus' tents;
'For Cato's conduct shall approve his own.
'Pompeius, with the Consul in his ranks,
' And half the Senate and the other chiefs,
' Vexes my spirit; and should Cato too
' Bend to a master's yoke, in all the world
'The one man free is Caesar. But if thou
' For freedom and thy country's laws alone
'Be pleased to raise the sword, nor Magnus then
' Nor Caesar shall in Brutus find a foe.
' Not till the fight is fought shall Brutus strike,
'Then strike the victor.'
Brutus thus; but spake
Cato from inmost breast these sacred words:
'Chief in all wickedness is civil war,
' Yet virtue in the paths marked out by fate
'Treads on securely. Heaven's will be the crime
'To have made even Cato guilty. Who has strength
' To gaze unawed upon a toppling world?
'When stars and sky fall headlong, and when earth
'Slips from her base, who sits with folded hands?
'Shall unknown nations, touched by western strife,
' And monarchs born beneath another clime
' Brave the dividing seas to join the war?
' Shall Scythian tribes desert their distant north,
' And Getae haste to view the fall of Rome,
'And I look idly on? As some fond sire,
' Reft of his sons, compelled by grief, himself
' Marshals the long procession to the tomb,
' Thrusts his own hand within the funeral flames,
' Soothing his heart, and, as the lofty pyre
'Rises on high, applies the kindled torch:
' Nought, Rome, shall tear thee from me, till I hold
' Thy form in death embraced; and Freedom's name,
' Shade though it be, I'll follow to the grave.
' Yea! let the cruel gods exact in full
' Rome's expiation: of no drop of blood
' The war be robbed. I would that, to the gods
' Of heaven and hell devoted, this my life
' Might satisfy their vengeance. Decius fell,
' Crushed by the hostile ranks. When Cato falls
' Let Rhine's fierce barbarous hordes and both the hosts
'Thrust through my frame their darts! May I alone
' Receive in death the wounds of all the war!
'Thus may the people be redeemed, and thus
' Rome for her guilt pay the atonement due.
' Why should men die who wish to bear the yoke
' And shrink not from the tyranny to come?
'Strike me, and me alone, of laws and rights
'In vain the guardian: this vicarious life
' Shall give Hesperia peace and end her toils.
' Who then will reign shall find no need for war.
' You ask, Why follow Magnus? If he wins
' He too will claim the Empire of the world.
' Then let him, conquering with my service, learn
' Not for himself to conquer.' Thus he spoke
And stirred the blood that ran in Brutus' veins
Moving the youth to action in the war.

> Latin: At non magnanimi percussit pectora Bruti
Terror, et in tanta pavidi formidine motus
Pars populi lugentis erat: sed nocte sopora,
Parrhasis obliquos Helice cum verteret axes,
Atria cognati pulsat non ampla Catonis.
Invenit insomni volventem publica cura
Fata virum casusque Urbis, cunctisque timentem,
Securumque sui; farique his vocibus orsus:
Omnibus expulsae terris olimque fugatae
Virtutis iam sola fides, quam turbine nullo
Excutiet fortuna tibi; tu mente labantem
Dirige me, dubium certo tu robore firma:
Namque alii Magnum vel Caesaris arma sequantur:
Dux Bruto Cato solus erit. Pacemne tueris,
Inconcussa tenens dubio vestigia mundo?
An placuit, ducibus scelerum populique furentis
Cladibus immixtum, civile absolvere bellum?
Quemque suas rapiunt scelerata in proelia caussae:
Hos polluta domus, legesque in pace timendae;
Hos ferro fugienda fames, mundique ruinae
Permiscenda fides. Nullum furor egit in arma;
Castra petunt magna victi mercede: tibi uni
Per se bella placent? Quid tot durasse per annos
Profuit immunem corrupti moribus aevi?
Hoc solum longae pretium virtutis habebis:
Accipient alios, facient te bella nocentem.
Ne tantum, o superi, liceat feralibus armis,
Has etiam movisse manus: nec pila lacertis
Missa tuis caeca telorum in nube ferantur:
Nec tanta in casum virtus eat. Ingeret omnis
Se belli fortuna tibi. Quis nolet in isto
Ense mori, quamvis alieno vulnere labens,
Et scelus esse tuum? Melius tranquilla sine armis
Otia solus ages, sicut coelestia semper
Inconcussa suo volvuntur sidera lapsu.
Fulminibus propior terrae succenditur aer,
Imaque telluris ventos tractusque coruscos
Flammarum accipiunt: nubes excedit Olympus
Lege deum. Minimas rerum discordia turbat:
Pacem summa tenent. Quam laete Caesaris aures
Accipient, tantum venisse in proelia civem!
Nam praelata suis numquam diversa dolebit
Castra ducis Magni. Nimium placet ipse, Catoni
Si bellum civile placet. Pars magna senatus
Et duce privato gesturus proelia consul
Sollicitant, proceresque alii: quibus adde Catonem
Sub iuga Pompeii, tote iam liber in orbe
Solus Caesar erit. Quodsi pro legibus arma
Ferre iuvat patriis, libertatemque tueri:
Nunc neque Pompeii Brutum nec Caesaris hostem,
Post bellum victoris habes. Sic fatur. At illi
Arcano sacras reddit Cato pectore voces:
Summum, Brute, nefas civilia bella fatemur:
Sed quo fata trahunt, virtus secura sequetur.
Crimen erit superis, et me fecisse nocentem.
Sidera quis mundumque valet spectare cadentem,
Expers ipse metus? quis, cum ruat arduus aether,
Terra labet, mixto coeuntis pondere mundi,
Compressas tenuisse manus Gentesne furorem
Hesperium ignotae Romanaque bella sequentur,
Deductique fretis alio sub sidere reges;
Otia solus agam? Procul hunc arcete furorem,
O superi, motura Dahas ut clade Getasque,
Securo me, Roma cadat. Ceu morte parentem
Natorum orbatum, longum producere funus
Ad tumulum iubet ipse dolor: iuvat ignibus atris
Inseruisse manus, constructoque aggere busti
Ipsum atras tenuisse faces: non ante revellar,
Exanimem quam te complectar, Roma, tuumque
Nomen, libertas, et inanem prosequar umbram.
Sic eat: immites Romana piacula divi
Plena ferant: nullo fraudemus sanguine bellum.
O utinam coelique deis erebique liceret
Hoc caput in cunctas damnatum exponere poenas!
Devotum hostiles Decium pressere catervae:
Me geminae figant acies, me barbara telis
Rheni turba petat: cunctis ego pervius hastis
Excipiam medius totius vulnera belli.
Hic redimat sanguis populos: hac caede luatur,
Quidquid Romani meruerunt pendere mores.
Ad iuga cur faciles populi, cur saeva volentes
Regna pati pereunt? Me solum invadite ferro,
Me frustra leges et inania iura tuentem:
Hic dabit, hic pacem iugulus, finemque laborum
Gentibus Hesperiis: post me regnare volenti
Non opus est bello. Quin publica signa ducemque
Pompeium sequimur? Nec, si fortuna favebit,
Hunc quoque totius sibi ius promittere mundi
Non bene compertum est. Ideo me milite vincat,
Ne sibi se vicisse putet. Sic fatur, et acres
Irarum movit stimulos, iuvenisque calorem
Excitat in nimios belli civilis amores.

[¶3] Soon as the sun dispelled the chilly night,
The sounding doors flew wide, and from the tomb
Of dead Hortensius grieving Marcia came.
First joined in wedlock to a greater man
Three children did she bear to grace his home:
Then Cato to Hortensius gave the dame
To be a fruitful mother of his sons
And join their houses in a closer tie.
And now the last sad offices were done
She came with hair dishevelled, beaten breast,
And ashes on her brow, and features worn
With grief; thus only pleasing to the man.
' When youth was in me and maternal power
' I did thy bidding, Cato, and received
' A second husband: now in years grown old
' Ne'er to be parted I return to thee.
' Renew our former pledges undefiled:
' Give back the name of wife: upon my tomb
' Let " Marcia, spouse to Cato," be engraved.
' Nor let men question in the time to come,
' Didst thou compel, or did I willing leave
' My first espousals. Not in happy times,
' Partner of joys, I come; but days of care
' And labour shall be mine to share with thee.
' Nor leave me here, but take me to the camp,
' Thy fond companion: why should Magnus' wife
' Be nearer, Cato, to the wars than thine?'
Although the times were warlike and the fates
Called to the fray, he lent a willing ear.
Yet must they plight their faith in simple form
Of law; their witnesses the gods alone.
No festal wreath of flowers crowned the gate
Nor glittering fillet on each post entwined;
No flaming torch was there, nor ivory steps,
No couch with robes of broidered gold adorned;
No comely matron placed upon her brow
The bridal garland, or forbad the foot
To touch the threshold stone; no saffron veil
Concealed the timid blushes of the bride;
No jewelled belt confined her flowing robe
Nor modest circle bound her neck; no scarf
Hung lightly on the snowy shoulder's edge
Around the naked arm. Just as she came,
Wearing the garb of sorrow, while the wool
Covered the purple border of her robe,
Thus was she wedded. As she greets her sons
She greets her husband. Nor, in Sabine use
Did mournful Cato share the festal taunt:
Nor friend nor foe was bidden: silent both
They joined in marriage, yet content, unseen
By any save by Brutus. Sad and stern
On Cato's lineaments the marks of grief
Were still unsoftened, and the hoary hair
Hung o'er his reverend visage; for since first
Men flew to arms, his locks were left unkempt
To stream upon his brow, and on his chin
His beard untended grew. 'Twas his alone
Who hated not, nor loved, for all mankind
To mourn alike. Nor did their former couch
Again receive them, for his lofty soul
E'en lawful love resisted. 'Twas his rule
Inflexible, to keep the middle path
Marked out and bounded; to observe the laws
Of natural right; and for his country's sake
To risk his life, his all, as not for self
Brought into being, but for all the world:
Such was his creed. To him a sumptuous feast
Was hunger conquered, and the lowly hut,
Which scarce kept out the winter, was a home
Equal to palaces: a robe of price
Such hairy garments as were worn of old:
The end of marriage, offspring. To the State
Father alike and husband, right and law
He ever followed with unswerving step:
No thought of selfish pleasure turned the scale
In Cato's acts, or swayed his upright soul.
Meanwhile Pompeius led his trembling host
To fields Campanian, and held the walls
First founded by the chief of Trojan race.
These chose he for the central seat of war,
Some troops despatching who might meet the foe
Where shady Apennine lifts up the ridge
Of mid Italia; nearest to the sky
Upsoaring, with the seas on either hand,
The upper and the lower. Pisa's sands
Breaking the margin of the Tuscan deep,
Here bound his mountains: there Ancona's towers
Laved by Dalmatian waves. Rivers immense,
In his recesses born, pass on their course,
To either sea diverging. To the left
Metaurus and Crustumium's torrent fall
And Sena's streams and Aufidus who bursts
On Adrian billows; and that mighty flood
Which, more than all the rivers of the earth,
Sweeps down the soil and tears the woods away
And drains Hesperia's springs. In fabled lore
His banks were first by poplar shade enclosed:
And when by Phaethon the waning day
Was drawn in path transverse, and all the heaven
Blazed with his car aflame, and from the depths
Of inmost earth were rapt all other floods,
Padus still rolled in pride of stream along.
Nile were no larger, but that o'er the sand
Of level Egypt he spreads out his waves;
Nor Ister, if he sought the Scythian main
Unhelped upon his journey through the world
By tributary waters not his own.
But on the right hand Tiber has his source,
Deep-flowing Rutuba, Vulturnus swift,
And Sarnus breathing vapours of the night
Rise there, and Liris with Vestinian wave
Still gliding through Marica's shady grove,
And Siler flowing through Salernian meads:
And Macra's swift unnavigable stream
Near Luna rests in Ocean. On the Alps
Whose spurs strike plainwards, and on fields of Gaul
The cloudy heights of Apennine look down
In further distance: on his nearer slopes
The Sabine turns the ploughshare; Umbrian kine
And Marsian fatten; with his pineclad rocks
He girds the tribes of Latium, nor leaves
Hesperia's soil until the waves that beat
On Scylla's cave compel. His southern spurs
Extend to Juno's temple, and of old
Stretched further than Italia, till the main
O'erstepped his limits and the lands repelled.
But, when the seas were joined, Pelorus claimed
His latest summits for Sicilia's isle.

> Latin: Interea, Phoebo gelidas pellente tenebras,
Pulsatae sonuere fores: quas sancta relicto
Hortensi moerens irrupit Marcia busto:
Quondam virgo toris melioris iuncta mariti:
Mox, ubi, connubii pretium mercesque, soluta est
Tertia iam soboles, alios fecunda penates
Impletura datur, geminas ex sanguine matris
Permixtura domos. Sed postquam condidit urna
Supremos cineres, miserando concita vultu,
Effusas laniata comas, concussaque pectus
Verberibus crebris, cineresque ingesta sepulcri,
Non aliter placitura viro, sic moesta profatur:
Dum sanguis inerat, dum vis materna, peregi
Iussa, Cato, et geminos excepi foeta maritos.
Visceribus lassis, partuque exhausta, revertor
Iam nulli tradenda viro. Da foedera prisci
Illibata tori: da tantum nomen inane
Connubii: liceat tumulo scripsisse, CATONIS
MARCIA; nec dubium longo quaeratur in aevo,
Mutarim primas expulsa, an tradita, taedas.
Non me laetorum comitem rebusque secundis
Accipis: in curas venio partemque laborum.
Da mihi castra sequi. Cur tuta in pace relinquar,
Et sit civili propior Cornelia bello?
Hae flexere virum voces, et, tempora quanquam
Sint aliena toris, iam fato in bella vocante,
Foedera sola tamen, vanaque carentia pompa
Iura placent, sacrisque deos admittere testes.
Festa coronato non pendent limine serta;
Infulaque in geminos discurrit candida postes,
Legitimaeque faces, gradibusque adclivis eburnis
Stat torus, et picto vestes discriminat auro:
Turritaque premens frontem matrona corona
Translata vetuit contingere limina planta.
Non, timidum nuptae leviter tectura pudorem,
Lutea demissos velarunt flammea vultus:
Balteus haud fluxos gemmis adstrinxit amictus,
Colla monile decens, humerisque haerentia primis
Suppara nudatos cingunt angusta lacertos.
Sic, ut erat, moesti servat lugubria cultus,
Quoque modo natos, hoc est amplexa maritum.
Obsita funerea celatur purpura lana;
Non soliti lusere sales: nec more Sabino
Excepit tristis convicia festa maritus.
Pignora nulla domus, nulli coiere propinqui.
Iunguntur taciti, contentique auspice Bruto.
Ille nec horrificam sancto dimovit ab ore
Caesariem, duroque admisit gaudia vultu. -
Ut primum tolli feralia viderat arma,
Intonsos rigidam in frontem descendere canos
Passus erat, moestamque genis increscere barbam.
Uni quippe vacat studiisque odiisque carenti,
Humanum lugere genus. - Nec foedera prisci
Sunt tentata tori: iusto quoque robur amori
Restitit. Hi mores, haec duri immota Catonis
Secta fuit: servare modum, finemque tenere,
Naturamque sequi, patriaeque impendere vitam;
Nec sibi, sed toti genitum se credere mundo.
Huic epulae, vicisse famem: magnique penates,
Submovisse hiemem tecto: pretiosaque vestis,
Hirtam membra super Romani more Quiritis
Induxisse togam: Venerisque huic maximus usus,
Progenies; Urbi pater est, Urbique maritus:
Iustitiae cultor, rigidi servator honesti:
In commune bonus: nullosque Catonis in actus
Subrepsit partemque tulit sibi nata voluptas.
Interea trepido discedens agmine Magnus
Moenia Dardanii tenuit Campana coloni.
Haec placuit belli sedes, hinc summa moventi
Hostis in occursum sparsas extendere partes,
Umbrosis mediam qua collibus Apenninus
Erigit Italiam, nullo qua vertice tellus
Altius intumuit, propiusve accessit Olympo.
Mons inter geminas medius se porrigit undas
Inferni superique maris: collesque coercent
Hinc Tyrrhena vado frangentes aequora Pisae,
Illinc Dalmaticis obnoxia fluctibus Ancon.
Fontibus hic vastis immensos concipit amnes,
Fluminaque in gemini spargit divortia ponti.
In laevum cecidere latus veloxque Metaurus,
Crustumiumque rapax, et iunctus Sapis Isauro,
Senaque, et Adriacas qui verberat Aufidus undas:
Quoque magis nullum tellus se solvit in amnem,
Eridanus fractas devolvit in aequora silvas
Hesperiamque exhaurit aquis. Hunc fabula primum
Populea fluvium ripas umbrasse corona:
Cumque, diem pronum transverso limite ducens,
Succendit Phaethon flagrantibus aethera loris,
Gurgitibus raptis penitus tellure perusta,
Hunc habuisse pares Phoebeis ignibus undas.
Non minor hic Nilo, si non per plana iacentis
Aegypti Libycas Nilus stagnaret arenas.
Nec minor hic Istro, nisi quod, dum permeat orbem
Ister, casuros in quaelibet aequora fontes
Accipit, et Scythicas exit non solus in undas.
Dexteriora petens montis declivia Tibrim
Unda facit, Rutubamque cavum. Delabitur inde
Vulturnusque celer, nocturnaeque editor aurae
Sarnus, et umbrosae Liris per regna Maricae
Vestinis impulsus aquis, radensque Salerni
Culta Siler, nullasque vado qui Macra moratus
Alnos, vicinae percurrit in aequora Lunae.
Longior educto qua surgit in aera dorso,
Gallica rura videt, devexasque aspicit Alpes.
Tunc Umbris Marsisque ferax, domitusque Sabelle
Vomere, piniferis amplexus rupibus omnes
Indigenas Latii populos, non deserit ante
Hesperiam, quam cum Scyllaeis clauditur undis,
Extenditque suas in templa Lacinia rupes;
Longior Italia, donec confinia pontus
Solveret incumbens, terrasque repelleret aequor.
At postquam gemino tellus elisa profundo est,
Extremi colles Siculo cessere Peloro.

## 4. Book II · lines 439–736

Source: https://scriptura.si/works/lucan-pharsalia/4/ · cite a paragraph as https://scriptura.si/works/lucan-pharsalia/4/#p-N

[¶0] Caesar, in rage for war, rejoicing finds
Foes in Italia; no bloodless steps
Nor vacant homes had pleased him; so his march
Were wasted: now the coming war was joined
Unbroken to the past; to force the gates,
Not find them open, fire and sword to bring
Upon the harvests, not through fields unharmed
To pass his legions-this was Caesar's joy;
In peaceful guise to march, this was his shame.
Italia's cities, doubtful in their choice,
Though to the earliest onset of the war
About to yield, strengthen their walls with mounds
And deepest trench encircling: massive stones
And bolts of war to hurl upon the foe
They place upon the turrets. Magnus most
The people's favour held, yet faith with fear
Fought in their breasts. As when, with strident blast,
A southern tempest has possessed the main
And all the billows follow in its track:
Then, by the Storm-king smitten, should the earth
Set Eurus free upon the swollen deep,
It shall not yield to him, though cloud and sky
Confess his strength; but in the former wind
Still find its master. But their fears prevailed,
And Caesar's fortune, o'er their wavering faith.
For Libo fled Etruria; Umbria lost
Her freedom, driving Thermus from her bounds;
Great Sulla's son, unworthy of his sire,
Feared at the name of Caesar: Varus sought
The caves and woods, when smote the hostile horse
The gates of Auximon; and Spinther driven
From Asculum, the victor on his track,
Fled with his standards, soldierless; and thou,
Scipio, didst leave Nuceria's citadel
Deserted, though by bravest legions held
Sent home by Caesar for the Parthian war;
Whom Magnus earlier, to his kinsman gave
A loan of Roman blood, to fight the Gaul.
But brave Domitius held firm his post
Behind Corfinium's ramparts; his the troops
Who newly levied kept the judgment hall
At Milo's trial. When from far the plain
Rolled up a dusty cloud, beneath whose veil
The sheen of armour glistening in the sun,
Revealed a marching host. ' Dash down,' he cried,
Swift as ye can, the bridge that spans the stream;
And thou, O river, from thy mountain source
With all thy torrents rushing, planks and beams
Ruined and broken on thy foaming breast
Bear onward to the sea. The war shall pause
Here, at these bounds: here shall this headlong chief
Await in idleness our victory.'
He bade his squadrons, speeding from the walls,
Charge on the bridge: in vain: for Caesar saw
They sought to free the river from his chains
And bar his march; and roused to ire, he cried:
Were not the walls sufficient to protect
Your coward souls? Seek ye by barricades
And streams to keep me back? What though the flood
Of swollen Ganges were across my path?
Now Rubicon is passed, no stream on earth
Shall hinder Caesar! Forward, horse and foot,
And ere it totters rush upon the bridge.'
Urged in their swiftest gallop to the front
Dashed the light horse across the sounding plain;
And suddenly, as storm in summer, flew
A cloud of javelins forth, by sinewy arms
Hurled at the foe; the guard is put to flight,
And conquering Caesar, seizing on the bridge,
Compels the enemy to keep the walls.
Now do the mighty engines, soon to hurl
Gigantic stones, press forward, and the ram
Creeps 'neath the ramparts; when the gates fly back,
And lo! the traitor troops (foul crime in war)
Yield up their leader. Him they place before
His proud compatriot; yet with upright form,
And scornful features and with noble mien,
He asks his death. But Caesar knew his wish
Was punishment, and pardon was his fear:
Live though thou wouldst not,' so the chieftain spake,
And by my gift, unwilling, see the day:
Be to my conquered foes the cause of hope,
Proof of my clemency-or if thou wilt
Take arms again-and should'st thou conquer, count
This pardon nothing.' Thus he spake, and bade
Let loose the bands and set the captive free.
Ah! better had he died, and fortune spared
The Roman's last dishonour, whose worse doom
It is, that he who joined his country's camp
And fought with Magnus for the Senate's cause
Should gain for this-a pardon! Yet he curbed
His anger, thinking, ' Wilt thou then to Rome
' And peaceful scenes, degenerate? Rather war,
The furious battle and the certain end!
Break with life's ties: be Caesar's gift in vain.'

> Latin: Caesar, in arma furens, nulla, nisi sanguine fuso,
Gaudet habere vias, quod non terat hoste vacantes
Hesperiae fines, vacuosque irrumpat in agros,
Atque ipsum non perdat iter, consertaque bellis
Bella gerat. Non tam portas intrare patentes,
Quam fregisse, iuvat: nec tam patiente colono
Arva premi, quam si ferro populetur et igni.
Concessa pudet ire via, civemque videri.
Tunc urbes Latii dubiae, varioque favore
Ancipites, quamquam primo terrore ruentis
Cessurae belli, denso tamen aggere firmant
Moenia, et abrupto circumdant undique vallo:
Saxorumque orbes, et quae super eminus hostem
Tela petant, altis murorum turribus aptant.
Pronior in Magnum populus, pugnatque minaci
Cum terrore fides: ut, cum mare possidet Auster
Flatibus horrisonis, hunc aequora tota sequuntur:
Si rursus tellus, pulsu laxata tridentis
Aeolii, tumidis immittat fluctibus Eurum,
Quamvis icta novo, ventum tenuere priorem
Aequora, nubiferoque polus cum cesserit Euro,
Vindicat unda Notum. Facilis sed vertere mentes
Terror erat, dubiamque fidem fortuna ferebat.
Gens Hetrusca fuga trepidi nudata Libonis,
Iusque sui pulso iam perdidit Umbria Thermo.
Nec gerit auspiciis civilia bella paternis
Caesaris audito conversus nomine Sulla.
Varus, ut admotae pulsarunt Auximon alae,
Per diversa ruens neglecto moenia tergo,
Qua silvae, qua saxa, fugit. Depellitur arce
Lentulus Asculea. Victor cedentibus instat,
Divertitque acies: solusque ex agmine tanto
Dux fugit, et nullas ducentia signa cohortes.
Tu quoque commissae nudatam deseris arcem,
Scipio, Nuceriae: quamquam firmissima pubes
His sedeat castris, iampridem Caesaris armis
Parthorum seducta metu: qua Gallica damna
Supplevit Magnus, dumque ipse ad bella vocaret,
Donavit socero Romani sanguinis usum.
At te Corfini validis circumdata muris
Tecta tenent, pugnax Domiti: tua classica servat
Oppositus quondam polluto tiro Miloni.
Ut procul immensam campo consurgere nubem,
Ardentesque acies percussis sole corusco
Conspexit telis, Socii, decurrite, dixit,
fluminis ad ripas, undaeque immergite pontem:
Et tu montanis totus nunc fontibus exi,
Atque omnes trahe, gurges, aquas ut spumeus alnos,
Discussa compage, feras. Hoc limite bellum
Haereat, hac hostis lentus terat otia ripa.
Praecipitem cohibete ducem: victoria nobis
Hic primum stans Caesar erit. Nec plura locatus,
Devolvit rapidum nequidquam moenibus agmen.
Nam prior e campis ut conspicit, amne soluto,
Rumpi Caesar iter, calida prolatus ab ira:
Non satis est, muris latebras quaesisse pavori?
Obstruitis campos, fluviisque arcere paratis,
Ignavi? Non, si tumido me gurgite Ganges
Submoveat, stabit iam flumine Caesar in ullo,
Post Rubiconis aquas. Equitum properate catervae:
Ite simul pedites: ruiturum adscendite pontem.
Haec ubi dicta, levis totas accepit habenas
In campum sonipes: crebroque simillima nimbo
Trans ripam validi torserunt tela lacerti.
Ingreditur pulsa fluvium statione vacantem
Caesar, et ad tutas hostis compellitur arces.
Et iam moturas ingentia pondera turres
Erigit, et mediis subrepsit vinea muris:
Ecce, nefas belli, reseratis agmina portis
Captivum traxere ducem, civisque superbi
Constitit ante pedes. Vultu tamen alta minaci
Nobilitas recta ferrum cervice poposcit.
Scit Caesar poenamque peti, veniamque timeri.
Vive, licet nolis, et nostro munere, dixit,
Cerne diem. Victis iam spes bona partibus esto,
Exemplumque mei: vel, si libet, arma retenta;
Et nihil hac venia, si viceris ipse, paciscor.
Fatur, et adstrictis laxari vincula palmis
Imperat. Heu quanto melius vel caede peracta
Parcere Romano potuit fortuna pudori;
Poenarum extremum cui fit, quod castra secutus
Sit patriae Magnumque ducem totumque senatum,
Ignosci. Premit ille graves interritus iras,
Et secum: Romamne petes, pacisque recessus,
Degener? In medios belli non ire furores,
Iamdudum moriture, paras? Rue certus, et omnes
Lucis rumpe moras, et Caesaris effuge munus.

[¶1] Pompeius, ignorant that his captain thus
Was taken, armed his levies newly raised
To give his legions strength; and as he thought
To sound his trumpets with the coming dawn,
To test his soldiers ere he moved his camp
Thus in majestic tones their ranks addressed:
True host of Rome! avengers of her laws
Ranked 'neath the standards of the better right,
To whom the Senate gives no private arms,
Ask by your voices for the battle sign.
Fierce falls the pillage on Hesperian fields,
And Gallia's fury o'er the snowy Alps
Is poured upon us. Caesar's swords at last
' Are red with Roman blood. But with the wound
We gain the better cause; the crime is theirs.
Through me her captain Rome for vengeance calls;
' Tis no true fight to wreak your country's ire.
' Was that a war when Catilina's hand
' Lifted against her roofs the flaming torch,
' And, partner in his fury, Lentulus,
' And mad Cethegus with his naked arm?
' Is such thy madness, Caesar? when the Fates
' With great Camillus' and Metellus' names
' Might place thine own, dost thou prefer to rank
' With Marius and Cinna? Swift shall be
' Thy fall: as Lepidus before the sword
' Of Catulus; or who my axes felt,
' Carbo, now buried in Sicanian tomb;
' Or who, in exile, roused Iberia's hordes,
' Sertorius-yet, witness Heaven, with these
' I hate to rank thee; hate the task that Rome
' Has laid upon me, to oppose thy rage.
' Would that in safety from the Parthian war
' And Scythian steppes had conquering Crassus come!
' Then haply hadst thou fallen by the hand
' That smote vile Spartacus the robber foe.
' But if among my triumphs fate has said
' Thy conquest shall be written, know this heart
' Still sends the life blood coursing: and this arm
' Still vigorously flings the dart afield.
' He deems me slothful. Caesar, thou shalt learn
'We brook not peace because we lag in war.
' Old, does he call me? Fear not ye mine age.
' Let me be elder, if his soldiers are.
' The highest point a citizen can reach
' And leave his people free, is mine: a throne
' Alone were higher; whoso would surpass
' Pompeius, aims at that. Both Consuls stand
' Here; here for battle stand your lawful chiefs:
' And shall this Caesar drag the Senate down?
' Not with such blindness, not so lost to shame
' Does Fortune rule. Does he take heart from Gaul,
' For years on years rebellious, and a life
' Spent there in labour? or because he fled
' Rhine's icy torrent and the shifting pools
' He calls an ocean? or unchallenged sought
' Britannia's cliffs; then turned his back in flight?
' Or does he boast because his citizens
' Were driven in arms to leave their hearths and homes?
'Ah, vain delusion! not from thee they fled:
' My steps they follow-mine, whose conquering signs
' Swept all the ocean, and who, ere the moon
' Twice filled her orb and waned, compelled to flight
' The pirate, shrinking from the open sea,
' And humbly begging for a narrow home
' In some poor nook on shore. 'Twas I again
' Who, happier far than Sulla, drave to death
' That king who, exiled to the deep recess
' Of Scythian Pontus, held the fates of Rome
' Still in the balances. Where is the land
' That has not seen my trophies? Icy waves
' Of northern Phasis, hot Egyptian shores,
' And where Syene 'neath its noontide sun
' Knows shade on neither hand: all these have learned
' To fear Pompeius: and far Baetis' stream,
' Last of all floods to join the refluent sea.
' Arabia and the warlike hordes that dwell
' Beside the Euxine wave: the famous land
' That lost the golden fleece; Cilician wastes,
' And Cappadocian, and the Jews who pray
' Before an unknown God; Sophene soft-
' All felt my yoke. What conquests now remain,
' What wars not civil can my kinsman wage? '
No loud acclaim received his words, nor shout
Asked for the promised battle: and the chief
Drew back the standards, for the soldier's fears
Were in his soul alike; nor dared he trust
An army, vanquished by the fame alone
Of Caesar's powers, to fight for such a prize.
And as some bull, his early combat lost,
Forth driven from the herd, in exile roams
Through lonely plains or secret forest depths,
Whets on opposing trunks his growing horn,
And proves himself for battle, till his neck
Is ribbed afresh with muscle: then returns,
Defiant of the hind, and victor now
Leads wheresoever he will his lowing bands:
Thus Magnus, yielding to a stronger foe,
Gave up Italia, and sought in flight
Brundusium's sheltering battlements. Here of old
Fled Cretan settlers when the dusky sail
Spread the false message of the hero dead;
Here, where Hesperia, curving as a bow,
Draws back her coast, a little tongue of land
Shuts in with bending horns the sounding main.
Yet insecure the spot, unsafe in storm,
Were it not sheltered by an isle on which
The Adriatic billows dash and fall,
And tempests lose their strength: on either hand
A craggy cliff opposing breaks the gale
That beats upon them, while the ships within
Held by their trembling cables ride secure.
Hence to the mariner the boundless deep
Lies open, whether for Corcyra's port
He shapes his sails, or for Illyria's shore,
And Epidamnus facing to the main
Ionian. Here, when raging in his might
Fierce Adria whelms in foam Calabria's coast,
When clouds tempestuous veil Ceraunus' height,
The sailor finds a haven.

> Latin: Nescius interea capti ducis, arma parabat
Magnus, ut immixto firmaret robore partes.
Iamque secuturo iussurus classica Phoebo,
Tentandasque ratus moturi militis iras,
Adloquitur tacitas veneranda voce cohortes:
O scelerum ultores, melioraque signa secuti,
O vere Romana manus, quibus arma senatus
Non privata dedit, voti deposcite pugnam.
Ardent Hesperii saevis populatibus agri:
Gallica per gelidas rabies effunditur Alpes:
Iam tetigit sanguis pollutos Caesaris enses.
Di melius, belli tulimus quod damna priores.
Coeperit inde nefas. Iamiam, me praeside, Roma
Supplicium poenamque petat. Neque enim ista vocari
Proelia iusta decet, patriae sed vindicis iram.
Nec magis hoc bellum est, quam cum Catilina paravit
Arsuras in tecta faces, sociusque furoris
Lentulus, exsertique manus vesana Cethegi.
O rabies miseranda ducis! Cum fata Camillis
Te, Caesar, magnisque velint miscere Metellis,
Ad Cinnas Mariosque veni. Sternere profecto,
Ut Catulo iacuit Lepidus, nostrasque secures
Passus, Sicanio tegitur qui Carbo sepulcro,
Quique feros movit Sertorius exsul Iberos.
Quamquam, si qua fides, his te quoque iungere, Caesar,
Invideo, nostrasque manus quod Roma furenti
Opposuit. Parthorum utinam post praelia sospes,
Et Scythicis Crassus victor remeasset ab oris,
Ut simili caussa caderes, qua Spartacus hostis.
Te quoque si superi titulis accedere nostris
Iusserunt, valet in torquendo dextera pilo:
Peridus haec iterum circum praecordia sanguis
Incaluit: disces non esse ad bella fugaces,
Qui pacem potuere pati. Licet ille solutum
Defectumque vocet, ne vos mea terreat aetas.
Dux sit in his castris senior, dum miles in illis.
Quo potuit civem populus perducere liber,
Adscendi, supraque nihil, nisi regna, reliqui.
Non privata cupit, Romana quisquis in urbe
Pompeium transire parat. Hinc consul uterque,
Hinc acies statura ducum est. Caesarne senatus
Victor erit? Non tam caeco trahis omnia cursu,
Teque nihil, Fortuna, pudet. Multisne rebellis
Gallia iam lustris aetasque impensa labori
Dant animos? Rheni gelidis quod fugit ab undis,
Oceanumque vocans incerti stagna profundi,
Territa quaesitis ostendit terga Britannis?
An vanae tumuere minae, quod fama furoris
Expulit armatam patriis e sedibus Urbem?
Heu demens, non te fugiunt, me cuncta sequuntur:
Qui cum signa tuli toto fulgentia ponto,
Ante bis exactum quam Cynthia conderet orbem,
Omne fretum metuens pelagi pirata reliquit,
Angustaque domum terrarum in sede poposcit.
Idem ego per Sythici profugum divortia Ponti
Indomitum regem, Romanaque fata morantem,
Ad mortem, Sulla felicior, ire coegi.
Pars mundi mihi nulla vacat: sed tota tenetur
Terra meis, quocumque iacet sub sole, tropaeis.
Hinc me victorem geldas ad Phasidos undas
Arctos habet: calida medius mihi cognitus axis
Aegypto, atque umbras nusquam flectente Syene.
Occasus mea iura timent, Tethynque fugacem
Qui ferit Hesperius post omnia flumina Baetis.
Me domitus cognovit Arabs, me Marte feroces
Heniochi, notique erepto vellere Colchi.
Cappadoces mea signa timent: et dedita sacris
Incerti Iudaea dei, mollisque Sophene.
Armenios, Cilicasque feros, Taurosque subegi.
Quod socero bellum, praeter civile, reliqui?
Verba ducis nullo partes clamore sequuntur,
Nec matura petunt promissae classica pugnae.
Sensit et ipse metum Magnus; placuitque referri
Signa, nec in tantae discrimina mittere pugnae
Iam victum fama non visi Caesaris agmen.
Pulsus ut armentis primo certamine taurus
Silvarum secreta petit, vacuosque per agros
Exsul in adversis explorat cornua truncis;
Nec redit in pastus, nisi cum cervice recepta
Excussi placuere tori: mox reddita victor
Quoslibet in saltus comitantibus agmina tauris
Invito pastore trahit: sic viribus impar
Tradidit Hesperiam, profugusque per Apula rura
Brundusii tutas conscendit Magnus in arces.
Urbs est Dictaeis olim possessa colonis,
Quos profugos Creta vexere per aequora puppes
Cecropiae, victum mentitis Thesea velis.
Hac latus angustum iam se cogentis in arcum
Hesperiae tenuem producit in aequora linguam,
Hadriacas flexis claudit quae cornibus undas.
Nec tamen hoc arctis immissum faucibus aequor
Portus erat, si non violentos insula Coros
Exciperet saxis, lapsasque refunderet undas.
Hinc illinc montes scopulosae rupis aperto
Opposuit natura mari, flatusque removit,
Ut tremulo starent contentae fune carinae.
Hinc late patet omne fretum, seu vela ferantur
In portus, Corcyra, tuos, seu laeva petatur
Illyris Ionias vergens Epidamnos in undas
Huc fuga nautarum, cum totas Hadria vires
Movit, et in nubes abiere Ceraunia, quumque
Spumoso Calaber perfunditur aequore Sason.

[¶2] When the chief
Could find no hope in battle on the soil
He now was quitting, and the lofty Alps
Forbad Iberia, to his son he spake,
The eldest scion of that noble stock:
Search out the far recesses of the earth,
'Nile and Euphrates, wheresoe'er the fame
Of Magnus lives, where, through thy father's deeds,
The people tremble at the name of Rome.
'Lead to the sea again the pirate bands;
'Rouse Egypt's kings; Tigranes, wholly mine,
'And Pharnaces and all the vagrant tribes
'Of both Armenias; and the Pontic hordes,
' Warlike and fierce; the dwellers on the hills
'Rhipaean, and by that dead northern marsh
'Whose frozen surface bears the loaded wain.
Why further stay thee? Let the eastern world
Sound with the war, all cities of the earth
'Conquered by me, as vassals, to my camp
'Send all their levied hosts. And you whose names
'Within the Latian book recorded stand,
'Strike for Epirus with the northern wind;
'And thence in Greece and Macedonian tracts,
(While winter gives us peace) new strength acquire
'For coming conflicts.' They obey his words
And loose their ships and launch upon the main.
But Caesar's might, intolerant of peace
Or lengthy armistice, lest now perchance
The fates might change their edicts, swift pursued
The footsteps of his foe. To other men,
So many cities taken at a blow,
So many strongholds captured, might suffice;
And Rome herself, the mistress of the world,
Lay at his feet, the greatest prize of all.
Not so with Caesar: instant on the goal
He fiercely presses; thinking nothing done
While aught remained to do. Now in his grasp
Lay all Italia;-but while Magnus stayed
Upon the utmost shore, his grieving soul
Deemed all was shared with him. Yet he essayed
Escape to hinder, and with labour vain
Piled in the greedy main gigantic rocks:
Mountains of earth down to the sandy depths
Were swallowed by the vortex of the sea;
Just as if Eryx and its lofty top
Were cast into the deep, yet not a speck
Should mark the watery plain; or Gaurus huge
Split from his summit to his base, were plunged
In fathomless Avernus' stagnant pool.
The billows thus unstemmed, 'twas Caesar's will
To hew the stately forests and with trees
Enchained to form a rampart. Thus of old
(If fame be true) the boastful Persian king
Prepared a way across the rapid strait
'Twixt Sestos and Abydos, and made one
The European and the Trojan shores;
And marched upon the waters, wind and storm
Counting as nought, but trusting his emprise
To one frail bridge, so that his ships might pass
Through middle Athos. Thus a mighty mole
Of fallen forests grew upon the waves,
Free until then, and lofty turrets rose,
And land usurped the entrance to the main.
This when Pompeius saw, with anxious care
His soul was filled; yet hoping to regain
The exit lost, and win a wider world
Wherein to wage the war, on chosen ships
He hoists the sails; these, driven by the wind
Which filled the bellying sails, not once nor twice
Scattered the beams asunder; and at night
Not seldom engines, worked by stalwart arms,
Flung flaming torches forth. But when the time
For secret flight was come, no sailor shout
Rang on the shore, no trumpet marked the hour,
No clarion called the armament to sea.
Already shone the Virgin in the sky
Leading the Scorpion in her course, whose claws
Foretell the rising Sun, when noiseless all
They cast the vessels loose; no song was heard
To greet the anchor wrenched from stubborn sand;
No captain's order, when the lofty mast
Was raised, or yards were bent; a silent crew
Drew down the sails which hung upon the ropes,
Nor shook the mighty cables, lest the wind
Should sound upon them. But the chief, in prayer,
Thus spake to Fortune: ' Thou whose high decree
Has made us exiles from Italia's shores,
Grant us at least to leave them.' Yet the fates
Hardly permitted, for a murmur vast
Came from the ocean, as the countless keels
Furrowed the waters, and with ceaseless splash
The parted billows rose again and fell.
Then were the gates thrown wide; for with the fates
The city turned to Caesar: and the foe,
Seizing the town, rushed onward by the pier
That circled in the harbour; then they knew
With shame and sorrow that the fleet was gone
And held the open: and Pompeius' flight
Gave a poor triumph. Yet was narrower far
The channel which gave access to the sea
Than that Euboean strait whose waters lave
The shore by Chalcis. Here two ships stuck fast
Alone, of all the fleet; the fatal hook
Grappled their decks and drew them to the land,
And the first bloodshed of the civil war
Here left a blush upon the ocean wave.
As when the famous ship sought Phasis' stream
The rocky gates closed in and hardly gripped
Her flying stern; then from the empty sea
The cliffs rebounding to their ancient seat
Were fixed to move no more. But now the steps
Of morn approaching tinged the eastern sky
With roseate hues: the Pleiades were dim,
The wagon of the Charioteer grew pale,
The planets faded, and the silvery star
Which ushers in the day, was lost in light.
Thou, Magnus, hold'st the deep; yet not the same
Now are thy fates, as when from every sea
Thy fleet triumphant swept the pirate pest.
Tired of thy conquests, Fortune now no more
Shall smile upon thee. With thy spouse and sons,
Thy household gods, and peoples in thy train,
Still great in exile, in a distant land
Thou seek'st thy fated fall; not that the gods,
Wishing to rob thee of a Roman grave,
Decreed the strands of Egypt for thy tomb:
'Twas Italy they spared, that far away
Fortune on shores remote might hide her crime,
And Roman soil be pure of Magnus' blood.

> Latin: Ergo ubi nulla fides rebus post terga relictis,
Nec licet ad duros Martem convertere Iberos,
Cum mediae iaceant immensis tractibus Alpes:
Tum subole ex tanta natum, cui firmior aetas,
Adfatur: Mundi iubeo tentare recessus.
Euphratem Nilumque move, quo nominis usque
Nostri fama venit, quas est vulgata per urbes
Post me Roma ducem. Sparsos per rura colonos
Redde mari Cilicas. Pharios hinc concute reges,
Tigranemque meum. Nec Pharnacis arma relinquas,
Admoneo, nec tu populos utraque vagantes
Armenia, Pontique feras per litora gentes,
Rhipaeasoue manus, et quas tenet aequore denso
Pigra palus Scythici patiens Maeotica plaustri.
Sed quid plura moror? totos mea, nate, per ortus
Bella feres, totoque urbes agitabis in orbe
Perdomitas: omnes redeant in castra triumphi.
Et vos, qui Latios signatis nomine fastos,
Primus in Epirum Boreas agat: inde per arva
Graiorum Macetumque novas adquirite vires,
Dum paci dat tempus hiems. Sic fatur, et omnes
Iussa gerunt, solvuntque cavas a litore puppes.
At numquam patiens pacis longaeque quietis
Armorum, ne quid fatis mutare liceret,
Adsequitur, generique premit vestigia Caesar.
Sufficerent aliis primo tot moenia cursu
Rapta, tot oppressae depulsis hostibus arces:
Ipsa, caput mundi, bellorum maxima merces,
Roma, capi facilis. Sed Caesar, in omnia praeceps,
Nil actum credens, cum quid superesset agendum,
Instat atrox: et adhuc, quamvis possederit omnem
Italiam, extremo sedeat quod litore Magnus,
Communem tamen esse dolet: nec rursus aperto
Vult hostes errare freto, sed molibus undas
Obstruit, et latum deiectis rupibus aequor.
Cedit in immensum cassus labor: omnia pontus
Haurit saxa vorax, montesque immiscet arenis:
Ut maris Aegaei medias si celsus in undas
Depellatur Eryx, nullae tamen aequore rupes
Emineant; vel si convulso vertice Gaurus
Decidat in fundum penitus stagnantis Averni.
Ergo ubi nulla vado tenuit sua pondera moles,
Tunc placuit caesis innectere vincula silvis,
Roboraque immensis late religare catenis.
Tales fama canit tumidam super aequora Xerxem
Construxisse vias, multum cum pontibus ausus,
Europamque Asiae, Sestonque admovit Abydo,
Incessitque fretum rapidi super Hellesponti,
Non Eurum Zephyrumque timens; cum vela ratesque
In medium deferret Athon. Sic ora profundi
Arctantur casu nemorum: tunc aggere multo
Surgit opus, longaeque tremunt super aequor turres.
Pompeius tellure nova compressa profundi
Ora videns, curis animum mordacibus angi,
Ut reseret pelagus, spargatque per aequora bellum.
Saepe Noto plenae, tensisque rudentibus actae
Ipsa maris per claustra rates fastigia molis
Discussere salo, spatiumque dedere carinis:
Tortaque per tenebras validis ballista lacertis,
Multifidas iaculata faces. Ut tempora tandem
Furtivae placuere fugae: ne litora clamor
Nauticus exagitet, neu buccina dividat horas,
Neu tuba praemonitos perducat ad aequora nautas,
Praecepit sociis. Iam coeperat ultima Virgo
Phoebum laturas ortu praecedere Chelas,
Cum taciti solvere rates. Non anchora voces
Movit, dum spissis avellitur uncus arenis:
Dum iuga curvantur mali, dumque ardua pinus
Erigitur, pavidi classis siluere magistri:
Strictaque pendentes deducunt carbasa nautae,
Nec quatiunt validos, ne silibet aura, rudentes.
Dux etiam votis hoc te, Fortuna, precatur,
Quam retinere vetas, liceat sibi perdere saltem
Italiam. Vix fata sinunt: nam murmure vasto
Impulsum rostris sonuit mare, fluctuat unda,
Totque carinarum permixtis aequora sulcis.
Ergo hostes portis, quas omnes solverat urbis
Cum fato conversa fides, murisque recepti,
Praecipiti cursu flexi per cornua portus
Ora petunt, pelagusque dolent contingere classes.
Heu pudor! exigua est fugiens victoria Magnus.
Angustus puppes mittebat in aequora limes,
Arctior Euboica, qua Chalcida verberat, unda.
Hic haesere rates geminae, classique paratas
Excepere manus: tractoque in litora bello
Hic primum rubuit civili sanguine Nereus.
Cetera classis abit, summis spoliata carinis:
Ut, Pagasaea ratis peteret cum Phasidos undas,
Cyaneas tellus emisit in aequora cautes;
Rapta puppe minor subducta est montibus Argo,
Vanaque percussit pontum Symplegas inanem,
Et statura redit. Iam Phoebum urgere monebat
Non idem Eoi color aetheris, albaque nondum
Lux rubet, et flammas propioribus eripit astris:
Et iam Pleias hebet, flexi iam plaustra Bootae
In faciem puri redeunt languentia coeli,
Maioresque latent stellae, calidumque refugit
Lucifer ipse diem. Pelagus iam, Magne, tenebas,
Non ea fata ferens, quae, cum super aequora toto
Praedonem sequerere mari. Lassata triumphis
Destituit Fortuna tuis. Cum coniuge pulsus,
Et natis, totosque trahens in bella penates,
Vadis adhuc ingens, populis comitantibus, exsul.
Quaeritur indignae sedes longinqua ruinae.
Non, quia te superi patrio privare sepulchro
Maluerint, Phariae busto damnantur arenae:
Parcitur Hesperiae; procul hoc ut in orbe remoto
Abscondat Fortuna nefas, Romanaque tellus
Immaculata sui servetur sanguine Magni.

## 5. Book III · lines 1–398

Source: https://scriptura.si/works/lucan-pharsalia/5/ · cite a paragraph as https://scriptura.si/works/lucan-pharsalia/5/#p-N

[¶0] WITH canvas yielding to the southern wind
The navy sailed the deep, and every eye
Gazed on Ionian billows. But the chief
Turned not his vision from his native shore
Now left for ever, while the morning mists
Drew down upon the mountains, and the cliffs
Faded in distance till his aching sight
No longer knew them. Then his wearied frame
Sank in the arms of sleep. But Julia's shape,
In mournful guise, dread horror on her brow,
Rose through the gaping earth, and from her tomb
Erect, in form as of a Fury spake:
'Driven from Elysian fields and from the plains
'The blest inhabit, when the war began,
'I dwell in Stygian darkness where abide
'The souls of all the guilty. There I saw
'Th' Eumenides with torches in their hands
'Prepared against thy battles; and the fleets
' Which by the ferryman of the flaming stream
'Were made to bear thy dead: and Hell enlarged
'To hold thy punishments: the sisters three
' With busy fingers all their needful task
' Could scarce accomplish, and the threads of fate
'Dropped from their weary hands. With me thy wife,
'Thou, Magnus, leddest happy triumphs home:
'New wedlock brings new luck. Thy concubine,
' Whose star brings all her mighty husbands ill,
'Cornelia, weds in thee a breathing tomb.
'Through wars and oceans let her cling to thee
'So long as I may break thy nightly rest:
' No moment left thee for her love, but all
'By night to me, by day to Caesar given.
'Me not the oblivious banks of Lethe's stream
' Have made forgetful; and the kings of death
' Have suffered me to join thee; in mid fight
'I will be with thee, and my haunting ghost
'Remind thee Caesar's daughter was thy spouse.
'Thy sword kills not our pledges; civil war
'Shall make thee wholly mine.' She spake and fled.
But he, though heaven and hell thus bode defeat,
More bent on war, with mind assured of ill,
'Why dread vain phantoms of a dreaming brain?
Or nought of sense and feeling to the soul
Is left by death; or death itself is nought.'
Now fiery Titan in declining path
Dipped to the waves, his bright circumference
So much diminished as a growing moon
Not yet full circled, or when past the full;
When to the fleet a hospitable coast
Gave access, and the ropes in order laid,
The sailors struck the masts and rowed ashore.
Thus was the fleet set free and rapt from view
By favouring breezes. On Italian soil
Sole lord stood Caesar: but he found no joy
In triumph over Magnus-rather grieved
That thus in safety had his flight been sped.
Not any gifts of fortune now sufficed
His fiery spirit; and no victory won,
Unless the war was finished with the stroke.
Then arms he laid aside, in guise of peace
Seeking the people's favour; skilled to know
How to arouse their ire, and how to gain
The popular love by corn in plenty given.
Alone through famine cities can be won;
By food a tyrant bribes the crowd to cringe;
And starving peoples know not how to fear.
He orders Curio to stem the waves
And cross to lands Sicilian, where of old
Or ocean by a sudden rise o'erwhelmed
The land, or split the isthmus right in twain,
Leaving a path for seas. The mighty deep
There labours ever lest again should meet
The mountains rent asunder. Nor were left
Sardinian shores unvisited: each isle
Is blest with noble harvests which have filled
More than all else the granaries of Rome,
And poured their plenty on Hesperia's shores.
Not even Libya, with its fertile soil,
Their yield surpasses, when the southern wind
Gives way to northern and permits the clouds
To drop their moisture on the teeming earth.
This ordered, Caesar leads his legions on,
Not armed for war, but as in time of peace
Returning to his home. Ah! had he come
With only Gallia conquered and the North,
What long array of triumph had he brought!
What pictured scenes of battle! how had Rhine
And Ocean borne his chains! How noble Gaul,
And Britain's fair-haired chiefs his lofty car
Had followed! Such a triumph had he lost
By further conquest. Now in silent fear
They watched his marching troops, nor joyful towns
Poured out their crowds to welcome his return.
Yet did the conqueror's proud soul rejoice,
Far more than at their love, at such a fear.

> Latin: Propulit ut classem velis cedentibus Auster
Incumbens, mediumque rates movere profundum,
Omnis in Ionios spectabat navita fluctus:
Solus ab Hesperia non flexit lumina terra
Magnus, dum patrios portus, dum litora numquam
Ad visus reditura suos, tectumque cacumen
Nubibus, et dubios cernit vanescere montes.
Inde soporifero cesserunt languida somno
Membra ducis. Diri tum plena horroris imago
Visa caput moestum per hiantes Iulia terras
Tollere, et accenso furialis stare sepulcro.
Sedibus Elysiis campoque expulsa piorum
Ad Stygias, inquit, tenebras manesque nocentes,
Post bellum civile trahor. Vidi ipsa tenentes
Eumenidas, quaterent quas vestris lampadas armis.
Praeparat innumeras puppes Acherontis adusti
Portitor: in multas laxantur Tartara poenas.
Vix operi cunctae dextra properante sorores
Sufficiunt: lassant rumpentes stamina Parcas.
Coniuge me laetos duxisti, Magne, triumphos:
Fortuna est mutata toris: semperque potentes
Detrahere in cladem fato damnata maritos,
En nupsit tepido pellex Cornelia busto.
Haereat illa tuis per bella, per aequora signis,
Dum non securos liceat mihi rumpere somnos,
Et nullum vestro vacuum sit tempus amori,
Sed teneat Caesarque dies, et Iulia noctes.
Me non Lethaeae, coniux, oblivia ripae
Immemorem fecere tui, regesque silentum
Permisere sequi. Veniam, te bella gerente,
In medias acies. Numquam tibi, Magne, per umbras
Perque meos manes generum non esse licebit.
Abscidis frustra ferro tua pignora. Bellum
Te faciet civile meum. Sic fata, refugit
Umbra per amplexus trepidi dilapsa mariti.
Ille, dei quamvis cladem manesque minentur,
Maior in arma ruit, certa cum mente malorum.
Et, quid, ait, vani terremur imagine visus?
Aut nihil est sensus animis a morte relictum,
Aut mors ipsa nihil. Titan iam pronus in undas
Ibat, et igniferi tantum demerserat orbis,
Quantum deesse solet lunae, seu plena futura est,
Seu iam plena fuit: tunc obtulit hospita tellus
Puppibus accessus faciles: legere rudentes,
Et posito remis petierunt litora malo.
Caesar, ut emissas venti rapuere carinas,
Absconditque fretum classes, et litore solus
Dux stetit Hesperio, non illum gloria pulsi
Laetificat Magni: queritur quod tuta per aequor
Terga ferant hostes. Neque enim iam sufficit ulla
Praecipiti fortuna viro: nec vincere tanti,
Ut bellum differret, erat. Tunc pectore curas
Expulit armorum, pacique intentus agebat,
Quoque modo vanos populi conciret amores,
Gnarus et irarum caussas, et summa favoris
Annona momenta trahi. Namque adserit urbes
Sola fames, emiturque metus, cum segne potentes
Vulgus alunt. Nescit plebes ieiuna timere.
Curio Sicanias transcendere iussus in urbes,
Qua mare tellurem subitis aut obruit undis,
Aut scidit, et medias fecit sibi litora terras.
Via illic ingens pelagi, semperque laborant
Aequora, ne rupti repetant confinia montes.
Bellaque Sardoas etiam sparguntur in oras.
Utraque frugiferis est insula nobilis arvis,
Nec plus Hesperiam longinquis messibus ullae,
Nec Romana magis complerunt horrea terrae.
Ubere vix glebae superat, cessantibus Austris,
Cum medium nubes Borea cogente sub axem
Effusis magnum Libye tulit imbribus annum.
Haec ubi sunt provisa duci, tunc agmina victor
Non armata trahens, sed pacis habentia vultum,
Tecta petit patriae. Pro, si remeasset in Urbem,
Gallorum tantum populis Arctoque subacta,
Quam seriem rerum longa praemittere pompa,
Quas potuit belli facies! Ut vincula Rheno,
Oceanoque daret! Celsos ut Gallia currus
Nobilis, et flavis sequeretur mixta Britannis!
Perdidit o qualem vincendo plura triumphum!
Non ilium laetis vadentem coetibus urbes,
Sed tacitae videre metu. Non constitit usquam
Obvia turba duci. Gaudet tamen esse timori
Tam magno populis, et se non mallet amari.

[¶1] Now Anxur's hold was passed, the oozy road
That separates the marsh, the grove sublime
Where reigns the Scythian goddess, and the path
By which men bear the fasces to the feast
On Alba's summit. From the height afar-
Gazing in awe upon the walls of Rome
His native city, since the Northern war
Unseen, unvisited-thus Caesar spake:
'Seat of the gods, have men deserted thee,
'Thee, Rome, without a blow? Then for what town
'Shall men do battle? Thank the gods, no host
'From Eastern climes has sought Italia's shores
'To wreak its fury; nor Sarmatian horde
'With northern tribes conjoined; by Fortune's gift
'This war is civil: else this coward chief
'Had been thy ruin.'
Trembling at his feet
He found the city: deadly fire and flame,
As from a conqueror; gods and fanes dispersed;
Such was the measure of their fear, as though
His power and wish were one. No festal shout
Greeted his march, no feigned acclaim of joy.
Scarce had they time for hate. In Phoebus' hall
Their hiding places left, a crowd appeared
Of Senators, uncalled, for none could call.
No Consul there the sacred shrine adorned
Nor Praetor next in rank, and every seat
Placed for the officers of state was void:
Caesar was all; his private voice was heard;
All else were dumb. They sat prepared to vote
For him a throne or temple; for themselves
Or death or exile. Thank the gods that he
Blushed more to order than did Rome to serve.
Yet in one breast the spirit of Freedom rose
Enraged lest force should override the laws;
For hot Metellus, when he saw the gates
Of Saturn's temple yielding to the shock,
With rapid step burst in between the ranks
Of Caesar's troops, and stood before the doors
As yet unopened. 'Tis the love of gold
Alone that fears not death; no hand is raised
For perished laws or violated rights:
But for this dross, the vilest cause of all,
Men fight and die. Thus did the Tribune bar
The victor's road to rapine, and with voice
Clear ringing spake: ' Save o'er Metellus dead
'This temple opens not; my sacred blood
' Shall flow, thou robber, ere the gold be thine.
'And surely shall the Tribune's power defied
'Find an avenging god; this Crassus knew,
' Who, followed by our curses, sought the war
'And met disaster on the Parthian plains.
' All Rome is empty; draw thy falchion then,
'Nor fear a crowd to gaze upon the crime.
'Not from our treasury reward for guilt
'Thy hosts shall ravish: other towns are left,
'And other nations; seek thy gifts from them;
'Nor drain Rome's peace for spoil: war still is thine.'
Aroused to anger then the victor spake:
' Vain is thy hope to fall in noble death;
'Dost reckon Freedom safe with thee for guard?
' With all thine honours, thou of Caesar's rage
'Art little worthy: never shall thy blood
' Defile his hand. Time lowest things with high
' Confounds not yet so much that, if thy voice
' Could save the laws, it were not better far
'They fell by Caesar.' Such his lofty words.
But as the Tribune yielded not, his rage
Rose yet the more, and at his soldiers' swords
One look he cast, forgetting for the time
What robe he wore; but soon Metellus heard
These words from Cotta: ' When men bow to power
' Freedom of speech is only Freedom's bane,
' Whose shade at least survives, if with free will
' Thou dost whate'er is bidden thee. For us
' Some pardon may be found: a host of ills
' Compelled submission, and the shame is less
'That to have done which could not be refused.
' Yield, then, this wealth, the seeds of direful war.
' A nation's anger is by losses stirred,
' When laws protect it; but the hungry slave
' Brings danger to his master, not himself.'
At this Metellus yielded from the path;
And as the gates rolled backward, echoed loud
The rock Tarpeian, and the temple's depths
Gave up the treasure which for centuries
No hand had touched: all that the Punic foe
And Perses and Philippus conquered gave,
And all the gold which Pyrrhus panic-struck
Left when he fled: that gold, the price of Rome,
Which yet Fabricius sold not, and the hoard
Laid up by saving sires; the tribute sent
By Asia's richest nations; and the wealth
Which conquering Metellus brought from Crete,
And Cato bore from distant Cyprus home;
And last, the riches torn from captive kings
And borne before Pompeius when he came
In frequent triumph. Thus was robbed the shrine,
And Caesar first brought poverty to Rome.

> Latin: Iamque et praecipites superaverat Anxuris arces,
Et qua Pontinas via dividit uda paludes,
Qua sublime nemus, Scythicae qua regna Dianae;
Quaque iter est Latiis ad summam fascibus Albam:
Excelsa de rupe procul iam prospicit Urbem,
Arctoi toto non visam tempore belli:
Miraturque suae, sic fatus, moenia Romae:
Tene, deum sedes, non ullo Marte coacti
Deseruere viri! Pro qua pugnabitur urbe?
Di melius, quod non Latias Eous in oras
Nunc furor incubuit, nec iuncto Sarmata velox
Pannonio, Dacisque Getes admixtus: habenti
Tam pavidum tibi, Roma, ducem Fortuna pepercit,
Quod bellum civile fuit. Sic fatur, et urbem
Adtonitam terrore subit. Namque ignibus atris
Creditur, ut captae, rapturus moenia Romae,
Sparsurusque deos. Fuit haec mensura timoris:
Velle putant, quaecumque potest. Non omina festa,
Non fictas laeto voces simulare tumultu:
Vix odisse vacat Phoebea palatia complet
Turba Patrum, nullo cogendi iure senatus,
E latebris educta suis. Non consule sacrae
Fulserunt sedes: non proxima lege potestas
Praetor adest: vacuaeque loco cessere curules,
Omnia Caesar erat. Privatae curia vocis
Testis adest. Sedere Patres censere parati,
Si regnum, si templa sibi, iugulumque senatus,
Exsiliumque petat. Melius, quod plura iubere
Erubuit, quam Roma pati. Tamen exit in iram,
Viribus an possent obsistere iura, per unam
Libertas experta virum: pugnaxque Metellus
Ut videt ingenti Saturnia templa revelli
Mole, rapit gressus, et Caesaris agmina rumpens,
Ante fores nondum reseratae constitit aedis.
(Usque adeo solus ferrum mortemque timere
Auri nescit amor. Pereunt discrimine nullo
Amissae leges: sed, pars vilissima rerum,
Certamen movistis, opes) prohibensque rapina
Victorem, clara testatur voce Tribunus:
Non nisi per nostrum vobis percussa patebunt
Templa latus, nullasque feres nisi sanguine sacro
Sparsas, raptor, opes. Certe violata potestas
Invenit ista deos: Crassumque in bella secutae
Saeva tribunitiae voverunt proelia dirae.
Detege iam ferrum: neque enim tibi turba verenda est,
Spectatrix scelerum: deserta stamus in urbe.
Non feret e nostro sceleratus praemia miles:
Sunt quos prosternas populi, quae moenia dones.
Pacis ad exhaustae spolium non cogit egestas:
Bellum Caesar habes. His magnam victor in iram
Vocibus accensus: Vanam spem mortis honestae
Concipis: haud, inquit, iugulo se polluet isto
Nostra, Metelle, manus. Dignum te Caesaris ira
Nullus honos faciet. Te vindice tuta relicta est
Libertas? Non usque adeo permiscuit imis
Longus summa dies, ut non, si voce Metelli
Servantur leges, malint a Caesare tolli.
Dixerat, et, nondum foribus cedente tribuno,
Aerior ira subit: saevos circumspicit enses,
Oblitus simulare togam. Tum Cotta Metellum
Compulit audaci nimium desistere coepto.
Libertas, inquit, populi, quem regna coercent,
Libertate perit; cuius servaveris umbram,
Si, quidquid iubeare, velis. Tot rebus iniquis
Paruimus victi: venia est haec sola pudoris,
Degenerisque metus, nil iam potuisse negari.
Ocius avertat diri mala semina belli.
Damna movent populos, si quos sua iura tuentur.
Non sibi, sed domino gravis est, quae servit, egestas.
Protinus abducto patuerunt templa Metello.
Tunc rupes Tarpeia sonat, magnoque reclusas
Testatur stridore fores; tunc conditus imo
Eruitur templo, multis intactus ab annis,
Romani census populi, quem Punica bella,
Quem dederat Perses, quem victi praeda Philippi:
Quod tibi, Roma, fuga Pyrrhus trepidante reliquit,
Quo te Fabricius regi non vendidit auro,
Quidquid parcorum mores servastis avorum,
Quod dites Asiae populi misere tributum,
Victorique dedit Minoia Creta Metello,
Quod Cato longinqua vexit super aequora Cypro.
Tunc orientis opes, captorumque ultima regum
Quae Pompeianis praelata est gaza triumphis
Egeritur: tristi spoliantur templa rapina;
Pauperiorque fuit tunc primum Caesare Roma.

[¶2] Meanwhile all nations of the earth were moved
To share in Magnus' fortunes and the war,
And in his fated ruin. Graecia sent,
Nearest of all, her succours to the host.
From Cirrha and Parnassus' double peak
And from Amphissa, Phocis sent her youth:
From swift Cephisus' fate-declaring stream,
And Theban Dirce, chiefs Boeotian came:
All Pisa mustered and Alpheus' youths,
Alpheus who in far Sicilian lands
Beyond the billows seeks the day again:
Arcadian Maenalus, and OEta loved
By Hercules, and old Dodona's oaks
Are left to silence; for the sacred train
With all Epirus rushes to the war.
Athens, deserted at the call to arms,
Yet found three vessels in Apollo's port
To prove her triumph o'er the Persian king.
Next seek the battle Creta's hundred tribes
Beloved of Jove and rivalling the east
In skill to wing the arrow from the bow.
The walls of Dardan Oricum, the woods
Where Athamanians wander, and the banks
Of swift Absyrtus foaming to the main
Are left forsaken. Enchelaean tribes
Whose king was Cadmus, and whose name records
His transformation, join the host; and those
Who till Penean fields and turn the share
Above Iolcos in Thessalian lands.
There first men steeled their hearts to dare the waves
And 'gainst the rage of ocean and the storm
To match their strength, when the rude Argo sailed
Upon that distant quest, and spurned the shore,
Joining remotest nations in her flight,
And gave the fates another form of death.
Left too was Pholoe; pretended home
Where dwelt the fabled race of double form;
Arcadian Maenalus; the Thracian mount
Named Hemus; Strymon, whence, as autumn falls,
Winged squadrons seek the banks of warmer Nile;
And all those isles the mouths of Ister bathe
Mixed with the tidal wave; the land through which
The cooling eddies of Caicus flow
Idalian; and Arisbe bare of glebe.
The hinds of Pitane, and those who till
Celaenae's fields which mourned of yore the gift
Of Pallas, and the vengeance of the god,
All draw the sword; and those from Marsyas' flood
First swift, then doubling backwards with the stream
Of sinuous Meander: and from where
Earth gives Pactolus and his golden store
Free passage forth; and where with rival wealth
Rich Hermus parts the meads. Nor stayed the bands
Of Troy, but (doomed as in old time) they joined
Pompeius' fated camp: nor held them back
The fabled past, nor Caesar's claimed descent
From their Iulus. Syrian peoples came
From palmy Idumea and the walls
Of Ninus great of yore; from windy plains
Of far Damascus and from Gaza's hold,
From Sidon's courts enriched with purple dye,
And Tyre oft trembling with the shaken earth.
All these led on by Cynosura's light
Furrow their certain path to reach the war.
Phoenicians first (if story be believed)
Dared to record in characters; for yet
Papyrus was not fashioned, and the priests
Of Memphis, carving symbols upon walls
Of mystic sense (in shape of beast or fowl)
Preserved the secrets of their magic art.
Next Persean Tarsus and high Taurus' groves
Are left deserted, and Corycium's cave;
And all Cilicia's ports, pirate no more,
Resound with preparation. Nor the East
Refused the call, where furthest Ganges dares,
Alone of rivers, to discharge his stream
Against the sun opposing; on this shore
The Macedonian conqueror stayed his foot
And found the world his victor; Indus rolls
Here his vast torrent, by Hydaspes joined
Yet scarce augmented; here from luscious reed
Men draw sweet liquor; here they dye their locks
With tints of saffron, and with coloured gems
Bind down their flowing garments; here are they,
Who satiate of life and proud to die,
Ascend the blazing pyre, and conquering fate,
Scorn to live longer; but triumphant give
The remnant of their days in flame to heaven.
Nor failed to join the host a hardy band
Of Cappadocians, tilling now the soil,
Once pirates of the main: nor those who dwell
Where steep Niphates hurls the avalanche,
And where on Median Coatra's sides
The giant forest rises to the sky.
And you, Arabians, from your distant home
Came to a world unknown, and wondering saw
The shadows fall no longer to the left.
Then fired with ardour for the Roman war
Oretas came, and far Carmania's chiefs,
Whose clime lies southward, yet men thence descry
Low down the Pole star, and Bootes runs
Hasting to set, part seen, his nightly course;
And Ethiopians from that southern land
Which lies without the circuit of the stars,
Did not the Bull with curving hoof advanced
O'erstep the limit. From that mountain zone
They came, where rising from a common fount
Euphrates flows and Tigris, and did earth
Permit, were joined with either name; but now
While like th' Egyptian flood Euphrates spreads
His fertilising water, Tigris first
Drawn down by earth in covered depths is plunged
And holds a secret course; then born again
Flows on unhindered to the Persian sea.
But warlike Parthia wavered 'twixt the chiefs,
Content to have made them two; while Scythia's hordes
Dipped fresh their darts in poison, whom the stream
Of Bactros bounds and vast Hyrcanian woods.
Hence springs that rugged nation swift and fierce,
Descended from the Twins' great charioteer.
Nor failed Sarmatia, nor the tribes that dwell
By richest Phasis, and on Halys' banks,
Which sealed the doom of Croesus king; nor where
From far Rhipaean ranges Tanais flows,
On either hand a quarter of the world,
Asia and Europe, and in winding course
Carves out a continent; nor where the strait
In boiling surge pours to the Pontic deep
Maeotis' waters, rivalling the pride
Of those Herculean pillar-gates that guard
The entrance to an ocean. Thence with hair
In golden fillets, Arimaspians came,
And fierce Massagetae, who quaff the blood
Of the brave steed on which they fight and flee.
Not when great Cyrus on Memnonian realms
His warriors poured; nor when, their weapons piled,
The Persian told the number of his host;
Nor when th' avenger of a brother's shame
Loaded the billows with his mighty fleet,
Beneath one chief so many kings made war;
Nor e'er met nations varied thus in garb
And thus in language. To Pompeius' death
Thus Fortune called them: and a world in arms
Witnessed his ruin. From where Afric's god,
Two-horned Ammon, rears his temple, came
All Libya ceaseless, from the wastes that touch
The bounds of Egypt to the shore that meets
The Western Ocean. Thus, to award the prize
Of Empire at one blow, Pharsalia brought
'Neath Caesar's conquering hand the banded world.

> Latin: Interea totum Magni fortuna per orbem
Secum casuras in proelia moverat urbes.
Proxima vicino vires dat Graecia bello.
Phocaicas Amphissa manus scopulosaque Cirrha,
Parnasusque iugo misit desertus utroque.
Boeoti coiere duces, quos impiger ambit
Fatidica Cephisos aqua, Cadmeaque Dirce,
Pisaeaeque manus, populisque per aequora mittens
Sicaniis Alpheus aquas. Tunc Maenala liquit
Arcas, et Herculeam miles Trachinins Oeten.
Thesproti, Dryopesque ruunt, quercusque silentes
Chaonio veteres liquerunt vertice Selloe.
Exhausit totas quamvis delectus Athenae,
Exiguae Phoebea tenent navalia puppes.
Tresque petunt veram credi Salamiua carinae.
Iam dilecta Iovi centenis venit in arma
Creta vetus populis, Cnososque agitare pharetras
Docta, nec Eois peior Gortyna sagittis.
Tunc qui Dardaniam tenet Oricon, et vagus altis
Dispersus silvis Athamas, et nomine prisco
Encheliae, versi testantes funera Cadmi,
Colchis et Adriacas spumans Apsyrtis in undas,
Et Penei qui rura colunt, quorumque labore
Thessalus Aemoniam vomer proscindit Iolcon.
Inde lacessitum primo mare, cum rudis Argo
Miscuit ignotas temerato litore gentes,
Primaque cum ventis pelagique furentibus undis
Composuit mortale genus, fatisque per illam
Accessit mors una ratem. Tunc linquitur Aemus
Thracius, et populum Pholoe mentita biformem.
Deseritur Strymon tepido committere Nilo
Bistonias consuetus aves, et barbara Cone
Sarmaticas ubi perdit aquas, sparsamque profundo
Multifidi Peucen unum caput adluit latri:
Mysiaque, et gelido tellus perfusa Cayco
Idalis, et nimium glebis exilis Arisbe.
Quique colunt Pitanen, et quae tua munera Pallas
Lugent damnatae Phoebo victore Celaenae:
Qua celer et ripis descendens Marsya rectis
Errantem Maeandron adit, mixtusque refertur:
Passaque ab auriferis tellus exire metallis
Pactolon: qua culta secat non vilior Hermus.
Iliacae quoque signa manus, perituraque castra
Ominibus petiere suis: nec fabula Troiae
Continuit, Phrygiique ferens se Caesar Iuli.
Accedunt Syriae populi; desertus Orontes,
Et felix, (sic fama) Ninos: ventosa Damascos,
Gazaque, et arbusto palmarum dives Idume.
Et Tyros instabilis, pretiosaque murice Sidon.
Has ad bella rates non flexo limite ponti,
Certior haud ullis duxit Cynosura carinis.
Phoenices primi, famae si creditur, ausi
Mansuram rudibus vocem signasse figuris.
Nondum flumineas Memphis contexere biblos
Noverat: et saxis tantum volucresque feraeque
Sculptaque servabant magicas animalia linguas.
Deseritur Taurique nemus, Perseaque Tarsos,
Coryciumque patens exesis rupibus antrum,
Mallos, et extremae resonant navalibus Aegae.
Itque Cilix iusta, iam non pirata, carina.
Movit et Eoos bellorum fama recessus,
Qua colitur Ganges, toto qui solus in orbe
Ostia nascenti contraria solvere Phoebo
Audet, et adversum fluctus impellit in Eurum:
Hic, ubi Pellaeus, post Tethyos aequora, ductor
Constitit, et magno vinci se fassus ab orbe est.
Quaque ferens rapidum diviso gurgite fontem
Vastis Indus aquis mixtum non sentit Hydaspen.
Quique bibunt tenera dulces ab arundine succos,
Et qui tingentes croceo medicamine crinem
Fluxa coloratis adstringunt carbasa gemmis.
Quique suas struxere pyras, vivique calentes
Conscendere rogos. Pro, quanta est gloria genti,
Iniecisse manum fatis, vitaque repletos,
Quod superest, donasse deis! Venere feroces
Cappadoces; duri populus nunc cultor Amani,
Armeniusque tenens volventem saxa Niphaten:
Aethera tangentes silvas liquere Coatrae.
Ignotum vobis, Arabes, venistis in orbem,
Umbras mirati nemorum non ire sinistras.
Tunc furor extremos movit Romanus Oretas,
Carmanosque duces, quorum deflexus in Austrum
Aether, non totam mergi tamen adspicit Arcton;
Lucet et exigua velox ibi nocte Bootes.
Aethiopumque solum, quod non premeretur ab ulla
Signiferi regione poli, nisi, poplite lapso,
Ultima curvati procederet ungula Tauri.
Quaque caput rapido tollit cum Tigride magnus
Euphrates, quos non diversis fontibus edit
Persis, et incertum, tellus si misceat amnes,
Quod potius sit nomen aquis. Sed sparsus in agros
Fertilis Euphrates Phariae vice fungitur undae:
At Tigrim subito tellus absorbet hiatu,
Occultosque tegit cursus, rursusque renatum
Fonte novo flumen pelagi non abnegat undis.
Inter Caesareas acies diversaque signa
Pugnaces dubium Parthi tenuere favorem,
Contenti fecisse duos. Tinxere sagittas
Errantes Scythiae populi, quos gurgite Bactros
Includit gelido, vastisque Hyrcania silvis.
Hinc Lacedaemonii, moto gens aspera freno,
Heniochi, saevisque affinis Sarmata Moschis.
Colchorum qua rura secat ditissima Phasis:
Qua Croeso fatalis Halys, qua vertice lapsus
Rhipaeo Tanais diversi nomina mundi
Imposuit ripis, Asiaeque et terminus idem
Europae, mediae dirimens confinia terrae,
Nunc huc, nunc illuc, qua flectitur, ampliat orbem.
Quaque fretum torrens Maeotidos egerit undas,
Pontus et Herculeis aufertur gloria metis,
Oceanumque negat solas admittere Gades.
Hinc Essedoniae gentes, auroque ligatas
Substringens, Arimaspe, comas: hinc fortis Arius,
Longaque Sarmatici solvens ieiunia belli
Massagetes quo fugit equo; volucresque Geloni.
Non, cum Memnoniis deducens agmina regnis
Cyrus, et effusis numerato milite telis
Descendit Perses, fraternique ultor amoris
Aequora cum tantis percussit classibus, unum
Tot reges habuere ducem. Colere nec umquam
Tam variae cultu gentes, tam dissona vulgi
Ora. Tot immensae comites missura ruinae
Excivit populos, et dignas funere Magni
Exsequias Fortuna dedit. Non corniger Hammon
Mittere Marmaridas cessavit in arma catervas:
Quidquid ab occiduis Libye patet arida Mauris,
Usque Paraetonias Eoa ad litora Syrtes.
Acciperet felix ne non semel omnia Caesar,
Vincendum pariter Pharsalia praestitit orbem.

[¶3] Now Caesar left the walls of trembling Rome
And swift across the cloudy Alpine tops
He winged his march; but while all others fled
Far from his path, in terror of his name,
Phocaea's manhood with un-Grecian faith
Held to their pledged obedience, and dared
To follow right, not fate; but first of all
With olive boughs of truce before them borne
The chieftain they approach, with peaceful words
In hope to alter his unbending will
And tame his fury. 'Search the ancient books
Which chronicle the deeds of Latian fame;
Thou'lt ever find, when foreign foes pressed hard,
Massilia's prowess on the side of Rome.
And now, if triumphs in an unknown world
Thou seekest, Caesar, here our arms and swords
Accept in aid: but if, in impious strife
Of civil discord, with a Roman foe
Thou arm'st for battle, tears we give thee then
And hold aloof: no stranger hand may touch
Celestial wounds. Should all Olympus' hosts
Have rushed to war, or should the giant brood
Assault the stars, yet men would not presume
Or by their prayers or arms to help the gods:
And, ignorant of the fortunes of the sky,
Taught by the thunderbolts alone, would know
That Jupiter supreme still held the throne.
Add that unnumbered nations join the fray:
Nor shrinks the world so much from taint of crime
That civil wars reluctant swords require.
But grant that strangers shun thy destinies
And only Romans fight-shall not the son
Shrink ere he strike his father? on both sides
Brothers forbid the weapon to be hurled?
The world's end comes when other hands are armed
' Than those which custom and the gods allow.
' For us, this is our prayer: Leave, Caesar, here
' Thy dreadful eagles, keep thy hostile signs
' Back from our gates, but enter thou in peace
' Massilia's ramparts; let our city rest
' Withdrawn from crime, to Magnus and to thee
' Safe: and should favouring fate preserve our walls
' Inviolate, when both shall wish for peace
' Here meet unarmed. Why hither dost thou turn
' Thy rapid march, when to Iberian fights
'The war commands thee? Weight nor power have we
' To sway the mighty conflicts of the world.
' We boast no victories since our fatherland
'We left in exile: when Phocaea's fort
' Perished in flames, we sought another here;
'And here on foreign shores, in narrow bounds
' Confined and safe, our boast is sturdy faith;
' Nought else. But if our city to blockade
' Is now thy mind-to force the gates, and hurl
' Javelin and blazing torch upon our homes-
' Do what thou wilt: cut off the source that fills
' Our foaming river, force us, prone in thirst,
' To dig the earth and lap the scanty pool;
' Seize on our corn and leave us food abhorred:
' This people shall not shun, for freedom's sake,
' The ills Saguntum bore in Punic siege;
' Torn, vainly clinging, from the shrunken breast
' The starving babe shall perish in the flames.
' Wives at their husbands' hands shall pray their fate,
' And brothers' weapons deal a mutual death.
' Such be our civil war; not, Caesar, thine.'
But Caesar's visage stern betrayed his ire
Which thus broke forth in words: ' Vain is the hope
Ye rest upon my march: speed though I may
Towards my western goal, time still remains
To blot Massilia out. Rejoice, my troops!
' Unsought the war ye longed for meets you now:
The fates concede it. As the tempests lose
Their strength by sturdy forests unopposed,
And as the fire that finds no fuel dies,
Even so to find no foe is Caesar's ill.
When those who may be conquered will not fight,
That is defeat. Degenerate, disarmed
Their gates admit me! Not content, forsooth,
With shutting Caesar out they shut him in!
They shun the taint of war! Such prayer for peace
Brings with it chastisement. In Caesar's age
Learn that not peace, but war within his ranks
Alone can make you safe.'
He turns his march
Upon the fearless city, and beholds
Fast barred the gate-ways, while in arms the youths
Stand on the battlements. Hard by the walls
A hillock rose, upon the further side
Expanding in a plain of gentle slope,
Fit (as he deemed it) for a camp with ditch
And mound encircling. To a lofty height
The nearest portion of the city rose,
While intervening valleys lay between.
These summits with a mighty trench to bind
The chief resolves, gigantic though the toil.
But first, from furthest boundaries of his camp,
Enclosing streams and meadows, to the sea
To draw a rampart, upon either hand
Heaved up with earthy sod; with lofty towers
Crowned; and to shut Massilia from the land.
Then did the Grecian city win renown
Eternal, deathless, for that uncompelled
Nor fearing for herself, but free to act
She made the conqueror pause: and he who seized
All in resistless course found here delay:
And Fortune, hastening to lay the world
Low at her favourite's feet, was forced to stay
For these few moments her impatient hand.
Now fell the forests far and wide, despoiled
Of all their giant trunks: for as the mound
On earth and brushwood stood, a timber frame
Held firm the soil, lest pressed beneath its towers
The mass might topple down.

> Latin: Ille ubi deseruit trepidantis moenia Romae,
Agmine nubiferam rapto superevolat Alpem:
Cumque ali famae populi terrore paverent,
Phocais in dubiis ausa est servare iuventus
Non Graia levitate fidem, signataque iura,
Et caussas, non fata, sequi. Tamen ante furorem
Indomitum duramque viri deflectere mentem
Pacifico sermone parant, hostemque propincum
Orant Cecropiae praelata fronde Minervae:
Semper in externis populo communia vestro
Massiliam bellis testatur fata tulisse,
Comprensa est Latiis quaecunque annalibus aetas.
Et nunc, ignoto si quos petis orbe triumphos,
Accipe devotas externa in proelia dextras.
At si funestas acies, si dira paratis
Proelia discordes, lacrimas civilibus armis
Secretumque damus. Tractentur vulnera nulla
Sacra manu. Si coelicolis furor arma dedisset,
Aut si terrigenae tentarent astra Gigantes,
Non tamen auderet pietas humana vel armis
Vel votis prodesse Iovi; sortisque deorum
Ignarum mortale genus, per fulmina tantum
Sciret adhuc coelo solum regnare Tonantem.
Adde quod innumerae concurrunt undique gentes,
Nec sic horret iners scelerum contagia mundus,
Ut gladiis egeant civilia bella coactis.
Sit mens ista quidem cunctis, ut vestra recusent
Fata, nec haec alius committat proelia miles.
Cui non conspecto languebit dextra parente?
Telaque diversi prohibebunt spargere fratres.
Finis adest rerum, si non committitis illis
Arma, quibus fas est. Nobis haec summa precandi:
Terribiles aquilas infestaque signa relinquas
Urbe procul, nostrisque velis te credere muris,
Excludique sinas, admisso Caesare, bellum.
Sit locus exceptus sceleri, Magnoque tibique
Tutus, ut, invictae fatum si consulat urbi,
Foedera si placeant, sit, quo veniatis inermes.
Vel, cum tanta vocent discrimina Martis Iberi,
Quid rapidum deflectis iter? Non pondera rerum,
Non momenta sumus, numquam felicibus armis
Usa manus, patriae primis a sedibus exsul,
Et post translatas exustae Phocidos arces
Moenibus exiguis alieno in litore tuti,
Illustrat quos sola fides. Si claudere muros
Obsidione paras, et vi perfringere portas:
Excepisse faces tectis et tela parati,
Undarum raptos aversis fontibus haustus
Quaerere, et effossam sitientes lambere terram:
Et, desit si larga Ceres, tunc horrida cerni,
Foedaque contingi maculato carpere morsu.
Nec pavet hic populus pro libertate subire,
Obsessum Poeno gessit quod Marte Saguntum.
Pectoribus rapti matrum, frustraque trahentes
Ubera sicca fame medios mittentur in ignes;
Uxor et a caro poscet sibi fata marito.
Vulnera miscebunt fratres, bellumque coacti
Hoc potius civile gerent. Sic Graia iuventus
Finierat: quum, turbato iam prodita vultu,
Ira ducis tandem testata est voce dolorem.
Vana movet Graios nostri fiducia cursus.
Quamvis Hesperium mundi properemus ad axem,
Massiliam delere vacat. Gaudete cohortes:
Obvia praebentur fatorum munere bella.
Ventus ut amittit vires, nisi robore densae
Occurrant silvae, spatio diffsus inani:
Utque perit magnus nullis obstantibus ignis,
Sic hostes mihi desse nocet: damnumque putamus
Armorum, nisi, qui vinci potuere, rebellent.
Sed si solus eam, dimissis degener armis,
Tunc mihi tecta patent. Iam non exscudere tantum,
Inclusisse volunt. At enim contagia belli
Dira fugant. Dabitis poenas pro pace petita:
Et nihil esse meo discetis tutius aevo,
Quam duce me bellum. Sic postquam fatus, ad urbem
Haud trepidam convertit iter: tunc moenia clausa
Conspicit: et densa iuvenum vallata corona.
Haud procul a muris tumulas surgentis in altum
Telluris parvum diffuso vertice campum
Explicat: haec patiens longo munimine cingi
Visa duci rapes, tutisque aptissima castris.
Proxima pars urbis celsam consurgit in arcem,
Par tumulo, mediisque sedent convallibus arva.
Tunc res immenso placuit statura labore,
Aggere diversos vasto committere colles.
Sed prius ut totam, qua terra cingitur, urbem
Clauderet, a summis perduxit ad aequora castris
Longum Caesar opus, fontesque et pabula campi
Amplexus fossa, densas tollentia pinnas
Cespitibus, crudaque exstruxit brachia terra.
Iam satis hoc Graiae memorandum contigit urbi,
Aeternumque decus, quod non impulsa, nec ipso
Strata metu, tenuit flagrantis in omnia belli
Praecipitem cursum: raptisque a Caesare cunctis,
Vincitur una mora. Quantum est, quod fata tenentur!
Quodque virum toti properans imponere mundo
Hos perdit Fortuna dies! Tunc omnia late
Procumbunt nemora, et spoliantur robore silvae,
Ut, cum terra levis mediam virgultaque molem
Suspendant, structa laterum compage ligatam
Arctet humum, pressus ne cedat turribus agger.

## 6. Book III · lines 399–762

Source: https://scriptura.si/works/lucan-pharsalia/6/ · cite a paragraph as https://scriptura.si/works/lucan-pharsalia/6/#p-N

[¶0] There stood a grove
Which from the earliest time no hand of man
Had dared to violate; hidden from the sun
Its chill recesses; matted boughs entwined
Prisoned the air within. No sylvan nymphs
Here found a home, nor Pan, but savage rites
And barbarous worship, altars horrible
On massive stones upreared; sacred with blood
Of men was every tree. If faith be given
To ancient myth, no fowl has ever dared
To rest upon those branches, and no beast
Has made his lair beneath: no tempest falls,
Nor lightnings flash upon it from the cloud.
Stagnant the air, unmoving, yet the leaves
Filled with mysterious trembling; dripped the streams
From coal-black fountains; effigies of gods
Rude, scarcely fashioned from some fallen trunk
Held the mid space: and, pallid with decay,
Their rotting shapes struck terror. Thus do men
Dread most the god unknown. 'Twas said that caves
Rumbled with earthquakes, that the prostrate yew
Rose up again; that fiery tongues of flame
Gleamed in the forest depths, yet were the trees
Unkindled; and that snakes in frequent folds
Were coiled around the trunks. Men flee the spot
Nor dare to worship near: and e'en the priest
Or when bright Phoebus holds the height, or when
Dark night controls the heavens, in anxious dread
Draws near the grove and fears to find its lord.
Spared in the former war, still dense it rose
Where all the hills were bare, and Caesar now
Its fall commanded. But the brawny arms
Which swayed the axes trembled, and the men,
Awed by the sacred grove's dark majesty,
Held back the blow they thought would be returned.
This Caesar saw, and swift within his grasp
Uprose a ponderous axe, which downward fell
Cleaving a mighty oak that towered to heaven,
While thus he spake: ' Henceforth let no man dread
'To fell this forest: all the crime is mine.
'This be your creed.' He spake, and all obeyed,
For Caesar's ire weighed down the wrath of Heaven.
Yet ceased they not to fear. Then first the oak,
Dodona's ancient boast; the knotty holm;
The cypress, witness of patrician grief,
The buoyant alder, laid their foliage low
Admitting day; though scarcely through the stems
Their fall found passage. At the sight the Gauls
Grieved; but the garrison within the walls
Rejoiced: for thus shall men insult the gods
And find no punishment? Yet fortune oft
Protects the guilty; on the poor alone
The gods can vent their ire. Enough hewn down,
They seize the country wagons; and the hind,
His oxen gone which else had drawn the plough,
Mourns for his harvest.
But the eager chief
Impatient of the combat by the walls
Carries the warfare to the furthest west.
Meanwhile a giant mound, on star-shaped wheels
Concealed, they fashion, crowned with double towers
High as the battlements, by cause unseen
Slow creeping onwards; while amazed the foe
Beheld, and thought some subterranean gust
Had burst the caverns of the earth and forced
The nodding pile aloft, and wondered sore
Their walls should stand unshaken. From its height
Hissed down the weapons; but the Grecian bolts
WVith greater force were on the Romans hurled;
Nor by the arm unaided, for the lance
Urged by the catapult resistless rushed
Through arms and shield and flesh, and left a death
Behind, nor stayed its course: and massive stones
Cast by the beams of mighty engines fell;
As from the mountain top some time-worn rock
At length by winds dislodged, in all its track
Spreads ruin vast: nor crushed the life alone
Forth from the body, but dispersed the limbs
In fragments undistinguished and in blood.
But as protected by the armour shield
The might of Rome drew nigh beneath the wall
(The front rank with their bucklers interlaced
And held above their helms), the missiles fell
Behind their backs, nor could the toiling Greeks
Deflect their engines, throwing still the bolts
Far into space; but from the rampart top
Flung ponderous masses down. Long as the shields
Held firm together, like to hail that falls
Harmless upon a roof, so long the stones
Crushed down innocuous; but as the blows
Rained fierce and ceaseless and the Romans tired,
Some here and there sank fainting. Next the roof
Moves on with earth besprinkled: underneath
The ram conceals his head, which, poised and swung,
They dash with mighty force upon the wall,
Covered themselves with mantlets. Though the head
Light on the lower stones, yet as the shock
Falls and refalls, from battlement to base
The rampart soon shall topple. But by balks
And rocky fragments overwhelmed, and flames,
The roof at length gives way; and worn with toil
All spent in vain, the wearied troops withdraw
And seek the shelter of their tents again.
Thus far to hold their battlements was all
The Greeks had hoped; now, venturing attack,
With glittering torches for their arms, by night
Fearless they sallied forth: nor lance they bear
Nor deadly bow, nor shaft; for fire alone
Is now their weapon. Through the Roman works
Driven by the wind the conflagration spread:
Nor did the newness of the wood make pause
The fury of the flames, which, fed afresh
By living torches, 'neath a smoky pall
Leaped on in fiery tongues. Not wood alone
But stones gigantic crumbling into dust
Dissolved beneath the heat; the mighty mound
Lay prone, yet in its ruin larger seemed.

> Latin: Lucus erat longo numquam violatus ab evo,
Obscurum cingens connexis aera ramis,
Et gelidas alte submotis solibus umbras.
Hunc non ruricolae Panes, nemorumque potentes
Silvani Nymphaeque tenent, sed barbara ritu
Sacra deum, structae diris altaribus arae;
Omnisque humanis lustrata cruoribus arbos.
Si qua fidem meruit superos mirata vetustas,
Illis et volucres metuunt insistere ramis,
Et lustris recubare ferae: nec ventus in illas
Incubuit silvas, excussaque nubibus atris
Fulgura: non ullis frondem praebentibus auris
Arboribus suus horror inest. Tum plurima nigris
Fontibus unda cadit, simulacraque moesta deorum
Arte carent, caesisque extant informia truncis.
Ipse situs putrique facit iam robore pallor
Attonitos: non vulgatis sacrata figuris
Numina sic metuunt: tantum terroribus addit,
Quos timeant non nosse deos. Iam fama ferebat
Saepe cavas motu terrae mugire cavernas,
Et procumbentes iterum consurgere taxos,
Et non ardentis fulgere incendia silvae,
Roboraque amplexos circumfluxisse dracones.
Non illum cultu populi propiore frequentant,
Sed cessere deis. Medio cum Phoebus in axe est,
Aut coelum nox atra tenet, pavet ipse sacerdos
Acessus, dominumque timet deprendere luci.
Hanc iubet immisso silvam procumbere ferro:
Nam vicina operi belloque intacta priore
Inter nudatos stabat densissima montes.
Sed fortes tremuere manus, motique verenda
Maiestate loci, si robora sacra ferirent,
In sua credebant redituras membra secures.
Implicitas magno Caesar torpore cohortes
Ut vidit, primus raptam librare bipennem
Ausus, et aeriam ferro proscindere quercum,
Effatur, merso violata in robora ferro:
Iam ne quis vestrum dubitet subvertere silvam,
Credite me fecisse nefas. Tunc paruit omnis
Imperiis non sublato secura pavore
Turba, sed expensa superorum et Caesaris ira.
Procumbunt orni, nodosa impellitur ilex,
Silvaque Dodones, et fluctibus aptior alnus,
Et non plebeios luctus testata cupressus,
Tum primum posuere comas, et fronde carentes
Admisere diem: propulsaque robore denso
Sustinuit se silva cadens. Gemuere videntes
Gallorum populi: muris sed clausa iuventus
Exsultat. Quis enim laesos impune putaret
Esse deos? Servat multos fortuna nocentes:
Et tantum miseris irasci numina possunt.
Utque satis caesi nemoris, quaesita per agros
Plaustra ferunt: curvoque soli cessantis aratro
Agricolae raptis annum flevere iuvencis.
Dux tamen, impatiens haesuri ad moenia Martis,
Versus ad Hispanas acies extremaque mundi,
Iussit bella geri. Stellatis axibus agger
Erigitur, geminasque aequantes moenia turres
Accipit: hae nullo fixerunt robore terram,
Sed per iter longum caussa repsere latenti.
Cum tantum nutaret onus, telluris inanes
Concussisse sinus quaerentem erumpere ventum
Credidit, et muros mirata est stare iuventus.
Illinc tela cadunt excelsas urbis in arces.
Sed maior Graio Romana in corpora ferro
Vis inerat. Neque enim solis excussa lacertis
Lancea, sed tenso ballistae turbine rapta,
Haud unum contenta latus transire, quiescit:
Sed pandens perque arma viam, perque ossa, relicta
Morte, fugit: superest telo post vulnera cursus.
At saxum quoties ingenti verberis actu
Excutitur, qualis rupes, quam vertice montis
Abscidit impulsu ventorum adiuta vetustas,
Frangit cuncta ruens: nec tantum corpora pressa
Exanimat: totos cum sanguine dissipat artus.
Ut tamen hostiles densa testudine muros
Tecta subit virtus, armisque innexa priores
Arma ferunt, galeamque extentus protegit umbo,
Quae prius ex longo nocuerunt missa recessu,
Iam post terga cadunt: nec Graiis flectere iactum,
Aut facilis labor est longinqua ad tela parati
Tormenti mutare modum: sed pondere solo
Contenti, nudis evolvunt saxa lacertis.
Dum fuit armorum series, ut grandine tecta
Innocua percussa sonant, sic omnia tela
Respuit: at postquam virtus incensa virorum
Perpetuam rupit defesso milite cratem,
Singula continuis cesserunt ictibus arma.
Tunc adoperta levi procedit vinea terra,
Sub cuius pluteis et tecta fronte latentes
Moliri nunc ima parant, et vertere ferro
Moenia: nunc aries suspenso fortior ictu
Incussus densi compagem solvere muri
Tentat, et impositis unum subducere saxis.
Sed super et flammis, et magnae fragmine molis,
Et sudibus crebris, et adusti roboris ictu
Percussae cedunt crates, frustraque labore
Exhausto fessus repetit tentoria miles.
Summa fuit Grais, starent ut moenia, voti.
Ultro acies inferre parant: armisque coruscas
Nocturni texere faces: audaxque iuventus
Erupit: non hasta viris, non letifer arcus,
Telum flamma fuit, rapiensque incendia ventus
Per Romana tulit celeri munimina cursu.
Nec, quamvis viridi lactetur robore, lentas
Ignis agit vires: teda sed raptus ab omni
Consequitur nigri spatiosa volumina fumi:
Nec solum silvas, sed saxa iugentia solvit,
Et crudae putri fluxerunt pulvere cautes.
Procubuit, maiorque iacens adparuit agger.

[¶1] Next, conquered on the land, upon the main
They try their fortunes. On their simple craft
No painted figure-head adorned the bows
Nor claimed protection from the gods; but rude,
Just as they fell upon their mountain homes,
The trees were knit together, and the deck
Gave steady foot-hold for an ocean fight.
Meanwhile had Caesar's squadron left the Rhone
And reached with Brutus' turret ship the strait
By Stoechas' isles. Nor less the Grecian host-
Boys not yet grown to war, and aged men,
Armed for the conflict, with their all at stake.
Nor only did they marshal for the fight
Ships meet for service; but their ancient keels
Brought from the dockyards. When the morning rays
Broke from the waters, and the sky was clear,
And all the winds were still upon the deep,
Smoothed for the battle, swift on either part
The fleets essay the open; and the ships
Tremble beneath the oars that urge them on,
By sinewy arms impelled. Upon the wings
That bound the Roman fleet, the larger craft
With triple and quadruple banks of oars
Gird in the lesser: so they front the sea;
While in their rear, shaped as a crescent moon,
Liburnian galleys follow. Over all
Towers Brutus' deck praetorian. Oars on oars
Propel the bulky vessel through the main,
Six ranks; the topmost strike the waves afar.
When such a space remained between the fleets
As could be covered by a single stroke,
Innumerable voices rise in air
Drowning with resonant din the beat of oars
And note of trumpet summoning: and all
Sit on the benches and with mighty stroke
Sweep o'er the sea and gain the space between.
Then crashed the prows together, and the keels
Rebounded backwards, and unnumbered darts
Or darkened all the sky or, in their fall,
The vacant ocean. As the wings grew wide,
Less densely packed the fleet, some Grecian ships
Pressed in between; as when with west and east
The tide contends, this way the waves are driven
And that the sea; so as they plough the deep
In various lines converging, what the prow
Throws up advancing, from the foemen's oars
Falls back repelled. But soon the Grecian fleet
Was handier found in battle, and in flight
Pretended, and in shorter curves could round;
More deftly governed by the guiding helm:
While on the Roman side their steadier keels
Gave vantage, as to men who fight on land.
Then Brutus to the pilot of his ship:
' Dost suffer them to range the wider deep,
'Contending with the foe in naval skill?
' Draw close the war and drive us on the prows
'Of these Phocaeans.' Him the pilot heard;
And turned his vessel slantwise to the foe.
Then was the sea all covered with the war:
Then Grecian ships attacking Brutus found
Their ruin in the stroke, and vanquished lay
Beside his bulwarks; with curved hooks and chains
The foe they grapple, by entangled oars
Themselves held back. And now no outstretched arm
Hurls forth the javelin, but sword in hand
They wage a naval fight: each from his ship
Leans forward to the stroke, and falls when slain
Upon a foeman's deck. Deep flows the stream
Of purple slaughter to the foamy main:
By piles of floating corpses are the sides,
Though grappled, kept asunder. Some, half dead,
Plunge in the ocean, gulping down the brine
Encrimsoned with their blood; some lingering still
Draw their last struggling breath amid the wreck
Of broken navies: weapons which have missed
Find yet their victims, and the falling steel
Fails not in middle deep to deal the wound.
One vessel circled by Phocaean keels
Divides her strength, and on the right and left
On either side with equal war contends;
On whose high poop while Tagus fighting gripped
The stern Phocaean, pierced his back and breast
Two fatal weapons; in the midst the steel
Met, and the blood, uncertain whence to flow,
Stood still, arrested, till with double course
Forth by a sudden gush it drove each dart,
And sent the life abroad through either wound.
Here fated Telon also steered his ship:
No pilot's hand upon an angry sea
More deftly ruled a vessel. Well he knew,
Or by the sun or crescent moon, how best
To set his canvas fitted for the breeze
The coming hours would bring. His rushing stem
Shattered a Roman vessel: but a dart
Hurled at the moment quivered in his breast.
He falls, and in the fall his dying hand
Diverts the prow. Then Gyareus, in act
To climb the friendly deck, by javelin pierced,
Still as he hung, by the retaining steel
Fast to the side was nailed.
Twin brethren stand
A fruitful mother's pride; with different fates,
But ne'er distinguished till death's savage hand
Struck once, and ended error: he that lived,
Cause of fresh anguish to their sorrowing souls,
Called ever to the weeping parents back
The image of the lost: who, as the oars
Grecian and Roman mixed their teeth oblique,
Grasped with his dexter hand the Roman ship;
When fell a blow that shore his arm away.
So died, upon the side it held, the hand,
Nor loosed its grasp in death. Yet with the wound
His noble courage rose, and maimed he dared
Renew the fray, and stretched across the sea
To grasp the lost-in vain! another blow
Lopped arm and hand alike. Nor shield nor sword
Henceforth are his. Yet even now he seeks
No sheltering hold, but with his chest advanced
Before his brother armed, he claims the fight,
And holding in his breast the darts which else
Had slain his comrades, pierced with countless spears,
He falls in death well earned; yet ere his end
Collects his parting life, and all his strength
Strains to the utmost and with failing limbs
Leaps on the foeman's deck; by weight alone
Injurious; for streaming down with gore
And piled on high with corpses, while her sides
Sounded to ceaseless blows, the fated ship
Let in the greedy brine until her ways
Were level with the waters-then she plunged
In whirling eddies downwards-and the main
First parted, then closed in upon its prey.
Full many wondrous deaths, with fates diverse,
Upon the sea in that day's fight befell.

> Latin: Spes victis telluris abit, placuitque profundo
Fortunam tentare mari Non robore picto
Ornatas decuit fulgens tutela carinas,
Sed rudis, et qualis procumbit montibus arbor,
Conseritur stabilis navalibus area bellis.
Et iam turrigeram Bruti comitata carinam
Venerat in fluctus Rhodani cum gurgite classis,
Stoechados arva tenens. Nec non et Graia iuventua,
Omne suum fatis voluit committere robur,
Grandaevosque senes mixtis armavit ephebis.
Accepit non sola viros, quae stabat in undis
Classis; et emeritas repetunt navalibus alnos.
Ut matutinos spargens super aequora Phoebus
Fregit aquis radios, et liber nubibus aether,
Et posito Borea, pacemque tenentibus Austris,
Servatum bello iacuit mare, movit ab omni
Quisque suam statione ratem, paribusque lacertis
Caesaris hinc puppes, hinc Graio remige classis
Tollitur: impulsae tonsis tremuere carinae,
Crebraque sublimes convellunt verbera puppes.
Cornua Romanae classis validaeque triremes,
Quasque quater surgens exstructi remigis ordo
Commovet, et plures quae mergunt aequore pinus,
Multiplices cinxere rates. Hoc robur aperto
Oppositum pelago. Lunata fronte recedunt
Ordine contentae gemino crevisse Liburnae.
Celsior at cunctis Bruti praetoria puppis
Verberibus senis agitur, molemque profundo.
Invehit, et summis longe petit aequora remis.
Ut tantum medii fuerat maris, utraque classis
Quod semel excussis posset transcurrere tonsis,
Innumerae vasto miscentur in aethere voces:
Remorumque sonus premitur clamore: nec ullae
Audiri potuere tubae. Tunc caerula verrunt,
Atque in transtra cadunt, et remis pectora pulsant.
Ut primum rostris crepuerunt obvia rostra,
In puppim rediere rates, emissaque tela
Aera texerunt vacuumque cadentia pontum.
Et iam diductis extendunt cornua proris,
Diversaeque rates laxata classe receptae.
Ut, quoties aestus Zephyris Eurisque repugnat,
Huc abeunt fluctus, illuc mare: sic, ubi puppes
Sulcato varios duxerunt gurgite tractus,
Quod tulit illa ratis remis, haec repulit aequor.
Sed Graiis habiles pugnamque lacessere pinus
Et tentare fugam, nec longo frangere gyro
Cursum, nec tarde flectenti cedere clavo.
At Romana ratis stabilem praebere carinam
Certior, et terrae similem bellantibus usum.
Tunc in signifera residenti puppe magistro
Brutus ait: Paterisne acies errare profundo,
Artibus et certas pelagi? Iam consere bellum:
Phocaicis medias rostris oppone carinas.
Paruit, obliquas et praebuit hostibus alnos.
Tunc, quaecumque ratis tentavit robora Bruti,
Ictu victa suo percussae capta cohaesit.
Ast alias manicaeque ligant, teretesque catenae,
Seque tenent remis: tecto stetit aequore bellum.
Iam non excussis torquentur tela lacertis,
Nec longinqua cadunt iaculato vulnera ferro:
Miscenturque manus. Navali plurima bello
Ensis agit. Stat quisque suae de robore puppis
Pronus in adversos ictus: nullique perempti
In ratibus cecidere suis. Cruor altus in undis
Spumat, et obducti concreto sanguine fluctus.
Et quas immissi traxerunt vincula ferri,
Has prohibent iungi conserta cadavera puppes.
Semianimes alii vastum subiere profundum,
Hauseruntque suo permixtum sanguine pontum.
Hi, luctantem animam lenta cum morte trahentes,
Fractarum subita ratium periere ruina.
Irrita tela suas peragunt in gurgite caedes:
Et quodcumque cadit frustrato pondere ferrum,
Exceptum mediis invenit vulnus in undis.
Phocaicis Romana ratis vallata carinis,
Robore diducto dextrum laevumque tuetur
Aequo Marte latus: cuius dum pugnat ab alta
Puppe Tagus, Graiumque audax aplustre retentat,
Terga simul pariter missis et pectora telis
Transigitur: medio concurrit pectore ferrum,
Et stetit incertus, flueret quo vulnere, sanguis,
Donec utrasque simul largus cruor expulit hastas,
Divisitque animam, sparsitque in vulnera letum.
Dirigit huc puppim miseri quoque dextra Telonis,
Qua nullam melius, pelago turbante, carinae
Audivere manum: nec lux est notior ulli
Crastina, seu Phoebum videat, seu cornua lunae,
Semper venturis componere carbasa ventis.
Hic Latiae rostro compagem ruperat alni:
Pila sed in medium venere trementia pectus,
Avertitque ratem morientis dextra magistri.
Dum cupit in seciam Gyareus erepere puppim,
Excipit immissum suspensa per ilia ferrum,
Adfixusque rati, telo retinente, pependit.
Stant gemini fratres, fecundae gloria matris,
Quos eadem variis genuerunt viscera fatis.
Discrevit mors saeva viros: unumque relictum
Agnorunt miseri, sublato errore, parentes,
Aeternis caussam lacrimis. Tenet ille dolorem
Semper, et amissum fratrem lugentibus obfert.
Quorum alter, mixtis obliquo pectine remis,
Ausus Romanae Graia de puppe carinae
Iniectare manum: sed eam gravis insuper ictus
Amputat: ilia tamen nisu, quo prenderat, haesit,
Deriguitque tenens strictis immortua nervis.
Crevit in adversis virtus: plus nobilis irae
Truncus habet, fortique instaurat proelia laeva,
Rapturusque suam procumbit in aequora dextram.
Haec quoque cum toto manus est abscisa lacerto.
Iam clypeo telisque carens, non conditur ima
Puppe, sed expositus, fraternaque pectore nudo
Arma tegens, crebra confixus cuspide perstat:
Telaque multorum leto casura suorum
Emerita iam morte tenet. Tum vulnere multo
Effugientem animam lassos collegit in artus,
Membraque contendit toto, quicumque manebat,
Sanguine, et hostilem, defectis robore membris,
Insiluit, solo nociturus pondere, puppim.
Strage virum cumulata ratis, multoque cruore
Plena, per oblicum crebros latus accipit ictus.
At postquam ruptis pelagus compagibus hausit,
Ad summos repleta foros, descendit in undas,
Vicinum involvens contorto vertice pontum.
Aequora discedunt mersa diducta carina,
Inque locum puppis cecidit mare. - Multaque ponto
Praebuit illa dies varii miracula fati.

[¶2] Caught by a grappling-hook that missed the side,
Had Lycidas been whelmed in middle deep;
But by his feet his comrades dragged him back,
And rent in twain he hung; nor slowly flowed
As from a wound the blood; but all his veins
Were torn asunder and the stream of life
Gushed o'er his limbs till lost amid the waves.
From no man dying has the vital breath
Rushed by so wide a path; the lower trunk
Succumbed to death, but with the lungs and heart
Long strove the fates, and hardly won the whole.
While, bent upon the fight, an eager crew
Were gathered to the margin of their deck
(Leaving the upper side as bare of foes),
Their ship was overset. Beneath the keel
Which floated upwards, prisoned in the sea,
And powerless by spread of arms to float
The main, they perished. One who haply swam
Amid the battle, chanced upon a death
Strange and unheard of; for two meeting prows
Transfixed his body. At the double stroke
Wide yawns his chest; blood issues from his mouth
With flesh commingled; and the brazen beaks
Resounding clash together, by the bones
Unhindered: now they part and through the gap
Swift pours the sea and drags the corse below.
Next, of a shipwrecked crew, the larger part
Struggling with death upon the waters, reached
A comrade bark; but when with elbows raised
They seized upon the bulwarks and the ship
Rolled, nor could bear their weight, the ruthless crew
Hacked off their straining arms; then maimed they sank
Below the seething waves, to rise no more.
Now every dart was hurled and every spear,
The soldier weaponless; yet their rage found arms:
One hurls an oar; another's brawny arm
Tugs at the twisted stern; or from the seats
The oarsmen driving, swings a bench in air.
The ships are broken for the fight. They seize
The fallen dead and snatch the sword that slew.
Nay, many from their wounds, frenzied for arms,
Pluck forth the deadly steel, and pressing still
Upon their yawning sides, hurl forth the spear
Back to the hostile ranks from which it came;
Then ebbs their life blood forth.
But deadlier yet
Was that fell force most hostile to the sea;
For, thrown in torches and in sulphurous bolts
Fire all-consuming ran among the ships,
Whose oily timbers soaked in pitch and wax
Inflammable, gave welcome to the flames.
Nor could the waves prevail against the blaze
Which claimed as for its own the fragments borne
Upon the waters. Lo! on burning plank
One hardly 'scapes destruction; one to save
His flaming ship, gives entrance to the main.
Of all the forms of death each fears the one
That brings immediate dying: yet quail not
Their hearts in shipwreck: from the waves they pluck
The fallen darts and furnishing the ships
Essay the feeble stroke; and should that hope
Still fail their hand, they call the sea to aid
And seizing in their grasp some floating foe
Drag him to mutual death. But on that day
Phoceus above all others proved his skill.
Well trained was he to dive beneath the main
And search the waters with unfailing eye;
And should an anchor 'gainst the straining rope
Too firmly bite the sands, to wrench it free.
Oft in his fatal grasp he seized a foe
Nor loosed his grip until the life was gone.
Such was his frequent deed; but this his fate:
For rising, victor (as he thought), to air,
Full on a keel he struck and found his death.
Some, drowning, seized a hostile oar and checked
The flying vessel; not to die in vain,
Their single care; some on their vessel's side
Hanging, in death, with wounded frame essayed
To check the charging prow. Tyrrhenus high
Upon the bulwarks of his ship was struck
By leaden bolt from Balearic sling
Of Lygdamus; straight through his temples passed
The fated missile; and in streams of blood
Forced from their seats his trembling eyeballs fell.
Plunged in a darkness as of night, he thought
That life had left him; yet ere long he knew
The living vigour of his limbs; and cried,
'Place me, O friends, as some machine of war
Straight facing towards the foe; then shall my darts
Strike as of old; and thou, Tyrrhenus, spend
Thy latest breath, still left, upon the fight:
So shalt thou play, not wholly dead, the part
That fits a soldier, and the spear that strikes
Thy frame, shall miss the living.' Thus he spake,
And hurled his javelin, blind, but not in vain;
For Argus, generous youth of noble blood,
Below the middle waist received the spear
And falling drave it home. His aged sire
From furthest portion of the conquered ship
Beheld; than whom in pride of manhood none
More brave in battle: now no more he fought,
Yet did the memory of his prowess stir
Phocaean youths to emulate his fame.
Oft stumbling o'er the benches the old man hastes
To reach his boy, and finds him breathing still.
No tear bedewed his cheek; upon his breast
No blow he struck; but all his frame was stiff,
His hands outspread: and o'er his eyes there fell
A dark impenetrable veil of mist
That blotted out the day; nor could he more
Discern his luckless Argus. He, who saw
His parent, raising up his drooping head
With parted lips and silent features asks
A father's latest kiss, a father's hand
To close his dying eyes. But soon his sire,
Recovering from his swoon, when ruthless grief
Possessed his spirit, 'This short space,' he cried,
' I lose not, which the cruel gods have given,
' But die before thee. Grant thy sorrowing sire
' Forgiveness that he fled thy last embrace.
Not yet has passed thy life blood from the wound
Nor yet is death upon thee-still thou may'st
Outlive thy parent.' Thus he spake, and seized
The reeking sword and drave it to the hilt,
Then plunged into the deep, with headlong bound,
To anticipate his son: for this he feared
A single form of death should not suffice.
Now gave the fates their judgment, and in doubt
No longer was the war: the Grecian fleet
In most part sunk; -some ships by Romans oared
Conveyed the victors home: in headlong flight
Some sought the yards for shelter. On the strand
What tears of parents for their offspring slain,
How wept the mothers! 'Mid the pile confused
Ofttimes the wife sought madly for her spouse
And chose for her last kiss some Roman slain;
While wretched fathers by the blazing pyres
Fought for the dead. But Brutus thus at sea
First gained a triumph for great Caesar's arms.

> Latin: Ferrea dum puppi rapidos manus inserit uncos,
Adfixit Lycidam. Mersus foret ille profundo;
Sed prohibent socii, suspensaque crura retentant.
Scinditur avulsus: nec, sicut vulnere, sanguis
Emicuit lentus: ruptis cadit undique venis:
Discursusque animae diversa in membra meantis
Interceptus aquis. Nullius vita perempti
Est tanta dimissa via: pars ultima trunci
Tradidit in letum vacuos vitalibus artis;
At tumidus qua pulmo iacet, qua viscera fervent,
Haeserunt ibi fata diu: luctataque multum
Hac cum parte viri vix omnia membra tulerunt.
Dum nimium pugnax unius turba carinae
Incumbit prono lateri, vacuamque relinquit,
Qua caret hoste, ratem: congesto pondere puppis
Versa, cava texit pelagus nautasque carina;
Brachia nec licuit vasto iactare profundo,
Sed clauso periere mari. - tunc unica diri
Conspecta est leti facies, cum forte natantem
Diversae rostris iuvenem fixere carinae.
Discessit medium tam vastos pectus ad ictus:
Nec prohibere valent obtritis ossibus artus,
Quo minus aera sonent. Eliso ventre, per ora
Eiectat saniem permixtus viscere sanguis.
Postquam inhibent remis puppes, ac rostra recedunt,
Deiectum in pelagus perfosso pectore corpus
Vulneribus transmisit aquas. - Pars maxima turbae
Naufraga, iactatis morti obluctata lacertis,
Puppis ad auxilium sociae concurrit: at illi
Robora cum vetitis prensarent altius ulnis,
Nutaretque ratis populo peritura recepto,
Impia turba super medios ferit ense lacertos:
Brachia linquentes Graia pendentia puppi,
A manibus cecidere suis: non amplius undae
Sustinuere graves in summo gurgite truncos.
Iamque omni fusis nudato milite telis,
Invenit arma furor: remum contorsit in hostem
Alter: at hi tortum validis aplustre lacertis
Avulsasque rotant, excusso remige, sedes.
In pugnam fregere rates. Sidentia pessum
Corpora caesa tenent, spoliantque cadavera ferro.
Multi, inopes teli, iaculum letale revulsum
Visceribus traxere suis, et vulnera laeva
Oppressere manu, validos dum praebeat ictus
Sanguis et hostilem cum torserit exeat hastam.
Nulla tamen plures hoc edidit aequore clades,
Quam pelago diversa lues. Nam pinguibus ignis
Adfixus tedis, et tecto sulfure vivax
Spargitur: at faciles praebere alimenta carinae
Nunc pice, nunc liquida rapuere incendia cera.
Nec flammas superant undae: sparsisque per aequor
Iam ratibus, fragmenta ferus sibi vindicat ignis.
Hic recipit fluctus, extinguat ut aequore flammas:
Hi, ne mergantur, tabulis ardentibus haerent.
Mille modos inter leti, mors una timori est,
Qua coepere mori. Nec cessat naufraga virtus.
Tela legunt deiecta mari, ratibusque ministrant:
Incertasque manus ictu languente per undas
Exercent. Nunc, rara datur si copia ferri,
Utuntur pelago. Saevus complectitur hostem
Hostis, et implicitis gaudent subsidere membris,
Mergentesque mori. - Pugna fuit unus in illa
Eximius Phoceus animiam servare sub undis,
Scrutarique fretum si quid mersisset arenis,
Et nimis adfixos unci convellere morsus,
Adductum quoties non senserat ancora funem.
Hic ubi compressum penitus deduxerat hostem,
Victor et incolumis summas remeabat ad undas;
Sed, se per vacuos credit dum surgere fluctus,
Puppibus occurrit, tandemque sub aequore mansit.
Hi super hostiles iecerunt brachia remos,
Et ratium tenuere fugam. Non perdere letum
Maxima cura fuit; multus sua vulnera puppi
Adfixit moriens, et rostris abstulit ictus.
Stantem sublimi Tyrrhenum culmine prorae
Lygdamus excussa, Balearis tortor habenae,
Glande petens, solido fregit cava tempora plumbo.
Sedibus expulsi, postquam cruor omnia rupit
Vincula, procumbunt oculi: stat lumine rapto
Adtonitus, mortisque illas putat esse tenebras.
At postquam membris sensit constare vigorem,
Vos, ait, o socii, sicut tormenta soletis,
Me quoque mittendis rectum componite telis.
Egere quod superest animae, Tyrrhene, per omnes
Bellorum casus. Ingentem militis usum
Hoc habet ex magna defunctum parte cadaver:
Viventis feriere loco. Sic fatus in hostem
Caeca tela manu, sed non tamen irrita, mittit.
Excipit haec iuvenis generosi sanguinis Argus,
Qua iam non medius descendit in ilia venter,
Adiuvitque suo procumbens pondere ferrum.
Stabat diversa victae iam parte carinae
Infelix Argi genitor: non ille iuventae
Tempore Phocaicis ulli cessurus in armis:
Victum aevo robur cecidit, fessusque senecta
Exemplum, non miles erat. Qui, funere viso,
Saepe cadens longae senior per transtra carinae
Pervenit ad puppim, spirantesque invenit artus.
Non lacrimae cecidere genis, non pectora tundit,
Distentis toto riguit sed corpore palmis.
Nox subit, atque oculos vastae obduxere tenebrae,
Et miserum cernens agnoscere desinit Argum.
Ille caput labens et iam languentia colla,
Viso patre, levat: vox fauces nulla solutas
Prosequitur: tacito tantum petit oscula vultu,
Invitatque patris claudenda ad lumina dextram.
Ut torpore senex caruit, viresque cruentus
Coepit habere dolor, Non perdam tempora, dixit,
A saevis permissa deis, iugulumque senilem
Confodiam. Veniam misero concede parenti,
Arge, quod amplexus, extrema quod oscula fugi.
Nondum destituit calidus tua vulnera sanguis,
Semianimisque iaces, et adhuc potes esse superstes.
Sic fatus, quamvis capulum per viscera missi
Polluerat gladii, tamen alta sub aequora tendit
Praecipiti saltu. Letum praecedere nati
Festinantem animam morti non credidit uni.
Inclinant iam fata ducum, nec iam amplius anceps
Belli casus erat: Graiae pars maxima classis
Mergitur: ast aliae mutato remige puppes
Victores vexere suos: navalia paucae
Praecipiti tenuere fuga. Quis in urbe parentum
Fletus erat! quanti matrum per litora planctus!
Coniunx saepe sui, confusis vultibus unda,
Credidit ora viri, Romanum amplexa cadaver:
Accensisque rogis miseri de corpore trunco
Certavere patres. - At Brutus, in aequore victor,
Primus Caesareis pelagi decus addidit armis.

## 7. Book IV · lines 1–582

Source: https://scriptura.si/works/lucan-pharsalia/7/ · cite a paragraph as https://scriptura.si/works/lucan-pharsalia/7/#p-N

[¶0] BUT in the distant regions of the earth
Fierce Caesar warring, though in fight he dealt
No baneful slaughter, hastened on the doom
To swift fulfilment. There on Magnus' side
Afranius and Petreius held command,
Who ruled alternate, and the rampart guard
Obeyed the standard of each chief in turn.
There with the Romans in the camp were joined
Asturians swift, and Vettons lightly armed,
And Celts who, exiled from their ancient home,
Had joined 'Iberus' to their former name.
Where the rich soil in gentle slope ascends
And forms a modest hill, Ilerda stands,
Founded in ancient days; beside her glides
Not least of western rivers, Sicoris
Of placid current, by a mighty arch
Of stone o'erspanned, which not the winter floods
Shall overwhelm. Upon a rock hard by
Was Magnus' camp; but Caesar's on a hill,
Rivalling the first; and in the midst a stream.
Here boundless plains are spread beyond the range
Of human vision; Cinga girds them in
With greedy waves; forbidden to contend
With tides of ocean; for that larger flood
Who names the land, Iberus, sweeps along
The lesser stream commingled with his own.
Guiltless of war, the first day saw the hosts
In long array confronted; standard rose
Opposing standard, numberless; yet none
Attacked, through shame of strife; one bloodless day
They gave their country and her broken laws.
But Caesar, when from heaven fell the night,
Drew round a hasty trench; his foremost rank
With close array concealing those who wrought.
Then with the morn he bids them seize the hill
Which parted from the camp Ilerda's walls,
And gave them safety. But in fear and shame
On rushed the foe and seized the vantage ground,
First in the onset. From the height they held
Their hopes of conquest; but to Caesar's men
Their hearts by courage stirred, and their good swords
Promised the victory. Burdened up the ridge
The soldier climbed, and from the opposing steep
But for his comrade's shield had fallen back;
None had the space to hurl the quivering lance
Upon the foeman: spear and pike made sure
The failing foothold, and the falchion's edge
Hewed out their upward path. But Caesar saw
Ruin impending, and he bade his horse
By circuit to the left, with shielded flank,
Hold back the foe. Thus gained his troops retreat,
For none pressed on them; and the victor chiefs,
Forced to withdrawal, gained the day in vain.
Henceforth the fitful changes of the year
Governed the fates and fashioned out the war.
For stubborn frost still lay upon the land,
And northern winds, controlling all the sky,
Prisoned the rain in clouds; the hills were nipped
With snow unmelted, and the lower plains
By frosts that fled before the rising sun;
And all the land, there nearer to the sky
That whelms the stars, was hard and arid grown
By suns of winter. But when Titan neared
The Ram, who, backward gazing on the stars,
Bore perished Helle, and the hours were held
In balance, and the days again prevailed,
The earliest faded moon which in the vault
Hung with uncertain horn, from eastern wind
Received a fiery radiance; whose blast
Forced Boreas back: and breaking on the mists
Within his regions, to the Occident
Drave all that shroud Arabia and the land
Of Ganges; all that or by Caurus borne
Bedim the Orient sky, or rising suns
Permit to gather; pitiless flamed the day
Behind them, while in front the wide expanse
Was driven; nor on mid earth sank the clouds
Though weighed with vapour. North and south alike
Were showerless, for on Calpe's rock alone
All moisture gathered; here at last, forbidden
To pass that sea by Zephyr's bounds contained,
And by the furthest belt of heaven, they pause,
In masses huge convolved; the widest breadth
Of murky air scarce holds them, which divides
Earth from the heavens; till pressed by weight of sky
In densest volume to the earth they pour
Their cataracts; no lightning could endure
Such storm unquenched: though oft athwart the gloom
Gleamed its pale fire. Meanwhile a watery arch
Scarce touched with colour, in imperfect shape
Embraced the sky and drank the ocean waves,
So rendering to the clouds their flood outpoured.
And now the snows which Titan never yet
Could melt were thawed: the Pyrenaean rocks
Are wet with flowing ice; accustomed springs
Find not discharge; and from the very banks
Each stream receives a torrent. Caesar's arms
Are shipwrecked on the field, his tottering camp
Swims on the rising flood; the trench is filled
With whirling waters; and the plain no more
Yields corn or kine; for those who forage seek,
Err from the hidden furrow. Famine knocks
(First herald of o'erwhelming ills to come)
Fierce at the door; and while no foe blockades
The soldier hungers; fortunes buy not now
The meanest measure; yet, alas! is found
The fasting peasant, who, in gain of gold,
Will sell his little all! And now the hills
Are seen no more; rivers in one vast sea
Of whirlpools overwhelmed; beasts borne away
And sucked beneath the stream; their rocky dens
Sweep onwards; and the torrent's raging force
Bears back the inflowing ocean. Nor does night
Acknowledge Phoebus' rise, for all the sky
Feels her dominion and obscures its face,
And darkness joins with darkness. Thus doth lie
The lowest earth beneath the snowy zone
And never-ending winters, where the sky
Is starless ever, and no growth of herb
Sprouts from the frozen earth; but standing ice
Tempers the stars which in the middle zone
Kindle their flames. Thus, Father of the world,
And thou, O trident-god who rul'st the sea
Second in place, Neptunus, load the air
With clouds continual; forbid the tide,
Once risen, to return: forced by thy waves
Let rivers backward run in different course,
Thy shores no longer reaching; and the earth,
Shaken, make way for floods. Let Rhine o'erflow
And Rhone their banks; let torrents spread afield
Unmeasured waters: melt Rhipaean snows:
Spread lakes upon the land, and seas profound,
And snatch the groaning world from civil war.

> Latin: At procul extremis terrarum Caesar in oris
Martem saevus agit, non multa caede nocentem,
Maxima sed fati ducibus momenta daturum.
Iure pari rector castris Afranius illis
Ac Petreius erat: concordia duxit in aequas
Imperium commune vices, tutelaque valli
Pervigil alterno paret custodia signo.
His praeter Latias acies erat impiger Astur,
Vettonesque leves, profugique a gente vetusta
Gallorum Celtae, miscentes nomen Iberis.
Colle tumet modico, lenique excrevit in altum
Pingue solum tumulo: super hunc fundata vetusta
Surgit Ilerda manu: placidis praelabitur undis
Hesperios inter Sicoris non ultimus amnes;
Saxeus ingenti quem pons amplectitur arcu,
Hibernas passurus aquas. At proxima rupes
Signa tenet Magni: nec Caesar colle minore
Castra levat: medius dirimit tentoria gurges.
Explicat hinc tellus campos effusa patentes,
Vix oculo prendente modum, camposque coerces,
Cinga rapax, vetitus fluctus et litora cursu
Oceani pepulisse tuo: nam gurgite mixto,
Qui praestat terris, aufert tibi nomen Iberus.
Prima dies belli cessavit Marte cruento,
Spectandasque ducum vires numerosaque signa
Exposuit. Piguit sceleris; pudor arma furentum
Continuit; patriaeque et ruptis legibus unum
Donavere diem. Prono tunc Caesar Olympo
In noctem subita circumdedit agmina fossa,
Dum primae perstant acies, hostemque fefellit,
Et prope consertis obduxit castra maniplis.
Luce nova collem subito conscendere cursu,
Qui medius tutam castris dirimebat Ilerdam,
Imperat. Huc hostem pariter terrorque pudorque
Impulit; et rapto tumulum prior agmine cepit.
His virtus ferrumque locum promittit: at illis
Ipse locus. Miles rupes oneratus in altas
Nititur: adversoque acies in monte supina
Haeret, et in tergum casura, umbone sequentis
Erigitur. Nulli telum vibrare vacabat,
Dum labat et fixo firmat vestigia pilo,
Dum scopulos stirpesque tenent, atque, hoste relicto,
Caedunt ense viam. Vidit lapsura ruina
Agmina dux, equitemque iubet succedere bello,
Munitumque latus laevo praeducere gyro.
Sic pedes ex facili, nulloque urgente, receptus,
Irritus et victor, subducto Marte, pependit.
Hactenus armorum discrimina: cetera bello
Fata dedit variis incertus motibus aer.
Pigro bruma gelu, siccis Aquilonibus haerens,
Aethere constricto pluvias in nube tenebat.
Urebant montana nives, camposque iacentes
Non duraturae conspecto sole pruinae:
Atque omnis propior mergenti sidera coelo
Aruerat tellus hiberno dura sereno.
Sed postquam vernus calidum Titana recepit
Sidera respiciens delapsae portitor Helles,
Atque iterum, aequatis ad iustae pondera Librae
Temporibus, vicere dies: tunc, sole relicto,
Cynthia quo primum cornu dubitanda refulsit,
Exclusit Boream, flammasque accepit ab Euro.
Ille suo nubes quascumque invenit in axe,
Torsit in occiduum Nabataeis flatibus orbem:
Et quas sentit Arabs, et quas Gangetica tellus
Exhalat nebulas, quidquid concrescere primus
Sol patitur, quidquid coeli fuscator Eoi
Intulerat Corus, quidquid defenderat Indos,
Incendere diem nubes, oriente remotae;
Nec medio potuere graves incumbere mundo,
Sed nimbos rapuere fuga. Vacat imbribus Arctos
Et Notus; in solam Calpen fluit humidus aer.
Hic, ubi iam Zephyri fines et summus Olympi
Cardo tenet Tethyn, vetitae transcurrere, densos
Involvere globos; congestumque aeris atri
Vix recipit spatium, quod separat aethere terram.
Iamque polo pressae largos densentur in imbres,
Spissataeque fluunt: nec servant fulmina flammas,
Quamvis crebra micent: moriuntur fulgura nimbis
Hinc imperfecto complectitur aera gyro
Arcus, vix ulla variatus luce colorem,
Oceanumque bibit, raptosque ad nubila fluctus
Pertulit, et coelo diffusum reddidit aequor.
Iamque Pyrenaeae, quas numquam solvere Titan
Evaluit, fluxere nives, fractoque madescunt
Saxa gelu. Tunc, quae solitis e fontibus exit,
Non habet unda vias: tam largas alveus omnis
A ripis accepit aquas. Iam naufraga campo
Caesaris arma natant, impulsaque gurgite multo
Castra labant: alto restagnant flumina vallo.
Non pecorum raptus faciles, non pabula mersi
Ulla ferunt sulci: tectarum errore viarum
Fallitur occultis sparsus populator in agris.
Iamque, comes semper magnorum prima malorum.
Saeva fames aderat: nulloque obsesses ab hoste
Miles eget; toto censu non prodigus emit
Exiguam Cererem. Pro lucri pallida tabes!
Non deest prolato ieiunus venditor auro.
Iam tumuli collesque latent: iam flumina cuncta
Condidit una palus, vastaque voragine mersit:
Absorpsit penitus rupes, ac tecta ferarum
Detulit, atque ipsas hausit, subitisque frementes
Vorticibus contorsit aquas et repulit aestus
Fortior Oceani. Nec Phoebum surgere sentit
Nox subiecta polo; rerum discrimina miscet
Deformis coeli facies iunctaeque tenebrae.
Sic mundi pars ima iacet, quam zona nivalis
Perpetuaeque premunt hiemes; non sidera coelo
Ulla videt, sterili non quidquam frigore gignit,
Sed glacie medios signorum temperat ignes.
Sic, o summe parens mundi, sic sorte secunda
Aequorei rector facias, Neptune, tridentis:
Et tu perpetuis impendas aera nimbis;
Tu remeare vetes quoscumque emiseris aestus.
Non habeant amnes declivem ad litora cursum,
Sed pelagi referantur aquis: concussaque tellus
Laxet iter fluviis. Hos campos Rhenus inundet,.
Hos Rhodanus: vastos obliquent flumina fontes.
Rhipaeas huc solve nives, huc stagna lacusque
Et pigras, ubicumque iacent, effunde paludes:
Et miseras bellis civilibus eripe terras.

[¶1] Thus for a little moment Fortune tried
Her darling son; then smiling to his part
Returned; and gained her pardon for the past
By greater gifts to come. For now the air
Had grown more clear, and Phoebus' warmer rays
Coped with the flood and scattered all the clouds
In fleecy masses; and the reddening east
Proclaimed the coming day; the land resumed
Its ancient marks; no more in middle air
The moisture hung, but from about the stars
Sank to the depths; the forest glad upreared
Its foliage; hills again emerged to view
And 'neath the warmth of day the plains grew firm.
When Sicoris kept his banks, the shallop light
Of hoary willow bark they build, which bent
On hides of oxen, bears the weight of man
And swims the torrent. Thus on sluggish Po
Venetians float; and on th' encircling sea
Are borne Britannia's nations; and when Nile
Fills all the land, are Memphis' thirsty reeds
Shaped into fragile boats that swim his waves.
The further bank thus gained, they haste to curve
The fallen forest, and to form the arch
By which imperious Sicoris shall be spanned.
Yet fearing he might rise in wrath anew,
Not on the nearest marge they place the beams,
But in mid-field. Thus the presumptuous stream
They tame with chastisement, parting his flood
In devious channels out; and curb his pride.
Petreius, seeing that all things gave way
To Caesar's destiny, leaves Ilerda's steep,
His trust no longer in the Roman world;
And seeks for strength amid those distant tribes,
Who, loving death, rush in upon the foe,
And win their conquests at the point of sword.
But in the dawn, when Caesar saw the camp
Stand empty on the hill, ' To arms! ' he cries:
' No bridge nor ford; but stem with brawny arms
' The foaming river.' Rushing to the fray
They dare the torrent they had feared in flight.
Their arms regained, they race until the blood
Throbs in their veins anew, and their wet limbs
Are warm again. At length the shadows fall
Short on the sward, and day is at the height.
Then dash the horsemen on, and hold the foe
'Twixt flight and battle. In the plain arose
Two rocky heights: from each a loftier ridge
Of hills ranged onwards, sheltering in their midst
A hollow vale, whose deep and winding paths
Were safe from warfare; which, when Caesar saw
That if Petreius held, the war must pass
To lands remote by savage tribes possessed;
'Speed on,' he cries, ' and meet their flight in front;
'Fierce be your frown and battle in your glance:
' No coward's death be theirs; but as they flee
'Plunge in their breasts the sword.' They seize the pass
And place their camp. Short was the span between
Th' opposing sentinels; with eager eyes
Undimmed by space, they gazed on brothers, sons,
Or friends and fathers; and within their souls
They grasped the impious horror of the war.
Yet for a little while no voice was heard,
For fear restrained; by waving blade alone
Or gesture, spake they; but their passion grew,
And broke all discipline; and soon they leap
The hostile rampart; every hand outstretched
Embraces hand of foeman, palm in palm;
One calls by name his neighbour, one his host,
Another with his schoolmate talks again
Of olden studies: he who in the camp
Found not a comrade, was no son of Rome.
Wet are their arms with tears, and sobs break in
Upon their kisses; each, unstained by blood,
Dreads what he might have done. Why beat thy breast?
Why, madman, weep? The guilt is thine alone
To do or to abstain. Dost fear the man
Who takes his title to be feared from thee?
When Caesar's trumpets sound the call to arms
Heed not the summons; when thou seest advance
His standards, halt. The civil Fury thus
Shall fold her wings; and in a private robe
Caesar shall love his kinsman.
Holy Love
Who sway'st the universe, whose firm embrace
Binds the compacted fabric of the world;
Come, gentle Concord! these our times do now
For good or evil destiny control
The coming centuries! Ah, cruel fate!
Now have the people lost their cloak for crime:
Their hope of pardon. They have known their kin.
Woe for the respite given by the gods
Making more black the hideous guilt to come!
Now all was peaceful, and in either camp
Sweet converse held the soldiers; on the grass
They place the meal, and pour the mingled cup;
Bright glows the turf upon the friendly fire;
On mutual couch with stories of their fights,
They while the sleepless hours in talk away;
'Where stood the ranks arrayed, from whose right hand
The quivering lance was sped:' and while they boast,
Or challenge, deeds of prowess in the war,
Faith is renewed and trust. Thus envious fate
Made worse their doom, and all the crimes to be
Grew with their love. For when Petreius knew
The treaties made, himself and all his camp
Sold to the foe, he stirred his guard to work
An impious slaughter: the defenceless foe
Flung headlong forth: and parted fond embrace
By stroke of weapon and in streams of blood.
And thus in words of wrath, to stir the war:
'Of Rome forgetful, to your faith forsworn!
'And could ye not with victory gained return,
'Restorers of her liberty, to Rome?
'Lose then! but losing call not Caesar lord.
'While still your swords are yours, with blood to shed
'In doubtful battle, while the fates are hid,
'Will you like cravens to your master bear
'Doomed eagles? Will you ask upon your knees
'That Caesar deign to treat his slaves alike,
'And spare, forsooth, like yours, your leaders' lives?
'Nay! never shall our safety be the price
'Of base betrayal! Not for boon of life
'We wage a civil war. This name of peace
'Drags us to slavery. Ne'er from depths of earth,
'Fain to withdraw her wealth, should toiling men
'Draw store of iron; ne'er entrench a town;
'Ne'er should the war-horse dash into the fray
'Nor fleet with turret bulwarks breast the main,
If freedom ever could for peace be sold,
And fame unsoiled: 'tis true our foes are sworn
To cursed crime; should you whose cause is just,
And who may hope for pardon in defeat,
Hold cheap your honour? Shame upon your peace!
Thou callest, Magnus, ignorant of fate,
From all the world thy powers, and dost entreat
Monarchs of distant realms, while haply here
We in our treaties bargain for thy-life! '
Thus did he stir their minds and rouse anew
The love of impious battle. So when beasts
Grown strange to forests, long confined in dens,
Their fierceness lose, and learn to bear with man;
Once should they taste of blood, their thirsty jaws
Swell at the touch, and all the ancient rage
Comes back upon them till they hardly spare
Their keeper. Thus they rush on every crime:
And blows which dealt in blindness of affray
Might seem the crimes of chance, or of the gods
Wreaking their hate, such recent vows of love
Made monstrous, horrid. Where they lately spread
The mutual couch and banquet, and embraced
Some new-found friend, now falls the fatal blow
Upon the self-same breast; and though at first
Groaning at the fell chance, they drew the sword;
Hate rises as they strike, the murderous arm
Confirms the doubtful will: in dreadful joy
Through the wild camp they smote their kinsmen down;
And carnage raged unchecked; and each man strove,
Proud of his crime, before his leader's face
To prove his shamelessness of guilt.

> Latin: Sed parvo Fortuna viri contenta pavore,
Plena redit, solitoque magis favere secundi
Et veniam meruere dei. Iam rarior aer,
Et par Phoebus aquis, densas in vellera nubes
Sparserat, et noctes ventura luce rubebant:
Servatoque loco rerum, discessit ab astris
Humor, et ima petit, quidquid pendebat aquarum.
Tollere silva comas, stagnis emergere colles
Incipiunt, visoque die durescere valles.
Utque habuit ripas Sicoris, camposque reliquit,
Primum cana salix madefacto vimine parvam
Texitur in puppim, caesoque inducta iuvenco
Vectoris patiens tumidum superenatat amnem.
Sic Venetus stagnante Pado, fusoque Britannus
Navigat Oceano: sic, cum tenet omnis Nilus,
Conseritur bibula Memphitis cymba papyro.
His ratibus transiecta manus festinat utrinque
Succisum curvare nemus; fluviique ferocis
Incrementa timens, non primis robora ripis
Imposuit: medios pontem distendit in agros.
Ac ne quid Sicoris repetitis audeat undis,
Spargitur in sulcos, et scisso gurgite rivis
Dat poenas maioris aquae. Postquam omnia fatis
Caesaris ire videt, celsam Petreius Ilerdam
Deserit, et noti diffisus viribus orbis,
Indomitos quaerit populos et semper in arma
Mortis amore feros, et tendit in ultima mundi.
Nudatos Caesar colles desertaque castra
Conspiciens, capere arma iubet, nec quaerere pontem
Nec vada, sed duris fluvium superare lacertis.
Paretur, rapuitque ruens in proelia miles,
Quod fugiens timuisset, iter. Mox uda receptis
Membra fovent armis, gelidosque a gurgite cursu
Restituunt artus, donec decresceret umbra,
In medium surgente die. Iamque agmina summa
Carpit eques, dubiique fugae pugnaeque tenentur.
Adtollunt campo geminae iuga saxea rupes,
Valle cava media. Tellus hinc ardua celsos
Continuat colles: tutae quos inter opaco
Anfractu latuere viae. Quibus hoste potito
Faucibus, emitti terrarum in devia Martem
Inque feras gentes, Caesar videt. Ite sine ullo
Ordine, ait, raptumque fuga convertite bellum,
Et faciem pugnae vultusque inferte minaces:
Nec liceat pavidis ignava occumbere morte:
Excipiant recto fugientes pectore ferrum.
Dixit, et ad montes tendentem praevenit hostem.
Illic exiguo paullum distantia vallo
Castra locant. Postquam spatio languentia nullo
Mutua conspicuos habuerunt lumina vultus,
Et fratres natosque suos videre patresque,
Deprensum est civile nefas! Tenuere parumper
Ora metu: tantum nutu motoque salutant
Ense suos. Mox ut stimulis maioribus ardens
Rupit amor leges, audet transcendere vallum
Miles, in amplexus effusas tendere palmas.
Hospitis ille ciet nomen; vocat ille propinquum:
Admonet hunc studiis consors puerilibus aetas:
Nec Romanus erat, qui non agnoverat hostem.
Arma rigant lacrimis, singultibus oscula rumpunt:
Et, quamvis nullo maculatus sanguine, miles,
Quae potuit, fecisse timet. Quid pectora pulses?
Quid, vesane, gemis? fletus quid fundis inanes,
Nec te sponte tua sceleri parere fateris?
Usque adeone times, quem tu facis ipse timendum?
Classica dent bellum; saevos tu neglige cantus:
Signa ferant; cessa: iamiam civilis Erinnys
Concidet, et Caesar generum privatus amabit.
Nunc ades, aeterno complectens omnia nexu,
O rerum mixtique salus, Concordia, mundi,
Et sacer orbis amor: magnum nunc saecula nostra
Venturi discrimen habent. Periere latebrae
Tot scelerum: populo venia est erepta nocenti:
Agnovere suos. Pro numine fata sinistro,
Exigua requie tantas augentia clades!
Pax erat, et miles, castris permixtus utrisque,
Errabat: duro concordes cespite mensas
Institnunt, et permixto libamina Baccho
Gramineis fluxere focis: iunctoque cubili
Extrahit insomnes bellorum fabula noctes:
Quo primum steterint campo, qua lancea dextra
Exierit. Dum, quae gesserunt fortia, iactant,
Et dum multa negant, quod solum fata petebant,
Est miseris renovata fides, atque omne futurum
Crevit amore nefas. Nam postquam foedera pacis
Cognita Petreio, seque et sua tradita venum
Castra videt, famulas scelerata ad proelia dextras
Excitat, atque hostes turba stipatus inermes
Praecipitat castris, iunctosque amplexibus ense
Separat, et multo disturbat sanguine pacem.
Addidit ira ferox moturas proelia voces:
Immemor o patriae, signorum oblite tuorum,
Non potes hoc caussae, miles, praestare senatus,
Adsertor victo redeas ut Caesare; certe
Ut vincare, potes. Dum ferrum, incertaque fata,
Quique fluat multo non deerit vulnere sanguis,
Ibitis ad dominum, damnataque signa feretis?
Utque habeat famulos nullo discrimine, Caesar
Exorandus erit? ducibus quoque vita petenda est?
Numquam nostra salus pretium mercesque nefandae
Proditionis erit: non hoc civilia bella,
Ut vivamus, agunt. Trahimur sub nomine pacis.
Non chalybem gentes penitus fugiente metallo
Eruerent, nulli vallarent oppida muri,
Non sonipes in bella ferox, non iret in aequor
Turrigeras classis pelago sparsura carinas,
Si bene libertas umquam pro pace daretur.
Hostes nempe meos sceleri iurata nefando
Sacramenta tenent: at vobis vilior hoc est
Vestra fides, quod pro caussa pugnantibus aequa
Et veniam sperare licet. Pro dira pudoris
Foedera! Nunc toto fatorum ignarus in orbe,
Magne, paras acies, mundique extrema tenentes
Sollicitas reges, cum forsan foedere nostro
Iam tibi sit promissa salus. Sic fatur, et omnes
Concussit mentes, scelerumque reduxit amorem.
Sic, ubi desuetae silvis in carcere clauso
Mansuevere ferae, et vultus posuere minaces,
Atque hominem didicere pati: si torrida parvus
Venit in ora cruor, redeunt rabiesque furorque,
Admonitaeque tument gustato sanguine fauces;
Fervet, et a trepido vix abstinet ira magistro.
Itur in omne nefas: et quae Fortuna deorum.
Invidia caeca bellorum in nocte tulisset,
Fecit monstra fides: inter mensasque torosque,
Quae modo complexu foverunt, pectora caedunt.
Et quamvis primo ferrum strinxere gementes,
Ut dextrae iusti gladius dissuasor adhaesit,
Dum feriant, odere suos, animosque labantes
Confirmant ictu. Fervent iam castra tumultu,
[Et scelerum turba: rapiuntur colla parentum.]
Ac velut occultum pereat scelus, omnia monstra
In faciem posuere ducum: iuvat esse nocentes.

[¶2] But thou,
Caesar, though losing of thy best, dost know
The gods do favour thee. Thessalian fields
Gave thee no better fortune, nor the waves
That lave Massilia; nor on Pharos' main
Didst thou so triumph. By this crime alone
Thou from this moment of the better cause
Shalt be the Captain.
Since the troops were stained
With foulest slaughter thus, their leaders shunned
All camps with Caesar's joined, and sought again
Ilerda's lofty walls; but Caesar's horse
Seized on the plain and forced them to the hills
Reluctant. There by steepest trench shut in,
He cuts them from the river, nor permits
Their circling ramparts to enclose a spring.
By this dread path Death trapped his captive prey.
Which when they knew, fierce anger filled their souls,
And took the place of fear. They slew the steeds
Now useless grown, and rushed upon their fate;
Hopeless of life and flight. But Caesar cried:
Hold back your weapons, soldiers, from the foe,
Strike not the breast advancing; let the war
' Cost me no blood; he falls not without price
' Who with his life-blood challenges the fray.
Scorning their own base lives and hating light,
To Caesar's loss they rush upon their death,
Nor heed our blows. But let this frenzy pass,
This madman onset; let the wish for death
Die in their souls.' Thus to its embers shrank
The fire within, when battle was denied,
And fainter grew their rage until the night
Drew down her starry veil and sank the sun.
Thus keener fights the gladiator whose wound
Is recent, while the blood within the veins
Still gives the sinews motion, ere the skin
Shrinks on the bones: but as the victor stands
His fatal thrust achieved, and points the blade
Unfaltering, watching for the end, there creeps
Torpor upon the limbs, the blood congeals
About the gash, more faintly throbs the heart,
And slowly fading, ebbs the life away.
Raving for water now they dig the plain
Seeking for hidden fountains, not with spade
And mattock only searching out the depths,
But with the sword; they hack the stony heights,
In shafts that reach the level of the plain.
No further flees from light the pallid wretch
Who tears the bowels of the earth for gold.
Yet neither riven stones revealed a spring,
Nor streamlet whispered from its hidden source;
No water trickled on the gravel bed,
Nor dripped within the cavern. Worn at length
With labour huge, they crawl to light again,
After such toil to fall to thirst and heat
The readier victims: this was all they won.
All food they loathe; and 'gainst their deadly thirst
Call famine to their aid. Damp clods of earth
They squeeze upon their mouths with straining hands.
Wherever on foulest mud some stagnant slime
Or moisture lies, each dying soldier strives
With dying comrade first to lap the draught,
Loathsome had life been his. Like beasts they drain
The swollen udder, and where milk was not,
They suck the life-blood forth. From herbs and boughs
Dripping with dew, from tender shoots they press,
Nay, from the pith of trees, the juice within.
Happy the host that onward marching finds
Its savage enemy has fouled the wells
With murderous venom; hadst thou, Caesar, cast
The reeking filth of shambles in the stream,
And henbane dire and all the poisonous herbs
That lurk on Cretan slopes, still had they drunk
The fatal waters, rather than endure
Such lingering agony. Their bowels racked
With torments as of flame; the swollen tongue
And jaws now parched and rigid, and the veins;
Each laboured breath with anguish from the lungs
Enfeebled, moistureless, is scarcely drawn,
And scarce again returned; and yet agape,
Their panting mouths suck in the nightly dew;
They watch for showers from heaven, and in despair
Gaze on the clouds, whence lately poured a flood.
Nor were their tortures less that Meroe
Saw not their sufferings, nor Cancer's zone,
Nor where the Garamantian turns the soil;
But Sicoris and Iberus at their feet,
Two mighty floods, but far beyond their reach,
Rolled down in measureless volume to the main.

> Latin: Tu, Caesar, quamvis spoliatus milite multo,
Agnoscis superos. Neque enim tibi maior in arvis
Emathiis fortuna fuit, nec Phocidos undis
Massiliae, Phario nec tantum est aequore gestum.
Hoc siquidem solo civilis crimine belli
Dux caussae melioris eris. Polluta nefanda
Agmina caede duces iunctis committere castris
Non audent, altaeque ad moenia rursus Ilerdae
Intendere fugam. Campos eques obvius omnes
Abstulit, et siccis inclusit collibus hostem.
Tunc inopes undae praerupta cingere fossa
Caesar avet, nec castra pati contingere ripas,
Aut circum largos curvari brachia fontes.
Ut leti videre viam, conversus in iram
Praecipitem timor est. Miles, non utile clausis
Auxilium, mactavit equos: tandemque coactus
Spe posita damnare fugam, casurus in hostes
Fertur. Ut effuso Caesar decurrere passu
Vidit, et ad certam devotos tendere mortem:
Tela tene iam, miles, ait, ferrumque ruenti
Subtrahe: non ullo constet mihi sanguine bellum:
Vincitur haud gratis, iugulo qui provocat hostem.
En sibi vilis adest invisa luce iuventus,
Iam damno peritura meo. Non sentiet ictus,
Incumbet gladiis, gaudebit sanguine fuso.
Deserat hic fervor mentes, cadat impetus amens.
Perdant velle mori. Sic deflagrare minaces
Incassum et vetito passus languescere bello,
Substituit merso dum nox sua lumina Phoebo.
Inde ubi nulla data est miscendi copia Martis,
Paullatim cadit ira ferox, mentesque tepescunt;
Saucia maiores animos ut pectora gestant,
Dum dolor est ictusque recens, et mobile nervis
Conamen calidus praebet cruor, ossaque nondum
Adduxere cutem: si conscius ensis adacti
Stat victor, tenuitque manus, tunc frigidus artus
Adligat atque animum subducto robore torpor,
Postquam sicca rigens adstrinxit vulnera sanguis.
Iamque inopes undae, primum tellure refossa,
Occultos latices abstrusaque flumina quaerunt:
Nec solum rastris durisque ligonibus arva,
Sed gladiis fodere suis: puteusque cavati
Montis ad irrigui premitur fastigia campi.
Non se tam penitus, tam longe luce relicta
Merserit Asturii scrutator pallidus auri.
Non tamen aut tectis sonuerunt cursibus amnes,
Aut micuere novi, percusso pumice, fontes:
Atra nec exiguo stillant sudantia rore,
Aut impulsa levi turbatur glarea vena.
Tunc exhausta super multo sudore iuventus
Extrahitur, duris silicum lassata metallis.
Quoque minus possent siccos tolerare vapores,
Quaesitae fecistis aquae. Nec languida fessi
Corpora sustentant epulis, mensasque perosi
Auxilium fecere famem. Si mollius arvum
Prodidit humorem, pingues manus utraque glebas
Exprimit ora super. Nigro si turbida limo
Colluvies immota iacet, cadit omnis in haustus
Certatim obscoenos miles: moriensque recepit,
Quas nollet victurus, aquas: rituque ferarum
Distentas siccant pecudes, et lacte negato,
Sordidus exhausto sorbetur ab ubere sanguis.
tunc herbas frondesque terunt, et rore madentes
Destringunt ramos: ac si quos palmite crudo
Arboris aut tenera succos pressere medulla.
O fortunati, fugiens quos barbarus hostis
Fontibus immixto stravit per rura veneno.
Hos licet in fluvios saniem tabemque ferarum,
Pallida Dictaeis, Caesar, nascentia saxis
Infundas aconita palam, Romana iuventus
Non decepta bibet. Torrentur viscera flamma,
Oraque sicca rigent squamosis aspera linguis.
Iam marcent venae, nulloque humore rigatus
Aeris alternos angustat pulmo meatus,
Rescissoque nocent suspiria dura palato.
Pandunt ora tamen, nocturnumque aera captant.
Exspectant imbres, quorum modo cuncta natabant
Impulsu, et siccis vultus in nubibus haerent.
Quoque magis miseros undae ieiunia solvant,
Non super arentem Meroen Cancrique sub axe,
Qua nudi Garamantes arant, sedere: sed inter
Stagnantem Sicorim et rapidum deprensus Iberum
Spectat vicinos sitiens exercitus amnes.

[¶3] But now their leaders yield; Afranius,
Vanquished, throws down his arms, and leads his troops,
Now hardly living, to the hostile camp
Before the victor's feet, and sues for peace.
Proud is his bearing, and despite of ills,
His mien majestic, of his triumphs past
Still mindful in disaster thus he stands,
Though suppliant for grace, a leader yet;
From fearless heart thus speaking: 'Had the fates
Thrown me before some base ignoble foe,
Not, Caesar, thee; still had this arm fought on
And snatched my death. Now if I suppliant ask,
'Tis that I value still the boon of life
Given by a worthy hand. No party ties
'Roused us to arms against thee; when the war,
'This civil war, broke out, it found us chiefs;
And with our former cause we kept the faith,
So long as brave men should. The fates' decree
'No longer we withstand. Unto thy will
We yield the western tribes: the east is thine
'And all the world lies open to thy march.
'Be generous! blood nor sword nor wearied arm
'Thy conquests bought. Thou hast not to forgive
Aught but thy victory won. Nor ask we much.
'Give us repose; to lead in peace the life
'Thou shalt bestow; suppose these armed lines
'Are corpses prostrate on the field of war,
'Ne'er were it meet that thy victorious ranks
Should mix with ours, the vanquished. Destiny
'Has run for us its course: one boon I beg;
'Bid not the conquered conquer in thy train.'
Such were his words, and Caesar's gracious smile
Granted his prayer, remitting rights that war
Gives to the victor. To th' unguarded stream
The soldiers speed: prone on the bank they lie
And lap the flood or foul the crowded waves.
In many a burning throat the sudden draught
Poured in too copious, filled the empty veins
And choked the breath within: yet left unquenched
The burning pest which, though their frames were full,
Craved water for itself. Then, nerved once more,
Their strength returned. Oh, lavish luxury,
Contented never with the frugal meal!
Oh, greed that searchest over land and sea
To furnish forth the banquet! Pride that joy'st
In sumptuous tables! learn what life requires,
How little nature needs! No ruddy juice
Pressed from the vintage in some famous year,
Whose consuls are forgotten, served in cups
With gold and jewels wrought, restores the spark,
The failing spark, of life; but water pure
And simplest fruits of earth. The flood, the field
Suffice for nature. Ah! the weary lot
Of those who war! But these, their armour laid
Low at the victor's feet, with lightened breast,
Secure themselves, no longer dealing death,
Beset by care no more, seek out their homes.
What priceless gift in peace had they secured!
How grieved it now their souls to have poised the dart
With arm outstretched; to have felt their raving thirst;
And prayed the gods for victory in vain!
Nay, hard they think the victor's lot, for whom
A thousand risks and battles still remain;
If fortune never is to leave his side,
How often must he triumph! and how oft
Pour out his blood where'er great Caesar leads!
Happy, thrice happy, he who, when the world
Is nodding to its ruin, knows the spot
Where he himself shall, though in ruin, lie!
No trumpet call shall break his sleep again:
But in his humble home, with faithful spouse
And sons unlettered, Fortune leaves him free
From rage of party; for if life he owes
To Caesar, Magnus sometime was his lord.
Thus happy they alone live on apart,
Nor hope nor dread the event of civil war.

> Latin: Iam domiti cessere duces, pacisque petendae
Auctor damnatis supplex Afranius armis,
Semianimes in castra trahens hostilia turmas,
Victoris stetit ante pedes. Servata precanti
Maiestas, non fracta malis, interque priorem
Fortunam casusque novos gerit omnia victi,
Sed ducis, et veniam securo pectore poscit:
Si me degeneri stravissent fata sub hoste
Non deerat fortis rapiendo dextera leto:
At nunc sola mihi est orandae caussa salutis,
Dignum donanda, Caesar, te credere vita.
Non partis studiis agimur, nec sumsimus arma
Consiliis inimica tuis. Nos denique bellum
Invenit civile duces; caussaeque priori,
Dum potuit, servata fides. Nil fata moramur:
Tradimus Hesperias gentes, aperimus Eoas,
Securumque orbis patimur post terga relicti.
Nec cruor effusus campis tibi bella peregit,
Nec ferrum lassaeque manus. Hoc hostibus unum,
Quod vincas, ignosce tuis. Nec magna petuntur.
Otia des fessis, vitam patiaris inermes
Degere, quam tribuis: campis prostrata iacere
Agmina nostra putes: neque enim felicibus armis
Misceri damnata decet, partemque triumphi
Captos ferre tui: turba haec sua fata peregit.
Hoc petimus, victos ne tecum vincere cogas.
Dixerat: at facilis Caesar vultuque serenus
Flectitur, atque usum belli poenamque remittit.
Ut primum iustae placuerunt foedera pacis,
Incustoditos decurrit miles ad amnes;
Incumbit ripis, permissaque flumina turbat.
Continuus multis subitarum tractus aquarum,
Aera non passus vacuis discurrere venis,
Arctavit clausitque animam: nec fervida pestis
Cedit adhuc: sed morbus egens iam gurgite plenis
Visceribus sibi poscit aquas. Mox robora nervis
Et vires rediere viris. O prodiga rerum
Luxuries, numquam parvo contenta parato,
Et quaesitorum terra pelagoque ciborum
Ambitiosa fames, et lautae gloria mensae,
Discite, quam parvo liceat producere vitam,
Et quantum natura petat. Non erigit aegros
Nobilis ignoto diffusus consule Bacchus:
Non auro murrhaque bibunt; sed gurgite puro
Vita redit. Satis est populis fluviusque Ceresque.
Heu miseri, qui bella gerunt! Tunc, arma relinquens
Victori, miles spoliato pectore tutus
Innocuusque suas, curarum liber, in urbes
Spargitur. O quantum donata pace potitos
Excussis umquam ferrum librasse lacertis
Poenituit, tolerasse sitim, frustraque rogasse
Prospera bella deos. Nempe usis Marte secundo
Tot dubiae restant acies, tot in orbe labores:
Ut numquam fortuna labet successibus anceps,
Vincendum toties, terras fundendus in omnes
Est cruor, et Caesar per tot sua fata sequendus.
Felix, qui potuit, mundi nutante ruina,
Quo iaceat iam scire loco. Non proelia fessos
Ulla vocant, certos non rumpunt classica somnos.
Iam coniux natique rudes et sordida tecta
Et non deductos recipit sua terra colonos.
Hoc quoque securis oneris fortuna remisit,
Sollicitus menti quod abest favor. Ille salutis
Est auctor, dux ille fuit. Sic proelia soli
Felices nullo spectant civilia voto.

[¶4] Not thus did Fortune upon Caesar smile
In all the parts of earth; but 'gainst his arms
Dared somewhat, where Salona's lengthy waste
Is laved by Hadria, and Iadar warm
Meets with his waves the breezes of the west.
There brave Curectae dwell, whose island home
Is girded by the main; on whom relied
Antonius, and, beleaguered by the foe,
Upon the furthest margin of the shore
(Safe from all ills but famine) placed his camp.
But for his steeds the earth no forage gave,
Nor golden Ceres harvest; and his troops
Gnawed the dry herbage of the scanty turf
Within their rampart lines. But when they knew
That Basilus was on th' opposing shore
With friendly force, by novel mode of flight
They aim to reach him. Not the accustomed keel
They lay, nor build the ship, but shapeless rafts
Of timbers knit together, strong to bear
All ponderous weight; on empty casks beneath
By tightened chains made firm, in double rows
Supported; nor upon the deck were placed
The oarsmen, to the hostile dart exposed,
But in a hidden space, by beams concealed.
And thus the eye amazed beheld the mass
Move silent on its path across the sea,
By neither sail nor stalwart arm propelled.
They watch the main until the refluent waves
Ebb from the growing sands; then, on the tide
Receding, launch their vessel; thus she floats
With comrades twin: and rises over each
With quivering battlements a lofty tower.
Octavius, guardian of Illyrian seas,
Restrained his swifter keels, and left the rafts
Free from attack, in hope of larger spoil
From fresh adventures; for the peaceful sea
Might tempt them, and their goal in safety reached,
To dare a second voyage. Round the stag
Thus will the cunning hunter draw a line
Of tainted feathers poisoning the air;
Or spread the mesh, and muzzle in his grasp
The straining jaws of the Molossian hound,
And leash the Spartan pack; nor is the brake
Trusted to any dog but such as tracks
The scent with lowered nostrils, and refrains
From giving tongue the while; content to mark
By shaking cord the covert of the prey.
Ere long they manned the rafts in eager wish
To quit the island, when the latest glow
Still parted day from night. But Magnus' troops,
Cilician once, taught by their ancient art,
In fraudulent deceit had left the sea
To view unguarded; but with chains unseen
Fast to Illyrian shores, and hanging loose,
They blocked the outlet in the waves beneath.
The leading rafts passed safely, but the third,
Caught by the rope, was drawn beneath the rocks.
These, hollowed by the sea, in ponderous mass
O'erhanging, seemed upon the point to fall;
And trees made dark the wave. Here oft the main
Within the deep recess sweeps broken wrecks
And bodies of the drowned, till ebbing tides
Return the spoil. Then from the cavernous arch
Is belched the ocean forth in such turmoil
Of swirling billows, as excels the rage
Of that famed whirlpool on Sicilian shores.
Here, with Venetian settlers for its load,
Stood motionless the raft. Octavius' ships
Gathered around, while foemen on the land
Filled all the shore. But well the captain knew,
Volteius, how the secret fraud was planned,
And tried in vain with sword and steel to burst
The chains that held them; without hope he fights,
Uncertain where to avoid or front the foe.
Caught in the strait they strove as brave men should
Against opposing hosts; nor long the fight,
For fallen darkness brought a truce to arms.
Then to his men disheartened and in fear
Of coming fate Volteius, great of soul,
Thus spake in tones commanding: ' Free no more,
'Save for this little night, consult ye now
'In this last moment, soldiers, how to face
'Your final fortunes. No man's life is short
' Who can take thought for death, nor is your fame
' Less than a conqueror's, if with breast advanced
'Ye meet your destined doom. None know how long
'The life that waits them. Summon your own fate,
'And equal is your praise, whether the hand
'Quench the last flicker of departing light,
' Or shear the hope of years. But choice to die
'Is thrust not on the mind-we cannot flee;
'See at our throats, e'en now, our kinsmen's swords.
' Then choose for death; desire what fate decrees.
'At least in war's blind cloud we shall not fall;
' Nor when the flying weapons hide the day,
'And slaughtered heaps of foemen load the field,
'And death is common, and the brave man sinks
'Unknown, inglorious. Us within this ship,
'Seen of both friends and foes, the gods have placed;
'Both land and sea and island cliffs shall bear,
'From either shore, their witness to our death,
'In which some great and memorable fame
'Thou, Fortune, dost prepare. What glorious deeds
' Of warlike heroism, of noble faith,
'Time's annals show! All these shall we surpass.
'True, Caesar, that to fall upon our swords
'For thee is little; yet beleaguered thus,
'With neither sons nor parents at our sides,
'Shorn of the glory that we might have earned,
'We give thee here the only pledge we may.
'Yet let these hostile thousands fear the souls
'That rage for battle and that welcome death,
'And know us for invincible, and joy
'That no more rafts were stayed. They'll offer terms,
'And tempt us with a base unhonoured life.
'Would that, to give that death which shall be ours
'The greater glory, they may bid us hope
'For pardon and for life! lest when our swords
'Are reeking with our hearts'-blood, they may say
'This was despair of living. Great must be
'The prowess of our end, if in the hosts
'That fight his battles, Caesar is to mourn
'This little handful lost. For me, should fate
'Grant us retreat-myself would scorn to shun
'The coming onset. Life I cast away,
'The frenzy of the death that comes apace
'Controls my being. Those whose end is near
'Alone may know the happiness of death;
'Which pitying heaven from all else conceals
'That men may bear to live.' His stirring words
Warmed his brave comrades' hearts-they who with fear
And tearful eyes had looked upon the Wain,
Turning his nightly course, now hoped for day,
Such precepts deep within them. Nor delayed
The sky to dip the stars below the main;
For Phoebus in the Twins his chariot drave
At noon near Cancer; and the hours of night
Were shortened by the Archer.
When day broke,
Lo! on the rocks the Istrians; while the sea
Swarmed with the galleys and their Grecian fleet
All armed for fight: but first the war was stayed
And terms proposed: life to the foe they thought
Would seem the sweeter, by delay of death
Thus granted. But the band devoted stood,
Proud of their promised end, life all forsworn,
And careless of the fight: no jarring note
Opposed their high resolve. In numbers few
'Gainst foemen numberless by land and sea,
They wage the desperate war; then satiate
Turn from the foe. And first demanding death
Volteius bared his throat. ' What youth,' he cries,
' Dares strike me down, and through his captain's wounds
'Attest his love for death? ' Then through his side
Plunge blades uncounted on the moment drawn.
He praises all: but him who struck the first
Grateful, with dying strength, he does to death.
They rush together, and without a foe
Work all the guilt of battle. Thus of yore,
Rose up the glittering Dircaean band
From seed by Cadmus sown, and fought and died,
Dire omen for the brother kings of Thebes.
And so in Phasis' fields the sons of earth,
Born of the sleepless dragon, all inflamed
By magic incantations, with their blood
Deluged the monstrous furrow, while the Queen
Feared at the spells she wrought. Devoted thus
To death, they fall, yet in their death itself
Less valour show than in the fatal wounds
They take and give; for e'en the dying hand
Missed not a blow nor did the stroke alone
Inflict the wound, but rushing on the sword
Their throat or breast received it to the hilt;
And when by fatal chance or sire with son,
Or brothers met, yet with unfaltering weight
Down flashed the pitiless sword: this proved their love,
To give no second blow. Half living now
They dragged their mangled bodies to the side,
Whence flowed into the sea a crimson stream
Of slaughter. 'Twas their pleasure yet to see
The light they scorned; with haughty looks to scan
The faces of their victors, and to feel
The death approaching. But the raft was now
Piled up with dead; which, when the foemen saw,
Wondering at such a chief and such a deed,
They gave them burial. Never through the world
Of any brave achievement was the fame
More widely blazed. Yet meaner men, untaught
By such examples, see not that the hand
Which frees from slavery needs no valiant mind
To guide the stroke. But tyranny is feared
As dealing death; and Freedom's self is galled
By ruthless arms; and knows not that the sword
Was given for this, that none need live a slave.
Ah Death! wouldst thou but let the coward live
And grant the brave alone the prize to die!
Nor less were Libyan fields ablaze with war.

> Latin: Non eadem belli totum fortuna per orbem
Constitit: in partes aliquid sed Caesaris ausa eat,
Qua maria Hadriaci longas ferit unda Salonas,
Et tepidum in molles Zephyros excurrit Iader.
Illic, bellaci confisus gente Curictum,
Quos alit Hadriaco tellus circumflua ponto,
Clauditur extrema residens Antonius ora,
Cautus ab incursu belli, si sola recedat,
Expugnat quae tuta, fames. Non pabula tellus
Pascendis submittit equis, non proserit ullam
Flava Ceres segetem: spoliabat gramine campum
Miles, et adtonso miseris iam dentibus arvo
Castrorum siccas de cespite vulserat herbas,
Ut primum adversae socios in litore terrae
Et Basilum videre ducem: nova furta per aequor
Exquisita fugae. Neque enim de more carinas
Extendunt, puppesque levant, sed firma gerendis
Molibus insolito contexunt robora ductu.
Namque ratem vacuae sustentant undique cuppae,
Quarum porrectis series constricta catenis
Ordinibus geminis obliquas excipit alnos.
Nec gerit expositum telis in fronte patenti
Remigium: sed, quod trabibus circumdedit aequor,
Hoc ferit, et taciti praebet miracula cursus,
Quod nec vela ferat, nec apertas verberet undas.
Tunc freta servantur, dum se declivibus undis
Aestus agat, refluoque mari nudentur arenae.
Iamque relabenti crescebant litora ponto;
Missa ratis prono defertur lapsa profundo,
Et geminae comites. Cunctas super ardua turris
Eminet, et tremulis tabulata minantia pinnis.
Noluit Illyricae custos Octavius undae
Confestim tentare ratem, celeresque carinas
Continuit, cursu crescat dum praeda secundo:
Et temere ingressos repetendum invitat ad aequor
Pace maris. Sic dum pavidos formidine cervos
Claudat odoratae metuentes aera pennae,
Aut dum dispositis adtollat retia varis
Venator, tenet ora levis clamosa Molossi,
Spartanos Cretasque ligat: nec creditur ulli
Silva cani, nisi qui presso vestigia rostro
Colligit, et praeda nescit latrare reperta,
Contentus tremulo monstrasse cubilia loro.
Nec mora: complentur moles, avideque petitis
Insula deseritur ratibus, quo tempore primas
Impedit ad noctem iam lux extrema tenebras.
At Pompeianus fraudes innectere ponto
Antiqua parat arte Cilix, passusque vacare
Summa freti, medio suspendit vincula ponto,
Et laxas fluitare sinit religatque catenas
Rupis ab Illyricae scopulis. Nec prima, nec illa,
Quae sequitur, tardata ratis: sed tertia moles
Haesit, et ad cautes adducto fune secuta est.
Impendent cava saxa mari, ruituraque semper
Stat (mirum) moles, et silvis aequor inumbrat.
Huc fractas Aquilone rates submersaque pontus
Corpora saepe tulit, caecisque abscondit in antris:
Restituit raptus tectum mare: quumque cavernae
Evomuere fretum, contorti verticis undae
Tauromenitanam vincunt fervore Charybdin.
Hic Opiterginis moles onerata colonis
Constitit: hanc omni puppes statione solutae
Circumeunt: alii rupes ac litora complent.
Vulteius tacitas sensit sub gurgite fraudes;
(Dux erat ille ratis,) frustra qui vincula ferro
Rumpere conatus, poscit spe proelia nulla,
Incertus qua terga daret, qua pectora bello.
Hoc tamen in casu, quantum deprensa valebat,
Effecit virtus: inter tot millia captae
Circumfusa rati et plenam vix inde cohortem
Pugna fuit; non longa quidem: nam condidit atra
Nox lucem dubiam, pacemque habuere tenebrae.
Tunc sic adtonitam venturaque fata paventem
Rexit magnanima Vulteius voce cohortem:
Libera non ultra, parva quam nocte, iuventus,
Consulite extremis angusto tempore rebus.
Vita brevis nulli super est, qui tempus in illa
Quaerendae sibi mortis habet: nec gloria leti
Inferior, iuvenes, admoto occurrere fato.
Omnibus incerto venturae tempore vitae,
Par animi laus est, et quos speraveris annos
Perdere, et extremae momentum abrumpere lucis,
Accersas dum fata manu. Non cogitur ullus
Velle mori. Fuga nulla patet: stant undique nostris
Intenti cives iugulis. Decernite letum,
Et metus omnis abest: cupias quodcumque necesse est.
Non tamen in caeca bellorum nube cadendum est,
Aut cum permixtis acies sua tela tenebris
Involvunt, conserta iacent cum corpora campo,
In medium mors omnis abit, perit obruta virtus.
Nos in conspicua sociis hostique carina
Constituere dei. Praebebunt aequora testes,
Praebebunt terrae, summis dabit insula saxis:
Spectabunt geminae diverso e litore partes.
Nescio quod nostris magnum et memorabile fatis
Exemplum, Fortuna, paras. Quaecumque per aevum
Exhibuit monumenta fides, servataque ferro
Militiae pietas, transibit nostra iuventus.
Namque suis pro te gladiis incumbere, Caesar,
Esse parum scimus: sed non maiora supersunt
Obsessis, tanti quae pignora demus amoris.
Abscidit nostrae multum sors invida laudi,
Quod non cum senibus capti natisque tenemur.
Indomitos sciat esse viros, timeatque furentes
Et morti faciles animos, et gaudeat hostis
Non plures haesisse rates. Tentare parabunt
Foederibus, turpique volent corrumpere vita.
O utinam, quo plus habeat mors unica famae,
Promittant veniam, iubeant sperare salutem:
Ne nos, cum calido fodiemus viscera ferro,
Desperasse putent. Magna virtute merendum est,
Caesar ut, amissis inter tot millia paucis,
Hoc damnum clademque vocet. Dent fata recessum
Emittantque licet, vitare instantia nolim.
Proieci vitam, comites, totusque futurae
Mortis agor stimulis: furor est. Agnoscere solis
Permissum est, quos iam tangit vicinia fati,
Victurosque dei celant, ut vivere durent,
Felix esse mori. Sic cunctas sustulit ardor
Nobilium mentes iuvenum: cum sidera coeli
Ante ducis voces oculis humentibus omnes
Adspicerent, flexoque Ursae temone paverent,
Iidem, cum fortes animos praecepta subissent,
Optavere diem. Nec segnis mergere ponto
Tunc erat astra polus: nam sol Ledaea tenebat
Sidera, vicino cum lux altissima Cancro est:
Nox tum Thessalicas urgebat parva sagittas.
Detegit orta dies stantes in rupibus Istros,
Pugnacesque mari Graia cum classe Liburnos.
Tentavere prius suspenso vincere bello
Foederibus, fieret captis si dulcior ipsa
Mortis vita mora. Stabat devota inventus,
Damnata iam luce ferox, securaque pugnae
Promisso sibi fine manu: nullique tumultus
Excussere viris mentes ad summa paratas:
Innumerasque simul pauci terraque marique
Sustinuere manus: tanta est fiducia mortis.
Utque satis bello visum est fluxisse cruoris,
Versus ab hoste furor. Primus dux ipse carinae
Vulteius, iugulo poscens iam fata retecto,
Ecquis, ait, iuvenum est, cuius sit dextra cruore
Digna meo, certaque fide per vulnera nostra
Testetur se velle mori? Nec plura locuto
Viscera non unus iamdudum transigit ensis.
Collaudat cunctos: sed eum, cui vulnera prima
Debebat, grato moriens interficit ictu.
Concurrent alii, totamque in partibus unis
Bellorum fecere nefas. Sic semine Cadmi
Emicuit Dircaea cohors, ceciditque suorum
Vulneribus, dirum Thebanis fratribus omen:
Phasidos et campis insomni dente creati
Terrigenae, missa magicis e cantibus ira,
Cognato tantos complerunt sanguine sulcos:
Ipsaque, inexpertis quod primum fecerat herbis,
Expavit Medea nefas. Sic mutua pacti
Fata cadunt iuvenes: nimiumque in morte virorum
Mors virtutis habet: pariter sternuntque caduntque
Vulnere letali: nec quemquam dextra fefellit,
Cum feriat moriente manu. Nec vulnus adactis
Debetur gladiis: percussum est pectore ferrum,
Et iugulis pressere manum. Cum sorte cruenta
Fratribus incurrant fratres, natusque parenti,
Haud trepidante tamen toto cum pondere dextra
Exegere enses. Pietas ferientibus una,
Non repetisse, fuit. Iam latis viscera lapsa
Semianimes traxere foris, multumque cruoris
Infudere mari. Despectam cernere lucem,
Victoresque suos vultu spectare superbo,
Et mortem sentire iuvat. Iam strage cruenta
Conspicitur cumulata ratis: bustisque remittunt
Corpora victores, ducibus mirantibus, ulli
Esse ducem tanti. Nullam maiore locuta est
Ore ratem totum discurrens fama per orbem.
Non tamen ignavae post haec exempla virorum
Percipient gentes, quam sit non ardua virtus
Servitium fugisse manu. Sed regna timentur
Ob ferrum, et saevis libertas uritur armis:
Ignoratque datos, ne quisquam serviat, enses.
Mors, utinam pavidos vitae subducere nolles,
Sed virtus te sola daret! Non segnior illo
Marte fuit, qui tunc Libycis exarsit in arvis.

## 8. Book IV · lines 583–824

Source: https://scriptura.si/works/lucan-pharsalia/8/ · cite a paragraph as https://scriptura.si/works/lucan-pharsalia/8/#p-N

[¶0] For Curio rash from Lilybaean coast
Sailed with his fleet, and borne by gentle winds
Betwixt half-ruined Carthage, mighty once,
And Clupea's cliff, upon the well-known shore
His anchors dropped. First from the hoary sea
Remote, where Bagra slowly ploughs the sand,
He placed his camp: then sought the further hills
And mazy passages of cavernous rocks,
Antaeus' kingdom called. From ancient days
This name was given; and thus a swain retold
The story handed down from sire to son:
'Not yet exhausted by the giant brood,
'Earth still another monster brought to birth,
'In Libya's caverns: huger far was he,
'More justly far her pride, than Briareus
With all his hundred hands, or Typhon fierce,
Or Tityos: 'twas in mercy to the gods
'That not in Phlegra's fields Antaeus grew,
'But here in Libya; to her offspring's strength,
'Unmeasured, vast, she added yet this boon,
'That when in weariness and labour spent
'He touched his parent, fresh from her embrace
'Renewed in vigour he should rise again.
'In yonder cave he dwelt, 'neath yonder rock
'He made his feast on lions slain in chase:
'There slept he; not on skins of beasts, or leaves,
'But fed his strength upon the naked earth.
Perished the Libyan hinds and those who came,
'Brought here in ships, until he scorned at length
'The earth that gave him strength, and on his feet
'Invincible and with unaided might
'Made all his victims. Last to Afric shores,
' Drawn by the rumour of such carnage, came
' Magnanimous Alcides, he who freed
'Both land and sea of monsters. Down on earth
'He threw his mantle of the lion's skin
' Slain in Cleone; nor Antaeus less
'Cast down the hide he wore. With shining oil,
'As one who wrestles at Olympia's feast,
'The hero rubbed his limbs: the giant feared
' Lest standing only on his parent earth
'His strength might fail; and cast o'er all his bulk
' Hot sand in handfuls. Thus with arms entwined
'And grappling hands each seizes on his foe;
'With hardened muscles straining at the neck
'Long time in vain; for firm the sinewy throat
' Stood column-like, nor yielded; so that each
' Wondered to find his peer. Nor at the first
'Divine Alcides put forth all his strength,
' By lengthy struggle wearing out his foe,
'Till chilly drops stood on Antaeus' limbs,
'And toppled to its fall the stately throat,
'And smitten by the hero's blows, the legs
' Began to totter. Breast to breast they strive
'To gain the vantage, till the victor's arms
'Gird in the giant's yielding back and sides,
'And squeeze his middle part: next 'twixt the thighs
' He puts his feet, and forcing them apart,
'Lays low the mighty monster limb by limb.
'The dry earth drank his sweat, while in his veins
'Warm ran the life-blood, and with strength refreshed,
'The muscles swelled and all the joints grew firm,
'And with his might restored, he breaks his bonds
'And rives the arms of Hercules away.
'Amazed the hero stood at such a strength.
'Not thus he feared, though then unused to war,
'That hydra fierce which, smitten in the marsh
'Of Inachus, renewed its severed heads.
'They fought as peers, the giant with the powers
'Which earth bestowed, the hero with his own:
' Nor did the hatred of his step-dame find
'In all his conflicts greater room for hope.
' She sees bedewed in sweat the neck and limbs
'Which once had borne the burden of the heavens
' Nor knew the toil: and when Antaeus felt
' His foeman's arms close round him once again,
' He flung his wearying limbs upon the sand
' To rise with strength renewed; all that the earth,
'Though labouring sore, could breathe into her son
'She gave his frame. But Hercules at last
' Saw how his parent gave the giant strength.
'" Stand thou," he cried; "no more upon the ground
' "Thou liest at thy will-here must thou stay
'" Within mine arms constrained; against this breast,
'" Antaeus, shalt thou fall." He lifted up
' And held by middle girth the giant form,
'Still struggling for the soil: but she no more
'Could give her offspring vigour. Slowly came
'The chill of death upon him, and 'twas long
'Before the hero, of his victory sure,
'Trusted the earth and laid the giant down.
'Hence, hoar antiquity that loves to prate
'And wonders at herself, this region called
'Antaeus' kingdom. But a greater name
' Yon hills from Scipio gained, when he recalled
'From Roman citadels the Punic chief.
'Here was his camp; here canst thou see the trace
' Of that most famous rampart whence at length
'Issued the Eagles of triumphant Rome.'
But Curio rejoiced, as though for him
The fortunes of the spot must hold in store
The fates of former chiefs: and on the place
Of happy augury placed his tents ill-starred;
Took from the hills their omens; and with force
Unequal, challenged his barbarian foe.
All Africa that bore the Roman yoke
Then lay 'neath Varus. He, though placing first
Trust in his Latian troops, from every side
And furthest regions, summons to his aid
The nations who confessed King Juba's rule.
Not any monarch over wider tracts
Held the dominion. From the western belt
Near Gades, Atlas parts their furthest bounds;
But from the southern, Hammon girds them in
Hard by the whirlpools; and their burning plains
Stretch forth unending 'neath the torrid zone,
In breadth its equal, till they reach at length
The shore of ocean upon either hand.
From all these regions tribes unnumbered flock
To Juba's standard: Moors of swarthy hue
As though from Ind; Numidian nomads there
And Nasamon's needy hordes; and those whose darts
Rival the flying arrows of the Mede:
Dark Garamantians leave their fervid home;
And those whose coursers unrestrained by bit
Or saddle, yet obey the rider's hand
Which wields the guiding switch: the hunter, too,
Who wanders forth, his home a fragile hut,
And blinds with flowing robe (if spear should fail)
The angry lion, monarch of the steppe.
Not eagerness alone to save the state
Stirred Juba's spirit: private hatred too
Roused him to war. For in the former year,
When Curio all things human and the gods
Polluted, he by tribune law essayed
To ravish Libya from the tyrant's sway,
And drive the monarch from his father's throne,
While giving Rome a king. To Juba thus,
Still smarting at the insult, came the war,
A welcome harvest for his crown retained.
These rumours Curio feared: nor had his troops
(Ta'en in Corfinium's hold) in waves of Rhine
Been tested, nor to Caesar in the wars
Had learned devotion: wavering in their faith,
Their second chief they doubt, their first betrayed.
Yet when the general saw the spirit of fear
Creep through his camp, and discipline to fail,
And sentinels desert their guard at night,
Thus in his fear he spake: ' By daring much
' Fear is disguised; let me be first in arms,
'And bid my soldiers to the plain descend,
While still my soldiers. Idle days breed doubt.
' By fight forestall the plot. Soon as the thirst
'Of bloodshed fills the mind, and eager hands
' Grip firm the sword, and pressed upon the brow
' The helm brings valour to the failing heart-
' Who cares to measure leaders' merits then?
' Who weighs the cause? With whom the soldier stands,
'For him he fights; as at the fatal show
No ancient grudge the gladiator's arm
' Nerves for the combat, yet as he shall strike
' He hates his rival.' Thinking thus he led
His troops in battle order to the plain.
Then victory on his arms deceptive shone
Hiding the ills to come: for from the field
Driving the hostile host with sword and spear,
He smote them till their camp opposed his way.

> Latin: Namque rates audax Lilybaeo litore solvit
Curio: nec forti velis Aquilone recepto
Inter semirutas magnae Carthaginis arces
Et Clupeam tenuit stationis litora notae:
Primaque castra locat cano procul aequore, qua se
Bagrada lentus agit, siccae sulcator arenae.
Inde petit tumulos exesasque undique rupes,
Antaei quae regna vocat non vana vetustas.
Nominis antiqui cupientem noscere caussas
Cognita per multos docuit rudis incola patres,
Nondum post genitos Tellus effeta gigantes,
Terribilem Libyeis partum concepit in antris.
Nec tam iusta fuit terrarum gloria Typhon,
Aut Tityos Briareusque ferox: coeloque pepercit,
Quod non Phlegraeis Antaeum sustulit arvis.
Hoc quoque tam vastas cumulavit munere vires
Terra sui foetus, quod, cum tetigere parentem,
Iam defecta vigent renovato robore membra.
Haec illi spelunca domus: latuisse sub alta
Rupe ferunt, epulas raptos habuisse leones.
Ad somnos non terga ferae praebere cubile
Adsuerunt, non silva torum: viresque resumit
In nuda tellure iacens. Periere coloni
Arvorum Libyes: pereunt, quos adpulit aequor,
Auxilioque diu virtus non usa cadendi,
Terrae spernit opes: invictus robore cunctis,
Quamvis staret, erat. Tandem vulgata cruenti
Fama mali, terras monstris aequorque levantem
Magnanimum Alciden Libycas excivit in oras.
Ille Cleonaei proiecit terga leonis,
Antaeus Libyci. Perfudit membra liquore
Hospes, Olympiacae servato more palaestrae:
Ille, parum fidens pedibus contingere matrem,
Auxilium membris calidas infundit arenas.
Conseruere manus et multo brachia nexu.
Colla diu gravibus frustra tentata lacertis:
Immotumque caput fixa cum fronte tenetur:
Miranturque habuisse parem. Nec viribus uti
Alcides primo voluit certamine totis,
Exhausitque virum: quod creber anhelitus illi
Prodidit, et gelidus fesso de corpore sudor.
Tunc cervix lassata quati: tunc pectore pectus
Urgeri: tunc obliqua percussa labare
Crura manu. Iam terga viri cedentia victor
Adligat, et medium, compressis ilibus, arctat:
Inguinaque insertis pedibus distendit, et omnem
Explicuit per membra virum. Rapit arida tellus
Sudorem: calido complentur sanguine venae.
Intumuere tori, totosque induruit artus,
Herculeosque novo laxavit corpore nodos.
Constitit Alcides stupefactus robore tanto:
Nec sic Inachiis, quamvis rudis esset, in undis
Desectam timuit, reparatis anguibus, hydram.
Conflixere pares, telluris viribus ille,
Ille suis. Numquam saevae sperare novercae
Plus licuit. Videt exhaustos sudoribus artus
Cervicemque viri siccam, qua ferret Olympum.
Utque iterum fessis iniecit brachia membris,
Non exspectatis Antaeus viribus hostis
Sponte cadit, maiorque, accepto robore, surgit.
Quisquis inest terris, in fessos spiritus artus
Egeritur; tellusque viro luctante laborat.
Ut tandem auxilium tactae prodesse parentis
Alcides sensit: standum est tibi, dixit, et ultra
Non credere solo, sternique vetabere terra.
Haerebis pressis intra mea pectora membris:
Huc, Antaee, cades. Sic fatus, sustulit alte
Nitentem in terras iuvenem. Morientis in artus
Non potuit nati tellus submittere vires.
Alcides medium tenuit: iam pectora pigro
Stricta gelu: terrisque diu non credidit hostem.
Hinc, aevi veteris custos, famosa vetustas
Miratrixque sui signavit nomine terras.
Sed maiora dedit cognomina collibus istis,
Poenum qui Latiis revocavit ab arcibus hostem,
Scipio. Iam sedes Libyca tellure potito
Haec fuit. En, veteris cernis vestigia valli.
Romana hos primum tenuit victoria campos.
Curio laetatus, tamquam fortuna locorum
Bella gerat, servetque ducum sibi fata priorum,
Felici non fausta loco tentoria ponens,
Indulsit castris, et collibus abstulit omen,
Sollicitatque feros non aequis viribus hostes.
Omnis Romanis quae cesserat Africa signis,
Tunc Vari sub iure fuit: qui, robore quamquam
Confisus Latio, regis tamen undique vires
Excivit Libycae gentis, extremaque mundi
Signa, suum comitata Iubam. Non fusior ulli
Terra fuit domino: qua sunt longissima regna,
Cardine ab occiduo vicinus Gadibus Atlas
Terminat: a medio confinis Syrtibus Hammon:
At qua lata iacet vasti plaga fervida regni,
Distinet Oceanum, zonaeque exusta calentis
Sufficiunt spatio. Populi tot castra sequuntur:
Autololes, Numidaeque vagi, semperque paratus
Inculto Gaetulus equo: tunc concolor Indo
Maurus, inops Nasamon, mixti Garamante perusto
Marmaridae volucres, aequaturusque sagittas
Medorum, tremulum cum torsit missile, Mazax:
Et gens quae nudo residens Massylia dorso
Ora levi flectit frenorum nescia virga:
Et solitus vacuis errare mapalibus Afer
Venator, ferrique simul fiducia non est,
Vestibus iratos laxis operire leones.
Nec solum studiis civilibus arma parabat,
Privatae sed bella dabat Iuba concitus irae.
Hunc quoque, quo superos humanaque polluit anno,
Lege tribunicia solio depellere avorum
Curio tentarat, Libyamque auferre tyranno,
Dum regnum te, Roma, facit. Memor ille doloris
Hoc bellum sceptri fructum putat esse retenti.
Hac igitur regis trepidat iam Curio fama,
Et quod Caesareis numquam devota iuventus
Illa nimis castris, nec Rheni miles in undis
Exploratus erat, Corfini captus in arce,
Infidusque novis ducibus, dubiusque priori,
Fas utrumque putat. Sed postquam languida segni
Cernit cuncta metu, nocturnaque munia valli
Desolata fuga, trepida sic mente profatur:
Audendo magnus tegitur timor: arma capessam
Ipse prior: campum miles descendat in aequum,
Dum meus est: variam semper dant otia mentem.
Eripe consilium pugna. Cum dira voluntas
Ense subit presso, et galeae texere pudorem,
Quis conferre duces meminit? quis pendere caussas?
Qua stetit, inde favet: veluti fatalis arenae
Muneribus non ira vetus concurrere cogit
Productos: odere pares. Sic fatus, apertis
Instruxit campis acies: quem blanda futuris
Deceptura malis belli fortuna recepit.
Nam pepulit Varum campo, nudataque foeda
Terga fuga, donec vetuerunt castra, cecidit.

[¶1] But after Varus' rout, unseen till then,
All eager for the glory to be his,
By stealth came Juba: silent was his march;
His only fear lest rumour should forestall
His coming victory. In pretended war
He sends Sabura forth with scanty force
To tempt the enemy, while in hollow vale
He holds the armies of his realm unseen.
'Tis thus the sly ichneumon with his tail
Waving, allures the serpent of the Nile
Drawn to the moving shadow: he, with head
Turned sideways, watches till the victim glides
Within his reach, then seizes by the throat
Behind the deadly fangs: forth from its seat
Balked of its purpose, through the brimming jaws
Gushes a tide of poison. Fortune smiled
On Juba's stratagem; for Curio
(The hidden forces of the foe unknown)
Sent forth his horse by night without the camp
To scour more distant regions. He himself
At earliest peep of dawn bids carry forth
His standards; heeding not his captains' prayer
Urged on his ears: ' Beware of Punic fraud,
' The craft that taints a Carthaginian war.'
Hung over him the doom of coming death
And gave the youth to fate; and civil strife
Dragged down its author.
On the lofty tops
Where broke the hills abruptly to their fall
He ranks his troops and sees the foe afar:
Who still deceiving, simulated flight,
Till from the height in loose unordered lines
The Roman forces streamed upon the plain,
In thought that Juba fled. Then first was known
The treacherous fraud: for swift Numidian horse
On every side surround them: leader, men-
All see their fate in one dread moment come.
No coward flees, no warrior bravely strides
To meet the battle: nay, the trumpet call
Stirs not the charger with resounding hoof
To spurn the rock, nor galling bit compels
To champ in eagerness; nor toss his mane
And prick the ear, nor prancing with his feet
To claim his share of combat. Tired, the neck
Droops downwards: smoking sweat bedews the limbs:
Dry from the squalid mouth protrudes the tongue,
Hoarse, raucous panting issues from their chests;
Their flanks distended: and on every curb
Dry foam of blood; the ruthless sword alone
Could move them onward, powerless even then
To charge; but giving to the hostile dart
A nearer victim. But when the Afric horse
First made their onset, loud beneath their hoofs
Rang the wide plain, and rose the dust in air
As by some Thracian whirlwind stirred; and veiled
The heavens in darkness. When on Curio's host
The tempest burst, each footman in the rank
Stood there to meet his fate-no doubtful end
Hung in the balance: destiny proclaimed
Death to them all. No conflict hand to hand
Was granted them, by lances thrown from far
And sidelong sword-thrusts slain: nor wounds alone,
But clouds of weapons falling from the air
By weight of iron o'erwhelmed them. Still drew in
The straightening circle, for the first pressed back
On those behind; did any shun the foe,
Seeking the inner safety of the ring,
He needs must perish by his comrades' swords.
And as the front rank fell, still narrower grew
The close crushed phalanx, till to raise their swords
Space was denied. Still close and closer forced
The armed breasts against each other driven
Pressed out the life. Thus not upon a scene
Such as their fortune promised, gazed the foe.
No tide of blood was there to glut their eyes,
No members lopped asunder, though the earth
Was piled with corpses; for each Roman stood
In death upright against his comrade dead.
Let cruel Carthage rouse her hated ghosts
By this fell offering; let the Punic shades,
And bloody Hannibal, from this defeat
Receive atonement: yet 'twas shame, ye gods,
That Libya gained not for herself the day;
And that our Romans on that field should die
To save Pompeius and the Senate's cause.
Now was the dust laid low by streams of blood,
And Curio, knowing that his host was slain,
Chose not to live; and, as a brave man should,
He rushed upon the heap, and fighting fell.
In vain with turbid speech hast thou profaned
The pulpit of the forum; waved in vain
From that proud citadel the tribune flag:
And armed the people, and the Senate's rights
Betraying, hast compelled this impious war
Betwixt the rival kinsmen. Low thou liest
Before Pharsalus' fight, and from thine eyes
Is hid the war. 'Tis thus to suffering Rome,
For arms seditious and for civil strife
Ye mighty make atonement with your blood.
Happy were Rome and all her sons indeed,
Did but the gods as rigidly protect
As they avenge, her violated laws!
There Curio lies; untombed his noble corpse,
Torn by the vultures of the Libyan wastes.
Yet shall we, since such merit, though unsung,
Lives by its own imperishable fame,
Give thee thy meed of praise. Rome never bore
Another son, who, had he right pursued,
Had so adorned her laws; but soon the times,
Their luxury, corruption, and the curse
Of copious wealth swept o'er his wavering mind
In stream transverse; and, bribed by spoils of Gaul
And golden gifts of Caesar, Curio changed
Turned with his change the scale of human things.
True, mighty Sulla, cruel Marius,
And bloody Cinna, and the long descent
Of Caesar and of Caesar's house became
Lords of our lives. But who had power like him?
All others bought the state: he sold alone.

> Latin: Tristia sed postquam superati proelia Vari
Sunt audita Iubae: laetus, quod gloria belli
Sit rebus servata suis, rapit agmina furtim,
Obscuratque suam per iussa silentia famam,
Hoc solum metuens, incautus ab hoste timeri.
Mittitur, exigua qui proelia prima lacessat
Eliciatque manu, Numidis a rege secundus,
Ut sibi commissi simulator Sabura belli.
Ipse cava regni vires in valle retentat:
Aspidas ut Pharias cauda sollertior hostis
Ludit, et iratas incerta provocat umbra:
Obliquusque caput vanas serpentis in auras
Effusae tuto comprendit guttura morsu
Letiferam citra saniem: tunc irrita pestis
Exprimitur, faucesque fluunt pereunte veneno.
Fraudibus eventum dederat fortuna: feroxque,
Non exploratis occulti viribus hostis,
Curio nocturnum castris erumpere cogit
Ignotisque equitem late discurrere campis.
Ipse sub aurorae primos excedere motus
Signa iubet castris, multum frustraque rogatus
Ut Libycas metuat fraudes, infectaque semper
Punica bella dolis. Leti fortuna propinqui
Tradiderat fatis iuvenem: bellumque trahebat
Auctorem civile suum. Super ardua ducit
Saxa, super cautes, abrupto limite, signa:
Cum procul e summis conspecti collibus hostes
Fraude sua cessere parum, dum colle relicto
Effusam patulis aciem committeret arvis.
Ille, fugam credens, simulatae nescius artis,
Ut victor, medios aciem proiecit in agros.
tunc primum patuere doli, Numidaeque fugaces
Undique completis clauserunt montibus agmen.
Obstupuit dux ipse simul, perituraque turba.
Non timidi petiere fugam, non proelia fortes:
Quippe ubi non sonipes motus clangore tubarum
Saxa quatit pulsu, rigidos vexantia frenos
Ora terens, spargitque iubas, et subrigit aures,
Incertoque pedum pugnat non stare tumultu.
Fessa iacet cervix. Fumant sudoribus artus,
Oraque proiecta squalent arentia lingua:
Pectora rauca gemunt, quae creber anhelitus urguet:
Et defecta gravis longe trahit ilia pulsus:
Siccaque sanguineis durescit spuma lupatis.
Iamque gradum neque verberibus stimulisque coacti,
Nec quamvis crebris iussi calcaribus addunt.
Vulneribus coguntur equi. Nec profuit ulli
Cornipedis rupisse moras: neque enim impetus illis
Incursusque fuit: tantum profertur ad hostes,
Et spatium iaculis oblato vulnere donat.
At vagus Afer equos ut primum emisit in agmen,
Tunc campi tremuere sono: terraque soluta,
Quantus Bistonio torquetur turbine, pulvis
Aera nube sua texit, traxitque tenebras.
Ut vero in pedites fatum miserabile belli
Incubuit, nullo dubii discrimine Martis
Ancipites steterunt casus, sed tempora pugnae
Mors tenuit. Neque enim licuit procurrere contra,
Et miscere manus. Sic undique septa iuventus
Cominus obliquis et rectis eminus hastis
Obruitur: non vulneribus nec sanguine, solum
Telorum nimbo peritura, ac pondere ferri.
Ergo acies tantae parum spissantur in orbem:
Ac, si quis metuens medium correpsit in agmen,
Vix impune suos inter convertitur enses:
Densaturque globus, quantum pede prima relato
Constrinxit gyros acies. Non arma movendi
Iam locus est pressis: stipataque membra teruntur:
Frangitur armatum colliso pectore pectus.
Non tam laeta tulit victor spectacula Maurus,
Quam fortuna dabat: fluvios non ille cruoris,
Membrorumque videt lapsum, et ferientia terram
Corpora: compressum turba stetit omne cadaver.
Excitet invisas dirae Carthaginis umbras
Inferiis fortuna novis: ferat ista cruentus
Hannibal et Poeni tam dira piacula manes.
Romanam, superi, Libyca tellure ruinam
Pompeio prodesse nefas, votisque senatus.
Africa nos potius vincat sibi. Curio fusas
Ut vidit campis acies, et cernere tantas
Permisit clades compressus sanguine pulvis,
Non tulit adflictis animam producere rebus,
Aut sperare fugam: ceciditque in strage suorum,
Impiger ad letum, et fortis virtute coacta.
Quid nunc rostra tibi prosunt turbata, forumque,
Unde tribunicia plebeius signifer arte
Arma dabas populis? quid prodita iura senatus.
Et gener atque socer bello concurrere iussi?
Ante iaces, quam dira duces Pharsalia confert,
Spectandumque tibi bellum civile negatum est.
Has urbi miserae vestro de sanguine poenas
Nempe datis? luitis iugulo sic arma, potentes?
Felix Roma quidem, civesque habitura beatos,
Si libertatis superis tam cura placeret,
Quam vindicta placet. Libycas, en, nobile corpus,
Pascit aves nullo contectus Curio busto.
At tibi nos (quando non proderit ista silere,
A quibus omne aevi senium sua fama repellit,)
Digna damus, iuvenis, meritae praeconia vitae.
Haud alium tanta civem tulit indole Roma,
Aut cui plus leges deberent recta sequenti.
Perdita tunc urbi nocuerunt saecula, postquam
Ambitus, et luxus, et opum metuenda facultas
Transverso mentem dubiam torrente tulerunt:
Momentumque fuit mutatus Curio rerum,
Gallorum captus spoliis, et Caesaris auro.
Ius licet in iugulos nostros sibi fecerit ense
Sulla potens, Mariusque ferox, et Cinna cruentus,
Caesareaeque domus series: cui tanta potestas
Concessa est? Emere omnes, hic vendidit urbem.

## 9. Book V · lines 1–475

Source: https://scriptura.si/works/lucan-pharsalia/9/ · cite a paragraph as https://scriptura.si/works/lucan-pharsalia/9/#p-N

[¶0] THUS had the smiles of Fortune and her frowns
Brought either chief to Macedonian shores
Still equal to his foe. From cooler skies
Sank Atlas' daughters down, and Haemus' slopes
Were white with winter, and the day drew nigh
Devoted to the god who leads the months,
And marking with new names the book of Rome,
When came the Fathers from their distant posts
By both the Consuls to Epirus called
Ere yet their year was dead: a foreign land
Obscure received the magistrates of Rome;
A senate sojourning in foreign lands
Held there high questions, not in warlike camp
But hedged by all the axes of the law;
And all men gazing on the reverend ranks
Knew that no Magnus' party there was met,
But all the state; and Magnus was but one.
Mid silent sadness from his lofty seat
Thus spake the Consul: ' If your hearts still beat
' With Latian blood, and if within your breasts
' Still lives your fathers' vigour, look not now
' On this strange land that holds us, nor enquire
'How far the captured city. Know the face
Of your own company; the rulers you
In all that comes. Be this your first decree,
' Whose truth all peoples and all kings confess;
' Be this the Senate. Let the frozen wain
' Demand your presence, or the torrid zone
' Wherein the day and night with equal tread
'For ever march; still follows in your steps
' The central power of Imperial Rome.
' When flamed the Capitol with fires of Gaul,
' When Veii held Camillus, there with him
' Was Rome, nor ever though it changed its clime
' Your order lost its rights. In Caesar's hands
' Are sorrowing houses and deserted homes,
' Laws silent for a space, and forums closed
' In public fast. His Senate-house beholds
' Those Fathers only whom from Rome it drove,
' While Rome was full. Of that high order all
' Not here, are exiles. Ignorant of war,
'Its crimes and bloodshed, through long years of peace,
'Ye fled its outburst: now in session all
'Are here assembled. See ye how the gods
Weigh down Italia's loss by all the world
'Thrown in the other scale? Illyria's wave
'Rolls on our foes: in Libya's arid wastes
'Is fallen their Curio, the weightier part
'Of Caesar's senate! Lift your standards, then,
'Spur on your fates and prove your hopes to heaven.
'Let Fortune, smiling, give you courage now
'As, when ye fled, your cause. The Consuls' power
' Fails with the dying year: not so does yours;
' By your commandment for the common weal
' Decree Pompeius leader.' With applause
They heard his words, and placed their country's fates,
Nor less their own, within the chieftain's hands.
Then did they shower on people and on kings
Honours well earned-Rhodes, Mistress of the Seas,
Was decked with gifts; Athena, old in fame,
Received her praise, and the rude tribes who dwell
On cold Taygetus; Massilia's sons
Their own Phocaea's freedom; on the chiefs
Of Thracian tribes, fit honours were bestowed.
They order Libya by their high decree
To serve King Juba's sceptre; and, alas!
On Ptolemaeus, of a faithless race
The faithless sovereign, scandal to the gods,
And shame to Fortune, placed the diadem
Of Pella. Boy! against the common herd
Fierce is thy weapon. Ah, if that were all!
The fatal gift gave, too, Pompeius' life;
Bereft thy sister of her sire's bequest,
Half of the kingdom: Caesar of a crime.
Then all to arms. While soldier thus and chief,
In doubtful sort, against their hidden fate
Devised their counsel, Appius only feared
To face the chances of the war, and sought
Through Phoebus' ancient oracle to break
The silence of the gods, and know the end.

> Latin: Sic alterna duces bellorum vulnera passos
In Macetum terras, miscens adversa secundis,
Servavit fortuna pares. Iam sparserat Aemo
Bruma nives, gelidoque cadens Atlantis Olympo:
Instabatque dies, qui dat nova nomina fastis,
Quique colit primus ducentem tempora Ianum.
Dum tamen emeriti remanet pars ultima iuris,
Consul uterque vagos belli per munia Patres
Elicit Epirum. Peregrina ac sordida sedes
Romanos cepit proceres: secretaque rerum
Hospes in externis audivit curia tectis.
Nam quis castra vocet tot strictas iure secures,
Tot fasces? Docuit populos venerabilis ordo,
Non Magni partes, sed Magnum in partibus esse.
Ut primum moestum tenuere silentia coetum,
Lentulus excelsa sublimis sede profatur:
Indole si dignum Latia, si sanguine prisco
Robur inest animis, non qua tellure coacti,
Quamque procul tectis captae sedeamus ab urbis,
Cernite: sed vestrae faciem cognoscite turbae:
Cunctaque iussuri, primum hoc decernite, Patres,
Quod regnis populisque liquet, nos esse senatum.
Nam, vel Hyperboreae plaustrum glaciale sub ursae,
Vel plaga qua torrens claususque vaporibus axis
Nec patitur noctes nec iniquos crescere soles,
Si fortuna ferat, rerum nos summa sequetur,
Imperiumque comes. Tarpeia sede perusta
Gallorum facibus, Veiosque habitante Camillo,
Illic Roma fuit. Non umquam perdidit ordo
Mutato sua iura solo. Moerentia tecta
Caesar habet, vacuasque domos, legesque silentes,
Clausaque iustitio tristi fora. Curia solos
Illa videt Patres, plena quos urbe fugavit.
Ordine de tanto quisquis non exsulat, hic est.
Ignaros scelerum, longaque in pace quietos
Bellorum primus sparsi furor: omnia rursus
Membra loco redeunt. En, totis viribus orbis
Hesperiam pensant superi: iacet hostis in undis
Obrutus Illyricis: Libyae squalentibus arvis
Curio Caesarei cecidit pars magna senatus.
Tollite signa, duces: fatorum impellite cursum:
Spem vestram praestate deis fortunaque tantos
Det nobis animos, quantos fugientibus hostem
Caussa dabat. Nostrum exhausto ius clauditur anno:
Vos, quorum finem non est sensura potestas,
Consulite in medium, Patres, Magnumque iubete
Esse ducem. Laeto nomen clamore senatus
Excipit: et Magno fatum patriaeque suumque
Imposuit. Tunc in reges populosque merentes
Sparsus honos, pelagique potens Phoebeia donis
Exornata Rhodos, gelidique inculta iuventus
Taygeti: fama veteres laudantur Athenae:
Massiliaeque suae donatur libera Phocis.
Tunc Sadalen, fortemque Cotyn, fidumque per arma
Deiotarum, et gelidae dominum Rhasipolin orae
Collaudant: Libyamque iubent auctore senatu
Sceptrifero parere Iubae. Pro tristia fata!
En tibi, non fidae gentis dignissime regno,
Fortunae, Ptolemaee, pudor, crimenque deorum,
Cingere Pellaeo pressos diademate crines
Permissum. Saevum in populos puer accipis ensem:
Atque utinam in populos! Donata est regia Lagi;
Accessit Magni iugulus: regnumque sorori
Ereptum est, soceroque nefas. Iam turba soluto
Arma petit coetu. Quae cum populique ducesque
Casibus incertis et caeca sorte pararent,
Solus in ancipites metuit descendere Martis
Appius eventus: finemque expromere rerum
Sollicitat superos, multosque obducta per annos
Delphica fatidici reserat penetralia Phoebi.

[¶1] Between the western belt and that which bounds
The furthest east, midway Parnassus rears
His double summit: to the Bromian god
And Paean consecrate, to whom conjoined
The Theban band leads up the Delphic feast
On each third year. This mountain, when the sea
Poured o'er the earth her billows, rose alone,
By loftiest peak scarce master of the waves,
Parting the crest of waters from the stars.
There, to avenge his mother, from her home
Chased by the angered goddess while as yet
She bore him quick within her, Paean came
(When Themis ruled the tripods and the spot)
And with unpractised darts the Python slew.
But when he saw how from the yawning cave
A godlike knowledge breathed, and all the air
Was full of voices murmured from the depths,
He took the shrine and filled the deep recess;
Henceforth a prophet. Which of all the gods
Has left heaven's light in this dark cave to hide?
What spirit that knows the secrets of the world
And things to come, here condescends to dwell,
Divine, omnipotent? bear the touch of man,
And at his bidding deigns to lift the veil?
Perchance he sings the fates; perchance his song,
Once sung, is fate. Haply some part of Jove
Sent here to rule the earth with mystic power,
Balanced upon the void immense of air,
Sounds through the caves, and in its flight returns
To that high home of thunder whence it came.
Caught in a virgin's breast, this deity
Strikes on the human spirit: then a voice
Sounds from her breast, as when the lofty peak
Of Etna boils, forced by compelling flames,
Or as Typheus on Campania's shore
Frets 'neath the pile of huge Inarime.
Though free to all that ask, denied to none,
No human passion lurks within the voice
That heralds forth the god; no whispered vow,
No evil prayer prevails; none favour gain:
Of things unchangeable the song divine;
Yet loves the just. When men have left their homes
To seek another, it has turned their steps
Aright, as with the Tyrians; and raised
The hearts of men to war, as prove the waves
Of Salamis: when earth refused her fruits
Or plague has filled the air, this voice benign
Has given fresh hope and pointed to the end.
No gift from heaven's high gods so great as this
Our centuries have lost, since Delphi's shrine
Has silent stood, and kings forbade the gods
To speak the future, fearing for their fates.
Nor does the priestess sorrow that the voice
Is heard no longer; and the silent fane
To her is happiness; for whatever breast
Contains the deity, its shattered frame
Surges with frenzy, and the soul divine
Shakes the frail breath that with the god receives,
As prize or punishment, untimely death.
These tripods Appius seeks, unmoved for years,
These soundless caverned rocks, in quest to learn
Hesperia's destinies. At his command
To loose the sacred gateways and permit
The prophetess to enter to the god,
The keeper calls Phemonoe; whose steps
Round the Castalian fount and in the grove
Were wandering careless; her he bids to pass
The portals. But the priestess feared to tread
The awful threshold, and with vain deceits
Sought to dissuade the chieftain from his zeal
To learn the future. ' What this hope,' she cried,
Roman, that moves thy breast to know the fates?
'Long has Parnassus and its silent cleft
'Stifled the god; perhaps the breath divine
'Has left its ancient gorge and through the world
'Wanders in devious paths; or else the fane,
'Consumed to ashes by barbarian fire,
'Closed up the deep recess and choked the path
'Of Phoebus; or the ancient Sibyl's books
'Disclosed enough of fate, and thus the gods
'Decreed to close the oracle; or else
'Since wicked steps are banished from the fane,
'In this our impious age the god finds none
'Whom he may answer.' But the maiden's guile
Was known, for though she would deny the gods
Her fears approved them. On her front she binds
A twisted fillet, while a shining wreath
Of Phocian laurels crowns the locks that flow
Upon her shoulders. Hesitating yet,
The priest compelled her, and she passed within.
But horror filled her of the holiest depths
From which the mystic oracle proceeds;
And resting near the doors, in breast unmoved
She dares invent the god in words confused,
Which proved no mind possessed with fire divine;
By such false chant less injuring the chief
Than faith in Phoebus and the sacred fane.
No burst of words with tremor in their tones,
No voice re-echoing through the spacious vault
Proclaimed the deity, no bristling locks
Shook off the laurel chaplet; but the grove
Unshaken, and the summits of the shrine,
Gave proof she shunned the god. The Roman knew
The tripods yet were idle, and in rage,
'Wretch,' he exclaimed, 'to us and to the gods,
'Whose presence thou pretendest, thou shalt pay
'The punishment; unless thou enter the recess,
'And cease to speak in phrases of thine own
Of this vast conflict, of a world by war
'Convulsed and shaken.' Then by fear compelled,
At length the priestess sought the furthest depths,
And stayed beside the tripods; and there came
Into her unaccustomed breast the god,
Breathed from the living rock for centuries
Untouched; nor ever with a mightier power
Did Paean's inspiration seize the frame
Of Delphic priestess; his pervading touch
Expelled the mortal, and her former mind,
And made her wholly his. In maddened trance
She whirled throughout the cave, her locks erect
With horror, and the fillets of the god
Dashed to the ground; her steps unguided turned
To this side and to that; the tripods fell
O'erturned; within her seethed the mighty fire
Of angry Phoebus; nor with whip alone
He urged her onwards, but with curb restrained;
Nor was it given her by the god to speak
All that she knew; for into one vast mass
All time was gathered, and her panting chest
Groaned 'neath the centuries. In order long
All things lay bare: the future yet unveiled
Struggled for light; each fate required a voice;
The compass of the seas, Creation's birth,
Creation's death, the number of the sands,
All these she knew. Thus on a former day
The prophetess upon the Cuman shore,
Disdaining that her frenzy should be slave
To other nations, from the boundless threads
Chose out with pride of hand the fates of Rome.
E'en so Phemonoe, for a time oppressed
With fates unnumbered, laboured ere she found,
Beneath such mighty destinies concealed,
Thine, Appius, who alone hadst sought the god
In land Castalian; then from foaming lips
First rushed the madness forth, and murmurs loud
Uttered with panting breath and blent with groans;
Till through the spacious vault a voice at length
Broke from the virgin conquered by the god:
'From this great struggle thou, O Roman, free
'Escap'st the threats of war: alive, in peace,
'Thou shalt possess the hollow in the coast
'Of vast Euboea.' Thus she spake, no more.
Ye mystic tripods, guardians of the fates
And Paean, thou, from whom no day is hid
By heaven's high rulers, Master of the truth,
Why fear'st thou to reveal the deaths of kings,
Rome's murdered princes, and the latest doom
Of her great Empire tottering to its fall,
And all the bloodshed of that western land?
Were yet the stars in doubt on Magnus' fate
Not yet decreed, and did the gods yet shrink
From that, the greatest crime? Or wert thou dumb
That Fortune's sword for civil strife might wreak
Just vengeance, and a Brutus' arm once more
Strike down the tyrant?
From the temple doors
Rushed forth the prophetess in frenzy driven,
Not all her knowledge uttered; and her eyes,
Still troubled by the god who reigned within,
Or filled with wild affright, or fired with rage
Gaze on the wide expanse: still works her face
Convulsive; on her cheeks a crimson blush
With ghastly pallor blent, though not of fear.
Her weary heart throbs ever; and as seas
Boom swollen by northern winds, she finds in sighs,
All inarticulate, relief. But while
She hastes from that dread light in which she saw
The fates, to common day, lo! on her path
The darkness fell. Then by a Stygian draught
Of the forgetful river, Phoebus snatched
Back from her soul his secrets; and she fell
Yet hardly living. Nor did Appius dread
Approaching death, but by dark oracles
Baffled, while yet the Empire of the world
Hung in the balance, sought his promised realm
In Chalcis of Euboea. Yet to escape
All ills of earth, the crash of war-what god
Can give thee such a boon, but death alone?
For on the solitary shore a grave
Awaits thee, where Carystos' marble crags
Draw in the passage of the sea, and where
The fane of Rhamnus rises to the gods
Who hate the proud, and where the ocean strait
Boils in swift whirlpools, and Euripus draws
Deceitful in his tides, a bane to ships,
Chalcidian vessels to bleak Aulis' shore.

> Latin: Hesperio tantum, quantum submotus Eoo
Cardine, Parnasus gemino petit aethera colle,
Mons Phoebo Bromioque sacer cui numine mixto
Delphica Thebanae referunt trieterica Bacchae.
Hoc solum fluctu terras mergente cacumen
Emicuit, pontoque fuit discrimen et astris.
Tu quoque vix summam seductus ab aequore rupem
Extuleras, unoque iugo, Parnase, latebas.
Ultor ibi expulsae, premeret cum viscera partus,
Matris, adhuc rudibus Paean Pythona sagittis
Explicuit, cum regna Themis tripodasque teneret.
Ut vidit Paean vastos telluris hiatus
Divinam spirare fidem, ventosque loquaces
Exhalare solum, sacris se condidit antris,
Incubuitque adyto, vates ibi factus Apollo.
Quis latet hic superum? quod numen ab aethere pressum
Dignatur caecas inclusum habitare cavernas?
Quis terram coeli patitur deus, omnia cursus
Aeterni secreta tenens, mundique futuri
Conscius, ac populis sese proferre paratus,
Contactusque ferens hominum, magnusque potensque,
Sive canit fatum, seu, quod iubet ille canendo,
Fit fatum? Forsan terris inserta regendis,
Aere libratum vacuo quae sustinet orbem,
Totius pars magna Iovis, Cirrhaea per antra
Exit, et aetherio trahitur connexa Tonanti.
Hoc ubi virgineo conceptum est pectore numen,
Humanam feriens animam sonat, oraque vatis
Solvit, ceu Siculus flammis urgentibus Aetnam
Undat apex: Campana fremens ceu saxa vaporat
Conditus Inarimes aeterna mole Typhoeus.
Hoc tamen expositum cunctis nullique negatum
Numen ab humani solum se labe furoris
Vindicat. Haud illic tacito mala vota susurro
Concipiunt. Nam, fixa canens mutandaque nulli,
Mortales optare vetat: iustisque benignus
Saepe dedit sedem totas mutantibus urbes,
Ut Tyriis: dedit ille minas impellere belli,
Ut Salaminiacum meminit mare: sustulit iras
Telluris sterilis, monstrato fine: resolvit
Aera tabificum. Non ullo saecula dono
Nostra carent maiore deum, quam Delphica sedes
Quod siluit, postquam rege timuere futura,
Et superos vetuere loqui. Nec, voce negata,
Cirrhaeae moerent vates; templique fruuntur
Iustitio. Nam si qua deus sub pectora venit,
Numinis aut poena est mors immatura recepti,
Aut pretium: quippe stimulo fluctuque furoris
Compages humana labat, pulsusque deorum
Concutiunt fragiles animas. Sic tempore longo
Immotos tripodas vastaeque silentia rupis
Appius Hesperii scrutator ad ultima fati
Sollicitat. Iussus sedes laxare verendas
Antistes, pavidamque deis immittere vatem,
Castalios circum latices nemorumque recessus
Phemonoen errore vagam curisque vacantem
Corripuit, cogitque fores irrumpere templi.
Limine terrifico metuens consistere Phoebas,
Absterrere ducem noscendi ardore futura
Cassa fraude parat. Quid spes, ait, improba veri
Te, Romane, trahit? Muto Parnasus hiatu
Conticuit, pressitque deum: seu spiritus istas
Destitit fauces, mundique in devia versum
Duxit iter: seu, barbarica cum lampade Python
Arsit, in immensas oneres abiere cavernas,
Et Phoebi tenuere viam: seu sponte deorum
Cirrha silet, fatique sat est arcana futuri
Carmine longaevae vobis commissa Sibyllae:
Seu Paean, solitus templis arcere nocentes,
Ora quibus solvat, nostro non invenit aevo.
Virginei patuere doli, fecitque negatis
Numinibus metus ipse fidem. Tum torta priores
Stringit vitta comas, crinesque in terga solutos
Candida Phocaica complectitur infula lauro.
Haerentem dubiamque premens in templa sacerdos
Impulit. Illa, pavens adyti penetrale remoti
Fatidicum, prima templorum in parte resistit,
Atque, deum simulans, sub pectore ficta quieto
Verba refert, nullo confusae murmure vocis
Instinctam sacro mentem testata furore,
Haud aeque laesura ducem, cui falsa canebat,
Quam tripodas, Phoebique fidem. Non rupta trementi
Verba sono, nec vox antri complere capacis
Sufficiens spatium, nulloque horrore comarum
Excussae laurus, immotaque culmina templi,
Securumque nemus, veritam se credere Phoebo
Prodiderant. Sentit tripodas cessare, furensque
Appius: Et nobis meritas dabis, impia, poenas,
Et superis, quos fingis, ait, nisi mergeris antris,
Deque orbis trepidi tanto consulta tumultu
Desinis ipsa loqui. Tandem conterrita virgo
Confugit ad tripodas, vastisque abducta cavernis
Haesit, et insueto concepit pectore numen,
Quod non exhaustae per tot iam saecula rupis
Spiritus ingessit vati: tandemque potitus
Pectore Cirrhaeo, non umquam plenior artus
Phoebados irrupit Paean: mentemque priorem
Expulit, atque hominem toto sibi cedere iussit
Pectore. Bacchatur demens aliena per antrum
Colla ferens, vittasque dei Phoebeaque serta
Erectis discussa comis, per inania templi
Ancipiti cervice rotat, spargitque vaganti
Obstantes tripodas, magnoque exaestuat igne,
Iratum te, Phoebe, ferens. Nec verbere solo
Uteris et stimulis, flammasque in viscera mergis:
Accipit et fraenos: nec tantum prodere vati,
Quantum scire, licet. Venit aetas omnis in unam
Congeriem: miserumque premunt tot saecula pectus.
Tanta patet rerum series, atque omne futurum
Nititur in lucem: vocemque petentia fata
Luctantur: non prima dies, non ultima mundi,
Non modus Oceani, numerus non deerat arenae.
Talis in Euboico vates Cumana recessu,
Indignata suum multis servire furorem
Gentibus, ex tanta fatorum strage superba
Excerpsit Romana manu. Sic plena laborat
Phemonoe Phoebo, dum te, consultor operti
Castalia tellure dei, vix invenit, Appi,
Inter fata diu quaerens tam magna latentem.
Spumea tunc primum rabies vesana per ora
Effluit, et gemitus, et anhelo clara meatu
Murmura: tunc moestus vastis ululatus in antris,
Extremaeque sonant, domita iam virgine, voces:
Effugis ingentes, tanti discriminis expers,
Bellorum, o Romane, minas: solusque quietem
Euboici vasta lateris convalle tenebis.
Caetera suppressit, faucesque obstruxit Apollo.
Custodes tripodes fatorum, arcanaque mundi,
Tuque potens veri Paean, nullumque futuri
A superis celate diem, suprema ruentis
Imperii, caesosque duces, et funera regum,
Et tot in Hesperio collapsas sanguine gentes
Cur aperire times? An nondum numina tantum
Decrevere nefas? et adhuc dubitantibus astris
Pompeii damnare caput, tot fata tenentur?
Vindicis an gladii facinus, poenasque furoris,
Regnaque ad ultores iterum redeuntia Brutos,
Ut peragat fortuna, taces? Tunc pectore vatis
Impactae cessere fores, expulsaque templis
Prosiluit. Perstat rabies; nec cuncta locutae,
Quem non emisit, superest deus. Illa feroces
Torquet adhuc oculos, totoque vagantia coelo
Lumina, nunc vultu pavido, nunc torva minaci:
Stat numquam facies: rubor igneus inficit ora,
Liventesque genas: nec, qui solet esse timenti,
Terribilis sed pallor inest: nec fessa quiescunt
Corda; sed, ut tumidus Boreae post flamina pontus
Rauca gemit, sic muta levant suspiria vatem.
Dumque a luce sacra, qua vidit fata, refertur
Ad vulgare iubar, mediae venere tenebrae.
Immisit Stygiam Paean in viscera Lethen,
Quae raperet secreta deum. Tunc pectore verum
Fugit, et ad Phoebi tripodas rediere futura:
Vixque refecta cadit. Nec te vicinia leti
Territat, ambiguis frustratum sortibus, Appi:
Iure sed incerto mundi, subsidere regnum
Chalcidos Euboicae, vana spe rapte, parabas.
Heu demens, nullum belli sentire fragorem,
Tot mundi caruisse malis, praestare deorum
Excepta quis morte potest? Secreta tenebis
Litoris Euboici, memorando condite busto,
Qua maris angustat fauces saxosa Carystos,
Et tumidis infesta colit qua numina Rhamnus,
Arctatus rapida fervet qua gurgite pontus,
Euripusque trahit, cursum mutantibus undis,
Chalcidicas puppes ad iniquam classibus Aulim.

[¶2] But Caesar carried from the conquered west
His eagles to another world of war;
When envying his victorious course the gods
Almost turned back the prosperous tide of fate.
Not on the battle-field borne down by arms,
But in his tents, within the rampart lines,
The hoped-for prize of this unholy war
Seemed for a moment gone. That faithful host,
His comrades trusted in a hundred fields,
Almost forsook him. The sad trump perchance
Mute for a moment, and the blade in sheath
Grown cold, had tamed their frenzy for the war;
Or else in hope of greater gifts, their cause
And leader they betrayed, and sold the sword
Still soiled with murder. By no other risk
Caesar more surely learned how as he looked
O'er all things else, the height on which he stood
Trembled beneath him. But a moment since
His high behest drew nations to the war;
Now, maimed of all who smote, no weapon left
Saving his own, he knows that swords unsheathed
Are wielded by the soldier, not the chief.
No timorous voice was there; no silent wrath
Concealed; nor doubting mind, as though alone
Indignant at the wrong, and in distrust
Of those in turn distrusting. Fear in each
Had fled before the boldness of the host:
The crime is free where thousands bear the guilt.
They hurled their menace: 'Caesar, give us leave
'To quit thy crimes; thou seek'st by land and sea
'The sword to slay us; let the fields of Gaul
And far Iberia, and the world proclaim
'How for thy victories our comrades fell.
'What boots it us that by an army's blood
'The Rhine and Rhone and all the northern lands
'Thou hast subdued? Thou giv'st us civil war
'For all these battles; such the prize. When fled
'The Senate trembling, and when Rome was ours
'What homes or temples did we spoil? Our hands
'Reek with offence! Aye, but our poverty
'Proclaims our innocence! What end shall be
Of arms and armies? What shall be enough
'If Rome suffice not? and what lies beyond?
'Behold these silvered locks, these nerveless hands
'And shrunken arms, once stalwart! In thy wars
'Gone is the strength of life, gone all its pride!
'Dismiss thine aged soldiers to their deaths.
'How shameless is our prayer! Not on hard turf
'To stretch our dying limbs; nor seek in vain,
' When parts the soul, a hand to close our eyes;
'Not with the helm to strike the stony ground:
' Rather to feel the dear one's last embrace,
' And gain a humble but a separate tomb.
'Let sickness end old age. If Caesar's slaves,
' Let something more than battle be our doom.
' Deem'st thou we are thy dupes? that we alone
' In civil war are ignorant what crime
' Will fetch the highest price? What thou canst dare
' These years have proved, or nothing; law divine
' Nor human ordinance shall hold thine hand.
'He was our leader on the banks of Rhine;
' Now is our equal; for the stain of crime
' Makes all men like. And for a judge ingrate
' We waste our valour; for as fortune's gift
' He takes the victory which our arms have won:
'But we his fortunes are, his fates are ours
'To fashion as we will. Boast that the gods
' Shall do thy bidding! Nay, thy soldiers' will
' Shall close the war.' With threatening mien and speech
Thus through the camp the troops demand their chief.
When faith and loyalty are fled, and hope
For aught but evil, thus may civil war
In mutiny and discord find its end!
What general had not feared at such revolt?
But mighty Caesar trusting on the throw,
As was his wont, his fortune, and o'erjoyed
To front their anger raging at its height
Unflinching comes. No temples of the gods,
Not Jove's high fane on the Tarpeian rock,
Not Rome's high dames nor maidens had he grudged
To their most savage lust: that they should ask
The worst, his wish, and love the spoils of war.
Nor feared he aught save order at the hands
Of that unconquered host. Art thou not shamed
That strife should please thee only, now condemned
Even by thy minions? Shall they shrink from blood,
They from the sword recoil? and thou rush on
Heedless of guilt, through right and through unright,
Nor learn that men may lay their arms aside
Yet bear to live? This civil butchery
Escapes thy grasp. Stay thou thy crimes at length;
Nor force thy will on those who will no more.
Upon a turfy mound unmoved he stood
And, since he feared not, worthy to be feared;
And thus while anger stirred his soul began:
' Thou that with voice and hand didst rage but now
' Against thine absent chief, behold me here;
Plunge in this breast, all ready for the wound
And bare, thy sword; and end the war and flee.
This mutiny devoid of daring deed
Betrays your coward souls, betrays the youth
' Who tires of victories which gild the arms
Of an unconquered chief, and yearns for flight.
Leave me to fate; with that I'll wage the war
You I cast forth. For every weapon left,
Fortune shall find a man, to wield it well.
Shall Magnus in his flight with such a fleet
Draw nations in his train; and not to me
' My victories bring legions? They shall reap
' For its mere close the prizes of the war
' Won by your toil, and scatheless join the train
'That leads my chariot to the sacred hill:
' While you, despised in age and battle worn,
' Gaze on our triumph from the civic crowd.
' Think you your dastard flight shall give me pause?
' If all the rivers that now seek the sea
' Were to withdraw their waters, it would fail
' By not one inch, no more than by their flow
'It rises now. Have then your efforts given
' Strength to my cause? Not so: the heavenly gods
' Stoop not so low; fate has no time to judge
' Your lives and deaths. The fortunes of the world
' Follow heroic souls: for the fit few
'The many live; and you who terrified
' With me the northern and Iberian worlds,
' Would flee when led by Magnus. Strong with me
' Was Labienus: vile deserter now;
' A homeless exile with his chief preferred.
' Nor were your faith more firm if, neither side
'Espoused, you ceased from arms. Who leaves me once,
'Though not to fight against me with the foe,
'Joins not my ranks again. Surely the gods
'Smile on these arms who for so great a war
'Grant me fresh soldiers. From what heavy load
'Fortune relieves me! for the hands which aimed
'At all, to which the world did not suffice,
'I now disarm, and for myself alone
'Reserve the conflict. Quit ye, then, my camp,
'And leave my standards to the grasp of men,
'Coward Quirites! But some guilty few
'I keep, not as their captain, but their judge.
'Lie, traitors, prone on earth, stretch out the neck
'And take th' avenging blow. And thou whose strength
'Shall now support me, young and yet untaught,
'Behold the doom and learn to strike and die.'
Such were his words of ire, and all the host
Drew back and trembled at the voice of him
They would depose, as though their very swords
Would from their scabbards leap at his command
Themselves unwilling; but he only feared
Lest hand and blade to satisfy the doom
Might be denied; till they submitting pledged
Their lives and swords alike, beyond his hope.
To strike and suffer holds in surest thrall
The heart inured to guilt; and Caesar kept,
By dreadful compact ratified in blood,
Those whom he feared to lose.

> Latin: Interea domitis Caesar remeabat Iberis,
Victrices aquilas alium laturus in orbem:
Cum prope fatorum tantos per prospera cursus
Avertere dei. Nullo nam Marte subactus,
Intra castrorum timuit tentoria ductor
Perdere successus scelerum: cum paene fideles
Per tot bella manus, satiatae sanguine, tandem
Destituere ducem: seu moesto classica paullum
Intermissa sono, claususque et frigidus ensis
Expulerat belli furias: seu praemia miles
Dum maiora petit, damnat caussamque ducemque,
Et scelere imbutos etiamnunc venditat enses.
Haud magis expertus discrimine Caesar in ullo est,
Quam non e stabili, tremulo sed culmine cuncta
Despiceret, staretque super titubantia fultus:
Tot raptis truncus manibus, gladioque relictus
Paene suo, qui tot gentes in bella trahebat,
Scit non esse ducis strictos, sed militis, enses.
Non pavidum iam murmur erat, nec pectore tecto
Ira latens: nam quae dubias constringere mentes
Caussa solet, dum quisque pavet, quibus ipse timori est,
Seque putat solum regnorum iniusta gravari,
Haud retinet. Quippe ipsa metus exsolverat audax
Turba suos. Quidquid multis peccatur, inultum est.
Effudere minas: Liceat discedere, Caesar,
A rabie scelerum. Quaeris terraque marique
His ferrum iugulis, animasque effundere viles
Quolibet hoste paras. Partem tibi Gallia nostri
Eripuit: partem duris Hispania bellis:
Pars iacet Hesperia: totoque exercitus orbe
Te vincente perit. Terris fudisse cruorem
Quid iuvat Arctois, Rhodano Rhenoque subactis?
Tot mihi pro bellis bellum civile dedisti.
Cepimus expulso patriae cum tecta senatu,
Quos hominum, vel quos licuit spoliare deorum?
Imus in omne nefas, manibus ferroque nocentes,
Paupertate pii. Finis quis quaeritur armis?
Quid satis est, si Roma parum? Iam respice canos,
Invalidasque manus, et inanes cerne lacertos.
Usus abit vitae, bellis consumsimus aevum:
Ad mortem dimitte senes. En, improba vota!
Non duro liceat morientia cespite membra
Ponere, non anima glebam fugiente ferire,
Atque oculos morti clausuram quaerere dextram
Coniugis illabi lacrimis, unique paratum
Scire rogum. Liceat morbis finire senectam.
Sit praeter gladios aliquod sub Caesare fatum.
Quid, velut ignaros ad quae portenta paremur,
Spe trahis? Usque adeo soli civilibus armis
Nescimus cuius sceleris sit maxima merces?
Nil actum est bellis, si nondum comperit, istas
Omnia posse manus. Nec fas nec vincula iuris
Hoc audere vetant. Rheni mihi Caesar in undis
Dux erat, hic socius. Facinus quos inquinat, aequat.
Adde, quod ingrato meritorum iudice virtus
Nostra perit. Quidquid gerimus, fortuna vocatur.
Nos fatum sciat esse suum. Licet omne deorum
Obsequium speres: irato milite, Caesar,
Pax erit. Haec fatus, totis discurrere castris
Coeperat, infestoque ducem deposcere vultu.
Sic eat, o superi! quando pietasque fidesque
Destituunt, moresque malos sperare relictum est,
Finem civili faciat discordia bello.
Quem non ille ducem potuit terrere tumultus?
Fata sed in praeceps solitus demittere Caesar,
Fortunamque suam per summa pericula gaudens
Exercere, venit: nec, dum desaeviat ira,
Expectat; medios properat tentare furores.
Non illis urbes spoliandaque templa negasset,
Tarpeiamque Iovis sedem, matresque senatus,
Passurasque infanda nurus. Vult omnia certe
A se saeva peti, vult praemia Martis amari:
Militia indomiti tantum mens sana timetur.
Non pudet heu, Caesar, soli tibi bella placere
Iam manibus damnata tuis? hos ante pigebit
Sanguinis? his ferri grave ins erit ipse per omne
Fasque nefasque rues Lassare, et disce sine armis
Posse pati: liceat scelerum tibi ponere finem.
Saeve, quid insequeris quid iam nolentibus instas?
Bellum te civile fugit. Stetit aggere fulti
Cespitis, intrepidus vultu, meruitque timeri
Non metuens: atque haec ira dictante profatur:
Qui modo in absentem vultu dextraque furebas,
Miles, habes nudum promtumque ad vulnera pectus.
Hic fuge, si belli finis placet, ense relicto.
Detegit imbelles animos nil fortiter ausa
Seditio, tantumque fugam meditata iuventus,
Ac ducis invicti rebus lassata secundis.
Vadite, meque meis ad bella relinquite fatis:
Invenient haec arma manus, vobisque repulsis
Tot reddet Fortuna viros, quot tela vacabunt.
Anne fugam Magni tanta cum classe sequuntur
Hesperiae gentes, nobis victoria turbam
Non dabit, impulsi tantum quae praemia belli
Auferat et, vestri rapta mercede laboris,
Lauriferos nullo comitetur vulnere currus?
Vos despecta, senes, exhaustaque sanguine turba
Cernetis nostros iam plebs Romana triumphos.
Caesaris an cursus vestrae sentire putatis
Damnum posse fugae? veluti, si cuncta minentur
Flumina, quos miscent pelago, subducere fontes,
Non magis ablatis umquam descenderet aequor,
Quam nunc crescit, aquis. An vos momenta putatis
Ulla dedisse mihi? Numquam sic cura deorum
Se premit, ut vestrae morti vestraeque saluti
Fata vacent. Procerum motus haec cuncta sequuntur.
Humanum paucis vivit genus. Orbis Iberi
Horror et Arctoi nostro sub nomine miles,
Pompeio certe fugeres duce. Fortis in armis
Caesareis Labienus erat: nunc, transfuga vilis,
Cum duce praelato terras atque aequora lustrat.
Nec melior mihi vestra fides, si bella nec hoste
Nec duce me geritis. Quisquis mea signa relinquit,
Nec Pompeianis tradit sua partibus arma,
Hic numquam vult esse meus. Sunt ista profecto
Curae castra deis, qui me committere tantis
Non nisi mutato voluerunt milite bellis.
Heu, quantum Fortuna humeris iam pondera fessis
Amolitur onus! sperantes omnia dextras
Exarmare datur, quibus hic non sufficit orbis.
Iam certe mihi bella geram: discedite castris,
Tradite nostra viris ignavi signa Quirites.
At paucos, quibus haec rabies auctoribus arsit,
Non Caesar, sed poena tenet. Procumbite terra,
Infidumque caput feriendaque tendite colla.
Et tu, quo solo stabunt iam robore castra,
Tiro rudis, specta poenas, et disce ferire,
Disce mori. Tremuit saeva sub voce minantis
Vulgus iners: unumque caput tam magna iuventus
Privatum factura timet: velut ensibus ipsis
Imperet, invito moturus milite ferrum.
Ipse pavet, ne tela sibi dextraeque negentur
Ad scelus hoc Caesar: vicit patientia saevi
Spem ducis, et iugulos, non tantum praestitit enses.
Nil magis, adsuetas sceleri quam perdere mentes,
Atque perire timet; tam diro foederis ictu
Parta quies, poenaque redit placata iuventus.

[¶3] He bids them reach
In ten days' march Brundusium, and recall
From old Tarentum and from Hydrus lone
His navy, and from Leucas' point remote,
And the Salapian marsh where Sipus lies
By rich Garganus, jutting from the shore
In huge escarpment that divides the waves
Of Hadria; on each hand, his seaward slopes
Buffeted by the winds; or Auster borne
From sweet Apulia, or the sterner blast
Of Boreas rushing from Dalmatian strands.
But Caesar entered safe without a guard
Rome, trembling, taught to serve the garb of peace,
Dictator named, to grant their prayers, forsooth:
Consul, in honour of the roll of Rome.
Then first of all the names by which we now
Lie to our masters, men found out the use:
For to preserve his right to wield the sword
He mixed the civil axes with his brands;
With eagles, fasces; with an empty word
Clothing his power; and stamped upon the time
A worthy designation; for what name
Could better mark the dread Pharsalian year
Than 'Caesar, Consul'? Now the famous field
Pretends its ancient ceremonies: calls
The tribes in order and divides the votes
In vain solemnity of empty urns.
Nor did they heed the portents of the sky:
Deaf were the augurs to the thunder roll;
The owl flew on the left; yet were the birds
Propitious sworn. Then was the ancient name
Degraded first; and monthly Consuls, now
Shorn of their rank, were chosen to mark the years.
And Trojan Alba's god (since Latium's fall
Deserving not) beheld the wonted fires
Blaze from his altars on the festal night.
Then through Apulia's fallows, which her hinds
Left all untilled, to sluggish weeds a prey
Passed Caesar onward, swifter than the fire
Of heaven, or tigress dam: until he reached
Brundusium's winding ramparts, built of old
By Cretan colonists. There icy winds
Constrained the billows, and his trembling fleet
Feared for the winter storms nor dared the main.
But Caesar's soul burned at the moments lost
For speedy battle, nor could brook delay
Within the port, indignant that the sea
Should give safe passage to his routed foe:
And thus he stirred his troops, in seas unskilled,
With words of courage: 'When the winter wind
'Has seized on sky and ocean, firm its hold;
But the inconstancy of cloudy spring
'Permits no certain breezes to prevail
'Upon the billows. Straight shall be our course.
'No winding nooks of coast, but open seas
Struck by the northern wind alone we plough,
'And may he bend the spars, and bear us swift
'To Grecian cities; else Pompeius' ships
'From coasts Phaeacian, with their swifter oars
May catch our flagging sails. Cast loose the ropes
'From our victorious prows. Too long we waste
'Tempests that blow to bear us to our goal.'
Now sank the sun to rest; the evening star
Shone on the darkening heaven, and the moon
Reigned with her paler light, when all the fleet
Freed from retaining cables seized the main.
With slackened sheet the canvas wooed the breeze,
Which rose and fell and fitful died away,
Till motionless the sails, and all the waves
Were still as deepest pool, where never wind
Ripples the surface. Thus in Scythian climes
Cimmerian Bosphorus restrains the deep
Bound fast in frosty fetters; Ister's streams
No more impel the main, and ships constrained
Stand fast in ice; and while in depths below
The waves still murmur, loud the charger's hoof
Sounds on the surface, and the travelling wheel
Furrows a track upon the frozen marsh.
Cruel as tempest was the calm that lay
In stagnant pools upon the mournful deep:
Against the course of nature lay outstretched
A rigid ocean: 'twas as if the sea
Forgat its ancient ways and knew no more
The ceaseless tides, nor any breeze of heaven,
Nor quivered at the image of the sun,
Mirrored upon its wave. For while the fleet
Hung in mid passage motionless, the foe
Might hurry to attack, with sturdy stroke
Churning the deep; or famine's deadly grip
Might seize the ships becalmed. For dangers new
New vows they found: for tempests was their prayer,
To rouse the billows till the watery plain
Freed from its torpor should be sea once more.
But cloudless was the sky and calm the deep,
All hope of shipwreck gone, till night was fled,
And marred by gathering mist the day arose
And stirred the depths, and moved the fleet along
Towards the Ceraunian headland; and the waves
And favouring breezes followed on the ships,
Now speeding faster, till (their goal attained)
They cast their anchors on Palaeste's shore.
This land first saw the chiefs in neighbouring camps
Confronted, which the streams of Apsus bound
And swifter Genusus; a lengthy course
Is run by neither, but on Apsus' waves
Scarce flowing from a marsh, the frequent boat
Finds room to swim; while on the foamy bed
Of Genusus by sun or shower compelled
The melted snows pour seawards. Here were met
(So Fortune ordered it) the mighty pair;
And in its woes the world yet vainly hoped
That, brought to nearer touch, their crime itself
Might breed abhorrence: for from either camp
Voices were clearly heard and features seen.
Nor e'er, Pompeius, since that distant day
When Caesar's daughter and thy spouse was reft
By pitiless fate away, nor left a pledge,
Did thy loved kinsman (save on sands of Nile)
So nearly look upon thy face again.

> Latin: Brundusium decimis iubet hanc adtingere castris,
Et cunctas revocare rates, quas avius Hydrus,
Antiquusque Taras, secretaque litora Leucae,
Quas recipit Salapina palus, et subdita Sipus
Montibus: Ausoniam qua torquens frugifer oram,
Dalmatico Boreae, Calabroque obnoxius Austro
Appulus Hadriacas exit Garganus in undas.
Ipse petit trepidam tutus sine milite Romam,
Iam doctam servire togae: populoque precanti
Scilicet indulgens, summum dictator honorem
Contigit, et laetos fecit se console fastos.
Namque omnes voces, per quas iam tempore tanto
Mentimur dominis, haec primum reperit aetas,
Qua sibi ne ferri ius ullum Caesar abesset,
Ausonias voluit gladiis miscere secures.
Addidit et fasces aquilis, et nomen inane
Imperii rapiens, signavit tempora digna
Moesta nota. Nam quo melius Pharsalicus annus
Consule notus erit? Fingit solemnis Campus,
Et non admissae dirimit suffragia plebis,
Decantatque tribus, et vana versat in urna.
Nec coelum servare licet: tonat augure surdo,
Et laetae iurantur aves, bubone sinistro.
Inde perit primum quondam veneranda potestas
Iuris inops: careat tantum ne nomine tempus,
Menstruus in fastos distinguit saecula consul.
Nec non Iliacae numen quod praesidet Albae,
Haud meritum Latio sollemnia sacra subacto,
Vidit flammifera confectas nocte Latinas.
Inde rapit cursus, et, quae piger Appulus arva
Deseruit rastris, et inerti tradidit herbae,
Ocior et coeli flammis et tigride foeta
Transcurrit; curvique tenens Minoia tecta
Brundusii, clausas ventis brumalibus undas
Invenit, et pavidas hiberno sidere classes.
Turpe duci visum, rapiendi tempora belli
In segnes exisse moras, portuque teneri,
Dum pateat tutum vel non felicibus aequor.
Expertes animos pelagi sic robore complet:
Fortius hiberni flatus, coelumque fretumque
Cum cepere, tenent, quam quos incumbere certos
Perfida nubiferi vetat inconstantia veris.
Nec maris anfractus lustrandaque litora nobis,
Sed recti fluctus soloque Aquilone secandi.
Hic utinam summi curvet carchesia mali,
Incumbatque furens, et Graia ad moenia perflet,
Ne Pompeiani Phaeacum e litore toto
Languida iactatis comprendant carbasa remis:
Rumpite, quae retinent felices vincula proras.
Iamdudum nubes et saevas perdimus undas.
Sidera prima poli, Phoebo labente sub undas,
Exierant, et luna suas iam fecerat umbras,
Cum pariter solvere rates, totosque rudentes
Laxavere sinus: et flexo navita cornu
Obliquat laevo pede carbasa, summaque pandens
Suppara velorum perituras colligit auras.
Ut primum levior propellere lintea ventus
Incipit, exiguumque tument, mox reddita malo
In mediam cecidere ratem: terraque relicta,
Non valet ipsa sequi puppes, quae vexerat aura.
Aequora lenta iacent, alto torpore ligata.
Pigrius immotis haesere paludibus undae.
Sic stat iners Scythicas adstringens Bosporus undas,
Cum, glacie retinente, fretum non impulit Ister,
Immensumque gelu tegitur mare: comprimit unda,
Deprendit quascunque rates: nec pervia velis
Aequora frangit eques, fluctuque latente sonantem
Orbita migrantis scindit Maeotida Bessi.
Saeva quies pelagi, moestoque ignava profundo
Stagna iacentis aquae: veluti deserta rigente
Aequora natura cessant, pontusque vetustas
Oblitus servare vices, non commeat aestu,
Non horrore tremit, non solis imagine vibrat
Casibus innumeris fixae patuere carinae,
Illinc infestae classes et inertia tonsis
Aequora moturae; gravis hinc languore profundi
Obsessis ventura fames. Nova vota timori
Sunt inventa novo, fluctus nimiasque precari
Ventorum vires, dum se torpentibus unda
Excutiat stagnis, et sit mare. Nubila nusquam
Undarumque minae: coelo languente fretoque,
Naufragii spes omnis abit. Sed nocte fugata,
Laesum nube dies iubar extulit, imaque sensim
Concussit pelagi, movitque Ceraunia nautis.
Inde rapi coepere rates, atque aequora classem
Curva sequi, quae iam vento fluctuque secundo
Lapsa Palaestinas uncis confixit arenas.
Prima duces vidit iunctis consistere castris
Tellus, quam volucer Genusus, quam mollior Apsus
Circueunt ripis. Apso gestare carinas
Caussa palus, leni quam fallens egerit unda.
At Genusum nunc sole nives, nunc imbre solutae
Praecipitant: neuter longo se gurgite lassat,
Sed minimum terrae, vicino litore, novit.
Hoc fortuna loco tantae duo nomina famae
Composuit: miserique fuit spes irrita mundi
Posse duces parva campi statione diremtos
Admotum damnare nefas. Nam cernere vultus
Et voces audire datur: multosque per annos
Dilectus tibi, Magne, socer, post pignera tanta
Sanguinis, infausti sobolem mortemque nepotis,
Te nisi Niliaca propias non vidit arena.

## 10. Book V · lines 476–815

Source: https://scriptura.si/works/lucan-pharsalia/10/ · cite a paragraph as https://scriptura.si/works/lucan-pharsalia/10/#p-N

[¶0] But Caesar's mind though frenzied for the fight
Was forced to pause until Antonius brought
The rearward troops; Antonius even now
Rehearsing Leucas' fight. With prayers and threats
Caesar exhorts him. ' Why delay the fates,
Thou cause of evil to the suffering world?
My speed hath won the major part: from thee
Fortune demands the final stroke alone.
Do Libyan whirlpools with deceitful tides
Uncertain separate us? Is the deep
Untried to which I call? To unknown risks
Art thou commanded? Caesar bids thee come,
Thou sluggard, not to leave him. Long ago
I ran my ships midway through sands and shoals
To harbours held by foes; and dost thou fear
My friendly camp? I mourn the waste of days
'Which fate allotted us. Upon the waves
And winds I call unceasing: hold not back
Thy willing troops, but let them dare the sea;
Here gladly shall they come to join my camp,
Though risking shipwreck: with indignant voice
I call upon thee. Not in equal shares
'The world has fallen between us: thou alone
Dost hold Italia, but Epirus I
And all the lords of Rome.' Twice called and thrice
Antonius lingered still: but Caesar's mind
Was that he failed the gods, not they his cause.
By night he braved the strait which others feared
Though bidden: for he knew that daring deeds
Are safely wrought beneath the smile of heaven:
And thus he hoped in fragile boat to cross
The stormy billows fearful to a fleet.
Now gentle night had brought repose from arms;
And sleep, blest guardian of the poor man's couch,
Restored the weary; and the camp was still.
The hour was come that called the second watch
When mighty Caesar, in the silence vast
With cautious tread advanced to such a deed
As slaves should dare not. Fortune for his guide,
Alone he passes on, and o'er the guard
Stretched in repose he leaps, in secret wrath
At such a sleep. Pacing the winding beach,
Fast to a sea-worn rock he finds a boat
On ocean's marge afloat. Hard by on shore
Its master dwelt within his humble home.
No solid front it reared, for sterile rush
And marshy reed enwoven formed the walls,
Propped by a shallop with its bending sides
Turned upwards. Caesar's hand upon the door
Knocks twice and thrice until the fabric shakes.
Amyclas from his couch of soft seaweed
Arising, calls: ' What shipwrecked sailor seeks
'My humble home? Who hopes for aid from me,
' By fates adverse compelled? ' He stirs the heap
Upon the hearth, until a tiny spark
Glows in the darkness, and throws wide the door.
Careless of war, he knew that civil strife
Stoops not to cottages. O! happy life
That poverty affords! great gift of heaven
Too little understood! what mansion wall,
What temple of the gods, would feel no fear
When Caesar called for entrance? Then the chief:
' Enlarge thine hopes and look for better things.
' Do but my bidding, and on yonder shore
' Place me, and thou shalt cease from one poor boat
' To earn thy living; and in years to come
' Look for a rich old age: and trust thy fates
' To those high gods whose wont it is to bless
' The poor with sudden plenty.' So he spake
E'en at such time in accents of command,
For how could Caesar else? Amyclas said,
''Twere dangerous to brave the deep to-night.
' The sun descended not in ruddy clouds
' Or peaceful rays to rest; part of his beams
' Presaged a southern gale, the rest proclaimed
' A northern tempest; and his middle orb,
' Shorn of its strength, permitted human eyes
' To gaze upon his grandeur; and the moon
' Rose not with silver horns upon the night
' Nor pure in middle space; her slender points
'Not drawn aright, but blushing with the track
' Of raging tempests, till her lurid light
'Was sadly veiled within the clouds. Again
' The forest sounds; the surf upon the shore;
' The dolphin's mood, uncertain where to play;
' The sea-mew on the land; the heron used
' To wade among the shallows, borne aloft
' And soaring on his wings-all these alarm;
' The raven, too, who plunged his head in spray,
' As if to anticipate the coming rain,
And trod the margin with unsteady gait.
But if the cause demands, behold me thine.
'Either we reach the bidden shore, or else
'Storm and the deep forbid-we can no more.'
Thus said he loosed the boat and raised the sail.
No sooner done than stars were seen to fall
In flaming furrows from the sky: nay, more;
The pole star trembled in its place on high:
Black horror marked the surging of the sea;
The main was boiling in long tracts of foam,
Uncertain of the wind, yet seized with storm.
Then spake the captain of the trembling bark:
See what remorseless ocean has in store!
Whether from east or west the storm may come
Is still uncertain, for as yet confused
'The billows tumble. Judged by clouds and sky
'A western tempest: by the murmuring deep
'A wild south-eastern gale shall sweep the sea.
'Nor bark nor man shall reach Hesperia's shore
In this wild rage of waters. To return
'Back on our course forbidden by the gods,
'Is our one refuge, and with labouring boat
'To reach the shore ere yet the nearest land
'May be too distant.'
But great Caesar's trust
Was in himself, to make all dangers yield.
And thus he answered: ' Scorn the threatening sea,
Spread out thy canvas to the raging wind;
If for thy pilot thou refusest heaven,
'Me in its stead receive. Alone in thee
One cause of terror just-thou dost not know
'Thy comrade, ne'er deserted by the gods,
'Whom fortune blesses e'en without a prayer.
'Break through the middle storm and trust in me.
'The burden of this fight falls not on us
But on the sky and ocean; and our bark
Shall swim the billows safe in him it bears.
Nor shall the wind rage long: the boat itself
Shall calm the waters. Flee the nearest shore,
Steer for the ocean with unswerving hand:
Then in the deep, when to our ship and us
No other port is given, believe thou hast
'Calabria's harbours. And dost thou not know
'The purpose of such havoc? Fortune seeks
'In all this tumult of the sea and sky
A boon for Caesar.'

> Latin: Caesaris adtonitam miscenda ad proelia mentem
Ferre moras scelerum partes iussere relictae.
Ductor erat cunctis audax Antonius armis,
Iam tunc civili meditatus Leucada bello.
Illum saepe minis Caesar precibusque morantem
Evocat: O mundi tantorum caussa malorum,
Quid superos et fata tenes? Sunt cetera cursu
Acta meo: summam rapti per prospera belli
Te poscit Fortuna manum. Num rupta vadosis
Syrtibus incerto Libye nos dividit aestu?
Numquid inexperto tua credimus arma profundo,
Inque novos traheris casus? Ignave, venire
Te Caesar, non ire, iubet. Prior ipse per hostes
Percussi medias alieni iuris arenas.
Tui mea castra times? Pereuntia tempora fati
Conqueror: in ventos impendo vota, fretumque.
Ne retine dubium cupientes ire per aequor:
Si bene nota mihi est, ad Caesaris arma iuventus
Naufragio venisse volet. Iam voce doloris
Utendum est: non ex aequo divisimus orbem.
Epirum Caesarque tenet totusque senatus:
Ausoniam tu solus habes. His terque quaterque
Vocibus excitum postquam cessare videbat,
Dum se deesse deis, ac non sibi numina, credit,
Sponte per incautas audet tentare tenebras,
Quod iussi timuere, fretum, temeraria prono
Expertus cessisse deo: fluctusque verendos
Classibus, exigua sperat superare carina.
Solverat armorum fessas nox languida curas:
Parta quies miseris, in quorum pectora somno
Dat vires fortuna minor. Iam castra silebant;
Tertia iam vigiles commoverat hora secundos:
Caesar sollicito per vasta silentia gressu
Vix famulis audenda parat: cunctisque relictis,
Sola placet Fortuna comes. Tentoria postquam
Egressus, vigilum somno cedentis membra
Transsiluit, questus tacite quod fallere posset.
Litora curva legit, primisque invenit in undis
Rupibus exesis haerentem fune carinam.
Rectorem dominumque ratis secura tenebat
Haud procul inde domus, non ullo robore fulta,
Sed sterili iunco cannaque intexta palustri,
Et latus inversa nudum munita phaselo.
Haec Caesar bis terque manu quassantia tectum
Limina commovit. Molli consurgit Amyclas,
Quem dabat alga, toro. Quisnam mea nafragus, inquit,
Tecta petit? aut quem nostrae Fortuna coegit
Auxilium sperare casae? Sic fatus, ab alto
Aggere iam tepidae sublato fune favillae,
Scintillam tenuem commotos pavit in ignes;
Securus belli: praedam civilibus armis
Scit non esse casas. O vitae tuta facultas
Pauperis, angustique lares! o munera nondum
Intellecta deum! quibus hoc contingere templis
Aut potuit muris, nullo trepidare tumultu,
Caesarea pulsante manu? Tum poste recluso,
Dux ait: Exspecta votis maiora modestis,
Spesque tuas laxa, iuvenis. Si iussa secutus
Me vehis Hesperiam, non ultra cuncta carinae
Debebis, manibusque inopem duxisse senectam.
Ne cessa praebere deo tua fata, volenti
Angustos opibus subitis implere Penates.
Sic fatur: quamquam plebeio tectus amictu,
Indocilis privata loqui. Tum pauper Amyclas:
Multa quidem prohibent nocturno credere ponto.
Nam sol non rutilas deduxit in aequora nubes
Concordesque tulit radios: Noton altera Phoebi,
Altera pars Borean diducta luce vocabat.
Orbe quoque exhaustus medio languensque recessit,
Spectantes oculos infirmo lumine passus.
Lunaque non gracili surrexit lucida cornu,
Aut orbis medii puros exesa recessus:
Nec duxit recto tenuata cacumina cornu,
Ventorumque nota rubuit: tum lurida pallens
Ora tulit, vultu sub nubem tristis ituro.
Sed mihi nec motus nemorum, nec litoris ictus,
Nec placet incertus, qui provocat aequora, Delphin:
Aut siccum quod mergus amat: quodque ausa volare
Ardea sublimis pennae confisa natanti:
Quodque caput spargens undis, velut occupet imbrem,
Instabili gressu metitur litora cornix.
Sed si magnarum poscunt discrimina rerum,
Haud dubitem praebere manus. Vel litora tangam
Iussa, vel hoc potius pelagus flatusque negabunt.
Haec fatus, solvensque ratem, dat carbasa ventis:
Ad quorum motus non solum lapsa per altum
Aera dispersos traxere cadentia sulcos
Sidera: sed summis etiam quae fixa tenentur
Astra polis, sunt visa quati. Niger inficit horror
Terga maris: longo per multa volumina tractu
Aestuat unda minax, flatusque incerta futuri:
Turbida testantur conceptos aequora ventos.
Tunc rector trepidae fatur ratis: Adspice, saevum
Quanta paret pelagus. Zephyros intendat, an Euros,
Incertum est. Puppim dubius ferit undique pontus.
Nubibus et coelo Notus est: si murmura ponti
Consulimus, Cori verrunt mare. Gurgite tanto,
Nec ratis Hesperias tanget, nec naufragus oras.
Desperare viam et vetitos convertere cursus,
Sola salus. Liceat vexata litora puppe
Prendere, ne longe nimium sit proxima tellus.
Fisus cuncta sibi cessura pericula Caesar,
Sperne minas, inquit, pelagi, ventoque furenti
Trade sinum. Italiam si coelo auctore recusas,
Me pete. Sola tibi caussa haec est iusta timoris,
Vectorem non nosse tuum; quem numina numquam
Destituunt, de quo male tunc Fortuna meretur,
Cum post vota venit. Medias perrumpe procellas,
Tutela secure mea. Coeli iste fretique,
Non puppis nostrae labor est: hanc Caesare pressam
A fluctu defendet onus. Ne longa furori
Ventorum saevo dubitur mora: proderit undis
Ista ratis. Ne flecte manus: fuge proxima velis
Litora: tum Calabro portu te crede potitum,
Cum iam non poterit puppi nostraeque saluti
Altera terra dari Quid tanta strage paretur,
Ignoras? Quaerit pelagi coelique tumultu

[¶1] Then a hurricane
Swooped on the boat and tore away the sheet:
The fluttering sail fell on the fragile mast:
And groaned the joints. From all the universe
Commingled perils rushed. In Atlas' seas
First Corus raised his head, and stirred the depths
To fury, and had forced upon the rocks
Whole seas and oceans; but the chilly north
Drove back the deep that doubted which was lord.
But Scythian Aquilo prevailed, whose blast
Tossed up the main and showed as shallow pools
Each deep abyss; and yet was not the sea
Heaped on the crags, for Corus' billows met
The waves of Boreas: such seas had clashed
Even were the winds withdrawn; Eurus enraged
Burst from the cave, and Notus black with rain,
And all the winds from every part of heaven
Strove for their own; and thus the ocean stayed
Within his boundaries. No petty seas
Rapt in the storm are whirled. The Tuscan deep
Invades th' AEgean; in Ionian gulfs
Sounds wandering Hadria. How long the crags
Which that day fell, the Ocean's blows had braved!
What lofty peaks did vanquished earth resign!
And yet on yonder coast such mighty waves
Took not their rise; from distant regions came
Those monster billows, driven on their course
By that great current which surrounds the world.
Thus did the King of Heaven, when length of years
Wore out the forces of his thunder, call
His brother's trident to his help, what time
The earth and sea one second kingdom formed
And ocean knew no limit but the sky.
Now, too, the sea had risen to the stars
In mighty mass, had not Olympus' chief
Pressed down its waves with clouds: that night from heaven
Came not, as others; but the murky air
Was dim with pallor of the realms below;
The sky lay on the deep; within the clouds
The waves received the rain: the lightning flash
Clove through the parted air a path obscured
By mist and darkness: and the heavenly vaults
Re-echoed to the tumult, and the frame
That holds the sky was shaken. Nature feared
Chaos returned, as though the elements
Had burst their bonds, and night had come to mix
Th' infernal shades with heaven.
In such turmoil
Not to have perished was their only hope.
Far as from Leucas point the placid main
Spreads to the horizon, from the billow's crest
They viewed the dashing of th' infuriate sea;
Thence sinking to the middle trough, their mast
Scarce topped the watery height on either hand,
Their sails in clouds, their keel upon the ground.
For all the sea was piled into the waves,
And drawn from depths between laid bare the sand.
The master of the boat forgot his art,
For fear o'ercame; he knew not where to yield
Or where to meet the wave: but safety came
From ocean's self at war: one billow forced
The vessel under, but a huger wave
Repelled it upwards, and she rode the storm
Through every blast triumphant. Not the shore
Of humble Sason, nor Thessalia's coast
Indented, not Ambracia's scanty ports
Dismayed the mariners, but the giddy tops
Of high Ceraunia's cliffs.
But Caesar now,
Thinking the peril worthy of his fates:
Are such the labours of the gods? ' exclaimed,
Bent on my downfall have they sought me thus,
Here in this puny skiff in such a sea?
If to the deep the glory of my fall
Is due, and not to war, intrepid still
Whatever death they send shall strike me down.
Let fate cut short the deeds that I would do
And hasten on the end: the past is mine.
The northern nations fell beneath my sword;
'My dreaded name compels the foe to flee.
'Pompeius yields me place; the people's voice
Gave at my order what the wars denied.
And all the titles which denote the powers
Known to the Roman state my name shall bear.
Let none know this but thou who hear'st my prayers,
Fortune! that Caesar summoned to the shades,
Dictator, Consul, full of honours, died
Ere his last prize was won. I ask no pyre
Or tomb, ye gods! wherein my dust may rest:
Nay! plunge in middle deep this battered frame!
All earth shall look for me, nor shall men cease
At Caesar's name to fear.' Such words he spake,
When lo! a tenth gigantic billow raised
The feeble keel, and where between the rocks
A cleft gave safety, placed it on the shore.
Thus in a moment fortune, kingdoms, lands,
Once more were Caesar's.
But on his return
When daylight came, he entered not the camp
Silent as when he parted; for his friends
Soon pressed around him, and with weeping eyes
In accents welcome to his ears began:
'Whither in reckless daring hast thou gone,
Unpitying Caesar? Were these humble lives
Left here unguarded while thy limbs were given,
Unsought for, to be scattered by the storm?
'When on thy breath so many nations hang
For life and safety, and so great a world
Calls thee its master, to have courted death
Proves want of heart. Were none of all thy friends
Deserving held to join their fate with thine?
'When thou wast tossed upon the stormy main
We lay in slumber! Shame upon such sleep!
'And why thyself didst seek Italia's shores?
'"Twere cruel (such thy thought) to speak the word
That bade another dare the furious sea.
All men must bear what chance or fate may bring,
The sudden peril and the stroke of death;
But shall the ruler of the world attempt
'The raging ocean? With incessant prayers
Why weary heaven? is it indeed enough
To crown the war, that Fortune and the deep
'Have cast thee on our shores? And wouldst thou use
'The grace of favouring deities, to gain
Not lordship, not the empire of the world,
'But lucky shipwreck! ' Night dispersed, and soon
The sun beamed on them, and the wearied deep,
The winds permitting, lulled its waves to rest.
And when Antonius saw a breeze arise
Fresh from a cloudless heaven, to break the sea,
He loosed his ships which, by the pilots' hands
And by the wind in equal order held,
Swept as a marching host across the main.
But night unfriendly from the seamen snatched
All governance of sail, parting the ships
In divers paths asunder. Like as cranes
Deserting frozen Strymon for the streams
Of Nile, when winter falls, in casual lines
Of wedge-like figures first ascend the sky;
But when in loftier heaven the southern breeze
Strikes on their pinions tense, in loose array
Dispersed at large, in flight irregular,
They wing their journey onwards. Stronger winds
With day returning blew the navy on,
Past Lissus' shelter which they vainly sought,
Till bare to northern blasts, Nymphaeum's port,
But safe in southern, gave the fleet repose.

> Latin: Quid praestet Fortuna mihi.
Non plura locuto,
Avulsit laceros, percussa puppe, rudentes
Turbo rapax, fragilemque super volitantia malum
Vela tulit: sonuit victis compagibus alnus.
Inde ruunt toto congesta pericula mundo.
Primus ab Oceano caput exeris Atlanteo,
Core, movens aestus: iam te tollente furebat
Pontus, et in scopulos totas erexerat undas.
Occurrit gelidus Boreas, pelagusque retundit:
Et dubium pendet, vento cui pareat, aequor.
Sed Scythici vicit rabies Aquilonis, et undas
Torsit, et abstrusas penitus vada fecit arenas.
Nec perfert pontum Boreas ad saxa, suumque
In fluctus Cori frangit mare: motaque possunt
Aequora subductis etiam concurrere ventis.
Non Euri cessasse minas, non imbribus atrum
Aeolii iacuisse Notum sub carcere saxi
Crediderim: cunctos solita de parte ruentes
Defendisse suas violento turbine terras;
Sic pelagus mansisse loco. Non parva procellis
Aequora rapta ferunt: Aegeas transit in undas
Tyrrhenum: sonat Ionio vagus Hadria ponto.
Ah quoties frustra pulsatos aequore montes
Obruit illa dies! quam celsa cacumina pessum
Tellus victa dedit! Non illo litore surgunt
Tam validi fluctus, alioque ex orbe voluti
A magno venere mari, mundumque coercens
Monstriferos agit unda sinus. Sic rector Olympi
Cuspide fraterna lassatum in saecula fulmen
Adiuvit, regnoque accessit terra secundo,
Cum mare convolvit gentes, cum litora Tethys
Noluit ulla pati, coelo contenta teneri.
Nunc quoque tanta maris moles crevisset in astra,
Ni superum rector pressisset nubibus undas.
Non coeli nox illa fuit: latet obsitus aer
Infernae pallore domus, nimbisque gravatus
Deprimitur, fluctusque in nubibus accipit imbrem.
Lux etiam metuenda perit, nec fulgura currunt
Clara, sed obscurum nimbosus dissilit aer.
Tunc superum convexa fremunt, atque arduus axis
Insonuit, motaque poli compage laborant
Extimuit natura chaos: rupisse videntur
Concordes elementa moras, rursusque redire
Nox manes mixtura deis. Spes una salutis,
Quod tanta mundi nondum periere ruina.
Quantum Leucadio placidus de vertice pontus
Despicitum; tantum nautae videre trementes
Fluctibus e summis praeceps mare: quumque tumentes
Rursus hiant undae, vix eminet aequore malus.
Nubila tanguntur velis, et terra carina.
Nam pelagus, qua parte sedet, non celat arenas:
Exhaustum in tumulos, omnisque in fluctibus unda est.
Artis opem vicere metus: nescitque magister,
Quam frangat, cui cedat aquae. Discordia ponti
Succurrit miseris, fluctusque evertere puppim
Non valet in fluctus: victum latus unda repellens
Erigit, atque omni surgit ratis ardua vento.
Non humilem Sasona vadis, non litora curvae
Thessaliae saxosa pavent, oraeque malignos
Ambraciae portus: scopulosa Ceraunia nautae
Summa timent. Credit iam digna pericula Caesar
Fatis esse suis. Tantusne evertere, dixit,
Me superis labor est: parva quem puppe sedentem
Tam magno petiere mari? Si gloria leti
Est pelago donata mei, bellisque negamur;
Intrepidus, quamcunque datis mihi numina, mortem
Accipiam. Licet ingentes abruperit actus
Festinata dies fatis; sat magna peregi.
Arctoas domui gentes: inimica subegi
Arma metu: vidit Magnum mihi Roma secundum.
Iussa plebe tuli fasces per bella negatos.
Nulla meis aberit titulis Romana potestas.
Nesciet hoc quisquam, nisi tu, quae sola meorum
Conscia votorum es, me, quamvis plenus honorum
Et dictator eam Stygias et consul ad umbras,
Privatum, Fortuna, mori. Mihi funere nullo
Est opus, o superi: lacerum retinete cadaver
Fluctibus in mediis: desint mihi busta rogusque,
Dum metuar semper, terraque exspecter ab omni.
Haec fatum decimus, dictu mirabile, fluctus
Invalida cum puppe levat: nec rursus ab alto
Aggere deiecit pelagi, sed pertulit unda,
Scruposisque angusta vacant ubi litora saxis,
Imposuit terrae. Pariter tot regna, tot urbes
Fortunamque suam, tacta tellure, recepit.
Sed non tam remeans Caesar iam luce propinqua,
Quam tacita sua castra fuga comitesque fefellit.
Circumfusa duci flevit, gemituque suorum
Et non ingratis incessit turba querelis:
Quo te, dure, tulit virtus temeraria, Caesar?
Aut quae nos viles animas in fata relinquens,
Invitis spargenda dabas tua membra procellis?
Cum tot in hac anima populorum vita salusque
Pendeat, et tantus caput hoc sibi fecerit orbis,
Saevitia est voluisse mori. Nullusne tuorum
Emeruit comitum, fatis non posse superstes
Esse tuis? Cum te raperet mare, corpora segnis
Nostra sopor tenuit. Pudet, heu! Tibi caussa petendae
Haec fuit Hesperiae: visum est, committere quemquam
Tam saevo, crudele, mari. Sors ultima rerum
In dubios casus et prona pericula mortis
Praecipitare solet. Mundi iam summa tenentem
Permisisse mari! Tantum quid numina lassas?
Sufficit ad belli summam favor iste laborque
Fortunae, quod te nostris impegit arenis?
Hine usus placuere deum, non rector ut orbis,
Nec dominus rerum, sed felix naufragus esses?
Talia iactantes, discussa nocte serenus
Oppressit cum sole dies, fessumque tumentes
Composuit pelagus, ventis patientibus, undas.
Nec non Hesperii lassatum fluctibus aequor
Ut videre duces, purumque insurgere coelo
Fracturum pelagus Borean, solvere carinas,
Quas ventus ductaeque pari moderamine dextrae
Permixtas habuere diu: latumque per aequor,
Ut terrestre, coit, consertis puppibus, agmen.
Sed nox saeva modum venti velique tenorem
Eripuit nautis, excussitque ordine puppes.
Strymona sic gelidum, bruma pellente, relinquunt
Poturae te, Nile, grues, primoque volatu
Effingunt varias, casu monstrante, figuras.
Mox ubi percussit tensas Notus altior alas,
Confusos temere immixtae glomerantur in orbes,
Et turbata perit dispersis littera pennis.
Cum primum redeunte die violentior aer
Puppibus incubuit, Phoebeo concitus ortu,
Praetereunt frustra tentati litora Lissi,
Nymphaeumque tenent. Nudas Aquilonibus undas
Succedens Boreae iam portum fecerat Auster.

[¶2] When Caesar's troops were gathered in their strength
And Magnus saw the battle day was near
Before his camp, Cornelia he resolved
To send to Lesbos' shore, from rage of fight
Safe and apart: so lifting from his soul
The weight that burdened it. Thus, lawful Love,
Thus art thou tyrant o'er the mightiest mind!
His spouse was the one cause why Magnus stayed
Nor met his fortunes, though he staked the world
And all the destinies of Rome. The word
He speaks not though resolved; so sweet it seemed,
When on the future pondering, to gain
A pause from Fate! But at the close of night,
When drowsy sleep had fled, Cornelia sought
To soothe the anxious bosom of her lord
And win his kisses; when amazed she saw
His cheek was tearful, and with boding soul
Shrank from the hidden wound, nor dared surprise
Magnus in tears. But sighing thus he spake:
' Dearer to me than life itself, when life
'Is happy (not at moments such as these);
'The day of sorrow comes, too long delayed,
'Nor long enough! With Caesar at our gates
' With all his forces, a secure retreat
'Shall Lesbos give thee. Try me not with prayers.
'This fatal boon I have denied myself.
'Thou wilt not long be absent from thy spouse.
'Disasters hasten, and things highest fall
With speediest ruin. 'Tis enough for thee
' To hear of Magnus' peril; and thy love
'Deceives thee with the thought that thou canst gaze
'Unmoved on civil strife. It shames my soul
'On the eve of war to slumber at thy side,
'And rise from thy dear breast when trumpets call
'A woeful world to misery and arms.
'I dread lest Magnus in this war endure
'Nor loss nor sorrow. But do thou lie hid
'Safer than kings or peoples, far removed;
'That so the grievous fortunes of thy lord
' May lighter fall on thee. If unkind heaven
' Our armies rout, still let my choicest part
' Survive in thee; if fated is my flight,
' Still leave me that whereto I fain would flee.'
Hardly at first her senses grasped the words
In their full misery; then her mind amazed
Could scarce find utterance for the grief that pressed.
Nought, Magnus, now is left wherewith to upbraid
'The gods and fates of marriage; 'tis not death
'That parts our love, nor yet the funeral pyre,
Nor that dread torch which marks the end of all.
I share the ignoble lot of vulgar lives:
'My spouse rejects me. Yes, the foe is come!
'Break we our bonds and Julia's sire appease! -
Is this thy consort, Magnus, this thy faith
'In her fond loving heart? Can danger fright
'Her and not thee? Long since our mutual fates
'Hang by one chain; and dost thou bid me now
'The thunder-bolts of ruin to withstand
Without thee? Is it well that I should die
'Even while you pray for fortune? And suppose
' I flee from evil and with death self-sought
' Follow thy footsteps to the realms below—
' Am I to live till to that distant isle
' Some tardy rumour of thy fall may come?
' And then thou say'st, unfeeling! that by use
' Strength shall be mine to bear such load of ills
' As fate reserves for us: but at such a strength
' My spirit trembles. Ah! forgive the truth.
' And if the favouring gods shall hear my prayers,
' I shall be last to hear the victory
' In that lone isle of rocks. When all are glad,
' My heart shall throb with anguish, and the sail
' Which brings the message I shall see with fear,
' Not safe e'en then: for Caesar in his flight
' Might seize me there, abandoned and alone
To be his hostage. If thou place me there,
The spouse of Magnus, shall not all the world
'Well know the secret Mitylene holds?
This my last prayer: if all is lost but flight,
'And thou shalt seek the ocean, to my shores
'Turn not thy keel, ill-fated one: for there,
'There will they seek thee.' Thus she spoke distraught,
Leaped from the couch and rushed upon her fate;
No stop nor stay: she clung not to his neck
Nor threw her arms about him; both forego
The last caress, the last fond pledge of love,
And grief rushed in unchecked upon their souls;
Still gazing as they part no final words
Could either utter, and the sweet Farewell
Remained unspoken. This the saddest day
Of all their lives: for other woes that came
More gently struck on hearts inured to grief.
Borne to the shore with failing limbs she fell
And grasped the sands, embracing, till at last
Her maidens placed her senseless in the ship.
Not in such grief she left her country's shores
When Caesar's host drew near; for now she leaves,
Though faithful to her lord, his side in flight
And flees her spouse. All that next night she waked;
Then first what means a widowed couch she knew,
Its cold, its solitude. When slumber found
Her eyelids, and forgetfulness her soul,
Seeking with outstretched arms the form beloved,
She grasps but air. Though tossed by restless love,
She leaves a place beside her as for him
Returning. Yet she feared Pompeius lost
To her for ever. Nay! such happy lot
The gods prepared not; for the hour drew near
Which gave her Magnus to her arms again.

> Latin: Undique collatis in robur Caesaris armis,
Summa videns duri Magnus discrimina Martis
Iam castris instare suis, seponere tutum
Coniugii decrevit onus, Lesboque remotam
Te procul a saevi strepitu, Cornelia, belli
Occulere. Heu quantum mentes dominatur in aequas
Iusta Venus! Dubium trepidumque ad proelia, Magne,
Te quoque fecit amor: quod nolles stare sub ictu
Fortunae, quo mundus erat Romanaque fata,
Coniux sola fuit. Mentem iam verba paratam
Destituunt, blandaeque iuvat ventura trahentem
Indulgere morae, et tempus subducere fatis.
Nocte sub extrema, pulso torpore quietis,
Dum fovet amplexu gravidum Cornelia curis
Pectus, et aversi petit oscula grata mariti:
Humentes mirata genas, percussaque caeco
Vulnere, non audet flentem deprendere Magnum.
Ille gemens: Vita non nunc mihi dulcior, inquit,
Cum taedet vitae, laeto sed tempore, coniux,
Venit moesta dies, et quam nimiumque parumque
Distulimus: iam totus adest in proelia Caesar.
Cedendum est bellis: quorum tibi tuta latebra
Lesbos erit. Desiste preces tentare: negavi
Iam mihi: non longos a me patiere recessus.
Pracipites aderunt casus: properante ruina,
Summa cadunt. Satis est audisse pericula Magni:
Meque tuus decepit amor, civilia bella
Si spectare potes. Nam me iam, Marte parato,
Securos cepisse pudet cum coniuge somnos,
Eque tuo, miserum quatiunt cum classica mundun,
Surrexisse sint. Vereor civilibus armis
Pompeium nullo tristem committere damno.
Tutior interea populis, et tutior omni
Rege, late, positamque procul fortuna mariti
Non tota te mole premat. Si numina nostras
Impulerint acies, maneat pars optima nostri;
Sitque mihi, si fata premant victorque cruentus
Quo fugisse velim. Vix tantum infirma dolorem
Cepit, et adtonito cessere e pectore sensus.
Tandem vix moestas potuit proferre querelas:
Nil mihi de fatis thalami superisque relictum est,
Magne, queri: nostros non rumpit funus amores,
Nec diri fax summa rogi: sed sorte frequenti
Plebeiaque nimis careo dimissa marito.
Hostis ad adventuum rumpamus foedera tedae:
Placemus socerum. Sic est tibi cognita, Magne,
Nostra fide? credisne aliquid mihi tutius esse,
Quam tibi? non olim casu pendemus ab uno?
Fulminibus me, saeve, iubes tantaeque ruinae
Absentem praestare caput? secura videtur
Sors tibi, cum facias etiam nunc vota, perisse?
Ut nolim servire malis, sed morte parata
Te sequar ad manes; feriat dum moesta remotas
Fama procul terras, vivam tibi nempe superstes.
Adde, quod adsuescis fatis, tantumque dolorem
Crudelis me ferre doces. Ignosce fatenti:
Posse pati, timeo. Quodsi sunt vota, deisque
Audior, eventus rerum sciet ultima coniux.
Sollicitam rupes, iam te victore, tenebunt:
Et puppim, quae fata ferat tam laeta, timebo.
Nec solvent audita metus mihi prospera belli,
Cum, vacuis proiecta locis, a Caesare possim
Vel fugiente capi. Notescent litora clari
Nominis exsilio, positaque ibi coniuge Magni,
Quis Mitylenaeas poterit nescire latebras?
Hoc precor extremum, si nil tibi victa relinquent
Tutius arma fuga, cum te commiseris undis,
Quolibet infaustam potius deflecte carinam:
Litoribus quaerere meis. Sic fata, relictis
Exsiluit stratis amens, tormentaque nulla
Vult differre mora. Non moesti pectora Magni
Sustinet amplexu dulci, non colla tenere:
Extremusque perit tam longi fructus amoris:
Praecipitantque suos luctus, [neuterque recedens]
[Sustinuit dixisse, vale] vitamque per omnem
Nulla fuit tam moesta dies. Nam cetera damna
Durata iam mente malis firmaque tulerunt.
Labitur infelix, manibusque excepta suorum
Fertur ad aequoreas, ac se prosternit, arenas,
Litoraque ipsa tenet, tandemque illata carinae est.
Non sic infelix patiam portusque reliquit
Hesperios, saevi premerent cum Caesaris arma.
Fida comes Magni vadit duce sola relicto,
Pompeiumque fugit. Quae nox sibi proxima venit,
Insomnis. Viduo tum primum frigida lecto
Atque insueta quies uni, nudumque marito
Non haerente latus. Somno quam saepe gravata
Deceptis vacuum manibus complexa cubile est,
Atque oblita fugae quaesivit nocte maritum
Nam, flamma quamvis tacitas urgente medullas,
Non iuvat in toto corpus iactare cubili:
Servatur pars illa tori. Caruisse timebat
Pompeio: sed non superi tam laeta parabant.
Instabat, miserae Magnum quae redderet hora.

## 11. Book VI · lines 1–506

Source: https://scriptura.si/works/lucan-pharsalia/11/ · cite a paragraph as https://scriptura.si/works/lucan-pharsalia/11/#p-N

[¶0] Now that the chiefs with minds intent on fight
Had drawn their armies near upon the hills
And all the gods beheld their chosen pair,
Caesar, the Grecian towns despising, scorned
To reap the glory of successful war
Save at his kinsman's cost. In all his prayers
He seeks that moment, fatal to the world,
When shall be cast the die, to win or lose,
And all their fortunes hang upon the throw.
Thrice he drew out his troops, his eagles thrice,
Demanding battle; to the ruin of Rome
Thus prompt as ever: but his kinsman foe,
Proof against every art, refused to leave
The rampart of his camp. Then marching swift
By hidden path between the wooded fields
He seeks, and hopes to seize, Dyrrhachium's fort;
But Magnus, swifter speeding by the sea,
First camped on Petra's slopes, a rocky hill
Thus by the natives named. From thence he keeps
Watch o'er the fortress of Corinthian birth
Which by its towers alone without a guard
Was safe against a siege. No hand of man
In ancient days built up her lofty wall,
No hammer rang upon her massive stones:
Not all the works of war, nor Time himself
Shall undermine her. Nature's hand has raised
Her adamantine rocks and hedged her in
With bulwarks girded by the foamy main:
And but for one short bridge of narrow earth
Dyrrhachium were an island. Steep and fierce,
Dreaded of sailors, are the cliffs that bear
Her walls; and tempests, howling from the south,
Toss up the foaming main upon the roofs;
And homes and temples tremble at the shock.
Thirsting for battle and with hopes inflamed
Here Caesar hastes, with distant rampart lines
Seeking unseen to coop his foe within,
Though spread in spacious camp upon the hills.
With eagle eye he measures out the land
Meet to be compassed, nor content with turf
Fit for a hasty mound, he bids his troops
Tear from the quarries many a giant rock:
And spoils the dwellings of the Greeks, and drags
Their walls asunder for his own. Thus rose
A mighty barrier which no ram could burst
Nor any ponderous machine of war.
Mountains are cleft, and level through the hills
The work of Caesar strides: wide yawns the moat,
Forts show their towers rising on the heights,
And in vast circle forests are enclosed
And groves and spacious lands, and beasts of prey,
As in a line of toils. Pompeius lacked
Nor field nor forage in th' encircled span
Nor room to move his camp; nay, rivers rose
Within, and ran their course and reached the sea;
And Caesar wearied ere he saw the whole,
And daylight failed him. Let the ancient tale
Attribute to the labours of the gods
The walls of Ilium: let the fragile bricks
Which compass in great Babylon, amaze
The fleeting Parthian. Here a larger space
Than those great cities which Orontes swift
And Tigris' stream enclose, or that which boasts
In Eastern climes, the lordly palaces
Fit for Assyria's kings, is closed by walls
Amid the haste and tumult of a war
Forced to completion. Yet this labour huge
Was spent in vain. So many hands had joined
Or Sestos with Abydos, or had tamed
With mighty mole the Hellespontine wave,
Or Corinth from the realm of Pelops king
Had rent asunder, or had spared each ship
Her voyage round the long Malean cape,
Or had done anything most hard, to mould
The world's created surface. Here the war
Was prisoned: blood predestinate to flow
In all the parts of earth; the host foredoomed
To fall in Libya or in Thessaly
Was here: in such small amphitheatre
The tide of civil passion rose and fell.
At first Pompeius knew not: so the hind
Who peaceful tills the mid-Sicilian fields
Hears not Pelorus sounding to the storm;
So billows thunder on Rutupian shores,
Unheard by distant Caledonia's tribes.
But when he saw the mighty barrier stretch
O'er hill and valley, and enclose the land,
He bade his columns leave their rocky hold
And seize on posts of vantage in the plain;
Thus forcing Caesar to extend his troops
On wider lines; and holding for his own
Such space encompassed as divides from Rome
Aricia, sacred to that goddess chaste
Of old Mycenae; or as Tiber holds
From Rome's high ramparts to the Tuscan sea,
Unless he deviate. No trumpet call
Commands an onset, and the darts that fly
Fly though forbidden; but the arm that flings
For proof the lance, at random, here and there
Deals impious slaughter. Weighty care compelled
Each leader to withhold his troops from fight;
For there the weary earth of produce failed
Pressed by Pompeius' steeds, whose horny hoofs
Rang in their gallop on the grassy fields
And killed the succulence. They strengthless lay
Upon the mown expanse, nor pile of straw,
Brought from full barns in place of living grass,
Relieved their craving; shook their panting flanks,
And as they wheeled Death struck his victim down.
Then foul contagion filled the murky air
Whose poisonous weight pressed on them in a cloud
Pestiferous; as in Nesis' isle the breath
Of Styx rolls upwards from the mist-clad rocks;
Or that fell vapour which the caves exhale
From Typhon raging in the depths below.
Then died the soldiers, for the streams they drank
Held yet more poison than the air: the skin
Was dark and rigid, and the fiery plague
Made hard their vitals, and with pitiless tooth
Gnawed at their wasted features, while their eyes
Started from out their sockets, and the head
Drooped from sheer weariness. So the disease
Grew swifter in its strides till scarce was room,
'Twixt life and death, for sickness, and the pest
Slew as it struck its victim, and the dead
Thrust from the tents (such all their burial) lay
Blent with the living. Yet their camp was pitched
Hard by the breezy sea by which might come
All nations' harvests, and the northern wind
Not seldom rolled the murky air away.
Their foe, not vexed with pestilential air
Nor stagnant waters, ample range enjoyed
Upon the spacious uplands: yet as though
In leaguer, famine seized them for its prey.
Scarce were the crops half grown when Caesar saw
How prone they seized upon the food of beasts,
And stripped of leaves the bushes and the groves,
And dragged from roots unknown the doubtful herb,
Which might be death: all things they ate that fire
May soften, or teeth may bite, or arid throat
May swallow; things that never heretofore
Were placed on tables-thus the host at large-
Yet was there plenty with the leaguered foe.

> Latin: Postquam castra duces, pugnae iam mente propinqui,
Imposuere iugis, admotaque cominus arma,
Parque suum videri dei, capere omnia Caesar
Moenia Graiorum spernit, Martemque secundum
Iam nisi de genero fatis debere recusat.
Funestam mundo votis petit omnibus horam,
In casum quae cuncta ferat. Placet alea fati
Alterutrum mersura caput. Ter collibus omnes
Explicuit turmas et signa minantia pugnam,
Testatus numquam Latiae se deesse ruinae.
Ut videt ad nullos exciri posse tumultus
In pugnam generum, sed clauso fidere vallo,
Signa movet, tectusque via dumosa per arva
Dyrrhachii praeceps rapiendas tendit ad arces.
Hoc iter aequoreo praecepit limite Magnus,
Quemque vocat collem Taulantius incola Petram,
Insedit castris, Ephyraeaque moenia servat,
Defendens tutam vel solis turribus urbem.
Non opus hanc veterum nec moles structa tuetur
Humanusque labor, facilis, licet ardua tollat,
Cedere vel bellis, vel cuncta moventibus annis:
Sed munimen habet, nullo quassabile ferro,
Naturam sedemque loci. Nam clausa profundo
Undique praecipiti scopulisque vomentibus aequor,
Exiguo debet, quod non est insula, colli.
Terribiles ratibus sustentant moenia cautes,
Ioniumque furens rapido cum tollitur Austro,
Templa domosque quatit, spumatque in culmina pontus.
Huc avidam belli rapuit spes improba mentem
Caesaris, ut vastis diffusum collibus hostem
Cingeret ignarum, ducto procul aggere valli.
Metitur terras oculis: nec cespite tantum
Contentus fragili subitos adtollere muros,
Ingentes cautes, avulsaque saxa metallis,
Graiorumque domos, direptaque moenia transfert.
Exstruitur, quod non aries impellere saevus,
Quod non ulla queat violenti machina belli.
Franguntur montes, planumque per ardua Caesar
Ducit opus: pandit fossas, turritaque summis
Disponit castella iugis, magnoque recursu
Amplexus fines, saltus, nemorosaque tesqua,
Et silvas, vastaque feras indagine claudit.
Non desunt campi, non desunt pabula Magno,
Castraque Caesareo circumdatus aggere mutat.
Flumina tot cursus illic exorta fatigant,
Illic mersa suos: operumque ut summa revisat,
Defessus Caesar mediis intermanet agris.
Nunc vetus Iliacos adtollat fabula muros,
Adscribatque deis: fragili circumdata testa
Moenia mirentur refugi Babylonia Parthi.
En, quantum Tigris, quantum celer ambit Orontes,
Assyriis quantum populis telluris Eoae
Sufficit in regnum, subitum bellique tumultu
Raptum clausit opus. Tanti periere labores.
Tot potuere manus adiungere Seston Abydo,
Ingestoque solo Phryxeum elidere pontum,
Aut Pelopis latis Ephyren abrumpere regnis,
Et ratibus longae flexus donare Maleae,
Aut aliquem mundi, quamvis natura negasset,
In melius mutare locum. Coit area belli:
Hic alitur sanguis terras fluxurus in omnes,
Hic et Thessalicae clades, Libycaeque tenentur.
Aestuat angusta rabies civilis arena.
Prima quidem surgens operum structura fefellit
Pompeium: veluti mediae qui tutus in arvis
Sicaniae rabidum nescit latrare Pelorum:
Aut vaga cum Tethys Rutupinaque litora fervent,
Unda Caledonios fallit turbata Britannos.
Ut primum vasto septas videt aggere terras,
Ipse quoque a tuta deducens agmina Petra
Diversis spargit tumulis, ut Caesaris arma
Laxet, et effuso claudentem milite tendat:
Ac tantum septi vallo sibi vindicat agri,
Parva Mycenaeae quantum sacrata Dianae
Distat ab excelsa nemoralis Aricia Roma:
Quoque modo Romae praelapsus moenia Tibris
In mare descendit, si nusquam torqueat amnem.
Classica nulla sonant, iniussaque tela vagantur:
Et fit saepe nefas, iaculum tentante lacerto.
Maior cura duces miscendis abstrahit armis.
Pompeium exhaustae praebenda ad pabula terrae,
Quae currens obtrivit eques, gradibusque citatis
Ungula frondentem discussit cornea campum.
Belliger adtonsis sonipes defessus in arvis,
Advectos cum plena ferant praesepia culmos,
Ore novas poscens moribundus labitur herbas,
Et tremulo medios abrumpit poplite gyros.
Corpora dum solvit tabes, et digerit artus,
Traxit iners coelum fluidae contagia pestis
Obscuram in nubem. Tali spiramine Nesis
Emittit stygium nebulosis aera saxis,
Antraque letiferi rabiem Typhonis anhelant.
Inde labant populi, coeloque paratior unda
Omne pati virus duravit viscera coeno.
Iam riget atra cutis, distentaque lumina rumpit:
Igneaque in vultus, et sacro fervida morbo
Pestis abit, fessumque caput se ferre recusat.
Iam magis atque magis praeceps agit omnia fatum:
Nec medii dirimunt morbi vitamque necemque,
Sed languor cum morte venit: turbaque cadentum
Aucta lues, dum mixta iacent incondita vivis
Corpora. Nam miseros ultra tentoria cives
Spargere funus erat. Tamen hos minuere labores
A tergo pelagus, pulsusque Aquilonibus aer,
Litoraque, et plenae peregrina messe carinae.
At liber terrae spatiosis collibus hostis
Aere non pigro, nec inertibus angitur undis:
Sed patitur saevam, veluti circumdatus arcta
Obsidione, famem. Nondum surgentibus altam
In segetem culmis, cernit miserabile vulgus
In pecudum cecidisse cibos, et carpere dumos,
Et foliis spoliare nemus, letumque minantes
Vellere ab ignotis dubias radicibus herbas.
Quae mollire queunt flamma, quae frangere morsu,
Quaeque per abrasas utero demittere fauces,
Plurimaque humanis ante hoc incognita mensis
Diripiens miles, saturum tamen obsidet hostem.
Ut primum libuit ruptis evadere claustris

[¶1] When Magnus first was pleased to break his bonds,
No nightly dash he makes, by craft to seize
His sleeping foe unarmed: his soul had scorned
Such path obscure to victory. Twas his aim,
To lay the turrets low; to mark his track,
By ruin spread afar; and with the sword
To hew a path between his slaughtered foes.
Minucius' turret was the chosen spot
Where groves of trees and thickets gave approach
Safe, unbetrayed by dust. Up from the fields
Flashed all at once his eagles into sight
And all his trumpets blared. But ere the sword
Could win the battle, on the hostile ranks
Dread panic fell; prone as in death they lay
Where else upright they should withstand the foe;
Nor more availed their valour, and in vain
The cloud of weapons flew, with none to slay.
Then blazing torches rolling pitchy flame
Are hurled, and shaken nod the lofty towers
And threaten ruin, and the bastions groan
Struck by the frequent engine, and the troops
Of Magnus by triumphant eagles led
Stride o'er the rampart, in their front the world.
Yet now that passage which not Caesar's self
Nor thousand valiant squadrons had availed
To rescue from their grasp, one man in arms
Steadfast till death refused them; Scaeva named
This hero soldier: long he served in fight
Waged 'gainst the savage on the banks of Rhone;
And now centurion made, through deeds of blood,
He bore the staff before the marshalled line.
Prone to all wickedness, he little recked
How valourous deeds in civil war may be
Greatest of crimes; and when he saw how turned
His comrades fron the war and sought in flight
A refuge, ' Whence,' he cried, 'this impious fear
Unknown to Caesar's armies? Do ye turn
'Your backs on death, and are ye not ashamed
Not to be found where slaughtered heroes lie?
'Is loyalty too weak? Yet love of fight
'Might bid you stand. We are the chosen few
'Through whom the foe would break. Unbought by blood
'This day shall not be theirs. 'Neath Caesar's eye,
'True, death would be more happy; but this boon
'Fortune denies: at least my fall shall be
'Praised by Pompeius. Shatter with your breasts
' Their weapons; blunt the edges of their swords
' With throats unyielding. In the distant lines
' The dust is seen already, and the sound
' Of tumult and of ruin finds the ear
Of Caesar: strike; the victory is ours:
'For he shall come who while his soldiers die
Shall make the fortress his.' His voice calls forth
The courage that the trumpets failed to rouse
When first they rang: his comrades mustering come
To watch his deeds; and, wondering at the man,
To test if valour thus by foes oppressed,
In narrow space, could hope for aught but death.
But Scaeva standing on the tottering bank
Heaves from the brimming turret on the foe
The corpses of the fallen; the ruined mass
Gives weapons to his hands; with beams and poles
And ponderous stones, with his own breast he threats
His enemies; and thrusts with mighty stakes
The host advancing; when they grasp the wall
He lops the arm: rocks crush the foeman's skull
And rive the scalp asunder: fiery bolts
Dashed at another set his hair aflame,
Till rolls the greedy blaze about his eyes
With hideous crackle. As the pile of slain
Rose to the summit of the wall he sprang,
Swift as across the nets a hunted pard,
Above the swords upraised, till in mid throng
Of foes he stood, hemmed in by densest ranks
And ramparted by war; in front and rear,
Where'er he struck, the victor. Now his sword
Blunted with gore congealed no more could wound,
But brake the stricken limb; while every hand
Flung every quivering dart at him alone;
Nor missed their aim, for rang against his shield
Dart after dart unerring, and his helm
In broken fragments pressed upon his brow;
His vital parts were safeguarded by spears
That bristled in his body. Fortune saw
Thus waged a novel combat, for there warred
Against one man an army. Why with darts,
Madmen, assail him and with slender shafts,
'Gainst which his life is proof? Or ponderous stones
This warrior chief shall overwhelm, or bolts
Flung by the twisted thongs of mighty slings.
Let steel-shod ram or catapult remove
This champion of the gate. No fragile wall
Stands here for Caesar, blocking with its bulk
Pompeius' way to freedom. Now he trusts
His shield no more, lest his sinister hand,
Idle, give life by shame; and on his breast
Bearing a forest of spears, though spent with toil
And worn with onset, falls upon his foe
And braves alone the wounds of all the war.
Thus may an elephant in Afric wastes,
Oppressed by frequent darts, break those that fall
Rebounding from his horny hide, and shake
Those that find lodgment, while his life within
Lies safe, protected, nor does spear avail
To reach the fount of blood. Unnumbered wounds
By arrow dealt, or lance, thus fail to slay
This single warrior. But lo! from far
A Cretan archer's shaft, more sure of aim
Than vows could hope for, strikes on Scaeva's brow
To light within his eye: the hero tugs
Intrepid, bursts the nerves, and tears the shaft
Forth with the eyeball, and with dauntless heel
Treads them to dust. Not otherwise a bear
Pannonian, fiercer for the wound received,
Maddened by dart from Libyan thong propelled,
Turns circling on her wound, and still pursues
The weapon fleeing as she whirls around.
Thus, in his rage destroyed, his shapeless face
Stood foul with crimson flow. The victors' shout
Glad to the sky arose; no greater joy
A little blood could give them had they seen
That Caesar's self was wounded. Down he pressed
Deep in his soul the anguish, and, with mien
No longer bent on fight, submissive cried,
Spare me, ye citizens; remove the war
Far hence: no weapons now can haste my death;
Draw from my breast the darts, but add no more.
Yet raise me up to place me in the camp
Of Magnus, living: this your gift to him;
No brave man's death my title to renown,
But Caesar's flag deserted.' So he spake.
Unhappy Aulus thought his words were true,
Nor saw within his hand the ready sword;
And leaping forth in haste to make his own
The prisoner and his arms, in middle throat
Received the lightning blade. By this one death
Rose Scaeva's valour again; and thus he cried,
Such be the punishment of all who thought
Great Scaeva vanquished; if Pompeius seeks
Peace from this reeking sword, low let him lay
' At Caesar's feet his standards. Me do ye think
' Such as yourselves, and slow to meet the fates?
'Your love for Magnus and the Senate's cause
'Is less than mine for death.' These were his words;
And dust in columns proved that Caesar came.
Thus was Pompeius' glory spared the stain
Of flight compelled by Scava. He, when ceased
The battle, fell, no more by rage of fight,
Or sight of blood out-pouring from his wounds,
Roused to the combat. Fainting there he lay
Upon the shoulders of his comrades borne,
Who him adoring (as though deity
Dwelt in his bosom) for his matchless deeds,
Plucked forth the gory shafts and took his arms
To deck the gods and shield the breast of Mars.
Thrice happy thou with such a name achieved,
Had but the fierce Iberian from thy sword,
Or heavy shielded Teuton, or had fled
The light Cantabrian: now no spoils of thine
Shall deck the Thunderer's temple, nor upraise
The shout of triumph in the ways of Rome.
For all thy prowess, all thy deeds of pride
Do but prepare her lord.

> Latin: Pompeio, cunctasque sibi permittere terras:
Non obscura petit latebrosae tempora noctis,
Et raptum furto, soceri cessantibus armis,
Dedignatur iter: latis exire ruinis
Quaerit, et impulso turres confringere vallo,
Perque omnes gladios, et qua via caede paranda est.
Opportuna tamen valli pars visa propinqui,
Quam Minuci castella vocant, et confraga densis
Arboribus dumeta tegunt. Huc pulvere nullo
Proditus agmen agit, subitusque ad moenia venit.
Tot simul e campis Latiae fulsere volucres:
Tot cecinere tubae. Ne quid victoria ferro
Deberet, pavor adtonitos confecerat hostes.
Quod solum valuit virtus, iacuere peremti,
Debuerant quo stare loco: qui vulnera ferrent
Iam deerant, nimbusque ferens tot tela peribat.
Tum piceos volvunt immissae lampades ignes:
Tum quassae nutant turres, lapsumque minantur:
Roboris impacti crebros gemit agger ad ictus.
Iam Pompeianae celsi super ardua valli
Exierant aquilae: iam mundi iura patebant.
Quem non mille simul turmis, nec Caesare toto
Auferret Fortuna locum, victoribus unus
Eripuit, vetuitque capi: seque arma tenente,
Ac nondum strato, Magnum vicisse negavit.
Scaeva viro nomen: castrorum in plebe merebat
Ante feras Rhodani gentes: ibi sanguine multo
Promotus Latiam longo gerit ordine vitem:
Pronus ad omne nefas, et qui nesciret, in armis
Quam magnum virtus crimen civilibus esset.
Hic ubi quaerentes socios iam Marte relicto
Tota fugae cernit, Quo vos pavor, inquit, abegit
Impius et cunctis ignotus Caesaris armis?
[O famuli turpes, servum pecus, absque cruore]
Terga datis morti? Cumulo vos deesse virorum
Non pudet et bustis interque cadavera quaeri?
Non ira saltem iuvenes, pietate remota,
Stabitis? E cunctis, per quos erumperet hostis,
Nos sumus electi. Non parvo sanguine Magni
Ista dies ierit. Peterem felicior umbras
Caesaris in vultu. Testem hunc Fortuna negavit:
Pompeio laudante, cadam. Confringite tela
Pectoris incursu, iugulisque retundite ferrum.
Iam longinqua petit pulvis, sonitusque ruinae,
Securasque fragor concussit Caesaris aures.
Vincimus, o socii; veniet, qui vindicet arces,
Dum morimur. Movit tantum vox illa furorem,
Quantum non primo succendunt classica cantu:
Mirantesque virum, atque avidi spectare, sequuntur
Scituri iuvenes, numero deprensa locoque
An plus quam mortem virtus daret. Ille ruenti
Aggere consistit, primumque cadavera plenis
Turribus evolvit, subeuntesque obruit hostes
Corporibus: totaeque viro dant tela ruinae:
Roboraque et moles hosti seque ipse minatur.
Nunc sude, nunc duro contraria pectora conto
Detrudit muris, et valli summa tenentes
Amputat ense manus: caput obterit ossaque saxo,
Ac male defensum fragili compage cerebrum
Dissipat: alterius flamma crinesque genasque
Succendit; strident oculis ardentibus ignes.
Ut primum, cumulo crescente, cadavera murum
Admovere solo: non segnior extulit illum
Saltus, et in medias iecit super arma catervas,
Quam per summa rapit celerem venabula pardum.
Tunc densos inter cuneos compressus et omni
Vallatus bello vincit, quem respicit, hostem.
Iamque hebes et crasso non asper sanguine mucro
[Percussum Scaevae frangit, non vulnerat, hostem.]
Perdidit ensis opus, frangit sine vulnere membra.
Illum tota petit moles, illum omnia tela:
Nulla fuit non certa manus, non lancea felix,
Parque novum Fortuna videt concurrere, bellum
Atque virum. Fortis crebris sonat ictibus umbo,
Et galeae fragmenta cavae compressa perurunt
Tempora: nec quidquam nudis vitalibus obstat
Iam, praeter stantes in summis ossibus hastas.
Quid nunc, vesani, iaculis levibusque sagittis
Perditis haesuros numquam vitalibus ictus?
Hunc aut tortilibus vibrata phalarica nervis
Obruat, aut vasti muralia pondera saxi:
Hunc aries ferro ballistaque limine portae
Summoveat. Stat non fragilis pro Caesare murus,
Pompeiumque tenet. Iam pectora non tegit armis,
Ac veritus credi clypeo, laevaque vacasse,
Aut culpa vixisse sua, tot vulnera belli
Solus obit, densamque ferens in pectore silvam,
Iam gradibus fessis, in quem cadat, eligit hostem.
[Par pelagi monstris. Libycae sic bellua terrae,]
Sic Libycus densis elephas oppressus ab armis
Omne repercussum squalenti missile tergo
Frangit, et haerentes mota cute discutit hastas:
Viscera tuta latent penitus, citraque cruorem
Confixae stant tela ferae: tot facta sagittis,
Tot iaculis, unam non explent vulnera mortem.
Dictaea procul ecce manu Gortynis arundo
Tenditur in Scaevam, quae voto certior omni
In caput atque oculi laevum descendit in orbem.
Ille moras ferri, nervorum et vincula rumpit,
Adfixam vellens oculo pendente sagittam
Intrepidus, telumque suo cum lumine calcat.
Pannonis haud aliter post ictum saevior ursa,
Cum iaculum parva Libys amentavit habena,
Se rotat in vulnus: telumque irata receptum
Impetit, et secum fugientem circuit hastam.
Perdiderat vultum rabies: stetit imbre cruento
Informis facies: laetus fragor aethera pulsat
Victorum: maiora viris e sanguine parvo
Gaudia non faceret conspectum in Caesare vulnus.
Ille, tegens alta suppressum mente dolorem,
Mitis et a vultu penitus virtute remota,
Parcite, ait, cives: procul hinc avertite bellum.
Collatura meae nil sunt iam vulnera morti:
Non eget ingestis, sed vulsis pectore telis.
Tollite et in Magni viventem ponite castris:
Hoc vestro praestate duci: sit Scaeva relicti
Caesaris exemplum potius, quam mortis honestae.
Credidit infelix simulatis vocibus Aulus,
Nec vidit recto gladium mucrone tenentem;
Membraque captivi pariter laturus, et arma,
Fulmineum mediis excepit faucibus ensem.
Incaluit virtus: atque una caede refectus
Solvat, ait, poenas, Scaevam quicumque subactum
Speravit: pacem gladio si quaerit ab isto
Magnus, adorato submittat Caesare signa.
An similem vestri, segnemque ad fata putastis?
Pompeii vobis minor est caussaeque senatus
Quam mihi mortis amor. Simul haec effatur, et altus
Caesareas pulvis testatur adesse cohortes.
Dedecus hic belli Magno crimenque remisit,
Ne solum totae fugerent te, Scaeva, catervae:
Subducto qui Marte ruis: nam sanguine fuso
Vires pugna dabat. Labentem turba suorum
Excipit, atque humeris defectum imponere gaudet:
Ac veluti inclusum perfosso in pectore numen
Et vivam magnae speciem virtutis adorant:
Telaque confixis certant evellere membris,
Exornantque deos, ac nudum pectore Martem
Armis, Scaeva, tuis: felix hoc nomine famae,
Si tibi durus Iber, aut si tibi terga dedisset
Cantaber exiguis, aut longis Teutonus armis.
Non tu bellorum spoliis ornare Tonantis
Templa potes, non tu laetis ululare triumphis.
Infelix, quanta dominum virtute parasti!

[¶2] Nor on this hand
Repulsed, Pompeius idly ceased from war,
Content within his bars; but as the sea
Tireless, which tempests force upon the crag
That breaks it, or which gnaws a mountain side
Some day to fall in ruin on itself;
He sought the turrets nearest to the main,
On double onset bent; nor closely kept
His troops in hand, but on the spacious plain
Spread forth his camp. They joyful leave the tents
And wander at their will. Thus Padus flows
In brimming flood, and foaming at his bounds,
Making whole districts quake; and should the bank
Fail 'neath his swollen waters, all his stream
Breaks forth in swirling eddies over fields
Not his before; some lands are lost, the rest
Gain from his bounty.
Hardly from his tower
Had Caesar seen the fire or known the fight:
And coming found the rampart overthrown,
The dust no longer stirred, the ruins cold
As from a battle done. The peace that reigned
There and on Magnus' side, as though men slept,
Their victory won, aroused his angry soul.
Quick he prepares, so that he end their joy
Careless of slaughter or defeat, to rush
With threatening columns on Torquatus' post.
But swift as sailor, by his trembling mast
Warned of Circeian tempest, furls his sails,
So swift Torquatus saw, and prompt to wage
The war more closely, he withdrew his men
Within a narrower wall.
Now past the trench
Were Caesar's companies, when from the hills
Pompeius hurled his host upon their ranks
Shut in, and hampered. Not so much o'erwhelmed
As Caesar's soldiers is the hind who dwells
On Etna's slopes, when blows the southern wind,
And all the mountain pours its cauldrons forth
Upon the vale; and huge Enceladus
Writhing beneath his load spouts o'er the plains
A blazing torrent. Blinded by the dust,
Encircled, vanquished, ere the fight, they fled
In cloud of terror on their rearward foe,
So rushing on their fates. Thus had the war
Shed its last drop of blood and peace ensued,
But Magnus suffered not, and held his troops
Back from the battle.
Thou, O Rome, hadst been
Free, happy, mistress of thy laws and rights
Were Sulla here. Now shalt thou ever grieve
That in his crowning crime, to have met in fight
A pious kinsman, Caesar's vantage lay.
Oh tragic destiny! Nor Munda's fight
Hispania had wept, nor Libya mourned
Encrimsoned Utica, nor Nilus' stream,
With blood unspeakable polluted, borne
A nobler corse than her Egyptian kings:
Nor Juba lain unburied on the sands,
Nor Scipio with his blood outpoured appeased
The ghosts of Carthage; this had been thy last
Disaster, Rome; nor had the blameless life
Of Cato ended: and Pharsalia's name
Had so been blotted from the book of fate.
But Caesar left the region where his arms
Had found the deities adverse, and marched
His shattered columns to Thessalian lands.
Then to Pompeius came (whose mind was bent
To follow Caesar wheresoe'er he fled)
His captains, striving to persuade their chief
To seek Ausonia, his native land,
Now freed from foes. 'Ne'er will I pass,' he said,
' My country's limit, nor revisit Rome
' Like Caesar, at the head of banded hosts.
' Hesperia when the war began was mine;
' Mine, had I chosen in our country's shrines,
' In midmost forum of her capital,
' To join the battle. So that banished far
' Be war from Rome, I'll cross the torrid zone
' Or those for ever frozen Scythian shores.
What! shall my victory rob thee of the peace
I gave thee by my flight? Rather than thou
Shouldst feel the evils of this impious war,
'Let Caesar deem thee his.' He turned his course
Towards the uprising sun, and sought by paths
Remote, and forests wide, the land by fate
Foredoomed to see the issue of the war.
Thessalia on that side where Titan first
Raises the wintry day, by Ossa's rocks
Is prisoned in: but in th' advancing year
When higher in the vault his chariot rides
'Tis Pelion that meets the morning rays.
And when beside the Lion's flames he drives
The middle course, Othrys with woody top
Screens his chief ardour. On the hither side
Pindus receives the breezes of the west
And as the evening falls brings darkness in.
There too Olympus, at whose foot who dwells
Nor fears the north nor sees the shining bear.
Between these mountains hemmed, in ancient time
The fields were marsh, for Tempe's pass not yet
Was cleft, to give an exit to the streams
That filled the plain: but when Alcides' hand
Smote Ossa from Olympus at a blow,
And Nereus wondered at the sudden flood
Of waters to the main, then on the shore
(Would it had slept for ever 'neath the deep)
Seaborn Achilles' home Pharsalus rose;
And Phylace whence sailed that ship of old
Whose keel first touched upon the beach of Troy;
And Dorion mournful for the Muses' ire
On Thamyris vanquished: Trachis; Melibe
Strong in the shafts of Hercules, the price
Of that most awful torch; Larissa's hold
Potent of yore; and Argos, famous erst,
O'er which men pass the ploughshare: and the spot
Fabled as Echionian Thebes, where once
Agave bore in exile to the pyre
(Grieving 'twas all she had) the head and neck
Of Pentheus massacred. The lake set free
Flowed forth in many rivers: to the west
AEas, a gentle stream; nor stronger flows
The sire of Isis ravished from his arms;
And Achelous, rival for the hand
Of OEneus' daughter, rolls his earthy flood
To silt the shore beside the neighbouring isles.
Evenus purpled by the Centaur's blood
Wanders through Calydon: in the Malian Gulf
Thy rapids fall, Spercheius: pure the wave
With which Amphrysos irrigates the meads
Where once Apollo served: Anaurus flows
Breathing no vapour forth; no humid air
Ripples his surface: and whatever stream,
Nameless itself, to Ocean gives its waves
Through thee, Peneus: whirled in eddies foams
Apidanus; Enipeus lingers on
Swift only when fresh streams his volume swell:
And thus Asopus takes his ordered course,
Phoenix and Melas; but Eurotas keeps
His stream aloof from that with which he flows,
Peneus, gliding on his top as though
Upon the channel. Fable says that, sprung
From darkest pools of Styx, with common floods
He scorns to mingle, mindful of his source,
So that the gods above may fear him still.
Soon as were sped the rivers, Boebian ploughs
Dark with its riches broke the virgin soil;
Then came Lelegians to press the share,
And Dolopes and sons of AEolus
By whom the glebe was furrowed. Steed-renowned
Magnetians dwelt there, and the Minyan race
Who smote the sounding billows with the oar.
There in the cavern from the pregnant cloud
Ixion's sons found birth, the Centaur brood
Half beast, half human: Monychus who broke
The stubborn rocks of Pholoe, Rhoetus fierce
Hurling from OEta's top gigantic elms
Which northern storms could hardly overturn;
Pholus, Alcides' host: Nessus who bore
The Queen across Evenus' waves, to feel
The deadly arrow for his shameful deed;
And aged Chiron who with wintry star
Against the huger Scorpion draws his bow.
Here sparkled on the land the warrior seed;
Here leaped the charger from Thessalian rocks
Struck by the trident of the Ocean King,
Omen of dreadful war; here first he learned,
Champing the bit and foaming at the curb,
Yet to obey his lord. From yonder shore
The keel of pine first floated, and bore men
To dare the perilous chance of seas unknown:
And here Ionus ruler of the land
First from the furnace molten masses drew
Of iron and brass; here first the hammer fell
To weld them, shapeless; here in glowing stream
Ran silver forth and gold, soon to receive
The minting stamp. 'Twas thus that money came
Whereby men count their riches, cause accursed
Of warfare. Hence came down that Python huge
On Cirrha: hence the laurel wreath which crowns
The Pythian victor: here Aloeus' sons
Gigantic rose against the gods, what time
Pelion had almost touched the stars supreme,
And Ossa's loftier peak amid the sky
Opposing, barred the constellations' way.

> Latin: Nec magis hac Magnus castrorum parte repulsus
Intra claustra piger, dilato Marte, quievit,
Quam mare lassatur, cum se tollentibus Euris
Frangentem fluctus scopulum ferit, aut latus alti
Montis adest, seramque sibi parat unda ruinam.
Hinc vicina petens placido castella profundo
Incursu gemini Martis rapit: armaque late
Spargit, et effuso laxat tentoria campo:
Mutandaeque iuvat permissa licentia terrae.
Sic pleno Padus ore tumens super aggere tutas
Excurrit ripas, et totos concutit agros:
Succubuit si qua tellus, cumulumque furentem
Undarum non passa ruit, tum flumine toto
Transit, et ignotos aperit sibi gurgite campos.
Illos terra fugit dominos: his rura colonis
Accedunt, donante Pado. Vix proelia Caesar
Senserat, elatus specula quae prodidit ignis.
Invenit impulsos presso iam pulvere muros:
Frigidaque ut veteris deprendit signa ruinae,
Accendit pax ipsa loci, movitque furorem
Pompeiana quies et, victo Caesare, somnus.
Ire vel in clades properat, dum gaudia turbet.
Torquato ruit inde minax: qui Caesaris arma
Segnius haud vidit, quam malo nauta tremente
Omnia Circaeae subducit vela procellae:
Agminaque interius muro breviore recepit,
Densius ut parva disponeret arma corona.
Transierat primi Caesar munimina valli,
Cum super e totis emisit collibus agmen,
Effuditque acies obseptum Magnus in hostem.
Non sic Aetnaeis habitans in vallibus horret
Enceladum, spirante Noto, cum tota cavernas
Egerit, et torrens in campos defluit Aetna:
Caesaris ut miles glomerato pulvere victus
Ante aciem, caeci trepidus sub nube timoris
Hostilius occurrit fugiens, inque ipsa pavendo
Fata ruit. Totus mitti civilibus armis
Usque vel in pacem potuit cruor: ipse furentes
Dux tenuit gladios. Felix ac libera legum,
Roma, fores iurisque tui, vicisset in illo
Si tibi Sulla loco. Dolet heu semperque dolebit,
Quod scelerum, Caesar, prodest tibi summa tuorum,
Cum genero pugnasse pio. Pro tristia fata!
Non Uticae Libye clades, Hispania Mundae
Flesset, et infando pollutus sanguine Nilus
Nobilius Phario gestasset rege cadaver:
Nec Iuba Marmaricas nudus pressisset arenas,
Poenorumque umbras placasset sanguine fuso
Scipio: nec sancto caruisset via Catone.
Ultimus esse dies potuit tibi, Roma, malorum:
Exire e mediis potuit Pharsalia fatis.
Deserit adverso possessam numine sedem
Caesar, et Emathias lacero petit agmine terras.
Arma secuturum soceri, quacumque fugasset,
Tentavere suo comites divertere Magnum
Hortatu: patrias sedes atque hoste carentem
Ausoniam peteret. Numquam me Caesaris, inquit,
Exemplo reddam patriae, numquamque videbit
Me nisi dimisso redeuntem, milite Roma.
Hesperiam potui, motu surgente, tenere,
Si vellem patriis aciem committere templis,
Ac medio pugnare foro. Dum bella relegem,
Extremum Scythici transcendam frigoris orbem,
Ardentesque plagas. Victor tibi, Roma, quietem
Eripiam, qui, ne premerent te proelia, fugi?
Ah potius, bello ne quid patiaris in isto,
Te Caesar putet esse suam. Sic fatus, in ortus
Phoebeos convertit iter, terraeque secutus
Devia, qua vastos aperit Candavia saltus,
Contigit Emathiam, bello quam fata parabant.
Thessaliam, qua parte diem brumalibus horis
Adtollit Titan, rupes Ossaea coercet.
Cum per summa poli Phoebum trahit altior aestas
Pelion opponit radiis nascentibus umbras.
At medios ignes coeli, rabidique Leonis
Solstitiale caput nemorosus submovet Othrys.
Excipit adversos Zephyros et Iapyga Pindus
Et maturato praecidit vespere lucem.
Nec metuens imi Borean habitator Olympi
Lucentem totis ignorat noctibus Arcton.
Hos inter montes, media qui valle premuntur,
Perpetuis quondam latuere paludibus agri,
Flumina dum campi retinent, nec pervia Tempe
Dant aditus pelagi; stagnumque implentibus unum
Crescere cursus erat. Postquam discessit Olympo
Herculea gravis Ossa manu, subitaeque ruinam
Sensit aquae Nereus: melius mansura sub undis,
Emathis aequorei regnum Pharsalos Achillis
Eminet, et, prima Rhoeteia litora pinu
Quae tetigit, Phylace, Pteleosque, et Dorion ira
Flebile Pieridum; Trachin, pretioque nefandae
Lampados Herculeis fortis Meliboea pharetris:
Atque olim Larissa potens: ubi nobile quondam
Nunc super Argos arant: veteres ubi fabula Thebas
Monstrat Echionias: ubi quondam Pentheos exsul
Colla caputque ferens supremo tradidit igni,
Questa, quod hoc solum nato rapuisset, Agave.
Ergo abrupta palus multos discessit in amnes.
Purus in occasus, parvi sed gurgitis, Aeas
Ionio fluit inde mari nec fortior undis
Labitur avectae pater Isidis, et tuus, Oeneu,
Paene gener crassis oblimat Echinadas undis
Et Meleagream maculatus sanguine Nessi
Euenos Calydona secat. Ferit amne citato
Maliacas Sperchios aquas: et flumine puro
Irrigat Amphrysos famulantis pascua Phoebi;
Quique nec humentes nebulas, nec rore madentem
Aera, nec tenues ventos suspirat, Anauros;
Et quisquis pelago per se non cogntus amnis
Peneo donavit aquas: it gurgite rapto
Apidanos: nunquamque celer, nisi mixtus, Enipeus.
Accipit Asopos cursus, Phoenixque, Melasque.
Solus in alterius nomen cum venerit undae,
Defendit Titaresos aquas, lapsusque superne
Gurgite Penei pro siccis utitur arvis.
Hunc fama est Stygiis manare paludibus amnem,
Et, capitis memorem, fluvii contagia vilis
Nolle pati, superumque sibi servare timorem.
Ut primum emissis patuerunt amnibus arva,
Pinguis Boebicio discessit vomere sulcus:
Mox Lelegum dextra pressum descendit aratrum.
Aeolidae Dolopesque solum fregere coloni,
Et Magnetes equis, Minyae gens cognita remis.
Illic semiferos Ixionidas Centauros
Foeta Pelethroniis nubes effudit in antris:
Aspera te Pholoes frangentem, Monyche, saxa,
Teque sub Oetaeo torquentem vertice vulsas,
Rhoete ferox, quas vix Boreas inverteret, ornos:
Hospes et Alcidae magni, Phole: teque per amnem
Improbe Lernaeas vector passure sagittas:
Teque senex Chiron, gelido qui sidere fulgens
Impetis Aemonio maiorem Scorpion arcu.
Hac tellure feri micuerunt semina Martis.
Primus ab aequorea percussis cuspide saxis
Thessalicus sonipes bellis feralibus omen
Exsiluit; primus chalybem fraenosque momordit,
Spumavitque novis Lapithae domitoris habenis.
Prima fretum scindens Pagasaeo litore pinus
Terrenum ignotas hominem proiecit in undas.
Primus Thessalicae rector telluris Itonos
In formam calidae percussit pondera massae,
Fudit et argentum flammis, aurumque moneta
Fregit et immensis coxit fornacibus aera.
Illic, quod populos scelerata impegit in arma,
Divitias numerare datum est. Hinc maxima serpens
Descendit Python, Cyrrhaeaque fluxit in arva:
Unde et Thessalicae veniunt ad Pythia laurus.
Impius hinc prolem superis immisit Aloeus,
Inseruit celsis prope se cum Pelion astris,
Sideribusque vias incurrens abstulit Ossa.

[¶3] When in this fated land the chiefs had placed
Their several camps, foreboding of the end
Now fast approaching, all men's thoughts were turned
Upon the final issue of the war.
And as the end drew near, all coward minds
Trembling beneath the shadow of the fate
Now hanging o'er them, deemed disaster near:
While some took heart; yet doubted what might fall,
In hope and fear alternate. 'Mid the throng
Sextus, unworthy son of worthy sire
Who soon upon the waves that Scylla guards,
Sicilian pirate, exile from his home,
Stained by his deeds of shame the fights he won,
Could bear delay no more; his feeble soul,
Sick of uncertain fate, by fear compelled,
Forecast the future: yet consulted not
The shrine of Delos nor the Pythian caves;
Nor was he satisfied to learn the sound
Of Jove's brass cauldron, 'mid Dodona's oaks,
By her primaeval fruits the nurse of men:
Nor sought he sages who by flight of birds,
Or watching with Assyrian care the stars
And fires of heaven, or by victims slain,
May know the fates to come; nor any source
Lawful though secret. For to him was known
That which excites the hate of gods above;
Magicians' lore, the savage creed of Dis
And all the shades; and sad with gloomy rites
Mysterious altars. For his frenzied soul
Heaven knew too little. And the spot itself
Kindled his madness, for hard by there dwelt
The brood of Haemon whom no storied witch
Of fiction e'er transcended; all their art
In things most strange and most incredible;
There were Thessalian rocks with deadly herbs
Thick planted, sensible to magic chants,
Funereal, secret: and the land was full
Of violence to the gods: the Queenly guest
From Colchis gathered here the fatal roots
That were not in her store: hence vain to heaven
Rise impious incantations, all unheard;
For deaf the ears divine: save for one voice
Which penetrates the furthest depths of air
Compelling e'en th' unwilling deities
To hearken to its accents. Not the care
Of the revolving sky or starry pole
Can call them from it ever. Once the sound
Of those dread tones unspeakable has reached
The constellations, then nor Babylon
Nor secret Memphis, though they open wide
The shrines of ancient magic and entreat
The gods, could draw them from the fires that smoke
Upon the altars of far Thessaly.
To hearts of flint those incantations bring
Love, strange, unnatural; the old man's breast
Burns with illicit fire. Nor lies the power
In harmful cup nor in the juicy pledge
Of love maternal from the forehead drawn;
Charmed forth by spells alone the mind decays,
By poisonous drugs unharmed. With woven threads
Crossed in mysterious fashion do they bind
Those whom no passion born of beauteous form
Or loving couch unites. All things on earth
Change at their bidding; night usurps the day;
The heavens disobey their wonted laws;
At that dread hymn the Universe stands still;
And Jove while urging the revolving wheels
Wonders they move not. Torrents are outpoured
Beneath a burning sun; and thunder roars
Uncaused by Jupiter. From their flowing locks
Vapours immense shall issue at their call;
When falls the tempest seas shall rise and foam
Moved by their spell; though powerless the breeze
To raise the billows. Ships against the wind
With bellying sails move onward. From the rock
Hangs motionless the torrent: rivers run
Uphill; the summer heat no longer swells
Nile in his course; Maeander's stream is straight;
Slow Rhone is quickened by the rush of Saone;
Hills dip their heads and topple to the plain;
Olympus sees his clouds drift overhead;
And sunless Scythia's sempiternal snows
Melt in mid-winter; the inflowing tides
Driven onward by the moon, at that dread chant
Ebb from their course; earth's axes, else unmoved,
Have trembled, and the force centripetal
Has tottered, and the earth's compacted frame
Struck by their voice has gaped, till through the void
Men saw the moving sky. All beasts most fierce
And savage fear them, yet with deadly aid
Furnish the witches' arts. Tigers athirst
For blood, and noble lions on them fawn
With bland caresses: serpents at their word
Uncoil their circles, and extended glide
Along the surface of the frosty field;
The viper's severed body joins anew;
And dies the snake by human venom slain.
Whence comes this labour on the gods, compelled
To hearken to the magic chant and spells,
Nor daring to despise them? Doth some bond
Control the deities? Is their pleasure so,
Or must they listen? and have silent threats
Prevailed, or piety unseen received
So great a guerdon? Against all the gods
Is this their influence, or on one alone
Who to his will constrains the universe,
Himself constrained? Stars most in yonder clime
Shoot headlong from the zenith; and the moon
Gliding serene upon her nightly course
Is shorn of lustre by their poisonous chant,
Dimmed by dark earthly fires, as though our orb
Shadowed her brother's radiance and barred
The light bestowed by heaven; nor freshly shines
Until descending nearer to the earth
She sheds her baneful drops upon the mead.

> Latin: Hac ubi damnata fatis tellure locarunt
Castra duces, cunctos belli praesaga futuri
Mens agitat, summique gravem discriminis horam
Adventare palam est. Propius iam fata moveri,
Degeneres trepidant animi, peioraque versant,
Ad dubios pauci, praesumto robore, casus
Spemque metumque ferunt. Turbae sed mixtus inerti
Sextus erat, Magno proles indigna parente,
Qui mox, Scyllaeis exsul grassatus in undis,
Polluit aequoreos Siculus pirata triumphos.
Qui stimulante metu fati praenoscere cursus,
Impatiensque morae, venturisque omnibus aeger,
Non tripodas Deli, non Pythia consulit antra,
Nec quaesisse libet, primis quid frugibus altrix
Aere Iovis Dodona sonet, quis noscere fibra
Fata queat, quis prodat aves, quis fulgura coeli
Servet, et Assyria scrutetur sidera cura,
Aut si quid tacitum, sed fas, erat. Ille superuis
Detestanda deis saevorum arcana magorum
Noverat, et tristes sacris feralibus aras,
Umbrarum Ditisque fidem: miseroque liquebat,
Scire parum superos. Vanum saevumque furorem
Adiuvat ipse locus, vicinaque moenia castris
Haemonidum, ficti quas nulla licentia monstri
Transierit, quarum, quidquid non creditur, ars est.
Thessala quin etiam tellus herbasque nocentes
Rupibus ingenuit, sensuraque saxa canentes
Arcanum ferale Magos. Ibi plurima surgunt
Vim factura deis: et terris hospita Colchis
Legit in Haemoniis, quas non advexerat, herbas.
Impia tot populis, tot surdas gentibus aures
Coelicolum dirae convertunt carmina gentis.
Una per aethereos exit vox illa recessus,
Verbaque ad invitum perfert cogentia numen,
Quod non cura poli coelique volubilis umquam
Avocat. Infandum tetigit cum sidera murmur,
Tunc, Babylon Persea licet secretaque Memphis
Omne vetustorum solvat penetrale Magorum,
Abducit superos alienis Thessalis aris.
Carmine Thessalidum dura in praecordia fluxit
Non fatis adductus amor: flammisque severi
Illicitis arsere senes. Nec noxia tantum
Pocula proficiunt aut cum turgentia succo
Frontis amaturae subducunt pignora fetae.
Mens hausti nulla sanie polluta veneni
Excantata perit. Quos non concordia mixti
Adligat ulla tori, blandaque potentia formae,
Traxerunt torti magica vertigine fili.
Cessavere vices rerum: dilataque longa
Haesit nocte dies. Legi non paruit aether:
Torpuit et praeceps audito carmine mundus:
Axibus et rapidis impulsos Iuppiter urgens
Miratur non ire polos. Nunc omnia complent
Imbribus, et calido producunt nubila Phoebo:
Et tonat ignaro coelum Iove. Vocibus isdem
Humentes late nebulas nimbosque solutis
Excussere comis. Ventis cessantibus, aequor
Intumuit: rursus vetitum sentire procellas
Conticuit, turbante Noto: puppimque ferentes
In ventum tumuere sinus. De rupe pependit
Abscisa fixus torrens: amnisque cucurrit
Non qua pronus erat. Nilum non extulit aestas:
Maeander direxit aquas: Rhodatumque morantem
Praecipitavit Arar: submitso verice montes
Explicuere iugum. Nubes suspexit Olympus:
Solibus et nullis Scythicae, cum bruma rigeret,
Dimaduere nives. Impulsam sidere Tethyn
Repulit Haemonidum, defenso litore, carmen.
Terra quoque immoti concussit ponderis axem,
Et medium vergens nisu titubavit in orbem.
Tantae molis onus percussum voce recessit,
Prospectumque dedit circumlabentis Olympi.
Omne potens animal leti, genitumque nocere,
Et pavet Haemonias, et mortibus instruit artes.
Has avidae tigres et nobilis ira leonum
Ore fovent blando: gelidos his explicat orbes,
Inque pruinoso coluber distenditur arvo.
Viperei coeunt, abrupto corpore, nodi:
Humanoque cadit serpens adflata veneno.
Quis labor hic superis, cantus herbasque sequendi,
Spernendique timor? cuius commercia pacti
Obstrictos habuere deos? Parere necesse est,
An iuvat? Ignota tantum pietate merentur,
An tacitis valuere minis? Hoc iuris in omnes
Est illis superos, an habent haec carmina certum
Imperiosa deum, qui mundum cogere, quidquid
Cogitur ipse, potest? Illic et sidera primum
Praecipiti deducta polo: Phoebeque serena
Non aliter, diris verborum obsessa venenis,
Palluit, et nigris terrenisque ignibus arsit,
Quam si fraterna prohiberet imagine tellus,
Insereretque suas flammis coelestibus umbras:
Et patitur tantos cantu deprensa labores,
Donec suppositas propior despumet in herbas.

## 12. Book VI · lines 507–830

Source: https://scriptura.si/works/lucan-pharsalia/12/ · cite a paragraph as https://scriptura.si/works/lucan-pharsalia/12/#p-N

[¶0] These sinful rites and these her sister's songs
Abhorred Erichtho, fiercest of the race,
Spurned for their piety, and yet viler art
Practised in novel form. To her no home
Beneath a sheltering roof-her direful head
Thus to lay down were crime: deserted tombs
Her dwelling-place, from which, darling of hell,
She dragged the dead. Nor life nor gods forbad
But that she knew the secret homes of Styx
And learned to hear the whispered voice of ghosts
At dread mysterious meetings. Never sun
Shed his pure light upon that haggard cheek
Pale with the pallor of the shades, nor looked
Upon those locks unkempt that crowned her brow.
In starless nights of tempest crept the hag
Out from her tomb to seize the levin bolt;
Treading the harvest with accursed foot
She burned the fruitful growth, and with her breath
Poisoned the air else pure. No prayer she breathed
Nor supplication to the gods, nor knew
The pulse of entrails: logs from flaming pyres
She loves to cast on altars of the gods,
And incense pilfered from the smoking tomb.
The gods at her first utterance grant her prayer
For things unlawful, lest they hear again
Its fearful accents: men whose limbs were quick
With vital power she thrust within the grave
Despite the fates who owed them years to come:
The funeral reversed brought from the tomb
Those who were dead no longer; and the pyre
Yields to her shameless clutch still smoking dust
And bones enkindled, torches which but now
Some grieving father held, and fragments mixed
In sable smoke and ceremental cloths
Singed with the redolent fire that burned the dead.
But those who lie within a stony cell
Untouched by fire, whose dried and mummied frames
No longer know corruption, limb by limb
Venting her rage she tears, the bloodless eyes
Drags from their cavities, and mauls the nail
Upon the withered hand: she gnaws the noose
By which some wretch has died, and from the tree
Drags down a pendent corpse, its members torn
Asunder to the winds: forth from the palms
Wrenches the iron, and from the unbending bond
Hangs by her teeth, and with her hands collects
The slimy gore which drips upon the limbs.
Where lay a corpse upon the naked earth
On ravening birds and beasts of prey the hag
Kept watch, nor marred by knife or hand her spoil,
Till on his victim seized some nightly wolf;
Then dragged the morsel from his thirsty fangs;
Nor fears she murder, if some banquet fell
Need blood fresh issued from the gaping throat,
Or panting entrail. By unnatural means
Wombs yield to her the infant to be placed
On glowing altars: and whene'er she needs
Some fierce undaunted ghost, he fails not her
Who has all deaths in use. Her hand has chased
From smiling cheeks the rosy bloom of life;
And with sinister hand from dying youth
Has shorn the fatal lock: and holding oft
In foul embraces some departed friend
Severed the head, and through the ghastly lips,
Held by her own apart, some impious tale
Dark with mysterious horror hath conveyed
Down to the darkness of the Stygian shades.
When Sextus first, through rumours of the place,
Heard of the hag, what time beneath the earth
Titan was wheeling at full height, and here
Night in mid course, in quest of her he trod
Through desert fields. Meanwhile a faithful band,
His ministers of guilt, mid tombs and vaults
All ruined wandering, beheld the witch
Seated afar upon a lofty crag
Where Haemus reaches out Pharsalian spurs.
There was she proving for her gods and priests
Of magic, words unknown, and framing chants
Of dire and novel purpose: for she feared
Lest Mars should stray into another world,
And spare Thessalian soil the blood ere long
To flow in torrents; and thus she forbade
Philippi's field, polluted with her song,
Thick with her poisonous distilments sown,
To let the war pass by. Such deaths, she hopes,
Soon shall be hers! the blood of all the world
Shed for her use! to her it shall be given
To sever from their trunks the heads of kings,
Plunder the ashes of the noble dead,
Italia's bravest, and in triumph add
The mightiest warriors to her host of shades.
This her sole toil, from Magnus' tombless corse
What she may snatch, on which of Caesar's limbs
Her grasp may fasten.
To whom the coward son
Of Magnus thus: 'Thou greatest ornament
Of Haemon's daughters, in whose power it lies
Or to reveal the fates, or from its course
'To turn the future, be it mine to know
'By thy sure utterance to what final end
'Fortune now guides the issue. Not the least
'Of all the Roman host on yonder plain
Am I, but Magnus' most illustrious son,
Lord of the world or heir to death and doom.
'The unknown affrights me: I can firmly face
The certain terror. Bid my destiny
Yield to thy power the dark and hidden end,
And let me fall foreknowing. From the gods
Extort the truth, or, if thou spare the gods,
Force it from hell itself. Fling back the gates
That bar th' Elysian fields; let Death confess
'Whom from our ranks he seeks. No humble task
I bring, but worthy of Erichtho's skill
Of such a struggle fought for such a prize
To search and tell the issue.'
Then the witch
Pleased that her impious fame was noised abroad
Thus made her answer: 'If some lesser fates
'Thy wish had been to change, against their wish
'It had been easy to compel the gods
'To its accomplishment. My art has power
When of one man the constellations press
The speedy death, to compass a delay;.
And mine it is, though every star decrees
A ripe old age, by mystic herbs to shear
The life midway. But should some purpose set
From the beginning of the universe,
And all the labouring fortunes of mankind,
'Be brought in question, then Thessalian art
'Bows to the power supreme. But if thou be
Content to know the issue pre-ordained,
'Simple the task and plain; for earth and air
And sea and space and Rhodopaean crags
'Shall speak the future. Yet it easiest seems
Where death in these Thessalian fields abounds
'To raise a single corpse. From dead men's lips
Scarce cold, in fuller accents falls the voice;
Not from some mummied frame in accents shrill
Uncertain to the ear.'

> Latin: Hos scelerum ritus, haec dirae carmina gentis
Effera damnarat nimiae pietatis Erichtho,
Inque novos ritus pollutam duxerat artem.
Illi namque nefas urbis submittere tecto
Aut laribus ferale caput: desertaque busta
Incolit, et tumulos expulsis obtinet umbris,
Grata deis erebi. Coetus audire silentum,
Nosse domos Stygias arcanaque Ditis operti,
Non superi, non vita vetat. Tenet ora profanae
Foeda situ macies, coeloque ignota sereno
Terribilis Stygio facies pallore gravatur,
Impexis onerata comis. Si nimbus et atrae
Sidera subducunt nubes, tunc Thessala nudis
Egreditur bustis, nocturnaque fulgura captat.
Semina foecundae segetis calcata perussit,
Et non letiferas spirando perdidit auras.
Nec superos orat, nec cantu supplice numen
Auxiliare vocat, nec fibras illa litantes
Novit: funereas aris imponere flammas
Gaudet, et accenso rapuit quae tura sepulcro.
Omne nefas superi prima iam voce precantis
Concedunt, carmenque timent audire secundum.
Viventes animas, et adhuc sua membra regentes,
Infodit busto: fatis debentibus annos
Mors invita subit: perversa funera pompa
Retulit a tumulis: fugere cadavera letum.
Fumantes iuvenum cineres, ardentiaque ossa
E mediis rapit illa rogis, ipsamque, parentes
Quam tenuere, facem: nigroque volantia fumo
Feralis fragmenta tori, vestesque fluentes
Colligit in cineres et olentes membra favillas.
Ast ubi servantur saxis, quibus intimus humor
Ducitur, et tracta durescunt tabe medullae
Corpora; tunc omnes avide desaevit in artus,
Immersitque manus oculis, gaudetque gelatos
Effodisse orbes, et siccae pallida rodit
Excrementa manus: laqueum nodosque nocentes
Ore suo rupit: pendentia corpora carpsit,
Abrasitque cruces: percussaque viscera nimbis
Vulsit, et incoctas admisso sole medullas.
Insertum manibus chalybem, nigramque per artus
Stillantis tabi saniem, virusque coactum
Sustulit, et nervo morsus retinente pependit.
Et quodcumque iacet nuda tellure cadaver,
Ante feras volucresque sedet: nec carpere membra
Vult ferro manibusque suis, morsusque luporum
Exspectat, siccis raptura a faucibus artus.
[Nec cessant a caede manus, si sanguine vivo]
[Est opus, erumpat iugulo qui primus aperto.]
Nec refugit caedes, vivum si sacra cruorem,
Extaque funereae poscunt trepidantia mensae.
Vulnere sic ventris, non, qua natura vocabat,
Extrahitur partus, calidis ponendus in aris.
Et quoties saevis opus est ac fortibus umbris,
Ipsa facit manes: hominum mors omnis in usu est.
Illa genae florem primaevo corpore vulsit,
Illa comam laeva morienti abscidit ephebo.
Saepe etiam caris cognato in funere dira
Thessalis incubuit membris: atque oscula figens,
Truncavitque caput, compressaque dentibus ora
Laxavit: siccoque haerentem gutture linguam
Praemordens, gelidis infudit murmura labris,
Arcanumque nefas Stygias mandavit ad umbras.
Hanc ut fama loci Pompeio prodidit: alta
Nocte poli, Titan medium quo tempore ducit
Sub nostra tellure diem, deserta per arva
Carpit iter. Fidi scelerum suetique ministri,
Effractos circum tumulos ac busta vagati,
Conspexere procul praerupta in caute sedentem,
Qua iuga devexus Pharsalica porrigit Aemus.
Ilia magis magicisque deis incognita verba
Tentabat, carmenque novos fingebat in usus.
Namque, timens, ne Mars alium vagus iret in orbem,
Emathis et tellus tam multa caede careret,
Pollutos cantu dirisque venefica succis
Conspersos vetuit transmittere bella Philippos,
Tot mortes habitura suas, usuraque mundi
Sanguine: caesorum truncare cadavera regum
Sperat, et Hesperiae cineres avertere gentis,
Ossaque nobilium, tantosque adquirere manes.
Hic ardor, solusque labor, quid corpore Magni
Proiecto rapiat, quos Caesaris involet artus.
Quam prior adfatur Pompeii ignava propago:
O decus Haemonidum, populis quae pandere fata,
Quaeque suo ventura potes divertere cursu,
Te precor, ut certum liceat mihi noscere finem,
Quem belli Fortuna paret. Non ultima turbae
Pars ego Romanae: Magni clarissima proles,
Vel dominus rerum, vel tanti funeris heres.
Mens dubiis percussa pavet, rursusque parata est
Certos ferre metus. Hoc casibus eripe iuris,
Ne subiti caecique ruant: vel numina torque,
Vel tu parce deis, et Manibus exprime verum
Elysias resera sedes, ipsamque vocatam,
Quos petat e nobis, Mortem tibi coge fateri.
Non humilis labor est: dignum, quod quaerere cures,
Vel tibi, quo tanti praeponderet alea fati.
Impia vulgatae laetatur nomine famae
Thessalis, et contra: Si fata minora moveres,
Pronum erat, o iuvenis, quos velles, inquit, in actus
Invitos praebere deos. Conceditur arti,
Unam cum radiis presserunt sidera mortem,
Inseruisse moras: et, quamvis fecerit omnis
Stella senem, medios herbis abrumpimus annos.
At simul a prima descendit origine mundi
Caussarum series, atque omnia fata laborant,
Si quidquam mutare velis, unoque sub ictu
Stat genus humanum tunc, Thessala turba fatemur,
Plus fortuna potest. Sed si praenoscere casus
Contentus, facilesque aditus multique patebunt
Ad verum: tellus nobis, aetherque, chaosque,
Aequoraque, et campi, Rhodopaeaque saxa loquentur.
Sed pronum, cum tanta novae sit copia mortis,
Emathiis unum campis adtollere corpus,
Ut modo defuncti tepidique cadaveris ora
Plena voce sonent nec, membris sole perustis,
Auribus incertum feralis strideat umbra.

[¶1] Thus spake the hag
And through redoubled night, a squalid veil
Swathing her pallid features, stole among
Unburied carcases. Fast fled the wolves,
The carrion birds with maw unsatisfied
Relaxed their talons, as with creeping step
She sought her prophet. Firm must be the flesh
As yet, though cold in death, and firm the lungs
Untouched by wound. Now in the balance hung
The fates of slain unnumbered; had she striven
Armies to raise and order back to life
Whole ranks of warriors, the laws had failed
Of Erebus; and, summoned up from Styx,
Its ghostly tenants had obeyed her call,
And rising fought once more. At length the witch
Picks out her victim with pierced throat agape
Fit for her purpose. Gripped by pitiless hook
O'er rocks she drags him to the mountain cave
Accursed by her fell rites, that shall restore
The dead man's life. Close to the hidden brink
The land that girds the precipice of hell
Sinks towards the depths: with ever falling leaves
A wood o'ershadows, and a spreading yew
Casts shade impenetrable. Foul decay
Fills all the space, and in the deep recess
Darkness unbroken, save by chanted spells,
Reigns ever. Not where gape the misty jaws
Of caverned Taenarus, the gloomy bound
Of either world, through which the nether kings
Permit the passage of the dead to earth,
So poisonous, mephitic, hangs the air.
Nay, though the witch had power to call the shades
Forth from the depths, 'twas doubtful if the cave
Were not a part of hell. Discordant hues
Flamed on her garb as by a fury worn;
Bare was her visage, and upon her brow
Dread vipers hissed, beneath her streaming locks
In sable coils entwined. But when she saw
The youth's companions trembling, and himself
With eyes cast down, with visage as of death,
Thus spake the witch: ' Forbid your craven souls
'These fears to cherish: soon returning life
'This frame shall quicken, and in tones which reach
Even the timorous ear shall speak the man.
'If I have power the Stygian lakes to show,
The bank that sounds with fire, the fury band,
'And giants fettered, and the hound that shakes
'Bristling with heads of snakes his triple head,
What fear is this that cringes at the sight
Of timid shivering shades? '
Then to her prayer.
First through his gaping bosom blood she pours
Still fervent, washing from his wounds the gore.
Then copious poisons from the moon distils
Mixed with all monstrous things which Nature's pangs
Bring to untimely birth; the froth from dogs
Stricken with madness, foaming at the stream;
A lynx's entrails: and the knot that grows
Upon the fell hyaena; flesh of stags
Fed upon serpents; and the sucking fish
Which holds the vessel back though eastern winds
Make bend the canvas; dragon's eyes; and stones
That sound beneath the brooding eagle's wings.
Nor Araby's viper, nor the ocean snake
Who in the Red Sea waters guards the shell,
Are wanting; nor the slough on Libyan sands
By horned reptile cast; nor ashes fail
Snatched from an altar where the Phoenix died.
And viler poisons many, which herself
Has made, she adds, whereto no name is given:
Pestiferous leaves pregnant with magic chants
And blades of grass which in their primal growth
Her cursed mouth had slimed. Last came her voice
More potent than all herbs to charm the gods
Who rule in Lethe. Dissonant murmurs first
And sounds discordant from the tongues of men
She utters, scarce articulate: the bay
Of wolves, and barking as of dogs, were mixed
With that fell chant; the screech of nightly owl
Raising her hoarse complaint; the howl of beast
And sibilant hiss of snake-all these were there;
And more-the wail of waters on the rock,
The sound of forests and the thunder peal.
Such was her voice; but soon in clearer tones
Reaching to Tartarus, she raised her song:
' Ye awful goddesses, avenging power
' Of Hell upon the damned, and Chaos huge
' Who striv'st to mix innumerable worlds,
' And Pluto, king of earth, whose weary soul
' Grieves at his godhead; Styx; and plains of bliss
' We may not enter: and thou, Proserpine,
' Hating thy mother and the skies above,
' My patron goddess, last and lowest form
' Of Hecate, through whom the shades and I
' Hold silent converse; warder of the gate
' Who castest human offal to the dog:
' Ye sisters who shall spin the threads again;
' And thou, O boatman of the burning wave,
' Now wearied of the shades from hell to me
' Returning, hear me if with voice I cry
' Abhorred, polluted; if the flesh of man
' Hath ne'er been absent from my proffered song,
Flesh washed with brains still quivering; if the child
Whose severed head I placed upon the dish
But for this hand had lived-a listening ear
Lend to my supplication! From the caves
'Hid in the innermost recess of hell
' I claim no soul long banished from the light.
' For one but now departed, lingering still
' Upon the brink of Orcus, is my prayer.
Grant (for ye may) that listening to the spell
'Once more he seek his dust; and let the shade
Of this our soldier perished (if the war
Well at your hands has merited), proclaim
The destiny of Magnus to his son.'
Such prayers she uttered; then upraised her head
And foaming lips, and present saw the ghost.
Hard by he stood, beside the hated corpse
His ancient prison, and loathed to enter in.
There was the yawning chest where fell the blow
That was his death; and yet the gift supreme
Of death, his right, (Ah, wretch! ) was reft away.
Angered at Death the witch, and at the pause
Conceded by the fates, with living snake
Scourges the nerveless corse; and on the dead
She barks through fissures gaping to her song,
Breaking the silence of their gloomy home:
' Tisiphone, Megaera, heed ye not?
Flies not this wretched soul before your whips
' The void of Erebus? By your very names,
' She-dogs of hell, I'll call you to the day,
Not to return; through sepulchres and death
Your gaoler: from funereal urns and tombs
I'll chase you forth. And thou, too, Hecate,
Who to the gods in comely shape and mien,
Not that of Erebus, appear'st, henceforth
Wasted and pallid as thou art in hell
'At my command shalt come. I'll noise abroad
The banquet that beneath the solid earth
Holds thee, thou maid of Enna; by what bond
'Thou lov'st night's King, by what mysterious stain
Infected, so that Ceres fears from hell
'To call her daughter. And for thee, base king,
'Titan shall pierce thy caverns with his rays
And sudden day shall smite thee. Do ye hear?
'Or shall I summon to mine aid that god
'At whose dread name earth trembles; who can look
Unflinching on the Gorgon's head, and drive
'The Furies with his scourge, who holds the depths
' Ye cannot fathom, and above whose haunts
Ye dwell supernal; who by waves of Styx
Forswears himself unpunished? '

> Latin: Dixerat: et noctis geminatis arte tenebris,
Moestum tecta caput squalenti nube, pererrat
Corpora caesorum, tumuli proiecta negatis.
Continuo fugere lupi, fugere revulsis
Unguibus impastae volucres, dum Thessala vatem
Eligit et gelidas leto scrutata medullas
Pulmonis rigidi stantes sine vulnere fibras
Invenit, et vocem defuncto in corpore quaerit.
Fata peremptorum pendent iam multa virorum,
Quem superis revocasse velit. Si tollere totas
Tentasset campis acies, et reddere bello,
Cessissent leges Erebis monstroque potenti
Extrartus Stygio populus pugnasset Averno.
Electum tandem traiecto gutture corpus
Ducit, et inserto laqueis feralibus unco,
Per scopolus miserum trahitur per saxa cadaver
Victurum: montisque cavi, quem tristis Erichtho
Damnarat sacris, alta sub rupe locatur.
Haud procul a Ditis caecis depressa cavernis
In praeceps subsedit humus: quam pallida pronis
Urget silva comis, et nullo vertice coelum
Suspiciens, Phoebo non pervia taxus opacat.
Marcentes intus tenebrae, pallensque sub antris
Longa nocte situs; numquam, nisi carmine factum,
Lumen habet. Non Taenareis sic faucibus aer
Sedit iners, moestum mundi confine latentis,
Ac nostri: quo non metuant emittere manes
Tartarei reges, Nam quamvis Thessala vates
Vim faciat fatis, dubium est, quod traxerit illuc
Adspiciat Stygias, an quod descenderit, umbras.
Discolor et vario furialis cultus amictu
Induitur, vultusque aperitur, crine remoto,
Et coma vipereis substringitur horrida sertis.
Ut pavidos iuvenis comites, ipsumque trememtem
Conspicit, exanimi defixum lumina vultu:
Ponite, ait, trepida conceptos mente timores:
Iam nova, iam vera reddetur vita figura,
Ut quamvis pavidi possint audire loquentem.
Si vero Stygiosque lacus, ripamque sonantem
Ignibus ostendam, si me praesente videri
Eumenides possent, villosaque colla colubris
Cerberus excutiens, et vincti terga Gigantes,
Quis timor, ignavi, metuentes cernere manes?
Pectora tunc primum ferventi sanguine supplet
Vulneribus laxata Iovis: taboque medullas
Abluit: et virus large lunare ministrat,
Huc quidquid fetu genuit natura sinistro
Miscetur. Non spuma canum, quibus unda timori est,
Viscera non lyncis, non dirae nodus hyaenae
Defuit, et cervi pasti serpente medulla:
Non puppim retinens, Euro tendente rudentes,
In mediis echeneis aquis, oculique draconum,
Quaeque sonant feta tepefacta sub alite saxa:
Non Arabum volucer serpens, innataque rubris
Aequoribus custos pretiosae vipera conchae:
Aut viventis adhuc Libyci membrana cerastae,
Aut cinis Eoa positi Phoenicia in ara.
Quo postquam viles, nec habentes nomina pestes
Contulit: infando saturatas carmine frandes,
Et, quibus os dirum nascentibus inspuit, herbas
Addidit, et quidquid mundo dedit ipsa veneni:
Tunc vox, Lethaeos cunctis pollentior herbis
Excantare deos, confudit murmura primum
Dissona, et humanae multum discordia linguae.
Latratus habet illa canum, gemitumque luporum:
Quod trepidus bubo, quod strix nocturna queruntur,
Quod stridunt ululantque ferae, quod sibilat anguis,
Exprimit, et planctus illisae cautibus undae;
Silvarumque sonum, fractaeque tonitrua nubis.
Tot rerum vox una fuit. Mox cetera cantu
Explicat Haemonio, penetratque in Tartara lingua:
Eumenides, Stygiumque nefas, poenaeque nocentum:
Et Chaos innumeros avidum confundere mundos:
Et rector terrae, quem longa in saecula torquet
Mors dilata deum: Styx, et, quos nulla meretur
Thessalis Elysios: coelum matremque perosa
Persephone, nostraeque Hecates pars ultima, per quam
Manibus et mihi sunt tacitae commercia linguae:
Ianitor et sedis laxae, qui viscera saevo
Spargis nostra cani: repetitaque fila sorores
Tracturae: tuque o flagrantis portitor undae,
Iam lassate senex ad me redeuntibus umbris:
Exaudite preces, si vos satis ore nefando
Pollutoque voco, si numquam haec carmina fibris
Humanis ieiuna cano, si pectora plena
Saepe dedi, et lavi calido prosecta cerebro;
Si quis, cum vestris caput extaque lancibus, infans,
Imposui, victurus erat: parete precanti.
Non in Tartareo latitantem poscimus antro,
Adsuetamque dia tenebris, modo luce fugata
Descendentem animam: primo pallentis hiatu
Haeret adhuc Orci. Licet has exaudiat herbas
Ad manes ventura semel. Ducis omina nato
Pompeiana canat nostri modo militis umbra,
Si bene de vobis civilia bella merentur.
Haec ubi fata caput spumantiaque ora levavit,
Adspicit adstantem proiecti corporis umbram,
Exanimes artus invisaque claustra timentem
Carceris antiqui. Pavet ire in pectus apertum
Visceraque, et ruptas letali volnere fibras.
Ah miser, extremum cui mortis munus inique
Eripitur, non posse mori. Miratur Erichtho
Has fatis licuisse moras, irataque morti
Verberat immotum vivo serpente cadaver:
Perque cavas terrae, quas egit carmine, rimas
Manibus illatrat, regnique silentia rupit:
Tisiphone, vocisque meae secura Megaera,
Non agitis saevis Erebi per inane flagellis
Infelicem animam? Iam vos ego nomine vero
Eliciam, Stygiasque canes in luce superna
Destituam: per busta sequar, per funera custos;
Expellam tumulis, abigam vos omnibus urnis.
Teque deis, ad quos alio procedure vultu
Ficta soles, Hecate, pallenti tabida forma
Ostendam, faciemque Erebi mutare vetabo.
Eloquar, immenso terrae sub pondere quae te
Contineant, Ennaea, dapes, qua foedere moestum
Regem noctis ames, quae te contagia passam
Noluerit revocare parens. Tibi, pessime mundi
Arbiter, immittam ruptis Titana cavernis,
Et subito feriere die. Paretis? an ille
Compellandus erit, quo numquam terra vocato
Non concussa tremit, qui Gorgona cernit apertam,
Verberibusque suis trepidam castigat Erinnyn,
Indespecta tenet vobis qui Tartara; cuius
Vos estis, superi; Stygias qui peierat undas?

[¶2] Then the blood
Grew warm and liquid, and with softening touch
Cherished the stiffened wounds and filled the veins,
Till throbbed once more the slow returning pulse
And every fibre trembled, as with death
Life was commingled. Then, not limb by limb,
With toil and strain, but rising at a bound
Leaped from the earth erect the living man.
Fierce glared his eyes uncovered, and the life
Was dim, and still upon his face remained
The pallid hues of hardly parted death.
Amazement seized upon him, to the earth
Brought back again: but from his lips tight drawn
No murmur issued; he had power alone
When questioned to reply. 'Speak,' quoth the hag,
As I shall bid thee; great shall be thy gain
If true thine answers, freed for evermore
From all Haemonian art. Such burial place
Shall now be thine, and on thy funeral pyre
Such fatal woods shall burn, such chant shall sound,
'That to thy ghost no more or magic song
Or spell shall reach, and thy Lethaean sleep
Shall never more be broken in a death
' From me received anew: for such reward
' Think not this second life enforced in vain.
' Obscure may be the answers of the gods
' By priestess spoken at the holy shrine;
' But whoso braves the oracles of death
' In search of truth, should gain a sure response.
' Then speak, I pray thee. Let the hidden fates
' Tell through thy voice the mysteries to come.'
Thus spake she, and her words by mystic force
Gave him his answer; but with gloomy mien,
And tears swift flowing, thus he made reply:
'Called from the margin of the silent stream
I saw no fateful sisters spin the threads.
'Yet know I this, that 'mid the Roman shades
'Reigns fiercest discord; and this impious war
'Destroys the peace that ruled the fields of death.
'Elysian meads and deeps of Tartarus
'In paths diverse the Roman chieftains leave
'And thus disclose the fates. The blissful ghosts
Bear visages of sorrow. Sire and son
'The Decii, who gave themselves to death
'In expiation of their country's doom,
'And great Camillus, wept; and Sulla's shade
'Complained of fortune. Scipio bewailed
'The scion of his race about to fall
' In sands of Libya: Cato, greatest foe
' To Carthage, grieves for that indignant soul
' Which shall disdain to serve. Brutus alone
' In all the happy ranks I smiling saw,
' First consul when the kings were thrust from Rome.
' The chains were fallen from boastful Catiline.
' Him too I saw rejoicing, and the pair
' Of Marii, and Cethegus' naked arm.
' The Drusi, heroes of the people, joyed,
' In laws immoderate; and the famous pair
' Of greatly daring brothers: guilty bands
' By bars eternal shut within the doors
' That close the prison of hell, applaud the fates,
'Claiming the plains Elysian: and the King
' Throws wide his pallid halls, makes hard the points
' Of craggy rocks, and forges iron chains,
' The victor's punishment. But take with thee
'This comfort, youth, that there a calm abode,
' And peaceful, waits thy father and his house.
' Nor let the glory of a little span
' Disturb thy boding heart: the hour shall come
' When all the chiefs shall meet. Shrink not from death,
' But glorying in the greatness of your souls,
' E'en from your humble sepulchres descend,
' And tread beneath your feet, in pride of place,
' The wandering phantoms of the gods of Rome.
' Which chieftain's tomb by Tiber shall be laved,
' And which by Nile; their fate, and theirs alone,
' This battle shall decide. Nor seek to know
' From me thy fortunes: for the fates in time
' Shall give thee all thy due; and thy great sire,
' A surer prophet, in Sicilian fields
'Shall speak thy future-doubting even he
' What regions of the world thou shouldst avoid
' And what shouldst seek. O miserable race!
' Europe and Asia and Libya's plains,
' Which saw your conquests, now shall hold alike
' Your burial-place-nor has the earth for you
' A happier land than this.'
His task performed,
He stands in mournful guise, with silent look
Asking for death again; yet could not die
Till mystic herb and magic chant prevailed.
For nature's law, once used, had power no more
To slay the corpse and set the spirit free.
With plenteous wood she builds the funeral pyre
To which the dead man comes: then as the flames
Seized on his form outstretched, the youth and witch
Together sought the camp; and as the dawn
Now streaked the heavens, by the hag's command
The day was stayed till Sextus reached his tent,
And mist and darkness veiled his safe return.

> Latin: Protinus adstrictus caluit cruor, atraque fovit
Vulnera, et in venas extremaque membra cucurrit.
Percussae gelido trepidant sub pectore fibrae:
Et nova desuetis subrepens vita medullis
Miscetur morti. Tunc omnis palpitat artus:
Tenduntur nervi: nec se tellure cadaver
Paulatim per membra levat, terraque repulsum est,
Erectumque simul. Distento lumina rictu
Nudantur. Nondum facies viventis in illo,
Iam morientis erat. Remanent pallorque rigorque;
Et stupet illatus mundo. Sed murmure nullo
Ora adstricta sonant. Vox illi linguaque tantum
Responsura datur. Dic, inquit Thessala, magna,
Quod iubeo, mercede mihi: nam vera locutum
Immunem toto mundi praestabimus aevo
Artibus Haemoniis: tali tua membra sepulcro,
Talibus exuram Stygio cum carmine silvis,
Ut nullos cantata magos exaudiat umbra.
Sit tanti, vixisse iterum: nec verba, nec herbae
Audebunt longae somnum tibi solvere Lethes,
A me morte data. Tripodas vatesque deorum
Sors obscura decet; certus discedat, ab umbris
Quisquis vera petit duraeque oracula mortis
Fortis adit. Ne parce, precor. Da nomina rebus,
Da loca, da vocem, qua mecum fata loquantur.
Addidit et carmen, quo, quidquid consulit, umbram
Scire dedit. Moestum, fletu manante, cadaver,
Tristia non equidem Parcarum stamina, dixit,
Respexi, tacitae revocatus ab aggere ripae:
Quod tamen e cunctis mihi noscere contigit umbris,
Effera Romanos agitat discordia manes,
Impiaque infernam ruperunt arma quietem.
Elysias alii sedes, ac Tartara moesta
Diversi liquere duces: quid fata pararent,
Hi fecere palam. Tristis felicibus umbris
Vultus erat. Vidi Decios, natumque patremque,
Lustrales bellis animas, flentemque Camillum,
Et Curios; Sullam de te, Fortuna, querentem.
Deplorat Libycis perituram Scipio terris
Infaustam sobolem. Maior, Carthaginis hostis,
Non servituri moeret Cato fata nepotis.
Solum te Consul depulsis prime tyrannis
Brute pias inter gaudentem vidimus umbras.
Abruptis Catilina minax fractisque catenis
Exsulat, Mariique truces, nudique Cethegi.
Vidi ego laetantes, popularia nomina, Drusos;
Legibus immodicos, ausosque ingentia Gracchos.
Aeternis chalybum nodis, et carcere Ditis
Constrictae plausere manus, camposque piorum
Poscit turba nocens. Regni possessor inertia
Pallentes aperit sedes, abruptaque saxa
Asperat, et durum vinclis adamanta, paratque
Poenam victori. Refer haec solatia tecum,
O iuvenis, placido Manes patremque domumque
Exspectare sinu, regnique in parte serena
Pompeio servare locum. Nec gloria parvae
Sollicitet vitae: veniet, quae misceat omnes
Hora duces. Properate mori, magnoque superbi
Quamvis e parvis animo descendite bustis,
Et Romanorum manes calcate deorum.
Quem tumulum Nili, quem Tybridis adluat unda,
Quaeritur, et ducibus tantum de funere pugna est.
Tu fatur ne quaere tuum cognoscere: Parcae,
Me reticente, dabunt: tibi certior omnia vates
Ipse canet Siculis genitor Pompeius in arvis:
Ille quoque incertus, quo te vocet, unde repellat,
Quas iubeat vitare plagas, quae sidera mundi.
Europam miseri, Libyamque Asiamque timete:
Distribuit tumulos vestris Fortuna triumphis.
O miseranda domus, toto nihil orbe videbis
Tutius Emathia. Sic postquam fata peregit,
Stat vultu moestus tacito, mortemque reposcit.
Carminibus magicis opus est, herbisque, cadaver
Ut cadat, et nequeunt animam sibi reddere fata,
Consumto iam iure semel. Tum robore multo
Exstruit illa rogum: venit defunctus ad ignes;
Accensa iuvenem positum strue liquit Erichtho,
Tandem passa mori: Sextoque ad castra parentis
It comes: et coelo lucis ducente colorem,
Dum ferrent tutos intra tentoria gressus,
Iussa tenere diem densas nox praestitit umbras.

## 13. Book VII · lines 1–459

Source: https://scriptura.si/works/lucan-pharsalia/13/ · cite a paragraph as https://scriptura.si/works/lucan-pharsalia/13/#p-N

[¶0] NE'ER to the summons of the Eternal laws
More slowly Titan rose, nor drave his steeds,
Forced by the sky revolving, up the heaven,
With gloomier presage; wishing to endure
The pangs of ravished light, and dark eclipse;
And drew the mists up, not to feed his flames,
But lest his light upon Thessalian earth
Might fall undimmed.
Pompeius on that morn,
To him the latest day of happy life,
In troubled sleep an empty dream conceived.
For in the watches of the night he heard
Innumerable Romans shout his name
Within his theatre; the benches vied
To raise his fame and place him with the gods;
As once in youth, when victory was won
O'er conquered tribes whom swift Iberus girds,
And when Sertorius' armies fought and fled,
He sat triumphant for the west subdued,
In pure white gown, and heard the Senate cheer;
No less majestic as a Roman knight
Than had the purple robe adorned his car.
Perhaps, as ills drew near, his anxious soul,
Shunning the future, wooed the happy past;
Or, as is wont, prophetic slumber showed
That which was not to be, by doubtful forms
Misleading; or as envious Fate forbade
Return to Italy, this glimpse of Rome
Kind Fortune gave. Break not his latest sleep,
Ye sentinels; let not the trumpet call
Strike on his ear: for on the morrow's night
Shapes of the battle lost, of death and war
Shall crowd his rest with terrors. Whence shalt thou
The poor man's happiness of sleep regain?
Happy if thus, e'en thus, thy Rome could see
Once more her captain! Would the gods had given
To thee and to thy country one day yet
To reap the latest fruit of such a love:
Though sure of fate to come! Thou marchest on
As though by heaven ordained in Rome to die;
She, conscious ever of her prayers for thee
Heard by the gods, deemed not the fates decreed
Such evil destiny, that she should lose
The last sad solace of her Magnus' tomb.
Then young and old had blent their tears for thee,
And child unbidden; women torn their hair
And struck their bosoms as for Brutus dead.
E'en now though trembling at the victor's sword,
Though cruel Caesar herald thy defeat,
Yet shall they grieve, while at the Thunderer's throne
They offer incense and the laurel wreath.
Ah, wretched fate! In silence must they groan;
Nor in that theatre which heard thy praise
Proclaim their sorrow for Pompeius dead.
The stars had fled before the growing morn,
When eager voices (as the fates drew on
The world to ruin) round Pompeius' tent
Ask for the signal. What! shall those condemned
To die ere fall of eve, provoke the hour
Of hastening death, demand the fatal doom
Their own, their country's? 'Magnus fears,' they cry,
He's patient of his kinsman, slow to strike,
'And fondly holds beneath his sway the world;
'So dreads a peace.' And kings from Orient lands,
And peoples, eager for their distant homes,
Already murmured at the lengthy war.
Thus has it pleased the gods, when woe impends
On guilty men, to make them seem its cause.
We court disaster, crave the fatal sword.
Of Magnus' camp Pharsalia was the prayer;
For Tullius, of all the sons of Rome
Chief orator, beneath whose civil rule
Fierce Catiline at the peace-compelling axe
Trembled and fled, arose, to Magnus' ear
Bearing the voice of all. To him was war
Grown hateful, and he longed once more to hear
The Senate's plaudits; and with eloquent lips
He lent persuasion to the weaker cause.
Fortune, Pompeius, for her gifts to thee
'Asks this one boon, that thou shouldst use her now.
Here at thy feet thy leading captains lie;
' And here thy monarchs, and a suppliant world
' Entreats thee prostrate for thy kinsman's fall.
' So long shall Caesar plunge the world in war?
' Swift was thy tread when these proud nations fell;
' How deep their shame, and justly, should delay
'Now mar thy conquests! Where thy trust in Fate,
Thy fervour where? Ingrate! Dost dread the gods,
' Or think they favour not the Senate's cause?
' Thy troops unbidden shall the standards seize
' And conquer; thou in shame be forced to win.
' If at the Senate's orders and for us
' The war is waged, then give to us the right
' To choose the battle-field. Why dost thou keep
' From Caesar's throat the swords of all the world?
' The weapon quivers in the eager hand:
' Scarce one awaits the signal. Strike at once,
' Or without thee the trumpets sound the frav.
' Art thou the Senate's comrade or her lord?
' We wait your answer.'
But Pompeius groaned;
His mind was adverse, but he felt the fates
Opposed his wish, and knew the hand divine.

> Latin: Segnior Oceano, quam lex aeterna vocabat,
Luctificus Titan numquam magis aethera contra
Egit equos, currumque, polo rapiente, retorsit:
Defectusque pati voluit, raptaeque labores
Lucis: et adtraxit nubes, non pabula flammis,
Sed ne Thessalico purus luceret in orbe.
At nox, felicis Magno pars ultima vitae,
Sollicitos vana decepit imagine somnos
Nam Pompeiani visus sibi sede theatri
Innumeram effigiem Romanae cernere plebis,
Adtollique suum laetis ad sidera nomen
Vocibus, et plausu cuneos certare sonantes.
Qualis erat populi facies clamorque faventis,
Olim cum iuvenis primique aetate triumphi
Post domitas gentes, quas torrens ambit Iberus,
Et quaecumque fugax Sertorius impulit arma,
Vespere pacato, pura venerabilis aeque
Quam currus ornante toga, plaudente senatu,
Sedit adhuc Romanus eques. Seu fine bonorum
Anxia venturis ad tempora laeta refugit,
Sive per ambages solitas contraria visis
Vaticinata quies, magni tulit omina planctus.
Seu vetito patrias ultra tibi cernere sedes,
Sic Romam Fortuna dedit. Ne rumpite somnos,
Castrorum vigiles; nullas tuba verberet aura
Crastina dira quies, et imagine moesta diurna
Undique funestas acies feret, undique bellum.
Unde pares somnos populi, noctemque beatam?
O felix, si te vel sic tua Roma videret.
Donassent utinam superi patriaeque tibique
Unum, Magne, diem, quo fati certus uterque
Extremum tanti fructum caperetis amoris.
Tu velut Ausonia vadis moriturus in urbe;
Illa, rati semper de te sibi conscia voti,
Hoc scelus haud umquam fatis haerere putavit,
Sic se dilecti tumulum quoque perdere Magni.
Te mixto flesset luctu iuvenisque senexque,
Iniussusque puer: lacerasset, crine soluto,
Pectora femineum, ceu Bruti funere, vulgus.
Nunc quoque, tela licet paveant victoris iniqui,
Nuntiet ipse licet Caesar tua funera, flebunt:
Sed dum tura ferunt, dum laurea serta Tonanti
O miseri, quorum gemitus edere dolorem,
Qui te non pleno pariter planxere theatro!
Vicerat astra iubar, cum mixto murmure turba
Castrorum fremuit, fatisque trahentibus orbem,
Signa petit pugnae. Miseri pars maxima vulgi,
Non totum visura diem, tentoria circum
Ipsa ducis queritur, magnoque accensa tumultu
Mortis vicinae properantes admovet horas.
Dira subit rabies: sua quisque ac publica fata
Praecipitare cupit: segnis pavidusque vocatur,
Ac nimium patiens soceri Pompeius, et orbis
Indulgens regno, qui tot simul undique gentes
Iuris habere sui vellet, pacemque timeret.
Nec non et reges populique queruntur Eoi
Bella trahi, patriaque procul tellure teneri
Hoc placet, o superi, cum vobis vertere cuncta
Propositum, nostris erroribus addere crimen?
Cladibus irruimus, nocituraque poscimus arma:
In Pompeianis votum est Pharsalia castris.
Cunctorum voces Romani maximus auctor
Tullius eloquii, cuius sub iure togaque
Pacificas saevus tremuit Catilina secures,
Pertulit, iratus bellis, cum rostra forumque
Optaret, passus tam longa silentia miles.
Addidit invalidae robur facundia caussae:
Hoc pro tot meritis solum te, Magne, precatur,
Uti se Fortuna velis: proceresque tuorum
Castrorum, regesque tui cum supplice mundo
Adfusi, vinci socerum patiare, rogamus.
Humano generi tam longo tempore bellum
Caesar erit? Merito, Pompeium vincere lente,
Gentibus indignum est a transcurrente subactis.
Quo tibi fervor abit? aut quo fiducia fati?
De superis, ingrate, times? caussamque senatus
Credere dis dubitas? Ipsae tua signa revellent,
Prosilientque acies. Pudeat vicisse coactum.
Si duce te iusso, si nobis bella geruntur,
Sit iuris, quocumque velint concurrere campo.
Quid mundi gladios a sanguine Caesaris arces?
Vibrant tela manus: vix signa morantia quisquam
Exspectat: propera, ne te tua classica linquant.
Scire senatus avet, miles te, Magne, sequatur,
An comes. Ingemuit rector, sensitque deorum
Esse dolos, et fata suae contraria menti.

[¶1] 'Since all desire it, and the fates prevail,
' So let it be; your leader now no more,
' I share the labours of the battle-field.
' Let Fortune roll the nations of the earth
' In one red ruin; myriads of mankind
' See their last sun to-day. Yet, Rome, I swear,
' This day of blood was forced upon thy son.
' Without a wound, the prizes of the war
' Might have been thine, and he who broke the peace
' In peace forgotten. Whence this lust for crime?
' Shall bloodless victories in civil war
' Be shunned, not sought? We've ravished from our foe
All boundless seas, and land; his starving troops
' Have snatched earth's crop half-grown, in vain attempt
' Their hunger to appease; they prayed for death,
' Sought for the sword-thrust, and within our ranks
' Were fain to mix their life-blood with your own.
' Much of the war is done: the conscript youth
' Whose heart beats high, who burns to join the fray
' (Though men fight hard in terror of defeat),
' The shock of onset need no longer fear.
' Bravest is he who promptly meets the ill
' When fate commands it and the moment comes,
Yet brooks delay, in prudence; and shall we,
' Our happy state enjoying, risk it all?
' Trust to the sword the fortunes of the world?
' Not victory, but battle, ye demand.
' Do thou, O Fortune, of the Roman state
' Who mad'st Pompeius guardian, from his hands
' Take back the charge grown weightier, and thyself
' Commit its safety to the chance of war.· Nor blame nor glory shall be mine to-day.
'Thy prayers unjustly, Caesar, have prevailed:
' We fight! What wickedness, what woes on men,
' Destruction on what realms this dawn shall bring!
' Crimson with Roman blood yon stream shall run.
' Would that (without the ruin of our cause)
' The first fell bolt hurled on this cursed day
' Might strike me lifeless! Victory to me
' Were not more joyful, for this battle brings
' A name of pity or a name of hate.
' The loser bears the burden of defeat;
' The victor wins, but conquest is a crime.'
Thus to the soldiers, burning for the fray,
He yields, forbidding, and throws down the reins.
So may a sailor give the winds control
Upon his barque, which, driven by the seas,
Bears him an idle burden. Now the camp
Hums with impatience, and the brave man's heart
With beats tumultuous throbs against his breast;
And all the host had standing in their looks
The paleness of the death that was to come.
On that day's fight 'twas manifest that Rome
And all the future destinies of man
Hung trembling; and by weightier dread possessed,
They knew not danger. Who would fear for self
Should ocean rise and whelm the mountain tops,
And sun and sky descend upon the earth
In universal chaos? Every mind
Is bent upon Pompeius, and on Rome.
They trust no sword until its deadly point
Glows on the sharpening stone; no lance will serve
Till straightened for the fray; each bow is strung
Anew, and arrows chosen for their work
Fill all the quivers; horsemen try the curb
And fit the bridle rein and whet the spur.
If toils divine with human may compare,
'Twas thus, when Phlegra bore the giant crew,
In Etna's furnace glowed the sword of Mars,
Neptunus' trident felt the flame once more;
And great Apollo after Python slain
Sharpened his darts afresh: on Pallas' shield
Was spread anew the dread Medusa's hair;
And for the battle in Pallene's fields
The Cyclops forged new thunderbolts for Jove.
Yet Fortune failed not, as they sought the field,
In various presage of the ills to come;
All heaven opposed their march: portentous fire
In columns filled the plain, and torches blazed:
And thirsty whirlwinds mixed with meteor bolts
Smote on them as they strode, whose sulphurous flames
Perplexed the vision. Crests were struck from helms;
The melted sword-blade flowed upon the hilt:
The spear ran liquid, and the hurtful steel
Smoked with a sulphur that had come from heaven.
Nay, more, the standards, hid by swarms of bees
Innumerable, weighed the bearer down,
Scarce lifted from the earth; bedewed with tears;
No more of Rome the standards, or her state.
And from the altar fled the frantic bull
To fields afar; nor was a victim found
To grace the sacrifice of coming doom.
But thou, O Caesar, to what gods of ill
Didst thou appeal? What furies didst thou call,
What powers of madness and what Stygian Kings
Whelmed in th' abyss of hell? Didst favour gain
By sacrifice in this thine impious war?
Strange sights were seen; or caused by hands divine
Or due to fearful fancy. Haemus' top
Plunged headlong in the valley, Pindus met
With high Olympus, while at Ossa's feet
Red ran Boebeis, and Pharsalia's field
Gave warlike voices as in depth of night.
Now darkness came upon their wondering gaze,
Now daylight pale and wan, their helmets wreathed
In pallid mist; the spirits of their sires
Hovered in air, and shades of kindred dead
Passed flitting through the gloom. Yet had the host,
Conscious of guilty prayers, and of the hope
To do to death their brothers and their sires,
One solace: that they found in hearts amazed
With horrors, and in earth and air distraught,
A happy omen of the crimes to come.
Was't strange that peoples whom their latest day
Of happy life awaited (if the mind
Of man foreknows) should tremble with affright?
Romans who dwelt by far Araxes' stream,
And Tyrian Gades, in whatever clime,
'Neath every sky, struck by mysterious dread
Were plunged in sorrow-yet rebuked the tear,
For yet they knew not of the fatal day.
Thus on Euganean hills where sulphurous fumes
Disclose the rise of Aponus from earth,
And where Timavus broadens in the meads,
An augur spake: 'The last great day is come;
' To-day in battle meet the impious arms
' Of Caesar and of Magnus.' Or he saw
The bolts of Jupiter, predicting ill;
Or else the sky discordant o'er the space
Of heaven, from pole to pole; or else perchance
The sun was sad and misty in the height
And told the battle by his wasted beams.
By Nature's fiat that Thessalian day
Passed not as others; if the gifted sense
Of reading portents had been given to all,
All men had known Pharsalia. Gods of heaven!
How do ye mark the great ones of the earth!
The world gives tokens of their weal or woe;
The sky records their fates: in distant climes
To future races shall their tale be told,
Or by the fame alone of mighty deeds
Had in remembrance, or by this my care
Borne through the centuries: and men shall read
In hope and fear the story of the war
And breathless pray, as though it were to come,
For that long since accomplished; and for thee
E'en then, Pompeius, shall that prayer be given.

> Latin: Si placet hoc, inquit, cunctis, si milite Magno,
Non duce, tempus eget, nil ultra fata morabor.
Involvat populos una Fortuna ruina,
Sitque hominum magnae lux ista novissima parti.
Testor, Roma, tamen: Magnum, quo cuncta perirent,
Accepisse diem. Potuit tibi vulnere nullo
Stare labor belli: potuit sine caede subactum,
Captivumque ducem violatae tradere paci.
Quis furor, o caeci, scelerum? Civilia bella
Gesturi metuunt, ne non cum sanguine vincant?
Abstulimus terras, exclusimus aequore toto,
Ad praematuras segetum ieiuna rapinas
Agmina compulimus, votumque effecimus hosti,
Ut mallet sterni gladiis, mortesque suorum
Permiscere meis. Belli pars magna peracta est
His, quibus effectum est, ne pugnam tiro paveret:
Si modo virtutis stimulis iraeque calore
Signa petunt. Multos in summa pericula misit
Venturi timor ipse mali. Fortissimus ille est,
Qui, promptus metuenda pati, si cominus instent,
Et differre potest. Placet haec tam prospera rerum
Tradere Fortunae? gladio permittere mundi
Discrimen? Pugnare ducem quam vincere, malunt.
Res mihi Romanas dederas, Fortuna, regendas:
Accipe maiores, et caeco in Marte tuere.
Pompeii nec crimen erit nec gloria bellum.
Vincis apud superos votis me, Caesar, iniquis:
Pugnatur. Quantum scelerum, quantumque malorum
In populos lux ista feret! quot regna iacebunt!
Sanguine Romano quam turbidus ibit Enipeus!
Prima velim caput hoc funesti lancea belli,
Si sine momento rerum partisque ruina
Casurum est, feriat: neque enim victoria Magno
Laetior. Aut populis invisum, hac clade peracta,
Aut hodie Pompeius erit miserabile nomen.
Omne malum victi, quod sors feret ultima rerum,
Omne nefas victoris erit. Sic fatur, et arma
Permittit populis, frenosque furentibus ira
Laxat: et ut victus violento navita Coro
Dat regimen ventis, ignavumque arte relicta
Puppis onus trahitur. Trepido confusa tumultu
Castra fremunt, animique truces sua pectora pulsant
Ictibus incertis. Multorum pallor in ore
Mortis venturae est, faciesque simillima fato.
Advenisse diem, qui fatum rebus in aevum
Conderet humanis, et quaeri, Roma quid esset,
Illo Marte, palam est. Sua quisque pericula nescit,
Adtonitus maiore metu. Quis litora ponto
Obruta, quis summis cernens in montibus aequor,
Aetheraque in terras, deiecto sole, cadentem,
Tot rerum finem, timeat sibi? Non vacat ullos
Pro se ferre metus: urbi Magnoque timetur.
Nec gladiis habuere fidem, nisi cautibus asper
Exarsit mucro. Tunc omnis lancea saxo
Erigitur: tendant nervis melioribus arcus:
Cura fuit lectis pharetras implere sagittis.
Auget eques stimulos, frenorumque aptat habenas.
Si liceat superis hominum conferre labores,
Non aliter, Phlegra rabidos tollente Gigantas,
Martius incaluit Siculis incudibus ensis:
Et rubuit flammis iterum Neptunia cuspis,
Spiculaque extenso Paean Pythone recoxit,
Pallas Gorgoneos diffudit in aegida crines,
Pallenaea Iovi mutavit fulmina Cyclops.
Non tamen abstinuit venturos prodere casus
Per varias Fortuna notas. Nam Thessala rura
Cum peterent, totus venientibus obstitit aether:
[Inque oculis hominum fregerunt fulmina nubes:]
Adversasque faces, immensoque igne columnas,
Et trabibus mixtis avidos Pythonas aquarum
Detulit, atque oculos, ingesto fulgure, clausit.
Excussit cristas galeis capulosque solutis
Perfudit gladiis, ereptaque pila liquavit,
Aethereoque nocens fumavit sulfure ferrum.
Nec non innumero cooperta examine signa,
Vixque revulsa solo, maiori pondere pressum
Signiferi mersere caput, rorantia fletu,
Usque ad Thessaliam Romana et publica, signa-
Admotus superis discussa fugit ab ara
Taurus, et Emathios praeceps se iecit in agros;
Nullaque funestis inventa est victima sacris.
At tu, quos scelerum superos, quas rite vocasti
Eumenidas, Caesar? Stygii quae numina regni,
Infernumque nefas, et mersos nocte furores?
Impia tam saeve gesturus bella litasti.
Iam (dubium, monstrisne deum, nimione pavori
Crediderint) multis concurrere visus Olympo
Pindus, et abruptis mergi convallibus Aemus,
Edere nocturnas belli Pharsalia voces,
Ire per Ossaeam rapidus Boebeida sanguis:
Inque vicem vultus tenebris mirantur opertos,
Et pallere diem, galeisque incumbere noctem,
Defunctosque patres et cunctas sanguinis umbras
Ante oculos volitare suos. Sed mentibus unum
Hoc solamen erat, quod voti turba nefandi
Conscia, quae patrum iugulos, quae pectora fratrum
Sperabat, gaudet monstris mentisque tumultu,
Atque omen scelerum subitos putat esse furores.
Quid mirum, populos, quos lux extrema manebat,
Lymphato trepidasse metu, praesaga malorum
Si data mens homini est? Tyriis qui Gadibus hospes
Adiacet, Armeniumque bibit Romanus Araxen:
Sub quocumque die, quocumque est sidere mundi,
Moeret, et ignorat caussas, animumque dolentem
Corripit; Emathiis quid perdat nescit in arvis.
Euganeo, si vera fides memorantibus, augur
Colle sedens, Aponus terris ubi fumifer exit,
Atque Antenorei dispergitur unda Timavi,
Venit summa dies, geritur res maxima, dixit:
Impia concurrunt Pompeii et Caesaris arma;
Seu tonitrus ac tela Iovis praesaga notavit,
Aethera seu totum discordi obsistere coelo
Prospexitque polos: seu lumen in aethere moestum
Solis in obscuro pugnam pallore notavit.
Dissimilem certe cunctis, quos explicat, egit
Thessalicum natura diem: si cuncta perito
Augure mens hominum coeli nova signa notasset,
Spectari e toto potuit Pharsalia mundo.
O summos hominum, quorum Fortuna per orbem
Signa dedit, quorum fatis coelum omne vacavit!
Haec et apud seras gentes populosque nepotum,
Sive sua tantum venient in saecula fama,
Sive aliquid magnis nostri quoque cura laboris
Nominibus prodesse potest, cum bella legentur,
Spesque metusque simul, perituraque vota movebunt:
Adtonitique omnes veluti venientia fata,
Non transmissa, legent, et adhuc tibi, Magne, favebunt.

[¶2] Reflected from their arms, th' opposing sun
Filled all the slope with radiance as they marched
In ordered ranks to that ill-fated fight,
And stood arranged for battle. On the left
Thou, Lentulus, hadst charge; two legions there,
The fourth, and bravest of them all, the first:
While on the right, Domitius, ever stanch,
Though fates be adverse, stood: in middle line
The hardy soldiers from Cilician lands,
In Scipio's care; their chief in Libyan days,
To-day their comrade. By Enipeus' pools
And by the rivulets, the mountain troops
Of Cappadocia, and loose of rein
Thy squadrons, Pontus: on the firmer ground
Galatia's tetrarchs and the greater kings;
And all the purple-robed, the slaves of Rome.
Numidian hordes were there from Afric shores,
There Creta's host and Ituraeans found
Full space to wing their arrows; there the tribes
From brave Iberia clashed their shields, and there
Gaul stood arrayed against her ancient foe.
Let all the nations be the victor's prize,
None grace in future a triumphal car;
This fight demands the slaughter of a world.
Caesar that day to send his troops for spoil
Had left his tent, when on the further hill
Behold! his foe descending to the plain.
The moment asked for by a thousand prayers
Is come, which puts his fortune on the risk
Of imminent war, to win or lose it all.
For burning with desire of kingly power
His eager soul ill brooked the small delay
This civil war compelled: each instant lost
Robbed from his due! But when at length he knew
The last great conflict come, the fight supreme,
Whose prize the leadership of all the world:
And felt the ruin nodding to its fall:
Swiftest to strike, yet for a little space
His rage for battle failed; the spirit bold
To pledge itself the issue, wavered now:
For Magnus' fortunes gave no room for hope,
Though Caesar's none for fear. Deep in his soul
Such doubt was hidden, as to rouse the throng
He spake of victory: ' Ye men of Rome
' Who made my fortunes, host that won the world!
'Prayed for so oft, the dawn of fight is come.
'No more entreat the gods: with sword in hand
'Seize on our fates; and Caesar in your deeds
This day is great or little. This the day
'For which I hold since Rubicon was passed
Your promise given: for this we flew to arms:
'For this deferred the triumphs which we won,
'And which the foe forbad: this gives you back
' Your homes and kindred, and the peaceful farm,
' Your prize for years of service in the field.
' And by the fates' command this day shall prove
' Whose quarrel juster: for defeat is guilt
' To him on whom it falls. If in my cause
' With fire and sword ye did your country wrong,
' Strike for acquittal! Should another judge
' This war, not Caesar, none were blameless found.
' Not for my sake this battle, but for you,
' To give you, soldiers, liberty and law
'Gainst all the world. Wishful myself for life
' Apart from public cares, and for the gown
' That robes the private citizen, I refuse
' To yield from office till the law allows
' Your right in all things. On my shoulders rest
' All blame; all power be yours. Nor deep the blood
' Between yourselves and conquest. Grecian schools
' Of exercise and wrestling send us here
' Their chosen darlings to await your swords;
' And scarcely armed for war, a dissonant crowd
' Barbaric, that will start to hear our trump,
' Nay, their own clamour. Not in civil strife
' Your blows shall fall-the battle of to-day
' Sweeps from the earth the enemies of Rome.
' Dash through these cowards and their vaunted kings:
' One stroke of sword and all the world is yours.
' Make plain to all men that the crowds who decked
'Pompeius' hundred pageants scarce were fit
'For one poor triumph. Shall Armenia care
'Who leads her masters, or barbarians shed
'One drop of blood to make Pompeius chief
'O'er our Italia? Rome, 'tis Rome they hate,
'Their lord and master: yet they hate the most
'Those whom they know. My fate is in the hands
'Of you, mine own true soldiers, proved in all
'The wars we fought in Gallia. When the sword
'Of each of you shall strike, I know the hand:
'The javelin's flight to me betrays the arm
'That launched it hurtling: and to-day once more
'I see the faces stern, the threatening eyes,
'Unfailing proofs of victory to come.
'E'en now the battle rushes on my sight;
'Kings trodden down and scattered senators
'Fill all th' ensanguined plain, and peoples float
'Unnumbered on the crimson tide of death.
'Enough of words-I but delay the fates;
'And you who burn to dash into the fray,
'Forgive the pause. I tremble with the hope
'Thus finding utterance. I ne'er have seen
'The mighty gods so near; this little field
'Alone dividing us; their hands are full
'Of my predestined honours: for 'tis I
'Who when this war is done shall have the power
'O'er all that peoples, all that kings enjoy
'To shower it where I will. But has the sky
'Swerved from its course, has some high star of heaven
'Turned backwards, that such mighty deeds should pass
'Here on Thessalian earth? To-day we reap
' Of all our wars the harvest or the doom.
' Think of the cross that threats us, and the chain,
' Limbs hacked asunder, Caesar's head displayed
' Upon the rostra; and that narrow field
' Piled up with slaughter: for this hostile chief
' Is savage Sulla's pupil. 'Tis for you,
' If conquered, that I grieve: my lot apart
' Is cast long since. This sword, should one of you
' Turn from the battle ere the foe be fled,
' Shall rob the life of Caesar. O ye gods,
' Drawn down from heaven by the throes of Rome,
' May he be conqueror who shall not draw
' Against the vanquished an inhuman sword,
' Nor count it as a crime if men of Rome
' Preferred another's standard to his own.
' Pompeius' sword drank deep Italian blood
'When cabined in yon space the brave man's arm
' No more found room to strike. But you, I pray,
' Touch not the foe who turns him from the fight,
' A fellow citizen, a foe no more.
' But while the gleaming weapons threaten still,
' Let no fond memories unnerve the arm,
' No pious thought of father or of kin;
' But full in face of brother or of sire,
' Drive home the blade: of victims e'en unknown
' Your foes account the slaughter as a crime.
' Spare not our camp, but lay the rampart low
' And fill the fosse with ruin; not a man
' But holds his post within the ranks to-day.
' And yonder tents, deserted by the foe,
' Shall give us shelter when the rout is done.'
Scarce had he paused; they snatch the hasty meal,
And seize their armour and with swift acclaim
Welcome the chief's predictions of the day,
Tread low their camp when rushing to the fight;
And take their post: nor word nor order given,
In fate they put their trust. Nor, hadst thou placed
All Caesars there, all striving for the throne
Of Rome their city, had their serried ranks
With speedier tread dashed down upon the foe.

> Latin: Miles ut adverso Phoebi radiatus ab ictu
Descendens totos perfudit lumine colles,
Non temere immissus campis; stetit ordine certo
Infelix acies. Cornus tibi cura sinistri,
Lentule, cum prima, quae tum fuit optima bello,
Et quarta legione datur: tibi, numine pugnax
Adverso Domiti, dextri frons tradita Martis.
At medii robur belli fortissima densant
Agmina, quae Cilicum terris deducta tenebat
Scipio, miles in hoc, Libyco dux primus in orbe.
At iuxta fluvios et stagna undantis Enipei
Cappadocum montana cohors, et largus habenae
Ponticus ibat eques. Sicci sed plurima campi
Tetrarchae regesque tenent magnique tyranni,
Atque omnis Latio quae servit purpura ferro.
Illuc et Libye Numidas, et Creta Cydonas
Misit: Ituraeis cursus fuit inde sagittis:
Inde, truces Galli, solitum prodistis in hostem:
Illic pugnaces commovit Iberia cetras.
Eripe victori gentes, et sanguine mundi
Fuso, Magne, semel, totos consume triumphos.
Illo forte die Caesar, statione relicta,
Ad segetum raptus moturus signa, repente
Conspicit in planos hostem descendere campos,
Oblatumque videt votis sibi mille petitum
Tempus, in extremos quo mitteret omnia casus.
Aeger quippe morae, flagransque cupidine regni
Coeperat exiguo tractu civilia bella
Ut lentum damnare nefas. Discrimina postquam
Adventare ducum, supremaque proelia vidit,
Casuram et fati sensit nutare ruinam,
Illa quoque in ferrum rabies promptissima paullum
Languit, et casus audax spondere secundos
Mens stetit in dubio, quam nec sua fata timere,
Nec Magni sperare sinunt. Formidine mersa,
Prosilit hortando melior fiducia vulgo:
O domitor mundi, rerum fortuna mearum,
Miles, adest toties optatae copia pugnae.
Nil opus est votis: iam fatum accersite ferro.
In manibus vestris, quantus sit Caesar, habetis.
Haec est illa dies, mihi quam Rubiconis ad undas
Promissam memini, cuius spe movimus arma,
In quam distulimus vetitos remeare triumphos.
[Haec eadem est, hodie quae pignora, quaeque penates]
[Reddat, et emerito faciat vos Marto colonos.]
Haec, fato quae teste probet, quis iustius arma
Sumserit: haec acies victum factura nocentem est.
Si pro me patriam ferro flammisque petistis,
Nunc pugnate truces, gladiosque exsolvite culpa.
Nulla manus, belli mutato iudice, pura est
Non mihi res agitur, sed vos ut libera sitis
Turba, precor, gentes ut ius habeatis in omnes.
Ipse ego, privatae cupidus me reddere vitae,
Plebeiaque toga modicum componere civem,
Omnia dum vobis liceant, nihil esse recuso.
Invidia regnate mea. Nec sanguine multo
Spem mundi petitis: Graiis delecta iuventus
Gymnasiis aderit, studioque ignava palaestrae,
Et vix arma ferens, et mixtae dissona turbae
Barbaries; non illa tubas, non agmine moto
Clamorem latura suam. Civilia paucae
Bella manus facient: pugnae pars magna levabit
His orbem populis, Romanumque obteret hostem.
Ite per ignavas gentes, famosaque regna,
Et primo ferri motu prosternite mundum:
Sitque palam, quas tot duxit Pompeius in urbem
Curribus, unius gentes non esse triumphi.
Armeniosne movet, Romana potentia cuius
Sit ducis? aut emptum minimo vult sanguine quisquam
Barbarus, Hesperiis Magnum praeponere rebus?
Romanos odere omnes, dominosque gravantur,
Quos novere, magis. Sed me Fortuna meorum
Commisit manibus, quorum me Gallia testem
Tot fecit bellis. Cuius non militis ensem
Agnoscam? coelumque tremens cum lancea transit,
Dicere non fallar, quo sit vibrata lacerto.
Quodsi signa ducem numquam fallentia vestrum
Conspicio, faciesque truces, oculosque minaces:
Vicistis. Videor fluvios spectare cruoris,
Calcatosque simul reges, sparsumque senatus
Corpus, et immensa populos in caede natantes
Sed mea fata moror, qui vos in tela ruentes
Vocibus his teneo. Veniam date bella trahenti:
Spe trepido: haud umquam vidi tam magna daturos,
Tam prope me superos: camporum limite parvo
Absumus a votis. Ego sum, cui Marte peracto,
Quae populi regesque tenent, donare licebit.
Quone poli motu, quo coeli sidere verso,
Thessalicae tantum, superi, permittitis orae?
Aut merces hodie bellorum, aut poena paratur.
Caesareas spectate cruces, spectate catenas,
Et caput hoc positum rostris, effusaque membra,
Septorumque nefas, et clausi proelia Campi.
Cum duce Sullano gerimus civilia bella.
Vestri cura movet. Nam me secura manebit
Sors quaesita manu: fodientem viscera cernet
Me mea, qui nondum victo respexerit hoste.
Di, quorum curas abduxit ab aethere tellus
Romanusque labor, vincat, quicumque necesse
Non putat in victos saevum destringere ferrum,
Quique suos cives, quod signa adversa tulerunt,
Non credit fecisse nefas. Pompeius in arcto
Agmina vestra loco, vetita virtute moveri,
Cum tenuit, quanto satiavit sanguine ferrum!
Vos tamen hoc oro, iuvenes, ne caedere quisquam
Hostis terga velit: civis, qui fugerit, esto.
Sed dum tela micant, non vos pietatis imago
Ulla, nec adversa conspecti fronte parentes
Commoveant: vultus gladio turbate verendos.
Sive quis infesto cognata in pectora ferro
Ibit, seu nullum violabit vulnere pignus,
Ignoti iugulum tamquam scelus impetat hostis.
Sternit iam vallum, fossasque implete ruina,
Exeat ut plenis acies non sparsa maniplis.
Parcite ne castris: vallo tendetis in illo,
Unde acies peritura venit. Vix cuncta locuto
Caesare, quemque suum munus trahit, armaque raptim
Sumpta viris. Celeres capiunt praesagia belli,
Calcatisque ruunt castris: stant ordine nullo,
Arte ducis nulla; permittunt omnia fatis.
Si totidem Magni soceros, totidemque petentes
Urbis regna suae funesto in Marte locasses,
Non tam praecipiti ruerent in proelia cursu.

[¶3] But when Pompeius saw the hostile troops
Move forth in order and demand the fight,
And knew the gods' approval of the day,
He stood astonied, while a deadly chill
Struck to his heart-omen itself of woe,
That such a chief should at the call to arms,
Thus dread the issue: but with fear repressed,
Borne on his noble steed along the line
Of all his forces, thus he spake: ' The day
'Your bravery demands, that final end
Of civil war ye asked for, is at hand.
Put forth your strength, your all; the sword to-day
Does its last work. One crowded hour is charged
With nations' destinies. Whoe'er of you
Longs for his land and home, his wife and child,
Seek them with sword. Here in mid battle-field,
The gods place all at stake. Our better right
Bids us expect their favour; they shall dip
Your brands in Caesar's blood, and thus shall give
Another sanction to the laws of Rome,
Our cause of battle. If for him were meant
An empire o'er the world, had they not put
An end to Magnus' life? That I am chief
Of all these mingled peoples and of Rome
Disproves an angry heaven. See here combined
'All means of victory. Noble men have sought
'Unasked the risks of war. Our soldiers boast
'Ancestral statues. If to us were given
'A Curius, if Camillus were returned,
Or patriot Decius to devote his life,
'Here would they take their stand. From furthest east
'All nations gathered, cities as the sand
'Unnumbered, give their aid: a world complete
'Serves 'neath our standards. North and south and all
'Who have their being 'neath the starry vault,
'Here meet in arms conjoined: and shall we not
Crush with our closing wings this paltry foe?
'Few shall find room to strike; the rest with voice
'Must be content to aid: for Caesar's ranks
'Suffice not for us. Think from Rome's high walls
' The matrons watch you with their hair unbound;
' Think that the Senate hoar, too old for arms,
' With snowy locks outspread; and Rome herself,
' The world's high mistress, fearing now, alas!
' A despot-all exhort you to the fight.
' Think that the people that is and that shall be
'Joins in the prayer-in freedom to be born,
' In freedom die, their wish. If 'mid these vows
' Be still found place for mine, with wife and child,
' So far as Imperator may, I bend
' Before you suppliant-unless this fight
' Be won, behold me exile, your disgrace,
' My kinsman's scorn. From this, 'tis yours to save.
' Then save! Nor in the latest stage of life,
' Let Magnus be a slave.'
Then burned their souls
At these his words, indignant at the thought,
And Rome rose up within them, and to die
Was welcome.
Thus alike with hearts aflame
Moved either host to battle, one in fear
And one in hope of empire. These hands shall do
Such work as not the rolling centuries,
Not all mankind, though free from sword and war,
Shall e'er make good. Nations that were to live
This fight shall crush, and peoples pre-ordained
To make the history of the coming world
Shall come not to the birth. The Latin names
Shall sound as fables in the ears of men,
And ruins loaded with the dust of years
Shall hardly mark her cities. Alba's hill,
Home of our gods, no human foot shall tread,
Save of some Senator at the nightly feast
By Numa's orders founded-he compelled
Serves his high office. Void and desolate
Are Veii, Cora and Laurentum's hold;
Yet not the tooth of envious time destroyed
These storied monuments-'twas civil war
That rased their citadels. Where now has fled
The teeming life that once Italia knew?
Not all the earth can furnish her with men:
Untenanted her dwellings and her fields:
Slaves till her soil: one city holds us all:
Crumbling to ruin, the ancestral roof
Finds none on whom to fall; and Rome herself,
Void of her citizens, draws within her gates
The dregs of all the world. That none might wage
A civil war again, thus deeply drank
Pharsalia's fight the life-blood of her sons.
Dark in the calendar of Rome for aye,
The days when Allia and Cannae fell:
And shall Pharsalus' morn, darkest of all,
Stand on the page unmarked? Alas, the fates!
Not plague nor pestilence nor famine's rage,
Not cities given to the flames, nor towns
Trembling at shock of earthquake shall weigh down
Such heroes lost, when Fortune's ruthless hand
Lops at one blow the gift of centuries,
Leaders and men embattled. How great art thou,
Rome, in thy fall! Stretched to the widest bounds
War upon war laid nations at thy feet
Till flaming Titan nigh to either pole
Beheld thine empire; and the furthest east
Was almost thine, till day and night and sky
For thee revolved, and all the stars could see
Throughout their course was Roman. But the fates
In one dread day of slaughter and despair
Turned back the centuries and spoke thy doom.
And now the Indian fears the axe no more
Once emblem of thy power, now no more
The girded Consul curbs the Getan horde,
Or in Sarmatian furrows guides the share:
Still Parthia boasts her triumphs unavenged:
Foul is the public life; and Freedom, fled
To furthest Earth beyond the Tigris stream,
And Rhine's broad river, wandering at her will
'Mid Teuton hordes and Scythian, though by sword
Sought, yet returns not. Would that from the day
When Romulus, aided by the vulture's flight,
Ill-omened, raised within that hateful grove
Rome's earliest walls, down to the crimsoned field
In dire Thessalia fought, she ne'er had known
Italia's peoples! Did the Bruti strike
In vain for liberty? Why laws and rights
Sanctioned by all the annals designate
With consular titles? Happier far the Medes
And blest Arabia, and the Eastern lands
Held by a kindlier fate in despot rule!
That nation serves the worst which serves with shame.
No guardian gods watch over us from heaven:
Jove is no king; let ages whirl along
In blind confusion: from his throne supreme
Shall he behold such carnage and restrain
His thunderbolts? On Mimas shall he hurl
His fires, on Rhodope and OEta's woods
Unmeriting such chastisement, and leave
This life to Cassius' hand? On Argos fell
At grim Thyestes' feast untimely night
By him thus hastened; shall Thessalia's land
Receive full daylight, wielding kindred swords
In fathers' hands and brothers'? Careless of men
Are all the gods. Yet for this day of doom
Such vengeance have we reaped as deities
May give to mortals; for these wars shall raise
Our parted Caesars to the gods; and Rome
Shall deck their effigies with thunderbolts,
And stars and rays, and in the very fanes
Swear by the shades of men.

> Latin: Vidit ut hostiles in rectum exire catervas
Pompeius, nullasque moras permittere bello,
Sed superis placuisse diem: stat corde gelato
Adtonitus: tantoque duci sic arma timere
Omen erat. Premit inde metus, totumque per agmen
Sublimi provectus equo: Quem flagitat, inquit,
Vestra diem virtus, finis civilibus armis,
Quem quaesistis, adest. Totas effundite vires;
Extremum ferri superest opus, unaque gentes
Hora trahit. Quisquis patriam carosque penates,
Qui sobolem ac thalamos desertaque pignora quaerit,
Ense petat: medio posuit deus omnia campo.
Caussa iubet medior superos sperare secundos:
Ipsi tela regent per viscera Caesaris, ipsi
Romanas sancire volent hoc sanguine leges.
Si socero dare regna meo mandumque pararent,
Praecipitare meam fatis potuere senectam.
Non iratorum populis urbique deorum est,
Pompeium servare ducem. Quae vincere possent,
Omnia contulimus. Subiere pericula clari
Sponte viri, sacraque antiquus imagine miles.
Si Curios his fata darent reducesque Camillos
Temporibus, Deciosque caput fatale voventes,
Hinc starent. Primo gentes Oriente coactae
Innumeraeque urbes, quantas in proelia numquam
Excivere manus. Toto simul utimur orbe.
Quidquid signferi comprensum limite coeli
Sub Noton et Borean hominum sumus, arma movemus.
Nonne superfusis collectum cornibus hostem
In medium dabimus? Paucas victoria dextras
Exigit: at plures tantum clamore catervae
Bella gerent. Caesar nostris non sufficit armis.
Credite pendentes e summis moenibus urbis
Crinibus effusis hortari in proelia matres.
Credite, grandaevum, vetitumque aetate senatum
Arma sequi, sacros pedibus prosternere canos:
Atque ipsam domini metuentem occurrere Romam.
Credite, qui nunc est populus, populumque futurum
Permixtas adferre preces. Haec libera nasci,
Haec vult turba mori. Si quis post pignora tanta
Pompeio locus est, cum prole et coniuge supplex.
Imperii salva si maiestate liceret,
Volverer ante pedes. Magnus, nisi vincitis, exsul,
Ludibrium soceri, vester pudor, ultima fata
Deprecor, ac turpes extremi cardinis annos,
Ne discam servire senex. Tam moesta locuti
Voce ducis flagrant animi, Romanaque virtus
Erigitur; placuitque mori, si vera timeret.
Ergo utrimque pari concurrunt agmina motu
Irarum: metus hos regni, spes excitat illos.
Hae facient dextrae, quidquid non expleat aetas
Ulla, nec humanum reparet genus omnibus annis,
Ut vacet a ferro. Gentes Mars iste futuras
Obruet, et populos aevi venientis in orbem
Erepto natale feret. Tunc omne Latinum
Fabula nomen erit: Gabios Veiosque Coramque
Pulvere vix tectae poterunt monstrare ruinae,
Albanosque lares Laurentinosque penates
Rus vacuum, quod non habitet, nisi nocte coacta,
Invitus, questusque Numam iussisse, senator.
Non aetas haec carpsit edax, monimentaque rerum
Putria destituit: crimen civile videmus,
Tot vacuas urbes Generis quo turba redacta est
Humani? Toto populi qui nascimur orbe,
Nec muros implore viris, nec possumus agros.
Urbs nos una capit: vincto fossore coluntur
Hesperiae segetes: stat tectis putris avitis
In nullos ruitura domus: nulloque frequentem
Cive suo Romam, sed mundi faece repletam,
Cladis eo dedimus, ne tanto in tempore bellum
Iam posset civile geri. Pharsalia tanti
Caussa mali. Cedant feralia nomina Cannae,
Et damnata diu Romanis Allia fastis.
Tempora signavit leviorum Roma malorum;
Hunc voluit nescire diem. Pro tristia fata!
Aera pestiferum tractu, morbosque fluentes,
Insanamque famem, permissasque ignibus urbes,
Moeniaque in praeceps laturos plena tremores
Hi possent explere viri, quos undique traxit
In miseram Fortuna necem, dum munera longi
Explicat eripiens aevi, populosque ducesque
Constituit campis: per quos tibi, Roma, ruenti
Ostendat, quam magna cadas. Quo latius orbem
Possedit, citius per prospera fata cucurrit.
Omne tibi bellum gentes dedit omnibus annis:
Te geminum Titan procedere vidit in axem.
Haud multum terrae spatium restabat Eoae,
Ut tibi nox, tibi tota dies, tibi curreret aether,
Omniaque errantes stellae Romana viderent.
Sed retro tua fata tulit, par omnibus annis,
Emathiae funesta dies. Hac luce cruenta
Effectum, ut Latios non horreat India fasces,
Nec vetitos errare Dahas in moenia ducat,
Sarmaticumque premat succinctus consul aratrum.
Quod semper saevas debet tibi Parthia poenas,
Quod, fugiens civile nefas redituraque numquam,
Libertas ultra Tigrim Rhenumque recessit,
Ac, toties nobis iugulo quaesita, vagatur,
Germanum Scythicumque bonum, nec respicit ultra
Ausoniam: vellem, populis incognita nostris,
Vulturis ut primum laevo fundata volatu
Romulus infami complevit moenia luco,
Usque ad Thessalicas servisses, Roma, ruinas.
De Brutis, Fortuna, queror. Quid tempora legum
Egimus, aut annos a consule nomen habentes?
Felices Arabes, Medique, Eoaque tellus,
Quam sub perpetuis tenuerunt fata tyrannis.
Ex populis, qui regna ferunt, sors ultima nostra est,
Quos servire pudet. Sunt nobis nulla profecto
Numina: cum caeco rapiantur secula casu,
Mentimur regnare Iovem. Spectabit ab alto
Aethere Thessalicas, teneat cum fulmina, caedes?
Scilicet ipse petet Pholoen, petet ignibus Oeten,
Immeritaeque nemus Rhodopes, pinusque Mimantis:
Cassius hoc potius feriet caput? Astra Thyestae
Impulit, et subitis damnavit noctibus Argos:
Tot similes fratrum gladios patrumque gerenti
Thessaliae dabit ille diem? Mortalia nulli
Sunt curata deo. Cladis tamen huius habemus
Vindictam, quantam terris dare numina fas est.
Bella pares superis facient civilia divos:
Fulminibus manes, radiisque ornabit, et astris,
Inque deum templis iurabit Roma per umbras.

## 14. Book VII · lines 460–872

Source: https://scriptura.si/works/lucan-pharsalia/14/ · cite a paragraph as https://scriptura.si/works/lucan-pharsalia/14/#p-N

[¶0] With swift advance
They seize the space that yet delays the fates
Till short the span dividing. Then they gaze
For one short moment where may fall the spear,
What hand may deal their death, what monstrous task
Soon shall be theirs; and all in arms they see,
In reach of stroke, their brothers and their sires
With front opposing; yet to yield their ground
It pleased them not. But all the host was dumb
With horror; cold upon each loving heart,
Awe-struck, the life-blood pressed; and all men held
With arms outstretched their javelins for a time,
Poised yet unthrown. Now may th' avenging gods
Allot thee, Crastinus, not such a death
As all men else do suffer! In the tomb
May'st thou have feeling and remembrance still!
For thine the hand that first flung forth the dart,
Which stained with Roman blood Thessalia's earth.
Madman! To speed thy lance when Caesar's self
Still held his hand! Then from the clarions broke
The strident summons, and the trumpets blared
Responsive signal. Upward to the vault
The sound re-echoes where nor clouds may reach
Nor thunder penetrate; and Haemus' slopes
Reverberate to Pelion the din;
Pindus re-echoes; OEta's lofty rocks
Groan, and Pangaean cliffs, till at their rage
Borne back from all the earth they shook for fear.
Unnumbered darts they hurl, with prayers diverse;
Some hope to wound: others, in secret, yearn
For hands still innocent. Chance rules supreme,
And wayward Fortune upon whom she wills
Makes fall the guilt. Yet, for the hatred bred
By civil war suffices spear nor lance,
Urged on their flight afar: the hand must grip
The sword and drive it to the foeman's heart.
But while Pompeius' ranks, shield wedged to shield,
Were ranged in dense array, and scarce had space
To draw the blade, came rushing at the charge
Full on the central column Caesar's host,
Mad for the battle. Man nor arms could stay
The crash of onset, and the furious sword
Clove through the stubborn panoply to the flesh,
There only stayed. One army struck-their foes
Struck not in answer; Magnus' swords were cold,
But Caesar's reeked with slaughter and with guilt.
Nor Fortune lingered, but decreed the doom
Which swept the ruins of a world away.
Soon as withdrawn from all the spacious plain,
Pompeius' horse was ranged upon the flanks;
Passed through the outer files, the lighter armed
Of all the nations joined the central strife,
With divers weapons armed, but all for blood
Of Rome athirst: then blazing torches flew,
Arrows and stones, and ponderous balls of lead
Molten by speed of passage through the air.
There Ituraean archers and the Mede
Winged forth their shafts unaimed, till all the sky
Grew dark with missiles hurled; and from the night
Brooding above, Death struck his victims down.
Guiltless such blow, while all the crime was heaped
Upon the Roman spear. In line oblique
Behind the standards Caesar in reserve
Had placed some companies of foot, in fear
The foremost ranks might waver. These at his word,
No trumpet sounding, break upon the ranks
Of Magnus' horsemen where they rode at large
Flanking the battle. They, unshamed of fear
And careless of the fray, when first a steed
Pierced through by javelin spurned with sounding hoof
The temples of his rider, turned the rein,
And through their comrades spurring from the field
In panic, proved that not with warring Rome
Barbarians may grapple. Then arose
Immeasurable carnage: here the sword,
There stood the victim, and the victor's arm
Wearied of slaughter. Oh, that to thy plains,
Pharsalia, might suffice the crimson stream
From hosts barbarian, nor other blood
Pollute thy fountains' sources! these alone
Shall clothe thy pastures with the bones of men!
Or if thy fields must run with Roman blood
Then spare the nations who in times to come
Must be her peoples!
Now the terror spread
Through all the army, and the favouring fates
Decreed for Caesar's triumph: and the war
Ceased in the wider plain, though still ablaze
Where stood the chosen of Pompeius' force,
Upholding yet the fight. Not here allies
Begged from some distant king to wield the sword:
Here were the Roman sons, the sires of Rome,
Here the last frenzy and the last despair:
Here, Caesar, was thy crime: and here shall stay
My Muse repelled: no poesy of mine
Shall tell the horrors of the final strife,
Nor for the coming ages paint the deeds
Which civil war permits. Be all obscured
In deepest darkness! Spare the useless tear
And vain lament, and let the deeds that fell
In that last fight of Rome remain unsung.

> Latin: Ut rapido cursu fati suprema morantem
Consumsere locum: parva tellure diremti,
Inde manus spectant, vultusque agnoscere quaerunt,
Quo sua pila cadant, aut quae sibi fata minentur,
Facturi quae monstra forent. Videre parentes
Frontibus adversis, fraternaque cominus arma,
Nec libuit mutare locum. Tamen omnia torpor
Pectora constrinxit: gelidusque in viscera sanguis
Perculsa pietate coit: totaeque cohortes
Pila parata diu tensis tenuere lacertis.
Di tibi non mortem, quae cunctis poena paratur,
Sed sensum post fata tuae dent, Crastine, morti,
Cuius torta manu commisit lancea bellum,
Primaque Thessaliam Romano sanguine tinxit.
O praeceps rabies, cum Caesar tela teneret,
Inventa est prior ulla manus! Tunc stridulus aer
Elisus lituis, conceptaque classica cornu:
Tunc ausae dare signa tubae: tunc aethera tendit,
Extremique fragor convexa irrupit Olympi,
Unde procul nubes, quo nulla tonitrua durant.
Excepit resonis clamorem vallibus Aemus,
Peliacisque dedit rursus geminare cavernis:
Pindus agit fremitus, Pangaeaque saxa resultant,
Oetaeaeque gemunt rupes: vocesque furoris
Expavere sui tota tellure relatas.
Spargitur innumerum diversis missile votis.
Vulnera pars optat, pars terrae figere tela,
Ac puras servare manus. Rapit omnia casus,
Atque incerta facit, quos vult, Fortuna nocentes.
Sed quota pars cladis iaculis ferroque volanti
Exacta est? Odiis solus civilibus ensis
Sufficit, et dextras Romana in viscera ducit.
Pompeii densis acies stipata catervis,
Iunxerat in seriem nexis umbonibus arma:
Vixque habitura locum dextras ac tela movendi,
Constiterat, gladiosque suos compressa tenebat.
Praecipiti cursu vesanum Caesaris agmen
In densos agitur cuneos: perque arma, per hostem
Quaerit iter. Qua torta graves lorica catenas
Opponit, tutoque latet sub tegmine pectus,
Hac quoque perventum est ad viscera: totque per arma
Extremum est, quod quisque ferit. Civilia bella
Una acies patitur, gerit altera: frigidus inde
Stat gladius; calet omne nocens a Caesare ferrum.
Nec Fortuna diu, rerum tot pondera vertens,
Abstulit ingentes, fato torrente, ruinas.
Ut primum toto diduxit cornua campo
Pompeianus eques, bellique per ultima fudit:
Sparsa per extremos levis armatura maniplos
Insequitur, saevasque manus immittit in hostem.
Illic, quaeque suo miscet gens proelia telo,
Romanus cunctis petitur cruor. Inde sagittae,
Inde faces et saxa volant, spatioque solutae
Aeris et calido liquefactae pondere glandes.
Tunc et Ituraei, Medique Arabesque, soluto
Arcu turba minax, nusquam rexere sagittas,
Sed petitur solus, qui campis imminet, aer:
Inde cadunt mortes. Sceleris sed crimine nullo
Externum maculant chalybem; stetit omne coactum
Circa pila nefas. Ferro subtexitur aether,
Noxque super campos telis conserta pependit.
Tum Caesar, metuens, ne frons sibi prima labaret
Incursu, tenet obliquas post signa cohortes:
Inque latus belli, qua se vagus hostis agebat,
Immittit subitum non motis cornibus agmen.
Immemores pugnae, nulloque pudore timendi
Praecipites fecere palam, civilia bella
Non bene barbaricis umquam commissa catervis.
Ut primum sonipes transfixus pectora ferro
In caput effusi calcavit membra regentis;
Omnis eques cessit campis, glomerataque pubes
In sua conversis praeceps ruit agmina frenis.
Perdidit inde modum caedes, ac nulla secuta est
Pugna, sed hinc iugulis, hinc ferro bella geruntur:
Nec valet haec acies tantum prosternere, quantum
Inde perire potest. Utinam, Pharsalia, campis
Sufficiat cruor iste tuis, quem barbara fundunt
Pectora; non alio mutentur sanguine fontes;
Hic numerus totos tibi vestiat ossibus agros:
Aut si Romano compleri sanguine mavis,
Istis parce precor: vivant Galataeque Syrique,
Cappadoces, Gallique, extremique orbis Iberi,
Armenii, Cilices: nam post civilia bella
Hic populus Romanus erit. Semel ortus in omnes
It timor, et fatis datus est pro Caesare cursus.
Ventum erat ad robur Magni, mediasque catervas.
Quod totos errore vago perfuderat agros,
Constitit hic bellum, fortunaque Caesaris haesit.
Illic non regum auxiliis collecta iuventus
Bella gerit, ferrumque manus movere rogatae:
Ille locus fratres habuit, locus ille parentes.
Hic furor, hic rabies, hic sunt tua crimina, Caesar.
Hanc fuge, mens, belli partem, tenebrisque relinque,
Nullaque tantorum discat me vate malorum,
Quam multum bellis liceat civilibus, aetas.
Hae potius pereant lacrimae, pereantque querelae.
Quidquid in hac acie gessisti, Roma, tacebo.

[¶1] But Caesar adding fury to the breasts
Already flaming with the rage of war,
That each might bear his portion of the guilt
Which stained the host, unflinching through the ranks
Passed at his will. He looked upon the brands,
These reddened only at the point, and those
Streaming with blood and gory to the hilt:
He marks the hand which trembling grasped the sword,
Or held it idle, and the cheek that grew
Pale at the blow, and that which at his words
Glowed with the joy of battle: midst the dead
He treads the plain and on each gaping wound
Presses his hand to keep the life within.
Thus Caesar passed: and where his footsteps fell
As when Bellona shakes her crimson lash,
Or Mavors scourges on the Thracian mares
When shunning the dread face on Pallas' shield,
He drives his chariot, there arose a night
Dark with huge slaughter and with crime, and groans
As of a voice immense, and sound of arms
As fell the wearer, and of sword on sword
Crashed into fragments. With a ready hand
Caesar supplies the weapon and bids strike
Full at the visage; and with lance reversed
Urges the flagging ranks and stirs the fight.
Where flows the nation's blood, where beats the heart,
Knowing, he bids them spare the common herd,
But seeks the senators-thus Rome he strikes,
Thus the last hold of Freedom. In the fray,
Then fell the nobles with their mighty names
Of ancient prowess; there Metellus' sons,
Corvini, Lepidi, Torquati too,
Not once nor twice the conquerors of kings,
First of all men, Pompeius' name except,
Lay dead upon the field.
But, Brutus, where,
Where was thy sword? Veiled by a common helm
Unknown thou wanderest. Thy country's pride,
Hope of the Senate, thou (for none besides);
Thou latest scion of that race of pride,
Whose fearless deeds the centuries record,
Tempt not the battle, nor provoke the doom!
Awaits thee on Philippi's fated field
Thy Thessaly. Not here shalt thou prevail
'Gainst Caesar's life. Not yet hath he surpassed
The height of power and deserved a death
Noble at Brutus' hands-then let him live,
Thy fated victim!
There upon the field
Lay all the honour of Rome; no common stream
Mixed with the purple tide. And yet of all
Who noble fell, one only now I sing,
Thee, brave Domitius. Whene'er the day
Was adverse to the fortunes of thy chief
Thine was the arm which vainly stayed the fight.
Vanquished so oft by Caesar, now 'twas thine
Yet free to perish. By a thousand wounds
Came welcome death, nor had thy conqueror power
Again to pardon. Caesar stood and saw
The dark blood welling forth and death at hand,
And thus in words of scorn: ' And dost thou lie,
'Domitius, there? And did Pompeius name
'Thee his successor, thee? Why leavest thou then
His standards helpless?' But the parting life
Still faintly throbbed within Domitius' breast,
Thus finding utterance: 'Yet thou hast not won
Thy hateful prize, for doubtful are the fates;
'Nor thou the master, Caesar; free as yet,
'With great Pompeius for my leader still,
' Warring no more, I seek the silent shades,
Yet with this hope in death, that thou subdued
'To Magnus and to me in grievous guise
'Mayst pay atonement.' So he spake: no more;
Then closed his eyes in death.
'Twere shame to shed,
When thus a world was perishing, the tear
Meet for each fate, or sing the wound that reft
Each life away. One spurned upon the soil
His vitals as they trailed; one faced the foe
And as the sword struck deep into his throat
Breathed forth his life: another fell to earth
Prone at the stroke; one stood though shorn of limb;
Glanced from this breast unharmed the quivering spear;
That it transfixed to earth. Here from the veins
Spouted the life-blood, till the foeman's arms
Were crimsoned. One his brother slew, nor dared
To spoil the corse, till severed from the neck
He flung the head afar. Another dashed
Full in his father's teeth the fatal sword,
By murderous frenzy striving to disprove
His kinship with the slain. Yet for each death
We find no separate dirge, nor weep for men
When peoples fell. Thus, Rome, thy doom was wrought
At dread Pharsalus. Not, as in other fields,
By soldiers slain, or captains; here were swept
Whole nations to the death; Assyria here,
Achaia, Pontus; and the blood of Rome
Gushing in torrents forth, forbade the rest
To stagnate on the plain. Nor life was reft,
Nor safety only then; but reeled the world
And all her manifold peoples at the blow
In that day's battle dealt; nor only then
Felt, but in all the times that were to come.
Those swords gave servitude to every age
That shall be slavish; by our sires was shaped
For us our destiny, the despot yoke.
Yet have we trembled not, nor feared to bare
Our throats to slaughter, nor to face the foe:
We bear the penalty for others' shame,
Such be our doom; yet, Fortune, sharing not
In that last battle, 'twas our right to strike
One blow for freedom ere we served our lord.

> Latin: Hic Caesar, rabies populis, stimulusque furorum,
Ne qua parte sui pereat scelus, agmina circum
It vagus, atque animis ignes flagrantibus addit:
Inspicit et gladios, qui toti sanguine manent,
Qui niteant primo tantum mucrone cruenti,
Quae presso tremat ense manus, quis languida tela,
Quis contenta ferat, quis praestet bella iubenti,
Quem pugnare iuvet, quis vultum cive peremto
Mutet: obit latis proiecta cadavera campis:
Vulnera multorum, totum fusura cruorem,
Opposita premit ipse manu. Quacumque vagatur,
Sanguineum veluti quatiens Bellone flagellum,
Bistonas aut Mavors agitans, si verbere saevo
Palladia stimulet turbatos aegide currus,
Nox ingens scelerum, et caedes oriuntur, et instar
Immensae vocis gemitus, et pondere lapsi
Pectoris arma sonant, confractique ensibus enses.
Ipse manu subicit gladios, ac tela ministrat,
Adversosque iubet ferro confundere vultus.
Promovet ipse acies: impellit terga suorum:
Verbere conversae cessantes excitat hastae.
In plebem vetat ire manus, monstratque senatum.
Scit, cruor imperii qui sit, quae viscera rerum:
Unde petat Romam, libertas ultima mundi
Quo steterit ferienda loco. Permixta secundo
Ordine nobilitas, venerandaque corpora ferro
Urgentur: caedunt Lepidos, caeduntque Metellos,
Corvinosque simul, Torquataque nomina, regum
Saepe duces, summosque hominum, te, Magne, remoto.
Illic, plebeia contectus casside vultus,
Ignotusque hosti, quod ferrum, Brute, tenebas!
O decus imperii, spes o suprema senatus,
Extremum tanti generis per saecula nomen.
Ne rue per medios nimium temerarius hostes,
Nec tibi fatales admoveris ante Philippos,
Thessalia periture tua. Nil proficis istic
Caesaris intentus iugulo: nondum attigit arcem
Iuris, et, humanum culmen, quo cuncta premuntur,
Egressus, meruit fatis tam nobile letum.
Vivat, et, ut Bruti procumbat victima, regnet.
Hic patriae perit omne decus: iacet aggere magno
Patricium campis non mixta plebe cadaver.
Mors tamen eminuit clarorum in strage virorum
Pugnacis Domiti, quem clades fata per omnes
Ducebant. Nusquam Magni Fortuna sine illo
Succubuit: victus toties a Caesare, salva
Libertate perit. Tunc mille in vulnera laetus
Labitur, ac venia gaudet caruisse secunda.
Viderat in crasso volventem sanguine membra
Caesar, et increpitans; Iam Magni deseris arma,
Successor Domiti; sine te iam bella geruntur.
Dixerat: ast illi suffecit pectora pulsans
Spiritus in vocem, morientiaque ora resolvit:
Non te funesta scelerum mercede potitum,
Sed dubium fati, Caesar, generoque minorem
Adspicens, Stygias Magno duce liber ad umbras
Et securus eo: te saevo Marte subactum,
Pompeioque graves poenas nobisque daturum,
Cum morior, sperare licet. Non plura locutum
Vita fugit, densaeque oculos pressere tenebrae.
Impendisse pudet lacrimas in funere mundi
Mortibus innumeris, ac singula fata sequentem
Quaerere, letiferum per cuius viscera vulnus
Exierit; quis fusa solo vitalia calcet;
Ore quis adverso demisso faucibus ense
Expulerit moriens animam; quis corruat ictu,
Quis steterit, dum membra cadunt: quis pectore tela
Transmittat, vel quos campis adfixerit hasta:
Quis cruor emissis perruperit aera venis,
Inque hostis cadat arma sui: quis pectora fratris
Caedat, et, ut notum possit spoliare cadaver,
Abscisum longe mittat caput: ora parentis
Quis laceret, nimiaque probet spectantibus ira,
Quem iugulat, non esse patrem. Mors nulla querela
Digna sua est, nullosque hominum lugere vacamus.
Non istas habuit pugnae Pharsalia partes,
Quas aliae clades: illic per fata virorum,
Per populos hic Roma perit: quae militia illic,
Mors hic gentis erat: sanguis ibi fluxit Achaeus,
Ponticus, Assyrius: cunctos haerere cruores
Romanus campisque vetat consistere torrens.
Maius ab hac acie, quam quod sua saecula ferrent,
Vulnus habent populi: plus est quam vita salusque,
Quod perit: in totum mundi prosternimur aevum:
Vincitur his gladiis omnis, quae serviet, aetas.
Proxima quid suboles, aut quid meruere nepotes
In regnum nasci? Pavidi num gessimus arma?
Teximus aut iugulos? Alieni poena timoris
In nostra cervice sedet. Post proelia natis
Si dominum, Fortuna, dabas, et bella dedisses.

[¶2] Now saw Pompeius, grieving, that the gods
Had left his side, and knew the fates of Rome
Passed from his governance; yet all the blood
That filled the field scarce brought him to confess
His fortunes fled. A little hill he sought
Whence to descry the battle raging still
Upon the plain, which when he nearer stood
The warring ranks concealed. Thence did the chief
Gaze on unnumbered swords that flashed in air
And sought his ruin; and the tide of blood
In which his host had perished. Yet not as those
Who, prostrate fallen, would drag nations down
To share their evil fate, Pompeius did.
Still were the gods thought worthy of his prayers
To give him solace, in that after him
Might live his Romans. 'Spare, ye gods,' he said,
Nor lay whole peoples low; my fall attained,
The world and Rome may stand. And if ye need
More bloodshed, here on me, my wife, and sons
'Wreak out your vengeance-pledges to the fates
Such have we given. Too little for the war
Is our destruction? Doth the carnage fail,
The world escaping? Magnus' fortunes lost,
Why doom all else beside him? ' Thus he cried,
And passed amid his standards, and recalled
His vanquished host that rushed on fate declared.
Not for his sake such carnage should be wrought.
So thought Pompeius; nor the foeman's sword
He feared, nor death; but lest upon his fall
To quit their chief his soldiers might refuse,
And o'er his prostrate corpse a world in arms
Might find its ruin: or perchance he wished
From Caesar's eager eyes to veil his death.
In vain, unhappy! for the fates decree
He shall behold, shorn from the bleeding trunk,
Again thy visage. And thou, too, his spouse,
Beloved Cornelia, didst cause his flight;
Thy longed-for features; yet he shall not die
When thou art present.
Then upon his steed,
Though fearing not the weapons at his back,
Pompeius fled, his mighty soul prepared
To meet his final doom. He saw thy field,
Pharsalia, tearless and without a groan;
For solemn grief and majesty of mien
Were in his face, as for the woes of Rome.
No pride in him the day of victory found,
Nor rout shall find despair; alike in days
When fickle Fortune triple triumph gave
And when she fled, her lord.
The burden laid
Of thine impending fate, thou partest free
To muse upon the happy days of yore.
Hope now has fled; but in the fleeting past
How wast thou great! Seek thou the wars no more,
And call the gods to witness that for thee
Henceforth no man shall die. The fights to come
On Afric's mournful shore, by Pharos' stream
And fateful Munda, and the final scene
Of dire Pharsalia's battle are not thine.
Thy name no more shall stir the world to war,
But those great rivals biding with us yet,
Caesar and Liberty; and not for thee
When thou hadst fled the field, but for itself
The dying Senate still upheld the fight.
Find'st thou not solace thus to quit the field
Nor witness all the horrors of its close?
Look back upon the crimsoned ranks of war,
The rivers turbid with ensanguined stream;
Then pity thou thy kinsman. How shall he
Enter the city, who on such a field
Finds happiness? Whate'er in lands unknown
Thine exiled lot, whate'er the Pharian king
May place upon thee, trust thou in the gods;
Trust the long story of the favouring fates:
'Twere worse to conquer. Then forbid the tear,
The nation's grief, the weeping of mankind,
And let the world adore thee in defeat
As in thy triumphs. With unaltered gaze
Look down upon the kings, thy subjects still;
Look on the realms and cities which they hold,
Egypt and Libya, gifts from thee of yore;
And choose the country that befits thy death.
Larissa first was witness of thy fall,
Thy noble mien, as victor of the fates;
And loud in sorrow, yet with gifts of price
Fit for a conqueror flung back her gates
And poured her citizens forth. ' Our homes and fanes
To thee are open; would it were our lot
With thee to perish; of thy mighty name
Still much survives and conquered by thyself,
Thyself alone, still couldst thou to the war
All nations call and challenge fate again.'
But thus he spake: 'To cities nor to men
Avails the conquered aught: then pledge your faith
To him who has the victory.' Caesar still
Trod deep in piles of slaughter on the field,
His country's vitals, while his daughter's spouse
Thus gave him kingdoms. But Pompeius fled
'Mid sobs and groans and blaming of the gods
For this their fierce commandment; and he fled
Full of the fruits and knowledge of the love
The peoples bore him, which he knew not his
In times of happiness.

> Latin: Iam Magnus transisse deos Romanaque fata
Senserat infelix; tota vix clade coactus
Fortunam damnare suam. Stetit aggere campi
Eminus, unde omnes sparsas per Thessala rura
Adspiceret clades, quae bello obstante latebant.
Tot telis sua fata peti, tot corpora fusa,
Ac se tam multo pereuntem sanguine vidit.
Nec, sicut mos est miseris, trahere omnia secum
Mersa iuvat, gentesque suae miscere ruinae:
Ut Latiae post se vivat pars maxima turbae,
Sustinuit dignos etiam nunc credere votis
Coelicolas, volvitque sui solatia casus:
Parcite; ait, superi, cunctas prosternere gentes:
Stante potest mundo, Romaque superstite, Magnus
Esse miser. Si plura iuvant mea vulnera, coniux
Est mihi, sunt nati; dedimus tot pignora fatis.
Civiline parum est bello si meque meosque
Obruis? exiguae clades sumus, orbe remoto?
Omnia quid laceras, quid perdere cuncta laboras?
Iam nihil est, Fortuna, meum. Sic fatur: et arma
Signaque et adflictas omni iam parte catervas
Circuit, et revocat matura in fata ruentes,
Seque negat tanti. Nec deerat robur in enses
Ire duci, iuguloque pati vel pectore letum:
Sed timuit, strato miles ne corpore Magni
Non fugeret, supraque ducem procumberet orbis:
Caesaris aut oculis voluit subducere mortem.
Nequidquam. Infelix, socero spectare volenti
Praestandum est ubicumque capit. Sed tu quoque, coniux
Caussa fugae, vultusque tui: fatisque probatum est
Te praesente mori. Tunc Magnum concitus aufert
A bello sonipes, non tergo tela paventem,
Ingentesque animos extrema in fata ferentem.
Non gemitus, non fletus erat, salvaque verendus
Maiestate dolor, qualem te, Magne, decebat
Romanis praestare malis. Non impare vultu
Adspicis Emathiam: nec te videre superbum
Prospera bellorum, nec fractum adversa videbunt:
Quamque fuit laeto per tres infida triumphos,
Tam misero Fortuna minor. Iam pondere fati
Deposito securus abis: nunc tempora laeta
Respexisse vacat: spes numquam implenda recessit:
Quid fueris, nunc scire licet. Fuge proelia dire,
Ac testare deos, nullum, qui perstet in armis,
Iam tibi, Magne, mori: ceu flebilis Africa damni,
Et ceu Munda nocens, Pharioque a gurgite cladess,
Sic et Thessalicae post te pars maxima pugnae.
Non iam Pompeii nomen populare per orbem,
Nec studium belli: sed par, quod semper habemus,
Libertas et Caesar erunt: teque inde fugato
Ostendit moriens, sibi se pugnasse, senatus.
Nonne iuvat pulsum bellis cessisse, nec istud
Prospectasse nefas, spumantes caede catervas?
Respice turbatos incursu sanguinis amnes,
Et soceri miserere tui. Quo pectore Romam
Intrabit factus campis felicior istis?
Quidquid in ignotis solus regionibus exsul,
Quidquid sub Phario positus patiere tyranno;
Crede deis, longo fatorum crede favori,
Vincere peius erat. Prohibe lamenta sonare,
Flere veta populos: lacrimas luctusque remitte.
Tam mala Pompeii, quam prospera, mundus adoret.
Adspice securus vultu non supplice reges:
Adspice possessas urbes, donataque regna,
Aegyptum Libyamque: et terras elige morti.
Vidit prima tuae testis Larissa ruinae
Nobile, nec victum fatis caput. Omnibus illa
Civibus effudit totas per moenia vires:
Obvia, ceu laeto, praemittunt munera flentes:
Pandunt templa, domos: socios se cladibus optant.
Scilicet immenso superest ex nomine multum:
Teque minor solo, cunctas impellere gentes
Rursus in arma potes, rursusque in fata redire.
Sed, quid opus victo populis aut urbibus? inquit:
Victori praestate fidem. Tu, Caesar, in alto
Caedis adhuc cumulo patriae per viscera vadis:
At tibi iam populos donat gener. Avehit inde
Pompeium sonipes: gemitus lacrimaeque sequuntur;
Plurimaque in saevos populi convicia divos.
Nunc tibi vera fides quaesiti, Magne, favoris
Contigit, ac fructus. Felix se nescit amari.

[¶3] When Italian blood
Flowed deep enough upon the fatal field,
Caesar gave mercy to the meaner crowd
Whose deaths were vain. But that the hostile camp
Might not recall the foe, nor calm of night
Banish their fears, he bids his cohorts dash,
While Fortune glowed and terror filled the plain,
Straight on the ramparts of the conquered foe.
Light was the task to urge them to the spoil
Though worn by battle, wearied with the fray:
Soldiers,' he said, ' the victory is ours,
Full and triumphant: there doth lie the prize
Which you have won, not Caesar; at your feet
Behold the booty of the hostile camp.
Snatched from Hesperian nations ruddy gold,
And all the riches of the Orient world,
Are piled within the tents. The wealth of kings
And of Pompeius here awaits its lords.
Haste, soldiers, and outstrip the flying foe;
E'en now the vanquished of Pharsalia's field
Anticipate your spoils.' No more he said,
But drave them, blind with frenzy for the gold,
To spurn the bodies of their fallen sires,
And trample chiefs in dashing on their prey.
What rampart had restrained them as they rushed
To seize the prize for wickedness and war
And learn the price of guilt? And though they found
In ponderous masses heaped for need of war
The trophies of a world, yet were their minds
Unsatisfied, that asked for all. Whate'er
Iberian mines or Tagus bring to day,
Or Arimaspians from golden sands
May gather, had they seized; still they had thought
Their guilt too cheaply sold. When pledged to them
Was the Tarpeian rock, for victory won,
And all the spoils of Rome, by Caesar's word,
Shall camps suffice them? Then plebeian limbs
On senators' turf took rest, on kingly couch
The soldier wretch; and there the murderer lay
Where yesternight his brother or his sire.
In maddened dreams the fury of the fight
Still raged, and in their sleep the guilty hand
Still wrought its deed, of blood, and restless gripped
The phantom sword-hilt. Thou hadst said that groans
Issued from all the plain, that parted souls
Had breathed a life into the guilty soil,
That earthly darkness teemed with gibbering ghosts
And Stygian terrors. Victory foully won
Thus claimed its punishment. The slumbering sense
Already heard the hiss of vengeful flames:
There troop the ghostly slain: a slaughtered sire
Tortures the breast of one; a brother's shape
There haunts his murderer's couch: each sees the form
Of him whose life he took. But all the dead
In Caesar's dreams were visioned. In such guise
Orestes saw the Furies, ere he fled
To purge his sin within the Scythian bounds;
Such fierce convulsions raged within the soul
Of Pentheus mad; and in Agave's mind
When she had known her son. Before his gaze
Flashed all the javelins which Pharsalia saw,
Or that avenging day when drew their blades
The Roman senators; and monstrous shapes
Scourged all his frame. 'Tis thus the wretch shall find
In guilty conscience punishment most dire:
He saw the Styx before his rival died:
And goblin horrors from the depths of Hell
Thronged on his sleep.
Yet when the radiant sun
Unveiled the butchery of Pharsalia's field
He shrank not from its horror, nor withdrew
His feasting gaze. There rolled the streams in flood
With crimson carnage; there a seething heap
Rose shrouding all the plain, now in decay
Slow settling down; there numbered he the host
Of Magnus slain; and for the morn's repast
That spot he chose whence he might watch the dead,
And feast his eyes upon Emathia's field
Concealed by corpses; of the bloody sight
Insatiate, he forbad the funeral pyre,
And cast Emathia in the face of heaven.
Nor by the Punic victor was he taught,
Who at the close of Cannae's fatal fight
Laid in the earth the Roman consul dead,
To find fit burial for his fallen foes;
For these were all his countrymen, nor yet
His ire by blood appeased. Yet ask we not
For separate pyres or sepulchres apart
Wherein to lay the ashes of the fallen:
Burn in one holocaust the nations slain;
Or should it please thy soul to torture more
Thy kinsman, pile on high from OEta's slopes
And Pindus' top the woods: thus shall he see
While fugitive on the deep the blaze that marks
Thessalian bounds. Yet by this idle rage
Nought dost thou profit; for these corporal frames
Bearing innate from birth the certain germs
Of dissolution, whether by decay
Or fire consumed, shall fall into the lap
Of all-embracing nature. Thus if now
Thou shouldst deny the pyre, still in that flame
When all shall crumble, earth and rolling seas
And stars commingled with the bones of men,
These too shall perish. Where thy soul shall go
These shall companion thee; no higher flight
In airy realms is thine, nor smoother couch
Beneath the Stygian darkness; for the dead
No fortune favours, and our Mother Earth
All that is born from her receives again,
And he whose bones no tomb or urn protects
Yet sleeps beneath the canopy of heaven.
And thou, proud conqueror, who wouldst deny
The rites of burial to thousands slain,
Why flee thy field of triumph? Why desert
This reeking plain? Drink, Caesar, if thou canst
Of these ensanguined streams, and breathe the air
Of cursed Thessalia: but from thy grasp
The earth is ravished, and th' unburied host,
Routing their victor, hold Pharsalia's field.
Then to the ghastly harvest of the war
Came all the beasts of earth whose facile sense
Of odour tracks the bodies of the slain.
Sped from his northern home the Thracian wolf;
Bears left their dens and lions from afar
Scenting the carnage; dogs obscene and foul
Their homes deserted: all the air was full
Of gathering fowl, who in their flight had long
Pursued the armies. Cranes who yearly change
The frosts of Thracia for the banks of Nile,
This year delayed their voyage. As ne'er before
The air grew dark with vultures' hovering wings,
Innumerable, for every grove and wood
Sent forth its denizens; on every tree
Dripped from their crimsoned beaks a gory dew.
Oft on the conquerors and their impious arms
Or purple rain of blood, or mouldering flesh
Fell from the lofty heaven; or limbs of men
From weary talons dropped. Yet even so
The peoples passed not all into the maw
Of ravening beast or fowl; the inmost flesh
Scarce did they touch, nor limbs-thus lay the dead
Scorned by the spoiler; and the Roman host
By sun and length of days, and rain from heaven,
At length was mingled with Emathia's plain.
Ill-starred Thessalia! By what hateful crime
Didst thou offend that thus on thee alone
Was laid such carnage? By what length of years
Shalt thou be cleansed from the curse of war?
When shall the harvest of thy fields arise
Free from their purple stain? And when the share
Cease to upturn the slaughtered hosts of Rome?
First shall the battle onset sound again,
Again shall flow upon thy fated earth
A crimson torrent. Thus may be o'erthrown
Our sires' memorials; those erected last,
Or those which pierced by ancient roots have spread
Through broken stones their sacred urns abroad.
Thus shall the ploughman of Haemonia gaze
On more abundant ashes, and the rake
Pass o'er more frequent bones. Wert, Thracia, thou,
Our only battlefield, no sailor's hand
Upon thy shore should make his cable fast;
No spade should turn, the husbandman should flee
Thy fields, the resting-place of Roman dead;
No lowing kine should graze, nor shepherd dare
To leave his fleecy charge to browse at will
On fields made fertile by our mouldering dust;
All bare and unexplored thy soil should lie,
As past man's footsteps, parched by cruel suns,
Or palled by snows unmelting! But, ye gods,
Give us to hate the lands which bear the guilt;
Let not all earth be cursed, though not all
Be blameless found.
'Twas thus that Munda's fight
And blood of Mutina, and Leucas' cape,
And sad Pachynus, made Philippi pure.

> Latin: Caesar ut Hesperio vidit satis arva natare
Sanguine, parcendum ferro manibusque suorum
Iam ratus, ut viles animas perituraque frustra
Agmina permisit vitae. Sed castra fugatos
Ne revocent, pellatque quies nocturna pavorem,
Protinus hostili statuit succedere vallo,
Dum Fortuna calet, dum conficit omnia terror,
Non veritus, grave ne fessis ac Marte subactis
Hoc foret imperium. Non magno hortamine miles
In praedam ducendus erat: Victoria nobis
Plena, viri, dixit: superest pro sanguine merces,
Quam monstrare meum est: neque enim donare vocabo,
Quod sibi quisque dabit. Cunctis en plena metallis
Castra patent: raptum Hesperiis e gentibus aurum
Hic iacet, Eoasque premunt tentoria gazas.
Tot regum fortuna simul Magnique coacta
Exspectat dominos: propera praecedere, miles,
Quos sequeris: quascumque tuas Pharsalia fecit,
A victis rapiantur opes. Nec plura locutus,
Impulit amentes aurique cupidine caecos,
Ire super gladios supraque cadavera patrum,
Et caesos calcare duces. Quae fossa, quis agger
Sustineat pretium belli scelerumque petentes!
Scire volant, quanta fuerint mercede nocentes.
Invenere quidem spoliato plurima mundo
Bellorum in sumtus congestae pondera massae:
Sed non implevit cupientes omnia mentes.
Quidquid fodit Iber, quidquid Tagus extulit auri,
Quod legit dives summis Arimaspus arenis
Ut rapiant, parvo scelus hoc venisse putabunt.
Cum sibi Tarpeias victor desponderit arces,
Cum spe Romanae promiserit omnia praedae:
Decipitur, quod castra rapit. Capit impia plebes
Cespite patricio somnos: vacuumque cubile
Regibus infandus miles premit: inque parentum,
Inque toris fratrum posuerunt membra nocentes:
Quos agitat vesana quies, somnique furentes:
Thessalicam miseri versant in pectore pugnam.
Invigilat cunctis saevum scelus, armaque tota
Mente agitant, caputoque manus absente moventur,
Ingemuisse putes campos, terramque nocentem
Inspirasse animas, iniectumque aera totum
Manibus, et superam Stygia formidine noctem.
Exigit a miseris tristes victoria poenas,
Sibilaque et flammas infert sopor: umbra peremti
Civis adest: sua quemque premit terroris imago.
Ille senum vultus, iuvenum videt ille figuras:
Hunc agitant totis fraterna cadavera somnis:
Pectore in hoc pater est: omnes in Caesare manes.
Haud alios, nondum Scythica purgatus in ara,
Eumenidum vidit vultus Pelopeius Orestes:
Nec magis adtonitos animi sensere tumultus,
Cum fureret, Pentheus, aut cum desisset, Agave.
Hunc omnes gladii, quos aut Pharsalia vidit,
Aut ultrix visura dies, stringente senatu,
Illa nocte premunt: hunc infera monstra flagellant.
Heu quantum poenae misero mens conscia donat,
Quod Styga, quod manes, ingestaque Tartara somnis
Pompeio vivente videt! Tamen omnia passo
Postquam clara dies Pharsalica damna retexit,
Nulla loci facies revocat feralibus arvis
Haerentes oculos. Cernit propulsa cruore
Flumina, et excelsos cumulis aequantia colles
Corpora, depressos in tabem spectat acervos,
Et Magni numerat populos: epulisque paratur
Ille locus, vultus ex quo faciesque iacentum
Agnoscat. Iuvat Emathiam non cernere terram,
Et lustrare oculis campos sub clade latentes:
Fortunam superosque suos in sanguine cernit.
Ac ne laeta furens scelerum spectacula perdat,
Invidet igne rogi miseris, coeloque nocenti
Ingerit Emathiam. Non illum Poenus humator
Consulis, et Libyca succensae lampade Cannae
Compellunt, hominum ritus ut servet in hostes:
Sed meminit, nondum satiata caedibus ira,
Cives esse suos. Petimus non singula busta,
Discretosque rogos: unum da gentibus ignem:
Non interpositis urantur corpora flammis.
Aut, generi si poena iuvat, nemus exstrue Pindi:
Erige congestas Oetaeo robore silvas,
Thessalicam videat Pompeius ab aequore flammam.
Nil agis hac ira: tabesne cadavera solvat,
An rogus, haud refert: placido natura receptat
Cuncta sinu, finemque sui sibi corpora debent.
Hos, Caesar, populos si nunc non usserit ignis,
Uret cum terris, uret cum gurgite ponti.
Communis mundo superest rogus, ossibus astra
Mixturus. Quocumque tuam Fortuna vocabit,
Hae quoque eunt animae. Non altius ibis in auras,
Non meliore loco Stygia sub nocte iacebis.
Libera Fortunae mors est: capit omnia tellus
Quae genuit: coelo tegitur, qui non habet urnam.
Tu, cui dant poenas inhumato funere gentes,
Quid fugis hanc cladem? quid olentes deseris agros?
Has trahe, Caesar, aquas: hoc, si potes, utere coelo.
Sed tibi tabentes populi Pharsalica rura
Eripiunt, camposque tenent victore fugato.
Non solum Haemonii, funesta ad pabula belli
Bistonii venere lupi, tabemque cruentae
Caedis odorati Pholoen liquere leones.
Tunc ursi latebras, obscoeni tecta domosque
Deseruere canes, et quidquid nare sagaci
Aera non sanum motumque cadavere sensit.
Iamque diu volucres civilia castra secutae
Conveniunt. Vos, quae Nilo mutare soletis
Threicias hiemes, ad mollem serius austrum
Istis, aves. Numquam tanto se vulture coelum
Induit, aut plures presserunt aera pennae.
Omne nemus misit volucres, omnisque cruenta
Alite sanguineis stillavit roribus arbor.
Saepe super vultus victoris et impia signa
Aut cruor aut alto defluxit ab aethere tabes,
Membraque deiecit iam lassis unguibus ales.
Sic quoque non omnis populus pervenit ad ossa,
Inque feras discerptus abit: non intima curant
Viscera, nec totas avidae sorbere medullas:
Degustant artus. Latiae pars maxima turbae
Fastidita iacet; quam sol nimbique diesque
Longior Emathiis resolutam miscuit arvis.
Thessalia, infelix, quo tanto crimine, tellus,
Laesisti superos, ut te tot mortibus unam,
Tot scelerum fatis premerent? Quod sufficit aevum,
Immemor ut donet belli tibi damna vetustas?
Quae seges infecta surget non decolor herba?
Quo non Romanos violabis vomere manes?
Ante novae venient acies, scelerique secundo
Praestabis nondum siccos hoc sanguine campos.
Omnia maiorum vertamus busta licebit,
Et stantes tumulos, et qui radice vetusta
Effudere suas, victis compagibus, urnas:
Plus cinerum Haemoniae sulcis telluris aratur,
Pluraque ruricolis feriuntur dentibus ossa.
Nullus ab Emathio religasset litore funem
Navita, nec terram quisquam movisset arator,
Romani bustum populi: fugerentque coloni
Umbrarum campos: gregibus dumeta carerent:
Nullusque auderet pecori permittere pastor
Vellere surgentem de nostris ossibus herbam;
Ac, velut impatiens hominum vel solis iniqui
Limite vel glacie, nuda atque ignota iaceres,
Si non prima nefas belli, sed sola, tulisses.
O superi, liceat terras odisse nocentes.
Quid totum premitis, quid totum solvitis orbem?
Hesperiae clades, et flebilis unda Pachyni,
Et Mutina, et Leucas puros fecere Philippos.

## 15. Book VIII · lines 1–455

Source: https://scriptura.si/works/lucan-pharsalia/15/ · cite a paragraph as https://scriptura.si/works/lucan-pharsalia/15/#p-N

[¶0] Now through Alcides' pass and Tempe's groves
Pompeius, aiming for Haemonian glens
And forests lone, urged on his wearied steed
Scarce heeding now the spur; by devious tracks
Seeking to veil the footsteps of his flight:
The rustle of the foliage, and the noise
Of following comrades filled his anxious soul
With terrors, as he fancied at his side
Some ambushed enemy. Fallen from the height
Of former fortunes, still the chieftain knew
His life not worthless; mindful of the fates:
And 'gainst the price he set on Caesar's head,
He measures Caesar's value of his own.
Yet, as he rode, the features of the chief
Made known his ruin. Many as they sought
The camp Pharsalian, ere yet was spread
News of the battle, met the chief, amazed,
And wondered at the whirl of human things:
Nor held disaster sure, though Magnus' self
Told of his ruin. Every witness seen
Brought peril on his flight: 'twere better far
Safe in a name obscure, through all the world
To wander; but his ancient fame forbad.
Too long had great Pompeius from the height
Of human glory, envied of mankind,
Looked on all others; nor for him henceforth
Could life be lowly. The honours of his youth
Too early thrust upon him, and the deeds
Which brought him triumph in the Sullan days,
His conquering navy and the Pontic war,
Made heavier now the burden of defeat,
And crushed his pondering soul. So length of days
Drags down the haughty spirit, and life prolonged
When power has fled. Unless when honour fails
Comes end of life, and timely death forestalls
Ensuing woe, the glory of past years
Is present shame. Who'd venture on the sea
Of favouring fortune but for death at need?
Hard by Peneus' flood he reached the main
Now with Pharsalus' slaughter blushing red:
And borne in sloop, to shallows of a stream
Scarce equal, dared the deep: Liburnia's lord,
Lord of Cilicia, at whose countless oars
Yet Leucas' inlets and Corcyra shook,
Crept to the shelter of a tiny bark.
For thou didst beckon him to Lesbos' shores,
Thou, partner of the sorrows of thy lord,
Cornelia! Sadder far thy life apart
Than wert thou present in Thessalia's fields.
Racked is thy heart with presages of ill;
Pharsalia fills thy dreams and when the shades
Give place to dawn, with hasty step thou tread'st
Some cliff sea-beaten, and with gaze intent
To mark the sail of each approaching ship
Art first: yet dar'st not ask thy husband's fate.
Lo! the ship comes, her load of ills unknown,
Thy worst of fears some messenger of woe,
Some evil tidings of the battle day:
Nay! it is he, thy husband in defeat:
Fear then no more, but weep; nor waste the hour.
He leaps to land; she marks the cruel doom
Wrought by the gods upon him: pale and wan
His weary features, by the hoary locks
Shaded; the dust of travel on his garb.
Dark on her soul a night of anguish fell;
Her trembling limbs no longer bore her frame:
Scarce throbbed her heart, and prone on earth she lay
Deceived in hope of death. The boat made fast,
Pompeius treading the lone waste of sand
Drew near; whom when Cornelia's maidens saw,
They stayed their weeping, yet with sighs subdued,
Reproached the fates; and tried in vain to raise
Their mistress' form, till Magnus to his breast
Drew her with cherishing arms; and at the touch
Of soothing hands the life-blood to her veins
Returned once more, and she could bear to look
Upon his features. He forbad despair,
Chiding her grief. ' Not at the earliest blow
By Fortune dealt, inheritress of fame
Bequeathed by noble fathers, should thy strength
Thus fail and yield: renown shall yet be thine,
To last through ages; not of laws decreed
Nor conquests won; a gentler path to thee
As to thy sex, is given; thy husband's woe.
Let thine affection struggle with the fates,
And in his misery love thy lord the more.
I bring thee greater glory, for that gone
Is all the pomp of lictors, gone the crowd
Of faithful senators, and the band of kings;
Now first Pompeius for himself alone
'Tis thine to love. Curb this unbounded grief,
' While yet I breathe, unseemly. O'er my tomb
' Weep out thy full, the final pledge of faith.
' Thou hast no loss, nor has the war destroyed
' Aught save my fortune. If for that thy grief,
' That was thy love.'
Roused by her husband's words,
Yet scarcely could she raise her trembling limbs,
Thus speaking through her sobs: ' Would I had sought
' Detested Caesar's couch, ill-omened wife
' Of spouse unhappy; at my nuptials twice
' A Fury has been bridesmaid; and the ghosts
' Of slaughtered Crassi, with avenging shades
' Brought by my wedlock to thy doomed camp
' A Parthian massacre. Twice my star has cursed
' The world, and peoples have been hurled to death
' In one red moment; and the gods through me
' Have left the better cause. 0, hero mine,
' O mightiest husband, wedded to a wife
' Unworthy! 'Twas through her that Fortune gained
'The right to strike thee. Wherefore did I wed
' To bring thee misery? Mine, mine the guilt,
' Mine be the penalty. And that the wave
' May bear thee gently onwards, and the kings
'May keep their faith to thee, and all the earth
' Be ready to thy rule, me from thy side
' Cast to the billows. Rather had I died
' To bring thee victory; thy disasters thus,
Thus expiate. And, cruel Julia, thee,
' Who by this war hast vengeance on our vows,
' From thine abode I call: atonement find
' In this thy rival's death, and spare at least
' Thy Magnus.' Then upon his breast she fell,
While all the concourse wept-e'en Magnus' self,
Who saw Thessalia's field without a tear.

> Latin: Iam super Herculeas fauces nemorosaque Tempe,
Haemoniae deserta petens dispendia silvae,
Cornipedem exhaustum cursu stimulisque negantem
Magnus agens, incerta fugae vestigia turbat,
Implicitasque errore vias. Pavet ille fragorem
Motorum ventis nemorum; comitumque suorum,
Qui post terga ferit, trepidum laterique timentem
Exanimat. Quamvis summo de culmine lapsus,
Nondum vile sui pretium scit sanguinis esse,
Seque memor fati tantae mercedis habere
Credit adhuc iugulum, quantum pro Caesaris ipse
Avulsa cervice daret. Deserta sequentem
Non patitur tutis fatum celare latebris
Clara viri facies. Multi, Pharsalica castra
Cum peterent, nondum fama prodente ruinas,
Occursu stupuere ducis, vertigine rerum
Adtoniti: cladisque suae vix ipse fidelis
Auctor erat. Gravis est Magno, quicumque malorum
Testis adest. Cunctis ignotus gentibus esse
Mallet, et obscuro tutus transire per orbem
Nomine; sed longi poenas Fortuna favoris
Exigit a misero, quae tanto pondere famae
Res premit adversas, fatisque prioribus urget.
Nunc festinatos nimium sibi sentit honores,
Actaque lauriferae damnat Sullana iuventae.
Nunc et Corycias classes, et Pontica signa
Deiectum meminisse piget. Sic longius aevum
Destruit ingentes animos, et vita superstes
Imperio. Nisi summa dies cum fine bonorum
Adfuit, et celeri praevertit tristia leto,
Dedecori est fortuna prior. Quisquamne secundis
Tradere se fatis audet, nisi morte parata?
Litora contigerat, per quae Peneius amnis
Emathia iam clade rubens exibat in aequor.
Inde ratis trepidum, ventis et fluctibus impar,
Flumineis vix tuta vadis, evexit in altum.
Cuius adhuc remis quatitur Corcyra sinusque
Leucadii, Cilicum dominus terraeque Liburnae,
Exiguam vector pavidus correpsit in alnum.
Conscia curarum, secreta in litora Lesbi
Flectere vela iubes, qua tunc tellure latebas,
Moestior, in mediis quam si, Cornelia, campis
Emathiae stares. Tristes praesagia curas
Exagitant: trepida quatitur formidine somnus:
Thessaliam nox omnis habet: tenebrisque remotis
Rupis in abruptae scopulos extremaque curris
Litora, prospiciens fluctus: nutantia longe
Semper prima vides venientis vela carinae,
Quaerere nec quidquam de fato coniugis audes.
En ratis, ad vestros quae tendit carbasa portus,
Quid ferat ignoras: et nunc tibi summa pavoris,
Nuntius armorum tristis, rumorque sinister.
Victus adest coniux. Quid perdis tempora luctus?
Cum possis iam flere, times. Tunc puppe propinqua
Prosiluit, crimenque deum crudele notavit,
Deformem pallore ducem, vultusque prementem
Canitie, atque atro squalentes pulvere vestes.
Obvia nox miserae coelum lucemque tenebris
Abstulit, atque animam clausit dolor: omnia nervis
Membra relicta labant: riguerunt corda, diuque
Spe mortis decepta iacet. Iam fune ligato
Litoribus, lustrat vacuas Pompeius arenas.
Quem postquam propius famulae videre fideles,
Non ultra gemitus tacitos incessere fata
Permisere sibi, frustraque adtollere terra
Semianimem conantur heram: quam pectore Magnus
Ambit, et adstrictos refovet complexibus artus.
Coeperat in summum revocato sanguine corpus
Pompeii sentire manus, moestamque mariti
Posse pati faciem: prohibet succumbere fatis
Magnus, et immodicos castigat voce dolores:
Nobile cur robur Fortunae vulnere primo,
Femina, tantorum titulis insignis avorum,
Frangis? Habes aditum mansurae in saecula famae.
Laudis in hoc sexu, non legum iura, nec arma,
Unica materia est coniux miser. Erige mentem,
Et tua cum fatis pietas decertet, et ipsum,
Quod sum vicus, ama. Nunc sum tibi gloria maior,
A me quod fasces, et quod pia turba senatus,
Tantaque discessit regum manus. Incipe Magnum
Sola sequi. Deformis, adhuc vivente marito,
Summus et augeri vetitus dolor. Ultima debet
Esse fides, lugere virum. Tu nulla tulisti
Bello damna meo. Vivit post proelia Magnus,
Sed Fortuna perit: quod defles, illud amasti
Vocibus his correpta viri, vix aegra levavit
Membra solo, tales gemitu rumpente querelas:
O utinam in thalamos invisi Caesaris issem
Infelix coniux, et nulli laeta marito!
Bis nocui mundo: me pronuba ducit Erinnys
Crassorumque umbrae; devotaque manibus illis
Assyrios in castra tuli civilia casus,
Praecipitesque dedi populos, cunctosque fugavi
A caussa meliore deos. O maxime coniux,
O thalamis indigne meis, hoc iuris habebat
In tantum Fortuna caput! Cur impia nupsi,
Si miserum factura fui? Nunc accipe poenas,
Sed quas sponte luam. Quo sit tibi mollius aequor,
Certa fides regum, totusque paratior orbis,
Sparge mari comitem. Mallem felicibus armis
Dependisse caput: nunc clades denique lustra,
Magne, tuas. Ubicumque iaces, civilibus armis
Nostros ulta toros, ades huc atque exige poenas,
Iulia crudelis, placataque pellice caesa,
Magno parce tuo. Sic fata, iterumque refusa
Coniugis in gremium, cunctorum lumina solvit
In lacrimas. Duri flectuntur pectora Magni,
Siccaque Thessalia confundit lumina Lesbos.

[¶1] But now upon the shore a numerous band
From Mitylene thus approached the chief:
'If 'tis our greatest glory to have kept
' The pledge with us by such a husband placed,
' Do thou one night within these friendly walls
' We pray thee, stay; thus honouring the homes
' Long since devoted, Magnus, to thy cause.
This spot in days to come the guest from Rome
' For thee shall honour. Nowhere shalt thou find
' A surer refuge in defeat. All else
' May court the victor's favour; we long since
' Have earned his chastisement. And though our isle
' Rides on the deep, girt by the ocean wave,
' No ships has Caesar: and to us shall come,
' Be sure, thy captains, to our trusted shore,
' The war renewing. Take, for all is thine,
' The treasures of our temples and the gold,
' Take all our youth by land or on the sea
' To do thy bidding: Lesbos only asks
' This from the chief who sought her in his pride,
' Not in his fall to leave her.' Pleased in soul
At such a love, and joyed that in the world
Some faith still lingered, thus Pompeius said:
Earth has for me no dearer land than this.
' Did I not trust it with so sweet a pledge
' And find it faithful? Here was Rome for me,
' Country and household gods. This shore I sought
' Home of my wife, this Lesbos, which for her
' Had merited remorseless Caesar's ire:
' Nor was afraid to trust you with the means
' To gain his mercy. But enough-through me
'Your guilt was caused-I part, throughout the world
'To prove my fate. Farewell thou happiest land!
'Famous for ever, whether taught by thee
' Some other kings and peoples may be pleased
' To give me shelter; or shouldst thou alone
Be faithful. And now seek I in what lands
' Right may be found or wrong. My latest prayer
'Receive, 0 deity, if still with me
'Thou bidest, thus. May it be mine again,
Conquered, with hostile Caesar on my track,
'To find a Lesbos where to enter in
'And whence to part, unhindered.'
In the boat
He placed his spouse: while from the shore arose
Such lamentation, and such hands were raised
In ire against the gods, that thou hadst deemed
All left their kin for exile, and their homes.
And though for Magnus grieving in his fall
Yet for Cornelia chiefly did they mourn
Long since their gentle guest. For her had wept
The Lesbian matrons had she left to join
A victor husband: for she won their love,
By kindly modesty and gracious mien,
Ere yet her lord was conquered, while as yet
Their fortunes stood. Now slowly to the deep
Sank fiery Titan; but not yet to those
He sought (if such there be) was shown his orb,
Though veiled from those he quitted. Magnus' mind,
Anxious with waking cares, sought through the kings
His subjects, and the cities leagued with Rome
In faith, and through the pathless tracts that lie
Beyond the scorching suns of southern climes:
Till trouble of his cares and hateful thought
Of that which might be, made him cast afar
His wavering doubts, and from the captain seek
Some counsel on the heavens; how by the sky
He marked his track upon the deep; what star
Guided the path to Syria, and what points
Found in the Wain would pilot him aright
To shores of Libya. But thus replied
The well-skilled watcher of the silent skies:
'Not by the constellations moving ever
'Across the heavens do we guide our barks;
'For that were perilous; but by that star
'Which never sinks nor dips below the wave,
'Girt by the glittering groups men call the Bears.
'When stands the pole-star clear before the mast,
'Then to the Bosphorus look we, and the main
'Which carves the coast of Scythia. But the more
'Bootes dips, and nearer to the sea
'Is Cynosura seen, so much the ship
' Towards Syria tends, till bright Canopus shines,
'In southern skies content to hold his course;
' With him upon the left past Pharos borne
'Straight for the Syrtes shalt thou plough the deep.
' But whither now dost bid me shape the yards
'And set the canvas? '
Magnus, doubting still;
'This only be thy care: from Thracia steer
' The vessel onward; shun with all thy skill
'Italia's distant shore: and for the rest
'Trust to the winds for guidance. When I sought,
' Pledged with the Lesbians, my spouse beloved,
'My course was sure: now, Fortune, where thou wilt
Give me a refuge.' These his answering words.
The pilot, as they hung from level yards
Shifted the sails; and hauling to the stern
One sheet, he slacked the other, to the left
Steering, where Samian rocks and Chian marred
The stillness of the waters; while the sea
Sent up in answer to the changing keel
A different murmur. Not so deftly turns
Curbing his steeds, his wain the Charioteer,
While glows his dexter wheel, and with the left
He almost touches, yet avoids the goal.
Now Titan veiled the stars and showed the shore;
When, following Magnus, came a scattered band
Saved from the Thracian storm. From Lesbos' port
His son; next, captains who preserved their faith;. For at his side, though vanquished in the field,
Cast down by fate, in exile, still there stood,
Lords of the earth and all her Orient realms,
The Kings, his ministers. To the furthest lands
He bids Deiotarus: ' O faithful friend,

> Latin: Tunc Mitylenaeum pleno iam litore vulgus
Adfatur Magnum: Si maxima gloria nobis
Semper erit, tanti pignus servasse mariti,
Tu quoque devotos sacro tibi foedere muros,
Oramus, sociosque lares dignare vel una
Nocte tua: fac, Magne, locum, quem cuncta revisant
Saecula, quem veniens hospes Romanus adoret.
Nulla tibi subeunda magis sunt moenia victo.
Omnia victoris possunt sperare favorem:
Haec iam crimen habet. Quid, quod iacet insula ponto,
Caesar eget ratibus? Procerum pars magna coibit,
Certa loci. Noto reparandum est litore bellum
Accipe templorum cultus, aurumque deorum:
Accipe, si terris, si puppibus ista iuventus
Aptior est: tota, quantum valet, utere Lesbo.
[Accipe: ne Caesar rapiat, tu victus habeto.]
Hoc solum crimen meritae bene detrahe terrae,
Ne nostram videare fidem felixque secutus,
Et damnasse miser. Tali pietate virorum
Laetus in adversis, et mundi nomine gaudens
Esse fidem, Nullum toto mihi, dixit, in orbe
Gratius esse solum, non parvo pignore vobis
Ostendi. Tenuit nostros hac obside Lesbos
Adfectus: hic sacra domus carique penates,
Hic mihi Roma fuit. Non ulla in litora puppim
Ante dedi fugiens, saevi cum Caesaris iram
Iam scirem meritam, servata coniuge, Lesbon,
Non veritus tantam veniae committere vobis
Materiem. Sed iam satis est fecisse nocentes:
Fata mihi totum mea sunt agitanda per orbem.
Heu nimium felix aeterno nomine Lesbos,
Sive doces populos regesque admittere Magnum,
Seu praestas mihi sola fidem. Nam quaerere certum est.
Fas quibus in terris, ubi sit scelus. Accipe, numen,
Si quod adhuc mecum es, votorum extrema meorum:
Da similes Lesbo populos, qui Marte subactum
Non intrare suos, infesto Caesare, portus,
Non exire vetent. Dixit, moestamque carinae
Imposuit comitem. Cunctos mutare putares
Tellurem patriumque solum: sic litore toto
Plangitur: infestae tenduntur in aethera dextrae:
Pompeiumque minus, cuius Fortuna dolorem
Moverat, ast illam, quam toto tempore belli
Ut civem videre suam, discedere cernens
Ingemuit populus: quam vix, si castra mariti
Victoris peteret, siccis dimittere matres
Iam poterant oculis: tanto devinxit amore
Hos pudor, hos probitas, castique modestia vultus,
Quod, submissa nimis, nulli gravis hospita turbae,
Stantis adhuc fati vixit, quasi coniuge victo.
Iam pelago medios Titan demissus ad ignes,
Nec quibus abscondit, nec si quibus exerit orbem,
Totus erat: vigiles Pompeii in pectore curae
Nunc socias adeunt Romani foederis urbes,
Et varias regum mentes, nunc invia mundi
Arva super nimios soles Austrumque iacentes.
Saepe labor moestus curarum odiumque futuri
Proiecit fessos incerti pectoris aestus,
Rectoremque ratis de cunctis consulit astris:
Unde notet terras; quae sit mensura secandi
Aequoris in coelo; Syriam quo sidere servet:
Aut quotus in plaustro Libyam bene dirigat ignis.
Doctus ad haec fatur taciti servator Olympi:
Signifero quaecumque fluunt labentia coelo,
Numquam stante polo, miseros fallentia nautas
Sidera non sequimur: sed qui non mergitur undis
Axis inocciduus, gemina clarissimus Arcto,
Ille regit puppes. Hic cum mihi semper in altum
Surget et instabit summis minor Ursa ceruchis;
Bosporon et Scythiae curvantem litora pontum
Spectamus. Quidquid descendit ab arbore summa
Arctophylax, propiorque mari Cynosura feretur,
In Syriae portus tendit ratis. Inde Canopos
Excipit, Australi coelo contenta vagari
Stella, timens Borean: illa quoque perge sinistra,
Trans Pharon, in medio tanget ratis aequore Syrtes.
Sed quo vela dari, quo nunc pede carbasa tendi
Nostra iubes? Dubio contra cui pectore Magnus,
Hoc solum toto, respondit, in aequore serva,
Ut sit ab Emathiis semper tua longius oris
Puppis, et Hesperiam pelago coeloque relinquas:
Cetera da ventis. Comitem pignusque recepi
Depositum: tunc certus eram, quae litora vellem;
Nunc portum Fortuna dabit. Sic fatur: at ille
Iusto vela modo pendentia cornibus aequis
Torsit, et in laevum puppim dedit, utque secaret,
Quas Samiae cautes et quas Chios asperat, undas,
Hos dedit in proram, tenet hos in puppe rudentes.
Aequora senserunt motus, aliterque secante
Iam pelagus rostro, nec idem spectante carina,
Mutavere sonum. Non sic moderator equorum,
Dexteriore rota laevum cum circuit axem,
Cogit inoffensae currus accedere metae.
Ostendit terras Titan, et sidera texit.
Sparsus ab Emathia fugit quicumque procella,
Adsequitur Magnum: primusque a litore Lesbi
Occurrit natus, procerum mox turba fidelis.
Nam neque deiecto fatis, acieque fugato
Abstulerat Magno reges Fortuna ministros:
Terrarum dominos et sceptra Eoa tenentes
Exsul habet comites. Iubet ire in devia mundi
Deiotarum, qui sparsa ducis vestigia legit.

[¶2] 'Since in Emathia's battle-field was lost
'The world, so far as Roman, it remains
' To test the faith of peoples of the East
' Who drink of Tigris and Euphrates' stream,
'Secure as yet from Caesar. Be it thine
'Far as the rising of the sun to trace
' The fates that favour Magnus: to the courts
' Of Median palaces, to Scythian steppes;
'And to the son of haughty Arsaces,
'To bear my message, "Hold ye to the faith,
'" Pledged by your priests and by the Thunderer's name
' "Of Latium sworn? Then fill your quivers full,
' "Draw to its fullest span th' Armenian bow;
'" And, Getan archers, wing the fatal shaft.
'" And you, ye Parthians, if when I sought
'"The Caspian gates, and on th' Alaunian tribes
" Fierce, ever-warring, pressed, I suffered you
" In Persian tracts to wander, nor compelled
" To seek for shelter Babylonian walls;
" If beyond Cyrus' kingdom and the bounds
" Of wide Chaldaea, where from Nysa's top
'"Pours down Hydaspes, and the Ganges stream
' Foams to the ocean, nearer far I stood
'" Than Persia's bounds to Phoebus' rising fires;
'" If by my sufferance, Parthians, you alone
'" Decked not my triumphs, but in equal state
" Sole of all Eastern princes, face to face
" Met Magnus in his pride, nor only once
' Through me were saved; (for after that dread day
" Who but Pompeius soothed the kindling fires
" Of Latium's anger?) - by my service paid
'"Come forth to victory: burst the ancient bounds
' By Macedon's hero set: in Magnus' cause
" March, Parthians, to Rome's conquest. Rome herself
' Prays to be conquered."'
Hard the task imposed;
Yet doffed his robe, and swift obeyed, the king
Wrapped in a servant's mantle. If a Prince
For safety play the boor, then happier, sure,
The peasant's lot than lordship of the world.
The king thus parted, past Icaria's rocks
Pompeius' vessel skirts the foamy crags
Of little Samos: Colophon's tranquil sea
And Ephesus lay behind him, and the air
Breathed freely on him from the Coan shore.
Cnidos he shunned, and, famous for its sun,
Rhodos, and steering for the middle deep
Escaped the windings of Telmessus' bay;
Till rose Pamphylian coasts before the bark,
And first the fallen chieftain dared to find
In small Phaselis shelter; for therein
Scarce was the husbandman, and empty homes
Forbad to fear. Next Taurus' heights he saw
And Dipsus falling from his lofty sides:
So sailed he onward.
Did Pompeius dream,
When giving safety to the seas, he made
Flight for himself secure? His little boat
Flies unmolested past Cilician shores;
But to their exiled lord in chiefest part
The senate of Rome was drawn. Celendrae there
Received their fleet, where fair Selinus' stream
In spacious bay gives refuge from the main;
And to the gathered chiefs in mournful words
At length Pompeius thus resolved his thoughts:
O faithful comrades mine in war and flight!
To me, my country! Though this barren shore
Our place of meeting, and no gathered host
'Surrounds us, yet upon our changed estate
I seek your counsel. Rouse ye as of yore
With hearts of courage! Magnus on the field
'Not all is perished, nor do fates forbid
But that I rise afresh with living hope
Of future victories, and spurn defeat.
'From Libyan ruins did not Marius rise
'Again recorded Consul on the page
Full of his honours? shall a lighter blow
'Keep Magnus down, whose thousand chiefs and ships
'Still plough the billows; by defeat his strength
'Not whelmed but scattered? And the fame alone
' Of our great deeds of glory in the past
' Shall now protect us, and the world unchanged
'Still love its hero. Weigh upon the scales
Ye chiefs, which best may help the needs of Rome,
'In faith and armies; or the Parthian realm
'Egypt or Libya. For myself, I keep
'No secret thoughts apart, but thus advise.
'Place no reliance on the Pharian king:
'Faith, to be constant, needs a riper age;
'Nor on th' unstable cunning of the Moor,
Who vain of Punic blood, and of descent
'Supposed from Hannibal, is swollen with pride
'At Varus' prayer for aid, and sees in thought
Rome's fates beneath his own. Then, comrades, seek
'At speed, the Eastern world. Those mighty realms
'Euphrates severs from us, and the gates
'Called Caspian; on another sky than ours
' There day and night revolve; another sea
' Of different hue is parted from our own.
' Rule is their wish, nought else: and in their plains
' Taller the war-horse, stronger twangs the bow;
' There fails nor youth nor age to wing the shaft
' Fatal in flight. Their archers first subdued
' The lance of Macedon and Bactra's walls,
' Home of the Mede; and haughty Babylon
' With all her storied towers: nor shall they dread
' The Roman onset; trusting to the shafts
' By which the host of fated Crassus fell.
' Nor trust they only to the javelin blade
' Untipped with poison: from the rancorous edge
'The slightest wound deals death. Would that my lot
' Forced me not thus to trust that savage race
' Of Arsaces! Yet now their emulous fate
' Contends with Roman destinies: the gods
' Smile favouring on their nation. Thence I'll pour
' On Caesar peoples from another earth
' And all the Orient ravished from its home.
' But should the East and barbarous treaties fail,
' Fate, bear our shipwrecked fortunes past the bounds
' Of earth, as known to men. The kings I made
' I supplicate not, but in death shall take
' To other spheres this solace, chief of all;
' His hands, my kinsman's, never shed my blood
' Nor soothed me dying. Yet as my mind in turn
' The varying fortunes of my life recalls,
' How was I glorious in that Eastern world!
' How great my name by far Maeotis marsh
' And where swift Tanais flows! No other land
'Has so resounded with my conquests won,
' So sent me home triumphant. Rome, do thou
' Approve my enterprise! What happier chance
' Could favouring gods afford thee? Parthian hosts
' Shall fight the civil wars of Rome, and share
' Her ills, and fall enfeebled. When the arms
' Of Caesar meet with Parthian in the fray,
' Then must kind Fortune vindicate my lot
'Or Crassus be avenged.' But murmurs rose,
And Magnus speaking knew his words condemned.
Then Lentulus answered, with indignant soul,
Foremost to rouse their valour, thus in words
Worthy a Consul:

> Latin: Quando, ait, Emathiis amissus cladibus orbis
Qua Romanus erat, superest, fidissime regum,
Eoam tentare fidem, populosque bibentes
Euphraten, et adhuc securum a Caesare Tigrim.
Ne pigeat Magno quaerentem fata remotas
Medorum penetrare domos, Sythicosque recessus,
Et totum mutare diem, vocesque superbo
Arsacidae perferre meas: Si foedera nobis
Prisca manent, mihi per Latium iurata Tonantem,
Per vestros obstricta magos, implete pharetras,
Armeniosque arcus Geticis intendite nervis:
Si vos, o Parthi, peterem cum Caspia claustra,
Et sequerer duros aeterni Martis Alanos,
Passus Achaemeniis late discurrere campis,
In tutam trepidos numquam Babylona coegi.
Arva super Cyri, Chaldaeique ultima regni
Qua rapidus Ganges et qua Nysaeus Hydaspes
Accedunt pelago, Phoebi surgentis ab igne
Iam propior, quam Persis, eram: tamen omnia vincens
Sustinui nostris vos tantum deesse triumphis:
Solus et e numero regum telluris Eoae
Ex aequo me Parthus adit. Nec munere Magni
Stant semel Arsacidae. Quis enim post vulnera cladis
Assyriae iustas Latii compescuit iras?
Tot meritis obstricta meis, nunc Parthia ruptis
Excedat claustris vetitam per saecula ripam,
Zeugmaque Pellaeum. Pompeio vincite, Parthi;
Vinci Roma volet. Regem parere iubenti
Ardua non piguit, positisque insignibus aulae
Egreditur, famuli raptos indutus amictus.
In dubiis tutum est inopem simulare tyranno.
Quanto igitur mundi dominis securius aevum
Verus pauper agit! Dimisso in litora rege,
Ipse per Icariae scopulos, Ephesumque relinquens,
Et placidi Colophona maris, spumantia parvae
Radit saxa Sami: spirat de litore Coo
Aura fluens: Gnidon inde fugit, claramque relinquit
Sole Rhodon, magnosque sinus Telmessidos undae
Compensat medio pelago. Pamphylia puppi
Occurrit tellus: nec se committere muris
Ausus adhuc ullis, te primum, parva Phaseli,
Magnus adit. Nam te metui vetat incola rarus.
Exhaustaeque domus populis; maiorque carinae,
Quam tua, turba fuit. Tendens hinc carbasa rursus
Iam Taurum, Tauroque videt Dipsunta cadentem.
Crederet hoc Magnus, pacem cum praestitit undis
Et sibi consultum. Cilicum per litora tutus
Parva puppe fugit: sequitur pars magna senatus
Ad profugum collecta ducem: parvisque Celendris,
Qua portu mittitque rates recipitque Selinus,
In Procerum coetu tandem moesta ora resolvit
Vocibus his Magnus: Comites bellique fugaeque,
Atque instar patriae, quamvis in litore nudo,
In Cilicum terra, nullis circumdatus armis
Consultem, rebusque novis exordia quaeram,
Ingentes praestate animos: non omnis in arvis
Emathiis cecidi, nec sic mea fata premuntur,
Ut nequeam relevare caput, cladesque receptas
Excutere. An Libyae Marium potuere ruinae
Erigere in fasces, plenis et reddere fastis:
Me pressum leviore manu Fortuna tenebit?
Mille meae Graio volvuntur in aequore puppes,
Mille duces: sparsit potius Pharsalia nostras,
Quam subvertit, opes. Sed me vel sola tueri
Fama potest rerum, toto quas gessimus orbe,
Et nomen, quod mundus amat. Vos pendite regna
Viribus atque fide, Libyen, Parthosque, Pharonque,
Quaenam Romanis deceat succurrere rebus.
Ast ego curarum, proceres, arcana mearum
Expromam, mentisque meae quo pondera vergant.
Aetas Niliaci nobis suspecta tyranni est:
Ardua quippe fides robustos exigit annos.
Hinc anceps dubii terret sollertia Mauri:
Namque memor generis Carthaginis impia proles
Imminet Hesperiae, multusque in pectore vano est
Hannibal; obliquo maculat qui sanguine regnum,
Et Numidas contingit avos, iam supplice Varo
Intumuit, viditque loco Romana secundo.
Quare agite, Eoum, comites, properemus in orbem.
Dividit Euphrates ingentem gurgite mundum,
Caspiaque immensos seducunt claustra recessus,
Et polus Assyrias alter noctesque diesque
Vertit, et abruptum est nostro mare discolor unda,
Oceanusque suus. Regnandi sola voluntas.
Celsior in campis sonipes, et fortior arcus;
Nec puer aut senior letales tendere nervos
Segnis, et a nulla mors est incerta sagitta.
Primi Pellaeas arcu fregere sarissas,
Bactraque Medorum sedem, murisque superbam
Assyrias Babylona domos. Nec pila timentur
Nostra nimis Parthis, audentque in bella venire,
Experti Scythicas, Crasso pereunte, sagittas.
Spicula nec solo spargunt fidentia ferro;
Stridula sed multo saturantur tela veneno.
Vulnera parva nocent, fatumque in sanguine summo est
O utinam non tanta mihi fiducia saeviis
Esset in Arsacidis! Fatis nimis aemula nostris
Fata movent Medos, multumque in gente deorum est
Effundam populos alia tellure revulsos,
Excitosque suis immittam sedibus ortus.
Quodsi nos Eoa fides et barbara fallunt
Foedera, vulgati supra commercia mundi
Naufragium Fortuna ferat. Non regna precabor,
Quae feci; sed magna feram solatia mortis
Orbe iacens alio, nihil haec in membra cruente,
Nil socerum fecisse pie. Sed cuncta revolvens
Vitae fata meae, semper venerabilis illa
Orbis parte fui: quantus Maeotida supra!
Quantus apud Tanaim toto conspectus in ortu!
Quas magis in terras nostrum felicibus actis
Nomen abit, aut unde redit maiore triumpho?
Roma, fave coeptis: quid enim tibi laetius umquam
Praestiterint superi, quam, si civilia Partho
Milite bella geras, tantam consumere gentem,
Et nostris miscere malis? Cum Caesaris arma
Concurrent Medis, aut me Fortuna necesse est
Vindicet, aut Crassos. Sic fatus, murmure sentit
Consilium damnasse viros: quos Lentulus omnes
Virtutis stimulis et nobilitate dolendi
Praecessit, dignasque tulit modo consule voces:

[¶3] 'Have Thessalian woes
' Broken thy spirit so? One day's defeat
' Condemned the world to ruin? Is the cause
' Lost in one battle and beyond recall?
' Find we no cure for wounds? Does Fortune drive
' Thee, Magnus, to the Parthians' feet alone?
' And dost thou, fugitive, spurn the lands and skies
' Known heretofore, and seek for other poles
' And constellations, and Chaldean gods,
' And rites barbarian, servant of the realm
' Of Parthia? But why then took we arms
' For love of liberty? If thou canst slave
' Thou hast deceived the world! Shall Parthia see
' Thee at whose name, ruler of mighty Rome,
' She trembled, at whose feet she captive saw
' Hyrcanian kings and Indian princes kneel,
' Now humbly suppliant, victim of the fates;
' And at thy prayer her puny strength extol
' In mad contention with the Western world?
' Nor think, Pompeius, thou shalt plead thy cause
' In that proud tongue unknown to Parthian ears
' Of which thy fame is worthy; sobs and tears
' He shall demand of thee. And has our shame
' Brought us to this, that some barbarian foe
' Shall venge Hesperia's wrongs ere Rome her own?
' Thou wert our leader for the civil war:
' Mid Scythia's peoples dost thou bruit abroad
' Wounds and disasters which are ours alone?
' Rome until now, though subject to the yoke
' Of civic despots, yet within her walls
' Has brooked no foreign lord. And art thou pleased
' From all the world to summon to her gates
' These savage peoples, while the standards lost
' By far Euphrates when the Crassi fell
' Shall lead thy columns? Shall the only king
' Who failed Emathia, while the fates yet hid
'Their favouring voices, brave the victor's power,
' And join with thine his fortune? Nay, not so
'This nation trusts itself. Each race that claims
' A northern birth, unconquered in the fray
' Claims but the warrior's death; but as the sky
' Slopes towards the eastern tracts and gentler climes
' So are the nations. There in flowing robes
' And garments delicate are men arrayed.
'True that the Parthian in Sarmatia's plains,
' Where Tigris spreads across the level meads,
' Contends invincible; for flight is his
' Unbounded; but should uplands bar his path
' He scales them not; nor through the night of war
' Shall his weak bow uncertain in its aim
' Repel the foeman; nor his strength of arm
' The torrent stem; nor all a summer's day
' In dust and blood bear up against the foe.
' They fill no hostile trench, nor in their hands
' Shall battering engine or machine of war
' Dash down the rampart; and whate'er avails
' To stop their arrows, battles like a wall.
' Wide sweep their horsemen, fleeting in attack
' And light in onset, and their troops shall yield
' A camp, not take it: poisoned are their shafts;
' Nor do they dare a combat hand to hand;
' But as the winds may suffer, from afar
' They draw their bows at venture. Brave men love
' The sword which, wielded by a stalwart arm,
' Drives home the blow and makes the battle sure.
' Not such their weapons; and the first assault
' Shall force the flying Mede with coward hand
'And empty quiver from the field. His faith
' In poisoned blades is placed; but trustest thou
' Those who without such aid refuse the war?
' For such alliance wilt thou risk a death,
' With all the world between thee and thy home?
' Shall some barbarian earth or lowly grave
' Enclose thee perishing? E'en that were shame
' While Crassus seeks a sepulchre in vain.
' Thy lot is happy; death, unfeared by men,
' Is thy worst doom, Pompeius; but no death
' Awaits Cornelia-such a fate for her
' This king shall not reserve; for know not we
' The hateful secrets of barbarian love,
' Blind as of savage beasts? That palace knows
' No laws of kin: the royal bed is foul
' With concubines. The tale of that one crime
' Of old by OEdipus unwitting wrought
' Made nations shudder at the name of Thebes:
' How many an offspring of such foul embrace
Has held the Parthian throne? Where incest's right
'What shall be wickedness? This gracious dame
'Born of Metellus, noblest blood of Rome,
'Shall share the couch of the barbarian king
' With thousand others: yet in savage joy,
'Proud of her former husbands, he may grant
'Some larger share of favour; and the fates
May seem to smile on Parthia; for the spouse
' Of Crassus, captive, shall to him be brought
' As spoil of former conquest. If the wound
' Dealt in that fell defeat in eastern lands
' Still stirs thy heart, then double is the shame
'First to have waged the war upon ourselves,
' Then ask the foe for succour. For what blame
' Can rest on thee or Caesar worse than this,
'That in the clash of conflict ye forgot
' For Crassus' slaughtered troops the vengeance due?
'First should united Rome upon the Mede
'Have poured her captains, and the troops who guard
'The northern frontier from the Dacian hordes;
'And all her legions should have left the Rhine
'Free to the Teuton, till the Parthian dead
' Were piled in heaps upon the sands that hide
' Our heroes slain; and haughty Babylon
'Lay at her victor's feet. To this foul peace
'We pray an end; and if Thessalia's day
'Has closed our warfare, let the conqueror march
'Straight on our Parthian foe. Then should this heart,
'Then only, leap at Caesar's triumph won.
'Go thou and pass Araxes' chilly stream
'On this thine errand; and the mournful ghost
'Pierced by the Scythian shaft shall greet thee thus:
' "Dost thou, to whom our wandering shades have looked
'" For vengeance and for war, seek from the foe
'"A treaty and a peace? " And there profuse
Shall meet thee sad memorials of the rout:
'Red is yon wall where passed their headless trunks;
'Euphrates here engulfed them, Tigris there
' Cast up to perish. Gaze on such array,
'And thou canst supplicate at Caesar's feet
' In mid Thessalia seated. Nay, thy glance
' Turn on the Roman world, and if thou fear'st
King Juba faithless and the southern realms,
Then seek we Pharos. Egypt on the west
Girt by the trackless Syrtes forces back
By sevenfold stream the ocean; rich in glebe
And gold and merchandise; and proud of Nile
Asks for no rain from heaven. Now holds this boy
Her sceptre, owed to thee; his guardian thou:
And who shall fear this shadow of a name?
Hope not from monarchs old, whose shame is fled,
Or laws or troth or honour of the gods:
New kings bring mildest sway.' His words prevailed
Upon his hearers. With what freedom speaks,
When states are trembling, patriot despair!
Pompeius' voice was quelled.

> Latin: Siccine Thessaliae mentem fregere ruinae?
Una dies mundi damnavit fata? secundum
Emathiam lis tanta datur? iacet omne cruenti
Vulneris auxilium? solos tibi, Magne, reliquit
Parthorum Fortuna pedes? Quid transfuga mundi
Terrarum totos tractus coelumque perosus,
Adversosque polos alienaque sidera quaeris,
Chaldaeos culture deos, et barbara sacra,
Parthorum famulus? Quid caussa obtendtur armis
Libertatis amor? Miserum quid decipis orbem,
Si servire potes? Te, quem Romana regentem
Horruit auditu, quem captos ducere reges
Vidit ab Hyrcanis, Indoque a litore, silvis,
Deiectum fatis, humilem, fractumque videbit,
Extolletque animos Latium vesanus in orbem,
Se simul, et Romam, Pompeio supplice, mensus?
Nil animis fatisque tuis effabere dignum:
Exiget ignorans Latiae commercia linguae,
Ut lacrimis se, Magne roges. Patimurne pudoris
Hoc vulnus, clades ut Parthia vindicet ante
Hesperias, quam Roma suas? Civilibus armis
Elegit te nempe ducem. Quid vulnera nostra
In Scythicos spargis populos, cladesque latentes?
Quid Parthos transire doces? Solatia tanti
Perdit Roma mali, nullos admittere reges
Sed civi servire suo. Iuvat ire per orbem
Ducentem saevas Romana in moenia gentes,
Signaque ab Euphrate cum Crassis capta sequentem?
Qui solus regum, fato celante favorem.
Defuit Emathiae, nunc tantas ille lacesset
Auditi victoris opes, aut iungere fata
Tecum, Magne, volet? Non haec fiducia genti est.
Omnis in Arctois populus quicumque pruinis
Nascitur, indomitus bellis, et mortis amator.
Quidquid ad Boos tractus mundique teporem
Labitur, emollit gentes dementia coeli.
Illic et laxas vestes, et fluxa virorum
Velamenta vides. Parthus per Medica rura,
Sarmaticos inter campos, effusaque plano
Tigridis arva solo, nulli superabilis hosti est
Libertate fugae: sed non, ubi terra tumebit,
Aspera conscendet montis iuga; nec per opacas
Bella geret tenebras incerto debilis arcu,
Nec franget nando violenti vorticis amnem,
Nec tota in pugna perfusus sanguine membra
Exiget aestivum calido sub pulvere solem.
Non aries illis, non ulla est machina belli:
Haud fossas implere valent: Parthoque sequente
Murus erit, quodcumque potest obstare sagittae.
Pugna levis, bellumque fugax, turmaeque vagante,
Et melior cessisse loco, quam pellere, miles.
Illita tela dolis, nec Martem cominus umquam
Ausa pati virtus, sed longe tendere nervos,
Et, quo ferre velint, permittere vulnera ventis.
Ensis habet vires, et gens quaecumque virorum est,
Bella gerit gladiis; nam Medos proelia prima
Exarmant, vacuaeque iubent remeare pharetrae.
Nulla manus illis fiducia, tota veneni est.
Credis, Magne, viros, quos in discrimina belli
Cum ferro venisse parum est? Tentare pudendum
Auxilium tanti est, toto divisus ut orbe
A terra moriare tua? tibi barbara tellus
Incumbat? te parva tegant ac vilia busta,
Invidiosa tamen, Crasso quaerente sepulchrum?
Sed tua sors levior, quoniam mors ultima poena est,
Nec metuenda viris. At non Cornelia letum
Infando sub rege timet. Num barbara nobis
Est ignota Venus, quas ritu caeca ferarum
Polluit innumeris leges et foedera tedae
Coniugibus? thalamique patent secreta nefandi.
Inter mille nurus epulis vesana meroque
Regia non ullos exceptos legibus horret
Concubitus: tot femineis complexibus unum
Non lassat nox una marem. Iacuere sorores
In fratrum thalamis, sacrataque pignora matrum.
Damnat apud gentes sceleris non sponte peracti
Oedipodionias infelix fabula Thebas:
Parthorum dominus quoties sic sanguine mixto
Nascitur Arsacides! Cui fas implere parentem,
Quid rear esse nefas? Proles tam clara Metelli
Stabit barbarico coniux millesima lecto:
Quamquam non ulli plus regia, Magne, vacabit
Saevitia stimulante Venus, titulisque virorum.
Nam quo plura iuvent Parthum portenta, fuisse
Hanc sciet et Crassi: ceu pridem debila fatis
Assyriia, trahitur cladis captiva vetustae.
Haereat Eoae vulnus miserabile sortis;
Non solum auxilium funesto a rege petisse,
Sed gessisse prius bellum civile pudebit.
Nam quod apud populos crimen socerique tuumque
Maius erit, quam quod, vobis miscentibus arma,
Crassorum vindicta perit? Incurrere cuncti
Debuerant in Bactra duces, et ne qua vacarent
Arma, vel Arctoum Dacis Rhenique catervis
Imperii nudare latus, dum perfida Susa
In tumulos prolapsa virum, Babylonque iacerent.
Assyriae paci finem, Fortuna, precamur:
Et, si Thessaliae bellum civile peractum est,
Ad Partho, qui vicit, eat. Gens unica mundi est,
De qua Caesareis possim gaudere triumphis.
Non tibi, cum primum gelidum transibis Araxen,
Umbra senis moesti Scythicis confixa sagittis
Ingeret has voces? Tu, quem post funera nostra
Ultorem cinerum nudae speravimus umbrae,
Ad foedus pacemque venis? Tunc plurima cladis
Occurrent monimenta tibi: quae moenia trunci
Lustrarunt cervice duces, ubi nomina tanta
Obruit Euphrates, et nostra cadavera Tigris
Detulit in terras, ac reddidit. Ire per ista
Si potes, in media socerum quoque, Magne, sedentem
Thessalia placare potes. Quin respicis orbem
Romanum? Si regna times proiecta sub Austro,
Infidumque Iubam, petimus Pharon arvaque Lagi.
Syrtibus hinc Libycis tuto est Aegyptus: at inde
Gurgite septeno rapidus mare submovet amnis:
Terra suis contenta bonis, non indiga mercis
Aut Iovis: in solo tanta est fiducia Nilo.
Sceptra puer Ptolemaeus habet, tibi debita, Magne,
Tutelae commissa tuae. Quis nominis umbram
Horreat? Innocua est aetas: nec iura fidemque
Respectumque deum veteris speraveris aulae.
Nil pudet adsuetos sceptris: mitissima sors est
Regnorum sub rege novo. Non plura locutus
Impulit huc animos. Quantum spes ultima rerum
Libertatis habet! Victa est sententia Magni.

## 16. Book VIII · lines 456–872

Source: https://scriptura.si/works/lucan-pharsalia/16/ · cite a paragraph as https://scriptura.si/works/lucan-pharsalia/16/#p-N

[¶0] For Cyprus then
They shaped their course, whose altars more than all
The goddess loves who from the Paphian wave
Sprang, mindful of her birth, if such be truth,
And gods have origin. Past the craggy isle
Pompeius sailing, left at length astern
Its southern cape, and struck across the main
With winds transverse and tides; nor reached the mount
Grateful to sailors for its nightly gleam:
But to the bounds of Egypt hardly won
With battling canvas, where divided Nile
Pours through the shallows his Pelusian stream.
Now was the season when the heavenly scale
Most nearly balances the varying hours,
Once only equal; for the wintry day
Repays to night her losses of the spring;
And Magnus learning that th' Egyptian king
Lay by Mount Casius, ere the sun was set
Or flagged his canvas, thither steered his ship.
Already had a horseman from the shore
In rapid gallop to the trembling court
Brought news their guest was come. Short was the time
For counsel given; but in haste were met
All who advised the base Pellaean king,
Monsters, inhuman; there Achoreus sat
Less harsh in failing years, in Memphis born
Of empty rites, and guardian of the rise
Of fertilising Nile. While he was priest
Not only once had Apis lived the space
Marked by the crescent on his sacred brow.
First was his voice, for Magnus raised and troth
And for the pledges of the king deceased:
But, skilled in counsel meet for shameless minds
And tyrant hearts, Pothinus, dared to claim
Judgment of death on Magnus. ' Laws and right
' Make many guilty, Ptolemaeus king.
' And faith thus lauded brings its punishment
' When it supports the fallen. To the fates
' Yield thee, and to the gods; the wretched shun
' But seek the happy. As the stars from earth
' Differ, and fire from ocean, so from right
'Expedience. The tyrant's shorn of strength
'Who ponders justice; and regard for right
'Brings ruin on a throne. The power to sin,
'Swords drawn at will, the tyrant king protect;
'And savage deeds find safety when they're done.
'Who would be righteous, let him flee the throne,
'For right's the bane of rule. He lives in dread
'Who shrinks from cruelty. Nor let this chief
'Unpunished scorn thy youth, who thinks that thou
'Not even the conquered from our shore canst bar.
'Nor to a stranger, if thou wouldst not reign,
'Resign thy sceptre, for the ties of blood
'Speak for thy banished sister. Let her rule
'O'er Nile and Pharos: we shall at the least
'Preserve our Egypt from the Latian arms.
'What Magnus owned not ere the war was done,
No more shall Caesar. Driven from all the world,
'Trusting no more to Fortune, now he seeks
'Some foreign nation which may share his fate.
'Shades of the slaughtered in the civil war
'Compel him: nor from Caesar's arms alone
'But from the Senate also does he fly,
'Whose blood outpoured has gorged Thessalian fowl;
'Monarchs he fears whose all he has destroyed,
'And nations piled in one ensanguined heap,
'By him deserted. Victim of the blow
'Thessalia dealt, refused in every land,
' He asks for help from ours not yet betrayed.
' But none than Egypt with this chief from Rome
' Has juster quarrel; who has sought with arms
' To stain our Pharos, distant from the strife
'And peaceful ever, and to make our realm
'Suspected by his victor. Why alone
'Should this our country please thee in thy fall?
' Why bring'st thou here the burden of thy fates,
' Pharsalia's curse? In Caesar's eyes long since
'We have offence which by the sword alone
' Can find its condonation, in that we
'By thy persuasion from the Senate gained
'This our dominion. By our prayers we helped
' If not by arms thy cause. This sword, which fate
' Bids us make ready, not for thee I hold
' Prepared, but for the vanquished; and thy heart
'(I had preferred thy kinsman's) shall I pierce:
' For to his side, as all things, are we borne.
' And dost thou doubt, since thou art in my power,
'Thou art my victim? By what trust in us
'Cam'st thou, unhappy? Scarce our people tills
' The fields, though softened by the refluent Nile:
' Know well our strength, and know we can no more.
'Rome 'neath the ruin of Pompeius lies:
'Shalt thou, O king, uphold him? Shalt thou dare
' To stir Pharsalia's ashes and to call
' War to thy kingdom? Ere the fight was fought
' We joined not either army-shall we now
' Make Magnus friend whom all the world deserts?
'And fling a challenge to the conquering chief
'And all his proud successes? Fair is help
'Lent in disaster, yet reserved for those
'Whom fortune favours. Faith her friends selects
'Not from the wretched.'

> Latin: Tunc Cilicum liquere solum, Cyproque citatas
Immisere rates, nullas cui praetulit aras
Undae diva memor Paphiae, si numina nasci
Credimus, aut quemquam fas est coepisse deorum.
Haec ubi deseruit Pompeius litora, totos
Emensus Cypri scopulos, quibus exit in Austrum,
Inde maris vasti transverso vertitur aestu:
Nec tenuit gratum nocturno lumine montem,
Infimaque Aegypti pugnaci litora velo
Vix tetigit, qua dividui pars maxima Nili
In vada decurrit Pelusia septimus amnis.
Tempus erat, quo Libra pares examinat horas,
Non uno plus aequa die, noctique rependit
Lux minor hibernae verni solatia damni.
Comperit ut regem Casio se monte tenere,
Flectit iter: nec Phoebus adhuc, nec carbasa languent.
Iam rapido speculator eques per litora cursu
Hospitis adventu pavidam compleverat aulam.
Consilii vix tempus erat: tamen omnia monstra
Pellaeae colere domus: quos inter Achoreus,
Iam placidus senio, fractisque modestior annis,
(Hunc genuit, custos Nili crescentis in arva,
Memphis vana sacrit; illo cultore deorum
Lustra suae Phoebes non unus vixerat Apis)
Consilii vox prima fuit; meritumque, fidemque,
Sacraque defuncti iactavit pignora patris.
Sed, melior suadere malis, et nosse tyrannos,
Ausus Pompeium leto damnasse Pothinus:
Ius et fas multos faciunt, Ptolemaee, nocentes.
Dat poenas laudata fides, cum sustinet, inquit,
Quos Fortuna premit. Fatis accede deisque,
Et cole felices; miseros fuge. Sidera terra
Ut distant, ut flamma mari, sic utile recto.
Sceptrorum vis tota perit, si pendere iusta
Incipit: evertitque arces respectus honesti.
Libertas scelerum est, quae regna invisa tuetur,
Sublatusque modus gladiis. Facere omnia saeve
Non impune licet, nisi cum facis. Exeat aula,
Qui vult esse pius. Virtus et summa potestas
Non coeunt: semper metuet, quem saeva pudebunt.
Non impune tuos Magnus contemserit annos;
Qui te nec victos arcere a litore nostro
Posse putat. Neu te sceptris privaverit hospes,
Pignora sunt propiora tibi: Nilonque Pharonque,
Si regnare piget, damnatae redde sorori.
Aegyptum certe Latiis tueamur ab armis.
Quidquid non fuerit Magni, dum bella geruntur,
Nec victoris erit. Toto iam pulsus ab orbe,
Postquam nulla manet rerum fiducia, quaerit,
Cum qua gente cadat: rapitur civilibus umbris.
Nec soceri tantum arma fugit: fugit ora senatus,
Cuius Thessalicas saturat pars magna volucres:
Et metuit gentes, quas uno in sanguine mixtas
Deseruit: regesque timet, quorum omnia mersit:
Thessaliaeque reus, nulla tellure receptus,
Sollicitat nostrum, quem nondum prodidit, orbem.
Iustior in Magnum nobis, Ptolemaee, querelae
Caussa data est. Quid sepositam semperque quietam
Crimine bellorum maculas Pharon, arvaque nostra
Victori suspecta facis? cur sola cadenti
Haec placuit tellus, in quam Pharsalica fata
Conferres, poenasque tuas? Iam crimen habemus,
Purgandum gladio, quod nobis sceptra senatus
Te suadente dedit. Votis tua fovimus arma.
Hoc ferrum, quod fata iubent proferre, paravi
Non tibi, sed victo. Feriam tua viscera, Magne:
Malueram soceri: rapimur, quo cuncta feruntur.
Tene mihi dubitas an sit violare necesse,
Cum liceat? Quae te nostri fiducia regni
Huc agit, infelix? Populum non cernis inermem,
Arvaque vix refluo fodientem mollia Nilo?
Metiri sua regna decet viresque fateri.
Tu, Ptolemaee, potes Magni fulcire ruinam,
Sub qua Roma iacet? bustum cineresque movere
Thessalicos audes, bellumque in regna vocare?
Ante aciem Emathiam nullis accessimus armis:
Pompeii nunc castra placent, quae deserit orbis?
Nunc, victoris opes et cognita fata lacessis?
Adversis non deesse decet, sed laeta secutos.
Nulla fides umquam miseros elegit amicos.

[¶1] Then they all decree
The crime's accomplishment. Proud is the boy king
Of such unwonted honour, that his slaves
So soon give power for so great a deed.
They choose Achillas for the work of death;
And where the treacherous shore in Casian sands
Runs out, and shallow waters of the sea
Attest the Syrtes near, in little boat
He and his partners in the monstrous crime
With swords embark. Ye gods! and shall the Nile
And barbarous Memphis and th' effeminate crew
That throngs Pelusian Canopus raise
Its thoughts to such an enterprise? Do thus
Our fates press on the world? Is Rome thus fallen
That in our civil frays the Pharian sword
Finds place, or Egypt? 0, may civil war
Be thus far faithful that the hand which strikes
Be of our kindred; and the foreign fiend
Held worlds apart! Pompeius, great in soul,
Noble in spirit, had deserved a death
From Caesar's self. And, king, hast thou no fear
At such a ruin of so great a name?
And dost thou dare when heaven's high thunder rolls,
Thou, puny boy, to mingle with its tones
Thine impure utterance? Had he not won
A world by arms, and thrice in triumph scaled
The sacred Capitol, and vanquished kings,
And championed the Roman Senate's cause;
He, kinsman of the victor? 'Twas enough
To cause forbearance in a Pharian king,
That he was Roman. Wherefore with thy sword
Dost stab our breasts? Thou know'st not, impious boy,
How stand thy fortunes; now no more by right
Hast thou the sceptre of the land of Nile;
For prostrate, vanquished in the civil wars
Is he who gave it.
Furling now his sails,
Magnus with oars approached th' accursed land,
When in their little boat the murderous crew
Drew nigh. and feigning from th' Egyptian court
A ready welcome, blamed the double tides
Broken by shallows, and their scanty beach
Unfit for fleets; and bade him to their craft
Leaving his loftier ship. Had not the fates'
Eternal and unalterable laws
Called for their victim and decreed his end
Now near at hand, his comrades' warning voice
Yet might have stayed his course: for if the court
To Magnus, who bestowed the Pharian crown,
In truth were open, should not king and fleet
In pomp have come to greet him? But he yields:
The fates compel. Welcome to him was death
Rather than fear. But, rushing to the side,
His spouse would follow, for she dared not stay,
Fearing the guile. Then he, ' Abide, my wife,
And son, I pray you; from the shore afar
' Await my fortunes; mine shall be the life
' To test their honour.' But Cornelia still
Withstood his bidding, and with arms outspread
Frenzied she cried: ' And whither without me,
' Cruel, departest? Thou forbad'st me share
' Thy risks Thessalian; dost again command
' That I should part from thee? No happy star
' Breaks on our sorrow. If from every land
' Thou dost debar me, why didst turn aside
' In flight to Lesbos? On the waves alone
' Am I thy fit companion? ' Thus in vain,
Leaning upon the bulwark, dazed with dread;
Nor could she turn her straining gaze aside,
Nor see her parting husband. All the fleet
Stood silent, anxious, waiting for the end:
Not that they feared the murder which befell,
But lest their leader might with humble prayer
Kneel to the king he made.
As Magnus passed,
A Roman soldier from the Pharian boat,
Septimius, salutes him. Gods of heaven!
There stood he, minion to a barbarous king,
Nor bearing still the javelin of Rome;
But vile in all his arms; giant in form
Fierce, brutal, thirsting as a beast may thirst
For carnage. Didst thou, Fortune, for the sake
Of nations, spare to dread Pharsalus field
This savage monster's blows? Or dost thou place
Throughout the world, for thy mysterious ends,
Some ministering swords for civil war?
Thus, to the shame of victors and of gods,
This story shall be told in days to come:
A Roman swordsman, once within thy ranks,
Slave to the orders of a puny prince,
Severed Pompeius' neck. And what shall be
Septimius' fame hereafter? By what name
This deed be called, if Brutus wrought a crime?
Now came the end, the latest hour of all:
Rapt to the boat was Magnus, of himself
No longer master, and the miscreant crew
Unsheathed their swords; which when the chieftain saw
He swathed his visage, for he scorned unveiled
To yield his life to fortune; closed his eyes
And held his breath within him, lest some word,
Or sob escaped, might mar the deathless fame
His deeds had won. And when within his side
Achillas plunged his blade, nor sound nor cry
He gave, but calm consented to the blow
And proved himself in dying; in his breast
These thoughts revolving: ' In the years to come
' Men shall make mention of our Roman toils,
' Gaze on this boat, ponder the Pharian faith;
' And think upon thy fame and all the years
' While Fortune smiled: but for the ills of life
' How thou couldst bear them, this men shall not know
' Save by thy death. Then weigh thou not the shame
' That waits on thine undoing. Whoso strikes,
' The blow is Caesar's. Men may tear this frame
'And cast it mangled to the winds of heaven;
'Yet have I prospered, nor can all the gods
' Call back my triumphs. Life may bring defeat,
'But death no misery. If my spouse and son
'Behold me murdered, silently the more
' I suffer: admiration at my death
'Shall prove their love.' So did Pompeius die,
And so kept guard upon his thoughts in death.

> Latin: Adsensere omnes sceleri. Laetatur honore
Rex puer insueto, quod iam sibi tanta licere
Permittant famuli. Sceleri delectus Achillas.
Perfida qua tellus Casiis excurrit arenis,
Et vada testantur iunctas Aegyptia Syrtes,
Exiguam sociis monstri gladiisque carinam
Instruit. O superi, Nilusne et barbara Memphis,
Et Pelusiaci tam mollis turba Canopi
Hos animos? Sic fata premunt civilia mundum?
Sic Romana iacent? Ullusue in cladibus istis
Est locus Aegypto, Phariusque admittitur ensis?
Hanc certe servate fidem, civilia bella:
Cognatas praestate manus, externaque monstra
Pellite, si meruit tam claro nomine Magnus
Caesaris esse nefas. Tanti; Ptolemaee, ruinam
Nominis haud metuis coeloque tonante, profanas
Inseruisse manus, impure ac semivir, audes?
Non domitor mundi, nec ter Capitolia curru
Invectus, regumque potens, vindexque senatus,
Victorisque gener; Phario satis esse tyranno
Quod poterat, Romanus erat. Quid viscera nostra
Scrutaris gladio Nescis, puer improbe, nescis,
Quo tua sit fortuna loco: iam iure sine ullo
Nili sceptra tenes: cecidit civilibus armis,
Qui tibi regna dedit. Iam vento vela negarat
Magnus, et auxilio remorum infanda petebat
Litora: quem contra non longa vecta biremi
Adpulerat scelerata manus: Magnoque patere
Fingens regna Phari, celsae de puppe carinae
In parvam iubet ire ratem, litusque malignum
Incusat, bimaremque vadis frangentibus aestum,
Qui vetet externas terris advertere classes.
Quodnisi fatorum leges intentaque iussu
Ordinis aeterni miserae vicinia mortis
Damnatum leto traherent ad litora Magnum,
Non ulli comitum sceleris praesagia deerant:
Quippe, fides si pura foret, si regia Magno
Sceptrorum auctori vera pietate pateret,
Venturum tota Pharium cum classe tyrannum.
Sed cedit fatis, classemque relinquere iussus
Obsequitur, letumque iuvat praeferre timori.
Ibat in hostilem praeceps Cornelia puppim,
Hoc magis impatiens egresso deesse marito,
Quod metuit clades. Remane, temeraria coniunx,
Et tu, nate, precor, longeque e litore casus
Exspectate meos: et in hac cervice tyrannm
Explorate fidem, dixit. Sed dura vetanti
Tendebat geminas amens Cornelia palmas:
Quo sine me, crudelis, abis? Iterumne relinquor,
Thessalicis submota malis? Numquam omine laeto
Distrahimur miseri. Poteras non flectere puppim,
Cum fugeres, alio, latebrisque relinquere Lesbi,
Omnibus a terris si nos arcere parabas.
An tantum in fluctus placeo comes? Haec ubi frustra
Effudit, prima pendet tamen anxia puppe:
Attonitoque metu nec quoquam avertere visus,
Nec Magnum spectare potest. Stetit anxia classis
Ad ducis eventum, metuens non arma nefasque,
Sed ne submissis precibus Pompeius adoret
Sceptra sua donata manu. Transire parantem
Romanus Pharia miles de puppe salutat
Septimius: qui (pro superum pudor!) arma satelles
Regia gestabat posito deformia pilo:
Immanis, violentus, atrox, nullaque ferarum
Mitior in caedes. Quis non, Fortuna, putasset
Parcere te populis, quod bello haec dextra vacasset,
Thessaliaque procul tam noxia tela fugasses?
Disponis gladios, ne quo non fiat in orbe,
Heu, facinus civile tibi. Victoribus ipsis
Dedecus, et numquam superum caritura pudore
Fabula; Romanus regi sic paruit ensis,
Pellaeusque puer gladio tibi colla recidit,
Magne, tuo. Qua posteritas in saecula mittet
Septimium fama? scelus hoc quo nomine dicent,
Qui Bruti dixere nefas? Iam venerat horae
Terminus extremae, Phariamque ablatus in alnum
Perdiderat iam iura sui. Tunc stringere ferrum
Regia monstra parant. Ut vidit cominus enses,
Involvit vultus, atque, indignatus apertum
Fortunae praestare caput, tunc lumina pressit,
Continuitque animam, ne quas effundere voces
Posset, et aeternam fletu corrumpere tamam.
At postquam mucrone latus funestus Achillas
Perfodit, nullo gemitu consensit ad ictum,
Despexitque nefas, servatque immobile corpus,
Seque probat moriens, atque haec in pectore volvit:
Saecula Romanos numquam tacitura labores
Attendunt, aevumque sequens speculatur ab omni
Orbe ratem, Phariamque fidem. Nunc consule famae.
Fata tibi longae fluxerunt prospera vitae:
Ignorant populi, si non in morte probaris,
An scieris adversa pati. Ne cede pudori,
Auctoremque dole fati. Quacumque feriris,
Crede manum soceri. Spargant lacerentque licebit,
Sum tamen, o superi, felix, nullique potestas
Hoc auferre deo. Mutantur prospera vitae:
Non fit morte miser. Videt hanc Cornelia caedem,
Pompeiusque meus. Tanto patientius, oro,
Claude, dolor, gemitus: natus coniuxque, peremptum
Si mirantur, amant. Talis custodia Magno
Mentis erat: ius hoc animi morientis habebat.

[¶2] His spouse, less patient to behold the crime
Than to endure it, filled the airs with cries;
'0, husband, whom my wicked self hath slain!
'That lonely isle apart thy bane hath been
'And stayed thy coming. Caesar to the Nile
'Has won before us; for what other hand
'May do such work? But whosoe'er thou art
'Sent from the gods with power, for Caesar's ire,
'Or thine own sake, to slay, thou dost not know
'Where lies the heart of Magnus. Thou dost haste
To deal the blow as he would have it fall.
'Let me die first, and let him seeing bear
'An agony no less than death can bring.
'No freedom mine from blame of war. Alone
Of Roman wives, through oceans and through camps,
Fearing no fates, I followed him afield;
And in defeat when even monarchs feared
Received my husband. Did I then deserve
Thus to be left of thee, and didst thou seek
To spare me? And when rushing on thine end
Was I to live? Without the monarch's help
Death shall be mine, either by headlong leap
Beneath the waters; or some sailor's hand
Shall bind around this neck the fatal cord;
Or else some comrade, worthy of his chief,
Drive to my heart his blade for Magnus' sake,
And claim the service done to Caesar's arms.
What! does your cruelty withhold my fate?
Ah! still he lives, nor is it mine as yet
To win this freedom; they forbid me death,
Kept for the victor's triumph.' Thus she spake,
While friendly hands upheld her fainting form;
And sped the trembling vessel from the shore.
Men say that Magnus, when the deadly blows
Fell thick upon him, lost nor form divine,
Nor venerated mien; and as they gazed
Upon his lacerated head they marked
Still on his features anger with the gods.
For fierce Septimius in the very blow
Made yet more black his crime-unwound the folds
That swathed the face, and seized the noble head
And drooping neck ere yet was fled the life:
Then placed upon the bench; and with his blade
Slow at its hideous task, and blows unskilled
Hacked through the flesh and brake the knotted bone;
For yet man had not learned by swoop of sword
Deftly to lop the neck. Achillas claimed
The gory head dissevered. What! shalt thou
A Roman soldier, while thy blade yet reeks
From Magnus' slaughter, play the second part
To this base varlet of the Pharian king?
Nor bear thyself the bleeding trophy home?
Then, that the impious boy (ah! shameful fate)
Might know the features of the hero slain,
Seized by the locks, the dread of kings, which waved
Upon his stately front, on Pharian pike
The head was lifted; while almost the life
Gave to the tongue its accents, and the eyes
Were yet scarce glazed: that head at whose command
Was peace or war, that tongue whose eloquent tones
Would move assemblies, and that noble brow
On which were showered the rewards of Rome.
Nor to the tyrant did the sight suffice
To prove the murder done. The perishing flesh,
The tissues, and the brain he bids remove
By art nefarious: the shrivelled skin
Draws tight upon the bone; and poisonous juice
Gives to the face its lineaments in death.
Last of thy race, thou base degenerate boy,
About to perish soon, and yield the throne
To thine incestuous sister; while the Prince
From Macedon here in consecrated vault
Now rests, and ashes of the kings are closed
In mighty pyramids, and lofty tombs
Of thine unworthy fathers mark the graves;
Shall Magnus' body hither and thither borne
Be battered, headless, by the ocean wave?
Too much it troubled thee to guard the corse
Unmutilated, for his kinsman's eye
To witness! Such the fate which Fortune kept
With prosperous Pompeius to the end.
'Twas not for him in evil days some ray
Of light to hope for. Shattered from the height
Of power in one short moment to his death!
Years of unbroken victories balanced down
By one day's carnage! In his happy time
Heaven did not harass him, nor did she spare
In misery. Long Fortune held the hand
That dashed him down. Now beaten by the sands,
Torn upon rocks, the sport of ocean's waves
Poured through its wounds, his headless carcase lies,
Save by the lacerated trunk unknown.

> Latin: At non tam patiens Cornelia cernere saevum
Quam perferre nefas, miserandis aethera complet
Vocibus: o coniunx, ego te scelerata peremi:
Letiferae tibi caussa morae fuit avia Lesbos,
Et prior in Nili pervenit litora Caesar.
Nam cui ius alii sceleris? Sed, quisquis in istud
A superis immisse caput, vel Caesaris irae
Vel tibi prospiciens, nescis, crudelis, ubi ipsa
Viscera sint Magni: properas, atque ingeris ictus,
Qua votum est victo. Poenas non morte minores
Pendat, et ante meum videat caput. Haud ego culpa
Libera bellorum, quae matrum sola per undas
Et per castra comes, nullis absterrita fatis,
Victum, quod reges etiam timuere, recepi.
Hoc merui, coniux, in tuta puppe relinqui?
Perfide, parcebas? te fata extrema petente,
Vita digna fui? Moriar, nec munere regis.
Aut mihi praecipitem, nautae, permittite saltum,
Aut laqueum collo tortosque aptare rudentes:
Aut aliquis Magno dignus comes exigat ensem.
Pompeio praestare potest, quod Caesaris armis
Imputet. O saevi, properantem in fata tenetis
Vivis adhuc, coniux, et iam Cornelia non est
Iuris, Magne, sui. Prohibent accersere mortem:
Servor victori. Sic fata, interque suorum
Lapsa manus, rapitur, trepida fugiente carina.
At Magni cum terga sonent et pectora ferro,
Permansisse decus sacrae venerabile formae,
Iratamque deis faciem, nil ultima mortis
Ex habitu vultuque viri mutasse, fatentur
Qui lacerum videre caput. Nam saevus in ipso
Septimius sceleris maius scelus invenit actu:
Ac retegit sacros, scisso velamine, vultus
Semianimis Magni, spirantiaque occupat ora,
Collaque in obliquo ponit languentia transtro.
Tunc nervos venasque secat, nodosaque frangit
Ossa diu: nondum artis erat, caput ense rotare.
At postquam trunco cervix abscisa recessit,
Vindicat hoc Pharius dextra gestare satelles.
Degener atque operae, miles Romane, secundae,
Pompeii diro sacrum caput ense recidis,
Ut non ipse feras? Pro summi fata pudoris!
Impius ut Magnum nosset puer, illa verenda
Regibus hirta coma, et generosa fronte decora
Caesaries comprensa manu est, Pharioque veruto,
Dum vivunt vultus, atque os in murmura pulsant
Singultus animae, dum lumina nuda rigescunt,
Suffixum caput est, quo numquam bella iubente
Pax fuit: hoc leges, Campumque, et rostra movebat:
Hac facie Fortuna tibi Romana placebas.
Nec satis infando fuit hoc vidisse tyranno:
Vult sceleri superesse fidem. Tunc arte nefanda
Submota est capiti tabes: raptoque cerebro
Exsiccata cutis, putrisque effluxit ab alto
Humor, et infuso facies solidata veneno est.
Ultima Lageae stirpis, perituraque proles,
Degener, incestae sceptris cessure sororis,
Cum tibi sacrato Macedon servetur in antro,
Et regum cineres exstructo monte quiescant,
Cum Ptolemaeorum manes seriemque pudendam
Pyramides claudant, indignaque Mausolea:
Litora Pompeium feriunt, truncusque vadosis
Huc illuc iactatur aquis? Adeone molesta
Totum cura fuit socero servare cadaver?
Hac Fortuna fide Magni tam prospera fata
Pertulit: hac illum summo de culmine rerum
Morte petit, cladesque omnes exegit in uno
Saeva die, quibus immunes tot praestitit annos:
Pompeiusque fuit, qui numquam mixta videret
Laeta malis: felix nullo turbante deorum,
Et nullo parcente miser. Semel impulit illum
Dilata Fortuna manu. Pulsatur arenis,
Carpitur in scopulis, hausto per vulnera fluctu
Ludibrium pelagi: nullaque manente figura,
Una nota est Magno capitis factura revulsi.

[¶3] Yet ere the victor touched the Pharian sands
Some scanty rites to Magnus Fortune gave,
Lest he should want all burial. Pale with fear
Came Cordus, hasting from his hiding place;
Quaestor, he joined Pompeius on thy shore,
Idalian Cyprus, bringing in his train
A cloud of evils. Through the darkening shades
Love for the dead compelled his trembling steps,
Hard by the margin of the deep to search
And drag to land his master. Through the clouds
The moon shone sadly, and her rays were dim;
But by its hue upon the hoary main
He knew the body. In a fast embrace
He holds it, wrestling with the greedy sea,
And deftly watching for a refluent wave
Gains help to bring his burden to the land.
Then clinging to the loved remains, the wounds
Washed with his tears, thus to the gods he speaks,
And misty stars obscure: 'Here, Fortune, lies
Pompeius, thine: no costly incense rare
Or pomp of funeral he dares to ask;
Nor that the smoke rise heavenward from his pyre
With eastern odours rich; nor that the necks
Of pious Romans bear him to the tomb,
Their parent; while the forums shall resound
' With dirges; nor that triumphs won of yore
'Be borne before him; nor for sorrowing hosts
'To cast their weapons forth. Some little shell
He begs as for the meanest, laid in which
His mutilated corse may reach the flame.
Grudge not his misery the pile of wood
' Lit by this menial hand. Is't not enough
'That his Cornelia with dishevelled hair
' Weeps not beside him at his obsequies,
' Nor with a last embrace shall place the torch
' Beneath her husband dead, but on the deep
' Hard by still wanders? '
Burning from afar
He sees the pyre of some ignoble youth
Deserted of his own, with none to guard:
And quickly drawing from beneath the limbs
Some glowing logs, ' Whoe'er thou art,' he said,
Neglected shade, uncared for, dear to none,
Yet happier than Pompeius in thy death,
Pardon I ask that this my stranger hand
' Should violate thy tomb. Yet if to shades
'Be sense or memory, gladly shalt thou yield
'This from thy pyre to Magnus. 'Twere thy shame,
'Blessed with due burial, if his remains
Were homeless.' Speaking thus, the wood aflame
Back to the headless trunk at speed he bore,
Which hanging on the margin of the deep,
Almost the sea had won. In sandy trench
The gathered fragments of a broken boat,
Trembling, he placed around the noble limbs.
No pile above the corse nor under lay,
Nor was the fire beneath. Then as he crouched
Beside the blaze, ' 0, greatest chief,' he cried,
Majestic champion of Hesperia's name,
'If to be tossed unburied on the deep
Rather than these poor rites thy shade prefer,
'From these mine offices thy mighty soul
Withdraw, Pompeius. Injuries dealt by fate
Command this duty, lest some bird or beast
'Or ocean monster, or fierce Caesar's wrath
'Should venture aught upon thee. Take the fire;
All that thou canst; by Roman hand at least
'Enkindled. And should Fortune grant return
'To loved Hesperia's land, not here shall rest
'Thy sacred ashes; but within an urn
Cornelia, from this humble hand received,
Shall place them. Here upon a meagre stone
We draw the characters to mark thy tomb.
These letters reading may some kindly friend
'Bring back thine head, dissevered, and may grant
'Full funeral honours to thine earthly frame.'
Then did he cherish the enfeebled fire
Till Magnus' body mingled with its flames.
But now the harbinger of coming dawn
Had paled the constellations: he in fear
Seeks for his hiding place. Whom dost thou dread,
Madman, what punishment for such a crime,
For which thy fame by rumour trumpet-tongued
Has been sent down to ages? Praise is thine
For this thy work, at impious Caesar's hands;
Sure of a pardon, go; confess thy task,
And beg the head dissevered. But his work
Was still unfinished, and with pious hand
(Fearing some foe) he seizes on the bones
Now half consumed, and sinews; and the wave
Pours in upon them, and in shallow trench
Commits them to the earth; and lest some breeze
Might bear away the ashes, or by chance
Some sailor's anchor might disturb the tomb,
A stone he places, and with stick half burned
Traces the sacred name: Here Magnus lies.
And art thou, Fortune, pleased that such a spot
Should be his tomb which even Caesar's self
Had chosen, rather than permit his corse
To rest unburied? Why, with thoughtless hand
Confine his shade within the narrow bounds
Of this poor sepulchre? Where the furthest sand
Hangs on the margin of the baffled deep
Cabined he lies; yet where the Roman name
Is known, and Empire, such in truth shall be
The boundless measure of his resting-place.
Blot out this stone, this proof against the gods!
OEta finds room for Hercules alone,
And Nysa's mountain for the Bromian god;
Not all the lands of Egypt should suffice
For Magnus dead: and shall one Pharian stone
Mark his remains? Yet should no turf disclose
His title, peoples of the earth would fear
To spurn his ashes, and the sands of Nile
No foot would tread. But if the stone deserves
So great a name, then add his mighty deeds:
Write Lepidus conquered and the Alpine war,
And fierce Sertorius by his aiding arm
O'erthrown; the chariots which as knight he drove;
Cilician pirates driven from the main,
And Commerce safe to nations; Eastern kings
Defeated and the barbarous Northern tribes;
Write that from arms he ever sought the robe;
Write that content upon the Capitol
Thrice only triumphed he, nor asked his due.
What mausoleum were for such a chief
A fitting monument? This paltry stone
Records no syllable of the lengthy tale
Of honours: and the name which men have read
Upon the sacred temples of the gods,
And lofty arches built of hostile spoils,
On desolate sands here marks his lowly grave
With characters obscure, such as erect
No traveller could read, and Roman guest
Without a hand to guide would pass unseen.

> Latin: Ante tamen Pharias victor quam tangat arenas,
Pompeio raptim tumulum Fortuna paravit,
Ne iaceat nullo, vel ne meliore sepulchro.
E latebris pavidus decurrit ad aequora Cordus.
Quaestor ab Idalio Cinyraeae litore Cypri
Infaustus Magni fuerat comes. Ille per umbras
Ausus ferre gradum, victum pietate timorem
Compulit, ut mediis quaesitum corpus in undis
Duceret ad terram, traheretque ad litora Magnum.
Lucis moesta parum per densas Cynthia nubes
Praebebat; cano sed discolor aequore truncus
Conspicitur. Tenet ille ducem complexibus arctis,
Eripiente mari: nunc victus pondere tanto
Exspectat fluctus, pelagoque iuvante cadaver
Impellit. Postquam sicco iam litore sedit,
Incubuit Magno, lacrimasque effudit in omne
Vulnus, et ad superos obscuraque sidera fatur:
Non pretiosa petit cumulato ture sepulchra
Pompeius, Fortuna, tuus; non pinguis ad astra
Ut ferat e membris Eoos fumus odores,
Ut Romana suum gestent pia colla parentem,
Praeferat ut veteres feralis pompa triumphos,
Ut resonent cantu tristi fora, totus ut ignem
Proiectis moerens exercitus ambiat armis.
Da vilem Magno plebeii funeris arcam,
Quae lacerum corpus siccos effundat in ignes.
Robora non desint misero, nec sordidus ustor.
Sit satis, o superi, quod non Cornelia fuso
Crine iacet, subicique facem complexa maritum
Imperat, extremo sed abest a munere busti
Infelix coniux, nec adhuc a litore longe est.
Sic fatus, parvos iuvenis procul adspicit ignes,
Corpus, vile suis, nullo custode cremantes.
Inde rapit flammas, semiustaque robora membris
Subducens, Quaecumque es, sit, neglecta, nec ulli
Cara tuo, sed Pompeio felicior umbra,
Quod iam compositum violat manus hospita bustum,
Da veniam; si quid sensus post fata relictum est,
Cedis et ipsa rogo, paterisque haec damna sepulchri,
Teque pudet sparsis Pompeii manibus, uri.
Sic fatur, plenusque sinus ardente favilla
Pervolat ad truncum; qui fluctu paene relatus
Litore pendebat. Summas dimovit arenas,
Et collecta procul lacerae fragmenta carinae
Exigua trepidus posuit scrobe. Nobile corpus
Robora nulla premunt, nulla strue membra recumbunt:
Admotus Magnum, non subditus, accipit ignis.
Ile sedens iuxta flammas: O maxime, dixit,
Ductor, et Hesperii maiestas nominis una,
Si tibi iactatu pelagi, si funere nullo
Tristior iste rogus; manes animamque potentem
Officiis averte meis: iniuria fati
Hoc fas esse iubet; ne ponti belua quidquam,
Ne fera, ne volucres, ne saevi Caesaris ira
Audeat: exiguam, quantum potes, accipe flammam,
Romana succense manu. Fortuna recursus
Si det in Hesperiam, non hac in sede quiescent
Tam sacri cineres, sed te Cornelia, Magne,
Accipiet, nostraque manu transfundet in urnam.
Interea parvo signemus litora saxo,
Ut nota sit busti; si quis placare peremptum
Forte volet, plenos et reddere mortis honores;
Inveniat trunci cineres, et norit arenas,
Ad quas, Magne, tuum referat caput. Haec ubi fatus,
Excitat invalidas admoto fomite flammas.
Carpitur, et lentum Magnus destillat in ignem,
Tabe fovens bustum. Sed iam percusserat astra
Aurorae praemissa dies: ille, ordine rupto
Funeris, adtonitus latebras in litore quaerit.
Quam metuis, demens, isto pro crimine poenam,
Quo te fama loquax omnes accepit in annos
Condita laudabit Magni socer impius ossa:
I modo securus veniae, fassusque sepulchrum
Posce caput. Cogit pietas imponere finem
Officio. Semiusta rapit resolutaque nondum
Ossa satis, nervis et inustis plena medullis
Aequorea restinguit aqua, congestaque in unum
Parva clausit humo. Tunc, ne levis aura retectos
Auferret cineres, saxo compressit arenam:
Nautaque ne bustum religato fune moveret,
Inscripsit sacrum semiusto stipite nomen:
HIC SITUS EST MAGNUS. Placet hoc, Fortuna, sepulchrum
Dicere Pompeii, quo condi maluit illum,
Quam terra caruisse socer? Temeraria dextra,
Cur obicis Magno tumulum, manesque vagantes
Includis? Situs est, qua terra extrema refuso
Pendet in Oceano. Romanum nomen et omne
Imperium Magno est tumuli modus. Obrue saxa,
Crimine plena deum. Si tota est Herculis Oete,
Et iuga tota vacant Bromio Nyseia, quare
Unus in Aegypto Magno lapis Omnia Lagi
Arva tenere potest, si nullo cespite nomen
Haeserit. Erremus populi, cinerumque tuorum,
Magne, metu nullas Nili calcemus arenas.
Quodsi tam sacro dignaris nomine saxum,
Adde actus tantos, monimentaque maxima rerum:
Adde truces Lepidi motus, Alpinaque bella,
Armaque Sertori, revocato consule, victa,
Et currus, quos egit eques: commercia tuta
Gentibus, et pavidos Cilicas maris. Adde subactam
Barbariem, gentesque vagas, et quidquid in Euro
Regnorum Boreaque iacet. Dic semper ab armis
Civilem repetisse togam: ter curribus actis
Contentum patriae multos donasse triumphos.
Quis capit haec tumulus? Surgit miserabile bustum
Non ullis plenum titulis, non ordine tanto
Fastorum: solitumque legi super alta deorum
Culmina, et exstructos spoliis hostilibus arcus,
Haud procul est ima Pompeii nomen arena,
Depressum tumulo, quod non legat advena rectus,
Quod, nisi monstratum, Romanus transeat hospes.

[¶4] Thou land of Egypt, doomed to bear a part
In civil warfare, not unreasoning sang
High Cumae's prophetess, when she forbad
The stream Pelusian to the Roman arms,
And all the banks which in the summer-tide
Are covered by his flood. What grievous curse
Shall I call down upon thee? May the Nile
Turn back his water to his source, thy fields
Want for the winter rain, and all the land
Crumble to desert wastes! We in our fanes
Have known thine Isis and thy hideous gods,
Half hounds, half human, and the drum that bids
To sorrow, and Osiris, whom thy dirge
Proclaims for man. Thou, Egypt, in thy sand
Our dead containest. Nor, though her temples now
Serve a proud master, has Rome yet required
Pompeius' ashes: in a foreign land
Still lies her chief. But though men feared at first
The victor's ire, now, Rome, at length receive
Thy Magnus' bones, if still the restless wave
Has not prevailed upon that hated shore.
Shall men have fear of tombs and dread to move
The dust of those who should be with the gods?
0, may my country place the crime on me,
If crime it be, to violate such a tomb
Of such a hero, and to bear his dust
Home to Ausonia. Happy, happy he
Who bears such holy office in his trust!
Haply when famine rages in the land
Or burning southern winds, or fires abound
And earthquake shocks, and Rome shall pray an end
From angry heaven-by the gods' command,
In council given, shalt thou be transferred
To thine own city, and the priest shall bear
Thy sacred ashes to their last abode.
Who now may seek beneath the raging Crab
Or hot Syene's waste, or Thebes athirst
Under the rainy Pleiades, to gaze
On Nile's broad stream; or whoso may exchange
On the Red Sea or in Arabian ports
Some Eastern merchandise, shall turn in awe
To view the venerable stone that marks
Thy grave, Pompeius; and shall worship more
Thy dust commingled with the arid sand,
Thy shade though exiled, than the fane upreared
On Casius' mount to Jove! In temples shrined
And gold, thy memory were viler deemed:
Fortune lies with thee in thy lowly tomb
And makes thee rival of Olympus' king.
More awful is that stone by Libyan seas
Lashed, than are Conquerors' altars. There a god
Rests in dark earth to whom all men shall bow
More than to gods Tarpeian: and his name
Shall shine the brighter in the days to come
For that no marble tomb about him stands
Nor lofty monument. That little dust
Time soon shall scatter and the tomb shall fall
And all the proofs shall perish of his death.
And happier days shall come when men shall gaze
Upon the stone, nor yet believe the tale:
And Egypt's fable, that she holds the grave
Of great Pompeius, be believed no more
Than Crete's which boasts the sepulchre of Jove.

> Latin: Noxia civili tellus Aegyptia fato,
Haud equidem immerito Cumanae carmine vatis
Cautum, ne Nili Pelusia tangeret ora
Hesperius miles, ripasque aestate tumentes.
Quid tibi saeva precer pro tanto crimine tellus?
Vertat aquas Nilus, quo nascitur orbe, retentus,
Et steriles egeant hibernis imbribus agri,
Totaque in Aethiopum putres solvaris arenas.
Nos in templa tuam Romana accepimus Isin,
Semicanesque deos, et sistra iubentia luctus,
Et quem tu plangens hominem testaris Osirin:
Tu nostros, Aegypte, tenes in pulvere Manes.
Tu quoque, cum saevo dederis iam templa tyranno,
Nondum Pompeii cineres, o Roma, petisti:
Exsul adhuc iacet umbra ducis. Si saecula prima
Victoris timuere minas: nunc excipe saltem
Ossa tui Magni, si nondum subruta fluctu
Invisa tellure sedent. Quis busta timebit?
Quis sacris dignam movisse verebitur umbram?
Imperet hoc nobis utinam scelus, et velit uti
Nostro Roma sinu: satis o nimiumque beatus,
Si mihi contingat manes transferre revulsos
Ausoniam, si tale ducis violare sepulchrum.
Forsitan, aut sulco sterili cum poscere finem
A superis, aut Roma volet feralibus Austris,
Ignibus aut nimiis, aut terrae tecta moventi,
Consilio iussuque deum transibis in urbem,
Magne, tuam, summusque feret tua busta sacerdos.
Nunc quis ad exustam Cancro torrente Syenen
Ibit, et imbrifera siccas sub Pleiade Thebas,
Spectator Nili: quis rubri stagna profundi,
Aut Arabum portus mercis mutator Eoae,
Magne, petet, quem non tumuli venerabile saxum,
Et cinis in summis forsan turbatus arenis
Advertet, manesque tuos placare iuvabit,
Et Casio praeferre Iovi? Nil ista nocebunt
Famae busta tuae. Templis auroque sepultus
Vilior umbra fores: nunc est pro numine summo,
Hoc tumulo Fortuna iacens. Augustius aris
Victoris Libyco pulsatur in aequore saxum.
Tarpeiis qui saepe deis sua tura negarunt,
Inclusum fusco venerentur cespite numen.
Proderit hoc olim, quod non mansura sepulcri
Ardua marmoreo surrexit pondere moles.
Pulveris exigui sparget non longa vetustas
Congeriem, bustumque cadet, mortisque peribunt
Argumenta tuae. Veniet felicior aetas,
Qua sit nulla fides saxum monstrantibus istud:
Atque erit Aegyptus populis fortasse nepotum
Tam mendax Magni tumulo, quam Creta Tonantis.

## 17. Book IX · lines 1–409

Source: https://scriptura.si/works/lucan-pharsalia/17/ · cite a paragraph as https://scriptura.si/works/lucan-pharsalia/17/#p-N

[¶0] YET in those ashes on the Pharian shore,
In that small heap of dust, was not confined
So great a shade; but from th' ignoble pyre
And limbs half burnt sprang forth and sought the sky
Where dwells the Thunderer. Black the space of air
Upreaching to the poles that bear on high
The constellations in their nightly round;
There 'twixt the orbit of the moon and earth
Abide those lofty spirits, half divine,
Who by their blameless lives and fire of soul
Are fit to tolerate the pure expanse
That bounds the lower ether: there shall dwell,
Where nor the monument encased in gold,
Nor richest incense, shall suffice to bring
The buried dead, in union with the spheres,
Pompeius' spirit. When with heavenly light
His soul was filled, first on the wandering stars
And fixed orbs he bent his wondering gaze;
Then saw what darkness veils our earthly day
And scorned the insults heaped upon his corse.
Next o'er Emathian plains he winged his flight,
And ruthless Caesar's standards, and the fleet
Tossed on the deep: in Brutus' blameless breast
Tarried awhile, and roused his angered soul
To reap the vengeance; last possessed the mind
Of haughty Cato.
He while yet the scales
Were poised and balanced, nor the war had given
The world its master, hated both the chiefs,
But followed Magnus for the Senate's cause
And for his country: now in all his heart
Was bound to Magnus, since Pharsalia's field.
Shorn of her guardian his country found
In him her guide; the people's trembling limbs
He cherished with new hope, and weapons gave
Back to the craven hands that cast them forth.
Nor yet for empire did he wage the war
Nor fearing slavery: nor in arms achieved
Aught for himself: freedom, since Magnus fell,
The aim of all his host. And lest the foe
In rapid course triumphant should collect
His scattered bands, he sought Corcyra's gulfs
Concealed, and bore in thousand ships away
The fragments of the ruin wrought in Thrace.
Who in such mighty navy had believed
A host defeated sailed upon the main
Thronging the sea with keels? Round Malea's cape
And Taenarus open to the shades below
And fair Cythera's isle, th' advancing fleet
Sweeps o'er the yielding wave, by northern breeze
Borne past the Cretan shores. But Phycus dared
Refuse her harbour, and th' avenging hand
Left her in ruins. Thus with gentle airs
They glide along the main and reach the shore
From Palinurus named; for not alone
On seas Italian, Pilot of the deep,
Hast thou thy monument; and Libya too
Claims that her tranquil harbours pleased thy soul.
Then in the distance on the main arose
The shining canvas of a stranger fleet,
Or friend or foe they knew not. Yet they dread
In every keel the presence of that chief
Their fear-compelling conqueror. But in truth
That navy tears and sorrow bore, and woes
To make e'en Cato weep.
For when in vain
Cornelia prayed her stepson and the crew
To stay their flight, lest haply from the shore
Back to the sea might float the headless corse;
And when the flame arising marked the place
Of that unhallowed rite, ' Fortune, didst thou
Judge me unfit,' she cried, ' to light the pyre
'To cast myself upon the hero dead,
'The lock to sever, and compose the limbs
'Tossed by the cruel billows of the deep,
To shed a flood of tears upon his wounds,
To fill my robe with ashes from his urn,
And scatter in the temples of the gods
All that I could, his dust? That pyre bestows
No honour, haply by some Pharian hand
Piled up in insult to his mighty shade.
Happy the Crassi lying on the waste
Unburied. To the greater shame of heaven
' Pompeius has such funeral. And shall this
' For ever be my lot? her husbands slain
' Cornelia ne'er enclose within the tomb,
' Nor shed the tear beside the urn that holds
' The ashes of the loved? Yet for my grief
' What boots or monument or ordered pomp?
' Dost thou not, impious, upon thy heart· Pompeius' image, and upon thy soul
' Bear ineffaceable? Dust closed in urns
' Is for the wife who would survive her lord,
' Not such as thee, Cornelia! And yet
'Yon scanty light that glimmers from afar
' Upon the Pharian shore, somewhat of thee
' Recalls, Pompeius! Now the flame sinks down
' And smoke drifts up across the eastern sky
' Bearing thine ashes, and the rising wind
' Sighs hateful in the sail. To me no more
' Dearer than this whatever land has given
' Pompeius victory, nor the frequent car
' That carried him in triumph to the hill;
' Gone is that happy husband from my thoughts;
' Here did I lose the hero whom I knew;
' Here let me stay; his presence shall endear
' The sands of Nile where fell the fatal blow.
' Thou, Sextus, brave the chances of the war
'And bear Pompeius' standard through the world.
' For thus thy father spake within mine ear:
' " When sounds my fatal hour let both my sons
' " Urge on the war; nor let some Caesar find
' " Room for an empire, while shall live on earth
' " Still one in whom Pompeius' blood shall run.
' " This your appointed task; all cities strong
' " In freedom of their own, all kingdoms urge
' " To join the combat; for Pompeius calls.
' " Nor shall a chieftain of that famous name
' ' Ride on the seas and fail to find a fleet.
' Urged by his sire's unconquerable will
' " And mindful of his rights, mine heir shall rouse
' " All nations to the conflict. One alone,
' " (Should he contend for freedom) may ye serve;
' " Cato, none else! " Thus have I kept the faith;
' Thy plot prevailed upon me, and I lived
'Thy mandate to discharge. Now through the void· Of space, and shades of Hell, if such there be,
' I follow; yet how distant be my doom
' I know not: first my spirit must endure
' The punishment of life, which saw thine end
' And could survive it; sighs shall break my heart,
"Tears shall dissolve it: sword nor noose I need
Nor headlong plunge. 'Twere shameful since thy death,
' Were aught but grief required to cause my own.'
She seeks the cabin, veiled, in funeral garb,
In tears to find her solace, and to love
Grief in her husband's room; no tempest howl
Among the shrouds, no angered waves aroused
Her soul, nor cry of sailors in dismay:
For life their prayers; not hers: and prone she lies
Resigned to death and welcoming the storm.

> Latin: At non in Pharia manes iacuere favilla,
Nec cinis exiguus tantam compescuit umbram:
Prosiluit busto, semustaque membra relinquens
Degeneremque rogum, sequitur convexa Tonantis,
Qua niger astriferis connectitur axibus aer,
Quaque patet terras inter lunaeque meatus,
(Semidei manes habitant, quos ignea virtus
Innocuos vita patientes aetheris imi
Fecit) et aeternos animam collegit in orbes.
Non illuc auro positi, nec ture sepulti
Perveniunt. Illic postquam se lumine vero
Implevit, stellasque vagas miratur, et astra
Fixa polis, vidit quanta sub nocte iaceret
Nostra dies, risitque sui ludibria trunci.
Hinc super Emathiae campos, et signa cruenti
Caesaris, ac sparsas volitavit in aequore classes;
Et scelerum vindex in sancto pectore Bruti
Sedit, et invicti posuit se mente Catonis.
Ille, ubi pendebant casus, dubiumque manebat,
Quem mundi dominum facerent civilia bella,
Oderat et Magnum, quamvis comes isset in arma,
Auspiciis raptus patriae ductuque senatus:
At post Thessalicas clades iam pectore toto
Pompeianus erat. Patriam tutore carentem
Excepit, populi trepidantia membra refovit,
Ignavis manibus proiectos reddidit enses,
Nec regnum cupiens gessit civilia bella,
Nec servire timens. Nil caussa fecit in armis
Ipse sua: totae post Magni funera partes
Libertatis erant: quas ne per litora fusas
Colligeret rapido victoria Caesaris actu,
Corcyrae secreta petit, ac mille carinis
Abstulit Emathiae secum fragmenta ruinae.
Quis ratibus tantis fugientia crederet ire
Agmina? quis pelagus victas arctasse carinas?
Dorida tunc Malean, et apertam Taenaron umbris,
Inde Cythera petit: Boreaque urgente carinas
Creta fugit: Dictaea legit, cedentibus undis,
Litora. Tunc ausum classi praecludere portus
Impulit ac saevas meritum Phycunta rapinas
Sparsit: et hinc placidis alto delabitur auris
In litus, Palinure, tuum: (neque enim aequore tantum
Ausonio monumenta tenes, portusque quietos
Testatur Libye Phrygio placuisse magistro;)
Cum procul ex alto tendentes vela carinae
Ancipites tenuere animos, sociosne malorum,
An veherent hostes. Praeceps facit omne timendum
Victor, et in nulla non creditur esse carina.
Ast illae puppes luctus planctusque ferebant,
Et mala vel duri lacrimas motura Catonis.
Nam postquam frustra precibus Cornelia nautas
Privignique fugam tenuit, ne forte repulsus
Litoribus Phariis remearet in aequora truncus,
Ostenditque rogum non iusti flamma sepulchri:
Ergo indigna fui, dixit, Fortuna, marito
Accendisse rogum, gelidosque effusa per artus
Incubuisse viro? laceros exurere crines?
Membraque dispersi pelago componere Magni?
Vulneribus cunctis largos infundere fletus?
Ossibus et tepida vestes implere favilla,
Quidquid ab extincto licuisset tollere busto,
In templis sparsura deum? Sine funeris ullo
Ardet honore rogus: manis hoc Aegyptia forsan
Obtulit officium grave manibus. O bene nudi
Crassorum cineres! Pompeio contigit igni
Inidia maiore deum. Similisne malorum
Sors mihi semper erit? numquam dare busta licebit
Coniugibus? numquam plenas plangemus ad urnas?
Quid porro tumulis opus est, aut ulla requiris
Instrumenta, dolor? Non toto pectore portas
Impia Pompeium? non imis haeret imago
Visceribus? Quaerat cineres victura superstes.
Nunc tamen hinc longe qui fulget luce maligna
Ignis, adhuc aliquid. Phario de litore surgens,
Ostendit mihi, Magne, tui. Iam flamma resedit,
Pompeiumque ferens vanescit solis ad ortus
Fumus, et invisi tendunt mihi carbasa venti.
Non mihi nunc tellus Pompeio si qua triumphos
Victa dedit, non alta terens Capitolia currus
Gratior: elapsus felix de pectore Magnus;
Hunc volumus, quem Nilus habet, terraeque nocenti
Non haerere queror: crimen commendat arenas.
[Linquere, si qua fides, Pelusia litora nolo.]
Tu pete bellorum casus, et signa per orbem,
Sexte, paterna move: namque haec mandata reliquit
Pompeius vobis in nostra condita cura:
"Me cum fatalis leto damnaverit hora,
Excipite, o nati, bellum civile, nec umquam,
Dum tetris aliquis nostra de stirpe manebit,
Caesaribus regnare vacet. Vel sceptra, vel urbes
Libertate sua validas impellite fama
Nominis: has vobis partes, haec arma relinquo.
Inveniet classes, quisquis Pompeius in undas
Venerit: et noster nullis non gentibus heres
Bella dabit: tantum indomitos memoresque paterni
Iuris habete animos. Uni parere decebit,
Si faciet partes pro libertate, Catoni."
Exsolvi tibi, Magne, fidem; mandata peregi.
Insidiae valuere tuae, deceptaque vixi,
Ne mihi commissas auferrem perfida voces.
Iam nunc te per inane chaos, per Tartara, coniux,
Si sunt ulla, sequar: quam longo tradita leto,
Incertum est: poenas animae vivacis ab ipsa
Ante feram. Potuit cernens tua vulnera, Magne,
Non fugere in mortem: planctu concussa peribit,
Effluet in lacrimas; numquam veniemus ad enses,
Aut laqueos, aut praecipites per inania iactus.
Turpe, mori post te solo non posse dolore.
Sic ubi fata, caput ferali obduxit amictu,
Decrevitque pati tenebras, puppisque cavernis
Delituit: saevumque arcte complexa dolorem
Perfruitur lacrimis, et amat pro coniuge luctum.
Illam non fluctus stridensque rudentibus Eurus
Movit, et exsurgens ad summa pericula clamor:
Votaque sollicitis faciens contraria nautis,
Composita in mortem iacuit, favitque procellis.

[¶1] First reached they Cyprus on the foamy brine;
Then as the eastern breeze more gently held
The favouring deep, they touched the Libyan shore
Where stood the camp of Cato. Sad as one
Who deep in fear presages ills to come,
Cnaeus beheld his brother and his band
Of patriot comrades. Swift into the wave
He leaped and cried, ' Where, brother, is our sire?
' Still stands our country mistress of the world,
' Or are we fallen, Rome with Magnus' death
' Rapt to the shades? ' Thus he: but Sextus said
' Oh happy thou who by report alone
' Hear'st of the deed that chanced on yonder shore!
'These eyes that saw, my brother, share the guilt.
' Not Caesar wrought his death, nor any chief
' Worthy to cause the ruin of our sire.
' He fell by order of that shameful king
' Who rules o'er Nilus; trusting to the gods
' Who shield the guest, and to his princely boon
' Of yore-a victim for the realm he gave.
' I saw them pierce our noble father's breast;
' Yet deeming not the petty Pharian prince
' So fell a deed would dare, on Egypt's strand
' I thought great Caesar stood. But worse than all,
' Worse than the wounds which gaped upon his frame
' Struck me with horror to the inmost heart,
' Our murdered father's head, shorn from the trunk
' And borne aloft on javelin; this sight,
' As rumour said, the cruel victor asked
' To feast his eyes, and prove the bloody deed.
' For whether ravenous birds and Pharian dogs
' Have torn his corse asunder, or a fire
' Consumed it, which with stealthy flame arose,
' I know not. For the fates' unjust decree
'Which reft his limbs asunder, I forgive
' The gods: I weep the part preserved by men.'
Thus Sextus spake: but Cnaeus at the tale
Restrained the tear, and for his father's shame
Flamed into fury: ' Launch our navies forth,
' Ye sailors, from the shore, by stalwart arms
' Forced through the deep against opposing winds:
' Captains, lead on: for civil strife ne'er gave
' So great a prize; to lay in earth the limbs
'Of Magnus, and avenge him with the blood
'Of that unmanly tyrant. Shall I spare
Great Alexander's fort, nor sack the shrine
And plunge his body in the tideless marsh?
Nor drag Amasis from the Pyramids,
'And all their ancient kings, to swim the Nile?
'Torn from his tomb, that god of all mankind
'Isis, unburied, shall avenge thy shade;
And veiled Osiris shall I hurl abroad
'And sacred Apis; and with these their gods
'I'll light a furnace that shall burn the head
'They held in insult. Thus their land shall pay
'Atonement to the shade of Magnus dead.
No husbandman shall live to till the fields
Nor reap the benefit of brimming Nile.
'Thou only, Father, gods and men alike
'Fallen and perished, shalt possess the land.'
Such were the words he spake; and soon the fleet
Had dared the angry deep: but Cato's voice
While praising, calmed the youthful chieftain's rage.
Meanwhile, when Magnus' fate was known, the air
Sounded with lamentations which the shore
Re-echoed; never through the ages past,
By history recorded, was it known
That thus a people mourned their ruler's death.
Yet more, when worn with tears, her pallid cheek
Veiled by her loosened tresses, from the ship
Cornelia came, they wept and beat the breast.
Soon as she stood upon the friendly land,
Ill-fated Magnus' spoils, his arms of price,
His gold-embroidered robe, three times of old
Displayed to Jove upon the hill, she placed
Upon the mournful fire. Such was for her
The dust of Magnus. And her love so touched
The hearts of all, that soon along the shore
Pyres blazed in memory of Pharsalia's dead.
'Tis thus in winter to depastured fields
By frequent fires th' Apulian herdsman seeks
To render verdant growth; and glow with flame
Garganus' slopes, and Vultur, and the meads
Of warm Matinum.
Yet Pompeius' shade
Nought else so gratified, not all the blame
The people dared to heap upon the gods,
For him their hero slain, as these few words
From Cato's noble breast instinct with truth:
'Gone is a citizen who though no peer
'Of those who disciplined the state of yore
In due submission to the bounds of right,
'Yet in this age irreverent of law
'Has played a noble part. Great was his power,
'But freedom safe: when all the plebs was prone
'To be his slaves, he chose the private gown;
'So that the Senate ruled the Roman state,
'Its chief was Cato: nought by right of arms
'He e'er demanded: willing took he gifts
'Yet from a willing giver: wealth was his
Vast, yet the coffers of the State he filled
'Beyond his own. He seized upon the sword,
'Knew when to sheath it; war did he prefer
'To arts of peace, yet armed loved peace the more.
'Pleased took he power, pleased he laid it down:
'Chaste was his home and simple, by his wealth
'Untarnished. Mid the peoples great his name
And venerated: to his native Rome
He wrought much good. True faith in liberty
Long since with Marius and Sulla fled:
Now when Pompeius has been reft away
'Its counterfeit has perished. Now unshamed
Shall seize the despot on Imperial power,
'Unshamed shall cringe the Senate. Happy he
Who with disaster found his latest breath
'And met the Pharian sword prepared to slay.
Life might have been his lot, in despot rule,
Prone at his kinsman's throne. Best gift of all
'The knowledge how to die; next, death compelled.
If cruel Fortune doth reserve for me
An alien conqueror, may Juba be
As Ptolemaeus. So he take my head
My body grace his triumph, if he will.'

> Latin: Prima ratem Cypros spumantibus accipit undis:
Inde tenens pelagus, sed iam moderatior, Eurus
In Libycas egit sedes, et castra Catonis.
Tristis, ut in multo mens est praesaga timore,
Adspexit patrios comites e litore Magnus,
Et fratrem: medias praeceps tunc fertur ad undas:
Dic ubi sit, germane, parens: stat summa caputque
Orbis, an occidimus? Romanaque Magnus ad umbras
Abstulit? Haec fatur: quem contra talia frater:
O felix, quem Sors alias dispersit in oras,
Quique nefas audis: oculos, germane, nocentes
Spectato genitore fero. Non Caesaris armis
Occubuit, dignoque perit auctore ruinae:
Rege sub impuro Nilotica rura tenente,
Hospitii fretus superis et munere tanto
In proavos, cecidit donati victima regni.
Vidi ego magnanimi lacerantes pectora patris:
Nec credens Pharium tantum potuisse tyrannum,
Litore Niliaco socerum iam stare putavi.
Sed me nec sanguis, nec tantum vulnera nostri
Adfecere senis, quantum gestata per urbem
Ora ducis, quae transfixo sublimia pilo
Vidimus: haec, fama est, oculis victoria iniqui
Servari; scelerisque fidem quaesisse tyrannum.
Nam corpus Phariaene canes avidaeque volucres
Distulerint, an furtivus, quem vidimus, ignis
Solverit, ignoro. Quaecumque iniuria fati
Abstulit hos artus, superis haec crimina dono:
Servata de parte queror. Cum talia Magnus
Audisset, non in gemitus lacrimasque dolorem
Effudit; iustaque furens pietate profatur:
Praecipitate rates e sicco litore, nautae;
Classis in adversos erumpat remige ventos:
Ite, duces, mecum: numquam civilibus armis
Tanta fuit merces, inhumatos condere manes,
Sanguine semiviri Magnum satiare tyranni.
Non ego Pellaeas arces, adytisque retectum
Corpus Alexandri pigra Mareotide mergam?
Non mihi pyramidum tumulis evulsus Amasis
Atque alii reges Nilo torrente natabunt?
Omnia dent poenas nudo tibi, Magne, sepulchra:
Evolvam busto iam numen gentibus Isin,
Et sacer in Magni cineres mactabitur Apis,
Et tectum lino spargam per vulgus Osirin,
Suppositisque deis uram caput. Has mihi poenas
Terra dabit: linquam vacuos cultoribus agros,
Nec, Nilus cui crescat, erit: solusque tenebis
Aegyptum populis, genitor, superisque fugatis.
Dixerat, et classem saevas rapiebat in undas.
Sed Cato laudatam iuvenis compescuit iram.
Interea totis, audito funere Magni,
Litoribus sonuit percussus planctibus aether:
Exemploque carens et nulli cognitus aevo
Luctus erat, mortem populos deflere potentis.
Sed magis, ut visa est, lacrimis exhausta, solutas
In vultus effusa comas, Cornelia puppi
Egrediens, rursus geminato verbere plangunt.
Ut primum in sociae pervenit litora terrae,
Collegit vestes, miserique insignia Magni,
Armaque, et impressas auro, quas gesserat olim,
Exuvias, pictasque togas, velamina summo
Ter conspecta Iovi, funestoque intulit igni.
Ille fuit miserae Magni cinis. Accipit omnis
Exemplum pietas, et toto litore busta
Surgunt, Thessalicis reddentia manibus ignem.
Sic, ubi, depastis submittere gramina campis
Et renovare parans hibernas Apulus herbas,
Igne fovet terras, simul et Garganus et arva
Vulturis et calidi lucent buceta Matini.
Non tamen ad Magni pervenit gratius umbras
Omne quod in superos audet convicia vulgus,
Pompeiumque deis obicit, quam pauca Catonis
Verba, sed a pleno venientia pectore veri.
Civis obit, inquit, multo maioribus impar
Nosse modum iuris, sed in hoc tamen utilis aevo,
Cui non ulla fuit isti reverentia, salva
Libertate potens, et solus plebe parata
Privatus servire sibi, rectorque senatus,
Sed regnantis, erat. Nil belli iure poposcit:
Quaeque dari voluit, voluit sibi posse negari.
Immodicas possedit opes, sed plura retentis
Intulit: invasit ferrum, sed ponere norat.
Praetulit arma togae: sed pacem armatus amavit.
Iuvit sumta ducem, iuvit dimissa potestas.
Casta domus, luxuque carens, corruptaque numquam
Fortuna domini. Clarum et venerabile nomen
Gentibus, et multum nostrae quod proderat urbi.
Olim vera fides, Sulla Marioque receptis,
Libertatis obit: Pompeio rebus ademto
Nunc et ficta perit. Non iam regnare pudebit:
Nec color imperii, nec frons erit ulla senatus.
O felix, cui summa dies fuit obvia victo,
Et cui quaerendos Pharium scelus obtulit enses!
Forsitan in soceri potuisset vivere regno.
Scire mori, sors prima viris, sed proxima cogi.
Et mihi, si fatis aliena in iura vemimus,
Da talem, Fortuna, Iubam: non deprecor hosti
Servari, dum me servet cervice recisa.

[¶2] More than had Rome resounded with his praise
Words such as these gave honour to the shade
Of that most noble dead. Meanwhile the crowd
Weary of warfare, since Pompeius' fall,
Broke into discord, as their ancient chief
Cilician called them to desert the camp.
They seize upon their ships and float the wave;
But Cato hailed them from the nearest shore;
' Untamed Cilician, is thy course now set
' For Ocean theft again; Pompeius gone,
' Pirate art thou once more? ' Then all the air
Hummed with the murmur of the throng; and one
Resolved on flight thus answered, ' Pardon, chief,
' Twas love of Magnus, not of civil war,
' That led us to the fight: his side was ours:
' With him whom all the world preferred to peace,
' Our cause is perished. Let us seek our homes
' Long since unseen, our children and our wives.
If nor the rout on dread Pharsalia's field
Nor yet Pompeius' death shall close the war,
Whence comes the end? Our span of life is fled:
Give death safe haven, give old age his pyre.
Scarce even to its captains civil strife
Concedes due burial. Nor in our defeat
Does Fortune threaten us with the savage yoke
Of distant nations. In the garb of Rome
And with her rights, I leave thee. Who had been
Second to Magnus living, he shall be
My first hereafter: to that sacred shade
Be the prime honour. Chance of war appoints
My lord but not my leader. Thee alone
I followed, Magnus; after thee the fates.
'Nor have I right to hope for victory now,
Nor wish: our Thracian array is fled
'In Caesar's triumph, whose all-potent star
Of fortune rules the world; and none but he
Has power to keep or save. That civil war
Which while Pompeius lived was loyalty
Is impious now. Let country lead thee on,
'Cato, and public right; but let us seek
' The standards of the Consul.' Thus he spake
And with him leaped into the ship a throng
Of eager comrades.
Then was Rome undone,
For all the shore was stirring with a crowd
Athirst for slavery. But burst these words
From Cato's blameless breast: ' Then with like vows
' As Caesar's rival host ye too did seek
' A lord and master! not for Rome the fight,
But for Pompeius! For that now no more
'Ye fight for tyranny, but for yourselves,
'Not for some despot chief, ye live and die;
' Since now 'tis safe to conquer and no lord
' Shall rob you, victors, of a world subdued-
' Ye flee the war, and on your abject necks
'Feel for the absent yoke; nor can endure
' Without a despot! Yet to men the prize
' Were worth the danger. Magnus might have used
' To evil ends your blood; refuse ye now,
' With liberty so near, your country's call?
' Now lives one tyrant only of the three;
' Thus far in favour of the laws have wrought
' The Pharian weapons and the Parthian bow;
' Not you, degenerate! Begone, and spurn
' This gift of Ptolemaeus. Who would think
' Your hands were stained with blood? The foe will deem
' That you upon that dread Thessalian day
' First turned your backs. Then flee in safety, flee!
' By neither battle nor blockade subdued
' Caesar shall give you life! 0 slaves most base,
' Your former master slain, ye seek his heir!
' Why doth it please you not yet more to earn
'Than life and pardon? Bear across the sea
' Metellus' daughter, Magnus' weeping spouse,
' And both his sons; outstrip the Pharian gift.
' Nor spare this head, which, laid before the feet
' Of that detested tyrant, shall deserve
'A full reward. Thus, cowards, shall ye learn
' In that ye followed me how great your gain.
' Quick to your task and purchase thus with blood
'Your claim on Caesar. 'Tis a dastard crime;
' Flight without slaughter!'
Cato thus recalled
The parting vessels. So when bees in swarm
Desert their empty comb, forget the hive,
Ceasing to cling together, and with wings
Untrammelled seek the air, nor slothful light
On thyme to taste its bitterness-then rings
The Phrygian gong-at once they pause aloft
Astonied; and with love of toil resumed
Through all the flowers for their honey store
In ceaseless wanderings search; the shepherd joys,
Sure that th' Hyblaean mead for him has kept
His cottage store, the riches of his home.
Now in the active conduct of the war
Were brought to discipline their minds, untaught
To bear repose; first on the sandy shore
Toiling they learned fatigue: then stormed thy walls,
Cyrene; prizeless, for to Cato's mind
'Twas prize enough to conquer. Juba next
He bids approach, though Nature on the path
Had placed the Syrtes; which his sturdy heart
Aspired to conquer. Either at the first
When Nature gave the universe its form
She left this region neither land nor sea;
Not wholly shrunk, so that it should receive
The ocean flood; nor firm enough to stand
Against its buffets-all the pathless coast
Lies in uncertain shape; earth by the deep
Is parted from the land; on sandy banks
The seas are broken, and from shoal to shoal
The waves advance to sound upon the shore.
Nature, in spite, thus left her work undone,
Unfashioned to men's use-Or else of old
A foaming ocean filled the wide expanse,
But Titan feeding from the briny depths
His burning fires (near to the zone of heat)
Reduced the waters. Still the main contends;
But in long time the Sun's destructive rays
Shall make the Syrtes land, and shallow pools
E'en now proclaim the sea's defeat to come.

> Latin: Vocibus his maior, quam si Romana sonarent
Rostra ducis laudes, generosam venit ad umbram
Mortis honos. Fremit interea discordia vulgi
Castrorum, bellique piget post funera Magni,
Cum Tarchondimotus linquendi signa Catonis
Sustulit. Hunc rapta fugientem classe secutus
Litus in extremum, tali Cato voce notavit:
O numquam pacate Cilix, iterumne rapinas
Vadis in aequoreas? Magnum Fortuna removit:
Iam pelago pirata redis. Tunc respicit omnes
In coetu motuque viros: quorum unus, aperta
Mente fugae, tali compellat voce regentem:
Nos, Cato, da veniam, Pompeii duxit in arma
Non belli civilis amor, partesque favore
Fecimus. Ille iacet, quem paci praetulit orbis,
Caussaque nostra perit: patrios permitte penates,
Desertamque domum, dulcesque revisere natos.
Nam quis erit finis, si nec Pharsalia, pugnas,
Nec Pompeius erit? Perierunt tempora vitae,
Mars eat in tutum: iustas sibi nostra senectus
Prospiciat flammas. Bellum civile sepulchra
Vix ducibus praestare potest. Non barbara victos
Regna manent: non Armenium mihi saeva minatur,
Aut Scythicum Fortuna iugum: sub iura togati
Civis eo. Quisquis Magno vivente secundus,
Hic mihi primus erit: sacris praestabitur umbris
Summus honor; dominum, quem clades cogit, habebo;
Nullum, Magne, ducem. Te solum in bella secutus,
Post te fata sequar: neque enim sperare secunda
Fas mihi, nec liceat. Fortuna cuncta tenentur
Caesaris: Emathium sparsit victoria ferrum.
Clausa fides miseris, et toto solus in orbe est,
Qui velit ac possit victis praestare salutem.
Pompeio scelus est bellum civile peremto,
Quo fuerat vivente fides. Si publica iura,
Si semper patriam sequeris, Cato, signa petamus,
Romanus quae consul habet. Sic ille profatus
Insiluit puppi, iuvenum comitante tumultu.
Actum Romanis fuerat de rebus, et omnis
Indiga servitii fervebat litore plebes.
Erupere ducis sacro de pectore voces:
Ergo pari voto gessisti bella, iuventus,
Tu quoque pro dominis, et Pompeiana fuisti,
Non Romana manus? Quod non in regna laboras,
Quod tibi, non ducibus, vivis morerisque, quod orbem
Adquiris nulli, quod iam tibi vincere tutum est,
Bella fugis, quaerisque iugum cervice vacante,
Et nescis sine rege pati? Nunc caussa pericli
Digna viris. Vestro potuit Pompeius abuti
Sanguine: nunc patriae iugulos ensesque negatis,
Cum prope libertas? Unum Fortuna reliquit
Iam tribus e dominis. Pudeat: plus regia Nili
Contulit in leges, et Parthi militis arcus.
Ite, o degeneres, Ptolemaei munus et arma
Spernite. Quis vestras ulla putet esse nocentes
Caede manus? Credet faciles sibi terga dedisse,
Credet ab Emathiis primos fugisse Philippis.
Vadite securi: meruistis indice vitam
Caesare, non armis, non obsidione subacti.
O famuli turpes, domini post fata prioris
Itis ad heredem. Cur non maiora mereri,
Quam vitam veniamque, libet? Rapiatur in undas
Infelix Magni coniux, prolesque Metelli:
Ducite Pompeios: Ptolemaei vincite munus.
Nostra quoque inviso quisquis feret ora tyranno,
Non parva mercede dabit. Sciet ista iuventus
Cervicis pretio bene se mea signa secutam.
Quin agite, et magna meritum cum caede parate:
Ignavum scelus est tantum fuga. Dixit: et omnes
Haud aliter medio revocavit ab aequore puppes,
Quam, simul effetas linquunt examina ceras,
Atque oblita favi non miscent nexibus alas,
Sed sibi quaeque volat, nec iam degustat amarum
Desidiosa thymum: Phrygii sonus increpat aeris,
Adtonitae posuere fugam, studiumque laboris
Floriferi repetunt, et sparsi mellis amorem:
Gaudet in Hyblaeo securus gramine pastor
Divitias servasse casae: sic voce Catonis
Inculcata viris iusti patientia Martis.
Iamque acta belli non doctas ferre quietem
Constituit mentes serieque agitare laborum.
Primum litoreis miles lassatur arenis:
Proximus in muros et moenia Cyrenarum
Est labor: exclusus nulla se vindicat ira:
Poenaque de victis sola est, vicisse, Catoni.
Inde peti placuit Libyci contermina Maris
Regna Iubae; sed iter mediis natura vetabat
Syrtibus: has audax sperat sibi cedere virtus.
Syrtes vel, primam mundo natura figuram
Cum daret, in dubio pelagi terraeque reliquit;
(Nam neque subsedit penitus, quo stagna profundi
Acciperet, nec se defendit ab aequore tellus;
Ambigua sed lege loci iacet invia sedes:
Aequora fracta vadis, abruptaque terra profundo,
Et post multa sonant proiecti litora fluctus.
Sic male deseruit, nullosque exegit in usus
Hanc partem natura sui.) vel plenior alto
Olim Syrtis erat pelago, penitusque natabat:
Sed rapidus Titan, ponto sua lumina pascens,
Aequora subduxit zonae vicina perustae:
Et nunc pontus adhuc Phoebo siccante repugnat.
Mox ubi damnosum radios admoverit aevum,
Tellus Syrtis erit: nam iam brevis unda superne
Innatat, et late periturum deficit aequor.

[¶3] When first the billows to the fleet gave way,
Black from the sky rushed down a southern gale
Upon his realm, and from the watery plain
Drave back th' invading ships, and from the shoals
Compelled the waves, and in the middle sea
Raised up a bank. Forth flew the bellying sails
Beyond the prows, despite the ropes that dared
Resist the tempest's fury; and for those
Who prescient housed their canvas to the storm,
Bare-masted they were driven from their course.
Best was their lot who gained the open waves
Of ocean; others lightened of their masts
Shook off the tempest; but a sweeping tide
Hurried them southwards, victor of the gale.
Some freed of shallows on a bank were forced
Which broke the deep: their ship in part was fast,
Part hanging on the sea; their fates in doubt.
Fierce rage the waves till hems them in the land;
Nor Auster's force in frequent buffets spent
Prevails upon the shore. High from the main,
By seas inviolate, one bank of sand
Far from the coast arose; there watched in vain
The storm-tossed mariners, their keel aground,
No shore descrying. Thus in sea were lost
Some portion, but the major part by helm
And rudder guided, and by pilots' hands
Who knew the devious channels, safe at length
Floated the marsh of Triton loved (as saith
The fable) by that god, whose sounding shell
All seas and shores re-echo; and by her,
Pallas, who springing from her father's head
First lit on Libya, nearest land to heaven,
(As by its heat is proved); here on the brink
She stood, reflected in the placid wave
And called herself Tritonis. Lethe's flood
Flows silent near, in fable from a source
Infernal sprung, oblivion in his stream;
Here, too, that garden of the Hesperids,
Its boughs all golden, where of old his watch
The sleepless dragon held. Shame be on him
Who calls upon the poet for the proof
Of that which in the ancient days befell;
But here were golden groves by yellow growth
Weighed down in richness, here a maiden band
Were guardians; and a serpent, on whose eyes
Sleep never fell, was coiled around the trees,
Whose branches bowed beneath their ruddy load.
But great Alcides stripped the goodly boughs
Of all their riches, left them poor and light,
And bore the shining fruit to Argos' king.
Driven on the Libyan realms, more fruitful here,
Pompeius stayed the fleet, nor further dared
To Garamantian waves. But Cato's soul
Leaped in his breast, impatient of delay,
To pass the Syrtes by a landward march,
And trusting to their swords, 'gainst tribes unknown
To lead his legions. And the storm which closed
The main to navies gave them hope of rain;
Nor biting frosts they feared, in Libyan clime;
Nor suns too scorching in the falling year.
Thus ere they trod the deserts, Cato spake:
' Ye men of Rome, who through mine arms alone
' Can find the death ye covet, and shall fall
' With pride unbroken should the fates command,
' Meet this your weighty task, your high emprise
' With hearts resolved to conquer. For we march
' On sterile wastes, burnt regions of the world;
' Scarce are the wells, and Titan from the height
' Burns pitiless, unclouded; and the slime
' Of poisonous serpents fouls the dusty earth.
' Yet shall men venture for the love of laws
' And country perishing, upon the sands
' Of trackless Libya; men who brave in soul
' Rely not on the end, and in attempt
' Will risk their all. 'Tis not in Cato's thoughts
' On this our enterprise to lead a band
' Blind to the truth, unwitting of the risk.
' Nay, give me comrades for the danger's sake,
' Whom I shall see for honour and for Rome
' Bear up against the worst. But whoso needs
' A pledge of safety, to whom life is sweet,
' Let him by fairer journey seek his lord.
' First be my foot upon the sand; on me
' First strike the burning sun; across my path
' The serpent void his venom; by my fate
' Know ye your perils. Let him only thirst
' Who sees me at the spring: who sees me seek
' The shade, alone sink fainting in the heat;
' Or whoso sees me ride before the ranks
' Plodding their weary march: such be the lot
' Of each, who, toiling, finds in me a chief
' And not a comrade. Snakes, thirst, burning sand
'The brave man welcomes, and the patient breast
' Finds happiness in labour. By its cost
' Courage is sweeter; and this Libyan land
' Such cloud of ills can furnish as might make
'Men flee unshamed.' 'Twas thus that Cato spake,
Kindling the torch of valour and the love
Of toil: then reckless of his fate he strode
The desert path from which was no return:
And Libya ruled his destinies, to shut
His sacred name within a narrow tomb.

> Latin: Ut primum remis actum mare propulit omne
Classis onus, densis fremuit niger imbribus Auster
In sua regna furens: tentatum classibus aequor
Turbine defendit, longeque a Syrtibus undas
Egit, et illato confregit litore pontum.
Tum quarum recto deprendit carbasa malo
Eripuit nautis; frustraque rudentibus ausis
Vela negare Noto, spatium vicere carinae,
Atque ultra proram tumuit sinus. Omnia si quis
Providus antennae suffixit lintea summae,
Vincitur, et nudis avertitur armamentis.
Sors melior classi, quae fluctibus incidit altis,
Et certo iactata mari. Quaecumque levatae
Arboribus caesis flatum effudere frementem,
Abstulit has ventis liber contraria volvens
Aestus, et obnixum victor detrudit in Austrum.
Has vada destituunt, atque interrupta profundo
Terra ferit puppes: dubioque obnoxia fato
Pars sedet una ratis, pars altera pendet in undis.
Tunc magis impactum brevibus mare, terraque saevit
Obvia consurgens: quamvis elisus ab Austro,
Saepe tamen cumulos fluctus non vincit arenae.
Eminet in tergo pelagi procul omnibus arvis,
Inviolatus aqua, sicci iam pulveris agger;
Stant miseri nautae, terraeque haerente carina
Litora nulla vident. Sic partem intercipit aequor:
Pars ratium maior regimen clavumque secuta est,
Tuta fuga, nautasque loci sortita peritos,
Torpentem Tritonos adit illaesa paludem.
Hanc, ut fama, deus, quem toto litore pontus
Audit ventosa perflantem murmura concha,
Hanc et Pallas amat, patrio quae vertice nata
Terrarum primam Libyen (nam proxima coelo est,
Ut probat ipse calor) tetigit, stagnique quieta
Vultus vidit aqua, posuitque in margine plantas,
Et se dilecta Tritonida dixit ab unda.
Quam iuxta Lethon tacitus praelabitur amnis,
Infernis, ut fama, trahens oblivia venis:
Atque insopiti quondam tutela draconis,
Hesperidum pauper spoliatus frondibus hortus.
Invidus, annoso qui famam derogat aevo,
Qui vates ad vera vocat. Fuit aurea silva,
Divitiisque graves et fulvo germine rami:
Virgineusque chorus nitidi custodia luci,
Et numquam somno damnatus lumina serpens,
Robora complexus rutilo curvata metallo.
Abstulit arboribus pretium, nemorique laborem
Alcides: passusque inopes sine pondere ramos,
Retulit Argolico fulgentia poma tyranno.
His igitur depulsa locis, effectaque classis
Syrtibus, haud ultra Garamantidas attigit undas:
Sed duce Pompeio Libyes melioris in oris
Mansit. At impatiens virtus haerere Catonis
Audet in ignotas agmen committere gentes,
Armorum fidens, et terra cingere Syrtim.
Haec eadem suadebat hiems, quae clauserat aequor;
Et spes imber erat, nimios metuentibus ignes:
Ut neque sole viam, nec duro frigore saevam,
Inde polo Libyes, hinc bruma temperet annus.
Atque ingressurus steriles sic fatur arenas:
O quibus una salus placuit mea castra secutis
Indomita cervice mori, componite mentes
Ad magnum virtutis opus summosque labores.
Vadimus in campos steriles, exustaque mundi,
Qua nimius Titan, et rarae in fontibus undae,
Siccaque letiferis squalent serpentibus arva,
Durum iter. Ad leges patriaeque ruentis amorem
Per mediam Libyen veniant, atque invia tentent,
Si quibus in nullo positum est evadere voto,
Si quibus ire sat est. Neque enim mihi fallere quemquam
Est animus, tectoque metu perducere vulgus.
Hi mihi sint comites, quos ipsa pericula ducent,
Qui, me teste, pati vel quae tristissima, pulchrum
Romanumque putant. At qui sponsore salutis
Miles eget, capiturque animae dulcedine, vadat
Ad dominum metiore via. Dum primus arenas
Ingrediar, primusque gradus in pulvere ponam,
Me calor aethereus feriat, mihi plena veneno
Occurrat serpens; fatoque pericula vestra
Praetentate meo: sitiat, quicumque bibentem
Viderit: aut umbras nemorum quicumque petentem,
Aestuet: aut equitem peditum praecedere turmas,
Deficiat; si quo fuerit discrimine notum,
Dux an miles eam. Serpens, sitis, ardor, arenae,
Dulcia virtuti: Gaudet patientia duris.
Laetius est, quoties magno sibi constat, honestum.
Sola potest Libye turbam praestare malorum,
Ut deceat fugisse viros. Sic ille paventes
Incendit virtute animos, et amore laborum,
Irreducemque viam deserto limite carpit:
Et, sacrum parvo nomen clausura sepulchro

## 18. Book IX · lines 410–838

Source: https://scriptura.si/works/lucan-pharsalia/18/ · cite a paragraph as https://scriptura.si/works/lucan-pharsalia/18/#p-N

[¶0] One-third of all the world, if fame we trust,
Is Libya; yet by winds and sky she proves
Equal to Europe; for the shores of Nile
No more than Scythian Tanais are remote
From furthest Gades, where with bending coast,
Yielding a place to Ocean, Europe parts
From Afric shores. Yet falls the larger world
To Asia only. From the former two
Issues the Western wind; but Asia's right
Touches the Southern limits and her left
The Northern tempest's home, and of the East
She's mistress to the rising of the Sun.
All that is fertile of the Afric lands
Lies to the west, but even here abound
No wells of water: though the Northern wind,
Infrequent, leaving us with skies serene,
Falls there in showers. Not gold nor wealth of brass
It yields the seeker; pure and unalloyed
Down to its lowest depths is Libyan soil.
Yet citron forests to Maurusian tribes
Were riches, had they known; but they, content,
Lived 'neath the shady foliage, till gleamed
The axe of Rome amid the virgin grove,
To bring from furthest limits of the world
Our banquet tables and the fruit they bear.
But suns excessive and a scorching clime
Burn all the glebe beside the shifting sands:
There die the harvests on the crumbling mould;
No root finds sustenance, nor kindly Jove
Makes rich the furrow nor matures the vine.
Sleep binds all nature and the tract of sand
Lies ever fruitless, save that by the coast
The hardy Nasamon plucks a scanty grass.
Unclothed their race, and living on the woes
Worked by the cruel Syrtes on the world.
He dwells a spoiler by the sandy waves,
And while no ships unlade upon his shore,
Grows rich by wrecks-his only trade with man.
By such a path at hardy Cato's word
His soldiers passed, in thought from winds secure
Nor dreading storms: but fearful was their lot
More than on ocean waves; for Auster's force
Here strikes with greater strength upon the sands,
And yet more fraught with mischief: neither crags
Repelled his strength, nor lofty mountains tamed
His furious onset, nor in sturdy woods
He found a bar; but free from curb he raged
O'er the defenceless earth. Nor merely dust
Swirled up in drifts of rain, but Earth herself,
In major part, was rapt into the air
On ceaseless whirlwinds borne, until amazed
The Nasamon saw his scanty field and home
Reft by the tempest, and the native huts
From roof to base were hurried on the blast.
Not higher, when some all-devouring flame
Has seized upon its prey, in volumes dense
Rolls up the smoke, and darkens all the air.
Then with fresh might he fell upon the host
Of marching Romans, snatching from their feet
The sand they trod. Had Auster been enclosed
In some vast cavernous vault with solid walls
And mighty barriers, he had moved the world
Upon its ancient base and made the lands
To tremble: but the facile Libyan soil
By not resisting stood, and blasts that whirled
The surface upwards left the depths unmoved.
Helmet and shield and spear were torn away
By his most violent breath, and borne aloft
Through all the regions of the boundless sky;
Perchance a wonder in some distant land,
Where men may fear the weapons from the heaven
There falling, as the armour of the gods,
Nor deem them ravished from a soldier's arm.
'Twas thus on Numa by the sacred fire
Those shields descended which our chosen priests
Bear on their shoulders; from some warlike race
By tempest rapt, to be the prize of Rome.
While thus the tempest whirled the earth aloft
Prone fell the host, and wound their garments tight,
And gripped the soil; but hardly thus prevailed.
Weight had not held them safe; the raging blast
Piles heaps upon them, their recumbent limbs
Are whelmed in sand. At length they struggling rose
Back to their feet, when lo! around them stood,
Forced by the storm, a growing bank of earth
Which held them motionless. And from afar
Where walls lay prostrate, mighty stones were hurled,
Thus piling ills on ills in wondrous form:
No dwellings had they seen, yet at their feet
Beheld the ruins. All the earth was hid
In vast envelopment, nor found they guide
Save from the stars, which as in middle deep
Flamed o'er them wandering: yet some were hid
Beneath the circle of the Libyan earth
Which tending downwards hid the Northern sky.
When warmth dispersed the tempest-driven air,
And rose upon the earth the flaming day,
Bathed were their limbs in sweat, but parched and dry
Their gaping lips; when to a scanty spring
Far off beheld they came, whose meagre drops
All gathered in the hollow of a helm
They offered to their chief. Caked were their throats
With dust, and panting; and one little drop
Had made him envied. 'Wretch, and dost thou deem
Me wanting in a brave man's heart? ' he cried,
' Me only in this throng? And have I seemed
'Tender, unfit to bear the morning heat?
He who would quench his thirst 'mid such a host,
'Doth most deserve its pangs.' Then in his wrath
Dashed down the helmet, and the scanty spring,
Thus by their leader spurned, sufficed for all.

> Latin: Invasit Libye securi fata Catonis.
Tertia pars rerum Libye, si credere famae
Cuncta velis: at si ventos coelumque sequaris,
Pars erit Europae. Neque enim plus litora Nili,
Quam Scythicus Tanais primis a Gadibus absunt,
Unde Europa fugit Libyen, et litora flexu
Oceano fecere locum: sed maior in unam
Orbis abit Asiam. Nam cum communiter istae
Effundant Zephyrum, Boreae latus illa sinistrum
Contingens, dextrumque Noti, descendit in ortus,
Eurum sola tenens. Libycae quod fertile terrae est,
Vergit in occasus: sed et haec non fontibus ullis
Solvitur: Arctoos raris Aquilonibus imbres
Accipit, et nostris reficit sua rura serenis.
In nullas vitiatur opes; non aere neque auro
Excoquitur, nullo glebarum crimine, pura,
Et penitus terra est. Tantum Maurusia genti
Robora divitiae, quarum non noverat usum,
Sed citri contenta comis vivebat, et umbris.
In nemus ignotum nostrae venere secures,
Extremoque epulas mensasque petivimus orbe.
At quaecumque vagam Syrtim complectitur ora
Sub nimio porrecta die, vicina perusti
Aetheris, exurit messes, et pulvere Bacchum
Enecat, et nulls putris radice tenetur.
Temperies vitalis abest, et nulla sub illa
Cura Iovis terra est: Natura deside torpet
Orbis, et immotis annum non sentit arenis.
Hoc tam segne solum raras tamen exserit herbas,
Quas Nasamon gens dura legit, qui proxima ponto
Nudus rura tenet; quem mundi barbara damnis
Syrtis alit. Nam litoreis populator arenis
Imminet, et, nulla portus tangente carina,
Novit epes. Sic cum toto commercia mundo
Naufragiis Nasamones habent. Hac ire Catonem
Dura iubet virtus. Illic secura iuventus
Ventorum, nullasque timens tellure procellas,
Aequoreos est passa metus. Nam litore sicco,
Quam pelago, Syrtis violentius accipit Austrum.
Et terrae magis ille nocens. Non montibus illum
Adversis frangit Libye, scopulisque repulsum
Dissipat, et liquidas e turbine solvit in auras:
Nec ruit in silvas, annosaque robora torquens
Lassatur: patet omne solum, liberque meatu
Aeoliam rabiem totis exercet habenis:
Et non imbriferam contorto pulvere nubem
In flexum violentus agit: pars plurima terrae
Tollitur, et numquam resoluto vertice pendet.
Regna videt pauper Nasamon errantia vento,
Discussasque domos: volitantque a culmine raptae
Detecto Garamante casae. Non altius ignis
Rapta vehit: quantumque licet consurgere fumo,
Et violare diem, tantum tenet aera pulvis.
Tum quoque Romanum solito violentius agmen
Adgreditur, nullusque potest consistere miles,
Instabilis, raptis etiam, quas calcat, arenis.
Concuteret terras, orbemque a sede moveret,
Si solida Libye compage et pondere duro
Clauderet exesis Austrum scopulosa cavernis:
Sed quia mobilibus facilis turbatur arenis,
Nusquam luctando stabilis manet: imaque tellus
Stat, quia summa fugit. Galeas et scuta virorum
Pilaque contorsit violento spiritus actu,
Intentusque tulit magni per inania coeli.
Illud in externa forsan longeque remota
Prodigium tellure fuit: delapsaque coelo
Arma timent gentes, hominumque erepta lacertis
A superis demissa putant. Sic illa profecto
Sacrifico cecidere Numae, quae lecta iuventus
Patricia cervice movet: spoliaverat Auster
Aut Boreas populos ancilia nostra ferentes.
Sic orbem torquente Noto Romana iuventus
Procubuit, metuensque rapi, constrinxit amictus,
Inseruitque manus terrae: nec pondere solo,
Sed nisu iacuit, vix sic immobilis Austro:
Qui super ingentes cumulos involvit arenae,
Atque operit tellure viros. Vix tollere miles
Membra valet, multo congestu pulveris haereus.
Adligat et stantes adfusae magnus arenae
Agger, et immoti terra surgente tenentur.
Saxa tulit penitus discussis proruta muris.
Effuditque procul, miranda sorte malorum:
Qui nullas videre domos, videre ruinas.
Iamque iter omne latet: nec sunt discrimina terrae
Ulla, nisi aetheriae medio velut aequore flammae.
Sideribus novere vias: nec sidera nota
Ostendit Libycae finitor circulus orae,
Multaque devexo terrarum margine celat.
Utque calor solvit, quem torserat aera ventus
Incensusque dies, manant sudoribus artus,
Arent ora siti: conspecta est parva maligna
Unda procul vena: quam vix e pulvere miles
Corripiens, patulum galeae confudit in orbem,
Porrexitque duci. Squalebant pulvere fauces
Cunctorum: minimumque tenens dux ipse liquoris
Invidiosus erat. Mene, inquit, degener unum
Miles in hac turba vacuum virtute putasti?
Usque adeo mollis primisque caloribus impar
Sum visus? Quanto poena tu dignior ista es,
Qui, populo sitiente, bibas! Sic concitus ira
Excussit galeam, suffecitque omnibus unda.

[¶1] Now had they reached that temple which possess,
Sole in all Libya, th' untutored tribes
Of Garamantians. Here holds his seat
(So saith the story) a prophetic Jove,
Wielding no thunderbolts, nor like to ours;
The Libyan Hammon of the curved horn.
No wealth adorns his fane by Afric tribes
Bestowed, nor glittering hoard of Eastern gems.
Though rich Arabians, Ind and Ethiop
Know him alone as Jove, still he is poor
Holding his shrine by riches undefiled
Through time; and pure as gods of olden days
He spurns the wealth of Rome. That here sone god
Dwells, witnesses the only grove
That buds in Libya-for that which grows
Upon the arid dust which Leptis parts
From Berenice, knows no leaves; alone
Hammon uprears a wood; a fount the cause
Which with its waters binds the crumbling soil.
Yet shall the Sun when poised upon the height
Strike through the foliage: hardly can the tree
Protect its trunk, and to a little space
His rays draw in the circle of the shade.
Here have men found the spot where that high band
Solstitial divides in middle sky
The zodiac stars: not here oblique their course,
Nor Scorpion rises straighter than the Bull,
Nor to the Scales does Ram give back his hours,
Nor does Astraea bid the Fishes sink
More slowly down: but watery Capricorn
Is equal with the Crab, and with the Twins
The Archer; neither does the Lion rise
Above Aquarius. But the race that dwells
Beyond the fervour of the Libyan fires
Sees to the South that shadow which with us
Falls to the North: slow Cynosura sinks
For them below the deep; and, dry with us,
The Wagon plunges; far from either pole,
No star they know that does not seek the nain,
But all the constellations in their course
Whirl to their vision through the middle sky.
Before the doors the Eastern peoples stood
Seeking from horned Jove to know their fates:
Yet to the Roman chief they yielded place,
Whose comrades prayed him to entreat the gods
Famed through the Libyan world, and judge the voice
Renowned from distant ages. First of these
Was Labienus: 'Chance,' he said, 'to us
'The voice and counsel of this mighty god
'Has offered as we march; from such a guide
'To know the issues of the war, and learn
'To track the Syrtes. For to whom on earth
'If not to blameless Cato, shall the gods
Entrust their secret truths? Thou at the least
'Their faithful follower through life hast been.
'Lo! thou hast liberty to speak with Jove.
Ask impious Caesar's fates, and learn the laws
'That wait our country in the future days:
'Whether the people shall be free to use
'Their rights and customs, or the civil war
'For us is wasted. To thy sacred breast,
'Lover of virtue, take the voice divine;
'Demand what virtue is and guide thy steps
'By heaven's high counsellor.'
But Cato, full
Of godlike thoughts borne in his quiet breast,
This answer uttered, worthy of the shrines:
'What, Labienus, dost thou bid me ask?
'Whether in arms and freedom I should wish
' To perish, rather than endure a king?
' Is longest life worth aught? And doth its term
' Make difference? Can violence to the good
Do injury? Do Fortune's threats avail
Outweighed by virtue? Doth it not suffice
To aim at deeds of bravery? Can fame
Grow by achievement? Nay! No Hammon's voice
Shall teach us this more surely than we know.
Bound are we to the gods; no voice we need;
They live in all our acts, although the shrine
Be silent: at our birth and once for all
What may be known the author of our being
Revealed; nor chose these thirsty sands to chaunt
'To few his truth, whelmed in the dusty waste.
God has his dwelling in all things that be,
In earth and air and sea and starry vault,
In virtuous deeds; in all that thou canst see,
In all thy thoughts contained. Why further, then,
Seek we our deities? Let those who doubt
And halting, tremble for their coming fates,
Go ask the oracles. No mystic words,
Make sure my heart, but surely coming Death.
" Coward alike and brave, we all must die.
Thus hath Jove spoken: seek to know no more.'
Thus Cato spoke, and faithful to his creed
He parted from the temple of the god
And left the oracle of Hammon dumb.
Bearing his javelin, as one of them
He strode afoot before the panting troops:
No bending neck, no litter bore his form.
He bade them not, but showed them how to toil.
Spare in his sleep, the last to sip the spring,
When at some rivulet to quench their thirst
The eager ranks pressed onward, he alone
Until the humblest follower might drink
Stood motionless. If for the truly good
Is fame, and virtue by the deed itself,
Not by successful issue, should be judged,
Yield, famous ancestors! Fortune, not worth
Gained you your glory. But such name as his
Who ever merited by successful war
Or slaughtered peoples? Rather would I lead
With him his triumphs through the pathless sands
And Libya's bounds, than in Pompeius' car
Three times ascend the Capitol, or break
The proud Jugurtha. Rome! in him behold
His country's father, worthiest of thy vows;
A name by which men shall not blush to swear,
Whom, shouldst thou break the fetters from thy neck,
Thou mayst in distant days decree divine.
Now was the heat more dense, and through that clime
Than which no further on the Southern side
The gods permit, they trod; and scarcer still
The water, till in middle sands they found
One copious fountain; but its brimming wave
Was thronged with serpents which it hardly held,
And thirsty asps were pressing on the marge.
But when the chieftain saw that speedy fate
Was on the host, if they should leave the well
Untasted, ' Vain,' he cried, your fear of death.
' Drink, nor delay: 'tis from the threatening tooth
" Men draw their deaths, and fatal from the fang
' Issues the juice if mingled with the blood;
' The cup is harmless.' Then he sipped the fount,
Still doubting, and in all the Libyan waste
There only was he first to touch the stream.

> Latin: Ventum erat ad templum, Libycis quod gentibus unum
Inculti Garamantes habent. Stat sortifer istic
Iupiter, ut memorant, sed non aut fulmina vibrans,
Aut similis nostro, sed tortis cornibus Ammon.
Non illic Libycae posuerunt ditia gentes
Templa, nec Eois splendent donaria gemmis.
Quamvis Aethiopum populis Arabumque beatis
Gentibus atque Indis unus sit Iupiter Ammon,
Pauper adhuc deus est, nullis violata per aevum
Divitiis delubra tenens: morumque priorum
Numen, Romano templum defendit ab auro.
Esse locis superos, testatur silva, per omnem
Sola virens Libyen. Nam quidquid pulvere sicco
Separat ardentem tepida Berenicida Lepti,
Ignorat frondes: solus nemus extulit Ammon.
Silvaram fons caussa loco, qui putria terrae
Adligat, et domitas unda connectit arenas.
Sic quoque nil obstat Phoebo, cum cardine summo
Stat librata dies: truncum vix protegit arbor:
Tam brevis in medium radiis compellitur umbra.
Deprensum est, hunc esse locum, qua circulum alti
Solstitii medium signorum percutit orbem.
Non obliqua meant, nec Tauro Scorpius exit
Rectior, aut Aries donat sua tempora Librae,
Aut Astraea iubet lentos descendere Pisces.
Par Geminis Chiron, et idem quod Carcinos ardens
Humidus Aegoceros: nec plus Leo tollitur Urna.
At tibi, quaecumque es Libyco gens igne diremta,
In Noton umbra cadit, quae nobis exit in Arcton:
Et segnis Cynosura subit: tu sicca profundo
Mergi plaustra putas, nullumque in vertice summo
Sidus habes immune mari; procul axis uterque est,
Et fuga signorum medio rapit omnia caelo.
Stabant ante fores populi, quos miserat Eos,
Cornigerique Iovis monitu nova fata petebant:
Sed Latio cessere duci: comitesque Catonem
Orant, exploret Libycum memorata per orbem
Numina, de fama tam longi iudicet aevi.
Maximus hortator scrutandi voce deorum
Eventus Labienus erat. Sors obtulit, inquit,
Et Fortuna viae tam magni numinis ora
Consiliumque dei: tanto duce possumus uti
Per Syrtes, bellique datos cognoscere casus.
Nam cui crediderim superos arcana daturos
Dicturosque magis, quam sancto vera Catoni?
Certe vita tibi semper directa supernas
Ad leges, sequerisque deum. Datur, ecce, loquendi
Cum Iove libertas: inquire in fata nefandi
Caesaris, et patriae venturos excute mores:
Iure suo populis uti legumque licebit,
An bellum civile perit. Tua pectora sacra
Voce reple: durae semper virtutis amator,
Quaere quid est virtus, et posce exemplar honesti.
Ille, deo plenus, tacita quem mente gerebat,
Effudit dignas adytis e pectore voces:
Quid quaeri, Labiene, iubes? an liber in armis
Occubuisse velim potius, quam regna videre?
An sit vita nihil, et longa? an differat aetas?
An noceat vis ulla bono? Fortunaque perdat
Opposita virtute minas? laudandaque velle
Sit satis, et numquam successu crescat honestum?
Scimus, et haec nobis non altius inseret Ammon.
Haeremus cuncti superis, temploque tacente,
Nil agimus nisi sponte dei: nec vocibus ullis
Numen eget: dixitque semel nascentibus auctor
Quidquid scire licet: steriles nec legit arenas,
Ut caneret paucis, mersitque hoc pulvere verum:
Estque dei sedes, ubi terra, et pontus, et aer,
Et coelum, et virtus. Superos quid quaerimus ultra?
Iuppiter est, quodcumque vides, quodcumque moveris.
Sortilegis egeant dubii, semperque futuris
Casibus ancipites: me non oracula certum,
Sed mors certa facit. Pavido fortique cadendum est:
Hoc satis est dixisse Iovem. Sic ille profatur:
Servataque fide templi, discedit ab aris,
Non exploratum populis Ammona relinquens.
Ipse manu sua pila gerens, praecedit anheli
Militis ora pedes: monstrat tolerare labores,
Non iubet: et nulla vehitur cervice supinus,
Carpentoque sedens. Somni parcissimus ipse est,
Ultimus haustor aquae. Cum tandem fonte reperto
Indiga conatur laticis potare iuventus,
Stat, dum lixa bibat. Si veris magna paratur
Fama bonis, et si successu nuda remoto
Inspicitur virtus, quidquid laudamus in ullo
Maiorum, Fortuna fuit. Quis Marte secundo,
Quis tantum meruit populorum sanguine nomen?
Hunc ego per Syrtes Libyaeque extrema triumphum
Ducere maluerim, quam ter Capitolia curru
Scandere Pompeii, quam frangere colla Iugurthae.
Ecce parens verus patriae, dignissimus aris,
Roma, tuis; per quem numquam iurare pudebit,
Et quem, si steteris umquam cervice soluta,
Tunc olim factura deum. Iam spissior ignis,
Et plaga, quam nullam superi mortalibus ultra
A medio fecere die, calcatur, et unda
Rarior: inventus mediis fons unus arenis
Largus aquae, sed quem serpentum turba tenebat
Vix capiente loco. Stabant in margine siccae
Aspides, in mediis sitiebant Dipsades undi.
Ductor, ut adspexit perituros fonte relicto,
Adloquitur: Vana specie conterrite leti,
Ne dubita, miles, tutos haurire liquores:
Noxia serpentum est admito sanguine pestis:
Morsu virus habent, et fatum dente minantur:
Pocula morte carent. Dixit, dubiumque venenum
Hausit: et in tota Libyae fons unus arena
Ille fuit, de quo primus sibi posceret undam.

[¶2] Why fertile thus in death the pestilent air
Of Libya, what poison in her soil
Her several nature mixed, my care to know
Has not availed: but from the days of old
A fabled story has deceived the world.
Far on her limits, where the burning shore
Admits the ocean fervid from the sun
Plunged in its waters, lay Medusa's fields
Untilled; nor forests shaded, nor the plough
Furrowed the soil, which by its mistress' gaze
Was hardened into stone: Phorcus, her sire.
Malevolent nature from her body first
Drew forth these noisome pests; first from her jaws
Issued the sibilant rattle of serpent tongues;
Clustered around her head the poisonous brood
Like to a woman's hair, wreathed on her neck
Which gloried in their touch; their glittering heads
Advanced towards her; and her tresses kempt
Dripped down with viper's venom. This alone
Thou hast, accursed one, which men can see
Unharmed; for who upon that gaping mouth
Looked and could dread? Whom suffered she to die
Who saw her face? He rushed upon his fate
And ere he feared was stricken to the death.
Perished the limbs while living, and the soul
Grew stiff and stark ere yet it fled the frame.
Men have been frenzied by the Furies' locks,
Not killed; and Cerberus at Orpheus' song
Ceased from his hissing, and Alcides saw
The Hydra ere he slew. This monster born
Brought horror with her birth upon her sire
Phorcus, in second order God of Waves,
And upon Ceto and the Gorgon brood,
Her sisters. She could treat the sea and sky
With deadly calm unknown, and from the world
Bid cease the soil. Borne down by instant weight
Fowls fell from air, and beasts were fixed in stone.
Whole Ethiop tribes who tilled the neighbouring lands
Rigid in marble stood. The Gorgon sight
No creature bore and even her serpents turned
Back from her visage. Atlas in his place
Beside the Western columns, by her look
Was turned to granite; and when Phlegra's brood
Gigantic, serpent-tailed, were feared of heaven,
She made them mountains, and the Gorgon head
Borne on Athena's bosom closed the war.
Here born of Danae and the golden shower,
Floating on wings Parrhasian, by the god
Arcadian given, author of the lyre
And wrestling art, came Perseus, swooping down
From heaven. Cyllenian Harpe did he bear
Still crimson from another monster slain,
The guardian of the heifer loved by Jove.
This to her winged brother Pallas lent
Price of the monster's head: by her command
He sought the limits of the Libyan land,
Poised o'er Medusa's realm, with head averse
Towards the rising sun: a burnished shield
Of yellow brass upon his other arm,
Her gift, her bore: in which she bade him see
The fatal face unscathed. Nor yet in sleep
Lay all the monster, for such total rest
To her were death-so fated: serpent locks
In vigilant watch, some reaching forth defend
Her head, while others lay upon her face
And slumbering eyes. Then hero Perseus shook
Though turned averse; trembled his dexter hand:
But Pallas held, and the descending blade
Shore the broad neck whence sprang the viper brood.
What visage bore the Gorgon as the steel
Thus reft her life! what poison from her throat
Breathed! from her eyes what venom of death distilled!
The goddess dared not look, and Perseus' face
Had frozen, averse, had not Athena veiled
With coils of writhing snakes the features dead.
Then with the Gorgon head the hero flew
Uplifted on his wings and sought the sky.
Shorter had been his voyage through the midst
Of Europe's cities; but Athena bade
To spare her peoples and their fruitful lands;
For who when such an airy courser passed
Had not looked up to heaven? Western winds
Now sped his pinions, and he took his course
O'er Libya's regions, from the stars and suns
Veiled by no culture. Phoebus' nearer track
There burns the soil, and loftiest on the sky
There falls the night, to shade the wandering moon,
If e'er forgetful of her course oblique,
Straight through the stars, nor bending to the North
Nor to the South, she hastens. Yet that earth,
In nothing fertile, void of fruitful yield,
Drank in the poison of Medusa's blood,
Dripping in dreadful dews upon the soil,
And in the crumbling sands by heat matured.
Where first within the dust the venom germ
Took life, an asp was reared of turgid neck
And sleep compelling: thick the poison drop
That was his making, in no fang of snake
More closely pressed. Greedy of warmth it seeks
No frozen world itself, nor haunts the sands
Beyond the Nile; yet has our thirst of gain
No shame nor limit, and this Libyan death,
This fatal pest we purchase for our own.
Haemorrhois huge spreads out his scaly coils,
Who suffers not his hapless victims' blood
To stay within their veins. Chersydros sprang
To life, to dwell within the doubtful marsh
Where land nor sea prevails. A cloud of spray
Marked fell Chelyder's track: and Cenchris rose
Straight gliding to his prey, his belly tinged
With various spots unnumbered, more than those
Which paint the Theban marble; horned snakes
With spines contorted: like to torrid sand
Ammodytes, of hue invisible:
Sole of all serpents Scytale to shed
In vernal frosts his slough; and thirsty Dipsas;
Dread Amphisbaena with his double head
Tapering; and Natrix who in bubbling fount
Fuses his venom. Greedy Prester swells
His foaming jaws; Pareas, head erect
Furrows with tail alone his sandy path;
Swift Jaculus there, and Seps whose poisonous juice
Makes liquid bone and flesh: and there upreared
His regal head, and frighted from his track
With sibilant terror all the subject swarm,
Baneful ere darts his poison, Basilisk
In sands deserted king. Ye serpents too
Who in all other regions harmless glide
Adored as gods, and bright with golden scales,
Are deadly here: for Afric air inhaled
Bestows malignant gift, as poised on wings
Whole herds of kine ye follow, and with coils
Encircling close, crush in the mighty bull.
Nor does the elephant in his giant bulk,
Nor aught, find safety; and ye need no fang
Nor poison, to compel the fatal end.

> Latin: Cur Libycus tantis exundet pestibus aer
Fertilis in mortes, aut quid secreta nocenti
Miscuerit natura solo, non cura laborque
Noster scire valet: nisi quod vulgata per orbem
Fabula pro vera decepit saecula caussa.
Finibus extremis Libyes, ubi fervida tellus
Accipit Oceanum demisso sole calentem,
Squalebant late Phorcynidos arva Medusae,
Non nemorum protecta coma, non mollia sulco,
Sed dominas vultu conspectis aspera saxis,
Hoc primum natura nocens in corpore saevas
Eduxit pestes: illis e faucibus angues
Stridula fuderunt vibratis sibila linguis,
Femineae qui more comae per terga soluti,
Ipsa flagellabant gaudentis colla Medusae.
Surgunt adverse subrectae fronte colubrae,
Vipereumque fluit depexo crine venenum.
Hoc habet infelix, cunctis impune, Medusa,
Quod spectare licet Nam rictus oraque monstri
Quis timuit? quem, qui recto se lumine vidit,
Passa Medusa mori est. Rapuit dubitantia fata,
Praevenitque metus: anima periere retenta
Membra, nec emissae riguere sub ossibus umbrae.
Eumenidum crines solos movere furores:
Cerberus Orpheo lenivit sibila cantu:
Amphitryoniades vidit, cum vinceret, Hydram;
Hoc monstrum timuit genitor, numenque secundum
Phorcus aquis, Cetoque parens, ipsaeque sorores
Gorgones: hoc potuit coelo pelagoque minari
Torporem insolitum, mundoque abducere terram.
E coelo volucres subito cum pondere lapsae:
In scopulis haesere ferae: vicina colentes
Aethiopum totae riguerunt marmore gentes.
Nullum animal visus patiens, ipsique retrorsum
Effusi faciem vitabant Gorgonis angues.
Illa sub Hesperiis stantem Titana columnis
In cautes Atlanta dedit: coeloque timente
Olim Phlegraeo stantes serpente gigantes,
Erexit montes, bellumque immane deorum
Pallados in medio confecit pectore Gorgon.
Quo postquam partu Danaes et divite nimbo
Ortum Parrhasiae vexerunt Persea pennae
Arcados auctoris citharae liquidaeque palaestrae,
Et subitus praepes Cyllenida sustulit harpen,
Harpen alterius monstri iam caede rubentem,
[A Iove dilectae fuso custode iuvencae:]
Auxilium volucri Pallas tulit innuba fratri,
Pacta caput monstri: terraeque in fine Libyssae
Persea Phoebeos converti iussit ad ortus,
Gorgonis averso sulcantem regna volatu:
Et clypeum laevae fulvo dedit aere nitentem,
In quo saxificam iussit spectare Medusam.
Quam sopor, aeternam tracturus morte quietem,
Obruit haud totam. Vigilat pars magna comarum,
Defenduntque caput praetenti crinibus hydri:
Pars iacet in medios vultus oculique tenebras.
Ipsa regit trepidum Pallas, dextraque tremente
Perseos aversi Cyllenida dirigit harpen,
Lata colubriferi rumpens confinia colli.
Quos habuit vultus hamati vulnere ferri
Caesa caput Gorgon! quanto spirasse veneno
Ora rear! quantumque oculos effundere mortis!
Nec Pallas spectare potest: vultusque gelassent
Perseos aversi, si non Tritonia densos
Sparsisset crines, texissetque ora colubri.
Aliger in coelum sic rapta Gorgone fugit.
Ille quidem pensabat iter, propiusque secabat
Aethera, si medias Europae scinderet urbes;
Pallas frugiferas iussit non laedere terras,
Et parci populis. Quis enim non praepete tanto
Aethera respiceret? Zephyro convertitur ales,
Itque super Libyen, quae, nullo consita cultu,
Sideribus Phoeboque vacat: premit orbita solis,
Exuritque solum; nec terra celsior ulla
Nox cadit in coelum, lunaeque meatibus obstat,
Si flexus oblita vagi per recta cucurrit
Signa, nec in Borean aut in Noton effugit umbram.
Illa tamen sterilis tellus, fecundaque nulli
Arva bono, virus stillantis tabe Medusae
Concipiunt, dirosque fero de sanguine rores,
Quos calor adiuvit, putrique incoxit arenae.
Hic, quae prima caput movit de pulvere tabes,
Aspida somniferam tumida cervice levavit.
Plenior huic sanguis et crassi gutta veneni
Decidit: in nulla plus est serpente coactum.
Ipsa caloris egens gelidum non transit in orbem
Sponte sua, Niloque tenus metitur arenas.
Sed quis erit nobis lucri pudor? inde petuntur
Huc Libycae mortes, et fecimus Aspida mercem.
At non stare suum miseris passura cruorem,
Squamiferos ingens Haemorrhois explicat orbes:
Natus et, ambiguae coleret qui Syrtidos arva,
Chersydros, tractique via fumante Chelydri:
Et semper recto lapsurus limite Cenchris:
Pluribus ille notis variatam pingitur alvum,
Quam parvis tinctus maculis Thebanus Ophites.
Concolor exustis atque indiscretus arenis
Ammodytes: spinaque vagi torquente Cerastae:
Et Scytale, sparsis etiam nunc sola pruinis
Exuvias positura suas: et torrida Dipsas:
Et gravis in geminum vergens caput Amphisbaena:
Et Natrix violator aquae, Iaculique volucres,
Et contentus iter cauda sulcare Pareas:
Oraque distendens avidus spumantia Prester:
Ossaque dissolvens cum corpore tabificus Seps.
Sibilaque effundens cunctas terrentia pestes,
Ante venena nocens, late sibi submovet omne
Vulgus, et in vacua regnat Basiliscus arena.
Vos quoque, qui cunctis innoxia numina terris
Serpitis, aurato nitidi fulgore dracones,
Pestiferos ardens facit Africa. Ducitis altum
Aera cum pennis, armentaque tota secuti
Rumpitis ingentes amplexi verbere tauros:
Nec tutus spatio est elephas: datis omnia leto:
Nec vobis opus est ad noxia fata veneno.

[¶3] Amid these pests undaunted Cato urged
His desert journey on. His hardy troops
Beneath his eyes, pricked by a scanty wound,
In strangest forms of death unnumbered fall.
Tyrrhenian Aulus, bearer of a flag,
Trod on a Dipsas; quick with head reversed
The serpent struck; no mark betrayed the tooth:
The aspect of the wound nor threatened death,
Nor any evil; but the poison germ
In silence working as consuming fire
Absorbed the moisture of his inward frame,
Draining the natural juices that were spread
Around his vitals; in his arid jaws
Set flame upon his tongue: his wearied limbs
No sweat bedewed; dried up, the fount of tears
Fled from his eyelids. Tortured by the fire
Nor Cato's sternness, nor of his sacred charge
The honour could withhold him; but he dared
To dash his standard down, and through the plains
Raging, to seek for water that might slake
The fatal venom thirsting at his heart.
Plunge him in Tanais, in Rhone and Po,
Pour on his burning tongue the flood of Nile,
Yet were the fire unquenched. So fell the fang
Of Dipsas in the torrid Libyan lands;
In other climes less fatal. Next he seeks
Amid the sands, all barren to the depths,
For moisture: then returning to the shoals
Laps them with greed-in vain-the briny draught
Scarce quenched the thirst it made. Nor knowing yet
The poison in his frame, he steels himself
To rip his swollen veins and drink the gore.
Cato bids lift the standard, lest his troops
May find in thirst a pardon for the deed.
But on Sabellus' yet more piteous death
Their eyes were fastened. Clinging to his skin
A Seps with curving tooth, of little size,
He seized and tore away, and to the sands
Pierced with his javelin. Small the serpent's bulk;
None deals a death more horrible in form.
For swift the flesh dissolving round the wound
Bared the pale bone; swam all his limbs in blood;
Wasted the tissue of his calves and knees:
And all the muscles of his thighs were thawed
In black distilment, and the membrane sheath
Parted, that bound his vitals, which abroad
Flowed upon earth: yet seemed it not that all
His frame was loosed, for by the venomous drop
Were all the bands that held his muscles drawn
Down to a juice; the framework of his chest
Was bare, its cavity, and all the parts
Hid by the organs of life, that make the man.
So by unholy death there stood revealed
His inmost nature. Head and stalwart arms,
And neck and shoulders, from their solid mass
Melt in corruption. Not more swiftly flows
Wax at the sun's command, nor snow compelled
By southern breezes. Yet not all is said:
For so to noxious humours fire consumes
Our fleshly frame; but on the funeral pyre
What bones have perished? These dissolve no less
Than did the mouldered tissues, nor of death
Thus swift is left a trace. Of Afric pests
Thou bear'st the palm for hurtfulness: the life
They snatch away, thou only with the life
The clay that held it.
Lo! a different fate,
Not this by melting! for a Prester's fang
Nasidius struck, who erst in Marsian fields
Guided the plough. Upon his face there burns
A redness as of flame: swollen the skin,
His features hidden, swollen all his limbs
Till more than human: and his definite frame
One tumour huge conceals. A ghastly gore
Is puffed from inwards as the virulent juice
Courses through all his body; which, thus grown,
His corselet holds not. Not in caldron so
Boils up to mountainous height the steaming wave;
Nor in such bellying curves does canvas bend
To Eastern tempests. Now the ponderous bulk
Rejects the limbs, and as a shapeless trunk
Burdens the earth: and there, to beasts and birds
A fatal feast, his comrades leave the corse;
Nor dare to place, yet swelling, in the tomb.
But for their eyes the Libyan pests prepared
More dreadful sights. On Tullus great in heart,
And bound to Cato with admiring soul,
A fierce Haemorrhois fixed. From every limb,
(As from a statue saffron spray is showered
In every part) there spouted forth for blood
A sable poison: from the natural pores
Of moisture, gore profuse; his mouth was filled
And gaping nostrils, and his tears were blood.
Brimmed full his veins; his very sweat was red;
All was one wound.
Then piteous Levus next
In sleep was victim, for around his heart
Stood still the blood congealed: no pain he felt
Of venomous tooth, but swift upon him fell
Death, and he sought the shades; more swift to kill
No draught in poisonous cups from ripened plants
Of direst growth Sabaean wizards brew.
Lo! Upon branchless trunk a serpent, named
By Libyans Jaculus, rose in coils to dart
His venom from afar. Through Paullus' brain
It rushed, nor stayed; for in the wound itself
Was death. Then did they know how slowly flies,
Flung from a sling, the stone; how gently speed
Through air the shafts of Scythia. What availed,
Murrus, the lance by which thou didst transfix
A Basilisk? Swift through the weapon ran
The poison to his hand: he drew his sword
And severed arm and shoulder at a blow:
Then gazed secure upon his severed hand
Which perished as he looked. So hadst thou died,
And such had been thy fate!
Whoe'er had thought
A scorpion had strength o'er death and fate?
Yet with his threatening coils and barb erect
He won the glory of Orion slain;
So bear the stars their witness. And who would fear
Thy haunts, Salpuga? Yet the Stygian Maids
Have given thee power to snap the fatal threads.

> Latin: Has inter pestes duro Cato milite siccum
Emetitur iter, tot tristia fata suorum
Insolitasque videns parvo cum vulnere mortes.
Signiferum iuvenem Tyrrheni sanguinis Aulum
Torta caput retro Dipsas calcata momordit.
Frons dolor aut sensus dentis fuit: ipsaque leti
Frons caret invidia, nec quidquam plaga minatur.
Ecce subit virus tacitum, carpitque medullas
Ignis edax, calidaque incendit viscera tabe.
Ebibit humorem circum vitalia fusum
Pestis, et in sicco linguam torrere palato
Coepit; defessos iret qui sudor in artus
Non fuit, atque oculos lacrimarum vena refugit.
Non decus imperii, non moesti iura Catonis
Ardentem tenuere virum, quin spargere signa
Auderet, totisque furens exquireret agris,
Quas poscebat aquas sitiens in corde venenum.
Ille vel in Tanain missus Rhodanumque Padumque
Arderet, Nilumque bibens per rura vagantem.
Accessit morti Libye, fatisque minorem
Famam Dipsas habet, terris adiuta perustis.
Scrutatur venas penitus squalentis arenae:
Nunc redit ad Syrtes, et fluctus accipit ore
Aequoreusque placet, sed non sibi sufficit, humor.
Nec sentit fatique genus mortemque veneni,
Sed putat esse sitim, ferroque aperite tumentes
Sustinuit venas, atque os implere cruore.
Iussit signa rapi propere Cato: discere nulli
Permissum est, hoc posse sitim. Sed tristior illa
Mors erat ante oculos: miserique in crure Sabelli
Seps stetit exiguus, quem flexo dente tenacem
Avulsitque manu, piloque adfixit arenis:
Parva modo serpens; sed qua non ulla cruentae
Tantum mortis habet. Nam plagae proxima circum
Fugit rapta cutis, pallentiaque ossa retexit.
Iamque sinu laxo nudum est sine corpore vulnus;
Membra natant sanie: surae fluxere: sine ullo
Tegmine poples erat: femorum quoque musculus omni
Liquitur, et nigra distillant inguina tabe.
Dissiluit stringens uterum membrana, fluuntque
Viscera: nec, quantum toto de corpore debet,
Effluit in terras: saevum sed membra venenum
Decoquit; in minimum mox contrahit omnia virus
Vincula nervorum, et laterum contexta, cavumque
Pectus, et abstrusum fibris vitalibus, omne
Quidquid homo est, aperit pestis. Natura profana
Morte patet: manant humeri fortesque lacerti:
Colla caputque fluunt. Calido non ocius Austro
Nix resoluta cadit, nec solem cera sequetur.
Parva loquor, corpus sanie stillasse perustum:
Hoc et flamma potet. Sed quis rogus abstulit ossa
Haec quoque discedunt, putresque secuta medullas
Nulla manere sinunt rapidi vestigia fati.
Cyniphias inter pestes tibi palma nocendi est;
Eripiunt omnes animam, tu sola cadaver.
Ecce subit fades leto diversa fluenti
Nasidium Marsi cultorem torridus agri
Percussit Prester. Illi rubor igneus ora
Succendit, tenditque cutem, pereunte figura,
Miscens cuncta tumor, toto iam corpore maior:
Humanumque egressa modum, super omnia membra
Efflatur sanies: late pollente veneno,
Ipse latet penitus congesto corpore mersus:
Nec lorica tenet distenti corporis auctum.
Spumeus accenso non sic exundat aheno
Undarum cumulis: nec tantos carbasa Coro
Curvavere sinus. Tumidos iam non capit artus
Informis globus, et confuso pondere truncus.
Intactum, volucrum rostris epulasque daturum
Haud impune feris, non ausi tradere busto,
Nondum stante modo, crescens fugere cadaver.
Sed maiora parant Libycae spectacula pestes.
Impressit dentes Haemorrhois aspera Tullo
Magnanimo iuveni, miratorique Catonis.
Utque solet pariter totis se effundere signis
Corycii pressura croci: sic omnia membra
Emisere simul rutilum pro sanguine virus.
Sanguis erant lacrimae: quaecumque foramina novit
Humor, ab his largus manat cruor: ore redundant,
Et patulae nares: sudor rubet: omnia plenis
Membra fluunt venis: totum est pro vulnere corpus,
At tibi, Leve miser, fixus praecordia pressit
Nilaca serpente cruor: nulloque dolore
Testatus morsus, subita caligine mortem
Accipis, et Stygias somno descendis ad umbras.
Non tam veloci corrumpunt pocula leto,
Stipite quae diro [virgas mentita Sabinas]
[Toxica fatilegi] carpunt matura Sabaei.
Ecce procul saevus sterilis se robore trunci
Torsit et immisit (iaculum vocat Africa) serpens:
Perque caput Paulli transactaque tempora fugit.
Nil ibi virus agit: rapuit cum vulnere fatum.
Deprensum est, quae funda rotat, quam lenta volarent.
Quam segnis Scythicae strideret arundinis aer.
Quid prodest miseri Basiliscus cuspide Murri
Transactuas? Velox currit per tela venenum,
Invaditque manum: quam protinus ille retecto
Ense ferit, totoque simul demittit ab armo;
Exemplarque sui spectans miserabile leti
Stat tutus, pereunte manu. Quis fata putaret
Scorpion aut vires maturae mortis habere.
Ille minax nodis, et recto verbere saevus,
Teste tulit coelo victi decus Orionis.
Quis calcare tuas metuat, Solpuga, latebras?
Et tibi dant Stygiae ius in sua fila sorores.

## 19. Book IX · lines 839–1108

Source: https://scriptura.si/works/lucan-pharsalia/19/ · cite a paragraph as https://scriptura.si/works/lucan-pharsalia/19/#p-N

[¶0] Thus nor the day with brightness, nor the night
With darkness gave them peace. The very earth
On which they lay they feared; nor leaves nor straw
They piled for couches, but upon the ground
Unshielded from the fates they laid their limbs,
Cherished beneath whose warmth in chill of night
The frozen pests found shelter; in whose jaws
Harmless the while, the lurking venom slept.
Nor did they know the measure of their march
Accomplished, nor their path; the stars in heaven
Their only guide. ' Return, ye gods,' they cried,
In frequent wail, ' the arms from which we fled.
' Give back Thessalia. Sworn to meet the sword
' Why, lingering, fall we thus? In Caesar's place
' The thirsty Dipsas and the horned snake
' Now wage the warfare. Rather let us seek
' That region by the horses of the sun
' Scorched, and the zone most torrid: let us fall
'Slain by some heavenly cause, and from the sky
' Descend our fate! Not, Africa, of thee
' Complain we, nor of Nature. From mankind
' Cut off, this quarter, teeming thus with pests
' She gave to snakes, and to the barren fields
' Denied the husbandman, nor wished that men
'Should perish by their venom. To the realms
' Of serpents have we come. Hater of men,
' Receive thy vengeance, whoso of the gods
' Severed this region upon either hand,
' With death in middle space. Our march is set
'Through thy sequestered kingdom, and the host
' Which knows thy secret seeks the furthest world.
' Perchance some greater wonders on our path
' May still await us; in the waves be plunged
' Heaven's constellations, and the lofty pole
'Stoop from its height. By further space removed
' No land, than Juba's realm; by rumour's voice
' Drear, mournful. Haply for this serpent land
' There may we long, where yet some living thing
' Gives consolation. Not my native land
' Nor European fields I hope for now
' Lit by far other suns, nor Asia's plains.
' But in what land, what region of the sky,
' Where left we Africa? But now with frosts
' Cyrene stiffened: have we changed the laws
' Which rule the seasons, in this little space?
' Cast from the world we know, 'neath other skies
' And stars we tread; behind our backs the home
' Of southern tempests: Rome herself perchance
' Now lies beneath our feet. Yet for our fates
' This solace pray we, that on this our track
' Pursuing Caesar with his host may come.'
Thus was their stubborn patience of its plaints
Disburdened. But the bravery of their chief
Forced them to bear their toils. Upon the sand,
All bare, he lies and dares at every hour
Fortune to strike: he only at the fate
Of each was present, flew to every call;
And roused their hearts to fight the poison germ.
Not life he brings them, but the strength in death
To die without a groan-to groan were shame
When he was witness-over him what power
Had plague or venom? In a comrade's breast
They see him conquer anguish; and they learn,
Gazing on him, how weak the power of pain.
Some aid from Fortune, weary of their woes,
At length they gained. Of all who till the earth
The Psyllians only are by snakes unharmed.
Potent as herbs their song; safe is their blood,
Nor gives admission to the poison germ
E'en when the chant has ceased. Their home itself
Placed in such venomous tract and serpent-thronged
Gained them this vantage, and a truce with death,
Else could they not have lived. Such is their trust
In purity of blood, that newly born
Each babe they prove by test of deadly asp
For foreign lineage. So the bird of Jove
Turns his new fledglings to the rising sun
And such as gaze upon the beams of day
With eyes unwavering, for the use of heaven
He rears; but such as blink at Phoebus' rays
Casts from the nest. Thus of unmixed descent
The babe who, dreading not the serpent touch,
Plays in his cradle with the deadly snake.
Nor with their own immunity from harm
Contented do they rest, but watch for guests
Who need their help against the noisome plague.
Now to the Roman standards are they come,
And when the chieftain bade the tents be fixed,
First all the sandy space within the lines
With song they purify and magic words
From which all serpents flee: next round the camp
In widest circuit from a kindled fire
Rise aromatic odours: danewort burns,
And juice distils from Syrian galbanum;
Then mournful tamarisk, costum from the East,
Strong panacea mixed with centaury
From Thrace, and leaves of fennel feed the flames,
And thapsus brought from Eryx: and they burn
Larch, southern-wood and antlers of a deer
Which lived afar. From these in densest fumes,
Deadly to snakes, a pungent smoke arose;
And thus in safety passed the night away.
But should some victim feel the fatal fang
Upon the march, then of this magic race
Were seen the wonders; with saliva first
They smear the limb, whose silent working keeps
The venom in the wound. From foaming mouth
Next with continuous cadence would they pour
Unceasing chants-nor breathing space nor pause-
Else spreads the poison: nor does fate permit
A moment's silence. Oft from the black flesh
Flies forth the pest beneath the magic song:
But should it linger nor obey the voice,
Repugnant to the summons, on the wound
Prostrate they lay their lips and from the depths
Now paling draw the venom. In their mouths,
Sucked from the freezing flesh, they hold the death,
Then spew it forth; and from the taste shall know
The nature of the snake whose bite they cure.

> Latin: Sic nec clara dies nec nox dabat atra quietem
Suspecta est miseris in qua tellure iacebant.
Nam neque congestae struxere cubilia frondes
Nec culmis crevere tori: sed corpora fatis
Expositi volvuntur humo, calidoque vapore
Adliciunt gelidas nocturno frigore pestes:
Innocuosque diu rictus torpente veneno
Inter membra fovent. Nec, quae mensura viarum,
Quisve modus, norant, coelo duce. Saepe querentes,
Reddite, di, clamant, miseris, quae fugimus, arma:
Reddite Thessaliam. Patimur cur segnia fata
In gladios iurata manus? Pro Caesare pugnant
Dipsades, et peragunt civilia bella cerastae.
Ire libet, qua zona rubens atque axis inustus
Solis equis: iuvat aetheriis adscribere caussis,
Quod peream, coeloque mori. Nil, Africa, de te,
Nec de te, natura, queror: tot monstra ferentem,
Gentibus ablatum, dederas serpentibus orbem:
Impatienseque solum Cereris, cultore negato,
Damnasti, atque homines voluisti deesse venenis.
In loca serpentum nos venimus: accipe poenas,
Tu, quisquis superum, commercia nostra perosus,
Hinc torrente plaga, dubiis hinc Syrtibus orbem
Abrumpens, medio posuisti limite mortes.
Per secreta tui bellum civile recessus
Vadit; et arcani miles tibi conscius orbis
Claustra petit mundi. Forsan maiora supersunt
Ingressis. Coeunt ignes stridentibus undis,
Et premitur natura poli. Sed longius ista
Nulla iacet tellus, quam fama cognita nobis
Tristia regna Iubae. Quaeremus forsitan istas
Serpentum terras; habet et solatia coelum:
Vivit adhuc aliquid. Patriae non arva requiro,
Europamque, alios soles, Asiamque, videntem:
Qua te parte poli, qua te tellure reliqui,
Africa? Cyrenis etiam nunc bruma rigebat.
Exiguane via legem convertimus anni?
Imus in adversos axes: evolvimur orbe:
Terga damus ferienda Noto. Nunc forsitan ipsa est
Sub pedibus iam Roma meis. Solatia fati
Haec petimus: veniant hostes, Caesarque sequatur,
Qua fugimus. Sic dura suos patienia questus
Exonerat: cogit tantos tolerare labores
Summa ducis virtus, qui nuda fusus arena
Excubat, atque omni Fortunam provocat hora.
Omnibus unus adest fatis; quocumque vocatur,
Advolat, atque ingens meritum maiusque salute
Contulit, in letum vires: puduitque gementem
Illo teste mori. Quod ius habuisset in ipsum
Ulla lues? Casus alieno pectore vincit
Spectatorque docet, magnos nil posse dolores.
Vix miseris serum tanto lassata periclo
Auxilium Fortuna dedit. Gens unica terras
Incolit a saevo serpentum innoxia morsu,
Marmaridae Psyili: par lingua potentibus herbis:
Ipse cruor tutus, nullumque admittere virus,
Vel cantu cessante, potest. Natura locorum
Iussit, ut immunes mixti serpentibus essent
Profuit in mediis sedem posuisse venenis
Pax illis cum morte data est. Fiducia tanta est
Sanguinis: in terras parvus cum decidit infans,
Ne qua sit externae Veneris mixtura timentes,
Letifera dubios explorant aspide partus.
Utque Iovis volucer, calido cum protulit ovo
Implumes natos, solis convertit ad ortus:
Qui potuere pati radios, et lumine recto
Sustinuere diem coeli, servantur in usus;
Qui Phoebo cessere, iacent: sic pignora gentis
Psyllus habet, si quis tactos non horruit angues,
Si quis donatis lusit serpentibus infans.
Nec solum gens illa sua contenta salute:
Excubat hospitibus, contraque nocentia monstra
Psyllus adest populis. Qui, tunc Romana secutus
Signa, simul iussit statui tentoria ductor,
Primum, quas valli spatium comprendit, arenas
Expurgat cantu, verbisque fugantibus angues.
Ultima castrorum medicatus circuit ignis.
Hic ebulum stridet, peregrinaque galbana sudant,
Et tamarix non laeta comis, Eoaque costus,
Et panacea potens, et Thessala centaurea:
Peucedanumque sonat flammis, Erycinaque thapsos;
Et larices fumoque gravem serpentibus urunt
Abrotanum, et longe nascentis cornua cervi.
Sic nox tuta viris. At si quis peste diurna
Fata trahit, tunc sunt magicae miracula gentis,
Psyllorumque ingens et rapti pugna veneni.
Nam primum tacta designat membra saliva,
Quae cohibet virus, retinetque in vulnere pestem.
Plurima tum volvit spumanti carmina lingua
Murmure continuo, nec dant suspiria cursus
Vulneris, aut minimum patiuntur fata tacere.
Saepe quidem pestis nigris inserta medullis
Excantata fugit: sed si quod tardius audit
Virus, et elicitum iussumque exire repugnat,
tunc superincumbens pallentia vulnera lambit,
Ore venena trahens, et siccat dentibus artus,
Extractamque tenens gelido de corpore mortem
Exspuit: et cuius morsus superaverit anguis,
Iam promtum Psyllis vel gustu nosse veneni.

[¶1] Thus helped, the Roman host with lighter heart
Trod through the barren fields in lengthy march.
Twice veiled the moon her light and twice renewed;
Yet still, with waning or with growing orb
Saw Cato's steps upon the sandy waste.
But more and more beneath their feet the dust
Began to harden, till the Libyan tracts
Once more were earth, and in the distance rose
Some groves of scanty foliage, and huts
Of plastered straw unfashioned: and their hearts
Leaped at the prospect of a better land.
How fled their sorrow! how with growing joy
They met the savage lion in the path!
In tranquil Leptis first they found retreat:
And passed a winter free from heat and rain.
When Caesar sated with Emathia's slain
Forsook the battlefield, all other cares
Neglected, he pursued his kinsman fled,
On him alone intent: by land his steps
He traced in vain; then, rumour for his guide,
He crossed the sea and reached the Thracian strait
For love renowned; where on the mournful shore
Rose Hero's tower, and Helle born of cloud
Took from the rolling waves their former name.
Nowhere with shorter space the sea divides
Europe from Asia; though Pontus parts
By scant division from Byzantium's hold
Chalcedon oyster-rich: and small the strait
Through which Propontis pours the Euxine wave.
Then marvelling at their ancient fame, he seeks
Sigeum's sandy beach and Simois' stream,
Rhoeteum noble for its Grecian tomb,
And all the heroes' shades, the theme of song.
Next by the town of Troy burnt down of old
Now but a memorable name, he turns
His steps, and searches for the mighty stones
Relics of Phoebus' wall. But bare with age
Forests of trees and mouldering trunks oppressed
Assaracus' palace, and with wearied roots
Possessed the ancient temples of the gods.
All Pergamus with densest brake was veiled
And even her stones were perished. He beheld
Thy rock, Hesione; the hidden grove,
Anchises' nuptial chamber; and the cave
Where sat the arbiter; the spot from which
Was snatched the beauteous youth; the mountain lawn
Where mourned OEnone. Not a stone but told
The story of the past. A little stream
Scarce trickling through the arid plain he passed,
Nor knew 'twas Xanthus: deep in grass he placed,
Careless, his footstep; but the herdsman cried
Thou tread'st the dust of Hector.' Stones confused
Lay at his feet in sacred shape no more:
'Look on the altar of Jove,' thus spake the guide,
God of the household, guardian of the home.'
O sacred task of poets, toil supreme,
Which rescuing all things from allotted fate
Dost give eternity to mortal men!
Grudge not the glory, Caesar, of such fame.
For if the Latian Muse may promise aught,
Long as the heroes of the Trojan time
Shall live upon the page of Smyrna's bard,
So long shall future races read of thee
In this my poem; and Pharsalia's song
Live unforgotten in the age to come.
When by the ancient grandeur of the place
The chieftain's sight was filled, of gathered turf
Altars he raised: and as the sacred flame
Cast forth its odours, these not idle vows
Gave to the gods, 'Ye deities of the dead,
' Who watch o'er Phrygian ruins: ye who now
Lavinia's homes inhabit, and Alba's height:
Gods of my sire AEneas, in whose fanes
The Trojan fire still burns: pledge of the past
'Mysterious Pallas, of the inmost shrine,
Unseen of men! here in your ancient seat,
'Most famous offspring of Iulus' race,
'I call upon you and with pious hand
Burn frequent offerings. To my emprise
Give prosperous ending! Here shall I replace
'The Phrygian peoples, here in glad return
'Italia's sons shall build a Pergamus
And from these stones shall rise a Roman Troy.'
He seeks his fleet, and eager to regain
Time spent at Ilium, to the favouring breeze
Spreads all his canvas. Past rich Asia borne,
Rhodes soon he left while foamed the sparkling main
Beneath his keels; nor ceased the wind to stretch
His bending sails, till on the seventh night
The Pharian beam proclaimed Egyptian shores.
But day arose, and veiled the nightly lamp
Ere rode his barks on waters safe from storm.
Then Caesar saw that tumult held the shore,
And mingled voices of uncertain sound
Struck on his ear: and trusting not himself
To doubtful kingdoms, of uncertain troth,
He kept his ships from land. But from the king
Came his vile minion forth upon the wave,
Bearing his dreadful gift, Pompeius' head,
Wrapped in a covering of Pharian wool.
First took he speech and thus in shameless words
Commends the murder: ' Conqueror of the world,
First of the Roman race, and, what as yet
Thou dost not know, safe by thy kinsman slain;
This gift receive from the Pellaean king,
Sole trophy absent from the Thracian field,
'To crown thy toils on land and on the deep.
Here in thine absence have we placed for thee
'An end upon the war. Here Magnus came
To mend his fallen fortunes; on our swords
'Here met his death. With such a pledge of faith
Here have we bought thee, Caesar; with his blood
Seal we this treaty. Take the Pharian realm
Sought by no bloodshed, take the rule of Nile,
Take all that thou wouldst give for Magnus' life:
And hold him vassal worthy of thy camp
'To whom the fates against thy son-in-law
'Such power entrusted; nor hold thou the deed
'Lightly accomplished by the swordsman's stroke,
And so the merit. Guest ancestral he
Who was its victim; who, his sire expelled,
' Gave back to him the sceptre. For a deed
' So great, thou'lt find a name-or ask the world.
' If 'twas a crime, thou must confess the debt
'To us the greater, for that from thy hand
' We took the doing.'
Then he held and showed
Unveiled the head. Now had the hand of death
Passed with its changing touch upon the face:
Nor at first sight did Caesar on the gift
Pass condemnation; nor avert his gaze,
But dwelt upon the features till he knew
The crime accomplished. Then when truth was sure
The loving father rose, and tears he shed
Which flowed at his command, and glad in heart
Forced from his breast a groan: thus by the flow
Of feigned tears and grief he hoped to hide
His joy else manifest: and the ghastly boon
Sent by the king disparaging, professed
Rather to mourn his son's dissevered head,
Than count it for a debt. For thee alone,
Magnus, he durst not fail to find a tear:
He, Caesar, who with mien unaltered spurned
The Roman Senate, and with eyes undimmed
Looked on Pharsalia's field. O fate most hard!
Didst thou with impious war pursue the man
Whom 'twas thy lot to mourn? No kindred ties,
No memory of thy daughter and her son
Touch on thy heart? Didst think perchance that grief
Might help thy cause 'mid lovers of his name?
Or haply, moved by envy of the king,
Griev'st that to other hands than thine was given
To shed the captive's life-blood? and complain'st
Thy vengeance perished and the conquered chief
Snatched from thy haughty hand? Whate'er the cause
That urged thy grief, 'twas far removed from love.
Was this forsooth the object of thy toil
O'er lands and oceans, that without thy ken
He should not perish? Nay! but well was reft
From thine arbitrament his fate. What crime
Did cruel Fortune spare, what depth of shame
To Roman honour! since she suffered not,
Perfidious traitor, while yet Magnus lived,
That thou shouldst pity him!
Thus by words he dared
To gain their credence in his sembled grief:
Hence from my sight with his detested gift,
Thou minion, to thy king. Worse does your crime
Deserve from Caesar than from Magnus' hands.
The only prize that civil war affords
Thus have we lost-to bid the conquered live.
If but the sister of this Pharian king
Were not by him detested, by the head
Of Cleopatra had I paid this gift.
Such were the fit return. Why did he draw
His separate sword, and in the toil that's ours
Mingle his weapons? In Thessalia's field
Gave we such right to the Pellaean blade?
Such licence did your mutual kingdom gain?
Magnus as partner in the rule of Rome
I had not brooked; and shall I tolerate
Thee, Ptolemaeus? In vain with civil wars
Thus have we roused the nations, if there be
Now any might but Caesar's, if any land
Yet owns you masters. From your shore I'd turn
The prows of Latium; but fame forbids,
Lest men should whisper that I did not damn
This deed of blood, but feared the Pharian land.
Nor think ye to deceive; victorious here
I stand: else had my welcome at your hands
Been that of Magnus; and that neck were mine
But for Pharsalia's chance. At greater risk
So seems it, than we dreamed of, took we arms;
Exile, and Magnus' threats, and Rome I knew,
Not Ptolemaeus. But we spare the boy:
Pass by the murder. Let the princeling know
We give no more than pardon for his crime.
And now in honour of the mighty dead,
Not merely that the earth may hide your guilt,
Lay ye the chieftain's head within the tomb;
' With proper sepulture appease his shade
'And place his scattered ashes in an urn.
Thus may he know my coming, and may hear
Affection's accents, and my fond complaints.
Me sought he not, but rather, for his life,
This Pharian vassal; snatching from mankind
The happy morning which had shown the world
A peace between us. But my prayers to heaven
No favouring answer found; that arms laid down
'In happy victory, Magnus, once again
I might embrace thee, begging thee to grant
'Thine ancient love to Caesar, and thy life.
'Thus for my labours with a worthy prize
'Content, thine equal, bound in faithful peace,
'I might have brought thee to forgive the gods
'For thy disaster; thou hadst gained for me
'From Rome forgiveness.'
Thus he spake, but found
No comrade in his tears; nor did the host
Give credit to his grief. Deep in their breasts
They hide their groans, and gaze with joyful front
(O famous Freedom! ) on the deed of blood:
And dare to laugh when mighty Caesar wept.

> Latin: Hoc igitur melior tandem Romana iuventus
Auxilio, late squalentibus errat in arvis.
Bis positis Phoebe flammis, bis luce recepta
Vidit arenivagum surgens fugiensque Catonem.
Iamque illis magis atque magis durescere pulvis
Coepit, et in terram Libye spissata reverti.
Iamque procul rarae nemorum se tollere frondes:
Surgere congesto non culta mapalia culmo.
Quanta dedit miseris melioris gaudia terrae,
Cum primum saevos contra videre leones!
Proxima Leptis erat, cuius statione quietam
Exegere hiemem, nimbis flammisque carentem.
Caesar ut Emathia satiatus clade recessit,
Caetera curarum proiecit pondera, soli
Intentus genero: cuius vestigia frustra
Terris sparsa legens, fama duce tendit in undas,
Threiciasque legit fauces, et amore notatum
Aequor, et Heroas lacrimoso litore turres,
Qua pelago nomen Nepheleias abstulit Helle.
Non Asiam brevioris aquae disterminat usquam
Fluctus ab Europa, quamvis Byzantion arcto
Pontus et ostriferam dirimat Chalcedona cursu,
Euxinumque ferens parvo ruat ore Propontis.
Sigeasque petit famae mirator arenas,
Et Simoentis aquas, et Graio nobile busto
Rhoetion, et multum debentes vatibus umbras.
Circuit exustae nomen memorabile Troiae,
Magnaque Phoebei quaerit vestigia muri.
Iam silvae steriles et putres robore trunci
Assaraci pressere domos, et templa deorum
Iam lassa radice tenent: ac tota teguntur
Pergama dumetis: etiam periere ruinae.
Adspicit Hesiones scopulos, silvasque latentes,
Anchisae thalamos; quo iudex sederit antro:
Unde puer raptus coelo: quo vertice Nais
Luserit Oenone: nullum est sine nomine saxum.
Inscius in sicco serpentem pulvere rivum
Transierat, qui Xanthus erat. Securus in alto
Gramine ponebat gressus; Phryx incola manes
Hectoreos calcare vetat. Discussa iacebant
Saxa, nec ullius faciem servantia sacri;
Herceas, monstrator ait, non respicis aras?
O sacer et magnus vatum labor, omnia fato
Eripis, et populis donas mortalibus aevum.
Invidia sacrae, Caesar, ne tangere famae:
Nam, si quid Latiis fas est promittere Musis,
Quantum Smyrnaei durabunt vatis honore,
Venturi me teque legent: Pharsalia nostra
Vivet, et a nullo tenebris damnabimur aevo.
Ut ducis implevit visus veneranda vetustas,
Erexit subitas congestu cespitis aras,
Votaque thuricremos non irrita fudit in ignes.
Di cinerum, Phrygias colitis quicumque ruinas,
Aeneaeque mei, quos nunc Lavinia sedes
Servat et Alba, lares, et quorum lucet in aris
Ignis adhuc Phrygius, nullique adspecta virorum
Pallas, in abstruso pignus memorabile templo,
Gentis Iuleae vestris clarissimus aris
Dat pia tura nepos, et vos in sede priori
Rite vocat: date felices in cetera cursus.
Restituam populos: grata vice moenia reddent
Ausonidae Phrygibus, Romanaque Pergama surgent.
Sic fatus, repetit classes, et tota secundis
Vela dedit Coris; avidusque urgente procella
Iliacas pensare moras, Asiamque potentem
Praevehitur, pelagoque Rhodon spumante reliquit.
Septima nox, Zephyro numquam laxante rudentes,
Ostendit Phariis Aegyptia litora flammis.
Sed prius orta dies nocturnam lampada texit,
Quam tutas intraret aquas. Ibi plena tumultu
Litora, et incerto turbatas murmure voces
Accipit: ac, dubiis veritus se credere regnis,
Abstinuit tellure rates. Sed dira satelles
Regis dona ferens, medium provectus in aequor,
Colla gerit Magni, Phario velamine tecta,
Ac prius infanda commendat crimina voce:
Terrarum domitor, Romanae maxime gentis,
Et, quod adhuc nescis, genero secure perempto;
Rex tibi Pellaeus terrae pelagique labores
Donat et, Emathiis quod solum defuit armis,
Exhibet: absenti bellum civile peractum est.
Thessalicas Magnus quarens reparare ruinas,
Ense iacet nostro: tanto te pignore, Caesar,
Emimus: hoc tecum percussum est sanguine foedus.
Accipe regna Phari, nullo quaesita cruore:
Accipe Niliaci ius gurgitis: accipe, quidquid
Pro Magni cervice dares; dignumque clientem
Castris crede tuis, cui tantum fata licere
In generum voluere tuum. Nec vile putaris
Hoc meritum, nobis facili quod caede peractum est.
Hospes avitus erat: depulso sceptra parenti
Reddiderat. Quid plura feram? tu nomina tanto
Invenies operi, vel famam consule mundi.
Si scelus est, plus te nobis debere fateris,
Quod scelus hoc non ipse facis. Sic fatus, opertum
Detexit tenuitque caput. Iam languida morte
Effigies habitum noti mutaverat oris.
Non primo Caesar damnavit munera vis,
Avertitque oculos: vultus, dum crederet, haesit.
Utque fidem vidit sceleris, tutumque putavit
Iam bonus esse socer; lacrimas non sponte cadentes
Effudit, gemitusque expressit pectore laeto,
Non aliter manifesta putans abscondere mentis
Gaudia, quam lacrimis: meritumque immane tyranni
Destruit, et generi mavult lugere revulsum,
Quam debere, caput. Qui duro membra senatus
Calcarat vultu, qui sicco lumine campos
Viderat Emathios, uni tibi, Magne, negare
Non audet gemitus. O sors durissima fati!
Hunccine tu, Caesar, scelerato Marte petisti,
Qui tibi flendus erat? Non mixti foedera tangunt
Te generis, nec nata iubet moerere neposque?
Credis apud populos Pompeii nomen amantes
Hoc castris prodesse tuis? Fortasse tyranni
Tangeris invidia, captique in viscera Magni
Hoc aliis licuisse doles, quererisque perisse
Vindictam belli, raptumque e iure superbi
Victoris generum. Quisquis te flere coegit
Impetus, a vera longe pietate recessit.
Scilicet hoc animo terras atque aequora lustras,
Necubi suppressus pereat gener? O bene rapta
Arbitrio mors ista tuo! Quam magna remisit
Crimina Romano tristis Fortuna pudori,
Quod te non passa est misereri, perfide, Magni
Viventis! Nec non his fallere vocibus audet,
Adquiritque fidem simulati fronte doloris:
Aufer ab adspectu nostro funesta, satelles,
Regis dona tui: peius de Caesare vestrum,
Quam de Pompeio, meruit scelus. Unica belli
Praemia civilis, victis donare salutem,
Perdidimus. Quodsi Phario germana tyranno
Non invisa foret, potuissem reddere regi,
Quod meruit, fratrique tuum pro munere tali
Misissem, Cleopatra, caput. Secreta quid arma
Movit, et inseruit nostro sua tela labori?
Ergo in Thessalicis Pellaeo fecimus arvis
Ius gladio? vestris quaesita licentia regnis?
Non tuleram Magnum mecum Romana regentem:
Te, Ptolemaee, feram? Frustra civilibus armis
Miscuimus gentes, si qua est hoc orbe potestas
Altera, quam Caesar: si tellus ulla duorum est.
Vertissem Latias a vestro litore proras:
Famae cura vetat, ne non damnasse ruentam,
Sed videar timuisse, Pharon. Nec fallere vos me
Credite victorem. Nobis quoque tale paratum
Litoris hospitium. Ne sic mea colla gerantur,
Thessaliae Fortuna facit. Maiore profecto,
Quam metui poterat, discrimine gessimus arma;
Exsilium generique minas Romamque timebam:
Poena fugae Ptolemaeus erat. Sed parcimus annis,
Donamusque nefas. Sciat hac pro caede tyrannus
Nil venia plus posse dari. Vos condite busto
Tanti colla ducis: sed non, ut crimina solum
Vestra tegat tellus; iusto date thura sepulchro
Et placate caput, cineresque in litore fusos
Colligite, atque unam sparsis date manibus urnam.
Sentiat adventum soceri, vocesque querentis
Audiat umbra pias. Dum nobis omnia praefert,
Dum vitam Phario mavult debere clienti,
Laeta dies rapta est populis: concordia mundo
Nostra perit. Caruere deis mea vota secundis,
Ut te complexus, positis felicibus armis,
Adfectus abs te veteres vitamque rogarem,
Magne, tuam: dignaque satis mercede laborum
Contentus, par esse tibi, tunc pace fideli
Fecissem, ut victus posses ignoscere divis
Fecisses, ut Roma mihi. Nec, talia fatus,
Invenit fletus comitem, nec turba querenti
Credidit: abscondunt gemitus, et pectora laeta
Fronte tegunt, hilaresque nefas spectare cruentum
(O bona libertas!) cum Caesar lugeat, audeat.

## 20. Book X · lines 1–331

Source: https://scriptura.si/works/lucan-pharsalia/20/ · cite a paragraph as https://scriptura.si/works/lucan-pharsalia/20/#p-N

[¶0] WHEN Caesar, following those who bore the head,
First trod the shore accursed, with Egypt's fates
His fortunes battled, whether Rome should pass
In crimson conquest o'er the guilty land,
Or Memphis' arms should ravish from the world
Victor and vanquished: and the warning shade
Of Magnus saved his kinsman from the sword.
By that dread crime assured, his standards borne
Before, he marched upon the Pharian town;
But when the people, jealous of their laws,
Murmured against the fasces, Caesar knew
Their minds were adverse, and that not for him
Was Magnus' murder wrought. And yet with brow
Dissembling fear, intrepid, through the shrines
Of Egypt's gods he strode, and round the fane
Of ancient Isis; bearing witness all
To Macedon's vigour in the days of old.
Yet did nor gold nor ornament restrain
His hasting steps, nor worship of the gods,
Nor city ramparts: but in greed of gain
He sought the cave dug out amid the tombs.
The madman offspring there of Philip lies,
The famed Pellaean robber, Fortune's friend,
Snatched off by fate, in vengeance for the world.
In sacred sepulchre the hero's limbs,
Which should be scattered o'er the earth, repose,
Still spared by Fortune to these tyrant days:
For in a world to freedom once recalled,
All men had mocked the dust of him who set
The baneful lesson that so many lands
Can serve one master. Macedon he left
His home obscure; Athena he despised,
The conquest of his sire, and spurred by fate
Through Asia rushed with havoc of mankind,
Plunging his sword through peoples; red with blood
Unknown to them Euphrates, Ganges ran.
Curse of all earth, fell star of evil fate
To every nation! On the outer sea
He launched his fleet to sail the ocean wave:
Nor flame nor flood nor sterile Libyan sands
Stayed back his course, nor Hammon's pathless shoals;
Far to the west, where downward slopes the world
He would have led his armies, and the poles
Had compassed, and had drunk the fount of Nile:
But came his latest day; such end alone
Could nature place upon the madman king,
Who jealous in death as when he won the world
His empire with him took, nor left an heir.
Thus every city to the spoiler's hand
Was victim made. Yet in his fall was his
Babylon; and Parthia feared him. Shame on us
That Eastern nations dreaded more the lance
Of Macedon than now the Roman spear.
True that we rule beyond where takes its rise
The burning southern breeze, beyond the homes
Of western winds, and to the northern star;
But towards the rising of the sun, we yield
To him who kept the Arsacids in awe;
And puny Pella held as province sure
The Parthia fatal to our Roman arms.
Now from the stream Pelusian of the Nile,
Was come the boyish king, taming the rage
Of his effeminate people: pledge of peace;
And Caesar safely trod Pellean halls;
When Cleopatra bribed her guard to break
The harbour chains, and borne in little boat
Within the Macedonian palace gates,
Caesar unknowing, entered: Egypt's shame;
Fury of Latium; to the bane of Rome
Unchaste. For as the Spartan queen of yore
By fatal beauty Argos urged to strife
And Ilium's homes, so Cleopatra roused
Italia's frenzy. By her drum she called
Down on the Capitol terror (if to speak
Such word be lawful); mixed with Roman arms
Coward Canopus, hoping she might lead
A Pharian triumph, Caesar in her train;
And 'twas in doubt upon Leucadian waves
Whether a woman, not of Roman blood,
Should hold the world in awe. Such lofty thoughts
Seized on her soul upon that night in which
The wanton daughter of Pellean kings
First shared our leaders' couches. Who shall blame
Antonius for the madness of his love,
When Caesar's haughty breast drew in the flame?
Who red with carnage, 'mid the clash of arms,
In palace haunted by Pompeius' shade,
Gave place to love; and in adulterous bed,
Magnus forgotten, from the Queen impure,
To Julia gave a brother: on the bounds
Of furthest Libya permitting thus
His foe to gather: while in dalliance base
He waited on his mistress, and to her
Pharos would give; for her would conquer all.
Then Cleopatra, trusting to her charms,
Tearless approached him, though in form of grief;
Her tresses loose as though in sorrow torn,
So best becoming her; and thus began:
'If, mighty Caesar, aught to noble birth
' Be due, give ear. Of Lagian race am I
' Offspring illustrious; from my father's throne
'Cast forth to banishment; unless thy hand
'Restore to me the sceptre: then a Queen
' Falls at thy feet embracing. To our race
' Bright star of justice thou Nor first shall I
' As woman rule the cities of the Nile;
' For, neither sex preferring, Pharos bows
'To queenly governance. Of my parted sire
' Read the last words, by which 'tis mine to share
' With equal rights the kingdom and the bed.
'And the boy loves his sister, were he free;
' But his affections and his sword alike
' Pothinus orders. Nor wish I myself
' To wield my father's power; but this my prayer:
' Save from this foul disgrace our royal house,
' Bid that the king shall reign, and from the court
'Remove this hateful varlet, and his arms.
'How swells his bosom for that his the hand
'That shore Pompeius' head! And now he threats
Thee, Caesar, also; which the Fates avert!
Shame on the earth and thee that Magnus' death
Should be Pothinus' triumph or his guilt.'
Her words were nothing to his stubborn ear;
Her face achieved the prayer, her wanton smile,
The long voluptuous night of shame untold:
So did she bribe her judge; so Caesar fell.

> Latin: Ut primum terras, Pompeii colla secutus,
Adtigit, et diras calcavit Caesar arenas:
Pugnavit Fortuna ducis fatumque nocentis
Aegypti, regnum Lagi Romana sub arma
Iret, an eriperet mundo Memphiticus ensis
Victoria victique caput. Tua profuit umbra,
Magne, tui socerum rapuere a sanguine manes.
[Ne populus post te Nilum Romanus amaret.]
Inde Paraetoniam fertur securus in urbem
Pignore tam saevi sceleris, sua signa secutus.
Sed fremitu vulgi, fasces et iura querentis
Inferri Romana suis, discordia sensit
Pectora et ancipites animos, Magnumque perisse
Non sibi. Tum vultu semper celante timorem,
Intrepidus superum sedes et templa vetusti
Numinis, antiquas Macetum testantia vires,
Circuit: et, nulla captus dulcedine rerum,
Non auro cultuque deum, non moenibus urbis,
Effossum tumulis cupide descendit in antrum.
Illic Pellaei proles vesana Philippi,
Felix praedo, iacet, terrarum vindice fato
Raptus. Sacratis totum spargenda per orbem
Membra viri posuere adytis. Fortuna pepercit
Manibus, et regni duravit ad ultima fatum.
Nam sibi libertas umquam si redderet orbem,
Ludibrio servatus erat, non utile mundo
Editus exemplum, terras tot posse sub uno
Esse viro. Macetum fines latebrasque suorum
Deseruit, victasque patri despexit Athenas:
Perque Asiae populos fatis urgentibus actus
Humana cum strage ruit, gladiumque per omnes
Exegit gentes: ignotos miscuit amnes,
Persarum Euphraten, Indorum sanguine Gangen:
Terrarum fatale malum, fulmenque, quod omnes
Percuteret pariter populos, et sidus inicum
Gentibus. Oceano classes inferre parabat
Exteriore mari. Non illi flamma, nec undae,
Nec sterilis Libye, nec Syrticus obstitit Ammon.
Isset in occasus, mundi devexa secutus,
Ambissetque polos, Nilumque a fonte bibisset:
Occurrit suprema dies, naturaque solum
Hunc potuit finem vesano ponere regi;
Qui secum invidia, qua totum ceperat orbem,
Abstulit imperium; nulloque herede relicto
Totius fati, lacerandas praebuit urbes.
Sed cecidit, Babylone sua Parthoque verendus.
Pro pudor! Eoi propius timuere sarissas,
Quam nunc pila timent, populi. Licet usque sub Arcton
Regnemus, Zephyrique domos terrasque premamus
Flagrantis post terga Noti: cedemus in ortus
Arsacidum domino. Non felix Parthia Crassis
Exiguae secura fuit provincia Pellae.
Iam, Pelusiaco veniens a gurgite Nili,
Rex puer imbellis populi sedaverat iras;
Obside quo pacis Pellaea tutus in aula
Caesar erat: cum se parva Cleopatra biremi,
Corrupto custode Phari laxare catenas,
Intulit Emathiis, ignaro Caesare, tectis;
Dedecus Aegypti, Latii feralis Erinnys,
Romano non casta malo. Quantum impulit Argos
Iliacasque domos facie Spartana nocenti,
Hesperios auxit tantum Cleopatra furores.
Terruit illa suo, si fas, Capitolia sistro,
Et Romana petit imbelli signa Canopo,
Caesare captivo Pharios ductura triumphos:
Leucadioque fuit dubius sub gurgite casus,
An mundum ne nostra quidem matrona teneret.
Hoc animi nox illa dedit, quae prima cubili
Miscuit incestam ducibus Ptolemaida nostris.
Quis tibi vesani veniam non donet amoris,
Antoni, durum cum Caesaris hauserit ignes
Pectus, et in media rabie, medioque furore,
Et Pompeianis habitata manibus aula,
Sanguine Thessalicae cladis perfusus adulter
Admisit Venerem curis, et miscuit armis
Illicitosque toros, et non ex coniuge partus?
Pro pudor! oblitus Magni, tibi, Iulia, fratres
Obscena de matre dedit: partesque fugatas
Passus in extremis Libyae coalescere regnis,
Tempora Niliaco turpis dependit amori,
Dum donare Pharon, dum non sibi vincere mavult.
Quem, formae confisa suae, Cleopatra sine ullis
Tristis adit lacrimis, simulatum comta dolorem,
Qua decuit, veluti laceros dispersa capillos,
Et sic orsa loqui: Si qua est, o maxime Caesar,
Nobilitas, Pharii proles clarissima Lagi,
Exsul in aeternum, sceptris depulsa paternis,
Si tua restituat veteri me dextera fato,
Complector regina pedes. Tu gentibus aequum
Sidus ades nostris. Non urbes prima tenebo
Femina Niliacas: nullo discrimine sexus
Reginam scit ferre Pharos. Lege summa perempti
Verba patris, qui iura mihi communia regni
Et thalamos cum fratre dedit. Puer ille sororem,
Sit modo liber, amat: sed habet sub iure Pothini
Adfectus ensesque suos. Nil ipsa paterni
Iuris inire peto: culpa tantoque pudore
Solve domum: remove funesta satellitis arma,
Et regem regnare iube. Quantosne tumores
Mente gerit famulus, Magni cervice revulsa!
Iam tibi (sed procul hoc avertant fata) minatur.
Sat fuit indignum, Caesar, mundoque tibique,
Pompeiam facinus meritumque fuisse Pothini.
Nequidquam duras tentasset Caesaris aures:
Vultus adest precibus, faciesque incesta perorat.
Exigit infandam, corrupto iudice, noctem.

[¶1] When she had purchased at so vast a price
Peace from the chief, the joys of such a peace
A feast proclaimed. There in full pomp the Queen
Displayed her luxuries, as yet unknown
To Roman manners. Spacious rose the hall
Like to such fane as this corrupted age
Shall scarcely rear: the lofty ceiling shone
With richest tracery, the beams were bound
In golden coverings; no scant veneer
Lay on its walls, but built in solid blocks
Of marble, gleamed the palace. Agate stood
In sturdy columns, bearing up the roof;
Onyx and porphyry on the spacious floor
Were trodden 'neath the foot; the mighty gates
Of Maroe's ebony throughout were formed,
No mere adornment; ivory clothed the hall,
Studded with emerald spots; upon the doors
Gleamed polished tortoise shells from Indian seas:
And gems of price and yellow jasper shone
On couch and coverlet, whose greater part
Dipped more than once within the vats of Tyre
Had drunk their juice; and part were feathered gold;
Part crimson dyed, in manner as are passed
Through Pharian leash the threads. There waited slaves
In number as a people, some in ranks
By different blood distinguished, some by age;
This band with Libyan, that with auburn hair
Red so that Caesar on the banks of Rhine
None such had witnessed; some with features scorched
By torrid suns, their locks in twisted coils
Drawn from their foreheads. Eunuchs too were there,
Unhappy race; and on the other side
Men of full age whose cheeks with growth of hair
Were hardly darkened.
Upon either hand
Lay kings, and Caesar in the midst supreme.
There in her fatal beauty lay the Queen
Thick daubed with unguents, nor with throne content
Nor with her brother spouse; laden she lay
On neck and hair with all the Red Sea spoils,
And faint beneath the weight of gems and gold.
Her snowy breast shone through Sidonian lawn
Which woven close by shuttles of the East
The art of Nile had loosened. Ivory feet
Bore citron tables brought from woods that wave
On Atlas, such as Caesar never saw
When Juba was his captive. Blind in soul
By madness of ambition, thus to fire
By such profusion of her wealth, the mind
Of Caesar armed, her guest in civil war!
Not though he aimed with pitiless hand to grasp
The riches of a world; not though were here
Those ancient leaders of the simple age,
Fabricius or Curius stern of soul,
Or he who, Consul, left in sordid garb
His Tuscan plough, could all their several hopes
Have risen to such spoil. On plates of gold
They piled the banquet sought in earth and air
And from the deepest seas and Nilus' waves,
Through all the world; in craving for display,
No hunger urging. Frequent birds and beasts,
Egypt's high gods, they placed upon the board:
In crystal goblets water of the Nile
They handed, and in massive cups of price
Was poured the wine; no juice of Mareot grape,
But noble vintage of Falernian growth
Which seasons few in Meroe's famous vats
Had mellowed as with age. Upon their brows
Chaplets were placed of roses ever young
With glistening nard entwined; and in their locks
Was cinnamon infused, not yet in air
Its fragrance perished, nor in foreign climes;
And rich amomum from the neighbouring fields.
Thus Caesar learned the booty of a world
To lavish, and his breast was shamed of war
Waged with his son-in-law, from whose defeat
His spoils were meagre, and he longed to find
A cause of battle with the Pharian realm.
When of the banquet and of wine and feast
They wearied and their pleasure found an end,
Caesar drew out in colloquy the night
Thus with Achoreus, on the highest couch
With linen ephod as a priest begirt:
'O thou devoted to all sacred rites,
'Loved by the gods, as proves thy length of days,
'Tell, if thou wilt, whence sprang the Pharian race;
'How lie their lands, the manners of their tribes,
'The form and worship of their deities.
'Expound the sculptures on your ancient fanes:
'Reveal your gods if willing to be known:
'If to th' Athenian sage your fathers taught
'Their mysteries, who worthier than I
' To bear in trust the secrets of the world?
' True, by the rumour of my kinsman's flight
' Here was I drawn; yet also by your fame:
' And even in the midst of war's alarms
' The stars and heavenly spaces have I conned;
'Nor shall Eudoxus' year excel mine own.
' But though such ardour burns within my breast,
' Such zeal to know the truth, yet my chief wish
' To learn the source of your mysterious flood
' Through ages hidden: give me certain hope
' To see the fount of Nile-and civil war
' I quit for ever.' He spake, and then the priest:

> Latin: Pax ubi parta duci donisque ingentibus emta est,
Excepere epulae tantarum gaudia rerum:
Explicuitque suos magno Cleopatra tumultu
Nondum translatos Romana in saecula luxus.
Ipse locus templi, quod vix corruptior aetas
Exstruat, instar erat: laqueataque tecta ferebant
Divitias, crassumque trabes absconderat aurum.
Nec summis crustata domus sectisque nitebat
Marmoribus: stabatque sibi non segnis Achates
Purpureusque lapis; totaque effusus in aula
Calcabatur Onyx. Hebenus Meroetica vastos
Non operit postes, sed stat pro robore vili,
Auxilium, non forma, domus. Ebur atria vestit,
Et subfixa manu foribus testudinis Indae
Terga sedent, crebro maculas distincta smaragdo.
Fulget gemma toris, et iaspide fulva supellex:
Strata micant: Tyrio quorum pars maxima suco
Cocta diu, virus non uno duxit aheno;
Pars auro plumata nitet; pars ignea cocco,
Ut mos est Phariis miscendi licia telis.
Tum famulae numerus turbae, populusque minister;
Discolor hos sanguis, alios distinxerat aetas:
Haec Libycos, pars tam flavos gerit alter crines,
Ut nullis Caesar Rheni se dicat in arvis
Tam rutilas vidisse comas; pars sanguinis usti,
Torta caput, refugosque gerens a fronte capillos.
Nec non infelix ferro mollita iuventus
Atque exsecta virum. Stat contra fortior aetas,
Vix ulla fuscante tamen lanugine malas.
Discubuere illic reges, maiorque potestas
Caesar: et immodice formam fucata nocentem,
Nec sceptris contenta suis, nec fratre marito,
Plena maris rubri spoliis, colloque comisque
Divitias Cleopatra gerit, cultuque laborat.
Candida Sidonio perlucent pectora filo,
Quod Nilotis acus compressum pectine Serum
Solvit, et extenso laxavit stamina velo.
Dentibus hic niveis sectos Atlantide silva
Imposuere orbes; quales ad Caesaris ora
Nec capto venere Iuba. Pro! caecus et amens
Ambitione furor, civilia bella gerenti
Divitias aperire suas, incendere mentem
Hospitis armati. Non sit licet ille nefando
Marte paratus opes mundi quaesisse ruina:
Pone duces priscos et nomina pauperis aevi,
Fabricios Curiosque graves: hic ille recumbat
Sordidus Hetruscis abductus Consul aratris,
Optabit patriae talem duxisse triumphum.
Infudere epulas auro, quod terra, quod aer,
Quod pelagus Nilusque dedit, quod luxus inani
Ambitione furens toto quaesivit in orbe,
Non mandante fame. Multas volucresque ferasque
Aegypti posuere deos: manibusque ministrat
Niliacas crystallus aquas: gemmaeque capaces
Excepere merum, sed non Mareotidos uvae,
Nobile sed paucis senium cui contulit annis
Indomitum Meroe cogens spumare Falernum.
Accipiunt sertas nardo florente coronas,
Et numquam fugiente rosa: multumque madenti
Infudere comae, quod nondum evanuit aura
Cinnamon, externa nec perdidit aera terra:
Advectumque recens vicinae messis amomum.
Discit opes Caesar spoliati perdere mundi,
Et gessisse pudet genero cum paupere bellum,
Et caussas Martis Phariis cum gentibus optat.
Postquam epulis Bacchoque modum lassata voluptas
Imposuit, longis Caesar producere noctem
Inchoat adloquiis: summaque in sede iacentem
Linigerum placidis compellat Achorea dictis:
O sacris devote senex, quodque arguit aetas,
Non neglecte deis, Phariae primordia gentis,
Terrarumque situm, vulgique edissere mores,
Et ritus formasque deum: quodcumque vetustis
Insculptum est adytis, profer, noscique volentes
Prode deos. Si Cecropium sua sacra Platonem
Maiores docuere tui: quis dignior umquam
Hoc fuit auditu, mundique capacior hospes?
Fama quidem generi Pharias me duxit ad urbes,
Sed tamen et vestri. Media inter proelia semper
Stellarum coelique plagis superisque vacavi,
Nec meus Eudoxi vincetur Fastibus annus.
Sed cum tanta meo vivat sub pectore virtus,
Tantus amor veri, nihil est quod noscere malim,
Quam fluvii caussas per saecula tanta latentes,
Ignotumque caput. Spes sit mihi certa videndi
Niliacos fontes, bellum civile relinquam.
Finierat, contraque sacer sic orsus Achoreus:

[¶2] ' The secrets, Caesar, of our mighty sires
' Kept from the common people until now
' I hold it right to utter. Some may deem
' That silence on these wonders of the earth
' Were greater piety. But to the gods
' I hold it grateful that their handiwork
' And sacred edicts should be known to men.
' A different power by the primal law,
' Each star possesses: these alone control
' The movement of the sky, with adverse force
' Opposing: while the sun divides the year,
' And day from night, and by his potent rays
' Forbids the stars to pass their stated course.
' The moon by her alternate phases sets
' The varying limits of the sea and shore.
' Neath Saturn's sway the zone of ice and snow
' Has passed; while Mars in lightning's fitful flames
' And winds abounds: beneath high Jupiter
' Unvexed by storms abides a temperate air;
' And fruitful Venus' star contains the seeds
' Of all things. Ruler of the boundless deep
' The god Cyllenian: whene'er he holds
' That part of heaven where the Lion dwells
' With neighbouring Cancer joined, and Sirius star
' Flames in its fury; where the circular path
' (Which marks the changes of the varying year)
' Gives to hot Cancer and to Capricorn
' Their several stations, under which doth lie
' The fount of Nile, he, master of the waves,
' Strikes with his beam the waters. Forth the stream
' Brims from his fount, as Ocean when the moon
' Commands an increase; nor shall curb his flow
' Till night wins back her losses from the sun.
' Vain is the ancient faith that Ethiop snows
' Send Nile abundant forth upon the lands.
' Those mountains know nor northern wind nor star.
' Of this are proof the breezes of the South,
' Fraught with warm vapours, and the people's hue
' Burned dark by suns: and 'tis in time of spring,
' When first are thawed the snows, that ice-fed streams
' In swollen torrents tumble; but the Nile
' Nor lifts his wave before the Dog star burns;
' Nor seeks again his banks, until the sun
' In equal balance measures night and day.
' Nor are the laws that govern other streams
' Obeyed by Nile. For in the wintry year
'Were he in flood, when distant far the sun,
' His waters lacked their office; but he leaves
' His channel when the summer is at height,
' Tempering the torrid heat of Egypt's clime.
' Such is the task of Nile; thus in the world
' He finds his purpose, lest exceeding heat
' Consume the lands: and rising thus to meet
' Enkindled Lion, to Syene's prayers
' By Cancer burnt gives ear; nor curbs his wave
' Till the slant sun and Meroe's lengthening shades
' Proclaim the autumn. Who shall give the cause?
' 'Twas Parent Nature's self which gave command
' Thus for the needs of earth should flow the Nile.
' Vain too the fable that the western winds
' Control his current, in continuous course
' At stated seasons governing the air;
' Or hurrying from Occident to South
' Clouds without number which in misty folds
' Press on the waters; or by constant blast,
' Forcing his current back whose several mouths
' Burst on the sea;-so, forced by seas and wind,
'Men say, his billows pour upon the land.
' Some speak of hollow caverns, breathing holes
' Deep in the earth, within whose mighty jaws
' Waters in noiseless current underneath
' From northern cold to southern climes are drawn;
'And when hot Meroe pants beneath the sun,
' Then, say they, Ganges through the silent depths
' And Padus pass: and from a single fount
' The Nile arising not in single streams
' Pours all the rivers forth. And rumour says
' That when the sea which girdles in the world
' O'erflows, thence rushes Nile, by lengthy course,
' Softening his saltness. More, if it be true
' That ocean feeds the sun and heavenly fires,
' Then Phoebus journeying by the burning Crab
' Sucks from its waters more than air can hold
' Upon his passage-this the cool of night
' Pours on the Nile. If, Caesar, 'tis my part
' To judge such difference, 'twould seem that since
' Creation's age has passed, earth's veins by chance
' Some waters hold, and shaken cast them forth:
' But others took when first the globe was formed
' A sure abode; by Him who framed the world
' Fixed with the Universe. And, Roman, thou,
' In thirsting thus to know the source of Nile,
' Dost as the Pharian and Persian kings
' And those of Macedon; nor any age
' Refused the secret, but the place prevailed
' Remote by nature. Greatest of the kings
' By Memphis worshipped, Alexander grudged
' To Nile its mystery, and to furthest earth
' Sent chosen Ethiops whom the crimson zone
' Stayed in their further march, while flowed his stream
' Warm at their feet. Sesostris westward far
' Reached, to the ends of earth; and necks of kings
' Bent 'neath his chariot yoke: but of the springs
' Which fill your rivers, Rhone and Po, he drank,
'Not of the fount of Nile. Cambyses king
'In madman quest led forth his host to where
'The long-lived races dwell: then famine struck,
'Ate of his dead and, Nile unknown, returned.
No lying rumour of thy hidden source
'Has e'er made mention; wheresoe'er thou art
'Yet art thou sought, nor yet has nation claimed
'In pride of place thy river as its own.
' Yet shall I tell, so far as has the god,
' Who veils thy fountain, given me to know,
'Thy progress. Daring to upraise thy banks
''Gainst fiery Cancer's heat, thou tak'st thy rise
'Beneath the zenith: straight towards the north
'And mid Bootes flowing; to the couch
'Bending, or to the risings, of the sun
'In sinuous bends alternate; just alike
'To Araby's peoples and to Libyan sands.
'By Seres first beheld, yet know they not
Whence art thou come; and with no native stream
Strik'st thou the Ethiop fields. Nor knows the world
'To whom it owes thee. Nature ne'er revealed
'Thy secret origin, removed afar.
'Nor did she wish thee to be seen of men
' While still a tiny rivulet, but preferred
' Their wonder to their knowledge. Where the sun
' Stays at his limit, dost thou rise in flood
' Untimely; such thy right: to other lands
' Bearing thy winter: and by both the poles
' Thou only wanderest. Here men ask thy rise
' And there thine ending. Meroe rich in soil
'And tilled by swarthy husbandmen divides
'Thy broad expanse, rejoicing in the leaves
'Of groves of ebony, which though spreading far
'Their branching foliage, by no breadth of shade
'Soften the summer sun-whose rays direct
'Pass from the Lion to the fervid earth.
'Next dost thou journey onwards past the realm
'Of burning Phoebus, and the sterile sands,
'With equal volume; now with all thy strength
'Gathered in one, and now in devious streams
'Parting the bank that crumbles at thy touch.
'Then by our kingdom's gates, where Philae parts
'Arabian peoples from Egyptian fields
' The sluggish bosom of thy flood recalls
' Thy wandering currents, which through desert wastes
' Flow gently on to where the merchant track
' Divides the Red Sea waters from our own.
' Who, gazing, Nile, upon thy tranquil flow,
' Could picture how in wild array of foam
' (Where shelves the earth) thy billows shall be plunged
' Down the steep cataracts, in fuming wrath
' That rocks should bar the passage of thy stream
' Free from its source? For whirled on high the spray
' Aims at the stars, and trembles all the air
With rush of waters; and with sounding roar
The foaming mass down from the summit pours
In hoary waves victorious. Next an isle
In all our ancient lore "untrodden" named
Stems firm thy torrent; and the rocks we call
Springs of the river, for that here are marked
The earliest tokens of the coming flood.
With mountain shores now nature hems thee in
And shuts thy waves from Libya; in the midst
Hence do thy waters run, till Memphis first
Forbids the barrier placed upon thy stream
And gives thee access to the open fields.'

> Latin: Fas mihi, magnorum, Caesar, secreta parentum
Prodere, ad hoc aevi populis ignota profanis.
Sit pietas aliis, miracula tanta silere:
Ast ego coelicolis gratum reor, ire per omnes
Hoc opus, et sacras populis notescere leges.
Sideribus, quae sola fugam moderantur Olympi,
Occurruntque polo, diversa potentia prima
Mundi lege data est. Sol tempora dividit anni,
Mutat nocte diem, radiisque potentibus astra
Ire vetat, cursuque vagos statione moratur.
Luna suis vicibus Tethyn terrenaque miscet.
Frigida Saturno glacies et zona nivalis
Cessit. Habet ventos incertaque fulmina Mavors.
Sub Iove temperies et numquam turbidus aer.
At fecunda Venus cunctarum semina rerum
Possidet; immensae Cyllenius arbiter undae est.
Hunc ubi pars coeli tenuit, qua mixta Leonis
Sidera sunt Cancro, rapidos qua Sirius ignes
Exerit, et varii mutator circulus anni
Aegoceron Cancrumque tenet, cui subdita Nili
Ora latent: quae cum dominus percussit aquarum
Igne superiecto, tunc Nilus fonte soluto
Exit, ut Oceanus lunaribus incrementis
Iussus adest, auctusque suos non ante coarctat,
Quam nos aestivas a sole receperit horas.
Vana fides veterum, Nilo, quo crescat in arva,
Aethiopum prodesse nivis. Non Arctos in illis
Montibus, aut Boreas. Testis tibi sole perusti
Ipse color populi, calidique vaporibus Austri.
Adde, quod omne caput fluvii, quodcumque soluta
Praecipitat glaces, ingresso vere tumescit
Prima tabe nivis: Nilus neque suscitat undas
Ante Canis radios, nec ripis adligat amnem
Ante parem nocti, Libra sub iudice, Phoebum.
Inde etiam leges aliarum nescit aquarum:
Nec tumet hibernus, quum, longe sole remoto,
Officiis caret unda suis: dare iussus iniquo
Temperiem coelo, mediis aestatibus exit.
Sub torrente plaga, ne terras dissipet ignis,
Nilus adest mundo, contraque incensa Leonis
Ora tumet: Cancroque suam torrente Syenen,
Imploratus adest: nec campos liberat undis,
Donec in autumnum declinet Phoebus, et umbras
Extendat Meroe. Quis caussas reddere possit
Sic iussit natura parens decurrere Nilum:
Sic opus est mundo. - Zephyros quoque vana vetustas
His adscribit aquis, quorum stata tempora flatus
Continuique dies, et in aera longa potestas:
Vel quod ab occiduo pellunt tot nubila coelo
Trans Noton, et fluvio cogunt incumbere nimbos:
Vel quod aquas toties rumpentis litora Nili
Adsiduo feriunt, coguntque resistere fluctus
Ille mora cursus adversique obiice ponti
Aestuat in campos. - Sunt, qui spiramina terris
Esse putant, magnosque cavae compagis hiatus.
Commeat hac penitus tacitis discursibus unda,
Frigore ab Arctoo medium revocata sub axem,
Cum Phoebus pressit Meroen, tellusque perusta
Illuc duxit aquas. Trahitur Gangesque Padusque
Per tacitum mundi. Tunc omnia flumina Nilus
Uno fonte vomens non uno gurgite perfert.
Rumor, ab Oceano, qui terras adligat omnes,
Exundante procul violentum erumpere Nilum,
Aequoreosque sales longo mitescere tractu.
Nec non Oceano pasci Phoebumque polumque
Credimus: hunc, caldi tetigit cum brachia Cancri,
Sol rapit, atque undae plus, quam quod digerat aer,
Tolitur. Hoc noctes referunt, Niloque refundunt.
Ast ego, si tantam ius est mihi solvere litem,
Quasdam, Caesar, aquas post mundi sera peracti
Saecula, concussis terrarum erumpere venis,
Non id agente deo, quasdam compage sub ipsa
Cum toto coepisse reor, quas ille creator
Atque opifex rerum certo sub iure coercet.
Quae tibi noscendi Nilum, Romane, cupido,
Et Phariis Persisque fuit, Macetumque tyrannis:
Nullaque non aetas voluit conferre futuris
Notitiam: sed vincit adhuc natura latendi.
Summus Alexander regum, quos Memphis adorat,
Invidit Nilo, misitque per ultima terrae
Aethiopum lectos: illos rubicunda perusti
Zona poli tenuit; Nilum videre calentem.
Venit ad occasus mundique extrema Sesostris,
Et Pharios currus regum cervicibus egit:
Ante tamen, vestros amnes, Rhodanumque Padumque,
Quam Nilum, de fonte bibit. Vesanus in ortus
Cambyses longi populos pervenit ad aevi,
Defectusque epulis et pastus caede suorum,
Ignoto te, Nile, redit. Non fabula mendax
Ausa loqui de fonte tuo est. Ubicunque videris,
Quaereris: et nulli contingit gloria genti,
Ut Nilo sit laeta suo. Tua flumina prodam,
Qua deus, undarum colator, Nile, tuarum,
Te mihi isse dedit. Medio consurgis ab axe,
Ausus in ardentem ripas adtollere Cancrum:
In Borean is rectus aquis, mediumque Booten:
ursus in occasum flexu torquetur et ortus,
Nunc Arabum populis, Libycis nunc aequus arenis:
Teque vident primi, quaerunt tamen hi quoque, Seres,
Aethiopumque feris alieno gurgite campos:
Et te terrarum nescit cui debeat orbis.
Arcanum natura caput non prodidit ulli,
Nec licuit populis parvum te, Nile, videre,
Amovitque sinus, et gentes maluit ortus
Mirari, quam nosse, tuos. Consurgere in ipsis
Ius tibi solstitiis, aliena crescere bruma,
Atque hiemes adferre tuas: solique vagari
Concessum per utrosque polos. Hic quaeritur ortus,
Illic finis aquae. Late tibi gurgite rupto
Ambitur nigris Meroe fecunda colonis,
Laeta comis ebeni: quae, quamvis arbore multa
Frondeat, aestatem nulla sibi mitigat umbra:
Linea tam rectum mundi ferit illa Leonem.
Inde plagas Phoebi, damnum non passus aquarum,
Praeveheris, sterilesque diu metiris arenas,
Nunc omnes unum vires collectus in amnem,
Nunc vagus, et spargens facilem tibi cedere ripam.
Rursus multifidas revocat piger alveus undas,
Qua dirimunt Arabum populis Aegyptia rura
Regni claustra Philae. Mox te deserta secantem,
Qua dirimunt nostrum rubro commercia pontum,
Mollis lapsus agit. Quis te tam lene fluentem
Moturum tantas violenti gurgitis iras,
Nile, putet? Sed cum lapsus abrupta viarum
Excepere tuos, et praecipites cataractae,
Ac nusquam vetitis ullas obsistere cautes
Indignaris aquis: spuma tunc astra lacessis:
Cuncta fremunt undis: ac multo murmure montis
Spumeus invictis canescit fluctibus amnis.
Hinc, Abaton quam nostra vocat veneranda vetustas,
Terra potens, primos sentit percussa tumultus,
Et scopuli, placuit fluvii quos dicere venas,
Quod manifesta novi primum dant signa tumoris.
Hinc montes natura vagis circumdedit undis,
Qui Libyae te, Nile, negant: quos inter in alta
It convalle iacens iam molibus unda receptis.
Prima tibi campos permittit apertaque Memphis
Rura, modumque vetat crescendi ponere ripas.

## 21. Book X · lines 332–546

Source: https://scriptura.si/works/lucan-pharsalia/21/ · cite a paragraph as https://scriptura.si/works/lucan-pharsalia/21/#p-N

[¶0] Thus did they pass, as though in peace profound,
The nightly watches. But Pothinus' mind,
Once with accursed butchery imbued,
Was frenzied still; since great Pompeius fell
No deed to him was crime; his rabid soul
Th' avenging goddesses and Magnus' shade
Stirred to fresh horrors; and a Pharian hand
No less was worthy, as he deemed, to shed
That blood which Fortune purposed should bedew
The conquered fathers: and the fell revenge
Due to the senate for the civil war
This hireling almost snatched. Avert, ye fates,
Far hence the shame that not by Brutus' hand
This blow be struck! Shall thus the tyrant's fall,
Just at our hands, become a Pharian crime.
Reft of example? To prepare a plan
(Fated to fail) he dares; nor veils in fraud
A plot for murder, but with open war
Attacks th' unconquered chieftain: from his crimes
He gained such courage as to send command
To lop the head of Caesar, and to join
In death the kinsmen chiefs. These words by night
His faithful servants to Achillas bear,
His foul associate, whom the boy had made
Chief of his armies, and who ruled alone
O'er Egypt's land and o'er himself her king:
' Now lay thy limbs upon the sumptuous couch
' And sleep in luxury, for the Queen hath seized
'The palace; nor alone by her betrayed,
' But Caesar's gift, is Pharos. Dost delay
' Nor hasten to the chamber of thy Queen?
' Thou only? Married to the Latian chief,
'The impious sister now her brother weds
' And hurrying from rival spouse to spouse
' Hath Egypt won, and plays the bawd for Rome.
' By amorous potions she has won the man:
' Then trust the boy! Yet give him but a night
' In her enfondling arms, and drunk with love
' Thy life and mine he'll barter for a kiss.
' We for his sister's charms by cross and flame
' Shall pay the penalty: nor hope of aid;
' Here stands adulterous Caesar, here the King
' Her spouse: how hope we from so stern a judge
' To gain acquittal? Shall she not condemn
'Those who ne'er sought her favours? By the deed
We dared together and lost, by Magnus' blood
' Which wrought the bond between us, be thou swift
' With hasty tumult to arouse the war:
' Dash in with nightly band, and mar with death
' Their shameless nuptials: on the very bed
With either lover smite the ruthless Queen.
' Nor let the fortunes of the Western chief
' Make pause our enterprise. We share with him
' The glory of his empire o'er the world.
' Pompeius fallen makes us too sublime,
There lies the shore that bids us hope success:
Ask of our power from the polluted wave,
And gaze upon the scanty tomb which holds
Not all Pompeius' ashes. Peer to him
Was he whom now thou fearest. Noble blood,
' True, is not ours: what boots it? Nor are realms
' Nor wealth of peoples given to our command.
'Yet have we risen to a height of power
For deeds of blood, and Fortune to our hands
Attracts her victims. Lo! a nobler now
Lies in our compass, and a second death
Hesperia shall appease; for Caesar's blood,
Shed by these hands, shall give us this, that Rome
Shall love us, guilty of Pompeius' fall.
Why fear these titles, why this chieftain's strength?
For shorn of these, before your swords he lies
A common soldier. To the civil war
This night shall bring completion, and shall give
To peoples slain fit offerings, and send
That life the world demands beneath the shades.
Rise then in all your hardihood and smite
This Caesar down, and let the Roman youths
Strike for themselves, and Lagos for its King.
No do thou tarry: full of wine and feast
Thou'lt fall upon him in the lists of love;
Then dare the venture, and the heavenly gods
Shall grant of Cato's and of Brutus' prayers
To thee fulfilment.'
Nor was Achillas slow
To hear the voice that counselled him to crime.
No sounding clarion summoned, as is wont,
His troops to arms; nor trumpet blare betrayed
Their nightly march: but rapidly he seized
All needed instruments of blood and war.
Of Latian race the most part of his train,
Yet to barbarian customs were their minds
By long forgetfulness of Rome debased:
Else had it shamed to serve the Pharian King;
But now his vassal and his minion's word
Compel obedience. Those who serve in camps
Lose faith and love of kin: their pittance earned
Makes just the deed: and for their sordid pay,
Not for themselves, they threaten Caesar's life.
Where finds the piteous destiny of the realm
Rome with herself at peace? The host withdrawn
From dread Thessalia raves on Nilus' banks
As all the race of Rome. What more had dared,
With Magnus welcomed, the Lagean house?
Each hand must render to the gods their due,
Nor son of Rome may cease from civil war;
By Heaven's command our state was rent in twain;
Nor love for husband nor regard for sire
Parted our peoples. 'Twas a slave who stirred
Afresh the conflict, and Achillas grasped
In turn the sword of Rome: nay more, had won,
Had not the fates adverse restrained his hand
From Caesar's slaughter.
For the murderous pair
Ripe for their plot were met; the spacious hall
Still busied with the feast. So might have flowed
Into the kingly cups a stream of gore,
And in mid banquet fallen Caesar's head.
Yet did they fear lest in the nightly strife
(The fates permitting) some incautious hand-
So did they trust the sword-might slay the King.
Thus stayed the deed, for in the minds of slaves
The chance of doing Caesar to the death
Might bear postponement: when the day arose
Then should he suffer; and a night of life
Thus by Pothinus was to Caesar given.

> Latin: Sic velut in tuta securi pace trahebant
Noctis iter mediae: sed non vesana Pothini
Mens imbuta semel tam sacra caede, vacabat
A scelerum motu. Magno nihil ille peremto
Iam putat esse nefas: habitant sub pectore manes,
Ultricesque deae dant in nova monstra furorem.
Dignatur viles isto quoque sanguine dextras,
Quo Fortuna parat victos perfundere Patres;
Poenaque civilis belli, vindicta senatus
Paene data est famulo. Procul hoc avertite, fata,
Crimen, ut haec Bruto cervix absente secetur.
In scelus it Pharium Romani poena tyranni,
Exemplumque perit. Struit audax irrita fatis:
Nec parat occultae caedem committere fraudi,
Invictumque ducem detecto Marte lacessit.
Tantum animi delicta dabant, ut colla ferire
Caesaris, et socerum iungi tibi, Magne, iuberet:
Atque haec dicta monet famulos perferre fideles
Ad Pompeianae socium sibi caedis Achillam,
Quem puer imbellis cunctis praefecerat armis,
Et dederat ferrum, nullo sibi iure retento,
In cunctos, in seque simul. Tu mollibus, inquit,
Nunc incumbe toris, et pingues exige somnos:
Invasit Cleopatra domum. Nec prodita tantum est,
Sed donata Pharos. Cessas accurrere solus
Ad dominae thalamos? Nubit soror impia fratri:
Nam Latio iam nupta duci est: interque maritos
Discurrens Aegypton habet, Romamque meretur.
Expugnare senem potuit Cleopatra venenis:
Crede, miser, puero: quem nox si iunxerit una,
Et semel amplexus incesto pectore passus
Hauserit obscoenum titulo pietatis amorem,
Meque tuumque caput per singula forsitan illi
Oscula donabit. Crucibus flammisque luemus,
Si fuerit formosa soror. Nil undique restat
Auxilii: rex hinc coniux, hinc Caesar adulter.
Et sumus, ut fatear, tam saeva iudice sontes:
Quem non ex nobis credet Cleopatra nocentem,
A quo casta fuit? Per, te, quod fecimus una
Perdidimusque nefas, perque ictum sanguine Magni
Foedus, ades: subito bellum molire tumultu:
Irrue nocturnus: rumpamus funere taedas,
Crudelemque toris dominam mactemus in ipsis
Cum quocumque viro. Nec nos deterreat ausis
Hesperii Fortuna ducis. Quae sustulit illum
Imposuitque orbi, communis gloria nobis:
Nos quoque sublimes Magnus facit. Adspice litus,
Spem nostri sceleris: pollutos consule fluctus,
Quid liceat nobis: tumulumque e pulvere parvo
Adspice Pompeii non omnia membra tegentem.
Quem metuis, par huius erat. Non sanguine clari:
Quid refert? nec opes populorum ac regna movemus:
Ad scelus ingentis fati sumus. Adtrahit illos
In nostras Fortuna manus. En, altera venit
Victima nobilior. Placemus caede secunda
Hesperias gentes. Iugulus mihi Caesaris haustus
Hoc praestare potest, Pompeii caede nocentes
Ut populus Romanus amet. Quid nomina tanta
Horremus, viresque ducis, quibus ille relictis
Miles erit? Nox haec peraget civilia bella,
Inferiasque dabit populis, et mittet ad umbras.
Quod debetur adhuc mundo caput. Ite feroces
Caesaris in iugulum: praestet Lagea iuventus
Hoc regi, Romana sibi. Tu parce morari:
Plenum epulis, madidumque mero, Venerique paratum
Invenies: aude: superi tot vota Catonum
Brutorumque tibi tribuent. Noli segnis Achillas
Suadenti parere nefas. Haud clara movendis,
Ut mos, signa dedit castris, nec prodidit arma
Ullius clangore tubae: temere omnia saevi
Instrumenta rapit belli. Pars maxima turbae
Plebis erat Latiae: sed tanta oblivio mentes
Cepit, in externos corrupto milite mores,
Ut duce sub famulo iussuque satellitis irent,
Quos erat indignum Phario parere tyranno.
Nulla fides pietasque viris, qui castra sequuntur;
Venalesque manus, ubi fas, ubi maxima merces,
Aere merent parvo: iugulumque in Caesaris ire
Non sibi dant. Pro fas! ubi non civilia bella
Invenit imperii fatum miserabile nostri?
Thessaliae subducta acies in litore Nili
More furit patrio. Quid te plus, Magne, recepto
Ausa foret Lagea domus? Dat scilicet omnis
Dextera, quod debet superis: nullique vacare
Fas est Romano. Latium sic scindere corpus
Dis placitum: non in soceri generique favorem
Discedunt populi: civilia bella satelles
Movit, et in partem Romani venit Achillas.
Et nisi fata manus a sanguine Caesaris arcent,
Hae vincent partes. Aderat maturus uterque,
Et districta epulis ad cunctas aula patebat
Insidias, poteratque cruor per regia fundi
Pocula Caesareus, mensaeque incumbere cervix.
Sed metuunt belli trepidos in nocte tumultus,
Ne caedes confusa mauu permissaque fatis
Te, Ptolemaee, trahat. Tanta est fiducia ferri.
Non rapuere nefas: summi contemta facultas
Est operis: visum famulis reparabile damnum,
Illam mactandi dimittere Caesaris horam.
Servatur poenas in aperta luce daturus.
Donata est nox una duci, vixitque Pothini
Munere Phoebeos Caesar dilatus in ortus.

[¶1] Now from the Casian rock looked forth the Sun
Flooding the land of Egypt with a day
Warm from its earliest dawn, when from the walls
Not wandering in disorder are they seen,
But drawn in close array, as though to meet
A foe opposing; ready to receive
Or give the battle. Caesar, in the town
Placing no trust, within the palace courts
Lay in ignoble hiding place, the gates
Close barred: nor all the kingly rooms possessed,
But in the narrowest portion of the space
He drew his band together. There in arms
They stood, with dread and fury in their souls.
He feared attack, indignant at his fear.
Thus will a noble beast in little cage
Imprisoned, fume, and break upon the bars
His teeth in frenzied wrath; nor more would rage
The flames of Vulcan in Sicilian depths
Should Etna's top be closed. He who but now
By Haemus' mount against Pompeius chief,
Italia's leaders and the Senate line,
His cause forbidding hope, looked at the fates
He knew were hostile, with unfaltering gaze,
Now fears before the crime of hireling slaves,
And in mid palace trembles at the blow:
He whom nor Scythian nor Alaun had dared
To violate, nor the Moor who aims the dart
Upon his victim slain, to prove his skill.
The Roman world but now did not suffice
To hold him, nor the realms from furthest Ind
To Tyrian Gades. Now, as puny boy,
Or woman, trembling when a town is sacked,
Within the narrow corners of a house
He seeks for safety; on the portals closed
His hope of life: and with uncertain gait
He treads the halls; yet not without the King;
In purpose, Ptolemaeus, that thy life
For his shall give atonement; and to hurl
Thy severed head among the servant throng
Should darts and torches fail. So story tells
The Colchian princess with sword in hand,
And with her brother's neck bared to the blow,
Waited her sire, avenger of his realm
Despoiled, and of her flight. In the imminent risk
Caesar, in hopes of peace, an envoy sent
To the fierce vassals, from their absent lord
Bearing a message, thus: ' At whose command
Wage ye the war?' But not the laws which bind
All nations upon earth, nor sacred rights,
Availed to save or messenger of peace,
Or King's ambassador; or thee from crime
Such as befitted thee, thou land of Nile
Fruitful in monstrous deeds: not Juba's realm,
Vast though it be, nor Pontus, nor the land
Thessalian, nor the arms of Pharnaces,
Nor yet the tracts which chill Iberus girds,
Nor Libyan coasts such wickedness have dared,
As thou, and all thy minions. Closer now
War hemmed them in, and weapons in the courts,
Shaking the innermost recesses, fell.
Yet did no ram, fatal with single stroke,
Assail the portal, nor machine of war;
Nor flame they called in aid; but blind of plan
They wander purposeless, in separate bands
Around the circuit, nor at any spot
With strength combined attempt to breach the wall.
The fates forbad, and Fortune from their hands
Held fast the palace as a battlement.
Nor failed they to attack from ships of war
The regal dwelling, where its frontage bold
Made stand apart the waters of the deep:
There, too, was Caesar's all-protecting arm;
For these at point of sword, and those with fire
He forces back, and though besieged he dares
To storm th' assailants: and as lay the ships
Joined rank to rank, bids drop upon their sides
Lamps drenched with reeking tar. Nor slow the fire
To seize the hempen cables and the decks
Oozing with melting pitch; the oarsman's bench
All in one moment, and the topmost yards
Burst into flame: half merged the vessels lay
While swam the foemen, all in arms, the wave;
Nor fell the blaze upon the ships alone,
But seized with writhing tongues the neighbouring homes,
And fanned to fury by the Southern breeze
Tempestuous, it leaped from roof to roof;
Not otherwise than on its heavenly track,
Unfed by matter, glides the ball of light,
By air alone aflame.
This pest recalled
Some of the forces to the city's aid
From the besieged halls. Nor Caesar gave
To sleep its season; swifter than all else
To seize the crucial moment of the war.
Quick in the darkest watches of the night
He leaped upon his ships, and Pharos seized,
Gate of the main; an island in the days
Of Proteus seer, now bordering the walls
Of Alexander's city. Thus he gained
A double vantage, for his foes were pent
Within the narrow entrance, which for him
And for his aids gave access to the sea.
Nor longer was Pothinus' doom delayed,
Yet not with cross or flame, nor with the wrath
His crime demanded; nor by savage beasts
Torn, did he suffer; but by Magnus' death,
Alas the shame! he fell; his head by sword
Hacked from his shoulders. Next by frauds prepared
By Ganymede her base attendant, fled
Arsinoe from the Court to Caesar's foes;
There in the absence of the King she ruled
As of Lagean blood: there at her hands,
The savage minion of the tyrant boy,
Achillas, fell by just avenging sword.
Thus did another victim to thy shade
Atone, Pompeius; but the gods forbid
That this be all thy vengeance! Not the King
Nor all the stock of Lagos for thy death
Would make fit sacrifice! So Fortune deemed;
And not till patriot swords shall drink the blood
Of Caesar, Magnus, shalt thou be appeased.
Still, though was slain the author of the strife,
Sank not their rage: with Ganymede for chief
Again they rush to arms; in deeds of fight
Again they conquer. So might that one day
Have witnessed Caesar's fate; so might its fame
Have lived through ages.
As the Roman Chief,
Crushed on the narrow surface of the mole,
Prepared to throw his troops upon the ships,
Sudden upon him the surrounding foes
With all their terrors came. In dense array
Their navy lined the shores, while on the rear
The footmen ceaseless charged. No hope was left,
For flight was not, nor could the brave man's arm
Achieve or safety or a glorious death.
Not now were needed for great Caesar's fall,
Caught in the toils of nature, routed host
Or mighty heaps of slain: his only doubt
To fear or hope for death: while on his brain
Brave Scaeva's image flashed, now vainly sought,
Who on the wall by Epidamnus' fields
Earned fame immortal, and with single arm
Drove back Pompeius as he trod the breach.

> Latin: Lucifer a Casia prospexit rupe, diemque
Misit in Aegyptum, primo quoque sole calentem,
Cum procul a muris acies non sparsa maniplis
Nec vaga conspicitur, sed iustos qualis ad hostes
Recta fronte venit, Passuri cominus arma,
Laturique ruunt. At Caesar, moenibus urbis
Diffisus, foribus clausae se protegit aulae,
Degeneres passus latebras. Nec tota vacabat
Regia compresso; minima collegerat arma
Parte domus: tangunt animos iraeque metusque:
Et timet incursus, indignaturque timere.
Sic fremit in parvis fera nobilis abdita claustris,
Et frangit rabidos praemorso carcere dentes;
Nec secus in Siculis fureret tua flamma cavernis,
Obstrueret summam si quis tibi, Mulciber, Aetnam.
Audax Thessalici nuper qui rupe sub Aemi
Hesperiae cunctos proceres aciemque senatus
Pompeiumque ducem, caussa spectare vetante,
Non timuit, fatumque sibi promisit iniquum,
Expavit servile nefas, intraque penates
Obruitur telis: quem non violasset Alanus,
Non Scytha, non fixo qui ludit in hospite Maurus;
Hic, cui Romani spatium non sufficit orbis,
Parvaque regna putat Tyriis cum Gadibus Indos,
Ceu puer imbellis, ceu captis femina muris,
Quaerit tuta domus: spem vitae in limine clauso
Ponit, et incerto lustrat vagus atria cursu:
Non sine rege tamen; quem ducit in omnia secum,
Sumturus poenas et grata piacula morti,
Missurusque tuum, si non sint tela nec ignes,
In famulos, Ptolemaee, caput. Sic barbara Colchis
Creditur, ultorem metuens regnique fugaeque,
Ense suo fratrisque simul cervice parata
Exspectasse patrem. Cogunt tamen ultima rerum
Spem pacis tentare ducem: missusque satelles
Regius, ut saevos absentia voce tyranni
Corriperet famulos, quo bellum auctore moverent.
Sed neque ius mundi valuit, neque foedera sancta
Gentibus: orator regis pacisque sequester
Aestimat in numero scelerum ponenda tuorum,
Tot monstris Aegypte nocens. Non Thessala tellus,
Vastaque regna Iubae, non Pontus et impia signa
Pharnacis, et gelido circumfluus orbis Ibero
Tantum ausus scelerum, non Syrtis barbara, quantum
Deliciae fecere tuae. Premit undique bellum,
Inque domum iam tela cadunt, quassantque penates.
Non aries uno moturus limina pulsu,
Fracturusque domum; non ulla est machina belli:
Nec flammis mandatur opus: sed caeca iuventus
Consilii, vastos ambit divulsa penates,
Et nusquam totis incursat viribus agmen.
Fata vetant, murique vicem Fortuna tuetur.
Nec non et ratibus tentatur regia, qua se
Protulit in medios audaci margine fluctus
Luxuriosa domus. Sed abest defensor ubique
Caesar, et hos aditu gladiis, hos ignibus arcet:
Obsessusque gerit (tanta est constantia mentis)
Expugnantis opus. Piceo iubet unguine tinctas
Lampadas immitti iunctis in vela carinis.
Nec piger ignis erat per stuppea vincula perque
Manantes cera tabulas: et tempore eodem
Transtraque nautarum summique arsere ceruchi.
Iam prope semustae merguntur in aequore classes,
Iamque hostes et tela natant. Nec puppibus ignis
Incubuit solis: sed quae vicina fuere
Tecta mari, longis rapuere vaporibus ignem:
Et cladem fovere Noti, percussaque flama
Turbine, non alio motu per tecta cucurrit,
Quam solet aetherio lampas discurrere sulco,
Materiaque carens atque ardens aere solo.
Illa lues clausa paullum revocavit ab aula
Urbis in auxilium populos. Nec tempora cladis
Perdidit in somnos, sed caeca nocte carinis
Insiluit Caesar, semper feliciter usus
Praecipiti cursu bellorum, et tempore rapto.
Tunc claustrum pelagi cepit Pharon. Insula quondam
In medio stetit illa mari, sub tempore vatis
Proteos: at nunc est Pellaeis proxima muris.
Illa duci geminos bellorum praestitit usus:
Abstulit excursus et fauces aequoris hosti;
Caesaris auxiliis aditus et libera ponti
Ostia permisit. Nec poenas inde Pothini
Distulit ulterius sed non qua debuit ira,
Non cruce, non flammis, rabido non dente ferarum;
Heu facinus! cervix gladio male caesa pependit:
Magni morte perit! Nec non, subrepta paratis
A famulo Ganymede dolis, pervenit ad hostes
Caesaris Arsinoe: quae castra carentia rege,
Ut proles Lagea, tenet, famulumque tyranni
Terribilem iusto transegit Achillea ferro.
Altera, Magne, tuis iam victima mittitur umbris:
Nec satis hoc Fortuna putat. Procul absit, ut ista
Vindictae sit summa tuae. Non ipse tyrannus
Sufficit in poenas, non omnis regia Lagi.
Dum patrii veniant in viscera Caesaris enses,
Magnus inultus erit. Sed non auctore furoris
Sublato cecidit rabies: nam rursus in arma
Auspiciis Ganymedis eunt: ac multa secundo
Proelia Marte gerunt. Potuit, discrimine summo
Caesaris, illa dies in famam et saecula mitti.
Molis in exiguae spatio stipantibus armis,
Dum parat in vacuus Martem transferre carinas
Dux Latius, tota subiti formidine belli
Cingitur: hinc densae praetexunt litora classes,
Hinc tergo insultant pedites: via nulla salutis,
Non fuga, non virtus: vix spes quoque mortis honestae.
Non acie fusa, nec magnae stragis acervo
Vincendus tunc Caesar erat, sed sanguine nullo,
Captus sorte loci. Pendet, dubiusne timeret,
Optaretne mori. Respexit in agmine denso
Scaevam, perpetuae meritum iam nomina famae
Ad campos, Epidamne, tuos, ubi solus apertis
Obsedit muris calcantem moenia Magnum.