Now through Alcides' pass and Tempe's grovesPompeius, aiming for Haemonian glensAnd forests lone, urged on his wearied steedScarce heeding now the spur; by devious tracksSeeking to veil the footsteps of his flight:The rustle of the foliage, and the noiseOf following comrades filled his anxious soulWith terrors, as he fancied at his sideSome ambushed enemy. Fallen from the heightOf former fortunes, still the chieftain knewHis 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 chiefMade known his ruin. Many as they soughtThe camp Pharsalian, ere yet was spreadNews of the battle, met the chief, amazed,And wondered at the whirl of human things:Nor held disaster sure, though Magnus' selfTold of his ruin. Every witness seenBrought peril on his flight: 'twere better farSafe in a name obscure, through all the worldTo wander; but his ancient fame forbad.Too long had great Pompeius from the heightOf human glory, envied of mankind,Looked on all others; nor for him henceforthCould life be lowly. The honours of his youthToo early thrust upon him, and the deedsWhich 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 daysDrags down the haughty spirit, and life prolongedWhen power has fled. Unless when honour failsComes end of life, and timely death forestallsEnsuing woe, the glory of past yearsIs present shame. Who'd venture on the seaOf favouring fortune but for death at need?Hard by Peneus' flood he reached the mainNow with Pharsalus' slaughter blushing red:And borne in sloop, to shallows of a streamScarce equal, dared the deep: Liburnia's lord,Lord of Cilicia, at whose countless oarsYet 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 apartThan wert thou present in Thessalia's fields.Racked is thy heart with presages of ill;Pharsalia fills thy dreams and when the shadesGive place to dawn, with hasty step thou tread'stSome cliff sea-beaten, and with gaze intentTo mark the sail of each approaching shipArt 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 doomWrought by the gods upon him: pale and wanHis weary features, by the hoary locksShaded; 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 layDeceived in hope of death. The boat made fast,Pompeius treading the lone waste of sandDrew near; whom when Cornelia's maidens saw,They stayed their weeping, yet with sighs subdued,Reproached the fates; and tried in vain to raiseTheir mistress' form, till Magnus to his breastDrew her with cherishing arms; and at the touchOf soothing hands the life-blood to her veinsReturned once more, and she could bear to lookUpon his features. He forbad despair,Chiding her grief. ' Not at the earliest blowBy Fortune dealt, inheritress of fameBequeathed by noble fathers, should thy strengthThus fail and yield: renown shall yet be thine,To last through ages; not of laws decreedNor conquests won; a gentler path to theeAs 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 goneIs all the pomp of lictors, gone the crowdOf 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.
Iam super Herculeas fauces nemorosaque Tempe,Haemoniae deserta petens dispendia silvae,Cornipedem exhaustum cursu stimulisque negantemMagnus agens, incerta fugae vestigia turbat,Implicitasque errore vias. Pavet ille fragoremMotorum ventis nemorum; comitumque suorum,Qui post terga ferit, trepidum laterique timentemExanimat. Quamvis summo de culmine lapsus,Nondum vile sui pretium scit sanguinis esse,Seque memor fati tantae mercedis habereCredit adhuc iugulum, quantum pro Caesaris ipseAvulsa cervice daret. Deserta sequentemNon patitur tutis fatum celare latebrisClara viri facies. Multi, Pharsalica castraCum peterent, nondum fama prodente ruinas,Occursu stupuere ducis, vertigine rerumAdtoniti: cladisque suae vix ipse fidelisAuctor erat. Gravis est Magno, quicumque malorumTestis adest. Cunctis ignotus gentibus esseMallet, et obscuro tutus transire per orbemNomine; sed longi poenas Fortuna favorisExigit a misero, quae tanto pondere famaeRes premit adversas, fatisque prioribus urget.Nunc festinatos nimium sibi sentit honores,Actaque lauriferae damnat Sullana iuventae.Nunc et Corycias classes, et Pontica signaDeiectum meminisse piget. Sic longius aevumDestruit ingentes animos, et vita superstesImperio. Nisi summa dies cum fine bonorumAdfuit, et celeri praevertit tristia leto,Dedecori est fortuna prior. Quisquamne secundisTradere se fatis audet, nisi morte parata?Litora contigerat, per quae Peneius amnisEmathia 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 sinusqueLeucadii, Cilicum dominus terraeque Liburnae,Exiguam vector pavidus correpsit in alnum.Conscia curarum, secreta in litora LesbiFlectere vela iubes, qua tunc tellure latebas,Moestior, in mediis quam si, Cornelia, campisEmathiae stares. Tristes praesagia curasExagitant: trepida quatitur formidine somnus:Thessaliam nox omnis habet: tenebrisque remotisRupis in abruptae scopulos extremaque currisLitora, prospiciens fluctus: nutantia longeSemper 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 propinquaProsiluit, crimenque deum crudele notavit,Deformem pallore ducem, vultusque prementemCanitie, atque atro squalentes pulvere vestes.Obvia nox miserae coelum lucemque tenebrisAbstulit, atque animam clausit dolor: omnia nervisMembra relicta labant: riguerunt corda, diuqueSpe mortis decepta iacet. Iam fune ligatoLitoribus, lustrat vacuas Pompeius arenas.Quem postquam propius famulae videre fideles,Non ultra gemitus tacitos incessere fataPermisere sibi, frustraque adtollere terraSemianimem conantur heram: quam pectore MagnusAmbit, et adstrictos refovet complexibus artus.Coeperat in summum revocato sanguine corpusPompeii sentire manus, moestamque maritiPosse pati faciem: prohibet succumbere fatisMagnus, 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 MagnumSola sequi. Deformis, adhuc vivente marito,Summus et augeri vetitus dolor. Ultima debetEsse fides, lugere virum. Tu nulla tulistiBello damna meo. Vivit post proelia Magnus,Sed Fortuna perit: quod defles, illud amastiVocibus his correpta viri, vix aegra levavitMembra solo, tales gemitu rumpente querelas:O utinam in thalamos invisi Caesaris issemInfelix coniux, et nulli laeta marito!Bis nocui mundo: me pronuba ducit ErinnysCrassorumque umbrae; devotaque manibus illisAssyrios in castra tuli civilia casus,Praecipitesque dedi populos, cunctosque fugaviA caussa meliore deos. O maxime coniux,O thalamis indigne meis, hoc iuris habebatIn 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 armisDependisse caput: nunc clades denique lustra,Magne, tuas. Ubicumque iaces, civilibus armisNostros ulta toros, ades huc atque exige poenas,Iulia crudelis, placataque pellice caesa,Magno parce tuo. Sic fata, iterumque refusaConiugis in gremium, cunctorum lumina solvitIn lacrimas. Duri flectuntur pectora Magni,Siccaque Thessalia confundit lumina Lesbos.
But now upon the shore a numerous bandFrom 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 soulAt such a love, and joyed that in the worldSome 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 aloneBe 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 boatHe placed his spouse: while from the shore aroseSuch lamentation, and such hands were raisedIn ire against the gods, that thou hadst deemedAll left their kin for exile, and their homes.And though for Magnus grieving in his fallYet for Cornelia chiefly did they mournLong since their gentle guest. For her had weptThe Lesbian matrons had she left to joinA victor husband: for she won their love,By kindly modesty and gracious mien,Ere yet her lord was conquered, while as yetTheir fortunes stood. Now slowly to the deepSank fiery Titan; but not yet to thoseHe sought (if such there be) was shown his orb,Though veiled from those he quitted. Magnus' mind,Anxious with waking cares, sought through the kingsHis subjects, and the cities leagued with RomeIn faith, and through the pathless tracts that lieBeyond the scorching suns of southern climes:Till trouble of his cares and hateful thoughtOf that which might be, made him cast afarHis wavering doubts, and from the captain seekSome counsel on the heavens; how by the skyHe marked his track upon the deep; what starGuided the path to Syria, and what pointsFound in the Wain would pilot him arightTo shores of Libya. But thus repliedThe 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 wiltGive me a refuge.' These his answering words.The pilot, as they hung from level yardsShifted the sails; and hauling to the sternOne sheet, he slacked the other, to the leftSteering, where Samian rocks and Chian marredThe stillness of the waters; while the seaSent up in answer to the changing keelA different murmur. Not so deftly turnsCurbing his steeds, his wain the Charioteer,While glows his dexter wheel, and with the leftHe almost touches, yet avoids the goal.Now Titan veiled the stars and showed the shore;When, following Magnus, came a scattered bandSaved from the Thracian storm. From Lesbos' portHis 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 landsHe bids Deiotarus: ' O faithful friend,
Tunc Mitylenaeum pleno iam litore vulgusAdfatur Magnum: Si maxima gloria nobisSemper erit, tanti pignus servasse mariti,Tu quoque devotos sacro tibi foedere muros,Oramus, sociosque lares dignare vel unaNocte tua: fac, Magne, locum, quem cuncta revisantSaecula, 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 bellumAccipe templorum cultus, aurumque deorum:Accipe, si terris, si puppibus ista iuventusAptior 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 virorumLaetus in adversis, et mundi nomine gaudensEsse fidem, Nullum toto mihi, dixit, in orbeGratius esse solum, non parvo pignore vobisOstendi. Tenuit nostros hac obside LesbosAdfectus: hic sacra domus carique penates,Hic mihi Roma fuit. Non ulla in litora puppimAnte dedi fugiens, saevi cum Caesaris iramIam scirem meritam, servata coniuge, Lesbon,Non veritus tantam veniae committere vobisMateriem. 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 subactumNon intrare suos, infesto Caesare, portus,Non exire vetent. Dixit, moestamque carinaeImposuit comitem. Cunctos mutare putaresTellurem patriumque solum: sic litore totoPlangitur: infestae tenduntur in aethera dextrae:Pompeiumque minus, cuius Fortuna doloremMoverat, ast illam, quam toto tempore belliUt civem videre suam, discedere cernensIngemuit populus: quam vix, si castra maritiVictoris peteret, siccis dimittere matresIam poterant oculis: tanto devinxit amoreHos 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 curaeNunc socias adeunt Romani foederis urbes,Et varias regum mentes, nunc invia mundiArva super nimios soles Austrumque iacentes.Saepe labor moestus curarum odiumque futuriProiecit fessos incerti pectoris aestus,Rectoremque ratis de cunctis consulit astris:Unde notet terras; quae sit mensura secandiAequoris 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 nautasSidera non sequimur: sed qui non mergitur undisAxis inocciduus, gemina clarissimus Arcto,Ille regit puppes. Hic cum mihi semper in altumSurget et instabit summis minor Ursa ceruchis;Bosporon et Scythiae curvantem litora pontumSpectamus. Quidquid descendit ab arbore summaArctophylax, propiorque mari Cynosura feretur,In Syriae portus tendit ratis. Inde CanoposExcipit, Australi coelo contenta vagariStella, timens Borean: illa quoque perge sinistra,Trans Pharon, in medio tanget ratis aequore Syrtes.Sed quo vela dari, quo nunc pede carbasa tendiNostra iubes? Dubio contra cui pectore Magnus,Hoc solum toto, respondit, in aequore serva,Ut sit ab Emathiis semper tua longius orisPuppis, et Hesperiam pelago coeloque relinquas:Cetera da ventis. Comitem pignusque recepiDepositum: tunc certus eram, quae litora vellem;Nunc portum Fortuna dabit. Sic fatur: at illeIusto vela modo pendentia cornibus aequisTorsit, 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 secanteIam 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 LesbiOccurrit natus, procerum mox turba fidelis.Nam neque deiecto fatis, acieque fugatoAbstulerat Magno reges Fortuna ministros:Terrarum dominos et sceptra Eoa tenentesExsul habet comites. Iubet ire in devia mundiDeiotarum, qui sparsa ducis vestigia legit.
'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 kingWrapped in a servant's mantle. If a PrinceFor safety play the boor, then happier, sure,The peasant's lot than lordship of the world.The king thus parted, past Icaria's rocksPompeius' vessel skirts the foamy cragsOf little Samos: Colophon's tranquil seaAnd Ephesus lay behind him, and the airBreathed freely on him from the Coan shore.Cnidos he shunned, and, famous for its sun,Rhodos, and steering for the middle deepEscaped the windings of Telmessus' bay;Till rose Pamphylian coasts before the bark,And first the fallen chieftain dared to findIn small Phaselis shelter; for thereinScarce was the husbandman, and empty homesForbad to fear. Next Taurus' heights he sawAnd Dipsus falling from his lofty sides:So sailed he onward.Did Pompeius dream,When giving safety to the seas, he madeFlight for himself secure? His little boatFlies unmolested past Cilician shores;But to their exiled lord in chiefest partThe senate of Rome was drawn. Celendrae thereReceived their fleet, where fair Selinus' streamIn spacious bay gives refuge from the main;And to the gathered chiefs in mournful wordsAt length Pompeius thus resolved his thoughts:O faithful comrades mine in war and flight!To me, my country! Though this barren shoreOur place of meeting, and no gathered host'Surrounds us, yet upon our changed estateI seek your counsel. Rouse ye as of yoreWith hearts of courage! Magnus on the field'Not all is perished, nor do fates forbidBut that I rise afresh with living hopeOf future victories, and spurn defeat.'From Libyan ruins did not Marius rise'Again recorded Consul on the pageFull 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 scalesYe 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 thoughtRome'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 wordsWorthy a Consul:
Quando, ait, Emathiis amissus cladibus orbisQua Romanus erat, superest, fidissime regum,Eoam tentare fidem, populosque bibentesEuphraten, et adhuc securum a Caesare Tigrim.Ne pigeat Magno quaerentem fata remotasMedorum penetrare domos, Sythicosque recessus,Et totum mutare diem, vocesque superboArsacidae perferre meas: Si foedera nobisPrisca 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 regniQua rapidus Ganges et qua Nysaeus HydaspesAccedunt pelago, Phoebi surgentis ab igneIam propior, quam Persis, eram: tamen omnia vincensSustinui nostris vos tantum deesse triumphis:Solus et e numero regum telluris EoaeEx aequo me Parthus adit. Nec munere MagniStant semel Arsacidae. Quis enim post vulnera cladisAssyriae iustas Latii compescuit iras?Tot meritis obstricta meis, nunc Parthia ruptisExcedat claustris vetitam per saecula ripam,Zeugmaque Pellaeum. Pompeio vincite, Parthi;Vinci Roma volet. Regem parere iubentiArdua non piguit, positisque insignibus aulaeEgreditur, famuli raptos indutus amictus.In dubiis tutum est inopem simulare tyranno.Quanto igitur mundi dominis securius aevumVerus pauper agit! Dimisso in litora rege,Ipse per Icariae scopulos, Ephesumque relinquens,Et placidi Colophona maris, spumantia parvaeRadit saxa Sami: spirat de litore CooAura fluens: Gnidon inde fugit, claramque relinquitSole Rhodon, magnosque sinus Telmessidos undaeCompensat medio pelago. Pamphylia puppiOccurrit tellus: nec se committere murisAusus 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 rursusIam Taurum, Tauroque videt Dipsunta cadentem.Crederet hoc Magnus, pacem cum praestitit undisEt sibi consultum. Cilicum per litora tutusParva puppe fugit: sequitur pars magna senatusAd profugum collecta ducem: parvisque Celendris,Qua portu mittitque rates recipitque Selinus,In Procerum coetu tandem moesta ora resolvitVocibus his Magnus: Comites bellique fugaeque,Atque instar patriae, quamvis in litore nudo,In Cilicum terra, nullis circumdatus armisConsultem, rebusque novis exordia quaeram,Ingentes praestate animos: non omnis in arvisEmathiis cecidi, nec sic mea fata premuntur,Ut nequeam relevare caput, cladesque receptasExcutere. An Libyae Marium potuere ruinaeErigere 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 tueriFama potest rerum, toto quas gessimus orbe,Et nomen, quod mundus amat. Vos pendite regnaViribus atque fide, Libyen, Parthosque, Pharonque,Quaenam Romanis deceat succurrere rebus.Ast ego curarum, proceres, arcana mearumExpromam, 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 prolesImminet Hesperiae, multusque in pectore vano estHannibal; obliquo maculat qui sanguine regnum,Et Numidas contingit avos, iam supplice VaroIntumuit, 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 diesqueVertit, 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 nervosSegnis, et a nulla mors est incerta sagitta.Primi Pellaeas arcu fregere sarissas,Bactraque Medorum sedem, murisque superbamAssyrias Babylona domos. Nec pila timenturNostra 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 estO utinam non tanta mihi fiducia saeviisEsset in Arsacidis! Fatis nimis aemula nostrisFata movent Medos, multumque in gente deorum estEffundam populos alia tellure revulsos,Excitosque suis immittam sedibus ortus.Quodsi nos Eoa fides et barbara falluntFoedera, vulgati supra commercia mundiNaufragium Fortuna ferat. Non regna precabor,Quae feci; sed magna feram solatia mortisOrbe iacens alio, nihil haec in membra cruente,Nil socerum fecisse pie. Sed cuncta revolvensVitae fata meae, semper venerabilis illaOrbis parte fui: quantus Maeotida supra!Quantus apud Tanaim toto conspectus in ortu!Quas magis in terras nostrum felicibus actisNomen abit, aut unde redit maiore triumpho?Roma, fave coeptis: quid enim tibi laetius umquamPraestiterint superi, quam, si civilia ParthoMilite bella geras, tantam consumere gentem,Et nostris miscere malis? Cum Caesaris armaConcurrent Medis, aut me Fortuna necesse estVindicet, aut Crassos. Sic fatus, murmure sentitConsilium damnasse viros: quos Lentulus omnesVirtutis stimulis et nobilitate dolendiPraecessit, dignasque tulit modo consule voces:
'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 embraceHas 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 fatesMay 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 profuseShall 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'stKing Juba faithless and the southern realms,Then seek we Pharos. Egypt on the westGirt by the trackless Syrtes forces backBy sevenfold stream the ocean; rich in glebeAnd gold and merchandise; and proud of NileAsks for no rain from heaven. Now holds this boyHer 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 prevailedUpon his hearers. With what freedom speaks,When states are trembling, patriot despair!Pompeius' voice was quelled.
Siccine Thessaliae mentem fregere ruinae?Una dies mundi damnavit fata? secundumEmathiam lis tanta datur? iacet omne cruentiVulneris auxilium? solos tibi, Magne, reliquitParthorum Fortuna pedes? Quid transfuga mundiTerrarum totos tractus coelumque perosus,Adversosque polos alienaque sidera quaeris,Chaldaeos culture deos, et barbara sacra,Parthorum famulus? Quid caussa obtendtur armisLibertatis amor? Miserum quid decipis orbem,Si servire potes? Te, quem Romana regentemHorruit auditu, quem captos ducere regesVidit 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 pudorisHoc vulnus, clades ut Parthia vindicet anteHesperias, quam Roma suas? Civilibus armisElegit te nempe ducem. Quid vulnera nostraIn Scythicos spargis populos, cladesque latentes?Quid Parthos transire doces? Solatia tantiPerdit Roma mali, nullos admittere regesSed civi servire suo. Iuvat ire per orbemDucentem saevas Romana in moenia gentes,Signaque ab Euphrate cum Crassis capta sequentem?Qui solus regum, fato celante favorem.Defuit Emathiae, nunc tantas ille lacessetAuditi victoris opes, aut iungere fataTecum, Magne, volet? Non haec fiducia genti est.Omnis in Arctois populus quicumque pruinisNascitur, indomitus bellis, et mortis amator.Quidquid ad Boos tractus mundique teporemLabitur, emollit gentes dementia coeli.Illic et laxas vestes, et fluxa virorumVelamenta vides. Parthus per Medica rura,Sarmaticos inter campos, effusaque planoTigridis arva solo, nulli superabilis hosti estLibertate fugae: sed non, ubi terra tumebit,Aspera conscendet montis iuga; nec per opacasBella geret tenebras incerto debilis arcu,Nec franget nando violenti vorticis amnem,Nec tota in pugna perfusus sanguine membraExiget aestivum calido sub pulvere solem.Non aries illis, non ulla est machina belli:Haud fossas implere valent: Parthoque sequenteMurus erit, quodcumque potest obstare sagittae.Pugna levis, bellumque fugax, turmaeque vagante,Et melior cessisse loco, quam pellere, miles.Illita tela dolis, nec Martem cominus umquamAusa 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 primaExarmant, vacuaeque iubent remeare pharetrae.Nulla manus illis fiducia, tota veneni est.Credis, Magne, viros, quos in discrimina belliCum ferro venisse parum est? Tentare pudendumAuxilium tanti est, toto divisus ut orbeA terra moriare tua? tibi barbara tellusIncumbat? 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 letumInfando sub rege timet. Num barbara nobisEst ignota Venus, quas ritu caeca ferarumPolluit innumeris leges et foedera tedaeConiugibus? thalamique patent secreta nefandi.Inter mille nurus epulis vesana meroqueRegia non ullos exceptos legibus horretConcubitus: tot femineis complexibus unumNon lassat nox una marem. Iacuere sororesIn fratrum thalamis, sacrataque pignora matrum.Damnat apud gentes sceleris non sponte peractiOedipodionias infelix fabula Thebas:Parthorum dominus quoties sic sanguine mixtoNascitur Arsacides! Cui fas implere parentem,Quid rear esse nefas? Proles tam clara MetelliStabit barbarico coniux millesima lecto:Quamquam non ulli plus regia, Magne, vacabitSaevitia stimulante Venus, titulisque virorum.Nam quo plura iuvent Parthum portenta, fuisseHanc sciet et Crassi: ceu pridem debila fatisAssyriia, 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 tuumqueMaius erit, quam quod, vobis miscentibus arma,Crassorum vindicta perit? Incurrere cunctiDebuerant in Bactra duces, et ne qua vacarentArma, vel Arctoum Dacis Rhenique catervisImperii nudare latus, dum perfida SusaIn 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 sagittisIngeret has voces? Tu, quem post funera nostraUltorem cinerum nudae speravimus umbrae,Ad foedus pacemque venis? Tunc plurima cladisOccurrent monimenta tibi: quae moenia trunciLustrarunt cervice duces, ubi nomina tantaObruit Euphrates, et nostra cadavera TigrisDetulit in terras, ac reddidit. Ire per istaSi potes, in media socerum quoque, Magne, sedentemThessalia placare potes. Quin respicis orbemRomanum? Si regna times proiecta sub Austro,Infidumque Iubam, petimus Pharon arvaque Lagi.Syrtibus hinc Libycis tuto est Aegyptus: at indeGurgite septeno rapidus mare submovet amnis:Terra suis contenta bonis, non indiga mercisAut Iovis: in solo tanta est fiducia Nilo.Sceptra puer Ptolemaeus habet, tibi debita, Magne,Tutelae commissa tuae. Quis nominis umbramHorreat? Innocua est aetas: nec iura fidemqueRespectumque deum veteris speraveris aulae.Nil pudet adsuetos sceptris: mitissima sors estRegnorum sub rege novo. Non plura locutusImpulit huc animos. Quantum spes ultima rerumLibertatis habet! Victa est sententia Magni.