---
title: "Pharsalia · De Bello Civili"
author: "Lucan"
translator: "Sir Edward Ridley"
languages: [la, en]
shelf: "Classical Latin"
section: 17 of 21
url: https://scriptura.si/works/lucan-pharsalia/17/
cite: "Lucan, tr. Sir Edward Ridley, Pharsalia · De Bello Civili, section 17. Scriptura (scriptura.si), https://scriptura.si/works/lucan-pharsalia/17/"
---

# 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.

## 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