As when at Elis' festival a horseIn stable pent gnaws at his prison barsImpatient, and should clamour from withoutStrike on his ear, bounds furious at restraint,So then was Caesar, eager for the fight,Stirred by the words of Curio. To the ranksHe bids his soldiers; with majestic mienAnd 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 ranThroughout the crowd; their household gods and homesMade pause their minds though long inured to blood:But fear of Caesar and the pride of warDrew them to him. Then Laelius, who woreThe 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 SeaAnd 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 handsAnd vow to follow wheresoever he leads.And such a clamour rends the sky as whenSome Thracian blast on Ossa's pine-clad rocksFalls 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 warAnd Fortune leading on, and favouring fates,He seized the moment, called his troops from Gaul,And breaking up his camp set on for Rome.
Solus habere potes. Sic postquam fatus, et ipsiIn bellum prono tantum tamen addidit irae,Accenditque ducem, quantum clamore iuvaturEleus sonipes, quamvis iam carcere clausoImmineat foribus, pronusque repagula laxet.Convocat armatos extemplo ad signa maniplos:Utque satis trepidum, turba coeunte, tumultumComposuit, vultu dextraque silentia iussit:Bellorum o socii, qui, mille pericula MartisMecum, 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 tumultuConcutitur, quam si Poenus transcenderit AlpesHannibal. Implentur valido tirone cohortes:In classem cadit omne nemus: terraque mariqueIussus Caesar agi. Quid? si mihi signa iacerentMarte sub adverso, ruerentque in terga ferocesGallorum populi? Nunc, cum Fortuna secundisMecum 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 clientesContinuo 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 timentiNescit mixta foro? gladii cum triste minantesIudicium insolita trepidum cinxere corona,Atque auso medias perrumpere milite legesPompeiana 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 ferrumDurat, Magne, sitis. Nullus semel ore receptusPollutas patitur sanguis mansuescere fauces.Quem tamen inveniet tam longa potentia finem?Quis scelerum modus est? Ex hoc te iam, improbe, regnoIlle tuus saltem doceat discedere Sulla.Post Cilicasne vagos, et lassi Pontica regisProelia, 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 belliReddantur: 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 tenentiOmnia 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 vulgusSecum incerta fremit: pietas patriique penatesQuamquam caede feras mentes animosque tumentesFrangunt; sed diro ferri revocantur amoreDuctorisque metu. Summi tunc munera piliLaelius, emeritique gerens insignia doni,Servati civis referentem praemia quercum:Si licet, exclamat, Romani maxime rectorNominis 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 SyrtisLitora, 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 parentisCondere me iubeas, plenaeque in viscera partuConiugis, 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 OssaeRupibus incubuit, curvato robore pressaeFit sonus, aut rursus redeuntis in aethera silvae.Caesar ut acceptum tam prono milite bellum,Fataque ferre videt, ne quo languore moreturFortunam, sparsas per Gallica rura cohortesEvocat, et Romam motis petit undique signis.
The tents are vacant by Lake Leman's side;The camps upon the beetling crags of VosgesNo longer hold the warlike Lingon down,Fierce in his painted arms; Isere is left,Who past his shallows gliding, flows at lastInto 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' nameWhere hollow crags encroach upon the sea,Is left in freedom: there nor Zephyr gainsNor Caurus access, but the Circian blastForbids the roadstead by Monaecus' hold.Left is the doubtful shore, which the vast seaAnd land alternate claim, whene'er the tidePours in amain or when the wave rolls backBe it the wind which thus compels the deepFrom 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 mainI leave to others; let the gods for meLock in their breasts the secrets of the world.Those who keep watch beside the western shoreHave moved their standards home; the happy GaulRejoices in their absence; fair GaronneThrough peaceful meads glides onward to the sea.And where the river broadens, neath the capeHer quiet harbour sleeps. No outstretched armExcept in mimic war now hurls the lance.No skilful warrior of Seine directsThe chariot scythed against his country's foe.Now rest the Belgians, and th' Arvernian raceThat boasts our kinship by descent from Troy;And those brave rebels whose undaunted handsWere dipped in Cotta's blood, and those who wearSarmatian garb. Batavia's warriors fierceNo longer listen for the trumpet's call,Nor those who dwell where Rhone's swift eddies sweepSaone to the ocean; nor the mountain tribesWho dwell about its source. Thou, too, oh Treves,Rejoicest that the war has left thy bounds.Ligurian tribes, now shorn, in ancient daysFirst of the long-haired nations, on whose necksOnce flowed the auburn locks in pride supreme;And those who pacify with blood accursedSavage Teutates, Hesus' horrid shrines,And Taranis' altars, cruel as were thoseLoved by Diana, goddess of the north;All these now rest in peace. And you, ye Bards,Whose martial lays send down to distant timesThe 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 godsTo know or not to know; secluded grovesYour dwelling-place, and forests far remote.If what ye sing be true, the shades of menSeek not the dismal homes of ErebusOr death's pale kingdoms; but the breath of lifeStill rules these bodies in another age-Life on this hand and that, and death between.Happy the peoples 'neath the Northern StarIn this their false belief; for them no fearOf that which frights all others: they with handsAnd hearts undaunted rush upon the foeAnd scorn to spare the life that shall return.Ye too depart who kept the banks of RhineSafe from the foe, and leave the Teuton tribesFree at their will to march upon the world.When strength increased gave hope of greater deedsCaesar dispersed throughout Italia's boundsHis countless bands, and filled the neighbouring towns.Then empty rumour to well-grounded fearGave strength, and heralding the coming warIn 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 pitilessAnd fiercer far-as from his conquered foesAdvancing; 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 firstIssuing their hated order, as for war;And doubting of the peril, doubting tooWhere safety lay, through all the choking gatesIn dense array they urged the people forth.Thou wouldst believe that blazing to the torchWere men's abodes, or nodding to their fall.So streamed they onwards, frenzied with affright,As though in exile only could they findHope for their country. So, when southern blastsFrom Libyan whirlpools drive the boundless main,And mast and sail crash down upon a shipWith ponderous weight, but still the frame is sound,Her crew and captain leap into the sea,Each making shipwreck for himself. 'Twas thusThey 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 godsTo grant the safety of their fatherland.None linger on the threshold for a lookOf their loved city, though perchance the last.Ye gods, who lavish priceless gifts on men,Nor care to guard them given! thus was RomeTeeming with conquered nations, whose vast wallsHad compassed all mankind, by coward handsTo coming Caesar left an easy prey.The Roman soldier, when in foreign landsPressed by the enemy, in narrow trenchAnd hurried mound finds guard enough to makeHis tented sleep secure: thou Rome aloneUpon the rumour of advancing warArt left a desert, and thy battlementsNot trusted for a night. Yet for their fearThis one excuse was left; Pompeius fled.
Deseruere cavo tentoria fixa Lemano,Castraque, quae, Vogesi curvam super ardua rupem,Pugnaces pictis cohibebant Lingonas armis.Hi vada liquerunt Isarae, qui, gurgite ductusPer tam multa suo, famae maioris in amnemLapsus, 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 portusUrget rupe cava pelagus: non Corus in illumIus habet, aut Zephyrus: solus sua litora turbatCircius, et tuta prohibet statione Monoeci.Quaque iacet litus dubium, quod terra fretumqueVindicat alternis vicibus, cum funditur ingensOceanus, vel cum refugis se fluctibus aufert.Ventus ab extremo pelagus sic axe volutet,Destituatque ferens; an sidere mota secundoTethyos 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 semperTu, quaecumque moves tam crebros causa meatus,Ut superi voluere, late. Tunc rura NemetisQui tenet, et ripas Aturi, qua litore curvoMolliter 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 rebellisNervius, et caesi pollutus sanguine Cottae;Et qui te laxis imitantur, Sarmata, braccis,Vangiones: Batavique truces, quos aere recurvoStridentes acuere tubae: qua Cinga pererratGurgite: qua Rhodanus raptum velocibus undisIn mare fert Ararim: qua montibus ardua summisGens 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 decorsCrinibus effusis toti praelate Comatae:Et quibus immitis placatur sanguine diroTeutates, horrensque feris altaribus Hesus,Et Taranis Scythicae non mitior ara Dianae.Vos quoque, qui fortes animas, belloque peremtasLaudibus in longum vates dimittitis aevum,Plurima securi fudistis carmina, Bardi.Et vos barbaricos ritus moremque sinistrumSacrorum, Druidae, positis repetistis ab armis.Solis nosse deos et coeli numina vobis,Aut solis nescire datum. Nemora alta remotisIncolitis lucis. Vobis auctoribus, umbraeNon tacitas Erebi sedes Ditisque profundiPallida regna petunt: regit idem spiritus artusOrbe alio: longae (canitis si cognita) vitaeMors media est. Certe populi, quos despicit Arctos,Felices errore suo, quos ille timorumMaximus haud urget, leti metus. Inde ruendiIn ferrum mens prona viris, animaeque capacesMortis: et ignavum, rediturae parcere vitae.Et vos, cirrigeros bellis arcere CaycosOppositi, petitis Romam, Rhenique ferocesDeseritis ripas, et apertum gentibus orbem.Caesar, ut immensae collecto robore viresAudendi maiora fidem fecere, per omnemSpargitur Italiam, vicinaque moenia complet.Vana quoque ad veros accessit fama timores,Irrupitque animos populi, clademque futuramIntulit, et velox properantis nuntia belliInnumeras solvit falsa in praeconia linguas.Est, qui, tauriferis ubi se Mevania campisExplicat, audaces ruere in certamina turmasAdferat, 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 ferusqueMentibus 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 pavendoDat vires famae: nulloque auctore malorum,Quae finxere timent. Nec solum vulgus inaniPerculsum terrore pavet: sed curia et ipsiSedibus exsiluere Patres, invisaque belliConsulibus fugiens mandat decreta senatus.Tunc quae tuta petant, et quae metuenda relinquant,Incerti, quo quemque fugae tulit impetus, urgentPraecipitem populum serieque haerentia longaAgmina prorumpunt. Credas, aut tecta nefandasCorripuisse faces, aut iam, quatiente ruina,Nutantes pendere domos: sic turba per urbemPraecipiti lymphata gradu, velut unica rebusSpes foret adflictis, patrios excedere muros,Inconsulta ruit. Qualis, cum turbidus AusterRepulit a Libycis immensum Syrtibus aequor,Fractaque veliferi sonuerunt pondera mali,Desilit in fluctus, deserta puppe, magisterNavitaque, et, nondum sparsa compage carinae,Naufragium sibi quisque facit: sic, urbe relicta,In bellum fugitur. Nullum iam languidus aevoEvaluit revocare parens, coniunxve maritumFletibus, aut patrii, dubiae dum vota salutisConciperent, tenuere Lares: nec limine quisquamHaesit et extremo tunc forsitan urbis amataePlenus abit visu: ruit irrevocabile vulgus.O faciles dare summa deos, eademque tueriDifficiles! Urbem, populis victisque frequentemGentibus, et generis, coeat si turba, capacemHumani, facilem venturo Caesare praedamIgnavae liquere manus. Cum pressus ab hosteClauditur externis miles Romanus in oris,Effugit exiguo nocturne pericula vallo,Et subitus rapti munimine cespitis aggerPraebet 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
Nor found they room for hope; for nature gaveUnerring portents of worse ills to come.The angry gods filled earth and air and seaWith frequent prodigies; in darkest nightsStrange constellations sparkled through the gloom:The pole was all afire, and torches flewAcross the depths of heaven; with horrid hairA blazing comet stretched from east to westAnd threatened change to kingdoms. From the bluePale lightning flashed, and in the murky airThe fire took divers shapes; a lance afarWould seem to quiver or a misty torch;A noiseless thunderbolt from cloudless skyRushed down, and drawing fire in northern partsPlunged on the summit of the Alban mount.The stars that run their courses in the voidOf night, came forth at noontide, and the moonWhose 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 gloomAnd plunged the world in darkness, so that menDespaired of day-like as he veiled his lightFrom that fell banquet which Mycenae saw.The jaws of Etna were agape with flameThat rose not heavenwards, but headlong fellIn smoking stream upon th' Italian flank.Then black Charybdis, from her boundless depth,Threw up a gory sea. In piteous tonesHowled the wild dogs; the Vestal fire was snatchedFrom off the altar; and the flame that crownedThe Latin festival was split in twain,As on the Theban pyre, in ancient days;Earth tottered on its base: the mighty AlpsFrom off their summits shook th' eternal snow.In huge upheaval Ocean raised his wavesO'er Calpe's rock and Atlas' hoary head.The native gods shed tears, and holy sweatDropped from the idols; gifts in temples fell:Foul birds defiled the day; beasts left the woodsAnd made their lair among the streets of Rome.All this we hear; nay more: dumb oxen spake;Monsters were brought to birth and mothers shriekedAt their own offspring; words of dire importFrom Cumae's prophetess were noised abroad.Bellona's priests with bleeding arms, and slavesOf Cybele's worship, with ensanguined hair,Howled chants of havoc and of woe to men.Arms clashed; and sounding in the pathless woodsWere 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 erstAt Thebes urged on Agave, or which hurledLycurgus' bolts, or that which as he cameFrom Hades seen, at haughty Juno's word,Brought terror to the soul of Hercules.Trumpets like those that summon armies forthWere heard re-echoing in the silent night:And from the earth arising Sulla's ghostSang gloomy oracles, and by Anio's waveAll fled the homesteads, frighted by the shadeOf 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 abodeIn desolate Luca, came, well versed in allThe lore of omens; knowing what may meanThe flight of hovering bird, the pulse that beatsIn offered victims, and the levin bolt.All monsters first, by most unnatural birthBrought into being, in accursed flamesHe bids consume. Then round the walls of RomeEach trembling citizen in turn proceeds.The priests, chief guardians of the public faith,With holy sprinkling purge the open spaceThat borders on the wall; in sacred garbFollows the lesser crowd: the Vestals comeBy priestess led with laurel crown bedecked,To whom alone is given the right to seeMinerva's effigy that came from Troy.Next come the keepers of the sacred booksAnd fate's predictions; who from Almo's brookBring back Cybebe laved; the augur tooTaught 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 headThe cap of office. While they tread the pathThat winds around the walls, the aged seerCollects the thunderbolts that fell from heaven,And lays them deep in earth, with muttered wordsNaming the spot accursed. Next a steer,Picked for his swelling neck and beauteous form,He leads to the altar, and with slanting knifeSpreads on his brow the meal, and pours the wine.The victim's struggles prove the gods averse;But when the servers press upon his hornsHe bends the knee and yields him to the blow.No crimson torrent issues at the stroke,But from the wound a dark empoisoned streamEbbs slowly downward. Aruns at the sightAghast, upon the entrails of the beastEssayed to read the anger of the gods.Their very colour terrified the seer;Spotted they were and pale, with sable streaksOf lukewarm gore bespread; the liver dampWith foul disease, and on the hostile partThe angry veins defiant; of the lungsThe fibre hid, and through the vital partsThe 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 twainThe one lies flat and sick, the other beatsAnd 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 wordsInvolved, mysterious.
Spes saltem trepidas mentes levet, addita fatiPeioris manifesta fides, superique minacesProdigiis terras implerunt, aethera, pontum.Ignota obscurae viderunt sidera noctes,Ardentemque polum flammis, coeloque volantesObliquas per inane faces, crinemque timendiSideris, et terris nutantem regna cometen.Fulgura fallaci micuerunt crebra sereno,Et varias ignis denso dedit aere formas:Nunc iaculum longo, nunc sparso lumine lampasEmicuit coelo. Tacitum sine nubibus ullisFulmen, et Arctois rapiens e partibus ignem,Percussit Latiale caput: stellaeque minoresPer vacuum solitae noctis decurrere tempus,In medium venere diem: cornuque coactoIam 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 coegitDesperare diem: qualem fugiente per ortusSole Thyesteae noctem duxere Mycenae.Ora ferox Siculae laxavit Mulciber Aetnae;Nec tulit in coelum flammas, sed vertice pronoIgnis in Hesperium cecidit latus. Atra CharybdisSanguineum fundo torsit mare. Flebile saeviLatravere canes. Vestali raptus ab araIgnis; et ostendens confectas flamma LatinasScinditur in partes, geminoque cacumine surgit,Thebanos imitata rogos. Tunc cardine tellusSubsedit, veteremque, iugis nutantibus, AlpesDiscussere nivem. Tethys maioribus undisHesperiam Calpen, summumque implevit Atlanta.Indigetes flevisse deos, urbisque laboremTestatos sudore Lares, delapsaque templisDona suis, dirasque diem foedasse volucresAccipimus; silvisque feras sub nocte relictisAudaces media posuisse cubilia Roma.tunc pecudum faciles humana ad murmura linguae,Monstrosique hominum partus numeroque modoqueMembrorum, matremque suus conterruit infans:Diraque per populum Cumanae carmina vatisVulgantur. Tunc, quos sectis Bellona lacertisSaeva movet, cecinere deos: crinemque rotantesSanguineum populis ulularunt tristia Galli.Compositis plenae gemuerunt ossibus urnae.Tunc fragor armorum, magnaeque per avia vocesAuditae 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 AgavenImpulit, aut saevi contorsit tela LycurgiEumenis: aut qualem iussu Iunonis iniquaeHorruit Alcides, viso iam Dite, Megaeram.Insonuere tubae, et quanto clamore cohortesMiscentur, tantum nox atra silentibus umbrisEdidit. Et medio visi consurgere CampoTristia Sullani cecinere oracula manes:Tollentemque caput gelidas Anienis ad undasAgricolae fracto Marium fugere sepulchro.Haec propter placuit Tuscos de more vetustoAcciri vates. Quorum qui maximus aevoAruns incoluit desertae moenia Lucae,Fulminis edoctus motus, venasque calentesFibrarum, et monitus volitantis in aere pennae,Monstra iubet primum, nullo quae semine discorsProtulerat natura, rapi, sterilique nefandosEx utero fetus infaustis urere flammis.Mox iubet et totam pavidis a civibus urbemAmbiri, et festo purgantes moenia lustro,Longa per extremos pomoeria cingere finesPontifices, 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 urbemCircueunt, Aruns dispersos fulminis ignesColligit, et terrae moesto cum murmure condit,Datque locis nomen sacris. tunc admovet arisElecta cervice marem. Iam fundere BacchumCeperat, 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 largoDiffusum rutilo nigrum pro sanguine virus.Palluit attonitus sacris feralibus Aruns,Atque iram superum raptis quaesivit in extis.Terruit ipse color vatem: nam pallida taetrisViscera tincta notis, gelidoque infecta cruorePlurimus adsperso variabat sanguine livor.Cernit tabe iecur madidum: venasque minacesHostili de parte videt. Pulmonis anheliFibra latet, parvusque secat vitalia limes.Cor iacet: et saniem per hiantes viscera rimasEmittunt: produntque suas omenta latebras.Quodque (nefas) nullis impune apparuit extis,Ecce, videt capiti fibrarum increscere molemAlterius 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 monetisProdere me populis: neque enim tibi summe litaviIuppiter hoc sacrum: caesique in pectora tauriInferni venere dei. Non fanda timemus:Sed venient maiora metu. Di visa secundent,Et fibris sit nulla fides; sed conditor artisFinxerit ista Tages. Flexa sic omina TuscusInvolvens multaque tegens ambage canebat.
Figulus, to whomFor knowledge of the secret depths of spaceAnd laws harmonious that guide the starsMemphis 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 heardHis words prophetic made them fear the more.But worse remained; for as on Pindus' slopesPossessed with fury from the Theban godSpeeds some Bacchante, thus in Roman streetsBehold 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 worldOnce 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.
At Figulus, cui cura deos secretaque coeliNosse fuit, quem non stellarum Aegyptia MemphisAequaret visu, numerisque moventibus astra,Aut hic errat, ait, nulla cum lege per aevumMundus, et incerto discurrunt sidera motu:Aut, si fata movent, Urbi generique paraturHumano matura lues. Terraene dehiscent,Subsidentque urbes? an tollet fervidus aerTemperiem? segetes tellus infida negabit?Omnis an infusis miscebitur unda venenis?Quod cladis genus, o superi, qua peste paratisSaevitiam? Extremi multorum tempus in unumConvenere dies. Summo si frigida coeloStella nocens nigros Saturni accenderet ignes,Deucalioneos fudisset Aquarius imbres,Totaque diffuso latuisset in aequore tellus.Si saevum radiis Nemeaeum, Phoebe, LeonemNunc premeres, toto fluerent incendia mundo,Succensusque tuis flagrasset curribus aether.Hi cessant ignes: tu, qui flagrante minacemScorpion incendis cauda, chelasque peruris,Quid tantum, Gradive, paras? Nam mitis in altoIuppiter occasu premitur, Venerisque salubreSidus hebet, motuque celer Cyllenius haeret,Et coelum Mars solus habet. Cur signa meatusDeseruere suos, mundoque obscura feruntur:Ensiferi nimium fulget latus Orionis?Imminet armorum rabies: ferrique potestasConfundet ius omne manu: scelerique nefandoNomen erit virtus: multosque exibit in annosHic furor. Et superos quid prodest poscere finem?Cum domino pax ista venit. Duc, Roma, malorumContinuam seriem, clademque in tempora multaExtrahe, civili tantum iam libera bello.Terruerant satis haec pavidam praesagia plebem:Sed maiora premunt. Nam qualis vertice PindiEdonis 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 raptamConstituis terra? Video Pangaea nivosisCana iugis, latoque Aemi sub rupe Philippos.Quis furor hic, o Phoebe, doce: quo tela manusqueRomanae 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 arenaQui iacet, agnosco: dubiam super aequora SyrtinArentemque feror Libyen, quo tristis ErinnysTranstulit Emathias acies. Nunc desuper AlpisNubiferae colles, atque aeriam PyrenenAbripimur. Patriae sedes remeamus in urbis,Impiaque in medio peraguntur bella senatu.Consurgunt partes iterum, totumque per orbemRursus eo. Nova da mihi cernere litora Ponti,Telluremque novam: vidi iam, Phoebe, Philippos.Haec ait, et lasso iacuit defecta furore.