Thus did they pass, as though in peace profound,The nightly watches. But Pothinus' mind,Once with accursed butchery imbued,Was frenzied still; since great Pompeius fellNo deed to him was crime; his rabid soulTh' avenging goddesses and Magnus' shadeStirred to fresh horrors; and a Pharian handNo less was worthy, as he deemed, to shedThat blood which Fortune purposed should bedewThe conquered fathers: and the fell revengeDue to the senate for the civil warThis hireling almost snatched. Avert, ye fates,Far hence the shame that not by Brutus' handThis blow be struck! Shall thus the tyrant's fall,Just at our hands, become a Pharian crime.Reft of example? To prepare a plan(Fated to fail) he dares; nor veils in fraudA plot for murder, but with open warAttacks th' unconquered chieftain: from his crimesHe gained such courage as to send commandTo lop the head of Caesar, and to joinIn death the kinsmen chiefs. These words by nightHis faithful servants to Achillas bear,His foul associate, whom the boy had madeChief of his armies, and who ruled aloneO'er Egypt's land and o'er himself her king:' Now lay thy limbs upon the sumptuous couch' And sleep in luxury, for the Queen hath seized'The palace; nor alone by her betrayed,' But Caesar's gift, is Pharos. Dost delay' Nor hasten to the chamber of thy Queen?' Thou only? Married to the Latian chief,'The impious sister now her brother weds' And hurrying from rival spouse to spouse' Hath Egypt won, and plays the bawd for Rome.' By amorous potions she has won the man:' Then trust the boy! Yet give him but a night' In her enfondling arms, and drunk with love' Thy life and mine he'll barter for a kiss.' We for his sister's charms by cross and flame' Shall pay the penalty: nor hope of aid;' Here stands adulterous Caesar, here the King' Her spouse: how hope we from so stern a judge' To gain acquittal? Shall she not condemn'Those who ne'er sought her favours? By the deedWe dared together and lost, by Magnus' blood' Which wrought the bond between us, be thou swift' With hasty tumult to arouse the war:' Dash in with nightly band, and mar with death' Their shameless nuptials: on the very bedWith either lover smite the ruthless Queen.' Nor let the fortunes of the Western chief' Make pause our enterprise. We share with him' The glory of his empire o'er the world.' Pompeius fallen makes us too sublime,There lies the shore that bids us hope success:Ask of our power from the polluted wave,And gaze upon the scanty tomb which holdsNot all Pompeius' ashes. Peer to himWas he whom now thou fearest. Noble blood,' True, is not ours: what boots it? Nor are realms' Nor wealth of peoples given to our command.'Yet have we risen to a height of powerFor deeds of blood, and Fortune to our handsAttracts her victims. Lo! a nobler nowLies in our compass, and a second deathHesperia shall appease; for Caesar's blood,Shed by these hands, shall give us this, that RomeShall love us, guilty of Pompeius' fall.Why fear these titles, why this chieftain's strength?For shorn of these, before your swords he liesA common soldier. To the civil warThis night shall bring completion, and shall giveTo peoples slain fit offerings, and sendThat life the world demands beneath the shades.Rise then in all your hardihood and smiteThis Caesar down, and let the Roman youthsStrike for themselves, and Lagos for its King.No do thou tarry: full of wine and feastThou'lt fall upon him in the lists of love;Then dare the venture, and the heavenly godsShall grant of Cato's and of Brutus' prayersTo thee fulfilment.'Nor was Achillas slowTo hear the voice that counselled him to crime.No sounding clarion summoned, as is wont,His troops to arms; nor trumpet blare betrayedTheir nightly march: but rapidly he seizedAll needed instruments of blood and war.Of Latian race the most part of his train,Yet to barbarian customs were their mindsBy long forgetfulness of Rome debased:Else had it shamed to serve the Pharian King;But now his vassal and his minion's wordCompel obedience. Those who serve in campsLose faith and love of kin: their pittance earnedMakes just the deed: and for their sordid pay,Not for themselves, they threaten Caesar's life.Where finds the piteous destiny of the realmRome with herself at peace? The host withdrawnFrom dread Thessalia raves on Nilus' banksAs all the race of Rome. What more had dared,With Magnus welcomed, the Lagean house?Each hand must render to the gods their due,Nor son of Rome may cease from civil war;By Heaven's command our state was rent in twain;Nor love for husband nor regard for sireParted our peoples. 'Twas a slave who stirredAfresh the conflict, and Achillas graspedIn turn the sword of Rome: nay more, had won,Had not the fates adverse restrained his handFrom Caesar's slaughter.For the murderous pairRipe for their plot were met; the spacious hallStill busied with the feast. So might have flowedInto the kingly cups a stream of gore,And in mid banquet fallen Caesar's head.Yet did they fear lest in the nightly strife(The fates permitting) some incautious hand-So did they trust the sword-might slay the King.Thus stayed the deed, for in the minds of slavesThe chance of doing Caesar to the deathMight bear postponement: when the day aroseThen should he suffer; and a night of lifeThus by Pothinus was to Caesar given.
Sic velut in tuta securi pace trahebantNoctis iter mediae: sed non vesana PothiniMens imbuta semel tam sacra caede, vacabatA scelerum motu. Magno nihil ille peremtoIam putat esse nefas: habitant sub pectore manes,Ultricesque deae dant in nova monstra furorem.Dignatur viles isto quoque sanguine dextras,Quo Fortuna parat victos perfundere Patres;Poenaque civilis belli, vindicta senatusPaene data est famulo. Procul hoc avertite, fata,Crimen, ut haec Bruto cervix absente secetur.In scelus it Pharium Romani poena tyranni,Exemplumque perit. Struit audax irrita fatis:Nec parat occultae caedem committere fraudi,Invictumque ducem detecto Marte lacessit.Tantum animi delicta dabant, ut colla ferireCaesaris, et socerum iungi tibi, Magne, iuberet:Atque haec dicta monet famulos perferre fidelesAd Pompeianae socium sibi caedis Achillam,Quem puer imbellis cunctis praefecerat armis,Et dederat ferrum, nullo sibi iure retento,In cunctos, in seque simul. Tu mollibus, inquit,Nunc incumbe toris, et pingues exige somnos:Invasit Cleopatra domum. Nec prodita tantum est,Sed donata Pharos. Cessas accurrere solusAd dominae thalamos? Nubit soror impia fratri:Nam Latio iam nupta duci est: interque maritosDiscurrens Aegypton habet, Romamque meretur.Expugnare senem potuit Cleopatra venenis:Crede, miser, puero: quem nox si iunxerit una,Et semel amplexus incesto pectore passusHauserit obscoenum titulo pietatis amorem,Meque tuumque caput per singula forsitan illiOscula donabit. Crucibus flammisque luemus,Si fuerit formosa soror. Nil undique restatAuxilii: rex hinc coniux, hinc Caesar adulter.Et sumus, ut fatear, tam saeva iudice sontes:Quem non ex nobis credet Cleopatra nocentem,A quo casta fuit? Per, te, quod fecimus unaPerdidimusque nefas, perque ictum sanguine MagniFoedus, ades: subito bellum molire tumultu:Irrue nocturnus: rumpamus funere taedas,Crudelemque toris dominam mactemus in ipsisCum quocumque viro. Nec nos deterreat ausisHesperii Fortuna ducis. Quae sustulit illumImposuitque orbi, communis gloria nobis:Nos quoque sublimes Magnus facit. Adspice litus,Spem nostri sceleris: pollutos consule fluctus,Quid liceat nobis: tumulumque e pulvere parvoAdspice Pompeii non omnia membra tegentem.Quem metuis, par huius erat. Non sanguine clari:Quid refert? nec opes populorum ac regna movemus:Ad scelus ingentis fati sumus. Adtrahit illosIn nostras Fortuna manus. En, altera venitVictima nobilior. Placemus caede secundaHesperias gentes. Iugulus mihi Caesaris haustusHoc praestare potest, Pompeii caede nocentesUt populus Romanus amet. Quid nomina tantaHorremus, viresque ducis, quibus ille relictisMiles erit? Nox haec peraget civilia bella,Inferiasque dabit populis, et mittet ad umbras.Quod debetur adhuc mundo caput. Ite ferocesCaesaris in iugulum: praestet Lagea iuventusHoc regi, Romana sibi. Tu parce morari:Plenum epulis, madidumque mero, Venerique paratumInvenies: aude: superi tot vota CatonumBrutorumque tibi tribuent. Noli segnis AchillasSuadenti parere nefas. Haud clara movendis,Ut mos, signa dedit castris, nec prodidit armaUllius clangore tubae: temere omnia saeviInstrumenta rapit belli. Pars maxima turbaePlebis erat Latiae: sed tanta oblivio mentesCepit, in externos corrupto milite mores,Ut duce sub famulo iussuque satellitis irent,Quos erat indignum Phario parere tyranno.Nulla fides pietasque viris, qui castra sequuntur;Venalesque manus, ubi fas, ubi maxima merces,Aere merent parvo: iugulumque in Caesaris ireNon sibi dant. Pro fas! ubi non civilia bellaInvenit imperii fatum miserabile nostri?Thessaliae subducta acies in litore NiliMore furit patrio. Quid te plus, Magne, receptoAusa foret Lagea domus? Dat scilicet omnisDextera, quod debet superis: nullique vacareFas est Romano. Latium sic scindere corpusDis placitum: non in soceri generique favoremDiscedunt populi: civilia bella satellesMovit, et in partem Romani venit Achillas.Et nisi fata manus a sanguine Caesaris arcent,Hae vincent partes. Aderat maturus uterque,Et districta epulis ad cunctas aula patebatInsidias, poteratque cruor per regia fundiPocula Caesareus, mensaeque incumbere cervix.Sed metuunt belli trepidos in nocte tumultus,Ne caedes confusa mauu permissaque fatisTe, Ptolemaee, trahat. Tanta est fiducia ferri.Non rapuere nefas: summi contemta facultasEst operis: visum famulis reparabile damnum,Illam mactandi dimittere Caesaris horam.Servatur poenas in aperta luce daturus.Donata est nox una duci, vixitque PothiniMunere Phoebeos Caesar dilatus in ortus.
Now from the Casian rock looked forth the SunFlooding the land of Egypt with a dayWarm from its earliest dawn, when from the wallsNot wandering in disorder are they seen,But drawn in close array, as though to meetA foe opposing; ready to receiveOr give the battle. Caesar, in the townPlacing no trust, within the palace courtsLay in ignoble hiding place, the gatesClose barred: nor all the kingly rooms possessed,But in the narrowest portion of the spaceHe drew his band together. There in armsThey stood, with dread and fury in their souls.He feared attack, indignant at his fear.Thus will a noble beast in little cageImprisoned, fume, and break upon the barsHis teeth in frenzied wrath; nor more would rageThe flames of Vulcan in Sicilian depthsShould Etna's top be closed. He who but nowBy Haemus' mount against Pompeius chief,Italia's leaders and the Senate line,His cause forbidding hope, looked at the fatesHe knew were hostile, with unfaltering gaze,Now fears before the crime of hireling slaves,And in mid palace trembles at the blow:He whom nor Scythian nor Alaun had daredTo violate, nor the Moor who aims the dartUpon his victim slain, to prove his skill.The Roman world but now did not sufficeTo hold him, nor the realms from furthest IndTo Tyrian Gades. Now, as puny boy,Or woman, trembling when a town is sacked,Within the narrow corners of a houseHe seeks for safety; on the portals closedHis hope of life: and with uncertain gaitHe treads the halls; yet not without the King;In purpose, Ptolemaeus, that thy lifeFor his shall give atonement; and to hurlThy severed head among the servant throngShould darts and torches fail. So story tellsThe Colchian princess with sword in hand,And with her brother's neck bared to the blow,Waited her sire, avenger of his realmDespoiled, and of her flight. In the imminent riskCaesar, in hopes of peace, an envoy sentTo the fierce vassals, from their absent lordBearing a message, thus: ' At whose commandWage ye the war?' But not the laws which bindAll nations upon earth, nor sacred rights,Availed to save or messenger of peace,Or King's ambassador; or thee from crimeSuch as befitted thee, thou land of NileFruitful in monstrous deeds: not Juba's realm,Vast though it be, nor Pontus, nor the landThessalian, nor the arms of Pharnaces,Nor yet the tracts which chill Iberus girds,Nor Libyan coasts such wickedness have dared,As thou, and all thy minions. Closer nowWar hemmed them in, and weapons in the courts,Shaking the innermost recesses, fell.Yet did no ram, fatal with single stroke,Assail the portal, nor machine of war;Nor flame they called in aid; but blind of planThey wander purposeless, in separate bandsAround the circuit, nor at any spotWith strength combined attempt to breach the wall.The fates forbad, and Fortune from their handsHeld fast the palace as a battlement.Nor failed they to attack from ships of warThe regal dwelling, where its frontage boldMade stand apart the waters of the deep:There, too, was Caesar's all-protecting arm;For these at point of sword, and those with fireHe forces back, and though besieged he daresTo storm th' assailants: and as lay the shipsJoined rank to rank, bids drop upon their sidesLamps drenched with reeking tar. Nor slow the fireTo seize the hempen cables and the decksOozing with melting pitch; the oarsman's benchAll in one moment, and the topmost yardsBurst into flame: half merged the vessels layWhile swam the foemen, all in arms, the wave;Nor fell the blaze upon the ships alone,But seized with writhing tongues the neighbouring homes,And fanned to fury by the Southern breezeTempestuous, it leaped from roof to roof;Not otherwise than on its heavenly track,Unfed by matter, glides the ball of light,By air alone aflame.This pest recalledSome of the forces to the city's aidFrom the besieged halls. Nor Caesar gaveTo sleep its season; swifter than all elseTo seize the crucial moment of the war.Quick in the darkest watches of the nightHe leaped upon his ships, and Pharos seized,Gate of the main; an island in the daysOf Proteus seer, now bordering the wallsOf Alexander's city. Thus he gainedA double vantage, for his foes were pentWithin the narrow entrance, which for himAnd for his aids gave access to the sea.Nor longer was Pothinus' doom delayed,Yet not with cross or flame, nor with the wrathHis crime demanded; nor by savage beastsTorn, did he suffer; but by Magnus' death,Alas the shame! he fell; his head by swordHacked from his shoulders. Next by frauds preparedBy Ganymede her base attendant, fledArsinoe from the Court to Caesar's foes;There in the absence of the King she ruledAs of Lagean blood: there at her hands,The savage minion of the tyrant boy,Achillas, fell by just avenging sword.Thus did another victim to thy shadeAtone, Pompeius; but the gods forbidThat this be all thy vengeance! Not the KingNor all the stock of Lagos for thy deathWould make fit sacrifice! So Fortune deemed;And not till patriot swords shall drink the bloodOf Caesar, Magnus, shalt thou be appeased.Still, though was slain the author of the strife,Sank not their rage: with Ganymede for chiefAgain they rush to arms; in deeds of fightAgain they conquer. So might that one dayHave witnessed Caesar's fate; so might its fameHave lived through ages.As the Roman Chief,Crushed on the narrow surface of the mole,Prepared to throw his troops upon the ships,Sudden upon him the surrounding foesWith all their terrors came. In dense arrayTheir navy lined the shores, while on the rearThe footmen ceaseless charged. No hope was left,For flight was not, nor could the brave man's armAchieve or safety or a glorious death.Not now were needed for great Caesar's fall,Caught in the toils of nature, routed hostOr mighty heaps of slain: his only doubtTo fear or hope for death: while on his brainBrave Scaeva's image flashed, now vainly sought,Who on the wall by Epidamnus' fieldsEarned fame immortal, and with single armDrove back Pompeius as he trod the breach.
Lucifer a Casia prospexit rupe, diemqueMisit in Aegyptum, primo quoque sole calentem,Cum procul a muris acies non sparsa maniplisNec vaga conspicitur, sed iustos qualis ad hostesRecta fronte venit, Passuri cominus arma,Laturique ruunt. At Caesar, moenibus urbisDiffisus, foribus clausae se protegit aulae,Degeneres passus latebras. Nec tota vacabatRegia compresso; minima collegerat armaParte domus: tangunt animos iraeque metusque:Et timet incursus, indignaturque timere.Sic fremit in parvis fera nobilis abdita claustris,Et frangit rabidos praemorso carcere dentes;Nec secus in Siculis fureret tua flamma cavernis,Obstrueret summam si quis tibi, Mulciber, Aetnam.Audax Thessalici nuper qui rupe sub AemiHesperiae cunctos proceres aciemque senatusPompeiumque ducem, caussa spectare vetante,Non timuit, fatumque sibi promisit iniquum,Expavit servile nefas, intraque penatesObruitur telis: quem non violasset Alanus,Non Scytha, non fixo qui ludit in hospite Maurus;Hic, cui Romani spatium non sufficit orbis,Parvaque regna putat Tyriis cum Gadibus Indos,Ceu puer imbellis, ceu captis femina muris,Quaerit tuta domus: spem vitae in limine clausoPonit, et incerto lustrat vagus atria cursu:Non sine rege tamen; quem ducit in omnia secum,Sumturus poenas et grata piacula morti,Missurusque tuum, si non sint tela nec ignes,In famulos, Ptolemaee, caput. Sic barbara ColchisCreditur, ultorem metuens regnique fugaeque,Ense suo fratrisque simul cervice parataExspectasse patrem. Cogunt tamen ultima rerumSpem pacis tentare ducem: missusque satellesRegius, ut saevos absentia voce tyranniCorriperet famulos, quo bellum auctore moverent.Sed neque ius mundi valuit, neque foedera sanctaGentibus: orator regis pacisque sequesterAestimat in numero scelerum ponenda tuorum,Tot monstris Aegypte nocens. Non Thessala tellus,Vastaque regna Iubae, non Pontus et impia signaPharnacis, et gelido circumfluus orbis IberoTantum ausus scelerum, non Syrtis barbara, quantumDeliciae fecere tuae. Premit undique bellum,Inque domum iam tela cadunt, quassantque penates.Non aries uno moturus limina pulsu,Fracturusque domum; non ulla est machina belli:Nec flammis mandatur opus: sed caeca iuventusConsilii, vastos ambit divulsa penates,Et nusquam totis incursat viribus agmen.Fata vetant, murique vicem Fortuna tuetur.Nec non et ratibus tentatur regia, qua seProtulit in medios audaci margine fluctusLuxuriosa domus. Sed abest defensor ubiqueCaesar, et hos aditu gladiis, hos ignibus arcet:Obsessusque gerit (tanta est constantia mentis)Expugnantis opus. Piceo iubet unguine tinctasLampadas immitti iunctis in vela carinis.Nec piger ignis erat per stuppea vincula perqueManantes cera tabulas: et tempore eodemTranstraque nautarum summique arsere ceruchi.Iam prope semustae merguntur in aequore classes,Iamque hostes et tela natant. Nec puppibus ignisIncubuit solis: sed quae vicina fuereTecta mari, longis rapuere vaporibus ignem:Et cladem fovere Noti, percussaque flamaTurbine, non alio motu per tecta cucurrit,Quam solet aetherio lampas discurrere sulco,Materiaque carens atque ardens aere solo.Illa lues clausa paullum revocavit ab aulaUrbis in auxilium populos. Nec tempora cladisPerdidit in somnos, sed caeca nocte carinisInsiluit Caesar, semper feliciter ususPraecipiti cursu bellorum, et tempore rapto.Tunc claustrum pelagi cepit Pharon. Insula quondamIn medio stetit illa mari, sub tempore vatisProteos: at nunc est Pellaeis proxima muris.Illa duci geminos bellorum praestitit usus:Abstulit excursus et fauces aequoris hosti;Caesaris auxiliis aditus et libera pontiOstia permisit. Nec poenas inde PothiniDistulit ulterius sed non qua debuit ira,Non cruce, non flammis, rabido non dente ferarum;Heu facinus! cervix gladio male caesa pependit:Magni morte perit! Nec non, subrepta paratisA famulo Ganymede dolis, pervenit ad hostesCaesaris Arsinoe: quae castra carentia rege,Ut proles Lagea, tenet, famulumque tyranniTerribilem iusto transegit Achillea ferro.Altera, Magne, tuis iam victima mittitur umbris:Nec satis hoc Fortuna putat. Procul absit, ut istaVindictae sit summa tuae. Non ipse tyrannusSufficit in poenas, non omnis regia Lagi.Dum patrii veniant in viscera Caesaris enses,Magnus inultus erit. Sed non auctore furorisSublato cecidit rabies: nam rursus in armaAuspiciis Ganymedis eunt: ac multa secundoProelia Marte gerunt. Potuit, discrimine summoCaesaris, illa dies in famam et saecula mitti.Molis in exiguae spatio stipantibus armis,Dum parat in vacuus Martem transferre carinasDux Latius, tota subiti formidine belliCingitur: hinc densae praetexunt litora classes,Hinc tergo insultant pedites: via nulla salutis,Non fuga, non virtus: vix spes quoque mortis honestae.Non acie fusa, nec magnae stragis acervoVincendus tunc Caesar erat, sed sanguine nullo,Captus sorte loci. Pendet, dubiusne timeret,Optaretne mori. Respexit in agmine densoScaevam, perpetuae meritum iam nomina famaeAd campos, Epidamne, tuos, ubi solus apertisObsedit muris calcantem moenia Magnum.