AGAINST EUTROPIUS
BOOK II
(XX.)
Ashes of Phrygia and you last remnants of the ruined East (if any such remain), the augury was but too true, too clear the threats of heaven: now that the blow has fallen what use to learn the presagings of this year of portents? The sailor is more cautious; he foresees the violence of the North wind and hauls in his canvas before the swelling storm. Of what avail to acknowledge a mistake when his vessel is already sunk? Can tears extenuate a crime? The sinister auspices of your consul live on; the atonement due to unmoved fate remains fixed. Ere the deed was done you should have realized its horror; you should have erased the blot ere it had dried. When the body is overwhelmed by long-standing disease ’tis all in vain that thou makest use of healing medicines. When an ulcer has penetrated to the marrow of the bones the touch of a hand is useless, steel and fire must sane the place that the wound heal not on the surface, like any moment to re-open. The flame must penetrate to the quick to make a way for the foul humours to escape; in order that, once the veins are emptied of corrupted blood, the
arescat fons ipse mali; truncatur et artus,
ut liceat reliquis securum degere membris.
at vos egregie purgatam creditis aulam, 20
Eutropium si Cyprus habet? vindictaque mundi
semivir exul erit? qui vos lustrare valebit
oceanus? tantum facinus quae diluet aetas?
Induerat necdum trabeas: mugitus ab axe
redditus inferno, rabies arcana cavernas 25
vibrat et alterno confligunt culmina lapsu.
bacchatus per operta tremor Calchedona movit
pronus et in geminas nutavit Bosphorus urbes.
concurrere freti fauces, radice revulsa
vitant instabilem rursum Symplegada nautae. 30
scilicet haec Stygiae praemittunt signa sorores
et sibi iam tradi populos hoc consule gaudent.
mox oritur diversa lues: hinc Mulciber ignes
sparserat, hinc victa proruperat obice Nereus;
haec flagrant, haec tecta natant. quam, numina,
poenam 35
servatis sceleri, cuius tot cladibus omen
constitit? incumbas utinam, Neptune, tridenti
pollutumque solum toto cum crimine mergas.
unam pro mundo Furiis concedimus urbem. 39
Utque semel patuit monstris iter, omnia tempus
nacta suum properant: nasci tum decolor imber
infantumque novi vultus et dissona partu
semina, tum lapidum fletus armentaque vulgo
ausa loqui mediisque ferae se credere muris;
tum vates sine more rapi lymphataque passim 45
fountain-head of the evil may be dried up. Nay, even limbs are amputated to assure the healthy life of the rest of the body. Think you the Court fitly cleansed by Eutropius’ exile in Cyprus? The world avenged by the banishment of a eunuch? Can any ocean wash away that stain? any age bring forgetfulness of so great a crime?
Ere yet he had donned the consul’s robe there came a rumbling from the bowels of the earth; a hidden madness shook the subterranean caverns and buildings crashed one on another. Chalcedon, shaken to the foundations, tottered like a drunken man, and Bosporus, straying from his course, flooded the cities on his either bank. The shores of the strait came together and the sailors once more had to avoid the Clashing Rocks, torn from their foundation and errant. Surely such presages were sent by the sister deities of Styx, rejoicing that under this consul at last all peoples were delivered into their hands. Soon arose divers forms of ruin: here the fire-god spread his flames; there Nereus, god of the sea, brake his bounds. Here men’s homes were burned, there flooded. Ye gods, what punishment do ye hold in store for the scoundrel whose rise to power was marked by such portents? O’ercome us, Neptune, with thy trident and overwhelm our defiled soil along with all the guilt. One city we yield to the Furies, a scapegoat for the sins of the world.
Once the way was open for portents, prodigies of every sort hasted to disclose themselves. Rain of blood fell, children of weird form were born and offspring discordant with their breed. Statues wept, not seldom the herds dared to speak, and wild beasts braved an entrance into the city. Then seers raved
pectora terrifici stimulis ignescere Phoebi.
fac nullos cecinisse deos: adeone retusi
quisquam cordis erit, dubitet qui partibus illis
adfore fatalem castrati consulis annum?
sed quam caecus inest vitiis amor! omne futurum 50
despicitur suadentque brevem praesentia fructum
et ruit in vetitum damni secura libido,
dum mora supplicii lucro serumque quod instat
creditur, haud equidem contra tot signa Camillo
detulerim fasces, nedum (pro sexus!) inerti 55
mancipio, cui, cuncta licet responsa iuberent
hortantesque licet sponderent prospera divi,
turpe fuit cessisse viros.
Exquirite retro
crimina continui lectis annalibus aevi,
prisca recensitis evolvite saecula fastis: 60
quid senis infandi Capreae, quid scaena Neronis
tale ferunt? spado Romuleo succinctus amictu
sedit in Augustis laribus. vulgata patebat
aula salutantum studiis; huc plebe senatus
permixta trepidique duces omnisque potestas 65
confluit. advolvi genibus, contingere dextram
ambitus et votum deformibus oscula rugis
figere. praesidium legum genitorque vocatur
principis et famulum dignatur regia patrem.
posteritas, admitte fidem: monumenta petuntur 70
dedecoris multisque gemunt incudibus aera
formatura nefas. haec iudicis, ilia togati,
strangely and frenzied hearts were everywhere ablaze, stirred by the fires of the dread god Phoebus. Yet even had no god warned us, whose mind shall be so dull as to doubt that the year of an emasculate consul must be fatal to those lands? Blind folly ever accompanies crime; of the future no account is taken; sufficient for the day is its short-lived pleasure; heedless of loss passion plunges into forbidden joys, counting the postponement of punishment a gain and believing distant the retribution that even now o’erhangs. In face of such portents I would not have entrusted Camillus’ self with the fasces, let alone a sexless slave (oh! the shame of it!), to yield it to whom were, for men, a disgrace, even though every oracle decreed it, and the insistent deities gave pledges of prosperity.
Look back in the annals of crime, read o’er all past history, unroll the volumes of Rome’s story. What can the Capri of Tiberius’ old age, what can Nero’s theatre offer like to this?[105] A eunuch, clad in the cloak of Romulus, sat within the house of the emperors; the staled palace lay open to the eager throng of visitors; hither hasten senators, mingling with the populace, anxious generals and magistrates of every degree; all are fain to be the first to fall at his feet and to touch his hand; the prayer of all is to set kisses on those hideous wrinkles. He is called defender of the laws, father of the emperor, and the court deigns to acknowledge a slave as its overlord. Ye who come after, acknowledge that it is true! Men must needs erect monuments to celebrate this infamy; on many an anvil groans the bronze that is to take upon it the form of this monster. Here gleams his statue as a judge,
[105] Suetonius draws a lurid (and probably exaggerated) picture of the debaucheries of Tiberius’ old age at Capri. The same author describes the “scaena Neronis.” The curious may find the account in Suet, Nero, xxix.
haec nitet armati species; numerosus ubique
fulget eques: praefert eunuchi curia vultus.
ac veluti caveant ne quo consistere virtus 75
possit pura loco, cunctas hoc ore laborant
incestare vias. maneant inmota precamur
certaque perpetui sint argumenta pudoris.
subter adulantes tituli nimiaeque leguntur
vel maribus laudes: claro quod nobilis ortu 80
(cum vivant domini!), quod maxima proelia solus
impleat (et patitur miles!), quod tertius urbis
conditor (hoc Byzas Constantinusque videbant!).
inter quae tumidus leno producere cenas
in lucem, foetere mero, dispergere plausum 85
empturas in vulgus opes, totosque theatris
indulgere dies, alieni prodigus auri.
at soror et, si quid portentis creditur, uxor
mulcebat matres epulis et more pudicae
coniugis eunuchi celebrabat vota mariti. 90
hanc amat, hanc summa de re vel pace vel armis
consulit, huic curas et clausa palatia mandat
ceu stabulum vacuamque domum. sic magna tueri
regna nihil, patiensque iugi deluditur orbis?
Mitior alternum Zephyri iam bruma teporem 95
senserat et primi laxabant germina flores,
iamque iter in gremio pacis sollemne parabant
ad muros, Ancyra, tuos, auctore repertum
Eutropio, pelagi ne taedia longa subirent,
there as a consul, there as a warrior. On every side one sees that figure of his mounted on his horse; before the very doors of the senate-house behold a eunuch’s countenance. As though to rob virtue of any place where she might sojourn undefiled, men labour to befoul every street with this vile image. May they rest for ever undisturbed, indisputable proofs of our eternal shame; such is my prayer. Beneath the statues one reads flattering titles and praises too great even for men. Do they tell of his noble race and lineage while his owners are still alive? What soldier brooks to read that single-handed he, Eutropius, won great battles? Are Byzas[106] and Constantine to be told that he is the third founder of Rome? Meanwhile the arrogant pander prolongs his revels till the dawn, stinking of wine and scattering money amid the crowd to buy their applause. He spends whole days of amusement in the theatres, prodigal of another’s money. But his sister and spouse (if such a prodigy can be conceived) wins the favour of Rome’s matrons by entertainments, and, like a chaste wife, sings the praises of her eunuch husband. ’Tis her he loves, her he consults on all matters of importance, be it of peace or war, to her care he entrusts the keys of the palace, as one would of a stable or empty house. Is the guardianship of a mighty empire thus naught? Is it thus he makes a mockery of a world’s obedience?
Winter, passing into spring, had now felt the returning warmth of Zephyrus’ breezes and the earliest flowers had oped their buds when, in the lap of peace, they were preparing the annual journey to thy walls, Ancyra. ’Twas Eutropius’ device that weariness of the sea[107] might not come upon him,
[106] Mythical founder of Byzantium (= Constantinople): said to have been contemporaneous with the Argonauts (Diod. iv. 49. 1).
[107] i.e. to prevent his being bored with the view of the Bosporus.
sed vaga lascivis flueret discursibus aestas: 100
unde tamen tanta sublimes mole redibant,
ceu vinctos traherent Medos Indumque bibissent.
ecce autem flavis Gradivus ab usque Gelonis
arva cruentato repetebat Thracia curru:
subsidunt Pangaea rotis altaeque sonoro 105
stridunt axe nives. ut vertice constitit Haemi
femineasque togas pressis conspexit habenis,
subrisit cradele pater cristisque micantem
quassavit galeam; tunc implacabile numen
Bellonam adloquitur, quae sanguine sordida vestem
Illyricis pingues pectebat stragibus hydros: 111
“Necdum mollitiae, necdum, germana, mederi
possumus Eoae? numquam corrupta rigescent
saecula? Cappadocum tepidis Argaeus acervis
aestuat; infelix etiamnum pallet Orontes. 115
dum pereunt, meminere mali; si corda parumper
respirare sinas, nullo tot funera sensu
praetereunt: antiqua levis iactura cruoris!
“Adspicis obscaenum facinus? quid crinibus ora
protegis? en quales sese diffudit in actus 120
parva quies, quantum nocuerunt otia ferri!
qui caruit bellis, eunucho traditur annus.
actum de trabeis esset, si partibus una
mens foret Hesperiis; rueret derisa vetustas
nullaque calcati starent vestigia iuris, 125
ni memor imperii Stilicho morumque priorum
turpe relegasset defenso Thybride nomen
but a roaming summer might slide away in pleasure journeys. But so magnificent was their return, you would have imagined they brought conquered Persia in their train and had drunk of the waters of Indus. Look you! Mars, returning from the distant lands of the yellow-haired Geloni, was re-seeking the lands of Thrace in his bloody chariot. Pangaeus subsided beneath his wheels, the mountain snows cried out under his sounding axle. Scarce had the father stayed on Haemus’ summit and, reining in his coursers, looked upon the toga-clad woman, when he smiled a cruel smile and shook his gleaming crested helm; then he addressed Bellona, implacable goddess, who, her raiment all stained with blood, was combing her snake-hair, fattened on the slaughter of Illyrians.
“Sister, shall we never succeed in curing the East of effeminacy? Will this corrupt age never learn true manliness? Argaeus yet reeks with those heaps of dead Cappadocians not yet cold; Orontes is still pale from misery. But they only remember evil while they suffer it; give them a moment’s respite and all their slaughter fades from their minds unfelt; little they reck of bloodshed that is past.
“Seest thou this foul deed? Why veil thy face with thine hair? See what crimes a short spell of peace has wrought! what a curse has the sheathèd sword proved! The year that has known no war has had a eunuch for its consul. The consulship would have been at an end had a like spirit animated Italy; this age-long office had fallen amid mockery and no traces been left of its trampled rights, had not Stilicho, heedful of the empire and of the character and morals of a past age, banished from Tiber’s city
intactamque novo servasset crimine Romam.
ille dedit portum, quo se pulsata referret
maiestas Latii deformataeque secures; 130
ille dedit fastos, ad quos Oriente relicto
confugeret sparsum maculis servilibus aevum.
“Quam similes haec aula viros! ad moenia visus
dirige: num saltem tacita formidine mussant?
num damnant animo? plaudentem cerne senatum 135
et Byzantinos proceres Graiosque Quirites.
o patribus plebes, o digni consule patres!
quid? quod et armati cessant et nulla virilis
inter tot gladios sexum reminiscitur ira?
hucine nostrorum cinctus abiere nepotum? 140
sic Bruti despectus honos?
“Ignosce parenti,
Romule, quod serus temeratis fascibus ultor
advenio: iamiam largis haec gaudia faxo
compensent lacrimis. quid dudum inflare moraris
Tartaream, Bellona, tubam, quid stringere falcem, 145
qua populos a stirpe metis? molire tumultus,
excute delicias. Thracum Macetumque ruinae
taedet et in gentes iterum saevire sepultas.
damna minus consueta move; trans aequora saevas
verte faces; aliis exordia sume rapinis. 150
non tibi Riphaeis hostis quaerendus ab oris,
non per Caucasias accito turbine valles
est opus. Ostrogothis colitur mixtisque Gruthungis
Phryx ager: hos parvae poterunt impellere causae
this shameful name and kept Rome unsullied by an unheard of crime. He has given us a harbour to which the exiled majesty of Latium and the disgraced fasces might retire; he has given us annals wherein, abandoning the East, an age polluted with servile stains might find a refuge.
“How like to its lord the inhabitants of the palace! Turn your eyes to the city walls. Surely they at least mutter disapprobation, though fear forbids them speak out? Do they not condemn him in their hearts? No: list the plaudits of the senate, of the lords of Byzantium, of the Grecian citizens of Rome. O people worthy of such a senate, senate worthy of such a consul! To think that all these bear arms and use them not, that manly indignation reminds not of their sex those many whose thighs bear a sword! Has my descendants’ robe of office sunk so low? Is Brutus’ renown thus brought to scorn?
“Romulus, forgive thy sire for coming so tardy an avenger of those outraged fasces. Right soon will I make them pay for this joy with liberal tears. Why delayest thou, Bellona, to sound the trumpet of hell and to arm thyself with the scythe wherewith thou mowest the people to the ground? Foment discord, banish pleasures. I am aweary of the devastation of Thrace and Macedon, of vengeance twice wreaked on races already buried. Arouse less accustomed destruction; spread fire and sword beyond the seas, make a beginning of new devastation. Seek not now thy foe on Riphaeus’ heights: what boots it to rouse the storm of war amid Caucasia’s ravines? Ostrogoths and Gruthungi together inhabit the land of Phrygia; ’twill need but a touch
in scelus; ad mores facilis natura reverti. 155
sic eat: in nostro quando iam milite robur
torpuit et molli didicit parere magistro,
vindicet Arctous violatas advena leges;
barbara Romano succurrant arma pudori.”
Sic fatus clipeo, quantum vix ipse deorum 160
arbiter infesto cum percutit aegida nimbo,
intonuit. responsat Athos Haemusque remugit;
ingeminat raucum Rhodope concussa fragorem.
cornua cana gelu mirantibus extulit undis
Hebrus et exanguem glacie timor adligat Histrum. 165
tunc, adamante gravem nodisque rigentibus hastam,
telum ingens nullique deo iaculabile, torsit.
fit late ruptis via nubibus; ilia per auras
tot freta, tot montes uno contenta volatu
transilit et Phrygiae mediis adfigitur arvis. 170
sensit humus; gemuit Nysaeo palmite felix
Hermus et aurata Pactolus inhorruit urna
totaque summissis fleverunt Dindyma silvis.
Nec dea praemissae stridorem segnius hastae
consequitur, centumque vias meditata nocendi 175
tandem Tarbigilum (Geticae dux improbus alae[108]
hic erat) adgreditur. viso tum forte redibat
Eutropio vacuus donis, feritasque dolore
creverat et, teneris etiam quae crimina suadet
[108] alae Rubenus; MSS. (followed by Birt) have aulae.
to precipitate them into revolt; readily does nature return to her old ways. So be it. Since our soldiers’ valour is numbed and they have learned to obey an unmanned master, let a stranger from the north avenge our outraged laws and barbarian arms bring relief to disgraced Rome.”
So spake he and thundered with his shield nigh as loud as the ruler of the gods when he shakes his aegis from out the lowering cloud. Athos replies, Haemus re-echoes; again and again shaken Rhodope repeats the hoarse uproar. Hebrus raised from out the wondering waters his horns hoary with frost, and bloodless Ister froze in fear. Then the god cast his javelin,[109] heavy with steel, and stiff with knotted shaft, a mighty weapon such as none other god could wield. The clouds part before its onset and give it free passage; through the air it speeds o’er seas and mountains by one mighty cast and comes to earth amid the plains of Phrygia. The ground felt the shock; Hermus blessed with Dionysus’ vines groaned thereat, Pactolus’ golden urn shuddered, all Dindymus bent his forest fleece and wept.
Bellona, too, hastens forth with speed no less than that of Mars’ whistling spear; a hundred ways of hurt she pondered and at last approached Tarbigilus,[110] fierce leader of the Getic squadron. It chanced he had but late returned with empty hands from a visit to Eutropius; disappointment and indignation aggravated his ferocity, and poverty, that can incite
[109] Alluding to the Roman custom of casting a spear as a sign of the declaration of war; cf. Ovid, Fasti, vi. 207—
Hinc solet hasta manu belli praenuntia mitti
In regem et gentes cum placet arma capi.
[110] Tarbigilus seems to have belonged to the nation of the Gruthungi. The exact form of his name is a matter of uncertainty. The MSS. vary: Zosimus (v. 13. 2) calls him Τριβίγιλδος. His revolt in Phrygia (cf. ll. 274, etc.) took place in 399.
ingeniis, Scythicum pectus flammabat egestas. 180
huic sese vultu simulatae coniugis offert
mentitoque ferox incedit barbara gressu,
carbaseos induta sinus: post terga reductas
uberibus propior mordebat fibula vestes,
inque orbem tereti mitra retinente capillum 185
strinxerat et virides flavescere iusserat angues.
advolat ac niveis reducem complectitur ulnis
infunditque animo furiale per oscula virus.
principe quam largo veniat, quas inde reportet
divitias, astu rabiem motura requirit. 190
ille iter ingratum, vanos deflere labores,
quos super eunuchi fastus, quae probra tulisset.
continuo secat ungue genas et tempore pandit
adrepto gemitus:
“I nunc, devotus aratris
scinde solum positoque tuos mucrone sodales 195
ad rastros sudare doce. bene rura Gruthungus
excolet et certo disponet sidere vites.
felices aliae, quas debellata maritis
oppida, quas magnis quaesitae viribus ornant
exuviae, quibus Argivae pulchraeque ministrant 200
Thessalides, famulas et quae meruere Lacaenas.
me nimium timido, nimium iunxere remisso
fata viro, totum qui degener exuit Histrum,
qui refugit patriae ritus, quem detinet aequi
gloria concessoque cupit vixisse colonus 205
quam dominus rapto. quid pulchra vocabula pigris
the gentlest heart to crime, inflamed his savage breast. Taking upon her the similitude of his wife she comes to meet him; proudly she steps forth like the barbarian queen, clothed in linen raiment. Close to her breast a brooch fastened her dress that trailed behind her; she had bound her locks into a coil that a polished circlet confined, and bidden her green snakes turn to gold. She hastens to greet him on his return and throws her snowy arms about his neck, instilling the poison of the furies into his soul by her kisses. Guilefully to stir his rage she asks if the great man has been generous to him; if he brings back rich presents. With tears he recounts his profitless journey, his useless toil, the pride and insults, moreover, which he had to bear at the eunuch’s hands. At once she seized the favourable moment, and tearing her cheek with her nails, discloses her complaints.
“Go then, busy thyself with the plough, cleave the soil, bid thy followers lay aside their swords and sweat o’er the harrow. The Gruthungi will make good farmers and will plant their vines in due season. Happy those other women whose glory is seen in the towns their husbands have conquered, they whose adornment is the spoils so hardly won from an enemy, whose servants are fair captives of Argos or Thessaly, and who have won them slaves from Sparta. Fate has mated me with too timid, too indolent a husband, a degenerate who has forgotten the valour of Ister’s tribes, who deserts his country’s ways, whom a vain reputation for justice attracts, while he longs to live as a husbandman by favour rather than as a prince by plunder. Why give fair names to shameful weakness?
praetentas vitiis? probitatis inertia nomen,
iustitiae formido subit. tolerabis iniquam
pauperiem, cum tela geras? et flebis inultus,
cum pateant tantae nullis custodibus urbes? 210
“Quippe metus poenae. pridem mos ille vigebat,
ut meritos colerent impacatisque rebelles
urgerent odiis; at nunc, qui foedera rumpit,
ditatur; qui servat, eget. vastator Achivae
gentis et Epirum nuper populates inultam 215
praesidet Illyrico; iam, quos obsedit, amicos
ingreditur muros illis responsa daturus,
quorum coniugibus potitur natosque peremit.
sic hostes punire solent, haec praemia solvunt
excidiis. cunctaris adhuc numerumque tuorum 220
respicis exiguamque manum? tu rumpe quietem;
bella dabunt socios. nec te tam prona monerem,
si contra paterere viros: nunc alter in armis
sexus et eunuchis se defensoribus orbis
credidit; hos aquilae Romanaque signa sequuntur.
incipe barbaricae tandem te reddere vitae, 226
te quoque iam timeant admirenturque nocentem,
quem sprevere pium. spoliis praedaque repletus
cum libeat Romanus eris.”
Sic fata repente
in diram se vertit avem rostroque recurvo 230
turpis et infernis tenebris obscurior alas
auspicium veteri sedit ferale sepulcro.
Ille, pavor postquam resoluto corde quievit
Cowardice is called loyalty; fear, a sense of justice. Wilt thou submit to humiliating poverty though thou bearest arms? Wilt thou weep unavenged, though so many cities open to thee their undefended gates?
“Dost thou fear the consequences? Rome’s old way was to reward merit and vent on rebels a hate that knew no bound. Now he who breaks a treaty wins riches, while he who observes one lives in want. The ravager of Achaea and recent devastator of defenceless Epirus is lord of Illyria[111]; he now enters as a friend within the walls to which he was laying siege, and administers justice to those whose wives he has seduced and whose children he has murdered. Such is the punishment meted out to an enemy, such the vengeance exacted for wholesale slaughter—and dost thou still hesitate? Hast thou regard to the small numbers of thy followers? Nay, have done with peace: war will give thee allies. Nor would I urge thee so instantly hadst thou to face men. It is another sex that is in arms against thee; the world has entrusted itself to the protection of eunuchs; ’tis such leaders the eagles and standards of Rome follow. Time it is thou didst return to a barbarian life; be thou in thy turn an object of terror, and let men marvel at thy crimes who despised thy virtues. Laden with booty and plunder thou shalt be a Roman when it pleases thee.”
So saying she suddenly changed into an ill-omened bird, a loathsome sight with its hooked beak and plumage blacker than Hell’s darkness, and perched, a sinister augury, on an old tomb.
So soon as repose from terror came to his freed
[111] Alaric was made magister militum in Illyricum: see Introduction, p. x.
et rigidae sedere comae, non distulit atrox
iussa deae; sociis, quae viderat, ordine pandit 235
inritatque sequi. Coniurat barbara pubes
nacta ducem Latiisque palam descivit ab armis.
Pars Phrygiae, Scythicis quaecumque Trionibus alget
proxima, Bithynos, solem quae condit, Ionas,
quae levat, attingit Galatas. utrimque propinqui 240
finibus obliquis Lydi Pisidaeque feroces
continuant australe latus. gens una fuere
tot quondam populi, priscum cognomen et unum
appellata Phryges; sed (quid non longa valebit
permutare dies?) dicti post Maeona regem 245
Maeones. Aegaeos insedit Graecia portus;
Thyni Thraces arant quae nunc Bithynia fertur;
nuper ab Oceano Gallorum exercitus ingens
illis ante vagus tandem regionibus haesit
gaesaque deposuit, Graio iam mitis amictu, 250
pro Rheno poturus Halyn. dat cuncta vetustas
principium Phrygibus; nec rex Aegyptius ultra
restitit, humani postquam puer uberis expers
in Phrygiam primum laxavit murmura vocem.
Hie cecidit Libycis iactata paludibus olim 255
tibia, foedatam cum reddidit umbra Minervam,
hic et Apollinea victus testudine pastor
suspensa memores inlustrat pelle Celaenas.
heart, and his stiffened hair sank down again, he made all haste to carry out the commands of the goddess. He told his followers all that he had seen and urged them to follow him. Rebellious Barbary had found a champion and openly threw off the Latin yoke.
That part of Phrygia which lies towards the north beneath the cold constellation of the Wain borders on Bithynia; that towards the sunset on Ionia, and that towards the sunrise on Galatia. On two sides runs the transverse boundary of Lydia while the fierce Pisidians hem it in to the south. All these peoples once formed one nation and had one name: they were of old called the Phrygians, but (what changes does time not bring about?) after the reign of a king Maeon, were known as Maeones. Then the Greeks settled on the shores of the Aegean, and the Thyni from Thrace cultivated the region now called Bithynia. Not long since a vast army of Gauls, nomad hitherto, came at last to rest in the district; these laid by their spears, clothed them in the civilized robe of Greece and drank no longer from Rhine’s, but from Halys’, waters. All antiquity gives priority to the Phrygian, even Egypt’s king had perforce to recognize it when the babe, nourished at no human breast, first opened his lips to lisp the Phrygian tongue.[112]
Here fell the pipe once hurled into the marshes of Libya, what time the stream reflected Minerva’s disfigured countenance.[113] Here, too, there perished, conquered by Apollo’s lyre, the shepherd Marsyas whose flayed skin brought renown to the city of
[112] The reference is to Herodotus ii. 2. Psammetichus, King of Egypt, wishing to find out which was the most ancient nation, had two children reared in complete silence. As the first word they uttered was “Becos,” the Phrygian word for “bread,” Phrygia was accorded the honour.
[113] Minerva is said to have thrown her pipe into the river when she observed in the reflection the facial contortions apparently necessary to play it; cf. Ovid, Fasti, vi. 699.
quattuor hinc magnis procedunt fontibus amnes
auriferi; nec miror aquas radiare metallo, 260
quae totiens lavere Midan. diversus ad Austrum
cursus et Arctoum fluviis mare. Dindyma fundunt
Sangarium, vitrei puro qui gurgite Galli
auctus Amazonii defertur ad ostia Ponti.
Icarium pelagus Mycalaeaque litora iuncti 265
Marsya Maeanderque petunt; sed Marsya velox,
dum suus est, flexuque carens iam flumine mixtus
mollitur, Maeandre, tuo; contraria passus,
quam Rhodano stimulatus Arar: quos inter aprica
planities Cererique favet densisque ligatur 270
vitibus et glaucae fructus attollit olivae,
dives equis, felix pecori pretiosaque picto
marmore purpureis, caedit quod Synnada, venis.
Talem tum Phrygiam Geticis populatibus uri
permisere dei. securas barbarus urbes 275
inrupit facilesque capi. spes nulla salutis,
nulla fugae: putribus iam propugnacula saxis
longo corruerant aevo pacisque senecta.
Interea gelidae secretis rupibus Idae
dum sedet et thiasos spectat de more Cybebe 280
Curetumque alacres ad tympana suscitat enses,
aurea sanctarum decus inmortale comarum
defluxit capiti turris summoque volutus
vertice crinalis violatur pulvere murus.
obstipuere truces omen Corybantes et uno 285
fixa metu tacitas presserunt orgia buxos.
indoluit genetrix, tum sic commota profatur:
Celaenae. Hence flow four broad auriferous rivers. Small wonder that the waters in which King Midas bathed so often glitter with the rare metal. Two flow north, two southwards. Dindymus gives birth to the river Sangarius, which, swollen by the clear stream of the Gallus, hastens on to the Euxine, the sea of the Amazon. The conjoined streams of Marsyas and Meander make for the Icarian main and Mycale’s strand. Marsyas flows fast and straight while his course is his own; mingled with thy waters, Meander, he goes slowly—unlike the Saône whose waters are hastened by the Rhone’s inflowing. Between these rivers is a sun-kissed plain; kindly is it to the corn, thick-set with vines and displaying the fruit of the grey-green olive; rich, too, in horses, fertile in flocks, and wealthy with the purple-veined marble that Synnada quarries.
Such was Phrygia then when the gods allowed it to be ravaged by Getic brigands. The barbarian burst in upon those cities so peaceful, so easy of capture. There was no hope of safety, no chance of escape. Long and peaceful ages had made the crumbling stones of their battlements to fall.
Meanwhile Cybele was seated amid the hallowed rocks of cold Ida, watching, as is her wont, the dance, and inciting the joyous Curetes to brandish their swords at the sound of the drum, when, lo, the golden-turreted crown, the eternal glory of her blessèd hair, fell from off her head and, rolling from her brow, the castellated diadem is profaned in the dust. The Corybantes stopped in amazement at this omen; general alarm checked their orgies and silenced their pipes. The mother of the gods wept; then spake thus in sorrow.
“Hoc mihi iam pridem Lachesis grandaeva canebat
augurium: Phrygiae casus venisse supremos
delapsus testatur apex, heu sanguine qualis 290
ibit Sangarius quantasque cadavera lenti
Maeandri passura moras! inmobilis haeret
terminus, haec dudum nato placuere Tonanti.
par et finitimis luctus, frustraque Lyaei
non defensuros implorat Lydia thyrsos. 295
iamque vale Phrygiae tellus perituraque flammis
moenia, conspicuas quae nunc attollitis arces,
mox campi nudumque solum! dilecta valete
flumina! non vestris ultra bacchabor in antris
nec iuga sulcabit noster Berecynthia currus.” 300
dixit et ad tristes convertit tympana planctus.
labentem patriam sacris ululatibus Attis
personat et torvi lacrimis maduere leones.
Eutropius, nequeat quamvis metuenda taceri
clades et trepidus vulgaverit omnia rumor, 305
ignorare tamen fingit regnique ruinas
dissimulat: parvam latronum errare catervam,
ad sontes tormenta magis quam tela parari
nec duce frangendas iactat, sed iudice vires:
vasta velut Libyae venantum vocibus ales 310
cum premitur calidas cursu transmittit harenas
inque modum veli sinuatis flamine pennis
pulverulenta volat; si iam vestigia retro
clara sonent, oblita fugae stat lumine clauso
(ridendum!) revoluta caput creditque latere, 315
quem non ipsa videt. furtim tamen ardua mittit
“This is the portent that agèd Lachesis foretold long years ago. My fallen crown assures me that Phrygia’s final crisis is upon her. Alas for the blood that shall redden Sangarius’ waves; for all the corpses that shall retard Meander’s slow stream. The hour is fixed irrevocably; such, long since, was my son’s, the Thunderer’s, will. A like disaster awaits the neighbouring peoples; in vain does Lydia invoke the thyrsus of Bacchus in her defence. Now fare thee well, land of Phrygia, farewell, walls doomed to the flames, walls that now rear aloft proud towers but will soon be levelled with the ground and the bare earth. Farewell, dear rivers: never more shall I hold my inspired revels in your grottoes; no more shall my chariot leave the traces of its wheels on Berecynthus’ heights.” So spake she, and turned her drums to strains of mourning. Attis filled his devoted country with holy lamentations and Cybele’s tawny lions burst into tears.
Eutropius, although this terrible revolt could not be hid and although rumour had spread everywhere the dread news, none the less affects to ignore it and shuts his eyes to the empire’s peril. ’Twas some poor troop of wandering brigands; such wretches call for punishment not war; a judge—so he brags—not a general should crush their strength. Even so the great Libyan bird, hard pressed by the cries of its pursuers, runs o’er the burning sands and flies through the dust, curving its wings like sails to catch the breeze; but when it clearly hears the footsteps close behind it, it forgets its flight, standing with closed eyes and hiding its head, believing, poor fool, it cannot be seen by those whom itself cannot see. None the less Eutropius
cum donis promissa novis, si forte rogatus
desinat. ille semel nota dulcedine praedae
se famulo servire negat, nec grata timentum
munera; militiam nullam nec prima superbus 320
cingula dignari; nam quis non consule tali
vilis honos?
Postquam precibus mitescere nullis,
non auro cessisse videt creberque recurrit
nuntius incassum nec spes iam foederis extat:
tandem consilium belli confessus agendi 325
ad sua tecta vocat. iuvenes venere protervi
lascivique senes, quibus est insignis edendi
gloria corruptasque dapes variasse decorum,
qui ventrem invitant pretio traduntque palato
sidereas Iunonis aves et si qua loquendi 330
gnara coloratis viridis defertur ab Indis,
quaesitos trans regna cibos, quorumque profundam
ingluviem non Aegaeus, non alta Propontis,
non freta longinquis Maeotia piscibus explent.
vestis odoratae studium; laus maxima risum 335
per vanos movisse sales minimeque viriles
munditiae; compti vultus; onerique vel ipsa
serica. si Chunus feriat, si Sarmata portas,
solliciti scaenae; Romam contemnere sueti
mirarique suas, quas Bosphorus obruat! aedes; 340
saltandi dociles aurigarumque periti.
Pars humili de plebe duces; pars compede suras
sends towering promises with new gifts, if haply his foe may pause at his entreaty. But the barbarian, in whose heart was once waked the old love of plunder, refuses to submit to a slave; for him the gifts of fear have no charm; haughtily he disdains any rank,[114] even the highest, for under such a consul what honour would not be disgrace?
When Eutropius saw that no prayers could move him nor any gold win him over; when messenger after messenger returned, his mission unfulfilled, and all hopes of an alliance were at an end, he at last recognized the necessity for war and summoned the council to his palace. Thither they came—wanton lads and debauched greybeards whose greatest glory was gluttony, and whose pride it was to diversify the outraged banquet. Their hunger is only aroused by costly meats, and they tickle their palates with foods imported from overseas, the flesh of the many-eyed fowl of Juno,[115] or of that coloured bird brought from farthest Ind that knows how to speak. Not the Aegean, not deep Propontis, not Maeotis’ lake afar can sate their appetites with fish. Perfumed garments are their care, their pride to move foolish laughter with their silly jests. On their adornment and toilette they bestow a woman’s care and find even the silk they wear too heavy a burden. Should the Hun, the Sarmatian, strike at the city’s gates yet trouble they for nought but the theatre. Rome they despise and reserve their admiration for their own houses—may Bosporus’ waters overwhelm them! Skilful dancers they and clever judges of charioteers.
Some sprung from the dregs of the people are generals; some magistrates—though their legs and
[114] Claudian uses the word cingulum (= a soldier’s belt) as = military service—a not uncommon late use, cf. Serv. Aen. viii. 724 and (frequently) cingi = to serve, in the Digests.
[115] i.e. the peacock.
cruraque signati nigro liventia ferro
iura regunt, facies quamvis inscripta repugnet
seque suo prodat titulo. sed prima potestas 345
Eutropium praefert Hosio subnixa secundo.
dulcior hic sane cunctis prudensque movendi
iuris et admoto qui temperet omnia fumo,
fervidus, accensam sed qui bene decoquat iram.
considunt apices gemini dicionis Eoae, 350
hic cocus, hic leno, defossi verbere terga,
servitio, non arte pares, hic saepius emptus,
alter ad Hispanos nutritus verna penates.
Ergo ubi collecti proceres, qui rebus in artis
consulerent tantisque darent solacia morbis, 355
obliti subito Phrygiae bellisque relictis
ad solitos coepere iocos et iurgia circi
tendere. nequiquam magna confligitur ira,
quis melius vibrata puer vertigine molli
membra rotet, verrat quis marmora crine supino? 360
quis magis enodes laterum detorqueat arcus,[116]
quis voci digitos, oculos quis moribus aptet?
hi tragicos meminere modos; his fabula Tereus,
his necdum commissa choro cantatur Agave.
Increpat Eutropius: non haec spectacula tempus
poscere; nunc alias armorum incumbere curas; 366
se satis Armenio fessum pro limite cingi
[116] Birt artus; I return to the vulg. arcus.
ankles are still scarred and livid with their wearing of the fetters of servitude and though their branded foreheads deny their owners’ right to office and disclose their true title. Among them Eutropius holds the first place; Hosius, on whom he relies, comes next. He of a truth is more popular, a cunning artificer of justice who knows well how to steam his cases; at times boiling with anger, yet well able to render down that anger when aroused.[117] These sit enthroned, joint rulers of the eastern empire, the one a cook the other a pander. The backs of both are scarred with the whip, each was a slave though of a different kind. The one had been bought and sold a hundred times, the other brought up a dependant in a Spanish household.
When, therefore, the chief men were gathered together for consultation in this strait and to comfort the sickness of the state, forthwith they forget Phrygia and, setting aside the question of war, start their accustomed fooling and engage in disputes about the Circus. With heat as fierce as it is pointless they wrangle what boy can best whirl quivering limbs in an easy somersault or sweep the marble floor with his drooping locks; who can most twist his flanks into a boneless arch; who can best suit his gestures to his words and his eyes to his character. Some recite speeches from tragedy, others chant the play of Tereus, others again that of Agave, never before staged.
Eutropius chides them; the present moment, says he, demands other spectacles than these; it is war which now should claim all their care. For his part (for he is an old man and a weary) it is enough to defend the frontiers of Armenia; single-handed
[117] Hosius, by birth a Spaniard, had been a slave and a cook—whence these various double meanings. He rose to be magister officiorum at the court of Arcadius (circa 396-8).
nec tantis unum subsistere posse periclis;
ignoscant senio, iuvenes ad proelia mittant:—
qualis pauperibus nutrix invisa puellis 370
adsidet et tela communem quaerere victum
rauca monet; festis illae lusisse diebus
orant et positis aequaevas visere pensis,
irataeque operi iam lasso pollice fila
turbant et teneros detergent stamine fletus. 375
Emicat extemplo cunctis trepidantibus audax
crassa mole Leo, quem vix Cyclopia solum
aequatura fames, quem non ieiuna Celaeno
vinceret; hinc nomen fertur meruisse Leonis.
acer in absentes linguae iactator, abundans 380
corporis exiguusque animi, doctissimus artis
quondam lanificae, moderator pectinis unci.
non alius lanam purgatis sordibus aeque
praebuerit calathis, similis nec pinguia quisquam
vellera per tenues ferri producere rimas. 385
tunc Aiax erat Eutropii lateque fremebat,
non septem vasto quatiens umbone iuvencos,
sed, quam perpetuis dapibus pigroque sedili
inter anus interque colos oneraverat, alvum.
adsurgit tandem vocemque expromit anhelam: 390
“Quis novus hic torpor, socii? quonam usque sedemus
femineis clausi thalamis patimurque periclum
gliscere desidia? graviorum turba malorum
texitur, ignavis trahimus dum tempora votis.
me petit hic sudor. numquam mea dextera segnis
ad ferrum. faveat tantum Tritonia coeptis, 396
he cannot cope with all these perils. They must pardon his age and send younger men to the war:—it is as though a hated forewoman were sitting among a crowd of poor working-girls and bidding them in her raucous voice ply the loom and gain their livelihood, while they beg to be allowed the enjoyment of a holiday, to lay aside their tasks and visit their friends; angered at her refusal and wearied of their work they crush the threads in their hands and wipe away their gentle tears with the cloth.
Sudden from out that trembling throng upleaps bold Leo[118] with his vast bulk, he whose single prowess Cyclopean hunger could scarce match, whom starving Celaeno could not outvie. ’Tis to this fact that he is said to have owed his name. Bold (when his foe was absent), brave (as a speaker), great in bulk but small of heart, once a highly skilled spinner of thread and a cunning carder, none other could so well cleanse the dirt from out the fleece and fill the baskets, none other pull the thick wool over the iron teeth of the comb as could he. He was then Eutropius’ Ajax and far and near he raged, shaking not a huge shield compact of seven layers of ox-hide, but that belly of his, laden with continuous feastings, as he sat lazily among old dames and distaffs. At length he arose and, panting, said, “What unwonted sluggishness is this, my friends? How long must we sit closeted in the women’s apartments and suffer our perils to increase by reason of our sloth? Fate weaves for us a network of ill while we waste our time in useless vows. This difficult task demands my action; never was my hand slow to use iron. Let but Minerva favour
[118] Gainas and Leo were sent by Eutropius to put down the revolt of Tarbigilus. Gainas, however, never left the Hellespont and Leo, advancing into Pamphylia, there met, and was defeated by, Tarbigilus (Zosim. v. 16. 5). We gather from Claudian that he had once been a weaver.
inceptum peragetur opus. iam cuncta furorem
qui gravat, efficiam leviorem pondere lanae
Tarbigilum tumidum, desertoresque Gruthungos
ut miseras populabor oves et pace relata 400
pristina restituam Phrygias ad stamina matres.”
His dictis iterum sedit; fit plausus et ingens
concilii clamor, qualis resonantibus olim
exoritur caveis, quotiens crinitus ephebus
aut rigidam Nioben aut flentem Troada fingit. 405
protinus excitis iter inremeabile signis
adripit infaustoque iubet bubone moveri
agmina Mygdonias mox impletura volucres.
Pulcher et urbanae cupiens exercitus umbrae,
adsiduus ludis, avidus splendere lavacris 410
nec soles imbresve pati, multumque priori
dispar, sub clipeo Thracum qui ferre pruinas,
dum Stilicho regeret, nudoque hiemare sub axe
sueverat et duris haurire bipennibus Hebrum.
cum duce mutatae vires. Byzantia robur 415
fregit luxuries Ancyranique triumphi.
non peditem praecedit eques; non commoda castris
eligitur regio; vicibus custodia nullis
advigilat vallo; non explorantur eundae
vitandaeque viae; nullo se cornua flectunt 420
ordine: confusi passim per opaca vagantur
lustra, per ignotas angusto tramite valles.
mine attempts and the work begun will be the work completed. Now will I render proud Tarbigilus, whose madness has caused all this turmoil, of less weight than a ball of wool, the faithless Gruthungi I will drive before me like a flock of wretched sheep; and when I have restored peace I will set the women of Phrygia once more beside their ancient spinning.”
So saying he sat down again. Great clamour and applause filled the council-chamber, applause such as rises from the rows of spectators in the theatre when some curled youth impersonates Niobe turned to stone, or Hecuba in tears. Straightway Leo unfolds his banners and starts on the journey whence there is to be no return. To the accompaniment of the screech-owl’s ill-omened cry he bids march the host destined so soon to feed the vultures of Mygdonia.
’Tis a well-favoured army, enamoured of the city’s shade, ever present at the games, anxious to shine in the baths, not to bear sun-scorch and rain, and oh! how different to that former army who, ’neath the leadership of Stilicho, endured under arms the frosts of Thrace and were wont to winter in the open air and break with their axes the frozen waters of Hebrus for a draught. Changed is the leader and changed their character. Byzantium’s luxury and Ancyra’s pomp[119] have destroyed their vigour. No longer does the cavalry ride ahead of the foot; suitable ground is not chosen for camps; no constant change of sentries safeguards the ramparts, no scouts are sent forward to discover which roads to take or which to avoid; their evolutions are performed without drill or discipline, in confusion they stray hither and thither amid dark forests, along narrow
[119] Triumphi is ironical. Claudian refers to Eutropius’ pleasure journey to Ancyra; cf. l. 98 of this poem.
sic vacui rectoris equi, sic orba magistro
fertur in abruptum casu, non sidere, puppis;
sic ruit in rupes amisso pisce sodali 425
belua, sulcandas qui praevius edocet undas
inmensumque pecus parvae moderamine caudae
temperat et tanto coniungit foedera monstro;
illa natat rationis inops et caeca profundi;
iam brevibus deprensa vadis ignara reverti 430
palpitat et vanos scopulis inlidit hiatus.
Tarbigilus simulare fugam flatusque Leonis
spe nutrire leves improvisusque repente,
dum gravibus marcent epulis hostique catenas
inter vina erepant, largo sopita Lyaeo 435
castra subit. pereunt alii, dum membra cubili
tarda levant; alii leto iunxere soporem;
ast alios vicina palus sine more ruentes
excipit et cumulis inmanibus aggerat undas.
ipse Leo damma cervoque fugacior ibat 440
sudanti tremebundus equo: qui pondere postquam
decidit, implicitus limo cunctantia pronus
per vada reptabat. caeno subnixa tenaci
mergitur et pingui suspirat corpore moles
more suis, dapibus quae iam devota futuris 445
turpe gemit, quotiens Hosius mucrone corusco
armatur cingitque sinus secumque volutat,
quas figat verubus partes, quae frusta calenti
paths in unexplored valleys. So goes a horse that has lost his rider, thus a ship whose helmsman has been drowned is swept to the abyss, chance guiding her and not the stars. So too the sea monster[120] is dashed to pieces against the rocks when it has lost the comrade fish that swam before it and guided its course through the waves, piloting the great beast with the motion of its tiny tail according to the compact which is between it and its huge companion. Aimlessly the monster swims all unguided through the deep; then, surprised in the shallow water and knowing not how to return to the sea, pants and to no purpose dashes its gaping jaws against the rocks.
Tarbigilus feigns retreat and raises the presumptuous hopes of Leo, then suddenly he bursts all unexpected upon the wine-sodden army, as, overcome by the heavy feast, they brag over their cups of leading the foe in chains. Some are slain as they lift their sluggish limbs from the couch, others know not any break between sleep and death. Others rush pell-mell into a neighbouring swamp and heap the marsh high with their dead bodies. Leo himself, swifter than deer or antelope, fled trembling on his foam-flecked horse, and it falling under his weight Leo sank in the mire and on all fours fought his way through the clinging slime. Held up at first by the thick mud, his fat body gradually settles down panting like a common pig, which, destined to grace the coming feast, squeals when Hosius arms him with flashing knife, and gathers up his garments, pondering the while what portions he will transfix with spits, which pieces of the flesh he will boil and how much sea-urchin
[120] The balaena or whale. According to ancient naturalists the balaena entered into an alliance with the musculus or sea-mouse which, in Pliny’s words, “vada praenatans demonstrat oculorumque vice fungitur” (Pliny, H.N. ix. 186).
mandet aquae quantoque cutem distendat echino.
flagrat opus; crebro pulsatus perstrepit ictu;[121] 450
contexit varius penetrans Calchedona nidor.
Ecce levis frondes a tergo concutit aura:
credit tela Leo; valuit pro vulnere terror
implevitque vicem iaculi, vitamque nocentem
integer et sola formidine saucius efflat. 455
quis tibi tractandos pro pectine, degener, enses,
quis solio campum praeponere suasit avito?
quam bene texentum laudabas carmina tutus
et matutinis pellebas frigora mensis!
hic miserande iaces; hic, dum tua vellera vitas, 460
tandem fila tibi neverunt ultima Parcae.
Iam vaga pallentem densis terroribus aulam
fama quatit; stratas acies, deleta canebat
agmina, Maeonios foedari caedibus agros,
Pamphylos Pisidasque rapi. metuendus ab omni 465
Tarbigilus regione tonat; modo tendere cursum
in Galatas, modo Bithynis incumbere fertur.
sunt qui per Cilicas rupto descendere Tauro,
sunt qui correptis ratibus terraque marique
adventare ferant; geminantur vera pavoris 470
ingenio: longe spectari puppibus urbes
accensas, lucere fretum ventoque citatas
omnibus in pelago velis haerere favillas.
Hos inter strepitus funestior advolat alter
[121] I print Birt’s text; but unless pulsatus be taken as a substantive (Baehrens’ suggestion, cf. P. Lat. Min. v. p. 120 l. 169) it is untranslatable. Emendations proposed are pulsu Cos … icta Barthius; pulsatus aper strepit Buecheler; cultri sus or pulpae ius Birt. The sense demands, however, some such word as Bosporus to make a parallelism with Calchedona. Possibly the line ended pulsatur Bosporus ictu, perstrepit being a gloss on pulsatur and eventually ousting Bosporus.
stuffing will be needed to fill the empty skin. The work of preparation goes on apace, Bosporus echoes to many a blow and the savoury smell envelops Chalcedon.
Suddenly a gentle breeze stirs the foliage behind Leo’s back. He thinks it an arrow, and terror, taking a missile’s place, does duty for a wound. Untouched and stricken only by fear he breathes his last. Degenerate Roman, by whose advice didst thou exchange the comb for the sword, thine ancestral calling for the field of battle? How much better to praise in safety the work of the weavers at their looms and keep out the cold by means of morning feasts. Here thou hast suffered a wretched death; here, while thou soughtest to shirk thy spinning, the Fates have at last spun for thee the final thread.
Now spreading rumour shakes the palace, pale with terror upon terror. It told how that the army was destroyed, the troops butchered, the plain of Maeonia red with slaughter, Pamphylia and Pisidia o’errun by the enemy. On all sides rings the dread name of Tarbigilus. He is now said to be bearing down upon Galatia, now to be meditating an attack on Bithynia. Some say he has crossed the Taurus and is descending upon Cilicia, others that he has possessed himself of a fleet and is advancing both by land and sea. Truth is doubled by panic’s fancy; they say that from the ships far cities are seen ablaze, that the straits are aglow and that ashes driven by the wind catch in the sails of every ship at sea.
Amid all this confusion comes a yet more terrible
nuntius: armatam rursus Babylona minari 475
rege novo; resides Parthos ignava perosos
otia Romanae finem iam quaerere paci.
rarus apud Medos regum cruor; unaque cuncto
poena manet generi: quamvis crudelibus aeque
paretur dominis. sed quid non audeat annus 480
Eutropii? socium nobis fidumque Saporem
perculit et Persas in regia vulnera movit
rupturasque fidem, leto pars ne qua vacaret,
Eumenidum taedas trans flumina Tigridis egit.
Tum vero cecidere animi tantisque procellis 485
deficiunt. saepti latrantibus undique bellis
infensos tandem superos et consulis omen
agnovere sui, nec iam revocabile damnum
eventu stolido serum didicere magistro.
namque ferunt geminos uno de semine fratres 490
Iapetionidas generis primordia nostri
dissimili finxisse manu: quoscumque Prometheus
excoluit multumque innexuit aethera limo,
hi longe ventura notant dubiisque parati
casibus occurrunt fabro meliore politi. 495
deteriore luto pravus quos edidit auctor,
quem merito Grai perhibent Epimethea vates,
et nihil aetherii sparsit per membra vigoris,
hi pecudum ritu non impendentia vitant
nec res ante vident; accepta clade queruntur 500
et seri transacta gemunt.
rumour—that Babylon is again in arms and, under a new monarch,[122] threatens our Empire; the Parthians, long inactive, and now scorning slothful ease, seek to put an end to the peace imposed by Rome. Rare among the Medes is the murder of a king, for punishment falls on the regicide’s whole family. Thus equal obedience is offered to their overlords, cruel as well as kind. But what would not the year of Eutropius’ consulship dare? ’Tis that has stricken down our faithful ally Sapor and roused the Persians’ swords against their own king; that has cast the torch of the Furies across the Euphrates, there to kindle rebellion, that no quarter of the globe may escape carnage.
Then indeed men’s hearts failed them, their courage ebbed away amid all these storms; surrounded as they were on every side by the din of war, at last they recognized the wrath of heaven and their consul’s evil omen, learning too late—schooled by the stubborn issue—their now irrevocable doom. They say that the twin sons of Iapetus formed our first parents of the same materials but with unequal skill. Those whom Prometheus fashioned, and with whose clay he mingled abundant ether, foresee the distant future and, thanks to their more careful making by a better workman, are thus prepared to meet what fate has in store for them. Those framed of baser clay by the sorry artificer the Greek poets so well call Epimetheus, men through whose limbs no ethereal vigour spreads—these, like sheep, cannot avoid the dangers that o’erhang them, nor foresee aught. Not till the blow has fallen do they protest and weep too late the accomplished deed.
[122] Varanes IV., who, like his three predecessors, Artaxerxes, Sapor III., and Varanes III., had observed a truce with Rome, died in 399 and was succeeded by Isdigerdes. For all Claudian’s real or simulated anxiety this monarch was as peaceably disposed as the previous ones (see Oros. vii. 34). Claudian seems to have made an error in calling him Sapor (l. 481).
Iam sola renidet
in Stilichone salus, et cuius semper acerbum
ingratumque sibi factorum conscius horror
credidit adventum, quem si procedere tantum
Alpibus audissent, mortem poenasque tremebant,
iam cuncti venisse volunt, scelerumque priorum 506
paenitet; hoc tantis bellorum sidus in undis
sperant, hoc pariter iusti sontesque precantur:
ceu pueri, quibus alta pater trans aequora merces
devehit, intenti ludo studiisque soluti 510
latius amoto passim custode vagantur;
si gravis auxilio vacuas invaserit aedes
vicinus laribusque suis proturbet inultos,
tum demum patrem implorant et nomen inani
voce cient frustraque oculos ad litora tendunt. 515
Omnes supplicio dignos letoque fatentur,
qui se tradiderint famulis Stilichone relicto.
mutati stupuere diu sensuque reducto
paulatim proprii mirantur monstra furoris
avertuntque oculos: proiectis fascibus horret 520
lictor et infames labuntur sponte secures:
quales Aonio Thebas de monte reversae
Maenades infectis Pentheo sanguine thyrsis,
cum patuit venatus atrox matrique rotatum
conspexere caput, gressus caligine figunt 525
et rabiem desisse dolent. quin protinus ipsa
tendit ad Italiam supplex Aurora potentem
There now shone forth but one hope of salvation—Stilicho. Him the expectation of whose visits the consciousness of deeds ill-done had ever rendered bitter and unpleasant, him whose approach even as far as the Alps afflicted the Byzantines with fear of death and punishment, all now wish to come, repentant of their former wrongdoing. To him they look as to a star amid this universal shipwreck of war; to him innocent and guilty alike address their prayers. So children whose sire carries merchandise across the sea, wrapt up in their amusements and heedless of their studies, wander afield more joyfully now that their guardian is absent, yet, should a dangerous neighbour invade their defenceless home and seek to drive them forth unprotected as they are from their fireside, then they beg their father’s help, call upon his name with useless cries and all to no purpose direct their gaze towards the shore.
All admit that they deserve punishment and death for deserting Stilicho and entrusting themselves to the governance of slaves. Long they stood dazed with altered thoughts, and as their senses slowly return they marvel at the results of their own madness and turn away their eyes; flinging down his rods the lictor shudders, and the dishonoured axes fall of their own accord. Even so the Maenads returning to Thebes from the Aonian mount, their thyrses dripping with Pentheus’ blood, learning the true character of their dreadful hunting and seeing the head cast by the mother herself, hide them in the darkness and lament the end of their madness. Thereupon suppliant Aurora turned her flight towards powerful Italy, her hair no
non radiis redimita comam, non flammea vultu
nec croceum vestita diem; stat livida luctu,
qualis erat Phrygio tegeret cum Memnona busto.
quam simul agnovit Stilicho nec causa latebat, 531
restitit; illa manum victricem amplexa moratur
altaque vix lacrimans inter suspiria fatur:
“Tantanc te nostri ceperunt taedia mundi?
sic me ludibrium famulis risumque relinquis 535
dux quondam rectorque meus? solamque tueris
Hesperiam? domiti nec te post bella tyranni
cernere iam licuit? sic te victoria nobis
eripuit Gallisque dedit? Rufinus origo
prima mali: geminas inter discordia partes 540
hoc auctore fuit. sed iam maiora moventi
occurrit iusta rediens exercitus ira,
fortis adhuc ferrique memor. brevis inde reluxit
falsaque libertas; rursum Stilichonis habenis
sperabam me posse regi. pro caeca futuri 545
gaudia! fraterno coniungi coeperat orbis
imperio (quis enim tanto terrore recentis
exempli paribus sese committeret ausis?),
cum subito (monstrosa mihi turpisque relatu
fabula) Rufini castratus prosilit heres, 550
et similes iterum luctus Fortuna reduxit,
ut solum domini sexum mutasse viderer.
“Hic primum thalami claustris delicta tegebat
clam timideque iubens; erat invidiosa potestas,
sed tamen eunuchi, necdum sibi publica iura 555
longer aureole-crowned and she no more bright of countenance nor clothed with the saffron of the dawn. She stands wan with woe, even as when she buried Memnon in his Phrygian grave. Stilicho recognized her and stayed, well knowing the reason of her visit. Long time she clasped his victorious hand and at length amid tears and sighs addressed him.
“Why art thou so wearied of the world whereon I shine? Leavest thou me thus to be the sport and laughing-stock of slaves and carest only for Italy, thou that wert once my guide and my leader? Since thy victory over the tyrant Eugenius I have not seen thee. Has victory thus robbed me of thee and given thee to Gaul? Rufinus was the prime cause of the trouble; ’twas he who wrought disunion between the two empires. But when he aimed at more there met him an army returning in righteous wrath, an army still strong, still mindful of its former prowess. For a moment I was dazzled by the mirage of liberty: I hoped that Stilicho would once more hold the reins of our empire. Alas for my short-sighted happiness! The world had begun to form one single empire under the rule of the two brothers (for who, with the awful example[123] so fresh in his mind, would dare embark upon a like venture?) when suddenly (it is a monstrous story which scarce bears the telling) a eunuch came forward as Rufinus’ heir. Thus fortune brought back my former miseries with this one difference—that of changing my master’s sex.
At first he kept his crimes hidden behind the doors of his chamber, an unseen and timid ruler; power was his that all envied, yet only a eunuch’s, nor dared he yet arrogate to himself the right of
[123] i.e. that of Rufinus.
sumere nec totas audebat vertere leges.
at postquam pulsisque bonis et faece retenta
peiores legit socios dignusque satelles
hinc Hosius stetit, inde Leo, fiducia crevit
regnandique palam flagravit aperta libido. 560
patricius, consul maculat quos vendit honores,
plus maculat quos ipse gerit. iam signa tubaeque
mollescunt, ipsos ignavia fluxit in enses.
exultant merito gentes facilisque volenti
praeda sumus. iam Bistoniis Haemoque nivali 565
vastior expulsis Oriens squalescit aratris.
ei mihi, quas urbes et quanto tempore Martis
ignaras uno rapuerunt proelia cursu!
nuper ab extremo veniens equitatus Araxe
terruit Antiochi muros, ipsumque decorae 570
paene caput Syriae flammis hostilibus arsit.
utque gravis spoliis nulloque obstante profunda
lactus caede redit, sequitur mucrone secundo
continuum vulnus; nec iam mihi Caucasus hostes
nec mittit gelidus Phasis; nascuntur in ipso 575
bella sinu. legio pridem Romana Gruthungi,
iura quibus victis dedimus, quibus arva domusque
praebuimus, Lydos Asiaeque uberrima vastant
ignibus et si quid tempestas prima reliquit.
nec vi nec numero freti; sed inertia nutrit 580
proditioque ducum, quorum per crimina miles
governing the state or of trampling on the laws. But when he had banished the good and, retaining the dregs of the people, had chosen therefrom advisers of no worth; when his creature Hosius stood on his one side and Leo on the other, then indeed his self-confidence waxed and his lust for power broke forth into open flame. Patrician and consul he brought defilement on the honours he sold; even greater defilement on those he carried himself. The very standards and trumpets of war grew feeble; a palsy seized upon our swords. What wonder the nations rejoiced and we became the easy prey of any who would subdue us? Gone are ploughs and ploughmen; the East is more a desert than Thrace and snowy Haemus. Alas! how many cities, how long unused to war’s alarms, have perished in a single invasion! Not long since a mounted band coming from Araxes’ farthest banks threatened the walls of Antioch and all but set fire to the chief city of the fair province of Syria. Laden with spoil and rejoicing in the vast carnage it had wrought the band returned with none to bar its passage; now it pursues its victorious career inflicting on me wound upon wound. ’Tis not now Caucasus nor cold Phasis that send forces against me; wars arise in the very centre of my empire. Time was when the Gruthungi formed a Roman legion; conquered we gave them laws; fields and dwelling-places we apportioned them. Now they lay waste with fire Lydia and the richest cities of Asia, ay, and everything that escaped the earlier storm. ’Tis neither on their own valour or numbers that they rely; it is our cowardice urges them on, cowardice and the treason of generals, through whose guilt our soldiers now
captivis dat terga suis, quos teste subegit
Danuvio partemque timet qui reppulit omnes.
“Aula choris epulisque vacat nec perdita curat,
dum superest aliquid. ne quid tamen orbe reciso
venditor amittat, provincia quaeque superstes 586
dividitur geminumque duplex passura tribunal
cogitur alterius pretium sarcire peremptae.
sic mihi restituunt populos; hac arte reperta
rectorum numerum terris pereuntibus augent. 590
“In te iam spes una mihi. pro fronde Minervae
has tibi protendo lacrimas: succurre ruenti,
eripe me tandem, servilibus eripe regnis.
neve adeo cunctos paucorum crimine damnes
nec nova tot meritis offensa prioribus obstet. 595
iamiam flecte animum. suprema pericula semper
dant veniam culpae. quamvis iratus et exul
pro patriae flammis non distulit arma Camillus.
nec te subtrahimus Latio; defensor utrique
sufficis. armorum liceat splendore tuorum 600
in commune frui; clipeus nos protegat idem
unaque pro gemino desudet cardine virtus.”
flee before their own captives, whom, as Danube’s stream well knows, they once subdued; and those now fear a handful who once could drive back all.
Meanwhile the palace devotes its attention to dances and feastings, and cares not what be lost so something remain. But lest our salesman lose aught by this dismemberment of the empire he has divided each remaining province into two, and forces the two halves, each under its own governor, to compensate him for the loss of other provinces. ’Tis thus they give me back my lost peoples: by this ingenious device they increase the number of my rulers while the lands they should rule are lost.
In thee is now my only hope; in place of Minerva’s supplicating branch I offer thee my tears. Help me in my distress. Save me from this tyranny of a slave master; do not condemn all for the fault of a few, and let not a recent offence cancel former merits. Grant me now my request; extreme danger ever exonerates from blame. Camillus, though justly angered at his banishment, forebore not to succour his country when in flames. I seek not to draw thee away from Italy; thou art enough defence for both empires. Let both have the benefit of thine illustrious arms; let the same shield defend us and one hero work the salvation of a twofold world”
FESCENNINA DE NUPTIIS HONORII AUGUSTI
I. (XI.)
Princeps corusco sidere pulchrior,
Parthis sagittas tendere doctior,
eques Gelonis imperiosior,
quae digna mentis laus erit arduae?
quae digna formae laus erit igneae? 5
te Leda mallet quam dare Castorem;
praefert Achilli te proprio Thetis;
victum fatetur Delos Apollinem;
credit minorem Lydia Liberum.
tu cum per altas impiger ilices 10
praedo citatum cornipedem reges
ludentque ventis instabiles comae,
telis iacebunt sponte tuis ferae
gaudensque sacris vulneribus leo
admittet hastam morte superbior. 15
Venus reversum spernit Adonidem,
damnat reductum Cynthia Virbium.
Cum post labores sub platani voles
virentis umbra vel gelido specu
torrentiorem fallere Sirium 20
et membra somno fessa resolveris:
o quantus uret tum Dryadas calor!
quot aestuantes ancipiti gradu
furtiva carpent oscula Naides!
FESCENNINE VERSES IN HONOUR OF THE MARRIAGE OF THE EMPEROR HONORIUS[124]
I. (XI.)
Prince, fairer than the day-star, who shootest thine arrows with an aim more sure than the Parthian’s, rider more daring than the Geloni, what praise shall match thy lofty mind, what praise thy brilliant beauty? Leda would rather have thee her son than Castor; Thetis counts thee dearer than her own Achilles; Delos’ isle admits thee Apollo’s victor; Lydia puts Bacchus second to thee. When in the heat of the chase thou guidest thy coursing steed amid the towering holm-oaks and thy tossing locks stream out upon the wind, the beasts of their own accord will fall before thine arrows and the lion, right gladly wounded by a prince’s sacred hand, will welcome thy spear and be proud so to die. Venus scorns Adonis returned from the dead, Diana disapproves Hippolytus recalled to life.
When after thy toils thou seekest the shade of a green plane-tree or shunnest Sirius’ extreme heat in some cool grot and freest thy wearied limbs in sleep, what a passion of love will inflame the Dryads’ hearts! how many a Naiad will steal up with trembling foot and snatch an unmarked kiss! Who,
[124] The marriage of Honorius and Maria, daughter of Stilicho, took place at Milan, Feb. 398.
quis vero acerbis horridior Scythis, 25
quis beluarum corde furentior,
qui, cum micantem te prope viderit,
non optet ultro servitium pati,
qui non catenas adripiat libens
colloque poscat vincula libero?
tu si nivalis per iuga Caucasi 30
saevas petisses pulcher Amazonas,
peltata pugnas desereret cohors
sexu recepto; patris et inmemor
inter frementes Hippolyte tubas
strictam securim languida poneret 35
et seminudo pectore cingulum
forti negatum solveret Herculi,
bellumque solus conficeret decor.
Beata, quae te mox faciet virum 40
primisque sese iunget amoribus.
II. (XII.)
Age cuncta nuptiali
redimita vere tellus
celebra toros eriles;
omne nemus cum fluviis,
omne canat profundum 5
Ligures favete campi,
Veneti favete montes,
subitisque se rosetis
vestiat Alpinus apex
et rubeant pruinae. 10
Athesis strepat choreis
calamisque flexuosus
leve Mincius susurret
though he be more uncivilized than the wild Scythians and more cruel even than the beasts, but will, when he has seen near at hand thy transcendent loveliness, offer thee a ready servitude? Who will not willingly seize the chains of slavery and demand the yoke for a neck as yet free? Hadst thou o’er the heights of snowy Caucasus gone against the cruel Amazons in all thy beauty, that warrior band had fled the fight and called to mind again their proper sex; Hippolyte, amid the trumpets’ din, forgetful of her sire, had weakly laid aside her drawn battle-axe, and with half-bared breast loosed the girdle all Hercules’ strength availed not to loose. Thy beauty alone would have ended the war.
Blessed is she who will soon call thee husband and unite herself to thee with the bonds of first love.
II. (XII.)
Come, earth, wreathed about with nuptial spring, do honour to thy master’s marriage-feast. Sing, woods and rivers all, sing, deep of ocean. Give your blessing, too, Ligurian plains and yours, Venetian hills. Let Alpine heights on a sudden clothe themselves with rose-bushes and the fields of ice grow red. Let the Adige re-echo the sound of choric lays and meandering Mincius whisper gently through his
et Padus electriferis
admoduletur alnis; 15
epulisque iam repleto
resonet Quirite Thybris
dominique laeta votis
aurea septemgeminas
Roma coronet arces. 20
procul audiant Hiberi,
fluit unde semen aulae,
ubi plena laurearum
imperio feta domus
vix numerat triumphos. 25
habet hinc patrem maritus,
habet hinc puella matrem
geminaque parte ductum
Caesareum flumineo
stemma recurrit ortu. 30
decorent virecta Bactim,
Tagus intumescat auro
generisque procreator
sub vitreis Oceanus
luxurietur antris. 35
Oriensque regna fratrum
simul Occidensque plaudat;
placide iocentur urbes,
quaeque novo quaeque nitent
deficiente Phoebo. 40
Aquiloniae procellae,
rabidi tacete Cauri,
taceat sonorus Auster.
solus ovantem Zephyrus
perdominetur annum. 45
reeds and Padus make answer with his amber-dripping alders. Let Tiber’s banks now ring with the voices of Rome’s full-fed citizens and the golden city, rejoicing in her lord’s marriage, crown her seven hills with flowers.
Let Spain hear afar, Spain the cradle of the imperial race, where is a house that is mother of emperors, rich in crowns of laurel, whose triumphs can scarce be numbered. Hence came the bridegroom’s sire, hence the bride’s mother; from either branch flows the blood of the Caesars, like twin streams reunited. Let rich herbage clothe Baetis’ banks and Tagus swell his golden flood; may Ocean, ancestor of the imperial race, make merry in his crystal caves. Let East and West, the two brothers’ realms, join in their applause, and peace and joy fill the cities illumined by the sun at his rising and at his setting. Be still, ye storms of the north and ye mad blasts of Caurus; sounding Auster, sink to rest. Let Zephyrus have sole rule over this year of triumph.
III. (XIII.)
Solitas galea fulgere comas,
Stilicho, molli necte corona.
cessent litui saevumque procul
Martem felix taeda releget.
tractus ab aula rursus in aulam 5
redeat sanguis. patris officiis
iunge potenti pignora dextra.
gener Augusti pridem fueras,
nunc rursus eris socer Augusti.
quae iam rabies livoris erit? 10
vel quis dabitur color invidiae?
Stilicho socer est, pater est Stilicho.
IV. (XIV.)
Attollens thalamis Idalium iubar
dilectus Veneri nascitur Hesperus.
iam nuptae trepidat sollicitus pudor,
iam produnt lacrimas flammea simplices.
ne cessa, iuvenis, comminus adgredi, 5
impacata licet saeviat unguibus.
non quisquam fruitur veris odoribus
Hyblaeos latebris nec spoliat favos,
si fronti caveat, si timeat rubos;
armat spina rosas, mella tegunt apes. 10
crescunt difficili gaudia iurgio
accenditque magis, quae refugit, Venus.
quod flenti tuleris, plus sapit osculum.
dices “o!” quotiens, “hoc mihi dulcius
quam flavos deciens vincere Sarmatas!” 15
III. (XIII.)
Twine with a soft garland, Stilicho, the locks whereon a helmet is wont to shine. Let the trumpets of war cease and the propitious torch of marriage banish savage Mars afar. Let regal blood unite once more with regal blood. Perform a father’s office and unite these children with thine illustrious hand. Thou didst marry an emperor’s daughter, now, in turn, thy daughter shall marry an emperor. What room is here for the madness of jealousy? What excuse for envy? Stilicho is father both of bride and bridegroom.
IV. (XIV.)
Hesperus, loved of Venus, rises and shines for the marriage with his Idalian[125] rays. Maiden shame now overcomes the anxious bride; her veil now shows traces of innocent tears. Hesitate not to be close in thine attacks, young lover, e’en though she oppose thee savagely with cruel finger-nail. None can enjoy the scents of spring nor steal the honey of Hybla from its fastnesses if he fears that thorns may scratch his face. Thorns arm the rose and bees find a defence for their honey. The refusals of coyness do but increase the joy; the desire for that which flies us is the more inflamed; sweeter is the kiss snatched through tears. How oft wilt thou say: “Better this than ten victories over the yellow-haired Sarmatae”!
[125] Idalian: from Idalium, a mountain in Cyprus, sacred to Venus.
Adspirate novam pectoribus fidem
mansuramque facem tradite sensibus.
tam iunctis manibus nectite vincula,
quam frondens hedera stringitur aesculus,
quam lento premitur palmite populus, 20
et murmur querula blandius alite
linguis adsiduo reddite mutuis.
et labris animum conciliantibus
alternum rapiat somnus anhelitum.
amplexu caleat purpura regio 25
et vestes Tyrio sanguine fulgidas
alter virgineus nobilitet cruor.
tum victor madido prosilias toro
nocturni referens vulnera proelii.
Ducant pervigiles carmina tibiae 30
permissisque iocis turba licentior
exultet tetricis libera legibus.
passim cum ducibus ludite milites,
passim cum pueris ludite virgines.
haec vox aetheriis insonet axibus, 35
haec vox per populos, per mare transeat:
“formosus Mariam ducit Honorius.”
Breathe a new loyalty into your breasts and let your senses kindle a flame that shall never be extinguished. May your clasped hands form a bond more close than that betwixt ivy and leafy oak tree or poplar and pliant vine. Be the frequent kisses that ye give and receive breathed more softly than those of plaintive doves, and when lips have united soul to soul let sleep still your throbbing breath. Be the purple couch warm with your princely wooing, and a new stain ennoble coverlets ruddy with Tyrian dye. Then leap victorious from the marriage-bed, scarred with the night’s encounter.
All night long let the music of the flute resound and the crowd, set free from law’s harsh restraints, with larger licence indulge the permitted jest. Soldiers, make merry with your leaders, girls with boys. Be this the cry that re-echoes from pole to pole, among the peoples, over the seas: “Fair Honorius weds with Maria.”
EPITHALAMIUM DE NUPTIIS HONORII AUGUSTI
PRAEFATIO
(IX.)
Surgeret in thalamum ducto cum Pelion arcu
nec caperet tantos hospita terra deos,
cum socer aequoreus numerosaque turba sororum
certarent epulis continuare dies
praeberetque Iovi communia pocula Chiron, 5
molliter obliqua parte refusus equi,
Peneus gelidos mutaret nectare fontes,
Oetaeis fluerent spumea vina iugis:
Terpsichore facilem lascivo pollice movit
barbiton et molles duxit in antra choros. 10
carmina nec superis nec displicuere Tonanti,
cum teneris nossent congrua vota modis.
Centauri Faunique negant. quae flectere Rhoeton,
quae rigidum poterant plectra movere Pholum?
Septima lux aderat caelo totiensque renato 15
viderat exactos Hesperus igne choros:
tum Phoebus, quo saxa domat, quo pertrahit ornos,
pectine temptavit nobiliore lyram
venturumque sacris fidibus iam spondet Achillem,
iam Phrygias caedes, iam Simoënta canit. 20
frondoso strepuit felix Hymenaeus Olympo;
reginam resonant Othrys et Ossa Thetim.