“Mensis erat, cujus juvenum de nomine nomen.”[336]
Events connected with the passion of Jesus Christ are treated as having already passed in the time of Alexander.
The poem is divided into ten books, corresponding to the number in the original of Curtius,[337] and the ten initial letters of the books, when put together like an acrostic, spell the name of the Archbishop, Guillermus, the equivalent for William at that time, the patron of the poet. Besides this conceit, there is a dedication both at the beginning and the end. Quantity, especially in Greek or Asiatic words, is disregarded; and there are affectations in style, of which the very beginning is an instance:—
“Gesta ducis Macepûm totum digesta per orbem,
…
Musa, refer.”[338]
In the same vein is the verse,—
“Inclitus ille Clitus,” etc.;[339]
and another verse, describing the violence of the soldiers after victory:—
“Extorquent torques, et inaures perdidit auris.”[340]