“hoc erat? in fratres medio discordia Mauro
nascitur et mundus germanaque dissidet aula?
upright stood the plumes, the round shield shone once more, and gone was every trace of rust from her wingèd, gleaming spear.
Sleep was now driving the dew-drenched steeds of night, guiding them with the reins of Lethe and carrying round the stars in her silent course, when the elder and the younger Theodosius,[72] chief among the heroes divine, came to bring peace to men. They bore Jove’s secret message and mandate to the two brothers and ratified the treaty between the two empires. So when at dead of night the driving tempest has brought the helmsman’s skill to nought and the sinking ship groans and shudders at the waves’ ceaseless shock, Leda’s Spartan-born sons sustain the foundering bark in answer to the sailors’ prayers. At the rise of the full moon the twain parted. The elder directed his steps towards the coasts of Italy, the younger visited the couch of Arcadius, gliding down to that Eastern city where Bosporus narrows the entrance to the Euxine. As soon as the son saw his father (for the moon was shining brightly), he wept, yet trembled for joy, and embracing that form he had little hoped ever to embrace again, said: “O thou restored now to me for the first time since thy triumphs in the Alps, whence comest thou to thy loving son? Let me touch that hand that has conquered so many barbarian races! Who hath robbed the world of such a defender? How long a while has mankind prayed thine aid, and missed thy goodness and thy might!”
Sighing, the father made answer: “Was it for this? Is a Moor become a cause of discord between two brothers? Does the empire and court of the
[72] Theodosius the younger is, of course, Theodosius I., the Emperor (see Introduction, p. vii). Theodosius the elder was his father. He was an able and trusted general of Valentinian I., who restored quiet in Britain (368-370), defeated the Alamanni (370), and crushed the revolt of Firmus, Gildo’s brother (see line 333 of this poem) in Africa (? 372-374). His death was brought about by Merobaudes, Gratian’s minister (cf. viii. 26-9).
Gildonisne salus tanti sit palma furoris?
scilicet egregius morum magnoque tuendus