inde Serena minor, prior hinc Thermantia natu,
expertes thalami, quarum Cythereia necdum
grass and white lilies blossomed there; didst thou close thine eyes in quiet sleep, there burgeoned the purple violet to adorn thy grassy couch with her imperial colour. Thy mother dared not tell of such great omens and, knowing her own secret vow, hides with eager hope the fulfilment she prays for.
Thy father Honorius held thee in a close embrace. Whenever Theodosius—not emperor then—came to his brother’s house he covered thee with kisses and loved to take thee with him to his own home. Then turning to thy mother with gentle complaint, “Why,” thou saidst, “take me from my own home? This man ever commands.[101]” Prophetic was the sportive word and thine infant lips gave augury of empire. At the death of thy sire thine illustrious uncle adopted thee and to console thee for the bitterness of that loss, bestowed upon thee, his brother’s child, more love than he could have bestowed on any child of his own. Leda’s twin sons were not united with a bond of affection more sure. He gave his own son the name his brother had borne, hoping in some way to discover in that son the image of the brother he had loved and lost. Finally, when the people’s choice had summoned him to take up the reins of empire, Theodosius would not vouchsafe his sons any proof of his affection for them until he had summoned thee and thy faithful sister from Spain to the lands of morning.
So now they leave Tagus’ banks and the home of the west winds and hasten towards the cities that recognize the empery of the east. They come, the maidens twain, his brother’s children, on this side Serena the younger, on that Thermantia[102] the elder born, strange as yet to love; nor has Hymen bent
[101] Claudian plays on the words imperat and imperator.
[102] This Thermantia is not to be confused with her niece Thermantia, daughter of Serena and Stilicho (x. 339).
sub iuga cervices niveas Hymenaeus adegit. 120