signandum Stilichone legit; tunc imperat omnes
pone sequi dictisque simul compellat euntes:
“En, cui distulimus melioris saecla metalli,
consul adest. ite optati mortalibus anni, 455
ducite virtutes; hominum florescite rursus
ingeniis hilares Baccho frugumque feraces.
non inter geminos Anguis glaciale Triones
sibilet, inmodico nec frigore saeviat Ursa.
the entrance sits Nature, guardian of the threshold, of age immense yet ever lovely, around whom throng and flit spirits on every side. A venerable old man writes down immutable laws: he fixes the number of stars in each constellation and causes these to move and those to be at rest, whereby everything lives or dies by pre-ordained laws. ’Tis he decides Mar’s uncertain orbit, Jupiter’s fixed course through the heaven, the swift path of the moon, and the slow march of Saturn; he limits the wanderings of Venu’s bright chariot and of Mercury, Phoebu’s companion.