quod si signa ducem numquam fallentia vestrum conspicio faciesque truces oculosque minaces, vicistis,
Nay, if I behold those signs that ne'er deceived your leader, fierce faces and threatening eyes, you are already conquerors.
though they are not the words of the historical Caesar, have a stirring sincerity and force. But the speeches fail because all speak the same artificial language. A mutineer can say of Caesar (v. 289)—
Rheni mihi Caesar in undis
dux erat, hic socius. facinus quos inquinat aequat;
Caesar was my leader by the waves of Rhine, here he is
my comrade. The stain of crime makes all men equal.
or threaten with the words (292)—
quidquid gerimus fortuna vocatur. nos fatum sciat esse suum.
As fortune's gift
He takes the victory which our arms have won:
But we his fortunes are, his fates are ours
To fashion as we will.
SIR E. RIDLEY.
The lines are brilliant and worthy of life: in their immediate context they are ridiculous. Epigrams have their value, however, even when they suit their context ill, and neither Juvenal nor Tacitus has surpassed Lucan in this respect, or been more often quoted. He is, says Quintilian, sententiis clarissimus. Nothing can surpass (iv. 519)—
victurosque dei celant, ut vivere durent, felix esse mori.