“So now, masters of the land beyond our hope, we perform

lustrations to Jove, and set the altars ablaze with

our vows, and solemnize the shores of Actium[157] with the

native games of Troy. My comrades strip, and practise 30

the wrestle of the old country, all slippery with oil: what

joy to have passed in safety by all those Argive cities,

and held on our flight through the heart of the foe!

Meanwhile the sun rolls round the mighty year, and the

north winds of icy winter roughen the sea. A shield of 35

hollow brass, once borne by the great Abas, I fasten up