MAURICIUS
, , , : L, "Emperor Mau- rice" (reigned 577-595).
A-Companion-to-the-Cantos-of-Ezra-Pound-II
A military revolt forced her to retire from the regency in 790, but she was recalled by Constantine in 792 and made joint ruler.
She encouraged his misconduct and cruelty, or~ dered him to be blinded, and got him de- posed in 797.
She was, in turn, deposed in 802 and died in exile.
66. Constans: An ambassador sent by Irene to propose a marriage between her son and the daughter of Carolus.
67. Carolus Magnus: Charlemagne. No mar- riage took place and thus the idea of uniting the Frankish Kingdom and the Byzantine Empire did not take place.
68. sardonix . . . rosi8: L, "Parian sardonyx, lilies mixed with roses. " From a verse epi~ taph for Queen Hildegard (d. 783), wife of Charlemagne. Sardonyx, a layered pink and white marble, is a metaphor for the queen's beauty_ Paros, one of the Cyclades, was fa- mous for its marble [Migne, 1602; with this line Pound leaves the History of the Lom- bards and goes to another book partly writ- ten by Paul, Historia Miscelia].
wife" and Philostratus, mentioned below.
70. Diocletian: Caius Aurelius Valerius D. , 245-313, Roman emperor (284-305). He
96/653-654
came to power from a high military com- mand. He consolidated the empire, restored Britain to it, and defeated the Persians. The later part of his reign was distinguished by persecution o f the Christians, an advanced system of administration, and many wise economic measures. He believed it was bet- ter to tax conquered peoples than destroy them. In 301 he uttered The Edict ofDioele- tian, an economic measure meant to check speculation in commodity prices_ In 305 he retired to live in a castle in Salona [Migne, 900-904].
. . .
72. otio . . . senuit: L, "quietly aging" [Migne, 904] .
73. Saturn _. . : The line is not in Migne. JW reports that "Diocletian and other emperors gave this tax-free money to "the cities to circulate. " If the gold and silver of the Ponti- fex [89:79] were taxed, this might have a beneficent economic effect [JW, Later, 112].
74. "changing. __ ": Not in Migne. Since one form of travertine is onyx marble, the line may mean changing from cottages to halls of marble, an idea that could apply to Diocletian or Vespasian: both came from poor families.
7S. Vespasiano . . . : L, "under Vespasian [Migne, 871] . . . cities rebuilt" [Migne, 874]. Roman emperor advised by Apollo-
nius of Tyana [94:118]
76. Antoninus: A. Pius [78:56]
77. apud Eboricurn: L, "near York. " From "Ibique apud Eboracum [sic] oppidum" ("And there near the town of York"). Septi? mius Severns renewed the war in Britain and died there [Migne, 891] .
96/654
80. Galla Placidia: [110:46]. The beautiful woman who died 1165 years after the founding of the city of Rome, according to the old Roman calendar system, and was buried in one of the most beautiful tombs ever created [76:86]. The daughter of Theo- dosia, she became empress of the West at a time when there were disturbances through- out the empire.
8! . Pictorum: L, "of the Picts. " They created uprisings in Britain [Migne, 954]_
82_ Vandali: L, "the vandals. " They created troubles in Spain [Migne, 955].
83. Bosphorus: Byzantium. Called Bas ("ox")-phorus ("ford") because of the tax exacted from all who passed through it.
597
lavius, son of Miltiades; Marcellus, Vitus, and Eusebius, bankers; . . . Marcellus, who was arrested as he entered the palace with a dagger . . . killed himself on the spot" [Bury, Later R. E. , 67-69]. Pound believes the plot was formed because of Justinian's tradition of tight control of money [Migne, 994].
92. two Abduls: Abdu-I-Malik, 646-705, the fith Omayyad caliph [685-705): "At his ac? cession Islam was torn by dissension and hard pressed by the Byzantine Empire. " But he overthrew his rivals and united Islam. An able adminstrator, he introduced Arabic coins, improved postal facilities, made Ara- bic the official language, and reorganized the government [cf. 161 below]. The idea of "two" may be that one could do worse than have two such able rulers, even Orientals [ef. 93 below].
93. the third bahai: The first, Baha Ullah, 1817-1892, founder of Bahaism, said many remarkable things, as did his son, Sir Abdul Baha Bahai, 1844-1921, the second Bahai [46:22]. The third is not mentioned in en- cyclopedias. A rhyme with the several other occult religions Pound was interested in [94:18]_
94. Edgar Wallace: Popular English novelist, 1875-1932, who wrote over 150 detective thrillers, as well as plays. Pound quotes him as saying, "Very few people are respected by anyone" [SP, 450]. Pound also said: "Mass culture insists on the fundamental virtues which are common to Edgar Wallace and to Homer. It insists on the part of technique which is germane to both these authors" [SP, 231]. And, "There is no faking in the arts. No artist can present what he hasn't got. Edgar Wallace triumphed by modesty" [GK,209].
95. Caedual: Pound says "Cedwald" earlier [cf. 37 above]. His baptism and absolution took place at about the same time, on his visit to Rome. [Vol. 95 ofMigne opens with Bede's Ecelesiastical History_ At this point and for most of the next 15 lines, Pound leaves Paul the Deacon's account and turns
Birthplace of
85. Verona et Bruxia: L, "Verona and Bricia. " Cities of Italy from which the Goths were finally expelled [Migne, 989].
86. all italian "reip. ": From sentence in Migne [989] about Justinian: "universanque Italiam ad reip. jura reduxit" ("and he brought all Italy back to the laws of the republic").
87. Bernicoli: Unidentified, not in source. Prob. a memory of someone Pound saw in Ravenna.
88. that stuffed shirt: Prob. a contemporary reference.
89. embargo: Justinian [94:45] established embargoes to protect local business [Migne, 990].
90. Theodora: Wife of Justinian, who made her joint empress when he came to the throne in 527. She died in 548 in the 21st year of his reign.
9! . Ablavius and Marcellus: Migne [992- 994] calls these two conspirators "pecuni- arum venditores" ("sellers of money"). They were apprehended before they succeeded. Says Bury (whose account is more complete than Migne's): "The conspirators were: Ab-
69. Tyana:
[94:42]. The line may tie in with "Severus's
Apollonius
7! . Haud
Salo" [Migne, 903]. Salona is in Yugoslavia and should not be confused with the SaID Republic.
78. 79.
Severus' wife: [94: 123]. Philostratus: [94: 123]_
Julia Domna.
Salonis:
L, "Not far
from
1
84_ treaty 988].
. . .
Justinian:
[94:45].
[Migne,
? ? 598
to contemporaneous events in 7th century Britain. ]
96. EI1APXIKON . . . : The Eparch 's Book. Source of most of the last half of Canto 96
[cf. 271 below].
97. that sea gull: Ino of the bikini [cf. I above].
98. eivex eexlcixoory,: H, "beach of the sea," One of Pound's favorite Homeric phrases. At the moment Odysseus awakes on Ithaca, where the Phaeacians have beached him, he believes himself lost again and, moaning, walks "expex elva "olcvrplcoio~ow eexlcixoory, rOd, XIII, 220]. Pound translates, "the turn of the wave and the scutter of receding peb? bles" [L, 274], leaving the literal sense to get the onomatopoetic effects he thought Homer had. Parts of the phrase occur often in both the prose and the poetry [98: 17; P,
181;LE,250].
99, ALDFRID: Alfred, king of Northum? bria (d. 705) [Migne, 258]. Not to be con- fused with Alfred the Great, ca. 849-899, king of Wessex and areas of England.
. 100. Aldhelm: St, A. , 640? -709, abbot of Malmesbury and author of a number of works in prose and verse, such as "De virgini- tate . . . versibus hexametris" ("concerning virginity . . . in hexameter verses"); De Meta- plasma [On the remolding] ; and De Sinalim- pha [On unclear waters]. Such works indi- cate that civilization was spreading to the outlands of the empire [Migne, 260, 261]. But most of Bede's commentary concerns such things as ecclesiastical tonsure rites- "fuss about hair-cuts"-[285, 288], comets
facing north [282] and mere fads [JW, Later, 114]. After this entry, Pound returns to the History o f the Lombards as continued after Paul the Deacon by Landulphus Sagax (Landulph).
101. Justin: Justin II, nephew and successor to Justinian I, and emperor (565-578). Early in his reign he and his wife carried on the policies of Justinian in the control of money and regulation of trade.
96/654-655
102. Sophia Augusta: Wife of Justin II.
103. pecuniarium . , . : L [pecuniarum],
"money lenders. " Sophia Augusta sum~ moned the usurious money~lenders before her and ordered them to treat their debtors better. She restored mortgaged homes to their rightful owners and received great praise from the populace [Migne, 994].
104. the synagog: In the early years of his reign Justin maintained religious peace among all the warring factions, mostly Chris~ tian; but by 572, the 12th year of his reign, he began a severe persecution of the Mono~ physites and converted a synagogue into a church. Two years later he lost his mind completely and the rule passed to Tiberius
[Migne, 996] ,
105. fads on Eleusis: Any doctrinal decora- tion of Christian belief or ceremony would appear to Pound a worsening of the simpli~ city of the rites of Eleusis.
106. TIBERIUS: Constantine II, emperor 571-577, squandered the money of the em- pire. He used himself to spend wealtlirather than using wealth to develop himself, as the ideogram suggests [55:9],
96/655-656
113. Lombards in Exarchate: Mauricius was a brilliant general who defeated the enemies of the Byzantine Empire in Persia, to the north and to the south; but he could not prevent the Lombards from entering the ex- archate (adminstrative unit of the capital).
II4.
MAURICIUS , , , : L, "Emperor Mau- rice" (reigned 577-595). Tiberius II on his deathbed gave him his daughter in marriage and proclaimed him emperor. As he had been a successful general, he carried on as an excellent defender of the empire. But he "was killed, together with his sons . . . by
599 lifetime studying precious metals and mone-
tary systems. His works include A History of Money in Ancient States (1881), Money and Civilization (1885), The Science of Money (1895), and many more. In a book entitled Ancient Britain, he developed an idea that occurs in several of his writings: "The sover-
eign pontiff monopolized the coinage of gold and fixed the weight-ratio of value be- tween gold and silver at 1 to 12; a ratio remained unaltered for over 1200 years. He shared the coinage of silver with his subject kingdoms and left the coinage of bronze to the Senate and municipalities" [123; Pearl- man,Pai, 1-2, 163; Flory, Pai, 4,2-3,325- 326].
107. Ideogram: spend. "
Fa
[M1768],
"issue,
120. sanguinibus
bloodshed, love of murders, faithlessness, boasting and violence (of Hormisdas)"
[Migne, 1006].
121. Hormisdae: Hormisdas IV (reigned 579-590), son of Chosroes. He continued the war with the Romans but was defeated first by Mauricius and then by Heraclius. He was blinded and later killed by the Persian aristo- cracy. He was the Asiatic king who ruled with "pleasure in bloo~, love of homicide, infidelity, vainglory and violence" [Migne, 1005] ,
122, Priscus: The praetor (city magistrate of ancient Rome who adminstered justice) of Mauricius. He caught the barbarian Musa- cius totally drunk at the funeral of his brother [Migne, l O l l ] . Phocus, or Focas [cf. 141 below1,was his master of horse.
123. Musacius: King Musacius. Source: "Musacium barbarorum regem ebrietate cor- ruptum: funebrem quippe proprii fratris cel- ebrabat festivitatem" ("Musacius king of the barbarians as expected was totally drunk at the funeral festivities celebrated for his own brother") [Migne, 1010-10ll].
124. aerumnae: L, "woes. " From phrase that reads, "non defuerunt imperio variae, ac ingentes aerumnae" ("no absence of various great woes") [Migne, 1019]. The phrase is
108. Thrax: L, "Thrace. " Mauricius over- came the Slavs there.
109. Cappadox: L, "Cappadocia," an an- cient region in Asia Minor, the birthplace of Mauricius.
1I0. Lombards: [Cf. 59-60 above]. Over- come by Mauricius [Migne, 1000] ,
I l l . Avars: [cf. 61 above], Mauricius [Migne, 100I].
Overcome
by
112. Theophanem sequitur: L, "follow The- ophanes. " A note in Migne [997, 998] tells the reader that the author is following the author of Annals of the Greeks in these details,
[Phocas] . . . . The Huns, too, who are also called Avars, were subjugated by his prowess" [Foulke, History, 168].
115. calamitatibus delectabantur: L, "de- lighted in calamities. " Said of the Persians, "barbarians," whom Mauricius defeated. They delighted in anything bad that hap- pened to Rome [Migne, 1004].
116. equestribus . . . : L, "speCUlating in horses" or "horse trading," a commercial venture developed to a fine art which Mauri~ cius enjoyed. It was an activity of great importance in a city where the center of culture was the Hippodrome.
117. urbem splendidam reddidit: L, "he re- stored the shining city. " Mauricius did this, says Migne, by dealings with the nobility [1005], He also controlled the money and, according to Pound, provided "local free- dom. " The phrase must be understood not as freedom of the people iIi a democratic sense, but freedom from outside control.
118, local freedom . . . power: Since Mauri- cius carried on the kind of monetary con- trols established by his predecessors back to Justinian, which climaxed later in The Eparch's Book [cf. 27 I below], Pound calls it "local control oflocal purchasing power," a primary tenet of Social Credit. The con- text is different, but enough alike to suggest Del Mar.
119. Del Mar: Alexander D. M. , 1836-1926, a civil and mining engineer who spent a
F ocas
. . .
: L, "the
praise of
? ? ? ? ? 600
96/656-657
96/657
601
used to describe the result of Mauricius's dictatorial rule which led to his being deposed.
125. Fortuna: [86:93; for "pervanche" cf. 97: 188].
126. CHEN4: [M315], "to tremble. "
127. e che pennutasse: I, "and who has
changed entirely" [In/. VII, 79]. Part of the answer to a question: "Master . . . this for- tune which you touch on here, what is it, that has the goods of the world so in its clutches? " Virgil's answer is about the change of the good things of the world, under Fortune, from one person to another.
128. Dei Matris: L, "of the Mother of God. "
129. HERACLJUS: H. I, ca. 575-641, By- zantine emperor (610-641), the son of an African governor. H. succeeded the tyrant Phocas after he deposed and executed him. He was threatened on all sides by Avars and Bulgars. He lost Syria, Palestine, and Egypt to the Persians in his early years but con~ quered them back in costly wars (622-628)-then lost them to the Moslem Arabs (629-641). Pound's date (602) comes from the "Mixed History," which is wrong. H. assumed power by coming to the city on castellated ships (navibus castellatis) that bore images of the Mother of God [Migne, 1023].
130. imperator , . . sponsus: L, "both com- mander and bridegroom. "
131. reip's business, . . : Pound's rendition of "invenit dissoluta reip negotia" ("found the republic's business gone to pieces").
132. Avars . . . desert: [Cf. 61 above]. Trans. of "Europam Avares reddidere desertam" [Migne, 1024].
133. Persians . . . Asia: Trans. of "Asiam vera totam Persae exterrninaverunt" [ibid. ].
134. Chosroes: King Chosdroes II. This Per- sian king answered a message from Emperor Heraclius with these words: "I won't spare
you until you deny the crucified one, whom you profess to be God, and adore the Sun" [Migne, 1025]. Heraclius could not stand this, so in order to defeat King Chosdroes he melted down candles and sacred vessels to get gold and silver coins. In a footnote the coins are called by their Greek names [Migne, 1026], given in the next line of the
text.
135. VOj. l{U/lCt:. TCt K{h /lLf. . . Lexpiaul: H, "current coins and silver coins. " The last word is not in Liddell-Scott. The closest form is /. uALapwv, which means a copper vessel to boil water in.
136. nummos . . . : L, "gold and silver coins" [Migne, 1026].
137. eiI<. OvD<;: H, "sacred image. " Heraclius swears on an icon shaped like "the virile figure of God" that he will fight Chosdroes to the death [Migne, 1026].
138. Justinian: [Cf. 12 above]. 139. Tiberius: [Cf. 106 above]. 140. Mauricius: [Cf. 114 above].
141. Phocae: Emperor of Byzantium, 595- 610. His tyrannical regime led to his over- throw and execution.
142. Heraclius: So ends this historical re- view and summary. H. is a transitional figure.
143. Deutschland unter: G, "Germany un- der. " The phrase takes off from "Deutsch- land tiber alles. "
144. Dulles: John Foster D. , 1888-1959, U. S. secretary o f state, 1953-1959. While this canto was being written, he was much in the news with foreign policy formulations called "brinkmanship" and with the doctrine of "massive retaliation. " In that post-WWII decade Dulles could almost dictate the for- eign policy of the European nations that confronted the communist nations behind the iron curtain. Gennany was a key to that policy, and a center of effort, after the con- struction of the Berlin Wall. On Jan. 22,
1954 Dulles arrived at the Berlin Conference with hopes of advancing the cause of the reunification of Germany. Over the years he promoted the "Baghdad Pact," a mutual de- fense alliance formed in 1955 between Tur- key, Pakistan, and Iraq as a part of the bipartisan policy of communist con- tainment.
145. over Euphrates: After the enemy burned a hemp bridge over the Euphrates River, Heraclius created a bridge by lashing a number of boats together [Migne, 1032].
146. Sebastia: An ancient name of Sivas, a city in central Turkey. While Heraclius passed the winter there, Chosdroes ruthlessly ransacked churches and robbed private citi- zens to build an elite army called the Golden Spears [JW, Later, 116]. He also tried to enlist the aid of a number of other enemies of the empire in the north, the Bulgars, Gespids, and "Hunnos," as well as the Turks, to move against the city called "Fu Lin"
[Migne, 1033] .
147. XpvaoAOXcic;: H, "Golden Spears. "
148. quatenus Hunnos: L, "as far as the Hunnos. "
149. Fu Lin: Chinese phrase for prefect's city: Constantinople.
150. Turcos . . . vocant: L, "Turks who are called Cazars. "
151. superlaudabilis: L, with the "ultra praiseworthy" help of "God's Mother," a great hailstorm fell upon Chosdroes's army killing many of them, so that Heraclius's army won [Migne, 1036].
152.
66. Constans: An ambassador sent by Irene to propose a marriage between her son and the daughter of Carolus.
67. Carolus Magnus: Charlemagne. No mar- riage took place and thus the idea of uniting the Frankish Kingdom and the Byzantine Empire did not take place.
68. sardonix . . . rosi8: L, "Parian sardonyx, lilies mixed with roses. " From a verse epi~ taph for Queen Hildegard (d. 783), wife of Charlemagne. Sardonyx, a layered pink and white marble, is a metaphor for the queen's beauty_ Paros, one of the Cyclades, was fa- mous for its marble [Migne, 1602; with this line Pound leaves the History of the Lom- bards and goes to another book partly writ- ten by Paul, Historia Miscelia].
wife" and Philostratus, mentioned below.
70. Diocletian: Caius Aurelius Valerius D. , 245-313, Roman emperor (284-305). He
96/653-654
came to power from a high military com- mand. He consolidated the empire, restored Britain to it, and defeated the Persians. The later part of his reign was distinguished by persecution o f the Christians, an advanced system of administration, and many wise economic measures. He believed it was bet- ter to tax conquered peoples than destroy them. In 301 he uttered The Edict ofDioele- tian, an economic measure meant to check speculation in commodity prices_ In 305 he retired to live in a castle in Salona [Migne, 900-904].
. . .
72. otio . . . senuit: L, "quietly aging" [Migne, 904] .
73. Saturn _. . : The line is not in Migne. JW reports that "Diocletian and other emperors gave this tax-free money to "the cities to circulate. " If the gold and silver of the Ponti- fex [89:79] were taxed, this might have a beneficent economic effect [JW, Later, 112].
74. "changing. __ ": Not in Migne. Since one form of travertine is onyx marble, the line may mean changing from cottages to halls of marble, an idea that could apply to Diocletian or Vespasian: both came from poor families.
7S. Vespasiano . . . : L, "under Vespasian [Migne, 871] . . . cities rebuilt" [Migne, 874]. Roman emperor advised by Apollo-
nius of Tyana [94:118]
76. Antoninus: A. Pius [78:56]
77. apud Eboricurn: L, "near York. " From "Ibique apud Eboracum [sic] oppidum" ("And there near the town of York"). Septi? mius Severns renewed the war in Britain and died there [Migne, 891] .
96/654
80. Galla Placidia: [110:46]. The beautiful woman who died 1165 years after the founding of the city of Rome, according to the old Roman calendar system, and was buried in one of the most beautiful tombs ever created [76:86]. The daughter of Theo- dosia, she became empress of the West at a time when there were disturbances through- out the empire.
8! . Pictorum: L, "of the Picts. " They created uprisings in Britain [Migne, 954]_
82_ Vandali: L, "the vandals. " They created troubles in Spain [Migne, 955].
83. Bosphorus: Byzantium. Called Bas ("ox")-phorus ("ford") because of the tax exacted from all who passed through it.
597
lavius, son of Miltiades; Marcellus, Vitus, and Eusebius, bankers; . . . Marcellus, who was arrested as he entered the palace with a dagger . . . killed himself on the spot" [Bury, Later R. E. , 67-69]. Pound believes the plot was formed because of Justinian's tradition of tight control of money [Migne, 994].
92. two Abduls: Abdu-I-Malik, 646-705, the fith Omayyad caliph [685-705): "At his ac? cession Islam was torn by dissension and hard pressed by the Byzantine Empire. " But he overthrew his rivals and united Islam. An able adminstrator, he introduced Arabic coins, improved postal facilities, made Ara- bic the official language, and reorganized the government [cf. 161 below]. The idea of "two" may be that one could do worse than have two such able rulers, even Orientals [ef. 93 below].
93. the third bahai: The first, Baha Ullah, 1817-1892, founder of Bahaism, said many remarkable things, as did his son, Sir Abdul Baha Bahai, 1844-1921, the second Bahai [46:22]. The third is not mentioned in en- cyclopedias. A rhyme with the several other occult religions Pound was interested in [94:18]_
94. Edgar Wallace: Popular English novelist, 1875-1932, who wrote over 150 detective thrillers, as well as plays. Pound quotes him as saying, "Very few people are respected by anyone" [SP, 450]. Pound also said: "Mass culture insists on the fundamental virtues which are common to Edgar Wallace and to Homer. It insists on the part of technique which is germane to both these authors" [SP, 231]. And, "There is no faking in the arts. No artist can present what he hasn't got. Edgar Wallace triumphed by modesty" [GK,209].
95. Caedual: Pound says "Cedwald" earlier [cf. 37 above]. His baptism and absolution took place at about the same time, on his visit to Rome. [Vol. 95 ofMigne opens with Bede's Ecelesiastical History_ At this point and for most of the next 15 lines, Pound leaves Paul the Deacon's account and turns
Birthplace of
85. Verona et Bruxia: L, "Verona and Bricia. " Cities of Italy from which the Goths were finally expelled [Migne, 989].
86. all italian "reip. ": From sentence in Migne [989] about Justinian: "universanque Italiam ad reip. jura reduxit" ("and he brought all Italy back to the laws of the republic").
87. Bernicoli: Unidentified, not in source. Prob. a memory of someone Pound saw in Ravenna.
88. that stuffed shirt: Prob. a contemporary reference.
89. embargo: Justinian [94:45] established embargoes to protect local business [Migne, 990].
90. Theodora: Wife of Justinian, who made her joint empress when he came to the throne in 527. She died in 548 in the 21st year of his reign.
9! . Ablavius and Marcellus: Migne [992- 994] calls these two conspirators "pecuni- arum venditores" ("sellers of money"). They were apprehended before they succeeded. Says Bury (whose account is more complete than Migne's): "The conspirators were: Ab-
69. Tyana:
[94:42]. The line may tie in with "Severus's
Apollonius
7! . Haud
Salo" [Migne, 903]. Salona is in Yugoslavia and should not be confused with the SaID Republic.
78. 79.
Severus' wife: [94: 123]. Philostratus: [94: 123]_
Julia Domna.
Salonis:
L, "Not far
from
1
84_ treaty 988].
. . .
Justinian:
[94:45].
[Migne,
? ? 598
to contemporaneous events in 7th century Britain. ]
96. EI1APXIKON . . . : The Eparch 's Book. Source of most of the last half of Canto 96
[cf. 271 below].
97. that sea gull: Ino of the bikini [cf. I above].
98. eivex eexlcixoory,: H, "beach of the sea," One of Pound's favorite Homeric phrases. At the moment Odysseus awakes on Ithaca, where the Phaeacians have beached him, he believes himself lost again and, moaning, walks "expex elva "olcvrplcoio~ow eexlcixoory, rOd, XIII, 220]. Pound translates, "the turn of the wave and the scutter of receding peb? bles" [L, 274], leaving the literal sense to get the onomatopoetic effects he thought Homer had. Parts of the phrase occur often in both the prose and the poetry [98: 17; P,
181;LE,250].
99, ALDFRID: Alfred, king of Northum? bria (d. 705) [Migne, 258]. Not to be con- fused with Alfred the Great, ca. 849-899, king of Wessex and areas of England.
. 100. Aldhelm: St, A. , 640? -709, abbot of Malmesbury and author of a number of works in prose and verse, such as "De virgini- tate . . . versibus hexametris" ("concerning virginity . . . in hexameter verses"); De Meta- plasma [On the remolding] ; and De Sinalim- pha [On unclear waters]. Such works indi- cate that civilization was spreading to the outlands of the empire [Migne, 260, 261]. But most of Bede's commentary concerns such things as ecclesiastical tonsure rites- "fuss about hair-cuts"-[285, 288], comets
facing north [282] and mere fads [JW, Later, 114]. After this entry, Pound returns to the History o f the Lombards as continued after Paul the Deacon by Landulphus Sagax (Landulph).
101. Justin: Justin II, nephew and successor to Justinian I, and emperor (565-578). Early in his reign he and his wife carried on the policies of Justinian in the control of money and regulation of trade.
96/654-655
102. Sophia Augusta: Wife of Justin II.
103. pecuniarium . , . : L [pecuniarum],
"money lenders. " Sophia Augusta sum~ moned the usurious money~lenders before her and ordered them to treat their debtors better. She restored mortgaged homes to their rightful owners and received great praise from the populace [Migne, 994].
104. the synagog: In the early years of his reign Justin maintained religious peace among all the warring factions, mostly Chris~ tian; but by 572, the 12th year of his reign, he began a severe persecution of the Mono~ physites and converted a synagogue into a church. Two years later he lost his mind completely and the rule passed to Tiberius
[Migne, 996] ,
105. fads on Eleusis: Any doctrinal decora- tion of Christian belief or ceremony would appear to Pound a worsening of the simpli~ city of the rites of Eleusis.
106. TIBERIUS: Constantine II, emperor 571-577, squandered the money of the em- pire. He used himself to spend wealtlirather than using wealth to develop himself, as the ideogram suggests [55:9],
96/655-656
113. Lombards in Exarchate: Mauricius was a brilliant general who defeated the enemies of the Byzantine Empire in Persia, to the north and to the south; but he could not prevent the Lombards from entering the ex- archate (adminstrative unit of the capital).
II4.
MAURICIUS , , , : L, "Emperor Mau- rice" (reigned 577-595). Tiberius II on his deathbed gave him his daughter in marriage and proclaimed him emperor. As he had been a successful general, he carried on as an excellent defender of the empire. But he "was killed, together with his sons . . . by
599 lifetime studying precious metals and mone-
tary systems. His works include A History of Money in Ancient States (1881), Money and Civilization (1885), The Science of Money (1895), and many more. In a book entitled Ancient Britain, he developed an idea that occurs in several of his writings: "The sover-
eign pontiff monopolized the coinage of gold and fixed the weight-ratio of value be- tween gold and silver at 1 to 12; a ratio remained unaltered for over 1200 years. He shared the coinage of silver with his subject kingdoms and left the coinage of bronze to the Senate and municipalities" [123; Pearl- man,Pai, 1-2, 163; Flory, Pai, 4,2-3,325- 326].
107. Ideogram: spend. "
Fa
[M1768],
"issue,
120. sanguinibus
bloodshed, love of murders, faithlessness, boasting and violence (of Hormisdas)"
[Migne, 1006].
121. Hormisdae: Hormisdas IV (reigned 579-590), son of Chosroes. He continued the war with the Romans but was defeated first by Mauricius and then by Heraclius. He was blinded and later killed by the Persian aristo- cracy. He was the Asiatic king who ruled with "pleasure in bloo~, love of homicide, infidelity, vainglory and violence" [Migne, 1005] ,
122, Priscus: The praetor (city magistrate of ancient Rome who adminstered justice) of Mauricius. He caught the barbarian Musa- cius totally drunk at the funeral of his brother [Migne, l O l l ] . Phocus, or Focas [cf. 141 below1,was his master of horse.
123. Musacius: King Musacius. Source: "Musacium barbarorum regem ebrietate cor- ruptum: funebrem quippe proprii fratris cel- ebrabat festivitatem" ("Musacius king of the barbarians as expected was totally drunk at the funeral festivities celebrated for his own brother") [Migne, 1010-10ll].
124. aerumnae: L, "woes. " From phrase that reads, "non defuerunt imperio variae, ac ingentes aerumnae" ("no absence of various great woes") [Migne, 1019]. The phrase is
108. Thrax: L, "Thrace. " Mauricius over- came the Slavs there.
109. Cappadox: L, "Cappadocia," an an- cient region in Asia Minor, the birthplace of Mauricius.
1I0. Lombards: [Cf. 59-60 above]. Over- come by Mauricius [Migne, 1000] ,
I l l . Avars: [cf. 61 above], Mauricius [Migne, 100I].
Overcome
by
112. Theophanem sequitur: L, "follow The- ophanes. " A note in Migne [997, 998] tells the reader that the author is following the author of Annals of the Greeks in these details,
[Phocas] . . . . The Huns, too, who are also called Avars, were subjugated by his prowess" [Foulke, History, 168].
115. calamitatibus delectabantur: L, "de- lighted in calamities. " Said of the Persians, "barbarians," whom Mauricius defeated. They delighted in anything bad that hap- pened to Rome [Migne, 1004].
116. equestribus . . . : L, "speCUlating in horses" or "horse trading," a commercial venture developed to a fine art which Mauri~ cius enjoyed. It was an activity of great importance in a city where the center of culture was the Hippodrome.
117. urbem splendidam reddidit: L, "he re- stored the shining city. " Mauricius did this, says Migne, by dealings with the nobility [1005], He also controlled the money and, according to Pound, provided "local free- dom. " The phrase must be understood not as freedom of the people iIi a democratic sense, but freedom from outside control.
118, local freedom . . . power: Since Mauri- cius carried on the kind of monetary con- trols established by his predecessors back to Justinian, which climaxed later in The Eparch's Book [cf. 27 I below], Pound calls it "local control oflocal purchasing power," a primary tenet of Social Credit. The con- text is different, but enough alike to suggest Del Mar.
119. Del Mar: Alexander D. M. , 1836-1926, a civil and mining engineer who spent a
F ocas
. . .
: L, "the
praise of
? ? ? ? ? 600
96/656-657
96/657
601
used to describe the result of Mauricius's dictatorial rule which led to his being deposed.
125. Fortuna: [86:93; for "pervanche" cf. 97: 188].
126. CHEN4: [M315], "to tremble. "
127. e che pennutasse: I, "and who has
changed entirely" [In/. VII, 79]. Part of the answer to a question: "Master . . . this for- tune which you touch on here, what is it, that has the goods of the world so in its clutches? " Virgil's answer is about the change of the good things of the world, under Fortune, from one person to another.
128. Dei Matris: L, "of the Mother of God. "
129. HERACLJUS: H. I, ca. 575-641, By- zantine emperor (610-641), the son of an African governor. H. succeeded the tyrant Phocas after he deposed and executed him. He was threatened on all sides by Avars and Bulgars. He lost Syria, Palestine, and Egypt to the Persians in his early years but con~ quered them back in costly wars (622-628)-then lost them to the Moslem Arabs (629-641). Pound's date (602) comes from the "Mixed History," which is wrong. H. assumed power by coming to the city on castellated ships (navibus castellatis) that bore images of the Mother of God [Migne, 1023].
130. imperator , . . sponsus: L, "both com- mander and bridegroom. "
131. reip's business, . . : Pound's rendition of "invenit dissoluta reip negotia" ("found the republic's business gone to pieces").
132. Avars . . . desert: [Cf. 61 above]. Trans. of "Europam Avares reddidere desertam" [Migne, 1024].
133. Persians . . . Asia: Trans. of "Asiam vera totam Persae exterrninaverunt" [ibid. ].
134. Chosroes: King Chosdroes II. This Per- sian king answered a message from Emperor Heraclius with these words: "I won't spare
you until you deny the crucified one, whom you profess to be God, and adore the Sun" [Migne, 1025]. Heraclius could not stand this, so in order to defeat King Chosdroes he melted down candles and sacred vessels to get gold and silver coins. In a footnote the coins are called by their Greek names [Migne, 1026], given in the next line of the
text.
135. VOj. l{U/lCt:. TCt K{h /lLf. . . Lexpiaul: H, "current coins and silver coins. " The last word is not in Liddell-Scott. The closest form is /. uALapwv, which means a copper vessel to boil water in.
136. nummos . . . : L, "gold and silver coins" [Migne, 1026].
137. eiI<. OvD<;: H, "sacred image. " Heraclius swears on an icon shaped like "the virile figure of God" that he will fight Chosdroes to the death [Migne, 1026].
138. Justinian: [Cf. 12 above]. 139. Tiberius: [Cf. 106 above]. 140. Mauricius: [Cf. 114 above].
141. Phocae: Emperor of Byzantium, 595- 610. His tyrannical regime led to his over- throw and execution.
142. Heraclius: So ends this historical re- view and summary. H. is a transitional figure.
143. Deutschland unter: G, "Germany un- der. " The phrase takes off from "Deutsch- land tiber alles. "
144. Dulles: John Foster D. , 1888-1959, U. S. secretary o f state, 1953-1959. While this canto was being written, he was much in the news with foreign policy formulations called "brinkmanship" and with the doctrine of "massive retaliation. " In that post-WWII decade Dulles could almost dictate the for- eign policy of the European nations that confronted the communist nations behind the iron curtain. Gennany was a key to that policy, and a center of effort, after the con- struction of the Berlin Wall. On Jan. 22,
1954 Dulles arrived at the Berlin Conference with hopes of advancing the cause of the reunification of Germany. Over the years he promoted the "Baghdad Pact," a mutual de- fense alliance formed in 1955 between Tur- key, Pakistan, and Iraq as a part of the bipartisan policy of communist con- tainment.
145. over Euphrates: After the enemy burned a hemp bridge over the Euphrates River, Heraclius created a bridge by lashing a number of boats together [Migne, 1032].
146. Sebastia: An ancient name of Sivas, a city in central Turkey. While Heraclius passed the winter there, Chosdroes ruthlessly ransacked churches and robbed private citi- zens to build an elite army called the Golden Spears [JW, Later, 116]. He also tried to enlist the aid of a number of other enemies of the empire in the north, the Bulgars, Gespids, and "Hunnos," as well as the Turks, to move against the city called "Fu Lin"
[Migne, 1033] .
147. XpvaoAOXcic;: H, "Golden Spears. "
148. quatenus Hunnos: L, "as far as the Hunnos. "
149. Fu Lin: Chinese phrase for prefect's city: Constantinople.
150. Turcos . . . vocant: L, "Turks who are called Cazars. "
151. superlaudabilis: L, with the "ultra praiseworthy" help of "God's Mother," a great hailstorm fell upon Chosdroes's army killing many of them, so that Heraclius's army won [Migne, 1036].
152.
