No More Learning

scis, quo more Cydon, qua dirigat arte sagittas 530
324
1 i. e. Athens.
THE FOURTH CONSULSHIP OF HONORIUS
How fixed abides thy reverence for the Senate ! Old customs are preserved, law has recovered its ancient sanctity in the amendment of former statutes and by the addition of new ones. Such an one as thee Pandion's city 1 found in Solon ; even so did warrior Lacedaemon disdain walls, for unyielding Lycurgus gave it defence. What case so petty, what judicial error so slight that it escapes thy notice ? Who with truer justice put an end to dishonest suits and brought forth lurking truth from her hiding-place ? What mercy, yet what firmness ; thine is the quiet strength of a great soul, too firm to be stirred by fear, too stable to be swayed by the attraction of novelty. How stored with
learning thy ready wit, how controlled thy speech ; ambassadors are awe-stricken at thine answers, and
thy grave manners make them forget thy years. How thy father's nobility shines in thy face !
How awful is thy winning brow, how charming the majesty of a blushing emperor! Boy though thou art, thou canst wear thy sire's helmet and brandish thy grandsire's spear. These exercises of thy youth foreshadow vast strength in man hood and convince Rome that the ruler of her prayers is come. How fair art thou in shield and
golden armour girt, with waving plumes and taller by the altitude of a helmet ! So looked the youthful Mars when after the toil and sweat of his first battle he bathed him in Thracian Rhodope's mountain stream. With what vigour thou hurlest the javelin, and, when thou stretchest the Cretan bow, what success attends thy shaft ! Sure is the wound it seeks ; it knows not how to fail the appointed stroke. Thou knowest in what fashion the Cretan,
325
CLAUDIAN
Armenius, refugo quae sit fiducia Partho :
sic Amphioniae pulcher sudore palaestrae
Alcides pharetras Dircaeaque tela solebat praetemptare feris olim domitura Gigantes
et pacem latura polo, semperque cruentus 535 ibat et Alcmenae praedam referebat ovanti ;
caeruleus tali prostratus Apolline Python
implicuit fractis moritura volumina silvis.
Cum vectaris equo simulacraque Martia ludis,
quis mollis sinuare fugas, quis tendere contum 540 acrior aut subitos melior flexisse recursus ?
non te Massagetae, non gens exercita campo Thessala, non ipsi poterunt aequare bimembres ;
vix comites alae, vix te suspensa sequuntur
agmina ferventesque tument post terga dracones. 545 utque tuis primum sonipes calcaribus arsit,
ignescunt patulae nares, non sentit harenas
ungula discussaeque iubae sparguntur in armos ; turbantur phalerae, spumosis morsibus aurum
fumat, anhelantes exundant sanguine gemmae. 550 ipse labor pulvisque decet confusaque motu
caesaries ; vestis radiato murice solem combibit, ingesto crispatur purpura vento.
si dominus legeretur equis, tua posceret ultro
verbera Nereidum stabulis nutritus Arion 555
serviretque tuis contempto Castore frenis 326
THE FOURTH CONSULSHIP OF HONORIUS
with what skill the Armenian, directs his arrows ; in what the retreating Parthian puts his trust. Thus was Alcides, graced with the sweat of the wrestling- ground at Thebes, wont to try his bow and Boeotian arrows on the beasts of the forest ere he turned them against the Giants and so secured peace for heaven. Stains of blood were ever upon him and proud was his mother Alcmena of the spoils he brought back home. Such was Apollo when he slew the livid serpent that enfolded and brake down forests in his dying coils.
When mounted on thy horse thou playest the
mimicry of war, who is quicker smoothly to wheel in flight, who to hurl the spear, or more skilled to sweep round in swift return ? There the Massagetae are not
thy peers nor the tribes of Thessaly, well versed though they be in riding, no, nor the very Centaurs themselves. Scarce can the squadrons and flying bands that accompany thee keep pace, while the wind behind thee bellies the fierce dragons on the flags. So soon as the touch of thy spur has fired thy steed, flames start from his swelling nostrils ; his hoof scarce touches the ground and his mane is outspread over his shoulders. His harness rattles and the golden bit grows warm in his foam-flecked mouth. The jewels that stud his quivering bridle are red with blood. The signs of toil, the dust stains, the disorder
of thy hair all do but increase thy beauty. Thy brilliant scarlet cloak drinks in the sunlight as the wind blows its gay . surface into folds. Could horses choose their riders then surely would Arion, full fed in the stables of the Nereids, have prayed for the very whip of such a master, Cyllarus would have had none of Castor, but would have looked
327
CLAUDIAN
Cyllarus et flavum Xanthus sprevisset Achillem.
ipse tibi famulas praeberet Pegasus alas
portaretque libens melioraque pondera passus Bellerophonteas indignaretur habenas. 560 quin etiam velox Aurorae nuntius Aethon,
qui fugat hinnitu stellas roseoque domatur Lucifero, quotiens equitem te cernit ab astris, invidet inque tuis mavult spumare lupatis.
Nunc quoque quos habitus, quantae miracula
pompae
vidimus, Ausonio cum iam succinctus amictu
565
per Ligurum populos solito conspectior ires
atque inter niveas alte veherere cohortes,
obnixisque simul pubes electa lacertis
sidereum gestaret onus. sic numina Memphis 570 in vulgus proferre solet ; penetralibus exit
effigies, brevis illa quidem : sed plurimus infra
liniger imposito suspirat vecte sacerdos
testatus sudore deum ; Nilotica sistris
ripa sonat Phariosque modos Aegyptia ducit 575 tibia ; summissis admugit cornibus Apis.
omnis nobilitas, omnis tua sacra frequentat
Thybridis et Latii suboles ; convenit in unum quidquid in orbe fuit procerum, quibus auctor honoris vel tu vel genitor. numeroso consule consul 580 cingeris et socios gaudes admittere patres.
inlustri te prole Tagus, te Gallia doctis civibus et toto stipavit Roma senatu.
cervicibus aurea sedes
ornatuque novo gravior deus. asperat Indus 585
velamenta lapis pretiosaque fila smaragdis 328
J
portatur. iuvenum
THE FOURTH CONSULSHIP OF HONORIUS
to thy reins for guidance and Xanthus have scorned to bear golden-haired Achilles. Pegasus himself had lent thee his subject wings and been glad to carry thee and, now that a mightier rider bestrode him, had turned in proud disdain from Bellero- phon's bridle. Nay, Aethon, swift messenger of dawn, who routs the stars with his neigh and is driven by rosy Lucifer, seeing thee from heaven as thou ridest by, is filled with envy and would choose rather to hold thy bit in his foaming mouth.
What raiment, too, have we not seen, what miracles of splendour, when, girt with the robe of Italy, thou didst go, still more glorious than thou art wont, through the peoples of Liguria, borne aloft amid thy troops clad in triumphal white and carried upon the shoulders of chosen warriors who so proudly upheld their godlike burden ! 'Tis thus that Egypt brings forth her gods to the public gaze. The image issues from its shrine ; small it is, indeed, yet many a linen-clad priest pants beneath the pole, and by his sweat testifies that he bears a god ; Nile's banks resound to the holy rattles, and Egypt's
drones its native measure ; Apis abases his horns and lows in reply. All the nobles, all whom Tiber and Latium rear, throng thy festival ; gathered in one are all the great ones of the earth that owe their rank either to thee or to thy sire. Many a consular surrounds thee, the consul whose pleasure it is to associate the senate in thy triumph. The nobles of Spain, the wise men of Gaul, and the senators of Rome all throng round thee. On young men's necks is borne thy golden throne, and new adorning adds weight to deity. Jewels of India stud thy vestment, rows of green emeralds enrich
329
pipe
good
CLAUDIAN
ducta virent ; amethystus inest et fulgor Hiberus temperat arcanis hyacinthi caerula flammis.
nec rudis in tali suffecit gratia textu ;
auget acus meritum picturatumque metallis 590 vivit opus : multa remorantur iaspide cultus 1
et variis spirat Nereia baca figuris.
quae tantum potuit digitis mollire rigorem
ambitiosa colus ? vel cuius pectinis arte
traxerunt solidae gemmarum stamina telae ? 595 invia quis calidi scrutatus stagna profundi
Tethyos invasit gremium ? quis divitis algae germina flagrantes inter quaesivit harenas ?
quis iunxit lapides ostro ? quis miscuit ignes
Sidonii Rubrique maris ? tribuere colorem 600 Phoenices, Seres subtegmina, pondus Hydaspes.
hoc si Maeonias cinctu graderere per urbes, in te pampineos transferret Lydia thyrsos,
in te Nysa choros ; dubitassent orgia Bacchi,
cui furerent ; irent blandae sub vincula tigres. 605 talis Erythraeis intextus nebrida gemmis
Liber agit currus et Caspia flectit eburnis
colla iugis : Satyri circum crinemque solutae Maenades adstringunt hederis victricibus Indos ; ebrius hostili velatur palmite Ganges. 610
Auspice mox laetum sonuit clamore tribunal te fastos ineunte quater. sollemnia ludit omina libertas ; deductum Vindice morem
lex celebrat, famulusque iugo laxatus erili
1 Birt vultus ; cod. Ambrosianus cultus
1 Vindex (or Vindicius) was the name of the slave who was granted his liberty by Brutus for giving information of the royalist plot in which Brutus' own sons were implicated. For the story (probably an aetiological myth to explain vindicta, another word for festuca) see Livy ii. 5.
330
THE FOURTH CONSULSHIP OF HONORIUS
the seams ; there gleams the amethyst and the glint of Spanish gold makes the dark-blue sapphire show duller with its hidden fires. Nor in the weaving of such a robe was unadorned beauty enough ; the work of the needle increases its value, thread of gold and silver glows therefrom ; many an agate adorns the embroidered robes, and pearls of Ocean breathe in varied pattern. What bold hand, what distaff had skill enough to render supple elements so hard ? What loom so cunning as to weave jewels into close-textured cloth ? Who, searching out the uncharted pools of hot Eastern seas, despoiled the bosom of Tethys ? Who dared seek o'er burning sands rich growth of coral ? Who could broider precious stones on scarlet and so mingle the shining glories of the Red Sea and of Phoenicia's waters ? Tyre lent her dyes, China her silks, Hydaspes his jewels. Shouldst thou traverse Maeonian cities in such a garb, to thee would Lydia hand over her vine-wreathed thyrsus, to thee Nysa her dances ; the revels of Bacchus would have doubted whence came their madness ; tigers would pass fawning beneath thy yoke. Even such, his fawn-skin en- woven with orient gems, doth the Wine-god drive his car, guiding the necks of Hyrcanian tigers with ivory yoke ; around him satyrs and wild-haired Maenads fetter Indians with triumphant ivy, while drunken Ganges twines his hair with the vine tendril.
Already shouts of joy and of good omen resound about the consul's throne to welcome this thy fourth opening of Rome's year. Liberty enacts her wonted ceremonies ; Law observes the custom dating back to Vindex 1 whereby a slave freed from his master's service is introduced into thy presence and thence
331
CLAUDIAN
ducitur et grato remeat securior ictu. 615 tristis condicio pulsata fronte recedit ;
in civem rubuere genae, tergoque removit
verbera permissi felix iniuria voti.
Prospera Romuleis sperantur tempora rebus
in nomen ventura tuum. praemissa futuris 620 dant exempla fidem : quotiens te cursibus aevi praefecit, totiens accessit laurea patri.
ausi Danuvium quondam transnare Gruthungi
in lintres fregere nemus ; ter mille ruebant
per fluvium plenae cuneis inmanibus alni. 625 dux Odothaeus erat. tantae conamina classis incipiens aetas et primus contudit annus :
summersae sedere rates ; fluitantia numquam
largius Arctoos pavere cadavera pisces ;
corporibus premitur Peuce ; per quinque recurrens ostia barbaricos vix egerit unda cruores, 631 confessusque parens Odothaei regis opima
rettulit exuviasque tibi. civile secundis
conficis auspiciis bellum. tibi debeat orbis
fata Gruthungorum debellatumque tyrannum : 635 Hister sanguineos egit te consule fluctus ;
Alpinos genitor rupit te consule montes.
Sed patriis olim fueras successibus auctor,
nunc eris ipse tuis. semper venere triumphi
cum trabeis sequiturque tuos victoria fasces. 640
1 A reference to the Roman method of manumitting a slave alapa et festuca, i. e. by giving him a slight blow (alapa) with a rod( festuca). See Gaius on vindicatio (iv. 16) and on the whole question R. G. Nisbet in Journal of Roman Studies, viii. Pt. 1.
2 The campaign of Theodosius against Odothaeus, King of the Gruthungi (Zosimus iv. 35 calls him 'O560eos) is thus
332
THE FOURTH CONSULSHIP OF HONORIUS
dismissed—a freeman thanks to that envied stroke. 1 A blow upon the brow and his base condition is gone ; reddened cheeks have made him a citizen, and with the granting of his prayer a happy insult has given his back freedom from the lash.
Prosperity awaits our empire ; thy name is earnest for the fulfilment of our hopes. The past guarantees the future ; each time that thy sire made thee chief magistrate of the year the laurels of victory crowned his arms. Once the Gruthungi, hewing down a forest to make them boats, dared to pass beyond the Danube. Three thousand vessels, each crowded with a barbarous crew, made a dash across the river. Odothaeus was their leader. Thy youth, nay, the first year of thy life, crushed the attempt of that formidable fleet. Its boats filled and sank ; never did the fish of that northern river feed more lavishly on the bodies of men. The island of Peuce was heaped high with corpses. Scarce even through five mouths could the river rid itself of barbarian blood, and thy sire, owning thine influence, gave thanks to thee for the spoils won in person from King Odothaeus. Consul a second time thou didst end civil war by thine auspices. Let the world thank thee for the overthrow of the Gruthungi and the defeat of their king ; thou wast consul when the Danube ran red with their blood, thou wast consul, too, when thy sire crossed the Alps to victory. 2
But thou, once author of thy father's successes, shalt now be author of thine own. Triumph has ever attended thy consulship and victory thy fasces.
dated as 386, the year of Honorius' first consulship
note on viii. 153). Honorius' second consulship (394) saw the defeat of Eugenius.
(see 333
CLAUDIAN
sis, precor, adsiduus consul Mariique relinquas
et senis Augusti numerum. quae gaudia mundo, per tua lanugo cum serpere coeperit ora,
cum tibi protulerit festas nox pronuba taedas !
quae tali devota toro, quae murice fulgens 645 ibit in amplexus tanti regina mariti ?
quaenam tot divis veniet nurus, omnibus arvis
et toto donanda mari ? quantusque feretur
idem per Zephyri metas Hymenaeus et Euri !
o mihi si liceat thalamis intendere carmen 650 conubiale tuis, si te iam dicere patrem !
tempus erit, cum tu trans Rheni cornua victor, Arcadius captae spoliis Babylonis onustus
communem maiore toga signabitis annum ; crinitusque tuo sudabit fasce Suebus, 655 ultima fraternas horrebunt Bactra secures.
Marius was consul seven, Augustus thirteen, times.
334
THE FOURTH CONSULSHIP OF HONORIUS
Heaven grant thou mayest be our perpetual consul and outnumber Marius 1 and old Augustus. Happy universe that shall see the first down creep over thy cheeks, and the wedding-night that shall lead forth for thee the festal torches. Who shall be consecrated to such a couch ; who, glorious in purple, shall pass, a queen, to the embraces of such a husband ? What bride shall come to be the daughter of so many gods, dowered with every land and the whole sea ? How gloriously shall the nuptial song be borne at once to farthest East and West ! O may
it be mine to sing thy marriage-hymn, mine pre
to hail thee father !
when, thou victorious beyond the mouths of the
Rhine, and thy brother Arcadius laden with the spoil of captured Babylon, ye shall endow the year
with yet more glorious majesty ; when the long haired Suebian shall bear the arms of Rome and the distant Bactrian tremble beneath the rule of thyself and thy brother.
sently
The time will come
335
PANEGYRICUS
DICTUS MANLIO THEODORO CONSULI
PRAEFATIO
(XVI. )
Audebisne, precor, tantae subiecta catervae, inter tot proceres, nostra Thalia, loqui ?
nec te fama vetat, vero quam celsius auctam vel servasse labor vel minuisse pudor ?
an tibi continuis crevit fiducia castris 5 totaque iam vatis pectora miles habet ?
culmina Romani maiestatemque senatus et, quibus exultat Gallia, cerne viros.
omnibus audimur terris mundique per aures
ibimus. ah nimius consulis urget amor ! 10
Iuppiter, ut perhibent, spatium cum discere vellet naturae regni nescius ipse sui,
armigeros utrimque duos aequalibus alis misit ab Eois Occiduisque plagis.
Parnasus geminos fertur iunxisse volatus ; 15 contulit alternas Pythius axis aves.
Princeps non aquilis terras cognoscere curat ; certius in vobis aestimat imperium.
hoc ego concilio collectum metior orbem ;
hoc video coetu quidquid ubique micat. 20
1 See Introduction, p. xv. Judging from this poem Manlius started by being an advocatus in the praetorian prefect's court, was then praeses of some district in Africa,
then governor (consularis) of Macedonia, next recalled to
Rome as Gratian's magister epistularum, then 336
comes
PANEGYRIC ON THE CONSULSHIP OF FL. MANLIUS THEODORUS 1 (a. d. 399)
PREFACE
(XVI)
Wilt dare to sing, my Muse, when so great, so august an assembly shall be thy critic ? Does not
Tis
thine own renown forbid thee ?
thou deservest ; how hard then to enhance, how disgraceful to diminish it ! Or has thine assurance grown through ever dwelling in the camp, and does the soldier now wholly possess the poet's breast ? Behold the flower of the Roman senate, the majesty, the pride, the heroes of Gaul. The whole earth is my audience, my song shall sound in the ears of all the world. Alack ! Love for our consul
greater
now than
constrains too strongly. Jove, 'tis said, when he would fain learn its extent (for he knew not the bounds of his own empire) sent forth two eagles of equal flight from the East and from the West. On Parnassus, as they tell, their twin flights met ; the Delphic heaven brought together the one bird and the other. Our Emperor needs no eagles to teach him the magnitude of his domains ; yourselves are preceptors more convincing. 'Tis this assembly that gives to me the measure of the universe ; here I see gathered all the brilliance of the world.
sacrarum largitionum ( = ecclesiastical treasurer) and after that praetorian prefect of Gaul (11. 50-53).
vol. i z
337
PANEGYRICUS
(XVII. )
Ipsa quidem Virtus pretium sibi, solaque late Fortunae secura nitet nec fascibus ullis
erigitur plausuve petit clarescere vulgi.
nil opis externae cupiens, nil indiga laudis,
divitiis animosa suis inmotaque cunctis 5 casibus ex alta mortalia despicit arce.
attamen invitam blande vestigat et ultro
ambit honor : docuit totiens a rure profectus
lictor et in mediis consul quaesitus aratris.
te quoque naturae sacris mundique vacantem, 10 emeritum pridem desudatisque remotum
iudiciis eadem rursum complexa potestas
evehit et reducem notis imponit habenis.
accedunt trabeae : nil iam, Theodore, relictum,
quo virtus animo crescat vel splendor honori. 1 15 culmen utrumque tenes : talem te protinus anni
formavere rudes, et dignum vita curuli
traxit iter primaeque senes cessere iuventae. iam tum canities animi, iam dulce loquendi
338
1 honori conject. Birt ; honore eodd.
PANEGYRIC
(XVII)
Virtue is its own reward ; alone with its far-flung- splendour it mocks at Fortune ; no honours raise it higher nor does it seek glory from the mob's applause. External wealth cannot arouse its desires, it asks no praise but makes its boast of self-contained riches, and unmoved by all chances it looks down upon the world from a lofty citadel. Yet in its own despite importunate honours pursue it, and offer themselves unsought ; that the lictor coming from the farm hath ofttimes proved and a consul sought for even at the plough. Thou, too, who wert at leisure to study the mysteries of nature and the heavens, thou who hadst served thy time and retired from the law courts where thou hadst toiled so long, art once more enfolded by a like dignity, which, raising thee aloft, sets in thy returning hands the familiar rein. The consulship now is thine, Theodorus, nor is there now aught left to add to thy virtues or to the glory of thy name. Thou art now at the summit of both ; from thine earliest
years thy character was thus formed, the whole course of thy life was worthy of the curule chair ; thy earliest youth outrivalled age. Even then thy mind was hoar, thy pleasant talk weighty, thy
339
CLAUDIAN
pondus et attonitas sermo qui duceret aures. 20 mox undare foro victrix opulentia linguae
tutarique reos. ipsa haec amplissima sedes
orantem stupuit, bis laudatura regentem.
hinc te pars Libyae moderantem iura probavit,
quae nunc tota probat ; longi sed pignus amoris 25
exiguae peperere morae populumque clientem publica mansuris testantur vocibus aera.
inde tibi Macetum tellus et credita Pellae
moenia, quae famulus quondam ditavit Hydaspes ; tantaque commissae revocasti gaudia genti 30 mitibus arbitriis, quantum bellante Philippo
floruit aut nigri cecidit cum regia Pori.
Sed non ulterius te praebuit urbibus aula :
maluit esse suum ; terris edicta daturus,
supplicibus responsa venis. oracula regis 35
eloquio crevere tuo, nec dignius umquam
maiestas meminit sese Romana locutam.
hinc sacrae mandantur opes orbisque tributa
possessi, quidquid fluviis evolvitur auri,
quidquid luce procul venas rimata sequaces 40 abdita pallentis fodit sollertia Bessi.
Ac velut exertus lentandis navita tonsis
praeficitur lateri custos ; hinc ardua prorae
temperat et fluctus tempestatesque futuras
edocet ; adsiduo cum Dorida vicerit usu, 45 iam clavum totamque subit torquere carinam :
340
THE CONSULSHIP OF MANLIUS
converse the admiration and delight of all that heard it. The wealth of thy triumphant eloquence soon overflowed the forum and brought safety to the accused. Yea, this most august assembly was astonied at thy pleading, as it was twice to applaud
thy governance. Next, a part of Libya approved the administration which it now in its entirety enjoys ; but thy brief stay won for thee a pledge of perpetual love, and public statues bear witness with enduring eloquence that thou wert a nation's guardian. Macedonia was next committed to thy care and the walls of Pella, enriched once
by conquered Hydaspes. The mildness of thy rule brought to the country entrusted to thee such joy as it once knew under warlike Philip or when the empire of Indian
Porus fell to Alexander's arms.
But Rome could not spare thy services longer to
the provinces ; she chose rather to have thee for her own ; thou comest to give edicts to the world, to make reply to suppliants. A monarch's utterance has won dignity from thine eloquence, never can the majesty of Rome recall when she spoke more worthily. After this the offerings and wealth of the world, the tribute of the empire, is entrusted to thy care ; the gold washed down by the rivers and that dug out of deep Thracian mines by the skill of pale-faced Bessi who track the hidden seams —all is thine.
As a sailor skilled in wielding the oar is at first set in charge of but a side of the vessel, then, when he can manage the lofty prow and is able, thanks to his long experience of the sea, to know beforehand what storms and tempests the vessel is like to encounter, he has charge of the helm and is entrusted with the
341
CLAUDIAN
sic cum clara diu mentis documenta dedisses,
non te parte sui, sed in omni corpore sumpsit imperium cunctaque dedit tellure regendos
rector es. Hispana tibi Germanaque Tethys 50 paruit et nostro diducta Britannia mundo,
diversoque tuas coluerunt gurgite voces
lentus Arar Rhodanusque ferox et dives Hiberus.
o quotiens doluit Rhenus, qua barbarus ibat,
quod te non geminis frueretur iudice ripis ! 55 unius fit cura viri, quodcumque rubescit
occasu, quodcumque dies devexior ambit.
Tam celer adsiduos explevit cursus honores ;
una potestatum spatiis interfuit aetas
totque gradus fati iuvenilibus intulit annis. 60
Postquam parta quies et summum nacta cacumen iam secura petit privatum gloria portum,
ingenii redeunt fructus aliique labores,
et vitae pars nulla perit : quodcumque recedit
litibus, incumbit studiis, animusque vicissim 65 aut curam imponit populis aut otia Musis,
omnia Cecropiae relegis secreta senectae
discutiens, quid quisque novum mandaverit aevo quantaque diversae producant agmina sectae.
Namque aliis princeps rerum disponitur aer ; 70 hic confidit aquis ; hic procreat omnia flammis.
1 Claudian refers to the early Ionian philosophers. Anaximenes believed that air was the first principle of all things, Thales said water, Heraclitus fire. 1. 72 refers to Empedocles who postulated the four elements and two principles, love and hate, which respectively made and unmade the universe out of the elements. The "hie" of 1. 75 may be Democritus or it may refer to the Sceptic, Pyrrho. The "hie" of 1. 76 is Anaxagoras, the friend of Pericles. "Tile" (79) may be taken to refer to Leucippus, the first of the atomic philosophers; he postulated infinite
342
THE CONSULSHIP OF MANLIUS
direction of the entire ship ; so when thou hadst long given illustrious proofs of thy character, the empire of Rome summoned thee to govern not a part but the whole of itself, and set thee as ruler over all the rulers of the world. The seas of Spain, the German ocean obeyed thee and Britain, so far removed from our continent. - Rivers of all lands observed thy statutes, slow flowing Saone, swift Rhone, and Ebro rich in gold. How often did the Rhine, in those districts where the barbarians dwell, lament that the blessings of thy rule extended
All the lands the setting sun bathes in its rays, all that its last brilliance illumines
are entrusted to the charge of one man.
So swiftly did thy career fill office after office ;
a single period of life was enough for the round of
dignities and gave to thy youthful years every step on fortune's ladder.
When repose was earned and now, after reaching the highest place, glory, laying care aside, seeks refuge in a private life, genius again wins reward from other tasks. No part of life is lost : all that is withdrawn from the law courts is devoted to the study, and thy mind in turn either bestows its efforts on the State or its leisure on the Muses. Once more thou readest the secrets of ancient Athens, examining the discoveries with which each sage has enriched posterity and noting what hosts of disciples the varying schools produce.
For some hold that air 1 is the first beginning of all things, others that water is, others again derive the sum of things from fire. Another, destined to
space. "Hi" (82) = Democritus, Epicurus, and other atomists. " Alii " (83) are the Platonists.
343
not to both banks !
CLAUDIAN
alter in Aetnaeas casurus sponte favillas
dispergit revocatque deum rursusque receptis
nectit amicitiis quidquid discordia solvit.
corporis hie damnat sensus verumque videri 75 pernegat. hie semper lapsurae pondera terrae conatur rapido caeli fulcire rotatu
accenditque diem praerupti turbine saxi.
ille ferox unoque tegi non passus Olympo
inmensum per inane volat finemque perosus 80 parturit innumeros angusto pectore mundos.
hi vaga collidunt caecis primordia plagis.
numina constituunt alii casusque relegant.
Graiorum obscuras Romanis floribus artes
inradias, vicibus gratis formare loquentes 85 suetus et alterno verum contexere nodo.
quidquid Socratico manavit ab ordine, quidquid
docta Cleantheae sonuerunt atria turbae,
inventum quodcumque tuo, Chrysippe, recessu, quidquid Democritus risit dixitque tacendo 90
Pythagoras, uno se pectore cuncta vetustas
condidit et maior collectis viribus exit.
ornantur veteres et nobiliore magistro
in Latium spretis Academia migrat Athenis,
ut tandem propius discat, quo fine beatum 95 dirigitur, quae norma boni, qui limes honesti ; quaenam membra sui virtus divisa domandis
obiectet vitiis ; quae pars iniusta recidat,
quae vincat ratione metus, quae frenet amores ;
aut quotiens elementa doces semperque fluentis 100
1 Claudian's way of saying that Manlius translates Greek philosophy into clear and elegant Latin, throwing his translation into the form of a dialogue.
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THE CONSULSHIP OF MANLIUS
fall self-immolated into Etna's fiery crater, reduces God to principles of dispersion and re-collection and binds again in resumed friendship all that discord separates. This philosopher allows no authority to the senses and denies that the truth can be per ceived. Another seeks to explain the suspension of the world in space by the rapid revolution of the sky (whence else the world would fall) and kindles day's fires by the whirl of a rushing rock. That fearless spirit, not content with the covering of but one sky, flies through the limitless void and,
a limit, conceives in one small brain a thousand worlds. Others make wandering atoms clash with blind blows, while others again set up
deities and banish chance.
Thou dost adorn the obscure learning of Greece
with Roman flowers,1 skilled to shape speech in
happy interchange and weave truth's garland with alternate knots. All the lore of Socrates' school, the learning that echoed in Cleanthes' lecture-room, the thoughts of the stoic Chrysippus in his retreat,
all the laughter of Democritus, all that Pythagoras spoke by silence — all the wisdom of the ancients is stored in that one brain whence it issues forth the stronger for its concentration. The ancients gain fresh lustre and, scorning Athens, the Academy migrates to Latium under a nobler master, the more
exactly at last to learn by what end happiness guides its path, what is the rule of the good, the goal of the right ; what division of virtue should be set to combat and overthrow each separate vice, and what part of virtue it is that curbs injustice, that causes reason to triumph over fear, that holds lust in check. How often hast thou taught us the nature
345
scorning
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materiae causas : quae vis animaverit astra impuleritque choros ; quo vivat machina motu ; sidera cur septem retro nitantur in ortus obluctata polo ; variisne meatibus idem
arbiter an geminae convertant aethera mentes ; sitne color proprius rerum, lucisne repulsu 106 eludant aciem ; tumidos quae luna recursus
nutriat Oceani ; quo fracta tonitrua vento,
quis trahat imbriferas nubes, quo saxa creentur grandinis ; unde rigor nivibus ; quae flamma per
auras 110 excutiat rutilos tractus aut fulmina velox
torqueat aut tristem figat crinita cometem.
Iam tibi compositam fundaverat ancora puppim, telluris iam certus eras ; fecunda placebant
otia ; nascentes ibant in saecula libri : 115 cum subito liquida cessantem vidit ab aethra
Iustitia et tanto viduatas iudice leges,
continuo frontem limbo velata pudicam
deserit Autumni portas, qua vergit in Austrum Signifer et noctis reparant dispendia Chelae. 120 pax avibus, quacumque volat, rabiemque frementes deposuere ferae ; laetatur terra reverso
numine, quod prisci post tempora perdidit auri.
illa per occultum Ligurum se moenibus infert
et castos levibus plantis ingressa penates 125 invenit aetherios signantem pulvere cursus,
quos pia sollicito deprendit pollice Memphis : 346
THE CONSULSHIP OF MANLIUS
of the elements and the causes of matter's cease less change ; what influence has given life to the stars, moving them in their courses ; what quickens with movement the universal frame. Thou tellest why the seven planets strive backward towards the East, doing battle with the firmament ; whether there is one lawgiver to different movements or two minds govern heaven's revolution ; whether colour is a property of matter or whether objects deceive our sight and owe their colours to reflected light ; how the moon causes the ebb and flow of the tide ; which wind brings about the thunder's crash, which collects the rain clouds and by which the hail stones are formed ; what causes the coldness of snow and what is that flame that ploughs its shining furrow through the sky, hurls the swift thunderbolt, or sets in heaven's dome the tail of the baleful comet.
Already had the anchor stayed thy restful bark,
thou wert minded to go ashore ; fruitful leisure charmed and books were being born for im mortality, when, of a sudden, Justice looked down from the shining heaven and saw thee at thine ease, saw Law, too, deprived of her great interpreter. She stayed not but, wreathing her chaste forehead with a band, left the gates of Autumn where the Standard- bearer dips towards the south and the Scorpion makes
good the losses of the night. Where'er she flies a peace fell upon the birds and howling beasts laid aside their rage. Earth rejoices in the return of a deity lost to her since the waning of the age of gold. Secretly Justice enters the walls of Milan, Liguria's city, and penetrating with light step the holy palace finds Theodorus marking in the sand those heavenly movements which reverent Memphis discovered by
347
already
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quae moveant momenta polum, quam certus in astris error, quis tenebras solis causisque meantem defectum indicat numerus, quae linea Phoeben 130 damnet et excluso pallentem fratre relinquat.
ut procul adspexit fulgentia Virginis ora cognovitque deam, vultus veneratus amicos occurrit scriptaeque notas confundit harenae.
Tum sic diva prior : " Manli, sincera bonorum 135 congeries, in quo veteris vestigia recti
et ductos video mores meliore metallo :
iam satis indultum studiis, Musaeque tot annos eripuere mihi. pridem te iura reposcunt :
adgredere et nostro rursum te redde labori 140 nec tibi sufficiat transmissae gloria vitae.
humanum curare genus quis terminus umquam praescripsit ? nullas recipit prudentia metas.
adde quod haec multis potuit contingere sedes,
sed meriti tantum redeunt actusque priores 145 commendat repetitus honos, virtusque reducit
quos fortuna legit. 1 melius magnoque petendum credis in abstrusa rerum ratione morari ?
scilicet illa tui patriam praecepta Platonis
erexere magis, quam qui responsa secutus 150 obruit Eoas classes urbemque carinis
vexit et arsuras Medo subduxit Athenas ?
Spartanis potuit robur praestare Lycurgus
matribus et sexum leges vicere severae
1 Birt regit with the mss. (he suggests nequit); Hein- sius legit
1 Virgo ( = Astraea) was a recognized synonym for the goddess Justice ; see Virg. Ec. iv. 6.
2 i. e. Themistocles. 348
THE CONSULSHIP OF MANLIUS
anxious reckoning. He sought the forces that move the heavens, the fixed (though errant) path of the planets, the calculation, which predicts the over shadowing of the sun and its surely-fixed eclipse, and the line that sentences the moon to be left in darkness by shutting out her brother. Soon as from afar he beheld the shining face of the Maiden 1 and recognized the goddess, reverencing that dear countenance, he hurries to meet her, effacing from the sand the diagrams he had drawn. "
Muses reft from me my pupil. Long has Law de manded thy return to her allegiance. Come, devote thyself once more to my service, and be not content with the glory of thy past. To the service of man kind what boundary ever set the limits ? Wisdom accepts no ends for herself. Then, too, to many has this office fallen, as well it might, but only the worthy return thereto ; reappointment to office is the best commendation of office well held, and virtue brings back him whom chance elects. Deemst thou it a better and a worthier aim to spend thy days in exploring Nature's secret laws ? Dost thou think it was thy Plato's precepts raised his country to glory rather than he 2 who, in obedience to the oracle, sank the Persian fleet, put his city on ship board and saved from the Medes Athens destined for the flames ? Lycurgus could dower the mothers of Sparta with a man's courage and by his austere
The goddess was the first to speak.
Manlius, in whom are gathered all the virtues unalloyed, in whom I see traces of ancient justice and manners moulded of a purer metal, thou hast devoted time enough now to study ; all these years have the
laws correct the weakness of their sex ;
by
for 349
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civibus et vetitis ignavo credere muro 155 tutius obiecit nudam Lacedaemona bellis :
at non Pythagorae monitus annique silentes
famosum Oebalii luxum pressere Tarenti.
" Quis vero insignem tanto sub principe curam respuat ? aut quando meritis maiora patebunt 160 praemia ? quis demens adeo qui iungere sensus cum Stilichone neget ? similem quae protulit aetas consilio vel Marte virum ? nunc Brutus amaret vivere sub regno, tali succumberet aulae
Fabricius, cuperent ipsi servire Catones. 165 nonne vides, ut nostra soror dementia tristes obtundat gladios fratresque amplexa serenos adsurgat Pietas, fractis ut lugeat armis
Perfidia et laceris morientes crinibus hydri
lambant invalido Furiarum vincla veneno ? 170 exultat cum Pace Fides, iam sidera cunctae liquimus et placidas inter discurrimus urbes. nobiscum, Theodore, redi. "
" Subit ille loquentem agrestem dudum me, diva, reverti
talibus :
cogis et infectum longi rubigine ruris 175 ad tua signa vocas. nam quae mihi cura tot annis altera quam duras sulcis mollire novales,
nosse soli vires, nemori quae commoda rupes,
quis felix oleae tractus, quae glaeba faveret
frugibus et quales tegeret vindemia colles ? 180 terribiles rursum lituos veteranus adibo
et desueta vetus temptabo caerula vector ?
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THE CONSULSHIP OF MANLIUS
bidding his fellow-citizens to put a coward's trust in walls, he set Lacedemon to face wars more securely in her nakedness ; but all the teaching of Pyth agoras and his years of silence never crushed the
infamous licentiousness ofSparta's colony Tarentum. "Besides, beneath such an emperor, who could
refuse office ? Was ever merit more richly re warded ? Who is so insensate as not to wish to meet Stilicho in council ? Has ever any age produced his equal in prudence or in bravery ? Now would Brutus love to live under a king ; to such a court Fabricius would yield, the Catos themselves long to give service. Seest thou not how my sister
blunts the cruel sword of war ; how Piety rises to embrace the two noble brothers ; how Treason laments her broken weapons and the snakes, writhing in death upon the Furies' wounded heads, lick their chains with enfeebled venom ? Peace and loyalty are triumphant. All the host of heaven leaves the stars and wanders from peaceful city to peaceful city. Return thou with"us, Theodorus. "
Then Theodorus made answer : From my long accustomed fields, goddess, thou urgest me to return, summoning to thy standard one grown rusty in the distant countryside. What else has been my care all these years but to break up the stubborn fallow-land into furrows, to know the nature of the soil, the rocky land suitable to the growth of trees, the country where the olive will flourish, the fields that will yield rich harvests of grain or the hills which my vineyards may clothe ? I have served my time ; am I to hearken once more
to the dreadful trumpet ? Is the old helmsman again to brave the seas whose lore he has forgotten ?
351
Mercy
GLAUDIAN
collectamque diu et certis utcumque locatam sedibus in dubium patiar deponere famam ?
nec me, quid valeat natura fortior usus, 185 praeterit aut quantum neglectae defluat arti.
desidis aurigae non audit verbera currus,
nec manus agnoscit quem non exercuit arcum.
esse sed iniustum fateor quodcumque negatur iustitiae. tu prima hominem silvestribus antris 190 elicis et foedo deterges saecula victu.
te propter colimus leges animosque ferarum exuimus. nitidis quisquis te sensibus hausit,
inruet intrepidus flammis, hiberna secabit
aequora, confertos hostes superabit inermis. 195 ille vel Aethiopum pluviis solabitur aestus ;
illum trans Scythiam vernus comitabitur aer. "
Sic fatus tradente dea suscepit habenas
quattuor ingenti iuris temone refusas.
prima Padum Thybrimque ligat crebisque micantem urbibus Italiam ; Numidas 1 Poenosque secunda 201 temperat ; Illyrico se tertia porrigit orbi ;
ultima Sardiniam, Cyrnum trifidamque retentat Sicaniam et quidquid Tyrrhena tunditur unda
vel gemit Ionia. nec te tot lumina rerum 205 aut tantum turbavit onus ; sed ut altus Olympi
vertex, qui spatio ventos hiemesque relinquit, perpetuum nulla temeratus nube serenum
celsior exurgit pluviis auditque ruentes
1 Numidas Heinsius ; Birt fLydos
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THE CONSULSHIP OF MANLIUS
My fame has long been gathered in and where it is 'tis in safe custody ; am I to suffer its being put to the hazard ? Full well do I realize that habit is a stronger force than nature, nor am I ignorant of the rapidity with which we forget an art that we have ceased to exercise. The whip of an unprac tised charioteer is powerless to urge on his horses ; the hand that is unaccustomed thereto cannot bend the bow. And yet it were unjust, I admit, to refuse aught to Justice. Thou first didst draw man from his woodland cave and free the human race from its foul manner of life. Thanks to thee we
practise law and have put off the temper of wild beasts. Whosoever has drunk of thee with pure heart
will rush fearless through flames, will sail the
seas, and overcome unarmed the densest company of foemen. Justice is to the just as rain to temper even the heat of Ethiopia, a breath of spring to journey with him across the deserts of Scythia. "
So spake he and took from the goddess' hand the four reins that lay stretched along the huge pole of Justice's car. The first harnesses the rivers Po and Tiber and Italy with all her glittering towns ; the second guides Numidia and Carthage ; the third runs out across the land of Illyria ; the last holds Sardinia, Corsica, three-cornered Sicily and the coasts beaten by the Tyrrhenian wave or that echo to the Ionian. The splendour and magnitude of the under taking troubled thee not one whit ; but as the lofty summit of Olympus, far removed from the winds and tempests of the lower air, its eternal bright serene untroubled by any cloud, is lifted above the rain storms and hears the hurricane rushing
vol. i 2 a 353
wintry
CLAUDIAN
sub pedibus nimbos et rauca tonitrua calcat : 210
sic patiens animus per tanta negotia liber
emergit similisque sui, iustique tenorem flectere non odium cogit, non gratia suadet.
nam spretas quis opes intactaque pectora lucro commemoret ? fuerint aliis haec forte decora : 215 nulla potest laus esse tibi, quae crimina purget. servat inoffensam divina modestia vocem :
temperiem servant oculi ; nec lumina fervor
asperat aut rabidas suffundit sanguine venas,
nullaque mutati tempestas proditur oris. 220 quin etiam sontes expulsa corrigis ira
et placidus delicta domas ; nec dentibus umquam
instrepis horrendum, fremitu nec verbera poscis. Qui fruitur poena, ferus est, legumque videtur
vindictam praestare sibi ; cum viscera felle 225 Canduerint, ardet stimulis ferturque nocendi prodigus, ignarus causae : dis proximus ille,
quem ratio, non ira movet, qui facta rependens consilio punire potest. mucrone cruento
se iactent alii, studeant feritate timeri addictoque hominum cumulent aeraria censu.
lene fluit Nilus, sed cunctis amnibus extat utilior nullo confessus murmure vires ;
acrior ac rapidus tacitas praetermeat ingens Danuvius ripas ; eadem dementia sani gurgitis inmensum deducit in ostia Gangen.
torrentes inmane fremant lassisque minentur 354
230
235
THE CONSULSHIP OF MANLIUS
beneath its feet while it treads upon the thunder's roar ; so thy patient mind, unfettered by cares so manifold, rises high above them ; thou art ever the same, no hatred can compel thee, no affection induce thee, to swerve from the path of justice. For why should any speak of riches scorned and a heart unallured by gain ? These might perhaps be virtues in others : absence of vice is no praise to bestow on thee. The calm of a god banishes
from thy voice ; the spirit of moderation shines from thine eyes ; passion never inflames that glance or fills with blood the angry veins ; never is a tempest heralded on thy changed coun tenance. Nay, thou punishest the very criminals without show of anger and checkest their evil-doing with unruffled calm. Never dost thou gnash with thy teeth upon them nor shout orders for them to be chastised.
He is a savage who delights in punishment and seems to make the vengeance of the laws his own ; when his heart is inflamed with the poison of wrath he is goaded by fury and rushes on knowing nothing of the cause and eager only to do hurt. But he whom reason, not anger, animates is a peer of the gods, he who, weighing the guilt, can with delibera
tion balance the punishment. Let others boast them of their bloody swords and wish to be feared for their ferocity, while they fill their treasuries with the goods of the condemned. Gently flows the Nile, yet is it more beneficent than all rivers for all that no sound reveals its power. More swiftly the broad Danube glides between its quiet banks. Huge Ganges flows down to its mouths with gently moving
current. Let torrents roar horribly, threaten weary 355
anger
CLAUDIAN
pontibus et volvant spumoso vertice silvas :
pax maiora decet ; peragit tranquilla potestas,
quod violenta nequit, mandataque fortius urget 240 imperiosa quies.
Idem praedurus iniquas accepisse preces, rursus, quae digna petitu,
largior et facilis ; nec quae comitatur honores,
ausa tuam leviter temptare superbia mentem.
frons privata manet nec se meruisse fatetur, 245 quae crevisse putat ; rigidi sed plena pudoris
elucet gravitas fastu iucunda remoto.
quae non seditio, quae non insania vulgi
te viso lenita cadat ? quae dissona ritu
barbaries, medii quam non reverentia frangat ? 250 vel quis non sitiens sermonis mella politi
deserat Orpheos blanda testudine cantus ?
qualem te legimus teneri primordia mundi
scribentem aut partes animae, per singula talem cernimus et similes agnoscit pagina mores. 255
Nec dilata tuis Augusto iudice merces
officiis, illumque habitum, quo iungitur aulae
curia, qui socio proceres cum principe nectit,
quem quater ipse gerit, perfecto detulit anno deposuitque suas te succedente curules. 260 crescant virtutes fecundaque floreat aetas.
ingeniis patuit campus certusque merenti
stat favor : ornatur propriis industria donis.
surgite sopitae, quas obruit ambitus, artes.
nil licet invidiae, Stilicho dum prospicit orbi 265
1 i. e. Manlius modestly regards his honours as a natural growth, not as the reward of merit.
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THE CONSULSHIP OF MANLIUS
bridges, and sweep down forests in their foaming
whirl ; 'tis repose befits the greater ; quiet authority accomplishes what violence cannot, and that mandate compels more which comes from a commanding calm.
" Thou art as deaf to the prayers of injustice as thou art generous and attentive where the demand is just. Pride, that ever accompanies office, has not so much as dared to touch thy mind. Thy look is a private citizen's nor allows that it has deserved what it thinks to have but grown 1 ; but full of stately modesty shines forth a gravity that charms because
is banished. What sedition, what madness
of the crowd could see thee and not sink down
appeased ? What country so barbarous, so foreign
in its customs, as not to bow in reverence before
mediation ? Who that desires the honied
charm of polished eloquence would not desert the
lyre-accompanied song of tuneful Orpheus ? In
every activity we see thee as we see thee in thy
books, describing the creation of the newly-fashioned earth or the parts of the soul ; we recognize thy character in thy pages.
The Emperor has not been slow in rewarding thy merit. The robe that links Senate-house and palace, that unites nobles with their prince — the robe that he himself has four times worn, he hath at the year's end handed on to thee, and left his own curule chair that thou mightest follow him.
Grow, ye virtues ; be this an age of prosperity The path of glory lies open to the wise ; merit is sure of its reward ; industry dowered with the gifts it deserves. Arts, rise from the slumber into which depraved ambition had forced you ! Envy cannot hold up her head while Stilicho and his godlike
357
pride
thy
!
sidereusque gener.
CLAUDIAN
non hic violata curulis, turpia non Latios incestant nomina fastos ;
fortibus haec concessa viris solisque gerenda patribus et Romae numquam latura pudorem.
Nuntia votorum celeri iam Fama volatu 270 moverat Aonios audito consule lucos.
concinuit felix Helicon fluxitque Aganippe
largior et docti riserunt floribus amnes.
Uranie redimita comas, qua saepe magistra
Manlius igniferos radio descripserat axes, 275 sic alias hortata deas : " patimurne, sorores,
optato procul esse die nec limina nostri
consulis et semper dilectas visimus aedes ?
notior est Helicone1 domus. gestare curules
et fasces subiisse libet. miracula plebi 280 colligite et claris nomen celebrate theatris.
" Tu Iovis aequorei summersam fluctibus aulam oratum volucres, Erato, iam perge quadrigas,
a quibus haud umquam palmam rapturus Arion. inlustret circum sonipes, quicumque superbo 285 perstrepit hinnitu Baetin, qui splendida potat
stagna Tagi madidoque iubas adspergitur auro.
" Calliope, liquidas Alciden posce palaestras : cuncta Palaemoniis manus explorata coronis
adsit et Eleo pubes laudata Tonanti. 290
" Tu iuga Taygeti frondosaque Maenala, Clio, i Triviae supplex ; non aspernata rogantem amphitheatrali faveat Latonia pompae.
1 codd. have Stilichone ; Birt obelizes the line ; it is only found in V ; Helicone Qevartius.
1 Claudian is thinking of Eutropius, Manlius' eastern colleague.
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son-in-law direct the state. Here is no pollution
of the consul's office, no shameful names
the Latin fasti ; here the consulship is an honour reserved for the brave, given only to senators,
never a source of scandal to Rome's city. 1
Now had Fame, announcing our good fortune, winged her way to Aonia whose groves she stirred
with the tidings of the new consul. Helicon raised a hymn of praise, Aganippe flowed with waters more abundant, the streams of song laughed with
flowers. Then Urania, her hair wreath-crowned,
Urania whose hand had oft directed Manlius' com
" Do thou, Erato, go visit the palace of Neptune beneath the sea and beg for four swift coursers such that even Arion could not snatch the prize from them. Let the Circus be graced by every steed to whose proud neighing Baetis re-echoes, who drinks of Tagus' shining pools and sprinkles his mane with its liquid gold.
" Calliope, ask thou of Alcides the oil of the
wrestling-ground. Let all the company proved in the games at Elis follow thee and the athletes who have won fame with Olympian Jove.
" Fly, Clio, to Taygetus' heights and leafy Maenalus and beg Diana not to spurn thy petition but help the amphitheatre's pomp.