Exquirite retro crimina continui lectis annalibus aevi,
prisca recensitis evolvite saecula fastis : 60 quid senis infandi Capreae, quid scaena Neronis
tale ferunt ?
prisca recensitis evolvite saecula fastis : 60 quid senis infandi Capreae, quid scaena Neronis
tale ferunt ?
Claudian - 1922 - Loeb
Eunuchs don your robes of office, sexless beings assume the insignia of Rome.
They have laid hands on the toga that inspired Hannibal and Pyrrhus with terror.
They now despise the fan and aspire to the consul's cloak.
No longer do they carry the maidenly parasol for they have dared to wield the axes of Latium.
sight
" Unhappy band, leave your womanly fastnesses, you whom the male sex has discarded and the female will not adopt. The knife has cut out the stings of love and by that wounding you are pure. A mixture are you of two ages —child and greybeard and nought between. Take your seats, fathers in name alone. Come new lords, come sterile senate, throng your leader Eutropius. Fill the judgement-seat, not the bedchamber. Change your habits and learn to follow the consul's chair, not the woman's litter.
173
CLAUDIAN
" Ne prisca revolvam
neu numerem, quantis iniuria mille per annos 475
sit retro ducibus, quanti foedabitur aevi
canities, unam subeant quot saecula culpam :
inter Arinthaei fastos et nomen erile
servus erit dominoque suos aequalis honores
inseret ! heu semper Ptolomaei noxia mundo 480 mancipia ! en alio laedor graviore Pothino
et patior maius Phario scelus. ille cruorem
consulis unius Pellaeis ensibus hausit ;
" Si nil privata movebunt,
at tu principibus, vestrae tu prospice causae 485
regalesque averte notas. hunc accipit unum
aula magistratum : vobis patribusque recurrit
hic alternus honos. in crimen euntibus annis
parce, quater consul ! contagia fascibus, oro, defendas ignava tuis neu tradita libris 490 omina vestitusque meos, quibus omne, quod ambit oceanus, domui, tanta caligine mergi
calcarique sinas. nam quae iam bella geramus mollibus auspiciis ? quae iam conubia prolem
vel frugem latura seges ? quid fertile terris, 495 quid plenum sterili possit sub consule nasci ?
eunuchi si iura dabunt legesque tenebunt,
ducant pensa viri mutatoque ordine rerum
vivat Amazonio confusa licentia ritu.
1 Arinthaeus had held the high position of magister peditum. He died in 379.
8 Pothinus, the creature of Ptolemy Dionysius, was instrumental in killing Pompey in Egypt in 48 B. C.
174
inquinat hic omnes.
AGAINST EUTROPIUS, I
" I would not cite examples from remote anti quity nor count the countless magistrates of past history whom he thus outrages. But think how the reverence due to all past ages will be impaired, on how many centuries one man's shame will set its mark. Amid the annals that record the name of Arinthaeus,1 his master, will be found the slave, and he will enter his own honours as equal to those of his owner. The slaves of Egypt's kings have ever been a curse to the world ; behold I suffer from a worse than Pothinus and bear a wrong more flagrant than that of which Egypt was once the scene. Pothinus' sword at Alexandria spilled the blood of a single consul ; 2 Eutropius brings dishonour on all.
" If the fate of subjects cannot move thee, yet have thou regard for princes, for your common cause, and remove this stain on royalty. The consul ship is the sole office the emperor deigns to accept ;
alternately
the honour passes to Court and Senate.
Thou who hast thyself been four times consul spare
succeeding consuls this infamy. I pray thee, protect
the fasces, so often thine, from the pollution of a eunuch's hand ; let not the omens handed down in our sacred books, let not those robes of mine where with I have subdued everything within Ocean's stream, be plunged in so great darkness and trodden under foot. What kind of wars can we wage now that a eunuch takes the auspices ? What marriage, what harvest will be fruitful ? What fertility, what abundance is possible beneath a consul stricken with
If eunuchs shall and give judgement
sterility ?
determine laws, then let men card wool and live like
the Amazons, confusion and licence the order of nature.
dispossessing 175
CLAUDIAN
Quid trahor ulterius ? Stilicho, quid vincere differs, dum certare pudet ? nescis quod turpior hostis 501 laetitia maiore cadit ? piratica Magnum
erigit, inlustrat servilis laurea Crassum.
adnuis. agnosco fremitum, quo palluit Eurus,
quo Mauri Gildoque ruit. quid Martia signa 505
sollicitas ? non est iaculis hastisve petendus : conscia succumbent audito verbere terga,
ut Scytha post multos rediens exercitus annos, cum sibi servilis pro finibus obvia pubes
iret et arceret dominos tellure reversos, 510
armatam ostensis aciem fudere flagellis :
notus ab inceptis ignobile reppulit horror vulgus et addictus sub verbere torpuit ensis. "
176
AGAINST EUTROPIUS, I
" What need of further words ? Why, Stilicho, dost thou delay to conquer because ashamed to fight ? Knowest thou not that the viler a foe the greater the rejoicing at his overthrow ? His defeat of the
'
pirates extended the fame of great Pompey ; ,his victory in the Servile War gave an added glory to
Grassus. Thou acceptest my charge : I recognize the clamour that terrified the East and drove Gildo and his Moors to their destruction. Why sound the trump of war ? No need to attack him with javelin or spear. At the crack of the whip will be bowed the back that has felt its blows. Even so when after many years the Scythian army came back from the wars and was met on the confines of its
native land by the usurping crowd of slaves who sought to keep their returning masters from their
country ; with displayed whips they routed the armed ranks ; back from its enterprise the familiar terror drove the servile mob, and at threat of the lash the bondsman's sword grew dull. "
VOL. I N 177
#
IN EUTROPIUM
LIBER SECUNDUS. PRAEFATIO
(XIX. )
Qui modo sublimes rerum flectebat habenas patricius, rursum verbera nota timet
et solitos tardae passurus compedis orbes in dominos vanas luget abisse minas. culmine deiectum vitae Fortuna priori
reddidit, insano iam satiata ioco. scindere nunc alia meditatur ligna securi
fascibus et tandem vapulat ipse suis. ille citas consul poenas se consule solvit : annus qui trabeas hic dedit exilium.
infaustum populis in se quoque vertitur omen saevit in auctorem prodigiosus honos.
abluto penitus respirant nomine fasti maturamque luem sanior aula vomit.
dissimulant socii coniuratique recedunt, procumbit pariter cum duce tota cohors ;
non acie victi, non seditione coacti ; nec pereunt ritu quo periere viri.
concidit exiguae dementia vulnere chartae ; confecit saevum littera Martis opus.
178
AGAINST EUTROPIUS BOOK II. PREFACE
(XIX)
The nobly born Eutropius who but lately wielded the reins of supreme power once more fears the familiar blows ; and, soon to feel the wonted shackles about his halting feet, he laments that his threats against his masters have idly vanished. Fortune, having had enough of her mad freak, has thrust him forth from his high office and restored him to his old way of life. He now prepares to hew wood with axe other than the consular and is at last scourged
with the rods he once proudly carried. To the punishment set in motion by him when consul he himself as consul succumbed ; the year that brought him his robe of office brought him his exile. That omen of evil augury for the people turns against itself, the portent of that consulship brings ruin to the consul. That name erased, our annals breathe once more, and better health is restored to the palace now that it has at last vomited forth its poison. His friends deny him, his accomplices abandon him ;
in his fall is involved all the eunuch band, overcome not in battle, subdued not by siege—they may not die a man's death. A mere stroke of the pen has wrought their undoing, a simple letter has fulfilled Mars' savage work.
179
GLAUDIAN
Mollis fcminea detruditur arce tyrannus
et thalamo pulsus perdidit imperium : sic iuvenis nutante fide veterique reducta paelice defletam linquit amica domum.
canitiem raram largo iam pulvere turpat 25 et lacrimis rugas implet anile gemens
suppliciterque pias humilis prostratus ad aras mitigat iratas voce tremente nurus.
innumeri glomerantur eri sibi quisque petentes mancipium solis utile suppliciis. 30
quamvis foedus enim mentemque obscaenior ore, ira dabit pretium ; poena meretur emi.
Quas, spado, nunc terras aut quem transibis in axem ? cingeris hinc odiis, inde recessit amor.
utraque te gemino sub sidere regia damnat : 35 Hesperius numquam, iam nec Eous eris.
miror cur, aliis qui pandere fata solebas, ad propriam cladem caeca Sibylla taces. iam tibi nulla videt fallax insomnia Nilus ;
vates iam, miserande, tui. 40 quid soror ? audebit tecum conscendere puppim
et veniet longum per mare fida comes ? an fortasse toros eunuchi pauperis odit
et te nunc inopem dives amare negat ?
eunuchi iugulum primus secuisse fateris ; 45
sed tamen exemplo non feriere tuo.
vive pudor fatis. en quem tremuere tot urbes,
en cuius populi sustinuere iugum !
" 1 Claudian calls Eutropius the Sibyl because both were old women. " He is referring to Eutropius' consultation
of the Egyptian oracle ; cf. In Eutrop. i. 312 and note. 180
pervigilant
AGAINST EUTROPIUS, II : PREFACE
The unsexed tyrant has been routed from out his fastness in the women's quarters and, driven from the bedchamber, has lost his power. Thus sadly,
when her lover's fidelity wavers and a former favourite has been recalled, does a mistress leave his house. With handfuls of dust he sprinkles his
hairs and floods his wrinkles with senile tears ; as he lies in humble supplication before the altars of the gods his trembling voice seeks to soften the anger of the women. His countless masters gather around, each demanding back his slave, useless except for chastisement. For loathsome though he is and fouler in mind even than in face, yet the very anger they feel against him will make
them pay ; he is worth buying simply to punish. What land or country wilt thou now visit, eunuch ? Here hate surrounds thee, there thy popularity is
fled ; both courts have uttered thy condemnation in either half of the world ; never wert thou of the West, now the East repudiates thee too. I marvel that thou, blind Sibyl,1 who foretold'st the fates of others, art silent about thine own. No longer does fallacious Nile interpret thy dreams ; no
longer, poor wretch, do thy prophets see visions. What doth thy sister ? Will she dare to embark with thee and bear thee faithful company over the distant seas ? Mayhap she scorns the couch of an impoverished eunuch, and now that she herself is rich will not love thee who now art poor. Thou dost con fess thou wert the first to cut a eunuch's throat, but the example will not secure thine own death. Live on that destiny may blush. Lo ! this is he whom so many cities have held in awe, whose yoke so many peoples have borne. Why lament the loss of that
181
scanty
CLAUDIAN
direptas quid plangis opes, quas natus habebit ?
non aliter poteras principis esse pater. 50
improbe, quid pulsas muliebribus astra querellis, quod tibi sub Cypri litore parta quies ?
omnia barbarico per te concussa tumultu.
crede mihi, terra tutius aequor erit.
Iam non Armenios iaculis terrebis et arcu, 55 per campos volucrem non agitabis equum ;
dilecto caruit Byzantius ore senatus ; curia consiliis aestuat orba tuis :
emeritam suspende togam, suspende pharetram ;
ad Veneris partes ingeniumque redi. 60
non bene Gradivo lenonia dextera servit.
suscipiet famulum te Cytherea libens.
insula laeta choris, blandorum mater Amorum :
nulla pudicitiae cura placere potest.
prospectant Paphiae celsa de rupe puellae 65
sollicitae, salvam dum ferat unda ratem. sed vereor, teneant ne te Tritones in alto
lascivas doctum fallere Nereidas,
aut idem cupiant pelago te mergere venti,
Gildonis nuper qui tenuere fugam. 70
inclita captivo memoratur Tabraca Mauro, naufragio Cyprus sit memoranda tuo.
vecturum moriens frustra delphina vocabis ; ad terram solos devehit ille viros.
quisquis adhuc similis eunuchus tendit in actus, 75 respiciens Cyprum desinat esse ferox.
1 Eutropius had been raised by Arcadius to the highest of all ranks, that of Patrician. These patricii were called the " fathers " of the Emperor. Hence Eutropius, a patrician,
182
AGAINST EUTROPIUS, II : PREFACE
wealth thy son shall inherit ? In no other way couldst thou have been father to an emperor. 1 Why insatiably weary heaven with a woman's plaints ? A haven of refuge is prepared for thee on the shores of Cyprus. Thou hast plunged the world in war with barbary ; the sea, believe me, is safer than the land.
No longer wilt thou strike terror into the Armenians with javelin and bow, no more scour the plain on thy fleet charger. The senate of Byzantium has been deprived of thy loved voice ; uncertainty holds the august assembly that is now deprived of thy counsels. Hang up thy toga, retired consul ; hang up thy quiver, veteran soldier ; return to Venus' service ; that is thy true calling. The pander's hand knows not to serve Mars featly ; Cytherea will right gladly take back her slave. Dancing fills the island of Cyprus, home of the happy loves ; there purity commands no respect. Paphian maidens gaze forth from the high cliffs, anxious till the wave has brought thy bark safe to land. Yet fear I lest the Tritons detain thee in the deep to teach them how they may seduce the
Nereids, or that those same winds which hindered Gildo's flight may seek to drown thee in the sea. Tabraca owes its fame to the overthrow of the
Moor ; may Cyprus win prestige from thy shipwreck. In vain will thy last breath be spent in calling on the dolphin to carry thee to shore : his back bears only men. 2 Hereafter should any eunuch attempt to emulate thine actions let him turn his eye towards Cyprus and abate his pride.
left (i. e. forfeited) his property on his banishment to Cyprus to his " son " Arcadius.
8 A reference to the rescue of Arion by the dolphin.
183
sportive
IN EUTROPIUM LIBER II
(XX)
Mygdonii cineres et si quid restat Eoi,
quod pereat, regni : certe non augure falso
prodigii patuere minae, frustraque peracto
vulnere monstriferi praesagia discitis anni.
cautior ante tamen violentum navita Caurum 5 prospicit et tumidae subducit vela procellae.
quid iuvat errorem mersa iam puppe fateri ?
quid lacrimae delicta levant ? stant omina vestri consulis : inmotis haesere piacula fatis.
tunc decuit sentire nefas, tunc ire recentes 10 detersum maculas. veteri post obruta morbo corpora Paeonias nequiquam admoveris herbas ulcera possessis alte suffusa medullis
non leviore manu, ferro sanantur et igni,
ne noceat frustra mox eruptura cicatrix. 15 ad vivum penetrant flammae, quo funditus umor defluat et vacuis corrupto sanguine venis
184
AGAINST EUTROPIUS BOOK II
(XX)
Ashes of Phrygia and you last remnants of the ruined East (if any such remain), the augury was but too true, too clear the threats of heaven : now that the blow has fallen what use to learn the presagings of this year of portents ? The sailor is more cautious ; he foresees the violence of the North wind and hauls in his canvas before the swelling storm. Of what avail to acknowledge a mistake when his vessel is already sunk ? Can tears extenuate a crime ? The sinister auspices of your consul live on ; the atone ment due to unmoved fate remains fixed. Ere the deed was done you should have realized its horror ; you should have erased the blot ere it had dried. When the body is overwhelmed by long-standing disease 'tis all in vain that thou makest use of healing medicines. When an ulcer has penetrated to the marrow of the bones the touch of a hand is useless, steel and fire must sane the place that the wound heal not on the surface, like any moment to re-open. The flame must penetrate to the quick to make a way for the foul humours to escape ; in order that, once the veins are emptied of corrupted blood, the
185
CLAUDIAN
arescat fons ipse mali ; truncatur et artus,
ut liceat reliquis securum degere membris.
at vos egregie purgatam creditis aulam, 20 Eutropium si Cyprus habet ? vindictaque mundi semivir exul erit ? qui vos lustrare valebit
oceanus ? tantum facinus quae diluet aetas ?
Induerat necdum trabeas : mugitus ab axe redditus inferno, rabies arcana cavernas 25 vibrat et alterno confligunt culmina lapsu.
bacchatus per operta tremor Calchedona movit pronus et in geminas nutavit Bosphorus urbes. concurrere freti fauces, radice revulsa
vitant instabilem rursum Symplegada nautae. 30 scilicet haec Stygiae praemittunt signa sorores
et sibi iam tradi populos hoc consule gaudent.
mox oritur diversa lues : hinc Mulciber ignes sparserat, hinc victa proruperat obice Nereus ;
haec flagrant, haec tecta natant. quam, numina,
poenam
servatis sceleri, cuius tot cladibus omen
constitit ? incumbas utinam, Neptune, tridenti pollutumque solum toto cum crimine mergas.
unam pro mundo Furiis concedimus urbem. 39
Utque semel patuit monstris iter, omnia tempus nacta suum properant : nasci tum decolor imber infantumque novi vultus et dissona partu
semina, tum lapidum fletus armentaque vulgo
ausa loqui mediisque ferae se credere muris ;
tum vates sine more rapi lymphataque passim 45 186
35
AGAINST EUTROPIUS, II
fountain-head of the evil may be dried up. Nay, even limbs are amputated to assure the healthy life of the rest of the body. Think you the Court fitly cleansed by Eutropius' exile in Cyprus ? The world avenged by the banishment of a eunuch ? Can any ocean wash away that stain ? any age bring forgetfulness of so great a crime ?
Ere yet he had donned the consul's robe there came a rumbling from the bowels of the earth ; a hidden madness shook the subterranean caverns and buildings crashed one on another. Chalcedon, shaken to the foundations, tottered like a drunken man, and Bosporus, straying from his course, flooded the cities on his either bank. The shores of the strait came together and the sailors once more had to avoid the Clashing Rocks, torn from their foundation and errant. Surely such presages were sent by the
sister deities of Styx, rejoicing that under this consul at last all peoples were delivered into their hands. Soon arose divers forms of ruin : here the fire-god spread his flames ; there Nereus, god of the sea, brake his bounds. Here men's homes were burned, there flooded. Ye gods, what punishment do ye hold in store for the scoundrel whose rise to power was marked by such portents ? O'ercome us, Neptune, with thy trident and overwhelm our defiled soil along with all the guilt. One city we yield to the Furies, a scapegoat for the sins of the world.
Once the way was open for portents, prodigies of every sort hasted to disclose themselves. Rain of blood fell, children of weird form were born and
offspring discordant with their breed. Statues wept, not seldom the herds dared to speak, and wild beasts braved an entrance into the city. Then seers raved
187
CLAUDIAN
pectora terrifici stimulis ignescere Phoebi.
fac nullos cecinisse deos : adeone retusi quisquam cordis erit, dubitet qui partibus illis
adfore fatalem castrati consulis annum ?
sed quam caecus inest vitiis amor ! omne futurum 50
despicitur suadentque brevem praesentia fructum et ruit in vetitum damni secura libido,
dum mora supplicii lucro serumque quod instat creditur. haud equidem contra tot signa Camillo detulerim fasces, nedum (pro sexus ! ) inerti 55 mancipio, cui, cuncta licet responsa iuberent hortantesque licet sponderent prospera divi,
turpe fuit cessisse viros.
Exquirite retro crimina continui lectis annalibus aevi,
prisca recensitis evolvite saecula fastis : 60 quid senis infandi Capreae, quid scaena Neronis
tale ferunt ? spado Romuleo succinctus amictu
sedit in Augustis laribus.
vulgata patebat aula salutantum studiis ; hue plebe senatus
permixta trepidique duces omnisque potestas 65 confluit. advolvi genibus, contingere dextram ambitus et votum deformibus oscula rugis
figere. praesidium legum genitorque vocatur principis et famulum dignatur regia patrem. posteritas, admitte fidem : monumenta petuntur 70
dedecoris multisque gemunt incudibus aera formatura nefas. haec iudicis, illa togati,
1 Suetonius draws a lurid (and probably exaggerated) picture of the debaucherics of Tiberius' old age at Capri. The same author describes the " scaena Neronis. " The curious may find the account in Suet. Nero, xxix.
188
AGAINST EUTROPIUS, II
strangely and frenzied hearts were everywhere ablaze, stirred by the fires of the dread god Phoebus. Yet even had no god warned us, whose mind shall be so dull as to doubt that the year of an emasculate consul must be fatal to those lands ? Blind folly ever accompanies crime ; of the future no account is taken ; sufficient for the day is its short-lived pleasure ; heedless of loss passion plunges into for bidden joys, counting the postponement of punish ment a gain and believing distant the retribution that even now o'erhangs. In face of such portents I would not have entrusted Camillus' self with the fasces, let alone a sexless slave (oh ! the shame of it to yield to whom were, for men, a disgrace, even though every oracle decreed it, and the insis tent deities gave pledges of prosperity.
Look back in the annals of crime, read o'er all past history, unroll the volumes of Rome's story. What can the Capri of Tiberius' old age, what can Nero's theatre offer like to this A eunuch, clad in the cloak of Romulus, sat within the house of the emperors the staled palace lay open to the
of visitors hither hasten senators, mingling with the populace, anxious generals and magistrates of every degree all are fain to be the first to fall at his feet and to touch his hand the
prayer of all to set kisses on those hideous wrinkles.
He called defender of the laws, father of the
emperor, and the court deigns to acknowledge a slave as its overlord. Ye who come after, acknow ledge that true Men must needs erect monu ments to celebrate this infamy on many an anvil groans the bronze that is to take upon the form of this monster. Here gleams his statue as a judge,
189
eager throng
it
;
? 1
!
is
! ),
it
is ;
is
it
;
; ;
CLAUDIAN
haec nitet armati species ; numerosus ubique
fulget eques : praefert eunuchi curia vultus.
ac veluti caveant ne quo consistere virtus 75 possit pura loco, cunctas hoc ore laborant
incestare vias. maneant inmota precamur
certaque perpetui sint argumenta pudoris.
subter adulantes tituli nimiaeque leguntur
vel maribus laudes : claro quod nobilis ortu 80 (cum vivant domini quod maxima proelia solus impleat (et patitur miles quod tertius urbis conditor (hoc Byzas Constantinusque videbant
inter quae tumidus leno producere cenas
in lucem, foetere mero, dispergere plausum 85 empturas in vulgus opes, totosque theatris
indulgere dies, alieni prodigus auri.
at soror et, quid portentis creditur, uxor
mulcebat matres epulis et more pudicae
coniugis eunuchi celebrabat vota mariti. 90 hanc amat, hanc summa de re vel pace vel armis
consulit, huic curas et clausa palatia mandat
ceu stabulum vacuamque domum. sic magna tueri regna nihil, patiensque iugi deluditur orbis
Mitior alternum Zephyri iam bruma teporem 95 senserat et primi laxabant germina flores,
iamque iter in gremio pacis sollemne parabant
ad muros, Ancyra, tuos, auctore repertum
Eutropio, pelagi ne taedia longa subirent,
Mythical founder of Byzantium = Constantinople)
said to have been contemporaneous with the Argonauts
(Diod. iv. 49. 1).
i. e. to prevent his being bored with the vicw of the
Bosporus. 190
21
(
:
?
si
! ).
! ), ! ),
AGAINST EUTROPIUS, II
there as a consul, there as a warrior. On every side one sees that figure of his mounted on his horse ; before the very doors of the senate-house behold a eunuch's countenance. As though to rob virtue of any place where she might sojourn undefiled, men labour to befoul every street with this vile image. May they rest for ever undisturbed, indisputable
proofs of our eternal shame ; such is my prayer. Beneath the statues one reads flattering titles and praises too great even for men. Do they tell of his noble race and lineage while his owners are still alive ? What soldier brooks to read that
single- handed he, Eutropius, won great battles ? Are Byzas 1 and Constantine to be told that he is the
third founder of Rome ? Meanwhile the arrogant pander prolongs his revels till the dawn, stinking of wine and scattering money amid the crowd to
buy their applause. He spends whole days of amusement in the theatres, prodigal of another's money. But his sister and spouse such a prodigy can be conceived) wins the favour of Rome's matrons by entertainments, and, like a chaste wife, sings the
praises of her eunuch husband. 'Tis her he loves, her he consults on all matters of importance, be of peace or war, to her care he entrusts the keys of the palace, as one would of a stable or empty house. Is the guardianship of a mighty empire thus naught Is thus he makes a mockery of world's obedience
Winter, passing into spring, had now felt the returning warmth of Zephyrus' breezes and the earliest flowers had oped their buds when, in the
lap of peace, they were preparing the annual journey to thy walls, Ancyra. 'Twas Eutropius' device that weariness of the sea might not come upon him,
191
2
it
a
? ?
it
(if
CLAUDIAN
sed vaga lascivis flueret discursibus aestas : 100 unde tamen tanta sublimes mole redibant,
ceu vinctos traherent Medos Indumque bibissent. ecce autem flavis Gradivus ab usque Gelonis
arva cruentato repetebat Thracia curru :
subsidunt Pangaea rotis altaeque sonoro 105 stridunt axe nives. ut vertice constitit Haemi femineasque togas pressis conspexit habenis,
subrisit crudele pater cristisque micantem
quassavit galeam ; tunc implacabile numen
Bellonam adloquitur, quae sanguine sordida vestem Illyricis pingues pectebat stragibus hydros : 111
" Necdum mollitiae, necdum, germana, mederi possumus Eoae ? numquam corrupta rigescent
saecula ? Cappadocum tepidis Argaeus acervis aestuat ; infelix etiamnum pallet Orontes. 115 dum pereunt, meminere mali ; si corda parumper respirare sinas, nullo tot funera sensu
praetereunt : antiqua levis iactura cruoris !
" Adspicis obscaenum facinus ? quid crinibus ora protegis ? en quales sese diffudit in actus 120 parva quies, quantum nocuerunt otia ferri !
qui caruit bellis, eunucho traditur annus.
actum de trabeis esset, si partibus una
mens foret Hesperiis ; rueret derisa vetustas nullaque calcati starent vestigia iuris, 125 ni memor imperii Stilicho morumque priorum
turpe relegasset defenso Thybride nomen
192
AGAINST EUTROPIUS, II
but a roaming summer might slide away in pleasure journeys. But so magnificent was their return, you would have imagined they brought conquered Persia in their train and had drunk of the waters of Indus.
Look you ! Mars, returning from the distant lands of the yellow-haired Geloni, was re-seeking the lands of Thrace in his bloody chariot. Pangaeus subsided beneath his wheels, the mountain snows cried out under his sounding axle. Scarce had the father stayed on Haemus' summit and, reining in his coursers, looked upon the toga-clad woman, when he smiled a cruel smile and shook his gleaming crested helm ; then he addressed Bellona, implacable god dess, who, her raiment all stained with blood, was combing her snake-hair, fattened on the slaughter of Illyrians.
" Sister, shall we never succeed in curing the East of effeminacy ? Will this corrupt age never learn true manliness ? Argaeus yet reeks with those heaps of dead Cappadocians not yet cold ; Orontes is still pale from misery. But they only remember evil while they suffer it ; give them a moment's respite and all their slaughter fades from their minds unfelt ; little they reck of bloodshed that is past.
" Seest thou this foul deed ? Why veil thy face with thine hair ? See what crimes a short spell of peace has wrought ! what a curse has the sheathed
The year that has known no war has had a eunuch for its consul. The consulship would have been at an end had a like spirit animated Italy ; this age-long office had fallen amid mockery and
no traces been left of its trampled rights, had not Stilicho, heedful of the empire and of the character and morals of a past age, banished from Tiber's city
vol. i o 193
sword proved !
CLAUDIAN
intactamque novo servasset crimine Romam. ille dedit portum, quo se pulsata referret maiestas Latii deformataeque secures ;
ille dedit fastos, ad quos Oriente relicto confugeret sparsum maculis servilibus aevum.
130
" Quam similes haec aula viros ! ad moenia visus dirige : num saltem tacita formidine mussant ?
num damnant animo ? plaudentem cerne senatum 135 et Byzantinos proceres Graiosque Quirites.
o patribus plebes, o digni consule patres !
quid ? quod et armati cessant et nulla virilis
inter tot gladios sexum reminiscitur ira ?
hucine nostrorum cinctus abiere nepotum ? 140 sic Bruti despectus honos ?
" Ignosce parenti, Romule, quod serus temeratis fascibus ultor
advenio : iamiam largis haec gaudia faxo compensent lacrimis. quid dudum inflare moraris Tartaream, Bellona, tubam, quid stringere falcem, 145 qua populos a stirpe metis ? molire tumultus, excute delicias. Thracum Macetumque ruinae taedet et in gentes iterum saevire sepultas.
damna minus consueta move ; trans aequora saevas verte faces ; aliis exordia sume rapinis. 150 non tibi Riphaeis hostis quaerendus ab oris,
non per Caucasias accito turbine valles
est opus. Ostrogothis colitur mixtisque Gruthungis Phryx ager : hos parvae poterunt impellere causae 194
AGAINST EUTROPIUS, II
this shameful name and kept Rome unsullied by an unheard of crime. He has given us a harbour to which the exiled majesty of Latium and the dis graced fasces might retire ; he has given us annals wherein, abandoning the East, an age polluted with servile stains might find a refuge.
" How like to its lord the inhabitants of the palace ! Turn your eyes to the city walls. Surely they at least mutter disapprobation, though fear forbids them speak out ? Do they not condemn him in their hearts ? No : list the plaudits of the senate, of the lords of Byzantium, of the Grecian citizens of Rome. O people worthy of such a senate, senate
of such a consul !
bear arms and use them not, that manly indignation reminds not of their sex those many whose thighs bear a sword ! Has my descendants' robe of office sunk so low ? Is Brutus' renown thus brought to
scorn ?
" Romulus, forgive thy sire for coming so tardy
an avenger of those outraged fasces. Right soon will I make them pay for this joy with liberal tears. Why delayest thou, Bellona, to sound the trumpet of hell and to arm thyself with the scythe wherewith thou mowest the people to the ground ? Foment discord, banish pleasures. I am aweary of the devastation of Thrace and Macedon, of vengeance twice wreaked on races already buried. Arouse less accustomed destruction ; spread fire and sword
beyond the seas, make a beginning of new devasta tion. Seek not now thy foe on Riphaeus' heights : what boots it to rouse the storm of war amid Cau casia's ravines ? Ostrogoths and Gruthungi together inhabit the land of Phrygia ; 'twill need but a touch
195
worthy
To think that all these
CLAUDIAN
in scelus ; ad mores facilis natura reverti. 155 sic eat : in nostro quando iam milite robur
torpuit et molli didicit parere magistro,
vindicet Arctous violatas advena leges ;
barbara Romano succurrant arma pudori. "
Sic fatus clipeo, quantum vix ipse deorum 160
arbiter infesto cum percutit aegida nimbo, intonuit. responsat Athos Haemusque remugit ; ingeminat raucum Rhodope concussa fragorem. cornua cana gelu mirantibus extulit undis
Hebrus et exanguem glacie timor adligat Histrum. 165 tunc, adamante gravem nodisque rigentibus hastam, telum ingens nullique deo iaculabile, torsit.
fit late ruptis via nubibus ; illa per auras
tot freta, tot montes uno contenta volatu
transilit et Phrygiae mediis adfigitur arvis. 170 sensit humus ; gemuit Nysaeo palmite felix
Hermus et aurata Pactolus inhorruit urna totaque summissis fleverunt Dindyma silvis.
Nec dea praemissae stridorem segnius hastae consequitur, centumque vias meditata nocendi 175
tandem Tarbigilum (Geticae dux improbus alae 1
viso tum forte redibat Eutropio vacuus donis, feritasque dolore
creverat et, teneris etiam quae crimina suadet
1 alae Rubenus ; mss. (followed by Birt) have aulae
1 Alluding to the Roman custom of casting a spear as a sign of the declaration of war ; cf. Ovid, Fasti, vi. 207—
hie erat) adgreditur.
196
Hinc solet hasta manu belli praenuntia mitti In regem et gentes cum placet arma capi.
AGAINST EUTROPIUS, II
to precipitate them into revolt ; readily does nature return to her old ways. So be it. Since our soldiers' valour is numbed and they have learned to obey an unmanned master, let a stranger from the north avenge our outraged laws and barbarian arms bring relief to disgraced Rome. "
So spake he and thundered with his shield nigh as loud as the ruler of the gods when he shakes his aegis from out the lowering cloud. Athos replies, Haemus re-echoes ; again and again shaken Rhodope repeats the hoarse uproar. Hebrus raised from out the wondering waters his horns hoary with frost, and bloodless Ister froze in fear. Then the god cast his javelin,1 heavy with steel, and stiff with knotted
shaft, a mighty weapon such as none other god could wield. The clouds part before its onset and give it free passage ; through the air it speeds o'er seas and mountains by one mighty cast and comes to earth amid the plains of Phrygia. The ground felt the shock ; Hermus blessed with Dionysus' vines groaned thereat, Pactolus' golden urn shuddered, all Dindymus bent his forest fleece and wept.
Bellona, too, hastens forth with speed no less than that of Mars' whistling spear ; a hundred ways of hurt she pondered and at last approached Tarbigilus,2 fierce leader of the Getic squadron. It chanced he had but late returned with empty hands from a visit to Eutropius ; disappointment and indignation aggravated his ferocity, and poverty, that can incite
2 Tarbigilus seems to have belonged to the nation of the Gruthungi. The exact form of his name is a matter of uncertainty. The mss. vary : Zosimus (v. 13. 2) calls him TpiptytXdos. His revolt in Phrygia (cf. 11. 274, etc. ) took place in 399.
197
GLAUDIAN
ingeniis, Scythicum pectus flammabat egestas. 180 huic sese vultu simulatae coniugis offert
mentitoque ferox incedit barbara gressu,
carbaseos induta sinus : post terga reductas
uberibus propior mordebat fibula vestes,
inque orbem tereti mitra retinente capillum 185 strinxerat et virides flavescere iusserat angues.
advolat ac niveis reducem complectitur ulnis infunditque animo furiale per oscula virus.
principe quam largo veniat, quas inde reportet divitias, astu rabiem motura requirit. 190 ille iter ingratum, vanos deflere labores,
quos super eunuchi fastus, quae probra tulisset. continuo secat ungue genas et tempore pandit
adrepto gemitus :
" I nunc, devotus aratris
scinde solum positoque tuos mucrone sodales 195
ad rastros sudare doce. bene rura Gruthungus excolet et certo disponet sidere vites.
felices aliae, quas debellata maritis
oppida, quas magnis quaesitae viribus ornant exuviae, quibus Argivae pulchraeque ministrant 200 Thessalides, famulas et quae meruere Lacaenas.
me nimium timido, nimium iunxere remisso
fata viro, totum qui degener exuit Histrum,
qui refugit patriae ritus, quem detinet aequi
gloria concessoque cupit vixisse colonus 205 quam dominus rapto. quid pulchra vocabula pigris
198
AGAINST EUTROPIUS, II
the gentlest heart to crime, inflamed his savage breast. Taking upon her the similitude of his wife she comes to meet him ; proudly she steps forth like the barbarian queen, clothed in linen raiment. Close to her breast a brooch fastened her dress that trailed behind her ; she had bound her locks into a coil that a polished circlet Confined, and bidden her green snakes turn to gold. She hastens to greet him on his return and throws her snowy arms about his neck, instilling the poison of the furies into his soul by her kisses. Guilefully to stir his rage she asks if the great man has been generous to him ;
if he brings back rich presents. With tears he recounts his profitless journey, his useless toil, the pride and insults, moreover, which he had to bear at the eunuch's hands. At once she seized the favourable moment, and tearing her cheek with her nails, discloses her complaints.
" Go then, busy thyself with the plough, cleave the soil, bid thy followers lay aside their swords and sweat o'er the harrow. The Gruthungi will make
farmers and will plant their vines in due season. Happy those other women whose glory is seen in the towns their husbands have conquered, they whose adornment is the spoils so hardly won from an enemy, whose servants are fair captives of Argos or Thessaly, and who have won them slaves from Sparta. Fate has mated me with too timid, too indolent a husband, a degenerate who has forgotten the valour of Ister's tribes, who deserts his country's ways, whom a vain reputation
for justice attracts, while he longs to live as a hus bandman by favour rather than as a prince by plunder. Why give fair names to shameful weak
199
good
CLAUDIAN
praetentas vitiis ? probitatis inertia nomen,
iustitiae formido subit. tolerabis iniquam pauperiem, cum tela geras ? et flebis inultus,
cum pateant tantae nullis custodibus urbes ? 210
" Quippe metus poenae. pridem mos ille vigebat, ut meritos colerent impacatisque rebelles
urgerent odiis ; at nunc, qui foedera rumpit,
ditatur ; qui servat, eget. vastator Achivae
gentis et Epirum nuper populatus inultam 215 praesidet Illyrico ; iam, quos obsedit, amicos ingreditur muros illis responsa daturus,
quorum coniugibus potitur natosque peremit.
sic hostes punire solent, haec praemia solvunt
excidiis. cunctaris adhuc numerumque tuorum 220
respicis exiguamque manum ? tu rumpe quietem ; bella dabunt socios. nec te tam prona monerem, si contra paterere viros : nunc alter in armis
sexus et eunuchis se defensoribus orbis
credidit ; hos aquilae Romanaque signa sequuntur. incipe barbaricae tandem te reddere vitae, 226 te quoque iam timeant admirenturque nocentem, quem sprevere pium. spoliis praedaque repletus cum libeat Romanus eris. "
Sic fata repente
in diram se vertit avem rostroque recurvo 230
turpis et infernis tenebris obscurior alas auspicium veteri sedit ferale sepulcro.
Ille, pavor postquam resoluto corde quievit
1 Alaric was made magister militum in Illyricum : see Introduction, p. x.
200
AGAINST EUTROPIUS, II
ness ? Cowardice is called loyalty ; fear, a sense of justice. Wilt thou submit to humiliating poverty
though thou bearest arms ? Wilt thou weep un
avenged, though so many cities open to thee their undefended gates ?
" Dost thou fear the consequences ? Rome's old way was to reward merit and vent on rebels a hate that knew no bound. Now he who breaks a treaty wins riches, while he who observes one lives in want. The ravager of Achaea and recent devastator of defenceless Epirus is lord of Illyria 1 ; he now enters as a friend within the walls to which he was laying siege, and administers justice to those whose wives
he has seduced and whose children he has murdered. Such is the punishment meted out to an enemy, such the vengeance exacted for wholesale slaughter —and dost thou still hesitate ? Hast thou regard to the small numbers of thy followers ? Nay, have done with peace : war will give thee allies. Nor would I urge thee so instantly hadst thou to face men. It is another sex that is in arms
against thee ; the world has entrusted itself to the pro
tection of eunuchs ; 'tis such leaders the eagles and standards of Rome follow. Time it is thou didst return to a barbarian life ; be thou in thy turn an object of terror, and let men marvel at thy crimes who despised thy virtues. Laden with booty and plunder thou shalt be a Roman when it pleases thee. "
So saying she suddenly changed into an ill-omened bird, a loathsome sight with its hooked beak and plumage blacker than Hell's darkness, and perched, a sinister augury, on an old tomb.
sight
" Unhappy band, leave your womanly fastnesses, you whom the male sex has discarded and the female will not adopt. The knife has cut out the stings of love and by that wounding you are pure. A mixture are you of two ages —child and greybeard and nought between. Take your seats, fathers in name alone. Come new lords, come sterile senate, throng your leader Eutropius. Fill the judgement-seat, not the bedchamber. Change your habits and learn to follow the consul's chair, not the woman's litter.
173
CLAUDIAN
" Ne prisca revolvam
neu numerem, quantis iniuria mille per annos 475
sit retro ducibus, quanti foedabitur aevi
canities, unam subeant quot saecula culpam :
inter Arinthaei fastos et nomen erile
servus erit dominoque suos aequalis honores
inseret ! heu semper Ptolomaei noxia mundo 480 mancipia ! en alio laedor graviore Pothino
et patior maius Phario scelus. ille cruorem
consulis unius Pellaeis ensibus hausit ;
" Si nil privata movebunt,
at tu principibus, vestrae tu prospice causae 485
regalesque averte notas. hunc accipit unum
aula magistratum : vobis patribusque recurrit
hic alternus honos. in crimen euntibus annis
parce, quater consul ! contagia fascibus, oro, defendas ignava tuis neu tradita libris 490 omina vestitusque meos, quibus omne, quod ambit oceanus, domui, tanta caligine mergi
calcarique sinas. nam quae iam bella geramus mollibus auspiciis ? quae iam conubia prolem
vel frugem latura seges ? quid fertile terris, 495 quid plenum sterili possit sub consule nasci ?
eunuchi si iura dabunt legesque tenebunt,
ducant pensa viri mutatoque ordine rerum
vivat Amazonio confusa licentia ritu.
1 Arinthaeus had held the high position of magister peditum. He died in 379.
8 Pothinus, the creature of Ptolemy Dionysius, was instrumental in killing Pompey in Egypt in 48 B. C.
174
inquinat hic omnes.
AGAINST EUTROPIUS, I
" I would not cite examples from remote anti quity nor count the countless magistrates of past history whom he thus outrages. But think how the reverence due to all past ages will be impaired, on how many centuries one man's shame will set its mark. Amid the annals that record the name of Arinthaeus,1 his master, will be found the slave, and he will enter his own honours as equal to those of his owner. The slaves of Egypt's kings have ever been a curse to the world ; behold I suffer from a worse than Pothinus and bear a wrong more flagrant than that of which Egypt was once the scene. Pothinus' sword at Alexandria spilled the blood of a single consul ; 2 Eutropius brings dishonour on all.
" If the fate of subjects cannot move thee, yet have thou regard for princes, for your common cause, and remove this stain on royalty. The consul ship is the sole office the emperor deigns to accept ;
alternately
the honour passes to Court and Senate.
Thou who hast thyself been four times consul spare
succeeding consuls this infamy. I pray thee, protect
the fasces, so often thine, from the pollution of a eunuch's hand ; let not the omens handed down in our sacred books, let not those robes of mine where with I have subdued everything within Ocean's stream, be plunged in so great darkness and trodden under foot. What kind of wars can we wage now that a eunuch takes the auspices ? What marriage, what harvest will be fruitful ? What fertility, what abundance is possible beneath a consul stricken with
If eunuchs shall and give judgement
sterility ?
determine laws, then let men card wool and live like
the Amazons, confusion and licence the order of nature.
dispossessing 175
CLAUDIAN
Quid trahor ulterius ? Stilicho, quid vincere differs, dum certare pudet ? nescis quod turpior hostis 501 laetitia maiore cadit ? piratica Magnum
erigit, inlustrat servilis laurea Crassum.
adnuis. agnosco fremitum, quo palluit Eurus,
quo Mauri Gildoque ruit. quid Martia signa 505
sollicitas ? non est iaculis hastisve petendus : conscia succumbent audito verbere terga,
ut Scytha post multos rediens exercitus annos, cum sibi servilis pro finibus obvia pubes
iret et arceret dominos tellure reversos, 510
armatam ostensis aciem fudere flagellis :
notus ab inceptis ignobile reppulit horror vulgus et addictus sub verbere torpuit ensis. "
176
AGAINST EUTROPIUS, I
" What need of further words ? Why, Stilicho, dost thou delay to conquer because ashamed to fight ? Knowest thou not that the viler a foe the greater the rejoicing at his overthrow ? His defeat of the
'
pirates extended the fame of great Pompey ; ,his victory in the Servile War gave an added glory to
Grassus. Thou acceptest my charge : I recognize the clamour that terrified the East and drove Gildo and his Moors to their destruction. Why sound the trump of war ? No need to attack him with javelin or spear. At the crack of the whip will be bowed the back that has felt its blows. Even so when after many years the Scythian army came back from the wars and was met on the confines of its
native land by the usurping crowd of slaves who sought to keep their returning masters from their
country ; with displayed whips they routed the armed ranks ; back from its enterprise the familiar terror drove the servile mob, and at threat of the lash the bondsman's sword grew dull. "
VOL. I N 177
#
IN EUTROPIUM
LIBER SECUNDUS. PRAEFATIO
(XIX. )
Qui modo sublimes rerum flectebat habenas patricius, rursum verbera nota timet
et solitos tardae passurus compedis orbes in dominos vanas luget abisse minas. culmine deiectum vitae Fortuna priori
reddidit, insano iam satiata ioco. scindere nunc alia meditatur ligna securi
fascibus et tandem vapulat ipse suis. ille citas consul poenas se consule solvit : annus qui trabeas hic dedit exilium.
infaustum populis in se quoque vertitur omen saevit in auctorem prodigiosus honos.
abluto penitus respirant nomine fasti maturamque luem sanior aula vomit.
dissimulant socii coniuratique recedunt, procumbit pariter cum duce tota cohors ;
non acie victi, non seditione coacti ; nec pereunt ritu quo periere viri.
concidit exiguae dementia vulnere chartae ; confecit saevum littera Martis opus.
178
AGAINST EUTROPIUS BOOK II. PREFACE
(XIX)
The nobly born Eutropius who but lately wielded the reins of supreme power once more fears the familiar blows ; and, soon to feel the wonted shackles about his halting feet, he laments that his threats against his masters have idly vanished. Fortune, having had enough of her mad freak, has thrust him forth from his high office and restored him to his old way of life. He now prepares to hew wood with axe other than the consular and is at last scourged
with the rods he once proudly carried. To the punishment set in motion by him when consul he himself as consul succumbed ; the year that brought him his robe of office brought him his exile. That omen of evil augury for the people turns against itself, the portent of that consulship brings ruin to the consul. That name erased, our annals breathe once more, and better health is restored to the palace now that it has at last vomited forth its poison. His friends deny him, his accomplices abandon him ;
in his fall is involved all the eunuch band, overcome not in battle, subdued not by siege—they may not die a man's death. A mere stroke of the pen has wrought their undoing, a simple letter has fulfilled Mars' savage work.
179
GLAUDIAN
Mollis fcminea detruditur arce tyrannus
et thalamo pulsus perdidit imperium : sic iuvenis nutante fide veterique reducta paelice defletam linquit amica domum.
canitiem raram largo iam pulvere turpat 25 et lacrimis rugas implet anile gemens
suppliciterque pias humilis prostratus ad aras mitigat iratas voce tremente nurus.
innumeri glomerantur eri sibi quisque petentes mancipium solis utile suppliciis. 30
quamvis foedus enim mentemque obscaenior ore, ira dabit pretium ; poena meretur emi.
Quas, spado, nunc terras aut quem transibis in axem ? cingeris hinc odiis, inde recessit amor.
utraque te gemino sub sidere regia damnat : 35 Hesperius numquam, iam nec Eous eris.
miror cur, aliis qui pandere fata solebas, ad propriam cladem caeca Sibylla taces. iam tibi nulla videt fallax insomnia Nilus ;
vates iam, miserande, tui. 40 quid soror ? audebit tecum conscendere puppim
et veniet longum per mare fida comes ? an fortasse toros eunuchi pauperis odit
et te nunc inopem dives amare negat ?
eunuchi iugulum primus secuisse fateris ; 45
sed tamen exemplo non feriere tuo.
vive pudor fatis. en quem tremuere tot urbes,
en cuius populi sustinuere iugum !
" 1 Claudian calls Eutropius the Sibyl because both were old women. " He is referring to Eutropius' consultation
of the Egyptian oracle ; cf. In Eutrop. i. 312 and note. 180
pervigilant
AGAINST EUTROPIUS, II : PREFACE
The unsexed tyrant has been routed from out his fastness in the women's quarters and, driven from the bedchamber, has lost his power. Thus sadly,
when her lover's fidelity wavers and a former favourite has been recalled, does a mistress leave his house. With handfuls of dust he sprinkles his
hairs and floods his wrinkles with senile tears ; as he lies in humble supplication before the altars of the gods his trembling voice seeks to soften the anger of the women. His countless masters gather around, each demanding back his slave, useless except for chastisement. For loathsome though he is and fouler in mind even than in face, yet the very anger they feel against him will make
them pay ; he is worth buying simply to punish. What land or country wilt thou now visit, eunuch ? Here hate surrounds thee, there thy popularity is
fled ; both courts have uttered thy condemnation in either half of the world ; never wert thou of the West, now the East repudiates thee too. I marvel that thou, blind Sibyl,1 who foretold'st the fates of others, art silent about thine own. No longer does fallacious Nile interpret thy dreams ; no
longer, poor wretch, do thy prophets see visions. What doth thy sister ? Will she dare to embark with thee and bear thee faithful company over the distant seas ? Mayhap she scorns the couch of an impoverished eunuch, and now that she herself is rich will not love thee who now art poor. Thou dost con fess thou wert the first to cut a eunuch's throat, but the example will not secure thine own death. Live on that destiny may blush. Lo ! this is he whom so many cities have held in awe, whose yoke so many peoples have borne. Why lament the loss of that
181
scanty
CLAUDIAN
direptas quid plangis opes, quas natus habebit ?
non aliter poteras principis esse pater. 50
improbe, quid pulsas muliebribus astra querellis, quod tibi sub Cypri litore parta quies ?
omnia barbarico per te concussa tumultu.
crede mihi, terra tutius aequor erit.
Iam non Armenios iaculis terrebis et arcu, 55 per campos volucrem non agitabis equum ;
dilecto caruit Byzantius ore senatus ; curia consiliis aestuat orba tuis :
emeritam suspende togam, suspende pharetram ;
ad Veneris partes ingeniumque redi. 60
non bene Gradivo lenonia dextera servit.
suscipiet famulum te Cytherea libens.
insula laeta choris, blandorum mater Amorum :
nulla pudicitiae cura placere potest.
prospectant Paphiae celsa de rupe puellae 65
sollicitae, salvam dum ferat unda ratem. sed vereor, teneant ne te Tritones in alto
lascivas doctum fallere Nereidas,
aut idem cupiant pelago te mergere venti,
Gildonis nuper qui tenuere fugam. 70
inclita captivo memoratur Tabraca Mauro, naufragio Cyprus sit memoranda tuo.
vecturum moriens frustra delphina vocabis ; ad terram solos devehit ille viros.
quisquis adhuc similis eunuchus tendit in actus, 75 respiciens Cyprum desinat esse ferox.
1 Eutropius had been raised by Arcadius to the highest of all ranks, that of Patrician. These patricii were called the " fathers " of the Emperor. Hence Eutropius, a patrician,
182
AGAINST EUTROPIUS, II : PREFACE
wealth thy son shall inherit ? In no other way couldst thou have been father to an emperor. 1 Why insatiably weary heaven with a woman's plaints ? A haven of refuge is prepared for thee on the shores of Cyprus. Thou hast plunged the world in war with barbary ; the sea, believe me, is safer than the land.
No longer wilt thou strike terror into the Armenians with javelin and bow, no more scour the plain on thy fleet charger. The senate of Byzantium has been deprived of thy loved voice ; uncertainty holds the august assembly that is now deprived of thy counsels. Hang up thy toga, retired consul ; hang up thy quiver, veteran soldier ; return to Venus' service ; that is thy true calling. The pander's hand knows not to serve Mars featly ; Cytherea will right gladly take back her slave. Dancing fills the island of Cyprus, home of the happy loves ; there purity commands no respect. Paphian maidens gaze forth from the high cliffs, anxious till the wave has brought thy bark safe to land. Yet fear I lest the Tritons detain thee in the deep to teach them how they may seduce the
Nereids, or that those same winds which hindered Gildo's flight may seek to drown thee in the sea. Tabraca owes its fame to the overthrow of the
Moor ; may Cyprus win prestige from thy shipwreck. In vain will thy last breath be spent in calling on the dolphin to carry thee to shore : his back bears only men. 2 Hereafter should any eunuch attempt to emulate thine actions let him turn his eye towards Cyprus and abate his pride.
left (i. e. forfeited) his property on his banishment to Cyprus to his " son " Arcadius.
8 A reference to the rescue of Arion by the dolphin.
183
sportive
IN EUTROPIUM LIBER II
(XX)
Mygdonii cineres et si quid restat Eoi,
quod pereat, regni : certe non augure falso
prodigii patuere minae, frustraque peracto
vulnere monstriferi praesagia discitis anni.
cautior ante tamen violentum navita Caurum 5 prospicit et tumidae subducit vela procellae.
quid iuvat errorem mersa iam puppe fateri ?
quid lacrimae delicta levant ? stant omina vestri consulis : inmotis haesere piacula fatis.
tunc decuit sentire nefas, tunc ire recentes 10 detersum maculas. veteri post obruta morbo corpora Paeonias nequiquam admoveris herbas ulcera possessis alte suffusa medullis
non leviore manu, ferro sanantur et igni,
ne noceat frustra mox eruptura cicatrix. 15 ad vivum penetrant flammae, quo funditus umor defluat et vacuis corrupto sanguine venis
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AGAINST EUTROPIUS BOOK II
(XX)
Ashes of Phrygia and you last remnants of the ruined East (if any such remain), the augury was but too true, too clear the threats of heaven : now that the blow has fallen what use to learn the presagings of this year of portents ? The sailor is more cautious ; he foresees the violence of the North wind and hauls in his canvas before the swelling storm. Of what avail to acknowledge a mistake when his vessel is already sunk ? Can tears extenuate a crime ? The sinister auspices of your consul live on ; the atone ment due to unmoved fate remains fixed. Ere the deed was done you should have realized its horror ; you should have erased the blot ere it had dried. When the body is overwhelmed by long-standing disease 'tis all in vain that thou makest use of healing medicines. When an ulcer has penetrated to the marrow of the bones the touch of a hand is useless, steel and fire must sane the place that the wound heal not on the surface, like any moment to re-open. The flame must penetrate to the quick to make a way for the foul humours to escape ; in order that, once the veins are emptied of corrupted blood, the
185
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arescat fons ipse mali ; truncatur et artus,
ut liceat reliquis securum degere membris.
at vos egregie purgatam creditis aulam, 20 Eutropium si Cyprus habet ? vindictaque mundi semivir exul erit ? qui vos lustrare valebit
oceanus ? tantum facinus quae diluet aetas ?
Induerat necdum trabeas : mugitus ab axe redditus inferno, rabies arcana cavernas 25 vibrat et alterno confligunt culmina lapsu.
bacchatus per operta tremor Calchedona movit pronus et in geminas nutavit Bosphorus urbes. concurrere freti fauces, radice revulsa
vitant instabilem rursum Symplegada nautae. 30 scilicet haec Stygiae praemittunt signa sorores
et sibi iam tradi populos hoc consule gaudent.
mox oritur diversa lues : hinc Mulciber ignes sparserat, hinc victa proruperat obice Nereus ;
haec flagrant, haec tecta natant. quam, numina,
poenam
servatis sceleri, cuius tot cladibus omen
constitit ? incumbas utinam, Neptune, tridenti pollutumque solum toto cum crimine mergas.
unam pro mundo Furiis concedimus urbem. 39
Utque semel patuit monstris iter, omnia tempus nacta suum properant : nasci tum decolor imber infantumque novi vultus et dissona partu
semina, tum lapidum fletus armentaque vulgo
ausa loqui mediisque ferae se credere muris ;
tum vates sine more rapi lymphataque passim 45 186
35
AGAINST EUTROPIUS, II
fountain-head of the evil may be dried up. Nay, even limbs are amputated to assure the healthy life of the rest of the body. Think you the Court fitly cleansed by Eutropius' exile in Cyprus ? The world avenged by the banishment of a eunuch ? Can any ocean wash away that stain ? any age bring forgetfulness of so great a crime ?
Ere yet he had donned the consul's robe there came a rumbling from the bowels of the earth ; a hidden madness shook the subterranean caverns and buildings crashed one on another. Chalcedon, shaken to the foundations, tottered like a drunken man, and Bosporus, straying from his course, flooded the cities on his either bank. The shores of the strait came together and the sailors once more had to avoid the Clashing Rocks, torn from their foundation and errant. Surely such presages were sent by the
sister deities of Styx, rejoicing that under this consul at last all peoples were delivered into their hands. Soon arose divers forms of ruin : here the fire-god spread his flames ; there Nereus, god of the sea, brake his bounds. Here men's homes were burned, there flooded. Ye gods, what punishment do ye hold in store for the scoundrel whose rise to power was marked by such portents ? O'ercome us, Neptune, with thy trident and overwhelm our defiled soil along with all the guilt. One city we yield to the Furies, a scapegoat for the sins of the world.
Once the way was open for portents, prodigies of every sort hasted to disclose themselves. Rain of blood fell, children of weird form were born and
offspring discordant with their breed. Statues wept, not seldom the herds dared to speak, and wild beasts braved an entrance into the city. Then seers raved
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pectora terrifici stimulis ignescere Phoebi.
fac nullos cecinisse deos : adeone retusi quisquam cordis erit, dubitet qui partibus illis
adfore fatalem castrati consulis annum ?
sed quam caecus inest vitiis amor ! omne futurum 50
despicitur suadentque brevem praesentia fructum et ruit in vetitum damni secura libido,
dum mora supplicii lucro serumque quod instat creditur. haud equidem contra tot signa Camillo detulerim fasces, nedum (pro sexus ! ) inerti 55 mancipio, cui, cuncta licet responsa iuberent hortantesque licet sponderent prospera divi,
turpe fuit cessisse viros.
Exquirite retro crimina continui lectis annalibus aevi,
prisca recensitis evolvite saecula fastis : 60 quid senis infandi Capreae, quid scaena Neronis
tale ferunt ? spado Romuleo succinctus amictu
sedit in Augustis laribus.
vulgata patebat aula salutantum studiis ; hue plebe senatus
permixta trepidique duces omnisque potestas 65 confluit. advolvi genibus, contingere dextram ambitus et votum deformibus oscula rugis
figere. praesidium legum genitorque vocatur principis et famulum dignatur regia patrem. posteritas, admitte fidem : monumenta petuntur 70
dedecoris multisque gemunt incudibus aera formatura nefas. haec iudicis, illa togati,
1 Suetonius draws a lurid (and probably exaggerated) picture of the debaucherics of Tiberius' old age at Capri. The same author describes the " scaena Neronis. " The curious may find the account in Suet. Nero, xxix.
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AGAINST EUTROPIUS, II
strangely and frenzied hearts were everywhere ablaze, stirred by the fires of the dread god Phoebus. Yet even had no god warned us, whose mind shall be so dull as to doubt that the year of an emasculate consul must be fatal to those lands ? Blind folly ever accompanies crime ; of the future no account is taken ; sufficient for the day is its short-lived pleasure ; heedless of loss passion plunges into for bidden joys, counting the postponement of punish ment a gain and believing distant the retribution that even now o'erhangs. In face of such portents I would not have entrusted Camillus' self with the fasces, let alone a sexless slave (oh ! the shame of it to yield to whom were, for men, a disgrace, even though every oracle decreed it, and the insis tent deities gave pledges of prosperity.
Look back in the annals of crime, read o'er all past history, unroll the volumes of Rome's story. What can the Capri of Tiberius' old age, what can Nero's theatre offer like to this A eunuch, clad in the cloak of Romulus, sat within the house of the emperors the staled palace lay open to the
of visitors hither hasten senators, mingling with the populace, anxious generals and magistrates of every degree all are fain to be the first to fall at his feet and to touch his hand the
prayer of all to set kisses on those hideous wrinkles.
He called defender of the laws, father of the
emperor, and the court deigns to acknowledge a slave as its overlord. Ye who come after, acknow ledge that true Men must needs erect monu ments to celebrate this infamy on many an anvil groans the bronze that is to take upon the form of this monster. Here gleams his statue as a judge,
189
eager throng
it
;
? 1
!
is
! ),
it
is ;
is
it
;
; ;
CLAUDIAN
haec nitet armati species ; numerosus ubique
fulget eques : praefert eunuchi curia vultus.
ac veluti caveant ne quo consistere virtus 75 possit pura loco, cunctas hoc ore laborant
incestare vias. maneant inmota precamur
certaque perpetui sint argumenta pudoris.
subter adulantes tituli nimiaeque leguntur
vel maribus laudes : claro quod nobilis ortu 80 (cum vivant domini quod maxima proelia solus impleat (et patitur miles quod tertius urbis conditor (hoc Byzas Constantinusque videbant
inter quae tumidus leno producere cenas
in lucem, foetere mero, dispergere plausum 85 empturas in vulgus opes, totosque theatris
indulgere dies, alieni prodigus auri.
at soror et, quid portentis creditur, uxor
mulcebat matres epulis et more pudicae
coniugis eunuchi celebrabat vota mariti. 90 hanc amat, hanc summa de re vel pace vel armis
consulit, huic curas et clausa palatia mandat
ceu stabulum vacuamque domum. sic magna tueri regna nihil, patiensque iugi deluditur orbis
Mitior alternum Zephyri iam bruma teporem 95 senserat et primi laxabant germina flores,
iamque iter in gremio pacis sollemne parabant
ad muros, Ancyra, tuos, auctore repertum
Eutropio, pelagi ne taedia longa subirent,
Mythical founder of Byzantium = Constantinople)
said to have been contemporaneous with the Argonauts
(Diod. iv. 49. 1).
i. e. to prevent his being bored with the vicw of the
Bosporus. 190
21
(
:
?
si
! ).
! ), ! ),
AGAINST EUTROPIUS, II
there as a consul, there as a warrior. On every side one sees that figure of his mounted on his horse ; before the very doors of the senate-house behold a eunuch's countenance. As though to rob virtue of any place where she might sojourn undefiled, men labour to befoul every street with this vile image. May they rest for ever undisturbed, indisputable
proofs of our eternal shame ; such is my prayer. Beneath the statues one reads flattering titles and praises too great even for men. Do they tell of his noble race and lineage while his owners are still alive ? What soldier brooks to read that
single- handed he, Eutropius, won great battles ? Are Byzas 1 and Constantine to be told that he is the
third founder of Rome ? Meanwhile the arrogant pander prolongs his revels till the dawn, stinking of wine and scattering money amid the crowd to
buy their applause. He spends whole days of amusement in the theatres, prodigal of another's money. But his sister and spouse such a prodigy can be conceived) wins the favour of Rome's matrons by entertainments, and, like a chaste wife, sings the
praises of her eunuch husband. 'Tis her he loves, her he consults on all matters of importance, be of peace or war, to her care he entrusts the keys of the palace, as one would of a stable or empty house. Is the guardianship of a mighty empire thus naught Is thus he makes a mockery of world's obedience
Winter, passing into spring, had now felt the returning warmth of Zephyrus' breezes and the earliest flowers had oped their buds when, in the
lap of peace, they were preparing the annual journey to thy walls, Ancyra. 'Twas Eutropius' device that weariness of the sea might not come upon him,
191
2
it
a
? ?
it
(if
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sed vaga lascivis flueret discursibus aestas : 100 unde tamen tanta sublimes mole redibant,
ceu vinctos traherent Medos Indumque bibissent. ecce autem flavis Gradivus ab usque Gelonis
arva cruentato repetebat Thracia curru :
subsidunt Pangaea rotis altaeque sonoro 105 stridunt axe nives. ut vertice constitit Haemi femineasque togas pressis conspexit habenis,
subrisit crudele pater cristisque micantem
quassavit galeam ; tunc implacabile numen
Bellonam adloquitur, quae sanguine sordida vestem Illyricis pingues pectebat stragibus hydros : 111
" Necdum mollitiae, necdum, germana, mederi possumus Eoae ? numquam corrupta rigescent
saecula ? Cappadocum tepidis Argaeus acervis aestuat ; infelix etiamnum pallet Orontes. 115 dum pereunt, meminere mali ; si corda parumper respirare sinas, nullo tot funera sensu
praetereunt : antiqua levis iactura cruoris !
" Adspicis obscaenum facinus ? quid crinibus ora protegis ? en quales sese diffudit in actus 120 parva quies, quantum nocuerunt otia ferri !
qui caruit bellis, eunucho traditur annus.
actum de trabeis esset, si partibus una
mens foret Hesperiis ; rueret derisa vetustas nullaque calcati starent vestigia iuris, 125 ni memor imperii Stilicho morumque priorum
turpe relegasset defenso Thybride nomen
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AGAINST EUTROPIUS, II
but a roaming summer might slide away in pleasure journeys. But so magnificent was their return, you would have imagined they brought conquered Persia in their train and had drunk of the waters of Indus.
Look you ! Mars, returning from the distant lands of the yellow-haired Geloni, was re-seeking the lands of Thrace in his bloody chariot. Pangaeus subsided beneath his wheels, the mountain snows cried out under his sounding axle. Scarce had the father stayed on Haemus' summit and, reining in his coursers, looked upon the toga-clad woman, when he smiled a cruel smile and shook his gleaming crested helm ; then he addressed Bellona, implacable god dess, who, her raiment all stained with blood, was combing her snake-hair, fattened on the slaughter of Illyrians.
" Sister, shall we never succeed in curing the East of effeminacy ? Will this corrupt age never learn true manliness ? Argaeus yet reeks with those heaps of dead Cappadocians not yet cold ; Orontes is still pale from misery. But they only remember evil while they suffer it ; give them a moment's respite and all their slaughter fades from their minds unfelt ; little they reck of bloodshed that is past.
" Seest thou this foul deed ? Why veil thy face with thine hair ? See what crimes a short spell of peace has wrought ! what a curse has the sheathed
The year that has known no war has had a eunuch for its consul. The consulship would have been at an end had a like spirit animated Italy ; this age-long office had fallen amid mockery and
no traces been left of its trampled rights, had not Stilicho, heedful of the empire and of the character and morals of a past age, banished from Tiber's city
vol. i o 193
sword proved !
CLAUDIAN
intactamque novo servasset crimine Romam. ille dedit portum, quo se pulsata referret maiestas Latii deformataeque secures ;
ille dedit fastos, ad quos Oriente relicto confugeret sparsum maculis servilibus aevum.
130
" Quam similes haec aula viros ! ad moenia visus dirige : num saltem tacita formidine mussant ?
num damnant animo ? plaudentem cerne senatum 135 et Byzantinos proceres Graiosque Quirites.
o patribus plebes, o digni consule patres !
quid ? quod et armati cessant et nulla virilis
inter tot gladios sexum reminiscitur ira ?
hucine nostrorum cinctus abiere nepotum ? 140 sic Bruti despectus honos ?
" Ignosce parenti, Romule, quod serus temeratis fascibus ultor
advenio : iamiam largis haec gaudia faxo compensent lacrimis. quid dudum inflare moraris Tartaream, Bellona, tubam, quid stringere falcem, 145 qua populos a stirpe metis ? molire tumultus, excute delicias. Thracum Macetumque ruinae taedet et in gentes iterum saevire sepultas.
damna minus consueta move ; trans aequora saevas verte faces ; aliis exordia sume rapinis. 150 non tibi Riphaeis hostis quaerendus ab oris,
non per Caucasias accito turbine valles
est opus. Ostrogothis colitur mixtisque Gruthungis Phryx ager : hos parvae poterunt impellere causae 194
AGAINST EUTROPIUS, II
this shameful name and kept Rome unsullied by an unheard of crime. He has given us a harbour to which the exiled majesty of Latium and the dis graced fasces might retire ; he has given us annals wherein, abandoning the East, an age polluted with servile stains might find a refuge.
" How like to its lord the inhabitants of the palace ! Turn your eyes to the city walls. Surely they at least mutter disapprobation, though fear forbids them speak out ? Do they not condemn him in their hearts ? No : list the plaudits of the senate, of the lords of Byzantium, of the Grecian citizens of Rome. O people worthy of such a senate, senate
of such a consul !
bear arms and use them not, that manly indignation reminds not of their sex those many whose thighs bear a sword ! Has my descendants' robe of office sunk so low ? Is Brutus' renown thus brought to
scorn ?
" Romulus, forgive thy sire for coming so tardy
an avenger of those outraged fasces. Right soon will I make them pay for this joy with liberal tears. Why delayest thou, Bellona, to sound the trumpet of hell and to arm thyself with the scythe wherewith thou mowest the people to the ground ? Foment discord, banish pleasures. I am aweary of the devastation of Thrace and Macedon, of vengeance twice wreaked on races already buried. Arouse less accustomed destruction ; spread fire and sword
beyond the seas, make a beginning of new devasta tion. Seek not now thy foe on Riphaeus' heights : what boots it to rouse the storm of war amid Cau casia's ravines ? Ostrogoths and Gruthungi together inhabit the land of Phrygia ; 'twill need but a touch
195
worthy
To think that all these
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in scelus ; ad mores facilis natura reverti. 155 sic eat : in nostro quando iam milite robur
torpuit et molli didicit parere magistro,
vindicet Arctous violatas advena leges ;
barbara Romano succurrant arma pudori. "
Sic fatus clipeo, quantum vix ipse deorum 160
arbiter infesto cum percutit aegida nimbo, intonuit. responsat Athos Haemusque remugit ; ingeminat raucum Rhodope concussa fragorem. cornua cana gelu mirantibus extulit undis
Hebrus et exanguem glacie timor adligat Histrum. 165 tunc, adamante gravem nodisque rigentibus hastam, telum ingens nullique deo iaculabile, torsit.
fit late ruptis via nubibus ; illa per auras
tot freta, tot montes uno contenta volatu
transilit et Phrygiae mediis adfigitur arvis. 170 sensit humus ; gemuit Nysaeo palmite felix
Hermus et aurata Pactolus inhorruit urna totaque summissis fleverunt Dindyma silvis.
Nec dea praemissae stridorem segnius hastae consequitur, centumque vias meditata nocendi 175
tandem Tarbigilum (Geticae dux improbus alae 1
viso tum forte redibat Eutropio vacuus donis, feritasque dolore
creverat et, teneris etiam quae crimina suadet
1 alae Rubenus ; mss. (followed by Birt) have aulae
1 Alluding to the Roman custom of casting a spear as a sign of the declaration of war ; cf. Ovid, Fasti, vi. 207—
hie erat) adgreditur.
196
Hinc solet hasta manu belli praenuntia mitti In regem et gentes cum placet arma capi.
AGAINST EUTROPIUS, II
to precipitate them into revolt ; readily does nature return to her old ways. So be it. Since our soldiers' valour is numbed and they have learned to obey an unmanned master, let a stranger from the north avenge our outraged laws and barbarian arms bring relief to disgraced Rome. "
So spake he and thundered with his shield nigh as loud as the ruler of the gods when he shakes his aegis from out the lowering cloud. Athos replies, Haemus re-echoes ; again and again shaken Rhodope repeats the hoarse uproar. Hebrus raised from out the wondering waters his horns hoary with frost, and bloodless Ister froze in fear. Then the god cast his javelin,1 heavy with steel, and stiff with knotted
shaft, a mighty weapon such as none other god could wield. The clouds part before its onset and give it free passage ; through the air it speeds o'er seas and mountains by one mighty cast and comes to earth amid the plains of Phrygia. The ground felt the shock ; Hermus blessed with Dionysus' vines groaned thereat, Pactolus' golden urn shuddered, all Dindymus bent his forest fleece and wept.
Bellona, too, hastens forth with speed no less than that of Mars' whistling spear ; a hundred ways of hurt she pondered and at last approached Tarbigilus,2 fierce leader of the Getic squadron. It chanced he had but late returned with empty hands from a visit to Eutropius ; disappointment and indignation aggravated his ferocity, and poverty, that can incite
2 Tarbigilus seems to have belonged to the nation of the Gruthungi. The exact form of his name is a matter of uncertainty. The mss. vary : Zosimus (v. 13. 2) calls him TpiptytXdos. His revolt in Phrygia (cf. 11. 274, etc. ) took place in 399.
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GLAUDIAN
ingeniis, Scythicum pectus flammabat egestas. 180 huic sese vultu simulatae coniugis offert
mentitoque ferox incedit barbara gressu,
carbaseos induta sinus : post terga reductas
uberibus propior mordebat fibula vestes,
inque orbem tereti mitra retinente capillum 185 strinxerat et virides flavescere iusserat angues.
advolat ac niveis reducem complectitur ulnis infunditque animo furiale per oscula virus.
principe quam largo veniat, quas inde reportet divitias, astu rabiem motura requirit. 190 ille iter ingratum, vanos deflere labores,
quos super eunuchi fastus, quae probra tulisset. continuo secat ungue genas et tempore pandit
adrepto gemitus :
" I nunc, devotus aratris
scinde solum positoque tuos mucrone sodales 195
ad rastros sudare doce. bene rura Gruthungus excolet et certo disponet sidere vites.
felices aliae, quas debellata maritis
oppida, quas magnis quaesitae viribus ornant exuviae, quibus Argivae pulchraeque ministrant 200 Thessalides, famulas et quae meruere Lacaenas.
me nimium timido, nimium iunxere remisso
fata viro, totum qui degener exuit Histrum,
qui refugit patriae ritus, quem detinet aequi
gloria concessoque cupit vixisse colonus 205 quam dominus rapto. quid pulchra vocabula pigris
198
AGAINST EUTROPIUS, II
the gentlest heart to crime, inflamed his savage breast. Taking upon her the similitude of his wife she comes to meet him ; proudly she steps forth like the barbarian queen, clothed in linen raiment. Close to her breast a brooch fastened her dress that trailed behind her ; she had bound her locks into a coil that a polished circlet Confined, and bidden her green snakes turn to gold. She hastens to greet him on his return and throws her snowy arms about his neck, instilling the poison of the furies into his soul by her kisses. Guilefully to stir his rage she asks if the great man has been generous to him ;
if he brings back rich presents. With tears he recounts his profitless journey, his useless toil, the pride and insults, moreover, which he had to bear at the eunuch's hands. At once she seized the favourable moment, and tearing her cheek with her nails, discloses her complaints.
" Go then, busy thyself with the plough, cleave the soil, bid thy followers lay aside their swords and sweat o'er the harrow. The Gruthungi will make
farmers and will plant their vines in due season. Happy those other women whose glory is seen in the towns their husbands have conquered, they whose adornment is the spoils so hardly won from an enemy, whose servants are fair captives of Argos or Thessaly, and who have won them slaves from Sparta. Fate has mated me with too timid, too indolent a husband, a degenerate who has forgotten the valour of Ister's tribes, who deserts his country's ways, whom a vain reputation
for justice attracts, while he longs to live as a hus bandman by favour rather than as a prince by plunder. Why give fair names to shameful weak
199
good
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praetentas vitiis ? probitatis inertia nomen,
iustitiae formido subit. tolerabis iniquam pauperiem, cum tela geras ? et flebis inultus,
cum pateant tantae nullis custodibus urbes ? 210
" Quippe metus poenae. pridem mos ille vigebat, ut meritos colerent impacatisque rebelles
urgerent odiis ; at nunc, qui foedera rumpit,
ditatur ; qui servat, eget. vastator Achivae
gentis et Epirum nuper populatus inultam 215 praesidet Illyrico ; iam, quos obsedit, amicos ingreditur muros illis responsa daturus,
quorum coniugibus potitur natosque peremit.
sic hostes punire solent, haec praemia solvunt
excidiis. cunctaris adhuc numerumque tuorum 220
respicis exiguamque manum ? tu rumpe quietem ; bella dabunt socios. nec te tam prona monerem, si contra paterere viros : nunc alter in armis
sexus et eunuchis se defensoribus orbis
credidit ; hos aquilae Romanaque signa sequuntur. incipe barbaricae tandem te reddere vitae, 226 te quoque iam timeant admirenturque nocentem, quem sprevere pium. spoliis praedaque repletus cum libeat Romanus eris. "
Sic fata repente
in diram se vertit avem rostroque recurvo 230
turpis et infernis tenebris obscurior alas auspicium veteri sedit ferale sepulcro.
Ille, pavor postquam resoluto corde quievit
1 Alaric was made magister militum in Illyricum : see Introduction, p. x.
200
AGAINST EUTROPIUS, II
ness ? Cowardice is called loyalty ; fear, a sense of justice. Wilt thou submit to humiliating poverty
though thou bearest arms ? Wilt thou weep un
avenged, though so many cities open to thee their undefended gates ?
" Dost thou fear the consequences ? Rome's old way was to reward merit and vent on rebels a hate that knew no bound. Now he who breaks a treaty wins riches, while he who observes one lives in want. The ravager of Achaea and recent devastator of defenceless Epirus is lord of Illyria 1 ; he now enters as a friend within the walls to which he was laying siege, and administers justice to those whose wives
he has seduced and whose children he has murdered. Such is the punishment meted out to an enemy, such the vengeance exacted for wholesale slaughter —and dost thou still hesitate ? Hast thou regard to the small numbers of thy followers ? Nay, have done with peace : war will give thee allies. Nor would I urge thee so instantly hadst thou to face men. It is another sex that is in arms
against thee ; the world has entrusted itself to the pro
tection of eunuchs ; 'tis such leaders the eagles and standards of Rome follow. Time it is thou didst return to a barbarian life ; be thou in thy turn an object of terror, and let men marvel at thy crimes who despised thy virtues. Laden with booty and plunder thou shalt be a Roman when it pleases thee. "
So saying she suddenly changed into an ill-omened bird, a loathsome sight with its hooked beak and plumage blacker than Hell's darkness, and perched, a sinister augury, on an old tomb.
