hast thou given me seven hills and such a
population
as a small supply cannot nourish ?
Claudian - 1922 - Loeb
Widows whose husbands he had killed, mothers whose children he had murdered hurry to the joyful scene with eager steps.
They are fain to trample the torn limbs and stain their deep pressed feet with the blood.
So, too, they eagerly hurl a shower of stones at the monstrous head, nodding from the summit of the spear that transfixed it as it
89
wronged.
CLAUDIAN
nutabat digna rediens ad moenia pompa. 435 dextera quin etiam ludo concessa vagatur
aera petens poenasque animi persolvit avari
terribili lucro vivosque imitata retentus
cogitur adductis digitos inflectere nervis.
Desinat elatis quisquam confidere rebus 440
instabilesque deos ac lubrica numina discat. illa manus, quae sceptra sibi gestanda parabat,
cuius se totiens summisit ad oscula supplex
nobilitas, inhumata diu miseroque revulsa
corpore feralem quaestum post fata reposcit. 445 adspiciat quisquis nimium sublata secundis
colla gerit : triviis calcandus spargitur ecce,
qui sibi pyramidas, qui non cedentia templis ornatura suos extruxit culmina manes,
et qui Sidonio velari credidit ostro, 450 nudus pascit aves. iacet en, qui possidet orbem, exiguae telluris inops et pulvere raro
per partes tegitur nusquam totiensque sepultus. Senserunt convexa necem tellusque nefandum
amolitur onus iam respirantibus astris. 455 infernos gravat umbra lacus. pater Aeacus horret intrantemque etiam latratu Cerberus urget.
tunc animae, quas ille fero sub iure peremit, circumstant nigrique trahunt ad iudicis urnam
infesto fremitu : veluti pastoris in ora 460 commotae glomerantur apes, qui dulcia raptu
mella vehit, pennasque cient et spicula tendunt
et tenuis saxi per propugnacula cinctae
90
THE SECOND BOOK AGAINST RUFINUS
was carried back in merited splendour to the city. Nay his hand too, made over to their mockery, goes a-begging for alms, and with its awful gains pays the penalty for his greedy soul, while forced, in mimicry of its living clutch, to draw up the fingers by their sinews.
Put not now your trust in prosperity ; learn that the gods are inconstant and heaven untrustworthy. That hand which sought to wield a sceptre, which a humbled nobility stooped so often to kiss, now torn from its wretched trunk and left long unburied begs after death a baneful alms. Let him gaze on this whoso carries his head high in pride of pros perity, see trodden under foot at the cross-roads him who built pyramids for himself and a tomb, large as a temple, to the glory of his own ghost.
He who trusted to be clothed in Tyrian purple is now a naked corpse and food for birds. See, he who owns the world lies denied six foot of earth, half covered with a sprinkling of dust, given no grave yet given so many.
Heaven knew of his death and earth is freed of her hated burden, now that the stars can breathe again. His shade oppresses the rivers of Hell. Old Aeacus shudders and Cerberus bays to stop, in this case, the entry of a ghost. Then those shades which he had sent to death beneath his cruel laws flock round him and hale him away with horrid shoutings to the tribunal of the gloomy judge : even as bees whom a shepherd has disturbed swarm round his head when he would rob them of their sweet honey, and flutter their wings and put forth their stings, making them ready for battle in the fast nesses of their little rock, and seek to defend the
91
CLAUDIAN
rimosam patriam dilectaque pumicis antra
defendunt pronoque favos examine velant. 465
Est locus infaustis quo conciliantur in unum
vadis ; inamoenus uterque alveus ; hic volvit lacrimas, hic igne redundat.
turris per geminos, flammis vicinior, amnes
porrigitur solidoque rigens adamante sinistrum 470
proluit igne latus ; dextro Cocytia findit
aequora triste gemens et fletu concita plangit.
hue post emeritam mortalia saecula vitam
deveniunt. ibi nulla manent discrimina fati,
nullus honos vanoque exutum nomine regem 475
proturbat plebeius egens. quaesitor in alto conspicuus solio pertemptat crimina Minos et iustis dirimit sontes. quos nolle fateri viderit, ad rigidi transmittit verbera fratris.
nam iuxta Rhadamanthys agit. cum gesta superni curriculi totosque diu perspexerit actus, 481 exaequat damnum meritis et muta ferarum
cogit vincla pati. truculentos ingerit ursis praedonesque lupis ; fallaces vulpibus addit.
at qui desidia semper vinoque gravatus, 485 indulgens Veneri, voluit torpescere luxu,
hunc suis inmundi pingues detrudit in artus.
qui iusto plus esse loquax arcanaque suevit
prodere, piscosas fertur victurus in undas,
ut nimiam pensent aeterna silentia vocem. 490 quos ubi per varias annis ter mille figuras
egit, Lethaeo purgatos flumine tandem
rursus ad humanae revocat primordia formae.
92
Cocytos Phlegethonque
THE SECOND BOOK AGAINST RUFINUS
crevices of their home, their beloved
cave, swarming over the honeycombs therein.
There is a place where the unhallowed rivers of
Cocytus and Phlegethon mingle their dread streams of tears and fire. Between the rivers yet nearer to that of Phlegethon there juts a tower stiff with solid adamant that bathes its left side in the flames ; its right hand wall extends into Cocytus' stream and echoes the lamentation of the river of tears. Hither come all the children of men whose life is ended ; here there abide no marks of earthly fortune ; no reverence is shown ; the common beggar ousts the king, now stripped of his empty title. Seen afar on his lofty throne the judge Minos examines the charges and separates the wicked from the righteous. Those whom he sees unwilling to confess their sins he remits to the lash of his stern brother ; for he, Rhadamanthus, is busy close at hand. When he has closely examined the deeds of their earthly life and all that they did therein, he suits the punish ment to their crimes and makes them undergo the bonds of dumb animals. The spirits of the cruel enter into bears, of the rapacious into wolves, of the treacherous into foxes. Those, on the other hand, who were ever sunk in sloth, sodden with wine, given to venery, sluggish from excesses, he com pelled to enter the fat bodies of filthy swine. Was any above measure talkative, a betrayer of secrets, he was carried off, a fish, to live in the waters amid his kind, that in eternal silence he might atone for his garrulity. When for thrice a thousand years he had forced these through countless diverse shapes,
he sends them back once more to the beginnings of human form purged at last with Lethe's stream.
93
pumice-stone
CLAUDIAN
Tum quoque, dum lites Stygiique negotia solvit dura fori veteresque reos ex ordine quaerit, 495 Rufinum procul ecce notat visuque severo
lustrat et ex imo concussa sede profatur :
" Hue superum labes, hue insatiabilis auri
proluvies pretioque nihil non ause parato,
quodque mihi summum scelus est, hue improbe legum venditor, Arctoi stimulator perfide Martis ! 501 cuius ob innumeras strages angustus Averni
iam sinus et plena lassatur portitor alno.
quid demens manifesta negas ? en pectus inustae deformant maculae vitiisque inolevit imago 505 nec sese commissa tegunt. genus omne dolorum
in te ferre libet : dubio tibi pendula rupes
inmineat lapsu, volucer te torqueat axis,
te refugi fallant latices atque ore natanti
arescat decepta sitis, dapibusque relictis 510 in tua mansurus migret praecordia vultur.
quamquam omnes alii, quos haec tormenta fatigant, pars quota sunt, Rufine, tui ! quid tale vel audax fulmine Salmoneus vel lingua Tantalus egit
aut inconsulto Tityos deliquit amore ? 515 cunctorum si facta simul iungantur in unum, praecedes numero. cui tanta piacula quisquam supplicio conferre valet ? quid denique dignum
omnibus inveniam, vincant cum singula poenas ? tollite de mediis animarum dedecus umbris. 520 adspexisse sat est. oculis iam parcite nostris
et Ditis purgate domos. agitate flagellis
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THE SECOND BOOK AGAINST RUFINUS
So then while he settles these suits, dread business of that infernal court, while he examines in due order the criminals of old, he marks afar Rufinus, scans him with a stern scrutiny and speaks, shaking his throne to its foundation. " Hither, Rufinus, scourge of the world, bottomless sink of gold who wouldst dare aught for money ; hither conscienceless seller of justice (that crime of crimes), faithless cause of that northern war whose thousand
victims now throng Hell's narrow entry and weigh down Charon's crowded barque. Madman, why deny what all know ? The foul stains of wickedness are branded upon thy heart, thy crimes have made their impress on thy spirit and thy sins cannot be hid. Right glad I am to sentence thee to every kind of punishment. O'er thee shall hang the threatening rock the moment of whose fall thou knowest not. The circling wheel shall rack thee. Thy lips the stream's waves shall flee, thirst shall parch thee to whose chin its elusive waters mount. The vulture shall leave his former prey and feast for
ever on thy heart. And yet all these, Rufinus, whom the like punishments torment, how paltry
their wickedness compared with thine !
Salmoneus' thunderbolt or Tantalus' tongue ever do like wrong or Tityos so offend with his mad love ? Join all their crimes together yet wilt thou surpass them. What sufficient atonement can be found for such wickedness ? What to match
sum of crimes whose single misdeeds outmatch all punishment ? Shades, remove from this our ghostly company that presence that disgraces it. To have seen once is enough. Have mercy now on our eyes, and cleanse the realm of Dis. Drive
95
slaughtered
-
Did bold
thy
CLAUDIAN
trans Styga, trans Erebum, vacuo mandate barathro infra Titanum tenebras infraque recessus
Tartareos ipsumque 1 Chaos, qua noctis opacae 525 fundamenta latent ; praeceps ibi mersus anhelet, dum rotat astra polus, feriunt dum litora venti. "
1 mss. have nostrumque
96
THE SECOND BOOK AGAINST RUFINUS
him with whips beyond the Styx, beyond Erebus ; thrust him down into the empty pit beneath the lightless prison of the Titans, below the depths of Tartarus and Chaos' own realm, where lie the foundations of thickest midnight ; deep hidden there let him live while ever the vault of heaven carries round the stars and the winds beat upon the land. "
VOL. 1 H 97
DE BELLO GILDONICO LIBER I
(XV)
Redditus imperiis Auster subiectaque rursus alterius convexa poli. rectore sub uno
conspirat geminus frenis communibus orbis.
iunximus Europen Libyae. concordia fratriim
plena redit. patriis solum quod defuit armis, 5 tertius occubuit nati virtute tyrannus.
horret adhuc animus manifestaque gaudia differt, dum stupet et tanto cunctatur credere voto.
necdum Cinyphias exercitus attigit oras :
iam domitus Gildo. nullis victoria nodis 10 haesit, non spatio terrae, non obice ponti. congressum profugum captum vox nuntiat una rumoremque sui praevenit laurea belli.
quo, precor, haec effecta deo ? robusta vetusque tempore tam parvo potuit dementia vinci ? 15 quem veniens indixit hiems, ver perculit hostem.
1 For the details of Gildo's rebellion see Introduction, p. x.
2 The Cinyps is a river in Libya; cf. Virg. Georg. iii. 312.
98
THE WAR AGAINST GILDO 1 BOOK I
(XV)
The kingdom of the south is restored to our empire, the sky of that other hemisphere is once more
into subjection. East and West live in amity and concord beneath the sway of one ruler. We have joined Europe again to Africa, and un swerving singleness of purpose unites the brother emperors. The would-be third participant of empire has fallen before the prowess of Honorius the son
brought
—that one victory that failed to grace the arms of Theodosius, the father. Still is my mind troubled and admits not the universal joy for very amazement, nor can believe the fulfilment of its heartfelt prayers. Not yet had the army landed upon Africa's 2 coasts when Gildo yielded to defeat. No difficulties delayed our victorious arms, neither length of march nor intervening ocean. One and the same word brings news of the conflict, the flight, the capture of Gildo. The news of victory outstripped the news of the war that occasioned it. What god wrought this for us ? Could madness so strong, so deep-seated be overcome so soon ? Winter brought us news of the enemy, spring destroyed him.
99
CLAUDIAN
Exitium iam Roma timens et fessa negatis
frugibus ad rapidi limen tendebat Olympi
non solito vultu nec qualis iura Britannis
dividit aut trepidos summittit fascibus Indos. 20 vox tenuis tardique gradus oculique iacentes
interius ; fugere genae ; ieiuna lacertos
exedit macies. umeris vix sustinet aegris squalentem clipeum ; laxata casside prodit
canitiem plenamque trahit rubiginis hastanu 25 attigit ut tandem caelum genibusque Tonantis procubuit, tales orditur maesta querellas :
" Si mea mansuris meruerunt moenia nasci,
Iuppiter, auguriis, si stant inmota Sibyllae
carmina, Tarpeias si necdum respuis arces : 30 advenio supplex, non ut proculcet Araxen
consul ovans nostraeve premant pharetrata secures Susa, nec ut Rubris aquilas figamus harenis.
haec nobis, haec ante dabas ; nunc pabula tantum Roma precor. miserere tuae, pater optime, gentis, 35 extremam defende famem. satiavimus iram
si qua fuit ; lugenda Getis et flenda Suebis
hausimus ; ipsa meos horreret Parthia casus.
quid referam morbive luem tumulosve repletos stragibus et crebras corrupto sidere mortes ? 40
aut fluvium per tecta vagum summisque minatum collibus ? ingentes vexi summersa carinas remorumque sonos et Pyrrhae saecula sensi.
" Ei mihi, quo Latiae vires urbisque potestas 100
THE WAR AGAINST GILDO, I
Rome, the goddess, fearing for her city's destruction and weak with corn withheld, hastened to the thresh old of revolving Olympus with looks unlike her own ; not with such countenance does she assign laws to the Britons, or subject the frightened Indians to her rule. Feeble her voice, slow her step, her eyes deep buried. Her cheeks were sunken and hunger had wasted her limbs . Scarce can her weak shoulders support her unpolished shield. Her ill-fitting helmet shows her grey hairs and the spear she carries is a mass of rust. At last she reaches heaven and
falls at the Thunderer's feet and utters this mourn
"
permanence of the rising walls of Rome ;
ful complaint
If rightly foretold the
:
prophecy
if the if thou art not yet wearied of our city and the Capitol, I come to thee as a suppliant. My prayer is not that a consul may march in triumph along Araxes' banks, nor that Rome's power may crush the archer Persians and Susa their capital, nor yet that we may plant our standards on the Red Sea's strand. All this thou grantedst us of old. 'Tis but food I, Rome, ask for now ; father, take pity on thy chosen race and ease
us of this hunger unto death. Whatever thy dis pleasure, we have surely sated it. The very Getae and Suebi would pity our sufferings ; Parthia's self would shudder at my disasters. What need have I to mention the pestilence, the heaps of corpses, the numberless deaths wherewith the very air is cor rupted ? Why tell of Tiber's flooded stream, sweeping betwixt roofs and threatening the very hills ? My submerged city has borne mighty ships, echoed the sound of oars, and experienced Pyrrha's flood.
Sibyl's verse is unalterable ;
" Woe is me, whither are fled the power of Latium 101
CLAUDIAN
decidit ! in qualem paulatim fluximus umbram ! 45
armato quondam populo patrumque vigebam conciliis ; domui terras urbesque revinxi
legibus : ad solem victrix utrumque cucurri. postquam iura ferox in se communia Caesar transtulit et lapsi mores desuetaque priscis 50 artibus in gremium pacis servile recessi,
tot mihi pro meritis Libyam Nilumque dedere,
ut dominam plebem bellatoremque senatum classibus aestivis alerent geminoque vicissim
litore diversi complerent horrea venti. 55 stabat certa salus : Memphis si forte negasset, pensabam Pharium Gaetulis messibus annum, frugiferas certare rates lateque videbam
Punica Niliacis concurrere carbasa velis.
cum subiit par Roma mihi divisaque sumpsit 60 aequales Aurora togas, Aegyptia rura
in partem cessere novae, spes unica nobis
restabat Libyae, quae vix aegreque fovebat ;
solo ducta Noto, numquam secura futuri,
semper inops, ventique fidem poscebat et anni. 65
hanc quoque nunc Gildo rapuit sub fine cadentis autumni. pavido metimur caerula voto,
puppis si qua venit, si quid fortasse potenti
vel pudor extorsit domino vel praeda reliquit. pascimur arbitrio Mauri nec debita reddi, 70
1 Claudian means that the African corn -supply was not always to be relied upon because (1) there might be a bad season, (2) there might be unfavourable winds.
102
THE WAR AGAINST GILDO, I
and the might of Rome ? To what a shadow of our former glory are we by gradual decline arrived ! Time was when my men bore arms and my grey beards met in council ; mistress of the world was I and lawgiver to mankind. From rising to setting sun I sped in triumph. When proud Caesar had transferred my people's power to himself, when manners became corrupt and forgetful of war's old
discipline I declined into the servile lap of peace, the
rewarded me with Africa and Egypt
emperors
that they might nourish the sovereign people and the Senate, arbiter of peace and war, by means of summer-sped fleets, and that the winds, blowing alternately from either shore, should fill our granaries with corn. Our provisioning was secure. Should
Memphis perchance have denied us food, I would make up for the failure of Egypt's harvest by the
African supply. I saw competition between grain- bearing vessels, and where'er I looked I beheld the fleet of Carthage strive in rivalry with that of the Nile. When a second Rome arose and the Eastern Empire assumed the toga of the West, Egypt fell beneath that new sway. Africa remained our only hope and scarcely did she suffice to feed us, whose corn-ships none but the south wind wafted across.
Her promise for the future was insecure, as, ever
she demanded the loyalty of the wind and of the season. 1 This province, too, Gildo seized towards the close of autumn. Anxiously and prayerfully we scan the blue sea to glance a coming sail in the fond hope that perchance a sense of shame has extorted somewhat from the powerful tyrant, or the conqueror left some corner uncon- quered. We are fed at the pleasure of the Moor,
103
helpless,
CLAUDIAN
sed sua concedi iactat gaudetque diurnos
ut famulae praebere cibos vitamque famemque
librat barbarico fastu vulgique superbit
fletibus et tantae suspendit fata ruinae.
Romuleas vendit segetes et possidet arva 75 vulneribus quaesita meis. ideone tot annos
flebile cum tumida bellum Carthagine gessi ?
idcirco voluit contempta luce reverti
Regulus ? hoc damnis, genitor, Cannensibus emi ? incassum totiens lituis navalibus arsit 80 Hispanum Siculumque fretum vastataque tellus totque duces caesi ruptaque emissus ab Alpe
Poenus et attonitae iam proximus Hannibal urbi ? scilicet ut domitis frueretur barbarus Afris,
muro sustinui Martem noctesque cruentas 85 Collina pro turre tuli ? Gildonis ad usum
Carthago ter victa ruit ? hoc mille gementis
Italiae clades impensaque saecula bellis,
hoc Fabius fortisque mihi Marcellus agebant,
ut Gildo cumularet opes ? haurire venena 90 compulimus dirum Syphacem fractumque Metello
traximus inmanem Marii sub vincla Iugurtham,
et Numidae Gildonis erunt ? pro funera tanta,
pro labor ! in Bocchi regnum sudavit uterque
Scipio. Romano vicistis sanguine Mauri. 95
ille diu miles populus, qui praefuit orbi,
qui trabeas et sceptra dabat, quem semper in armis horribilem gentes, placidum sensere subactae,
1 Bocchus, properly a king of Mauritania, stands here typically for any native monarch.
104
THE WAR AGAINST GILDO, I
who boasts that he does not repay a debt but that he gives us of his own, and rejoices to apportion out my daily food to me, as though I were his slave ; with a barbarian's pride he weighs me life or death by hunger, triumphs in a people's tears, and holds above our heads an universal destruction. He sells Rome's crops and possesses land won by my wounds. Was it for this that I waged lamentable
war with proud Carthage for so many years ? For this that Regulus reckoned his life as naught and would fain return to his captors ? Is this my reward, father, for my losses on Cannae's field ? Have the Spanish and Sicilian seas resounded so often to our navies' clarion for naught ? For naught my lands been laid waste, so many of my generals slain, the Carthaginian invader broken his way through the Alps, Hannibal approached my affrighted capital ? Have I kept the foe at bay with my walls and spent nights of slaughter before the Colline gate to enable a barbarian to reap the fruits of conquered Africa ? Has thrice-conquered Carthage fallen for Gildo's
benefit ? Was this the object of mourning Italy's thousand disasters, of centuries spent in war, of Fabius' and Marcellus' deeds of daring —that Gildo should heap him up riches ? We forced cruel
to drink poison, drove fierce Iugurtha, whose power Metellus had broken, beneath Marius' yoke — and shall Africa be Gildo's ? Alas for our toil and those many deaths : the two Scipios have laboured, it seems, to further Bocchus' 1 native rule ; Roman blood has given victory to the Moors. That long warlike race, lord of the world, that appointed consuls and kings, whom foreign nations found ever formidable in war, though gentle once they had
105
Scyphax
CLAUDIAN
nunc inhonorus egens perfert miserabile pacis supplicium nulloque palam circumdatus hoste 100 obsessi discrimen habet. per singula letum impendet momenta mihi dubitandaque pauci praescribunt alimenta dies. heu prospera fata !
quid mihi septenos montes turbamque dedistis,
quae parvo non possit ali ? felicior essem 105 angustis opibus ; mallem tolerare Sabinos
et Veios ; brevior duxi securius aevum.
ipsa nocet moles. utinam remeare liceret
ad veteres fines et moenia pauperis Anci.
sufficerent Etrusca mihi Campanaque culta 110
et Quincti Curiique seges, patriaeque petenti rusticus inferret proprias dictator aristas.
" Nunc quid agam ? Libyam Gildo tenet, altera Nilum.
ast ego, quae terras umeris pontumque subegi, deseror : em eritae iam praemia nulla senectae. 115 di, quibus iratis crevi, succurrite tandem,
exorate patrem ; tuque o si sponte per altum
vecta Palatinis mutasti collibus Idam
praelatoque lavas Phrygios Almone leones,
maternis precibus natum iam flecte, Cybebe. 120 sin prohibent Parcae falsisque elusa vetustas auspiciis, alio saltem prosternite casu
et poenae mutate genus. Porsenna reducat Tarquinios ; renovet ferales Allia pugnas ;
me potius saevi manibus permittite Pyrrhi,
1 Doubtless a reference to Cincinnatus.
a Claudian means by " altera " the Eastern Empire.
106
125
THE WAR AGAINST GILDO, I
been subdued, dishonoured now and poverty-stricken,
bends beneath the cruel lash of peace, and though
not openly beleaguered by any foe yet has all the hazard of a siege. Destruction threatens me hourly ; a few days will set a limit to my uncertain
food -supply. Out upon thee, prosperity !
hast thou given me seven hills and such a population as a small supply cannot nourish ? Happier I, had my power been less. Better to have put up with Samnium and Veii ; in narrower bonds I passed securer days. My very magnitude undoes me ; would that I could return to my former boundaries and the walls of poor Ancus. Enough for me then would be the ploughlands of Etruria and Campania, the farms of Cincinnatus and Curius, and at his country's prayer the rustic dictator 1 would bring his home-grown wheat.
if ever of thine own free will thou wert carried over the sea and in exchange for Mount Ida tookest the hills of Rome and didst bathe thy Phrygian lions in Almo's more favoured stream, move now thy son3 with a mother's entreaties. But if the fates forbid and our first founder was misled by augury untrue, o'erwhelm me at least in some different ruin, and change the nature of my punishment. Let Porsenna bring back the Tarquins ; let Allia renew her bloody battle. Let me fall rather into the hands of cruel
Cybele,
3 i. e. Jupiter.
Why
" What am I to do now ? Gildo holds Libya, another 2 Egypt ; while I, who subdued land and sea with my strong arm, am left to perish. Veteran of so many wars, can I claim no reward in mine old age ? Ye gods in whose despite, it seems, I increased, now aid me at the last ; pray Jove for me. And thou,
107
CLAUDIAN
me Senonum furiis, Brenni me reddite flammis. cuncta fame leviora mihi. "
Sic fata refusis obticuit lacrimis. mater Cytherea parensque
flet Mavors sanctaeque memor Tritonia Vestae,
nec Cybele sicco nec stabat lumine Iuno. 130
maerent indigetes et si quos Roma recepit
aut dedit ipsa deos. genitor iam corde remitti coeperat et sacrum dextra sedare tumultum,
cum procul insanis quatiens ululatibus axem
et contusa genas mediis adparet in astris 135 Africa : rescissae vestes et spicea passim
serta iacent ; lacero crinales vertice dentes
et fractum pendebat ebur, talique superbas
inrupit clamore fores :
" Quid magne moraris Iuppiter avulso nexu pelagique solutis 140
legibus iratum populis inmittere fratrem ?
mergi prima peto ; veniant praerupta Pachyno aequora, laxatis'subsidant Syrtibus urbes.
si mihi Gildonem nequeunt abducere fata,
me rape Gildoni. felicior illa perustae 145 pars Libyae, nimio quae se munita calore
defendit tantique vacat secura tyranni.
crescat zona rubens ; medius flagrantis Olympi
me quoque limes agat ; melius deserta iacebo vomeris impatiens. pulsis dominentur aristis 150 dipsades et sitiens attollat glaeba cerastas.
quid me temperies iuvit ? quid mitior aether ? Gildoni fecunda fui. iam solis habenae
1 i. e. the Palladium, the image of Pallas ( = M inerva), rescued by Metellus from the burning temple of Vesta, 241 b. c.
108
THE WAR AGAINST GILDO, I
Pyrrhus ; abandon me to the fury of the Senones or the flames of Brennus. Welcome all this rather than to starve ! "
So spake she, and upwelling tears choked her voice. Venus, mother of Aeneas, wept, and Mars, father of Romulus and Minerva, mindful of Vesta's sacred charge. 1 Nor Cybele nor Juno stood with dry eyes. The heroes mourn and all the gods whose worship Rome received from without or herself inaugurated.
And now began the heart of Jove to soften. With hand outstretched he was checking the murmurings of the gods when, shaking heaven with distraught cries, Africa, her cheeks torn, appeared in the distance advancing amid the stars. Torn was her raiment, scattered her crown of corn. Her head was wounded and the ivory comb that secured her hair hung loose and broken. She rushed into Heaven's halls shouting thus : " Great Jove, why delayest thou to loose the bonds of sea, to break its decree and hurl thy brother2 in wrath against
May
I be the first to be overwhelmed.
the land ?
Welcome the broken waters from Pachynus' cape ; sink my cities in the freed Syrtes. if so be fate cannot rid me of Gildo, rid Gildo of me. Happier that region of Libya that defends itself by means of its own excessive heat and thus knows not the irksome rule of so savage a tyrant. Let the torrid zone spread. Let the midmost path of the scorching
sky burn me also. Better I lay a desert nor ever suffered the plough. Let the dust-snake lord it in a cornless land and the thirsty earth give birth to nought but vipers. What avails me a healthy climate, a milder air ? My fruitfulness is but for
2 i. e. Neptune.
109
CLAUDIAN
bis senas torquent hiemes, cervicibus ex quo
haeret triste iugum. nostris iam luctibus ille 155 consenuit regnumque sibi tot vindicat annos.
atque utinam regnum ! privato iure tenemur
exigui specie fundi, quod Nilus et Atlas
dissidet, occiduis quod Gadibus arida Barce
quodque Paraetonio secedit litore Tingi, 160 hoc sibi transcripsit proprium. pars tertia mundi unius praedonis ager.
" Distantibus idem inter se vitiis cinctus : quodcumque profunda
traxit avaritia, luxu peiore refundit.
instat terribilis vivis, morientibus heres, 165 virginibus raptor, thalamis obscaenus adulter.
nulla quies : oritur praeda cessante libido, divitibusque dies et nox metuenda maritis.
quisquis vel locuples pulchra vel coniuge notus, crimine pulsatur falso ; si crimina desunt, 170 accitus conviva perit. mors nulla refugit
artificem : varios sucos spumasque requirit serpentum virides et adhuc ignota novercis
gramina. si quisquam vultu praesentia damnet liberiusve gemat, dapibus crudelis in ipsis 175
emicat ad nutum stricto mucrone minister.
fixus quisque toro tacita formidine libat
carnifices epulas incertaque pocula pallens
haurit et intentos capiti circumspicit enses.
splendet Tartareo furialis mensa paratu 180 caede madens, atrox gladio, suspecta veneno.
110
1 Tangiers.
THE WAR AGAINST GILDO, I
Gildo. Twelve courses has the sun's chariot run since first I wore this sorry yoke. He has now grown old amid our miseries and these many years have set their seal upon his rule. Rule—would it were rule : a private owner possesses me, as it had been some pelting farm. From Nile to Atlas' mount, from scorched Barce to western Gades, from Tingi 1 to Egypt's coast Gildo has appropriated the land as his own. A third of the world belongs to one robber-chief.
" He is a prey to the most diverse vices : whatsoe'er his bottomless greed has stolen, a yet more insatiable
He is the terror of the living, the heir of the dead, the violator of the unwed, and the foul corrupter of the marriage-bed. He is never
quiet ; when greed is sated lust is rampant ; day is a misery to the rich, night to the married. Is any wealthy or known to possess a beautiful wife, he is overwhelmed by some trumped-up charge. If no charge be brought against him, he is asked to a banquet and there murdered. No form of death but is known to this artist in crime. He investigates the properties of different poisons and serpents' livid venom and knows of deadly herbs un known even to stepmothers. If any condemns what he sees by a look or sighs with too much freedom, at the very festal board out darts some hench man with drawn sword at a nod from his master. Each glued to his seat tastes in silent fear of the deadly banquet ; drains, pale of face, the treacherous cup, and looks around at the weapons that threaten his life. The deadly board is decked in infernal splendour, wet with slaughter, dreadful with fear of sword and suspected poison. When wine has
111
profligacy squanders.
GLAUDIAN
ut vino calefacta Venus, tum saevior ardet
luxuries, mixtis redolent unguenta coronis :
crinitos inter famulos pubemque canoram
orbatas iubet ire nurus nuperque peremptis 185 adridere viris. Phalarim tormentaque flammae profuit et Siculi mugitus ferre iuvenci
quam tales audire choros. nec damna pudoris
turpia sufficiunt : Mauris clarissima quaeque fastidita datur. media Carthagine ductae 190 barbara Sidoniae subeunt conubia matres ; Aethiopem nobis generum, Nasamona maritum ingerit ; exterret cunabula discolor infans.
his fretus sociis ipso iam principe maior
incedit ; peditum praecurrunt agmina longe ; 195 circumdant equitum turmae regesque clientes,
quos nostris ditat spoliis. proturbat avita quemque domo : veteres detrudit rure colonos. exiliis dispersa feror. numquamne reverti " fas erit errantesque solo iam reddere cives ?
Iret adhuc in verba dolor, ni Iuppiter alto
coepisset solio (voces adamante notabat
200
Atropos et Lachesis iungebat stamina dictis) :
" nec te, Roma, diu nec te patiemur inultam,
Africa. communem prosternet Honorius hostem. 205 pergite securae. vestrum vis nulla tenorem
separat et soli famulabitur Africa Romae. "
Dixit et adflavit Romam meliore iuventa.
continuo redit ille vigor seniique colorem
mutavere comae. solidatam crista resurgens 210
112
THE WAR AGAINST GILDO, I
inflamed the passions, his lust rages more savagely ; 'midst the mingled smell of scents and flowers, 'midst curled minions and youthful choirs he bids
the widowed wives whose husbands he but a moment ago has murdered. Better Phalaris and the torments of his furnace, better to listen to the bellowings of the Sicilian bull than to such
as these. Nor is the base sacrifice of their good name enough. When tired of each noblest matron Gildo hands her over to the Moors. Married in Carthage city these Sidonian mothers needs must mate with barbarians. He thrusts upon me an Ethiopian as a son-in-law, a Berber as a husband. The hideous half-breed child affrights its cradle. Thanks to those base allies his state is more regal than that of the emperor himself. Before him goes
a body of foot-soldiers, squadrons of cavalry surround him and client kings whom he enriches with our
go sport
songs
He drives one and all from their ancestral houses and expels husbandmen from farms so long theirs. My people are scattered in exile. Are my citizens never to return from their wanderings to their native soil ? "
She would have spoken further in her grief had not Jove begun from his lofty throne—Atropos wrote down his words in adamant and Lachesis spun them in with her thread—" Neither thou, Rome, nor yet thou, Africa, will we suffer to go long un avenged. Honorius shall disperse your common foe.
Go in peace. No violence shall part your companion ship ; Africa shall serve Rome, and Rome alone. "
He spake and breathed into Rome a youth renewed. Straightway her former strength returned, and her hair put off its grey of eld ; her helmet grew solid,
vol. i i 113
spoils.
CLAUDIAN
erexit galeam clipeique recanduit orbis et levis excussa- micuit rubigine cornus.
Umentes iam noctis equos Lethaeaque Somnus frena regens tacito volvebat sidera curru.
iam duo divorum proceres, maiorque minorque 215 Theodosii, pacem laturi gentibus ibant,
qui Iovis arcanos monitus mandataque ferrent fratribus et geminis sancirent foedera regnis :
sic cum praecipites artem vicere procellae adsiduoque gemens undarum verbere nutat 220 descensura ratis, caeca sub nocte vocati
naufraga Ledaei sustentant vela Lacones.
circulus ut patuit Lunae, secuere meatus
diversos : Italas senior tendebat in oras ;
at pater, intrantem Pontum qua Bosphorus artat, Arcadii thalamis urbique inlapsus Eoae. 226 quem simulac vidit natus (nam clara nitebat
Cynthia), permixto tremuerunt gaudia fletu complexuque fovens, quos non speraverat, artus
" O mihi post Alpes nunc primum reddite," dixit, 230 " unde tuis optatus ades ? da tangere dextram,
qua gentes cecidere ferae. quis tale removit praesidium terris ? ut te mortalia pridem
implorant longeque pium fortemque requirunt ! " Cui pater in tales rupit suspiria voces :
hoc erat ? in fratres medio discordia Mauro nascitur et mundus germanaque dissidet aula ?
1 Theodosius the younger is, of course, Theodosius I. , the Emperor (see Introduction, p. vii). Theodosius the elder was his father. He was an able and trusted general of Valentinian I. , who restored quict in Britain
defeated the Alamanni (370), and crushed the revolt of Firmus, Gildo's brother (see line 333 of this poem) in Africa (? 372-374). His deatli was brought about by Mero- baudes, Gratian's minister (cf. viii. 26-9).
114
(368-370),
" 235
THE WAR AGAINST GILDO, I
upright stood the plumes, the round shield shone
once more, and gone was every trace of rust from
her winged, gleaming spear.
Sleep was now driving the dew-drenched steeds
of night, guiding them with the reins of Lethe and carrying round the stars in her silent course, when the elder and the younger Theodosius,1 chief among the heroes divine, came to bring peace to men. They bore Jove's secret message and mandate to the two brothers and ratified the treaty between the two empires. So when at dead of night the driving tempest has brought the helmsman's skill to nought and the sinking ship groans and shudders at the waves' ceaseless shock, Leda's Spartan-born sons sustain the foundering bark in answer to the
sailors' prayers. At the rise of the full moon the twain parted. The elder directed his steps towards the coasts of Italy, the younger visited the couch of Arcadius, gliding down to that Eastern city where Bosporus narrows the entrance to the Euxine. As soon as the son saw his father (for the moon was shining brightly), he wept, yet trembled for joy, and embracing that form he had little hoped ever to embrace again, said: " O thou restored now to me for the first time since thy triumphs in the Alps,
whence comest thou to thy loving son ? Let me touch that hand that has conquered so many bar barian races ! Who hath robbed the world of such a defender ? How long a while has mankind prayed thine aid, and missed thy goodness and thy might ! "
Sighing, the father made answer : " Was it for this ? Is a Moor become a cause of discord between two brothers ? Does the empire and court of the
115
CLAUDIAN
Gildonisne salus tanti sit palma furoris ?
scilicet egregius morum magnoque tuendus
et cuius meritis pietas in fratre recedat ! 240 invito 1 genitore, vide, civile calebat
discidium ; dubio stabant Romana sub ictu ;
quis procul Armenius vel quis Maeotide ripa
rex ignotus agit, qui me non iuvit euntem
auxilio ? fovere Getae, venere Geloni. 245 solus at hie non puppe data, non milite misso subsedit fluitante fide. si signa petisset
obvia, detecto summissius hoste dolerem : restitit in speculis fati turbaque reductus
libravit geminas eventu iudice vires 250 ad rerum momenta cliens seseque daturus
victori ; fortuna simul cum mente pependit.
o si non cupidis essem praereptus ab astris, exemplum sequerer Tulli laniandaque dumis
impia diversis aptarem membra quadrigis. 255 germani nunc usque tui responsa colebat :
en iterum calcat. tali te credere monstro
post patrem fratremque paras ? sed magna rependit inque tuam sortem numerosas transtulit urbes !
ergo fas pretio cedet ? mercede placebit 260 proditio ? taceo, laesi quod transfuga fratris,
quod levis ingenio. quamvis discrimine summo proditor adportet suspensa morte salutem numquam gratus erit. damnamus luce reperta
1 mss. in primo ; Birt suggests invito, Koch infirmo 1 See note on viii. 401.
116
THE WAR AGAINST GILDO, I
East quarrel with those of the West ? Can Gildo's salvation be fit guerdon for this mad rivalry ? Great no doubt are his virtues, great should be the price paid to preserve them and such his merits as to banish affection in a brother. Look you, though I, thy sire, willed it not, civil war raged ; the fortunes of Rome stood on a razor's edge. Was there a distant king of Armenia, an unknown monarch by Maeotis' shore but sent aid to mine enterprises ? The Getae gave me succour, the Geloni came to my assistance. Gildo alone sent not a man, not a ship, but waited
the issue in wavering loyalty. Had he sought the confronting host as an open foe my wrath had been less bitter. He stood apart on Fortune's watch- tower and, withdrawn from the throng, weighed this side against that,meaning to let the event decide him, dependent upon the turn things might take and ready to embrace the side of the victor. His fortune hung in the balance as well as his intention. Had I not been hurried to heaven by the impatient stars I would have followed the example of Tullus Hostilius and dragged the impious wretch limb from limb fastened to chariots driven different ways through thorn bushes. 1
Up to this time he has owed obedience to thy brother, now behold he spurns his commands. After thy father's and thy brother's fate art thou ready to trust thyself to such a villain ? Is thine answer that he maketh great return and hath brought over many cities to thine allegiance ? Shall honour, then, give place to utility ? Can gain render treachery welcome ? I make no mention of his cruel betrayal of thy brother ; of his fickle nature ; were a traitor to bring safety even when at peril's height death threatened, never shall he win gratitude. When our life is saved
117
C^AUDIAN
perfidiam nec nos patimur committere tali. 265 hoc genus emptori cives cum moenibus offert,
hoc vendit patriam. plerique in tempus abusi
mox odere tamen : tenuit sic Graia Philippus
oppida ; Pellaeo libertas concidit auro.
Romani scelerum semper sprevere ministros. 270 noxia pollicitum domino miscere venena
Fabricius regi nudata fraude remisit,
infesto quem Marte petit, bellumque negavit
per famuli patrare nefas, ductosque Camillus
trans murum pueros obsessae reddidit urbi. 275
" Traduntur poenis alii, cum proelia tollunt ;
hie manet ut moveat ? quod respuit alter in hostem, suscipis in fratrem ? longi pro dedecus aevi !
cui placet, australes Gildo condonat habenas
tantaque mutatos sequitur provincia mores. 280 quaslibet ad partes animus nutaverit aneeps, transfundit secum Libyam refluumque malignus commodat imperium. Mauri fuit Africa munus. tollite Massylas fraudes, removete bilingues
insidias et verba soli spirantia virum. 285
ne consanguineis certetur comminus armis,
ne, precor. haec trucibus Thebis, haec digna Myeenis ;
in Mauros hoc crimen eat.
molitur Stilicho ? quando non ille iubenti
" Quid noster iniquum
THE. WAR AGAINST GILDO, I
we condemn the treachery nor brook to entrust ourselves to such protection.
89
wronged.
CLAUDIAN
nutabat digna rediens ad moenia pompa. 435 dextera quin etiam ludo concessa vagatur
aera petens poenasque animi persolvit avari
terribili lucro vivosque imitata retentus
cogitur adductis digitos inflectere nervis.
Desinat elatis quisquam confidere rebus 440
instabilesque deos ac lubrica numina discat. illa manus, quae sceptra sibi gestanda parabat,
cuius se totiens summisit ad oscula supplex
nobilitas, inhumata diu miseroque revulsa
corpore feralem quaestum post fata reposcit. 445 adspiciat quisquis nimium sublata secundis
colla gerit : triviis calcandus spargitur ecce,
qui sibi pyramidas, qui non cedentia templis ornatura suos extruxit culmina manes,
et qui Sidonio velari credidit ostro, 450 nudus pascit aves. iacet en, qui possidet orbem, exiguae telluris inops et pulvere raro
per partes tegitur nusquam totiensque sepultus. Senserunt convexa necem tellusque nefandum
amolitur onus iam respirantibus astris. 455 infernos gravat umbra lacus. pater Aeacus horret intrantemque etiam latratu Cerberus urget.
tunc animae, quas ille fero sub iure peremit, circumstant nigrique trahunt ad iudicis urnam
infesto fremitu : veluti pastoris in ora 460 commotae glomerantur apes, qui dulcia raptu
mella vehit, pennasque cient et spicula tendunt
et tenuis saxi per propugnacula cinctae
90
THE SECOND BOOK AGAINST RUFINUS
was carried back in merited splendour to the city. Nay his hand too, made over to their mockery, goes a-begging for alms, and with its awful gains pays the penalty for his greedy soul, while forced, in mimicry of its living clutch, to draw up the fingers by their sinews.
Put not now your trust in prosperity ; learn that the gods are inconstant and heaven untrustworthy. That hand which sought to wield a sceptre, which a humbled nobility stooped so often to kiss, now torn from its wretched trunk and left long unburied begs after death a baneful alms. Let him gaze on this whoso carries his head high in pride of pros perity, see trodden under foot at the cross-roads him who built pyramids for himself and a tomb, large as a temple, to the glory of his own ghost.
He who trusted to be clothed in Tyrian purple is now a naked corpse and food for birds. See, he who owns the world lies denied six foot of earth, half covered with a sprinkling of dust, given no grave yet given so many.
Heaven knew of his death and earth is freed of her hated burden, now that the stars can breathe again. His shade oppresses the rivers of Hell. Old Aeacus shudders and Cerberus bays to stop, in this case, the entry of a ghost. Then those shades which he had sent to death beneath his cruel laws flock round him and hale him away with horrid shoutings to the tribunal of the gloomy judge : even as bees whom a shepherd has disturbed swarm round his head when he would rob them of their sweet honey, and flutter their wings and put forth their stings, making them ready for battle in the fast nesses of their little rock, and seek to defend the
91
CLAUDIAN
rimosam patriam dilectaque pumicis antra
defendunt pronoque favos examine velant. 465
Est locus infaustis quo conciliantur in unum
vadis ; inamoenus uterque alveus ; hic volvit lacrimas, hic igne redundat.
turris per geminos, flammis vicinior, amnes
porrigitur solidoque rigens adamante sinistrum 470
proluit igne latus ; dextro Cocytia findit
aequora triste gemens et fletu concita plangit.
hue post emeritam mortalia saecula vitam
deveniunt. ibi nulla manent discrimina fati,
nullus honos vanoque exutum nomine regem 475
proturbat plebeius egens. quaesitor in alto conspicuus solio pertemptat crimina Minos et iustis dirimit sontes. quos nolle fateri viderit, ad rigidi transmittit verbera fratris.
nam iuxta Rhadamanthys agit. cum gesta superni curriculi totosque diu perspexerit actus, 481 exaequat damnum meritis et muta ferarum
cogit vincla pati. truculentos ingerit ursis praedonesque lupis ; fallaces vulpibus addit.
at qui desidia semper vinoque gravatus, 485 indulgens Veneri, voluit torpescere luxu,
hunc suis inmundi pingues detrudit in artus.
qui iusto plus esse loquax arcanaque suevit
prodere, piscosas fertur victurus in undas,
ut nimiam pensent aeterna silentia vocem. 490 quos ubi per varias annis ter mille figuras
egit, Lethaeo purgatos flumine tandem
rursus ad humanae revocat primordia formae.
92
Cocytos Phlegethonque
THE SECOND BOOK AGAINST RUFINUS
crevices of their home, their beloved
cave, swarming over the honeycombs therein.
There is a place where the unhallowed rivers of
Cocytus and Phlegethon mingle their dread streams of tears and fire. Between the rivers yet nearer to that of Phlegethon there juts a tower stiff with solid adamant that bathes its left side in the flames ; its right hand wall extends into Cocytus' stream and echoes the lamentation of the river of tears. Hither come all the children of men whose life is ended ; here there abide no marks of earthly fortune ; no reverence is shown ; the common beggar ousts the king, now stripped of his empty title. Seen afar on his lofty throne the judge Minos examines the charges and separates the wicked from the righteous. Those whom he sees unwilling to confess their sins he remits to the lash of his stern brother ; for he, Rhadamanthus, is busy close at hand. When he has closely examined the deeds of their earthly life and all that they did therein, he suits the punish ment to their crimes and makes them undergo the bonds of dumb animals. The spirits of the cruel enter into bears, of the rapacious into wolves, of the treacherous into foxes. Those, on the other hand, who were ever sunk in sloth, sodden with wine, given to venery, sluggish from excesses, he com pelled to enter the fat bodies of filthy swine. Was any above measure talkative, a betrayer of secrets, he was carried off, a fish, to live in the waters amid his kind, that in eternal silence he might atone for his garrulity. When for thrice a thousand years he had forced these through countless diverse shapes,
he sends them back once more to the beginnings of human form purged at last with Lethe's stream.
93
pumice-stone
CLAUDIAN
Tum quoque, dum lites Stygiique negotia solvit dura fori veteresque reos ex ordine quaerit, 495 Rufinum procul ecce notat visuque severo
lustrat et ex imo concussa sede profatur :
" Hue superum labes, hue insatiabilis auri
proluvies pretioque nihil non ause parato,
quodque mihi summum scelus est, hue improbe legum venditor, Arctoi stimulator perfide Martis ! 501 cuius ob innumeras strages angustus Averni
iam sinus et plena lassatur portitor alno.
quid demens manifesta negas ? en pectus inustae deformant maculae vitiisque inolevit imago 505 nec sese commissa tegunt. genus omne dolorum
in te ferre libet : dubio tibi pendula rupes
inmineat lapsu, volucer te torqueat axis,
te refugi fallant latices atque ore natanti
arescat decepta sitis, dapibusque relictis 510 in tua mansurus migret praecordia vultur.
quamquam omnes alii, quos haec tormenta fatigant, pars quota sunt, Rufine, tui ! quid tale vel audax fulmine Salmoneus vel lingua Tantalus egit
aut inconsulto Tityos deliquit amore ? 515 cunctorum si facta simul iungantur in unum, praecedes numero. cui tanta piacula quisquam supplicio conferre valet ? quid denique dignum
omnibus inveniam, vincant cum singula poenas ? tollite de mediis animarum dedecus umbris. 520 adspexisse sat est. oculis iam parcite nostris
et Ditis purgate domos. agitate flagellis
94
THE SECOND BOOK AGAINST RUFINUS
So then while he settles these suits, dread business of that infernal court, while he examines in due order the criminals of old, he marks afar Rufinus, scans him with a stern scrutiny and speaks, shaking his throne to its foundation. " Hither, Rufinus, scourge of the world, bottomless sink of gold who wouldst dare aught for money ; hither conscienceless seller of justice (that crime of crimes), faithless cause of that northern war whose thousand
victims now throng Hell's narrow entry and weigh down Charon's crowded barque. Madman, why deny what all know ? The foul stains of wickedness are branded upon thy heart, thy crimes have made their impress on thy spirit and thy sins cannot be hid. Right glad I am to sentence thee to every kind of punishment. O'er thee shall hang the threatening rock the moment of whose fall thou knowest not. The circling wheel shall rack thee. Thy lips the stream's waves shall flee, thirst shall parch thee to whose chin its elusive waters mount. The vulture shall leave his former prey and feast for
ever on thy heart. And yet all these, Rufinus, whom the like punishments torment, how paltry
their wickedness compared with thine !
Salmoneus' thunderbolt or Tantalus' tongue ever do like wrong or Tityos so offend with his mad love ? Join all their crimes together yet wilt thou surpass them. What sufficient atonement can be found for such wickedness ? What to match
sum of crimes whose single misdeeds outmatch all punishment ? Shades, remove from this our ghostly company that presence that disgraces it. To have seen once is enough. Have mercy now on our eyes, and cleanse the realm of Dis. Drive
95
slaughtered
-
Did bold
thy
CLAUDIAN
trans Styga, trans Erebum, vacuo mandate barathro infra Titanum tenebras infraque recessus
Tartareos ipsumque 1 Chaos, qua noctis opacae 525 fundamenta latent ; praeceps ibi mersus anhelet, dum rotat astra polus, feriunt dum litora venti. "
1 mss. have nostrumque
96
THE SECOND BOOK AGAINST RUFINUS
him with whips beyond the Styx, beyond Erebus ; thrust him down into the empty pit beneath the lightless prison of the Titans, below the depths of Tartarus and Chaos' own realm, where lie the foundations of thickest midnight ; deep hidden there let him live while ever the vault of heaven carries round the stars and the winds beat upon the land. "
VOL. 1 H 97
DE BELLO GILDONICO LIBER I
(XV)
Redditus imperiis Auster subiectaque rursus alterius convexa poli. rectore sub uno
conspirat geminus frenis communibus orbis.
iunximus Europen Libyae. concordia fratriim
plena redit. patriis solum quod defuit armis, 5 tertius occubuit nati virtute tyrannus.
horret adhuc animus manifestaque gaudia differt, dum stupet et tanto cunctatur credere voto.
necdum Cinyphias exercitus attigit oras :
iam domitus Gildo. nullis victoria nodis 10 haesit, non spatio terrae, non obice ponti. congressum profugum captum vox nuntiat una rumoremque sui praevenit laurea belli.
quo, precor, haec effecta deo ? robusta vetusque tempore tam parvo potuit dementia vinci ? 15 quem veniens indixit hiems, ver perculit hostem.
1 For the details of Gildo's rebellion see Introduction, p. x.
2 The Cinyps is a river in Libya; cf. Virg. Georg. iii. 312.
98
THE WAR AGAINST GILDO 1 BOOK I
(XV)
The kingdom of the south is restored to our empire, the sky of that other hemisphere is once more
into subjection. East and West live in amity and concord beneath the sway of one ruler. We have joined Europe again to Africa, and un swerving singleness of purpose unites the brother emperors. The would-be third participant of empire has fallen before the prowess of Honorius the son
brought
—that one victory that failed to grace the arms of Theodosius, the father. Still is my mind troubled and admits not the universal joy for very amazement, nor can believe the fulfilment of its heartfelt prayers. Not yet had the army landed upon Africa's 2 coasts when Gildo yielded to defeat. No difficulties delayed our victorious arms, neither length of march nor intervening ocean. One and the same word brings news of the conflict, the flight, the capture of Gildo. The news of victory outstripped the news of the war that occasioned it. What god wrought this for us ? Could madness so strong, so deep-seated be overcome so soon ? Winter brought us news of the enemy, spring destroyed him.
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CLAUDIAN
Exitium iam Roma timens et fessa negatis
frugibus ad rapidi limen tendebat Olympi
non solito vultu nec qualis iura Britannis
dividit aut trepidos summittit fascibus Indos. 20 vox tenuis tardique gradus oculique iacentes
interius ; fugere genae ; ieiuna lacertos
exedit macies. umeris vix sustinet aegris squalentem clipeum ; laxata casside prodit
canitiem plenamque trahit rubiginis hastanu 25 attigit ut tandem caelum genibusque Tonantis procubuit, tales orditur maesta querellas :
" Si mea mansuris meruerunt moenia nasci,
Iuppiter, auguriis, si stant inmota Sibyllae
carmina, Tarpeias si necdum respuis arces : 30 advenio supplex, non ut proculcet Araxen
consul ovans nostraeve premant pharetrata secures Susa, nec ut Rubris aquilas figamus harenis.
haec nobis, haec ante dabas ; nunc pabula tantum Roma precor. miserere tuae, pater optime, gentis, 35 extremam defende famem. satiavimus iram
si qua fuit ; lugenda Getis et flenda Suebis
hausimus ; ipsa meos horreret Parthia casus.
quid referam morbive luem tumulosve repletos stragibus et crebras corrupto sidere mortes ? 40
aut fluvium per tecta vagum summisque minatum collibus ? ingentes vexi summersa carinas remorumque sonos et Pyrrhae saecula sensi.
" Ei mihi, quo Latiae vires urbisque potestas 100
THE WAR AGAINST GILDO, I
Rome, the goddess, fearing for her city's destruction and weak with corn withheld, hastened to the thresh old of revolving Olympus with looks unlike her own ; not with such countenance does she assign laws to the Britons, or subject the frightened Indians to her rule. Feeble her voice, slow her step, her eyes deep buried. Her cheeks were sunken and hunger had wasted her limbs . Scarce can her weak shoulders support her unpolished shield. Her ill-fitting helmet shows her grey hairs and the spear she carries is a mass of rust. At last she reaches heaven and
falls at the Thunderer's feet and utters this mourn
"
permanence of the rising walls of Rome ;
ful complaint
If rightly foretold the
:
prophecy
if the if thou art not yet wearied of our city and the Capitol, I come to thee as a suppliant. My prayer is not that a consul may march in triumph along Araxes' banks, nor that Rome's power may crush the archer Persians and Susa their capital, nor yet that we may plant our standards on the Red Sea's strand. All this thou grantedst us of old. 'Tis but food I, Rome, ask for now ; father, take pity on thy chosen race and ease
us of this hunger unto death. Whatever thy dis pleasure, we have surely sated it. The very Getae and Suebi would pity our sufferings ; Parthia's self would shudder at my disasters. What need have I to mention the pestilence, the heaps of corpses, the numberless deaths wherewith the very air is cor rupted ? Why tell of Tiber's flooded stream, sweeping betwixt roofs and threatening the very hills ? My submerged city has borne mighty ships, echoed the sound of oars, and experienced Pyrrha's flood.
Sibyl's verse is unalterable ;
" Woe is me, whither are fled the power of Latium 101
CLAUDIAN
decidit ! in qualem paulatim fluximus umbram ! 45
armato quondam populo patrumque vigebam conciliis ; domui terras urbesque revinxi
legibus : ad solem victrix utrumque cucurri. postquam iura ferox in se communia Caesar transtulit et lapsi mores desuetaque priscis 50 artibus in gremium pacis servile recessi,
tot mihi pro meritis Libyam Nilumque dedere,
ut dominam plebem bellatoremque senatum classibus aestivis alerent geminoque vicissim
litore diversi complerent horrea venti. 55 stabat certa salus : Memphis si forte negasset, pensabam Pharium Gaetulis messibus annum, frugiferas certare rates lateque videbam
Punica Niliacis concurrere carbasa velis.
cum subiit par Roma mihi divisaque sumpsit 60 aequales Aurora togas, Aegyptia rura
in partem cessere novae, spes unica nobis
restabat Libyae, quae vix aegreque fovebat ;
solo ducta Noto, numquam secura futuri,
semper inops, ventique fidem poscebat et anni. 65
hanc quoque nunc Gildo rapuit sub fine cadentis autumni. pavido metimur caerula voto,
puppis si qua venit, si quid fortasse potenti
vel pudor extorsit domino vel praeda reliquit. pascimur arbitrio Mauri nec debita reddi, 70
1 Claudian means that the African corn -supply was not always to be relied upon because (1) there might be a bad season, (2) there might be unfavourable winds.
102
THE WAR AGAINST GILDO, I
and the might of Rome ? To what a shadow of our former glory are we by gradual decline arrived ! Time was when my men bore arms and my grey beards met in council ; mistress of the world was I and lawgiver to mankind. From rising to setting sun I sped in triumph. When proud Caesar had transferred my people's power to himself, when manners became corrupt and forgetful of war's old
discipline I declined into the servile lap of peace, the
rewarded me with Africa and Egypt
emperors
that they might nourish the sovereign people and the Senate, arbiter of peace and war, by means of summer-sped fleets, and that the winds, blowing alternately from either shore, should fill our granaries with corn. Our provisioning was secure. Should
Memphis perchance have denied us food, I would make up for the failure of Egypt's harvest by the
African supply. I saw competition between grain- bearing vessels, and where'er I looked I beheld the fleet of Carthage strive in rivalry with that of the Nile. When a second Rome arose and the Eastern Empire assumed the toga of the West, Egypt fell beneath that new sway. Africa remained our only hope and scarcely did she suffice to feed us, whose corn-ships none but the south wind wafted across.
Her promise for the future was insecure, as, ever
she demanded the loyalty of the wind and of the season. 1 This province, too, Gildo seized towards the close of autumn. Anxiously and prayerfully we scan the blue sea to glance a coming sail in the fond hope that perchance a sense of shame has extorted somewhat from the powerful tyrant, or the conqueror left some corner uncon- quered. We are fed at the pleasure of the Moor,
103
helpless,
CLAUDIAN
sed sua concedi iactat gaudetque diurnos
ut famulae praebere cibos vitamque famemque
librat barbarico fastu vulgique superbit
fletibus et tantae suspendit fata ruinae.
Romuleas vendit segetes et possidet arva 75 vulneribus quaesita meis. ideone tot annos
flebile cum tumida bellum Carthagine gessi ?
idcirco voluit contempta luce reverti
Regulus ? hoc damnis, genitor, Cannensibus emi ? incassum totiens lituis navalibus arsit 80 Hispanum Siculumque fretum vastataque tellus totque duces caesi ruptaque emissus ab Alpe
Poenus et attonitae iam proximus Hannibal urbi ? scilicet ut domitis frueretur barbarus Afris,
muro sustinui Martem noctesque cruentas 85 Collina pro turre tuli ? Gildonis ad usum
Carthago ter victa ruit ? hoc mille gementis
Italiae clades impensaque saecula bellis,
hoc Fabius fortisque mihi Marcellus agebant,
ut Gildo cumularet opes ? haurire venena 90 compulimus dirum Syphacem fractumque Metello
traximus inmanem Marii sub vincla Iugurtham,
et Numidae Gildonis erunt ? pro funera tanta,
pro labor ! in Bocchi regnum sudavit uterque
Scipio. Romano vicistis sanguine Mauri. 95
ille diu miles populus, qui praefuit orbi,
qui trabeas et sceptra dabat, quem semper in armis horribilem gentes, placidum sensere subactae,
1 Bocchus, properly a king of Mauritania, stands here typically for any native monarch.
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THE WAR AGAINST GILDO, I
who boasts that he does not repay a debt but that he gives us of his own, and rejoices to apportion out my daily food to me, as though I were his slave ; with a barbarian's pride he weighs me life or death by hunger, triumphs in a people's tears, and holds above our heads an universal destruction. He sells Rome's crops and possesses land won by my wounds. Was it for this that I waged lamentable
war with proud Carthage for so many years ? For this that Regulus reckoned his life as naught and would fain return to his captors ? Is this my reward, father, for my losses on Cannae's field ? Have the Spanish and Sicilian seas resounded so often to our navies' clarion for naught ? For naught my lands been laid waste, so many of my generals slain, the Carthaginian invader broken his way through the Alps, Hannibal approached my affrighted capital ? Have I kept the foe at bay with my walls and spent nights of slaughter before the Colline gate to enable a barbarian to reap the fruits of conquered Africa ? Has thrice-conquered Carthage fallen for Gildo's
benefit ? Was this the object of mourning Italy's thousand disasters, of centuries spent in war, of Fabius' and Marcellus' deeds of daring —that Gildo should heap him up riches ? We forced cruel
to drink poison, drove fierce Iugurtha, whose power Metellus had broken, beneath Marius' yoke — and shall Africa be Gildo's ? Alas for our toil and those many deaths : the two Scipios have laboured, it seems, to further Bocchus' 1 native rule ; Roman blood has given victory to the Moors. That long warlike race, lord of the world, that appointed consuls and kings, whom foreign nations found ever formidable in war, though gentle once they had
105
Scyphax
CLAUDIAN
nunc inhonorus egens perfert miserabile pacis supplicium nulloque palam circumdatus hoste 100 obsessi discrimen habet. per singula letum impendet momenta mihi dubitandaque pauci praescribunt alimenta dies. heu prospera fata !
quid mihi septenos montes turbamque dedistis,
quae parvo non possit ali ? felicior essem 105 angustis opibus ; mallem tolerare Sabinos
et Veios ; brevior duxi securius aevum.
ipsa nocet moles. utinam remeare liceret
ad veteres fines et moenia pauperis Anci.
sufficerent Etrusca mihi Campanaque culta 110
et Quincti Curiique seges, patriaeque petenti rusticus inferret proprias dictator aristas.
" Nunc quid agam ? Libyam Gildo tenet, altera Nilum.
ast ego, quae terras umeris pontumque subegi, deseror : em eritae iam praemia nulla senectae. 115 di, quibus iratis crevi, succurrite tandem,
exorate patrem ; tuque o si sponte per altum
vecta Palatinis mutasti collibus Idam
praelatoque lavas Phrygios Almone leones,
maternis precibus natum iam flecte, Cybebe. 120 sin prohibent Parcae falsisque elusa vetustas auspiciis, alio saltem prosternite casu
et poenae mutate genus. Porsenna reducat Tarquinios ; renovet ferales Allia pugnas ;
me potius saevi manibus permittite Pyrrhi,
1 Doubtless a reference to Cincinnatus.
a Claudian means by " altera " the Eastern Empire.
106
125
THE WAR AGAINST GILDO, I
been subdued, dishonoured now and poverty-stricken,
bends beneath the cruel lash of peace, and though
not openly beleaguered by any foe yet has all the hazard of a siege. Destruction threatens me hourly ; a few days will set a limit to my uncertain
food -supply. Out upon thee, prosperity !
hast thou given me seven hills and such a population as a small supply cannot nourish ? Happier I, had my power been less. Better to have put up with Samnium and Veii ; in narrower bonds I passed securer days. My very magnitude undoes me ; would that I could return to my former boundaries and the walls of poor Ancus. Enough for me then would be the ploughlands of Etruria and Campania, the farms of Cincinnatus and Curius, and at his country's prayer the rustic dictator 1 would bring his home-grown wheat.
if ever of thine own free will thou wert carried over the sea and in exchange for Mount Ida tookest the hills of Rome and didst bathe thy Phrygian lions in Almo's more favoured stream, move now thy son3 with a mother's entreaties. But if the fates forbid and our first founder was misled by augury untrue, o'erwhelm me at least in some different ruin, and change the nature of my punishment. Let Porsenna bring back the Tarquins ; let Allia renew her bloody battle. Let me fall rather into the hands of cruel
Cybele,
3 i. e. Jupiter.
Why
" What am I to do now ? Gildo holds Libya, another 2 Egypt ; while I, who subdued land and sea with my strong arm, am left to perish. Veteran of so many wars, can I claim no reward in mine old age ? Ye gods in whose despite, it seems, I increased, now aid me at the last ; pray Jove for me. And thou,
107
CLAUDIAN
me Senonum furiis, Brenni me reddite flammis. cuncta fame leviora mihi. "
Sic fata refusis obticuit lacrimis. mater Cytherea parensque
flet Mavors sanctaeque memor Tritonia Vestae,
nec Cybele sicco nec stabat lumine Iuno. 130
maerent indigetes et si quos Roma recepit
aut dedit ipsa deos. genitor iam corde remitti coeperat et sacrum dextra sedare tumultum,
cum procul insanis quatiens ululatibus axem
et contusa genas mediis adparet in astris 135 Africa : rescissae vestes et spicea passim
serta iacent ; lacero crinales vertice dentes
et fractum pendebat ebur, talique superbas
inrupit clamore fores :
" Quid magne moraris Iuppiter avulso nexu pelagique solutis 140
legibus iratum populis inmittere fratrem ?
mergi prima peto ; veniant praerupta Pachyno aequora, laxatis'subsidant Syrtibus urbes.
si mihi Gildonem nequeunt abducere fata,
me rape Gildoni. felicior illa perustae 145 pars Libyae, nimio quae se munita calore
defendit tantique vacat secura tyranni.
crescat zona rubens ; medius flagrantis Olympi
me quoque limes agat ; melius deserta iacebo vomeris impatiens. pulsis dominentur aristis 150 dipsades et sitiens attollat glaeba cerastas.
quid me temperies iuvit ? quid mitior aether ? Gildoni fecunda fui. iam solis habenae
1 i. e. the Palladium, the image of Pallas ( = M inerva), rescued by Metellus from the burning temple of Vesta, 241 b. c.
108
THE WAR AGAINST GILDO, I
Pyrrhus ; abandon me to the fury of the Senones or the flames of Brennus. Welcome all this rather than to starve ! "
So spake she, and upwelling tears choked her voice. Venus, mother of Aeneas, wept, and Mars, father of Romulus and Minerva, mindful of Vesta's sacred charge. 1 Nor Cybele nor Juno stood with dry eyes. The heroes mourn and all the gods whose worship Rome received from without or herself inaugurated.
And now began the heart of Jove to soften. With hand outstretched he was checking the murmurings of the gods when, shaking heaven with distraught cries, Africa, her cheeks torn, appeared in the distance advancing amid the stars. Torn was her raiment, scattered her crown of corn. Her head was wounded and the ivory comb that secured her hair hung loose and broken. She rushed into Heaven's halls shouting thus : " Great Jove, why delayest thou to loose the bonds of sea, to break its decree and hurl thy brother2 in wrath against
May
I be the first to be overwhelmed.
the land ?
Welcome the broken waters from Pachynus' cape ; sink my cities in the freed Syrtes. if so be fate cannot rid me of Gildo, rid Gildo of me. Happier that region of Libya that defends itself by means of its own excessive heat and thus knows not the irksome rule of so savage a tyrant. Let the torrid zone spread. Let the midmost path of the scorching
sky burn me also. Better I lay a desert nor ever suffered the plough. Let the dust-snake lord it in a cornless land and the thirsty earth give birth to nought but vipers. What avails me a healthy climate, a milder air ? My fruitfulness is but for
2 i. e. Neptune.
109
CLAUDIAN
bis senas torquent hiemes, cervicibus ex quo
haeret triste iugum. nostris iam luctibus ille 155 consenuit regnumque sibi tot vindicat annos.
atque utinam regnum ! privato iure tenemur
exigui specie fundi, quod Nilus et Atlas
dissidet, occiduis quod Gadibus arida Barce
quodque Paraetonio secedit litore Tingi, 160 hoc sibi transcripsit proprium. pars tertia mundi unius praedonis ager.
" Distantibus idem inter se vitiis cinctus : quodcumque profunda
traxit avaritia, luxu peiore refundit.
instat terribilis vivis, morientibus heres, 165 virginibus raptor, thalamis obscaenus adulter.
nulla quies : oritur praeda cessante libido, divitibusque dies et nox metuenda maritis.
quisquis vel locuples pulchra vel coniuge notus, crimine pulsatur falso ; si crimina desunt, 170 accitus conviva perit. mors nulla refugit
artificem : varios sucos spumasque requirit serpentum virides et adhuc ignota novercis
gramina. si quisquam vultu praesentia damnet liberiusve gemat, dapibus crudelis in ipsis 175
emicat ad nutum stricto mucrone minister.
fixus quisque toro tacita formidine libat
carnifices epulas incertaque pocula pallens
haurit et intentos capiti circumspicit enses.
splendet Tartareo furialis mensa paratu 180 caede madens, atrox gladio, suspecta veneno.
110
1 Tangiers.
THE WAR AGAINST GILDO, I
Gildo. Twelve courses has the sun's chariot run since first I wore this sorry yoke. He has now grown old amid our miseries and these many years have set their seal upon his rule. Rule—would it were rule : a private owner possesses me, as it had been some pelting farm. From Nile to Atlas' mount, from scorched Barce to western Gades, from Tingi 1 to Egypt's coast Gildo has appropriated the land as his own. A third of the world belongs to one robber-chief.
" He is a prey to the most diverse vices : whatsoe'er his bottomless greed has stolen, a yet more insatiable
He is the terror of the living, the heir of the dead, the violator of the unwed, and the foul corrupter of the marriage-bed. He is never
quiet ; when greed is sated lust is rampant ; day is a misery to the rich, night to the married. Is any wealthy or known to possess a beautiful wife, he is overwhelmed by some trumped-up charge. If no charge be brought against him, he is asked to a banquet and there murdered. No form of death but is known to this artist in crime. He investigates the properties of different poisons and serpents' livid venom and knows of deadly herbs un known even to stepmothers. If any condemns what he sees by a look or sighs with too much freedom, at the very festal board out darts some hench man with drawn sword at a nod from his master. Each glued to his seat tastes in silent fear of the deadly banquet ; drains, pale of face, the treacherous cup, and looks around at the weapons that threaten his life. The deadly board is decked in infernal splendour, wet with slaughter, dreadful with fear of sword and suspected poison. When wine has
111
profligacy squanders.
GLAUDIAN
ut vino calefacta Venus, tum saevior ardet
luxuries, mixtis redolent unguenta coronis :
crinitos inter famulos pubemque canoram
orbatas iubet ire nurus nuperque peremptis 185 adridere viris. Phalarim tormentaque flammae profuit et Siculi mugitus ferre iuvenci
quam tales audire choros. nec damna pudoris
turpia sufficiunt : Mauris clarissima quaeque fastidita datur. media Carthagine ductae 190 barbara Sidoniae subeunt conubia matres ; Aethiopem nobis generum, Nasamona maritum ingerit ; exterret cunabula discolor infans.
his fretus sociis ipso iam principe maior
incedit ; peditum praecurrunt agmina longe ; 195 circumdant equitum turmae regesque clientes,
quos nostris ditat spoliis. proturbat avita quemque domo : veteres detrudit rure colonos. exiliis dispersa feror. numquamne reverti " fas erit errantesque solo iam reddere cives ?
Iret adhuc in verba dolor, ni Iuppiter alto
coepisset solio (voces adamante notabat
200
Atropos et Lachesis iungebat stamina dictis) :
" nec te, Roma, diu nec te patiemur inultam,
Africa. communem prosternet Honorius hostem. 205 pergite securae. vestrum vis nulla tenorem
separat et soli famulabitur Africa Romae. "
Dixit et adflavit Romam meliore iuventa.
continuo redit ille vigor seniique colorem
mutavere comae. solidatam crista resurgens 210
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THE WAR AGAINST GILDO, I
inflamed the passions, his lust rages more savagely ; 'midst the mingled smell of scents and flowers, 'midst curled minions and youthful choirs he bids
the widowed wives whose husbands he but a moment ago has murdered. Better Phalaris and the torments of his furnace, better to listen to the bellowings of the Sicilian bull than to such
as these. Nor is the base sacrifice of their good name enough. When tired of each noblest matron Gildo hands her over to the Moors. Married in Carthage city these Sidonian mothers needs must mate with barbarians. He thrusts upon me an Ethiopian as a son-in-law, a Berber as a husband. The hideous half-breed child affrights its cradle. Thanks to those base allies his state is more regal than that of the emperor himself. Before him goes
a body of foot-soldiers, squadrons of cavalry surround him and client kings whom he enriches with our
go sport
songs
He drives one and all from their ancestral houses and expels husbandmen from farms so long theirs. My people are scattered in exile. Are my citizens never to return from their wanderings to their native soil ? "
She would have spoken further in her grief had not Jove begun from his lofty throne—Atropos wrote down his words in adamant and Lachesis spun them in with her thread—" Neither thou, Rome, nor yet thou, Africa, will we suffer to go long un avenged. Honorius shall disperse your common foe.
Go in peace. No violence shall part your companion ship ; Africa shall serve Rome, and Rome alone. "
He spake and breathed into Rome a youth renewed. Straightway her former strength returned, and her hair put off its grey of eld ; her helmet grew solid,
vol. i i 113
spoils.
CLAUDIAN
erexit galeam clipeique recanduit orbis et levis excussa- micuit rubigine cornus.
Umentes iam noctis equos Lethaeaque Somnus frena regens tacito volvebat sidera curru.
iam duo divorum proceres, maiorque minorque 215 Theodosii, pacem laturi gentibus ibant,
qui Iovis arcanos monitus mandataque ferrent fratribus et geminis sancirent foedera regnis :
sic cum praecipites artem vicere procellae adsiduoque gemens undarum verbere nutat 220 descensura ratis, caeca sub nocte vocati
naufraga Ledaei sustentant vela Lacones.
circulus ut patuit Lunae, secuere meatus
diversos : Italas senior tendebat in oras ;
at pater, intrantem Pontum qua Bosphorus artat, Arcadii thalamis urbique inlapsus Eoae. 226 quem simulac vidit natus (nam clara nitebat
Cynthia), permixto tremuerunt gaudia fletu complexuque fovens, quos non speraverat, artus
" O mihi post Alpes nunc primum reddite," dixit, 230 " unde tuis optatus ades ? da tangere dextram,
qua gentes cecidere ferae. quis tale removit praesidium terris ? ut te mortalia pridem
implorant longeque pium fortemque requirunt ! " Cui pater in tales rupit suspiria voces :
hoc erat ? in fratres medio discordia Mauro nascitur et mundus germanaque dissidet aula ?
1 Theodosius the younger is, of course, Theodosius I. , the Emperor (see Introduction, p. vii). Theodosius the elder was his father. He was an able and trusted general of Valentinian I. , who restored quict in Britain
defeated the Alamanni (370), and crushed the revolt of Firmus, Gildo's brother (see line 333 of this poem) in Africa (? 372-374). His deatli was brought about by Mero- baudes, Gratian's minister (cf. viii. 26-9).
114
(368-370),
" 235
THE WAR AGAINST GILDO, I
upright stood the plumes, the round shield shone
once more, and gone was every trace of rust from
her winged, gleaming spear.
Sleep was now driving the dew-drenched steeds
of night, guiding them with the reins of Lethe and carrying round the stars in her silent course, when the elder and the younger Theodosius,1 chief among the heroes divine, came to bring peace to men. They bore Jove's secret message and mandate to the two brothers and ratified the treaty between the two empires. So when at dead of night the driving tempest has brought the helmsman's skill to nought and the sinking ship groans and shudders at the waves' ceaseless shock, Leda's Spartan-born sons sustain the foundering bark in answer to the
sailors' prayers. At the rise of the full moon the twain parted. The elder directed his steps towards the coasts of Italy, the younger visited the couch of Arcadius, gliding down to that Eastern city where Bosporus narrows the entrance to the Euxine. As soon as the son saw his father (for the moon was shining brightly), he wept, yet trembled for joy, and embracing that form he had little hoped ever to embrace again, said: " O thou restored now to me for the first time since thy triumphs in the Alps,
whence comest thou to thy loving son ? Let me touch that hand that has conquered so many bar barian races ! Who hath robbed the world of such a defender ? How long a while has mankind prayed thine aid, and missed thy goodness and thy might ! "
Sighing, the father made answer : " Was it for this ? Is a Moor become a cause of discord between two brothers ? Does the empire and court of the
115
CLAUDIAN
Gildonisne salus tanti sit palma furoris ?
scilicet egregius morum magnoque tuendus
et cuius meritis pietas in fratre recedat ! 240 invito 1 genitore, vide, civile calebat
discidium ; dubio stabant Romana sub ictu ;
quis procul Armenius vel quis Maeotide ripa
rex ignotus agit, qui me non iuvit euntem
auxilio ? fovere Getae, venere Geloni. 245 solus at hie non puppe data, non milite misso subsedit fluitante fide. si signa petisset
obvia, detecto summissius hoste dolerem : restitit in speculis fati turbaque reductus
libravit geminas eventu iudice vires 250 ad rerum momenta cliens seseque daturus
victori ; fortuna simul cum mente pependit.
o si non cupidis essem praereptus ab astris, exemplum sequerer Tulli laniandaque dumis
impia diversis aptarem membra quadrigis. 255 germani nunc usque tui responsa colebat :
en iterum calcat. tali te credere monstro
post patrem fratremque paras ? sed magna rependit inque tuam sortem numerosas transtulit urbes !
ergo fas pretio cedet ? mercede placebit 260 proditio ? taceo, laesi quod transfuga fratris,
quod levis ingenio. quamvis discrimine summo proditor adportet suspensa morte salutem numquam gratus erit. damnamus luce reperta
1 mss. in primo ; Birt suggests invito, Koch infirmo 1 See note on viii. 401.
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THE WAR AGAINST GILDO, I
East quarrel with those of the West ? Can Gildo's salvation be fit guerdon for this mad rivalry ? Great no doubt are his virtues, great should be the price paid to preserve them and such his merits as to banish affection in a brother. Look you, though I, thy sire, willed it not, civil war raged ; the fortunes of Rome stood on a razor's edge. Was there a distant king of Armenia, an unknown monarch by Maeotis' shore but sent aid to mine enterprises ? The Getae gave me succour, the Geloni came to my assistance. Gildo alone sent not a man, not a ship, but waited
the issue in wavering loyalty. Had he sought the confronting host as an open foe my wrath had been less bitter. He stood apart on Fortune's watch- tower and, withdrawn from the throng, weighed this side against that,meaning to let the event decide him, dependent upon the turn things might take and ready to embrace the side of the victor. His fortune hung in the balance as well as his intention. Had I not been hurried to heaven by the impatient stars I would have followed the example of Tullus Hostilius and dragged the impious wretch limb from limb fastened to chariots driven different ways through thorn bushes. 1
Up to this time he has owed obedience to thy brother, now behold he spurns his commands. After thy father's and thy brother's fate art thou ready to trust thyself to such a villain ? Is thine answer that he maketh great return and hath brought over many cities to thine allegiance ? Shall honour, then, give place to utility ? Can gain render treachery welcome ? I make no mention of his cruel betrayal of thy brother ; of his fickle nature ; were a traitor to bring safety even when at peril's height death threatened, never shall he win gratitude. When our life is saved
117
C^AUDIAN
perfidiam nec nos patimur committere tali. 265 hoc genus emptori cives cum moenibus offert,
hoc vendit patriam. plerique in tempus abusi
mox odere tamen : tenuit sic Graia Philippus
oppida ; Pellaeo libertas concidit auro.
Romani scelerum semper sprevere ministros. 270 noxia pollicitum domino miscere venena
Fabricius regi nudata fraude remisit,
infesto quem Marte petit, bellumque negavit
per famuli patrare nefas, ductosque Camillus
trans murum pueros obsessae reddidit urbi. 275
" Traduntur poenis alii, cum proelia tollunt ;
hie manet ut moveat ? quod respuit alter in hostem, suscipis in fratrem ? longi pro dedecus aevi !
cui placet, australes Gildo condonat habenas
tantaque mutatos sequitur provincia mores. 280 quaslibet ad partes animus nutaverit aneeps, transfundit secum Libyam refluumque malignus commodat imperium. Mauri fuit Africa munus. tollite Massylas fraudes, removete bilingues
insidias et verba soli spirantia virum. 285
ne consanguineis certetur comminus armis,
ne, precor. haec trucibus Thebis, haec digna Myeenis ;
in Mauros hoc crimen eat.
molitur Stilicho ? quando non ille iubenti
" Quid noster iniquum
THE. WAR AGAINST GILDO, I
we condemn the treachery nor brook to entrust ourselves to such protection.
