No More Learning

What succeeding age and time but will marvel that a plot so widespread could be kept hid, a deed of such vast import concealed ; that the ardour of their minds was not rendered of no avail by the chance word of a soldier on the march or a drunkard's babbling ? But discretion ruled all alike and the people's secret was kept. The army crossed the Hebrus, left Rhodope behind, and struck across the uplands of Thrace until it came to the city called after Hercules. 1
When Rufinus learned that Stilicho had retired
and that his troops were approaching he held his
head high in triumph, believing everything safe, and, anxious to seize the power, inflamed his traitorous minions with this speech : " We have conquered ; have driven off our enemy ; empire is within my grasp, nor have we anything to fear from the foe. Will one who dared not approach me when I stood alone defeat me now that I am strengthened by the addition of so great a force ? Who could stand
him armed whom unarmed he could not conquer ? Plot my destruction in exile, friend
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incassum, Stilicho, dum nos longissima tellus dividat et mediis Nereus interstrepat undis.
Alpinas transire tibi me sospite rupes
haud dabitur. iaculis illinc me figere tempta. 305 quaere ferox ensem, qui nostra ad moenia tendi possit ab Italia. non te documenta priorum,
non exempla vetant ? quisnam conatus adire
has iactat vitasse manus ? detrusimus orbe
te medio tantisque simul spoliavimus armis. 310 nunc epulis tempus, socii, nunc larga parare
munera donandumque novis legionibus aurum ! opportuna meis oritur lux crastina votis.
quod nolit rex ipse velit iubeatque coactus
in partem mihi regna dari. contingat in uno 315 privati fugisse modum crimenque tyranni. "
Talibus adclamat dictis infame nocentum
concilium, qui perpetuis crevere rapinis
et quos una facit Rufino causa sodales,
inlicitum duxisse nihil ; funesta tacere 320 nexus amicitiae. iamiam conubia laeti
despondent aliena sibi frustraque vicissim
promittunt, quae quisque petat, quas devoret urbes. Coeperat humanos alto sopire labores
nox gremio, nigrasque sopor diffuderat alas. 325 ille diu curis animum stimulantibus aegre
labitur in somnos. toto vix corde quierat,
ecce videt diras adludere protinus umbras,
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THE SECOND BOOK AGAINST RUFINUS
Stilicho. What harm can that do so long as a vast stretch of country divide us and Nereus' waves thunder between ? Thou shalt have no chance of crossing the rocky Alps while I live. Transfix me from thence with thine arrows, if thou canst. Seek in thy fury a sword that from Italy shall reach my city's walls. Does not the experience and the example of those who have tried before deter thee ? Who that has dared approach can boast escape from my hands ?
I have driven thee from the centre of the civilized world and at the same time deprived thee of thy great army. Now, my friends, is come
the time for feasting and making ready bountiful gifts and bestowing gold upon these new legions.
To-morrow's light dawns prosperously for my purpose. Needs must the emperor will what he would not and bid a portion of his empire to be given to me. Mine alone be the happy fortune to rise above a private estate and yet escape the charge of tyranny. " —
To such words they shout acclaim that vile band of traitors, waxed fat on plunder, whom one principle makes fellows with Rufinus, the holding nothing unlawful, and whose bond of friendship is to guard guilt in silence. Straightway they joyfully promise themselves foreign wives and all to no
purpose forecast the booty they will win and the cities they will sack.
Night had begun to soothe human toils in her
deep bosom and sleep had spread his black wings when Rufinus, whose mind had long been a prey to anxiety, sank into a troubled slumber. Scarce had
fastened on his heart when, lo, he sees flit before his eyes the dread ghosts of those whom he
quiet
VOL. i g 81
CLAUDIAN
quas dedit ipse neci ; quarum quae clarior una
visa loqui : " pro ! surge toro. quid plurima volvis 330 anxius ? haec requiem rebus finemque labori adlatura dies : omni iam plebe redibis
altior et laeti manibus portabere vulgi. "
has canit ambages. occulto fallitur ille
omine nec capitis sentit praesagia fixi. 335
Iam summum radiis stringebat Lucifer Haemum
festinamque rotam solito properantior urget
tandem Rufini visurus funera Titan :
desiluit stratis densaeque capacia turbae
atria regifico iussit splendere paratu 340 exceptura dapes et, quod post vota daretur,
insculpi propriis aurum fatale figuris.
ipse salutatum reduces post proelia turmas
iam regale tumens et principe celsior ibat
collaque femineo solvebat mollia gestu 345 imperii certus, tegeret ceu purpura dudum
corpus et ardentes ambirent tempora gemmae.
Urbis ab angusto tractu, qua vergit in austrum, planities vicina patet : nam cetera pontus
circuit exiguo dirimi se limite passus. 350 hie ultrix acies ornatu lucida Martis
explicuit cuneos. pedites in parte sinistra consistunt. equites illinc poscentia cursum
ora reluctantur pressis sedare lupatis ;
hinc alii saevum cristato vertice nutant 355 et tremulos umeris gaudent vibrare colores,
quos operit formatque chalybs ; coniuncta per artem
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THE SECOND BOOK AGAINST RUFINUS
had killed. Of them one, more"distinct than the rest, seemed thus to address him : Up from thy couch ! why schemes thine anxious mind further ? This coming day shall bring thee rest and end thy toils. High above the people shalt thou be raised, and happy crowds shall carry thee in their arms. " Such was the ambiguous prophecy of the ghost, but Rufinus observed not the hidden omen and saw not it fore told the elevation of his severed head upon a spear.
Now Lucifer touched the peak of Haemus with
his rays and Titan urged his hastening wheel quicker than his wont, so soon to see at last the death of Rufinus. Rufinus himself leapt from his bed and bade make ready the capacious palace with regal splendour in preparation for the feast ; the gold to be given in largesse he ordered to be stamped with his own fateful image. Himself went to welcome the troops returning from the battle in kingly pride and arrogance above a prince's. Sure now of empire he wore a woman's raiment about his neck ; as though the purple already clothed his limbs and the jewelled crown blazed upon his brow.
Hard by a crowded quarter of the city of Con stantinople, towards the south, there lies a plain. The rest is surrounded by the sea which here allows itself to be parted by a narrow way. Here the avenging army, bright with the panoply of the war god, disposes its squadrons. On the left stands the infantry. Over against them the cavalry seek to restrain their eager steeds by holding tight the reins. Here nod the savage waving plumes whose wearers rejoice- to shake the flashing colours of their shoulder armour ; for steel clothes them on and gives them their shape ; the limbs within
83
CLAUDIAN
flexilis inductis animatur lamina membris ;
horribiles visu : credas simulacra moveri
ferrea cognatoque viros spirare metallo. 360 par vestitus equis : ferrata fronte minantur ferratosque levant securi vulneris armos.
diviso stat quisque loco, metuenda voluptas
cernenti pulcherque timor, spirisque remissis mansuescunt varii vento cessante dracones. 365
Augustus veneranda prior vexilla salutat.
Rufinus sequitur, quo fallere cuncta solebat
callidus adfatu, devotaque brachia laudat ;
nomine quemque vocat ; natos patresque reversis nuntiat incolumes. illi dum plurima ficto 370 certatim sermone petunt, extendere longos
a tergo flexus insperatoque suprema
circuitu sociare parant ; decrescere campus
incipit, et clipeis in se redeuntia iunctis
curvo paulatim sinuantur cornua ductu : 375 sic ligat inmensa virides indagine saltus
venator ; sic attonitos ad litora pisces
aequoreus populator agit rarosque plagarum
contrahit anfractus et hiantes colligit oras.
excludunt alios, cingi se fervidus ille 380 nescit adhuc graviterque adprensa veste morantem increpat Augustum : scandat sublime tribunal, participem sceptri, socium declaret honoris —
cum subito stringunt gladios ; vox desuper ingens infremuit : " nobis etiam, deterrime, nobis 385
1 Claudian refers to the devices emblazoned upon the banners.
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THE SECOND BOOK AGAINST RUFINUS
give life to the armour's pliant scales so artfully conjoined, and strike terror into the beholder. 'Tis as though iron statues moved and men lived cast from that same metal. The horses are armed in the same way ; their heads are encased in threaten ing iron, their forequarters move beneath steel plates protecting them from wounds ; each stands alone, a pleasure yet a dread to behold, beautiful, yet terrible, and as the wind drops the parti coloured dragons 1 sink with relaxing coils into repose.
The emperor first salutes the hallowed standards ; Rufinus follows him, speaking with that crafty voice wherewith he deceived all, praising their devoted arms and addressing each by name. He tells those who have returned that their sons and fathers are still alive. The soldiers, observing a feigned rivalry in asking questions, begin to extend their long lines behind his back and to join up the ends so as to form a circle unnoticed by Rufinus. The space in the centre grows smaller and the wings meeting with serried shields gradually form into one lessening circle. Even so the huntsman surrounds the grassy glades with his widespread snares : so the spoiler of the ocean drives to land the frightened fish, narrowing the circuit of his nets and closing up all possible ways of egress. All others they exclude. In his eagerness he notes not yet that he is being surrounded and, strongly seizing his robe, chides the hesitating emperor : let him mount the lofty platform and declare him sharer in his sceptre, partaker in his dignities — when suddenly they draw their swords and " above the rest there rang out a mighty voice : Basest of the base, didst
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sperasti famulas imponere posse catenas ? unde redi nescis ? patiarne audire satelles,
qui leges aliis libertatemque reduxi ?
bis domitum civile nefas, bis rupimus Alpes.
tot nos bella docent nulli servire tyranno. " 390
Deriguit. spes nulla fugae ; seges undique ferri circumfusa mieat ; dextra laevaque revinctus
haesit et ensiferae stupuit mucrone coronae,
ut fera, quae nuper montes amisit avitos
altorumque exul nemorum damnatur harenae 395 muneribus, commota ruit ; vir murmure contra hortatur nixusque genu venabula tendit ;
illa pavet strepitus cuneosque erecta theatri respicit et tanti miratur sibila vulgi.
Unus per medios audendi pronior ense 400 prosilit exerto dictisque et vulnere torvus
impetit : " hac Stilicho, quem iactas pellere, dextra te ferit ; hoc absens invadit viscera ferro. "
sic fatur meritoque latus transverberat ictu.
Felix illa manus, talem quae prima cruorem 405
hauserit et fessi poenam libaverit orbis !
mox omnes laniant hastis artusque trementes dilacerant ; uno tot corpore tela tepescunt
et non infecto puduit mucrone revert). 86
THE SECOND BOOK AGAINST RUFINUS
thou hope to cast upon us the yoke of slavery ? Knowest thou not whence I return ? Shall I allow myself to be called another's servant, I who gave laws to others and restored the reign of liberty ? Two civil wars have I quenched, twice forced the
barrier of the Alps. These many battles have taught me to serve no tyrant. "
Rufinus stood rooted to earth. There is no hope
of escape, for a forest of flashing spears hems him in. Shut in on the right hand and on the left he stood and gazed in wonder on the drawn blades of the armed throng ; as a beast who has lately left his native hills, driven in exile from the wooded mountains and condemned to the gladiatorial shows, rushes into the arena while, over against him the gladiator, heartened by the crowd's applause, kneels and holds out his spear. The beast, alarmed at the noise, gazes with head erect upon the rows of seats in the amphitheatre and hears with amaze ment the murmuring of the crowd.
Then one more daring than the rest drew his sword and leapt forward from the crowd and with fierce words and flashing eye rushed upon Rufinus
"It is the hand of Stilicho whom thou vauntest that thou didst expel that smites thee ; his sword, which thou thoughtest far away, that
crying :
heart. " So spake he and transfixed Rufinus' side with a well-deserved thrust.
Happy the hand that first spilt such vile blood and poured out vengeance for a world made weary. Straightway all pierce him with their spears and
tear quivering limb from limb ; one single body warms all these weapons with its blood ; shame to him whose sword returns unstained therewith.
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pierces thy
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hi vultus avidos et adhuc spirantia vellunt 410 lumina, truncates alii rapuere lacertos.
amputat ille pedes, umerum quatit ille solutis nexibus ; hie fracti reserat curvamina dorsi ;
hie iecur, hie cordis fibras, hie pandit anhelas pulmonis latebras. spatium non invenit ira 415 nee locus est odiis. consumpto funere vix tum deseritur sparsumque perit per tela cadaver.
sic mons Aonius rubuit, cum Penthea ferrent Maenades aut subito mutatum Actaeona cornu traderet insanis Latonia visa Molossis. 420 criminibusne tuis credis, Fortuna, mederi
et male donatum certas aequare favorem
suppliciis ? una tot milia morte rependis ?
eversis agedum Rufinum divide terris.
da caput Odrysiis, truncum mereantur Achivi. 425 quid reliquis dabitur ? nec singula membra peremptis sufficiunt populis.
Vacuo plebs undique muro iam secura fluit ; senibus non obstitit aetas
virginibusve pudor ; viduae, quibus ille maritos abstulit, orbataeque ruunt ad gaudia matres 430 insultantque alacres. laceros iuvat ire per artus
pressaque calcato vestigia sanguine tingui. nec minus adsiduis flagrant elidere saxis
prodigiale caput, quod iam de cuspide summa 88
THE SECOND BOOK AGAINST RUFINUS
They stamp on that face of greed and while yet he lives pluck out his eyes ; others seize and carry off his severed arms. One cuts off his foot, another wrenches a shoulder from the torn sinews ; one lays bare the ribs of the cleft spine, another his liver, his heart, his still panting lungs. There is not space enough to satisfy their anger nor room to wreak their hate. Scarce when his death had been accomplished do they leave him ; his body is hacked in pieces and the fragments borne on the soldiers' spears. Thus red with blood ran the Boeotian mountain when the Maenads caused Pentheus' destruction or when Latona's daughter seen by Actaeon betrayed the huntsman, suddenly transformed into a stag, to the fury of her Molossian hounds. Dost thou hope, Fortune, thus to right thy wrongs ? Seekest thou to atone by this meting out of punishment for favour ill bestowed ? Dost thou with one death make payment for ten thousand murders ? Come, portion out Rufinus' corpse among the lands he has
Give the Thracians his head ; let Greece have as her due his body. What shall be given the rest ? Give but a limb apiece, there are not enough for the peoples he has ruined.
The citizens leave the town and hasten exulting to the spot from every quarter, old men and girls among them whom nor age nor sex could keep at home. 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
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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
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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
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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.
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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.
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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
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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.
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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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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.