No More Learning

die, maxima rerum ! 130
1 Maximus and Eugenius. See Introduction, p. ix. 10
PANEGYRIC ON PROBINUS AND OLYBRIUS
goal : it is there where in their furthermost parts the Alps narrow their approaches into tortuous valleys and extend their adamantine bars of piled-up rocks. No other hand could unlock that gate, as, to their cost, those two tyrants 1 found ; to the Emperor only they offer a way. The smoke of towers o'er- thrown and of ruined fortresses ascends to heaven.
men are piled up on a heap and bring the lowest valley equal with the hills ; corpses
welter in their blood ; the very shades are con founded with the inrush of the slain.
Close at hand the victor, Theodosius, happy that
his warfare is accomplished, sits upon the green sward, his shoulders leaning against a tree. Trium phant earth crowned her lord and flowers sprang up from prouder banks. The sweat is still warm upon his body, his breath comes panting, but calm shines his countenance beneath his helmet. Such is Mars, when with deadly slaughter he has devastated the Geloni and thereafter rests, a dread figure, in the Getic plain, while Bellona, goddess of war,
lightens him of his armour and unyokes his dust- stained coursers ; an outstretched spear, a huge cornel trunk, arms his hand and flashes its tremulous splendour over Hebrus* stream.
When Rome had ended her airy journey and now stood before her lord, thrice thundered the conscious rocks and the black wood shuddered in awe. First to speak was the hero : " Goddess and friend, mother of laws, thou whose empire is conterminous with heaven, thou that art called the consort of the Thunderer, say what hath caused thy coming : why leavest thou the towns of Italy and thy native clime ? Say, queen of the world. Were it thy
11
Slaughtered
CLAUDIAN
non ego vel Libycos cessem tolerare labores Sarmaticosve pati medio sub frigore Cauros,
si tu, Roma, velis ; pro te quascumque per oras
ibimus et nulla sub tempestate timentes
solstitio Meroen, bruma temptabimus Histrum. " 135 Tum regina refert : " non me latet, inclite rector,
quod tua pro Latio victricia castra laborant
nec quod servitium rursus Furiaeque rebelles edomitae paribus sub te cecidere triumphis.
sed precor hoc donum cum libertate recenti 140 adicias, si vera manet reverentia nostri.
sunt mihi pubentes alto de semine fratres,
pignora cara Probi, festa quos luce creatos
ipsa meo fovi gremio. cunabula parvis
ipsa dedi, cum matris onus Lucina beatum 145 solver et et magnos proferrent sidera partus.
his ego nec Decios pulchros fortesve Metellos praetulerim, non, qui Poenum domuere ferocem, Scipiadas Gallisque genus fatale Camillos.
Pieriis pollent studiis multoque redundant 150 eloquio ; nec desidiis dapibusve paratis
indulgere iuvat nec tanta licentia vitae
adripit aut mores aetas lasciva relaxat :
sed gravibus curis animum sortita senilem
ignea longaevo frenatur corde iuventus. 155 illis, quam propriam ducunt ab origine, sortem oramus praebere velis annique futurum
devoveas venientis iter. non improba posco,
non insueta dabis : domus haec de more requirit.
adnue : sic nobis Scythicus famuletur Araxes, 160 12
PANEGYRIC ON PROBINUS AND OLYBRIUS
wish I would not shrink from toiling neath a
sun nor from the cold winds of a Russian midwinter. At thy behest I will traverse all lands and fearing no season of the year will hazard Meroe in summer and the Danube in winter. "
Libyan
Full well know I, far-famed ruler, that thy victorious armies toil for Italy, and that once again servitude and furious rebels have given way before thee, overthrown in one and the same battle. Yet I pray thee add to our late won liberty this further boon, if in very truth thou still reverest me. There are among my citizens two young brothers of noble lineage, the dearly loved sons of Probus, born on a festal day and reared in my own bosom. 'Twas I gave the little ones their cradles when the goddess of childbirth
Then the Queen answered :
"
freed their mother's womb from its blessed burden
and heaven brought to light her glorious offspring. To these I would not prefer the noble Decii nor the brave Metelli, no, nor the Scipios who overcame the warlike Carthaginians nor the Camilli, that family fraught with ruin for the Gauls. The Muses have endowed them with full measure of their skill ; their eloquence knows no bounds. Theirs not to wanton in sloth and banquets spread ; unbridled pleasure
tempts them not, nor can the lure of youth under mine their characters. Gaining from weighty cares an old man's mind, their fiery youth is bridled by a greybeard's wisdom. That fortune to which their birth entitles them I beg thee assure them and appoint for them the path of the coming year.
'Tis no unreasonable request and will be no unheard- of boon. Their birth demands it should be so. Grant it ; so may Scythian Araxes be our vassal
13
CLAUDIAN
sic Rhenus per utrumque latus, Medisque subactis nostra Semiramiae timeant insignia turres ;
sic fluat attonitus Romana per oppida Ganges. "
Ductor ad haec : " optata iubes ultroque volentem,
diva, rogas ; non haec precibus temptanda fuissent. usque adeone meam condunt oblivia mentem, 166 ut pigeat meminisse Probi, quo vindice totam vidimus Hesperiam fessasque resurgere gentes ?
ante dabunt hiemes Nilum, per flumina dammae errabunt glacieque niger damnabitur Indus, 170 ante Thyesteis iterum conterrita mensis
intercisa dies refugos vertetur in ortus,
quam Probus a nostro possit discedere sensu. "
Dixerat et velox iam nuntius advolat urbem. extemplo strepuere chori collesque canoris 175
plausibus impulsi septena voce resultant,
laetatur veneranda parens et pollice docto
iam parat auratas trabeas cinctusque micantes stamine, quod molli tondent de stipite Seres
frondea lanigerae carpentes vellera silvae, 180 et longum tenues tractus producit in aurum
filaque concreto cogit squalere metallo :
qualis purpureas praebebat candida vestes
numinibus Latona suis, cum sacra redirent
ad loca nutricis iam non errantia Deli, 185
illa feros saltus et desolata relinquens Maenala lassato certis venatibus arcu, Phoebus adhuc nigris rorantia tela venenis extincto Pythone gerens ; tunc insula notos
PANEGYRIC ON PROBINUS AND OLYBRIUS
and Rhine's either bank ; so may the Mede be o'erthrown and the towers that Semiramis built yield to our standards, while amazed Ganges flows between Roman cities. "
To this the king : " Goddess, thou biddest me do what I would fain do and askest a boon that I wish to grant : thy entreaties were not needed for this. Does forgetfulness so wholly cloud my mind that I will not remember Probus, beneath whose leadership I have seen all Italy and her war-weary peoples come again to prosperity ? Winter shall cause Nile's rising, hinds shall make rivers their element, dark- flowing Indus shall be ice-bound, terror-stricken once again by the banquet of Thyestes the sun
shall stay his course and fly for refuge back into the east, all this ere Probus can fade from my memory. " He spake, and now the speedy messenger hies him to Rome. Straightway the choirs chant and the
seven hills re-echo their tuneful applause. Joy is in the heart of that aged mother whose skilled fingers
now make ready gold-embroidered vestment and garments agleam with the thread which the Seres comb out from their delicate plants, gathering the leafy fleece of the wool-bearing trees. These long threads she draws out to an equal length with the threads of gold and by intertwining them makes
one golden cord ; as fair Latona gave scarlet gar ments to her divine offspring when they returned to the now firm-fixed shrine of Delos their foster- island, Diana leaving the forest glades and bleak Maenalus, her unerring bow wearied with much hunting, and Phoebus bearing the sword still drip ping with black venom from the slaughtered Python. Then their dear island laved the feet of its acknow
15
CLAUDIAN
lambit amica pedes ridetque Aegaeus alumnis 190 lenior et blando testatur gaudia fluctu.
Sic Proba praecipuo natos exornat amictu : quae decorat mundum, cuius Romana potestas fetibus augetur. credas ex aethere lapsam
stare Pudicitiam vel sacro ture vocatam 195 Iunonem Inachiis oculos advertere templis.
talem nulla refert antiquis pagina libris
nec Latiae cecinere tubae nec Graeca vetustas. coniuge digna Probo ; nam tantum coetibus extat femineis, quantum supereminet ille maritos. 200
ceu sibi certantes, sexus quid possit uterque, hunc legere torum. taceat Nereida nuptam Pelion. o duplici fecundam consule matrem felicemque uterum, qui nomina parturit annis !
Ut sceptrum gessere manu membrisque rigentes aptavere togas, signum dat summus hiulca 206 nube Pater gratamque facem per inane rotantes prospera vibrati tonuerunt omina nimbi.
accepit sonitus curvis Tiberinus in antris
ima valle sedens. adrectis auribus haesit, 210 unde repentinus populi fragor. ilicet herbis pallentes thalamos et structa cubilia musco
deserit ac Nymphis urnam commendat erilem.
illi glauca nitent hirsuto lumina vultu
caeruleis infecta notis, reddentia patrem 215 Oceanum ; crispo densantur gramine colla ;
vertice luxuriat toto crinalis harundo,
1 Anicia Faltonia Proba. She was still alive in 410 and according to Procopius (Bell. Vand. i. 2) opened the gates of Rome to Alaric.
16
PANEGYRIC ON PROBINUS AND OLYBRIUS
ledged deities, the Aegean smiled more gently on its nurslings, the Aegean whose soft ripples bore witness to its joy.
So Proba1 adorns her children with vestment rare, Proba, the world's glory, by whose increase the power of Rome, too, is increased. You would have thought her Modesty's self fallen from heaven or Juno, summoned by sacred incense, turning her eyes on the shrines of Hellas. No page in ancient
tells of such a mother, no Latin Muse nor old Grecian tale. Worthy is she of Probus for a husband, for he surpassed all husbands as she all wives. 'Twas as though in rivalry either sex had done its uttermost and so brought about this mar
story
Let Pelion vaunt no more that Nereid bride. 2 Happy thou that art the mother of consuls twain, blessed thy womb whose offspring have given the year their name for its own.
So soon as their hands held the sceptres and the jewel-studded togas had enfolded their limbs the almighty Sire vouchsafes a sign with riven cloud
and the shaken heavens, projecting a welcoming flash through the void, thundered with prosperous omen. Father Tiber, seated in that low valley, heard the sound in his labyrinthine cave. He stays with ears pricked up wondering whence this sudden popular clamour comes. Straightway he leaves his couch of green leaves, his mossy bed, and entrusts his urn to his attendant nymphs. Grey eyes necked with blue shine out from his shaggy countenance, recalling his father Oceanus ; thick curled grasses cover his neck and lush sedge crowns his head.
a Thetis, daughter of Nereus, was married to Achilles on Mount Pelion in Thessaly.
vol. i c 17
riage.
CLAUDIAN
quam neque fas Zephyris frangi nec sole perustam aestivo candore mori ; sed vivida frondet
aequaevum complexa caput. taurina levantur 220 cornua temporibus raucos sudantia rivos ;
distillant per pectus aquae ; frons hispida manat imbribus ; in liquidos fontes se barba repectit.
palla graves umeros velat, quam neverat uxor
Ilia percurrens vitreas sub gurgite telas. 225
Est in Romuleo procumbens insula Thybri qua medius geminas interfluit alveus urbes discretas subeunte freto, pariterque minantes ardua turrigerae surgunt in culmina ripae.
hic stetit et subitum prospexit ab aggere votum: 230 unanimos 1 fratres iuncto stipante senatu
ire forum strictasque procul radiare secures atque uno biiuges toUi de limine fasces, obstupuit visu suspensaque gaudia vocem
tenuere diu ; mox incohat ore : 235 " Respice, si tales iactas aluisse fluentis,
Eurota Spartane, tuis. quid protulit aequum
falsus olor, valido quamvis decernere caestu
noverit et ratibus saevas arcere procellas ?
en nova Ledaeis suboles fulgentior astris, 240 ecce mei cives, quorum iam Signifer optat
adventum stellisque parat convexa futuris.
iam per noctivagos dominetur Olybrius axes
pro Polluce rubens, pro Castore flamma Probini.
1 Birt, following mss. , unanimes; Koch unanimos
1 Jupiter, who courted Leda in the form of a swan, becoming by her the father of Helen, Clytemnestra, Castor and Pollux. These latter two were the patrons of the ring— hence "decernere" caestu" 238); and of sailors —hence "arcere procellas 239).
18
oppressam
(1.
(1.
PANEGYRIC ON PROBINUS AND OLYBRIUS
This the Zephyrs may not break nor the summer sun scorch to withering ; it lives and burgeons around those brows immortal as itself. From his temples sprout horns like those of a bull ; from these pour babbling streamlets ; water drips upon his breast, showers pour down his hair-crowned forehead, flowing rivers from his parted beard. There clothes his massy shoulders a cloak woven by his wife Ilia, who threaded the crystalline loom beneath the flood.
There lies in Roman Tiber's stream an island where the central flood washes as 'twere two cities
parted by the sundering waters : with equal threaten ing height the tower-clad banks rise in lofty build
Here stood Tiber and from this eminence beheld his prayer of a sudden fulfilled, saw the twin-souled brothers enter the Forum amid the
ings.
press of thronging senators, the bared axes gleam afar and both sets of fasces brought forth from one threshold. He stood amazed at the sight and for a long time incredulous joy held his voice in check. Yet soon he thus began :
" Behold, Eurotas, river of Sparta, boastest thou that thy streams have ever nurtured such as these ? Did that false swan1 beget a child to rival them, though 'tis true his sons could fight with the heavy glove and save ships from cruel tempests ? Behold new offspring outshining the stars to which Leda
gave birth, men of my city for whose coming the Zodiac is now awatch, making ready his hollow tract of sky for a constellation that is to be. Hence forth let Olybrius rule the nightly sky, shedding his ruddy light where Pollux once shone, and where glinted Castor's fires there let glitter Probinus'
19
CLAUDIAN
ipsi vela regent, ipsis donantibus auras 245 navita tranquillo moderabitur aequore pinum.
nunc pateras libare deis, nunc solvere multo
nectare corda libet. niveos iam pandite coetus, Naides, et totum violis praetexite fontem ;
mella ferant silvae ; iam profluat ebrius amnis 250 mutatis in vina vadis ; iam sponte per agros
sudent inriguae spirantia balsama venae !
currat, qui sociae roget in convivia mensae
indigenas Fluvios, Italis quicumque suberrant montibus Alpinasque bibunt de more pruinas : 255 Vulturnusque rapax et Nar vitiatus odoro
sulphure tardatusque suis erroribus Ufens
et Phaethonteae perpessus damna ruinae
Eridanus flavaeque terens querceta Maricae
Liris et Oebaliae qui temperat arva Galaesus. 260 semper honoratus nostris celebrabitur undis
iste dies, semper dapibus recoletur opimis. "
Sic ait et Nymphae patris praecepta secutae
tecta parant epulis ostroque infecta corusco
umida gemmiferis inluxit regia mensis. 265
O bene signatum fraterno nomine tempus ! o consanguineis felix auctoribus annus,
incipe quadrifidum Phoebi torquere laborem.
prima tibi procedat hiems non frigore torpens,
non canas vestita nives, non aspera ventis, 270 sed tepido calefacta Noto ; ver inde serenum protinus et liquidi clementior aura Favoni
pratis te croceis pingat ; te messibus aestas
20
PANEGYRIC ON PROBINUS AND OLYBRIUS
flame. These shall direct men's sails and vouchsafe those breezes whereby the sailor shall guide his bark o'er the calm ocean. Let us now pour libation to the new gods and ease our hearts with copious draughts of nectar. Naiads, now spread your snowy bands, wreath every brow with violets . Let the woods bring forth honey and the drunken river roll, its waters changed to wine ; let the watering streams that vein the fields give off the scent of balsam spice. Let one run and invite to the feast and banquet- board all the rivers of our land, even all that wander beneath the mountains of Italy and drink as their portion the Alpine snows, swift Vulturnus and Nar infected with ill-smelling sulphur, Ufens whose
his course and Eridanus into whose waters Phaethon fell headlong ; Liris who laves Marica's golden oak groves and Galaesus
who tempers the fields of Sparta's colony Tarentum. This day shall always be held in honour and observed by our rivers and its anniversary ever celebrated with rich feastings. "
So spake he, and the Nymphs, obeying their sire's behest, made ready the rooms for the banquet, and
the watery palace, ablaze with gleaming purple, shone with jewelled tables.
O happy months to bear these brothers' name ! O year blessed to own such a pair as overlords, begin thou to turn the laborious wheel of Phoebus' four
fold circle. First let thy winter pursue its course, sans numbing cold, not clothed in white snow nor torn by rough blasts, but warmed with the south wind's breath : next, be thy spring calm from the outset and let the limpid west wind's gentler breeze flood thy meads with yellow flowers.
21
meanderings delay
CLAUDIAN
induat autumnusque madentibus ambiat uvis.
omni nobilior lustro, tibi gloria soli 275 contigit exactum numquam memorata per aevum, germanos habuisse duces ; te cuncta loquetur
tellus ; te variis scribent in floribus Horae
longaque perpetui ducent in saecula fasti.
PANEGYRIC ON PROBINUS AND OLYBRIUS
May summer crown thee with harvest and autumn store thee with luscious grapes. An honour that no age has ever yet known, a privilege never yet heard of in times gone by, this has been thine and thine alone — to have had brothers as thy consuls. The whole world shall tell of thee, the Hours shall
inscribe thy name in various flowers, and age-long annals hand thy fame down through the long centuries.
23
IN RUFINUM LIBER PRIMUS
INCIPIT PRAEFATIO
(II)
Phoebeo domitus Python cum decidit arcu membraque Cirrhaeo fudit anhela iugo,
qui spiris tegeret montes, hauriret hiatu flumina, sanguineis tangeret astra iubis :
iam liber Parnasus erat nexuque soluto 5 coeperat erecta surgere fronde nemus
diu spatiosis tractibus orni securas ventis explicuere comas
concussaeque
et qui vipereo spumavit saepe veneno
Cephisos nitidis purior ibat aquis. 10
omnis " io Paean " regio sonat ; omnia Phoebum rura canunt ; tripodas plenior aura rotat,
auditoque procul Musarum carmine dulci ad Themidis coeunt antra severa dei.
Nunc alio domini telis Pythone perempto 15 convenit ad nostram sacra caterva lyram,
qui stabilem servans Augustis fratribus orbem iustitia pacem, viribus arma regit.
24
THE FIRST BOOK AGAINST RUFINUS PREFACE
(II)
When Python had fallen, laid low by the arrow of Phoebus, his dying limbs outspread o'er Cirrha's heights —Python, whose coils covered whole moun tains, whose maw swallowed rivers and whose
crest touched the stars — then Parnassus was free and the woods, their serpent fetters shaken off, began to grow tall with lofty trees. The moun tain - ashes, long shaken by the dragon's sinuous coils, spread their leaves securely to the breeze, and Cephisus, who had so often foamed with his poisonous venom, now flowed a purer stream with limpid wave. The whole country echoed with the cry,
bloody
" hail, Healer "
fuller wind shakes the tripod, and the gods, hearing the Muses' sweet song from afar off, gather in the
: land every
Phoebus' A praise.
sang
dread caverns of Themis.
A blessed band comes together to hear my song,
now that a second Python has been slain by the weapons of that master of ours who made the rule
of the brother Emperors hold the world
steady, observing justice in peace and showing vigour
in war.
25
LIBER I
(III)
Saepe mihi dubiam traxit sententia mentem curarent superi terras an nullus inesset
rector et incerto fluerent mortalia casu.
nam cum dispositi quaesissem foedera mundi praescriptosque mari fines annisque meatus 5 et lucis noctisque vices : tunc omnia rebar
consilio firmata dei, qui lege moveri
sidera, qui fruges diverso tempore nasci,
qui variam Phoeben alieno iusserit igni
compleri Solemque suo, porrexerit undis 10 litora, tellurem medio libraverit axe.
sed cum res hominum tanta caligine volvi
adspicerem laetosque diu florere nocentes
vexarique pios, rursus labefacta cadebat
relligio causaeque viam non sponte sequebar 16 alterius, vacuo quae currere semina motu
adfirmat magnumque novas per inane figuras
fortuna non arte regi, quae numina sensu
ambiguo vel nulla putat vel nescia nostri.
26
Epicureanism.
BOOK I
(III)
My mind has often wavered between two opinions : have the gods a care for the world or is there no ruler therein and do mortal things drift as dubious chance dictates ? For when I investigated the laws and the ordinances of heaven and observed the sea's appointed limits, the year's fixed cycle and the alternation of light and darkness, then methought everything was ordained according to the direction of a God who had bidden the stars move by fixed laws, plants grow at different seasons, the changing moon fulfil her circle with borrowed light and the sun shine by his own, who spread the shore before the waves and balanced the world in the centre of the firmament. But when I saw the impenetrable mist which surrounds human affairs, the wicked happy and long prosperous and the good discom forted, then in turn my belief in God was weakened and failed, and even against mine own will I embraced the tenets of that other philosophy 1 which teaches that atoms drift in purposeless motion and that new forms throughout the vast void are shaped by chance and not design—that philosophy which believes in
God in an ambiguous sense, or holds that there be no gods, or that they are careless of our doings. At
27
CLAUDIAN
abstulit hunc tandem Rufini poena tumultum 20 absolvitque deos. iara non ad culmina rerum iniustos crevisse queror ; tolluntur in altum,
ut lapsu graviore ruant. vos pandite vati,
Pierides, quo tanta lues eruperit ortu.
Invidiae quondam stimulis incanduit atrox 25
Allecto, placidas late cum cerneret urbes.
protinus infernas ad limina taetra sorores
concilium deforme vocat. glomerantur in unum innumerae pestes Erebi, quascumque sinistro
Nox genuit fetu : nutrix Discordia belli, 30 imperiosa Fames, leto vicina Senectus
impatiensque sui Morbus Livorque secundis
anxius et scisso maerens velamine Luctus
et Timor et caeco praeceps Audacia vultu
et Luxus populator opum, quem semper adhaerens 35 infelix humili gressu comitatur Egestas,
foedaque Avaritiae complexae pectora matris insomnes longo veniunt examine Curae. complentur vario ferrata sedilia coetu
torvaque collectis stipatur curia monstris. 40 Allecto stetit in mediis vulgusque tacere
iussit et obstantes in tergum reppulit angues perque umeros errare dedit. tum corde sub imo inclusam rabidis patefecit vocibus iram :
" Sicine tranquillo produci saecula cursu, 45 sic fortunatas patiemur vivere gentes ?
quae nova corrupit nostros dementia mores ?
quo rabies innata perit ? quid inania prosunt
verbera ? quid facibus nequiquam cingimur atris ? 28
THE FIRST BOOK AGAINST RUFINUS
last Rufinus' fate has dispelled this uncertainty and freed the gods from this imputation. No longer can I complain that the unrighteous man reaches the highest pinnacle of success. He is raised aloft that he may be hurled down in more headlong
ruin. Muses, unfold to your poet whence sprang this grievous pest.
Dire Allecto once kindled with jealous wrath on
seeing widespread peace among the cities of men. Straightway she summons the hideous council of the nether-world sisters to her foul palace gates. Hell's numberless monsters are gathered together, Night's children of ill-omened birth . Discord, mother of war, imperious Hunger, Age, near neighbour to Death ; Disease, whose life is a burden to himself ; Envy that brooks not another's prosperity, woeful Sorrow with rent garments ; Fear and foolhardy Rashness with sightless eyes ; Luxury, destroyer of wealth, to whose side ever clings unhappy Want with humble tread, and the long company of sleep less Cares, hanging round the foul neck of their mother Avarice. The iron seats are filled with all this rout and the grim chamber is thronged with the monstrous crowd. Allecto stood in their midst and called for silence, thrusting behind her back the snaky hair that swept her face and letting it play over her shoulders. Then with mad utterance
she unlocked the anger deep hidden in her heart.
" Shall we allow the centuries to roll on in this even tenour, and man to live thus blessed ? What novel kindliness has corrupted our characters ? Where is our inbred fury ? Of what use the lash with none to* suffer beneath it ? Why this purposeless girdle of smoky torches ? Sluggards, ye,
29
CLAUDIAN
heu nimis ignavae, quas Iuppiter arcet Olympo, 50 Theodosius terris. en aurea nascitur aetas,
en proles antiqua redit. Concordia, Virtus
cumque Fide Pietas alta cervice vagantur insignemque canunt nostra de plebe triumphum.
pro dolor ! ipsa mihi liquidas delapsa per auras 55 Iustitia insultat vitiisque a stirpe recisis
elicit oppressas tenebroso carcere leges.
at nos indecores longo torpebimus aevo
omnibus eiectae regnis ! agnoscite tandem
quid Furias deceat ; consuetas sumite vires 60 conventuque nefas tanto decernite dignum.
iam cupio Stygiis invadere nubibus astra, iam flatu violare diem, laxare profundo frena mari, fluvios ruptis inmittere ripis
et rerum vexare fidem. "
Sic fata cruentum 65 mugiit et totos serpentum erexit hiatus
noxiaque effudit concusso crine venena.
anceps motus erat vulgi. pars maxima bellum indicit superis, pars Ditis iura veretur,
dissensuque alitur rumor : ceu murmurat alti 70 impacata quies pelagi, cum flamine fracto
durat adhuc saevitque tumor dubiumque per aestum lassa recedentis fluitant vestigia venti.
Improba mox surgit tristi de sede Megaera,
quam penes insani fremitus animique profanus 75 error et undantes spumis furialibus irae :
non nisi quaesitum cognata caede cruorem inlicitumve bibit, patrius quem fuderit ensis,
30
THE FIRST BOOK AGAINST RUFINUS
whom Jove has excluded from heaven, Theodosius from earth. Lo ! a golden age begins ; lo ! the old breed of men returns. Peace and Godliness,
Love and Honour hold high their heads throughout the world and sing a proud song of triumph over our conquered folk. Justice herself (oh the pity of
it down - gliding through the limpid air, exults over me and, now that crime has been cut down to the roots, frees law from the dark prison wherein she lay oppressed. Shall we, expelled from every land, lie this long age in shameful torpor Ere it be too late recognize a Fury's duty resume your wonted strength and decree crime worthy of this
Fain would shroud the stars in Stygian darkness, smirch the light of day with our breath, unbridle the ocean deeps, hurl rivers against their shattered banks, and break the bonds of the
universe. "
So spake she with cruel roar and uproused every
gaping serpent mouth as she shook her snaky locks and scattered their baneful poison. Of two minds was the band of her sisters. The greater number was for declaring war upon heaven, yet some respected still the ordinances of Dis and the uproar grew by reason of their dissension, even as the sea's calm not at once restored, but the deep still thunders when, for all the wind be dropped, the swelling tide yet flows, and the last weary winds of the departing storm play o'er the tossing waves.
Thereupon cruel Megaera rose from her funereal seat, mistress she of madness' howlings and impious ill and wrath bathed in fury's foam. No blood her
drink but that flowing from kindred slaughter and forbidden crime, shed by a father's, by a brother's
31
august assembly.
is
Ia
:
?
! ),
CLAUDIAN
quem dederint fratres ; haec terruit Herculis ora
et defensores terrarum polluit arcus, 80 haec Athamanteae direxit spicula dextrae,
haec Agamemnonios inter bacchata penates
alternis lusit iugulis ; hac auspice taedae
Oedipoden matri, natae iunxere Thyesten.
quae tunc horrisonis effatur talia dictis : 85
" Signa quidem, sociae, divos attollere contra
nec fas est nec posse reor ; sed laedere mundum
si libet et populis commune intendere letum.
est mihi prodigium cunctis inmanius hydris,
tigride mobilius feta, violentius Austris 90 acribus, Euripi fulvis incertius undis
Rufinus, quem prima meo de matre cadentem
suscepi gremio.
parvus reptavit in isto
saepe sinu teneroque per ardua colla volutus
ubera quaesivit fletu linguisque trisulcis 93 mollia lambentes finxerunt membra cerastae ;
meque etiam tradente dolos artesque nocendi
edidicit : simulare fidem sensusque minaces protegere et blando fraudem praetexere risu,
plenus saevitiae lucrique cupidine fervens. 100 non Tartesiacis illum satiaret harenis
tempestas pretiosa Tagi, non stagna rubentis
aurea Pactoli ; totumque exhauserit Hermum, ardebit maiore siti. quam fallere mentes
doctus et unanimos odiis turbare sodales ! 105 talem progenies hominum si prisca tulisset, Perithoum fugeret Theseus, offensus Orestem desereret Pylades, odisset Castora Pollux.
ipsa quidem fateor vinci rapidoque magistram
1 Athamas, king of Orchomenus, murdered his son Learchus in a fit of madness.
32
THE FIRST BOOK AGAINST RUFINUS
sword. 'Twas she made e'en Hercules afraid and
shame upon that bow that had freed the world of monsters ; she aimed the arrow in Athamas' 1 hand : she took her pleasure in murder after murder, a mad fury in Agamemnon's palace ; beneath her auspices wedlock mated Oedipus with his mother and Thyestes with his daughter. Thus then she speaks with dread-sounding words :
brought
" To raise our standards against the gods, my sisters, is neither right nor, methinks, possible ; but hurt the world we may, if such our wish, and bring an universal destruction upon its inhabitants. I have a monster more savage than the hydra brood, swifter than the mother tigress, fiercer than the south wind's blast, more treacherous than Euripus' yellow flood—Rufinus. I was the first to gather him, a new-born babe, to my bosom. Often did the child nestle in mine embrace and seek breast, his arms thrown about my neck in a flood of infant tears. My snakes shaped his soft limbs licking them with their three-forked tongues. I taught him guile whereby he learnt the arts of injury and deceit, how to conceal the intended
menace and cover his treachery with a smile, full- filled with savagery and hot with lust of gain. Him nor the sands of rich Tagus' flood by Tartessus' town could satisfy nor the golden waters of ruddy
id
Pactolus ; should he drink all Hermus' stream he would parch with the greedier thirst. How skilled
Had that old generation of men produced such an one as he, Theseus had fled Pirithous, Pylades deserted
to deceive and wreck friendships with hate !
Orestes in wrath, Pollux hated Castor. I confess myself his inferior : his quick genius has outstripped
vol.
33
my
CLAUDIAN
praevenit ingenio ; nec plus sermone morabor : 110 solus habet scelerum quidquid possedimus omnes. hunc ego, si vestrae res est accommoda turbae, regalem ad summi producam principis aulam.
sit licet ipse Numa gravior, sit denique Minos,
cedet et insidiis nostri flectetur alumni. " 115
Orantem sequitur clamor cunctaeque profanas porrexere manus inventaque tristia laudant.
illa ubi caeruleo vestes conexuit angue
nodavitque adamante comas, Phlegethonta sonorum poscit et ambusto flagrantis ab aggere ripae 120 ingentem piceo succendit gurgite pinum
pigraque veloces per Tartara concutit alas. Est locus extremum pandit qua Gallia litus
Oceani praetentus aquis, ubi fertur Ulixes
sanguine libato populum movisse silentem. 125 illic umbrarum tenui stridore volantum
flebilis auditur questus ; simulacra coloni
pallida defunctasque vident migrare figuras.
hinc dea prosiluit Phoebique egressa serenos
infecit radios ululatuque aethera rupit 130 terrifico : sentit ferale Britannia murmur
et Senonum quatit arva fragor revolutaque Tethys substitit et Rhenus proiecta torpuit urna.
tunc in canitiem mutatis sponte colubris
longaevum mentita senem rugisque seueras 135
persulcata genas et ficto languida passu invadit muros Elusae, notissima dudum
1 Their territory lay some sixty miles S. E. of Paris. Its chief town was Agedincum (mod. Sens).
2 Elusa (the modern Eauze in the Department of Gers) was the birthplace of Rufinus (c/. Zosim. iv. 51. 1).
34
THE FIRST BOOK AGAINST RUFINUS
his preceptress : in a word (that I waste not your time further) all the wickedness that is ours in common is his alone. Him will I introduce, if the plan commend itself to you, to the kingly palace of the emperor of the world. Be he wiser than Numa, be he Minos' self, needs must he yield and succumb to the treachery of my foster child. "
A shout followed her words : all stretched forth their impious hands and applauded the awful plot. When Megaera had gathered together her dress with the black serpent that girdled her, and bound her hair with combs of steel, she approached the sounding stream of Phlegethon, and seizing a tall
pine-tree from the scorched summit of the flaming bank kindled it in the pitchy flood, then plied her swift wings o'er sluggish Tartarus.
There is a place where Gaul stretches her further most shore spread out before the waves of Ocean : 'tis there that Ulysses is said to have called up the silent ghosts with a libation of blood. There is heard the mournful weeping of the spirits of the
dead as they flit by with faint sound of wings, and the inhabitants see the pale ghosts pass and the shades of the dead. 'Twas from here the goddess leapt forth, dimmed the sun's fair beams and clave the sky with horrid howlings. Britain felt the deadly sound, the noise shook the
country of the Senones,1 Tethys stayed her tide, and Rhine
let fall his urn and shrank his stream. Thereupon, in the guise of an old man, her serpent locks changed at her desire to snowy hair, her dread cheeks fur rowed with many a wrinkle and feigning weariness in her gait she enters the walls of Elusa,2 in search of the house she had long known so well. Long
35
CLAUDIAN
tecta petens, oculisque diu liventibus haesit peiorem mirata virum, tum talia fatur :
" Otia te, Rufine, iuvant frustraque iuventae 140 consumis florem patriis inglorius arvis ?
heu nescis quid fata tibi, quid sidera debent,
quid Fortuna parat : toto dominabere mundo,
si parere velis ! artus ne sperne seniles !
namque mihi magicae vires aevique futuri 145 praescius ardor inest ; novi quo Thessala cantu eripiat lunare iubar, quid signa sagacis
Aegypti valeant, qua gens Chaldaea vocatis
imperet arte deis, nec me latuere fluentes
arboribus suci funestarumque potestas 150
herbarum, quidquid letali gramine pollens Caucasus et Scythicae vernant in crimina1 rupes, quas legit Medea ferox et callida Circe.
saepius horrendos manes sacrisque litavi nocturnis Hecaten et condita funera traxi carminibus victura meis, multosque canendo, quamvis Parcarum restarent fila, peremi.
ire vagas quercus et fulmen stare coegi
versaque non prono curvavi flumina lapsu
in fontes reditura suos. ne vana locutum
me fortasse putes, mutatos cerne penates. " dixerat, et niveae (mirum ! ) coepere columnae ditari subitoque trabes lucere metallo.
Inlecebris capitur nimiumque elatus avaro pascitur aspectu. sic rex ad prima tumebat
155
160
165
1 gramina E : other codd. gramine. Birt. conjectures toxica, Heinsius carmina. / take Postdate's crimina
36
THE FIRST BOOK AGAINST RUFINUS
she stood and gazed with jealous eyes, marvelling at a man worse than herself; then spake she thus : " Does ease content thee, Rufinus ? Wastest thou
in vain the flower of thy youth inglorious thus in thy father's fields ? Thou knowest not what fate and the stars owe thee, what fortune makes ready. So thou wilt obey me thou shalt be lord of the whole world. Despise not an old man's feeble limbs : I have the gift of magic and the fire of prophecy is
within me. I have learned the incantations where with Thessalian witches pull down the bright moon, I know the meaning of the wise Egyptians' runes, the art whereby the Chaldeans impose their will upon the subject gods, the various saps that flow within trees and the power of deadly herbs ; all those that grow on Caucasus rich in poisonous plants, or, to man's bane, clothe the crags of Scythia ; herbs such as cruel Medea gathered and curious Circe. Often in nocturnal rites have I sought to
propitiate the dread ghosts and Hecate, and recalled
the shades of buried men to live again by my magic :
many, too, has my wizardry brought to destruction
the Fates had yet somewhat of their life's thread to spin. I have caused oaks to walk and the thunderbolt to stay his course, aye, and made rivers reverse their course and flow backwards to their fount. Lest thou perchance think these be but idle boasts behold the change of thine own house. " At these words the white pillars, to his amazement, began to turn into gold and the beams of a sudden to shine with metal.
His senses are captured by the bait, and, thrilled beyond measure, he feasts his greedy eyes on the
So Midas, king of Lydia, swelled at first 37
though
sight.
CLAUDIAN
Maeonius, pulchro cum verteret omnia tactu ;
sed postquam riguisse dapes fulvamque revinctos
in glaciem vidit latices, tum munus acerbum
sensit et inviso votum damnavit in auro.
ergo animi victus " sequimur quocumque vocabis, 170 seu tu vir seu numen " ait, patriaque relicta
Eoas Furiae iussu tendebat ad arces
instabilesque olim Symplegadas et freta remis
inclita Thessalicis, celsa qua Bosphorus urbe
splendet et Odrysiis Asiam discriminat oris. 175
Ut longum permensus iter ductusque maligno stamine fatorum claram subrepsit in aulam,
ilicet ambitio nasci, discedere rectum,
venum cuncta dari ; profert arcana, clientes
fallit et ambitos a principe vendit honores. 180 ingeminat crimen, commoti pectoris ignem
nutrit et exiguum stimulando vulnus acerbat.
ac velut innumeros amnes accedere Nereus
nescit et undantem quamvis hinc hauriat Histrum, hinc bibat aestivum septeno gurgite Nilum, 185 par semper similisque manet : sic fluctibus auri
expleri calor ille nequit. cuicumque monile contextum gemmis aut praedia culta fuissent,
Rufino populandus erat, dominoque parabat
exitium fecundus ager ; metuenda colonis 190 fertilitas : laribus pellit, detrudit avitis
38
THE FIRST BOOK AGAINST RUFINUS
with pride when he found he could transform every thing he touched to gold : but when he beheld his food grow rigid and his drink harden into golden ice then he understood that this gift was a bane and
in his loathing for the gold cursed his prayer. Thus Rufinus, overcome, cried out : " Whithersoever thou summonest me I follow, be thou man or god. " Then at the Fury's bidding he left his fatherland and approached the cities of the East, threading the once
and the seas renowned for the voyage of the Argo, ship of Thessaly, till he came to where, beneath its high-walled town, the gleaming
Bosporus separates Asia from the Thracian coast. When he had completed this long journey and, led by the evil thread of the fates, had won his way into the far-famed palace, then did ambition
come to birth and right was no more. Everything had its price. He betrayed secrets, deceived dependents, and sold honours that had been wheedled from the emperor. He followed up one crime with another, heaping fuel on the in flamed mind and probing and embittering the erst while trivial wound. And yet, as Nereus knows no addition from the infinitude of rivers that flow into him and though here he drains Danube's wave and there Nile's summer flood with its sevenfold mouth,
ever remains his same and constant self, so Rufinus' thirst knew no abatement for all the streams of gold that flowed in upon him. Had any a necklace studded with jewels or a fertile demesne he was sure prey for Rufinus : a rich property assured the ruin of its own possessor :
the husbandman's bane. He drives them from their homes, expels them from the lands their sires had
floating Symplegades
straightway
yet
fertility was 39
CLAUDIAN
finibus ; aut aufert vivis aut occupat heres.
congestae cumulantur opes orbisque ruinas
accipit una domus : populi servire coacti
plenaque privato succumbunt oppida regno. 195
Quo, vesane, ruis ? teneas utrumque licebit Oceanum, laxet rutilos tibi Lydia fontes,
iungatur solium Croesi Cyrique tiara :
numquam dives eris, numquam satiabere quaestu. semper inops quicumque cupit. contentus honesto Fabricius parvo spernebat munera regum 201 sudabatque gravi consul Serranus aratro
et casa pugnaces Curios angusta tegebat.
haec mihi paupertas opulentior, haec mihi tecta culminibus maiora tuis. ibi quaerit inanes 205 luxuries nocitura cibos ; hie donat inemptas
terra dapes. rapiunt Tyrios ibi vellera sucos
et picturatae saturantur murice vestes ;
hie radiant flores et prati viva voluptas
ingenio variata suo. fulgentibus illic 210 surgunt strata toris ; hie mollis panditur herba sollicitum curis non abruptura soporem.
turba salutantum latas ibi perstrepit aedes ;
hie avium cantus, labentis murmura rivi.
vivitur exiguo melius ; natura beatis 215 omnibus esse dedit, si quis cognoverit uti.
haec si nota forent, frueremur simplice cultu,
classica non gemerent, non stridula fraxinus iret,
nee ventus quateret puppes nec machina muros.
40
THE FIRST BOOK AGAINST RUFINUS
left them, either wresting them from the living owners or fastening upon them as an inheritor. Massed riches are piled up and a single house receives the plunder of a world ; whole peoples are forced into slavery, and thronging cities bow
beneath the tyranny of a private man.
Madman, what shall be the end ? Though thou
possess either Ocean, though Lydia pour forth for thee her golden waters, though thou join Croesus' throne to Cyrus' crown, yet shalt thou never be rich nor ever contented with thy booty. The greedy man is always poor. Fabricius, happy in his honour able poverty, despised the gifts of monarchs ; the consul Serranus sweated at his heavy plough and a small cottage gave shelter to the warlike Curii. To my mind such poverty as this is richer than thy wealth, such a home greater than thy palaces. There pernicious luxury seeks for the food that
satisfieth not ; here the earth provides a banquet for which is nought to pay. With thee wool absorbs the dyes of Tyre ; thy patterned clothes are stained with purple ; here are bright flowers and the meadow's breathing charm which owes its varied hues but to itself. There are beds piled on glittering bedsteads ; here stretches the soft grass, that breaks not sleep with anxious cares. There a crowd of clients dins through the spacious halls, here is song of birds and the murmur of the gliding stream. A frugal life is best. Nature has given the opportunity of happi ness to all, knew they but how to use it. Had we
realized this we should now have been
a simple life, no trumpets would be sounding, no whistling spear would speed, no ship be buffeted by
the wind, no siege-engine overthrow battlements.
41
enjoying
CLAUDIAN
Crescebat scelerata sitis praedaeque recentis 220 incestus flagrabat amor, nullusque petendi
cogendive pudor : crebris periuria nectit blanditiis ; sociat perituro foedere dextras.
si semel e tantis poscenti quisque negasset,
effera praetumido quatiebat corda furore. 225 quae sic Gaetuli iaculo percussa leaena
aut Hyrcana premens raptorem belua partus
aut serpens calcata furit ? iurata deorum
maiestas teritur ; nusquam reverentia mensae.
non coniunx, non ipse simul, non pignora caesa 230 sufficiunt odiis ; non extinxisse propinquos,
non notos egisse sat est ; exscindere cives
funditus et nomen gentis delere labor at.
nec celeri perimit leto ; crudelibus ante
suppliciis fruitur ; cruciatus, vincla, tenebras 235 dilato mucrone parat. pro saevior ense
parcendi rabies concessaque vita dolori !
mors adeone parum est ? causis fallacibus instat, arguit attonitos se iudice. cetera segnis,
ad facinus velox, penitus regione remotas 240 impiger ire vias : non illum Sirius ardens
brumave Riphaeo stridens Aquilone retardat.
effera torquebant avidae praecordia curae,
effugeret ne quis gladios neu perderet ullum Augusto miserante nefas. non flectitur annis, 245 non aetate labat : iuvenum rorantia colla
ante patrum vultus stricta cecidere securi ;
42
THE FIRST BOOK AGAINST RUFINUS
Still grew Rufinus' wicked greed, and his impious passion for new-won wealth blazed yet fiercer ; no feeling . of shame kept him from demanding and extorting money. He combines perjury with cease less cajolery, ratifying with a hand-clasp the bond he
purposes to break. Should any dare to refuse his demand for one thing out of so many, his fierce heart would be stirred with swelling wrath. Was ever lioness wounded with a Gaetulian's spear, or Hyrcan tiger pursuing the robber of her young, was ever bruised serpent so fierce ? He swears by the majesty of the gods and tramples on his oath. He reverences not the laws of hospitality. To kill a wife and her husband with her and her children sates not his anger ; 'tis not enough to slaughter relations and drive friends into exile ; he strives to destroy every citizen of Rome and to blot out the very name of our race. Nor does he even slay with a swift death ; ere that he enjoys the infliction of cruel torture ; the rack, the chain, the lightless cell, these he sets before the final blow. Why, this remission is more savage, more madly cruel, than the sword —this grant of life that agony may accom
pany it
Is death not enough for him ? With
!
treacherous charges he attacks ; dazed wretches find him at once accuser and judge. Slow to all else he is swift to crime and tireless to visit the ends of the earth in its pursuit. Neither the Dog-star's heat nor the wintry blasts of the Thracian north wind detain him. Feverish anxiety torments his cruel heart lest any escape his sword, or an emperor's pardon lose him an opportunity for injury. Neither
nor youth can move his pity : before their father's eyes his bloody axe severs boys' heads 43
age
CLAUDIAN
ibat grandaevus nato moriente superstes
post trabeas exul. quis prodere tanta relatu ' funera, quis caedes possit deflere nefandas ? 250 quid tale inmanes umquam gessisse feruntur
vel Sinis Isthmiaca pinu vel rupe profunda
Sciron vel Phalaris tauro vel carcere Sulla ?
o mites Diomedis equi ! Busiridis arae
clementes ! iam Cinna pius, iam Spartace segnis 253 Rufino collatus eris !
Deiecerat omnes occultis odiis terror tacitique sepultos
verentur.
at non magnanimi virtus Stilichonis eodem
suspirant gemitus indignarique
fracta metu ; solus medio sed turbine rerum 260 contra letiferos rictus contraque rapacem
movit tela feram, volucris non praepete cursu
vectus equi, non Pegaseis adiutus habenis.
hie cunctis optata quies, hie sola pericli
turris erat clipeusque trucem porrectus in hostem,
hie profugis sedes adversaque signa furori, 266 servandis hie castra bonis.
Hucusque minatus haerebat retroque fuga cedebat inerti :
haud secus hiberno tumidus cum vertice torrens
saxa rotat volvitque nemus pontesque revellit, 270 frangitur obiectu scopuli quaerensque meatum spumat et inlisa montem circumtonat unda.
Qua dignum te laude feram, qui paene ruenti 44
THE FIRST BOOK AGAINST RUFINUS
from their bodies ; an aged man, once a consul, survived the murder of his son but to be driven into exile. Who can bring himself to tell of so many murders, who can adequately mourn such impious slaughter ? Do men tell that cruel Sinis of Corinth e'er wrought such wickedness with his pine-tree, or Sciron with his precipitous rock, or Phalaris with his brazen bull, or Sulla with his prison ? O gentle horses of Diomede ! O pitiful altars of' Busiris ! Henceforth, compared with Rufinus thou, Ginna, shalt be loving, and thou, Spartacus, a sluggard.
All were a prey to terror, for men knew not where
next his hidden hatred would break forth,
sob in silence for the tears they dare not shed and fear to show their indignation. Yet is not the spirit of great-hearted Stilicho broken by this same fear. Alone amid the general calamity he took arms against this monster of greed and his devouring maw, though not borne on the swift course of any winged steed nor aided by Pegasus' reins. In him all found the quiet they longed for, he was their one defence in danger, their shield out-held against the fierce foe, the exile's sanctuary, standard con fronting the madness of Rufinus, fortress for the protection of the good.
Thus far Rufinus advanced his threats and stayed ; then fell back in coward flight : even as a torrent swollen with winter rains rolls down great stones in its course, overwhelms woods, tears away bridges, yet is broken by a jutting rock, and, seeking a
foams and thunders about the cliff with shattered waves.
way through,
How can I praise thee worthily, thou who sus- 45
they
CLAUDIAN
lapsuroque tuos umeros obieceris orbi ?
te nobis trepidae sidus ceu dulce carinae 275
ostendere dei, geminis quae lassa procellis tunditur et victo trahitur iam caeca magistro. Inachius Rubro perhibetur in aequore Perseus Neptuni domuisse pecus, sed tutior alis :
te non penna vehit ; rigida cum Gorgone Perseus :
tu non vipereo defensus crine Medusae ; 281
illum vilis amor suspensae virginis egit :
te Romana salus. taceat superata vetustas, Herculeos conferre tuis iam desinat actus.
una Cleonaeum pascebat silva leonem ; 285 Arcadiae saltum vastabat dentibus unum
saevus aper, tuque o compressa matre rebellans
non ultra Libyae fines, Antaee, nocebas,
solaque fulmineo resonabat Creta iuvenco Lernaeamque virens obsederat hydra paludem. 290 hoc monstrum non una palus, non una tremebat
insula, sed Latia quidquid dicione subactum
vivit, et a primis Ganges horrebat Hiberis.
hoc neque Geryon triplex nec turbidus Orci
ianitor aequabit nec si concurrat in unum 295 vis hydrae Scyllaeque fames et flamma Chimaerae.
Certamen sublime diu, sed moribus impar virtutum scelerumque fuit. iugulare minatur :
tu prohibes ; ditem spoliat : tu reddis egenti ;
eruit : instauras ; accendit proelia : vincis. 300 4-6
THE FIRST BOOK AGAINST RUFINUS
tainedst with thy shoulders the tottering world in its threatened fall ? The gods gave thee to us as they show a welcome star to frightened mariners whose weary bark is buffeted with storms of wind and wave and drifts with blind course now that her steersman is beaten. Perseus, descendant of Inachus, is said to have overcome Neptune's monsters in the Red Sea, but he was helped by his wings ; no wing bore thee aloft : Perseus was armed with the Gorgons' head that turneth all to stone ; the
locks of Medusa protected not thee. His motive was but the love of a chained girl, thine the salvation of Rome. The days of old are surpassed ;
let them keep silence and cease to compare Hercules' labours with thine. 'Twas but one wood that sheltered the lion of Cleonae, the savage boar's tusks laid waste a single Arcadian vale, and thou, rebel Antaeus, holding thy mother earth in thine embrace, didst no hurt beyond the borders of Africa. Crete alone re-echoed to the bellowings of the fire- breathing bull, and the green hydra beleaguered no more than Lerna's lake. But this monster Rufinus terrified not one lake nor one island : whatsoever lives beneath the Roman rule, from distant Spain to Ganges' stream, was in fear of him. Neither
triple Geryon nor Hell's fierce janitor can vie with him nor could the conjoined terrors of powerful Hydra, ravenous Scylhi, and fiery Chimaera.
Long hung the contest in suspense, but the struggle betwixt vice and virtue was ill-matched in character. Rufinus threatens slaughter, thou stayest his hand ; he robs the rich, thou givest back to the poor ; he overthrows, thou restorest ; he sets wars afoot, thou winnest them. As a pestilence, growing from day
47
snaky
CLAUDIAN
ac velut infecto morbus crudescere caelo incipiens primos pecudum depascitur artus,
mox populos urbesque rapit ventisque perustis corruptos Stygiam pestem desudat in amnes :
sic avidus praedo iam non per singula saevit. 305 sed sceptris inferre minas omnique perempto
milite Romanas ardet prosternere vires,
iamque Getas Histrumque movet Scythiamque
receptat
auxilio traditque suas hostilibus armis
mixtis descendit Sarmata Dacis 310 et qui cornipedes in pocula vulnerat audax
Massagetes caesamque bibens Maeotin Alanus membraque qui ferro gaudet pinxisse Gelonus, Rufino collecta manus. vetat ille domari
innectitque moras et congrua tempora differt. 315 nam tua cum Geticas stravisset dextra catervas,
ulta ducis socii letum, parsque una maneret
debilior facilisque capi, tunc impius ille
proditor imperii coniuratusque Getarum
distulit instantes eluso principe pugnas 320 Hunorum laturus opem, quos adfore bello
norat et invisis mox se coniungere castris.
Est genus extremos Scythiae vergentis in ortus trans gelidum Tanain, quo non famosius ullum
Arctos alit. turpes habitus obscaenaque visu 325 corpora ; mens duro numquam cessura labori ; praeda cibus, vitanda Ceres frontemque secari
1 Here and throughout his poems Claudian refers to the Visigoths as the Getae.
a Cf. Introduction, p. x. 48
relliquias.
THE FIRST BOOK AGAINST RUFINUS
to day by reason of the infected air, fastens first
upon the bodies of animals but soon sweeps
away and cities, and when the winds blow hot
peoples
spreads its hellish poison to the polluted streams, so the ambitious rebel marks down no private prey, but hurls his eager threats at kings, and seeks to destroy Rome's army and overthrow her might. Now he stirs up the Getae1 and the tribes on Danube's banks, allies himself with Scythia and exposes what few his cruelties have spared to the sword of the enemy. There march against us a mixed horde of Sarmatians and Dacians, the Massagetes who cruelly wound their horses that they may drink their blood, the Alans who break the ice and drink the waters of Maeotis' lake, and the Geloni who tattoo their limbs : these form Rufinus' army. And he brooks not their defeat ; he frames delays and postpones the fitting season for battle. For when thy right hand, Stilicho, had scattered the Getic bands and avenged the death of thy brother general, when one section of Rufinus' army was thus weakened and made an easy prey, then that foul traitor, that conspirator with the Getae, tricked the emperor and put off the instant day of battle, meaning to ally himself with the Huns, whom he knew would fight and quickly join the enemies of Rome. 2
VOL.
49
IE
These Huns are a tribe who live on the extreme eastern borders of Scythia, beyond frozen Tanais ; most infamous of all the children of the north. Hideous to look upon are their faces and loathsome their bodies, but indefatigable is their spirit. The chase supplies their food ; bread they will not eat. They love to slash their faces and hold it a
CLAUDIAN
ludus et occisos pulchrum iurare parentes. nee plus nubigenas duplex natura biformes
cognatis aptavit equis ; acerrima nullo 330 ordine mobilitas insperatique recursus.
Quos tamen impavidus contra spumantis ad Hebri tendis aquas, sic ante tubas aciemque precatus :
" Mavors, nubifero seu tu procumbis in Haemo
seu te cana gelu Rhodope seu remige Medo 335 sollicitatus Athos seu caligantia nigris
ilicibus Pangaea tenent, accingere mecum
et Thracas defende tuos si laetior adsit
gloria, vestita spoliis donabere quercu. "
Audiit illa pater scopulisque nivalibus Haemi 340
surgit et hortatur celeres clamore ministros :
" fer galeam, Bellona, mihi nexusque rotarum
tende, Pavor.