No More Learning

inde sacerdotes ; haec intrat pectora Phoebus ; inde canunt Delphi ; Troianam sola Minervam
virginitas Vestalis adit flammasque tuetur :
hi nullas meriti vittas semperque profani. 330 nascitur ad fructum mulier prolemque futuram :
hoc genus inventum est ut serviat. Herculis arcu concidit Hippolyte ; Danai fugere bipennem, Penthesilea, tuam ; claras Carthaginis arces
creditur et centum portis Babylona superbam 335 femineus struxisse labor. quid nobile gessit
1 In 394 Arcadius had sent Eutropius to the Thebaid to consult a certain Christian prophet, John, upon the result of Eugenius' revolt (Sozom. vii. 22. 7, 8).
162
AGAINST EUTROPIUS, I
consul, and a man about to grant to others a liberty which he has not yet himself won. He mounts the lofty platform and amid a torrent of self-laudation boasts of a prophetic dream he had in Egypt 1 and of the defeat of tyrants which he foretold. No doubt the goddess of war stayed her avenging hand and waited till that emasculate Tiresias, that unmanned Melampus, could crawl back with oracles culled from farthest Nile.
Loud sang the prophetic birds in warning. The year shuddered at the thought of bearing Eutropius' name, and Janus proclaimed the madness of the choice from his two mouths, forbidding a eunuch to have access to his annals. Had a woman assumed the fasces, though this were illegal it were neverthe
less less disgraceful. Women bear sway among the Medes and swift Sabaeans ; half barbary is governed by martial queens. We know of no people who endure a eunuch's rule. Worship is paid to Pallas, Phoebe, Vesta, Ceres, Cybele, Juno, and Latona ; have we ever seen a temple built or altars raised to
a eunuch god ? From among women are priestesses chosen ; Phoebus enters into their hearts ; through their voices the Delphian oracle speaks ; none but the Vestal Virgins approach the shrine of Trojan Minerva and tend her flame : eunuchs have never deserved the fillet and are always unholy. A woman is born that she may bear children and perpetuate the human race ; the tribe of eunuchs was made for servitude. Hippolyte fell but by the arrow of Hercules ; the Greeks fled before Penthesilea's axe ; Carthage, far-famed citadel, proud Babylon with her hundred gates, are both said to have been built by a woman's hand. What noble deed did
163
CLAUDIAN
eunuchus ? quae bella tulit ? quas condidit urbes ? illas praeterea rerum natura creavit,
hos fecere manus : seu prima Semiramis astu Assyriis mentita virum, ne vocis acutae 340 mollities levesve genae se prodere possent,
hos sibi coniunxit similes ; seu Parthica ferro luxuries vetuit nasci lanuginis umbram
servatoque diu puerili flore coegit
arte retardatam Veneri servire iuventam. 345
Fama prius falso similis vanoque videri
ficta ioco ; levior volitare per oppida rumor
riderique nefas : veluti nigrantibus alis
audiretur olor, corvo certante ligustris.
atque aliquis gravior morum : " si talibus, inquit, 350 creditur et nimiis turgent mendacia monstris,
iam testudo volat, profert iam cornua vultur ;
prona petunt retro fluvii iuga ; Gadibus ortum Carmani texere diem ; iam frugibus aptum
aequor et adsuetum silvis delphina videbo ; 355 iam cochleis homines iunctos et quidquid inane nutrit Iudaicis quae pingitur India velis. "
" Subicit et mixtis salibus lascivior alter :
miraris ? nihil est, quod non in pectore magnum concipit Eutropius. semper nova, grandia semper
diligit et celeri degustat singula sensu. 361 nil timet a tergo ; vigilantibus undique curis
nocte dieque patet ; lenis facilisque moveri supplicibus mediaque tamen mollissimus ira
nil negat et sese vel non poscentibus offert ; 365 164
AGAINST EUTROPIUS, I
a eunuch ever do ? What wars did such an one fight, what cities did he found ? Moreover, nature created the former, the hand of man the latter, whether it was from fear of being betrayed by her shrill woman's voice and her hairless cheeks that clever Semiramis, to disguise her sex from the Assyrians, first surrounded herself with beings like her, or the Parthians employed the knife to stop the growth of the first down of manhood and forced their boys, kept boys by artifice, to serve their lusts by thus lengthening the years of youthful charm.
At first the rumour of Eutropius' consulship seemed false and invented as a jest. A vague story
spread from city to city ; the crime was laughed at as one would laugh to hear of a swan with black wings or a crow as white as privet. Thus spake
"If such
one of weighty character : things
are believed and swollen lies tell of unheard of monsters,
then the tortoise can fly, the vulture grow horns, rivers flow back and mount the hills whence they spring, the sun rise behind Gades and set amid the Carmanians of India ; I shall soon see ocean fit nursery for plants and the dolphin a denizen of the woods ; beings half-men, half-snails and all the vain imaginings of India depicted on Jewish curtains. "
Then another adds, jesting with a more wanton
" :
wit
that Eutropius does not conceive in his heart. He ever loves novelty, ever size, and is quick to taste
Dost thou wonder ?
Nothing great
is there
in turn. He fears no assault from the rear ; night and day he is ready with watchful care ; soft, easily moved by entreaty, and, even in the midst of his passion, tenderest of men, he never says ' no,' and is ever at the disposal even of
165
everything
CLAUDIAN
quod libet ingenio, subigit traditque fruendum ; quidquid amas, dabit illa manus ; communiter omni fungitur officio gaudetque potentia flecti.
hoc quoque conciliis peperit meritoque laborum, accipit et trabeas argutae praemia dextrae. " 370
Postquam vera fides facinus vulgavit Eoum
gentibus et Romae iam certius impulit aures,
" Eutropiumne etiam nostra dignabimur ira ? "
hic quoque Romani meruit pars esse doloris ?
sic effata rapit caeli per inania cursum 375
diva potens unoque Padum translapsa volatu castra sui rectoris adit. tum forte decorus
cum Stilichone gener pacem implorantibus ultro Germanis responsa dabat, legesque Caucis
arduus et flavis signabat iura Suebis. 380 his tribuit reges, his obside foedera sancit
indicto ; bellorum alios transcribit in usus, militet ut nostris detonsa Sygambria signis.
laeta subit Romam pietas et gaudia paene
moverunt lacrimas tantoque exultat alumno : 385 sic armenta suo iam defensante iuvenco
celsius adsurgunt erectae cornua matri,
sic iam terribilem stabulis dominumque ferarum crescere miratur genetrix Massyla leonem.
dimovit nebulam iuvenique adparuit ingens. 390 tum sic oras loqui :
1 With a play upon the sexual meaning of the word : indeed the whole passage, from 1. 358 is a mass of obscene innuendo.
2 i. e. the consulship. 166
AGAINST EUTROPIUS, I
those that solicit him not. Whatever the senses desire he cultivates and offers for another's enjoyment.
That hand will give whatever thou wouldest have . performs the functions of all alike ; his dignity loves to unbend. His meetings 1 and his deserving labours have won him this reward,2 and he receives the consul's robe in recompense for the work of his skilful hand. "
When the rumour concerning this disgrace of the eastern empire was known to be true and had impressed belief on Roman ears, Rome's goddess thus spake : " Is Eutropius worthy of mine ire ? Is such an one fit cause for Roman grief? " So saying the mighty goddess winged her way through the heavens and with one stroke of her pinions passed beyond the Po and approached the camp of her emperor. It happened that even then the august Honorius, assisted by his father-in-law Stilicho, was making answer to the Germans who had come of their own accord to sue for peace. From his lofty throne he was dictating laws to the Cauci and giving a constitution to the flaxen-haired Suebi. Over these he sets a king, with those he signs a treaty now that hostages have been demanded ; others he enters on the list as serviceable allies in war, so that in future the Sygambrians will cut off their flowing locks and serve beneath our banners. Joy and love so fill the goddess' heart that she well nigh weeps, so great is her happy pride in her illustrious foster-child. So when a heifer fights in defence of the herd his mother lifts her own horns more proudly ; so the African lioness gazes with admiration on her cub as he grows to be the terror of the farmsteads and the future king of beasts. Rome lays aside her veil of cloud and towers above the youthful warrior, then thus begins.
167
He
CLAUDIAN
" Quantum te principe possim, non longinqua docent, domito quod Saxone Tethys
mitior aut fracto secura Britannia Picto ;
ante pedes humili Franco tristique Suebo
perfruor et nostrum video, Germanice, Rhenum. 395 sed quid agam ? discors Oriens felicibus actis
invidet atque alio Phoebi de cardine surgunt
crimina, ne toto conspiret corpore regnum.
Gildonis taceo magna cum laude receptam
perfidiam et fretos Eoo robore Mauros. 400 quae suscepta fames, quantum discriminis urbi,
ni tua vel soceri numquam non provida virtus australem Arctois pensasset frugibus annum !
invectae Rhodani Tiberina per ostia classes Cinyphiisque ferax Araris successit aristis. 405 Teutonicus vomer Pyrenaeique iuvenci
sudavere mihi ; segetes mirantur Hiberas
horrea ; nec Libyae senserunt damna rebellis
iam transalpina contenti messe Quirites.
ille quidem solvit meritas (scit Tabraca) poenas, 410 ut pereat quicumque tuis conflixerit armis.
" Ecce repens isdem clades a partibus exit terrorisque minus, sed plus habitura pudoris Eutropius consul, pridem tolerare fatemur
hoc genus, Arsacio postquam se regia fastu 415
sustulit et nostros corrupit Parthia mores,
praefecti sed adhuc gemmis vestique dabantur custodes sacroque adhibere silentia somno ;
1 She calls him Germanicus because of his pacification of Germany ; see Introduction, p. x.
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EUTROPIUS, I
" Examples near at hand testify to the extent of my power now thou art emperor. The Saxon is conquered and the seas safe ; the Picts have been defeated and Britain is secure. I love to see at my feet the humbled Franks and broken Suebi, and I behold the Rhine mine own, Germanicus. 1 Yet what am I to do ? The discordant East envies our prosperity, and beneath that other sky, lo ! wickedness flourishes to prevent our empire's breathing in harmony with one body. I make no mention of Gildo's treason, detected so gloriously
in spite of the power of the East on which the rebel Moor relied. For what extremes of famine did we not then look ? How dire a danger overhung our city, had not thy valour or the ever-provident diligence of thy father-in-law supplied corn from the north in place of
AGAINST
that from the south !
ships from the Rhine, and the Saone's fertile banks made good the lost harvests of Africa. For me the Germans ploughed and the Spaniards' oxen sweated ; my granaries marvel at Iberian corn, nor did my citizens, now satisfied with harvests from beyond the Alps, feel the defection of revolted Africa. Gildo, how ever, paid the penalty for his treason as Tabraca can witness. So perish all who take up arms against thee !
Up Tiber's estuary there sailed
" Lo ! on a sudden from that same clime comes another scourge, less terrible indeed but even more shameful, the consulship of Eutropius. I admit I have long learned to tolerate this unmanned tribe, ever since the court exalted itself with Arsacid
pomp and the example of Parthia corrupted our morals. But till now they were but set to guard jewels and raiment. and to secure silence for the imperial slumber. Never beyond the sleeping
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CLAUDIAN
militia eunuchi numquam progressa cubili,
non vita spondente fidem, sed inertia tutum 420 mentis pignus erat. secreta monilia servent,
ornatus curent Tyrios : a fronte recedant
imperii. tenero tractari pectore nescit
publica maiestas. numquam vel in aequore puppim vidimus eunuchi clavo parere magistri. 425 nos adeo sperni faciles ? orbisque carina
vilior ? auroram sane, quae talia ferre
gaudet, et adsuetas sceptris muliebribus urbes possideant ; quid belliferam communibus urunt
Italiam maculis nocituraque probra severis 430 ammiscent populis ? peregrina piacula forti
pellantur longe Latio nec transeat Alpes
dedecus ; in solis, quibus extitit, haereat arvis. scribat Halys, scribat famae contemptor Orontes : per te perque tuos obtestor Roma triumphos, 435 nesciat hoc Thybris, numquam poscentibus olim
qui dare Dentatis annos Fabiisque solebat.
Martius eunuchi repetet suffragia campus ?
Aemilios inter servatoresque Camillos
Eutropius ? iam Chrysogonis tua, Brute, potestas 440 Narcissisque datur ? natos hoc dedere poenae profuit et misero civem praeponere patri ?
hoc mihi Ianiculo positis Etruria castris
quaesiit et tantum fluvio Porsenna remotus ?
hoc meruit vel ponte Codes vel Mucius igne ? 445 visceribus frustra castum Lucretia ferrum
1 Notorious freedmen and tools respectively of Sulla and the Emperor Claudius.
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AGAINST EUTROPIUS, I
chamber did the eunuch's service pass ; not their lives gave guarantee of loyalty but their dull wits were a sure pledge. Let them guard hidden store of pearls and Tyrian-dyed vestments ; they must quit high offices of state. The majesty of Rome cannot devolve upon an effeminate. Never have we seen so much as a ship at sea obey the helm in the hands of a eunuch-captain. Are we then so
despicable ? Is the whole world of less account than a ship ? Let eunuchs govern the East by all means, for the East rejoices in such rulers, let them lord it over cities accustomed to a woman's sway : why disfigure warlike Italy with the general brand and defile her austere peoples with their deadly profligacy ? Drive this foreign pollution from out the boundaries of manly Latium ; suffer not this thing of shame to cross the Alps ; let it remain fixed in the country of its birth. Let the river
Halys or Orontes, careless of its reputation, add
such a name to its annals :
thy life and triumphs, let not Tiber suffer this disgrace—Tiber whose way was to give the consul ship to such men as Dentatus and Fabius though they asked not for it. Shall the Field of Mars witness the canvassing of an eunuch ? Is Eutropius to stand with Aemilii and Camilli, saviours of their country ? Is thy office, Brutus, now to be given to a Chryso- gonus or a Narcissus 1 ? Is this the reward for giving up thy sons to punishment and setting the citizen's duty before the father's grief ? Was it for this that
the Tuscans made their camp on the Janiculum and Porsenna was but the river's span from our gates ? For this that Horatius kept the bridge and Mucius braved the flames ? Was it all to no purpose that
171
I, Rome, thee beg
by
CLAUDIAN
mersit et attonitum tranavit Cloelia Thybrim ? Eutropio fasces adservabantur adempti
Tarquiniis ? quemcumque meae vexere curules, laxato veniat socium aversatus Averno. 450 impensi sacris Decii prorumpite bustis
Torquatique truces animosaque pauperis umbra Fabricii tuque o, si forte inferna piorum
iugera et Elysias scindis, Serrane, novales.
Poeno Scipiadae, Poeno praeclare Lutati, 455 Sicania Marcelle ferox, gens Claudia surgas 1
et Curii veteres ; et, qui sub iure negasti
vivere Caesareo, parvo procede sepulcro
Eutropium passure Cato ; remeate tenebris,
agmina Brutorum Corvinorumque catervae. 460 eunuchi vestros habitus, insignia sumunt
ambigui Romana mares ; rapuere tremendas
Hannibali Pyrrhoque togas ; flabella perosi adspirant trabeis ; iam non umbracula gestant
Latias ausi vibrare secures !
" Linquite femineas infelix turba latebras,
465
virginibus,
alter quos pepulit sexus nec suscipit alter,
execti Veneris stimulos et vulnere casti
(mixta duplex aetas ; inter puerumque senemque
nil medium) : falsi complete sedilia patres ; 470
ite novi proceres infecundoque senatu Eutropium stipate ducem ; celebrate tribunal pro thalamis, verso iam discite more curules, non matrum pilenta sequi.
172
1 uss. have surgat
AGAINST EUTROPIUS, I
chaste Lucretia plunged the dagger into her bosom and Cloelia swam the astonished Tiber ? Were the fasces reft from Tarquin to be given to Eutropius ? Let Hell ope her jaws and all who have sat in my curule chair come and turn their backs upon their colleague. Decii, self-sacrificed for your country's good, come forth from your graves ; and you, fierce Torquati ; and thou, too, great-hearted shade of poor Fabricius. Serranus, come thou hither, if now thou ploughest the acres of the holy dead and cleavest the fallow lands of Elysium. Come Scipios, Lutatius, famed for your victories over Carthage, Marcellus,- conqueror of Sicily, rise from the dead, thou Claudian race, you progeny of Curius. Cato, thou who wouldst not live beneath Caesar's rule, come thou forth from thy simple tomb and brave the
of Eutropius. Immortal bands of Bruti and Corvini, return to earth. Eunuchs don your robes of office, sexless beings assume the insignia of Rome. They have laid hands on the toga that inspired Hannibal and Pyrrhus with terror. They now despise the fan and aspire to the consul's cloak. No longer do they carry the maidenly parasol for they have dared to wield the axes of Latium.
sight
" Unhappy band, leave your womanly fastnesses, you whom the male sex has discarded and the female will not adopt. The knife has cut out the stings of love and by that wounding you are pure. A mixture are you of two ages —child and greybeard and nought between. Take your seats, fathers in name alone. Come new lords, come sterile senate, throng your leader Eutropius. Fill the judgement-seat, not the bedchamber. Change your habits and learn to follow the consul's chair, not the woman's litter.
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CLAUDIAN
" Ne prisca revolvam
neu numerem, quantis iniuria mille per annos 475
sit retro ducibus, quanti foedabitur aevi
canities, unam subeant quot saecula culpam :
inter Arinthaei fastos et nomen erile
servus erit dominoque suos aequalis honores
inseret ! heu semper Ptolomaei noxia mundo 480 mancipia ! en alio laedor graviore Pothino
et patior maius Phario scelus. ille cruorem
consulis unius Pellaeis ensibus hausit ;
" Si nil privata movebunt,
at tu principibus, vestrae tu prospice causae 485
regalesque averte notas. hunc accipit unum
aula magistratum : vobis patribusque recurrit
hic alternus honos. in crimen euntibus annis
parce, quater consul ! contagia fascibus, oro, defendas ignava tuis neu tradita libris 490 omina vestitusque meos, quibus omne, quod ambit oceanus, domui, tanta caligine mergi
calcarique sinas. nam quae iam bella geramus mollibus auspiciis ? quae iam conubia prolem
vel frugem latura seges ? quid fertile terris, 495 quid plenum sterili possit sub consule nasci ?
eunuchi si iura dabunt legesque tenebunt,
ducant pensa viri mutatoque ordine rerum
vivat Amazonio confusa licentia ritu.
1 Arinthaeus had held the high position of magister peditum. He died in 379.
8 Pothinus, the creature of Ptolemy Dionysius, was instrumental in killing Pompey in Egypt in 48 B. C.
174
inquinat hic omnes.
AGAINST EUTROPIUS, I
" I would not cite examples from remote anti quity nor count the countless magistrates of past history whom he thus outrages. But think how the reverence due to all past ages will be impaired, on how many centuries one man's shame will set its mark. Amid the annals that record the name of Arinthaeus,1 his master, will be found the slave, and he will enter his own honours as equal to those of his owner. The slaves of Egypt's kings have ever been a curse to the world ; behold I suffer from a worse than Pothinus and bear a wrong more flagrant than that of which Egypt was once the scene. Pothinus' sword at Alexandria spilled the blood of a single consul ; 2 Eutropius brings dishonour on all.
" If the fate of subjects cannot move thee, yet have thou regard for princes, for your common cause, and remove this stain on royalty. The consul ship is the sole office the emperor deigns to accept ;
alternately
the honour passes to Court and Senate.
Thou who hast thyself been four times consul spare
succeeding consuls this infamy. I pray thee, protect
the fasces, so often thine, from the pollution of a eunuch's hand ; let not the omens handed down in our sacred books, let not those robes of mine where with I have subdued everything within Ocean's stream, be plunged in so great darkness and trodden under foot. What kind of wars can we wage now that a eunuch takes the auspices ? What marriage, what harvest will be fruitful ? What fertility, what abundance is possible beneath a consul stricken with
If eunuchs shall and give judgement
sterility ?
determine laws, then let men card wool and live like
the Amazons, confusion and licence the order of nature.
dispossessing 175
CLAUDIAN
Quid trahor ulterius ? Stilicho, quid vincere differs, dum certare pudet ? nescis quod turpior hostis 501 laetitia maiore cadit ? piratica Magnum
erigit, inlustrat servilis laurea Crassum.
adnuis. agnosco fremitum, quo palluit Eurus,
quo Mauri Gildoque ruit. quid Martia signa 505
sollicitas ? non est iaculis hastisve petendus : conscia succumbent audito verbere terga,
ut Scytha post multos rediens exercitus annos, cum sibi servilis pro finibus obvia pubes
iret et arceret dominos tellure reversos, 510
armatam ostensis aciem fudere flagellis :
notus ab inceptis ignobile reppulit horror vulgus et addictus sub verbere torpuit ensis. "
176
AGAINST EUTROPIUS, I
" What need of further words ? Why, Stilicho, dost thou delay to conquer because ashamed to fight ? Knowest thou not that the viler a foe the greater the rejoicing at his overthrow ? His defeat of the
'
pirates extended the fame of great Pompey ; ,his victory in the Servile War gave an added glory to
Grassus. Thou acceptest my charge : I recognize the clamour that terrified the East and drove Gildo and his Moors to their destruction. Why sound the trump of war ? No need to attack him with javelin or spear. At the crack of the whip will be bowed the back that has felt its blows. Even so when after many years the Scythian army came back from the wars and was met on the confines of its
native land by the usurping crowd of slaves who sought to keep their returning masters from their
country ; with displayed whips they routed the armed ranks ; back from its enterprise the familiar terror drove the servile mob, and at threat of the lash the bondsman's sword grew dull. "
VOL. I N 177
#
IN EUTROPIUM
LIBER SECUNDUS. PRAEFATIO
(XIX.
)
Qui modo sublimes rerum flectebat habenas patricius, rursum verbera nota timet
et solitos tardae passurus compedis orbes in dominos vanas luget abisse minas. culmine deiectum vitae Fortuna priori
reddidit, insano iam satiata ioco. scindere nunc alia meditatur ligna securi
fascibus et tandem vapulat ipse suis. ille citas consul poenas se consule solvit : annus qui trabeas hic dedit exilium.
infaustum populis in se quoque vertitur omen saevit in auctorem prodigiosus honos.
abluto penitus respirant nomine fasti maturamque luem sanior aula vomit.
dissimulant socii coniuratique recedunt, procumbit pariter cum duce tota cohors ;
non acie victi, non seditione coacti ; nec pereunt ritu quo periere viri.
concidit exiguae dementia vulnere chartae ; confecit saevum littera Martis opus.
178
AGAINST EUTROPIUS BOOK II. PREFACE
(XIX)
The nobly born Eutropius who but lately wielded the reins of supreme power once more fears the familiar blows ; and, soon to feel the wonted shackles about his halting feet, he laments that his threats against his masters have idly vanished. Fortune, having had enough of her mad freak, has thrust him forth from his high office and restored him to his old way of life. He now prepares to hew wood with axe other than the consular and is at last scourged
with the rods he once proudly carried. To the punishment set in motion by him when consul he himself as consul succumbed ; the year that brought him his robe of office brought him his exile. That omen of evil augury for the people turns against itself, the portent of that consulship brings ruin to the consul. That name erased, our annals breathe once more, and better health is restored to the palace now that it has at last vomited forth its poison. His friends deny him, his accomplices abandon him ;
in his fall is involved all the eunuch band, overcome not in battle, subdued not by siege—they may not die a man's death. A mere stroke of the pen has wrought their undoing, a simple letter has fulfilled Mars' savage work.
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GLAUDIAN
Mollis fcminea detruditur arce tyrannus
et thalamo pulsus perdidit imperium : sic iuvenis nutante fide veterique reducta paelice defletam linquit amica domum.
canitiem raram largo iam pulvere turpat 25 et lacrimis rugas implet anile gemens
suppliciterque pias humilis prostratus ad aras mitigat iratas voce tremente nurus.
innumeri glomerantur eri sibi quisque petentes mancipium solis utile suppliciis. 30
quamvis foedus enim mentemque obscaenior ore, ira dabit pretium ; poena meretur emi.
Quas, spado, nunc terras aut quem transibis in axem ? cingeris hinc odiis, inde recessit amor.
utraque te gemino sub sidere regia damnat : 35 Hesperius numquam, iam nec Eous eris.
miror cur, aliis qui pandere fata solebas, ad propriam cladem caeca Sibylla taces. iam tibi nulla videt fallax insomnia Nilus ;
vates iam, miserande, tui. 40 quid soror ? audebit tecum conscendere puppim
et veniet longum per mare fida comes ? an fortasse toros eunuchi pauperis odit
et te nunc inopem dives amare negat ?
eunuchi iugulum primus secuisse fateris ; 45
sed tamen exemplo non feriere tuo.
vive pudor fatis. en quem tremuere tot urbes,
en cuius populi sustinuere iugum !
" 1 Claudian calls Eutropius the Sibyl because both were old women. " He is referring to Eutropius' consultation
of the Egyptian oracle ; cf. In Eutrop. i. 312 and note. 180
pervigilant
AGAINST EUTROPIUS, II : PREFACE
The unsexed tyrant has been routed from out his fastness in the women's quarters and, driven from the bedchamber, has lost his power. Thus sadly,
when her lover's fidelity wavers and a former favourite has been recalled, does a mistress leave his house. With handfuls of dust he sprinkles his
hairs and floods his wrinkles with senile tears ; as he lies in humble supplication before the altars of the gods his trembling voice seeks to soften the anger of the women. His countless masters gather around, each demanding back his slave, useless except for chastisement. For loathsome though he is and fouler in mind even than in face, yet the very anger they feel against him will make
them pay ; he is worth buying simply to punish. What land or country wilt thou now visit, eunuch ? Here hate surrounds thee, there thy popularity is
fled ; both courts have uttered thy condemnation in either half of the world ; never wert thou of the West, now the East repudiates thee too. I marvel that thou, blind Sibyl,1 who foretold'st the fates of others, art silent about thine own. No longer does fallacious Nile interpret thy dreams ; no
longer, poor wretch, do thy prophets see visions. What doth thy sister ? Will she dare to embark with thee and bear thee faithful company over the distant seas ? Mayhap she scorns the couch of an impoverished eunuch, and now that she herself is rich will not love thee who now art poor. Thou dost con fess thou wert the first to cut a eunuch's throat, but the example will not secure thine own death. Live on that destiny may blush. Lo ! this is he whom so many cities have held in awe, whose yoke so many peoples have borne. Why lament the loss of that
181
scanty
CLAUDIAN
direptas quid plangis opes, quas natus habebit ?
non aliter poteras principis esse pater. 50
improbe, quid pulsas muliebribus astra querellis, quod tibi sub Cypri litore parta quies ?
omnia barbarico per te concussa tumultu.
crede mihi, terra tutius aequor erit.
Iam non Armenios iaculis terrebis et arcu, 55 per campos volucrem non agitabis equum ;
dilecto caruit Byzantius ore senatus ; curia consiliis aestuat orba tuis :
emeritam suspende togam, suspende pharetram ;
ad Veneris partes ingeniumque redi. 60
non bene Gradivo lenonia dextera servit.
suscipiet famulum te Cytherea libens.
insula laeta choris, blandorum mater Amorum :
nulla pudicitiae cura placere potest.
prospectant Paphiae celsa de rupe puellae 65
sollicitae, salvam dum ferat unda ratem. sed vereor, teneant ne te Tritones in alto
lascivas doctum fallere Nereidas,
aut idem cupiant pelago te mergere venti,
Gildonis nuper qui tenuere fugam. 70
inclita captivo memoratur Tabraca Mauro, naufragio Cyprus sit memoranda tuo.
vecturum moriens frustra delphina vocabis ; ad terram solos devehit ille viros.
quisquis adhuc similis eunuchus tendit in actus, 75 respiciens Cyprum desinat esse ferox.
1 Eutropius had been raised by Arcadius to the highest of all ranks, that of Patrician. These patricii were called the " fathers " of the Emperor. Hence Eutropius, a patrician,
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AGAINST EUTROPIUS, II : PREFACE
wealth thy son shall inherit ? In no other way couldst thou have been father to an emperor. 1 Why insatiably weary heaven with a woman's plaints ? A haven of refuge is prepared for thee on the shores of Cyprus. Thou hast plunged the world in war with barbary ; the sea, believe me, is safer than the land.
No longer wilt thou strike terror into the Armenians with javelin and bow, no more scour the plain on thy fleet charger. The senate of Byzantium has been deprived of thy loved voice ; uncertainty holds the august assembly that is now deprived of thy counsels. Hang up thy toga, retired consul ; hang up thy quiver, veteran soldier ; return to Venus' service ; that is thy true calling. The pander's hand knows not to serve Mars featly ; Cytherea will right gladly take back her slave. Dancing fills the island of Cyprus, home of the happy loves ; there purity commands no respect. Paphian maidens gaze forth from the high cliffs, anxious till the wave has brought thy bark safe to land. Yet fear I lest the Tritons detain thee in the deep to teach them how they may seduce the
Nereids, or that those same winds which hindered Gildo's flight may seek to drown thee in the sea. Tabraca owes its fame to the overthrow of the
Moor ; may Cyprus win prestige from thy shipwreck. In vain will thy last breath be spent in calling on the dolphin to carry thee to shore : his back bears only men. 2 Hereafter should any eunuch attempt to emulate thine actions let him turn his eye towards Cyprus and abate his pride.
left (i. e. forfeited) his property on his banishment to Cyprus to his " son " Arcadius.
8 A reference to the rescue of Arion by the dolphin.
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sportive
IN EUTROPIUM LIBER II
(XX)
Mygdonii cineres et si quid restat Eoi,
quod pereat, regni : certe non augure falso
prodigii patuere minae, frustraque peracto
vulnere monstriferi praesagia discitis anni.
cautior ante tamen violentum navita Caurum 5 prospicit et tumidae subducit vela procellae.
quid iuvat errorem mersa iam puppe fateri ?
quid lacrimae delicta levant ? stant omina vestri consulis : inmotis haesere piacula fatis.
tunc decuit sentire nefas, tunc ire recentes 10 detersum maculas. veteri post obruta morbo corpora Paeonias nequiquam admoveris herbas ulcera possessis alte suffusa medullis
non leviore manu, ferro sanantur et igni,
ne noceat frustra mox eruptura cicatrix. 15 ad vivum penetrant flammae, quo funditus umor defluat et vacuis corrupto sanguine venis
184
AGAINST EUTROPIUS BOOK II
(XX)
Ashes of Phrygia and you last remnants of the ruined East (if any such remain), the augury was but too true, too clear the threats of heaven : now that the blow has fallen what use to learn the presagings of this year of portents ? The sailor is more cautious ; he foresees the violence of the North wind and hauls in his canvas before the swelling storm. Of what avail to acknowledge a mistake when his vessel is already sunk ? Can tears extenuate a crime ? The sinister auspices of your consul live on ; the atone ment due to unmoved fate remains fixed. Ere the deed was done you should have realized its horror ; you should have erased the blot ere it had dried. When the body is overwhelmed by long-standing disease 'tis all in vain that thou makest use of healing medicines. When an ulcer has penetrated to the marrow of the bones the touch of a hand is useless, steel and fire must sane the place that the wound heal not on the surface, like any moment to re-open. The flame must penetrate to the quick to make a way for the foul humours to escape ; in order that, once the veins are emptied of corrupted blood, the
185
CLAUDIAN
arescat fons ipse mali ; truncatur et artus,
ut liceat reliquis securum degere membris.
at vos egregie purgatam creditis aulam, 20 Eutropium si Cyprus habet ? vindictaque mundi semivir exul erit ? qui vos lustrare valebit
oceanus ? tantum facinus quae diluet aetas ?
Induerat necdum trabeas : mugitus ab axe redditus inferno, rabies arcana cavernas 25 vibrat et alterno confligunt culmina lapsu.
bacchatus per operta tremor Calchedona movit pronus et in geminas nutavit Bosphorus urbes. concurrere freti fauces, radice revulsa
vitant instabilem rursum Symplegada nautae. 30 scilicet haec Stygiae praemittunt signa sorores
et sibi iam tradi populos hoc consule gaudent.
mox oritur diversa lues : hinc Mulciber ignes sparserat, hinc victa proruperat obice Nereus ;
haec flagrant, haec tecta natant. quam, numina,
poenam
servatis sceleri, cuius tot cladibus omen
constitit ? incumbas utinam, Neptune, tridenti pollutumque solum toto cum crimine mergas.
unam pro mundo Furiis concedimus urbem. 39
Utque semel patuit monstris iter, omnia tempus nacta suum properant : nasci tum decolor imber infantumque novi vultus et dissona partu
semina, tum lapidum fletus armentaque vulgo
ausa loqui mediisque ferae se credere muris ;
tum vates sine more rapi lymphataque passim 45 186
35
AGAINST EUTROPIUS, II
fountain-head of the evil may be dried up. Nay, even limbs are amputated to assure the healthy life of the rest of the body. Think you the Court fitly cleansed by Eutropius' exile in Cyprus ? The world avenged by the banishment of a eunuch ? Can any ocean wash away that stain ? any age bring forgetfulness of so great a crime ?
Ere yet he had donned the consul's robe there came a rumbling from the bowels of the earth ; a hidden madness shook the subterranean caverns and buildings crashed one on another. Chalcedon, shaken to the foundations, tottered like a drunken man, and Bosporus, straying from his course, flooded the cities on his either bank. The shores of the strait came together and the sailors once more had to avoid the Clashing Rocks, torn from their foundation and errant. Surely such presages were sent by the
sister deities of Styx, rejoicing that under this consul at last all peoples were delivered into their hands. Soon arose divers forms of ruin : here the fire-god spread his flames ; there Nereus, god of the sea, brake his bounds. Here men's homes were burned, there flooded. Ye gods, what punishment do ye hold in store for the scoundrel whose rise to power was marked by such portents ? O'ercome us, Neptune, with thy trident and overwhelm our defiled soil along with all the guilt. One city we yield to the Furies, a scapegoat for the sins of the world.
Once the way was open for portents, prodigies of every sort hasted to disclose themselves. Rain of blood fell, children of weird form were born and
offspring discordant with their breed. Statues wept, not seldom the herds dared to speak, and wild beasts braved an entrance into the city. Then seers raved
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CLAUDIAN
pectora terrifici stimulis ignescere Phoebi.
fac nullos cecinisse deos : adeone retusi quisquam cordis erit, dubitet qui partibus illis
adfore fatalem castrati consulis annum ?
sed quam caecus inest vitiis amor ! omne futurum 50
despicitur suadentque brevem praesentia fructum et ruit in vetitum damni secura libido,
dum mora supplicii lucro serumque quod instat creditur. haud equidem contra tot signa Camillo detulerim fasces, nedum (pro sexus ! ) inerti 55 mancipio, cui, cuncta licet responsa iuberent hortantesque licet sponderent prospera divi,
turpe fuit cessisse viros.
Exquirite retro crimina continui lectis annalibus aevi,
prisca recensitis evolvite saecula fastis : 60 quid senis infandi Capreae, quid scaena Neronis
tale ferunt ? spado Romuleo succinctus amictu
sedit in Augustis laribus.
vulgata patebat aula salutantum studiis ; hue plebe senatus
permixta trepidique duces omnisque potestas 65 confluit. advolvi genibus, contingere dextram ambitus et votum deformibus oscula rugis
figere. praesidium legum genitorque vocatur principis et famulum dignatur regia patrem. posteritas, admitte fidem : monumenta petuntur 70
dedecoris multisque gemunt incudibus aera formatura nefas. haec iudicis, illa togati,
1 Suetonius draws a lurid (and probably exaggerated) picture of the debaucherics of Tiberius' old age at Capri. The same author describes the " scaena Neronis. " The curious may find the account in Suet. Nero, xxix.
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AGAINST EUTROPIUS, II
strangely and frenzied hearts were everywhere ablaze, stirred by the fires of the dread god Phoebus. Yet even had no god warned us, whose mind shall be so dull as to doubt that the year of an emasculate consul must be fatal to those lands ? Blind folly ever accompanies crime ; of the future no account is taken ; sufficient for the day is its short-lived pleasure ; heedless of loss passion plunges into for bidden joys, counting the postponement of punish ment a gain and believing distant the retribution that even now o'erhangs. In face of such portents I would not have entrusted Camillus' self with the fasces, let alone a sexless slave (oh ! the shame of it to yield to whom were, for men, a disgrace, even though every oracle decreed it, and the insis tent deities gave pledges of prosperity.
Look back in the annals of crime, read o'er all past history, unroll the volumes of Rome's story. What can the Capri of Tiberius' old age, what can Nero's theatre offer like to this A eunuch, clad in the cloak of Romulus, sat within the house of the emperors the staled palace lay open to the
of visitors hither hasten senators, mingling with the populace, anxious generals and magistrates of every degree all are fain to be the first to fall at his feet and to touch his hand the
prayer of all to set kisses on those hideous wrinkles.
He called defender of the laws, father of the
emperor, and the court deigns to acknowledge a slave as its overlord. Ye who come after, acknow ledge that true Men must needs erect monu ments to celebrate this infamy on many an anvil groans the bronze that is to take upon the form of this monster. Here gleams his statue as a judge,
189
eager throng
it
;
? 1
!
is
! ),
it
is ;
is
it
;
; ;
CLAUDIAN
haec nitet armati species ; numerosus ubique
fulget eques : praefert eunuchi curia vultus.
ac veluti caveant ne quo consistere virtus 75 possit pura loco, cunctas hoc ore laborant
incestare vias. maneant inmota precamur
certaque perpetui sint argumenta pudoris.
subter adulantes tituli nimiaeque leguntur
vel maribus laudes : claro quod nobilis ortu 80 (cum vivant domini quod maxima proelia solus impleat (et patitur miles quod tertius urbis conditor (hoc Byzas Constantinusque videbant
inter quae tumidus leno producere cenas
in lucem, foetere mero, dispergere plausum 85 empturas in vulgus opes, totosque theatris
indulgere dies, alieni prodigus auri.
at soror et, quid portentis creditur, uxor
mulcebat matres epulis et more pudicae
coniugis eunuchi celebrabat vota mariti. 90 hanc amat, hanc summa de re vel pace vel armis
consulit, huic curas et clausa palatia mandat
ceu stabulum vacuamque domum. sic magna tueri regna nihil, patiensque iugi deluditur orbis
Mitior alternum Zephyri iam bruma teporem 95 senserat et primi laxabant germina flores,
iamque iter in gremio pacis sollemne parabant
ad muros, Ancyra, tuos, auctore repertum
Eutropio, pelagi ne taedia longa subirent,
Mythical founder of Byzantium = Constantinople)
said to have been contemporaneous with the Argonauts
(Diod. iv. 49. 1).
i. e. to prevent his being bored with the vicw of the
Bosporus. 190
21
(
:
?
si
! ).
! ), ! ),
AGAINST EUTROPIUS, II
there as a consul, there as a warrior. On every side one sees that figure of his mounted on his horse ; before the very doors of the senate-house behold a eunuch's countenance. As though to rob virtue of any place where she might sojourn undefiled, men labour to befoul every street with this vile image. May they rest for ever undisturbed, indisputable
proofs of our eternal shame ; such is my prayer. Beneath the statues one reads flattering titles and praises too great even for men. Do they tell of his noble race and lineage while his owners are still alive ? What soldier brooks to read that
single- handed he, Eutropius, won great battles ? Are Byzas 1 and Constantine to be told that he is the
third founder of Rome ? Meanwhile the arrogant pander prolongs his revels till the dawn, stinking of wine and scattering money amid the crowd to
buy their applause. He spends whole days of amusement in the theatres, prodigal of another's money. But his sister and spouse such a prodigy can be conceived) wins the favour of Rome's matrons by entertainments, and, like a chaste wife, sings the
praises of her eunuch husband. 'Tis her he loves, her he consults on all matters of importance, be of peace or war, to her care he entrusts the keys of the palace, as one would of a stable or empty house. Is the guardianship of a mighty empire thus naught Is thus he makes a mockery of world's obedience
Winter, passing into spring, had now felt the returning warmth of Zephyrus' breezes and the earliest flowers had oped their buds when, in the
lap of peace, they were preparing the annual journey to thy walls, Ancyra. 'Twas Eutropius' device that weariness of the sea might not come upon him,
191
2
it
a
? ?
it
(if
CLAUDIAN
sed vaga lascivis flueret discursibus aestas : 100 unde tamen tanta sublimes mole redibant,
ceu vinctos traherent Medos Indumque bibissent. ecce autem flavis Gradivus ab usque Gelonis
arva cruentato repetebat Thracia curru :
subsidunt Pangaea rotis altaeque sonoro 105 stridunt axe nives. ut vertice constitit Haemi femineasque togas pressis conspexit habenis,
subrisit crudele pater cristisque micantem
quassavit galeam ; tunc implacabile numen
Bellonam adloquitur, quae sanguine sordida vestem Illyricis pingues pectebat stragibus hydros : 111
" Necdum mollitiae, necdum, germana, mederi possumus Eoae ? numquam corrupta rigescent
saecula ? Cappadocum tepidis Argaeus acervis aestuat ; infelix etiamnum pallet Orontes. 115 dum pereunt, meminere mali ; si corda parumper respirare sinas, nullo tot funera sensu
praetereunt : antiqua levis iactura cruoris !