No More Learning

nam cum barbaries penitus commota gementem inrueret Rhodopen et mixto turbine gentes 50
iam deserta suas in nos transfunderet Arctos, Danuvii totae vomerent cum proelia ripae,
cum Geticis ingens premeretur Mysia plaustris flavaque Bistonios operirent agmina campos,
omnibus adflictis et vel labentibus ictu 55 vel prope casuris : unus tot funera contra
restitit extinxitque faces agrisque colonos
reddidit et leti rapuit de faucibus urbes.
nulla relicta foret Romani nominis umbra,
ni pater ille tuus iamiam ruitura subisset 60
pondera turbatamque ratem certaque levasset naufragium commune manu : velut ordine rupto
cum procul insanae traherent Phaethonta
quadrigae saeviretque dies terramque et stagna propinqui
haurirent radii, solito cum murmur e torvis 65 sol occurrit equis ; qui postquam rursus eriles agnovere sonos, rediit meliore magistro
machina concentusque poli, currusque recepit imperium flammaeque modum.
Sic traditus ille servatusque Oriens. at non pars altera rerum 70
tradita : bis possessa manu, bis parta periclis. per varium gemini scelus erupere tyranni tractibus occiduis : hunc saeva Britannia fudit ;
290
THE FOURTH CONSULSHIP OF HONORIUS
of birth or from lust of power. It was his own merit secured his election. Unsought the purple begged his acceptance of itself ; he alone when asked to rule was worthy to do so. For when unrest at home drove barbarian hordes over unhappy Rhodope and the now deserted north had poured its tribes in wild confusion across our borders, when all the banks of Danube poured forth battles and broad Mysia rang beneath the chariots of the Getae, when flaxen-haired hordes covered the plains of Thrace and amid this universal ruin all was either prostrate or tottering to its fall, one man alone withstood the tide of disaster, quenched the flames, restored to the husbandmen their fields and snatched the cities from the very jaws of destruction. No shadow of Rome's name had survived had not thy sire borne up the tottering mass, succoured the storm-tossed bark and with sure hand averted universal ship wreck. As when the maddened coursers broke from their path and carried Phaethon far astray, when day's heat grew fierce and the sun's rays, brought near to earth, dried up both land and sea, Phoebus checked his fierce horses with his wonted voice ; for they knew once more their master's tones, and with a happier guide heaven's harmonious order was restored ; for now the chariot again accepted govern ment and its fires control.
Thus was the East entrusted to him and thus was its salvation assured ; but the other half of the world was not so entrusted : twice was the West gained by valour, twice won by dangers. In those lands of the sunset by manifold crime there arose to power tyrants twain : wild Britain produced
one (Maximus), the other (Eugenius) was chosen 291
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hunc sibi Germanus famulum delegerat exul :
ausus uterque nefas, domini respersus uterque 75 insontis kigulo. novitas audere priori
suadebat cautumque dabant exempla sequentem. hie nova moliri praeceps, hie quaerere tuta
providus ; hie fusis, collectis viribus ille ;
hie vagus excurrens, hie intra claustra reductus. 80 dissimiles, sed morte pares. evadere neutri
dedecus aut mixtis licuit procumbere teUs.
amissa specie, raptis insignibus ambo
in vultus rediere suos manibusque revinctis
oblati gladiis summittunt colla paratis 85 et vitam veniamque rogant. pro damna pudoris ! qui modo tam densas nutu movere cohortes,
in quos iam dubius sese libraverat orbis,
non hostes victore cadunt, sed iudice sontes ;
damnat voce reos, petiit quos Marte tyrannos. 90 amborum periere duces : hie sponte carina
decidit in fluctus, illum suus abstulit ensis ;
hunc Alpes, hunc pontus habet. solacia caesis fratribus haec ultor tribuit : necis auctor uterque labitur ; Augustas par victima mitigat umbras. 95 has dedit inferias tumulis, iuvenumque duorum purpureos merito placavit sanguine manes.
Illi iustitiam confirmavere triumphi,
1 Maximus was responsible for the murder of the Emperor Gratian, Eugenius for that of Valentinian II. See Intro duction, p. viii.
292
THE FOURTH CONSULSHIP OF HONORIUS
as a tool by a Frankish outlaw (Arbogast). Both dared monstrous guilt ; both stained their hands with an innocent emperor's 1 blood. Sudden elevation inspired Maximus with audacity, his failure taught his successor caution. Maximus was quick to arm rebellion, Eugenius careful to attempt only what was safe. The one o'erran the country, spreading his forces in all directions, the other kept his troops together and himself secure behind a rampart. Different were they, but in their deaths alike. To neither was it granted to escape an ignominious end and to fall in the thick of the fight. Gone was their glory, their weapons were reft from them and they reduced to their former state ; their arms were bound behind their backs and they stretched forth their necks to the sword's imminent stroke, begging for pardon and for life. What a fall did pride there suffer ! They who but lately had moved such
countless cohorts with but a nod, into whose palm
a wavering world had hung ready to drop, fall not as warriors at a victor's hand but as malefactors before a judge ; he sentences with his voice as criminals those whom he assailed in war as tyrants. With both perished their lieutenants :
Andragathius hurled himself from his ship into the waves, Arbo
gast took his life with his own sword ; the Alps mark the tomb of the one, the sea of the other. This solace at least the avenger afforded to those mur dered brothers that both the authors of their deaths themselves were slain ; two victims went to appease those royal ghosts. Such was Theodosius' oblation at their tomb and with the blood of the guilty he appeased the shades of the two young emperors.
Those triumphs stablished Justice on her throne 293
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docuere deos. hinc saecula discant indomitum nihil esse pio tutumve nocenti : 100 nuntius ipse sui longas incognitus egit
praevento rumore vias, inopinus utrumque
perculit et clausos montes, ut plana, reliquit.
extruite inmanes scopulos, attollite turres,
cingite vos fluviis, vastas opponite silvas, 105 Garganum Alpinis Appenninumque nivalem permixtis sociate iugis et rupibus Haemum
addite Caucasiis, involvite Pelion Ossae :
non dabitis murum sceleri. qui vindicet, ibit : omnia subsident meliori pervia causae. 110
Nec tamen oblitus civem cedentibus atrox partibus infremuit ; non insultare iacenti malebat : mitis precibus, pietatis abundans,
poenae parous erat ; paci non intulit iram ;
post acies odiis idem qui terminus armis. 115 profuit hoc vincente capi, multosque subactos prospera1 laturae commendavere catenae.
magnarum largitor opum, largitor honorum
pronus et in melius gaudens converter e fata.
hinc amor, hinc validum devoto milite robur. 120 hinc natis mansura fides.
Hoc nobilis ortu nasceris aequaeva cum maiestate creatus
nullaque privatae passus contagia sortis.
omnibus acceptis ultro te regia solum
protulit et patrio felix adolescis in ostro, 125
1 Birt, with the mss. , aspera ; / return to the prospera of the edit. princeps.
praesentes
1 i. e. by winning first the pity and then the favour of Theodosius.
2 " Only," because Arcadius was born before Theodosius became emperor.
294
THE FOURTH CONSULSHIP OF HONORIUS
and taught that heaven gives help. From them let the ages learn that righteousness need fear no foe and guilt expect no safety. Himself his own messenger, outstripping the rumour of his approach, Theodosius traversed those long journeys undetected by his enemies. Suddenly he fell on both, passing over entrenched mountains as if they were a plain. Build up monstrous rocks, raise towers, surround yourselves with rivers, set limitless forests to protect you, put Garganus and the snowy Apennines upon
the summits of the Alps that all form one vast moun tain barrier, plant Haemus on the crags of Caucasus, roll Pelion on Ossa, yet will ye not gain security for guilt. The avenger will come ; for the better cause all things shall sink to make a path.
Yet never did Theodosius forget that he and the vanquished were fellow-citizens, nor was his anger implacable against those who yielded. Not his the choice to exult over the fallen. His ears were open to prayers, his clemency unbounded, his vengeance restrained. His anger did not survive
the war to darken the days of peace ; the day that set an end to the combat set an end to his wrath. Capture by such a victor was a gain ; and many a conquered foe did their chains commend to future fortune. 1 As liberal of money as of honours he was ever bent to redress the injuries of fate.
Hence the love, the fortitude, the devotion of his troops ; hence their abiding loyalty to his sons.
Child of so noble a sire, thy kingly state was coeval with thy birth nor ever knewest thou the soilure of a private lot. To thee all things came unsought ; thee only 2 did a palace rear ; thy happy growth was in ancestral purple, and thy limbs, never
295
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membraque vestitu numquam violata profano
in sacros cecidere sinus. Hispania patrem
auriferis eduxit aquis, te gaudet alumno
Bosphorus. Hesperio de limine surgit origo,
sed nutrix Aurora tibi ; pro pignore tanto 130 certatur, geminus civem te vindicat axis.
Herculis et Bromii sustentat gloria Thebas,
haesit Apollineo Delos Latonia partu
Cretaque se iactat tenero reptata Tonanti ;
sed melior Delo, Dictaeis clarior oris 135 quae dedit hoc numen regio ; non litora nostro sufficerent angusta deo. nec inhospita Cynthi
saxa tuos artus duro laesere cubili :
adclinis genetrix auro, circumflua gemmis
in Tyrios enixa toros ; ululata verendis 140 aula puerperiis. quae tunc documenta futuri ?
quae voces avium ? quanti per inane volatus ?
qui vatum discursus erat ? tibi corniger Hammon
et dudum taciti rupere silentia Delphi,
te Persae cecinere magi, te sensit Etruscus 145 augur et inspectis Babylonius horruit astris,
Chaldaei stupuere senes Cumanaque rursus
intonuit rupes, rabidae delubra Sibyllae.
nec te progenitum Cybeleius aere sonoro
lustravit Corybas : exercitus undique fulgens 150 adstitit ; ambitur signis augustior infans,
sentit adorantes galeas, redditque ferocem
vagitum lituus.
296
Vitam tibi contulit idem
THE FOURTH CONSULSHIP OF HONORIUS
outraged by garb profane, were laid upon a hal lowed lap. Spain with its rivers of gold gave birth to thy sire ; Bosporus boasts thee among its children. The West is the cradle of thy race but the East was thine own nurse ; rivals are they for so dear a pledge, either hemisphere claims thee as its citizen. The fame of Hercules and Bacchus has immortalized Thebes ; when Latona gave birth to Apollo in Delos that island stayed its errant course ; it is Crete's boast that over its fields the infant Thunderer crawled. But the land that brought divine Honorius to birth is a greater than Delos, a more famous than
Crete. Such narrow shores would not suffice our god. Nor did the bleak rocks of Cynthus hurt thy body with their rough bed ; on couch of gold, clothed in jewelled raiment, thy mother gave birth to thee amid Tyrian purples ; a palace rang with
joy at that royal deliverance. What presages were there not then of future prosperity ? what songs of birds, what flights of good omen in the heavens ? What was the hurrying to and fro of seers ? Horned Ammon and Delphi so long dumb at length broke their silence ; Persian magi prophesied thy triumphs ; Tuscan augurs felt thine influence ; seers of Babylon beheld the stars and trembled ; amazement seized the Chaldaean priests ; the rock of Cumae, shrine
of raging Sibyl, thundered once again. Cybele's corybants surrounded not thy cradle with the clatter of their brazen shields ; a shining host stood by thee on every side. Standards of war hedged in the royal babe who marked the bowed helmets of the worshipping soldiery while the trumpet's blare answered his warlike cries.
The day that gave thee birth gave thee a kingdom ; 297
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imperiumque dies ; inter cunabula consul
proveheris, signas posito modo nomine fastos 155 donaturque tibi, qui te produxerat, annus.
ipsa Quirinali parvum te cinxit amictu
mater et ad primas docuit reptare curules.
uberibus Sanctis inmortalique dearum
crescis adoratus gremio : tibi saepe Diana 160
Maenalios arcus venatricesque pharetras
suspendit, puerile decus ; tu saepe Minervae
lusisti clipeo fulvamque impune pererrans
aegida tractasti blandos interritus angues ;
saepe tuas etiam tum gaudente marito 165 velavit regina comas festinaque voti
praesumptum diadema dedit, tum lenibus ulnis
sustulit et magno porrexit ad oscula patri.
nec dilatus honos : mutatur principe Caesar ;
protinus aequaris fratri. 170 Non certius umquam
hortati superi, nullis praesentior aether
adfuit ominibus. tenebris involverat atra
lumen hiems densosque Notus collegerat imbres.
sed mox, cum solita miles te voce levasset,
nubila dissolvit Phoebus pariterque dabantur 175 sceptra tibi mundoque dies : caligine liber Bosphorus adversam patitur Calchedona cerni.
nec tantum vicina nitent, sed tota repulsis
nubibus exuitur Thrace, Pangaea renident insuetosque palus radios Maeotia vibrat. 180
1 Honorius, who was born Sept. 9, 384, was made consul for 386.
2 Arcadius was made Augustus Jan. 16 (? 19), 383 : Honorius not till Nov. 20, 393. Both succeeded to the throne Jan. 17, 395.
298
THE FOURTH CONSULSHIP OF HONORIUS
in thy cradle thou wast raised to the consulship. 1 With the name so recently bestowed upon thee thou dowerest the fasti and the year wherein thou wert born is consecrated to thee. Thy mother herself wrapped thy small form in the consular robe and directed thy first steps to the curule chair. Nourished at a goddess' breasts, honoured with the embraces of im mortal arms thou grewest to maturity. Oft to grace thy boyish form Diana hung upon thy shoulders her Maenalian bow and huntress' quiver ; oft thou didst sport with Minerva's shield and, crawling unharmed over her glittering aegis, didst caress its friendly
serpents with fearless hand. Often even in those early days thy mother beneath thy sire's happy gaze crowned thy tender locks and, anticipating the answer to her prayers, gave thee the diadem that was to be thine hereafter ; then raising thee in her gentle arms she held thee up to receive thy mighty father's kiss. Nor was that honour long in coming ; thou, then Caesar, didst become emperor and wert straightway made equal with thy brother. 2
Never was the encouragement of the gods more sure, never did heaven attend with more favouring omens. Black tempest had shrouded the light in darkness and the south wind gathered thick rain- clouds, when of a sudden, so soon as the soldiers had borne thee aloft with customary shout, Phoebus scattered the clouds and at the same moment was given to thee the sceptre, to the world light. Bos porus, freed from clouds, permits a sight of Chalcedon on the farther shore ; nor is it only the vicinity of Byzantium that is bathed in brightness ; the clouds are driven back and all Thrace is cleared ; Pangaeus shows afar and lake Maeotis makes quiver the rays he
299
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nec Boreas nimbos aut sol ardentior egit :
imperii lux illa fuit ; praesagus obibat
cuncta nitor risitque tuo natura sereno.
visa etiam medio populis mirantibus audax
stella die, dubitanda nihil nec crine retuso 185 languida, sed quantus numeratur nocte Bootes, emicuitque plagis alieni temporis hospes
ignis et agnosci potuit, cum luna lateret :
sive parens Augusta fuit, seu forte reluxit
divi sidus avi, seu te properantibus astris 190 cernere sol patiens caelum commune remisit.
adparet quid signa ferant. ventura potestas
claruit Ascanio, subita cum luce comarum
innocuus flagraret apex Phrygioque volutus
vertice fatalis redimiret tempora candor. 195 at tua caelestes inlustrant omina flammae.
talis ab Idaeis primaevus Iuppiter antris
possessi stetit arce poli famulosque recepit
natura tradente deos ; lanugine nondum
vernabant vultus nec adhuc per colla fluebant 200 moturae convexa comae ; tum scindere nubes discebat fulmenque rudi torquere lacerto.
Laetior augurio genitor natisque superbus iam paribus duplici fultus consorte redibat
splendebatque pio complexus pignora curru. 205 haud aliter summo gemini cum patre Lacones, progenies Ledaea, sedent : in utroque relucet
frater, utroque soror ; simili chlamys effluit auro ;
1 Virgil mentions the portent (Am. ii. 682). 300
THE FOURTH CONSULSHIP OF HONORIUS
rarely sees. 'Tis not Boreas nor yet Phoebus' warmer breath that has put the mists to flight. That light was an emperor's star. A prophetic radiance was over all things, and with thy brightness Nature laughed. Even at midday did a wondering people gaze upon a bold star ('twas clear to behold) — no dulled nor stunted beams but bright as Bootes' nightly lamp. At a strange hour its brilliance lit up the sky and its fires could be clearly seen though the moon lay hid. May be it was the mother's star or the return of thy grandsire's now become a god, or may be the generous sun agreed to share the heavens with all the stars that hasted to behold thee. The meaning of those signs is now unmistakable. Clear was the prophecy of Ascanius' coming power when an aureole crowned his locks, yet harmed them not, and when the fires of fate encircled his head and played about his temples. 1 Thy future the very fires of heaven foretell. So the young Jove, issuing from the caves
of Ida, stood upon the summit of the conquered sky and received the homage of the gods whom Nature handed to his charge. The bloom of youth had not yet clothed his cheeks nor flowed there o'er his neck the curls whose stirrings were to shake the
world. He was yet learning how to cleave the clouds and hurl the thunderbolt with unpractised hand.
Gladdened by that augury and proud of his now equal sons the sire returned, upstayed on the two princes and lovingly embracing his children in glittering car. Even so the Spartan twins, the sons of Leda, sit with highest Jove ; in each his brother is mirrored, in each their sister ; round each alike flows a golden dress, and star-crowned are the 301
Queen
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stellati pariter crines. iuvat ipse Tonantem
error et ambiguae placet ignorantia matri ; 210 Eurotas proprios discernere nescit alumnos.
" Si tibi Parthorum solium Fortuna dedisset,
care puer, terrisque procul venerandus Eois 215 barbarus Arsacio consurgeret ore tiaras :
sufficeret sublime genus luxuque fluentem
deside nobilitas posset te sola tueri.
altera Romanae longe rectoribus aulae
condicio. virtute decet, non sanguine niti. 220 maior et utilior fato coniuncta potenti,
vile latens virtus, quid enim ? submersa tenebris proderit obscuro veluti sine remige puppis
vel lyra quae reticet vel qui non tenditur arcus.
semet et incertos animi placaverit aestus,
inveniet ; longis illuc ambagibus itur.
disce orbi, quod quisque sibi. cum conderet artus nostros, aetheriis miscens terrena, Prometheus, sinceram patri mentem furatus Olympo 230 continuit claustris indignantemque revinxit
et, cum non aliter possent mortalia fingi,
adiunxit geminas. illae cum corpore lapsae intereunt, haec sola manet bustoque superstes
evolat. hanc alta capitis fundavit in arce 235 mandatricem operum prospecturamque labori ;
1 Claudian here follows the Platonic psychology which divides the soul into rb iTndvu-qriicbv, rb dvpoeiSh, the two (" geminas ") baser elements, and rb Xoyiariicbv (the " haec "
of I. 234). 302
Ut domus excepit reduces, ibi talia tecum pro rerum stabili fertur dicione locutus :
" Hanc tamen haud quisquam, qui non agnoverit ante 225
THE FOURTH CONSULSHIP OF HONORIUS
locks of both. The Thunderer rejoices in his very uncertainty, and to their hesitating mother her ignorance brings delight ; Eurotas cannot make distinction between his own nurslings.
When all had returned to the palace, Theodosius, anxious for the world's just governance, is said to have addressed thee in these terms :
" Had fortune, my dear son, given thee the throne of Parthia, hadst thou been a descendant of the Arsacid house and did the tiara, adored by Eastern lands afar, tower upon thy forehead, thy long lineage would be enough, and thy birth alone would protect thee, though wantoning in idle luxury. Very different is the state of Rome's emperor. 'Tis merit, not blood, must be his support. Virtue hidden hath no value, united with power 'tis both more effective and more useful. Nay, o'erwhelmed in darkness it will no more advantage its obscure possessor than a vessel with no oars, a silent lyre, an unstrung bow.
"Yet virtue none shall find that has not first learned to know himself and stilled the uncertain waves of passion within him. Long and winding is the path that leads thereto. What each man learns in his own interests learn thou in the interests of the world. When Prometheus mixed earthly and
elements and so formed human kind, he stole man's spirit pure from his own heavenly home, held it imprisoned and bound despite its outcries, and since humanity could be formed in no other way he added two more souls. 1 These fail and perish with the body ; the first alone remains, survives the pyre and flies away. This soul he stationed in
the lofty fastness of the brain to control and over see the work and labours of the body. The other 303
heavenly
CLAUDIAN
illas inferius collo praeceptaque summae
passuras dominae digna statione locavit.
quippe opifex veritus confundere sacra profanis distribuit partes animae sedesque removit. 240 iram sanguinei regio sub pectore cordis
protegit imbutam flammis avidamque nocendi praecipitemque sui. rabie succensa tumescit, contrahitur tepefacta metu. cumque omnia secum duceret et requiem membris vesana negaret, 245 invenit pubnonis opem madidumque furenti
praebuit, ut tumidae ruerent in mollia fibrae.
at sibi cuncta petens, nil conlatura cupido
in iecur et tractus imos compulsa recessit,
quae, velut inmanis reserat dum belua rictus, 250 expleri pascique nequit : nunc verbere curas
torquet avaritiae, stimulis nunc flagrat amorum, nunc gaudet, nunc maesta dolet satiataque rursus
exoritur caesaque redit pollentius hydra.
" Hos igitur potuit si quis sedare tumultus, 255
inconcussa dabit purae sacraria menti.
tu licet extremos late dominere per Indos,
te Medus, te mollis Arabs, te Seres adorent :
si metuis, si prava cupis, si duceris ira,
servitii patiere iugum ; tolerabis iniquas 260 interius leges. tunc omnia iure tenebis,
cum poteris rex esse tui. proclivior usus
in peiora datur suadetque licentia luxum inlecebrisque effrena favet. tum vivere caste
304
THE FOURTH CONSULSHIP OF HONORIUS
two he set below the neck in a place befitting their functions, where it is their part to obey the com mands of the directing soul. Doubtless our creator, fearing to mix the heavenly with the mortal, placed the different souls in different parts and kept their dwelling-places distinct. Near to the heart whence springs our blood there is within the breast a place where fiery anger lurks, eager to hurt and uncon trolled. This cavity swells when heated by rage
and contracts when cooled by fear. Then, since
anger swept everything away with it and in its fury gave the limbs no rest, Prometheus invented the lungs to aid the body and applied their humidity to the raging of anger to soothe our wrath-swollen flesh. Lust, that asks for everything and gives nought, was driven down into the liver and of neces sity occupied the lowest room. Like a beast, open ing its capacious jaws, lust can never be full fed nor satisfied ; it is a prey now to the cruel lash of sleep less avarice, now to the fiery goads of love ; is
swayed now by joy, now by misery, and is no sooner fed than fain to be fed again, returning with more insistence than the oft-beheaded hydra.
" Can any assuage this tumult he will assure an inviolable sanctuary for a spotless soul. Thou mayest hold sway o'er farthest India, be obeyed by
Mede, unwarlike Arab or Chinese, yet, if thou
fearest, hast evil desires, art
thou wilt bear the yoke of slavery ; within thyself thou wilt be a slave to tyrannical rule. When thou canst be king over thyself then shalt thou hold rightful rule over the world. The easier way often trod leads to worse ; liberty begets licence and, when uncontrolled, leads to vice. Then is a chaste
vol. i x 305
swayed by anger,
CLAUDIAN
asperius, cum prompta Venus ; tum durius irae 265 consulitur, cum poena patet. sed comprime motus nec tibi quid liceat, sed quid fecisse decebit
occurrat, mentemque domet respectus honesti.
" Hoc te praeterea crebro sermone monebo,
ut te totius medio telluris in ore 270 vivere cognoscas, cunctis tua gentibus esse
facta palam nec posse dari regalibus usquam secretum vitiis ; nam lux altissima fati
occultum nihil esse sinit, latebrasque per omnes intrat et abstrusos explorat fama recessus. 275
" Sis pius in primis ; nam cum vincamur in omni munere, sola deos aequat dementia nobis,
neu dubie suspectus agas neu falsus amicis rumorumve avidus : qui talia curat, inanes
horrebit strepitus nulla non anxius hora. 280 non sic excubiae, non circumstantia pila
quam tutatur amor. non extorquebis amari ; hoc alterna fides, hoc simplex gratia donat.
nonne vides, operum quod se pulcherrimus ipse mundus amore liget, nec vi conexa per aevum 285 conspirent elementa sibi ? quod limite Phoebus contentus medio, contentus litore pontus
et, qui perpetuo terras ambitque vehitque,
nec premat incumbens oneri nec cesserit aer ?
qui terret, plus ipse timet ; sors ista tyrannis 290 convenit ; invideant claris fortesque trucident,
306
THE FOURTH CONSULSHIP OF HONORIUS
life harder when love is at call ; then is it a sterner
task to govern anger when vengeance is to hand. Yet master thine emotions and ponder not what thou mightest do but what thou oughtest to do,
and let regard for duty control thy mind.
" Of this too I cannot warn thee too often : remem
ber that thou livest in the sight of the whole world, to all peoples are thy deeds known ; the vices of monarchs cannot anywhere remain hid. The splen dour of their lofty station allows nought to be con cealed ; fame penetrates every hiding-place and discovers the inmost secrets of the heart.
" Above all fail not in loving-kindness ; for though we be surpassed in every virtue yet mercy alone makes us equal with the gods. Let thine actions be
open and give no grounds for suspicion, be loyal to thy friends nor lend an ear to rumours. He who attends to such will quake at every idle whisper and know no moment's peace. Neither watch nor guard nor yet a hedge of spears can secure thee safety ; only thy people's love can do that. Love thou canst not extort ; it is the gift of mutual faith and honest goodwill. Seest thou not how the fair frame of the very universe binds itself together by love, and how the elements, not united by violence, are for ever at harmony among themselves ? Dost thou not mark how that Phoebus is content not to outstep the limits of his path, nor the sea those of his kingdom, and how the air, which in its eternal embrace encircles and upholds the world, presses not upon us with too heavy a weight nor yet yields to the burden which itself sustains ? Whoso causes terror is himself more fearful ; such doom befits tyrants. Let them be jealous of another's fame, murder the
307
CLAUDIAN
muniti gladiis vivant saeptique venenis,
ancipites habeant arces trepidique minentur :
tu civem patremque geras, tu consule cunctis,
non tibi, nec tua te moveant, sed publica vota. 295
" In commune iubes si quid censesque tenendum, primus iussa subi : tunc observantior aequi
fit populus nec ferre negat, cum viderit ipsum auctorem par ere sibi. componitur orbis
regis ad exemplum, nec sic inflectere sensus humanos edicta valent quam vita regentis : mobile mutatur semper cum principe vulgus.
" His tamen effectis neu fastidire minores
neu pete praescriptos homini transcendere fines,
. 300
inquinat egregios adiuncta superbia mores.
non tibi tradidimus dociles servire Sabaeos, Armeniae dominum non te praefecimus orae,
nec damus Assyriam, tenuit quam femina, gentem. Romani, qui cuncta diu rexere, regendi,
qui nec Tarquinii fastus nec iura tulere 310 Caesaris. annales veterum delicta loquuntur : haerebunt maculae. quis non per saecula damnat Caesareae portenta domus ? quem dira Neronis funera, quem rupes Caprearum taetra latebit
incesto possessa seni ? victura feretur 315 gloria Traiani, non tam quod Tigride victo
nostra triumphati fuerint provincia Parthi,
alta quod invectus fractis Capitolia Dacis,
308
1 i. e. Tiberius.
305
THE FOURTH CONSULSHIP OF HONORIUS
brave, live hedged about with swords and" fenced with poisons, dwelling in a citadel that is ever exposed to danger, and threaten to conceal their fears. Do thou, my son, be at once a citizen and a father, consider not thyself but all men, nor let thine own desires stir thee but thy people's.
" Ifthou make any law or establish any custom for the general good, be the first to submit thyself thereto ; then does a people show more regard for.
justice nor refuse submission when it has seen theuj author obedient to his own laws. The world shapes j itself after its ruler's pattern, nor can edicts sway men's minds so much as their monarch's life ; the unstable crowd ever changes along with the prince.
" Nor is this all : show no scorn of thine inferiors nor seek to overstep the limits established for man kind. Pride joined thereto defaces the fairest character. They are not submissive Sabaeans whom I have handed over to thy rule, nor have I made
thee lord of Armenia ;
accustomed to a woman's rule. Thou must govern Romans who have long governed the world, Romans who brooked not Tarquin's pride nor Caesar's tyranny. History still tells of our ancestors' ill deeds ; the stain will never be wiped away. So long as the world lasts the monstrous excesses of the Julian house will stand condemned. Will any not have heard of Nero's murders or how Capri's
foul cliffs were owned by an aged lecher 1 ? The fame of Trajan will never die, not so much because,
thanks to his victories on the Tigris,
Parthia became a Roman province, not because he brake the might of Dacia and led their chiefs in triumph up the slope of the Capitol, but because
309
I give thee not
Assyria,
conquered
CLAUDIAN
quam patriae quod mitis erat. ne desine tales,
nate, sequi.
" Si bella canant, prius agmina duris exerce studiis et saevo praestrue Marti. 321
non brumae requies, non hibernacula segnes
enervent torpore manus. ponenda salubri
castra loco ; praebenda vigil custodia vallo.
disce, ubi denseri cuneos, ubi cornua tendi 325 aequius aut iterum flecti ; quae montibus aptae, quae campis acies, quae fraudi commoda vallis,
quae via difficilis. fidit si moenibus hostis, tum tibi murali libretur machina pulsu ;
saxa rota ; praeceps aries protectaque portas 330 testudo feriat ; ruat emersura iuventus
effossi per operta soli, si longa moretur
obsidio, tum vota cave secura remittas
inclusumve putes ; multis damnosa fuere
gaudia ; dispersi pereunt somnove soluti ; 335 saepius incautae nocuit victoria turbae.
neu tibi regificis tentoria larga redundent
deliciis, neve imbelles ad signa ministros
luxuries armata trahat. neu flantibus Austris
neu pluviis cedas, neu defensura calorem 340 aurea summoveant rapidos umbracula soles,
inventis utere cibis. solabere partes
aequali sudore tuas : si collis iniquus,
1 A well-known Roman method of attack by which the troops advanced to the point of attack in close formation, each man holding his shield above his head. The protection thus afforded to the assaulting band was likened to the
shell of the tortoise {testudo). 310
THE FOURTH CONSULSHIP OF HONORIUS
he was kindly to his country. Fail not to make such as he thine example, my son.
" Should war threaten, see first that thy soldiers are exercised in the practices of war and prepare them for the rigours of service. The ease of winter months spent in winter quarters must not weaken
nor unnerve their hands. Establish thy camps in healthy places and see that watchful sentries guard the ramparts. Learn how to know when to mass your troops and when it is better to extend them or face them round ; study the formations suitable for mountain warfare and those for fighting on the plain. Learn to recognize what valleys may conceal an ambush and what routes will prove difficult. If thine enemy trusts in his walls to defend him then let thy catapults hurl stones at his battlements ; fling rocks thereat and let the swinging ram and shield-protected testudo1 shake his gates. Your
troops should undermine the walls and issuing from this tunnel should rush into the town. Should a long siege delay thee, then take care thou unbend not thy purpose in security or count thine enemy thy prisoner. Many ere this have found premature triumph their undoing, scattered or asleep they have been cut to pieces ; indeed victory itself has not seldom been the ruin of careless troops. Not for thee let spacious tents o'erflow with princely delights nor luxury don arms and drag to the standards her unwarlike train. Though the storm winds blow and the rain descends yield not to them and use not cloth of gold to guard thee from the sun's fierce rays. Eat such food as thou canst find. It will be a solace to thy soldiers that thy toil is as heavy as theirs ; be the first to mount the arduous hill and, should
311
CLAUDIAN
primus ini ; silvam si caedere provocat usus,
sumpta ne pudeat quercum stravisse bipenni. 345 calcatur si pigra palus, tuus ante profundum pertemptet sonipes. fluvios tu protere cursu haerentes glacie, liquidos tu scinde natatu.
nunc eques in medias equitum te consere turmas ; nunc pedes adsistas pediti. tum promptius ibunt
te socio, tum conspicuus gratusque geretur 351 sub te teste labor. "
" Dicturum plura parentem equidem, faveant modo numina coeptis,
voce subis :
haec effecta dabo, nec me fratrique tibique
dissimilem populi commissaque regna videbunt. 355 sed cur non potius, verbis quae disseris, usu
experior ? gelidas certe nunc tendis in Alpes.
due tecum comitem ; figant sine nostra tyrannum spicula ; pallescat nostro sine barbarus arcu. Italiamne feram furiis praedonis acerbi 360 subiectam ? patiar Romam servire clienti ?
usque adeone puer ? nec me polluta potestas
nec pia cognati tanget vindicta cruoris ?
per strages equitare libet. da protinus arma.
cur annos obicis ? pugnae cur arguor impar ? aequalis mihi Pyrrhus erat, cum Pergama solus 365 verteret et patri non degeneraret Achilli.
denique si princeps castris haerere nequibo,
vel miles veniam. "
Delibat dulcia nati
oscula miratusque refert : " laudanda petisti ; 370
sed festinus amor. veniet robustior aetas ;
ne propera. necdum decimas emensus aristas adgrederis metuenda viris : vestigia magnae 312
THE FOURTH CONSULSHIP OF HONOFJUS
demand the felling of a forest, be not ashamed to grasp the axe and hew down the oak. If a stagnant marsh must be crossed let thy horse be the first to test the depth of it. Boldly tread the frozen river ; swim the flood. Mounted thyself, ride amid thy squadrons of horse or again stand foot to foot with the infantry. They will advance the'bolder for thy presence, and with thee to witness glorious and glad shall be the fulfilment of their task. "
and said: "All this will I do, so God favour attempts. The peoples and kingdoms committed to my care shall find me not unworthy of thee nor of my brother. But why should I not experience in action what thou has taught in words ? Thou goest to the
necessity
More would he have spoken but Honorius broke in
: take me with thee. Let mine arrows pierce the tyrant's body, and the barbarians pale at my bow. Shall I allow Italy to become the prey of a ruthless bandit ? Rome to serve one who is himself but a servant ? Am I still such a child that neither power profaned nor just revenge for an uncle's blood shall move me ? Fain would I ride through blood.
wintry Alps
my
Quick, give me arms. Why castest thou my youth in my teeth ? Why thinkest me unequal to the
I am as old as was Pyrrhus when alone he Theodosius kissed his son's sweet lips and answered
combat ?
o'erthrew Troy and proved himself no degenerate from his father Achilles. If I may not remain in thy camp as a prince I will come even as a soldier. "
"
Nought have I but praise for thy petition, but this love of glory has bloomed too early. Thy strength will increase with years ; till then be patient. Though thou hast not yet completed ten
him wondering :
summers thou wouldst hansel dangers that a man 313
CLAUDIAN
indolis agnosco. fertur Pellaeus, Eoum
qui domuit Porum, cum prospera saepe Philippi 375 audiret, laetos inter flevisse sodales
nil sibi vincendum patris virtute relinqui.
hos video motus. fas sit promittere patri :
tantus eris. nostro nec debes regna favori,
quae tibi iam natura dedit. sic mollibus olim 380 stridula ducturum pratis examina regem
nascentem venerantur apes et publica mellis
iura petunt traduntque favos ; sic pascua parvus vindicat et necdum firmatis cornibus audax
iam regit armentum vitulus. sed proelia differ 385 in iuvenem patiensque meum cum fratre tuere
me bellante locum. vos impacatus Araxes,
vos celer Euphrates timeat, sit Nilus ubique
vester et emisso quidquid sol imbuit ortu.
si pateant Alpes, habeat si causa secundos 390 iustior eventus, aderis partesque receptas
suscipies, animosa tuas ut Gallia leges
audiat et nostros aequus modereris Hiberos.
tunc ego securus fati laetusque laborum
discedam, vobis utrumque regentibus axem. 395
" Interea Musis animus, dum mollior, instet
et quae mox imitere legat ; nec desinat umquam tecum Graia loqui, tecum Romana vetustas. antiquos evolve duces, adsuesce futurae
1 As is well known, the ancients mistook the sex of the queen bee.
314
THE FOURTH CONSULSHIP OF HONORIUS
I mark the tokens of a noble nature. It is said that Alexander, conqueror of eastern
might fear :
Porus, wept at the constant news of Philip's fortune, telling his companions who rejoiced thereat that his sire's valour left him nought to conquer. In thee I see like spirit. May a father be allowed this
prophecy —" thou shalt be as great " !
my goodwill thou owest the kingdom, for nature has already made it thine. So even from his birth bees reverence the king 1 who is to lead their buzzing swarms through the soft meadows, ask his public laws for the gathering of the honey and entrust to him their combs. So the spirited young heifer claims sovereignty over the grazing-grounds and, though as yet his horns are not grown strong,
It is not to
lords it over the herd. Nay
paigns till thou art a man and while I do battle patiently help thy brother to fulfil my office. Be you two the terror of untamed Araxes and of swift Euphrates ; may Nile throughout all his length belong to you and all the lands upon which the
sun lets fall his beam. Should I force a over the Alps, should success crown the
morning
passage
juster cause, thou shalt come and govern the re covered provinces, whereby fierce Gaul shall obey
thy laws and my native Spain be guided by thy just rule. Then, careless of doom and rejoicing in my labours, I shall quit this mortal life, while you,
my sons, rule either hemisphere.
" Meanwhile cultivate the Muses whilst thou art
yet young ; read of deeds thou soon mayest rival ; never may Greece's story, never may Rome's, cease to speak with thee. Study the lives of the heroes of old to accustom thee for wars that are to be.
315
: postpone
thy
cam
CLAUDIAN
militiae, Latium retro te confer in aevum. 400 libertas quaesita placet ? mirabere Brutum. perfidiam damnas ? Metti satiabere poenis.
triste rigor nimius ? Torquati despice mores,
mors impensa bonum ? Decios venerare ruentes. vel solus quid fortis agat, te ponte soluto 405 oppositus Codes, Muci te flamma docebit ;
quid mora perfringat, Fabius ; quid rebus in artis dux gerat, ostendet Gallorum strage Camillus. discitur hinc nullos meritis obsistere casus :
prorogat aeternam feritas tibi Punica famam, 410 Regule ; successus superant adversa Catonis.
discitur hinc quantum paupertas sobria possit : pauper erat Curius, reges cum vinceret armis, pauper Fabricius, Pyrrhi cum sperneret aurum ; sordida dictator flexit Serranus aratra : 415 lustratae lictore casae fascesque salignis
postibus adfixi ; collectae consule messes
et sulcata diu trabeato rura colono. "
Haec genitor praecepta dabat : velut ille carinae
longaevus rector, variis quem saepe procellis 420 exploravit hiems, ponto iam fessus et annis
alni nato commendat habenas
et casus artesque docet : quo dextra regatur
sidere ; quo fluctus possit moderamine falli ;
quae nota nimborum ; quae fraus infida sereni ; 425
1 The story of the punishment of Mettius Fufetius, the Alban dictator, by the Roman king Tullus Hostilius for his treachery in the war against Fidenae is told by Livy 28. 10) and referred to by Claudian (xv. 254). For Mucius (Scaevola) holding his arm in the flame to show Lars Porsenna how
little he, a Roman, minded bodily pain see Livy ii. 12. 316
aequoreas
(i.
THE FOURTH CONSULSHIP OF HONORIUS
Go back to the Latin age. Admirest thou a fight
for liberty ? Thou wilt admire Brutus. Does
treachery rouse thine indignation ? The punishment of Mettius1 will fill thee with satisfaction. Dost thou hate undue severity ? Abominate Torquatus' savagery. Is it a virtue to die for one's country ? Honour the self-devotion of the Decii. Horatius Codes, facing the foe on the broken bridge, Mucius holding his arm in the flames,2 these shall show thee what, single-handed, brave men can do. Fabius will show thee what overthrow delay can cause ; Camillus and his slaughter of the Gauls what in face of odds a leader can effect. From history thou mayest learn that no ill fortune can master worth ; Punic savagery extends thy fame,
to eternity ; the failure of Cato outdoes success. From history thou mayest learn the power of frugal poverty ; Curius was a poor man when he conquered kings in battle ; Fabricius was poor
when he spurned the gold of Pyrrhus ; Serranus, for all he was dictator, drove the muddy plough. In those days the lictors kept watch at a cottage door, the fasces were hung upon a gateway of wood ; consuls helped to gather in the harvest, and for long years the fields were ploughed by husbandmen who wore the consular robe. "
Such were the precepts of the sire. Even so an aged helmsman oft proved by winter's various storms, aweary now of the sea and his weight of years, commends to his son the rudder of his bark, tells him of dangers and devices —by what art the helms man's hand is guided ; what steerage may elude the wave ; what is a sign of storms ; what the treachery of a cloudless sky, the promise of the
317
Regulus,
CLAUDIAN
quid sol occiduus prodat ; quo saucia vento
decolor iratos attollat Cynthia vultus.
adspice nunc, quacumque micas, seu circulus Austri, magne parens, gelidi seu te meruere Triones,
adspice : completur votum. iam natus adaequat 430 te meritis et, quod magis est optabile, vincit
subnixus Stilichone tuo, quem fratribus ipse
discedens clipeum defensoremque dedisti.
pro nobis nihil ille pati nullumque recusat
discrimen temptare sui, non dura viarum, 435 non incerta maris, Libyae squalentis harenas
audebit superare pedes madidaque cadente
Pleiade Gaetulas intrabit navita Syrtes.
Hunc tamen in primis populos lenire feroces
et Rhenum pacare iubes. volat ille citatis 440 vectus equis nullaque latus stipante caterva,
aspera nubiferas qua Raetia porrigit Alpes,
pergit et hostiles (tanta est fiducia) ripas
incomitatus adit. totum properare per amnem attonitos reges humili cervice videres. 445 ante ducem nostrum flavam sparsere Sygambri caesariem pavidoque orantes murmure Franci procubuere solo : iuratur Honorius absens
imploratque tuum supplex Alamannia nomen. Bastarnae venere truces, venit accola silvae 450
Bructerus Hercyniae latisque paludibus exit Cimber et ingentes Albim liquere Cherusci.
318
THE FOURTH CONSULSHIP OF HONORIUS
setting sun ; what storm-wind frets the Moon so that discoloured she uplifts an angry face. Behold now,'
father, in whatsoever part of heaven thou shinest, be it the southern arch or the cold con stellation of the Plough that has won the honour of thy presence ; see, thy prayer has been answered ; thy son now equals thee in merit, nay, a consumma tion still more to be desired, he surpasseth thee, thanks to the support of thy dear Stilicho whom thou
thyself at thy death didst leave to guard and defend the brothers twain. For us there is nought that Stilicho is not ready to suffer, no danger to himself he is not willing to face, neither hardships of the land nor hazards of the sea. His courage will carry him on foot across the deserts of Libya, at the setting of the rainy Pleiads his ship will pene trate the Gaetulian Syrtes.
To him, however, thy first command is to calm fierce nations and bring peace to the Rhine. On wind-swift steed, no escort clinging to his side,
he crosses the cloud-capped summits of the Raetian Alps, and, so great is his trust in him self, approaches the river unattended. Then
great
thou have seen from source to mouth
mightest
come hastening up Rhine's princes, bending their heads in fearful submission. Before our general the
abased their flaxen locks and the Franks
cast themselves upon the ground and sued with
trembling voice for pardon. Germany swears allegi
ance to the absent Honorius and addresses her sup pliant prayers to him. Fierce Bastarnae were there and the Bructeri who dwell in the Hercynian forest. The Cimbrians left their broad marsh-lands, the tall Cherusci came from the river Elbe. Stilicho listens
319
Sygambri
CLAUDIAN
accipit ille preces varias tardeque rogatus
adnuit et magno pacem pro munere donat.
nobilitant veteres Germanica foedera Drusos, — 455 Marte sed ancipiti, sed multis cladibus empta
quis victum meminit sola formidine Rhenum ?
quod longis alii bellis potuere mereri,
hoc tibi dat Stilichonis iter.
Post otia Galli
limitis hortaris Graias fulcire ruinas. 460
Ionium tegitur velis ventique laborant
tot curvare sinus servaturasque Corinthum
prosequitur facili Neptunus gurgite classes,
et puer, Isthmiaci iam pridem litoris exul,
secura repetit portus cum matre Palaemon. 465 plaustra cruore natant : metitur pellita iuventus : pars morbo, pars ense perit. non lustra Lycaei,
non Erymantheae iam copia sufficit umbrae innumeris exusta rogis, nudataque ferro
sic flagrasse suas laetantur Maenala silvas. 470
excutiat cineres Ephyre, Spartanus et Areas tutior exanguis pedibus proculcet acervos
fessaque pensatis respiret Graecia poenis !
gens, qua non Scythicos diffusior ulla Triones incoluit, cui parvus Athos angustaque Thrace, 475 cum transiret, erat, per te viresque tuorum
fracta ducum lugetque sibi iam rara superstes,
et, quorum turbae spatium vix praebuit orbis,
uno colle latent. sitiens inclusaque vallo
320
1 = Corinth.
THE FOURTH CONSULSHIP OF HONORIUS
to their various prayers, gives tardy assent to their entreaties and of his great bounty bestows upon them peace. A covenant with Germany gave glory to the Drusi of old, but purchased by what uncer tain warfare, by how many disasters ! can.
Who recall the Rhine conquered by terror alone ? That which others were enabled to win by long wars—
this, Honorius, Stilicho's mere march gives thee. Thou biddest Stilicho after restoring peace in Gaul save Greece from ruin. Vessels cover the Ionian sea ; scarce can the wind fill out so many sails. Neptune with favouring currents attends the
fleet that is to save Corinth, and young Palaemon, so long an exile from the shores of his isthmus, returns in safety with his mother to the harbour. The blood of barbarians washes their chariots ; the ranks of skin-clad warriors are mowed down, some by disease, some by the sword. The glades of Lycaeus, the dark and boundless forests of Erymanthus, are not enough to furnish such countless funeral pyres ; Maenalus rejoices that the axe has stripped her of her woods to provide fuel for such a holocaust. Let Ephyre 1 rise from her ashes while Spartan and Arcadian tread under foot the heaps of slain ; let Greece's sufferings be made good and her weary land be allowed to breathe once more. That nation, wider spread than any that dwells in northern Scythia, that found Athos too small and Thrace too narrow when it crossed them, that nation, I say, was conquered by thee and thy captains, and now, in the persons of the few that survive, laments its own overthrow.