No More Learning

The army was still drawing the forbidden sword in that Alpine war,
and conquerors and conquered gave alternate cause for dissension. Scarce could this madness have been
calmed by my vigilance, much less by a boy's rule. Ah, how I feared for you what the uncontrolled might of such vast armies might dare, when, your sire removed, there came the fevered delight in change ! Dangerous was discord, more dangerous still unanimity. 'Twas then that Stilicho took my place in paternal love for thee, tended thine immature youth, and brought thee to the years and estate of an emperor. 'Twas he drove back Rufinus whom thou didst confess thou fearedst. Gratitude and loyalty I find in him alone. Did I want or seem to want aught, while yet I lived he accomplished it. Now I am dead he
supporter have we ?
worships me as worthy of veneration and an ever
present helper. If the thought of his goodness move thee not, at least show respect to thy brother's
father-in-law :
the royal espousal of my niece Serena. Thou oughtest to face thy brother's foes, he thine. Could any nation, could the combined forces of Rhine and Danube have stood against you twain allied ?
protecting Syrtes and rely for safety on the inter vening ocean ; though he think to be defended by
reason of his serpent-infested country and the fierce 121
Enough
bring about but the defeat of Gildo
I ask
bethink thee of Honorius' marriage,
: nought else. Though he entrench himself behind the
!
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novi consilium, novi Stilichonis in omnes aequalem casus animum : penetrabit harenas, inveniet virtute viam. "
" Sic divus et inde 320
Talia dum longo secum sermone retexunt, 325 Hesperiam pervenit avus castumque cubile
iussis, genitor, parebitur ultro.
sic natus :
amplector praecepta libens, nec carior alter cognato Stilichone mihi. commissa profanus ille luat ; redeat iam tutior Africa fratri. "
ingreditur, Tyrio quo fusus Honorius ostro carpebat teneros Maria cum coniuge somnos. adsistit capiti ; tunc sic per somnia fatur :
" Tantane devictos tenuit fiducia Mauros, 330
care nepos ? iterum post me coniurat in arma
progenies vesana Iubae bellumque resumit
victoris cum stirpe sui ? Firmumne iacentem
obliti Libyam nostro sudore receptam
rursus habent ? ausus Latio contendere Gildo 335
germani nec fata timet ? nunc ire profecto,
nunc vellem notosque senex ostendere vultus :
nonne meam fugiet Maurus cum viderit umbram ? quid dubitas ? exsurge toris, invade rebellem, captivum mihi redde meum. desiste morari. 340 hoc generi fatale tuo : dum sanguis in orbe
noster erit, semper pallebit regia Bocchi.
iungantur spoliis Firmi Gildonis opima ;
1 Firmus, brother of Gildo, had, during the reign of Valentinian, risen against the oppressive government of Romanus, count of Africa, and had been defeated by
Theodosius the elder. 122
THE WAR AGAINST GILDO, I
sun's mid-day heat, yet well I know Stilicho's in genuity—that mind of his equal to any emergency. He will force his way through the desert, his own greatness will lead him. "
Thus spake the dead emperor, whereon thus the son answered : " Right willingly, father, will I fulfil thy commands : ever ready am I to welcome thy behests. None is dearer to me than my kinsman Stilicho. Let the impious Gildo atone for his wrongs, and Africa be restored to my brother still safer than before. "
While father and son thus debated in long converse, Theodosius the grandfather made his way to Italy and entered the chaste bedchamber where on his couch of Tyrian purple Honorius lay in sweet sleep by the side of his wife Maria. At his head he stood and thus spake to him in a dream. " What rash confidence is this, dear grandson, that fills the conquered Moors ? Does the mad race descended from Juba, the people whom I subdued, once more conspire to oppose Rome's power and recommence the war with its conqueror's grandson ? Have they
forgotten the defeat of Firmus 1 ? Do they think to repossess Libya won back by the sweat of battle ? Dares Gildo strive with Rome ? Does he not fear his brother's fate. Fain would I go myself, old
I be, and show him the face he knows but too well. Will not the Moor flee my very shade, should he behold it ? Why delayest thou ? Up from thy bed ; attack the rebel ; give me back my prisoner ; waste no more time. 'Tis Fate's gift to thy family. While yet the race of Theodosius treads the earth the palace of Bocchus shall go in fear. Let the spoils of Gildo be added to those of Firmus ;
though
123
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exornet geminos Maurusia laurea currus :
una domus totiens una de gente triumphet. 345 di bene, quod tantis interlabentibus annis
servati Firmusque mihi fraterque nepoti. "
dixit et adflatus vicino sole refugit.
At iuvenem stimutis inmanibus aemula virtus exacuit ; iam puppe vehi, iam stagna secare 350 fervet et absentes invadere cuspide Mauros.
tum iubet acciri socerum dextramque vocato
conserit et, quae sit potior sententia, quaerit :
" Per somnos mihi, sancte pater, iam saepe futura panduntur multaeque canunt praesagia noctes. 355
namque procul Libycos venatu cingere saltus
et iuga rimari canibus Gaetula videbar.
maerebat regio saevi vastata leonis
incursu ; pecudum strages passimque iuvenci semineces et adhuc infecta mapalia tabo 360 sparsaque sanguineis pastorum funera campis. adgredior latebras monstri mirumque relatu conspicio : dilapsus honos, cervice minaces
defluxere iubae ; fractos inglorius armos
supposuit, servile gemens ; iniectaque vincla 365 unguibus et subitae collo sonuere catenae,
nunc etiam paribus secum certare tropaeis
hortator me cogit avus. quonam usque remoti cunctamur ? decuit pridem complere biremes
et pelagi superare moras, transmittere primus 370 ipse paro ; quaecumque meo gens barbara nutu stringitur, adveniat : Germania cuncta feratur
124
1 i. e. Stilicho.
THE WAR AGAINST GILDO, I
let the bays of Mauretania deck chariots twain and one house triumph thus many times over one race. Thanks be to the gods who have interposed so many years between the sacrifice of Firmus to my arms and that of Firmus' brother to those of my grand son. " He spake, then fled, as he felt the breath of the approaching dawn.
Then emulous courage roused the emperor with insistent goad. He burns to set sail, to cleave the main, to assail with the spear the distant Moors. So he summons his father-in-law 1 and clasping his hand asks what course of action he advises. " Full often, reverend sire, is the future revealed to me in dreams ; many a night brings prophecy. Methought I surrounded in hunting the distant glades of Africa and scoured the Gaetulian mountains with
my hounds. The district was distressed by reason of the incursions of a ravening Hon. On all sides were
slaughtered
beasts and mangled heifers, and still
their homesteads ran red with blood, and corpses of
I approached the beast's cave and saw a sight wonderful to relate. Gone was that noble form, drooping on the neck the threatening mane ; there he crouched, defeated, humbled, with slavish moans ; fetters were upon his paws and a chain clanked of a sudden on his neck. Now, too, my grand- sire eagerly urges me to rival his triumphs with my own. Why, he asked, did I delay and hesitate so long ? Already my ships should have been manned
and the sea's threatened opposition overcome. I myself am ready to cross in the first vessel. Let every foreign nation that is bound beneath my rule come to our aid. Let all Germany be transported and
125
many a shepherd lay weltering in the bloody fields.
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navibus et socia comitentur classe Sygambri.
pallida translatum iam sentiat Africa Rhenum. 374
an patiar tot probra sedens iuvenisque relinquam
quae tenui rexique puer ? bis noster ad Alpes
alterius genitor defensum regna cucurrit. "
nos praedae faciles insultandique iacemus ? Finierat. Stilicho contra cui talia reddit :
" adversine tubam princeps dignabere Mauri ? 380 auferet ignavus clari solacia leti,
te bellante mori ? decernet Honorius inde,
hinc Gildo ? prius astra Chaos miscebit Averno. vindictam mandasse sat est ; plus nominis horror quam tuus ensis aget. minuit praesentia famam. 385 qui stetit aequatur campo, collataque nescit maiestatem acies. sed quod magis utile factu
atque hosti gravius (sensus adverte) docebo.
est illi patribus, sed non et moribus isdem
Mascezel, fugiens qui dira piacula fratris 390 spesque suas vitamque tuo commisit asylo.
hunc ubi temptatis frustra mactare nequivit
insidiis, patrias in pignora contulit iras
et, quos ipse sinu parvos gestaverat, una
occidit iuvenes inhumataque corpora vulgo 395 dispulit et tumulo cognatas arcuit umbras naturamque simul fratremque hominemque cruentus exuit et tenuem caesis invidit harenam.
hoc facinus refugo damnavit sole Mycenas
avertitque diem ; sceleri sed reddidit Atreus 400
THE WAR AGAINST GILDO, I
the Sygambri come with allied fleet. Let trembling Africa now have experience of the dwellers on Rhine's banks. Or shall I sit here and submit to such disgrace ? Shall I relinquish, now that I am a man, what I ruled and governed as a boy ? Twice my father hurried to the Alps to defend another's realm. Am I to be an easy prey, an object of scorn? "
Wilt
thou, an emperor, deign to challenge a Moor to fight ? Is that coward to have the consolation of death in battle at thy hand ? Shall Honorius fight on our side and Gildo on the other ? Ere that, chaos
shall plunge the stars into Hell. 'Tis enough to command his punishment. Thy name shall strike
terror into him than thy sword. Presence
will minish awe ; he who stands in the lists admits
He ended and Stilicho thus made answer : "
greater
equality, and struggling hosts regard not majesty.
Listen and I will' tell thee something at once more
profitable for thyself and of more effect against the
Gildo has a brother of like descent but unlike in character, Mascezel, who, avoiding the evil courses of his brother, has entrusted his hopes and his life to thy keeping. When Gildo, after many vain attempts, found no means to kill Mascezel, he turned his anger from the father to the children and slew those whom himself had nursed as infants in his arms ; then cast aside their unburied bodies and refused sepulchre to the shades of those that had been his
kin. The bloody tyrant stifled all natural feelings, forgot he was a brother, forgot he was a man, and begrudged the slain a handful of dust. 'Twas a like deed brought its ill repute upon Mycenae, that put the sun to rout and turned back the day. But while Atreus paid back crime for crime and had excuse
127
enemy.
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crimen et infandas excusat coniuge mensas. hie odium, non poena fuit. te perdita iura, te pater ultorem, te nudi pulvere manes,
te pietas polluta rogat ; si flentibus aram
et proprium miseris numen statuistis, Athenae, 405 si Pandionias planctu traxere phalanges
Inachides belloque rogos meruere maritis,
si maesto squalore comae lacrimisque senatum
in Numidas pulsus solio commovit Adherbal :
hunc quoque nunc Gildo, tanto quem funere mersit, hunc doleat venisse ducem seseque minorem 411 supplicibus sciat esse tuis. quem sede fugavit,
hunc praeceps fugiat, fregit quem clade, tremiscat
agnoscatque suum, trahitur dum victima, fratrem. " Haec ubi sederunt genero, notissima Marti 415
robora, praecipuos electa pube maniplos
di^ponit portuque rates instaurat Etrusco.
Herculeam suus Alcides Ioviamque cohortem
rex ducit superum, premitur nec signifer ullo pondere : festinant adeo vexilla moved. 420 Nervius insequitur meritusque vocabula Felix dictaque ab Augusto legio nomenque probantes invicti clipeoque animosi teste Leones.
Dictis ante tamen princeps confirmat ituros
1 A reference to the support given by Theseus, King of Athens, to Adrastus, King of Argos, when the Thebans had refused to allow the burial of the Argives slain at Thebes ;
of. Eur. Supplices.
2 Orosius (vii. 36. 6) says Mascezel only had 5000 men.
The legion may have been leg. viii. Augusta. The other names are those of various numeri (the unit of the post- Diocletianic army).
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THE WAR AGAINST GILDO, I
for the bloody banquet in the unfaithfulness of his
wife, Gildo's motive was hatred, not
Violated rights, the sorrowing father, the unburied dead, the unnatural crime all call upon thee as
If thou, Athens, didst dedicate an altar to the sorrowing and ordain to those that mourn a special deity, if the women of Argos won to their aid the Athenian phalanx by their tears and bought burial for their slain lords at the price of war ; 1 if Adherbal, driven from his throne, roused the Senate against the Numidians by the sad appeal of unkempt locks and by his tears, then let Gildo be sorry that now this man also whom he has crushed by so many murders is come into the field against him, and let him learn that he must bow before thy suppliants. Let Gildo flee headlong before him whom he put to flight and fear him whom he o'erwhelmed with the murder of his children. As he is being dragged off to the slaughter let him recognize his brother's hand. "
When this advice had been accepted by his son- in-law, Stilicho made ready for war the most famous regiments in the army, selecting therefrom special companies of picked men ; he further prepared the fleet in the harbours of Etruria. Alcides himself commands the Herculean cohort ; the king of the gods leads the Jovian. No standard-bearer feels the
weight of his eagle, so readily do the very standards press forward. The Nervian cohort follows and the Felix, well deserving its name, the legion, too, named after Augustus, that well called The Un- conquered, and the brave regiment of the Lion 2 to whose name their shields bear witness.
But before they start the emperor, standing upon a platform of earth, heartens them with his words :
vol. i k 129
avenger.
vengeance.
CLAUDIAN
aggere conspicuus ; stat circumfusa iuventus 425 nixa hastis pronasque ferox accommodat aures :
" Gildonem domitura manus, promissa minasque tempus agi. si quid pro me doluistis, in armis ostentate mihi ; iusto magnoque triumpho
civiles abolete notas ; sciat orbis Eous 430 sitque palam Gallos causa, non robore vinci.
nec vos, barbariem quamvis collegerit omnem, terreat. an Mauri fremitum raucosque repulsus umbonum et vestros passuri comminus enses ?
non contra clipeis tectos gladiisque micantes 435 ibitis : in solis longe fiducia telis.
exarmatus erit, cum missile torserit, hostis.
dextra movet iaculum, praetentat pallia laeva ;
cetera nudus eques. sonipes ignarus habenae ;
virga regit. non ulla fides, non agminis ordo : 440
arma oneri, fuga praesidio. conubia mille ;
non illis generis nexus, non pignora curae :
sed numero languet pietas. haec copia vulgi. umbratus dux ipse rosis et marcidus ibit
unguentis crudusque cibo titubansque Lyaeo, 445 confectus senio, morbis stuprisque solutus.
excitet incestos turmalis bucina somnos,
imploret citharas cantatricesque choreas
offensus stridore tubae discatque coactus,
quas vigilat Veneri, castris impendere noctes. 450
1 He appeals to the Gallic element cf the army to atone for its previous support of Maximus and Eugenius.
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THE WAR AGAINST GILDO, I
leaning upon their spears the soldiers throng around him and attune their ready ears to his inspiring voice. " My men, so soon to bring defeat upon Gildo, now is the time to fulfil your promises and make good your threats. If you felt indignation on my behalf, now take up arms and prove it. Wash out the stain of civil war by means of a great and deserved triumph. Let the empire of the East know, let it be plain to all the world, that Gaul can only owe defeat to the badness of a cause, not to her enemies' strength. 1 Let not Gildo affright you though he have all barbary at his back. Shall Moors stand up against the shock of your clashing shields and the near threat of your swords ? You shall not oppose men armed with shields or shining blades. These savages put their trust in javelins hurled from afar. Once he has discharged his missile the enemy will be disarmed. With his right hand he hurls his spear, with his left he holds his cloak before him ; no other armour has the horseman. His steed knows not the rein ; a whip controls it. Obedience and discipline are unknown in their ranks. Their arms are a burden to them, their salvation lies in flight. Though each has many wives, ties of family bind them not, nor have they any love for their children whose very number causes affection to fail. Such are the troops. The chief will come to battle crowned with roses, drenched with scents, his last feast still undigested ; drunken with wine, foredone with eld, enervated with disease and venery. Let the war trumpet rouse him from a bed of incest, let him beg aid of lutes and choirs, for he likes not the
clarion's note, and let him learn (all unwilling) to spend in war nights that he now dedicates to love.
I
131
CLAUDIAN
" Nonne mori satius, vitae quam ferre pudorem ? nam quae iam regio restat, si dedita Mauris
regibus Illyricis accesserit Africa damnis ?
ius Latium, quod tunc Meroe Rubroque solebat Oceano cingi, Tyrrhena clauditur unda ; 455 et cui non Nilus, non intulit India metas,
Romani iam finis erit Trinacria regni.
ite recepturi, praedo quem sustulit, axem
ereptumque Notum ; caput insuperabile rerum
aut ruet in vestris aut stabit Roma lacertis. 460 tot mihi debetis populos, tot rura, tot urbes
amissas. uno Libyam defendite bello.
vestros imperium remos et vestra sequatur
carbasa. despectas trans aequora ducite leges, tertia iam solito cervix mucrone rotetur 465 tandem funereis finem positura tyrannis. "
Omina conveniunt dicto fulvusque Tonantis armiger a liquida cunctis spectantibus aethra
correptum pedibus curvis innexuit hydrum,
dumque reluctantem morsu partitur obunco, 470 haesit in ungue caput ; truncatus decidit anguis. ilicet auguriis alacres per saxa citati
torrentesque ruunt ; nec mons aut silva retardat : pendula ceu parvis moturae bella colonis
ingenti clangore grues aestiva relinquunt 475 Thracia, cum tepido permutant Strymona Nilo : ordinibus variis per nubila texitur ales
littera pennarumque notis conscribitur aer.
Ut fluctus tetigere maris, tunc acrior arsit
1 The other two being Maximus and Eugenius. 2 i. e. the Greek A.
132
THE WAR AGAINST GILDO, I
" Is not death preferable to a life disgraced ? If, in addition to the loss of Illyria, Africa is to be surrendered to Moorish kings, what lands still remain to us ? The empire of Italy, once bounded by the Nile and the Red Sea, is limited to-day by the sea of Tuscany ; shall Sicily now be the most distant province of Roman rule, to which in days of old neither Egypt nor India set an end ? Go : win back that southern realm a rebel has reft from me. It depends on your arms whether Rome, the uncon querable mistress of the world, stands or falls. You owe me so many peoples, countries, cities lost. Fight but one battle in defence of Libya. Let empire restored attend on your oars and sails. Give back to Africa the laws of Rome she now disregards. Let history repeat itself, and the sword smite from its trunk the head of this third tyrant 1 and so end at last the series of bloody usurpers. "
An omen confirms his word and before the eyes of all, the tawny bird, armour-bearer of Jove, swoops down from the open sky and seizes a snake in his curved talons ; and while the eagle tears his struggling prey with his hooked beak, his claws are embedded
initshead. The severed body falls to earth. Straight
way the soldiers come hurrying up, crossing rocks and streams in their eagerness at the call of this portent. Neither mountains nor woods delay them. Even as the cranes leave their summer home of Thrace clamorously to join issue in doubtful war with the Pygmies, when they desert the Strymon for warm-watered Nile, the letter 2 traced by the speeding line stands out against the clouds and the heaven is stamped with the figure of their flight.
When they reached the coast still fiercer blazed 133
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impetus ; adripiunt naves ipsique rudentes 480 expediunt et vela legunt et cornua summis
adsociant malis ; quatitur Tyrrhena tumultu
ora nec Alpheae capiunt navalia Pisae :
sic Agamemnoniam vindex cum Graecia classem solveret, innumeris fervebat vocibus Aulis. 485
non illos strepitus impendentisque procellae
signa nec"adventus dubii deterruit Austri.
" vellite proclamant " socii, iam vellite funem.
per vada Gildonem quamvis adversa petamus.
ad bellum nos trudat hiems per devia ponti. 490 quassatis cupio tellurem figere rostris.
heu nimium segnes, cauta qui mente notatis,
si revolant mergi, graditur si litore cornix.
ora licet maculis adsperserit occiduus sol
lunaque conceptis livescat turgida Cauris 495
et contusa vagos iaculentur sidera crines ;
imbribus umescant Haedi nimbosaque Taurum
ducat Hyas totusque fretis descendat Orion :
certa fides caeli, sed maior Honorius auctor ;
illius auspiciis inmensa per aequora miles, 500
non Plaustris Arctove regor. contemne Booten,
navita, turbinibus mediis permitte carinas.
si mihi tempestas Libyam ventique negabunt, Augusti Fortuna dabit. "
Iam classis in altum provehitur ; dextra Ligures, Etruria laeva 505
linquitur et caecis vitatur Corsica saxis. humanae specie plantae se magna figurat insula (Sardiniam veteres dixere coloni), dives ager frugum, Poenos Italosve petenti
134
THE WAR AGAINST GILDO, I
their enthusiasm. They seize upon the ships and themselves make ready the hawsers ; furl the sails and fix the yards to the masts. Etruria's shore is shaken with their uproar and Arcadian-founded Pisa cannot contain so great > a number of ships. So Aulis rang with countless voices what time avenging Greece loosed the cables of Agamemnon's fleet. No storm-blast deterred them nor threat of coming tempest nor the presence of the treacherous south wind. " Seize the rope, fellow-soldiers," they
us to battle by how crooked so ever a course. Fain would I seize upon that shore though my ships' beaks be shattered. Cowards ye, who cautiously observe whether or no the sea-gulls fly back or the crow pace the beach. What if clouds fleck the face of the setting sun or a stormy moon wear the halo that betokens hurricane ? What if comets wave their
tails, or the constellation of the Kids threatens rain, or the cloudy Hyades lead forth the Bull and all Orion sink 'neath the waves ? Put your trust in the sky, but put more in Honorius. Beneath his auspices I, his soldier, range the bound less seas nor look to the Plough or the Bear to guide me. Make no account of Bootes, sailor ; launch your bark in mid tempest. If winds and storms deny me Libya, my emperor's fortune will grant it. "
The fleet is launched. They pass Liguria on their left hand, Etruria on their right, avoiding the sunken reefs of Corsica. There lies an island formed like a human foot (Sardinia its former inhabitants called it), an island rich in the produce of its fields, and
cry, " seize the rope :
let us sail
the very seas be against us. Let the storm drive
against
Gildo
though
spreading
conveniently
situated for them who sail either to 135
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opportuna situ : quae pars vicinior Afris, 510 plana solo, ratibus clemens ; quae respicit Arcton,
inmitis, scopulosa, procax subitisque sonora
flatibus ; insanos infamat navita montes.
hie hominum pecudumque lues, sic 1 pestifer aer saevit et exclusis regnant Aquilonibus Austri. 515
Quos ubi luctatis procul effugere carinis,
per di versa ruunt sinuosae litora terrae.
pars adit antiqua ductos Carthagine Sulcos ;
partem litoreo complectitur Olbia muro.
urbs Libyam contra Tyrio fundata potenti 520 tenditur in longum Caralis tenuemque per undas obvia dimittit fracturum flamina collem ;
efficitur portus medium mare, tutaque ventis omnibus ingenti mansuescunt stagna recessu.
hanc omni petiere manu prorisque reductis 525
suspensa Zephyros expectant classe faventes.
1 Birt, following the mss. , si. Older editions huic . . . huic. Iprint sic
1 This poem was never properly finished ; see Introduc tion, p. xi.
136
THE WAR AGAINST GILDO, I
Africa or Italy. The part that faces Africa is flat and affords good anchorage for ships ; the northern shore is inhospitable, rock-bound, stormy, and loud with beating waves. The sailor curses these wild cliffs. Here the pestilence falls on men and beasts, so plague-ridden and deadly is the air, so omnipotent the South wind and the North winds banished.
When their much buffeted vessels had given a wide berth to these dangers, they came to land at different places on the broken coast -line. Some are beached at Sulci, a city founded by Carthage
of old. The sea-wall of Olbia shelters others. The city of Caralis over against the coast of Libya, a colony of great Phoenician Carthage, juts out into the sea and extends into the waves, a little pro
that breaks the force of the opposing winds. Thus in the midst a harbour is found and in a huge bay the quiet waters lie safe from every wind. For this harbour they make with every effort, and reversing their vessels they await the favouring breezes of the west wind with fleet at anchor. 1
montory
137
IN EUTROPIUM LIBER I
(XVIII)
Semiferos partus metuendaque pignora matri moenibus et mediis auditum nocte luporum
murmur et attonito pecudes pastore locutas
et lapidum duras hiemes nimboque minacem sanguineo rubuisse Iovem puteosque cruore 5 mutatos visasque polo concurrere lunas
et geminos soles mirari desinat orbis :
omnia cesserunt eunucho consule monstra.
heu terrae caelique pudor ! trabeata per urbes ostentatur anus titulumque effeminat anni. 10 pandite pontifices Cumanae carmina vatis,
fulmineos sollers Etruria consulat ignes
inmersumque nefas fibris exploret haruspex,
quae nova portendant superi. Nilusne meatu
deviiis et nostri temptat iam transfuga mundi 15 se Rubro miscere mari ? ruptone Niphate
rursum barbaricis Oriens vastabitur armis ?
an morbi ventura lues ? an nulla colono
responsura seges ? quae tantas expiet iras
victima ? quo diras iugulo placabimus aras ? 20
1 For the consulship of Eutropius see Introduction, p. xv. 2 A mountain in Armenia.
138
AGAINST EUTROPIUS BOOK I
(XVIII)
Let the world cease to wonder at the births of creatures half human, half bestial, at monstrous babes that affright their own mothers, at the howling of wolves heard by night in the cities, at beasts that speak to their astonied herds, at stones falling like rain, at the blood-red threatening storm clouds,
at wells of water changed to gore, at moons that clash in mid heaven and at twin suns. All portents pale before our eunuch consul. O shame to heaven and earth ! Our cities behold an old woman decked in a consul's robe who gives a woman's name to the year. 1 Open the pages of the Cumaean Sibyl, ye pontifs ; let wise Etrurian seers consult the light ning's flash, and the soothsayer search out the awful portent hidden in the entrails. What new dread warning is this the gods give ? Does Nile desert his bed and leaving Roman soil seek to mix his waters with those of the Red Sea ? Does cleft Niphates 2 once more let through a host of eastern barbarians to ravage our lands ? Does a pestilence threaten us ? Or shall no harvest repay the farmer ? What victim can expiate divine anger such as this ? What offering appease the cruel altars ? The consul's
139
CLAUDIAN
consule lustrandi fasces ipsoque litandum prodigio ; quodcumque parant hoc online fata, Eutropius cervice luat sic omnia nobis. 1
Hoc regni, Fortuna, tenes ? quaenam ista iocandi saevitia ? humanis quantum bacchabere rebus ? 25 si tibi servili placuit foedare curules
crimine, procedat laxata compede consul,
rupta Quirinales sumant ergastula cinctus ;
da saltem quemcumque virum. discrimina quaedam sunt famulis splendorque suus, maculamque minorem condicionis habet, domino qui vixerit uno. 31 si pelagi fluctus, Libyae si discis harenas,
Eutropii numerabis eros. quot iura, quot ille mutavit tabulas vel quanta vocabula vertit !
nudatus quotiens, medicum dum consulit emptor, 35 ne qua per occultum lateat iactura dolorem !
omnes paenituit pretii venumque redibat,
dum vendi potuit. postquam deforme cadaver mansit et in rugas totus defluxit aniles,
iam specie doni certatim limine pellunt 40 et foedum ignaris properant obtrudere munus.
tot translata iugis summisit colla, vetustum servitium semperque novum, nec destitit umquam, saepe tamen coepit.
Cunabula prima cruentis
debet suppliciis ; rapitur castrandus ab ipso 45
1 Birt begins the new paragraph at sic, printing a comma at nobis. Alternatively, read volvis for nobis (so Cuiacius'
codd. ). 140
AGAINST EUTROPIUS, I
own blood must cleanse the consular insignia, the monster itself must be sacrificed. Whatever it be that fate prepares for us and shows forth by such an omen, let Eutropius' death, I pray, avert it all.
Fortune, is thy power so all-embracing ? What is this savage humour of thine ? To what lengths
wilt thou sport with us poor mortals ?
will to disgrace the" consul's" chair with a servile occupant let some consul come forward with broken chains, let an escaped jail-bird don the robes of Quirinus—but at least give us a man. There are grades even among slaves and a certain dignity ; that slave who has served but one master holds a position of less infamy. Ganst thou count the waves of the sea, the grains of Africa's sands, if so thou canst number Eutropius' masters. How many owners has he had, in how many sale-catalogues has he appeared, how often has he changed his name ! How often has he been stripped while buyer con sulted doctor whether there lurked any flaw by reason ofsome hidden disease !
him and he always returned to the slave-market while he could yet fetch a price. When he became but a foul corpse-like body, a mass of senile pen dulous flesh, his masters were anxious to rid their houses of him by giving him away as a present and
If it was
thy
All repented
made haste to foist the loathsome gift on an unsus pecting friend. To so many different yokes did he submit his neck, this slave, old in years but ever new to the house ; there was no end to his servitude though many beginnings.
He is destined from his very cradle to bloody tortures ; straight from his mother's womb he is hurried away to be made a eunuch ; no sooner born
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having bought
CLAUDIAN
ubere ; suscipiunt matris post viscera poenae. advolat Armenius certo mucrone recisos
edoctus mollire mares damnoque nefandum
aucturus pretium ; fecundum corporis imbrem 1 sedibus exhaurit geminis unoque sub ictu 50 eripit officium patris nomenque mariti.
ambiguus vitae iacuit, penitusque supremum in cerebrum secti traxerunt frigora nervi.
Laudemusne manum, quae vires abstulit hosti,
an potius fato causam tribuisse queramur ? 55 profuerat mansisse virum ; felicior extat
opprobrio ; serviret adhuc, si fortior esset.
Inde per Assyriae trahitur commercia ripae ;
hinc fora venalis Galata ductore frequentat
permutatque domos varias ; quis nomina possit 60 tanta sequi ? miles stabuli Ptolomaeus in illis
notior : hic longo lassatus paelicis usu
donat Arinthaeo ; neque enim iam dignus haberi
nec maturus emi. cum fastiditus abiret,
quam gemuit, quanto planxit divortia luctu ! 65 " haec erat, heu, Ptolomaee, fides ? hoc profuit aetas in gremio consumpta tuo lectusque iugalis
et ducti totiens inter praesaepia somni ? libertas promissa perit ? viduumne relinquis
Eutropium tantasque premunt oblivia noctes, 70 crudelis ? generis pro sors durissima nostri !
femina, cum senuit, retinet conubia partu,
1 codd. ignem ; Postdate imbrem
1 I take Ptolemy to have been a stationarius, i. e. a servant in a public post-house, but there is possibly some covert allusion to stabulum in the sense of prostibulum, a brothel.
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AGAINST EUTROPIUS, I
than he becomes a prey to suffering. Up hastens the Armenian, skilled by operating with unerring knife to make males womanish and to increase their
value by such loss. He drains the body's life-giving fluid from its double source and with one blow deprives his victim of a father's function and the name of husband. Eutropius lay doubtful of life, and the severed sinews drew a numbness deep down into his furthest brain.
Are we to praise the hand that robbed an enemy of his strength ? Or shall we rather blame the fates ? It would have been better had he remained a man ; his very disgrace has proved a blessing to him. Had he had his full manly vigour he would still have been
a slave.
After this he is dragged from one Assyrian mart
to another ; next in the train of a Galatian slave- merchant he stands for sale in many a market and knows many diverse houses. Who could tell the
names of all his buyers ? Among these Ptolemy, servant of the post-house,1 was one of the better
known. Then Ptolemy, tired of Eutropius' long service to his lusts, gives him to Arinthaeus ;—gives, for he is no longer worth keeping nor old enough to be bought. How the scorned minion wept at his
departure, " with what grief did he lament that
divorce ! Was this thy fidelity, Ptolemy ? Is this my reward for a youth lived in thine arms,
for the bed of marriage and those many nights spent together in the inn ? Must I lose my promised liberty ? Leav'st thou Eutropius a widow, cruel wretch, forgetful of such wonderful nights of love ?
How hard is the lot of my kind ! When a woman grows old her children cement the marriage tie and
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loathly
CLAUDIAN
uxorisque decus matris reverentia pensat.
nos Lucina fugit, nec pignore nitimur ullo.
cum forma dilapsus amor ; defloruit oris 75 gratia : qua miseri scapulas tutabimur arte ?
qua placeam ratione senex ? "
Sic fatus acutum adgreditur lenonis opus, nec segnis ad artem
mens erat officiique capax omnesque pudoris hauserat insidias. custodia nulla tuendo 80 fida toro ; nulli poterant excludere vectes :
ille vel aerata Danaen in turre latentem
eliceret. fletus domini fingebat amantis, indomitasque mora, pretio lenibat avaras
lascivasque iocis ; non blandior ullus euntis 85 ancillae tetigisse latus leviterque reductis
vestibus occulto crimen mandasse susurro
nec furtis quaesisse locum nec fraude reperta
cautior elusi fremitus vitare mariti.
haud aliter iuvenum flammis Ephyreia Lais 90 e gemino ditata mari ; cum serta refudit
canities, iam turba procax noctisque recedit
ambitus et raro pulsatur ianua tactu,
seque reformidat speculo damnante senectus ;
stat tamen atque alias succingit lena ministras 95 dilectumque diu quamvis longaeva lupanar
circuit et retinent mores, quod perdidit aetas. 144
AGAINST EUTROPIUS, I
a mother's dignity compensates for the lost charms of a wife. Me Lucina, goddess of childbirth, will
vol. I l
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I have no children on whom to
not come near ;
Love perishes with my beauty ; the roses of my cheeks are faded. What wits can save my wretched back from blows ? How can I, an old man, please ? "
So saying he entered upon the skilled profession of a pander. His whole heart was in his work ; he knew his business well and was master of every stratagem for the undoing of chastity. No amount of vigilance could protect the marriage -bed from his attack ; no bars could shut him out. He would have haled even Danae from her refuge in the brazen tower. He would represent his patron as dying of love. Was the lady stubborn, he would win her by his patience ; was she greedy, by a gift ; flighty, he would corrupt her with a jest. None could arrest the attention of a maidservant with so neat a touch as he, none twitch aside a dress so lightly and whisper his shameful message in her ear. Never was any so skilled to choose a scene for the criminal meeting, or so clever at avoiding the wrath of the cuckold husband should the plot be discovered. One thought of Lais of Corinth, to whom the enamoured youth of that city brought wealth from its twin seas, who, when her grey hair could no longer go crowned with roses, when the emulous crowd of her admirers ceased nightly to haunt her doors and but few were left to knock there at, when before the mirror's verdict age shrank back in horror from itself, yet stood, still faithful to her call ing, and as a pander dressed others for the part, haunt ing still the brothel she had loved so well and so long, and still pandering to the tastes old age forbade her.
rely.
CLAUDIAN
Hinc honor Eutropio ; cumque omnibus unica virtus
esset in eunuchis thalamos servare pudicos,
solus adulteriis crevit. nec verbera tergo 100 cessavere tamen, quotiens decepta libido
irati caluisset eri, frustraque rogantem
iactantemque suos tot iam per lustra labores
dotalem genero nutritoremque puellae
tradidit. Eous rector consulque futurus 105 pectebat dominae crines et saepe lavanti
nudus in argento lympham gestabat alumnae.
et cum se rapido fessam proiecerat aestu,
patricius roseis pavonum ventilat alis.
Iamque aevo laxata cutis, sulcisque genarum 110 corruerat passa facies rugosior uva :
flava minus presso finduntur vomere rura,
nec vento sic vela tremunt. miserabile turpes exedere caput tineae ; deserta patebant
intervalla comae : qualis sitientibus arvis 115
arida ieiunae seges interlucet aristae
vel qualis gelidis pluma labente pruinis
arboris inmoritur trunco brumalis hirundo.
scilicet ut trabeis iniuria cresceret olim,
has in fronte notas, hoc dedecus addidit oris 120
luxuriae Fortuna suae : cum pallida nudis ossibus horrorem dominis praeberet imago decolor et macies occursu laederet omnes,
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AGAINST EUTROPIUS, I
Hence sprang Eutropius' fame ; for, though a eunuch's one virtue be to guard the chastity of the marriage-chamber, here was one (and one only) who grew great through adulteries. But the lash fell as before on his back whenever his master's criminal passion was through him frustrated. Then
it was in vain that he prayed for forgiveness and reminded his lord of all those years of faithful service ; he would find himself handed over to a son-in-law as part of the bride's dowry. Thus he would become a lady's-maid, and so the future consul and governor of the East would comb his mistress' locks or stand naked holding a silver vessel of water wherein his charge could wash herself. And when overcome by the heat she threw herself upon her couch, there would stand this patrician fanning her with bright peacock feathers.
And now his skin had grown loose with age ; his face, more wrinkled than a raisin, had fallen in by reason of the lines in his cheeks. Less deep the furrows cloven in the cornfield by the plough, the folds wrought in the sails by the wind. Loathsome grubs ate away his head and bare patches appeared amid his hair. It was as though clumps of dry, barren corn dotted a sun-parched field, or as if a swallow were dying in winter sitting on a branch, moulting in the frosty weather. Truly, that the outrage to the consul's office might one day be the
Fortune added to her gift' of wealth this brand upon his brow, this deformity of face. When his pallor and fleshless bones had roused feelings of revulsion in his masters' hearts, and his foul complexion and lean body offended all who came
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greater,
CLAUDIAN
aut pueris latura metus aut taedia mensis
aut crimen famulis aut procedentibus omen, 125 et nihil exhausto caperent in stipite lucri :
(sternere quippe toros vel caedere ligna culinae membra negant ; aurum, vestes, arcana tueri
mens infida vetat ; quis enim committere vellet lenoni thalamum ? ) : tandem ceu funus acerbum 130 infaustamque suis trusere penatibus umbram. contemptu iam liber erat : sic pastor obesum
lacte canem ferroque ligat pascitque revinctum,
dum validus servare gregem vigilique rapaces
latratu terrere lupos ; cum tardior idem 135 iam scabie laceras deiecit sordidus aures,
solvit et exuto lucratur vincula collo.
Est ubi despectus nimius iuvat. undique pulso per cunctas licuit fraudes impune vagari
et fatis aperire viam. pro quisquis Olympi 140 summa tenes, tanto libuit mortalia risu
vertere ? qui servi non est admissus in usum, suscipitur regnis, et quem privata ministrum dedignata domus, moderantem sustinet aula.
ut primum vetulam texere palatia vulpem, 145 quis non ingemuit ? quis non inrepere sacris obsequiis doluit totiens venale cadaver ?
ipsi quin etiam tali consorte fremebant
regales famuli, quibus est inlustrior ordo
servitii, sociumque diu sprevere superbi. 150
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AGAINST EUTROPIUS, I
in contact with him, scaring children, disgusting those that sat at meat, disgracing his fellow-slaves, or terrifying as with an evil omen those that met him ; when his masters ceased to derive any advan tage from that withered trunk (for his wasted limbs refused even to make the beds or cut wood for the kitchen fire, while his faithless nature forbade their entrusting him with the charge of gold or vesture
entrust his marriage-chamber to a pander then at last they thrust him from their houses like a trouble some corpse or an ill-omened ghost. He was now free —for everyone despised him. So shepherd chains up a dog and fattens him with milk while yet his strength avails to guard the flock and, ever watchful, to scare away wolves with his barking.
But when later this same dog grows old and dirty and droops his mangy ears he looses him, and, taking off his collar, at least saves that.
Universal contempt sometimes a boon. Driven out by all, he could freely range amid every sort of crime, and open a way for destiny. Oh thou, whosoe'er thou art, that holdest sway in Olympus, was it thy humour to make such mockery of man kind He who was not suffered to perform the duties of a slave admitted to the administration of an empire him whom a private house scorned as a servant, palace tolerates as its lord. When
first the consular residence received this old vixen, who did not lament Who grieved not to see an oft- sold corpse worm itself into the sacred service of the emperor Nay, the very palace-servants, holding prouder rank in slavery, murmured at such colleague and long haughtily scorned his company.
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or the secrets of the house —who could bring him to
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