No More Learning

et gener Augustis olim socer ipse futurus
accedis. radiis auri Tyriaque superbit
maiestate torus ; comitata parentibus exit 80 purpureis virgo. stabat pater inde tropaeis
inclitus ; inde pium matris regina gerebat
obsequium gravibus subnectens flammea gemmis. tunc et Solis equos, tunc exultasse choreis
astra ferunt mellisque lacus et flumina lactis 85 erupisse solo, cum floribus aequora vernis
Bosphorus indueret roseisque evincta coronis certantes Asiae taedas Europa levaret.
Felix arbitrii princeps, qui congrua mundo
iudicat et primus censet, quod cernimus omnes. 90 talem quippe virum natis adiunxit et aulae,
cui neque luxuries bello nec blanda periclis
otia nec lucis fructus pretiosior umquam
laude fuit. quis enim Visos in plaustra feroces reppulit aut saeva Promoti caede tumentes 95 Basternas una potuit delere ruina ?
Pallantis iugulum Turno moriente piavit
Aeneas, tractusque rotis ultricibus Hector
irato vindicta fuit vel quaestus Achilli.
tu neque vesano raptas venalia curru 100 funera nec vanam corpus meditaris in unum
saevitiam ; turmas equitum peditumque catervas
1 Promotus, who had rescued Theodosius from an ambush in his war against the Visigoths in 390, lost his life in the same war the year after. Stilicho succeeded to his command.
370
ON STILICHO'S CONSULSHIP, I
to Serena. Merit alone had to decide ;
camps, through cities, through nations roamed his
poised and hesitating thoughts. But thou wast
chosen, thus in the opinion and judgement of him who selected thee surpassing all the candidates of the whole world and becoming a son-in-law in the imperial family where thou wast shortly to become a father-in-law. The marriage - bed was ablaze with flashing gold and regal purple. The maiden steps forth accompanied by her parents clad in scarlet. On one side stood her sire, famed for his triumphs, on the other was the queen, fulfilling a mother's loving office and ordering the bridal veil beneath a weight of jewels. Then, so men say, the horses of the sun and the stars of heaven danced for joy, pools of honey and rivers of milk welled forth from the earth. Bosporus decked his banks with vernal flowers, and Europe, entwined with rosy garlands, uplifted the torches in rivalry with Asia.
Happy our emperor in his choice ; he judges and the world agrees ; he is the first to value what we all see. Ay, for he has allied to his children and to his palace one who never preferred ease to war nor the pleasures of peace to danger, nor yet his life to his honour. Who but he could have driven back the savage Visigoths to their wagons or overwhelmed in one huge slaughter the Bastarnae puffed up with the slaying of Promotus 1 ? Aeneas avenged the slaughter of Pallas with the death of Turnus, Hector, dragged behind the chariot-wheels, was to wrathful Achilles either revenge or gain ; thou dost not carry off in mad chariot dead bodies for ransom nor plot idle savagery against a single corpse ; thou slayest at thy friend's tomb whole
371
through
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hostilesque globos tumulo prosternis amici ;
inferiis gens tota datur. nec Mulciber auctor mendacis clipei fabricataque vatibus arma 105 conatus iuvere tuos : tot barbara solus
milia iam pridem miseram vastantia Thracen
finibus exiguae vallis conclusa tenebas.
nec te terrisonus stridor venientis Alani
nec vaga Chunorum feritas, non falce Gelonus, 110 non arcu pepulere Getae, non Sarmata conto. extinctique forent penitus, ni more maligno
falleret Augustas occultus proditor aures obstrueretque moras strictumque reconderet ensem,
solveret obsessos, praeberet foedera captis. 115 Adsiduus castris aderat, rarissimus urbi,
si quando trepida princeps pietate vocaret ; vixque salutatis Laribus, vix coniuge visa,
deterso necdum repetebat sanguine campum.
nec stetit Eucherii dum carperet oscula saltern 120
per galeam. patris stimulos ignisque mariti
vicit cura ducis. quotiens sub pellibus egit Edonas hiemes et tardi flabra Bootae
sub divo Riphaea tulit ! cumque igne propinquo frigora vix ferrent alii, tunc iste rigentem 125 Danuvium calcabat eques nivibusque profundum scandebat cristatus Athon lateque corusco
curvatas glacie silvas umbone ruebat.
nunc prope Cimmerii tendebat litora Ponti, 372
ON STILICHO'S CONSULSHIP, I
squadrons of horse, companies of foot, and hordes of enemies. To his ghost a whole nation is offered up. Neither Vulcan's fabulous shield nor such armour as that of which poets sing the forging assisted thine efforts. Single-handed thou didst succeed in penning within the narrow confines of a single valley the vast army of barbarians that were long since ravaging the land of Thrace. For thee the fearful shriek of the onrushing Alan had no terrors nor the fierceness of the nomad Hun nor the scimitar of the Geloni, nor the Getae's bow or Sarmatian's club. These nations would have been destroyed root and branch had not a traitor by a perfidious trick abused the emperor's ear and caused him to withhold his hand ; hence the sheathing of the sword, the raising of the siege, and the granting of a treaty to the prisoners.
He was always with the army, seldom in Rome, and then only when the young emperor's anxious love summoned him thither. Scarce had he greeted the gods of his home, scarce seen his wife when, still stained with the blood of his enemies, he hastened back to the battle. He did not stay to catch at least a kiss from Eucherius through his vizor ; the anxieties of a general o'ercame a father's yearning and a husband's love. How often has he bivouacked
the Thracian winter and endured beneath the open sky the blasts that slow Bootes sends from mount Riphaeus. When others, huddled over the fire, could scarce brook the cold, he would ride his horse across the frozen Danube and climb Athos deep in snow, his helmet on his head, thrusting aside the frozen branches of the ice-laden trees with his far gleaming targe. Now he pitched his tent by the shores of Cimmerian Pontus, now
373
through
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nunc dabat hibernum Rhodope nimbosa cubile. 130 vos Haemi gelidae valles, quas saepe cruentis stragibus aequavit Stilicho, vos Thracia testor fiumina, quae largo mutastis sanguine fluctus ;
dicite, Bisaltae vel qui Pangaea iuvencis
scinditis, offenso quantae sub vomere putres 135 dissiliant glaebis galeae vel qualia rastris
ossa peremptorum resonent inmania regum.
Singula complecti cuperem ; sed densior instat gestorum series laudumque sequentibus undis obruimur. genitor caesi post bella tyranni 140 iam tibi commissis conscenderat aethera terris.
ancipites rerum ruituro culmine lapsus
aequali cervice subis : sic Hercule quondam sustentante polum melius librata pependit
machina nec dubiis titubavit Signifer astris 145 perpetuaque senex subductus mole parumper obstupuit proprii spectator ponderis Atlas.
Nulli barbariae motus ; nil turbida rupto
ordine temptavit novitas, tantoque remoto
principe mutatas orbis non sensit habenas. 150 nil inter geminas acies, ceu libera frenis,
ausa manus. certe nec tantis dissona linguis
turba nec armorum cultu diversior umquam
confluxit populus : totam pater undique secum moverat Auroram ; mixtis hic Colchus Hiberis, 155 hic mitra velatus Arabs, hic crine decorus
Armenius ; hic picta Saces fucataque Medus,
374
1 i. e. Eugenius.
2 i. e. of East and West.
ON STILICHO'S CONSULSHIP, I
misty Rhodope afforded him a winter's bed. I call you to witness, cold valleys of Haemus, that Stilicho has often filled with bloody slaughter ; and you, rivers of Thrace, your waters turned to blood ; say, ye Bisaltae, or you whose oxen plough Pangaeus' slopes, how many a rotting helm has not your share shattered neath the soil, how oft have not your mattocks rung against the giant bones of slaughtered kings.
overwhelmed by the pursuing flood of
deeds. When Theodosius had warred against, and slain, the tyrant 1 he ascended into heaven, leaving the governance of the world to thee. With a strength equal to his thou dost bear up the tottering structure of the empire that threatens each moment to collapse. Thus, when once Hercules upheld the world, the universal frame hung more surely poised, the Standard-bearer did not reel with tottering stars, and old Atlas, relieved for a moment of the eternal load, was confounded as he gazed upon his own burden.
was quiet, no revolution troubled the empire's peace and though so great a prince was dead the world knew not that the reins had passed into another's hands. No company in the two armies 2 dared aught as though set loose from control. Yet surely never had such diversities of language and arms met together to form one united people. Theodosius had unified the whole East beneath his rule. Here were mingled Colchian and Iberian, mitred Arab, beautifully coifed Armenian, painted Sacian and stained Mede, here the dusky Indian had
375
Fain would I embrace each separate one ; but thine exploits press on in too close array, and I am
glorious
Barbary
CLAUDIAN
hic gemmata niger tentoria fixerat Indus ;
hic Rhodani procera cohors, hic miles alumnus Oceani. ductor Stilicho tot gentibus unus, 160 quot vel progrediens vel conspicit occiduus sol.
in quo tam vario vocum generumque tumultu
tanta quies iurisque metus servator honesti
te moderante fuit, nullis ut vinea furtis
vel seges erepta fraudaret messe colonum, 165 ut nihil aut saevum rabies aut turpe libido
suaderet, placidi servirent legibus enses.
scilicet in vulgus manant exempla regentum,
utque ducum lituos, sic mores castra sequuntur.
Denique felices aquilas quocumque moveres, 170 arebant tantis epoti milibus amnes.
Illyricum peteres : campi montesque latebant. vexillum navale dares : sub puppibus ibat
Ionium,
Te memor Eurotas, te rustica Musa Lycaei,
te pastorali modulantur Maenala cantu
Partheniumque nemus, quod te pugnante resurgens aegra caput mediis erexit Graecia flammis.
plurima Parrhasius tunc inter corpora Ladon 185
1 ATI nullum ; other diss, nullis, which Birt prints. But deterrebat needs an object (as A and IT indicate). Possibly, then, nullas
376
nullas 1 succincta Ceraunia nimbis
nec iuga Leucatae feriens spumantia fluctu 175 deterrebat hiems. tu si glaciale iuberes
vestigare fretum, securo milite ducti
stagna reluctantes quaterent Satumia remi ;
si deserta Noti, fontem si quaerere Nili,
Aethiopum medios penetrassent vela vapores. 180
ON STILICHO'S CONSULSHIP, I
pitched his jewel-embroidered tent : here were the tall company of warriors from the Rhone and the warlike children of Ocean. Stilicho and Stilicho alone commanded all the nations looked on by the rising and the setting sun. Amid this company so diverse in blood and speech such peace reigned beneath thy rule, so did fear of justice secure right, that not a single vineyard was robbed, nor did a single field cheat the husbandman of its plundered crop ; rage incited to no violence, passion to no deeds of shame ; the peaceful sword was obedient
to law. Of a truth their leaders' pattern passes to' the crowd, and the soldier follows not only the standards but also the example of his general.
Whithersoever thou didst lead thy victorious eagles there rivers grew dry, drunk up by so many thousands of men. Didst thou march towards Illyria, plain and mountain were hidden ; didst thou give the signal to thy fleet, the Ionian main was lost beneath thy
Ceraunia, the storms that - dash the waves in foam on Leucas' promontory —these could not affright any. Shouldst thou bid them
explore some frozen sea, thy untroubled soldiers would shatter the congealed waters with counter vailing oar ; had they to seek the deserts of the south, to search out the sources of the Nile, their sails would penetrate into Ethiopia's midmost heat.
1 Thee mindful Eurotas, thee Lycaeus' rustic muse, thee Maenalus celebrates in pastoral song, and there with the woods of Parthenius, where, thanks to thy victorious arms, weary Greece has raised once more her head from amid the flames. Then did Ladon, river of Arcadia, stay his course amid the countless bodies,
377
ships. Cloud-girt
CLAUDIAN
haesit et Alpheus Geticis angustus acervis tardior ad Siculos etiamnunc pergit amores.
Miramur rapidis hostem succumbere bellis,
cum solo terrore ruant ? non classica Francis intulimus : iacuere tamen. non Marte Suebos 190 contudimus, quis iura damus. quis credere possit ? ante tubam nobis audax Germania servit.
cedant, Druse, tui, cedant, Traiane, labores :
vestra manus dubio quidquid discrimine gessit, transcurrens egit Stilicho totidemque diebus 195
edomuit Rhenum, quot vos potuistis in annis ;
quem ferro, adloquiis ; quem vos cum milite, solus. impiger a primo descendens fluminis ortu
ad bifidos tractus et iuncta paludibus ora
fulmineum perstrinxit iter ; ducis impetus undas 200 vincebat celeres, et pax a fonte profecta
cum Rheni crescebat aquis. ingentia quondam nomina, crinigero flaventes vertice reges,
qui nec principibus donis precibusque vocati paruerant, iussi properant segnique verentur 20S offendisse mora ; transvecti lintribus amnem occursant ubicumque velit. nec fama fefellit iustitiae : videre pium, videre fidelem.
quem veniens timuit, rediens Germanus amavit.
illi terribiles, quibus otia vendere semper 210 mos erat et foeda requiem mercede pacisci,
natis obsidibus pacem tam supplice vultu
378
1 i. e. Arethusa.
ON STILICHO'S CONSULSHIP, I
and Alphaeus, choked with heaps of slaughtered Getae, won his way more slowly to his Sicilian love. 1 Do we wonder that the foe so swiftly yields in battle when they fall before the sole terror of his
name ? We did not declare war on the Franks ;
were overthrown. We did not crush in battle the Suebi on whom we now impose our laws. Who could believe it ? Fierce Germany was our slave or ever the trumpets rang out. Where are
yet they
All that your hands wrought after doubtful conflict that Stilicho did as he passed along, and o'ercame the Rhine in as many days as you could do in years ; you conquered with the sword, he with a word ; you with an army, he single-handed. . Descending from
the river's source to where it splits in twain and to the marshes that connect its mouths he flashed his
lightning way. The speed of the general outstripped the river's swift course, and Peace, starting with him from Rhine's source, grew as grew Rhine's waters. Chieftains whose names were once so well known, flaxen-haired warrior-kings whom neither gifts nor
now thy wars, Drusus, or thine, Trajan ?
could win over to obedience to Rome's emperors, hasten at his command and fear to offend by dull delay. Crossing the river in boats they meet him wheresoever he will. The fame of his
justice did not play them false : they found him merciful, they found him trustworthy. Him whom at his coming the German feared, at his departure he loved. Those dread tribes whose wont it was ever to set their price on peace and let us purchase repose by shameful tribute, offered their children
as hostages and begged for peace with such sup pliant looks that one would have thought them
379
prayers
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eaptivoque rogant, quam si post terga revincti Tarpeias pressis subeant cervicibus arces.
omne, quod Oceanum fontesque interiacet Histri, 215 unius incursu tremuit ; sine caede subactus
servitio Boreas exarmatique Triones.
Tempore tam parvo tot proelia sanguine nullo perficis et luna nuper nascente profectus
ante redis, quam tota fuit, Rhenumque minacem 220 cornibus infractis adeo mitescere
cogis,
ut Salius iam rura colat flexosque Sygambrus
in falcem curvet gladios, geminasque viator
cum videat ripas, quae sit Romana, requirat ;
ut iam trans fluvium non indignante Chauco 225 pascat Belga pecus, mediumque ingressa per Albim Gallica Francorum montes armenta pererrent ;
ut procul Hercyniae per vasta silentia silvae
venari tuto liceat, lucosque vetusta
religione truces et robur numinis instar 230 barbarici nostrae feriant impune bipennes.
Ultro quin etiam devota mente tuentur
victorique favent. quotiens sociare catervas
oravit iungique tuis A'lamannia signis !
nec doluit contempta tamen, spretoque recessit 235 auxilio laudata fides. provincia missos
expellet citius fasces quam Francia reges,
quos dederis. acie nec iam pulsare rebelles,
sed vinclis punire licet ; sub iudice nostro
regia Romanus disquirit crimina carcer : 240 380
ON STILICHO'S CONSULSHIP, I
captives, their hands bound behind their backs,
and they mounting the Tarpeian rock with the chains of slavery upon their necks. All those lands that lie between Ocean and the Danube trembled at the approach of one man. Boreas was brought into servitude without a blow ; the Great Bear was
disarmed.
In so short a time didst thou win so many battles
without loss of blood, and, setting out with the moon yet new, thou didst return or ever it was full ; so didst thou compel the threatening Rhine to learn gentleness with shattered horns, that the Salian now J tills his fields, the Sygambrian beats his straight iJ sword into a curved sickle, and the traveller, as he looks at the two banks, asks over which Rome rules. The Belgian, too, pastures his flock across the
river and the Chauci heed it not ; Gallic herds cross the middle Elbe and wander over the hills of the Franks. Safe it is to hunt amid the vast silence of the distant Hercynian forest, and in the woods that old-established superstition has rendered awful our axes fell the trees the barbarian once worshipped and nought is said.
Nay more, devoted to their conqueror this people offers its arms in his defence. How oft has Germany begged to add her troops to thine and to join her forces with those of Rome ! Nor yet was she angered
when her offer was rejected, for though her aid was refused her loyalty came off with praise. Provence will sooner drive out the governor thou sendest than will the land of the Franks expel the ruler thou hast given them. Not to rout rebels in the field but to punish them with chains is now the law ; under our judge a Roman prison holds inquest
381
CLAUDIAN
Marcomeres Sunnoque docet ; quorum alter Etruscum
pertulit exilium ; cum se promitteret alter
exulis ultorem, iacuit mucrone suorum :
res avidi concire novas odioque furentes
pacis et ingenio scelerumque cupidine fratres. 245
Post domitas Arctos alio prorupit ab axe
tempestas et, ne qua tuis intacta tropaeis
pars foret, Australis sonuit tuba. moverat omnes
Maurorum Gildo populos, quibus inminet Atlas
et quos interior nimio plaga sole relegat : 250
quos vagus umectat Cinyps et proximus hortis Hesperidum Triton et Gir notissimus amnis Aethiopum, simili mentitus gurgite Nilum ; venerat et parvis redimitus Nuba sagittis
et velox Garamas, nec quamvis tristibus Hammon 255 responsis alacrem potuit Nasamona morari.
stipantur Numidae campi, stant pulvere Syrtes Gaetulae, Poenus iaculis obtexitur aer.
hi virga moderantur equos ; his fulva leones velamenta dabant ignotarumque ferarum 260 exuviae, vastis Meroe quas nutrit harenis ; serpentum patulos gestant pro casside rictus ; pendent vipereae squamosa pelle pharetrae.
non sic intremuit Simois, cum montibus Idae
nigra coloratus produceret agmina Memnon, 265 non Ganges, cum tela procul vibrantibus Indis inmanis medium vectaret belua Porum.
1 Marcomeres and Sunno, brother chiefs of the Ripuarian Franks, had (? in connexion with Maximus' revolt) invaded Roman territory near Cologne in 388 and been defeated by Arbogast. Stilicho's successful campaign against them, of which we read here, is to be dated 395 (? March).
382
ON STILICHO'S CONSULSHIP, I
on the crimes of kings. Marcomeres and Sunno 1 give proof : the one underwent exile in Etruria, the other, proclaiming himself the exile's avenger, fell beneath the swords of his own soldiers. Both were eager to arouse rebellion, both hated peace —true brothers in character and in a common love of crime.
After the conquest of the north arose a fresh storm
in another quarter. The trumpets of war rang out in the south that there might be no part of the world untouched by thy victories. Gildo stirred up all the Moorish tribes living beneath mount Atlas and those whom the excessive heat of the sun cuts off from us in the interior of Africa, those too whom Cinyps' wandering stream waters, and Triton, neighbour of the garden of the Hesperides ; those who dwell beside the waters of Gir, most famous of the rivers of Ethiopia, that overflows his banks as it had been another Nile. There came at his summons the Nubian with his head-dress of short arrows, the fleet Garamantian, the Nasamonian whose impetuous ardour not even the sinister predictions of Ammon could restrain. The plain of Numidia was overrun, their dust covered the Gaetulian Syrtes ; the sky of Carthage was darkened with their arrows. Some, mounted, guide their horses with sticks, others are
clad in tawny lion-skins and pelts of the nameless animals that range the vast deserts of Meroe. Severed heads of serpents with gaping jaws serve them for helmets, the bright scaly skin of the viper fashions their quivers. Simois trembled not so violently when swart Memnon led his dusky troops o'er Ida's summit. Not so fearful was Ganges when Porus approached, mounted on his towering elephant and surrounded with his far-shooting Indian soldiery.
383
CLAUDIAN
Porus Alexandro, Memnon prostratus Achilli,
Gildo nempe tibi.
Nec solum fervidus Austrum, sed partes etiam Mavors agitabat Eoas. 270
quamvis obstreperet pietas, his ille regendae transtulerat nomen Libyae scelerique profano
fallax legitimam regni praetenderat umbram. surgebat geminum varia formidine bellum,
hoc armis, hoc triste dolis. hoc Africa saevis 275 cinxerat auxiliis, hoc coniuratus alebat
insidiis Oriens. illinc edicta meabant
corruptura duces ; hinc frugibus atra negatis
urgebat trepidamque fames obsederat urbem. exitiale palam Libycum ; civile pudoris 280 obtentu tacitum.
Tales utrimque procellae
cum fremerent lacerumque alternis ictibus anceps
imperium pulsaret hiems, nil fessa remisit
officii virtus contraque minantia fata
pervigil eventusque sibi latura secundos 285 maior in adversis micuit : velut arbiter alni,
nubilus Aegaeo quam turbine vexat Orion,
exiguo clavi flexu declinat aquarum
verbera, nunc recta, nunc obliquante carina
callidus, et pelagi caelique obnititur irae. 290
Quid primum,Stilicho,mirer? quod cautus ad omnes restiteris fraudes, ut te nec noxia furto
littera nec pretio manus inflammata lateret ?
quod nihil in tanto circum terrore locutus
indignum Latio ? responsa quod ardua semper 295 Eois dederis, quae mox effecta probasti—
1 Africa belonged to the West. Gildo, in the words of Zosimus (v. 11. 2), acpiar-qat rr\v x^Pav TSS 'OvupLov jSacriXeias
Kai rij 'Apicadlov irpotTrW-qGiv. 384
ON STILICHO'S CONSULSHIP, I
Yet Porus was defeated by Alexander, Memnon by . Achilles, and Gildo by thee.
It was not, however, only the South that fierce
Mars aroused but also the East.
cried out against it Gildo had transferred the nominal rule of Libya to the Eastern empire, cloaking his base treason under the name of legitimate govern ment. 1 Thus with diverse terror a twofold war arose ; here were arms, there were wiles. Africa supported the one with her savage tribes, the other the conspiring East nurtured with treachery. From Byzantium came edicts to subvert the loyalty of governors ; from Africa that refused her crops black famine pressed and had beleaguered trembling Rome.
Libya openly meditated our destruction ; over the civic strife shame had laid her veil of silence.
Though such storms raged on either hand, though the twofold tempest buffeted the torn empire on this side and on that, no whit did our consul's
to weariness, but ever watchful
courage yield
against threatening
perous issue, shone greater amid dangers : as the ship's pilot, tossed in mid Aegean by the storms of rainy Orion, eludes the waves' bufferings by the least turn of the tiller, skilfully guiding his vessel now on straight, now on slanting course, and struggles successfully against the conjoint fury of sea and sky.
At the
Though loyalty
doom and soon to win pros
At what, Stilicho, shall I first marvel ?
providence that resisted all intrigues, whereby no treacherous missive, no bribe-fraught hand escaped thy notice ? Or because that amid the general terror thou spakest no word unworthy of Latium ? Or because thou didst ever give haughty answer to the East and later made that answer
vou I 2 c 385
GLAUDIAN
securus, quamvis et opes et rura tenerent
insignesque umquam
domos ? levis haec iactura ; nec
publica privatae cesserunt commoda causae.
dividis ingentes curas teque omnibus unum 300 obicis, inveniens animo quae mente gerenda,
efficiens patranda manu, dictare paratus
quae scriptis peragenda forent. quae brachia centum, quis Briareus aliis numero crescente lacertis
tot simul obiectis posset confligere rebus : 305 evitare dolos ; veteres firmare cohortes,
explorare novas ; duplices disponere classes,
quae fruges aut bella ferant ; aulaeque tumultum
et Romae lenire famem ? quot nube soporis
inmunes oculi per tot discurrere partes, 310
tot loca sufficerent et tam longinqua tueri ? Argum fama canit centeno lumine cinctum corporis excubiis unam servasse iuvencam !
Unde tot adlatae segetes ? quae silva carinas texuit ? unde rudis tanto tirone iuventus 315 emicuit senioque iterum vernante resumpsit
Gallia bis fractas Alpino vulnere vires ?
non ego dilectu, Tyrii sed vomere Cadmi
tam subitas acies concepto dente draconis
exiluisse reor : Dircaeis qualis in arvis 320
messis cum proprio mox bellatura colono cognatos strinxit gladios, cum semine iacto terrigenae galea matrem nascente ferirent
1 In the wars against, respectively, Eugenius and the Goths.
386
ON STILICHO'S CONSULSHIP, I
good ? They held thy goods, thy lands, thy houses, yet wast thou unmoved. This thou didst account a
trifling loss nor ever preferred private to public interest. Thy mighty task thou dost parcel out, yet dost thou face it all alone, debating the problems that must needs be thought out, acting where deeds are called for, ever ready to dictate where aught is to be accomplished by writing. What hundred-handed monster, what Briareus, whose arms ever grew more numerous as they were lopped off, could cope with all these things at once ? To avoid the snares of treachery, to strengthen existing regiments and enroll new ones, to equip two fleets, one of corn-ships, one of men-of-war, to quell the tumult of the court and alleviate the hunger of the
Roman populace—what eyes, never visited by the veil of sleep, have had the strength to turn their gaze in so many directions and over so many lands or to pierce so far ? Fame tells how Argus girt with a hundred eyes could guard but one heifer with his body's watch.
Whence comes this mass of corn ? What forest
fashioned all those vessels ? Whence has
this untutored army with all its young recruits ? Whence has Gaul, its age once more at the spring,
won back the strength that Alpine blows twice shattered 1 ?
Methinks 'tis no levy but the plough share of the Phoenician Cadmus that has raised up thus suddenly a host sprung from the sowing of the dragon's teeth ; 'tis like the crop that in the fields
of Thebes drew the sword of kin in threatened battle with its own sower when, the seed once sown, the earth-born giants clave the earth, their mother's
womb, with their springing helms and a harvest of vol. i 2 c 2 387
sprung
CLAUDIAN
armifer et viridi floreret milite sulcus.
hoc quoque non parva fas est cum laude relinqui, 325 quod non ante fretis exercitus adstitit ultor,
ordine quam prisco censeret bella senatus. neglectum Stilicho per tot iam saecula morem rettulit, ut ducibus mandarent proelia patres
decretoque togae felix legionibus iret 330 tessera. Romuleas leges rediisse fatemur,
cum procerum iussis famulantia cernimus arma.
Tyrrhenum poteras cunctis transmittere signis
et ratibus Syrtes, Libyam complere maniplis ; consilio stetit ira minor, ne territus ille 335
te duce suspecto Martis graviore paratu
aut in harenosos aestus zonamque rubentem
tenderet aut solis fugiens transiret in ortus missurusve sibi certae solacia mortis
oppida dirueret flammis. res mira relatu : 340 ne timeare times et, quem vindicta manebat, desperare vetas. quantum fiducia nobis
profuit ! hostilis salvae Carthaginis arces ;
inlaesis Tyrii gaudent cultoribus agri,
quos potuit vastare fuga. spe captus inani 345 nec se subripuit poenae nostrisque pepercit :
demens, qui numero tantum, non robore mensus Romanos rapidis ibat ceu protinus omnes
calcaturus equis et, quod iactare solebat,
solibus effetos mersurus pulvere Gallos. 350
388
ON STILICHO'S CONSULSHIP, I
young soldiery burgeoned along the armed furrows. This too must not be passed over without full meed of praise, that the avenging expedition did not embark until the senate had, in accordance with antique usage, declared war. Stilicho re-established this custom, neglected for so many ages, that the Fathers should give generals charge to fight, and by decree of the toga-clad Senate the battle-token
pass auspiciously among the legions. We acknow ledge that the laws of Romulus have now returned when we see arms obedient to our ministers.
Thou couldst have filled the Tyrrhene sea with all thy standards, the Syrtes with thy fleet and Libya with thy battalions, but wrath was stayed o'ercome by prudent fear lest Gildo, terrified at the thought that thou wast in arms against him and suspecting that thy forces were of overwhelming strength, might retire into the hot desert and the torrid zone, or travel east in flight or, to console him for the certainty of death, might destroy his cities with
fire. Marvellous it is to tell
being feared and forbade him to despair whom thy vengeance awaited. How greatly was his confidence our gain ! Safe are the towers of hostile Carthage, and the Phoenician fields rejoice in their unharmed husbandmen, fields he might have laid waste in his flight. Deluded by a vain hope he spared what was ours without escaping chastisement for himself. Madman, to measure Rome by the numbers instead of the valour of her soldiers ! He advanced as though he would ride them all down by means
of his fleet cavalry and, as he often boasted, would overwhelm in the dust the Gauls enervated by the sun's heat. But he soon learned that neither wounds
389
: thou wast fearful of
CLAUDIAN
sed didicit non Aethiopum geminata venenis vulnera, non fusum crebris hastilibus imbrem, non equitum nimbos Latiis obsistere pilis. sternitur ignavus Nasamon, nec spicula supplex
iam torquet Garamas ; repetunt deserta fugaces 355 Autololes ; pavidus proiecit missile Mazax. cornipedem Maurus nequiquam hortatur anhelum ; praedonem lembo profugum ventisque repulsum suscepit merito fatalis Tabraca portu
expertum quod nulla tuis elementa paterent 360 hostibus, et laetae passurum iurgia plebis fracturumque reos humili sub iudice vultus.
Nil tribuat Fortuna sibi. sit prospera semper
illa quidem ; sed non uni certamina pugnae credidimus totis nec constitit alea castris 365 nutatura semel ; si quid licuisset iniquis
casibus, instabant aliae post terga biremes ;
venturus dux maior erat.
Victoria nulla clarior aut hominum votis optatior umquam
contigit. an quisquam Tigranen armaque Ponti 370 vel Pyrrhum Antiochique fugam vel vincla Iugurthae conferat aut Persen debellatumque Philippum ?
hi propagandi ruerant pro limite regni ;
hic stabat Romana salus. ibi tempora tuto traxerunt dilata moras ; hic vincere tarde 375 vinci paene fuit. discrimine Roma supremo
inter supplicium populi deforme pependit ;
et tantum Libyam fructu maiore recepit
quam peperit, quantum graviorem amissa dolorem quam necdum quaesita movent. quis Punica gesta,
390
ON STILICHO'S CONSULSHIP, I
made more deadly by the poisoned arrow of Ethiopia nor thick hail of javelins nor clouds of horsemen can withstand Latin spears. The cowardly Nasa- monian troops are scattered, the Garamantian hurls not his spears but begs for mercy, the swift-footed Autololes fly to the desert, the terror-stricken Mazacian flings away his arms, in vain the Moor urges on his flagging steed. The brigand flees in a small boat and driven back by the winds met with his just fate in the harbour of Tabraca, dis covering that no element offered refuge, Stilicho, to thine enemies. There he was destined to undergo the insults of the overjoyed populace and to bow his guilty head before a lowly judgement-seat.
Let not Fortune claim aught for herself. Let her be ever favourable ; but we trusted not the issue to a single fight, nor was the hazard set with all our force to be lost at a single throw. Had hard chance at all prevailed, a second fleet pressed on behind, a greater leader was yet to come.
Never was a more famous victory nor one that was the object of more heart-felt prayers. Will anyone compare with this the defeat of Tigranes, of the king of Pontus, the flight of Pyrrhus or Antiochus, the capture of Jugurtha, the overthrow of Perses or Philip ? Their fall meant but the enlargement of the empire's bounds ; on Gildo's depended the very existence of Rome. In those cases delay entailed no ill ; in this a late-won victory was all but a defeat. On this supreme issue, while leanness racked her people, hung the fate of Rome ; and to win back Libya was a greater gain than its
first conquest, even as to lose a possession stirs a heavier pain than never to have had it. Who would
391
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quis vos, Scipiadae, quis te iam, Regule, nosset, 380 quis lentum caneret Fabium, si iure perempto insultaret atrox famula Carthagine Maurus ?
haec omnes veterum revocavit adorea lauros
restituit Stilicho cunctos tibi, Roma, triumphos. 385
392
ON STILICHO'S CONSULSHIP, I
now be telling of the Punic wars, of you, ye Scipios, or of thee, Regulus ; who would sing of cautious Fabius, destroying right, the fierce Moor were trampling on an enslaved Carthage This victory, Rome, has revived the laurels of thy heroes of old Stilicho has restored to thee all thy triumphs.
END OF VOL
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