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THE  LOEB  CLASSICAL  LIBRARY 

EDITED    BV 
T.    E.    PAGE,    MIT.D. 

E.  CAPPS,  PH.D.,  LL.D.  W.  H.  D.  ROUSE,  i.itt.d. 


STATIUS 

I 


s^ 


STATIUS 

WITH   AN   ENGLISH  TRANSLATION  BY 

J.    H.    MOZLEY,  M.A. 

SOMETIME    SCHOLAR   OF   KING'S    COLLEGE,    CAMBRIDGE 

LECTURER    IN    CLASSICS    AT    EAST    LONDON    COLLIGE,    UNIVERSITY 

Of   LONDON 


IN  TWO  VOLUMES 


SILVAE 


THEBAID  I-IV 


y-b- 


LONDON:  WILLIAM  HEINEMANN  LTD 
NEW  YORK  :  G.  P.  PUTNAM'S  SONS 

MCMXXVIII 


P/9 

V.I 
&CC.Z 


printed  iti  Great  Britain. 


CONTENTS   OF   VOLUME    I 


Inthoduction 


PACE 

vii 


SILVAE 


Book   I- 


Statius  to  his  friend  Stella          ...  2 

I.   The  statue  of  Domitian            ...  6 
II.   Epithalaiiiium    in    honour  of  Stella   and 

Violentilla 14 

III.  The  villa  of  Manlius  Vopiscus           .          .  38 

IV.  To  Kutilius  Gallieus         ....  46 
V.   The  baths  of  Claudius  Etruscus        .          .  58 

VI.   The  Kalends  of  December       .          .          .  6'4 


Book   II— 

Statins  to  his  friend  Melior 
I.   Glaucias 
11.   The  villa  of  Pollius  Felix 

III.  The  tree  of  Atedius  Melior 

IV.  Melior's  parrot 
V.    The  tame  lion 

VI.   To  Flavins  Ursus     . 
VII.    To  Polla  on  Lucan's  birthday 


72 
76 
94 
106 
112 
116 
118 
128 


CONTENTS 


Book   III— 

Statins  to  his  friend  Pollius 
I.   The  temjile  of  Hei'cules  at  Surrentum 

II.  To  Maecius  Celer   .... 

III.  To  Claudius  Etruscus 

IV.  The  tresses  of  Elavius  Earinus 
V.   To  liis  wife  Claudia 

Book  IV— 

Statius  to  his  friend  Marcellus 
I.   The  seventeenth  consulship  of  Domitian 
n.   To  the  Emperor  Domitian 
III.   The  Domitian  Road 
IV    To  Vitorius  Marcellus 
V.   To  Septimius  Severus 

VI.  The  Hercules  statuette  . 

VII.  To  Vibius  Maximus 
VIII.  To  Julius  Menecrates 

IX.   To  Plotius  Grypus 
Book  V— 

Statius  to  his  friend  Abascantus 
I.   On  the  death  of  Priscilla 
II.   The  praises  of  Crispinus 

III.  A  lament  for  his  father  . 

IV.  To  Sleep         ..... 

V.  A  lament  for  his  adoj^ted  son 
Fragment  of  a  Poem  on  the  German  War 

THEBAID 


Book 

I. 

Book 

II. 

Book 

III. 

Book 

IV. 

138 
140 
154 
16G 
184 
192 

202 
206 
210 
216 
228 
236 
242 
250 
256 
260 

266 
268 
288 
302 
328 
330 
336 


340 
3.94 
450 
506 


Mai' 


.  at  beginning  of  volume 


INTRODUCTION 

PuBLius  Papinius  Statius  was  born  at  Naples,  prob- 
ably about  A.D.  40."  His  father  was  a  native  of 
Velia  on  the  Lucanian  coast,  but  had  moved  to 
Naples,  where  as  "  graniniatlcus  "  he  conducted  a 
school  to  which  pupils  came  from  all  parts  of  Italy. 
Here  he  taught  literature,  which  in  the  secondary 
school  of  the  time  meant  poetry,  with  exposition  of 
grammar,  style,  and  antiquities  ;  he  also  instructed 
his  pupils  in  augury  and  the  various  rites  of  the 
Roman  state  religion.  He  was  himself  a  poet,  and 
had  won  prizes  in  the  Grecian  contests,  at  Delphi, 
Nemea,  and  the  Isthmus  ;  he  had  written  a  poem  on 
the  civil  war  of  a.d.  69,  and  was  planning  another  on 
the  eruption  of  Vesuvius  in  79,  when  he  died.  He 
was  buried  on  an  estate  that  he  possessed  near  Alba. 
The  younger  Statius  owed  to  his  father's  personal 
care  and  instruction  all  his  education  and  poetical 
training,  a  debt  which  he  acknowledges  in  terms  of 
the  warmest  gratitude  ;  he  soon  gained  fame  as  a 
poet  himself,  and  won  prizes  at  the  local  competitions 
in  Naples,  held  at  the  festival  of  the  Augustalia. 
Probably  after  his  father's  death  he  left  Naples  and 

"  See  references  to  his  senium  in  Silv.  iii.  5.  13,  24,  iv.  4. 
70,  V.  2.  158  ;  the  date  also  suits  his  father's  Hfetime.  Other 
information  will  be  found  for  tlie  most  part  in  Silv.  v.  3, 
and  iii.  5. 


INTRODUCTION 

went  to  Rome,  where  he  hved  till  the  year  Qi,  writing 
poetry  and  declaiming  extracts  from  his  Thebaid 
before  crowded  audiences.  He  was  awarded  a  prize 
in  the  annual  poetical  contest  held  by  Domitian  in 
honour  of  Minerva  at  his  residence  near  Alba,  but  to 
his  great  disappointment,  when  he  competed  at  the 
important  Capitoline  "  Agon  "  in  Rome,  he  met  with 
failure.  In  Rome  he  married  his  wife  Claudia,  a 
widow  with  one  daughter.  The  poet  himself  was 
childless,  and  adopted  a  slave-boy  born  in  his  own 
house,  whose  early  death  he  mourns  with  real  sorrow 
in  his  last,  unfinished  poem.  About  9^  he  returned 
in  broken  health  to  Naples,  where  he  died,  probably 
in  95  or  96. 

Although  one  may  take  Juvenal's  word  for  it  that 
Statins,  in  spite  of  the  large  crowds  his  recitations 
drew,  made  no  money  out  of  poetry,  one  need  not 
assume  that  he  lived  in  poverty  and  was  forced  to 
write  libretti  for  the  stage  in  order  to  make  a  living  ;  * 
there  is  nothing  in  his  own  wi'itings  that  implies  it, 
while  from  the  mention  of  his  father's  estate  at  Alba 
one  would  gather  that  he  was  ^t  least  moderately 
well  off.  The  poet,  at  any  rate,  seems  to  have  lived  on 
terms  of  familiarity  with  the  wealthy  Pollius  Felix 
and  others,  and  his  wife  was  the  personal  friend  of 
Priscilla,  whose  husband  Abascantus  was  secretary 
of  state.  It  seems  doubtful  whether  he  formed  part 
of  any  circle  or  group  of  poets  ;  his  patrons  were  those 
of  Martial,  Atedius  Melior,  for  instance,  and  Pollius 
Felix,  but  neither  writer  ever  mentions  the  other, 
whence  some  have  thought  that  there  was  a  coolness 
between  the  two.  This  is  not  unlikely,  for  from  what 
we  know  of  the  two  men  we  should  conclude  that  they 
"  See  Juv.  vii.  82  sqq. 


INTRODUCTION 

were  extremely  uncongenial  to  each  other.  Juvenal 
indeed,  is  the  only  Latin  writer  before  Sidonius 
Apollinaris  who  does  mention  Statius,  though  his 
influence  upon  later  poets  was  strong. 

His  relations  with  the  Court  were  those  of  the 
humble  aspirant  to  Imperial  favour  ;  his  poems  upon 
the  colossal  equestrian  statue  of  Domitian,  the 
Emperor's  17th  Consulship,  the  tresses  of  his  favourite 
Earinus,  and  the  banquet  to  which  the  Emperor 
invited  him,  are  all  marked  by  the  flattery  that  the 
subservience  of  the  times  was  eager  to  bestow  ; 
Domitian  affected  to  be  a  patron  of  letters,  even  a 
poet  himself  :  it  was  one  of  the  stock  compliments  of 
the  time  to  wonder  whether  he  were  more  brilliant 
a  poet  or  a  commander.'*  Statius  frequently  men- 
tions his  campaigns,  and  follows  the  convention  of 
pretending  to  be  planning  a  great  work  on  the 
Emperor's  wars,  to  which  the  actual  epics  are  only 
preliminary.^ 

Statius  flourished  in  tlie  middle  of  the  Silver  Age 
of  Latin  literature,  coming  after  Seneca  and  Lucan 
(though  born  about  the  same  time  as  the  latter), 
before  Juvenal,  Tacitus,  and  the  younger  Pliny,  and 
contemporary  with  Martial,  Valerius  Flaccus,  and 
Quintilian.  The  later  part  of  his  life  was  thus  spent 
under  the  Flavian  dynasty,  which  in  spite  of  its  faults 
did  really  encourage  letters.  He  also  lived  at  a  time 
when  the  practice  of  recitation  had  become  a  popular 
rage  ;   his  pleasant  voice, '^  his  poetry,  with  its  subtle 

«  See  Achilleid,  i.  15.         "  See  Thebald,  i.  32,  Ach.  i.  19. 

'^  vocem  iucundam,  Juv.  vii.  82  :  for  the  dulcedo  which 
Juvenal  also  mentions  (1.  8i)  see  on  Statius's  versification 
(below)  ;  the  word  was  probablj'  the  origin  of  Dante's  line 
(put  in  Statius's  niouth),  "  Tanto  fu  dolce  mio  vocale  spirto  " 
{Purg.  xxi.  88). 

ix 


INTRODUCTION 

effects  of  alliteration  and  assonance,  its  brilliant 
passages,  startling  tricks  of  style  and  language,  its 
avoidance  of  the  obvious  and  occasional  touches  of 
the  pathetic  and  the  horrible,  all  this  combined  to 
tickle  the  ears  and  feelings  of  the  popular  audiences 
of  the  day."  Or  again,  with  an  Italian's  gift  of  rapid 
improvisation,  he  would  delight  a  patron  by  dashing 
off  a  description  of  his  villa  in  marvellously  smooth 
hexameters,  or  obhge  him  with  occasional  verse  on 
any  subject,  serious  or  trivial. 

The  poetry  of  Statins  shows  many  of  the  character- 
istics of  the  Silver  Age.  (i.)  The  rhetorical  influence 
is  evident,  frequency  of  hyperbole,  straining  after 
epigram  and  point,  superficiality  and  obedience  to 
text-book  models,  (ii.)  There  is  a  tendency  to  realism 
which  shows  itself  now  in  the  petty,  now  in  the 
horrible,  as  for  instance  in  many  of  the  battle-scenes 
of  the  Thehaid.  (iii.)  There  is  a  general  diminution  of 
scale,  characteristic  perhaps  of  Silver  periods  of  litera- 
ture, when  the  great  subjects  are  exhausted  and 
poets  descend  to  more  trivial  themes  ;  or,  if  the 
grand  themes  are  still  attempted,  the  treatment  is 
unequal  to  them,  and  lack  of  proportion  is  the 
inevitable  result.  The  search  for  new  matter  takes 
the  form  of  describing  things  that  the  great  poets 
would  not  have  thought  worth  describing,  or  not 
suitable  to  poetry.  The  Description,  indeed,  as  such, 
the  eK(/)/ja<rts,  becomes  a  recogiiized  literary  form. 
(iv.)  Another  note  of  the  age  is  the  conscious  learning 
which  obtrudes  itself  into  many  a  passage  ;  poets 
could  draw  on  learned  compilations  of  mythological 
matter  and  general  information,  on  treatises  dealing 

"  See,  for  a  satirical  exaggeration  of  the  picture,  Persius 
i.  13  sqq. 


INTRODUCTION 

with  anything  from  astronomy  to  horse-breeding, 
while  audiences  probably  relished  such  compliments 
to  their  culture. 

The  Sn.rjE  "■ 

These  are  a  collection  of  occasional  poems,  many 
of  which  were  written  hastily  to  order  or  just  as  the 
fancy  seized  the  poet  ;  some,  on  the  other  hand,  like 
the  lament  for  his  father  (v.  3),  are  more  carefully 
constructed.  Six  of  them  are  Poems  of  Consolation, ** 
for  the  loss  of  a  father,  a  wife  or  a  favourite  slave  ; 
this  was  a  type  of  composition  of  which  the  Romans 
were  very  fond,  in  prose  as  well  as  in  poetry.  They 
cannot  be  said  to  be  the  most  successful  examples  of 
Statius's  verse  ;  to  our  taste,  at  any  rate,  they  appear 
artificial  and  exaggerated  in  tone,  and  lacking  in  real 
sentiment,"  also  for  the  most  part  much  too  long. 
It  should  be  said,  however,  that  he  was  following 
the  rules  laid  downi  for  that  type  of  poem  by  the 
schools  of  rhetoric  and  obeyed  by  the  poets.  This 
applies  also  to  other  literary  forms,  for  example,  the 

"  The  word  means  literally  "  pieces  of  raw  material,"  from 
sllva=  Gk.  iiX-q,  i.e.  pieces  ready  to  be  worked  up  into  shape, 
or  impromptu  pieces;  cf.  Quint,  x.  3.  17  "  diversum  est 
eorum  vitium,  qui  primum  decurrere  per  materiam  stilo  quam 
velocissimo  volunt,  et  sequentes  calorem  atque  impetum 
ex  tempore  scribunt ;  hanc  silvam  vocant."  "  Their  fault 
is  different,  who  wish  to  run  over  their  material  first  with  as 
rapid  a  pen  as  possible,  and  write  impromptu,  following  the 
inspiration  of  the  moment :  such  work  they  call  silva.''  Cf. 
also  Aulus  Gellius,  Noct.  Att.  Pref.  6. 

*"  Epicedion,  or  'ETri/cijSeioi',  from  ktjSos,  mourning,  funeral 
lamentation. 

"  l',\cej)tions  are  v.  3,  v.  5  and  the  passage  at  the  end  of 
ii.  1  (i>U8-end). 


INTRODUCTION 

Epithalamion  (i.  2),  a  much  more  pleasing  composi- 
tion, the  Propempticon,  or  Farewell-piece  (iii.  2),  the 
Description  ("EK(jbpao-ts,  i.  3,  i.  5,  ii.  2,  iv.  6),  the 
Genethliacon  (ii.  7),  a  name  more  commonly  given  to 
a  poem  wTitten  for  the  birthday  of  a  living  person, 
while  here  the  occasion  is  the  anniversary  of  the 
birthday  of  the  poet  Lucan,  who  has  been  dead  some 
years. 

More  attractive  again  are  such  pieces  as  that  on 
Atedius  Melior's  Tree  (ii.  3),  where  Statius's  hghtness 
of  touch  and  fancy  appears  at  its  best,  or  the  account 
of  the  entertainment  given  to  the  people  by  the 
Emperor  on  the  Kalends  of  December  (i.  6).  The 
two  imitations  of  Horatian  lyric  (iv.  5  and  7)  are  feeble, 
but  the  hendecasyllables  of  iv.  9  are  spirited,  and 
in  the  Lucan  ode  Statins  succeeds  in  rising  above 
the  conventional,  and  there  is  real  feehng  in  Calliope's 
lament  for  her  favourite  poet.  The  piece  which  he 
addresses  to  his  wife  Claudia  is  also  marked  by 
sincerity,  and  so  are  the  two  poems  on  the  deaths  of 
members  of  his  own  family,  his  father  (v.  3)  and  his 
adopted  son  (v.  5)  ;  this  latter  poem  is  left  unfinished, 
but  it  seems  to  have  been  planned  with  the  same 
elaboration  that  we  find  in  the  case  of  the  former. 
Best  known  of  all  the  Silvae,  probably,  is  the  httle 
sonnet-like  poem  addressed  to  the  god  Sleep  (v.  4). 

Statius's  chief  merit  in  this  class  of  poetry  consists 
perhaps,  in  his  descriptive  power,  and  to  it  we  owe 
much  of  our  knowledge  of  Roman  society  in  the 
Flavian  era.  The  scenes  are  varied,  and  include  a 
state  banquet  given  by  the  Emperor  (iv.  2),  a  fashion- 
able wedding  (i.  2),  country-seats  of  patrons  of  Utera- 
ture  (i.3,ii.2),  funeral  scenes  (ii.  l,ii.  6,  etc.),  the  new 
road  along  the  coast  of  Campania  recently  opened 


INTRODUCTION 

(iv.  3),  an  entertainment  in  the  Amphitheatre  (i.  6), 
Among  the  personages  introduced  are  the  poet's  own 
friend  and  patron  Polhus  Fehx,  wealthy  and  cultured, 
the  literary  Epicurean  Manlius  Vopiscus,  the  soldier 
Rutilius  Gallicus,  of  noble  birth  and  distinguished 
career,  the  young  Maecius  Celer,  just  off  to  the 
Syrian  front,  the  art-collector  Novius  Vindex,  the 
freedman  Claudius  Etruscus,  who  had  risen  from 
slavery  to  the  position  of  secretary  of  finance  to  the 
Emperor  Nero,  one  of  the  three  great  secretaryships 
of  the  early  Empire. 

By  far  the  greater  number  of  these  pieces  are 
written  in  hexameters,  a  metre  first  applied  by 
Statius,  so  far  as  we  know,  to  the  composition  of 
genre  poems  of  this  kind,  and  employed  with 
marvellous  facility  and  ease  ;  the  lines  run  smoothly, 
though  without  the  extreme  elaboration  that  we 
sometimes  find  in  the  Thebaid,  and  without  great 
attention  to  variation  of  pause,  or  subtlety  of  allitera- 
tive effect.  He  displays  wonderful  skill  in  expres- 
sion and  choice  of  phrase  ;  when  describing,  for 
instance,  the  water  flowing  in  its  silver  channels  in 
the  Baths  of  Claudius  Etruscus,  he  says  (i.  5 .  48)  : 

argento  felix  propellitur  unda 
argentoque  cadit,  labrisque  nitentibus  instat 
delicias  mirata  suas  et  abire  recusat. 

and,  of  the  stream  outside  : 

extra  autem  niveo  qui  margine  caerulus  amnis 
vivit. 

In  his  address  to  his  wife,  again,  speaking  of  the 
peacefulness  of  Naples,  he  says  (iii.  5.  87)  : 

nulla  foro  rabies  aut  strictae  in  iurgia  leges, 
morum  iura  viris  solum  et  sine  fascibus  aequum. 


INTRODUCTION 

As  a  poet  who  depicts  the  society  of  his  time,  Statius 
compares  very  favourably  with  Martial  in  avoiding 
the  coarseness  that  was  so  prominent  a  feature  of  it, 
and  his  poetry  reflects  the  sensitiveness  of  his 
character. 

The  Thebaid  and  Aciiillfjd 

To  be  the  author  of  a  great  epic  poem  is  to  count 
as  one  of  the  few  great  poets  of  the  world,  and  it  need 
hardly  be  said  that  Statius  can  make  no  claim  to  that 
honour.  He  stands  with  Apollonius,  Lucan,  and 
Valerius  Flaccus  in  the  second  rank.  Yet  the  Thebaid 
received  high  praise  from  the  elder  Scaliger  and  the 
post-Renaissance  critics,  and  the  tendency  to-day  is, 
if  anything,  to  underrate  its  merits.  It  is,  indeed, 
somewhat  lacking  in  unity  of  theme,  yet  it  must  be 
remembered  that  much  depends  on  the  story  chosen, 
and  that  of  the  Seven  against  Thebes  is  a  difficult  one 
to  handle  owing  to  the  double  interest  :  the  Argive 
and  the  Theban  strands  are  hard  to  combine  satis- 
factorily ;  in  fact,  the  unity  of  the  plot  is  a  duality, 
i.e.  the  conflicting  fortunes  of  the  two  brothers,  and 
the  real  interest  consists  in  the  gradual  approach  and 
closer  interweaving  of  the  two  "  subjects,"  until,  as 
in  the  stretto  of  a  fugue,  the  climax  is  reached  in  the 
great  duel  of  Bk.  XI.  Here,  it  is  true,  Statius  might 
have  stopped,  with  the  Aeneid  as  his  model,  but  the 
Theban  legend  is  fruitful  in  incident,  and  it  might  be 
justly  urged  that  the  burial  of  the  Argives,  with  the 
appeal  of  Theseus  that  it  involves,  together  with  the 
striking  episode  of  the  "  strife  of  flames  upon  the 
funeral  pyre  "  of  the  two  rivals,  formed  a  real  part  of 
the  story  ;    it  must  be  admitted,  however,  that  the 


INTRODUCTION 

Thebaid  does  not  end  satisfactorily  :  that  Statins  was 
worried  over  it  we  may  gather  from  a  hint  in  the 
Silvae  (iii.  2.  US).  H.  W.  Garrod  has  defended  the 
Thebaid  as  an  "  episodic  "  epic,  and  that  is  probably 
its  most  conspicuous  feature  ;  at  the  same  time, 
though  Statius  had  every  right  to  make  his  poem 
episodic  if  he  wished,  it  would  be  wrong  to  overlook 
the  unity  that  it  does  possess,  even  if  it  is  less  obvious 
than  in  a  story  like  the  Argonautica,  for  example,  or 
the  Aeneid. 

The  same  critic  has  spoken  of  the  poet's  "  tender- 
ness, mysticism,  and  piety^ — in  short,  his  Christian- 
ity "  ;  it  is  true  that  the  tenderness  at  times  becomes 
sentimentality,  at  times  a  morbid  emphasizing  of  the 
horrible,  yet,  generally  speaking,  Statius  responds 
sympathetically  to  the  tender  emotions  :  Argia  as 
wife  and  daughter,  Hypsipyle  in  the  anguish  caused 
by  the  loss  of  the  babe  Opheltes,  Antigone  as  sister, 
are  faithfully  drawn,  and  the  relations  of  mother  and 
son  seem  to  have  had  a  particular  attraction  for 
Statius,  e.g.  Atalanta  and  Parthenopaeus,  Ismenis 
and  Crenaeus  in  the  Thebaid  (notice,  too,  how  many 
times  he  refers  to  Ino  and  Palaemon),  Thetis  and 
Achilles  in  the  AchiUeid.'^ 

With  regard  to  the  gods,  Jupiter  and  Nature  are 
both  referred  to  by  Statius  as  supreme,  quite  apart 
from  Fate  or  Destiny ;  ^  he  does  not  actually 
identify  them,  but  we  may  see  here  a  tendency  to 

"  In  Virgil,  as  Warde  Fowler  has  pointed  out,  the  father- 
son  relation  is  more  prominent.  Statius  loves  to  describe 
children  ;  cf.  the  Opheltes  episode,  and  the  three  epicedia 
(Silv.  ii.  1,  ii.  6,  v.  5),  and  such  touches  as  "  qui  pueris  sopor  " 
(Ach.  i.  229). 

*  There  is  also  the  mysterious  triplkis  mundi  summum  of 
iv.  516,  for  whom  see  note  ad  loc. 

XV 


INTRODUCTION 

syncretism,  or  the  regarding  of  different  deities  as  so 
many  manifestations  of  one  ultimate  Power,  charac- 
teristic of  the  time."  This  probably  originated  A\ith 
Stoicism,  and  Stoicism  had  become  the  religion  of 
educated  Romans,  so  far  as  they  had  one.  "  Dieu, 
c'est-a-dire  Jupiter,  et  la  Nature  ne  sont  qu'un.  Et 
cette  raison  divine,  cette  loi  universelle,  c'est  le  Fatum 
qui  ne  fait  aussi  qu'un  avec  la  Nature  et  avec  Dieu  " 
(Legras, La  Thebai'de.p.l60).  Another  apparent  incon- 
sistency has  been  laid  to  the  poet's  account,  in  making 
Jupiter  first  announce  his  decision  to  embroil  Argos 
and  Thebes,  and  then  attempt  to  deter  the  Argives 
on  their  march  by  hostile  omens  ;  in  this,  however, 
he  is  doing  no  more  than  ancient  wTitei's  commonly 
do  in  accepting  both  divine  warning  by  omen  and 
divine  irrevocable  will  without  attempting  to  reconcile 
them.  That  Statius  was  not  unaware  of  the  difficulty 
can  be  gathered  from  his  discussions  of  divination 
and  of  omens  (iii.  551,  vi.  QS^). 

The  divine  personages  who  make  up  the  super- 
natural machinery  of  the  Thehaid  are  treated  in  the 
familiar,  realistic  manner  of  traditional  epic  ;  certain 
personifications  take  their  place  among  them,  such  as 
Sleep,  Virtue,  Piety  ;  the  latter,  in  her  well-meant 
effort  to  stop  the  duel  of  the  brothers,  is  treated  very 
unceremoniously  by  Tisiphone,  and  hustled  off  the 
battle-ground  whence  she  flees  complaining  to  the 
Thunderer  (xi.  t57  sq).  Yet  oc  '''^-  ^ly  the  poet 
strikes  a  higher  note ;  one  of  iie  best  known 
passages  of  the  Thehaid  is  the  description  of  the  altar 
and  grove  of  Clementia  at  Athens,  in  which  the  poet 
gives  beautiful  expression  to  the  old  Athenian  ideal 

"  Cf.  also  i.  696  sq.  where  Apollo  is  identified  with 
Mithras,  Osiris,  etc. 


INTRODUCTION 

of  humanity,  lines  that  breatlie  the  spirit  of  a  purer 
rehgion  than  any  known  to  the  ancient  world,  and 
may  well  have  given  rise  to  Dante's  belief  that 
Statius  was  a  Christian. 

We  may  now  consider  briefly  some  further  char- 
acteristics of  the  Thehaid.  (I,)  Statius  revels  in  de- 
scription :  in  the  first  book  we  have  the  storm  that 
Polynices  encounters  on  his  way  to  Argos,  in  Bk.  II. 
the  exciting  narrative  of  the  ambush  set  for  Tydeus 
on  his  return  from  Thebes,  in  Bk.  III.  the  auspice- 
taking,  in  Bk.  IV.  the  necromancy.  The  games  in 
Bk.  \T.  are  well  done,  Statius,  no  doubt,  owing 
several  details  to  his  own  close  observation  in  the 
Roman  Circus,  as,  for  example,  in  the  boxing  and 
WTCstling  matches  and  the  discus-throwing.  In  Bks. 
VII.  and  X.  we  have  two  set  pieces,  the  abode  of 
Mars  and  of  Sleep  respectively.  Battle-pieces  since 
Homer  have,  as  a  rule,  been  failures,  in  painting  as 
well  as  in  poetry  ;  those  of  the  Silver  Latin  poets 
suggest  the  large  canvases  of  third-rate  Italian 
painters,  depicting,  for  example,  the  capture  of 
Constantinople  by  the  Latins  for  the  adornment  of  a 
ducal  palace  ;  the  same  grim  detail,  the  same  hectic 
fui-y  marks  the  battle-scenes  of  Statius.  It  is  in 
description  that  his  love  of  hyperbole  becomes  most 
manifest :  the  mountain  in  ii.  32  sq.  is  so  high  that 
the  stars  rest  upon  it,  the  sei-pent  in  v.  550  covers 
several  acres,  the  Centaur  plunging  down  from 
the  mountain  dams  a  whole  river  with  his  bulk, 
iv.  144<,  etc. 

(II.)  Passages  of  this  kind,  and  also  similes,  are  in 

many  cases   borrowed  from  previous  poets,  Virgil, 

Ovid,  or   Lucan.     Statius   in  borrowing  often  adds 

details   to    fill   out   the   picture,    or    elaborates   the 

VOL.  I  b  xvii 


INTRODUCTION 

language  :  often,  too,  he  introduces  a  sentimental 
touch,  i.e.  he  either  attributes  feeling  to  inanimate 
objects,  or  looks  at  the  scene  from  the  point  of  view 
of  some  living  person  :  in  ix.  90  the  sea-resisting 
rock  "  feels  no  fear,"  or  in  the  simile  of  the  snake 
renewing  its  skin  (iv.  93  sq.)  a  countrvman  is  intro- 
duced("a!  miser  agrestum;"  etc.)  Someof  his  similes 
are  worthy  of  notice,  for  example,  that  which  com- 
pares the  calm  produced  by  the  majesty  of  Jove's 
utterance  to  that  of  lakes  and  streams  under  the 
tranquil  influence  of  summer  (iii.  253),  or  that  of  Pluto 
coming  into  his  inheritance  of  the  underworld  (xi.  44-3). 
But  we  get  rather  tired  of  the  endless  bulls  and  boars 
to  which  his  heroes  are  compared. 

(III.)  Of  Statius's  inequality  as  a  poet  it  is  hardly 
necessary  to  speak ;  he  suffers  from  lack  of  judgement, 
rising  now  to  the  wildest  heights  of  exaggeration  and 
bombast,  and  now  sinking  to  trivial  and  absurd  detail, 
as  when  persons  are  described  kissing  each  other 
through  closed  visors  ("  galeis  iuvat  oscula  clausis 
inserere,"  iv.  20),  or  when  Mercurj^'s  hat  gets  wet  in 
the  rainstorms  of  Thrace  (\di.  39)-  At  the  same  time 
there  are  lines  of  great  poetic  beauty  :  i.  336-341, 
a  beautiful  description  of  the  rising  moon,  "  her  airy 
chariot  hung  with  pearly  dew  "  (Pope's  transl.),  and 
of  Sleep's  mysterious  influence  ;  or  the  moonbeams 
^„«<».  glinting  on  the  bronze  armour  of  the  ambuscade 
(ii.  532),  or  a  picture  of  sunrise  on  the  fields  in  winter 
(iii.  468-9),  or  the  last  breeze  dying  away  on  droop- 
ing sails  (i.  479-481)  ;  again,  in  i.  264-5,  we  seem  to 
hear  the  beating  of  the  gongs  and  the  wailing  of 
votaries  by  some  sacred  river  of  the  East,  while  the 
mysterious  figure  of  the  Lydian  Bacchus,  the  spirit 
of  the  golden  river,  appears  dimly  in  "  aut  Hermi  de 
xviii 


INTRODUCTION 

fontibus  aureus  exis  "  (iv.  389).  There  is  an  effective 
touch  in  the  duel  of  the  brotliers,  when  the  ghosts  of 
Thebans  are  pei-mitted  by  Pluto  to  throng  the  hills 
around  and  watch  the  combat  ;  in  the  journey  of 
Argia,  too,  in  Bk.  XII.  there  are  some  romantic 
scenes  (xii.  228  sq.,  250-54,  267-77). 

(IV.)  His  love  of  epigram  and  point  has  already 
been  mentioned ;  here  we  may  notice  that  it  is 
frequently  seen  at  the  ends  of  paragraphs,  some- 
times producing  an  effect  of  overstrain,  even  of 
obscurity.  Examples  may  be  found  in  i.  335,  i.  547 
(see  note),  i.  623,  iii.  323,  498,  v.  485,  533,  vi.  795, 
X.  570. 

(V.)  Statins  has  great  skill  in  versification,  which 
shows  itself  not  perhaps  so  much  in  the  ai't  of  varying 
the  pauses  and  the  rhythm  of  his  lines,  though  in  this 
respect  he  has  learnt  more  from  Virgil  than  either 
Ovid  or  Lucan,  as  in  his  use  of  assonance  and  allitera- 
tion. The  latter  especially  repays  study,  both  in  the 
single  line,  e.g.  i.  123,  ii.  89,  v.  14,  v.  615,  and  in 
passages  of  two  or  three  lines,  in  which  usually  one 
or  two  consonant  or  vowel  sounds  predominate,  with 
others  as  subordinate,  e.g.  ii.  118-19  ("  f  "),  ii.  538  sq. 
("  c,"  "  t,"  with  "  f,"  "  V,"  "  h  ")  or  even  in  longer 
passages,  e.g.  i.  342-54).  There  is  also  sometimes 
remarkable  symmetry  in  words,  see  the  simile  in 
iv.  93  sq.,  where  the  verb  "  erigitur  "  connects  two 
groups,  each  consisting  of  two  sub-groups,  in  each  of 
which  again  noun  and  adjective  are  arranged  in  a 
chiasmus,  and  he  often  brackets  his  phrase  between 
noun  and  adjective  or  participle,  as  in  ii.  252-3,  718-9. 
It  was,  no  doubt,  technique  of  this  kind,  combined 
with  the  pointed  phrases,  the  appearance  of  familiar 
similes  and  descriptions  in  more  elaborate  form,  and 

xix 


INTRODUCTION     ..     <- 

/ 
the  sprinkling  of  recondite  mythological  allusion  that 
made  Statius  a  popular  poet  with  the  audiences  of 
Flavian  Rome. 

(VI.)  Statius  takes  great  liberties  with  the  Latin 
language.  There  are  phrases  which  it  is  impossible 
to  make  sense  of,  if  taken  grammatically  and  literally. 
Legras  is  reduced  to  despair  by  some,  as  by  v.  115 
"  vel  iustos  cuius  pulsantia  menses  vota  tument  ?  " 
he  says  "  c'est,  si  on  I'ose  dire,  un  pur  charabia"  "  ; 
so  too  "  raptus  ab  omni  sole  dies  "  (v.  364),  where 
the  scholiast  is  compelled  to  exclaim  "  nove  dictum  !  " 
and,  perhaps  the  most  untranslatable  of  all,  "  viderat 
Inachias  rapidum  glomerare  cohortes  Bacchus  iter  " 
(\ii.  45).  It  is  impossible,  in  translating,  to  do  more 
than  give  the  general  sense  ;  the  poet  is  here  a 
pure  "  impressionist."  Postgate  has  made  a  similar 
comment  on  the  style  of  Propertius  {Select  Elegies, 
Introduction,  p.  Ix),  "  The  outhnes  of  his  pictures  lack 
sharpness  and  precision,  and  the  colours  and  even 
forms  on  his  canvas  tend  to  blend  imperceptibly  with 
each  other.  Thus  it  is  the  general  impression  that 
fascinates  us  in  his  poems,  not  the  proportion  and 
perfection  of  the  details."  Again,  speaking  of  Pro- 
pertius' excessive  subtlety  of  construction,  he  says 
"  sometimes  the  sentence  must  be  read  as  a  whole, 
as  it  is  almost  impossible  to  give  it  a  detailed  con- 
struction. .  .  .  Cf.  i.  20.  24,  where  I  have  compared 
the  tendency  of  the  Greek  tragedians  to  spread  the 
meaning  through  a  sentence  rather  than  apportion  it 
among  the  words."  This  verj'  well  expresses  the 
character  of  the  Statian  phrase,  and  in  this  respect 
Statius  is  the  successor  of  Propertius.  Both  poets 
perhaps  were  led  to  MTite  in  this  way  by  an  attempt 
"  i.e.  "  pure  gibberish." 


INTRODUCTION 

to  avoid  the  hard  ghtter  of  Latin,  so  suitable  to  the 
clear-cut  phrase  of  Horace  or  the  snap  and  polish  of 
Ovid  or  Martial,  and  a  longing  for  occasional  half- 
tones, for  lack  of  precision.  Possibly  it  is  due  to 
Virgilian  influence,  for  part  of  Virgil's  genius  consists 
in  being  able  to  give  a  soft,  mysterious  effect  without 
any  sense  of  unnaturalness.  Statius  aims  at  a  like 
effect,  but  fails  to  avoid  unnatvn-alness. 

(VII.)  Psychologically,  he  is  not  conspicuous  for 
remarkable  insight  ;  it  may  be  said,  however,  in  his 
defence  that  the  epic  does  not  demand  refinement  in 
character  drawing,  which  is  rather  the  business  of  the 
drama.  In  the  Thebaid,  as,  indeed,  in  the  Aeneid, 
the  treatment  of  character  is  broad  :  Amphiaraus  the 
seer,  Eteocles  the  fierce  tyrant,  Capaneus  the  scorner  "  ** 
of  the  gods,  Hippomedon  the  stalwart  warrior, 
Parthenopaeus  the  gallant  youth,  are  all  true  to 
type  ;<*  more  carefully  drawn  are  Adrastus  and  his  son- 
in-law  Polynices  ;  the  former  is  depicted  as  an  elderly 
monarch, grave,  kindly, diplomatic,  and  perhaps  some- 
what lacking  in  decision,  while  the  latter  is  shown 
as  not  altogether  easy  in  mind,  even  diffident,  about 
the  undertaking,  and  ready  to  lapse  into  utter 
despair  and  to  contemplate  suicide  when  things  go 
badly  ;  at  the  same  time  he  is  not  quite  ingenuous 
(see  iii.  381-2),  and  on  comparing  him  with  his 
brother  one  feels  there  is  not  much  to  choose. 
Tydeus  is  vigorously  drawn,  especially  in  the  episode 
of  the  embassy  ;  he  becomes  the  mere  warrior  in 
Bk.  X.,  and  his  memory  is  stained  by  the  inhuman 
gnawing  of  his  enemy's  skull  with  which  the  book, 
and  his  career,  closes. 

"  It  is  not  inconsistent  with  this  to  point  out  that  Partheno- 
paeus is  modelled  on  Virgil's  Camilla. 

xxi 


INTRODUCTION  ^  ^'*L«^- 

A  few  touches  show  some  degree  of  insight  :  the 
people  of  Crotopus,  king  of  Argos  (in  Adrastus' 
narrative),  have  just  been  saved  from  the  awful 
pestilence  sent  on  them  by  Apollo  :  "  stupet  Inacha 
pubes,  magnaque  post  lacrimas  etiamnunc  gaudia 
pallent  "  (i.  619))  "  the  Inachian  youth  stand  appalled 
and  their  joy,  though  great  now  sorrow  is  ended,  even 
yet  is  pale  and  dim."  Capaneus  is  said  to  be  "  largus 
animae  modo  suaserit  ira  "  (iii.  603),  "  lavish  of  his 
life,  should  wrath  but  urge  him,"  a  development  of  the 
Horatian  "  animaeque  magnae  prodigum  Paullum." 
The  Argive  leaders  who  have  taken  the  place  of  those 
slain  in  the  fight  are  "  haud  laeti  seque  hue  crevisse 
dolentes  "  (x.  181),  "  feeling  no  joy,  but  grief  that 
thev  are  raised  so  high."  Thetis,  urging  the  boy 
Achilles  to  don  the  girlish  clothes,  adds  "  nesciet  hoc 
Chiron  '  {Ach.  i.  274),  "  Chiron  will  not  know  of  it." 

The  plot  of  the  Thehaid  was  probably  modelled  on 
the  vast  Epic  of  Antimachus  {ji.  c.  400  e.g.),  which 
Cicero  calls  "  magnum  illud  volumen,"  and  of  which 
Porphyrio  tells  us  that  the  author  had  completed 
twenty-four  books  before  the  Argive  host  had  been 
brought  to  Thebes.  Statius,  though  he  took  only 
six  books  in  doing  it,  has  been  criticized  for  un- 
necessary delay  in  arriving  at  Thebes,  but  he  Mas 
probablv  wise,  as  twelve  books  of  battle-scenes  would 
have  rendered  his  work  as  unreadable  as  the  seven- 
teen books  of  Silius  Italicus'  Punica. 

The  following  is  a  summary  of  the  chief  events  of 
the  Thehaid  :  i.  1-45,  Invocation  of  the  Emperor. 
45-311,  Oedipus,  who  has  blinded  himself,  invokes 
Tisiphone  and  curses  his  sons  :  she  hears  him  and 
hurries  to  Thebes  ;  the  brothers,  full  of  mutual  hate, 
agree  to  reign  alternately  ;   the  lot  falls  on  Eteocles, 


INTRODUCTION 

and  Polynices  reluctantly  departs.  Jupiter  an- 
nounces his  decision  to  set  Argos  against  Thebes. 
312-720,  Polynices'  journey  to  Argos  and  his  ex- 
periences there,  ii.  1-33,  Apparition  of  the  shade  of 
Laius  to  Eteocles.  134-305,  Wedding  celebrations  of 
Polynices  and  Tydeus  at  Argos.  306-743,  and  iii. 
1-439,  Tydeus  goes  on  embassy  to  Thebes,  the 
ambush  set  for  him,  his  victory  and  return.  440-721, 
Auspice-taking  ;  war  is  decided  on  at  Argos.  iv. 
1-344,  Catalogue  of  the  Argive  host.  345-645, 
Plight  of  Thebes  :  neci'omancy.  646-842  and  v.  1-16, 
Bacchus  causes  the  Argives  to  be  delayed  by  thirst  : 
they  are  saved  by  Hypsipyle,  nurse  of  Opheltes, 
infant  son  of  Lycurgus,  king  of  Nemea.  17-498, 
Narrative  of  Hypsipyle.  499-753,  Death  of  Opheltes. 
vi.  1-248,  Funeral  rites  of  Opheltes.  249-946, 
Funeral  games,  vii.  1-397,  Catalogueofthe  Thebans. 
398-823,  The  fighting  begins  :  disappeai-ance  of  the 
augur  Amphiaraus.  viii.  1-342,  Amphiaraus's  recep- 
tion in  the  underworld  ;  his  successor  is  appointed. 
342-766,  Exploits  and  Death  of  Tydeus.  ix.  1-569, 
Exploits  and  Death  of  Hippomedon.  570-907,  Fears 
of  Atalanta  for  Parthenopaeus  :  his  death,  x.  1-261, 
Intervention  of  Juno.  262-448,  Night-raid  and 
devotion  of  Hopleus  and  Dymas.  449-826,  Devotion 
of  Menoeceus.  827-936,  Death  of  Capaneus.  xi. 
1-314,  Preparations  for  the  duel  between  the  brothers. 
315-761 ,  The  duel.  Exile  of  Oedipus,  and  end  of  the 
war.  xii.  1-463,  Funeral  rites  of  the  Thebans.  De- 
votion of  Antigone  and  Ai-gia.  464-809,  Intervention 
of  Theseus,  after  supplication  of  Argive  woinen  at 
Athens. 

In  the  concluding  lines  of  the  poem  Statins  exhorts 
his    Thebaid  to  follow  far  behind  the  divine  Aeneicl 


INTRODUCTION 

and  to  reverence  its  footsteps ; "  from  them  we  may 
gather  that  he  was  hnmble  enough  not  to  thmk  of 
himself  as  a  rival  of  \  irgil,  though  acknowledging 
that  poet  as  the  chief  inspirer  of  his  work.  In  fact, 
the  plan  and  chief  incidents  of  the  Aeneid  seem  to  be 
reproduced  with  an  astonishing  scrupulousness  in  the 
Thehaid.  \'irgil,  however,  was  not  the  only  poet 
whom  Statius  laid  under  contril)ution  ;  an  analysis 
of  the  Thebaid  shows  that  Ovid  and  Lucan,  and  in  a 
lesser  degree  Seneca  and  Valerius  Flaccus,  have 
incidents,  or  at  any  rate,  details  borrowed  from  them 
by  our  author.*  In  versification  he  is,  on  the  whole, 
0\idian  ;  there  is  no  trace  of  Virgil's  gravity,  or  of 
Lucan's  heaviness,  but  the  hexameter  is  predomi- 
nantly the  smooth,  unehded  line  of  Ovid,  though  the 
hephthemimeral  pause  and  caesura,  characteristic  of 
Silver  Latin  verse,  is  frequent. 

As  for  the  authorities  on  whom  Statius  drew  for  the 
actual  story  of  the  Seven,  we  have  already  referred 
to  the  Thebaid  of  Antimachus  ;   its  fragments,  how- 

"  nee  tu  divinam  Aeneida  tempta, 

sed  longe  sequere  et  vestigia  semper  adora. 

Cf.  also  references  in  the  Silvae,  iv.  4.  53,  iv.  7.  25. 

''  e.^.  Virgil:  i.  \Q1  sqq.=  Aen.'i.'iSSsqq.;  x.lsqq.;  ii.l33  = 
Aen. YU.Sil  ;theArgive  rush  to  arms,  and  Catalogue  (Bk.  1 1 1.) 
=  Aen.  vii.  572,  etc.,  the  Games.  Parthenopaeus=  Camilla; 
Hopleus  and  Dvmas=  Nisus  and  Eurvalus,  and  manv  others. 

Lucan:  iv.  369,  etc.  =  P;;ars.  i.  469,  674;  iv.  i2o=Ph. 
iv.  324. 

Ovid  :  v.  505=  Met.  iii.  32 ;  vi.  825,  etc.=  Met.  ix.  33  (c/. 
also  Luc.  PJi.  iv.  655). 

Seneca  :  ii.  269,  etc.=  Medea,  734  etc. ;  iv.  443=  Oed.  556. 

Homer  is  also  largely  followed  in  the  funeral  rites  and 
games  of  Bk.  VI.,  and  in  the  river  fight  of  Bk.  IX.  (//.  xvii., 
xviii.,  and  xxi.).  Also  some  of  the  episodes  of  the  night  raid 
(Bk.  X. )  are  from  the  JJoloneia. 


INTRODUCTION 

ever,  are  so  scanty  that  any  estimate  of  his  debt 
to  it  must  be  purely  conjectural,  and  the  same 
applies  to  the  Oedipodeia  and  Thehais  of  the  Epic 
Cycle.  Of  extant  authors,  Aeschylus  and  Sophocles 
appear  to  have  contributed  comparatively  little,  for, 
to  take  one  or  two  instances,  tlie  character  of 
Eteocles  is  quite  diiferent  in  Aeschylus's-S'gp^ew,  and  in 
Sophocles'  Oedipus  Rex  Jocasta  commits  suicide  and 
Oedipus  leaves  the  city  immediately  after  the  dis- 
covery, while  in  the  Thebaid  they  are  both  there  all 
the  time.  On  the  other  hand  the  Phoenissae  of 
Euripides  is  closely  followed  (probably  also  the 
Hypsipiile^)  and  Seneca's  P/ioenissae.  For  the  narra- 
tive of  Hypsipyle  both  Statius  and  Valerius  Flaccus 
elaborate  considerably  on  the  simpler  account  of 
Apollonius  of  Rhodes. 

There  is,  in  fact,  little  if  anything  to  show  that 
Statius  has  done  more  than  work  on  the  traditional 
epic  material  in  a  manner  that  seemed  to  him  best 
suited  to  the  requirements  of  his  audience  ;  that  he 
was  successful  and  enjoyed  considerable  popularity 
as  a  poet  we  may  gather  both  from  the  passage  of 
Juvenal  quoted  above  and  from  the  closing  lines  of 
the  poem  itself  (xii.  812-15)  : 

iam  certe  praesens  tibi  Fama  benignum 
stravit  iter  coepitque  novam  monstrare  futuris. 
iam  te  magnanimus  dignatur  noscere  Caesar, 
Itala  iam  studio  discit  memoratque  iuventus. 

"  Of  a  truth  already  present  Fame  hath  of  her  bounty 
paved  thy  way,  and  begun  to  hold  thee  up,  young  as 
thou    art,    to    future    ages.     Already   great-hearted 

"  There  are  a  number  of  verbal  parallels  with  the 
Hypsipyle. 


INTRODUCTION 

Caesar  deigns  to  know  thee,  and  the  youth  of  Italy 
eagerly  learns  and  recounts  thy  verse." 

The  fame  that  Statius  so  anxiously  yearned  for 
was  his  throughout  the  Middle  Ages.  His  epic, 
though  of  the  ancient  world,  seems  to  herald  the  new 
age  :  Amphiaraus  is  almost  the  warrior  bishop, 
Chaucer,  indeed,  calls  him  "  the  bisshop  Amphiorax  " ; 
dragons,  sorcerers,  enchanted  woods,  maidens  waving 
to  their  lovers  from  high  turrets,  and  other  romantic 
features  fill  the  pages  of  his  poem,  while  its  actual 
influence  can  be  traced  in  medieval  literature."  All 
readers  of  Dante  remember  the  meeting  of  Statius 
and  \'irgil  in  Purgatory  (Cantos  21,  22),  and  the 
touching  lines  in  which  the  poet  narrates  the  recogni- 
tion of  \irgi!  by  his  humble  and  admiring  follower. 
Dante's  belief  that  Statius  was  a  Christian  was  due, 
according  to  Comparetti,^  to  the  latter's  reverence 
for  Virgil,  whom  the  Middle  Ages  accepted  as  a 
prophet  of  Christ  on  the  strength  of  the  Fourth 
Eclogue.  Mr.  P.  H.  Wicksteed  thinks  that  the 
words  of  xii.  496  "  ignotae  tantum  felicibus  arae  " 
("  the  altar  is  unknown  only  to  the  prosperous  ") 
may  have  led  to  an  identification  with  the  altar  to 
the  Unknown  God,  "  ignoto  Deo,"  seen  at  Athens 
by  St.  Paul  (Acts  xvii.  23).'=     See  also  A.  W.  Verrall's 

"  For  Amphiorax  see  Chaucer,  Trolhis  and  Criseyde,  ii. 
103  ;  dragons,  i.  600,  v.  505,  sorcerers,  iv.  -1'43,  x.  600,  wood, 
iv.  419,  maidens,  iv.  89,  vi.  546,  AcJi.  ii.  23.  Chaucer's 
Knight's  Tale  has  borrowed  largely  from  the  Thebaid 
(through  Boccaccio's  Teseide),  and  its  influence  is  seen  in 
a  poem  entitled  the  "  Lamentations  of  Oedipus,  King  of 
Thebes  "  (Anthology  of  Mediaeval  Latin,  S.  Gaselee,  1925). 

''    Virgil  in  the  Middle  Ages,  Chapter  vii. 

"  Essay.t  in  Commemoration  of  Dante:  "Dante  and  the 
Latin  Poets,"  1921. 


INTRODUCTION 

ingenious  suggestions  in  "  The  Altar  of  Mercy " 
(^Collected  Literary  Essays,  1913).  Besides  this  there 
is  a  conjecture  of  Prof.  Slater  :  Statius,  as  we  know 
from  Silv.  iv.  4.  5S,  Avas  in  the  habit  of  frequenting 
the  tomb  of  Virgil  outside  Naples  ;  he  suggests  that 
this  fact,  together  with  the  well-known  tradition  of 
St.  Paul's  visit  to  that  spot,  may  have  given  rise  to 
a  story  of  the  meeting  of  the  two,  and  of  Statius 's 
conversion  to  Christianity  as  the  result.'* 

It  is  quite  possible,  however,  that  Dante  origin- 
ated the  idea  for  his  OAvn  purposes ;  this  was  the 
opinion  of  Benvenuto,  the  commentator  on  Dante 
(quoted  by  Vernon,  Readings  on  the  Purgatorio, 
ii.  188),  and  there  seems  to  be  no  earlier  tradition. 
When  Dante  and  Virgil  meet  Statius,  he  is  in  the 
Circle  of  Avarice,  where  he  has  been  500  years, 
having  previously  spent  300  in  the  Ante-Purgatory, 
and  400  in  the  Circle  of  Sloth.  The  latter  punish- 
ment was  due,  as  he  explains,  to  his  unreadiness  to 
declare  himself  a  Christian,  the  former  to  his  prodi- 
gality (by  which,  apparently,  Dante  accounts  for  his 
poverty,  see  Juvenal  vii.  82).  Statius  enlightens 
Dante  on  two  matters,  first,  the  natural  causes  of 
winds  and  earthquakes  (C.  21,  cf.  Theb.  vii.  809  sq.), 
and  second,  the  nature  of  the  soul  when  separated 
from  the  body  (C.  25).  This  latter  knowledge 
depended  to  some  extent  on  revealed  truth,  for 
which  Statius  needs  to  be  a  Christian.  If  it  be 
asked  why  Statius  was  chosen,  the  answer  may  be 
(i.)  that  he  was  highly  esteemed  in  the  Middle 
Ages,  (ii.)  that  his  Epic  contains  similar  discussions, 
though  certainly  none  so  long  (auguiy,  iii.  482,  551, 

"  Introduction  to  translation  of  Silvae,  Oxford,  1908. 

xxvii 


INTRODUCTION 

physiology  of  horses,  vi.  333,  omens,  vi.  93i,  earth- 
quakes, vii,  809). 

The  Achilleid 

Owing  to  tlie  poet's  ill-health  and  comparatively 
early  death  no  more  than  1127  lines  of  this  epic 
appear  to  have  ever  been  ^\Titten.  In  them  Ave  have 
the  \asit  of  Thetis,  anxious  for  her  son  at  the  out- 
break of  the  Trojan  War,  to  Chiron,  under  whose 
charge  he  is  ;  she  conveys  the  youthful  Achilles  to 
Scvros,  disguises  him  as  a  girl  and  entrusts  him  to  the 
care  of  King  Lycomedes  ;  then  come  the  deception 
of  Deidaniia,  the  discovery  of  Achilles  by  Ulysses  and 
Diomede,  and  his  departure  for  Troy.  There  the 
fragment  ends. 

The  poet's  style  is  simpler  and  less  artificial  than 
in  the  Thebaid,  and  the  narrative  flows  more  evenly. 
The  most  successful  pai't  of  it  is  undoubtedly  the 
discovery  of  Achilles,  i.  675-920,  while  the  story  of 
his  introduction  to  and  courtship  of  Deidamia  is 
also  well  told. 

The  mss.  of  Statius 

The  "  Silvae" 

The  only  ms.  that  deserves  separate  notice  is  the 
fifteenth-century  MS.  at  Madrid  (hence  known  as 
Matritensis),  from  which  it  has  been  proved  that  all 
other  existing  mss.  are  derived  (see  Klotz,  Introduction 
to  the  Silvae,  Teubner  edition).  Besides  this  ms., 
designated  M,  there  are  a  certain  number  of  emenda- 
tions entered  by  PoHtian  in  a  copy  of  the  first  edition 
in  the  Corsinian  library  at  Rome  ;   some  of  these  he 


INTRODUCTION 

expressly  describes  as  taken  from  an  old  ms.  he  has 
recently  discovered  (1494'),  which  ms.  he  says  is  that 
which  Poggio,  the  Renaissance  scholar,  brought  into 
Italy  fronr  Gaul.  He  also  says  that  from  this  MS.  all 
other  Mss.  are  derived,  but  although  we  can  say  the 
same  of  M  we  cannot  identify  it  with  Poggio's  ms., 
for  (i.)  Politian  states  that  the  line  Silv.  i.  4.  86a,  which 
is  in  M  and  subsequent  mss.,  was  not  in  Poggio's. 
(ii.)  Some  of  the  excerpts  fi'om  the  latter  differ  from 
M.  (iii.)  He  would  not  have  called  a  fifteenth-century 
MS.  "  vetustus." '^  This  ms.  of  Poggio  is  usually 
identified  with  the  one  that  Poggio  says  he  sent  to 
Florence  in  1416  or  1417,  from  Constance  or  St.  Gall, 
which  was  probably  a  copy  of  a  much  older  one 
that  he  found  there.  It  is  quite  possible,  however, 
tliat  it  was  the  original  that  he  sent  to  Florence, 
and  not  a  copy,  and  Politian's  description  of  Poggio's 
MS.  as  "  vetustus "  would  help  this  identification. 
See  the  Classical  Review,  Nos.  15-17,  20,  26,  27,  32.* 

M  :     codex  Matritensis  M  31,  dated  about  1430. 
Ml  :    first  hand,  i.e.  transcriber  of  the  ms. 
M2  :    second  hand,  i.e.  first  corrector  of  the  ms. 
m  :  later  correctors. 

Ij  :  codex   I^aurentianus  (only   of   ii.   7),   dated 
tenth  century. 

"  It  should  be  added  that  some  of  Politian's  emendations  in 
the  Corsinian  copy  appear  to  be  of  the  same  date  as  those 
stated  by  him  to  be  from  Poggio's  ms.,  and  may  therefore 
also  come  from  there. 

''  Also  J.  S.  Phillimore's  Introduction  to  SUvae  (Oxford 
Classical  Texts).  Prof.  A.  C.  Clark  would  identify  Poggio's 
MS.  with  M  (Introduction  to  Asconius,  Oxford  Classical 
Texts,  p.  xxxi);  holding  that  Politian  must  have  been 
mistaken. 

xxix 


INTRODUCTION 

Pol. :  emendations  of  Politian  (fifteenth  century), 
if  from  Poggio's  MS.,  "  from  P."  is  added. 

Dom.  :  Emendations  of  Domitius  Calderinus 
(fifteenth  century). 

5"  :  later  mss. 


The  "  Thehaid  "  and  "  Achilleid  " 

The  MSS.  of  the  Thehaid,  and  in  a  lesser  degree,  of 
the  Achilleid  are  extremely  numerous,  the  former 
epic  especially  ha\ing  been  verj-  popular  in  the 
Middle  Ages.  They  fall  into  two  well-defined 
groups,  of  which  one  has  only  one  representative, 
the  so-called  Puteanus,  at  Paris,  wTitten  at  the  end 
of  the  ninth  century,  and  the  other  consists  of  a 
number  of  mss.  of  the  tenth  and  eleventh  centui'ies, 
the  offspring  of  a  ms.  now  lost,  but  dating  from  nearly 
a  century  before  Puteanus.  These,  following  the 
Teubner  and  Oxford  editions,"  I  have  designated  P 
and  oj  respectively.  When  any  particular  one  of  the 
latter  class  is  quoted,  w,  of  course,  signifies  the  other 
members  of  the  group.     Later  mss.  may  be  ignored. 

There  are  remarkable  differences  between  the  two 
groups  ;  the  most  striking  Mill  be  found  at  iv.  555, 
X.  135,  xi.  490,  but  on  frequent  occasions  the  differ- 
ence is  one  that  can  hardlv  be  accounted  for  on 
grounds  of  ordinary  textual  error.*  H.  W.  Garrod 
in    his    Introduction    to    the    Thehaid    and    Achilleid 

«  Bj'  A.  Klotz  (Teubner)  and  H.  W.  Garrod  (Oxford 
Classical  Texts). 

6  See,  for  instance.  Theh.  iii.  36-2,  370,  373,  AH,  454,  .527, 
658,  699. 


INTRODUCTION 

suggests  that  the  double  tradition  may  be  due  to  a 
revised  edition  made  by  the  poet  himself." 

On  the  whole  the  readings  of  P  are  to  be  preferred, 
and  they  deserve  careful  consideration  even  when 
they  seem  most  difficult  ;  but  in  many  cases  it  is 
only  judgement  that  can  decide  what  Statins  could  or 
could  not  have  written.  Though  the  mss.  that  form 
the  oj-group  hang  very  much  together,  D  and  N  have 
perhaps  more  individuality  than  the  others,  see 
Garrod,  Introd.  pp.  ix,  x. 

The  Achilleid  is  found  in  P  and  in  a  number  of  the 
oj-group  ;  also  in  a  ms.  denoted  E,  in  the  College 
Library  at  Eton. 

P  :    codex    Puteanus   (Parisinus   8051),  end    of 

ninth  century. 
Q  :    codex  Parisinus  10317,  tenth  century. 
K  :    codex    Gudianus    54,    tenth    to    eleventh 

century. 

(These  contain  both  Thehakl  and  Achilleid). 
S   :    codex  Parisinus  ISO^O,  tenth  century. 
D  :    MS.  at  St.  John's  Coll.  Camb.,  tenth  century. 
N  :    MS.    at    Cheltenham,     tenth     to     eleventh 

century. 
B  :    codex  Bambergensis,  eleventh  century. 
C  :    codex  Cassellanus,  164,  eleventh  century. 
L  :    codex  Lipsiensis,  i.  12,  eleventh  century. 

(These  contain  only  the  Thebaid). 
E  :    codex  Etonensis,  tenth  or  eleventh  century, 

{Achilleid  only). 
M  :    consensus  of  mss.  other  than  P. 

"  P.  viii  :  he  quotes  references  in  the  letters  to  Stella  and 
Marcellus  {Silv.  i.  and  iv.),  where  two  editions  seem  to  be 
implied;  also  T//^6.  xii.  812-13  (novam).  Klotz  dissents, 
but  without  giving  any  satisfactory  reason  (p.  Ixx). 


INTRODUCTION 

BIBLIOGRAPHY 

Books  1-5  of  the  Thebaid  were  translated  into 
English  verse  by  T.  Stephens  in  \Q\S,  the  Achilleid 
by  Sir  R.  Howard  in  1660;  Book  I.  of  the  Thehaid 
by  Pope  in  1703  ;  extracts  from  Book  VI.  by  Gray  in 
1736;  and  all  the  Thehaid  by  W.  L.  Lewis  in  1766. 
A  prose  translation  of  the  Silvae  by  Prof.  D.  A. 
Slater  was  published  by  the  Oxford  Press  in  1908. 
The  only  modern  edition  of  the  Silvae  is  that  of 
Vollmer,  Leipzig,  1898.  There  is  no  modern  edition 
of  the  Thebaid  or  Achilleid. 

For  criticism,  etc.,  see  chapters  in  Butler's  Post- 
Augustan  Poetry,  Oxford,  1909;  Summers'  Silver  Age 
of  Latin  Literature,  Methuen,  1920;  B.  A.  Wise, 
The  Injluence  of  Statius  on  Chaucer,  1911  5  T.  S. 
Duncan,  The  Injiuence  of  Art  on  Description  in  the 
Poetry  of  Statius,  1914;  J-  M.  Nisard,  Poe<^*  latins 
de  la  Decadence,  1849;  L.  Legras,  La  Thebaide  de 
Stace,  Paris,  1905. 


No  Index  has  been  made  to  the  poems  of  Statius. 
The  naines  that  occur  in  them,  and  the  adjectives 
formed  from  names,  are  so  numerous  that  no  good 
purpose  would  be  served  by  including  them  all. 
The  chief  characters  of  the  Thebaid  and  the  books 
in  which  they  occur  will  be  found  in  the  Summary 
of  Events  (Introduction,  pp.  xxii,  xxiii),  while  in 
the  ease  of  the  Silvae  the  individuals  to  whom  the 
different  poems  are  addressed  or  those  whom  they 
commemorate  will  be  found  in  the  list  of  Contents 
of  Vol.  I  (pp.  V.  vi). 


SILVAE 


SILVARUM 

LIBER  I 

Statius  Stellae  Suo  Salutem 

Diu  multumque  dubitavi,  Stella,  iuvenis  optime  et 
in  studiis  nostris  eniinentissime,  qua  parte  voluisti, 
an  hos  libellos,  qui  mihi  subito  calore  et  quadam 
festinandi  voluptate  fluxerunt,  cum  singuli  de  sinu 
nieo  prodierint/  congregates  ipse  dimitterem.  Quid 
enim  oportet  me  huius^  quoque  auctoritate  editionis 
onerari,  qui  adhuc  pro  Thebaide  mea,  quamvis  me 
reliquerit,  timeo  ?  Sed  et  Culicem  legimus  et 
Batrachomachiam  etiam  agnoscimus,  nee  quisquam 
est  inlustrium  poetarum  qui  non  aliquid  operibus 
suis  stilo  remissiore  praeluserit.  Quid  ?  Quod  haec 
serum  erat  continere,  cum  ilia  vos  certe,  quorum 
honori  data  sunt,  haberetis  ?  Sed  apud  ceteros 
necesse  est  multum  illis  pereat  ex  venia,  cum 
amiserint    quam    solam    habuerunt    gratiam    cele- 

^  Lacnna  in  Mss.  after  pro :   prodierint  Pol.,  prodiissent  S~. 
*  Lacuna  in  mss.  after  eniin  :    oportet  me  huius  Dom. 

"  One  of  Virgil's  earliest  works,  probably  to  be  identified 
with  the  extant  poem  of  that  name  ;  see  note  on  Sil'v.  ii.  7.  74. 

*"  Usually  known  as  Batrachomyomachia,  or  Battle  of  the 
Frogs  and  Mice,  popularly  attributed  to  Homer,  a  burlesque 
of  the  warlike  epic. 


SILVAE 

BOOK  I 

Statius  to  his  Friend  Stella  :  Greeting  ! 

Long  and  seriously  have  I  hesitated,  my  excellent 
Stella  —  distinguished  as  you  are  in  your  chosen 
branch  of  our  common  pursuit — about  these  pieces 
of  mine,  which  were  produced  in  the  heat  of  the 
moment  and  by  a  kind  of  joyful  glow  of  improvisa- 
tion, whether  I  should  collect  them,  after  they  have 
issued  one  by  one  from  my  bosom,  and  send  them 
forth  together.  For  why  should  I  burden  myself 
with  the  responsibility  for  this  additional  publica- 
tion, when  I  am  still  apprehensive  for  my  Thehaid, 
although  it  has  left  my  hands  ?  But  we  read  the 
"  Gnat,"'*  and  deign  to  recognize  even  the  "  Battle 
of  the  Frogs  "  ^  ;  nor  is  there  any  of  the  great  poets 
who  has  not  made  prelude  to  liis  works  in  lighter 
vein.  Again,  was  it  not  too  late  to  keep  these 
poems  back,  when  others  were  already  in  the  posses- 
sion of  those  in  whose  honour  they  were  written 
(yourself  among  them)  ?  Yet  with  most  people 
much  of  their  claim  to  a  lenient  judgement  must 
disappear,  since  they  have  lost  their  impromptu 
nature,  the  only  charm  that  they  possessed.     For 

3 


STATIUS 

ritatis.  Nullum  enim  ex  illis  biduo  longius  tractum, 
quaedam  et  in  singulis  diebus  effusa  ;  quam  timeo, 
ne  verum  istuc  versus  quoque  ipsi  de  se  probent  ! 

Primus  libellus  sacrosanctum  habet  testem  :  sumen- 
dum  enim  erat  "  a  love  principium."  Centum  hos 
versus,  quos  in  equum  maximum  feci,  indulgentissimo 
imperatori  postero  die,  quam  dedicaverat  opus, 
tradere  iussus  sum.  "  Potuisti  illud  "  dicet  aliquis 
"  et  ante  vidisse."  Respondebis  illi  tu,  Stella  caris- 
sime,  qui  epithalamion  tuum,  quod  mihi  iniunxeras, 
scis  biduo  scriptum.  Audacter  mehercles,  sed  ter 
centum  tamen^  hexametros  habet,  et  fortasse  tu  pro 
collega  mentieris.  Manilius  certe  Vopiscus,  vir 
eruditissimus  et  qui  praecipue  vindicat  a  situ  litteras 
iam  paene  fugientes,  solet  ultro  quoque  nomine  meo 
gloriari,  villam  Tiburtinam  suam  descriptam  a  nobis 
uno  die.  Sequitm*  libellus  Rutilio  Gallico  convale- 
scenti^  dedicatus,  de  quo  nihil  dico,  ne  videar  defuncti 
testis  occasione  mentiri.  Nam  Claudi  Etrusci  testi- 
monium documentum^  est,  qui  balneolum  a  me  suum 
intra  moram  cenae  recepit.  In  fine  sunt  Kalendae 
Decembres,  quibus  utique  creditur  :  noctem  enim 
illam  fehcissimam  et  voluptatibus  pubUcis  in- 
expertam  .  .  .  .  .^ 

^  ter  centum  tamen  Elter  :   tantum  tamen  M. 

^  convalescenti  Scriverius  and  Heinsius  :  est  valent  M 
{above  valent,  fee,  erased  by  M2),  est  valenti  Pol. 

^  documentum  Klotz :  domomum  M,  commodum  or 
idoneum  Phlllimore. 

*  Seven  or  eight  lines  of  the  page  left  empty  in  uss. 


SILVAE,  I. 

none  of  them  took  longei-  than  two  days  to  write, 
while  some  were  turned  out  in  a  single  day.  How 
I  fear  lest  the  poems  themselves  make  that  only  too 
plain ! 

The  first  piece  can  appeal  to  a  witness  of  inviolable 
sanctity:  for  "from  Jove  must  I  needs  begin."** 
These  hundred  lines  on  the  Great  Horse  I  was 
bidden  deliver  to  our  most  indulgent  Prince  the 
day  after  he  had  dedicated  it.  "  Possibly,"  some 
one  will  say,  "  you  had  seen  the  statue  already." 
You  will  answer  him,  my  dearest  Stella,  you  who 
know  that  the  Epithalamium  you  demanded  of  me 
was  wTitten  in  two  days.  A  bold  piece  of  work,  by 
Hercules  !  but  all  the  same  it  contains  three  hundred 
hexameters — and  perhaps  you  will  tell  a  fib  for  a 
colleague.  Certainly  Manilius  Vopiscus,  a  man  of 
great  erudition,  who  is  foremost  in  rescuing  from 
decay  our  almost  vanishing  literature,  often  boasts 
on  my  account,  and  quite  spontaneously,  that  my 
sketch  of  his  country-house  at  Tibur  was  done  in 
one  day.  Then  comes  a  poem  dedicated  to  Rutilius 
Gallicus  on  his  recovery  from  sickness,  upon  which  I 
say  notliing,  lest  I  seem  to  be  taking  advantage  of 
the  death  of  my  witness  to  exaggerate.  For  I  can 
prove  my  case  by  the  evidence  of  Claudius  Etruscus, 
who  received  his  "  Bath  "  from  me  within  the  in- 
terval of  a  dinner.  Last  comes  "  The  Kalends  of 
December,"  wliich  at  all  events  will  find  credence  : 
for  a  jiight  so  happily  spent  and  so  unprecedented 
for  public  amusements   .   .   . 

"  A  solemn  formula  with  which  hymns  to  the  gods  often 
began,  cf.  (k  Ajos  apx^iJ^ecrda  (Theocr.  /(/.  17.  1),  "a  love 
principium  "  (Virg.  Eel.  3.  60). 


STATIUS 
1.  EQUUS  MAXIMUS  DOMITIANI  IMP. 

Quae  superimposito  moles  geminata  colosso 
Stat  Latium  complexa  forum  ?     caelone  peractum 
fluxit  opus  ?     Siculis  an  conformata  caminis 
effigies  lassum  Steropem  Brontemque  reliquit  ? 
an  te  Palladiae  talem,  Germanice,  nobis  5 

effinxere  manus,  qualem  modo  frena  tenentem 
Rhenus  et  attoniti  vidit  domus  ardua  Daci  ? 

Nunc  age  Fama  prior  notum  per  saecula  nornen 
Dardanii  miretur  equi,  cui  vertice  sacro 
Dindymon  et  caesis  decrevit  frondibus  Ide  :  10 

hunc  neque  discissis  cepissent  Pergama  muris 
nee  grege  permixto  pueri  innuptaeque  puellae 
ipse  nee  Aeneas  nee  magnus  duceret  Hector  ! 
adde,  quod  iDe  nocens  saevosque  amplexus  Achivos, 
hunc  mitis  commendat  eques  :  iuvat  ora  tueri  15 

mixta  notis  belli  placidamque  gerentia  pacem. 
nee  veris  maiora  putes  :  par  forma  decorque, 
par  honor,     exhaustis  Martem  non  altius  armis 
Bistonius  portat  sonipes  magnoque  superbit 
pondere  nee  tardo^  raptus  prope  flumina  cursu        20 
fumat  et  ingenti  propellit  Strymona  flatu. 

1  tardo  M :  tanto  or  -us  Pol.,  tantum  Phill. 

"  Two  of  the  Cyclopes  who  laboured  at  the  forges  of 
Vulcan. 

*  i.e.,  of  Pallas  Athene,  goddess  of  handicrafts. 

"  The  reference  is  to  Domitian's  campaigns  against  the 
Catti,  a  German  tribe  from  the  Taunus,  who  were  threatening 
Mainz  (a.d.  83-84) ;  for  this  victory  he  received  the  title  of 
"  Germanicus  "  ;  also  to  the  defeat  of  the  Dacians  in  a.d.  89. 
"  Arduous,"  because  their  stronghold  was  in  the  mountains 
of  Transylvania  :  hence  "  montem,"  1.  80. 

<^  i.e.,  Thracian. 

6 


SILVAE,  I.  I.  1-21 

I.  THE  GREAT  EQUESTRIAN  STATUE  OF 
THE  EMPEROR  DOMITIAN 

This  statue  ivas  dedicated  to  Domitian  perhaps  about 
A.D.  91  (i.  36)/  its  appearance  and  position  are  described  ; 
it  is  hailed  by  Curtius  ;  the  poet  declares  it  to  be  as  immortal 
as  Rome. 

What  mighty  mass  redoubled  by  the  huge  form 
surmounting  it  stands  gathering  to  itself  the  Latian 
forum  ?  Did  it  glide  dov/n,  a  completed  work, 
from  heaven  ?  Was  the  effigy  moulded  in  Sicilian 
furnaces,  leaving  Brontes  and  Steropes*  weary?  or 
have  Palladian  hands  ^  sculptured  thee  for  us,  O  Ger- 
manicus,  in  such  guise  as  Rhine  of  late  beheld  thee 
reining  thy  steed,  and  the  astounded  Dacian's 
arduous  home ''  ? 

Come,  now,  let  Fame  of  old  time  marvel  at  the 
age-long  wonder  of  the  Dardan  horse,  for  whom 
Dindymon  abased  his  sacred  head  and  Ida  was 
shorn  of  her  leafy  groves.  This  horse  would  Per- 
gamum  ne'er  have  held,  though  wide  its  walls  were 
rent,  nor  could  the  mingled  throng  of  lads  and  un- 
wedded  girls  have  drawn  it,  nor  Aeneas  himself  nor 
mighty  Hector  !  That  one,  besides,  was  harmful, 
and  contained  fierce  Achaeans  :  this  one  is  com- 
mended by  his  gentle  rider.  'Tis  a  pleasure  to 
behold  that  countenance  whereon  the  marks  of  war 
are  blended  with  the  guise  of  tranquil  peace.  And 
think  not  that  truth  is  here  surpassed  ;  equal  beauty 
and  splendour  has  he,  and  equal  dignity.  Not  more 
loftily  does  the  Bistonian  '^  steed  bear  Mars  when  the 
fighting  is  done,  exulting  in  the  mighty  weight,  and 
swiftly  flies  by  the  river  till  he  is  all  asteam  and  with 
his  strong  blowing  stirs  up  the  waves  of  Strymon. 

7 


ST  ATI  us 

Par  operi  sedes.     hinc  obvia  limina  pandit, 
qui  fessus  bellis  adscitae^  munere  prolis 
primus  iter  nostris  ostendit  in  aethera  divis  ; 
discit  et  e  vultu,  quantum  tu  mitior  armis,  25 

qui  nee  in  externos  facilis  saevire  furores 
das  Cattis  Dacisque  fidem.     te  signa  ferente 
et  minor  in  leges  gener  et  Cato  Caesaris  iret.^ 
at  laterum  passus  hinc  lulia  tecta  tuentur, 
illinc  belligeri  sublimis  regia  Pauli,  30 

terga  Pater,  blandoque  videt  Concordia  vultu. 

Ipse  autem  puro  celsum  caput  aere  saeptus 
templa  superfulges  et  prospectare  videris, 
an  nova  contemptis  surgant  Palatia  flammis 
pulchrius,  an  tacita  vigilet  face  Troicus  ignis  35 

atque  exploratas  iam  laudet  Vesta  ministras. 
dextra  vetat  pugnas,^  laevam  Tritonia  virgo 
non  gravat  et  sectae  praetendens  colla  Medusae : 
ceu  stimulis  accendit  equum  ;  nee  dulcior  usquam 
lecta  deae  sedes  nee  si,  Pater,  ipse  tenei-es.  40 

pectora,  quae  mundi  valeant  evolvere  curas, 

*  adscitae  M :  adsertae  5~. 

^  gener  et  Cato  Caesaris  iret  Scriverius  and  Housman 
{see  ManUius,  p.  Lrvii)  :  iret  gener  et  Cato  castris  M. 
^  pugnas  Pol.  :  pugnes  3f. 

°  The  statue  is  opposite  the  temple  of  Divus  Julius  (the 
first  of  the  Roman  Emperors  to  be  deified),  dedicated  by 
Augustus  in  27  b.c,  on  either  side  of  it  are  the  Basilicas  of 
Julius  Caesar  and  Aemilius  Lepidus  respectively,  i.e.  on  the 
right  and  left  of  one  looking  down  the  Forum  away  from 
the  Capitol ;  behind  it  is  the  temple  of  Jupiter  on  the 
Capitol,  and  that  of  Concord. 

*  Julius  Caesar  adopted  Octavian,  his  great-nephew,  as 
his  son. 


SILVAE,  I.  I.  22-41 

Well  suited  to  the  work  are  its  surroundings." 
Here  facing  it  he  opens  wide  his  portals,  who  weary 
with  warfare,  by  the  gift  of  his  adopted  son,*  first 
showed  our  deities  the  way  to  heaven  ;  and  from 
thy  face  he  leai-ns  thy  greater  gentleness  in  arms, 
who  not  even  against  the  foreigner's  rage  art  easily 
stern,  but  with  Cattians  and  with  Dacians  makest 
bond.  Under  thy  leadership  both  his  son-in-law,  now 
the  lesser''  man,  and  Cato  had  bowed  to  Caesar's  sway. 
Lengthwise  thy  flanks  are  guarded,  on  this  hand 
by  the  Julian  edifice,  on  that  by  the  high  basilica 
of  warlike  Paullus  ;  thy  back  the  Sire  beholds,  and 
Concord  with  tranquil  brow. 

Thou  thyself  with  lofty  head  enshrined  in  the 
pure  air  dost  tower  resplendent  over  the  temples, 
and  seemest  to  look  forth  to  see  whether  the  new 
Palace,  despising  the  flames,  be  rising  in  greater 
beauty,  or  whether  the  brand  of  Trojan  fire  keep 
silent  watch,  and  \^esta  now  be  praising  the  proved 
worth  of  her  ministrants.*^  Thy  right  hand  bids 
battles  cease  ;  thy  left  the  Tritonian  maiden '"  over- 
burdens not,  and  holding  out  Medusa's  sevei'ed  head 
incites  thy  steed  as  with  a  goad  ;  never  had  the 
goddess  choicer  resting-place,  not  even  if  thou,  O 
Father,  didst  hold  her.  Thy  breast  is  such  as  might 
avail  to  solve  the  riddles  of  the  universe,  and  thereon 

"  The  point  is  that  the  son-in-law  was  Ponipej'  "  the 
(ireat  "  (Magnus). 

''■  Domitian  had  recently  punished  one  of  the  Vestals  for 
unchastity  (Suet.  Dom.  8).  Domitian,  looking  slightly  to 
his  right,  woukl  see  the  temple  of  Vesta,  and  the  Palatine 
rising  above  it ;  his  new  buildings  there  are  referred  to  by 
Suetonius  {l>om.  5).  The  sacred  fire  brought  from  Troy 
was  kept  concealed  in  the  temple  of  Vesta,  cf.  v.  3.  178 
"  facis  opertae."  "  i.e.,  Pallas. 

9 


STATIUS 

et  quis^  se  totis  Temese  dedit  hausta  metallis  ; 

it  tergo  demissa  clilamys  ;  latus  ense  qiiieto 

securum,  magnus  quanto  mucrone  minatur 

noctibus  hibernis  et  sidera  terret  Orion.  45 

at  sonipes  habitus  animosque  iniitatus  equestres 

acrius  attollit  vultus  cursumque  minatui'  ; 

cui  rigidis  stant  colla  iubis  vivusque  per  armos 

impetus  et  tantis  calcaribus  ilia  late 

sufFeetura  patent ;  vacuae  pro  caespite  terrae  50 

aerea  captivi  erinem  tegit  ungula  Rheni. 

hunc  et  Adrasteus  visum  extimuisset  Arion 

et  pavet  aspiciens  Ledaeus  ab  aede  propinqua 

Cyllarus.     hie  domini  numquam  mutabit  habenas 

perpetuus  frenis  atque  uni  scr\"iet  astro  !  55 

\ix  sola  sufficiunt  insessaque  pondere  tanto^ 

subter  anhelat  humus  ;  nee  ferro  aut  aere  :  laborant 

sub  genio,  teneat  quamvis  aeterna  crepido, 

quae  superingesti  portaret  culmina  mentis 

caeliferique  attrita  genu  durasset  Atlantis.  60 

Nee  longae  traxere  morae.     iuvat  ipsa  labores 

forma  dei  praesens  operique  intenta  iuventus 

miratur  plus  posse  manus.     strepit  ardua  pulsu 

machina  ;  continuus  septem  per  culmina  Martis^ 

it  fragor  et  magnae  vincit*  vaga  murmura  Romae. 

^  et  quis  5' :  et  qui  M,  et  cui  5~ ;  it,  cui  Phill. 

^  tanto  r  :  toto  31. 

^  Martis  Gronovius  :  montis  M  (from  59). 

*  vincit  Heinsius  :  fingit  3/,  frangit  conj.  Phill. 

"  A  town  in  Bruttii,  on  the  west  coast,  famous  for  copper- 
mines  ;  cf.  Odyssey,  i.  1 84. 
10 


SILVAE,  I.  I.  42-05 

Temese"  has  exhausted  tlie  wealth  of  all  her  mines ;  a 
cloak  hangs  from  thy  shoulders  ;  the  sword  sleeps 
by  thy  untroubled  side  :  even  so  vast  a  blade  does 
threatening  Orion  wield  on  winter  nights  and  terrify 
the  stars.  But  the  steed,  counterfeiting  the  proud 
mien  and  high  mettle  of  a  horse,  tosses  his  head 
in  greater  spirit  and  makes  as  though  to  move  ;  the 
mane  stands  stiff  upon  his  neck,  his  shoulders  thrill 
with  life,  and  his  flanks  spread  wide  enough  for 
those  mighty  spurs ;  in  place  of  a  clod  of  empty 
earth  his  brazen  hoof  tramples  the  hair  of  captive 
Rhine.  Seeing  him,  Adrastus'  horse  Arion^  would 
have  been  sore  afraid,  yea  Castor's  Cyllarus  fears 
as  he  looks  forth  upon  him  from  his  neighbouring 
temple.  Never  will  this  steed  suffer  another  master's 
rein  ;  this  curb  is  his  for  ever,  one  star,  and  one 
star  only  will  he  serve.  Scarce  doth  the  soil  hold, 
and  the  ground  pants  beneath  the  pressure  of 
so  vast  a  weight  ;  and  not  of  iron  or  bronze  : 
'tis  under  thy  deity  it  trembles,  ay,  even  should 
an  everlasting  rock  support  thee,  such  as  would 
bear  the  peaks  of  a  mountain  piled  upon  it,  or 
have  endured  to  be  pressed  by  the  knee  of  heaven- 
sustaining  Atlas. 

No  lengthy  tarrying  drew  out  the  time.  The 
present  beauty  of  the  god  itself  makes  labour  sweet, 
and  the  workmen  intent  upon  their  task  marvel  at 
their  greater  vigour.  Towering  cranes  creak  and 
rattle  ;  continuous  runs  the  roar  over  the  seven 
heights  of  Mars,  and  drowns  the  wandering  noises 
of  mighty  Rome. 

''  The  horse  of  Adrastus,  king  of  Argos,  leader  of  the 
Seven  against  Thebes;  see  Theb.  vi.  301.  Neptune  was 
supposed  to  have  been  his  father. 

11 


STATIUS 

Ipse  loci  custos,  cuius  sacrata  vorago  66 

famosique  lacus  nomen  memnrabile  servant, 
innumei'os  aeris  sonitus  et  verbere  crudo 
ut  sensit  mugire  forum,  movet  horrida  sancto 
era  situ  meritaque  caput  venerabile  quercu.  70 

ac  primum  ingentes  habitus  lucemque  coruscam 
expavit  niaioi-is  equi  terque  ardua  mersit 
coUa  lacu  trepidans,  laetus  mox  praeside  viso  : 
"  salve,  magnorum  proles  genitorque  deorum, 
auditum  longe  numen  mihi  !     nunc  mea  felix,         75 
nunc  veneranda  palus,  cum  te  prope  nosse  tuumque 
immortale  iubar  vicina  sede  tueri 
concessum.     semel  auctor  ego  inventorque  salutis 
Romuleae  :  tu  bella  lovis,  tu  proelia  Rheni, 
tu  civile  nefas,  tu  tardum  in  foedera  montem  80 

longo  Marte  domas.     quod  si  te  nostra  tulissent 
saecula,  temptasses  me  non  audente  profundo 
ire  lacu,  sed  Roma  tuas  tenuisset  habenas." 

Cedat  equus,  Latiae  qui  contra  templa  Diones 
Caesarei  stat  sede  fori — quem  traderis  ausus  85 

Pellaeo,  Lysippe,  duci,  mox  Caesaris  ora 
rairata  cervice  tulit — vix  lumine  fesso 
explores,  quam  longus  in  hunc  despectus  ab  illo. 

"  i.e.,  Curtius  who  saved  Rome  by  leaping  into  a  chasm 
in  the  Forum  ;  for  his  "  devotion  "  see  Livy,  i.  12,  vii.  6. 
The  place  was  known  as  the  "  lacus  Curtius."  As  one  who 
had  saved  the  lives  of  citizens  he  wears  the  crown  of  oak- 
leaves,  the  "  corona  civica." 

*  i.e.,  of  the  Dacians,  as  frequenth^ 

"  i.e.,  in  the  fighting  on  the  Capitol  which  took  place  after 
Vespasian's  accession. 

^  An  equestrian  statue  of  Julius  Caesar  in  the  Forum 
12 


SILVAE,  I.   I.   66-88 

The  guai-dian"  of  the  spot  himself,  whose  memorable 
name  the  hallowed  chasm  and  famous  pools  preserve, 
hearing  the  ceaseless  clash  of  bronze  and  the  Forum 
echoing  with  vigorous  blows,  raises  his  grisly  visage, 
venerable  even  in  decay,  and  his  head  revered  for 
the  well-deserved  oak-wreath.  And  first,  affrighted 
at  the  huge  form  and  flashing  glance  of  a  mightier 
steed,  he  thrice  in  dismay  bowed  his  lofty  neck 
beneath  the  lake  ;  then,  joyful  at  the  sight  of  his 
prince  :  "  Hail,  offspring  and  sire  of  mighty  deities," 
he  cries,  "  whose  godhead  I  heard  of  from  afar  ! 
Now  is  my  lake  blessed,  now  is  it  holy,  since  it  has 
been  granted  me  to  know  thee  nigh  at  hand,  and 
from  my  neighbouring  seat  to  watch  thy  immortal 
brightness.  Once  only  was  I  the  author  and  winner 
of  salvation  for  the  folk  of  Romulus  :  thou  dost  win 
the  wars  of  Jove  and  the  battles  of  the  Rhine,''  thou 
dost  quell  the  strife  of  citizens,''  and  in  long  warfare 
constrain  the  tardy  mountain  to  submit.  But  if  our 
age  had  borne  thee,  thou  wouldest  have  ventured 
to  plunge  into  the  lake's  depths,  though  I  dared 
not  ;   but  Rome  would  have  held  back  thy  rein." 

Let  that  steed '^  give  place,  whose  statue  stands  in 
Caesar's  Forum,  over  against  Dione's  shrine — thy 
daring  work,  'tis  said,  Lysippus,  for  the  Pellaean 
chief;  thereafter  on  marvelling  back  he  bore  the 
effigy  of  Caesar — scarce  could  your  straining  sight 
discover  how  far  the  downward  view  from  this 
monarch  to   that.     Who  is  so  boorish  as  to  deny, 

Julium  opposite  the  temple  of  Venus  Genetrix,  called  "Latia" 
here  as  being  the  mother  of  Aeneas,  and  so  of  the  Roman 
race.  Both  forum  and  temple  were  built  by  Caesar  out  of 
his  Gallic  spoils.  Probably  Caesar's  head  was  substituted 
for  Alexander's  ;  the  practice  was  common  at  Rome,  cf. 
Suet.  Caligula,  92. 

13 


STATIUS 

([ids  riidis  usque  adeo,  qui  non,  ut  viderit  anibos, 
tantuni  dicat  equos  quantum  distare  regentes  ?        90 

Non  hoc  inibriferas  hienies  opus  aut  lovis  ignem 
tergeminun:i,  Aeolii  non  agmina  carceris  horret 
annorumve  moras  :  stabit,  dum  terra  polusque, 
dum  Romana  dies,     hue  et  sub  nocte  silenti, 
cum  superis  terrena  placent,  tua  turba  relicto  95 

labetur  caelo  miscebitque  oscula  iuxta. 
ibit  in  amplexus  natus  fraterque  paterque 
et  soror  :  una  locum  cervix  dabit  omnibus  astris. 

Utere  perpetuum  popuh  magnique  senatus 
munere.     Apelleae  cuperent  te  scribere  cerae        100 
optassetque  novo  similem  te  ponere  templo 
Atticus  Elei  senior  lovis,  et  tua  mitis 
ora  Tarans,  tua  sidereas  imitantia  flammas 
lumina  contempto  mallet  Rhodes  aspera  Phoebo. 
certus  ames  terras  et  quae  tibi  templa  dicamus,     105 
ipse  colas  ;  nee  te  caeli  iuvet  aula,  tuosque 
laetus  huic  dono  videas  dare  tura  nepotes. 


11.  EPITHALAMION  IN  STELLAM  ET 
VIOLENTILLAM 

Unde  sacro  Latii  sonuerunt  carmine  montes  ? 

»  Caesar's  statue  was  probably  on  a  lower  pedestal ; 
Caesar  is  as  far  inferior  to  Domitian  as  a  ruler  as  the  one 
statue  is  beneath  the  other  ! 

*"  Often  for  deified  members  of  the  Imperial  house,  cf. 
Theb.  i.  31. 

"  i.e.,  Phidias. 

"*  The  famous  Colossus  was  a  statue  of  the  sun-god. 
There  was  a  colossal  statue  of  Zeus  at  Tarentum. 

14 


SILVAE,  I.  I.  89—11.  1 

when  he  lias  seen  both,  that  ruler  differs  from  ruler 
as  steed  from  steed  "  ? 

This  statue  fears  no  rainy  squalls  of  winter  or 
triple  fire  of  Jove,  nor  the  cohorts  of  Aeolus'  prison- 
house  nor  the  long  hngering  years  :  it  will  stand  while 
earth  and  sky  abide,  while  Rome's  sun  endures. 
Hither  also  in  the  silent  night,  when  things  of  earth 
find  favour  with  the  gods  above,  will  thy  kinsfolk, 
leaving  heaven,  glide  down  and  join  with  thee  in 
close  embrace.  Son  and  brother,  sire  and  sister 
will  seek  thy  welcoming  arms  :  about  thy  sole  neck 
Avill  cluster  all  heaven's  stars. ^ 

Enjoy  for  ever  the  people's  and  the  mighty  Senate's 
gift.  Fain  would  the  wax  of  Apelles  have  portrayed 
thee,  and  the  old  Athenian'^  would  have  longed  to  set 
thy  likeness  in  a  new  temple  of  Elean  Jove  ;  yea,  soft 
Tarentum  would  rather  have  thy  visage,  and  fiei-ce 
Rhodes,  scorning  her  Phoebus,''  thy  flame-like  glance. 
Keep  thy  aff"ections  fixed  on  earth,  and  inhabit  thyself 
the  shrines  we  dedicate  to  thee  ;  let  not  heaven's 
high  court  delight  thee,  but  mayst  thou  joyously 
see  thy  grandsons  offer  incense  to  this  our  gift. 

II.  AN  EPITHALAMIUM  IN  HONOUR  OF 
STELLA  AND  VIOLENTILLA 

A  marriage-song  in  honour  of  Lucius  Arruntius  Stella 
and  his  bride  Violentilla.  Stella  was  a  young  noble,  a  poet 
and  a  friend  of  Statins  ;  he  was  one  of  the  XVviri  (see  n. 
on  I.  176),  and  had  held  some  curule  office.  The  poem  con- 
tains a  long  episode  relating  hoio  Venus  and  one  of  her 
Cupids  brouglit  about  the  match  ;  the  usual  features  of  an 
Epithalamium  {praise  of  the  pair,  description  of  tlie  bride, 
and  of  the  marriage-festival)  are  freely  treated. 

Whence  comes  this  sound  of  divine  melody  upon 

1.5 


STATIUS 

cui,  Paean,  nova  plectra  moves  umeroque  comanti 
facundum  suspendis  ebur  ?     procul  ecce  canoro 
demigrant  Helicone  deae  quatiuntque  novena 
lampade  solemnem  thalamis  coeuntibus  ignem  5 

et  de  Pieriis  vocalem  fontibus  undam. 
quas  inter  vultu  petulans  Elegea  propinquat 
celsior  adsueto  divasque  hortatur  et  ambit 
alternum  fultm-a^  pedem  decimamque  videri 
se  cupit  et  medias  fallit  permixta  sorores.  10 

ipsa  manu  nuptam  genetrix  Aeneia  duxit 
lumina  demissam  et  dulci  probitate  rubentem, 
ipsa  toros  et  sacra  parat  cinctuque^  Latino 
dissimulata  deam  crinem  vultusque  genasque 
temperat  atque  nova  gestit  minor  ire  marita.  15 

Nosco  diem  causasque  sacri  :  te  concinit  iste — 
pande  fores  ! — te,  Stella,  chorus  ;    tibi   Phoebus   et 

Euhan 
et  de  Maenalia  volucer  Tegeaticus  umbra 
serta  ferunt.     nee  blandus  Amor  nee  Gratia  cessat 
amplexum  niveos  optatae  coniugis  artus  20 

floribus  innumeris  et  olenti  spargere  nimbo. 
tu  modo  fronte  rosas,  viohs  modo  hlia  mixta 
excipis  et  dominae  niveis  a  vultibus  obstas. 

Ergo  dies  aderat  Parcai'um  conditus  albo 
vellere,  quo  Stellae  \'io]entillaeque  professus  25 

clamaretur  hymen,     cedant  curaeque  metusque, 
cessent  mendaces  obhqui  carminis  astus, 

^  fultura  S"  :  futura  M,  factura  m,  furata  Sandstroem. 
^  cinctuque  Barthhts  :    coetuque  M,  cestuque  Phill. 

"  The  elegiac  couplet  has  the  pentameter  as  its  second 
line,  composed  of  five  instead  of  six  feet :  cf.  Ovid,  Am. 
iii.  1.8"  et,  piito,  pes  illi  (Elegeia)  longior  alter  erat."  The 
second  line,  therefore,  limps.  We  may  suppose  that  Stella 
had  MTitten  love-poetrj'  in  this  metre. 

16 


SILVAE,  I.  II.  2-27 

the  Latian  hills  ?  For  whom,  O  Paean,  dost  thou 
ply  thy  quill  anew  and  hang  the  eloquent  ivory 
from  thy  tress-strewn  shoulders  ?  Lo  !  far  away 
the  goddesses  troop  down  fi*om  musical  Helicon, 
and  toss  on  high  with  ninefold  torch  the  flame  that 
hallows  wedded  union  and  streams  of  song  from 
Pierian  fountains.  Among  them  pert-faced  Elegy 
draws  nigh,  loftier  of  mien  than  is  her  wont,  and 
implores  the  goddesses  as  she  goes  about,  fain  to 
support  her  one  lame  foot,**  and  desires  to  make  a 
tenth  Muse  and  mingles  with  the  Sisters  unper- 
ceived.  The  mother  of  Aeneas  *  with  her  own  hand 
leads  forth  the  bride,  downcast  of  look  and  the 
sweet  blush  of  chastity  upon  her  ;  herself  she  pre- 
pares the  couch  and  the  sacred  rites,  and  with  a 
Latin  girdle  dissembles  her  deity  and  tempers  the 
brilliance  of  eyes  and  cheeks  and  tresses,  eager  to 
yield  before  the  new  bride. 

Ah,  now  do  I  learn  what  day  is  this,  what  hath 
caused  this  solemn  rite  :  'tis  thou,  Stella,  thou 
whom  that  choir — fling  wide  the  gates  ! — is  hymning  ; 
for  thee  Phoebus  and  Euhan  and  the  swift  Tegean " 
from  the  shades  of  Maenalus  bring  garlands.  Nor  do 
winsome  Love  and  Grace  grow  weary  in  scattering 
countless  blossoms  and  cloudy  perfumes  o'er  thee 
as  thou  boldest  close-locked  the  snow-white  limbs 
of  thy  longed-for  bride.  And  now  roses,  now  lilies 
mixed  with  violets  dost  thou  receive  upon  thy  brow, 
as  thou  shieldest  the  fair  face  of  thy  mistress. 

This  then  was  the  day,  laid  up  in  the  white  wool 
of  the  Fates,  whereon  the  marriage-song  of  Stella 
and  Violentilla  should  be  proclaimed  and  sung. 
Let  cares  and  fears  give  place,  and  .the  clever  hints 

''  i.e.,  Venus.  "  i.e.,  Bacchus  and  Mercury. 

VOL.  I  c  17 


STATIUS 

Fama  tace  :  subiit  leges  et  frena  momordit 
ille  solutus  amoi- :  consumpta  est  fabula  vulgi 
et  narrata  diu  viderunt  oscula  eives.  30 

tu  tamen  attonitus,  quani\ds  data  eopia  tantae 
noctis,  adhuc  optas  permissaque  numine  dextro 
vota  paves,     pone,  o  duleis,  suspiria,  vates, 
pone  :  tua  est.     licet  expositum  per  limen  aperto 
ire,  redire  gradu  :  iam  nusquani  ianitor  aut  lex       35 
aut  pudor.     amplexu  tandem  satiare  petito — ■ 
contigit  ! — et  duras  pariter  reniiniscere  noctes. 

Digna  qiiidem  merces,  et  si  tibi  luno  labores 
Herculeos,  Stygiis  et  si  concurrere  nionstris 
Fata  darent,  si  Cyaneos  raperere  per  aestus.  40 

hanc  propter  tanti  Pisaea  lege  trementem 
currere  et  Oenomai  fremitus  audire  sequentis. 
nee  si  Dardania  pastor  temerarius  Ida 
sedisses,  haec  dona  forent,  nee  si  alma  per  auras 
te  potius  prensum  aveheret^  Tithonia  biga.  45 

Sed  quae  causa  toros  inopinaque  gaudia  vati 
attulit  ?     hie  mecum,  dum  fervent  agmine  postes 
atriaque  et  multa  pulsantur  limina  virga, 
hie,  Erato  iocunda,  doce.     vacat  apta  movere 
colloquia  et  docti  norunt  audire  penates.  50 

Forte,  serenati  qua  stat  plaga  lactea  caeli, 
alma  Venus  thalamo  pulsa  modo  nocte  iacebat 
amplexu  duro  Getici  resoluta  mariti. 

^  prensum  Parrhasius,  aveheret  Baehrens  :  prensa 
veheret  M. 

"  The  dangerous  clashing  rocks  at  the  Bosporus. 

^  Suitors  for  the  hand  of  Hippodamia,  daughter  of 
Oenomaus,  were  challenged  by  him  to  a  chariot-race,  on 
condition  of  forfeiting  their  lives  if  they  were  beaten. 

'  Aurora  was  the  wife  of  Tithonus. 

"*  i.e.,  Thracian. 

18 


SILVAE,  I.  II.   28-53 

of  lying  fables  cease,  and,  Rumour,  be  thou  silent  ; 
that  love  that  ranged  so  free  now  brooks  control  and 
takes  the  bridle  ;  we  have  done  with  gossip  and  our 
citizens  have  seen  the  kisses  so  long  talked  of.  Yet 
thou  in  bewilderment — although  a  night  so  marvel- 
lous has  been  granted  thee — still  dost  pray,  and  art 
affrighted  that  kindly  heaven  has  given  thee  thy 
wish.  Sigh  no  more,  sweet  poet,  she  is  thine. 
The  door  lies  open,  and  thou  canst  come  and  go 
with  fearless  step  :  no  doorkeeper,  no  rule  of  honour 
stays  thee  now.  At  last  take  thy  fill  of  the  desired 
embrace — it  is  thine  to  take  ! — and  remember  the 
while  those  nights  of  misery. 

Worthy  indeed  were  thy  reward,  even  though 
Juno  set  thee  Herculean  toils,  and  the  Fates  gave 
thee  monsters  to  contend  withal,  though  thou  wert 
swept  through  the  Cyanean  surge."  To  gain  her  it 
were  worth  while  to  run  the  race  in  terror  of  Pisa's 
law  *  and  hear  the  shouts  of  Oenomaus  in  hot  pursuit. 
Nor  had  such  a  prize  been  thine,  hadst  thou,  a  bold 
shephei'd  lad,  held  thy  court  on  Dardan  Ida,  nor 
though  the  warm-hearted  Dawn  ^  had  preferred  thee, 
and  snatched  thee  up  and  borne  thee  in  her  chariot 
through  the  air. 

But  what  was  the  cause  that  brought  to  the  poet 
the  unhoped-for  joys  of  wedlock  ?  Do  thou  teach 
me,  lovely  Erato,  here  by  my  side,  while  the  halls 
and  portals  are  astir  with  folk,  and  many  a  staff  beats 
upon  the  threshold.  Time  permits  apt  converse,  and 
the  poet's  home  knows  well  how  to  listen. 

Once  on  a  time,  where  the  milky  region  is  set  in 
a  tranquil  heaven,  lay  kindly  Venus  in  her  bower, 
whence  night  had  but  lately  fled,  faint  in  the  rough 
embrace  of  her  Getic^  lord.     About  the  posts  and 

19 


STATIUS 

fulcra  torosque  deae  tenerum  premit  agmen  Amorum; 
signa  petunt  qua  ferre  faces,  quae  pectora  figi         55 
imperet  ;  an  terris  saevire  an  malit  in  undis, 
an  miscere  deos  an  adhuc  vexare  Tonantem. 
ipsi  animus  nondum  nee  cordi  fixa  voluntas, 
fessa  iacet  stratis,  ubi  quondam  conscia  culpae 
Lemnia  depi-enso  repserunt  vineula  lecto.  60 

hie  puer  e  turba  volucrum,  cui  plurimus  ignis 
ore  manuque  levi  numquam  frustrata  sagitta, 
agmine  de  medio  tenera  sic  dulce  profatur 
voce — pharetrati  pressere  silentia  fratres. 

"  Scis  ut,  mater,"  ait  "  nulla  mihi  dextera  segnis  65 
militia  ;  quemcumque  hominum  divumque  dedisti, 
uritur.     at  quondam  lacrimis  et  supplice  dextra 
et  votis  precibusque  virum  concede  moveri, 
o  genetrix  :  duro  nee  enim  ex  adamante  creati, 
sed  tua  turba  sumus.     clarus  de  gente  Latina  70 

est  iuvenis,  quern  patriciis  maioribus  ortum 
nobilitas  gavisa  tulit  praesagaque  formae 
protinus  e  nostro  posuit  cognomina  caelo. 
hunc  egomet  tota  quondam — tibi  dulce — pharetra 
improbus  et  densa  trepidantem  cuspide  fixi.  75 

quamvis  Ausoniis  multum  gener  ille  petitus 
matribus,  edomui  victum  dominaeque  potentis 
ferre  iugum  et  longos  iussi  sperare  per  annos. 
ast  illam  summa  leviter — sic  namque  iubebas — 
lampade  parcentes  et  inerti  strinximus  arcu.  80 

ex  illo  quantos  iuvenis  premat  anxius  ignes, 
testis  ego  attonitus,  quantum  me  nocte  dieque 


"  i.e.,  made   by  Hephaestus,  whose  forges  were  in   the 
island  of  Lemnos.     For  the  story  see  Odyssey,  viii.  266. 

20 


SILVAE,   I.   II.  54-82 

pillows  of  hei*  couch  swarm  a  troop  of  tender  Loves, 
begging  her  make  sign  where  she  bids  them  bear 
her  torches,  what  hearts  they  shall  transfix  :  whether 
to  wreak  their  cruelty  on  land  or  sea,  to  set  gods  at 
variance  or  yet  once  more  to  vex  the  Thunderer. 
Herself  she  has  yet  no  purpose,  no  certain  will  or 
pleasure.  Weary  she  hes  upon  her  cushions,  where 
once  the  Lemnian  chains "  crept  over  the  bed  and 
held  it  fast,  leai'iiing  its  guilty  secret.  Then  a  boy 
of  that  winged  crowd,  whose  mouth  was  fieriest  and 
Avhose  deft  hand  ne'er  sent  his  arrow  amiss,  from 
the  midst  of  the  troop  thus  called  to  her  in  liis  sweet 
boyish  voice — his  quivered  brethren  held  their  peace. 
"  Mother,"  says  he,  "  thou  knowest  how  no  war- 
fare finds  my  right  hand  idle  ;  whomsoe'er  of  gods 
or  men  thou  dost  assign  me,  he  feels  the  smart.  Yet 
once,  O  Mother,  suffer  us  to  be  moved  by  the  tears 
and  suppliant  hands,  by  the  vows  and  prayers  of 
men  ;  for  not  of  steely  adamant  are  we  born,  but  are 
all  thy  offspring.  There  is  a  youth  of  famous  Latin 
family,  whom  nobility  rejoicing  brought  forth  of  old 
patrician  stock,  and  in  prescience  of  his  beauty  named 
straightway  from  our  sky.  Him  ere  now  have  I 
plied  relentlessly — such  was  thy  pleasure — with  all 
my  quiver's  armoury,  and  pierced  him  to  his  dismay 
with  a  thick  hail  of  darts  ;  and  for  all  he  is  much 
sought  by  Ausonian  matrons  as  a  son-in-law,  I  have 
quelled  and  mastered  him,  and  bidden  him  bear  a 
noble  lady's  yoke  and  spend  long  years  in  hoping. 
But  her  we  spared — such  was  thy  command — and  did 
but  lightly  graze  with  the  flame's  tip  and  loose- 
strung  bow.  Since  then  I  can  bear  marvelling 
witness  what  fires  the  heart-sick  youth  is  smothering, 
what  strong  urgency  of  mine  he  suffei-s  night  and  day. 

21 


ST  ATI  us 

urgentem  ferat.     haud  ulli  vehementior  umquam 
incubui,  genetrix,  iterataque  vulnera  fodi. 
vidi  ego  et  immiti  cupidum  decurrere  campo  85 

Hippomenen,  nee  sic  nieta  pallebat  in  ipsa  ; 
\idi  et  Abydeni  iuvenis  certantia  reniis 
bracchia  laudavique  manus  et  saepe  natanti 
praeluxi  :  minor  ille  calor,  quo  saeva  tepebant 
aequora  :  tu  veteres,  iuvenis,  transgressus  amores. 
ipse  ego  te  tantos  stupui  durasse  per  aestus  91 

firmavique  animos  blandisque  madentia  plumis 
lumina  detersi.     quotiens  mihi  questus  Apollo, 
sic  vatem  maerere  suum  !  iam,  mater,  amatos 
indulge  thalamos.     noster  comes  ille  piusque  95 

signifer  ;  armiferos  poterat  memorare  labores 
claraque  facta  \'irum  et  torrentes  sanguine  campos, 
sed  tibi  plectra  dedit  mitisque  incedere  vates 
maluit  et  nostra  laurum  subtexere  myrto. 
hie  iuvenum  lapsus  suaque  aut  externa  revoUit      100 
vulnera  ;  pro  !  quanta  est  Paphii  reverentia,  mater, 
numinis  :  hie  nostrae  deflevit  fata  columbae." 

Finierat^  ;  tenera  matris  cervice  pependit 
blandus  et  admotis  tepefecit  pectora  pennis. 
ilia  refert  vultu  non  aspernata  rogari  :  105 

"  grande  quidem  rarumque  \iris,  quos  ipsa  probavi, 
Pierius  votum  iuvenis  cupit.     hanc  ego  formae 
egregium  mirata  decus,  cui  gloria  patrum 
et  generis  certabat  honos,  tellure  cadentem 
excepi  fo\ique  sinu  nee  colla  genasque  110 

^  finierat  S"  :  emis  erat  M,  finis  erat  Pol. 


"  The  successful  suitor  to  the  hand  of  Atalanta,  whom  he 
defeated  in  a  race.  *  i.e.,  Leander. 

'  Stella,  we  maj'  gather,  had  written  a  poem  on  the 
death  of  a  dove  (a  bird  sacred  to  Venus)  ;  the  parallel  of 
29 


SILVAE,  I.  II.  83-110 

None  ever,  mother,  have  I  so  fiercely  pressed, 
thrustmg  home  oft -repeated  wounds.  And  yet  I 
saw  eager  Hippomenes''  run  the  cruel  coui'se,  but 
even  at  the  very  goal  he  was  not  so  pale  ;  and  I  saw, 
too,  the  youth  of  Abydos,^  whose  arms  did  vie  with 
oars,  and  praised  his  skill  and  often  shone  before  him 
as  he  swam  :  yet  less  was  that  heat  wherewith  the 
savage  sea  grew  warm  ;  thou,  O  youth,  hast  sur- 
passed those  loves  of  old.  I  myself,  amazed  that 
thou  couldest  endure  such  gusts  of  passion,  have 
strengthened  thy  resolve  and  wiped  thy  streaming 
eyes  -with  soothing  plumes.  How  oft  has  Apollo  com- 
plained to  me  of  his  poet's  grief !  Grant  him  at 
last,  O  Mother,  the  bride  of  his  desire.  Our  comrade 
is  he,  and  loyally  bears  our  standard  ;  he  could  tell  of 
armed  prowess  and  heroes'  famous  deeds  and  fields 
flowing  with  blood,  but  his  quill  is  dedicate  to  thee 
and  he  prefers  to  walk  in  gentle  poethood  and  twine 
our  myrtle  with  bay.  The  follies  of  lovers  are  his 
theme,  and  his  own  or  others'  wounds  ;  O  Mother, 
what  reverence  hath  he  for  thy  Paphian  godhead  ! 
'twas  he  that  bewailed  the  death  of  our  poor  dove."  ^ 
He  made  an  end,  and  from  his  mother's  soft  neck 
hung  persuasive,  making  her  bosom  warm  with  his 
covering  wings.  With  a  look  that  scorned  not  his 
petition  she  replied  :  "A  large  request  and  rarely 
granted  e'en  to  lovers  that  I  myself  have  proved, 
this  of  Pieria's  young  votary  !  Marvelling  at  this 
maiden's  peerless  beauty,  that  rivalled  the  glory  of 
her  sires  and  her  family's  renown,  I  took  her  to  me 
at  her  birth  and  cherished  her  in  my  bosom  :  nor, 
child,  has  my  hand  grown  weary  of  giving  comeliness 

Lesbia's  sparrow  (Catullus  2,  3),  suggests  that  the  dove  was 
Violentilla's. 

23 


STATIUS 

comere  nee  pingui  crinem  deducere  amonio 
cessavit  mea,  nate,  nianus.     mihi  dulcis  imago 
prosiluit.     celsae  procul  aspice  frontis  honores 
suggestumque  eomae.     Latias  metire  quid  ultra 
emineat  matres  :  quantum  Latonia  nymplias  115 

virgo  premit  quantumque  egomet  Nereidas  exsto. 
haec  et  caeruleis  meeum  consurgere  digna 
fluctibus  et  nostra  potuit  considere  coneha  ; 
et  si  flammigeras  potuisset  scandere  sedes 
hasque  intrai-e  domos,  ipsi  erraretis,  Amores.  120 

huic  quamvis  census  dederim  largita  beatos, 
vincit  opes  animo.     querimur  iam  Seras  avaros 
angustum  spoliare  nemus  Clymenaeaque  deesse 
germina  nee  virides  satis  inlacrimare  sorores, 
vellera  Sidonio  iam  pauca  rubeseere  tabo  125 

raraque  longaevis  nivibus  crystalla  gelari. 
huic  Hermum  fulvoque  Tagum  decurrere  limo, 
- — nee  satis  ad  cultus — huie  Inda  monilia  Glaucum 
Proteaque  atque  omnem  Nereida  quaerere  iussi. 
banc  si  Thessalicos  vidisses,  Phoebe,  per  agros       130 
erraret  secura  Daphne,     si  in^  htore  Naxi 
Theseum  iuxta  foret  haec  conspecta  cubile, 
Gnosida  desertam  profugus  hquisset  et  Euhan. 
quod  nisi  me  longis  placasset  luno  querehs, 
falsus  huic  pennas  et  cornua  sumeret  aethrae         135 
rector,  in  banc  vero^  cecidisset  luppiter  auro. 

^  Daphne,  si  in  Baehrens  :  dafnes  in  M,  Daphne,  sin 
Phill. 

*  vero  M :  verso  Herzog,  alio,  fulvo,  pluvio  Markland, 
iteruni  Burmann.  "^ 

"  "  Seres  "  :  here  the  reference  is  to  cotton,  as  "  nemus  " 
shows,  cf,  Pliny's  mention  of  "  lanigerae  arbores  Serum," 
N.II.  xii.  10.  "  Clymenaeaque  germina  ":  amber,  because  the 
Heliades  who  wept  tears  of  amber  for  Phaethon  their  brother 
were  daughters  of  Hehos  (the  Sun)  and  Clymene.  "  virides 
24 


SILVAE,  I.  II.  111-136 

to  face  and  form  and  smoothing  with  rich  bahii  her 
tresses.  She  has  grown  up  my  own  sweet  image. 
Behold  even  from  here  the  lofty  beauty  of  her  brow 
and  high-piled  hair.  Reckon  how  far  she  doth 
tower  above  the  matrons  of  Rome  :  even  so  far 
as  the  Latonian  maid  out-tops  the  nymphs,  or  I 
myself  stand  out  above  the  Nereids.  This  girl  is 
worthy  to  rise  with  me  from  out  the  dark-blue  waves  ; 
she  could  sit  with  me  upon  my  chariot-shell.  Nay, 
could  she  have  climbed  to  the  flaming  mansions  and 
entered  this  abode,  even  you,  ye  Loves,  would  be 
deceived.  Although  in  my  bounty  I  have  given  her 
the  boon  of  wealth,  her  mind  is  a  yet  richer  dower. 
Ah-eady  I  complain  that  the  avaricious  Seres  are 
stripping  their  diminished  groves,  that  Clymene's 
fruit  is  failing,  that  the  green  Sisters  weep  not  tears 
enough  ;  that  already  too  few  fleeces  are  blushing 
with  Sidonian  dye,  and  too  rarely  freeze  the  crystals 
of  the  immemorial  snows."  For  her  Tagus  and 
Hermus  at  my  bidding  run  down  their  yellow  sand — 
nor  yet  do  they  suffice  for  her  arraying  ;  for  her 
Glaucus  and  Proteus  and  every  Nereid  go  in  search 
of  Indian  necklaces.  If  thou,  Phoebus,  hadst  seen 
her  on  the  fields  of  Thessaly,  Daphne  had  wandered 
unafraid.  If  on  Naxos'  shore  she  had  been  spied 
by  Theseus'  couch,  Euhan,  too,  would  have  fled 
from  the  Cretan  maid  and  left  her  desolate.  Nay, 
had  not  Juno  appeased  me  by  her  endless  plaint, 
heaven's  lord  would  for  this  maid  have  taken  the 
disguise  of  horns  or  feathers,  on  her  lap  had  Jove 
descended  in  true  gold.     But  the  youth  whom  thou 

sorores "  :  because  they  were  turned  into  poplars,  "cry- 
stalla  " :  crystals  were  thought  to  be  formed  from  ice,  c/, 
Propertius,  iv.  3.  52  "  crystallus  aquosa." 

25 


ST  ATI  us 

sed  dabitur  iuveni,  cui  tu,  mea  summa  potestas, 
nate,  cupis,  thalanii  quamvis  iuga  ferre  secundi 
saepe  neget  niaerens.     ipsam  iani  cedere  sensi 
inque  viceni  tepuisse  viro." 

Sic  fata  levavit  140 

sidereos  artus  thalamique  egressa  superbum 
limen  Amyclaeos  ad  frena  citavit  olores. 
iungit  Amor  laetanique  vehens  per  nubila  niatrem 
gemmato  temone  sedet.     iam  Thybridis  arces 
Iliacae  :  pandit  nitidos  donius  alta  penates  145 

claraque  gaudentes  plauserunt  liniina  cygni. 
digna  deae  sedes,  nitidis  nee  sordet  ab  astris. 
hie  Libycus  Phrvgiusque  silex,  hie  dura  Laeonum 
saxa  virent.  hie  flexus  onyx  et  concolor  alto 
vena  mari  rupesque  nitent,  quis  purpura  saepe       150 
Oebalis  et  Tyrii  moderator  livet  aeni. 
pendent  innumeris  fastigia  nixa  columnis, 
robora  Dalmatieo  lucent  satiata  metallo. 
excludunt  radios  silvis  demissa  vetustis 
frigora,  perspicui  vivunt  in  marmore  fontes.  155 

nee  servat  natura  vices  :  hie  Sirius  alget, 
bruma  tepet  versumque  domus  sibi  temperat  annum. 

Exsultat  visu  tectisque  potentis  alumnae 
non  secus  alma  Venus,  quam  si  Paphon  aequore  ab 
alto 

"  Other  descriptions  of  marble  will  be  found  in  Silvae, 
i.  5.  34,  ii.  2.  85,  iv.  2.  26.  In  each  passage  Libyan  and 
Phrygian  are  mentioned,  probably  a  kind  of  giaJlo 
antko  and  pavonazzetto  respectively.  Marble  of  Carystos 
also,  if  "  concolor  alto  vena  mari  "  and  "  glaucae 
certantia  Doridi  saxa  "  are  to  be  so  explained.  This  is 
perhaps  cipollino  verde  ondato.  The  green  Laconian 
(here,  i.  5.  40  and  ii.  2.  90)  is  verde  antiro.  "  Flexus  onj-x  " 
is  either  "  onyx  alabastrites  "  or  perhaps  a  kind  of  agate. 
11.  150-1    refer  tn   porphyry  ;   other  marbles  mentioned  by 

26 


SILVAE,   I.   II.   137-159 

favoiirest,  my  son,  my  chiefest  power,  shall  have  his 
will,  though  many  a  time  she  refuse  with  tears  to 
bear  the  yoke  of  a  second  wedlock.  She  herself,  I 
have  noticed,  is  already  yielding,  and  in  her  turn 
grows  warm  toward  her  lover."  With  these  words 
she  raised  her  starry  limbs,  and  passing  the  proud 
threshold  of  her  chamber  called  to  the  rein  her 
Amyclaean  doves.  Love  harnesses  them,  and  seated 
on  the  jewelled  car  bears  his  mother  rejoicing 
through  the  clouds.  Soon  appears  the  Ilian  citadel 
of  Tiber  :  a  lofty  mansion  spreads  wide  its  shining 
halls,  and  the  swans  exulting  beat  their  wings  on  its 
bright  portals.  Worthy  of  the  goddess  was  that 
abode,  nor  mean  after  the  radiant  stars.  Here  is 
marl)le  of  Libya  and  Phrygia,  and  the  hard  green 
Laconian  rock  ^ ;  here  the  winding  pattern  of  the 
onyx,  and  the  vein  that  matches  the  deep  sea's  hue, 
and  the  brilliant  stone  that  is  envied  by  Oebalian '' 
purple  and  the  mixer  of  the  Tyrian  cauldron.  The 
ceilings  rest  poised  on  columns  innumei-able  ;  the 
beams  glitter  in  lavish  decking  of  Dalmatian  ore.'^ 
Coolness  down-streaming  from  ancestral  trees  shuts 
out  the  rays  of  the  sun,  translucent  fountains  play 
in  basins  of  marble  ;  nor  does  Nature  keep  her 
wonted  order  :  here  Siriiis  is  cool,  midAvinter  warm, 
and  the  house  sways  the  altered  seasons  to  its 
pleasure. 

Kindly  Venus  rejoiced  to  see  the  house  of  her 
queenly  fosterling,  no  less  than  if  from  the  deep 
sea  she  were  drawing  nigh  to  Paphos  or  her  Idalian 
Statius  are  those  of  Thasos,  Chios,  and  Syene,  and  the 
stone  called  ophites  (=  serpentine). 

''  i.e..  Spartan,  Laconian,  cf.  "  purpuras  Laconicas,"  Hor. 
C.  ii.  18.  7. 

"  i.e.,  gold,  mined  there  since  Augustus  ;   cf.  iii.  3.  90. 

27 


STATIUS 

Idaliasque  domos  Eiycinaque  templa  subiret.         160 
tunc  ipsam  solo  reclinem  adfata  cubili  : 

"  Quonam  hie  usque  sopor  vacuique  modestia  lecti, 
o  mihi  Laurentes  inter  dileeta  puellas  ? 
quis  morum  fideique  modus  ?     numquamne  virili 
summittere  iugo  ?     veniet  iam  tristior  aetas.  165 

exerce  formam  et  fugientibus  utere  donis. 
non  ideo  tibi  tale  decus  vultusque  superbos 
meque  dedi,  viduos  ut  transmittare  per  annos 
ceu  non  cara  mihi.     satis  o  nimiumque  priores 
despexisse  procos.     etenim  hie  tibi  sanguine  toto 
deditus  unam  omnes  inter  miratur  amatque  171 

nee  formae  nee  stirpis  egens.     nam  docta  per  urbem 
carmina  qui  iuvenes,  quae  non  didicere  puellae  ? 
hunc  et  bissenos — sic  indulgentia  pergat 
praesidis  Ausonii — cernes  attollere  fasces  175 

ante  diem  ;  certe  iam  nunc  Cybeleia  movit 
limina  et  Euboicae  carmen  legit  ille  Sibyllae. 
iamque  parens  Latins,  cuius  praenoscere  mentem 
fas  mihi,  purpureos  habitus  iuvenique  curule 
indulgebit  ebur  Dacasque — haec^  gloria  maior — 
exu\ias  laurosque  dabit  celebrare  recentes.  181 

ergo  age,  iunge  toros  atque  otia  deme  iuventae. 
quas  ego  non  gentes,  quae  non  face  corda  iugavi^  ? 
alituum  pecudumque  mihi  durique  ferarum 

^  haec  Otto  :  et  M. 

*  iugavi  Dom.  :   iugali  M.     Some  edd.  support  Mss.  here, 
and  explain  by  ellipse. 

°  From    Laurentum    on    the    coast   of   Latium  ;     here  = 
Italian. 

''  i.e.,  the  Emperor  ;   so  "  the  Latian  Father,"  1.  178. 

*  i.e.,  he  has  been  made  one  of  the  XVviri,  under  whose 

28 


SILVAE,  I.   11.    160-184 

home  or  her  shrine  at  Eryx.  Then  she  addressed 
the  maiden,  as  she  reehned  alone  upon  her  couch  : 
"  How  long  this  slothfulness,  this  modest,  unshared 
bed,  O  well -beloved  of  me  among  Laurentian " 
gix'ls  ?  What  limit  wilt  thou  set  to  chastity  and 
thy  sworn  vow  ?  Wilt  thou  never  submit  to  a 
husband's  yoke  ?  Soon  sadder  years  will  come. 
Employ  thy  beauty  and  use  the  gifts  that  are  quick 
to  fly.  Not  for  that  end  did  I  give  thee  such  charm 
and  pride  of  countenance  and  my  own  spirit,  to  see 
thee  pass  year  after  year  of  loneliness,  as  though 
thou  wert  not  dear  to  me.  Enough,  ay  and  too 
much  to  have  despised  thy  former  suitors.  For 
truly  this  one  with  his  whole  manhood's  reverent 
devotion  loves  thee  alone  among  all  others,  nor 
lacks  he  beauty  or  noble  birth  ;  and,  for  his  poetry, 
what  youths,  what  maidens  all  the  city  through  have 
not  his  songs  by  heart  ?  Him  also  shalt  thou  see 
— so  far  may  the  Ausonian  prince*  prove  gracious  ! 
— raise  high  the  twelvefold  rods  before  the  due  age  ; 
of  a  truth  already  has  he  opened  Cybele's  gates 
and  read  the  Euboean  Sibyl's  song.*^  Soon  will  the 
Latian  Father,  whose  purpose  I  may  foreknow, 
bestow  upon  the  youth  the  purple  raiment  and  the 
curule  ivory,''  and  will  permit  him  to  celebrate  (a 
greater  glory  this)  the  spoils  of  Dacia  and  the  laurels 
newly  won.  Come,  marry  then  and  have  done  with 
youth's  tarrying.  What  races,  what  hearts  has  my 
torch  failed  to  subdue  ?     Birds,  cattle,  savage  herds 

charg'e  were  all  foreign  worships  as  well  as  the  Sibylline 
books. 

"*  It  is  not  certain  to  what  curule  office  tliis  refers,  or  in 
what  capacity  Stella  "  celebrated  the  Dacian  victory," 
i.e.,  the  games  that  accompanied  Domitian's  triumph  at  the 
end  of  89. 

29 


STATIUS 

non  renuere  greges,  ipsum  in  conubia  terrae  185 

aethera,  cum  pluviis  rarescunt  nubila,  solvo. 
sic  rerum  series  mundique  revertitur  aetas. 
unde  novum  Troiae  decus  ardentumque  deorum 
raptorem,  Phrygio  si  non  ego  iuncta  marito, 
Lydius  unde  meos  iterasset  Thybris  lulos  ?  190 

quis  septemgeminae  posuisset  moenia  Romae 
imperii  Latiale  caput,  nisi  Dardana  furto 
cepisset  Martem,  nee  me  prohibente,  sacerdos  ?  " 

His  mulcet  dictis  tacitaeque^  inspirat  honorem^ 
conubii.     redeunt  animo  iam  dona  precesque  195 

et  lacrimae  vigilesque  viri  prope  limina  questus, 
Asteris  et  vatis  totam  cantata  per  urbem, 
Asteris  ante  dapes,  nocte  Asteris,  Asteris  ortu, 
quantum  non  clamatus  Hylas.     iamque  aspera  coepit 
flectere  corda  libens  et  iam  sibi  dura  videri.  200 

Macte  toris,  Latios  inter  placidissime  vates, 
quod  durum  permensus  iter  coeptique  labores^ 
prendisti  portus.     nitidae^  sic  transfuga  Pisae 
amnis  in  externos  longe  flammatus  amores 
flumina  demerso  trahit  intemerata  canali.  205 

donee  Sicanios  tandem  prolatus  anhelo 

1  tacitaeque  VoUmer :  tacitoque  J/. 

^  honorem  il :   amorem  5". 

^  labores  Macnaghtfn  :  laboris  M. 

^  nitidae  5"  :  nitiade  il/:  viduaeP/n7//7«ore:  tumidae  Dow. 

"  Cf.  Lucretius,  i.  1  sqq.^  Perviyillum  Veneris,  i.  7  sqq. 

*  Pihea  Silvia,  or  Ilia,  mother  of  Romulus  and  Remus. 
"  Dardana  "  :  because  descended  from  Aeneas.  "  sacerdos  " : 
because  she  was  a  Vestal  Virgin. 

"  Stella=  Gk.  'XaT-qp  (Aster),  therefore  he  calls  his  lady 
Asteris. 
30 


SILVAE,  I.  II.   185-206 

of  beasts,  none  have  said  me  nay  : "  the  very  air, 
when  rain-showers  empty  the  clouds,  do  I  melt 
into  union  with  the  earth.  Thus  life  succeeds  to 
life,  and  the  world's  age  is  renewed.  Whence 
could  have  come  Troy's  later  glory  and  the  rescuer 
of  the  burning  gods,  had  I  not  been  joined  to  a 
Phrygian  spouse  ?  how  could  Lydian  Tiber  have 
renewed  the  stock  of  my  own  luli  ?  Who  could 
have  founded  the  walls  of  sevenfold  Rome,  the  head 
of  Latium's  empire,  had  not  a  Dardan  priestess  ^ 
suffered  the  secret  embrace  of  Mars,  which  I  forbade 
not  ?  " 

By  such  winning  words  she  inspires  the  silent  girl 
with  the  pride  of  wedlock  ;  her  suitor's  gifts  and 
prayers  are  remembered,  his  tears  and  wakeful 
pleading  at  her  gates,  and  how  the  whole  city  sang 
of  the  poet's  Asteris,*'  before  the  banquet  Asteris, 
Asteris  at  night,  Asteris  at  dawn  of  day,  as  never 
Hylas'  name  resounded.'^  And  now  she  begins  gladly 
to  bend  her  stubborn  heart,  and  now  to  account 
herself  unfeeling. 

Blessing  on  thy  bridal  couch,  gentlest  of  Latian 
bards  !  Thou  hast  endured  thy  hard  voyage  to  the 
end  and  the  labours  of  thy  quest,  and  gained  thy 
haven.  So  does  the  river  ^  that  fled  sleek  Pisa,  aflame 
for  an  alien  love  afar,  flow  with  unsullied  streams 
through  a  channel  beneath  the  sea,  until  at  last 
arriving  he  drinks  with  panting  mouth  of  the  Sicanian 

■*  An  echo  of  Virg.  G.  ill.  6  "cui  non  dictus  Hylas?" 
His  story  was  a  favourite  one,  e.(/.  Theocr.  Id.  l.S,  Prop.  ii.  20. 

*■  Alpheus,  which  flowed  through  the  territory  of  Pisa 
(called  "  sleek  "  from  the  oil  of  the  wrestlers  at  the  Olympian 
games),  thence  under  the  sea  to  Sicily.  The  Naiad  is 
Arethusa. 

31 


STATIUS 

ore  bibat  fontes  ;  miratur  dulcia  Nais 
oscula  nee  eredit  pelago  venisse  niaritum. 

Quis  tibi  tunc  alacri  caelestum  in  munere  claro, 
Stella,  dies,  qiianto  salierunt  pectora  voto,  210 

dulcia  cum  dominae  dexter  conubia  vultus 
adnuit  !  ire  polo  nitidosque  errare  per  axes 
visus.     Amyclaeis  minus  exsultavit  harem's 
pastor  ad  Idaeas  Helena  veniente  carinas  ; 
Thessala  nee  talem  viderunt  Pelea  Tempe,  215 

cum  Thetin  Haemoniis  Chii-on  accedere  terris 
erecto  prospexit  equo.  quam  longa  morantur 
sidera  !     quam  segnis  votis  Aurora  mariti  ! 

At  procul  ut  Stellae  thalamos  sensere  parari 
Letous  vatum  pater  et  Semeleius  Euhan,  220 

hie  movet  Ortygia,  movet  hie  rapida  agmina  Nysa. 
huic  Lycii  montes  gelidaeque  umbracula  Thymbrae 
et  Parnase,  sonas^  ;  illi  Pangaea  resultant 
Ismaraque  et  quondam  genialis  litora  Naxi. 
tunc  caras  iniere  fores  comitique  canoro  225 

hie  chelyn,  hie  flavam  maculoso  nebrida  tergo, 
hie  thyrsos,  hie  plectra  ferunt  ;  hie  enthea  lauro 
tempora,  Minoa  crinem  premit  ille  corona. 

Vixdum  emissa  dies,  et  iam  socialia  praesto 
omina,  iam  festa  fervet  domus  utraque  pompa.      230 
fronde  virent  postes,  effulgent  compita  flammis, 
et  pars  immensae  gaudet  celeberrima  Romae. 

^  Parnase   sonas    Dorn.  :     Parnasis  honos   M :     Parnasis 
hiems  Schwartz. 


"  It  was  there  that  he  made  Ariadne  his  bride. 

''  Clearly  not  the  crown  of  Ariadne  ;    probably  ivy,  with 
which  Bacchus  is  always  connected  ;    there  was  a  tradition 
that  he  wore  it  for  sorrow  after  the  death  of  Ariadne  (Theon 
on  Aratus,  Phaen.  71). 
32 


S1L\'AE,   I.   II,   207-232 

springs  ;  the  Naiad  marvels  at  the  freshness  of  his 
kisses,  nor  can  beheve  her  lover  has  come  from  the 
open  main. 

What  a  day  was  that,  O  Stella,  for  thy  eager  spirit, 
when  the  gods  showed  thee  signal  bounty  !  How  thy 
hopes  surged  within  thy  heart,  when  thy  lady's 
favouring  look  gave  promise  of  the  bliss  of  wedlock  ! 
Thou  didst  seem  to  tread  the  sky  and  walk  among  the 
shining  heavens.  Less  exultant  was  the  shepherd 
on  Amyclae's  sand  when  Helen  came  to  the  ships  of 
Ida  ;  less  eager  seemed  Peleus  to  Thessalian  Tempe, 
when  Chiron  high  on  his  horse's  body  looked  forth 
and  beheld  Thetis  draw  nigh  to  the  Haemonian 
strand.  How  tardy  are  the  lingering  stars  !  how 
slow  is  Aurora  to  a  lover's  prayer  ! 

But  when  the  son  of  Leto,  sire  of  poets,  and  Euhan, 
Semele's  son,  perceived  from  afar  that  Stella's 
marriage-chamber  was  preparing,  from  Ortygia 
the  one,  from  Nysa  the  other  they  set  their  swift 
companies  in  train.  To  Apollo  the  Lvcian  hills  and 
cool  resorts  of  shadv  Thymbra  sound  responsive,  and 
thou,  Parnassus ;  Pangaea  and  Ismara  re-echo 
Bacchus,  and  the  shores  of  Naxos,  once  his  bridal 
bower."  Then  did  they  enter  the  doors  they  loved, 
and  brought  to  their  tuneful  friend  their  gifts  of 
lyre  and  quill,  of  dappled  yellow  fawnskin  and 
mystic  wands  :  the  one  adorns  the  poet's  brow  with 
bay,  the  other  sets  a  Minoan  crown ''  upon  his  hair. 

Scarce  is  the  light  of  day  sent  forth,  and  already 
the  omens  of  a  happy  union  are  at  hand,  already 
cither  house  is  aglow  with  festal  pomp.  The  door- 
posts are  green  with  foliage,  the  cross-roads  bright 
with  flame,  and  the  most  populous  part  of  im- 
measurable Rome  rejoices.     No  office  of  State,  no 

VOL.  I  D  .'>.'? 


STATIUS 

omnis  honos,  euncti  veniunt  ad  limina  fasces, 

omnis  plebeio  teritur  praetexta  tumultu  :  234 

hinc  eques.  hinc  iuvenuni  coetu^  stola  mixta  laborat. 

felices  utrosqiie  vocant,  sed  in  agmine  plures 

invidere  viro.     iamduduin  poste  reclinis 

quaerit  Hymen  thalamis  intactum  dieei'e  carmen, 

quo  vatem  mulcere  queat.     dat  luno  verenda 

vincula  et  insignit  gemina^  Concordia  taeda.  24u 

hie  fuit  ille  dies  :  noctem  canat  ipse  maritus  I 

quantum  nosse  licet,  sic  victa  sopore  doloso 

Martia  fluminea  posuit  latus  Ilia  ripa  ; 

non  talis  niveos  tinxit^  Lavinia  vultus, 

cum  Turno  spectante  rubet  ;  non  Claudia  talis       245 

respexit  populos  mota  iam  vii'go  carina. 

Nunc  opus,  Aonidum  comites  tripodumque  ministri. 
diversis  certare  modis  :  eat  enthea  vittis 
atque  hederis  redimita  cohors,  ut  pollet  ovanti 
quisque  lyra.     sed  praecipui.  qui  nobile  gressu       250 
extremo  fraudatis  opus,  date  carmina  festis 
digna  toris.     hunc  ipse  Coo  plaudente  Pliiletas 
Callimachusque  senex  Umbroque  Propertius  antro 
ambissent  laudare  diem,  nee  tristis  in  ipsis 
Naso  Tomis  divesque  foco  lucente  Tibullus.  255 

Me  certe  non  unus  amor  simplexque  canendi 

1  iuvenuni  coetu  Bernartius :  iiiveniun  questus  hasta 
(hasta  erased  by  M\):  in  iuvenumque  aestu  Postgate,  hie 
iuvenuni  vestis  ElJls,  of.  PhiUimore,  Pre/,  to  Silvae,  p.  xx, 

^  insignit  gemina  PhiUimore  :  insigni  geniinat  M. 

'  tinxit  Giiyef  :  strinxit  M. 

"  Claudia,  when  accused  of  incontinency,  proved  her 
maidenhood  liy  causing  to  move  the  vessel  that  had  brought 
the  image  of  the  Great  Mother  to  Rome  (,?04  b.c.)  ;  the  ship 
had  stuck  fast,  and  according  to  the  soothsayers  could  only 
be  moved  bv  a  chaste  woman  (Livy,  xxix.  14  ;  Ov.  Fast. 
iv.  343). 

34- 


S1L\'AE,   I.   II.   233-250 

train  of  lictors  but  seeks  that  threshold  ;  Senators' 
robes  are  jostled  by  crowds  of  common  folk  ;  yonder 
are  knights,  and  women's  gowns  that  mix  and 
struggle  in  a  throng  of  youths.  Each  they  call 
happy,  but  more  among  the  multitude  envy  the 
bridegroom.  Long  since  leaning  against  the  portal 
hath  Hymen  sought  to  utter  a  new  song  in  honour 
of  their  marriage,  and  to  gladden  the  poet's  heart. 
Juno  brings  the  holy  bonds,  and  Concord  marks 
the  union  with  twofold  torch.  Such  was  that  day  : 
of  the  night  let  the  bridegroom  sing  !  This  only 
may  we  know  :  'twas  thus  that  Iha,  bride  of  Mars, 
o'ercome  by  deceitful  slumber,  laid  her  side  on  the 
river's  bank  ;  less  fair  was  Lavinia  when  she  tinged 
her  snow-white  cheeks  and  blushed  'neath  the  eyes 
of  Turnus  ;  not  so  did  Claudia  **  turn  to  meet  the 
people's  gaze,  when  the  ship  moved  and  her  maiden- 
hood was  sure. 

Now,  comrades  of  the  Aonian''  sisters  and  ministers 
of  the  tripods,  now  must  we  strive  in  manifold 
measures  :  send  forth  the  inspired  train,  chapleted 
and  ivy-crowned,  each  bard  in  the  strength  of  his 
own  exultant  lyre.  But  above  all,  ye  who  spoil  of  its 
last  pace  '^  your  noble  rhyme,  bring  songs  that  are 
worthy  of  the  marriage  feast.  Philetas  himself 
with  Cos  to  applaud  him  and  old  Callimachus  and 
Propertius  in  his  Umbrian  grot  would  fain  have 
praised  this  day,  and  Naso  too  right  gladly  e'en  in 
Tomi,  and  Tibullus  by  the  glowing  hearth  that  was 
his  wealth. 

For  my  part,  verily,   'tis  no  one  love,  no  single 

*  Boeotian,  i.e.  Muses,  liy  "comrades  "  and  "  ministers  " 
he  means  poets. 

"  Cf.  note  on  i.  2.  9. 

35 


STATIUS 

causa  traliit  :  tecum  similes  iunctaeque  Camenae, 

Stella,  mihi,  multumque  pares  bacchamur  ad  aras 

et  sociam  doctis  haurimus  ab  amnibus  undam  ; 

at  te  nascentem  gremio  mea  prima  recepit  260 

Parthenope,  dulcisque  solo  tu  gloria  nostro 

reptasti.     nitidura  consurgat  ad  aethera  tellus 

Eubois  et  pulchra  tumeat  Sebethos  alumna  ; 

nee  sibi  sulpureis  Lucrinae  Naides  antris 

nee  Pompeiani  placeant  magis  otia  Sarni.  265 

Heia  age,  praeclaros  Latio  properate  nepotes, 
qui  leges,  qui  castra  regant,'^  qui  carmina  ludant. 
acceleret  partu  decimum  bona  Cynthia  mensem, 
sed  parcat  Lucina  precor  ;  tuque  ipse  parenti 
parce,  puer,  ne  mollem  uterum,  ne  stantia  laedas  270 
pectora  ;  cumque  tuos  tacito  natura  recessu 
formarit  vultus,  multum  de  patre  decoris, 
plus  de  matre  feras.     at  tu,  pulcherrima  forma 
Italidum,  tandem  merito  possessa  marito, 
vincla  diu  quaesita  fove  :  sic  damna  decoris  275 

nulla  tibi  ;  longae^  viridis  sic  flore  iuventae 
perdurent  vultus,  tardeque  haec  forma  senescat. 

1  regant  Pul.  :  legant  M. 
^  longae  S"  :  longe  M.     See  Slater^s  note,  ad  loc. 

"  i.e.,  Naples. 

''  i.e.,  Cumae,  originally  a  colony  of  Chalcis  in  Euboea. 
Sebethos  was  the  name  of  a  small  stream  flowing  past 
Naples. 


36 


SILVAR,   I.  IT.  257-277 

impulse  that  makes  me  sing  :  tliou,  Stella,  hast  a 
Muse  like  to  and  closely  joined  with  mine,  at  similar 
altars  do  we  feel  the  poet's  rage,  and  together  draw 
water  from  the  springs  of  song.  Thee,  lady,  at  thv 
birth  my  own  Parthenope  "  first  fostered  in  her  bosom, 
and  in  thy  infancy  thou  wert  the  glory  and  delight 
of  my  native  soil.  Let  the  Euboean  ^  land  be  exalted 
to  the  starry  pole,  and  Sebethos  swell  with  pride  of 
his  fair  nursling  ;  nor  let  the  Lucrine  Naiads  boast 
more  of  their  sulphur  caves,  nor  Pompeian  Sarnus  '^ 
in  his  SMeet  repose. 

Come  now,  hasten  ye  to  bestow  on  Latium  noble 
sons  who  will  make  her  laws  and  rule  her  armies, 
and  practise  poesy.  May  merciful  Cynthia  hasten 
the  tenth  month  for  the  bringing-forth,  but  spare 
her,  I.ucina,  I  pray  thee  ;  and  thou,  O  babe,  spare 
thy  mother,  hurt  not  her  tender  womb  and  swelling 
breasts  ;  and  when  Nature  in  secrecy  has  marked  thy 
features,  much  beauty  mayst  thou  draw  from  thy 
father,  but  more  from  thy  mother.  And  thou, 
loveliest  of  Italian  maids,  won  at  last  by  a  husband 
worthy  of  thee,  cherish  the  bonds  he  sought  so  long  ; 
so  may  thy  beauty  suffer  no  loss,  and  the  fresh  prime 
of  youth  abide  for  many  a  year  upon  thy  brow,  and 
that  comeliness  be  slow  to  age. 

•^  A  river  flowing  into  the  bay  of  Naples,  to-daj-  about 
two  miles  from  Pompeii,  but  formerly  past  its  walls. 


37 


ST  ATI  us 

III 
VILLA  TIBURTINA  MANILII  VOPISCI 

Cernere  facundi  'libur  glaciale  \'upisci 
si  quis  et  inserto  geminos  Aniene  penates 
aut  potuit  sociae  commercia  noscere  ripae 
certantescpie  sibi  doniinuni  defendere  villa<:, 
ilium  nee  ealido  latravit  Sirius  astro,  5 

nee  gravis  aspexit  Nemeae  frondentis  alumnus  : 
talis  hiems  tectis,  frangunt  sie  improba  solem 
frigora,  Pisaeumque  domus  non  aestuat  annum. 

Ipsa  manu  tenera  tecum  seripsisse  \'oluptas'^ 

tune  Venus  Idaliis  unxit  fastigia  sucis  10 

permulsitque  comis  blandumque  reliquit  honorem 
sedibus,  et  volueres  vetuit  diseedere  natos. 

O  longum  memoranda  dies  !     quae  inente  reporto 
gaudia,  quam  lassos  per  tot  miracula  visus  ! 
ingenium  quam  mite  solo  !     quae  forma  beatis       l;! 
ante"^  manus  artemque  locis  !  non  largius  usquam 
indulsit  Xatura  sibi.     nemora  alta  citatis 
incubuere  vadis  :  fallax  responsat  imago 
frondibus,  et  longas  eadem  fugit  umbra  per  undas. 
ipse  Anien — miranda  fides — infraque  superque        20 

^  yo  lacuna  In  mss.  after  this  line.  It  was  first  recognized 
by  Schwartz,  though  the  text  was  dovhted  by  J)om. :  Phiili- 
more  conj.  telam /oi"  tecum  (iii.  1.  117). 

^  ante  Bursian  :  arte  M. 

"  i.e.,  the  constellation  Leo,  the  sign  of  the  zodiac  in  which 
the  sun  is  in  July. 

*"  i.e.,  such  heat  as  at  the  Olympian  js^ames,  held  at  mid- 
summer. 
38 


SILVAE,  I.  in.  1-2U 

III.  THE  VILLA  OF  MANILIUS  VOPISCUS  AT 
TIBUR 

Matiilii's  I'opixcux  is  mentioned  in  the  Preface  to  t/iin  hook  ; 
III'  u\is  a  man  of  literary  tastes,  and  an  Epicurean  (1.  94). 
The  villa  was  prohahly  above  TUntr ;  Volpi  found  remains 
that  he  said  tallied  irifh  Sfativs's  description  ("  Vetiis  Latium 
]irofanum,"  x.  p.  3;50,  ITOl),  bid  no  trace  of  if  has  endured 
to  modern  times. 

If  anyone  lias  been  privileged  to  behold  eloquent 
\'opiscus'  cool  retreat  at  Tibur  and  the  double  dwell- 
ing threaded  by  Anio's  stream,  or  to  see  the  friendly 
intercourse  of  bank  with  bank,  and  each  villa  striving 
to  keep  their  master  to  itself,  on  him  the  hot  star  of 
Sirius  has  not  barked,  nor  leafy  Nemea's  offspring  " 
looked  with  fierce  aspect ;  such  icy  coolness  is  in  the 
house,  so  pitilessly  does  the  cold  break  the  sun's 
power,  nor  does  the  dwelling  swelter  in  Pisa's  summer 
heat." 

Pleasure  herself  with  her  own  delicate  hand  <is 
said>  to  have  traced  with  thee  .  .  .  Then  Venus 
poured  Idalian  perfumes  upon  the  roof-tops  and 
caressed  them  with  her  hair,  and  left  a  winsome 
charm  upon  the  house  and  bade  her  winged  sons 
abide  there  for  ever. 

O  ever  memorable  day  !  What  raptures  of  the 
mind,  what  cloying  of  the  sight  by  countless  marvels 
do  I  recall  !  How  kindly  the  temper  of  the  soil  ! 
How  beautiful  beyond  human  art  the  enchanted 
scene  !  Nowhere  has  Nature  more  lavishly  spent  her 
skill.  Lofty  woods  lean  over  rushing  waters  ;  a  false 
image  counterfeits  the  foliage,  and  the  reflection 
dances  unbroken  over  the  long  waves.  Anio  himself 
—  marvellous    to    believe — though    full    of   boulders 

39 


STATIUS 

saxeus^  hie  tuniidani  rabieni  spumosaque  ponit 
murmura,  ceu  placidi  veritus  turbare  Vopisci 
Pieriosque  dies  et  habentes  carmina  somnos. 
litus  utrumque  domi,  nee  te  mitissimus  amnis 
dividit.     alternas  servant  praetoria  ripas,  25 

non  externa  sibi  fluviumve  obstare^  queruntur. 
Sestiacos  nunc  Fania  sinus  pelagusque  natatum 
iactet  et  audaci  victos  delphinas  ephebo  ! 
hie  aeterna  quies,  nullis  hie  iura  proeellis,  29 

numquam  fervor  aquis.     datur  hie  transmittere  visus 
et  voces  et  paene  nianus.     sic  Chalcida  fluetus 
expellunt  reflui,  sic  dissociata  profundo 
Bruttia  Sicanium  circumspicit  ora  Pelorum. 

Quid  prinium  niediunive  canam,  quo  fine  quiescam? 
auratasne  trabes  an  Maux'os  undique  postes  35 

an  picturata  lucentia  marmora  vena 
niirer,  an  eniissas  per  cuncta  cubiha  nymphas  ? 
hue  ocuhs,  hue  mente  trahor.     venerabile  dicam 
lucoruni  senium  ?     te,  quae  vada  fluminis  infra 
cernis,  an  ad  silvas  quae  respicis,  aula,  tacentis,       40 
qua  tibi  tota  quies  ofFensaque  turbine  nullo 
nox  silet  et  teneros  invitant^  murmura  somnos  ? 
an  quae  graminea  suscepta  crepidine  fumant 
balnea  et  impositum  ripis  algentibus  ignem  ? 
duaque  vaporiferis  iunctus  fornacibus  amnis  45 

ridet  anhelantes  vicino  flumine  nymphas  ? 

Vidi  artes  veterumque  manus  variisque  metalla 

^  saxeus  .  .  .  spumosa  3/ :  Slater  conj.  spumeus  .  .  . 
saxosa. 

^  fluviumve  obstare  Pol.  :  fluviorum  optare  M. 

'  teneros  invitant  Lemaire:  nigros  imitantia  {or  poss. 
mutantia)  M  :   pigros  Peyraredus  :  mutantia  Postgate. 

"  i.e.,  Leander.  The  point  is  that  these  shores  are  kinder 
40 


SILVAF-,  I.  HI.  21-47 

below  and  above,  liere  silences  his  swollen  rage  and 
foamy  din,  as  if  afraid  to  disturb  the  Pierian  days 
and  niusic-liauntcd  slumbers  of  tranquil  \opiscus. 
On  either  shore  is  home,  and  that  most  gentle  river 
parts  thee  not  in  twain.  Stately  buildings  guard 
either  bank,  and  complain  not  that  they  are  strange 
to  each  other,  or  that  the  stream  bars  approach. 
Now  let  P'ame  boast  of  the  Sestian  gulf,  and  the 
bold  youth  who  swam  the  sea  and  outstripped  the 
dolphins  !  "  Here  is  eternal  quiet,  storms  have  here 
no  power,  waters  ne'er  grow  angry.  Here  can  one 
see  and  talk,  ay  all  but  join  hands  across  the  stream. 
Thus  do  the  ebbing  waves  repel  Chalcis,  thus  the 
curve  of  Bruttian  shore  that  the  deep  has  sundered 
regards  Sicanian  Pelorus. 

What  shall  be  my  first,  what  my  middle  theme, 
whereon  shall  I  conclude  ?  Shall  I  marvel  at  the 
gilded  beams,  the  Moorish  lintels  ^  on  every  side, 
patterned  veins  of  glittering  marbles,  the  water- 
nymphs  that  hie  them  through  every  bed-chamber  ? 
This  way  my  eyes,  that  way  my  mind  would  snatch 
me.  Shall  I  tell  of  the  forest's  venerable  age  ?  Of 
the  courtyard  which  sees  the  river's  lower  reaches, 
or  of  that  other  which  looks  back  towards  the  mute 
woodland,  where  it  hath  quiet  unbroken  and  the 
silence  of  night  unmarred  by  any  storm,  and  mur- 
muring sounds  that  invite  to  gentle  slumber  ?  Or  of 
the  smoking  baths  upraised  on  the  grassy  bank  and 
the  fire  kindled  upon  the  icy  flood  }  Or  where  the 
river,  chained  to  the  vaporous  fui-nace,  laughs  at  the 
njmiphs  that  gasp  in  its  stream  hard  by  ? 

Works  of  art  I  saw  and  masterpieces  of  the  ancients 

than  those  of  the  Hellespont,  which  parted  Leander  from 
his  love.  *  These  were  of  citrus-wood  from  Mauretania. 

41 


ST  ATI  us 

viva  modis.     labor  est  auri  meniorare  figiiras 
aut  ebur  aut  dignas  digitis  contingere  gemmas, 
quicquid  et  argento  primum,  vel  in  aere  minori       50 
lusit  et  enormes  manus  est  experta  colossos. 
cum  vagoi*  aspectu  visusque  per  omnia  duco, 
calcabam  neeopinus  opes,     nam  splendor  ab  alto 
defluus  et  nitidum  referentes  aera  testae 
monstravere  solum,  varias  ubi  picta  per  artes  55 

gaudet  humus  superatque  novis  asarota  figuris  : 
expavere  gradus. 

Quid  nunc  iungentia^  mirer 
aut  quid  partitis  distantia  tecta  trichoris  ? 
quid  te,  quae  mediis  servata  penatibus  arbor 
tecta  per  et  postes  liquidas  emergis  in  auras,  60 

quo  non  sub  domino  saevas  passura  bipennes  ? 
et  nunc  ignai-o  forsan  vel  lubrica  Nais 
vel  non  abruptos  tibi  debet^  Hamadryas  annos. 

Quid  referam  alternas  gemino  super  aggere  mensas 
albentesque  lacus  altosque  in  gurgite  fontes  fi5 

teque,  per  obliquum  penitus  quae  laberis  amnem, 
Marcia,  et  audaci  transcurris  flumina  pluml)o  ? 
an  solum  loniis  sub  fluctibus  Elidis  amnem 
dulcis  ad  Aetnaeos  deducat  semita  portus  ? 
illic  ipse  antris  Anien  et^  fonte  relicto  70 

^  iungentia  Dorn.  :  ingencia  M. 

*  debet  Heinsius  :  demet  M. 

'  illic  Krohn,  Anien  et  Pol.  :   illis  ipse  antris  anienem  M. 


"  A  famous  mosaic  floor  by  one  Sosus  in  Pergamum,  so- 
called  because  it  represented  the  scraps  and  leavings  of  a 
banquet  (see  Plin.  X.II.  xxxvi.  184). 

*  The  term  in  Greek  means  a  building  of  three  stories ; 
here  and  in  Spartianus  {Penc.  ^'if/.  xii.  4)  it  seems  to  mean 
the  upper  story  or  stories  of  a  house.     The  word  is  used 

42 


SILVAE,   I.  III.  48-70 

and  metals  tliat  lived  in  niainfold  forms.  A  labour 
is  it  to  tell  of  the  shapes  of  gold,  the  ivories  and  the 
gems  worthy  to  adorn  a  finger,  and  of  all  that  the 
artist's  hand  first  playfully  wrought  in  silver  or 
smaller  bi'onze,  and  made  trial  of  huge  colossal 
forms.  While  1  wandered  gazing  and  cast  my  eyes 
on  all,  I  was  treading  on  riches  unaware.  For  the 
radiance  down-streaming  from  on  high  and  the  tiles 
that  reflected  the  brilliant  light  displayed  to  me  the 
floor,  where  the  ground  rejoices  in  manifold  skill  of 
painting,  and  with  strange  shapes  surpasses  the 
Unswept  Pavement «  :  awe  held  my  steps. 

Why  should  I  now  marvel  at  the  central  buildings, 
or  at  the  outer  Avings  each  with  its  upper  story ''  ? 
why  at  thee,  preserved  in  the  very  heart  of  the 
house,  thou  tree  that  risest  up  through  roof  and  roof- 
beam  to  the  pure  air  above,  and  under  any  other 
lord  wouldest  endure  the  cruel  axe  ?  Even  now, 
though  thou  '^  knowest  it  not,  some  lissome  Naiad  or 
Hamadryad  perchance  doth  owe  to  thee  the  life 
that  no  stroke  has  severed. 

Why  should  I  tell  of  feasts  held  now  on  this  bank, 
now  on  that,  of  white-gleaming  pools  and  springs 
deep-hidden  'neath  the  flood,  or  of  thee,  O  Marcia,'' 
that  glidest  athwart  the  river's  depths  and  in  l)old 
lead  dost  cross  its  channels  ?  Shall  only  the  river  of 
Elis  come  safe  by  an  unsalt  path  to  Aetna's  haven 
beneath  Ionian  waves  ?  '^  There  Anio  himself,  leaving 

nowhere  else  in  classical  Latin  :  in  Paulinus  of  Nola  in  the 
(Ireek  sense.  "  trichora  altaria  "  {Ep.  xxxii.  10). 

'^  i.e.,  Vopiscus :  the  change  of  person  addressed  is 
awkward,  unless  we  understand  Statius's  habit  of  apostro- 
phizing, ef.  i.  4.  3,  38,  106. 

■^  One  of  the  aqueducts  that  supplied  Rome  with  water. 

'  See  note  on  i.  2.  904. 

43 


ST  ATI  us 

nocte  sub  arcana^  glaucos  exutus  amictus 
hue  illuc  fragili  prosternit  pectora  musco, 
aut  ingens  in  stagna  cadit  vitreasque  natatu 
plaudit  aqua'.,     ilia  recubat  Tiburnus  in  umbra, 
illic  sulpureos  cupit  Albula  mergere  crines  ;  75 

haec  donius  Egeriae  nenioraleni  abiungere  Phoeben 
et  Drvadum  viduare  choris  algentia  possit 
Taygeta  et  silvis  accersere  Pana  Lycaeis. 
quod  ni  templa  darent  alias  Tirynthia  sortes, 
et  Praenestinae  poterant  niigrare  sorores.  80 

quid  bifera  Alcinoi  laudem  pomaria  vosque, 
qui  numquam  vacui  prodistis  in  aethera,  rami  ? 
cedant  Telegoni,  eedant  Laurentia  Turni 
iugera  Lucrinaeque  domus  litusque  cruenti 
Antiphatae,  cedant  vitreae  iuga  perfida  Circes         8") 
Dulichiis  ululata  lupis  arcesque  superbae 
Anxuris  et  sedes,  Phrygio  quas  mitis  alumno 
debet  anus  :  cedant,  quae  te  iam  solibus  artis 
Antia-  nimbosa  revocabunt  litora  bruma 

Scilicet  hie  illi  meditantur  pondera  mores,  90 

hie  premitur  fecunda  quies  virtusque  serena 
fronte  gravis  sanusque  nitor  luxuque  carentes 
deliciae,  quas  ipse  suis  digressus  Athenis 
mallet  deserto  senior  Gargettius  horto  ; 

^  nocte  sub  arcana  S'  :  nocte  sub  arcane  m,  artano  31, 
noctis  ubi  arcano  P/iillimore. 

^  Antia  MarkJancl :  avia  M:  obvia  Postgate. 

"  Tiburnus,  usually  Tiburtus,  was  the  founder  of  Tibur ; 
Albula,  a  sulphurous  lake  from  which  a  stream  flowed  into 
the  Anio  at  Tibur. 

*  A  nymph  of  Aricia,  and  servant  of  Phoebe,  who  had  a 
shrine  there. 

"^  The  temple  of  Fortime  at  Praeneste  was  famous  for 
telling  the  future  by  the  casting  of  lots ;  the  reference  to  Sisters 
is  not  clear,  but  ^lartial  refers  to  the  "  veridicae  sorores  " 

44 


SIL\'AK,   I.   III.   71-94 

his  grotto  and  his  spring,  in  niglit's  mysterious  liour 
puts  off  his  grey-green  raiment  and  leans  his  breast 
against  the  soft  moss  hereabouts,  or  plunges  in  all 
his  bulk  into  the  pools  and  swimming  splashes  among 
the  glassy  waters.  In  that  shade  Tiburnus  reclines, 
there  Albula  would  fain  dip  her  sulphurous  tresses  ;  ** 
this  bower  could  steal  woodland  Phoebe  from  Egeria* 
and  empty  cold  Taygetus  of  Dryad  choirs,  and 
summon  Pan  from  the  Lycean  glades.  Ay,  did  not 
the  Tirynthian  shrine  as  well  give  oracles,  even  the 
Sisters  of  Praeneste  might  change  their  abode .'-' 
Why  should  I  belaud  the  twice-bearing  apple- 
orchards  of  Alcinous  and  the  boughs  that  never 
stretched  unladen  to  the  air  ?  <^  Let  the  domain  of 
Telegonus  give  place  and  Turnus'  Laurentian  fields, 
and  the  Lucrine  dwellings  and  the  shore  of  cruel 
Antiphates  ;  let  the  perfidious  height  of  glassy  Circe 
yield,  where  the  Dulichian  wolves  once  howled,  and 
Anxur's  haughty  towers  and  the  home  that  the  kind 
old  nurse  owes  to  her  Phrygian  foster-child;  let  the 
shores  of  Antium  give  place,  which  when  the  suns  are 
narrowed  in  their  path  and  winter's  storms  are  come 
will  call  thee  to  them.'' 

Ay,  here  that  serious  mind  broods  on  weighty 
themes  ;  here  silence  shrouds  a  fruitful  quiet  and 
grave  virtue  tranquil-browed,  sane  elegance  and 
comfort  that  is  not  luxury,  such  as  the  Gargettian 
sage  ^  had  liimself  preferred  and  left  his  own 
Athens   and   his   garden   behind   him  ;     these   were 

of  Antium  in  tlie  same  way  (v.  1.  .S).  "TirynHiia  templa  " 
is  a  temple  of  Hercules.  ''   Cf.  Horn.  Od.  vii.  117. 

"  The  places  are  Tusfulum,  Ardea,  Baiae,  Formiae,  Circeii 
(Dulichian,  because  they  were  Odysseus'  men),  y\nxur,  C'aieta 
(nurse  of  Aeneas),  Antium.  f  Epicurus. 

4r) 


ST  ATI  us 

haec  per  et  Aegaeas  liiemes  Hyaduinque  nivosum  95 

sidus  et  Oleniis  dignum  petiisse  sub  astris, 

si  Maleae  credenda  ratis  Siculosque  per  aestus 

sit  via  :  cur  oculis  sordet  vicina  voluptas  ? 

hie  tua  Tiburtes  Faunos  chelys  et  iuvat  ipsum 

Alciden  dictumque  lyra  maiore  Catillum,  100 

seu  tibi  Pindaricis  animus  contendere  plectris 

sive  chelyn  tollas  heroa  ad  robora  sive 

liventem  satiram  nigra  rubigine  turbes^ 

seu  tua  non  alia  splendescat  epistola  cura. 

Digne  Midae  Croesique  bonis  et  Perside  gaza,   lOo 
macte  bonis  animi,  cuius  stagnantia  rura 
debuit  et  flavis  Hermus  transcurrere  ripis 
et  limo  splendente  Tagus  !  sic  docta  frequentes 
otia,  sic  omni  detectus  pectora  nube 
finem  Nestoreae  precor  egrediare  senectae.  110 


IV 

SOTERIA  RUTILI  GALLICI 

Estis,  io,  superi,  nee  inexorabile  Clotho 
volvit  opus,  videt  alma  pios  Astraea  lovique 

^  turbes  M :  vibres  Scriver'ms. 

"  The  star  known  as  Capella,  the  rising  of  which  heralded 
storms  ;  Aege,  daughter  of  Olenus,  was  changed  into  a  goat. 

*  Scylla  and  Charybdis. 

'^  Either  Virgil  {Aen.  vii.  670)  or  Horace  (C  i.  18).  Catillus 
was  one  of  the  founders  of  Tibur. 

■*  Often  identified  with  Justice. 

46 


SILVAE,  I.  III.  95— IV.  2 

worth  seeing  despite  Aegean  storms  and  the  Hyades* 
snowy  constellation  and  the  Olenian  star,*^  even 
though  the  Ijark  must  be  thrown  on  Malea's  mercy 
and  the  way  lie  through  Sicilian  surges  ^  :  why  do 
men  look  slightingly  on  pleasure  near  at  hand  .''  Here 
thy  lyre  delights  the  Fauns  of  Tibur  and  Aleides 
himself  and  Catillus,  sung  of  by  a  mightier  harp,'^ 
wliether  thou  hast  a  mind  to  strive  with  the  Pindaric 
quill  or  dost  lift  thy  lyre  to  the  height  of  heroic 
deeds  or  stirrest  up  the  black  venom  of  thy  bitter 
satire,  or  whether  thy  letters  glow  and  sparkle, 
composed  with  no  less  skill. 

O  worthy  of  the  wealth  of  Midas  and  of  Croesus 
and  of  Persian  treasure,  all  blessing  on  thy  wealth 
of  soul,  thou  o'er  whose  watered  fields  Hermus 
should  have  flowed  with  yellow  channel  and  Tagus 
with  liis  shining  sand  !  So  mayst  thou  full  oft  enjoy 
thy  learned  leisure,  I  pray,  so  with  heart  unclouded 
mayst  thou  outpass  the  limits  of  old  Nestor's  age  ! 


IV.  TO  RUTILIUS  GALLICUS,  ON  HIS 
RECO\'ERY  FROM  ILLNESS 

"  iSoteria  "  means  a  thanksgiving  for  recovery  from  sick- 
ness {as  here),  or  for  rescue  from  any  serious  danger.  Here 
Stat  ins  congratulates  Rutilius  (Jallicus,  a  man  of  nohJe  rank 
and  military  distinction,  who  after  seeing  service  in  Asia 
Minor  and  Pannonia  had  become  successively  Praetor,  Gov- 
ernor of  the  province  of  Asia,  Consul,  Imperial  Commissioner 
in  Africa,  and  finally  Prefect  of  the  City  ;  between  tlie  last 
tint  offices  lie  had  fought  on  the  lUiine.  The  recorery  is 
effected  by  dirine  agency,  Apollo  and  Aesculapius  visiting 
the  patient  and  tending  him  t/ienist-l res. 

Hurrah  !  ye  exist  then,  ye  gods,  nor  is  Clotho's 
spinning  inexorable  ;    kindly  Astraea  '^  hath  regard 

47 


ST  ATI  us 

conciliata  redit  dubitataque  sidera  cernit 
Gallicus.     es  caelo.  dive,  es,^  Germanice,  cordi 
— quis  neget  r^:  erubuit  tanto  spoliare  ministro       5 
imperium  Fortuna  tuum.     stat  proxima  cervix 
ponderis  immensi  damnosaque  fila  senectae 
exuit  atque  alios  melior  revirescit  in  annos. 
ergo  alacres,  quae  signa  colunt  urbana.  cohoi'tes 
inque  sinum  quae  saepe  tuum  fora  turbida  questum  10 
confugiunt,  leges  urbesque  ubicumque  togatae, 
quae  tua  longinquis  implorant  iura  querelis, 
certent  laetitia,  nosterque  ex  ordine  collis 
confremat  et  sileant  peioris  murniura  faniae  I 
quippe  manet  longunique  aevo  i-edeunte  nianebit,  lo 
quern  penes  intrepidae  mitis  custodia  Romae. 
nee  tantuni  induerint  fatis  nova  saecula  crimen 
aut  instaurati  peccaverit  ara  Tarenti. 

Ast    ego    nee    Phoebum,    quamquam    milii    surda 
sine  illo 
plectra,  nee  Aonias  decima  cum  Pallade  divas  20 

aut  mitem  Tegeae  Dircesve  hortabor  alumnum  : 
ipse  veni  \iresque  novas  animumque  ministra, 
qui^  caneris  ;  docto  nee  enim  sine  numine  tantus 
Ausoniae  decora  ampla  togae  centumque  dedisti 
iudicium  mentemque  viris.     licet  enthea  vatis  25 

^  es  5~:  et  M :  dive  es  Pol.:  dives  -1/:  dis  es  I)om.: 
Diti  es  Postgate. 

^  qui  Pol.  (from  P):  quis  M. 

"  One  of  the  titles  of  the  Emperor  Domitian. 

*  The  four  urban  cohorts,  directly  under  the  Praefectus 
urbi ;  the  Prefect's  court  was  the  supreme  court  of  criminal 
jurisdiction,  and  appeals  from  Italian  towns  came  to  him. 

•^  Sometimes  explained  as  Helicon,  cf.  "nostras"  1.  30; 
sometimes  as  Rome.     Slater  suggests  Alba. 

•^  Tarentum  was  the  name  given  to  a  depression  in  the 
Campus  Mnrtins  near  the  Tiber,  where  there  was  nn  altar. 

48 


SILVAE,  I.  IV.  3-25 

for  pious  folk,  and  comes  back  reconciled  with  Jove, 
and  Gallicus  beholds  the  stars  he  doubted  e'er  to  see 
again.  Beloved  of  heaven  art  thou,  divine  Gernian- 
icus,''  who  can  deny  it  ?  Fortune  was  ashamed  to  rob 
thy  empire  of  so  great  a  minister.  Those  shoulders 
with  tlieir  immense  burden  rise  once  more  next  to 
thine,  and  have  cast  off  the  ruinous  doom  of  eld  and 
revive  more  vigorous  yet  for  many  a  year.  There- 
fore let  the  brisk  cohorts  ^  that  venerate  the  City's 
eagles,  and  the  laws  that  ofttimes  take  refuge  in  thy 
bosom,  complaining  of  the  courts'  confusion,  and  the 
cities  of  the  toga  wheresoe'er  they  be,  that  with 
far-travelling  pleas  implore  thy  justice — let  them  vie 
in  their  rejoicing,  and  let  our  own  hill''  duly  join  its 
shouts  to  theirs,  and  the  mutterings  of  ill  report  be 
silent.  For  he  abides,  and  long  will  abide  in  his  new 
span  of  life,  in  whose  merciful  hand  is  placed  the 
guardianship  of  fearless  Rome.  No  such  grave  re- 
proach will  the  new  age  lay  upon  the  fates,  nor  will 
the  altar  of  Tarentum,''  late  restored,  so  deeply  sin. 
But  I  will  call  neither  on  Phoebus,  although  my 
quill  is  mute  without  him,  nor  on  the  Aonian  god- 
desses with  Pallas  the  tenth  Muse,  nor  on  the  gentle 
sons  of  Tegea  and  of  Dirce  '^  :  come  thou  thyself 
and  bring  new  strength  and  spirit,  thou  that  art 
my  theme  ;  for  not  without  genius  heaven-sent  wert 
thou  so  mighty  to  shed  great  glory  upon  the  Ausonian 
gown  and  to  give  judgement  and  understanding  to 
the  Hundred./     Thougli  god-possessed  Pimplea  shut 

*  Mercury  and  Bacclius. 

^  The  Centumviral  court,  prominent  under  the  Empire, 
was  a  court  of  civil  jurisdiction  ;  its  numbers,  originally 
105  (3  from  each  tribe)  had  been  raised  to  180.  Cf.  Sllv. 
iv.  4.  43. 

VOL.  I  E  49 


ST  ATI  us 

excludat  Pimplea  sitim  nee  conscia  detur 
Pirene  :  largos  potius  mihi  gurges  in  haustus, 
qui  rapitur  de  fonte  tuo,  seu  plana  solutis 
quoni  struis  orsa  niodis  seu  quom  tibi  dulcis  in  artem 
frangitur  et  nostras  curat  facundia  leges.  30 

quare  age,  si  Cereri  sua  dona  merumque  Lyaeo 
reddimus  et  dives  praedae  tamen  aecipit  omni 
exu\ias  Diana  tholo  eaptivaque  tela 
Bellipotens  :  nee  tu,  quando  tibi,  Gallice,  mains 
eloquium.  fandique  opibus  sublimis  abundas,  3") 

sperne  coli  tenuiore  lyra.     vaga  cingitur  astris 
luna,  et  in  oceanum  rivi  cecidere  minores. 

Quae  tibi  sollicitus  persolvit  praemia  morum 
Urbis    amor  !     quae    turn    patrumque    equitumque 

notavi 
lumina  et  ignarae  plebis  lugere  potentes  ?  40 

non  labente  Numa  timuit  sic  Curia  felix 
Pompeio  nee  eelsus  eques  nee  femina  Bruto. 
hoe  illud  :  tristes  in\itum  audire  cateiias, 
parcere  verberibus  nee  qua  iubet  alta  potestas 
ire,  sed  armatas  multum  sibi  demere  vires  45 

dignarique  manus  humiles  et  verba  preeantum, 
reddere  iura  foro  nee  proturbare  eurules 
et  ferrum  mulcere  toga,     sic  itur  in  alta 
peetora,  sic  mixto  reverentia  fidit  amori. 
ipsa  etiam  eunetos  gravis  inclementia  fati  50 

terruit  et  subiti  praeceps  iuvenile  pericli, 
nil  cunetante  malo.     non  illud  culpa  seneetae 
— quippe  ea  bissenis  vixdum  orsa  excedere  lustris — , 


"  Pimplea  and  Pirene  were  fountains  of  the  Muses. 

''  J.I?.,  of  us  poets. 

"  He  was  mourned  by  the  Pi,oman  matrons  for  a  whole 
year,  Livy,  ii.  7, 
.50 


SILVAE,   I.   IV.  26-53 

out  the  thirsty  bard  and  conspiring  Pirene  "  be  not 
granted  me,  yet  dearer  are  the  lavish  draughts 
snatclied  from  the  flood  of  thy  own  fountain,  whether 
thou  dost  create  free  and  flowing  prose  or  whether 
thy  sweet  eloquence  is  broken  in  to  rules  of  art  and 
obeys  our  laws.**  Wherefore  come  —  if  we  make 
return  to  Ceres  of  her  gifts  and  to  Lyaeus  of  his 
wine,  and  if  Diana  though  rich  in  booty  yet  receives 
spoils  in  every  temple  and  the  Lord  of  War  our 
trophies  of  the  fight — and  spurn  not,  Gallicus,  since 
tliou  hast  a  mightier  utterance  and  aboundest  in 
wealth  of  speech  sublime,  spurn  not  the  worship  of  a 
humbler  Ivre.  The  wandering  moon  is  ringed  Avith 
stars,  and  lesser  streams  run  down  into  the  Ocean. 

What  rich  reward  for  thy  virtues  did  the  City's 
loving  anxiety  give  thee  !  What  famous  Senators 
and  knights,  what  champions  of  the  obscure  multi- 
tude saw  I  then  in  tears  !  The  prosperous  Curia 
feared  not  so  when  Numa  was  failing,  nor  the  noble 
Knights  at  Pompey's  danger  nor  the  women  at 
Brutus'  death/  And  this  is  the  cause  thereof  :  thou 
wert  loth  to  hear  the  sullen  chains,  didst  spare  the 
scourge  nor  go  as  lofty  otfice  bade  thee,  but  didst 
renounce  much  of  thy  armed  force,  and  deign  to 
regard  the  petitions  of  the  lowly  and  their  humble 
prayers  ;  thou  broughtest  back  justice  to  the  Forum 
nor  didst  vex  the  curule  magistrates,  but  temperedst 
force  by  law.  So  is  a  way  won  to  the  deep  places  of 
the  heart,  so  doth  reverence  trust  the  love  Avhere- 
with  it  mingles.  Terrible  too  to  all  was  the  dire 
severity  of  Fate  and  the  impetuous  violence  of  tlie 
sudden  peril,  as  the  mischief  tarried  not.  'Twas  not 
the  fault  of  thy  age — scarce  had  that  begun  to  with- 
draw from  its  twelfth  lustre — but  of  straining  toil 

.01 


STATIUS 

sed  labor  intendens  animique  in  membra  vigentis 
imperium  vigilesque  suo  pro  Caesare  cm'ae,  55 

dulce  opus,     hinc  fessos  penitus  subrepsit  in  artus 
insidiosa  quies  et  pigra  oblivio  vitae. 

Tunc  deus,  Alpini  qui  iuxta  culmina  dorsi 
signat  Apollineos  sancto  cognomine  lucos, 
respicit  heu  tanti  pridem^  securus  alumni.  60 

praecidensque^   moras :     "  nunc    mecum,    Epidauria 

proles, 
hinc "      ait      "  i^      gaudens  :       datur — aggredienda 

facultas  ! — 
ingentem  recreare  virum.     teneamus  adorti 
tendentes*  iam  fila  colos  :  ne  fulminis  atri 
sit  metus  :  has  ultro  laudabit  luppiter  artes.  65 

nam  neque  plebeiam  aut  dextro  sine  numine  cretam 
servo    animam.     atque    adeo    breviter,    dum    tecta 

subimus, 
expediam.     genus  ipse  suis  permissaque  retro 
nobilitas  ;  nee  origo  latet,  sed  luce  sequente 
vincitur  et  magno  gaudet  cessisse  nepoti.  70 

prima  togae  virtus  illi  quoque  :  clarus  et  ingens 
eloquio  ;  mox  innumeris  exercita  castris 
occiduas  primasque  domos  et  sole  sub  omni 
permeruit  iurata  manus  nee  in  otia  pacis 
pei-missum  laxare  animos  ferrumque  recingi.  75 

hunc  Galatea  vigens  ausa  est  incessere  bello 
— me    quoque — perque     novem     timuit     Pamphylia 

messes 
Pannoniusque  ferox  arcuque  horrenda  fugaci 

1  prideni  Dom.  :  precidem  M. 
-  praecidens  Ifou.tman  :  progressus  M :  praegressus  S". 
*  ait,  i  Biirsian  :  alti  M. 
*  tendentes  Markland  :  tendatis  M. 
"  Probably  Turin,  the  birthplace  of  Gallicus,  is  meant. 
Evidence  for  any  cult  of  Apollo  there  is  exceedingly  weak. 
52 


SILVAE,   I.   IV.   54-78 

and  a  strong  mind's  mastery  o'er  the  body  and 
unsleeping  diligence  in  thy  Emperor's  cause,  a  labour 
of  love  to  thee.  Hence  came  creeping  deep  into  the 
weary  limbs  a  treacherous  quiet  and  dull  forgetful- 
ness  of  life. 

Then  the  god  who  luird  by  the  peaks  of  the  Alpine 
ridge  "  sets  his  sacred  name  of  Apollo  ujion  the 
groves,  turns  to  behold,  long  alas  !  neglectful  of  so 
precious  a  ward.  Then  cutting  short  delay  :  "  Come 
with  me  on  the  instant,  Epidaurian  son,"  he  cries, 
"  away,  and  gladly  too  !  'Tis  in  our  power — the 
chance  must  be  seized  ! — to  restore  to  health  a 
mighty  hero.  Let  us  advance  and  grasp  the  thread 
that  e'en  now  the  distaff  stretches.''  Fear  no  dread 
thunderbolt :  '^  Jupiter  will  be  the  first  to  praise  this 
skill  of  ours.  For  'tis  no  plebeian  life  I  save  nor  one 
unblest  in  its  begetting.  Briefly  while  we  draw  nigh 
his  house  will  I  unfold  his  story.  Himself  he  gives 
pedigree  to  his  line,  and  reflects  thereon  his  own 
nobility  ;  yet  his  origin  is  not  obscure,  but  surpassed 
by  the  glory  that  follows  it,  and  gladly  gives  place 
to  its  famous  progeny.  He  too  first  excelled  in  the 
arts  of  peace  :  in  eloquence  brilliant  and  powerful  ; 
then  loyal  to  his  oath  he  served  in  East  and  West 
and  under  every  sun,  bearing  the  brunt  of  countless 
camps,  nor  was  he  suffered  to  relax  his  ardour  in 
peaceful  ease  nor  to  ungirdhis  swoi'd.  Him  did  Galatia 
dare  to  provoke  to  war  in  lusty  pride — ay,  and  me 
also  '^ — and  for  the  space  of  nine  harvests  Pamphylia 
feared  him,  and  the  bold  Pannonian  and  Armenia's 

*"  i.e.,  because  it  is  running  out. 

"  Jupiter  fiad  slain  Aesculapius  for  restoring  tiie  dead  to 
life. 

"^  Attack  on  Delphi  by  the  Gauls,  279  b.c. 

53 


STATIUS 

Armenia  et  patiens  Latii  iain  pontis  Araxes. 
quid  gcminos  fasces  magnaeque  iterata  revolvam    80 
iura  Asiae  ?     veiit  ilia  quidem  ter  habere  quaterque 
hunc  sibi,  sed  i-evocant  fasti  maiorque  curulis 
nee  promissa  seniel.     Libvci  quid  niira  tributi 
obsequia  et  niissuni  media  de  pace  triumphum 
laudem  et  opes  quantas  nee  qui  mandaverat  ausus  85 
exspectare  fuit  r     gaudet  Trasimennus  et  Alpes^ 
Cannensesque  animae  ;  primusque  insigne  tributum 
ipse  palam  lacera^  poscebat  Regulus  umbra, 
non  vacat  Arctoas  acies  Rhenumque  rebellem 
eaptivaeque  preces  \'eledae  et,  quae  maxima  nuper  90 
gloria,  depositam  Dacis  pereuntibus  Urbem 
pandere,  cum  tanti  lectus  rectoris  habenas, 
Gallice,  Fortuna  non  admirante  subisti. 

Hunc  igitur,  si  digna  loquor,  rapiemus  iniquo, 
nate,  loui.     rogat  hoc  Latiae  pater  inclitus  ui'bis    95 
et  meruit  ;  neque  enim  frustra  mihi  nuper  honora 
carmina  patricio  pueri  sonuistis  in  ostro. 
si  qua  salutifero  gemini  Chironis  in  antro 
herba,  tholo  quodcumque  tibi  Troiana  recondit 
Pergamus  aut  medicis  felix  Epidaurus  harenis        loo 
educat,  Idaea  profert  quam  Creta  sub  umbra 
dictamni  florentis  opem,  quoque  anguis  abundat 

^  After  this  line  M  has  attollam  cantii  gaiidet  Thrasj'- 
mennus  et  Alpes,  obviously  an  interpolation,  though  various 
edd.  try  to  fit  it  into  the  text.     See  Introd. 

*  lacera  Pol.  :  laeta  M.  Pol.'s  reading  was  taken  by 
him  from  P. 

"  Some  explain  as  "the  praetorship,"  cf.  Mommsen 
{Staatsrecht,  i.  384  n.),  who  quotes  Cic.  De  leg.  agr.  ii.  34. 
93.  and  Plautus,  Epid.  i.  1.  25.  to  prove  that  the  praetor 
in  Rome  only  had  two  lictors  (cf,  bissenos  fasces,  of  the 
consulship,  Silv.  i.  2.  174). 

*  /.f.,  the  consulship,  which  would  be  registered  in  the  Fasti. 


SILVAE,  I.  IV.  79-102 

dire  retreating  bowmen  and  Araxes  that  now  brooks 
a  Roman  bridge.  Why  should  I  tell  of  the  double 
command  "  and  the  twice  repeated  governorship  of 
Asia  ?  who  thrice  and  four  times  would  fain  liave 
him  for  herself,  but  our  Annals  and  the  higher 
ciu'ule  chair, **  oft  promised,  call  him  back.  Why 
extol  the  tribute  and  wondrous  obedience  of  Libya,'' 
and  the  spoils  of  triumph  sent  to  Rome  from  the 
midst  of  peace,  and  such  wealth  as  not  even  he  who 
gave  the  charge  had  dared  to  expect  ?  Trasimene 
and  the  Alps  exult  and  the  ghosts  of  Cannae  ;  and 
the  mangled  shade  of  Regulus  first  appears  and 
claims  its  glorious  reward.  Time  allows  not  to  re- 
count the  armies  of  the  North  and  rebellious  Rhine 
and  the  prayers  of  captive  ^Vleda,'^'  and,  latest  and 
greatest  glory,  Rome  given  thee  in  charge,  when  the 
Dacians  were  falling  before  us  and  thou  wert  chosen, 
Gallicus,  to  take  up  the  reins  of  so  great  a  chief,  and 
Fortune  marvelled  not. 

"  Him  then,  if  my  words  find  favour,  we  will  rescue, 
my  son,  from  Pluto's  cruelty.  This  is  the  prayer  of 
the  illustrious  Father  of  the  Latian  City,*  and  lie 
has  deserved  it  ;  for  not  in  vain  of  late  did  ye  sing 
my  praise,  ye  boys,  clad  in  patrician  purple.  If 
there  be  any  herb  in  twy-formed  Chiron's  health- 
giving  cave,  all  that  Trojan  Pergamus  stores  for  thee 
in  thy  shrine  or  blest  Epidaurus  nurtures  in  her 
healing  sands,  all  the  aid  of  flowering  dittany  that 
Crete  brings  forth  in  the  glens  of  Ida,  the  abundant 

'  Vespasian  had  renewed  and  increased  the  tribute  paid 
by  Africa  and  other  provinces  ;  Gallicus  was  perhaps  sent 
there  as  Special  Commissioner  for  this  purpose. 

•*  A  German  prophetess,  for  whom  see  Tac.  Hist.  iv.  61, 
V.  22. 

'  i.e.,  the  Emperor. 


STATIUS 

spumatu  :  iungam  ipse  manus  atque  omne  benignum^ 

virus,  odoriferis  Arabum  quod  doctus  in  arvis 

aut  Amphrysiaco  pastor  de  gramine  cai'psi.^  "         105 

Dixerat.     inveniunt  positos  iam  segniter  artus 
pugnantemque  animam  ;  ritu  se  cingit  uterque 
Paeonio  monstrantque  simul  parentque  volentes, 
donee  letiferas  vario  niedicaniine  pestes 
et  suspecta  mali  ruperunt  nubila  somni.  110 

adiuvat  ipse  deos  morboque  valentior  omni 
occupat  auxilium.     citius  non  arte  refectus 
Telephus  Haemonia,  nee  quae  metuentis  Atridae 
saeva  Machaonio  coierunt  vulnera  suco. 

Quis  mihi  tot  coetus  inter  populique  patrumque  115 
sit  curae  votique  locus  ?     tamen  ardua  testor 
sidera  teque,  pater  vatum  Thymbraee,  quis  omni 
luce  mihi,  quis  nocte  timor,  dum  postibus  haerens 
assiduus  nunc  aure  vigil  nunc  lumine  cuncta 
aucupor^  ;  immensae  veluti  conexa  carinae  120 

cumba  minor,  cum  saevit  hiems,  pro  parte  furentis 
parva  receptat  aquas  et  eodem  volvitur  austro. 

Nectite  nunc  laetae  candentia  fila,  sorores, 
nectite  !     nemo  modum  transmissi  computet  aevi  : 
hie  vitae  natalis  erit.     tu  Troica  dignus  125 

saecula  et  Euboici  transcendere  pulveris  annos 
Nestoreosque  situs  !  qua  nunc  tibi  pauper  acerra 
digna  litem  ?     nee  si  vacuet  Mevania  valles 
aut  praestent  niveos  Clitumna  novalia  tauros, 

^  benignum  Lindenhrog  :  benigne  M. 

^  carpsi  Dom.  :  carpsit  M. 

*  aucupor  Heinshts  :  auguror  M. 

"  Cf.  Virg.  Aen.  xii.  400. 
"  i.e.,  by  Achilles,  cf.  Hor.  Epod.  17.  8. 
'  i.e.  Apollo. 
56 


SILVAE,  I.  IV.  103-129 

sj)ume  of  serpents — <these  bring>,  and  I  will  join 
thei'eto  my  skill  of  hand,  and  every  kindly  juice  that 
I  learned  in  Arabia's  balmy  fields,  or  gathered  as  a 
shephei'd  in  the  meadows  of  Amphrysus." 

He  ended ;  they  find  the  sufferer  lying  languid 
and  battling  for  life  ;  "  each  girds  himself  in  Paeonian 
wise,  and  willingly  both  teach  and  both  obey,  until 
with  varied  art  of  healing  they  have  shattered  the 
deadly  plague  and  dispersed  the  dire  cloud  of  bane- 
ful lethargy.  He  himself  aids  the  heavenly  ones, 
and  prevailing  o'er  the  utmost  power  of  the  disease 
anticipated  the  help  they  bring.  Not  more  swiftly 
was  Telephus  restored  by  Haemonian  skill,''  nor  the 
cruel  wounds  of  which  Atrides  stood  in  terror  stanched 
by  Machaon's  healing  balm. 

What  place,  amid  such  a  gathering  of  Senators 
and  people,  for  anxious  prayers  of  mine  ?  Yet  I 
call  the  high  stars  to  witness,  and  thee,  Thymbraean 
sire  of  bards,"  what  terror  held  me  night  and  day 
while  I  clung  to  the  portals  and  in  unremitting 
vigilance  caught  every  hint  with  eye  or  ear  :  just  as 
a  tiny  skiff  trailing  behind  a  mighty  vessel,  when  the 
tempest  rages,  bears  its  small  share  of  the  waters' 
fury  and  is  tossed  in  the  self-same  gale. 

Twine  now,  ye  Sisters,  joyfully  twine  your  threads 
of  shining  white  !  Let  none  reckon  the  measure  of 
life  already  spent  :  this  day  is  the  birthday  of  life 
to  be.  Thou  dost  deserve  to  outlast  the  age-long 
lives  of  Troy j'^  the  Euboean  Sibyl's  dust  and  Nestor's 
mouldering  decay.  What  censer  of  mine  can  avail, 
needy  as  I  am,  to  supplicate  for  thee  ?  Not  if 
Mevania  should  empty  her  valleys  or  the  fields  of 
Clitumnus  vouchsafed  their  snow-white  bulls,  were 
''  Priam  or  Tithonus,  as  in  ii,  3.  73,  v.  3.  256. 


STATIUS 

sufficiam.     sed  saepe  dels  hos  intei*  liouores  130 

caespes  et  exiguo  placuerunt  farra  salitiu. 


BALNEUM  CLAUDII  ETRUSCT 

Non  Helicona  gravi  pulsat  chelys  enthea  plectro, 
nee  lassata  voco  totiens  mihi  numina,  Musa!>  ; 
et  te,  Phoebe,  choris  et  te  diniittinius,  Euhan. 
tu  quoque  muta  ferae,  volucer  Tegeaee,  sonorae 
terga  prenias  :  alios  poscunt  mea  carmina  coetus.     5 
Naidas,  undaruni  doniinas,  regemque  corusci 
ignis  adhuc  fessum  Siculaque  incude  rubentem 
elicuisse  satis,     pauluni  arnia  nocentia,  Thebae, 
ponite  :  dilecto  volo  lascivire  sodali. 
iunge.  puer.  cyathos — set  ne  numevare^  labora —     10 
cunctantemque  intende  chelyn  :  discede  Laborque 
Curaque,  dum  nitidis  canimus  gemmantia  saxis 
balnea  dumque  procax  vittis  hederisque,  soluta 
fronde  vereeunda.^  Clio  mea  ludit  E!.trusco. 
ite,  deae  \irides,  liquidosque  advertite  vultus  lo 

et  vitreum  teneris  crimen  redimite  corvmbis, 
veste  nihil  tectae.  quales  emergitis  altis 
fontibus  et  visu  Satyros  torquetis  amantes. 
non  vos,  quae  culpa  decus  infamastis  aquarum, 

^  set  ne  numerare  Scrirerinx  :    et  enumerare   3/,  nee  et 
Postgate. 

^  verecunda  Baehrens  :  verecundo  M. 

"  Salt  and  roasted  meal  was  the  simplest  form  of  sacrifice, 
cf.  Hor.  C.  iii.  23.  20.     The  turf  formed  the  altar. 

*   Mercury  invented  the  lyre  from  the  shell  of  a  tortoise. 
"  i.e..  \'ulcan. 

.58 


SILVAE,  I.  IV.  130— V.  19 

tliat  sufficient.  Yet  amid  .sucli  offerings  a  simple 
turf,  some  meal  and  a  humble  salt  -  cellar  have 
ofttinies  pleased  the  gods." 

V.  THE  BATHS  OF  CLAUDIUS  ETRUSCUS 

The  Baths  of  Claudius  Etrusvus  were  possibly  on  tlie 
Quirinal  ;  they  are  mentioned  hy  Martial  (vi.  42).  For 
their  owner  see  note  to  Silv.  iii.  3. 

Not  at  Helicon's  gates  doth  my  harp  resound  in 
fierce,  ecstatic  melody,  nor  call  I  on  the  heavenly 
Muses,  so  often  wearied  by  my  prayer  ;  thou 
Phoebus,  and  thou,  Euhan,  art  released  from  my 
choral  song,  and  do  thou,  sAvift  Tegean,  keep  in 
mute  silence  thy  tuneful  tortoise-shell  ^  :  other  choirs 
doth  my  song  demand.  'Tis  enough  to  lure  the 
Naiads  hither,  queens  of  the  wave,  and  the  lord  of 
the  flashing  fire,  weary  still  and  glowing  with  the 
Sicilian  anvil's  heat.''  Thebes,  lay  down  thy  sinful 
arms  awhile  ^  :  I  would  fain  make  revel  for  a  friend 
I  love.  Cup  after  cup,  lad  !— nay,  trouble  not  to 
count  them  !  Tune  the  tardy  lyre  !  Toil  and  Care, 
avaunt  !  while  I  sing  of  the  baths  that  sparkle  with 
bright  mai-bles,  and  while  my  Clio,  wantoning  in  ivy 
chaplets  and  free  from  the  sober  laurel,  makes  sport 
for  Etruscus.  Come  then,  ye  Nymphs  of  the  waters, 
turn  hither  your  clear  countenances  and  bind  up 
your  glass-green  tresses  with  tender  vine-shoots, 
your  bodies  all  unclothed  as  when  ye  emerge  from 
the  deep  springs  and  torture  your  Satyr-lovers  with 
the  sight.     You,  who  with  guilt  have  defamed  the 

■*  He  refers  to  his  Thebaid,  whicli  recounted  the  impious 
strife  of  the  bretliren,  Eteocles  and  Polynices. 

59 


STATIUS 

sollicitare  iuvat  ;  procul  hinc  et  fonte  doloso  20 

Salmacis  et  viduae  Cebrenidos  arida  liictu 
flumina  ct  Herculei  praedatrix  cedat  alumni. 
vos  mihi,  quae  Latium  septenaque  culmina,  nymphae, 
incolitis  Thybrimque  novis  attollitis  undis, 
quas  praeceps  Anien  atque  exceptui-a  natatus  25 

Virgo  iuvat  Marsasque  nives  et  frigora  ducens 
Marcia,  praeeelsis  quarum  vaga  molibus  unda 
crescit  et  innumero  pendens  transmittitur  arcu —  : 
vestrum  opu';  aggredimur,  vestra  est.  quani  carmine 
molli  29 

pando.  domus.     non  umquam  aliis  liabil^istis;  in  antris 
ditius.     ipsa  manus  tenuit  Cvtherea  mariti 
monstravitque  artes  ;  neu  vilis  flamma  caminos 
ureret,  ipsa  faces  volucrum  succendit  Amorum. 
non  hue  admissae  Thasos  aut  undosa  Carystos, 
maeret  onyx  longe,  ([ueriturque  exclusus  ophites  :  35 
sola  nitet  flavis  Nomaduni  decisa  metallis 
purpura^  sola  cavo  Phrygiae  quam  Synnados  antro 
ipse  cruentavit  maculis  lucentibus^  Attis, 
quasque  Tyrus^  niveas  secat  et  Sidonia  rupes. 
vix  locus  Eurotae,  viridis  cum  regula  longo  40 

^  hicentibus  M:  liventibus  Pol.,  Markland  :  rf.  Apoll. 
Si(L  xxii.  137. 

^  quasque  Tyrus  Dom.  :  quoque  tiri  M :  cumque  Tyri 
Vollmer :  quasque  Tyrus  niveas  secuit  La/aye :  quamque 
Paros  niveam  Pontgate :  quaeque  Tyri  vincas  fucatam  (or, 
fucum  et  quae)  sindona  rupes  Slater.  See  also  C.R.  xx.  pp. 
38,  39. 

"  Salmacis  enticed  Hermaphroditus  into  her  waters  and 
united  herself  indissolubly  to  him.  Cebrenis  is  Oenone. 
Hylas,  ward  of  Hercules,  was  drawn  by  a  nymph  into  the 
spring  where  he  was  getting  water. 

*  Two  famous  aqueducts,  excellent  for  swimming  in  and 
drinking  respectivelv,  from  the  purity  of  the  one  and  the 

60 


SILVAE,  1.  V.  20-40 

honour  of  tJie  streams,  I  care  not  to  solicit  :  far  lience 
remove  thou,  O  Salmacis,  with  thy  deceiving  fount, 
and  the  river  of  Cebrenis  left  forlorn,  that  grief  made 
dry,  and  the  ravisher  of  Hercules'  young  ward  !  " 
But  ye  Nymphs  who  dwell  in  I/atium  and  on  the 
Seven  Heights  and  make  Thybris  swell  with  your 
fresh  waters,  ye  whom  headlong  Anio  delights  and 
the  Maiden  destined  to  welcome  the  swimmer,  and 
Marcia  that  brings  down  the  Marsian  snow  and  cold,** 
ye  whose  travelling  waves  flood  through  the  lofty 
masonry  and  are  carried  high  in  air  over  countless 
arches — yours  is  the  work  I  fain  would  sing,  yours  the 
home  whereof  my  gentle  verse  doth  tell.  Never  in 
other  grottos  dwelt  ye  more  sumptuously.  Cytherea 
herself  guided  her  lord's  hand,  and  taught  him  skill  ; 
and  that  no  baser  flame  miglit  scorch  the  furnace, 
herself  she  kindled  the  brands  of  her  winged  Loves 
thereunder.  Neither  Thasos  nor  wave-lashed  Carystos 
are  suffered  here  ;  "  far  off  the  onyx  mourns,  and  the 
serpent-stone  rejected  makes  complaint  ;  only  the 
porphyry  gleams,  hewn  from  the  Nomads' tawny  rocks, 
only  that  which  in  the  hollow  caves  of  Phrygian 
Synnas  Attis  bedewed  with  the  bright  drops  of  his 
own  blood,  and  the  snow-white  cliffs  that  Tyre  and 
Sidon  quarry .**     Scarce  is  there  space  for  stone  from 

coolness  of  the  other.  The  "  Maiden  "  fed  several  baths, 
including  those  of  Agrippa.  "  See  note  on  i.  2.  148. 

■^  No  emendation  of  the  text  is  convincing  here.  It  is  not 
certain  whether  there  is  any  allusion  to  marble  of  Tyre  and 
Sidon,  of  which  nothing  is  otherwise  known.  The  parallel 
in  i.  2.  151  suggests  rather  a  comparison  with  Tyrian  dye, 
or,  as  Slater  conjectures,  with  the  purple  "sindon"  (linen 
garment)  of  a  guest  at  the  banquet ;  hence  he  would  read 
"  quaeque  Tyri  vincas  fucatam  sindona  rapes,"  "  marble  of 
a  deeper  purple  than  fine  linen  dyed  at  Tyre." 

()1 


STATIUS 

Synnada  distinctu  variat.     non  limina  cessant, 

effulgent  camerae,  vario  fastigia  \itro 

in  species  animosque  nitent.     stupet  ipse  beatas 

circumplexus  opes  et  pareius  impei*at  ignis. 

multus  ubique  dies,  radiis  ubi  culmina  totis  45 

perforat  atque  alio  sol  improbus  uritur  aestu. 

nil  ibi  plebeium  ;  nusquani  Temesaea  notabis 

aera,  sed  argento  felix  propellitur  unda 

argentoque  cadit  labrisque  nitentibus  instat 

delicias  mirata  suas  et  abire  recusat.  50 

extra  autem  niveo  qui  margine  caerulus  amnis 

V'ivit  et  in  suniniuni  fundo^  patet  oninis  ab  inio, 

cui  non  ii-e  lacu  pigros(|ue  exsolvere  amictus 

suadeat  ?     hoc  mallet  nasci  Cytherea  profundo, 

hie  te  perspicuum  melius,  Narcisse,  videres,  55 

hie  velox  Hecate  velit  et  deprensa  lavari. 

quid  nunc  strata  solo  referam  tabulata  crepantis 

auditura  pilas,  ubi  languidus  ignis  inerrat 

aedibus  et  tenuem  volvunt  hypocausta  vaporem  ? 

nee  si  Baianis  veniat  novus  hospes  ab  oris,  60 

talia  despiciet — fas  sit  componere  magnis 

parva — Neronea  nee  qui  modo  lotus  in  unda, 

hie  iterum  sudare  neget.     macte,  oro,  nitenti 

ingenio  curaque  puer  !     tecum  ista  senescant 

et  tua  lam  melius  discat  fortuna  renasci  !  65 

^  in  summum  fundo  S"  :  in  funduin  summo  M. 

"  See  note  on  i.  1 .  42. 
**  The  baths  of  Nero  on  the  Campus  Martins. 


62 


SILVAE.   I.   V    41    65 

tlie  Eurotas,  where  the  long  hne  of  green  picks  out 
the  marble  of  Synnas.  The  doorways  yield  not  in 
splendour,  the  ceilings  are  radiant,  the  gables  glitter 
with  mosaics  of  pictured  life.  The  very  fire  is 
astounded  at  the  riches  he  encompasses,  and  tempers 
the  fierceness  of  his  sway.  Everywhere  is  flooding 
light,  where  the  sun  pierces  the  roof  with  all  his  rays, 
and,  spite  of  all  his  fierceness,  is  scorched  by  a  heat 
that  is  not  his  own.  NougJit  is  common  there, 
nowhere  will  you  mark  bronze  of  Temese,"  but  from 
silver  is  the  glad  wave  poured  and  into  silver  it  falls, 
and  marvelling  at  its  own  beauty  stands  poised  upon 
the  gleaming  brim  and  refuses  to  go  its  way.  But 
the  dark-blue  stream  without,  running  gaily  between 
snow-white  banks,  all  clear  to  see  from  loMcst  depth 
to  surface — whom  would  it  not  tempt  to  throw  off 
his  lazy  robe  and  plunge  into  the  water  ?  From  these 
deeps  had  Cytherea  chosen  to  be  born ;  here,  Narcissus, 
hadst  thou  seen  thyself  more  clearly ;  here  would 
suift  Hecate  fain  bathe,  e'en  though  discovered. 
Why  now  should  I  tell  of  the  floors  laid  upon  the 
earth,  destined  to  hear  the  noise  of  balls,  whei-e 
languidly  creeps  the  warmth  about  the  house  and  a 
scant  haze  rolls  upward  from  the  furnaces  below  ? 
Such  beauty  would  no  guest  despise,  though  fresh 
from  the  shore  of  Baiae,  nor,  if  I  may  compare  great 
things  with  small,  would  one  who  had  bathed  of  late 
in  Nero's  baths  ^  refuse  to  sweat  here  once  more. 
A  blessing,  Claudius,  on  thy  brilliant  cleverness  and 
careful  thought  I  may  this  work  grow  old  with  thee, 
and  thy  fortune  learn  to  rise  to  a  new  and  more 
glorious  birth. 


63 


ST  ATI  us 

VI 

KALENDAE  DECEMBRES 

Et  Phoebus  pater  et  severa  Pallas 
et  Musae  procul  ite  feriatae  : 
lani  vos  revocabimus  Kalendis. 
Saturnus  niihi  compede  exsoluta 
et  multo  gravidus  mei'o  December  5 

et  ridens  locus  et  Sales  protervi 
adsint,  duni  refero  diem  beatum 
laeti  Caesaris  ebriamque  apax'chen.^ 
Vix  Aurora  novos  movebat  ortus, 
iam  bellaria^  linea  pluebant  10 

—  hunc  rorem  veniens  profudit  eurus  : 
quicquid  nobile  Ponticis  nucetis, 
fecundis  cadit  aut  iugis  Idymes  ; 
quod  ramis  pia  germinat  Damascos, 
et  quod  percoquit  ebriosa  Caunos,^  15 

largis  gratuitum  cadit  rapinis  ; 
niolles  gaioli  lucuntulique, 
et  massis  Amerina  non  perustis 
et  mustaceus  et  latente  palma 
praegnates  caryotides  cadebant.  20 

^  ebriamque  aparchen  {i.e.  dTrapxv",  originally  *\/irst- 
fruits,'"  "first  offering,''''  then  '\feast,"  as  in  Pint.  40  b) 
Phillimore :  parcen  M,  pacem  Pol.,  noctem  li.  TJiomson, 
etc.  ^  bellaria  5" :  vellaria  M. 

^  ebriosa  Cauiios  Waller  :  aebosia  caiinos  M,  aestuosa 
Imhnf,  Ebosea  Vollmer,  arbor  Inda  cannas  Ellis,  et  quod 
praecoquit  Ebosia  cannis  La/aye  and  Slater. 

"  Saturn  was  put  in  chains  by  Jupiter,  but  set  free, 
according-  to  popular  belief,  on  his  festival. 

**  A   rope   was   stretched   across  the   amphitheatre,  from 

64 


SILVAE,  I.  VI.  1-20 

VI.  THE  KALENDS  OF  DECEMBER 

An  account  of  an  entertainment  given  by  the  Emperor  to 
the  people  during  the  Saturnalia.  Suetonius  (Doniit.  4) 
mentions  also  chariot-races,  sham  fights,  naval  battles  in  the 
Amphitheatre,  combats  of  gladiators,  beasts,  etc.,  and  various 
distributions  of  money  and  food  to  the  people. 

Hence,  father  Phoebus  and  stern  Pallas  !  Away, 
ye  Muses,  go,  keep  holiday  ;  we  will  call  you  back 
at  the  New  Year.  But  Saturn,  slip  your  fetters  '^  and 
come  hither,  and  December  tipsy  with  much  wine, 
and  laughing  Mirth  and  wanton  Wit,  while  I  recount 
the  glad  festival  of  our  merry  Caesar  and  the  ban- 
quet's drunken  revel. 

Scarce  was  the  new  da^n  stirring,  when  already 
sweetmeats  were  raining  from  the  line,^  such  was 
the  dew  the  rising  East  wind  was  scattering  ;  the 
fiimous  fruit  of  Pontic  nut-groves,  or  of  Idume's 
fertile  slopes,''  all  that  devout  Damascus  grows  upon 
its  boughs  ^  or  thirsty  Caunus  "  ripens,  falls  in  a 
generous  profusion.  Biscuits  and  melting  pastries,^ 
Amerian  fruit  ^  not  over-ripe,  must-cakes,  and  burst- 
ing dates  from  invisible  palms  were  showering  down. 

which  the  dainties  were  shaken  down  amona;  the  people,  cf. 
Mart.  viii.  78.  7. 

"  i.e.,  dates ;  Idume  often  in  Statins  for  Palestine,  cf.  Liic. 
iii.  216.  **  i.e.,  plums  (damsons). 

<■  Cannus  in  Asia  Minor  was  famous  for  its  figs.  Kbosia, 
the  MS.  reading,  would  refer  to  Ebusus,  one  of  the  Balearic 
isles,  modern  Iviza,  which  Pliny  praises  for  its  figs  ;  but 
the  combination  with  Caunos,  "the  fig-town  of  Ebusus" 
(Vollmer),  is  awkward.  Slater,  following  Eafaye  (Notes  on 
the  Silvae,  Paris,  1896),  reads  "  et  quod  praecoquit  Ebosia 
cannis." 

f  So-called  because  they  were  in  the  shape  of  human 
figures,  i.e.  little  "  Gaii." 

'  From  Ameria  came  apples  and  pears. 

VOL.  I  F  Q5 


66 


STATIUS 

non  tantis  Hyas  inserena  nimbis 

terras  obruit  aut  soluta  Plias, 

qualis  per  cuneos  hiems  Latinos 

plebem  grandine  contudit  serena. 

ducat  nubila  luppiter  per  orbem  25 

et  latis  pluvias  minetur  agris, 

dum  nostri  lovis  hi  ferantur  imbres. 

Ecce  autem  caveas  subit  per  omnis 
insignis  specie,  decora  cultu 
plebes  altera  non  minor  sedente.  30 

hi  panaria  candidasque  mappas 
subvectant  epulasque  lautiores  ; 
ilh  marcida  vina  lai'giuntur  : 
Idaeos  totidem  putes  ministros. 
oi'bem,  qua  mehor  severiorque  est,  35 

et  gentes  ahs  insimuP  togatas, 
et  cum  tot  populos,  beate,^  pascas, 
hunc  Annona  diem  superba  nescit.^ 
i  nunc  saecula  compara,  Vetustas, 
antiqui  lovis  aureumque  tempus  :  40 

non  sic  hbera  vina  tunc  fluebant 
nee  tardum  seges  occupabat  annum, 
una  vescitur  omnis  ordo  mensa, 
parvi,  femina,  plebs,  eques,  senatus  : 
libertas  reverentiam  remisit.  45 

et  tu  quin  etiam — quis  hoc  vacare,* 
quis  promittere  possit  hoc  deorum  ? — 
nobiscum  socias  dapes  inisti. 
iam  se,  quisquis  is  est,  inops,  beatus, 
convivam  ducis  esse  gloriatur.  50 

Hos  inter  fremitus  novosque  hixus 
spectandi  le\ds  effugit  voluptas  : 

^  insimul  S"  :  insemel  M. 
^  beate  Hessius  and  Lafaye  :  beata  M. 


SILVAE,  I.  VI.  21-52 

Not  with  such  torrents  do  stormy  Hyades  o'erwhelm 
the  earth  or  Pleiades  dissolved  in  rain,  as  the  hail 
that  from  a  sunny  sky  lashed  the  people  in  the 
theatre  of  Rome.  Let  Jupiter  send  his  tempests 
through  the  world  and  threaten  the  broad  fields, 
while  our  own  Jove  sends  us  showers  like  these  ! 

But  lo  !  another  multitude,  handsome  and  well- 
dressed,  as  numerous  as  that  upon  the  benches, 
makes  its  way  along  all  the  rows.  Some  carry 
baskets  of  bread  and  white  napkins  and  more  luxu- 
rious fare  ;  others  serve  languorous  wine  in  abundant 
measure  ;  so  many  cupbearers  of  Ida  "  would  you 
think  them.  Thou  dost  nourish  alike  the  circle  of 
the  noble  and  austere  and  the  folk  that  wear  the 
toga,  and  since,  O  generous  lord,  thou  dost  feed  so 
many  multitudes,  haughty  Annona  knoweth  nought 
of  this  festival.''  Come  now.  Antiquity,  compare 
with  ours  the  age  of  primeval  Jove  and  the  times  of 
gold  :  less  bounteously  then  did  the  vintage  flow, 
not  thus  did  the  harvest  anticipate  the  tardy  year. 
One  table  serves  every  class  alike,  children,  women, 
people,  knights,  and  senators  :  freedom  has  loosed 
the  bonds  of  awe.  Nay  even  thyself — ^what  god 
could  have  such  leisure,  or  vouchsafe  as  much  ? — 
thou  didst  come  and  share  our  banquet.  And  now 
everyone,  be  he  rich  or  poor,  boasts  himself  the 
Emperor's  guest. 

Amid  such  excitements  and  strange  luxuries  the 
pleasure  of  the  scene  flies  quickly  by  :    women  un- 

"  i.e.,  so  many  Ganyinedes. 

**  The  feast  is  free  and  gratis,  therefore  the  price  of  bread 
has  nothing  to  do  with  it. 

*  nescit  M :  nescis  S". 
*  vacare  Fhillimore  :  vocare  M:  vocari  Ettigius. 

67 


ST  ATI  us 

stat  sexus  rudis  insciu-^que  ferri  ; 

ut  pugnas  capit  improbus  viriles  ! 

credas  ad  Tanain  ferumque  Phasini  55 

Thermodontiacas  calere  turmas. 

hie  audax  subit  ordo  pumilorum, 

quos  natura  brevis  statim  peracta 

nodosum  semel  in  globuni  ligavit. 

edunt  vulnera  conseruntque  dextras  60 

et  mortem  sibi — qua  manu  ! — minantur. 

ridet  Mars  pater  et  cruenta  Virtus 

casuraeque  vagis  grues  rapinis 

mirantur  pugiles^  ferociores. 

lam  noctis  propioribus  sub  umbris  65 

dives  sparsio  quos  agit  tumultus  ! 
hie  intrant  faciles  emi  puellae, 
hie  agnoscitur  omne,  quod  theatris 
aut  forma  placet  aut  probatur  arte, 
hoc  plaudunt  grege  Lydiae  tumentes,  70 

illic  cymbala  tinnulaeque  Gades, 
ilHc  agmina  confremunt  S\Torum, 
hie  plebs  scenica  quique  comminutis 
permutant  vitreis  gregale  sulpur. 

Inter  quae  subito  cadunt  volatu  75 

immensae  volucrum  per  astra  nubes, 
quas  Nilus  sacer  horridusque  Phasis, 
quas  udo  Xumidae  legunt  sub  austro. 
desunt  qui  rapiant  sinusque  pleni 
gaudent,  dum  nova  lucra  comparantur.  80 

tollunt  innumeras  ad  astra  voces 
Saturnaha  principis  sonantes 


68 


SILVAE,  I.  VI.  53-82 

trained  to  the  sword  take  their  stand,  daring,  how 
recklessly,  men's  battles  I  you  would  think  Ther- 
modon's  bands  "  were  furiously  lighting  by  Tanais  or 
barbarous  Phasis.  Then  comes  a  bold  array  of 
dwarfs,  whose  term  of  growth  abruptly  ended  has 
bound  them  once  for  all  into  a  knotted  lump.  They 
give  and  suffer  wounds,  and  threaten  death — with 
fists  how  tiny  !  Father  Mars  and  Bloodstained 
Valour  laugh,  and  cranes,^  waiting  to  swoop  on 
scattered  booty,  marvel  at  the  fiercer  pugilists. 

Now  as  the  shades  of  night  draw  on,  what  com- 
motion attends  the  scattei-ing  of  largess  !  Here 
enter  maidens  easily  bought  ;  here  is  recognized  all 
that  in  theatres  wins  favour  or  applause  for  skill  or 
l)eauty.  Here  a  crowd  of  buxom  Lydian  girls  are 
clapping  hands,  here  tinkle  the  cymbals  of  Cadiz, 
there  troops  of  Syrians  are  making  uproar,  there  are 
theatre-folk  and  they  who  barter  common  sulphur 
for  broken  glass.'' 

Amid  the  tumult  dense  clouds  of  birds  swoop 
suddenly  down  through  the  air,  bii-ds  from  holy  Nile  '^ 
and  frost-bound  Phasis,  birds  that  Numidians  capture 
'neath  the  dripping  South.  Too  few  are  there  to 
seize  them  all,  exultantly  they  grasp  their  fill  and 
ever  clutch  fresh  plunder.  Countless  voices  are  raised 
to  heaven,  acclaiming  the  Emperor's  festival  ;  with 

"  i.e.,  Amazons. 

''  These  dwarfs  seem  fiercer  fighters  than  the  old  enemies 
of  the  cranes,  viz.  the  Pygmies  (Hom.  //.  iii.  S). 

"  Rag-and-bone  men  plying  the  same  trade  are  mentioned 
bv  Martial,  i.  41.  4.  For  sulphur  matches  cf.  also  Martial, 
x."  3.  3. 

**  Flamingos  (Nile),  pheasants  (Phasis),  guinea-fowl  (Nu- 
midia). 

^  pugiles  Friederich  :  pumilos  M. 

69 


STATIUS 

et  dulci  doniinum  favore  clamant  : 
hoc  solum  vetuit  licere  Caesar. 

Vixdum  caerula  nox  subibat  orbem,  85 

descendit  media  nitens  harena 
densas  flammeus  orbis  inter  umbras 
vincens  Gnosiacae  facem  coronae. 
conlucet  polus  ignibus  nihilque 
obscurae  patitur  licere  nocti.  90 

fugit  pigra  Quies  inersque  Somnus 
haec  cernens  alias  abit  in  urbes. 
quis  spectacula,  quis  iocos  licentes, 
quis  convivia,  quis  dapes  inemptas, 
largi  flumina  quis  canat  Lyaei  ?  95 

iam  iam  deficio  tuoque  Baccho^ 
in  serum  trahor  ebrius  soporem. 

Quos  ibit  procul  hie  dies  per  annos  ! 
quam  nullo  sacer  exolescet  aevo  ! 
dum  montes  Latii  paterque  Thybris,  100 

dum  stabit  tua  Roma  dumque  terris 
quod  reddis  Capitolium  manebit. 

^  tnoqiie  Baccho  S"  :  tuaque  Baccho  AT. 


70 


SILVAE,  I.  VI.  83-102 

loving  entliusiasm  they  salute  their  Lord.  This 
liberty''  alone  did  Caesar  forbid  them. 

Scarce  was  dusky  night  shrouding  the  world,  when 
through  the  dense  gloom  a  ball  of  flame  fell  gleaming 
into  the  arena's  midst,  surpassing  the  brigjitness  of 
the  Gnosian  crown .^  The  sky  was  ablaze  ^vith  fire, 
and  suffered  not  the  reign  of  darkness  :  sluggish 
Quiet  fled,  and  lazy  Sleep  betook  himself  to  other 
cities  at  the  sight.  Who  can  sing  of  the  spectacle, 
the  unrestrained  mirth,  the  banqueting,  the  unbought 
feast,  the  lavish  streams  of  wine  ?  Ah  !  now  I  faint, 
and  drunken  with  thy  liquor  drag  myself  at  last  to 
sleep. 

For  how  many  years  shall  this  festival  abide  ! 
Never  shall  age  destroy  so  holy  a  day  !  While  the 
hills  of  Latium  remain  and  ftither  Tiber,  while  thy 
Rome  stands  and  the  Capitol  thou  hast  restored  to 
the  world,  it  shall  continue. 

"  i.e.,  to  salute  him  as  "Dominus";  for  Doniitian's  titles 
of  "  Dominus  et  Deus  "  see  Suet.  Dom.  1.3. 
**  The  constellation  called  Ariadne's  crown. 


71 


LIBER  II 

STATIUS  MELIORI  SUO  SALUTEM 

Et  familiaritas  nostra  qua  gaudeo,  Melior,  vir 
optime  nee  minus  in  iudicio  Htterarum  quam  in 
omni  vitae  colore  tersissime,  et  ipsa  opusculorum 
quae  tibi  trado  condicio  sic  posita  est  ut  totus  hie 
ad  te^  liber  meus  etiamsine  epistola  spectet.^  Primum 
enim  habet  Glauciam  nostrum,  cuius  gratissima 
infantia^  et  qualem  plerumque  infelices  sortiuntur 
(apud  te  complexus  amabam)  iam  non  tibi.  Huius 
amissi  recens  vulnus,  ut  scis,  epicedio  prosecutus 
sum  adeo  festinanter,  ut  excusandam  habuerim 
afFectibus  tuis  celeritatem.  Nee  nunc  eam  apud  te 
iacto,  qui  nosti,  sed  et  ceteris  indico,  ne  quis  asperiore 
lima  carmen  examinet  et  a  confuso  scriptum  et 
dolenti  datum,  cum  paene  supervacua  sint  tarda 
solacia.  Polli  mei  villa  Surrentina  quae  sequitur, 
debuit  a  me  vel  in  honorem  eloquentiae  eius  dili- 
gentius  dici,  sed  amicus  igno\-it.  In  arborem  certe 
tuam,  Melior,  et  psittacum  scis  a  me  leves  libellos 
quasi  epigrammatis  loco  scriptos.     Eandem  exigebat 

^  ad  te  Vollmer  :  altae  M,  alter  s". 

^  spectet  Baehrens  :  expect  et  M.  {Baelir.  inserted  ad  te 
before  spectet. 

*  gratissima  infantia  M :  gratissimam  infantiam  S". 


BOOK   II 

Statius  to  his  Friexd  Melior  :   Greeting  I 

Not  only  our  friendship  wherein  I  take  such  pleasure, 
my  excellent  Melior.  who  are  as  fiiultless  in  your 
literary  judgement  as  in  every  phase  of  life,  but  also 
the  actual  circumstances  of  the  poems  I  am  presenting 
to  you  are  responsible  for  the  whole  of  this  book  of 
mine  being  directed  towards  you,  even  without  an 
introductory  letter.  For  its  first  subject  is  our 
beloved  Glaucias,  whose  charming  infancy — a  charm 
so  often  bestowed  on  the  unfortunate — is  lost  to 
you  now ;  I  loved  him  when  I  took  him  in  my 
arms  at  your  house.  While  that  wound  was  yet 
fresh,  I  wrote  as  you  know  a  poem  of  consolation, 
with  such  dispatch  that  I  felt  my  pi'omptness  owed 
an  apology  to  your  feelings.  Nor  am  I  boasting  of  it 
now  to  you  who  know,  but  warning  others  not  to 
criticize  too  sharply  a  poem  written  in  distress  and 
sent  to  one  in  sorrow,  seeing  that  sympathy  must  be 
timely  or  else  superfluous.  The  Surrentine  Villa  of 
my  friend  Pollio  which  follows  should  have  been 
written  with  greater  care  if  only  in  honour  of  his 
eloquent  tongue,  but  he  has  displayed  a  friend's 
indulgence.  Certainly  the  trifling  pieces  on  your 
tree,  Melior,  and  on  the  parrot  were  as  you  know 
dashed  off  like  epigrams.     A  like  facility  of  pen  was 

73 


STATIUS 

stili  facilitatem  leo  mansuetus,  quem  in  amphi- 
theatro  prostratum  frigidum  erat,  sacratissimo 
Imperatori  ni  statim  traderem  Ad  Ursum  quoque 
nostrum,  iuvenem  candidissimum  et  sine  iactura 
desidiae  doctissimum,  scriptam  de  amisso  puero 
consolationem  super  ea  quae  ipsi  debeo  huic  libvo 
libenter  in'^erui,  quia  honorem  eius  tibi  laturus 
accepto  est.  Cludit^  volumen  genethliacon  Lucani, 
quod  Polla  Argentaria,  rarissima  uxorum,  cum  hunc 
diem  forte  eonsuleremus,  imputari  sibi  voluit.  Ego 
non  potui  maiorem  tanti  auctoris  habere  reverentiam 
quam  quod  laudes  eius  dicturus  hexametros  meos 
timui.  haee  qualiaeumque  sunt,  Melior  carissime, 
si  tibi  non  displicuerint,  a  te  publicum  accipiant  ;  si 
minus,  ad  me  revertantur. 

^  esh     cludit  Madvig  :  excludit  3/. 


74 


SILVAE,  II. 

demanded  by  the  Tame  Lion,  for  had  I  not  presented 
liim  to  His  Alost  Sacred  Majesty  while  still  lying  in 
the  amphitheatre,  all  the  effect  would  have  been 
missed.  Then  there  is  the  consolatory  piece  I  wrote 
on  the  loss  of  his  slave-boy  for  our  friend  Ursts,  a 
youth  of  blameless  life  and  an  accomplished  poet, 
M'ho  wastes  no  time  in  idleness  ;  I  was  glad  to 
include  it  in  this  book,  quite  apart  from  the  debt  I 
owe  to  him,  for  he  will  credit  you  with  the  honour 
he  derives  therefrom.  The  volume  is  concluded  by 
the  Birthday  Ode  to  Lucan,  for  which  Polla  Argen- 
taria,  rarest  of  wives,  desired  to  be  held  accountable, 
when  we  happened  to  be  considering  the  celebration 
of  the  day.  I  could  not  show  a  deeper  reverence  for 
so  great  a  poet  than  by  distrusting  my  own  hexa- 
meters when  about  to  sing  his  praises.  These  pieces, 
my  excellent  Melior,  such  as  they  are,  if  you  like 
them,  give  them  to  the  world  :  if  not,  let  them 
return  to  me. 


75 


STATIUS 

I 
GLAUCIAS  ATEDII  MELIORIS  DELICATUS 

Quod  tibi  praerepti,  Melior,  solamen  alumni, 
improbus  ante  rogos  et  adhuc  vivente  favilla 
ordiar  ?     abruptis  etiam  nunc  flebile  venis 
vulnus  hiat,  niagnaeque  patet  via  lubrica  plagae. 
cum  lam  egomet  cantus  et  verba  medentia  saevus    5 
consero,  tu  planetus  lamentaque  fortia  ina\is 
odistique  chelyn  surdaque  averteris  aura, 
intempesta  cano  :  citius  me  tigris  abactis 
fetibus  orbatique  velint  audire  leones. 
nee  si  tergeminum  Sicula  de  virgine  carmen  10 

affluat  aut  sihis  chelys  intellecta  ferisque, 
mulceat  insanos  gemitus.     stat  pectore  demens 
luctus  et  admoto  latrant  praecordia  tactu. 

Nemo  vetat  :  satiare  malis  aegrumque  dolorem 
libertate  doma.     iam  flendi  expleta  voluptas  15 

iamque  preces  fessus  non  indignaris  arnicas  ? 


"  i.e.,  the  wound  in  all  its  length,  a  "  path  "  leading  to  a 
vital  spot. 

*  The  Sirens,  whose  number  is  variously  given  as  two  or 
as  three  ;  in  ii.  2.  1,  Statius  places  them  at  Sorrento. 

76 


SILVAE,  II.  I.  1-16 

I.  GLA.UCIAS,  THE  FAVOURITE  OF 
ATEDIUS  MELIOR 

In  this  and  the  following  Epicedia  Statins  shows  the  in- 
fliience  both  of  philosophic  consolation  such  as  ire  see  it  in 
Seneca,  or  the  Consolatio  ad  Liviam,  and  also  of  the  rhetorical 
schools  with  their  enTdcpioL  and  Trapa/j.v6riTiKoi,  divided  into 
regular  parts,  such  as  Praise  of  the  departed,  description  of 
the  illness  and  death,  description  of  the  burial,  loelcome  of 
the  sold  of  the  dead  one  in  the  under-world,  etc.  Statiiis's 
treatment  is  free,  as  in  the  Epithtdamium  ;  mythological 
allusion  is  frequent,  and  teas  tindouhtedlij  part  of  the  poetic 
convention  of  the  time,  and  therefore  should,  not  be  condemned 
as  frigid  and  implying  a  lack  of  true  feeling.  The  reader 
may  compare  earlier  poems  of  the  same  kind,  e.g.  Horace, 
C.  i.  24  ;  Propertius,  iii.  18,  iv.  11  ;  Ovid,  Am.  iii.  9.  Two 
poems  of  Martial  (vi.  28,  29)  were  also  written  on  tlie  same 
occasion. 

How  can  I  begin  to  console  thee,  Melior,  for  thy 
foster-son  untimely  taken  ?  How  can  I  heartlessly 
sing  before  the  pyre,  while  the  ashes  are  still  aglow  ? 
The  lamentable  wound  gapes  wide  with  sundered 
veins,  and  the  dangerous  path  of  the  great  gash  lies 
open.**  Even  while  I  relentlessly  compose  my  spells 
and  healing  words,  thou  dost  prefer  to  beat  the  breast 
and  cry  aloud,  and  hatest  my  lyre  and  turnest  away 
with  deaf  ear.  Untimely  is  my  song  :  sooner  would 
a  despoiled  lioness  or  tigress  robbed  of  her  cubs  give 
ear  to  me.  Not  if  the  triple  chant  of  the  Sicilian 
maidens  ^  were  wafted  hither,  or  the  harp  that  beasts 
and  woodlands  understood,  would  they  soothe  thy 
distracted  wailing.  Demented  Grief  hath  his  stand 
in  thy  heart  ;  at  a  touch  thy  breast  heaves  and  sobs. 

Have  thy  fill  of  bitterness  :  none  forbids  thee. 
Overcome,  by  giving  it  rein,  the  malady  of  thy 
distress.  At  last  is  thy  luxury  of  weeping  sated  ? 
At  last  art  thou  wearied  out  and  deignest  to  hear  a 

77 


STATIUS 

iamne  canani  ?  lacrimis  en  et  mea  carmina  in  ipso 
ore^  natant  tristesque  cadunt  in  verba  litui-ae. 
ipse  etenim  tecum  nigrae  solemnia  pompae 
spectatumque  Urbi  scelus  et  puerile  feretrum  20 

produxi,  saevos  damnati  turis  acervos 
plorantemque  animam  supra  sua  funera  vidi, 
teque  patrum  gemitus  superantem  et  brachia  matrum 
complexumque  rogos  ignemque  haurire  parantem 
vix  tenui  similis  comes  offendique  tenendo.  25 

et  nunc,  heu,  vittis  et  frontis  honore  soluto 
infaustus  vates  versa  mea  pectora  tecum 
plango  lyra,  sed  tu^  comitem  sociumque  doloris, 
si  merui  luctusque  tui  consortia  sensi, 
iam  lenis  patiare  precor.     me  fulmine  in  ipso  30 

audivere  pafres,  ego  iuxta  busta  profusis 
matribus  atque  piis  cecini  solacia  natis 
et  mihi,  cum  proprios  gemerem  defectus  ad  ignes 
— quem,  Natura  ! — patrem.     nee  te  lugere  severus 
arceo,  sed  confer  gemitus  pariterque  fleamus.  35 

lamdudum  dignos  aditus  laudumque  tuarum, 
o  merito  dilecte  puer,  primordia  quaerens 
distrahor.     hinc  anni  stantes  in  limine  vitae, 
hinc  me  forma  rapit,  rapit  inde  modestia  praecox 
et  pudor  et  tenero  probitas  maturior  aevo.  40 

o  ubi  purpureo  suifusus  sanguine  candor 
sidereique  orbes  radiataque  lumina  caelo 
et  castigatae  collecta  modestia  frontis 

*  carmina  in  ipso  ore  3/ :   carmine  in  ipso  ora  Friedrich. 
^  sed  tu  Vollmer  :  et  diu  M,  at  diri  r,  at  dici  Slater. 

"  The  souls  of  those   untimely  dead    were   supposed   to 
bewail  their  lot,  cf.  Virg.  Aen.  vi.  427  "  infantumque  animae 

78 


SILVAE,  II.  I.  17-43 

friend's  entreaty  ?  Now  shall  I  sing  ?  Lo  !  even  in 
my  mouth  my  song  is  choked  witli  sobs,  the  words 
are  blotted  by  falling  tears.  For  I  myself  led  forth 
with  thee  the  solemn  line  of  sable  mourners  and  the 
boyish  bier,  a  crime  for  the  City  to  behold  ;  I  saw 
the  cruel  heaps  of  incense  doomed  to  destruction  and 
the  soul  wailing  above  its  own  corpse « ;  thee  too, 
as  thou  didst  break  through  sobbing  fathers  and 
mothers  that  would  stay  thee,  and  didst  embrace 
the  pyre  and  prepare  to  swallow  the  flames,  could  I 
scarce  restrain,  thy  comrade  in  like  case,  and  offended 
by  restraining.  And  now,  alas  !  a  bard  of  evil,  my 
fillets  imbound  and  the  glory  departed  from  my 
brow,  I  reverse  my  lyre  and  beat  my  breast  with 
thee  ;  but  be  assuaged,  I  pray  thee,  and  suffer  me 
as  partner  of  thy  mourning,  if  I  have  so  deserved  and 
shared  thy  sorrow.  In  the  very  hour  of  calamity 
fathers  have  heard  my  voice  ;  by  the  very  pyre  have 
I  sung  solace  to  prostrate  mothers  and  loving  children 
— ay,  to  myself  also,  when  swooning  beside  kindred 
flames  I  mourned,  O  Nature,  what  a  father  !  Nor 
do  I  sternly  forbid  thee  to  lament  ;  nay,  let  us 
mingle  our  tears  and  weep  together. 

Long  have  I  sought  distractedly,  beloved  boy,  a 
worthy  approach  and  prelude  to  thy  praises.  Here 
thy  boyhood,  standing  on  life's  threshold,  calls  me, 
there  thy  beauty,  there  a  modesty  beyond  thy  years 
and  honour  and  probity  too  ripe  for  thy  tender  age. 
Ah  !  where  is  that  fair  complexion  flushed  by  the 
glow  of  health,  those  starry  orbs  whose  glance  is 
radiant  with  heaven's  light,  where  the  chaste  com- 

flentes."  For  souls  hovering  about  the  funeral  pyre  cf. 
Theb.  V.  163,  xii.  55:  they  are  often  so  represented  on  Attic 
vases. 

79 


ST  ATI  us 

ingenuique  super  crines  mollisque  decorae  44 

niargo  comae  ?  blandis  ubinam  ora  arguta  querelis 
osculaque  impliciti  vernos  redolentia  flores 
et  niixtae  risu  laerimae  peiiitusque  loquentis 
Hyblaeis  vox  mixta  fjivis  ?  cui  sibila  serpens 
poneret  et  saevae  vellent  servire  novercae. 
nil  veris  adfingo  bonis,     heu  lactea  colla  !  50 

braehia,  quo^  numquam  domini  sine  pondere  cervix  ! 
o  ubi  venturae  spes  non  longinqua  iuventae 
atque  genis  optatus  honos  iurataque  multum 
barba  tibi  ?  cuncta  in  cineres  gravis  intulit  hora 
hostilisque  dies  :  nobis  meminisse  relictum.  55 

quis  tua  colloquiis  hilaris  mulcebit  amatis 
pectora  ?     quis  curas  mentisque  arcana  remittet  ? 
accensum  quis  bile  fera  famulisque  tumentem^ 
leniet  ardentique  in  se  deflectet  ab  ira  ? 
inceptas  quis  ab  ore  dapes  libataque  vina  60 

auferet  et  dulci  turbabit  cuncta  rapina  ? 
quis  matutinos  abrumpet  murmure  somnos 
impositus  stratis  abitusque  morabitur  artis 
nexibus  atque  ipso  revocabit  ad  oscula  poste^  ? 
obvius  intranti  rursus  quis  in  ora  manusque  65 

prosiliet  brevibusque  umei'os  circumdabit  ulnis  ? 
muta  domus,  fateor,  desolatique  penates, 
et  situs  in  thalamis  et  maesta  silentia  niensis  ! 

Quid  niirum,  tanto  si  te  pius  altor  honorat 
funere  ?  tu  domino  requies  portusque  senectae,       70 

^  braehia,  quo  Saftien  :  brachiaque  M. 
^  tumentem  Pol.  {from  P)  :  timentem  31. 
^  ipso  .  .  .  poste  5"  :  ipsos  .  .  .  postes  M. 

"  Always  much  admired  in  ancient  times ;    "  castigata  " 
80 


SILVAE,   II.  I.   44-70 

posure  of  that  low  "  brow,  the  ai'tless  curls  above  and 
the  soft  line  of  lovely  hair  ?  Where  is  the  mouth  that 
prattled  with  fond  complainings,  those  kisses  redolent, 
as  he  clung,  of  vernal  blossoms,  his  tears  mingled 
with  smiles,  and  his  accents  steeped  in  Hybla's 
honey  ?  A  serpent  would  hush  its  hissing  and  cruel 
stepdames  be  fain  to  do  his  bidding.  Nothing  false 
do  I  add  to  his  true  beauty.  Alas  !  that  milk-white 
throat  !  those  arms  that  were  ever  about  his  master's 
neck  !  Where  now  is  that  not  far  distant  hope  of 
coming  manhood,  the  longed-for  glory  of  his  cheeks, 
that  beard  that  thou  oft  didst  swear  by  ?  The 
remorseless  hour  and  Time  the  enemy  have  swept 
all  to  ashes  :  to  us  is  left  but  to  remember.  Who 
will  beguile  thy  thoughts  with  the  merry  chatter 
thou  didst  love  ?  who  will  allay  thy  cares  and  brood- 
ing mind  ?  Who  will  appease  thee  when  incensed 
with  angry  passion  and  storming  at  the  serving-folk, 
and  divert  thee  from  thy  fury  to  himself  ?  Who, 
when  the  feast  is  begun  and  the  wine  poured  out,  will 
snatch  it  away  e'en  from  thy  lips  and  confound  all 
things  in  delightful  rapine  ?  Who  will  climb  on  thy 
couch  in  the  morning  and  whisper  thee  awake,  and 
clasping  thee  tight  delay  thy  going,  and  from  the 
very  gate  recall  thee  to  his  kisses  ?  Who  will  be  the 
first  to  meet  thee  on  thy  return,  and  leap  to  thy  kiss 
and  thy  embrace,  and  put  his  tiny  arms  about  thy 
shoulders  ?  Mute  is  the  house,  I  vow,  and  lonely 
the  hearth  ;  desolation  is  in  the  chambers  and  a 
drear  silence  at  the  board. 

What  wonder  if  thy  good   foster-father   honours 
thee  mth  so  grand  a  funeral  ?   thou  wert  to  thy  lord 

(  ="  controlled,  narrowed  down  ")  is  used  of  a  horse's  mane, 
Theb.  ix.  687 ;  cf.  also  vi.  872,  Ov.  Am.  i.  5.  21. 

vol,.  I  G  81 


STATICS 

tu  modo  deliciae,  dulces  modo  pectore  curae. 
non  te  barbaricae  versabat  turbo  catastae, 
nee  mixtus  Phai'iis  venalis  niercibus  infans 
eompositosque  sales  meditataque  verba  locutus 
quaesisti  lascivus  erum  tardeque  parasti.  75 

hie  domus,  hinc  ortus,  dominique  penatibus  olim 
carus  uterque  parens  atque  in  tua  gaudia  liber, 
ne  quererere  genus,     raptum  sed  protinus  alvo 
sustulit  exsultans  ac  prima  lucida  voce 
astra  salutantem  dominus  <^ibi  niente  dicavit,  80 

amplexusque  sinu  tulit  et  genuisse  putavit. 
fas  niihi  sanctorum  venia  dixisse  parentum, 
tuque,  oro,  Natura,  sinas,  cui  prima  per  orbem 
iura  animis  sancire  datum  :  non  omnia  sanguis 
proximus  aut  serie  generis  demissa  propago  85 

alligat  ;  interius  nova  saepe  adscitaque  serpunt 
pignora  conexis.     natos  genuisse  necesse  est, 
elegisse  iuvat.     tenero  sic  blandus  Achilli 
semifer  Haemonium  vincebat  Pelea  Chiron, 
nee  senior  Peleus  natum  comitatus  in  arma  90 

Troica,  sed  claro  Phoenix  haerebat  alumno. 
optabat  longe  reditus  Pallantis  ovantis 
Evander,  fidus  pugnas  spectabat  Acoetes. 
cumque  procul  nitidis  genitor  cessaret  ab  astris, 
fluctivagus  volucrem  comebat  Persea  Dictys.  95 

quid  referam  altricum  victas  pietate  parentes  ? 
quid  te  post  cineres  deceptaque  funera  matris 

"  Such  as  slaves  were  commonly  displayed  on. 

''  The  "lifting-up"  of  a  new-horn  child  by  the  father 
siarnified  his  recognition  of  it  as  his  own.  On  this  occasion 
Melior  shows  that  he  has  adopted  the  child. 

"  The  son  of  Danae  bj'  Zeus.  Dictys  was  a  fisherman  of 
Seriphus,   the   island  to  which  Danae  and   her  babe  were 

82 


SILVAE,  II.  I.  71-97 

t]ie  peaceful  haven  of  his  old  age,  thou  wert  now  his 
delight,  now  the  sweet  object  of  his  care.  No  out- 
landish revolving  stage  "  turned  thee  about,  no  slave- 
boy  wert  thou  amid  Egyptian  wares,  to  utter  studied 
jests  and  well-conned  speeches,  and  by  impudent 
tricks  to  seek  and  slowly  Min  a  master.  Here  was 
thy  home,  here  wast  thou  born,  both  thy  parents  have 
long  been  loved  in  their  master's  house,  and  for  thy 
joy  were  they  freed,  lest  thou  shouldst  complain  of 
thy  birth.  Nay,  no  sooner  wert  thou  taken  from  the 
womb,  when  thy  lord  exultantly  raised  thee,''  and  as 
thy  first  cry  greeted  the  shining  stars  appointed  thee 
for  his  own  and  held  thee  close  in  his  bosom  and 
deemed  himself  thy  sire.  May  the  sanctities  of 
parents  forgive  my  words,  and  do  thou  suffer  me,  O 
Nature,  to  whom  it  is  given  to  hallow  the  earliest  ties 
between  soul  and  soul  throughout  the  world  :  bonds 
of  blood  and  lineage  are  not  all  ;  often  do  alien  or 
adopted  children  creep  further  into  our  hearts  than 
our  own  kindred.  Of  necessity  we  beget  sons,  of 
our  pleasure  do  we  choose  them.  Thus  by  his  win- 
ning ways  the  half-beast  Chiron  supplanted  Hae- 
monian  Peleus  in  young  Achilles'  favour.  Nor  did 
the  aged  Peleus  accompany  his  son  to  the  fight  at 
Troy,  but  'twas  Phoenix  that  stirred  not  from  his 
pupil's  side.  Far  off  Evander  prayed  for  Pallas' 
victorious  return,  but  faithful  Acoetes  watched  the 
combat.  And  when  his  sire  for  idleness  came  not 
from  the  shining  stars,  wave-wandering  Dictys  tended 
the  winged  Perseus."  Why  should  I  speak  of  mothers 
surpassed  in  their  affection  by  foster-nurses  ?  Why  of 
thee,  O  Bacchus,  who  when  a  treacherous  doom  had 

washed  in  the  wooden  chest,  "volucrem"  refers  to  the 
winged  sandals  given  him  by  Hermes  to  fight  Medusa. 

83 


STATIUS 

tutius  Inoo  reptantem  pectore,  Bacche  ? 

iam  secura  patris  Tuscis  i-egnabat  in  undis 

Ilia,  portantem  lassabat  Romulus  Accam.  100 

vidi  ego  transertos  alieno  in  robore  ramos 

altius  ire  suis.     et  te  iam  fecerat  illi 

mens  animusque  patrem,  necdum  moresve  decorve  : 

tu  tamen  et  iunctas^  etiam  nunc  murmure  voces 

vagitumque  rudem  fletusque  infantis  amabas.         105 

Ille,  velut  prinios  exspiraturus  ad  austros 
mollibus  in  pratis  alte  flos  improbus  exstat, 
sic  tener  ante  diem  vultu  gressuque  superbo 
vicerat  aequales  multumque  reliquerat  annos. 
sive  catenatis  curvatus  membra  palaestris  110 

staret  :  Amyclaea  conceptum  matre  putares, 
Oebaliden  illo  praeceps  mutaret  Apollo, 
Alcides  pensaret  Hylan  ;  seu  Grains^  amictu 
Attica  facundi  decurreret  orsa  Menandri  : 
laudaret  ga\isa  sonum  crinemque  decorum  115 

fregisset  rosea  lasciva  Thalia  corona  ; 
Maeonium  sive  ille  senem  Troiaeque  labores 
diceret  aut  casus  tarde  remeantis  Ulixis  : 
ipse  pater  sensus,  ipsi  stupuere  magistri. 
scilicet  infausta  Lachesis  cunabula  dextra  120 

attigit,  et  gremio  puerum  complexa  fovebat 
Invidia  :  ilia  genas  et  adultum  comere  crinem, 
haec  monstrare  artes  et  verba  infigere,  quae  nunc 
plangimus.     Herculeos  annis  aequare  labores 

^  iiinctas  M2  :  vinctas  M :  truncas  Baehrens. 
^  Graius  S"  :  aratus  M. 


"  She  was  the  sister  of  Semele,  the  mother  of  Bacchus. 

*  Ilia  (see  note  on  i.  2.  192)  was  drowned  in  the  Anio  by 
her  father  Amulius,  but  became  the  wife  of  the  river-god. 
Acca  was  the  nurse  of  Romulus. 
84. 


SILVAE,  II.  I.  98-124 

laid  thy  motliei*  in  ashes  nestled  moi'e  securely  in 
Ino's  bosom  ?  '^  And  when  Ilia,  fearing  her  sire  no 
more,  reigned  a  queen  in  Tuscan  waters,**  Romulus 
was  burdening  Acca's  arms.  I  have  seen  myself 
shoots  grafted  on  another  tree  grow  higher  than  their 
own.  And  already  had  thy  will  and  purpose,  Melior. 
made  thee  his  sire,  though  not  yet  his  charm  and 
goodness  ;  nevertheless  tliou  didst  love  the  words 
even  now  mingled  with  his  utterance,  and  his  rude 
infant  cries  and  tears. 

He,  like  a  flower  that  is  doomed  to  perish  at  the 
first  breath  of  the  South  wind,  yet  with  reckless 
daring  lifts  high  its  head  in  the  lush  meadow,  young 
as  he  was  liad  early  surpassed  his  peers  in  pride  of 
step  and  countenance,  and  had  far  outstripped  his 
years.  Did  he  stand  with  limbs  bent  in  the  locked 
wrestling-bout,  you  would  have  deemed  liim  born  of 
an  Amyclaean  mother  ^  ;  Apollo  would  soon  have 
exchanged  for  him  the  son  of  Oebalus,^  Alcides  had 
bartered  Hylas  ;  if  in  Grecian  dress  he  declaimed 
the  Attic  speech  of  fluent  Menander,  Thalia  would 
have  rejoiced  and  praised  his  accents,  and  in  wanton 
mood  have  disordered  his  comely  locks  witli  a  rosy 
garland  ;  or  if  he  recited  the  old  Maeonian  and  the 
toils  of  Troy,  or  the  mishaps  and  slow  returning  of 
Ulysses,  his  very  father,  his  very  teachers  were 
amazed  at  his  understanding.  Truly  did  Lachesis  " 
touch  his  cradle  witli  ill-omened  hand,  and  Envy 
clasped  the  babe  and  held  him  in  her  bosom  :  the 
one  fondled  his  cheeks  and  luxuriant  curls,  the  other 
tauglit  him  his  skill  and  inspired  those  words  over 
which  we  now  make  moan.      His  rising  years,  though 

°  i.e..  Spartan,  the  Spartan  youths  being  famed  for  their 
wrestling.  ^  i.e.,  K^arcissus.  *  One  of  the  Fates. 

85 


STATIUS 

coeperat  adsurgens,  sed  adhuc  infantia  iuxta  ;        125 
iam  tanien  et  validi  gressus  mensuraque  niaior 
cultibus  et  visae  puero  decrescere  vestes, 
cum  tibi  quas  vestes,  quae  non  gestamina  mitis 
festinabat  erus  !  brevibus  non  stringere^  laenis 
pectora  et  angustante  alas^  artare  lacerna  ;  130 

enormes  non  ille  sinus,  sed  semper  ad  annos 
texta  legens  modo  puniceo  velabat  amictu, 
nunc  herbas  imitante  sinu,  nunc  dulce  rubenti 
murice,  nunc  vivis  digitos  incendere  gemmis 
gaudebat  :  non  turba  comes,  non  munera  cessant :  135 
sola  verecundo  deerat  praetexta  decori. 

Haec  fortuna  domus.     subitas  inimica  levavit 
Parca  manus.    quo,  diva,  feros  gravis  exseris  ungues  ? 
non  te  forma  movet,  non  te  lacrimabilis  aetas  ? 
hunc  nee  saeva  viro  potuisset  carpere  Procne,         140 
nee  fera  crudeles  Colchis  durasset  in  iras, 
editus  Aeolia  nee  si  foret  iste  Creusa  ; 
torvus  ab  hoc  Athanias  insanos  flecteret  arcus, 
hunc  quamquam  Hectoreos  cineres  Troiamque  per- 

osus 
turribus  e  Phrygiis  flesset  missurus  Ulixes  145 

septima  lux,  et  iam  frigentia  lumina  torpent, 
iam  complexa  manu  crinem  tenet  infera  luno. 

^  non  stringere  Postgate  :  constringere  M. 
^  angustante  alas  Postgate  :  angusta  telas  M. 

"  Or,  keeping  the  ms.  reading,  translate  "  he  would 
fasten  a  short  tunic  on  thy  chest,  and  contract  the  web  with 
a  narrow  cloak."  Cf.  Theb.  vi.  74  ff.  In  any  case  the 
meaning,  first  made  clear  by  Macnaghten  {Journ.  Phil., 
1891),  is  that  Glaucias  was  ahvays  given  clothes  which  fitted 
exactly,  neither  too  large  nor  too  small. 

''  The  toga  with  a  purple  border,  worn  by  free-born 
children  up  to  the  age  of  16.     Glaucias  was  slave-born. 

86 


SILVAE,  II.  I.   125-147 

infancy  still  was  near,  had  begun  to  draw  level  with 
the  toils  of  Hercules  ;  yet  already  was  he  firm 
of  stride,  and  his  height  outstripped  his  dress,  and 
the  garments  seemed  to  shrink  upon  the  lad,  for 
what  garments,  what  apparel  did  not  thy  kindly  lord 
hasten  to  procure  thee  ?  He  constrained  not  thy 
breast  in  a  narrow  tunic,"  nor  cramped  thy  shoulders  in 
a  straitening  cloak  ;  nor  did  he  drape  thee  in  large, 
ill-fitting  folds,  but  ever  suiting  the  raiment  to  thy 
years  now  garbed  thee  in  scarlet,  now  in  grass-green 
clothing,  now  in  the  soft  blush  of  purple,  or  rejoiced 
to  kindle  the  flash  of  gems  upon  tiiy  fingers  ;  unfail- 
ing was  thy  attendant  train,  unfailing  were  his  gifts  ; 
the  bordered  robe  **  alone  was  lacking  to  thy  modest 
beauty. 

Such  was  the  fortune  of  that  house.  Suddenly 
Fate  lifted  her  hand  to  strike.  Wherefore,  O  god- 
dess, dost  thou  banefully  unsheathe  those  cruel 
talons  ?  Doth  not  his  beauty  move  thee,  or  his 
piteous  tender  age  ?  Fierce  Procne  would  not  have 
had  the  heart  to  rend  him  for  her  lord,  nor  would 
the  savage  Colchian  have  persisted  in  her  cruel  ire, 
even  though  he  had  been  the  son  of  Aeolian  Creusa  ; 
from  him  would  grim  Athamas  have  turned  aside  his 
maddened  bow  ;  Ulysses  though  hating  Hector's 
ashes  and  Troy  full  sore  would  have  wept  to  hurl 
him  from  the  Phrygian  towers.*^  'Tis  the  seventh 
day,  and  already  those  eyes  are  dull  and  cold,  and 
Juno  of  the  underworld  hath  clasped  him  and  seized 

"  Procne  slew  lier  son  Itys  and  gave  him  as  food  to  her 
husband  Tereus  ;  Medea  was  deserted  by  Jason  for  Creusa  ; 
Aeolian  =  Corinthian,  because  Sisyphus,  King  of  Corinth,  was 
son  of  Aeolus,  cf.  "  Sisyphii  portus,"  Tlteb.  ii.  380  ;  Athamas 
in  madness  slew  his  son  Learchus  ;  Astyanax,  son  of  Hector, 
was  flung  by  Ulysses  from  the  walls  of  Troy. 

87 


STATIUS 

ille  tamen,  Parcis  fragiles  urgentibus  annos, 
te  vultu  moriente  videt  linguaque  cadente 
murmurat  ;  in  te  omnes  vacui  iam  pectoris  efflat    150 
reliquias,  solum  meminit  solumque  vocantem 
exaudit  tibique  ora  movet,  tibi  verba  relinquit 
et  prohibet  gemitus  consolaturque  dolentem. 
gratum  est,  Fata,  tamen,  quod  non  mors  lenta  iacentis 
exedit  puerile  decus,  manesque  subivit  155 

integer  et  nullo  temeratus  corpora  damno, 
qualis  erat. 

Quid  ego  exsequias  et  prodiga  flammis 
dona  loquar  maestoque  ardentia  funera  luxu  ? 
quod  tibi  purpureo  tristis  rogus  aggei-e  cre\'it, 
quod  Cilicum  flores,  quod  munera  graminis  Indi,    160 
quodque  Arabes  Phariique  Palaestinique^  liquores 
arsuram  lavere  comam  ?     cupit  omnia  ferre 
prodigus  et  totos  Melior  succendere  census, 
desertas  exosus  opes  ;  sed  non  capit  ignis 
invidus,  atque  artae  desunt  in  munera  flammae.    165 
horror  habet  sensus.     qualem  te  funere  summo 
atque  rogum  iuxta,  Melior  placidissime  quondam, 
extimui  !  tune  ille  hilaris  comisque  videri  ? 
unde  animi  saevaeque  manus  et  barbarus  horror, 
dum  modo  fusus  humi  lucem  aversaris  iniquam,     170 
nunc  torvus  pariter  vestes  et  pectora  rumpis 
dilectosque  premis  visus  et  frigida  lambis 
oscula  ?     erant  illic  genitor  materque  iacentis 
maesta,  sed  attoniti  te  spectavere  parentes.  174: 

quid  mirum  ?    plebs  cuncta  nefas  et  prae\ia  flerunt 
agmina,  Flaminio  quae  limite  Molvius  agger 

^  Palaestinique  Selden  :  palam  est  vidique  M. 

"  Saffron,  frankincense. 
*   Myrrh,  balsam, 

88 


SILVAE,   II.   I.   148-176 

in  her  Jiand  tlie  lock  of  hair.  Yet  he,  tliough  the 
Fates  press  hard  upon  his  frail  life,  beholds  thee 
with  his  dying  vision  and  murmurs  thy  name  with 
faltering  tongue  ;  to  thee  he  gasps  out  the  last 
breath  from  his  exhausted  frame,  thee  alone  he 
remembers,  thy  cry  alone  he  hears,  for  thee  his  lips 
are  moved  and  his  last  words  spoken,  as  he  bids  thee 
not  to  mourn  and  consoles  thy  grief.  Yet  we  thank 
thee,  O  Fate,  that  no  lingering  death  devoured  his 
boyish  charm  as  he  lay,  that  he  went  inviolate  to 
the  shades,  just  as  he  was,  without  touch  of  harm 
upon  his  body. 

Why  should  I  tell  of  the  funeral  rites,  the  gifts 
flung  prodigally  to  the  flarnes,  the  melancholy  pomp 
of  the  blazing  pyre  ?  How  thou  didst  heap  the  purples 
high  on  the  sad  pile,  how  Cilician  blooms  and  gifts 
of  Indian  herbs,"  and  juices  of  Arabia  and  Palestine 
and  Egypt  ^  steeped  the  hair  that  Avas  to  burn  ? 
Fain  would  Melior  bring  all  without  stinting,  and 
consume  whole  fortunes  in  loathing  of  his  wealth 
laid  desolate  ;  but  the  grudging  fire  avails  not,  and 
the  puny  flames  are  too  few  to  burn  the  gifts.  Awe 
lays  hold  upon  my  heart.  O  Melior,  once  so  calm, 
how  distraught  wert  thou  in  that  deadly  hour  beside 
the  pyre,  how  I  feared  thee  !  Was  that  the  merry, 
kindly  face  we  knew  ?  Whence  that  frenzy,  those 
merciless  hands,  those  spasms  of  wild  grief  as  thou 
liest  prostrate  on  the  ground  shunning  the  cruel  light, 
or  fiercely  tearest  thy  clothes  and  bosom,  straining 
the  dear  face  to  thee  and  kissing  the  cold  lips  ?  The 
fiither  and  sorrowing  mother  of  the  dead  one  were 
there,  but  on  thee  they  gazed  awe-stricken — what 
wonder  ?  All  the  people  mourned  the  deadlv  blow, 
and   crowds   escorted   thee   on   the   Flaminian  road 

89 


STATIUS 

transvehit,  immeritus  flammis  dum  tristibus  infans 
traditur,  et  geniitum  formaque  aevoque^  meretur  : 
talis  in  Isthmiacos  prolatus  ab  aequore  portus 
naufragus  imposita  iacuit  sub  matre  Palaemon  ;     180 
sic  et  in  anguiferae  ludentem  gramine  Lernae 
rescissum  squamis  avidus  bibit  ignis^  Ophelten. 

Pone  metus  Letique  minas  desiste  vereri  : 
ilium  nee  terno  latrabit  Cerberus  ore, 
nulla  soror  flammis,  nulla  adsurgentibus  hydris       185 
terrebit  ;  quin  ipse  avidae  trux  navita  cumbae 
interius  steriles  ripas  et  adusta  subibit 
litora,  ne  puero  dura  ascendisse  facultas. 

Quid  mihi  gaudenti  proles  Cyllenia  virga  189 

nuntiat  ?  estne  aliquid  tarn  saevo  in  tempore  laetum  ? 
noverat  effigies  generosique  ardua  Blaesi 
ora  puer,  dum  saepe  domi  nova  serta  ligantem 
te  videt  et  similes  tergentem  pectore  ceras. 
hune  ubi  Lethaei  lustrantem  gurgitis  oras 
Ausonios  inter  proceres  seriemque  Quirini  195 

adgnovit,  timide  primum  vestigia  iungit 
accessu  tacito  summosque  lacessit  amictus, 
inde     magis     sequitur  ;      neque     enim     magis     ille 

trahentem 
spernit  et  ignota  credit  de  stirpe  nepotum. 
mox  ubi  delicias  et  rari  pignus  amici  200 

sensit  et  amissi  puerum  solacia  Blaesi, 
tollit  humo  magnaque  ligat  cervice  diuque 

^  aevoque  Gulielmiis  :  ac  voce  J/. 
^  ignis  Koestlin  :  anguis  M. 

"  See  Theb.  vi.  54  sqq. 

^  i.e.,  no  Fury.  The  Furies,  often  called  by  Statins  "  the 
Sisters,"  are  represented  with  torches  and  snaky  hair. 

"  Mercurj',  who  conducted  the  souls  of  the  dead  to  the 
underworld. 

90 


SILVAE,   II.  I.   177-202 

across  the  Mulvian  bridge,  while  an  innocent  eliild  is 
given  over  to  the  angry  ilames,  and  both  by  his  age 
and  by  his  beauty  wins  their  tears.  Such  was 
Palaemon,  v,'hen  his  mother  flung  herself  on  him 
as  he  lay  ship^vTecked  and  cast  up  from  the  sea  in 
the  Isthmian  haven  ;  such  too  Opheltes,  whom  the 
serpent  tore  as  he  played  in  the  snake-haunted  grass 
of  Lerna,  when  the  greedy  fire  consumed  him." 

But  lay  aside  thy  fears,  and  be  no  more  in  dread 
of  threatening  Death  :  Cerberus  with  triple  jaws  will 
not  bark  at  him,  no  Sister  **  will  terrify  him  with  flames 
and  towering  hydras  ;  nay,  even  the  grim  sailor  of 
the  greedy  boat  will  draw  nearer  to  the  barren  shores 
and  fire-scorched  bank,  that  the  boy's  embarking  may 
be  easy. 

What  message  brings  the  son  of  Cyllene,"  waving 
a  glad  wand  ?  Can  there  be  aught  of  joy  in  so 
terrible  a  time  ?  Well  did  the  lad  know  the  likeness 
and  lofty  countenance  of  noble  Blaesus,  for  often 
had  he  seen  thee  at  home  twining  fresli  garlands 
and  pressing  that  image  to  thy  breast.  And  when 
he  recognized  him  among  the  Ausonian  nobles  and 
the  lineage  of  Quirinus  pacing  the  shores  of  Lethe's 
stream,  he  silently  drew  near  and  first  walked  beside 
him  timidly  and  plucked  at  his  garment's  edge,  then 
followed  him  more  boldly,  for  as  he  more  boldly 
plucked  the  other  spurned  him  not,  but  thought  him 
an  unknown  scion  of  his  house.  Soon  when  he  knew 
that  the  boy  was  the  darling  and  favourite  of  a  friend 
so  rare,  the  solace  for  his  lost  Blaesus,'^  he  raised  him 
from  the  ground  and  fastened  him  about  his  mighty 

^  The  points  seems  to  be  that  the  boy  himself  was 
"blaesus,"  i.e.  "stammering,"  being  still  under  12,  and  was 
so  a  consolation  to  Melior  for  his  friend  Blaesus. 

9J 


ST  ATI  us 

ipse  manu  gaudens  vehit  et,  quae  munera  mollis 
Elysii,  steriles  ramos  niutasque  volucres 
porgit  et  obtunso  pallentes  genuine  flores.  205 

nee  prohibet  nieminisse  tui,  sed  pectora  blandus 
roiscet  et  alternum  pueri  parti tur  amorem. 

Hie  finis  rapto.     quin  tu  iam  vulnera  sedas 
et  tollis  mersum  luctu  caput  ?  omnia  functa 
aut  moritura  vides  :  obeunt  noctesque  diesque       210 
astraque,  nee  solidis  prodest  sua  machina  terris. 
nam  populus  mortale  genus  plebisque  caducae 
quis  fleat  interitus  ?   lios  bella,  hos  aequora  poscunt  ; 
his  amor  exitio,  furor  his  et  saeva  cupido, 
ut  sileam  morbos  ;  hos  ora  rigentia  Brumae,  215 

illos  implacido  letalis  Sirius  igni, 
hos  manet  imbrifero  pallens  Autumnus  hiatu. 
quicquid  init  ortus,  finem  timet,     ibimus  omnes, 
ibimus  :    immensis  urnam  quatit  Aeacus  umbris. 
ast  hie,  quem  gemimus,  felix  hominesque  deosque 
et  dubios  casus  et  caecae  lubrica  vitae  221 

efFugit,  immunis  fatis.     non  ille  rogavit, 
non  timuit  meruitve^  mori  :  nos  anxia  plebes, 
nos  miseri,  quibus  unde  dies  suprema,  quis  aevi 
exitus,  incertum,  quibus  instet  fulmen  ab  astris,    225 
quae  nubes  fatale  sonet.     nil  flecteris  istis  ? 
sed  flectere  libens.     ades  hue  emissus  ab  atro 
limine,  cui  soli  cuncta  impetrare  facultas, 
Glaucia^ — insontes  animas  nee  portitor  arcet 
nee  durae  comes  ille  ferae — :  tu  pectora  mulce,     230 

^  meruitve  M :  renuit\e  Heinsiiis. 

^  Glaucia  M :    Glaucia  si  Macnaghten,  Glaucia  nam  5". 

"  Slater  suggests  that  "  comes  "  =  Cerberus,  and  "ferae" 
=  Hydra,  as  in  Virg.  Aen.xi.  287;  Vollmer  makes  Cerberus 
the  beast,  and  the  comrade  a  figure  found  on  a  wall-painting 
by  the  side  of  Cerberus,  and  described  Lucan,  Phars.  vi.  702  ; 
cf.  Sil.  It.  Pun.  xiii.  587. 

92 


SILVAE,   II.   I.  203-230 

shoulders,  and  a  long  while  carried  him  rejoicing 
upon  his  arm,  and  offered  him  such  gifts  as  kindly 
Elysium  bears,  sterile  boughs  and  songless  birds  and 
pale  flowers  with  bruised  blossoms.  Nor  does  he 
forbid  him  to  remember  thee,  but  fondly  blends  heart 
with  heart,  and  takes  part  in  turn  in  the  affection  of 
the  lad. 

It  is  the  end  :  he  is  lost  to  thee.  Wilt  thou  not 
now  assuage  thy  pain  and  lift  thy  grief-sunken  head  ? 
All  that  thou  seest  is  dead  or  doomed  to  die  ;  nights 
and  days  perish,  and  the  stars,  nor  does  the  frame 
of  the  solid  earth  avail  her.  Our  race  is  of  mortal 
kind,  and  who  should  bewail  the  passing  of  folk 
whose  end  is  sure  ?  War  claims  some,  the  ocean 
others  ;  some  are  victims  of  love,  of  madness,  or  fell 
desire  ;  these  winter's  freezing  breath  awaits,  those 
the  fierce  heat  of  deadly  Sirius,  others  pale  Autumn 
with  rain-bringing  j aws .  All  that  hath  had  beginning 
fears  its  end.  Doomed  are  we  all,  ay,  doomed  :  for 
shades  innumerable  doth  Aeacus  shake  his  urn.  But 
he  whom  we  mourn  is  happy  :  gods  and  men  hath 
he  escaped,  and  doubtful  chance  and  the  dangers  of 
our  dark  life  :  he  is  beyond  the  will  of  Fate.  He 
prayed  not,  nor  feared  nor  deserved  to  die  ;  but  we, 
poor  anxious  creatures,  miserable  folk,  we  know  not 
whence  our  death  shall  come,  what  our  life's  end 
shall  be,  from  what  quarter  the  thunderbolt  threatens, 
what  cloud  utters  the  sound  of  doom.  Do  these 
thoughts  not  move  thee  ?  But  thou  shalt  be  moved, 
and  willingly.  Come  hither,  Glaucias,  who  alone 
canst  obtain  all  thou  dost  ask  ;  leave  that  dark 
threshold,  for  neither  the  ferryman  nor  the  comrade 
of  the  cruel  beast  '^  bars  the  way  to  innocent  souls  ; 


93 


STATIUS 

tu  prohibe  nianare  genas  noctesque  beatas 
dulcibus  alloquiis  et  vivis  vultibus  imple, 
et  periisse  nega,  desolatamque  sororem, 
qui  potes,  et  misei'os  perge  insinuare  parentes. 


II 

MLLA  SURRENTINA  POLLII  FELICIS 

Est  intex-  notos  Sirenum  nomine  muros 
saxaque  Tyrrhenae  templis  onerata  Minervae 
celsa  Dicarchei  speculatrix  villa  profundi, 
qua  Bromio  dilectus  ager,  collesque  per  altos 
uritur  et  prelis  non  invidet  uva  Falernis.  5 

hue  me  post  patrii  laetum  quinquennia  lustri, 
cum  stadio  iam  pigra  quies  canusque  sederet 
pulvis  ad  Ambracias  conversa  gymnade  frondes, 
trans  gentile  fretum  placidi  facundia  Polli 
detulit  et  nitidae  iuvenilis  gratia  Pollae,  10 


"  The  name  of  Surrentum  was  locally  derived  from  that 
of  the  Sirens,  probably  through  the  fact  that  Parthenope, 
the  old  man  of  Naples,  was  also  the  name  of  one  of  the 
Sirens  themselves  ;  the  islands  to  the  south  of  the  promontory 
are  called  ZnpT^vovffcrai  as  early  as  Eratosthenes.  The 
southernmost  headland  bore  the  name  and  temple  of  Minerva ; 
Tyrrhene,  perhaps  from  the  "  mare  Tyrrhenum,"  perhaps 
from  a  tradition  of  Etruscan  power  {cf.  Steph.  Byz.  'ZvpivTiov 
TToXis  Tvpprji'las),  Minerva  herself  being  originally  Etruscan. 
"The  Dicarchean  deep  "  is  the  bay  of  Naples,  from  Dicarchus 
or  Dicarcheus,  founder  of  Puteoli. 

*  The  four-yearly  fe>)tival  of  the  Augustalia  at  Naples, 
instituted  in  a.d.  2  ;  it  consisted  of  musical  and  gymnastic 
contests.  The  Actian  ("  Ambracian  "  1.  8)  games  came  a  little 
later,  beginning  on  September  2. 

94 


SILVAE,  II,  I.  231—11.  10 

soothe  thou  his  heart  and  forbid  his  tears  to  flow  ; 
make  liis  nights  glad  with  thy  sweet  converse  and 
thy  hving  countenance.  Tell  him  thou  art  not  dead, 
and  hasten  to  commend  to  him — for  thou  canst — thy 
unhappy  parents  and  thy  sister  left  fox-lorn. 


II.  THE  VILLA  OF  POLLIUS  FELIX  AT 
SURRENTUM 

The  rjeneral  arrangement  of  the  poem  follows  the  lines  of 
I.  3  ;  there  is  a  description  of  tlie  villa  and  its  surroundings, 
followed  by  praise  of  its  master,  Pollius,  and,  in  this  case, 
of  his  wife  Polla  as  well.  Pollivs  Felix  was  a  wealthy 
patron  of  Statius.  The  position  of  the  villa  can  be  deter- 
mined with  some  degree  of  certainty  as  having  been  on  the 
coast  between  the  Capo  di  Sorrento  and  tlie  Capo  di  Massa, 
on  the  heights  of  the  Punta  della  Calcarella  ;  just  to  the 
south  the  Marina  di  Puolo  still  preserves  the  name  of  Pollius, 
and  must  be  the  "  unum  litus  "  of  II.  15,  16  ;  the  temples  of 
Neptune  and  Hercules  lay  somewhere  below  the  villa.  Con- 
siderable remains  of  Roman  masonry  still  exist. 

The  building  of  the  Temple  of  Hercules  is  described  in 
Silv.  iii.  1. 

Between  the  walls  that  are  known  by  the  Sirens' 
name  and  the  cliff  that  is  burdened  by  the  shrine  of 
Etruscan  Minerva  a  lofty  villa  stands  and  gazes  out 
upon  the  Dicarchean  deep  ;  '^  there  the  ground  is 
beloved  of  Bromius,  and  the  grapes  ripen  on  the  high 
hills  nor  envy  the  Falernian  wine-pressess.  Hither 
was  I  glad  to  come  after  the  four-yearly  festival  ^ 
of  my  home, — when  at  last  deep  quiet  had  fallen 
and  the  dust  lay  white  upon  the  course,  and  the 
athletes  had  turned  them  to  Ambracian  garlands, — • 
drawn  by  the  eloquence  of  gentle  Pollius  and  bright 
Folia's    girlish    charm    to    cross    my    native    strait  : 

95 


ST  ATI  us 

flectere  iam  cupidum  gressus,  qua  limite  noto 
Appia  longarum  teritur  regina  viarum. 

Sed  iuvere  niorae.     placido  lunata  recessu 
hinc  atque  hinc  cui'vas  perrunipunt  aequora  rupes. 
dat  natura  locum  montique  intervenit  unum^  15 

litus  et  in  terras  scopulis  pendentibus  exit, 
gratia  prima  loci,  gemina  testudine  fumant 
balnea,  et  e  terris  occurrit  dulcis  amaro 
nympha  mari.     levis  hie  Phorci  chorus  udaque  crines 
Cymodoce  viridisque  cupit  Galatea  lavari.  20 

ante  domum  tumidae  moderator  caerulus  undae 
excubat,  innocui  custos  laris  ;  huius  amico 
spumant  templa  salo.     felicia  rura  tuetur 
Alcides  ;  gaudet  gemino  sub  numine  portus  : 
hie  servat  terras,  hie  saevis  fluctibus  obstat.  25 

mira  quies  pelagi  :  ponunt  hie  lassa  furorem 
aequora,  et  insani  spirant  clementius  austri, 
hie  praeceps  minus  audet  hiems,  nulloque  tumultu 
stagna  modesta  iacent  dominique  imitantia  mores. 

Inde  per  obliquas  erepit  porticus  arces,  30 

urbis  opus,  longoque  domat  saxa  aspera  dorso. 
qua  prius  obseuro  permixti  pulvere  soles 
et  feritas  inamoena  viae,  nunc  ire  voluptas  : 
qualis,  si  subeas  Ephyres  Baccheidos  altum 
culmen,  ab  Inoo  fert  semita  tecta  Lechaeo.^  35 

1  unum  M  (Kroltn ;  cf.  Suet.  Tib.  40):  uduni,  inium, 
uncum  edd. 

^  Lechaeo  T>om.  :  lyceo  3/:  Lyaeo  S~. 

"  Old  name  of  Corinth  ;  the  epithet  appears  to  allude  to 
the  Bacchiadae,  ancient  rulers  of  Corinth. 

*"  Lechaeum  was  the  port  of  Corinth  on  the  Corinthian 
gulf,   associated   with   the  worship   of  I  no   and   Palaemon 

9Q 


SILVAE,  II.  II.  11  35 

tJiough  already  fain  to  direct  my  steps  where  runs 
the  worn  and  well-known  track  of  Appia,  queen  of 
the  long  roads. 

Yet  the  time  I  spent  delighted  me.  The  crescent 
waters  of  a  tranquil  bay  break  through  the  curving 
line  of  cliff  on  either  hand.  The  spot  is  of  Nature's 
giving  :  one  single  beach  lies  between  sea  and  hill, 
ending  towards  the  land  in  overhanging  rocks.  The 
first  charm  of  the  place  is  a  smoking  bath-house  with 
two  cupolas,  and  a  stream  of  fresh  water  from  the 
land  meeting  the  salt  brine.  Here  would  the  nimble 
choir  of  Phorcus  wish  to  bathe,  and  Cymodoce  with 
dripping  tresses  and  sea-green  Galatea.  Before  the 
building  the  dark-blue  ruler  of  the  swelling  waves 
keeps  watch,  and  guards  that  innocent  home  ;  his 
shrine  is  it  that  is  wet  with  friendly  spray.  Alcides 
protects  the  happy  fields  ;  in  the  two  deities  does 
the  haven  rejoice  :  one  guards  the  land,  the  other 
resists  the  angry  billows.  A  wondrous  peace  is  on 
the  sea  :  here  the  Aveary  waves  rage  no  more,  and 
the  furious  South  wind  blows  more  mildly  ;  here  the 
swift  hurricane  is  less  daring,  and  the  pools  lie 
tranquil  and  undisturbed,  calm  as  the  spirit  of  their 
lord. 

Thence  a  colonnade  climbs  slantwise  up  the  cliff, 
vast  as  a  city,  and  its  long  line  of  roof  gains  mastery 
over  the  rugged  rocks.  Where  the  sun  once  shone 
through  clouds  of  dust,  and  the  way  was  wild  and 
unlovely,  now  it  is  a  pleasure  to  go.  Even  such, 
should  you  scale  the  lofty  height  of  Bacchic  Ephyre,'* 
is  the  covered  way  that  leads  from  Lechaeum,  of 
Ino's  fame.** 

(Melicertes),  whence  came  the  Isthmian  games  ;  cf.  Theh. 
ii.  381. 

VOL.   I  H  97 


ST  ATI  us 

Non,  mihi  si  cunctos  Helicon  indulgeat  amnes 
et  superet  Pimplea  sitim  largeque  volantis 
iingula  sedet  equi  reseretque  arcana  pudicos 
Phemonoe  fontes  vel  quos  meus  auspice  Phoebo 
altius  immersa  turbavit  Pollius  urna,  40 

innumeras  valeam  species  cultusque  locorum 
Pieriis  aequare  modis.     vix  ordine  longo 
sufFecere  oculi,  vix,  dum  per  singula  ducor, 
suffecere  gradus.     quae  reruni  turba  !  locine  44 

ingenium  an  domini  niirer  prius  ?    haec  domus  ortus 
aspicit  et  Phoebi  tenerum  iubar  ;  ilia  cadentem 
detinet  exactamque  negat  diniittere  lucem, 
cum  iam  fessa  dies  et  in  aequora  mentis  opaci 
umbra  cadit  vitreoque  natant  praetoria  ponto. 
haec  pelagi  clamore  fremunt,  haec  tecta  sonoros      50 
ignorant  fluctus  terraeque  silentia  malunt. 
liis  favit  natura  locis,  hie  victa  colenti 
cessit  et  ignotos  docilis  mansue\'it  in  usus. 
mons  erat  hie,  ubi  plana  vides  ;  et  lustra  fuerunt, 
quae  nunc  tecta  subis  ;  ubi  nunc  nemora  ardua  cernis, 
hie  nee  terra  fuit  :  domuit  possessor,  et  ilium  56 

formantem  rupes  expugnantemque  secuta 
gaudet  humus,     nunc  cerne  iugum  discentia  saxa 
intrantesque  domos  iussumque  recedere  montem. 
iam  Methymnaei  vatis  manus  et  chelys  una  60 

Thebais  et  Getici  cedat  tibi  gloria  plectri  : 
et  tu  saxa  moves,  et  te  nemora  alta  sequuntur. 

"  i.e.,  the  fountain  Hippocrene  struck  forth  by  the  hoof  of 
Pergasus,  cf.  ii.  7.  4. 

*"  Daughter  of  Apollo,  and,  according  to  Strabo,  the  first 
Pjthian  priestess.  Her  "  pure  "  springs  are  those  of  Castalia 
("  castus  "),  and  "  arcana  "  may  be  meant  as  an  etymologizing 
of  "  Phemonoe,"  "  she  who  speaks  forth  hidden  thoughts." 

"  Arion,  Amphion,  Orpheus. 

98 


SILVAE,  II.   II.  3G-62 

Not  if  Helicon  were  to  grant  me  all  her  streams, 
or  Pimplea  quench  my  thirst,  or  the  hoof  of  the 
flying  steed "  abundantly  assuage  it  :  not  if  mystic 
Phemonoe  ^  were  to  unlock  her  pure  springs  or  those 
wherein  my  Pollius,  under  the  auspices  of  Phoebus ,  hath 
plunged  his  deep-immersed  urn — not  even  so  could 
I  equal  in  Pierian  strains  the  countless  charms  and 
beauties  of  the  place.  Scarcely  could  my  eyes  sus- 
tain the  long  array,  scarce  could  my  feet  avail,  while 
I  was  led  from  scene  to  scene.  What  a  multitude 
of  things  !  Shall  I  first  admire  the  genius  of  the 
place  or  of  its  master  ?  This  part  of  the  house  looks 
eastward  to  Phoebus'  morning  rays  ;  that  part  de- 
tains him  as  he  sets,  nor  allows  the  exhausted  light 
to  disappear,  when  the  day  is  wearied  out  and  the 
shadow  of  the  dark  mountain  falls  on  the  waters, 
and  the  proud  mansion  floats  upon  the  glassy  flood. 
Here  the  sound  of  the  sea  is  in  the  chambers,  here 
they  know  not  the  roaring  of  the  waves,  but  prefer 
the  silence  of  the  land.  Here  are  spots  that  Nature 
has  favoured,  here  she  has  been  outdone  and  given 
way  to  the  settler  and  learnt  gentleness  in  ways 
unknown  before.  Here,  where  you  now  see  level 
ground,  was  a  hill  ;  the  halls  you  enter  were  wild 
country  ;  where  now  tall  groves  appear,  there  was 
once  not  even  soil  :  its  owner  has  tamed  the  place, 
and  as  he  shaped  and  conquered  the  rocks  the 
earth  gladly  gave  way  before  him.  See  how  the 
cliff  learns  to  bear  the  yoke,  how  the  dwellings  force 
tlieir  entry  and  the  mountain  is  bidden  withdraw. 
Now  let  the  skill  of  Methymne's  bard  and  that  sole 
Theban  lyre  and  the  glory  of  the  Getic  quill  *=  give 
way  before  thee  :  thou  too  dost  move  the  rocks,  thee 
too  the  high  woods  follow. 

99 


STATIUS 

Quid  referam  veteres  ceraeque  aerisque  figuras, 
si  quid  Apellei  gaudent  animasse  colores, 
si  quid  adhuc  vacua,  tamen  admirabile,  Pisa  65 

Phidiacae  rasere  manus,  quod  ab  arte  Myronis 
aut  Polycliteo  iussum  est  quod  vivere  caelo, 
aeraque  ab  Isthniiacis  auro  potiora  favillis, 
era  ducum  ac  vatum  sapientumque  ora  priorum, 
quos  tibi  cura  sequi,  quos  toto  pectore  sentis,  70 

expers  curarum  atque  animum  virtute  quieta 
compositus  semperque  tuus  ?     quid  mille  revolvam 
culmina  visendique  vices  ?     sua  cuique  voluptas 
atque     omni     proprium     thalamo     mare,     transque 

iacentem 
Nerea  diversis  servit  sua  terra  fenestris  :  75 

haec  videt  Inarimen,  illinc  Prochyta  aspera  paret  ; 
armiger  hac  magni  patet  Hectoris,  inde  malignum 
aera  respirat  pelago  circumflua  Nesis  ; 
inde  vagis  omen  felix  Euploea  carinis 
quaeque  ferit  curves  exserta  Megalia  fluctus,  80 

angitur  et  domino  contra  recubante  proculque 
Surrentina  tuus  spectat  praetoria  Limon. 
una  tamen  cunctis,  procul  eminet  una  diaetis, 
quae  tibi  Parthenopen  derecto  limite  ponti 
ingerit  :  hie  Grais  penitus  delecta  metallis  85 

saxa  ;  quod  Eoae  respergit  vena  Syenes, 
Synnade  quod  maesta  Phrygiae  fodere  secures 
per  Cybeles  lugentis  agros,  ubi  marmore  picto 
Candida  purpureo  distinguitur  area  gyro  ; 
hie  et  Amyclaei  caesum  de  monte  Lycurgi  90 

"  i.e.,  before  the  statue  of  Olympian  Zeus  was  there. 

''  Statues  supposed  to  have  been  cast  from  the  masses 
of  molten  bronze  found  in  Corinth  after  its  burning :  see 
Petronius,  50  ;  Plinj%  N.II.  xxxiv.  5. 

"  The  cape  called  after  Misenus. 

■*  Because  the  name  (EuTrXota)  means  "  happy  voyaging." 
100 


SILVAE,  II.  II.  G3-90 

Why  should  I  tell  of  ancient  forms  in  wax  or 
bronze,  or  of  aught  that  the  colours  of  Apelles  re- 
joiced to  animate,  or  the  hand  of  Phidias  carved, 
though  Pisa  still  was  empty,"  yet  wondrously  withal, 
or  what  was  bidden  live  by  Myron's  art  or  Polycletus' 
chisel,  the  bronzes,  from  the  funeral  fire  of  Corinth,'' 
more  precious  than  gold,  countenances  of  chieftains 
and  prophets  and  sages  of  old  time,  whom  it  is  thy 
care  to  follow,  whose  influence  tliou  dost  feel  in  all 
thy  being,  untroubled  and  steadfast  in  thy  tranquil 
virtue,  and  ever  lord  of  thy  own  heart  ?  Why  should 
I  recount  the  numberless  summits  and  the  changing 
views  ?  Each  chamber  has  its  oAvn  deliglit,  its  own 
particular  sea,  and  across  the  expanse  of  Nereus  each 
window  commands  a  different  landscape  :  this  one 
beholds  Inarime,  from  that  rugged  Prochyta  is  seen  ; 
here  the  squire  of  mighty  Hector "  is  outspread, 
there  sea-girt  Nesis  breathes  tainted  air  ;  yonder  is 
Euploea,  good  omen  for  wandering  barks,'^  and 
Megalia  flung  out  to  repel  the  curving  billows  ;  and 
thy  own  Limon  grieves  that  his  lord  reclines  there 
over  against  him,  and  gazes  at  thy  Surrentine  mansion 
from  afar.  Yet  one  room  there  is,  one  higher  than 
all  the  rest,  which  over  a  straight  track  of  sea  brings 
Parthenope  to  thy  sight  :  here  are  marbles  chosen 
from  the  heart  of  Grecian  quarries  ;  ^  the  stone  of 
Eastern  Syene,  splashed  with  veining,  and  that 
which  Phrygian  axes  hew  in  mournful  Synnas  o'er 
the  fields  of  wailing  Cybele,^  whereon  the  white  ex- 
panse is  bordered  by  a  rim  of  purple  ;  here  too  are 
green  blocks  quarried  from  the  hill  of  Lycurgus  at 

*  See  note  on  i.  2.  148. 

^  The  Phrygian  worship  of  Cybele,  who  wails  for  Attis, 
her  votary  (c/.  i.  5.  38),  is  here  referred  to. 

101 


STATIUS 

quod  viret  et  molles  imitatur  rupibus  herbas, 
hie  Nomadum  lucent  flaventia  saxa  Thasosque 
et  Cliios  et  gaudens  fluctus  spectare  Carystos  : 
omnia  Chalcidicas  turres  obversa  salutant. 
macte  animo,  quod  Graia    probas,    quod    Graia^ 

frequentas  95 

ai'va  ;  nee  invideant  quae  te  genuere  Diearehi 
moenia  !  nos  docto  melius  potiemur  alumno. 

Quid  nune  ruris  opes  pontoque  novalia  dicam 
iniecta  et  madidas  Baecheo  nectare  rupes  ? 
saepe  per  autumnum  lam  pubescente  Lyaeo  100 

conseendit  scopulos  noctisque  oeculta  sub  umbra 
palmite  maturo  rorantia  lumina  tersit 
Nereis  et  dulces  rapuit  de  collibus  uvas. 
saepe  et  vicino  sparsa  est  vindemia  fluctu, 
et  Satyri  cecidere  vadis,  nudamque  per  undas         105 
Dorida  montani  cupierunt  prendere  Panes. 

Sis  felix,  tellus,  dominis  ambobus  in  annos 
Mygdonii  Pyliique  senis  nee  nobile  mutes 
servitium,  nee  te  eultu  Tirynthia  vincat 
aula  Dicareheique  sinus,  nee  saepius  isti  110 

blanda  Therapnaei  plaeent^  vineta  Galaesi. 
hie  ubi  Pierias  exercet  Pollius  artes, 
seu  volvit  monitus,  quos  dat  Gargettius  auctor, 

^  Graia  .  Graia  Gevart :  grata  .  grata  M. 
^  isti  .  .  placent  M :  istis  .  .  placeant  S". 

"  Either  because  of  the  similarity  of  colour,  or,  according 
to  PhilUmore  (quoted  by  Slater),  because  the  view  recalls 
tiiat  from  the  Carj'stian  quarries. 

*"  Cumae,  a  colony  of  Chalcis  in  Euboea,  was  very  near 
to  Naples;  "  Chalcidian "  can  therefore  =  "  Neapolitan." 
"Diearehi  moenia  "  =  Puteoli. 

'  Statins  congratulates  Pollius  on  his  love  of  Greek 
marbles,  Greek  learning  {cf.  1.  113),  and  Greek  dwelling- 

102 


SILVAE,  II.  II.  91-113 

Amyclae,  where  the  stone  counterfeits  the  grass  ; 
here  gleam  the  tawny  rocks  from  Numidia,  Thasian 
marble  too  and  Chian,  and  Carystian  stone  that  joys 
to  behold  the  waves  : "  all  turn  to  salute  the  Chal- 
cidian  towers .''  A  blessing  on  thy  heart,  that  thou 
approvest  what  is  Greek  and  hauntest  Grecian  land  ; 
nor  let  the  city  of  Dicarchus  that  gave  thee  birth 
feel  envy  !  We  shall  prove  better  owners  of  our 
poet- ward." 

Why  should  I  rehearse  the  wealth  of  the  country- 
side, the  fallows  flung  out  into  the  sea  and  the  cliffs 
steeped  in  Bacchus'  nectar  ?  Often  in  autumn-time 
when  the  grapes  are  ripening  a  Nereid  climbs  the 
rocks,  and  under  cover  of  the  shades  of  night  brushes 
the  sea-water  from  her  eyes  with  a  leafy  vine-spray, 
and  snatches  sweet  clusters  from  the  hills.  Often  is 
the  vintage  sprinkled  by  the  neighbouring  foam  ; 
Satyrs  plunge  into  the  water,  and  Pan-gods  from 
the  mountain  are  fain  to  grasp  the  sea-nymph  as 
she  flies  naked  through  the  waves. 

Bless  with  prosperity,  O  land,  thy  lord  and  lady 
both,  unto  the  years  of  a  Nestor  or  a  Tithonus,  nor 
ever  change  thy  noble  servitude  !  Let  not  the 
Tirynthian  hall  and  Dicarchus'  bay  outdo  thee  as  a 
home,*^  nor  thy  lords  too  often  gladden  the  wistful 
vineyards  of  Laconian  Galaesus.  Here  where  Pollius 
plies    his    Pierian   craft,   whether    he    ponders    the 

places  (Naples  and  its  surroundings).  "We,"  i.e.  we  of 
Naples,  as  opposed  to  Puteoli. 

"*  Pollius  seems  to  have  possessed  a  house  at  Bauli  near 
Puteoli  (cf.  note  on  1.  94),  and  also  near  Tarentum.  The  latter 
is  represented  as  "  coaxing  "  ("blanda")  him  to  come  and 
spend  his  time  there,  and  jealous  (hence  "  placent ")  if  he  does 
not.  Therapnaean,  because  Therapnae  is  in  Laconia,  and 
Tarentum  was  a  Spartan  colony. 

103 


STATIUS 

seu  nostram  quatit  ille  chelyn  seu  dissona  nectit 
carniina  sive  niinax  ultorem  stringit  iambon  :  115 

hinc  levis  e  scopulis  meliora  ad  carmina  Siren 
advolat,  hinc  motis  audit  Tritonia  cristis. 
tunc  rapidi  ponunt  flatus,  maria  ipsa  vetantur 
obstrepere,  emergunt  pelago  doctamque  trahuntur 
ad  clielyn  et  blandi  scopulis  delphines  aderrant.     120 

Vive,  Midae  gazis  et  Lydo  ditior  auro, 
Troica  et  Euphratae  supra  diademata  felix, 
quern  non  anibigui  fasces,  non  mobile  vulgus, 
non  leges,  non  castra  terent,  qui  pectore  magno 
spemque  metumque  domas  voto^  subliniior  onini,    125 
exemptus  fatis  indignantemque  refellens 
Fortunam  ;  dubio  queni  non  in  turbine  rerum 
deprendet  suprema  dies,  sed  abire  paratum 
ac  plenum  vita,     nos,  vilis  turba,  caducis 
deservire  bonis  semperque  optare  parati,  130 

spargimur  in  casus  :  celsa  tu  mentis  ab  arce 
despicis  errantes  humanaque  gaudia  rides, 
tempus  erat,  cum  te  geminae  suffragia  terrae 
diriperent  celsusque  duas  veherere  per  urbes, 
inde  Dicarcheis  multum  venerande  colonis,  135 

hinc  adscite  meis,  pariterque  his  largus  et  illis 
ac  iuvenile  calens  plectrique  errore  superbus. 
at  nunc  discussa  rerum  caligine  verum 
aspicis — illo  alii  rursus  iactantur  in  alto — , 
et  tua  secures  portus  placidamque  quietem  140 

intravit  non  quassa  ratis.     sic  perge  nee  umquam 
^  voto  Waller  :  tuto  M:  vitio,  motu,  titulo  edd. 

"  Pollius,  like  Vopiscus,  was  an  Epicurean  :  this,  how- 
ever, may  not  mean  more  than  that  he  enjoyed  a  cuUured 
leisure,  and  avoided  pubhc  life. 

*  i.e.,  writes  epic  or  elegiac  verse. 

"  Of  Croesus.  "^  Of  the  Persian  kings. 

104 


SILVAE,  11.  II.  114-141 

Gargettian  teacher's  counsels,'*  or  strikes  my  own  lyre, 
or  reunites  unequal  strains,*  or  draws  the  threatening 
sword  of  avenging  satire  :  the  nimble  Siren  speeds 
from  these  rocks  to  sweeter  lays  than  hers,  and  here 
Tritonia  lifts  her  head  and  listens.  Then  the  Avild 
winds  abate,  the  seas  themselves  are  forbidden  to 
rage  ;  the  dolphins  emerge  from  the  deep,  and  drawn 
to  the  music  of  his  harp  float  gently  by  the  cliffs. 

Long  mayst  thou  live,  enriched  beyond  Midas' 
wealth  and  Lydian  '^  gold,  blest"  above  the  diadems 
of  Euphrates  '^  and  of  Troy  ;  whom  neither  fickle 
power  nor  the  shifting  mob,  nor  laws  nor  camps  can 
vex,  whose  great  heart,  raised  sublime  over  all  desire, 
doth  quell  hope  and  fear,  who  art  beyond  the  will  of 
Fate  and  dost  baffle  the  enmity  of  P'ortune  ;  thee  the 
last  day  shall  find,  not  bewildered  in  the  maze  of 
things,  but  sated  with  life  and  ready  to  depart. 
But  we,  a  worthless  folk,  slaves  at  the  beck  of  transient 
blessings  and  wishes  ever  new,  are  tossed  from  chance 
to  chance  :  thou  from  thy  mind's  high  citadel  dost 
look  down  upon  our  wanderings  and  laughest  at 
human  joys.  There  was  a  time  when  the  loyalty  of 
two  lands  tore  thee  in  twain,  and  thou  wert  borne 
in  triumph  through  two  cities,  there  worshipped,  as 
is  meet,  by  Dicarchus'  folk,  here  made  their  own  by 
mine,  and  bountiful  alike  to  these  and  those,  in  the 
full  fire  of  youth  and  proud  of  thy  wandering  Muse.* 
But  now  are  the  mists  dispersed,  and  thou  dost 
behold  the  truth — others  in  their  turn  are  tossed 
upon  that  sea — and  thy  unshaken  bark  has  entered 
a  peaceful  haven  and  a  quiet  resting-place.     Con- 

*  The  phrase  refers  either  to  the  varied  poetical  achieve- 
ments of  Pollius,  or  Ills  travelling  to  different  cities  for  the 
purpose  of  recitation,  perhaps  at  various  festivals. 

105 


STATIUS 

emeritam  in  nostras  puppem  dimitte  procellas.       142 
tuque,  nurus  inter  longe  praedocta  Latinas  147 

parque  viro  mentem,  cui  non^  praecordia  curae, 
non  frontem  vertere^  minae,  sed  Candida  semper 
gaudia  et  in  vultu  curarum  ignara  voluptas  ; 
non  tibi  sepositas  infelix  strangulat  area  150 

divitias  avidique  animum  dispendia  torquent 
fenoris  :  expositi  census  et  docta  fruendi 
temperies.     non  ulla  deo  meliore  cohaerent 
pectora,  non  alias  docuit^  Concordia  mentes.  154 

discite  securi,  quorum  de  pectore  mixtae  143 

in  longum  coiere  faces  sanctusque  pudicae 
servat  amicitiae  leges  amor,     ite  per  annos 
saeculaque  et  priscae  titulos  praecedite  famae.       146 


III.  ARBOR  ATEDII  MELIORIS 

Stat,  quae  perspicuas  nitidi  Melioris  opacet 
arbor  aquas  complexa  lacus,  quae  robore  ab  imo 
incurvata  vadis  redit  inde  cacumine  recto 
ardua,  ceu  mediis  iterum  nascatur  ab  undis 
atque  habitet  vitreum  tacitis  radicibus  amnem.         5 

^  praedocta  .  .  .  cui   non   IF.  R.  Hardie,   C.R.  xviii.    p. 
158. 

■^  vertere  Pol.  {from  P)  :  vescere  M. 

*  docuit  M  :  decuit  5". 
1 0(1 


SILVAE,  II.  11.  142— III.  5 

tinue  thus,  nor  ever  loose  thy  vessel,  her  voyage 
over,  to  face  our  storms.  And  thou,  who  in  wisdom 
dost  surpass  the  daughters  of  Latiura  and  in  mind 
art  equal  to  thy  lord,  whose  spirit  no  cares,  whose 
brow  no  menace  has  dismayed,  but  who  art  ever 
bright  and  happy,  while  joy  untroubled  reigns  in  thy 
countenance  : — for  thee  no  churlish  money-chest 
keeps  tight  grip  of  hoarded  wealth,  no  waste  of  greedy 
usury  tortures  thy  heart,  but  open  to  all  are  thy 
riches,  and  thou  dost  enjoy  them  in  wise  restraint. 
No  union  of  souls  is  more  blest,  such  are  the  minds 
that  Concord  has  taught.  Learn  of  her  in  untroul^led 
peace,  ye  from  whose  hearts  the  blending  fires  are 
met  in  a  long  union,  and  wliose  hallowed  love  keeps 
fast  the  laws  of  chaste  affection.  Go  onward  through 
the  years,  and  outdo  the  centuries  of  old  and  the 
title-roll  of  ancient  fame. 


III.  THE  TREE  OF  ATEDIUS  MELIOR 

Atedius  Melior,  another  of  StatUis's  rich  patrons,  had  a 
plane-tree  in  his  (/rounds  that  grew  beside  a  pool,  with  a 
trunk  that  bent  over  and  down  towards  the  water,  and  then 
straightening  itself  grew  upwards  again  ;  Statius's  poem  is 
a  kind  of  Alexandrian  alVtoj',  giving  the  cause  of  the  phenom- 
enon, and  reminds  one  also  of  an  Ovidian  Metamorphosis. 
It  was  sent  to  Melior  as  a  birthday  gift. 

Enfolding  with  its  overshadowing  boughs  the  clear 
waters  of  my  elegant  Melior's  lake  there  stands  a 
tree,  whose  trunk,  curving  from  its  base,  bends  down 
toward  the  mere,  and  then  shoots  up  aloft  straiglit 
to  its  summit,  as  though  it  grew  a  second  time  from 
the  midst  of  the  waves,  and  dwelt  with  hidden  roots 
in  the  glassy  stream.     Why  ask  so  slight  a  tale  of 

107 


STATIUS 

quid  Phoebum  tarn  parva  rogem  ?    vos  dicite  causas, 
Naides,  et  faciles,  satis  est,  date  carmina  Fauni. 

Nynipharum  tenerae  fugiebant  Pana  catervae  ; 
ille  quidem  it,  eunctas  tamquani  velit,  et  tamen^  unam 
in  Pholoen.     silvis  haec^  fluminibusque  sequentis     10 
nunc  liirtos  gressus,  nunc  improba  cornua  vitat. 
iamque  et  belligerum  lani  nemus  atraque  Caci 
rura  Quirinalesque  fuga  suspensa  per  agros 
Caelica  tesca  subit ;  ibi  demum  victa  labore, 
fessa  metu,  qua  nunc  placidi  Melioris  aperti  15 

stant  sine  fraude  lares,  flavos  collegit  amictus 
artius  et  niveae^  posuit  se  margine  ripae. 
Insequitur  velox  pecorum  deus  et  sua  credit 
conubia  ;  ardenti  iamiam  suspiria  librat 
pectore,  iam  praedae  levis  imminet.     ecce  citatos  20 
advertit  Diana  gradus,  dum  per  iuga  septem 
errat  Aventinaeque  legit  vestigia  cervae. 
paenituit  vidisse  deam,  conversaque  fidas 
ad  comites  :  "  numquamne  avidis  arcebo  rapinis 
hoc  petulans  foedumque  pecus,  semperque  pudici   25 
decrescet  mihi  turba  chori  ?  "     sic  deinde  locuta 
depromit  pharetra  telum  breve,  quod  neque  flexis 
cornibus  aut  solito  torquet  stridore,  sed  una 
eniisit  contenta  manu  laevamque  soporae^ 
Naidos  aversa  fertur  tetigisse  sagitta.  30 

ilia  diem  pariter  surgens  hostemque  protervum 
vidit  et  in  fonteni,  niveos  ne  panderet  artus, 

^  et  tamen  J/ :  it  tamen  S". 

^  haec  m  Pol.  {from  P)  :  et  M:  sed  Krohn. 

'  niveae  M :  viridi  Markland :  curvae,  nitidae  ecld. : 
vivae  Slater,  niveae  is  certainly  doubtful,  though  he  may  he 
thinking  of  flowers. 

*  soporae  Krohn  :  soporem  M. 

"  The  precinct  of  Janus  was  at  the  foot  of  the  Capitol,  the 
108 


SILVAE,  11.  HI.  6-32 

Phoebus  ?  Do  you,  O  Naiads,  relate  the  cause,  and 
you,  comphant  Fauns — ye  will  suffice — inspire  my 
song. 

Frightened  troops  of  Nymphs  were  fleeing  from 
Pan  ;  on  he  came,  as  though  all  were  his  quarry,  yet 
on  Pholoe  alone  was  he  bent.  By  copse  and  stream 
she  fled,  shunning  now  the  hairy  following  limbs, 
now  the  wanton  horns.  Through  Janus'  grove,* 
scene  of  battles,  and  Cacus'  deadly  haunts  ;  through 
the  fields  of  Quirinus  she  came  running  a-tiptoe  and 
gained  the  Caelian  wilds  ;  there  at  last  wearied  out 
and  fordone  with  feai- — where  to-day  stands  the 
quiet  home  of  hospitable  Melior — she  gathered  her 
saffron  robe  closer  about  her,  and  sank  down  on  the 
edge  of  the  snow-white  bank.  Swiftly  follows  the 
shepherd-god,  and  deems  the  maid  his  bride  ;  already 
he  allays  the  panting  of  his  fevered  breast,  already 
he  hovers  lightly  o'er  his  prey.  Lo  !  with  speedy 
steps  Diana  approaches,  as  she  ranges  the  seven  hills 
and  tracks  the  flight  of  a  deer  on  Aventine  ;  the 
goddess  was  vexed  to  see  it,  and  turning  to  her 
trusty  comrades  :  "  Shall  I  never  keep  this  un- 
seemly, wanton  brood  from  lustful  rapine  ?  Must  my 
chaste  band  of  followers  ever  grow  fewer  ?  "  So 
speaking  she  drew  a  short  shaft  from  her  quiver,  but 
sped  it  not  from  the  bent  bow  or  with  the  wonted 
twang,  but  was  content  to  fling  it  with  one  hand,  and 
touched — so  'tis  said — the  left  hand  of  the  drowsy 
Naiad  with  the  arrow-feathers.  She  awaking  beheld 
at  once  the  day  and  her  wanton  foe,  and  lest  she 
should  bare  her  snow-white  limbs  plunged  just  as  she 
was  with  all  her  raiment  into  the  lake,  and  at  the 

den  of  Cacus  on  the  Aventine,  on  which  hill  was  a  shrine  of 
Diana. 

109 


ST  ATI  us 

sic  tota  cum  veste  ruit,  stagnisque  sub  altis 
Pana  sequi  credens  ima  latus  implicat  alga, 
quid  faceret  subito  deceptus  praedo  ?  nee  altis        35 
credere  corpus  aquis  hirtae  sibi  conscius  audet 
pellis  et  a  tenero  nandi  rudis  :  omnia  questus, 
immitem  Bromium,-'-  stagna  invida  et  invida  tela, 
primaevam  \'isu  platanum,  cui  longa  propago 
innumeraeque  manus  et  iturus  in  aethera  vertex,    40 
deposuit  iuxta  vivamque  adgessit  harenam 
optatisque  aspergit  aquis  et  talia  mandat  : 
"  vive  diu  nostri  pignus  memorabile  voti, 
arbor,  et  haec  durae  latebrosa  cubilia  nymphae 
tu  saltern  declinis  ama,  preme  frondibus  undam.      45 
ilia  quidem  meruit,  sed  ne,  precor,  igne  superno 
aestuet  aut  dura  feriatur  grandine  ;  tantum 
spargere  tu  laticem  et  foliis  turbare  memento, 
tunc  ego  teque  diu  recolam  dominamque  benignae 
sedis  et  inlaesa  tutabor  utramque  senecta,  50 

ut  Io\is,  ut  Phoebi  frondes,  ut  discolor  umbra 
populus  et  nostrae  stupeant  tua  germina  pinus." 
sic  ait.     ilia  dei  veteres  animata  calores 
uberibus  stagnis  obliquo  pendula  trunco 
incubat  atque  umbris  scrutatur  amantibus  undas.    55 
sperat  et  amplexus,  sed  aquarum  spiritus  arcet 
nee  patitur  tactus.     tandem  eluctata  sub  auras 
libratur  fundo  rursusque  enode  cacumen 
ingeniosa  levat,  veluti  descendat  in  imos 
stirpe  lacus  alia,     iam  nee  Phoebeia  Nais  60 

odit  et  exclusos  invitat  gurgite  ramos 

Haec  tibi  parva  quidem  genitali  luce  paramus 
^  Bromium  M :  Brimo  Scaliger:  Bormum  Ellis. 

"  Bacchus  being  the  deitj'  to  whom  Pan,  together  with 
Satyrs  and  Sileni,  owed  allegiance  and  therefore  trusted  for 
help.  *  Oak  and  bay. 

110 


SILVAE,   II.   HI.   33-62 

bottom  of  the  mere,  believing  Pan  was  following,  she 
WTapped  the  weeds  about  her.  What  could  the 
robber  do,  so  suddenly  baffled  ?  Conscious  of  his 
shaggy  hide,  and  from  childhood  untaught  to  swim, 
he  dares  not  trust  himself  to  the  deep  waters.  Lavish 
complaint  made  he  of  heartless  Bromius,  of  the  jealous 
lake  and  jealous  shaft  ;  "  then  spying  a  young  plane 
tree  with  long  stem  and  countless  branches  and 
summit  aspiring  to  heaven  he  set  it  by  him  and 
heaped  fresh  sand  about  it  and  sprinkled  it  with  the 
longed-for  waters,  and  thus  commanded  it  :  "  Live 
long,  O  tree,  as  the  memorable  token  of  my  vow, 
and  do  thou  at  least  stoop  down  and  cherish  the  secret 
abode  of  this  hard-hearted  nymph,  and  cover  her 
waters  with  thy  leaves.  Let  her  not,  I  pray,  though 
she  has  deserved  it,  be  scorched  by  the  sun's  lieat  or 
lashed  by  cruel  hail  ;  only  mind  thou  to  bestrew  the 
pool  with  thickly  scattered  leaves.  Then  will  I  long 
remember  thee  and  the  mistress  of  this  kindly  place, 
and  guard  both  to  a  secure  old  age,  so  that  the  trees 
of  Jove  and  Phoebus,  and  the  twy-coloured  poplar 
shade  ^  and  my  own  pines  may  marvel  at  thy  boughs." 
So  he  spake  ;  and  the  tree,  quickened  with  the  old 
passion  of  the  god,  hangs  and  broods  over  the  full 
mere  with  drooping  stem,  and  searches  the  waves 
with  loving  shadows,  and  hopes  for  their  embrace  ; 
but  the  breath  of  the  waters  put  it  from  them,  and 
suffered  not  its  touch.  At  length  it  struggles  upward, 
and  poised  upon  its  base  cunningly  hfts  its  head 
without  any  knot,  as  though  it  sank  with  another 
root  into  the  bottom  of  the  lake.  Now  not  even  the 
Naiad,  Phoebe's  votary,  hates  it,  but  her  stream 
invites  the  boughs  she  banished. 

Such  is   the  gift   I   bring  thee  on   thy   birthday, 

111 


STATIUS 

dona,  sed  ingenti  forsan  victura  sub  aevo. 

tu,  cuius  placido  posuere  in  pectore  sedem 

blandus  honos  hilarisque  tamen  cum  pondere  virtus, 

cui  nee  pigra  quies  nee  iniqua  potentia  nee  spes       66 

improba,  sed  medius  per  honesta  et  duleia  limes, 

ineorrupte  fidem  nullosque  experte  tumultus 

et  secrete,  palam  quom^  digeris  ordine  vitam, 

idem  auri  faeilis  contemptor  et  optimus  idem  70 

comere  divitias  opibusque  immittere  lucem  : 

hac  longum  florens  animi  morumque  iuventa 

Iliaeos  aequare  senes  et  \incere  persta, 

quos  pater  Elysium,  genetrix  quos  detulit  annos  : 

hoc  illi  duras  exoravere  sorores,  7o 

hoe,  quae  te  sub  teste  situm  fugitura  tacentem 

ardua  magnanimi  revirescet  gloria  Blaesi. 


IV.  PSITTACUS  EIUSDEM 

Psittace,  dux  volucrum,  domini  facunda  voluptas, 
humanae  sellers  imitator,  psittace,  linguae, 
quis  tua  tarn  subito  praeelusit  murmura  fato  ? 
hesternas,  miserande,  dapes  moriturus  inisti 
nobiscum,  et  gratae  carpentem  munera  mensae         5 
errantemque  toris  mediae  plus  tempore  noetis 
vidimus,     adfatus  etiam  meditataque  verba 

^  quom  Vollmer  :  quod  3/:  quo  Baehrens:  qui  Dom. 

"  The  praise  of  his  patron  seems  to  show  that  MeUor,  Hke 
Vopiscus  and  PolUus.  cultivated  an  elegant  leisure. 
112 


SILVAE,  II.  in.  63— IV,  7 

small  indeed,  but  destined  perchance  to  live  through- 
out long  ages.  Thou  in  whose  tranquil  breast  dwells 
courteous  chgnity  and  gay,  yet  thoughtful  virtue, 
refusest  slothful  ease  and  unjust  power  and  over- 
weening ambition,  but  takest  the  mid-path  between 
duty  and  pleasure,  thou  whose  loyalty  is  unstained, 
whose  heart  has  known  no  storms,  whose  life  is  lived 
apart,  yet  ordered  and  planned  for  all  to  see,  thou 
who  readily  spurnest  gold,  yet  dost  excel  in  setting 
thy  wealth  in  array  and  bringing  thy  riches  to  the 
light  :  long  mayst  thou  flourish  and  live  on  in  youth- 
fulness  of  mind  and  heart  to  rival  Priam  and  Tithonus, 
and  to  surpass  the  years  that  thy  mother  and  thy 
sire  took  with  them  to  Elysium  ;  this  guerdon 
have  they  won  for  thee  from  the  stern  Sisters,  they 
and  the  lofty  fame  of  great-hearted  Blaesus,  which, 
preserved  from  silent  oblivion  by  thy  witness,  shall 
floui'ish  once  again." 


IV.  MELIOR'S  PARROT 

Tliis  elegy  on  Melior's  parrot  recalls  of  course  OvicVs 
similar  poem  (Am.  ii.  6),  while  it  is  also  a  kind  of  parody 
of  Statius's  oivn  Epicedia.  For  talking  birds  in  ancient 
times,  Pliny,  Nat.  Hist.  x.  117,  is  the  locus  classicus. 

Parrot,  prince  of  birds,  glib-tongued  favourite  of 
thy  master,  parrot  that  cleverly  dost  mimic  human 
speech,  who  has  cut  short  thy  chatter  by  so  sudden 
a  stroke  ?  Yesterday,  hapless  one,  thou  didst  join 
our  feast,  though  doomed  to  die,  and  we  saw  thee 
plucking  the  dainties  of  the  table  and  moving  from 
couch  to  couch  till  after  midnight.  Greetings  also 
and  well-conned  words  hadst  thou  repeated.  But 
VOL.  I  I  113 


STATIUS 

reddideras.  at  nunc  aeterna  silentia  Lethes 
ille  canorus  habes.  cedat  Phaethontia  vulgi 
fabula  :  non  soli  celebrant  sua  funera  cygni.  10 

At  tibi  quanta  domus  rutila  testudine  fulgens, 
conexusque  ebori  virgarum  argenteus  ordo, 
argutumque  tuo  stridentia  limina  cornu, 
et,  quei-ulae  iam  sponte,  fores  !  vacat  ille  beatus 
career  et  augusti^  nusquam  convicia  tecti  !  15 

Hue  doctae  stipentur  aves,  quis  nobile  fandi 
ius  Natura  dedit  :  plangat  Phoebeius  ales 
auditasque  memor  penitus  dimittere  voces 
sturnus  et  Aonio  versae  certamine  picae, 
quique  refert  iungens  iterata  vocabula  perdix,         20 
et  quae  Bistonio  queritur  soror  orba  cubili  : 
ferte  simul  gemitus  cognataque  ducite  flammis 
funera  et  hoc  cunctae  miserandum  addiscite  carmen  : 

"  Occidit  aeriae  celeberrima  gloria  gentis 
psittacus,  ille  plagae  viridis  regnator  Eoae  ;  25 

quern  non  gemmata  volucris  lunonia  cauda 
vinceret  aspectu,  gelidi  non  Phasidis  ales, 
nee  quas  umenti  Numidae  rapuere  sub  austro. 
ille  salutator  reguni  nonienque  locutus 
Caesareum  et  queruH  quondam  vice  functus  amici,  30 
nunc  conviva  levis  monstrataque  reddere  verba 
tarn  facilis  !  quo  tu,  Melior  dilecte,  recluso 
numquam  solus  eras,     at  non  inglorius  umbris 
mittitur  :  Assyrio  cineres  adolentur  aniomo 
^  augusti  M:  angusti  5". 

"  Because  the  death-song  of  swans  is  referred  to  in  it. 

''  The  raven. 

"  The  maidens  who  challenged  the  Muses  and  were  turned 
into  magpies. 

•*  Philomela,  sister-in-law  of  Tereus,  king  of  Thrace,  turned 
into  a  nightingale  ;  according  to  Pliny  {loc.  cit.)  these  birds 
could  be  taught  both  Latin  and  Greek. 

114 


SILVAE,  II.  IV.  8-34 

now  that  minstrelsy  hath  Lethe's  eternal  silence  for 
its  portion.  Let  the  well-known  tale  of  Phaethon 
give  place  :  'tis  not  only  swans  that  sing  their 
coming  death." 

But  how  spacious  was  thy  house,  how  bright  its 
gleaming  dome  !  and  the  row  of  silver  bars,  joined 
with  ivory,  and  the  gate  that  echoed  shrill  at  the 
touch  of  thy  beak,  and  the  doors  that  to-day  speak 
their  own  complaint  !  Empty  is  that  happy  cage, 
and  silent  the  chattering  of  that  lordly  abode. 

Flock  hither  all  ye  scholar  fowl,  to  whom  Nature 
has  given  the  noble  privilege  of  speech  ;  let  the  bird 
of  Phoebus  ^  beat  his  breast,  and  the  starling,  that 
repeats  by  heart  the  sayings  it  has  heard,  and 
magpies  transformed  in  the  Aonian  contest,^  and  the 
partridge,  that  joins  and  reiterates  the  words  it 
echoes,  and  the  sister  that  laments  forlorn  in  her 
Bistonian  boAver  :  <^  mourn  all  together  and  bear 
your  dead  kinsman  to  the  flames,  and  learn  all  of 
you  this  piteous  dirge  : 

"  The  parrot,  gloiy  and  renown  of  all  the  airy 
tribe,  green  monarch  of  the  East,  is  dead  :  whom 
neither  the  bird  of  Juno  with  jewelled  tail,  nor  the 
fowl  of  icy  Phasis,*  nor  those  whereon  the  Numidians 
prey  beneath  the  moist  southern  sky,  could  surpass 
in  beauty.  Once  he  saluted  kings  and  spoke  the 
name  of  Caesar,  was  now  a  sympathetic  friend,  now 
a  gay  companion  of  the  board,  so  skilful  was  he  to 
render  the  w^ords  he  had  been  taught  !  Never  wert 
thou  solitary,  beloved  MeUor,  when  he  was  set  free. 
But  not  ingloriously  is  he  sent  to  the  shades  :  his 
ashes   are   rich   with   Assyrian   balm,   and   the   frail 

^  See  note  on  i.  6.  77. 

115 


ST  ATI  us 

et  tenues  Arabum  respirant  graniine  plumae  35 

Sicaniisque  crocis  ;  senio  nee  fessus  inert! 
scandet  odoratos  Phoenix  felicior  ignes." 


V.  LEO  MANSUETUS 

Quid  tibi  nunc  strata^  mansuescere  profuit  ira  ? 
quid  scelus  humanasque  animo  dediscere  caedes 
imperiumque  pati  et  domino  parere  minori  ? 
quid  ?    quod  abire  domo  rursusque  in  claustra  reverti 
suetus  et  a  capta  iam  sponte  recedere  praeda  5 

insertasque  manus  laxo  dimittere  morsu  ? 
occidis,  altarum  vastator  docte  ferarum, 
non  grege  Massylo  curvaque  indagine  clausus, 
non  forniidato  supra  venabula  saltu 
ineitus  aut  caeco  foveae  deceptus  hiatu,  10 

sed  v-ictus  fugiente  fera.     stat  cardine  aperto 
infelix  cavea  et  clausas  circum  undique  portas 
hoc  hcuisse  nefas  placidi  tumuere^  leones, 
turn  cunctis  cecidere  iubae,  puduitque  relatum 
aspicere,  et  totas  duxere  in  luniina  frontes.  15 

at  non  te  primo  fusum  novus  obruit  ictu 
ille  pudor  :  mansere  animi,  virtusque  cadenti 
a  media  iam  morte  redit,  nee  protinus  omnes 
terga  dedere  minae.     sicut  sibi  conscius  alti 
vulneris  adversum  moriens  it  miles  in  hostem  20 

^  nunc    strata    Postgate :    monstrata    M :    constrata    S" : 
deposita  Clark,  loho  considers  monstrata  due  to  iv.  31  above. 
^  tumuere  Baelirens  :  timuere  3/. 

"  The  MassyHans  were  an  African  tribe,  and  Uons  were 
conventionally  associated  with  Africa. 

**  The  allusion  is  not  clear  to  us,  though  of  course  it  would 
be  to  a  witness  of  the  fight. 

116 


SILVAE,  II.  IV.  35— V.  20 

feathers  breathe  incense  of  Arabia  and  Sicanian 
saffron  ;  and  he  will  mount  a  fragrant  pyre,  a  happier 
Phoenix,  free  from  the  weary  languor  of  old  age." 


V.  THE  TAME  LION 

Tame  lions  are  the  subject  of  epigrams  by  Martial  (i.  6,  14, 
22,  48,  etc.).  For  the  circumstances  of  the  writing  of  this 
piece  see  Preface  to  this  book. 

What  now  has  it  availed  thee  to  quell  thy  rage 
and  be  tamed,  to  unlearn  crime  and  human  slaughter 
from  thy  heart,  and  endure  dominion  and  obey  a 
lesser  lord  ?  To  have  been  wont  to  leave  thy  cage 
and  return  again  to  imprisonment,  and  of  thy  own 
will  yield  up  the  captured  prey,  to  open  thy  jaws 
and  let  go  the  inserted  hand  ?  Thou  art  fallen,  O 
skilled  slayer  of  tall  beasts,  not  caught  within  the 
enclosing  circle  of  a  Massylian  hunting-band,**  nor 
flinging  thyself  with  dreaded  spring  against  the  spears, 
nor  deceived  by  the  hidden  yawning  of  a  pit,  but 
overcome  by  a  beast  that  fled  thee.*  The  unlucky 
cage  stands  open,  while  behind  their  barriers  all 
around  the  quiet  lions  grew  wrathful  that  so  great  a 
wrong  should  have  been  suffered.  Then  all  their 
crests  fell,  and  shame  came  on  them  to  see  the  corpse 
brought  back,  and  they  drew  down  all  their  brows 
upon  their  eyes.  Yet  when  the  first  stroke  o'erthrew 
thee  the  unwonted  shame  o'erwhelmed  thee  not  : 
thy  valour  remained,  and  even  in  the  hour  of  death 
thy  brave  spirit  rallied  as  thou  didst  fall,  nor  did 
all  thy  fierceness  straightway  own  defeat.  Just  as 
the  dying  warrior  who  knows  his  wound  is  mortal  yet 
goes  against  the  foe,  and  lifts  his  hand  to  strike,  and 

117 


STATIUS 

attoUitque  manum  et  ferro  labente  minatur  : 

sic  pigei"  ille  gradu  solitoque  exutus  honoi'e 

firmat  hians  oculos  animamque  liostenique  requirit. 

Magna  tamen  subiti  tecum  solacia  leti, 
victe,  feres,  quod  te  maesti  populusque  patresque,  25 
ceu  notus  caderes  tristi  gladiator  harena, 
ingemuere  mori  ;  magni  quod  Caesaris  ora 
inter  tot  Scythicas  Libycasque,  et^  litore  Rheni 
et  Pharia  de  gente  feras,  quas  perdere  vile  est, 
unius  amissi  tetigit  iactura  leonis.  30 

VI.  CONSOLATIO  AD  FLAVIUM  URSUM 
DE  AMISSIONE  PUERI  DELICATI 

Saeve  nimis,  lacrimis  quisquis  discrimina  ponis 
lugendique  modos.     miserum  est  primaeva  parenti 
pignora  surgentesque — nefas  ! — accendere  natos  ; 
durum  et  deserti  praerepta  coniuge  partem 
conclamare  tori,  maesta  et  lamenta  sororum  5 

et  fratrum  gemitus  :  alte  tamen  ac^  procul  intrat 
altius  in  sensus  maioraque  vulnera  \incit 
plaga  minor,     famulum — quia  rerum  nomina  caeca 
sic  miscet  Fortuna  manu  nee  pectora  novit — , 
sed  famulum  gemis,  Urse,  pium,  sed  amore  fideque 

^  et  Aldus  :  in  M:  ab  Baehrens  :  a  Phillimon. 
^  alte  tamen  ac  MarMand  :   ad  te  tamen  at  M:  alte  et 
tamen  at  Vollmer:  alter  Phillimon  (alterius  next  line). 

118 


SILVAE,  II.  V.  21— VI.  10 

tlireatens  even  while  tlie  weapon  falls  from  liis  gvasp  ; 
so  he  with  laboured  step  and  reft  of  liis  wonted  pride 
steadies  his  eyes  as  with  open  mouth  he  pants  for 
breath  and  for  the  foe. 

Great  solace,  nevertheless,  shall  be  thine,  poor 
victim,  for  thy  sudden  fate,  that  people  and  Senate 
mourned  in  sorrow  to  see  thee  die,  as  though  thou 
wert  some  favourite  gladiator  fallen  on  the  deadly 
sand  ;  that  amid  so  many  beasts  of  Scythia  and 
Libya,  from  the  banks  of  Rhine  and  the  tribes  of 
Egypt,  beasts  so  cheaply  slain,  the  loss  of  one  lion 
alone  drew  a  tear  from  mighty  Caesar's  eye. 

VI.  A  POEM  OF  CONSOLATION  TO  FLAVIUS 
URSUS  ON  THE  DEATH  OF  A  FAVOURITE 
SLAVE 

This  Epicedion  follows  the  same  lines  as  ii.  1,  except  that 
the  opening  is  different.  Flavins  Ursus,  we  may  gather  from 
the  Preface  and  this  poem,  was  young  and  rich,  and  practised 
at  the  bar. 

Too  cruel  thou,  whoever  thou  art,  who  makest 
distinctions  in  mourning,  and  settest  bounds  to  grief ! 
Piteous  it  is  for  a  parent  to  burn — ah  !  fearful 
thought  ! — an  infant  darling  or  groA'idng  son  ;  hard 
too  is  it  when  a  consort  is  snatched  away  to  call  the 
name  of  the  partner  of  the  deserted  couch  ;  sad  are 
a  sister's  tears  and  a  brother's  groans  :  yet  deeply 
also,  ay  deeper  far  does  a  stroke  less  deadly  probe 
the  feelings,  surpassing  mightier  blows.  'Tis  a  slave 
— for  thus  doth  Fortune  confound  with  undiscerning 
hand  the  names  of  things,  nor  sees  into  the  heart — 
a  slave  whom  thou  dost  mourn,  but  one  that  was 

119 


STATIUS 

has  meritum  lacrimas,  cui  niaior  stemmate  iuncto  1 1 

libertas  ex  mente  fuit.     ne  comprinie  fletus, 

ne  pudeat  ;  rumpat  frenos  dolor  iste  diesque/ 

si  tarn  dura  placent — hominem^  gemis — heu  mihi ! 

subdo 
ipse  faces — ,  hominem,  Urse,  tuum,  cui  dulce  volenti 
servitium,  cui  triste  nihil,  qui  sponte  sibique  16 

imperiosus  erat.     quisnam  haec  in  funera  missos 
castiget  luctus  ?  gemit  inter  bella  peremptum 
Parthus  equum,  fidosque  canes  flevere  Molossi, 
et  volucres  habuere  rogum  cervusque  Maronem.     20 
quid,  si  nee  famulus  r    vidi  ipse  habitusque  notavi 
te  tantum  cupientis  erum  ;  sed  maior  in  ore 
spiritus  et  tenero  manifesti  in  sanguine  mores, 
optarent  multum  Graiae  cuperentque  Latinae 
sic  peperisse  nurus.     non  talem  Cressa  superbum    25 
callida  sollicito  revoca\it  Thesea  filo, 
nee  Paris  Oebahos  tahs  \isurus  amores 
rusticus  in\-itas  deiecit  in  aequora  pinus, 
non  fallo  aut  cantus  adsueta  licentia  ducit  : 
vidi  et  adhuc  video,  qualem  nee  bella  canentem       30 
litore  \-irgineo  Thetis  occultavit  Achillen, 
nee  circum  saevi  fugientem  moenia  Phoebi 
Troilon  Haemoniae  deprendit  lancea  dextrae. 
qualis  eras  !  procul  en  cunctis  puerisque  virisque 
pulchrior  et  tantum  domino  minor  !  illius  unus         35 
ante  decor,  quantum  praecedit  clara  minores 
luna  faces  quantumque  alios  premit  Hesperos  ignes. 

^  diesque  M  :  decusque  Peyrared :  deisque  Dom. 
*  hominem  M :  homo  enim  Macnaghten. 

"  As  for  instance  the  parrot  of  ii.  4,  or  the  raven  men- 
tioned by  Pliny  {N.H.  x.  122)  as  being  given  a  fine  funeral. 
The  stag  is  that  of  Silvia  {Aen.  xii.  475). 

*"  Because  Oebalus  was  an  ancient  king  of  Sparta. 

1^20 


SILVAE,  II.  VI.  11-37 

loyal,  one  whose  faithful  affection  merited  these 
tears,  and  whose  spirit  kneM'  a  freedom  that  no  line 
of  ancestry  could  give.  Check  not  thy  weeping,  feel 
no  shame  ;  let  that  day  of  thy  lament  know  no 
restraining,  if  the  Fates  are  so  cruel — 'tis  a  man  thou 
bewailest,  Ursus, — alas  !  myself  I  fan  thy  sorrow  ! — 
a  man  who  was  thine  own,  ready  to  find  service  sweet, 
never  sullen,  eager  to  give  orders  to  himself.  Who 
would  curb  the  grief  that  bursts  forth  at  such  a 
death  ?  The  Parthian  laments  his  steed  slain  in  the 
fight,  the  Molossians  their  trusty  hounds,  even  birds 
have  had  their  pyres,  and  the  hind  its  Maro.''  What 
if  he  were  no  real  slave  ?  Myself  I  saw  and  marked 
his  bearing,  how  he  would  have  thee  only  for  his 
lord  ;  but  nobler  yet  was  the  spirit  in  his  face,  and 
breeding  showed  clear  in  his  youthful  blood.  Eagerly 
would  Grecian  and  Latin  dames  desire  and  pray  that 
such  a  son  were  theirs.  Less  comely  was  proud 
Theseus,  when  the  cunning  maid  of  Crete  drew  him 
back  with  her  anxious  thread,  or  Paris,  when  in 
haste  to  see  his  Spartan  **  bride  he  launched,  a 
shepherd  lad,  the  unwilling  pines  upon  the  main. 
'Tis  truth  I  tell,  nor  does  wonted  licence  sway  my 
song  :  I  have  seen  him,  ay,  and  see  him  yet,  out- 
matching Achilles  when  Thetis  hid  him  singing  of 
wars  upon  the  maiden's  strand,  or  Troilus,  Avhen  the 
lance  from  the  Haemonian  hero's  arm  '^  caught  him 
as  he  fled  round  cruel  Phoebus'  walls.  How  fair 
thou  wert  !  lo  !  comelier  far  than  all,  lads  and  men 
ahke,  and  sui*passed  only  by  thy  lord  !  '^  His  glory 
alone  exceeded  thine,  as  the  bright  moon  exceeds 
the  lesser  fires,  and  as  Hesper  outshines  the  other 

«  Achilles. 
^  So,  with  grosser  flattery,  of  Earlnus  (ill.  4.  44). 

121 


STATIUS 

non  tibi  femineum  vultu  decus  oraque  supra 
mollis  honos,  quales  dubiae  post  crimina  forniae 
de  sexu  transire  iubent,  torvoque  virilis  40 

gratia  ;  nee  petulans  acies  blandique  severo 
igne  oculi,  qualis,  bellus  iam  casside,  visu^ 
Parthenopaeus  erat  ;  simplexque  horrore  decoro 
crinis,  et  obsessae  nondum  primoque  micantes 
flore  genae  :  talem  Ledaeo  gurgite  pubem  45 

educat  Eurotas,  teneri  sic  integer  aevi 
Elin  adit  primosque  lovi  puer  adprobat  annos. 
nam  pudor  unde  novae  menti^  tranquillaque  morum 
temperies  teneroque  animus  maturior  aevo, 
carmine  quo  repetisse^  queam  ?  saepe  ille  volentem 
castigabat  erum  studioque  altisque  iuvabat  51 

consiUis  ;  tecum  tristisque  hilarisque  nee  umquam 
ille  suus  vultumque  tuo  sumebat  ab  ore  : 
dignus  et  Haemonium  Pyladen  praecedere  fama 
Cecropiamque  fidem,  sed  laudum  terminus  esto,      55 
quem  fortuna  sinit  :  non  mente  fidelior  aegra 
speravit  tardi  reditus  Eumaeus  Ulixis. 

Quis  deus  aut  quisnam  tarn  tristia  vulnera  casus 
eligit  ?  unde  manus  Fatis  tarn  certa  nocendi  ? 
o  quam  divitiis  censuque  exutus  opimo  60 

^  bellus  iam  casside  visu  Krohn  :  bellis  i.  c.  v.  M :  casside 
missa  Pol. :  demissa  casside  visu  Slater. 

^  novae  Skutsch:  notae  M:  menti  M2  :  mentis  M :  unde 
notem,  ingenuae  edd. 

^  repetisse  Postdate :  potasse  M;  par  esse  Saftien :  pensasse 
5"  etc. 


"  i.e.,  when  the  boyish  beauty  is  beginning  to  fade  into 
manhood.  Others  talce  "  crimina  dubiae  formae  "  as  "  the 
crime  that  causes  ambiguous  appearance  "  (crime,  because 
forbidden  by  Domitian,  cf.  iii.  4.  73,  iv.  3.  13). 

122 


SILVAE,  II.  VI.  38-00 

stars.  No  womanly  cliarm  was  in  thy  countenance, 
no  eifeniinate  grace  upon  thy  brow,  as  with  those 
whom  after  the  reproach  of  fading  beauty  menbid  lose 
their  sex,'*  but  an  earnest,  manly  beauty  was  thine  ; 
nor  was  thy  gaze  insolent,  but  thine  eye  was  gentle 
yet  stern  with  fire,  Uke  Parthenopaeus  to  behold,  when 
now  decked  in  his  helm  ^ ;  simple  the  ruffled  charm 
of  thy  locks,  thy  cheeks  not  covered  yet,  but  bright 
with  their  first  down  :  such  are  the  lads  that  Eurotas 
nurtures  by  Leda's  stream,  such  the  boys  that  in 
the  unstained  freshness  of  boyhood  go  to  Elis,''  and 
approve  their  budding  youth  to  Jove.  How  indeed 
in  song  can  I  trace  the  growth  of  modesty  in  liis 
young  mind,  of  his  calm  steadiness  of  character  and 
a  spirit  riper  than  his  years  ?  Often  would  he  chide 
Ills  willing  lord,  and  aid  him  with  deep  and  zealous 
counsel ;  he  shared  thy  joys  and  sorrows,  nor  ever 
lived  to  himself,  but  guided  his  looks  by  thy  coun 
tenance  ;  worthy  was  he  to  exceed  in  fame  the 
Haemonian  Pylades  '^  and  the  Athenians'  loyalty  *  ; 
but  let  not  his  praise  o'erstep  his  fortune  :  not  more 
faithfully  did  Eumaeus,  sick  at  heart,  long  for  the 
return  of  tardy  Ulysses. 

What  god,  what  chance  makes  choice  of  wounds 
so  deadly  ?  whence  are  the  Fates  so  unerring  in 
their  power  to  harm  ?  Ah  !  how  much  braver, 
Ursus,  hadst  thou  been,  stripped  of  thy  wealth  and 

*■  Parthenopaeus  was  one  of  the  Seven  against  Thebes 
(see  Theb.  ix.  699),  a  warrior  with  the  look  of  a  maiden  ;  the 
name  means  "  maiden-faced." 

"  i.e.,  to  the  Olympian  games. 

"*  i.e.,  Patroclus  ( Haemonian  =Thessalian),  as  faithful  to 
Achilles  as  Pylades  was  to  Orestes. 

"  Of  Theseus  to  Pirithous  (Cecrops,  ancient  king  of 
Athens). 

123 


ST  ATI  us 

fortior,  Urse,  fores  !  si  vel  fumante  ruina 

ructassent  dites  Vesuvina  incendia  Locroe 

seu  Pollentinos  mersissent  flumina  saltiis 

seu  Lucanus  Acir^  seu  Thybridis  impetus  altas 

in  dextrum  torsisset  aquas,  paterere  serena  65 

fronte  deos  ;  sive  alma  fidem  messesque  negasset 

Cretaque  C\Teneque  et  qua  tibi  cumque  beato 

larga  redit  Fortuna  sinu.     sed  gnara  dolorum 

Invidia  infelix  animi  vitalia  vidit 

laedendique  vias.     vitae  modo  cardine^  adultae        70 

nectere  temptabat  iuvenum  pulcherrimus  ille 

cum  tribus  Eleis  unam  trieterida  lustris. 

attendit  torvo  tristis  Rhamnusia  vultu, 

ac  primum  implevitque  toros  oculisque  nitorem 

addidit  ac  solito  sublimius  ora  levavit,  75 

heu  !  misero  letale  favens,  seseque  videndo 

torsit  et  invidia^  mortemque  amplexa  iacenti 

iniecit  nexu*  carpsitque  immitis  adunca 

ora  verenda  manu.     quinto  vix  Phosphoros  ortu^ 

rorantem  sternebat  equum  :  iam  litora  duri  80 

saeva,  Philete,  senis,  durumque  Acheronta  videbas, 

quo  domini  clamate  sono  !  non  saevius  atros 

nigrasset  planctu  genetrix  tibi  salva^  lacertos, 

nee  pater  ;  et  certe  qui  vidit  funera  frater 

^  Acir  Madvig  :  ager  M. 

*  cardine    Gronovius :     carmen    3/,    defended    by    Ellis, 
J.  Ph.  13. 

^  invidia  M  :    invidiam  Heinsius  :  invidit  Ellis. 

*  nexu  Schwartz  :  nexus  J/. 

*  quinto  .  .  .  ortu  Sclirader  :  quinta  .  .   .  hora  M. 

*  salva  Polster  :  saeva  M. 

"  i.e.,  if  Ursus's  property'  at  Locri  in  Bruttium  had  been 
destroyed  by  an  eruption  (not,  of  course,  of  Vesuvius). 

*  A  lustre  here  is  taken  for  a  period  of  four  years,  the 

124 


SILVAE,  II.  VI.  61-84 

goodly  fortune  !  if  in  smoking  ruin  rich  Locri  had 
belched  forth  Vesuvian  fire,''  or  rivers  had  submerged 
thy  Pollentian  glades,  if  Lucanian  Acir  or  impetuous 
Tiber  had  swung  their  swollen  waters  to  the  right, 
thou  hadst  endured  the  will  of  heaven  with  unruffled 
brow  ;  or  if  bounteous  Crete  and  Cyrene  had  for- 
sworn thee  and  denied  their  harvests,  or  wherever 
lavish  Fortune  returns  to  thee  with  plenteous  bosom. 
But  ill-omened  Envy,  skilled  to  hurt,  saw  the  vital 
spot  and  the  path  of  hai-m.  Just  at  the  gate  of 
full-grown  life  that  most  beauteous  of  youths  was 
striving  to  link  three  years  to  three  Elean  lustres. ** 
With  grim  frown  the  stern  Rhamnusian  '^  gave  heed, 
and  first  she  filled  out  his  muscles  and  set  a  brilliance 
in  his  eyes  and  raised  his  head  higher  than  of  wont  ; 
deadly  alas  !  to  the  poor  lad  were  her  favours  :  she 
tortured  herself  with  envy  at  the  sight,  and  clasping 
the  sufferer  struck  death  into  him  by  her  embrace,'' 
and  with  hooked,  relentless  fingers  tore  that  pure 
countenance.  Scarce  was  Phosphor  at  the  fifth  rising 
saddling  his  dewy  steed  :  already,  Philetus,''  wert 
thou  beholding  the  bleak  shore  of  heartless  Charon 
and  heartless  Acheron,  bewailed  how  bitterly  by  thy 
lord  !  Not  more  fiercely  would  thy  mother,  liad  she 
lived,  blackened  and  bruised  her  arms  for  thee  in 
lamentation,  nor  thy  father  either  ;  verily  thy  brother 

interval  between  the  Olympic  games  ;  i.e.,  the  youth  was 
between  twelve  and  fifteen,  or  perhaps  the  actual  fifteenth 
year  is  meant.  "  The  goddess  Nemesis. 

"*  "  Invidiam  mortemque  aniplexa "  does  not  seem  satis- 
factory ;  it  is  better  to  keep  "  invidia  "  of  the  mss.,  making 
it  and  "  videndo  "  abls,  after  "  torsit,"  and  construe  "  aniplexa 
{sc.  iacentem)  iniecit  mortem  (ei)  nexu." 

*  Apparently  the  boy's  name ;  the  word  means  "  be- 
loved." 

125 


STATIUS 

erubuit  vinci.     sed  nee  servilis  adempto  85 

ignis  :  odoriferos  exhausit  flamma  Sabaeos 

et  Cilieum  messes,  Phariaeque  exempta  volucri 

cinnama  et  Assyrio  manantes  gramine  sucos 

et  domini  fletus  :  hos  tantum  hausere  favillae, 

hos  bibit  usque  rogus  ;  nee  quod  tibi  Setia  canos     90 

restinxit  cineres,  gremio  nee  lubricus  ossa 

quod  vallavit  onyx,  miseris  acceptius  umbris 

quam  gemitus.  sed  et  ipse  iuvat^  ?   quid  terga  dolori, 

Urse,  damus  ?  quid  damna  foves  et  pectore  iniquo 

vulnus  anias  ?  ubi  nota  i-eis  facundia  raptis  ?  95 

quid  caram  crucias  tarn  saevis  luctibus  umbram  ? 

eximius  licet  ille  animi  nieritusque  doleri  : 

solvisti.     subit  ille  pios  carpitque  quietem 

Elysiam  clarosque  illic  fortasse  parentes 

invenit  ;  aut  illi  per  amoena  silentia  Lethes  100 

forsan  Avernales  adludunt  undique  mixtae 

Naides,  obliquoque  notat  Proserpina  vultu. 

pone,  precor,  questus  ;  alium  tibi  Fata  Phileton, 

forsan  et  ipse  dabit  moresque  habitusque  decoros 

monstrabit  gaudens  similemque  doeebit  amorem.^  105 

^  iuvat  M :  iubet,  vetat  edd. 
^  amorem  S~  :  amori  Mi  amari  5". 

"  Incense  and  saffron.  *  The  Phoenix. 


126 


SILVAE,  II.  VI.  85-105 

who  saw  thy  funeral  blushed  to  be  outdone.  No 
servile  flames  were  thine  :  fragrant  harvests  of  Saba 
and  Cilicia  <»  did  the  fire  consume,  and  cinnamon 
stolen  from  the  Pharian  bird,^  and  the  juices  that 
drip  from  Assyrian  herbs — and  thy  master's  tears  : 
these  only  did  the  ashes  drink,  those  the  pyre  ceased 
not  to  consume  ;  nor  was  the  Setian  Avine  that 
quenched  the  hoary  ash,  nor  the  smooth  onyx  that 
guarded  his  bones  more  grateful  to  the  hapless  shade 
than  those  tears.  Yet  can  even  tears  avail  him  ? 
Why,  Ursus,  do  we  surrender  to  our  soitow  ?  Why 
dost  thou  cherish  thy  loss,  and  perversely  love  thy 
wound  ?  Where  is  that  eloquence  that  prisoners 
dragged  to  judgement  knew  ?  Why  dost  tliou  vex 
that  dear  shade  by  savage  shows  of  grief  ?  Peerless 
of  soul  was  he  and  worthy  to  be  mourned  :  but  thou 
hast  paid  tliat  debt,  and  he  is  entering  the  company 
of  the  blest  and  enjoys  Elysian  peace,  and  perchance 
finds  there  famous  ancestors  ;  or  haply  by  the 
pleasant  silences  of  Lethe  Nymphs  of  Avernus  mingle 
and  sport  around  him,  and  Proserpine  notes  him  with 
sidelong  glance.  Mourn  then  no  more,  I  pray  thee  ; 
the  Fates,  and  he  himself  perhaps,  will  give  thee 
another  Philetus,  and  gladly  he  will  show  him  seemly 
ways  and  fashions,  and  teach  him  a  love  to  match 
his  own. 


1£7 


STATIUS 

VII.  GENETHLIACON  LUCANI  AD 
POLLAM 

Lucani  proprium  diem  frequentet, 
quisquis  collibus  Isthmiae  Diones 
docto  pectora  concitatus  oestro 
pendentis  bibit  ungulae  liquorem. 
ipsi,  quos  penes  est  honor  canendi,  5 

vocalis  citharae  repertor  Areas 
et  tu  Bassaridum  rotator  Euhan 
et  Paean  et  Hyantiae  sorores, 
laetae  purpureas  novate  vittas, 
crinem  comite,  candidamque  vestem  10 

perfundant  hederae  recentiores. 
docti  largius  evagentur  amnes, 
et  plus  Aoniae  virete  silvae, 
et,  si  qua  patet  aut^  diem  recepit, 
sertis  mollibus  expleatur  umbra.  15 

centum  Thespiacis  odora  lucis 
stent  altaria  vietimaeque  centum, 
quas  Dirce  lavat  aut  alit  Cithaeron  : 
Lucanum  canimus,  favete  linguis, 
vestra  est  ista  dies,  favete,  Musae,  20 

dum  qui  vos  geminas  tulit  per  artes, 
et  vinctae  pede  vocis  et  solutae, 
Romani  colitur  chori  sacerdos. 

^  patet  aut  m  :  pater  aut  L:  patera  ut  M :  patulam  Mark- 
land  :  Patareus  coni.  Verrall. 

"  The  fountain  of  Hippocrene  caused  by  the  hoof  of 
Pegasus,  which  Statius  here  places  on  the  Isthmus  ;  he  seems 
to  confuse  it  with  Pirene,  the  spring  at  Corinth  (c/.  Tlieb. 
iv.  60).  Pirene  was  also  connected  with  the  Pegasus  story, 
see  Pindar,  01.  13.  60.  It  is  not  clear  what  Dione  (Venus) 
has  to  do  with  the  Isthmus. 

128 


SILVAE,  II.  vn.  1-23 


VII.  AN  ODE  TO  POLLA  IN  HONOUR  OF 
LUCAN'S  BIRTHDAY 

Tlie  title  (Jenetldiacon  was  usually  applied  to  an  ode 
written  In  honour  of  a  living  person.  This  ode,  however.  Is 
a  commemoration  of  Lucan  after  his  death,  addressed  to 
Folia,  his  wldoio.  Into  it  is  Introduced  a  prophecy  of  his 
fame  spoken  by  Calliope  on  the  day  of  his  birth. 

Come  to  Lucan's  birthday-feast,  all  ye  who  on  the 
hills  of  Isthmian  Dione,  with  hearts  fired  by  poetic 
frenzy,  drink  of  tlie  spring  that  the  flying  hoof  struck 
forth."  Ye  wlio  liave  the  privilege  of  song  in  your 
keeping,  Arcadian  discoverer  of  the  vocal  lyre,  and 
thou,  Euhan.  whirler  of  thy  Bassarids,  and  Paean 
and  the  Hyantian  Sisters,**  joyfully  deck  yourselves 
anew  with  purple  fillets,  make  your  tresses  trim  and 
let  fresh  ivy  enwreathe  your  shining  raiment.  Flow 
more  abundantly,  poetic  streams,  and  be  more 
brightly  green,  ye  woodlands  of  Aonia,"^  and  if 
anywhere  your  shade  hath  opened  and  taken  in  the 
sunlight,  let  soft  garlands  fill  the  room.  Let  a 
hundred  fragrant  altars  stand  in  the  Thespian  <* 
groves,  and  a  hundred  victims  that  Dirce  laves  and 
Cithaeron  pastures  :  'tis  of  Lucan  we  sing,  keep  holy 
silence  ;  this  is  your  day,  ye  Muses,  keep  silence, 
while  he  who  made  you  glorious  in  two  arts,  in  the 
measures  of  fettered  speech  and  free.''  is  honoured  as 
the  high  priest  of  the  Roman  choir. 

'  Mercury,  Bacchus,  Apollo,  and  the  Muses.  Hyantian 
=  Boeotian. 

"  Boeotia,  I.e.  Helicon  or  Parnassus. 

"^  Thespiae  was  at  the  foot  of  Helicon. 

"  Poetry  was  often  described  as  "fettered,"  I.e.  liound  l)y 
the  rules  of  metre,  prose  as  freed  from  such  rules. 

VOL.  I  K  I  'J  .9 


STATIUS 

Felix — heu  niniis  ! — et  beata  tellus, 
quae  pronos  Hyperionis  meatus  25 

summis  Oceani  vides  in  undis 
stridoremque  rotae  cadentis  audis, 
quae  Tritonidi^  fertiles  Athenas 
unetis,  Baetica,  provocas  trapetis  : 
Lucanum  potes  iniputare  terris  !  30 

hoc  plus  quam  Senecam  dedisse  mundo 
aut  dulcem  genei-asse  Gallionem. 
attollat  refluos  in  astra  fontes 
Graio  nobilior  Melete  Baetis^  ; 
Baetim,  Mantua,  provocare  noli.  35 

Natum  protinus  atque  humum  per  ipsam 
primo  murmure  dulce  vagientem 
blando  Calliope  sinu  recepit. 
turn  primum  posito  remissa  luctu 
longos  Orplieos  exuit  dolores  4U 

et  dixit :  "  puer  o  dicate  Musis, 
longaevos  cito  transiture  vates, 
non  tu  flumina  nee  greges  fex*arum 
nee  plectro  Geticas  movebis  ornos, 
sed  septeni  iuga  Martiumque  Thybiuni  45 

et  doctos  equites  et  eloquente 
cantu  purpureuni  trahes  senatuni. 
nocturnas  alii  Phrygum  ruinas 
et  tardi  reducis  vias  Ulixis 
et  puppem  temerariani  Minervae,  50 

trita  vatibus  orbita,  sequantur  : 
tu  carus  Latio  memorque  gentis 
carmen  fortior  exseris  togatum. 
ac  primum  teneris  adhuc  in  annis 


*  Tritonidi  Bentley :  tritonicle  M. 
«  Melete  Betis  M :  m&eleb&is  L. 


130 


SILVAE,   II.   VII.   24-54 

Happy  land — too  happy  alas  ! — and  blest,  tliat  on 
the  verge  of  Ocean's  waves  beholdest  Hyperion  slope 
downward  to  his  setting,  and  hearest  the  hiss  of 
plunging  wheels  ;  even  thou,  Baetica,  whose  dripping 
olive-presses  vie  with  Athens,  that  is  fertile  for 
Tritonis  :  thou  canst  account  mankind  in  debt  to 
thee  for  Lucan  ! «  This  is  more  than  to  have  given 
Seneca  to  the  world,  or  to  have  borne  the  sweet- 
tongued  Gallio.  Let  Baetis,  more  renowned  than 
Grecian  Meles,^  flow  backward  and  be  exalted  to 
the  stars  ;  Mantua,  dare  not  to  challenge  Baetis  ! 

Straightway,  wliile  yet  a  new-born  babe  he  crawled 
and  with  earliest  accents  sweetly  whimpered,  Calliope 
took  him  to  her  loving  bosom.  Tlien  first  did  she 
lay  aside  her  grief  and  cease  her  long  lament  for 
Orpheus,  and  said  :  "  O  boy,  consecrate  to  poesy, 
soon  destined  to  outmatch  the  bards  of  old,  thou  shalt 
move  no  rivers  or  wild  lierds  or  Thracian  ash-trees 
with  thy  music,  but  with  eloquent  song  shalt  draw 
after  thee  the  seven  hills  and  Martian  Tiber  and  the 
learned  knights  and  purple  Senate.  Let  others  follow 
the  tracks  that  poets'  wheels  have  worn,  the  night 
of  Phrygia's  overthrow,  Ulysses'  slow  returning  path, 
Minerva's  daring  vessel  :  '^  thou,  dear  to  Latium  and 
mindful  of  thy  race,  more  boldly  dost  unsheathe  a 
Roman  epic.     And  first,  while  in  tender  youth,  thou 

"  Lucan  was  born  at  Corduba,  as  was  also  the  philosopher 
Seneca,  his  uncle,  (jallio  was  a  rhetorician,  brother  of  the 
younger  Seneca,  and  the  adopted  son  of  Junius  Gallio. 

*  The  river  near  Homer's  birthplace,  Smyrna  ;  hence  he 
is  sometimes  called  Melesigenes.  I.iican  was  born  at  Corduba 
in  Baetica.     "Tritonis  "=  Pallas. 

'  i.e.  Iliad,  Odyssey,  Argonaut ica. 


STATIUS 

ludes^  Hectora  Thessalosque  currus  55 

et  supplex  Priami  potentis  aurum, 

et  sedes  reserabis  inferorum, 

ingratus  Nero  dulcibus  theatris 

et  noster  tibi  proferetur  Orpheus. 

dices  culminibus  Remi  vagantis  60 

infandos  domini  nocentis  ignes. 

hinc  castae  titulum  decusque  Pollae- 

iocunda  dabis  adlocutione. 

mox  coepta  generosior  iuventa 

albos  ossibus  Italis  Philippos  65 

et  Pharsalica  bella  detonabis, 

convulsum^  ducis  inter  arma  divi, 

libertate  gravem  pia  Catonem 

et  gratum  popularitate  Magnum. 

tu  Pelusiaci  scelus  Canopi  70 

deflebis  pius  et  Pharo  eruenta 

Pompeio  dabis  altius  sepulcrum. 

haec  primo  iuvenis  canes  sub  aevo, 

ante  annos  Culicis  Maroniani. 

cedet  Musa  rudis  ferocis  Enni  75 

et  docti  furor  arduus  Lucreti, 

et  qui  per  freta  duxit  Argonautas, 

et  qui  corpora  prima  transfigurat. 

quid  maius  loquar  ?  ipsa  te  Latinis 

Aeneis  venerabitur  canentem.  80 

nee  solum  dabo  carminum  nitorem, 

1  ludes  L  :  laudes  Ml :  laudas  m. 

^  convulsum  Sinter :  quo  fulmen  LM,  et  Dom.,  quod 
Markland. 

"  The  works  of  I.ucan  here  alluded  to  are  (i.)  The  Tale  of 
Troy,  (ii.)  A  Catachthonion,  or  Journey  to  the  Underworld, 
(iii.)  A  Praise  of  Nero,  (iv.)  The  Story  of  Orpheus,  (v.)  a  de- 

132 


SILVAE,  II.  VII.  5n-8\ 

shalt  practise  thy  pen  "  on  Hector  and  the  cliariots  of 
Thessaly  and  king  Priam's  suppliant  gold,  and  shalt 
unlock  the  abodes  of  hell  ;  ungrateful  Nero  and  my 
own  Orpheus  shall  be  set  forth  by  thee  to  favouring 
theatres.  Thou  shalt  tell  how  the  impious  fires  of 
the  guilty  monarch  ranged  the  heights  of  llenuis. 
Then  by  a  charming  address  thou  shalt  bestow  fame 
and  glory  upon  chaste  Polla.  Thereafter  more  gen- 
erous in  ripened  manhood  thou  shalt  thunderously 
rehearse  Phihppi,  white  with  Italian  bones,  and 
Pharsalian  wars,  and  Cato,  grave  champion  of  Free- 
dom, blasted  amidst  the  arms  of  the  divine  chief,'' 
and  Magnus,  favourite  of  the  people.  Thou  shalt 
shed  reverent  tears  for  the  crime  of  Pelusian  Canopus, 
and  raise  to  Pompev  ''■  a  memori-d  loftier  than  blood- 
stained Pharos.  These  lays  sjialt  thou  sing  as  a 
youth  in  early  prime,**  before  the  age  at  which  \'irgil 
wrote  his  G?iat.  The  untutored  Muse  of  bold 
Ennius  shall  give  way  to  thine,  and  the  towering 
frenzy  of  learned  Lucretius,  he  "  too  who  led  the 
Argonauts  through  the  narrow  seas,  and  he  who 
changes  bodies  from  their  former  shapes.^  What 
greater  praise  can  I  give  ?  the  Aeneid  itself,  as  thou 
singest  to  Roman  folk,  shall  do  thee  homage.  Nor 
will  I  give  thee  splendour  of  song  alone,  but  with 

clamation  "  de  Incendio  Urbis,"  (vi.)  an  "  allocutio,"  or 
poem  to  Polla,  his  wife,  (vii.)  the  I'liarsalki.  Fragments  of 
(i.)  and  (ii.)  remain. 

*"  Caesar,  subsequently  deified. 

"  The  murder  of  Pompey  there  after  Pharsaliis. 

"*  i.e.,  before  he  was  twenty-six  ;  hence  it  is  argued  that 
"  XVI."  in  Donatus's  life  of  Virgil  must  be  changed  to 
"  XXVI.,"  as  the  year  in  which  he  wrote  the  Culex. 

"  Varro  Atacinus. 

^  Ovid  in  the  Metamorphoses. 


ST  ATI  us 

sed  taedis  genialibus  dicabo 

doctam  atque  ingenio  tuo  decoram, 

qualem  blanda  Venus  daretque  luno 

forma,  simplicitate,  comitate,  85 

censii,  sanguine,  gratia,  decore, 

et  vestros  hymenaeon  ante  postes 

fastis  cantibus  ipsa  personabo. 

o  saevae  nimium  gravesque  Parcae  ! 

o  numquam  data  longa  fata  sumniis  !  90 

cur  plus,  ardua,  casibus  patetis  ? 

cur  saeva  vice  magna  non  senescunt  ? 

sic  natum  Nasamonii  Tonantis 

post  ortus  obitusque  fulminatos 

angusto  Babylon  premit  sepulcro.  95 

sic  fixum  Paridis  manu  trementis^ 

Peliden  Thetis  horruit  cadentem. 

sic  ripis  ego  murmurantis  Hebri 

non  mutum  caput  Orpheos  sequebar. 

sic  et  tu — rabidi  nefas  tyranni  ! —  100 

iussus  praecipitem  subire  Lethen, 

dum  pugnas  canis  arduaque  voce 

das  solacia  grandibus  sepulcris, 

— o  dirum  scelus  !  o  scelus  ! — tjicebis." 

sic  fata  est  leviterque  decidentes  105 

abrasit  lacrimas  nitente  plectro. 

At  tu,  seu  rapidum  poli  per  axem 
Famae  cui-ribus  arduis  levatus, 
qua  surgunt  aniniae  potentiores, 

^  trementis  5"  :  prementis  LM. 

"  The  construction  is  paralleled  by  Plautiis,  Miles  619 
"  neque  te  decora  neque  tiiis  virtutibus." 

''  Alexander  the  Great,  who  proclaimed  himself  the  son 
of  the  Liliyan  god  Ammon  (=  Jupiter). 

134. 


SILVAE,  II.  VII.  82-100 

the  torclies  of  wedlock  '*  will  bestow  on  thee  a  poetess 
suited  to  thy  genius,  for  beauty,  simplicity,  gracious- 
ness,  wealth,  lineage,  charm,  and  loveliness  worthy  of 
kindly  Venus'  or  of  Juno's  giving,  and  myself  will 
chant  before  your  gate  the  festal  marriage-hymn. 
Alas  !  ye  Fates,  too  stern  and  cruel  !  Alas  !  that 
the  highest  never  long  endure  !  Why  are  lofty 
things  most  prone  to  fall  ?  Why  by  a  cruel  chance 
doth  greatness  ne'er  grow  old  ?  Even  so  is  the  son 
of  the  Nasamonian  Thunderer ,**  whose  lightning 
Hashed  from  rising  to  setting  sun,*^  confined  in  a 
narrow  tomb  at  Babylon.  Even  so  did  Thetis  swoon 
to  see  Pelides  fall,  pierced  bv  the  hand  of  coward 
Paris.  Even  so  did  I  upon  the  banks  of  murmuring 
Hebrus  follow  the  head  of  Orpheus  not  mute  in 
death.  Even  so  on  thee- — ah  !  the  impious  '^  frenzied 
tyrant  ! — bidden  while  singing  of  battles  and  with 
lofty  utterance  solacing  the  mighty  dead  to  plunge 
in  Lethe's  rushing  stream — O  crime,  O  most  foul 
crime  ! — on  thee  too  shall  silence  fall."  She  spoke, 
and  with  shining  quill  brushed  away  her  lightly-falling 
tears. 

But  '^  thou,  whether  uplifted  in  tlie  soaring  cliariot 
of  fame  through  the  whirling  vault  of  heaven,  whither 
rise  more  puissant  souls,  tliou  lookest  down  upon  the 

"  Or  "  after  his  lightning-swift  rise  and  setting."  But 
"  fulmen  "  is  commonly  used  in  poetry  of  a  warlike  hero, 
as  "  duo  fulmina  belli  "  of  the  Scipios  by  Virgil,  and  Sidonius 
seems  to  be  imitating  Statius  in  "  paterno  actum  fulmine 
pervolasse  terras  "  (ix.  50),  and  in  "  vitam  fulminibus  parem 
peregit  "  (xxiii.  96). 

''■  Postgate  takes  "  nefas  "  in  apposition  to  "tu,"  "  a  re- 
proach to  the  frenzied  tyrant,"  i.e.  Lucan  is  to  be  a  reproach 
to  the  tyrant  Nero. 

*  C/.  the  opening  of  Phars.  ix. 

\S5 


STATIUS 

terras  despicis  et  sepulcra  rides  ;  110 

seu  pacis  merito  nemus  reclusi 

felix  Elysii  tenes  in  oris, 

quo  Pharsalica  turba  congregatur, 

et  te  nobile  carmen  insonantem 

Pompei  eomitantur  et  Catones,  115 

seu^  magna  saeer  et  superbus  umbra 

noscis^  Tartaron  et  procul  nocentum 

audis  verbera  pallidumque  visa 

matris  lampade  respicis  Neronem, 

adsis  lucidus  et  vocante  Polla  120 

unum,  quaeso,  diem  deos  silentum 

exores  :  solet  hoc  patere  limen 

ad  nuptas  redeuntibus  maritis. 

haec  te  non  thiasis  procax  dolosis 

falsi  numinis  induit  figura,  125 

ipsum  sed  colit  et  frequentat  ipsum 

imis  altius  insitum  medullis, 

ac  solacia  vana^  subministrat 

vultus,  qui  simili  notatus  auro 

stratis  praenitet  incubatque  somno  130 

seeurae.     procul  hinc  abite,  Mortes  : 

haec  v'itae  genialis  est  origo. 

cedat  luctus  atrox  genisque  manent 

iam  dulces  lacrimae  dolorque  festus, 

quicquid  fleverat  ante,  nunc  adoret.  135 

^  seu  Heinsius  :  tu  LM:  dum  Bnrsian. 
^  noscis  Haupf :  nescis  LM. 
^  vana  LM :  vera  Baehrens. 

"  Nero  had  his  mother  Aj^rippina  put  to  death. 

*  Statius  has  in  mind  here  the  story  of  Laodamia  and 
Protesilaus,  who  was  allowed  to  return  to  his  wife  for  one 
day.     Laodamia   venerated    her   husband    in    the   form   of 

136 


SILVAE,  II.  VII.  U0-U5 

earth  and  laughest  at  sepulchres  ;  or  whether  on 
Elysian  sliores  that  thy  deserts  have  won  thee  thou 
hast  gained  the  bhssful  bower  of  peace,  where  the 
licroes  of  Pharsalus  forgather,  and  as  thy  noble  lay 
resounds  a  Pompey  or  a  Cato  bears  tliee  company  ; 
or  wlietlier  a  niiglity  shade,  inviolable  and  proud, 
thou  visitest  Tartarus  and  hearest  afar  the  stripes  of 
the  guilty  and  beholdest  Nero  pale  at  the  sight  of 
his  mother's  torch  :  *  be  present  in  shining  splendour, 
and,  since  Polla  calls  thee,  gain  one  day,  I  beg,  from 
the  gods  of  the  silent  world  :  ^  open  is  that  door  to 
Iiusbands  returning  to  their  brides.  She  clothes 
tliee  not  in  the  shape  of  an  unreal  deity,  in  the 
wantonness  of  lying  revels,  but  worships  thy  very 
self  and  has  communion  with  thee  in  her  being's 
inmost  depths,  and  wins  but  empty  solace  from  thy 
countenance  which  carved  to  thy  likeness  in  gold 
sliines  above  her  couch  and  broods  over  her  un- 
troubled slumbers.  Depart  far  hence,  ye  Deaths  : 
here  is  the  well-spring  of  sustaining  life.«  Let 
stubborn  sorrow  have  an  end,  and  tears  of  happiness 
now  fall,  and  the  mourning  of  solemn  grief  be  turned 
to  adoration. 

Uacchus,  and  seems  to  have  feigned  herself  a  votary  of  that 
god,  to  avoid  a  second  marriage.  Folia's  reverence  for  her 
husband  does  not  need  such  aid.  It  was  a  contemporary 
custom,  to  honour  the  dead  in  the  form  of  deities,  cf.  Silrae, 
v.  1.  2Sl,  Suet.  Cal.  7  of  the  young  son  of  Germanicus 
and  Agrippina,  who  died  in  early  boyhood  ;  Livia  set  up  an 
image  of  him  in  the  character  of  Cupid,  cf.  also  Apuleius, 
Mfit.  viii.  7. 

"  The  Genius  or  vital  principle,  incarnate  in  the  head  of 
the  family  while  he  is  alive,  still  abides  for  Polla  in  the 
spirit  of  the  departed,  with  whom  she  enjoys  a  mystic 
communion. 

137 


LIBER  III 

Statius  Pollio  suo  Salutem 

Tibi  certe,  PoUi  dulcissime  et  hac  eui  tam  fideliter 
inhaeres  quiete  dignissime,  non  habeo  diu  proban- 
dam  libellorum  istorum  temeritatem,  cum  scias 
multos  ex  illis  in  sinu  tuo  subito  natos  et  banc 
audaciani  stili  nostri  frequenter  expaveris,  quotiens 
in  illius  facundiae  tuae  penetrali  seductus  altius 
litteras  intro  et  in  omnes  a  te  studiorum  sinus  ducor. 
Securus  itaque  tertius  hie  silvarum  nostrarum  liber 
ad  te  mittitur.  Habuerat  quidem  te  secundus  testem 
sed  hie  habet  auctorem.  Nam  primum  limen  eius 
Hercules  Surrentinus  aperit,  quem  in  litore  tuo  con- 
secratum,  statim  ut  videram,  his  versibus  adoravi. 
Sequitur  libellus,  quo  splendidissimum  et  mihi 
iucundissimum  iuvenem,  Maecium  Celerem,  a  sacra- 
tissimo  imperatore  missum  ad  legionem  Syriacam, 
quia  sequi  non  poteram,  sic  prosecutus  sum.  Mere- 
batur  et  Claudi  Etrusci  mei  pietas  aliquod  ex  studiis 
nostris    solacium,    cum    lugeret    veris  —  quod    iam 

"  Pollius  :  see  on  ii.  2  and  iii.  1. 
138 


BOOK  III 

Statius  to  his  Friexd  Pollius  "  :  Grf.etixg  ! 

To  you  at  least,  my  dearest  Pollius,  than  whom  none 
is  more  worthy  of  that  tranquillity  to  which  you  cling 
so  faithfully,  to  you  at  least  I  need  not  justify  at 
great  length  the  boldness  of  my  verses,  for  you  know 
that  many  of  them  came  suddenly  to  birth  under 
your  protecting  care,  and  often  have  you  been 
alarmed  at  the  audacity  of  my  pen,  when  in  the 
intimacy  of  your  genius  I  have  ventured  deep  into 
the  secluded  realm  of  letters,  and  have  been  led  by 
you  through  all  the  winding  ways  of  poesy. 

And  so  it  is  without  fear  that  I  send  you  this  third 
volume  of  my  Impromptu  vei'ses.  For  while  you  lent 
your  witness  to  the  second,  to  this  you  have  given 
the  authority  of  your  name.  For  its  gates  are  un- 
barred by  the  Surrentine  Hercules,  to  which,  when 
I  had  seen  it  after  its  dedication  on  your  shore,  I  at 
once  paid  my  tribute  in  these  lines.  Then  comes  a 
poem,  which,  when  my  charming  and  distinguished 
friend,  Maecius  Celer,  was  ordered  by  our  sacred 
Emperor  to  the  Syrian  front,  since  I  could  not 
follow  him,  I  sent  to  attend  him  on  his  way.  The 
devotion  of  my  dear  Claudius  Etruscus  also  de- 
served some  solace  from  my  pen  when  in  real 
grief— and    how    rare    that    is  ! — he   was   mourning 

139 


STATIUS 

rarissimum^  est  —  lacrimis  senem  patrem.  Earinus 
})raeterea,  Germanici  nostri  libertus  —  scis^  quamdiu 
desideriuni  eius  moratus  sim.  cum  petisset  ut  capillos 
suos,  quos  cum  gemmata  pyxide  et  speculo  ad  Per- 
gamenum  Asclepium  mittebat,  versibus  dedicarem. 
Summa  est  egloga,  qua  mecum  secedere  Neapolim 
Claudiam  meam  exhortor.  Hie,  si  verum  dicimus, 
sermo  et  quidem  securus,  ut  cum  uxore  et  qui 
persuadere  malit  quam  placere.  Huic  praecipue 
libello  favebis,  cum  scias  banc  destinationem  quietis 
meae  tibi  maxime  intendere  meque  non  tam  in 
patriam  quam  ad  te  secedere.     Vale. 


HERCULES  SURRENTINUS  POLLH  FELICIS 

Intermissa  tibi  renovat,  Tirynthie,  sacra 
Pollius  et  causas  designat  desidis  anni, 
quod  coleris  maiore  tholo,  nee  litora  pauper 
nuda  tenes  tectumque  vagis  habitabile  nautis, 
sed  nitidos  postes  Graisque  efFulta  metallis  5 

culmina,  ceu  taedis  iterum  lustratus  honesti 
ignis  ab  Oetaea  conscenderis  aethera  flamma. 
vix  oculis  animoque  fides,     tune  ille  reclusi 

1  iam  Tanssiimum  Ba^hrens  :  amarissimum  M :  rarissimum 

*  scis  VoUmer  :  scit  M. 

"  A  common  epithet  of  Hercules,  who  was  reared  at  Tiryns, 
though  born  at  Thebes. 

*  i.e.,  having  the  new  temple  is  like  being  deified  anew. 
Oeta  was  the  scene  of  the  burning  of  Hercules  and  his 
apotheosis. 

140 


SILVAE,  III.  I.  1-8 

for  his  aged  father.  Next  Earinus,  freedman  of 
our  prince  Germanicus  —  you  know  how  long  I 
have  put  off  the  Emperor's  expressed  desire  tJiat 
I  should  write  some  verses  in  honour  of  his  tresses, 
which  he  was  sending  to  Asclepius  at  Pergamum 
together  with  a  mirror  and  a  jewelled  box.  Finally 
there  is  the  piece  in  which  I  entreat  my  wife 
Claudia  to  retire  with  me  to  Naples.  This,  to  tell 
the  truth,  is  just  talk,  quite  unreserved,  from  a 
husband  to  a  wife,  and  that  would  persuade  rather 
than  delight.  You  will  particularly  favour  this  poem, 
since  you  will  know  that  you  above  all  are  the 
object  of  my  proposed  retreat,  and  that  my  retire- 
ment is  not  so  much  to  my  own  country  as  to  yourself. 
Farewell. 

I.  THE  TEMPLE  OF  HERCULES  BUILT  BY 
POLLIUS  FELIX  AT  SURRENTUxM 

The  poem  describes  how  Polllus  built  a  more  worthy  temple 
for  Hercules  in  the  neighbourhood  of  his  villa  ;  the  god 
himself  gave  assistance,  and  the  work  was  finished  with 
miraculous  speed.  The  piece  ends  with  praise  of  Pollius, 
put  into  the  mouth  of  the  grateful  deity. 

Pollius  renews  thy  interrupted  rites,  O  lord  of 
Tiryns,"  and  makes  clear  the  causes  of  a  year's  neglect, 
seeing  that  now  thou  art  worshipped  beneath  a 
mightier  dome,  and  no  longer  hast  a  beggarly  home 
on  the  naked  shore,  a  shanty  where  wandering 
mariners  can  lodge,  but  shining  portals  and  towers 
upheld  by  Grecian  marbles,  as  though  purified  by  the 
brands  of  ennobling  fire  tliou  hadst  a  second  time 
ascended  heavenward  from  Oeta's  flames.''  Scarce 
can  sight  or  memory  be  trusted.    Art  thou  verily  that 

141 


STATIUS 

liminis  et  parvae  custos  inglorius  arae  ? 
unde  haec  aula  recens  fulgorque  inopinus  agresti     10 
Alcidae  ?  sunt  fata  deum,  sunt  fata  locoruni  ! 
o  velox  pietas  !  steriles  hie  nuper  harenas, 
adsparsum  pelago  montis  latus  hirtaque  dumis 
saxa  nee  ulla  pati  faciles  vestigia  terras 
cernere  erat.     quaenam  subito  fortuna  rigentes       15 
ditavit  scopulos  ?  Tyrione  haec  moenia  plectro 
an  Getica  venere  lyra  ?  stupet  ipse  labores 
annus,  et  angusti  bisseno  hniite  menses 
longaevum  mirantur  opus,     deus  attulit  arces 
erexitque  suas  atque  obluctantia  saxa  20 

sunimovit  nitens  et  niagno  pectore  montem 
reppulit  :  immitem  credas  iussisse  novercam. 

Ergo  age,  seu  patrios  hber  iam  legibus  Argos 
incohs  et  mersum  tumuhs  Eurysthea  calcas, 
sive  tui  solium  lovis  et  virtute  parata  25 

astra  tenes,  haustumque  tibi  succincta  beati 
nectaris  excluso  melior  Phryge  porrigit  Hebe  : 
hue  ades  et  genium  templis  nascentibus  infer, 
non  te  Lerna  nocens  nee  pauperis  arva  Molorchi 
nee  formidatus  Nemees  ager  antraque  poscunt         30 
Thracia  nee  Pharii  polluta  altaria  regis, 
sed  felix  simplexque  domus  fraudumque  malarum 
inscia  et  hospitibus  superis  dignissima  sedes. 
pone  truces  arcus  agmenque  immite  pharetrae 
et  regum  multo  perfusum  sanguine  robur,  35 

instratumque  umeris  dimitte  rigentibus^  hostem  : 

^  rigentibus  Gfvart:  gerentibus  .V:  ingentibiis  Markland. 


"  Amphion  and  Orpheus, 

^  He    entertained    Hercules    before    the    slaying    of   tlie 
Nemean  lion. 
142 


SILVAE,  111.  1.  9-3(i 

inglorious  warden  of  a  gateless  thresliold  and  a  puny 
altar  ?  Whence  hath  the  rustic  Alcides  this  new 
court  and  this  unwonted  splendour  ?  Gods  liave 
their  destinies  and  places  also  !  What  swift  de- 
votion !  Here  of  late  could  be  seen  but  barren 
sands,  a  wave-beaten  mountain-side,  and  boulders 
rough  with  scrub,  and  cliffs  that  would  scarce  admit 
a  foothold.  What  sudden  fortune  has  embellished 
tliese  stark  crags  ?  Did  those  walls  rise  to  Tyrian 
music  or  to  the  Getic  harp  ?  "  The  year  itself  marvels 
at  the  toil,  and  the  months  in  their  twelvefold  orbit 
are  amazed  to  see  the  work  of  ages.  'Twas  the  god 
that  brought  and  uplifted  his  own  towei-s,  and  by 
might  and  main  moved  the  resisting  boulders,  and 
with  huge  breast  drove  back  the  mountain  ;  you 
would  have  thought  liis  cruel  stepdame  bade  him. 

Come  then,  whetlier  free  at  last  from  thraldom 
thou  dwellest  in  thy  ancestral  Argos,  and  spurnest 
Eurystheus  in  his  grave,  or  whether  the  throne  of 
thy  father  Jove  and  the  stars  thy  valour  won  thee 
are  thy  abode,  and  Hebe  with  robe  upgirt,  more 
charming  than  tlie  banished  Phrygian  lad,  hands 
thee  the  draught  of  blissful  nectar  :  hither  come, 
and  bi-ing  thy  presence  to  the  new-born  shrine.  No 
harmful  Lerna  calls  thee,  nor  the  aci-es  of  poor 
Molorchus  ^  nor  Nemea's  dreaded  field,  nor  Thracian 
caves  nor  the  polluted  altars  of  the  Pharian  prince," 
but  a  blest  and  innocent  home  that  knows  naught 
of  evil  fraud,  an  abode  most  worthy  of  a  divine  guest. 
Lay  aside  thy  ruthless  bow  and  thy  quiver's  cruel 
liorde  and  the  club  that  plenteous  blood  of  kings 
hath  stained  ;  cast  off  the  foe  that  is  spread  upon  thy 

''■  The  capture  of  the  Horses  of  Uioiiiede  in  Tlirace  and 
the  slaughter  of  J3u.siris  in  Egypt  are  referred  to. 

143 


ST  ATI  us 

hie  tibi  Sidonio  celsum  pulvinar  acantho 
texitur  et  signis  crescit  torus  asper  eburnis. 
pacatus  mitisque  veni  nee  turbidus  ira 
nee  famulare  timens,  sed  quern  te  Maenalis  Auge  40 
confectum  thiasis  et  multo  fratre  madentem 
detinuit  qualemque  vagae  post  erimina  noetis 
Thespius  obstupuit,  totiens  soeer.     hie  tibi  festa 
gymnas,  et  insontes  iuvenuni  sine  eaestibus^  irae 
annua  veloci  peragunt  eertaniina  lustro.  45 

hie  templis  inseriptus  avo  gaudente  saeerdos 
parvus  adhue  simihsque  tui,  cum  prima  novereae 
monstra  manu  premeres  atque  exanimata  doleres. 

Sed  quaenam  subiti,  veneranda,  exordia  tempH, 
die  age,  Calhope  ;  soeius  tibi  grande  sonabit  50 

Aleides  tensoque  modos  imitabitur  arcu. 

Tempus  erat,  eaeli  eum  torrentissimus  axis 
incumbit  terris  ietusque  Hyperione  multo 
aeer  anhelantes  ineendit  Sirius  agros. 
iamque  dies  aderat,  profugis  cum  regibus  aptum     55 
fumat  Arieinum  Triviae  nemus  et  face  multa 
conseius  Hippolyti  splendet  lacus  ;  ipsa  eoronat 
emeritos  Diana  canes  et  spicula  terget 
et  tutas  sinit  ire  feras,  omnisque  pudieis 

^  caestibus  M  :  testibus  r  :  caedibus  Markland. 

"  Of  Tegea  in  Arcadia,  mother  of  Telephus  by  Hercules. 
The  jovial  and  amatory  character  of  the  god  is  a  common 
theme  of  ancient  literature. 

*  Bacchus  was  a  brother  of  Hercules,  being  equally  son 
of  Zeus. 

"^  Probably  the  eldest  son  of  Julius  Menecrates,  to  whom 
iv.  8  is  addressed. 

"*  The  snakes  that  Hera  sent  to  slay  him  in  his  cradle. 

'  Hippolytiis  when  healed  by  Asclepios  was  hidden  hy 
Diana  in  her  precinct  by  the  lake.     The  lake  of  Xenii  is 

144 


SILVAE,   III.   I.   37-59 

stalwart  shoulders  :  liere  are  high-piled  cushions  for 
thee,  embroidered  with  acanthus  in  purple  hue,  and 
a  lofty  couch  all  rough  with  ivory  carving.  Come  in 
a  peaceable  and  gentle  spirit,  not  turbulent  with 
wrath  nor  suspicious  like  a  slave,  but  in  such  mood 
as  when  Auge  "■  the  Maenalian  maid  detained  thee, 
worn  out  with  revel  and  drenclied  with  thy  brother's 
wine,**  or  when  Thespius,  the  father  of  thy  many 
brides,  marvelled  at  thee  after  the  reproach  of  that 
roving  night.  Here  hast  thou  a  festal  playing- 
ground,  where  ungloved  youths  in  innocent  rivalry 
perform  the  yearly,  swift-recurring  contests.  Here 
on  thy  temple  is  written  thy  priest's  name  to  the 
joy  of  his  grandsire  :  '^  small  is  he  yet,  and  like  to 
thee  when  with  thy  hand  thou  didst  quell  the  first 
monsters  of  thy  stepdame  '^  and  weep  that  they  were 
slain. 

But  come,  august  Calliope,  tell  how  the  sudden 
shrine  arose  ;  Alcides  will  bear  thee  company  with 
ringing  voice,  and  twang  his  bowstring  to  imitate 
thy  strains. 

'Twas  the  season  when  the  vault  of  heaven  bends 
its  most  scorching  heat  upon  the  earth,  and  the 
Dog-star  smitten  by  Hyperion's  full  might  pitilessly 
burns  the  panting  fields.  And  now  the  day  had 
come,  when  the  torch-smoke  rises  from  Trivia's 
grove  at  Aricia,  refuge  of  the  runaways  who  reign 
there,  and  the  lights  twinkle  on  the  lake  that  knew 
the  secret  of  Hippolytus  ^ ;  Diana  herself  sets  gai-- 
lands  on  her  faithful  hounds,  and  polishes  her  darts 
and  lets  the  wild  beasts  go  free,  while  at  its  virtuous 

close  to  y\ricia  ;    tlie  priest  of  tlie  shrine  was  called  "  rex 

Neniorensis."  and  was  a  runaway  slave  who  "  slajs  the 
slayer  and  shall  himself  be  slain." 

VOL.  I                                    h  1 45 


ST  ATI  us 

Itala  terra  focis  Hecateidas  excolit  idus.  60 

ast  ego,  Dardaniae  quanivis  sub  collibus  Albae 
rus  proprium  magnique  ducis  mihi  munere  currens 
unda  domi  curas  midcere  aestusque  levare 
sufficerent,  notas  Sirenum  nomine  rupes 
facundique  larem  Polli  non  hospes  habebam,  65 

assidue  moresque  viri  pacemque  novosque 
Pieridum  flores  intaetaque  carmina  discens. 
forte  diem  Triviae  dum  litore  ducimus  udo 
angustasque  fores  adsuetaque  tecta  gravati 
frondibus  et  patula  defendimus  arbore  soles,  70 

delituit  caelum  et  subitis  lux  Candida  cessit 
nubibus  ac  tenuis  graviore  favonius  austro 
immaduit  ;  qualem  Libyae  Saturnia  nimbum 
attulit,  Iliaco  dum  dives  Elissa  marito 
donatur  testesque  ululant  per  devia  nymphae.  75 

diffugimus,  festasque  dapes  redimitaque  vina 
abripiunt  famuli  ;  nee  quo  convivia  migrent, 
quamvis  innumerae  gaudentia  rura  superne 
insedere  domus  et  niulto  culmine  dives 
mons  nitet  :  instantes  sed  proxima  quaerere  nimbi 
suadebant  laesique  fides  reditura  sereni.  81 

stabat  dicta  sacri  tenuis  casa  nomine  templi 
et  magnum  Alciden  humili  lare  parva  premebat, 
fluctivagos  nautas  scrutatoresque  profundi 
vix  operire  capax.     hue  omnis  turba  coinius,  85 

hue  epulae  ditesque  tori  coetusque  ministrum 
stipantur  nitidaeque  cohors  gratissima  Pollae. 
non  cepere  fores,  angustaque  deficit  aedes. 

"  August  13th.  *   i.e.,  Diana. 

"^  Because  founded  by  the  Trojans  under  Aeneas. 
"*  Domitian   had   built  the  poet  a   water-conduit   on   his 
estate  at  Alba,  where  the  Emperor  himself  had  a  residence. 
«  Surrentum,  c/.  ii.  2.  f  See  Virg.  Aen.  iv.  160. 

146 


SILVAE,  III.  I.  00-88 

lieai-ths  all  Italy  celebrates  the  Ides  **  of  Hecate.^ 
But  I,  although  beneath  Dardanian  Alba's  hills  <^  an 
estate  of  my  own  and  a  rivulet  that  runs  for  me  by 
the  grace  of  our  great  prince  ''  sufficed  to  soothe  my 
cares  and  to  allay  the  summer  heat,  was  making  the 
rocks  of  the  Sirens  ^  and  the  home  of  eloquent  Pollius 
my  abode,  no  stranger  there,  and  zealously  gaining 
knowledge  of  his  peaceful  soul  and  studying  the  new 
Pierian  blooms  of  his  innocent  Muse.  It  chanced 
that,  while  we  were  spending  Trivia's  day  upon  the 
watery  shore,  and  discontented  with  narrow  doors 
and  wonted  house  were  sheltering  from  the  sun 
'neath  the  foliage  of  a  spreading  tree,  the  sky  was 
hid,  the  bright  light  gave  place  to  sudden  cloud  and 
the  faint  breeze  changed  to  a  heavy  downpour  from 
the  south  ;  such  a  storm  as  Saturnia  brought  upon 
Libya,  while  wealthy  Elissa  was  given  to  her  Ilian 
lover  and  the  witnessing  Nymphs  shrieked  in  the 
pathless  glades.^  Helter-skelter  we  fly,  and  the 
slaves  snatch  up  the  festal  banquet  and  wreathed 
goblets  ;  nor  was  there  any  refuge  for  the  guests, 
though  countless  houses  were  planted  on  the  happy 
fields  above,  and  the  mountain  glittered  with  a 
wealth  of  towers  :  but  the  lowering  clouds  and  the 
assurance  that  the  fair  weather,  though  ruined, 
would  return,  urged  us  to  seek  the  nearest  shelter. 
There  stood  a  mean  shanty  bearing  the  name  of  a 
sacred  shrine,  that  confined  the  great  Alcides  within 
its  humble  walls,  scarce  large  enough  to  house  sea- 
wandering  mariners  and  searchers  of  the  deep  Hitlier 
all  the  crowd  of  us  gather,  hither  throng  the  band  of 
slaves  with  the  costly  couches  and  the  feast,  and  all 
the  pleasant  household  of  elegant  Polla.  The  doors 
would  not  contain  us,  the  narrow  shrine  lacked  room. 

147 


ST  ATI  us 

erubuit  risitque  deus  dilectaque  Polli 
corda  subit  blandisque  virum  complectitur  ulnis.      90 
tune,"  inquit,  "  largitor  opum,  qui  mente  profusa 
tecta  Dicarchei  pariter  iuvenemque  replesti 
Parthenopen  ?     nostro  qui  tot  fastigia  monti, 
tot  virides  lucos,  tot  saxa  imitantia  vultus 
aeraque,  tot  scripto  viventes  lumine  ceras  95 

fixisti  ?    quid  enim  ista  domus,  quid  terra,  priusquam 
te  gauderet,  erat  ?  longo  tu  tramite  nudos 
texisti  scopulos,  fueratque  ubi  semita  tantuni, 
nunc  tibi  distinctis  stat  porticus  alta  columnis, 
ne  sorderet  iter,     curvi  tu  litoris  ora  100 

clausisti  calidas  gemina  testudine  nymphas. 
vix  opera  enumerem  ;  mihi  pauper  et  indigus  uni 
Pollius  ?     et  tales  hilaris  tamen  intro  penates 
et  litus,  quod  pandis,  amo.     sed  proxima  sedem 
despicit  et  tacite  ridet  niea  limina  luno.  105 

da  templum  dignasque  tuis  conatibus  aras, 
quas  puppes  velis  nolint  transire  secundis, 
quo  pater  aetherius  mensisque  accita  deorum 
turba  et  ab  excelso  veniat  soror  hospita  templo. 
nee  te,  quod  solidus  contra  riget  umbo  maligni       1 10 
montis  et  immenso  non  umquam  exesus  ab  aevo, 
terreat  :  ipse  adero  et  conaniina  tanta  iuvabo 
asperaque  invitae  perfringam  viscera  terrae. 
incipe  et  Herculeis  fidens  hortatibus  aude. 

"  Founder  of  Puteoli. 

*  "  iuvenem  "  seems  to  be  a  pla}'  upon  the  literal  meaning  of 
Parthenope  {TrdpOft'os^  maiden),  of.  iv.  8.  55.  Statins  is  fond 
of  doing  this,  rf.  Phemonoe  (ii.  2.  38),  Plmplea  (lb.  37). 

"  Not  otlierwise  mentioned,  exc.  1.  137. 

^  It  would  stop  either  to  look  at  and  salute  the  temple, 

148 


SILVAE,  III.  I.  89-114 

Tlie  god  blushed,  and  laugliiiig  stole  into  the  lieart 
of  his  beloved  Pollius,  and  witli  cai-essing  arms  em- 
braced his  friend  :  "  Art  thou."  said  he,  "  that 
lavisher  of  -wealth,  who  with  generous  heart  hast 
iilled  full  alike  the  dwellings  of  Dicai-cheus  <*  and 
youthful  ^  Parthenope  ?  who  on  my  own  mount  tiast 
set  so  many  towers,  so  many  verdant  groves,  so 
many  lifelike  marbles  and  bronzes,  and  waxen  forms 
that  the  glow  of  colour  animates  ?  For  what  was 
that  house  of  thine,  tliat  country  before  it  rejoiced 
in  thee  ?  Thou  didst  clothe  bare  rock  with  a  long 
pathway,  and  where  before  was  but  a  track,  now 
stands  a  lofty  colonnade  with  painted  ]">illars,  that  the 
road  might  be  seemly.  Upon  the  curving  strand  thou 
didst  imprison  heated  waters  'neath  cupolas  twain. 
Scarce  can  I  number  all  thy  works  :  and  to  me  alone 
is  Pollius  needy  and  in  want  .''  yet  even  such  a  shrine 
I  enter  cheerfully,  and  love  tlie  shore  thou  openest 
to  me.  But  Juno  hard  by  ''  scorns  my  dwelling,  and 
laughs  silently  at  my  shrine.  Give  me  a  temple  and 
an  altar  worthy  of  thy  endeavours,  an  altar  such  as 
no  vessel  would  fain  neglect  "^  though  speeding  with 
prosperous  sail,  one  to  which  the  ethereal  Sire  and 
the  guests  of  heavenly  banquets  and  my  sister  in- 
vited from  her  lofty  shi'ine  might  come."  Nor  be 
dismayed  that  a  mass  of  stark,  malignant  mountain 
doth  confront  thee,  which  unnumbered  ages  liave 
not  worn  away  ;  I  will  myself  be  present  to  aid  so 
great  an  enterprise,  and  will  break  through  the 
flinty  bowels  of  the  unwilling  earth.  Begin,  and 
dare  the  task,  trusting  in  Hercules'  encouragement. 

cf.  Stat.  Theb.  iv.  812,  or  even  to  disembark  and  worship, 
cf.  Virg.  Aen.  iii.  453. 

*  From  the  promontory  of  Minerva  near  by. 

1  M) 


ST  ATI  us 

non  Aniphioniae  steterint  velocius  ai'ces  115 

Pergameusve  laboi\"     dixit  nientemque  reliquit. 
Nee  mora,  cum  scripta  formatur  imagine  tela, 
innumerae  cuiere  manus  :  his  caedere  silvas 
et  levare  trabes,  illis  immergere  curae 
fundamenta  solo,     coquitur  pars  umida  terrae        120 
protectura  hiemes  atque  exclusura  pruinas, 
indomitusque  silex  curva  fornace  liquescit. 
praecipuus  sed  enim  labor  est  exscindere  dextra 
oppositas  rupes  et  saxa  negantia  ferro. 
hie  pater  ipse  loci  positis  Tirynthius  armis  12.5 

insudat  validaque  solum  deforme  bipenni, 
cum  grave  nocturna  caelum  subtexitur  umbra, 
ipse  fodit.     ditesque  Caprae^  viridesque  resultant 
Taurubulae,  et  terris  ingens  redit  aequoris  echo, 
non  tam  grande  sonat  motis  incudibus  Aetne,         130 
cum  Brontes  Steropesque  ferit,  nee  maior  ab  antris 
Lenmiacis  fragor  est,  ubi  flammeus  aegida  caelat 
Mulciber  et  castis  exornat  Pallada  donis. 
decrescunt  scopuli,  et  rosea  sub  luce  reversi 
artifices  mirantur  opus.     \ix  annus  anhelat  13.5 

alter,  et  ingenti  dives  Tirynthius  arce 
despectat  fluctus  et  iunctae  tecta  novercae 
provocat  et  dignis  invitat  Pallada  templis. 
iam  placidae  dant  signa  tubae,  iam  fortibus  ardens 
fumat  harena  sacris.     hos  nee  Pisaeus  honores        140 
luppiter  aut  Cirrhae  pater  aspernetur  opacae. 
nil  his  triste  locis  ;  cedat  lacrimabilis  Isthmos, 

^  ditesque  Caprae  3/  :  dites  Capreae  5". 


"  The  walls  of  Troy  were  built  by  Apollo  and  Neptune, 
those  of  Thebes  by  the  music  of  Amphion. 

*  Cf.  "  corda  subit,'  1.  90.         <^  An  island  near  Naples. 

1.50 


SILVAE,  III.  I.  115-142 

Anipluon's  towei's  will  not  have  risen  more  swiflly, 
nor  the  toilsome  walls  of  Troy."*  "  He  spoke,  and 
went  from  out  his  heart.'' 

Without  delay  the  design  is  sketched  and  the  plan 
shaped.  Innumerable  workers  gather  :  some  have 
the  task  of  felling  trees  or  planing  beams,  others 
sink  the  foundations  in  the  soil.  Moist  clay  is  baked 
to  protect  against  storm  and  to  keep  out  frost,  and 
imtamed  limestone  is  melted  in  the  round  furnace. 
But  the  chief  labour  is  to  cleave  by  might  and  main 
the  opposing  rock  and  the  boulders  that  resist  the 
steel.  Hereupon  the  patron  of  the  place,  the 
Tirynthian  himself,  lays  by  his  arms  and  sweats  at 
the  work,  and  himself  with  strong  axe  hews  at  the 
shapeless  mass,  when  the  lowering  sky  is  veiled  by 
the  shades  of  night.  Rich  Caprae  and  green 
Taurubulae  '^  resound,  and  the  mighty  echo  of  the  sea 
returns  again  to  the  land.  Not  so  loud  is  Aetna's 
din,  when  the  anvils  are  busy  and  Brontes  and 
Steropes  ply  the  hammer,  nor  greater  the  noise  from 
the  Lemnian  eaves  when  Mulciber  amid  his  flames 
forges  the  aegis  and  makes  chaste  gifts  for  Pallas. 
The  cliffs  diminish,  and  the  workmen  returning  in 
the  rosy  dawn  marvel  at  the  achievement.  Scarce 
has  a  second  panting  summer  come,  when  the 
Tirynthian  enriched  by  a  mighty  dome  looks  down 
upon  the  waves  and  challenges  his  stepdame's  neigh- 
bouring abode,  and  invites  Pallas  to  a  temple  worthy 
of  her.  Already  the  peaceful  trumpets  give  the 
signal,  already  the  sand  smokes  and  burns  with  the 
valiant  contests.  Such  honours  would  neither  Pisaean 
Jove  nor  the  sire  of  leafy  Cirrha  spurn.''  No  sadness 
is  here  :  let  tearful  Isthmos  and  cruel  Nemea  give 
'^  i.e.,  at  the  games  of  Olympia  and  Delphi. 

1.51 


STATIUS 

cedat  atrox  Nemee  :  litat  hie  felicior  infans. 

ipsae  puniiceis^  virides  Nereides  antris 

exsiliunt  ultro  :  scopulis  umentibus  haerent  145 

nee  pudet  occulta  nudas  spectare  palaestras. 

spectat  et  Icario  nemorosus  palmite  Gaurus 

silvaque,  quae  fixam  pelago  Nesida  coronat, 

et  placidus  Linion  omenque^  Euploea  carinis 

et  Lucrina  \'enus,  Phrygioque  e  vertice  Graias       150 

addisces,  Misene,  tubas,  ridetque  benigna 

Parthenope  gentile  saci'um  nudosque  virorum 

certatus  et  parva  suae  simulacra  coronae. 

Quin  age  et  ipse  libens  proprii  certaminis  actus 
invicta  dignare  nianu  ;  seu  nubila  disco  155 

findere  seu  volucres  zephyros  praecedere  telo 
seu  tibi  dulce  manu  Libycas  nodare  palaestras, 
indulge  sacris,  et,  si  tibi  poma  supersunt 
Hesperidum,  gremio  venerabilis  ingere  Pollae  ; 
nam  capit  et  tantum  non  degenerabit^  honorem.    160 
quod  si  dulce  decus  ^-iridesque  resumeret  annos, 
— da  veniam,  Alcide — fors  huic  et  pensa  tulisses. 

Haec  ego  nascentes  laetus  bacchatus  ad  aras 
libamenta  tuli.     nunc  ipse*  in  limine — cerno  ' 
solventem  voces  et  talia  dicta  ferentem  :  165 

^  pumiceis  S"  :  puniceis  3/  Pol.  {from  P). 

*  Limon  omenque  Guyet  :  limo  numenque  M. 
^  degenerabit  M :  dejarener  ambit  Grojiovius. 

*  ipse  21 :  ipsum  Jjcm. :  ipso  5'.  MacnayJiten' s  punctua- 
tion. 

"  The  Isthmian  games  were  held  in  honour  of  the  child 
Palaemon,  son  of  Ino,  those  at  Nemea  in  honour  of  Opheltes 
(Archemorus),  for  whom  see  Thebaid  iv.  (end),  v.  and  vi. 
(init.). 

*  Now  Monte  Barbaro  in  Campania  ;  its  wines  were 
famous  ;   Icarus  was  a  son  of  Oebalus,  king  of  Sparta,  and 

152 


SILVAE,   III.  I.   143-1G5 

place  ;  a  luckier  infant  here  makes  sacrifice."  The 
very  Nymphs  of  the  green  waters  leap  forth  unbidden 
from  their  pumice  caves  ;  they  cling  to  tlie  streaming- 
rocks  nor  think  shame  to  gaze  unseen  on  the  naked 
wrestlers.  Gaurus  ^  too  beholds  them  witli  its  grove 
of  Icarian  vines,  and  the  wood  that  crowns  the  peak 
of  Nesis  set  fast  in  ocean,  and  calm  Limon  and  Eu- 
j)loea  of  good  omen  for  ships  and  the  Lucrine  Venus'' ; 
thou  too,  Misenus,  from  thy  Phrygian  height  shalt 
learn  the  Grecian  trumpet-calls,  while  Parthenope 
smiles  with  kindly  heart  upon  the  ceremonies  of  her 
race  and  the  naked  bouts  of  youths  and  the  humble 
garlands  that  imitate  her  own. 

Come  now  thyself,  and  graciously  deign  to  honour 
the  feats  of  thine  own  festival  with  thy  invincible 
might  :  whether  it  please  thee  to  cleave  the  clouds 
with  the  discus,  or  with  thy  shaft  to  outstrip  the 
speedy  Zephyrs,  or  to  lock  fast  thy  arms  in  a  Eibyan 
MTestle,'^  grant  our  rites  this  boon,  and,  if  thou  hast 
still  the  apples  of  the  Hesperides,  place  them  in  the 
lap  of  venerable  Polla  ;  for  she  is  worthy  to  take 
them,  and  will  not  dishonour  so  great  a  gift.  Nay, 
might  she  but  recover  the  charm  and  beauty  of  her 
youth — forgive  me,  Alcides — perchance  for  her* 
thou  hadst  even  spun  the  wool. 

Such  is  the  offering  I  have  brought  in  joyful 
revelry  to  the  new-born  shrine.  I^o  !  now  he  himself 
upon  the  threshold — I  see  him  opening  his  mouth 
and  speaking  :    "A  blessing  on  thy  spirit  and  thy 

father  of  Penelope  ;  he  was  taught  the  use  of  the  vine  by 
Bacchus.  "  A  temple  of  Venus  near  Baiae. 

''  The  reference  is  to  Hercules'  bout  with  Antaeus,  the 
Libyan  giant ;  this  leads  to  the  mention  of  the  apples  of  the 
Hesperides. 

"  As  he  did  for  Omphale,  the  Lydian  princess. 

153 


STATIUS 

"  macte  animis  opibusque  meos  imitate  labores, 
qui  rigidas  rupes  infecundaeque  pudenda 
naturae  deserta  domas  et  vertis  in  usum 
lustra  habitata  feris  foedeque  latentia  prefers 
nuniina.     quae  tibi  nunc  nieritoruni  praemia  solvani  ? 
quas  referam  grates  ?     Parcaruni  fila  tenebo  171 

extendamque  colus — duram  scio  vincere  Mortem — , 
avertam  luctus  et  tristia  damna  vetabo 
teque  nihil  laesum  viridi  renovabo  senecta 
concedamque  diu  iuvenes  spectare  nepotes,  ITo 

donee  et  hie  sponsae  maturus  et  ilia  marito, 
rursus  et  ex  illis  soboles  nova  grexque  protervus 
nunc  umeris  inreptet  avi,  nunc  agmine  blando 
certatim  placidae  concurrat  ad  oscula  Pollae. 
nam  templis  numquam  statuetur  terminus  aevi,     180 
dum  me  flammigeri  portabit  machina  caeli. 
nee  mihi  plus  Nemee  priscumque  habitabitur  Argos 
nee  Tiburna  domus  solisque  cubilia  Gades." 
sic  ait  ;  et  tangens  surgentem  altaribus  ignem 
populeaque  movens  albentia  tempera  silva  185 

et  Styga  et  aetherii  iura\it  fulmina  patris. 


II 
PROPEMPTICON  MAECIO  CELERI 

Di,  quibus  audaces  amor  est  servare  carinas 

"  A  different  meaning  in  i.  4.  64  ;   here  the  threads  are  to 
be  stretched  out  and  made  longer. 

*  Strabo  mentions  a  shrine  of  Hercules  at  Gades. 

154 


SILVAE,  III.  I.  166— n.  1 

wealtli,  wherewith  thou  hast  imitated  my  own 
labours,  who  canst  tame  the  rugged  rocks  and  tlie 
abhorred  wastes  of  barren  nature,  and  turnest  to  thy 
use  the  wild  beasts'  lairs,  and  bringest  forth  my 
godhead  from  shameful  hiding  !  What  reward  shall 
I  now  give  thee  for  thy  merits  ?  How  show  my 
gratitude  ?  I  will  hold  fast  the  threads  of  the  Fates 
and  stretch  out  the  wool  upon  their  distaffs  " — I  can 
subdue  remorseless  Death — I  will  bid  sorrow  flee  and 
suffer  not  sad  loss  to  harm  thee,  and  I  will  renew 
thee  in  a  green  old  age  untouched  by  time,  and 
grant  thee  long  to  behold  thy  growing  grandchildren, 
until  the  one  is  ripe  for  a  bride  and  the  other  for  a 
husband,  and  from  them  a  new  progeny  springs,  and 
a  merry  band  now  clambers  about  their  grandsire's 
shoulders,  now  run  in  eager  and  loving  rivalry  for  the 
kisses  of  tranquil  Polla.  To  this  shrine  shall  no  term 
of  age  be  set,  so  long  as  the  fabric  of  the  flaming  sky 
shall  carry  me.  Not  in  Nemea  or  ancient  Argos  shall 
I  niore  often  dwell,  or  in  my  home  at  Tibur  or  in 
Gades,*"  resting-place  of  the  sun."  So  he  speaks, 
and  touching  the  fire  that  rose  upon  the  altar  and 
nodding  his  temples  white  with  poplar-leaves  he 
swore  by  Styx  and  by  the  thunderbolt  of  his  ethereal 
sire. 

II.  A  SEND-OFF  POEM  TO  MAECIUS  CELER 

The  Propempticon  or  valedictory  poem  seems  to  have  been 
one  of  the  regular  types  of  poem  for  which  rules  were  laid 
down  in  the  schools  of  rhetoric;  Horace,  C.  i.  S,  Epod.  1, 
Tibidliis,  i.  S,  may  be  called  Propemptica,  cf.  also  the  song 
in  Theocritus,  Id.  7.  Nothing  more  is  known  of  Maecitis, 
except  that  he  teas  consul  suffectus  in  101. 

Ye  Gods  whose  delight  it  is  to  preserve  adventurous 

155 


STATIUS 

saevaquc  ventosi  muleere  pericula  ponti, 

sternite  moUe  fretum  placid umque  advertite  votis 

concilium,  et  lenis  non  obstrepat  unda  precanti  : 

"  grande  tuo  rarumque  damus,  Neptune,  profundo  5 

depositum.     iuvenis  dubio  committitur  alto 

Maecius  atque  animae  pai-tem  super  aequora  nostrae 

maiorem  transferre  parat.     proferte  benigna 

sidera  et  antemnae  gemino  considite  cornu, 

Oebalii  fratres  ;  vobis  pontusque  polusque  10 

luceat  ;  Iliacae  longe  nimbosa  sororis 

astra  fugate,  precor,  totoque  excludite  caelo. 

vos  quoque  caeruleum  ponti.  Nereides,  agmen, 

quis  honor  et  regni  cessit  fortuna  secundi 

— dicere  quae^  magni  fas  sit  mihi  sidera  ponti — ,     15 

surgite  de  vitreis  spumosae  Doridos  antris 

Baianosque  sinus  et  feta  tepentibus  undis 

litora  tranquillo  certatim  ambite  natatu, 

quaerentes  ubi  celsa  ratis,  quam  scandere  gaudet 

nobilis  Ausoniae  Celer  armipotentis  alumnus.  20 

nee  quaerenda  diu  ;  modo  nam  trans  aequora  terris 

prima  Dicarcheis  Pharium  gra\is  intulit  annum, 

prima  salutavit  Capreas  et  margine  dextro 

sparsit  Tyrrhenae  Mareotica  \ina  Minervae. 

huius  utrumque  latus  molli  praecingite  gyro,  25 

partitaeque  vices  vos  stuppea  tendite  mali 

vincula,  vos  summis  adnectite  sipara  velis, 

vos  zephyris  aperite  sinus  ;  pars  transtra  reponat, 

^  quae  3/ :  quas  Heinsius. 

"  Spartan,  from  Oebalus,  king  of  Sparta  ;  i.e..  Castor  and 
Pollux. 

*  The  star  of  Helen  was  considered  dangerous  to  ships. 
cf.  Theb.  vii.  792. 
156 


SILVAE,  III.  II.  2-28 

sliips,  and  to  assuage  the  angry  perils  of  tlie  gusty 
sea,  make  the  waters  smooth  and  cahn,  and  Usten  in 
peaceful  council  to  my  entreaties,  and  let  the  waves 
be  gentle  nor  make  uproar  as  I  pray  :  "  Great  and 
rare,  O  Neptune,  is  the  pledge  I  commit  unto  thy 
deep  ;  young  Maecius  is  entrusted  to  the  doubtful 
main,  and  is  about  to  take  across  the  seas  the  dearer 
half  of  my  soul.  Bring  forth  your  favouring  stars, 
Oebalian  "  brethren,  and  sit  upon  the  twin  horns  of 
the  yard-arm  ;  let  your  light  illumine  sea  and  sky  ; 
drive  far  away,  I  pray,  your  Ilian  sister's  tempestuous 
star,*  and  banish  her  wholly  from  the  heavens.  And 
ye  too,  Nereids,  sea-blue  horde  of  ocean,  to  whom 
the  glory  and  the  fortune  of  the  second  realm  have 
fallen  by  lot — suffer  me  to  call  you  stars  of  the 
mighty  deep  ! — arise  from  the  glassy  caverns  of  foam- 
encompassed  Doris,  and  in  peaceful  rivalry  swim 
round  the  bays  of  Baiae  and  the  shores  where  the 
hot  springs  abound  ;  '^  seek  out  the  loftv  ship  whereon 
Celer,  noble  offspring  of  Ausonia  mighty  in  arms, 
rejoices  to  embark.  Nor  need  ye  long  inquire,  for 
lately  came  she  across  the  seas,  the  first  of  her  convoy, 
to  the  Dicarchean  strand,  laden  with  the  Pharian  '^ 
harvest,  and  first  was  she  to  salute  Capreae,  and  over 
lier  starboard  side  to  pour  libation  of  Mareotic  wine 
to  Tyrrhene  Minerva.*^  Circle  gracefully  about  her 
on  either  side,  and  divide  your  duties  :  some  stretch 
taut  from  the  mast  the  hempen  rigging,  some  set  the 
topsails  and  spread  the  canvas  to  the  Zephyrs  ;  let 
others  place  the  benches,  or  let  down  into  the  water 

"  The  reference  is  to  the  warm  springs  of  Baiae,  cf.  iii.  ,5.  96, 
V.  ;5.  1 70. 

"*  i.e.,  of  Egypt,  so  also  "  Mareotic." 
«  Cf.  note  on  ii.  2.  2. 

157 


ST  ATI  us 

pars  demittat  aquis  curvae  modei*amina  puppis  ; 
sint  quibus  exploret^  plumbo  gravis  alta  niolybdus,^  30 
quaeque  secuturam  religent  post  terga  phaselon 
uncaque  summersae  penitus  retinacula  vellant  ; 
temperet  haec  aestus  pelagusque  inclinet  ad  ortus  : 
officio  careat  glaucarum  nulla  sororuni. 
hinc  multo  Proteus  geminoque  hinc  corpore  Triton  35 
praenatet,  et  subitis  qui  perdidit  inguina  monstris 
Glaueus  adhuc  patriis  quotiens  adlabitur  oi'is 
litoream  blanda  feriens  Anthedona  cauda. 
tu  tamen  ante  onines,  diva  cum  matre  Palaenion, 
annue,  si  vestras  amor  est  mihi  pandere  Thebas,     40 
nee  cano  degeneri  Phoebeum  Amphiona  plectro. 
et  pater,  Aeolio  frangit  qui  carcere  ventos, 
cui  varii  flatus  omnisque  per  aequora  mundi 
spix-itus  atque  hiemes  nimbosaque  nubila  parent, 
artius  obiecto  Borean  Eurumque  Notumque  45 

monte  preniat  :  soli  Zephyro  sit  copia  caeli, 
solus  agat  puppes  summasque  supernatet  undas 
assiduus  pelago  ;  donee  tua  turbine  nullo 
laeta^  Paraetoniis  adsignet  carbasa  ripis." 

Audimur.    vocat  ipse  ratem  nautasque  morantes  50 
increpat.     ecce  meum  timido  iam  frigore  pectus 
labitur  et  nequeo,  quamvis  monet  ominis  horror, 
claudere  suspenses  oculorum  in  margine  fletus. 
iamque  ratem  terris  divisit  fune  soluto 

^  exploret  l)oin.  :  explorent  M. 

-  plumbo  gravis  alta  niolybdus  Turnebus :  primes  gravis 
arte  molorchos  M.  The  emendations  of  this  line  are 
7iumeroKS,  but  none  satisfactory  :  primos  gravis  artemo 
lembos  Volhner  :  plenos  gravis  artemo  llntres,  primos  gravia 
arma  ceruchos  are  various  suggestions. 

*  laeta  M :  laesa  Heinsius. 

158 


SIL\  AE,   III.   II.  29-54 

the  rudder  that  guides  the  curving  bark  ;  let  there 
be  some  to  make  the  heavy  sounding-lead  explore  the 
depths,  and  others  to  fasten  the  skiff  that  will  follow 
astern,  and  to  dive  down  and  drag  the  hooked 
anchor  from  the  depths,  and  one  to  control  the  tides 
and  make  the  sea  flow  eastward  :  let  none  of  the 
sea-green  sisterhood  be  without  a  task.  Then  let 
Proteus  of  manifold  shape  and  twy-formed  Triton 
swim  before,  and  Glaucus  "  whose  loins  vanished  by 
sudden  enchantment,  and  who,  so  oft  as  he  glides  up 
to  his  native  shores,  wistfully  beats  his  fish-tail  on 
Anthedon's  strand.  But  above  all  others  thou, 
Palaemon,  M'ith  thy  goddess  mother,  be  favourable, 
if  'tis  thy  desire  that  I  should  tell  of  thine  own 
Thebes,  and  sing  of  Amphion,  bard  of  Phoebus,  with 
no  unworthy  quill.  And  may  the  father  whose 
Aeolian  prison  constrains  the  winds,  whom  the  various 
blasts  obey,  and  every  air  that  stirs  on  the  world's 
seas,  and  storms  and  ckiidy  tempests,  keep  the 
North  wind  and  South  and  East  in  closer  custody 
behind  his  wall  of  mountain  ;  but  may  Zephyr  alone 
have  the  freedom  of  the  sky,  alone  drive  vessels 
onward  and  skim  unceasingly  o'er  the  crests  of  the 
billows,  until  he  bring  without  a  storm  thy  glad  sails 
safe  to  the  Paraetonian  **  haven." 

My  prayer  is  heard.  The  West  wind  himself  calls 
the  ship  and  chides  the  laggard  crew.  Lo  !  already 
my  heart  sinks,  chilled  with  fear,  and  I  cannot, 
though  the  omen  shocks  me,  hold  back  the  tears  that 
hover  upon  my  eyelids'  verge.  And  already  the 
sailor  lias  loosed  the  ro]")e  and  sundered  the  vessel 

"  See  Ovid,  Met.  xiii.  906  sqq. 

*  Egyptian,  from  Paraetonium,  a  town  on  the  Libyan 
coast. 

159 


STATIUS 

navita  et  angustum  deiecit  in  aequora  pontem.        55 
saevus  et  e  puppi  longo  clamore  magister 
dissipat  amplexus  atque  oscula  fida  revellit, 
nee  longum  cara  licet  in  cer\ice  morari. 
attamen  in  terras  e  plebe  no\"issimus  onini 
ibo  nee  egrediar  nisi  iam  cedente  carina.^  GO 

Quis  rude  et  abscissum  miseris  animantibus  aequor 
fecit  iter  solidaeque  pios  telluris  alumnos 
expulit  in  fluctus  pelagoque  immisit  hianti 
audax  ingenii  ?  nee  enim  temeraria  Wrtus 
ilia  magis,  sunimae  gelidum  quae  Pelion  Ossae        65 
iunxit  anhelantemque  iugis  bis  pressit  Olympum. 
usque  adeone  parum  lentas  transire  paludes 
stagnaque  et  angustos  summittere  pontibus  amnes  ? 
imus  in  abruptum  gentilesque  undique  terras 
fugimus  exigua  clausi  trabe  et  aere  nudo.  70 

inde  furor  ventis  indignataeque  procellae 
et  caeli  fremitus  et  fulmina  plura  Tonanti. 
ante  rates  pigro  torpebant  aequora  somno, 
nee  spumare  Thetis  nee  spargere  nubila  fluctus 
audebant.     \dsis  tumuerunt  puppibus  undae,  75 

inque  honiinem  surrexit  hiems.     tunc  nubila  Plias 
Oleniumque  pecus,  solito  tunc  peior  Orion, 
iusta  queror  ;  fugit  ecce  vagas  ratis  acta  per  undas 
paulatim  minor  et  longe  servantia  vincit 
lumina  tot  gracili  ligno  complexa  timores,  80 

quaeque  super  reliquos  te,  nostri  pignus  amoris, 
portatura,  Celer,  quo  nunc  ego  pectore  somnos 
quove^  queam  perferre  dies  ?     quis  cuncta  paventi 

1  iam  cedente  carina  Dom.  :    iam  carina  M. 
^  quo  .  .  .  quove  Skufsch  :  quos  .  .  .  quosve  31. 

"  The  star  called  Capella,  see  note  on  i.  3.  96.     Its  rising 
denoted  the  beginning  of  stormy  weather. 
160 


SILVAE,  III.   II.  55-8.3 

from  the  land,  and  dropped  the  narrow  gangway  into 
the  water.  On  the  stern  the  ruthless  master  with 
long-drawn  shout  severs  our  embraces  and  parts 
loving  lips,  nor  may  one  linger  long  upon  the  dear 
one's  breast.  Yet  last  of  all  will  I  be  to  go  on  land, 
nor  will  I  leave  the  ship  until  she  is  already  under 
way. 

Who  made  of  the  strange  and  sundered  sea  a  high- 
way for  miserable  men,  and  cast  forth  upon  the  waves 
the  loyal  children  of  the  solid  earth  and  hurled  them 
into  the  jaws  of  ocean — daring  of  spirit  ?  for  not 
more  adventurous  was  the  valour  that  joined  frozen 
Pelion  to  Ossa's  summit,  and  crushed  panting 
Olympus  beneath  two  mountains.  So  small  a  feat 
was  it  to  traverse  sluggish  lakes  and  meres  and  fling 
bridges  across  the  narrowed  streams  ?  Forth  we  go 
into  sheer  void,  and  are  fled  from  the  native  lands 
about  us,  enclosed  in  nought  but  a  few  planks  and 
the  empty  air.  Therefore  do  the  winds  and  angry 
tempests  rage,  the  sky  thunders  and  many  a  bolt  is 
sped  from  the  hand  of  Jove.  Before  ships  were,  the 
waters  lay  in  a  slumbrous  calm,  Thetis  dared  not 
foam  nor  the  waves  assault  the  clouds.  But  when 
they  spied  vessels,  the  billows  swelled  \vith  rage,  and 
the  hurricane  arose  against  man.  Then  the  Pleiads 
and  the  Olenian  goat  °  grew  dark  with  storm,  and 
Orion  was  more  wrathful  than  his  wont.  Not  in 
vain  is  my  complaint  :  lo  !  speeding  over  the  pathless 
waters  flies  the  ship,  lessening  by  degrees  and 
baffling  the  eyes  that  view  her  from  afar  ;  how  many 
fears  does  she  hold  within  her  slender  timbers  ! 
thee  above  all  must  she  bear  onward,  Celer,  object 
of  my  love  !  With  what  feelings  can  I  endure  night's 
slumbers  or  the  day  ?     Who  will  tell  me,  a  prey  to 

VOL.  I  M  161 


STATIUS 

nuntius,  an  facili  te  praetermiserit  unda 
Lucaiii  rabida  ora  maris,  num  torta  Charybdis         85 
fluctuet  aut  Siculi  populatrix  virgo  profundi, 
quos  tibi  currenti  praeceps  gerat  Hadria  mores, 
quae  pax  Carpathio,  quali  te  subvehat  aura 
Doris  Agenorei  furtis  blandita  iuvenci  ? 
sad  merui  questus.     quid  enim  te  castra  petente     90 
non  vel  ad  ignotos  ibam  comes  impiger  Indos 
Cimmeriumque  chaos  ?     starem  prope  bellica  regis 
signa  mei,  seu  tela  manu  seu  frena  teneres, 
armatis  seu  iura  dares  ;  operumque  tuorum 
etsi  non  socius,  certe  mirator  adessem.  95 

si  quondam  magna  Phoenix  reverendus  Achilh 
htus  ad  Ihacum  Thymbraeaque  Pergama  venit 
imbelhs  tumidoque  nihil  iuratus  Atridae, 
cur  nobis  ignavus  amor  ?     sed  pectore  fido 
numquam  abero  longisque  sequar  tua  carbasa  votis. 
Isi,  Phoroneis  olim  stabulata  sub  antris,  101 

nunc  regina  Phari  numenque  orientis  anheh, 
excipe  multisono  puppem  Mareotida  sistro, 
ac  iuvenem  egregium,  Latius  cui  ductor  Eoa 
signa  Palaestinasque  dedit  frenare  cohortes,  105 

ipsa  manu  placida  per  limina  festa  sacrosque 
due  portus  urbesque  tuas.     te  praeside  noscat, 
unde  paludosi  fecunda  hcentia  Nih, 
cur  vada  desidant  et  ripa  coerceat  undas 


"  i.e.,  Scylla. 

*  i.e.,  the  sea  between  Crete  and  the  Phoenician  coast, 
over  which  travelled  the  bull  that  carried  off  Europa,  daughter 
of  Agenor,  king  of  Phoenicia. 

"  The  regions  to  the  north  of  the  Euxine,  whence  the  name 
Crimea. 

■*  The  sistrum  was  a  sort  of  rattle  much  used  in  the  worship 
of  Isis,  here  identified  with  lo,  whom  Hera  out  of  jealousy 

162 


SILVAE,   III.   II.  84-109 

every  terror,  whether  the  raging  coast  of  the  Lucanian 
sea  has  sped  thee  by  on  favouring  waves,  whether 
eddying  Charybdis  be  heaving  or  the  maid  that 
ravages  the  Sicihan  deep,"  how  the  furious  Adriatic 
aids  thy  course,  whether  the  Carpathian  be  at  peace, 
and  with  what  breeze  the  sea-nymph  be  wafting 
thee,  that  once  smiled  on  the  cunning  of  the  Tyrian 
bull  ?  ^  But  I  have  deserved  to  mourn  :  for  why, 
when  thou  wert  bound  for  the  wars,  went  I  not  with 
thee,  an  unwearied  traveller,  to  unknown  India  and 
Cimmerian  gloom  ?  "  By  my  patron's  warlike  banner 
had  I  been  standing,  were  it  weapon  or  bridle  thou 
wert  holding,  or  whether  thou  wert  giving  laws  to 
armed  peoples,  present  if  not  to  share,  at  least  to 
admire  thy  deeds.  If  Phoenix  whom  great  Achilles 
honoured  came  long  ago  to  the  Ilian  shore  and 
Thymbraean  Troy,  though  not  a  warrior  nor  bound 
by  oath  to  proud  Atrides,  why  is  my  affection 
cowardly  ?  But  my  loyal  thoughts  shall  be  ever  with 
thee,  and  my  prayers  shall  follow  thy  sails  to  distant 
lands. 

Isis,  once  stalled  in  Phoroneus'  caves,  now  queen 
of  Pharos  and  a  deity  of  the  breathless  East,  welcome 
with  sound  of  many  a  sistrum  <^  the  Mareotic  bark, 
and  gently  with  thine  own  hand  lead  the  peerless 
youth,  on  whom  the  Latian  prince  hath  bestowed 
the  standards  of  the  East  and  the  bridling  of  the 
cohorts  of  Palestine,^  through  festal  gate  and  sacred 
haven  and  the  cities  of  thy  land.  Under  thy  protec- 
tion may  he  learn  whence  comes  the  fruitful  licence  of 
marshy  Nile,  why  the  waters  abate  and  are  hemmed 
within  the  banks  that  the  Cecropian  bird  has  coated 

turned  into  a  heifer.  Phoroneus  was  a  former  king  of 
Argos.  ^  i.e.,  a  command  on  the  Syrian  front. 

163 


ST  ATI  us 

Cecropio  stagnata  luto,  cur  in^ida  Memphis,  110 

curve  Therapnaei  lasciviat  ora  Canopi, 
cur  servet  Pharias  Lethaeus  ianitor  aras, 
vilia  cur  niagnos  aequent  animalia  divos  ; 
quae  sibi  praesternat  \'ivax  altaria  Phoenix, 
quos  dignetur  agros  aut  quo  se  gurgite  Nili  115 

mergat  adoratus  trepidis  pastoribus  Apis, 
due  et  ad  Emathios  manes,  ubi  belliger  urbis 
conditor  Hyblaeo  perfusus  nectare  durat, 
anguiferamque  domum,  blando  qua  mersa  veneno^ 
Actias  Ausonias  fugit  Cleopatra  catenas.  120 

usque  et  in  AssjTias  sedes  mandataque  castra 
prosequere  et  Marti  iuvenem,  dea,  trade  Latino, 
nee  novus  hospes  erit  :  puer  his  sudavit  in  ar\-is 
notus  adhuc  tantum  maioris  lumine^  cla%i, 
iam  tamen  et  turmas  facih  praevertere  g}TO  125 

fortis  et  Eoas  iaculo  damnare  sagittas. 
Ergo  erit  ilia  dies,  qua  te  maiora  daturus 

^  qua  mersa  veneno  5"  :   quaqua  m.  v.  M,  morsa  Heinsius. 
^  lumine  Nohl  :  numine  M :  munere  ff". 

"  Pliny,  N.H.  x.  94,  in  speaking  of  swallows  says  that 
their  nests  prevent  the  Nile  from  overflowing  for  the  extent 
of  about  a  furlong  :  "in  Aegypti  Heracleotico  ostio  molem 
continuatione  nidorum  evaganti  Nilo  inexpugnabilem  op- 
ponunt,"  etc..  and  "  insula  sacra  Isidi,  quam  ne  laceret 
amnis,  muniunt  opere,  palea  et  stramento  rostrum  eius 
firmantes,"  "  on  the  Heracleotic  mouth  of  the  Nile  they 
oppose  an  unshakable  barrier  to  the  river-floods,"  and  "  an 
island  sacred  to  Isis,  which  they  fortify  by  their  labour,  lest 
the  river  hurt  it,  strengthening  its  headland  m  ith  litter  and 
straw."  Cecropian,  i.f.  Athenian,  from  Procne,  daughter 
of  Pandion,  king  of  Athens,  turned  into  a  swallow. 

*  "invida,"  perhaps  to  be  explained  by  Juv.  xv.  33, 
"  inter  finitimos  vetus  atque  antiqua  simultas,"  "  neighbours' 
quarrel."  Note  the  etjmology  again,  Memphis  from 
fie/xcpeadai  to  blame ! 

164 


SILVAE,  III.  11.  110-127 

with  clay 5*^  why  Memphis  is  jealous,''  why  the  shore  of 
Therapnean  Canopus  "  makes  wanton  revel,  why  the 
warden  of  Lethe  '^  guards  the  Pharian  shrines,  why 
vile  beasts  are  held  equal  to  mighty  gods  ;  <^  what 
altars  the  long-lived  Phoenix  prepares  for  his  own 
death,  what  fields  Apis,/  adored  by  trembhng  shep- 
herds, deigns  to  graze,  and  in  what  waters  of  Nile 
he  bathes.  Lead  him  also  to  the  Emathian  tomb,» 
where  steeped  in  nectar  of  Hybla  abides  the  warrior 
founder  of  the  city,  and  to  the  serpent-haunted 
palace  where,  sunk  in  lulling  poison,  Cleopatra  of 
Actian  story  escaped  Ausonian  chains.  Escort  the 
youth  even  to  his  Assyrian  station  and  the  appointed 
camp,  O  goddess,  and  deliver  him  to  the  Roman  god 
of  war.  No  stranger  will  he  be  there  ;  as  a  boy  he 
laboured  in  those  fields,  known  as  yet  only  by  his 
gleaming  laticlave,'*  though  already  strong  to  out- 
strip the  squadrons  in  nimble  wheeling  flight,  and 
with  his  javeUn  to  discredit  the  arrows  of  the  East.* 
Therefore  that  day  will  come  when  Caesar,  to  give 

"A  luxurious  bathing-resort:  "Therapnaean,"  from 
Therapnae  in  Laconia,  because  Canopus,  helmsman  of  Mene- 
laus,  king  of  Sparta,  was  buried  there. 

"*  Probablj'  Anubis  is  here  identified  with  Cerberus. 

*  e.g.  ibis,  crocodile,  cat,  dog,  snake,  and  others,  see 
Herod,  ii.  65  ;  Cic.  Tusc.  Disp.  v.  27. 

•''  The  sacred  ox,  called  Epaphus  by  the  Greeks,  the  son 
of  lo  by  Zeus,  worshipped  by  the  Egyptians,  see  Herod, 
iii.  27. 

"  i.e.,  of  Alexander  the  Great  at  Alexandria. 

'^  Maecius  would  have  worn  the  "  tunica  laticlavia  "  as  a 
young  son  of  a  noble  family  ;  it  was  a  tunic  with  a  broad 
purple  band  inwoven,  extending  from  the  neck  down  across 
the  chest.  (The  angusticlave  was  a  tunic  with  two  narrow 
purple  stripes  in  place  of  the  one  broad  one.) 

'  i.e.,  he  could  hurl  his  javelin  farther  than  the  flight  of 
an  arrow  ;  for  their  relative  ranges  see  Theb.  vi.  354  n. 

l65 


ST  ATI  us 

Caesar  ab  emerito  iubeat  discedere  hello, 
at  nos  hoc  iterum  stantes  in  litore  vastos 
cernemus  fluctus  aliasque  rogabimus  auras.  130 

o  turn  quantus  ego  aut  quanta  votiva  moveho 
plectra  lyra  !  cum  me  magna  cervice  ligatum 
attolles  umeris  atque  in  niea  pectora  primum 
incumhes  e  puppe  novus  servataque  reddes 
colloquia  inque  vicem  medios  narrabimus  annos,    135 
tu  rapidum  Euphraten  et  regia  Bactra  saerasque 
antiquae  Bahylonis  opes  et  Zeugma,  Latinae 
pacis  iter,  quam^  dulce  nemus  florentis  Idymes, 
quo  pretiosa  Tyros  rubeat,  quo^  purpura  suco 
Sidoniis  iterata  cadis,^  ubi  germine  primum  140 

Candida  felices  sudent  opohalsama  virgae  : 
ast  ego,  devictis  dederim  quae  busta  Pelasgis 
quaeve  laboratas  claudat  mihi  pagina  Thebas. 

Ill 

CONSOLATIO  AD  CLAUDIUM  ETRUSCUM 

Summa  deum,  Pietas,  cuius  gratissima  caelo 
rara  profanatas  inspeetant  numina  terras, 

^  quam  Baehrens  :  qua  M. 

"  quo  .  .  .  quo  Gronovius  :  qua  .  .  .  qua  M. 

*  cadis  Gronovius  :  vadis  M. 

"  Where  the  Euphrates  was  usually  crossed  by  the  Roman 
armies.  "  Zeugma  "  means  a  "joining,"  "  yoking."  "  pacis," 
because  their  object  was  to  maintain  the  "pax  Romana." 

*  "iterata,"  usually  known  as  the  "dibapha"  (twice 
dipped),  described  by  Pliny,  N.H.  xxi.  45. 

"  Burial  of  the  Pelasgi  (  =  Argives),  see  Theb.  xii.  105; 
the  last  line  seems  to  point  to  some  perplexity  on  Statius's 
part  as  to  how  he  would  bring  his  epic  to  a  close. 

■*  Duty  is  addressed  as  though  identified  with  Astraea,  as 
again  v.  2.  92,  3.  89  ;  cf.  Theb.  xi.  457. 

166 


SILVAE,  III.  II.  128— III.  2 

thee  a  nobler  prize,  shall  bid  thee  return  from  the 
warfare  thou  hast  ended,  and  I  standing  again  upon 
tliis  shore  shall  view  the  mighty  waves  and  pray  for 
other  breezes.  How  proud  then  shall  I  be  !  How 
bravely  shall  I  sound  my  votive  lyre  !  when  you  lift 
me  to  your  shoulders  and  I  cling  about  your  stalwart 
neck,  and  you,  fresh  from  the  ship,  fall  first  upon 
my  breast,  and  give  me  all  your  stored-up  converse, 
and  in  turn  we  tell  the  story  of  the  years  between, 
you  of  rapid  Euphrates  and  royal  Bactra  and  the 
sacred  wealth  of  ancient  Babylon,  and  of  Zeugma,*' 
the  way  of  the  Peace  of  Rome  ;  how  sweet  is  Idume's 
luxuriant  grove,  with  what  dye  costly  Tyre  glows 
scai'let,  and  the  purple,  twice  plunged  in  Sidonian 
vats,**  is  stained,  where  the  fruitful  sprays  first  exude 
the  shining  spikenard  from  the  bud  :  while  I  relate 
what  burial  I  have  granted  to  the  conquered 
Pelasgians,  and  rehearse  the  page  that  closes  the 
laboured  tale  of  Thebes.'' 


HI.  A  POEM  OF  CONSOLATION  TO 
CLAUDIUS  ETRUSCUS 

In  this  Epicedion  Statins  has  given  the  chief  place  to  the 
story  of  the  dead  mail's  career,  more  in  tlie  manner  of  a 
"  laudatio  "  ;  the  opening  is  also  varied,  cf.  on  ii.  6.  Claudius 
Etruscus,  the  father  of  tJie  man  whom  Statins  is  addressing 
in  this  poem,  was  born  a  slave  at  Smyrna,  but  rapidly  rose  from 
post  to  post  in  the  Imperial  household  till  he  finally  became 
Secretary  of  Finances  nnder  Nero  ;  he  was  made  a  Knight 
by  Vespasian,  and  after  a  brief  disgrace  nnder  Domitian  died 
at  about  the  age  o/90.  His  wife  was  of  noble  birth.  Martial 
lorote  a  poem  on  the  same  occasion  (vii.  40). 

Duty,''  most  high  among  gods,  whose  heaven- 
favoured  deity  rarely  beholds  the  guilty  earth,  come 

l67 


STATIUS 

hue  \dttata  comam  niveoque  insignis  amictu, 
qualis  adhuc  praesens  nuUaque  expulsa  nocentum 
fraude  rudes  populos  atque  aurea  regna  colebas,       5 
mitibus  exsequiis  ades  et  lugentis  Etrusci 
cerne  pios  fletus  laudataque  lumina  terge. 
nam  quis  inexpleto  rumpentem  pectora  que&tu 
complexumque  rogos  incumbentenique  favillis 
aspiciens  non  aut  primaevae  funera  plangi  10 

coniugis  aut  nati  modo  pubescentia  credat 
ora  rapi  flammis  ?     pater  est,  qui  fletur.     adeste 
dique    honiinesque    sacris.     procul   hinc,   procul   ite 

nocentes, 
si  cui  corde  nefas  taciturn  fessique  senectus 
longa  patris,  si  quis  pulsatae  conscius  uniquam^       15 
matris  et  inferna  rigidum  timet  Aeacon  urna  : 
insontes  castosque  voco.     tenet  ecce  seniles 
leniter  implicitos  vultus  sanctamque  parentis 
canitiem  spargit  lacrimis  animaeque  supremum 
frigus  amat  ;  celeres  genitoris  filius  annos  20 

— mira  fides  ! — nigrasque  putat  properasse  sorores. 
exsultent  placidi  Lethaea  ad  flumina  manes, 
Elysiae  gaudete  domus  ;  date  serta  per  aras 
festaque  pallentes  hilarent  altaria  lucos. 
felix,  haec,^  nimium  felix  plorataque  nato  25 

umbra  venit.     longe  Furiarum  sibila,  longe 
tergeminus  custos,  penitus  via  longa  patescat 
manibus  egi'egiis.     eat  horrendumque  silentis 
accedat  domim  solium  gratesque  supremas 
perferat  et  totidem  iuveni  roget  anxius  annos.         30 

^  unquam  M :  anguem  Postgate. 
^  haec  Slater  :  et  M :  a,  heu,  o,  en  edd. 

"  Cerberus. 
168 


SILVAE,  III.  III.  3-30 

hither  with  fillets  on  thy  hair  and  adorned  with  snow- 
white  robe,  as  when  still  a  present  goddess,  before 
the  violence  of  sinful  men  had  driven  thee  away, 
thou  didst  dwell  among  innocent  folk  in  a  reign  of 
gold  ;  come  to  these  quiet  obsequies,  and  look  upon 
the  duteous  tears  of  sorrowing  Etruscus,  and  brush 
them  from  his  eyes  with  words  of  praise.  For  who 
that  saw  him  bursting  his  heart  with  unsatisfied 
lament  and  embracing  the  pyre  and  bending  o'er 
the  ashes  would  not  think  that  it  was  a  young  wife 
whose  death  he  mourned,  or  a  son  whose  face  just 
growing  into  manhood  the  flames  were  devouring  ? 
But  it  is  a  father  whom  he  weeps.  Come,  gods  and 
men,  to  the  holy  rites.  Begone,  begone,  ye  wicked, 
all  in  whose  hearts  is  a  crime  unspoken,  any  who 
deems  his  aged  sire  has  lived  too  long,  or,  conscious 
of  ever  having  struck  his  mother,  fears  the  urn  of 
unbending  Aeacus  in  the  world  below  :  'tis  the  pure 
and  guiltless  I  invite.  Lo  !  gently  in  his  arms  he 
holds  the  aged  face  and  lets  his  tears  bedew  the 
sacred  white  hairs  of  his  sire,  and  lovingly  gathers 
the  last  cold  breath  ;  marvellous,  yet  true  !  a  son  is 
thinking  that  his  father's  life  is  swiftly  flown,  that 
the  black  Sisters  have  brought  the  end  too  soon. 
Exult,  ye  placid  ghosts  by  the  streams  of  Lethe, 
rejoice,  Elysian  abodes  !  enwreathe  the  shrines,  and 
let  festal  altars  gladden  the  pale  groves.  'Tis  a 
happy  shade  that  is  coming,  ay,  too  happy,  for  his 
son  laments  him.  Avaunt,  ye  hissing  Furies,  avaunt 
the  threefold  guardian  <*  !  let  the  long  road  lie  clear 
for  peerless  spirits.  Let  him  come,  and  approach 
the  awful  throne  of  the  silent  monarch  and  pay  his 
last  due  of  gratitude  and  anxiously  request  for  his 
son  as  long  a  life. 

169 


ST  ATI  us 

Macte  pio  gemitu  !     dabimus  solacia  dignis 
luctibus  Aoniasque  tuo  sacrabimus  ultro 
inferias,  Etrusce,  seni  !  tu  largus  Eoa 
germina,  tu  messes  Cilicumque  Arabumque  superbas 
merge  rogis  ;  ferat  ignis  opes  heredis  et  alto  35 

aggere  missuri  nitido  pia  nubila  caelo 
stipentur  cineres  :  nos  non  arsura  feremus 
munera,  venturosque  tuus  durabit  in  annos 
me  monstrante  dolor,  neque  enim  mihi  flere  parentem 
ignotum,  similis  gemui  proiectus  ad  ignem.  40 

ille  mihi  tua  damna  dies  compescere  cantu 
suadet  :  et  ipse  tuli  quos  nunc  tibi  confero  questus. 

Non  tibi  clara  quidem,  senior  placidissime,  gentis 
linea  nee  proavis  demissum  stemma,  sed  ingens 
supplevit  fortuna  genus  culpamque  parentum  45 

occuluit.     nee  enim  dominos  de  plebe  tuUsti, 
sed  quibus  occasus  pariter  famulantur  et  ortus. 
nee  pudor  iste  tibi  :  quid  enim  terrisque  poloque 
parendi  sine  lege  manet  ?     vice  cuncta  reguntur^ 
alternisque  premunt.     propriis  sub  regibus  omnis    50 
terra  ;  premit  felix  regum  diademata  Roma  ; 
banc  ducibus  frenare  datum  ;  mox  crescit  in  illos 
imperium  superis.     sed  habent  et  numina  legem  : 
servit  et  astrorum  velox  chorus  et  vaga  servit 
luna  nee  iniussae  totiens  redit  orbita  lucis,  55 

et — modo  si  fas  est  aequare  iacentia  summis — 

^  reguntur  Gevart :  geruntur  J/. 

"  Statius   now   addresses  the  father.     At  1.  85  he  again 
170 


SILVAE,  III.  III.  31-56 

A  blessing  on  thy  pious  moans  !  I  will  bring  solace 
for  a  grief  so  worthy,  and  unbidden  pay  thy  sire, 
Etruscus,  an  offering  of  song.  Do  thou  with  lavish 
hand  plunge  Eastern  incense  in  the  flames,  and  the 
proud  harvests  of  Cilicia  and  Araby  ;  let  the  fire 
consume  thy  heritage  of  wealth  ;  heap  high  the  burn- 
ing mass  that  shall  waft  duteous  clouds  to  the  bright 
sky.  My  gift  is  not  for  burning,  but  my  record  of 
thy  grief  shall  endure  through  the  years  to  come. 
For  I  too  know  what  it  is  to  mourn  a  father  ;  I  too 
have  groaned  prostrate  before  the  pyre.  That  day 
bids  me  assuage  tjiy  loss  by  song  ;  the  lament  I 
offer  thee  now  was  once  my  own. 

No  brilliant  lineage  indeed  was  thine,**  serene  old 
man,  no  descent  traced  down  from  distant  ancestors, 
but  high  fortune  made  good  thy  birth  and  hid  the 
blemish  of  thy  parentage.  For  thy  masters  were 
not  of  common  stock,  but  those  to  whom  East  and 
West  are  alike  in  thrall.  No  shame  is  that  servitude 
to  thee  ;  **  for  what  in  heaven  and  earth  remains 
unbound  by  the  law  of  obedience  ?  All  things  in 
turn  are  ruled  and  in  turn  hold  sway.  To  its  own 
monarch  every  land  is  subject  :  fortunate  Rome 
lords  it  o'er  monarchs'  crowns  :  'tis  her  rulers'  duty 
to  bridle  Rome  :  o'er  these  in  turn  rises  the  sove- 
reignty of  heaven.  But  even  deities  have  their  laws  : 
in  thraldom  is  the  swift  choir  of  the  stars,  in  thraldom 
is  the  wandering  moon,  not  unbidden  is  the  light 
whose  path  so  oft  returns.  And,  if  only  it  be  not 
a  sin  to  compare  the  lowly  with  the  highest,  the 

speaks   of  him  in  the  3rd  person,  but  returns  to   the  !3nd 
person  at  1.  106. 

*  More  familiar  parallels  to  this  idea  are  Soph.  Ajax, 
669  ff.  and  Hor.  Od.  iii.  1.  5. 

171 


STATIUS 

pertulit  et  saevi  Tirynthius  horrida  regis 
pacta,  nee  erubuit  famulantis  fistula  Phoebi. 

Sed  neque  barbarieis  Latio  transniissus  ab  oris  : 
Smyrna  tibi  gentile  solum  potusque  verendo  60 

fonte  Meles  Hermique  vadum,  quo  Lydius  intrat 
Bacchus  et  aurato  reficit  sua  cornua  limo. 
laeta  dehinc  series  variisque  ex  ordine  curis 
auctus  honos ;  semperque  gradi  prope  numina,  semper 
Gaesareum  coluisse  latus  sacrisque  deorum  65 

arcanis  haerere  datum.     Tibereia  primum 
aula  tibi  vixdum  ora  nova  mutante  iuventa 
panditur — hie  annis  multa  super  indole  victis 
libertas  oblata  venit — nee  proximus  heres, 
immitis  quamquam  et  Furiis  agitatus,  abegit.  70 

huic^  et  in  Arctoas  tenuis  comes  usque  pruinas 
terribilem  adfatu  passus  visuque  tyrannum 
immanemque  suis,  ut  qui  metuenda  ferarum 
corda  domant  mersasque  iubent  iam  sanguine  tacto 
reddere  ab  ore  manus  et  nulla  \ivere  praeda.  75 

praecipuos  sed  enim  merito  surrexit^  in  actus 
nondum  stelligerum  senior  dimissus  in  axem 
Claudius  et  longo^  transmittit  habere  nepoti. 

^  huic  Pol.  :  bine  M:  hunc  Aldine. 

2  surrexit  M :  subvexit  Pol.  {but  cf.  Tbeb.  11.  27). 

*  longo  M :  longum  Gevart. 

"  Hercules  served  King  Eurystheus  of  Argos,  Apollo  was 
shepherd  (hence  "  fistula  ")  to  Admetus,  king  of  Thessaly. 

*  Because  Homer  was  born  on  its  banks. 

"  The  Dionysus  of  the  Indian  legends  has  a  bull's  horns  ; 
the  same  Oriental  figure  appears  In  Theb.  iv.  389,  "  Hermi 
de  fontibus  aureus  exis." 

"*  "  latus  "  Is  often  used  in  this  sense  ;  cf.  the  Papal  legate 
"a  latere." 

*  Caligula.     The  next  line  seems  to  be  a  reference  to  the 

172 


SILVAE,  III.   III.  57-78 

Tirynthian  also  perfonned  his  dread  covenant  with 
the  cruel  king,  nor  did  bondage  shame  the  pipe  of 
Phoebus.'* 

Butneitherwert  thou  sent  to  Latiumfrom  barbarous 
shores  :  Smyrna  was  thy  native  soil,  and  thou  didst 
drink  the  honoured  ^  springs  of  Meles  and  of  Hermus' 
stream,  where  Lydian  Bacchus  bathes  and  tricks 
his  horns  anew  in  the  golden  silt."  Thereafter  a 
prosperous  career  was  thine,  and  divers  offices  in  due 
succession  increased  thy  dignity  :  it  was  thy  privilege 
ever  to  walk  near  divinities,  ever  to  be  close  to 
Caesar's  person  <*  and  to  share  the  holy  secrets  of  the 
gods.  The  palace  of  Tiberius  first  was  opened  to 
thee  while  early  manhood  scarce  changed  as  yet  thy 
boyish  countenance  ;  here — since  thy  varied  gifts 
surpassed  thy  years — freedom  came  to  thee  un- 
sought ;  nor  did  the  next  heir,^  though  fierce  and 
Fury-haunted,  banish  thee.  In  his  train  didst  thou 
go,  frail  as  thou  wert,  even  to  the  frozen  North,  and 
endure  the  tyrant  terrible  in  word  and  look  and  cruel 
to  his  subjects,  as  those  who  tame  the  dread  rage  of 
beasts  and  command  them,  though  they  have  tasted 
blood,  to  let  go  the  hand  thrust  down  their  jaws,  and 
to  live  without  need  of  prey.  But  Claudius  for  thy 
merit  raised  thee  to  highest  office  in  his  old  age,^ 
ere  he  was  summoned  to  the  starry  vault,  and  gave 
thee  over  to  the  keeping  of  his  nephew's  late-born 

expedition  to  Britain,  which  ended  so  ridiculously  (Suet. 
Cal.  46). 

f  This  seems  the  most  satisfactory  meaning  that  can  be 
got  for  "  longo  " ;  others  are  "  long-reigning,"  for  which 
"  longus  exul  "  of  Theb.  11.  114,  Is  not  a  very  good  parallel, 
and  "  the  long  series  of  descendants,"  which  could  only  refer 
to  the  Flavians.  Nero  succeeded  at  the  age  of  seventeen. 
He  was  the  son  of  Claudius's  niece  Agrippina. 

173 


ST  ATI  us 

quis  superos  metuens  pariter  tot  templa,  tot  aras 
promeruisse  datur  ?  summi  Io\ds  aliger  Areas  80 

nuntius  ;  imbrifera  potitur  Thaumantide  luno  ; 
stat  celer  obsequio  iussa  ad  Neptunia  Triton  : 
tu  totiens  mutata  ducum  iuga  rite  tulisti 
integer,  inque  omni  felix  tua  cumba  profundo. 

lamque  piam  lux  alta  domum  praecelsaque  toto  85 
intravit  Fortuna  gradu  ;  iam  creditur  uni 
sanctarum  digestus  opum  partaeque  per  omnis 
divitiae  populos  magnique  impendia  niundi. 
quicquid  ab  auriferis  eiectat  Hiberia  fossis, 
Dalmatico  quod  monte  nitet,  quod  messibus  Afris  90 
verritur,  aestiferi  quicquid  terit  area  Nili, 
quodque  legit  mersus  pelagi  scrutator  Eoi, 
et  Lacedaemonii  pecuaria  culta  Galaesi 
perspicuaeque  nives  Massylaque  robora  et  Indi 
dentis  honos  :  uni  parent  commissa  ministro,  95 

quae    Boreas    quaeque    Eurus    atrox,    quae    nubilus 

Auster 
invehit  :  hibernos  citius  numeraveris  imbres 
silvarumque  comas,     vigil  idem  animique  sagacis^ 
et  citus^  evolvit  quantum  Romana  sub  omni 
pila  die  quantumque  tribus,  quid  templa,  quid  alti  100 
undarum  cursus,  quid  propugnacula  poscant 

^  vigil  idem  animique  sagacis  Leo  :  vigilite  animaeque 
sagacis  M,  variously  emended ;  usque,  iste,  ipse  edd., 
vigili  tu  animoque  sagaci  Peyrared  (evolvis  99)  etc. 

*  et  citus  Salmashis  :  exitus  3/ :  anxius  Hirschfeld. 

"  Mercury  and  Iris. 

*  See  Pliny,  N.H.  xxxiii.  78,  for  the  mines  of  Spain  ;  the 
gold-mines  of  Dalmatia  are  also  mentioned  iv.  7.  13  ;  cf. 
also  the  simile  in  Theb.  vi.  880.  Since  Tiberius  mining 
rights  were  vested  in  the  Emperor.  The  Imperial  fiscus  also 
derived  income  from  African  wheat,  from  pearl-fisheries, 

174 


SILVAE,  III.  III.  79  101 

son.  Who  that  fears  the  gods  was  ever  suffered  to 
serve  so  many  temples,  so  many  altars  ?  The  winged 
Arcadian  is  the  messenger  of  supreme  Jove  ;  Juno 
hath  power  over  the  rain-bringing  Thaumantian  ; " 
Triton,  swift  to  obey,  stands  ready  at  Neptune's 
bidding  :  thou  hast  duly  borne  unharmed  the  yoke 
of  princes,  changed  so  many  times,  and  thy  httle 
boat  has  weathered  every  sea. 

And  now  from  on  high  a  light  illumined  his  loyal 
liome,  and  Fortune  towering  to  her  loftiest  entered 
apace.  Now  was  entrusted  to  him  alone  the  con- 
trolling of  the  sacred  treasure,  wealth  drawn  from 
every  race,  the  revenue  of  the  mighty  world.  All 
that  Iberia  hews  from  out  her  gold-mines,*"  the 
glittering  metal  of  Dalmatian  hills,  the  produce  of 
African  harvests  :  all  that  is  threshed  on  the  floors 
of  sultry  Nile,  or  gathered  by  the  divers  who  search 
the  Eastern  seas  :  the  tended  flocks  of  Lacedae- 
monian Galaesus,  frozen  crystals,  Massylian  citron- 
wood,  the  glory  of  the  Indian  tusk  :  all  is  committed 
to  his  charge  and  subject  to  him  alone,  all  that  the 
North  wind  and  fierce  East  wind  and  the  cloudy 
South  bring  with  them  ;  sooner  would  you  count  the 
winter  rains  or  forest  leaves.  Watchful  too  is  he  and 
shrewd  of  mind,  and  quick  to  reckon  what  the  Roman 
arms  beneath  every  sky  demand,  how  much  the 
tribes  "  and  the  temples,  how  much  the  lofty  aque- 

and  considerable  wealth  from  Egypt,  which  was  the  Em- 
peror's own  domain. 

"  "tribus,"  probably  the  supplies  of  free  corn,  distributed 
by  tribes  ;  "  propugn.  aeq.,"  perhaps  the  care  of  harbours 
rather  than  fortresses;  "quod  domini,"  etc.,  Domitian  had 
recently  built  a  new  palace  on  the  Palatine  ;  "  quae  divum," 
etc.,  the  general  supervision  of  statues  of  the  Emperors 
{—  "divum  "),  and  of  the  Mint. 

175 


ST  ATI  us 

aequoris  aut  longe  series  porreeta  \darum  ; 
quod  domini  celsis  niteat  laquearibus  aurum, 
quae  divum  in  vultus  igni  formanda  liquescat 
massa,  quid  Ausoniae  scriptura  crepet  igne  Monetae, 
hinc  tibi  rara  quies  animoque  exclusa  voluptas,      106 
exiguaeque  dapes  et  nuraquam  laesa  profundo 
eura  mero  ;  sed  iura  tamen  genialia  cordi 
et  mentem  vincire  toris  ae  iungere  festa 
conubia  et  fidos  domino  genuisse  clientes.  110 

Quis  sublime  genus  formamque  insignis  Etruscae 
neseiat  ?     haud  quamquam  proprio  mihi  cognita  visu, 
sed  decus  eximium  famae  par  reddit  imago, 
vultibus  et  similis^  natorum  gratia  monstrat. 
nee  vulgare  genus  ;  fasces  summamque  curulem    115 
frater  et  Ausonios  enses  mandataque  fidus 
signa  tulit,  cum  prima  truces  amentia  Dacos 
impulit  et  magno  gens  est  damnata  triumpho. 
sic  quicquid  patrio  cessatum  a  sanguine,  mater 
reddidit,  obscurumque  latus  clarescere  vidit  120 

conubio  gavisa  domus.     nee  pignora  longe  ; 
quippe  bis  ad  partus  venit  Lucina  manuque 
ipsa  levi  gra\-idos  tetigit  fecunda  labores. 
feUx  a  !     si  longa  dies,  si  cernere  vultus 
natorum  viridesque  genas  tibi  iusta  dedissent         125 
stamina  !     sed  media  cecidere  abrupta  iuventa 
gaudia,  florentesque  manu  scidit  Atropos  annos  ; 
quaUa  pallentes  decUnant  lilia  culmos 

^  vultibus  et  similis  Phillimore  :  vultibus  et  sibimet  similis 
M:  et  sibimet  similis  Skutsch,  Krohn. 

"  i.e.,  the  consulship. 

*  Domitian  triumphed  in  85,  though  without  having 
obtained  any  real  success. 

"  The  goddess  of  child-birth,  lit.  that  first  brings  light  to 
the  infant's  eyes  ;  identified  with  Juno  later. 

176 


SILVAE,  III.  III.  102-128 

ducts,  and  the  fortresses  by  the  sea,  or  the  far-flung 
hnes  of  road  ;  what  wealth  of  gold  gleams  on  the 
high  ceilings  of  our  prince,  what  weight  of  ore  must 
be  melted  in  the  fire  and  shaped  into  the  countenance 
of  gods,  how  much  shall  ring  when  stamped  in  the 
fiery  heat  of  Ausonia's  mint.  Therefore  hadst  thou 
but  scant  repose,  thy  mind  took  no  thought  for 
pleasure,  thy  feasting  was  meagre  and  thy  cares 
never  assuaged  by  plenteous  draughts  of  wine  ;  yet 
thou  hadst  joy  in  the  ties  of  marriage,  in  binding 
thy  heart  with  chains  of  love,  in  the  union  of  festal 
wedlock,  and  in  begetting  faithful  clients  for  thy 
lord. 

Who  can  but  know  the  high  birth  and  loveliness  of 
fair  Etrusca  ?  Never  with  my  own  eyes  have  I 
beheld  her,  yet  the  trusty  image  of  fame  reflects  her 
peerless  beauty,  and  a  like  charm  of  countenance  in 
her  sons  reveals  it.  No  common  birth  was  hers  ; 
her  brother  wielded  the  rods  and  the  highest  curule 
power,«  and  faithfully  led  Ausonian  swordsmen  and 
the  standards  entrusted  to  him,  when  frenzy  first 
inspired  the  ruthless  Dacians,  and  their  race  was 
doomed  to  afford  us  a  mighty  triumph.^  Thus  what- 
soe'er was  lacking  in  the  father's  blood  was  made 
good  by  the  mother,  and  the  household  rejoicing  in 
the  union  saw  its  obscurity  turned  to  brightness. 
Children  too  were  nigh  at  hand  ;  twice  was  Lucina  " 
present  at  the  birth  and  deftly  with  fruitful  hand 
eased  the  pain  of  travail.  Ah  !  happy,  had  length 
of  days  and  a  due  measure  of  years  suffered  thee  to 
behold  the  faces  of  thy  children  and  the  bloom  of 
youth  upon  their  cheeks  !  but  in  the  midst  of  thy 
prime  those  joys  fell  shattered,  and  Atropos  roughly 
tore  the  thread  of  flourishing  life  ;    even  so  do  lilies 

VOL.1  N  177 


ST  ATI  us 

pubentesque  rosae  primos  moriuntur  ad  austros, 

aut  ubi  verna  novis  exspirat  purpura  pratis.  130 

ilia  sagittiferi  circumvolitastis,  Amores, 

funera  maternoque  rogos  unxistis  amomo  ; 

nee  modus  aut  pennis  laeeris  aut  erinibus  ignem 

spargere,  colleetaeque  pyram  struxere  pharetrae. 

quas  tune  inferias  aut  quae  lamenta  dedisses  135 

maternis,  Etrusee,  rogis,  qui  funera  patris 

baud  matura  putas  atque  hos  pius  ingemis  annos  ! 

Ilium  et  qui  nutu  superas  nune  temperat  arces, 
progeniem  claram  terris  partitus  et  astris, 
laetus  Idumaei  donavit  honore  triumphi  140 

dignatusque  loco  victricis  et  ordine  pompae 
non  vetuit,  tenuesque  nihil  minuere  parentes. 
atque  idem  in  cuneos  populo  deduxit  equestres 
mutavitque  genus  laevaeque  ignobile  ferrum 
exuit  et  celso  natorum  aequavit  honorem.^  145 

dextra  bis  octonis  fluxerunt  saecula  lustris, 
atque  aevi  sine  nube  tenor,     quam  dives  in  usus 
natorum  totoque  volens  excedere  censu, 
testis  adhuc  largi  nitor  inde  adsuetus  Etrusci, 
cui  tua  non  humilis  dedit  indulgentia  mores.  150 

hunc  siquidem  amplexu  semper  revocante  tenebas 
blandus  et  imperio  numquam  pater  ;  huius  honori 
pronior  ipse  etiam  gaudebat  cedere  frater. 

Quas  tibi  devoti  iuvenes  pro  patre  renato, 
summe  ducum,  grates,  aut  quae  pia  vota  rependunt  ! 

^  celso  .  .  .  honorem  Krohn :  celso  .  . .  honore  M :  celse  .  . . 
honori  Salmasius. 

"  Vespasian,  whose  sons  were  Titus  [d.  81)  and  Domitian. 

''  Here=  Judaean  ;  the  reference  is  to  the  revolt  of  the 
Jews  that  culminated  in  the  destruction  of  Jerusalem  by 
Titus. 

"  The  gold  ring  and  the  fourteen  seats  above  the  orchestra 
were  privileges  of  the  Equestrian  order. 

178 


SILVAE,  III.  III.   129-155 

droop  pale  heads  and  roses  die  at  the  first  South 
wind,  or  on  fresh  meadows  the  purple  flower  of  spring 
withers  away.  Around  that  funeral  train  did  ye 
hover,  ye  arrow-bearing  Loves,  and  anoint  the  bier 
with  your  mother's  balm  ;  freely  did  ye  scatter  your 
torn  hair  and  feathers  on  the  flames,  and  your 
quivers  were  heaped  to  build  the  pyre.  What 
offerings,  what  tears  wouldest  thou  have  paid  at  thy 
mother's  grave,  Etruscus,  who  deemest  thy  father's 
death  untimely  and  mournest  witli  true  aifection  for 
his  years  ! 

He  who  with  his  nod  now  sways  the  heights  of 
heaven,'*  and  has  given  of  his  glorious  offspring  to 
earth  and  sky  alike,  gladly  granted  to  him  the 
honour  of  an  Idumaean  ''  triumph,  and  deeming  him 
worthy  the  distinction  and  rank  that  the  procession 
of  victory  brings  forbade  it  not,  nor  did  obscurity  of 
birth  diminish  his  renown.*^  He  too  led  him  down  to 
the  benches  of  the  knights  from  among  the  people, 
and  ennobled  him  and  took  off  the  humble  iron  ring 
and  made  him  equal  to  his  sons  in  lofty  eminence. 
Twice  eight  lustres  of  prosperity  flowed  by,  and  his 
life's  course  was  without  a  cloud.  How  lavish  he  was 
in  the  service  of  his  sons,  how  willing  to  strip  himself 
of  all  his  wealth,  the  wonted  splendour  of  Etruscus 
from  that  day  to  this  bears  witness,  for  it  was  thy 
indulgence  that  gave  him  his  lordly  mien.  Thou 
didst  clasp  him  in  an  embrace  that  ever  called  him 
back  to  tliee,  and  didst  rule  by  the  love  and  not  the 
sternness  of  a  father ;  to  him  even  liis  brother 
rejoiced  to  give  way,  more  anxious  for  his  renown 
than  for  his  own. 

What  gratitude,  greatest  of  princes,  what  loyal 
vows  do  these  youths,  devoted  to  thy  service,  pay 

179 


STATIUS 

tu — seu  tarda  situ  rebusque  exhausta  senectus       156 
erravit  seu  blanda  diu  Fortuna  regressum 
maluit — attoiiituni  et  venturi  fulminis  ictus 
horrentem  tonitru  tantum  lenique  procella 
contentus  monuisse  senem  ;  cumque  horrida  supra 
aequora  curarum  socius  procul  Itala  rura  161 

linqueret,  hie  molles  Campani  litoris  oras 
et  Diomedeas  concedere  iussus  in  arces 
atque  hospes,  non  exsul,  erat.     nee  longa  moratus 
Romuleum  reseras  iterum,  Germanice,  limen  165 

maerentemque  foves  inclinatosque  penates 
erigis.     baud  mirum,  ductor  placidissime,  quando 
haec  est  quae  victis  parcentia  foedera  Cattis 
quaeque  suum  Dacis  donat  dementia  montem, 
quae  modo  Marcomanos  post  horrida  bella  vagosque 
Sauromatas  Latio  non  est  dignata  triumpho.  171 

lamque  in  fine  dies  et  inexorabile  pensum 
deficit,  hie  maesti  pietas  me  poscit  Etrusci, 
qualia  nee  Siculae  moderantur  carmina  rupes 
nee  fati  iam  certus  olor  saevique  marita  175 

Tereos.     heu  quantis  lassantem  braehia  vidi 
planctibus  et  prono  fusum  super  oscula  vultu  ! 
vix  famuli  eomitesque  tenent,  vix  arduus  ignis 
summovet.     baud  ahter  gemuit  per  Sunia^  Theseus 
htora,^  qui  falsis  deceperat  Aegea  vehs.  180 

tunc  immane  gemens  foedatusque  ora  tepentes 

^  per  Sunia  Bolster:  periuria  J/:  per  inania  Burslan: 
per  Ionia  Phillimore. 

^  litora  M :  litore  S",  and  keep  periuria. 

"  Diomede  was  supposed  by  legend  to  have  come  to  S. 
Italy  and  founded  Arpi  in  Apulia. 

''  Campaign  against  the  Chatti,  83,  unsuccessful  fighting 
against  Dacians  and  Marcomanni  about  88,  Sarmatian  war, 
probably  successful  but  no  triumph,  92. 

180 


SILVAE,  III.  III.  156-181 

thee  for  theii*  sire's  rebirth  !  For  whether  he  erred 
through  age,  fatigued  by  decay  and  exhausted  by 
affairs,  or  whether  P'ortune  so  long  favourable  now 
had  a  mind  to  leave  him,  thou  wert  content,  while  in 
shuddering  dismay  he  awaited  the  coming  lightning- 
stroke,  to  warn  the  old  man  by  thunder  alone  and 
by  a  storm  that  spared  him  ;  and  Avhen  the  partner 
of  his  cares  left  far  behind  him  the  fields  of  Italy  and 
crossed  the  raging  seas,  he  was  bidden  retire  to 
Campania's  mild  coast  and  the  towers  of  Diomede,'* 
a  stranger  but  no  exile.  Nor  didst  thou  wait  long, 
Germanicus,  before  thou  didst  once  more  unbar  the 
gates  of  Romulus  and  console  his  grief  and  raise  again 
the  stricken  house.  No  wonder,  most  tranquil  prince  ; 
for  this  is  that  clemency  that  gives  terms  of  mercy  to 
the  conquered  Catti  ^  and  restores  their  mountain  to 
the  Dacians  ;  that  lately  though  after  a  fierce  struggle 
deigned  not  that  the  Marcomanni  and  the  Sarma- 
tian  Nomads  should  furnish  forth  a  Roman  triumph. 
And  now  his  day  is  ended,  and  the  inexorable 
thread  runs  out.  The  sorrowing  heart  of  Etruscus 
asks  me  for  a  dirge,  such  as  even  the  cliffs  of  Sicily 
re-echoed  not,  nor  doomed  swan  ever  sang  nor  cruel 
Tereus'  bride .'^  Ah  !  with  what  violent  beating  of 
his  breast  did  I  see  him  wearying  his  arms,  flung 
prostrate  with  face  bowed  down  to  kiss  his  sire  ! 
Scarce  can  his  friends  and  servants  hold  him,  scarce 
do  the  towering  flames  make  him  withdraw.  Not 
otherwise  did  Theseus  on  the  Sunian  shore  mourn 
Aegeus  whom  his  false  sails  had  deceived.  Then 
fearfully  groaning,  with  disfiguring  marks  upon  his 

"  The  Sirens,  and  the  nightingale  (Philomela,  ravished  by 
Tereus)  are  referred  to. 

181 


ST  ATI  us 

adfatur  cineres  :  "  cur  nos,  fidissime,  linquis 
Fortuna  redeunte,  pater  ?  modo  numina  magni 
praesidis  atque  breves  superuni  placa\imus  iras, 
nee  frueris  tantique  orbatus  muneris  usu  185 

ad  manes,  ingrate,  fugis.     nee  flectere  Parcas 
aut  placare  malae  datur  aspera  numina  Lethes  ? 
felix,  cui  magna  patrem  cer\iee  vehenti 
sacra  Mycenaeae  patuit  reverentia  flammae  ! 
quique  tener  saevis  genitorem  Scipio  Poenis  190 

abstulit  et  Lydi  pietas  temeraria  Lausi. 
ergo  et  Thessalici  coniunx  pensare  mariti 
funus  et  immitem  potuit  Styga  \'incere  supplex 
Thracius  ?  hoc  quanto  melius  pro  patre  liceret  ! 
non  totus  rapiere  tamen,  nee  funera  mittam  195 

longius  ;  hie  manes,  hie  intra  tecta  tenebo  : 
tu  custos  dominusque  laris,  tibi  cuncta  tuorum 
parebunt  ;  ego  rite  minor  semperque  secundus 
assiduas  hbabo  dapes  et  pocula  sacris 
manibus  effigiesque  colam  ;  te  lucida  saxa,  200 

te  similem  doctae  referet  mihi  hnea  cerae, 
nunc  ebur  et  fulvum  vultus  imitabitur  aurum. 
inde  \iam  morum  longaeque  examina  vitae 
adfatusque  pios  monituraque  somnia  poscam." 

Taha  dicentem  genitor  dulcedine  laeta  205 

audit  et  immites  lente  descendit  ad  umbras 
verbaque  dilectae  fert  narraturus  Etruscae. 

Salve  supremum,  senior  mitissime  patrum, 

"  Aeneas  who  carried  his  father  out  of  burning  Troy  : 
Mycenean=  kindled  by  Greeks. 

'"  At  the  battle  of  Ticinus,  218  b.c. 

"  Son  of  Mezentius=:  Virg.  Aen.  x.  786  sqq. 

^  Alcestis,  wife  of  Admetus,  and  Orpheus,  husband  of 
Eurydice. 
182 


SILVAE,  III.   III.   182-208 

face,  he  cries  to  the  warm  ashes  :  "  Why,  truest  of 
fathers,  dost  thou  leave  us,  when  Fortune  smiles  once 
more  ?  Only  of  late  did  we  assuage  the  godhead  of 
our  mighty  prince  and  the  brief  anger  of  the  gods, 
but  thou,  naught  profiting,  dost  lose  the  enjoyment 
of  a  boon  so  great,  and  fleest,  ungrateful,  to  the 
shades.  And  is  it  not  granted  to  move  the  Fates, 
or  appease  the  ruthless  deities  of  deadly  Lethe  ? 
Happy  he,  before  whom  as  he  carried  his  father  on 
stalwart  shoulders  the  Grecian  flames  gave  way  in 
reverent  awe  ^  !  and  Scipio  too,  who  while  yet  a  lad 
rescued  his  sire  from  the  cruel  Carthaginians  *  ; 
happy  also  the  daring  devotion  of  Lydian  Lausus  <^  ! 
Is  it  so,  then,  that  the  Thessalian  consort  could  give 
her  life  to  save  her  lord  ?  that  the  suppUant  Thracian 
could  defeat  remorseless  Styx  ?  '^  surely  a  father's 
life  hath  a  juster  claim  !  Yet  shalt  thou  not  be 
wholly  taken,  nor  will  I  send  thy  ashes  far  :  here, 
here  within  the  house  will  I  keep  thy  shade.  Thou 
art  the  guardian  and  master  of  the  hearth,  all  tliat 
is  thine  shaU  obey  thee  ;  I  will  ever,  as  is  right, 
be  second,  and  hold  a  lesser  place,  and  to  thy  sacred 
shade  bring  constant  offering  of  meat  and  drink,  and 
worship  thy  image  ;  shining  marble  and  the  cunning- 
lines  of  wax  shall  repeat  thy  likeness  to  me  ;  now 
ivoi-y,  now  tawny  gold  shall  imitate  thy  features. 
There  in  thy  long  life's  story  will  I  seek  a  guide  for 
conduct,  and  loving  converse  and  dreams  that  bring 
good  counsel." 

So  he  spoke,  and  liis  father  heard  him  with  joy  and 
gladness,  and  went  down  slowly  to  the  pitiless  shades, 
bearing  the  message  to  tell  to  his  beloved  Etrusca. 

Hail  for  the  last  time,  aged  sire,  gentlest  of  fathers, 

183 


ST  ATI  us 

supremumque  vale,  qui  numquam  sospite  nato 
triste  chaos  maestique  situs  patiere  sepulcri.  210 

semper  odoratis  spirabunt  floribus  arae, 
semper  et  Assyrios  felix  bibet  urna  liquores 
et  lacrimas,  qui  maior  honos.     hie  sacra  htabit 
manibus  eque  tua  tumulum  tellure  levabit. 
nostra  quoque  exemplo  meritus  tibi  carmina  sancit 
hoc  etiam  gaudens  cinerem  donasse  sepulcro.         216 


IV.  CAPILLI  FLA VI  EARINIi 

Ite,  comae,  facilemque  precor  transcurrite  pontum, 
ite  coronato  recubantes  molliter  auro  ; 
ite,  dabit  cursus  mitis  Cytherea  secundos 
placabitque  notos,  fors  et  de  puppe  timenda 
transferet  inque  sua  ducet  super  aequora  concha.      5 
accipe  laudatos,  iuvenis  Phoebeie,  crines, 
quos  tibi  Caesareus  donat  puer,  accipe  laetus 
intonsoque  ostende  patri.     sine  dulce  nitentes 
comparet  atque  diu  fratris  putet  esse  Lyaei. 
forsan  et  ipse  comae  numquam  labentis  honorem     10 
praemetet  atque  alio  clusum  tibi  ponet  in  auro. 

Pergame,  pinifera  multum  fehcior  Ida  ! 

^    EARINI  Pol.  :    lEHINI  M. 

"  Asclepius. 
184 


SILVAE,  III.  III.  209— IV.  12 

and  for  the  last  time  farewell  !  Never  while  thy  son 
lives  shalt  thou  suffer  the  despair  of  Tartarus,  or  the 
sorrow  of  a  grave  forgotten.  Ever  shall  thy  altar 
exhale  the  scent  of  flowers,  ever  shall  thy  happy  urn 
drink  Assyrian  perfumes,  and  tears,  a  greater  honour. 
Thy  son  shall  make  sacrifice  to  thy  spirit,  and  from 
thy  own  soil  raise  a  monument  to  thee.  My  song 
too,  won  by  his  own  M'orth,  he  dedicates  to  thee, 
glad  to  have  given  this  sepulchre  also  to  thy  ashes. 

IV.  THE  TRESSES  OF  FLAVIUS  EARINUS 

A  poem  upon  the  dedication  of  the  tresses  of  the  Emperor'' s 
faiwurite  Earinus  ;  they  were  to  he  sent  in  a  golden  box  to 
the  temple  of  Asclepius  at  Pergamum,  his  birthplace.  The 
dedication  of  hair  was  an  ancient  Greek  custom  {cf.  Achilles 
in  the  Iliad),  and  should  not  be  confused  with  the  first  clipping 
of  the  beard,  for  which  see  Petronius,  29,  Suetonius,  Nero, 
12,  Juvenal,  viii.  166.  Martial  has  similar  poems,  ix.  16, 
17,  36. 

Speed,  ye  tresses,  and  may  ocean  smile  upon  your 
passage  !  Speed,  while  ye  softly  rest  upon  the 
en\vreathed  gold  !  Speed  onward,  for  gentle  Venus 
will  give  you  a  fair  voyage,  and  make  the  South 
winds  tranquil,  and  perchance  will  take  you  fi-om  the 
dangerous  bark  and  convey  you  over  the  sea  in  her 
own  shell.  Accept,  O  son  of  Piioebus,"  these  much- 
praised  locks  that  Caesar's  favourite  presents  to  thee, 
accept  them  joyfully  and  show  them  to  thy  unshorn 
sire.  Let  him  compai'e  their  beauteous  sheen,  and 
long  deem  them  the  tresses  of  his  brother  Lyaeus. 
Perchance  too  with  his  own  hand  he  will  shear  a  lock 
from  his  hair's  unfailing  glory,  and  enclose  it  for  thee 
in  other  gold. 

Pergamus,  more  blest  by  far  than  pine-clad  Ida, 

185 


STATIUS 

ilia  licet  sacrae  placeat  sibi  nube^  rapinae 
—  nempe  dedit  superis  ilium,  quern  turbida  semper 
luno  videt  refugitque  manum  neetarque  recusat  — , 
at  tu  grata  deis  pulchroque  insignis  alumno  16 

misisti  Latio,  placida  quern  fronte  ministrum 
luppiter  Ausonius  pariter  Romanaque  luno 
aspiciunt  et  uterque  probant.     nee  tanta  potenti 
terrarum  domino  divum  sine  mente  voluptas.  20 

Dicitur  Idalios  Erycis  de  vertice  lucos 
dum  petit  et  molles  agitat  Venus  aurea  cygnos, 
Pergameas  intrasse  domos,  ubi  maximus  aegris 
auxiliator  adest  et  festinantia  sistens 
fata  salutifero  mitis  deus  incubat  angui.  25 

hie  puerum  egregiae  praeclarum  sidere  formae 
ipsius  ante  dei  ludentem  conspicit  aras, 
ae  primum  subita  paulum  decepta  figura 
natorum  de  plebe  putat ;  sed  non  erat  illi 
arcus  et  ex  umeris  nullae  fulgentibus  umbrae.  30 

miratur  puerile  decus  vultumque  comasque 
aspiciens  "  tune  Ausonias  "  ait  "  ibis  ad  arces, 
neglectus  Veneri  ?     tu  sordida  tecta  iugumque 
servitii  vulgare  feres  ?     procul  absit  :  ego  isti, 
quem    meruit,    formae    dominum    dabo.     vade    age 
mecum,  35 

vade,  puer  :  ducam  volucri  per  sidera  curru 
donum  immane  duci  ;  nee  te  plebeia  manebunt 
iura  :  Palatino  famulus  deberis  amori. 
nil  ego,  nil,  fateor,  toto  tam  dulce  sub  orbe 
aut  vidi  aut  genui.     cedet  tibi  Latmius^  ultro  40 

^  nube  M :  laude  Markland:  pube  KoestUn. 
*  Latmius  Doni.  :  lamus  M. 

"  That  of  Ganymede.  *  Domitian  and  Domitia. 

186 


SILVAE,  III.  IV.  13-40 

though  she  boast  the  cloud  that  veiled  the  heavenly 
rape  "  !  She  verily  gave  to  the  gods  him  on  whom 
Juno  ever  looks  in  WTath,  and  withdraws  her  hand 
and  refuses  the  nectar  ;  but  thou,  beloved  of  heaven 
and  famed  for  thy  fair  foster-son,  hast  sent  to  Latium 
him  whom  Ausonian  Jove  and  Roman  Juno  ^  alike 
behold  Avith  favouring  brow  and  both  approve.  Nor 
without  the  will  of  heaven  was  such  pleasure  vouch- 
safed to  the  lord  of  earth. 

Golden  Venus,  it  is  said,  Mobile  on  her  way  from 
the  height  of  Eryx  to  the  Idalian  groves,  driving  her 
gentle  swans,  entered  the  shrine  at  Pergamum,  where 
the  great  helper  of  the  sick  is  present  to  aid,  and 
stays  the  hurrying  fates  and  bends,  a  kindly  deity, 
o'er  his  health-bringing  snake.  Here  she  espies  a 
lad  of  wondrous,  starlike  beauty,  playing  before  the 
very  altars  of  the  god.  And  at  first  deceived  some- 
what by  the  sudden  sight  of  his  fair  form  she 
deems  him  one  of  her  own  sons  ;  but  he  had  no 
bow  nor  shade  of  wings  on  his  bright  shoulders.  She 
marvels  at  his  boyish  charm,  and  gazing  at  his 
features  and  his  locks,  "  Shalt  thou  go,"  she  cries, 
"  to  the  Ausonian  city,  neglected  by  Venus,  and 
endure  a  mean  dwelling  and  slavery's  base  yoke  ? 
May  that  never  be  !  I  myself  will  find  a  master 
worthy  of  that  beauty.  Come,  lad,  come  with  me  ! 
I  will  convey  thee  in  my  winged  chariot  through  the 
air,  a  wondi'ous  present  to  a  monarch.  No  common 
servitude  awaits  thee  :  to  the  Palace  art  thou  des- 
tined, to  be  the  minister  of  love.  Never,  I  declare, 
never  the  whole  world  over  have  I  beheld  or  given 
birth  to  aught  so  fair.*'     Straightway  will  the  Latmian 

"  Endymion,  Attis,  Narcissus,  and  Hylas  are  referred  to 
in  what  follows. 

187 


STATIUS 

Sangariusque  puer  quemque  irrita  fontis  imago 

et  sterilis  consumpsit  amor,     te  caerula  Nais 

mallet  et  adprensa  traxisset  fortius  urna. 

tu,  puer,  ante  omnis  ;  solus  formosior  ille, 

cui  daberis."     sic  orsa  leves  secum  ipsa  per  auras   45 

tollit  olorinaque  iubet  considere  biga. 

nee  mora,     iam  Latii  montes  veterisque  penates 

Evandri,  quos  mole  nova  pater  incUtus  orbis 

excolit  et  summis  aequat  Germanicus  astris. 

tunc  propior  iam  cura  deae,  quae  forma  capilUs       50 

optima,  quae  vestis  roseos  accendere  vultus 

apta,  quod  in  digitis,  collo  quod  dignius  aurum. 

norat  caelestis  oculos  ducis  ipsaque  taedas 

iunxerat  et  plena  dederat  conubia  dextra  : 

sic  ornat  crines,  Tyrios  sic  fundit  amictus,  55 

dat  radios  ignemque  suum.     cessere  priores 

deliciae  famulumque  greges  ;  hie  pocula  magno 

prima  duci  murrasque  graves  crystallaque  portat 

candidiore  manu  :  crescit  nova  gratia  Baccho. 

Care  puer  superis,  qui  praelibare  verendum  60 

nectar  et  ingentem  totiens  contingere  dextram 
electus,  quam  nosse  Getae,  quam  tangere  Persae 
Armeniique  Indique  petunt  !     o  sidere  dextro 
edite,  multa  tibi  divum  indulgentia  favit  ! 
olim  etiam,  ne  prima  genas  lanugo  nitentes  65 

carperet  et  pulchrae  fuscaret  gratia  formae, 
ipse  deus  patriae  celsam  trans  aequora  liquit 
Pergamon.     haud  ulli  puerum  mollire  potestas 


"  i.e.,  the  Palatine,  where  Domitian  had  recently  built  a 
new  palace. 

188 


SILVAE,  III.  IV.  41-68 

yield  to  thee,  and  the  Sangarian  youth,  and  he  whom 
the  fruitless  image  in  the  fountain  and  barren  love 
consumed.  The  Nymph  of  the  dark-blue  water  would 
have  preferred  tliee,  and  grasped  thy  urn  and  drawn 
thee  down  more  boldly.  Thou,  boy,  dost  surpass 
them  all  ;  only  he  to  whom  I  shall  give  thee  is  more 
beautiful."  So  speaking  she  lifted  him  with  her 
own  hand  through  the  light  air,  and  bade  him  sit  in 
the  swan-drawn  chariot.  Straightway  appeared  the 
Latian  hills  *  and  the  home  of  ancient  Evander,  which 
Germanicus,  renowned  lord  of  the  world,  is  adorning 
with  new  structures  and  making  as  glorious  as  the 
stars  above.  Then  more  anxious  grew  the  goddess, 
what  tiring  of  the  hair  best  suited  him,  what  raiment 
was  fittest  to  light  up  his  rosy  countenance,  what 
gold  was  worthiest  of  his  neck  or  his  finger.  She 
knew  the  Emperor's  godlike  glance  :  herself  she  had 
joined  the  torches  of  wedlock,  and  with  lavish  hand 
bestowed  on  him  his  bride.  So  decks  she  his  hair, 
so  drapes  the  Tyrian  folds  about  him,  and  gives  him 
her  own  radiant  fire.  The  former  favourites  yield, 
and  the  crowds  of  slaves  ;  'tis  he  who  bears  the 
first  goblet  to  our  great  Chief,  and  the  crystal  cups 
and  heavy  murrhine  vessels  in  hands  that  are  fairer 
than  they  ;  there  is  a  sweeter  savour  in  the  wine. 

O  youth  beloved  of  heaven,  who  hast  been  chosen 
to  sip  first  the  sacred  nectar,  and  so  oft  to  touch  the 
mighty  hand  that  the  Getae  seek  to  know,  and  the 
Persians  and  Armenians  and  Indians  to  kiss  !  O  born 
under  a  favouring  star,  the  gods  have  blest  thee  with 
much  goodwill  !  Once,  lest  the  first  down  should 
spoil  thy  radiant  cheeks  and  the  charm  of  thy  comeH- 
ness  be  darkened,  tlie  god  of  thy  land  left  his  lofty 
Pergamum    and   crossed   the    sea.     None    else    was 

189 


STATIUS 

credita,  sed  tacita  iuvenis  Phoebeius  arte 
leniter  haud  ullo  concussum  vulnere  corpus^  70 

de  sexu  transire  iubet.     tamen  anxia  curis 
mordetur  puerique  timet  Cytherea  dolores. 
nondum  pulehra  ducis  dementia  coeperat  ortu 
intactos  servare  mares  ;  nunc  frangere  sexum 
atque  hominem  mutare  nefas,  gavisaque  solos  75 

quos  genuit  natura  videt,  nee  lege  sinistra 
ferre  timent  famulae  natorum  pondera  matres. 

Tu  quoque  nunc  iuvenis,  genitus  si  tardius  esses, 
umbratusque  genas  et  adultos  fortior  artus, 
non  unum  gaudens  Phoebea  ad  limina  munus  80 

misisses  ;  patrias  nunc  solus  crinis  ad  oras 
naviget.     hunc  multo  Paphie  saturabat  amonao, 
hunc  nova  tergemina  pectebat  Gratia  dextra ; 
huic  et  purpurei  cedet  coma  saucia  Nisi, 
et  quam  Sperchio  tumidus  servabat  Achilles.  85 

ipsi,  cum  primum  niveam  praecerpere  frontem 
decretum  est  umerosque  manu  nudare  nitentes, 
adcurrunt  teneri  Paphia  cum  matre  volucres 
expediuntque  comas  et  Serica  pectore  ponunt 
pallia,     tunc  iunctis  crinem  incidere  sagittis  90 

atque  auro  gemmisque  locant,  rapit  ipsa  cadentem 
mater  et  arcanos  iterat  Cytherea  liquores.^ 
tunc  puer  e  turba,  manibus  qui  forte  supinis 
nobile  gemmato  speculum  portaverat  auro, 
"  hoc  quoque  demus,"  ait;  "  patriis  nee  gratius  uUum 
munus  erit  templis  ipsoque  potentius  auro.  96 

^  corpus  5" :  corpeus  M,  and  Pol.  (from  P),  whence 
Phillimore  suspects  corpus  cum  vulnere  carpens. 

*  arcanos  .  .  .  liquores  31:  arcano  saturat  .  .  .  liquore 
Schroder. 

"  See  Suet.  Dom.  vii.  *  Venus. 

'^  The  "  purpureas  senex  "  of   Theh.  i.  334,  the  king  of 

190 


SILVAE,   III.   IV.   69-96 

trusted  to  unman  the  lad,  but  the  son  of  Phoebus 
with  quiet  skill  gently  bids  his  body  lose  its  sex, 
unmarred  by  any  wound.  But  Cytherea  is  devoured 
by  anxious  care,  and  fears  lest  the  boy  suffer.  Not 
yet  had  the  noble  clemency  of  our  prince  *  begun  to 
keep  our  males  untouched  from  birth  ;  to-day  it  is 
forbidden  to  destroy  sex  and  violate  manhood,  and 
nature  rejoices  to  behold  none  but  as  she  brought 
them  forth,  nor  does  a  harsh  law  make  slave-mothers 
afraid  to  bear  the  burden  of  sons. 

Thou  too,  had  thy  birth  been  later,  wert  now  a 
man,  and  with  darkened  cheeks  and  limbs  full-grown 
and  strong  hadst  gladly  sent  not  one  gift  only  to 
Phoebus'  fane  ;  now  let  this  single  tress  make  voyage 
to  thy  country's  shores.  This  did  the  Paphian'' 
steep  in  much  balm,  this  did  the  fresh  Graces  comb 
with  threefold  hand ;  to  this  will  yield  the  ravished 
pvn'ple  tress  of  Nisus,''and  that  which  wx'athful  Achilles 
kept  for  Spercheus.  When  first  it  was  decreed  to 
spoil  tliat  snow-white  brow  and  by  force  to  rob  those 
gleaming  shoulders,  winged  Cupids  mth  their  Paphian 
mother  flew  to  thee,  and  prepared  thy  locks  and  put 
a  silken  robe  about  thee.  Then  with  joined  arrows 
they  cut  off  the  tress,  and  laid  it  on  gold  and  jewels, 
and  Venus  their  mother  seized  it  as  it  fell,  and 
anointed  it  once  and  twice  with  her  mystic  essences. 
Then  one  of  the  troop  of  boys,  who  by  chance  had 
brought  in  his  upturned  hands  a  mirror  finely  set  in 
jewelled  gold,  cried  :  "  This  too  let  us  give,  no  gift 
could  be  more  pleasing  to  his  country's  slirine,  and 
more  powerful  even  than  gold.     Do  thou  but  gaze 

Megara,  who  had  tlie  purple  lock  on  which  depended  the 
safety  of  his  realm.  He  was  betrayed  by  his  daughter  Scylla, 
who  cut  it  off, 

191 


ST  ATI  us 

tu  modo  fige  aciem  et  vultus  hie  usque  relinque." 
sic  ait  et  speculum  reclusit  imagine  rapta. 

At  puer  egregius  tendens  ad  sidera  palmas, 
"  his  mihi  pro  donis,  hominum  mitissime  custos,     100 
si  merui,  longa  dominum  i*enovare  iuventa 
atque  orbi  servare  vehs  !     hoc  sidera  mecum, 
hoc  undae  terraeque  rogant.     eat,  oro,  per  annos 
IHacos  PyHosque  simul,  propriosque  penates 
gaudeat  et  secum  Tarpeia  senescere  templa."         105 
sic  ait  et  motas  miratur  Pergamos  aras. 


V.  ECLOGA  AD  UXOREMi 

Quid  mihi  maesta  die,  sociis  quid  noctibus,  uxor, 
anxia  pervigih  ducis  suspiria  cura  ? 
non  metuo  ne  laesa  fides  aut  pectore  in  isto 
alter  amor  ;  nullis  in  te  datur  ire  sagittis 
— audiat  infesto  licet  hoc  Rhamnusia  vultu — ,  5 

non  datur.     et  si  egomet  patrio  de  litore  raptus 
quattuor  emeritis  per  bella,  per  aequora  lustris 
errarem,  tu  mille  procos  intacta  fugares, 
non  intersectas  commenta  retexere  telas, 
sed  sine  fraude  palam,  thalamosque  armata  negasses. 
die  tamen,  unde  alta^  mihi  fronte  et  nubila  vultus  ?  1 1 
anne  quod  Euboicos  fessus  remeare  penates 
auguror  et  patria  senium  componere  terra  ? 

^    ECLOGA  AD  UXOBEM  S~:    VIA  DOMITIANA  J/ :  AD  CLAUDIAM  5" 

Ed.  Prln. 

^  alta  M :  alia  Aldine. 

"  i.e..  Nemesis,  from  Rhamnus,  a  town  in  Attica,  which 
possessed  a  statue  of  that  goddess. 
*  Like  Penelope. 

192 


SILVAE,  III.  IV.  97— V.  13 

tlierein,  and  leave  thy  likeness  here  for  ever."     He 
spoke,  and  shut  the  mirror,  imprisoning  the  image. 

But  the  peerless  boy  stretched  forth  his  hands  to 
heaven,  and  cried  :  "  Most  gentle  guardian  of  men, 
vouchsafe  in  reward  for  my  gift,  if  I  so  deserve,  to 
keep  our  prince  in  the  freshness  of  undying  youth, 
and  save  him  for  the  world.  The  sky,  the  sea,  and 
the  earth  join  with  me  in  my  prayer.  May  he  live, 
I  pray,  through  the  years  of  a  Priam  and  a  Nestor 
both,  and  rejoicing  see  his  own  home  and  the  Tar- 
peian  shi'ine  grow  to  old  age  with  liimself."  He 
spoke,  and  Pergamus  marvelled  that  her  fanes  were 
shaken. 


V.  THE  POET  TO  HIS  WIFE  CLAUDIA 

The  poet  pleads  with  his  wife  to  fall  in  with  his  plan  to 
return  from  Rome  to  Naples,  his  birthplace. 

Why  are  you  sad,  my  wife,  in  the  day-time  and  in 
the  nights  we  share  together  ?  Why  do  you  sigh 
for  anxiety  and  wakeful  sorrow  ?  I  have  no  fear  lest 
it  be  unfaithfulness  and  a  rival  passion  in  your  heart  ; 
you  are  safe  against  all  poisoned  shafts,  ay — though 
the  Rhamnusian  *  hear  my  words  and  frown — safe 
indeed  !  Even  were  I  torn  from  my  native  shores 
and  after  twenty  years  of  Avar  and  seafaring  a 
wanderer  still,  you  would  repel  unharmed  a  thousand 
wooers  ;  ^  nor  would  you  plan  to  weave  again  the 
imravelled  web,  but  would  be  frank  and  open,  and 
even  with  arms  deny  your  chamber.  But  say,  whence 
comes  this  sullen  brow,  this  clouded  countenance  ? 
Is  it  that,  broken  in  health,  I  purpose  to  return  to 
my  P'uboean  home,  and  to  settle  in  old  age  on  my 

VOL.  I  o  ]  9-3 


ST  ATI  us 

cur  hoc  triste  tibi  ?  certe  lascivia  corde^ 

nulla  nee  aut  rapidi  muleent  te  proelia  Cirei  15 

aut  intrat  sensus  elamosi  turba  theatri  ; 

sed  pi-obitas  et  opaea  quies  et  sordida  numquani 

gaudia. 

Quas  auteni  eoniiteni  te  rapto  per  undas  ? 
quamquam  et  si  gelidas  irem  mansurus  ad  Arctos 
vel  super  Hesperiae  vada  caligantia  Thyles  20 

aut  septemgemini  caput  baud  penetrabile  Nili, 
hortarere  vias.     etenim  tua  —  nempe  benigna 
quam  mihi  sorte  Venus  iunctam  florentibus  annis 
servat  et  in  senium  — ,  tua,  quae  me  vulnere  primo 
intactum  thalamis  et  adhuc  iuvenile  vagantem         25 
fixisti,  tua  frena  libens  docilisque  recepi, 
et  semel  insertas  non  mutaturus  habenas 
usque  premo.     tu  me  nitidis  Albana  ferentem 
dona  comis  sanctoque  indutum  Caesaris  auro 
visceribus  complexa  tuis  sertisque  dedisti  30 

oscula  anhela  meis  ;  tu,  cum  Capitolia  nostrae 
infitiata  lyrae,  saevum  ingratumque  dolebas^ 
mecum  victa  lovem  ;  tu  procurrentia  primis 
carmina  nostra  sonis  totasque  in  murmure  noctes 
aure  rapis  vigili  ;  longi  tu  sola  laboris  35 

conscia,  cumque  tuis  crevit  mea  Thebais  annis. 
qualeni  te  nuper  Stygias  prope  raptus  ad  umbras, 
cum  iam  Lethaeos  audirem  comminus  amnes, 
aspexi,  tenuique  oculos  iam  morte  cadentes. 
scilicet  exhausti  Lachesis  mihi  tempora  fatl  40 

^  corde  M  :  conVi  Doin. 
^  dolebas  iJom.  :  doleres  M :  dolere  Krolin. 

"  Domitian  had  a  residence  at  Alba,  wliere  he  held  con- 
tests in  music  and  poetry,  at  one  of  which  Statins  was 
victorious.     It  was  a  great  disappointment  that  he  failed  at 

194 


SILVAE,  III.  V.  14-40 

native  soil  ?  Why  does  this  cause  you  sorrow  ? 
Certainly  there  is  no  wantonness  in  your  heart  ;  the 
contests  of  the  rushing  Circus  have  no  charm  for 
you,  no  clamorous  tlieatre-crowds  find  a  place  in 
your  soul,  but  virtue  and  sheltered  quiet  and  innocent 

joys- 

But  what  are  the  waters  o'er  which  I  fain  would 
liurry  you  with  me  ?  although  even  if  I  went  to  dwell 
at  the  cold  North,  or  beyond  the  misty  seas  of 
western  Thule,  or  to  the  unattainable  source  of 
sevenfold  Nile,  you  would  be  urging  our  departure. 
For  it  is  you — you,  whom  Venus  of  her  grace  united 
to  me  in  the  springtime  of  my  days,  and  in  old  age 
keeps  mine,  you,  who  while  yet  I  roved  in  youth  nor 
knew  aught  of  love  did  transfix  my  heart — you  it  is 
whose  rein  in  willing  submission  I  obeyed,  and  yet 
press  the  bit  once  put  within  my  mouth,  without  e'er 
thought  of  change.  When  the  Alban  wreath " 
adorned  my  gleaming  locks,  and  I  put  on  Caesar's 
sacred  gold,  you  clasped  me  to  your  bosom,  and 
showered  breathless  kisses  on  my  garlands  ;  when 
the  Capitol  rejected  my  lyre,  you  shared  my  defeat 
and  mourned  the  cruelty  and  ingratitude  of  Jove. 
Your  wakeful  ears  caught  the  first  notes  of  tlie  songs 
I  ventured  and  whole  nights  of  murmured  sound  ; 
you  alone  knew  of  my  long  labour,  and  my  Thebaid 
grew  with  the  years  of  your  companionship.  When 
lately  I  was  near  snatched  away  to  the  Stygian 
shades,  and  already  heard  close  at  hand  the  stream 
of  Lethe,  how  grateful  wert  thou  to  my  sight  !  My 
eyes,  already  failing  in  death,  were  stayed.  Surely 
it  was  in  pity  of  thee  alone  that  Lachesis  prolonged 

the  more  important  Capitoline  contest  later  on  (3 1 ) :    cf. 
also  V.  3.  225  f. 

195 


ST  ATI  us 

te  tantum  miserata  dedit,  superique  potentes 
invidiam  timuere  tuam.     post  ista  propinquum 
nunc  iter  optandosque  sinus  comes  ire  moraris  ? 
heu  ubi  nota  fides  totque  explorata  per  usus, 
qua  veteres  Latias  Graias  heroidas  aequas  ?  45 

isset  ad  Iliacas — quid  enim  deterret  amantes  ? — 
Penelope  gavisa  demos,  si  passus  Ulixes  ; 
questa  est  Aegiale,  questa  est  Meliboea  relinqui, 
et  quam — quam  saevi ! — ^  fecerunt  maenada  planctus. 
nee  minor  his  tu  nosse  fidem  vitanique  maritis  50 

dedere.     sic  certe  cineres  umbramque  priorem 
quaeris  adhuc,  sic  exsequias  amplexa  canori 
coniugis  ingentes  iterasti  pectore  planctus, 
iam  mea.     nee  pietas  alia  est  tibi  curaque  natae, 
sic  et  mater  amas,  sic  numquam  corde  recedit  55 

nata  tuo,  fixamque  animi  penetralibus  imis 
nocte  dieque  tenes.     non  sic  Trachinia^  nidos 
Alcyone,  vernos  non  sic  Philomela  penates 
circuit  amplectens  animamque  in  pignora  transfert. 
te^  nunc  ilia  tenet,  viduo  quod  sola  cubili  60 

otia  iam  pulchrae  terit  infecunda  iuventae. 
sed  venient,  plenis  venient  conubia  taedis. 
sic  certe  formaeque  bonis  animique  meretur  ; 
sive  chelyn  complexa  petit  seu  voce  paterna 

^  quamquam  saevi  M :  quam  —  quam  saevi  —  Pol. 

*  Trachinia  r  :  intracia  M. 

^  te  Phillimore  :  et  M,  heu  Dom. 

"  Aegiale,  wife  of  Diomede  and  daughter  of  Adrastus, 
called  Deipj'le  in  the  Thehaid  ;  Meliboea  is  mentioned  by 
Athenaeus  as  the  wife  of  Theseus  (Ath.  p.  557),  also  by 
Servius  {Aen.  i.  724)  as  the  wife  of  an  Ephesian  youth  named 
Alexis. 

*  Laodamia,  see  ii.  7.  126  n. 

196 


SILVAE,  III.  V.  41-64 

my  cxliaustcd  term  of  life,  and  the  gods  above 
feared  thy  displeasure.  After  that  do  you  hesitate 
to  go  with  me  on  this  short  journey  to  the  desirable 
bay  ?  Ah  !  where  is  that  loyalty  of  yours,  well- 
known  and  put  to  many  a  test,  that  makes  you  one 
with  the  heroines  of  Greece  and  Rome  ?  Penelope 
would  have  rejoiced  to  go  to  Ilium's  town — for  what 
deters  true  lovers  ? — had  Ulysses  suffered  her  ; 
Aegiale  chafed,  and  Meliboea  chafed  to  be  left 
behind,"  and  she  too  whom  grief — how  savage  ! — 
drove  to  frenzy.^  Yet  you  no  less  than  these  are 
loyal,  and  your  life  is  devoted  to  your  lord.  Not 
otherwise  indeed  do  you  still  seek  the  ashes  and 
shade  of  your  former  husband,''  and  embracing  the 
relics  of  your  poet-spouse  renew  your  bitter  heartfelt 
lamentation,  even  now  that  you  are  mine.  As  great 
too  is  your  care  and  devotion  for  your  daughter  ; 
your  love  as  a  mother  is  as  tender  ;  she  is  never 
absent  from  your  heart,  but  the  thought  of  her 
abides  day  and  night  in  the  inmost  chambers  of  your 
being.  Less  lovingly  does  Alcyone  of  Trachis''  flutter 
round  her  nest,  and  Philomela  cherish  her  vernal 
home,  and  give  her  young  ones  the  warmth  of  her 
own  life.  'Tis  she  now  keeps  you,  because  alone  and 
unmarried  she  is  wasting  her  youth  and  beauty  in 
barren  leisure.  But  wedlock  will  come,  ay  come 
Mith  all  its  festal  toi-ches.  So  assuredly  does  she 
deserve  for  her  sweet  face  and  virtuous  mind  ; 
whether  she  clasp  and  strike  the  lute,  or  with  voice 
as  tuneful  as  her  sire's  sing  melodies  that  the  Muses 

'  It  is  not  known  who  he  was ;  he,  not  Statins,  was  the 
father  of  her  daughter. 

"^  Chaniyedljy  Zeusintothesea-bird  called  dXM'w^;  according 
to  the  fable,  while  the  bird  was  nesting,  the  seas  were  all  calm. 

1.97 


ST  ATI  us 

discendum  Musis  sonat  et  mea  carmina  flectit,         65 
Candida  seu  molli  diducit  brachia  motu  : 
ingenium  probitas  artemque  modestia  vincit. 
nonne  leves  pueros,  non  te,  Cytherea,  pudebit 
hoc  cessare  decus  ?     nee  tantum  Roma  iugales 
coneiliare  toros  festasque  accendere  taedas  70 

fertilis  :  et  nostra  generi  tellure  dabuntur. 
non  adeo  Vesuvinus  apex  et  flammea  diri 
montis  hiems  ti'epidas  exhausit  civibus  urbes  : 
stant  populisque  vigent.  hinc  auspice  condita  Phoebo 
tecta  Dicarchei  portusque  et  litora  mundi  75 

hospita  :  at  hinc  magnae  tractus  imitantia  Roniae 
quae  Capys  advectis  implevit  moenia  Teucris. 
nostra  quoque  et  propriis  tenuis  nee  rara  colonis 
Parthenope,  cui  mite  solum  trans  aequora  vectae 
ipse  Dionaea^  monstravit  Apollo  columba.  80 

Has  ego  te  sedes — nam  nee  mihi  barbara  Thrace 
nee  Libye  natale  solum — transferre  laboro, 
quas  et  mollis  hiems  et  frigida  temperat  aestas, 
quas  imbelle  fretum  torpentibus  adluit  undis. 
pax  secura  locis  et  desidis  otia  vitae  85 

et  numquam  turbata  quies  somnique  peracti. 
nulla  foro  rabies  aut  strictae  in  iurgia  leges  : 
morum  iura  viris  solum  et  sine  fascibus  aequum. 
quid  nunc  magnificas  species  cultusque  locorum 
templaque  et  innumeris  spatia  interstincta  columnis. 
et  geminam  molem  nudi  tectique  theatri  91 

^  Dionea  .  ,  .  columba  Pol. :  Dioneae   ,   .  .  columbae  jV. 
"  Puteoli,  Capua,  Naples.     Dione=  Venus. 

198 


SILVAE,  III.  V.  65-91 

might  learn,  while  she  follows  the  course  of  my  songs, 
or  wlietlier  with  lithe  movement  she  toss  her  snow- 
white  ai'ms  :  her  innocence  and  modesty  surpass  her 
talent  and  lier  skill.  Surely  the  nimble  Loves, 
surely  thou,  Cytherea,  wilt  feel  shame  that  such 
loveliness  is  wasted.  Nor  is  it  only  Rome  that  is 
fruitful  in  marriage  unions  and  blazing  festal  torches  : 
in  my  country  too  are  bridegrooms  found.  Not  so 
utterly  has  Vesuvius'  peak  and  the  flaming  tempest 
of  tlie  baleful  mountain  drained  of  their  townsmen 
the  terror-stricken  cities  ;  they  stand  yet  and  their 
people  flourish.  Here  are  the  dwellings  of  Dicarchus, 
founded  with  Phoebus'  auspices,  and  the  harbour 
and  the  shores  that  the  whole  woi-ld  visits  ;  there  are 
the  walls  that  counterfeit  the  vastness  of  mighty 
Rome,  which  Capvs  filled  with  newcomers  from  Troy. 
There  too  is  my  own  Parthenope,  too  small  for  her 
own  citizens,  yet  witli  no  lack  of  strangers,  Parthe- 
nope, whom  after  she  had  fared  across  the  sea  Apollo 
himself  by  the  help  of  Dione's  dove  guided  to  a 
kindly  soil.'' 

This  is  the  spot — for  neither  barbarous  Thrace  nor 
I>ibya  is  my  native  land — whither  I  fain  would  bring 
you  ;  mild  winters  and  cool  summers  temper  its 
climate,  its  shores  are  lapped  by  the  sluggish  waters 
of  a  harmless  sea.  Peace  untroubled  reigns  there, 
and  life  is  leisurely  and  calm,  with  quiet  undisturbed 
and  sleep  unbroken.  No  madness  of  the  forum,  no 
laws  unsheatlied  in  quarrel  ;  our  citizens  admit  but 
duty's  ordinance,  and  Riglit  holds  sway  without  rod 
or  axe.  Why  should  I  now  praise  the  gorgeous 
scenes  and  adornments  of  that  land,  the  temples  and 
wide  halls  spaced  off  by  countless  columns,  the  two 
great  theatres,  one  open  and  one  covered,  and  the 

199 


STATIUS 

et  Capitolinis  quinquennia  proxima  lustris, 
quid  laudem  litus^  libertatemque  Menandri, 
quam  Romanus  honos  et  Graia  licentia  niiscent  ? 
nee  desunt  variae  circa  oblectaniina  vitae  :  95 

sive  vaporiferas,  blandissinia  litora,  Baias, 
enthea  fatidicae  seu  visere  tecta  Sibyllae 
dulce  sit  Iliacoque  iuguni  niemorabile  renio, 
seu  tibi  Bacchei  \"ineta  niadentia  Gauri 
Teleboumque  domos,  trepidis  ubi  dulcia  nautis       100 
lumina  noctivagae  tollit  Pharus  aemula  lunae, 
caraque  non  molli  iuga  Surrentina  Lyaeo, 
quae  mens  ante  alios  habitator  Pollius  auget, 
Aenarumque^  lacus  medicos  Stabiasque  renatas  : 
mille  tibi  nostrae  referam  telluris  amores  ?  105 

sed  satis,  hoc,  coniunx,  satis  est  dixisse  :  creavit 
me  tibi.  me  socium  longos  adstvinxit  in  annos. 
nonne  haec  amborum  genetrix  altrixque  videri 
digna  ?     sed  ingratus  qui  plura  adnecto  tuisque 
moribus  indubito  :  venies,  carissima  coniunx,  110 

praeveniesque  etiam  ;  sine  me  tibi  ductor  aquarum 
Thybris  et  armiferi  sordebunt  tecta  Quirini. 

^  litus  M :  lusus,  risus,  lites,  ritus  edd. 
*  Aenarumque    Vollmer  :  Denarumque  M :  Aenariaeque 
Dom.  :  Inarimesque  Unger. 

"  The  "  freedom  of  Menander "  means  the  free,  un- 
hampered life  that  Menander  valued  highly,  and  which 
forms  the  subject  of  some  of  his  extant  sajings,  e.g.  ^iov 
5t5dffKa\os  I  eXeidepov  roh  iraaiv  avdpilirois  dypos,  "  the  country 
is  a  teacher  of  the  free  life  to  all."  The  mixture  of  Greek 
and  Roman  would  be  a  characteristic  of  Neapolitan  life. 


200 


SILVAE,  III.  V.  92-112 

quinquennial  contests  that  rival  the  Capitoline 
festival  ?  Why  should  I  praise  the  shore  and  the 
freedom  of  Menander,"  a  blend  of  Roman  dignity 
and  Grecian  licence  ?  Nor  are  there  lacking  all 
around  the  amusements  that  a  varied  life  affords  : 
whether  you  please  to  visit  Baiae  with  its  steaming 
springs  and  alluring  coast,  or  the  prophetic  Sibyl's 
inspired  abode,  or  the  hill  made  memorable  by  the 
Hi  an  oar ''  ;  whether  you  prefer  the  flowing  vine- 
yards of  Bacchic  Gaurus,  or  the  dwellings  of  the 
Teleboae,"  where  the  Pharus  raises  aloft  the  beacon 
that  rivals  the  night-wandering  moon  and  is  welcomed 
by  affrighted  sailors,  or  the  Surrentine  hills  beloved 
of  fiery  Bacchus,  which  my  friend  Pollius  before  all 
men  honours  by  his  dwelling,  or  the  health-giving 
lake  of  Aenaria  and  Stabiae  reborn  <^  ?  Shall  I 
recount  to  you  the  thousand  beauties  of  my  country  ? 
No  ;  'tis  enough,  my  wife,  enough  to  say  :  This  land 
bore  me  for  you,  and  bound  me  to  you  in  partner- 
ship for  many  a  year.  May  it  not  worthily  be 
deemed  the  mother  and  foster-mother  of  us  both  ? 
But  'twere  ingratitude  in  me  to  add  more  words  and 
to  doubt  your  loyalty  ;  you  will  come  with  me, 
dearest  wife,  ay,  even  go  before  me  ;  without  me 
Tiber,  prince  of  streams,  and  the  halls  of  armed 
Quirinus  will  seem  dull  and  worthless  in  your  eyes. 

"  Of  the  Trojan  Misenus  (Virg.  Ae7i.  vi.  233). 

'  Capri,  which  had  a  lightliouse. 

''  After  the  eruption. 


201 


LIBER  IV 

Statius  Marcello  suo  Salutem 

Inveni  librum,  Marcelle  carissime,  quem  pietati 
tuae  dedicarem.  Reor  equidem  aliter  quam  invocato 
numine  maximi  imperatoris  nullum  opusculum  meum 
coepisse  :  sed  hie  liber  tres  habet  .  .  .^  se  quam 
quod  quarta  ad  honorem  tuum  pertinet.  Primo 
autem  septimum  decimum  Germanici  nostri  con- 
sulatum  adoravi  ;  secundo  gratias  egi  sacratissimis 
eius  epulis  honoratus  ;  tertio  viam  Domitianam 
mlratus  sum,  qua  gravissimam  harenarum  moram 
exemit.  Cuius  beneficlo  tu  quoque  maturius  epi- 
stolam  meam  accipies,  quam  tibi  in  hoc  libro  a 
Neapoli  scribo.  Proximum  est  lyricum  carmen  ad 
Septimium  Severum,  iuvenem,  uti  scis,  inter  ornatis- 
simos  secundi  ordinis,  tuum  quidem  et  condiscipulum, 
sed  mihi  citra^  hoc  quoque  ius  artissime  carum.  Nam 
Mndicis  nostri  Herculem  Epitrapezion  secundum 
honorem,  quem  de  me  et  de  ipsis  studiis  meretur, 

*  Lacuna  recognized  by  JIahn,  though  none  in  MSS.  :  se 
quam  quod  Jf  PoJ.  {from  P)  :  sequitur  5".  inserting  quae 
after  quarta  ;  nisi  quod  quarta  etc.  s".  sed  nee  hie  aliter 
res  habet  se  quam  quod  etc.  FhiUimore.  Vollmer  irotddfill  the 
lacuna  thus  :  (Ubellos  in  honorem  eius.  tum  demum 
secuntur  eclogae  ad  amicos  ;  vides  igitur  te  magis  honorari 
non  (potuis)se)  quam  quod  etc.  ^  citra  Nohl  :  contra  M. 

202 


BOOK  IV 

Statius  to  ins  Friend  Marcellus  :  Greeting. 

I  HAVE  found  a  volume,  my  dearest  Marcellus,  that 
I  can  dedicate  to  your  loyal  friendship.  I  believe 
that  no  work  of  mine  has  opened  without  an  invoca- 
tion of  the  godhead  of  our  mighty  Prince  ;  but  this 
book  has  three  <such  poems>,  .  .  .  and  it  is  only  the 
fourth  that  does  you  honour."  In  the  first  I  have 
paid  homage  to  the  seventeenth  consulship  of  our  lord 
Germanicus  ;  in  the  second  I  have  returned  thanks 
for  the  privilege  of  attending  his  most  august 
banquet  ;  in  the  third  I  express  my  admiration  of 
the  Domitian  Road,  whereby  he  has  ended  the 
serious  waste  of  time  caused  by  the  sandy  track. 
To  him  it  is  due  that  you  will  the  sooner  receive  my 
letter  which  1  am  sending  from  Naples  in  this  volume. 
Then  follows  an  Ode  to  Septimius  Severus,  who  is, 
as  you  know,  one  of  the  most  distinguished  young 
men  of  equestrian  rank,  and  not  only  a  school- 
companion  of  yours,  but,  even  apart  from  that 
claim  on  me,  one  of  my  closest  friends.  As  for  the 
Hercules-statuette  of  our  friend  Vindex,  I  can  make 
you  responsible  for  that  also,  for  he  has  deserved  well 

°  This  seems  to  be  the  general  sense. 

203 


STATIUS 

imputare  etiam  tibi  possum.  Maximum  Vibium  et 
dignitatis  et  eloquentiae  nomine  a  nobis  diligi  satis 
eram  testatus  epistola,  quam  ad  ilium  de  editione 
Thebaidos  meae  publicavi  ;  sed  nunc  quoque  eum 
reverti  maturius  ex  Dalmatia  rogo.  luncta  est 
egloga  ad  municipem  meum  lulium  Menecratem, 
splendidum  iuvenem  et  Pollii  mei  generum,  cui 
gratulor  quod  Neapolim  nostram  numei'o  liberorum 
honestaverit.  Plotio  Grypo,  maioris  gradus  iuveni, 
dignius  opusculum  reddam,  sed  interim  hendeca- 
syllabos,  quos  Saturnalibus  una  risimus,  huic  volumini 
inserui. 

Quare  ergo  plura  in  quarto  silvarum  quam  in 
prioribus  ?  ne  se  putent  aliquid  egisse,  qui  repre- 
henderunt,  ut  audio,  quod  hoc  stili  genus  edidissem. 
Primum  supervacuum  est  dissuadere  rem  factam  ; 
deinde  multa  ex  illis  iam  domino  Caesari  dederam, 
et  quanto  hoc  plus  est  quam  edere  ?  exercere  autem 
ioco  non  licet  ?  "  secreto  "  inquit.  Sed  et  sphaero- 
machias  spectamus  et  palaris  lusio  admittit.  Novis- 
sinie  :  quisquis  ex  meis  invitus  aliquid  legit,  statim 
se  profitetur^  adversum.  Ita,  quare  consilio  eius 
accedam  ?  In  summam,  nempe  ego  sum  qui 
traducor  ;    taceat  et  gaudeat.     Hunc  tamen  librum 

^  profitetur  Vahlen  and  the  Aldine  :  profiteatur  M. 

"  i.e.,  from  the  honour  of  the  "ius  trium  liberorum"  which 
had  been  bestowed  upon  him. 

*  I  read  "  profitetur  "  with  \'ahlen  and  the  Aldine,  also 
Volhner,  as  with  "  profiteatur  "  the  following  sentence  lacks 
point,  while  "  taceat "  gives  a  directly  contradictory  sense. 
204 


SILVAE,  IV. 

of  poetry  in  general  and  of  myself  in  particular.  I 
bore  ample  testimony  to  my  affection  for  Vibius 
Maximus  on  the  score  both  of  high  character  and  of 
poetic  gift  in  the  letter  which  I  published  about  the 
bringing-out  of  my  Thehaid  ;  but  on  this  occasion 
I  beg  him  to  return  from  Dalmatia  with  all  speed. 
Next  comes  a  poem  to  my  fellow-townsman  Julius 
Menecrates,  a  brilliant  youth,  noble  knight,  and  the 
son-in-law  of  my  friend  Pollius  :  I  congratulate  him 
on  having  done  honour  to  our  city  of  Naples  by  the 
number  of  liis  children."  Plotius  Grypus,  a  youth  of 
senatorial  rank,  shall  have  a  poem  more  worthy  of 
him,  but  in  the  mean  time  I  have  included  in  this 
volume  some  hendecasyllables  that  we  laughed  over 
together  at  the  Saturnalia. 

Why  then,  you  will  ask,  are  there  more  pieces  in 
the  fourtli  book  of  my  Occasional  Verses  than  in  the 
former  ?  Why,  that  they  who,  as  I  hear,  have 
criticized  me  for  publisliing  this  kind  of  verse  may 
feel  that  they  have  accomplished  nothing.  In  the 
tirst  place,  the  thing  is  done,  and  it  is  useless  to 
grumble  ;  in  the  second,  I  had  already  presented 
many  of  them  to  our  Imperial  Master,  compared  with 
which  publication  is  a  trivial  affair.  Besides,  surely 
one  may  write  in  sportive  vein  ?  "  Only  privately," 
say  they.  But  we  go  to  see  games  of  ball,  and  are 
admitted  to  fencing-matches.  Finally  :  whoever  of 
my  friends  reads  anything  unwillingly,  then  and 
there  declares  himself  an  enemy  ;  ^  very  well,  why 
should  I  take  his  advice  ?  After  all,  surely  it  is  I 
who  am  being  abused  ;  let  him  hold  his  peace  and 

"ex  meis  "  might  perhaps  be  taken  with  "aUquid:"  "any- 
thing of  mine."  Markland  reads  "  invidus  "  for  "  invitus  "  : 
"with  disapproval." 

•   205 


STATIUS 

tu,  Marcelle,  defendes,  et  si  videtur/  hactenus, 
minus,  reprehendemur.     Vale. 


SEPTIMUS  DECIMUS  COXSULATUS  IMP. 
AUG.  GERMAXICI 

Laeta  bis  octonis  accedit  purpura  fastis 
Caesaris  insignemque  aperit  Germanicus  annum 
atque  oritur  cum  sole  novo,  cum  grandibus  astris 
clarius  ipse  nitens  et  primo  maior  Eoo. 
exsultent  leges  Latiae,  gaudete  curules,  5 

et  septemgemino  iactantior  aethera  pulset 
Roma  iugo,  plusque  ante  alias  Evandrius  arces 
collis  ovet  :  subiere  novi  Palatia  fasces, 
et  requiem  bissenus^  honos  precibusque  receptis 
curia  Caesareum  gaudet  vicisse  pudorem.  10 

ipse  etiam  immensi  reparator  maximus  aevi 
attollit  vultus  et  utroque  a  limine  grates 
I  anus  agit,  quem  tu  vicina  Pace  ligatum 

1  defendes,  et,  si  videtur  etc.,  3/ :  defendes  ;  haec,  si 
videtur  etc.  ronj.  Pfniliinore:  sed,  si  videtur  etc.  VoUmfr, 
irho  transposes  hunc  .  .  .  defendes  to  between  hactenus  and 
sin  minus. 

"  bissenus  Stangius  :  bissextus  3/. 

"  The  purple  is  that  of  the  consulship,  not  of  the  prin- 
cipate.     The  date  is  95  a.d. 

^  The  title  was  given  him  for  his  campaigns  in  Germany, 
for  which  he  triumphed  in  83.  It  was  probably  a  favourite 
title  of  his.     See  note  on  43.  "^  The  Palatine. 

"*  Lit.  "  the  twelvefold  honour  (the  consulship,  from  the 
twelve  lictors  of  the  Consul)  rejoices  to  have  overcome 
repose,"'  i.e.  to  have  obtained  Caesar  as  consul ;   others  take 

206 


SILVAE,  IV.  I.  1-13 

be  glad.  But  you,  Marcellus,  will  champion  tjiis 
book  ;  if  you  agree,  well,  so  far  so  good  !  otherwise, 
I  must  submit  to  criticism.     Farewell  ! 


I.  THE  SEVENTEENTH  CONSULSHIP  OF  THE 
EMPEROR  AUGUSTUS  GERMANICUS 

Tills  poem  belongs  to  the  class  of  Panegyric  or  laudation 
of  the  Emperor  or  other  distinguished  personage,  which  he- 
comes  common  in  later  times,  e.g.  Claudian,  Sidonius,  etc. 

With  happy  augury  the  Imperial  consulship  "  adds 
yet  another  to  its  twice  eight  terms,  and  Germanicus  ^ 
opens  a  year  of  glory  ;  he  rises  with  the  rising 
sun  and  the  mighty  constellations,  himself  more 
brilliant  than  they  and  outshining  the  early  Morning 
Star.  Exult,  ye  laws  of  Latium,  rejoice,  ye  curule 
chairs,  and  let  Rome  more  proudly  strike  the  sky 
with  her  sevenfold  summit,  and  Evander's  hill  '^ 
make  louder  boast  than  other  heights  !  Once  more 
the  rods  and  axes  have  entered  the  Palace,  the 
twelvefold  honour ''  rejoices  to  rest  idle  no  more, 
and  the  Senate  that  its  prayers  are  heard  and  Caesar's 
modesty  is  overcome.  Janus  himself,  great  renewer 
of  eternal  Time,  near  whom  thou  hast  set  Peace  ^ 

"requiem"  as  "Caesar's  repose."  The  former  interpreta- 
tion implies  that  only  when  Caesar  was  consul  was  the 
office  really  alive,  a  characteristic  bit  of  flattery,  as  Domitian 
rarely  held  it  for  long,  never  beyond  May  1st,  and  often 
only  till  January  13th,  according  to  Suetonius,  Bom.  13. 

*  Vespasian  built  a  temple  of  Pax  "  near  the  Forum  " 
(Romanum),  Suet.  Vesp.  9,  see  iv.  3.  17  n.  Whether  the 
old  Janus-arch  of  the  Forum  or  the  new  Janus  Quadrifrons 
of  the  Forum  Transitorium,  lietween  the  Roman  and  Julian 
Fora,  is  meant,  is  uncertain,  though  "  utroque  "  suggests  the 
former.     The  "  new  forum  "  is  probal)ly  the  F.  Transitorium. 

207 


ST  ATI  us 

omnia  iussisti  componere  bella  novique 

in  leges  iurare  fori,     levat  ecce  supinas  15 

hinc  atque  inde  manus  geminaque  haec  voce  profatui- : 

Salve,  magne  parens  mundi,  qui  saecula  mecum 
instaurare  paras,  taleni  te  cernere  semper 
mense  meo  tua  Roma  cupit  ;  sic  tempora  nasci, 
sic  annos  intrare  decet.     da  gaudia  fastis  20 

continua  ;  hos  umeros  multo  sinus  ambiat  ostro 
et  properata  tuae  manibus  praetexta  Minervae. 
aspicis  ut  templis  alius  nitor,  altior  aris^ 
ignis  et  ipsa  meae  tepeant  tibi  sidera  bruniae  ? 
moribus  atque  tuis  gaudent  turmaeque  tribusque    25 
purpureique  patres,  lucemque  a  consule  ducit 
omnis  honos  ?  quid  tale,  precor,  prior  annus  habebat  ? 
die  age,  Roma  potens,  et  mecum,  longa  Vetustas, 
dinumera  fastos  nee  parva  exempla  recense, 
sed  quae  sola  meus  dignetur  vincere  Caesar.  30 

ter  Latio  deciesque  tulit  labentibus  annis 
Augustus  fasces,  sed  coepit  sero  mereri  : 
tu  iuvenis  praegressus  avos.     et  quanta  recusas, 
quanta  vetas  I     flectere  tamen  precibusque  senatus 
promittes  hunc  saepe  diem,     manet  insuper  ordo    35 
longior,  et  totidem  felix  tibi  Roma  curules 
terque     quaterque     dabit.     mecum     altera    saecula 

condes, 
et  tibi  longaevi  renovabitur  ara  parentis^  ; 
mille  tropaea  feres,  tantum  permitted  triumphos  : 

^  aris  M :    astris  Ml  in  marg.     Pol.  notes  that  P  has  both 
readings. 

^  parentis  M :  Tarenti  Turnebus. 
'  permitte  5"  :  promitte  M. 

"  Augustus  owed  his  earlier  consulship  to  force  of  arms 
rather  than  to  merit. 

208 


SILA^AE,  IV.  I.  14-39 

to  fetter  him,  and  bidden  liini  bring  all  warfare  to 
an  end,  and  swear  allegiance  to  the  laws  of  thv  new 
Forum,  Janus  lifts  up  his  head  and  from  either 
threshold  utters  his  gratitude.  Lo  !  on  this  side  and 
on  that  he  raises  suppliant  hands,  and  speaks  thus 
with  twofold  voice  :  "  Hail,  great  Father  of  the 
world,  who  with  me  preparest  to  begin  the  ages 
anew,  thus  would  thy  Rome  ever  see  thee  in  my 
month  ;  thus  should  eras  be  born,  thus  should  the 
vear  be  opened.  Give  joys  perpetual  to  our  annals  ; 
let  those  shoulders  many  a  time  be  draped  in  purple 
folds,  and  in  the  bordered  robe  that  thy  own 
Minerva's  hands  make  haste  to  weave  for  thee. 
Seest  thou  how  the  temples  gleam  more  radiant,  how 
the  fire  leaps  higher  on  the  altars,  and  even  my 
mid-winter  skv  grows  warmer  ?  how  tribes  and  knights 
and  purple-clad  Senators  rejoice  in  thy  virtues,  and 
every  rank  shines  in  the  lustre  of  its  consul  ?  What 
glory  so  great,  I  ask,  had  the  year  just  gone  ?  Come, 
speak,  imperial  Rome,  recount.  Antiquity,  with  me 
the  long  annals,  take  no  note  of  petty  names,  but 
such  only  as  my  Caesar  would  deign  to  surpass. 
Thrice  and  ten  times  in  the  lapse  of  years  did 
Augustus  wield  the  fasces  over  Latium,  but  only  late 
by  right  of  merit "  :  thou  as  a  youth  didst  outstrip 
thy  grandsires.  And  how  many  a  time  hast  thou 
refused,  how  many  a  time  forbidden  to  offer  !  Yet 
wilt  thou  be  persuaded,  and  oft  vouchsafe  this  day 
to  the  Senate's  prayers.  A  longer  line  awaits  thee 
yet,  and  as  oft  again,  ay,  thrice  and  four  times  as 
often  will  fortvniate  Rome  grant  thee  the  curule 
chair.  With  me  shalt  thou  found  a  second  age,  and 
the  altar  of  thy  long-lived  sire  shall  be  restored  ;  a 
thousand  trophies  shalt  thou  win,  wilt  thou  but 
VOL.  I  p  209 


ST  ATI  us 

restat  Bactra  novis,  restat  Babylona  tributis  40 

frenari  ;  nondum  gremio  lovis  Indica  laurus, 
nondum    Arabes    Seresque    rogant,    nondum    omnis 

honoreni 
annus  habet,  cupiuntque  decern  tua  nomina  menses." 

Sic  lanus  clausoque  libens  se  poste  recepit. 
tunc  omnes  patuere  dei  laetoque  dederunt  45 

signa  polo,  longamque  tibi,  dux^  magne,  iuventam 
annuit  atque  suos  promisit  luppiter  annos. 


II 


EUCHARISTICON  AD  IMP.  AUG.  GERM. 
DOMITIANUM 

Regia  Sidoniae  convivia  laudat  Elissae, 
qui  magnum  Aenean  Laurentibus  intulit  arvis, 
Alcinoique  dapes  mansuro  carmine  monstrat, 
aequore  qui  multo  reducem  consumpsit  Ulixem  : 
ast  ego,  cui  sacrae  Caesar  nova  gaudia  cenae  5 

nunc  primum  dominaque  dedit  consurgere  mensa, 
qua  celebrem  mea  vota  lyra.  quas  solvere  grates 
sufficiam  ?     non,  si  pariter  mihi  vertice  laeto 
nectat  odoratas  et  SniA'rna  et  Mantua  lauros, 
digna  loquar.     mediis  videor  discumbere  in  astris    10 

^  dux  Markland  :  rex  31. 

"  Statins  elsewhere  flatters  Doniitian  for  abstaining  from 
triumphs  that  he  might  have  celebrated,  cf.  iv.  3.  159. 

*■  After  his  triumph  at  the  end  of  83  Doniitian  had  adopted 
the  title  of  Ctermanicus,  and  later  on,  probably  in  86,  had 
the  months  September  and  October  called  Germanicus  and 
Domitianus  (Suet.  Doni.  13). 

"  See  Virgil,  Aen.  i.  696  ;  Homer,  Odyss.  viii.  57. 
210 


SILVAE,  IV.  I.  40—11.  10 

permit  tlie  triumphs."  B;ictra  and  Babylon  are  still 
to  be  curbed  with  new  tribute,  not  yet  have  Indian 
laurels  been  laid  in  the  lap  of  Jove  ;  not  yet  do  tlie 
Arabs  and  Seres  make  petition,  not  yet  hath  the 
vear  its  full  tale  of  honour  :  ten  months  still  yearn 
for  thee  to  name  them."  ** 

So  Janus  ended,  and  gladly  withdrew  into  his 
closed  portals.  Then  all  the  gods  flung  wide  their 
temples,  and  gave  signs  in  the  glad  vault  of  heaven, 
and  Jupiter  vouchsafed  thee,  O  mighty  leader,  a 
perpetual  youth  and  his  own  years. 


II.  A  POEM  OF  THANKSGIVING  TO  THE 
EMPEROR  AUGUSTUS  GERMANICUS 
DOMITIANUS 

Statius  offers  his  thanks  to  the  Emperor  for  the  great 
banquet  given  to  Senators  and  Knights  in  his  new  palace, 
to  which  the  poet  had  been  invited. 

He  who  brought  great  Aeneas  to  the  Laurentian 
fields  extols  the  royal  banquet  of  Sidonian  Elissa,  and 
he  who  ended  Ulysses'  story  with  his  return  after 
long  seafaring  portrays  in  lasting  verse  the  supper  of 
Alcinous  :  "  but  I,  on  Avhom  now  for  the  first  time 
Caesar  has  bestowed  the  unwonted  rapture  of  a  feast 
divine,  and  granted  me  to  ascend  to  the  table  of  my 
prince,  what  skill  have  I  to  sing  my  blessings,  what 
power  to  express  my  thankfulness  ?  Not  even  if 
Smyrna  **  and  Mantua  both  were  to  bind  their  laurels 
on  my  exultant  head,  could  I  make  worthy  utterance. 
Methinks  I  recline  with  Jove  in  mid-heaven,  and  take 

■^  One  of  the  reputed  birthplaces  of  Homer. 

211 


STATIUS 

cum  love  et  Iliaca  porrectum  sumere  dextra 
immortale  nierum  !     steriles  transmisimus  annos  : 
haec  aevi  mi  hi  prima  dies,  hie  Hmina  vitae. 
tene  ego,  regnator  terrarum  oi'bisque  subacti 
magne  parens,  te,  spes  hominum,  te,  cura  deorum,  15 
cerno  iacens  ?     datur  haec  iuxta,  datur  ora  tuei'i 
vina  inter  mensasque  et  non  adsurgere  fas  est  ? 

Tectum    augustum,    ingens,    non    centum    insigne 
columnis, 
sed  quantae  superos  caelumque  Atlante  remisso 
sustentare  queant.     stupet  hoc  vicina  Tonantis       20 
regia,  teque  pari  laetantur  sede  locatum 
numina.    nee  magnum  properes  escendere  caelum^  ; 
tanta  patet  moles  efFusaeque  impetus  aulae 
Uberior  campo^  multumque  amplexus  operti 
aetheros  et  tantum  domino  minor  ;  ille  penates       25 
implet  et  ingenti  genio  iuvat.     aemulus  ilhc 
mons  Libvs  IHacusque  nitens  et^  multa  Syene 
et  Chios  et  glaucae  certantia  Doridi  saxa 
Lunaque  portandis  tantum  sufFecta  columnis. 
longa  supra  species  :  fessis  vix  culmina  prendas       30 
visibus  auratique  putes  laquearia  caeli. 
hie  cum  Romuleos  proceres  trabeataque  Caesar 
agmina  mille  simul  iussit  discumbere  mensis, 
ipsa  sinus  accincta  Ceres  Bacchusque  laborat 

^  nee  magnum  properes  escendere  caelum  Gronovms : 
excedere  M:  ne  in  m.  pr.  excedere  c."  Lundstroem. 

^  campo  Pol.  :  campi  M. 

'  Iliacusque  nitens  et.  I  havp  filled  the  lacuna  of  the  Mss. 
fliua  :  Iliacusque  nitet  .  .  .  multa  M,  Xilaea  Syene  Slater, 
cumulata  conj.  PJriUimore ;  others  in  various  ways. 

"  Of  Ganymede. 

''  The   temple   of    Jupiter   on   the    Capitol,   or,   perhaps, 
"  magnum  caelum,"    i.e.   Olympus   (23).     Some   edd.  take 
"  nee  properes  "  as  "  do  not  hasten." 
212 


SILVAE,  IV.  11.  11-34 

the  immortal  wine  proffered  by  an  Ilian  hand  "  !  I 
have  hved  barren  yeai-s,  but  this  is  my  natal  day, 
this  day  is  the  threshold  of  my  life.  Is  it  thou,  O 
ruler  of  the  nations  and  mighty  sire  of  the  conquered 
world,  is  it  tliou,  0  hope  of  men  and  care  of  the  gods, 
whom  I  behold  while  I  lie  at  meat  ?  Is  it  granted  me 
indeed  to  gaze  at  those  features  face  to  face,  amid 
the  feasting  and  the  wine,  and  lawful  not  to  rise  up 
in  thy  presence  ? 

An  edifice  august,  huge,  magnificent  not  witli  an 
hundred  columns,  but  with  as  many  as  would  support 
heaven  and  the  gods,  were  Atlas  eased  of  his  burden. 
The  neighbouring  palace  of  the  Thunderer  ^  views  it 
with  awe,  and  the  Powers  rejoice  that  thou  hast  a 
like  abode.  Nor  wouldst  thou  hasten  to  ascend  to  the 
great  sky  ;  so  huge  expands  the  pile,  and  the  reach 
of  the  fai'-flung  hall,  more  unhampered  than  a  plain, 
embracing  beneath  its  shelter  a  vast  expanse  of  air, 
and  only  lesser  than  its  lord  ;  he  fills  the  house,  and 
gladdens  it  with  his  mighty  spirit.  Libyan  moun- 
tain and  gleaming  Ilian  stone  are  rivals  there,*^  and 
much  Syenite  and  Chian  and  the  marble  that  vies 
with  the  grey-green  sea  ;  and  Luna  also,  chosen  but 
to  bear  the  pillars'  weight.  Far  upward  travels  the 
view  ;  scarce  does  the  tired  vision  reach  the  summit, 
and  you  would  deem  it  the  golden  ceiling  of  the  sk3^ 
Here  when  Caesar  has  bidden  the  Roman  chieftains 
and  the  ranks  of  knighthood  '^  recline  together  at  a 
thousand  tables,  Ceres  herself  with  robe  upgirt  and 

'  See  note  on  i.  2.  148.  The  quarries  of  Luna  in  Etruria 
supplied  white  marble  only,  despised  in  comparison  with  the 
coloured  kinds. 

^  The  "  trabea  "  was  a  decorated  robe  worn  by  the  knights 
on  solemn  occasions,  also  sometimes  by  the  consuls,  and 
originally  by  the  kings. 

213 


STATIUS 

sufficere.     aetherii  felix  sic  orbita  fluxit  35 

Triptolemi  ;  sic  vitifei'o^  sub  palmite  nudos 
umbravit  coUes  et  sobria  rura  Lyaeus. 

Sed  niihi  non  epulas  Indisque  innixa  columnis 
robora  Maurorum  famulasque  ex  ordine  turmas, 
ipsum,  ipsum  cupido  tantum  spectare  vaoavit  40 

ti'anquillum  vultus  et  maiestate  serena 
mulcentem  radios  summittentemque  modeste 
fortunae  vexilla  suae  ;  tamen  ore  nitebat 
dissimulatus  honos.     talem  quoque  barbarus  hostis 
posset  et  ignotae  eonspectum  agnoscere  gentes.      45 
non  aliter  gelida  Rhodopes  in  valle  recumbit 
dimissis  Gradivus  equis  ;  sic  lubrica  ponit 
membra  Therapnaea  resolutus  gymnade  Pollux, 
sic  iacet  ad  Gangen  Indis  ululantibus  Euhan, 
sic  gravis  Alcides  post  horrida  iussa  reversus  50 

gaudebat  strato  latus  adclinare  leoni. 
parva  loquor  necdum  aequo  tuos,  Gern:ianice,  vultus  : 
talis,  ubi  Oceani  finem  mensasque  revisit 
Aethiopum  sacro  diffusus  nectare  vultus 
dux  superum  secreta  iubet  dare  carmina  Musas       55 
et  Pallenaeos  Phoebum  laudare  triumphos. 

Di  tibi — namque  animas  saepe  exaudire  minores 
dicuntur — patriae  bis  tei-que  exire  senectae 
annuerint  fines  !     rata  numina  miseris  astris, 

^  vitiferoJ/:  uvifero  AVo/m. 


»  He  taught  men  how  to  sow  corn,  as  Bacchus  how  to 
cultivate  the  grape. 

"  There  was  a  cycle  of  legends  about  Bacchus's  conquests 
in  India,  for  which  see  the  Dionyslaca  of  Nonnus. 

'  Supposed  scene  of  the  battle  of  gods  and  giants,  more 
usually  called  Phlegra. 
214 


SILVAE,  IV.  II.  35-59 

Bacchus  strive  to  serve  them.  So  bounteous  were 
the  ghding  wheels  of  airy  Triptolemus  "  ;  so  did 
Lyaeus  overshadow  the  bare  hills  and  sober  fields 
with  the  branches  of  his  vines. 

But  no  leisure  had  I  to  behold  the  feast  or  the 
tables  of  Moorish  wood  resting  on  supports  of  Indian 
ivory,  or  the  rows  of  attendant  slaves,  so  eager  was 
I  to  gaze  upon  himself,  ay  himself,  calm-visaged  and 
in  majesty  serene  tempering  his  rays  and  gently 
veiling  the  glory  of  his  state  ;  yet  the  splendour  that 
he  would  fain  conceal  shone  in  his  countenance. 
Such  as  he  Vv'as,  barbarian  foes  and  foreign  tribes 
would  have  known  him  had  they  seen  him.  Not 
otiierwise  does  Gradivus  recline  in  the  cool  vale  of 
Rhodope,  his  steeds  unyoked  ;  even  so  does  Pollux 
weary  from  the  wrestling-bouts  of  Therapnae  lay 
down  his  slippery  limbs  ;  so  lies  Euhan  by  Ganges' 
side  while  Indians  howl  ;^  so  stern  Alcides,  returning 
after  his  grim  errand,  rejoices  to  lay  his  side  upon  the 
outstretched  lion-skin.  I  speak  of  trivial  tilings,  nor 
can  I  yet  find  any  rival  to  thy  countenance,  O 
Germanicus  :  such  is  the  monarch  of  the  gods,  when 
he  visits  once  more  the  bounds  of  Ocean  and  the 
Ethiopian  board,  and,  his  face  suffused  with  sacred 
nectar,  bids  the  Muses  utter  their  mystic  songs,  and 
Phoebus  praise  the  triumph  of  Pallene.'^ 

May  the  gods  grant  thee — for  'tis  said  they  oft  give 
ear  to  lesser  souls — to  surpass,  twice  and  thrice  over, 
the  limits  of  thy  sire's  old  age  !  Mayst  thou  send 
appointed  deities  to  the  sky,**  and  grant  teniples  and 

^  An  alhision  may  be  intended  here  to  the  Temple  of  the 
Flavian  Gens  consecrated  by  Domitian.  Cf.  Theh.  i.  30. 
Divine  honours  were  given  by  Domitian  to  his  brother  Titus 
and  to  his  niece  Julia.     "  demos  "  =  the  Palatine. 

215 


STATIUS 

templaque    des    habitesque    donios  !     saepe    annua 
pandas  60 

limina,  saepe  novo  lanum  lictore  salutes, 
saepe  coronatis  iteres  quinquennia  lustris  ! 
qua  mihi  felices  epulas  mensaeque  dedisti 
sacra  tuae,  talis  longo  post  tempore  venit 
lux  niihi,  Troianae  qualis  sub  collibus  Albae,  65 

cum  modo  Germanas  acies  modo  Daca  sonantem 
proelia  Palladio  tua  me  manus  induit  auro. 


Ill 


VIA  DOMITIANA 


Quis  duri  silicis  gravisque  ferri 
immanis  sonus  aequori  propinquum 
saxosae  latus  Appiae  replevit  ? 
certe  non  Libycae  sonant  catervae 
nee  dux  advena  peierante  bello 
Campanos  quatit  inquietus  agros, 
nee  frangit  vada  montibusque  caesis 
inducit  Nero  sordidas  paludes, 
sed  qui  limina  bellicosa  lani 
iustis  legibus  et  foro  coronat, 
qui  castae  Cereri  diu  negata 


10 


"  The  Capitoline  contest. 

*"  See  note  on  iii.  5.  28. 

"  The  prize  was  a  golden  olive-wreath. 

"^  The  reference  is  to  Hannibal's  army,  and  to  the  bad 
faith  ("  punica  fides  ")  of  that  commander. 

''  The  reference  is  to  Nero's  attempt  to  make  a  canal 
from  Lake  Avernus  to  the  mouth  of  the  Tiber,  which  meant 

216 


SILVAE,  IV.  11.  60— III.  11 

abide  in  tliy  palace  !  Many  a  time  mayst  tliou  fling 
wide  the  threshold  of  the  year,  and  many  a  time 
with  new  lictors  offer  thy  greetings  to  Janus,  many 
a  tin^.e  renew  the  garlanded  festival  of  the  quin- 
quennial games  ! "  The  day  whereon  thou  didst 
vouchsafe  to  me  the  sacred  blessings  of  thy  feast  and 
board  came  to  me  after  long  time  as  glorious  as  that 
when  beneath  the  hills  of  Trojan  ''  Alba  I  sang  now 
of  German  wars,  now  of  Daeian  battles,  and  thy  hand 
set  the  golden  circlet  of  Pallas  '^  on  my  brow. 


III.  THK  DOMITIAN  ROAD 

T}ie  Via  JJo)nitiana,  built  in  95,  replaced  t/ie  old,  very  bad 
road  along  the  coast  from  Sinuessa  to  Naples  ;  tJte  Appian 
Way  struck  inland  at  Sinuessa,  and  a  long  detour  was 
necessary,  if  travellers  to  Naples  wished  to  avoid,  the  bad 
read.  The  new  road  tlius  effected  a  considerable  shortening 
^\f  the  journey. 

What  fearful  sound  of  hard  flint  and  heavy  iron 
fills  the  stony  Appian  way  wliere  it  draws  nigh  the 
sea  ?  Certainly  no  Libyan  '^  liordes  are  thundering, 
no  foreign  chieftain  scours  restlessly  the  Campanian 
fields  in  treacherous  warfare,  nor  is  Nero  hewing  a 
canal,*"  and  making  a  way  for  squalid  meres  through 
cloven  mountains.  Nay,  he  who  encircles  the  war- 
like threshold  of  Janus  with  justice  and  courts  of 
law,-'^  he  wlio  restores  to  innocent  Ceres  acres  long 

cuttiiifi'  thrcuigh  two  mountain  ridges,  see  Tac.  Ann.  xv.  42. 
"pahides,"  probably  the  Poniptine  marshes. 

^  Probably  the  Fornni  Transitorium,  see  iv.  1.  13  n.,  and 
the  new  Janus  Quadrifrons.     Cf.  Mart.  x.  28.  5. 

217 


ST  ATI  us 

reddit  iugera  sobriasque  terras, 

qui  fortem  vetat  interire  sexum 

et  censor  prohibet  mares  adultos 

pulchrae  supplicium  timere  formae,  15 

qui  reddit  Capitolio  Tonanteni 

et  Pacem  propria  domo  reponit, 

qui  genti  pati-iae  futura  semper 

sancit  lumina^  Flaviumque  caelum^  : 

Iiic  seguis^  populi  vias  gravatus*  20 

et  campos  iter  omne  detinentes 

longos  eximit  ambitus  novoque 

iniectu  solidat  graves  harenas 

gaudens  Euboicae  domum  Sibyllae 

Gauranosque  sinus  et  aestuantes  25 

septem  montibus  admovere  Baias. 

Hie  quondam  piger  axe  vectus  uno 
nutabat  cruce  pendula  viator 
sorbebatque  rotas  maligna  tellus, 
et  plebs  in  mediis  Latina  campis  30 

horrebat  mala  navigationis  ; 
nee  cursus  agiles,  sed  impeditum 
tardabant  iter  orbitae  tacentes,^ 
dum  pondus  nimium  querens  sub  alta 
repit  languida  quadrupes  statera.  35 

^  lumina  M  :  limina  s",  numina  Buecheler. 
^  caelum  Turnebus :  calvum  M,  cultiim,  culmen,  cliviim, 
clavum  (J.  Ph.  13)  edd. 

^  segnis  5":  senis  J/:  caenis  Gronovius. 
*  gravatus  He'nisius  :  gravatas  M. 
^  tacentes  M :  tenaces  Davies. 


"  Domitian  encouraged  wheat-growing  at  the  expense  of 
vine-growing  in  Italy,  and  actually  ordered  vineyards  to  be 
destroyed  in  the  provinces,  Suet.  JJom.  1. 

218 


SILVAE,  IV.  HI.  12-35 

denied  her'^  and  a  sobei-  countryside,  he  who  forbids 
the  strength  of  sex  to  be  destroyed,  and  as  Censor 
will  allow  grown  males  no  more  to  fear  the  punish- 
ment of  beauteous  form,**  he  who  restores  the 
Thunderer  to  the  Capitol,^  and  sets  Peace  in  her  own 
home,  he  who  consecrates  to  his  father's  line  '^  lights 
that  will  aye  endure,  a  Flavian  heaven  '' — 'tis  he  who, 
brooking  ill  the  slow  journeys  of  his  people  and  the 
plains  that  clog  every  minute  of  the  road,  sweeps 
away  tedious  windings  and  lays  a  new  solid  paving 
upon  the  weary  sands,  rejoicing  to  bring  the  Euboean 
Sibyl's  home  and  the  dells  of  Gaurus  and  sweltering 
Baiae  nearer  to  the  seven  hills. 

Here  on  a  time  the  tardy  traveller,  borne  on  a 
single  axle,^  was  balanced  on  the  swaying  pole, 
while  the  unkindly  earth  sucked  in  the  wheels,  and 
Latin  folk  shuddered  in  mid-plain  at  the  evils  of  a 
sea-voyage  ;  nor  could  carriages  run  nimbly,  but  the 
noiseless  track  made  their  course  hampered  and 
slow,  while  the  fainting  beast,  complaining  of  a  too 
heavy  load,  crept  on  beneath  its  lofty  yoke.     But 

*  Refers  to  Domitian's  proliibition  of  the  practice  of 
castration. 

"  The  restoration  of  the  Temple  of  Jupiter  on  the  Capitol 
after  the  fire  of  69. 

^  Domitian  was  only  completing  the  work  of  Vespasian. 
Cf.  Suet.  Dom.  5,  "  omnia  sub  titulo  tantum  suo,  ac  sine 
ulla  pristini  auctoris  memoria." 

'  The  "  Flavia  domus  "  on  the  Quirinal  was  made  a 
shrine  of  that  family,  cf.  v.  1 .  240. 

f  The  picture  seems  to  be  of  a  two-wheeled  gig  with  its 
wheels  sunk  in  the  mud  and  the  unfortunate  traveller 
precariously  clinging  to  the  pole  ;  "  crux  "  is  not  elsewhere  so 
used,  but  can  easilj'  be  understood  of  the  pole  with  the 
joke:  "axe  vectus  uno "  is  perhaps  "with  one  wheel 
foundered  "  (Slater),  but  V'ollmer  is  surely  wrong  in  making 
it  a  four-wheeled  carriage. 

219 


STATIUS 

at  nunc,  quae  solidum  diem  terebat, 
horarum  via  facta  vix  duarum. 
non  tensae  volucruni  per  astra  pennae 
nee  velocius  ibitis,  carinae. 

Hie  primus  labor  incohare  sulcos  40 

et  rescindere  limites  et  alto 
egestu  penitus  cavare  terras  ; 
mox  haustas  aliter  replere  fossas 
et  summo  gremium  parare  dorso, 
ne  nutent  sola,  ne  maligna  sedes  45 

det  pressis  dubium  cubile  saxis  ; 
tunc  umbonibus  hinc  et  hinc  coactis 
et  crebris  iter  alligare  gomphis. 
o  quantae  pariter  manus  laborant  ! 
hi  caedunt  nemus  exuuntque  niontes,  50 

hi  ferro  scopulos  trabesque  levant  ; 
illi  saxa  ligant  opusque  texunt 
cocto  pulvere  sordidoque  tofo  ; 
hi  siccant  bibulas  manu  lacunas 
et  longe  fluvios  agunt  minores.  55 

hae  possent  et  Athon  cavare  dextrae 
et  maestum  pelagus  gementis  Helles 
intercludere  ponte  non  natanti. 
his  parvus,  nisi  di  via^  vetarent. 
Incus  freta  miscuisset  Isthmos.  60 

fervent  litora  mobilesque  silvae, 
it^  longus  medias  fragor  per  urbes, 

'  di  via  Macnaghten  :  deviae  M,  di  viam  Barth,  cliviae 
/.  Voss  {ich.  VoUmer  reads),  laurus  nisi  Deliae  Constantinus 
Fanensis  {and  Ellin). 

2  it  Pol. :  et  M. 

"  This  description  of  road-making-  is  confirmed  by  ex- 
cavations, see  extract  from   Bergier's   Histoire  des  grands 

220 


SIL\'AE,   IV.   in.   36-62 

now  a  journey  that  once  wore  out  a  solid  day  is 
performed  in  scarce  two  hours.  No  swifter  fare  ye 
througli  the  heavens,  ye  birds  with  outstretched 
pinions,  nor  will  ye  more  swiftly  sail,  ye  ships. 

The  first  labour  was  to  prepare  furrows  and  mark 
out  the  borders  of  the  road,''  and  to  hollow  out  the 
g'round  with  deep  excavation  ;  then  to  fill  up  the 
dug  trench  with  other  material,''  and  to  make  ready 
a  base  for  the  road's  arched  ridge,  lest  the  soil  give 
way  and  a  treacherous  bed  provide  a  doubtful 
resting-place  for  the  o'erburdened  stones  ;  then 
to  bind  it  with  blocks  set  close  on  either  side  and 
frequent  wedges.  Oh !  how  many  gangs  are  at 
work  together !  Some  cut  down  the  forest  and  strip 
the  mountain-sides,  some  plane  down  beams  and 
boulders  with  iron  ;  others  bind  the  stones  together,'' 
and  interweave  the  work  with  baked  sand  and  dirty 
tufa  ;  others  by  dint  of  toil  dry  up  the  thirsty  jiools, 
and  lead  far  away  the  lesser  streams.  These  hands 
could  hollow  out  Athos,  and  bar  with  no  floating 
liridge  the  doleful  sea  of  moaning  Helle.  These 
hands,  did  not  the  gods  forbid  the  passage,''  had 
made  Ino's  puny  Isthmus  '^  mingle  the  sundered  seas. 
The  shores  are  astir  and  the  waving  Avoods,  the  din 
travels  afar  through  the  cities  that  lie  between,  and 

diemins  de  Vempire  Romain,  in  Pauly's  Real- Encycl, 
iv.  2.  3547.     See  also  Smith's  Diet.  jint.  s.v.  "Via." 

**  Lime  was  used  to  cement  the  intermediate  strata  of  the 
road,  consistinjj-  of  stones,  broken  brick  and  pottery, 
"sordido":  called  by  Vitriivius  "  tofus  niger." 

"  Various  attempts  were  made  to  cut  through  the  Isthmus 
by  Demetrius  of  Macedon,  Julius  Caesar,  Caligula,  and 
Nero,  but  the  gods  seemed  to  be  against  the  undertaking, 
"  net'asto,  ut  omnium  exitu  patuit,  incepto,"  Plin.  N.H.  iv.  10. 

■*  It  was  at  Lechaeum,  a  port  on  the  Isthmus,  that  Ino 
was  worshipped. 

221 


ST  ATI  us 

atque  echon  siniul  hinc  et  inde  fractam 
Gauro  Massicus  uvifer  remittit. 
niiratur  sonitum  quieta  Cyme  65 

et  Literna  palus  pigerque  Savo. 

At  flavum  caput  umidumque  late 
crinem  moUibus  impeditus  uhis 
Vulturnus  levat  ora  niaximoque 
pontis  Caesarei  reclinus  arcu  70 

raucis  talia  faucibus  redundat  : 
"  camporum  bone  conditor  nieorumj 
qui  me  vallibus  aviis  refusum 
et^  ripas  habitare  nescientem 
recti  legibus  alvei  ligasti,  75 

et  nunc  ille  ego  turbidus  minaxque, 
vix  passus  dubias  prius  carinas, 
iam  pontem  fero  perviusque  calcor  ; 
qui  terras  rapere  et  rotare  silvas 
adsueram — pudet  ! — ,  amnis  esse  coepi  ;        80 
sed  grates  ago  ser\itusque  tanti  est, 
quod  sub  te  duce,  te  iubente  cessi, 
quod  tu  maximus  arbiter  meaeque 
victor  perpetuus  legere  ripae. 
et  nunc  limite  me  colis  beato  85 

nee  sordere  sinis  malumque  late 
deterges  sterilis  soli  pudorem, 
ne  me  pulvereum  gravemque  caelo 
T}Trheni  sinus  obluat^  profundi, 
qualis  Cinyphius  tacente  ripa  90 

Poenos  Bagrada  serpit  inter  agros, 
sed  talis  ferar,  ut  nitente  cursu 
tranquillum  mare  proximumque  possim 
puro  gurgite  provocare  Lirim." 

1  et  r  :  it  M. 
*  obluat  31 :  obruat  5". 


222 


SILVAE,  IV.  in.  63-94 

the  vine-bearing  Massie  mount  throws  back  to 
Gaurus  the  echoes  that  scatter  on  every  side.  Quiet 
Cyme  marvels  at  the  noise,  and  the  Liternian  lake 
and  sluggish  Savo. 

But  Vulturnus,'*  his  yellow  Jiead  and  wide-flung 
watery  tresses  entangled  in  soft  sedge,  raises  his  face 
and  leaning  against  the  mighty  arch  of  Caesar's 
bridge  pours  out  from  his  strident  throat  such  words 
as  tliese  :  "  Gracious  benefactor  of  my  plains,  who, 
wliile  I  poured  o'er  trackless  vales  nor  knew  how  to 
dwell  witliin  my  banks  didst  bind  me  by  the  law  of 
a  strict  channel,  now  do  I,  that  turbulent  and  danger- 
ous stream,  who  once  scarce  brooked  frail  vessels, 
already  endure  a  bridge,  and  am  trodden  by  travellers 
imderfoot  ;  I  who  was  wont  to  whirl  forest  and  field 
to  ruin,  shame  on  me  !  am  beginning  to  be  a  river. 
But  I  give  thee  thanks,  and  my  servitude  is  worth 
the  while,  because  under  thv  rule  and  at  thy  com- 
mand I  have  yielded,  and  because  thou  wilt  be  read 
of  perpetually  as  supreme  lord  and  conqueror  of  mv 
bank.  And  now  thou  honourest  me  with  splendid 
embankments,*  nor  sufferest  me  to  be  foul,  and  far 
and  wide  dost  purge  away  the  evil  shame  of  barren 
soil  ;  so  that  the  gulf  of  the  Tyrrhenian  sea  need 
not  cleanse  my  muddy,  sky-polluting  stream,  like  to 
Cinyphian  Bagrada  crawling  between  silent  banks 
through  Punic  fields  :  nay,  so  brightly  shall  I  flow 
that  I  shall  challenge  the  calm  sea  with  my  sparkling 
current,  or  neighbouring  Liris  with  my  unstained 
waters." 

"  Tlie  \'iilturniis  flows  into  the  sea  about  10  miles  S.  of 
Sinuessa:  the  road  woukl  cross  it  not  far  from  its  mouth. 

*  Or,  "  with  a  splendid   channel,"  as  Ov.  Met.  viii.  559 
"  solito  dum  limite  currunt  flumina,"  etc. 

223 


STATIUS 

Haec  amnis  pariterque  se  levarat  95 

ingenti  plaga  marmorata  dorso. 
huius  ianiia  prosperumque  limen 
arcus,  belligeris  ducis  tropaeis 
et  totis  Ligurum  nitens  nietallis, 
quantus  nubila  qui  coronat  imbri.^  lOU 

illic  flectitur  excitus  ^iator, 
illic  Appia  se  dolet  relinqui. 
tunc  velocior  acriorque  cursus, 
tunc  ipsos  iuvat  impetus  iugales  ; 
ceu  fessis  ubi  reniigum  lacertis  105 

primae  carbasa  ventilatis,  aurae. 
ergo  onmes,  age,  quae  sub  axe  primo 
Romani  colitis  fidem  parentis, 
prono  limite  commeate  gentes, 
Eoae  citius  venite  laurus.  110 

nil  obstat  cupidis,  nihil  moratur  : 
qui  primo  Tiberim  relinquit  ortu, 
primo  vespere  naviget  Lucrinum. 

Sed  quam  fine  viae  recentis  imo, 
qua  monstrat  veteres  Apollo  Cumas,  1 1  "> 

albam  crinibus  infulisque  cerno  ! 
visu  fallimur  ?  an  sacris  ab  antris 
profert  Chalcidicas  Sibylla  laurus  ? 
cedamus  ;  chely,  iam  repone  cantus  : 
vates  sanctior  incipit,  tacendum  est.  120 

en  !  et  colla  rotat  novisque  late 
bacchatur  spatiis  viamque  replet, 
tunc  sic  virgineo  profatur  ore  : 

"  dicebam,  veniet^manete  campi 
atque  amnis — ,  veniet  favente  caelo,  125 

^  imbri  M  :  Iri  s". 
22i 


SILVAE,  IV.  III.  !)5  li'.j 

Thus  spoke  the  river,  and  tlierewith  a  marbled 
stretch  of  roadway  had  arisen  with  mighty  ridge. 
Its  portal  and  auspicious  threshold  was  an  arch  that 
shone  M'ith  the  warlike  trophies  of  the  Prince  and  all 
Liguria's  mines,'*  as  vast  as  that  which  rings  the 
clouds  with  rain.  There  the  wayfarer  turns  aside  with 
quickened  speed,  there  the  Appian  road  gi-ieves  that 
she  is  left.  Then  swifter  and  more  furious  grows  the 
pace,  and  even  the  beasts  exult  in  the  speed  :  as 
wlien  the  rowers'  arms  are  weary  and  the  first  breezes 
f;\n  the  sails.  Con:ie  then  all  ye  who  beneath  the  sky 
of  dawn  owe  fealty  to  the  Roman  Sire,  flock  hither  all 
ye  races  on  this  easy  road,  come  more  swiftly  than 
befoi-e,  ye  laurels  of  the  East.  Nought  hinders  your 
eagerness,  nought  delays  your  course  :  he  who  leaves 
Tiber  at  dawn  of  day,  let  him  sail  the  Lucrine  lake 
at  earliest  eventide. 

But  what  woman  is  this  with  snow-white  hair  and 
fillet  whom  I  see  at  the  new  road's  extremest  end, 
where  Apollo's  temple  shows  Cumae's  ancient  site  *  ? 
Does  my  vision  err  ?  or  does  the  Sibyl  bring  forth 
the  Chalcidic  "  bayleaves  from  her  sacred  grot  ?  Let 
us  retire  ;  lute,  lay  by  thy  song  !  a  holier  bard 
begins,  and  Ave  must  be  silent.  Lo  !  how  she  whirls 
her  head  around,  and  rushing  in  frenzy  far  and  wide 
about  the  new-made  track  fills  all  the  roadway  ! 
Then  thus  she  speaks  with  virgin  mouth  :  "I  said 
it,  he  will  come — have  patience,  ye  fields  and  river  ! — 
he  will  come  by  heaven's  favour,  who  will  raise  this 

"  Possibly  the  mines  of  Luna  are  referred  to. 

*'  It  is  a  habit  of  Statins  to  reinforce  his  own  praise  with 
tliat  of  some  supernatural  person,  e.</.  Hercules  in  iii.  1, 
Janus  in  iv.  1,  Venus  in  iii.  4,  etc. 

<=  Cumae  (Cyme)  was  a  colony  of  Chalcis  in  Euboea. 

VOL.  I  Q  225 


STATIUS 

qui  foedum  nemus  et  putres  harenas 

celsis  pontibus  et  via  levabit. 

en  !     hie  est  deus,  hunc  iubet  beatis 

pro  se  luppiter  imperare  terris  ; 

quo  non  dignior  has  subit  habenas,  130 

ex  quo  me  duce  praescios  Averni 

Aeneas  avide  futura  quaerens 

lucos  et  penetravit  et  rehquit. 

hie  paci  bonus,  hie  timendus  armis, 

Natura  mehor  potentiorque.  135 

hie  si  flammigeros  teneret  axes, 

largis,  India,  nubibus  maderes, 

undaret^  Libye,  teperet  Haemus. 

salve,  dux  hominuni  et  parens  deoruni, 

provisum  mihi  conditunique  numen.  140 

nee  iam  putribus  evoluta  chartis 

sollemni  prece  quindecim  virorum 

perlustra  niea  dicta,  sed  canentem 

ipsani  comminus,  ut  mereris,  audi. 

vidi^  quam  seriem^  merentis^  aevi  145 

pronectant  tibi  candidae  sorores  : 

magnus  te  manet  ordo  saeculorum, 

natis  longior  abnepotibusque 

annos  perpetua  geres  iuventa, 

quos  fertur  placidos  adisse  Nestor,  150 

quos  Tithonia  computat  senectus 

et  quantos  ego  Dehum  poposci. 

iuravit  tibi  iam  nivaUs  Arctus, 

nunc  magnos  Oriens  dabit  triumphos. 

ibis  qua  vagus  Hercules  et  Euhan  155 

ultra  sidera  flammeumque  solem 

et  Nili  caput  et  nives  Atlantis, 


226 


SILVAE,  IV.   III.   126-157 

rotting  woodland  and  these  pestilent  sands  on  lofty- 
bridges  and  a  causeway.  Lo  !  a  god  is  he,  at  Jove's 
command  he  rules  for  him  the  happy  world  ;  none 
worthier  than  he  has  held  this  sway  since  under  my 
guidance  Aeneas,  eagerly  searching  out  the  future, 
penetrated  Avernus'  prescient  groves  and  went  forth 
again.  A  friend  is  he  to  peace,  and  terrible  in  arms, 
more  bountiful  than  Nature  and  more  powerful. 
Were  his  the  government  of  the  flaming  sky,  thou 
India  wouldst  be  moist  with  abundant  showers,  I>ibya 
would  stream  with  waters,  Haemus  would  be  warm. 
Hail,  ruler  of  men  and  parent  of  gods,  foreseen  by  me 
and  fore-ordained  was  thy  godhead.  No  longer  scan 
those  words  of  mine  that  tlie  fifteen  men  "  with  solemn 
prayer  unroll  on  mouldering  sheets,  but  face  to  face, 
as  thou  deservest,  hear  me  chant  my  oracle.  I  have 
seen  what  chain  of  meritorious  years  the  Fates 
white-clad  are  weaving  for  thee  ;  a  mighty  roll  of 
centuries  awaits  thee,  longer  than  son  or  grandson 
shalt  thou  bear  the  years  that  Nestor  reached,  as 
they  say,  in  tranquil  age,  as  many  as  old  Tithonus 
counted  or  I  myself  asked  of  the  Delian  god.* 
Already  the  snowy  North  has  paid  thee  homage, 
soon  the  Orient  will  give  thee  mighty  triumphs. 
Where  Avandering  Hercules  and  Euhan  "  went  thou 
shalt  go,  beyond  the  stars  and  the  flaming  sun,  and 
the  source  of  Nile  and  the  snows  of  Atlas,  and  blest 

"  The  XVviri,  who  had  charge  of  the  Sibylline  oracles. 
**  i.e.,  as  many  grains  as  were  in  a  handful  of  dust ;    see 
Ovid,  3l€t.  xiv.  130.  «  Bacchus. 

^  undaret  M :  umbraret  Postdate, 

^  vidi  M  :    audi  Heinsius.  ^  seriem  Dom.  :    series  M. 

*  merentis    M :     variously   emended,    recentis,    morantis, 
sequentis,  etc. 

227 


STATUS 

et  laudum  cunuilo  beatus  omni 

scandes^  belliger  abnuesque  currus  ; 

donee  Troicus  ignis  et  renatae  160 

Tarpeius  pater  intonabit  aulae, 

haee  donee  ^^a  te  regente^  terras 

annosa  magis  Appia  senescat." 


IV.  EPISTOLA  AD  VITORIUM  MARCELLUM 

Curre  per  Euboicos  non  segnis,  epistola,  campos, 
hac  ingressa  \"ias,^  qua  nobilis  Appia  crescit 
in  latus  et  niolles  solidus  premit  agger  harenas. 
atque  ubi  Romuleas  velox  penetraveris  arces, 
continue  dextras  flavi  pete  Thybridis  oras,  5 

Lvdia  qua  penitus  stagnum  navale  coercet 
ripa  suburbanisque  vadum  praetexitur  hortis. 
illic  egregium  formaque  animisque  \idebis 
Marcelluni  et  celso  praesignem  vertice  nosces. 
cui  primam  solito  vulgi  de  more  salutem,  10 

mox  inclusa  modis  haec  reddere  verba  memento  : 

^  scandes  5"  :  sandes  -1/:  laudes  conj.  PhilL,  frondes 
Slater. 

^  regente  r  :  gerente  M.  '  vias  3/ :  via  Vollmer. 

"  Apparently  a  reference  to  Domitian's  supposed  mag- 
nanimity in  refusing  triumphs,  rf.  iii.  3.  168  n. 

"  The  fire  brought  from  Troy  and  kept  in  the  temple  of 
Vesta. 

*  The  plains  of  Campania,  so-called  from  the  town  of 
Cumae,  originally  colonized  by  Chalcis  in  Euboea. 

^  This  (leftward)  bend  of  the  Appian  Way  to  the  sea  is 
the  same  as  that  referred  to  in  the  note  at  the  beginning  of 
the  last  poem,  where  the  road  is  mentioned  as  striking 
inland  (to  one  travelling  from  Rome)  at  Sinuessa. 

228 


SILVAE,  IV.  III.  158— IV.  11 

in  all  thy  wealth  of  noble  deeds  thou  shalt  mount 
and  again  refuse  the  chariots  of  war  "■  :  so  long  as 
the  Trojan  fire  ''  shall  abide  and  the  Tarpeian  Father 
thunder  in  his  reborn  shrine,  yea,  until  under  thy 
governance  of  the  earth  this  road  grows  older  than 
the  Appian's  years." 


IV.  A  LETTER  TO  VITORIUS  MARCELLUS 

Vitorius  Marcellus  was  of  eqveKtrian  famiiy,  but  became 
Praetor,  and  was  also  (liven  charge  of  t/ie  Ma  Latina  ;  for 
other  details  see  iPraef.,  II.  9,  41  jf.  and  65  of  this  poem. 

Haste  at  no  laggard  speed,  my  letter,  o'er  the 
Euboean  plains  "  ;  set  out  upon  thy  road  where  the 
famous  Appia  branches  sideward,''  and  a  solid  mound 
is  planted  on  the  yielding  sands.  And  when  swiftly 
travelling  thou  hast  reached  the  tow'ers  of  Romulus, 
seek  forthwith  the  right  bank  of  yellow  Tiber,  Avhere 
the  I^ydian  shore  straitens  narrowly  the  naval  basin,'' 
and  suburban  pleasure-gardens  fringe  the  water. 
There  shalt  thou  see  Marcellus,  peerless  both  in 
valour  and  in  looks,  and  thou  shalt  know  him  by  the 
mark  of  his  lofty  stature.  First  pay  thy  greeting  in 
the  accustomed  manner,  then  remember  to  deliver 
this  verse-embodied  message  : 

*  The  "stagnum  navale  "  was  a  lake  excavated  bj' Augustus 
at  the  foot  of  the  Janiculum  for  the  purpose  of  naval 
displays  and  sham  fights ;  it  was  about  50  acres  in  extent, 
and  surrounded  by  pleasure  gardens.  "  Lydia  ripa  "  probably 
means  the  rising  ground  on  the  right  bank,  i.e.  the  Etruscan 
side  of  the  river.  The  Etruscans  were  supposed  to  have 
come  originally  from  Lydia  :  cf.  \irg.  Aen.  ii.  781  *' Lydius 
fiuvius,"  of  the  Tiber. 

229 


ST  ATI  us 

lam  terras  volucremque  polum  fuga  veris  aquosi 
laxat  et  Icariis  caelum  latratibus  urit  ; 
ardua  iam  densae  rarescunt  moenia  Romae. 
hos  Praeneste  sacrum,  nemus  bos  glaciale  Dianae,  15 
Algidus  aut  horrens  aut  Tuscula  protegit  umbra, 
Tiburis  hi  lucos  Anienaque^  frigora  captant. 
te  quoque  clamosae  quaenam  plaga  mitior  urbi 
subtrahit  ?     aestivos  quo  decipis  acre  soles  ?  19 

quid  ?     tuus  ante  omnis,  tua  cura  potissima,  Gallus, 
nee  non  noster  amor — dubium  morumne  probandus 
ingeniine  bonis — Latiis  aestivat  in  oris 
anne  metalliferae  repetit  iam  moenia  Lunae 
Tyrrhenasque  domos  ?     quod  si  tibi  proximus  haeret, 
non  ego  nunc  vestro  procul  a  sermone  recedo  ;         25 
certum  est,  inde  sonus  geminas  mihi  circuit  aures. 
sed  tu,  dum  nimio  possessa  Hyperione  flagrat 
torva  Cleonaei  iuba  sideris,  exue  curis 
pectus  et  assiduo  temet  furare  labori. 
et  sontes  operit  pharetras  arcumque  retendit  30 

Parthus  et  Eleis  auriga  laboribus  actos 
Alpheo  permulcet  equos  et  nostra  fatescit 
laxaturque  chelys  :  \ares  instigat  alitque 
tempestiva  quies,  maior  post  otia  virtus  ! 
talis  cantata  Briseide  venit  Achilles  35 

acrior  et  positis  erupit  in  Hectora  plectris. 
te  quoque  flammabit  tacite  repetita  parumper 
desidia  et  solitos^  novus  exultabis  in  actus, 
certe  iam  Latiae  non  miscent  iurgia  leges, 

^  Anienaque  S" :  amenaque  M. 
^  solitos  S"  :  soljdos  M  and  Vollmer. 

"  i.e.,  of  the  Dogstar,  "  canis  Icarius  "  (Ov.  Am.  ii.  16.  4) ; 
the  dog,  named  Maera,  belonged  to  Icarus,  son  of  Oebahis, 
king  of  Sparta,  and  was  made  a  star  after  its  death. 

230 


SILVAE,  IV.  IV,  12-39 

"  Already  the  flight  of  rainy  spring  sets  free  the 
earth  and  the  rushing  pole,  and  scorches  the  heaven 
with  Icarian  hayings  "  ;  already  the  high  walls  of 
crowded  Rome  grow  empty.  Some  sacred  Praeneste 
shelters,  some  Diana's  ice-cool  glade  or  rugged 
Algidus  or  the  shades  of  Tusculum  ;  others  are  eager 
for  the  groves  of  Tibur  or  Anio's  cold  waves.  And 
thou — what  gentler  region  draws  thee  from  the 
clamorous  city  ?  With  what  sky  art  thou  baffling 
the  summer  suns  ?  And  Gallus,  thy  favourite,  thy 
chiefest  care,  whom  I  too  love — whether  more  to  be 
praised  for  virtue  or  for  wit  I  know  not — does  he  pass 
the  summer  on  Latium's  coast,  or  seek  again  the 
walls  of  Luna  rich  in  mines  and  his  Tyrrhenian  home  ? 
But  if  he  is  close  by  thy  side,  my  name  now  is  not 
far  from  thy  converse  ;  ay,  'tis  certain  ;  that  is  why 
both  my  ears  are  buzzing.  But  do  thou,  while  the 
angry  mane  of  Cleonae's  star  ^  is  blazing,  possessed 
by  Hyperion's  exceeding  might,  set  free  thy  heart 
from  cares  and  escape  from  constant  toil.  The 
Parthian  puts  up  his  noxious  arrows  and  unstrings  his 
bow,  and  the  charioteer  refreshes  in  Alpheus  the 
steeds  that  Elean  labours  have  exhausted,  and  my 
lyre  grows  weary  and  is  relaxed  :  timely  repose 
heartens  and  nourishes  strength,  valour  is  increased 
by  a  spell  of  ease.  Even  so  Achilles,  when  he  had 
sung  of  Briseis,  went  forth  the  fiercer,  and  putting 
by  his  quill  burst  out  against  Hector.  Thee  too  will 
leisure  sought  once  more  awhile  secretly  kindle,  and 
thou  wilt  go  forth  refreshed  and  exultant  to  thy 
wonted  tasks.  Now  indeed  the  Roman  courts  have 
ceased  to  bicker,  'tis  the  season  of  idleness  and  peace, 

**  The  Constellation  Leo,  from  Cleonae,  near  Nemea,  where 
Hercules  killed  the  lion. 

231 


ST  ATI  us 

et  pacem  plger  annus  liabet  niessesque  reversae      40 

dimisere  forum,     nee  iani  tibi  turba  reoruni 

vestibule  querulicjue  rogant  exire  elientes  ; 

cessat  centeni  moderatrix  iudieis  hasta, 

qua  tibi  sublimi  iam  nune  eeleberrinia  fania 

eminet  et  iuvenis  facundia  pi-aeterit  annos.  45 

felix  curarum,  cui  non  Heliconia  cordi 

serta  nee  imbelles  Parnasi  e  vertice  laurus, 

sed  viget  ingenium  et  magnos  aceinctus  in  usus 

fert  animus  quascumque  vices  :  nos  otia  vitae 

solamur  cantu  ventosaque  gaudia  famae  50 

quaerimus.     en  egomet  somnum  et  geniale  secutus 

litus,  ubi  Ausonio  se  condidit  hospita  portu 

Parthenope,  tenues  ignavo  pollice  chordas 

pulso  Maroneique  sedens  in  margine  templi 

sumo  animum  et  magni  tumulis  adeanto  magistri :  55 

at  tu,  si  longi  cursum  dabit  Atropos  aevi, 

— detque,  precor,  Latiique  ducis  sic  numina  pergant, 

quern  tibi  posthabito  studium  est  coluisse  Tonante, 

quique  tuos  alio  subtexit  munere  fasces 

et  spatia  obliquae  mandat  renovare  Latinae  ! —       GO 

forsitan  Ausonias  ibis  frenare  cohortes 

aut  Rheni  populos  aut  nigrae  litora  Thyles 

aut  Histrum  servare  datur  metuendaque  portae 

limina  Caspiacae.     nee  enim  tibi  sola  potentis 

eloquii  virtus  :  sunt  membra  accommoda  bellis        65 

"  The  Centumviri  were  an  important  court  of  ci\  il  juris- 
diction. Its  emblem  was  the  spear,  originally  set  up  at  sales 
of  property  captured  from  the  enemy,  as  questions  of  pro- 
perty, e.g.  inheritance,  often  came  before  it. 

*  According  to  the  legend  the  Siren  of  that  name  threw 
herself  Into  the  sea  after  being  foiled  by  Ulysses  and  was 
232 


SILVAE,  IV.  IV.  40-G5 

and  tlie  return  of  the  harvest  has  emptied  the  forum. 
Defendants  no  more  throng  thy  chambers,  no  querul- 
ous chents  pray  thee  to  come  forth.  Idle  is  the  spear 
that  rules  the  Hundred  Judges,"  before  whom  even 
now,  in  all  tlie  brilliance  of  high  renown,  thy  elo- 
quence is  pre-eminent  and  outstrips  thy  youthful 
years.  Happy  thou  in  thy  labours,  who  carest  not 
for  the  chaplets  of  Helicon  nor  for  unwarlike  bays 
from  Parnassus'  summit,  but  thy  intellect  is  keen, 
and  thy  mind  girt  up  for  mighty  deeds  endures 
wliatever  may  befall  :  we  beguile  a  leisured  life  with 
song,  and  seek  the  fickle  delights  of  fame.  Lo  !  I 
myself,  in  quest  of  sleep  and  that  genial  shore  where 
the  stranger  Parthenope  **  found  refuge  in  an  Auso- 
nian  haven,  pluck  at  my  frail  strings  M'ith  feeble 
fingers,  and  seated  by  the  threshold  of  Maro's  shrine 
take  heart  and  make  melody  at  the  mighty  master's 
tomb."^  But  thou,  if  Atropos  gives  thee  a  long  span 
of  life — and  'tis  my  prayer  she  may,  and  that  tlic 
godhead  of  the  Latian  prince  may  so  appoint,  whose 
zealous  worshipper,  ay  even  before  the  Thunderer, 
thou  art,  and  who  adds  another  duty  to  thy  year  of 
office,  and  bids  thee  renew  the  hilly  courses  of  the 
Latin  Way — thou  perchance  shalt  go  to  curb  the 
cohorts  of  Ausonia,  or  'tis  thy  task  to  guard  the 
peoples  of  the  Rhine  or  dark  Thule's  shores,  or  Ister 
and  the  dread  approaches  of  the  Caspian  gate.  For 
it  is  not  only  tlie  gift  of  powerful  eloquence  that  is 
thine  :    thou  hast  limbs  that  are  made  for  war,  and 

washed  up  in  the  harbour  of  Naples,  which  was  called  after 
her.     For  another  legend  see  iv.  8.  48  n. 

"  X'irgil's  tomb  was  on  tlie  road  from  Naples  to  Puteoli, 
about  two  miles  out  from  Naples,  and  was  the  object  of  the 
pious  worship  of  Silius  Italicus  and  many  others. 

233 


ST  ATI  us 

quique  gravem  tarde^  subeant  thoraca  lacerti  : 
seu  campo  pedes  ire  pares,  est  agmina  supra 
nutaturus  apex  ;  seu  frena  sonantia  fleetes, 
serviet  asper  equus.     nos  facta  aliena  canendo 
vergimur  in  senium  :  propriis  tu  pulcher  in  armis    70 
ipse  canenda  geres  parvoque  exempla  parabis 
magna  Getae,  dignos  quern  iam  nunc  belliger  actus 
poscit  avus  praestatque^  domi  novisse  triumphos. 
surge,  agedum,  iuvenemque,  puer,  deprende  paren- 

tem, 
stemmate  materno  felix,  virtute  paterna,  75 

iam  te  blanda  sinu  Tyrio  sibi  Gloria^  felix 
educat  et  cunctas  gaudet  spondere  curules." — 

Haec  ego  Chalcidicis  ad  te,  Marcelle,  sonabam 
litoribus,  fractas  ubi  Vesvius  erigit  iras, 
aemula  Trinacriis  volvens  incendia  flammis.  80 

mira  fides  !     credetne  virum  ventura  propago, 
cum  segetes  iterum,  cum  iam  haec  deserta  virebunt, 
infra  urbes  populosque  premi  proavitaque  fato* 
rura  abiisse  pari^  ?  necdum  letale  minari 
cessat  apex,     procul  ista  tuo  sint  fata  Teati  85 

nee  Marrucinos  agat  haec  insania  montes. 

Nunc  si  forte  meis  quae  sint  exordia  musis 
scire  petis,  iam  Sidonios  emensa  labores 
Thebais  optato  collegit  carbasa  portu 
Parnasique  iugis  silvaque  Hehconide  festis  90 

^  tarde  M:  subeant  arte  O.  Mueller:  artandi  conj. 
Phillimore. 

^  avus  praestatque  M  (avos  prestatque)  :  perstatque 
Peyrared  and  Vollmer:  avo  spernitque  Phillimore. 

*  gloria  M :  curia  Markland. 

*  fa  to  Slater:  toto  3f:  tosto  Vollmer:  tota  Grasherger. 
^  pari  Slater  :  mari  M. 

"  "tarde,"  apparently  because  his  frame  is  so  robust;  the 
idea  can  be  paralleled  from  the  Thehaid,  e.g.  i.  489. 

234 


SILVAE,  IV.  IV.  66-90 

thews  that  with  difficulty  ^  put  on  the  heavy  corselet  ; 
should'st  thou  prepare  to  go  on  foot,  thy  helmet's 
peak  will  nod  high  above  the  ranks  ;  should'st  thou 
bend  the  jingling  reins,  the  mettlesome  charger  will 
do  thy  bidding.  We,  singing  the  deeds  of  others, 
fall  into  old  age  :  thou  resplendent  in  thy  armour 
shalt  perform  actions  meet  for  song,  and  set  a  noble 
pattern  before  the  youthful  Geta,^  of  whom  already 
his  warrior  grandsire  is  demanding  worthy  feats  and 
grants  him  to  know  the  triumphs  of  his  house.  Up, 
then,  be  doing,  and  overtake  thy  sire,  though  he  be 
a  man  and  thou  but  a  lad,  happy  alike  in  thy  mother's 
lineage  and  thy  father's  prowess.  Already  blissful 
Glory  nourishes  thee,  and  fondles  thee  in  her  robe 
of  Tyrian  dye,  and  delights  to  promise  thee  all  the 
curule  chairs." 

Such,  Marcellus,  is  the  song  I  am  singing  thee  on 
the  Chalcidic  strand,  where  Vesuvius  hurls  forth 
broken  rage,  outpouring  fire  that  would  rival  Tri- 
nacrian  flames.  Marvellous,  but  true  !  Will  future 
ages  believe,  when  once  more  crops  are  growing,  and 
these  wastes  are  green  again,  that  cities  and  peoples 
lie  beneath,  and  that  their  ancestral  lands  have 
perished  by  a  like  fate  ?  And  still  that  peak  threatens 
ruin.  Far  be  that  fate  from  thy  Teate,  nor  may 
such  madness  seize  the  Marrucinian  hills  ! 

If  now  perchance  you  ask  what  my  muse  is  attempt- 
ing, my  Thehaid  having  completed  her  Sidonian  '^ 
toils  has  at  last  furled  her  sails  in  the  wished-for 
haven,  and  on  the  ridges  of  Parnassus  and  in  the 

''  His  son  was  called  Vitorius  Hosidius  Geta  after  his 
mother,  who  was  of  the  Hosidii,  a  senatorial  family. 

"  i.e.  Theban,  from  the  descent  of  the  Thebans  from 
Cadmus. 

235 


STATUS 

tura  dedit  flammis  et  virginis  exta  iuvencae 

votiferaque  meas  suspendit  ab  arbore  vittas. 

nunc  vacuos  crines  alio  subit  infula  nexu  : 

Troia  quideni  magnusque  mihi  teniptatur  Achilles, 

sed  vocat  arcitenens  alio  pater  arniaque  monstrat   95 

Ausonii  niaiora  ducis.     trahit  impetus  illo 

iam  pi-ideni  retrahitque  timor.     stabuntne  sub  ilia 

mole  umeri  an  magno  vincetur  pondere  cervix  ? 

die,  Marcelle,  feram  ?     fluctus  an  sueta  minores 

nosse  ratis  nondum  loniis  credenda  periclis  ?  100 

lamque  vale  et  penitus  voti  tibi  vatis  honorem^ 
corde  exire  veta  ;  nee  enim  Tirynthius  almae^ 
parens^  amicitiae  ;  cedet  tibi  gloria  fidi 
Theseos,  et  lacerum  qui  circa  moenia  Troiae 
Priamiden  caeso  solacia  traxit  amico.  105 


V.  ODE  LYRICA  AD  SEPTIMIUM 
SE\ERUM 

Parvi  beatus  ruris  honoribus, 
qua  prisca  Teucros  Alba  colit  lares, 
fortem  atque  facundum  Severum 
non  solitis  fidibus  saluto. 

^  honorem  M :  amorem  Dorn. 

^  Lacuna,  ace.  to  most  edd.,  after  Tirynthius  :  Vollmer 
makes  al.  pec.  am.  in  apposition,  cf.  Mart.  ix.  14.  2,  and 
explains  by  ellipse  of  te  superat:  others  read  tihj  notius, 
retinentius.  •''  parous  Slater  :  pectus  M. 

"  See  the  prelude  to  the  Achilleid  ;  it  was  conventional 
flattery  to  suppose  that  one's  real  ambition  was  to  sing  of 
the  exploits  of  the  F^mperor. 


silvaf:,  IV.  IV.  91— V.  4 

glades  of  Helicon  has  thrown  incense  on  the  festal 
flames  and  the  entrails  of  a  virgin  heifer,  and  hung 
up  my  chaplets  on  a  votive  tree.  And  now  another 
band  new  twined  encircles  my  vacant  locks  :  ay, 
'tis  Troy  I  am  attempting  and  great  Achilles,"  but 
the  Sire  that  wields  the  bow  calls  me  elsewhere  and 
points  me  to  the  mightier  arms  of  the  Ausonian  chief. 
Long  since  has  impulse  urged  me  thither,  but  fear 
holds  me  back.  Will  my  shoulders  sustain  so  great 
a  burden,  or  will  my  neck  yield  under  the  weight  ? 
Tell  me,  Marcellus,  shall  I  essay  the  task  ?  or  must 
my  bark  that  knows  but  lesser  seas  not  yet  be  trusted 
to  Ionian  perils  ^  ? 

And  now  farewell,  and  let  not  regard  for  the  poet 
who  is  wholly  devoted  to  thee  pass  from  thy  mind  ; 
for  neither  was  the  Tirynthian  chary  of  warm- 
hearted friendship  ;  to  thee  shall  yiekl  the  fame 
of  loyal  Theseus,  and  of  him  who  to  comfort  his 
slain  friend  dragged  Priam's  mangled  son  around  the 
walls  of  Troy. 


V.  A  LYRIC  ODE  TO  SEPTIMIUS  SEVERUS 

An  Alcaic  ode  in  the  Horatian  manner  to  his  friend 
Septirnius,  a  younff  man  of  equestrian  family,  who,  like  the 
future  Emperor  of  that  name,  was  born  in  Leptis  in  Africa. 
He  had  been  a  fellow-pupil  of  Vitorius  Marcellus. 

Happy  amid  the  glories  of  my  small  estate,  where 
ancient  Alba  dwells  in  her  Trojan  home,  I  salute  in 
unwonted  strains  the  brave  and  eloquent  Severus. 

''  The  Ionian  and  Adriatic  seas  were  proverbially  dan- 
gerous for  ships  that  preferred  to  hug  the  shore. 

237 


ST  ATI  us 

iam  ti'ux  ad  Arctos  Parrhasias  hiems  5 

concessit  altis  obruta  solibus, 
iam  pontus  ac  tellus  renident 
in  Zephyros  Aquilone  fracto.^ 

nunc  cuncta  veris^  frondibus  annuis 
crinitur  arbos,  nunc  volucruni  novi  10 

questus  inexpertumque  carmen, 
quod  tacita  statuere^  bruma. 

nos  parca  tellus  per\-igil  et  focus 
culmenque  multo  lumine  sordidum 

solantur  exemptusque  testa  15 

qua  modo  ferbuerat  Lyaeus. 

non  mille  balant  lanigei-i  greges, 
nee  vacca  dulci  mugit  adultero, 
unique  siquando  canenti 

mutus  ager  domino  reclamat.  20 

sed  terra  primis  post  patriam  mihi 
dilecta  curis  ;  hie  mea  carmina 
regina  bellorum  virago 
Caesareo  peramavit*  auro, 

cum  tu  sodalis  dulce  periculum  25 

conisus  omni  pectore  tolleres, 
ut  Castor  ad  cunctos  tremebat 
Bebryciae  strepitus  harenae. 

^  in  ZephjTOS  .  .  .  fracto  Buecheler,  Krohn :  iam  zephiros 
.  .  .  fractos  M. 

*  veris    31 :     veri    Bafhrens.     Postgate   punctuates    after 
veris :  sc.  sunt. 
238 


SILVAE,  IV.  V.  5  28 

At  last  harsh  winter  has  fled  to  the  Parrhasian 
North,"  o'erwhelnied  by  lofty  suns  ;  at  last  the  cold 
winds  are  softened  into  mild  zephyrs,  and  sea  and 
land  are  smiling.  Now  every  tree  puts  forth  her 
yearly  tresses  of  spring  leaves,  now  are  heard  the 
birds'  new  plainings  and  the  unpractised  songs  which 
they  planned  in  the  silent  winter.  As  for  me,  my 
thrifty  domain  and  ever-wakeful  hearth  and  rooftree 
blackened  by  many  a  fire  console  me,  and  the  wine  ^ 
that  I  take  from  the  jar  where  lately  it  fermented. 
Here  no  thousand  woolly  sheep  utter  bleatings,  no 
cow  lows  to  its  sweet  lover  ;  and  only  to  their 
master's  voice,  as  he  sings,  whene'er  he  sings,  do  the 
mute  fields  re-echo.  But  this  land,  after  my  native 
country,  holds  first  place  in  my  love  :  here  the  maiden 
queen  of  battles  "  favoured  my  songs  with  Caesar's 
golden  crown,  when  you,  striving  with  all  your  might, 
succoured  your  friend  in  his  joyous  hazard,  even  as 
Castor  trembled  at  all  the  noise  of  the  Bebrycian 
arena  ."^ 

"  From  Callisto,  an  Arcadian  maiden,  who  was  turned 
into  a  bear  by  Hera  out  of  jealousy,  and  then  made  the 
constellation  of  the  Bear  ;   Parrhasus  is  a  town  in  Arcadia. 

''  Bacchus,  i.e.  wine. 

"  i.e.,  Pallas.  The  reference  is  to  the  golden  olive-wreath  that 
Mas  the  prize  of  victory  in  the  Alban  contest ;  <•/.  iv.  2.  67. 

"*  When  Pollux  fought  against  Amycus,  king  of  the 
Bebrycians,  during  the  voj'age  of  the  Argo.  The  meaning 
of  11.  25-26  seems  to  be  that  his  friend  gave  him  all  the 
encouragement  he  could,  being  as  anxious  for  him  to  win  as 
Castor  was  when  Pollux  was  fighting. 

'  statuere  M :  tacuere  conj.  Phillimore. 
*  peramavit   M :     decoravit   Markland :     reparavit  conj. 
Phillimore. 

239 


STATIUS 

tene  in  remotis  Syrtibus  avia 
Leptis  creavit  ?     iam  feret  Indicas  30 

messes  odoratisque  rara 

cinnama  praeripiet  Sabaeis. 

quis  non  in  omni  vertice  Romuli 
reptasse  dulcem  Septimium  putet  ? 

quis  fonte  luturnae  relictis  35 

uberibus  neget  esse  pastum  ? 

nee  mira  virtus  :  protinus  Ausonum 
portus  vadosae  nescius  Africae 
intras  adoptatusque  Tuscis 

gurgitibus  puer  innatasti.  40 

hinc  parvus  inter  pignora  curiae 
contentus  artae  lumine  purpurae 
crescis,  sed  inimensos  labores 
indole  patricia  secutus. 

non  sermo  Poenus,  non  habitus  tibi,  45 

externa  non  mens  :  Italus,  Italus. 
sunt  Urbe  Romanisque  turmis, 
qui  Libyam  deceant  alumni. 

est  et  frementi  vox  hilaris  foro, 
venale  sed  non  eloquium  tibi  ;  50 

ensisque  vagina  quiescit, 
stringere  ni  iubeant  amici. 

sed  rura  cordi  saepius  et  quies, 
nunc  in  paternis  sedibus  et  solo 

Veiente,  nunc  frondosa  supra  55 

Hernica,  nunc  Curibus  vetustis. 

"  A  spring  in  Rome. 

*  The  angusticlave,  or  two  narrow  purple   stripes  down 
240 


SILVAE,  IV.  V.  29-56 

Did  Leptis  that  loses  itself  in  the  distant  Syrtes 
beget  you  ?  soon  shall  she  bear  Indian  harvests, 
and  despoil  tlie  perfumed  Sabaeans  of  their  rare 
cinnamon.  Who  would  not  think  that  my  sweet 
Septimius  had  crawled  an  inffint  on  all  the  hills  of 
Rome  ?  Who  would  not  say  that  he  had  drunk,  his 
weaning  done,  of  Juturna's  fountain  "  ?  Nor  is  your 
prowess  to  be  wondered  at  :  straightway,  still 
ignorant  of  Africa  and  its  shalloAvs,  you  entered  the 
havens  of  Ausonia,  and  sailed,  an  adopted  child,  on 
Tuscan  waters.  Tlien,  still  a  lad,  you  grew  to  man- 
hood among  the  sons  of  the  Senate,  content  with  the 
glory  of  the  narrow  purple,''  but  witli  patrician  soul 
seeking  unmeasured  laboui-s.  Neither  your  speech 
nor  your  dress  is  Punic,''  yours  is  no  stranger's  mind  : 
Italian  are  you,  Italian  !  Yet  in  our  city  and  among 
the  knights  of  Rome  are  men  who  might  well  be 
foster-sons  of  Libya .<^  Pleasing  too  is  your  voice  in 
tlie  strident  courts,  but  your  eloquence  is  never  venal ; 
your  sword  sleeps  in  its  scabbard,  save  when  your 
friends  bid  you  draw  it.  But  oftener  do  you  enjov 
the  quiet  country,  now  in  your  father's  home  on 
\'eientine  soil,  now  on  the  leafy  heights  of  Hernica, 
now   in    ancient   Cures.     Here   will   you   plan   more 

the  front  of  the  tunic,  was  the  mark  of  knighthood  (see 
Preface  to  Book  IV.),  but  young  sons  of  knights  were  some- 
times granted  the  right  of  wearing-  the  laticlave,  one  broad 
purple  stripe  ;  one  may  perhaps  gather  that  this  right  was 
not  granted  in  the  case  of  Septimius.  His  soul,  however, 
was  truly  noble  ("  patricia  indole  "). 

"  From  which  one  may  gather  that  Roman  families  living 
in  Africa  sometimes  showed  traces  of  Carthaginian  speech  ; 
\'ollmer,  however,  takes  this  as  meaning  "  your  word  is 
true,"  not  characterized  by  "  punica  tides,"  as  in  1.  4S. 

''  i.e.,  so  untrustworthy  are  they.  It  could  also  be  rendered  : 
"  Yes  in  the  City  .  .  .  Libya  has  sons  who  would  adorn  her." 

VOL.  I  R  241 


ST  ATI  us 

hie  plura  pones  vocibus  et  modis 
passu^  solutis,  sed  memor  interim 
nostri  verecundo  latentem 

barbiton  ingemina  sub  antro.  60 


VI.  HERCULES  EPITRAPEZIOS  NOVI 
VINDICIS 

Forte  remittentem  curas  Phoeboque  levatum 
pectora,  cum  patulis  tererem  vagus  otia  Saeptis 
iani  moriente  die,  rapuit  me  cena  benigni 
Vindicis.     haec  imos  animi  perlapsa  recessus 
inconsumpta  manet.     neque  enini  ludibria  ventris    5 
hausimus  aut  epulas  diverso  a  sole  petitas 
vinaque  perpetuis  aevo  certantia  fastis, 
a  miseri  !     quos  nosse  iuvat,  quid  Phasidis  ales 
distet  ab  hiberna  Rhodopes  gi'ue,  quis  magis  anser 
exta  ferat,  cur  Tuscus  aper  generosior  Umbro,         10 
lubrica  qua  recubent  conchylia  mollius  alga  : 
nobis  verus  amor  medioque  Helicone  petitus 

^  passu  Markland  :  passum  M,  passim  5". 

"  The  Saepta  Julia  was  a  much  frequented  public  place 
in  the  Campus  Martins,  with  some  of  the  best  shops  in 
Rome  ;  see  Mart.  ii.  14,  ix.  59. 

"  The  dinner  has  passed  into  the  soul,  and  becomes  a 
precious  memory.  \^ollmer  quotes  Cic.  Tusc.  v.  100,  "  vestrae 
quidem  cenae  non  solum  in  praesentia,  sed  etiam  postero 
die  iucundae  sunt,'"  "  your  dinners  delight  one  not  at  the 
time  only,  but  also  on  the  morrow  "  ;  also  Epicurus,  who 
praises  "  plain  living  and  high  thinking." 

"  The  pheasant. 

■*  Or,  with  more  point  in  "hiberna,"  "a  crane  caught  on 
242 


SILVAE,  IV.  V.  57— VI.  12 

themes  in  the  words  and  measures  that  move  un- 
fettered, but  remembering  me  at  times  strike  anew 
the  lyre  that  hes  hid  in  some  shy  grotto. 


VI.  THE  HERCULES  STATUETTE  OF 
NOVIUS  VINDEX 

The  poem  consists  chiefly  of  the  description  of  the  Hercules, 
a  statuette  {epitrapezios=  statue  to  be  put  on  a  table)  belonging 
to  Novius  Vindex,  a  connoisseur  in  art,  who  is  mentioned  by 
Martial  (vii.  72.  7)  in  addition  to  the  two  epigrams  in  which 
the  same  statuette  is  described  (ix.  43,  44-).  The  statue  was 
a  bronze,  and  represented  the  god  as  seated,  loifh  a  goblet  in 
one  hand  and  the  club  in  the  other  ;  the  type  is  a  common  one 
{see  Roscher's  Lexicon  der  Mythol.  i.  2176).  It  is  clear  that 
both  Statius  and  Martial,  as  well  as  Novius,  took  it  for  a 
genuine  work  of  Lysippus. 

One  day  when  putting  aside  my  tasks  with  heart 
unburdened  by  Phoebus  I  was  wandering  aimlessly  at 
sundown  in  the  broad  spaces  of  the  Enclosure,**  kind 
Vindex  took  me  off  to  dine.  That  feast  sank  deep  into 
the  recesses  of  my  soul,**  and  remains  unconsumed. 
For  it  Avas  no  wanton  dainties  of  the  belly  that  we 
devoured,  no  sMeetmeats  sought  under  distant  suns, 
no  wines  whose  ages  rival  our  continuous  Annals. 
Unhappy  they  whose  delight  is  to  know  how  the  bird 
of  Phasis  "  differs  from  a  crane  of  wintry  Rhodope,*^ 
what  kind  of  goose  has  the  largest  liver,  why  a 
Tuscan  boar  is  richer  than  an  Umbrian,  on  what 
seaweed  the  slippery  shell-fish  most  comfortably 
recline  :  as  for  us,  real  affection  and  discourse 
fetched  from  the  heart  of  Helicon  and  merry  jests 

Pihodope  in  winter,"   i.e.  a  rarity,  as  cranes  always  flew 
south  in  winter. 

243 


ST  ATI  us 

sermo  hilaresque  ioci  brumalem  absumere  noctem 

suaserunt  niollenique  oculis  expellere  somnuni, 

donee  ab  Elysiis  prospexit  sedibus  alter  15 

Castor  et  hesternas  risit  Tithonia  mensas. 

o  bona  nox  iunctaque  utinani  Tirynthia  luna  ! 

nox  et  Erythraeis  Thetidis  signanda  lapillis 

et  memoranda  diu  geniumque  habitura  perennem  ! 

mille  ibi  tunc  species  aerisque  eborisque  vetusti      20 

atque  locuturas  mentito  corpore  ceras 

edidici.     quis  namque  oculis  certaverit  usquani 

Vindicis,  artificum  veteres  agnoscere  ductus 

et  non  inscriptis  auctorem  reddere  signis  ? 

hie  tibi  quae  docto  multum  vigilata  Myroni  25 

aera,  laboriferi  vivant  quae  marmora  caelo 

Praxitelis,  quod  ebur  Pisaeo  pollice  rasum, 

quid  Polycliteis  iussum  spirare  caminis, 

linea  quae  veterem  longe  fateatur  Apellen, 

rnonstrabit  :   namque  haec,  quotiens  chelyn  exuit,  illi 

desidia  est,  hie  Aoniis  amor  avocat  antris.  31 

Haec  inter  castae  genius  tutelaque  mensae 
Amphitryoniades  multo  mea  cepit  amore 
pectora  nee  longo  satiavit  lumina  visu  : 
tantus  honos  operi  finesque  inclusa  per  artos^  35 

maiestas  !     deus  ille,  deus  !  seseque  videndum 
indulsit,  Lysippe,  tibi  parvusque  \-ideri 
sentirique  ingens  !     et  cum  mirabilis  intra 

^  finesque  .  .  .  perartosS":  finesque  (tenuesque,  iuvenesque 
edd.)  per  artus  M. 

"  Castor  and  Pollux  were  allowed  to  live  on  alternate 
days  :  Tithonia  is  the  Dawn. 

"  i.e.,  such  a  night  as  that  wherein  Hercules  was  begotten, 
of  twice  the  usual  length. 

"  i.e.,  pearls,  fetched  from  the  Erji;hraean  sea  ;    an  im- 

244 


SILVAE,  IV.  VI.  13-38 

persuaded  us  to  sit  out  a  winter's  night  and  to  banisli 
soft  sleep  from  our  eyes,  until  the  other  Twin  ^ 
looked  forth  from  Elysium,  and  Tithonia  laughed  at 
yesterday's  banquet.  O  night  of  bliss  !  would  it 
liad  been  Tirynthian,  with  moon  added  to  moon  !  * 
a  night  to  be  marked  with  the  Erythraean  gems  '^  of 
Thetis,  a  night  to  be  long  told  of,  a  night  whose 
spirit  '^  will  live  for  ever  !  There  and  then  did  I 
learn  of  a  thousand  beauties  of  bronze  and  ancient 
ivory,  and  deceiving  shapes  of  wax  on  the  verge  of 
speech.  For  who  ever  rivalled  the  keen  glance  of 
Vindex  in  recognizing  the  hand  of  an  old  master  and 
telling  the  author  of  an  untitled  work  ?  'Tis  he  who 
will  show  you  on  what  bronzes  cunning  Myron  spent 
anxious  vigils,  what  marbles  the  chisel  of  untiring 
Praxiteles  has  made  to  live,  what  ivories  the  thumb 
of  the  Pisaean  «  has  smoothed,  what  statues  have 
been  bidden  breathe  in  Polyclitus'  furnaces,  what 
lines  confess  from  afar  the  old  Apelles  ;  for  this, 
whensoe'er  he  puts  his  lyre  from  him,  is  his  leisure, 
this  passion  calls  him  fi'om  Aonian  ■''  dells. 

Amid  these  treasures  was  a  Hercules,  the  deity 
and  guardian  of  his  frugal  board,  with  which  I  fell 
deeply  in  love  ;  nor,  though  long  I  gazed,  were  my 
eyes  sated  with  it  ;  such  dignity  had  the  work,  such 
majesty,  despite  its  narrow  limits.  A  god  was  he, 
ay,  a  god  !  and  he  granted  thee  to  behold  him, 
Lysippus,  small  to  the  eye,  yet  a  giant  to  the  mind  ! 
And   though   his   stature   be   marvellously   confined 

provement  on  the  usual  "  chalk,"  as  a  means  of  marking 
a  "  white  "  day.     Thetis  was  a  sea-goddess. 

^  For  "  genius  "  see  note  on  ii.  7.  132. 

''  Phidias,  famed  for  his  chryselephantine  statue  of  Zeus 
at  Olympia  (Pisa). 

'  i.e.,  of  the  Muses  (=  Boeotian). 

245 


STATIUS 

stet  mensura  pedem,  tamen  exclamare  libebit, 

si  visus  per  membra  feres  :  "  hoc  pectore  pressus    40 

vastator  Nemees,  haec  exitiale  ferebant 

robur  et  Argoos  frangebant  braehia  remos." 

a  !  spatio^  tam  magna  brevi  mendacia  formae  ! 

quis  modus  in  dextra,  quanta  experientia  docti 

artificis  curis,  pariter  gestamina  mensae  45 

fingere  et  ingentes  animo  versare  colossos  ! 

tale  nee  Idaeis  quicquam  Telehines  in  antris 

nee  stolidus  Brontes  nee,  qui  polit  arma  deorum, 

Lemnius  exigua  potuisset  ludere  massa. 

nee  torva  effigies  epulisque  aliena  remissis,  50 

sed  qualem  parci  domus  admirata  Molorclu 

aut  Aleae  lucis  vidit  Tegeaea  sacerdos  ; 

qualis  et  Oetaeis  emissus  in  astra  favillis 

nectar  adhuc  torva  laetus  lunone  bibebat  : 

sic  mitis  vultus,  veluti  de  pectore  gaudens,  55 

hortatur  mensas.     tenet  haec  marcentia  fratris 

pocula,  at  haec  clavae^  meminit  manus  ;  aspera  sedis^ 

sustinet  et  cultum  Nemeaeo  tegmine  saxum. 

Digna  operi  fortuna  sacro.     Pellaeus  habebat 
regnator  laetis  numen  venerabile  mensis  60 

et  comitem  occasus  secum  portabat  et  ortus, 
praestabatque^  libens  modo  qua  diademata  dextra 

^  a  !    spatio  Baelirens  :   ac  spatium  J/,  hoc  Pol.,  an  Dom., 
nee  PhiUimore,  spatio  Dom. 
^  clavae  Markland  :  levae  M. 
'  sedis  3/(=sedes  ace.  to  Vollmer). 
*  praestabatque  M :  prensabatque  Pol. 


"  This  appears  to  be  a  direct  reference  to  the  "  crab  " 
caught  by  Hercules  in  the  Argo  through  the  breaking  of  his 
oar  (see  the  Argonantica  of  \"a]erius  Flaccus,  iii.  476). 

*  "magna"  by  hypaJlage  for  "magnae";  the  same  idea 
246 


SIU^AE,  IV.  VI.  39-62 

within  a  foot's  height,  yet  will  you  be  fain  to  cry,  as 
you  cast  your  eyes  o'er  his  limbs  :  "  This  is  the 
breast  that  crushed  the  ravager  of  Nemea,  these  the 
arms  that  bore  the  deadly  club,  and  broke  the  oars 
of  Argo."  ^  To  think  that  a  tiny  frame  should  hold 
the  illusion  of  so  mighty  ^  a  form  !  What  preciseness 
of  touch,  what  daring  imagination  the  cunning  master 
had,  at  once  to  model  an  ornament  for  the  table 
and  to  conceive  in  his  mind  mighty  colossal  forms  ! 
No  such  work  could  Telchines  in  the  caves  of  Ida,  or 
dull  Brontes  or  the  Lemnian  '^  who  makes  bright  the 
armour  of  the  gods  have  playfully  fashioned  from 
some  small  lump  of  metal.  No  wrathful  likeness  was 
it,  unsuited  to  the  gaiety  of  the  feast,  but  in  such 
mood  as  the  home  of  thrifty  Molorchus  '^  marvelled 
to  behold,  or  the  Tegean  priestess  "  in  Alea's  groves  ; 
or  as  when,  sent  heavenward  from  Oeta's  ashes,  he 
joyfully  drank  the  nectar,  though  Juno  still  frowned  : 
with  even  so  kindly  a  countenance,  as  if  rejoicing 
from  his  heart,  doth  he  cheer  the  banquet.  One 
hand  holds  his  brother's  tipsy  goblet,  but  the  other 
forgets  not  his  club  ;  a  rocky  seat  supports  him,  and 
the  Nemean  lionskin  drapes  the  stone. 

So  divine  a  work  had  a  worthy  fate.  It  was  a 
deity  revered  at  the  merry  banquets  of  the  Pellaean 
monarch,^  and  alike  in  East  and  West  it  bore  him 
company  ;  gladly  did  he  set  it  before  him,  with  that 
same  hand  that  had  given  crowns  and  taken  them 

is  expressed  in  lines  37  and  45,  i.e.  the  artist's  skill  in 
making  a  small  image  convey  the  impression  of  giant  form. 

"  \'ulcan. 

''■  The  cottager  who  entertained  Hercules  when  about  to 
slay  the  lion  of  Nemea. 

'  Auge,  for  whom  see  note  on  iii.  1.  40. 

'  Alexander  the  Great. 

247 


ST  ATI  us 

abstulerat  dederatque  et  magnas  verterat  urbes. 
sempei'  ab  hoc  animos  in  crastina  bella  petebat, 
huic  acies  semper  victor  narrabat  opimas,  65 

sive  catenates  Bromio  detraxerat  Indos 
seu  clusam  magna  Babylona  refregerat  hasta 
seu  Pelopis  terras  libertatemque  Pelasgam 
obruerat  bello  :  magnoque  ex  agmine  laudum 
fertur  Thebanos  tantum  excusasse  triumphos.  70 

ille  etiam,  magnos  Fatis  rumpentibus  actus, 
cum  traheret  letale  merum,  iam  mortis  opaca 
nube  gravis  vultus  alios  in  numine  caro 
aeraque  supremis  timuit  sudantia  mensis. 

Mox  Nasamoniaco  decus  admii'abile  regi  75 

possessum  ;  fortique  dec  libavit  honores 
semper  atrox  dextra  periuroque  ense  superbus 
Hannibal.     Italicae  perfusum  sanguine  gentis 
diraque  Romuleis  portantem  incendia  tectis 
oderat.  et  cum  epulas,  et  cum  Lenaea  dicaret  80 

dona,  deus  castris  maerens  comes  ire  nefandis, 
praecipue  cum  sacrilega  face  miscuit  arces 
ipsius  immeritaeque  domos  ac  templa  Sagunti 
polluit  et  populis  furias  immisit  honestas. 

\ec  post  Sidonii  letum  ducis  aere  potita  85 

egregio  plebeia  domus.     convivia  Syllae^ 
ornabat  semper  claros  intrare  penates 
adsuetum  et  felix  dominorum  stemmate  signum. 

Nunc  quoque,  si  mores  humanaque  pectora  curae 
nosse  deis  ;  non  aula  quidem,  Tirynthie,  nee  te       90 

^  Syllae  Dom,  :  sibillae  M. 

"  Bacchus  also  was  supposed  to  have  conducted  successful 
campaigns  in  India,  see  note  on  iv.  2.  49. 

*"  Alexander    captured    and    destroyed    Thebes,    which 

248 


SILVAE,  IV.  VI.  63-90 

away,  and  had  ruined  mighty  cities.  From  it  he 
sought  courage  for  to-morrow's  battle,  to  it  he 
related,  triumphant,  the  glorious  fight,  whether  he 
had  despoiled  Bromius  of  fettered  Indians,"  or  Mith 
his  strong  spear  had  burst  the  enclosing  walls  of 
Babylon,  or  overwhelmed  in  war  the  lands  of  Pelops 
and  Pelasgian  freedom  ;  and  of  all  that  tale  of 
mighty  deeds  he  is  said  to  have  asked  pardon  only 
for  his  Theban  triumph.''  He  too,  when  the  T'ates 
cut  short  his  prowess,  and  he  drank  the  deadly 
draught,  in  the  very  gloom  and  heaviness  of  death, 
was  afraid  at  the  altered  face  of  his  favourite  deity, 
and  at  the  bronzes  that  dripped  sweat  at  that  last 
banquet. 

Next  its  marvellous  beauty  was  possessed  by  the 
Nasamonian  "^  chief ;  and  Hannibal,  that  ruthless 
warrior,  haughty  and  treacherous  in  fight,  paid 
honoui's  to  the  valiant  god.  Yet  the  god  hated  him, 
drenched  in  Italian  blood  and  threatening  Roman 
homes  with  terrible  flame,  ay,  even  when  he  set 
feasting  and  gifts  of  wine  before  him  ;  in  sorrow  did 
the  god  go  forth  with  that  cursed  troop,  especially 
when  his  own  shrines  were  impiously  fired,  when  the 
homes  and  temples  of  innocent  Saguntum  were  out- 
raged, and  its  people  filled  with  righteous  frenzy. 

And  after  the  death  of  the  Sidonian  leader  'twas 
no  plebeian  house  obtained  the  peerless  bronze. 
Kver  wont  to  enter  famous  houses  and  blest  in  the 
lineage  of  its  lords  it  adorned  the  feasts  of  Sulla. 

NoAv  too,  if  deities  care  to  know  the  hearts  and 
souls  of  men,  no  palace,  no  royal  pomp  surrounds 
thee,  O  Tirynthian,  but  thy  master's  soul  is  pure  and 

revolted  against  him.  Thebes  was  the  birthplace  of 
Hercules. 

*  =  African,  i.e.  Hannibal. 

24y 


STATIUS 

regius  ambit  honos,  sed  casta  ignaraque  culpae 
mens  domini,  cui  prisca  fides  coeptaeque  perenne 
foedus  amicitiae.     scit  adhuc  florente  sub  aevo 
par  magnis  ^^estinus  avis,  quem  nocte  dieque 
spirat  et  in  carae  vivit  complexibus  umbrae.  95 

hie  igitur  tibi  laeta  quies,  fortissime  divum, 
Alcide,  nee  bella  vides  pugnasque  feroces, 
sed  chelyn  et  vittas  et  amantes  carmina  laurus. 
hie  tibi  solemni  memorabit  carmine,  (juantus 
Iliacas  Geticasque  domos  quantusque  nivalem        100 
Stymphalon  quantusque  iugis  Erymanthon  aquosis 
terruei'is,  quem  te  pecoris  possessor  Hiberi, 
quem  tulerit  saevae  Mareoticus  arbiter  arae. 
hie  penetrata  tibi  spoliataque  limina  mortis 
concinet  et  flentes  Libyae  Scythiaeque  puellas.      105 
nee  te  regnator  Macetum  nee  barbarus  umquam 
Hannibal  aut  saevi  posset  vox  horrida  Syllae 
his  celebrare  modis.     certe  tu,  muneris  auctor, 
non  aliis  malles  oculis,  Lysippe,  probari. 


VII.  ODE  LYRICA  AD  VIBIUM  MAXIMUM 

lam  diu  lato  satiata^  campo 
fortis  heroos,  Erato,  labores 
differ  atque  ingens  opus  in  minores 
contrahe  gyros  ; 

^  satiata  5":  sociata  M :  spatiata  5",  PliilUmore,  cf.  Theb. 
ix.  213. 

"  The  exploits  of  Hercules  referred  to  are  Trojan  war, 
horses  of  Diomede,  Stymphalian  birds,  Erymanthian  boar, 
Gerj'on,  Busiris,  Alcestis  and  Cerberus,  Plesperides, 
Amazons. 

'  i.e.,  Macedonians. 

250 


SILVAE,  IV.  VI.  91— VII.  4 

innocent  of  error  ;  old-world  loyalty  is  his,  and  the 
unfailing  bond  of  a  friendship  once  begun.  Vestinus 
knows  it,  Avho  even  in  youth  equalled  his  mighty 
sires,  and  whose  spirit  Vindex  breathes  by  night  and 
day,  and  lives  in  the  embrace  of  that  beloved  shade. 
Here  then  hast  thou  a  welcome  resting-place,  Alcides, 
most  valiant  of  gods,  nor  beholdest  battles  or  savage 
fights,  but  the  lyre  and  chaplets  and  music-loving 
bays.  Here  in  solemn  chant  will  he  recount  to  thee 
in  what  might  thou  didst  terrify  Getic  and  Ilian 
homes  and  snowy  Stymphalus  and  Erymanthus  with 
its  streaming  ridges  ;  how  the  owner  of  the  Iberian 
herd,  how  the  Mareotic  guardian  of  the  cruel  shrine 
endured  thy  power  ;  he  will  sing  of  the  gates  of 
Death  penetrated  and  spoiled  by  thee,  of  the  weeping 
maids  of  Libya  and  of  Scythia."  Neither  the  ruler 
of  the  Macetae  ^  nor  barbarous  Hannibal  nor  the 
uncouth  accents  of  fierce  Sulla  could  e'er  have 
celebrated  thee  in  such  strains.  And  of  a  surety 
thou,  Lysippus,  the  author  of  the  gift,  wouldst  not 
have  chosen  to  be  approved  by  other  eyes  than  these. 


VII.  A  LYRIC  ODE  TO  VIBIUS  MAXIMUS 

A  Sapphic  ode  in  which  the  poet  expresses  his  desire  to 
see  his  friend  again,  and  congratulates  him  on  the  birth  of  a 
son.  Vibiiis  Maximus  was  serving  in  Ikdmatia  ;  at  a  later 
time  he  was  prefect  of  Egypt,  as  we  learn  from  an  inscription 
(C.I.L.  iii.  38).  One  may  also  gather  that  he  had  literary 
tastes. 

Long  time,  bold  Erato,  hast  thou  had  thy  fill  of 
the  spreading  field,  but  now  put  off  thy  heroic  laboui-s 
and  contract  thy  mighty  task  to  narrower  circles  ; 

251 


ST  ATI  us 

tuque,  regnator  lyricae  cohortis,  5 

da  novi  paulum  niihi  iura  plectri, 
si  tuas  cantu  Latio  sacravi, 
Pindare,  Thebas  : 

Maximo  carmen  tenuare  tempto  ; 
nunc  ab  intonsa  capienda  myrto  10 

serta,  nunc  maior  sitis  et  bibendus 
castior  amnis. 

quando  te  dulci  Latio  remittent 
Dalmatae  montes,  ubi  Dite  viso 
pallidus  fossor  redit  erutoque  15 

concolor  auro  ? 

ecce  me  natum  propiore  terra 
non  tamen  portu  retinent  amoeno 
desides  Baiae  liticenve  notus 

Hectoris  armis.^  20 

torpor  est  nostris  sine  te  Camenis, 
tardius  sueto  venit  ipse  Thymbrae 
rector  et  priniis  meus  ecce  metis 
haeret  Achilles. 

quippe  te  fido  monitore  nostra  25 

Thebais  multa  cruciata  lima 
temptat  audaci  fide  Mantuanae 
gaudia  famae. 

sed  damns  lento  veniam,  quod  alma 
prole  fundasti  vacuos  penates.  30 

o  diem  laetum  !     venit  ecce  nobis 
Maximus  alter ! 


252 


SILVAE,  IV.  VII.  5-32 

and  thou,  Pindar,  ruler  of  the  lyric  choir,  grant  me 
awhile  the  privilege  of  unwonted  song,  if  I  have 
hallowed  thy  own  Thebes  in  Latin  strains  :  'tis  for 
Maximus  that  I  attempt  to  refine  my  verse  ;  now 
must  I  take  my  garlands  from  unplucked  myrtle, 
now  a  nobler  thirst  is  mine,  a  purer  stream  must  be 
quaffed.  When  wilt  thou  return  again  to  pleasant 
Latium  from  the  Dalmatian  mountains,  where  the 
miner  returns  all  pale  at  the  sight  of  Dis  and  yellow 
as  the  gold  he  has  unearthed  ?  "■  Lo  !  I,  though 
born  in  nearer  lands,  am  not  held  fast  by  lazy  Baiae's 
lovely  haven,  or  by  the  trumpeter  known  to  Hector's 
battles.''  Without  thee  my  Muse  is  sluggish,  even 
Thymbra's  lord  '^  is  slower  than  of  wont  in  his  coming, 
and  lo  !  my  Achilles  halts  at  the  first  turning-point 
of  his  course  :  while  it  is  with  thee  for  trusty 
counsellor  that  my  Tkebaid,  tortured  by  endless 
polishing,  attempts  with  audacious  string  the  joys  of 
Mantuan  renown.  But  we  pardon  thy  delaying, 
because  thou  hast  established  thy  empty  home  with 
flourishing  offspring.     O  happy  day  !    lo  !    a  second 

"  Statins  here  is  clearly  imitating  Silius  Italicus,  Pun.  i. 
i.  231. 

Astur  avarus 
visceribus  lacerae  telluris  niergitiir  imis 
et  redit  infelix  effosso  concolor  auro. 

For  other  mentions  of  Dalmatian  mines  cf.  i.  2.  153  and 
iii.  3.  90.  "  Dis  "  :  i.e.  he  has  descended  so  far  into  the 
earth  (Dis=  Pluto). 

''  Misenus.  «  Apollo,  god  of  inspiration. 

^  liticenve  .  .   .  armis   ed.   Parmensis  :    laticemve   motus 
Hectoris  amnis  M, 

253 


STATIUS 

orbitas  omni  fugienda  nisu, 
quam  preniit  votis  inimicus  heres, 
optimo  poscens — pudet  heu  ! — propinquum        35 
funus  amico.^ 

orbitas  nullo  tumulata  fletu  : 
stat  domo  capta  cupidus  superstes 
imminens  leti  spoliis  et  ipsum 

computat  ignem.  40 

duret  in  longuni  generosus  infans, 

perque  non  miiltis  iter  expeditum 

crescat  in  mores  patrios  avumqiie 

provocet  actis  ! 

tu  tuos  parvo  meniorabis  enses,  45 

quos  ad  Eoum  tuleris^  Orontem 
signa  frenatae  moderatus  alae 
Castore  dextro  ; 

ille  ut  invicti  rapiduni  secutus 
Caesaris  fulmen  refugis  aniaram  50 

Sarmatis  legem  dederit,  sub  uno 
vivere  caelo. 

sed  tuas  artes  puer  ante  discat, 
omne  quis  mundi  senium  remensus 
orsa  Sallusti  brevis  et  Timavi  55 

reddis  alumnum. 

^  propinquum  funus  amico  5"  and  edd.  :  propinquo  .  .  . 
amici  M :  propinquo  .  .  .  amice  Krohn,  Klotz. 
*  tuleris  Avantius  :  tuleras  M. 


251 


SILVAE,  IV.  VII.  33  56 

Maximus  conies  to  us  !  Childlessness "  must  be 
shunned  by  every  effort  ;  the  heir  with  hostile  vow^s 
presses  liard  upon  it,  asking — ah  !  for  shame  ! — that 
his  best  friend  soon  may  die.  Childlessness  wins 
no  tears  at  the  grave  ;  in  the  captured  house  stands 
the  greedy  survivor,  eager  for  the  spoils  of  death, 
and  counts  the  cost  of  the  vei-y  pyre.  Long  live  the 
high-born  babe,  and,  by  a  path  that  few  may  tread, 
may  he  grow  into  his  father's  virtues,  and  rival  his 
grandsire  by  his  deeds  !  Thou  shalt  tell  thy  child  how 
thou  didst  lead  thy  swordsmen  to  Eastern  Orontes, 
commanding  'neath  Castor's  favour  ^  the  banners  of 
thy  well-curbed  squadrons.  He  shall  relate  how  he 
followed  the  swift-flashing  brand  of  invincible  Caesar, 
and  imposed  a  hard  law  on  the  fugitive  Sarmatians," 
to  live  under  one  sky.<^  But  first  let  the  lad  learn 
thy  skill,  whereby  retracing  all  the  old  age  of  the 
world  thou  dost  render  again  the  woi'k  of  brief 
Sallust  *  and  the  foster-son  of  Timavus. 

"  The  poet  himself  was  chiklless,  but  adopted  a  slave 
boy  ;  the  death  of  this  boy  was  deeplv  felt  by  him  (see 
V.  3). 

*  As  a  cavalry  leader  he  would  be  under  the  protection  of 
Castor  and  Pollux,  patrons  of  the  Roman  knights. 

*  Domitian's  campaign  against  the  Sarmatians,  92-93. 
■*  i.e.,  to  cease  to  be  nomads. 

*  Apparently  a  sort  of  handbook  of  world-history,  with 
an  epitome  of  Sallust  and  Livy. 


255 


STATIUS 


VIII.  GRATULATIO  AD  lULIUM 
MENECRATEN 

Pande  fores  superum  vittataque  templa  Sabaeis 
nubibus  et  pecudum  fibris  spirantibus  imple, 
Parthenope  ;  clari  genus  ecce  Meneeratis  auget 
tertia  iani  soboles.     proceruni  tibi  nobile  vulgus 
crescit  et  insani  solatur  damna  Vesaevi.  5 

nee  solum  festas  secreta  Neapolis  aras 
ambiat  :  et  socii  portus  dilectaque  miti 
terra  Dicarcheo  nee  non  plaga  cara  madenti 
Surrentina  deo  sertis  altaria  cingat, 
materni  qua  litus  avi,  quern  turba  nepotum  10 

circuit  et  similes  contendit  reddere  vultus. 
gaudeat  et  Libyca  praesignis  avunculus  hasta, 
quaeque  sibi  genitos  putat  attollitque  benigno 
Polla  sinu.     macte,  o  iuvenis,  qui  tanta  merenti 
lumina  das  patriae,     dulci  tremit  ecce  tumultu        15 
tot  dominis  clamata  domus.     procul  atra  recedat 
Invidia  atque  alio  liventia  pectora  flectat  : 
his  senium  longaeque  decus  virtutis  et  alba 
Atropos  et  patrius  laurus  promisit  Apollo, 
ergo  quod  Ausoniae  pater  augustissimus  urbis  20 

ius  tibi  tergeminae  dederat  laetabile  prolis, 
omen  erat.     venit  totiens  Lucina  piumque 

"  The  eruption  of  Vesuvius  took  place  in  79  a.d. 

*■  l.fi.,  probably  in  some  campaign  against  African  tribes. 

"  The  "  ius  tritim  liberorum,'  on  this  occasion  as  on  others 
(see  Mart.  iii.  95  ;  Plin.  Ep.  x.  2)  awarded  purely  as  a  com- 
pliment. 

256 


SILVAE,  IV.  viii.  1-22 


Vm    A  POEM  OF  CONGRATULATION  TO 
JULIUS  MENECRATES 

This,  like  the  last  piece,  is  a  GenetJiliacon,  or  birthday 
foein  ;  Statins  congratulates  his  friend  on  the  birth  of  his 
third  child.     Menecrates  was  the  son-in-laio  of  Pollius  Felix. 

Hing  wide  the  thresholds  of  the  gods,  Parthenope, 
and  fill  the  chaplet-hung  shrines  with  clouds  of 
Sheba's  incense  and  tlie  breathing  entrails  of  victims! 
lo  !  by  yet  a  third  offspring  is  the  house  of  illustrious 
Menecrates  increased.  Thy  noble  host  of  princes 
grows  and  atones  the  loss  that  mad  Vesuvius'^  caused 
thee.  Nor  let  Naples  in  lonely  isolation  throng  her 
festal  altars  ;  let  her  fellow-haven  and  the  land  that 
gentle  Dicarcheus  loved  and  the  Surrentine  tract  dear 
to  the  tipsy  god  enwreathe  their  shrines  with  gar- 
lands,— that  shore  M'here  dwells  the  babe's  maternal 
grandsire,  with  his  crowd  of  grandchildren  around 
him,  rivalling  each  other  in  their  likeness  to  him. 
Let  the  uncle  too,  famed  for  his  Libyan  spear,'' 
rejoice,  and  Polla,  who  counts  them  her  own  sons  as 
she  raises  them  to  her  loving  bosom.  A  blessing  on 
thee,  O  youth,  who  givest  in  due  reward  to  thy 
country  such  bright  progeny.  Lo  !  the  house  rocks 
with  delightful  tumult,  ringing  with  the  cries  of  so 
many  masters.  Avaunt,  black  Envy,  turn  elsewhere 
thy  livid  breasts  !  To  tliese  hath  white-robed 
Atropos  promised  old  age  and  the  glory  of  enduring 
wortli,  and  their  native  Apollo  vouclisafed  the  bays 
of  poesy.  Therefore  was  it  an  omen  that  the  most 
august  sire  of  the  Ausonian  City  had  given  thee  the 
glad  privilege  of  triple  offspring.^  Thrice  has  Lucina 
come,  and  again  and  yet  again  visited  thy  dutiful 
VOL.  I  s  257 


ST  ATI  us 

iiitravit  repetita  larem.     sic  fertilis,  oro, 

stet  domus  et  donis  numquam  mutata  sacratis. 

macte,  quod  et  proles  tibi  saepius  aucta  virili  25 

robore,  sed  iuveni  laetanda  et^  virgo  parent! 

— aptior  his  virtus,  citius  dabit  ilia  nepotes — , 

qualis  materms  Helene  iam  digna  palaestris 

inter  Amyclaeos  reptabat  Candida  fratres  ; 

vel  qualis  caeli  facies,  ubi  nocte  serena  30 

admovere  iubar  mediae  duo  sidera  lunae. 

Sed  queror  haud  faciles,  iuvenum  rarissime,  questus 
irascorque  etiam,  quantum  irascuntur  amantes. 
tantane  me  decuit  vulgari  gaudia  fama 
noscere  ?     cumque  tibi  vagiret  tertius  infans,  35 

protinus  ingenti  non  venit  nuntia  cursu 
littera,  quae  festos  cumulare  altaribus  ignes 
et  redimire  chelyn  postesque  ornare  iuberet 
Albanoque  cadum  sordentem  promere  fumo 
et  cantu  signare  diem,  sed  tardus  inersque  40 

nunc  demum  mea  vota  cano  ?     tua  culpa  tuusque 
hie  pudor,     ulterius  sed  enim  producere  questus 
non  licet  ;  en  hilaris  circumstat  turba  tuorum 
defensatque  patrem.     quem  non  hoc  agmine  vincas  ? 

Di  patrii,  quos  auguriis  super  aequora  magnis      -45 
litus  ad  Ausonium  devexit  Abantia  classis, 
tu,  ductor  populi  longe  migrantis,  Apollo, 
cuius  adhuc  volucrem  laeva  cervice  sedentem 
respiciens  blande  felix  Eumelis  adorat, 

1  laetanda  et  Vollmer  :  letam  dat  M,  laetandast  Baehrens. 

"  i.e.,  for  the  wrestling-bouts  in  Sparta,  the  home  of  I.eda, 
in  which  the  Spartan  girls  took  part  Statins  probably  has 
Propertius  iii.  It  in  mind. 

*  According  to  Homer  the  Aljantes  inhabited  Euboea. 

"  i.e.,  Parthenope,  daughter  of  Eumelus  (who  was  perhaps 
the  warrior  at  Troy  so-called,  the  son  of  Admetus) ;  she  was 

258 


SILVAE,  IV.  VIII.  23-49 

home.  Long  live  that  house,  I  pray,  in  fruitfuhiess 
and  never  robbed  of  its  hallowed  gifts  !  A  blessing 
on  thee  also,  that  thy  issue  was  increased  naore  often 
by  the  strength  of  males,  yet  the  girl  too  must  needs 
delight  her  youthful  father — for  them  is  prowess 
more  fitting,  while  she  will  the  sooner  bear  him 
grandsons  ; — so  fair  a  child  was  Helen,  as  she  walked 
between  her  Amyclaean  brethren,  yet  ripe  already 
for  her  mother's  wrestling-bouts  ;  **  so  fair  is  the  face 
of  heaven,  when  on  a  tranquil  night  two  radiant  stars 
draw  near  to  the  moon  that  shines  between  them. 

But  I  have  a  complaint,  O  rarest  of  youths,  and  no 
gentle  one,  ay,  angry  am  I  even,  so  far  as  love  admits 
of  anger.  Was  it  right  that  common  report  should 
tell  me  of  such  joys  ?  and  when  thy  tliird  infant  was 
wailing,  did  no  letter  straightway  haste  full  speed  to 
bid  me  heap  the  altar  with  festal  flames  and  entwine 
my  lyre  and  wreathe  my  portals,  and  bring  out  a 
cask  sooted  with  Alban  smoke  and  mark  the  day 
with  song,  but  only  now,  a  tardy  laggard,  do  I 
celebrate  my  vows  ?  Thine  is  the  fault,  thine  is  the 
shame  of  it  !  But  I  cannot  further  prolong  my 
plaint  ;  lo  !  in  a  merry  crowd  thy  children  surround 
thee,  and  defend  their  sire.  Whom  wouldst  thou 
not  conquer  with  such  a  troop  ? 

Gods  of  our  land,  whom  with  mighty  omens  the 
Abantian  ^  fleet  conveyed  o'er  the  sea  to  the  Ausonian 
shore,  and  thou,  Apollo,  guide  of  thy  far-wandering 
folk,  whose  bird  seated  on  thy  left  shoulder  prosperous 
Eumelis  "  lovingly  beholds  and  worships,  and  thou, 

guided  to  Italy  by  a  dove  sent  by  Apollo,  cf.  iii.  5.  80.  The 
reference  is  to  the  founding  of  Cumae  by  emigrants  from 
Chalcis  in  Euboea,  who  probably  brought  with  them  the 
deities  mentioned  here,  Apollo,  Ceres,  Castor  and  Pollux. 

259 


ST  ATI  us 

tuque,  Actaea^  Ceres,  cursu  cui  semper  anhelo         50 
votivam  taciti  quassamus  lampada  mystae, 
et  vos,  Tyndaridae,  quos  non  horrenda  Lycurgi 
Taygeta  umbrosaeque  magis  coluere  Therapnae  : 
hos  cum  plebe  sua,  patrii,^  servate  penates. 
sint,  qui  fessam  aevo  crebrisque  laboribus  urbem     55 
voce  opibusque  iuvent  viridique  in  nomine  servent, 
his  placidos  genitor  mores  largumque  nitorem 
monstret  avus,  pulchrae  studium  virtutis  uterque. 
quippe  et  opes  et  origo  sinunt  hanc^  lampade  prima 
patricias  intrare  fores,  hos  pube  sub  ipsa,  60 

si  modo  prona  bonis  invicti  Caesaris  adsint 
numina,  Romulei  Hmen  pulsare  senatus. 


IX.  HENDECASYLLABI  lOCOSI  AD 
PLOTIUM  GRYPUM 

Est  sane  iocus  iste,  quod  hbellum 
misisti  mihi,  Grype,  pro  hbello. 
urbanum  tamen  hoc  potest  videri, 
si  post  hoc  aHquid  mihi  remittas  ; 
nam  si  ludere,  Grype,  perseveras,  5 

non  ludis.     hcet,  ecce,  computemus  ! 
noster  purpureus  novusque  charta 
et  binis  decoratus  umbiUcis, 

^  Actaea  Pol.  :  acea  M. 

^  patrli  M :  patriae  Gronovius. 

^  hanc  Gevart  :  hac  M. 

"  There  was  a  worship  of  Demeter  at  Naples,  and  mysteries 
no  doubt  like  those  of  Eleusis. 

''  One  at  each  end  of  the  stick  on  which  the  paper  was 
rolled. 
260 


SILVAE,  IV.  VIII.  50— IX.  8 

Attic  Ceres,  for  wliom  in  brctatliless  dance  we  thy 
mute  votaries  cease  not  to  Avave  the  mystic  torch,'' 
and  you,  ye  Tyndarids,  to  whom  not  grim  Taygetus, 
Lycurgus'  mount,  nor  shady  Therapnae  gives  truer 
worsliip  :  gods  of  our  country,  preserve  this  home 
with  all  its  souls  !  May  there  be  those  who  by 
speech  or  wealth  shall  succour  their  city  that  age 
and  many  toils  have  wearied,  and  keep  her  as  green 
and  youthful  as  her  name  !  From  their  father  may 
they  learn  gentle  ways,  and  from  their  grandsire 
splendour  that  yet  is  bountiful,  and  from  both  the 
desire  of  glorious  virtue.  Assuredly  their  riches  and 
their  birth  suffer  the  maid  to  enter  patrician  doors 
with  the  first  marriage-torches,  and  the  sons,  so  soon 
as  manhood  comes — if  only  the  godhead  of  invincible 
Caesar  favour  the  deserving — to  tread  the  threshold 
of  the  Senate-house  of  Romulus. 


IX.  LINES  WRITTEN  IN  JEST  TO 
PLOTIUS  GRYPUS 

Tlie  nuhjerf  svggests  CatuUvs,  xiv.  12.  Stathis  rfhulves 
Plotixs  Ori/pus/or  giving  him  an  unwortliy  present  in  return 
for  a  fne  one.  Tlie  hendecasgJlahle  v<is  a  favourite  metre 
for  comic  or  gibing  verse. 

Yours  was  indeed  a  jest,  Grypus,  to  send  me  a 
book  in  return  for  a  book  !  And  yet  even  that  may 
seem  graceful,  if  after  it  you  send  me  something 
worth  having  ;  for  if,  Grypus,  you  keep  on  with 
such  jests,  they  are  jests  no  longer.  Look,  we  can 
reckon  the  account.  Mine,  painted  purple,  its  paper 
new,  adorned  with  two  knobs,*  cost  me,  besides  my 

261 


STATIUS 

praeter  me  mihi  constitit  decussis'^  : 

tu  rosum  tineis  situque  putrem,  10 

quales  aut  Libycis  madent  olivis 

aut  tus  Niliacum  piperve  servant 

aut  Byzantiacos  colunt^  lacertos, 

nee  saltern  tua  dicta  continentem, 

quae  trino  iuvenis  foro  tonabas,  15 

aut  centum  prope  iudices,  priusquam 

te  Germanicus  arbitrum  sequenti 

annonae  dedit  oniniumque  late 

praefecit  stationibus  viarum, 

sed  Bruti  senis  oscitationes  20 

de  capsa  niiseri  libellionis 

emptum  plus  minus  asse  Galano, 

donas,     usque  adeone  defuerunt 

caesis  pillea  suta  de  lacernis 

vel  mantelia  luridaeve  mappae,  25 

chartae,  Thebaicaeve  Caricaeve  ? 

nusquam  turbine  conditus  ruenti 

prunorum  globus  atque  cottanorum  ? 

non  enlychnia  sicca,  non  replictae 

bulborum  tunicae  ?     nee  ova  tantum  3t) 

^  decussus  M :  decussi  Turnebus. 
^  colunt  3/ :  olent  Heinslus. 


"  Roman,  Julian,  and  Augustan.  Courts  of  law  were 
often  situated  in  the  buildings  of  the  "fora." 

*  See  iv.  4.  43  n.  It  usually  sat  in  the  Basilica  Julia,  in 
the  Forum  Romanum. 

"  It  is  a  question  whether  these  are  two  posts  or  one  : 
if  the  former,  they  would  be  the  prefectship  of  the  corn- 
supply,  and  supervision  of  the  relay-stations  on  the  great 
highways  ;  if  the  latter,  it  has  been  suggested  that  the  post 
was  one  of  organizing  supplies  for  Domitian's  last  Dacian 
campaign,  or,  as  Hirschfeld  thinks,  of  commissariat  officer 

2fi2 


SILVAE,  IV.  IX.  9-30 

own  trouble,  well,  certainly  a  ten-as  piece  !  Yours, 
moth-eaten  and  mouldering,  like  those  that  are 
soaked  by  Libyan  olives,  or  wrap  up  incense  or 
pepper  from  the  Nile,  or  cultivate  the  Byzantine 
tuimy  ;  not  containing  even  your  own  youthful 
speeches  that  you  thundered  at  the  three  Courts  ^ 
or  the  Hundred  Judges,^  before  Germanicus  placed 
the  obedient  corn-supply  under  your  control,  or  put 
you  in  chai-ge  of  the  posts  on  all  the  roads,^  but  the 
mumblings  of  ancient  Brutus  <*  out  of  a  wretched 
book-peddler's  case,  that  cost  you,  roughly  shall  we 
say,  an  as  of  Gains  *" — that  was  your  present  !  Were 
there  then  no  more  felt  caps  stitched  together  from 
rags  of  tunics,  no  towels  or  faded  napkins  ?  no  writing- 
paper,  or  Theban  dates,  or  Carian  figs  ?  nowhere  a 
bunch  of  plums  or  Syrian  figs  packed  in  a  collapsible 
case  /  ?    no  dry  wicks  or  cast-off  jackets  of  onions  ? 

for  Doniitian  when  on  the  march  ("  sequent!  "  might  support 
this). 

''■  The  friend  of  Cicero  and  murderer  of  Caesar,  "senis," 
because  he  dates  so  long  back. 

«  The  Emperor  Gains  had  debased  tlie  coinage. 

f  Apparently  a  cone-shaped  case  ("turbo"  is  commonly 
used  of  objects  so  shaped,  e.f/.  a  top) ;  "ruenti "  suggests  that 
the  contents  could  easily  be  upset  into  the  purchaser's  bag ; 
at  any  rate  it  would  be  a  purely  temporary  receptacle,  which 
is  the  point  here ;  a  paper  bag,  or  paper  screw  would  be  the 
modern  equivalent.  Vollmer  compares  Mart.  xiii.  i?5  (of  a 
packet  of  pine-cones),  "  poma  sumus  Cybeles  :  procul  hinc 
discede  viator,  ne  cadat  in  miserum  nostra  ruina  caput." 
The  "torta  meta  "  in  which  "cottana"  were  packed,  Mart, 
xiii.  28,  may  also  be  compared.  "Cottana"  were  smaller 
than  ordinary  figs;  as  Mart,  says,  "si  maiora  forent 
cottana,  ficiis  erat."  The  reader  may  also  be  referred  to 
Martial's  ISth  book,  in  which  a  large  number  of  Xenia,  or 
presents  for  the  Saturnalia,  are  described,  each  in  a  couplet ; 
e.ff.  incense  (4),  figs  (23),  cheeses  (30-3.S),  sausage  (35),  etc. 

26S 


ST  ATI  us 

nee  lenes^  haliccae  nee  asperum  far  ? 

nusquam  Cinypliiis  vagata  campis 

eurvaruni  donius  uda  eoelearuni  ? 

non  lardura  grave  debilisve  perna  ? 

non  lucanica,  non  graves  falisci,  35 

non  sal  oxyporumve  caseusve, 

aut  panes  viridantis  aphronitri 

vel  passum  psithiis  suis  recoctum, 

dulci  defruta  vel  lutosa  caeno  ? 

quantum  nee  dare  cereos  olentes,  40 

cultelluni^  tenuesve  codicillos  ? 

ollares,  rogo,  non  licebat  uvas, 

Cumano  patinas  in  orbe  tortas 

aut  unam  dare  synthesin — quid  horres  ? — 

alborum  calicuni  atque  caccaborum  ?  45 

sed  certa  velut  aequus  in  statera, 

nil  mutas,  sed  idem  mihi  rependis. 

quid  si,  cum  bene  mane  semicrudus 

inlatam^  tibi  dixero  salutem, 

et  tu  me  vicibus  domi  salutes  ?  50 

aut,  cum  me  dape  iuveris  opima, 

exspectes  similes  et  ipse  cenas  ? 

irascor  tibi,  Grype.     sed  valebis  ; 

tantum  ne  mihi,  quo  soles  lepore, 

et  nunc  hendecasyllabos  remittas.  55 

^  lenes  He  ins  i  us  :  leves  M. 

^  cultelluin  r  :  cutellum  M:  scutellum  Slater. 

*  inlatam  31 :  inlotam  Scriverius. 


264. 


SILVAE,  IV.  IX.  31-55 

no  eggs  even,  oi*  fine  flour,  or  coarse  spelt  ?  not  tlie 
slimy  shell  of  a  curving  snail  that  had  strayed  far  on 
the  Cinyphian  plains  ? "-  no  rancid  fat  or  gristly 
ham  ?  no  sausage,  no  tougli  haggis  ?  no  salt,  no 
pickle,  no  cheese  ?  or  cakes  of  green  saltpetre  ?  or 
raisin-wine  boiled  grapes  and  all  ?  or  must  made 
muddy  by  sweet  lees  ?  How  unkind,  not  to  give  me 
smelly  candles,  or  a  knife,  or  a  tiny  notebook  ! 
Pray,  could  you  not  have  sent  some  tinned  grapes,  or 
some  plates  turned  on  the  wheel  at  Cumae  ?  *  or 
even  one  set  '^ — why  do  you  start  ? — of  white  cups 
and  pots  ?  No,  like  a  fair  dealer  with  a  correct  scale, 
you  dock  nothing,  but  give  me  exactly  equal  weight. 
But  look  !  I  get  up  betimes,  feeling  rather  queasy, 
and  bring  you  my  morning  greeting  :  are  you  to 
return  it  at  my  house  ?  you  have  regaled  me  with  a 
luxurious  feast  :  do  you  expect  a  similar  repast  your- 
self? I  am  angry  with  you,  Grypus  !  However, 
farewell  !  only  do  not  with  your  usual  wit  send  me 
back  gibing  verses  by  return  of  post  ! 

"  i.f.,  African  snails,  which  were  often  shell-less. 

*  The  cheapest  kind  of  pottery  was  tliat  of  Cumae. 

"  The  point  of  this  is  that  "synthesis"  can  also  mean  a 
set  of  wearing-apparel,  usually  of  a  costlj'  kind,  as  in  Mart, 
ii.  46.  4. 


265 


LIBER  V 

Statius  Abascanto  suo  Salutem 

Omnibus  affectibus  pi'osequenda  sunt  bona  exera- 
pla,  cum  publice  prosint.  Pietas,  quam  Priscillae 
tuae  praestas,  et  morum  tuoruni  pars  et  nulli  non 
conciliare  te,  praecipue  marito,  potest.  Uxorem 
enim  vivam  amare  voluptas  est,  defunctam  religio. 
Ego  tamen  huic  operi  non  ut  unus  e  turba  nee  tantum 
quasi  officiosus  adsilui.  Amavit  enim  uxorem  meam 
Priscilla  et  amando  fecit  mihi  illam  probatiorem  ; 
post  hoc  ingratus  sum,  si  lacrimas  tuas  transeo. 
Praeterea  latus  omne  divinae  domus  semper  demereri 
pro  mea  mediocritate  conitor.  Nam  qui  bona  fide 
deos  colit,  amat  et  sacerdotes.  Sed  quam  vis  pro- 
piorem  usum^  amicitiae  tuae  iampridem  cuperem, 
mallem  tamen  nondum  invenisse  materiam. 

^  usum  Pol.  :  visum  M. 

"  "  latus  "  here  means  those  who  are  "  a  latere  principis," 
see  note  on  iii.  3.  65,  and  cf.  v.  1.  187,  and  for  different  uses 
V.  1.  80,  iii.  3.  120. 

*  The  reference  is,  of  course,  to  the  Imperial  House. 

"  He  seems  to  mean  that  the  death  of  Priscilla  had  drawn 
Abascantus  and  himself  closer  together.    Vollmer,  however. 


266 


BOOK  V 

Statius  to  his  Friend  Abascantus  :  Greeting  ! 

Good  examples  should  be  whole-lieartedly  honoured, 
since  they  are  publicly  beneficial.  The  devotion 
which  you  show  to  your  Priscilla  is  a  true  part  of 
your  character,  and  must  needs  win  you  the  affection 
of  all,  especially  of  a  husband.  For  to  love  a  wife  is 
a  joy,  while  she  is  alive,  and  a  religion,  when  she  is 
departed.  It  was  not,  however,  as  a  mere  stranger 
that  I  undertook  this  task,  nor  only  with  the  readiness 
of  one  bound  by  ties  of  duty.  For  Priscilla  loved  my 
wife,  and  by  that  love  made  her  more  worthy  in  my 
eyes  ;  after  that  it  were  ingratitude  in  me  to  take 
no  notice  of  your  grief.  Further,  I  always  strive, 
insignificant  as  I  am,  to  deserve  well  of  all  adherents 
of  the  Sacred  Palace."  For  he  who  in  good  fiiith 
worships  the  gods,  loves  their  priests  also.**  But 
although  I  had  long  desired  a  more  intimate  experi- 
ence of  your  friendship,"  yet  I  would  rather  the 
occasion  had  not  come  so  soon. 

understands  by  the  phrase,  "a  more  intimate  use  of  j'our 
friendship,"  an  opportunity  of  dedicating  a  poem  to  one  in 
so  high  a  position. 


267 


STATIUS 
I.  EPICEDION  IN  PRISCILLAM 

Si  raanus  aut  .similes  docilis  luilii  fingere  ceras 
aut  ebur  impressis  aurumve  auiinare  figuris, 
hinc,  Priscilla,  tuo  solacia  grata  marito 
conciperem.     namque  egregia  pietate  meretur, 
ut  vel  Apelleo  vultus  signata  colore,  5 

Phidiaca  vel  nata  manu  reddare  dolenti. 
sic  auferre  regis  umbrani  conatur  et  ingens 
certamen  cum  Morte  gerit  curasque  fatigat 
artificum  inque  omni  te  quaerit  amare  metallo. 
sed  mortalis  honos,  agilis  quern  dextra  laborat.        10 
nos  tibi.  laudati  iuvenis  rarissima  coniunx, 
longa  nee  obscurum  finem  latura  perenni 
temptamus  dare  iusta  lyra,  modo  dexter  Apollo 
quique  venit  iuncto  mihi  semper  Apolline  Caesar 
annuat :  baud  alio  melius  condere  sepulcro.  15 

Sera  quidem  tanto  struitur  medicina  dolori, 
altera  cum  volucris  Phoebi  rota  torqueat  annum  ; 
sed  cum  plaga  recens  et  adhuc  in  vulnere  prime 
nigra^  domus,  miseram  quis  tunc^  accessus  ad  aurem 
coniugis  orbati  ?     tunc  flere  et  scindere  vestes         20 
et  famulos  lassare  greges  et  vincere  planctus 
Fataque  et  iniustos  rabidis  pulsare  querelis 
caelicolas  solamen  erat.     licet  ipse  levandos 

^  ni^ra  3/  :   aegra  Heinsius. 

^  miseram  quis  tunc  P/illlimore  :  quaestu  miseramque 
M :  questu  miseram  qui  MacnagJiten  :  quis  tum  miserandam 
Adrian. 

"  The  allusion  is  to  the  struggle  of  Hercules  with  Death 
for  Alcestis  :  here  the  husband  strives  to  rescue  his  wife  from 
death  by  making  a  living  image  of  lier.  Priscilla's  body 
was  not  burnt,  but  embalmed,  and  placed  in  a  shrine,  such 
as  Cicero  wished  to  build  for  his  daughter  Tullia  (Ad  Att. 
xii.  19).  Poppaea,  too,  was  embalmed  (Tac.  Arai.  xvi.  6). 
268 


SILVAE,  V.  I.  1-23 

I.  A  POEM  OF  CONSOLATION  ON  THE 
DEATH  OF  PRISCILLA 

Prise  ilia  was  tJie  wife  of  Abascantus,  who  Iield  the  im- 
portant post  of  Secretary  of  State  to  Domitian.  This 
epicedion  follows  the  usual  lilies  of  such  poems,  see  Introd.  to 
ii.  1. 

Had  I  but  skill  of  hand  to  mould  likenesses  in 
wax  or  to  leave  a  living  impress  upon  gold  or  ivory, 
thence  would  I  imagine,  Pi-iscilla,  a  grateful  solace 
for  thy  husband.  For  his  conspicuous  devotion 
merits  that  thou  thyself,  whether  painted  by  Apelles' 
brush  or  given  life  by  Phidian  ai't,  shouldst  be  brought 
back  to  calm  his  grief ;  so  valiantly  strives  he  to 
rescue  tliy  ghost  from  the  pyre,  and  wages  a  mighty 
struggle  with  Death,**  and  exhausts  the  cunning  of 
the  craftsmen,  and  in  every  metal  would  fain  show 
his  love  of  thee.  But  mortal  is  the  honour  that  toil 
of  clever  hands  can  pay  :  'tis  the  poet's  endeavour  to 
bring  thee,  peerless  consort  of  a  youth  renowned,  a 
tribute  that  will  endure  nor  suffer  oblivion  at  the 
last,  the  due  offering  of  eternal  song,  if  only  Apollo 
be  propitious,  and  Caesar,  who  ever  in  Apollo's 
company  aids  me,  gives  assent  ;  no  other  nobler 
sepulchre  wilt  thou  find. 

Late  indeed  is  the  balm  composed  for  so  great  a 
sorrow,  when  yet  once  more  the  wheels  of  Phoebus 
are  bringing  round  the  year  ;  but  when  the  stroke 
is  recent  and  the  house  still  sable-clad  in  the  first 
shock  of  woe,  what  access  then  to  the  poor  husband 
in  his  loss  ?  Then  were  it  solace  enough  to  weep 
and  tear  the  raiment,  to  fatigue  troops  of  slaves  and 
outdo  their  lamentations,  to  assail  the  Fates  and  an 
unjust  heaven  with  wild  and  frenzied  cries.     Though 

269 


STATUS 

ad  geniitus  sihis  comitatus  et  amiiibus  Orpheus 
adforet  atque  oninis  pariter  matertera  vatem,  25 

omnis  Apollineus  tegeret  Bacchique  sacerdos  : 
nil  cantus,  nil  fila  deis  pallentis  Averni 
Eumenidumque  audita  comis  niulcere  valerent  : 
tantus  in  attonito  regnabat  pectore  luctus  ! 
nunc  etiam  ad  planctus  i-efugit  iam  plana  cicatrix,  30 
dum  canimus,  gravibusque  oculis  uxorius  instat 
imber.     habentne  pios  etiamnum  haec  lumina  fletus  ? 
mira  fides  !     citius  genetrix  Sipyleia  fertur^ 
exhausisse  genas,  citius  Tithonida  maesti 
deficient  rores  aut  exsatiata  fatiscet  35 

mater  Achilleis  hiemes  adfrangere  bustis. 
macte  animi  !     notat  ista  deus,  qui  flectit  habenas 
orbis  et  humanos  propior  love  digerit  actus, 
maerentemque  videt  ;  lectique  arcana  ministri ! 
hinc  etiam  documenta  capit,  quod  diligis  umbram  40 
et  colis  exsequias.     hie  est  castissimus  ardor, 
hie  amor  a  domino  meritus  censore  probari. 
Nee  mirum,  si  vos  collato  pectore  mixtos 
iunxit  inabrupta  Concordia  longa  catena, 
ilia  quidem  nuptumque  pi-ior  taedasque  marito        45 
passa  alio,  sed  te  ceu  virginitate  iugatum 
visceribus  totis  animaque  amplexa  fovebat  ; 
qualiter  aequaevo  sociatam  palmite  vitem 
ulmus  amat  miscetque  nemus  ditemque  precatur 
autumnum  et  caris  gaudet  redimita  racemis.  50 

^  Sipj^leia  fertur  £"  :    si  pelea  fertur  M:  Sipylea  feretiir 
Heinsius. 

"  Xiobe,  Aurora  (for  her  son  Memnon)  and  Thetis. 

*"  The  reference  no  doubt  is  to  Domitian's  activities  as 
Censor  Morum. 
270 


silvap:,  v.  I.  24-50 

Orpheus  himself  with  woods  and  streams  for  com- 
pany came  to  assuage  thy  groans,  though  all  his 
motlier's  sisters  and  every  priest  of  Bacchus  and 
Apollo  sustained  the  minstrel,  yet  nought  would 
avail  to  give  relief,  not  music,  not  those  strings 
whereto  the  gods  of  pale  Avernus  and  the  Furies' 
locks  paid  heed  :  such  anguish  held  sway  in  his  dis- 
tracted heart.  Even  now  does  the  scar  though 
smooth  yet  wince  at  my  lament,  and  the  rain  of  a 
husband's  love  forces  itself  into  those  burdened  eyes. 
E'en  yet  do  those  orbs  hold  pious  drops  ?  O  marvellous 
truth  !  Sooner,  as  they  say,  does  the  Sipylean  dame 
drain  dry  her  tears,  or  the  dews  of  sorrow  fail 
Tithonia,  or  Achilles'  mother  grow  weary  and  sated 
of  breaking  her  wild  waves  against  his  tomb."  Bless 
thy  passionate  soul  !  the  god  who  holds  the  reins  of 
earth,  he  who  nearer  than  Jove  directs  the  doings  of 
mankind — lie  marks  thee  and  beholds  thy  grief ; 
and  hence  also  doth  he  take  secret  knowledge  of  his 
chosen  minister,  because  thou  lovest  her  shade  and 
honourest  her  in  death.  Here  is  a  zeal  that  is  pure 
indeed,  a  passion  that  merits  the  praise  of  thy  keen- 
searching  lord.** 

Yet  'tis  no  wonder,  if  long-enduring  Harmony 
bound  you  by  an  unbroken  chain  in  the  close  union 
of  Jieart  with  heart.  She  indeed  had  known  a 
former  husband  and  the  torches  of  earlier  wedlock, 
yet  did  she  embrace  and  cherish  thee  with  all  her 
soul  and  inmost  being,  as  though  she  were  a  virgin 
bride  ;  even  so  does  the  elm  love  the  clinging  tendrils 
of  the  coeval  vine,  and  mingles  with  its  foliage  and 
prays  tliat  autumn  may  bring  it  richness  and  rejoices 
in  its  dear  entwining  clusters.     Women  who  lack  the 

271 


ST  ATI  us 

laudantur  proavis  seu^  pulchrae  munere  forniae, 
quae  morum  caruere  bonis,  falsoque'^  potentes 
laudis  egent  verae  :  tibi  quamquam  et  origo  niteret 
et  felix  species  multumque  optanda  maritis, 
ex  te  maior  honos,  unum  novisse  cubile,  55 

unum  secretis  agitare  sub  ossibus  ignem. 
ilium  nee  Phrvgius  vitiasset  raptor  amorem 
Dulichiive  proci  nee  qui  fraternus  adulter 
casta  Mvcenaeo  conubia  polluit  auro. 
si  Babylonos  opes,  Lydae  si  pondera  gazae  60 

Indorumque  dares  Serunique  Arabunique  potentes 
divitias,  mallet  cum  paupertate  pudica 
intemerata  mori  vitamque  rependere  famae. 
nee  frons  triste  rigens  nimiusque  in  moribus  horror, 
sed  simplex  hilarisque  fides  et  mixta  pudori  65 

gratia,     quod  si  anceps  metus  ad  maiora  vocasset, 
ilia  vel  armiferas  pro  coniuge  laeta  catervas 
fulmineosque  ignes  mediique  pericula  ponti 
exciperet.     melius,  quod  non  adversa  probarunt, 
quae  tibi  cura  tox*i,  quantus  pro  coniuge  pallor  !       70 
sed  meliore  via  dextros  tua  vota  marito 
promeruere  deos,  dum  nocte  dieque  fatigas 
numina,  dum  cunctis  supplex  advolveris  aris 
et  mitem  genium  domini  praesentis  adoras. 
audita  es,  venitque  gradu  Fortuna  benigno.  75 

vidit  quippe  pii  iuvenis  navamque  quietem 
intactamque  fidem  succinctaque  pectora  curis 
et  vigiles  sensus  et  digna  evolvere  tantas 

^  proavis  seu  5":     prnavi   seu   M  {Tmlmf  keeps  this  and 
reads  munera) :  proavis  aut  Heinsms. 
^  falsoque  M :  falsaeque  Heinslus. 

"  "  potentes,"  occasionally  used  in  Statius=  "  great,"  "  im- 
portant,"  rf.    i.    f)l,    "divitias   p."="lordlv   wealth,"   and 
V.  2.  29. 
272 


SILVAE,  V.  I.  51-78 

graces  of  tlie  soul  are  praised  for  ancestry  or  gift  of 
loveliness  ;  and  falsely  great  they  lack  a  true 
renown;"  but  though  a  brilliant  lineage  was  thine, 
and  the  blessing  of  a  beauty  that  husbands  would 
prize,  yet  thy  own  boast  is  prouder,  that  thou  knewest 
but  one  bed,  didst  feed  but  one  passion  in  thy  secret 
heart.  That  love  no  Phrygian  ravisher  would  have 
outraged,  no  Dulichian  suitors,  nor  that  adulterer 
who  polluted  his  brother's  innocent  spouse  with 
Mycenaean  gold.^  Ay,  did  you  offer  the  riches  of 
Babylon  or  weight  of  Lydian  treasure  or  the  lordly 
wealth  of  Ind  or  Araby  or  China,  she  had  preferred 
to  die  poor  in  untainted  chastity,  and  given  her  life 
to  save  her  honour.  Yet  was  there  no  forbidding 
sternness  in  her  look,  nor  o'ermuch  austerity  in  her 
ways,  but  a  gay  and  simple  loyalty,  and  modesty 
blent  with  charm.  Yet  if  some  dread  crisis  had 
summoned  her  to  harder  tasks,  gladly  would  she 
have  borne  on  her  lord's  behalf  the  assault  of  armed 
bands  or  the  lightning's  stroke  or  the  perils  of  mid- 
ocean.  Happier  was  thy  fate,  that  adversity  ne'er 
proved  how  true  thy  devotion,  how  great  thy  anxiety 
for  thy  spouse.  Ay,  happier  was  thy  path,  and  thy 
prayers  merited  heaven's  favour  for  thy  husband, 
while  day  and  night  thou  didst  weary  the  gods,  and 
lie  prostrate  at  every  altar  and  adore  the  present 
godhead  of  our  gentle  lord.  Thy  prayers  were  heard, 
and  Fortune  came  with  favoui'ing  step.  For  he 
beheld  the  quiet  industry,  the  unsullied  devotion  of  a 
loyal  youth,  whose  mind  was  busy  with  schemes, 
whose  alert  intelligence  and  sober  judgement  were 

**  Paris,  the  wooers  of  Penelope,  Thyestes  who  seduced 
Aerope  the  wife  of  Atreus. 

VOL.  I  T  273 


STATIUS 

sobria  corda  vices,  vidit,  qui  cuncta  suorum 
novit  et  inspectis  ambit  latus  omne  ministris.  80 

nee  mirum  :  videt  ille  ortus  obitusque,  quid  auster,^ 
quid  boreas  hibernus  agat,  ferrique  togaeque^ 
consilia  atque  ipsam  mentem  probat.     ille  subactis^ 
niolem  immensam  umeris  et  vlx  tractabile  pondus* 
imposuit — nee  enim  numei'osior  altera  sacra  85 

cura  domo — ,  magnum  late  dimittere  in  orbem 
Romulei  niandata  ducis  viresque  modosque 
imperii  tractare  manu  ;  quae  laurus  ab  arcto, 
quid  vagus  Euphrates,  quid  ripa  binominis  Histri, 
quid  Rheni  vexilla  ferant,  quantum  ultimus  orbis    90 
cesserit  et  refugo  cireumsona  gurgite  Thyle — 
omnia  nam  laetas  pila  attollentia  frondes, 
nuUaque  famosa  signatur  lancea  penna — 
praeterea,  fidos  dominus  si  dividat  enses, 
pandere  quis  centum  valeat  frenare,  maniplos  95 

inter  missus  eques,^  quis  praecepisse  cohorti, 
quern  deceat  clari  praestantior  ordo  tribuni, 
quisnam  frenigerae  signum  dare  dignior  alae  ; 
niille  etiam  praenosse  vices,  an  merserit  agros 

^  auster  5"  :    arctos  M. 

^  togaeque  Uom.  :  rotagae  M, 

^  subactis  .limnfiiis  :  iubatis  3/:  probatis  R'rohn. 

*  pondus  A  rant  ins:  tenipus  M.  PhiUhnore  suspects 
damage  to  arrhetifpe  at  the  ends  of  these  four  lines. 

*  maniplos  intermissus  eques  M :  maniplis  intermixtus 
equos  Salmasius :  maniplo  intermissus  eques  Madvig. 

"  "  A  laurel  fastened  to  the  dispatch  was  the  sign  of  news 
of  victory,  but  a  feather — the  sign  of  haste — marked  the 
bearer  of  disastrous  news.  .  .  .  The  greatness  and  sureness 
of  the  Imperial  organization  is  exemplified  in  the  fact  that 
the  news  of  defeat  or  danger  was  urgent  and  hurried,  while 
that  of  victory  was  not."  A.  M.  Ramsay,  Journal  of  Roman 
Studies,  XV.  Pt.  1,  p.  66.  He  also  quotes  Juv.  iv.  147-9, 
where  the  point  is  the  same. 

274 


SILVAE,   V.   I.   79-99 

fitted  to  unravel  tlie  skein  of  circumstance — he  saw, 
who  knows  the  hearts  of  all  his  subjects,  and  with 
well-tried  servants  guards  safely  every  quarter.  Nor 
is  that  wonderful  :  he  scans  the  East  and  the  West, 
he  knows  wliat  the  South  and  what  the  wintry  North 
is  doing,  and  puts  sword  and  gown  to  the  proof,  ay, 
the  very  heart  itself.  He  placed  upon  those  bowed 
shoulders  a  mighty  burden,  a  weight  scarce  tolerable 
— no  duties  more  manifold  does  the  Sacred  Palace 
know — to  send  far  and  wide  into  the  great  world  the 
commands  of  the  Roman  Prince,  to  handle  all  the 
powers  and  modes  of  empire  ;  to  learn  what  laurelled 
message  comes  from  the  North,  what  news  from 
wandering  Euphrates  or  from  tlie  bank  of  twy-named 
Ister  or  from  the  standards  of  the  Rhine,  how  much 
we  have  won  of  the  world's  end  or  of  Thule  round 
Avhich  the  tidal  waters  roar — for  every  spear  raises 
joyous  leaves  on  high,"  and  no  lance  is  marked  with 
the  feather  of  ill -report  ;  moreover,  should  the 
Master  distribute  loyal  swords,**  to  make  known  who 
suffices  to  control  a  century,  a  knight  .sent  among  the 
companies  of  foot,  who  to  command  a  cohort,  whom 
the  more  excellent  rank  of  illustrious  tribune  befits, 
who  is  suited  rather  to  give  orders  to  a  cavalry  troop  ; 
again,  to  anticipate  a  thousand  chances,  whether  Nile 
has   drenched   his   fields,   whether   Libya   has   been 


''  These,  according  to  Madvig,  Opusc.  i.  39,  are  the  four 
military  appointments  open  to  knights  in  ascending  order  : 
i.  Primipilus,  or  Senior  Centurion  ("  maniplos  inter  missus 
eques,"  shows  that  something  more  than  the  ordinary 
centurionship  is  intended)  ;  ii.  Praefectus  cohortis ;  iii. 
Tribunus  legionis  ;  iv.  Praefectus  equitum.  The  higher 
appointments  were  made  "  per  epistolam  sacram  Inipera- 
toris,"  see  Veget.  ii.  7.     Cf,  v.  12.  65  n. 

275 


ST  ATI  us 

Nilus,  an  inibrifero  Libye  sudaverit  austro  ;  100 

cunctaque  si  numerem,  non  plura  interprete  virga 
nuntiat  ex  celsis  ales  Tegeaticus  astris 
quaeque  cadit  liquidas  lunonia  virgo  per  auras 
et  picturato  pluvium  ligat  aera  gyro 
quaeque  tuas  laurus  volucri,  Germanice,  cursu        105 
Fama  vehit  praegressa  diem  tardumque  sub  astris 
Arcada  et  in  medio  linquit  Thaumantida  caelo. 

Qualem  te  superi,  Priscilla,  hominesque  benigno 
aspexere  die,  cum  primum  ingentibus  actis 
admotus  coniunx  !     vicisti  gaudia  paene^  HO 

ipsius,  efFuso  dum  pectore  prona  sacratos 
ante  pedes  avide  domini  tam  magna  merentis 
volveris.     Aonio  non  sic  in  vertice  gaudet. 
quam  pater  arcani  praefecit  hiatibus  antri 
Delius,  aut  primi  cui  ius  venerabile  thyrsi  115 

Bacchus  et  attonitae  tribuit  vexilla  catervae. 
nee  tamen  hinc  mutata  quies  probitasve  secundis 
intumuit  :  tenor  idem  animo  moresque  modesti 
fortuna  crescente  manent.     fovet  anxia  curas 
coniugis  hortaturque  simul  flectitque  labores.  120 

ipsa  dapes  modicas  et  sobria  pocula  tradit, 
exemplumque  ad  erile  monet  ;    vehit  Apula  coniunx 
agricolae  parci  vel  sole  infecta  Sabina, 
quae  videt  emeriti  iam  prospectantibus  asti'is 
tempus  adesse  viri,  propere  mensasque  torosque    125 
instruit  exspectatque  sonum  redeuntis  aratri. 
parva  loquor.     tecum  gelidas  comes  ilia  per  arctos 
Sarmaticasque  hiemes  Histrumque  et  pallida  Rheni 

^  paene  Burmann  :  cene  31,  certe  Markland. 

"  Mercury  and  Iris,  as  in  11.  102-3. 
''  The  Pj'thian  priestess  and  the  leader  of  a  Bacchic  revel. 

276 


SIIA^AE,  V.  I.   100-128 

moistened  by  Southern  rains  ;  were  I  to  count  all 
his  labours,  no  more  numerous  are  the  messages  that 
the  winged  Tegean  with  revealing  wand  bears  from 
the  stars  on  liigh,  or  Juno's  maid,  who  glides  down 
through  the  liquid  air  and  binds  her  pictured  arc 
about  the  rainy  sky,  or  Fame,  who  brings  thy  laurels, 
O  Germanicus,  in  her  swift  flight  outstripping  the 
day,  and  leaves  the  slow  Arcadian  beneath  the  stars 
and  Thaumantia  in  mid-heaven." 

How  joyful,  Priscilla,  wert  thou  seen  of  gods  and 
men  on  that  auspicious  day  when  first  thy  spouse 
Avas  promoted  to  his  great  career  !  Almost  did  thy 
happiness  surpass  his  own,  while  thou  didst  eagerly 
fling  thyself  prostrate  before  the  sacred  feet  of  thy 
lord  for  his  great  favour,  and  pour  out  all  thy  heart. 
Not  such  joy  doth  she  know  upon  the  Aonian  mount 
whom  the  Delian  sire  hath  put  in  charge  of  the 
openings  of  the  mystic  cave,  or  she  to  whom  Bacchus 
hath  awarded  the  dread  privilege  of  the  foremost 
wand,  and  to  bear  the  banner  of  the  frenzied  rout.* 
Yet  was  her  tranquillity  not  changed,  nor  her  good- 
ness puffed  up  by  prosperity  ;  her  mind  keeps  the 
same  course,  and  her  modesty  abides,  though  her 
fortunes  rise.  Anxiously  she  tends  her  husband's 
cares,  and  cheers  and  alleviates  his  toils.  Herself 
she  serves  his  modest  board  and  sober  cups,  and 
admonishes  him  by  the  example  of  his  chief;  just  as 
the  Apulian  wife  of  some  thrifty  husbandman,  or 
sun-burnt  Sabine  dame,  who  sees  by  the  peeping 
stars  that  her  lord  will  soon  be  come,  his  labours  o'er, 
briskly  sets  the  tables  and  the  couches,  and  listens 
for  the  returning  plough.  I  speak  of  trivial  things  : 
nay,  at  thy  side  she  had  willingly  braved  the  gelid 
North  and  Sarmatian  snows  and  Ister  and  the  pale 

277 


STATIUS 

frigora,  tecum  omnes  aninio  durata  per  aestus 
et,  si  castra  darent,  vellet  gestare  pharetras,  130 

vellet  Amazonia  latus  intercludere  pelta  ; 
dum  te  pulverea  bellorum  nube^  videret 
Caesarei  prope  fulmen  equi  divinaque  tela 
vibrantem  et  magnae  sparsum  sudoribus  hastae. 
Hactenus     alma     chelys.     tempus     nunc     ponere 
frondes,  135 

Phoebe,  tuas  maestaque  comam  damnare  cupresso. 
quisnam  impacata  consanguinitate  ligavit 
Fortunam  Invidiamque  deus  ?     quis  iussit  iniquas 
aeternum  bellare  deas  ?     nullamne  notabit 
ilia  domum,  torvo  quam  non  haec  lumine  figat        140 
protinus  et  saeva  proturbet  gaudia  dextra  ? 
florebant  hilaves  inconcussique  penates  : 
nil  maestum.     quid  enim,  quamvis  infida  levisque, 
Caesare  tarn  dextro  posset  Fortuna  timeri  ? 
invenere  viam  liventia  Fata,  piumque  145 

intravat  vis  saeva  larem.     sic  plena  maligno 
adflantur  vineta  noto,  sic  alta  senescit 
imbre  seges  nimio,  rapidae  sic  obvia  puppi 
invidet  et  velis  adnubilat  aura  secundis. 
carpitur  eximium  Fato  Priscilla  decorem  ;  150 

qualiter  alta  comam  silvarum  gloria  pinus 
seu  lovis  igne  malo  seu  iam  radice  soluta 
deficit  et  nulli  spoliata  remurmurat  aurae. 
quid  probitas  aut  casta  fides,  quid  numina  prosunt 
culta  deum  ?     furvae  miseram  circurn  undique  leti 
vallavere  plagae,  tenduntur  dura  sororum  156 

licia  et  exacti  superest  pars  ultima  fili. 

^  pulverea  b.  nube  3/ :   pulvereum  Baehrens :  in  nube  edd. 
278 


SILVAE,  V.   I.   129-157 

frosts  of  Rhine,  at  thy  side  steeled  her  courage 
throughout  summer  heats  and  gladly  borne  the 
quiver,  did  the  camp  permit,  and  gladly  shielded  her 
body  with  an  Amazonian  targe — so  but  she  might  see 
thee  in  the  dust-clouds  of  battle  hard  by  the  Em- 
peror's thundering  steed,  brandishing  godlike  shafts 
and  bedewed  with  the  sweat  of  his  great  spear. 

So  far  my  lyre  has  been  propitious  ;  but  now  it  is 
time  to  doif  thy  bays,  O  Phoebus,  and  doom  my 
tresses  to  sad  cypress-leaves.  What  god  joined 
Fortune  and  Envy  in  truceless  kinship  ?  who  bade 
the  cruel  goddesses  engage  in  unending  war  ?  Will 
the  one  set  her  mark  upon  no  house,  but  the  other 
must  straightway  fix  it  with  her  grim  glance,  and 
with  savage  hand  make  havoc  of  its  gladness  ? 
Happy  and  prosperous  was  this  abode,  no  shock 
assailed  it,  no  thought  of  sorrow  ;  wiiat  cause  was 
there  to  have  fear  of  Fortune,  treacherous  and 
fickle  thougli  slie  be,  while  Caesar  was  favourable  ? 
yet  the  jealous  Fates  found  a  way,  and  barbarous 
violence  entered  that  blameless  home.  So  do  the 
laden  vineyards  feel  the  deadly  sirocco's  blast,  so 
rots  the  high  corn  with  too  much  rain,  so  does  the  air 
envy  the  rapid  craft  it  meets,  and  gathers  storm- 
clouds  about  its  prosperous  sails.  Fate  plucks  away 
the  peerless  beauty  of  Priscilla  :  just  as  the  lofty 
pine,  the  glory  of  the  woodland,  is  wasted  of  its 
foliage,  be  it  by  fell  fire  of  Jove  or  that  its  roots  are 
loosened,  and  so  despoiled  answers  no  more  the 
whispering  breeze.  What  avails  goodness,  or  chaste 
loyalty,  or  worship  paid  to  heaven  ?  The  dark 
snares  of  death  encompassed  around  the  wretched 
woman,  the  Sisters'  ruthless  threads  are  tightened, 
and  there  abides  but  the  last  portion  of  the  exhausted 

279 


STATIUS 

nil  famuli  coetus,  nil  ars  operosa  medentum 
auxiliata  malis  ;  comites  tamen  undique  ficto 
spem  simulant  vultu,  flentem  notat  ilia  maritum. 
ille  modo  infernae  nequiquam  flumina  Lethes         161 
incorrupta  rogat,  nunc  anxius  omnibus  aris 
inlacrimat  signatque  fores  et  pectore  terget 
liraina  ;  nunc  magni  vocat  exorabile  numen 
Caesaris,     heu  durus  fati  tenor  !     estne  quod  illi  165 
non  liceat  ?     quantae  poterant  mortalibus  annis 
accessisse  morae,  si  tu,  pater,  omne  teneres 
arbitrium  ?     caeco  gemeret  Mors  clusa  barathro 
longius  et  vacuae  posuissent  stamina  Parcae. 

lamque  cadunt  vultus  oculisque  novissimus  error 
obtunsaeque  aurc;,  nisi  cum  vox  sola  mariti  171 

noscitur  ;  ilium  unum  media  de  morte  reversa 
mens  videt,  ilium  aegris  circumdat  fcrtiter  ulnis 
immotas  obversa  genas,  nee  sole  supremo 
lumina,  sed  dulci  mavult  satiare  marito.  175 

turn  sic  unanimum  moriens  solatur  amantem  : 
"pars  animae  victura  meae,  cui  linquere  possim 
o  utinam,  quos  dura  mihi  rapit  Atropos,  annos  : 
parce,  precor,  lacrimis,  saevo  ne  concute  planctu 
pectora,  nee  crucia  fugientem  coniugis  umbram.    180 
linquo  equidem  thalamos,  salvo  tamen  ordine  mortis,^ 
quod  prior  :  exegi  longa  potiora  senecta 
tempora  ;  vidi  omni  pridem  te  flore  nitentem, 
vidi  altae  propius  propiusque  accedere  dextrae. 
non  in  te  fatis,  non  iam  caelestibus  ullis  185 

^  mortis  S"  :    mostis  M:  mestos  Pol.  {marg.  note  in  Ex, 
Cors.):  noctis  Ed.  Prin.:  maeatos  Ph  III imore. 

"  i.e.,  of  the  Emperor. 
280 


SIL\'AE,  V.  I.   158-185 

span.  No  succour  could  crowds  of  slaves  bring  her 
in  her  distress,  nor  the  physicians'  toilful  art  ;  yet 
while  friends  on  every  side  feign  looks  of  hopefulness, 
she  marks  her  husband  weeping.  He  now  implores 
in  vain  Lethe's  inexorable  stream,  now  sheds  anxious 
tears  at  every  shrine  and  leaves  his  imprint  at  the 
gates  and  flings  himself  down  upon  the  tln-eshold, 
now  calls  upon  Caesar's  merciful  deity.  Alas  !  the 
cruel  course  of  P'ate  !  is  there  then  aught  that 
Caesar  may  not  do  ?  What  tarrying  could  there 
have  come  to  mortal  lives,  if  thou,  O  Sire,  hadst  been 
all-powerful  !  far  away  would  Death  be  groaning, 
imprisoned  in  the  unseeing  pit,  and  the  idle  Fates 
would  have  laid  their  spinning  down. 

And  now  her  face  falls,  her  eyes  take  their  last 
wavering  glances,  and  the  hearing  of  the  ears  is 
dulled,  save  when  only  she  recognizes  her  husband's 
voice  ;  him  only  does  her  mind  returning  from  the 
midst  of  death  perceive,  him  with  faint  amis  does 
she  bravely  grasp,  turning  to  him  her  stiffened 
cheeks,  nor  wishes  to  sate  her  eyes  with  the  last 
glimpse  of  light,  but  only  Avith  her  dear  spouse. 
Then  dying  she  thus  consoles  the  loving  heart  that 
was  one  with  hers  :  "  O  thou,  my  soul's  still- 
surviving  half,  to  Avhom  I  would  fain  leave  the 
years  that  cruel  Atx-opos  takes  from  me,  spare  thy 
tears,  I  pray,  beat  not  thy  breast  with  savage  lament, 
nor  vex  thy  consort's  fleeing  spirit.  I  leave,  'tis  true, 
a  marriage-bower,  yet  in  the  due  order  of  dying, 
because  I  die  the  first  ;  better  the  life  I  have  lived 
than  a  long  old  age  ;  I  have  seen  thee  in  the  full 
splendour  of  thy  fame,  I  have  seen  thee  draw  nearer 
and  more  near  to  the  right  hand  on  high."  No  fate, 
no  god  has  power  over  thee  now  ;    I  take  with  me 

281 


ST  ATI  us 

arbitrium  :  mecum  ista  fero.     tu  limite  coepto 

tende  libens  sacrumque  latus  geniumqiie  potentem 

inrequietus  ama.     nunc,  quod  cupis  ipse  iuberi, 

da  Capitolinis  aeternurn  sedibus  aurum, 

quo  niteat  sacri  centeno  pondere  vultus  190 

Caesaris  et  propriae  signet  cultricis  amorem 

sic  ego  nee  Furias  nee  deteriora  videbo 

Tartara  et  Elysias  felix  admittar  in  oras.  ' 

haec  dicit  labens  sociosque  amplectitur  artus 

haerentemque  animam  non  tristis  in  ora  mariti      195 

transtulit  et  cara  pressit  sua  lumina  dextra. 

At  iuvenis  magno  flammatus  pectora  luctu 
nunc  implet  saevo  viduos  clamore  penates, 
nunc  ferrum  laxare  cupit,  nunc  ardua  tendit 
in  loca — vix  retinent  coniites — ,  nunc  ore  ligato      200 
incubat  aniissae  mersumque  in  corde  dolorem 
saevus  agit,  qualis  conspecta  coniuge  segnis^ 
Odrysius  vates  positis  ad  Strymona  plectris 
obstupuit  tristemque  rogum  sine  carmine  flevit. 
ille  etiam  erecte^  rupisset  tempora  vitae,  205 

ne  tu  Tartareum  chaos  incomitata  subires, 
sed  prohibet  mens  fida  ducis  mirandaque  sacris 
imperiis  et  maior  amor. 

Quis  carmine  digno 
exsequias  et  dona  malae  feralia  pompae 
perlegat  ?     omne  illic  stipatum  examine  longo       210 
ver  Arabum  Cilicumque  fluit  floresque  Sabaei 
Indorumque  arsura  seges  praereptaque  templis 

^  conspecta  coniuge  segnis  M  :     conspecto    coniugis    igni 
Barth. 

*  erecte  M :  certe  5"  :  fractae  Imhof. 

"  Orpheus. 
''  i.e.,  of  the  Emperor  himself. 

282 


SILVAE,  V.  I.  186-212 

their  power  to  harm.  Do  thou  go  gladly  on  in  the 
path  thou  hast  entered,  and  love  unfailingly  the 
saci-ed  presence,  the  spirit  of  our  Prince.  Now — a 
behest  after  thine  own  heart — give  to  the  temple  on 
the  Capitol  gold  that  endures  for  ever,  that  the 
countenance  of  sacred  Caesar  may  gleam  in  a  statue 
that  weighs  a  hundred  pounds,  and  prove  his  constant 
votary's  love.  So  shall  I  behold  neither  Furies  nor 
dire  Tartarus,  but  be  admitted,  a  blessed  soul,  to 
Elysian  regions."  Thus  with  failing  strength  she 
speaks,  and  clings  to  her  consort's  arms,  and  un- 
repining  breathed  out  her  lingering  soul  into  her 
husband's  lips,  and  closed  her  eyes  with  the  hand 
she  loved. 

But  the  heart  of  her  spouse  was  ablaze  with 
passionate  grief ;  now  he  fills  the  bereaved  home 
with  frenzied  crying,  now  would  fain  set  free  the 
steel,  now  climbs  to  lofty  heights — scarce  can  his 
friends  restrain  him — now  broods  o'er  his  lost  one 
with  mouth  joined  fast  to  mouth,  and  savagely 
excites  the  grief  that  is  hidden  in  his  heart  :  even 
as  the  Odrysian  bard  *  seeing  his  wife's  corpse  fell 
dazed  and  horror-struck,  and  flinging  down  his  quill 
on  Strymon's  bank  in  songless  sorrow  mourned  the 
pyre.  He  too  had  courageously  cut  short  the  term 
of  life,  that  thou  shouldst  not  go  uncompanioned  to 
Tartarean  gloom,  but  loyalty  to  his  Prince  forbids, 
loyalty  that  roused  the  wonder  of  the  Sacred 
Monarch,  and  a  yet  greater  love.** 

Who  could  recount  in  worthy  song  the  obsequies 
and  funeral  gifts  of  that  unhappy  train  ?  There 
heaped  together  in  long  array  is  all  tlie  liquid  wealth 
of  Arabian  and  Cilician  springs,  Sabaean  blooms  and 
Indian  produce  destined  for  the  flames,  and  incense, 

283 


STATIUS 

tura  Palaestinis,  simul  Hebraeique  liquoves 
Coryciaeque  comae  Cinyreaque  germina  ;  et  altis 
ipsa  toris  Serum  Tyrioque  umbrata  recumbit  215 

tegmine.     sed  toto  spectatur  in  agmine  coniunx 
solus  ;  in  hunc  magnae  flectuntur  lumina  Romae 
ceu  iuvenes  natos  suprema  ad  busta  ferentem  : 
is  dolor  in  vultu,  tantum  crinesque  genaeque 
noctis  habent.     illam  tranquillo  fine  solutam  220 

felicemque  vocant,  lacrimas  fudere  marito. 

Est  locus,  ante  urben^  qua  primum  nascitur  ingens 
Appia  quaque  Italo  gemitus  Almone  Cybebe 
ponit  et  Idaeos  iam  non  reminiscitur  amnes. 
hie  te  Sidonio  velatam  molliter  ostro  225 

eximius  coniunx — nee  enim  fumantia  busta 
clamoremque  rogi  potuit  perferre — beato 
composuit,  Priscilla,  toro.     nil  longior  aetas 
carpere,  nil  ae^i  poterunt  vitiare  labores 
siccatam^  membris  :  tantas  venerabile  marmor       230 
spirat  opes,     mox  in  varias  mutata  novavis 
effigies  :  hoc  aere  Ceres,  hoc  lucida  Gnosis, 
illo  Maia  tholo,^  \enus  hoc  non  improba  saxo. 
accipiunt  vultus  haud  indignata  decoros 
numina  :  circumstant  famuli  consuetaque  turba     235 
obsequiis,  tunc  rite  tori  mensaeque  parantur 

^  siccatam  S~  :  sic  catum  M:  sic  cautum  PhiUhnore. 
^  tholo  M :  polo,  loco  edd. :  luto  Baehrcns. 


"  i.e.,  saffron  (repeated  from  "  ver  Cilicum  ")  and  m3Trh. 

*  i.e.,  his  hair  is  dark  with  the  dust  and  ashes  poured  upon 
it,  his  ej-es  with  grief. 

*  The  reference  is  to  the  ceremonial  washing  of  the  image 
of  Cybele,  the  Magna  Mater,  on  March  ;?7th  in  the  river 
Almo,  a  small  tributary  of  the  Tiber. 

■^  See  note  on  ii.  7.   121.     Statues    representing  various 

284 


SIL^'AF>,  V.   I.   213-236 

spoil  of  Palestinian  shrines,  Hebrew  essences  witlial 
and  Corycian  petals  "  and  Cinyrean  buds  ;  she  herself 
reclines  on  a  lofty  couch  of  silk  'neath  the  shade  of  a 
Tyrian  awning.  But  in  all  the  concourse  none  looks 
but  at  the  husband,  on  liim  is  bent  the  gaze  of 
mighty  Rome,  as  though  he  were  bearing  youtliful 
sons  to  burial  :  such  grief  in  his  looks,  such  darkness 
upon  his  hair  *  and  eyes.  Her  call  they  happy  in  her 
quiet  and  peaceful  end,  'tis  for  the  husband  their  tears 
are  shed. 

There  is  a  spot  before  the  city  where  the  mighty 
Appian  way  has  its  first  beginning,  and  Cybele  lays 
aside  her  grief  in  Italian  Almo,"  nor  remembers 
the  streams  of  Ida  any  more.  Here  thy  peerless 
consort — for  he  could  not  bear  the  smoke  of  burning 
and  the  clamour  of  the  pyre — laid  thee,  delicately 
arrayed  in  Sidonian  purple,  blissfully  to  rest.  Length 
of  years  will  have  no  power  to  harm  thee,  nor  the 
labours  of  time  to  wither  and  mar  thy  limbs  :  such 
wealth  of  perfume  does  the  venerable  marble 
breathe.  Soon  art  thou  changed  into  manifold 
images  "^  and  born  anew  :  here  art  thou  Ceres  in 
bronze,  here  the  bright  Cretan  maid,*'  Maia  beneath 
that  dome,  an  innocent  Venus  in  this  marble.  The 
deities  scorn  not  to  accept  thy  lovely  features  : 
attendants  stand  about  thee,  a  multitude  wont  to 
obe,y  ;  then  couches  and  tables  duly  without  ceasing.^ 

a-oddesses  with  Priscilla's  features  were  placed  round  about 
the  sarcophagus  ("  marmor ")  containing  her  embalmed 
body. 

^  Dictynna,  i.e.  Diana  {rf.  Thcb.  ix.  632)  ;  clearly  not 
Ariadne. 

'  Apparently  to  maintain  the  illusion  of  Priscilla  being 
still  alive,  her  embalmed  body  is  surrounded  by  attendants, 
and  couches  and  banquets  are  made  ready  for  her. 

285 


STATIUS 

assiduae.     donius  ista,  domus  !  quis  triste  sepulcrum 
dixerit  ?     hac  merito  visa  pietate  mariti 
protinus  exclames  :  "est  hie,  agnoseo,  minister 
illius,  aeternae  modo  qui  sacraria  genti  240 

condidit  inque  alio  posiiit  sua  sidera  caelo." 
sic,  ubi  magna  novum  Phario  de  litore  puppis 
solvit  iter  iamque  innumeros  utrimque  rudentes 
lataque  veliferi  porrexit  brachia  mali 
invasitque  vias,  it^  eodem  angusta  phaselos  245 

aequore  et  immensi  partem  sibi  vindicat  austri. 

Quid  nunc  immodicos,  iuvenum  lectissime,  fletus 
corde  foves  longumque  vetas  exire  dolorem  ? 
nempe  times,  ne  Cerbereos  Priscilla  tremescat 
latratus  ?     tacet  ille  piis  !     ne  tardior  adsit  250 

navita  proturbetque  vadis  ?     vehit  ille  merentes 
protinus  et  manes  placidus  locat  hospite  cumba. 
praeterea,  si  quando  pio  laudata  marito 
umbra  venit,  iubet  ire  faces  Proserpina  laetas 
egressasque  sacris  veteres  heroidas  antris  255 

lumine  purpureo  tristes  laxare  tenebras 
sertaque  et  Elysios  animae  praesternere  flores. 
sic  manes  Priscilla  subit  ;  ibi  supplice  dextra 
pro  te  Fata  rogat,  reges  tibi  tristis  Averni 
placat,  ut  expletis  humani  finibus  aevi  260 

pacantem  terras  dominum  iuvenemque  relinquas 
ipse  senex  !     certae  iurant  in  vota  sorores. 
1  it  Gevart  :  in  M. 
"  See  note  on  iv.  3.  19.  *"  Egyptian. 

286 


I 


SILVAE,  y.  I.  237-262 

A  liouse  liast  thou  there,  a  house  !  Who  would  call 
it  a  gloomy  sepulchre  ?  Justly  would  one  exclaim, 
seeing  the  devotion  of  her  spouse  :  "  Truly  is  he  the 
minister  of  him  who  lately  for  his  everlasting  race 
founded  a  sacred  shrine,"  and  set  his  kindred  stars 
in  another  heaven."  So  when  some  great  ship  sets 
forth  on  a  new  voyage  from  the  Pharian  ^  strand, 
and  already  has  stretched  out  on  either  side  a 
thousand  ropes  and  the  broad  arms  of  her  sail- 
bearing  mast,  and  started  on  her  way,  some  tiny 
pinnace  sails  on  the  same  sea,  and  claims  her  share 
of  the  limitless  South  wind. 

Why  now,  choicest  of  youths,  dost  thou  cherish 
sorrow  in  thy  heart  beyond  due  measure,  nor  suffer 
thy  long  grief  to  have  an  end  ?  Fearest  thou  lest 
Priscilla  tremble  at  Cerberus'  howling  ?  he  is  silent 
for  the  blessed.  Lest  the  sailor  be  slow  to  draw  nigh 
her,  or  disturb  her  on  the  waters  ?  He  conveys 
deserving  souls  forthwith,  and  quietly  sets  them  in 
his  welcoming  craft.  Moreover,  whenever  a  shade 
approaches  that  has  won  the  praise  of  a  loving 
spouse,  Proserpine  bids  summon  joyful  torches,  and 
the  heroines  of  old  to  come  forth  from  hallowed 
bowers  and  scatter  the  shades  of  gloom  in  radiant 
light,  and  strew  garlands  and  Elysian  flowers  before 
her.  "Thus  doth  Priscilla  enter  the  kingdom  of  the 
dead  ;  there  with  suppliant  hand  she  prays  the 
Fates  for  thee,  and  placates  the  lords  of  grim  Avernus, 
that  having  fulfilled  the  term  of  human  life  thou  in 
old  age  mayst  leave  thy  prince  still  giving  peace  to 
the  world  and  still  young  !  The  unfailing  Sisters 
take  oath  to  grant  her  prayers. 


287 


STATIUS 


II.  LAUDES  CRISPINI  VETTI  BOLANI 
FILII 

Rura  nieus  Tyrrhena  petit  saltusque  Tagetis 
Crispinus  ;  nee  longa  mora  est  aut  avia  tellus, 
sed  mea  secreto  velluntur  pectora  morsu, 
udaque  turgentes  impellunt  lumina  guttas, 
ceu  super  Aegaeas  hiemes  abeuntis  amici  5 

vela  sequar  spectemque  ratem  iam  fessus  ab  altis 
rupibus  atque  oculos  longo  querar  aere  vinci. 

Quid  ?     si  militiae  iam  te,  puer  inclite,  primae 
clara  rudimenta  et  castrorum  dulce  vocaret 
auspicium,  quanto  manarent  gaudia  fletu  10 

quosve    darem     amplexus  !  etiamne     optanda    pro- 

pinquis^ 
tristia  ?     et^  octonos  bis  iam  tibi  circuit  orbes 
vita,  sed  angustis  animus  robustior  annis, 
succumbitque  oneri  et  mentem  sua  non  capit  aetas. 
nee  mirum  :  non  te  series  inhonora  parentum  15 

obscurum  proavis  et  priscae  lucis  egentem 
plebeia  de  stirpe  tulit  :  non  sanguine  cretus 
turmali  trabeaque  recens^  et  paupere  clavo 

^  propinquis  5"  :  propinqui  3/:  et  iamne  .  .  .  propinquas 
PhilUmore. 

-  et  s~  :  lit  M. 

^  trabeaque  recens /iVo/oi :  trabeque  et  reniis  J/:  trabeaque 
Remi  nee  Lipsius. 

"  An  Etruscan,  the  founder  of  the  art  of  the  "  haruspices  " 
(see  Ovid,  Met.  xv.  553). 

*■  i.e.,  "  must  they  be  glad  and  proud  at  his  going  to  war, 
while  they  grieve  to  lose  him  ? " 

•^  The  "trabea  "  was  a  toga  marked  by  purple  horizontal 
stripes  ;  originally  royal,  it  was  worn  by  knights  on  certain 
occasions,  and  so  became  regarded  as  a  knightly  badge. 

'288 


SILVAE,  V.  II.  1-18 


II.  THE  PRAISES  OF  CRISPINUS,  SON  OF 
VETTIUS  BOLANUS 

A  letter  of  congratulation  and  good  wishes  to  Crispinus, 
a  lad  of  sixteen,  just  appointed  military  tribune.  The  an- 
nouncement of  this  appointment  is  kept  back  till  the  end  of 
the  poem,  the  opening  lines  referring  to  a  holiday  taken  by 
the  boy  shortly  before  that  event,  but  is  anticipated  throughout. 
His  fatJier  was  a  celebrated  officer  named  Bolanus,  who  had 
served  with  distinction  in  Asia  Minor,  Armenia,  and  Scot- 
land. 

My  Crispinus  is  off  to  Etruscan  fields  and  the 
glades  of  Tages  ;  "•  not  for  long  is  his  sojourning,  nor 
distant  the  land,  but  my  heart  is  torn  with  secret 
pangs,  and  my  brimming  eyes  set  the  large  tears 
rolling,  as  though  I  watched  o'er  the  stormy  Aegean 
the  sails  of  a  departing  friend,  and  from  a  cliff  gazed 
wearily  yet  after  the  vessel,  and  complained  that  my 
sight  was  baffled  by  the  long  reach  of  air. 

Ah  !  if  it  were  the  brilliant  opening  of  a  soldier's 
career  that  called  thee,  noble  youth,  or  the  glad 
auspices  of  the  camp,  what  joyful  tears  would  flow, 
in  what  warm  embraces  would  I  clasp  thee  !  Must 
friends  then  even  welcome  sadness  ?  ^  And  already 
thy  life  has  accomplished  twice  eight  courses,  but 
tliy  spirit  is  more  robust  than  thy  tender  age,  and 
thy  years  quail  before  their  task,  and  thy  will  brooks 
not  their  control.  Nor  is  that  wonderful  :  thine 
was  no  unrenowned  lineage,  nor  wast  thou  born  of 
plebeian  stock,  obscure  of  family  and  devoid  of 
ancestral  fame  ;  no  child  of  equestrian  blood  or  but 
newly  granted  the  robe  of  knighthood  "^  and  the 
humble  stripe  '^  didst  thou  as  a  newcomer  knock  at 

"*  The  angusticlave,  for  which  see  note  on  iii.  2.  124. 
VOL.  I  U  289 


STATIUS 

augustam  sedem  et  Latii  penetrale  senatus 
advena  pulsasti,  sed  praecedente  tuorum  20 

agmine.     Romulei  qualis  per  iugera  circi, 
cum  pulcher  visu,  titulis  generosus  avitis 
exspectatur  equus,  cuius  de  stemmate  longo 
felix  demeritos  habet  admissura  parentes, 
ilium  omnes  acuunt  plausus,  ilium  ipse  volantem     25 
pulvis  et  incurvae  gaudent  agnoscere  metae  : 
sic  te,  clare  puer,  genitum  sibi  curia  sensit, 
primaque  patricia  clausit  vestigia  luna. 
mox  Tyrios  ex  more  sinus  tunicamque  potentem 
agnovere  umeri.     sed  enim  tibi  magna  parabat        30 
ad  titulos  exempla  pater,     quippe  ille  iuventam 
protinus  ingrediens  pharetratum  invasit  Araxen 
belliger  indocilemque  fero  servire  Neroni 
Armeniam.     rigidi  summam  Mavortis  agebat 
Corbulo,  sed  comitem  belli  sociumque  laborum        35 
ille  quoque  egregiis  multum  miratus  in  armis 
Bolanum  ;  atque  illi  curarum  asperrima  suetus 
credere  partirique  metus,  quod  tempus  amicum 
fraudibus,  exserto^  quaenam  bona  tempora  bello, 
quae  suspecta  fides  aut  quae  fuga  vera  ferocis  40 

Armenii.     Bolanus  iter  praenosse  timendum, 
Bolanus  tutis  iuga  quaerere  commoda  castris, 
metiri^  Bolanus  agros,  aperire  malignas 
torrentum  nemorumque  moras  tantamque  verendi 
mentem  implere  ducis  iussisque  ingentibus  unus      45 

^  exserto  Livineius  :  exorto  M. 
^  metiri  3/:  meiari  Avantius. 

"  The  crescent-shaped  buckle  on  the  senatorial  shoe. 

*  The  "  toga  praetexta  "  and  the  laticlave  (tunic  with  one 
broad  purple  stripe  down  the  middle).     See  note  to  v.  1.  52. 

''  For  the  campaigns  of  Corbulo  see  Tac.  Ann.  xv.  1. 

''  "  metiri  "  is  usually  changed  to  "  metari,"  as  being  more 
290 


SILVAE,  V.  11.  19-45 

tlie  august  abode  and  hallowed  chamber  of  the 
Latian  Senate,  but  preceded  by  a  long  array  of  thine 
own  kinsmen.  Just  as  when  on  the  wide  spaces  of 
the  Roman  Circus  a  horse  is  awaited,  comely  to 
behold  and  generous  with  the  blood  of  famous  sires, 
in  whose  long  pedigree  a  lucky  mating  has  produced 
distinguished  parentage  ;  the  applause  of  all  excites 
him,  the  very  dust  and  the  round  turning-points 
welcome  with  joy  his  flying  hooves  :  so  did  the 
Senate-house  know  thee,  illustrious  boy,  as  born  for 
itself,  and  set  the  patrician  crescent  "  on  thy  youthful 
feet.  Soon  did  thy  shoulders  recognize  as  their  own 
the  wonted  Tyrian  fold%  and  the  proud  tunic.**  And 
indeed  thy  sire  was  preparing  for  thee  mighty 
patterns  of  thy  fame  to  be.  For  on  the  threshold  of 
manhood  he  straightway  made  warlike  attack  on 
quiver-bearing  Araxes  and  Armenia  that  would  not 
learn  to  serve  fierce  Nero.  Corbulo  "  held  command 
in  the  stern  warfare,  but  even  he  admired  Bolanus, 
his  comrade  in  battle  and  partner  of  his  toils,  in  many 
a  glorious  fight  ;  on  him  too  was  he  wont  to  lay  his 
keenest  anxieties,  and  shared  with  him  his  fears, 
what  occasion  befriended  ambush,  what  times  were 
good  for  open  fighting,  when  to  suspect  the  word 
and  when  to  trust  the  flight  of  proud  Armenia. 
Bolanus  it  was  who  knew  beforehand  the  perils  of 
the  route,  Bolanus  who  sought  the  ridge  that  served 
the  safety  of  the  camp,  Bolanus  who  measured  '^  out 
the  fields  and  cleared  the  dangerous  hindrances  of 
torrent  or  forest,  who  fulfilled  the  mighty  purposes 
of  that  revered  chieftain,  and  alone  of  all  availed  to 

appropriate  to  camps  ;  Statins,  however,  may  not  be  think- 
ing of  castrametation  at  all,  or  may  prefer  the  less  technical 
word. 

291 


STATIUS 

sufficere.     ipsa  virum  norat  iam  barbara  tellus, 
ille  secundus  apex  bellorum  et  proxima  cassis, 
sic  Phryges  attoniti,  quamquam  Nemeaea  viderent 
arma  Cleonaeusque  acies  impelleret  arcus, 
pugnante  Alcide  tamen  et  Telamona  timebant.       50 
disce,  puer, — nee  enim  externo  monitore  petendus 
virtutis  tibi  pulcher  amor  :  cognata  ministret 
laus  animos.     aliis  Decii  reducesque  Camilli 
monstrentur — tu     disce     patrem,    quantusque     ne- 

ganteni 
fluctibus  occiduis  fesso  usque^  Hyperione  Thylen     55 
intrarit  mandata  gerens  quantusque  potentis 
mille  urbes  Asiae  sortito  rexerit  anno, 
imperium  mulcente  toga,     bibe  talia  pronis 
auribus,  haec  certent  tibi  conciliare  propinqui, 
haec  iterent  comites  praecepta  senesque  paterni.    60 

lamque  alio  moliris  iter  nee  deside  passu 
ire  paras  ;  nondum  validae  tibi  signa  iuventae 
inrepsere  genis,  et  adhuc  tenor  integer  aevi. 
nee  genitor  iuxta  ;  fatis  namque  haustus  iniquis 
occidit  et  geminam  prolem  sine  praeside  linquens.  65 
nee  saltern  teneris  ostrum  puerile  lacertis 
exuit  albentique  umeros  induxit  aniictu. 
quern  non  corrupit  pubes  effrena  novaeque 

^  fesso  usque  Vollmer  :  fessusque  M:  fessoque  Dotn.: 
fessoque  Hyperioni  Imhof. 

°  The  Trojans  feared  Telamon,  father  of  Ajax,  as  well  as 
Hercules  (slayer  of  the  Nemean  lion  near  Cleonae).  The 
reference  is  to  the  previous  sack  of  Troy,  in  which  Hercules 
took  part. 

*"  Decius  devoted  himself  to  death  for  Rome  ;  Camillus 
returned  from  exile  to  defeat  the  Gauls. 

"=  He  was  legatus  in  Britain  70-71. 

''■  lit.  "that  says  no  to,"  "opposes,"  c/.  iii.  1.  124  "saxa 
292 


SILVAE,  V.  II.  46-68 

carry  out  his  great  commands.  Already  the  bar- 
barian land  itself  knew  the  hero  well  ;  his  was  the 
second  crest  in  battle,  his  helm  stood  nearest  to 
his  chief's.  So  were  the  Phrygians  dismayed,**  and 
though  it  was  the  arms  of  Nemea  they  saw,  and 
Cleonae's  bow  that  drove  their  ranks  in  rout,  ay, 
though  Alcides  fought,  yet  feared  they  Telamon  also. 
Learn,  boy — for  no  stranger  needst  thou  seek  to 
teach  thee  the  fair  love  of  valour  ;  let  kindred  renown 
inflame  thee  :  others  may  seek  a  pattern  in  Decius 
or  the  returning  of  Camillus  ** — learn  thou  the  lesson 
of  thy  sire,*^  in  what  might  he  entered  Thule  that  sets 
a  barrier  to  western  waves,*^  where  Hyperion  is  ever 
weary,  and  bore  the  commands  of  Caesar,  how 
powerfully  he  governed  the  thousand  cities  of  lordly 
Asia  in  the  allotted  year,  yet  with  justice  tempering 
authority.  Drink  in  with  ready  ear  these  stoi-ies, 
for  these  let  thy  kinsmen  strive  to  win  thy  love,  these 
precepts  let  thy  comrades  and  thy  father's  friends 
repeat. 

And  now  thou  art  planning  a  journey  to  other 
lands,  and  art  preparing  to  be  gone  with  no  sluggish 
stride  ;  not  yet  have  the  signs  of  vigorous  manhood 
crept  about  thy  cheeks,  blameless  still  is  the  tenour 
of  thy  life.  Nor  is  thy  father  with  thee  :  a  cruel  fate 
has  taken  him,  he  is  dead,  leaving  two  children  with- 
out a  guardian.  He  did  not  even  take  off  the  purple 
of  boyhood  from  thy  youthful  arins,  or  put  the  white 
raiment  about  thy  shoulders.*'  Whom  hath  not  un- 
restrained youth  corrupted,  and  the  too  hasty  freedom 

nef!:antia  ferro,"  also  Theh.  ii.  668.  Thule  was  regarded 
rather  as  in  the  extreme  W.  than  in  the  N. 

"  The  change  from  the  pur])le-bordered  toga  of  childhood 
to  the  white  toga  of  manhood  is  referred  to. 

293 


ST  ATI  us 

libertas  properata  togae  !     ceu  nescia  falcis 

silva  comas  tollit  fructumque  exspirat  in  umbras.    70 

at  tibi  Pieriae  tenero  sub  pectore  curae 

et  pudor  et  docti  legem  sibi  dicere  mores  ; 

tunc  hilaris  probitas  et  frons  tranquilla  nitorque 

luxuriae  confine  tenens  pietasque  per  omnes 

dispensata  modos  ;  aequaevo  cedere  fratri  75 

mirarique  patrem  miseraeque  ignoscere  matri, 

admonuit  fortuna  domus.     tibine  ilia  nefanda 

pocula  letalesque  manu  componere  sucos 

evaluit,  qui  voce  potes  praevertere  morsus 

serpentum  atque  omnes  \Tiltu  placare  novercas  ?     80 

infestare  libet  manes  meritoque  precatu 

pacem  auferre  rogis  ;  sed  te,  puer  optime,  cerno 

flectentem  visus^  et  talia  dicta  parantem  : 

"  parce,  precor,  cineri  :  fatum  illud  et  ira  nocentum 

Parcarum  crimenque  dei.  mortalia  quisquis  85 

pectora  sero  videt  nee  primo  in  limine  sistit 

conatus  scelerum  atque  animos  infanda  parantes. 

excidat  ilia  dies  aevo  nee  postera  credant 

saecula  !     nos  certe  taceamus  et  obruta  multa 

nocte  tegi  propriae  patiamur  crimina  gentis.  90 

exegit  poenas,  hominum  cui  cura  suorum, 

quo  Pietas  auctore  redit  terrasque  revisit, 

quern  timet  omne  nefas.     satis  haec  lacrimandaque 

nobis 
ultio.     quin  saevas  utinam  exorare  liceret 
^  visus  Postgate  :  iustis  M. 

"  Ace.  to  Lemaire,  "  admonuit "  implies  "  you  have 
learnt  from  the  storj'  of  your  house  to,"  etc. 

"  Crispinus  is  praised  for  his  generosity  towards  his 
mother  who   tried  to  poison   him   perhaps   out  of  favour 

294 


SILVAE,  V.  II.  69-94 

of  the  gown  !  even  as  a  tree,  when  it  knows  not 
the  knife,  luxuriates  in  growth  and  wastes  its  fruit- 
fuhiess  in  leaf?  But  beneath  thy  youthful  breast 
are  modesty  and  study  of  the  Muse  and  a  nature 
self-controlled  ;  mirth  too  thou  hast  and  honesty 
and  a  tranquil  brow,  and  an  elegance  that  stops  short 
of  luxury,  and  loyal  devotion  lavished  on  every  side  ; 
the  fortune  of  thy  house  has  taught  '^  thee  to  give 
place  to  thy  brother  of  equal  age,  to  reverence  thy 
sire  and  to  forgive  thy  hapless  mother,*  Could  she 
bring  herself  to  mix  for  thee  the  accursed  cup  of 
deadly  juices,  Avho  by  thy  voice  canst  avert  the  bite 
of  serpents,  and  by  thy  look  soften  the  heart  of  any 
stepmother  ?  Fain  would  I  vex  her  shade,  and  by 
merited  curses  banish  peace  from  her  pyre  :  but  thou, 
O  best  of  youths,  dost  turn  thy  face,"  I  see,  and 
ponderest  such  words  as  these  :  "  Spare  the  dust,  I 
pray  ;  'twas  destiny  and  the  wrath  of  guilty  Fates  ; 
that  god  was  to  blame,  who  looks  too  late  into  human 
hearts,  nor  checks  upon  the  threshold  the  motions  of 
evil  and  the  unhalloMed  plottings  of  the  mind.  May 
that  day  perish  from  Time's  record,  nor  future 
generations  beheve  it  !  Let  us  at  least  keep  silence, 
and  suffer  the  crimes  of  our  own  house  to  be  buried 
deep  in  whelming  darkness.  He  wreaked  the  penalty 
who  hath  care  of  those  who  are  his,  at  whose  word 
Loyalty  hath  returned  and  come  on  earth  again, 
whom  every  sin  doth  fear.*^  Sufficient  for  us  and 
deserving  of  our  tears  is  his  vengeance.  Nay,  could 
we  but  implore  the  fierce  Avengers,  and  keep  Cer- 

towards  his  brother.     A  friend,  Optatus,  is  mentioned  at 
the  end  of  the  poem. 

"  i.p.,  "dost  refuse  to  gratify  my  wish." 

''  I.e.,  the  Emperor. 

295 


ST  ATI  us 

Eumenidas  timidaeque  avertere  Cerberon  umbrae  95 
immemoremque  tuis  citius  dare  manibus  amnem." 

Macte  animo,  iuvenis  !  sed  crescunt  crimina  matris. 
nee  tantum  pietas,  sed  protinus  ardua  \irtus 
aiFectata  tibi.     nuper  cum  forte  sodalis 
immeritae  falso  palleret  crimine  famae  100 

erigeretque  forum  succinctaque  iudice  multo 
surgeret  et  castum  vibraret  lulia  fulmen  : 
tu,  quamquam  non  ante  forum  legesque  severas 
passus,  sed  tacita  studiorum  occultus  in  umbra, 
defensare  metus  adversaque  tela  subisti  105 

pellere,  inermis  adhue  et  tiro,  parentis  amici. 
baud  umquam  tales  aspexit  Romulus  annos 
Dardaniusque  senex  medii  bellare  togata 
strage  fori,     stupuere  patres  temptamina  tanta 
conatusque  tuos,  nee  te  reus  ipse  timebat.^  110 

par  vigor  et  membris,  promptaeque  ad  fortia  vires 
sufficiunt  animo  atque  ingentia  iussa  sequuntur 
ipse  ego  te  nuper  Tiberino  in  litore  \idi, 
qua  Tyrrhena  vadis  Laurentibus  aestuat  unda, 
tendentem  cursus  vexantemque  ilia  nuda  115 

calce  ferocis  equi,  vultu  dextraque  minaeem  : 
— si  qua  fides  dictis,  stupui  armatumque^  puta\i — : 
Gaetulo  sic  pulcher  equo  Troianaque  quassans 
tela  novercales  ibat  venator  in  agros 

^  nee  te  reus  ipse  timebat  M :  some  edd.  mark  a  lacuna 
after  reus :  de  te,  pro  te  edd.,  nee  tunc  Leo  :  se  .  .  .  tenebat 
conj.  PJtilUmore. 

*  armatumque  M :   Martemque  Markland. 

"  The  charge  was  probably  one  of  adultery,  which  would 
be  dealt  with  under  the  Lex  lulia  de  maritandis  ordinibus. 

*  Romulus  and  Aeneas,  i.e.  their  statues  in  the  Forum. 

•^  I  adopt  this  interpretation  with  a  good  deal  of  hesita- 
tion ("  nee  reus  ipse=  et  ipse  is  qui  non  erat  reus  ").    I  do  not, 

296 


SILVAE,  V.  11.  95-119 

berus  from  tliat  timid  shade,  ay,  more  swiftly  grant 
thy  ghost  the  waters  of  forgetfuhiess  ! 

A  blessing  on  thy  heart,  O  youth  !  yet  the  greater 
grows  thy  mother's  crime.  Not  devotion  only,  but 
high  courage  also  has  been  thy  aim.  Lately  when 
thy  friend  grew  pale  at  a  false  charge  and  unmerited 
ill-fame,  and  the  Julian  law  awoke  the  Courts,"  and 
girt  with  her  train  of  justices  arose  and  shook  her 
lightning-brand  of  chastity  :  thou,  although  without 
expei'ience  of  trials  or  stern  laws,  but  ever  hidden  in 
the  silence  of  thy  studious  shade,  yet  didst  take  upon 
thee  to  avert  his  fears,  and,  thyself  an  unarmed 
recruit,  to  repel  the  bolts  that  threatened  thy  terror- 
stricken  friend.  Never  before  did  Romulus  and  our 
Dardanian  ancestor  ^  behold  so  young  a  combatant 
wage  gowned  warfare  in  mid-forum.  The  fathers 
were  amazed  at  so  brave  a  venture  and  at  thy  daring 
and  even  the  innocent  feared  thee."  In  thy  limbs 
too  is  the  same  vigour,  and  thy  strength  ever  ready 
for  valiant  deeds  is  sufficient  for  thy  courage  and 
obedient  to  high  behests.  Myself  I  saw  thee  of  late 
on  Tiber's  bank,  where  the  Tyrrhenian  M'ave  foams 
against  I-atian  shallows,  speeding  on  thy  course,  and 
with  naked  heel  goading  the  flank  of  thy  mettled 
steed,  with  threatening  hand  and  visage  : — as  I 
speak  ti'uth,  I  stood  aghast,  and  thought  thee  armed 
for  battle — ;  so  fair  to  see  rode  Ascanius  on  a 
Gaetulian  horse  a -hunting  into  his  stepmother's 
fields,  brandishing  Trojan  shafts,  and  made  hapless 

however,  think  there  is  a  lacuna  here.  Prof.  Hardie  adopts 
Prof.  Slater's  suggestion  that  nee  te  is  a  corruption  of  vecti,  i.e. 
Crispinus  hhuself,  and  reads  after  109 — 

ipse  etiam  stupuit  tanti  modo  criminis  auctor 
conatusque  tuos,  Vecti, — reus  ipse — tiniebat. 

297 


STATIUS 

Ascanius  miseramque  patri  flagrabat  Elissam  ;       120 
Troilus  haud  aliter  gyro  le\iore  niinantes 
eludebat  equos  aut  quern  de  turribus  altis 
Arcadas  Ogygio  versantem  in  pulvere  metas 
spectabant  Tyriae  non  torvo  lumine  matres. 

Ergo  age  iam^magno  —  ducis  indulgentia  pulsat  125 
certaque  dat  votis  hilaris  vestigia  frater — 
surge  aninio  et  fortes  castrorum  concipe  curas. 
monstrabunt  acies  Mavors  Aetaeaque  virgo, 
flectere  Castor  equos,  umeris  quatere  arnia  Quirinus, 
qui  tibi  tam  tenero  pernn'sit  plaudere  collo  130 

nubigenas  clipeos  intactaque  caedibus  arma. 

Quasnam  igitur  terras,  quern  Caesaris  ibis  in  orbem? 
Arctoosne  amnes  et  Rheni  fracta  natabis 
flumina  an  aestiferis  Libyae  sudabis  in  arvis  ? 
an  iuga  Pannoniae  mutatoresque  domorum  135 

Sauromatas  quaties  ?     an  te  septenus  habebit 
Hister  et  umbroso  circumflua  eoniuge  Peuee  ? 
an  Solymum  cinerem  palmetaque  capta  subibis 
non  sibi  felices  silvas  ponentis  Idymes  ? 
quod  si  te  magno  tellus  frenata  parenti  140 

accipiat,  quantum  ferus  exsultabit  Araxes  ! 
quanta  Caledonios  attollet  gloria  campos  ! 
cum  tibi  longaevus  referet  trucis  incola  terrae  : 
"  hie  suetus  dare  iura  parens,  hoc  caespite  turmas 

^  lam  Phillimore :  nam  M  ;  punctuation  Vollmer's. 

"  i.e.,  wheeled  as  though  he  were  racing  in  Arcadia. 
"  versantem  metas  "  is  grammatically  a  sort  of  hypallage,  for 
"versantem  currum  circa  metas."     Cf.  Theb.  ix.  683. 

*  i.e.,  Parthenopaeus. 

"  Pallas  Athene. 

**  He  was  one  of  the  youthful  Salii  Quirinales,  the  priests 
of  Mars,  who  carried  the  sacred  shields  ("  ancilia  "J  in  his 
worship. 

!^98 


SILVAE,  V.  II.  120-144 

Elissa  burn  with  passion  for  his  sire  ;  not  otherwise 
did  Troilus  circhng  more  nimbly  elude  the  menacing 
steeds,  or  he  whom  as  he  wheeled  round  the  turning- 
posts  of  Arcady  "  in  the  dust  of  Thebes  the  Tyrian 
matrons  beheld  from  their  high  towers  mth  no 
unkindly  eyes.^ 

Come  then — for  thy  Prince's  favour  urges  thee  on, 
and  thy  brother  leaves  sure  footprints  for  thy  vows, 
— arise  with  valiant  heart,  and  bethink  thee  of  the 
camp  and  its  manly  cares.  Mars  and  the  Attic  maid*^ 
shall  show  thee  the  battle  line.  Castor  shall  teach 
thee  to  wheel  thy  horsemen,  Quix'inus  '^  to  clash  thy 
arms  upon  thy  shoulders,  Quirinus  who  suffered  thee 
to  make  ring  upon  thy  youthful  neck  the  cloud-born 
shields  and  armour  unstained  with  blood. 

To  what  lands  then,  to  which  of  Caesar's  worlds 
wilt  thou  go  ?  Wilt  thou  s\vim  Northern  rivers  and 
the  broken  waters  of  Rhine,  or  sweat  in  the  hot  fields 
of  Libya  ?  Wilt  thou  make  Pannonian  mountains 
tremble,  and  the  Sauromatae  that  shift  their  dwell- 
ing ?  Shall  sevenfold  Danube  hold  thee,  and  Peuce 
that  lies  amid  her  lover's  shady  streams  ?  ^  Or  wilt 
thou  tread  the  dust  of  Solyma,^  and  the  captive  palm- 
groves  of  Idume,  who  not  for  herself  did  plant  her 
fruitful  orchards  ?  But  if  the  land  that  thy  mighty 
parent  curbed  receive  thee,  how  will  savage  Araxes 
thrill  with  joy  !  What  glory  will  exalt  the  Caledonian 
plains  !  when  some  aged  dweller  in  that  bloodthirsty 
land  tells  thee  :  s  "  Here  was  thy  father  wont  to  give 

*  An  island  in  the  Danube,  so  called  after  the  wife  of  the 
river-god,  cf.  Val.  Fl.  A7y.  viii.  217. 

^  i.e.,  Jerusalem. 

"  Vollmer  quotes  Tac.  Agr.  v.  and  the  references  to  Vettius 
Bolanus  in  Agr.  viii. 


STATIUS 

adfari  ;  late^  speculas^  castellaque  longe  145 

— aspicis  ? — ille  dedit  cinxitque  haec  moenia  fossa  ; 

belligeris  haec  dona  dels,  haec  tela  dica\it 

— cernis  adhuc  titulos — ;  hunc  ipse  vocantibus  armis 

induit,  hunc  regi  rapuit  thoraca  Britanno." 

qualiter  in  Teucros  victricia  bella  paranti  150 

ignotuni  Pyrrho  Phoenix  narrabat  Achillem. 

Felix,  qui  viridi  fidens,  Optate,  iuventa 
durabis  quascumque  vias  vallumque  subibis, 
forsan  et  ipse  latus — sic  numina  principis  adsint — 
cinctus  et  unaninii  comes  indefessus  amici,  155 

quo  Pylades  ex  more  pius,  quo  Dardana  gessit 
bella  Menoetiades.     quippe  haec  concordia  vobis, 
hie  amor  est  duretque  precor  !     nos  fortior  aetas 
lam  fugit  ;  hinc  votis  animum  precibusque  iuvabo, 
et  mihi  !     sed  questus  solitos  si  forte  ciebo  160 

et  mea  Romulei  venient  ad  carmina  patres, 
tu  deeris,  Crispine,  mihi,  cuneosque  per  omnes 
te  meus  absentem  circumspectabit  Achilles, 
sed  venies  melior — vatum  non  irrita  currunt 
omina — ,  quique  aquilas  tibi  nunc  et  castra  recludit, 
idem  omnes  perferre  gradus  cingique^  superbis       166 
fascibus  et  patrias  dabit  insedisse  curules. 

Sed  quis  ab  excelsis  Troianae  colhbus  Albae, 

^  late  Waller  :  vitae  M,  vicis,  vigiles,  Vetti,  viden  has 
etc.  edd.  *  speculas  S"  :  specula  M. 

*  cingique  Pol.  :  cingitque  J/. 

"  i.e.,  as  I  recite  it  (my  Achilleid). 

*  i.e.,  the  rank  of  military  tribune  ;  such  tribunes  were 
called  "  tribuni  laticlavii,"  as  compared  with  "  tr.  angusti- 
clavii,"  who  were  knights  (Suet.  OtJio,  10).  This  rank  and 
that  of  "  praefectus  alae  (equitum)  "  were  often  given 
to  sons  of  senators  (Suet.  Oct.  38).  Hence  "clari"  in 
V.  1.  97.  This  would  be  the  first  step  (i.  173)  in  the  senatorial 
career. 

300 


SILVAE,   V.   II.    145-168 

justice,  from  this  mound  would  he  harangue  his 
horsemen  ;  watch-towers  and  strongholds  in  wide 
circuit  did  he  set — dost  thou  see  ? — and  drew  a 
trench  around  these  walls  ;  these  gifts,  these  weapons 
did  he  dedicate  to  the  god  of  war^thou  seest  still 
their  titles  ;  this  cuirass  he  himself  put  on  at  the 
battle's  summons,  this  one  did  he  take  from  off  the 
British  king."  Such  tales  would  Phoenix  tell  to 
Pyrrhus,  as  he  planned  victorious  war  against  the 
Trojans,  of  Achilles  whom  he  had  never  known. 

Happy  thou,  Optatus,  who  trusting  in  thy  supple 
youth  shalt  endure  whatever  road  or  rampart  thou 
shalt  approach,  girt  thyself  also  with  the  sword, 
perchance — so  be  the  godhead  of  the  Prince  pro- 
pitious— and  the  untiring  comrade  of  thy  bosom 
friend,  even  as  was  devoted  Pylades,  or  Patroclus 
in  the  Dardan  war.  A  union  of  hearts  is  yours  ; 
true  affection  is  this,  and  I  pray  that  it  abide.  For 
me,  the  years  of  vigour  speed  fast  away  ;  there- 
fore with  vows  and  prayers  will  I  cheer  thy  spirit, 
and  mine  as  well  !  But  if  I  utter  my  wonted  lament 
and  the  Roman  fathers  come  to  hear  my  song,  I  shall 
then  feel  thy  loss,  Crispinus,  and  my  Achilles  "  will 
look  on  every  bench  for  thee  in  vain.  But  thou  shalt 
return  yet  more  renoM^ned — not  idly  run  the  pro- 
phecies of  the  seers — and  he  who  now  admits  thee 
to  the  eagles  ^  and  the  camp  shall  grant  thee  to 
accomplish  all  the  degrees  of  rank,  and  to  be  sur- 
rounded by  the  rods  of  power,  and  to  take  thy  seat 
on  thy  father's  curule  chair. 

But  who  is  this  that  from  Trojan  Alba's  ^  lofty  hills, 

"^  Alba,  founded  by  Ascanius  ;  the  Emperor  had  a  resi- 
dence there. 

301 


STATIUS 

unde  suae  iuxta  prospectat  moenia  Romae 
proximus  ille  deus,  Fama  velocior  intrat  170 

nuntius  atque  tuos  implet,  Crispine,  penates  ? 
dicebam  certe  :  vatum  non  irrita  currunt 
auguria.     en  !     ingens  reserat  tibi  limen  honorum 
Caesar  et  Ausonii  committit  munia  ferri. 
vade,^  puer,  tantisque  enixus  suffice  donis,  175 

felix,  qui  magno  iam  nunc  sub  praeside  iuras 
cuique  sacer  primum  tradit  Germanicus  ensem  ! 
non  minus  hoc,  fortis  quam  si  tibi  panderet  ipse 
Bellipotens  aquilas  torvaque  induceret  ora 
casside.     vade  alacer  maioraque  disce  mereri  !        180 


III.  EPICEDION  IN  PATREM  SUUM 

Ipse  malas  vires  et  lamentabile  carmen 
Elysio  de  fonte  niihi  pulsumque  sinistrae 
da,    genitor    praedocte,    lyrae.     neque    enim    antra 

moveri 
Delia  nee  solitam  fas  est  impellere  Cirrham 
te  sine.     Corycia  quicquid  mode  Phoebus  in  umbra, 
quicquid  ab  Ismariis  monstrabat  colhbus  Euhan,       6 
dedidici.     fugere  meos  Parnasia  crines 
vellera,  funestamque  hederis  inrepere  taxum 

^  vade  Pol.  :  unde  M. 

«  On  Parnassus  {cf.  Theb.  vii.  348). 
*  In  Thrace,  with  which  Bacchus  was  connected  in  legend. 
302 


SILVAE,  V.  II.  169— III.  8 

whence  that  present  deity  looks  forth  upon  the  walls 
of  his  own  Rome  hard  by,  enters  outstripping  Rumour, 
and  with  his  news  fills  all  thy  house,  Crispinus  ? 
Surely  was  I  saying :  "  Not  idly  run  the  prophecies 
of  the  seers."  Lo  !  Caesar  unbars  for  thee  the 
mighty  threshold  of  renown,  and  entrusts  the  sword 
of  Ausonia  to  thy  keeping.  Forward,  lad  !  having 
striven  so  far  have  strength  for  this  great  privilege, 
happy,  who  even  now  dost  swear  homage  to  thy 
mighty  Cliief,  and  to  whom  divine  Germanicus  doth 
give  thy  first  sword  !  This  is  no  lesser  gift,  than  if 
the  God  of  war  himself  bestowed  on  thee  his  strong 
eagles,  and  set  his  grim  casque  upon  thy  head.  Go 
in  good  heart,  and  learn  to  merit  yet  higher  honours  ! 


III.  THE  POET'S  LAMENT  FOR  HIS  FATHER 

TJie  longest  and  most  elaborate  of  the  epicedia,  and 
marked  by  much  deeper  and  more  genuine  feeling  than  the 
others  {except  perhaps  v.  5)  /  it  is  to  be  noticed  that  it  only 
appears  in  the  fifth  book  of  the  Silvae,  though  his  father  had 
died  about  fifteen  years  previously.  Possibly  the  last  book 
was  posthumous  ;  it  has  no  preface  to  it,  as  the  others  have, 
only  a  letter  to  Abascantus,  and  its  last  poem  is  an  unfinished 
one. 

Do  thou  thyself,  most  learned  sire,  vouchsafe  me 
from  Elysian  springs  a  bitter  potency  in  the  music  of 
grief,  and  the  touch  of  an  ill-omened  lyre.  For 
without  thee  I  may  not  move  the  Delian  grottoes,  or 
awake  Cirrha  to  wonted  strains.  All  that  Phoebus 
of  late  revealed  in  his  Corycian  bower,"  and  Euhan 
upon  the  hills  of  Ismara,**  I  have  unlearnt.  The 
fillets  of  Parnassus  have  dropped  from  my  brow,  and 
I  have  beheld  in  fear  the  deadly  yew  creep  in  among 


ST  ATI  us 

extimui  trepidamque — nefas  ! — arescere  laurum. 
certe  ego,  magnanimum  qui  facta  attollere  regum  10 
ibam  altum  spirans  Martemque  aequare  canendo. 
quis  sterili  mea  corda  situ,  quis  Apolline  merso 
frigida  damnatae  praeduxit  nubila  menti  ? 
stant  circum  attonitae  vatem  et  nil  dulce  sonantes 
nee  digitis  nee  voce  deae.     dux  ipsa  silenti  15 

fulta  caput  cithara,  qualis  post  Orphea  raptuni 
astitit,  Hebre,  tibi,  cernens  iam  surda  ferarum 
agmina  et  immotos  sublato  carmine  lucos. 

At  tu  seu  membris  emissus  in  ardua  tendens 
fulgentesque  plagas  rerumque  elementa  recenses,  20 
quis  deus,  unde  ignes,  quae  ducat  semita  solem, 
quae  minuat  Phoeben  quaeque  integrare  latentem 
causa  queat,  notique  modos  extendis  Arati, 
seu  tu  Lethaei  secreto  in  graniine  campi 
concilia  herouni  iuxta  manesque  beatos,  25 

Maeoniuni  Ascraeumque  seneni,  non  segnior  umbra 
accolis  alternumque  sonas  et  carmina  misces  : 
da  vocem  magno,  pater,  ingeniumque  dolori. 
nam  me  ter  relegens  caelo^  terque  ora  retexens 
Luna  videt  residem  nullaque  Heliconide  tristes        30 
solantem  curas  ;  tuus  ut  mihi  vultibus  ignis 
inrubuit  cineremque  oculis  umentibus  hausi, 
vilis  honos  studiis.     vix  haec  in  munera  solvo 
primum  animum,  tacitisque  situm  depellere  curis^ 

^  caelo  M :  caelum  Heinsius. 
^  tacitis  .  .  .  curis  M :  tactis  .  .  .  chordis  Polster. 

"  Author  of  an  astronomical  treatise  called  Phaenomena. 

*  Homer  and  Hesiod. 

"  This  perhaps  is  not  to  be  literally  taken,  i.e.  that  the 
poem  was  written  three  months  after  his  father's  death  ; 
still  in  any  case  he  must  have  kept  it  by  him  for  a  long 
while  before  publishing  it — if  indeed  the  publication  was 
not  posthumous. 
304 


SILVAE,  V.  in.  9-34 

the  ivy-leaves,  and  the  trembling  bay — ah  !  lioiTor  ! 
— ^\ither  and  die.  Yet  surely  I  am  he  who,  loftily 
inspired,  essayed  to  extol  tlie  deeds  of  great-hearted 
kings,  and  to  raise  my  song  to  the  height  of  Mars 
himself.  Who  has  doomed  my  spirit  to  decay  ? 
Who  has  drawn  a  cold  shroud  of  mist  about  my 
blighted  heart,  and  drowned  my  inspiration  }  The 
goddesses  stand  dismayed  around  the  bard,  and  with 
neither  voice  nor  finger  make  sweet  melody.  Their 
queen  herself  sinks  her  head  upon  her  silent  lyre,  as 
when  after  Orpheus'  loss  she  halted  by  thy  stream, 
O  Hebrus,  and  gazed  at  the  troops  of  beasts  that 
listened  no  more,  and  the  woods  that  moved  not 
since  the  strains  were  gone. 

But  thou,  whether  freed  from  the  body  thou 
soarest  to  the  heights  and  reviewest  the  glittering 
realms  and  the  elements  of  things,  learning  what  is 
God,  whence  cometh  fire,  what  orbit  guides  the  sun, 
what  cause  makes  Phoebe  wane  and  has  power  to 
restore  her  hidden  light,  and  dost  continue  the  music 
of  renowned  Aratus  "  ;  or  whether  in  the  secluded 
grassy  meads  of  Lethe,  among  gatherings  of  heroes 
and  spirits  of  the  blest,  thou  dost  attend  the  Maeonian 
and  Ascraean  sages, ^  thyself  no  feebler  shade,  and 
makest  music  in  thy  turn  and  minglest  thy  song  ^\ith 
theirs  :  O  grant  a  voice  and  inspiration,  father,  to 
my  great  grief.  For  thrice  ^  has  the  moon  journeyed 
o'er  the  heaven,  and  thrice  displayed  her  counten- 
ance, and  still  beholds  me  sluggish,  and  my  sadness 
unconsoled  by  any  draught  of  Helicon  ;  ever  since 
thy  pyre  shed  its  red  light  upon  my  face,  and  with 
streaming  eyes  I  gazed  upon  thy  ashes,  I  have  held 
cheap  my  poet's  art.  Scarce  do  I  for  the  first  time 
free  my   mind  for   tasks   like    this,   and   (e'en  now 

VOL.  1  X  805 


ST  ATI  us 

nunc  etiam  labente  manu  nee  lumine  sieco  35 

ordior  adelinis  tuniulo,  quo  niolle  quieseis 

iugera  nostra  tenens,  ubi  post  Aeneia  fata 

stellatus  Latiis  ingessit  montibus  Albam 

Ascanius,  Phrygio  dum  pingues  sanguine  campos 

odit  et  infaustae  regnum  dot  ale  novercae.  40 

hie  ego  te — nam  Sicanii  non  mitius  halat 

aura  croci,  dites  nee  si  tibi  rara  Sabaei 

cinnama,  odoratas  nee  Arabs  decerpsit  aristas — 

inferiis  cumulande  sacris,  te^  carmine  plango 

Pierio  ;  sume  o  gemitus  et  vulnera  nati  45 

et  lacrimas,  rari  quas  umquam  habuere  parentes. 

atque  utinam  foi'tuna  milii,  dare  manibus  aras, 

par  templis  opus,  aeriamque  educere  molem, 

Cyclopum  scopulos  ultra  atque  audacia  saxa 

Pyramidum,  et  magno  tumulum  praetexere  luco  !  50 

illic  et  Siculi  superassem  dona  sepulcri 

et  Nemees  lucum  et  Pelopis  solemnia  trunci. 

illic  Oebalio  non  finderet  aera  disco 

Graiorum  vis  nuda^  virum,  non  arva  rigaret 

sudor  equum  aut  putri  sonitum  daret  ungula  fossa  ; 

sed  Phoebi  simplex  chorus,  et  frondentia  vatum      56 

praemia  laudato,  genitor,  tibi  rite  ligarem.^ 

ipse  madens  oculis,  umbrarum  animaeque  sacerdos, 

^  inferiis  cumulande  sacris  te  PhiUimore  :  inferni  cum 
laudae  laci  M :  inferiis  cum  laude  datis  et  Krohn  :  inserui  cum 
laude  loci  Dom.,  te  conj.  Markland. 

^  nuda  5"  :  unda  M:  uncta  Polster. 

^  ligarem  M :  dicarem  S",  litarent  Ellis. 

"  Probably  refers  to  the  incident  related  Aen.  ii.  682  : 

ecce  levis  summo  de  vertice  visus  luli 
fundere  lumen  apex,  etc. 

''  Lavinia. 

306 


SILVAE,  V.  III.  35-58 

with  failing  hand  and  no  tearless  eye)  essay  to 
shake  my  silent  sorrow  from  its  torpor,  leaning 
against  the  tomb  in  which  thou  dost  rest  at  peace 
in  our  own  fields, — those  fields  where  after  Aeneas' 
death  star-bright  Ascanius  set  Alba  upon  Latian 
hills,''  in  hatred  of  the  plains  that  Phrygian  blood 
had  drenched,  the  royal  dower  of  his  ill-omened 
stepdame.^  Here  in  thy  honour — nor  softer  is  the 
fragrant  breath  of  Sicanian  crocus,  nor  the  rare 
cinnamon  that  rich  Sabaeans  pluck  thee,  nor  per- 
fumed blossoms  of  Arabia — O  thou  who  deservest 
full  meed  of  holy  offerings,  do  I  make  musical  lament  ; 
ah  !  receive  the  groans  and  the  anguish  of  thy  son, 
and  tears  such  as  have  been  shed  for  but  few  fathers. 
Would  it  were  my  fortune,  to  build  an  altar  to  thy 
shade,  a  work  that  would  match  temples,  to  raise 
high  the  soaring  fabric,  higher  than  Cyclopean  rock 
or  the  Pyramids'  bold  masonry,  and  plant  a  mighty 
grove  about  thy  tomb.  There  had  I  surpassed  the 
tribute  of  the  Sicilian  sepulchre,  and  Nemea's  pre- 
cinct and  the  rites  of  maimed  Pelops.''  There  no 
naked  band  of  Grecian  athletes  would  cleave  the  air 
with  the  Oebahan  disk,*^  no  sweat  of  steeds  would 
water  the  ground  or  hoof-beat  ring  upon  the 
crumbling  track  ;  there  would  be  but  the  choir  of 
Phoebus,  and  I  would  duly  sing  thy  praise,  O  father, 
and  bind  on  thee  the  minstrel's  prize  of  leaves.  I 
myself,  as  priest  of  the  dead  and  of  thy  soul,  would 
with  moist  eyes  lead  a  mournful  dirge,  from  which 

"  The  references  are  to  the  tomb  raised  by  Aeneas  for 
Anchises,  that  of  Opheltes  (see  Tlieh.  vi.  242),  and  the 
Olympian  games  founded  in  honour  of  Pelops. 

■*  It  was  with  the  quoit  that  Apollo  slew  Narcissus,  son 
of  Oebalus,  king  of  Sparta. 

307 


ST  ATI  us 

praecinerem  gemitum,  cui  te  nee  Cerberus  omni 
ore  nee  Orpheae  quirent  avertere  leges.  60 

atque  ibi  me^  moresque  tuos  et  facta  canentem 
fors  et  magniloquo  non  posthabuisset  Homero, 
tenderet  et  torvo  pietas  aequare  Maroni. 

Cur  magis  incessat  superos  et  aena  sororum 
stamina,  quae  tepido  genetrix  super  aggere  nati     65 
orba  sedet  vel  quae  primaevi  eoniugis  ignem 
aspicit  obstantesque  manus  turbamque  tenentem 
vincit  in  ardentem,  liceat,  moritura^  maritum  ? 
maior  et  his  forsan  superos  et  Tartara  pulsem^ 
invidia  :  externis  etiam  miserabile  visu  70 

funus  eat.^     sed  nee  modo  se  Natura  dolenti 
nec^  Pietas  in  iusta®  dedit  ;  mihi  limine  primo 
fatorum  et  viridi,  genitor,  ceu  raptus  ab  aevo 
Tartara  dura  subis.     nee  enim  Marathonia  virgo 
parcius  exstinctum  saevorum  crimine  agrestum        75 
fleverit  Icarium,  Phrygia  quam  turre  cadentem 
Astyanacta  parens,     laqueo  quin  ilia  supremo 

^  ibi  me  Heinslus  :  tibi  M. 

^  moritura  M :    modo  itura  Schrader,  ruitura  Heinshis. 
^  maior  et  his  .  .  .  pulsem /tro/o^:  aliis  3/:  at  his  ^af/?re«s: 
ais  Vollmer :  ab  his  Pliilhmore,  who  reads  pulset. 

*  invidia:  .  .  eat.  edd.:  invidia?  .  .  .  eat?  PlriUimore. 

*  nee  Mi  sed  Phillimore,  bracketing  nee  modo  to  dedit. 

*  in  iusta  Boxhorn  :  iniusta  edd. 


"  The  idea  running  through  this  passage  is  that  to  him 
his  father  is  as  one  untimely  dead,  and  that  therefore  this 
bitterness  is  added  to  the  grief  felt  bj'  natural  affection  ; 
Erigone  is  an  example  of  the  same  thing.     She  bewailed  her 

308 


SILVAE,  V.  III.  59-77 

neither  Cerberus  with  all  his  mouths  nor  Orpheus' 
cruel  bond  could  keep  thee.  There  as  I  sang  of  thy 
goodness  and  thy  deeds  perchance  thy  love  had 
deemed  me  not  second  to  Homer's  mighty  utterance, 
ay,  would  even  fain  hold  me  equal  to  Maro's  solemn 
chant. 

«  Why  does  the  mother  who  sits  bereaved  by  her 
son's  still-glowing  pile  assail  the  gods  and  the  Sisters' 
brazen  threads  more  bitterly  than  I  ?  Why  she  who 
looks  upon  the  flames  that  consume  her  youthful 
spouse,  and  breaks  through  the  hands  that  stay  her 
and  the  resisting  crowd,  to  die,  do  they  but  suffer 
her,  upon  her  husband's  blazing  corpse  ?  More 
fiercely  even  than  theirs,  perchance,  does  my  I'eproach 
strike  Tartarus  and  the  gods  ;  ^  perchance  even  alien 
eyes  find  sorrow  in  the  funeral  train.  Ay,  not 
Nature  only  nor  Affection  have  lent  themselves  to 
my  grief  for  tliese  sad  rites  :  for  to  me,  O  father, 
thou  wei't  cut  off  on  manhood's  earliest  thi-eshold, 
and  in  the  prime  of  hfe  didst  enter  cruel  Tartarus. 
For  neither  did  the  Marathonian  maid  lament 
Icarius'  death,  that  savage  countrymen  wrought, 
more  sparingly  than  his  mother  mourned  Astyanax 
hurled  down  from  the  Phrygian  tower.  Nay,  Erigone 
stifled  her  sobs  in  the  noose  that  took  her  life  ;    but 

father  Icarius  no  less  bitterly  than  Andromache  mourned 
Astyanax  her  son  ;  Erigone  slew  herself,  while  Andromache 
became  the  slave  of  Pyrrhus. 

"  The  construction  seems  to  be  "  perhaps  fiercer  than 
these  in  my  reproach  I  strike,"  etc.  ;  "  invidia  "  is  strictly 
the  feeling  of  bitterness  against  a  person,  often  of  the 
bereaved  towards  the  gods,  c/.  Tliph.  ix.  723  ;  Silv.  v.  5.  78. 
The  sympathy  of  onlookers  is  often  referred  to  as  being 
aroused  especially  by  cases  of  untimely  death,  cf.  ii.  1.  175, 
V.  1.  217. 

'S09 


STATIUS 

inclusit  gemitus  :  at  te  post  funera  magni 
Hectoris  Haemonio  pudor  est  servisse  marito. 

Non  ego,  quas  fati  certus  sibi  morte  canora  80 

inferias  praemittit  olor  nee  rupe  quod  atra 
Tyrrhenae  volueres  nautis  praedulce  minantur, 
in  patrios  adhibebo  rogos  :  non  murmure  truneo 
quod  gemit  et  durae  queritur  Philomela  sorori  : 
nota  nimis  vati.     quis  non  in  funere  cunctos  85 

Heliadum  ranios  lacrimosaque  gerniina  dixit 
et  Phrygiuni  silicem  atque  ausum  contraria  Phoebo 
carmina  nee  fida^  gavisam  Pallada  buxo  ? 
te  Pietas  oblita  virum  revoeataque  caelo 
lustitia  et  gemina  plangat  Faeundia  lingua  90 

et  Pallas  doctique  cohors  Heliconia  Phoebi, 
quis  labor  Aonios  seno  pede  ducere  cantus^ 
et  quibus  Arcadia  carmen  testudine  mensis 
cura  lyrae^  nomenque  fuit  quosque  orbe  sub  omni 
ardua  septena  numerat  Sapientia  fania,  95 

qui  furias  regumque  domos  aversaque  caelo 
sidera  terrifico  super  intonuere  cothurno, 
et  quis  lasciva  vires  tenuare  Thalia 

^  fida  M:  foeda  Heinsius:  bifida  PliiUimore. 

"  cantus  Barth  :  campos  M :  currere  campos  Heinsius. 

*  cura  lyrae  Gronovius  :  cydalibem  M. 

"  i.e.,  Andromache,  mother  of  Astyanax:  she  became  the 
slave  of  Neoptolemus,  son  of  Achilles  after  the  death  of  her 
husband.  Hector.  *  See  on  ii.  2.  1. 

'  Pallas  had  her  own  reasons  for  disliking  the  flute,  and 
was  therefore  glad  when  it  betrayed  Marsyas.     The  other 

310 


SILVAE,  V.   III.   78-98 

thou,''  when  mighty  Hector  was  dead,  didst  stoop  to 
serve  a  Haemoman  lord. 

I  shall  not  bring  to  my  father's  pyre  that  tribute  of 
death-music  which  the  swan  when  he  knows  his  doom 
sends  to  the  world  beneath,  nor  the  warning  strains 
surpassing  sweet  that  the  Tyrrhenian  ^  winged  maids 
chant  to  mariners  from  the  fatal  cliff :  no  sorrowful 
tongueless  plaint  of  Philomela  to  her  cruel  sister  : 
the  minstrel  knows  them  all  too  well.  Who  by  the 
grave's  side  has  not  recounted  all  the  branches  and 
all  the  amber  tears  of  the  Sun's  daughters,  and 
Phrygia's  flinty  rock,  and  him  who  dared  make  music 
against  Phoebus,  while  Pallas  rejoiced  that  the 
boxwood-pipe  deceived  him  ?  '^  Nay,  let  Pity  that 
has  forgotten  men,*^  and  Justice  recalled  to  heaven, 
and  Eloquence  in  either  tongue  bewail  thee,  and 
Pallas  and  the  Heliconian  train  of  minstrel  Phoebus  ; 
those  also  whose  toil  it  is  to  guide  Aonian  song  in 
six-foot  measures,*^  and  they  who  fit  their  strains  to 
the  Arcadian  tortoise-shell,-''  and  find  in  the  lyre  their 
labour  and  renown,  those  whom  'neath  every  sky 
sublimest  Wisdom  counts  in  the  sevenfold  roll  of 
Fame  »  ;  they  who  in  the  dread  buskin  have  thun- 
dered out  the  fury  and  the  wickedness  of  kings,  and 
told  of  the  sun's  light  hidden  from  the  earth,  and 
they  whose  joy  it  is  to  relax  their  powers  in  Thalia's 

references  are  to  the  daughter  of  the  Sun  who  wept  for 
Phaethon,  and  to  Niobe  (from  Mt.  Sipylus  in  Phrygia,  where 
the  tigure  of  Niobe  was,  according  to  legend). 

^  See  ill.  3.  1  n. 

^  i.e.,  the  epic  hexameter.  Aonian=of  the  Muses,  lit.  = 
Boeotian. 

^  i.e.,  lyric,  suggested  by  "carmen"  and  "mensis." 

^  The  Seven  Wise  Men  ;  probably  prose  composition 
generally. 

31] 


STATIUS 

dulce  vel  heroos  gressu  truncare  tenores.^ 

omnia  namque  animo  complexus  et  omnibus  auctor  ^ 

qua  fandi  vis  lata  patet,  sive  orsa  libebat  101 

Aoniis  \incire  modis  seu  voce  soluta 

spargere  et  effreno  nimbos  aequare  profatu. 

Exsere  semirutos  subito  de  pulvere  vultus, 
Parthenope,  crinemque  adflato  monte  sepultum     105 
pone  super  tumulos  et  magni  funus  alumni, 
quo  non  Munichiae^  quicquam  pi-aestantius  arces 
doctaque  Cyrene  Sparteve  animosa  creavit. 
si  tu  stirpe  vacans  famaeque^  obscura  iaceres 
nil  gentile  tenens,  illo  te  cive  probabas  110 

Graiam  atque  Euboico  maiorum  sanguine  duci. 
ille^  tuis  totiens  praestabat®  tempora  sertis, 
cum  stata  laudato  caneret  quinquennia  versu 
ora  supergressus  Pylii  senis^  oi-aque  regis 
Dulichii  specieque  comam  subnexus  utraque.^        115 
non  tibi  deformes  obscuri  sanguinis  ortus 
nee  sine  luce  genus  (quamquam  fortuna  parentum 
artior  expensis^)  ;  etenim  te  divite  ritu 

^  tenores  Dom.  :  leones  J/,  Vollmer:  labores,  lepores,  etc. 
edd. 

^  auctor  Dom.  :  utor  M. 

^  Munichiae  Pol.:  moniciae  M :  Monichiae  He'msivs'. 
Monychiae  Postgate. 

*  vacans  famaeque  Baehrens  :  vetas  famaeque  M :  nefas 
famaque  PhiUimore:  vetus  Dom, 

^  ille  M  :  ilia  Postgate. 

*  praestabat  Elter  :  prestat  sed  M :  praestant  se  Vollmer. 

'  senis  5"  :  gregis  M,  Klotz,  Vollmer :  regis  Pj^lii  conj. 
Postgate. 

^  specieque  .  .  .  utraqiie  Z>o?n. :  speciemque  .  .  .  utroque 
M,  Vollmer,  Klotz. 

®  expensis  Avantius:  extensis  M. 

312 


SILVAE,  V.  in.  99-118 

wantoning,  or  to  maim  of  one  foot  the  heroic  tenor 
of  their  lay."  For  all  measm'es  in  the  broad  path  of 
eloquence  did  thy  mind  embrace,  in  all  wert  thou  a 
master,  whether  it  pleased  tliee  to  bind  thy  utterance 
in  poesy,  or  to  fling  it  wide  in  unfettered  speech  and 
rival  the  rainstorms  by  the  unbridled  torrent  of  thy 
words. 

Lift  up,  Parthenope,  lift  up  thy  head  half-buried 
from  tlie  dust  that  suddenly  whelmed  thee,  lay  thy 
tresses  merged  beneath  the  mountain's  exhalations 
upon  the  tomb  of  thy  great  departed  son  :  than 
whom  neither  the  Munychian  towers  ^  nor  learned 
Cyrene  nor  Sparta's  valiant  spirit  '^  gave  birth  to 
aught  more  excellent.  Wert  thou  lacking  in  lineage, 
humble  and  unrenowned,  with  nought  of  thine  own 
race  to  show,  his  citizenship  would  prove  thee  Grecian 
and  sprung  from  Euboea  by  ancestral  blood.  He, 
whene'er  he  celebrated  the  solemn  quinquennial 
feast  '^  in  famous  verse,  as  often  offered  his  temples 
to  receive  thy  laurel-prize,  surpassing  the  utterance 
of  Pylian  sage  and  Dulichian  prince  alike,''  and 
binding  the  likeness  of  either  on  his  brow.  No  mean 
birth  of  blood  obscure  was  thine,  nor  was  thy  family 
without  distinction  (though  expenses  straitened  thy 
parents'  means)  ;  for  it  was  in  rich  pomp  that  Infancy 

"  On  the  MS.  reading  Volhner  remarks  :  "  kiihn  nennt 
der  Dichter  die  \erse,  welche  die  wie  Lowen  kampfenden 
Helden  darstellen,  selbst  '  leones.'  "  Traged}-,  comedy,  and 
elegy  are  denoted  in  11.  96-99. 

*  Athens. 

"  Callimachus  from  Cyrene,  Alcman  from  Sparta. 
^  The  Augustalia  at  Naples. 

*  Nestor  and  Ulysses  are  referred  to,  both  of  whom  were 
eloquent  speakers. 

313 


STATIUS 

ponere  purpureos  Infantia  legit^  anxictus 

stirpis  honore  datos  et  nobile  pectoris  aurum.         120 

protinus  exorto  dextrum  risere  sorores 

Aonides,  puerique  chelyn  summisit  et  ora 

imbuit  amne  sacro  iam  turn  milii  blandus  Apollo. 

nee  simplex  patriae  decus,  et  natalis  origo 

pendet  ab^  ambiguo  geminae  certamine  terrae.      125 

te  de  gente  suum  Latiis  ascita  colonis 

Graia  refert  Hyele,^  gravidas*  qua  puppe  magister 

exeidit  et  mediis  miser  evigilavit  in  undis  ; 

maior  at  inde  suum  longo  probat  ordine  vitae 

Parthenope ^ 

Maeoniden  aliaeque  aliis  natalibus  urbes  130 

diripiunt  cunctaeque  probant  ;  non  omnibus  ille 

verus,  alit  victos  immanis  gloria  falsi. 

atque  ibi  dum  prefers  annos  vitamque  salutas, 

protinus  ad  patrii  raperis  certamina  lustri 

vix  implenda  viris,  laudum  festinus  et  audax^         135 

ingenii.     stupuit  primaeva  ad  earmina  plebes 

Euboea  et  natis  te  monstravere  parentes. 

inde  frequens  pugnae  nulloque  ingloria  sacro 

vox  tua  :  non  totiens  victorem  Castora  gyro 

nee  fratrem  caestu  virides  plausere'  Therapnae.     140 

'  legit  M :  adegit  Dom.  ^  ab  Barth  :  et  M. 

^  Hyele  Heinsius  :    sele  M :  Velie  ff"  . 

*  gravidus  Ellis  :  gravis  M :  Graius  S". 

*  Lacuna  recognized  iiere  by  Markland,  as  there  is  no 
mention  of  Parthenope  ;  no  lacuna  in  Mss. 

^  festinus  et  audax  Lipsius  :  festina  sed  ut  dux  M. 
'  plausere  Dom. :  clausero  M. 

"  There  is  no  justification  for  changing  "  ponere "  to 
" sumere  "  ;  the  ceremony  clearly  is  the  lading  aside  of  the 
"  toga  praetexta  "  and  the  golden  "  bulla,"  emblems  of 
childhood  ;  the  fact  that  this  ceremony  was  performed  with 
great  pomp  is  given  as  a  proof  of  the  statement  "  non  tibi 
814 


SILVAE,  V.  HI.  119-140 

chose  thee  to  lay  by  the  purple  garb  '^  given  in 
honour  of  thy  birth  and  the  proud  gold  from  off  thy 
breast.  Straightway  at  thy  appearing  the  Aonian 
sisters  favourably  smiled,  and  Apollo  even  then  my 
friend  dipped  thy  boyish  lyre  and  steeped  thy  lips 
in  the  sacred  stream.  Nor  is  thy  country's  glory 
single,  and  the  undecided  contest  of  two  lands  leaves 
the  place  of  thy  origin  in  doubt.  Grecian  Hyele,'' 
where  the  drowsy  steersman  fell  from  the  poop  and 
passed  a  distressful  vigil  in  the  waves, — Hyele,  made 
their  own  by  Latian  settlers,  claims  thee  on  the  score 
of  bii-th  ;  but  then  mightier  <Parthenope>  proves 
thee  hers  by  thy  life's  long  course — even  so  different 
cities  with  as  many  birth-places  divide  Maeonides  '^ 
among  themselves,  and  prove  their  case  every  one  ; 
yet  is  he  not  the  true  scion  of  all,  but  the  vast  pride 
of  a  false  claim  puffs  up  the  vanquished.  There, 
while  thou  didst  begin  thy  lays  and  offer  thy  greeting 
to  life,  straightway  wert  thou  hurried  into  the  con- 
tests of  thy  native  festival  that  men  can  scarce  sus- 
tain, so  eager  wert  thou  for  praise  and  bold  of  wit. 
The  Euboean  folk  stood  amazed  at  thy  youthful  verse, 
and  parents  showed  thee  to  their  sons.  Thereafter 
was  thy  voice  frequent  in  combat,  and  at  no  solemn 
feast  inglorious  :  not  so  often  did  green  Therapnae 
applaud  Castor's  victory  upon  the  round  course,  or 
Pollux  triumphant  in  the  boxing-match.     But  if  to 

deformes,"  etc.  Possibly  "ex  tantis"  (out  of  so  many, 
"  tanti  "  often="  tot,"  iv.  1.  33,  iv.  8.  14)  should  be  read 
for  "  expensis."  "  stirpis  honore  datos  "  does  not  refer  to  the 
grant  of  the  laticlave,  for  this  took  place  only  with  the 
assumption  of  the  "  toga  virilis,"  but  simply  to  the  fact  that 
he  was  a  freeborn  citizen. 

"  Velia,    on    the    Lucanian    coast ;     tlie    reference    is    to 
Palinurus  (Virg.  Aen.  vi.  366).  "  Homer. 

315 


STATIUS 

sin^  pronuni  \icisse  donii  :  quid  Achaea  mereri 
praemia  nunc  ramis  Phoebi  nunc  gramine  Lernae 
nunc  Athamantea  protectum  tempora  pinu, 
cum  totiens  lassata  tamen  nusquam  a\ia  frondes 
abstulit  aut  alium  tetigit  Victoria  crinem  ?  145 

Hinc  tibi  vota  patrum  credi  generosaque  pubes 
te  nionitore  regi,  mores  et  facta  priorum 
discere,  quis  casus  Troiae,  quam  tardus  Ulixes, 
quantus  equos  pugnasque  \'irum  decurrere  versu 
Maeonides  quantumque  pios  ditarit  agrestes  150 

Ascraeus  Siculusque  senex,  qua  lege  recurrat 
Pindaricae  vox  flexa  lyrae  volucrumque  precator 
Ibycus^  et  tetricis  Alcman  cantatus  Amyclis 
Stesichorusque  ferox  saltusque  ingressa  \'iriles 
non  forraidata  temeraria  Leucade^  Sappho,  155 

quosque  alios  dignata  chelys.     tu  pandere  doctus 
carmina  Battiadae  latebrasque  Lycophronis  arti* 
Sophronaque  implicitum  tenuisque  arcana  Corinnae. 
sed  quid  parva  loquor  ?     tu  par  adsuetus  Homero 
ferre  iugum  senosque  pedes  aequare  solutis  160 

versibus  et  numquam  passu  breviore  relinqui. 
quid  mirum,  patria  si  te  petiere  relicta, 
quos  Lucanus  ager,  rigidi  quos  iugera  Dauni, 
quos  Veneri  plorata  domus  neglectaque  tellus 

1  sin  M :  sit  Dom.  ^  Ibycus  Pol.  :  Obsicus  31. 

^  Leucade  Pol.  (from  some  commentator  itnknown) : 
calchide  M.  *  arti  Baehrens  :  ari  M :  atri  S". 

"  The  laurel  of  Apollo  in  the  Pj'thian  games,  the  wild 
parsley  at  Nemea,  the  pine-branch  at  Isthmus  (Athamas 
was  the  father  of  Palaemon,  who  with  his  mother  Ino  was 
worshipped  there ;  Lerna  is  in  the  neighbourhood  of  Nemea). 

^  Hesiod  and  Epicharmus  {cf.  Columella,  i.  1.  8). 

<^  Ibycus  called  on  a  flock  of  cranes  to  avenge  him  on 
some  robbers  who  had  ill-treated  him. 

■*  The  only  support  for  the  ws.  Calchide  is  a  statement 

316 


SILVAE,  V.  in.  141-164 

win  at  home  was  easy,  what  a  feat  to  gain  Achaean 
prizes,  shading  thy  temples  now  with  the  spray  of 
Phoebus,  now  with  Lerna's  grasses,  now  with  the 
Athamantian  pine,**  when  Victory  so  often  quailed 
for  weariness,  yet  never  missed  thee  or  robbed  thee 
of  thy  leaves,  or  touched  another's  hair  ! 

Hence  came  it  that  thou  wert  trusted  with  the  fond 
hopes  of  parents,  and  under  thy  guidance  noble 
youths  were  ruled,  and  learnt  tlie  ways  and  the 
prowess  of  men  of  old — the  fate  of  Troy,  Ulysses' 
tardy  return,  what  power  has  Maeonides  to  describe 
in  song  the  battles  and  steeds  of  heroes,  how  the 
bards  of  Ascra  and  of  Sicily  **  enriched  the  faithful 
husbandmen,  the  law  that  sways  the  recurrent,  wind- 
ing rhythms  of  Pindar's  lyre,  Ibycus  who  besought 
the  birds,'^  Alcman  whose  strains  warlike  Amyclae 
sang,  proud  Stesichorus,  and  bold  Sappho  '^  who 
feared  not  Leucas,  but  took  the  heroic  leap,  and  all 
others  whom  the  harp  has  deemed  worthy.  Skilled 
wert  thou  to  expound  the  songs  of  Battus'  son,*'  and 
the  dark  ways  and  straitened  speech  of  Lycophron, 
and  Sophron's  tangled  mazes  and  the  hidden  thought 
of  subtle  Corinna.  But  why  speak  I  of  lesser  names  ? 
Thou  wert  wont  to  bear  an  equal  yoke  with  Homer,^ 
and  match  his  hexameters  in  prose,  nor  ever  be  out- 
distanced and  fail  to  keep  his  pace.  What  wonder 
if  they  left  their  own  land  and  sought  thee,  all  whom 
Lucania  sent  and  the  acres  of  stern  Daunus,^  and  the 
home  that  Venus  bewailed  and  the  land  that  Alcides 

of  Stephanus  of  Byzantium  that  there  was  a  Chalcis  on  or 
near  the  island  of  Lesbos. 

'  Callimachus  (Battus,  founder  of  Cyrene). 

f  He  had  written  a  prose  paraphrase  of  Homer. 

"  i.e.,  Apulia;  a  legendary  king,  "stern":  cf.Hor.  C. 
i.  22.  14  "  militaris  Daunias." 

317 


ST  ATI  us 

Alcidae  vel  quos  e  vertice  Surrentino  165 

mittit  Tyrrheni  speculatrix  \-irgo  profundi, 
quos  propiore  sinu  lituo  remoque  notatus 
collis  et  Ausonii  pridem  laris  hospita  Cyme 
quosque  Dicarchei  portus  Baianacjue  mittunt 
litora,  qua  mediis  alte  permixtus-'^  anhelat  170 

ignis  aquis  et  operta  domos  incendia  servant  ? 
sic  ad  Avernales  scopulos  et  opaca  Sibyllae 
antra  rogaturae  veniebant  undique  gentes  ; 
ilia  minas  divum  Parearumque  acta  canebat 
quam\is  decepto  vates  non  irrita  Phoebo.  175 

mox  et  Romuleam  stirpem  proceresque  futuros 
instruis  inque  patrum  vestigia  ducere  perstas. 
sub  te  Dardanius  facis  expl orator  opertae, 
qui  Diomedei  celat  penetralia  furti, 
crevit  et  inde  sacrum  didicit  puer  ;  arma  probator^ 
monstrasti  Saliis^  praesagumque  aethera  certi*       181 
auguribus  ;  cui  Chalcidicum  fas  volvere  carmen, 
cur  Phrygii  lateat  coma  flaminis,  et  tua  multum 
verbera  succincti  formidavere  Luperci. 

^  permixtus  S" :  permissus  M. 

*  probator  Ellis:  probatur  J/:  probatus  Vollmer:  pro- 
batis  Baehrens. 

^  monstrasti  Saliis  Lipsius  :  monstrastis  aliis  3f. 

*  certi  Vollmer  :  certis  3/. 

"  Pompeii,  of  which  Venus  was  patron  goddess,  Hercu- 
laneum,  Surrentum  with  the  promontory  of  Minerva,  Cape 
Misenum. 

*  Of  jNIisenus. 

"  Slater  :  "  that  welcomed  long  ago  the  Ausonian  Lar," 
i.e.  Aeneas. 

■^  By  refusing  his  love  after  he  had  granted  whatever  she 
chose  to  ask  {i.e.,  as  many  years  as  there  were  grains  in  a 
handful  of  dust). 

*  The  reference  is  to  the  "  pontifices,"  under  whose  super- 

318 


SILVAE,  V.  III.  165-184 

slighted,  and  the  maidoi  who  from  Sorrento's  height 
watches  the  Tyrrhenian  deep,  and  the  hill  above  the 
nearer  bay  *  marked  by  the  trumpet  and  the  oar,^ 
those  too  whom  Cyme  sent,  once  a  stranger  to  her 
Ausonian  home,"  and  the  haven  of  Dicarchus  and 
Baiae's  shore,  where  pants  the  fire  deep-mingled 
with  the  mjdmost  waves  and  the  smotliered  con- 
flagrations keep  their  dwellings  ?  So  from  every 
side  came  the  folk  to  Avernus'  rocks  and  the  dai-k 
grotto  of  the  Sibyl,  to  ask  their  questions,  while  she 
sang  of  the  wrath  of  heaven  and  the  doings  of  the 
Fates,  no  vain  prophet  even  though  she  foiled  Apollo.** 
Soon  dost  thou  educate  the  Roman  youth  and  the 
chieftains  that  shall  be,  and  firmly  leadest  them  in 
the  footsteps  of  their  sires.  Under  thy  care  grew 
the  Dardanian  overseer  of  the  hidden  fire,^  who 
conceals  the  mysterious  theft  of  Diomede,  and  from 
thee  while  a  boy  did  he  learn  the  rite  :  thou  didst 
approve  the  Salii,  and  teach  them  their  weapons'  use 
and  show  to  the  augurs  the  sure  foreknowledge  of 
the  air  ;  thou  didst  tell  to  whom  belongs  the  privilege 
of  unfolding  the  Chalcidic  oracle,  and  why  the  hair 
of  the  Phrygian  flamen  is  concealed  ;  and  the  girt-up 
Luperci  sorely  feared  thy  blows .^ 

vision  was  the  sacred  fire  in  the  temple  of  Vesta,  and  the 
Palladium  that  Diomede  stole  from  Troy. 

^  The  "  pontifices  "  had  charge  of  the  sacred  fire  in  the 
temple  of  Vesta,  and  the  Palladium  taken  from  Troy  by 
Diomede  and  Ulysses  ;  the  Salii  were  priests  of  Mars,  the 
augurs  had  supervision  of  the  auspices,  and  the  XVviri  of 
the  Sibylline  books  ;  the  priests  of  the  Phrygian  Cybele 
(like  other  flamens,  who  are  therefore  included)  had  to  wear 
the  "  apex,"  a  small  sacrificial  cap.  The  Luperci  ran  through 
the  city  half-naked,  striking  women  with  goatskin  thongs  to 
cause  fertility  ;  here  they  are  girt  up  to  receive,  not  to  inflict 
stripes  ! 

S]9 


STATIUS 

Et  nunc  ex  illo  forsan  grege  gentibus  alter  185 

iura  dat  Eois,  alter  compescit  Hiberas, 
alter  Achaemenium  secludit  Zeugmate  Persen, 
hi  dites  Asiae  populos,  hi  Pontica  frenant, 
hi  fora  pacificis  emendant  fascibus,  ilU 
castra  pia  statione  tenant  :  tu  laudis  origo.  190 

non  tibi  certassent  iuvenilia  fingere  corda 
Nestor  et  indomiti  Phoenix  moderator  alumni 
quique  tubas  acres  lituosque  audire  volentem 
Aeciden  alio  frangebat  carmine  Chiron. 

Talia  dum  celebras,  subitam  civihs  Erinys  195 

Tarpeio  de  monte  facem  Phlegraeaque  movit 
proelia.     sacrilegis  lucent  Capitolia  taedis,^ 
et  Senonum  furias  Latiae  sumpsere  cohortes. 
vix  requies  flammae  necdum  rogus  ille  deorum 
siderat,  excisis  cum  tu  solacia  templis  200 

impiger  et  multum  facibus  velocior  ipsis 
concinis  ore  pio  captivaque  fulmina  defies, 
mirantur  Latii  proceres  ultorque  deorum 
Caesar,  et  e  medio  divum  pater  annuit  igni. 
iamque  et  flere  pio  \^esuvina  incendia  cantu  205 

mens  erat  et  gemitum  patriis  impendere  damnis, 
cum  pater  exemptum  terris  ad  sidera  montem 
sustulit  et  late  miseras  deiecit  in  urbes. 

Me  quoque  vocales  lucos  Boeotaque^  tempe 

^  taedis  r :  rhedis  M. 

^  Boeotaque -Bae/jrens  :   biota-  or  hiotaque  M :    Inoaque 
etc.  edd. 

"  See  note  on  iii.  2.  137. 

*  Both  Phoenix  and  Chiron  acted  as  tutor  to  Achilles. 

'  The  fighting  in  Rome  between  the  \'itelhan  and  Flavian 
troops,  A.D.  69. 

■*  Such  as  when  the  gods  fought  against  the  giants  in  the 
plains  of  Phlegra,  cf.  i.  1.  79  "  bella  lovis."   The  Senones  were 
a  Gallic  tribe. 
320 


SILVAE,  V.   III.   185-209 

And  now  of  that  company  one  perchance  gives  laws 
to  Eastern  races,  another  quells  Iberian  tribes, 
another  at  Zeugma  "'  sets  bounds  to  the  Achaemenian 
Persian  ;  these  curb  the  rich  peoples  of  Asia,  those 
the  lands  of  Pontus,  these  by  peaceable  authority 
declare  pure  justice  in  the  courts,  those  hold  loyal 
watch  and  ward  in  camps  ;  thou  art  the  source  of 
their  renown.  In  moulding  youthful  minds  neither 
Nestor  nor  Phoenix,  guide  of  his  untamed  foster- 
child,  had  striven  with  thee,  nor  Chiron,  who  with 
ftir  different  strains  subdued  the  heart  of  Aeacides, 
f;iin  to  hear  the  bugles  and  the  blast  of  horns.'' 

Whilst  thus  thou  wert  busy,  of  a  sudden  civil 
Strife  '^  raised  her  torch  on  the  Tarpeian  mount,  and 
stirred  Phlegraean  combats .'*  The  Capitol  glows 
ulth  impious  fire,  and  Latian  cohorts  showed  the 
fui-y  of  the  Gauls.  Scarce  had  the  flame  abated, 
still  burnt  that  funeral  pyre  of  gods,  when  thou  un- 
dismayed, eagerly  forestalling  the  brands  themselves, 
didst  chant  with  pious  voice  a  solace  for  the  shrines 
destroyed  and  lament  the  captured  thunderbolts. 
The  Roman  chieftains  and  Caesar,  heaven's  avenger, 
marvel,  and  from  the  midst  of  the  blaze  the  Sire  of 
the  gods  gives  sign  of  favour.  And  already  was  it 
thy  purpose  to  bewail  in  pious  chant  the  conflagration 
of  V^esuvius,  and  expend  thy  tears  on  the  I'uin  of  thy 
native  land,  when  the  Father  caught  up  the  mountain 
from  the  earth  and  lifted  it  to  the  skies,  then  hurled 
it  far  and  wide  upon  the  hapless  cities.^ 

I  too,  when  I  knocked  at  the  groves  of  song  and 


"  Statius's  father  had  written  a  poem  on  the  fighting  on  the 
Capitol  in  69,  and  was  planning  one  on  the  eruption  of 
Vesuvius  in  79. 

VOL.  I  Y  o2l 


ST  ATI  us 

pulsantem,  cum  stirpe  tua  descendere  dixi,  210 

admisere  deae  ;  nee  enim  mihi  sidera  tantum 

aequoraque  et  terras,  quae  mos  debere  parenti, 

sed  decus  hoc  quodcumque  lyrae  primusque  dedisti 

non  vulgare  loqui  et  famam  sperare  sepulcro. 

qualis  eras,  Latios  quotiens  ego  carmine  patres      215 

mulcerem  felixque  tui  spectator  adesses 

muneris  !  heu  quali  confusus  gaudia  fletu 

vota  piosque  metus  inter  laetumque  pudorem  ! 

quam  tuus  ille  dies,  quam  non  mihi  gloria  maior  ! 

tahs  Olympiaca  iuvenem  cum  spectat  harena  220 

qui  genuit,  plus  ipse  ferit,  plus  corde  sub  alto 

caeditur  ;  attendunt  cunei,  spectatm-  Achaeis^ 

ille  magis,  crebro  dum  lumina  pulveris  haustu 

obruit  et  prensa  vovet  exspirare  corona. 

ei  mihi  quod  tantum  patrias  ego  vertice  frondes    225 

solaque  Chalcidicae  Cerealia  dona  coronae 

te  sub  teste  tuli  !     qualem  te  Dardanus  Albae 

vix  cepisset  ager,  si  per  me  serta  tuhsses 

Caesarea  donata  manu  !     quod  subdere  robur 

ilia  dies,  quantum  potuit  dempsisse  senectae  !        230 

nam  quod  me  mixta  quercus  non  pressit  oliva, 

et  fugit  speratus  honos  :  quam^  dulce  parentis 

invia^  Tarpei  caperes  !  te  nostra  magistro 

Thebais  urgebat  priscorima  exordia  vatum  ; 

tu  cantus  stimulare  meos,  tu  pandere  facta  235 

^  Achaeis  Imhof :  achates  M:  Acestes  Dom. 

^  quam  Baehrens  :  qua  M. 

'  invia  Ellis  :  invida  M. 

«  Cf.  iii.  5.  38  n. 

*  The  wreath  of  ears  of  corn  won  at  the  Augustalia  at 
Naples  ;  for  "patrias  "  cf.  note  on  iv.  8.  45. 

"  The  oak-wreath  of  the  CapitoHne  (Tarpeian)  contest  was 
not  joined  to  the  oUve-^vreath  of  the  Alban  contest,  see  note 
322 


SILVAE,  V.   III.   210-235 

the  glens  of  Boeotia,  and  claimed  myself  thy  off- 
spring, was  given  entrance  by  the  goddesses  ;  for  it 
was  not  only  sky  and  sea  and  land  that  thou  didst 
give  me,  the  due  and  v.onted  gift  of  parents,  but  this 
glory  of  the  lyi'e,  such  as  it  is,  and  thou  first  taughtest 
me  no  common  utterance,  and  to  hope  for  fame 
even  in  the  tomb.  What  was  thy  pride,  so  oft  as  I 
charmed  the  Latian  fathers  vvith  my  song,  while  thou 
wert  present,  a  happy  Avitness  of  thy  own  bounty  ! 
What  confusion  of  delight  and  tears  was  thine,  of 
hope  and  loving  fear  and  modest  joy  !  That  was 
indeed  thy  day,  the  glory  as  much  thine  as  mine  ! 
Such  is  the  father  that  beholds  his  son  upon  Olympian 
sand,  he  strikes  each  blow  himself  more  mightily, 
deeper  in  his  heart's  depth  does  he  receive  the 
stroke  ;  'tis  he  whom  the  crowded  tiers  are  watching, 
he  on  whom  the  Achaeans  gaze,  while  his  eyes  grow 
dim  with  the  whirling  dust,  and  he  prays  to  die  so 
but  the  prize  be  grasped.  Alas  !  that  in  thy  sight  I 
bore  only  native  chaplets  on  my  brow,"  and  only 
Ceres'  gift  of  the  Chalcidic  wi-eath.^  How  proud 
hadst  thou  been,  scarce  had  thy  Dardan  estate  of 
Alba  held  thee,  if  through  me  thou  hadst  won  a 
garland  given  by  Caesar's  hand  !  What  sti'ength 
had  that  day  ministered  to  thee,  Avhat  rehef  to  thy 
old  age  !  For  in  that  the  oak  and  ohve  together  did 
not  press  my  brow,  and  the  hoped-for  prize  eluded 
me — ah  !  how  gladly  hadst  thou  received  the  Tar- 
peian  Father's  unattainable  reward  !  "  Under  thy 
guidance  my  Thehaid  followed  the  footsteps  of 
ancient  bards  ;    thou  didst  teach  me  to  give  vigour 

on  iii.  5.  28.  If  the  reading  of  M  "invida"  be  retained,  the 
passage  might  be  rendered  "  how  gently  did  you  receive  the 
grudging  decision,"  etc. 

323 


STATIUS 

heroum  bellique  modos  positusque  locorum 

monstrabas.     labat  incerto  mihi  limite  cursus 

te  sine  et  orbatae  caligant  vela  carinae. 

nee  solum  larga  memet  pietate  fovebas  : 

talis  et  in  thalamos.     una  tibi  cognita  taeda  240 

eonubia,  unus  amor,     certe  seiungere  matrem 

iam  gelidis  nequeo  bustis  ;  te  sentit  habetque, 

te  xidet  et  tumulos  ortuque  obituque  salutat, 

ut  Pharios  aliae  ficta  pietate  dolores 

Mygdoniosque  colunt  et  non  sua  funera  plorant.    245 

Quid  referam  expositos  servato  pondere  mores  ? 
quae  pietas,  quam  \-ile  lucrum,  quae  cura  pudoris, 
quantus  amor  recti  ?     rursusque,  ubi  dulce  remitti, 
gratia  quae  dictis  ?     animo  quam  nulla  senectus  ? 
his  tibi  pro  meritis  famam  laudesque  benignas       250 
iudex^  cura  deum  nulloque  e  vulnere  tristem 
concessit,     raperis.  genitor,  non  indigus  ae\i, 
non  nimius,  trinisque  decem  quinquennia  lustris 
iuncta  ferens.     sed  me  pietas  numerare  dolorque 
non  sinit,  o  Pylias  ae\i  transcendere  metas  255 

et  Teucros  aequare  senes,  o  digne  \'idere 
me  similem  !     sed  nee  leti  tibi  ianua  tristis  : 
quippe  leves  causae,  nee  segnis  labe  senili 
exitjis  instanti  praemisit  membra  sepulcro, 
sed  te  torpor  iners  et  mors  imitata  quietem  260 

explicuit  falsoque  tulit  sub  Tartara  somno. 
quos  ego  tunc  gemitus, — comitum  manus  anxia  vidit, 
vldit  et  exemplum  genetrix  ga\-isaque  no\it — 
^  iudex  M :  vindex  Aldine. 

"  The  reference  is  to  the  lamentation  that  formed  part  of 
the  cults  of  Isis  and  Cybele,  when  Osiris  and  Attis  were 
bewailed ;  cf.  "  the  women  weeping-  for  Thammuz."  I.e. 
Adonis.     Pharian  and  M ygdonian=  Egyptian  and  Phrygian. 

'  i.e.,  of  Nestor,  who  Uved  through  three  generations. 

324 


SILVAE,  V.   III.  236-263 

to  my  song,  to  describe  heroic  deeds  and  modes  of 
war  and  the  setting  of  the  scene.  Without  thee  my 
course  wavers  and  runs  uncertainly,  and  mist  shrouds 
the  sails  of  my  lonely  craft.  Nor  was  it  I  alone  thy 
bountiful  love  did  cherish  :  such  wert  thou  too 
toward  thy  spouse.  Thou  knewest  the  torches  of 
but  one  wedlock  :  one  passion  alone  inspired  thee. 
Assuredly  I  cannot  separate  my  mother  from  thy  cold 
tomb  :  there  doth  she  feel  and  know  thy  presence, 
she  sees  thee,  and  morn  and  eve  salutes  thy  grave, 
as  other  women  in  feigned  loyalty  attend  on  Pharian 
or  Mygdonian  grief,  and  bewail  an  alien  death.'' 

Why  should  I  tell  of  thy  frank,  yet  earnest  nature  ? 
thy  loving  heart,  thy  contempt  of  gain,  thy  care  for 
honour,  thy  passion  for  the  right  ?  and  yet  again, 
when  it  pleased  thee  to  relax,  of  the  charm  of  thy 
converse  ?  of  thy  mind  that  knew  no  age  ?  For  these 
deserts  of  thine  the  ruling  providence  of  the  gods 
has  granted  thee  renown  and  kindly  fame,  and  saved 
thee  from  the  sadness  of  any  blow.  Thou  art  taken, 
father,  not  lacking  years,  nor  overburdened  ;  ten 
spaces  of  five  years  hast  thou  added  to  three  lustres. 
But  grief  and  affection  suffer  me  not  to  count  thy 
days,  O  thou  who  wert  worthy  to  surpass  the  Pylian  ** 
bounds  of  life  and  equal  a  Priam's  age,  worthy  to  see 
me  too  as  old  !  But  the  gate  of  death  was  not  dark 
for  thee  :  gentle  was  thy  passing,  nor  did  a  tardy 
end  fore-ordain  thy  frame  in  senile  dissolution  to  the 
ever-threatening  grave,  but  a  tranquil  unconscious- 
ness and  death  that  counterfeited  slumber  set  free 
thy  soul,  and  bore  thee  to  Tartarus  under  the  false 
semblance  of  repose.  Ah  !  what  groans  I  uttered 
then  !  my  friends  saw  me  with  anxiety,  my  mother 
saw  me  and  rejoiced  to  recognize  her  son.     What 

325 


ST  ATI  us 

quae  lamenta  tuli  !     veniam  concedite,  manes, 

fas  dixisse,  pater  :  non  tu  mihi  plura  dedisses.        265 

felix  ille  patrem  vacuis  circumdedit  ulnis  : 

vellet  et  Elysia  quamvis  in  sede  locatura 

abripere  et  Danaas  iterum  portare  per  umbras  ; 

temptantem  et  vivos  molitum  in  Tartara  gressus 

detulit  infernae  vates  longaeva  Dianae  ;  270 

sic  ehelyn  Odrysiam  pigro  transmisit  Averno 

causa  minor,  sic  Thessalicis  Admetus  in  oris  ; 

si  lux^  una  retro  Phylaceida  rettulit  umbram, 

cur  nihil  exoret,  genitor,  chelys  aut  tua  manes 

aut  mea  ?    fas  mihi  sic  patrios  contingere  vultus,      275 

fas  iunxisse  ntianus,  et  lex  quaecumque  sequatur. 

At  vos,  umbrarum  reges  Ennaeaque^  luno, 
si  laudanda  precor,  taedas  auferte  comasque 
Eumenidum  ;  nullo  sonet  asper  ianitor  ore, 
Centauros  Hydraeque  greges  Scyllaeaque  monstra 
aversae  celent  valles,  umbramque  senilem  281 

invitet  ripis,  discussa  plebe,  supremus 
vector  et  in  media  componat  molliter  alga. 
ite,  pii  manes  Graiumque  examina  vatum, 
inlustremque  animam  Lethaeis  spargite  sertis        285 
et  monsti*ate  nemus,  quo  nulla  inrupit  Erinys, 
in  quo  falsa  dies  caeloque  simillimus  aer. 
inde  tamen  venias,  melior  qua  porta  malignum 
cornea  vincit  ebur,  somnique  in  imagine  monstra, 

^  si  lux  Heinsius  :  silua  M:  sic  lux  Vollmer.  Lacuna 
before  this  line  ace.  to  Postgate. 

*  Ennaeaque  GroTCOwt'tts  :  aecneaque  3/:  Aetnaeaque  PoL 

"  The  allusion  is  to  Aeneas,  who  carried  his  father  through 
the  darkness  of  the  night  when  the  Greeks  took  Troj- ;  he 
embraced  his  phantom  in  the  underworld. 

*■  Orpheus  sought  Eurydice,  Hercules  sought  Alcestis. 

"  See  note  on  ii.  7.  122. 

326 


SILVAE,  V.  HI.   264-289 

lamentation  did  I  make  !  Pardon  me,  O  shades  ; 
father,  I  may  say  it  with  truth  :  thou  wouldst  not 
have  wept  more  for  me  !  Happy  was  he  who  grasped 
his  sire  "svith  ineffectual  arms  ;  ay,  he  would  fain 
have  snatched  him  away,  though  set  in  Elysium,  and 
carried  him  once  more  through  Danaan  darkness  :  * 
and  when  he  made  essay  and  strove  to  walk  with 
living  steps  to  the  underworld,  the  aged  priestess  of 
Diana,  goddess  of  the  dead,  conducted  him.  Even 
so  a  lesser  cause  brought  the  Odrysian  lyre  to  sluggish 
Avernus  :  so  was  it  with  Admetus  in  the  land  of 
Thessaly.''  If  one  day  brought  back  the  shade  of 
Protesilaus,''  why  should  thy  harp  or  mine,  O  father, 
vnn  no  request  of  the  underworld  ?  Might  I  but 
touch  the  face  of  my  sire,  might  I  but  grasp  his  hand 
with  mine,  let  any  law  that  will  o'ertake  me  ! 

But  do  ye,  O  monarchs  of  the  dead  and  thou, 
Ennean  Juno,**  if  ye  approve  my  prayer,  send  far 
away  the  Furies'  brands  and  snaky  locks !  Let 
the  warder  of  the  gate  make  no  fierce  barking,  let 
distant  vales  conceal  the  Centaurs  and  Hydra's 
multitude  and  Scylla's  monstrous  horde,  and,  scatter- 
ing the  throng, — let  the  ferryman  of  the  dead  invite 
to  the  bank  the  aged  shade,  and  lay  him  gently  to  rest 
amid  the  grasses.  Go,  spirits  of  the  blest  and  troops 
of  Gi-ecian  bards,  shower  Lethaean  garlands  on  the 
illustrious  soul,  and  point  him  to  the  grove  where  no 
Fury  disturbs,  where  there  is  day  like  ours  and  air 
most  like  to  the  air  of  heaven.  Thence  mayst  thou 
pass  to  where  the  better  gate  of  horn  o'ercomes  the 
envious  ivory,*  and  in  the  semblance  of  a  dream  teach 
me  what  thou  wei*t  ever  wont  to  teach.     Even  so 

"^  Proserpine,  carried  off  from  the  fields  of  Enna. 
^  See  Virg.  Aen.  vi.  894.. 

327 


STATIUS 

quae  solitus.     sic  sacra  Nuniae  ritusque  colendos  290 
mitis  Aricino  dictabat  nympha  sub  antro, 
Scipio  sic  plenos  Latio  love  ducere  somnos 
creditur  Ausoniis,  sic^  non  sine  Apolline  Sylla 

IV.  SOMNUS 

Crimine  quo  nierui,  iuvenis  placidissime  divum, 
quove  errore  miser,  donis  ut  solus  egerem, 
Somne,  tuis  ?  tacet  omne  pecus  volucresque  feraeque 
et  simulant  fessos  curvata  cacwmina  somnos, 
nee  trucibus  fluviis  idem  sonus  ;  occidit  horror  5 

aequoris,  et  terris  mai-ia  adclinata  quiescunt. 
septima  iam  i-ediens  Phoebe  mihi  respicit  aegras 
stare  genas  ;  totidem  Oetaeae  Paphiaeque  revisunt^ 
lampades  et  totiens  nostros  Tithonia  questus 
praeterit  et  gelido  spargit  miserata  flagello.  10 

unde  ego  sufficiam  ?     non  si  mihi  lumina  mille, 
quae  sacer  alterna  tantum  statione  tenebat 
Argus  et  haud  umquam  vigilabat  corpore  toto. 
at  nunc  heu  !  si  aliquis  longa  sub  nocte  puellae 
brachia  nexa  tenens  ultro  te,  Somne,  repelht,  15 

inde  veni  nee  te  totas  infundere  pennas 
luminibus  compello  meis — hoc  turba  precetur 
laetior — :  extremo  me  tange  cacumine  \irgae, 
sufficit,  aut  leviter  suspense  poplite  transi. 

^  sic  Sud/tans  :  nee  M. 
^  re\dsunt  Dom.  :  revisent  M:  renident  Baehrens. 

"  For  Numa  and  Egeria  see  Livy,  i.  19.  5. 

*  Scipio  was  accustomed  to  visit  the  temple  of  Jupiter  on 
the  Capitol,  where  he  was  said  to  have  communion  with  the 
god.  Sulla  always  wore  a  small  image  of  Apollo,  under 
whose  protection  he  held  himself  to  be. 

•^  i.e.,  the  evening  and  the  morning  stars,  often  spoken  of 
by  the  ancients  as  shining  on  the  same  day.  "  Paphiae," 
328 


SILVAE,  V.  III.  290— IV.  19 

the  gentle  Nymph  ordained  for  Numa  '^  in  the  Arician 
grot  the  sacred  rites  for  his  observing,  so — as  the 
Ausonians  beheve — had  Seipio  nightly  visions  full  of 
Latian  Jove,  so  too  was  Sulla  not  without  Apollo.'' 

IV.  TO  SLEEP 

O  youthful  Sleep,  gentlest  of  the  gods,  by  what 
crime  or  error  of  mine  have  I  deserved  that  I  alone 
should  lack  thy  bounty  ?  Silent  are  all  the  cattle, 
and  the  wild  beasts  and  the  birds,  and  the  curved 
mountain  summits  liave  the  semblance  of  weary 
slumber,  nor  do  the  raging  torrents  roar  as  they  were 
v/ont  ;  the  ruffled  waves  have  sunk  to  rest,  and  the 
sea  leans  against  earth's  bosom  and  is  still.  Seven 
times  now  hath  the  returning  moon  beheld  my  fixed 
and  ailing  eyes  ;  so  often  have  the  lights  of  Oeta  and 
Paphos  '^  revisited  me,  so  oft  hath  Tithonia  passed  by 
my  groans,  and  pitying  sprinkled  me  with  her  cool 
whip.*^  Ah  !  how  may  I  endure  ?  Not  if  I  had  the 
thousand  eyes  of  sacred  ^  Argus,  which  he  kept  but 
in  alternate  watchfulness,  nor  ever  waked  in  all  his 
frame  at  once.  But  now — ah,  me  ! — if  some  lover 
through  the  long  hours  of  night  is  clasping  a  girl's 
entwining  arms,  and  of  his  own  will  drives  thee  from 
him,  come  thence,  O  Sleep  !  nor  do  I  bid  thee  shower 
all  the  influence  of  thy  wings  upon  my  eyes — that 
be  the  prayer  of  happier  folk  ! — touch  me  but  with 
thy  Avand's  extremest  tip — 'tis  enough — or  pass  over 
me  with  lightly  hovering  step. 

i.e.  the  planet  of  Paphian  \'enus  ;  "Oetaeae,"  from  Virg. 
Eel.  viii.  30. 

"^  The  whip  is  that  with  which  she  chases  the  stars,  cf. 
Theb.  viii.  274 ;  from  it  fall  drops  of  dew  upon  the  wakeful 
poet.  *  "sacer,"  as  being  sent  by  Juno. 

329 


STATIUS 


V.  EPICEDION  IN  PUERUM  SUUM 

Me  miserum  !    neque  enim  verbis  solemnibus  ulla 
incipiam  nunc^  Castaliae  vocalibus  undis 
invisus  Phoeboque  gravis,     quae  vestra,  sorores, 
orgia,  Pieriae,  quas  incestavdmus  aras  ? 
dicite,  post  poenam  liceat  commissa  fatei'i.  5 

numquid  inaccesso  posui  vestigia  luco  ? 
num  vetito  de  fonte  bibi  ?     quae  culpa,  quis  error 
quern  luimus  tantus^  ?     morientibus  ecee  lacertis 
viscera  nostra  tenens  animamque  avellitur  infans, 
non  de  stirpe  quidem  nee  qui  mea  nomina  ferret     10 
oraque  ;  non  fueram  genitor,  sed  cernite  fletus 
liventesque  genas  et  credite  planctibus  orbi  : 
orbus  ego.     hue  patres  et  aperto  pectore  matres 
conveniant  ;  cineremque  oculis  et  crimina  ferto, 
si  qua  sub  uberibus  plenis  ad  funera  natos  15 

ipsa  gradu  labente  tulit  madidumque  cecidit 
pectus  et  ardentes  restinxit  lacte  fa  villas.^ 
quisquis  adhuc  tenerae  signatum  flore  iuventae 
immersit  cineri  iuvenem  primaque  iacentis 
serpere  crudeles  vidit  lanugine  flammas,  20 

adsit  et  alterno  mecutD  clamore  fatiscat  : 
vincetur  lacrimis,  et  te,  Natura,  pudebit. 
tanta  mihi  feritas,  tanta  est  insania  luctus. 
hoc  quoque  cum  nitor  ter*  dena  luce  peracta 
adclinis  tumulo  et  planctus^  in  carmina  verto  25 

^  nunc  Scriverhis  :  nee  M. 

^  tantus  Pol.  :  tanti.s  JI. 

*  favilJas  Dom.  :  papillas  2f. 

*  nitor  ter  Gronovius  :  ni  .   .  .  ter  M. 

*  tumulo  et  planctus  Krohn  :  tumul  .  .  .  nctus  M. 

330 


SILVAE,  V.  V.  1-25 


V.  A  LAMENT  FOR  HIS  ADOPTED  SON 

Tiiat  this  epicedion  would  have  rivalled  in  length  ii.  1  and 
V.  3  may  be  gathered  from  the  prelude,  II.  1-65.  The  poet 
appears  to  have  keenly  felt  the  loss  of  his  adopted  son,  if  we 
may  judge  from  the  last  lines  of  this  fragment. 

Woe  is  me  !  for  with  no  hallowed  words  can  I 
begin,  hateful  now  as  I  am  to  Castalia's  vocal  streams 
and  detested  of  Phoebus.  What  rites  of  yours, 
Pierian  sisters,  what  altars  have  I  violated  ?  Speak  ; 
after  the  punishment  let  the  crime  be  known.  Have 
I  set  foot  in  some  untrodden  grove  ?  or  drunk  from 
a  forbidden  spring  ?  what  fault,  what  error  so  great 
that  I  am  atoning  ?  Lo  !  as  with  dying  arms  he 
chngs  to  my  heart,  ay,  to  my  very  soul,  my  child  is 
torn  away  :  no  child  of  my  own  blood,  or  bearing  my 
name  or  features  ;  his  sire  I  was  not,  but  look  upon 
my  Avoe  and  my  livid  cheeks,  and  give  credence,  O 
ye  bereaved,  to  my  lament  :  for  verily  bereaved  am 
I.  Let  fathers  come  hither,  and  mothers  with  open 
bosom  ;  and  let  her  endure  to  behold  these  ashes 
and  this  crime,  whoever  with  tottering  step  has  borne 
her  sons  to  the  grave  in  her  own  arms  beneath  full 
breasts,  and  beaten  a  teeming  bosom,  and  quenched 
with  her  milk  the  glowing  embers  ;  whoever  has 
plunged  into  the  fire  a  lad  still  marked  with  the 
bloom  of  tender  youth,  and  seen  the  cruel  flames 
creep  over  the  fresh  down  of  the  dead  boy — let  him 
come  and  grow  Aveary  with  me  in  alternate  wailing  ; 
his  tears  will  be  outdone,  and  thou  wilt  feel  shame, 
O  Nature.  So  fierce  am  I,  so  senseless  in  my  grief. 
And  while  I  thus  strive,  now  when  thirty  days  are 
past,  leaning  against  the  tomb  I  turn  my  mourning 

331 


STATIUS 

discordesque  modos  et^  singultantia  verba^ 

molior  :  orsa  lyrae  vis^  est  atque  ira  tacendi 

impatiens.     sed  nee  solitae  mihi  vertice  laurus 

nee  fronti  vittatus  honos.     en  taxea  marcet 

silva  comis,  hilaresque  hederas  plorata  cupressus     30 

excludit  ramis  ;  nee  eburno  pollice  chordas 

pulso,  sed  incertam  digitis  errantibus  aniens 

scindo  chelyn.     iuvat  heu,  iuvat  inlaudabile  carmen 

fundere  et  incompte  miserum  nudare^  dolor  em. 

sic  merui  ?  sic  me  cantuque  habituque  nefastum     35 

aspiciant  superi  ?     pudeat  Thebasque  novumque 

Aeaciden  ?  nil  iam  placidum  manabit  ab  ore  ? 

ille  ego  qui — quotiens  ! — blande  matrumque  patrum- 

que 
vulnera,  qui  viduos  potui  mulcere  dolores, 
ille  ego  lugentum  mitis  solator,  acerbis  40 

auditus  tumulis  et  descendentibus  umbris, 
deficio  medicasque  manus  fomentaque  quaero 
vulneribus,  sed  summa,  meis.     nunc  tempus,  amici, 
quorum  ego  manantes  oculos  et  saucia  tersi 
pectora  :  reddite  opem,  saevas  exsolvite  grates.      45 
nimirum  cum  vestra  modis  ego  funera  maestis^ 

increpitans  :  "  qui  damna  doles  aliena,  repone 

infelix  lacrimas  et  tristia  carmina  serva." 

verum  erat  :  absumptae  vires  et  copia  fandi 

nulla  mihi,  dignumque  nihil  mens  fulmine  tanto       50 

repperit  :  inferior  vox  omnis  et  omnia  sordent 

^  modos  et  5'  :  m  .  .  .  M. 
^  verba  M:  acerba  PhiUimore. 

'  lyrae   vis   Krohn  :    ly  .  .   J/:   lyra   vox  Davies.     Most 
edd.  punctuate  after  molior :  PhiUimore  lyra :  satis  est. 
*  nudare  Markland  :  laudare  M. 


332 


SILVAE,  V.  V.  26-51 

into  verse,  and  contrive  discordant  strains,  and  words 
that  are  but  sobs  ;  the  power  of  my  lyre  is  awake,  its 
spirit  brooks  not  silence.  But  no  wonted  bays  are 
on  my  head,  no  chaplet's  glory  on  my  brow.  Behold, 
the  yew-sprays  Avither  on  my  hair,  and  the  lamentable 
cypress-leaves  exclude  the  cheerful  ivy,  nor  do  I 
strike  the  chords  with  quill  of  ivory,  but  with  errant 
fingers  tear  distractedly  my  uncertain  harp.  I 
delight,  ay,  alas  !  delight  to  pour  forth  hateful 
strains,  and  to  lay  bare  my  wretched  grief  in  random 
utterance.  Is  such  my  desert  ?  Must  the  gods 
behold  me  thus  with  the  garb  and  music  of  woe  ? 
Must  Thebes  and  young  Achilles  "  be  put  to  shame  ? 
Will  calm  utterance  flow  nevermore  from  my  lips  ? 
Yet  I  am  he  who  was  able — how  many  a  time  ! — to 
soothe  by  appeasing  words  the  pain  of  mother  and 
of  sire,  and  the  sorrow  of  bereavement  ;  I,  the  gentle 
consoler  of  the  afflicted,  whose  voice  was  heard  in  the 
hour  of  untimely  death  by  spirits  departing,  I  now 
am  at  a  loss,  and  seek  healing  hands  and  remedies, 
ay,  the  most  powerful,  for  my  wounds.  Now  is  the 
time,  my  friends,  whose  streaming  eyes  and  pierced 
breasts  I  stanched  ;  bring  me  succour,  pay  your  debt 
of  frenzied  gratitude.  Doubtless  when  I  in  sad 
strains  <bewailed>  your  losses  <one  among  you  spake> 
rebuking  :  "  Thou  who  dost  grieve  for  others'  loss, 
preserve  thy  ill-omened  tears,  and  keep  thy  melan- 
choly song."  'Twas  true  :  exhausted  are  my  powers, 
I  have  no  store  of  speech,  my  mind  can  find  nought 
to  match  so  great  a  blow  ;  too  feeble  is  all  my  music, 
"  His  Thebaid  and  recently  begun  Achilleid. 

*  vestra  modis  .  .  .  maestis  Klotz  {hut  in  his  edition 
he  follows  M)  :  vestra  domus  .  .  .  maestus  M.  Baehrens 
recognized  lacuna  after  46,  so  all  edd. 

333 


STATIUS 

verba,     ignosce,  puer  :  tu  me  caligine  maesta 
obruis.     a  !  durus,^  viso  si  vulnere  carae 
coniugis  invenit  caneret  quod  Thracius  Orpheus 
dulce  sibi,  si  busta  Lini  complexus  Apollo  55 

non  tacuit.     nimius  fortasse  avidusque  doloris 
dicor  et  in  lacrimis  iustum  excessisse  pudorem  ? 
quisnam  autemgemituslamentaque  nostra  reprendis^  ? 
o  nimium  felix,  nimium  crudelis  et  expers 
imperii,  Fortuna,  tui,  qui  dicere  legem  60 

fletibus  aut  fines  audet  censere  dolendi  ! 
incitat  heu  !  planctus  ;  potius  fugientia  ripas 
flumina  detineas  rapidis  aut  ignibus  obstes, 
quam  miseros  lugere  vetes.     tamen  ille  severus, 
quisquis  is  est,  nostrae  cognoscat  vulnera  causae.    65 

Non  ego  mercatus  Pharia  de  puppe  loquaces 
delicias^  doctumque  sui  eonvicia  Nili 
infantem,  lingua  nimium*  salibusque  protervum, 
dilexi  :  meus  ille,  meus.     tellure  cadentem 
aspexi  atque  unctum  genitali  carmine  fovi  70 

poscentemque  novas  tremulis  ululatibus  auras 
inserui  vitae.     quid  plus  tribuere  parentes  ? 
quin  alios  ortus  libertatemque  sub  ipsis 
uberibus  tibi,  parve,  dedi,  cum^  munera  nostra 
rideres  ingratus  adhuc.     properaverit  ille,  75 

sed  merito  properabat,  amor,  ne  perderet  uUum 
libertas  tam  parva  diem,  nonne  horridus  inde^ 
invidia  superos  iniustaque  Tartara  pulsem  ? 

^  durus  Pol.  :  duro  M. 

^  reprendis  Pol.  :  rependis  M,  Pol.  {from  P). 

*  delicias  Avantius  :  aedituas  M. 

*  nimium  Markland  :  sumum  M :  eximium  Waller. 

*  cum  Pol.  :  heu  M. 

"  ullum,  inde  Baehrens  :  om.  M. 

"  A  favourite  of  Apollo  who  died  young. 

*"  Probably  a  reference  to  the  solemn  purification  of  the 

S3i 


SILVAE,  V.  V.  52-78 

no  word  but  is  unwortliy.  Forgive  me,  lad  :  'tis 
thou  dost  cloud  my  mind  with  sorrow.  Ah  !  verily 
hard  of  heart  was  Thracian  Orpheus,  if  he  found  a 
song  that  pleased  him  when  he  saw  the  wound  of 
his  dear  spouse,  and  Apollo,  if  holding  the  corpse  of 
Linus  "  in  his  arms  he  was  not  mute  !  Too  violent 
am  I  called  perchance  and  greedy  of  woe,  and 
extravagant  beyond  due  measure  in  my  weeping  ? 
Who  art  thou  that  blamest  my  groans  and  tears  ? 
Ah  !  too  happy  he,  and  heartless,  and  ignorant. 
Fortune,  of  thy  law,  who  dares  to  set  conditions  to 
lamentation,  or  adjudge  the  bounds  of  grief !  Alas  ! 
mourning  incites  to  mourn  :  sooner  wilt  tliou  check 
the  rivers  that  hurry  past  their  banks  or  stay  devour- 
ing fire  than  forbid  the  sorrowful  to  lament.  Yet 
let  him  leai*n,  that  severe  judge,  whoe'er  he  be,  my 
wound  and  my  complaint. 

No  chattering  favourite  was  it,  bought  from  a 
Pharian  vessel,  no  infant  skilled  in  the  repartee  of 
his  native  Nile,  with  over-ready  tongue  and  impuc^nt 
wit,  that  won  my  heart  ;  mine  was  he,  mine  indeed. 
When  he  lay  on  the  ground,  a  new-born  babe,  I  saw 
him,  and  with  a  natal  ode  I  welcomed  his  anointing, ** 
and  as  with  tremulous  wailing  he  claimed  liis  new 
heritage  of  air,  I  set  him  among  living  souls.  What 
more  did  h.is  own  parents  give  ?  Nay,  another  birth 
I  gave  thee,  little  one,  and  thy  liberty  while  yet  at 
the  breast,  though  yet  thou  didst  laugh  ungrateful 
at  my  gift.  Hasty  my  love  may  have  been,  yet  with 
good  reason  so,  lest  even  a  day  be  lost  to  so  tiny  a 
freedom.  And  shall  I  not  then  all  unkempt  hurl  my 
reproaches  at  the  gods  and  at  unjust  Tartarus  ?    Shall 

child  on  the  nintli  day  after  birth  ;  "  inserui  "  perhaps  of 
formal  registration. 

335 


ST  ATI  us 

nonne  geniam  te,  care  puer  ?  quo  sospite  natos 
non  cupii,  primo  genitum  quera  protinus  ortu  80 

implicui  fixique^  mihi,  cui  verba  sonosque 
monstravi  questusque  et  vulnera  caeca  resolvi,^ 
reptantemque  solo  demissus  ad  oscula  nostra 
erexi,  blandoque  sinu  iam  iamque  cadentes^ 
exsopire*  genas  dulcesque  accersere  somnos.  85 

cui  nomen  vox  prima  meum  ludusque  tenello 
risus,  et  a  nostro  veniebant  gaudia  vultu. 

STATU  DE  BELLO  GERMANICO 
FRAGMENTUM 

lumina  :  Nestorei  niitis  prudentia  Crispi 
et  Fabius  Veiento  —  potentem  signat  utrumque 
purpura,  ter  memores  implerunt  nomine  fastos  — 
et  prope  Caesareae  confinis  Acilius  aulae. 

^  quem  .  .  .  implicui  fixique  Pol. :  qui . .  .  implicuit  fixitque 
M. 

^resolvi  S"  :  ne  solvam  M:  resolvens  Markland. 

'  cadentes  Baehrens  :  om.  M:  natantes  S". 

*  exsopire  Vollmer :  excepere  M:  exceptare,  excipere 
ipse,  etc.  edd. 

"  It  is  not  clear  what  should  be  read  for  "  excepere  "  ; 
for  historic  infinitives  to  avoid  succession  of  past  tenses  cf. 
ii.  1.  \2-2. 

'>  These  lines  are  quoted  by  Valla,  commenting  on 
Juvenal,  Sat.  iv.  94,  and  are  the  onlj'  evidence  we  have  for 
this  work  of  Statins. 

"  Crispus  is  probably  Vibius  Crispus,  whom  Quintilian 
mentions  as  "vir  ingenii  iucundi  et  elegantis  "  (v.   13.  48). 


336 


SILVAE,  V    V.  79-87 

I  not  mourn  for  thee,  dear  lad  ?  Whilst  thou  didst  live, 
I  desired  no  sons,  thou  wert  my  first-born  and  from 
thy  very  birth  I  bound  thee  to  myself  and  made  thee 
truly  mine  ;  I  taught  thee  sounds  and  words,  and 
soothed  thy  complainings  and  thy  hidden  hurts,  and 
as  thou  didst  crawl  on  the  ground,  I  stooped  and 
lifted  thee  to  my  kisses,  and  lovingly  in  my  bosom 
lulled  to  sleep  thy  drooping  eyes,""  and  bade  sweet 
slumber  take  thee.  My  name  was  thy  first  speech, 
my  play  thy  infant  happiness,  and  my  countenance 
was  the  source  of  all  thy  joy.   .  .  . 


FRAGMENT  OF  A  POEM  ON  THE  WAR 
IN  GERMANY  & 

.  .  .  lights  :  the  gentle  wisdom  of  Nestor-like 
Crispus,"  and  Fabius  Veiento  '^ — the  purple  marks 
each  as  eminent,  thrice  have  they  filled  the  recording 
annals  Mith  their  names — and  Acilius,"  near  neigh- 
bour of  Caesar's  palace. 

Juvenal  also  describes  him  (iv.  81)  "  venit  et  Crispi  iucunda 
senectus  j  cuius  erant  mores  qualis  facundia,  mite  \  ingenium  "; 
cf.  Tac.  Hist.  ii.  10. 

"^  If  Fabius  Veiento  is  the  same  as  Fabricius  Veiento,  he 
was  notorious  as  an  informer  under  Domitian ;  he  too  is 
mentioned  by  Juvenal  (iv.  ;113,  iii.  185,  vi.  113). 

"  Acilius  Glabrio  and  his  father  were  present,  with  the  two 
preceding,  at  the  famous  council  of  the  Turbot  (Juv.  iv.); 
the  former  was  a  contemporary  of  Crispus,  the  latter  (men- 
tioned here)  was  consul  with  Trajan  in  91,  and  subsequently 
put  to  death  by  Domitian. 


337 


THEBAID 


THEBAIDOS 

LIBER  I 

Fraternas  acies  alternaque  regna  profanis 
decertata  odiis  sontesque  evolvere  Thebas, 
Pierius  menti  calor  incidit.     unde  iubetis 
ire,  deae  ?     gentisne  canani  primordia  dirae, 
Sidonios  raptus  et  inexorabile  pactum  5 

legis  Agenoreae  scrutantemque  aequora  Cadmum  ? 
longa  retro  series,  trepidum  si  Martis  operti 
agricolam  infandis  condentem  proelia  sulcis 
expediam  penitusque  sequar,  quo  carmine  muris 
iusserit  Amphion  Tyrios  accedere  montes,  10 

unde  graves  irae  cognata  in  moenia  Baccho, 
quod  saevae  lunonis  opus,  cui  sumpserit  arcus 
infelix  Athamas,  cur  non  expaverit  ingens 
Ionium  socio  casura  Palaemone  mater, 
atque  adeo  iam  nunc  gemitus  et  prospera  Cadmi     15 
prae^eriisse  sinam  :  limes  mihi  carminis  esto 
Oedipodae  confusa  domus,  quando  Itala  nondum 

"  For  the  situation  at  the  opening  of  the  Epic  and  its 
plot  see  Introduction. 

''  Cadmus,  son  of  Agenor,  king  of  Phoenicia,  was  sent  by 
his  father  in  search  of  Europa  when  carried  off  by  Zeus  in 
the  form  of  a  bull ;  he  subsequently  founded  Thebes,  and 
sowed  the  dragon's  teeth  there ;  hence  "  anxious  husband- 
man," etc. 

"  Juno's  jealousy  caused  the  death  of  Semele,  mother  of 
340 


THEBAID 

BOOK  I« 

My  spirit  is  touched  by  Pierian  fire  to  recount  the 
strife  of  brethren,  and  the  battle  of  the  alternate 
reign  fought  out  with  impious  hatred,  and  all  the 
guilty  tale  of  Thebes.  Whence,  O  goddesses,  do  ye 
bid  me  begin  ? — Shall  I  sing  the  origins  of  the 
dreadful  race,  the  Sidonian  rape  and  the  inexorable 
terms  of  Agenor's  law,  and  Cadmus  searching  o'er 
tlie  main  ?  **  Far  backward  runs  the  story,  should  I 
tell  of  the  anxious  husbandman  of  hidden  war,  sowing 
battles  in  the  unhallowed  soil,  and,  searching  to  the 
uttermost,  relate  with  what  song  Amphion  bade  the 
Tyrian  mountains  move  to  form  a  city's  walls,  whence 
came  Bacchus'  grievous  wi'ath  against  his  kindred 
towers;  what  deed  fierce  Juno  wrought;  against  whom 
unhappy  Athamas  caught  up  his  bow,  and  why  with 
Palaemon  in  her  arms  his  mother  quailed  not  to  leap 
into  the  vast  Ionian  sea.'^  Nay  rather  here  and  now  I 
will  suifer  the  sorrows  and  the  joys  of  Cadmus  to  have 
gone  by  :  let  the  troubled  house  of  Oedipus  set  a 
limit  to  '^  my  song,  since  not  yet  may  I  venture  to 

Bacchus  ;    Athamas  went  mad  and  slew  his  son  Learchus, 
Ino  leapt  with  Palaemon  into  the  sea.     Ino  and  Semele  were 
daughters  of  Cadmus. 
'^  Or,  "  be  the  track,  the  course  of." 

341 


STATIUS 

signa  nee  Arctoos  ausim  spirare^  triumphos 

bisque  iugo  Rhenum,  bis  adactum  legibus  Histrum 

et  coniurato  deiectos  vertice  Dacos  20 

aut  defensa  prius  vix  pubescentibus  annis 

bella  lovis  teque,  o^  Latiae  decus  addite  famae, 

quern  nova  mature^  subeuntem  exorsa  parentis 

aeternum  sibi  Roma  cupit.     licet  artior  omnis 

limes  agat  Stellas  et  te  plaga  lucida  caeli,  25 

Pleiadum  Boi'eaeque  et  hiulci  fulminis  expers, 

sollicitet,  licet  ignipedum  frenator  equorum 

ipse  tuis  alte  radiantem  crinibus  arcum 

imprimat  aut  magni  cedat  tibi  luppiter  aequa 

parte  poli,  maneas  hominum  contentus  habenis,      30 

undarum  terraeque  potens,  et  sidera  dones. 

tempus  erit,  cum  Pierio^  tua  fortior  oesti'o 

facta  canam  :  nunc  tendo  chelyn  satis  arma  refeiTC 

Aonia  et  geminis  sceptrum  exitiale  tyrannis 

nee  furiis  post  fata  modum  flammasque  rebelles       35 

seditione  rogi  tumulisque  carentia  regum 

funera  et  egestas  alternis  mortibus  urbes, 

caerula  cum  rubuit  Lernaeo  sanguine  Diree 

et  Thetis  arentes  adsuetum  stringere  ripas 

horruit  ingenti  venientem  Ismenon  acervo.  40 

quern  prius  heroum,  Clio,  dabis  ?  immodicum  irae 

^  spirare,  Pi,  Heinsius,  Bentley  :  sperare  Proi. 
^  teque  o  P  {vnth  u  written  over  the  first  e)  :  tuque  o  w, 
tuque  ut  Lachmann. 

*  mature  Lachmann  :  maturi  Pw. 

*  Pierio  P  (laurigero  written  over  by  a  later  hand)  : 
laurigero  w. 

"  The  reference  is  to  Domitian's  campaigns  against  Ger- 
mans and  Dacians,  and  to  the  part  he  took  in  the  fighting 
on  the  Capitol  between  Flavians  and  Vitellians  in  a.d.  69. 

342 


THEBAID,  I.  18-41 

utter  the  theme  of  tlie  standards  of  Italy  and  the 
triumphs  of  the  North,  or  Rhine  twice  brought 
beneath  our  yoke  and  Ister  twice  subject  to  our  law 
and  the  Dacians  hurled  down  from  their  conspiring 
mount,  or  how  in  those  days  of  scarce-approaching 
manhood  Jove  was  forfended  from  attack,**  and  of 
thee,  O  glory  added  to  the  Latian  name,  whom 
succeeding  early  to  thy  sire's  latest  exploits  Rome 
longs  to  be  her  own  for  ever.  Yea,  though  a  closer 
bound  confine  the  stars,  and  the  shining  quarter  of 
tlie  sky  **  that  knows  nought  of  Pleiads  or  Boreas  or 
rending  thunderbolt  tempt  thee,  though  he  who 
curbs  the  fiery-footed  steeds  set  with  his  own  hand 
upon  thy  locks  the  exalted  radiance  of  his  diadem,  or 
Jupiter  yield  thee  an  equal  portion  of  the  great 
heaven,  abide  contented  with  the  governance  of  men, 
thou  lord  of  earth  and  sea,  and  give  constellations 
to  the  sky.*^  A  time  will  come  when  emboldened  by 
Pierian  frenzy  I  shall  recount  thy  deeds  :  now  do  I 
pitch  my  harp  but  to  the  singing  of  Aonian  ^  arms 
and  the  sceptre  fatal  to  both  tyrants  ;  of  their  mad- 
ness unchecked  by  death  and  the  strife  of  flames  in 
the  dissension  of  the  funeral  pyre  ; "  of  kings'  bodies 
lacking  burial  and  cities  drained  by  mutual  slaughter, 
when  the  dark-blue  waters  of  Dirce  blushed  red  with 
Lernaean  gore,  and  Thetis  stood  aghast  at  Ismenos, 
once  wont  to  graze  arid  banks,  flowing  down  with 
mighty  heaps  of  slain.  Which  hero  first  dost  thou 
make  my  theme,  O  Clio  ?     Tydeus,  uncontrolled  in 

ft  The  south. 

'  By  deifying  members  of  the  Imperial  house  ;  the  idea 
of  stars  being  divine  spirits  is  an  old  one  in  mythology, 
e.g.  Castor  and  Pollux  ;  it  is  also  found  in  Plato  and  his 
successors. 

^  Boeotian,  i.e.  Theban.  ^  See  xii.  429. 

343 


STATIUS 

Tydea  ?  laurigeri  subitos  an  vatis  hiatus  ? 
urget  et  hostilem  propellens  caedibus  amnem 
turbidus  Hippomedon,  plorandaque  bella  protervi 
Arcados  atque  alio  Capaneus  hoiTore  canendus.       45 

Impia  iam  nierita  scrutatus  lumina  dextra 
merserat  aeterna  damnatum  nocte  pudorem 
Oedipodes  longaque  animam  sub  morte^  tenebat. 
ilium  indulgentem  tenebris  imaeque  recessu 
sedis  inaspectos  caelo  radiisque  penates  50 

,  servantem  tamen  adsiduis  circumvolat  alis 
saeva  dies  animi,  scelerumque  in  pectore  Dirae. 
tunc  vacuos  orbes,  crudum  ac  miserabile  vitae 
supplicium,  ostentat  caelo  manibusque  cruentis 
pulsat  inane  solum  saevaque  ita  voce  precatur  :       55 
"  di,  sontes  animas  angustaque  Tartara  poenis 
qui  regitis,  tuque  umbrifero  Styx  livida  fundo, 
quam  video,  multumque  mihi  consueta  vocari 
adnue.  Tisiphone,  perversaque  vota  secunda  : 
si  bene  quid  merui,  si  me  de  niatre  cadentem  60 

fovisti  gremio  et  traiectum  vulnere  plantas 
firmasti,  si  stagna  peti  Cirrhaea  bicorni 
interfusa  iugo,  possem  cum  degere  falso 
contentus  Polybo,  trifidaeque  in  Phocidos  arto 
longaevum  implicui  regem  secuique  trementis  65 

^  morte  P  :  nocte  w. 


"  Oedipus  had  torn  out  his  own  eyes  when  he  realized 
that  he  was  guilty  of  parricide  and  incest.  Statins  has  in 
mind  the  Virgilian  "  nox  atra  caput  circumvolat"  Aen. 
vi.  866  (c/.  also  Hor.  jS.  ii.  1.  58),  but  here  it  is  the  "saeva 
dies  "  that  hovers  round. 

**  Or,  as  some  take  it,  "  beats  upon  the  empty  sockets  "  ; 
but  to  beat  on  the  earth  was  a  recognized  way  of  summoning 
infernal  deities. 

344 


THEBAID,  I.  42-65 

wrath  ?  the  sudden  cliasm  that  gaped  for  the  laurel- 
crowned  prophet  ?  Distraught  Hippomedon,  too, 
repelling  his  river-foe  with  corpses  demands  my  song, 
and  I  must  lament  the  gallant  Arcadian  and  his  wars, 
and  sing  with  a  yet  fiercer  thrill  the  fate  of  Capaneus. 
Already  had  Oedipus  with  avenging  liand  probed 
deep  his  sinning  eyes  and  sunk  his  guilty  shame  in 
eternal  night,  abiding  in  a  long  and  living  death. 
But  while  he  liugs  his  darkness  and  the  uttermost 
seclusion  of  his  dwelling,  and  keeps  his  secret  chamber 
which  the  sun's  rays  and  heaven  behold  not,  yet  with 
unwearied  wings  the  fierce  daylight  of  the  mind  hovers 
around  him,"  and  the  Avenging  Furies  of  his  crimes 
assail  his  heart.  Then  he  displays  to  heaven  those 
empty  orbs,  the  cruel,  pitiful  punishment  of  his  life, 
and  with  blood-stained  hands  beats  upon  the  liollow 
earth,''  and  in  dire  accents  utters  this  prayer  :  "  Gods 
who  hold  sway  over  guilty  souls  and  over  Tartarus 
crowded  with  the  damned,  and  thou  O  Styx,  whom  I 
behold,  ghastly  in  thy  shadowy  depths,  and  tliou 
Tisiphone,  so  oft  the  object  of  my  prayer,  be  fjivour- 
able  now,  and  further  my  unnatural  wish  :  if  in  aught 
I  have  found  favour  ;  if  thou  didst  cherish  me  in  thy 
bosom  when  I  fell  from  my  mother's  womb,  and  didst 
heal  the  wounds  of  my  pierced  feet ;  if  I  sought  the 
lake  of  Cirrha  where  it  winds  between  the  two 
summits  of  the  range,"  when  I  could  have  lived  con- 
tented with  the  false  Polybus,  and  in  the  Phocian 
strait  where  three  ways  meet  grappled  witli.the  aged 
king  and  cleft  the  visage  of  the  trembling  dotard, 

"  i.e.,  the  Castalian  spring  at  Delphi,  beneath  the  two  peaks 
of  Parnassus,  where  he  went  to  consult  the  oracle.  He  was 
brought  up  as  the  son  of  Polybus,  king  of  Corinth  (hence 
"  false  "). 

345 


ST  ATI  us 

ora  senis,  dum  quaero  patrem,  si  Sphinges  iniquae 
callidus  ambages  te  praemonstrante  i-esolvi, 
si  dulces  fui'ias  et  lamentabile  matris 
conubium  gavisus  ini  noctemque  nefandam 
saepe  tuli  natosque  tibi,  scis  ipsa,  para\a,  70 

mox  avidus  poenae  digitis  caedentibus  ultro 
incubui  miseraque  oculos  in  niatre  reliqui  : 
exaudi,  si  digna  precor  quaeque  ipsa  furenti 
subiceres.     orbuni  visu  regnisque  carentem^ 
non  regere  aut  dictis  maerentem  flectere  adorti,      75 
quos  genui  quocumque  toro  ;  quin  ecce  superbi 
— pro  dolor  ! — et  nostro  iamdudum  in  funere  reges 
insultant  tenebris  gemitusque  odere  paternos. 
hisne  etiani  funestus  ego  ?  et  videt  ista  deorum 
ignavus  genitor  ?  tu  saltern  debita  vindex  80 

hue  ades  et  totos  in  poenam  ordire  nepotes.^ 
indue  quod  madidum  tabo  diadema  cruentis 
unguibus  abripui,  votisque  instincta  paternis 
i  media  in  fratres,  generis  consortia  ferro 
dissiliant.     da,  Tartarei  regina  barathri,  85 

quod  cupiam  vidisse  nefas,  nee  tarda  sequetur 
mens    iuvenum  ;     modo    digna   veni,^   mea   pignora 
nosces." 
Taha  dieenti  crudehs  diva  severos 
advertit  vultus.     inamoenum  forte  sedebat 
Cocyton  iuxta,  resolutaque  vertice  crines  90 

lambere  sulpureas  permiserat  anguibus  undas. 
ilicet  igne  lovis  lapsisque  citatior  astris 
tristibus  exsiluit  ripis  ;  discedit  inane 

^  carentem  PL  :  parenteni  w. 

^  totos  in  poenam,  nepotes  Pw  :  poenam  in  totos  BaeJi- 
rens,  penates  Ed.  Parmensis. 

*  modo  digna  veni  Pcj :  niodo  dira  Lachmann :  modo 
diva  Mueller :  mens  iuvenum,  me  digna  :  veni  Garrod  conj. 
346 


THEBAID,  I.  06-93 

searching  for  my  true  sire  ;  if  by  wit  of  tliy  fore- 
showing I  solved  the  riddles  of  the  cruel  Sphinx  ;  if  I 
knew  exulting  the  sweet  ecstasy  and  fatal  union  of 
my  mother's  bed,  and  passed  many  an  unhallowed 
night,  and  begot  sons  for  thee,  as  well  thou  knowest, 
yet  soon,  greedy  for  punishment,  did  violence  to 
myself  with  tearing  fingers  and  left  my  eyes  upon 
my  wretched  mother — hear  me  to  the  end,  if  my 
prayer  be  worthy  and  such  as  thou  wouldest  inspire 
my  raging  heart  withal.  Sightless  tliough  I  was  and 
driven  from  my  throne,  my  sons,  on  whatever  couch 
begotten,  attempted  not  to  give  me  guidance  or 
consolation  in  my  grief ;  nay,  haughtily  (ah  !  the 
maddening  sting  !)  and  raised  to  royalty  with  me 
long  dead,  they  mock  my  blindness  and  abhor  their 
father's  groans.  Do  these  too  hold  me  accursed  ? 
and  the  father  of  gods  beholds  it,  and  does  naught  ? 
Do  thou  at  least,  my  due  defender,  come  hither,  and 
begin  a  work  of  vengeance  that  will  blast  their  seed 
for  ever  !  Set  on  thy  head  the  gore-drenched  circlet 
that  my  bloody  nails  tore  off,  and  inspired  by  their 
father's  curses  go  thou  between  the  brethren,  and 
with  the  sword  sunder  the  binding  ties  of  kinship. 
Grant  me,  thou  queen  of  Tartarus'  abyss,  grant  me 
to  see  the  evil  that  my  soul  desires,  nor  will  the  spirit 
of  the  youths  be  slow  to  follow  ;  come  thou  but 
worthy  of  thyself,  thou  shalt  know  them  to  be  true 
sons  of  mine." 

So  prayed  he,  and  the  cruel  goddess  turned  her 
grim  visage  to  hearken.  By  chance  she  sat  beside 
dismal  Cocytus,  and  had  loosed  the  snakes  from  her 
head  and  suffered  them  to  lap  the  sulphurous  waters. 
Straightway,  faster  than  fire  of  Jove  or  falling  stars 
she  leapt  up  from  the  gloomy  bank  :  the  crowd  of 

347 


STATIUS 

vulgus  et  occursus  dominae  pavet  ;  ilia  pei-  umbras 
et  caligantes  animarum  examine  campos  95 

Taenariae  limen  petit  im-emeabile  portae. 
sensit  adesse  Dies,  pieeo  Nox  obvia  nimbo 
lucentes  turbavit  equos  ;  procul  arduus  Atlas 
horruit  et  dubia  caelum  cervice  remisit. 
arripit  extemplo  Maleae  de  valle  resurgens  100 

notum  iter  ad  Thebas  ;  neque  enim  velocior  ullas 
itque  reditque  vias  cognatave  Tartara  mavult. 
centum  illi  stantes  umbrabant  ora  cerastae, 
turba  minax^  diri  capitis  ;  sedet  intus  abactis 
ferrea  lux  oculis,  qualis  per  nubila  Phoebes  105 

Atracia  rubet  arte  labor  ;  sufFusa  veneno 
tenditur  ac  sanie  gliscit  cutis  ;  igneus  atro 
ore  vapor,  quo  longa  sitis  morbique  famesque 
et  populis  mors  una  venit  ;  riget  horrida  tergo 
palla,  et  caerulei  redeunt  in  pectora  nodi  :  110 

Atropos  hos  atque  ipsa  novat  Proserpina  cultus. 
tunc  geminas  quatit  ira  manus  :  haec  igne  rogali 
fulgurat,  haec  vivo  manus  aera  verberat  hydro. 

Ut  stetit,  abrupta  qua  plurimus  arce  Cithaeron 
occurrit  caelo,  fera  sibila  ci'ine  virenti  115 

congeminat,  signum  terris,  unde  omnis  Achaei 
ora  maris  late  Pelopeaque  regna  resultant, 
audiit  et  medius  caeli  Parnassos  et  asper 
Eurotas,  dubiamque  iugo  fragor  impulit  Oeten 

^  minax  Lachmann  :  minor  Pw. 

*  A  promontory  in  Laconia,  which  had  a  cave  supposed 
to  be  an  entrance  to  the  underworld. 

*  Edd.  who  keep  "minor"  explain  either  as  the  lesser 
half  of  the  crowd  of  snakes,  or  as  the  small  fry,  compared 
with  the  big  snake  in  the  Fury's  hand  (113). 

"  i.e.,  Thessalian.  Thessaly  was  famous  for  magic  spells 
and  witches,  cf.  iii.  140. 

348 


THEBAID,  I.  94-119 

phantoms  gives  way  before  her,  fearing  to  meet 
their  queen  ;  then,  journeying  through  the  shadows 
and  the  fields  dark  with  trooping  ghosts,  she  hastens 
to  the  gate  of  Taenarus,**  whose  threshold  none  may 
cross  and  again  return.  Day  felt  her  presence, 
Night  interposed  her  pitchy  cloud  and  startled  his 
shining  steeds  ;  far  off  towering  Atlas  shuddered 
and  shifted  the  weight  of  heaven  upon  his  trembling 
shoulders.  Forthwith  rising  aloft  from  Malea's 
vale  she  hies  her  on  the  well-known  way  to  Thebes  : 
for  on  no  errand  is  she  swifter  to  go  and  to  return, 
not  kindred  Tartarus  itself  pleases  her  so  well. 
A  hundred  horned  snakes  erect  shaded  her  face, 
the  thronging  terror  of  her  awful  head  ;  ^  deep 
within  her  sunken  eyes  there  glows  a  light  of  iron 
hue,  as  when  Atracian  ''  spells  make  travailing  Phoebe 
redden  through  tlie  clouds  ;  suiFused  with  venom,  her 
skin  distends  and  swells  with  corruption  ;  a  fiery 
vapour  issues  from  her  evil  mouth,  bringing  upon 
mankind  thirst  unquenchable  and  sickness  and  famine 
and  universal  death.  From  her  shoulders  falls  a  stark 
and  grisly  robe,  whose  dark  fastenings  meet  upon  her 
breast  :  Atropos  and  Proserpine  herself  fashion  her 
this  garb  anew.  Then  both  her  hands  are  shaken 
in  wrath,  the  one  gleaming  with  a  funeral  torch,  the 
other  lashing  the  air  ^vith  a  live  water-snake. 

She  halted,  where  the  sheer  heights  of  vast  Cith- 
aeron  rise  to  meet  the  sky,  and  sent  forth  from  her 
green  locks  fierce  repeated  hisses,  a  signal  to  the 
land,  whereupon  the  whole  shore  of  the  Achaean 
gulf  and  the  realm  of  Pelops  echoed  far  and  wide. 
Parnassus  also  in  mid-heaven  heard  it,  and  turbulent 
Eurotas  ;    with  the  din  Oete  rocked  and  staggered, 

349 


STATIUS 

in  latvis,  et  geminis  vix  fluctibus  obstitit  Isthmos.  120 
ipsa  suum  genetrix  curvo  delphine  vagantem 
abripuit  frenis  gremioque  Palaemona  pressit. 

Atque  ea  Cadmeo  praeceps  ubi  culmine  primum 
constitit  adsuetaque  infecit  nube  penates, 
protinus  adtoniti  fratrum  sub  pectore  motus,  125 

gentilesque  animos  subiit  furor  aegraque  laetis 
in\idia  atque  parens  odii  metus,  inde  regendi 
saevus  amor,  ruptaeque  vices  iurisque  secundi 
ambitus  impatiens,  et  summo  dulcius  unum^ 
stare  loco,  sociisque  comes  discordia  regnis.  130 

sic  ubi  delectos  per  torva  armenta  iuvencos 
agricola  imposito  sociare  adfectat  aratro, 
illi  indignantes,  quis  nondum  vomere  multo 
ardua  nodosos  cervix  descendit  in  armos, 
in  diversa  trahunt  atque  acquis  vincula  laxant        135 
viribus  et  vario  confundunt  limite  sulcos  : 
haud  secus  indomitos  praeceps  discordia  fratres 
asperat.     alterni  placuit  sub  legibus  anni 
exsilio  mutare  ducem.     sic  iure  maligno 
fortunam  transire  iubent,  ut  sceptra  tenentem       140 
foedere  praecipiti  semper  novus  angeret  heres. 
haec  inter  fratres  pietas  erat,  haec  mora  pugnae 
sola  nee  in  regem  perduratura  secundum, 
et  nondum  crasso  laquearia  fulva^  metallo, 
montibus  aut  alte  Grais  efFulta  nitebant  145 

atria,  congestos  satis  explicitura  clientes  : 
non  impacatis  regum  advigilantia  somnis 
pila,  nee  alterna  ferri  statione  gementes 
excubiae  nee  cura  mere  committere  gemmas 
atque  aurum  violare  cibis  :  sed  nuda  potestas         150 

^  unum  Poj :  uno  D :  uni  Heinsius. 
^  fulva  Pw  :  fulta  Mueller. 

"  See  note  on  i.  14. 

350 


THEBAID,  I.  120-150 

and  Isthmos  scarce  witlistood  the  waves  on  either 
side.  With  her  own  hand  his  mother  snatched 
Palaemon  from  the  curved  back  of  his  straying 
dolphin  steed  and  pressed  him  to  her  bosom.*^ 

Then  the  Fury,  swooping  headlong  upon  the  Cad- 
mean  towers,  straightway  cast  upon  the  house  its 
wonted  gloom  :  troubled  dismay  seized  the  brothers' 
hearts  and  the  madness  of  their  race  inspired  them, 
and  envy  that  repines  at  others'  happiness,  and  hate- 
engendering  fear  ;  and  then  fierce  love  of  power,  and 
breach  of  mutual  covenant,  and  ambition  that  brooks 
not  second  place,  the  dearer  joy  of  sole  supremacy, 
and  discord  that  attends  on  partnered  rule.  Even  so 
would  a  farmer  fain  unite  under  the  plough-yoke 
two  picked  bullocks  of  the  savage  herd,  but  they 
indignant — for  not  yet  has  the  frequent  coulter 
bowed  those  arching  necks  to  the  sinewy  shoulders — 
pull  contrariA\'ise  and  with  strength  well-matched 
break  harness  and  confound  the  furrows  with  divers 
tracks  :  not  otherwise  does  furious  discord  enrage 
the  proud  brothers.  'Twas  agreed  to  change  rule 
for  exile  by  the  ordinance  of  the  alternate  year.  By 
a  grudging  law  they  bade  their  fortunes  change,  so 
that  a  new  claimant  should  ever  embitter  the 
monarch's  fast-expiring  term.  No  other  bond  united 
the  brethren,  this  was  their  sole  stay  from  arms,  nor 
destined  to  endure  to  a  second  reign.  Yet  then  no 
ceilings  glittered  with  thick  plates  of  yellow  gold,  nor 
did  quarried  Grecian  pillars  bear  aloft  vast  halls  that 
could  freely  spread  the  serried  mass  of  clients  ;  no 
spears  kept  guard  o'er  a  monarch's  troubled  slumbers, 
no  sentinels  groaned  at  the  recurring  duty  of  the 
watch  ;  they  thought  not  to  entrust  precious  stones 
to  the  wine-cup,  nor  to  soil  gold  with  food  ;   'twas  for 

351 


STATIUS 

armavit  fratres,  pugna  est  de  paupere  regno. 

dumque  uter  angustae  squalentia  iugera  Dirces 

verteret  aut  Tyrii  solio  non  altus  ovaret 

exsulis  ambigitur,  periit  ius  fasque  bonumque 

et  vitae  mortisque  pudor.     quo  tenditis  iras,  155 

a,  miseri  ?   quid  si  peteretur  crimine  tanto 

limes  uterque  poll,  quern  Sol  emissus  Eoo 

cardine,  quern  portu  vergens  prospectat  Hibero, 

quasque  procul  terras  obliquo  sidere  tangit 

avius^  aut  borea  gelidas  madidive  tepentes  160 

igne  noti  ?  non  si  Phrygiae  Tyriaeque  sub  unum 

convectentur  opes,     loca  dira  arcesque  nefandae 

sufFecere  odio,  furiisque  immanibus  emptum 

Oedipodae  sedisse  loco. 

lam  sorte  carebat^ 
dilatus  Polvnicis  honos.     quis  tunc  tibi,  saeve,        165 
quis  fuit  ille  dies,  vacua  cum  solus  in  aula 
respiceres  ius  omne  tuum  cunctosque  minores, 
et  nusquam  par  stare  caput  ?     iam  murmura  serpunt 
plebis  Echioniae,  tacitumque  a  principe  vulgus 
dissidet,  et,  qui  mos  populis,  venturus  amatur.       170 
atque  aliquis,  cui  mens  humiU  laesisse  veneno 
summa  nee  impositos  umquam  cer\ice  volenti 
ferre  duces,  "  hancne  Ogygiis,"  ait,  "  aspera  rebus 
fata  tulere  vicem,  totiens  mutare  timendos 
alternoque  iugo  dubitantia  subdere  coUa  ?  175 

partiti  versant  populorum  fata  manuque 

^  avius  (j3  :  aut  notus  P. 
^  carebat  Pw  :  cadebat  Bernartins. 

«  i.e.,  of  course,  Eteocles. 
*  Theban,  from  Echion,  king  of  Thebes. 
'  Theban,  from  Ogyges,  founder  of  Thebes  according  to 
one  legend. 

352 


THEBAID,  I.  15i-i7fi 

naked  power  the  brethren  armed,  a  starveling  realm 
was  their  cause  of  battle.  And  while  they  dispute 
which  of  the  twain  shall  plough  scant  Dirce's  squalid 
fields,  or  boast  himself  on  the  Tyrian  exile's  lowly 
throne,  the  laws  of  God  and  man  are  broken,  right- 
eousness perisheth,  and  honour  botJi  in  life  and  death. 
Alas  !  unhappy  ones  !  what  limits  set  ye  to  your 
wrath  ?  what  if  it  were  the  sky's  farthest  bounds  ye 
dared  so  impiously,  whereon  the  sun  looks  when  he 
issues  from  the  eastern  gate  and  when  he  sinks  into 
his  Iberian  haven,  or  the  lands  he  touches  afar  with 
slanting  devious  ray,  lands  that  the  North  wind 
freezes  or  the  moist  South  warms  with  fiery  breath  ? 
nay,  even  though  the  wealth  of  Phrygia  and  of  Tyre 
were  gathered  as  the  prize  !  A  land  of  horror  and 
a  city  God-accursed  sufficed  to  rouse  your  hatred,  and 
hell's  madness  was  the  price  of  sitting  in  the  seat  of 
Oedipus  ! 

And  now  by  the  losing  of  the  hazard  Polynices  saw 
his  reign  deferred.  How  proud  a  day  for  thee,  fierce 
tyrant,"  when  alone  and  unchallenged  in  thy  palaee 
thou  didst  look  and  behold  all  power  thine,  all  other 
men  thy  subjects,  and  never  a  head  but  bowed 
beneath  thy  sway  !  Yet  already  murmurs  are  creep- 
ing among  the  Echionian  ''  folk,  the  people  is  at 
silent  variance  with  its  prince,  and,  as  is  the  wont  of 
a  ci-owd,  'tis  the  claimant  that  they  love.  And  one 
among  them,  whose  chief  thought  it  was  to  hurt  by 
mean  and  venomous  speech  and  never  to  bear  the 
yoke  of  rulers  with  submissive  neck,  said  :  "  Is  this 
tlie  lot  that  the  hard  fates  have  appointed  for  our 
Ogygian  "  land,  so  often  to  change  those  whom  we 
must  fear,  and  to  give  uncertain  allegiance  to  an 
alternate  sway  ?     From  hand  to  hand  they  toss  the 

VOL.  I  2  A  353 


STATIUS 

fortunam  fecere  levem.     semperne  vicissim 
exsulibus  ser\ire  dabor  ?  tibi,  summe  deorum 
terrarmnque  satoi*,  sociis  banc  addere  mentem 
sedit  ?     an  inde  vetus  Thebis  extenditur  omen,      180 
ex  quo  Sidonii  nequiquani  blanda  iuvenci 
pondera  Carpathio  iussus  sale  quaerere  Cadmus 
exsul  Hyanteos  invenit  regna  per  agros, 
fraternasque  acies  fetae  telluris  hiatu 
augurium  seros  dimisit  ad  usque  nepotes  ?  185 

cernisj  ut  erectum  torva  sub  fronte^  minetur 
saevior  adsurgens  dempto  consorte  potestas. 
quas  gerit  ore  rninas,  quanto  premit  omnia  fastii  ! 
hicne  umquam  privatus  erit  ?     tamen  ille  precanti 
mitis  et  adfatu  bonus  et  patientior  aequi.  190 

quid  mirum  ?     non  solus  erat.     nos  vilis  in  omnis 
prompta  manus  casus,  domino  cuicumque  parati. 
quabter  bine  gebdus  Boreas,  bine  nubifer  Eurus 
vela  trahunt,  nutat  mediae  fortuna  carinae, 
— lieu  dubio  suspensa  metu  tolerandaque  nulHs      195 
aspera  sors  populis  I — hie  iniperat,  ille  minatur." 

At  lovis  imperio  rapidi  super  atria  caeli 
lectus  concilio  divum  convenerat  ordo 
interiore  polo,     spatiis  hinc  omnia  iuxta, 
primaeque  occiduaeque  domus  et  fusa  "^ub  omni    200 
terra  atque  unda  die.     mediis  sese  arduus  iiifert 
ipse  deis,  placido  quatiens  tamen  omnia  vultu, 
stellantique  loeat  solio  ;  nee  protinus  ausi 
caelicolae,  veniam  donee  pater  ipse  sedendi 

^  sub  fronte  P<j  :   cervice  1). 
"  Boeotian.     See  n.  nn  J.  6. 
354 


THEBAID,  I.  177-204 

destinies  of  peoples  and  of  their  own  accord  make 
Fortune  fickle.  Am  I  always  to  serve  princes  that 
take  their  turn  of  exile  ?  Is  this  thy  will  and  purpose 
for  thy  kindred  realm,  great  Lord  of  heaven  and 
earth  ?  Does  the  ancient  augury  still  have  power 
for  Thebes,  since  Cadmus,  bidden  search  in  vain  the 
Carpathian  sea  for  tlie  winsome  burden  of  the 
Sidonian  bull,  found  an  exile's  kingdom  in  the  Hyan- 
tean  "  fields,  and  in  the  gaping  of  the  pregnant  earth 
bequeathed  the  warfare  of  brethren  as  an  omen  to 
his  posterity  for  ever  ?  See  how  the  tyi-ant,  rid  of 
his  colleague,  rises  erect  more  fiercely  threatening 
under  cruel  brows  !  what  terror  in  his  look,  how 
overbearing  his  pride  !  will  this  man  ever  stoop  to 
subject  rank  ?  But  the  other  was  gentle  to  our 
pi-ayers,  affable  of  speech,  and  more  patient  of  the 
right.  What  wonder  ?  he  was  not  alone.  A  worth- 
less crowd  indeed  are  we,  ready  for  every  chance,  at 
the  bidding  of  every  lord,  whosoe'er  he  be  !  As  the 
sails  yield  to  the  cold  north  wind  on  this  side  and  to 
the  cloudy  east  wind  on  that,  and  the  vessel's  fate 
hangs  wavering — alas  !  for  the  cruel,  intolerable  lot 
of  peoples,  racked  by  doubt  and  fear  ! — so  now  one 
commands  and  the  other  threatens." 

But  now  by  Jove's  command  the  High  Court  and 
chosen  council  of  the  gods  had  assembled  in  the 
spacious  halls  of  the  revolving  sphere,  in  heaven's 
innermost  depths.  Equally  removed  from  hence  is 
the  whole  world's  extent,  the  abodes  of  east  and 
west,  and  earth  and  sea  outspread  beneath  the 
infinite  sky.  Loftily  through  their  midst  moves  the 
King  himself  making  all  tremble,  yet  with  counten- 
ance serene,  and  takes  his  seat  on  the  starry  throne  : 
nor  dare  they  sit,  the  heavenly  ones,  until  the  sire 

355 


ST  ATI  us 

tranquilla  iubet  esse  manu.    mox  turba  vagorum   205 
semideum  et  summis  cognati  nubibus  Amnes 
et  compressa  metu  servantes  murmura  Venti 
aurea  tecta  replent.     mixta  convexa  deorum 
maiestate  tremunt,  radiant  maiore  sereno 
culmina  et  arcano  florentes  lumine  postes.  210 

postquam  iussa  quies  siluitque  exterritus  orbis, 
incipit  ex  alto — grave  et  immutabile  Sanctis 
pondus  adest  verbis,  et  vocem  fata  sequuntur —  ; 
"  terrarum  delicta  nee  exsaturabile'^  Diris 
ingenium  mortale  queror.  quonam  usque  nocentum 
exigar  in  poenas  ?     taedet  saevire  corusco  216 

fulmine,  iam  pridem  Cyclopum  operosa  fatiscunt 
bracchia  et  Aeoliis  desunt  incudibus  ignes. 
atque  adeo  tuleram  falso  rectore  solutos 
Solis  equos,  caelumque  rotis  errantibus  uri,  220 

et  Phaethontea  mundum  squalere  fa  villa, 
nil  actum,  neque  tu  valida  quod  cuspide  late 
ire  per  inlicitum  pelago,  germane,  dedisti. 
nunc  geminas  punire  domos,  quis  sanguinis  auctor 
ipse  ego,  descendo.     Perseos  alter  in  Ai-gos  225 

scinditur,  Aonias  fluit  hie  ab  origine  Thebas. 
mens  cunctis  imposta  manet^  :  quis  funera  Cadnii 
nesciat  et  totiens  excitam  a  sedibus  imis 
Eumenidum  bellasse  aciem,  mala  gaudia  matrum 
erroresque  feros  nemorum  et  reticenda  deorum      230 
crimina  ?     vix  lucis  spatio,  vix  noctis  abactae 

^  exsaturabile  P:  also  D,  with  exsatiabile  icritten  over: 
exsuperabile  ui. 

^  imposta  manet  Pw :  infausta,  infesta,  etc.,  edd. :  movet  B 
Guyet :  manet  D  icith  movet  written  over. 

"  The  slaughter  of  the  armed  warriors  who  sprang  from 
the  dragon's  teeth. 

*  The  old  commentators  took  this  as  purposelj'  ambiguous, 
crimes  committed  bj^  or  against  the  gods.     The  latter  mean- 

356 


THEBAID,  I.  205-231 

himself  with  tranquil  hand  permit  them.  Next  a 
crowd  of  wandering  demigods  and  Rivers,  of  one  kin 
with  the  high  clouds,  and  Winds,  their  clamours 
hushed  by  fear,  throng  the  golden  halls.  The  aixh- 
ing  vaults  of  heaven  are  all  agleam  with  majesty,  the 
heights  glow  with  a  fuller  radiance,  and  a  light  that 
is  not  of  earth  blooms  upon  the  portals.  When  quiet 
was  commanded  and  heaven's  orb  fell  silent,  he 
began  from  his  lofty  throne — the  sacred  words  have 
authority  and  power  immutable,  and  Destiny  waits 
upon  his  voice  :  "  Of  Earth's  trangressions  I  com- 
plain, and  of  Man's  mind  that  no  Avenging  Powers 
can  satiate.  Am  I  ever  to  be  spent  in  punishing  the 
wicked  ?  I  am  weary  of  venting  my  anger  with  the 
flashing  brand,  long  since  are  the  busy  arms  of  the 
Cyclopes  failing,  and  the  fires  droop  that  serve 
Aeolian  anvils.  Yea,  I  had  suffered  the  Sun's  steeds 
to  run  free  of  their  false  driver,  and  heaven  to  be 
burned  with  their  straying  wheels  and  earth  to  be 
foul  with  the  ashes  that  once  were  Phaethon.  Yet 
naught  availed  it,  nor  that  thou,  brother,  didst  with 
thy  strong  spear  send  the  sea  flooding  wide  over  the 
forbidden  land.  Now  am  I  descending  in  punish- 
ment on  two  houses,  whereof  I  am  myself  pro- 
genitor. The  one  branches  from  the  stem  to  Persean 
Argos,  the  other  flows  from  its  source  to  Aonian 
Thebes.  In  all  the  implanted  character  abides  : 
who  knows  not  Cadmus'  bloodshed  "■  and  the  array 
of  warring  Furies  so  oft  summoned  from  the  depths 
of  hell,  the  mothers'  unhallowed  joys  and  frenzied 
ranging  of  the  forests,  and  the  reproaches  of  gods 
that  must  be  veiled  in  silence  *"  ?     Scarce  would  the 

ing  is  the  easier  one,  e.ff.  Niobe,  Pentheus,  Semele,  and  it  is 
difficult  to  see  what  the  other  could  refer  to. 

357 


STATIUS 


enumerare  queam  mores  gentemque  profanam. 
scandere  quin  etiani  thalamos  hie  impius  heres 
patris  et  inimeritae  gremium  incestare  parentis 
appetiit,  proprios — monstrum^ ! — revolutus  in  ortus. 
ille  tamen  superis  aeterna  piacula  solvit  236 

proiecitque  diem,  nee  iam  amplius  aethere  nostro 
vescitur  ;  at  nati — facinus  sine  more  ! — cadentes 
calcavere  oculos.     iam,  iam  rata  vota  tulisti, 
dire  senex  !     meruere  tuae,  meruere  tenebrae       240 
ultorem  sperare  lovem.     nova  sontibus  arma 
iniciam  regnis,  totumque  a  stirpe  revellam 
exitiale  genus,     belli  mi  hi  semina  sunto 
Adrastus  socer  et  superis  adiuncta  sinistris 
conubia.     hanc  etiam  poenis  incessere  gentem       245 
decretum  ;  neque  enim  arcano  de  pectore  fallax 
Tantalus  et  saevae  periit  iniuria  mensae." 

Sic  pater  omnipotens.     ast  illi  saucia  dictis 
flammato  versans  inopinum  corde  dolorem 
talia  luno  refert  :  "  mene,  o  iustissime  divum,       250 
me  bello  certare  iubes  ?     scis,  semper  ut  arces 
Cyclopum  magnique  Phoroneos  inclyta  fama 
seeptra  viris  opibusque  iuvem,  licet  improbus  illic 
custodem  Phariae  somno  letoque  iuvencae 
exstinguas,  saeptis  et  turribus  aureus  intres.  255 

mentitis  ignosco  toris  :  illam  odimus  urbem, 

^  monstrum  D  Scallger  :  monstro  Pa>. 


°  Lit.  "Adrastus  as  a  father-in-law,"  i.e.,  "giving  his 
daughter  in  marriage." 

*"  When  Tantalus,  according  to  one  legend,  cut  up  his  son 
Pelops  and  boiled  him  as  a  feast  for  the  gods.  Tantalus 
was  king  of  Argos,  though  in  some  legends  king  of  Lydia 
or  Phrygia.     "  hanc  "  therefore  means  "  Argive." 

'  Phoroneus,  son  of  Inachus,  was  commonly  considered 

358 


THEBAID,  I.  232-256 

period  of  day  or  passing  night  avail  me  to  recount 
the  impious  doings  of  the  race.  Nay,  this  unnatural 
heir  has  even  ventured  to  climb  his  father's  couch 
and  defile  the  womb  of  his  innocent  mother,  returning 
(oh  !  horror  !)  to  his  own  life's  origin.  Yet  he  has 
made  atonement  everlasting  to  the  gods  above, 
casting  fortli  from  himself  the  light  of  day,  nor  any 
more  feeds  upon  the  air  of  heaven  ;  but  his  sons  (a 
deed  unspeakable)  trampled  on  his  eyes  as  they  fell. 
Now,  now  are  thy  prayers  fulfilled,  terrible  old  man  ! 
deserving  art  thou,  yea,  deserving  in  thy  blindness 
to  hope  for  Jove  as  thy  avenger.  New  strife  will  I 
send  upon  the  guilty  realm,  and  uproot  the  whole 
stock  of  the  deadly  race.  Let  the  gift  of  Adi'astus' 
daughter"  and  her  ill-omened  nuptials  furnish  me 
the  seeds  of  war.  This  race  too  I  am  resolved  to 
scoui'ge  with  punishment  :  for  never  hath  the  deceit 
of  Tantalus,  nor  the  crime  of  the  pitiless  banquet  * 
been  forgotten  in  the  secret  counsels  of  my  heart." 

So  spake  the  Almighty  Sire.  But  wounded  by  his 
words  and  nursing  sudden  v/rath  in  a  heart  aflame 
Juno  thus  makes  answer  :  "  'Tis  I,  then,  jus  test  of 
gods,  I  whom  thou  biddest  to  engage  in  war  ?  for 
thou  knowest  how  I  ever  give  aid  of  men  and  might 
to  the  Cyclopean  towers  and  the  far-famed  sceptre 
of  great  Phoi'oneus,  although  there  thou  didst  ruth- 
lessly cast  on  sleep  and  slay  the  guardian  of  the 
Pharian  heifer,  ay,  and  dost  enter  barred  turrets  in 
a  shower  of  gold.''     Concealed  amours  I  pardon  thee  : 

as  the  founder  of  Argos,  whose  walls,  like  those  of  other 
ancient  cities,  were  thought  to  have  been  built  by  the 
Cyclopes.  Argus,  the  watcher  of  lo,  daughter  of  Inachus, 
was  slain  there,  and  there  Danae,  daughter  of  king  Acrisius, 
was  visited  by  Jupiter. 

359 


ST  ATI  us 

quam  vultu  confessus  adis,  ubi  conscia  magni 
signa  tori  tonitrus  agis  et  mea  fulmina  torques, 
facta  luaiit  Thebae  :  cur  hostes  eligis  Argos  ? 
quin  age,  si  tanta  est  thalami  discordia  sancti,        260 
et  Samon  et  veteres  armis  exscinde  Mvcenas, 
verte  solo  Sparten.     cur  usquam  sanguine  festo 
coniugis  ara  tuae,  cumulo  cur  turis  Eoi 
laeta  calet  ?     melius  votis  Mareotica  fumant 
Coptos  et  aerisoni  lugentia  flumina  Xili.  265 

quod  si  prisca  luunt  auctorum  crimina  gentes 
subvenitque  tuis  sera  haec  sententia  curis, 
"^^  percensere  ae\i  senium,  quo  tempore  tandem 
terrarum  furias  abolere  et  saecula  retro 
emendare  sat  est  ?     iamdudum  ab  sedibus  illis       270 
incipe,  fluctivaga  qua  praeterlabitur  unda 
Sicanios  longe  relegens  Alpheos  amores. 
Arcades  hie  tua — nee  pudor  est^delubra  nefastis 
imposuere  locis,  illic  Mavortius  axis 
Oenomai  Geticoque  pecus  stabulare  sub  Haemo    275 
dignius,  abruptis  etiamnum  inhumata  procorum 
relliquiis  trunca  ora  rigent.     tamen  hie  tibi  templi 
gratus  honos,  placet  Ida  nocens  mentitaque  manes 
Creta  tuos.     me  Tantaleis  consistere  terris,^ 

1  terris  Q :  tectis  P:  regnis  D:  considere  regnis  Heinsius. 

"  Thebes  :  the  reference  is  to  his  union  with  Semele, 
when  he  revealed  himself  in  all  his  majesty  ^vith  thunder 
and  lightning. 

*"  i.e.,  why  should  I  be  worshipped  as  a  goddess  at  all, 
when  I  am  so  dishonoured  by  you  ?  1.  265  again  alludes 
to  lo,  with  whom  Isis,  worshipped  by  the  Egyptians,  was 
\      commonly  identified. 

■^  Where  were  the  man-eating  horses  of  king  Diomede  of 
Thrace.     Those  of  Oenomaus,  king  of  Pisa,  used  to  devour 

360 


THEBAID,  I.  257-279 

that  city "  I  hate  where  thou  goest  undisguised, 
where  thou  soundest  the  thunders  that  proclaim  our 
high  union,  and  wieldest  the  Hghtnings  that  are 
mine.  Let  Thebes  atone  her  crimes  ;  why  dost  thou 
choose  Argos  as  her  foe  ?  Nay,  if  such  discord  hath 
seized  our  holy  marriage-chamber,  go,  raze  Sparta 
to  the  ground,  bring  war's  destruction  upon  Samos 
and  old  Mycenae.  Why  anywhere  ^  is  tlie  altar  of 
thy  spouse  made  warm  by  sacrificial  blood  or  fragrant 
with  heaps  of  eastern  incense  ?  Sweeter  is  the  smoke 
that  rises  from  the  votive  shrines  of  Mai'eotic  Coptos 
or  from  the  wailing  crowds  and  brazen  gongs  of  river 
Nile.  But  if  'tis  the  evil  deeds  of  former  men  that 
mankind  now  doth  expiate,  and  this  resolve  hath 
come  so  tardily  to  minister  to  thy  wrath,  to  cast  back 
thy  gaze  through  days  of  old,  at  what  far  stage  of 
time  doth  it  suffice  to  drive  away  earth's  madness 
and  purge  the  backward-reaching  ages  ?  Choose 
straightway  that  spot  for  thy  beginning  where 
Alpheus  following  afar  the  track  of  his  Sicanian  love 
glides  by  with  sea-wandering  wave.  Here  on  ac- 
cursed ground  the  Arcadians  set  thee  a  shrine — yet 
it  shames  thee  not — here  is  Oenomaus'  chariot  of 
war  and  the  steeds  more  fitly  stalled  beneath  Getic 
Haemus,''  nay  even  yet  the  severed  heads  and 
mangled  corpses  of  the  suitors  lie  stark  and  un- 
buried.  Yet  hast  thou  here  the  welcome  honours  of 
a  temple,  yea,  and  guilty  Ida  **  pleases  thee,  and  Crete 
that    tells    falsely    of   thy    death.     Why    dost    thou 

the  suitors  to  the  hand  of  his  daughter  Hippodamia  whom 
lie  defeated  in  a  chariot-race. 

"^  In  Crete  ;  for  the  charge  cf.  Callimachus,  Hymn  to 
Zeus,  1.  8,  where  he  accuses  the  Cretans  of  speaking  of  tlie 
death  of  /yens,  whereas  Zeus  is  alive  and  immortal. 

361 


j 


STATIUS 

quae  tandem  invidia  est  ?  belli  deflecte  tumultus  280 
et  generis  miseresce  tui.     sunt  impia  late 
regna  tibi,  melius  generos  passura  nocentes." 

Finierat  precibus  miscens  convicia  luno. 
at  non  ille  gravis  dictis,  quamquam  aspera  motu, 
reddidit    haec  :     "  equidem    baud    rebar    te    mente 
secunda  285 

laturam,  quodcumque  tuos,  licet  aequus,  in  Argos  - 

eonsulerem,  neque  me,  si  detur  copia,  fallit  ■ 

multa  super  Thebis  Bacchum  ausuramque  Dionen  ^ 

dicere,  sed  nostri  reverentia  ponderis  obstat. 
horrendos  etenim  latices,  Stygia  aequora  fratris     290 
obtestor,  mansurum  atque  inrevocabile  verbum,^ 
nil  fore,  quod  dictis  flectar  !  quare  impiger  alis^ 
portantes  praecede  notos,  Cyllenia  proles, 
aera  per  liquidum  regnisque  inlapsus  opacis 
die  patruo  :  superas  senior  se  adtollat  ad  auras      295 
Laius,  exstinctum  nati  quern  vulnere  nondum 
ulterior  Lethes  accepit  ripa  profundi 
lege  Erebi  ;  ferat  hie  diro  mea  iussa  nepoti  : 
germanum  exsilio  fretum  Argolicisque  tumentem 
hospitiis,  quod  sponte  cupit,  procul  impius  aula      300 
arceat,  alternum  regni  infitiatus  honorem. 
hinc  causae  irarum,  certo  reliqua  ordine  ducam." 

Paret  Atlantiades  dictis  genitoris  et  inde 
summa  pedum  propere  plantaribus  inligat  alis, 
obnubitque  comas  et  temperat  astra  galero.  305 

^  verbum  Scriverius  :  verum  Pio. 
^  alis  Gruter  :  ales  Pw. 


"  "aspera,"  because  his  words  were  intended  to  embroil 
the  brothers  yet  more. 

*  Mercury,  son  of  Jupiter,  born  on  Mt.  Cyllene  in  Arcadia. 
His  mother  Maia  was  the  daughter  of  Atlas  (303J. 

362 


THEBAID,  I.  280-305 

grudge  me  then  to  abide  in  my  Tantalean  land  ? 
Tm'n  hence  the  tumults  of  war,  and  have  compassion 
on  thine  own  blood.  Many  a  wide  and  wicked  realm 
hast  thou,  that  can  better  suffer  the  criines  of 
offending  sons." 

Juno  had  finished  her  mingled  entreaty  and 
reproach.  But  he  made  reply,  not  in  hard  words, 
though  cruel"  was  its  purport :  "In  truth  I  deemed 
not  that  thou  wouldest  bear  with  favouring  mind  all 
that  I  might  devise,  albeit  justly,  against  thy  Argos, 
nor  does  it  escape  me  that,  did  occasion  grant, 
Bacchus  and  Dione  would  dare  to  make  long  plead- 
ing on  Thebes'  behalf,  but  reverence  for  my  authority 
forbids.  For  by  those  awful  waters,  my  brother's 
Stygian  stream,  I  swear — an  oath  abiding  and  irre- 
vocable,— that  naught  will  make  me  waver  from  my 
word  !  Wherefore,  my  Cyllenian,*  in  winged  speed 
outstrip  the  winds  that  bear  thee,  and  gliding  through 
the  limpid  air  down  to  the  dusky  realms  tell  this 
message  to  thy  uncle  :  Let  old  Laius  betake  himself 
to  the  world  above,  Laius,  whom  his  son's  blow  bereft 
of  life  and  whom  by  the  law  of  Erebus  profound 
the  further  bank  of  Lethe  hath  not  yet  received  ; 
let  him  bear  my  commands  to  his  hateful  grandson  : 
His  brother,  to  whom  exile  has  brought  confidence 
and  his  Argive  friendship  boastful  pride,  let  him  in 
despite  of  kin  keep  far  from  his  halls — as  already  he 
doth  well  desire — and  deny  him  the  alternate  honour 
of  the  crown.  So  will  angry  deeds  be  begotten,  and 
the  rest  will  I  lead  on  in  order  due." 

Obedient  to  his  father's  word  the  grandson  of 
Atlas  straightway  fastens  on  his  ankles  the  winged 
sandals,  and  with  wide  hat  veils  his  locks  and  tempers 
the  brilliance  of  the  stars.     Then  he  took  in  his  right 

.'363 


STATIUS 

turn  dextrae  virgam  inseruit,  qua  pelleve  diilces 
aut  suadere  iterum  somnos,  qua  nigra  subire 
Tartara  et  exsanguis  animare  adsueverat  umbras, 
desiluit,  tenuique  exceptus  inhorruit^  aura, 
nee  mora,  sublimis  raptim  per  inane  volatus  310 

carpit  et  ingenti  designat  nubila  gyro. 

Interea  patriis  olim  vagus  exsul  ab  oris 
Oedipodionides  fui'to  deserta  pererrat 
Aoniae.     iamiamque  animi^  male  debita  regna 
concipit,  et  longum  signis  cunctantibus  annum       315 
stare  gemit.     tenet  una  dies  noctesque  recursans 
cura  virum,  si  quando  humilem  decedere  regno 
germanum  et  semet  Thebis  opibusque  potitum 
cerneret  ;  hac  aevum  cupiat  pro  luce^  pacisci. 
nunc  queritur  ceu  tarda  fugae  dispendia,  sed  mox  320 
attollit  flatus  ducis  et  sedisse  superbus 
deiecto  iam  fratre  putat  :   spes  anxia  mentem 
extrahit  et  longo  consumit  gaudia  voto. 
tunc  sedet  Inachias  urbes  Danaeiaque  arva 
et  caligantes  abrupto  sole  Mycenas  325 

ferre  iter  impavidum,  seu  praevia  ducit  Erinys, 
seu  fors  ilia  viae,  sive  hac  immota  vocabat 
Atropos.     Ogygiis  ululata  furoribus  antra 
deserit  et  pingues  Baccheo  sanguine  colics, 
inde  plagam,  qua  molle  sedens  in  plana  Cithaeron  330 
porrigitur  lassumque  inclinat  ad  aequora  montem, 

^  inhorruit  in  D  has  "  perstrepit  "  icrltten  above  it. 
^  animi  Mueller  :  animis  Pw :  animus  Q  Baehrens. 
^  luce  Pu3 :  laude  Q  (luce  above). 

"  Or  "  hurtled  "  ;  see  critical  note. 

*"  Inachus  and  Danaus  were  former  kings  of  Argos. 
Mycenae  was  shrouded  in  darkness  as  a  sign  of  divine  anger 
35*4 


THEBAID,  I.  306-331 

hand  the  wand  wherewith  he  was  wont  to  dispel  or 
call  again  sweet  slumber,  wherewith  to  enter  the 
gates  of  gloomy  Tartarus  or  summon  back  dead  souls 
to  life.  Then  down  he  leapt,  and  slmddered  "  as  the 
frail  air  received  him  ;  delaying  not,  he  Mings  his 
speedy  flight  through  the  void  on  high,  and  draws  a 
mighty  curve  upon  the  clouds. 

Meanwhile  the  son  of  Oedipus,  long  time  a  wander- 
ing outlaw  from  his  father's  lands,  traverses  by 
stealth  the  waste  places  of  Aonia.  Already  he 
broods  on  the  lost  realm  that  was  his  due,  and  cries 
that  the  long  year  stands  motionless  in  its  tardy 
constellations.  One  thought  recurring  night  and 
day  holds  him,  could  he  ever  but  behold  his  kinsman 
degraded  from  the  throne,  and  himself  master  of 
Thebes  and  all  its  power  ;  a  lifetime  would  he  bargain 
for  that  day.  Now  he  complains  that  his  exile  is 
but  time  consumed  in  idleness,  but  soon  the  gust  of 
princely  pride  swells  higli,  and  he  fancies  his  brother 
already  cast  down  and  himself  seated  proudly  in  his 
place  ;  fretful  hope  keeps  his  mind  busy,  and  in  far- 
reaching  prayers  he  tastes  all  his  heart's  desire.  Then 
he  resolves  to  journey  undismayed  to  the  Inachian 
cities  and  Danaan  lands  and  to  Mycenae  dark  with 
the  sun's  withdrawal,**  whether  it  were  the  Fury 
piloting  his  steps,  or  the  chance  direction  of  the  road, 
or  the  summoning  of  resistless  Fate.  He  leaves  the 
Ogygian  glades  that  resound  with  frenzied  bowlings, 
and  the  hills  that  drink  deep  of  Bacchic  gore,*^  tlien 
passes  the  region  where  long  Cithaeron  settles  gently 
to  the  plain  and  stoops  his  weary  height  to  the  sea. 

when  Atreus  served  up  the  sons  of  Thyestes  as  a  meal  for 
their  father. 

"  Blood  shed  in  worship  of  Bacchus. 

365 


ST  ATI  us 

praeterit.     liinc  arte  scopuloso  in  liniite  pendens 
infames  Scirone  petras  Scyllaeaque  rura 
purpureo  regnata  seni  mitemque  Corinthon 
linquit  et  in  mediis  audit  duo  litora  campis  335 

lamque  per  emeriti  surgens  confinia  Phoebi 
Titanis  late,  mundo  subvecta  silenti, 
rorifera  gelidum  tenuaverat  aera  biga  : 
iam  pecudes  volucresque  tacent,  iam  Somnus  avaris 
inrepsit  curis  pronusque  ex  aethere  nutat,  340 

grata  laboratae  referens  oblivia  vitae. 
sed  nee  puniceo  rediturum  nubila  caelo 
promisere  iubar,  nee  rarescentibus  umbris 
longa  repereusso  nituere  crepuscula  Phoebo  : 
densior  a  terris  et  nulli  pervia  flammae  345 

subtexit  nox  atra  polos,     iam  elaustra  rigentis 
Aeoliae  percussa  sonant,  venturaque  rauco 
ore  minatur  hiemps,  venti  transversa  frementes 
confligunt  axemque  emoto  eardine  vellunt, 
dum  caelum  sibi  quisque  rapit  ;   sed  plurimus  Auster 
inglomerat  noctem,  tenebrosa  volumina  torquens,  351 
defunditque  imbres,  sicco  quos  asper  hiatu 
praesolidat  Boreas  ;  nee  non  abrupta  tremiscunt 
fulgura,  et  attritus  subita  face  rumpitur  aether, 
iam  Nemea,^  iam  Taenariis  contermina  lucis  355 

Arcadiae  capita  alta  madent  ;  ruit  agmine  magno 
Inachus  et  gelidas  surgens  Erasinus  in  undas.^ 

1  Nemea  w  :  Nemeae  P. 

^  gelidas  surgens  E.  in  undas  gelidas  w :  vergens  P :  in 
undas  P :  ad  arctos  Pew :  surgens  BD :  gelida  s.  E.  in  unda 
Mueller. 


"  Scylla  was  the  daughter  of  Nisus,  king  of  Megara,  who 
had  the  purple  lock. 

*  i.e.,  there  was  no   morning  twilight  giving  promise  of 

366 


THE13A1D,    I.   331'- 357 

Thereafter  with  dizzy  climb  along  a  rocky  path  he 
puts  behind  him  Sciron's  infamous  cliffs  and  Scylla's 
country  where  the  purple  monarch  ruled,"  and  kindly 
Corinth,  and  in  the  midmost  plain  hears  two  shores 
resound. 

But  now  through  the  wide  domains  which  Phoebus, 
his  day's  work  ended,  had  left  bare,  rose  the  Titanian 
queen,  borne  upward  through  a  silent  world,  and 
with  her  dewy  chariot  cooled  and  rarefied  the  air  ; 
now  birds  and  beasts  are  hushed,  and  Sleep  steals  o'er 
the  greedy  cares  of  men,  and  stoops  and  beckons 
from  the  sky,  shrouding  a  toilsome  life  once  more 
in  sweet  obUvion.  Yet  no  reddening  clouds  gave 
promise  of  the  light's  return,  nor  as  the  shadows 
lessened  did  the  twilight  gleam  with  long  shafts  of 
sun-reflecting  radiance  ;  **  black  night,  blacker  to 
earthward  and  shot  by  never  a  ray,  veiled  all  the 
pole.  And  now  the  rocky  prisons  of  Aeolia  "  are 
smitten  and  groan,  and  the  coming  storm  threatens 
with  hoarse  bellowing  :  tlie  winds  loud  clamouring 
meet  in  conflicting  currents,  and  fling  loose  heaven's 
vault  from  its  fastened  hinges,  while  each  strives  for 
mastery  of  the  sky  ;  but  Auster  most  violent  thickens 
gloom  on  gloom  with  whirling  eddies  of  darkness, 
and  pours  down  rain  which  keen  Boreas  with  his 
freezing  breath  hardens  into  hail  ;  quivering  light- 
nings gleam,  and  from  the  colliding  air  bursts  sudden 
fire.  Already  Nemea  and  the  high  peaks  of  Ai'cadia 
that  border  the  forests  of  Taenarum  are  drenched  ; 
Inachus  flows  in  miglity  spate,  and  Erasinus  swelling 

the  coming  clay.  "  longa  "  might  be  taken  as  long-abiding, 
not  far-streaming. 

"  The  domain  of  Aeolus,  lord  of  the  winds,  as  in  Virg. 
Aen.  i.  52. 

367 


ST  ATI  us 

pulverulenta  prius  calcataque  flumina  nuUae 
aggeribus  tenuere  morae,  stagnoque  refusa  est 
f'unditus  et  veteri  spumavit  Lerna  veneno.  360 

frangitur  omne  nemus,  rapiunt  antiqua  procellae 
bracchia  silvarum,  nullisque  aspecta  per  aevum 
solibus  umbrosi  patuere  aestiva  Lycaei. 
ille  tamen,  modo  saxa  iugis  fugientia  ruptis 
miratus,  modo  nubigenas  e  montibus  amnes  365 

aure^  pavens  passimque  insano  turbine  raptas 
pastorum  pecorumque  domos,  non  segnius  amens 
incertusque  viae  per  nigra  silentia  vastum 
haurit  iter  ;  pulsat  metus  undique  et  undique  frater. 
ac  velut  hiberno  deprensus  navita  ponto,  370 

cui  neque  Tenio  piger  neque  aniico  sidere  monstrat 
Luna  vias,  medio  caeli  pelagique  tumultu 
stat  rationis  inops,  iamiamque  aut  saxa  malignis 
exspectat  submersa  vadis  aut  vertice  acuto 
spumantes  scopulos  erectae  incurrere  prorae  :         375 
talis  opaca  legens  nemorum  Cadmeius  heros 
adcelerat,  vasto  metuenda  umbone  ferarum 
excutiens  stabula,  et  prono  virgulta  refringit 
pectore  ;  dat  stimulos  animo  vis  maesta  timoris, 
donee  ab  Inachiis  victa  caligine  tectis  380 

emicuit  lucem  devexa  in  moenia  fundens 
Larisaeus  apex,     illo  spe  concitus  omni 
evolat,  hinc  celsae  lunonia  templa  Prosymnae 
laevus  habens,  hinc  Hereuleo  signata  vapore 
Lernaei  stagna  atra  vadi,  tandemque  reelusis         385 

^  aure  Ptxi :  ire  Laclimann. 

"  Nothing  else  is  known  of  this  place. 
*  Hercules  used  tire  to  burn  away  the  hydra's  heads. 
368 


THEBAID,   I.   358-385 

higli  into  icy  billows.  Streams  that  before  were 
dusty  road-tracks  now  defy  all  stay  of  confining 
bank,  Lerna  surges  up  from  her  deepest  depths  and 
foams  with  her  ancient  poison.  Shattered  are  all 
the  forests,  aged  boughs  are  swept  out  upon  the 
storm,  and  the  shady  summer-haunts  of  Lycaeus, 
unbeheld  before  by  any  suns,  are  now  stripped  bare 
to  view.  Yet  he,  now  marvelling  at  the  rocks  down- 
hurled  from  the  cloven  mountains,  now  listening  in 
terror  to  the  cloud-born  torrents  dashing  from  the 
hills,  and  the  raging  flood  whirling  away  home  of 
shepherd  and  stall  of  beast,  slackens  not  his  pace, 
though  distraught  and  uncertain  of  his  way,  but 
through  the  dark  silences  devours  the  lonely  stretches 
of  his  road  ;  on  every  side  fear  and  the  thought  of 
his  brother  assail  his  heart.  And  just  as  a  sailor, 
caught  in  a  tempest  on  the  deep,  to  whom  neither 
lazy  Wain  nor  Moon  with  friendly  beam  show  bear- 
ings, stands  beggared  of  resource  in  mid-tumult  of 
sky  and  sea,  and  even  now  expects  the  treacherous 
reef  submerged  beneath  the  wave,  or  waits  to  see 
foaming  jagged  rocks  fling  themselves  at  his  prow 
and  heave  it  high  in  air  :  so  the  Cadmean  hero 
threads  the  darkness  of  the  forests  with  hastening 
step,  while  with  huge  shield  he  braves  the  lairs  of 
fearsome  beasts  and  forward-stooping  thrusts  through 
the  brushwood  thickets  ;  terror's  sombre  influence 
adds  spurs  to  his  resolve,  till  from  above  the  town  of 
Inachus,  conquering  the  gloom  with  beam  of  light 
downpoured  upon  the  shelving  walls,  shone  forth 
the  Larissaean  height.  Thither  sped  by  every  hope 
he  hies  him  fast,  with  Juno's  temple  of  Prosymna  " 
high  on  his  left  hand,  and  yonder  the  black  marsh  of 
Lerna's  water  branded  by  Herculean  fire,''  and  at 
VOL.  I  2  B  369 


ST  ATI  us 

infertur  portis.     actutum  regia  cernit 
vestibula  ;  hie  artus  imbri  ventoque  rigentes 
proicit  ignotaeque  adclinis  postibus  aulae 
invitat  tenues  ad  dura  cubilia  soninos. 

Rex  ibi  tranquille,  medio  de  limite  vitae  390 

in  senium  vergens,  populos  Adrastus  habebat, 
dives  avis  et  utroque  lovem  de  sanguine  ducens. 
hie  sexus  mehoris  inops,  sed  prole  virebat 
feminea,  gemino  natarum  pignore  fultus. 
cui  Phoebus  generos — monstrum  exi Habile  dictu  !  395 
mox  adaperta  fides — fato^  ducente  canebat 
saetigerumque  suem  et  fulvum  adventare  leonem. 
id  volvens  non  ipse  pater,  non  docte  futuri 
Amphiarae  vides,  etenim  vetat  auctor  Apollo, 
tantum  in  corde  sedens  aegrescit  cura  parent! .       400 

Eeee  autem  antiquam  fato  Calvdona  relinquens 
Olenius^  Tydeus — fraterni  sanguinis  ilium 
conscius  horror  agit — eadem  sub  nocte  sopora 
lustra  terit,  similesque  notos  dequestus  et  imbres, 
infusam  tergo  glaciem  et  liquentia  nimbis  405 

ora  eomasque  gerens  subit  uno  tegmine,  cuius 
fusus  humo  gelida  partem  prior  hospes  habebat. 
hie  vero  ambobus  rabiem  fortuna  cruentam 
adtulit  :  haud  passi  sociis  defendere  noctem 
culminibus,  paulum  alternis  in  verba  minasque       410 
cunctantur  ;  mox  ut  iactis  sermonibus  irae 
intumuere  satis,  tum  vero  erectus  uterque 
exsertare  umeros  nudamque  lacessere  pugnam. 
celsior  ille  gradu  procera  in  membra  simulque 

^  fato  P  :  aevo  w. 
^  Olenius  Pw  :  Oenius  1) :  Oeneus  Heinslus. 


"  i.e.,  Aetolian,  from  a  town  called  Olenos. 
370 


THEBAID,  I.  386-414 

length  the  gates  are  opened  and  he  enters.  Straight- 
way he  spies  the  royal  portals  ;  there  he  flings  down 
his  limbs  stiffened  with  rain  and  wind,  and  leaning 
against  the  unknown  palace  doors  woos  gentle 
slumber  to  his  hard  couch. 

There  king  Adrastus,  verging  now  toward  old  age 
from  life's  mid-course,  ruled  his  folk  in  tranquil 
governance,  rich  in  the  wealth  of  ancestry,  and 
on  either  side  tracing  his  line  to  Jove.  Issue  lacked 
he  of  the  stronger  sex,  but  was  prosperous  in  female 
offspring  :  two  daughters  gave  him  pledge  of  love 
and  service.  To  him  had  Phoebus  at  fate's  bidding 
told  that  sons-in-law  drew  nigh — a  deadly  horror  to 
tell  !  yet  soon  was  the  truth  made  manifest — in  the 
shapes  of  bristly  swine  and  tawny  lion.  Naught 
comprehends  the  sire  therein  for  all  his  ponderings, 
nor  thou,  wise  Amphiaraus,  for  thy  master  Apollo 
forbids. ,  Only  the  father's  heart  sickens  ever  in 
deep-felt  anxiety. 

But  lo  !  Olenian  "  Tydeus  leaving  ancient  Calydon 
by  fate's  decree — the  guilty  terror  of  a  brother's 
blood  drives  him  forth — treads  beneath  night's 
slumbrous  veil  the  same  wild  ways,  bewailing  like- 
wise wind  and  rain,  and  with  ice-sheeted  back,  and 
fjice  and  hair  streaming  with  the  storm,  comes  to 
the  self-same  shelter,  whereof  the  former  stranger, 
stretched  on  the  cold  earth,  had  part.  Thereat  so 
chanced  it  that  both  were  seized  with  bloody  rage, 
and  suffered  not  a  shared  roof  to  ward  off  the  night  ; 
for  a  while  they  tarry  with  exchange  of  threatening 
words,  then  when  flung  taunts  had  swelled  their 
anger  to  the  pitch,  each  uprose,  set  free  his  shoulders, 
and  challenged  to  naked  combat.  Taller  the  Tlieban, 
with  long  stride  and  towering  limbs  and  in  life's 

371 


ST  ATI  us 

integer  annorum,  sed^  non  et  viribus  infra  415 

Tydea  fert  animus,  totosque  infusa  per  artus 
maior  in  exiguo  regnabat  corpore  virtus. 
iam  crebros  ictus  ora  et  cava  tempora  circum 
obnixi  ingeminant,  telorum  aut  grandinis  instar 
Riphaeae,  flexoque  genu  vacua  ilia  tundunt.  420 

non  aliter  quam  Pisaeo  sua  lustra  Tonanti 
cum  redeunt  crudisque  virum  sudoribus  ardet 
pulvis  ;  at  hinc  teneros  caveae  dissensus  ephebos 
concitat,  exclusaeque  exspectant  praemia  matres  : 
sic  alacres  odio  nullaque  cupidine  laudis  425 

accensi  incurrunt,  scrutatur  et  intima  vultus 
unca  manus  penitusque  oculis  cedentibus  intrat.^ 
forsan  et  accinctos  lateri — sic  ira  ferebat — 
nudassent  enses,  meliusque  hostilibus  armis 
lugendus  fratri,  iuvenis  Thebane,  iaceres,  430 

ni  rex,  insolituni  clamorem  et  pectore  ab  alto 
stridentes  gemitus  noctis  miratus  in  umbris, 
movisset  gressus,  magnis  cui  sobria  curis 
pendebat  somno  iam  deteriore  senectus. 
isque  ubi  progrediens  numerosa  luce  per  alta  435 

atria  dimotis  adverso  limine  claustris 
terribilem  dictu  faciem,  lacera  ora  putresque 
sanguineo  videt  imbre  genas  :  "  quae  causa  furoris, 
externi  iuvenes— neque  enim  mens  audeat  istas 
civis  in  usque  manus — ,  quisnam  implacabilis  ardor  440 
exturbare  odiis  tranquilla  silentia  noctis  ? 
usque  adeone  angusta  dies  et  triste,  parumper 
pacem  animo  somnumque  pati  ?  sed  prodite  tandem, 
unde  orti,  quo  fertis  iter,  quae  iurgia  ?  nam  vos 
^  sed  Pw  :  nee  Priscian.  *  intrat  P  :  instat  w. 

"  Statius  here  has  Homer  in  mind :  jjuKpbs  jj-^v  ^-qv  Sefxas, 
dWd  ixaxnT-qs  (of  Tydeus,  II.  v.  801). 
*  i.e.,  Olympian  Zeus. 

372 


THEBAID,   I.  415-444 

prime,  yet  was  Tydeus  in  strength  and  spirit  no  whit 
the  less,  and  though  his  frame  was  smaller  greater 
valour  in  every  part  held  sway."  Then  closing 
fiercely  they  deal  many  a  blow  on  face  and  temple, 
like  sliowers  of  darts  or  Rhipaean  hail,  and  with  bent 
knee  belabour  hollow  loins.  Even  as  when  the  fifth 
year  brings  back  his  festival  to  the  Pisaean  Thun- 
derer,'' and  all  is  dust  and  heat  and  the  crude  sweat 
of  men,  while  yonder  the  rival  favours  of  the  cro\A  d 
urge  on  the  youthful  striplings,  and  the  mothers, 
excluded  from  the  scene,  await  the  prizes  of  their 
sons  :  so  these  with  but  hate  to  spur  them,  and  in- 
flamed by  no  lust  of  praise,  fall  on,  and  the  sharp 
nails  probe  far  into  their  faces  and  force  their  way 
into  the  yielding  eyes.  Perchance — so  hot  their 
anger — they  had  bared  the  swords  girt  to  their  sides, 
and  thou  hadst  lain,  O  Theban  youth,  the  victim  of 
a  foeman's  arms — far  better  so — and  earned  a 
brother's  meed  of  tears,  had  not  the  king,  marvelling 
at  the  night's  unwonted  clamour  and  the  fierce 
panting  groans  deep-heaved,  bent  his  steps  thither  : 
age  and  the  burden  of  grave  cares  held  him  now  in 
broken  fitful  slumber.  And  when  proceeding  through 
the  high  halls  with  attendant  train  of  torches  he 
beheld,  the  bars  undone,  upon  the  fronting  threshold 
a  sight  terrible  to  tell,  faces  torn  and  cheeks  dis- 
figured with  streaming  blood  :  "  Whence  this  fury, 
stranger  youths  ?  "  he  cx'ied,  "  for  no  citizen  of  mine 
would  dare  such  violence  as  this  ;  whence  this  im- 
placable desire  to  let  your  hate  disturb  the  tranquil 
silence  of  the  night  ?  Has  then  day  so  little  room, 
or  is  it  grievous  to  suffer,  even  for  a  while,  sleep  and 
peace  of  mind  ?  But  now  come  tell  me,  whence  are 
ye  sprung,  whither  do  ye  fare,  and  what  may  be 

373 


ST  ATI  us 

baud  humiles  tanta  ira  docet,  generisque  superbi  445 
magna  per  effusum  clarescunt  signa  cruorem." 
Vix  ea,  cum  mixto  clamore  obliqua  tuentes 
incipiunt  una  :  "  rex  o  mitissime  Achivum, 
quid  verbis  opus  ?  ipse  undantis  sanguine  vultus 
aspicis.^^  haec  passim  turbatis  vocis  amarae  450 

eonfudere  sonis  ;  inde  orsus  in  ordine  Tydeus 
continuat  :  "  maesti  cupiens  solacia  casus 
monstriferae  Calvdonis  opes  Acheloiaque  arva 
deserui  ;  vestris  haec  me  ecce  in  finibus  ingens 
nox  operit.     tecto  caelum  prohibere  quis  iste         455 
arcuit  ?  an  quoniam  prior  haec  ad  limina  forte 
molitus  gressus  ?  pariter  stabulare  bimembres 
Centauros  unaque  ferunt  Cyclopas  in  Aetna 
compositos.     sunt  et  rabidis  iura  insita  monstris 
fasque  suum  :  nobis  sociare^  cubilia  terrae —  460 

sed  quid  ego  ?  aut  hodie  spoliis  gavisus  abibis, 
quisquis  es,  his,  aut  me,  si  non  efFetus  oborto 
sanguis  hebet  luctu,  magni  de  stirpe  creatum 
Oeneos  et  Marti  non  degenerare  paterno 
accipies."    "  nee  nos  animi  nee  stirpis  egentes — "    465 
ille  refert  contra,  sed  mens  sibi  conscia  fati 
cunctatur  proferre  patrem.     tunc  mitis  Adrastus  : 
"  immo  agite,  et  positis,  quas  nox  inopinaque  suasit 
aut  virtus  aut  ira,  minis  succedite  tecto. 
iam  pariter  coeant  animorum  in  pignora  dextrae,    470 
non  haec  incassum  di\'isque  absentibus  acta  ; 
forsan  et  has  venturus  amor  praemiserit  iras, 

^  suum  nobis  Pw  :  suum  ut  nobis  Garrod :  nobis  sociare 
Po) :  sociae  novisse  Postgate :  bines  sociare  Housman :  norunt 
sociare  Baehrens.  Housman  brackets  as  parenthesis  sunt  .  .  . 
suum,  Garrod  sunt  .  .  .  nobis, 

374 


THEBAID,   I.  445-472 

your  quarrel  ?  Mean  of  soul  ye  cannot  be — such 
anger  proves  it — even  through  bloodshed  the  noble 
signs  of  a  proud  race  show  clear." 

Scarce  had  he  spoken,  when  with  mingled  clamour 
and  sidelong  glance  together  they  begin  :  "  Achaean 
prince  !  most  gracious  monarch  !  what  need  of 
words  ?  thou  seest  thyself  this  face  all  bloody  "- — 
their  words  are  lost  in  the  confused  sound  of  bitter 
accents.  Then  Tydeus  taking  first  place  of  speech 
thus  recounts  his  tale  :  "  Desiring  solace  for  my 
unhappy  lot  I  left  the  wealth  of  Calydon,  nurse  of 
monsters,  and  the  Acheloian  fields  :  and  lo  !  in  your 
l)oundaries  deepest  night  o'ertakes  me.  Who  was  he 
to  forbid  me  shelter  from  the  sky  ?  or  was  it  because 
he  won  his  way  first  to  this  threshold  ?  But  twy- 
form  Centaurs  stall  with  eacli  other,  so  'tis  said,  and 
Cyclopes  have  peace  together  beneath  Aetna  ;  nay 
even  to  wild  monsters  nature  has  given  laws  and 
their  own  rule  of  right  ;  and  for  us  to  share  a  lodging 
on  the  ground — ?  but  why  waste  words  ?  either 
thou,  whoe'er  thou  art,  shalt  to-day  depart  rejoicing 
in  my  spoils,  or,  if  rising  pain  dulls  not  my  blood, 
thou  shalt  know  me  to  be  of  mighty  Oeneus'  stock 
and  no  degenerate  scion  of  my  forefather  Mars  ! 
"  Nor  lack  I  spirit  or  race  "  returns  the  other,  but 
conscious  in  his  heart  of  ruthless  fate  he  hesitates  to 
name  his  sire.  Then  kindly  Adrastus  :  "  Nay  come 
now,  cease  the  threatening  words  which  night  or 
sudden  wrath  or  valour  prompted,  and  pass  beneath 
my  palace-roof.  Now  let  your  riglit  hands  be  joined 
to  pledge  your  hearts.  These  doings  have  not  been 
vain  nor  without  the  sanction  of  the  powers  above  : 
perchance  even  these  angry  quarrels  do  but  fore- 
shadow a  friendship  to  come,  so  that  ye  may  have 

375 


ST  ATI  us 

ut  meminisse  iuvet.  "     nee  vana  voee  locutus 

fata   senex,   siquidem   banc  perhibent   per^   vulnera 

iunctis 
isse^  fidem,  quanta  partitum  extrema  protervo       475 
Thesea  Pirithoo,  vel  inanem  mentis  Oresten 
opposite  rabidam  Pylade  vitasse  Megaeram. 
tunc  quoque  mulcenteni  dictis  corda  aspera  regem 
iam  faciles,  ventis  ut  decertata  residunt 
aequora,  laxatisque  diu  tamen  aura  superstes         480 
immoritur  velis,  passi  subiere  penates. 

Hie  primum  lustrare  oculis  cultusque  virorum 
telaque  magna  vacat  :  tergo  \idet  huius  inanem 
impexis  utrimque  iubis  horrere  leonem, 
illius  in  speciem,  quem  per  Teumesia  tempe  485 

Amphitryoniades  fraetum  iuvenalibus  annis^ 
ante  Cleonaei  vestitus  proelia  monstri. 
terribiles  contra  saetis  ac  dente  recurve 
Tydea  per  latos  umeros  ambire  laborant 
exuviae,  Calydonis  honos.     stupet  omine  tanto      490 
defixus  senior,  divina  oracula  Phoebi 
agnoscens  monitusque  datos  vocalibus  antris. 
obtutu  gelida  ora  premit,  laetusque  per  artus 
horror  iit  ;  sensit  manifesto  numine  ductos 
adfore,  quos  nexis  ambagibus  augur  Apollo  495 

portendi  generos,  vultu  fallente  ferarum, 
ediderat.     tunc  sic  tendens  ad  sidera  palmas  ; 
"  nox,  quae  terrarum  caelique  amplexa  labores 
ignea  multivago  transmittis  sidera  lapsu, 

1  per  P  :  post  w.  ^  isse  Gruter  :  esse  Pw. 

^  annis  PB  :  armis  w :  annis  D  {with  armis  above). 

"  Because  he  tried  to  carrj^  off  Proserpine. 

*  One  of  the  Furies  who  pursued  Orestes  when  he  had 
slain  his  mother. 

'  Teumesus  is  a  mountain  near  Thebes. 
376 


THEBAID,   I.  473-499 

pleasure  in  remembrance."  Nor  were  the  old  man's 
words  an  empty  presage,  for  they  say  that  from 
their  comradeship  in  wounds  grew  such  loyalty  as 
Tiieseus  showed  when  he  shared  extremest  peril  with 
wanton "  Pirithous,  or  Pylades  when  he  rescued 
distraught  Orestes  from  the  fury  of  Megaera.''  So 
then,  yielding  their  savage  hearts  to  the  king's 
soothing  words — even  as  waters  that  winds  have 
made  their  battleground  sink  to  rest,  and  yet  on  the 
drooping  sails  one  surviving  breath  is  long  in  dying 
— even  so  submissive  they  entered  the  palace. 

Here  first  he  has  leisure  to  let  his  glance  pass 
oer  the  heroes'  dress  and  mighty  weapons.  On 
Polynices'  back  he  spies  a  lion  flayed,  all  rough  with 
uncombed  mane,  like  to  that  one  which  in  the 
Teumesian'^  glades  Amphitryon's  son  laid  low  in  his 
boyish  years  and  clothed  himself  withal,  before  the 
battle  with  the  monster  of  Cleonae.**  Tydeus'  broad 
shoulders  the  proud  spoils  of  Calydon,  grim  with 
bristles  and  curved  fang,  strive  to  enfold.  Aghast 
and  motionless  stands  the  old  king  at  so  dire  an 
omen,  calling  to  mind  the  divine  oracles  of  Phoebus 
and  the  warning  uttered  from  the  inspired  cell.  His 
countenance  is  fixed  in  frozen  silence,  while  through 
his  limbs  ran  a  thrill  of  joy  ;  he  felt  that  they 
had  come,  led  by  heaven's  clear  prompting,  whom 
prophetic  Apollo  in  riddling  obscurities  had  fore- 
shown to  be  his  destined  sons-in-law,  under  the 
feigned  guise  of  beasts.  Then  stretching  forth  his 
hands  to  the  stars,  "  O  Night,"  he  cries,  "  who  castest 
thy  mantle  over  toiling  earth  and  heaven,  and 
sendest  the  fiery  stars  on  their  divers  roaming  courses, 

''  The  Nemean  lion  ;  Cleonae,  a  village  near  Nemea. 

377 


ST  ATI  us 

indulgens  reparare  animum,  dum  proximus  aegris  500 

infundat  Titan  agiles  animantibus  ortus, 

tu  niihi  perplexis  quaesitam  erroribus  ultro 

advehis  alma  fidem  veterisque  exordia  fati 

detegis  :  adsistas  operi  tuaque  omina  firmes. 

semper  honoratam  dimensis  orbibus  anni  505 

te  domus  ista  colet  ;  nigri  tibi,  diva,  litabunt 

electa  cervice  greges,  lustraliaque  exta 

lacte  novo  perfusus  edet  Vulcanius  ignis. 

salve  pi'isca  fides  tripodum  obscurique  recessus  ! 

deprendi,  Fortuna,  deos  !  "     sic  fatus,  et  ambos     510 

innectens  manibus  tecta  interiorisi  ad  aulae 

progreditur.     canis  etiamnum  altaribus  ignes 

sopitum  cinerem  et  tepidi  libamina  sacri 

servabant  ;  adolere  focos  epulasque  recentes 

instaurare  iubet.     dictis  parere  ministri  515 

certatim  adcelerant  ;  vario  strepit  icta  tumultu 

regia  :  pars  ostro  tenues  auroque  sonantes 

emunire  toros  alteque  inferre  tapetas, 

pars  teretes  levare  manu  ac  disponere  mensas. 

ast  alii  tenebras  et  opacam  vincere  noctem  520 

adgressi  tendunt  auratis  vincula  lychnis. 

his  labor  inserto  torrere  exsanguia  ferro 

viscera  caesarum  pecudum,  his  cumulare  canistris 

perdomitam  saxo  Cererem  ;  laetatur  Adrastus 

obsequio  fervere  domum. 

lamqiie  ipse  superbis        525 
fulgebat  stratis  solioque  effultus  eburno. 
parte  alia  iuvenes  siccati  vulnera  lyniphis 
discumbunt,  simul  ora  notis  foedata  tuentur 

^  interioris  Schrader  :  ulterioris  Pto. 
378 


THEBAID,  I.  500-528 

gracious  refresher  of  the  mind,  till  the  next  sun  shed 
blitlxe  upspringing  upon  faint  mortality,  thou,  kindly 
Night,  dost  bring  me  of  thy  bounty  assurance  long 
sought  in  perplexity  and  doubt,  and  dost  reveal  the 
ancient  purposes  of  fate  :  aid  now  my  work,  and 
certify  the  omens  thou  hast  given.  Ever  shall  this 
house  throughout  the  circling  periods  of  the  year 
hold  thee  high  in  honour  and  in  worship  ;  black  bulls 
of  chosen  beauty  shall  pay  thee  sacrifice,  O  goddess  ! 
and  V^ulcan's  fire  shall  eat  the  lustral  entrails,  where- 
o'er  the  new  milk  streams.  Hail,  ancient  truth  of 
mystic  Tripod  !  hail,  secret  grotto  !  I  have  found, 
O  Fortune,  that  the  gods  are  gods  indeed  !  "  So 
saying,  and  joining  arms  with  both  he  goes  forward 
to  the  inner  chamber  of  his  dwelling.  Even  yet  the 
fires  slumbered  in  the  grey  ashes  on  the  altars,  and 
the  poured  offerings  of  the  sacrifice  were  yet  warm  ; 
he  bids  the  flames  again  be  roused  and  the  late 
banquet  be  renewed.  His  henchmen  obey  his  words 
in  emulous  haste  :  manifold  tumult  echoes  through- 
out the  palace.  Some  array  the  couches  with  delicate 
purple  and  rustling  embroidery  of  gold  and  pile  the 
cushions  high,  some  polish  smooth  and  place  in  order 
the  tables  :  others  again  set  about  to  banish  the 
darkness  of  gloomy  night  by  stretching  chains  for 
gilded  lanterns  ;  these  have  the  task  of  roasting  on 
a  spit's  point  the  bloodless  flesh  of  slain  beasts,  those 
of  crushing  grain  on  a  stone  and  heaping  the  bread 
in  baskets  ;  Adrastus  rejoices  to  see  his  house  aglow 
with  obedient  service. 

And  now  he  himself,  raised  high  on  the  proud 
cushions  of  an  ivory  tin-one,  shone  resplendent  ; 
elsewhere  the  youths  recline,  their  wounds  healed 
with   cleansing   water,   and   beholding    each   other's 

379 


ST  ATI  us 

inque  vicem  ignoscunt.  tunc  rex  longaevus  Acasten — 
natarum  haec  altrix  eadem  et  fidissima  custos        530 
lecta  sacrum  iustae  V'eneri  occultare  pudorem — 
imperat  acciri  tacitaque  immurmurat  aure.^ 

Nee  mora  praeceptis,  cum  protinus  utraque  virgo 
arcano  egressae  thalamo  :  mirabile  visu, 
Pallados  armisonae  pharetrataeque  ora  Dianae      535 
aequa  ferunt,  terrore  minus,     nova  deinde  pudori 
visa  virum  facies  :  pariter  pallorque  ruborque 
purpureas  hausere  genas,  oculique  verentes 
ad  sanctum  rediere  patrem.    postquam  ordine  mensae 
victa  fames,  signis  perfectam  auroque  nitentem     540 
lasides  pateram  famulos  ex  more  poposcit, 
qua  Danaus  libare  deis  seniorque  Phoroneus 
adsueti.     tenet  haec  operum  caelata  figuras  : 
aureus^  anguicomam  praesecto  Gorgona  collo 
ales  habet,  iamiamque  vagas — ita  visus^ — in  auras  545 
exsilit  ;  ilia  graves  oculos  languentiaque  ora 
paene  movet  vivoque  etiam  pallescit  in  auro. 
hinc  Phrygius  fulvis  venator  tollitur  alis, 
Gargara  desidunt  surgenti  et  Troia  recedit, 
stant  maesti  comites,  frustraque  sonantia  lassant  550 
ora  canes  umbramque  petunt  et  nubila  latrant. 
hanc  undante  mere  fundens  vocat  ordine  cunctos 
caelicolas,  Phoebum  ante  alios,  Phoebum  omnis  ad 


^  tacitaque  .  .  .  aure  Pw :  tacitaeque  , .  .  auri  Klotz :  tacite- 
que  .  .  .  auri  Deipser:  tacitoque  .  .  .  ore  Koestlin. 
^  aureus  Pui :  Perseus  Bentley. 
^  ita  visus  Pw  :  gavisus  D. 

"  "  hausere  "  is  used  by  a  startling  zeugma  both  with 
"pallor"  (its  natural  use),  and  with  "rubor"  (for  "suf- 
fuses"). 

''  He  was  a  former  king  of  Argos. 

380 


THEBAIC,   I.  629-553 

scarred  visages  bear  mutual  forgiveness.  Then  the 
aged  king  bids  Acaste  be  summoned — liis  daughters' 
nurse  and  trusty  guardian,  chosen  to  keep  ward  on 
maiden  modesty  consecrated  to  lawful  wedlock — - 
and  murmurs  in  her  silent  ear. 

She  stayed  not  upon  his  bidding,  but  straightway 
both  maidens  came  forth  from  their  secret  bower,  in 
countenance,  marvellous  to  tell,  like  to  quiver- 
bearing  Diana  and  warrior  Pallas,  yet  without  their 
terror.  They  spy  the  new  faces  of  the  heroes  and 
are  shamed  ;  pallor  at  once  and  blushes  made  havoc  of 
their  bright  cheeks,  and  their  timorous  eyes  resought 
their  reverend  sire."  When  in  the  banquet's  course 
hunger  was  quelled,  the  son  of  lasus,*  as  his  custom 
was,  bade  his  thralls  bring  a  goblet  fair -wrought 
with  figures  and  shining  with  gold,  wherefrom  both 
Danaus  and  elder  Phoroneus  were  wont  to  pour 
libation  to  the  gods.  Thereon  was  embossed  work  of 
images  :  all  golden,  a  winged  youth  holds  the  snake- 
tressed  Gorgon's  severed  head,  and  even  upon  the 
moment — so  it  seems— leaps  up  into  the  wandering 
breeze  ;  she  almost  moves  her  heavy  eyes  and  droop- 
ing head,  and  even  grows  pale  in  the  living  gold.'' 
Here  the  Phrygian  hunter  <*  is  borne  aloft  on  tawny 
wings,  Gargara's  range  sinks  downwards  as  he  rises 
and  Troy  grows  dim  beneath  him  ;  sadly  stand  his 
comrades,  in  vain  the  hounds  weary  their  throats 
with  barking  and  pursue  his  shadow  or  bay  at  the 
clouds.  From  this  he  pours  the  streaming  wine  and 
in  order  due  calls  on  all  the  denizens  of  heaven, 
Phoebus    before    the   rest  ;     Phoebus'   presence    all 

"  Gold  is  naturally  pale,  and  so  suggests  the  face  growing 
pale  in  death :  "  vivo "  means  the  natural,  native  metal, 
cf.  "  vivoque  sedilia  saxo."  ■*  Ganymede. 

381 


STATIUS 

laude  ciet  comitum  famulumque  evincta  pudica 
fronde  nianus,  cui  testa  dies  largoque  refecti  555 

ture  vaporatis  lucent  altaribus  ignes. 

"  Forsitan,  o  iuvenes,  quae  sint  ea  sacra  quibusque 
praecipuum  causis  Phoebi  obtestemur  lionorem  " 
rex  ait,  "  exquirant  animi.     non  inscia  suasit 
relligio,  niagnis  exercita  cladibus  olim  560 

plebs  Argiva  litant  ;  animos  advertite,  pandam. 
postquam  caerulei  sinuosa  volumina  monstri, 
terrigenam  Pythona  deus  septem  orbibus  atris 
amplexum  Delphos  squamisque  annosa  terentem 
robora,  Castaliis  dum  fontibus  ore  trisulco  565 

fusus  hiat  nigro  sitiens  alimenta  veneno, 
perculit,  absumptis  numerosa  in  vulnera  telis, 
Cirrhaeique  dedit  centum  per  iugera  campi 
vix  tandem  explicitum,  nova  deinde  piacula  caedis 
perquirens  nostri  tecta  haud  opulenta  Crotopi        570 
attigit.     huic  primis  et  pubem  ineuntibus  annis 
mira  decore  pios^  servabat  nata  penates 
intemerata  toris.     felix,  si  Delia  numquam 
furta  nee  occultum  Phoebo  sociasset  amorem  ! 
namque  ut  passa  deum  Nemeaei  ad  fluminis  undam, 
bis  quinos  plena  cum  fronte  resumeret  orbes  576 

Cynthia,  sidereum  Latonae  feta  nepotem 
edidit  ;   ac  poenae  metuens — neque  enim  ille  coactis 
donasset  thalamis  veniam  pater — avia  rura 
eligit  ac  natum  saepta  inter  ovilia  furtim  580 

montivago  pecoris  custodi  mandat  alendum. 
non  tibi  digna,  puer,  generis  cunabula  tanti 

^  pios  BentJey  :  pio  Pw. 


"  From  Cirrha,  the  port  of  Delphi ;  so  1.  641. 
382 


THEBAID,  I.  554-582 

invoke  with  praise,  garlanded  with  reverent  myrtle, 
friend  and  thrall  alike,  about  his  altar  ;  for  in  his 
honour  they  make  holiday,  and  the  altars,  refreshed 
by  lavish  incense,  glow  through  wreaths  of  smoke. 

"  Perchance  ye  may  inquire,  O  youths,"  thus  says 
the  monarch,  "  what  means  this  sacrifice,  and  for 
what  reason  we  pay  Phoebus  signal  honour.  Urged 
by  no  ignorant  fear,  but  under  stress  of  dire  calamity, 
the  Argive  folk  aforetime  made  this  offering.  Lend 
me  your  hearing,  and  I  will  recount  the  tale.  When 
that  the  god  had  smitten  the  dark  and  sinuous- 
coiling  monster,  the  earth-born  Pytho,  who  cast  about 
Delphi  his  sevenfold  grisly  circles  and  with  his  scales 
ground  the  ancient  oaks  to  powder,  even  while 
sprawling  by  Castalia's  fountain  he  gaped  with  three- 
tongued  mouth  athirst  to  feed  his  deadly  venom  : 
when  having  spent  his  shafts  on  numberless  wounds 
he  left  him,  scarce  fully  stretched  in  death  over  a 
hundred  acres  of  Cirx'haean  "  soil,  then,  seeking  fresh 
expiation  of  the  dead,  he  came  to  the  humble 
dwelling  of  our  king  Crotopus.  A  daughter,  in  the 
first  years  of  tender  maidenhood,  and  wondrous  fair, 
kept  this  pious  home,  a  virgin  chaste.  How  happy, 
had  she  ne'er  kept  secret  tryst  with  the  Delian,  or 
shared  a  stolen  love  with  Phoebus  !  For  she  suffered 
the  violence  of  the  god  by  Nemea's  stream,  and 
when  Cynthia  had  twice  five  times  gathered  her 
circle's  visage  to  the  full,  she  brought  forth  a  child, 
Latona's  grandson,  bright  as  a  star.  Then  fearing 
punishment — for  her  sire  would  ne'er  have  pardoned 
a  forced  wedlock — she  chose  the  pathless  wilds,  and 
stealthily  among  the  sheep-pens  gave  her  child  to  a 
mountain-wandering  guardian  of  the  flock  for  nur- 
ture.    No  cradle  worthy  of  a  birth  so  noble,  hapless 

383 


STATIUS 

gramineos  dedit  herba  toros  et  vimine  querno 
texta  domus  ;  clausa  arbutei  sub  cortice  libri 
membra  tepent,  suadetque  leves  cava  fistula  somnos, 
et  pecori  commune  solum,     sed  fata  nee  ilium       586 
concessere  larem  ;  viridi  nam  caespite  terrae 
proiectum  temere  et  patulo  caelum  ore  trahentem 
dira  canum  rabies,  morsu  depasta  cruento, 
dissicit.     hie  vero  attonitas  ut  nuntius  aures  590 

matris  adit,  pulsi  ex  animo  genitorque  pudorque 
et  metus  :  ipsa  ultro  saevis  plangoribus  amens 
tecta  replet,  vacuumque  ferens  velamine  pectus 
occurrit  confessa  patri  ;  nee  motus  et  atro 
imperat — infandum  I^cupientem  occumbere  leto.  595 
sero  memor  thalami  maestae  solacia  morti, 
Phoebe,  paras  monstrum  infandis  Acheronte  sub  imo 
conceptum  Eumenidum  thalamis,  cui  virginis  ora 
pectoraque  ;  aeternum  stridens  a  vertice  surgit 
et  ferrugineam  frontem  discriminat  anguis.  600 

haec  tum  dira  lues  nocturno  squalida  passu 
inlabi  thalamis,  animasque  a  stirpe  recentes 
abripere  altricum  gremiis  morsuque  cruento 
devesci  et  multum  patrio  pinguescere  luctu. 
haud  tulit  armorum  praestans  animique^  Coroebus  605 
seque  ultro  lectis  iuvenum,  qui  robore  primi 
famam  posthabita  faciles  extendere  vita, 
obtulit.     ilia  novos  ibat  populata  penates 
portarum  in  bivio — lateri  duo  corpora  parvum 
dependent,  et  iam  unca  manus  vitalibus  haeret      610 
ferratique  ungues  tenero  sub  corde  tepescunt —  : 
obvius  huic,  latus  omne  virum  stipante  corona, 

^  animique  Pco  :  animisque  D. 
384 


THEBAID,  I.  583-612 

infant,  did  thy  grassy  bed  afford  thee,  or  thy  woven 
home  of  oaken  twigs  ;  enclosed  in  the  fibre  of  arbutus- 
bark  thy  hmbs  are  warm,  and  a  hollow  pipe  coaxes 
thee  to  gentle  slumbers,  while  the  flock  shares  thy 
sleeping-ground.  But  not  even  such  a  home  did  the 
fates  permit,  for,  as  he  lay  careless  and  drinking  in 
the  day  with  open  mouth,  fierce  ravening  dogs 
mangled  the  babe  and  took  their  fill  with  bloody 
jaws.  But  when  the  tidings  reached  the  mother's 
horror-struck  ears,  father  and  shame  and  fear  were 
all  forgot  ;  herself  straightway  she  fills  the  house 
with  wild  lamentation,  all  distraught,  and  baring  her 
breast  meets  her  father  with  her  tale  of  grief.  Nor 
is  he  moved,  but  bids  her — Oh  horrible  ! — even  as 
she  desires,  suffer  grim  death.  Too  late  remember- 
ing thy  union,  O  Phoebus,  thou  dost  devise  a  solace 
for  her  miserable  fate,  a  monster  conceived  'neath 
lowest  Acheron  in  the  Furies'  unhallowed  lair  :  a 
maiden's  face  and  bosom  has  she,  from  her  head  an 
ever-hissing  snake  rises  erect,  parting  in  twain  her 
livid  brow.  Then  that  foul  pest,  gliding  at  night  with) 
unseen  movement  into  the  chambers,  tore  from  the\ 
breasts  that  suckled  them  lives  newly-born,  and  with 
blood-stained  fangs  gorged  and  fattened  on  the 
country's  grief.  But  Coroebus,  foremost  in  prowess^ 
of  arms  and  high  courage,  brooked  it  not,  and  with 
chosen  youths,  unsurpassed  in  valour  and  ready  at 
life's  hazard  to  enlarge  their  fame,  went  forth,  a 
willing  champion.  From  dwellings  newly  ravaged 
she  was  going,  where  in  the  gateway  two  roads  meet, 
the  corpses  of  two  little  ones  hung  at  her  side,  and 
still  her  hooked  talons  claw  their  vitals  and  the  iron 
nails  are  warm  in  their  young  hearts.  Thronged  by 
his  band  of  heroes  the  youth  rushed  to  the  attack, 
VOL.  I  2  c  385 


STATIUS 

flt^  iuvenis,  ferrumque  ingens  sub  pectore  duro 
condidit,  atque  imas  animae  mucrone  corusco 
scrutatus  latebras  tandem  sua  monstra  profundo    615 
reddit  habere  lovi.     iuvat  ire  et  %isere  iuxta 
liventes  in  morte  oeulos  uterique  nefandam 
prolu\dem  et  crasso  squalentia  pectora  tabo, 
qua  nostrae  cecidere  animae.     stupet  Inacha  pubes, 
magnaque  post  lacrimas  etiamnum  gaudia  pallent.  620 
hi  trabibus  duris,  solacia  vana  dolori, 
proterere  exanimos  artus  asprosque  molares 
deculcare  genis  :   nequit  iram  explere  potestas. 
illam  et  nocturno  circum  stridore  volantes 
impastae  fugistis  aves,  rabidamque  canum  vim       625 
oraque  sicca  ferunt  trepidorum  inhiasse  luporum. 
saevior  in  miseros  fatis  ultricis  ademptae 
Dehus  insurgit,  summaque  biverticis  umbra 
Parnassi  residens  arcu  crudehs  iniquo 
pestifera  arma  iacit,  camposque  et  celsa  Cyclopum  630 
tecta  superiecto  nebularum  incendit  amictu. 
labuntur  dulces  animae,  Mors  fila  Sororum 
ense  metit  captamque  tenens  fert  manibus  urbem. 
quaerenti,  quae  causa,  duci,  quis  ab  aethere  laevus 
ignis  et  in  totum  regnaret  Sirius  annum,  635 

idem  auctor  Paean  rursus  iubet  ire  cruento 
inferias  monstro  iuvenes,  qui  caede  potiti. 
fortunate  animi  longumque  in  saecula  digne 
promeriture  diem  !  non  tu  pia  degener  arma 
occuhs  aut  certae  trepidas  occurrere  morti.  640 

1  fit  P  :  it  w. 

386 


THEBAID,  I.  613-640 

and  buried  his  broad  blade  in  her  cruel  breast,  and 
with  flashing  steel  probing  deep  the  spirit's  lurking- 
place  at  length  restored  to  nether  Jove  his  monstrous 
offspring.  What  joy  to  go  and  see  at  close  hand 
those  eyes  livid  in  death,  the  ghastly  issue  of  her 
womb,  and  her  breasts  clotted  with  foul  corruption, 
whereby  our  young  lives  perished  !  Appalled  stand 
the  Inachian  youth,  and  their  gladness,  though  great 
now  sorrow  is  ended,  even  yet  is  dim  and  pale. 
With  sharp  stakes  they  mangle  the  dead  limbs — 
vain  solace  for  their  grief — and  beat  out  the  jagged 
grinding  teeth  from  her  jaws  :  they  can — yet  cannot 
glut  their  ire.  Her  did  ye  flee  unfed,  ye  birds, 
wheeling  round  with  nocturnal  clamour,  and  ravening 
dogs,  they  say,  and  wolves  gaped  in  terror  upon  her, 
dry-mouthed.  But  against  the  unhappy  youths  the 
Delian  rises  up  fierce  at  the  doom  of  his  slain 
avengeress,  and  seated  on  the  shady  top  of  twin- 
peaked  Parnassus  with  relentless  bow  he  cruelly 
scatters  shafts  that  bring  pestilence,  and  withers 
beneath  a  misty  shroud  the  fields  and  dwellings  of 
the  Cyclopes."  Pleasant  lives  droop  and  fail.  Death 
with  his  sword  cuts  through  the  Sisters'  threads,  and 
hurries  the  stricken  city  to  the  shades.  Our  leader 
then  inquiring  what  the  cause  may  be,  what  is  this 
baleful  fire  from  heaven,  why  Sirius  reigns  throughout 
the  whole  year,  the  word  of  the  same  god  Paean 
brings  command,  to  sacrifice  to  the  blood-stained 
monster  those  youths  that  caused  her  death.  O 
valour  heaven-blest  !  O  worth  that  will  merit  a  long 
age  of  fame  !  No  base  craven  thou  to  hide  thy 
devoted   deed,    or   shun   in   fear   a   certain    death  ! 

"  i.e.,  Argos,  which  the  Cyclopes  were  supposed  originally 
to  have  built. 

387 


ST  ATI  us 

comminus  or  a  ferens  Cirrhaei  in  limine  templi 

constitit  et  sacras  ita  vocibus  asperat  iras  : 

'  non  missus,  Thymbraee,  tuos  siipplexve  penates 

advenio  :  mea  me  pietas  et  conscia  virtus 

has  egere  vias.     ego  sum,  qui  caede  subegi,  645 

Phoebe,  tuum  mortale  nefas,  quern  nubibus  atris 

et  squalente  die,  nigra  quern  tabe  sinistri 

quaeris,  inique,  poh.     quodsi  monstra  effera  magnis 

cara  adeo  superis,  iacturaque  vilior  orbi  649 

mors  hominum  et  saevo  tanta  inclementia  caelo  est, 

quid  meruere  Argi  ?  me,  me,  divum  optime,  solum 

obiecisse  caput  fatis  praestabat.     an  illud 

lene^  magis  cordi,  quod  desolata  domorum 

tecta  vides,  ignique  datis  cultoribus  omnis 

lucet^  ager  ?     sed  quid  fando  tua  tela  manusque    655 

demoror  ?     exspectant  matres,  supremaque  fiunt 

vota  mihi.     satis  est  :  merui,  ne  parcere  velles. 

proinde  move  pharetras  arcusque  intende  sonoros 

insignemque  animam  leto  demitte  ;  sed  ilium, 

pallidus  Inachiis  qui  desuper  imminet  Argis,  660 

dum  morior,  dispelle  globum.' 

Sors  aequa  merentes 

respicit.     ardentem  tenuit  reverentia  caedis 

Letoiden,  tristemque  viro  submissus  honorem 

largitur  vitae  ;  nostro  mala  nubila  caelo 

diffugiunt,  at  tu  stupefacti  a  limine  Phoebi  665 

exoratus  abis.     inde  haec  stata  sacra  quotannis 

sollemnes  recolunt  epulae,  Phoebeaque  placat 

^  lene  Pw  :  laeve  Gronovius  :  saeve  Bentlei/ :  an  illud  lene? 
Garrod. 
^  lucet  Poo  :  luget  Heinsius. 

888 


THEBAID,  I.  641-667 

Unabashed  he  stood  on  the  threshold  of  Cirrha's 
temple,  and  with  these  words  gives  fierce  utterance 
to  his  sacred  rage  :  '  Not  sent  by  any,  nor  suppliant, 
O  Thymbraean,"  do  I  approach  thy  shrine  :  duty  and 
consciousness  of  right  have  turned  my  steps  this 
way.  I  am  he,  O  Phoebus,  who  laid  low  thy  deadly 
scourge,  I  am  he  whom  thou,  ruthless  one,  dost  seek 
out  by  poison-cloud,  and  the  light  of  day  defiled,  and 
the  black  corruption  of  a  baleful  heaven.  But  even  "' ''''^-; 
if  raging  monsters  be  so  dear  to  the  gods  above,  and  ?  vyi-^v^ 
the  destruction  of  men  a  cheaper  loss  to  the  world,  ^' 
and  heaven  be  so  stern  and  pitiless,  in  what  have 
the  Argives  sinned  ?  My  life,  my  life  alone,  most 
righteous  of  the  gods,  should  be  offered  to  the  fates  ! 
Or  is  it  more  soothing  to  thy  heart  that  thou  seest 
homesteads  desolate,  and  the  countryside  lit  up  by 
the  burning  roofs  of  husbandmen  ?  But  why  by 
speaking  do  I  delay  the  weapons  of  thy  might  ?  our 
mothers  are  waiting,  and  the  last  prayers  for  me  are 
being  uttered.  Enough  :  I  have  deserved  that  thou 
should'st  be  merciless.  Bring  then  thy  quiver,  and 
stretch  thy  sounding  bow,  and  send  a  noble  soul  to 
death  !  but,  even  wliile  I  die,  dispel  the  gathered 
mist  tliat  from  on  high  hangs  pallid  over  Inachian 
Argos.' 

Equity  hath  regard  for  the  deserving.  Awe  of 
slaughter  took  hold  on  Leto's  fiery  son,  and  yielding 
he  grants  the  hero  the  sad  boon  of  life  ;  the  deadly 
clouds  fly  scattering  from  our  heaven,  while  thou, 
thy  prayer  heard,  departest  from  marvelling  Phoebus' 
door.  Thenceforward  do  we  in  solemn  banquet 
yearly  renew  the  appointed  sacrifice,  and  placate  the 

"  A  title  of  Apollo,  from  fiis  shrine  at  Thj^mbra  in  the 
Troad,  cf.  699. 

389 


STATIUS 

templa  novatus  honos.     has  forte  invisitis  aras 
vos  quae  progenies  ?  quamquam  Calydonius  Oeneus 
et  Parthaoniae,  si  dudum  certus  ad  aures  670 

clamor  iit,  tibi  iura  domus.     tu  pande,  quis  Argos 
advenias,  quando  hae  variis  sermonibus  horae." 

Deiecit  maestos  extemplo  Ismenius  heros 
in  terram  vultus,  taciteque  ad  Tydea  laesum 
obliquare  oculos  ;  turn  longa  silentia  movit  :  675 

"  non  super  hos  divum  tibi  sum  quaerendus  honores, 
unde  genus,  quae  terra  mihi,  quis  defluat  ordo 
sanguinis  antiqui  :  piget  inter  sacra  fateri. 
sed  si  praecipitant  miserum  cognoscere  curae, 
Cadmus  origo  patrum,  tellus  Mavortia  Thebe,        680 
est  genetrix  locasta  mihi."     tum  motus  Adrastus 
hospitiis — agnovit  enim  : — "  quid  nota  recondis  ? 
scimus  "  ait,  "  nee  sic  aversum  fama  Mycenis 
volvit  iter,     regnum  et  furias  oculosque  pudentes 
novit  et  Arctois  si  quis  de  solibus  horret  685 

quique  bibit  Gangen  aut  nigrum  occasibus  intrat 
Oceanum,  et  si  quos  incerto  htore  Syrtes 
destituunt.     ne  perge  queri  casusque  priorum 
adnumerare  tibi  :  nostro  quoque  sanguine  multum 
erravit  pietas,  nee  culpa  nepotibus  obstat.  690 

tu  modo  dissimilis  rebus  mereare  secundis 
excusare  tuos.     et  iam  temone  supino 
languet  Hyperboreae  glaciahs  portitor  Ursae. 
fundite  vina  focis,  servatoremque  parentum 
Letoiden  votis  iterumque  iterumque  canamus.       695 

"  Parthaon  was  a  king  of  Calydon,  father  of  Oeneus. 

''  Theban,  from  the  river  Ismenus. 

"  Statins  has  quaintly  combined  the  two  names  of  the 
constellation,  the  Bear  and  the  Wain  ;  by  the  Hyperborean 
Bear  he  simply  means  the  North,  so  that  the  phrase  cor- 
responds to  Spenser's  "  the  Northern  Waggoner." 

390 


THEBAID,  I.  668-695 

shrine  of  Phoebus  in  recurring  festival.  Of  what 
stock  come  ye,  whom  chance  has  led  to  these  our 
altars  ?  though,  if  but  now  my  ears  did  rightly  catch 
your  outcry,  Oeneus  of  Calydon  is  thy  sire,  and  thine 
the  lordship  of  Parthaonia's  house.**  But  thou,  do 
thou  reveal  who  thou  art  that  comest  thus  to  Argos, 
since  now  the  hour  permits  of  varied  discourse." 

Straightway  did  the  Ismenian  ^  hero  bend  his  sad 
looks  to  earth,  and  cast  at  injured  Tydeus  a  silent 
sidelong  glance  ;  then  after  a  long  pause  he  spoke  : 
"  Not  at  these  honours  paid  to  heaven  is  it  meet  to 
ask  me  of  my  birth  or  land  or  ancient  descent  of 
blood  ;  hard  is  it  to  confess  the  truth  amid  the  holy 
rites.  But  if  your  wish  is  urgent  to  know  my  un- 
happy tale,  Cadmus  was  the  ancestor  of  my  sires, 
my  land  Mavortian  Thebes,  my  mother  is  Jocasta." 
Then  Adrastus,  moved  to  friendly  compassion — for 
he  recognized  him — said :  "  Why  hide  what  all  have 
heard  ?  this  know  we,  nor  doth  Fame  journey  so 
distant  from  Mycenae.  Yea,  of  that  reign,  and  the 
madness,  and  the  eyes  that  knew  shame  of  their 
seeing,  even  he  hath  heard  who  shivers  'neath  an 
Arctic  sun,  and  he  who  drinks  of  Ganges,  or  sails 
into  the  Ocean  darkening  to  the  west,  and  they  whom 
the  shifting  shoreline  of  the  Syrtes  fails.  Cease  to 
lament,  or  to  recount  the  woes  of  thy  fathers  :  in 
our  house  also  hath  there  been  many  a  fall  from  duty, 
but  past  error  binds  not  posterity.  Only  do  thou, 
unlike  to  them,  win  by  fortune's  favour  this  reward, 
to  redeem  thy  kindred.  And  now  the  frosty  wag- 
oner of  the  Hyperborean  Bear  "  droops  languidly, 
with  backward  slanting  pole.  Pour  your  wine  upon 
the  altar-hearths,  and  chant  we  our  prayer,  again  and 
yet  again,  to  Leto's  son,  the  saviour  of  our  fathers  ! 

391 


ST  ATI  us 

Phoebe  parens,  seu  te  Lyciae  Patarea  nivosis 
exercent  dumeta  iugis,  seu  rore  pudico 
Castaliae  flavos  amor  est  tibi  mergere  crines, 
seu  Troiam  Thymbraeus  habes,  ubi  fama  volentem 
ingratis  Phrygios  umeris  subiisse  molares,  700 

seu  iuvat  Aegaeum  feriens  Latonius  umbra 
Cynthus  et  adsiduam  pelago  non  quaerere  Delon  : 
tela  tibi  longeque  feros  lentandus  in  hostes 
areus,  et  aetherii  dono  cessere  parentes 
aeternum  florere  genas,  tu  doctus  iniquas  705 

Parcarum  praenosse  manus  fatumque  quod  ultrast 
et  summo  placitura  lovi,  quis  letifer  annus, 
bella  quibus  populis,  quae  mutent  sceptra  cometae, 
tu  Phryga  submittis  citharae,  tu  matris  honori 
terrigenam  Tityon  Stygiis  extendis  harenis  ;  710 

te  viridis  Python  Thebanaque  mater  ovantem 
horruit  in  pharetris,  ultrix  tibi  torva  Megaera 
ieiunum  Phlegyan  subter  cava  saxa  iacentem 
aeterno  premit  accubitu  dapibusque  profanis 
instimulat,  sed  mixta  famem  fastidia  vineunt  :        715 
adsis,  o  memor  hospitii,  lunoniaque  ai"va 
dexter  ames,  seu  te  roseum  Titana  vocari 
gentis  Achaemeniae  ritu,  seu  praestat  Osirin 
frugiferum,  seu  Persei  sub  rupibus  antri 
indignata  sequi  torquentem  cornua  Mithram."       720 

"  i.e.,  hunting.  *  i.e.,  in  building  Troy. 

"  The  mountain  in  Delos.  ^  INIarsyas. 

*  Niobe,  daughter  of  Cadmus. 

f  A  Lapith  who  had  set  fire  to  Apollo's  temple. 

^  i.e.,  Argos. 

''  The  reference  is  to  the  sun-worship  of  the  Persians ; 
Mithras  is  frequently  represented  dragging  a  bull  to  be 
sacrificed.  "  Persean,"  from  Perses,  son  of  Perseus  and 
Andromeda,  founder  of  the  Persian  nation,  cf.  Hdt.  vii.  61. 

392 


THP:BAID,  I.  G9G-720 

Phoebus,  Sire  !  whether  the  copses  of  Patara  and 
Lycia's  snowy  uplands  keep  thee  busy,"  or  thou 
dehghtest  to  bathe  thy  golden  hair  in  Castalia's  pure 
dew,  or  M'hether  as  Thymbra's  lord  thou  dwellest  in 
Troy,  where  they  say  thou  didst  willingly  bear  on 
thankless  shoulders  blocks  of  Phrygian  stone, ''  or 
whether  Latonian  Cynthus  '^  pleases  thee,  casting  his 
shadow  on  the  Aegean  wave,  and  Delos,  settled  sure 
in  the  deep,  nor  needing  now  thy  search, — thine  are 
the  arrows  and  the  bending  of  the  bows  against  the 
savage  enemy  afar ;  to  thee  did  celestial  parents 
grant  thy  cheeks'  eternal  bloom  ;  thou  art  skilled  to 
foreknow  Fate's  cruel  handiwork,  and  the  destiny 
that  lies  beyond,  and  high  Jove's  pleasure,  to  what 
peoples  pestilence  cometh  or  wars,  Avhat  change  of 
sceptres  comets  bring  ;  thou  makest  the  Phrygian  '^ 
subject  to  thy  lyre,  and  for  thy  mother's  honour 
dost  stretch  the  earth-born  Tityos  on  the  Stygian 
sands ;  thee  the  green  Python  and  the  Theban 
mother  *  horror-struck  beheld  triumphant  with  thy 
quiver,  to  avenge  thee  grim  Megaera  holds  fast  the 
starving  Phlegyas,-''  who  lies  ever  pressed  beneath 
the  cavernous  rocks,  and  tortures  him  with  the  un- 
holy feast,  but  mingled  loathing  defeats  his  hunger : 
be  thou  present  to  our  succour,  mindful  of  our 
hospitality,  and  shed  on  the  fields  of  Juno  ^  the 
blessings  of  thy  love,  whether  'tis  right  to  call  thee 
rosy  Titan,  in  the  fashion  of  the  Achaemenian 
race,''  or  Osiris  bringer  of  the  harvest,  or  Mithras, 
that  beneath  the  rocky  Persean  cave  strains  at  the 
reluctant-following  horns." 


39s 


LIBER  II 

Interea  gelidis  Maia  satus  aliger  umbris 
iussa  gerens  magni  remeat  Io\is  ;  undique  pigrae 
ire  vetant  nubes  et  turbidus  impUcat  aer, 
nee  zephyri  rapuere  gradum,  sed  foeda  silentis 
aura  poll.     Styx  inde  novem  circumflua  campis,i       5 
hinc  obiecta  vias  torrentum  incendia  cludunt. 
pone  senex  trepida  succedit  Laius  umbra 
vulnere  tardus  adhuc  ;  capulo  nam  largius  illi 
transabiit  animam^  cognatis  ictibus  ensis 
impius,  et  primas  Furiarum  pertulit  iras  ;  10 

it  tamen  et  mediea  firmat  vestigia  \arga. 
tum  steriles  luci  possessaque  manibus  arva 
et  ferrugineum  nemus  adstupet,  ipsaque  Tellus 
miratur  patuisse  retro,  nee  li\ida  tabes 
invidiae  functis  quamquam  et  iam  lumine  cassis       15 
defuit.     unus  ibi  ante  alios,  cui  laeva  voluntas 
semper  et  ad  superos — hinc  et  gra\as  exitus  ae\i— 
insultare  malis  rebusque  aegrescere  laetis, 
"  vade  "  ait,  "  o  felix,  quoscumque  vocaris  in  usus, 
seu  lovis  imperio,  seu  maior  adegit  Erinys  20 

ire  diem  contra,  seu  te  furiata  sacerdos 
Thessalis  arcano  iubet  emigrare  sepulcro, 
heu  dulces  visure  polos  solemque  reBctum 


^  campis  Pw  :  ripis  Bentley. 
^  animam  P  :  costas  w. 


.S94 


BOOK  II 

Meanwhile  the  winged  son  of  Maia  returns  from 
the  cold  shades,  fulfilling  the  eri'and  of  great  Jove  ; 
on  every  side  sluggish  clouds  hinder  his  way  and 
misty  air  enfolds  him,  no  Zephyrs  wafted  his  course, 
but  the  foul  vapours  of  the  silent  world.  On  this 
side  Styx  encircling  its  nine  regions,  on  that  a  barrier 
of  fiery  torrents  encloses  his  path.  Behind  him 
follows  old  Laius'  trembhng  shade,  still  halting  from 
his  wound  ;  for  deeper  than  the  hilt  had  his  kins- 
man's impious  swordthrust  pierced  into  his  hfe  and 
sped  the  first  blow  of  Avenging  Wrath  ;  yet  on  he 
goes,  strengthening  his  steps  with  the  healing  wand. 
Then  barren  woods  and  spirit-haunted  fields  and 
groves  of  lurid  hue  stand  in  amaze,  and  Earth  herself 
marvels  that  the  backward  road  lies  open,  nor  even 
to  the  dead  and  those  already  bereft  of  light  was 
lacking  the  livid  blight  of  envy.  One  there,  per- 
versely eager  beyond  the  rest  ever  to  revile  the 
gods — thus  indeed  had  he  come  by  a  grievous  doom 
— and  to  repine  at  happiness,  cries  :  "  Good  speed, 
thou  lucky  one,  on  what  behest  soever  summoned, 
whether  by  Jove's  command,  or  whether  an  over- 
mastering Fury  drive  thee  to  meet  the  day,  or 
frenzied  witch  of  Thessaly  bid  thee  come  forth  from 
thy  secret  sepulchre  :  alas  !  thou  that  wilt  see  the 
pleasant  sky  and  the  sunhght  thou  didst  leave  behind 

395 


STATIUS 

et  virides  terras  et  puros  fontibus  amnes, 

tristior  has  iterum  tamen  intrature  tenebras."  25 

illos  ut  caeco  recubans  in  limine  sensit 

Cerberus  atque  omnes^  capitum  subrexit  hiatus 

saevus  et  intranti  populo  ;  iam  nigra  tuniebat 

colla  minax,  iam  sparsa  solo  turbaverat  ossa, 

ni  deus  horrentem  Lethaeo  vimine  mulcens  30 

ferrea  tergemino  domuisset  lumina  somno. 

Est  locus — Inachiae  dixerunt  Taenara  gentes — , 
qua  formidatum  Maleae  spumantis  in  auras 
it  caput  et  nullos  admittit  culmine  \isus. 
stat  sublimis  apex  ventosque  imbresque  serenus      35 
despicit  et  tantum  fessis  insiditur  astris. 
illic  exhausti  posuere  cubilia  venti, 
fulminibusque  iter  est^  ;  medium  cava  nubila  mentis 
insumpsere  latus,  summos  nee  praepetis  alae 
plausus  adit  colles,  nee  rauca  tonitrua  pulsant.^        40 
ast  ubi  prona  dies,  longos  super  aequora  fines 
exigit  atque  ingens  medio  natat  umbra  profundo. 
interiore  sinu  frangentia  litora  curvat 
Taenaros,  expositos  non  audax  scandere^  fluctus. 
illic  Aegaeo  Neptunus  gurgite  fessos  45 

in  portum  deducit  equos,  prior  haurit  harenas 
ungula,  postremi  solvuntur  in  aequora  pisces. 
hoc,  ut  fama,  loco  pallentes  devius  umbras 
trames  agit  nigrique  Io\is  vacua  atria  ditat 
mortibus,     Arcadii  perhibent  si  vera  coloni,  50 

^  atque  omnes  Pw  :  aeque  Unger,  alte  Lachmann :  angui- 
comus  Koch.  ^  iter  est  Pw  :  quies  conj.  Postgate. 

^  U.  37-40  omitted  by  Pw,  though  inserted  in  the  margin  by 
another  hand  in  PBQ.  Elsewhere  in  Statins  tonitrus  is 
masculine. 

*  frangentia  .  .  .  scandere  Pw :  scandentia  .  .  .  frangere 
Koestlin  (cf.  Prop.  iv.  1.  125):  scindere  Kohlnmnn  (but  of. 
Ach.  i.  449). 

396 


THEBAID,  II.  24-50 

and  the  green  earth  and  the  pure  river-springs,  yet 
more  sadly  wilt  return  again  to  this  darkness." 

Cerberus  lying  on  the  murky  threshold  perceived 
them,  and  reared  up  with  all  his  mouths  wide  agape, 
fierce  even  to  entering  folk ;  but  now  his  black 
neck  swelled  up  all  threatening,  now  had  he  torn 
and  scattered  their  bones  upon  the  ground,  had  not 
the  god  with  branch  Lethaean  soothed  his  bristling 
frame  and  quelled  with  threefold  slumber  the  steely 
glare. 

There  is  a  place — named  Taenarum  by  the  Inachian 
folk — where  foaming  Malea's  dreaded  headland  rises 
into  the  air,  nor  suffers  any  vision  to  reach  its  summit. 
Sublime  stands  the  peak  and  looks  down  serene  on 
winds  and  rain,  and  only  to  weary  stars  affords  a 
resting-place.  There  tired  winds  find  repose,  and 
there  the  hghtnings  have  their  path  ;  hollow  clouds 
hold  the  mountain's  midmost  flanks,  and  never  beat 
of  soaring  wing  comes  nigh  the  topmost  ranges  nor 
the  hoarse  clap  of  thunder.  But  when  the  day  in- 
clines towards  its  setting,  a  vast  shadow  casts  its 
fringes  wide  over  the  level  waters,  and  floats  upon 
mid-sea.  Around  an  inner  bay  Taenaros  curves  his 
broken  shore-line,  not  bold  to  breast  the  outer 
waves.  There  Neptune  brings  home  to  haven  his 
coursers  wearied  by  the  Aegean  flood ;  in  front  their 
hooves  paw  the  sand,  behind,  they  end  in  fishy  tails 
beneath  the  water.  In  this  region,  so  'tis  said,  a 
hidden  path  conducts  the  pallid  ghosts,  and  dowers 
with  many  a  death  the  spacious  halls  of  swarthy 
Jove."  If  Arcadian  husbandmen  speak  truth,  shrieks 
"  i.e.,  Pluto. 

397 


STATIUS 

stridor  ibi  et  gemitus  poenarum,  atroque  tumultu 
fervet  ager  ;  saepe  Eumenidum  vocesque  manusque 
in  medium  sonuere  diem,  Letique^  triformis 
ianitor  agricolas  campis  auditus  abegit. 

Hac  et  tunc  fusca  volucer  deus  obsitus  umbra      55 
exsilit  ad  superos,  infernaque  nubila  vultu 
discutit  et  vivis  adflatibus  ora  serenat. 
inde  per  Arcturum  mediaeque  silentia  Lunae 
arva  super  populosque  meat.     Sopor  obvius  illi 
Noctis  agebat  equos,  trepidusque  adsurgit  honori    60 
numinis  et  recto  decedit  limite  caeli. 
inferior  volat  umbra  deo,  praereptaque  noscit 
sidera  principiumque  sui  ;  iamque  ardua  Cirrhae 
pollutamque  suo  despectat  Phocida  busto. 
ventum  erat  ad  Thebas  ;  gemuit  prope  limina  nati  65 
Laius  et  notos  cunctatus  inire  penates. 
ut  vero  et  celsis  suamet^  iuga  nixa  columnis 
vidit  et  infectos  etiamnum  sanguine  currus, 
paene  retro  turbatus  abit  :  nee  summa  Tonantis 
iussa  nee  Arcadiae  retinent  spiramina  virgae.  70 

Et  tunc  forte  dies  noto  signata  Tonantis 
fubnine,  praerupti  cum  te,  tener  Euhie,  partus 
transmisere  patri.     Tyriis  ea  causa  colonis 
insomnem  ludo  certatim  educere  noctem 
suaserat  ;  efFusi  passim  per  tecta,  per  agros,  75 

serta  inter  vacuosque  mero  crateras  anhelum 
proflabant  sub  luce  deum  ;  tunc  plurima  buxus 

^  Letique  Pco  :  Lethesque  Friesemann. 
^  suamet  Pw  :  sedem  et  L. 

"  Mercury  was  born  in  Arcadia. 

*  Bacchus,  untimely  born  from  Semele  who  was  blasted 
by  the  lightning  of  Jove,  and  lodged  in  his  father's  thigh 
till  he  was  ripe  for  birth. 

"  i.e.,  Thebans. 

398 


THEBAID,  II.  51-77 

are  heard  there  and  the  moaning  of  the  damned, 
and  the  land  is  all  astir  with  hm-rying  grisly  forms  ; 
often  the  cries  and  blows  of  the  Furies  have  resounded 
till  mid-day,  and  the  baying  of  Death's  tri-formed 
warder  has  scared  the  rustics  from  the  fields. 

By  this  way  then  did  the  nimble  god,  all  wrapped 
about  with  dusky  shadow,  leap  forth  to  the  upper 
world,  and  shake  from  his  face  the  vapours  of  the 
nether  region,  and  make  serene  his  countenance  with 
draughts  of  living  air.  Thence  by  Arcturus  and  the 
moon's  mid  silences  o'er  fields  and  cities  he  wends 
his  way.  Sleep,  driving  Night's  coursers,  met  him, 
and  rose  abashed  to  salute  his  godhead,  turning 
aside  from  his  celestial  path.  Beneath  the  god  flies 
the  shade,  and  knows  again  his  lost  stars  and  the 
land  that  bore  him  ;  and  now  he  looks  down  on 
Cirrha's  heights  and  Phocis,  that  his  own  corpse 
polluted.  Now  they  were  come  to  Thebes,  and  hard 
by  his  own  son's  threshold  Laius  groaned,  tarrying 
to  enter  the  well-known  house.  But  when  he  saw 
his  own  yoke  hanging  on  the  lofty  pillars  and  the 
chariot  still  stained  with  blood,  almost  had  he  in 
wild  fear  turned  back  and  fled,  nor  could  the 
Thunderer's  high  commands  restrain  him,  nor  the 
waving  of  the  Arcadian  '^  wand. 

That  too  chanced  to  be  the  day  marked  by  the 
well-known  falling  of  the  Thunderer's  brand,  when 
thy  birth's  untimely  hastening,  O  infant  Euhius,'' 
caused  thy  sire  to  take  thee  to  himself.  Therein 
had  the  Tyrian  settlers  '^  found  cause  to  pass  the 
night  in  sleepless  rivalry  of  sport ;  scattered  far  and 
wide  through  house  and  field,  amid  garlands  and 
mixing-bowls  drained  dry  they  panted  forth  the  wine- 
god  under  the  light  of  day  ;   then  many  a  boxwood 

399 


ST  ATI  us 

aeraque  taurines  sonitu  vincentia  pulsus.^ 
ipse  etiam  gaudens  nemorosa  per  avia  sanas 
impulerat  matres  Baccho  meliore  Cithaeron  ;  80 

qualia  per  Rhodopen  rabido  convivia  coetu 
Bistones  aut  mediae  ponunt  convallibus  Ossae. 
illis  semianinium  pecus  exeussaeque  leonuni 
ore  dapes,  et  lacte  novo  domuisse  furorem^ 
luxus  :  at  Ogygii  si  quando  adflavit  laechi  85 

saevus  odor,  tune  saxa  manu,  tunc  pocula  pulchrum 
spargere  et  immerito  sociorurn  sanguine  fuso 
instaurare  diem  festasque  reponere  mensasj 
Nox  ea,  cum  tacita  volucer  Cyllenius  aura 
regis  Echionii  stratis  adlapsus,  ubi  ingens  90 

fuderat  Assyriis  exstructa  tapetibus  alto 
membra  toro.     pro  gnara  nihil  mortalia  fati 
corda  sui  !  capit  ille  dapes,  habet  ille  soporem. 
tunc  senior  quae  iussus  agit,  neu  falsa  videri 
noctis  imago  queat,  longaevi  vatis  opacos  95 

Tiresiae  vultus  vocemque  et  vellera  nota 
induitur.     mansere  comae  propexaque  mento 
canities  pallorque  suus,  sed  falsa  cucurrit 
infula  per  crines,  glaucaeque  innexus  olivae 
\ittarum  pi'ovenit  honos  :  dehinc  tangere  ramo      100 
pectora  et  has  visus  fatorum  expromere  voces  : 
"  non  somni  tibi  tempus,  iners,  qui  nocte  sub  alta, 
germani  secure,  iaces,  ingentia  dudum 
acta  vocant  rerumque  graves,  ignave,  paratus. 
tu,  veluti  magnum  si^  iam  tollentibus  austris  105 

^  taiirinos  sonitu  vincentia  pulsus  Pu>  (ducentia  X  with 
vincentia  icritten  over) :  Tyrrhenes  sonitus  vincentia  pulsu 
Laclmumn.  ^  furorem  P  :  cruorem  w.  ^  si  w  :  se  P. 

"  Thracians.  *  Eteocles. 

"^  Probably  with  reference  to  Sardanapalus  (Assurbanipal), 
the  Assyrian,  proverbial  for  luxury  (Juv.  x.  362). 
400 


THEBAID,  II.  78-105 

pipe  resounded  and  cymbals  louder  than  the  beat  of 
bull-hide  drum.  Cithaeron  himself  exultant  had  set 
prudent  matrons  flocking  in  a  nobler  frenzy  through 
his  pathless  groves  :  even  as  the  Bistonians  "  in  wild 
concourse  hold  their  revels  upon  Rhodope  or  in  the 
depths  of  Ossa's  vales.  For  them  one  of  the  flock 
snatched  half-alive  from  the  lion's  jaw  is  a  feast,  and 
to  abate  their  fury  with  new  milk  is  luxury  ;  but 
when  the  fierce  fragrance  of  Ogygian  lacchus  breaths 
upon  them,  then  how  glorious  to  fling  stones  and 
goblets,  and  with  the  shedding  of  guiltless  comrades' 
blood  to  begin  the  day  anew  and  appoint  once  more 
the  festal  banquet  ! 

Such  was  the  night  when  the  swift  Cyllenian  glided 
down  on  the  silent  air  to  the  couch  of  the  Echionian 
prince, ''  where  in  huge  bulk  he  had  flung  his  limbs  on 
a  bed  piled  high  with  Assyrian  '^  coverlets.  Alas  ! 
for  mortal  hearts  that  know  not  their  destiny  !  He 
feasts  and  he  slumbers.  Then  the  old  man  performs 
what  he  is  bidden,  and,  lest  he  seem  but  a  false 
phantom  of  the  night,  puts  on  the  darkened  visage 
of  the  ancient  seer  Tiresias,  and  his  voice  and  well- 
known  woollen  bands.  His  own  long  hair  and  hoary 
beard  combed  downward  from  the  chin  remain,  and 
his  own  pallid  hue,  but  through  his  locks  there  runs 
the  feigned  circlet,  and  the  sacred  fillets  entwined 
with  the  grey  olive  are  plain  to  view.  Then  he 
seemed  to  touch  his  breast  with  the  olive  bough  and 
give  utterance  to  these  fateful  words  :  "  This  is  no 
time  of  sleep  for  thee,  thou  sluggard,  who  liest 
careless  of  thy  brother  in  the  depth  of  night  !  long 
time  have  great  deeds  summoned  thee,  slothful  one, 
and  weighty  preparings  for  what  shall  be.  But 
thou,  even  as  if  some  ship's  captain,  while  the  south 

VOL.  I  2d  401 


ST  ATI  us 


Ionium  nigra  iaceat  sub  nube  magister 


^■j\ 


(^^"5J^■ ' 


■JL'V^ 


immemor  armorum  versantisque  aequora  clavi, 
cunctaris.    iamque  ille  no  vis — scit  Fama — superbit 
conubiis  viresque  parat,  quis  regna  capessat, 
quis  neget,  inque  tua  senium  sibi  destinat  aula.     110 
dant  animos  socer  augurio  fatalis  Adrastus 
dotalesque  Argi,  nee  non  in  foedera  vitae 
pollutus  placuit  fraterno  sanguine  Tydeus. 
hinc  tumor,  et  longus  fratri  promitteris  exsul, 
ipse  deum  genitor  tibi  me  miseratus  ab  alto  115 

mittit  :  habe  Thebas,  caecumque  cupidine  regni 
ausurumque  eadem  germanum  expelle,  nee  ultra 
fraternos  inhiantem  obitus  sine  fidere  coeptis 
fraudibus  aut  Cadmo  dominas  inferre  Mycenas." 

Dixit,  et  abscedens — etenim  iam  pallida  turbant  120 
sidera  lucis  equi — ramos  ac  vellera  fronti 
deripuit,  confessus  avum,  dirique  nepotis 
incubuit  stratis,  iugulum  mox  caede  patentem 
nudat  et  undanti  perfundit  vulnere  soninum. 
illi  rupta  quies,  attolUt  membra  toroque  125 

eripitur^  plenus  monstris,  vanumque  cruorem 
excutiens  simul  horret  avum  fratremque  requirit. 
quaBs  ubi  audito  venantum  murmtire  tigris 
horruit  in  maculas  somnosque  excussit  inertes  ; 
bella  cupit  laxatque  genas  et  temperat  ungues,      130 
mox  ruit  in  turmas  natisque  alimenta  cruentis 

^  eripitur  P  :  erigitur  w. 
402 


THEBAID,  II.  106-131 

winds  are  already  raising  the  billows  on  the  Ionian 
main,  should  He  idle  beneath  a  black  storm-cloud, 
forgetful  of  his  tackling  and  of  the  rudder  that  sways 
the  waters, — thou  tarriest.  And  he  even  now — so 
Fame  can  tell — waxes  proud  of  his  new  wedlock,  and 
gets  to  himself  might  whereby  to  seize  the  realm  and 
refuse  thee  thy  part,  and  appoints  himself  an  old  age 
in  thy  halls.  Adrastus,  foretold  by  omen  to  be  the 
father  of  his  bride,  and  the  Argive  dowry  raise  his 
spirits,  yea,  and  Tydeus,  stained  by  a  brother's 
blood,  hath  he  graciously  received  into  a  lifelong 
bond.  Hence  swelling  pride,  and  a  promise  to  thy 
brother  of  long  exile  for  thee.  The  sire  of  gods 
himself  in  pity  sends  me  down  to  thee  from  on  high  : 
hold  fast  to  Thebes,  and  drive  away  thy  kinsman  who 
is  blind  with  lust  of  rule,  and  will  dare  as  much 
against  thyself,  nor  suffer  him  all  agape  for  a  brother's 
death  to  trust  any  more  in  the  treachery  he  devises, 
nor  to  bring  Mycenae  to  queen  it  over  Cadmus." 

He  spoke,  and  departing — for  already  the  sun's 
horses  were  driving  in  rout  the  pale  stars- — tore  from 
his  head  the  chaplet  and  woollen  bands,  and  revealed 
himself  his  grandsire,  then  leaning  over  his  dread 
grandson's  couch  bared  his  throat's  open  wound  and 
flooded  his  sleep  with  streaming  blood.  The  other, 
startled  from  his  slumbers,  springs  up  and  leaps  from 
the  couch,  full  of  horror,  and  shaking  from  him  the 
phantom  blood  shrinks  appalled  from  his  grandsire 
and  seeks  out  his  brother.  Just  as  when  a  tigress 
hearing  the  noise  of  hunters  has  grimly  faced  the 
nets  and  shaken  off  lazy  sleep  ;  'tis  war  she  yearns 
for,  and  she  loosens  her  jaws  and  trims  her  talons, 
and  soon  she  rushes  amid  the  companies  and  carries 
off  in  her  mouth  a  man  still  breathing,  to  feed  her 

403 


ST  ATI  us 

spirantem  fert  ore  virum  :  sic  excitus  ira 
ductor  in  absentem  consumit  proelia  fratrem. 

Et  iam  Mygdoniis  elata  cubilibus  alto 
dispulerat^  caelo  gelidas  Aurora  tenebras,  135 

rorantes  excussa  comas  multumque  sequenti 
sole  rubens  ;  illi  roseus  per  nubila  seras 
advertit  flanimas  alienumque  aethera  tardo 
Lucifer  exit  equo,  donee  pater  igneus  orbem 
impleat  atque  ipsi  radios  vetet  esse  soi-ori  :  _140 

cum  senior  Talaionides  nee  longa  morati 
Dircaeusque  gradum  pariterque  Acheloius  heros 
corripuere  toris.     illos  post  verbera  fessos 
exceptamque  hiemem  cornu  perfuderat  omni 
Somnus  ;  at  Inachio  tenuis  sub  pectore  regi  145 

tracta  quies,  dum  mente  deos  inceptaque  versat 
hospitia,  et  quae  sint  generis  adscita  repertis 
fata  movet.     postquam  mediis  in  sedibus  aulae 
congressi  inque  vicem  dextras  iunxere  locumque, 
quo  serere  arcanas  aptum  atque  evolvere  curas,     150 
insidunt,  prior  his  dubios  compellat  Adrastus  : 
"  egregii  iuvenum,  quos  non  sine  numine  regnis 
invexit  nox  dextra  meis,  quibus  ipse  per  imbres 
fulminibus  mixtos  intempestumque  Tonantem 
has  mens  usque  domos  vestigia  fecit  Apollo,  155 

non  equidem  obscurum  vobis  plebique  Pelasgae 
esse  rear,  quantis  conubia  nostra  procorum 
turba  petant  studiis  ;  geminae  mihi  namque,  nepotum 
laeta  fides,  aequo  pubescunt  sidere  natae. 
quantus  honos  quantusque  pudor,  ne  credite  patri,  160 

1  dispulerat  Lachmann  :  impulerat  Pj). 

°  Tithonus,  her  husband,  was  son  of  Laomedon.  king  of 
Phrygia  ;  Mygdonia  was  a  part  of  Phrygia. 

*"  Adrastus  was  the  son  of  Talaus  ;  Dirce  was  a  fountain 
at  Thebes,  Achelous  a  river  in  Aetoha. 

404 


THEBAID,  II.  132-lGO 

savage  whelps  ;  even  so  stirred  by  rage  the  chieftain 
dreams  of  war  against  his  absent  brother. 

And  now  Aurora  rising  from  her  Mygdonian  * 
resting-place  had  scattered  the  cold  shadows  from  the 
high  heaven,  and  shaking  the  dew-drops  from  her 
hair  blushed  deep  in  the  sun's  pursuing  beams  ; 
toward  her  through  the  clouds  the  rosy  morning-star 
turns  his  late  fires,  and  with  slow  steed  leaves  an 
alien  world,  until  the  fiery  father's  orb  be  full  re- 
plenished and  he  forbid  his  sister  to  usurp  his  rays. 
Then  did  the  aged  son  of  Talaus  and  with  no  long 
delay  the  heroes  twain  of  Dirce  and  of  Achelous  ^ 
rise  swiftly  from  their  couches.  Upon  them,  wearied 
by  blows  and  endurance  of  the  storm,  had  Sleep 
poured  all  his  horn's  bounty  ;  but  scant  repose 
visited  the  breast  of  the  Inachian  monarch,  while  in 
his  thoughts  he  broods  upon  heaven's  will  and  the 
new  ties  of  friendship,  and  wonders  what  destinies 
he  is  admitting  to  his  house  in  his  new-found  sons-in- 
law.  They  meet  in  the  mid  chambers  of  the  palace, 
and  draw  nigh  and  grasp  each  other's  hand  in  turn, 
then  seat  themselves  where  they  may  best  make 
interchange  of  secret  counsel,  and,  the  others  hesitat- 
ing, Adrastus  thus  begins  :  "  Peerless  youths,  whom 
a  propitious  night  has  brought  heaven-prompted  to 
my  realm,  whose  steps  my  own  Apollo  has  guided 
even  to  my  palace  in  spite  of  rain  and  lightning-flash 
and  the  Thunderer's  unseasonable  sky,  I  cannot 
deem  it  unknown  to  you  and  the  Pelasgian  folk,  how 
zealous  a  crowd  of  suitors  seeks  alliance  with  my 
house  ;  for  my  two  daughters,  joyful  pledge  of 
grandchildren,  are  reaching  equal  years  of  full-grown 
maidenhood.  How  great  their  beauty  and  their 
modesty,  trust  not  a  father's  word,  nay,  ye  could 

405 


ST  ATI  us 

et  super  hesternas  licuit  cognoscere  mensas. 
has  tumidi  solio  et  late  dominantibus  armis 
optavere  viri — longum  enumerare  Pheraeos 
Oebaliosque  duces — ^et  Achaea  per  oppida  matres 
spem  generis,  nee  plura  tuus  despexerat  Oeneus    165 
foedera  Pisaeisque  socer  metuendus  habenis. 
sed  mihi  nee  Sparta  genitos  nee  ab  Elide  missos 
iungere  fas  generos  :  vobis  hie  sanguis  et  aulae 
cura  meae  longo  pi'omittitur  ordine  fati. 
di  bene,  quod  tales  stirpemque  animosque  venitis,  170 
ut  responsa  iuvent  :  hie  durae  tempore  noctis 
partus  hones,  haec  ilia  venit  post  verbera  merces." 

Audierant,  fixosque  oculos  per  mutua  paulum 
era  tenent,  visique  inter  sese  ordine  fandi 
cedere.     sed  cunctis  Tydeus  audentior  actis  175 

incipit  :  "  o  quam  te  parcuni  in  praeconia  famae 
mens  agitat  matura  tuae,  quantumque  ferentem 
fortunam  virtute  domas  !  cui  cedat  Adrastus 
imperiis  ?  quis  te  soho  Sicyonis  a\dtae 
excitum  infrenos  componere  legibus  Argos  180 

nesciat  ?  atque  utinam  his  manibus  permittere  gentis, 
luppiter  aeque,  veHs,  quas  Doricus  alligat  intus^ 
Isthmos  et  alterno  quas  margine  submovet  infra  ! 
non  fugeret  diras  lux  intercisa  Mycenas, 
saeva  nee  Eleae  gemerent  certamina  valles,^  185 

Eumenidesque  ahis  ahae  sub  regibus,  et  quae 

^  intus  P  :  undis  w. 

^  After  this  line  Duebner,  Mueller,  Kohlmann  and  Post- 
gate  recognize  a  lacuna ;  it  seems  sufficient  to  understand 
fuissent  in  186. 

"  i.e.,  Thessalian  and  Spartan,  from  N.  and  S.  Greece. 
'  Oenomaus,  who  challenged  the  suitors  of  Hippodamia 
to  a  chariot-race,  and  slew  them  when  they  lost. 

"  See  note  on  i.  325.  "*  See  note  oni'.  166. 

406  n 


THEBAID,  11.  161-186 

judge  at  yesterday's  banquet.  Many  a  one,  with 
throne  and  wide-extending  sway  to  boast  of,  has 
desired  them — 'twere  long  to  tell  the  tale  of  Pheraean 
and  Oebalian  princes  " — and  mothers  also  throughout 
the  towns  of  Achaea,  for  hope  of  posterity  ;  nor  did 
Oeneus  thy  own  father  despise  more  proffered  unions, 
nor  the  sire  of  Pisa's  bride  with  his  terrible  chariot- 
reins.''  But  none  of  Spartan  birth  nor  of  them  that 
liail  from  Ehs  may  I  choose  for  my  daughters'  con- 
sorts :  to  you  doth  ancient  destiny  pledge  my  blood 
and  the  guardianship  of  my  halls.  The  gods  are 
gracious,  in  that  ye  come  to  me  so  high  in  birth  and 
spirit  that  I  rejoice  in  their  oracles.  This  is  the 
prize  that  the  night's  sufferings  have  won,  tliis  is 
your  reward  for  the  blows  ye  bore." 

They  heard  him,  and  for  a  while  held  their  eyes 
fixed  in  mutual  gaze,  seeming  to  yield  each  other 
place  of  speech.  But  Tydeus,  in  every  deed  more 
daring,  begins  :  "  O  how  sparingly  doth  thy  sage 
mind  impel  thee  to  proclaim  thy  own  renown, 
and  how  greatly  by  worth  dost  thou  outdo  all 
fortune's  favour  !  To  whom  should  Adrastus  yield 
in  power  ?  Who  knows  not  that  thou,  when  driven 
from  thy  ancestral  Sicyon's  throne,  didst  give  law 
to  turbulent  Argos  ?  and  would  that  thou  wert 
willing,  O  just  Jupiter,  to  entrust  to  these  hands  the 
races  that  Dorian  Isthmus  contains  within  the 
interior  lands,  and  those  which  it  removes  beneath 
its  other  bound  !  The  interrupted  light  would  not 
have  fled  from  dire  Mycenae,'^  nor  would  the  vales 
of  Elis  have  groaned  at  the  fierce  contests,**  nor 
divers  Furies  afflicted  divers  kings,  nor  happened  all 

407 


STATIUS 

tu  potior,  Thebane,  queri  :  nos  vero  volentes 

expositique  animis."     sic  interfatus  et  alter 

subicit  :  "  anne  aliquis  soceros  accedere  tales 

abnuat  ?  exsulibus  quaniquani  patriaque  fugatis    190 

nondum  laeta  Venus,  tamen  omnis  corde  resedit 

tristitia,  adfixique  animo  cessere  dolores. 

nee  minus  haec  laeti  trahimus  solacia,  quam  si 

praecipiti  convulsa  noto  prospectet  amicam 

puppis  humum.     iuvat  ingressos  felicia  regni  195 

omina,  quod  superest  fati  vitaeque  laborum 

fortune:  transire  tu5."     nee  plura  morati 

consurgunt,  dictis  impensius  aggerat  omne 

promissum  Inachius  pater,  auxilioque  futurum 

et  patriis  spondet  reduces  inducere  regnisj  200 

Ergo  alacres  Argi,  fuso  rumor e  per  urbem 
advenisse  duci  generos  primisque  hymenaeis 
egregiam  Argian  nee  formae  laude  secundam 
Deipylen  tumida  iam  virginitate  iugari, 
gaudia  mente  parant  ;  socias  it  Fama  per  urbes,    205 
finitimisque  agitatur  agris  procul  usque  Lycaeos 
Partheniosque  super  saltus  Ephyraeaque  rura 
nee  minus  Ogygias  eadem  dea  turbida  Thebas 
insilit.     haec  totis  perfundit  moenia  pinnis 
Labdaciumque  ducem  praemissae  consona  nocti    210 
territat  ;  hospitia  et  thalamos  et  foedera  regni 
permixtumque  genus — quae  tanta  licentia  monstro, 
quis  furor  ? — et  iam^  bella  canit. 

^  furor  ?  et  iam  Lachmann  :  furor  est  iam  Pw. 

"  I  understand  "fuissent"  with  "Eumenides"and  "quae," 
etc. 

408 


THEBAID,  II.  187-213 

that  thou,  O  Theban,  canst  best  bewail."  We  verily 
are  willing,  and  our  hearts  are  open  to  thee."  So 
spake  he,  and  the  other  added  :  "  Would  any  one 
refuse  to  welcome  such  a  father  of  his  bride  ?  Though 
Venus  smile  not  yet  upon  us  exiles,  banished  from 
our  land,  nevertheless  all  sorrows  of  our  hearts  are 
calmed,  and  the  grief  is  gone  that  held  fast  upon  our 
minds.  No  less  joyfully  do  we  take  unto  us  this 
solace,  than  a  ship  rent  by  the  tearing  gale  beholds 
the  friendly  shore.  We  delight  to  enter  upon  a 
reign  of  happy  omen,  and  to  pass,  under  thy  destiny, 
what  remains  of  our  allotted  lives  and  labours." 
Without  more  ado  they  i-ise,  and  the  Inachian  sire 
adds  weight  of  eager  words  to  every  promise,  and 
vows  that  he  will  succour  them  and  bring  them  back 
to  their  fathers'  realms. 

The  Argives,  therefore,  as  the  report  spreads 
through  the  city  that  husbands  for  his  daughters 
have  come  to  the  king's  court,  and  that  illustrious 
Argia,  and  Deipyle  famed  no  less  for  beauty,  are 
giving  in  wedlock  their  lusty  maidenhood,  eagerly 
prepare  for  great  rejoicing.  Fame  flies  through  the 
kindred  cities,  and  is  carried  from  lip  to  lip  in  the 
neighbouring  lands  even  as  far  as  the  Lycaean  and 
beyond  Parthenian  glades  and  the  Ephyrean '' 
countryside,  nor  less  does  the  same  tumultuous 
goddess  descend  upon  Ogygian  Thebes.  With  wings 
full-stretched  she  broods  over  those  walls,  bringing 
terror  that  accords  with  the  past  night  to  the  Lab- 
dacian  chief :  the  welcome  and  the  marriage  does 
she  relate,  and  the  royal  covenant  and  the  union  of 
houses — what  mad  licence  in  the  devilish  monster's 
tongue  ! — and  at  last  she  tells  of  war. 

''  Ephyre  was  an  old  name  of  Corinth. 

409 


STATIUS 

Diffuderat  Argos 
exspectata  dies  :  laeto  regalia  coetu 
atria  complentur,  species  est  cernere  avorum  215 

comminus  et  vivis  certantia  vultibus  aera. 
tantum  ausae  perferre  manus  !  pater  ipse  bicornis 
in  laevum  prona  nixus  sedet  Inaehus  urna  ; 
hunc  tegit  lasiusque  senex  placidusque  Phoroneus, 
et  bellator  Abas^  indignatusque  Tonantem  220 

Acrisius  Inudoque  ferens  caput  ense  Coroebus, 
torvaque  iam  Danai  facinus  meditantis  imago  ; 
exin  mille  duces,     foribus  tum^  immissa  superbis 
unda  fremit  volgi,  procerum  manus  omnis  et  alto 
quis  propior  de  rege  gradus,  stant  ordine  primi.     225 
interior  sacris  calet  et  sonat  aula  tumultu 
femineo  ;  casta  matrem^  cinxere  corona 
Argolides,  pars  virginibus  circum  undique  fusae 
foedera  conciliant  nova  solanturque  timorem. 
ibant  insignes  vultuque  habituque  verendo  230 

Candida  purpureum  fusae  super  ora  pudorem 
deiectaeque  genas  ;  tacite  subit  ille  supremus 
virginitatis  amor,  primaeque  modestia  culpae 
eonfundit  vultus  ;  tunc  ora  rigantur  honestis 
imbribus,  et  teneros  lacrimae  iuvere  parentes.        235 
non  secus  ac  supero  pariter  si  cardine  lapsae 
Pallas  et  asperior  Phoebi  soror,  utraque  telis, 
utraque  torva  genis  flavoque  in  vertice  nodo, 
ilia  suas  Cyntho  comites  agat,  haec  Aracyntho  ; 
^  turn  Baehrens :  cum  Pco.        ^  matrem  PKQ :  matrum  w. 

"  Or  perhaps,  "  had  gladdened  the  Argives,"  by  an 
extension  of  "  animum  diifundere,"  cf.  Ov.  A.  A,  i.  218 
"  diifundetque  animos  omnibus  ista  dies." 

*  Because   Jupiter    visited    his    daughter    Danae    in    the 
brazen  tower.     For  Coroebus  see  i.  605  sq.     The  "  murder  " 
was  that  of  their  husbands  by  the  Danaides. 
410 


THEBAID,  II.  213-239 

The  long-expected  day  had  spread  the  Argives  all 
abroad  '^ :  the  royal  halls  are  filled  with  joyous  gather- 
ing, here  may  they  look  face  to  face  upon  their 
forefathers,  and  see  bronzes  that  vie  with  the  living 
countenance.  So  much  hath  skill  dared  and  wrought  ! 
Father  Inachus  himself,  twin-horned,  leans  leftward 
upon  his  tilted  urn  ;  old  lasius  supports  him  and  calm 
Phoroneus  and  wari'ior  Abas,  and  Acrisius  angry  with 
the  Thunderer,''  and  Coroebus  bearing  a  head  upon  his 
naked  sword,  and  the  grim  likeness  of  Danaus  already 
meditating  murder  ;  and  many  a  prince  thereafter. 
Then  the  common  folk  in  clamorous  flood  are  given 
entrance  at  the  proud  portals,  while  the  whole  com- 
pany of  chiefs  and  all  who  in  degree  stand  nigh  the 
monarch's  majesty  take  first  place  of  rank.  Within, 
the  palace  is  all  aglow  with  sacrificial  fires,  and  loud 
with  female  tumult  ;  a  chaste  band  of  Argive  women 
surrounds  the  mother-queen,  others  thronging  about 
the  maidens  reconcile  them  to  the  new  bonds  and 
reassure  their  timorous  hearts.  They  moved  in 
splendour  and  majesty  of  look  and  dress,  with  eyes 
cast  down  and  modest  blush  suifusing  all  their  fair- 
ness ;  that  last  regretful  love  of  maidenhood  steals 
silently  into  their  hearts,  and  the  first  shame  of  guilt 
overwhelms  their  countenances  ;  then  a  generous 
rain  bedews  their  cheeks,  and  tears  bring  joy  to  their 
tender-hearted  parents.  Just  so  might  Pallas  and 
Phoebus'  sterner  sister "  glide  down  together  from 
high  heaven,  terrible  alike  in  armour  and  in  looks, 
and  with  golden  hair  braided  on  their  heads,  bringing 
their  maiden  company,  from  Cynthus  she  and  she 

*  i.e.,  Diana,  as  the  huntress  ;  "  sterner,"  perhaps  by  com- 
parison with  other  daughters  of  Jove,  e.g.  Venus ;  not  witli 
Pallas,  who  is  here  the  goddess  of  war,  cf.  1.  243  ("  cristas  "). 

411 


STATIUS 

tunc,  si  fas  oculis,  non  umquam  longa  tuendo  240 

expedias,  cui  maior  honos,  cui  gratior,  aut  plus 
de  love,  mutatosque  velint  transumere  cultus, 
et  Pallas  deceat  pharetras  et  Delia  cristas. 

Certant  laetitia  superosque  in  vota  fatigant 
Inachidae,  quae  cuique  domus  sacrique  facultas.    245 
hi  fibris  animaque  litant,  hi  caespite  nudo, 
nee  minus  auditi,  si  mens  accepta,  merentur^ 
ture  deos,  fractisque  obtendunt  limina  silvis. 
ecce  metu  subito — Lachesis  sic  dura  iubebat — 
impulsae  mentes,  excussaque  gaudia  patri,  250 

et  turbat^  dies,     innuptam  limine^  adibant 
Pallada,  Monychiis  cui  non  Argiva  per  urbes 
posthabita  est  Larissa  iugis  ;  hie  more  parentum 
lasides,  thalamis  ubi  casta  adolesceret  aetas, 
virgineas  libare  comas  primosque  solebant  255 

excusare  toros.     celsam  subeuntibus  arcem 
in  gradibus  summi  delapsus  culmine  templi, 
Arcados  Euhippi  spolium,  cadit  aereus  orbis, 
praemissasque  faces,  festum  nubentibus  ignem, 
obruit,  eque  adytis  simul  exaudita  remotis  260 

nondum  ausos  firmare  gradum  tuba  terruit  ingens. 
in  regem  conversi  omnes  formidine  prima, 
mox  audisse  negant  ;  cunctos  tamen  omina  rerum 
dira  movent,  variisque  metum  sermonibus  augent. 
nee  mirum  :  nam  tum  infaustos  donante  marito     265 

'   merentur  P  :  meretur  w. 

*  innuptam  limine  Pw  :  innupto  in  limine  Garrod  conj. 
and  cp.  V.  68  nupta  limina. 

"  Mountains  in  Delos  and  on  the  border  of  Attica 
respectively. 

'  Possibly,  as  Klotz  suggests,  because  those  who  were 
about  to  be  brides  were  not  allowed  to  enter  the  temple  of 
"  innupta  Pallas."  "=  i.e.,  Athenian. 

412 


THEBAID,   II.   240-265 

from  Aracynthus  ** ;  then  wouldst  thou  never  learn 
by  long  gazing,  even  had  thine  eyes  leave  to  gaze, 
whicli  had  the  greater  beauty,  which  the  greater 
charm,  or  which  had  more  of  Jove,  and  were  they 
but  pleased  to  take  each  other's  dress,  Pallas  would 
beseem  the  quiver  and  Delia  the  crested  helmet. 

The  sons  of  Inachus  contend  in  rivalry  of  joy,  and 
weary  the  gods  with  vows,  as  each  had  household- 
gear  and  power  of  offering.  These  make  supplica- 
tion with  enti-ails  and  the  victim's  life,  those  with 
bare  turf ;  others,  heard  no  less,  if  their  heart  be 
accepted,  would  fain  win  merit  of  the  gods  by  in- 
cense, and  shade  their  portals  with  the  spoil  of  the 
woodlands.  But  lo  !  a  sudden  fear — so  cruel  Lachesis 
commanded — strikes  on  their  hearts  and  robs  the 
sire  of  his  rejoicing,  and  turns  the  day  to  gloom. 
On  her  threshold  **  they  were  drawing  nigh  to  Pallas 
the  unwedded,  who  among  cities  prefers  not  the 
Munychian  '^  hills  to  Argive  Larissa  ;  here  by  an- 
cestral rite  the  daughters  of  lasus,  so  soon  as  their 
chaste  yeai-s  grew  ripe  for  wedlock,  were  wont  to 
make  offering  of  virgin  tresses,  and  pray  pardon  for 
the  first  marriage-bed.  As  they  climb  the  steps  and 
approach  the  lofty  pile,  there  fell  from  the  temple's 
highest  summit  a  brazen  shield,  the  spoil  of  Arcadian 
Euhippus,  and  overwhelmed  the  heralding  torches, 
the  festal  light  of  the  marriage  train  ;  and  while 
they  dare  not  yet  to  make  sure  advance,  a  mighty 
trumpet-blare,  heard  from  the  shrine's  inmost  re- 
cesses, filled  them  with  terror.  All  at  the  first  shock 
of  panic  turned  toward  the  king,  then  denied  they 
had  heard  aught  ;  yet  all  are  troubled  by  the  event's 
dire  omen,  and  increase  their  fear  by  various  talk. 
Nor  was  it  wonderful  :  for  thou  wast  wearing,  Argia, 

413 


STATIUS 

ornatus,  Argia,  geris  dirumque  monile 
Harmoniae.     longa  est  series,  sed^  nota  malorum 
persequar,  unde  novis  tarn  saeva  potentia  donis. 

Lemnius  haec,  ut  prisca  fides,  Mavortia  longum 
furta  dolens,  capto  postquam  nil  obstat  amori         270 
poena  nee  ultrices  castigavere  catenae, 
Harmoniae  dotale  decus  sub  luce  iugali 
struxerat.     hoc,  docti  quamquam  maiora,  laborant 
Cyclopes,  notique  operum  Telchines  arnica 
certatim  iuvere  manu  ;  sed  plurimus  ipsi  275 

sudor,     ibi  arcano  florentis  igne  zmaragdos 
cingit  et  infaustas  percussum  adamanta  figuras 
Gorgoneosque  orbes  Siculaque  incude  relictos 
fulminis  extremi  cineres  viridumque  draconum 
lucentes  a  fronte  iubas  ;  hie  flebile  germen  280 

Hesperidum  et  dirum  Phrixei  velleris  aurum  ; 
turn  varias  pestes  raptumque  interplicat  atro 
Tisiphones  de  crine  ducem,  et  quae  pessima  ceston 
\as  probat  ;  haec  circum  spuniis  lunaribus  ungit 
callidus  atque  hilari  perfundit  cuncta  veneno.         285. 
non  hoc  Pasithea  blandarum  prima  sororum, 
non  Decor  Idaliusque  puer,  sed  Luctus  et  Irae 

^  sed  Pu) :  et  Baehrens,  who  with  most  edd.  punctuates 
after  malorum,  whence  Lachmann  condemned  268. 

"  Daughter  of  Venus  and  wife  of  Cadmus. 

''  Vulcan.  The  reference  is  to  the  famous  bed  which  he 
contrived.  It  was  fitted  with  chains  which  closed  upon 
Venus  and  Mars  as  they  lay  together  on  the  bed.  (See 
Hom.  Od.  viii.  266  f.)  Harmonia  was  the  daughter  of  Venus 
and  Mars. 

"  Statius  must  mean  amber,  wept  by  the  daughters  of  the 
sun  when  turned  into  poplars,  but  he  calls  them  Hesperides 
(as  being  in  the  west)  instead  of  Heliades. 

<*  The  girdle  of  Venus  is  spoken  of  as  having  power  to 
instil  desire;  see  Horn.  II.  xiv.  214. 

414 


THEBAID,  II.  266-287 

the  ill-starred  ornament  of  thy  husband's  giving,  the 
dread  necklace  of  Harmonia."  Far  back  the  story 
runs,  but  I  will  pursue  the  well-known  tale  of  Moes, 
whence  came  it  that  a  new  gift  had  such  terrible 
power. 

The  Lemnian,^  so  they  of  old  believed,  long  time 
distressed  at  Mars'  deceit  and  seeing  that  no  punish- 
ment gave  hindrance  to  the  disclosed  amour,  and 
the  avenging  chains  removed  not  the  offence,  Mrought 
this  for  Harmonia  on  her  bridal  day  to  be  the  glory 
of  her  dower.  Thereat,  though  taught  mightier 
tasks,  the  Cyclopes  labour,  and  the  Telchines  famed 
for  their  handiwork  helped  in  friendly  rivalry  of  skill  ; 
but  for  himself  the  sweat  of  toil  was  heaviest.  There 
forms  he  a  circlet  of  emeralds  glowing  with  a  hidden 
fire,  and  adamant  stamped  with  figures  of  ill  omen, 
and  Gorgon  eyes,  and  embers  left  on  the  Sicilian  anvil 
from  the  last  shaping  of  a  thunderbolt,  and  the  crests 
that  shine  on  the  heads  of  green  serpents  ;  then 
the  dolorous  fruit  of  the  Hesperides  "  and  the  dread 
gold  of  Phrixus'  fleece  ;  then  divers  plagues  doth  he 
intertwine,  and  the  king  adder  snatched  from 
Tisiphone's  grisly  locks,  and  the  wicked  power  that 
commends  the  girdle  '^ ;  all  these  he  cunningly  anoints 
about  with  lunar  foam,^  and  pours  over  them  the 
poison  of  delight.  Not  Pasithea,^  eldest  of  the 
gracious  sisters,  nor  Charm  nor  the  Idalian  youth  did 
mould  it,  but  Grief,  and  all  the  Passions,  and  Anguish, 

"  For  this  cf.  Val.  Fl.  Arg.  vi.  447  ;  Apuleius,  Met.  i.  3.  It 
was  supposed  that  witches  could  obtain  foam  or  spume  from 
the  moon  when  they  drew  it  down  to  earth,  and  so  made 
their  poisons  more  deadly. 

'  The  eldest  of  the  Graces ;  their  names  were  more 
commonly  said  to  be  Aglaia,  Euphrosyne,  and  Thalia. 

415 


ST  ATI  us 

et  Dolor  et  tota  pi-essit  Discordia  dextra. 

prima  fides  operi,  Cadmum  comitata  iacentem 

Harmonia  versis  in  sibila  dira  querellis  290 

Illyricos  longo  sulcavit  pectore  campos. 

improba  mox  Semele  vix  dona  nocentia  coUo 

induit,  et  fallax  intravit  limina  luno. 

teque  etiam,  infelix,  perhibent,  locasta,  decorum 

possedisse  nefas  ;  vultus  hac  laude^  colebas,  295 

heu  quibus,  heu  placitura  toris  !  post  longior  ordo. 

tunc  donis  Argia  nitet  vilisque  sororis 

ornatus  sacro  praeculta  supervenit  auro. 

\iderat  hoc  coniunx  perituri  vatis  et  aras 

ante  omnis  epulasque  trucem  secreta  coquebat      300 

invidiam,  saevis  detur  si  quando  potiri 

cultibus,  heu  nihil  auguriis  adiuta  propinquis. 

quos  optat  gemitus,  quantas  cupit  impia  clades  ! 

digna  quidem,  sed  quid  miseri  decepta  mariti 

arma,  quid  insontes  nati  meruere  furores  ?j  305 

Postquam  regales  epulas  et  gaudia  vulgi 
bisseni  clusere  dies.  Ismenius  heros 
respicere  ad  Thebas  iamque  et  sua  quaerere  regna. 
quippe  animum  subit  ilia  dies,  qua,  sorte  benigna 
fratris,  Echionia  steterat  privatus  in  aula,  310 

respiciens  descisse^  deos  trepidoque  tumultu 
dilapsos  comites,  nudum  latus  omne  fugamque 

^  laude  Pw  :  fraude  Garrod,  luce  Baehrens. 
^  descisse  <j  :  discisse  P  {ci  from  ce,  i.e.  disce.ss(lss)e). 

"  According  to  the  legend.  Harmonia  and  Cadmus  her 
husband  were  turned  into  serpents,  and  ended  their  lives  in 
Illyria. 

*  Juno  persuaded  Semele  to  ask  her  lover  Jupiter  to 
reveal  himself  to  her  as  Wielder  of  the  Lightning  ;  he  did 
so,  and  Semele  was  blasted  by  the  stroke,  and  died  giving 
birth  to  Bacchus. 

"  Eriphyle,  wife  of  Amphiaraus,  in  exchange  for  the  neck- 

416 


THEBAID,  II.  288-312 

and  Discord,  with  all  the  craft  of  her  riglit  liand. 
The  work  first  proved  its  worth,  when  Harmonia's 
complaints  turned  to  dreadful  hissing,  and  she  bore 
company  to  grovelling  Cadmus,  and  with  long  trail- 
ing breast  drew  furrows  in  the  Illyrian  fields.**  Next, 
scarce  had  shameless  Semele  put  the  hurtful  gift 
about  her  neck,  when  lying  Juno  crossed  her  thresh- 
old.** Thou  too,  unhappy  Jocasta,  didst,  as  they 
say,  possess  the  beauteous,  baleful  thing,  and  didst 
deck  thy  countenance  with  its  praise— on  what  a 
couch,  alas  !  to  find  favour  ;  and  many  more  beside. 
Last  Argia  shines  in  the  splendour  of  the  gift,  and 
in  pride  of  ornament  and  accursed  gold  surpassed 
her  sister's  mean  attiring.  The  wife  of  the  doomed 
prophet  '^  had  beheld  it,  and  at  every  shrine  and 
banquet  in  secret  cherished  fierce  jealousy,  if  only  it 
might  ever  be  granted  her  to  possess  the  terrible  j  ewel, 
nought  profited,  alas  !  by  omens  near  at  hand. 
What  bitter  tears  she  doth  desire  !  to  what  ruin 
tend  her  impious  wishes  !  Worthy  is  she,  indeed, 
but  what  hatli  her  hapless  consort  deserved,  and  his 
deluded  arms  ?    And  what  the  guiltless  frenzy  of  her 


son 


When  twice  six  days  had  ended  the  regal  banquet- 
ing and  the  rejoicing  of  the  people,  the  Ismenian 
hero  turned  his  gaze  toward  Thebes,  and  would  fain 
now  be  seeking  his  kingdom.  For  he  recalls  that 
day,  when  by  the  hazard  that  favoured  his  brother 
he  stood  in  Echion's  palace  stripped  of  power,  and 
saw  his  cause  deserted  by  the  gods  and  his  friends 
all  slunk  away  in  hurry  and  alarm,  himself  defence- 
lace  persuaded  her  husband  to  go  to  the  war,  where  he  met 
his  death.  Her  son  Alcmaeon  is  said  to  have  slain  his 
mother  in  revenge  (305). 

VOL.  I  2  E  417 


ST  ATI  us 

fortunae.  namque  una  soror  producere  tristis 
exsulis  ausa  vias  ;  etiam  hanc  in  limine  primo 
liquerat  et  magna  lacrimas  incluserat  ira.  315 

tunc  quos  excedens  hilares,  quis  cultus  iniqui 
praecipuus  ducis,  et  profugo  quos  ipse  notarat 
ingemuisse  sibi,  per  noctem  ac  luce  sub  omni 
digerit ;  exedere  animum  dolor  iraque  demens 
et,  qua  non  gravior  mortalibus  addita  curis,  320 

spes,  ubi  longa  venit.     talem  sub  pectore  nubem  - 
consilii  volvens  Dircen  Cadmique  negatas 
adparat  ire  domos.     veluti  dux  taurus  amata 
valle  carens,  pulsum  solito  quem  gramine  victor 
iussit  ab  erepta  longe  mugire  iuvenca,  325 

cum  profugo  placuere  tori  cervixque  recepto 
sanguine  magna  redit  fractaeque  in  pectora  quercus,^ 
bella  cupit  pastusque  et  capta  armenta  reposcit 
iam  pede,  iam  cornu  melior — pavet  ipse  reversum 
victor,  et  attoniti  vix  agnovere  magistri —  :  330 

non  alias  tacita  iuvenis  Teumesius  iras 
mente  acuit.     sed  fida  vias  arcanaque  coniunx 
senserat  ;  utque  toris  primo  complexa  iacebat 
aurorae  pallore  virum,  "  quos,  callide,  motus 
quamve  fugam  moliris  ?  "  ait  "  nil  transit  amantes.  335 
sentio,  pervigiles  acuunt  suspiria  questus, 
numquam  in  pace  sopor,     quotiens  haec  ora  natare 
fletibus  et  magnas  latrantia^  pectora  curas 

*  in  pectora   quercus  PB  {with  vires  written  over)  :    in 
pectore  w,  vires  I)KS,  vires  Q  {witit  quercus  written  over). 
^  latrantia  PBJV  :  iactantia  w. 

418 


THEBAID,  11.  313-338 

less  on  every  side  and  all  his  fortune  fled.  I'or  but 
one  sister  had  dared  to  escort  the  exile  on  his  sad 
path  ;  from  her  even  had  he  parted,  his  journey 
scarce  begun,  and  in  deep  anger  repressed  his  tearful 
grief.  Then  nightly  and  day  by  day  does  he  recount 
in  order  those  whose  joy  he  marked  as  he  went  forth, 
those  who  were  foremost  in  flattery  of  the  unjust 
prince,  or  whom  he  had  himself  seen  to  bewail  his 
exile  ;  anguish  devours  his  mind,  and  furious  wrath, 
and  hope,  than  which  the  heart  can  bear  no  heavier 
burden,  when  'tis  long  deferred.  Brooding  thus  in 
iiis  mind  upon  a  cloud  of  care,  he  makes  ready  to 
set  out  for  Dirce  and  the  Cadmean  home  denied 
liim.  Even  as  a  chieftain  bull,  banished  from  his 
loved  valley,  whom  a  conqueror  has  driven  from  his 
wonted  meadow  and  bidden  low  far  parted  from  his 
stolen  love,  yet  anon  in  exile  takes  pleasure  in  his 
mighty  thews,  and  his  neck  fresh-blooded  waxes 
strong  again,  and  he  bethinks  him  of  the  oaks  that 
he  has  shattered,  and  eager  for  battle  demands  back 
the  pastures  and  the  captive  herds  ;  already  in 
speed  of  foot  and  power  of  horn  hath  he  the  mastery, 
his  conqueror  himself  is  dismayed  at  his  return,  and 
the  astonished  herdsmen  scarce  know  him  for  the 
same  :  not  otherwise  does  the  Teumesian  youth 
sharpen  his  wrath  in  brooding  silence.  But  his  faith- 
ful wife  had  marked  his  secret  yearning  to  be  gone, 
and  lying  on  the  couch  in  the  first  pale  light  of  dawn, 
her  arms  about  her  lord,  "  What  thoughts  of  flight," 
she  said,  "  are  these  thou  ponderest  ?  nought  escapes 
a  lover's  eye.  I  know  thy  wakeful  complainings  and 
thy  bitter  sighs,  thy  ever-troubled  slumber.  How 
often  touching  thee  with  my  hand  do  I  find  this  face 
all  wet  with  tears,  and  thy  breast  loud  groaning  with 

419 


ST  ATI  us 

admota  deprendo  manu  ?     nil  foedere  rupto 
conubiisve  super  moveor  viduaque  iuventa,  340 

etsi  crudus  amor  necdum  post  flammea  toti 
intepuere  tori  :  tua  me,  properabo  fateri, 
angit,^  amate,^  salus.     tune  incomitatus,  inermis 
regna  petes  poterisque  tuis  decedere  Thebis, 
si  neget  ?  atque  ilium  sollers  deprendere  semper  345 
fama  duces  tumidum  narrat  raptoque  superbum 
difficilemque  tibi  :  necdum  consumpserat^  annum, 
me  quoque  nunc  vates,  nunc  exta  minantia  divos 
aut  avium  lapsus  aut  turbida  noctis  imago  349 

terret;  et  a  !  memini,  numquam  mihi  falsa  per  umbras 
luno  venit.     quo  tendis  iter  ?  ni  conscius  ardor 
ducit  et  ad  Thebas  melior  socer."    hie  breve  tandem 
risit  Echionius  iuvenis  tenerumque  dolorem 
coniugis  amplexu  solatus  et  oscula  maestis 
tempestiva  genis  posuit  lacrimasque  repressit  ;       355 
"  solve  metus  animo,  dabitur,  mihi  crede,  merentum 
consiliis  tranquilla  dies  ;  te  fortior  annis 
nondum  cura  decet.     sciat  haec  Saturnius  olim 
fata  parens,  oculosque  polo  demittere  si  quos 
lustitia  et  rectum  terris  defendere  curat  :  360 

fors  aderit  lux  ilia  tibi,  qua  moenia  cernes 
coniugis  et  geminas  ibis  regina  per  urbes." 
Sic  ait,  et  caro  raptim  se  limine  profert. 
Tydea  iam  socium  coeptis,  iam  pectore  fido 

^  angit  Po) :  tangit  Bentley.  ^  amate  KC :  amata  Pu. 

*  consumpserat  Pw  :  consumpserit  Heinsius. 


"  i.e.,  when  you  fled  from  Thebes  ;  he  will  be  all  the 
fiercer  when  his  year  is  over.  The  old  emendation  con- 
snmpserit  ("  nor  will  he  have  reigned  ")  misses  the  point. 

420 


THEBAID,  II.  339-364 

thy  weight  of  cares  !  'Tis  not  the  sundering  of 
our  marriage-bond  that  moves  me,  nor  a  widowed 
youth  ;  although  our  love  is  still  fresh,  nor  has  our 
couch  yet  since  tlie  bridal  lost  the  first  glow  of 
passion.  'Tis  thy  own  safety,  O  beloved — I  hasten 
to  confess  it — that  wrings  my  heart.  Wilt  thou  seek 
thy  realm  unarmed,  unfriended,  and  be  able  to  quit 
thine  own  Thebes,  should  he  refuse  it  ?  Yea,  Report, 
that  is  ever  cunning  to  catch  the  mind  of  princes, 
tells  that  he  is  proud  and  arrogant  in  his  stolen 
power,  and  ill-disposed  to  hear  thee  ;  nor  had  he 
yet  reigned  a  full  year.*  Terrified  too  am  I  now  by 
soothsayers,  now  by  entrails  that  speak  of  threaten- 
ing gods,  by  flight  of  birds,  or  by  disturbing  visions 
of  the  night  ;  and  ah  !  never  do  I  call  to  mind  that 
Juno  came  falsely  to  me  in  my  dreams.  Whither 
doth  thy  journey  lead  thee  ?  except  it  be  a  secretly 
cherished  passion  that  draws  thee  to  Thebes,  and  union 
withanobler  house."  Tlienat  last  theEchionianyoutli 
brief-laughing  consoled  his  wife's  tender  grief,  and 
set  timely  kisses  on  her  sorrowful  cheeks  and  stayed 
her  tears  :  "  Free  thy  mind  of  fear  ;  prudent  coun- 
sels, believe  me,  win  peaceful  days  ;  cares  beyond 
thy  years  become  thee  not.  But  should  one  day  the 
Saturnian  father  take  knowledge  of  my  fate,  and 
Justice,  if  she  think  at  all  to  glance  down  from 
heaven  and  defend  the  right  on  earth  :  then  per- 
chance that  day  shall  dawn  for  thee,  when  thou  shalt 
see  thy  husband's  walls,  and  go  in  queenly  pomp 
through  two  cities." 

So  saying  he  hurried  forth  from  the  chamber  that 
he  loved,  and  sadly  accosts  Tydeus,  already  the 
partner  of  his  enterprise,  already  sharing  his  troubles 

/  421 


STATIUS 

aequantem  curas — taiitus  post  iiirgia  mentes  365 

vinxit  amor — socerumque  adfatur  tristis  Adrastum. 
fit  mora  consilio,  cum  multa  moventibus  una 
iam  potior  cunctis  sedit  sententia,  fratris 
pertemptare  fidem  tutosque  in  regna  precando 
explorare  aditus.     audax  ea  munera  Tydeus  370 

sponte  subit  :  nee  non  et  te,  fortissime  gentis 
Aetolum,  multum  lacrimis  conata  morari 
Deipyle,  sed  iussa  patris  tutique  regressus 
legato  iustaeque  pi'eces  vicere  sororis. 

lamque  emensus  iter  silvis  ac  litore  durum,         37.") 
qua  Lernaea  palus  ambustaque  sontibus  alte 
intepet  hydra  vadis,  et  qua  vix  carmine  raro 
longa  sonat  Nemee  nondum  pastoribus  ausis, 
qua  latus  Eoos  Ephyres  quod  vergit  ad  euros 
Sisyphiique  sedent  portus  irataque  terrae  380 

curva  Palaemonio  secluditur  unda  Lechaeo.^ 
hinc  praetervectus  Nisum  et  te,  mitis  Eleusin, 
laevus  abit,^  iamque  arva  gi'adu  Teumesia  et  arces 
intrat  Agenoreas  ;  ibi  durum  Eteoclea  cernit 
sublimem  solio  saeptumque  horrentibus  armis.        385 
iura  ferus  populo  trans  legem  ac  tempora  regni 
iam  fratris  de  parte  dabat  ;   sedet  omne  paratus 
in  facinus  queriturque  fidem  tam  sero  reposci. 

Constitit  in  mediis — ramus  manifestat  olivae 
legatum — causasque  viae  nomenque  rogatus  390 

^  Lechaeo  PDX :  liceo  w ;  cf.  Silv.  ii.  2.  35. 
^  abit  PB  :  habet  (i  over  e)  Q  :  habet  w. 

"  i.e.,  after  the  slaughter  of  the  Xemean  Hon. 

"  Lechaeum  was  the  port  of  Corinth   (EphjTe),   where 
Sisvphus    had    been    king.     For    the    reverse   journey    cf. 
i.  312  sq. 
422 


THEBAID,  II.  365-390 

witli  faithful  heart — so  strung  the  bund  uf  luve  that 
united  them  after  their  quarrel — and  Adrastus,  father 
of  his  spouse.  Long  time  do  they  hold  counsel, 
when  after  pondering  many  a  scheme  one  plan  at 
last  finds  preference  with  all,  to  make  trial  of  his 
brother's  constancy  and  seek  by  humble  request  a 
safe  return  to  the  realm.  Bold  Tydeus  volunteers  the 
mission  ;  yea,  and  thee  too,  bravest  of  the  Aetolian 
race,  would  Deipyle  fain  stay  by  many  a  tear,  but 
her  father's  command  and  the  assurance  of  an  envoy's 
safe  return  and  her  sister's  just  entreaties  make  her 
yield. 

And  now  he  had  accomplished  the  full  measure  of 
a  journey  made  rough  by  forests  and  seashore  : 
where  lay  the  marsh  of  Lerna  and  the  burnt  Hydra's 
heat  makes  warm  the  depths  of  those  unrighteous 
waters,  and  where  through  the  length  of  Nemea 
scarce  is  heard  the  scanty  song  of  the  yet  timid 
shepherds"  :  where  Ephyre's  eastern  side  slopes  to 
the  Avinds  of  Orient  and  the  Sisyphian  havens  lie, 
and  the  wave  that  vents  its  wrath  upon  the  land  lies 
in  the  cui-ved  retreat  of  Lechaeum  sacred  to  Palae- 
mon.*  Thence  passes  he  by  Nisus,  leaving  thee, 
kindly  Eleusis,  on  his  left  hand,  and  at  last  treads  the 
Teumesian  fields  and  enters  the  Agenorean  towers. 
There  he  beholds  the  cruel  Eteocles  high  upon  a 
throne  and  girt  round  with  bristling  spears.  The 
appointed  season  of  his  reign  already  past,  he  was 
holding  the  folk  under  savage  governance  in  his 
brother's  stead  ;  prepared  for  every  crime  he  sits, 
and  complains  of  so  late  a  claiming  of  his  promise. 

Standing  in  the  midst — the  branch  of  olive  pro- 
claims him  ambassador — when  asked  his  name  he 
declared  it  and  the  purpose  of  his  coming  ;  then,  rude 

423 


STATIUS 

edidit  ;  utqiie  vudis  fandi  pronusque  calori 
semper  erat,  iustis  miscens  tamen  aspera  coepit : 
"  si  tibi  plana  fides  et  dicti  cura  manei-et 
foederis,  ad  fratrem  complete  iustius  anno 
legatos  hinc  ire  fuit  teque  ordine  certo  395 

fortunam  exuere  et  laetum  descendere  regno, 
ut  vagus  ille  diu  passusque  baud  digna  per  urbes 
ignotas  pactae  tandem  succederet  aulae. 
sed  quia  dulcis  amor  regni  blandumque  potestas, 
posceris  :  astriferum  iam  velox  eirculus  orbem        400 
.    torsit  et  amissae  redierunt  montibus  umbrae, 
•>*^  ex  quo  frater  inops  ignota  per  oppida  tristes 
exsul  agit  casus  ;  et  te  iam  tempus  aperto 
sub  love  ferre  dies  terrenaque  frigora  membris 
ducere  et  externos  submissum  ambire  penates.      405 
pone  modum  laetis  ;  satis  ostro  dives  et  auro 
conspicuus  tenuem  germani  pauperis  annum 
risisti  ;  moneo,  regnorum  gaudia  temet 
dedoceas  patiensque  fugae  mereare  reverti." 

Dixerat.     ast  illi  tacito  sub  pectore  dudum         410 
ignea  corda  fremunt,  iacto  velut  aspera  saxo 
comminus  erigitur  serpens,  cui  subter  inanes 
longa  sitis  latebras  totumque  agitata  per  artus 
convocat  in  fauces  et  squamea  coUa  venenum  : 
"  cognita  si  dubiis  fratris  mihi  iurgia  signis  415 

ante  forent  nee  clara  odiorum  arcana  paterent, 
sufficeret  vel  sola  fides,  qua^  torvus  et^  ilium 
mente  gerens,^  ceu  saepta  novus  iam  moenia  laxet 

^  qua  Klotz  :  quam  Pw :  quod  Postgate. 

*  torvus  et  w :  servo  sed  P. 

*  gerens  Puj  :  geris  DN. 

"  i.e.,  the  shade  of  the  leaves  which  have  fallen  and  grown 
again. 
424. 


THEBAID,  II.  391-418 

of  speecli  as  ever  and  quick  to  anger,  and  with  mixture 
of  harsli  words,  altliough  his  plea  was  just,  he  thus 
began  :  "  Hadst  thou  simple  honesty  left  thee  and 
regard  for  a  sworn  bond,  'twere  more  right  that 
envoys  should  go  hence  to  thy  brother,  now  thy 
year  is  finished,  and  that  thou  in  due  course  shouldst 
put  off  thy  state  and  contentedly  leave  thy  throne, 
so  that  he,  after  long  wanderings  and  unseemly  hard- 
ships in  many  a  strange  city,  should  at  length  succeed 
to  the  promised  kingdom.  But  since  thy  darling 
passion  is  to  reign,  and  power  exerts  its  flattering 
charm,  we  summon  tliee  ;  already  hath  the  swift 
circle  brought  round  the  starry  globe,  and  the 
mountains  have  regained  the  shadows  that  they  lost," 
since  thy  brother  hath  suffered  the  unhappy  lot  of 
poverty  and  exile  in  unknown  cities  ;  now  is  it  time 
thou  too  didst  spend  thy  days  under  Jove's  open  sky, 
and  let  earth's  coldness  freeze  thy  limbs,  and  pay 
submissive  court  at  the  hearths  of  strangers.  Set  a 
term  to  thy  prosperity  ;  long  enough  in  rich  pomp 
of  gold  and  purple  hast  thou  mocked  at  thy  brother's 
year  of  mean  poverty  ;  I  warn  thee,  unlearn  of  thine 
own  will  the  joys  of  ruling,  and  in  patient  exile  merit 
thy  return." 

He  ended,  but  the  other's  fiery  heart  rages  beneath 
his  silent  breast,  as  when  a  serpent  angered  by  a 
flung  stone  darts  up  close  at  hand,  whose  limbs  long 
thirst  has  racked,  down  in  its  hollow  lair,  and  gathered 
all  the  venom  to  its  throat  and  scaly  neck.  "  Had 
they  been  doubtful  signs  that  forewarned  me  of  my 
brother's  quarrel,  did  not  his  secret  hate  shine  clear 
as  day  to  me,  that  bold  assurance  alone  would 
suffice,  whereby  you,  in  mind  his  very  pattern,  thus 
prelude  his  fury,  as  though  already  a  new  train  of 

425 


STATIUS 

fossoi*  et  liostiles  ininiicent  olassica  turmas, 
praefui'is.     in  medios  si  coniminus  orsa  tulisses       420 
Bistonas  aut  refuge  pallentes  sole  Gelonos, 
parcior  eloquio  et  niedii  reverentior  aequi 
inciperes.     neque  te  furibundae  crimine  mentis 
arguerim  :  mandata  refers,     nunc  omnia  quando 
plena  minis,  nee  sceptra  fide  nee  pace  sequestra    425 
poscitis,  et  propior  capulo  manus,  haec  mea  regi 
Argolico,  nondum  aequa  tuis,  vice  dicta  reporta  : 
quae  sors  iusta  mihi,  quae  non  indebitus  annis 
sceptra  dicavit  lionos,  teneo  longumque  tenebo. 
te  penes  Inachiae  dotalis  regia  dono  430 

coniugis,  et  Danaae — ^quid  enim  maioribus  actis^ 
invideam  ? — cumulentur  opes,  felicibus  Argos 
auspiciis  Lernamque  regas  ;  nos  horrida  Dirces 
pascua  et  Euboicis  artatas  fluctibus  oras, 
non  indignati  miserum  dixisse  parentem  435 

Oedipoden  :  tibi  larga — Pelops  et  Tantalus  auctor  ! — ■ 
nobilitas,  propiorque  fluat  de  sanguine  iuncto 
luppiter.     anne  fei-et  luxu  consueta  paterno 
hunc  regina  larem  ?  nostrae  cui  iure  sorores 
anxia  pensa  trahant,  longo  quam  sordida  luctu       440 
mater  et  ex  imis  auditus  forte  tenebris 
ofFendat  sacer  ille  senex  !  iam  pectora  volgi 
adsuevere  iugo  :  pudet  heu  !  plebisque  patrumque, 
ne  totiens  incerta  ferant  mutentque  gementes 

^  actis  Pcj  :  aulis  Madvig. 

"  The  Argive  house  was  more  directly   descended  from 
Jove  than  that  of  Oedipus. 

426 


THEBAID,  II.  419-444= 

sappers  were  breaching  our  fenced  walls,  and  the 
trumpets  were  kindling  the  hostile  bands  to  fierce- 
ness. Even  if  thuu  hadst  been  speaking  to  Bis- 
tonians  face-to-face  in  their  midst,  or  to  the  pale 
Geloni,  on  wlioni  the  sun  shines  not,  thou  wouldst 
have  been  more  sparing  of  thy  eloquence,  and  more 
observant  of  what  is  fair  and  just,  in  opening  thy 
cause.  Nor  would  I  accuse  thee  of  this  madness  : 
thou  speakest  but  at  command.  Now,  therefore, 
since  all  your  words  are  threats,  and  ye  demand  the 
sceptre  with  warrant  neither  of  trust  nor  peace,  and 
your  hands  are  ever  on  the  sword-hilt,  carry  back  in 
turn  this  message  of  mine,  far  short  of  thine  as  yet, 
t(j  the  Ai'golic  prince  :  The  fortune  that  is  my  right, 
the  sceptre  that  due  privilege  of  years  hath  assigned 
me,  I  hold,  and  Avill  hold  long.  Keep  thou  thy  royal 
dower,  the  gift  of  thy  Inachian  consort,  pile  up  thy 
Danaan  treasure — for  why  should  I  envy  thee  those 
nobler  deeds  ? — rule  Argos  and  Lerna  under  happy 
auspices  !  Be  it  mine  to  hold  the  rough  pastures  of 
Dirce,  and  the  shores  narrowed  by  the  Euboean 
waves,  nor  think  it  shame  to  call  unhappy  Oedipus 
my  sire  !  Let  ancestral  splendour  be  thy  boast — 
scion  of  Pelops  and  Tantalus  ! — and  by  a  nearer 
channel  of  descent  unite  Jove's  blood  with  thine." 
Will  thy  queen,  accustomed  to  her  father's  luxury, 
endure  this  simple  home  ?  rightly  would  my  sisters 
perform  their  anxious  tasks  for  her,  my  mother, 
unsightly  from  long  mourning,  and  that  accursed 
dotard,  heard  clamouring  pei'chance  from  his  dark 
seclusion,  would  give  her  oflTence  !  The  people's 
minds  are  already  accustomed  to  my  yoke  ;  I  am 
ashamed,  alas  !  for  the  folk  and  elders  alike,  lest 
they  should  suffer  so  oft  the  uncertainty  of  fortune 

427 


STATIUS 

imperia  et  dubio  pigeat  parere  tyranno.  445 

non  parcit  populis  regnum  breve  ;  respice,  quantus 
horror  et  attoniti  nostro  in  discrimine  cives  ! 
hosne  ego,  quis  certa  est  sub  te  duce  poena,  relin- 

quam  ? 
iratus,  germane,  venis.     fac  velle  :  nee  ipsi, 
si  modo  notus  amor  meritique  est  gratia,  patres     450 
reddere  regna  sinent."     non  ultra  passus  et  orsa 
iniecit  mediis  sermonibus  obvia  :  "  reddes," 
ingeminat,  "  reddes  ;  non  si  te  ferreus  agger 
ambiat  aut  triplices  alio  tibi  carmine  muros 
Amphion  auditus  agat,  nil  tela  nee  ignes  455 

obstiterint,  quin  ausa  luas  nostrisque  sub  armis 
captivo  moribundus  humum  diademate  pulses, 
tu  merito  ;  ast  horum  miseret,  quos  sanguine  viles 
coniugibus  natisque  infanda  ad  proelia  raptos 
proicis  excidio,  bone  rex.     o  quanta  Cithaeron       460 
funera  sanguineusque  vadis,  Ismene,  rotabis  ! 
haec  pietas,  haec  magna  fides  !  nee  crimina  gentis 
mira  equidem  duco  :  sic  primus  sanguinis  auctor 
incestique  patrum  thalami  ;  sed  fallit  origo  : 
Oedipodis^  tu  solus  eras,^  haec  praemia  morum       465 
ac  sceleris,  violente,  feres  !  nos  poscimus  annum  ; 
sed  moror."     haec  audax  etiamnum  in  limine  retro^ 
vociferans  iam  tunc  impulsa  per  agmina  praeceps 
evolat.     Oeneae  vindex  sic  ille  Dianae 
erectus  saetis  et  aduncae  fulmine  malae,  470 

^  Oedipodis  Jortin  :  Oedipodes  Poj. 
^  eras  P  :  eris  Deipser.  '  retro  w  :  regis  P. 

"  The  Calydonian  boar,  who  avenged  the  neglected  wor- 
ship of  Diana. 

428 


THEBAID,   II.  445-470 

and  the  distressful  change  of  rulers,  and  unwillingly 
obey  a  doubtful  throne.  Unsparing  to  a  people  is  a 
short  reign  ;  turn  and  behold  the  dismay  and  horror 
of  my  citizens  at  my  danger  !  Shall  I  abandon  these, 
whom  under  thy  sway  sure  punishment  awaits  ? 
'Tis  in  anger,  O  kinsman,  that  thou  comest.  Or 
suppose  me  willing  :  the  fathers  themselves  will  not 
suffer  me  to  render  up  the  crown,  if  I  but  know 
their  love  and  there  is  gratitude  for  all  my  bounty." 
No  more  endured  he,  but  even  in  mid-speech  flung 
at  him  this  retort  :  "  Thou  shalt  restore,"  he  cries, 
and  again,  "  Thou  shalt  restore  !  Nay,  should  an 
iron  rampart  fence  thee,  or  Amphion  with  the  strains 
of  another  song  draw  about  thee  a  triple  wall,  in  no 
wise  shall  fire  or  sword  defend  thee  from  paying  for 
tliy  bold  deed,  and,  ere  thou  die,  beating  thj'  captive 
diadem  on  the  ground  beneath  our  arms.  Such  a 
fate  wilt  thou  deserve  ;  those  do  I  pity,  whose  cheap 
lives  thou  dost  seize  and  hurl  to  death  in  horrid 
butchery,  worthy  king,  and  their  wives  and  babes 
withal.  What  carnage  shalt  thou  see,  Cithaeron, 
and  thou,  Ismenus,  roll  down  upon  thy  blood-stained 
waters  !  This  then  is  loyalty,  and  this  thy  trusted 
word  !  Nor  marvel  I  at  the  crimes  of  your  race  ; 
such  was  the  first  author  of  your  blood,  such  your 
incestuous  sires  ;  but  there  is  a  flaw  in  your  parent- 
age, thou  only  art  the  son  of  Oedipus,  and  this,  O 
man  of  violence,  shall  be  the  reward  of  thy  sin  and 
crime  !  We  claim  our  year  !  But  I  waste  words —  " 
Boldly  thus  he  shouted  back  while  still  in  the  door- 
way, then  dashed  out  headlong  through  their  dis- 
ordered ranks.  Even  so  the  famous  champion  of 
Oenean  Diana,"  with  bristles  stiff  and  lightning  stroke 
of  tusked  jaw,  liard  pressed  though  lie  be  by  the 

429 


STATIUS 

cum  premeret  Pelopea  phalanx,  saxa  obvia  volvens 
fractaque  perfossis  arbusta  Acheloia  ripis, 
iam  Telamona  solo,  iam  stratum  Ixiona  linquens 
te,  Meleagre,  subit  :  ibi^  demum  cuspide  lata 
haesit  et  obnixo  ferrum  laxavit^  in  armo.  475 

talis  adhuc  trepidum  linquit  Calydonius  heros 
concilium  infrendens,  ipsi  ceu  regna  negentur, 
festinatque  vias  ramumque  precantis  olivae 
abicit.     attonitae  tectorum  e  limine  summo 
aspectant  matres,  saevoque  infanda  precantui*        480 
Oenidae  tacitoque  simul  sub  pectore  regi. 

Nee  piger  ingenio  scelerum  fraudisque  nefandae 
rector  eget.     iuvenum  fidos,  lectissima  bello 
corpora,  nunc  pretio,  nunc  ille  hortantibus  ardens 
sollicitat  dictis,  nocturnaque  proelia  saevus  485 

instruit,  et  sanctum  populis  per  saecula  nomen 
legatum  insidiis  tacitoque  invadere  ferro — 
quid  regnis  non  vile  ? — cupit.    quas  quaereret  artes, 
si  fratrem,  Fortuna,  dares  !  o  caeca  nocentum 
consilia  !  o  semper  timidum  scelus  !  exit  in  unum  490 
plebs  ferro  iurata  caput  ;  ceu  castra  subire 
apparet  aut  celsum  crebri  arietis  ictibus^  urbis 
inclinare  latus  :  densi  sic  agmine  facto 
quinquaginta  altis  funduntur  in  ordine  portis. 
macte  animi,  tantis  dignus  qui  crederis  armisjy      495 

Fert  via  per  dumos  propior,  qua  calle  latenti 
praecelerant  densaeque  legunt  compendia  silvae. 

^  ibi  oj :  tibi  P.  -  laxavit  P  :  lassavit  Madvig. 

*  crebri  arietis  ictibus  Unger  :  crebris  arietibus  Pw. 
430 


THEBAID,  II.  47l-i07 

Argive  band,  that  rolls  down  stones  upon  him  and 
boughs  of  trees  uprooted  from  Achelous'  banks, 
yet  leaves  now  Telamon,  now  Ixion  prostrate  on  the 
ground,  and  attacks  thee,  Meleager  ;  there  at  last 
was  he  stayed  upon  the  spear-thrust,  and  relaxed  the 
weapon's  force  in  his  fierce-struggling  shoulder. 
Such  was  the  Calydonian  hero,  as  he  left  the  yet 
timorous  council,  wdth  savage  threats,  as  though 
'twere  he  who  was  denied  the  kingdom  ;  he  hastes 
away,  hurling  from  him  the  branch  of  ohve.  The 
mothers  in  amazement  watch  him  from  their 
thresholds'  edge,  and  utter  curses  on  the  fierce  son 
of  Oeneus,  and  withal  in  their  secret  hearts  upon 
the  king. 

But  the  monarch  is  not  slothful,  nor  lacks  cunning 
resource  of  crime  and  fraud  unspeakable.  A  faithful 
company  of  chosen  warriors  he  urges  now  by  bribes, 
now  by  ardour  of  persuasive  words,  and  fiercely  plots 
a  nocturnal  affray,  and  would  fain  attack  the  ambas- 
sador— a  name  reverenced  by  peoples  through  the 
ages — by  treachery  and  the  silent-lurking  sword. 
What  is  there  that  kings  hold  not  vile  .''  What 
cunning  would  he  devise,  were  it  his  brother  thou 
didst  place  in  his  power,  O  Fortune  !  O  blind  and 
guilty  counsels  !  O  ever  timorous  crime  !  A  sworn 
band  of  soldiery  go  out  against  one  single  life,  as 
though  they  made  ready  to  storm  a  camp  or  level  a 
city's  lofty  side  Avith  the  ram's  battering  blows  ; 
fifty  thus  form  close  array,  and  march  in  order  through 
the  tall  gates.  Heaven  favour  now  thy  courage,  w^ho 
art  deemed  worthy  of  so  numerous  a  foe  ! 

A  nearer  road  leads  them  through  copses,  where 
by  a  hidden  path  they  make  the  better  speed  and 
travel  by  a  cut  through  the  dense  woods.     It  was  a 

431 


ST  ATI  us 

lecta  dolis  sedes  :  gemini  procul  urbe  nialignis 
faucibus  urgentur  colles,  quos  umbra  superni^ 
montis  et  incurvis  claudunt  iuga  frondea  silvis —    500 
insidias  natura  loco  caecamque  latendi 
struxit  opem — mediasque  arte  secat  aspera  rupes 
semita,  quam  subter  campi  devexaque  latis 
arva  iacent  spatiis.     contra  importuna  crepido, 
Oedipodioniae  domus  alitis  ;  hie  fera  quondam       505 
pallentes  erecta  genas  sufFusaque  tabo 
lumina,  concretis  infando  sanguine  plumis 
relliquias  amplexa  virum  semesaque  nudis  ^c«-<^^^-m; 
pectoribus  stetit  ossa  premens  visuque  tremendo^ 
conlustrat  campos,  si  quis  concurrere  dictis  510 

hospes  inexplicitis  aut  comminus  ire  viator 
audeat  et  dirae  commercia  iungere  linguae  ; 
nee  mora,  quin  acuens  exsertos  protinus  ungues 
liventesque  manus  strictosque^  in  vulnera*  dentes 
terribili  adplai^u  circum  hospita  surgeret  ora  ;       515 
et  latuere  doli,  donee  de  rupe  cruenta 
heu  !  simili  deprensa  viro,  eessantibus  alis, 
tristis  inexpletam  scopulis  adfligeret  alvum. 
monstrat  silva  nefas  :  horrent  \acina  iuvenci 
gramina,damnatis  avidum  pecus  abstinet  herbis  ;  520 
nonDryadum  placet  umbra  choris,non  commodasacris 
Faunorum,  diraeque  etiam  fugere  volucres 
prodigiale  nemus.     tacitis  hue  gressibus  acti 

^  quos  superni  Pw  :  quas  superne  Mueller :  quos  superne 
Garrod. 

"  tremendo  Mueller  :  frementi  P :  trementi  w. 

*  strictosque  Housman  :  fractosque  Pw. 

*  in  vulnera  PN :  in  vulnere  w. 

"  The  scene  of  the  ambush  is  modelled  on  ^'irg.  Aen. 
xi.  522  sq.,  but  Statins  has  made  it  obscure  and  difficult : 
"colles  urgentur  faucibus  "  seems  to  be  merely  an  inversion 
432 


THEBAID,   II.  498-523 

clioice  spot  for  a  stratagem  :  "  at  a  distance  from  the 
city  two  hills  bear  close  upon  each  other  with  a 
grudging  gulf  between  ;  the  shadow  of  a  mountain 
above  and  leafy  ridges  of  curving  woodland  shut 
them  in.  Nature  has  implanted  treachery  in  the 
place,  and  the  means  of  hidden  ambush.  Through 
the  middle  of  the  rocks  threads  a  rough  and  narrow 
track,  below  which  lies  a  plain  and  a  broad  expanse 
of  sloping  fields.  Over  against  it  a  threatening  cliff 
rises  high,  the  home  of  the  winged  monster  of 
Oedipus  **  ;  here  aforetime  she  stood,  fierce  uplifting 
her  pallid  cheeks,  her  eyes  tainted  with  corruption  and 
lier  plumes  all  clotted  with  hideous  gore  ;  grasping 
human  remains  and  clutching  to  her  breast  half- 
eaten  bones  she  scanned  the  plains  with  awful  gaze, 
should  any  stranger  dare  to  join  in  the  strife  of 
riddling  words,  or  any  traveller  confront  her  and 
parley  with  her  terrible  tongue  ;  then,  without  more 
ado,  sharpening  forthwith  the  unsheathed  talons  of 
her  livid  hands  and  her  teeth  bared  for  wounding, 
she  rose  with  dreadful  beating  of  wings  around  the 
faces  of  the  strangers  ;  nor  did  any  guess  her  riddle, 
till  caught  by  a  hero  that  proved  her  match,  with 
failing  wings — ah  !  horror  ! — from  the  bloody  cliff 
she  dashed  her  insatiate  paunch  in  despair  upon  the 
rocks  beneath.  The  wood  gives  reminder  of  the  dread 
story :  the  cattle  abhor  theneighbouring  pastures,  and 
the  flock,  though  greedy,  will  not  touch  the  fateful 
herbage  ;  no  Di-yad  choirs  take  delight  in  the  shade, 
it  ill  beseems  the  sacred  rites  of  the  Fauns,  even  birds 
obscene  fly  far  from  the  abomination  of  the  grove. 
Speeding  hither  with  silent  steps  comes  the  doomed 

of  "fauces  urgentur  collibus."  The  "gemiiii  colles  "  recur 
in  vi.  257.  ''  The  Sphinx. 

VOL.  I  2  K  433 


ST  ATI  us 

deveniunt  }3eritura  cohors,  hostemque  superbuni 
adnixi  iaculis  et  humi  posita  arma  tenentes  525 

exspectant  densaque  nemus  statione  coronaiit.; 

Coeperat  umenti  Phoebuni  subtexere  palla 
Nox  et  caeruleam  terris  infuderat  umbram. 
ille  propinquabat  sihas  et  ab  aggere  celso 
scuta  virum  galeasque  \idet  rutilai-e  eomantis,       530 
qua  laxant  rami  nemus  adversaque  sub  umbra 
flammeus  aeratis  lunae  tremor  errat  in  armis. 
obstipuit  visis,  ibat  tamen  ;  horrida  tantum 
spicula  et  inclusum  capulo  tenus  admovet  ensem, 
ac  prior  "  unde,  \iri,  quidve  occultatis  in  armis  ?  "  535 
non  humili  terrore  rogat.     nee  reddita^  contra 
vox,  fidamque  negant  suspecta  silentia  pacem. 
ecce  autem  vasto  Chtlionii  contorta  lacerto, 
quo  duce  freta  cohors,  fuscas  intervolat  auras 
hasta  ;  sed  audenti  deus  et  fortuna  recessit.  540 

per  tamen  Olenii  tegimen  suis  atraque  saetis 
terga  super  laevos  umeros  vicina  cruori 
effugit  et  viduo  iugulum  ferit  inrita  ligno. 
tunc  horrere  comae  sanguisque  in  corda  gelari. 
hue  ferus  atque  illuc  animum  pallentiaque  ira         545 
ora  ferens — nee  tanta  putat  sibi  bella  parari —  : 
"  ferte  gradum  contra  campoque  erumpite  aperto  ! 
quis  timor  audendi,  quae  tanta  ignavia  ?  solus, 
solus  in  arma  voco."     neque  in  his  mora  ;    quos  ubi 

plures, 
quam  ratus,  innumeris  videt  excursare  latebris,      550 
hos  prodire^  iugis,  illos  e  vallibus  imis 
crescere,  nee  paucos  campo,  totumque  sub  armis 
eonlucere  iter,  ut  clausas  indagine  profert 
in  medium  vox  prima  feras,  quae  sola  medendi 

1  reddita  w  :  credita  P. 
^  prodire  «:  deire  P  ;  cf.  vi.  519. 
434- 


THEBAID,  II.  524-554 

band  ;  leaning  on  their  spears  and  with  grounded 
arms  held  ready,  they  await  their  haughty  foe,  and 
set  strong  guard  around  the  wood. 

Night  had  begun  to  shroud  the  sunlight  in  her 
dewy  pall,  and  had  cast  over  the  earth  her  dark 
shadow.  The  hero  drew  nigh  the  woods,  and  from 
a  lofty  mound  sees  the  red  gleam  of  warriors'  shields 
and  plumed  helmets,  where  the  forest  boughs  leave 
an  open  space,  and  through  the  opposing  shade  the 
flickering  moonlight  plays  upon  the  brazen  armour. 
Appalled  at  the  sight  he  yet  went  onward ;  he  but 
draws  to  him  his  spiky  darts,  and  the  sword  sheathed 
to  the  hilt.  Then  first  he  makes  question,  in  no 
base  terror  :  "  Whence  are  ye,  men,  what  mean  ye 
lurking  thus  armed  ?  "  No  voice  made  answer,  the 
suspicious  silence  holds  no  sure  pledge  of  peace.  Lo  ! 
a  spear,  hurled  by  the  miglity  arm  of  Chthonius,  the 
leader  of  the  band,  flies  through  the  dusky  air  ;  but 
heaven  and  fortune  lent  no  aid  to  his  venture.  Yet 
through  the  covering  of  Olenian  boar  and  the  black 
bristly  hide  it  sped,  over  his  shoulder,  near  drawing 
l)lood,  and  widowed  of  its  point  strikes  harmless  on 
his  throat.  With  hair  erect  and  blood  frozen  about 
liis  heart  he  looks  this  way  and  that,  fiercely  alert 
and  pale  with  rage,  nor  deems  so  large  a  troop  to  be 
equipped  against  him  :  "  Come  forth  against  me  !  out 
with  you  into  the  open  !  why  such  timorous  daring, 
such  arrant  cowardice?  alone  I  challenge  you, alone  !  " 
Nor  waited  they  ;  but  when  he  saw  them,  more 
than  he  thought,  swarming  up  from  countless  lurking 
places,  some  issuing  from  the  ridges,  others  in  ever- 
growing numbers  coming  from  the  valley-depths,  nor 
few  upon  the  plain,  as  when  the  first  cry  drives  the 
encircled  quarry  into  the  open,  and  the  road  all  lit 

485 


ST  ATI  us 

turbata  ratione  via  est,  petit  ardua  dirae  555 

Sphinges  et  abscisis  infringens  cautibus  uncas 
exsuperat  iuga  dira  manus,  scopuloque  potitus, 
unde  procul  tergo  metiis  et  via  prona  noeendi, 
saxum  ingens,  quod  vix  plena  cervice  gementes 
vertere  humo  valeant  niurisque^  inferre  iuvenci,    560 
rupibus  evellit  ;  dein  toto  sanguine  nixus 
sustinet,  imnianem  quaerens  librare  ruinam, 
qualis  in  adversos  Lapithas  erexit  inanem 
magnanimus  cratera  Pholus.     stupet  obvia  leto 
turba  superstantem  atque  emissi  turbine  mentis    565 
obruitur  ;  simul  ora  viruni,  siniul  arnia  nianusque 
fractaque  conimixto  sederunt  pectora  ferro. 
quattuor  hie  adeo  disiecti  mole  sub  una 
congemuere,  fuga  tremefactum  protinus  agmen 
excutitur  coeptis.  neque  enim  temnenda  iacebant  570 
funera  :  fulmineus  Dorylas,  quern  regibus  ardens 
aequabat  virtus,  Martisque  e  semine  Theron 
terrigenas  confisus  avos,  nee  vertere  cuiquam 
frena  seeundus  Halys,  sed  tunc  pedes  occubat  arvis, 
Pentheumque  trahens  nondum  te  Phaedimus  aequo, 
Bacche,  genus,     quorum  ut  subitis  exterrita  fatis  576 
agmina  turbatam  vidit  laxare  catervam, 
quae  duo  sola  manu  gestans  adclinia  monti 
fixerat,  intorquet  iacula  et  fugientibus  addit. 
mox  in  plana  libens,  nudo  ne  in  pectore  tela  580 

inciderent,  saltu  praeceps  defertur  et  orbem, 
quem  procul  oppresso  vidit  Therone  volutum, 
corripuit,  tergoque  et  vertice  tegmina  nota 

^  valeant  murisque  Kooten  :    murisque  valent  Pw. 


"  As  he  had  been  Pentheus'  foe,  when  the  latter  tried  to 
suppress  the  Bacchanals. 
436 


THEBAID,  II.  555-583 

by  gleams  of  armour,  he  makes  for  the  heights  of 
the  dire  Sphinx — the  only  path  of  safety  in  his 
bewilderment — and  tearing  his  nails  upon  the  slieer 
cliff  he  scales  the  dreadful  steep  and  gains  mastery 
of  the  rock,  where  he  has  security  behind  and 
a  clear  downward  range  of  harm.  Then  he  tears 
away  from  the  rocks  a  huge  boulder,  that  groaning 
bullocks  scarce  with  full  strength  could  move  from 
the  ground  and  drag  up  to  the  wall  ;  then  heaving 
with  all  his  force  he  raises  and  strives  to  poise  the 
deadly  mass  :  even  as  great-hearted  Pholus  lifted 
the  empty  mixing-bowl  against  his  Lapith  foes. 
Right  in  death's  path,  aghast  they  view  him  high 
aloft  ;  the  mountain  falls  hurtling,  and  whelms  them  ; 
at  once  human  limbs  and  faces,  weapons  and  armour 
lie  in  mingled  ruin.  Four  men  in  all  groan  mangled 
beneath  that  one  rock  ;  straightway  the  host  flees 
panic-stricken,  dashed  from  their  enterprise.  For  no 
cowards  were  they  who  lay  there  dead  :  Dorylas  of 
the  lightning  stroke,  in  glowing  valour  a  match  for 
princes,  and  Theron  of  the  seed  of  Mars,  proudly 
confident  in  earth-born  ancestors,  Halys,  second  to 
none  in  swaying  at  will  his  reined  steed,  but  fallen 
on  those  fields  in  dismounted  fight,  and  Phaedimus, 
who  drew  his  birth  from  Pentheus,  and  found  thee, 
Bacchus,  still  his  foe."  But  when  he  saw  the  band 
in  terror  and  disordered  rout  from  the  sudden  fate 
of  these,  he  hurls  two  javelins — these  alone  did  he 
carry,  and  had  leant  them  against  the  mountain — • 
and  sends  them  after  the  fugitives.  Soon,  lest  darts 
should  fall  on  his  exposed  breast,  of  his  ow'n  will  he 
leapt  down  swiftly  to  the  level  plain,  and  seized  the 
shield  which  he  saw  had  rolled  away  when  Theron 
was  crushed  down,  and  with  his  wonted  covering  of 

4.S7 


STATIUS 

saeptus  et  hostili  propugnans  pectora  parma 
constitit.    inde  iterum  densi  glomerantur  in  uiium  585 
Ogygidae  firmantque  gradum  ;  trahit  ocius  ensem 
Bistonium  Tydeus,  Mavortia  munera  niagni 
Oeneos,  et  partes  pariter  divisus  in  omnes 
hos  obit  atque  illos  ferroque  micantia  tela 
decutit  ;  impeditant  numero  seque  ipsa  vicissim  .  590 
arma  premunt,  nee  vis  conatibiis  ulla,  sed  ipsae 
in  soeios  errare  manus  et  corpora  turba 
involvi  prolapsa  sua  ;  manet  ille  ruentes 
angustus  telis  et  inexpugnabilis  obstat. 
non  aliter — Geticae  si  fas  est  credere  Phlegrae —    595 
armatum  immensus  Briareus  stetit  aethera  contra, 
hinc  Phoebi  pharetras,  hinc  torvae  Pallados  anguis, 
inde  Pelethroniam  praefixa  cuspide  pinum 
Martis,  at  hinc  lasso  mutata^  Pyracmone  temnens 
fulmina,  cum  toto  nequiquam  obsessus  Olympo      600 
tot  queritur  cessare  manus  :  non  segnior  ardet 
hue  illuc  clipeum  obiectans,  seque  ipse  recedens 
circuit,  interdum  trepidis  occurrit  et  instat 
spicula  devellens,  clipeo  quae  plurima  toto 
fixa  tremunt  armantque  virum  saepe  aspera  passum 
volnera,  sed  nullum  vitae  in  secreta  receptum        606 
nee  mortem  sperare  valet. ^     rotat  ipse  furentem 
Deilochum,  coniitemque  illi  iubet  ire  sub  umbras 
Phegea  sublata  minitantem  bella  securi 
Dircaeumque  Gyan  et  Echionium  Lycophontem.  610 

^  mutata  Pw  :  niotata  Laclimann. 
^  valet  Pw  :  valens,  iubet,  vacat  edd. 

438 


THEBAID,  II.  58^-610 

hack  and  head,  and  breast  defended  by  his  enemy's 
shield  he  stood  his  ground.  Then  gathering  again 
into  one  dense  body  the  Ogygians  advance  ;  instantly 
Tydeus  draws  his  Bistonian  blade,  great  Oeneus' 
warlike  gift,  and  attacking  every  quarter  alike  con- 
fronts now  these,  now  those,  and  with  his  sword 
strikes  down  their  glittering  weapons  ;  their  numbers 
hinder  them,  and  their  arms  impede  each  other  ;  no 
strength  is  in  their  efforts,  but  their  blows  go  astray 
on  their  own  fellows,  and  falling  they  are  entangled 
in  their  own  disorder.  He  awaits  their  onset,  a 
narrow  mark  for  javelins,  and  resists  them,  firm  and 
unshakable.  Not  otherwise — if  Getic  Phlegra  be 
worthy  credence  "■ — stood  Briareus  vast  in  bulk 
against  embattled  heaven,  contemning  on  this  hand 
Phoebus'  quiver,  on  that  the  serpents  of  stern  Pallas, 
here  Mars'  Pelethronian  pinewood  shaft,  with  point 
of  iron,  and  yonder  the  thunderbolts  oft  changed 
for  new  by  weary  Pyracmon,  and  yet  complaining, 
though  combated  in  vain  by  all  Olympus,  that  so 
many  hands  were  idle  ;  no  fainter  was  he  in  ardour, 
with  shield  outheld  now  this  way,  now  that,  himself 
retiring,  doubling  round,  and  ever  and  anon  darting 
on  their  irresolute  lines  and  pressing  his  vantage, 
while  he  pulls  forth  the  many  javelins  that  are  stuck 
quivering  all  about  his  shield,  an  armoury  for  the 
hero  ;  and  many  a  bitter  wound  he  suffers,  yet  none 
gains  entrance  to  life's  secret  courses,  nor  may  hope 
to  be  deadly.  A  whirling  stroke  deals  he  at  raging 
Deilochus,  and  bids  Phegeus,  who  threatens  attack 
with  axe  upraised,  go  join  him  beneath  the  shades, 
Dircean   Gyas   too   and   Lycophontes   of  Echionian 

"  Phlegra  in  Thrace  where  the  gods  fought  the  giants. 

439 


STATIUS 

iam  trepidi  sese  quaerunt  numerantque,  nee  idem 

caedis  amor,  tantamque  dolent  rarescere  turbam. 

Ecce  Chromis  Tyrii  demissus  origine  Cadmi — 

liunc  utero  quondam  Dryope  Phoenissa  gravato 

rapta  repente  choris  onerisque  oblita  ferebat,  615 

dumque  trahit  prensis  taurum  tibi  cornibus,  Euhan, 

procidit  impulsus  nimiis  conatibus  infans — • 

tunc  audax  iaeulis  et  capti  pelle  leonis 

pinea  nodosae  quassabat  robora  clavae 

increpitans  :  "  unusne,  viri,  tot  caedibus  unus        620 

ibit  ovans  Argos  ?  vix  credet  fama  reverse  ! 

heus  socii,  nullaene  manus,  nulla  arma  valebunt  ? 

haec  regi  promissa,  Cydon,  haec,  Lampe,  dabamus  ?  " 

dum  clamat,  subit  ore  cavo  Teumesia  cornus, 

nee  prohibent  fauces  ;  atque  illi  voce  repleta  625 

intercepta  natat  prorupto  in  sanguine  lingua. 

stabat  adhuc,  donee  transmissa  morte  per  artus 

labitur  immorsaque  cadens  obmutuit  hasta. 

vos  quoque,  Thespiadae,  cur  infitiatus  honora 

arcuerim^  fama  ?  fratris  moribunda  levabat  630 

membra  solo  Periphas — nil  indole  clarius  ilia 

nee  pietate  fuit — ,  laeva  marcentia  colla 

sustentans  dextraque  latus  ;  singultibus  artum 

exhaurit  thoraca  dolor,  nee  vincla  coercent 

undantem  fletu  galeam,  cum  multa  gementi  635 

pone  gravis  curvas  perfringit  lancea  costas. 

1  arcuerim  K :  argiierim  Pu. 

"  i.e.,  Bacchus. 
**  Teumesus  was  a  mountain  near  Thebes. 

440 


THEBAID,  II.  611-636 

stock.  And  now,  losing  heai't,  they  seek  each  other 
and  count  tlieir  numbers,  nor  feel  the  same  zest  for 
blood,  but  grieve  that  so  large  a  band  is  growing  few. 

Lo  !  Chromis,  of  Tyrian  Cadmus'  seed  —  him 
once  Phoenician  Dryope  was  carrying  in  her  weighted 
womb,  when  revelling  bands  swept  her  along  forget- 
ful of  her  burden,  and  while  she  was  dragging  a 
bull  unto  thee,  O  Euhan,"  grasping  its  horns,  the 
babe  fell  forth  by  stress  of  undue  striving — Chromis 
at  that  time,  in  bold  confidence  of  spears  and  hide 
of  captured  lion,  brandished  a  stout  club  of  knotted 
pinewood,  and  taunting  cried  :  "Is  one  man,  ye 
warriors,  one  man  to  go  to  Argos,  boasting  of  so 
many  slain  ?  Scarce  will  he  gain  credence  on  his 
return  !  Come,  friends,  are  there  none  strong  in  arm 
or  weapon  any  more  ?  was  this  our  promise  to  the 
king,  O  Cydon  ?  was  it  this,  O  Lampus  ?  "  While 
yet  he  shouts,  the  Teumesian  *  cornel-shaft  enters 
liis  open  mouth,  nor  does  his  throat  stay  it  ;  his  voice 
is  choked,  and  the  sundered  tongue  floats  in  the 
rush  of  blood.  Awhile  he  stood,  till  death  poured 
through  his  limbs,  and  he  fell,  and  falling  was  silent, 
while  his  teeth  bit  upon  the  spear. 

You  too,  O  Thespians,  why  should  I  deny  you  and 
withhold  from  honourable  renown  }  Periphas — none 
of  brighter  parts  than  he,  or  truer  devotion — was 
raising  from  the  ground  his  brother's  dying  frame, 
his  left  hand  supporting  the  languid  neck,  and  his 
right  arm  about  his  side  ;  his  breast  beneath  the 
cuirass  is  drained  by  choking  sobs  of  grief,  nor  can 
the  fastenings  restrain  the  welling  tears  that  flow 
from  his  helm,  when  amid  his  deep  groans  a  heavy 
spear    shatters    his    curved    ribs    from   behind    him, 

441 


STATIUS 

exit  et  in  fratrem,  cognataque  pectora  telo^ 

consent  ;  ille  oculos  etiamnum^  in  luce  natantes 

sistit  et  aspecta  germani  morte  resolvit. 

at  cui  v'ita  recens  et  adhuc  in  vulnere  vires  G40 

"  hos  tibi  complexus,  haec  dent  "  ait  "  oscula  nati." 

procubuere  pai-es  fatis,  miserabile  votum 

mortis,  et  alterna  clauserunt  luniina  dextra. 

Protinus  idem  iiltro  iaculo  parmaque  Menoeten 
proterrebat  agens  trepidis  vestigia  retro  645 

passibus  urgentem,  donee  defecit  iniqua 
lapsus  humo,  pariterque  manus  distractus  in  ambas 
orat  et  a  iugulo  nitentem  sustinet  hastam  : 
"  parce  per  has  stellis  intcrlabentibus  umbras, 
per  superos  noctemque  tuam  ;  sine,  ti'istia  Thebis  650 
nuntius  acta  feram  vulgique  per  ora  paventis 
contempto  te  rege  canam  :  sic  inrita  nobis 
tela  cadant,  nullique  tuum  penetrabile  ferro 
pectus,  et  optanti  victor  reveharis  amico," 
dixerat.     ille  nihil  vultu  mutatus  "  inanes  655 

perdis  "  ait  "  lacrimas,  et  tu,  ni  fallor,  iniquo 
^^  pollicitus  mea  colla  duci  :  nunc  arma  diemque 
proice  ;  quid  timidae  sequeris  compendia  vitae  ? 
bella  manent."  simul  haec,  et  crassum  sanguine  telum 
iam  redit  ;   ille  super  dictis  infensus  amaris  660 

prosequitur  victos  :  "  non  haec  trieterica  vobis 
nox  patrio  de  more  venit,  non  orgia  Cadmi 
cernitis  aut  avidas  Bacchum  scelerare  parentes. 
nebridas  et  fragiles  thyrsos  portare  putastis 

^  telo  Po) :  ferro  Schol.  iii.  152  :  leto  Nattke. 
^  etianinuni  w  :    et  adhuc  P :  temii  iam  Garrod,  tclto  cj). 
Sil.  It.  ii.  132. 

"  Perhaps  Tydeus  should  be  regarded  as  the  subject  of 
"conserit." 

*  i.e.,  in  war  there  is  no  use  for  the  craven. 
442 


THEBAID,  II.  637-664 

Issuing  from  him  it  pierces  his  brother  also,  and 
with  one  weapon  unites  the  kindred  breasts."  The 
other  steadies  his  swimming  eyes,  where  light  still 
lingered,  but  beholding  his  kinsman  done  to  death 
closes  them  in  darkness.  But  he,  to  whom  life  re- 
mains and  strength  as  yet  despite  his  wound,  cries  : 
"  Such  an  embrace,  such  kisses  may  thy  sons  give 
thee  !  "  So  fell  they,  alike  in  doom,  their  vow  per- 
forn^ed  alas  !  in  death,  and  their  eyes  closed  each 
by  the  other's  hand. 

But  Tydeus,  straightway  attacking,  drove  Menoetes 
with  shield  and  spear  before  him  terrified,  in  hurried 
backward  retreat,  till  stumbling  on  the  uneven  ground 
lie  lost  his  footing  ;  then  prays  he  with  both  hands 
spread  wide  in  supplication,  and  pushes  away  the 
spear  that  presses  at  his  throat  :  "  Spare  me,  I 
beseech  thee  by  these  star-inwoven  shades,  by  the 
gods  above,  and  by  this  night  that  favours  thee  : 
suffer  me  to  bear  to  Thebes  the  sad  tidings  of  thy 
deeds,  and  in  our  king's  despite  laud  thee  before  our 
trembling  folk  ;  so  may  our  darts  fall  fruitless  and 
no  steel  pierce  thy  breast,  and  thou  return  triumphant 
to  thy  friend's  desire  !  "  He  finished,  but  the  other 
with  countenance  unchanged  :  "  Vain  tears  thou 
wastest,  and  thou,  if  I  mistake  not,  didst  promise 
my  head  to  the  cruel  prince.  Surrender  now  thy 
arms  and  the  light  of  day  !  Why  seek  the  gaining  of 
thy  craven  life  ?  'Tis  wars  are  waiting."  ^  While  yet 
he  speaks,  the  spear-point  returns  thick-clotted  with 
blood.  Thereupon  with  bitter  words  he  pursues  the 
vanquished  :  "  No  triennial  night  or  solemn  festival 
are  ye  keeping  now  !  no  orgies  of  Cadmus  do  ye 
behold,  no  mothers  eager  to  profane  Bacchus  !  Did 
ye    think   ye    were    carrying   fawnskins   and    brittle 

443 


STATICS 

imbellem  ad  sonitum  maribusque  incognita  veris   665 
foeda  Celaenaea  committere  proelia  buxo  ? 
hie  aliae  caedes,  alius  furor  :  ite  sub  umbras, 
o  timidi  paucique  !  "  haec  intonat  ;  ast  tamen  illi 
membra  negant,  lassusque  ferit  praecordia  sanguis, 
iam  sublata  manus  cassos  defertur  in  ictus,  C70 

tardatique  gradus,  clipeum  nee  sustinet  umbo 
mutatum^  spoliis,^  gelidus  cadit  imber  anhelo 
pectore,  tum  crines  ardentiaque  ora  cruentis 
roribus  et  taeti'a  morientum  aspargine  manant  : 
ut  leo,  qui  campis  longe  custode  fugato  675 

Massylas  depastus  oves,  ubi  sanguine  multo 
luxuriata  fames  cervixque  et  tabe  gravatae 
consedere  iubae,  mediis  in  caedibus  adstat 
aeger,  hians  victusque  cibis  ;  nee  iam  amplius  irae 
crudescunt  :  tantum  vacuis  ferit  aera  malis  680 

molliaque  eiecta  delambit  vellera  lingua. 

Ille  etiam  Thebas  spoliis  et  sanguine  plenus 
isset  et  attonitis  sese  populoque  ducique 
ostentasset  ovans,  ni  tu,  Tritonia  virgo, 
flagrantem  multaque  operis  caligine  plenum  685 

consilio  dignata  virum  :  "  sate  gente  superbi 
Oeneos,  absentes  cui  dudum  vincere  Thebas 
adnuimus,  iam  pone  modum  nimiumque  seeundis 
parce  deis  :  huic  una  fides  optanda  labori. 
fortuna  satis  usus  abi."     restabat  acerbis  690 

funeribus  socioque  gregi  non  sponte  superstes 
^  mutatum  Pw  :  nutantem  Lachmann. 
^  spoliis  Pw  :  spiclis  conj.  Alton. 

"  Where  Marsyas  the  flute-player  was  defeated  by  Apollo. 

^  Cf.  the  use  of  "  mutare "  in  vii.  71.  E.  H.  Alton 
suggests  *'  spiclis  "  for  "  spoliis."  The  spoils  are  apparently 
regarded  as  carried  on  the  shield,  "spiclis"  ("darts") 
would  refer  to  the  missiles  sticking  in  the  shield,  flung  by 
his  enemies. 
444 


THEBAID,   II.   665-G91 

wands  to  your  un\\arlike  music  ?  or  were  joining  the 
fray  that  true  men  know  nought  of  at  the  sound  of 
Celaenae's"  boxwood  pipe?  Far  other  carnage  is 
this,  far  other  madness  !  To  death  with  you,  cowards 
and  too  few  !  "  So  tluxnders  he,  but  nevertheless 
his  hmbs  deny  him,  and  the  tired  blood  beats  heavy 
on  his  heart.  His  arm  is  raised,  but  falls  in  idle 
blows,  his  steps  are  slow,  nor  can  his  elbow  bear 
the  weight  of  the  buckler  changed  *  by  the  spoils 
it  bears  ;  the  cold  sweat  pours  down  his  panting 
breast,  and  his  hair  and  burning  visage  stream  with 
gory  dew  and  the  foul  bespattering  of  dying  bodies  : 
even  as  a  lion,  who  has  driven  the  shepherd  tar  from 
tlie  meadows  and  taken  his  fill  of  Massylian  sheep, 
when  his  hunger  is  sated  in  abundance  of  blood,  and 
his  neck  and  mane  are  congealed  and  heavy  with 
corruption,  stands  faint  in  the  midst  of  the  slaughter, 
his  mouth  agape,  fordone  with  gorging  ;  gone  is 
his  savage  fury,  he  only  snaps  in  the  air  his  empty 
jaws,  and  with  hanging  tongue  licks  them  clean  of 
the  soft  wool. 

Rich  in  spoils  and  bloodshed,  he  would  even  have 
gone  to  Thebes,  and  vaunted  his  triumph  before 
astonished  prince  and  people,  hadst  not  thou,  Tri- 
tonian  maid,''  deemed  worthy  of  thy  counsel  the  hero, 
still  ardent  and  all  dazed  by  his  deeds  :  "  Scion  of 
proud  Oeneus,  to  whom  just  now,  though  far  away, 
we  granted  victory  over  Thebes,  set  now  a  limit,  and 
strain  no  more  the  gods'  undue  favour  ;  seek  only 
credence  for  these  toils.  Depart,  having  used  thy 
fortune  to  the  full."  There  yet  remained,  an  un- 
willing survivor  of  his  comrades'  slaughter,  Maeon, 

"  Pallas  Athene,  who  was  born,  according  to  one  legend, 
from  a  lake  Triton  in  Libj'a. 

44.5 


ST  ATI  us 

Haemonides — ille  liaec  praevidei'at,  oniina  docLus 

aeris^  et  nulla  deceptus  ab  alite — Maeon, 

nee  veritus  prohibei-e  ducem,  sed  fata  monentem 

privavere  fide,     vita  miserandus  inerti  695 

damnatur  ;  trepido  Tydeus  immitia  mandat  : 

"  quisquis  es  Aonidum,  quern  crastina  munere  nostro 

manibus  exemptum  mediis  Aurora  videbit, 

haec  iubeo  perferre  duci  :  cinge  aggere  portas, 

tela  nova,  fragiles  aevo  circum  inspice  muros,         700 

praecipue  stipare  viros  densasque  memento 

multiplicare  acies  !  fumantem  hunc  aspiee  late 

ense  meo  campum  :  tales  in  bella  venimus." 

Haec  ait,  et  meritae  pulcbrum  tibi,  Pallas,  honorem 
sanguinea  de  strage  parat,  praedamque  iacentem  705 
comportat  gaudens  ingentiaque  acta  recenset. 
quercus  erat  tenerae  iam  longum  oblita  iuventae 
aggere  camporum  medio,  quam  plurimus  ambit 
frondibus  incurvis  et  crudo  robore  cortex, 
huic  leves  galeas  perfossaque  vulnere  crebro  710 

inserit  arma  ferens,  huic  truncos  ictibus  enses 
subligat  et  tractas  membris  spirantibus  hastas. 
corpora  tunc  atque  arma  simul  cumulata  superstans 
incipit — oranti  nox  et  iuga  longa  resultant —  : 
"  diva  ferox,  magni  decus  ingeniumque  parentis,  715 
bellipotens,  cui  toi'va  genis  horrore  decoro 
cassis  et  asperso  crudescit  sanguine  Gorgon, 
nee  magis  ardentes  Mavors  hastataque  pugnae 
impulerit  Bellona  tubas,  huic  adnue  sacro, 
seu  Pandionio  nostras  invisere  noctes^  720 

1  aeris  P :  aeros  BKN  -.  heros  IJQ  (aeris  inritten  over  in  Q). 
^  noctes  Postgate  :  voces  P  :  caedes  P  in  margin,  and  w. 

*  The  AcropoHs  of  Athens,  M-here  Pandion  once  reigned. 
446 


THEBAID,  II.  G92-720 

tlie  son  of  Haemon  ;  all  this  he  had  foreseen,  taught 
of  omens  from  the  air  nor  deceived  by  any  bird  ;  nor 
had  he  feared  to  deter  his  chieftain,  but  the  fates 
deprived  his  warnings  of  belief.  His  doom  is  to 
be  pitied  as  a  useless  life  ;  in  terror  he  receives 
Tydeus'  stern  behest-:  "  Whosoever  of  the  Aonians 
thou  art,  whom  saved  by  my  bounty  from  uttermost 
darkness  to-morrow's  Dawn  shall  yet  behold,  this 
message  I  command  thee  to  carry  to  thy  prince  : 
Raise  a  mound  about  your  gates,  renew  your  weapons, 
see  to  your  old  and  mouldering  walls,  mind  above  all 
to  marshall  your  men  in  close  array  and  press  troop 
on  troop  ;  look  now  at  this  field,  everywhere  smoking 
from  my  sword  :   even  so  do  we  make  war  !  " 

So  speaking,  he  prepares  for  thee,  O  Pallas,  of  thy 
deserving  a  fair  guerdon  from  the  gory  rout,  and  in 
joy  collects  the  booty  lying  there  and  surveys  all  his 
mighty  deeds.  Upon  a  hillock  in  niid-plain  there 
was  an  oak  tree,  long  time  forgetful  of  its  tender 
youth,  with  curving  boughs  and  rude  strength  of 
trunk  and  thick  encompassing  bark.  To  this  he 
brings  and  fastens  smooth  helmets  and  armour 
pierced  by  many  a  stroke,  to  this  he  binds  swords 
that  his  blows  have  broken  short  and  spears  pulled 
out  from  limbs  yet  breathing.  Standing  then  on  the 
heap  of  arms  and  bodies  he  thus  begins,  while  night 
and  the  long  ridges  make  echo  to  his  prayer  :  "  Stern 
goddess,  glory  and  wisdom  of  thy  mighty  sire, 
powerful  in  war,  thou  on  whose  cheeks  the  terrible 
splendour  of  thy  grim  casque  and  blood-besprinkled 
Gorgon  glow  fierce  with  rage, — nor  did  ever  Mavors 
or  Bellona  with  her  battle-spear  inspire  more  furious 
trumpet-blasts — look  favourably  on  this  offering, 
whether  thou   comest  from   Pandion's    hill  ^   to   be 

4.17 


ST  ATI  us 

monte  venis,  sive  Aonia  devertis^  Itone 
laeta  choris,  seu  tu  Libyco  Tritone  repexas 
lota  comas,  qua  te  biiugo  temone  frementem 
intemeratarum  volucer  rapit  axis  equarum  : 
nunc  tibi  fracta  virum  spolia  informisque  dicamus  725 
exuvias.     at  si  patriis  Parthaonis  arvis 
inferar  et  reduci  pateat  mihi  Martia  Pleuron, 
aurea  tunc  mediis  urbis  tibi  templa  dicabo 
collibus,  lonias  qua  despectare  procellas 
dulce  sit,  et  flavo  toUens  ubi  vertice  pontum  730 

turbidus  obiectas  Achelous  Echinadas  exit, 
hie  ego  maioruni  pugnas  vultusque  tremendos 
magnanimum  effingam  regum,  figamque  superbis 
arma  tholis,  quaeque  ipse  meo  quaesita  revexi 
sanguine,  quaeque  dabis  captis,  Tritonia,  Thebis    735 
centum  ibi  virgineis  votae  Calydonides  aris 
Actaeas  tibi  rite  faces  et  ab  arbore  casta 
nectent  purpureas  niveo  discrimine  vittas, 
pervigilemque  focis  ignem  longaeva  sacerdos 
nutriet,  arcanum  numquam  spretura^  pudorem.      740 
tu  bellis,  tu  pace  feres  de  more  frequentes 
primitias  operum,  non  indignante  Diana." 
dixerat,  et  dulces  iter  instaurabat  ad  Argos. 

^  devertis  Pw:  divertis  DX:  de  vertice  conj.  Garrod. 
^  spretura  P  :  inspectura  w. 


"  A  mountain  in  Thessaly,  on  which  there  was  a  temple 
of  Athena.  Aonian  seems  here  to  mean  haunt  of  Muses, 
from  its  usual  meaning,  Boeotian :  the  Muses  were  con- 
nected with  Thessaly  also. 

*  See  note  on  1.  684. 


448 


THEBAID,  II.  721-743 

present  at  my  night  of  triumph,  or  whether  thou 
dost  turn  aside  from  thy  glad  dances  in  Aonian  Itone," 
or  hast  washed  and  combed  thy  hair  again  in  Libyan  * 
Triton's  waters,  whither  the  fleet  axle  of  thy  inviolate 
mares  doth  speed  thee  shouting  loud  upon  thy  two- 
horsed  chariot;  now  do  we  dedic<ate  to  thee  the 
shattered  spoils  and  shapeless  armour  of  heroes.  But 
should  I  come  to  my  native  Parthaonian  fields,"  and 
Martian  Pleuron  throw  wide  her  gates  for  my  return- 
ing, then  in  the  midst  of  the  city's  hills  will  I  con- 
secrate to  thee  a  golden  temple,  where  it  may  be  thy 
pleasure  to  look  down  upon  Ionian  storms,  and  where 
turbulent  Achelous  with  yellow  head  tossed  high 
disturbs  the  deep,  and  leaves  the  barrier  of  the 
Echinades  behind.  Here  will  I  carve  ancestral  wars 
and  the  awful  visages  of  great-hearted  kings,  and 
arms  will  I  hang  in  the  proud  shrines,  arms  that  I 
myself  bore  home  and  gained  at  my  own  blood's 
cost,  and  those  that  thou,  Tritonian  maid,  shalt 
give  when  Thebes  is  taken.  A  hundred  Calydonian 
maidens  there,  votaries  of  thy  virgin  altars,  shall  duly 
twine  thee  Attic  torches,  and  weave  from  thy  chaste 
olive-tree  purple  fillets  set  off  with  snow-white  wool ; 
an  aged  priestess  shall  tend  a  never-failing  fire  upon 
the  hearths,  and  hold  in  continual  reverence  thy 
mystic  sanctities.  Thou  as  of  old  shalt  win  in  war 
and  in  peace  rich  first-fruits  of  my  labours,  nor  shall 
Diana  be  offended."  '^  So  prayed  he,  and  set  out 
again  for  pleasant  Argos. 

"  See  note  on  i.  670. 
■^  Diana  was  the  most  important  deity  of  Aetolia. 


2g  44.9 


LIBER  III 

At  non  Aoniae  moderator  perfidus  aulae^ 
nocte  sub  ancipiti,  quamvis  umentibus  astris 
longus  ad  auroram  superet  labor,  otia  somni 
accipit  ;  invigilant  animo  scelerisque  parati 
supplicium  exercent  curae  ;  turn  plurima  versat        5 
pessimus  in  dubiis  augur  timor.     "  ei  mihi  "  clamat, 
"  unde  morae  ?  " — nam  pi'ona  ratus  facilemque  tot 

armis 
Tydea,  nee  numero  virtutem  animumque  rependit — 
"  num  regie  diversa  viae  ?  num  missus  ab  Argis 
subsidio  globus  ?  an  sceleris  data  fama  per  urbes     10 
finitimas  ?  paucosne,  pater  Gradive,  manuve 
legimus  indecores  ?  at  enim  fortissimus  illic 
et  Chromis  et  Dorylas  et  nostris  turribus  aequi 
Thespiadae  totos  raperent  mihi  funditus  Argos. 
nee  tamen  ille  meis,  reor,  impenetrabilis  armis         15 
aere  gerens  solidoque  satos^  adamante  lacertos 
venerat  ;  heu  segnes,  quorum  labor  haeret  in  uno, 
si  conserta  manus."     vario  sic  turbidus  aestu 
angitur  ac  sese  culpat  super  omnia,  qui  non 
orantem  in  mediis  legatum  coetibus  ense  20 

perculerit  foedasque  palam  satiaverit  iras. 
iam  pudet  incepti,  iam  paenitet.     ae  velut  ille 


^  aulae  w  :  orae  P. 
^  satos  Heinsius  :  datos  Pw. 


+50 


BOOK  III 

But  not  to  the  perfidious  lord  of  the  Aonian  p<alace 
comes  the  repose  of  slumber  in  the  twilight  hours, 
although  for  the  dank  stars  long  travail  yet  remain 
till  dawn  ;  in  his  mind  care  holds  vigil  and  WTcaks  the 
penalty  for  his  plotted  crime  ;  then  fear,  gloomiest 
of  augurs  in  perplexity,  broods  deeply.  "  Ah  me  !  " 
he  cries,  "  why  this  tarrying  ?  " — for  he  had  deemed 
the  task  a  light  one,  and  Tydeus  an  easy  prey  to  so 
many  warriors,  nor  weighed  his  valour  and  spirit 
against  their  numbers — "  Went  they  by  different 
roads  ?  Was  a  company  sent  from  Argos  to  his 
succour  ?  Or  has  news  of  the  deed  spread  round  the 
neighbouring  cities  ?  Chose  we  too  few,  O  father 
Gradivus,  or  men  unrenowned  in  action  ?  But 
valiant  Chromis  and  Dorylas  and  the  Thespians,  a 
match  for  these  towers  of  mine,  could  at  my  bidding 
level  all  Argos  with  the  ground.  Nor  proof,  I  ween, 
against  my  weapons  had  he  come  hither,  though  bis 
frame  were  wrought  of  bronze  or  solid  adamant. 
For  shame,  ye  cowards,  whose  efforts  fail  before  a 
single  foe,  if  indeed  ye  fought  at  all  !  "  Thus  is  he 
tormented  by  various  gusts  of  passion,  and  above  all 
blames  hiinself,  for  that  he  struck  not  the  envoy  with 
his  sword  as  he  spoke  in  mid  assembly,  nor  openly 
sated  to  the  full  his  savage  wrath.  Now  he  feels 
shame  of  his  design,  and  now  repents  him  of  the 

451 


STATIUS 

fluctibus  loniis  Calabrae  datus  arbiter  alno — 
nee  rudis  undarum,  portus  sed  linquere  amicos 
purior  Olenii  frustra  gradus  impulit  astri — ,  25 

cum  fragor  hiberni  subitus  lovis,  omnia  mundi 
claustra  tenant  multusque  polos  inclinat  Orion, 
ipse  quidem  malit  terras  pugnatque  reverti, 
fert  ingens  a  puppe  notus,  tunc  arte  relicta 
ingemit  et  caecas  sequitur  iam  nescius  undas  :         30 
talis  Agenoreus  ductor  caeloque  morantem 
Luciferum  et  seros  maerentibus  increpat  ortus. 
Ecce  sub  occiduas  versae  iam  Noctis  habenas 
astrorumque  obitus,  ubi  primum  maxima  Tethys 
impulit  Eoo  cunctantem  Hyperiona  ponto,  35 

ima  flagellatis,  signum  lugubre  malorum, 
ponderibus  trepidavit  humus,  motusque  Cithaeron 
antiquas  dedit  ire  nives  ;  tunc  visa  levari 
culmina  septenaeque  iugo  concurrere  portae. 
et  prope  sunt  causae  :  gelido  remeabat  Eoo  40 

iratus  fatis  et  tristis  morte  negata 
Haemonides  ;  necdum  ora  patent,  dubiusque  notari 
signa  dabat  magnae  longe  manifesta  ruinae 
planctuque  et  gemitu  ;  lacrimas  nam  protinus  omnis 
fuderat.     haud  aliter  saltu  devertitur  orbus  45 

pastor  ab  agrestum  nocturna  strage  luporum, 
cuius  erile  pecus  sihds  inopinus  abegit^ 
imber  et  hibernae  ventosa  cacumina  lunae  : 

^  abegit  Pw  :  adegit  Ellis. 

°  The  star  Capella,  whose  rising  was  at  the  rainy  season  ; 
from  Aege,  daughter  of  Olenus  (from  whom  the  AetoHan 
town  derived  its  name),  who  with  her  sister  Hehce  suckled 
Zeus  in  Crete,  and  as  a  reward  Mas  turned  into  a  goat  and 
given  a  place  in  the  sky.  The  rising  of  Orion  was  also  at 
the  rainy  season.  "  Brings  low  the  poles  " :  i.e.,  when  the 
low  clouds  make  the  sky  seem  to  touch  the  earth. 

452 


THEBAID,  III.  23-48 

shame.  And  like  to  the  appointed  helmsman  of  a 
Calabrian  barque  upon  Ionian  waters  (nor  does  he 
lack  sea-craft, but  the  Olenian  star"  rising  clearer  than 
its  wont  has  beguiled  him  to  leave  a  friendly  haven), 
when  a  sudden  uproar  fills  the  wintry  sky,  and  all 
heaven's  confines  thunder,  and  Orion  in  full  might 
brings  low  the  poles — he  himself  would  fain  win  tlie 
land,  and  struggles  to  return,  but  a  strong  south 
wind  astern  bears  him  on  ;  then,  abandoning  his 
craft,  he  groans,  and  heedless  now  follows  the  blind 
waters  :  even  so  the  Agenorean  chieftain  upbraids 
Lucifer,  yet  lingering  in  the  heavens,  and  the  sun, 
so  slow  to  rise  on  the  distressed. 

Lo  !  beneath  the  western  rein  of  Night,  her  course 
already  turned,  and  the  setting  stars,  so  soon  as 
mighty  Tethys  had  driven  forth  tardy  Hyperion 
from  the  Eastern  sea,  the  earth  with  swaying  masses 
trembled  to  her  foundations,  drear  sign  of  ills  to  come, 
and  Cithaeron  was  stirred  and  made  his  ancient 
snows  to  move  ;  then  were  the  rooftops  seen  to  rise 
and  the  sevenfold  gates  to  meet  the  mountain- 
ridges.  Nor  distant  was  the  cause  :  wroth  with  his 
destiny  and  sad  that  death  had  been  denied  him,  the 
son  of  Haemon  ^  was  returning  in  the  cold  hour  of 
dawn  ;  not  yet  is  his  face  plain,  but,  though  indistinct 
to  view,  he  gave  from  afar  clear  signs  of  dire  disaster 
by  wailing  and  beating  his  breast  ;  for  all  his  tears 
had  soon  been  shed.  Not  otherwise  does  a  bereaved 
herdsman  leave  the  glade  where  savage  wolves  have 
wrought  nocturnal  carnage,  what  time  a  sudden 
squall  of  rain  and  the  windy  horns  of  the  winter 
moon  have  driven  his  master's  cattle  to  the  woods  ; 

''  Maeon,  see  ii.  690. 

453 


STATIUS 

luce  patent  caedes  ;  domino  perferre  recentes 
ipse  timet  casus,  haustaque  informis  harena  50 

questibus  implet  agros,  stabulique  silentia  magni 
odit  et  amissos  longo  ciet  ordine  tauros. 

Ilium  congestae  portarum  ad  limina  matres 
ut  solum  \ddere — nefas  ! — nulla  agmina  circum 
magnanimosque  duces,  nil  ansae  quaerere  tollunt   55 
clamorem,  qualis  bello  supremus  apertis 
urbibus,  aut  pelago  iam  descendente^  carina, 
ut  primum  invisi  cupido  data  copia  regis  : 
"  hanc  tibi  de  tanto  donat  ferus  agmine  Tydeus 
infelicem  animam,  sive  haec  sententia  divum,  60 

seu  fortuna  fuitj  seu,  quod  pudet  ira  fateri, 
vis  invicta  \dri.     vix  credo  et  nuntius  :  omnes 
procubuere,  omnes.     noctis  vaga  lumina  testor 
et  socium  manes  et  te,  mala  protinus  ales, 
qua  redeo,  non  hanc  lacrimis  meruisse  nee  astu        65 
crudelem  veniam  atque  inhonorae  munera  lucis. 
sed  mihi  iussa  deum  placitoque  ignara  moveri 
Atropos  atque  olim  non  haec  data  ianua  leti 
eripuere  necem.     iamque  ut  mihi  prodiga  vitae 
pectora  et  extremam  nihil  horrescentia  mortem       70 
aspicias  :  bellum  infandum  ominibusque  negatam 
movisti,  funeste,  aciem  ;  dum  pellere  leges, 
et  consanguineo  gestis^  regnare  superbus 
exsule,  te  series  orbarum  excisa  domorum 
planctibus  adsiduis,  te  diro  horrore  volantes  75 

quinquaginta  animae  circum  noctesque  diesque 

■■■  descendente  Pco  :    desidente  Heinsius.     Klotz  cp.    Val. 
Flacc.  viii.  332.  ^  gestis  P  :  gliscis  w. 

"  "  protinus  " :  lit.  "  thou  immediately,  i.e.,  inevitably  evil 

454 


THEBAID,  III.  49-76 

light  makes  the  slaugliter  manifest ;  he  fears  to  take 
the  new  tidings  to  his  lord,  and  pouring  unsightly 
dust  upon  his  head  fills  the  fields  with  his  lamenta- 
tions, and  hates  the  vast  and  silent  stalls,  while  he 
calls  aloud  the  long  roll  of  his  lost  bulls. 

When  the  mothers  crowding  to  the  threshold  of 
the  gates  beheld  him  all  alone — ah,  horror  ! — no 
troop  around  him  or  valiant  chieftains,  they  venture 
not  to  question  him,  but  raise  a  cry  like  unto  that 
last  cry  when  cities  are  flung  open  to  the  victors,  or 
when  a  ship  sinks  at  sea.  As  soon  as  audience  at 
his  desire  was  granted  by  the  hated  king  :  "  This 
hapless  life  fierce  Tydeus  doth  present  thee  of  all 
that  company,  whether  the  gods  have  willed  it  so,  or 
fortune,  or,  as  my  anger  feels  shame  to  confess,  that 
man's  unconquerable  might.  Scarce  do  I  believe 
my  own  report ;  all  have  perished,  all  !  Witness 
night's  wandering  fires,  my  comrades'  ghosts,  and 
thou,  evil  omen  wherewith  I  must  needs  return,*^ 
no  tears  nor  wiles  won  me  this  cruel  grace  and 
dishonoured  gift  of  light.  But  the  gods'  commands 
snatched  destruction  from  me,  and  Atropos,  whose 
pleasure  knows  no  denial,  and  the  fate  that  long 
since  shut  against  me  this  door  of  death.  And  now 
that  thou  mayst  see  that  my  heart  is  prodigal  of 
life,  nor  shrinks  from  final  doom  :  'tis  an  unholy 
war  thou  hast  begun,  thou  man  of  blood,  no  omens 
will  approve  thy  arms  ;  and  while  thou  endeavourest 
to  banish  law,  and  reign  exultant  in  thy  kinsman's 
exile,  the  unceasing  plaint  of  a  long  line  of  ruined 
desolate  homes,  and  fifty  spirits  hovering  night  and 
day  shall  haunt  thee  with  dire  terror  ;    for   I   also 

omen  "  :  the  very  fact  of  his  cominif  home  alive  was  an  evil 
omen,  because  it  meant  that  he  must  kill  himself. 

455 


STATIUS 

adsilient ;  neque  enim  ipse  moror."    iam  moverat  iras 
rex  feruSj  et  tristes  ignescunt  sanguine  vultus. 
inde  ultro  Phlegyas  et  non  cunctator  iniqui 
Labdacus — hos  regni  ferruni  penes — ire  manuque  80 
proturbare  parant.     sed  iam  nudaverat  ensem 
magnanimus  vates,  et  nunc  trucis  ora  tyranni, 
nunc  ferrum  aspectans  :    "  numquam   tibi  sanguinis 

huius 
ius  erit  aut  niagno  feries  imperdita  Tydeo 
pectora  ;  vado  equidem  exsultans  ereptaque  fata    85 
insequor  et  comites  feror  exspectatus  ad  umbras, 
te  superis  fratrique — "  et  iam  media  orsa  loquentis 
absciderat  plenum  capulo  latus  ;  ille  dolori 
pugnat  et  ingentem  nisu  duplicatus  in  ictum 
conruit,  extremisque  animae  singultibus  errans        90 
alternus  nunc  ore  venit,  nunc  vulnere  sanguis, 
excussae  procerum  mentes,  turbataque  mussant 
concilia  ;  ast  ilium  coniunx  fidique  parentes 
servantem  vultus  et  torvum  in  morte  peracta, 
non  longum  reducem  laetati,  in  tecta  ferebant.        95 
sed  ducis  infandi  rabidae  non  hactenus  irae 
stare  queunt  ;  vetat  igne  rapi,  pacemque  sepulcri 
impius  ignaris  nequiquam  manibus  arcet. 

Tu  tamen  egregius  fati  mentisque  nee  umquam — 
sic  dignuni  est — passure  situm,qui  comminus  ausus  100 
vadere  eontemptum  reges,  quaque  ampla  veniret 
libertas,  sancire  viam  :  quo  carmine  dignam, 
quo  satis  ore  tuis  famam  virtutibus  addam, 
augur  amate  deis  ?  non  te  caelestia  frustra 
4.56 


THEBAID,  III.  77-104 

delay  not."  Already  the  fiei-ce  king's  anger  was 
stirred,  and  blood  lights  up  his  scowling  visage. 
Then  Phlegyas  and  Labdacus,  who  never  dallied  at 
evil  work — the  realm's  armed  might  was  in  their 
keeping — prepare  unbidden  to  go  and  assault  him 
with  \'iolence.  But  ah-eady  the  great-souled  seer 
had  bared  his  blade,  and  looking  now  at  the  truculent 
tyrant's  face,  now  at  his  sword  :  "  Never  shalt  thou 
have  power  upon  this  blood  of  mine  nor  strike  the 
breast  that  great  Tydeus  spared  ;  I  go,  yea  exultant, 
and  meet  the  fate  whereof  he  robbed  me  ;  I  am  borne 
to  the  shades  of  my  expectant  comrades.     As  for 

thee,  to  the  gods  and  thy  brother "     Even  as  he 

spoke,  the  sword  was  in  his  side  to  the  hilt,  cutting 
short  his  words  ;  he  fights  against  the  agony,  and  with 
a  strong  effort  doubling  himself  over  the  mighty  blow 
sinks  down,  and  the  blood,  sped  by  the  last  gaspings 
of  his  life,  comes  forth  now  from  his  mouth,  now  from 
the  wound.  Tlie  chiefs  are  stricken  with  dismay,  the 
councillors  mutter  in  alarm  ;  but  he,  with  visage  set 
and  grim  in  the  death  his  hand  accomplished,  is 
borne  to  his  house  by  his  wife  and  trusty  kinsmen, 
who  have  had  no  long  joy  of  his  return.  But  the 
mad  rage  of  the  impious  ruler  cannot  so  long  be 
stayed  ;  he  forbids  that  the  corpse  be  consumed  with 
fire,  and  in  vain  defiance  bars  the  peace  of  the  tomb 
from  the  unwitting  shades. 

But  thou,  so  noble  in  thy  death  and  in  thy  con- 
stancy, thou  who  wilt  never  suffer  oblivion — such  is 
thy  due  reward — thou  who  daredst  scorn  a  monarch 
to  his  face,  and  thus  hallow  the  path  of  ample  free- 
dom :  by  what  strain  of  sufficing  utterance  can  I  add 
due  renown  to  thy  liigh  prowess,  augur  beloved  by 
the  gods  ?     Not  in  vain  did  Apollo  teach  thee  all  his 

457 


STATIUS 

edocuit  lauruque  sua  dignatus  Apollo  est/  105 

et  nemorum  Dodona  parens  Cirrhaeaque  virgo 

gaudebit^  tacito  populos  suspendere  Phoebo. 

nunc  quoque  Tartareo  multum  divisus  Averno 

Elysias,  i,  carpe  plagas,  ubi  manibus  axis 

invius  Ogygiis  nee  sontis  iniqua  tyranni  1 10 

iussa  valent  ;  durant  habitus  et  membra  cruentis 

in\dolata  feris,  nudoque  sub  axe  iacentem 

et  nemus  et  tristis  volucrum  reverentia  servat. 

At  nuptae  exanimes  puerique  aegrique  parentes 
moenibus  effusi  per  plana,  per  avia,  passim  115 

quisque  suas  a\idi  ad  lacrimas  miserabile  currunt 
certamen,  quos  densa  gradu  comitantur  euntes 
milia  solandi  studio  ;  pars  \asere  flagrant 
unius  acta  viri  et  tantos  in  nocte  labores. 
fervet  iter  gemitu  et  plangoribus  arva  reclamant.  120 
ut  vero  infames  scopulos  silvamque  nefandam 
perventum,  ceu  nulla  prius  lamenta  nee  atri 
manassent  imbres,  sic  ore  miserrimus  uno 
exoritur  fragor,  aspectuque  accensa  cruento 
turba  furit  :  stat  sanguineo  discissus  amictu  125 

Luctus  atrox  caesoque  invitat  pectore  matres. 
scrutantur  galeas  frigentum  inventaque  monstrant 
corpora,  prociduae  super  externosque  suosque. 
hae  pressant  in  tabe  comas,  hae  lumina  signant 
vulneraque  alta  rigant^lacrimis,pars  spiculadextra  130 
nequiquam  parcente  trahunt,  pars  molliter  aptant 
bracchia  trunca  loco  et  cervicibus  ora  reponunt. 

^  There  is  possibly  a  lacuna  after  this  line. 

^  gaudebit  Markland  :  audebit  Pw. 

^  rigant  P  :  replent  w. 

"  Theban  ;  see  n.  on  i.  173. 
458 


THEBAID,  III.  105-132 

heavenly  lore  and  deem  thee  worthy  of  his  laurel, 
and  Dodona  mother  of  forests  and  the  Cirrhaean 
^drgin  shall  rejoice  to  keep  the  folk  in  suspense 
while  Phoebus  holds  his  peace.  And  now  far  re- 
moved from  Tartarean  Avernus  go  thou  and  roam 
Elysian  regions,  where  the  sky  admits  not  Ogygian" 
souls,  nor  a  guilty  despot's  cruel  behests  have  power  ; 
thy  raiment  and  thy  limbs  endure,  left  inviolate  by 
gory  beasts,  and  the  forest  and  the  birds  with 
sorrowing  awe  watch  o'er  thee,  as  thou  liest  beneath 
the  naked  sky. 

But  fainting  wives  and  children  and  aihng  parents 
pour  forth  from  the  city  walls,  and  by  easy  road  or 
trackless  region  everywhere  haste  in  piteous  rivalry, 
eager  to  gain  the  object  of  their  own  lament,  while 
in  their  company  go  crowded  thousands  zealous 
to  console ;  some  are  burning  with  desire  to  see  one 
warrior's  achievement  and  all  the  labours  of  the 
night.  The  road  is  loud  with  lamentation,  and  the 
fields  re-echo  the  cries  of  grief.  But  when  they 
reached  the  infamous  rocks  and  the  accursed  wood, 
as  though  none  had  mourned  before,  nor  bitter  tears 
had  flowed,  one  cry  of  keenest  anguish  rises,  as  from 
one  mouth,  and  the  sight  of  the  carnage  drives  the 
folk  to  madness  ;  Grief  inconsolable  stands  there 
with  bloody  raiment  rent  and  with  pierced  breast 
incites  the  mothers.  They  search  the  helmets  of  the 
warriors  now  cold  in  death,  and  display  the  bodies 
they  have  found,  stretched  prostrate  alike  on  stranger 
and  on  kinsman.  Some  steep  their  hair  in  the  gore, 
some  close  up  eyes  and  wash  the  deep  wounds  with 
their  tears,  others  draw  out  the  darts  with  vainly 
merciful  hand,  others  gently  replace  the  severed  limbs 
and  set  the  heads  again  to  their  shoulders. 

4.^9 


STATIUS 

At  vaga  per  dumos  vacuique  in  pulvere  campi 
magna  parens  iuvenum,  gemini  nunc  funeris,  Ide 
squalentem  sublata  comam  liventiaque  ora  135 

ungue  premens — nee  iam  infelix  miserandaque,  verum 
terror  inest  lacrimis — ,  per  et  anna  et  corpora  passim 
canitiem  impexam  dira  tellure  volutans 
quaerit  inops  natos  omnique  in  corpore  plangit. 
Thessalis  haud  aliter  bello  gaxisa  recenti,  140 

cui  gentile  nefas  hominem  renovare  canendo, 
multifida  attollens  antiqua  lumina  cedro 
nocte  subit  campos  versatque  in  sanguine  functum 
vulgus  et  explorat  manes,  cui  plurima  busto 
imperet  ad  superos  :  animarum  maesta  queruntur  145 
concilia,  et  nigri  pater  indignatur  Averni. 

lUi  in  secessu  pariter  sub  rupe  iacebant 
felices,  quos  una  dies,  manus  abstulit  una, 
pervia  vulneribus  media  trabe  pectora  nexi. 
ut  vidit  lacrimisque  oculi  patuere  profusis  :  150 

"  hosne  ego  complexus  genetrix,  haec  oscula,  nati, 
vestra  tuor  ?  sic  vos  extreme  in  fine  ligavit 
ingenium  crudele  necis  ?  quae  vulnera  tractem, 
quae  prius  ora  premam  ?  vosne  ilia  potentia  matris, 
vos  uteri  fortuna  mei,  qua  tangere  dives  155 

rebar  et  Ogygias  titulis  anteire  parentes  ? 
at  quanto  melius  dextraque  in  sorte  iugatae, 
quis  steriles  thalami  nulloque  ululata  dolore 
respexit  Lucina  domum  !  mihi  quippe  malorum 

"  A  Theban  mother,  not  elsewhere  mentioned  :  the  names 
of  her  sons  are  not  given. 

*  i.e.,  of  being  disturbed  by  the  witch. 

460 


THEBAID,  III.  133-159 

But  Ide  "■  wanders  through  tlie  thickets  and  on  the 
open  dusty  plam — Ide,  mighty  mother  of  twin 
heroes,  twinned  now  in  death — with  dishevelled  hair 
all  flowing,  and  nails  piercing  deep  her  livid  cheeks  ; 
no  more  unhappy  or  pitiable  is  she,  but  terrible  in 
her  grief ;  and  everywhere  by  weapons  and  by  bodies 
she  strews  on  the  dire  ground  her  white  uncombed 
locks,  and  in  helpless  plight  seeks  her  sons  and  over 
every  corpse  makes  lamentation.  Not  otherwise  does 
the  Thessalian  witch,  whose  race's  hideous  art  it  is 
to  charm  back  men  to  life  by  spell  of  song,  rejoice 
in  warfare  lately  ended,  and  holding  high  her  faggot- 
torch  of  ancient  cedar  nightly  haunt  the  fields,  while 
she  turns  the  slain  folk  over  in  their  blood,  and  tries 
the  dead,  to  see  to  which  corpse  she  shall  give  many 
a  message  for  the  world  above ;  the  gloomy  councils 
of  the  shades  complain,^  and  black  Avernus'  sire 
waxes  indignant. 

Together  they  were  lying,  apart  from  the  rest 
beneath  a  rock,  fortunate,  that  one  day,  one  hand 
had  wrought  their  doom ;  their  wound-pierced 
breasts  are  knit  fast  by  the  uniting  spear.  She  saw 
them,  and  her  eyes  made  passage  for  the  streaming 
tears  :  "  Is  it  so  ye  embrace,  my  sons,  is  it  so  ye 
kiss,  before  your  mother's  eyes  ?  Is  it  so  that 
Death's  cruel  cunning  at  the  final  hour  hath  bound 
you  ?  Which  wounds  shall  I  first  touch,  which  face 
caress  ?  Are  ye  those  strong  defenders  of  your 
mother,  that  glory  of  my  womb,  whereby  I  thought 
to  touch  the  gods,  and  surpass  the  mothers  of  Ogygia 
in  renown  ?  How  much  better  far,  how  happy  in 
their  union  are  they  whose  chamber  is  barren,  whose 
house  Lucina  never  visited  at  the  cry  of  travail  ! 
Nay,  to   me   my  labour  hath  brought  but  sorrow. 

461 


STATIUS 

causa  labor  ;  sed  nee  bellorum  in  luce  patenti         160 

conspicui  fatis  aeternaque  gentibus  ausi 

quaesistis  miserae  vulnus  memorabile  matri, 

sed  mortem  obscuram  numerandaque^  funera  passi, 

heu  quantus  furto  cruor  et  sine  laude  iacetis  ! 

quin  ego  non  dextras  miseris  complexibus  ausira    165 

dividere  et  tanti  consortia  rumpere  leti  : 

ite  diu  fratres  indiscretique  supremis 

ignibus  et  caros  uma  confundite  manes  !  " 

Nee  minus  interea  digesta  strage  suorum 
hie  Cthonium  coniunx,  hie  mater  Penthea  clamat    170 
Astyoche,  puerique  rudes,  tua,  Phaedime,  proles, 
amissum  didicere  patrem,  Marpessaque  pactum 
Phyllea,  sanguineumque  lavant  Acamanta  sorores. 
tunc  ferro  retegunt  silvas  collisque  propinqui 
annosum  truncant  apicem,  qui  eonscius  actis  175 

noctis  et  inspexit  gemitus  ;  ibi  grandior  aevo 
ante  rogos,  dum  quisque  suo  nequit  igne  revelli, 
concilium  infaustum  dictis  mulcebat  Aletes  : 
"  saepe  quidem  infelix  varioque  exercita  ludo 
fatorum  gens  nostra  fuit,^  Sidonius  ex  quo  180 

hospes  in  Aonios  iecit  sata  ferrea  suleos, 
unde  novi  fetus  et  formidata  colonis 
arva  suis.     sed  nee  veteris  cum  regia  Cadmi 
fulmineum  in  cinerem  monitis  lunonis  iniquae 
consedit,  neque  funerea  cum  laude  potitus  185 

infelix  Athamas  trepido  de  monte  veniret, 

^  numeranda    w :     numerosa    P :     numerosa    ubi  funera 
Garrod. 

^  fuit  P  (ruit  written  over) :  ruit  w. 

"  Lit.  "  suffering  deaths  which  were  (only)  for  the  count- 
462 


THEBAID,  III.  160-186 

Nor  in  the  broad  glare  of  battle  met  ye  a  glorious 
fate,  nor  daring  deeds  ever  famous  among  men  did 
ye  seek  a  death  whose  story  might  be  told  to  your 
unhappy  mother,  but  obscure  ye  fell  and  counting  but 
in  the  tale  of  deaths  "  ;  alas  !  in  what  streams  of  blood 
ye  lie,  unnoticed  and  unpraised  !  I  dare  not  indeed 
sunder  your  poor  embracing  arms,  or  break  the  union 
of  so  noble  a  death  ;  go,  then,  and  long  abide  true 
brothers,  unparted  by  the  final  flames,  and  mingle 
your  loved  ashes  in  the  urn  !  " 

No  less  in  the  meantime  do  the  rest  make  lament, 
each  over  their  own  slain  :  here  doth  his  wife  mourn 
Chthonius,  there  Astyoche  his  mother  grieves  over 
Pentheus,  and  tender  lads,  thy  offspring,  Phaedimus, 
have  learnt  their  father's  fate  ;  Marpessa  laves 
Phylleus,  her  betrothed,  and  his  sisters  cleanse  the 
blood-stained  Acamas.  Then  with  the  iron  they  lay 
bare  the  woods,  and  lop  the  antique  crown  of  the 
neighbouring  hill,  that  knew  the  secret  of  the  night's 
doings  and  watched  the  agony ;  there  before  the 
funeral  piles,  while  each  clings  to  the  fire  he  himself 
has  kindled,  aged  Aletes  speaks  consoling  words  to 
tlie  unhappy  company  :  "  Often  indeed  has  our  race 
known  sorrow  and  been  racked  by  the  heartless  sport 
of  Fate,  ay,  ever  since  the  Sidonian  wanderer  cast 
the  iron  seed  upon  the  furrows  of  Aonia,  whence 
came  strange  growing  and  fear  to  the  husbandmen 
of  their  own  fields.  But  neither  when  old  Cadmus' 
palace  sank  into  fiery  ashes  at  cruel  Juno's  bidding,'' 
nor  when  hapless  Athamas,''  gaining  a  deadly  fame, 
came  down  from  the  astonied  mount,  hahng,  alas  ! 

ing,"  numeranda,  not  memoranda ;  they  were  only  two  more 
in  the  list  of  dead. 

*"  See  note  on  ii.  293.  "  See  n.  on  i.  13. 

463 


ST  ATI  us 

semianimem  heu  laeto  referens  clamore  Learchum, 

hie  gemitus  Thebis,  nee  tempore  clarius  illo 

Phoenissae  sonuere  domus,  cum  lassa  furorem 

vicit  et  ad  eomitum  lacrimas  expavit  Agave.  190 

una  dies  similis  fato  specieque  malorum 

aequa  fuit,  qua  magniloquos  luit  impia  flatus 

Tantalis,  innumeris  cum  circumfusa  ruinis 

corpora  tot  raperet  terra,  tot  quaereret  ignes. 

talis  erat  vulgi  status,  et  sic  urbe  relicta  195 

primaevique  senesque  et  longo  examine  matres 

invidiam  planxere  deis  miseroque  tumultu 

bina  per  ingentes  stipabant  funera  portas. 

meque  ipsum  memini — necdum  aptalaboribus  aetas — 

flesse  tamen  gemituque  meos  aequasse  parentes.  200 

ilia  tamen  superi.     nee  quod  tibi,  Delia,  castos 

prolapsum  fontes  specula  temerare  profana 

heu  dominum  insani  nihil  agnovere  Molossi, 

deflerim  magis,  aut  verso  quod  sanguine  fluxit 

in  subitos  regina  lacus  :  sic  dura  Sororum  205 

pensa  dabant  visumque  lovi.     nunc  regis  iniqui 

ob  noxam  immeritos  patriae  tot  culmina  cives 

exuimus,  nee  adhuc  calcati  foederis  Argos 

fama  subit,  et  iam  bellorum  extrema  dolemus. 

quantus  equis  quantusque  viris  in  pulvere  crasso   210 

sudor  !  io  quanti  crudele  rubebitis  amnes  ! 

"  Agave  slew  her  son  Pentheus  unwittingly,  under  the 
influence  of  Bacchic  frenzy. 

'■  Xiobe,  daughter  of  Tantalus  and  wife  of  Amphion,  king  of 
Thebes.     She  boasted  of  her  seven  sons  and  seven  daughters, 
and  was  punished  by  their  being  all  slain  by  Apollo  and 
Artemis. 
464 


THEBAID,  III.  187-211 

with  exultant  cries  Learehus,  nigh  a  corpse,  hath 
such  woe  come  to  Thebes  ;  nor  louder  then  did 
Phoenician  homes  re-echo,  when  weary  Agave  over- 
came her  frenzy,  and  trembled  at  her  comrades' 
tears."  One  day  alone  matched  this  in  doom,  and 
brought  disaster  in  like  shape,  that  day  when  the 
impious  Tantalid  ^  atoned  her  presumptuous  boast- 
ing, when  she  caught  up  all  those  bodies  whose 
countless  ruin  strewed  the  earth  around  her,  and 
sought  for  each  its  funeral  flames.  As  great  then 
was  our  people's  woe,  and  even  so  from  forth  the  city 
went  young  and  old  and  mothers  flocking,  and  cried 
out  their  hearts'  bitterness  against  heaven,  and  in 
crowding  misery  thronged  the  double  pyre  at  each 
mighty  gate.  I  too,  so  I  remember,  though  my 
years  were  tender,  wept  nevertheless,  and  equalled 
my  parents'  tears.  Yet  those  ills  were  heaven-sent  ; 
nor  would  I  more  lament  that  the  mad  Molossian 
hounds  knew  not  their  master,  when  he  crept  forth 
from  his  unholy  spying-place  to  profane,  O  Delia,  thy 
chaste  fountains,  nor  that  the  queen,  her  blood  trans- 
formed, melted  suddenly  into  a  lake."  Such  was  the 
hard  assignment  of  the  Sisters,  and  so  Jove  willed  it. 
But  now  by  a  cruel  monarch's  crime  have  we  lost 
these  guiltless  citizens,  so  many  chiefs  of  our  land ; 
and  not  yet  hath  the  fame  of  the  spurned  covenant 
reached  Argos,  and  already  we  suffer  the  extremities 
of  war.  Alas  !  what  sweat  of  toil  in  the  thick  dust 
of  battle  is  in  store  for  men  and  steeds  !  alas  !  how 
high  will  ye  flow,  ye  rivers,  blushing  your  cruel  red  ! 

"  The  references  are  to  Actaeon  and  Dirce  ;  the  latter, 
the  wife  of  Lycus,  a  Theban  prince,  was  changed  into  the 
fountain  of  that  name. 

VOL.  I  2  H  46" 5 


STATIUS 

Adderit  haec  bello  viridis  manus  :  ast  ego  doner 
dum  licet  igne  meo  terraqufe  insternar  avita  ! 
haec  senior,  multumque  nefas  Eteoclis  acervat 
crudelem  infandumque  vocans  poenasque  daturum. 
unde  ea  libertas  ?  iuxta  illi  finis  et  aetas  216 

tota^  retro,  seraeque  decus  velit  addere  morti. 

Haec  sator  astrorum  iamdudum  e  vertice  mundi 
prospectans  primoque  imbutas  sanguine  gentes 
Gradivum  acciri  propere  iubet.     ille  furentes  220 

Bistonas  et  Geticas  populatus  caedibus  urbes 
turbidus  aetherias  currus  urgebat  ad  arces, 
fulmine  cristatum  galeae  iubar  armaque  in  auro 
tristia,  terrificis  monstrorum  animata  figuris, 
incutiens  :  tonat  axe  polus  clipeique  cruenta  223 

lux  rubet,  et  solem  longe  ferit  aemulus  orbis. 
hunc  ubi  Sarmaticos  etiamnum  efflare  labores 
luppiter  et  tota  perfusum  pectora  belli 
tempestate  videt :  "  talis  mihi,  nate,  per  Argos, 
talis  abi,  sic  ense  madens,  hac  nubilus  ira.  230 

exturbent  resides  frenos  et  cuncta^  perosi 
te  cupiant,  tibi  praecipites  animasque  manusque 
devoveant,  rape  cunctantes  et  foedera  turba, 
cui  dedimus,  tibi  fas  ipsos  incendere  bello 
caelicolas  pacenique  meam.     iam  seniina  pugnae  235 
ipse  dedi  :  remeat  portans  immania  Tydeus 
ausa,  ducis  scelus  et,  turpis  primordia  belli, 

^  tota  Pw  :  torta  Garrod,  from  MS.  at  Peterhouse. 
•  cuncta  Pw  :  vincla  Bentley.  tuta  Garrod. 

466 


THEBAID,  III.  212-237 

All  this  will  our  youth  behold,  yet  green  to  war  ;  as 
for  me,  may  I  be  granted,  while  it  may  be,  my  own 
funeral  pyre,  and  be  laid  in  my  ancestral  earth  ! 
So  spoke  the  aged  man,  and  heaped  high  the  crimes 
of  Eteocles,  calling  him  cruel  and  abominable  and 
doomed  to  punishment.  Whence  came  this  freedom 
of  speech  ?  his  end  was  near,  and  all  his  life  behind 
him,  and  he  would  fain  add  glory  to  a  late-found 
death. 

All  this  the  creator  of  the  stars  had  long  observed 
from  the  summit  of  the  world,  and  seen  the  peoples 
stained  by  the  first  bloodshed  ;  then  bids  he  Gradivus 
straight  be  called.  He  having  laid  waste  with 
slaughter  the  wild  Bistonian  folk  and  Getic  towns 
was  driving  his  chariot  in  hot  haste  toward  the 
ethereal  heights,  flashing  the  splendour  of  his  light- 
ning-crested helm  and  angry  golden  armour,  alive 
with  monstrous  shapes  of  terror  ;  heaven's  vault 
roars  thunderous,  his  shield  glows  with  blood-red 
light  and  its  emulous  orb  strikes  on  the  sun  from  far. 
When  Jupiter  saw  that  he  yet  panted  with  his 
Sarmatic  toils,  and  that  all  the  tempest  of  war  yet 
swayed  his  breast  :  "  Even  as  thou  art,  my  son, 
even  so  hie  thee  through  Argos,  Mith  thy  sword  thus 
dripping,  in  such  a  cloud  of  wrath.  Let  them  cast 
off  the  sloth  that  curbs  them,  let  them  hate  all  and 
desire  but  thee,  let  them  in  frenzy  vow  to  thee  their 
lives  and  hands  ;  sweep  away  the  doubting,  confound 
all  treaties  ;  thou  mayst  consume  in  war — to  thee 
have  I  granted  it — even  gods  themselves,  ay,  and 
the  peace  of  Jove.  Already  I  have  sown  the  seeds 
of  battle  :  Tydeus,  as  he  returns,  brings  news  of 
monstrous  outrages,  the  monarch's  crime,  the  first 
beginnings   of  base  warfare,  the   ambush   and   the 

467 


STATIUS 

insidias  fraudesque,  suis  quas  ultus  in  armis. 
adde  fidem.     vos  o  superi,  meus  ordine  sanguis, 
ne  pugnare  odiis,  neu  me  temptare  precando  240 

certetis  ;  sic  Fata  mihi  nigraeque  Sororuni 
iuravere^  colus  :  manet  haec  ab  origine  mundi 
fixa  dies  bello,  populique  in  proelia  nati. 
quodni  me  veterum  poenas  sancire  malorum 
gentibus  et  diros  sinitis  punire  nepotes —  245 

arcem  hanc  aeternam,  gentis^  sacraria  nostrae, 
tester  et  Elysios,  etiam  mihi  numina,  fontes — , 
ipse  manu  Thebas  correptaque  moenia  fundo 
excutiam  versasque  solo  super  Inacha  tecta 
effundam  turres  aut  stagna  in  caerula  verram^        250 
imbre  superiecto,  licet  ipsa  in  turbine  rerum 
luno  suos  coUes  templumque  amplexa  laboret." 
dixit,  et  attoniti  iussis.     mortalia  credas 
pectora,  sic  cuncti  vocemque  animosque  tenebant.^ 
non  secus  ac  longa  ventorum  pace  solutum  255 

aequor  et  imbelli  recubant  ubi  litora  somno, 
silvarumque  comas  et  abacto  flamine  nubes 
mulcet  iners  aestas  ;  tunc  stagna  lacusque  sonori 
detumuere,  tacent  exusti  solibus  amnes. 

Gaudet  ovans  iussis  et  adhuc  temone  calenti       260 
fervidus  in  laevum  torsit  Gradivus  habenas. 
iamque  iter  extremum  caelique  abrupta  tenebat, 

^  iuravere  Pcj  :  lustravere  Servius  ad  Aen.  viii.  409. 

*  gentis  Lachmann,  who  cp.  Silv.  v.  1.  240  aeternae  qui 
sacraria  genti  condidit :  mentis  Pw,  and  Garrod,  who  cp. 
Silv.  ii.  2.  131  celsa  tu  mentis  ab  arce. 

^  verram  P  :  vertam  w. 

*  The  punctuation  is  Garrod's  :  former  edd.  made  mortalia 
.  .  .  pectora  a  parenthesis  :  Lachmann  read  di /or  sic. 

"  mentis,  the  mss.  reading  here,  can  hardly  be  right, 
though  "  celsa  tu  mentis  ab  arce  "  {Silv.  ii.  2.  131)  is  quoted 

468 


THEBAID,  III.  238-262 

treachery,  which  with  his  own  weapons  he  avenged. 
Add  thou  credence  to  his  tale.  And  you,  ye  gods, 
scions  of  my  blood,  indulge  no  angry  strife,  no 
rivalry  to  win  me  by  entreaties ;  thus  have  the 
Fates  sworn  to  me,  and  the  dark  spindles  of  the 
Sisters  :  this  day  abides  from  the  beginning  of  the 
world  ordained  for  war,  these  peoples  are  destined 
to  battle  from  their  birth.  But  if  ye  suffer  me  not 
to  exact  solemn  vengeance  for  their  sins  of  old,  and 
to  punish  their  dreadful  progeny — I  call  to  witness 
these  everlasting  heights,  our  race's  holy  shrine,*  and 
the  Elysian  streams  that  even  I  hold  sacred — with 
my  own  arm  will  I  destroy  Thebes  and  shatter  her 
walls  to  their  foundations,  and  cast  out  upon  the 
Inachian  dwellings  her  uprooted  towers,  or  else  pour 
down  my  rain  upon  them  and  sweep  them  into  the 
blue  depths,  ay,  though  Juno's  self  should  embrace 
her  hills  and  temple,  and  toil  amid  the  chaos." 

He  spoke,  and  they  were  spellbound  at  his  com- 
mands. Mortal  in  mind  thou  hadst  deemed  them, 
so  curbed  they  one  and  all  their  voice  and  spirit. 
Even  as  when  a  long  truce  of  winds  has  calmed  the 
sea,  and  the  shores  lie  wrapt  in  peaceful  slumber, 
indolent  summer  sets  her  spell  upon  forest  leaves 
and  clouds,  and  drives  the  breezes  far  ;  then  on 
lakes  and  sounding  meres  the  swelling  waters  sink 
to  rest,  and  rivers  fall  silent  'neath  the  sun's  scorching 
rays. 

Exulting  with  joy  at  these  commands,  and  glowing 
yet  with  his  chariot's  burning  heat,  Gradivus  left- 
ward swung  the  reins ;  soon  he  was  gaining  his 
journey's  end  and  the  steeps  of  heaven,  when  Venus 

in  its  defence.  "  Elysian  streapis  " :  i.e.,  Styx,  a  river  of 
the  underworld, 

469 


STATIUS 

cum  Venus  ante  ipsos  nulla  formidine  gressum 
figit  equos  ;  cessere  retro  iamiamque  rigentes 
suppliciter  posuere  iubas.     tunc  pectora  summo    265 
adclinata  iugo  voltumque  obliqua  madenteni 
incipit — interea  dominae  vestigia  iuxta 
spumantem  proni  mandunt  adamanta  iugales —  : 
"  bella  etiam  in  Thebas,  socer  o  pulcherrime,  bella 
ipse  paras  ferroque  tuos  abolere  nepotes  ?  270 

nee  genus  Harmoniae  nee  te  conubia  caelo 
festa  nee  hae  quicquam  lacrimae,  furibunde,  moran- 

tur  ? 
criminis  haec  merces  ?  hoc  fama  pudorque  relictus, 
hoc  mihi  Lemniacae  de  te  meruere  catenae  ? 
perge  libens  ;  at  non  eadem  Volcania  nobis  275 

obsequia,  et  laesi  servit  tamen  ira  mariti  ! 
ilium  ego  perpetuis  mihi  desudare  caminis 
si  iubeam  vigilesque  operi  transmittere  noctes, 
gaudeat  ornatusque  novos  ipsique  laboret 
arma  tibi  ;  tu — sed  scopulos  et  aena  precando        280 
flectere  corda  paro  ;  solum  hoc  tamen  anxia,  solum 
obtestor,  quid  me  Tyrio  sociare  marito 
progeniem  caram  infaustisque  dabas  hymenaeis  ? 
dum  fore  praeclaros  armis  et  vivida  rebus 
pectora  vipereo  Tyrios  de  sanguine  iactas  285 

demissumque  Io\'is  serie  genus,     a  !  mea  quanto 
Sithonia  mallem  nupsisset  virgo  sub  Arcto 
trans  Borean  Thracasque  tuos.     indigna  parumne 
pertulimus,  divae  Veneris  quod  filia  longum 
reptat  et  lUyricas  deiectat  virus  in  herbas  ?  290 


"  i.e.,  the  people  of  Thebes,  which  was  founded  by  Cadmus, 
whose  wife  she  was. 

470 


THEBAID,   III.  263-290 

unafraid  stood  in  his  horses'  very  path  ;  backward 
they  gave  place,  and  e'en  now  have  drooped  their  thick 
manes  in  suppHant  wise  to  earth.  Then  leaning  her 
bosom  on  the  yoke,  and  with  sidelong  tearful  glance 
she  begins — meanwhile  bowed  at  their  mistress'  feet 
the  horses  champ  the  foaming  steel  :  "  War  even 
against  Thebes,  O  noble  father,  war  dost  thou  thyself 
prepare,  and  the  sword's  destruction  for  all  thy  race  ? 
And  does  not  Harmonia's  offspring,**  nor  heaven's 
festal  day  of  wedlock,  nor  these  tears  of  mine,  thou 
madman,  give  thee  one  moment's  pause  ?  Is  this 
thy  reward  for  my  misdoing  ?  Is  this  the  guerdon 
that  the  Lemnian  chains  and  scandal's  tongue  and 
loss  of  honour  have  won  for  me  at  thy  hands  ? 
Proceed  then  as  thou  wilt ;  far  different  service  does 
Vulcan  pay  me,  and  even  an  injured  husband's 
wrath  yet  does  my  bidding.  If  I  were  to  bid  him 
sweat  in  endless  toil  of  furnaces  and  pass  unsleeping- 
nights  of  labour,  he  would  rejoice  and  work  at  arms 
and  at  new  accoutrements,  yea,  even  for  thee  ! 
Thou — but  I  essay  to  move  rocks  and  a  heart  of 
bronze  by  praying  ! — yet  this  sole  request,  this  only 
do  I  make  in  anxious  fear  :  why  didst  thou  have  me 
join  our  beloved  daughter  to  a  Tyrian  husband  in 
ill-omened  wedlock  ?  ^  And  boast  the  while  that  the 
Tyrians,  of  dragon  stock  and  direct  lineage  of  Jove, 
would  win  renown  in  arms  and  show  hearts  keen  and 
alive  for  action  ?  Ah  !  would  rather  our  maiden  had 
married  beneath  the  Sithonian  pole,  beyond  Boreas 
and  thy  Thracians  !  Have  I  not  suffered  wrong 
enough,  that  my  daughter  crawls  her  length  upon 
the  ground,  and  spews  poison  on  the  Illyrian  grass  .'' 

*  i.e.,  Harmonia,  wife  of  Cadmus,  son  of  Agenor,  king  of 
Tyre. 

471 


ST  ATI  us 

nunc  gentem   immeritam — "   lacrimas   non   pertulit 

ultra 
Bellipotens,  hastam  laeva  transumit  et  alto, 
haud  mora,  desiluit  curru,  clipeoque  receptam 
laedit  in  amplexu  dictisque  ita  mulcet  amicis  : 

"  O  mihi  bellorum  requies  et  sacra  voluptas        295 
unaque  pax  animo  !  soli  cui  tanta  potestas 
divorumque  hominumque  meis  occui'rere  telis 
impune  et  media  quamvis  in  caede  frementes 
hos  adsistere  equos,  hunc  ensem  avellere  dextrae. 
nee  mihi  Sidonii  genialia  foedera  Cadmi  300 

nee  tua  cara  fides — ne  falsa  incessere  gaude  ! — - 
exciderunt  :  prius  in  patrui  deus  infera  mergar 
stagna  et  pallentes  agar  exarmatus  ad  umbras, 
sed  nunc  fatorum  monitus  mentemque  supremi 
iussus  obire  patris — neque  enim  Vulcania  tali         305 
imperio  manus  apta  legi — ,  quo  pectore  contra 
ire  lovem  dictasque  parem  contemnere  leges, 
cui  modo — pro  vires  ! — terras  caelumque  fretumque 
adtremere  oranti  tantosque  ex  ordine  vidi 
delituisse  deos  ?  sed  ne  mihi  corde  supremos  310 

concipe,  cara,  metus  !  quando  haec  mutare  potestas 
nulla  datur — cum  iam  Tyriis  sub  moenibus  ambae 
bellabunt  gentes,  adero  et  socia  arma  iuvabo. 
tunc  me  sanguineo  late  defervere^  campo 
res  super  Argolicas  haud  sic  deiecta  videbis  ;  315 

hoc  mihi  ius,  nee  fata  vetant."     sic  orsus  aperto 
flagrantes  immisit  equos.     non  ocius  alti 
in  teiTas  cadit  ira  lovis,  si  quando  nivalem 
Othryn  et  Arctoae  geUdum  caput  institit  Ossae 
arma\"itque  in  nube  manum  :  volat  ignea  moles     320 

^  late  deferv'ere  Pw  :   bellantem  fervere  conj.  Garrod. 
472 


THEBAID,  III.  291-320 

but  now  her  innocent  race — "  no  longer  could  the 
Lord  of  war  endure  her  teai-s,  but  changed  his  spear 
to  his  left  hand,  and  in  a  moment  leapt  from  the 
lofty  car,  and  clasping  her  to  his  shield  hurt  her  in 
liis  embrace,  and  with  loving  words  thus  soothes  her  : 
"  O  thou  who  art  my  repose  from  battle,  my  sacred 
joy  and  all  the  peace  my  heart  doth  know  :  thou 
who  alone  of  gods  and  men  canst  face  my  arms 
unpunished,  and  check  even  in  mid-slaughter  my 
neighing  steeds,  and  tear  this  sword  from  my  right 
hand  !  neither  the  marriage-bond  of  Sidonian  Cadmus 
have  I  forgotten,  nor  thy  dear  loyalty — rejoice  not 
in  false  accusing  ! — may  I  be  rather  plunged,  god 
though  I  be,  in  my  uncle's  infernal  lakes,  and  be 
hunted  weaponless  to  the  pale  shades  !  But  now 
'tis  the  Fates'  behests  and  the  high  Father's  purpose 
I  am  bid  perform — no  fit  choice  were  Vulcan's  arm 
for  such  an  errand  ! — and  how  can  I  dare  face  Jove 
or  go  about  to  spurn  his  spoken  decree,  Jove,  at 
whose  word — such  power  is  his  ! — I  saw  of  late  earth 
and  sky  and  ocean  tremble,  and  mighty  gods,  one 
and  all,  seek  hiding  ?  But,  dear  one,  let  not  thy 
heart  be  sore  afraid,  I  pray  thee — these  things  no 
power  can  change  ;  and  when  soon  beneath  the 
Tyrian  walls  both  races  are  making  war,  I  will  be 
present  and  help  our  kindred  arms.  Then  with 
happier  mien  shalt  thou  behold  me  descending  in 
fury  upon  the  Argive  fortunes  far  and  wide  over  the 
bloody  plain  ;  this  is  my  right,  nor  do  the  fates 
forbid  it."  So  speaking,  he  drove  on  through  the 
open  air  his  flaming  steeds.  No  swifter  falls  upon 
the  earth  the  anger  of  Jove,  whene'er  he  stands  on 
snowy  Othrys  or  the  cold  peak  of  northern  Ossa, 
and  plucks  a  weapon  from  the  cloud  ;    fast  flies  the 

473 


STATIUS 

saeva  dei  mandata  ferens,  caelumque  trisulca 
territat  omne  coma  iamduduni  aut  ditibus  agris 
signa  dare  aut  ponto  miseros  involvere  nautas. . 

lamque  remensus  iter  fesso  Danaeia  Tydeus 
arva  gradu  viridisque  legit  devexa  Prosymnae        325 
terribilis  visu  :  stant  fulti  pulvere  crines, 
squalidus  ex  umeris  cadit  alta  in  vulnera  sudor, 
insomnesque  oculos  rubor  excitat,  oraque  retro 
solvit^  anhela  sitis  ;  mens  altum  spirat  lionorem 
conscia  factorum.     sic  nota  in  pascua  taurus  330 

bellator  redit,  adverso  cui  colla  suoque 
sanguine  proscissisque  natant  palearibus  armi  ; 
tunc  quoque  lassa  tumet  virtus  multumque  superbit 
pectore  despecto^  ;  vacua  iacet  hostis  harena 
turpe  gemens  crudosque  vetat  sentire  labores.       335 
talis  erat  ;  medias  etiam  non  destitit  urbes, 
quidquid  et  Asopon  veteresque  interiacet  Argos, 
inflammare  odiis,  multumque  et  ubique  retexens 
legatum  sese  Graia  de  gente  petendis 
isse^  super  regnis  profugi  Polynicis,  at  inde  340 

vim,  noctem  ;  scelus,  arma,  dolos,  ea  foedera  passum 
regis  Echionii ;  fratri  sua  iura  negari. 
prona  fides  populis  ;  deus  omnia  credere  suadet 
Armipotens,  geminatque  acceptos  fama  pavores. 

Utque  introgressus  portas — et  forte  verendus     345 
concilio  pater  ipse  duces  cogebat  Adrastus — 

^  solvit  P  :  sorbet  w. 

^  pectore  despecto  Pa;:   despecto  pecore,  at  conj.  Garrod: 
despectus  Baehrens. 

^  isse  PDN :  esse  w  (c/.  i.  475). 


°  Literally  "  and  terrifies  all  the  heaven  so  that  it  gives 
signs  "  ;  the  infinitive  is  best  explained  as  following  "  territat  " 
by  analogy  with  "  cogit  "  ;  "  territat,"  therefore,  is  equivalent 

474 


THEBAID,  III.  321-346 

fiery  bolt,  bearing  the  god's  stern  command,  and  all 
heaven,  affrighted  at  its  threefold  trail,  soon  threatens 
with  ominous  signs  the  fruitful  fields  or  overwhelms 
unhappy  sailors  in  the  deep." 

And  now  Tydeus  on  his  homeward  way  passes  with 
weary  step  through  the  Danaan  lands  and  down  the 
slopes  of  green  Prosymna  ;  terrible  is  he  to  behold  : 
his  hair  stands  thick  with  dust,  from  his  shoulders 
filthy  sweat  drips  into  his  deep  wounds,  his  sleepless 
eyes  are  raw  and  red,  and  gasping  thirst  has  made 
his  face  drawn  and  sunken  ;  but  his  spirit,  conscious 
of  his  deeds,  breathes  lofty  pride.  So  does  a  warrior 
bull  return  to  his  well-known  pastures,  with  neck  and 
shoulders  and  torn  dewlaps  streaming  with  his  foe's 
blood  and  his  own  ;  then  too  doth  weary  valour 
swell  high,  filled  with  pride,  as  he  looks  down  upon  his 
breast  ;  his  enemy  lies  on  the  deserted  sand,  groan- 
ing, dishonoured,  and  forbids  him  to  feel  his  cruel 
pains.  Such  was  he,  nor  failed  he  to  inflame  with 
hatred  the  midway  towns,  all  that  lie  between  Asopos 
and  ancient  Argos,  renewing  everywhere  and  oft  the 
tale,  how  he  had  gone  on  embassy  from  a  Grecian 
people  to  claim  the  realm  of  exiled  Polynices,  but 
had  endured  violence,  night  crime,  arms,  treachery, 
— such  was  the  Echionian  monarch's  plighted  faith  ; 
to  his  brother  he  denied  his  due  rights.  The  folk 
are  swift  to  believe  him  ;  the  Lord  of  Arms  inclines 
them  to  credit  all,  and,  once  welcomed.  Rumour 
redoubles  fear. 

When  he  entered  within  the  gates — and  it  hap- 
pened that  the  revered  sire  Adrastus  was  himself 
summoning    his    chiefs    to    council — he    appears    all 

to  "terrore  cogit."  Such  uses  of  analogy  are  very  charac- 
teristic of  Statius. 

475 


STATIUS 

inprovisus  adest,  iam  illinc  a  postibus  aulae 

vociferans  :  "  arma,  arma  viri,  tuque  optime  Lernae 

ductor,  magnanimum  si  quis  tibi  sanguis  avorum, 

arma  para  !  nusquam  pietas,  non  gentibus  aequum  350 

fas  aut  cura^  lovis  ;  melius  legatus  adissem 

Sauromatas  rabidos^  servatoremque  cruentum 

Bebryeii  nemoris,     nee  iussa  incuso  pigetve 

officii  :  iuvat  isse,  iuvat,  Thebasque  nocentes 

explorasse  manu  ;  bello  me,  credite,  bello,  355 

ceu  turrem  validam  aut  artam  compagibus  urbem, 

delecti  insidiis  instructique  omnibus  armis 

nocte  doloque  viri  nudum  ignarumque  locorum 

nequiquam  elausere  ;  iacent  in  sanguine  mixti       359 

ante  urbem  vacuam.     nunc  o,  nunc  tempus  in  hostes, 

dum  trepidi  exsanguesque  metu,  dum  funera  portant, 

nunc,  socer,  haec  dum  non^  manus  excidit  ;   ipse  ego 

fessus 

quinquaginta  illis  heroum  immanibus  umbris 

vulneraque  ista  ferens  putri  insiccata  cruore 

protinus  ire  peto  !  "     trepidi  de  sedibus  adstant    365 

Inachidae,  cunctisque  prior  Cadmeius  heros 

accurrit  vultum  deiectus  et  "  o  ego  divis 

invisus  vitaeque  nocens  haec  vulnera  cerno 

integer  !  hosne  mihi  reditus,  germane,  parabas  ? 

in  me  haec  tela  mei*  !  pro  vitae  foeda  cupido  !       370 

^  aut  cura  w  :  auctura  P  :  aut  iura  L  and  Garrod. 
-  rabidos  Wakefield  (feroces  Schol.  of  D)  :   avidos  Pw. 
^  nunc  socer  haec  dum  non  P  :    dum  capulo  nondum  w 
(nondum  haec  ccmj.  Garrod).  *  mei  P  :  dabas  w. 

"  As  often,  for  Argos. 

*  Where  Amycus,  king  of  the  Bebryeii,  fought  all  strangers 
476 


THEBAID,  III.  347-370 

unexpectedly,  and  from  the  very  portals  of  the 
palace  cries  aloud  :  "  To  arms,  to  arms,  ye  men,  and 
thou,  most  worthy  ruler  of  Lerna,"  if  thou  hast  the 
blood  of  thy  brave  ancestors,  to  arms  !  Natural  ties, 
justice,  and  reverence  for  Jove  have  perished  from 
the  world  !  Better  had  I  gone  an  envoy  to  the  wild 
Sauromatae,  or  the  blood-stained  warden  of  the 
Bebrycian  grove.^  I  blame  not  thy  commands,  nor 
regret  my  errand  ;  glad  am  I  that  I  went,  yea  glad, 
and  that  my  hand  has  probed  the  guilt  of  Thebes. 
'Twas  war,  believe  me,  war  !  like  a  strong  tower  or 
city  stoutly  fortified  was  I  beset,  all  defenceless  and 
ignorant  of  my  path,  treacherously  at  night,  by  a 
picked  ambuscade  armed  to  the  teeth,  ay,  but  in 
vain  ! — they  lie  there  in  their  own  blood,  before  a 
city  desolated  !  Now,  now  is  the  time  to  march 
against  the  foe,  while  they  are  struck  by  panic  and 
and  pale  with  fear,  while  they  are  bringing  in  the 
corpses,  now,  sire,  while  this  right  arm  is  not  yet 
forgotten."  I  myself  even,  wearied  by  the  slaughter 
of  those  fifty  warriors,  and  bearing  the  wounds  ye 
see  still  running  with  foul  gore,  beg  to  set  forth  upon 
the  instant  !  "  In  alarm  the  sons  of  Inachus  start 
up  from  their  seats,  and  before  them  all  the  Cadmean 
hero  runs  forward  with  downcast  countenance  :  "  Ah  ! 
hated  of  the  gods  and  guilty  that  I  am  !  do  I  see 
these  wounds,  myself  unharmed  ?  Is  this,  then,  the 
return  thou  hadst  in  store  for  me,  brother  ?  An:i  I  the 
mark,  then,  of  my  kinsman's  weapons  ?     Ah  !  shame- 

and  slew  those  whom  he  defeated,  until  he  was  himself  slain 
by  Pollux. 

'^  "  excidit,"  sc.  "  memoria  "  as  in  1.  302.  It  is  easier  to 
suppose  that  this  was  not  understood  and  "  capulo  "  therefore 
inserted  and  "  nunc  socer  "  dropped  than  to  account  for  the 
latter  replacing  "capulo." 

477 


STATIUS 

infelix,  fratri  facinus  tarn  grande  negavi. 
et  nunc  vestra  quidem  maneant  in  pace  quieta^ 
moenia,  nee  vobis  tanti  sim  causa  tumultus 
hospes  adhue.  scio — nee  me  adeo  res  dextra  levavit— , 
quam  durum  natis,  thalamo  quam  triste  revelli,     375 
quam  patria  ;  non  me  ullius  domus  anxia  culpet 
respectentve  truces  obliquo  lumine  matres. 
ibo  libens  certusque  mori,  licet  optima  coniunx 
auditusque  iterum  revocet  socer  ;  hunc  ego  Thebis, 
hunc,  germane,  tibi  iugulum  et  tibi,  maxime  Tydeu, 
debeo."     sic  variis  pertemptat  pectora  dictis  381 

obliquatque  preces.     commotae  questibus  irae 
et  mixtus  lacrimis  caluit  dolor  ;  omnibus  ultro 
non  iuvenum  modo,  sed  gelidis  et  inertibus  aevo 
pectoribus  mens  una  subit,  viduare  penates,  385 

finitimas  adhibere  manus,  iamque  ire.     sed  altus 
consiliis  pater  imperiique  baud  flectere  molem 
inscius  :  "  ista  quidem  superis  curaeque  medenda^ 
linquite,  quaeso,  meae,  nee  te  germanus  inulto 
sceptra  geret,  neque  nos  avidi  promittere  bellum.  390 
at  nunc  egregium  tantoque  in  sanguine  ovantem 
excipite  Oeniden,  animosaque  pectora  laxet 
sera  quies  :  nobis  dolor  baud  rationis  egebit." 
Turbati  extemplo  comites  et  pallida  coniunx 
Tydea  circum  omnes  fessum  bellique  viaeque         395 
stipantur.     laetus  mediis  in  sedibus  aulae 
constitit,  ingentique  exceptus  terga  columna, 
vulnera  dum  lymphis  Epidaurius  eluit  Idmon, 

^  quieta  P  :  serena  w. 
^  medenda  w  :  medentia  P :  medenti  Garrod. 

"  For  "auditus  "  with  noun,  simply  meaning  "  the  voice 
of,"  see  ii.  54,  ii.  455,  v.  94.  The  word  has  been  unnecessarily 
emended. 

478 


THEBAID,  III.  371-398 

ful  lust  of  life  !  Unhappy  I,  to  have  spared  my 
brother  so  great  a  crime  !  Let  now  your  walls  at 
least  abide  in  tranquil  peace  ;  let  me  not,  who  am 
still  your  guest,  bring  on  you  such  tumult.  I  know 
— so  hardly  has  fate  dealt  with  me — how  cruel  it  is, 
how  sad  to  be  torn  from  children,  wife,  and  country ; 
let  no  one's  anxious  home  reproach  me,  nor  mothers 
fling  at  me  sidelong  glances  !  Gladly  will  I  go,  and 
resolved  to  die,  ay,  though  my  loyal  spouse  call  me 
back,  and  her  father's  voice  *  once  more  plead  with 
me.  This  life  of  mine  I  owe  to  Thebes,  to  thee,  O 
brother,  and  to  thee,  great  Tydeus  !  "  Thus  with 
varied  speech  he  tries  their  hearts  and  naakes  dis- 
sembling prayer.  His  complaints  stir  their  Mrath, 
and  they  Avax  hot  in  tearful  indignation  ;  spon- 
taneously in  every  heart,  not  only  of  the  young, 
but  of  those  whom  age  has  made  cold  and  slow  to 
action,  one  purpose  rises,  to  leave  desolate  their 
homes,  to  bring  in  neighbouring  bands,  and  then  to 
march.  But  the  deep-counselling  sire,  well-versed 
in  the  government  of  a  mighty  realm  :  "  Leave  that, 
I  pray  you,  to  the  gods  and  to  my  wisdom  to  set 
aright  ;  thy  brother  shall  not  reign  unpunished,  nor 
are  we  eager  to  promise  war.  But  for  the  present 
receive  this  noble  son  of  Oeneus,  who  comes  in 
triumph  from  such  bloodshed,  and  let  long-sought 
repose  calm  his  warlike  spirit.  For  our  part,  grief 
shall  not  lack  its  share  of  reason." 

Straightway  his  comrades  and  anxious  wife  bestir 
tliemselves  in  haste,  all  thronging  round  the  way- 
worn and  battle- weary  Tydeus.  Joyfully  in  mid-hall 
he  takes  his  seat,  and  leans  his  back  against  a  huge 
pillar,  while  Epidaurian  Idmon  cleanses  his  wounds 

479 


STATIUS 

nunc  velox  ferro,  nunc  ille  tepentibus^  herbis 
mitior,  ipse  alta  seductus  mente  renarrat  400 

principia  irarum,  quaeque  orsus  uterque  vicissim, 
quis  locus  insidiis,  tacito  quae  tempora  bello, 
qui  contra  quantique  duces,  ubi  maximus  illi 
sudor,  et  indicio  servatum  Maeona  tristi 
exponit.     cui  fida  manus  proceresque  socerque      405 
adstupet  oranti,  Tyriusque  incenditur  exsul. 

Solverat  Hesperii  devexo  margine  ponti 
flagrantes  Sol  pronus  equos  rutilamque  lavabat 
Oceani  sub  fonte  comam,  cui  turba  profundi 
Nereos  et  rapidis  adcurrunt  passibus  Horae,  410 

frenaque  et  auratae  textum  sublime  coronae 
deripiunt,  laxant  calidis^  umentia  loris 
pectora  ;  pars  meritos  vertunt  ad  molle  iugales 
gramen  et  erecto  currum  temone  supinant. 
nox  subiit  curasque  hominum  motusque  ferarum   415 
composuit  nigroque  polos  involvit  amictu, 
ilia  quidem  cunctis,  sed  non  tibi  mitis,  Adraste, 
Labdacioque  duci  :  nam  Tydea  largus  habebat 
perfusum  magna  virtutis  imagine  somnus. 
et  lam  noctivagas  inter  deus  armifer  umbras  420 

desuper  Arcadiae  fines  Nemeaeaque  rura 
Taenariumque  cacumen  Apollineasque  Therapnas 
armorum  tonitru  ferit  et  trepidantia  corda 
implet  amore  sui.     comunt  Furor  Iraque  cristas, 
frena  ministrat  equis  Pavor  armiger.    at  vigil  omni  425 

^  tepentibus  P  :  potentibus  w.  ^  calidis  P  :  roseis  w. 

"  i.e.,  Polynices. 
*  Theban,  from  Labdacus,  grandfather  of  Oedipus. 

480 


THEBAID,   III.   399-425 

with  water — Idmon,  now  swift  to  ply  the  knife,  now 
gentler  with  warm  juice  of  herbs  ; — he  himself,  with- 
drawn into  his  mind's  deep  brooding,  tells  over  the 
beginning  of  the  deeds  of  wrath,  the  words  each 
spoke  in  turn,  the  place  of  ambush,  and  the  time  of 
secret  battle,  what  chieftains  and  how  great  were 
matched  against  him,  and  where  most  he  laboured, 
and  he  relates  how  Maeon  was  preserved  to  take  the 
sad  tidings.  The  faithful  company,  the  princes  and 
his  wife's  sire,  are  spellbound  at  his  words,  and  wrath 
inflames  the  Tyrian  exile.*^ 

Far  on  the  sloping  margin  of  the  western  sea  the 
sinking  Sun  had  unyoked  his  flaming  steeds,  and 
laved  their  bright  manes  in  the  springs  of  Ocean  ; 
to  meet  him  hastens  Nereus  of  the  deep  and  all  his 
company,  and  the  swift-striding  Hours,  who  strip 
him  of  his  reins  and  the  woven  glory  of  his  golden 
coronet,  and  relieve  his  horses'  dripping  breasts  of 
the  hot  harness  ;  some  turn  the  well-deserving  steeds 
into  the  soft  pasture,  and  lean  the  chariot  backward, 
pole  in  air.  Night  then  came  on,  and  laid  to  rest 
the  cares  of  men  and  the  prowlings  of  wild  beasts, 
and  wrapped  the  heavens  in  her  dusky  shroud, 
coming  to  all  with  kindly  influence,  but  not  to  thee, 
Adrastus,  nor  to  the  Labdacian  prince  ^  ;  for  Tydeus 
was  held  by  generous  slumber,  steeped  in  dreams  of 
valiant  prow'ess.  And  now  amid  the  night- wandering 
shades  the  god  of  battle  from  on  high  made  to  re- 
sound with  the  thunder  of  arms  the  Nemean  fields 
and  Arcady  from  end  to  end,  and  tlie  height  of 
Taenarum  and  Therapnae  favoured  of  Apollo,  and 
filled  excited  hearts  with  passion  for  himself.  Fury 
and  Wrath  make  trim  his  crest,  and  Panic,  his  own 
squire,  handles  his  horses'  reins.     But  Rumour,  awake 

VOL.  I  2 1  481 


STATIUS 

Fama  sono  vanos  rerum  succincta  tumultus 
antevolat  currum  flatuque  impulsa  gementum 
alipedum  trepidas  denso  cum  murmure  plumas 
excutit  :  urget  enini  stimulis  auriga  cruentis 
facta,  infecta  loqui,  curruque  infestus  ab  alto  430 

terga  comamque  deae  Scythica  pater  increpat  hasta. 
qualis  ubi  Aeolio  dimissos  carcere  Ventos 
dux  prae  se  Neptunus  agit  magnoque  volentes 
incitat  Aegaeo  ;  tristis  comitatus  eunti 
circum  lora  fremunt  Nimbique  Hiemesque  profundae 
Nubilaque  et  vulso  terrarum  sordida  fundo  436 

Tempestas  :  dubiae  motis  radicibus  obstant 
Cyclades,  ipsa  tua  Mycono  Gyaroque  revelli, 
Dele,  times  magnique  fidem  testai-is  alumni. 

Septima  iam  nitidum  terris  Aurora  deisque         440 
purpureo  veliit  ore  diem,  Perseius  heros 
cum  primum  arcana  senior  sese  extulit  aula, 
multa  super  bello  generisque  tumentibus  aniens 
incertusque  animi,  daret  armis  iura  novosque 
gentibus^  incuteret  stimulos,  an  frena  teneret         445 
irarum  et  motos  capulis  adstringeret  enses. 
hinc  pacis  tranquilla  movent,  atque  inde  pudori 
foeda  quies,  flectique  nova  dulcedine  pugnae 
difficiles  populi  ;  dubio  sententia  tandem 
sera  placet,  vatum  mentes  ac  provida  veri  450 

sacra  movere  deum.     sollers  tibi  cura  futui'i, 

^  gentibus  Pw  :  mentibus  K. 

«  Bellona,  cf.  vii.  73, 

"  Mars. 

<^  Delos,  formerly  a  floating  island,  was  made  fastened 
to  Myconos  and  Gyaros  and  made  stationary,  when  Leto 
was  about  to  give  birth  to  Apollo  and  Artemis  on  it. 

482 


THEBAID,   III.  42(5-451 

to  every  sound  and  girt  with  empty  tidings  of 
tumult,  flies  before  the  chariot,  sped  onward  by  the 
\\  inged  steeds'  panting  breath,  and  with  loud  whirring 
shakes  out  her  fluttering  plumes  ;  for  the  cliarioteer  * 
with  blood-stained  goad  urges  her  to  speak,  be  it 
truth  or  falsehood,  while  threatening  from  the  lofty 
car  the  sire  **  with  Scythian  lance  assails  the  back  and 
tresses  of  the  goddess.  Even  so  their  chieftain 
Neptune  drives  before  him  the  Winds  set  free  from 
Aeolus'  cell,  and  speeds  them  willing  over  the  wide 
Aegean  ;  in  his  train  Storms  and  high-piled  Tempests, 
a  surly  company,  clamour  about  his  reins,  and  Clouds 
and  the  dark  Hurricane  torn  from  earth's  rent  bowels  ; 
wavering  and  shaken  to  their  foundations  the  Cyclades 
stem  the  blast  ;  even  thou,  Delos,  fearest  to  be  torn 
away  from  thy  Myconos  and  Gyaros,  and  entreatest 
tlie  protection  of  thy  mighty  son/ 

And  now  the  seventh  Dawn  with  shining  face  was 
bearing  bright  day  to  earth  and  heaven,  when  the 
Persean  hero  '^  first  came  forth  from  the  private 
chamber  of  his  palace,  distracted  by  thought  of  war 
and  the  princes'  swelling  ambition,  and  perplexed  in 
mind,  whether  to  give  sanction  and  stir  anew  the 
rival  peoples,  or  to  hold  tight  the  reins  of  anger  and 
fasten  in  their  sheaths  tlie  restless  swords.  On  the  one 
side  he  is  moved  by  the  thought  of  tranquil  peace, 
on  the  other  by  the  shame  of  dishonoured  quiet  and 
the  hard  task  of  turning  a  people  from  war's  new 
glamour  ;  in  his  doubt  this  late  resolve  at  last  finds 
favour,  to  try  the  mind  of  prophets  and  the  true 
presaging    of   the    sacred    rites.     To    thy    wisdom, 

'^  Adrastus;  "  Persean  "  here,  as  in  i.  225,  means  Argive, 
because  Perseus  was  son  of  Danae,  daughter  of  Acrisius, 
king  of  Argos. 

483 


STATIUS 

Ampliiarac,  datur.  iuxtaque  Amythaone  cretus 
iam  senior — sed  mente  viret  Phoeboque — Melampus 
adsociat  passus  :  dubium,  cui  pronus^  Apollo 
oraque  Cirrhaea  satiarit  largius  unda.  455 

principio  fibris  pecudumque  in  sanguine  divos 
explorant  ;  iam  tunc  pavidis  maculosa  bidentum 
corda  negant  diraque  nefas  minitantia  vena, 
ire  tamen  vacuoque  sedet  petere  omina  caelo. 

Mons  erat  audaci  seductus  in  aethera  dorso —    460 
nomine  Lernaei  memorant  Aphesanta  coloni — , 
gentibus  Argolicis  olim  sacer  ;  inde  ferebant 
nubila  suspense  celerem  temerasse  volatu 
Persea,  cum  raptos  pueri  perterrita  mater 
prospexit  de  rupe  gradus  ac  paene  secuta  est.        465 
hue  gemini  vates  sanctam  canentis  olivae 
fronde  comam  et  niveis  ornati  tempora  vittis 
evadunt  pariter,  madidos  ubi  lucidus  agros 
ortus  et  algentes  laxavit  sole  pruinas. 
ac  prior  Oeclides  solitum  prece  numen  amicat  :      470 
"  luppiter  omnipotens — nam  te  pernicibus  alis 
addere  consilium  volucresque  implere  futuri 
ominaque  et  causas  caelo  deferre  latentes 
accipimus — ,  non  Cirrha  deum  promiserit  antro 
certius,  aut  frondes  lucis  quas  fama  Molossis  475 

Chaonias  sonuisse  tibi  :  licet  aridus  Hammon 
invideat  Lyciaeque  parent  contendere  sortes 

^  pronus  P  :  dexter  w :  pectora  Bentley. 


"  Perseus  was  given  wings  to  enable  him  to  fly,  when  he 
slew  the  Gorgon  Medusa. 

*  i.e.,  Amphiaraus,  son  of  Oecleus. 

"  The  oracles  referred  to  are  those  of  Apollo  at  Delphi, 

484 


THEBAID,  III.  452-477 

Arnphiaraus,  is  given  the  charge  to  read  tlie  future, 
and  with  thee  Melampus,  son  of  Aniythaon — an  old 
man  now,  but  fresh  in  vigour  of  mind  and  Phoebus' 
inspiration — bears  company  ;  'tis  doubtful  which 
Apollo  more  favours,  or  whose  mouth  he  has  sated 
with  fuller  draughts  of  Cirrha's  waters.  At  first 
they  try  the  gods  with  entrails  and  blood  of  cattle  : 
even  then  the  spotted  hearts  of  sheep  and  the  dread 
veins  threatening  disaster  portend  refusal  to  the 
timorous  seers.  Yet  they  resolve  to  go  and  seek 
omens  in  the  open  sky. 

A  mount  there  was,  with  bold  ridge  rising  far 
aloft — the  dwellers  in  Lerna  call  it  Aphesas — sacred 
of  yore  to  Argive  folk  :  for  thence  they  say  swift 
Perseus  "  profaned  the  clouds  with  hovering  flight, 
when  from  the  cliff  his  mother  terror-stricken  beheld 
the  boy's  high-soaring  paces,  and  well  nigh  sought 
to  follow.  Hither  the  prophets  twain,  their  sacred 
locks  adorned  with  leaves  of  the  grey  olive  and  their 
temples  decked  with  snow-white  fillets,  side  by  side 
ascend,  when  the  sun  rising  bright  has  melted  the 
cold  hoarfrost  on  the  humid  fields.  And  first 
Oeclides ''  seeks  with  prayer  the  favour  of  the 
wonted  deity  :  "  Almighty  Jupiter, — for  thou,  as  we 
are  taught,  impartest  counsel  to  swift  wings,  and  dost 
fill  the  birds  with  futurity,  and  bring  to  light  the 
omens  and  causes  that  lurk  in  mid-heaven, — not 
Cirrha  "  can  more  surely  vouchsafe  the  inspiration 
of  her  grotto,  nor  those  Chaonian  leaves  that 
are  famed  to  rustle  at  thy  bidding  in  Molossian 
groves  :  though  arid  Hammon  envy,  and  the 
Lycian  oracle  contend  in  rivalry,  and  the  beast  of 

Zeus  at  Dodona,  Zeus  Amnion  in  Libya,  Apollo  in  Lycia, 
Apis  in  Egypt,  Branchus  (son  of  Apollo]  at  xMiletus. 

485 


STATIUS 

Niliacumque  pecus  patrioque  aequalis^  honori 
Branchus,  et  undosae  qiiem^  rusticus  accola  Pisae 
Pana  Lycaonia  nocturnum  exaudit  in  umbra,         480 
ditior  ille  animi,  cui  tu,  Dictaee,  secundas 
impuleris  manifestus  aves.     mirum  unde,  sed  olim^ 
hie  honor  alitibus,  superae  seu  conditor  aulae 
sic  dedit  effusum  chaos  in  nova  semina  texens, 
seu  quia  mutatae  nostraque  ab  origine  versis  485 

corporibus  subiere  notes,  seu  purior  axis 
amotumque  nefas  et  rarum  insistere  terris 
vera  decent  ;  tibi,  summe  sater  terraeque  deumque, 
scire  licet,     nos  Argohcae  primordia  pugnae 
venturumque  sinas  caele  praenosse  laborem.  490 

si  datur  et  duris  ^jedet  haec  sententia  Parcis 
solvere  Echienias  Lernaea  cuspide  portas, 
signa  feras  laevusque  tones  ;  tunc  omnis  in  astris 
consonet  arcana  velucris  bona  murmura  lingua. 
si  prehibes,  hie  necte  moras  dextrisque  prefundum  495 
alitibus  praetexe  diem."     sic  fatus,  et  alte 
membra  leeat  seopulo  ;  tune  plura  ignetaque  iungit 
numina  et  immensi  fruitur  caligine  mundi. 
Pestquam  rite  diu  partiti  sidera  cunctis 
perlegere  animis  oculisque  sequacibus  auras,  500 

tune  Amythaonius  longe  post  tempore  vates  : 
"  nonne  sub  exeelso  spirantis  limite  caeli, 
Amphiarae,  vides,  eursus  ut  nulla  serenos 

^  aequalis  Pw  :  aequatus  Schol.  Theb.  viii.  198. 

^  quern  Mueller  :  qui  Pw. 

^  olim  w:  olims  (olis)  P :  olimst  Mueller:  olim  est  Gar  rod. 

"  Jupiter  was  born  on  Mt.  Dicte  in  Crete,  according  to 
one  legend. 
486 


THEBAID,  III.  478-503 

Nile,  and  Branchus,  whose  honour  is  equal  to  his 
sire's,  and  Pan,  whom  the  rustic  dweller  in  wave- 
beat  Pisa  hears  nightly  beneath  the  Lycaonian 
shades,  more  richly  blest  in  mind  is  he,  for  whom 
thou,  O  Dictaean,"  dost  guide  the  favouring  flights 
that  show  thy  will.  Mysterious  is  the  cause,  yet  of 
old  has  this  honour  been  paid  to  the  birds,  whether 
the  Founder  of  the  heavenly  abode  thus  ordained, 
when  he  wrought  the  vast  expanse  of  Chaos  into 
fresh  seeds  of  things  ;  or  because  the  birds  went  forth 
upon  the  breezes  with  bodies  transformed  and 
changed  from  shapes  that  once  were  oui's  ;  or  because 
tliey  learn  truth  from  the  purer  heaven,  where  error 
comes  not,  and  alight  but  rarely  on  the  earth  :  'tis 
known  to  thee,  great  sire  of  earth  and  of  the  gods. 
Grant  that  we  may  have  foreknowledge  from  the 
sky  of  the  beginnings  of  the  Argive  struggle  and  the 
contest  that  is  to  come.  If  it  is  appointed  and  the 
stern  Fates  are  Set  in  this  resolve,  that  the  Lernaean 
spear  shall  shatter  the  Echionian  gates,  show  signs 
thereof  and  thunder  leftward  ;  then  let  every  bird 
in  heaven  join  in  propitious  melody  of  mystic  lan- 
guage. If  thou  dost  forbid,  then  weave  delays,  and  on 
the  right  shroud  with  winged  creatures  the  abyss  of 
day."  So  spoke  he,  and  settled  his  limbs  upon  a 
high  rock  ;  then  to  his  prayer  he  adds  more  deities 
and  deities  unknown,  and  holds  converse  with  the 
dark  mysteries  of  the  illimitable  heaven. 

When  they  had  duly  parted  out  the  heavens  and 
long  scanned  the  air  with  keen  attention  and  quick- 
following  vision,  at  last  the  Amythaonian  seer  : 
"  Seest  thou  not,  Amphiaraus,  how  beneath  the 
breathing  sky's  exalted  bounds  no  winged  creature 
travels   on   a    course    serene,   nor    hangs    aloft,    en- 

487 


STATIUS 

ales  agat  liquidoque  polum  complexa  ineatu 
pendeat  aut  fugiens  placabile  planxerit  omen  ?       505 
non  comes  obscurus  tripodum,  non  fulminis  ardens 
vector  adest,  flavaeque  sonans  avis  unca  Minervae, 
non  venit  auguriis  melior  ;  quin^  vultur  et  altis 
desuper  accipitres  exsultavere  rapinis. 
nionstra  volant,  dirae  stridunt  in  nube  volucres,     510 
nocturnaeque  gemunt  striges  et  feralia  bubo 
damna  canens.   quae  prima  deum  portenta  sequamur? 
hisne  dari,  Thymbraee,  polum  ?  simul  ora  recurvo 
ungue  secant  rabidae  planctumque  imitantibus  alis 
exagitant  zephyros  et  plumea  pectora  caedunt."   515 
ille  sub  haec  :  "  equidem  varii,  pater,  omina  Phoebi 
saepe  tuli  :  iam  tum,  prima  cum  pube  virentem 
semideos  inter  pinus  me  Thessala  reges 
duceret,  liic  casus  terraeque  marisque  canentem 
obstipuere  duces,  nee  me  ventura  locuto  520 

sacpius  in  dubiis  auditus  lasoni  Mopsus. 
sed  similis  non  ante  metus  aut^  astra^  notavi 
prodigiosa  magis  ;  quamquam  maiora  parantur. 
hue  adverte  animum  :  clara  regione  profundi 
aetheros  innumeri  statuerunt  agmina  cygni,  525 

sive  hos  Strymonia  Boreas  eiecit  ab  Arcto, 
seu  fecunda  refert  placidi  dementia  Xili.* 
fixerunt  cursus  :  has  rere  in  imagine  Thebas  ; 
nam  sese  immoti  gyro  atque  in  pace  silentes 
eeu  muris  valloque  tenent.     sed  fortior  ecce  530 

^  quin  Bernartius  {from  a  its.)  :  qui  Pw. 

^  aut  Poj :  tamen  I). 

^  astra  Pw  :  monstra  Mueller :  signa  Slater,  etc.,  hut  astra 
=  caelum.  *  Nili  w  :  caeli  P. 

"  The  raven  (bird  of  Apollo),  the  eagle  (of  Jupiter),  and 
the  owl. 

"  Apollo  was  worshipped  at  ThymVjra,  in  the  Troad. 
•^  The  Argo,  which  started  from  lolcos  in  Thessalj'. 

4S8 


THEBAID,  III.  004-530 

circling  tlie  pole  in  liciiiid  flight,  nor  as  it  speeds 
along  utters  a  cry  of  peaceful  import  ?  No  dark 
companion  of  the  tripod,"  nor  fiery  bearer  of 
the  thunderbolt  is  here,  and  fair-haired  Minerva's 
hooting  bird  with  the  hooked  beak  comes  not  with 
better  augury  ;  but  hawks  and  vultures  exult  on 
high  over  their  airy  plunder.  Monstrous  creatures 
are  flying,  and  direful  birds  clamour  in  the  clouds, 
nocturnal  screech-owls  cry,  and  the  horned  owl  with 
its  dismal  funeral  chant.  What  celestial  portents 
are  we  to  follow  first  ?  must  we  take  these  as  lords 
of  the  sky,  O  Thymbraean  '^  f  Even  now  in  frenzy  do 
they  tear  each  other's  faces  with  crooked  talons,  and 
lash  the  breezes  with  pinions  that  seem  to  smite  the 
bosom,  and  assail  their  feathery  breasts."  The  other 
in  reply  :  "  Oft  indeed,  father,  have  I  read  omens 
of  various  sort  from  Phoebus.  Yea,  when  in  my 
vigorous  youth  the  pinewood  barque  of  Thessaly " 
bore  me  in  company  of  princes  half-divine,  even  then 
did  the  chieftains  listen  spellbound  to  my  chant  of 
what  should  befall  us  on  land  and  sea,  nor  Mopsus' 
self  was  hearkened  to  more  often  by  Jason  in  per- 
plexity than  my  presagings  of  the  future.  But  never 
ere  this  day  felt  I  such  terror,  or  observed  prodigies 
so  dire  in  heaven  ;  yet  happenings  more  awful  are 
in  store.  Look  hither  then  :  in  this  clear  region  of 
profound  aether  numberless  swans  have  marshalled 
their  ranks,  whether  Boreas  has  driven  them  from 
the  Strymonian  North,  or  the  benignant  fostering 
air  of  placid  Nile  recalls  them.  They  have  stopped 
their  flight  :  these  deem  thou  in  fancy  to  be  Thebes, 
for  they  hold  themselves  motionless  in  a  circle  and 
are  silent  and  at  peace,  as  though  enclosed  by 
walls  and  rampart.     But  lo  !    a  more  valiant  cohort 

+89 


STATIUS 

adventat  per  inane  coliors  ;  septem  ordine  fulvo 
armigeras  summi  lovis  exsultante  catei'va 
intuor  :  Inachii  sint  lii  tibi,  concipe,  reges. 
invasere  globuni  nivei  gregis  uncaque  pandunt 
caedibus  ora  novis  et  strictis  unguibus  instant.       535 
cernis  inexperto  rorantes  sanguine  ventos, 
et  plumis  stillare  diem  ?  quae  saeva  repente 
victores  agitat  leto  lovis  ira  sinistri  ? 
hie  excelsa  petens  subita  face  solis  inarsit 
submisitque  animos,  ilium  vestigia  adortum  540 

maiorum  volucrum  tenerae  deponitis  alae. 
hie  hosti  implicitus  pariter  ruit,  hunc  fuga  retro 
volvit  agens  sociae  linquentem  fata  catervae. 
hie  nimbo  glomeratus  obit,  hie  praepete  viva 
paseitur  immoriens  ;  spai-git  cava  nubila  sanguis."  545 
"  quid  furtim  inlacrimas  ?  "  "  ilium,  venerande  Me- 

lampu, 
qui  cadit,  agnosco."     trepidos  sic  mole  futuri 
cunctaque  iam  rerum  certa  sub  imagine  passos 
terror  habet  vates  ;  piget  inrupisse  volantum 
concilia  et  caelo  mentem  insertasse  vetanti,  550 

auditique  odere  deos. — unde  iste  per  orbem 
primus  venturi  miseris  animantibus  aeger 
crevit  amor  ?  divumne  feras  hoc  munus,  an  ipsi, 
gens  avida  et  parto  non  umquam  stare  quieti, 


'^  i.e.,  eagles,  "  ministers  of  the  thunderbolt." 

*  In  the  following  lines  the  fate  of  the  Seven  is  foreshown, 
first  Capaneus,  then  Parthenopaeus,  Polynices,  Adrastus, 
Hippomedon,  Tydeus  :  finally  Amphiaraus  sees  his  own  fate. 

•^  "tenerae  "  shows  that  Parthenopaeus  is  meant  here. 

"*  This  is  the  only  instance  in  the  Thihaid  of  a  change  of 
speaker  without  introductory  words  {e.g.,  he  said)  ;  I  have 
kept  the  traditional  punctuation,  though  it  would  be  quite 
possible  to  give  "  quid,"  etc.,  to  Amphiaraus,  and  not  make 

490 


THEBAID,   III.  531-554 

advances  through  the  empty  air ;  a  tawny  hne  of 
seven  birds  that  bear  the  weapons  of  Jupiter  supreme** 
I  see,  an  exultant  band  ;  suppose  that  in  these  thou 
hast  the  Inachian  princes.  They  have  flung  them- 
selves on  the  circle  of  the  snow-white  flock,  and  open 
wide  their  hooked  beaks  for  fresh  slaughter,  and  with 
talons  unsheathed  press  on  to  the  attack.  Seest 
thou  tlie  breezes  dripping  unwonted  blood,  and  the 
air  raining  feathers  ?  What  sudden  fierce  anger  of 
unpropitious  Jove  is  driving  the  victors  to  destruc- 
tion ?  This  one  ^  soaring  to  the  height  is  consumed 
by  the  sun's  quick  fire,  and  lays  down  liis  proud  spirit, 
that  other,  bold  in  pursuit  of  mightier  birds,  you  let 
sink,  ye  still  frail  pinions."  This  one  falls  grappling 
with  his  foe,  that  one  is  swept  backward  by  the  rout 
and  leaves  his  company  to  their  fate.  This  one  a 
rain-cloud  overwhelms,  another  in  death  devours  his 
winged  foe  yet  living  ;  blood  bespatters  the  hollow 
clouds . "  "  What  mean  those  secret  tears  '^  ?  "  "Him 
yonder  falling,  reverend  Melampus,  him  I  know  full 
well  !  "  Affrighted  thus  by  the  future's  dire  import, 
and  having  suffered  all  under  a  sure  image  of  things 
to  come,  the  seers  are  held  by  terror  ;  it  repents 
them  that  they  have  broken  in  upon  the  councils  of 
the  flying  birds,  and  forced  their  will  upon  a  for- 
bidding heaven  ;  though  heard,  they  hate  the  gods 
that  heard  them.  Whence  first  arose  among  un- 
happy mortals  throughout  the  world  that  sickly 
craving  for  the  future  ?  Sent  by  heaven,  wouldst 
thou  call  it  ?  Or  is  it  we  ourselves,  a  race  insatiable, 
never  content  to  abide  on  knowledge  gained,  that 

Melampus  speak  at  all.  Melampus  weeps  because  he  under- 
stands Amphiaraus's  fate;  then  Amphiaraus  says  "Why  do 
you  weep  for  me:    I  know  my  fate." 


STATIUS 

eruiinus,  quae  prima  dies,  ubi  terminus  aevi,  555 

quid  bonus  ille  deum  genitor,  quid  ferrea  Clotho 
cogitet  ?  hinc  fibrae  et  volucrum  per  nubila  sermo 
astrorumque  vices  numerataque  semina^  lunae 
Thessalicumque  nefas.     at  non  prior  aureus  ille 
sanguis  avum  scopulisque  satae  vel  robore  gentes  560 
mentibus  his  usae  ;  silvas  amor  unus  humumque 
edomuisse  manu  ;  quid  crastina  volveret  aetas, 
scire  nefas  homini.     nos  pravum  et  flebile  vulgus 
scrutari  penitus  superos  :  hinc  pallor  et  irae, 
hinc  scelus  insidiaeque  et  nulla  modestia  voti.         565 

Ergo  manu  vittas  damnataque  vertice  serta 
deripit  abiectaque  inhonorus  fronde  sacerdos 
inviso  de  monte  redit  ;  iam  bella  tubaeque 
comminus,  absentesque  fremunt  sub  pectore  Thebae. 
ille  nee  aspectum  volgi,  nee  fida  tyranni  570 

conloquia  aut  coetus  procerum  perferre,  sed  atra 
sede  tegi,  et  superum  clausus  negat  acta  fateri  ; 
te  pudor  et  curae  retinent  per  rura,  Melampu. 
bissenos  premit  ora  dies  populumque  ducesque 
extrahit  incertis.     et  iam  suprema  Tonantis  575 

iussa  fremunt  agrosque  viris  annosaque  vastant 
oppida  ;  bellipotens  prae  se  deus  agmina  passim 
mille  rapit  ;  liquere  domos  dilectaque  laeti 
conubia  et  primo  plorantes  limine  natos  ; 
tantus  in  attonitos  cecidit  deus.     arma  paternis     580 
postibus  et  fixos  superum  ad  penetralia  currus 

1  semina  PL  :  semita  w. 


"  The  reference  is  apparently  to  horoscopes. 

**  It  is  not  clear  what  he  means  by  this :  possibly  "  semita  " 
should  be  read,  "  the  calculated  path  of  the  moon." 

*■  The  earliest  races,  e.g.  the  Arcadians,  were  supposed  to 
hav^e  sprung  from  trees  or  rocks. 

492 


THEBAID,   III.  .355-581 

search  out  tlie  day  of  oiii'  birth "  and  tlie  scene  of 
our  hfe's  ending,  what  the  kindly  Father  of  the  gods  is 
thinking,  or  iron-hearted  Clotho  ?  Hence  comes  it  that 
entrails  occupy  us,  and  the  airy  speech  of  birds,  and_ 
the  moon's  numbered  seed^^and  Thessalia's  horrid 
rites.  But  that  earlier  golden  age  of  our  forefathers, 
and  the  races  born  of  rock  or  oak "  were  not  thus 
minded  ;  their  only  passion  was  to  gain  the  mastery 
of  the  woods  and  the  soil  by  might  of  hand  ;  it  was 
forbidden  to  man  to  know  what  to-morrow's  day 
would  bring.  We,  a  depraved  and  pitiable  crowd, 
probe  deep  the  counsels  of  the  gods  ;  hence  come 
wrath  and  anxious  fear,  hence  crime  and  treachery, 
and  importunity  in  prayer. 

Therefore  the  priest  tears  from  his  brow  the  fillets 
and  wreaths  condemned  of  heaven,  and  all  un- 
lionoured,  his  chaplet  cast  away,  returns  from  the 
liated  mount  ;  already  war  is  at  hand,  and  the  sound 
of  trumpets,  and  in  his  heart  he  hears  the  clamour 
of  absent  Thebes.  Not  sight  of  populace,  nor  trusted 
converse  ^^'ith  the  monarch,  nor  council  of  chieftains 
can  he  bear,  but  hidden  in  his  dark  chamber  refuses 
to  make  known  the  doings  of  the  gods  ;  thee, 
Melampus,  shame  and  thy  own  cares  keep  in  thy 
country  region.  For  twelve  days  he  speaks  not,  and 
holds  people  and  leaders  in  long-drawn  suspense. 
And  now  tumultuous  grow  the  Thunderer's  high 
behests,  and  lay  waste  of  men  both  fields  and  ancient 
towns  ;  on  every  side  the  war-god  sweeps  countless 
troops  before  him  ;  gladly  do  they  leave  their  homes 
and  beloved  wives  and  babes  that  Mail  upon  the 
threshold  ;  with  such  power  hath  the  god  assailed 
their  frenzied  hearts.  Eager  are  they  to  tear  away 
the  weapons  from  their  fathers'  doorposts  and  the 

493 


ST  ATI  us 

vellere  amor  ;  tunc  fessa  putri  i-obigiue  pila 
haerentesquc  situ  gladios  in  saeva  recurant^ 
vulnera  et  adtrito  cogunt  iuvenescere  saxo. 
hi  teretes  galeas  magnorumque  aerea  suta  585 

thoracum  et  tunicas  chalybum  squalore  crepantes 
pectoribus  temptare,  alii  Cortynia  lentant 
cornua  ;  iam  falces  avidis  et  aratra  caminis 
rastraque  et  incurvi  saevum  rubuere  ligones. 
caedere  nee  validas  Sanctis  e  stirpibus  hastas,         590 
nee  pudor  emerito  clipeum  vestisse  iuvenco. 
inrupere  Argos  maestique  ad  limina  regis 
bella  animis,  bella  ore  fremunt  ;  it  clamor  ad  auras, 
quantus  Tyrrheni  gemitus  sails,  aiit  ubi  temptat 
Enceladus  mutare  latus  ;  super  igneus  antris  595 

mons  tonat,  exundant  apices  fluctusque  Pelorus 
contrahit,  et  sperat  tellus  abrupta  reverti. 

Atque  hie  ingenti  Capaneus  Mavortis  amore 
excitus  et  longam  pridem  indignantia  pacem  599 

corda  tumens — ^huic  ampla  quidem  de  sanguine  prisco 
nobilitas  ;  sed  enim  ipse  manu  praegressus  avorum 
facta,  diu  tuto  superum  contemptor  et  aequi 
impatiens  largusque  animae,  modo  suaserit  ira — , 
unus  ut  e  silvis  Pholoes  habitator  opacae 
inter  et  Aetnaeos  aequus  consurgere  fratres,  605 

ante  fores,  ubi  turba  ducum  vulgique  frementis, 
Amphiarae,  tuas  "  quae  tanta  ignavia  "  clamat, 

^  recurant  P :  recurvant  w :  recurunt  {with  r  written  over) 
D. 

494 


THEBAID,   III.  582-G07 

chariots  made  fast  in  the  inmost  shrines  of  the  gods  ; 
then  they  refashion  for  cruel  wounds  the  spears  that 
rotting  rust  has  worn,  and  the  swords  that  stick  in 
their  scabbards  from  neglect,  and  on  the  grindstone 
force  them  to  be  young  once  more.  Some  try 
shapely  helms  and  the  brazen  mail  of  mighty  corse- 
lets, and  fit  to  tlieir  breasts  tunics  that  creak  with 
the  mouldering  iron,  others  bend  Gortynian  bows  ;  in 
greedy  furnaces  scythes,  ploughs  and  harrows  and 
curved  mattocks  glow  fiercely  red.  Nor  are  they 
ashamed  to  cut  strong  spear-shafts  from  sacred  trees, 
or  to  make  a  covering  for  their  shields  from  the  worn- 
out  ox.  They  rush  to  Argos,  and  at  the  doors  of  the 
despondent  king  clamour  with  heart  and  voice  for 
war,  for  war  !  And  the  shout  goes  up  like  the  roar  of 
the  Tyrrhenian  surge,  or  when  Enceladus  "  tries  to 
shift  his  side  :  above,  the  fiery  mountain  thunders 
from  its  caves,  its  peak  o'erflows  and  Pelorus'  flood 
is  narrowed,  and  the  sundered  land  hopes  to  return 
once  more. 

Then  Capaneus,  impelled  by  war's  overmastering 
passion,  with  swelling  heart  that  had  long  thought 
scorn  of  lingering  peace, — nobility  of  ancient  blood 
had  he  in  full  measure,  but,  surpassing  the  prowess 
of  his  sires,  he  had  long  despised  the  gods  ;  impatient 
too  was  he  of  justice,  and  lavish  of  liis  life,  did  WTath 
but  urge  him — even  as  a  dweller  in  Pholoe's  dark 
forests,  or  one  who  might  stand  equal  among 
Aetnaean  brethren,*  clamours  before  thy  portals, 
Amphiaraus,  amid  a  crowd  of  chieftains  and  yell- 
ing folk  :  "  What  shameful  cowardice  is  this,  O  sons 

"  A  giant  imprisoned  under  Aetna,  Pelorus  was  a 
promontory  to  the  N.E.  of  Messana. 

''  i.f.,  like  a  Centaur  or  one  of  the  Cyclopes. 


ST  ATI  us 

"  Inachidae  vosque  o  socio  de  sanguine  Achivi  ? 
unius— heu  pudeat  ! — ^plebeia  ad  limina  civis 
tot  ferro  accinctae  gentes  animisque  paratae  GIO 

pendemus  ?  non  si  ipse  cavo  sub  vertice  Cirrhae, 
quisquis  is  est,  timidis  famaeque  ita  visus,  Apollo 
niugiat  insano  penitus  seclusus  in  antro, 
exspectare  queam,  dum  pallida  virgo  tremendas 
nuntiet  ambages,     virtus  mihi  numen  et  ensis,       615 
quern  teneo  !  iamque  hie  timida  cum  fraude  sacerdos 
exeat,  aut  hodie,  volucrum  quae  tanta  potestas, 
experiar."     laetum  fremit  adsensuque  furentem 
implet  Achaea  manus.     tandem  prorumpere  adactus 
Oeclides:  "  alio  curavum  agitante  tumultu  620 

non  equidem  efFreno  iuvenis  clamore  profani 
dictorumque  metu,  licet  hie  insana  minetur, 
eUcior  tenebris  ;  alio  mihi  debita  fato 
summa  dies,  vetitumque  dari  mortahbus  armis, 
sed  me  vester  amor  nimiusque  arcana  profari         625 
Phoebus  agit  ;   vobis  ventura  atque  onine,  quod  ultra 

est, 
pandere  maestus  eo  ;  nam  te,  vesane,  moneri 
ante  nefas,  unique  tacet  tibi  noster  Apollo, 
quo,  miseri,  fatis  superisque  obstantibus  arma, 
quo  rapitis  ?  quae  vos  Furiarum  verbera  caecos     630 
exagitant  ?  adeone  animarum  taedet  ?  et  Argos 
exosi  ?  nil  dulce  domi  ?  nulla  omina  curae  ? 
quid  me  Persei  secreta  ad  culmina  montis 
ire  gradu  trepido  superumque  inrumpere  coetus 
egistis  ?  potui  pariter  nescire,  quis  armis  635 

"  Parnassus  :  Cirrha  was  really  the  town  on  the  Corinthian 
gulf,  but  is  often  used  for  Delphi. 

496 


THEBAID,  III.  608-635 

of  Inacluis,  and  ye  Achaeans  of  kindred  blood  ? 
Before  one  citizen's  lowly  door — for  shame  ! — do  we 
liang  irresolute,  so  vast  a  host,  iron-girt  and  of  ready 
valour  ?  Not  if  beneath  Cirrha's  caverned  height  "■ 
he,  whoe'er  he  is — Apollo  cowards  and  rumour  account 
him  —  were  to  bellow  from  the  deep  seclusion 
of  his  crazy  grotto,  could  I  wait  for  the  pale  virgin 
to  announce  the  solemn  riddlings  !  V'alour  and  the 
good  sword  in  my  hand  are  the  gods  I  worship  ! 
And  now  let  this  priest  with  his  timid  trickery  come 
out,  or  this  very  day  I  shall  make  trial,  what  wondrous 
power  there  is  in  birds."  The  Achaean  mob  raise 
joyful  outcry,  and  encourage  his  madness.  At  last 
Oeclides,  driven  to  rush  forth  among  them  :  "  'Tis 
not  the  unrestrained  clamour  of  a  blasphemous 
stripling  nor  the  fear  of  his  taunts  that  draws  me 
tVom  my  darkness,  mad  though  liis  threatenings  be  ; 
far  different  are  the  tumultuous  cares  that  vex  me, 
far  other  is  the  destiny  that  brings  my  final  doom, 
nor  may  mortal  arms  have  power  upon  me.  But 
now  my  love  for  you  and  Phoebus'  strong  inspiration 
compel  me  to  speak  forth  my  oracle  ;  sadly  to  you 
will  I  reveal  what  is  to  come,  yea  all  that  lies  beyond, 
— to  you,  I  say,  for  to  thee,  thou  madman,  nought 
may  be  foreshown,  concerning  thee  only  is  our  lord 
Apollo  silent.  Whither,  unhappy  ones,  whither  are 
ye  rushing  to  war,  though  fate  and  heaven  would 
bar  the  way  ?  What  Furies'  lash  drives  you  blindly 
on  ?  Are  ye  so  weary  of  life  ?  Is  Argos  grown  so 
hateful  ?  Hath  home  no  sweetness  ?  Heed  ye  not 
the  omens  ?  Why  did  ye  foi'ce  me  to  climb  with 
trembling  step  to  the  secret  heights  of  Perseus' 
mount,  and  bi'eak  into  the  council  of  the  heavenly 
ones  ?  I  could  have  remained  in  ignorance  with 
VOL.  I  2  K  497 


ST  ATI  us 

casus,  ubi  atra  dies,  quae  fati  exordia  cunctis, 
quae  mihi.     consulti  testor  penetralia  mundi 
et  volucrum  adfatus  et  te,  Thymbraee,  vocanti 
non  alias  tana  saeve  mihi,  quae  signa  futuri 
pertulerim  :  vidi  ingentis  portenta  ruinae,  640 

vidi  hominum  divumque  nietus^  hilarenique  Megaeram 
et  Lachesin  putri  vacuantem^  saecula  penso. 
proicite  arma  manu  ;  deus  ecce  furentibus  obstat, 
ecce  deus  !  niiseri,  quid  pulchrum  sanguine  victo 
Aoniam  et  diri  saturare  novalia  Cadnii  ?  645 

sed  quid  vana  cano,  quid  fixos  arceo  casus  ? 
ibimus —  "      hie  presso  gemuit  semel  ore  sacerdos. 
ilium  iteruni  Capaneus  :  "  tuus  o  furor  auguret^  uni 
ista  tibi,  ut  serves  vacuos  inglorius  annos 
et  tua  non  umquam  Tyrrhenus  tempora  circum      650 
clangor  eat.     quid  vota  virum  meliora  moraris  ? 
scilicet  ut  vanis  avibus  natoque  domoque 
et  thalamis  potiare  iacens,  sileamus  inulti 
Tydeos  egregii  perfossum  pectus  et  arma 
foederis  abrupti  ?  quodsi  bella  efFera  Graios  655 

ferre  vetas,  i  Sidonios  legatus  ad  hostes  : 
haec  pacem  tibi  serta  dabunt.     tua  prorsus  inani 
verba  polo  causas  abstrusaque  nomina^  rerum 
eHciunt  ?  miseret  superum,  si  carmina  curae 

^  metus  P  :  nefas  w. 

^  vacuantem  Pcj  :  laxantem  P  margin. 

^  auguret  Mueller  :  augur  et  Pw. 

*  nomina  P  :  semina  w,  momina  Baehrens. 

498 


THEBAID,  III.  636-659 

you,  of  what  hap  awaits  our  arms,  when  cometh  the 
black  day  of  doom,  what  heralds  the  common  fate — 
and  mine  !  I  call  to  witness  the  mysteries  of  the 
universe  I  questioned,  and  the  speech  of  birds,  and 
thee,  Thymbraean,  never  before  so  pitiless  to  my 
supplication,  what  presagings  of  the  future  I  en- 
dured :  I  saw  a  mighty  ruin  foreshown,  I  saw 
gods  and  men  dismayed  and  Megaera  exultant  and 
Lachesis  with  crumbling  thread  laying  the  ages 
waste.  Cast  away  your  arms  !  behold !  heaven, 
yea,  heaven  withstands  your  frenzy  !  Miserable 
men,  what  glory  is  there  in  drenching  Aonia  and 
tlie  tallows  of  dire  Cadmus  with  the  blood  of  van- 
quished foes  ?  But  why  do  I  warn  in  vain  ?  why  do 
I  repel  a  fate  foredoomed  ?  I  go  to  meet  it — " 
Here  ceased  the  prophet,  and  groaned.  To  him 
Capaneus  yet  once  more  :  "To  thyself  alone  utter 
thy  raving  auguries,  that  thou  mayst  live  empty  and 
inglorious  years,  nor  ever  the  Tyrrhenian  clangour  " 
resound  about  thy  temples.  But  why  dost  thou  delay 
the  nobler  vows  of  heroes  .''  Is  it  forsooth  that  thou 
in  slothful  ease  mayst  lord  it  over  thy  silly  biids  and 
thy  son  and  home  and  women's  chambers,  that  we 
are  to  shroud  in  silence  the  stricken  breast  of  peerless 
Tydeus  and  the  armed  breach  of  covenant  ?  Dost 
thou  forbid  the  Greeks  to  make  fierce  war  ?  then  go 
thyself  an  envoy  to  our  Sidonian  foe  :  these  chaplets 
will  assure  thee  peace.  Can  thy  words  really  coax 
from  the  void  of  heaven  the  causes  and  hidden  names 
of  things  ?     Pitiable  in  sooth  are  the  gods,  if  they 

"  i.e.,  of  the  trumpet ;  the  Etruscans  excelled  in  bronze 
work,  and  this  epithet  of  the  trumpet  is  as  old  as  Aeschylus 
{Eum.  567). 

499 


STATIUS 

humanaeque  preces  !  (}uid  inertia  pectora  terres?  660 

primus  in  orbe  deos  fecit  timor  !  et  tibi  tuto 

nunc  eat  iste  furor  ;  sed  pi-ima  ad  classica  cum  iam 

hostilem  Ismenon  galeis  Dircenque  bibemus, 

ne  mihi  tunc,  moneo,  lituos  atque  arma  volenti 

obvlus  ire  pares  venisque  aut  alite  visa  665 

bellorum  proferre  diem  :  procul  haec  tibi  mollis 

infula  terrificique  aberit  dementia  Phoebi  : 

illic  augur  ego  et  mecum  quicumque  parati 

insanire  manu."     rursus  fragor  intonat  ingens 

hortantum  et  vasto  subter  volat  astra  tumultu.      670 

ut  rapidus  torrens,  animos  cui  verna  ministrant 

flamina  et  exuti  concrete  frigore  montes, 

cum  vagus  in  campos  frustra  prohibentibus  exit 

obicibus,  resonant  permixto  turbine  tecta, 

arva,  armenta,  viri,  donee  stetit  improbus  alto        675 

colle  minor  magnoque  invenit  in  aggere  ripas  : 

haec  alterna  ducum  nox  interfusa  diremit. 

At  gemitus  Argia  viri  non  amplius  aequo 
corde  ferens  sociumque  animo  miserata  dolorem, 
sicut  erat  laceris  pridem  turpata  capillis  680 

et  fletu  signata  genas,  ad  celsa  verendi 
ibat  tecta  patris,  parvumque  sub  ubere  caro 
Thessandrum  portabat  avo  iam  nocte  suprema 
ante  novos  ortus,  ubi  sola  superstite  plaustro 
Arctos  ad  oceanum  fugientibus  invidet  astris.         685 
utque  fores  iniit  magnoque  adfusa  parenti  est  : 
"  cur  tua  cum  lacrimis  maesto  sine  coniuge  supplex 
bmina  nocte  petam,  cessem  licet  ipsa  profari, 

"  See  Petronius,  frag.  27,  where  this  commonplace  of  the 
rhetoricians  is  developed  in  verse. 

500 


THEBAID,  III.  (.60-688 

take  heed  of  enchantments  and  prayers  of  men  ! 
Why  dost  thou  affright  these  shiggish  minds  ?  Fear 
first  created  gods  in  tlie  world  !  "■  Rave  therefore 
now  thy  fill  in  safety  ;  but  when  the  first  trumpets 
bray,  and  we  are  drinking  from  our  helms  the  hostile 
waters  of  Dirce  and  Ismenos,  come  not  then,  I  warn 
thee,  in  my  path,  when  I  am  yearning  for  the  bugle 
and  the  fray,  nor  by  veins  or  view  of  winged  fowl 
put  off  the  day  of  battle  ;  far  away  then  will  be  thy 
soft  fillet  and  the  crazy  alarms  of  Phoebus  :  then 
shall  I  be  augur,  and  with  me  all  who  are  ready  to 
be  mad  in  fight."  Again  out  thunders  a  vast  ap- 
proving shout,  and  rolls  uproarious  to  the  stars. 
Even  as  a  swift  torrent,  drawing  strength  from  the 
winds  of  spring  and  from  the  melting  of  the  frozen 
cold  upon  the  mountains,  when  o'er  vainly  hindering 
obstacles  it  bursts  its  way  out  upon  the  plain,  then 
homesteads,  crops,  cattle,  and  men  roar  mingled  in 
the  whirling  flood,  until  its  fury  is  checked  and  batHed 
by  a  rising  hill,  and  it  finds  itself  embanked  by 
mighty  mounds  :  even  so  interposing  night  set  an 
end  to  the  chieftains'  quarrel. 

But  Argia,  no  longer  able  to  bear  with  calm  mind 
her  lord's  distress,  and  pitying  the  grief  wherein  she 
shared,  even  as  she  was,  her  face  long  marred  by 
tearing  of  her  hair  and  marks  of  weeping,  went  to 
the  high  palace  of  her  reverend  father  in  the  last 
watch  of  night  ere  dawn,  when  Arctos'  wagon  sole- 
surviving  envies  the  ocean-fleeing  stars,  and  bore  in 
her  bosom  to  his  loving  grandsire  the  babe  Thessander . 
And  wlien  she  had  entered  the  door  and  was  clasped 
in  her  mighty  parent's  arms  :  "  Why  I  seek  thy 
threshold  at  night,  tearful  and  suppliant,  without  my 
sorrowful  spouse,  thou  knowest,  father,  even  were  I 

501 


STATIUS 

scis  genitor.     sed  iura  deum  genialia  testor 
teque  pater,  non  ille  iubet,  sed  pervigil  angor  ;      690 
ex  quo  primus  Hymen  movitque  infausta  sinistram 
luno  facem,  semper  lacrimis  gemituque  propinquo 
exturbata  quies.     non  si  mihi  tigridis  horror 
aequoreasque^  super  rigeant  praecordia  cautes, 
ferre  queam  ;  tu  solus  opem,  tu  summa  medendi  695 
iura  tenes  ;  da  bella,  pater,  generique  iacentis 
aspice  res  humiles,  atque  banc,  pater,  aspice  prolem 
exsulis  ;  huic  olim  generis  pudor.     o  ubi  prima 
liospitia  et  iunctae  testato^  numine  dextrae  ! 
hie  certe  est,  quem  fata  dabant,  quem  dixit  Apollo  ; 
non  egomet  tacitos  Veneris  furata  calores  701 

culpatamve  facem  :  tua  iussa  verenda  tuosque 
dilexi  monitus.     nunc  qua  feritate  dolentis 
despiciam  questus  ?  nescis,  pater  optime,  nescis, 
quantus  amor  castae^  misero  nupsisse  marito.         705 
et  nunc  maesta  quidem  grave  et  inlaetabile  munus, 
ut  timeam  doleamque,  I'ogo  ;  sed  cum  oscula  rumpet 
maesta  dies,  cum  rauca  dabunt  abeuntibus  armis 
signa  tubae  saevoque  genas  fulgebitis  auro, 
ei  mihi  !  care  pater,^  iterum  fortasse  rogabo."        710 

Illius  umenti  carpens  pater  oscula  vultu  : 
"  non  equidem  has  umquam  culparim,  nata,  querellas ; 
pone  metus,  laudanda  rogas  nee  digna  negari. 
sed  mihi  multa  dei — nee  tu  sperare,  quod  urges, 
desine — ,  multa  metus  regnique  volubile  pondus    715 

^  aequoreas  Klotz  :  aequoreae  Pw. 

"  testato  to  :  funesto  P :  manifesto  Baelirens. 

^  castae  P  :  causae  w. 

*  pater  w  :  parens  P. 

502 


THEBAID,  III.  089-715 

slow  to  tell  the  cause.  But  I  swear  by  the  sacred 
laws  of  wedlock  and  by  thee,  O  sire,  'tis  not  he  that 
bids  me,  but  my  wakeful  anguish.  For  ever  since 
Hymen  at  the  first  and  unpropitious  Juno  raised  the 
ill-omened  torch,  my  sleep  has  been  disturbed  by 
my  consort's  tears  and  moans.  Not  if  I  were  a  tigress 
bristling  fierce,  not  if  my  heart  were  rougher  than 
rocks  on  the  sea-strand,  could  I  bear  it  ;  thou  only 
canst  help  me,  thou  hast  the  sovereign  power  to 
heal.  Grant  war,  O  father  ;  look  on  the  low  estate 
of  thy  fallen  son-in-law,  look,  father,  here  on  the 
exile's  babe  ;  what  shame  for  his  birth  will  he  one 
day  feel  !  Ah  !  where  is  that  first  bond  of  friend- 
ship, and  the  hands  joined  beneath  heaven's  bless- 
ing ?  This  surely  is  he  whom  the  fates  assigned, 
of  whom  Apollo  spake  ;  no  hidden  fires  of  Venus 
have  I  in  secret  cherished,  no  guilty  Medlock  ; 
thy  reverend  commands,  thy  counsel  have  I  ever 
esteemed.  Now  with  what  cruelty  should  I  despise 
his  doleful  plaint  ?  Thou  knowest  not,  good  father, 
thou  knowest  not,  what  deep  affection  a  husband's 
misery  implants  in  a  loyal  bride.  And  now  in  sad- 
ness I  crave  this  hard  and  joyless  privilege  of  fear 
and  grief ;  but  when  the  sorrowful  day  interrupts 
our  kisses,  when  the  clarions  blare  their  hoarse 
commands  to  the  departing  iiost,  and  your  faces 
glitter  in  their  stei-n  casques  of  gold,  ah  !  then,  dear 
father,  mayhap  I  shall  crave  a  different  boon." 

Her  sire,  with  kisses  on  her  tear-bedewed  face  : 
"  Never,  my  daughter,  could  I  blame  these  plaints 
of  thine  ;  have  no  fears,  praiseworthy  is  thy  request, 
deserving  no  refusal.  But  much  the  gods  give  me 
to  ponder — nor  cease  thou  to  hope  for  what  thou 
urgest — much  my  own  fears   and  this   realm's   un- 

50:) 


ST  ATI  us 

subiciunt  animo.     veniet,  qui  debitus  istis, 
nata,  modus,  neque  te  incassum  flevisse  quereris. 
tu  solare  virum,  neu  sint  dispendia  iustae 
dura  morae  :  magnos  cunctamur,  nata,  paratus. 
proficitur  bello."     dicentem  talia  nascens  720 

lux  monet  ingentesque  iubent  adsurgere  curae. 


504 


THEBAID,  III.  716-721 

certain  governance.  In  due  measure  shall  thy  prayers 
be  answered,  and  thou  shalt  not  complain  thy  tears 
were  fruitless.  Console  thy  husband  and  hold  not 
j  ust  tarrying  cruel  waste  of  time  ;  'tis  the  greatness 
of  the  enterprise  that  brings  delay.  So  gain  we 
advantage  for  the  war."  As  thus  he  spoke,  the 
new-born  light  admonished  him,  and  his  grave  cares 
bade  him  arise. 


505 


LIBER  IV 

Tertius  horrentem  zepliyris  laxaverat  annum 
Phoebus  et  angustum  cogebat  limite  verno^ 
longius  ire  diem,  cum  fracta  impulsaque  fatis 
consilia  et  tandem  miseri  data  copia  belli, 
prima  manu  rutilam  de  vertiee  Larissaeo  5 

ostendit  Bellona  facem  dextraque  trabalem 
hastam  intorsit  agens,  liquido  quae  stridula  caelo 
fugit  et  Aoniae  eelso  stetit  aggere  Dirces. 
mox  et  castra  subit  ferroque  auroque  coruscis 
mixta  viris  turmale  fremit  ;  dat  euntibus  enses,       10 
plaudit  equos,  vocat  ad  portas  ;  hortamina  fortes 
praeveniunt,  timidisque  etiam  brevis  addita  virtus. 

Dicta  dies  aderat.     cadit  ingens  rite  Tonanti 
Gradivoque  pecus,  nullisque  secundus  in  extis 
pallet  et  armatis  simulat  sperare  sacerdos.  15 

iamque  suos  circum  pueri  nuptaeque  patresque 
funduntur  mixti  summisque  a  postibus  obstant. 
nee  modus  est  lacrimis  :  rorant  clipeique  iubaeque 
triste  salutantum,  et  cunctis  dependet  ab  armis 
suspiranda  domus  ;  galeis  iuvat  oscula  clusis  20 

^  angustum  .  .  .  verno  w  :  angusto  .  .  .  vernum  P. 
506 


BOOK   IV 

Thrice  had  Phoebus  loosened  stark  winter  with  the 
Zephyrs,  and  was  constraining  the  scanty  day  to 
move  in  its  vernal  path  witli  a  longer  course,  when 
counsellings  yielded  to  the  shock  of  fate,  and  pitiful 
war  was  given  at  last  an  ample  field.  First  from  the 
Larissaean  height  Bellona  displayed  her  ruddy  torch, 
and  with  right  arm  drove  the  spear-shaft  whirling  ; 
hissing,  it  flew  through  the  clear  heaven,  and  stood 
fixed  on  the  high  rampart  of  Aonian  Dirce.  Then 
to  the  camp  she  goes  and,  mingling  with  the  heroes 
that  glittered  in  gold  and  steel, shouts  like  a  squadron ; 
she  gives  swords  to  hurrying  warriors,  claps  their 
steeds  and  beckons  gatewaixl  ;  the  brave  anticipate 
her  promptings  and  even  the  timid  are  inspired  to 
short-lived  valour. 

The  appointed  day  had  come.  A  mighty  herd 
falls  in  due  sacrifice  to  the  Thunderer  and  to  Mars  ; 
the  priest,  cheered  by  no  favouring  entrails,  pales  and 
feigns  hope  before  the  host.  And  now  around  their 
kinsmen  sons  and  brides  and  fathers  pour  mingled, 
and  from  the  summit  of  the  gates  would  fain  delay 
them.  No  stint  is  there  of  tears  :  bedewed  are  the 
shields  and  helmet-crests  of  those  who  make  their 
sad  farewell,  and  the  household,  the  object  of  their 
sighs,  clings  to  every  weapon  ;  they  delight  to  find 
entrance  for  their  kisses  through  the  closed  visors, 

507 


ST  ATI  us 

inserere  amplexuque  truces  deducere  conos. 

illi,  quis  ferrum  modo,  quis  mors  ipsa  placebat, 

dant  gemitus  fractaque  labant  singultibus  ira. 

sic  ubi  forte  viris  longum  super  aequor  ituris, 

cum  iam  ad  vela  noti  et  scisso  redit  ancora  fundo,  25 

haeret  amica  manus  :  certant  innectere  collo 

brachia,  manantesque  oculos  liinc  oscula  turbant, 

hinc  magni  caligo  maris,  tandemque  relicti 

stant  in  rupe  tamen  ;  fugientia  carbasa  visu 

dulce  sequi,  patriosque  dolent  crebrescere  ventos.  30 

stant  tamen,  et  nota  puppim  de  rupe  salutant.^ 

Nunc  niihi,  Fama  prior  mundique  arcana  Vetustas, 
cui  meminisse  ducum  vitasque  extendere  curae, 
pande  vlros,  tuque  o  nemoris  regina  sonori, 
Calliope,  quas  ille  manus,  quae  moverit  arma  35 

Gradivus,  quantas  populis  solaverit  urbes, 
sublata  molire  Ivra  :  neque  enim  altior  uUi 
mens  hausto  de  fonte  venit.    rex  tristis  et  aeger 
pondere  curarum  propiorque  abeuntibus  annis 
inter  adhortantes  vix  sponte  incedit  Adrastus,  40 

contentus  ferro  cingi  latus  ;  arma  manipli 
pone  ferunt,  volucres  portis  auriga  sub  ipsis 
comit  equos,  et  iam  inde  iugo  luctatur  Arion. 
huic  armat  Larissa  viros,  huic  celsa  Prosymna, 
aptior  armentis  Midea  pecorosaque  Phlius,  45 

1  //.  29,  30  omitted  by  w,  31  omitted  by  P. 

"  E.  H.  Alton  (Class.  Quarterly,  xvii.  p.  175)  interprets, 
possibh'  correctly,  "  content  with  a  bodyguard,"  and  "  arma 
ferunt "  as  "  march,  fully  armed,"  comparing  vii.  501 
"  multoque  latus  praefulgurat  ense,"  also  "  ferrum  "  in 
i.  148,  iv.  145. 
508 


THEBAID,  IV.  21-45 

and  to  draw  down  the  grim  helmet-peaks  to  their 
embrace.  They  who  of  late  took  pleasure  in  the 
sword,  yea  in  death  itself,  now  groan  and  shake  with 
sobbing,  their  warlike  temper  broken.  Even  so, 
when  men  are  about  to  go  perchance  on  some  long 
voyage  o'er  the  sea,  and  already  the  south  winds  are 
in  the  sails  and  the  anchor  rises  from  its  torn  bed, 
the  loving  band  clings  fast  and  enlaces  their  necks 
with  eager  arms,  and  their  streaming  eyes  are 
dimmed,  some  with  kisses,  some  with  the  sea's  vast 
haze  ;  at  last  they  are  left  behind,  yet  stand  upon 
a  rock,  and  rejoice  to  follow  the  swift-flying  canvas 
with  their  gaze,  while  they  grieve  that  their  native 
breezes  are  blowing  ever  stronger  ;  yet  still  they 
stand,  and  beckon  to  the  ship  from  the  well-known 
rock. 

Now,  Fame  of  olden  time,  and  thou,  dark  Antiquity 
of  the  world,  whose  care  it  is  to  remember  princes 
and  to  make  immortal  the  story  of  their  lives, 
recount  the  warriors,  and  thou.  Calliope,  queen  of  the 
groves  of  song,  uplift  thy  lyre  and  begin  the  tale, 
what  troops  of  arms  Gradivus  roused,  what  cities 
he  laid  waste  of  their  peoples  ;  for  to  none  comes 
loftier  inspiration  from  the  fountain's  draught.  The 
king  Adrastus,  sick  with  misgiving  beneath  the 
burden  of  his  cares,  and  drawing  nigh  his  life's 
departure,  walked  scarce  of  his  own  will  amongst 
the  applauding  people,  content  to  be  girt  but  with 
his  sword  ;  "  attendants  bear  his  arms  behind  him, 
his  charioteer  tends  the  swift  horses  close  by  the 
city  gates,  and  already  is  Arion  struggling  against 
the  yoke.  To  support  their  king  Larissa  and  high 
Prosymna  arm  their  men,  and  Midea,  fitter  home 
of  herds,  and  Phlius  rich  in  cattle,  and  Neris  that 

509 


STATIUS 

quaeque  pavet  longa  spumantem  valle  Charadron 
Neris,  et  ingenti  turritae  mole  Cleonae 
et  Lacedaemoniuin  Thyrea  lectura^  cruorem. 
iunguntur  niemores  transmissi  ab  origine  regis, 
qui  Drepani  scopulos  et  oliviferae  Sicyonis  50 

culta  serunt,  quos  pigra  vado  Strangilla^  tacenti 
lanibit  et  anfractu  riparum  incurvus  Elisson. 
saevus  honos  fluvio  :  Stygias  lustrare  severis 
Eumenidas  perhibetur  aquis  ;  hue  mergere  suetae 
ora  et  anhelantes  poto  Phlegethonte  cerastas,  55 

seu  Thracum  vertere  domos,  seu  tecta  Mycenes 
impia  Cadmeumve  larem  ;  fugit  ipse  natantes 
amnis,  et  innumeris  livescunt  stagna  venenis. 
it  comes  Inoas  Ephyre  solata  querellas 
Cenchreaeque  manus,  vatum  qua  conscius  amnis     60 
Gorgoneo  percussus  equo,  quaque  obiacet  alto 
Isthmos  et  a  terris  maria  inclinata  repellit. 
haec  manus  Adrastum  numero  ter  mille  secuti 
exsultant  ;  pars  gaesa  manu,  pars  robora  flammis 
indurata  diu — non  unus  namque  maniplis  65 

mos   neque   sanguis — habent,   teretes   pars   vertere^ 

fundas 
adsueti  vacuoque  diem  praecingere  gyro. 

^  Thyrea  lectura  Weber  :  thyla  electura  F  :  thyre  lectura  ui. 

^  Strangilla  P  :  stagilla  X* :  Langia  w  {but  Langia  is  near 
Nemea) ;    various  conjectures  have  been  made. 

^  vertere  w :  vertice  P.  Garrod  reads  teretis  .  .  .  fundae 
here,  and  conj.  vacuomque. 

"  A  district  on  the  borders  of  Argolis  and  Laconia,  which 
was  the  subject  of  constant  fighting  between  Argives  and 
Spartans  down  to  as  late  as  a  hundred  years  after  Statius's 
time. 

*  Adrastus  was   originally  ruler  of  Sicyon,  having  fled 
thither   from   Argos   owing  to   a    feud,    but    subsequently 
returned  to  Argos;  cf.  ii.  179. 
.510 


THEBAID,  IV.  46-67 

tjuails  at  Cliaradros  foaming  down  his  valley's  length, 
Cleonae  with  her  piled  mass  of  towers,  and  Thyrea  " 
destined  one  day  to  reap  a  harvest  of  Spartan  gore. 
To  them  are  joined  men  who  remember  the  king- 
sent  thence  in  early  days,**  men  who  cultivate  the 
rocky  heights  of  Drepanum  and  olive-bearing  Sicyon, 
and  whom  Strangilla  laves  with  lazy,  silent  stream, 
and  Elisson  winding  through  his  curving  banks.  An 
awful  privilege  has  that  river  :  it  cleanses,  so  'tis 
said,  with  its  austere  waters  the  Stygian  Eumenides  ; 
liere  are  they  wont  to  dip  their  faces  and  the  horned 
snakes  that  gasp  from  drinking  Phlegethon,  whether 
they  have  ruined  Thracian  homes "  or  Mycenae's 
impious  palace  or  Cadmus'  dwelling  ;  the  river  itself 
flees  from  them  as  they  bathe,  and  its  pools  grow 
livid  with  countless  poisons.  Ephyre,  who  consoled 
the  weeping  Ino,''  lends  her  company,  and  Cenchreae, 
where  the  river,  struck  by  the  Gorgon-quelling  steed, 
owns  the  presence  of  the  bard,  and  where  Isthmos 
lies  athwart  the  deep  and  Avards  off  from  tlie  land 
the  sloping  seas.  This  troop,  in  all  three  thousand, 
followed  in  Adrastus'  train  exultant  ;  some  bore 
pikes  in  their  hand,  some  stakes  long  hardened  in 
the  fire — for  neither  blood  nor  custom  are  shared 
by  all  their  bands — some  are  wont  to  whirl  firmly- 
Moven  slings  and  gird  the  air  with  a  trackless  circle. 

'^  Probably  refers  to  the  madness  sent  upon  Lycurgus, 
king  of  Thrace,  by  Dionysus. 

■^  She  bewailed  lier  son  Palaemon  at  Lechaeum,  port  of 
Corinth  (Ephyre).  Cenchreae  was  the  port  on  the  Saronic 
Gulf ;  the  spring  struck  out  by  the  hoof  of  Pegasus  was 
usually  placed  on  Helicon  (Hippocrene),  but  was  sometimes 
identified  with  Pirene,  the  fountain  at  Corinth,  cf.  Silvae, 
ii.  7.  2. 


51  I 


ST  ATI  us 

ipse  annis  sceptrisque  subit  venerabilis  aeque  : 

ut  possessa  diu  taurus  meat  arduus  inter 

pascua  iam  laxa  cervice  et  inanibus  armis,  70 

dux  tamen  :  baud  ilium  bello  adtemptare  iuvencis 

sunt  animi  ;  nam  trunca  vident  de  vulnere  multo 

cornua  et  ingentes  plagarum  in  peetore  nodos. 

Proxima  longaevo  profert  Dircaeus  Adrasto 
signa  gener,  cui  bella  favent,^  cui  conmiodat  iras  75 
cuncta  cohors  :  huic  et  patria  de  sede  volentes 
advenere  viri,  seu  quos  movet  exsul  et  haesit 
tristibus  aucta  fides,  seu  quis  mutare  potentes 
praecipuum,  multi,  melior  quos  causa  querenti 
conciliat ;  dederat  nee  non  ipse  regendas  80 

Aegion  Arenenque,  et  quas  Theseia  Troezen 
addit  opes,  ne  rara  movens  inglorius  iret 
agmina,  neu  raptos  patriae  sentiret  honores. 
idem  habitus,  eadem  arma  viro,  quae  debitus  hospes 
hiberna  sub  nocte  tulit  :  Teumesius  implet  85 

terga  leo  et  gemino  lucent  hastilia  ferro, 
aspera  volnifico  subter  latus  ense  riget  Sphinx, 
iam  regnum  matrisque  sinus  fidasque  sorores 
spe  votisque  tenet,  tamen  et  de  turre  suprema 
attonitam  totoque  exstantem  corpore  longe  90 

respicit  Argian  ;  haec  mentem  oculosque  reducit 
coniugis  et  dulces  avertit  peetore  Thebas. 

Ecce  inter  medios  patriae  ciet  agmina  gentis 
fulmineus  Tydeus,  iam  laetus  et  integer  artus, 

^  favent  Pw  :  gerit  Bentley. 


"  He  was  born  there,  at  the  home  of  his  mother  Aethra, 
whose  father  Pittheus  was  king  of  Troezen. 

"  See  i.  483. 
512 


THEBAID,  IV.  68-94 

The  king  himself  moves  venerable  alike  in  years 
and  rank  :  as  a  tall  bull  goes  amid  the  pastures  he 
has  long  possessed,  his  neck  and  shoulders  now 
drooping  and  void  of  strength,  yet  the  leader  still  ; 
no  courage  have  the  steers  to  try  him  in  the  fight, 
for  they  see  the  horns  that  many  a  blow  has  broken, 
and  huge  scars  of  wounds  upon  his  breast. 

Next  to  the  aged  Adrastus  his  Dircaean  son-in-law 
brings  forth  his  standards  ;  to  his  cause  the  war  does 
service,  to  him  the  whole  army  lends  its  martial  ire, 
for  him  even  from  his  native  home  have  men  come 
gladly,  whether  those  whom  his  exile  moves,  and 
in  whom  loyalty  has  stood  sure  strengthened  by 
adversity,  or  those  in  whom  desire  to  change  their 
ruler  is  uppermost,  many  again  whom  the  better 
cause  makes  favourable  to  his  complaint.  Moreover, 
his  father-in-law  had  given  him  Aegion  and  Arene 
to  rule,  and  all  the  wealth  that  Troezen,  famous  for 
Theseus,"  brings,  lest  with  scant  following  he  should 
go  inglorious,  and  feel  the  loss  of  his  native  honours. 
The  hero  wears  the  same  dress  and  carries  the  same 
arms  as  on  that  winter's  night,  when  he  owed  the 
duty  of  a  guest :  ^  a  Teumesian  lion  covers  his  back, 
and  the  twin  points  of  javelins  glitter,  while  by  his 
side  a  cruel  Sphinx  rises  stiff  on  his  wound-dealing 
sword.  Already  in  his  hopes  and  prayers  he  is 
master  of  his  realm,  and  holds  his  mother  and  faith- 
ful sisters  in  his  embrace,  yet  he  looks  back  upon 
distraught  Argia  as  she  stands  on  the  high  tower 
against  the  sky  ;  she  draws  back  to  herself  her 
husband's  eyes  and  thoughts,  and  drives  pleasant 
Thebes  from  out  his  mind. 

Lo  !    in  their  midst  Tydeus  flashing  bright  leads 

on  his  native  squadrons,  glad  already  and  hale  of 

VOL.  1  2  L  513 


STATIUS 

ut  primae  strepuere  tubae  :  ceu  lubricus  alta  95 

angiiis  humo  verni  blanda  ad  spiramina  solis 
erigitur  liber  senio  et  squalentibus  annis 
exutus  laetisque  minax  interviret  herbis  : 
a  miser  !  agrestum  si  quis  per  gramen  hianti 
ob\'ius  et  primo  fraudaverit^  ora  veneno.  100 

huic  quoque  praesentes  Aetolis  urbibus  adfert 
belli  fama  viros  :  sensit  scopulosa  Pylene 
fletaque  cognatis  avibus  Meleagria  Pleuron 
et  praeceps  Calydon,  et  quae  love  provocat  Iden 
Olenos,  loniis  et  fluctibus  hospita  portu  105 

Chalcis  et  Herculea  turpatus  gymnade  vultuc 
amnis  ;  adhuc  imis  vix  truncam  adtollere  frontem 
ausus  aquis  glaucoque  caput  submersus  in  antro 
maeret,  anhelantes  aegrescunt  pulvere  ripae. 
omnibus  aeratae  propugnant  pectora  crates,  110 

pilaque  saeva  manu,  patrius  stat  casside  Mavors. 
undique  magnanimum  pubes  delecta  coronant 
Oeniden,  hilarem  bello  notisque  decorum 
vulneribus  ;  non  ille  minis  Polynicis  et  ira 
inferior,  dubiumque  adeo,  cui  bella  gerantur.  115 

Maior  at  inde  novis  it  Doricus  ordo  sub  armis, 
qui  ripas,  Lyrcie,  tuas,  tua  litora  multo 
vomere  suspendunt,  flu\iorum  ductor  Achivum, 
Inache — Persea  neque  enim  violentior  exit 
amnis  humo,  cum  Taurum  aut  Pleiadas  hausit  aquosas 

^  fraudaverit  P  :  siccaverit  w. 

"  i.e.,  after  his  wounds  received  at  Thebes  in  the  ambush. 

*"  The  sisters  of  Meleager  wept  for  him  until  Artemis 
turned  them  into  guinea-fowl,  hence  called  "  meleagrides." 

"  Olenos  was  an  Aetolian  town  called  after  a  king  of  that 
name  who  was  a  son  of  Zeus.  The  Ida  referred  to  is  the 
mountain  in  Crete,  which  boasted  of  having  given  birth  to 
Zeus.  "*  The  Achelous. 

514 


THEBAID,  IV.  95-120 

limb,''  so  soon  as  the  first  bugles  sounded  :  even  so 
a  slippery  snake  raises  itself  from  the  deep  earth 
at  tlie  coaxing  breath  of  the  vernal  sun,  freed  of  its 
eld  and  the  unsightly  years  put  off,  and  gleams,  a 
bright  green  danger,  in  the  lush  herbage  ;  unhappy 
the  husbandman  who  meets  its  gaping  mouth  in  the 
grass,  and  spoils  its  fangs  of  their  new  venom  !  To 
him  also  the  rumour  of  war  brings  present  help  of 
warriors  from  the  Aetolian  cities  ;  rocky  Pylene 
heard  the  tidings,  and  Pleuron  of  Meleager,  wept 
for  by  his  sister-birds  ;  ^  steep  Calydon,  and  Olenos 
whose  Jove  doth  challenge  Ide,''  and  Chalcis,  welcome 
haven  from  Ionian  billows,  and  the  river  **  whose  face 
the  athlete  Hercules  did  mar  :  even  yet  scarce 
dares  he  raise  his  stricken  visage  from  the  waters' 
depth,  but  mourns  with  liead  sunk  far  below  in  his 
green  cave,  while  the  river-banks  pant  and  sicken 
with  dust.  All  these  defend  their  bodies  with 
bronze-bound  targes,  and  bear  fierce  halberds  in 
their  hands,  while  native  Mars  stands  erect  upon 
their  helms.  Chosen  youths  surround  the  great- 
hearted son  of  Oeneus,  high-spirited  for  battle  and 
in  all  the  glory  of  his  well-known  scars  ;  no  meaner 
he  in  threatening  ire  than  Polynices  ;  'tis  doubtful 
even  for  whom  the  war  is  waged. 

But  mightier  comes  thereon  the  Dorian  *  array 
new-armed,  they  whose  numerous  ploughs  turn  up 
thy  banks,  Lyrcius,  and  thy  shores,  Inachus,  prince 
of  Achaean  streams — for  no  more  tempestuous 
torrent  flows  forth  from  Persean-'^  land,  when  he  has 
drunk  deep  of  Taurus  ^  or  the  watery  Pleiades,  foam- 

*  i.e.,  Peloponnesian.  ^  i.e.,  Argive. 

"  Taurus,  the  sign  of  the  Zodiac,  mentioned  as  rainy, 
because  the  Hyades  were  in  it  (c/.  Phn.  N.H.  ii.  110). 

515 


STATIUS 

spumeus  et  genero  tumuit  love — quos  celer  ambit  121 
Asterion  Dryopumque  trahens  Erasinus  aristas, 
et  qui  rura  domant  Epidauria — dexter  laceho 
collis,  at  Hennaeae  Cereri  negat —  ;  avia  Dyme 
mittit  opem  densasque  Pylos  Neleia  turmas  ;  125 

nondum  nota  Pylos  iuvenisque  aetate  secunda 
Nestor,  et  ire  tamen  peritura  in  eastra  negavit. 
hos  agitat  pulchraeque  docet  virtutis  amorem 
arduus  Hippomedon  ;  capiti  tremit  aerea  cassis 
ter  niveum  scandente^  iuba,  latus  omne  sub  amis  130 
ferrea  suta  terunt,  umeros  ac  pectora  late 
flammeus  orbis  habet,  perfectaque  vivit  in  auro 
nox  Danai  :  sontes  Furiarum  lampade  nigra 
quinquaginta  ardent  thalami  ;  pater  ipse  cruentis 
in  foribus  laudatque  nefas  atque  inspirit  enses.      135 
ilium  Palladia  sonipes  Nemeaeus  ab  arce 
devehit  arma  pavens  umbraque  immane  volanti 
implet  agros  longoque  attollit  pulvere  campum. 
non  aliter  silvas  umeris  et  utroque  refringens 
peetore  montano  duplex  Hylaeus  ab  antro  140 

praecipitat  :  pavet  Ossa  vias,  pecudesque  feraeque 
procubuere  metu  :  non  ipsis  fratribus  horror 
afuit,  ingenti  donee  Peneia  saltu 
stagna  subit  magnumque  obiectus  detinet  amnem. 

Quis  numerum  ferri  gentisque  et  robora  dictu  145 
aequarit  mortale  sonans  ?  suus  excit  in  arma 

^  ter  niveum  scandente  Pw  :  nivea  N,  candente  Heinsius. 
D^s  Schol.  has  "  triplici  ordine." 

"  Jupiter  was  the  lover  of  lo,  daughter  of  Inachus,  and 
"Jove"  is  used  for  "rain";  cf.  Virg.  Georg.  ii.  419 
"maturis  metuendus  Jupiter  arvis." 

''  Where  Proserpine  was  carried  off  by  Pluto. 

"  Danaus  planned  the  murder  of  the  fifty  suitors  of  his 
daughters,  who  slew  their  husbands  on  the  wedding  night. 

5]  5" 


THEBAID,  IV.  121-146 

ing  high  and  swollen  with  Jove,  his  daughter's  lover  "• 
— they  too  whom  swift  Asterion  encircles  and 
Erasinus  sweeping  on  his  flood  Dryopian  harvests, 
and  they  who  tame  the  fields  of  Epidaurus — favour- 
able to  lacchus  are  those  hill-sides,  but  they  give 
denial  to  Ceres  of  Henna '' — desolate  Dyme  sends 
aid,  and  Neleian  Pylos  her  swarming  squadrons  ; 
not  yet  renowned  was  Pylos,  and  Nestor  was  as  yet 
in  the  prime  of  his  second  age,  but  would  not  join 
a  host  doomed  to  perish.  These  doth  tall  Hippo- 
medon  excite  and  teach  the  love  of  glorious  valour  ; 
on  his  head  a  brazen  helm  doth  shake  with  triple 
tier  of  snow-white  plume,  beneath  his  armour  iron 
mail  fits  close  upon  his  flanks,  his  shoulders  and  breast 
a  wide  flaming  circle  covers,  whereon  the  night  of 
Danaus "  lives  in  the  gold  handiwork  :  the  fifty 
guilty  chambers  blaze  with  the  Furies'  murky  torch, 
the  sire  himself  on  the  blood-stained  threshold 
praises  the  crime  and  views  the  swords.  A  Nemean 
steed  in  terror  of  the  fight  bears  the  hero  from  the 
citadel  of  Pallas,*^  and  fills  the  fields  with  the  huge 
flying  shadow,  and  the  long  trail  of  dust  rises  upon 
the  plain.  Not  otherwise,  crashing  through  the 
forests  with  shoulders  and  either  breast,  does  twy- 
formed  Hylaeus "  speed  headlong  from  his  mountain 
cave  ;  Ossa  trembles  at  his  going,  and  beasts  and 
cattle  fall  in  terror  ;  yea,  even  his  brethren  are 
affrighted,  till  with  a  great  leap  he  plunges  into  the 
waters  of  Peneus,  and  with  thwarting  bulk  dams 
back  the  mighty  flood. 

Who  could  describe  in  mortal  speech  that  numerous 
armament,    its    peoples    and    their    valiant    might  ? 

''  There  was  a  temple  of  Athena  on  the  acropolis  of  Argos 
(Paus.  ii.  24.  4).  *  One  of  the  Centaurs. 

.517 


STATIUS 

antiquam  Tiryntha  deus  ;  non  fortibus  ilia 
infecunda  viris  famaque^  immanis  alumni 
degenerat,  sed  lapsa  situ  fortuna,  neque  addunt 
robur  opes  ;  rarus  vacuis  habitator  in  ar\is  150 

monstrat  Cyclopum  duct  as  sudoribus  arces. 
dat  tamen  haec  iuvenum  tercentum  pectora,  vulgus 
innumerum  bello,  quibus  haud  ammenta  nee  enses 
triste  micant  :  flavae  capiti  tergoque  leonum 
exuviae  gentilis  honos,  et  pineus  armat  155 

stipes,  inexhaustis  artantur  tela  pharetris. 
Herculeum  paeana  canunt,  vastataque  monstris 
omnia  ;  frondosa  longum  deus  audit  ab  Oeta 
dat  Xemea  comites,  et  quas  in  proelia  vires 
sacra  Cleonaei  cogunt  vineta  Molorchi.  160 

gloria  nota  casae,  foribus  simulata  salignis 
hospitis  arma  dei,  parvoque  ostenditur  arvo, 
robur  ubi  et  laxos  qua  reclinaverit  artus 
ilice,  qua  cubiti  sedeant  vestigia  terra. 

At  pedes  et  toto  despectans  vertice  bellum         165 
quattuor  indomitis  Capaneus  erepta  iuvencis 
terga  superque  rigens  iniectu  molis  aenae 
versat  onus  ;  squalet  triplici  ramosa  corona 
Hydra  recens  obitu  :  pars  anguibus  aspera  vivis 
argento  caelata  micat,  pars  arte  reperta^  170 

conditur  et  fulvo  moriens  nigrescit^  in  auro  ; 
circum  amnis  torpens  et  ferro  caerula  Lerna. 

^  famaque  Pw  :  famaeve  Baehrens,  on  the  ground  that 
this  verb  is  never  found  with  the  ablative. 

^  reperta  Pco  :  reposta  Deiter,  retorta,  repressa,  etc.,  edd. 
Alton  conj.  pars  acre  perempta  (i.e.  "  dead  "  as  opp.  to 
"  dying  ").  Garrod  conj.  pars  altera  reptans.  reperta  must 
be  corrupt,  hut  no  emendation  seems  convincing. 

^  nigrescit  P  :  ignescit  w,  pallescit  D. 

"  Hercules.  *  The  scene  of  his  apotheosis. 

518 


THEBAID,  IV.  147-172 

Ancient  Tiryns  is  roused  by  her  own  god"  to  arms, 
not  barren  of  brave  men,  nor  degenerate  from  her 
tremendous  son's  renown,  but  desolate  and  her  day 
of  fortune  past,  nor  hath  she  the  power  that  wealth 
can  give  ;  the  scanty  dweller  in  her  empty  fields 
points  out  the  towers  raised  by  the  sweat  of  Cyclopean 
brows.  Yet  she  sends  three  hundred  manly  hearts, 
a  company  undisciplined  for  war,  without  javelin- 
thongs  or  the  sui'ly  gleam  of  swords  ;  on  their  heads 
and  shoulders  the  tawny  spoil  of  lions,  their  tribe's 
adornment,  a  pinewood  stake  their  weapon,  and  shafts 
crammed  tight  in  inexhaustible  quivers.  They  sing 
the  paean  of  Hercules  and  the  world  swept  clear 
of  monsters  :  the  god  listens  from  afar  on  leafy 
Oeta.''  Nemea  gives  them  comrades  and  all  the 
might  that  the  sacred  vineyards  of  Cleonaean 
Molorchus  summon  to  war.  Well  known  is  the  glory 
of  that  cottage " ;  pictured  upon  its  willow  doors  are 
the  arms  of  the  god  who  was  its  guest,  and  in  the 
humble  field  'tis  shown  where  he  laid  his  club,  and 
under  what  holm-oak  he  reposed  his  limbs  at  ease, 
and  where  yet  the  ground  bears  traces  of  his  lying. 

But  Capaneus,  on  foot  and  looking  down  by  a 
whole  head's  height  upon  the  host,  wields  the  burden 
of  four  hides  torn  from  the  backs  of  untamed  steers 
and  stiffened  above  with  a  covering  of  massy  bronze  ; 
there  lies  the  Hydra  with  triple-branching  crown, 
lately  slain  and  foul  in  death  :  part,  embossed  in 
silver,  glitters  fierce  with  moving  snakes,  part  by  a 
cunning  device  is  sunken,  and  grows  dark  in  the 
death  agony  against  the  tawny  gold  ;  around,  in 
dark-blue   steel  runs   the   torpid   stream   of  Lerna. 

"  The  cottage  of  Molorchus  at  wliich  Hercules  .stayed  on 
the  night  before  the  slaying  of  the  Nemean  lion. 

5  If) 


STATIUS 

at  laterum  tractus  spatiosaque  pectora  servat 
nexilis  innumero  Chalybum  subtemine  thorax, 
horrendum,  non  matris,  opus  ;  galeaeque  corusca  175 
prominet  arce  gigans  ;  atque  uni  missilis  illi 
cuspide  praefixa  stat  frondibus  orba  cupressus. 
huic  parere  dati,  quos  fertilis  Amphigenia 
planaque  Messene  montosaque  nutrit  Ithonie, 
quos  Thryon  et  summis  ingestum  niontibus  Aepy,   180 
quos  Helos  et  Pteleon,  Getico  quos  flebile  vati 
Dorion  ;  hie  fretus  doctas  anteire  canendo 
Aonidas  mutos  Thamyris  damnatus  in  annos 
ore  simul  citharaque — quis  obvia  numina  teninat  ? — 
conticuit  praeceps,  qui  non  certamina  Phoebi         185 
nosset  et  inlustres  Satyro  pendente  Celaenas. 
lamque  et  fatidici  mens  expugnata  fatiscit 
auguris  ;  ille  quidem  casus  et  dira  videbat 
signa,  sed  ipsa  manu  cunetanti  iniecerat  arma 
Atropos  obrueratque  deum,  nee  coniugis  absunt     190 
insidiae,  vetitoque  domus  iam  fulgurat  auro. 
hoc  aurum  vati  fata  exitiale  monebant 
Argolico  ;  scit  et  ipsa^ — nefas  ! — sed  perfida  coniunx 
dona  \dro  mutare  velit,  spoliisque  potentis 
imminet  Argiae  raptoque  excellere  cultu.  195 

ilia  libens — nam  regum  animos  et  pondera  belli 
hac  nutare  videt,  pariter  ni  providus  heros 
militet — ipsa  sacros  gremio  Polynicis  amati 
exuerat  cultus^  haud  maesta  atque  insuper  addit  : 

^  ipsa  Sandsfroem  :  ipse  Pw. 
^  exuerat  cultus  P  :  deposuit  nexus  w. 

"  Marsyas,  who  strove  with  Phoebus  on  the  flute,  but, 
being  defeated,  was  hung  up  and  flayed  by  him. 
520 


THEBAID,  IV.  173-199 

His  long  flanks  and  spacious  breast  are  guarded  by 
a  corselet  woven  of  iron  threads  innumerable,  a 
work  inspiring  terror,  no  mother's  task  ;  a  giant 
rises  from  the  summit  of  his  flashing  helm  ;  his 
spear,  that  he  alone  can  throw,  is  a  cypress  standing 
stripped  of  leaves  and  pointed  with  iron.  Assigned 
in  fealty  to  him  are  they  whom  fertile  Amphigenia 
nourishes,  and  Messene's  plain  and  mountainous 
Ithome,  Thryon  and  Aepy  high-piled  on  mountain- 
tops,  Helos  too  and  Pteleon  and  Dorion  that  bewails 
the  Getic  bard  :  here  Thamyris  made  bold  to  surpass 
in  song  the  skilled  daughters  of  Aonia,  but  doomed 
to  a  life  of  silence  fell  on  the  instant  mute  with  voice 
and  harp  alike — who  may  despise  deities  met  face 
to  face  ? — for  that  he  knew  not  what  it  was  to  strive 
with  Phoebus,  nor  how  the  hanging  Satyr  "  brought 
Celaenae  fame. 

And  now  even  the  fate-foretelling  augur's  resolve 
begins  to  weaken  under  strong  assault ;  he  saw  indeed 
what  should  befall  and  the  dread  signs  thereof,  but 
Atropos  herself  had  made  violent  attack  upon  his 
doubting  will,  and  overwhelmed  the  god  ^vithin  him, 
nor  is  wifely  treachery  absent,  and  already  the  house 
sparkles  with  the  forbidden  gold.  From  that  gold 
did  the  fates  bode  destruction  to  the  Argive  seer, 
yea,  and  she  knew  it — ah,  impious  crime  ! — but  the 
perfidious  wife  would  fain  barter  her  husband  for  a 
gift,  and  yearns  to  gain  the  spoils  of  the  princess 
Argia,  and  to  excel  her  in  the  stolen  finery.  She 
not  unwilling — for  she  sees  that  the  spirit  of  the 
princes  and  the  resolve  for  war  must  fail,  should  not 
the  foreseeing  hero  join  their  enterprise — herself  put 
off  from  her  bosom  the  fatal  ornament  of  her  beloved 
Polynices,  nor  grieved  thereat,  but  saith  moreover  : 

521 


STATIUS 

"  non  haec  apta  mihi  nitidis  ornatibus  "  inquit,       200 

"  tempora,  nee  miserae  placeant  insignia  formae 

te  sine  :  sat  dubiuni  coetu  solante  timorem 

fallere  et  incultos  aris  adverrere  crines. 

scilicet — infandum^  ! — ,  cum  tu  cludare  minanti 

casside  ferratusque  sones,  ego  di\itis  aurum  205 

Harmoniae  dotale  geram  ?  dabit  aptior  ista 

fors  deus.  Argolicasque  habitu  praestabo  maritas, 

cum  regis  coniunx,  cum  te  mihi  sospite  templa 

votivis  implenda  choris  :  nunc  induat  ilia, 

quae  petit  et  bellante  potest  gaudere  marito."       210 

sic  Eriphylaeos  aurum  fatale  penates 

inrupit  scelerumque  ingentia  semina  movat, 

et  grave  Tisiphone  risit  gavisa  futuris. 

Taenariis  hie  celsus  equis,  quam  dispare  coetu 
Cyllarus  ignaro  generarat  Castore  prolem,  215 

quassat  humum  ;  vatem  cultu  Parnassia  monstrant 
vellera  :  frondenti  crinitur  cassis  oliva, 
albaque  puniceas  inteqilicat  infula  cristas, 
arma  simul  pressasque  iugo  moderatur  habenas. 
hinc  atque  inde  morae  iaculis,  et  ferrea  curru         220 
silva  tremit  ;  procul  ipse  gravi  metuendus  in  hasta 
eminet  et  clipeo  victum  Pythona  coruscat. 
huius  Apollineae  currum  comitantur  Amyclae, 
quos  Pylos^  et  dubiis  Malea  vitata  cai-inis 
plaudentique  habiles  Caryae  resonare  Dianae,        225 
quos  Pharis  volucrumque  parens  Cythereia  Messe, 
Taygetique  phalanx  et  oloriferi  Eurotae 

^  infandum  P  :  heu  siiperi  u. 

^  Pjlos  Poj  :    Helos  Kolihnann,  who  cp.  Horn.  11.  ij.  584  : 
Pylos  ha^  already  been  mentioned  i.  125. 

522 


THEBAID,  n'.  200-227 

"  No  fit  times  these  to  deck  myself  in  shining  jewelry, 
nor  without  thee  let  me  take  delight  in  adorning  nly 
hapless  beauty  ;  enough  to  beguile  my  doubts  and 
fears  with  the  solace  of  my  maidens,  and  trail  my 
unkempt  tresses  at  the  altars.  Shall  I — oh  !  thought 
unspeakable  ! — shall  I  wear  rich  Harmonia's  dower 
of  gold,  while  thou  art  shut  within  thy  threatening 
helmet,  and  dost  clang  in  arms  of  steel  ?  More  fitly 
mayhap  will  heaven  grant  me  that  boon,  and  I  outdo 
the  Argolic  brides  in  apparel,  when  I  am  queen 
indeed,  and  must  fill  the  temples  with  votive  choirs, 
upon  thy  safe  return.  Now  let  her  put  it  on  who 
desires  it,  and  can  rejoice  while  her  husband  is  at 
war."  Thus  the  fatal  gold  made  entry  to  the 
chambers  of  Eriphyle,  and  set  in  motion  the  begin- 
nings of  great  crimes,  and  Tisiphone  laughed  loud, 
exulting  in  what  should  come  to  pass. 

Aloft  behind  Taenarian  steeds,  whom  Cyllarus 
unknown  to  Castor  had  begotten  on  mares  of  meaner 
stock,  he  makes  earth  tremble  ;  the  adornment  of 
Parnassian  wool  betrays  the  prophet,  sprays  of  olive 
wreath  his  helmet,  and  the  white  fillet  intertwines 
the  scarlet  crest.  He  handles  at  once  his  weapons 
and  the  reins  held  tight  upon  the  yoke.  On  either 
side  there  is  a  shelter  fi-om  darts,  and  an  iron  forest 
trembles  on  his  chariot  ;  far  seen  he  stands,  con- 
spicuous and  terrible  A\ith  stern  spear,  and  flashes 
the  conquered  Python  on  his  shield.  Amyclae, 
Apollo's  town,  bears  his  car  company,  and  the  bands 
of  Pylos,  and  Malea  shunned  by  doubting  keels, 
and  Caryae  skilled  to  raise  the  hymn  that  wins 
Diana's  applause,  and  Pharis  and  Cytherean  Messe, 
mother  of  doves,  the  phalanx  of  Taygetus,  and  the 
hardy     troop     of     swan-nurturing     Eurotas.      The 

523 


STATIUS 

dura  manus.     deus  ipse  vii'os  in  pulvere  crudo 
Areas  alit  nudaeque  modos  virtutis  et  iras 
ingenerat  ;  vigor  inde  animis  et  mortis  honorae     230 
dulce  sacrum,     gaudent  natorum  fata  parentes 
hortanturque  mori,  deflent  iamque  omnis  ephebum 
turba,  coronato  contenta  est  funere  mater, 
frena  tenent  duplexque  inserto  missile  nodoj 
exserti  ingentes  umeros,  chlamys  horrida  pendet,    235 
et  cono  Ledaeus  apex,     non  hi  tibi  solum, 
Amphiarae,  merent  :  auget  resupina  maniplos 
Elis,  depressae  populus  subit  ineola  Pisae, 
qui  te,  flave,  natant  terris,  Alphee,  Sicanis 
advena,  tam  longo  non  umquam  infecte  profundo.   240 
curribus  innumeris  late  putria  arva  lacessunt 
et  bellis  armenta  domant  :  ea  gloria  genti 
infando  de  more  et  fractis  durat  ab  usque 
axibus  Oenomai  ;  strident  spumantia  morsu 
vincula,  et  efFossas  niveus  rigat  imber  harenas.       245 

Tu  quoque  Parrhasias  ignara  matre  eatervas — 
a  rudis  armorum,  tantum  nova  gloria  suadet ! — , 
Parthenopaee,  rapis  ;  saltus  tunc  forte  remotos 
torva    parens — neque    enim    haec    iuveni    foret    ire 

potestas — 
pacabat  cornu  gelidique  aversa  Lycaei.  250 

pulchrior  baud  ulli  triste  ad  discrimen  ituro 
vultus  et  egregiae  tanta  indulgentia  formae  ; 
nee  desunt  animi,  veniat  modo  fortior  aetas. 
quas  non  ille  duces  nemorum  fluviisque  dicata 

"  Mercury,  cf.  Hor.  C.  i.  10.  4. 

''  i.e.,  a  crest  of  swan's  feathers. 

"  King  of  Elis,  who  challenged  the  suitors  of  his  daughter 
Hippodamia  to  a  chariot-race,  and  slew  them  when  he 
defeated  them  ;  he  was  finally  defeated  and  slain  himself 
by  Pelops.  ^  i.e..  Arcadian. 

524 


THEBAID,  IV.  228-254 

Arcadian  god  '^  himself  trains  them  in  the  dust  of 
combat,  and  implants  in  them  the  ways  of  naked 
valour  and  warlike  temper  ;  hence  dauntless  courage 
and  the  welcome  consecration  of  a  glorious  death. 
Their  parents  rejoice  in  their  children's  fate  and  urge 
them  on  to  die  ;  and  while  the  whole  band  of  youths 
makes  lamentation,  the  mother  is  content  with  the 
wreath  that  crowns  the  victim.  They  hold  the  reins 
and  two  javelins  with  thong  attached,  bared  are 
their  mighty  shoulders,  from  which  a  rough  cloak 
hangs ;  a  Ledaean  crest  *  is  on  their  helms.  Not 
these  alone,  Amphiaraus,  are  in  thy  service  :  the 
slopes  of  Elis  swell  thy  array,  and  low-lying  Pisa's 
folk,  who  swim  thy  waters,  yellow  Alpheus,  thou 
who  farest  to  Sicanian  lands,  yet  art  never  tainted 
by  so  long  a  passage  through  the  deep.  Countless 
chariots  vex  their  crumbling  fields  far  and  wide, 
their  beasts  are  broken  to  war  :  that  glory  of  the  race 
endures  even  from  the  impious  ways  and  broken  axles 
of  Oenomaus  ^  ;  the  champed  bits  foam  between  the 
jaws,  and  the  white  spume  bedews  the  churned  earth. 
Thou  too,  Parthenopaeus,  unknown  to  thy  mother 
— unschooled  alas  !  in  arms,  such  lure  hath  young 
ambition — speedest  onward  thy  Parrhasian'*  cohorts. 
Thy  warlike  parent,"  so  it  chanced — not  otherwise 
could  the  boy  have  left  her — was  bringing  peace  with 
her  bowto  distant  glades, and  the  farther  slopes  of  cool 
Lycaeus.  No  fairer  face  was  there  of  any  marching 
to  the  grim  hazard  of  war,  none  wins  such  favour  for 
pre-eminent  beauty  ;  nor  lacks  he  courage,  so  he  but 
come  to  sterner  years.   What  forest-queens  and  spirits 

«  Atalanta,  a  comrade  of  Diana,  and  so  vowed  to  virginity, 
but  Diana  "  forgave  her  the  crime  "  of  becoming  the  mother 
of  Parthenopaeus  (1.  258). 

525 


STATIUS 

numina.  quas  rnagno  non  abstulit-"^  igne  Napaeas  ?  255 

ipsam,  Maenalia  puerum  cum  vidit  in  umbra, 

Dianam,  tenero  signantem  gramina  passu, 

ignovisse  ferunt  comiti,  Dictaeaque  tela 

ipsam  et  Amyclaeas  umeris  aptasse  pharetras 

prosilit  audaci  Martis  percussus  amore,  260 

arma,  tubas  audire  calens  et  pulvere  belli 

flaventem  sordere  comam  captoque  referri 

hostis  equo  :  taedet  nemorum,  titulumque  nocentem 

sanguinis  humani  pudor  est  nescire  sagittas. 

igneus  ante  omnes  auro  micat,  igneus  ostro,  265 

undantemque  sinum  nodis  inrugat  Hiberis, 

imbelli  parma  pictus  Calydonia  matris 

proelia  ;  trux  laeva  sonat  arcus,  et  aspera  plumis 

terga  Cydonea  corytos  harundine  pulsat 

electro  pallens  et  iaspide  clarus  Eoa.  270 

cornipedem  trepidos  suetum  praevertere  cervos, 

velatum  geminae  deiectu  lyncis  et  arma 

mirantem  gravioris  eri,  sublimis  agebat, 

dulce  rubens  \iridique  genas  spectabilis  aevo. 

Arcades  huic  veteres  astris  lunaque  priores,  275 

agmina  fida  datis,  nemorum  quos  stirpe  rigenti 

fama  satos,  cum  prima  pedum  vestigia  tellus 

admirata  tulit  ;  nondum  arva  domusque  nee  urbes 

conubiisve  modus  ;  quercus  laurique  ferebant 

cruda  puerperia,  ac  populos  umbrosa  creavit  280 

^  abstulit  P  :  impulit  w. 


"  i.e.,  Cretan  ;   Crete  was  famous  for  bows  and  arrows. 

*  The  reference  may,  however,  be  to  a  steel  cuirass  (c/. 
Hor.  C  i.  29.  15)  fitting  tightly  upon  a  full  undergarment. 

"  The  Arcadians  were  the  most  primitive  people  of  ancient 
Greece,  and  were  supposed  to  have  been  born  originally  from 
rocks  or  trees  (c/.  1.  340).      For  the  quaint  idea  of  11. 282  sqq. 

526 


THEBAID,  IV.  255-280 

enshrined  in  rivers,  what  nymphs  of  the  ghide  hath  he 
not  fired  witli  consuming  passion  ?  Diana  herself, 
when  she  saw  the  boy  beneath  the  shade  of  Maenakis 
stepping  youthful  o'er  the  grass,  forgave  her  comrade, 
so  they  say,  and  Avith  her  own  hand  fitted  to  his 
shoulders  the  Dictean  "  shafts  and  Amyclean  quiver. 
Smitten  by  dauntless  love  of  war  he  dashes  to  the 
front,  burning  to  hear  the  clash  of  arms  and  bray 
of  trumpets,  to  soil  his  fair  hair  with  the  dust  of 
battle,  and  to  ride  home  on  a  foeman's  captive  steed. 
He  is  weary  of  the  woodlands,  and  ashamed  that 
he  knows  not  the  arrows'  baneful  boast  of  human 
blood.  Foremost  he  shines,  ablaze  with  purple  and 
gold,  his  streaming  cloak  furrowed  by  Iberian  cords, ** 
and  his  innocent  shield  adorned  with  his  mother's 
Calydonian  battles  ;  fierce  sounds  tlie  bow  at  his 
left  side,  and  on  his  back,  plumed  with  feathery 
shafts,  rattles  the  quiver  set  with  pale  electrum  and 
brilliant  Eastern  jasper,  full  of  Cydonian  arrows. 
His  charger,  accustomed  to  outstrip  the  flying  stags, 
was  covered  with  two  lynxes'  hides,  and  marvelled 
at  his  armed  master's  heavier  weight  ;  him  he  loftily 
bestrode,  comely  to  look  upon  from  the  pleasant  flush 
of  youth  upon  his  cheeks.  To  him  the  Arcadians  " 
an  ancient  people,  older  than  the  moon  and  stars, 
give  trusty  cohorts  ;  they  were  born,  'tis  said,  of 
the  hard  trunks  of  forest  trees,  when  the  wondering 
earth  first  bore  the  print  of  feet  ;  not  yet  were  fields 
or  houses  or  cities  or  ordinance  of  marriage  :  oaks 
and  laurels  suffered  rude  child-birth,  and  the  shady 

cf.  Lucretius,  v.  973 — 

nee  plangore  diem  magno  solemque  per  agros 
quaerebant  i)avidi  palantes  noetic  in  umbris, 

i.e.,  wandered  about  in  search  of  the  sun  that  had  set  below 

the  horizon. 

527 


STATIUS 

fraxinus,  et  feta  \arjdis  puer  excidit  orno. 

hi  lucis  stupuisse  vices  noctisque  feruntur 

nubila  et  occiduum  longe  Titana  secuti 

desperasse  diem,     rarescunt  alta  colonis 

Maenala,  Parthenium  fugitur  nemus,  agmina  bello  285 

Rhipeque  et  Stratie  ventosaque  donat  Enispe. 

non  Tegea,  non  ipsa  deo  vacat  alite  felix 

Cyllene  templumque  Aleae  nemorale  Minervae 

et  rapidus  Clitor  et  qui  tibi,  Pythie,  Ladon 

paene  socer,  candensque  iugis  Lampia  nivosis         290 

et  Pheneos  nigro  Styga  mittere  credita  Diti. 

venit  et  Idaeis  ululatibus  aeniulus  Azan 

Parrhasiique  duces,  et  quae  risistis,  Amores, 

grata  pharetrato  Nonacria  rura  Tonanti, 

dives  et  Orchomenos  pecorum  et  Cynosura  ferarum. 

Aepytios  idem  ardor  agros  Psophidaque  celsam      296 

vastat  et  Herculeo  vulgatos  robore  montes 

monstriferumque   Erymanthon  et  aerisonum  Stym- 

phalon. 
Arcades  hi,  gens  una  viris,  sed  dissona  cultu 
scinditur  :  hi  Paphias  myrtos  a  stirpe  recurvant     300 
et  pastorali  meditantur  proeha  trunco, 
his  arcus,  his  tela  sudes,  his  cassida  crines 
integit,  Arcadii  morem  tenet  ille  galeri, 
ille  Lycaoniae  rictu  caput  asperat  ursae. 
hos  belU  coetus  iurataque  pectora  Marti  305 

"  He  was  father  of  Daphne. 

*  A  lake  near  the  town  of  that  name  in  Arcadia ;  the 
underground  channels  of  the  rivers  were  supposed  to  lead 
down  to  Hades. 

"  Because  there  too  Cybele  was  worshipped. 

^  When  he  assumed  the  shape  of  Diana  to  gain  the  favours 
of  Callisto. 

528 


THEBAID,  IV.  281-305 

mountain-ash  peopled  the  earth,  and  the  young  babe 
fell  from  the  pregnant  ash-tree's  womb.  'Tis  said 
that,  struck  with  terror  at  the  change  from  light  to 
murky  darkness,  they  followed  far  the  setting  Titan, 
despairing  of  the  day.  The  husbandmen  grow  few 
on  high  Maenalus,  the  forests  of  Parthenius  are 
deserted,  Rhipe  and  Stratie  and  windy  Enispe  give 
their  troops  to  aid  the  war.  Neither  Tegea  nor 
Cyllene  blest  by  the  winged  god  stand  idle,  nor 
Alea,  woodland  shrine  of  Minerva,  nor  swift  Clitor, 
nor  Ladon,"  almost,  O  Pythian,  the  father  of  thy 
bride  ;  nor  yet  Lampia  with  her  shining  snow-white 
ridges,  nor  Pheneos,''  believed  to  send  down  Styx  to 
swarthy  Dis.  Azan,  that  can  rival  the  howling  mobs 
of  Ida,''  came,  and  the  Parrhasian  leaders,  and  the 
Nonacrian  countryside,  wherein  the  Thunderer  quiver- 
clad''  took  delight,  and  furnished  laughter  for  you, 
ye  Loves,  and  Orchomenos  rich  in  cattle,  and 
Cynosura  abounding  in  wild  beasts.  The  same 
ardour  lays  bare  the  fields  of  Aepytus  and  lofty 
Psophis  and  the  mountains  famed  for  Hercules' 
might,  Erymanthos  home  of  monsters,  and  Stym- 
phalos  with  its  clanging  bronze.*  All  Arcadians 
these,  one  race  of  men,  but  sundered  by  differing 
customs  :  these  bend  back  Paphian  myrtle-saplings, 
and  practise  warfare  with  pastoral  staves  ;  some 
have  bows,  some  pikes  for  weapons  ;  some  cover 
their  hair  with  helmets,  while  that  one  keeps  the 
fashion  of  the  Arcadian  hat,  and  another  makes  his 
head  terrible  with  the  jaws  of  a  Lycaonian  she-bear.^ 
This  warlike  gathering  of  hearts  sworn  true  to  Mars 

'  Refers  to  the  brazen  rattle  with  which  Hercules  frightened 
the  Stymphalian  birds. 

^  Such  as  Callisto,  daughter  of  Lycaon,  was  turned  into. 
VOL.  I  2  M  529 


ST  ATI  us 

milite  vicinae  nullo  iuvere  Mycenae  ; 
funereae  tunc  namque  dapes  mediique  recursus 
solis,  et  hie  alii  miscebant  proelia  fratres. 

lamque  Atalantaeas  implerat  nuntius  aures, 
ire  ducem  bello  totamque  impellere  natum  310 

Arcadiam  :  tremuere  gradus,  elapsaque  iuxta 
tela  ;  fugit  silvas  pernicior  alite  vento 
saxa  per  et  plenis  obstantia  flumina  ripis, 
qualis  erat,  correpta  sinus  et  vertice  flavum 
crinem  sparsa  noto  ;  raptis  velut  aspera  natis         315 
praedatoris  equi  sequitur  vestigia  tigris. 
ut  stetit  adversisque  impegit  pectora  frenis 
— ille  ad  luimum^  pallens — :  "  unde  haec  furibunda 

cupido, 
nate,  tibi  ?  teneroque  unde  improba  pectore  virtus  ? 
tu  bellis  aptare  viros,  tu  pondera  ferre  320 

Martis  et  ensiferas  inter  potes  ire  catervas  ? 
quamquam  utinam  quires^  !  nuper  te  pallida  vidi, 
dum  premis  obnixo  venabula  comminus  apro, 
poplite  succiduo  resupinum  ac  paene  ruentem, 
et  ni  curvato  torsissem  spicula  eornu,  325 

nunc  ubi  bella  tibi  ?  nil  te  mea  tela  iuvabunt 
nee  teretes  arcus,  maculis  nee  discolor  atris 
hie,  cui  fidis,  equus  ;  magnis  conatibus  instas, 
vix  Dryadum  thalamis  Erymanthiadumque  furori 
Nympharuni  mature  puer.     sunt  omina  vera  :        330 
mirabar,  cur  templa  mihi  tremuisse  Dianae 
nuper  et  inferior  vultu  dea  visa,  sacrisque 
exuviae  cecidere  tholis  ;  hoc  segnior  arcus 
difficilesque  manus  et  nullo  in  vulnere  certae. 

^  ille  ad  humum  Pw  :  ilia  ad  eum  Peyrared. 
^  quires  Postgate  :    vires  Pw  :   vidi  Bentley. 

"  Atreus  and  Thyestes. 
530 


THEBAID,  IV.  306-334 

Mycenae,  neighbour  though  she  was,  helped  with 
no  soldiery  ;  for  then  was  the  deadly  banquet  and 
the  sun's  midday  withdrawing,  and  there,  too,  was 
a  feud  of  warring  brothers." 

And  now  the  tidings  had  filled  the  ears  of  Atalanta, 
that  her  son  was  going  a  captain  to  the  war,  and 
rousing  all  Arcadia  ;  her  steps  faltered  and  the  darts 
fell  by  her  side  ;  swifter  than  the  winged  Avind  she 
fled  from  the  woodland,  o'er  rocks  and  brimming 
rivers  that  would  stay  her,  just  as  she  was,  with 
snatched-up  raiment  and  fair  hair  streaming  behind 
her  on  the  breeze  ;  even  as  a  tigress,  bereft  of  her 
cubs,  fiercely  tracks  the  horse  of  him  that  robbed  her. 
When  she  halted  and  pressed  her  bosom  on  the  reins 
that  met  her  (he  pale,  with  eyes  downcast)  :  "  Whence 
comes  this  mad  desire,  my  son,  whence  this  reckless 
valour  in  thy  young  breast  ?  Canst  thou  drill  men 
to  war,  canst  thou  bear  the  burdens  of  Mars  and  go 
among  the  sword-bearing  companies  ?  Yet  would  that 
thou  wert  able  !  Lately  I  paled  to  see  thee  plying 
thy  hunting-lance  in  close  conflict  with  a  struggling 
boar,  foi'ced  back  upon  bent  knee  and  almost  fallen, 
and  had  I  not  drawn  my  bow  and  sped  an  arrow, 
where  now  would  be  thy  wars  ?  Nought  will  my 
shafts  avail  thee,  nor  my  shapely  bows,  nor  this 
black-spotted  steed  in  whom  thou  trustest  ;  mighty 
are  the  endeavours  to  which  thou  hastenest,  and  thou 
a  boy  scarce  ripe  for  the  embraces  of  Dryads  or  the 
passions  of  Erymanthian  Nymphs.  Omens  tell  true  : 
I  wondered  why  Diana's  temple  seemed  to  me  of 
late  to  tremble,  and  the  goddess  herself  to  frown 
upon  me,  and  why  the  votive  spoils  fell  from  her 
roof ;  this  it  was  that  made  my  archery  slack  and 
my  hands  to  falter  and  never  to  strike  sure.     Nay, 

531 


STATIUS 

exspecta,  dum  maior  honos,  durri  firmius  aevum,    335 
dum  roseis  venit  umbra  genis  vultusque  recedunt 
ore  mei  ;  tunc  bella  tibi  ferrumque,  quod  ardes, 
ipsa  dabo,  et  nullo  matris  revocabere  fletu. 
nunc  refer  arma  domum  !     vos  autem  hunc  ire  sinetis, 
Arcades,  o  saxis  nimirum  et  robore  nati  ?  "  340 

plura  cupit  ;  fusi  circum  natusque  ducesque 
solantur  minuuntque  metus,  et  iam  horrida  clangunt 
signa  tubae.     nequit  ilia  pio  dimittere  natum 
complexu  multumque  duci  commendat  Adrasto. 

At  parte  ex  alia  Cadmi  Mavortia  plebes,  345 

maesta  ducis  furiis  nee  moUi  territa  fama, 
quando  his  vulgatum  descendere  viribus  Argos, 
tardius  ilia  quidem  regis  causaque  pudore, 
verum  bella  movet.     nulli  destringere  ferrum 
impetus,  aut  umeros  clipeo  clausisse  paterno  350 

dulce  nee  alipedum  iuga  comere,  qualia  belli 
gaudia  ;  deiecti  trepidas  sine  mente,  sine  ira 
promisere  manus  ;  hie  aegra  in  sorte  parentem 
unanimum,  hie  dulces  primaevae  coniugis  annos 
ingemit,  et  gremio  miseros  adcrescere  natos.  355 

bellator  nulli  caluit  deus  ;  ipsa  vetusto 
moenia  lapsa  situ  magnaeque  Amphionis  arces 
iam  fessum  senio  nudant  latus,  et  fide  sacra 
aequatos  caelo  surdum  atque  ignobile  muros 
firmat  opus,     tamen  et  Boeotis  urbibus  ultrix         360 
adspirat  ferri  rabies,  nee  regis  iniqui 
subsidio,  quantum  socia  pro  gente  moventur. 

"  For  the  legend  see  1.  275  n. 
532 


THEBAID,  IV.  335-362 

wait  till  thy  prowess  be  greater,  thy  years  more  firm, 
till  the  shadow  come  upon  thy  rosy  cheeks  and  my 
likeness  fade  from  off  thy  face.  Then  I  myself  will 
give  thee  the  battles  and  the  sword  for  which  thou 
dost  burn,  and  no  mother's  tears  shall  call  thee  back. 
Now  take  back  thy  weapons  home  !  But  you,  will 
you  suffer  him  to  go  to  war,  ye  Arcadians,  O  born 
assuredly  of  rock  and  oak  ?  "  "  More  would  she  fain 
entreat ;  her  son  and  the  chieftains  thronging  round 
console  her  and  lessen  her  fears,  and  already  the 
bugles'  horrid  signal  blares  forth.  She  cannot  loose 
her  son  from  her  loving  embrace,  and  commends  him 
earnestly  to  his  leader  Adrastus. 

But  in  another  region  the  Martian  folk  of  Cadmus, 
dismayed  by  the  madness  of  the  king  and  terrified 
by  news  that  is  grave  indeed — for  'tis  spread  abroad 
how  Argos  is  making  descent  in  force — tardily  in 
truth  for  shame  of  the  monarch  and  his  cause,  never- 
theless prepare  for  war.  None  rush  to  draw  the 
sword,  or  take  pleasure  in  covering  their  shoulders 
with  their  father's  shield  or  making  trim  the  harness 
of  wing-footed  horses,  delights  such  as  war  affords  ; 
despondent,  without  resolve  or  warlike  temper,  they 
vouchsafe  a  timorous  aid  ;  this  one  bewails  a  loving 
parent  in  his  evil  case,  another  his  wife's  pleasant 
youth  and  the  hapless  babes  ripening  in  her  womb. 
In  none  does  the  war-god  wax  hot ;  even  the  walls 
crumbling  with  age-long  neglect  and  Amphion's 
mighty  towers  lay  bare  their  worn  and  ancient  sides, 
and  a  mean  and  unresponsive  toil  repairs  those 
parapets  once  raised  to  heaven  by  the  inspired  harp. 
Yet  the  Boeotian  cities  are  moved  by  the  avenging 
lust  of  battle,  and  are  stirred  in  behalf  of  their 
kindred  race   rather  than  to   aid  the   unjust  king. 

533 


STATIUS 

ille  velut  pecoris  lupus  expugnator  opimi, 

pectora  tabenti  sanie  gravis  hii'taque  saetis 

ora  cruentata  deformis  hiantia  lana,  365 

decedit  stabulis  hue  illuc  turbida  versans 

lumina,  si  duri  comperta  clade  sequantur 

pastores,  magnique  fugit  non  inscius  ausi. 

Adcumulat  crebros  turbatrix  P"ama  pavores  : 
hie  iam  disperses  errare  Asopide  ripa  370 

Lernaeos  equites  ;  hie  te,  baeehate  Cithaeron^ 
ille  rapi  Teumeson  ait  noetisque  per  umbras 
nuntiat  excubiis  vigiles  arsisse  Plataeas. 
nam  Tyrios  sudare  lares  et  sanguine  Dircen 
inriguam  fetusque  novos  iterumque  locutam  375 

Spliinga  petris,  eui  non  et  scire  licentia  passim 
et  vidisse  fuit  ?  novus  his  super  anxia  turbat 
corda  metus  :  sparsis  subito  correpta  canistris 
silvestris  regina  chori  deeurrit  in  aequum 
vertice  ab  Ogygio  trifidamque  hue  tristis  et  illuc   380 
lumine  sanguineo  pinum  disiectat  et  ardens 
erectam  attonitis  implet  clamoribus  urbem  : 
"omnipotens  Xysaee  pater,  eui  gentis  a\itae 
pridem  lapsus  amor,  tu  nunc  horrente  sub  arcto 
belhca  ferrato  rapidus  quatis  Ismara  thyrso  385 

pampineumque  iubes  nemus  inreptare  Lycurgo, 
aut  tumidum  Gangen  aut  claustra  novissima  Rubrae 
Tethyos  Eoasque  domos  flagrante  triumpho 
perfuris,  aut  Hermi  de  fontibus  aureus  exis  : 

"  i.e.,  Theban  :  so  also  "  Ogygian,"  line  380. 

^  The  leader  of  the  Bacchanals,  or  women  that  in  Bacchic 
frenzy  roamed  the  hills  round  about  Thebes. 

"  A  mountain-cit}'  in  India,  according  to  some  legends 
the  birthplace  of  Bacchus  ;  Oriental  triumphs  play  a  large 
part  in  the  Dionysian  legend. 

^  King  of  Thrace,  who  resisted  Bacchus  and  his  vines. 

534 


THEBAID,  IV.  363-389 

Like  is  he  to  a  wolf  that  has  forced  an  entx'ance  to 
a  rich  fold  of  sheep,  and  now,  his  breast  all  clotted 
witli  foul  corruption  and  his  gaping  bristly  mouth 
unsightly  with  blood-stained  wool,  hies  him  from 
the  pens,  turning  this  way  and  that  his  troubled 
gaze,  should  the  angry  shepherds  find  out  their  loss 
and  follow  in  pursuit,  and  flees  all  conscious  of  his 
bold  deed. 

Disturbing  Rumour  heaps  panic  upon  panic  :  one 
says  that  scattered  cavalry  of  Lerna  wander  upon 
Asopus'  bank,  one  tells  of  thy  capture,  Cithaeron  of 
the  revels,  another  reports  Teumesos  taken,  and 
Plataeae's  watch-fires  burning  through  the  darkness 
of  the  night.  And  to  whom  throughout  the  land 
hath  not  knowledge,  yea  sight  been  granted,  of  the 
Tyrian  *  walls  a-sweat  and  Dirce  stained  with  blood, 
of  monstrous  births  and  Sphinx  yet  once  more  speak- 
ing from  her  I'ock  ?  And  to  crown  all,  a  new  fear 
confounds  their  anxious  hearts  :  of  a  sudden  the 
queen  of  the  woodland  dance ''  is  seized  by  frenzy, 
and  scattering  the  sacred  baskets  runs  down  to  the 
plain  from  the  Ogygian  heights,  and  bloodshot-eyed 
waves  fiercely  to  and  fro  a  triple  pine-torch,  and 
fills  the  alarmed  city  with  wild  distracted  cries : 
"  Almighty  Sire  of  Nysa,*'  who  long  hast  ceased  to 
love  thy  ancestral  nation,  swift-borne  beneath  the 
frozen  North  thou  art  shaking  warlike  Ismara  now 
with  thine  iron-pointed  thyrsus,  and  bidding  the 
vine-gi'oves  creep  over  Lycurgus'  **  realm,  or  thou 
art  rushing  in  mad  and  flaring  triumph  by  swelling 
Ganges  and  the  farthest  confines  of  red  Tethys  '^ 
and  the  Eastern  lands,  or  issuing  golden  from  the 

*  i.e.,  what  the  ancients  called  the  Red  Sea,  viz.  the  Persian 
Gulf. 

535 


STATIUS 

at  tua  progenies,  positis  gentilibus  arniis  390 

quae  tibi  festa-^  litant,  bellum  lacrimasque  metumque 
cognatumque  nefas_.  iniusti  munera  regni, 
pendimus.     aetei'nis  potius  me,  Bacche,  pruinis 
trans  et  An:iazoniis  ululatum  Caucason  armis 
siste  ferenS;  quam  monstra  ducum  stirpemque  pro- 
fanam  395 

eloquar.     en  urges  ;  alium  tibi,  Bacche,  fui'orem 
iuravi  :  similes  video  concurrere  tauros  ; 
idem  ambobus  honos  unusque  ab  origine  sanguis  ; 
ardua  conlatis  obnixi  cornua  miscent 
frontibus  alternaque  truces  moriuntur  in  ira.  400 

tu  peior,  tu  cede,^  nocens  qui  solus  avita 
gramina  communemque  petis  defendere  montem. 
a  miseri  morum  !     bellastis  sanguine  tanto, 
et  saltum  dux  alter  habet."    sic  fata  gelatis 
vultibus  et  Baccho  iam  demigrante  quie\dt.  405 

At  trepidus  monstro  et  variis  terroribus  impar 
longaevi  rex  vatis  opem  tenebrasque  sagaces 
Tiresiae,  qui  mos  incerta  paventibus,  aeger 
consulit.     ille  deos  non  larga  caede  iuvencum, 
non  alacri  pinna  aut  verum  salientibus^  extis,         410 
nee  tripode  implicito  numerisque  sequentibus  astra, 
turea  nee  supra  volitante  altaria  fumo 
tarn  penitus,  durae  quam  Mortis  limite  manes 
elicitos  patuisse  refert,  Lethaeaque  sacra 
et  mersum  Ismeni  subter  confinia  ponto  415 

1  festa  Pw  :  bella  D. 

^  cede  Pw  :  caede  Baehrens. 

^  salientibus  P  :  spirantibus  u. 

°  i.e.,  the  thyrsus.  "Thy  progeny,"  because  Bacchus 
was  the  guardian  deity  of  Thebes. 

"  "  parat  "  must  be  taken  both  with  "  Lethaeaque  sacra  " 
and  with  "  ducem,"  i.e.,  Laius ;  "  miscentis  "  is  intrans. 

536 


THEBAID,  IV.  390-415 

springs  of  Hermus.  But  we,  thy  progeny,  have  laid 
aside  our  counti'y's  weapons'*  that  do  thee  festal 
honour,  and  have  our  portion  of  war  and  tears,  and 
terror  and  kindred  crime,  the  cruel  burdens  of  this 
unrighteous  reign.  Rather,  O  Bacchus,  take  and 
set  me  among  the  eternal  frosts,  beyond  Caucasus 
that  I'ings  with  the  war-cry  of  the  Amazons,  than 
that  I  sliould  tell  the  horrors  of  our  rulers  and  their 
unnatural  brood.  Lo  !  thou  drivest  me  !  far  different 
was  the  frenzy  I  vowed  to  thee,  O  Bacchus  :  I  behold 
two  similar  bulls  engage,  alike  in  honour  and  sharing 
one  inherited  blood  ;  A\'ith  butting  foreheads  and 
lofty  horns  they  close  in  fierce  struggle,  and  perish 
in  the  violence  of  their  mutual  wrath.  Thou  art  the 
villain  !  do  thou  give  way,  who  WTongfully  seekest 
all  alone  to  hold  ancestral  pastures  and  the  hills  ye 
both  do  own.  Ah  !  miserable  and  wicked  !  such 
bloodshed  have  your  wars  cost  you,  and  another 
champion  is  master  of  your  meadow."  So  spake  she, 
and  as  the  god  withdrew  his  presence  fell  mute  with 
ice-cold  face. 

But  the  king,  affrighted  by  the  portent  and  a  prey 
to  various  terrors,  in  sick  despair — such  is  the  way 
of  those  who  fear  they  know  not  what — seeks  aid  from 
the  long-lived  seer  and  the  clear-sighted  blindness  of 
Tiresias.  He  replies  that  heaven  shows  not  its  will 
so  clearly  by  lavish  slaughter  of  steers  or  nimble 
feathered  wing  or  the  truthful  leap  of  entrails,  not 
by  means  of  garlanded  tripod  or  star-determined 
numbers,  or  by  the  smoke  that  hovers  about  the 
altar's  frankincense,  as  by  the  ghosts  called  up  from 
Death's  stern  barrier  ;  then  he  prepares  the  rites 
of  Lethe,**  and  makes  ready  beforehand  to  evoke  the 
monarch  sunk  below  the  confines  of  Ismenos  where 

537 


STATIUS 

miscentis  parat  ante  ducem,  circumque  bidentum 
visceribus  laceris  et  odori  sulpuris  aura 
graminibusque  no\is  et  longo  niurmure  piirgat. 

Silva  capax  aevi  validaque  incurva  senecta, 
aeternum  intonsae  frondis,  stat  per\ia  nullis  420 

solibus  ;  baud  illam  brumae  minuere,  Notusve 
ius  habet  aut  Getica  Boreas  impactus  ab  Ursa, 
subter  operta  quies,  vacuusque  silentia  servat 
horror  et  exclusae  pallet  male  lucis  imago, 
nee  caret  umbra  deo  :  nemori  Latonia  cultrix         425 
additur  ;  hanc  piceae  cedrique  et  robore  in  omni 
effietam  Sanctis  occultat  silva  tenebris. 
huius  inaspectae  luco  stridere  sagittae 
nocturnique  canum  gemitus,  ubi  limina  patrui 
efFugit  inque  novae  melior  redit  ora  Dianae  ;  430 

aut  ubi  fessa  iugis,  dulcisque  altissima  somnos 
■lux  mo  vet,  hie  late  iaculis  circum  undique  fixis 
efFusam  pharetra  cervicem  excepta  quiescit. 
extra  immane  patens  tellus  Mavortia  campi, 
fetus  ager  Cadmo.     durus  qui  vomer e  primo  435 

post  consanguineas  acies  sulcosque  nocentes 
ausus  humum  versare  et  molha  sanguine  prata 
eruit ;  ingentes  infelix  terra  tumultus 
lucis  adhuc  medio  solaque  in  nocte  per  umbras 
exspirat,  nigri  cum  vana  in  proelia  surgunt  440 

terrigenae  ;  fugit  incepto  tremibundus  ab  arvo 
agricola  insanique  domum  rediere  iuvenci. 
538 


THEBAID,  IV.  416-442 

it  mingles  with  the  deep,  and  makes  purgation  all 
around  with  the  torn  entrails  of  sheep  and  the  strong 
smell  of  sulphur,  and  with  fresh  herbs  and  the  long 
mutterings  of  prayers. 

There  stands  a  wood,  enduring  of  time,  and  strong 
and  erect  in  age,  ^\^th  foliage  aye  unshorn  nor  pierced 
by  any  suns  ;  no  cold  of  winter  has  injured  it,  nor 
has  the  South  wind  power  thereon  nor  Boreas  swoop- 
ing down  from  the  Getic  Bear.  Beneath  is  sheltered 
quiet,  and  a  vague  shuddering  awe  guards  the 
silence,  and  the  phantom  of  tlie  banished  light  gleams 
pale  and  ominous.  Nor  do  the  shadows  lack  a  divine 
power  :  Latonia's  haunting  presence  is  added  to 
the  grove  ;  her  effigies  wrought  in  pine  or  cedar 
and  wood  of  eveiy  tree  are  hidden  in  the  hallowed 
gloom  of  the  forest.  Her  arrows  whistle  unseen 
tlirough  the  wood,  her  hounds  bay  nightly,  when 
she  flies  from  her  uncle's  threshold  and  resumes 
afresh  Diana's  kindlier  shape.  Or  when  she  is  weary 
from  her  ranging  on  the  hills,  and  the  sun  high  in 
heaven  invites  sweet  slumber,  here  doth  she  rest 
with  head  flung  back  carelessly  on  her  quiver,  while 
all  her  spears  stand  fixed  in  the  earth  around. 
Outside,  of  vast  extent,  stretches  the  Martian  plain, 
the  field  that  bore  its  harvest  to  Cadmus.  Hardy 
was  he  who  first  after  the  kindred  warfare  and  the 
crime  of  those  same  furrows  dared  with  the  plough- 
share till  the  soil  and  upturned  the  blood-soaked 
meads  ;  even  yet  the  accursed  earth  breathes 
miglity  tumults  at  midday  and  in  the  lonely  night's 
dim  shadows,  when  the  black  sons  of  eartli  arise  to 
phantom  combat  :  with  trembling  limbs  the  husband- 
man flees  and  leaves  the  field  unfinished,  and  his 
oxen  hie  them  to  their  stalls,  distraught. 

539 


STATIUS 

Hie  senior  vates — Stygiis  adcommoda  quippe 
terra  sacris,  vivoque  placent  sola  pinguia  tabo — 
velleris  obscuri  pecudes  armentaque  sisti  445 

atra  monet,  quaecumque  gregum  pulcherrima  cervix 
dueitur  ;   ingemuit  Dirce  maestusque  Cithaeron, 
et  nova  clamosae  stupuere  silentia  valles. 
turn  fera  caeruleis  intexit  cornua  sertis 
ipse  manu  tractans,  notaeque  in  limite  silvae  450 

principio  largos  noviens  tellure  cavata 
inclinat  Bacchi  latices  et  munera  verni 
lactis  et  Actaeos  imbres  suadumque  cruorem 
manibus  ;  adgeritur,  quantum  bibit  arida  tellus. 
trunca  dehinc  nemora  advolvunt,  maestusque  sacerdos 
tris  Hecatae  totidemque  satis  Acheronte  nefasto  456 
virginibus  iubet  esse  focos  ;  tibi,  rector  Averni, 
quamquam  infossus  humo  superat  tamen  agger  in 

auras 
pineus  ;  hunc  iuxta  cumulo  minor  ara  profundae 
erigitur  Cereri  ;  frontes  atque  omne  cupressus       460 
intexit  plorata  latus.     iamque  ardua  ferro 
signati  capita  et  frugum  libamine  puro 
in  vulnus  cecidere  greges  ;  tunc  innuba  Manto 
exceptum  pateris  praelibat  sanguen,  et  omnes 
ter  circum  acta  pyras  sancti  de  more  parentis         465 
semineces  fibras  et  adhuc  spirantia  reddit 
viscera,  nee  rapidas  cunetatur  frondibus  atris 
subiectare  faces,     atque  ipse  sonantia  flammis 
virgulta  et  tristes  crepuisse  ut  sensit  acervos 
Tiresias — illi  nam  plurimus  ardor  anhelat  470 

ante  genas  impletque  eavos  vapor  igneus  orbes, — 
exclamat — tremuere  rogi  et  vox  terruit^  ignem  : — 

^  terruit  P  :  impulit  w. 

"  Honey,  for  which  Hymettus  in  Attica  was  famous. 
540 


THEBAID,  IV.  443-472 

Here  the  aged  seer — for  well  suited  is  the  ground 
to  Stygian  rites,  and  the  soil,  rich  with  living 
gore,  delighted  him — bids  dark-fleeced  sheep  and 
black  oxen  be  set  before  him,  all  the  finest  heads 
that  the  hei*ds  can  show  ;  Dirce  and  gloomy 
Cithaeron  wailed  aloud,  and  the  echoing  valleys 
shuddered  at  the  sudden  silence.  Then  he  entwined 
their  fierce  horns  with  wreaths  of  dusky  hue,  handling 
them  himself,  and  first  at  the  edge  of  that  well- 
known  wood  he  nine  times  spills  lavish  draughts 
of  Bacchus  into  a  hollowed  trench,  and  gifts  of 
vernal  milk  and  Attic  rain ''  and  propitiatory  blood 
to  the  shades  below  ;  so  much  is  poured  out  as  the 
dry  earth  will  drink.  Then  they  roll  tree  trunks 
thither,  and  the  sad  priest  bids  there  be  three 
altar-fires  for  Hecate  and  three  for  the  maidens 
born  of  cursed  Acheron ;  for  thee,  lord  of  Avernus, 
a  heap  of  pinewood  though  sunk  into  the  ground 
yet  towers  high  into  the  air  ;  next  to  this  an  altar 
of  lesser  bulk  is  raised  to  Ceres  of  the  underworld  ; 
in  front  and  on  every  side  the  cypress  of  lamentation 
intertwines  them.  And  now,  their  lofty  heads 
marked  with  the  sword  and  the  pure  sprinkled  meal, 
the  cattle  fell  under  the  stroke  ;  then  the  virgin 
Manto,  catching  the  blood  in  bowls,  makes  first 
libation,  and  moving  thrice  round  all  the  pyres,  as 
her  holy  sire  commands,  offers  the  half-dead  tissues 
and  the  yet  living  entrails,  nor  delays  to  set  the 
devouring  fire  to  the  dark  foliage.  And  when 
Tiresias  heard  the  branches  crackling  in  the  flames 
and  the  grim  piles  roaring — for  the  burning  heat 
surges  before  his  face,  and  the  fiery  vapour  fills 
the  hollows  of  his  eyes— he  exclaimed,  and  the 
pyres  trembled,  and  the  flames  cowered  at  his  voice  : 

541 


STATIUS 

"  Tartareae  sedes  et  formidabile  regnum 
Mortis  inexpletae,  tuque,  o  sae\assime  fratrum, 
cui  servire  dati  manes  aeternaque  sontum  475 

supplicia  atque  imi  famulatur  regia  mundi, 
solvite  pulsanti  loca  muta  et  inane  severae 
Persephones  vulgusque  cava  sub  nocte  repostum 
elicite,  et  plena  redeat  Styga  portitor  alno. 
ferte  simul  gressus,  nee  simplex  manibus  esto        480 
in  lucem  remeare  modus  ;  tu  separe  coetu 
Elysios,  Persei,^  pios,  virgaque  potenti 
nubilus  Areas  agat  ;  contra  per  crimina  functis, 
qui  plures  Erebo  pluresque  e  sanguine  Cadmi, 
angue  ter  excusso  et  flagranti  praevia  taxo,  485 

Tisiphone,  dux  pande  diem,  nee  lucis  egentes 
Cerberus  occursu  capitum  detorqueat  umbras." 
Dixerat,  et  pariter  senior  Phoebeaque  virgo 
erexere  animos  :  illi  formidine  nulla, 
quippe  in  corde  deus,  solum  timor  obruit  ingens    490 
Oedipodioniden.  vatisque  horrenda  canentis 
nunc  umeros  nunc  ille  manus  et  vellera  pressat 
anxius  inceptisque  velit  desistere  sacris. 
qualis  Gaetulae  stabulantem  ad  confraga  silv^ae 
venator  longo  motum  clamore  leonem  495 

exspectat  firmans  animum  et  sudantia  nisu 
tela  premens  ;  gelat  ora  pavor  gressusque  tremiscunt, 

^  Persei  Q  :  persae  (-saee)  Pw. 

"  Hades,  or  Pluto,  was  the  brother  of  Zeus  and  Poseidon  ; 
they  obtained  sky  and  sea  respectively,  while  he  had  to  be 
content  with  the  underworld. 

54-2 


THEBAID,  IV.  473-497 

"Abodes  of  Tartarus  and  awful  realm  of  insatiable 
Death,  and  thou,  most  cruel  of  the  brothers,*  to 
whom  the  shades  are  given  to  serve  thee,  and  the 
eternal  punishments  of  the  damned  obey  thee,  and 
tlie  palace  of  the  underworld,  throw  open  in  answer 
to  my  knocking  the  silent  places  and  empty  void 
of  stern  Persephone,  and  send  forth  the  multitude 
that  lurk  in  hollow  night ;  let  the  ferryman  row  back 
across  the  Styx  with  groaning  bark.  Haste  ye  all 
together,  nor  let  there  be  for  the  shades  but  one 
fashion  of  return  to  the  light  ;  do  thou,  daughter 
of  Perses,^  and  the  cloud- wrapt  Arcadian  with  rod  of 
power  lead  in  separate  throng  the  pious  denizens 
of  Elysium  ;  but  for  those  who  died  in  crime,  who 
in  Erebus,  as  among  the  seed  of  Cadmus,  are  most 
in  number,  be  thou  their  leader,  Tisiphone,  go  on 
before  with  snake  thrice  brandished  and  blazing 
yew-branch,  and  throw  open  the  light  of  day,  nor 
let  Cerberus  interpose  his  heads,  and  turn  aside  the 
ghosts  that  lack  the  light." 

He  spoke,  and  together  the  aged  man  and  Phoebus' 
maiden  waited  in  rapt  attention.  Nought  feared 
they,  for  their  hearts  were  inspired  of  the  god  ;  only 
the  son  of  Oedipus  was  overcome  by  a  great  terror, 
and  in  agony  he  grasps,  now  the  shoulders,  now  the 
hands  and  sacred  fillets  of  the  seer  as  he  chants  his 
awful  strain,  and  would  fain  leave  the  rites  unfinished. 
Even  so  a  hunter  awaits  a  lion  roused  by  long  shouting 
from  his  lair  in  the  brushwood  of  a  Gaetulian  forest, 
steeling  his  courage  and  holding  his  spear  in  a 
perspiring  grip  ;  his  face  is  frozen  in  terror  and  his 
steps    tremble  ;     "  what    beast    approaches  ?  "     he 

"  He  was  brother  of  Circe  and  Aeetes,     Perseis  is  Hecate. 

543 


STATIUS 

quis  veniat  quantusque,  sed  horrida  signa  frementis 
accipit  et  caeca  metitur  murmura  cura.  499 

Atque  hie  Tii-esias  nondum  adventantibus  umbris  : 
"  tester  "  ait,  "  divae,  quibus  hunc  saturavimus  ignem 
laevaque  convulsae  dedimus  carchesia  terrae. 
iam  nequeo  tolerare  moram.     cassusne  sacerdos 
audior  ?  an,  rabido  iubeat  si  Thessala  cantu, 
ibitis  et  Scythicis  quotiens  medicata^  venenis         505 
Colchis  aget,  trepido  pallebunt  Tartara  motu  : 
nostri  cura  minor,  si  non  attollere  bustis 
corpora  nee  plenas  antiquis  ossibus  urnas 
egerere  et  mixtos  caehque  Erebique  sub  unum 
funestare  deos  hbet  aut  exsanguia  ferro  510 

ora  sequi  atque  aegras  functorum  carpere  fibras  ? 
ne  tenues  annos  nubemque  hanc  frontis  opacae 
spernite,  ne,  moneo  ;  et  nobis  saevire  facultas. 
novimus  et  quidquid  dici  noscique  timetis, 
et  turbare  Hecaten,  ni  te,  Thymbraee,  vererer       515 
et  triphcis  mundi  summum,  quern  scire  nefastum. 
ilium — sed  taceo  :  prohibet  tranquilla  senectus. 
iamque  ego  vos  " — a  vide  subicit  Phoebeia  Manto  : 
"audiris,  genitor,  vulgusque  exsangue  propinquat. 
panditur  Elysium  chaos,  et  telluris  opertae  520 

dissilit  umbra  capax,  silvaeque  et  nigra  patescunt 
flumina,  hventes  Acheron  eiectat  harenas. 
^  medicata  P  :  armata  w. 

"  i.e.,  if  I  care  not  to  practise  evil  rites. 

''  It  is  not  clear  whom  or  what  Statius  means  by  this 
mysterious  phrase.  Cf.  Lucan,  Phars.  vi.  743,  where  a 
similar  Power  is  appealed  to.  The  Scholiast  identifies  with 
the  Demiurgus,  or  Creator,  who  appears  in  some  philosophical 
systems  (Orphic,  Gnostic,  Plato's  Timaeus),  but  more  prob- 
ably Statius  is  using  the  language  of  magical  formulae,  in 
which  such  invocations  as  "  highest,"  "  greatest,"  "  king," 
without   any   particular  application  are  common.     Cf.  the 

544 


THEBAID,  1\'.  -HJ8~522 

wonders,  and  "  how  mighty  ?  "  and  he  hears  the 
roar  that  gives  ominous  signal,  and  measures  the 
growing  sound  in  bhnd  anxiety. 

Then  Tiresias,  as  the  ghosts  did  not  yet  draw 
nigh  :  "I  bear  you  witness,  goddesses,  for  whom 
we  have  drenched  these  flames  and  poured  pro- 
pitious goblets  upon  the  rent  earth,  I  can  endure 
delay  no  further.  Am  I  heard  in  vain,  priest  though 
I  be  ?  Or,  if  a  hag  of  Thessaly  bid  you  with  her 
frenzied  chant,  will  ye  then  go,  or  so  often  as  a 
Colchian  witch  drives  you  with  Scythian  drugs  and 
poisons,  will  Tartarus  grow  pale  and  stir  affrighted  : 
but  of  me  have  ye  less  regai-d,  if  I  care  not  to  raise 
bodies  from  the  tomb,  and  bring  forth  urns  crammed 
with  ancient  bones,  and  profane  the  gods  of  heaven 
and  Erebus  alike,  or  hunt  with  the  sword  the  blood- 
less faces  of  the  dead  and  pluck  out  their  sickly 
tissues  ? "  Despise  not  these  frail  years  nor  the 
cloud  that  is  upon  my  darkened  brow,  despise  it  not, 
I  warn  you  !  I,  too,  can  vent  my  wrath.  I  know 
the  name  whose  knowing  and  whose  speaking  ye 
so  dread,  even  Hecate  I  can  confound,  feared  I 
not  thee,  O  Thymbraean,  and  the  high  lord  of  the 
triple  world,**  who  may  not  be  known.  Him — but 
I   am  silent  ;    peaceful  old  age  forbids.     Now  will 

I "    but    \Ianto,    votary    of    Phoebus,    eagerly 

cries  :  "  Thou  art  heard,  O  father,  the  pale  host 
draws  nigh.  The  Elysian  void  is  flung  open,  the 
spacious  shadows  of  the  hidden  region  are  rent,  the 
groves  and  black  rivers  lie  clear  to  view,  and  Acheron 
belches    forth    noisome    mud.     Smoky    Phlegethon 

(Iraeco-F.a-yptian  ina^'ic    spells    edited  by   Wesseiy  (< •rifc/i. 

Zauberpapi/ri,  JSSS),  or  l)y  Eitreni  (I'dp.  Oalofti.s^s,    l!)Jo). 

Typhon  (  -Seti)  is  frequently  called  on  in  similar  language. 

VOL.  I  2  N  5  l,j 


STATIUS 

fumidus  atra  vadis  Phlegethon  incendia  volvit, 
et  Styx  discretis  interflua  manibus  obstat. 
ipsum  pallentem  solio  circumque  ministras  525 

funestorum  operum  Euraenidas  Stygiaeque  severos 
lunonis  thalamos  et  torva  cubilia  cerno. 
in  speculis  Mors  atra  sedet  dominoque  silentes 
adnumerat  populos  ;  maior  superimminet  ordo. 
arbiter  hos  dura  versat  Cortynius  urna  530 

vera  minis  poscens  adigitque  expromere  vitas 
usque  retro  et  tandem  poenarum  lucra  fateri, 
quid  tibi  monstra  Erebi,  Sc3dlas  et  inane  furentes 
Centauros  solidoque  intorta  adamante  Gigantum 
vincula  et  angustam  centeni  Aegaeonis  umbram  ?  " 

"  Immo"  ait,  "onostrae  regimen  viresque  senectae, 
ne  volgata  mihi.     quis  enim  remeabile  saxum        537 
fallentesque  lacus  Tityonque  alimenta  volucrum 
et  caligantem  longis  Ixiona  gyris 
nesciat  ?     ipse  etiam,  melior  cum  sanguis,  opertas  540 
inspexi  sedes,  Hecate  ducente,  priusquam 
obruit  ora  deus  totamque  in  pectora  lucem 
detulit.     Argolicas  magis  hue  adpelle  precando 
Thebanasque  animas  ;  alias  avertere  gressus 
lacte  quater  sparsas  maestoque  excedere  luco,       545 
nata,  iube  ;  turn  qui  vultus  habitusque,  quis  ardor 
sanguinis  adfusi,  gens  utra  superbior  adsit, 
die  agedum  nostramque  mone  per  singula  noctem." 

lussa  facit  carmenque  serit,  quo  dissipat  umbras, 
quo  reciet  sparsas  ;  qualis,  si  crimina  demas,  550 


"  i.e.,  Proserpine.  <>  Minos. 

54() 


THEBAID,  IV.  523  550 

rolls  down  his  streams  of  mui'ky  flame,  and  Styx 
interfluent  sets  a  barrier  to  the  sundered  ghosts. 
Himself  I  behold,  all  pale  upon  his  throne,  with 
Furies  ministering  to  his  fell  deeds  about  him,  and 
the  remorseless  chambers  and  gloomy  couch  of 
Stygian  Juno.**  Black  Death  sits  upon  an  eminence, 
and  numbers  the  silent  peoples  for  their  lord  ;  yet 
the  greater  part  of  the  troop  remains.  The  Gortynian 
judge  '^  shakes  them  in  his  inexorable  urn,  demanding 
the  truth  with  threats,  and  constrains  them  to 
speak  out  their  whole  lives'  story  and  at  last  confess 
their  extorted  gains.  Why  should  I  tell  thee  of 
Hell's  monsters,  of  Scyllas  and  the  empty  rage  of 
Centaurs,  and  the  Giants'  twisted  chains  of  solid 
adamant,  and  the  diminished  shade  of  hundredfold 
Aegaeon  ?  "  "  Even  so,"  said  he,  "  O  guide  and 
strength  of  my  old  age,  tell  me  not  things  well 
known.  Who  knows  not  the  aye-returning  rock, 
and  the  deceiving  waters,  and  Tityos  food  of  vultures, 
and  Ixion  swooning  on  the  long  circlings  of  the 
Avheel  ?  I  myself  in  the  years  of  stronger  manhood 
beheld  the  hidden  realms  with  Hecate  as  my  guide, 
before  heaven  whelmed  my  vision,  and  drew  all  my 
light  within  my  mind.  Rather  summon  thou  hither 
with  thy  prayers  the  Argive  and  the  Theban  souls  ; 
the  rest,  my  daughter,  bid  thou  with  milk  four  times 
sprinkled  to  avert  their  steps,  and  to  leave  the 
dreary  grove.  Then  tell  me,  pray,  the  dress  and 
countenance  of  each,  how  great  their  desire  for  the 
spilled  blood,  which  folk  draw  nigh  more  haughtily, 
and  thus  of  each  several  thing  inform  my  darkness." 
She  obeys,  and  weaves  the  charm  wherewith  she 
disperses  the  shades  and  calls  them  back  when 
scattered ;  potent  (but  without  their  crimes)  as  the 

547 


STATIUS 

Colchis  et  Aeaeo  siiuulatrix  litore  Circe. 
tunc  his  sacrificum  dictis  adfata  parenteni  : 
"  primus  sanguineo  submittit  inertia  Cadmus 
ora  lacu,  iuxtaque  virum  Cythereia  proles 
insequitur,  geminusque  bibit^  de  vertice  serpens.  555 
terrigenae  comites  illos,  gens  Martia,  cingunt, 
quis^  aevi  mensura  dies,  manus  omnis  in  armis, 
omnis  et  in  capulo  ;  prohibent  obstantque  ruuntque 
spirantmn  rabie,  nee  tristi  incumbere  fossae 
cura,  sed  alternum  sitis  exhaurire  cruorem.  500 

proxima  natarum  manus  est  fletique  nepotes. 
hie  orbani  Autonoen  et  anhelam  cernimus  Ino 
respectantem  arcus  et  ad  ubera  dulce  prementem 
pignus  et  oppositis  Semelen  a  ventre  lacertis. 
Penthea  iam  fractis  genetrix  Cadmeia  thyrsis         565 
iamque  remissa  deo  pectusque  adaperta^  cruentum 
insequitur  planctu  ;  fugit  ille  avia  Lethes 
et  Stygios  super  usque  lacus,  ubi  mitior^  ilium 
flet  pater  et  lacerum  componit  corpus  Echion. 
tristem  nosco  Lycum  dextramque  in  terga  reflexum 
Aeoliden,  umero  iactantem  funus  onusto.  571 

necdum  ille  aut  habitus  aut  versae  crimina  formae 
mutat  Aristaeo  genitus  :  fi'ons  aspera  cornu, 
tela  manu,  reicitque  canes  in  vulnus  hiantes. 

^  insequitur  geminusque  bibit  P :  effluit  amborum  geminus 
w.     Cf.  X.  134,  xi,  490. 
^  quis  L  Naiike  :  his  Pw. 
^  adaperta  Gronovius  :  adoperta  Pu. 

*  mitior  w  :  ianitor  P :  Garrod  conj.  inaniter. 

"  Referring  to  her  power  of  changing  men  into  beasts  (lit. 
"  disguising  "  them  as  beasts). 

*  Harmonia,  wife  of  Cadmus.     They  were  changed  into 
serpents. 

548 


THEBAID,  IV.  551-574 

Colcliian  maiden,  or  the  encliantress"  Circe  on  the 
Aeaean  strand.  Then  with  these  words  she  ad- 
dressed her  priestly  sire  :  "  First  from  the  blood- 
red  lake  doth  Cadmus  raise  his  strengthless  head, 
and  the  daughter  of  Cytherea  ^  folloM's  hard  upon 
her  spouse,  and  from  their  head  twin  serpents 
drink.  The  earth-born  company,  seed  of  Mars, 
throng  round  them,  whose  span  of  life  one  day  did 
measure,  and  every  hand  is  on  its  weapon,  yea,  on 
the  sword-hilt  ;  they  repel  and  bar  approach,  and 
rush  to  combat  with  the  fury  of  living  men,  nor  care 
they  to  stoop  to  the  gloomy  trench,  but  thirst  to 
drain  each  other's  blood.  Near  by  is  a  band  of 
Cadmus'  daughters  and  the  sons  they  mourned. 
Here  we  behold  bereaved  Autonoe ''  and  panting 
I  no,  looking  back  at  the  bow  and  pressing  her  sweet 
pledge  to  her  bosom,  and  Semele  with  arms  held 
out  to  protect  her  womb.  With  shivered  wands 
and  bosom  bare  and  bleeding,  the  frenzy  of  the  god 
now  spent,  doth  his  mother,  Cadmus'  daughter, 
follow  Pentheus  with  wailing  cries  ;  but  he  fleeth 
bv  Lethe's  pathless  region  even  beyond  the  Stygian 
lakes,  where  his  kindlier  sire  Kchion  weeps  over 
him  and  tends  his  mangled  body.  Sad  I^ycus ''  too, 
I  recognize,  and  the  son  of  Aeolus/'  his  right  arm 
bent  behind  him,  and  a  corpse  thrown  upon  his  laden 
shoulder.  Nor  yet  doth  that  one  change  his  appeai'- 
ance  or  the  reproach  of  his  transformation,  even 
Aristaeus'  son  ^  :  the  horns  roughen  his  brow, 
while  spear  in  hand  he  repels  the  hounds  agape  to 

"  Mother  of  Actaeon  (iii.  201).     She  and  Ino,  Semele  and 
Agave  (565)  were  all  daughters  of  Cadmus. 
"^  A  Theban  king,  slain  by  Hercules. 

'  Athanias,  who  slew  his  son  Learchus.  ^  Actaeon. 

549 


STATIUS 

ecce  autem  magna  subit  invidiosa  caterva  575 

Tantalis  et  tumido  percenset  funera  luctu, 
nil  deiecta  malis  ;  iuvat  eifugisse  deorum 
numina  et  insanae  plus  iam  permittere  linguae." 

Talia  dum  patri  canit  intemerata  sacerdos, 
illius  elatis  tremefacta  adsurgere  vittis  580 

canities  tenuesque  impelli  sanguine  vultus. 
nee  iam  firmanti  baciilo  nee  virgine  fida 
nititur,  erectusque  solo  "desiste  canendo, 
nata"  ait,  "externae  satis  est  mihi  lucis,  inertes 
discedunt  nebulae,  et  vultum  niger  exsilit^  aer.      585 
umbrisne  an  supero  dimissus  Apolline  complet 
spiritus  ?     en  video  quaecumque  audita,     sed  ecce 
maerent  Argolici  deiecto  lumine  manes  ! 
torvus  Abas  Proetusque  nocens  mitisque  Phoroneus 
truncatusque  Pelops  et  saevo  pulvere  sordens         590 
Oenomaus  largis  umectant  imbribus  ora. 
auguror  hinc  Thebis  belli  meliora.     Quid  autem 
hi  grege  condenso,  quantum  arma  et  vulnera  mon- 

stx-ant, 
pugnaces  animae,  nobis  in  sanguine  multo 
oraque  pectoraque  et  falso  clamore  levatas  595 

intendunt  sine  pace  manus  ?  rex,  fallor,  an  hi  sunt 
quinquaginta  illi  ?  cernis  Chthoniumque  Chrominque 
Phegeaque  et  nostra  praesignem  Maeona  lauro. 
ne  saevite,  duces,  nihil  hie  mortalibus  ausum, 
credite,  consiliis  :  hos  ferrea  neverat  annos  600 

1  exsilit  Alton  :  exiiit  Pu,  exserit  Lachmann,  iclio  cp. 
Silv.  V.  3.  104. 

"  Niobe. 

''  Pelops  was  said  to  have  been  cut  up  and  boiled  by  his 
father  Tantalus  as  a  dish  for  the  gods  ;  they,  however,  put 
550 


THEBAID,  IV.  575-600 

I'end  him.  But  lo  !  with  numerous  train  comes  the 
jealous  TantaHd,"  and  proud  in  her  grief  counts  o'er 
the  bodies,  nought  humbled  by  her  woes  ;  she 
rejoices  to  have  escaped  the  power  of  heaven,  and 
now  to  give  freer  rein  to  her  mad  tongue." 

While  the  chaste  priestess  thus  recounts  the  tale 
to  her  father,  his  hoary  locks  trembling  rise  erect 
with  lifted  chaplet,  and  his  pale  visage  throbs  with 
a  rush  of  blood.  No  longer  rests  he  on  the  supporting 
staff  or  faithful  maiden,  but  standing  upright  cries  : 
"  Cease  thy  song,  my  daughter,  enough  have  I  of 
external  light,  the  sluggish  mists  depart,  black 
night  flees  from  my  face.  Comes  it  from  the  shades 
or  from  Apollo  on  high,  this  flooding  inspiration  ? 
Lo  !  I  behold  all  that  thou  didst  tell  me  of.  Behold  ! 
there  mourn  the  Argive  ghosts  with  eyes  downcast  ! 
grim  Abas,  guilty  Proetus  and  gentle  Phoroneus, 
and  Pelops  maimed  ^  and  Oenomaus  soiled  with 
cruel  dust,  all  bedew  their  faces  with  plenteous 
tears.  Hence  do  I  prophesy  for  Thebes  a  favouring 
issue  of  the  war.  But  what  means  this  dense  throng 
of  warrior-souls,  for  such  their  wounds  and  weapons 
prove  them  ?  Why  show  they  gory  faces  and  breasts, 
and  with  unsubstantial  clamour  raise  and  shake  at 
me  threatening  arms  ?  Do  I  err,  O  king,  or  are 
these  that  band  of  fifty '''  ?  Chthonius  thou  dost 
behold,  and  Chromis  and  Phegeus  and  Maeon 
distinguished  by  my  laurel.  Rage  not,  ye  chieftains, 
no  mortal,  believe  me,  dared  that  enterprise ; 
'twas  iron  Atropos  span  you  those  destined  years. 

him  together  again,  with  the  exception  of  one  shoulder, 
which  was  replaced  by  one  of  ivory. 

"  i.e..  the  fifty  who  were  sent  by  Eteocles  to  lie  in  wait  for 
Tydeus,  but  slain  l)v  him,  rf.  ii.  527  fP. 

551 


STATIUS 

Atropos.     existis  casus  :  bella  liorrida  nobis, 
atque  iterum  Tydeus."     dicit,  vittaque  ligatis 
frondibus  instantes  abigit  monstratque  cruorem. 
Stabat  inops  comitum  Cocyti  in  litore  maesto 
Laius,  immiti  queni  iam  deas  ales  Averno  605 

reddiderat,  dirumque  tuens  obliqua  nepoteni — 
noscit  enim  vultu — non  ille  aut  sanguinis  haustus, 
cetera  ceu  plebes,  aliumve  accedit  ad  imbrem, 
immortale  odium  spirans.     sed  prolicit  ultro 
Aonius  vates  :  "  Tyriae  dux  inclyte  Thebes,  610 

cuius  ab  interitu  non  ulla  Amphionis  arces 
vidit  arnica  dies,  o  iam  satis  ulte  cruentum 
exitium  et  multum  placata  minoribus  umbra, 
quos  miseranda  fugis  ?  iacet  ille  in  funere  longo, 
quern  fremis,  et  iunctae  sentit  confinia  mortis,       015 
obsitus  exhaustos  paedore  et  sanguine  vultus 
eiectusque  die  :  sors  leto  durior  omni, 
crede  mihi  !  quaenam  immeritum  vitare  nepotem 
causa  tibi  ?  confer  vultum  et  satiare  litanti 
sanguine  venturasque  \aces  et  funera  belli  620 

pande  vel  infensus  vel  res  miserate  tuorum. 
tunc  ego  te  optata  vetitam  transmittere  Lethen 
puppe  dabo  placidumque  pia  tellure  reponam 
et  Stvgiis  mandabo  deis."     mulcetur  honoris 
muneribus  tingitque  genas,  dein  talia  reddit  :         625 
"  cur  tibi  versanti  manes,  aequaeve  sacerdos, 


"  The  ghosts  were  to  drink  of  the  blood  which  would 
enable  them  to  speak  of  the  future.  In  fact  only  Laius 
drinks ;  rf.  line  ^2o^  where  "  tingit  genas  "  means  that  the 
invigorating  blood  makes  his  cheeks  ruddy  and  lifelike. 

*  Laius  in  Bk.  ii.  (init.)  had  been  brought  from  the 
underworld  to  appear  to  Eteocles  in  a  dream. 

"  i.e.,  Oedipus,  his  son,  who  slew  him. 

552 


THEBATD.  IV.  ooi-62r. 

Ye  have  fulfilled  your  fate  ;  for  us  cruel  war  remains, 
and  Tydeus  yet  again."  He  spake,  and  as  they 
swarmed  upon  his  wool-bound  chaplets  he  drove 
them  off  and  pointed  them  to  the  blood." 

Reft  of  his  comrade  ghosts  stood  Laius  on  Cocytus' 
dreary  strand — for  already  had  the  winged  god 
restored  him  to  unpitying  Avernus '' — and  glancing 
sidelong  at  his  dire  grandson,  for  he  knew  him  by 
his  face,  came  not  like  the  rest  of  the  multitude  to 
drink  the  blood  or  the  other  outpourings, but  breathed 
immortal  hatred.  But  the  Aonian  seer  delays  not 
to  lure  him  forward  :  "  Renowned  prince  of  Tyrian 
Thebes,  since  whose  death  no  day  has  looked  with 
kindly  aspect  on  Amphion's  citadel,  O  thou  who 
hast  now  enough  avenged  thy  bloody  murder,  O 
shade  to  whom  thy  issue  have  made  full  atonement, 
whom  dost  thou  fly,  unhappy  one  ?  He ''  against 
whom  thou  ragest  lies  a  living  corpse,  and  feels 
Death  joined  with  him  in  linked  companionship,  his 
sunken  visage  besmeared  with  blood  and  filth,  and 
all  the  light  of  day  put  out.  Trust  me,  'tis  a  fate 
fiir  worse  than  any  dying  !  What  cause  hast  thou 
to  shun  thy  innocent  grandson  ?  Turn  thy  gaze 
hither,  and  take  thy  fill  of  sacrificial  blood ;  then 
tell  the  chances  that  shall  be,  and  the  war's  victims, 
whether  thou  art  in  hostile  mood  or  pityest  thy 
kindred's  fortunes.  Then  will  I  grant  thee  to  cross 
forbidden  Lethe  in  the  bark  thou  dost  desire,  and 
set  thee  again  at  peace  in  the  blessed  land,  in  the 
safe  keeping  of  the  gods  of  Styx."  Soothed  is  he 
by  the  proffered  honour,  and  brings  the  colour  to 
his  cheeks,"^'  then  thus  replies  :  "  Why,  when  thou 
wert  marshalling  the  spirits,  O  prophet  equal  to  me 
''  See  note  a. 

553 


STATIUS 

lectus  ego  augurio  tantisque  potissimus  umbris, 
qui  Ventura  loquar  ?  satis  est  meminisse  priorum. 
nostrane  praeclari,  pudeat,  consulta  nepotes 
poscitis  ?     ilium,  ilium  sacris  adhibete  nefastis.      630 
qui  laeto  fodit  ense  patrem,  qui  semet  in  ortus 
vertit  et  indignae  regerit  sua  pignora  matri. 
et  nunc  ille  deos  Furiarumque  atra  fatigat 
concilia  et  nosti'os  rogat  liaec  in  proelia  manes, 
quodsi  adeo  placui  deflenda  in  tempora  vates,         635 
dicam  equidem,  quo  me  Lachesis,  quo  torva  Megaera 
usque  sinunt  :  bellum,  innumero  venit  undique  bellurn 
agmine,  Lernaeosque  trahit  fatalis  alumnos 
Gradivus  stimulis  ;  hos  terrae  monstra  deumque 
tela  manent  pulchrique  obitus  et  ab  igne  supremo    640 
sontes  lege  morae.     certa  est  victoria  Thebis. 
ne  trepida,  nee  regna  ferox  germanus  habebit, 
sed  Furiae  geminumque  nefas.  miserosque  per  enses. 
ei  mihi  !  crudelis  vincit  pater."     haec  ubi  fatus, 
labitur  et  flexa  dubios  ambage  relinquit.  645 

Interea  gelidam  Nemeen  et  conscia  laudis 
Herculeae  dumeta  vaga  legione  tenebant 
Inachidae  ;  iam  Sidonias  avertere  praedas, 
sternere,  ferre  domos  ardent  instantque.     quis  iras 
flexerit,  unde  morae,  medius  quis  euntibus  error,   650 
Phoebe,  doce  :  nos  rara  manent  exordia  famae. 

"  i.e.,  the  Argives. 

*  Oracular  reference  to  the  fate  of  Amphiaraus  (swallowed 
up  by  the  earth),  Capaneus  (struck  by  lightning),  and  the 
other  heroes,  and  to  Eteocles'  decision  to  refuse  burial  to 
the  Argive  slain.     Cf.  Ach.  i.  526. 
554 


THEBAID,  IV.  627-651 

in  years,  why  was  I  chosen,  first  out  of  so  many 
shades,  to  speak  augury  and  to  foretell  what  shall 
befall  ?  'Tis  enough  to  have  remembrance  of  the 
past.  Seek  ye  my  counsel,  illustrious  grandsons  ? 
nay,  shame  upon  you  !  Him  summon  ye,  him,  to 
your  unhallowed  rites,  who  gladly  pierces  his  father 
with  the  sword,  who  turns  him  to  the  place  of  his 
begetting,  and  casts  back  upon  his  innocent  mother 
her  own  dear  pledge  of  love.  And  now  he  wearies 
the  gods  and  the  dark  councils  of  the  Furies,  and 
supplicates  my  shade  for  the  coming  strife.  But 
if  I  have  found  such  favour  as  a  prophet  of  these 
times  of  woe,  I  will  speak,  so  far  as  Lachesis  and 
grim  Megaera  suffer  me  :  War  cometh  from  every 
side,  v.ar  of  countless  hosts,  Gradivus  sweeps  on  the 
sons  of  Lerna  "  before  the  goads  of  fate  ;  them  there 
await  portents  of  the  earth,  and  weapons  of  heaven, 
and  glorious  deaths,  and  unlawful  withholdings  from 
the  final  fire.**  Victory  is  sure  for  Thebes,  doubt  it 
not,  nor  shall  thy  fierce  kinsman  have  thy  realm  ; 
but  Furies  shall  possess  it,  and  twofold  impious 
crime,  and  alas,  in  your  unhappy  swords  your  cruel 
father  triumphs."  So  speaking  he  faded  from  their 
sight,  and  left  them  in  doubt  at  his  mazy  riddling 
words. 

Meanwhile  the  sons  of  Inachus  with  scattered 
troop  had  reached  cool  Nemea  and  the  glades  that 
witness  to  Hercules'  renown  ;  already  they  burn 
with  eagerness  to  drive  off  Sidonian  plunder,  to 
destroy  and  ravage  homesteads.  Say  thou,  O 
Phoebus,  who  turned  them  from  their  path  of  anger, 
whence  came  their  staying,  and  how  in  mid  course 
they  wandered  from  the  way  ;  to  us  but  scant 
beginnings  of  the  tale  remain. 

555 


STATIUS 

Marcidus  edoniito  bellum  referebat  ab  Haemo 
Liber  ;  ibi  armiferos  geminae^  iam  sidera^  brumae 
orgia  ferre  Getas  canumque  virescei-e  dorso 
Othryn  et  Icaria  Rhodopen  adsueverat  umbra,       655 
et  iam  pampineos  materna  ad  moenia  currus 
promovet  ;  efFrenae  dextra  laevaque  secuntur 
lynces,  et  uda  mero  lambunt  retinacula  tigres, 
post  exsultantes  spolia  armentalia  portant 
seminecesque  lupos  scissasque  Mimallones  m-sas.  660 
nee  comitatus  iners  :  sunt  illic  Ira  Furorque 
et  Metus  et  Mrtus  et  numquam  sobrius  Ardor 
sueciduique  gradus  et  castra  simillima  regi. 
isque  ubi  pulverea  Nemeen  efFervere  nube 
conspicit  et  solem  radiis  ignescere  ferri,^  665 

necdum  compositas  belli  in  certamina  Thebas, 
concussus  visis,  quamquam  ore  et  pectore  marcet, 
aeraque  tympanaque  et  biforem  reticere  tumultum 
imperat,  attonitas  qui  circum  plurimus  aures, 
atque   ita :    "me   globus   iste   meamque   exscindere 
gentem  670 

apparat  ;  ex  longo  recalet  furor  ;  hoc  mihi  saevum 
Argos  et  indomitae  bellum  ciet  ira  novercae. 
usque  adeone  parum  cineri  data  mater  iniquo 
natalesque  rogi  quaeque  ipse  micantia  sensi 
fulgura  ?  relliquias  etiam  fusaeque  sepulcrum         675 
paelicis  et  residem  ferro  petit  impia  Theben. 

^  geminae  cj  :  gelidae  P.  ^  sidera  P :  sidere  w. 

^  solem  radiis  ignescere  ferri  Pw :  soils  .  .  .  ferrum 
Madvig,  silvam  Koestlin,  frondem  Slater,  pallescere  Garrod 
{cf.  171),  etc.     A  similar  p/irase  occurs  x.  844-. 

"  That  of  the  vine,  which  Icarus  of  Sparta  was  taught  by 
Bacchus  to  cultivate. 

**  "  Mimallones,"  i.e..  Bacchanals. 

556 


THEBAID,  IV.  052-07(5 

In  drunken  languor  Liber  was  bringing  back  his 
array  of  war  from  conquered  Haemus  ;  there  had 
lie  taught  the  warrior  Getae,  two  winters  through, 
to  hold  the  orgies,  and  white  Othrys  to  grow  green 
along  his  ridges  and  Rhodope  to  bear  Icarian  shade  ;  " 
already  he  draws  nigh  in  his  chariot  decked  with 
vine-leaves  to  his  mother's  city  ;  wild  lynxes  bear 
him  company  to  right  and  left,  and  tigers  lick  the 
wine-soaked  reins.  In  his  train  exulting  Bacchanals  ^ 
carry  their  spoil  of  beasts,  half-dead  wolves  and 
mangled  she-bears.  No  sluggish  retinue  is  his  : 
Anger  and  Fury  are  there,  and  Fear  and  Valour, 
and  Ardour  never  sober,  and  steps  that  stagger,  an 
army  most  like  to  its  prince.  But  when  he  sees  the 
cloud  of  dust  surge  up  from  Nemea,  and  the  sun 
kindling  on  the  flashing  steel,  and  Thebes  not  yet 
marshalled  for  battle,  horror-struck  at  the  sight, 
though  faint  and  reeling,  he  commands  the  brazen 
cymbals  and  the  drums  and  the  noise  of  the  double 
pipe,  screaming  loudest  about  his  astonished  ears, 
to  be  silent,  and  thus  speaks  :  "  Against  me  and 
my  race  doth  that  host  plan  destruction  ;  after 
long  time  their  rage  gains  violence  anew  ;  savage 
Argos  and  my  stepmother's  indomitable  wrath  are 
stirring  up  this  war.  Doth  it  not  even  yet  suffice — 
my  mother's  cruel  burning,  the  natal  pyre,  and  the 
lightning-flash  that  I  myself  perceived  ?  Nay,  even 
against  the  relics  and  the  tomb  of  her  consumed  rival, 
against  idle  Thebes  doth  she  make  impious  attack.'' 

"  The  reference  is  to  Semele,  mother  of  Bacchus,  to  whom 
she  gave  birth  when  struck  by  Jove's  lightning.  "  residem  " 
seems  to  mean  '*  unwarlike,"  often  a  taunt  in  the  mouths 
of  enemies  of  Thebes,  here  a  reproach  against  Argos  for 
attacking  her,  as  she  is  doing  Argos  no  harm. 

557 


STATIUS 

nectam  fraude  moras  ;  ilium,  ilium  tendite  campum, 
tendite,  io,  comites."     Hyrcanae  ad  signa  iugales 
intumuere  iubas,  dicto  prius  adstitit  arvis. 

Tempus  erat,medii  cum  solem  in  culminamundi  680 
tollit  anliela  dies,  ubi  tardus  hiantibus  arvis 
stat  vapor  atque  omnes  admittunt  aethera  luci. 
undarum  vocat  ille  deas  mediusque  silentum 
incipit  :  "  agrestes  fluviorum  numina  Nymphae 
et  nostri  pars  magna  gregis,  perferte  laborem,        685 
quern  damus.     Argolicos  paulum  mihi  fontibus  amnes 
stagnaque  et  errantes  obducite  pulvere  rivos. 
praecipuam  Nemeen,  qua  nostra  in  moenia  bellis 
nunc  iter,  ex  alto  fugiat  liquor  ;  adiuvat  ipse 
Plioebus  adhuc  summo,  cesset  ni  vestra  voluntas,    690 
limite  ;  vim  coeptis  indulgent  astra,  meaeque 
aestifer  Erigones  spumat  canis.     ite  volentes, 
ite  in  operta  soli  ;  post  vos  ego  gurgite  pleno 
eliciam,  et  quae  dona  meis  amplissima  sacris, 
vester  habebit  honos,  nocturnaque  furta  licentum    695 
cornipedum  et  cupidas  Faunorum  ai'cebo  rapinas." 
dixerat  ;  ast  illis  tenuis  percurrere  visus 
ora  situs,  viridisque  con:iis  exhorruit  umor. 
protinus  Inacliios  haurit  sitis  ignea  campos  : 
diffugere  undae,  squalent  fontesque  lacusque,        700 
et  cava  ferventi  durescunt  flumina  limo. 
aegra  solo  maeies,  tenerique  in  origine  culmi 
inclinata  seges,  deceptum  margine  ripae 


"  The  Hyrcanians  were  a  people  on  the  Caspian  ;  the 
name  is  often  used  by  the  poets  =  "  wild,  savage." 

*  Because  the  sun  pierces  through  them. 

'■  Named  Maera,  and  set  in  the  heavens  as  the  Dog-star, 
after  the  death  of  Erigone  from  grief  for  her  father  Icarius. 
558 


THEBAID,  IV.  677-703 

By  craft  will  I  contrive  delay  ;  hasten  then  thither, 
ho  !  my  comrades,  thither  to  yon  plain  !  "  At 
tb.e  signal  the  Hyrcanian "  team  pricked  up  their 
crests,  and,  the  word  scarce  spoken,  he  halted  at 
his  goal. 

It  was  the  hour  when  panting  day  uplifts  the  sun 
to  the  mid  summit  of  the  world,  when  the  languid 
heat  hangs  over  the  gaping  fields,  and  all  the 
groves  let  in  the  sky.^  He  summons  the  spirits  of 
the  waters,  and  as  they  throng  round  him  in  silence 
he  begins  :  "  Ye  rustic  Nymphs,  deities  of  the 
streams,  no  small  portion  of  my  train,  fulfil  the  task 
that  I  now  do  set  you.  Stop  fast  with  earth  awhile 
the  Argolic  river-springs,  I  beg,  and  the  pools  and 
running  brooks,  and  in  Nemea  most  of  all,  whereby 
they  pass  to  attack  our  walls,  let  the  water  flee 
from  the  depth  ;  Phoebus  himself,  still  at  the  summit 
of  his  path,  doth  aid  you,  so  but  your  own  will  fail 
not  ;  the  stars  lend  their  strong  influence  to  my 
design,  and  the  heat-bringing  hound  of  my  Erigone  " 
is  foaming.  Go  then  of  your  goodwill,  go  into  the 
hidden  places  of  earth  ;  afterwards  will  I  coax  you 
forth  with  swelling  channels,  and  all  the  choicest 
gifts  at  my  altar  shall  be  for  your  honour,  and  I  will 
drive  afar  the  nightly  raids  of  the  shameless  horn- 
footed  ones,  and  the  lustful  rapine  of  the  Fauns." 

He  spoke,  and  a  faint  blight  seemed  to  overspread 
their  features,  and  the  moist  freshness  withered 
from  their  hair.  Straightway  fiery  thirst  drains  dry 
the  Inachian  fields  :  the  streams  are  gone,  fountains 
and  lakes  are  parched  and  dry,  and  the  scorched 
mud  hardens  in  the  river-beds.  A  sickly  drought 
is  upon  the  soil,  the  crops  of  tender  springiilg  wheat 
droop  low  ;   at  the  edge  of  tlie  bank  the  flock  stands 


ST  ATI  us 

stat  pecus,  atque  armies  quaerunt  armeiita  natatos. 

sic  ubi  se  magnis  refluus  suppressit  in  antris  705 

Nilus  et  Eoae  liquentia  pabula  brumae 

ore  premit,  fumant  desertae  gurgite  valles 

ct  patris  undosi  sonitus  exspectat  hiulca 

Aegyptos,  donee  Phariis  alimenta  rogatus 

donet  agris  magnumque  inducat  messibus  annum.   710 

Aret  Lerna  nocens,  aret  Lyrcius  et  ingens 
Inachus  advolvensque  natantia  saxa  Charadrus 
et  numquam  in  ripis  audax  Erasinus  et  aequus 
fluctibus  Asterion,  ille  alta  per  a\ia  notus 
audiri  et  longe  pastorum  runipere  somnos.^  715 

una  tamen  tacitas  sed  iussu  numinis  undas 
haec  quoque  seer  eta  nutrit  Langia  sub  umbra, 
nondum  illi  raptus  dederat  lacrimabile  nomen 
Archemorus,  nee  fama  deae  ;  tamen  avia  servat 
et  nemus  et  fluvium  ;  manet  ingens  gloria  Nympham, 
cum  tristem  Hypsipylen  ducibus  sudatus  Achaeis  721 
ludus  et  atra  sacrum  recolet  trieteris  Ophelten. 

Ergo  nee  ardentes  clipeos  vectare  nee  artos 
thoracum  nexus — tantum  sitis  liorrida  torret — 
sufficiunt  :  non  ora  modo  angustisque  perusti  725 

faucibus,  interior  sed  vis  quatit  ;  aspera  pulsu 
corda,  gelant  venae,  et  siccis  cruor  aeger  adhaeret 
visceribus  ;  tunc  sole  putris,  tunc  pulvere  tellus 
exhalat  calidam  nubem.     non  spumeus  imber 

^  Seven  lines,  only  found  in  L  and  regarded  as  spurious 
by  all  edd.,  are  here  omitted. 

"  i.e.,  Nile,  as  source  of  Egypt's  fertility ;  so  Tib.  i.  7.  34 
"  Nile  pater." 

"  The  name  means  "  Beginner  of  Doom,"  and  denoted 
the  beginning  of  doom  for  the  Argive  host.  Cf.  v.  64.7. 
Elsewhere  the  infant  is  called  Opheltes. 

"  i.e.,  when  the  Nemean  festival  is  established  with  its 

560 


THEBAID,   IV.   704-729 

baffled,  and  the  cattle  seek  in  vain  the  rivers  where 
they  bathed.  Even  so,  Avhen  ebbing  Nile  buries 
itself  in  mighty  caverns  and  gathers  into  its  mouth 
the  life-giving  streams  of  Eastern  winters,  the  flood- 
deserted  valleys  steam,  Egypt  gapes  wide  and  waits 
expectant  for  the  roar  of  her  sire's  waves,"  till  by 
dint  of  many  prayers  he  give  sustenance  to  the 
Pharian  fields  and  Ijring  on  a  great  year  of  harvest. 

Dry  is  guilty  Lerna,  dry  Lyrcius  and  great  Inachus, 
and  Charadrus  that  rolls  down  boulders  on  his  stream, 
bold  Erasinus  whom  his  banks  ne'er  contain,  and 
Asterion  like  a  billowy  sea  ;  oft  hath  he  been  heard 
on  pathless  uplands,  oft  known  to  break  the  repose 
of  distant  shepherds.  But  Langia  alone — and  she 
by  the  god's  command — preserves  her  waters  in  the 
silence  of  a  secret  shade.  Not  yet  had  slaughtered 
Archemorus  ^  brought  her  sorrowful  renown,  no 
fame  had  come  to  the  goddess  ;  nevertheless,  in 
far  seclusion,  she  maintains  her  spring  and  grove. 
Great  glory  awaits  the  nymph,  when  the  toiling 
contests  of  Achaean  princes  and  the  four-yearly 
festival  of  woe  shall  do  honour  to  sad  Hypsipyle 
and  holy  Opheltes.'^ 

So  then  neither  burning  shields  nor  close-fitting 
breastplates  have  they  power  to  carry — so  fiercely 
doth  fiery  thirst"^  scorch  them — not  only  their 
mouths  and  the  throat's  passage  are  parched,  but 
a  fever  rages  within,  their  hearts  beat  heavily,  the 
veins  are  thick  congealed,  and  the  tainted  blood 
cleaves  to  the  dried-up  tissues  ;  then  the  crumbling, 
sunburnt  earth  exhales  a  hot  vapour.     No  rain  of 

games  in  honour  of  Opheltes  (the  infant  whom  Hypsipyle 

nursed,  and  who  was  slain  by  the  serpent). 

"  For  other  descriptions  of  thirst  rf.  iii.  828,  vi.  471, 
VOL.  I  2o  56l 


STATIUS 

manat  equum  :  siccis  inlidunt  ora  lupatis,  730 

ora  catenatas  procul  exsertantia  linguas  ; 
nee  legem  dominosve  pati,  sed  perfurit  arvis 
flammatum  pecus.     hue  illuc  impellit  Adrastiis 
exploratores,  si  stagna  Licymnia  restent, 
si  quis  Amymones  superet  liquor  :  omnia  caecis     735 
ignibus  hausta  sedent,  nee  spes  umentis  Olympi, 
ceu  flavam  Libyen  desertaque  pulveris  Afri 
conlustrent  nullaque  umbratam  nube  Syenen. 

Tandem  inter  silvas — sic  Euhius  ipse  pararat — 
errantes  subitam  pulehro  in  maerore  tuentur  740 

Hypsipylen  ;  illi  quamvis  et  ad  ubera  Opheltes 
non  suus,  Inacbii  proles  infausta  Lycurgi, 
dependet — neglecta  comam  nee  dives  amictu — 
regales  tamen  ore  notae,  nee  mersus  aeerbis  744 

exstai:  honos.     tune  haec  adeo  stupefaetus  Adrastus  : 
'•  diva  potens  nemorum — nam  te  vultusque  pudorque 
mortali  de  stirpe  negant — ,  quae  laeta  sub  isto 
igne  poli  non  quaeris  aquas,  sueeurre  propinquis 
gentibus  :  Arquitenens  seu  te  Latonia  easto 
de  grege  transmisit  thalamis,  seu  lapsus  ab  astris  750 
non  humilis  fecundat  amor — neque  enim  ipse  deorum 
arbiter  Argolidum  thalamis  novus — ,  aspiee  maesta 
agmina.     nos  ferro  meritas  exseindere  Thebas 
mens  tulit,  imbelli  sed  nunc  sitis  aspera  fato 
submittitque  animos  et  inertia  robora  carpit  755 

da  fessis  in  rebus  opem,  seu  turbidus  amnis, 
seu  tibi  foeda  palus  ;  nihil  hac  in  sorte  pudendum, 

"  King  of  Nemea.  Hypsipyle  was  daughter  of  Thoas, 
king  of  Lemnos.  For  her  story  see  her  own  narrative  in 
Bk.  iv. 

*  Adrastus  mistakes  her  for  Diana. 

562 


THEBAID,   IV.   730-757 

foam  falls  from  the  horses'  mouths,  their  jaws  close 
on  dry  bits,  and  far  out  hang  their  bridled  tongues  ; 
no  restraint  of  their  masters  do  they  suffer,  but 
scour  the  plain,  maddened  by  the  fiery  heat.  This 
way  and  that  Adrastus  sends  scouts  to  discover  if 
the  Licymnian  lakes  yet  remain,  or  aught  of  Amy- 
mone's  waters,  but  all  lie  drained  by  fire  unseen, 
nor  is  there  hope  of  moisture  from  Olympus,  as 
though  they  ranged  yellow  Libya  and  Africa's 
desert  sand  and  Syene  shaded  by  no  cloud. 

At  length  wandering  in  the  woodland — for  so  had 
Euhius  himself  devised — they  behold  on  a  sudden 
Hypsipyle,  beauteous  in  her  grief;  at  her  breast 
Opheltes  hangs,  not  her  own  child,  but  the  ill-starred 
offspring  of  Inachian  Lycurgus  "  ;  dishevelled  is  her 
hair  and  poor  her  raiment,  yet  in  her  countenance 
are  marks  of  kingly  birth,  and  a  dignity  not  over- 
whelmed by  a  bitter  lot.  Then  Adrastus,  awe- 
struck, thus  addressed  her  :  "  Goddess,  queen  of 
the  woodlands  ^ — for  thy  countenance  and  honourable 
bearing  proclaim  thee  of  no  mortal  birth — thou  who 
beneath  this  fiery  vault  art  blest  in  needing  not  to 
search  for  water,  succour  a  neighbouring  people  ; 
whether  the  Wielder  of  the  Bow  or  Latona's  daughter 
hath  set  thee  in  the  bridal-chamber  from  her  chaste 
company,  or  whether  it  be  no  lowly  passion  but  one 
from  on  high  doth  make  thee  fruitful — for  the  ruler 
of  the  gods  himself  is  no  stranger  to  Argive  bowers — 
look  upon  our  distressed  ranks.  Us  hath  the  resolve 
to  destroy  guilty  Thebes  with  the  sword  brought 
hither,  but  the  unwarlike  doom  of  cruel  drought 
doth  bow  our  spirits  and  drain  our  exhausted  strength. 
Help  thou  our  failing  fortunes,  whether  thou  hast 
some  turbid  river  or  a  stagnant  marsh  ;  nought  is 
20  2  563 


STATIUS 

nil  humile  est  ;  tu  nunc  Ventis  pluvioque  rogaris 
pro  love,  tu  refugas  vires  et  pectora  bellis 
exanimata  reple  :  sic  hoc  tibi  sidere  dextro  760 

crescat  onus,     tantum  reduces  det  flectere  gressus 
luppiter,  o  quanta  belli  donabere  praeda  ! 
Dircaeos  tibi,  diva,  greges  numerumque  rependam 
sanguinis,  et^  magna  lucus  signabitur  ara." 
dixit,  et  orantis  media  inter  anhelitus  ardens  765 

verba  rapit,  cursuque  animae  labat  arida  lingua  ; 
idem  omnes  pallorque  viros  flatusque  soluti 
oris  habet.     reddit  demisso  Lemnia  vultu  : 
"  diva  quidem  vobis,  etsi  caelestis  origo  est, 
unde  ego  ?    mortales  utinam  baud  transgressa  fuissem 
luctibus  !  altricem  mandati  cei-nitis  orbam  771 

pignoris  ;  at  nostris  an  quis  sinus  uberaque  ulla, 
scit  deus,  et  nobis  regnum  tamen  et  pater  ingens — • 
sed  quid  ego  haec,  fessosque  optatis  demoror  undis  ? 
mecum  age  nunc,  si  forte  vado  Langia  perennes    775 
servat  aquas  ;  solet  et  rabidi  sub  limite  Cancri 
semper,  et  Icarii  quamvis  iuba  fulguret  astri, 
ire  tamen."     simul  haerentem,  ne  tarda  Pelasgis 
dux  foret,  a  !  miserum  vicino  caespite  alumnum — 
sic  Parcae  volvere — locat  ponique  negantis^  780 

floribus  adgestis  et  amico  murmure  dulces 
solatur  lacrimas  :  qualis  Berecyntia  mater, 

^  sanguinis  et  P  :  plebis  et  hie  w. 

^  ponique  negantis  L  Schol.  Gronovlus  Bentley.  ponitque 
negantem  Pw, 

"  See  note  on  line  692. 
564 


THEBAID.  n'.  758-782 

to  be  lield  shameful,  nought  too  mean  in  sucli  a 
pass  as  ours.  Thee  now  in  phice  of  the  Winds  and 
rainy  Jupiter  do  we  suppHcate,  do  thou  restore  our 
ebbing  might  and  fill  again  our  spiritless  hearts  ; 
so  may  thy  charge  grow  under  suspicious  stars  ! 
Only  let  Jupiter  grant  us  to  return,  what  high-piled 
booty  of  war  shalt  thou  be  given  !  With  the  blood 
of  numerous  herds  of  Dirce  will  I  recompense  thee, 
O  goddess,  and  a  mighty  altar  shall  mark  this 
grove."  He  spoke,  but  a  fevered  gasping  makes 
havoc  of  his  words  even  in  mid-utterance,  and  with 
the  rush  of  breath  his  dry  tongue  stutters  ;  a  like 
pallor  holds  all  his  warriors,  and  like  panting  of  the 
hollow  cheeks.  W^ith  downcast  eyes  the  Lemnian 
makes  answer  :  "  No  goddess  indeed  am  I,  to  help 
you,  though  of  heaven  be  my  descent  ;  would  that 
my  griefs  were  not  more  than  mortal  !  'Tis  an 
entrusted  pledge  you  behold  me  nursing,  and  a 
nurse  herself  bereaved.  But  whether  my  sons 
found  any  lap  or  breasts  to  suckle  them,  heaven 
knoweth, — and  yet  I  had  once  a  kingdom  and  a 
mighty  father.  But  why  do  I  speak  thus,  and 
stay  you  in  your  weariness  from  the  waters  ye 
desire  ?  Come  now  with  me,  perchance  Langia's 
stream  yet  runs  unfailing  ;  for  even  beneath  the 
path  of  the  furious  Crab  'tis  ever  wont  to  flow, 
yea,  though  the  shaggy  hide  of  the  Icarian  star " 
be  blazing."  Forthwith,  lest  she  prove  a  tardy 
guide  to  the  Pelasgians,  she  sets  down  the  clinging 
infant — alas  !  poor  child  ! — on  the  grass  near  by 
— so  willed  the  Fates — and  when  he  would  not  be 
put  down  consoled  his  pretty  tears  with  flowers 
heaped  around  and  coaxing  murmurs  :  like  the 
Berecyntian   mother,   while   she   bids    the    Curetes 

565 


ST  ATI  us 

duin  parvum  circa  iubet  exsultare  Tonantem 

Curetas  trepidos  ;  illi  certantia  plaudunt 

orgia,  sed  magnis  resonat  vagitibus  Ide.  785 

At  puer  in  gremio  vernae-'^  telluris  et  alto 
gramine  nunc  faciles  sternit  procursibus  herbas 
in  vultum  nitens,  caram  modo  lactis  egeno 
nutricem  plangore  ciens  iterumque  renidens 
et  teneris  meditans  verba  inluctantia  labris  790 

miratur  nemorum  strepitus  aut  obvia  carpit 
aut  patulo  traliit  ore  diem  nemorique  malorum 
inscius  et  vitae  multum  securus  inerrat. 
sic  tener  Odrysia  Mavors  nive,  sic  puer  ales 
vertice  Maenalio,  talis  per  litora  reptans  795 

improbus  Ortygiae  latus  inclinabat  Apollo. 

Illi  per  dumos  et  opaca  virentibus  umbris 
devia  ;  pars  cingunt,  pars  arta  plebe  sequuntur 
praecelerantque  ducem.   medium  subit  ilia  per  agmen 
non  humili  festina  modo  ;  iamque  amne  propinquo 
rauca  sonat  vallis,  saxosumque  impulit  aures  801 

murmur  :  ibi  exsultans  conclamat  ab  agmine  primus, 
sicut  erat  levibus  toUens  vexilla  maniplis 
Argus  "  aquae  !  "  longusque  wum  super  ora  cucurrit 
clamor  "  aquae  !  "  sic  Ambracii  per  litora  ponti  805 
nauticus  in  remis  iuvenum  monstrante  magistro 
fit  sonus  inque  vicem  contra  percussa  reclamat 
terra,  salutatus  cum  Leucada  pandit  Apollo, 
incubuere  vadis  passim  discrimine  nullo 
turba  simul  primique,  nequit  secernere  mixtos       810 

^  vernae  Poi :  tenerae  conj.  Garrod :  variae  Klotz. 

"  Delos. 
**  The  temple  of  Apollo  at  Actium  on  the  Ambracian  Gulf. 

566 


THEBAID,  IV.  783-810 

leap  in  excited  dance  around  the  infant  Thunderer  ; 
their  cymbals  clash  in  emulous  frenzy,  but  Ida 
resounds  with  his  loud  wailings. 

But  the  child,  lying  in  the  bosom  of  the  vernal 
earth  and  deep  in  herbage,  now  crawls  forward  on 
his  face  and  crushes  the  soft  grasses,  now  in  clamorous 
thirst  for  milk  cries  for  his  beloved  nurse  ;  again  he 
smiles,  and  would  fain  utter  words  that  wrestle  with 
his  infant  lips,  and  wonders  at  the  noise  of  the 
woods,  or  plucks  at  aught  he  meets,  or  with  open 
mouth  drinks  in  the  day,  and  strays  in  the  forest  all 
ignorant  of  its  dangei's,  in  carelessness  profound.  Such 
was  the  young  Mars  amid  Odrysian  snow,  such  the 
Avinged  boy  on  the  heights  of  Maenalus,  such  was 
the  rogue  Apollo  when  he  crawled  upon  Ortygia's  " 
shore,  and  set  her  side  atilt. 

They  go  through  the  coppices  and  by  devious 
dusky  ways  of  shadowy  green  ;  some  cluster  round 
their  guide,  some  throng  behind,  othei's  outstrip 
her.  In  the  midst  of  the  band  she  moves  with 
proud  mien  and  hurrying  step  ;  and  now  the  vale 
echoes  loud  as  they  approach  the  stream,  and  the 
f)lashing  of  water  upon  rocks  assails  their  ears  : 
then  first  from  the  column's  head,  just  as  he  was, 
with  banner  raised  high  for  the  nimble  companies, 
Argus  exultant  ci-ies  "  Water  !  "  and  through  the 
warrior's  mouths  ran  the  long-drawn  shout  of 
"  Water  !  "  Even  so,  along  the  shores  of  the 
Ambracian  sea,  sounds  forth  at  the  helmsman's 
prompting  the  shout  of  the  seamen  at  the  oars,  and 
in  turn  the  smitten  land  sends  back  the  echo,  when 
Apollo  ^  at  their  salutation  brings  Leucas  into  view. 
Into  the  stream  the  host  plunged,  indiscriminate 
and  disordered,  chieftains  alike  and  common  soldiers  ; 

567 


ST  ATI  us 

aequa  sitis,  frenata  suis  in  curribus  intrant 
arnienta,  et  pleni  dominis  armisque  feruntur 
quadripedes  ;  hos  turbo  rapax,  hos  lubrica  fallunt 
saxa,  nee  implicitos  fluvio  reverentia  reges 
proterere  aut  mersisse  vado  clamantis  amiei  815 

ora.     fremunt  undae,  longusque  a  fontibus  amnis 
diripitur,  modo  lene  virens  et  gurgite  puro 
perspicuus  nunc  sordet  aquis  egestus  ab  imis 
alveus  ;  inde  tori^  riparum  et  proruta  turbant 
gramina  ;  iam  crassus  eaenoque  et  pulvere  sordens,  820 
quamquam  expleta  sitis,  bibitur  tamen.    agmina  bello 
decertare  putes  iustumque  in  gurgite  Martem 
perfurere  aut  captani  tolli  vietoribus  urbem. 
Atque  aliquis  regum  medio  circumfluus  amni  : 
silvarum,  Nemea,  longe  regina  virentum,  825 

lecta  lovis  sedes,  quam  tu  non  Herculis  actis 
dura  magis,  rabidi  cum  colla  comantia  monstri 
angeret  et  tumidos  animam  angustaret  in  artus  ! 
hac  saevisse  tenus  populorum  in  coepta^  tuorum 
sufficiat  ;  tuque  o  cunctis  insuete  domari  830 

solibus,  aeternae  largitor  corniger  undae, 
laetus  eas,  quacumque  domo  gelida  ora  resolvis 
imrnortale  tumens  ;  neque  enim  tibi  cana  repostas 
Bruma  nives  raptasque  alio  de  fonte  refundit 
Arcus  aquas  gravidive  indulgent  nubila  Cori,  835 

sed  tuus  et  nulli  ruis  expugnabilis  astro. 

*  tori  P  :  toros  w  {sc.  alveum). 
^  in  coepta  Schroder  :  incepta  PI),  incoepta  BQN. 

"  The  river  here  is  addressed  in  the  masculine,  as  distinct 
from  its  nymph. 

*  The  idea  of  the  rainbow  sucking  up  moisture  is  common 
in  Latin  writers,  «.^.  "bihit  ingens  Arcus,"  Virg.  G.  i.  380, 
and  Theh.  ix.  405 ;  the  present  passage  is  an  original  applica- 
tion of  the  idea. 

'  The  north-west  wind. 

568 


THEBAID,  IV.  811-836 

levelling  thirst  makes  no  distinction  in  their  confused 
ranks  ;  bridled  horses  with  their  chariots,  chargers 
with  armed  riders  all  dash  madly  in.  Some  the 
flood  whirls  away,  some  lose  their  footing  on  the 
slippery  rocks,  nor  have  they  shame  to  trample 
their  princes  as  they  wrestle  with  the  torrent,  or  to 
sink  beneath  the  stream  the  face  of  a  friend  who 
cries  for  succour.  Loud  roar  the  waves,  while  far 
from  the  fountain-head  is  the  river  plundered,  that 
once  flowed  green  and  clear,  with  gentle  lucid 
waters,  but  now  from  the  depths  of  its  channel  is 
muddied  and  befouled.  Then  the  sloping  banks 
and  torn  herbage  are  mingled  with  the  stream  ;  and 
now,  though  it  be  stained  and  filthy  with  mire  and 
earth,  and  though  their  tliirst  be  quenched,  yet 
they  drink  still.  One  would  think  armies  strove  in 
flght,  or  a  pitched  battle  raged  in  the  flood,  or  the 
conquerors  were  looting  a  captured  city. 

And  one  of  the  princes,  standing  in  the  midst  of 
the  streaming  river,  cried  :  "  Nemea,  noblest  by  far 
of  verdant  glades,  chosen  seat  of  Jove,  not  even  to 
the  toils  of  Hercules  wert  thou  more  cruel,  when  he 
strangled  the  furious  monster's  shaggy  neck,  and 
throttled  the  breath  within  its  swollen  limbs.  So 
far  let  it  suffice  thee  to  have  vexed  thy  people's 
enterprise.  And  thou,"  whom  no  suns  are  wont  to 
tame,0  horned  one,  so  lavish  of  never  failing  waters, 
flow  with  prosperous  current,  from  whatsoever 
storehouse  thou  settest  free  thy  cooling  springs, 
immortally  replenished  ;  for  hoary  Winter  pours 
not  out  for  thee  her  laid-up  snows,  nor  doth  the 
rainbow  shed  waters  stolen  from  another  fount,''  nor 
do  the  pregnant  storm-clouds  of  Corns  '^  show  thee 
favour,  but  thou  flowest  all  thine  own,  and  no  star 

569 


ST  ATI  us 

te  nee  Apollineus  Ladon  nee  Xanthus  uterque 
Spereheusque  minax  Centaureusque  Lyeormas 
praestiterint  ;  tu  paee  mihi,  tu  nube  sub  ipsa 
armoruni  festasque  super  celebrabere  mensas —     840 
a  love  primus  honos — bellis  niodo  laetus  ovantes 
aecipias  fessisque  libens  iterum  hospita  pandas 
flumina  defensasque  veils  agnoscere  turmas." 

"   I.e.,  in  the  Troad  or  in  Lycia. 

*"  A  river  in  Aetolia.  As  there  is  no  known  connexion 
between  the  river  and  any  Centaur,  the  epithet  may  mean 
"  Centaur-like,"  i.e.,  as  furious  as  a  Centaur. 


570 


THEBAID,  IV.  837-843 

can  overcome  thee  or  destroy.  Thee  neither  Ladon, 
Apollo's  river,  shall  surpass,  nor  either  Xanthus," 
nor  threatening  Spercheus,  nor  Lycormas  ^  of 
Centaur's  fame ;  thee  will  I  celebrate  in  peace,  thee 
beneath  the  very  cloud  of  war,  and  at  the  festal 
banquet,  ay,  honour  thee  next  to  Jove  himself — 
so  but  thou  gladly  receive  our  triumphing  arms, 
and  again  be  pleased  to  give  the  welcome  of  thy 
streams  to  our  tired  warriors,  and  recognize  of  thy 
grace  the  host  thou  once  didst  save." 


571 


Printed  in  Cieai  Britain  hy  R.  &  R.  Ci.akk,  LniiiED,  Edinljirgh. 


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