The Works of the Greek and Roman Poets

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'A NEW YORK rUBLIG LIBRARY

REFERENCE DEPARTMENT

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UJCAN'S PHARSALIA.

TRANSLATED FROM THE LATIP.

BY NICHOLAS ROWE, ESQ.

»»

IN TWO VOLUMES.

VOL. I.

LONDON:

print** at tfce %taa]wt &ttH 9

BY WHITTINGHAM AND ROWLAND,
GOTMlt Stmt;

*0BUSRBD BY SOTTABY, EVANCE, AND FOX, STATIONERS'
COURT, LUDGATE STREET; SHARPE AND HAILES, PICCA-
DILLY; AND TAYLOR AND HESSEY, FLEET STREET.

18^3.

L

THE

WORKS

OF

THE GREEK AND ROMAN

POETS,

TRANSLATE]* 1HTO ENGLISH VER8EV

VOL. XVII.

CONTAINING

THE FIRST VOLUME

OF
HOWE'S VERSION OF LUCAS'S PHARSALIA.

LONDON: A

rRlNTED FOR 8UTTA1Y, E VANCE, AND FOX, STATIONERS'
COURT ; SHARPR AND HAILKS,. MBSSBIS, MCCADtLLT ;
TAYLOR AND HE8SIY, FLEKr-ST^ERT g AN& P J4NNING9,
POULTRY. . ". ' >

L

.LSijtiAji ■iici'UDoL.od, PclMcrt, Covin]

" * * : .

CONTENTS.

VOL. I.

Page

Preface... , 5

Book I 3$

II 85

Ill ... 127

IV 170

' — y- *w

Preface,

GIVING 80MB ACCOUNT OF

LUCAN AND HIS WORKS.

BY JAMBS WBLWOOD, M. D.

1 could not resist Mr. Howe's request in his last
sickness, nor the importunities of his friends since,
to introduce into the world this his. posthumous
translation of Lucan, with something by way of
preface. I am very sensible how much it is out of
my sphere, and that I want both leisure and mate-
rials to do justice to the author, or to the memory
of the translator* The works of both will best
plead for them, the one having already outlived
seventeen ages, and both one and the other like to
endure as long as there is any taste of liberty or
polite learning left in the world. Hard has been
the rate of many a great genius, that while they
have conferred immortality on others, they have
wanted themselves some friend, to embalm their
names to posterity. This has been the fate of
Lucan, and perhaps may be that of Mr. Rowe.

All the accounts we have handed down to us of
the first, are but very lame, and scattered in frag-
ments of ancient authors. I am of opinion, that
one reason why .his life is not to be found at any

VOL. I. B

6 PREFACE.

length, in the writings of his contemporaries, is
the fear they were in of Nero's resentment, who
could not bear to have the life of a man set in a
true light, whom, together with his uncle Seneca,
he had sacrificed to his revenge. Notwithstand-
ing this, we have some hints in writers who lived
near his time, that leave as not altogether in the
dark, about the life and works of tbtt extraordinary
young man.

Marcus Annania Local* was of an Equestrian
family of Rome, born at Cordoba in Spain, about
the year of our Saviour S9 7 in the reign of Caligula*
His family had been transplanted from Italy to
Spam a considerable time before, and were invest-
ed with several dignities and employments, m that
remote province of the Roman- empire. His rather
was Marcns Animus Mela, or MeUa, a mail of a
distinguished merit and interest in Ms eoantry?
and not the leaf in esteem, for being the brother
of the great philosopher Seneca* His mother was
AciKa, the daughter of Acilius Lacunas, one of
the most eminent orators of his time 3 and it was*
from his grandfather that he took the name of
Lucan. The story that is told of Hesiod and
Homer, of a swarm of bees hovering about them
in their cradle, is likewise told of Locan, and pro-
bably with equal truth : but whether true or not,,
it is a proof of the high esteem paid to him by the
ancients, as a poet.

He was hardly eight months old when" he was

brought from his native country to Some, that he

light take the first impression of the Latin tongue,

1 the city where it was spoke in the* greatest

irity* I wonder then to find some critics do*

PREFACE. 7

tract front Ms language, as if it took a tincture
from the place of his birth ; nor can I be brought
to think otherwise, than that the language he writes
in, is as pare Roman as any that was writ hi
Nero's time. As he grew up, his parents educated
him with a care that became a promising genius,
and the rank of his family. His masters were
Rhemmius Pohemon, the grammarian ; then Flavin*
Virginias, the rhetorician: and lastly, Cormttus
the stoic philosopher, to which sect he ever after
addicted himself.

It was in the course of these studies, he con-
tracted an intimate friendship with Aulas Persius
the Satirist. It is no wonder that two men whose
genius were so much alike, should unite and be*
come agreeable to one another; for if we consider
Lacan critically, we shall find in him a strong bent
towards satire. His manner, it is true, is more
declamatory and dnfuse than Persius: but satire
is still in his new > and the whole Pharsalia appears
to me a continued invective against ambition and
unbounded power.

The progress he made in all parts of learning
mast needs have been very great, considering the
pregnancy of his genius, and the nice care that was-
taken in cultivating it, by a suitable education:
nor is it to be questioned, but besides the master*.
I have named, he -had likewise the example and
instructions of his uncle Seneca ; the most con-
spicuous man then of Rome, for learning, wit, and
morals. Thus he set out in the world with the
greatest advantages possible, a noble birth, an>
opulent fortune, great relations, and withal, the-

8 PREFACE.

friendship and protection of an uncle, who* besides
his other preferments in the empire, was favourite,
as well as tutor, to the emperor. But rhetoric
seems to have been the art he excelled most in,
and valued himself most upon; for all writers
agree, he declaimed in public when but fourteen
years old, both in Greek and Latin, with universal
applause. To this purpose it is observable, that
he has interspersed a great many orations in the
Pharsalia; and these are acknowledged by all to
be very shining parts of the poem. Whence it is,
that Qointilian, the best judge in these matters,
reckons him among the rhetoricians, rather than
the poets; though he was certainly master of both
these arts in a high degree.

His uncle Seneca being then in great favour with
Nero, and having the care of that prince's educa-
tion committed to him, it is probable he introduced
his nephew to the court and acquaintance of the
emperor. And it appears, from an old fragment
of his life, that he seut for him from Athens, where
he was at his studies, to Rome for that purpose.
Every one knows that Nero, for the first five years
of his reign, either really was, or pretended to be,
endowed with all the amiable qualities that became
an emperor, and a philosopher. It must have been
in this stage of Nero's life, that Lucan has offered
up to him that poetical incense we find in the first
book of the Pharsalia: for it is not to be imagined,
that a man of Lucan's temper would flatter Nero
in so gross a manner, if he had then thrown off the
mask of virtue, and appeared in such bloody
colours as he afterwards did. No ! Lucan's soul

PREFACE* 9

seems to have been east in another mold : and he
that durst, throughout the whole Pbarsalia, espouse
the party of Pompey, and the cause of Rome
against Caesar, could never have stooped so vilely
low, as to celebrate a tyrant and a monster, in
such an open manner. I know some commentators
have judged that compliment to Nero to be meant
ironically; but it seems to me plain to be in the
greatest earnest 3 and it is more than probable,
that if Nero had been as wicked at that time, as
he became afterwards, Lnean's life had paid for
his irony. Now it is agreed on by all writers!
that he continued for some time in the highest
favour and friendship with Nero ; and it was to
that favour, as well as his merit, that he owed his
being made Quaestor, and admitted into the college
of Augurs, before he attained the age required for
these offices : in the first of which posts, he exhibit'
ed to the people of Rome a show of gladiators at
a vast expense* It was in this sunshine of life,
Lucan married Polla Argentaria, the daughter of
Polhus Argentarius, a Roman Senator; a lady of
noble birth, great fortune, and famed beauty, who,
to add to her other excellencies, was accomplished
m all parts of learning; insomuch, that the first
three book* of the Pbarsalia are said to have been
revised and corrected by her, in his lifetime.

How he came to decline in Nero's favour, we
have no account, that I know of, in history ; and
it is agreed by all, that be lost it gradually, till he
became his otter aversion. No doubt Lnean's
virtue, and his principles of liberty, must make him
bated by a man of Nero's temper. Out tnerf

ror» i. c

10 PREFACS.

appears to have been a great deal of envy in the
ease, blended with his other prejudices against
him, upon the account of bis poetry.

Though the spirit and height of the Roman
poetry was somewhat declined from what it had
been in the time of Augustus ; yet it was still an
art beloved and cultivate^. Nero himself was not
only fond of it to the highest degree ; tint, as most
had poets are, was vain and conceited of his per-
formances in that kind. He valued himself more
upon his skill in that art, and in music, than on the
purple be wore ; and bore it better to be thought
a bad emperor, than a bad poet or rousician.-
Now Lucan, though then fa favour, was too honest
and too open to applaud the bombast sniff that
Nero was every day repeating in public. Lucan
appears to have been much of the temper of
Philoxenns the philosopher, who for not approving
the verses of DfonyBius, the tyrant of Syracuse,
was by bis order condemned to the mines. Upon
the promise of amendment, the philosopher was set
at liberty ; but Dionysius repeating to him some
of his wretched performances, in ftdl expectation
of having them approved: " Enough, (cries out
Philoxenus) carry me back to the mines." But
Lncan carried this point further; and had the
imprudence to dispute the price of eloquence with
Nero, in a solemn public assembly. The judges in
that trial were so just and bold, as to adjudge the
'reward to Luean r which was fame and a- wreath of
sure] ; but, in return, he lost for ever the favour
<f his competitor. He soon felt the effects of the
mperor*s resentment ; for the next day he had an

PKEFACB, 11

eider sent him, never more to plead at the bar,
nor repeat any of bis performances in public, at
all the eminent orators and poets were used to do.
It is no wonder that a young man, an admirable
poet, and one conscious enough of a superior
genius, should be stung to the quick by this bar-
barous treatment In revenge, he omitted no
occasion to treat Nero's verses with the utmost
contempt, and expose them and their author to
ridicule.

In this behaviour towards Nero he was seconded
by bis friend Persius ; and no doubt they diverted
themselves often alone at the emperor's expense.
Persius went so far, that he dared to attack openly
tome of Nero's verses in his First Satire j where
he brings in his friend and himself repeating them.
I believe a sample of them may not be unaccep-
table to the reader, as translated thus by Mr.
Dry den:

Friend, But to raw numben and qnftahh'd verse,
Swett sound Is added now, to make it terse.
TU tag'd with rhyme, like Berecynthian Atys,
The mid-part chimes with art that never flat is.
' The dolphin brave,

• That cot the liquid ware;
« Or he who in his line

• Can chime the long-rib'd Apennine.'

Persius, All this is doggrel staff.

Friend. What if I bring
A nobler verse: " Arms and the man I sing.*

Perrius. Why name yoo Virgil with such fops a» meter
He* truly great, and most for ever please.
JJot fierce, but awful in his manly page,
Bold In his strength, but sober in his rage.

Friend. What poems think you soft, and to be read
With languishing regards and bending head!

13 AtBFACtt.

PerAus. ' Their crooked homt the MimnfioniaircrcW
' With blasts inspiri! ; and Bessaris, who slew

* The scornful calf, with sword advanc'd on high,
' Made from bis neck his haughty head to fly :

* Aud Msenas when with ivy bridles bound,

* She led the spotted lynx, then Evion rang around,
- ' Evion from woods and floods repairing echo's sound

.}

The verses marked with single commas are
Nero's ; and it is no wonder that men of so delicate
a taste as Lacan and Persius could not digest
them, though made by an emperor.

About this time the world was grown weary of
JNero, for a thousand monstrous cruelties of his
life, and the continued abuse of the imperial
power. Rome had groaned long under the weight
of them ; till, at length, several of the first rank,
headed by Piso, formed a conspiracy to rid the
world of that abandoned wretch. , Lucan hated
him upon a double score; as his country's enemy
and his own, and went heartily into the design.
When it was just ripe for execution, it came to be
discovered by some of the accomplices, and Lucan
was found among the first of the conspirators.
They were condemned to die, and Lucan bad the .
choice of the manner of his death. Upon this oc-
casion some authors have taxed him with an ac-
tion, which, if true, had been an eternal stain upon
his name; that to save his life he informed against
his mother. This story seems to me to be a mere
calumny, and invented only to detract from his
fame. It is certainly the most unlikely thing in
the world, considering the whole conduct of his
life, and that noble scheme of philosophy and
morals he had imbibed from his infancy, and which

PRBFACB. 10

sliines in every page of his Phartalia. It if pro-
bable Nero himself, or some of his flatterers, might
invent the story to blacken his rival to posterity \
and some unwary authors have afterwards taken it
up on trust, without examining into the truth of
it We have several fragments of his life, where
this particular is not to be found; and, which
makes it still the more improbable to me, the
writers that mention it have tacked to it another
calumny yet more improbable, that be accused her
unjustly. As this accusation contradicts the whole
tenor of his life, so it does the manner of his death*
It is universally agreed, that having chose to have
the arteries of his arms and legs opened in a not
bath, he supped cheerfully with his friends ; and
then taking leave of them with the greatest trail*
quillity of mind, and the highest contempt of death,
went into the bath and submitted to the operation*
When he found the extremities of his body growing
cold, and death's last alarm in every part, he called
to mind a passage of his own in the Sixth Book of
the Pharsaha, which he repeated to the standers*
by, with the same grace and accent with which he
used to declaim in public, and immediately ex-
pired, in the twenty-seventh year of his age, and
tenth of Nero. The passage was that, where be
describes a soldier of Cato*s dying much after the
same manner, being bit by a serpent, and it Urns
translated by Mr. Rowe :

* so UK wain moou at oace iron avaiy pan

' JUa prate potion daw, aad diataM the jrfadaf Wan,

• Blood fidli far taara, aad otr Ma

14 PREFACE*

' Where'er the liquid jtrieef Had a way,

' There stream* of blood, there crimson riven stray:

* His mouth and gushing nostrils pour a flood,

' And ev'n the pores oose oat the trickling blood;

' In the red deluge, ail the parts lie drown'd,

' And the whole body seems one bleeding wound.'

He was buried in his garden at Rome ; and there
was lately, to be seen, in the church of Santo
Paulo, an ancient marble with the following in-
scription :

Marco Anntto Lucano, Cordubensi poet*,
Benqfich Neronis,fama tervata*

This inscription, if done by Nero's order, shows,
that even in spite of himself, he paid a secret
homage to Lucan's genius and virtue, and would
have atoned in some measure for the injuries and
the death he gave him. But he needed no marble
or inscription to perpetuate his memory. His
Pharsalia will outlive all these.

Lucan wrote several books that have perished
by the injury of time, and of which nothing re-
mains but the titles. The first we are told he
wrote, was a 4 Poem on the Combat between
Achilles and Hector, and Priam's redeeming his
Sons Body ;' which, it is said, he wrote before he
had attained eleven years of age ! The rest were,
' The Descent of Orpheus into Hell? 'The Burning
of Rome/ in which he is said not to have spared
Nero that set it on fire; and a ' Poem in Praise of
his Wife, Polla Argentaria.' He wrote likewise
several books of Saturnalia f ten books of Sitae ;'
an imperfect * Tragedy of Medea;' a ' Poem upon

9EBPAC& ti

the burning of Troy, and the fate of Priam ;' to
which some have added the ' Panegyric to Cal*
phurnius Pis©,' yet extant; which I can hardly
believe is his, bat of a later age. Bat the book
he staked his lame on was his * Pharsalia,' the
only one that now remains, and which Nero's
cruelty has left us imperfect, in respect of what
it would have been, if he had lived to finish it

Statins, in his ' Silfsc,' gives us the catalogue of
XiOcan'a works in an elegant manner/ introducing
the muse Calliope accosting him to this purpose,:
•* When thou art scarce past the age of childhood
4 (says Calliope to Lacan) thou shalt play with the
' valour of Achilles, and Hector's skill in driving of
4 a chariot Thou shalt draw Priam at the feet of

* his unrelenting conqueror, begging the dead body
x of his darling son. Thou shalt set open the gates

* of hell for Eurydice, and thy Orpheus shall have

* the preference in a fojl theatre, in spite of Nero's

* envy:' allotting to the dispute for the prize be-
tween him and Nero, where the piece exhibited
by Lacan was Orpheus's descent into hell. ' Then

* shalt relate (continues Calliope) that flame, which

* the execrable tyrant kindled, to lay in ashes the

* mistress of the world ; nor shalt thou be silent in
4 the praises that are justly due to thy beloved wife ;
4 and, when thou hast attained to riper years, thou
4 shalt sing in a lofty strain the fatal fields of Phi-
' lippi, white with Roman bones, the dreadful bat-
' tie of Pharsalia, and the thundering wars of that
4 great captain, who by the renown of his arms me

4 rited to be inrolled among the gods. In that worl
' (continues Calliope) thou shalt paint, in neve
4 fading colours, the austere virtues of Cato, wn

16 PREFACE.

scorned to outlive the liberties of his country ; and
the fate of Pompey, once the darling of Rome.
Thou shalt, like a true Roman, weep over the
crime of the young tyrant Ptolemy ; and shalt
raise to Pompey, by the power of thy eloquence,
a higher monument than the Egyptian pyramids.
The poetry of Ennius, (adds Calliope) and the
learned fire of Lucretius ; the one that conducted
the Argonauts through such vast seas to the con-
quest of the Golden Fleece ; the other that could
strike an infinite number of forms from the first
atoms of matter; both of them shall give place to
thee, without the least envy, and even the divine
JEneid shall pay thee a just respect.'
' Thus far Statins concerning Lncan's work; and
even Lucan in two places of the * PharsabV has
promised himself immortality to his poem. The
first is in the 7th book, which I beg leave to give
in prose, though Mr. Rowe has done it a thousand
times better in verse. ' One day (says he) when
these wars shall be spoken of in ages yet to come,
and among nations far remote from this clime,
whether from the voice of fame alone, or the real
value I have given them by this my history, those
that read it shall alternately hope and fear for the
great events therein contained. In vain (conti-
nues he) shall they offer up their vows for. the
righteous cause, and stand thunderstruck at so
many various turns of fortune ; nor shall they read
them as things that are already past, bnt with that
concern as if they were yet to come, and shall
range themselves, O Pompey, on thy side.'
The other passage, which is in the 9th book,
■nay be translated thus: 'Oh! Caesar, profane

PREFACE. IT

1 thou not through envy the funeral monuments of
' these great patriots, that fell here sacrifices to thy
' ambition. If there may be allowed any renown
'to a Roman muse, while Homer's verses shall be
* thought worthy of praise ; they that shall live after
' us, shall read his and mine together : my Pharsalia
' ahaH live, and no time nor age shall consign it to
' oblivion.'

This is all that I can trace from the ancients,
or himself, concerning Lucas's life and writings :
and indeed there is scarce any one author, either
ancient or modern, that mentions him but with
the greatest respect and the highest encomiums,
of which it would be tedious to give more in-
stances.

I design not to enter into any criticism on the
' Pharsalia,' though I had ever so much leisure or
ability for it I hate to oblige a certain set of
men, that read the ancients only to find fault with
them, and seem to live only on the excrements of
authors. I beg leave to tell these gentlemen, that
Lucan is not to be tried by those rules of an epic
poem, which they have drawn from the Iliad or
ASneid ; for if they allow him not the honour to be
on the same foot with Homer or Virgil, they must
do him the justice, at least, as not to try him by
laws founded on their model. The * Pharsalia' is
properly an historical-heroic-poem, because the
subject is a known true story. Now, with our
late critics, truth is an unnecessary trifle for an
epic poem, and ought to be thrown aside as a curb
to invention. To nave every part a mere web of
their own brain, is with them a distinguishing
mark of a mighty genius in the epic way. Hence

18 PREFACE.

it is these critics observe, that their favourite
poems of that kind do always produce in the mind
of the reader the highest wonder and surprise ;
and the more improbable the story is, still the
more wonderful and surprising. Much good may
this notion of theirs do them : but to my taste, a
feet very extraordinary in its kind, that is at-
tended with surprising circumstances, big with the
highest events, and conducted with all the arts of
the most consummate wisdom, does not strike the
less strong, but leaves a more lasting impression
4m my mind for being true.

If Lucan therefore wants these ornaments, be
might have borrowed from Helicon, or his own
invention : he has made us more than ample amends
by the great and true events that fell within the
compass of his story. I am of opinion, that in
his first design of writing this poem of the civil
wars, he resolved to treat the subject fairly and
plainly, and that fable and invention were to have
had no share in the work. But the force of cus-
tom, and the design he had to induce the genera-
lity of readers to fell in love with liberty, and
abhor slavery, (the principal desigu of the poem)
induced him to embellish it with some fables, that
without them his books would not be so univer-
sally read : so much was feble the delight of the
Roman people.

If any shall object to his privilege of being exa-
mined and tried as an historian, that he has given
in to the poetical province of invention, and fic-
tion in the 0th book, where Sixtns inquires of the
Fhessalian witch Erictho the event of the civil
*ar f and the fete of Rome: it may be answered,

PRBPACB. 19

that perhaps the story was true, or at least it was
commonly believed to be so in his time ; which is
a sufficient excuse for Lucan to have inserted it*
It is true, no other author mentions it. But it is
lumai to find some one passage in one historian
that is not mentioned in any other, though they
treat of the same subjeet. For though I am folly
persuaded that all these oracles and responses, so
famous in the pagan world, were the mere cheats,
of priests; yet the belief of them, and of magic
and witchcraft, was universally received at that
time. Therefore, Lncan may very well be ex-
cused for railing in with a popular error, whether
he himself believed it or no ; especially when it
served to enliven and embellish his story. If it
be an error, it is an error all the ancients have
sullen into, both Greek and Roman : and Iivy,
the prince of the Latin historians, abounds in such
relations. That it is not below the dignity and
veracity of an historian to mention such things,
we have a late instance in a noble author of our
time, who has likewise wrote the civil wars of his
country, and intermixed in it the story of the ghost
of the Duke of Buckingham's father.

In genera], all the actions that Lucan relates in
the course of bis history are true; nor is it any
impeachment of his veracity, that sometimes he
differs in place, manner, or circumstances of ac-
tions, from other writers, any more than it is an
imputation on them, that they differ from him. We
ourselves have seen in the course of the late two
famous wars how differently almost every battle
and siege has been represented, and sometimes b
those of the same side; when, at the same tim<

tO 7RBFACE.

there be a thousand living witnesses, ready to con-'
tradict any falsehood that partiality should impose
upon the world. This I may affirm, the most im-
portant events, and the whole thread of action in
Lucan, are agreeable to the universal consent of
all authors that have treated of the civil wars of
Rome. If now and then he differs from them in
lesser incidents or circumstances, let the critics
in history decide the question : for my part, I am
willing to take them for anecdotes first discovered
and published by Lucan, which may at least con-
ciliate to him the favour of our late admirers of
secret history.

After all I have said on this head I cannot bat
in some measure call in question some parts of
Caesar's character, as drawn by lucan, which
seem to me not altogether agreeable to truth, nor
to the universal consent of history. I wish I
could vindicate him in some of his personal re-
presentations of men, and Caesar in particular, as
I can do in the narration of the principal events
and series of his story. He is not content only
to deliver him down to posterity, as the subverter
of the laws and liberties of his country, which he
truly was ; and than which, no greater infamy can
possibly be cast upon any name ; but he describes
him as pursuing that abominable end, by the most
execrable methods, and some that were not in Cae-
sar's nature to be guilty of. Caesar was certainly a
man far from revenge, or delight in blood, and
he made appear, in the exercise of the Supreme
Power, a noble and generous inclination to cle-
mency upon all occasions. Even Lucan, though
~ver so much his enemy, has not omitted his

PRBFAC& 91

generous usage of Domitius at Corfinram, or of
Afranins and Petreius, when they were his pri-
soners in Spain. What can be then said in excuse
for Lucan, when he represents him riding in
triumph over the field of Rbarsalia, the day after
the battle, taking delight in that horrid landscape
of slaughter and blood, and forbidding the bodies
of so many brave Romans to be either buried or
burnt ? Not any one passage of Caesar's life gives
countenance to a story like this : and how com-
mendable soever the seal of a writer may be,
against the oppressor of his country ; it ought
not to have transported him to such a degree of
malevolence, as to paint the most merciful con-
queror that ever was, in colours proper only for
the most savage natures. But the effects of pre-
judice and partiality are unaccountable j and there
is not a day of life in which even the best of men
are not guilty of them in some degree or other*
How many instances have we in history of the
best princes treated as the worst of men, by the
pens of authors that were highly prejudiced against
them?

Shall we wonder then that the Roman people,
smarting under the lashes of Nero's tyranny,
should exclaim in the bitterest terms against the
memory of Julius Caesar, since it was from him
that Nero derived that power to use mankind as
he did ? Those that lived in Lucan's time did not
consider so much, what Caesar was in his own
person, or temper, as what he was the occasion
of, to. them. It is very probable there were a
great many dreadful stories of him handed about
by tradition among the multitude j and even man

2? PREFACE.

of sense might give credit to them so far as to
forget his clemency, and remember his ambition,
to which they imputed all the cruelties and de-
vastations committed by his successors. Resent-
ments of this kind m the soul of a man, fond of
the ancient constitution of the Commonwealth,
(such as Lncan was) might betray rem to believe,
upon too slight grounds, whatever was to the dis-
advantage of one, he looked upon as the subverter
of that constitution. It was in that quality, and
for that crime alone, tfyat Brutus afterwards
stabbed him; for personal prejudice against him
he had none, and had been highly obliged by him s
and it was upon that account alone that Cato
scorned to owe his lire to him, though he well
knew Caesar would have esteemed it one of the
greatest felicities of his to have bad it in his
power to pardon him. I would not be thought to
make an apology for LncaiVa thus traducing the
memory of Caesar ; but would only beg the same
indulgence to his partiality, that we are willing
to allow to most other anthers, for I cannot help
believing all historians are more or less guilty
of it.

I beg leave to observe one thing further on this
head, that it is odd Lucan should thus mistake
this part of Caesar's character, and yet do him so
much justice in the rest. His greatness of mind,
his intrepid courage, his indefatigable activity, his
magnanimity, his generosity, his consummate
knowledge in the art of war, and the power and
grace of bis eloquence, are all set forth in the
best light upon every proper occasion. He never
Hakes him speak, but it is with all the strength

MUTFACB. 83

of argument, and alt the flowers of rhetoric. It
were tedious to enumerate every instance of this,
and I shall only mention the speech to his army
before the battle of Fharsalia, which in my opi-
nion aarpasses all I ever read for the easy noble-
ness of expression, the proper topics to animate
his soldiers, and the force of an inimitable elo-
quence.

Among Lacan'8 few mistakes in matters of met
amy be added those of geography and astronomy $
hot finding Mr. Rowe has taken some notice of
them in his Notes, I shall say nothing of them,
Lucan had neither time nor opportunity to visit
the scenes where the actions he describes were
done, as some other historians, both Greek and
Romans, had ; and therefore it was no wonder he
might commit some minute errors in these mat-
ters. As to astronomy, the schemes of that
noble science were but very conjectural in his
time, and not reduced to that mathematical cer-
tainty they have been since.

The method and disposition of a work of thin
kind must be much the same with those observed
by other historians ; with one difference only, which
I submit to better judgments : an historian, who,
like Lucan, has chosen to write in verse, though
he is obliged to have strict regard to truth in every
thing he relates, yet perhaps he is not obliged
to mention all tacts, as other historians are. He
is not tied down to relate every minute passage,
or circumstance, if they be not absolutely neces-
sary to the main story, especially if they are sach-
et would appear heavy and flat, and consequently
enenmber his genius, or his Terse. AU that

S4 PREFACE.

trifling parts of action would take off from the
pleasure and entertainment, which is the main
scope of that manner of writing. Thus the par*
ticnlars of an army's march, the journal of a siege,
or the situation of a camp, where they are not
subservient to the relation of some great and im-
portant event, had better be spared than inserted
in a work of that kind. In a prose writer, these
perhaps ought, or at least may be properly and
agreeably enough mentioned ; of which we have
innumerable instances in most ancient historians,
and particularly in Thucydides and Livy.

There is a fault in Lucan against this rule, and
that is his long and unnecessary enumeration of
the several parts of Gaul, whence Caesar's army
was drawn together, in the First Book* It is en-
livened, it is true, with some beautiful verses he
throws in, about the ancient Bards and Druids ;
but still in the main it is dry, and but of little
consequence to the story itself. The many dif-
ferent people and cities there mentioned, were
not Caesar's confederates, as those in the Third
Book were Pompey's ; and these last are particu*
lady named, to express how many nations espoused
the side of Pompey, Those reckoned up in Gaul
were only the places were Caesar's troops had
been quartered, and Lucan might with as great
propriety have mentioned the different routs by
which they marched as the garrisons from which
they were drawn. This, therefore, in my opi-
nion, had been better left out > and I cannot but
likewise think, that the digression of Thessedy,
and an account of its first inhabitants, is too pro*
lis, and not of any great consequence to his pur*

PRBFACB. 25

pose. I am sure it signifies but little to the civil
war in general, or the battle of Pharsalia in par-
ticular, to know how many rivers there are in
Thessaly, or which of its mountains lies East or
West.

But if these be faults in Lncan, they are such:
as will be found in the most admired poets ; nay r
and thought excellencies in them ; and besides, he
has made us most ample amends in the many ex-
traordinary beauties of his poem. The story
itself is noble and great j for what can there be
in history more worthy of our knowledge and at*
tention, than a war of the highest importance to
mankind, carried on between the two greatest
leaders that ever were, and by a people the most
renowned for arts and arms, and who were at that
time masters of the world ? What a poor subject
is that of the iEneid, when compared with this of
the Pharsalia? and what a despicable figure doe*
Agamemnon, Homer's ' king of kings/ make,
when compared with chiefs, who, by saying only,
' Be thou a king/ made far greater kings than
him 1 The scene of the Iliad contained but Greece,
some islands in the JEgean and Ionian seas, with a
very little part of the lesser Asia : this, of the civil
war of Rome,' drew after it almost all the nations of
the then known world. Troy was but a little town,
of the little kingdom of Pbrygia ; whereas Rome
was then mistress of an empire, that reached from
the straits of Hercules, and the Atlantic ocean,
to the Euphrates ; and from the bottom of the
Enxine and the Caspian seas, to Ethiopia and
Mount Atlas. The inimitable Virgil is yet more
straitened in his subject iEneas, a poor fugitive

vox. i. D

£6 PftEf ACF.<

from Troy, with a handful of followers, settles at
last in Italy; and all the empire that immortal
pen could give him ; is but a few miles upon the
banks of the Tiber. So vast a disproportion
there is between the importance of the subject of
the JEbeid and that of the Pbarsalia, that we find
one single Roman, Crassns, master of more slaves
on bis estate than Virgil's hero had subjects. To
line, it may be said, nothing can excuse him for
his choice, but that he designed his hero for the
ancestor of Rome, and the Julian race.

I cannot leave this parallel without taking no-
tice to what a height of power the Roman empire
was then arrived, in an instance of Caesar him*
self, when but proconsul of Gaul, and before it is
thought he ever dreamed of being what he after-
wards attained to. It is in one of Cicero's letters 1
to him, wherein he repeats the words of Ca&sar's
fetters to him some time before. The words are
these : * As to what concerns Marcus Furius, whom
'• you recommended to me, I will, if you please,
' make him king of Gaul ; but if you would have
' me advance any othfir friend of yours, send him to
* me.' It was no new thing for citizens of Rome,
such as Caesar was, to dispose of kingdoms as
they pleased ; and Caesar himself had taken away
Deiotarus's kingdom from him, and given it to a
private gentleman of Pergamum. But there is
one surprising instance more of the prodigious
greatness of the Roman power, in the affair of
king Antiochus ; and that long before the height
it arrived? to, at the breaking forth of the civil
war. That prince was master of all Egypt; and
marching to the conquest of Phoenicia/ Cyprus;

PREFAC*. Vt

and the other appendixes of that empire, Fopf-
Bus overtakes him in his roll inarch, with letters
from the Senate, and refuses to give him his hand
till he had read them. Antiochna, startled at the
command that was contained in them, to stop the
progress of his victories, asked a short time to
consider of it* Popilius makes a circle abovt hint
with a stick he had in his hand, ' Return me an

* answer, (said he) before thoa stkrestont of this

* circle, or the Soman people are no more thy

* friends.' Antfochns, after a short pause, told him
with the lowest submission, ' he would obey the
Senate's commands*' Upon which Popitias gives
him bk hand, and salutes him a friend of Rome;
After Antiochus had given up so great a monarchy,
and such a torrent of success, upon receiving only
a few words in writing, he had indeed reason to
send word to the Senate, as he did by his ambus*
sadort, that he had obeyed their commands, with
the same submi s sion as if they had been 'sent hint
from the immortal gods.

To leave this digression. It were the height of
arrogance to detract ever so little from Homer or
Virgil, who have kept possession of the tint
places among the poets of Greece and Rome tor
so many ages: yet I hope I may be forgiven if 1
any there are several p a s s a ges in both that appear
to me trivial, and below the dignity that shine*
almost in every page of Lncan. It were to take
bom the Iliad and JEneid in pieces, to prove
this : but I shall only take notice of one instance)
and that is, the different colouring of Virgil's hero,
andlincanfs G»sar,ro a storm. JSneas is drawn
weeping, and in fhe greatest conflation and 4t»

$8 PREFACE*

spair, though he had assurance from the gods that
he should one day settle and raise a new empire in
Italy. Caesar, on the contrary, is represented
perfectly sedate, and free from fear. His conrage
and magnanimity brighten up as much upon this
occasion, as afterwards they did at the battles of
Pharsalia and Munda. Courage would have cost
Virgil nothing to have bestowed it on his hero ;
and he might as easily have thrown him upon the
coast of Carthage in a calm temper of mind, as in
a panic fear.

* St. Evremont is very severe upon Virgil on
this account, and has criticised upon his character
of iEneas in this manner. . When Virgil tells us,

Extemplb JEnea solvunturf rigor e membra,
Ingemit, et duplies tendens ad sidera palmas, &c.

f Seized as he is, (sajteSt., Evremont) with this chil-
.' neesy through all his limbs, the first sign of life
' we find r in him is his groaning; then be lifts
' up his hands to Heaven, and in all appear-
<<anee would implofe its succour, if the condition
' wherein the good hero finds himself would afford
'. him strength enough to raise his mind to the gads,
« and pray with attention. His soul, which could

* not apply itself to any tiling else, abandons itself

< to lamentations.; and like those desolate widows,

< who, upon the first trouble they meet with, wish
4 they were in' the grave with their dear hus-

* bands,. the poor J£neas bewails his not having

< perished before Troy with Hector, and esteem
them very happy who left their bones in the
bosom, of so sweet and dear a country. . Some
people (adds he) may perhaps believe he* says

PREFACE. 89

' so, because he envies their happiness j bat I
' am persuaded, (says St. Evremont) it is for fear
' of the danger that threatens htm.' The same
author, after he has exposed his want of courage,
adds, ' The good ASneas hardly ever •concerns him-
' self in any important or glorious design. It is
' enough for him that he discharges his conscience
' in the office of a pious, • tender, and compas-

* stonate man. He carries his father on his shoul-
4 ders, he conjugally laments his dear Creusa, he

* causes his nurse to be interred, and makes a fii-

* neral pile for his trusty pilot Palinurus,for whom
' he sheds a thousand tears. Here is (says he) a
' sorry hero in paganism, who would have* made
4 an admirable saint among some Christians.' In
short, it is St. Evremont s opinion, ' he was fitter
4 to make a founder of an order, than a state.'

Urns far, and perhaps too ftr, St. Evremont.
I beg leave to take notice, that the storm in
Lacan is drawn in stronger colours, and strikes
the mind with greater horror, than that in Virgil ;
notwithstanding the first has no supernatural cause
assigned for it, and the latter is raised by a god,
at the instigation of a goddess, that was both
wife and sister of Jupiter. N

In the Fharsalia, most of the transactions and
events that compose the relation are wonderful
and surprising, though true, as well as instructive
and entertaining. To enumerate them all, were
to transcribe the work itself* and therefore I
shall /only hint at some of the most, remarkable.
With what dignity, and justness of character, are
the two great rivals, Pompey and Cspsar, intro*

99 9REFACK.

duced in tbe first book; and hew beautifully,
and with what a masterly art, are they opposed
to one another ? Add to this, the justest simili-
tudes by which their different characters are illus-
trated in the second and ninth book. Who can
but admire the figure that Cato's virtue makes in
more places than one? And I persuade myself, if
Lucan had lived to finish his design, the death of
that illustrious Roman had made one of the most
moving as well as one of the most sublime epi-
sodes of his poem. In the third book, Pompey 9 *
dream, Caesar's breaking open the temple of
Saturn, the siege of Marseilles, the sea-fight, and
the sacred grove, have each of them their parti-
cular excellence, that, in my opinion, come very
little short of any tiling we find in Homer or
Virgil. *

In the fourth book there are a great many
charming incidents ; and, among the rest, that of
the soldiers running out of their camp to meet and
embrace one another, and the deplorable story of
Vulteius. The fifth book affords us a fine ac-
count of the oraele of Delphos, its origin, the
manner of its delivering answers, and the reason
of its then silence. Then upon the occasion of a
mutiny in Caesar's camp near Placentia, in his man-
ner of passing the Adriatic in a small boat, amidst
the storm I hinted at, be has given us the noblest
and the best image of that great man. But what
affects me above all, is the parting of Pompey
and Cornelia, in the end of the book. It has
something in it as moving and tender as ever was*
felt, or perhaps imagined.

FftBF*CE« &

In the description of the witch Erictho, in the
aixth book, we have a beautiful picture of horror ;
for even works of tint kind have their beauties in
poetry, as well as in painting. The seventh book
is most taken up with what relates to the famous
-battle of .Pharsalia, which decided the fate of Rome.
It is so related, that the reader may rather think
himself a spectator o£ or even engaged in the
battle, than so remote from the age in. which it was
fought. There is, towards the end of this book,
a noble majestic description of the general con-
flagration, and of that last catastrophe, which must
put an end to this frame of heaven and earth. To
this is added, in the most elevated style, bis senti-
ments of the immortality of the soul, and of re-
wards and punishments after this life. All these
are touched with the nicest delicacy of expression
and thought, especially 4hat about the universal
conflagration ; and agrees with what we find of it
in holy writ In so much that I am willing to
believe Lncan might have conversed with Saint
Peter at Rome, if it be true he was ever there;
or he might have seen that epistle of his, wherein
be gives us the very same idea of it

In the eighth book our passions are again touch-
ed with the misfortunes of Cornelia, and Pompey;
but especially with the death and unworthy
funeral of the latter* In this book is likewise
drawn, with the greatest art, the character of
young Ptolemy and bis ministers ; particularly that
of the villain Phothms is exquisitely exposed in
his own speech in council.

In the ninth book, after the apotheosis of Pom-
«ey, jQato is introduced as the Attest man after

32 PREFACE.

Mm to head the cause of liberty and Rome. This
book is the longest," and (in my opinion) the most
entertaining in the whole poem. The march' of
Cato through the deserts of Libya, affords a noble
and agreeable variety of matter; and the virtue
of his hero, amidst these distresses through which
he leads him, seems every where to deserve those
raptures of praise he bestows upon him. Add
to this, the artful descriptions of the various poi-
sons with which these deserts abounded, and their
different effects upon human bodies, than which
'nothing can be more moving or poetical.

But Cato's answer to Labienos in this book,
upon his desiring him to . consult the oracle of
Jupiter Hammon about the event of the civil war,
and the fortune of Rome, is a masterpiece not to
be equalled. All the attributes of God, such as
his omnipotence, his prescience, his justice, his
goodness, and his unsearchable dccrees,-are paint-
fid in the most awful, and the strongest colours,
and such as may make christians themselves blush,
for not coming up to them in most of their writings
upon thai subject I know not but Saint Evremont
has carried the matter too far, when in mentioning
this passage, he concludes, ' If all the ancient
f poets had spoke as worthily of the oracles of
I their gods, he should make no scruple to prefer
f them to the divines and philosophers of our time.
' We may see (says he), in the concourse of so many
? people that came to consult the oracle of Ham-
' mon, what effect a public opinion can produce,
' where zeal and superstition mingle together.
1 We may see in Labienus, a pious sensible man,
*who to his respect for the gods, joins that coit*

PEBFA.C1. S3

* sideratioti and esteem we ought to preserve lor
' virtue in good mem Cato is a religious severe
philosopher, weaned from all vulgar opinions,
who entertains those lofty thoughts of the gods,
which pure undebanched reason, and a true
elevated knowledge, can give us of them. Every
thing here (says Saint Evremont) is poetical;
every thing is consonant to truth and reason. It
is not poetical upon the score of any ridiculous
fiction, or for some extravagant hyperbole, but
for the daring greatness and majesty of the lan-
guage, and for the noble elevation of the discourse.
It is thus, (adds he) that poetry is the language
of the gods, and that poets are wise ; and it is
so much the greater wonder to find it in Lucan,
(says he) because it is neither to be met with in
Homer nor Virgil.' I remember Montaigne,
who is allowed by all to have been an admirable
jadge in these matters, prefers Lucent character
of Cato to Virgil, or any other of the ancient poets.
He thinks all of them flat and languishing, but
Lucan's much more strong, though overthrown by
the extravagancy of his own force.

The tenth book, imperfect as it is, gives us,
among other things, a view of the Egyptian magr
nificence, with a curious account of the then re*
ceived opinions of the increase and decrease of
the river Nile. From the variety of the story, and
many other particulars I need not mention in this
short account, it may easily appear, that a true
history may be a romance or fiction, when the
author makes choice of a subject that affords so
many, and so surprising incidents.
Among the fruits that have been laid to Lucau's

34 PMJFAC*.

charge, the most justly imputed are those of his
style; and indeed how could it be otherwise? let
as but remember the imperfect state in which his
sudden and immature death left the Phamalia ; the
design itself being probably bat half finished, and
what was writ of it, bat slightly* if at all revised.
We are told, it is true, he either corrected the
first three books himself, or his wife did it for him,
in his own lifetime. Be it so : but what are the
corrections of a lady, or a young man of six and
twenty, to those he might have made at forty, or
a more advanced age ? Virgil, the most correct
and judicious poet that ever was, continued cor-
recting his jEneid for near as long a series of years
together as Lucan lived, and yet died with a strong
opinion, that it was imperfect still. If Lucan had
lived to his age, the Pharsalia without doubt
would have made another kind of figure than it
now does; notwithstanding the difference to be
round in the Roman language, between the times
of Nero and Augustus.

It must be owned he is in many places obscure
and hard, and therefore not so agreeable, and
comes short of the purity, sweetness, and* delicate
propriety of Virgil. Yet it is still universally
agreed, among both ancients and moderns, that
his genius was wonderfully great, but at the same
time too haughty and headstrong to be governed
by art; and that his style was like bis genius,
learned, bold, and lively, but withal too tragical
and blustering.

I am by no means willing to compare the Phar-
ealia to the Ataeid, but I must say with St. Evre-
mont, that for what purely regards the elevation

FRW4CE. 3$

ef thought, Pompey, Caesar, Cato, and Labienus,
ablne much more in Luean, than Jupiter, Mercury,
Juno, or Venus, do in Virgil. The ideas which
liocan has given us of these great men are truly
greater, and affect us more sensibly, than those
which Virgil has given us of his deities. The latter
has clothed has gods with human infirmities, to
adapt them to the capacity of men : the other has
raised las heroes so, as to bring them into com-
petition with the gods themselves. In a word, the
gods are not so valuable in Virgil as the heroes: in
Lncan the heroes equal the gods. After all, it
must be allowed, that most things throughout the
whole Phanalia are greatly and justly said, with
regard even to the language and expression : but'
the sentiments are everywhere so beautiful and
elevated, that they appear (as be describes Caesar
in Amyclus's cottage in the fifth book) noble and
magnificent in any dress. It is in this elevation
of thought that Lucas justly excels: this is his
forte, and what raises him up to an equality with
the greatest of the ancient poets.

I cannot omit here the delicate character of
Lucan's genius, as mentioned by Strada, in the em-
blematic way. It is commonly known, that Pope
Leo the Tenth was not only learned himself, but a
great patron of learning, and used to be present at
the conversations and performances of all the polite
writers of his time. The wits of Rome enter-
tained him one day at his villa on the banks of the
Tiber with an interlude in the nature of a poetical
masquerade. They had their Parnassus, their
Pegasus, their Helicon, and every one of the an-
cient poets in their several characters, where each

38

PREFACE,

stand in need of, while we read him? Who has
more judiciously handled, or treated with more
delicacy, whatever topics his fancy has led him
to, or have casually fallen » his way ? Maro is
without doubt a great poet; so is Lacan. In
so apparent an equality, it is hard to decide
which excels : for both have justly obtained the
highest commendations. Maro is rich and mag-
nificent; Lucan sumptuous and splendid: the
first is discreet, inventive, and sublime ; the latter
free, harmonious, and full of spirit. Virgil seems
to move with the devout solemnity of a reverend
prelate ; Lucan to march with the noble haugh-
tiness of a victorious general. One owes most
-to labour and application ; the other to nature
and practice. One lulls the soul with the sweet-
ness and music of his verse ; the other raises it by
his fire and rapture. Virgil is sedate, happy in
his conceptions, free from faults ; Lucan quick,
various, and florid: he aeenis to fight with,
stronger weapons, this with more. The first
surpasses all in solid strength ; the latter excels
in vigour and poignancy. You would think that
the one sounds rather a larger and deeper-toned
trumpet; the other a less indeed, but clearer.
In short, so great is the affinity, and the struggle
for precedence between them, that though no-
body be allowed to come up to that divinity in
Maro ; yet had he not been possessed of the
chief seat on Parnassus, our author's claim to it
had been indisputable/

February 36, 171£

LUCAN'S PHARSALIA.

BOOK I.

ARGUMENT.

Id the first book, after a proposition of bis strbjeet, a short
view of the rain* occasioned by the civil wan in Italy, awtf
a compliment to Kero, Zflcan givet the principal causes of
the civil war. together with the characters of Gsesar and
Pompey. After that, the story properly begins wkh Caesar's
passing the Rmbicon, which was the bonnd of his province
towards- Rome, and his march to Arftminnm. Thither the
tribunes, and Carlo, (who had been driven out of the city by
me opposite party) come to him, and demand bis protection..
Then follows his speech to his army, and a particular mention
of the several parts of Ganl from which his troops were drawn 1
together to his assistance. From Caesar the poet tarn* to de-
scribe the general consternation at Rome, and the tight of
great part of the senate and people at the newt of his march.
From hence be tales occasion to relate the foregoing pro-
digies, which were partly an occasion of those panic terrors,
and likewise the ceremonies mat were used by the priests for
pnrifying the city and averting the anger of the gods; and
then ends this book with the inspiration and prophecy of »
Roman matron, in which she enumerates the principal events
which were to happen in the course of the civil war.

Emathioh plains ' with slaughter corer'd o'er,
And rage unknown to civil wars before,

> This first period contains a proposition of the whole work,
the civil war; and I wonfcd only observeonce for all, that as the
reader*, who compare it wtih4be original, only see that I have

40 LUCAN'S fHARJALM. Book 1«

Established violence, and lawless might,
Avow'd and hallow'd by the name of right ;
A race renown* d, the world's victorious lords,
Turn'd on themselves with their own hostile swords j
Piles against piles * oppos'd in impious fight,
And eagles against eagles bending flight ;
Of blood by friends, by kindred, parents, spilt,
One common horror and promiscuous guilt,
A shattered world in wild disorder tossed,
Leagues, laws, and empire in confusion lost*
Of all the woes which civil discords bring,
And Rome o'ercome by Roman arms, I sing.
What blind, detested madness could afford
Such horrid licence to the murdering sword ?
Say, Romans, whence so dire a fury rose,
To glut with Latian blood your barbarous foes?
Could you in wars like these provoke your fate ?
Wars, where no triumphs on the victor wait!
While Babylon's proud spires 3 yet rise so high,
And rich in Roman spoils invade the sky ;

transposed the order of it hi the translation, and that on pur-
pose! I have taken the same liberty in many other places of
this work; especially where I thought rach transposition would
give an emphasis and a strength to the latter end of the period.
Kmalhia waa a province properly of Macedonia, and adjoining
to Thessalia, bat is most commonly used by this author for
TfaetsaUa.

* I have chosen to translate the Latin word pilum thus
nearly, or indeed rather to keep it, and make it English; be-
cause it was a weapon, as eagles were the ensigns peculiar to the
Romans, and made use of here by Lncan purposely to denote
the war made amongst themselves. This pilum was a tort of
javelin which they darted at their enemies ; the description of it
may be found in Polybius, Vegetfas, or in our own Dr. Ken •
net's Roman Antiquities.

3 Lncan here meant both the Persian aud Parthian empire,
which be very often joins and confounds together, taking very

B—k 1. LUCAN'g PJf AR8AUA. 41

While yet no vengeance is to Crassus paid,
But unaton'd repines the wandering shade I
What tracts of land, what realms unknown before,
What seas wide-stretching to the distant shore,
What crowns, what empires might that blood have

gaiu'd,
With which Emathia's fatal fields were stain'd!
Where Seres 4 in their silken woods reside,
Where swift Araxes s rolls bis rapid tide :
Where'er (if such a nation can be found)
Nile's secret fountain springing cleaves the ground ;
Where southern suns with double ardour rise,
Flame o'er the land, and scorch the mid-day skies;
Where Winter's hand the Scythian seas constrains,
And binds the. frozen floods in crystal chains ;
Where'er the shady night and dayspring come,
All had submitted to the yoke of Rome.

Oh Rome 1 if slaughter be thy only care,
If such thy fond desire of impious war;
Turn from thyself, at least, the destin'd wound, )
Till thou art mistress of the world around, >
And none to conquer but thyself be found, }
Thy foes as yet a juster war afford,
And barbarous blood remains to glut thy sword.

often one name for both. Tbe death of Cruras, and his defeat
bythePartbians, is a story too well known to need a note. See
it at large in Plutarch*

4 In ancient geographers we find two nation of this name,
one in Ethiopia, and the other betweeu India and Scythia; the
latter, which are here meant, according to the learned Cella-
ring answer to the northern parts of China or Cathay.

5 Of this name were several rivers in Asia; the chief, and
that which to here mentioned, teems to be that hi Armenia; U
rant into <he Caspian Sea.

TOh. I. B

42 lucan's pharsalxa. Book 1.

But see ! ber hands on her own vitals seize,

And no destruction but her own can please.

Behold her fields unknowing of the plow !

Behold her palaces and towers laid low !

See where o'erthrown the massy column lies,

While weeds obscene above the cornice rise.

Here gaping wide, half-ruin*d walls remain.

There mouldering pillars nodding roots sustain.

The landscape once in various beauty spread,

With yellow harvests and the flowery mead,

Displays a wild uncultivated nice,

Which bushy brakes and brambles vile disgrace :

No human footstep prints the' untrodden green,

No cheerful maid nor villager is seen.

Ev'n in her cities, famous once and great,

Where thousands crowded in the noisy street,

No sound is heard' of human voices now,

But whistling winds through empty dwellings blow.

While passing strangers wonder, if they spy

One single melancholy race go by:

Nor Pyrrfaus'* sword, nor Cannae's fata! field,

Such universal desolation yield :

Her impious sons have her worst foes snrpass'd,

And Roman hands have laid Hesperia' waste.

But if our rates severely have decreed
No way but this, lor Nero to succeed ;
If only thus our heroes can be gods,
And earth must pay for their divine abodes;

• Pyrravs, king of Xpinu. a terrible and famous enemy of
the Romans. Sea. hi* life in Plutarch. Hannibal's victory at
Cannss is well known.

7 The ancient name of Italy, and likewise of Spain.

urn 1

JEPMfc 1. UJCAB'S PHAJMAUA, 45

If heaven could net the thnndemr obtain,
Till giant*' wars made room for Jove to reign,
Ti* just, ye gods, nor ought we to complain
Oppressed witji death though dire Puarsalia groan 8 ,
Though Latjan blood the Punic ghosts atone j
Though Fompey's hapless sons renew the war.
And Munda* view the slaughter^! heaps from far;
Though meagre famine in Perusia >Q reign,
Though Mntina " with battles fill the plan;
Though Leuea's isle, and wide Am^racia's bay,
Record the rage of Actium's fatal day;
Though servile hands are ann'd to man the fleet,
And on Sicilian seas the navies meet;
All crimes, all horrors, we with joy regard,
Since thou, O Caesar 1 art the great reward.

Vast are the thank* thy gnteful Rome should pay
To wan, which usher in thy saored sway.

8 Upon this occasion Loos* enumerates the principal actions
not only in thi» civil war between Cpeuar and Pompey, bqt the
others between the sons of Pompey, Octavius Caesar and Antony.
Pharsmlla were fields so called from Pharsalns, a town in Thessaly,
where the famous battle between Owsar and Pompey was fought.

9 A lowa in Spain, where Pompey* sons fought a battle with
Caesar after their father^ <Jeajh, and wbete Cneius the eldest was
killed. It b supposed, not to have been above six leagues from
the present Malaga.

10 A town in Umbria, in Italy, where L. Antonms was be-
sieged by Octavius Caesar, and reduced by famine.

11 The present Modena. D. Brotus was there besieged by
Mlrc Antony ; bet the siege wis raised by Augustus, and both
the consols, rJirtins and Pansa, killed.

The two last actions mentioned, are the famous battle of Ac-
tinm, between Antony and Augustus; and another sea fight, be-
tween Augustas and Sextos Pompeins, near Sicily, where the
latter had manned bis fleet with sfanres.

44 lucan's pharsalia. Mook 1.

When, the great business of the world achiev'd,
Late by the willing stars thou art receiv'd,
Through all the blissful seats the news shall roll.
And heaven resound with joy from pole to pole.
Whether great Jove resign supreme command,
And trust bis sceptre to thy abler hand;
Or if thou choose the empire of the day,
And make the son's unwilling steeds obey;
Auspicious if thon drive the flaming team,
While earth rejoices in thy gentler beam;
Where'er thou reign with one consenting voice,
The gods and nature shall approve thy choice.
But oh ! whatever be thy godhead great,
Fix not in regions too remote thy seat ;
Nor deign thou near the frozen Bear to shine,
Nor where the sultry, southern stars decline ;
Less kindly thence thy influence shall come,
And thy bless'd rays obliquely visit Rome.
Press not too much on any part the sphere:
Hard were the task thy weight divine to bear;
Soon would the axis feel the* unusual load,
And groaning bend beneath the' incumbent god:
O'er the. mid orb more equal shalt thou rise,
And with a juster balance fix the skies.
Serene for ever be that azure space,
No blackening clouds the purer heaven disgrace
Nor hide from Rome her Caesar's radiant face.
Then shall mankind consent .in sweet accord,
And warring nations sheathe the wrathful sword ;
Peace shall the world in friendly leagues compose,
And Janus' dreadful gates for ever close.
To me thy present godhead stands confess'd,
Oh ! let thy sacred rory fire my breast ;

ce,£

"!

B*ok 1. LUCAN'S PI1ARSALIA. 4A

So thou vouchsafe to heir, let Phoebus dwell
Still uninvok'd in Cyrrba's l * mystic cell ;
By me uncall'd, let sprightly Bacchus reign,
And lead the dance on Indian Nysas ,3 plain.
To thee, O Caesar 1 all my vows belong,
Do thou alone inspire the Roman song.

And now the mighty task demands our care,
The fatal source of discord to declare ;
What cause accurs'd produced the dire event,
Why rage so dire the madding nations rent,
And peace was driven away by one consent.
But thus the malice of our rate commands,
And nothing great to long duration stands ;
Aspiring Rome had risen too much in height,
And sunk beneath her own unwieldy weight
So shall one hour at last this globe control, -
Break up the vast machine, dissolve the whole,
And time no more through measurM ages roll.
Then chaos hoar shall seize his former right,
And reign with anarchy and eldest night;
The starry lamps shall combat in the sky,
And lost and blended in each other die ;
Quenched in the deep the heavenly fires shall rail,
And ocean cast abroad o'erspread the ball :
The moon no more her well-known course shall run,
But rise from western waves and meet the sun ;
Ungovern'd shall she quit her ancient way,
Herself ambitious to supply the day :
Contusion wild shall all around be huri'd,
And discord and disorder tear the world.

it Cyrrha wu a town near Dclpho^udhcre taken kMtf for
the retkknce of the oracle.

|a There were many towns of thb name sacred to Bacchus »
•specially one In India near the rim Cophca.

-\

\

46 LOCAN'S PHARSALIA. B*ok 1*

Thus power and greatness to destrnction haste,
Thus bounds to human happiness are plac'd,
And Jove forbids prosperity to last.
Yet Fortune, when she meant to wreak her hatty
From foreign foes preserv'd the Roman state.
Nor smTer'd barbarous hands to give the blow.
That mid the queen of earth and ocean lowp
To Rome herself for enemies she sought,
And Rome herself her own destruction wrought ;
Rome, that ne'er knew three lordly heads before *♦,
First fell by mtsJ partnership of p6w*r.
What blind ambition bids your force combine?
What means this frantic league in which you join?
Mistaken men 1 who hope to share the spoil*
And hold the world withm one common toil !
While earth me seas shall in her bosom bear,
While earth herself shall hang in ambient air,
While Phoebus shall his constant task renew;
While through the zodiac night shall day pursue ;
No faith, no trust, no friendship, shall be known i
Among the jealous partners of a throne ; >

But he who reigns shall strive to reign alone. )
Nor seek for foreign tales to make this good $
Were not our walls first built in brother's blood " ?
Nor did the feud for wide dominion rise,
Nor was the world their impious fury's prize ?
Divided power contention still affords,
And for a village strove the petty lords.

m The first trtamvlrate or combination betttee* Omar, FW»
p*y, and Crun»,to than the pO#er of Rone between Jhejn.

>* Reoras killed by Mb brother Romnloi, at the founding of
by the bitter.

}

Bode li lucar's fhaJmaua. 47

The fierce triumvirate combin'd in peace,
Preserv'd the bond but for a little space,
Still with an awkward disagreeing grace.
'Twas not a league by inclination made,
But bare agreement} such as friends persuade.
Desire of war in either chief was seen,
Though interposing Crassns stood between.
Such in the midst the parting isthmus lies '%
While swelling seas on either side arise j
The solid boundaries of earth restrain
The fierce Ionian and -/Egean main';
But if the mound gives way, straight roaring loud
In at the breach the rushing torrents crowd j
Raging they meet} the dashing waves run high,
And work their foamy waters to the sky.
So when unhappy Crassus, sadly slain,
Dyed with his blood Assyrian Carre's plain ;
Sudden the seeming friends in anna engage,
The Parthian sword let loose the Latian rage.
Te fierce Arsacidae 17 ( ye foes of Rome,
Now triumph ; you have more than overcome :
The vanquished felt your victory from far,
And from that field receiv'd their civil war.
The sword is now the umpire to decide,
And part what friendship knew not to divide.
'Twas hard, an empire of io vast a size,
Could not for two ambitious minds suffice ;
The peopled earth, and wide extended main,
Could furnish room for only one to reign.

>6 By Corinth.

'7 The kinp of Parthia, called ao from Armed; a |nsg
print*, of ptrhapi lb* feooder of that royal family.

45 lucan's pharsalia. Book f .

When dying Julia '? first forsook the light,
And Hymen's tapers sunk irk endless night.
The tender ties of kindred-love were torn,
Forgotten all, and buried in her urn.
Oh ! if her death had haply been delay'd,
How might the datfghter and the wife persuade f
Like the fam'd' Sabine dames I9 she had been seenr
To stay the meeting war, and stand between :'
On either hand had woo'd 'em to accord, J

Sooth'd her fierce father, and her furious lord, f
To join in peace, and sheathe the ruthless sword. )
But this the fatal sisters doom denied ;
The friends were sever'd, when the matron died.
The rival leaders mortal war proclaim,
Rage fires their souls with jealousy of fame,
And emulation fans the rising flame.

Thee, Pompey *°, thy past deeds by turns infest,
And jealous glory burns within thy breast;
Thy fam'd piratic laurel seems to fade,
Beneath successful Caesar's rising shade ;

18 Julia was the daughter of Julius Caesar, add married to
Pompey. The manner of her death* is said to have' been thus :
A servant of Domitiaft happening to be Wiled in a tumult at
Rome, Pompey, who was near him, by accident was daubed
with the blood ; and thereupon sending his gown home, his wife
(who was then with child) saw it, and imagining her husband to
be killed, fell into labour with the fright, miscarried, and died
of the illness she had contracted on that occasion.

*9 The Sabine virgins, who were taken away by force, and
married toRomulns and the first Romans, made peace between
Seir husbands and their fathers.
*° Pompey had triumphed over several nations, especially
rer the Cilician pirates, whom though they bad great fleets,
id were masters of the seas, he obliged to surrender them*
Ives and their ships within forty days.

Book 1. LUCAft'ft PHARSAL1A. 49

His Gallic wreaths 11 , thou view'st, with anxious
Above thy naval crowns triumphant rise, [eyes,
Thee, Caesar, thy long labours past incite,
Thy use of war, and custom of the fight ;
While bold ambition prompts thee in the race,
And bids thy courage scoru a second place.
Superior power, fierce faction's dearest care,
One could not brook, and one disdain'd to share.
Justly to name the better cause were hard,
While greatest names for either side declar'd :
Victorious Caesar by the gods was crown'd,
The vanquish'd party was by Cato own'd.
Nor came the rivals equal to the field ;
One to increasing years began to yield $•
Old age came creeping in the peaceful gown,
And civil functions weigh'd the soldier down ;
Disns'd to arms, he tura'd him to the laws,
And pleas'd himself with popular applause ;
With girls, and liberal bounty sought for tame,
And lov'd to hear the vnlgar shout his name ;
In his own theatre rejoic'd to sit,
Amidst the noisy praises of the pit.
Careless of future ills that might betide,
No aid he sought to prop his failing side,
Bnt on bis former fortune much relied.
Still seem'd he to possess, and fill his place ;
But stood the shadow of what once he was.
So in the field with Ceres' bounty spread,
Uprears some ancient oak his reverend head;
Chaplets and sacred gifts his boughs adorn,
And spoils of war by mighty heroes worn,
Bnt the first vigour of his root riow gone,
He stand* dependent on his weight alone v

11 Cmar had mbdned GaaU

SO LUCAN'S PHAR6ALIA. Bdok li

All bare his naked branches are displayed,
And with his leafless trunk he forms a shade :
Vet though the winds liis rain daily threat,
As every blast would heave him from his seat ;
Though thousand fairer trees the field supplies,
That rich in youthful verdure round him rise j
frix'd in his ancient state he yields to none,
And wears the honours of the grove alone.
But Caesar's greatness, and his strength, was more
Than past renown and antiquated pow*r :
'Twas not the fame of what he once had been,
Or tales in old records and annals seen;
fiut 'twas a valour, restless, unconfin'd,
Which no success could sate, nor limits bind ;
Twas shame, a soldier's shame, untaught to yield,
That blush'd for nothing but an ill-fought field ;
Fierce in his hopes he was, nor knew to stay,
Where vengeance or ambition led the way ;
Still prodigal of war whene'er withstood,
Nor spar'd to stain the guilty sword with blood ;
Urging advantage he improv'd all odds,
And made the most of fortune and the gods;
Pleas'd to o'erturn whatever withheld his prize,
And saw the ruin with rejoicing eyes. [loud*

Such while earth trembles, and Heaven thunders
Darts the swift lightning from the rending cloud ;
Fierce through the day it breaks, and in its flight
The dreadful blast confounds the gazer's sight;
Resistless in its course delights to rove,
And cleaves the temples of its master Jove :
Alike where'er it passes or returns,
"JrVith equal rage the fell destroyer burns ;
Then, with a whirl, full in its strength retires,
And recollects the force of all its scatter'd firesv

,1

Btok 1. iuCAN'S PHARSALlX bi

Motives like these the leading chiefs iaspir'd f
But other thoughts the meaner vulgar fir*d«
Those fatal seeds luxurious vices sow,
Which ever lay a mighty people low.
To Rome the vanquisu'd earth her tribute paid;
And deadly treasures to her view display'd :
Then truth and simple manners left the place,
While riot rear'd her lewd dishonest face ;
Virtue to full prosperity gave way,
And fled from rapine, and the lust of prey.
On every side proud palaces arise,
And lavish gold each common use supplies*
Their fathers' frugal tables stand abuor'd,
And Asia now and Afric are explored,
For high'pric*d dainties, and the citron board **•
In silken robes the minion men appear, [wear.
Which maids and youthful brides should blush to
That age by honest poverty adorn'd,
Which brought the manly Romans forth, is scorned ;
Wherever aught pernicious does abound,
For luxury all lands are ransack'd round, [found.
And dear-bought deaths the sinking state con*
The Curii's and Camillf s aj little field,
To vast extended territories yield ;
And foreign tenants reap the harvest now,
Where once the great dictator held the plough*

* a This is not here taken for the lemon-tree, bat for a tret
something resembling the wild cypress, and growing chiefly in
Afric It is very famous among the Roman authors, and was
used by their great people for beds and tables at entertain*
ments. The spots and criapness of the wood were its great v
ceHeuce. Hence they were called Metum TigriM e$ J*
tkertaut.

*3 Old frugal Romans, who thought seven acres an*
tegs <nongh for any honest man.

53 LUCAS'S PHARSAllA. Book 1.

Rome, ever fond of war, was tir'd with ease ;
Ev'n liberty had lost the power to please :
Hence rage and wrath their ready minds invade.
And want could every wickedness persuade :
Hence impious power was first esteem'd a good.
Worth being sought with arms, and bought with
With glory, tyrants did their country awe, [blood :
And violence prescribe) the rule to law.
Hence pliant servile voices were constraint,
And force in popular assemblies reignM ;
Consuls and tribunes, with opposing might,
Join'd to confound and overturn the right :
Hence, shameful magistrates were made for gold,
And a base people by themselves were sold :
Hence slaughter in the venal field ** returns,
And Rome her' yearly competitions mourns :
Hence debt unthrifty, careless to repay,
And usury still watching for its day :
Hence, perjuries in every wrangling court ;
And war, the needy bankrupt's last resort.

Now Caesar, marching swift with winged haste,
The summits of the frozen Alps had past ;
With vast events and enterprises fraught,
And future wars revolving in his thought.
Now near the banks of Rubicon * s he stood ;
When lo ! as he survey'd the narrow flood,

2 4 The Campus Martiut, or field of Man, where tfif
yearly magistrates were chosen.
3 * This river divided the Cisalpine Gaul from Italy, and waa
? utmost bounds of Caesar's province that way. It fa said* '
t on the banks towards Italy a pillar was placed by decree
the Senate, with an inscription importing, that whatever
eral officer or soldier should presume to pass over, this river
led, (it most be understood from Gaul) should be deemed a.
d, and an enemy to his country.

J$—k 1. LUCAN'S PHAR8AUA. 55

•

Amidst the dusky horrors of the night,
A wondrous vision stood coniess'd to sight
Her awfal head Rome's reverend image rear'd,
Trembling and sad the matron form appeared j
A towery crown her hoary temples bound,
And her torn tresses rudely hung around :
Her naked arms uplifted, ere she spoke,
Then groaning, thus the mournful silence broke.
" Presumptuous men I oh whither do you run ?
Oh whither bear you these my ensigns on ?
If friends to right, if citizens of Rome,
Here to your utmost barrier are you come."
She said; and sunk within the closing shade : —
AstQiushmeut and dread the chief invade ;
Stiff rose his starting hair, he stood dumay'd,
And on the bank his slackening steps were stay'd.
" O thou! (at length he cried) whose hand controls
The fbrky fire, and rattling thunder rolls ;
Who from thy Capitol's exalted height
Dost o'er the wide-spread city cast thy sight !
Ye Phrygian gods **, who guard the Julian line !
Ye mysteries of Romulus divine I
Thou Jove ! to whom from young Ascanius came
Thy Alban temple, and thy Latial name :
And thou, immortal sacred vestal flame !

** Csssar pretended to be de s ce n ded from lulus or Am*
■ins, the km of <£neas; and the fade he invokes here are
the household gods of JSneas, which he brought from Troy.
Jupiter had a temple built on the mountain of Alba to him by
Ascanius, by the name of Jupiter Latialis ; and the holy fire,
•acred to Vesta, was first preserved there by virgins, till it was
translated. from Alba to Rome by Noma. That Romulus was
worshipped as a god, under the name of Quirinas, is very wc|l
known*

$4 LOCAM't FHARSALIA. Book i f

But chief, oh! chiefly, thou majestic Rome !

My first, my great divinity, to whom

Thy still successful Caesar am I come :

Nor do thou fear the sword's destructive rage,

With thee my amis no impious war shall wage :

On him thy hate, on him thy eurse bestow,

Who would persuade thee Caesar is thy foe ;

And since to thee I consecrate my toil, [smile,"

Oh! favour thon my cause, and on thy soldier

He said ; and straight, impatient of delay,
Across the swelling flood pursued his way.
So when on sultry Libya's desert sand
The lion spies the hunter hard at hand ;
Couch'd ou the earth the doubtful savage lies,
And waits awhile till all his fury rise ;
His lashing tail provokes his swelling sides,
And high upon his neck his mane with horror rides.
Then, if at length the flying dart infest,
Or the broad spear invade bis ample breast,
Scorning the wound he yawns a dreadful roar,
And flies like lightning on the hostile Moor.

While with hot skies the fervent summer glows;
The Rubicon an humble river flows j
Through lowly vales he cuts his winding way,
And rolls his ruddy waters to the sea :
His bank on either side a limit stands,
Between the Gallic and Ausonian lands.
But stronger now the wintry torrent grows,
The wetting winds had tbawM the Alpine snows,
And Cynthia rising with a blunted beam
In the third circle, drove her watery team,
A signal sure to raise the swelling stream.
For this, to stem the rapid water's course,
First plung'd amidst the flood the bolder hone ;

Bo«* 1. tUCAN'S PHAR8AL1A. 56

With strength oppos'd against the stream they lead,
While |o the smoother ford, the foot with ease
succeed. *
The leader now had pass'd the torrent o'er,
And reach'd fair Italy's forbidden shore;
Then rearing on the hostile bank his head,
" Here, farewell peace, and injurti laws, (he said}
Since faith is broke, and leagues are set aside, - 1
Henceforth thou, goddess Fortune, art my guide ! >
Let rate and war the great event decide." )

He spoke ; and, on the dreadful task intent,
Speedy to near Ariminum * 7 he bent ;
To him the Balearic M sling is slow,
And the shaft loiters from the Parthian bow.
With eager marches swift he reach'd the town,
As the shades fled, the sinking stars were gone,
And Lucifer the last was left alone.
At length the morn, the dreadful morn arose,
Whose beams the first tumultuous rage disclose :
Whether the stormy south prolong'd the night, f
Or the good gods abhorVl the impious sight, >
The clouds awhile withheld the mournful light. J
To the mid Forum on the soldier pass'd,
There halted, and his victor ensigns plac'd :
With dire alarms from band to band around,
The fife, hoarse horn, and rattling trumpets sound*
The starting dttaens uprear their heads ;
The lustier youth at once forsake their beds ;
Hasty they snatch the weapons, which among
Their household-gods in peace had rested long ;

*7 A city ntur the Rubicon. It b now called Rimini, ar
lies not far from Aveooa in the Pope* territories.

*• The Inhabitant* of the Balearas, (at present Majorca I
Minorca) were faaaosa for their attng*.

56 LUCAN'S PHARSA^IA. Book U

Old bucklers of the covering bides bereft,
The mouldering frames digoin'd and barely left;
Swords, with foul rust indented deep, tbey take,
And useless spears with points inverted shake :
Soon as their crests the Roman eagles rear'd,
And Caesar high above the rest appear'd ;
Each trembling heart with secret horror shook,
And silent thus within themselves they spoke :
" Ob hapless city I oh ill-fated walls !
Rear'd for a curse, so near the neighbouring Gaols I
By us destruction ever takes its way,
We first become each bold invader's prey ;
Oh, that by fate we rather had been platfd
Upon the confines of the utmost east !
The frozen north much better might we know,
Mountains of ice, and everlasting snow.
Better with wandering Scythians choose to roam,
Than fix. in fruitful Italy our home,
And guard these dreadful passages to Rome.
Through these the Cimbrians a » laid Hesperia waste;
Through these the swarthy Carthaginian pass'd ;
Whenever fortune threats the Latian states,
War, death, and ruin, enter at these gates."

In secret murmurs thus they sought relief,
While no bold voice proclaim'd aloud their grief.
O'er all one deep, one horrid silence reigns ; }
As when the rigour of the winter's chains, f
All nature, heaven and earth at once constrains ; j
The tuneful feather'd kind forget their lays,
And shivering tremble on the naked sprays;

*9 A barbarous people about the northern parte of Germany
now Denmark); who, about 662 years after the building of
tome, overran and ravaged Italy, and were at length van-
uiflhed by C. Marios.

1

Book li locah's pharsalia* 57

Ev*n the nide seas, compos'd, forget to roar,
And freezing billows stiffen on the shore.

The colder shades of night forsook the sky,
When, io t Bellona lifts her torch on high :
And if the chief, by doubt or shame detain'd,
Awhile from battle and from blood abstam'd )
Fortune and fate, impatient of delay,
tforce every soft relenting thought away.
A lucky chalice a fair pretence supplies,
And justice in his favour seems to rise.
New accidents new stings to rage suggest;
And fiercer fires inflame the warrior's breast
The Senate *> threatening high, and haughty grown;
Had driven the wrangling tribunes from the town )
In scorn of law, had clnufd 'em through the gate,
And urg'd 'em with the factious Gracchi's fate.
With these, as for redress their course they sped
To Caesar's camp* the busy Curio 31 fled j

S° Cesar had oo this occasion very favourable appearance*
of reason and equity on his aide. He proffered to lay down
his command, if Pompey would do the same: hot the vto>
lettee of the consols and Pompey* party was so great against
hunt that they womld hear of no proposals for an aeeonimo*
detion, though never so reasonable; end forced the tribunes,
Who appeared for him, to fly oat of the. city (lisgQistd like
Slaves, for the immediate safety of their lives; so that when
these came for protection to Caesar' 1 * camp, It seemed as if he
had marched towards Rome for no other reason than the pre
serration of the privileges of so sacred a magistracy as the tri-
bauaes were, and the support of the laws of his country.

3* Cnrio formerly had been a bitter enemy of Caesar, bat
wan afterwards bought off by him, and died in his quarrel in
Afrfte. The Gracchi, whose fate the Senate now threatened
Urn with, were two factions leaders, who were killed in popav
Inr tumults. Sea their lifts in Plutarch.
Vt*. I. F

58 LUCAli'S nMRVJH^. Jfa&ft

Curio, a speaker, turbulent apd fyold,
Of venal eloquence, that serv'd for gold,
And principles that might be bought and sold.:
A tribuqe opce himself) in loud debate,
He strove for public freedpm and the state ;
Essayed to make the warring nobles bow,
And bring the poteqt party-leader* low.
To Caesar. thus, while thousand cafes infest,
Revolving round the warrior's anxious breast,
His speech the rea<Jy orator address'd :

" While yet my voice was useful ft ray friend y
While 'twas allow'd me, Caesar to jdeftnd,
While yet the, pleading bar, was left uie free,
While. I could draw uncertain Rome to tbee j
In vain their farce the moody fathers jom'd,
In vain to rob, thee of thyi power corn bind;
I lengthen'd out the date of thy command.
And fix'd thy conquering sword within thy hand-
But since the vauquish'd laws in war are dumb,
To thee, behold, an exil'd baud we come ;
For thee, with joy our banishment we take,
For thee our household hearths and gods forsake;
Nor hope to see our native city more,
Till victory and thou tbe loss restore.
The* unready faction, yet confhs'd with fear,
Defenceless,. weak, and unresolved appear :
Haste then thy towering eagles op their way;
When fair occasion calls 'tis fatal to delay.
If twice five years the stubborn Gaul withheld; <
And set thee hard in many a well-fought field}
A nobler labour now before thee lies,
The bazar/d less, yet greater far the prize :
A province that, and. portion of the whole;
This the vast head that does mankind control*

jfitall 1. UMAH* WWhRBAhtA. m

Success shall sore attend 1 tboe ; boldly go,
And win the world at one successful blow*
No triumph now attends thee at the gate ;
No temples lor thy sacred laurel wait:
But Masting envy hangs upon thy name,
Denies thee right, and robs thee of thy fame-,
Impute* as crime*, the nations overcome,
And makes it treason- to have fought for Rome*
Ev*n he who took thy JuKafe plighted hand,
Waits to deprive thee of thy just commands
Since Fompey then, and those upon his side,
Forbid thee, the world's empire to divide ;
Assume that sway which best mankind maybeary
And rule alone what they disdain to share*"

fie said; bis words toe listenmg chief engage.
And fire his breast, already prone to- rage.
Not peals of loud applause with greater force,
At Grecian- BKs, rouse the fiery horse;
When eager for the course each nerve he strains^
Hangs on the bit, and' tugs the stubborn reins,
At every shout erects his quivering ears>
And lus< bread 'breast upon the barrier bears*
Sudden he bids the troops draw out^ and straight?
The thronging legions round their ensigns wait:
Tlien thus (the crowd composing with » look,
And with his band commanding silence) spoke.

" Fellows in arms, who chose with me to bear '
The- toils and dangtm <it a tedious war,
And conquer to this tenth revolving year ;
See what reward the grateful Senate yield,
For the lost blood which stains yon northern field:
For wounds, for wintec camps, fori Alpine snow,
Ami aft ttw deaths the b#ave cwimdmm*

60 LVCAM'S PHARSAAIA* Book t<

See t the tumultuous city U alarm'd,

As if another Hannibal were arm'd :

The lusty youth are cull'd to fill the bands,

And each tall grove falls by the shipwright's hands j

Fleets are equip'd, the field with armies spread,

And all demand devoted Caesar's head.

If thus, while fortune yields us her applause,

While the gods call us on, and own our causa,

If thus returning conquerors they treat,

How had they us'd us flying from defeat;

If fickle chance of war had prov'd unkind,

And the fierce Gauls pursued us from behind ?

But let their boasted hero leave his home,

Let him, dissoWd with laiy leisure, come j

With every noisy talking tongue in Rome.

Let loud MarceUus troops of gownmen heady

And their great Cato peaceful burghers lead.

Shall bis base followers 3 ', a venal train,

For ages, bid their idol Pompey reign ?

Shall his ambition still be thought no crime,

His breach of laws, and triumph ere the time I

Still shall he gather honours and command,

And grasp all rule in bis rapacious hand \

What need I name the violated laws,

And famine made " the servant of his cause?

3' Pompey bid for a long while almost monopolised and"

ingroawd all power In Bone. By the laws, no man eotUd

pretend to a trinmph till be was thirty yeara old, and Pompey

bad trlamphed over Iliarbes and the NamkUant at twenty.

foor.

31 Cicero in Us Bpisttes to Attfeas, and Phitarch In the Ufa

4 Pompey, inform nt, that by a law the whole power of im-

orting corn was intrasted with' Pompey forflre yean ; and

tatsrch particularly mentions it as a maUetas charge of Gto-

took 1. luoah's pharsalia. 61

Who knows not how the trembling judge* 4 beheld
The peaceful court with armed legions filTd?
When the bold soldier, justice to defy,
In the mid Forum reared hit ensigns high :
When glittering swords the pale assembly scar*d,
When all for death and slaughter stood prepared,
And Pompey's arms were guilty Milo's guard?
And now, disdaining peace and needful ease,
Nothing but rale and government can please.
Aspiring still, as ever, to be great,
He robs his age of rest to vex the state :
On war intent, to that he bends his cares,
And for the 6ek) of battle now prepares.
He copies from his master Sylla" well,
And would the dire example far excel.
Hircantan tigers fierceness thus retain,
Whom in the woods their horrid mothers
To chase the herds, and surfeit on the slain.
Such, Pompey, still has been thy greedy thirst,
In early love of impious slaughter nurst ;
Since tint thy infant cruelty essay*d
To lick the curst dictator's reeking blade.

dim, * That the law was not made became of the dearth or
' scarcity of corn ; bat the dearth or scarcity of corn was made*
' that they might make a law to invest Pompey with so great
' a power as that necessarily would be.'

*4 Milo was accused of the death of Clodins, and defended
by that famoos oradon of Cicero's pro Milone. Pompey was
then sole consul, and, to prevent the tumetts that were threat-
ened by the friends of Ciodhn, drew a strong goard into the
Forum ; bat Caesar imuraates here, that it was to overawe the
jadges and witnesses in favour of Milo.
. H Pompey was a kind of disciple of Syila, and like Mm
espoused the Patrician party ; and, about a donen verses lower,
£in*r advises him to imitate his example, in the re sign at ion of
Jds power,

train, >
iin. )

\

St i«>oaii<s PflARiALiik Boairl.

None wer give the nvage nature o'er, [gorfe.
Whose jaws have once bee* drench'd in floods of
" But whither would a power to wide extend?
Where will thy long ambition find an end?
Remember him who taught thee to be great;
Let him who chose to qnit the sovereign seat,
Let thy own SyHa warn thee to retreat
Perhaps, for that too boldly I withstand.
Nor yield my conquering eagles on command ;
Since the Qcilian pirate strikes his sail,
Since o'er the Pontic king thy arms prevail;
Since the poor prince *, a weary life o'erpaat,
By thee and poison is subdued at test ;
Perhaps, one latest province yet reaming.
And vanqtrisfa'd Caster 37 most receive thy chains.
But though my labours lose their just reward,
Yet let the Senate these my Mends regard ;
Whate'er my te^my Jtaave victorious bands
Deserve to triumph) whosoe'er commands.
Where shall my weary veteran rest? Oh, where
Shall virtue worn with years and arms repair?
What town is for bis late repose assign'd?
Where are the promis'd lands he hop'd to find,
Fields for his plough, a country village seat,
Some little comfortable safe retreat;
Where failing age at length from toil may cease.
And waste the poor remains of life in peace ?

3* Mitfaridatei after aboet forty yean war wwta the Ro-
mans, being afant op la a caafle by Ms ton FharnaosSf woeJd
have poisoned himself; tat bad take o to many antidote* for-
merly, that it was said the poison oontd set take place, so Seat
he was forced to have recourse <o his sword to make an end

-_# * » — ■ *-*

mm suiBmmmT*

37 11m ism strong Irony, a Spire which the satirical
of thif author makes frequent nee ©£.

Bat march! Vdtir Idrig victorious ettsigrfe rear,
Let valdefr in its dwn just cause appear.
When for redfess intreating armies call,
They who deny just things, permit 'em all.
The righteous gods shall surely own the cause,
Which seeks not spoil, nor empire, but the laws.
Proud lords and tyrants to depose we come,
And save from slavery submissive Rome."

He said ; a doubtful sullen murmuring sound
Han through the tmresotving vulgar rourtd ;
'the seeds of piety their rage testrainM,
And somewhat of their country's lave remain'd.;
These the rude passidns of their Soul withstood,
Elate to conquest, aridinur'd to blood :
But soon the momentary virtue faiPd,
And war and dread of Caesar's frown prevail'd.
Straight, Lelins 3 * from artf&st the test stood forth.
An old centtirioh of distraguish'd Worth ;
The oaken wreath bis hardy temples wore,
Mark of a cittten preserved he bore.

" If against ttfee (he cried) I may exclaim,
Thou greatest leader of the Roman name !
If truth for injured honour may be bold,
What lingering patience does thy arms withhold?
Canst thou distrust on* faith so often tried,
In thy long wars not shrinking from thy side?

38 This officer teems to .have been of that degree which the
Romans called PHmipilnt, PrimipUarius, or Primus Cen-
turio, which answers to <jpt lieutenant-colonel, or it may be to
a colonel; since he was the supreme officer In the legion, except
the tribune, lite FUis, at rod made of a vine-tree, which h
bore, was a badge not only rff bis, tat of every other centnri
office. The oaken crown was an honorary reward given tt
who had saved the life of a citizen.

f

£4 LUCAN'8 PHARBALIA. Jfopfc U

While in my veins this vital torrent flows,
Tins heaving breath within my bosom blows.
While yet these anus sufficient vigour yield
To dart the javelin, and to lift the shield,
While these remain, my general, wilt thou own
The vile dominion of tlie lazy gown ?
Wilt thou the lordly Senate choose to bear,
father than conquer in a civil war?
With thee the Scythian wilds we'll wander o'er,
With thee the burning kybian sands explore,
And tread the Syrt's inhospitable shore,
Behold! this hand, to nobler labours train'd,
For thee the servile oar has not disdain'd,
For thee the swelling seas was taught to plough,
Through the Rhine's whirling stream to force

thy prow,
That all the yanquish'd world to thee might bow
Each faculty, each power, thy will obey,
And inclination ever leads the way.
£?o friend, no fellow-citizen J know,
Whom Caesar's trumpet once proclaims a fot.
By the long labours of thy sword, I swear,
By all thy fame acquir'd in ten years war,
By thy past triumphs, and by those to come,
(No matter where the vanquish'd be, nor whom)
Bid me to strike my Nearest brother dead,
To bring my aged father's hoary head,
Or stab the pregnant partner of my bed;
Though nature plead, and stop my trembling

hand,
J swear to execute thy dread command,
lost thou delight to spoil the wealthy gods,
ind scatter flames through all their proud abodes?

}

Book 1. UJCAM'S FHARSALIA. 65

See through thy camp our ready torches burn,
Moneta 39 soon her sinking fane shall mourn.
Wilt thou yon haughty factious Senate brave,
And awe the Tuscan river's yellow wave?
On Tiber's bank thy ensigns shall be plac'd,
And thy bold soldier lay Hesperia waste.
Dost thou devote some hostile city's walls?
Beneath our thundering rams the ruin mils :
She rails, ey'n though thy wrathful sentence doom
The world's imperial mistress, mighty Rome."

He said.; the ready legions vow to join
Their chief belov'd, in every bold design ;
All lift their well-approving hands on high,
And rend with peals of loud applause the sky.
Such is the sound when Thracian Boreas spreads
His weighty wing o'er Ossa'B piny heads :
At onc£ the noisy groves are all incluVd,
And, bending, roar beneath the sweeping wind :
At once their rattling branches all they rear,
And drive the leafy clamour through the air.

Cassar with joy the ready bands beheld,
Urg'd on by fate, and eager for the field ;
Swift orders straight the scatter^ warriors call.
From every part of wide-extended Gaul j
And, lest his fortune languish by delay,
To JJome the moying ensigns speed their way r

Some, at the bidding of the chief, forsake
Their fix'd encampment near the Leman lake 4 *;

39 There was a temple in Rome dedicated to Juno under the
name of Moneta, or the monitor; a voice having been heard
oat of one of her temple*, directing the Roman* how they
jfaoaM pacify the anger of the gods after an eaithtmalfe,

46 The lake of Geneva.

66 LMAtffc mA&SACI*. A«vfc4.

Some from VogCsas* 1 lofty rocks withdraw,
Plac'd on those heights the Lingones «* to afore !
The Lrogdues stiH frequent in alarms,
And rich in many cok>ur*d painted arms. '
Others from Isara's* 3 low torrent canfe,
Who winding keeps through many a mead Ins name ;
Bat seeks the sea with waters not his own,
I»st and confounded in the nobler Rhone.
Their garrison the Ruthen city « send,
.Whose yoftth's long locks m j4flow sings depend.
No more the Varus and the A tax 4 * feel
The lordly burden of the Latian keel.
Alcides' fane * 6 the troops commanded leave,
Where winding rocks the peaceful flood receive.;
Nor Corns there, nor Kephyros resort,
Nor roll ratte surges in the sacred port J
Circius' 47 loud blast alone is heard to roar,
And vex the safety of Monachns' shore.
The legions more from Gallia's farthest side,
Wash'd by the restless ocean's various tide;

4» A mountain in Lorain, from whence Hie Mom or Maeae
takes iu original.

4* A peopk of the Brflgk Gaul, the Pafc 3e I*hgret fa
Champagne.

43 L' Isere in France: it falls into the Rhone.

44 A town in the Pali de Ronvergne.

45 The rivers Var in Provence, and Ande in Langnedoc
4* Monacty

47 This wind is generally reckoned a mftfcM ote, and aScrib-
-ed by the ancients to Gallia Narbonensis. Some call it a
southern, though in a scheme of winds in the learned Cellaring
It is plated rather as a nore-west, or nore-ftore-west. Accord-
.Aug to the same author, Coras is west-nore-west. At the same
time Ms maps lay down the port of Monaeefansas opening to the
south-west, and according to that situation cannot be exposed
49 any northerly wind.

\

JfeeW, 1. flUCAllt nMSktAAOU «T

Now o*er the land flows in the pourhlg main, 1
Now rears the land its rising' bead again, >

And seas and earth alternate rifle mamtani, j
If driven by winds from the <ar distant pole,
This way and that the floods revotri ng roll ;
Or if compell'd by Cynthia's silver beam,
Obedient Tetbys heaves the swelling stream ;
Or if by beat attracted to the sky, -
Old ocean lifts his heavy waves -on "high,
And briny deeps the wasting son supply ;
What cause see'er the wondrous motion guide,
And press the ebb, or raise the flowing tide ;
Be that your task, ye sages, to explore,
Who search the secret springs of nature's pow'r ;
To me, for so the wiser gods ordain,
TJntrac'd the mystery shall still remain.
From (air Nemossus 48 moves a warlike band,
From Aral's banks 49 , and the TarbeHian strand,
Where winding round the coast pursues its way,
And folds the sea within a gentle bay.
The Santones *• are now with joy released
From hostile inmates, and their Komau guest.
Nbw the Bituriges sl forget their fears,
And Suessons $ * nimble with unwieldy spears ;
Exult the Leuci, and the Jtcmi S3 now,
Expert in javelins, and the bending bow.

48 Neaaoana, the nwtropetis of the Avernl, in thtf ettter*
part of Gallia Aqnitantea.

49 Alar, at preient Door «r Ador, fan through toe eoedtry
of the Tarbetli, at tbe to* of the Pyreueaa mtmotthn, tuto tM
fair of Bayoone.

S° People of Xantofgn.

"* People near BoumIcnox*

5* P eoyhi of Oa t nem .

33 The former near Tool, the latter near BJriha*

tS LUCAH'8 PHARSALIA. Book 1.

The Belgae taught on cover'd wains to ride,
The Sequaui S4 the wheeling horse to guide ;
The bold Averni ss who from Ilium come,
And boast an ancient brotherhood with Rome;
The Nervii s6 oft rebelling, oft subdued,
Whose hands in Gotta's slaughter were embrew'd j
Vangiones 57 , like loose Sarmatians dressed,
Who with rough hides their brawny thighs invest}
Batavians fierce, whom brazen trumps delight,
And with hoarse rattliiigs animate to fight ;
The nations where the Cinga's ** waters flow,
And Pyremean mountains stand in snow ;
Those where slow Arar 59 meets the rapid Rhone,
And with his stronger stream is hurried down ;
Those o'er the mountains lofty summit spread,
Where high Gehenna °° lifts her hoary head ;

?* Inhabitants of Burgundy.

, 55 It should be Arverui* people of Auvergne.

?6 a very barbarous and fierce people, wbo Inhabited wbere-
aboats Tournay now stands. They surprised Tetutfus Sabiras
and Cotta In tbeir winter-quarters, and cut them off, with five
cohorts under their command, at the time that Caesar was in
Britain.

57 a people of Germany about Wormes.

58 A river rising out of the Pyrennees.
50 The river Saone.

60 This Is by some taken for the city of Geneva, but falsely.
Cellarius places it more truly between the Averni and' the
JHelvti : perhaps the Sevennes.

Jn this place, in all the modern editions of Lacan, are five
more verses ; but, as the learned Grotius observes, they are
wanting in most of the ancient manuscripts, and from thence
he conjectures they are spurious. I have omitted them in the
translation, especially since I think this dry recapitulation of so
many places is not the most useful nor entertaining part of
pwji, if U be at aU of bjin,

Bt»k 11 LUCAW'S PHAHSAMA. 6V

With these the Trevir ", and Ligurian shorn,

Whose brow no more long falling locks adorn ;

Though chief amongst the Gauls he wont to deck/

With ringlets comely spread, his graceful neck :

And yon where Hesus 6 * horrid altar stands,

Where dire Yentates human blood demand* ;

Where Taramis by wretches is obey'd,

And vies in slaughter with the Scythian maid :

All see with joy the war's departing rage

Seek distant lands, and other foes engage.

You too, ye bards 63 I whom sacred raptures fire.

To chant yonr heroes to your country's lyre;

Who consecrate, in your immortal strain,

Brave patriot souls in righteous battle slain ;

Securely now the tuneful task renew.

And noblest themes in deathless songs pursue.

The Druids now, while arms are heard no more,

Old mysteries and barbarous rites restore :

A tribe who singular religion love,

And haunt the lonely coverts of the grove*

To these* and these of all mankind alone,

The gods are sure reveal'd, or sure unknowns

6* People near Triers. JJgorians. Those near Genoa*
6* Thete three ancient gods of the Gaols were thought, Hems
to be the same with Man, Teatates with Mercery, and Taranls
with Jopiter. The poet very JtsfJy pots a mark of honour upon
them, since they were all three worshipped with hnraan sacri-
ices, as the Diana Taorica was.

63 Them were the ancient poets among the Gaols : and the
commeatalors opoo this place observe, that the word in the old
Goatish language signifies a singer. Of the Drnids, their reli-
gion, their worshipping under trees, Ac so mnch has been mid*
by to many others, that an explanatory note would not be very

1

70 UrCAH'S FHARS4XUU Bflafc &

If dyipg mortals' dooms they sing aright.
No ghosts descend to dwell in dreadful-night-}
No parting souls to grisly Pinto go,
Nor seek the dreary silent shades below :
But forth they fly, immortal in their kind,
And other bodies in new worlds they find.
Thus life for ever runs its endless raee r
And like a line, death but divides the spaoe^
A stop which can but for a moment last,
A point between the future and the past.
Thrice happy they, beneath their northern skiev
Who that worst fear, the fear of death, despise j
Hence, they no cares for this. fraB being feel,
But rush undaunted on the pointed steel j
Provoke approaching fete, andbmveJy scorn
To spare that life which must so soon return*
Ton too, tow'rds Borne advance, ye warlike band}
That wont the shaggy Cane*** to withstand ;
Whom once a better order did assign*
To guard the passes of the German Rhine ;
Now from the fenceless banks you march away,
And leave the world the fierce barbarians prey.

While thus the numerous troops, from every part
Assembling, raise their daring leader's heart ;
O'er Italy he takes his warlike way, [°bey,T[
The neighbouring towns bis summons straight >.
And. on their walls his ensigns high display* >
Meanwhile, the busy messenger of ill,
Officious feme, supplies new terror stiH :
A thousand slaughters, and ten thousand fears,
She whispers in the trembling vulgar's ears,

*♦ Cancl, Quaci* or Caijci, for they are written the*
wayi, wcm » peoplt of Germany near tftt RUotv

Now cojRes a frighted messenger to tell
Of rains which the country round befel.;
The foe to fair Mtevawia's * 5 walls is pass'd,
And lays Clitunuin*' fruitful pastures waste;
Where J^art white wayes 66 wjth Tiber roinsjttngftft,
Range the noagh German an4 the sapid Gaut
Hot when himself* when.Caita* they would paint.
The stronger image makes description feint ;
No tongue can speak with what amajnng. diwad
Wild- thought present him at his army's, head y
Unlike the man familiar to their eye?,,
Hooidf he seems, and of gigantic site :
Itapiiinber'd eagles rise amidst his train.
And millions seem to bide the crowded plain,
Arqnnd him all the canons nations join,
Between the snowy AJps and distant Rhine*
He draws the fierce barbarians from their home,
With rage surpassing theirs he seems to come,.
And urge. them op to spoil devoted Rome.
Thus Ftpur does half the work of lying Fame,
And cowards thus their own misfortunes frame;
By their own feigning fancies are betray'd,
And groan beneath those iUMhemsefresimYejnajie*
Nor these alarms, the crowd abme infest,
But ran alike through every beating breast;
With equal dread the grave Jratriciana shook,.
Their seats abaadon-'d, and the course forsook.

6* This ww a city In that part of UnMi nearest to Rome r
the river Clitnmnas ran by it, audits pasture* were famous for.
their fhtilfolneu,
*6 Virgil gives the reason for this epithet, when he calls it
Sulp&vreij iter altnu aqufa.
Via* with apl p hareo o s waters walte*

1

cad, 1
seed. j

79 LCCAN'I PHARSALLaV Ifoolr 1«

The scattering fathers quit the public care,

And bid the consuls for the war prepare.

ResoWd on flight, yet still unknowing where

To fly from danger, or for aid repair.

Hasty and headlong differing paths they tread,

As blind impulse and wild distraction lead

The crowd, a hurrying heartless train, succeed.

Who that the lamentable sight beheld*

The wretched fugitives that hid the field,

Would not have thought the flames, with rapid ha*tt

Destroying widey had laid their city waste;

Or groaning earth had shook beneath their feet,

While threatening fabrics nodded o'er the street

By such unthinking rashness were they led;

Such was the madness which their fears had bred,

As if, of every other hope bereft*

To fly from Rome were all the safety left.

So when the stormy south is heard to roar,

And rolls huge billows from the Lybian shore ;

When rending sails flit with the driving blast,

And with a crash down comes the lofty mast;

Some coward master leaps from off the deck,

And hasty to despair prevents the wreck,

And though the bark unbroken hold ker way,

His trembling crew all plunge into the sea.

From doubtful thus they run to certain harms,

And flying from the city rush to arras*

Then sons forsook their sires unnerv'd and old,

Nor weeping wives their husbands could withhold ;

Each left his guardian Lares * 7 unador'd,

Nor with one parting prayer their aid irapWd :

6? The Lares were the domestic or family-gods, placed oa
or near the hearth. They were said to be the childreu of Mer-
«vy and the nymph Lara. The re v erenc e the Romans bad far

B—kl. LUOAll'S PHARSALIA. 75

None atop*d, or sighing tnru'd for one last view,
Or bid the city of his birth adieu !
The headlong crowd regardless nrge their way} }
Though e v'n their gods and country ask their stay, >
And pleading nature beg 'em to delay. )

What means, ye gods ! tliisehangiog in your doom ?
Freely yon grant, but quickly you resume.
Vain is the short-liv'd sovereignty you lend ;
The pile you raise you deign not to defend.
See where, forsaken by her native bands,
All desolate the once great city stands 1
She whom her swarming citizens made proud,
Where once the vanquished nations wont to crowd,
Within the circuit of whose ample spaoe
Mankind might meet at once, and find a place j
A wide defenceless desert now she lies,
And yields herself the victor's easy prise.
The camp intrench'd, securest slumbers yields.,
Tnougb hostile arms beset the neighbouring fields;
Rude banks of earth the hasty soldier rears,
And in the. turfy wall *• forgets bis fears.:
While* Home, thy sons all tremble from alar,
And scatter ut the Tory name of .war ;
Nor on thy towers depend) nor rampart* height,
Nor trust their safety with thee for a night.

Yet one excuse absolved the panic dread ;
The vulgar justly fearM when Pompey fled :

Attn waa very great, tad the hearth for ibejr sakea was held
•acred. There were two torn of atese goda, the Doroeatici and
Compttales : the former had the care of famiMet, and the lattr
of highway*.

6 * The fortifications of ihe Tinman camps consisted only «
a <Mtch, a bank raked behind that, of the earth dog oat of i
and palisadoedl

VOL. I. G

f 4 LUCAN'S PHARSAUA. Book 1,

• 4

And lest sweet hope might mitigate their woes,
And expectation better times disclose,
/On every breast presaging terror sate,
And threaten'd plain some yet more dismal fete,
The gods declare their menaces around,
Earth, air, and seas, in prodigies abound ;
Then stars unknown before appeared to burn.
And foreign flames about the pole to turn ;
Unusual fires by night were seen to fly,
And dart obliquefy through the gloomy sky.
Then horrid comets shook their fetal hair,
And bad proud royalty for change prepare :
^Now dark swift lightnings through the azure clear,
And meteors now in various forms appear :
Spme like the javelin shoot extended long,
While some like spreading lamps in heaven are hung.
And though no gathering clouds the day control,
Through skies serene portentous thunders roll ;
Fierce blasting holts from northern regions come,
And aim their vengeance at imperial Rome.
The stars that twinkled in the lonely night,
Now lift their bolder bead in day's broad light:
The moon, .in all her brother's beams array'd,
>Vas blotted by the earth's approaching shade :
The sun .himself, in his meridian race,
In sable darkness veil'd his brighter race ;
The tretnbKng world beheld his fading ray,
And mourn'd despairing for the loss of day.
Such was he seen, when backward to the east
He fled, abhorring dire ThyesteV feast.
Sicilian JEtna then was heard to roar,
While Mulciber let loose his fiery store :
Nor rose the flames, but with a downward tide
Tow'rds Italy their burning torrent guide.

Btofc 1. LOTAH'S PHAR8ALIA. 75

Charybdis' dogs howl doleful o'er the flood,
And all her whirling waves ran red with blood ;
The vestal fire upon the altar died,
And o'er the sacrifice the flames divide;
The parting points 69 with double streams ascend,
To show the Latian festivals most end :
Such from the Theban brethren's pile arose,
Signal of impious and immortal foes.
With openings vast the gaping earth gave way,
And in her inmost womb received the day :
The swelling seas o'er lofty mountains flow,
And nodding Alps shook off their ancient snow.
Then wept the demi-gods of mortal birth,
And sweating lares trembled on the hearth.
In temples then, recording stories tell,
Untouch'd the sacred gifts and garlands fell.
Then birds obscene with inauspicious flight,
And screamings dire, profan'd the hallow'd light.
The savage kind forsook the desert wood,
And in the streets disclos'd their horrid brood.
Then speaking beasts with human sounds were heard,
And monstrous births the teeming mothers scar'd.
Among the crowd, religious fears disperse
The saws of Sibyls, and foreboding verse.
Bellona's priest, a barbarous frantic train,
Whose mangled arms a thousand wounds distain,

69 Tbeae Ferlae Latin®, or Latin Festivals, were performed
by night to Jopiter at Alba. As I shall be always very ready
to acknowledge any mistake, so I believe in this place I ought
rather to have translated these verses thus :

Hie parting points with doable streams ascend,
And Alba's Latian rites portentous end.

Bat I was led into the error by not considering enoogh the trot
■waning of the Latin expression, Confecto* Latinos,

76 LUCAN'S PHAR8ALL4. £*•& 1.

Tom their wild locks, and with a dismal yell
The wrathful gods and coming woes foretel.
Lamenting ghosts amidst their ashes moarn,
And groanings echo from the marble urn.
The rattling clank of arms is heard around,
And voices load in lonely woods resound.
Grim spectres every where affright the eye,
Approaching glare, and pass with horror by.
A Fury fierce about the city walks,
Hell-born, and horrible of size, she stalks ;
A flaming pine she brandishes in air,
And hissing loud np rise her snaky hair :
^Where'er her round accnrs'd the monster takes,
-The pale inhabitant bis house forsakes,
finch to Lycurgns 7 ° was the phantom seen;
Such the dire visions of the Theban queen ;
Such, at his cruel stepmother's command 7 ',
pefore Alcides, did Megsera stand :
With dread, till then unknown, the hero shook,
Though he had dar'd on hell's grim king to look.
Amid the deepest silence of the night,
Shrill-sounding clarions animate the fight ;
The shouts of meeting armies seem to rise,
And the loud battle shakes the gloomy skies.
Dead Sylla in the Martian field ascends,
And mischiefs mighty as his own portends :
Near Anio's stream old Marius rears his head;
The hinds beheld his grply form, and fled.

The state thus threaten'd, by old custom taught,
For counsel to the Tuscan prophets ** sought :

7° Lycurgns king of Thrace, and Agave queen of Thebes,
were both pursued by Furies, for their contempt of Bacchus.

7i Hercules at his descent into hell saw Pbtto lint, and the
Furies afterwards.

7* The Romans received their augurs and arnepices, with the

Book 1. LUGAN't PHARSALIA. 77

Of these the chief, for learning fiun'd and age,

Anns by name, a venerable sage,

At Lnna liv'd ; none better could descry

What bodes the lightning's journey through the sky ;

Presaging veins and fibres well he knew,

And omens read aright from every wing that flew*

First he commands to burn the monstrous breed,

Sprang from mix'd species, and discordant seed ;

Forbidden and accursed births, which come

Where nature's laws design'd a barren womb.

Next, the remaining trembling tribes he calls,

To pass with solemn rites about their walls,

In holy march to visit all around,

And with lustrations purge the utmost bound.

The sovereign priests the long procession lead,

Inferior orders in the train succeed,

Array'd all duly in the Gabine weed 73 «

There the chaste head of Vesta's choir 7 * appears*

A sacred fillet binds her reverend hairs;

\

arts of divining by the flight of birds and by sacrifices, from
Hetraria, or Tuscany; and upon any remarkable occasion,
aneh as this might well be supposed, they sent for soothsayers
from that country, a not depending, hi the last and greatest
emergencies, noon their own.

73 This was not so mneh the habit Haelf as the manner of
wearing it, tucked op and short. I do not remember it as
med by the priests in any other ancient author. It was pro-
per only to the consuls, or generals, noon some extraordinary
occasions; as the denouncing war, boning the spoils- of th»
enemy, devoting themselves to death for the safety of their
army, or the line.

- 7+ The basinets of them maids was chiefly to attend upon
and preserve a holy Are. By Vesta some meant the eleme
or principle of 'fire, others that of earth ; and Poiydore Vir
that natural heat inclosed in the earth, by which all things
produced. They had the custody likewise of the Pslladi
•r image of Pallas, brought from Troy by Anea*.

78 LUC AN '8 PHARSALIA. Book 1.

To her, in sole pre-eminence, is due*

Phrygian Minerva's awfol shrine to view.

Next, the fifteen 7S in order pass along,

Who guard the fatal Sibyl's secret song ;

To Almon's stream ?6 Cybele's form they bear,

And wash the goddess each returning year.

The Titian brotherhood 77 , the Augurs band,

Observing flights on the left lucky hand;

The Seven 78 ordain'd Jove's holy feast to deck;

The Salii" blithe, with bucklers on the neck;

All marching in their order just appear:

And last the generous Flamens 8o close the rear.

While these, through ways uncouth, and tiresome

ground,
Patient perform their long laborious round,

75 These religious men were Ant two, tbeo ten, and by
Sylla increased to fifteen.

76 a little river that falls into the Tiber.

77 There were several of these sodalities in Rome. These
particularly were instituted to supervise the solemnities in me-
mory of Tatius the Sabine ktne.

78 These were called likewise Epulones, as well aa Septem-
viri. At their first creation they were but three, but soon in-
creased to seven. It is thought they were at last Increased to
ten, though they- still kept tbeir name of Septemviri. They
had their name Epnlones from a custom among the Romans is*
times of public danger, of making a sumptuous feast in their
temples, to which tbey did, as it were, invite the gods them-
selves; /or their statues were brought on rich beds and pillows,
and placed at the honourable part of the table as the principal
guests. These solemnities were called Leclisternia.

79 These were priests of Mars; who made a sort of dancing
processions along the streets with the sacred Ancylia, or buck-
lers, about their necks.

80 Of these there were three principal, appropriated to Jo-
plter. Mars, and Quirtau, who were always ehoten oat of the
nobility.

thdk li LUCAN'S pbarsaliaV ?9

Aran* collects the marks of heaven's dread flame,
In earth he hides 'em with religious hand,
Mnrmnrs a prayer, then gives the place a name,
And bids the fix'd Bidental " hallow'd stand.
tfcprt from the herd a chosen male is sought,
And soon before the ready altar brought
And now the seer the sacrifice began,
The pouring wine upon the victim ran ;
The mingled meal upon his brow was plac'd j
The crooked knife the destin'd line bad trac'd;
When with reluctant rage the' impatient beast
Tlie rites unpleasing to the god confes&'d.
At length compell'd his stubborn head to bow,
Vanqnish'd he yields him to the ratal blow;
The. gushing veins no cheerful crimson pour,
But stain with poisonooJtblack the sacred floor*
The paler prophet stood with horror struck ;
Then with a hasty band the entrails took,
And sought the angry gods again ; but there
Prognostics worse, and sadder signs, appear ;
The pallid guts with spots were marbled o'er,
With thin cold serum stain'd, and livid gore ;
The liver wet with putrid streams he spied,
And veins that threatened on the hostile side 81 ;

81 What person, tbldg, or place soever had been strnck by
lightning, the Romaus looked upon as peculiarly sacred to the
gods. Whatever it was, it was immediately encompassed in
by a wall, paltsadoes, or at least by a rope ; sometimes it was
covered op in the earth, and accounted holy. It was called
Vldental from bidcns, a sheep about two years old, with two
teeth longer than the rest, that was always sacrificed on these
occasions.

8a In divining by the entrails, especially the liver, the priests
were wont to divide tbem into two parts ; one to prognosti-
cate for themselves, and the other for their enemies. And •!*

90 LUCAN'8 PHABJAMA. Botk 1.

part of tbe heaving lungs is no where fraud,

And thinner films the severed entrails bound \

No usual motion stirs the panting heart ;

The chinky vessels ouze on every part y

Tbe cawl, where wrap'd the dose intestines lie,

Betrays its dark recesses to the eye.

One prodigy superior threatened still,

The never-failing harbinger of ill :

Lo ! by the fibrous liver's rising head,

A second rival prominence is spread :

All. sunk and poor the friendly part appears,

And a pale, sickly, withering visage wears;

While high and full the adverse vessels ride,

And drive, impetuous, on their purple tide.

Amaz'd, the sage foresaw the' impending fiite :

" Ye gods 1 (he cried) forbid me to relate

What woes on thisdevoted people wait.

Nor dost thou, Jove, in these our rites partake,

Nor smile propitious on the prayer we make;

The dreadful Stygian gods this victim claim,

And to our sacrifice the Furies came.

The ills we fear, command us to be dumb ;

Yet somewhat worse than what we fear shall come.

But may the gods be gracious from* en high,

Some better prosperous event snpply,

Fibres may err, and augury may lie;

Arts may be false, by which our sires drvin'd,

And Tages 83 taught 'em to abuse mankind."

all bad omens, nothing had a worse signification than a dap)i»
cate, or any superfluous part. All the conditions and appear*

wees indeed or this sacrifice were of the worst kiriti that cottld

mi
83 This was a miraculous prophet, who rose oat of the

jonnd In Etraria or Tuscany, and first taught the rites of dl»

'nation.

Book 1. LUCAW'S PHAR8ALIA. 81

Thus darkly be the prophecy express'd,
And riddling snug tlie double-dealing priest,
But Figulus* 4 exclaims (to science bred,
And in the gods' mysterious secrets read ;
Whom nor ./Egyptian Memphis' sons excell'd,
Nor with more skill the rolling orbs beheld :
Well could he judge the labours of the sphere,
And calculate the just revolving year.)
" The stars (he cries) are in confusion hurl'd,
And wandering error quite misguides the world ;
Or if the laws of nature yet remain,
Some swift destruction now the fates ordain.
Shall earth's wide opening jaws for ruin call,
And sinking cities to the centre tall ?
Shall raging drought infest the sultry sky?
Shall faithless earth the promis'd crop deny?
Shall poisonous vapours o'er the waters brood,
And taint the limpid spring and silver flood?
Ye gods ! what ruin does your wrath prepare ?
Comes it from heaven, from earth, from seas, or air?
The lives of many to a period haste,
And thousands shall together breathe their last.
If Saturn's sullen beams were lifted high,
And baneful reign'd ascendent o'er the sky,
Then moist Aquarius deluges might rain,
And earth once more lie sunk beneath the main :
Or did thy glowing beams, O Phoebus I shine
Malignant in the lion's scorching sign ;
Wide o'er the world consuming fires might roll,
And heaven be seen to flame from pole to pole :

•* Ckero and Aulas GelUai make mention of Nifidia* I1~
fulas, a Pythagorean phlloMpher, who was Ukfwift eminent
for bit ikill In astrology*

de, [
tide? )

»4 LUCAM'B PHARSALt*. Book ±J

Through peaceful orbits these unangry glide.
But, god of battles ! what dost thou provide.
Who in the threatening Scorpion dost presid
With potent wrath around thy influence streams,
And the whole monster kindles at thy beams ;
While Jupiter's more gentle rays decline.
And Mercury with Venus faintly shine ;
The wandering lights are darken'd all and gone.
And Mars now lords it o'er the heavens alone.
Orion's starry falchion blazing wide,
Refulgent glitters by his dreadful side.
War comes, and savage slaughter must abound.
The sword of violence shall right confound :
The blackest crimes fair virtue's name shall wear,
And impious fury rage for many a'year.
Yet ask not thou an end of arras, O Rome \
Thy peace must with a lordly master come.
Protract destruction, and defer thy chain,
The sword alone prevents the tyrant's reign,
And civil wars thy liberty maintain."

The heartless vulgar to the sage give heed,
New rising fears his words foreboding breed.
When lo ! more dreadful wonders strike their eyes ;
Forth through the streets a Roman matron flies,
Mad as the Thracian dames that bound along,
And chant Lyaeus in their frantic song :
Enthusiastic heaving* swell'd her breast,
And thus her voice the Delphic god confessed :
" Where dost thou snatch me, Paean ! wherefore bear
Through cloudy heights and tracts of pathless air?
I see Pangsean*' mountains white with snow,
jEmus, and wide Philippi's fields below.

85 Pangseus was a mountain in Thrace, and (as is plain from
a passage in Dion Cassias) at the foot of it stood Pnilippi, tut

I

Book 1. LUCAN'S PHAR8ALIA. %3

Say, Phoebus, wherefore does this fury rise ?

What mean these spears and shields before my eyes ?

I see the Roman battles crowd the plain !

I see the war, but seek the foe in vain **.

Again I fly, I seek the rising day,

Where Nile's ^Egyptian waters take their way i

I see, I Know, upon the guilty shore,

The hero's headless trunk besmear'd with gore.

The Syrts and Libyan sands beneath me lie,

Thither Emathia's scatter'd relics fly.

Now o'er the cloudy Alps I stretch my flight.

And soar above Pyrene's airy height :

To Rome, my native Rome, I turn again,

And see the Senate reeking with the slain.

city near which the battle between Antony and Octavios on
one aide, and Brutus and Cassias on the other, was fought.
.Xroas, or Haunns, was likewise a mountain in Thrace to the
north of PangSBus.

It Is pretty strange that so many great names of antiquity,
as Virgil, Ovid, Petronlus, and Lncan, should be guilty of such
a blander in geography, as to confound the field of battle be*'
tween J. Caesar and Pompey with that between Oct. Caesar
and Bratns, when (it was very plain) one was in the middle
of Thessaiy, and the other in Thrace, a great part of Macedo-
nia lying between. Sulpitius indeed, one of the commentators
upon Lncan, says, there was a town called Philippi, In whose
neighbourhood the battle between Caesar and Pompey war
fought ; but upon what authority I know not. But supposing
that, it is undeniable that these two battles were fought in two
diflerent countries. I must own, it seems to me to be the fault
originally of Virgil (upon what occasion so correct a writer
could commit so great an error is not easy to imagine), ar
that the rest took it very easily from him, without maki
any further inquiry.

•6 Because they were all Romans; or their subjects I
•anfederates ; and shook! have been all on the him side.

«4

LOCAN'S PHAR8ALIA.

BookU

Again the moving chiefs their arms prepare ;
Again, I follow through the world the war.
Oh, give me, Phoebus ! give me to explore
Some region new, some undiscovered shore ;
I saw Philippic ratal fields before."

She said : the weary rage began to cease.
And left the fainting prophetess in peace.

LUCAN'S PHARSALIA.

BOOK II.

ARGUMENT.

Amidst the general consternation that foreran the civil war,
the poet introduces an old man giving an account of the
miseries that attended on that of Marias and Sylla ; and com*
paring their present circumstances to those in which the com-
monwealth was, when that former war broke out Brains
consults with Cato, whether it were the duty of a private man
to concern himself in the public troubles ; to which Cato re-
plies in the affirmative. Then follows bis receiving Marda
again, from the tomb of Hortensioi. While Pompey goes to
Capua, Caesar makes himself master of the greatest part of
Italy, and among the rest of Corfinium : where Domitius,
the governor for Pompey, is seized by his garrison, and de-
livered to Caesar, who pardons and dismisses him.

Pompey, in an oration to his army, makes a trial of their dis-
position to a general battle; but not finding it to answer his
expectation, he sends his son to solicit the assistance of his
friends and allies; then marches himself to Brundusinm,
where be is like to be shut up by Cesar, and escapes at length
with much difficulty.

Now manifest the wrath divine appeared,
And nature through the world the war declared ;
Teeming with monster*, sacred law she broke,
And dire events in all her works bespoke,

86 LUCAN'S PHAR8ALI A. Book f.

Thou Jove, who dost in heaven supremely reign, }
Why does thy providence these signs ordain, >
And give us prescience, to increase our pain ? )
Doubly we bear thy dread inflicting doom.
And feel onr miseries before they come.
Whether the great creating Parent-soul ',
When first from chaos rude he form'd the whole,
Disposed futurity with certain band,
And bade the necessary causes stand ;
Made one decree for ever to remain,
And bound himself in fate's eternal chain ;
Or whether fickle fortune leads the dance,
Nothing is fix'd, but all things come by chance ;
Whate'er thou shalt ordain, thou ruling PowY,
Unknown a and sudden be the dreadful hour:
Let mortals to their future fate be blind,
And hope relieve the miserable mind.

While thus the wretched citizens behold
What certain ills the faithful gods foretold ;
Justice suspends 5 her course in mournful Rome,
And all the noisy courts at once are dumb ;
No honours shine in the distinguished weed,
Nor rods the purple magistrate precede :

1 That is, whether, according to the Stoics, all things were
by necessity ; or, according to the Epicureans, by chance.

2 This prayer of the poet's, that we may not foreknow onr
misfortunes before tbey happen, is a very natural consequence
from the distractions under which the Romans laboured, by
reason of the prodigies related iu the last book ; which they
looked upon as so many certain denunciations of some terri-
ble affliction that was suddenly to fall upon them from the
gods.

3 This terrible kind of vacation in the courts of justice wv
sever observed tt Rome bat in the greatest pntrile calamities*

Book f. LUCAW'S PHARSALIA. 8?

i.

A dismal silent sorrow spreads around,
No groan is heard, nor one complaining sound.
So when some generous youth resigns bis breath,
And parting sinks in the last pangs of death ;
With ghastly eyes, and many a lift-up hand,
Around his bed the still attendants stand ;
No tongue as yet presumes his fate to tell,
Nor speaks aloud the solemn last farewel 4 :
As yet the mother by her darling lies,
Nor breaks lamenting into frantic cries ;
And though he stiffens in her fond embrace,
His eyes are set, and livid pale his face ;
Horror awhile prevents the swelling tear.
Nor is her passion grief, as yet, but fear ;
In one fix'd posture motionless she keeps,
And wonders at her woe, before she weeps.
The matrons sad their rich attire lay by,
And to the temples madly crowding fly :
Some on the shrines their gushing sorrows pour,
Some dash their breasts against the marble floor,
Some on the sacred thresholds rend their hair,
And howling seek the gods with horrid prayer.

4 A valediction (o the dead was a ceremony performed to
all persons at their funerals. So fneas takes bis leave of Pal-
las in Virgil:

Salve mihi maxime Palla.

Bat this expression of Lncan, in this place, refers more imme-
diately tp what the Romans called conclamatio ; which was
a repeated and loud outcry of those that waited for that pur-
pose round the bed of the dying person, probably to try if they
conld retain the departing soul a little longer; and when that
was in vain, and the bodies found to be quite dead, they were
said to be corpora conclomata, or, ' put call.'

88 JttJCAN'l PHAR8ALIA. Book S.

Nor Jove receiv'd the wailing suppliants all,
In various fanes on various powers they call :
No altar then, no god was left alone,
Unvex'd by some impatient parent's moan.
Of these, one wretch, her grief, above the rest,
With visage torn and mangled arms confessed.
" Ye mothers I beat (she cried) your bosoms now,
Now tear the curling honours from your brow ;
The presentiiour ev'n all your tears demands,
While doubtful fortune yet suspended stands.
When one shall conquer, then for joy prepare,
The victor chief, at least, shall end the war."
Thus from renew'd complaints they seek relief,
And only find fresh causes out for grief.

The men too, as to different camps they go,
Join their sad voices to the public woe ;
Impatient to the gods they raise their cry,
Apd thus expostulate with those on high*

" Oh hapless times 1 oh that we had been born
When Carthage made our vanquished country mourn !
Well had we then been number'd with the slain
On Trebia's 5 banks, or Cannae's fatal plain.
Nor ask we peace, ye powers ! nor soft repose;
Give us new wars, and multitudes of foes ;
Let every potent city arm for fight,
And all the neighbour-nations round unite :
From Median Susa let the Parthians come,
And Massagetes beyond their later 6 roam;

5 A river in Italy that falls into the Po near Plaeeatia, where
Lac. Seropronitu was rooted by Hannibal with a very treat
slaughter

6 The MassagetSB were properly thoee Asiatic Scythian* (or
Tartars) who were sitnate beyond the Caspian sea, near the
head of the river Oxna, and of consequence very tar from the

fiiMfc t. LUCiiX'S PHAfil ALIA. 89

Let Elbe and RraWswraraquei'dspriiigs send forth

The yellow Soevi 7 from the farthest north ;

Let the conspiring world in arms .engage.

And save ns only from domestic rage.

Here let tlie hostile Dacian inroads make,

And there his way the Gete * invader take.

Let Caesar in Iberia 9 tame the foe ;

Let Pooipey break the deadly eastern bow,

And Rome no hand unarm'd for battle know.

But if Hesperia stand condemn'd by rate,

And rain on our name and nation wait ; t

Now dart thy thunder, dread almighty aire,

Let all thy flaming heavens descend in fire ;

On chiefs and parties hurl thy bolts alike,

And, ere their crimes have made 'em guilty, strike.

Is it a cause so worthy of our care,

That power may fall to this or that man's share?

Do we for this, the gods and conscience brave,

That one may rule, and make the rest a slave?

When thus, ev'n liberty we scarce should buy,

But think a civil war a price too high."

Thus groan they at approaching dire events,
And thus expiring piety laments.
Meanwhile, the hoary sire lo his years deplores.
And age that former miseries restores:

later or Danube ; bat these geographical liberties are often Uken
by our author ; and here he teems to take them for the Euro-
pean amd Asiatic Scythians Jn general.

7 A people of Germany about the ducky of MeckJenberg

* Eeropean Tartars.

° Spain.

>° The poet here* to express the calamines attending on •'
civil war, introduces acme one purtlentar old man, lecapJtn, '
taint; the imferte* of feat between Mark* and Sylla. j

yoL. I. H

■\

£# LDOeX'S PHARSAUA. RookA,

He hates bis weary Ufe prolonged for woe,
Worse (Jays to see, more impious rage Co know.
Then fetching old examples from afar,
" 'Twas thus (he cries) late ushered in the war:
When Cinibmns fierce, and Libya's swarthy lord"
Had ralln before triumphant Marios* sword :
Yet to Mintnrnss's marsh >a the victor sled,
And hid in oozy flags his exuYd head.
The faithless soil the hunted chief reliev'd,
And sedgy waters fortune's pledge receiv'd.
Deep in a dungeon pluns/d at length he lay,
Where gyves and rankling fetters eat their way.
And noisome vapours on his vitals prey.
jOrdain'd at ease to die in wretched Rome,
He loinVd then for wickedness to come*
Jn vain his foes had ann'd the Cimbrian's band,
Death will not always wait upon command :
About to strike, Abe slave with horror shook,
The useless steel his loosening gripe forsook ;
Thick dashing flames a fight nnnsnal gave,
And sudden shone around the gloomy cave;

> 2 Jngurfh*.

12 Minturnae wis a city of Latiam, now in rates, nor the
river Garlllan, in er near die territory of Trajerta. Hither,
when Murine was driven out of Rome by Sytta, and declared
a public enemy by the Senate, he fled and bid himself among
some reeds and sedges; but being found ont, and committed
to the public gaol, he was condemned to die. But the slave
who was ordered to execute him, (a Cimbrian, according to
lAcan) being affrighted at somewhat terrible that he saw in
him, and fancying he beard a voice saying, " Dacest thon'MIl
Cains Marios l m dropped his sword, ran out of the prison, and
told tbe people the whole story : who being moved partly by
this, and partly by com p assion, for a man who had once saved
Italy, dismissed him. See all the particulars here mentioned
bj Lncan, more at large in Plutarch* Life of Matins.

Dreadful, the gods of guilt before him stood,
And Marius terrible in fa tare blood;
When thus a voice began :— " Bash man forbear,
Nor tonob that bead which late resolves to spare ;
Thousands are doom'd beneatli bis arm to bleed,
And countless deaths before bis own decreed.
Thy wrath and purpose to destroy is vain :—
Would'st thou avenge tbee for thy nation slain ?
Preserve this man ; and in some coming day
The Cimbrian slaughter well be shall repay.
No pitying god, no power to mortals good,
Conld save a savage wretch who joy'd ip blood f
But fate reserv'd him to perform its doom,
And be the minister of wrath to Rome.
By swelling seas too favourably tost,
Safely he reaeb'd Nnmidia's hostile coast ;
There, driven from man '*, to wilds be took his way.
And on the earth, where once hefconquer'd, lay;
There in the lone unpeopled desert field,
Proud Carthage in her ruins he beheld ;
Amidst her ashes pleas'd he sat him down,
And joy'd ip the destructjop of the town*
The genius of the place, with mutual bate,
Heartl its sad head, and smtTd at Marios' fate;
Each with Might surveyed tbepr Jallep foe,
And each forgave the gods that laid the other lew.
There with near fury was his soul possess'd,
And Libyan rage collected in his breast.
Soon as returning fortune own'd his cause,
Troops of revolting bondmen forth he draws ;
Cut-throats and slaves resort to bis command,
And arms were given to every baser hand.

>* By SeatiUu, then prwtor of Afrie.

98 LUCAN'8 PHAR8ALIA. B—k t.

None worthily the leader** standard bore,
TJnstain'd with blood or blackest crimes before :
Villains of fame, to fill his bands, were sought,
And to his camp increase of- crimes they brought.
Who can relate the horrors of that day,
When first these walls became the victor's prey?
With what a stride devouring slaughter pass'd,
And swept promiscuous orders in her haste !
O'er noble and plebeian rang*d the sword ;
Nor pity nor remorse one pause afford.
The sliding streets with blood were clotted o'er,
And sacred temples stood in pools of gore.
The ruthless steel, impatient of delay,
Forbad the sire to linger out his day:
It struck the bending father to the earth,
And crop'd the wailing infant at his birth.
(Can innocents the rage of parties know,
And they who ne'er offended find a foe I)
Age is no plea, and childhood no defence,
To kill is all the murderer's pretence.
Rage stays not to inquire who ought to die,
Numbers must fall, no matter which, or why ;
Each in his hand a grisly visage bean,
And, as the trophy of his virtue, wears, [streets.
Who wants a prize, straight rushes through the
And undistinguish'd mows the first he meets :
The trembling crowd with fear officious strive,
And those who kiss the tyrant's hand '♦ survive.
Oh, could you rail so low, degenerate race!
And purchase safety at a price so base!

** Maria* had given it as a signal to his soldiers, that they
should kill all whom he did not re-salute, and offer bis h*i»4
to kiss.

Book $. LUCAN's PHAR9ALIA. 93

WLat though the sword was master of your doom,

Tlioagb Marius could have given you years to come ;

Can Romans live by infamy so mean ? —

But soon your changing fortune shifts the scene ;

Short is your date ; you only live to mourn

Yonr hopes deceived, and Sylla's swift return.

The vulgar falls, and none laments his fate,

Sorrow has hardly leisure for the great.

What tears could Bs&bius' hasty death deplore 1

A thousand hands his mangled carcase tore ;

His scattered entrails round the streets were toss*d,

And in a moment all the man was lost.

Who wept, Antonius' murder to behold 1J ,

Whose moving tongue the mischief oft foretold?

Spite of his age and eloquence he bled ;

The barbarous soldier snatch'd his hoary bead ;

Dropping, be bore it to his joyful lord,

And, while he feasted, placed it off the board.

The Crassi 16 both by Fimbria's hand were slain,

And bleeding magistrates the pulpit stain.

Then did the doom of that neglecting hand,

Thy fate, O holy Scsevola * 7 ! command :

In vain for succour to the gods he flies,

The priest before the vestal altar dies :

A feeble stream pour'd forth the' exhausted sire,

And spar'd to quench the ever-living fire.

15 M. Antonins was a man of counter dignity, and an ex-
cellent orator. The soldiers who were sent to kill him were so
amoved by his eloquence that they were inclined to spare him :
at last, be was murdered by Annius the tribune, who brought
bis bead to Marios while he was at table. After he had bandied
it tar some time with much scorn and insolence, he commanded
it to be set on the rostrum, or public pulpit.

'6 Father and son killed together.

*7 Ha wm the faatfj^snaaimtif, or chtef pritati

94 LUCAN'S PHARSALlA. Bedk *.

The seventh returning Fasces now appear ",
And bring stern Marias' latest destin'd year :
Thus the long toils of changing life o'erpass'd,
H<iaty and full of days he breath'd his last.
While Fortune frown'd her fiercest wrath he bore,
And white she smil'd enjoy'd her amplest pow*r:
All variobs tarns of good and bad he knew,
And prov'd the most that chance or fate conM do.
u What heaps of slain the Colline gate l9 did
What bodies streWd the 9aeripor tan field, [yield I |
When empire was ordair/d to change her seat,
To leave her Rome, arid make Preneste great!
When the proud Samnites' troops the state, defied,
In term* beyond their Caodine-treaty's pride* .
Nor Sylla with less cruelty returns, j

With equal rage the tierce avenger bnrfts :
What blood the feeble city yet retain'd,
With too severe a healing band he drain'd : '

18 Rods carried before the magistrates, as ensigns of their
authority.

i9 P0rta CoWna, called likewise Pdrtd SaUna, was one
of the gates of Rone. At Sacriportus, not far from Prseneste,
Sylla overthrew the younger Marina, who fled to Prseneate, and
was there besieged by Lucius Ofella, Sylla 1 * lieutenant : and
when Lamponins and Teleainus, two leaders of the Samnites,
ca*me to raise the siege, they were likewise beaten by Sylla,
about ten furlongs from the Porta CoUtna. In these two battles
he is said to have killed seventy thoasand men!

20 The Pure* CauHiue were a pass with woods on each
aide near the town of Caudium, in the territories -of the ancient
Samnites : where, when those people had the Roman consuls
atari their army at a very great disadvantage, they obliged them
to submit to very hard conditions; one article being, that every
soldier should pass unarmed under a kind of gallows. Hence
the expression Pax Caudina, for an Ignominious peace.

Marias had promised the Samnites, who were of his side, to
translate the seat of the empire from Rome to them.

Too deeply was the searching steel employ'd,
What maladies had hart the leech de*troy*d.
The guilty only were of life bereft :
Alas ! the guilty only then were left
Dissembled hate and rancour rang'd at willy
A 11, as they pleas'd, took liberty to kill ;
And while revenge no longer fear'd the laws,
iSach private murder was the public cause.
The leader bade destroy ; and at the word, -■
The master fell beneath the servant's sword.
Brothers on brothers were for gifts bestow'd,
And sons contended for their father's Mood.
For refuge some to cafes and forests fled ;
Some to the lonely mansions of the dead >
Some, to prevent the cruel victor, die ;
These strangled hang" from fatal beams on high ;
While those, from tops of lofty turrets thrown,
Came headlong on the dashing pavement down.
Some for their funerais the wood prepare,
And build the* sacred pile with hasty care :
Then, bleeding, to the kindling flames they press,
And Roman rites, while yet they may, possess.
Pale heads of Marian chiefs are borne on high,
And heap'd together in the forum lie ;
There join the meeting slaughters of the town,
There each performing villain's deeds are known.
No sight like this the Thracian stables knew z \
Antams* Libyan spoils to these were few :

* x Diomedes, king of Thrace, fed bis horses with human
flesh I Of Antaeus see hereafter in the Fourth Book. CEnomaus,
king of Elis, reigned at Pisa ; his daughter Hippodamia war
▼ery beaotiftil ; he proposed to her nritorf, that whoever couf
vanquish him in a chariot-race should marry her ; but those th
were beaten should be put to death. This last misfortune ha
"pened to several; at last, her father breaking fcrtt neck by tl
treachery «f bit charioteer, she was won by Pelops.

•Jo* local's pharsama, BookV*

If or Greece beheld so many suitors foil,
To grace the Pisan tyrant's horrid hall.
At length, when putrid pore, with foul disgrace,
Hid the distinguished features of the face,
By night the miserable parents came,
And bore their sons to some forbidden flame.
Well I remember, in that woful reign.
How I my brother sought amongst the slain;
Hopeful by stealth his poor remains to huro r
And close his ashes in a peaceful urn :
His visage in my trembling band J bore,
And turn'd pacific Sylla's a * trophies o'er ;
Full many a mangled trunk I tried, to see
Which carcase with the head would best agree*
Why should my grief to Catulus %i return,
And tell the victim offered at his urn ;
When struck with horror, the relenting shade
Beheld his wrongs too cruelly repay'd ?
I saw where Marios' hapless brother stood,
With limbs all torn, and cover'd o'er with Mood;
A thousand gaping wounds increas'd his pain,
While weary life a passage sought in vain :
That mercy still his ruthless foes deny,
And, whom. they mean to kill, forbid to die.
This from the wrists the suppliant hands divides,
That hews his arms from off his naked sides ;
Ope crops his breathing nostrils, one his ears,
While from the roots his tongue another tears ;

* a A strong irony.

23 Quintal Loctatios Catalog, hearing C. Marias bad resolved
> pat him to death, killed himself. In revenge of this, hi*
roiher Catalos obtained of Sylla, that Marios, die brother of
;. Marios, might be delivered into his hands; who sacrificed
m, in the barbarous manner here described, at his brother**-

Book a. . lu can's pharsa£ia. 97

Panting awhile upon the earth it lies,
And with mate motion trembles ere it dies i
Last, from the sacred caverns where they lay.
The bleeding orbs of sight are rent away.
Can late posterity believe, whene'er
This tale of Marios and his toes they hear,
They could inflict so much, or he could bear?
Snch is the broken carcase seen to lie,
Crnsh'd by some tumbling turret from on high;
Such to the shore the shipwreck'd corse is borne,
By rending rocks and greedy monsters torn.
Mistaken rage I thus mangling to disgrace,
And blot the lines of Marius' hated facet
What joy can Sylla take, unless he know,
And mark the features of his dying foe ?
Fortune beheld, from her Pmnestine fane '*,
Her helpless worshippers around her slain j
One hour of fate was common to 'em all,
And, like one man, she saw a people mil.
Then died the lusty youth in manly bloom,
Hesperia's flower, and hope for times to come;
Their blood, Rome's only strength, distains the
Ordaiu'd the* assembling centuries to hold, [fold **,
Numbers have oft been known, on sea and land,
To sink of old by death's destructive band ;

** The goddess Fortune had a famoos temple it Pneneste.
Alter the town «m taken by Lacr. Offella, and many of all
ranks slam, Sylla commanded five thousand, who had laid
down their arms, to be killed in cold blood 1

*5 The septa or ovilla of Rome were certain encloinrea in
or near the Campus Martins, where the people used <o be
polled, and give their votes in elections of magistrates, accord-
ing to Che ccitturi*, or companies, of which their tribes were
composed. In this place Sylla commanded four whole legion*
it) be cat to pieces at once I

98 tUCAtfS FfrARSAUA. ifo*fc f.

Battles with multitudes have strewn the plain,
And many perish on the stormy main* ;
Earthquakes destroy, malignant vapours blast,
And plagues and famines lay whole nations waste :
Bat justice, sore, was never seen, till now,
To massacre her thousands at a blow.
Satiety of death the victors prove,
And slowly through the' encritriberirig ruin move i
So many fill, there scarce is room fof more,
The dying nod on those who fell before j
Crowding in heaps their murderers they aid,
And, by the dead, the living are o'erlaid.
Meanwhile, the stern dictator, from on high,
Beholds the slaughter with a fearless eye ;
Nor sighs to think his dread commands Ordain
So many thousand wretches to be slain.
Amidst the Tiber's waves the load U thrown,
The torrent rolls the guilty burden down ;
Till rising mounds obstruct his watery way,
And carcases the gliding vessels stay.
But soon another stream to aid him rose ;
Swift o'er the fields a crimson deluge flows j
The Tuscan river sw«fHs above his shores,
And floating bodies to the land restores :
Struggling at length, be drives his rushing flood,
And dyes the Tyrrhene ocean round with blond.
Could deeds like these the glorious style demand
Of ( Prosperous,' and ' Saviour of the land *?
Could this renown, could these achievements build
A tomb for Sylla in the Martian field ?
Again, behold the circling woes return,
Again the curse of civil wars we mourn ;

*• These were titles Syttt give himself: he called bis tot
likewise Fanstas, and his daughter Passu.

Bfk t. LDCAN'8 PHARSAlIA. 99

Battles, and blood, and vengeance shall succeed,
And Rome once more by Roman hands shall bleed.
Or if (for hourly thus our fears presage)
With wrath more fierce the present chiefsshall rage,
Mankind shall some unheard-of plagues deplore,
And groan for miseries unknown before.
Marios, an end of exile only sought ;
Sylla, to crush a hated faction fought ;
A larger recompense these leaders claim,
And higher is their vast ambition's aim :
Could these be satisfied with Sylla's pow'r ;
Nor, all he had possessing, ask for mote;
Neither had force and impious arms employ'd,
Or fought for that which, guiltless, each enjoy'd."

Thus wept lamenting age o'er hapless Rome,
Remembering evils past, and dreading those to
come.

But Brutus' temper nuTd not with
Nor with the common weakness was
Safe and in peace he kept his manly
Twas when the solemn dead of night came on,
When bright Galisto ,7 , with her shining son,
Now half their circle round the pole bad run
When Brutus, on the busy times intent,
To virtuous Cato's htmible dwelling went
Waking he found him, careful for the state,
Grieving and fearing for his country's fate;
For Rome, and wretched Rome, alone he fear'd >
Secure within himself, and for the worst prepar'd.

To him thus Brutus spoke : " O thou ! to whom
Forsaken virtue files, as to her home ;
Driven out, and by an impious age oppre*s f d,
She finds no room on earth— but Cato's breast \
*7 lbs Greater Bear.

rith the rest, 1
iras oppressed $ >
ilv breast. 5

\

var. )

100 LUCAN'8 P BARS ALIA. . Book 1.

There, in her oue good man, she reigns secure,
Fearless of vice, or fortune's hostile pow'r.
Then teach my soul, to doubt and error prone,
Teach me a resolution tike thy own.
Let partial favour, hopes or interest guip!e,
By various motives, all the world beside
To Pompey's, or ambitions Caesar's side ;
Thou, Cato, art my leader. Whether peace
And calm repose amidst these storms, shall please ;
Or whether war thy ardour shall engage, 1

To gratify the madness of this age ; [pie's rage. ^
Herd with the (actions chiefs, and urge the peo- J
The ruffian, bankrupt, loose adulterer,
All who the power of laws and justice fear.
From guilt learn specious reasons for the war
By starving want and wickedness prepaid,
Wisely they arm for safety and reward. [find ?
". But, oh ! what cause, what reason canst thou
Art thou to arms for love of arms inclin'd?
Hast thou the manners of this age withstood,
And for so many years been singly good,
To be repaid with civil wars and blood ?
Let those to vice inur'd for arms prepare,
In thee 'twill be impiety to dare; [war!

Preserve at least, ye gods, these hands from
Nor do thou meanly with the rabble join,
Nor grace their cause with such an arm as thine.
To thee, the fortune of the fatal field
Inclining, unauspicious fame shall yield;
Each to thy sword shall press, and wish to be
Imputed as thy crime, and charged on thee.
Happy thou wert, if with retirement bless'd,
Which noise and faction never should molest
T or break the sacred quiet of thy breast;

1

■■■I

BltOk S. LCCAN'S PHAR8ALU. 101

Where harmony and order ne'er should cease,
But every day should take its turn in peace.
So in eternal steady motion, roll
The radiant spheres around the starry pole :
Fierce lightnings, meteors, and the winter's storm,
Earth and the face of lower heaven deform,
Whilst all, by nature's laws, is cairn above ;
No tempest rages in the court of Jove,
light particles, and idle atoms fly,
Toss'd by the winds, and scattered round the sky ;
While the more solid parts the force resist,
And fix'd and stable on the centre rest
Cesar shall hear with joy that thou art join'd
With fighting factions, to disturb mankind :
Though sworn bis foe, he shall applaud thy choice,
And think his wicked war approv'd by Cato's

voice.
See ! how to swell their mighty leader's state,
The consuls and the servile senate wait :
Ev*n Cato's self to Pompey*s yoke must bow,
And all mankind are slaves, but Caesar, now.
If war, however, be at last our doom, *
If we must arm for liberty and Rome :
While undecided yet their fate depends,
Caesar and Pompey are alike my friends ;
Which party I shall choose is yet to know,
That let the war decide;— who conquers is my
foe."

Thus spoke the youth : when Cato thus
The sacred counsels of his inmost breast :

" Brutus! with thee, I own the crime is great :
With thee, this impious civil war I hate :
But virtue blindly follows, led by fate.
Answer yourselves, ye gods ! and set me free ;
Jf I am guilty, 'tis by your decree.

1

lide, y
tide. )

102 LtJCAll'S PHARSALU. Bsofc f .

If yon fair lamps above should lose their light,
And leave the wretched world in endless night ;
If chaos should in heaven and earth prevail,
And universal nature's frame should mil :
'What Stoic would not the misfortune share,
And think that desolation worth his care?
Princes and nations whom wide seas divide,
Where .other stars far distant heavens do guide,
Have brought their ensigns to the Roman side.
Forbid it, gods! when barbarous Scythians come )
From their cold north, to prop declining Rome, v
That I should see her fall, and sit secure at home. )
As some unhappy sire, by death undone,
Robb'd of his age's joy, his only son,
Attends the funeral with pious care,
To pay his last paternal office there ;
Takes a sad pleasure in the crowd to go,
And be himself part of the pompous woe;
Then waits taal, every ceremony past,
His own fond hand may light the pile at last*
So fix'd, so firithfiil to thy cause, O Rome!
With -such a constancy and love I come ;
Resolv'd for thee and liberty to mourn,
And never, never, from your sides be torn ;
Resolv'd to follow still your common rate,
And on your very names, and last remains to wait
Thus let it be, since thus the gods ordain ;
Since hecatombs of Romans most be slain,
Assist the sacrifice with every band,
\nd give 'em all the slaughter they demand.
1 ! were the gods contented with my fall,
? Cato's life could answer for you all,
•ike the devoted Decius would I go,
o force from either side the mortal Mow, [roe.
ind for my country's sake, wish to be thonghtbei

6. C

ne, )

Rhine, >
be mine. I

B$ok t. LUCA.N'8 PHAR8ALU. 109

To me, ye Romans, all your rage confine,

To me, ye nations from the barbarous Rhine,

Let all the wounds this war snail make

Open my vital streams, and let 'em run,

Oh let the purple sacrifice atone

For all the ills offending Rome has done.

If slayery be all the faction's end,

If chains the prise for which the fools contend,

To me conyert the war, let me be slain ;

Me, only me, who fondly strive, iq vain,

Their useless laws and freedom to maintain :

So may the tyrant safely mount his throne,

And rule his slaves in peace, when I am gone.

Howe'er, since free as yet from his command,

For Pompey and the commonwealth we stand.

Nor he, if fortune should attend his arms,

Is proof Against ambition's fatal charms ;

But urg'd with greatness, and desire of sway,

May dare to make the vanquisb'd world bis prey.

Then, lest the hopes of empire swell his pride,

Let him remember I was on his side;

Nor think he conqaer'd for himself alone,

To make the harvest of the war bis own,

Where half tlje toil was ours." So spoke the sage.

His words the listening eager youth engage

Too much to love of arms, and heat of civil rage.

Now 'gan the son to lift his dawning light,
Before him fled the colder shades of night ;
When lo ! the sounding doors are heard to turn,
Chaste Martia comes from dead Hortensius' urn.
Once to a better husband's happier bed,
With bridal rites, a virgin was she led :
When every debt of love and duty paid,
And thrice a parent by Lochia made;

:i

£04 f UCAN'S PHARJALIA. Book S.

The teeming matron, at her lord's command,
To glad Hortensius gave her plighted hand ;
With a fair stock his barren boose to grace,
And mingle by the mother's side the race.
At length this husband in his ashes laid,
And every rite of due religion paid,
Forth from his monument the mournful dame,
With beaten breasts, and locks dishevel'd, came ;
Then with a pale, dejected, rueful look,
Thus, pleasing ", to her former lord she spoke :
" While nature yet with vigour fed my veins,
And made me equal to a mother's pains ;
To thee obedient, I thy house forsook,
And to my arms another husband took :
My powers at length with genial labours worn,
Weary to thee, and wasted I return.
At length, a barren wedlock let me prove,'
Give me the name, without the joys of love j
No more to be abandon'd, let me come,
That i Cato's wife' may live upon my tomb :
So shall my troth to latest times be read,
And none shall ask if guiltily I fled,
Or thy command estrang'd me from thy bed.
Nor ask I now thy happiness to share,
I seek thy days of toil, thy nights of care :
Give me, with thee, to meet my country's foe,
Thy weary marches and thy camps to know ;
Nor let posterity with shame record,-—' -
Cornelia * 9 follow'd, Martia left ber lord."

a8 As her melancholy condition and habit was most agree*
able to that time of public calamity. See this story in Vlatassh,

a0 This lady was the daughter of Lncins Scipio, descended
from and allied to the Cornelii and Metelli,and widow of Pnb.

Book t. lucaw's prarsaUa. 105

She said. The hero's manly heart was mov'd,
Aiid the chaste matron's virtuous suit approved.
And though the times for differing thoughts demand.
Though war dissents from Hymen's holy band ;
In plain unsolemn wise his faith he plights,
And calls the gods to view the lonely rites.
No garlands ** gay the cheerful portal crown'd,
Nor woolly fillets wove the posts around ;
No genial bed, with rich embroidery grac'd,-
On ivory steps in lofty state was plaCd ;
No hymeneal torch preceding shone,
No matron put the towery frontlet on 31 *
Nor bade her feet the sacred threshold shun.
No yellow veil was loosely thrown, to hide
The rising blushes of the trembling bride ;
No glittering tone her flowing garments bound,
Nor sparkling gems her neck encompass'd round)
No silken scarf, nor decent winding lawn **,
Was o'er her naked arms and shoulders drawn :

\

i, who with Mi father M. Cruras wu killed by ike Par-
thian*. Pompey married Her soon 'after tike death of Canar s
daughter Jtflla*

30 The poet here enomerates meet of the earemontes anally
observed at the Roman marriages, by saying what was wanting
at this of Cato and Martia ; so In the Eighth Book ha gives an
account of the magnificence of the Roman funerals, by deplor-
ing the misery and wretchedness of Pompey*.

3i This passage is dlmtly interpreted. I hare taken that
which I thought most probable : the bride wu always crowned
with aowers, and admonished net to touch the threshold by the
pre* 1 ,or matron, that attended her; in honour of Vesta,
the goddess of chastity* to whom the threshold was sacred.
The crown mentioned here seems to be like that given to the
goddess Cybete; and so it Is interpreted by Snlphins epon this
place. Perhaps, it was worn in honour of that goddess.
3* The word suypafu here likewise has various si§aines<

iroL^j* 1

206 fcUCAlfft PHARftAfcT*. JB&kir

But as she was in funeral attire,

With all the sadness sorrow could inspire,.

With eyes dejected, with a joyless nice.

She met her husband's, like a son's embrace.

No Sabine mirth 33 provokes the bridegroom's ears r

Nor sprightly wit the glad assembly cheers.

No friends, nor ev'n their children grace the feast,

Brutus attends, their only nuptial guest :

He stands a witness of the silent rite r

And sees the melancholy pair unite.

Nor he, the chief, bis sacred visage cheered,

Nor smooth'd his matted locks, or horrid beard ;

Nor deigns his heart one thought of joy to know r

But met his Martia with the same stem brow.

(For when he saw the fatal factious arm,

The coming war, and Rome* impending harm - r

Regardless quite of every other care,

Unshorn be left his loose neglected hair :

Kude bung the hoary honours of his head,

And a foul growth his mournful cheeks o'erspread.

No stings of private hate his peace infest,

Nor partial favour grew upon his breast;

But safe from prejudice, he kept his mind

Free,. and at leisure to lament mankind.)

Nor could his former love's returning fire

The warmth of one connubial wish inspire,

But strongly he withstood the just desire.

lions given to ft. Suppantm is tofnmonly a shift, «ad some
timet a tort of veil or scarf; In which tatter sense,** it pMnty
meant here an npper garment^ I have taken It.

33 it was «n old custom, taken from the SaMnes; to repeat
araulty verses 'tbejverstufescen*i*ij and jests of tta same
sorts at weddings. TUs was the provinea ef the younger
people.

B*k S. JLOCAll's ftZAXSAU*. *N

These wen the stricter nuumers of the man,
And this the stubborn course in which they ran>ft
Tbe golden mean unchanging to pursue,
Constant to keep the purpos'd end in view ;
Religionary to follow Nature'* tews,
And die with pleasure in hit country's came y
To think he was not lor himself deaign'd,
Bat bom to be of use to all mankind.
To him 'twas feasting,* hunger to repress $
And home-span garments were his costly dress*
No marble ptUart reared his roof on high,
'Twns warm, and kept him from the winter sky J
He sought no end of marriage, bat increase ;
Nor wish'd a pleasure, bat his country's pence t
That took np all the tenderest parts of life,
His country was his children and his wife.
From justice* righteous lore he never swerv'd,
Bat rigidly hji honesty preserVd.
On universal good his thoughts were bent.
Nor knew what gain, or setf-aiuction meant;
And, while his benefits the public share,
Cato was always met m Cato's care.

Mmnrlmn the trembling troops, by Pompey led/
Hasty to Phrygian Capua were fled.
Resolving here to fix the moving war,
He calls his scuttefd legions from atari
Here he decrees the daring me to wait.
And prove at once the great event of fete \
Where Anemone* denghtroi shades arise,
And lift HesperU lofty to the skies.
Between the higher and mwriar sea,
The long extended meantam takes his way ;
Pisa and Aneon bound his sloping sides,
Wash'd by the Tyrrhene and Dalmatic tides;

108 • MJCAN'S FHARSA1/U. Book 2.

Rich in the treasure of bis watery stores, 1

A thousand living springs and streams he pears, £
And seeks the different seas by different shores. J
From his left falls Crustumium's rapid flood,
And swift Metaarus, red with Punic blood 5
There gentle Sapis with Isanros joins.
And Sena there the Senones confines ;
Rough Aofidns the meeting ocean braves,
And lashes on the lazy Adria'a waves 5
Hence vast Eridanns with matchless force,
Prince of the streams, directs his regal course;
Proud with the spoils of fields and woods he flows,
And drains Hesperia's rivers as he goes.
Hb sacred banks, in ancient tales renown'd,
First by the spreading poplar's shade were ero wn'd ;
When the sun's fiery steeds forsook their way,
And downward drew to earth the burning day :
When every flood and ample lake was dry
The Po alone his channel could supply.
Hither rash Phaeton was headlong driv*n,
And in these waters quench'd the flames of HeoVn.
Nor wealthy Nile a roller stream contains,
<Thoogh wide he spreads o'er .Egypt's flatter plains;
Nor Ister rolls a larger torrent down,
Sought he the sea with waters all his own ;
But meeting floods to him their homage pay,
And heave the blended river on his way. [come
These, from the left; while from the right, there
The Rutuba and Tiber dear to Rome ;
Thence slides Vulturous' swift descending flood,
And Sarnus, hid beneath his misty cloud ;
Thence Lyris, whom the Vestin fountains aid,
Winds to the sea through dose Marica's shade ;

Bo$k t. UJCAK's PHARSAXIA. 10?

Thence Siler through Salernian pasture* falls,
And shallow Macra creeps by Luna's walls.
Bordering on Gaol the loftiest ridges rise,
And the low Alps from cloudy heights despise ;
Thence his long back the fruitful mountain bows, -
Beneath the Umbrian and the Sabine ploughs ;
The race primeval, natives all of old,
His woody rocks within their circuit hold ;
Far as Hesperia's utmost limits pass,
The hilly father runs his mighty mass ;
Where Juno rears her high Lacinian fane,
And Scylla's raging dogs molest the main.
Once, further yet ('tis said) his way he took,
Till through Ins side the seas conspiring broke ;
And still we see on (air Sicilia's sands
Where, part of Apennlne^Pelorus stands.
But Caesar for destruction eager burns,
Free passages and bloodless ways he scorns ;
In fierce conflicting fields his arms delight,
'He joys to be oppos'd, to prove his might;
Resistless, through the widening breach to go,
To burst the gate, to lay the bulwark low,
To burn the villages, to waste the plains,
And massacre the poor laborious swains.
Abhorring law, he chooses to offend,
And blushes to be thought his country's friend.
The Latian cities now, with busy care,
As various they inclin'd, for arms prepare.
Though doom'd before the war's first rage to yield,
Trenches they dig, and ruin'd walls rebuild ;
Huge stone, and darts, their lofty towers supply,
And guarded bulwarks menace from on high.
To pompey's part the proner people lean,
Though Caaart stronger terrors stand between.

f 10 LttCAlTs PHAftSAUA* Bo^k t*

So, when the blasts of sounding Anster blow.
The waves obedient to iris empire flow ;
And though the stormy god fierce Euros trees,
And sends him rnshing 'cross the swelling seas ;
Spite of his force, the billows yet retain
Their former course, and that way roU the main ;
The lighter clouds with Euros' driving sweep,
While Anster still commands the watry deep.
Still fear too sore o'er vulgar minds prevails.
And faith before successful fortune fails.
Etruria vainly trusts in Lino's aid H ,
And Umbria by Thermos is betrayed;
Sylla, unmindful of his father's fame,
Fled at the dreadful sound of Caesar's name.
Soon as the horse near Auximon 3S appear,
Retreating Varus owns his abject fear,
And with a coward's haste neglects his rear j
On flight alone intent, without delay,
Through rocks and devious woods he wings his way.
The' Esculean fortress * 6 Lentulns forsakes,
A swift pursuit the speedy victor makes ;

3+ At the fame of Caesar* approach, the governors through
Italy all fled; not daring to withstand him, or maintain any
forts against him :. many of those are here named. Scribonfaa
Libo leaves his charge in Hetraria, and Thermos forsake* Um-
bria; Faostas Sylla, the son of the dictator Sylla, wanting his
father's spirit and fortune in civil war, fled at the very name of
Csesar.

-35 Kow Osimo, in the Matca d*Ancona. Alios Varus,
when he perceived the citizens of Aailmon favoured Caster,
withdrew his garrison and fled.

3o" Lentulns Spimher, with ten cohorts, kept the town of
Ascnlnm, now Ascoli, in the Marca ffiAncona; Hearing of
Caesar's advancing, he fled away, thinking to have drawn his
troops along with him, bat was deserted by most of his soldiers .

\

M09k 9. IXXCAM% PKARSAfiL*. Ill

All arts of threats and promises applied,
He wins the faithless cohorts to bis side.
The leader with his ensigns fled alone ;
To Caesar fell the soldier, and the town.
Thou, Scipio 37 , too dost for retreat prepare ;
Thou leav*st Luceria, trusted to thy care j
Though troop* well tried attend on thy command,
{The Roman power can beast no braver band)
By wily arts of old from Caesar rent.
Against the hardy Parthians were they sent :
But their first chief the legion now obeys,
And Pompey thus the Gallic loss repays,;
Aid to his foe too freely he affords,
And lends his hostile father Roman swords*

But in Corfinium 38 bold Domitins lies,
And from his wails the 1 advancing power defies ;
Secure of heart, for all events prepared,
Ha heads the troop*, once bloody Milo's guard.
Soon as he sees the cloudy dust arise,
And glittering arms reflect the sunny skies:

37 L. Scipio, father-in-law to Pompey, fled from Laceria*
-though he had two strong legions. Marcellus, to weaken C»-
«ar, coanselted the Senate to make a decree that Caesar ihoakl
deliver one legion, and Pernpay another, to Btbalos, whom
they pretended to tend to the Parthian war. Csasari according
■to the Senate's decree, delivered to hint one legion for himself
and another which he had borrowed of Pompey for a present
•apply, after the great toss he had received under his proton
Tetnrina and Cotto. These legions were now both in Scipkft
camp.

3S Acny rtowceHodPop*4o,mtk« Abnuao. In this place
lay L. Domitins with twenty cohort* He bad with him thorn
soldiers of Pompey who had inclosed the Forum, when Milo
was arraigned for the death of Clodlns. lie sent a detachment
io break down a bridge three miles from the town ; bat thq
jrer* beaten hack by Crear's advanced guard.

A

112 LUCAN'S PHARSAXIA, Book %.

" Away, companions of my arms ! (he cried)
And haste to guard the river's sedgy side :
Break down the bridge. And thon that dwefl'st f
Thou wat'ry god, let all thy fountains go, [below, >
And rushing bid thy foamy torrent flow $ J

Swell to the utmost brink thy rapid stream,
Bear down the planks, and every floating beam;
Upon thy banks the lingering war delay,
Here let the headlong chief be taught to stay ;
Tis victory to stop the victor's way."

He ceas'd; and shooting swiftly cross the plain,
Drew down the soldier to the flood in vain.
For Caesar early from the neighbouring field,
The purpose to obstruct his march beheld ;
JKJndling to wrath, " Oh basest fear ! (he cries)
To whom nor towers, nor sheltering walls suffice:
Are these your coward stratagems of war ?
Hope you with brooks my conquering arms to bar ?
Though Nile and Ister should my way control,
Though swelliug Ganges should to guard you roll j
What streams, what floods soe*er athwart me fall,
Who past the Rubicon shall pass 'em all.
Haste to the passage then, my friends!" He said :
Swift as a storm the nimble horse obey'dj
Across the stream their deadly darts they throw,
And from their station drive the yielding foe :
The victors at their ease the ford explore,
And pass the undefended river o'er.
The vanquished to Corfinium's strength retreat,
Where warlike engines round the ramparts threat *-
Close to the wall the creeping vinea 39 lies,
ind mighty towers in dread approaches rise.

39 The vinea wu an engine made use of by the Romans in
iges. It wu composed of wicker-hordlei laid for a roof on

B*ok 2; lucan'b pharsalia. 113

Bat see the stain of war! the soldier's shame!
And vile dishonour of the Latian name 1
The faithless garrison betray the town,
And captive drag their valiant leader down.
The noWe Roman, fearless, though in bands,
Before his haughty fellow-subject stands,
With looks erect, and with a daring brow,
Death he provokes, and courts the fatal blow i
But Caesar's arts his inmost thoughts descry,
His fear of pardon, and desire to die.
" From me thy forfeit life (he said) receive,
And, though repining, by my bounty live ;
That all, by thy example taught, may know,
How Ca&sar's mercy treats a vanquished foe :
Still arm against me, keep thy hatred still,
And if thou conquer*st, use thy conquest, kill*
Return* of love, or favour, seek I none ;
Nor give thy life to bargain for my own."
So faying, on the instant he commands
To loose the galling fetters from his bands.
Oh, fortune! better were it, he bad died,
And spar'd the Roman shame, and Caesar's pride.
What greater grief can on a Roman seize.
Than to be forc'd to live, on terms like these ?
To be forgiven, fighting for the laws,
And need a pardon in his country's cause ?
Straggling with rage, undaunted he repressed
The swelling passions in his labouring breast ;

the top of poets, which the soldiers, who went nnder it for
•heller, bore up with their hands. Some will have them to
have bevn contrived with a double roof ; the ttppcrmoit of
bardies, and the next of plank. In the third book, at the
siege of Masstlia, poem mentions the miners making their »p*
proariws to the waUs, under covert of these engines,

114 MJCAK'S FHARffAUA* fibt* i.

Thus murmuring to himself: " Witt thou to Rome,
Base as thou art, and seek thy lazy home?
To war, to battle, to destruction fly,
And haste, as it becomes thee well, to die ;
Provoke the worst effects of deadly strife,
And rid thee of this Caesar's gift, this life."

Meanwhile, unknowing of the captiv'd chiefj
Pompey prepares to march to bis relief.
He means the scattering forces to unite,
And with increase of strength expect the fight.
Resolving with the following sun to move,
First he decrees the soldier's heart to prove :
Then into words like these, revered he broke,
The silent legions listening while he spoke.
" Ye brave avengers of your country's wrong,
You who to Rome and liberty belong ;
Whose breasts our father's virtue truly warms.
Whose hands the Senate's sacred order arms ;
With cheerful ardour meet the coming fight.
And pray the gods to smile upon the right.
Behold the mournful view Hesperia yields,
Her flaming villages and wasted fields t
See where the Gauls a dreadful deluge flow,
And scorn the boundaries of Alpine snow.
Already Caesar's sword is stain'd in blood,
Be that, ye gods ! to us an omen good :
That glory still be his peculiar care.
Let him begin, while we sustain the war.
Yet call it not a war to which we go ;
We seek a malefactor, not a foe :
Rome's awful injur'd majesty demands
The punishment of traitors at our hands.
|f this be war, then war was wag'd of old,
JJy curs'd Cethegns, Catiline the bold,

Both S . ujcah's nuAiALU. lis

By every villain's hand who durst conspire
In mmrder, robbery, or midnight fire.
Oh, wretched rage! Thee, Caasar, late destgn'd
To rank amongst the patrons of mankind;
With brave Camillas to enrol thy fame,
And mix thee with the great Metelli's name?
While to the Ciena's «° thy fierce soal inclines,
And with the shmghter-loving Marii joins.
Since then thy crimes, like theirs, for justice call.
Beneath oar axe's vengeance ahalt thou fall :
Thee, rebel Carta's 4l sentence, thee the fete
Of Lepidns and bold Sertorms wait.
Believe me yet, (if yet I am believ'd)
My heart is at the task nnpleasing grievM:
I mourn to think that Pompey's hand was chose,
His Jnlia'a hostile father to oppose,
And mark thee down amongst the Roman foes.
Oh, that returned in safety from the East,
This province victor Crassnt had possess'd ;
New honours to his name thon might'st afford,
And die, like Spartaens +', beneath his sword ;

4° CiaiM joined with and brought Marias back to Rome.

+i Ca. Papirios Carta was a colleague and confederate of
C Marias. He was pat to death in Sicily by Pompey. Le-
pida, attempting to set juide what bad been done by Syllal
authority, was overthrown by bU colleague Catulus in the
Caropns Martina, fled into Sardinia, and died there.— See the
life of Sertorios in Plutarch. He can hardly be said to have
been conquered by Pompey.

4* He was a 'Ihracian slave, a gladiator, who fled with
seventy of his companion* from the garnet given by Lentnlot,
at Capua. He gathered other slaves to his party ; nud arming
them, made up an army of 70,000 men. With these he over-
came several praetors and consols, and was at last vanquished
J>y M* Crassus.

:i

116 z.ccan'8 pharsalia. Book tl

Like him have fall'n a victim to the laws,

The same the' avenger, and the same the cause.

But since the gods do otherwise decree.

And give thee, as my latest palm, to me \

Again my veins confess the fervent juice,

Nor has my hand forgot the javelin's use.

And thon shalt learn, that those who humbly know

To peace and just authority to bow,

Can, when their country's cause demands their care,

Resume their ardour, and return to war.

But let him think my former vigour fled;

Distrust not, you, your general's hoary head;

The marks of age and long declining years,

Which I, your leader, his whole army wears :

Age still is fit to counsel, or command,

But falters in an unperforming hand.

What e'er superior power a people free

Could to their fellow-citizen decree,

AH lawful glories have my fortunes known,

And reach'd all heights of greatness, but a crows :

Who to be more, than Pompey was, desires,

To kingly rule, and tyranny aspires.

Amidst my ranks, a venerable band,

The conscript fathers and the consuls stand :

And shall the Senate and the vanquished State

Upon victorious Caesar's triumph wait ?

Forbid it gods, in honour of mankind !

Fortune is not so shameless, nor so blind.

What Fame achieved, what unexampled praise,

To these high hopes the daring hero raise ?

Is it his age of war, for trophies calls

His two whole years spent on the rebel Gauls?

r s it the hostile Rhine forsook with haste f

s it the shoaly channel which be past,

\

BtvJt 8. . LUCAM'S PHAftSAMA. 117

That ocean huge he talk* of? Does he boast
His flight on Britain's new discovered coast ?
Perhaps abandoned Rome new pride supplies,
He views the naked town with joyful eyes,
While from his rage an armed people flies.
Bat know, vain man, no Roman fled from thee ;
They left their wau8,'tis true ; buttwas to follow me.
Me, who ere twice the moon her orb renewal,
The pirates* formidable fleet subdued :
Soon as the sea my shining ensigns bore,
Vanquish^ they fled, and sought the safer shore t
Humbly content their forfeit lives to save,
And take the narrow lot my bounty gave/
3y me the mighty Mitbridates chas'd.
Through all the windings of his Pontus pass'd.
He who the fate of Rome delay*d so long,
While in suspense uncertain empire hung ;
He who to Sylla's fortune scorn'd to yield,
To my prevailing arms resigned the field :
Driven out at length, and press'd where'er he fled,
He sought a grave to bide his vanquish'd head.
O'er the wide world may various trophies rise,
Beneath the vast extent of distant skies ;
Me the cold Bear, the northern climates know,
And Phasis* waters through my conquests flow j
Jf y deeds in iEgypt and Syene live,
Where high meridian suns no shadow 43 give.
Hesperian Bsstis " my commands obeys,
Who rolls remote to seek the western seas.

43 Tliat ia, when the son is in Cancer, under which sign
fyene Iks.

44 Spain wm more properly called Heaperia than Italy, as
being the wetfermotf province of Europe : bat the name was
at times given to both. Berth was a river in Spain ; it ram by
Cordate and Sevil. .

118 LOCAH'S PHAKSAltAV B#lk %

By me the captive Arabs' hands were bound.

And Colchians for their ravishM fleece renown'd ?

O'er Ana wide my conquering ensigns spread,

Armenia me, and lofty Taurus dread ;

To me submit CiNcia's warlike pow'M,

And proud Sopaene 45 veils her wealthy tovrYs :

The Jews I taurtl, who with religion bow

To some mysterious name, which none betide 'em

knew.
Is there a land (to ram up all at last) [pass'd ?
Through which my arms with conquest have not
The world, by me, the world is overcome ;
And Caesar finds no enemy but Rome**

He said. The crowd in dull suspension hung,
Nor with applauding acclamations rung ;
No cheerful ardour waves the lifted hand,
Nor military cries the sight demand.
The cbief perceiv'd the soldier's fire to tail,
And Caesar's fame ftreranmog to prevail;
His eagles he withdraws with timely care,
Nor trusts Rome's rates to such uncertain war.
As when with wry stung and jealous rage r
Two mighty bulls for sovereignty engage ;
The vanauish'd ftr to banishment removes^ "•
To lonely fields and unfrequented groves ;
There, for awhUe, with conscious shame he barns,
And tries on every tree his angry horns :
Bnt when hk former vigour stands eonress'd,
And larger muscles shake his ample breast,
With better chance he seeks the fight again.
And drives his rival bellowing o'er the plain ;
Then oncontroPd the subject-herd he leads,
had reigns the master of the fruitful meads.

♦5 a city in Anne afcu

ids.

i form a bay, >

■lemy, f

in their way. 3

BsofcS. I.DCAR*8 PHAIOAXIA. 1*9

Unequal thus to Cseeur, Pompey yields
The anr dominion of Hesperia*s fields:
Swift through Apulia march his Hying: pow*ra r
And seek the safety of BnuidamaVB tow&s.

This city a Dictawn 46 people bold,
Here plac'd by taH Athenian barks of old ;
When with false omens from the Cretan shore.
Their sable sails victorions Theseus bore 47 .
Here Italy a narrow length extends,
And in a scanty slip projected ends.
A crooked mole around the wares she winds,
And in her folds the Adriatic binds.
Nor yet the bending shores conld
Did not a barrier-Isle the winds demy,
And break the seas tempestuous in their way.
Huge monnds of rocks are plac'd, by nature* band,
To guard around the hospitable strand ;
To tern the storm, repulse the rushing tide,
And Bid the anchoring bark securely ride.
Hence, Nerens wide the liquid main displays,
And spreads to various ports his watery ways ;
Whether the pUot from Corcyra 4 * stand,
Or for IUyrhm EpidamnoV* 9 strand.
HrtEer when all the Adriatic roars,
And thundering billows vex the double shores ;

OS Cretan, from Diete, a city in that island. Lncan tells at
here npon whet occasion the colony was planted here. Bran*
disrinna is now called BrlndlsL

47 The sails of Ttesens ought to have heen white, according
to Ids soccess: being Mack, bis father, fearing his son was dead,
(brew himself into the sea. Bat this is a very known story.

*• How Corfla.

40 Afterwards called Dyrrachitim, and now Dorano ; «■
the coast of Albania, in the gnlf of Venice.

t£0 LUCJrtTs PHARSALIA. Bo&kt.

When sable clouds around the welkin spread;
And frowning storms involve Ceraunia's head ;
When white with froth Calabrian 3ason so lies,
Hither She tempest-beaten vessel flies.

Now Pompey, on Hesperia's utmost coast,
Sadly surveyM how all behind was lost ;
Nor to Iberia could be force his way ;
Long interposing Alps his passage stay.
At length, amongst the pledges of his bed,
He chose his eldest-born ; and thus he said :

" .Haste thee, my son 1 to every distant land,
And bid the nations rouse at my command ;
Where fam'd Euphrates flows, or where the Nile
With muddy waves improves the fattening soil;
Where'er, diffus'd by victory and fame,
Thy father's arms have borne the Roman name.
Bid the Cilician quit the shore again,
And stretch the swelling canvass on the main :
Bid Ptolemy 51 with my Tigranes come,
And bold Pbarnaces lend his aid to Rome.
Through each Armenia spread the loud alarm,
And bid, the cold Riphean mountains arm.
Pontus and Scythia's wandering tribes explore,
The Euxine and Mceotitf 54 icy shore ;

5° The ancient geographers differ about the situation of this
hie. Some (among whom is Locan) place it among; the Italian ;
others, among the Grecian isles. Of the latter opinion U Ceft-
larias. Ceranaia were mountains in Epiros.

5* These princes, Ptolemy, Tigranes, and Pbarnaces the son
of Mithridates, were beholden to Pompey for their kingdoms
Of Egypt, Armenia, and Bospborns.

* a The Eoxine is now called the Black Sea; it discharge*
itself by the Hellespont into the Propontis, or tea of Marmora;
as the Pahu Btootte does into the Eoxine.

J

B09k t. JfUCAN'S PHARSALU. ttl

Where heavy-loaden wains slow journeys take,
And print with groaning wheels the frozen lake.
But wherefore should my words delay thy haste ?
Scatter my wars around through all the east :
Summon the vanquished world to share my fate,
And let my triumphs on my ensigns wait.
But you, whose names the Roman annals bear,
You, who distinguish the revolving year 53 ;
Ye consuls ! to Epirus straight repair,
With the first northern winds that wing the air;
From thence the powers of Greece'united raise,
While yet the wintry year the war delays."

So spoke the chief; his bidding all obey;
Their ships forsake the port without delay,
And speed their passage o'er the yielding way*

But Caesar, never patient long in peace,
Nor trusting in bis fortune's present face;
Closely pursues his flying son behiod,
While yet his fate continued to be kind.
Such towns, such fortresses, such hostile force,
Swept in the torrent of one rapid course;
Such trains of long success attending still,
And Rome herself abandon'd to his will ;
Rome, the contending parties noblest prite,
To every wish but Caesar's might suffice.
But he, with empire nVd and vast desires,
To all, and nothing less than all aspires ;
He reckons not the past, while aught remain'4
Great to be done, or mighty to be gain'd,

S3 Among the Romans there were annual records kept of
what happened most remarkable to the pnblio every year.
These books were called Fasti; and as the Consols were chosen
on the calends (or first day) of January, their names were up*
tied to the account of the ensuing year.

VOL. I. K'

i

iff ttfCAH* fl*AfeSAXlA« Bo*k%

Though Italy obey his wide command,
Though Pompey linger on the furthest strand,
jfle grieves to think they tread one common land
His heart disdains to brook a rival pow'r,
Ev*n on the utmost margin of the shore j
Nor would he leave or earth or ocean free;
The foe he drives from land, he bars from sea.
With moles the opening flood be would restrain,
Would block the port, and intercept the main :
But deep devouring seaa his toil deride,
The plunging traarries sink beneath the tide,
And yielding sands the rocky fragments hide.
Thus, if huge Gaurus * 4 headlong should be thrown,
In fathomless Averatts deep to drown;
Or if from fair SicMa's distant strand,
Eryx uprooted by some giant hand,
If pondrous with bis rooks, the mountain vast,
^uiidst the wide JEgean should be cast ;
The rolling waves o'er either mass would flow,
And each be lost within the depths below.
When no firm basis for his work he found,
But still it foiTd in ocean's faithless ground ;
Huge trees and barks in massy chains he bound
For planks and beams be ravages the wood,
And the tough boom extends across the flood.
Such was the road by haughty Xerxes made,
When o'er the Hellespont bis bridge he mid.
Vast was the task, and daring the design,
Europe and Asia's distant shores to join,
And make the world's divided parts combine

J

,\

*♦ Now (Salted Monte Barbwo. la die kingdom «r Bapka.
Avermu 1b a lake new called Awnaio the tame country.

B—k*. LBCJiW* PHAR8ALIA. 193

Proudly he parti the flood tumultuous o'er,
Feadeas of waves that beat, and winds that roar;
Then spread his sails, and bid the land obey,
And through mid Athos " find his fleet a way.
like him bold Caesar yok'd the swelling tide, '
Like him the boistrous elements defied ;
This floating bank the straitening entrance bound.
And rising turrets trembled on the mound.
Bat anxious cares revolve in Pompey's breast,
The new sniroanding shores his thoughts molest :
Secret be meditates the means, to free
And spread the war wide-ranging o'er the sea.
Oft driving on the work with well-fill'd sails,
The cordage stretching with the freshening gales.
Ships with a thundering shock the mole divide,
And through the watery breach securely glide.
Huge engines oft by night their vengeance pour.
And dreadful shoot from far a fiery show'r j
Through the biackahade the darting flame descends.
And kindling o'er the wooden wall extends.
At length arriv'd with the revolving night,
TTie chosen hoar appointed for his flight :
lie bids his friends prevent the seaman's roar,
And still the deafening clamours on the shore ;
No trumpets may the watch by hours renew,
Nor sounding signals call aboard the crew.
The heavenly maid* 6 her course had almost run,
And Libra waited on the rising son ;

55 Xerxes cot a channel between the mountain Afoot aad
the continent of Macedonia, for hi* fleet to pats through.

56 The time both of the day and the year is here described
to fee in the morning before morn*, about the beginning of Sep*
tenaner; moegh the historians here mention Pompey's sailing te
bare been in the dark before day.

124 LUCAN'8 PHARSALIA. Book S,

When hush'din silence deep, they leave the land :
No loud-mouuYd voices call with hoarse com-
mand,
To heave the flooky anchors from the sand.
Lowly the careful master's orders past,
To brace the yards, and rear the lofty mast ;
Silent they spread the sails, and cables haul,
Nor to their mates for aid tumultuous call.
The chief himself to fortune breath'd a pray*r,
At length to take bim to her kinder care ;
That swiftly he might pass the liquid deep,
And lose the land which she forbade to keep*
Hardly the boon his niggard rate allow'd,
Unwillingly the murmuring seas were plough*d ;
The foamy furrows roar'd beneath his prow,
And, sounding to the shore, alarm'd the foe. [sped,
Straight through the town their swift pursuit they
(For wide her gates the faithless city spread)
Along the winding port they took their way,
But griev'd to find the fleet had gain'd the sea,
Caesar with rage the lessening sails descries,
And thinks the conquest mean, though Pompey flies.
A narrow pass the horned mole divides,
Narrow as that where Euripus" 7 strong tides
Beat on Euboean Chalcis' rocky sides :
Here two tall ships become the victor's prey;
Just in the strait they stuck ; the foes belay ;
The crooked grappling's steely hold they cast,
Then drag 'era to the hostile shore with baste.
Here civil slaughter first the sea profanes,
And purple Nereus blush'd in guilty stains.

57 The channel between the Island of Enboea; now Negro*
pent, and Greece. It wu very narrow near the city of Cbakk,

Negropont.

}

&90k *. LDCAMS PHAR$AL1A. 124

The rest pursue their course before the wind,
These of toe rear-most only left behind.
So when the Pagasstan Argo '* bore
The Grecian heroes to the Colchian shore ;
Earth, her Cyanean islands floating sent.
The bold adventurers' passage to prevent ;
But the fam'd bark a fragment only lost,
While swiftly o'er the dangerous gulf she cross'd :
Thundering, the mountains met and shook the main,
Bat move no more, since that attempt was vain.
Now through nigbt'sshade the early dawning broke,
And changing skies the coming sun bespoke ;
As yet the morn was dress'd in dusky white,
Nor purpled o'er the east with ruddy light j
At length the Pleiads' fading beams gave way,
And dull Bootes languish'd into day;
Each larger star withdrew his fainting head,
And Lucifer from stronger Phoebus fled j
When Pompey, from Hesperia's hostile shore,
Escaping, for the azure Offin bore.
O hero, happy once, once styl'd the Great !
What turns prevail in thy uncertain fate 1
How art thou chang'd since, sovereign of the main,
Thy natives coverM o'er the liquid plain I
When the fierce pirates fled before thy prow, J
Wherever waves could waft, or winds could blow ! v
But fortune is grown weary of thee now. )

58 The enterprise of Juon and the Argonauts for the golden
fleece ia well known. They set out from Pagfttas, a port of
Thessaly : when they came near the Cyanea Insula), or Sym-
piegaries (now called Pavonares), two islands at the entrance
into the Euxine sea, which were then believed to move, they
were like to be crushed between them ; but as the ship escaped,
and the malkjons islands were disappointed, It is said they grew
sullen, and never moved since.

126 LUCAN'9 PHARSALIA. Monk fL

With thee, thy sobs and tender wife, prepare
The toils of war and banishment to bear ;
And holy household-gods thy sorrows share.
And yet a mighty exile shalt thou go,
While nations follow, to partake thy woe.
Far lies the land in which thou art decreed,
Unjustly, by a villain's hand to bleed.
Nor think the gods a death so distant doom,
To rob thy ashes of an urn in Rome ;
But fortune favourably remov'd the crime,
And forc'd the guilt on Egypt's cursed- clime ;
The pitying powers to Italy were good,
And sav'd her from the stain of Pompey*s Mood*

LUCAN'S PHARSALIA,

BOOK III. V

SB

ARGUMENT.

The third book begins with the relation of Pompey's dream iu
hhrvoyage from Italy. Ceasar, who had driven him from
thence, (after tending Curio to provide com in Sicily) returns
to Rome. There diadidoing the single oppoaiiion of L.
Juetellus, then tribune of the people, he breaks open the.
temple of Saturn, and Seizes on the public! treasure. Then
follows an account of the several different nations that took
part with Pompey. From Rome, Caesar passes iuto Gaul,
where the Matsiliana, who were inclinable to Pompey, send
an embassy to propose a neutrality : this Gsasar refuses, and
besieges the town. But meeting with more difficulties than
he expected, he leaves C.Trebonius, his lieutenant, before
Stassilia, and marches himself into Spain ; appointing, at
the same time, D. Brutus admiral of a navy which be had
built and fitted out with great expedition. The Massilians
Jikuwise send out their fleet, but are engaged and beaten at
sea by Brutus,

=?BS»=K3S2

Through the mid ocean now the navy sails, '
Their yielding canvass stretch'd by southern gales*
Each to the vast Ionian tarns his eye,
Where seas and skies the prospect wide supply 2
But Pompey backward ever bent his look,
Nor to the last his native coast forsook. .

J

120 LUCAN'S PHARSAL1A. B<H>k S.

His watery eyes the lessening objects mourn,
And parting shores that never shall return ;
Still the lov'd land attentive they pursue,
Till the tall hills are veil'd in cloudy blue,
Till all is lost in air, and vanished from his view.
At length, the weary chieftain sunk to rest,
And creeping slumbers sooth'd his anxious breast :
When, lo ! in that short moment of repose,
His Julia's shade a dreadful vision rose ;
Through gaping earth her ghastly head she rear'd,
And by the light of livid flames appeared.
" Thy impious arms (she cried) my peace infest,
And drive me from the mansions of the bless'd >
No more Elysium's happy fields I know,
Dragged to the guilty Stygian shades below :
I saw the fury's horrid hands prepare
New rage, new flames to kindle up thy war.
The sire ' no longer trusts his single boat,
But navies on the joyless river float.
Capacious hell complains, for want of room,
And seeks new plagues for multitudes to come.
Her nimble hands each fatal sister plies,
The Sisters a scarcely to the task suffice, [head !
When thou wert mine, what laurels crown'd ttay
Now thou hast changed thy fortune with thy bed.
In an ill bour thy second choice was made,
To slaughter thou, like Crassus, art betrayed.
Death is the dower Cornelia's love affords,
Ruin still waits upon her potent lord's :
While yet my ashes glow'd, she took my place,
\nd came a harlot to thy loose embrace,
hit let her partner of thy warfare go,
^et her by land and sea thy labours know :'
1 Charon. * The Deitinie*.

&0*k3. LtlCAN'S PHARSALIA. 12*

Id all thy broken sleeps I will be near,
In all thy dreams sad Julia shall appear.
Yoar loves shall find no moment for delight,
The day shall all be Caesar's, mine the night
Not the dull stream, where long oblivions roll,
Shall blot thee out, my hnsband ! from my soul.
The powers beneath my constancy approve,
And bid me follow wheresoever yon rove,
Amidst the joining battles will I stand,
And still remind thee of thy plighted hand.
Nor think those sacred ties no more remain ;
The sword of war divides the knot in vain,
That very war shall make thee mine again."

The phantom spoke, and, gliding from the place,
Deluded her astonish'd lord's embrace.
But he, though gods forewarn him of his fate^
And fortes with destruction threatening wait,
With new resolves his constant bosom warms,
And, sure of rain, rushes on to arms.
" What mean these terrors of the night? (he cries):
wiry dance these visions vain before our eyes ?
Or endless apathy succeeds to death,
And sense is lost with our expiring breath ;
Or if the soul some future life shall know,
To better worlds immortal shall she go :
Whatever event the doubtful question clears,
Death must be stiH unworthy of oar fears.'

Now headlong to the west the sun was fled,
And half in seas obscur'd his beamy head ;
Such seems the moon, while, growing yet, she shines,
Or waning from her fuller orb declines ;
When hospitable shores appear at hand,
Wherefair Dyrrachium spreads her friendly strand

130 lucan'8 pharsalia. Books,

The seamen furl the canvass, strike the mast.
Then dip their nimble oars, and landward haste.
Thus, while they fled, and lessening by degrees
The navy seem'd to hide beneath the seas ;
Caesar, though left the master of the field,
With eyes unpieasd the foes' escape beheld :
With fierce impatience victory he scorns,
And viewing Pompey's flight, his safety moum&t
To vanquish seems unworthy of his care,
Unless the blow decides the lingering war.
No bounds his headlong vast ambition knows,
Nor joys in aught, though fortune ajl bestows.
At length his thoughts from arms and vengeance-
cease,
And for awhile revolve the arts of peace;
Careful to purchase popular applause,
And gain the lazy vulgar to his cause,
He knew the constant practice of the great,
That those who court the vulgar, bid 'em eat.
When pinch'd with want all reverence they with*
For hungry multitudes obey uo law : [draw j

Thus therefore factions make their parties good,
And buy authority and power with food*
The murmurs of the many to prevent,
Curio to fruitful Sicily is sent.
Of old the swelling sea's impetuous tide
Tore the fair island from Hesperia's side :
Still foamy wars the jealous waves maintain,
For fear the neighbouring lands should join again*
Sardinia too, renown'd for yellow fields,
With Sicily her bounteous tribute yields;
tfo lands a glebe of richer tillage boast,
Nor waft more plenty to the Roman coast :

HookS. LOCAH'g PHARgALlA. 131

Not Libya more abounds in wealthy grain,
Nor with a fuller harvest spreads the plain ;
Though northern winds their cloudy treasures

bear,
To temper well the soil and sultry air,
And fattening rains increase the prosperous year.

This done, to Rome his way the leader took :
His train the rougher shows of war forsook j
No force, no fears, their hands unarmed bear,
But looks of peace and gentleness they wear.
Oh ! had he now bis country's friend return'd,
Had none but barbarous foes his conquest mourn'd j
What swarming crowds had issued at the gate,
On the glad triumph's lengthening train to wait f
How might his wars in various glories shine,
The ocean vaoquish'd, and in bonds the Rhine?
How would his lofty chariot roll along,
Through loud applauses of the joyful throng !
How might he view from high his captive thralls,
The beauteous Britons, and the noble Gauls !
Bat oh ! what fatal honours has he won !
How is his fame by victory undone 1
No cheerful citiiens the victor meet,
Bat, huslfd, with awful dread his passage greet.
He too the horrors of the crowd approv'd,
Joy*d in their fears, and wish'd not to be lov*d.

Now ateepy Anxur 3 past, and the moist way,
Which o'er the faithless Pomtine marshes 4 lay ;

3. Vow called TMrrtcina, a city el*ty miles west of Rom
Ike way between that city and Naples.
. * These are in toe Pop** territories, along the coast <
Tuscan sea from Nettono to the -west of Terradna.

152 LUCAN'S PHARSALIA. Book Si

Through Scytliian Dian's Aricinfan grove 5 ,
Caesar approach'd the fane of Alban Jove.
Thither with yearly rites the consols come,
And thence the chief snrvey'd his native Rome i
Wondering awhile he view'd her from afar,
Long from his eyes withheld by distant war,
" Fled they from thee, thoo seat of gods! (he cried)
Ere yet the fortune of the fight was tried ?
If thou art left, what prize can earth afford,
Worth the contention of the warrior's sword ?
Well for thy safety now the gods provide,
Since Parthian inroads spare thy naked side ;
Since yet no Scythians and Pannonians join,
Nor warlike Daci with the Getes combine ;
No foreign armies are against thee led,
While thou art curs'd with such a coward head.
A gentler fate the heavenly powers bestow,
A civil war, and Caesar for thy foe."

He said ; and straight the frighted city sought : — f
The city with confusion wild was fraught, >

And labouring shook with every dreadful thought. )
They think he comes to ravage, sack, and burn;
Religion, gods, and temples to overturn.
Their fears suggest him, willing to pursue
Whatever ills unbounded power can do :
Their hearts by one low passion only move,
Nor dare show hate, nor can dissemble love.
The lurking fathers, a dishearten'd band,
Drawn from their houses forth, by proud command,

5 Aricia was a city of Latium, now a town and cattle in the
'ampagna di Roma, on the Appian way. In a grove near
U place was worshipped an image of Diana, said to be brought
itber by Orestes from Taorka.

Book 3. LUCAN'S PHARSALIA. v }3#

Id Palatine Apollo's temple meet 6 ,

And sadly view the consuls' empty neat ;

No rods, no chairs curule, adorn the place,

Nor purple magistrates the' assembly grace.

Caesar is all things in himself alone,

The silent court is but a looker-on ;

With bnmble votes obedient they agree

To what their mighty subject shall decree ;

Whether as king, or god, be will be fear'd,

If royal thrones, or altars, shall be rear'd.

Ready for death, or banishment, they stand,

And wait their doom from his disposing hand ;

But he, by secret shame's reproaches staid,

Blush'd to command, what Rome would have obey'd,

Yet liberty, thus slighted and betray'd,

One last effort with indignation made;

One man she chose to try the' unequal fight,

And prove the power of justice against might.

While with rude uproar armed hands essay

To make old Saturn's treasuring fane their prey *;

The bold Metellus 8 , careless of his rate,

Rush'd through, and stood to guard the holy gate.

<5 Several historians tell os, that Csssar coming to Rome, after
Pnmpey bad left Italy, called the Senate together in the temple
of Apollo on the Palatine hill. In a speech to them there, be
excused the war be bad undertaken, as a thing be was compelled
to for his own defence against the injuries and envy of a few ;
and at the same time desired they would send messengers to
Pompey and the Consols to propose a treaty, for accommodat-
ing the present differences. Lncan in this, as in many other
places, pals Caesar'* actions in an invidious light ; and theSenr
according to him, make bnt a very mean figure upon, this r
don.

* 7 The temple of Satnrn was the place where the public tn
was kept.

* He was then the tribune of the people; an office aped

13* XUCAN'S pharsalia* Book 3.

So daring is the sordid love of gold !
So fearless death and dangers can behold !
Without a blow, defenceless, fell the laws;
While wealth, the basest, most inglorious cause,
Against oppressing tyranny makes head,
Finds bands to fight, and eloquence to plead.
The bustling tribune, straggling in the crowd,
Thus warns the victor of the wrong aloud.

"Through me, thon robber! force thy horrid way,
My sacred blood shall stain thy impious prey.
But there are gods, to urge thy guilty fete ;
Sure vengeance on thy sacrilege shall wait
Remember, by the tribune's curse pursued,
Crassus, too late, the violation rued
Pierce theamy breast, nor shall the crime displease,
This crowd is us'd to spectacles like these.
In a forsaken city are we left,
Of virtue with her noblest sons bereft.

" Why seek'st thou ours? is there not foreign gold?
Towns to be seck'd, and people to be sold?
With those reward the ruffian soldier's toil ;
Nor pay him with thy ruin'd country's spoil.
Hast thou not war ? let war thy wants provide."

He spoke : the victor, high in wrath, replied:
" Soothe not thy soul with hopes of death so vain,
No blood of thine my conquering sword shall stain.
Thy titles, and thy popular command,
Can never make thee worthy Caesar's hand.
Art thou thy country's sole defender? thou !
Can liberty and Rome be rall'n so low?

o sacred, thai the cane of M. Crasmrt great overthrow and
eatb in Parthia, was looked upon as the effect of hit
nraed bv Atreios the Tribune, as he left Rome.

Book S» UJCAN* PHARSALIA* 13f)

Nor time nor chance breed such confusions yet,
Nor are the mean so raised, nor sank tlie great;
Bot laws themselves would rather choose to be
Snppress'd by Caesar, than preservd by thee."

He said. The stubborn tribune kept his place,
While anger redden'd on the warrior's face ;
His wrathful hand descending grasp'd his blade,
And half forgot the peaceful part he played :
When Cotta, to prevent the kindling lire,
Thus sooth'd the rash Metellus to retire.

" Where kings prevail all liberty is lost,
And none but he wlm reigns can freedom boast :
Some shadow of the bliss thou sbalt retain,
Choosing to do what sovereign powers ordain :
VanquishM and long accustomed to submit,
With patience underneath our loads we sit;
Our chains alone our slavish fears excuse,
While we bear ill, we know not to refuse.
Far hence the fatal treasures lei him bear,
The seeds of mischief, and the cause of war.
Free states might well a loss like this deplore }
In servitude none miss the public store,
And 'tis the cuise of kings, for subjects to be poor.

The tribune with unwilling steps withdrew,
While impious hands the rude assault renew :
The brazen gates with thundering strokes resound,
And the Tarpeian mountain rings around.
At length the sacred storehouse open laid,
The hoarded wealth of ages past display'd :
There might be seen the sums proud Carthage sent '
Her long impending ruin to prevent

9 At the end of the first Panic war, the Carthaginians '
obliged to pay 1200 talents; at the second, 10,000: every U
was worth 1871. 10s. of onr money*

r. w >

oe, >
i. J

136 MJCAN'S PHAR8ALIA. Book 5.

There heap'd the Macedonian treasures shone,
That great Flaminius IO and iEmilius won
From vanquished Philip, and his hapless son.
There lay, what flying Pyrrhus lost, the gold
$corn'd by the patriots honesty " of old :
Whate'er our parsimonious sires could save,
What tributary gifts rich Syria I2 gave •,
The hundred Cretan cities 1 13 ample spoil ;
What Cato gather'd from the Cyprian isle.
Riches of captive kings by Pompey borne,
In happier days, his triumph to adorn,
From utmost India and the rising morn ;
Wealth infinite, in one rapacious day,
Became the needy soldiers' lawless prey ;
And wretched Rome, by robbery laid low,
Was poorer than the bankrupt Caesar ' 4 now.

Meanwhile, the world by Pompey's fate alarm'd,
Nations ordaind to share his fail had arm'd.
Greece first with troops the neighbouring war sup-
plied,
And sent the youth of Phocis Is to his side;

10 Philip, king of Macedonia, was vanquished by T. Q. Fla-
minius; and his ion Perses by Paulns £miliiu. Perse* was
led in triumph. See Plutarch in the life of Paulns JEmiUtu ;
where the magnificence of that triumph, and the miserable con-
dition of Persea, are described at large.

11 The money offered by Pyrrhus to Fabricius, and refused
by him.

ia Paid by Antiochus, betide what was given by Attains
king of Pergamas.

*3 Crete, uow Candia, was vanquished and plundered by
Q. Metellas. The elder Cato brought 7000 talents from Cyprus.

i4 Caesar, by the great sums of money which he had lavishly
expended in promoting his interest, had run himself prodi-
giously in debt.

15 A country of Achaia in Greeee between £tolh and Ikeotia*

B—k 3. LUCAJl'g PHARSALIA. 137

From Cyrrha and Amphisa's towers they mov'd,
And high Parnassus, by the Muse belov'd ;
Cephiuns' I6 sacred flood assistance lends,
Aod Dirce's I? spring his Theban leaders sends.
AJphseus " too affords his Pisa's aid ;
By Pisa's walls. the stream is first convey 'd,
Then seeks through seas the lov'd Sicilian maid.
From Maenalos ' 9 Arcadian shepherds swarm,
And warriors in Herculean Trachyn *° arm j
The Dryopes" Chaonia'S hills forsook,
And Sells aa left Dodona's silent oak.
Though Athens now had train'd her naval store,
And the Phcebean arsenal * J was poor,

in which were the mountains Parnassas and Helicon, the fountain
Hippocrene, the city of Delpbos, Cyrrha, and Amphisla, now
Salons : it ia at this time part of a province called livadia.

*• Now Celfoo, a river of Greece that rails into the golf of
Negropont. It rises in the mountains of Phocis, and is called
saertd, from the neighbourhood of its springs to the Delphic
oradc

>7 A fountain near Thehea.

■• A river of Arcadia, famous for his love to Arethosa the
water-nymph in Sicily ; and passing throogh the sea from Greece
to Sicily, without mixiug his waters, for her sake. Ste Ovid.
Metam.

«» A hill iu Arcadia.

*° A litUe territory of Phthiotis In Greece, on the coast of
the Matiacan golf; where the city Heradea, thence called also
Tracbin, stands.

*■ Inhabitants of Chaonia (now la Canine), part of Epiras.

** Xfeople of the same conutry ; Jupiter's oracnlons oak, or
grove at Dodooa, was then silent, and bad been so for soma

*3 The Athenians had (not improperly) dedicated their
arsenal to Phoebus ; since his oracle had first advised them tr
defend their city with wooden walls ; that is, with ships.

The latter part of this passage is very obscure, and the com
VOL. I. I*

i'38 XTJCAN'S PHARSALlA. Booti 3C

Three ships of Salamis to Pompey came,

To vindicate their isle's contested name,

And justify the ancient Attic claim.

Jove's Cretan people *♦ hastening to the war,

The Gnossian quiver and the shaft prepare ;

The bending bow they draw with deadly art,

And rival ev*n the flying Parthian's dart.

Wild Athamana* 5 who in the woods delight,

With Dardan Oriconians* 6 unite;

With these the* Encheliae * 7 who the name partake,.

Since Theban Cadmus first became a snake :

The Colchians planted on Illyrian shores,

Where rushing down Absyrtos* 8 foamy roars ;

mentators ara a good deal puziled about it. Beroaldus fancies
h relates to an old dispute between the Megarenses and Athe-
nians, concerning the propriety of Salamis; in which the former
were cast, and the island adjudged to the latter* upon the evi-
dence of a verse in Homer. The other interpretation U, that
this passage alludes to another Salamis in Cyprus, according to
mat of Horace:

Ambiguam telktre NbvA Salan^nafoduram,

As if it were to confirm the opinion of this Athenian Salamis -
being the first and true one. In the translation, I have en-
deavoured to take in both these senses.

*4 Crete was famous for the birth, and even for the burial of
Jupiter. Gtaossos was one of the hundred cities in that island.

25 People of the mountains in Epirus.

26 Oricum, or Oricon,a town of Epirus called Dardan, from
being formerly subject to Helenas and Andromache.

*7 People of Klyria, where Cadmus and Hermiotie were
said to be turned into snakes ; the word "Ey*«*uf signifies a
kind of serpent in Greek.

*8 Absyrtos is said to be a river and island of the same
name on the coast of Illyria, where Absyrtos, the brother of
Medea, was cot to pieces. Cellarius mentions only the islands
Absyrtides.

Book 9. lfcCAW*S tfHARSAtlA. f&9

With those where Peneus 19 runs, and hardy swains.
Whose ploughs divide lottos' fruitful plains.
From thence, ere yet the seaman's art was taught,
Rode Argo through the deep a passage sought :
She first explored the distant foreign land,
And show'd her strangers to the wondering strand j
Then nations nations knew, in leagues were johtfd,
And universal commerce mix'd mankind.
By her made bold, the daring race defied
The winds tempestuous, and the swelfing tide :
Much she enlarg'd destruction's ample pow*r,
And open'd ways to death, unknown toterore.
HiefiPholoe's heights 30 , that tabled Centaurs boast,
And Thracian Hs&mus 31 then his warriors lost.
Then Strymon 3 * was forsook, whose wintry flood
Commits to warmer Nile his featber'd brood;
Then bands from Cone and from Pence 33 came,
Where Ister loses his divided stream ;
From Idalis 34 where cold Cafcus flows,
And where Arisbe 3S thin, her sandy surface strews >

a *> Peneoi was a river, and Iolcns a sea-port town faThessaly,
Whence the Argonauts set forth with Jason.

3° A mountain in Arcadia, inhabited by Centaurs.

3i Or Anns, a mountain in Thrace.

3* A river of Thrace, whose banks abounded with cranes ;
■ow ceiled Iachar, in the European Turkey.

*3 The latter of these was an island amongst the months of
fbe Ister or Danube ; the former was likewise thereabouts*

34 The com m e n ta t ors explain the TeUut JateKt, in this
place, to be the territory about mount Ida ; which most be a
great mistake in geography ; for Caieos is a river in Mpaia
tutfor, a great way distant from Ida. It teems rather to hare
been a town ; and Pliny actually mentions one of that name to-
mb part of Alia.

35 A town to Trots. *

140 LUCAlf'l PHARBAUA. Btok 5.

From Pytane, and sad Celeme's 36 walls,
Where now in streams the ranquish'd Marayas falls :
Still his lamenting progeny deplore
Minerva's tuneful gift, and Phoebus' pow'r ;
While through steep banks his torrent swift he leads.
And with Mseander winds among the meads.
Proud Lydia's plains send forth her wealthy sons,
Pactolns there, and golden Hermns runs ;
From earth's dark womb bid treasures they convey,
And, rich in yellow waters, rise to day.
From Ilium, too, ill-omen*d ensigns move,
Again ordain'd their former fate to prove; _
Their arms they rang'd on Pompey's hapless side,
Nor sought a chief to Dardan kings allied :
Though tales of Troy proud Caesar's lineage grace,
With great JEneas and the Julian race.
The Syrians swift Orontes' banks forsake,
And from Idume's 37 palms their journey take;
Damascus obvious to the driving wind,
With Ninos* 38 and with Gaza's force is join'd.
Unstable Tyre now knit to firmer ground,
With Sidon 39 , for her purple shells renown'd;

36 Pytane was a town not far from the month of the river
Catena, Celeuss wai a city near the bead of the river Marayas,
the fabulous story of which is ; that be foond the pipes Pallas
had in disdain thrown away, and pragmatically set op for as
good a musician as Apollo ; by whom he was first vanquished,
and then flayed. But some companionate nymphs, who had
so good a taste as to like the performance of Marayas better
than that of Apollo, tuned him into a river which falls into the
Mseander.

37 The same that is called in the Holy Scriptures Edon.

38 a city of Assyria built by Ninus, the husband of Semlra-
mis. Some take it to be the same with Ninive.

39 Two celebrated maritime towns on the coast of Phoenicia,
famous for the making of purple, and their ether commerce

Book 3. LUCAN'g PHARSALIA. 141

Safe in tbe Cynosure, their glittering guide,
With well-directed navies stem the tide.
Phoenicians first 40 , if ancient fame he true,
The sacred mystery of letters knew ;
ITiey first by sound, in various lines designed,
Express'd the meaning of the thinking mind ;
The power of works by figures rude convey'd,
And useful science everlasting made.
Then Memphis, ere the reedy leaf was known,
Engrav'd her precepts and her arts in stone j
While animals, in various order plac'd,
The learned hieroglyphic column grac*d.
Then left they lofty Taurus'* 1 spreading grove,
And Taraos 4 *, built by Perseus, born of Jove;
Then Mallian and Corycian ^ towers they leave,
Where mouldering rocks disclose a gaping cave.

and navigation. Tyre was formerly an bland, bat was joined
to the continent by Alexander the Great. According to Locaa
is this place, they nsed to make their observations, and direct
their coarse at sea by the Cynosura or tester Bear.

*° Cadmus is said to be the first who brought the ose aud
knowledge of letters from amongst the Phoenicians into Greece.
Himself perhaps wm the iuventor of ihein : till then, the
Egyptians (among whom the earliest dawning! of learning be-
gan) delivered their knowledge down to posterity by hierogly-
phics, or .figures carved opoo stone pillars. Afterwards, when
letters were fonnd oat, they were the first who made paper of
a certain flag, or reed, growing in the marshes of the Nile, called
biblot and papyrus.

** A famous mountain In Asia ; most properly, the part
which divides Cilicia and Pamphylia from Armenia.

4* A city of Cilicia, famous among christians lor the birth
of St. Pani.

♦* Mallos, X%tot tnd Corldnm, were sea-ports of CUlda ; at
tbe latter of these was a remarkable cave. Lucan observes very
well here, that the Cilkians were engaged in a just cause now,
and not apon tbe same foot as when they wars famous for their
piracies, and vanquished by Pompey.

10 Utah's pharsalia, Betk B.

The bold Cilicians, pirates now no more,
Unfurl a juster sail, and ply the oar ;
To Egse's port they gather all around,
The shores with shouting mariners resound.
Far in the east war spreads the loud alarm.
Where worshippers of distant Ganges arm:
Right to .the breaking day his waters run,
The only stream that braves the rising sun.
By this strong flood, and by the ocean bound,
Proud Alexander's arms a limit found ;
Vain in his hopes the youth had grasp'd at all,
And his vast thought took in the vanquish'd ball ;
But own'd, when forc'd from Ganges to retreat,
The world too mighty, and the task too great.
Then on the banks of Indus, nations rose
Where, unperceiv'd, the nriVd Hydaepes 44 flows:
In numbers vast they coast the rapid flood,
Strange in their habit, manners, and their food.
With saffron dyes their dangling locks they stain,
With glittering gems their flowing robes con-
strain,
And quaff rich juices 45 from the luscious cane.
On their own funerals 46 and death they smile,
And living leap amidst the burning pile;
Heroic minds that can ev'n fate command,
And bid it wait upon a mortal hand ;
Who full of life forsake it as a feast,
Take what they like, and give the gods the rest.

44 A river that rites in the northernmost part of India, to-
rd the mountain Imans, and falls into the Indus.
•5 These were sugar-canes undoubtedly, though the saecka-
t, or sugar, of the ancients was not like oars ; bat only the
e squeezed out, and mingled with their drink.
5 These are still the manners of the Brachmans in India,

&09k 3. LUCAH'S PHARfiALIA. 148

Descending then, fierce Cappadocian swains,
From rude Amanua 47 mountains, sought the plains.
Armenians from Nipbates' rolling stream,
And from their lofty woods Coastrians 48 came*
Then, wondering Arabs from the sultry line
For ever northward saw the shade incline *K
Then did the madness of the Roman rage
Carmanian and Olostrian 50 chiefs engage :
Beneath tar distant southern heavens they lie, )
Where half the setting Bear 5l forsakes the sky, r
And swift our slow Bootes seems to fly. )

These furies to the sun-burn'd Ethiops spread,
And reach the great Euphrates' rising head.
One spring the Tigris and Euphrates know,
And joio'd awhile the kindred rivers flow ;
Scarce could we judge between the doubtful claim,
If Tigris, or Euphrates, give the name :
But soon Euphrates' parting waves divide,
Covering, like fruitful Nile* the country wide ;

*7 A mountain in Cilicia.

48 These people, Groiius, from Pliny, makes neighbonrs to
-Che Palo* Mceotii; perhaps, the Choraxi mentioned thereabout!
by Cellaring. Others call them Coatrae, and aasigu them to the
mountains between Assyria and Media.

49 The people of Arabia Felix, who lie between the tropics,
while they were at home, were used to see the sh.iduw fall some-
time* to the north, and sometimes to the south, as the sun was
on this or that side of them ; bat when they came without the
Tropic of Cancer, they might very easily be surprised to see the
«d always south, and the shadow of consequence always fallior
to the north.

5° The first were people between Persia and India, the Is
about lb* months of the river Indus.

51 The deration of the north pole is so very small in tl
countries, that those constellations, which never set with
jppejir vtry little above the boriion there.

144 IUCAN'8 PHARSALIA. Book S.

While Tigris sinking from the sight of day,
Through subterranean channels cats his way;
Then from a second fountain springs again,
Shoots swiftly on, and rushing seeks the main,
The Parthian power , to neither chief a friend,
The doubtful issue in suspense attend ;
With neutral ease they view the strife from far,
And only lend occasion to the war i3 .
Not so the Scythians, where cold Bactras flows,
Or where Hircama's wilder forest grows ;
Their baneful shafts they dip, and string their ,

deadly hows*
The' Heniochi " of Sparta's valiant breed,
Skilful to press, and rein the 6ery steed :
J3armatiaii8 with the fiercer Moschi * 4 joined,
And (k>lchian» rich ss , where Phasis' waters wind,
To Pompey'8 side their aid assembling bring,
With Halys '", fatal to the Lydianking;
With Tanais 57 felling from Riphaeaa snows,
Who forms the world's division as he goes :
With noblest name's his rising banks are crown d,
This stands for Europe's, that for Asia's bound ;

** The death of Crtuoa. See the first book, p. 47.

53 People near the Enxine sea, planted there by Amphytns
and Telechlus, the charioteers (so the word Heniochi signifies in
Greek ) of Castor and Pollux.

54 rartars and Russians.

55 Famods for the golden fleece. The river Pbasis runs through
that country into the Euxine.

56 Halys was a river that served as a boundary between Lydia
and Media. It was famous for the quibbling oracle given to
CrcBHUS, that ' passing over Halys he should subvert • mighty
' empire;* which he took to be that of the Modes, and the oracle
meant his own.

57 The Pop among the Tartars.

Book 3. LUCAN'S PHAR8AL1A. 145

While, as they wind, his waves with full command,
Diminish, or enlarge the' adjacent land.
Then arm'd the nations on Cimmerian shores,
Where through the Bospborus Mceotis roars,
And her full lake amidst the Euxine pours.
This straight, like that of Hercules, supplies
The midland seas, and bids the' ASgean rise.
Sithonians fierce * 8 , and Arimaspians bold.
Who bind their plaited hair in shining gold.
The Gelon nimble, and' Areian strong,
March with the hardy Massagete along t
The Massagete, who at his savage feast
Feeds pn the generous steed, which once he press'd.

Not Cyrus when he spreads his Eastern reign,
And hid with multitudes the Lydian plain;
Not haughty Xerxes, when, his power to boast,
By shafts he counted S9 all his mighty host ;
Not he °° who drew the Grecian chiefs along,
9eni to revenge his injurM brother's wrong;
Or with such navies ploughed the foamy main,
Or led so many kings amongst their warlike train.
Sure in one cause such numbers never yet,
Various in countries, speech, and manners, met ;
But Fortune gathered, o'er the spacious ball,
These spoils, to grace her once-lovM favourite's fall.
Nor then the Libyan Moor withheld his aid,
Where sacred Amnion lifts his horned head :

5* With the other names here mentioned were Scythians or
Tartan.

S9 Herodotus tells as, that Xerxes* in a review of that pro*
digiooj army with which he invaded Greece, commanded every
soldier, as be passed hy, to shoot an arrow ; by counting which,
he might have an exact account of the whole number of hit
forces.

*° Agamemnon.

146 LUCAN'S PHAR8AUA. Bo*k %.

All Afric, from the western ocean's bound,
To eastern Nile, the canse of Pompey own'd.
Mankind assembled for Puarsalia's day,
To make the world at once the victor's prey.

Now, trembling Rome forsook, with swiftest
Cesar the cloudy Alpine. hills badpass'd. [haste ;
But while the nations, with subjection tame,
Yield to the terrors of his mighty name ;
With faith uncommon to the changing Greeks,
What duty bids Massilia* 1 bravely seeks :
And true to oaths, their liberty, and laws,
To stronger fate prefer the juster cause.
But first to move his haughty soul they try,
Entreaties and persuasion soft apply ;
Their brows Minerva's peaceful branches wear,
And- thus in gentlest terms they greet bis ear:

" When foreign wars molest the Roman state,
With ready arms our glad Massilians wait,
To share your dangers, and partake your

9 «wa •

in state, )
Lit, £
rfate. )

61 A city of France, now famous by the name of Marseilles.
It is said to have been first built by the Macedonians, and after-
wards decayitig'to nave Ven rebuilt by the inhabitants of Phocaea,
4u Asia* Minor, who were driven out of their country by the
power of Cyras. They are very often mistaken for, and sap-
posed to be descended from, the inhabitants of Phocitin Greece,
especially by Luoau, who in this story of the siege frequently
calls them Greeks.

When Caesar understood that Doraitius, whom he had lately
taken prisoner, and released at Corfloiutn, had put himself into
this city, that favoured Pompey, he sent for fifteen of the prin-
cipal men out of the totfn ? and Advised them not to draw a war
upon themselves, by their partiality and blind obedience to one
man. They bad shut their gates against him, and besought him,
■avlth the softest terms of civility, to go on, and leave them in
what they called a neutrality ; but Caesar saw through their ar-
>ti$ce, and laid a close siege to the town.

B—k 3. LUCAN'8 PHARSAUA. 147

This, oar unshaken friendship vouches well,
And your recording annals best can tell.
E'en now we yield oor still devoted bands,
On foreign foes to wreak your dread commands :
Would yon to worlds unknown your triumphs
Behold! we follow wheresoe'er yon lead, [spread?
But if yon rouse at discord's baleful call,
If Romans fatally on Romans fall j
AU we can offer is a pitying fear,
And constant refuge for the wretched here.
Sacred to us you are : oh, may no stain
Of Lucian blood our innocence profane!
Should heaven itself be rent with civil rage,
Should giants once more with the gods engage ;
Officious piety would hardly dare
To proffer Jove assistance in the war.
Man unconcern'd and humble should remain,
Nor seek to know whose arms the conquest gain,
Jove's thunder will convince them of his reign.
Nor can your horrid discords want our swords,
Hie wicked world its multitudes affords ;
Too many nations at the call will come,
And gladly join to urge the fate of Rome.
Oh, had the rest like us their aid denied,
Yourselves must then the guilty strife decide ;
Then, who but should withhold his lifted hand,
When for his foe he saw his father stand ?
Brothers their rage had mutually repress'd,
Nor driven their javelins on a brother's breast.
Your war had ended soon ; had you not chose
Hands for the work which nature meant for f
Who, strangers to your blood, in arms delight
And rush remorseless to the cruel fight.

emain, )
uest gain, >
lis reign, j

148 LUCAN'S PHAR9AL1A. Book 3.

Briefly, the sum of all that we reqnest

Is, to receive thee, as our honour'd guest;

Let those thy dreadful ensigns shine afar,

Let Caesar come, but come without the war.

Let this one place from impious rage be free ;

That, if the gods the peace of Rome decree,

If your relenting angers yield to treat,

Pompey and thou, in safety, here may meet.

Then wherefore dost thou quit thy purpos'd way ?

Why, thus, Iberia's nobler wars delay? :>r

Mean and of little consequence we are,

A conquest much unworthy of thy care.

When Phocis' towers were laid in ashes low,

Hither we fled for refuge from the foe ;

Here, for our plain integrity renown'd,

A little town in narrow walls we bound :

No name in arms nor victories we boast,

But live poor exiles on a foreign coast.

If thou art bent on violence at last,

To burst our gates, and lay our bulwarks waste;

Know, we are equally resolv'd, whatever

The victor's fury can inflict, to hear.

Shall death destroy, shall flames the town o'ertarn?

Why — let our people bleed, our buildings born.

Wilt thou forbid the living stream to flow ?

We'll dig, and search the watery stores below.

Hunger and thirst with patience will we meet,

And what offended nature nauseates, eat.

Like brave Saguntum 62 , daring to be free,

Whate'er they suffer' d, well expect from thee.

6* ^ow called Morviedro, in (be kingdom of Valencia in
Spain. It was famous for.the siege it sustained against Hannibal.
Toe inhabitants, after eight or nine months resistance, and inf.

Bebk 3. lucan's pharsalia. 149

Babes, ravish'd from the fainting mother's breast.
Shall headlong in the burning pile be cast.
Matrons shall bare, their bosoms to their lords,
And beg destruction from their pityiug swords ;
The brother's hand the brother's heart shall wound,
And universal slaughter rage around.
If civil wars must waste this hapless town,
No hands shall bring that ruin but our own."

Thus said the Grecian messengers. When lo I
A gathering clond involved the Roman's brow:
Much grief, much wrath his troubled visage spoke,
Then into these disdainful words he broke :

" This trusting in our speedy march to Spain,
These hopes, this Grecian confidence, is vain ;
Wliate'er we purpose, leisure will be found
To lay Massilia level with the ground.
This bears, my valiant friends, a sound of joy j
Our useless arms, at length, shall find employ.
Winds lose their force that unresisted fly,
And flames unfed by fuel sink and die.
Our courage thus would soften in repose,
But fortune and rebellion yield us foes, [press'd —
Yet, mark I what love their friendly speech ex-
' Unarm'd and single, Caesar is their guest'
Thus, first they dare to stop me on my way;
Then, seek with fawning treason to betray.
Anon, they pray that civil rage may cease :
But war shall scourge 'em for those hopes of peace j
And make 'em know the present times afford,
At least while Caesar lives, no safety like the sword ',

tiering the but extremities, chose rather to born themselves mx*
every thing that w« dear or precious to them, than smrrer
to him.

150 I.UCANS rUABIAtlA. BeBft 3.

He Mid ; and to the city bent hi* way,:
The city , fearless all, before him lay :
With armed hands her battlements were crowed,
And lusty youth the bulwarks man'd around.
Near to the walls a rising mountain's head
Flat with a little level plain is spread:
Upon this height the wary chief designs
His camp to strengthen with surrounding lines.
Lofty alike, and with a warlike mien,
Massilia's neighbouring citadel is seen;
An humble valley fills the space between.
Straight he decrees— the middle tale to fill
And run a mole athwart from hill to bill.
But first a lengthening work extends its way,
Where open to the land this city lay,
And from the camp projecting joins th
Low sinks (lie ditch, the turfy breastworks rise,
And cat the captive town from all supplies :
While, gazing from their towers, the Greeks bemoan
The meads, the fie Ids, and fountains, once their own.
Well have they thns acquire the noblest name,
And consecrated these their walla to tame.
Fearless of Cresar and his arms they stood,
Nor drove before the headlong rushing flood :
And while he swept whole nations in a day, J
Hassilia bade the' impatient victor stay, >

And clog'd liis rapid conquest with delay. J

Fortune a master for the world prepar'd,
And these the' approaching slavery retard.
Ye times to come, record the warrior's praise,
W lio lengthen'd out expiring freedom's days!
■low while with toil unwearied rose the mound,
|r standing axe invades the groves around ;

Bonk 3. UJCAH'g PHARSAX1A. 151

light earth and shrubs the middle banks supplied,
Bat firmer beams most fortify the side ; [height,
Lest, when the towers advance their ponderous
The mouldering mass should yield beneath the
Not mr away, for ages past, had stood [weight.
An old inviolated sacred wood 6J ;
Whose gloomy boughs, thick interwoven, made
A chilly, cheerless, everlasting shade :
There,- nor the rustic gods nor satyrs sport,
Nor fawns and sylvans with the nymphs resort:
But barbarous priests some dreadful power adore,
And Imstrate every tree with human gore.
K mysteries in times of old receiv'd,
And pious ancientry be yet believ'd,
There, nor the feather'd songster bnilds her nest,
Nor lonely dens conceal the savage beast :
There no tempestuous winds presume to fly,
£v*n lightnings glance aloof r and shoot obliquely by.
No wanton breezes toss the chancing leaves,
But shiveriog horror in the branches heaves.
Black springs with pitchy streams divide the ground,
And bubbling tumble with a sullen sound :
Old images of forms mishapen stand,
Rude and unknowing of the artist* s hand ;
With hoary filth begrim'd, each ghastly head
Strikes the astonish'd gazer's soul with dread.
No gods, who long in common shapes appear'd,
Were e'er with such religious awe rever*d :
But zealous crowds in ignorance adore,
And still the less they know, they fear the more.

63 i cannot bnt think Tasso took the hint of his enchanted
wood, in the thirteenth book of his (Hemsakmme liberate
from thk of Lncan.

152 iucam's phakbalia. Backs.

Oft (as fame tells) the earth, id sounds of woe,
Is heard to groan from hollow depths below ;
The baleful yew, though dead, has oft been seen
To rise from earth, and spring with dusky green ;
With sparkling flames the trees unbnrning shine,
And round their .boles prodigious serpents twine*
The pious worshippers approach not near,
But shun their gods, and kneel with distant fear s
The priest himself, when, or the day or night
Rolling have reaeb'd their full meridian height,
Refrains the gloomy paths with wary feet,
Dreading the daemon of the grove to meet}
Who, terrible to sight, at that fix'd hour
Still treads the round about his dreary bow'r.

This wood, near neighbouring to the'encoropass'd
Untouch'd by former wars, remain'd alone ; [town,
And since the country round it naked stands,
From hence the Latiao chief supplies demands.
But lo ! the bolder hands, that should have struck,
With some unusual horror trembling shook ;
With silent dread and reverence they survey'd
The gloom majestic of the sacred shade :
None dares with impious steel the bark to rend,
Lest on himself the destin'd stroke descend.
Caesar perceiv'd the spreading fear to grow, '
Then, eager, caught an axe, and aim'd a blow.
Deep sunk within a violated oak
The wounding edge, and thus the warrior spoke :
" Now, let no doubting hand the task decline j
Cut you the wood, and let the guilt be mine.'
The trembling bands unwillingly obey'd j
Two various ills were in the balance laid,
And Caesar's wrath against the gods was wei(

sigh»d.J

B*ek S. LBCiM 1 ! PHAHSt (.1A. 153

TbcB Jove's Dodouian tree °* ru forc'd to bow ;
The lofty aih and knotty holm lay low ;
The floating alder, by the current borne,
The cypress, by the noble mourner worn,
Veil their aerial summits, and display
Their dark reeease* to the golden day ;
Crowding they fall, each o'er the other lira,
And beap'd on high the leafy pile* arise.
With grief and fear, the groaning Gaol* beheld
Their holy grave by impious soldiers fcll'd ;
While the M milium, from the' eucompasa'd wall,
Bejoic'd to see the sylvan honours fall:
They hope such power can never prosper long,
Nor think the patient gods will bear the wrong.
Bot, ah I too oft Bncceaa to guilt is fiiv'n,
And wretches only stand the mark of heav'n.
With timber largely Iron the wood supplied,
For wains the legions search the country wide;
The*) from the crooked plough unyoke the steer.
And leave the swain to mourn the fruitless year.
Meanwhile, impatient of the lingering war, *
The cbieftaiu to Iberia bend "

::■}

With diligence the destin'd task he plies

Huge wo rW* of earth with strengthening beama;i[ :
High tottering towers M , by no fia'd basis bound,
Soil nodding on, along the (table mound.
M At Dortom In Epiiut, Jnpflei wh uid to |fn oncla

lb 000 bo™ Ism Spate la Jala Pastas;

154 LGC&N'S PHARSALIA. Book &

The Greeks with wonder on the movement look,
And fancy earth's' foundations deep are shook ;
Fierce winds they think the beldame's entrails teary
And anxious for their walls and city fear)
The Roman from th£ lofty top looks down,
And rains a winged war upon the town.

Nor with less active rage the Grecians bum,
But larger ruin on their foes return :
Nor hands alone the missile deaths supply,
From nervous cross-bows whistling arrows fly}
The steely corslet and the bone tiiejrbreak, -
Through multitudes their ratal journeys take j •
Nor wait the lingering Parcae's slow delay;
But wound, and to new slaughter wing their wayt
Now by some vast machine 67 a pondrous stone,
Pernicious, from the hostile wall is thrown ;
At once, on many, swift the shock descends,
And the crush'd carcases confounding blends.

by the Romans in siege*, were of two sorts, the lesser and the
greater: the lesser sort were about 60 cubits' high, and the
square sides 17' en WW broad. They had five or six, and some-
times ten stories or divisions, ever} division being, made open
on all sides. The great turret was ldo cubits high, and 23
cubits square; containing sometimes 15, sometimes £0 divi-
sions. They were of very great use in making approaches to
the walls ; the divisions being capable of carrying' soldiers
with engines, ladders, casting-bridges, and other necessaries.
The wheehr on which they went were contrived to be within
the planks, to defend them from the enemy; and the men
who were to' drive them forward, stood behind, where they
were most secure. The soldiers in the inside were protected
by raw hides; which were thrown over the turret in stick
places as were most exposed.

°7 The machine here mentioned i» what the RoroanT called
baUstm. Throwing of stones was the proper use of it ; at the
catapuita was for large darts and spears, and the scorpio for

«er darts or arrows. Dr* Kennet's Roman Antiquities.

rn, i

£•** S. lGcaw's *har8A£ia. ite

So rolls tome filling rock by age long worn,

Loose from its root by raging whirlwinds torn,

And thundering down the precipice is borne

O'er crashing woods the mass is seen to ride,

To grind its way, and plain the mountain's side.

GalFd with the shot from far the legions join,

Their bucklers in the warlike shell 68 combine;

Compact and close the brazen roof they bear,

And in just order to the town draw near :

Safe they advance, while with unwearied pain

The wrathful engines waste their stores in vain;

High o'er their heads the destin'd deaths are tosstf,

And Jar behind in vacant earth are lost :

Nor sudden could they change their erring aim,

Slow and unwieldy moves the cumbrous frame.

This seen, the Greeks their brawny arms employ,

And hud a stony tempest from on high :

The clattering shower the sounding fence assails; )

But vain, as when the stormy winter hails, f

Nor on the solid marble roof prevails : J

Till oVd at length, the warriors fall their shields ;

And, spent with toil, the broken phalanx 69 yields.

Now other stratagems the war supplies,

Beneath the vine* 70 close the 1 assailant lies.

The strong machine, with planks and turf bespread,

Moves to the walls its well-defended head ;

Within the covert safe the miners lurk,

And to the deep foundation urge their work.

<** The testudo, or ibeli, wu a agar* the Roman infantry
threw thenuehres into, with their shields over their heads to
protect them.

69 This properly signifies a square body of infantry used by
the Macedonians, bat it taken here at large for any body «"
loot.

70 for the vine*, ate before, book U.

Itt LUOAN'* MABJAIJA. Sotfc &

Now justly pois'd the thundering ram 71 they sling.
And drive him forceful with a lurching spring;
Haply, to loose some yielding part at lengthy
And shake the firm cemented bulwark's strength.
Bat from the town the Grecian youth prepare
With hardy vigour to repel the war :
Crowding they gather on the rampart's height.
And with tough staves and spears maintain the fight ;
Darts, fragments of the rock, and flames they threw.
And tear the phmky shelter fix'd below :
Around by all the warring tempest beat,
The baffled Remans snHenly retreat.

Now, by success the brave Massilmns nVd,
To fame of higher enterprise aspir'd;
Nor longer with their walls' defence content,
In daring sallies they the foe prevent.
Nor arm'd win swords, nor pointed spears they go,
Nor aim the shaft, nor bend the deadly bow 3
Fierce Mufciber supplies the bold design,
And for their weapons kindling torches shine.
Silent they issue through the gloomy night,
And with broad shields restrain the beamy light :
Sudden the blaae on every side began,
And o'er the Latian works resistless ran ; '
Catching, and driving with the wind it grows,
Fierce through the shade the burning delnge glows :
Nor earth, nor greener planks, its force demy,
Swift o'er the hissing beams it roHs away :
£mbrown'd with smoke, the wavy flames ascend,
Shi ver*d with heat the crackling quarries rend ;

7* The. rsnvto described i» Jotephns. s»d U not unkjsowu to
nost readen. Of this likewise tee Dr. Kennet, in book St.
•p. 19.

JBt*fc 3- LUCAH'S PHAR84UA* 157

Till, with a rear at last, the mighty mound,
Towers>engiues,all,coine thundering to the ground :
Wide-spread the discontinuous ruins lie,
And vast confusion fills the gazer's eye.

Vanquished by land, the Romans seek the mam,
And -prove the fortune of the watery plain :
Their navy, rudely built, and rigg'd hi haste,
Down through the rapid Rhone descending pass*e%
No golden gods protect the shining prow,
Nor silken streamers lightly dancing flow 5
But rough in stable floorings lies the wood,
As in the native forest once it stood.
Rearing above the rest her towery head,
Brutus 1 tall ship the floating squadron led.
To sea soon wafted by the nasty tide,
Right to the Stecbades 72 their course they guide,
Resolv'd to urge their fate, with equal cares,
Mnssilia for the naval war prepares;
All hands the city for the task requires,
And arms her striplings young, and hoary sires ;
Vessels of every sort and sine she fits,
And speedy to the briny deep commits.
The crazy hulk, that, worn with winds and tides,
Safe in the dock, and long neglected,
She planks anew, and calks her leaky

Now rose the morning, and the golden sun w,
With. beams refracted on the ocean shone ;
Clear was the sky, tlie waves from murmur cease.
And every ruder wind was hush'd in peace ;
Smooth lay the glassy surface of the main,
And offered to the war its ample plain :

?* The lata of Hteres, sot fa- from Tonlon, on the com* of
Ffovtnucw

uis.

Is and tides, )
I, rides, >
:y sides. )

\

1S8 LUCAN'S J»HA**ALIA. BmA S.

When to the deslin'd stations all repair ;
Here Caesar's powers, the youth of Phocis there.
Their brawny arms are bar'd, their oars they dip,
Swift o'er the water glides the nimble ship ;
Keels the strong blow the well compacted oak,
And trembling springs at each repeated stroke,
Crooked in front the Latian navy stood,
And wound a bending crescent o'er the flood :
With four full banks of oars advancing high,
On either wing the larger vessels ply.
While in the centre safe the lesser galliots lie.
Brutus the first, with eminent command,
In the tall admiral is seen to stand ;
Six rows of lengthening pines the billows sweep,
And heave the burden o'er the groaning deep.
« Now prow to prow advance each hostile fleet,
And want but one concurring stroke to meet ;
When peals of shouts and mingling clamours roar,
And drown the brazen trump and plunging oar.
The brushing pine the frothy surface plies,
While on their banks the lusty rowers rise :
Each brings the stroke back on his ample chest,
Then firm upon his seat he lights repressed.
With clashing beaks the launching vessels meet,
And from the mutual shock alike retreat.
Thick clouds of flying shafts the welkin hide,
Then fall, and floating strow the ocean wide.
At length the stretching wings their order leave,
And in the line the mingling foe receive :
Then might be seen, how, dashM from side to side,
Before the stemming vessels drove the tide;
'Jill as each keel her foamy farrow ploughs,
J ow Jjack, now forth, the surge obedient flows,

• ■]

lies,) 4

Ssftfcd. LUCAll'S PHABSALIA. : 1S»

Thus warring winds alternate role maintain,
And this, and that way, roll the yielding main.
MassUia's navy, nimble, clean, and light,
With best advantage seek or shun the fight ;
•With ready ease all answer to command,
Obey the helm, and feel the pilot's hand.
Not so the Romans : cumbrous hulks they lay,
And slow and heavy, hang upon the sea ;
Yet strong, and for the closer -combat good,
They yield firm footing ^m the' unstable flood.
Thus Brutus saw, and to the master cries,
<TUe master in the lofty poop heapies,
Where, streaming, the Praetorian ensign flies
" Still wilt thou bear away, stiH shift thy place,
And torn the battle to a wanton chase ?
Is this a time to play so mean a part,
To tack, to veer, and boast thy trifling art ?
Bring to. The war shall hand te hand be tried ;
-Oppose then to the foe our ample side ;
And let as meet Uke men." The chieftain said ;
The ready master the command obey'd,
And side-long to the foe the ship was laid.
tJpon his waste fierce fall the thundering Greeks,
Fast in his timber stick their brazen beaks ;
Somelie by chains and grappling* strong compell'd,
While others by the tangling oars are held :
The seas ate bid beneath the closing war,
Nor need they east the javelin now from far ;
With hardy strokes the combatants engage,
And with keen falchions deal their deadly rage;
Man against man, and board by board they lie,
And on those decks their arms defended die.
The rolling surge is stain'd around with bloody
4nd loamy purple swells the rising flood ;

I

160 LCCAN'S PHARSALIA. Bfk J.

The floating carcases the ships delay,
Hang on each keel, and intercept her way ;
Helpless beneath the deep the dying sink,
And gore, with briny ocean niingkng,.dnnk.
8ome, while amidst the tumbling waves they strive,
And struggling with destruction float alive,
Or by some pondrous beam are beaten down,
Or sink transnVd by darts at random thrown.
That fatal day no javelin flies in vain,
Missing their mark, they wound upon the main.
It chanc'd, a warrior-sbip, on Caesar's side,
By two Maesilian foes was warmly plied;
But with divided force she meets the' attack,
And bravely drives the bold assailants back s
When from the lofty poop, where fierce he fonght,
Tagus to seijee the Grecian ancient sought;
But doable death his daring hand repress'd, "J
One spear transfirtl his back, and one his breast, >
And deadly met within his heaving chest 1

Doubtful awhile the flood was seen to stay,
At length the steely shafts at once gave way j
Then fleeting life a twofold passage found,
And ran divided from each streaming wound.
Hither his fate unhappy Telon led,
To naval arts from early childhood bred ;
No hand the helm more skilfully could guide,
Or stem the fury of the boistrous tide : •
He knew what winds should on the morrow blow,
And how the sails for safety to bestow ;
Celestial signals well he could descry, )

Could judge the radiant lights that shine on high, >
And read the coming tempest of the sky. J

pull on a Latian bark his beak he drives, .
The brazen beak the shivering alder rivet; ..

When from tatm boMUe bsad a Roman dart,
Deep pierring, trembled in his panting heart :
Yet attll km careful band iu task Hpjilies,
And tarns the guiding rodder— a* he ant.

To fill his place 1» " ~

Swift through fait loins a Hying javelin ■ truck,
And nailM hnn to the vessel he forsook.

Frienitlike, and tide by tide, two brethren fought,
Whom, at a birth, their fruitful mother brought :
So like the lines of each resembling face.
The nine the features, and die same the grace.
That fondly erring oft their parents' leak,
And each tor each alternately mistook :
Bat death, too soon, a dire distinction makes,
While one, untimely anatch'd, the nght forsakes.
His brother's fours the sad survivor areata,
And still renews his hapless parents' tears :
Too sure they ace their single hope remain,
And while they bless the linear mourn the stain.
He, this be!d jooth",aa board and board they stand,
FU'd on a Roman ship his daring hand ;

M The ttiMr of tfca two, satiixw. TUi plica It la iialu-
tlun of Virjil, I* ■■

iJaacSa SLarUr, 7»|ai»t>sw, iJalHIia PraUt,
Aasifcrata ntU, grutitfme, en.
And ifltr hbn Ike Sueiu t*im wtn illio,
Lirll nu.l Iktailm, on Iba Laliin plain ;

l'6t lUCAlfS PHAR&4LIA. Book&S

Full on his arm a mighty blow descends,
And the torn limb from off the shoulder rends;
The rigid nerves are cramp'd with stiffening cold.
Convulsive grasp, and still retain their hold.
Nor sunk his valour by the pain depvess'd,
Bnt nobler rage inflam'd bis mangled breast :
His left remaining hand the combat tries,
And fiercely forth to catch the right he flies-;
The same hard destiny the left demands,
And now a naked helpless trunk he stands.
Nor deigns he, though defenceless to the foe.
To seek the safety of the hold below ;
For every coming javelin's point prepar'd,
He steps between, and stands his brother's guard;
TiUiix'd, and horrid with a wood of spears,
A thousand deaths, at others aim'd, he wears.
Resolv'd at length bis utmost force to' exert,
His spirits gathertt to bis fainting heart,
And the last vigour rous'd in every part;
Then nimble from the Grecian deck he rose,
And with a leap sprung fierce amidst his foes :
And when his jiands no more could wreak bis hate,
His sword no more could minister to fate,
Dying he preaa'd 'em with his hostile weight.
O'ercharg'd the ship, with carcases and blood,
Drunk fast at many a leak the briny flood :
Yielding at length the waters wide give way,
And fold her in the bosom of the sea ;
Then o'er her head returning rolls the tide,
And covering waves the sinking hatches hide.

That frtal day was slaughter seen to reign,
In wonders various, on the liquid plain.

On Lycidas a steely grappling struck ;
Struggling he drags with the tenacious hook,

}

B**k 3. - lUCAM'B PHARSAHA. 163

And deep had drown'd beneath the greedy ware,
Rot Unit his fellow* (trove tbetr mate to tare ;
Cum*; to his legs, they clasp hint all they can,
The gropptiBK m Pi sWHtar fliei the man.
No tingle wound the gaping rapture Kenu,
Where trickling crimson wells in slender streams ;
But from an opening horrible and wide,
A thousand vessels poor the bursting tide :
At once the winding channel's course was broke,
Where wandering life her mazy journey took ;
At once the correct* all forgot their way,
And lost their. purple in the azure sea.
Soon from the lower parti the spirit* fled,
And motionless the' exhausted limbs lly dead ;
Not eo the nobler regions, where the heart.
And heaving lungs, their vital power* exert ;
There lingering late, and long conflicting, life
Rose against fate, and still nxauitsin'd the strife :
Drivenont at length, unwilbngVy and alow, [below.
She left her mortal house, and sought the shades

While eager for the fight, a hardy crew
To one sole aide their force united drew,
The bark, unapt the' unequal poise to bear,
Turn'd o'er, and reaiM her lowest keel in air :

No aid the swimmer's useless arts supplies ;
The covering vast, o'erwhelming shuts 'em down.
And helpless in the hollow bold they drown,

One slaughter terrible above the rest,
The fatal horror of the tight exprest'd.
As o'er the crowded surface of the flood
A youthful swimmer swift his way pained ;
Two meeting ships, by equal fury press'd,
With hostile prow* trantflx'd his ample brea>ti

164 LOTAH'S PHARSAUA. . Book S.

Suspended by the dreadful shock he hong,
The brazen -beaks within his bosom rang ;
Blood, bones, and entrails, mashing with the blow,
From bis pale lips a hideous mixture flow.
At length the backing oars the fight restrain,
The lifeless body drops amidst the main ;
Soon enter at the breach the rushing waves,
And the salt stream the mangled carcase lares.

Around the watery cbampain wide dispread,
The living shipwrecks float amidst the dead ;
With active arms the liquid deep they ply,
And panting to their mates for succour cry.
Now to some social vessel press they new,
Their fellows pale the crowding numbers rear ;
With ruthless hearts their well-known friends

withstand,
And with keen falchions lop each grasping hand ;
The dying fingers ding and clench the wood,
The heavy teunk sinks helpless in the flood.

Now spent was all the warriors' steely store,
New darts they seek, and other arms explore
This wields a flag-staff, that a pondrous oar.
Wraths ready bands are never at a loss 5
The fragments of the shattered ship they toss.
The useless rower from his seat is cast,
Then fly the benches, and the broken mast.
Some seising, as it sinks, the breathless cone,
From the cold grasp the blood-stam'd weapon force.
Some from their own fresh bleeding bosoms take,
And at the foe the dropping javelin shake :
The left-hand stays the blood, and soothes the pain,
The right sends back the reeking spear again.

Now gods of various elements conspire ;
To Nereus, Vulcan joins his hostile fire ;

i.

tore, 2

>re; >

r. J

Jfeflfc X . LVCAH'S KAUAUA. 165

With oils i\ and living sulphur, darts they frame,
Prepar'd to spread alar the kindling flame:
Around the catching mischiefs swift succeed.
The floating hulks their own destruction feed ;
The smeary wax the bright ning blaze supplies,
And wavy fires from pitchy planks arise :
Amidst the flood the ruddy torrent strays,
And fierce upon the scattering shipwrecks preys ;
Here one with haste a flaming vessel leaves j
Another, spent and beaten by the waves,
As eager to the bulling ruin cleaves.
Amidst the various ways of death to kill,
Whether by seas, by fires, or wounding steel,
The dieadfrllest is that, whose present force we
feel.

Nor valour less her ratal rage maintains,
In daring breasts that swim the liquid plains :
Some, gather up the darts that floating lie,
And to the combatants new deaths supply.
Some struggling in the deep, the war provoke,
Rise o'er the surge, and aim a languid stroke.
Some with Strang grasp the foe conflicting join,
Mix limbs with limbs, and hostile wreathings twine,
Till plunging, pressing to the bottom down,
Vanquish'd and vanquishers alike they drown.

One, chief above the rest, is mark'd by fame,
For watery fight, and Phoceus was his name :
The heaving breath of life he knew to keep,
While long he dwelt within the lowest deep ;

74 This was a composition like our wildfire. The indents
bad a tort of darta, which they called pteterfctf, which wer
daobed or wound abort with, combustible matter: iheir "
waa to be shot into a ablp, wooden tower, or any thing
was to be »et on fire.

166 LUCAS'S PHAftSALf A. Bctok &

Fall many a fathom down be bad explored,
For treasures lost, old ocean's oosy hoard ;
Oft when the flooky anchor stack below,
He sank, and bade the captive vessel go.
A foe he seiz'd, close cleaving to his breast,
And underneath the tumbling billows press'd i
But when the skilful victor would repair
To upper seas, and sought the freer air ;
Hapless beneath the crowding keels he rosey
The crowding keels his wonted way oppose j
Back beaten, and astonished with the blow,
He sinks, to bide for ever now below.

Some hang upon the oars with weighty force,
To intercept the hostile vessel's coarse ;
Some to the last the cause they love defend,
And valiant lives by useful deaths would end ;
With breasts opposed the thundering beaks they
And what they fought for living, dying save, [brave,

As Tyrrhen r from a Roman poop on high,
Ran o'er the various combat with his eye ;
Sure aiming, from his Balearic thong,
Bold Iigdamus a pondrons bullet slung;
Through liquid air the ball shrill whistling flies,
And cuts its way through hapless Tyrrben's eyes.
The' astomsh'd youth stands struck with sudden

night,
While, bursting, start the bleeding orbs of sight.
At first he took the darkness to be death,
And thought himself amidst the shades beneath - ¥
But soon recovering from the stunning sound,
He hYd, unhappily he liv'd, he found.
Vigour at length, and wonted force returns,
And with new rage his valiant bosom, barns z

B*4k S. LCCAH'S pharsalu. 167

'* To me, my friends (he cried) your aid supply,
Nor useless let your fellow-soldier die ;
Give me, oppos'd against the foe to stand,
While, like some engine, yon direct my band
And thou, my poor remaining life, prepare
To meet each hazard of the various war;
At least, my mangled carcase shall pretend
To interpose, and shield some valiant friend :
Plac'd like a mark their darts I may sustain,
And, to preserve some better man, be slain."

Thus said, nnaiming he a javelin threw.
The javelin wing'd with sure destruction flew ;
In Argus the descending steel takes place,
Argus, a Grecian of illustrious race.
Deep sinks the piercing point, where to the loinr
Above the navel high the belly joins j
The staggering youth rails forward on his rate,
And helps the goring weapon with his weight.

It chanc'd, to ruthless destiny design'd,
To the same ship his aged sire was join'd :
While young, for high achievements washe known r
The first in fair Massilia for renown ;
Now an example merely, and a name,
Wilting to rouse the younger sort he came,
And fire their souls to emulate his fame.
When from the prow, where distant far be stood,
He saw his son lie weltering in his Mood ;
Soon to the poop, oft stumbling in his baste,
With Altering steps the feeble father pass'd.
No falling tears his wrinkled cheeks bedew,
But stiffening eold and motionless he grew ;
Deep night and deadly shades of darkness rise.
And hide his much-lov'd Argus from his eyes*

}

168 LUCAlTs FHARSAMA. BookSi

As to the diczy youth the sire appears,
His dying, weak, unwieldy bead he rears;
With lifted eyes he cast a mournful took,
His pale lips movM, and fain he would have spoke ;
Bat anexpress*d the' imperfect accent hung,
Lost in his falling jaws and murmuring tongue :
Yet in his speechless visage seems expressed,
What, had he words, would be bis last request :
That aged hand to seal bis closing eye,
And in his father's fond embrace to die :
But he, when grief with keenest sense revives,
With nature's strongest pangs conflicting strives :
" Let me not lose this hour of death, (he cries)
Which my indulgent destiny supplies ;
And thou forgive, forgive me, oh my son !
If thy dear lips and last embrace I shun.
Warm from thy wound the purple current flows,
And vital breath yet heaving comes and goes :
Yet my sad eyes behold thee yet alive,
And thou shalt, yet, thy wretched sire survive.**
He said, and fierce, by frantic sorrow press'd,
Plung'd his sharp sword amidst his aged breast :
And though life's gushing streams the weapon stain,
Headlong he leaps amidst the greedy main j
While this last wish ran ever in his mind,
To die, and leave his darling son behind ;
Eager to part, his soul disdahVd to wait,
And trust uncertain to a single fate.

And now Massilia's vanquish*d force gives way,
And Caesar's fortune claims the doubtful day.
The Grecian fleet is all dispers'd around,
Some in the bottom of the deep lie drowa'd ;
Some, captives made, their haughty victors bore.
While some, but those a few, fled timely to the shore.

B—k 3. Lucas's miaksali A. 169

Bat oh ! what verse, what nombera can express,
Hie mounifal city, and her tore distress I
Upon the beach Lamenting matron! stand,
And wailinga echo o'er the leugtheniug strand ;
Their eyes are fii'd upon the waters wide,
And watch the bodies driving with the tide.
Here a fond wife, with piona error, press'd
Some hostile Roman to ber throbbing b react ;
There to a mangled trunk two mother* run.
Each graapa, and each would claim it Tor her son ;
Each, wbat her boding heart persuades, believes,
And for the laat sad office fondly strives,

Bnt Brutus, now victorious on the main,
To Osar vindicates the watery plain ;
Firat to iiu brow be binds the naval crown.
And bids the apaciona deep the mighty mas tar own.

LUCAN'S PHARSALIA.

BOOK IV.

ARGUMENT.

Caesar having joined Fabius, whom he had sent before him to
Spain, incamps upon a rising ground near Ilerda, and not
far from the river Sicoria. There, the waters, being swollen;
by great rains, endanger his damp ; bnt the weather taming
fair, and the floods abating, Pompey's lieutenants, Aftanios
and Petrcius, who lay over against him, decamp suddenly.
Caesar follows, and incamps so as to cnt off their passage,
or any me of the river Iberus. As both armies lay new
very near to each other, the soldiers on both aides knew
and sainted one another j and forgetting the opposite interest
and factions they were engaged to, ran ont from their seve-
ral camps, and -embraced one another with great tenderness.
Many of Caesar's soidiers were invited into the enemy's
camp, and feasted by their friends and relations. But Pe-
treios, apprehending this familiarity might be of ill coase-
'qnerice to his party, commanded ihem. all (though against
' the roles of humanity and hospitality) to be killed. -After
thi?, he attempts in vain to march back towards Ilerda; bnt
is prevented, and inclosed by Caesar; to whom, both him-
self and Afranhu, after their army had suffered extremely
for want of water and other necessaries, are compelled to
surrender, without asking any other conditions than that they
•might not be compelled to take on in his army : this Cae-
sar, with great generosity, grants, and dismisses Ihem, In
the meanwhile, C. Autouina, who commanded for Caesar
near Salonae, on the coast of Dalmatia, being shut np by
.Octavius, Pompey's admiral, and destitute of provisions, had
^attempted by help of some vessels, or floating machines of

B«9k 4. LUCAN'S PHARSALIA. 11 \

a new invention, to pan through Pompey* fleet. Two of
thetu, by advantage of the tide, fonud means to escape; but
the third, which carried a thousand Opitergians, commanded
by Volteios, was intercepted by a boom laid under the water.
b, when they found it impossible to get off, »t the per-
rion, and by the example of their leader, ran npon one
another's swords and died. In Africa the poet introduces
Curio inquiring after the story of Hercules and Antaeus,
which is recounted to him by one of the natives, and after-
wards relates the particulars of his being circumvented, de-
feated, and killed by Juba.

But Caesar in Iberian fields afar,

Er'n to the western ocean, spreads the war ;

And though no hills of slaughter heap the plain, )

No purple deluge leaves a guilty stain ; V

Vast is the prize ', and great the victor's gain. )

For Pompey, with alternative command,

The brave Petreius and Afranius stand :

The chiefs in friendship's just conditions join,

And, cordial to the common cause, combine;

By turns they quit, by turns resume the sway,

The camp to guard, or battle to array : .

To these their aid the nimble Vectons* yield,

With those who till Asturia's hilly field ;

Nor wanted then the Celtiberians 3 bold, [old.

Who draw their long descent from Celtic Gauls of

* The redaction of Afranius and Petreius, Pompey 1 * lieute-
nants In Spain, with so little bloodshed, was of great advan.
tag* to Caesar; as it secured that province to him upon which
Pompey principally relied, and left him at liberty to prosecute
the war more powerfully in other places.

a The Vectones, or Vettones, were a people of Lositania,
{Portugal; separated from Astoria by the river Darius (Doaro )

3 People of Arragon.

tide,l

1? J X.UCAN'S FHAB&AUA. Book 4.

Where riling grounds the fruitful champain end,
And unperceiv'd by soft degrees ascend,
An ancient race their city chose to found,
And with Ilerda 4 walls the summit crown'd.
The Sicoris, of no ignoble name,
Fast by the mountain pours his gentle stream.
A stable bridge runs cross from side to side.
Whose spacious arch transmits the passing tide,
And jutting peers the wintry floods abide.
Two neighbouring hills their heads distinguished

raise:
The first great Pompey*s ensigns high displays;
Proud Caesar's camp upon the next is seen ;
The river interposing, glides between.
Wide spread beyond, an ample plain extends.
Far as the piercing eye its prospect sends :
Upon the spacious level's utmost bound,
The Cinga rolls his rapid waves around.
But soon in full Iberus' channel lost,
His blended waters seek Iberia's coast;
He yields to the superior torrent's fame.
And, with the country, takes his nobler name.

Now 'gan the lamp of Heaven the plains to gild,
When moving legions hide the' embattled field;
When front to front oppos'd in just array,
The chieftains each their hostile powers display :
But whether conscious shame their wrath rei
And soft reluctance rose in every breast ;
Or virtue did a short-liv'd rule resume,
And gain'd one day for liberty and Rome ;

4 The dty of Lerida in Catatonia. Sicoris, the river Segre,
and Cinga the Cinca, which fall Into lae Iberot, «c Ebro, in
the Mine country.

\

fiaele 4. LOCAN'S PHAR8ALIA. 173

Suspended rage yet lingered for a space,
And to. the west declined the sun in peace.
Night rose > and blackening shades involvM the sky,
When Caesar, bent war's wily arts to try 5 ,
Through his extended battle gives command,
The foremost lines in ordered shall stand;
Meanwhile the last, low larking from the foe,
With secret labour sink a trench below :
Successful, they the destuVd task pursue,
While closing files prevent the hostile view*

Soon as the morn renewed the dawning gray,
He bids the soldier urge his speedy way,
To seize a vacant height that near Ilerda lay.
Tins saw the foe ; and, wing'd with fear and shame,
Through secret paths with swift prevention came.
Now various motives various hopes afford,
To these the place, to those the conquering sword :
Oppressed beneath their armour's cumbrous weight,
The* assailants labouring tempt the steepy height;
Half bending back, they mount with panting pain,
The following crowd their foremost mate sustain ;
Against the shelving precipice they toil,
And prop their hands upon the steely pile;
On cliffs, and shrubs, their steps, some climbingstay,
With cutting swords some clear the woody way ;
Nor death, nor wounds, their enemies annoy,
While other uses now their arms employ.

5 Cesar, perceiving the enemy not disposed to an engage-
ment, kept two lines of his army (which he had drawn op into
three) under their arms all night ; while the third threw np a
trench in the rear for the security of his camp. The next
morning be endeavoured to possess himself of a height, ir
order to cat off the enemy's eommnnicatidn with Ilerda, bo
was repulsed with some lost.

174 lucAn's pharsalia. Book 4j

Their chief the danger from afar snrvey'd,
And bade the horse fly timely to their aid.
Jn order just the ready squadrons ride,
Then wheeling to the right and left divide,
To flank the foot, and gnard each naked side.
Safe in the middle space retire the foot,
Make good the rear, and scorn the foes' pursuit ;
Each side retreat, though each disdain to* yield,
And claim the glory of the donbtfiil field.

Thus far the cause of Rome by arms was tried,
And human rage alone the war supplied ;
But now the elements new wrath prepare,
And gathering tempests vex the troubled air.
Long had the earth by wintry frost been bound,
And the dry north had numb'd the lazy ground.
No furrow'd fields were drench'd with drisly rain,
Snow hid the hills, and hoary ice the plain :
All desolate the western climes were seen, \
Keen with the blasts, and sharp the bine serene, f
To parch 6 the fading herb, and nip the springing £
green. J

At length, the genial heat began to shine,
With stronger beams in Aries vernal sign 7 ;
Again the golden day resum'd its right,
And ruTd in just equation with the night:
The moon her monthly course had now begun,
And with increasing horns forsook the sun ;
When Boreas 8 , by nighf s silver empress driv'n,
To softer airs resigned the western Heav'n.

6 The Latin word is here wrebant, and teem* to me by no
meant nnelegant ; extreme cold and extreme heat appearing te»
have much the same effects upon gran or other herbs.

7 In the vernal equinox, about the 10th of March.-

8 The weather altering with the new moon.

B—k 4. LUCAN'8 PHARSAlIA. 175

Then with warm breezes gentler Earns came,
Glowing with India's and Arabia's flame.
Hie sweeping wind the gathering vapours pressed,'
From every region of the furthest east ;
Nor hang they heavy in the midway sky,
Bat speedy to Hesperia driving fly ;
To Calpe's 9 hills the slnicy rains repair,
From north and south, the clouds assemble there,
And darkening storms lour in the sluggish air.
Where western skies the utmost ocean bound,
The watery treasures heap the welkin round ;
Thither they crowd, and, scanted in the space,
Scarce between Heaven and earth can And a place*
Condens'd at length, the spouting torrents pour,
Earth smokes, and rattles with the gushing shower j
Jove's forky fires are rarely seen to fly,
Extingnish'd in the deluge; soon they die;
Nor e'er before did dewy Iris show
Such lady colours, or so maim'd a bow :
Unvaried by the light's refracting beam,
She stoop'd to drink Ie from ocean's briny stream;
Then to the dropping sky restor'd the rain :
Again the falling waters sought the main.
Then first the covering snows began to flow
From off the Pyrenean's hoary brow ;
Huge hills of frost, a thousand ages old,
d'er which the summer suns had vainly roll'd,

° Gibraltar : here it is generally taken for Spain.
i° So Virgil, in the First Georgic :

Et bibit ingens
Arcus*

* At either horn the rainbow drinks the flood.' Vrgd'

Am if they fancied the rainbow drew op water from the
rivers, and poured it down again in showers of rain.

176 ttidAN'S PHAR8AUA. Book 4.

Now melting, rush from every side amam,
Swell every brook, and deluge all the plain.
And now o'er Caesar's camp the torrents sweep.
Bear down the works, and fill the trenches deep.
Here men and arms in mix'd confusion swim,
And hollow tents drive with the* impetuous stream ;
Lost in the spreading floods the landmarks lie,
Nor can the forager his way descry.
No beasts for food the floating pastures yield,
Nor herbage rises in the watery field :
And now, to fill the measure of their fears,
Her baleful visage meagre famine rears ;
Seldom alone, she troops among the fiends.
And still on war and pestilence attends.
Unpress'd, unstraiten'd by besieging foes r
All miseries of want the soldier knows.
Gladly he gives his little wealth to eat;
And buys a morsel with his whole estate.
Curs'd merchandise"! where life itself is sold,
And avarice consents to starve for gold (
No rock, no rising mountain rears his head,
No single river winds along the mead,
But one vast lake o'er all the land is spread.
No lofty grove, no forest-haunt is found,
But in his den deep lies the savage drown'd :
With headlong rage, resistless in its course,
The rapid torrent whirls the snorting horse ;
High o'er the sea the foamy freshes ride,
While backward Tethys turns her yielding tide.

xz History has a remarkable instance of Ibis kind of avarice,
when daring the rie^e of Preneftte, a soldier, who was himself
dying (ami shortly after did die) for hunger, sold a moose h«
had caught for 800 Roman denarii; they were worth anon*
seven pence ftrtttng of our money apiece.

}

B«*k 4. LUCAJTS PHAR8A1IA. 177

Meantime continued darkness veils the skies.
And sans with unavailing ardour rise ;
Nature no more her various face can boast,
Bat form is huddled np in night, and lost.
Sack are the climes beneath the frozen zone ",
Where cheerless Winter plants her dreary throne ;
No golden stars their gloomy heavens adorn,
Nor genial seasons to their earth return :
Bat everlasting ice and snows appear,
Bind up thesnmmer signs, and curse the barren year.

Almighty sire ! who dost supremely reign ;
And thou, great ruler of the raging main !
Ye gracious gods ! in mercy give command,
This desolation may for ever stand.
Thou Jove ! for ever cloud thy stormy sky ;
Thou Neptune ! bid thy angry waves run high :
Heave thy huge trident for a mighty blow,
Strike the strong earth, aria* bid her fountains flow;
Bid every river-god exhaust his urn,
Nor let thy own alternate tides return ;
Wide let their blended waters waste around,
These regions, Rhine, and those of Rhone confound.
Melt, ye hoar mountains of Riphaean snow ;
Brooks, streams, and lakes, let all your sources go ;
Your spreading floods the guilt of Rome shall spare,
And save the wretched world from civil war.

But fortune stay'd her short displeasure here,
Nor urgM her minion with too long a fear ;
With large increase her favours full return'd,
As if the gods themselves his anger mourn'd ;
As if his name were terrible to Heaven,
And Providence could sue to be forgiven.

n The poet meant here the polar region*. The hyperbole, a
tfnre in which he is given to ofltad, is somewhat ovtratrained.

I

178 LUCAN'S PHAHSALIA* Book 4.

Now 'gan the welkin clear to shine serene,
And Phoebus potent in his rays was seen. . . i .
The scattering clouds disclosed the purring lights
And hung the firmament with fleecy white;
The troublous storm had spent his wrathful store.
And clattering rains were heard to rush no more s
Again the woods their leafy honours raise,
And herds upon the rising mountains graze.
Day's genial heat upon the damps prevails,
And ripens into earth the slimy vales.
Bright glittering stars adorn night's spangled air,
And ruddy evening skies foretel the morning fair.
Soon as the falling Sicoris begun
A peaceful stream within his banks to ran,
The bending willow into barks they twine '*,
Then line the work with spoils of slaughter^! kine :
Such are the floats Venetian fishers know,
Where in dull marshes stands the settling Po ;
bn such to neighbouring Gaul, allur'd by gain,
The bolder Britons cross the swelling main;
like these, when fruitful Egypt lies afloat,
The Mempbian artist builds his reedy boat
On these embarking bold with eager haste,
Across the stream bis legions Caesar pass'd : [fell'cr,
Straight the tall woods with sounding strokes are
And with strong piles a beamy bridge they build;
Then mindful of the flood so lately spread,
They stretch the lengthening arches o'er the mead :
And, lest his bolder waters rise again,
With numerous dikes they canton out the plain,
And by a thousand streams the suffering river i
drain.

*3 Caesar, as appears by btt own Commentaries, had
to make tbeie torts of boat* from the Britons.

hook 4. LUCAM'g FHARSALlA. tf»

Petrehis now a fete superior saw,
While elements obey proud Caesar's law j
Then straight Ilerda's lofty walls forsook ' V
And to the furthest west his arms betook ;
The nearer regions faithless all around,
And basely to the victor bent, he found.
When with just rage and indignation nYd,
He to the Celtiberians fierce retir'd ;
There sought, amidst the world's extremest parts/
Still daring hands, and still unconquertl hearts.

Soon as he vievVd the neighbouring mountain's
No longer by the hostile camp o'erspread, [head
Caesar commands to arm. Without delay
The soldier to the river bends his way ;
None then with cautious care the bridge explor'd,
Or sought the shallows of the safer ford ;
Arm'd at all points, they plunge amidst the flood.
And with strong sinews make the passage good :
Dangers they scorn, that might the bold affright,
And stop ev'n panting cowards Hi their flight.
At length the further bank attaining safe, [chafe :
Chill'd by the stream, their dropping limbs they
Then* with fresh vigour urge the foes' pursuit,
And in the sprightly chase the powers of life recruit.

*♦ There were many reasons for Afraniua and retrains to
decamp at this time, and endeavour to transfer the aeatofthewat
into Cettiberia ; and it was not one of the least, that that part of
Spain was extremely well affected to Potnpey, as having received
several benefits from him in the war with Sertorius. They dis-
lodged therefore in the night, and marched towards the river
Iberm : bat Cesar, upon the first notice of their motion, used
so much diligence, that he got before them, made himself mastr
of a pass they intended to seise upon, and cat off their coaian
lication with the river they intended to paw.

130 LUCAN'S PHAR9ALIA. Book 4.

Thus they ; till half the course of life was run,
And lessening sfyulows own'd the noon-day sun;
The fliers now a doubtful tight maintain.
While the fleet horse in squadrons scour the plain ;
The stragglers scattering round, they force to yield,
And gather up the gleanings of the field.

Midst a wide plain two lofty rocks arise,
Between the cliffs an humble valley lies ;
Long rows of ridgy mountains run behind.
Where ways obscure and secret passes wind*
But Caesar, deep within bis thought, foresees
The foes attempt the covert strong to seize :
So may their troops at leisure range afar,
And to the Celtiberians lead the war.
" Be quick, (he cries) nor minding just array,
Swift to the combat wing your speedy way.
See ! where yon cowards to the fastness haste,
But let your terrors in their way be plac'd :
Pierce not the fearful backs of those that fly,
But on your meeting javelins let 'em die.*
He said. The ready legions took the word,
And hastily obey their eager lord ;
With diligence the coming foe prevent,
And stay their marches, to the mountains bent.
Near neighbouring now the camps intrench'd are
With scarce a narrow interval between. [sees,

Soon as their eyes o'ershoot the middle space, }
From either hosts, sires, sons, and brothers trace v
The well-known features of some kindred face. )
Then first their hearts with tenderness were struck,
First with remorse for civil rage they shook ;
Stiffening with horror cold, and dire amaze,
Awhile in silent interviews they gore :

Book 4, LVCAN'ft PlUBSALIA. 181

Anon with speechless signs their swords salute,
While thoughts conflicting keep their masters mote.
At length, disdaining still to be repress'd,
Prevailing passion rose in every breast,
And the Tain rules of guilty war transgressed.
As at a signal, both their trenches quit,
And spreading arms in close embraces knit :
Now friendship runs o'er all her ancient claims,
Guest and companion are their only names ;
Old neighbourhood they fondly call to mind,
And how their boyish years in leagues were join'd.
With grief each other mutually they know,
And find a friend in every Roman foe.
Their falling tears their steely arms bedew,
While interrupting sighs each kiss pursue j
And though their hands are yet unstain'd by guilt,
They tremble for the blood they might have spilt.
But speak, unhappy Roman IS ! speak thy pain,
Say for what woes^by streaming eyes complain ?
Why dost thou groan ? why beat thy sounding breast ?
Why is this wild fantastic grief express'd ?
Is it, that yet thy country claims thy care?
Dost thou the crimes of war unwilling share ?
Ah! whither art thou by thy fears betrayM?
How canst thou dread that power thyself hast made P
Do Caesar's trumpets call thee? scorn the sound.
Does be bid march? dare thou to keep thy ground.
So rage and slaughter shall to justice yield,
And fierce Erinnys quit the fatal field :
Caesar in peace a private state shall know,
And Pompey be no longer call'd his foe.

Appear, thou heavenly Concord ! blessM appear
And shed thy better influences here.

*s If this civil war be inch an affliction to yoa, why will yo
follow Cauarf

181 LOCAN'8 PHAR8AXIA. Bo*k 4,

Thou, who the warring elements dost bind, j
Life of the world, and safety of mankind, [mind. C
Infuse thy sovereign balm, and heal the wrathful y
But if the same dire fhry rages yet, [meet ,6 .;
Too well they know what foes their swords shall
No blind pretence of ignorance remains,
The blood they shed most flow from Roman veins.
Ob ! fatal trace! the brand of gnilty Rome !
From thee worse wars and redder slaughters come.
See ! with what free and unsuspecting love,
From camp to camp the jocund warriors rove ;
Each to his turfy table bids bis guest,
And Bacchus crowns the hospitable feast.
The grassy fires refulgent lend their light,
While conversation sleepless wastes the night :
Of early feats of arms by turns they tell,
Of fortunes that in various fields betel.
With well-becoming pride their deeds relate,
And now agree, and friendly now debate :
At length, their unsuspicious hands are join'd,
And sacred leagues with faith renewed they bind.
But oh! what worse could cruel fate afford!
The furies smil'd upon the curs'd accord,
And died with deeper stains the Roman sword.

By busy fame Petreius I7 soon is told,
His camp, himself, to Caesar all are sold ;
When straight the chief indignant calls to arm,
And bids the trumpet spread the loud alarm.

16 After a fondness and reconciliation of this kind, certainly
the butcheries that they were guilty of afterward* appeared the
more horrible.

17 This jealousy of Petreius was certainly unworthy of a mam
who had the best cause; and even the poet himself cannot for.
bear running out in praise of Caesar on this occasion ; the
less and cruelty of Petreius were inexcusable.

i

Boofc 4. LUCAN'8 PHAR8ALIA. 183

With war encorapass'd round he takes his way,
And breaks the short-liv'd trace with fierce affray ;
He drives the' unarm'ri and unsuspecting guest,
AroazM and wounded, from the 1 untinish'd feast ;
With horrid steel he cuts each fond embrace,
And violates with blood the new-made peace :
And lest the fainting Barnes of wrath expire,
With words like these he fans the deadly fire.

" Ye herd ! unknowing of the Roman worth,
And lost to that great cause which led you forth;
Though victory and captive Caesar were
Honours too glorious for your swords to share ;
Yet something, abject as yon are, from you,
Something to virtue and the laws is due :
A second praise ev'n yet you may partake ;
Fight, and be vanquish'd for your country's sake.
Can you, while rate as yet suspends our doom,
While you have blood and lives to lose for Rome,
Can yon with tame submission seek a lord;
And own a cause by men and gods abhorM?
Will you in lowly wise his mercy crave ?
Can soldiers beg to wear the name of slave ?
Would you for us your suit to Caesar move ?
Know we disdain his pardoning power to prove :
No private bargain shall redeem this head ;
For Rome, and not for us, the war was made.
Though peace a specious poor pretence afford,
Baseness and bondage lurk beneath the word.
In vain the workmen search the steely mine,
To arm the field, and bid the battle shine ;
In vain the fortress lifts her towery height ;
In vain the warlike steed provokes the fight;
In vain our oars the foamy ocean sweep;
In vain our floating castles hide the deep;

184 MJCAN'6 PHAR8ALIA, Rwk 4t

Id vain by land, in vain by sea we fought,
If peace shall e'er with liberty be bought.
See ! with what constancy, what gallant pride,
Our steadfast foes defend an impious side !
Bound by their oaths, though enemies to good,
They scorn to change from what they once have

vow'd.
While each vain breath your slackening faith

withdraws:
Yours ! who pretend to arm for Rome and laws;
Who find no fault, but justice in your cause.
And yet, methinks, I would not give you o'er,
A brave repentance still is in your pow'r :
While Pompey calls the utmost east from for,
And leads the Indian monarchs on to war,
Shall we (oh, shame J) prevent bis great success,
And bind bis hands by our inglorious peace ?**
He spoke ; and civil rage at once returns,
Each breast the fonder thought of pity scorns,
And ruthless with redoubled fury bums.
So when the tiger, or the spotted pard,
Long from the woods and savage haunts debarM,
From their first fierceness for a while are won,
And seem to put a gentler nature on ;
Patient their prison, and mankind they bear,
Fawn on their lords, and looks less horrid wear:
But let the taste of slaughter be renew*d,
And their fell jaws again with gore imbrewVi;
Then dreadfully their wakening furies rise,
And glaring fires rekindle in their eyes ;
With wrathful roar their echoing dens they tear, }
And hardly ev'n the well-known keeper spare ; f
The shuddering keeper shakes, and stands aloof?"
for fear. )

>\

lUok 4. tOCAW'S PHARSALf A* J 65

From friendship freed, and conscious nature's tie,
To undistioguisbM slaughters loose they fly ;
With guilt avow'd their daring crimes advance;
And scorn the' excuse of ignorance and chance*
Those Whom so late their fond embraces press'd/
The bosom's partner, and the welcome guest/
Now at the board unhospitable bleed.
While streams of blood the flowing bowl succeed*
With groans at first each draws the glittering

brand I8 ,
And lingering death stops In the' unwilling hand i
Till urs/d at length, returning force they feel,
And catch new courage from the murdering steel i
Vengeance and hatred rise with every blow,
And blood paints every visage like a foe.
Uproar and horror through the camp abound,
While impious sons their mangled fathers wound j
And, lest the merit of the crime be lost,
With dreadful joy the parricide they boast j
Proud to their chiefs the cold pale heads they bear/
The gore yet dropping from the silver hair.

But thou, oh Clesarl to the gods be dear i
Thy pious mercy well becomes their care;
And though thy soldier mils by treacherous pe&de,
Be proud, and reckon this thy great success.
Not all thou ow*8t to bounteous fortune's smile,
Not proud Massilia, nor the Pharian Nile ;
Not the full conquest of Pharsatia's field,
Could greater fame, or nobler trophies yield:
Thine and the cause of justice now are one^
Since guilty slaughter brands thy foes alone*.

K *'This word Is «aed for a sword by some of the best of t
BofUsh poets, Spenser and Fairfax especially,
wot. *. o • *** ->»« ld *

196 LUCAN'» PHAttSALIA. Book 4*

Nor dare the conscious leaders longer wait,
Or trust to such nnhallow'd hands their fate ;
Astonish'd and dUmay'd they shon the fight,
And to Ilerda torn their hasty flight.
But ere their march achieves its destin'd course,
Preventing Caesar sends the winged horse :
The speedy squadrons seize the' appointed ground,'
And held their foes on hills encompassed round.
Pent up. in barren heights, they strive in vain
Refreshing springs and flowing streams to gain ;
Strong hostile works their camp's extension stay, -
And deep-sunk trenches intercept their way.

Now deaths in unexpected forms arise,
Thirst and pale famine stalk before their eyes.
Shut up and close besieg'd, no more they need
The strength- or swiftness of the warlike steed
But doom the generous coursers all to bleed.
Hopeless at length, and barr'd around from flight;
Headlong they rush to arms, and arge the fight :
But Caesar, who with wary eyes beheld
With what determined rage they sought the field,
Restrained his eager troops. " Forbear ! (he cried)
Nor let your sword in madmen's blood be dyed.
But since they come devoted by despair,
Since life is grown unworthy of their care,
Since 'tis their time to die, 'tis ours to spare*
Those naked bosoms that provoke the foe,
With greedy hopes of deadly vengeance glow;
With pleasure shaft they meet the pointed steel,.
Nor smarting wounds, nor dying anguish feel,
If, while they bleed, your Caesar shares the peine
And mourns his gallant friends among the slain.
But wait awhile, this rage shall soon be past,
This blase of courage is too fierce to last;

vs.

ed >

ed; }
I. S

Htfofc 4. LUCAN'S FRAASALIA, 187

This ardour for the fight shall feint away,
And all this fond desire of death decay.*

He spoke ; and at the word the war was stay'd,
Tin Ptaebus fled from night's ascending shade.
EVn all. the day, embattled on the plain,
The rash Petreians urge to arms in vain :
At length the weary fire began to cease,
And wasting fiiry languished into peace ;
The* impatient arrogance of wrath declinM,
And slackening passions cooFd upon the mind.
80 when, the battle roaring loud around,
Some warrior warm receives a fatal wound; *
While yet the griding sword has newly pass'd,
And the first pungent pains and anguish last ;
While full with life the turgid vessels rise,
And the warm juice the sprightly nerve supplies;
Each sinewy limb with fiercer force is pressed,
And rage redoubles in the burning breast :
But if, as .conscious of the* advantage gain'd,
The cooler victor stays his wrathful hand ;
Then sinks his thrall with ebbing spirits low,
The black blood stiffens, and forgets to flow;
Cold damps and numbness close the deadly stound,
And stretch him pale, and fainting, on the ground.

For water now on every side they try,
Alike the sword and delving spade employ;
Earth's bosom dark, laborious they explore,
And search the sources of her liquid store >
Deep in the hollow hill the well descends,
Till level with the moister plain it ends.
Not lower down from cheerful day decline
The pale Assyrians, in the golden mine :
In vain they toil, no secret streams are found
To roll their murmuring tides beneath the ground

188 tUCAH'S PHARSAtlA. Both 4.

No bunting springs repay the workman's stroke,
Nor glittering gosh from out the wounded rock;
No sweating caves in dewy droppings stand.
Nor smallest rills run gurgling o'er the sand-
Spent and exhausted with the fruitless pain,
The fainting youth ascend to light again.
And now less patient of the drought they grow,
Than in those cooler depths of earth below ;
No savoury viands crown the cheerful board,
Ev*n food, for want of water, stands abhorti;
To hunger's meager refhge they retreat,
And since they cannot drink, refuse to eat.
Where yielding clods a moister clay confess,
With griping hands the clammy glebe they press ;
Where'er the standing puddle loathsome lies,
Thither m crowds the thirsty soldier flies ;
Horrid to sight, the miry filth they quaff,
And drain with dying jaws the deadly draff.
Some seek the bestial mothers for supply,
And draw the herds' extended udders dry;
Till thirst, unsated with the milky store,
With labouring lips drinks in the putrid gorer
Somestrip tlieleaves,andsuckfhemoraingdew8; >
Somegrind the bark, the woody branches bruise, >
And squeeze the sapling's unconnected juice. J
Oh I happy those ' 9 , to whom the barbarous king*
Left their envenomed floods, and tainted springs?
Caesar be kind, and every bane prepare,
Which Cretan rocks or Libyan serpents bear:
The Romans to thy poisonous stream shall fly,
And, conscious of the danger, drink, and die.

" Jugartaa, Mithridfttn, and Jaba, when they were
fahed by the Rennet, an add to kra potoaed tax
laay flad*

Sot* 4. LOCAM'S PHARSAUA* 189

With secret flames their withering entrails bum,
And fiery breathings from their longs return ;
The shrinking veins contract their purple flood,
And urge, laborious, on the beating blood ;
The hearing sighs through straiter passes blow,
And scorch the painful palate as they go;
The parch'd rough tongue nights humid vapours
And restless rolls within the clammy jaws ; [draws,
With gaping mouths they wait the railing rain,
And want those floods that lately spread Che plain*
Vainly to heaven they torn their longing eyes,
And fix 'em on the dry relentless skies.
Nor here by sandy Aftic are they curs'd,
Nor Cancer's sultry line inflames their thirst ;
Bnt to enhance their pain, they view below,
Where lakes stand roll, and plenteous rivers flow ;
Between two streams ** expires the panting host,
And in a land of water are they lost !

Now, press'd by pinching want's unequal weight,
The vanquished leaders yield to adverse fate :
•Rejecting arms. Afranius seeks relief,
And sues submissive to the hostile chief.
Foremost himself, to Caesar's camp he leads
His mmish'd troops; a minting band succeeds.
At length, in presence of the victor plac'd,
A fitting dignity his gesture grac'd,
That spoke his present fortunes, and his past
With decent mixture in his manly mien,
The captive and the general were seen :
Then with a free, secure, undaunted breast,
For mercy thus his pious suit he press'd :

*° Tfct Scoria aad Iberns,

190 LUCAH'S FHAR8AUA. Book 4,

u Had Ate and my ill-fortune laid me low,
Beneath the power of some ungenerous foe j
My sword hung ready to protect my fame,
And this right hand had sav'd my soul from shame :
But now with joy I bend my suppliant knee,
Life is worth asking, since 'tis given by thee!
No party zeal onr factions arms inclines,
No hate of thee, or of thy bold designs:
War with its own occasions came unsought,
And round ns on the side for which we fought t
True to onr cause, as best becomes the brave,
Long as we could we kept that faith we gave*
Nor shall onr arms thy stronger fate delay,
Behold) our yielding paves thy conquering way:
The western nations all at once we give,
Securely these behind thee shalt thou leave :
Here while thy lull dominion stands confess'd,
Receive it as an earnest of the east.
'Nor this thy easy victory disdain,
Bought with no seas of Mood, nor hills of slain
Forgive the foes that spare thy sword a pain.
Nor is the boon for which we sue too great,
The weary soldier begs a last retreat ;
In some poor village, peaceful at the plough,
Let 'em enjoy the tife thou dost bestow.
Think, in some field, among the shun we lie,
And lost to thy remembrance, cast ns by.
Mix not our arms in thy successful war,
Nor let thy captives in thy triumph share.
These uuprevaihng bands their fete have tried, '
And prov'd that fortune fights not on their side. •
Guiltless, to cease from slaughter we implore;
JLet ns not conquer with thee, and waask no more/'

slain ;V
lin. 3

Book 4. LUCAH'S PBARSAXIA. 191

He said. The victor, with a gentler grace,
And mercy softening his severer face.
Bade his attending foes their fears dismiss,
" Go, free from punishment, and live in peace.**
The trace on equal terms " at length agreed,
The waters from- the watchful guard are freed :
Eager to drink, dewn rush the thirsty crowd,
Hang o'er the banks, and trouble all the flood.
Some, while too fierce the fatal draughts tbeydrain,
Forget the gasping lungs that heave in vain?
No breathing airs the choking channeb fill,
But every spring of life at once stands still.
Some drink, nor yet the fervent pest assuage,
With wonted fires their bloated entrails rage;
With bursting sides each bulk enormous heaves,
While still for drink the* insatiate fever craves.
At length, returning health dispers'd the pain,
And lusty vigour strung the nerves again.

Behold ! ye sons of luxury behold !
Who scatter in excess your lavish gold;
You, who the wealth of frugal ages waste,
To' indulge a wanton supercilious taste :
For whom all earth, all ocean are explor'd,
To spread the various proud voluptuous board :
Behold ! how little thrifty nature craves,
And what a cheap relief the lives of thousands saves!
No costly wines these fainting legions know,
Mark'd by old consuls many a year ago ;
No waiting slaves the precious juices pour,
prom Myrrhine goblets * a , or the golden ore :

** On fair, honest, and friendly condition*.
** Tbii should rather be rend marrine, from murra, *
srecioos Mom which wu transparent like oar China wi

191 LVCAM'fl PHAR&AUA. B*ok *.

put with pare draughts they cool the boiling blood,
And seek their succour from the crystal flood.
Who, but a wretch, wpuld think it worth his cam
The toils and wickedness of war to share,
When all we want thus easily we find?
The field and river can supply mankind,
pismjss'd, and safe from danger and alarms,
The vanquished to the victor quits his arms;
Guiltless, from camps to cities he repairs,
And in his native land forgets hjs cares.
There }n his mind he runs, repenting o'er
The tedious toils and perils once hie bore ;
JJis spear and sword of battle stand accurVd,
JJe hates the weary march, and parching thirst ;
And wonders much, that e'er with pious pain
£Ie pray'd so oft for victory in vain ;
For victory ; the curse of those that win;
The fatal end where still new woes begin.
Jj*t the proud masters aj of the horrid field
£ount all the gains their dire successes yield ;
Then let 'em think what wounds they yet must feel,
Pre tliey can fix revolving Fortune's wheel :
As yet the' imperfect task by halves is done,
piood, blood remains, more battles must be won
And many a heavy labour undergone :
/Still conquering, to new guilt they shall succeed,
Wherever restless fate and Caesar lead,
flow happier lives the man to peace assign'd,
Amidst this general storm that wrecks mankind I

4

of which the ancients made drinking vessels. If we road it
myrrhine, it mmt be oaderstood to be goblets p erft iraed with
jny rrb, which was likewise in me among the Romany
?? Caesar and his army.

B**k 4. JUUCAl'S FHAASALIA. 1 99

In fan own quiet house ordain'd to die,
He knows the place in -which his bones shall lie*
No trumpet wans htm 'pat his harness on.
Though faint, and all with weariness foredone :
Bat wben night falls, he lies securely down.
And calls the creeping slumber all his own.
Bis kinder fetes ** the- warrior's hopes prevent,
And ere the time, the wish'd dismission sent ;
A lowly cottage, and a tender wire,
Receive him in his early days of life ;
His boys, a rustic tribe, around him play,
And homely pleasures wear the vacant day.
No factions parties here the mind engage,
Nor work the' imbitter'd passions up to raget
With equal eyes the hostile chiefs they view,
To this their faith, to that their lives are doe :
To both obhg'd alike, no part they take,
Nor vows for conquest, nor against it, make.
Mankind's misfortunes they behold from ftir,
Pleas'd to stand neuter, while the world's at war.
Bnt fortune, bent ** to check the victor's pride,
In other lands forsook her Caesar's side ;

** Lucau observes, that It was the particular good fortune of
these soldier* of Afranius and Petrefcja to be dismissed from
the service, even before their disability or old age could, by
vjrtae of the laws and military constitutions, claim wch a
firvosr.

*5 Dolabella and C. Antonios were commanded by Caviar
to possess themselves of the entrance into the Adriatic sea; and
accordingly, the. first encamped on the Illyrian shore, and the
other on the islands over against Salonss. Pompey was then
almost everywhere master of the seas, and consequently Octa-
vios and Lib©, two of his Hentenauts, shot np Antbnios, and
besieged him with a great fleet. Basims (as Lncan relates it
here) came to relieve him, and attempting afterwards to get o

194 iucan's pharsalia. Book -*.

With changing cheer the fickle goddess frown'd,
And for awhile her favourite cause disown'd.
Where Adria's swelling surge Salome laves,
And warm lader % rolls his gentle waves,
Bold in the brave Curictan's *? warlike band,
Antonius 'camps upon the utmost strand :
Begirt around by Pompey-'s floating pow'r,
He braves the navy from his well-fenc'd shore.
But while the distant war no more he fears,
famine, a worse, resistless foe, appears :
No more the meads their grassy pasture yield,
Nor waving harvests crown the yellow field j
On every verdant leaf the hungry feed,
And snatch the forage from the fainting steed ;
Then ravenous on their camp's defence they fall,
And grind with greedy jaws the turfy wall.
Near on the neighbouring coast at length they spy,
Where Basilus with social sails draws nigh;
While led by Dolahella's bold command,
Their ^Caesar's legions spread the* Iliyrian strand :

(though the historians say it was in coming to Antonini) two
vessels or floats of a new invention, ont of three, got over a
kind of boom that was laid under the water ; bat the third,
which was manned by a thousand Opitergians, commanded by
Valteins, was ensnared and held fast. These, after they had
for a whole day resisted a very unequal assault from a force
vastly superior to -their own, at the persuasion and by the ex-
ample of their leader, slew one another : a rare example of
fidelity even to arbitrary and tyrannical power.

26 A river of Dalmatia that ran by Salome, not far from (or
4t may be the same with) the present Spalato.

*7 Most editions read Curete* in the original; Cnrictan's is
certainly better, ' and approved by the ancient geographers.
Curiota is an island in the Sinus Flanatlcas, or gulf of Carnero,
in the npper end of the Adriatic sea, between the coasts of
istris and Uburnia.

B—k 4. • LUCAN'S PHAR8ALIA. 195

Straight with new hopes their hearts recovering beat,
Aim to elude the foe, and meditate retreat

Of wondrous form a vast machine they build,
New, and unknown upon the floating field.
Here, nor the keel its crooked length extends.
Nor o'er the waves the rising deck ascends ;
By beams and grappling chains compacted strong,
light skills, and casks, two equal rows prolong :
O'er these, of solid oak securely made,
Stable and tight, a flooring firm is laid ;
Sabkme, from hence, two planky towers run high,
And nodding battlements the roe defy :
Securely pbc'd, each rising range between,
The lnsty rower plies his task unseen.
Meanwhile, nor oars upon the sides appear,
Nor swelling sails receive the driving air:
But living seems the mighty mass to sweep,
And glide, self-movM, athwart the yielding deep.
Hiree wondrous floats, of this enormous site,
Soon by the skilful builder's craft arise ;
The ready warriors all aboard them ride,
And wait the turn of the retiring tide.
Backward, at length, revolving Tethys flows,
And ebbing waves the naked sands disclose :
Straight by the stream the launching piles are borne,
Shields, spears, and helms, their nodding towers
Threatening they move, in terrible array, [adorn;
And to the deeper ocean bend their way.

Octavius now, whose naval powers command
Adna's rude seas, and wide Illyria's strand,
Full in their course his fleet advancing stays,
And each impatient combatant delays ** :

*' Octsviw Hood ont to ms, and wooid not nffcr his nee

196 LOCAL'S PHAR«Ai£4. Book 4.

To the bhie offing wide he seems to bear,
Eiopeful to draw the' unwary vessels near}
Aloof he rounds 'em, eager on his prey,
And tempts 'em with an open roomy sea.
Thus, when the wily huntsman spreads his nets,
And with his ambient toil the wood besets ;
While yet his busy hands, with skilful care.
The meshy hayes and forky props prepare ;
Ere yet the deer ** the painted plumage spy,
SnuJF the strong odour from afar, and fly ;
His mates, the Cretan hound and Spartan, bind;
And muzzle all the loud Molossian kind ;
The qnester only to the wood they loose,
Who silently the tainted track pursues :
Mute signs alone the conscious haunt betray,
While fix'd he points, and tremble* to the prey.

Twas at the season when the minting light,
Just in the evening's dose, brought on the night;
When the tall towery floats their isle forsook,
And to the seas their course, adventurous, took*
Put now the fam'd Cicilian pirates, skill'd
In arts and warfare of the liquid field,

to engage it lint, that he might draw the enemy out from
among the islands, and surround them at once. The time-and
place where this action happened is somewhat doubted of; hot
I take it at related by my author.

29 The Roman hunters, when they set toils to inclose their
game, placed upon the tops of the nets feathers that were
painted of several colours, and likewise burnt; that by their
dancing, as well as strong scent, they might scare the deer from
coming up to, or attempting to break through them. So
Virgil:

Punieeave agitcmt treyidosformidine pentue.
' |tor scare the trembling deer with purple plumes*'

I. LuCAA't PHARSAllA. 19/

Their wonted wiles and stratagems provide,
To aid their great acknowledge victor's *° side.
Beneath the glassy surface of the main,
From rock to rock they stretch a pondrons chain ?
Loosely the slacker links suspended flow,
To* enwrap the driving fabrics as they go.
Urg*d from within, and wafted by the tide,
Smooth o'er the boom the first and second glide j
The third the guileful latent chain enfolds,
And in ms steely grasp entwining holds :
From the tall rocks the shouting victors roar,
And drag the resty captive to the shore.
For ages past an ancient cliff there stood, [flood :
Whose bending brow hung threatening o'er the
A verdant grove was on the summit plac'd,
And o'er the waves a gloomy shadow cast ?
While near the base wHd hollows sink below,
I There roll huge seas, and bellowing tempests blow >
Thither wbate'er the greedy waters drown,
The shipwreck, and the driving corps, we thrown *
Anon, the gaping gnlf the spoil restores,
And from his lowest depths loud-spontmg pours*
Not rnde Charybdis roars in sounds like these, '
When thundering, with a burst, she spews the foamy
Hither, with warlike Opitergians * l fraught, [seass
t The third ill-rated prisoner float was brought :
The foe, as at a signal, speed their way,
And haste to compass in the destm'd prey )

lo The Gicuiui pirates were mbdaed by Pompey* Set
Bookl.

As thii story is related, Pompry's forces had seised op**'
some passage or strait through which these vessels were to jr

3> Opitergitun, now called Operto, in the territory of Ve
la the awrgpisutt of Trevifuunx

.198 LUCAN'S PHAR9ALIA. BdoU 4.

The crowding sails from every station press,
While' armed bands the rocks and shores possess.
Too late the chief, Vnlteins, found the snare.
And strove to burst the toil with fruitless care :
Driven by despair at length, nor thinking yet
Which way to fight, or whither to retreat,
He tarns upon the foe ; and though distressed,
By wiles intangled, and by crowds oppressed,
With scarce a single cohort to his aid,
Against the gathering host a stand he made.
Fierce was the combat fought, with slaughter

great,
Though thus on odds unequally they meet;
One with a thousand match'd, a ship against a fleet.
But soon on dusky wings arose the night,
And with her friendly shade restrains the fight;
The combatants from war, consenting, cease;
And pass, the hours of darkness o'er in peace.

When to the soldier, anxious for hu fate,
And doubtful what success the dawn might wait,
The brave Vulteras thus his speech address'd,
A ndihuscompos'd the Cares of every beating breast.

" My gallant friends \ whom our hard fetes decree,
This night, this short night only, to be free ;
Think what remains to do, but think with haste,
Ere the brief hour of liberty be past.
Perhaps, rednc'd to this so hard extreme,
Too short to some, the date of life may seem ;
Yet know, brave youths, that none untimely fell,
Whom death obeys, and comes but when they calf.
Tib true, the neighb'ring danger waits us nigh;
We meet but that from which we cannot fly ;
Yet think not but with equal praise we die **.

3* We die with as much honour, though death comet to <mr
eoers to seek at, as if we had gone out to meet it.

%Mmm

\

B*ok 4. LUC AN '9 PHAHSALJAY 19*

Dark and uncertain is roan's future doom.
If years or only moments are to come ;
All is but dying; he who gives an boor,
Or he who gives an age, gives all that's in his pow*rV
Sooner or late all mortals know the grave ;
Bnt to choose death distinguishes the brave.
Behold where, waiting round, yon hostile band,
Oar fellow-citizens, onr lives demand.
Prevent we then their cruel hands, and bleed ;
lis but to do what is too sure decreed,
And where our fate wou'd drag us on, to lead.
A great conspicuous slaughter shall we yield,
Nor lie the carnage of a common field ;
Where one ignoble heap confounds the slain,
And men, and beasts, promiscuous strow the plain,
PJac*d on this float by some diviner hand,
As on ar stage, for public view we stand*
IUyria's neighbouring shores, her isles around,
Aad every cliff with gazers shall be crown'd ;
Hie seas, and earth, our virtue shall proclaim,
And stand eternal vouchers for our feme ;
Alike the roes and fellows of our cause 33 ,
Shall mark the deed, and join in vast applause;
Bless'd be thou, Fortune, that has iuark'd us forth,.
A monument of unexampled worth ;
To latest times our story shall be told,
Evto rais'd beyond the noblest names of old,
Distinguish'd praise shall crown our daring youth,
Our pious* honour and unshaken truth.
Mean is our offering, Caesar, we confess ;
For such a chief, what soldier can do less?

33 Those wilder the command of DoUbeiU, on the eoaito*
lityrta.

200 LUCAN'S FttAftSAtiA. Both 4.

Yet oh ! this faithful pledge of love receive !
Take it, 'tis all that captives have to give.
Oh! that to make the victim yet mora dear,
Our aged sires, our children Ind been here :
Then with full horror should the slaughter rise/
And blast our paler foes* astonish'd eyes ;
Till aw d beneath that scorn of death we wear,
They bless the time our fellows 'seap'd their snare 2
Till with mean tears our fate the cowards mourn,
And tremble at the rage with which we burn.
Perhaps, they mean our constant souls to try,
Whether for life and peace we may comply.
Oh ! grant, ye gods ! their offers may be great,
That we may gloriously disdain to treat ;
That this last proof of virtue we may give,
And show we die not now,becanse we could not live*
That valour to no common heights must rise,
Which hey our godlike chief, himself shall prize.
Immortal shall our truth for ever stand,'
If Caesar thinks this little faithful band
A loss, amidst the host of his command.
For me, my friends, my fix'd resolve is ta'en,
And fate, or chance, may proffer life in vain ?
I scorn whatever safety they provide,
And cast the worthless trifling thought aside:
The sacred rage of death devours me whole,
Reigns fa my heart, and triumphs m my soul J
I see, I reach the period of my woe,
And taste those joys the dying only know.
Wisely the gods conceal the wondrous good,
Lest man no longer should endure his load ;
Lest every wretch, like me, from life should fly^
his own happiness himself, and die P

&<*k 4. LUCAN's PHARf ALIA. £01

He spoke. The band his potent tongue confess'd,
And generous ardour burn'd in every breast
No longer now they view, with watery eyes,
The swift revolving circle of the skies;
No longer think the setting stars in haste,
Nor wonder slow Bootes moves so fast :
Bat with high hearts exulting all and gay,
They wish for light, and call the tardy day.
Yet, nor the heavenly Axis long delays,
To roll the radiant signs beneath the seas : '

In Leda's twins 34 now rose the warmer sun,
And near the lofty Crab exalted shone ;
Swiftly night's shorter shades began to move,
And to the west Thessaliau Chiron 35 drove.
At length the morning's purple beams disclose
The wide horizon cover'd ronnd with foes ;
Each rpck and shore the crowding Istrians keep,
While Greeks and fierce Libarnians 36 spread the
When yet, ere fury lets the battle loose, [deep j
Octavius wooes 'em with the terms of truce :
If haply Pompey's chains they choose to wear,
And captive life to instant death prefer.
Bat the brave youth, regardless of his might,
Fierce in the scorn of life, and hating light;
Fearless, and careless, of whatever may come,
Resolv'd, and self-determin'd to their doom,
Alike disdain the threatening of the war,
And all the flattering wiles their foes prepare.
Calmly the numerous legions round they view,
At once by land and sea the fight renew :

34 when the ran wu puling from Gemini into Cancar,
about the beginning of Jane.

35 Saglttury, the opposite ngn, was then setting.

36 All on Pompey's side.
yoL. l. p

POS tpCAM'S PHAR8AMA. Botjt *.

Selief, or friends, or aid, expect they none,
ut fix one certain trust — in death alone.
|n opposition firm awhile they stood,
But soon were satisfied with hostile blood :
Then turning from the foe, with gallant pride, }
" Is there a generous youth (Volteins cried) f
Whose worthy sword may pierce your leader's £
side?* J

He said : and at the word, from every part,
X hundred pointed weapons reach'd his heart;
Dying, he prais'd 'em all, but him the chief,
Whose eager duty brought the first relief:
Deep in his breast he plung'd his deadly blade,
And with a grateful stroke the friendly gift repaid.

At once all rush, at once to death they fly,
And on each other's sword alternate die ;
preedy to make the mischief all their own,
And arrogate the guilt of war alone.
A fete like this did Cadmus' harvest 37 prove,
When mortally the earth-born brethren strove ;
When by each other's hands of life bereft,
An omen dire 3 * to fntnre Thebes they left.
Such was the rage inspir'd the Colchian foes,
When from the dragons' wondrous teeth they rose;
When urgM by charms, and magic's mystic pow*r,
They dy'd their native field with streaming gore ;
Till ev'n the fell enchantress 39 stood dismay'd,
And wondeiM at the mischieft which she made.

37 Tint stories of Cadmot and Jason's sowing the teeth of the)
dragons which they bad killed in Bosotia and Colchis, and the
men that sprang np from them, and killed one another, are to
be found at Urge In Ovid's Metamorphoses.

38 Because the two sons of (Erfipns, Eteodts and Poly*
nices, killed one another afterwards at the same place.

39 Medea, who instructed Jason.

it?u cddiiii in me main,
no they view the skits, 1
ed Hint with scornful uym, >
y the victor-foe despise. J

8«Jc 4. lUCAIt's FOAR9ALI*. f03

Faries man fierce the dying Romans feel,

And with bare breasts provoke the lingering steel;

With fond embraces catch the deadly dm la.

And press 'etn plunging to their panting hearts.

No wound imperfect, for a second calls ;

With certain aim the sure destruction mils.

This hut best gift, this one unerring blow.

Sires, sons, and brothers *% mutually bestow ;

Nor piety, nor fond remorse prevail,

And if they fear, they only rear to fail.

Here with red streams th e b lushing w aie? they stair,

Here dash their mangled entrails in **■ : -

Here with a last disdain tt
Shout on t heaven's bated li^
And with manning joy the victor-foe despist
At length the heapy slaughter rose on high,
The hostile chiefs the purple pile descry;
And while the last accustom'd rites they give,
Scarcely the unexampled deed believe :
Much they admire a fhitfa by death approv'd,
And wonder lawless power *■ could e'er be thai
belovU
Wide through mankind eternal fame display*
This hardy crew, this single vessel's praise.
But oh ! the story of the godlike rage
Is lost upon a vile degenerate age ;
The base, the slavish world will not be taught,
With how much ease their freedom may be bought ; .
Still arbitrary power on thrones commands, 1
Still liberty Is gall'd by tyrants' bands, >

And swords io vain are trusted to our I*

■Sow Id VnJtdart qndi, p. igo.

t04 lucan's pharbaj^ia. Book 4.

Oh, death ! thou pleasing end of human woe,
Thou cure for life, thou greatest good below;
SHU may'st thou fly the coward and the slave,
And thy soft slumbers only bless the brave.

Nor war s pernicious god less havoc yields,
Where swarthy Libya spreads her sun-burn'd fields :
For Curio now the stretching canvass spread,
And from Sicilian shores bis navy led j
To Artie's coast he cuts the foamy way,
Where low the once victorious Carthage lay.
fhere landing, to the well-known camp 43 he hies.
Where from afar the distant seas he spies ;
Where Bagrada's dull waves the sands divide, .
And slowly downward roll their sluggish tide.
From thence he seeks the heights renpwn'd by feme,
And hallow'd by the great Cornelian name ;
The rocks and hills which, long traditions say,
Were held by huge Antaeus' 43 horrid sway.
Here, as by chance he lights upon the place,
Curious he tries the reverend tale to trace.
When thus, in short, the ruder Libyans tell,
What from their sires they beard, and how the case
befel.

" The teeming earth, for ever fresh and young,
Yet, after many a giant-son, was strong ;
When labouring here with the prodigious birth,
She brought her youngest-born Antaeus forth.

4* The Oastra Comeliana, where Cornelias Sdpio had for-
merly incamped, and left bis name to (he place from his re-
markable successes there in the second Panic war.
43 i wonder Locan, who seems to avoid the fabulous in his
oem, should go so far out of the way for this. The place of
iMseos's abode and burial Is by no author placed in this part
r Afric ; aome fix it in Mauritania Tingitana, others in Iibya^
ad Cellarios between the Vile and the Red Sea.

Book 4. LUCAS'S PHARSALFA. 20$

Of fell the dreadful brood which erst she bore,
In none the fruitful beldame gloried more :
Happy for those above, she brought him not,
Till after Phlegra's" doubtful field was fought
That this, her darling, might in force excel,
A gift she gave : whene'er to earth he fell,
Recruited strength he from his parent drew,
And every slackening nerve was strung anew.
Yon cave his den he made ; where oft for food,
He snatch'd the mother lion's horrid brood :
Nor leaves, nor shaggy hides his couch prepared,
Torn from the tiger, or the spotted pard :
But stretch'd along the naked earth he lies :
New vigour still the native earth supplies.
Whatever he meets his ruthless hands invade,
•Strong in himself, without his mother's aid.
The strangers that, unknowing, seek the shore,
Soon a worse shipwreck on the land deplore.
Dreadful to all, with matchless mi
Robs, spoils, and massacres the
And all unpeopled lie the Libyan plaii
At length, around the trembling nations spread,
Fame of the tyrant to Alcides led.
The godlike hero, born by Jove's decree,
To set the seas and earth from monsters free;
Hither in generous pity bent his course,
And set himself to prove the giant's force.

" Now met, the combatants for fight provide,
And either doffs the lion's yellow hide.
Bright in Olympic oil 4S Alcides shone,
Antaeus with his mother's dust is strown,
And seeks her friendly force to aid his own.

44 Where the gods and the giants fongbt a pitched battle.

45 As was ottal among the racers and wrestlers at the OtynV
pic games.

tana aepiore.
might he reigns, 1
simple swains, r
in plains. )

\

\

206 LUCAtf'S PHARSAtlA. Book 4.

Now seising fierce, their grasping hands they mi**
And labour on the swelling throat to fix ;
Their sinewy arms are writh'd in many a fold,
And front to front they threaten stern and bold*
Unmatched before, each bends a sullen frown,
To find a force thus equal to his own.
At length the godlike victor Greek prevail'd,
Nor yet the foe with all his force assaiTd.
Faint dropping sweats bedew the monsters brows,
And panting thick with heaving sides he blows;
His trembling head the slackening nerves confessed,
And from the hero shrunk his yielding breast.
The conqueror pursues, his arms entwine,
Infolding gripe, and strain his crashing chine,
While his broad knee bears forceful on his groin.
At once his faltering feet from earth he rends.
And on the sands his mighty length extends.
The parent earth her vanquish'd son deplores,
And with a touch his vigour lost restores :
From his faint limbs the clammy dews she drains',
And with fresh streams recruits bis ebbing veins;
The muscles swell, the hardening sinews rise,
And bursting from the' Herculean grasp he flies.
Astonish'd at the sight Alcides stood : f

Nor more he wonder'd, when in Lerna's flood r
The dreadful snake 46 her falling heads renew'd. J
Of all his various labours, none was seen
With equal joy by heaven's unrighteous queen ;
Pleas'd she beheld what toil, what pains he provM,
He who had borne the weight of heaven unmov'd.
Sudden again upon the foe he flew,
The falling foe to earth for aid withdrew;
The earth again her fainting son supplies,
And with redoubled forces bids him rise :

4* The Hydra/

£#•* 4. tUCAK'S PHARSAXll. 107

Her vital powers to succour him she tends,
And earth herself with Hercules contends.
Conscious at length of such unequal fight,
And that the parent touch reaewM his might,
" No longer sbalt thou fall, ( Alcides cried)
Henceforth the combat standing shall be tried ;
If thou wilt lean, to me alone incline,
And rest upon no other breast but mine."
He said ; and as he saw the monster stoop.
With mighty arms aloft he rears him up :
No more the distant earth her son supplies,
Lock'd in the hero's strong embrace he lies 7
Nor thence dismissed, nor trusted to the groundy
Till death in every frozen limb was found*

" Thus, fond of tales, our ancestors of old
The story to their childrens' Children told;
Prom thence a title to the land they gave*
And call'd this hollow rock Anteus* cave.
But greater deeds this rising mountain grace,
And Scipio's name ennobles much the place;
While fixing here his famous camp, he calls
Fierce Hannibal from Rome's devoted walls.
As yet the mouldering works remain in view;
Where dreadful once the Latian eagles flew.

" Fond of the prosperous victorious name,
And trusting fortune would be still the samev
Hither bis hapless ensigns Curio leads,
And here his unsuspicious camp he spreads 4
A fierce superior foe his arms provoke,
And rob the hills of all their ancient luck,
O'er all the Roman powers in Libya's land,
Then A tins Varus bore supreme command j
Nor trusting in the Latian strength alone,
With foreign force he fortified his own j

208 LUCAN'S PHARSALIA. Book 4.

Summon'd the swarthy monarch* all from far,
And call d remotest Juba forth to war.
O'er many a country runs his. wide command,
To Atlas huge, and Grades' western strand ;
From thence to horded Amnion's fane renown'd.
And the waste Syrts unhospitable bound >
Southward as far he reigns, and rules alone
The sultry regions of the burning zone.
With him, unnumbered nations march along,
The* Autololes 47 with wild Numidians throng;
The rough Getulian, with his roder steed ;
The Moor, resembling India's swarthy breed ;
Poor Nasamon's, and Garamantines join'd,
With swift Marmaridans that match- the wind ;
The Mazax, bred the trembling dart to throw,
Sure as the shaft that leaves the Parthian bow:
With these Massylia's nimble horsemen ride, 1
They nor the bit nor curbing rein provide, >

But wi th light rods the well- taught courser guide. V
From lonely cots the Libyan hunters came,
Who still unarm'd invade the savage game,
And with spread mantles tawny lions tame 1 .
But not Rome's fate, nor civil rage alone,
Incite the monarch Pompey's cause to own ;■
Stung by resenting wrath, the war he sought,
And deep displeasures past by Curio wrought.

47 Antololes, or Antololae, people (according to some) of
Gaetalia, npon the shore of the Atlantic ocean; according to
others, of Mauritania Ceesariensis, joining to Nnmidta ; these
latter seem to be those mentioned by Lncan.

The African nations here reckoned by the poet as the sub*
jecta of Juba, possessed not only all that which we at present
call the coast of Barbary, bat extended beyond Atlas yery far
Vrothwarri, and from the Straits' month along the Atlantic,
•ceau as far as- the Fortunate or Canary islands.

Hook 4. LUCAN'S PHAItSALIA. W9

He, when the tribune's sacred power he gain'd,
When justice, laws, and gods were all profaned,
At Jnba's ancient sceptre aim'd his hate,
And strove to rob him of liis royal seat :
From a just prince would tear his native right,
While Rome was made a slave to lawless might.
The king, revolving causes from afar,
Looks on himself as party to the war.
That grudge, too well remembering, Curio knew ;
To this he joins his troops to Caesar new;
None of those old experienc'd faithful bands,
Nurs'd in his fear, and bred. to his commands;
But a loose, neutral, light, uncertain train,
Late with Corfimum's captive fortress ta'en.
That waveringpause, and doubt for whom to strike,
Sworn to both sides, and true to both alike.
The careful chief beheld, with anxious heart,
The faithless centinels each night desert :
Then thus, resolving, to himself he cried,
" By daring shows our greatest fears we hide:
Then let me haste to bid the battle join,
And lead my army, while it yet is mine;
Leisure and thinking still to change incline.
Let war, and action, busy thought control,
And find a full employment for the soul.
When with drawn swords determin'd soldiers stand,
When shame is lost, and Airy prompts the band,
What reason then can find a time to pause,
To weigh the differing chiefs, and juster cause?
That cause seems only just for which they fight;
Each likes his own, and all are in the right
On terms like these, within the' appointed space,,
Bold gladiators gladiators face ;

ID. >

210 lUCAlll PHARSAtlA.

Unknowing why, like fiercest foes they greet,
And only hate, said kill, because they meet/

He said ; and rang'd his troops upon the plain.
While fortune met him with a semblance tain,
Covering her malice keen, and all his future pain.
Before him Varus' vanquish'd legions yield,
And with dishonest flight forsake the field ;
Exposed to shameful wounds their backs he views,
And to their camp the fearful rout pursues.

Juba with joy the mournful news receives,
And haughty in his own success believes.
Careful his foes in error to maintain,
And still preserve them confident and vain;
dilent he marches on in secret sort,
And keeps his numbers close from loud report.
Sabbura, great in the Nnmidian race,
And second to their swarthy king in place,
First with a chosen slender band precedes,
And seemingly the force of Juba leads :
While bidden he, the prince himself, remains,
And in a secret vale lite host constrains.
Thus oft the* Ichneumon «% on the banks of Nile,
Invades the deadly aspic by a wile ;
While artfully bis slender tail is play'd,
The serpent darts upon the dancing shade ;
Then turning on the foe with swift surprise,
Full at his throat the nimble setter flies 9
The gasping snake expires beneath the wound,'
His gushing jaws with poisonous floods abound,
And shc4 the fruitless mischief on the ground.

♦8 This Is a creature commonly called the rat of Egypt, of
the bigness of a weasel or mnall cat, an enemy to tef pentf , but
particularly to the crocodile.

Bittk 4. LUCAS'S PIIARHAI.il. Sti

Nor fortune fail'd to favour hi! intent",
Bat crown'd the fraud with prosperous event.
Curio, unknowing of tbe hostile pow'r, 1

Commands hia horse the doubtful plnin to scour ;f
And evil by night tbe regions round explore. J
Himself, though oft forewarn'd by friendly care,
Of panic frauds so , and dinger to beware,
Soon as the dawn of early day was broke,
His camp, with all tha moving foot, forsook.
It seem'd, necessity inspir'd the deed,
And fate reqiuVd the daring youth should bleed.
War, that cots' d war which he himself begun,
To death and ruia drove him headlong on.
O'er devious rocks, long time, his way he takes,
Through rugged paths, and rude incumbering
Till from alar, at length the hills disclose, [brakes;
Assembling on their heights tin distant foes.
Of hasty flight with swift retreat they feign.
To draw the' unwary leader to the plain.
He, rash and ignorant of Libyan wiles,
Wide o'er the naked champaiu spreads his files ;
When, sadden, all the circling mountains round
With numberless Numidians thick are crownd:
At once the rising ambush stand* confess'd.
And dread strikes cold on every Roman breast.
Helpless they view the' impending danger nigh,
Nor can the valiant fight, nor coward fly.

2l'2 Lccan's phArsaliA. Book 4.

The weary horse S1 neglects the trumpet's sound,
Nor with impatient ardour paws the ground;
No more he champs the bit, nor tugs the rein,
Nor pricks his ears, nor shakes his flowing mane r
With foamy sweat his smoking limbs are spread.
And all o'er-labourM hangs his heavy head :
Hoarse, and with pantings thick, his breath he draws,
While roapy filth begrimes his clammy jaws ;
Careless the rider's heartening voice he hears,
And motionless the wounding spur he bears.
At length, by sworoVand goading darts compelPdJ
Dronish he drags his load across the field ;
Nor once attempt* to charge, but drooping goes,
To bear his dying lord amidst his foes.

Not so the Libyans fierce their onset make ;
With thundering hoofs the sandy soil they shake ;
Thick o'er the battle wavy clouds arise,
As when, thronghThrace,Bistonian 5 * Boreas flies,
Involves the day in dust, and darkens all the skies.
And now the Latian foot encompau'd round,
Are massacred, and trodden to the ground ;
None in resistance vainly prove their might,
But death is all the business of the fight.
Thicker than hail the steely showers descend ;
Beneath the weight the falling Romans bend.
On every side the shrinking front grows less,
And to the centre madly all they press :

51 The Roman horse, when they came Jo charge, were quite
tired and jaded.

52 Bistonia was a city of Thrace, built by Blatoo, the son of
Mars and Callirrbde ; from whence all the Thraciana were}
called Bistons, and the winds blowing from that country
Bistoniao.

J%»fc4. LTJCAN'S PHAR8AUA. Jt3

Fear, uproar, and dismay, increase the cry,
Crusliing and crosh'd, an armed crowd they die ;
Ev'n thronging on their fellows' swords they run,
And the Coos' business by themselves is done.
But the fierce Moors disdain 5J a crowd should share
The praise of conquest, or the task of war :
Rivers of blood they wish, and hills of slain,
With mangled carcases to strew the plain.

Genius of Carthage ! rear thy drooping head,
And view thy fields with Roman slaughter spread.
Behold, oh Hannibal, thou hostile shade I
A large amends by fortune's hand is made,
And the lost Punic blood is well repaid.
Thus do the gods J4 the cause of Pompey bless ?
Thus ! is it thus they give our arms success ?
Take % Afric, rather take the horrid good,
And make thy own advantage of our blood.

The dust, at length, in crimson floods was laid,
And Curio " now the dreadful field survey'd.
He saw 'twas lost, and knew it vain to strive,
Yet bravely scorn'd to fly, or to survive ;

53 That their conquest should be owing to the tumult and
disorder of the enemy ; they would have rather gained it with
more slaughter.

s + The poet would not have any advantage accrue to Pom-
pey (whose person and cause he always favours) from the
blood of bis countrymen, but would rather transfer the benefit
of such success, as well as the guilt of it, to Juba and his
Africans.

35 Curio has been mentioned before in the first book. He
was in debt immensely, for a private man. Val. Maalmus
says, that Caesar paid Sexcenties H. S. 00,000 Sestertia,
which- is above 460,000/. sterling, for him ; so that Caesar might,
be wall said to buy, and Curio to sell the commonwealth, .v.

214 LircAirt pharjalia. Boole f.

And though thns driven to death, he met it well,
And in a crowd of dying Romans fell.

Now what avail thy popular arts and fame,
Thy restless mind that shook thy country's frame ;
Thy moving tongue that knew so well to charm,
And urge the madding multitude to arm?
What boots it, to have sold the Senate's right,
And driven the furious leaders on to fight?
Thou, the first victim of thy war, art slain ;
Nor shalt thou see Pharsalia's fatal plain.
Behold ! ye potent troublers of the state,
What wretched ends on curs'd ambition wait I
See! where, a prey, unboned Curio lies,
To every fowl that wings the Libyan skies.
Oh ! were the gods as gracious, as severe,
Were liberty, like vengeance, still their care*;
Then, Rome! what days, what people migbt'st
If Providence would equally decree, [thou see,
To punish tyrants, and preserve thee free.

Nor yet, oh generous Curio! shall my verse
Forget thy praise, thy virtues, to rehearse ;
Thy virtues, which with envious time shall strive,
And to succeeding ages long survive.
In all our pregnant mother's tribes, before,
A son of nobler hope she never bore :
A soul more bright, more great she never knew,
While to thy country's interest thon wert true.
But thy bad fate o'er-ruPd thy native worth,
And in an age abandoned brought thee forth ;
When vice in triumph through the city pass'd,
And dreadful wealth and power laid all things waste.
The sweeping stream thy better purpose cross'd,
And in the headlong torrent wert thou lost

\

Book 4. LUCAN'S PHARSAflA. 21$

Much to the rain of the State was done, )

When Curio by the Gallic spoils was won ; >
Cario, the hope of Rome,and her most worthy son ! )
Tyrants of old, whom former times record,
Who rul'd, and ravagM with the murdering sword ;
Sylla, whom such unbounded power made proud j
Marios, and Cinna, red with Roman blood ;
Ev'ki Caesar's mighty race, who lord it now,
Before whose throne the subject nations bow,
All bought that power which lavish Curio sold,
Curio, who bartertt liberty for gold.

LUCAN'S PHARSALIA.

BOOK V.

ARGUMENT.

In Epirns the consols assemble the senate, who unanimously
appoint Pompey general of the war against Caesar, and decree
pnblic thanks to the several princes and states who assisted
the commonwealth. Appius, at that time praetor of Achaia,
consults the oracle of Delphos concerning the event ef the civil
war. And, upon this occasion, the p«»et goes into a digression
concerning the origin, the manner of the delivery, and the pre-
sent silence of that oracle. From Spain, Caesar returns into
Italy ; where he quells a mutiny in his army, and punishes the
offenders. From Plicentia, where this disorder happened, he
orders them to march to Brundusinm ; where, after a short
tarn to Rome, and assuming the consulship, or rather the su-
preme power, be joins them himself. From Brundosium,
thongh it was then the middle of winter, be transports part of
bis army by sea to Epirus, and lands at Palaeste. Pompey,
who then lay about Caudavia, hearing of Caesar's arrival,
and being in pain for Dyrrachium, marched that way : on the
banks of the river Apsns they met and encamped close together.
Csssar was not vet joined by that part of his troops which he
had left behind him at Brandosiam, ander the command of
Mark Anthony ; and, being nneasy at his delays, leaves his
camp by night, and ventures over a tempestuous sea, in a small
bark, to hasten the transport. Upon Caesar joining his forces
together, Pompey perceived that the war would now probably
be soon decided by a battle; and opon that consideration, re-
solved to send his wife to expect the event at Lesbos. Their
parting, which is extremely moving, concludes (his book.

B90k 5. LOCAN 1 * PHARSALll. 2*7

Thus equal fortune holds awhile the scale,
And bids the leading chiefs by trims prevail;'
In doubt the goddess yet their fate detains,
And keeps 'em for Emathia's fatal plains.

And now the Betting Pleiades ■ grew low,
The hills stood hoary in December's snow;
The solemn season was approaching near,
When other names *, renew*d, the Fasti wear,
And double Janus leads the coming year.
The consuls, while their rods they yet mamtain'd,
While yet some show of liberty reinain'd,
With missives round the scattered fathers greet/
And in Epirus bid the Senate meet.
There the great rulers of the Roman state,
In foreign seats, consulting,- meanly sate*
No face of war the grave assembly Wears/'
But civil power in peaceful pomp appears t
The purple order to their place resort,
While waiting lictort 3 guard the crowded coort:
No action these, nor party, seeiri to be,
But a fall Senate, legal, just, and free,
tireat as he is, here Poiupey stands confess'd
A private man, and one among the rest. [cease/

Their mutual groans; at length, and murmurs
And every mournful sound h hush'd in peace ;

1 The seven stars set cosmfcally, as (he astronomers call it
(or abort son-rising), about the middle of November. It sig-
.nifiea here only the latter end of the year.

* Of the new consols. For the Fasti, see before in (he notes
on Book II.

3 These were somewhat like our serjeanta at mace : they at-
tended the principal Roman nmgifttrates, and carried the en-
signs of their authority, the rods and axes, before them.

rot, r. q

\

t4& LtfCAN'S PHAHSALIAt Bdok &'•

When from tbe consular distinguished throne,
Sublimely rais'd,thus Lentulus begun :

" If yet our Roman virtue is tbe same,
Yet worthy of the race from which we came,
And emulates our great forefather's name ;
Let not our thoughts, by sad remembrance led,
Bewail those captive walls 4 from whence we fled.
This time demands that to ourselves we turn,
Nor, fathers, have we leisure now to mourn ;
But let each early care, each honest heart,
Our Senate's sacred dignity assert.-
To all around proclaim it, wide and near,
That power which kings obey, and nations fear,
That only legal power of Rome is here.
For whether to tbe northern Bear we go,-
Where pale she glitters o'er eternal snow ;
Or whether in those sultry climes we burn, -
Where night and day with equal hours return-;
The world shall still acknowledge us its head,
And empire follow wheresoever we lead.
When Gallic flames tbe burning city felt,
At Veiae Rome s with her Camillas dwelt. *
Beneath forsaken roofs proud Caesar reigns,
Our vacant courts and silent laws constrains - t >
While slaves obedient to his tyrant will,,
Outlaws and profligates, his Senate fill ;
With him a banish'd guilty crowd appear,.
All that are just and innocent are here.
Dispers'd by war, though guiltless of its crimes-, •
Our order yielded to these impious times ;

4- Rome possessed by Caesar

& When Rome was sacked by tbe Gaols, tbe Senate assem-
bled at Veiae, »bont three leagues from their own city, and
there appointed Camilla* dictator.

B6*k 5. LUCAN'S PHARSALIA. f 19

At length, returning each from his retreat,
In happy hoar the scattered members meet.
The gods and fortune greet tis on the way,
And with the world 'lost Italy repay.
Upon lllyria's favourable coast,
Volteius with his furious band are lost;
While in bold Curio, on the Libyan plain,
One half of Caesar's senators lie slain.
March then, ye warriors ! second rate's design,
And to the leading gods your ardour join :
With equal constancy to battle come, [Rome*
As when you shun'd the foe, and left your native
The period of the consuls' power is near,
Who yield our Fasces with the ending year":
But you, ye fathers, whom we still obey,
Who rale mankind with undetermin'd sway,
Attend the public weal, with faithful care,
And bid our greatest Pompey lead the war."
In loud applause the pleas'd assembly join,
And to the glorious task the chief assign :
His country's fate they trust to him alone,
And bid him fight Home's battles, and bis own.
Next, to their friends their thanks are dealt around,
And some with gifts, and some with praise are

crown'd:
Of these, the chief are Rhodes, by Phoebus lov*d%
And Sparta rough, in virtue's lore approVd :

* The consul Leotnlos would insinuate, that their successes
against Volteius and Curio did overbalance the losses they had
sustained in Spain and Italy, and were to be looked upon aa an*
earnest of their recovering the empire of the world.

7 The colossus and temple of the son, in that island, wero
ftmow in antiquity.

LUCAN'8 PHABSAtlAV Book 6.

Of Athens much they speak ; Massilia's aid
Is with her parent Phocis'* freedom paid,
Deiotarus'his truth they much commend,
Their still nnshaken faithful Asian friend.
Brave Cotys, and his valiant son, they grace,
With bold Rliasipolis from stormy Thrace.
While gallant Juba jnstly is decreed
To his paternal sceptre to succeed.
And thou too, Ptolemy IO (unrighteous fate!)
Wert rais'd, unworthy, to the regal state;
The crown upon thy perjur'4 temples shone,
That once was borne by Philip's godlike son.
O'er iEgypt shakes the boy his cruel sword :
(Oh! that he had been only iEgypt's lord. 1 )
But the dire gift more dreadful mischiefs wait,
While Lagos' sceptre gives him Pompey's Ate :
Preventing Caesar's, and his sister's hand,
He seiz'd his parricide, and her command.

The* assembly rose, and all on war intent
Bustle to arms, and blindly wait the' event.
Appius alone ", impatient to be taught,
With what the threatening future times were franght,
With busy curiosity explores
The dreadful purpose of the heavenly powers.

t See notes on Book III.

° Defotarus, king of Galatia, brought 600 horse to join Pom-
pey ; Cotyt, king of Thrace, sent 600, voder the contact of bis
son Sadalis ; and Rhasipolis brought 200 from Macedonia.

"° Ptolemy defrauded bis sister Cleopatra of her share in the
kingdom; and in killiug Pompey saved Caesar the guilt x>f that
impious act, Lagos was a surname of the Ptolemy's family.

11 Appius, the governor of Acbaia, desirous, to know the
««ent of the civil war, compelled the priestess of Delphos to
deseetod to the oracle, which had not of a long time been used.

B—k 5. LUCAN'S PHARSALIA. SSI

To Delphos straight he flies, where long the god
In silence had possessM his close abode ;
His oracles had long been known to cease,
And the prophetic virgin uVd in peace.

Between the ruddy west and eastern skies.
In the mid-earth, Parnassus' tops " arise :
To Phcebas, and the cheerful god of wine,
- Sacred in common, stands the hill divine.
Still as the third revolving year comes round,
The Maenades l3 , with leafy chaplets crown'd,
The donble deity in solemn songs resound.
When o'er the world the deluge wide was spread,
This only mountain rearM his lofty head ;
One rising rock, preserved, a bound was givfy
Between the vasty deep, and ambient Heav'n.
Here, to revenge long-vex'd Latona's pain,
Python x * by infant Paean's darts
While yet the realm was held

righteous reign.
But when the god perceived, how from below
The conscious caves diviner breathings blow l6 ,
How vapours could unfold the* inquirer's doom,
And talking winds could Apeak of tilings to come ;

'* The mountain Parnassus was sacred to Phoebus and Bac-
chus, and by the ancients believed to be exactly in the middle
of the earth.

"3 These were priestesses property of Bacchus. The Triete-
rfca, or three-yearly leasts, were sacred to that god in honour of
his return from his victories in India.

14 Python was a monstrous serpent sent by Juno to perse*
cute Latona. He was killed by Paean, or Apollo.

»5 The goddess of justice.

x 6 The original of this oracle was said to be from certain
blasts or exhalations which proceeded from a deep cavern in
the earth, and which inspired the Pythian, or prophetess, wMt

bient ueavn.
ma's pain, \
was slain, f
by Themis' 1 s f

St* UJCAHS PHAHSALIA. Book

Deep in the hollow* plunging be retirtl.
There, with foretelling fury fint inspir'd.
From Ihcuee the prophet'i art Hud honours hi
acquirtL
So runs the tale. And oh ! what god indeed
Witiiin this gloom; cavern's depth is hid f
What power divine forsakes the Heaven's flux light,
To dwell with earth, and everlasting night i
What i* this spirit, potent, wise, and great,
Who deign* to make a mortal frame, his scat?
Who the long chain of secret causes know*,
Whose oraclea the year* to come disclose I
Who through eternity at once foresees,
And tells that fate which he himself decrees t
Part pf that soul, perhaps, which move* in all,
Whose energy inform* the pendant ball,
Throngh this dark passage seek* the realm* above,
And strive* to re-jiuite itself to Jove.
Whate'er the Damon, when he stand* confeaa'd
Within hi* raging prieateaa' panting breaat,
Dreadful his godhead from the virgin break*.
And thundering from her foamy month he speak*.
Such is the burst of bellowing Etna's sound,
When lair Sicilia's pasture* shake around ;
Such from Inarimi IT Typbceu* roan,
i While rattling rock* bestrew Campania's shore*.
I a ipirliof pradkUoo. And Locui lu tbi* plxr nukoi Apolio

' nil] bii godhead to nun dittos qaslitv Ibtl m before In (ha

r

I Bishop X Oatord, la hli Aidaaatoahi

ir. )

"Book 5. •MTCAH'S PHAR9ALFA.

The listening god, still ready with replies.
To none his aid 18 or oracle denies ;
Yet wise and righteous ever, scorns to hear
The fool's fond wishes, or the guilty's pray'r ;
(Plough vainly in repeated vows they trust,
None e'er find grace before him but the jnst ;
Oft to abanish'd l9 , wandering, houseless race,
The sacred dictates have assign'd a place :
Oft from the strong he saves the weak in war :
This truth, ye Salaminian seas declare!
And heals the barren land, and pestilential air,
•Of all the wants with which this age is curs'd,
The Delphic silence surely is the worst.
But tyrants *°, justly fearful of their doom,
Forbid the gods to tell us what's to come.
Meanwhile the prophetess may well rejoice,
And bless the ceasing of the sacred voice :
•Since death too oft her holy task attends,
And immature her dreadful labour ends.
Torn by, the fierce distracting rage she springs,
And dies beneath the god for whom she sings.

18 That is, in the times when there were frequent oracles
given: (naing the present tenie for. the preterite, frequent in
poetry.) It is plain, not only from Lncan in this book, bnt
other ancient authors, that this and other oracles had been silent
some time, before the civil war between Caesar and Pompey.

10 There are fregnent instances in story of these useful ora-
cles. The Phoenicians, driven by earthquakes from tht-ir first
habitations, were taught to fix first at Sidon, and after at Tyre.
When Greece was invaded by Xerxes, the Athenians were
advised to trust in .their wooden walls, (iheir ships) and ber
the Persians at sea at the battle of Salatnis. A famine
,£gypt,and the plague at Thebes, for the murder of Lalus, w
both removed by consulting this oracle.

4? They forbid their subjects to inquire.

J34 JUJCAjft FfliiRf A£IA. Btok 5.

These silent caves, these Tripods Xl long unmov'd,
Anxious for Rome, inquiring Appius proved :
He bids the guardian of the dread abode
8end in the trembling priestess to the god.
The reverend sire the Latian chief obey'd,
And sudden seia'd the unsuspecting maid,
Where careless in the peaceful grove she stray'd.
Dismay 'd, aghast, and pale, he drags her on;
«?be stops, and strives the fatal task to shun :
Subdued by force, to fraud and art she flies,
And thus to turn the Roman's purpose tries,
f* What curious hopes thy wandering fancy move,
The silent Delphic oracle to prove?
In vain, Ausonian Appius, art thou come ;
Long has our Phoebus and bis cave beeu dumb.
Whether, disdaining us, the sacred voice
Has made some other distant land its choice ;
Or whether, when the fierce Barbarians' fires 2i
JLow in the dust had laid our lofty spires,
In heaps the mouldering ashes heavy rod,
And chok'd the channels of the breathing god z
Or whether Heaven no longer gives replies,
But bids the Sibyls' mystic verse 23 suffice ;

*' There are several differing opinions concerning the Tripos,
or Tripod, at Delphos, which are collected by the learned Dr.
Potter (n« above). The most common, and, I think, the most
probable, is, that' it was a three legged stool, or seat, placed
over thx* hole or vent of the sacred cavern: upon this the
priestess sat or leaned, and received the divine qffiatut, or
blast, from below. Those .that have a curiosity to be better in.
formed, may see Vandale de Oraculis.

** When Delphos was taken and sacked, and the tempi*
unit by Brennns and the Gaols.

*3 That volume which was kept at Rome, and consulted

pon the most important public occasions.

»> " t ■

B*6k 5. MlCAJf'8 pHARtAXIA. 22$

Or if lie deigns not this bad age to bear,
And holds the world unworthy of his care :
Whate'er the cause, our god has long been mate,
And answers not to any suppliant's suit"
But ah ! too well her artifice is known,
Her fears confess the god, whom they disown.
Howe'er each rite she seemingly prepares,
A fillet gathers up her foremost hairs ;
While the white wreath and bays her temples bind,
And knit the looser locks which flow behind.
Sudden the stronger priest, though yet she strives,
The lingering maid within the temple drives :
Bnt still she fears, still shuns the dreadful shrine,
Lags in the outer space, and feigns the rage divine.
But far unlike the god, her calmer breast
No strong enthusiastic throes confessed ;
No terrors in her starting hairs were seen,
To cast from off her brow the wreathing green j
No broken accents half obstructed hung,
Nor swelling murmurs roll her labouring tongue.
From her fierce jaws no sounding horrors come,
No thunders bellow through the working foam,
To rend the spacious cave, and shake the vaulted i

dome.'

Too plain the peaceful groves and fane betray'd
The wily, fearful, god-dissembling maid.
The furious Roman soon the fraud espied,
And, " Hope not thou to 'scape my rage (he cried);
Sore shalt thou rue thy fond deceit, profane 1
(The gods and Appius are not mock'd in vain)
Unless thon cease thy mortal sounds *+ to tell,
Unless thou plunge thee in the mystic cell,

*4 Your own words; what you speak from yourself, aat)
not from the inspiration of Apollo*

.2*6 4.UCAlf'S FSAR0ALIA. Book £.

Unless the gods themselves reveal the doom
Which shall befal the warring world and Rome."

He spoke, and, aw'd by the superior dread,
The trembling priestess to the Tripod fled :
Close to the holy breathing vent she cleaves,
And. largely the unwonted god receives.
Nor age the potent spirit had decay'd,
But with full force he fills the heaving maid;
Nor e'er so strong inspiring Paean came,
Nor stretcb'd, as now, her agonizing frame :
The mortal mind driven out, forsook her breast,
And the sole godhead every part possessed.
Now swell her veins, her turgid sinews rise,
And bounding frantic through the cave she flies ;
Her bristling locks the wreathy fillet scorn,
And her fierce feet the tumbling Tripods spam.
Now wild she dances o'er the vacant fane, [pain.
And whirls her giddy head, and bellows with the
Nor yet the less, the' avenging wrathful god,
Pours in his fires, and shakes his sounding rod a$ :
He lashes now, and goads her on amain ;
And now he checks her, stubborn to the rein,
Curbs in her tongue, just labouring to disclose,
And speak that fate which in her bosom glows.
Ages on ages throng, a painful load,
Myriads of images, and myriads crowd ;
Men, times, and things, or present, or to come,
Work labouring up and down, and urge for room.
Whatever is, shall be, or e'er has been,
Rolls in her thought, and to her sight is seen.
The ocean's utmost bounds her eyes explore,
And number every sand on every shore ;

*5 i n theie divine tales the priettew jeenwd to be drivep
along with whipt.

JBaok 5. LCCAH'l

Nature, and all her works, at once they we, [be.
Know wbcushe first begun, and when her end shall

And as the Sibyl once in dime's cell.
When vulgar Fate* she proudly ceaa'd to tell,
The Roman destiny distinguish'd took,
And kept it careful in her sacred book ;
So now, Phemonoe 1 ", in crowds of thought.
The single doom of Latian Appius sought.
Nor in that mass, where multitudes abound,
A private fortune can with ease be found.
At length her foamy month begins to flow.
Groans more distinct, and plainer marmurs go :
A doleful howl the roomy cavern shook,
And thyt the calmer maid in faint inn accents spoke :

" While Ruilty rage the world tumultuous rends,
In peace for thee, Eubotai vale attends ;
Thither, as to thy refuge, shall thou fly,
There find repose, and unmolested lie."
She .laid) tbe god her labouring tongne suppresa'd.
And in eternal darkness verl'd the rest.

Ye sacred Tripods, on whose doom we wait 1
Ye guardians of the future laws of fate t
And thou, O Plicebus I whose prophetic skill
Reads the dark counsels of the heavenly will ;
Why did your wary oracle* refrain \

To tell what kings, what heroes, must he slain, f
And how much blood the blushing earth should I
stain? J

Wat it that, yet, the guilt was undecreed ?
That yet our Pompey was not dooni'd to bl<
Or chose you wisely, rather, to afford
A just occasion to the patriot's sword I"

» laam fires thin nsnx to the vriaiia of tiii lims, v

-338 JLUCAN'8 PHAR5JXIA. Bo4U 5.

As if yon feart) to' avert the tyrant's doom,
And hinder Bratns from avenging Rome?

Through the wide gates at length, by force dja-
play'd,
Impetuous sallies the prophetic maid ;
Nor yet the holy rage was all suppress'd,
Part of the god still heaving in her breast :
tjrg'd by the Daemon, yet she rolls her eyes,
And wildly wanders o'er the spacious skies.
Now horrid purple flushes in her race,
And now a livid pale supplies the place ;
A double madness paints her cheeks by turns,
With fear she freezes, and with fury burns :
Sad breathing sighs with heavy accent go^
And doleful from her fainting bosom blow.
So when no more the storm sonorous sings,
But noisy Boreas hangs his weary wings,
In hollow groans the foiling winds complain,
And murmur o'er the hoarse-resounding main.

Now by degrees the fire ethereal fatt'd,
And the dull human sense again prevail'd ;
While Phoebus, sudden, in a murky shade,
Hid the past vision from the mortal maid.
Thick clouds of dark oblivion rise between,
And snatch away at once the wondrous scene;
Stretch'd on the ground the fainting priestess lies,
While to the Tripod, back, the' informing spirit flies*

Meanwhile fond Appins, erring in his fate,
Dream'd of long safety, and a neutral state ;
And ere the great event of war was known,
Fix'd on Eubcean Chalcis* 7 for his own.

*7 Chalcis and Anlis lie over-against each other, one in
tabaca (Negropont) the other In Boaotia, with the Euripus or
nlf between.

Book 5. LUCAN'8 *HAR8AUA» $«9

Fool I to believe that power could ward the blow,
Or snatch thee from amidst the general woe I
In times like these, what god but death can

save?
The world can yield no refuge but the grave.
Where straggling seas Charystos rude constrains,-
And, dreadful to the proud, Rhamnusia 2 * reigns ;
Wnere by the whirling current barks are toss*d
From Chalcis to unlucky Anil's coast;
Th4re sbalt thou meet the god's appointed doom,
A private death, and long-remember'd tomb.
To other wars * 9 the victor now succeeds,
And his proud eagles- from Iberia leads:
When the changed gods his rum seem'd to threat,
And cross the long successful course of rate.
Amidst his camp, and fearless of his foes,
Sudden he saw where inborn dangers rose,
He saw those troops that long had faithful stood/
Friends to his cause, and enemies to good,
Grown weary of their chief, and satiate with!
blood.

** Nemesis, or the goddess 6f divine vengeance, wm parti-
cularly worshipped at Rhamnos, a town in- Attica, tad from'
them* called Rhamnosia. Appios thinking thb oracle bad
warned him only to abstain from this war, retired into that
country called Coela Enbata, where before the battle of Phar-
aalia he died of a disease, and was there buried, and so possessed'
quietly the place which the oracle had promised him.

*° Cesser was now reraracd fromSpain to Flacentia in Italy,
and was going to follow Pompey into Epirus end Macedonia,
when this mutiny in his army happened. As Lucan tells the
story, be seems not to have been present at the time it first be-
gan, hot upon the first notice of it to have repaired to the camp
If or doe* the speech of one of •the ringleaders (though addresses
f» him) suppose him to be present. .

230 LUCAH'B PHARSALTJt. B<H>k 5.

Whether the trumpet's sound too long had ceas'd,
And slaughter slept in unaccustom'd rest ;
Or whether, arrogant by mischief made,
The soldier held his guilt but half repay'd :
Whilst avarice and hope of bribes prevail,
Torn against Caesar, and his cause, the scale,
And set the mercenary sword to sale.
Nor,- e'er before, so truly conld he read
What dangers strow those paths the mighty tread.
Then- first he found on what a faithless base
Their nodding towers ambition's builders place :
He who so late, a potent faction's head,
Drew in the nations, and the legions led ;
Now strip'd of all, beheld in every band
The warrior's weapons at their own command ;
Nor service now, nor safety they afford,
But leave him single to his guardian sword;
Nor is this rage the grumbling of a* crowd,
That shun to tell their discontents aloud ;
Where all- with gloomy looks suspicious go;
And dread of an informer chokes their woe :
But, bold in numbers, proudly they appear,
And scorn the bashful mean restraints of fear.
For laws, in great rebellions, lose their end 1 ,
And all go free, when multitudes offend.

Among the rest, one thus : "At length, 'tis time
To quit thy cause, oh Caesar I and our crime :
The world around for foes thou hast explored,
And lavishly expos'd us to the sword ;
To make thee great, a worthless crowd we tall,
Scattered o'er Spain, o'er Italy, and Gaul ;
In every clime beneath the spacious sky,
Our leader conquers, and his soldiers die.

Book 8. lucabTs pm£RSALi£. $3 it

What boots our march beneath the frozen tone,
Or that lost blood which stains the Rhine and Rhone f
When acar'd with wounds, and worn with labours V
hard, t

We come with hopes of recompense prepaid, t
Thou giv'st us war, mow war, for our reward. /
Thougii purple rivers in thy cause we spilt,
And stain'd our horrid hands in every guilt;
With unavailing wickedness we toH'd,
In vain the gods, in vain the Senate spoil'd;
Of virtue, and reward, alike bereft,
Our pious poverty is all we've left.
Say to what height thy daring arms would rise ?
If Rome's too little, what can e'er suffice ?
Oh, see at length ! with pity, Caesar, see, [thee.
These withering arms, these haire grown white fof
In painfiil wars our joyless days have past,
£et weary age lie down in peace at last :
Give us on beds our dying limbs to lay,
And sigh at home our parting souk away.
Nor think it much we make the bold demand,
And ask this wondrous favour at thy hand :
Let our poor babes and weeping wives be by,
To close our drooping eyelids when we die.
Be merciful, and let disease afford
Some other way to die, beside the sword ;
Let us no more a common carnage bum,'
But each be laid in his own decent urn.
Still wilt thou urge us ignorant and blind,
To some more monstrous mischief yet behind?
Arc we the only fools 3 °, forbid to know
How much we may deserve by one sure blow?

3° Do yon think we only are ignorant, how greatly we may
dcaonre of tke commonwcalta by killinc yo« ?

252 LflCAN'S ?HA*SALIA. Book &

Thy head, thy head is ours, whene'er we please ;
Well has thy war inspired such thoughts as these : ,
What laws, what oaths can urge their feeble bands/
To hinder these determined daring hands ?
That Caesar, who was once ordain'd our head^
When to the Rhine our lawful arms he led,
Is now no more our chieftain, but our mate ;
foiilt equal, gives equality of state.
Nor shall his foul ingratitude prevail,
Nor weigh our merits in his partial scale ;
He views our labours with a scornful glance,
And calls our victories the works of chance :
But his proud heart, henceforth, shall learn to Dwny
His power, his fate, depends on us alone.
Yes, Caesar, spite of all those rods that wait,
With mean obsequious service, on thy state;
Spite of thy gods, and thee, the war shall cease,
And we, thy soldiers, will command a peace.*

He spoke, and fierce tumultuous rage inspifd,
The kindling legions round the camp were fiVd,
And with loud cries their absent chief required.

Permit it thus, ye righteous gods, f o be ;
Let wicked hands fulfil your great decree;
And since lost faith and virtue are no more,
Let Caesar's bands the public peace restore.
What leader had not now been cbill'd wltb'
fear,
And heard this tumult with the last despair ?
But Caesar, form'd for perils hard and great,
Headlong to drive, and brave opposing fate;
While yet with fiercest fires their furies flame,
Secure, and scornful of the danger, came.
I^or was he wroth to see the madness rise,
And mark the vengeance threatening in their eyes j

}

BpOJC 5, LUCAN'8 PHARSALIA. £53

With pleasure could he crown their curs'd designs,
With rapes of matrons, and the spoils of shrines :
Had they but ask'd it, well he could approve
The waste and plunder of Tarpeian Jove 3I :
No mischief he, no sacrilege, denies,
But would himself bestow the horrid prize.
Wjth joy he sees their souls by rage possess'd,
Soothes and indulges every frantic breast,
And only fears what reason may suggest.
Still, Caesar, wilt thou tread the paths of blood?
Wilt thou, thou singly, hate thy country's good!
Shall the rude soldier first of war complain,
And teach thee to be pitiful, in vain ?
Give o'er at length, and let thy labours cease,
Nor vex the world, but learn to suffer peace.
Why should'st thou force each now unwilling

hand,
And drive them on to guilt, by thy command ?
When ev*n relenting rage itself gives place,
And fierce Enyo 3 * seems to shun thy face."

High on a turfy bank the chief was rear'd,
Fearless, and therefore worthy to be fear*d;
Around the crowd he cast an angry look,
And, dreadful, thus with indignation spoke.

*' Ye noisy herd ! who in so fierce a strain
Against your absent leader dare complain ;
Behold ! where naked and unarm'd be stands,
And braves the malice of your threatening hands.
Here find your end of war, your long-sought rest,
And leave your useless swords in Caesar's breast
But wherefore urge I the bold deed to you ?
To rail is all your feeble rage can do.

3> The Capitol. ** The goddtN of dvi| wmr.

VOL. I. R

S34 LUCAN'S PHARSALIA. Book 5.

{n grumbling tactions you are bold and loud,
Can sow sedition, and increase a crowd ;
You ! who can loath the glories of the great,
And poorly meditate a base retreat.
But hence ! be gone from victory and me,
L<eave me to what my better fates decree :
New friends, bey troops, my fortune shall afford,
And find a hand for every vacant sword.
Behold, what crowds on flying Pompey wait.
What multitudes attend his abject state !
And shall success, and Caesar, droop the while ? )
Shall I want numbers to divide the spoil, £

And reap the fruits of your forgotten toil ? J
> Regions shall come to end the bloodless war,
And shouting follow my triumphal car :
While you, a vulgar, mean, abandoned race,
Shall view our honours with a downward face,
And curse yourselves in secret as we pass.
Can your vain aid, can your departing force,
Withhold my conquest, or delay my course ?
So trickling brooks their waters may deny,
And hope to leave the mighty ocean dry ;
The deep shall still be full, and scorn the poor

, supply.

Nor think such vulgar souls as yours were giv*n,
To be the task of fate, and care of heav'n:
Few are the lordly, the distinguish'd great,
bn whom the watchful gods, like guardians, wait :
The rest for common use were all designed,
An unregarded rabble of mankind.
By my auspicious name, and fortune led, [spread;
Wide o'er the world your conquering arms were
But say, what had you done with Pompey at your
head?

Bo0k 5. lucan's pharsalia. J35

Vast was the fame by Labienus 3S woo,
When rank'd amidst my warlike friends he shone :
Now mark what follows on his faithful change,
And see him with his chief new-chosen range ;
By land and sea, where'er my arms he spies,
An ignominious runagate he flies.
Such shall you prove. Nor is it worth my care 34 ,
Whether to Pompey^ aid your arms yon bear :
Who quits his leader, wheresoe'er he go,
Flies like a traitor, and becomes my foe.
Yes, ye great gods ! your kinder care I own,
You made the faith of these false legions known j
You warn me well to change these coward bands.
Nor trust my fate to such betraying hands.
And thou too, fortune ! point'st me out the way,
A mighty debt thus cheaply to repay :
Henceforth my care regards myself alone,
War's glorious gain shall now be all my own.
For you, ye vulgar herd, in peace return,
My ensigns shall by manly hands be borne.
Some few of you, my sentence here shall wait,
And warn succeeding factions by your fate.
Down ! groveling down to earth, ye traitors, bend,
And with your prostrate necks my doom attend.
And you, ye younger striplings of the war;
You, whom I mean to make my future care ;
Strike home! to blood, to death, inure your hands,
And learn to execute my dread commands."

33 He had been Caesar's lieutenant in Oral ; bat was per-
suaded by Cawar's enemies to forsake him, and go over to
Pompey.

34 u is very indifferent to me whether yon only forsake me,
and remain neuters, or go over to Pompey and assiit bfm.

>

tS6 LPCAW'S PHAR8AUA. Book 5.

He spoke ; and at the' impious sound dismay'd,
The trembling unresisting crowd obey'd :
No more their late equality 3S they boast,
But bend beneath his frown, a suppliant host.
Singly secure, be stands confess'd their lord.
And rules, in spite of him, the soldier's sword.
Doubtful at first, their patience he surveys,
And wonders why each haughty heart obeys ;
Beyond his hopes he sees the stubborn bow,
And bare their breasts obedient to the blow ;
Till ev'n his cooler thoughts the deed disclaim,
And would not find 36 their fiercer souls so tame*
A few at length 37 , selected from the rest,
Bled, for example j and the tumult ceas'd :
While the consenting host the victims viewed,
And in that blood their broken faith renew'd.

Now to Brundusium's walls he bids 'em tend,
Where ten long days their weary marches end ;
There he commands assembling barks to meet,
And furnish from the neighbouring shores his fleet.
Thither the crooked keels from Leuca glide,
From Taras 38 old, and Hydras 39 winding tide;

35 See before, p. 232.

36 As thinking men a disposition of mind too tame for the
execution of designs like his.

37 CsBnr cashiered, with infamy, all the ninth legion at PI*,
eentia ; and with much ado, after many prayers and great sub-
missions, received them again, hot not without making severe
examples of the chief mutineers.

38 Or Tara, a river of Naples In the province of Otranto; it
rites in the Apennine mountains, and falls into the golf of
Tarentnm.

39 Hydros and Hydrantlnm was the ancient name of Otranto.
Here it signifies a river, probably, near that place of the same
name.

ise, 7
lies, >
es. 3

Book & LUCAN'8 PHARSALtA. tST

Tbitber with swelling sails their way they take,
From lowly Sipns, and Salapia's lake 40 ;
From where Apulia's fruitful monntains rise;
Where high along the coast Garganns*' lies,
And beating seas and fighting winds defies.

Meanwhile, t the chief 42 to Rome directs his way, ;
Now fearful, aw'd, and Jashion'd to his sway.
There, with mock prayers, the suppliant vulgar wait,
And urge on him the great Dictator's state.
Obedient he; since thus their wills ordain,
A gracious tyrant condescends to reign.
His mighty name the joyful Fasti wear,
Worthy to usher in the cursM Pharsalian year.
Then was the time, when sycophants began
To heap all titles on one lordly man j
Then learn'd our sires 43 that fawning lying strain.
Which we, their slavish sons, so well retain :
Then first were seen to join an ill-match'd pair,
The axe of justice with the sword of war ;
Fasces and eagles, mingling, march along,
And in proud Caesar's train promiscuous throng.
And while all powers ** in him alone unite,
He mocks the people with the shows of right.

«° Safcpia tod 8inus were both town In Apulia.

4* GtrfMMM, a mountain in Apulia.

4* Caesar made himself dictator at Rome without any lawful
election, (that is, neither named by the Senate or Comal;) and
eleven days after quitted hia dictatorship, having made himself
and Publius Servilius consuls.

+3 Then began those names of flattery which were afterwards
used to their emperors of ditms, semper augushu, pater
patrle, 6c. ' divine, for ever august, father of his country,' &c.

44 After all government was in the bands of Csesar alone,
all the ancient rites observed in creating of magistrates were
quite taken away ; an imaginary face of election was still kepi

238 LUCAN3 PH ARSALIA. Book $+

The Martian field the 1 assembling tribes receives,
And each his unregarded suffrage gives ;
Still with the same solemnity of face.
The reverend augur seems to fill his place :
Though now he hears not when the thunders roll,
Nor sees the flight of the ill-boding owl.
Then sunk the state and dignity of Rome,
Thence monthly consuls 4S nominally come :
Just as the sovereign bids, their names appear,'
To head the calendar, and mark the year.
Then too, to finish out the pageant show,
With formal rites to Alban Jove ** they go ;
By night the festival was bpddled o'er,
Nor conld the god unworthy ask for more ;
He who look'd on, and saw such foul disgrace,
Such slavery befal his Trojan race.

np in the field of Mars; the tribes were summoned indeed, bat
were not admitted to give their suffrages distinctly and regularly.
The other orders were vain and merely formal ; for the eaiperof
commended him to the centimes whom he intended should be
consul ; or else designed him, and actually chose him himself.
The observations of the angora were formerly greatly regarded
on these occasions ; but, under the emperors, the religion was
prostituted to the prince, and the prophet prophesied as Caesar
pleased.

It is proper to observe here, that the appearance of an owl
within the city was reckoned amongst the most unlucky omens.

45 Under the emperors, consuls were often chosen for half
a year, or for one, two, or three months.

46 Tbe Ferue Latin*, or Latin Festivals, here mentioued,
were snch as were celebrated by the new consuls in the Alban
mountain to Jupiter, by torch-light, with great solemnity. But
Lncan says, (with little reverence for Jupiter) that the god de-
served they should be thus disrespectfully huddled over by
Cesar ; for suffering the Romans, who were the race of Aneas
and Ascanins (the latter of whom instituted these rites) to b#
b/ought into slavery.

Book 5. LUCAN'S PHAR8AUA, £39

Now Caesar, like the flame that cots the skies,
And swifter than the vengeful tigress, flies.
Where waste and overgrown Apulia lies ;
O'er-passing soon the rude abandon'd plains,
Brnndosiuin's crooked shores and Cretan walls he

gains.
Load Boreas there his navy close confines,
While wary seamen dread the wintry signs.
But he, th* impatient chief, disdains to spare
Those hours that better may be spent in war :
He grieves to see his ready fleet withheld,
While others boldly plough the watery field.
Eager to rouse their sloth, " Behold, (he cries)
The constant wind that rules the wintry skies
With what a settled certainty it flies (
Unlike the wanton fickle gales, that bring
The cloudy changes of* the faithless spring.
Nor need we now to shift, to tack, and veer :
Steady the friendly north commands to steer*
Oh ! that the fury of the driving blast
May swell the sail, and bend the lofty mast :
So shall our navy soon be wafted o'er,
Ere yon Pueacian galleys 47 dip the oar,
And intercept the wish'd-for Grecian shore,
Cut every cable then, and haste away ;
The waiting winds and seas upbraid our long delay,"

Low in the west the setting sun was laid,
Up rose the night in glittering stairs array'
And silver Cynthia cast a lengthening shade
When loosing frbm the shore the moving fleet,
All hands at once unfurl the spreading sheet;

*)Jf

S

ud, i

iade ; J

4-7 Fompcy'i galleyg that lay at Dyrrhachitim, which «
fcaitt Dj the PhaetcUnt, who Inhabited Corcyra, now Cord*.

S-fO LUCAS'S PHARSALIA. Ijook S.

The slicker tackling! let the canvass flow,
To gather all the breath the winds can blow.
Swift for n while they scud before the wind,
And leave Hesperia's lessening shores behind;
When, lo! the dying breeze begins to fail,
And flutters on the mast the nagging sail :
The duller waves with slower heavings creep,
And a dead calm benumbs the laiy deep.
As when (lie winter's potent breath c>
Hie Scythian Enxine in her icy chain;
No more the Bosphori ** their stream
Nor rushing later heaves the languid main ;
Each keel inclos'd, at once forgets its coarse,
While o'er the new-made champion bounds the

Bold on the crystal plains Hie Thracians ride,
And print with sounding heels the stable tide.
So still a form the' Ionian waters take,
Dull si the muddy marsh, and standing lake:
No breeies o'er the enr ling surface pass,
Nor sim-Beams tremble in the liquid glass ;
No usual turns revolving Tethy* knows,
Nor with alternate rollings ebbs and flows :
But sluggish ocean sleeps in stupid peace,
And weary nature's motions seem to cease.
With differing eyes the hostile fleets beheld
The falling winds, and useless watery field.
There Pompey's daring prows attempt, in vain,
To jilongh their passage through the' unyielding

tUiok 5. LUCAN'S PHAR8ALIA. 241

While, pinch'd by want, proad Caesar's legions here
The dire distress of meagre famine fear. «
With vows, unknown before, they reach the skies,
That waves may dash, and mounting billows rise ;
That storms may with retnrning fury reign,
And the rude ocean be itself again I
At length the still, the sluggish darkness fled,
And clondy morning rear'd its lowering head.
The rolling flood the gliding navy bore,
And hills appear'd to pass upon the shore.
Attending breezes waft 'em to the land,
And Caesar's anchors bite Palaeste's 49 strand.

In neighbouring camps the hostile chiefs sit down,
Where Genusus 5 ° the swift, and Apsns run ;
Among the' ignobler crowd of rivers, these
Soon lose their waters in the mingling seas :
No mighty streams nor distant springs they know,
But rise from muddy lakes, and melting snow.
Here meet the rivals who the world divide,
Once by the tendefest bands of kindred tied.
The world with joy their interview beheld,
Now only parted by a single field,
Fond of the hopes of peace, mankind believe
Whene'er they come thus near they must forgive.
Vain hopes ! for soon they part to meet no more,
Till both shall reach the caro'd Egyptian shore ;
Till the proud father shall in arms succeed,
And see his vanquish'd son untimely bleed ;
Tfll he beholds his ashes on the strand,
Views his pale head within a villain's hand ;
Till Pompey's fate shall Caesar's tears demand.

49 A Tillage in Eplnu, near the city of Orknm.
5° Now Araensa; and Apms, now £ipro; two riven of
Macedonia, that Ml into the Adriatic tea.

I

.}

S43 . lxjcan's pharsalia. Book 5.

The latter yet his eager rage restrains,
While Antony 5l the lingering troops detains.
Repining much, and griev'd at war's delay,
Impatient Caesar often chides his stay, *
Oft he is heard to threat, and humbly oft to pray.

" Stillshall the world (he cries) thus anxious wait ?
Still wilt thou stop the gods, and hinder fate ?
What could be done before was done by me :
Now ready fortune only stays for thee. [stand 7
What holds thee then? do rocks thy course with-
Or Libyan Syrts oppose their faithless strand ?
Or dost thou fear new dangers to explore ?
I call thee not but where I pass'd before.
For all those hours thou losest I complain,
And sue to heaven for prosperous winds in vain.
My soldiers (often lias their faith been tried)
If not withheld, had hasten'd to my side.
What toil, what hazards, will they not partake ?
What seas and shipwrecks scorn, for Caesar's sake ?
Nor will I think the gods so partial are,
To give thee fair Ausonia for thy share ;
While Caesar and the Senate are forgot,
And in Epirus bound their barren lot."

In words like these, he calls him oft in vain,
And thus the hasty missives oft complain.
At length the lucky chief, who oft had found
What vast success his rasher darings crown'd ;
Who saw how much the favouring gods had done,
Nor would be wanting, when they urg'd him on »
Fierce, and impatient of the tedious stay,
Resolves by night to prove the doubtful way :

5' When Caesar passed over into Greece with part of hit
■Vnoy, be left the other with M. Antony at Brunduata.

Book 5. LUCAN'f PHARSAMA. 243

Bold in a single skiff he means to go,
And tempt those seas thai navies dare not plough..
Twas now the time when cares and labour cease,
And ev'n the rage of arms was hush'd to peace :
Snatch'd from their guilt and toil, the wretched lay,
And slept the sounder for the painful day.
Through the still camp the night's third hour 5Z re-

souuds,
And warns the second watches to their rounds;
When through the horrors of the murky shade,
Secret the careful warriors footsteps tread.
His train, unknowing, slept within his tent,
And fortune only follow' d where he went
With silent anger he perceiv'd, around,
The sleepy centinels bestrew the ground :
Yet, unreproving, now he pass'd them o'er,
And sought with eager haste the winding shore.
There through the gloom his searching eyes explor'd,
Where to the mouldering rock a bark was moor*d.
The mighty master of this little boat
Securely slept within a neighbouring cot :
No massy beams support his humble hall,
But reeds and marshy rushes wove the wall ;
Old shatter^ planking for a roof was spread,
And covered in, from rain, the needy shed.
Thrice on the feeble door the warrior strook,
Beneath the blow the trembling dwelling shook.
" What wretch forlorn (the poor Amyclas cries) '
Priv'n by the raging seas and stormy skies,
To my poor lowly roof for shelter dies ?"
He spoke ; and hasty left his homely bed,
With oozy flags and withering sea-weed spread.

*» Our arae st night. See Book II. p. 1M.

£44 LUCAN'8 PHARSALIA. Book £

Then from the hearth the smoking match be takes,

And in the tow the drowsy (ire awakes ;

Dry leaves, and chips, for fuel he supplies,
Till kindling sparks and glittering flames arise.
Oh happy poverty ! thou greatest good
Bestow'd by heaven, but seldom understood t
Here, nor the cruel spoiler seeks his prey,
Nor ruthless armies take their dreadful way:
Security thy narrow limits keeps,
Safe are thy cottages, and sound thy sleeps'.
Behold ! ye dangerous dwellings of the great,
Where gods and godlike princes choose their seat ;
See in what peace the poor Amyclas lies,
Nor starts, though Caesars call commands to rise.
What terrors had you felt that call to hear? [fear,
How had your towers and ramparts shook with
And trembled, as the mighty man drew near/
The door unbar'd : " Expect (the leader said)
Beyond thy hopes; or wishes, to be paid ;
If in this instant hour tbon %aft me o'er,
With speedy haste, to yon 1 Hesperian shore.
No more shall want tby weary hand constrain,
To work thy bark upon the boistrous main :
Henceforth, good days and plenty shall betide ;
The gods and I will for thy age provide.
A glorious change attends thy low estate,
Sudden and mighty riches round thee wait ;
Be wise, and use the lucky hour of fate."

Thus be; and though in humble vestments)

dress'd, /

pite of himself, his words his power expressed ; f

Lnd Caesar in his bounty stood confess'd. /

To him the wary pilot thus replies;

A thonsand omens threaten from the skies ;

f

Book 5. LUCAN'S PflARSALIA. 245

A thousand boding signs my soul affright.
And warn roe not to tempt the »eas by night.
In clouds the setting sun obscnr'd his head,
Nor painted o'er the ruddy west with red:
Now north, now south S3 , he shot his parted beams,
And tip'd the sullen black with golden gleams:
Pale shone his middle orb with faintish rays,
And suffered mortal eyes at ease to gaze.
Nor rose the silver queen of night serene,
Supine and dull her blunted horns were seen,
With foggy stains, and cloudy blots between.
Dreadful awhile she shone all fiery red,
Then sicken'd into pale, and hid her drooping head.
Nor less I fear from that hoarse hollow rpar ?
In leafy groves, and on the sounding shore.
In various turns the doubtful dolphins play,
And thwart, and run across, and mix their way.
The cormorants the watery deep forsake,
And soaring herns avoid the plashy lake ;
While, wadling on the margin of the main,
The crow bewets her 9 and prevents the rain.
Howe'er, if some great enterprise demand,
Behold, I proffer thee my willing hand ;
My venturous bark the troubled} deep shall
To thy wish'd port her plunging prow shall
Unless the seas resolve to beat us by."

jle spoke; and spread his canvass to the wind,
Unmoor'd his boat, and left {he shore behind.
Swift flew the nimble keel ; and as they pass'd,
Long trails of light the shooting meteors cast ;

53 As is very often seen when the win ts behind a black
cloud, and the rays strike oat ou each side. These prognos-
tics of the weather are orach the same with those in Virgil *>
First Georglc, and many of them are to be found in Aratas, . t

fay,)
piy.r

$46 LUC Ail's PHARSAMA. Book 5.

Ev'n the fix'd fires above in motion seem,

Shake through the blast, and dart a quivering beam ;

Black horrors on the gloomy ocean brood,

And in long ridges rolls the threatening flood ;

While loud and louder murmuring winds arise,

And growl from every quarter of the skies.

When thus the trembling master, pale with fear,

" Behold what wrath the dreadful gods prepare ;

My art is at a loss ; the various tide

Beats my unstable bark on every side :

From the nor-west S4 the setting current swells,

While southern storms the driving rack foretels.

Howe'er it be, our purposed way is lost,

Nor can one relic 55 of our wreck be tost

By winds, like these, on fair Hesperia's coast

Our only means of safety is to yield,

And measure back with haste the foamy field ;

To give our unsuccessful labour o'er, [shore."

And reach, while yet we may, the neighbouring

But Caesar, still superior to distress,
Fearless, and confident of sure success,
Thus to the pilot loud : " The seas despise,
And the vain threatening of the noisy skies.
Though gods deny thee yon' Ausonian strand ;
Yet go, I charge thee, go at my command.
Thy ignorance alone can cause thy fears,
Thou know'st not what a freight thy vessel bears ;
Thou know'st not I am he, to whom 'tis giv*n
Never to want the care of watchful heav'n.

54 The tide or current of the sen setting one way, and the
clouds another.

55 As if he bad said; though we are sure to be east away,
yet not the least piece of the vessel thall be driven towards
Italy.

Bovk 0. LUCAN'S PHARSALIA. 24T

Obedient fortune waits my humble thrall,
And 9 always ready, comes before I call.
Let winds, and seas, load wars at freedom wage,
And waste upon themselves their empty rage ;
A stronger, mightier Daemon is thy friend,
Thou, and thy bark, on Caesar's fate depend !
Thou stand'st amaz'd to view this dreadful scene;
And wonder*st what the gods and fortune mean 1
But artfully their bounties thus they raise,
And from my dangers arrogate new praise;
Amidst the fears of death they bid me live,
And still inhance what they are sure to give.
Then leave yon shore behind, with all thy haste,
Nor shall this idle fury longer last.
Thy keel auspicious shall the storm appease,
Shall glide triumphant o'er the calmer seas,
And reach Brundusium's safer port with ease.
Nor can the gods ordain another now,
Tis what I want, and what they must bestow."

Thus, while in vaunting words the leader spoke,
Full on his bark the thundering tempest strook ;
Off rips the reuding canvass from the mast,
And whirling nits before the driving blast ;
In every joint the groaning alder sounds,
And gapes wide-opening with a thousand wounds.
Now, rising all at once, and unconfin'd,
From every quarter roars the rushing wind :
First from the wide Atlantic ocean's bed,
Tempestuous Corns rears his dreadful head ;
The' obedient deep his potent breath controls,
And, mountain-high, the foamy flood he rolls.
Him the north-east encountering fierce defied,
Aud back rebuflfeted the yielding tide.

ase. 3

248 htcan's pparsalia. Book 5,

The curling surges load conflicting meet.
Dash their proud heads, and bellow as they beat ;
While piercing Boreas, from the Scythian strand,
Ploughs up the waves, and scoops the lowest sand.
Nor Euros then, I ween, was left to dwell,
Nor showery Notus in the* iEolian cell ;
But each from every side, his power to boast,
Rang'd his proud forces to defend his coast.
Equal in might, alike they strive in vain,
While in the midst the seas unmov'd remain :
In lesser wars they yield to stormy heavto,
And captive waves to other deeps are driven ;
The Tyrrhene billows dash ASgean shores,
And Adria in the mix'd Ionian roars.
IJow then must Earth the swelling ocean dread,
When floods ran higher than each mountain's head !
Subject and low the trembling beldame lay,
And gave herself for lost, the conquering water's

prey.
What other worlds, what seas unknown before,.
Then drove their billows on our beaten shore !
What distant deeps, their prodigies to boast,
Heav'd their huge monsters on. the' 4-usonian coast !
So when avenging Jove long time had hnrFd,
And tir'd his thunders on a harden'd world :
tfew wrath, the god, new punishment display'd,
And call'd his watry brother to his aid :
Offending earth to Neptune's lot he join'd,
And bade his floods no longer stand confin'd :
At once the surges o'er the nations rise,
And seas are only bounded by the skies.
Such now the spreading deluge had been seen,
IJad not the' Almighty ruler stood between : .

Jfafc 5. tUCAX'S PBARSALli* £4?

Proud waves, the cloud-compelling sire obey'd,
Confess'd -his hand suppressing, and were stay'd.

Nor was that gloom the common shade of night;
The friendly darkness that relieves the light;
Bat fearful, black, and horrible to tell,
A murky vapour breath'd from yawning bell :
So thick the nringhng seas and clouds were hung,
Scarce could the struggling lightning gleam along.
Through nature's frame the dire convulsion strook,
Heaven groan'd, the labouring pole arid axis shook ; .
Uproar and Chaos old prevail'd again,
And broke the sacred elemental chain :
Black fiends, unhallow'dj sought the bless*d abodes,
Profan'd the day, and mingled with the gods.
One only hope, when every other fail'd,
With Caesar, and with nature's self, prevail'd;
The storm that sought their rum, prov'd 'em strong,
Nor coidd they fall who stood that shock so long*
High as Leucadia's 57 lessening ch'ffs arise,
On the tall billow's top the vessel flies ;
While the pale master, from the surge's brow,
With giddy eyes surveys the depth below :
When straight the gaping main at once divides, *%
On naked sands the rushing bark stibstdes, >
And the low liquid vale the topmast hides. J
The trembling ahipman, all distraught with fear,
Forgets his course, and knows not how to steer;
No more the useless rudder guides the prow,
To meet the rolling swell, or shun the blow.
But lol thettorni itself assistance lends,
While one assaults, another wave defend*?

37 Or Lcvcm, an Maud in to Ionian im, orertpinif Aeat'
aania, now called the Uk of St. Maw.

VOL. U B

&0 UJCAIT'S P04&S>*U- B**k a.,

This lays the sidelong alder on the main,
And that restores the leaning bark again.
Obedient to the mighty winds she plies,
Now seeks the depths, and now invades the skies ;
There borne aloft, she apprehends no more,
Or shoalv Sason, or Thessaliafe shore;
High bills she dreads, and promontories now,
And fears to touch Ceraunia's 58 airy. brow.

At length the universal wreck appeared
To Caesar's self, ev*n worthy to be rWd«
" Why all these pains, this toil of fate, (he cries)
This labour of the seas, and earth, and- skies?:
All nature, and the gods, at once alann'd,
Against my little boat and me are arm'd.
If, oh ye powers divine t your will decrees
The glory of my death to these njcle seas :
If warm, and in the fighting field to die,
IT that, my fjrst of wishes, you deny -s
My soul no longer at her lot repin.es,
But yields to what your providence assigns.
Though immature I enfl nry glorious cfya,
Cut short my conquest, and prevent new praise ;
My life, already, stands the noblest theme,
To fill long annals of recording lame.
Far northern nations own me for their lard,
And envious factions crouch beneath my sword;
Inferior Pompey yields to me at home,
And only fills a second place iq Home.
My country has my high behests obey'd,
And at my feet her lews obedient laid;
All sovereignty, all honours are my own, •
Consul, dictator, I am all alone t

58 Or Acro-C«TMttiam, a promoutory in Eplrai, muring
fmt into the Adriatic —

}

Book 5. liUOAft'S PHARSAL1A. i£J

Bat thou, my only goddess, and my friend,
Thou, on whom all my secret prayers attend*
Conceal, oh Fortune ! this inglorious end.
Let none on earth, let none beside thee, know
I sunk thus poorly to the shades below.
Dispose, ye gods! my carcase as yon please,
Deep let it drown beneath these raging seas :
I ask no urn my ashes to infold,
Nor marble monuments, nor shrines of gold)
Let but the world, unknowing of my doom,
Expect me still, and think I am to come ;
So shall my name with terror still be heard)
And my return in every nation fcariL"

He spoke, and sadden, wondrous to behold,
Qigh an a tenth huge wave his bark was rolPd ;
Nor sunk again, alternate, as before,
But, rushing, lodg'd and aVd upon the shore.
Rome and his fortune were at once restore,
And earth again recehr'd him for her lord*

Now, through the camp his late arrival toW,
Th» warriors crowd, their leader to behold;
In tears around the murmuring legions stand,
And welcome him, with fond complaints, to land.

" What means, too daring, Caesar, (than they cry)
To tempt the ruthless seas, and stormy sky r
What a vue helpless herd had we been left,
Of every hope at once in thee bereft?
While on thy lifo so many thousands wait,
While nations live dependent on thy fate,
While the whole world on thee* their head, reryy
'Us cruel in thee to consent to die.
And could'st thou not one faithful soldier find,
One equal to his mighty master's mind,
One that deserVd no t to be left behind ?

}

259 - lucam's phahsalia. Book &

While tumbling billows toss'd thee on the main,
We slept at ease, unknowing of thy pain.
Were we the cause, oh shame ! unworthy we,
That urg*d thee on to brave the raging sea?
Is there a slave whose head thou hold*st so light,
To give him up to this tempestuous night ?
While Ceesar, whom the subject earth obeys,
To seasons such as these his sacred self betrays.
Still wilt thou weary out indulgent heaven,
And scatter all the lavish gods have given ?
Dost thou the care of providence employ,'
Only to save thee when the seas run high ?
Auspicious Jove thy wishes would promote j
Thou ask'st the safety of a leaky boat:
He proffers thee the world's supreme command ; }
Thy hopes aspire no further than to land, >

And l castthyshipwreckonthe'He8perianstrand. n J

In kind reproaches thus they waste the night,
Till the grey east disclos'd the breaking light:
Serene the sun bis beamy race displayed,
While the tir'd storm and weary waves were laid.
Speedy the Latian chiefs unfurl their sails,
And catch the gently-rising northern gales :
In fair appearance the tall vessels glide,
The pilots, and the wind, conspire to guide,
And waft 'em fitly o'er the smoother tide:
Decent they move, like some well-orderM band,
In ranged battalions marching o'er the land.
Vight fell at length, the winds the sails forsook,

ind a dead calm the beauteous order broke.

o when, from Strymon's 59 wintry banks, the
- cranes,

a feather'd legions, cut the* ethereal plains ;

99 it a river ia that port of Tbract which Joint to Mmc-

}

. Bfiok 5. • LUCAN'3 PHAKSAUA. 453

To wanner Nile they bend their airy way,
Form'd to long lines, and rank'd in just array «
Bat if some rushing storm the journey cross,
The wingy leaders ail are at a loss :
Now close, now loose, the breaking squadrons fly,
And scatter in confusion o'er the sky.

The day retura'd ; with Phoebus Auster rose,
And hard upon the straining canvass blows.
Scudding afore him, swift the fleet be bore,
O'er passing Lyssus te , to NymphsBum's shore ;
There, sale from northern winds, within the port
they moor.

While thus united Caesar's arms appear,
And fortune draws the great decision near ;
Sad Pompey's soul uneasy thoughts infest,
And his Cornelia pains his anxious breast.
To distant Lesbos 6l fain he would remove,
Far from the war, the partner of bis love.

donia : it to now called Stromona. The commentators observe
upon this passage, that the cranes in their flight (as here from a
colder to ji warmer climate) usually kept in the form of one of
these three Greek letters, A, A, or T, unless the violence of the
wind broke their order.

6° This was a town of Macedonia, at the month of the river
Drilon, on the borders of Ulyricum. The Nympbaeam, here
mentioned, is a promontory of Macedonia, on the Ionian sea,
not far from Apollonia.

I do not know whether it be worth while to observe, that
this passage concerning the course of Caesar's fleet is differently
related by the historians.

6i This was one of the most considerable islands in the Ar-
chipelago, on the coast of Asia. It was greatly favoured by
Fompey, and after it had suffered in the Mithridatic war, re-
stored by him to its liberty. See mere or this place in the eighth

hook. *

*34 LCCAN'S PSARSALIA. Book 5.

Ob! who can speak, what numbers can reveal,
The tenderness which pious lovers feel?
Who can their secret pangs and sorrows tell, [dwell ?
With all the crowd of cares that in their bosoms
See what new passions now the hero knows,
Now first he doubts success, and fears bis foes j
Rome and the world fee hazards in the strife,
And gives up all to fortune, but his wife.
Oft he prepares to speak, but knows not how,
K.UOW8 they must part, but cannot bid her go ;
Defers the killing news with fond delay,
And, lingering, puts off fate from day to day.
The fleeting shades began to leave the sky,
And slumber soft forsook the drooping eye:
When, with fond arms, the mir Cornelia press'd
Her lord, reluctant, to her snowy breast,
Wondering, she found he shun'd her just embrace,
And felt warm tears upon bis manly race.
Heart-wounded with the sudden woe, she griev*d,
And scarce the weeping warrior yet believ'd.
When, with a groan, thus he : — " My truest wife,
To say how much I love thee more than life,
Poorly expresses what my heart would show,
Since life, alas ! is grown my burden now ;
That long, too long delayVl, that dreadful doom.
That cruel parting hour at length is come.
Fierce, haughty, and collected in his might,
Advancing Caesar calls me to the fight.
Haste then, my gentle love, from war retreat;
The Lesbian isle attends thy peaceful seat :
Nor seek, oh ! seek not to increase my cares,
Seek not to change my purpose with thy pray'rs - t
Myself, in vain, the fruitless suit have tried,
And my own pleading heart has been denied

I

tr.

Think not thy distance will increase thy fear:
Rain, if rain comes, will soon be near,
Too soon the fetal news shall reach thy ear.
Nor barns thy heart with just and equal fires,
Nor dost thon love as virtue's law requires 6 ' ;
If those soft eyes can ev*n thy husband bear,
Red with the stains of blood, and guilty war.
When horrid trumpets sound their dire alarms
Shall I indulge my sorrows with thy charms
And rise to battle from these tender arms?
Thus mournful, from thee rather let me go,
And join thy absence to the public woe.
Bat thou be hid, be safe from every fear,
WhHe kings and nations in destruction share :
Shun thou the crush of my impending fete,
Nor let it fell on thee with all its weight.
Then, if the gods my overthrow ordain,
And the fierce victor chase me o'er the plain,
Thou ahalt be left me still, my better part,
To soothe my cares, and heal my broken heart;
Thy open arms I shaH be sure to meet,
And fly with pleasure to the dear retreat"

StmVd and astonish'd at the deadly stroke,
All sense, at first, the matron sad forsook.
Motion, and life, and speech, at length returns,
And thus in words of heaviest woe she mourns:
" No, Pompey ! 'tis not that my lord is dead,
Tis not the hand of fete has rob'd my bed ;
But like some base Plebeian I am curs'd,
And by my cruel husband stand divorc'd ".

<** Ai if Cornelia could not come np to the virtue of the It
man matrons, If she did not look with detestation, even up<
her husband, when he was engaged in a civil war.

I? Divorces were very frequent among the Romans; thoaj

256 tUCAW'S PHAA8AJLIA. Book 5.

3ut Qaettar bio's us part ! thy father comes !
And we most yield to what that tyrant dooms {
Is thy Cornelia's faith so poorly known, f

That thou shouldst think her safer whilst alone? >
Are not our loves, our lives, our fortunes one? )
Canst thou, inhuman, drive me from thy side,
And bid my single head the coming storm abide P
Do I not read thy purpose in thy eye?
Dost thou not hope, and wish, ev*n now to die ?
And can I then be safe? Yet death is free,
That last relief is not denied to me ;
Though banish'd by thy harsh command I go,
Yet I will join thee in the realms below.
Thou bidst me with the pangs of absence strive,
And, till I hear thy certain loss, survive.
My vow'd obedience, what it can, shall bear;
But oh I my heart's a woman, and I fear.
If the good gods, indulgent to my prayT,
Should make the laws of Rome and thee their care j
In distant climes I may prolong my woe,
And be the last thy victory to know.
On some bleak rock that frowns upon the deep,
A constant watch thy weeping wife shall keep;
There from each sail misfortune shall I guess,
And dread the bark that brings me thy success.
Nor shall those happier tidings end my fear,
The vanquished foe may bring new danger pear ;
Defenceless, I may still be made a prize,
And Caesar snatch me with him as he flies :
With ease my known retreat he shall explore,
While thy great name distinguishes the shore :

Cornelia, who «■ a lady of singular virtne, complaint here that
ihe should be parted from her hatband upon any other ©ccaiioa
jhan death.

Bo4k & LUCAN'8 PHARSAUA, tST

Soon shall the Lesbian exile stand reveal'd,
The wife of Pompey cannot live conceal'd.
Bat if the* o'erraling powers thy cause forsake,
Grant me this only last request I make:
When thou shalt be of troops and friends bereft,
And wretched flight is all thy safety left;
Oh ! follow not the dictates of thy heart.
But choose a refuge in some distant part.
Where'er thy inauspicious bark shall steer,
Thy sad Cornelia's fetal shore forbear,
Since Caesar will be sure to seek thee there."

So saying, with a groan the matron fled,
And, wild with sorrow, left her holy bed :
She sees all lingering, all delays are vain,
And rushes headlong to possess the pain ;
Nor will the hurry of her griefs afford
One last embrace from her forsaken lord*
Uncommon cruel was the fate, for two, }

Whose lives had lasted long, and been so true, >
To lose the pleasure of one last adieu I J

In all the woful days that cross'd their bliss,
Sure never hour was known so sad as this.
By what they sufferM now, inured to pain,
They met all after-sorrows with disdain,
And fortune shot her envious shafts in vain.

Low on the ground the fainting dame is laid -,
Her train officious hasten to her aid :
Then gently rearing, with a careful hand,
Support her, slow-descending o'er the strand.
There, while with eager arms she grasp'd the shore,
Scarcely the mourner to the bark they bore.
Not half this grief of heart, these pangs, she kiwwy
When from her native Italy she flew :

S&8 UJCAH'l VKABBALIA. Boofc 5w

Lonely, and comfortless, she takes her flight,

Sad seems the day, and long the sleepless night.

In vain her maids the downy conch provide,

She wants the tender partner of her side.

When weary oft in heaviness she lies,

And dozy slumber steals upon her eyes;

Fain, with fond arms, her lord she would have

press'd,
But weeps to find the pillow at her breast.
Though raging in her veins a ft ver burns,
Painful she lies, and restless oft she turns ? .
She Bhnns his sacred side with awful fear,
And would not be convinced be is not there.
But, oh ! too soon the want shall be supplied,
The gods too cruelly for that provide :
Again, the circling hours bring back bar lord}
And Pompey shall be fatally restored.

Elf D OF VOL. fw

;rttfir.i u' j j. m,.,. ' . i.: 1 .,!" 1 .!, jcr r„t, ,i,.'i, itn

WkittiQjrlnm and Rowland, Prinien, Goswell Street, London.

*&

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