vis Argea petens patriam, ditataque praeda
arcis Erichthoniae; comes huic erat aura secunda

: per placidum cursu pelagus; Nereis ad undas 345 signa dabat, sparsim flexis super acta carinis : cum seu caelesti fato seu sideris ortu undique mutatur caeli nitor, omnia ventis, omnia turbinibus sunt anxia. iam maris unda sideribus certat consurgere, iamque superne

350 corripere et soles et sidera cuncta minatur ac ruere in terras caeli fragor. hic modo laetans copia nunc miseris circumdatur anxia fatis, immoriturque super fluctus et saxa Capherei, Euboicas aut per cautis Aegaeaque late

355 litora, cum Phrygiae passim vaga praeda peremptae omnis in aequoreo fluitat iam naufraga fluctu.

“Hic alii resident pariles virtutis honore heroes, mediisque siti sunt sedibus, omnes, omnes Roma decus magni quos suspicit orbis.

360 hic Fabii Deciique, hic est et Horatia virtus, hic et fama vetus, numquam moritura, Camilli, Curtius et, mediis quem quondam sedibus urbis devotum telis consumpsit gurges in unda, Mucius et, prudens ardorem corpore passus,

Argive power was passing seaward, seeking its homeland, and fattened with spoils from the Erichthonian citadel. A favourable breeze attended it in peaceful course upon the deep; a Nereid was giving signals towards the main, riding, now here and now there, above the curved keels: when lo! either by fate of heaven, or through some rising star, on all sides the sky's brightness changes; all is troubled by blasts, all by whirlwinds. Now the sea's waves strive to mount to the stars, and now aloft the crashing sky threatens to seize all, both suns and stars, and dash them to earth. Here the host-but lately joyous, now afflicted—is beset by unhappy fates, and perishes upon the floods and rocks of Caphereus, or along the Euboean cliffs and broad Aegean shores, while all the prey from plundered Phrygia, drifting far and near, tossed in wreckage upon the ocean waves.

358 - Here abide others like unto them in valorous repute, all heroes, settled in the midst of these abodes, all whom Rome esteems as the glory of the mighty world.

Here are the Fabii and the Decii, and here the brave Horatius; here Camillus, whose olden fame shall never die ; and Curtius, whom once in the midst of the city's homes, willing victim of javelins, the flood swallowed up in its waters;1 and wise Mucius, who in his flesh endured the fames, and to whom the might of the Lydian king yielded in fear. Here is Curius, allied to glorious valour,

1 A reference to the Lacus Curtius in the Roman Forum, into which a youth named Curtius rode on his horse at full speed, then disappeared.

2 C. Mucius, when threatened with torture and death by Porsenna (called Lydian because he was Etruscan), thrust his right hand into the altar-flames and held it there until it was consumed.

Flaminius, devota dedit qui corpora flammae, (iure igitur tales sedes, pietatis honores), Scipiadaeque duces, quorum devota triumphis 370 moenia Roinanis Libycae Karthaginis horrent. “ Illi laude sua vigeant : ego

Ditis

opacos cogor adire lacus, viduos, a, lumine Phoebi, et vastum Phlegethonta pati, quo, maxime Minos, conscelerata pia discernis vincula sede.

375 ergo iam causam mortis, iam dicere vitae verberibus saevae cogunt sub iudice Poenae, cum mihi tu sis causa mali, nec conscius adsis; sed tolerabilibus curis haec immemor audis et tamen ut vades, dimittes omnia ventis. 380 digredior numquam rediturus : tu cole fontem et viridis nemorum silvas et pascua laetus; et mea diffusas rapiantur dicta per auras. dixit et extrema tristis cum voce recessit.

Hunc ubi sollicitum dimisit inertia vitae, 385 interius graviter regementem, nec tulit ultra sensibus infusum Culicis de morte dolorem, quantumcumque sibi vires tribuere seniles (quis tamen infestum pugnans devicerat hostem), rivum propter aquae viridi sub fronde latentem 390 conformare locum capit impiger. hunc et in orbem

368 Flam(m)inius has perhaps supplanted Caecilius, read by Loensis.

371 romanis Vr: rapidis SFCL: vepretis Haupt: sub lappis Ellis. 374 maxinie Nodell : maxima.

375 discernit. ergo quam ... iam : iam ... iam Heyne : quom . . tun Ellis.

376

1

2

and great Flaminius," who gave his body a victim to the flame (justly then hath he such an abode, piety's reward) and those Scipio chiefs, doomed by whose Roman triumphs the walls of Libyan Carthage are become a desolation.

372 - Let them live in their renown: but I am forced to pass to those shadowy pools of Dis, that are, alas! bereft of the light of Phoebus, and to suffer waste Phlegethon, whereby, O mighty Minos, thou partest the prison-house of the wicked from the abode of the righteous! So before the judge the cruel Fiends with scourges force me to plead my cause, now of death, and now of life, though thou art cause of my ill, and aidest not with thy witness, but with lightly borne cares hearest these my words, unmindful, and despite of all, when thou goest thy way, thou wilt dismiss all to the winds. I pass hence, never to return; do thou, rejoicing, haunt the spring, and green forest-groves, and pastures; and for my words, let them be swept aside by the random breezes !” He spake, and with the last accents sadly went his way.

385 Now when life's langour quitted that anxious shepherd, from whose breast heavy sighs resounded, and when no more could he brook the sorrow for the Gnat's death that flooded his senses, then in so far as his aged strength suffered him—wherewith, none the less, he had fought and vanquished his fierce foehard by the running stream that lurked beneath green leafage, he busily begins to fashion a place, marking

1 If the reading is correct, this is some person unknown. If “Caecilius” should be read, the reference would be to Caecilius Metellus, who once rescued the Palladium from the burning temple of Vesta, and thereby lost his eyes. 2 The issue is one of eternal weal or woe.

401

destinat ac ferri capulum repetivit in usum, gramineam viridi ut foderet de caespite terram. iam memor inceptum peragens sibi cura laborem congestum cumulavit opus, atque aggere multo 395 telluris tumulus formatum crevit in orbem. quem circum lapidem levi de marmore formans conserit; assiduae curae memor. hic et acanthos et rosa purpureum crescent pudibunda ruborem et violae omne genus; hic est et Spartica myrtus 400 atque hyacinthos et hic Cilici crocus editus arvo, laurus item Phoebi surgens decus; hic rhododaphne liliaque et roris non avia cura marini herbaque turis opes priscis imitata Sabina chrysanthusque hederaeque nitor pallente corymbo, et bocchus Libyae regis memor.

hic amarantus 406 bumastusque virens et semper florida tinus. non illinc Narcissus abest, cui gloria formae igne Cupidineo proprios exarsit in artus; et quoscumque novant vernantia tempora flores, 410 his tumulus super inseritur. tum fronte locatur elogium, tacita format quod littera voce: parve Culex, pecudum custos tibi tale merenti funeris officium vitae pro munere reddit.”

399 rubicunda FCL: rubibunda B. ruborem IV: terrorem L: tenorem Plésent.

400 parthica V: pastica r

402 decus surgens 2 : decus ut sua pagina V: urgens Vollmer : ingens Housman.