by Tibullus
Nam quis te maiora gerit castrisue foroue?
Nec tamen hic aut hic tibi laus maiorue minorue, 40
iusta pari premitur ueluti cum pondere libra,
prona nec hac plus parte sedet nec surgit ab illa,
qualis, inaequatum si quando onus urget utrimque,
instabilis natat alterno depressior orbe.
39 For who doth greater things than thou, whether in camp or forum? Yet neither here nor there hast thou either greater or lesser praise. Just as when a true pair of scales is loaded with equal weights — one that, so often as it has to carry a balancing load on either side, wavers unsteadily with each pan lower in turn — it sinks no more on this side than it rises on that.
Nam seu diuersi fremat inconstantia uulgi, 45
non alius sedare queat; seu iudicis ira
sit placanda, tuis poterit mitescere uerbis.
Non Pylos aut Ithace tantos genuisse feruntur
Nestora uel paruae magnum decus urbis Vlixem,
uixerit ille senex quamuis, dum terna per orbem 50
saecula fertilibus Titan decurreret horis,
ille per ignotas audax errauerit urbes,
qua maris extremis tellus includitur undis:
nam Ciconumque manus aduersis reppulit armis,
nec ualuit lotos coeptos auertere cursus, 55
cessit et Aetnaeae Neptunius incola rupis
uicta Maroneo foedatus lumina baccho;
uexit et Aeolios placidum per Nerea uentos,
incultos adiit Laestrygonas Antiphatenque,
nobilis Artacie gelida quos inrigat unda; 60
solum nec doctae uerterunt pocula Circes,
quamuis illa foret Solis genus, apta uel herbis
aptaque uel cantu ueteres mutare figuras;
Cimmerion etiam obscuras accessit ad arces,
quis numquam candente dies apparuit ortu, 65
seu supra terras Phoebus seu curreret infra;
uidit ut inferno Plutonis subdita regno
magna deum proles leuibus discurreret umbris,
praeteriitque cita Sirenum litora puppi;
illum inter geminae nantem confinia mortis 70
nec Scyllae saeuo conterruit impetus ore,
cum canibus rabidas inter fera serperet undas,
nec uiolenta suo consumpsit more Charybdis,
uel si sublimis fluctu consurgeret imo,
uel si interrupto nudaret gurgite pontum. 75
Non uiolata uagi sileantur pascua Solis,
non amor et fecunda Atlantidos arua Calypsus,
finis et erroris miseri Phaeacia tellus.
Atque haec seu nostras inter sunt cognita terras,
fabula siue nouum dedit his erroribus orbem, 80
sit labor illius, tua dum facundia maior.
45 For whether it be the fickle populace roaring in division, there will be none to appease it like thee; or be it an angry juror to be soothed, thy words will avail to make him mild. Neither Pylos nor Ithaca can claim to have had sons as great in Nestor or in Ulysses, high ornament of a humble town, though the old man lived on while Titan ran for three lifetimes through his cycle of fruit-bringing seasons, and the other roved fearlessly through unknown cities where Earth is shut in by Ocean’s bounding waves. He faced the bands of Cicones in fight and drave them back. The Lotus could not ensnare and turn aside his course. No match for him was Neptune’s son that dwelt on the cliffs of Aetna whose eye was ravaged when the wine of Maron made it close. He bore the winds of Aeolus o’er the calmed realm of Nereus. He visited the savage Laestrygonians and Antiphates, whose lands the cool waters of renowned Artacie lave. Him only could the cup of cunning Circe not transform, though she was the offspring of the Sun and skilled to change man’s proper shape by herbs and spells. He came also to the dark fastnesses of the Cimmerians, whose eyes never saw the day dawn brightly, whether Phoebus ran above or underneath the Earth. He saw how, subjected to the nether rule of Pluto, the gods’ great sons laid down the law for flitting shades; and in swift-rowed ship he passed the Sirens’ coast. He sailed a strait bordered by death on either hand; yet neither did the swoop of Scylla’s six mouths dismay him when the monster stole out amid the waves that her wild dogs infested, nor did raging Charybdis destroy him after her wont, whether rising aloft in surge from the abyss or baring the sea-bed with the breach in her waters. I should not be mute on the profaning of the pastures of the far-travelling Sun, nor the passion and rich fields of Atlas’ daughter Calypso, nor Phaeacia’s land, the term of his woful wandering. And whether these adventures were encountered amid the lands we know or report has placed his wanderings in some new world, in suffering he may be first, but thou must be first in eloquence.
Iam te non alius belli tenet aptius artes,
qua deceat tutam castris praeducere fossam,
qualiter aduersos hosti defigere ceruos,
quemue locum ducto melius sit claudere uallo, 85
fontis ubi dulces erumpat terra liquores,
ut facilisque tuis aditus sit et arduus hosti,
laudis ut adsiduo uigeat certamine miles,
quis tardamue sudem melius celeremue sagittam
iecerit aut lento perfregerit obuia pilo, 90
aut quis equum celeremue arto compescere freno
possit et effusas tardo permittere habenas
inque uicem modo directo contendere passu,
seu libeat, curuo breuius conuertere gyro,
quis parma, seu dextra uelit seu laeua, tueri, 95
siue hac siue illac ueniat grauis impetus hastae
amplior aut signata cita loca tangere funda.
Iam simul audacis uenient certamina Martis
aduersisque parent acies concurrere signis,
tum tibi non desit faciem componere pugnae, 100
seu sit opus quadratum acies consistat in agmen,
rectus ut aequatis decurrat frontibus ordo,
seu libeat duplicem seiunctim cernere martem,
dexter uti laeuum teneat dextrumque sinister
miles sitque duplex gemini uictoria casus. 105
82 Again, than thou there is none with a surer mastery of the arts of war: where should be drawn a protecting fosse before a camp, after what fashion chevaux de frise be driven in to stop the foe, round what spots ’tis best to draw the enclosing earthwork where the earth throws up a gush of sweet spring water, so that approach thereto may be easy for thy men and uphill for the enemy. How the soldiery may be kept robust by unceasing struggles for distinction, to prove whose hand discharges best the slow stake or the speedy arrow or the obstinate pilum breaking all down before it; whose hand has skill to hold in the swift horse with bridle tightened and let the reins fly free for the slow, and, changing about, now gallop on a straight course or at pleasure make him wheel in the circle’s narrow round; who excels in the shield-guard on right or left side as he will, as on the one or the other quarter comes the spear’s heavy rush, or in getting the swift sling home upon the mark. Next, as soon as the struggle of venturous battle comes, and under confronting standards the lines prepare to close, then thou wilt not fail in forming the order of the fight, whether it be needful for the troops to draw into a square, so that the dressed line runs with level front, or it be desired to sunder the battle into two several parts, so that the army’s right may hold the left and its left the right and the twofold hazard yield a double victory.
At non per dubias errant mea carmina laudes:
nam bellis experta cano. Testis mihi uictae
fortis Iapydiae miles, testis quoque fallax
Pannonius, gelidas passim disiectus in Alpes,
testis Arupinis et pauper natus in aruis, 110
quem si quis uideat uetus ut non fregerit aetas,
terna minus Pyliae miretur saecula famae:
namque senex longae peragit dum tempora uitae, 112b
centum fecundos Titan renouauerit annos,
ipse tamen uelox celerem super edere corpus
audet equum ualidisque sedet modera
tor habenis. 115
Te duce non alias conuersus terga Domator
libera Romanae subiecit colla catenae.
106 But my verses do not stray among unproved distinctions. I sing what wars have shown. I have a witness in the gallant soldiery of vanquished Iapydia; a witness also in the cunning Pannonian, scattered far and wide over the icy Alps; a witness too in the poor son of Arupium’s fields, whom whoso sees unbroken by advanced old age will wonder less at the three lifetimes of the Pylian legend. For while the old man accomplishes his long life’s period Titan will have brought round a hundred fruitful years. Yet unaided he scruples not to fling his nimble limbs above the fleet steed’s back and sit there its master, with a strong grasp on the reins. Thou wast commander when Domator that never turned his back before stooped his free neck to take the Roman chains.
Nec tamen his contentus eris: maiora peractis
instant, compertum est ueracibus ut mihi signis,
quis Amythaonius nequeat certare Melampus. 120
Nam modo fulgentem Tyrio subtegmine uestem
indueras oriente die duce fertilis anni,
splendidior liquidis cum Sol caput extulit undis
et fera discordes tenuerunt flamina uenti,
curua nec adsuetos egerunt flumina cursus, 125
quin rapidum placidis etiam mare constitit undis,
ulla nec aerias uolucris perlabitur auras
nec quadrupes densas depascitur aspera siluas,
quin largita tuis sunt muta silentia uotis.
Iuppiter ipse leui uectus per inania curru 130
adfuit et caelo uicinum liquit Olympum
intentaque tuis precibus se praebuit aure
cunctaque ueraci capite adnuit: additus aris
laetior eluxit structos super ignis aceruos.
118 Nor wilt thou rest content with this. What is coming is greater than what has come to pass, as I have ascertained from signs that tell the truth, which Amythaon’s Melampus could not match. Thou hadst just donned the garb of flaming Tyrian tissue, as the day dawned that ushers in the fruitful year, when, brighter than before, the Sun lifted his head from the clear waves and the warring winds held their wild gusts in check, nor did the winding rivers pursue their wonted courses. Nay, even the whirling sea stood still, its waves at peace. And no bird is there that glides across the airs of heaven or savage four-footed beast that grazes in woodland thickets but gave lavish silence to thy prayers. Jupiter himself rode in airy chariot through the void unto thy side, and left Olympus, neighbour of the sky He gave himself with ear attentive to thy prayers, and granted all, bowing the head that never lies; and when fire touched the altar, its glad flare rose on high above the piled-up incense.
Quin hortante deo magnis insistere rebus 135
incipe; non idem tibi sint aliisque triumphi:
non te uicino remorabitur obuia marte
Gallia nec latis audax Hispania terris
nec fera Theraeo tellus obsessa colono,
nec qua uel Nilus uel regia lympha Choaspes 140
profluit aut rapidus, Cyri dementia, Gyndes,
aret Araccaeis aut unda Oroatia campis,
nec qua regna uago Tomyris finiuit Araxe,
impia nec saeuis celebrans conuiuia mensis
ultima uicinus Phoebo tenet arua Padaeus, 145
quaque Hebrus Tanaisque Getas rigat atque Magynos.
135 Now at the god’s call press thou on to great achievements. Not the same triumphs should there be for thee as others. Confronting Gaul shall not detain thee in combat close at hand, nor the wide territory of martial Spain, nor the wild land whereon the settlers of Thera lodged, nor that where flows the Nile or the king’s stream Choaspes, or where the rushing Gyndes which maddened Cyrus lies parched, or the waters of Oroatis in the plains of Aracca, nor where is the wild Araxes which Tamyris made the boundary of her kingdom, or where the Padaean, on whose savage tables is often spread a cannibal repast, dwells in remotest lands, the neighbour of Phoebus, and where the Hebrus and the Tanais water the Getae and the Magyni.
Quid moror? Oceanus ponto qua continet orbem,
nulla tibi aduersis regio sese offeret armis.
Te manet inuictus Romano marte Britannus
teque interiecto mundi pars altera sole. 150
Nam circumfuso consistit in aere tellus
et quinque in partes toto disponitur orbe.
Atque duae gelido uastantur frigore semper:
illic et densa tellus absconditur umbra,
et nulla incepto perlabitur unda liquore, 155
sed durata riget densam in glaciemque niuemque,
quippe ubi non umquam Titan super egerit ortus.
At media est Phoebi semper subiecta calori,
seu propior terris aestiuum fertur in orbem
seu celer hibernas properat decurrere luces; 160
non igitur presso tellus exsurgit aratro,
nec frugem segetes praebent neque pabula terrae;
non illic colit arua deus, Bacchusue Ceresue,
nulla nec exustas habitant animalia partes.
Fertilis hanc inter posita est interque rigentes 165
nostraque et huic aduersa solo pars altera nostro,
quas similis utrimque tenens uicinia caeli
temperat, alter et alterius uires necat aer;
hinc placidus nobis per tempora uertitur annus,
hinc et colla iugo didicit submittere taurus 170
et lenta excelsos uitis conscendere ramos,
tondeturque seges maturos annua partus,
et ferro tellus, pontus confinditur aere,
quin etiam structis exsurgunt oppida muris.
Ergo ubi per claros ierint tua facta triumphos, 175
solus utroque idem diceris magnus in orbe.
147 Why do I trifle thus? Wherever the Ocean’s deep encompasses the earth, no land will meet thee with opposing force. The Briton whom Roman prowess has not vanquished is reserved for thee, and the other portion of the world, with the Sun’s path set between. For the Earth rests on circumambient air, and into five parts is its whole sphere distributed. And two are always ravaged by icy cold. There the earth is buried in thick shade and no waters slip to the end of their liquid course, but are frozen hard to thick ice and snow, since Titan there never shows his rising orb on high. But the middle is always underneath the heat of Phoebus, whether he moves nearer to the earth on his summer orbit or whether swiftly he hastes to conclude the winter day. So there the earth does not rise in ridges before the deep-driven plough, nor do the cornfields yield grain or the lands pasture. No god tends the fields, whether Bacchus or Ceres, nor do any animals live in those parched regions. Between it and both the frozen zones is set a fruitful one, ours and the region that is opposite this land of ours, attempered to likeness by the neighbouring climes that hold them in on either side, one air destroying all the other’s power. Hence comes it that our year turns kindly through its seasons; hence that the bull has learned to bow his neck to the yoke and the limber vine to climb the lofty bough, and year by year the cornfield yields its ripe fruit to its shearer, and iron ploughs the earth and bronze the sea; yea, and towns rise high with their pile of walls. So, then, when thy deeds shall claim their glorious triumph, thou only shalt have the name of great in either world.
Non ego sum satis ad tantae praeconia laudis,
ipse mihi non si praescribat carmina Phoebus.
Est tibi, qui possit magnis se accingere rebus,
Valgius: aeterno propior non alter Homero. 180
Languida non noster peragit labor otia, quamuis
Fortuna, ut mos est illi, me aduersa fatiget.
Nam mihi, cum magnis opibus domus alta niteret,
cui fuerant flaui ditantes ordine sulci
horrea fecundas ad deficientia messis, 185
cuique pecus denso pascebant agmine colles,
et domino satis et nimium furique lupoque,
nunc desiderium superest: nam cura nouatur,
cum memor ante actos semp
er dolor admonet annos.
177 I am not strong enough to advertise such glory, no, not if Phoebus himself dictate my song. Thou hast in Valgius one that can gird himself for these great achievements: none other comes nearer to immortal Homer. ’Tis not that toil with me leaves leisure to be passed in indolence, albeit Fortune, as is her wont, harasses me with her enmity. For though once I had a lofty mansion glittering with wealth, and rows of yellow furrows, pouring treasure into barns that could not cope with the plenteous harvests, and serried lines of cattle browsing on the hills, enough for owner and overmuch for thief and wolf, now naught but the sense of loss remains. For pain springs up again as Grief remembers and reminds me ever of the bygone years.
Sed licet asperiora cadant spolierque relictis, 190
non te deficient nostrae memorare camenae.
Nec solum tibi Pierii tribuentur honores:
pro te uel rapidas ausim maris ire per undas,
aduersis hiberna licet tumeant freta uentis,
pro te uel densis solus subsistere turmis 195
uel paruum Aetnaeae corpus committere flammae.
Sum quodcumque, tuum est. Nostri si paruula cura
sit tibi, quanta libet, si sit modo, non mihi regna
Lydia, non magni potior sit fama Gylippi,
posse Meleteas nec mallem uincere chartas. 200
Quod tibi si uersus noster, totusue minusue,