Complete works of lucan, p.120
Complete Works of Lucan, page 120
contulit in leges et Parthi militis arcus.
ite, o degeneres, Ptolemaei munus et arma
spernite. quis uestras ulla putet esse nocentes
caede manus? credet faciles sibi terga dedisse, 270
credet ab Emathiis primos fugisse Philippis.
uadite securi; meruistis iudice uitam
Caesare non armis, non obsidione subacti.
o famuli turpes, domini post fata prioris
itis ad heredem. cur non maiora mereri 275
quam uitam ueniamque libet? rapiatur in undas
infelix coniunx Magni prolesque Metelli,
ducite Pompeios, Ptolemaei uincite munus.
nostra quoque inuiso quisquis feret ora tyranno
non parua mercede dabit: sciat ista iuuentus 280
ceruicis pretio bene se mea signa secutam.
quin agite et magna meritum cum caede parate:
ignauum scelus est tantum fuga.’ dixit, et omnes
haud aliter medio reuocauit ab aequore puppes
quam, simul effetas linquunt examina ceras 285
atque oblita faui non miscent nexibus alas
sed sibi quaeque uolat nec iam degustat amarum
desidiosa thymum, Phrygii sonus increpat aeris,
attonitae posuere fugam studiumque laboris
floriferi repetunt et sparsi mellis amorem: 290
gaudet in Hyblaeo securus gramine pastor
diuitias seruasse casae. sic uoce Catonis
inculcata uiris iusti patientia Martis.
The cause of Rome was as good as lost, and all the rabble, at a loss for want of a master, swarmed upon the shore. But utterance came with a rush from the sacred breast of Cato: “It seems then, soldiers, that you too fought with the same desire as others, in defence of tyranny — that you were the troops of Pompey, and not of Rome. You no longer suffer in order to set up a tyrant; your life and death belong to yourselves, not to your leaders; there is no one for whom you gain the whole world, and now you may safely conquer for yourselves alone. Yet now you desert the ranks; you miss the yoke when your neck is relieved, and you cannot endure existence without a tyrant. But you have now a quarrel worthy of brave men. Pompey was suffered to make full use of your life-blood: now, when freedom is in sight, do you refuse to fight and die for your country? Out of three masters Fortune has spared but one. Shame on you! The court of Egypt and the bow of the Parthian soldier have done more for the cause of lawful government. Depart, degenerate men, neglectful alike of Ptolemy’s gift and your own weapons. Who would suppose that your hands were ever stained with bloodshed? Caesar will take your word for it that you were quick to turn your backs to him, and first in the flight from Philippi in Thessaly. Go and fear not: if Caesar be your judge, you, who were not subdued by battle or siege, have deserved to have your lives spared. Base slaves! your former master is dead, and you welcome his heir. Why do you not seek to earn a greater reward than mere life and pardon? Seize the hapless wife of Magnus and daughter of Metellus, and carry her over the sea; lead captive the sons of Pompey; and so outdo the gift of Ptolemy. Also, whoever bears my head to the hated tyrant will receive no small reward for his gift. By the price of my head your troops will learn that they did well to follow my standard. Rouse up therefore, commit a mighty crime, and gain your reward. Mere flight is the crime of cowards.” By this speech he recalled all the ships from mid-sea. Even so, when the swarm deserts the cells that have hatched their young, they forget the comb; their wings are no longer intertwined, but each bee flies independently and plays truant, ceasing to suck the bitter thyme; but, if the sound of Phrygian brass rebukes them, at once in alarm they stop their flight and go back to their task of bearing pollen, and renew their love of scattered honey; the shepherd on the meadow of Hybla is relieved, and rejoices that the wealth of his cottage is safe. Thus by Cato’s words the resolution to endure lawful warfare was impressed upon his men.
iamque actu belli non doctas ferre quietem
constituit mentes serieque agitare laborum. 295
primum litoreis miles lassatur harenis.
proximus in muros et moenia Cyrenarum
est labor: exclusus nulla se uindicat ira,
poenaque de uictis sola est uicisse Catoni.
inde peti placuit Libyci contermina Mauris 300
regna Iubae, sed iter mediis natura uetabat
Syrtibus: hanc audax sperat sibi cedere uirtus.
And now by works of war and continuous tasks he resolved to keep busy men who knew not how to remain inactive. First the soldiers toiled till they were weary, digging the sand upon the shore; their next task was against the walls and fortifications of Cyrene; when shut out from there, Cato took no harsh revenge — the only penalty he exacted from the conquered was to have conquered them. Next it was resolved to seek the realm of Libyan Juba that borders on the Moors; and, though Nature barred their way by placing the Syrtes between, daring valour hoped to defeat Nature.
Syrtes uel, primam mundo natura figuram
cum daret, in dubio pelagi terraeque reliquit
(nam neque subsedit penitus, quo stagna profundi 305
acciperet, nec se defendit ab aequore tellus,
ambigua sed lege loci iacet inuia sedes,
aequora fracta uadis abruptaque terra profundo,
et post multa sonant proiecti litora fluctus:
sic male deseruit nullosque exegit in usus 310
hanc partem natura sui); uel plenior alto
olim Syrtis erat pelago penitusque natabat,
sed rapidus Titan ponto sua lumina pascens
aequora subduxit zonae uicina perustae;
et nunc pontus adhuc Phoebo siccante repugnat, 315
mox, ubi damnosum radios admouerit aeuum,
tellus Syrtis erit; nam iam breuis unda superne
innatat et late periturum deficit aequor.
When Nature first gave shape to the world, either she left the Syrtes to be disputed by sea and land alike; for the land did not sink down deep, so as to admit the water of the ocean, nor yet defend itself against the sea, but the region lies untravelled, owing to the uncertain conditions that prevail there — sea broken by shoals, and dry land severed by sea — and the waves strike beach after beach before they collapse with a roar. So unkindly has Nature deserted this part of herself, and demands no service of it. Or else, the Syrtis was once more richly supplied with deep sea, and lay far below the surface; but the parching sun, feeding his light with ocean, sucked up the water, which is near the torrid zone; and thus, though now the sea still resists the drying action of the sun, ere long, when injurious time brings his heat close, the Syrtis will become dry land; for already the waves that cover it are shallow, and the water, soon to disappear, is everywhere scantily supplied.
ut primum remis actum mare propulit omne
classis onus, densis fremuit niger imbribus Auster. 320
in sua regna furens temptatum classibus aequor
turbine defendit longeque a Syrtibus undas
egit et inlato confregit litore pontum.
tum, quarum recto deprendit carbasa malo,
eripuit nautis, frustraque rudentibus ausis 325
uela negare Noto spatium uicere carinae,
atque ultra proram tumuit sinus. omnia siquis
prouidus antemnae suffixit lintea summae,
uincitur et nudis auertitur armamentis.
sors melior classi quae fluctibus incidit altis 330
et certo iactata mari. quaecumque leuatae
arboribus caesis flatum effudere prementem,
abstulit has liber uentis contraria uoluens
aestus et obnixum uictor detrusit in Austrum.
has uada destituunt, atque interrupta profundo 335
terra ferit puppes, dubioque obnoxia fato
pars sedet una ratis, pars altera pendet in undis.
tum magis inpactis breuius mare terraque saepe
obuia consurgens: quamuis elisus ab Austro,
saepe tamen cumulos fluctus non uincit harenae. 340
eminet in tergo pelagi procul omnibus aruis
inuiolatus aqua sicci iam pulueris agger;
stant miseri nautae, terraeque haerente carina
litora nulla uident. sic partem intercipit aequor,
pars ratium maior regimen clauumque secuta est 345
tuta fuga, nautasque loci sortita peritos
torpentem Tritonos adit inlaesa paludem.
As soon as the sea, driven by the oars, bore onward all the heavy fleet, a black South wind roared with incessant rain. Raging against its own domain, it protected by a hurricane the waters on which the ships had ventured, driving the waves far from the Syrtes and breaking up the sea with intervals of land. Next, if it caught the sails of any ship with mast erect, it tore them from the sailors’ grasp; in vain the cordage strove to rescue the sails from the wind, and the canvas stretched out beyond the ship, its folds flapping out further than the prow. If any prudent mariner had brailed up all his sails to the top of the yard, he was defeated and driven out of his course with bare poles. Those ships fared better which rode upon deep water and were tossed upon a sea that was sea indeed. But if any were lightened by cutting away the masts, and thus allowed the driving blast to pass over them, then the tide, free from control, swept them in the opposite direction to the gale, and carried them away, conquering them and driving them against the opposing South wind. These were left stranded by the shallows, where land, broken by sea, wrecks them; exposed to a double danger, half the vessel is aground, while half floats on the waves. Then, as the ships were driven further, the sea contracted and the dry land constantly emerged and struck them: the waves, though tossed by the South wind, often fail to rise above the sandbanks. Far from all the fields, a rampart of dry sand rises up on the surface of the sea and defies the water; the hapless sailors stick fast: though their keel is aground, no shore is visible. Thus the sea destroyed some of the ships, but the larger part, following the guidance of the helm, were saved by flight; and finding pilots familiar with the shore, they reached unharmed the sluggish lake of Triton.
hanc, ut fama, deus quem toto litore pontus
audit uentosa perflantem marmora concha,
hanc et Pallas amat, patrio quae uertice nata 350
terrarum primam Libyen (nam proxima caelo est,
ut probat ipse calor) tetigit, stagnique quieta
uoltus uidit aqua posuitque in margine plantas
et se dilecta Tritonida dixit ab unda.
quam iuxta Lethon tacitus praelabitur amnis, 355
infernis, ut fama, trahens obliuia uenis,
atque, insopiti quondam tutela draconis,
Hesperidum pauper spoliatis frondibus hortus.
inuidus, annoso qui famam derogat aeuo,
qui uates ad uera uocat. fuit aurea silua 360
diuitiisque graues et fuluo germine rami
uirgineusque chorus, nitidi custodia luci,
et numquam somno damnatus lumina serpens
robora conplexus rutilo curuata metallo.
abstulit arboribus pretium nemorique laborem 365
Alcides, passusque inopes sine pondere ramos
rettulit Argolico fulgentia poma tyranno.
This lake, as legend tells, is dear to the god, who is heard by all the sea-shore as he fills the waters with the music of his windy shell; and dear to Pallas too. When she was born from her father’s head, she alighted on Libya before any other land; for Libya, as its heat alone proves, is nearest the sky; and there she saw her face in the still water of the pool, and stood by its brink, and called herself Tritonis after the lake she loved. Near it silently steals past the river of Lethon, which, as legend tells, carries forgetfulness from its source in the lower world; and here is the Garden of the Hesperides, once the charge of the sleepless dragon but now impoverished by the rifling of its branches. Churlish is he who robs hoary antiquity of its fame and demands the truth from poets. There was once a golden grove, whose trees bowed beneath their riches and the tawny fruit of their branches; and a band of maidens guarded that glittering grove; and a serpent, whose eyes were never doomed to close in sleep, coiled round the trees that bent beneath the ruddy metal. But Alcides robbed the trees of their prize and eased the grove of its task, when he left the branches without their weight of wealth and carried back the shining apples to the king of Argos.
his igitur depulsa locis eiectaque classis
Syrtibus haut ultra Garamantidas attigit undas,
sed duce Pompeio Libyae melioris in oris 370
mansit. at inpatiens uirtus haerere Catonis
audet in ignotas agmen committere gentes
armorum fidens et terra cingere Syrtim.
hoc eadem suadebat hiemps quae clauserat aequor;
et spes imber erat nimios metuentibus ignes, 375
ut neque sole uiam nec duro frigore saeuam
inde polo Libyes, hinc bruma temperet annus.
atque ingressurus steriles sic fatur harenas:
Thus the ships, driven from their course and cast forth from the Syrtes, remained in this region, on the shore of the better part of Libya, with Pompeius as commander; nor did they sail further on the Garamantian waters. But brave Cato was unwilling to stand still: emboldened by his armed strength, he dared to trust his soldiers to lands unknown and to march round the Syrtis on foot. Winter also, by closing the sea against them, prompted this course, and rains were welcome to men who feared excessive heat: the season might save them from suffering from either sun or freezing cold, and temper their march by the climate of Africa on the one hand and by winter on the other. And before he set foot upon the barren desert, Cato made them this speech:
‘o quibus una salus placuit mea castra secutis
indomita ceruice mori, conponite mentes 380
ad magnum uirtutis opus summosque labores.
uadimus in campos steriles exustaque mundi,
qua nimius Titan et rarae in fontibus undae,
siccaque letiferis squalent serpentibus arua.
durum iter ad leges patriaeque ruentis amorem. 385
per mediam Libyen ueniant atque inuia temptent,
siquibus in nullo positum est euadere uoto,
siquibus ire sat est. neque enim mihi fallere quemquam
est animus tectoque metu perducere uolgus.
hi mihi sint comites, quos ipsa pericula ducent, 390
qui me teste pati uel quae tristissima pulchrum
Romanumque putant. at, qui sponsore salutis
miles eget capiturque animae dulcedine, uadat
ad dominum meliore uia. dum primus harenas
ingrediar primusque gradus in puluere ponam, 395
me aetherius feriat, mihi plena ueneno
occurrat serpens, fatoque pericula uestra
praetemptate meo. sitiat quicumque bibentem
uiderit, aut umbras nemorum quicumque petentem
aestuet, aut equitem peditum praecedere turmas 400
deficiat: siquo fuerit discrimine notum
dux an miles eam. serpens, sitis, ardor harenae
dulcia uirtuti; gaudet patientia duris;
laetius est, quotiens magno sibi constat, honestum.
sola potest Libye turba praestare malorum 405
ut deceat fugisse uiros.’ sic ille pauentis
incendit uirtute animos et amore laborum,
inreducemque uiam deserto limite carpit;
et sacrum paruo nomen clausura sepulchro
inuasit Libye securi fata Catonis. 410
“Men who have chosen this one path of safety — to follow my standard to the death with spirits unsubdued, prepare your minds for a high feat of valour and for utmost hardships. We march towards barren plains and the furnace of the world, where the sun’s heat is excessive and water is seldom found in the springs, and where the parched fields are foul with venomous serpents. Hard is the path to freedom, and hard to win the love of our country in her fall. Let those march through the heart of Africa, seeking a path where there is none, who do not regard escape as a thing to be at all desired, and are content merely to march on. For I do not intend to deceive any man, nor to draw the army on by concealing the danger. I seek as my companions men who are attracted by the risks themselves, men who think it glorious and worthy of a Roman to endure even the worst, with me to watch them. But if any man craves a guarantee of safety and is tempted by the sweetness of life, let him take an easier path and go to a master. Foremost I shall tread the desert, and foremost set foot upon the sand; let the heat of the sky then beat upon me and the poisonous serpent stand in my path; and test your perils beforehand by what befalls me. If any man see me drinking, or seeking the shade of trees, or riding in front of the marching troops, then let him feel thirst and heat and weariness — if there is any distinction to mark whether I am the general or a soldier in the ranks. Serpents, thirst, burning sand — all are welcomed by the brave; endurance finds pleasure in hardship; virtue rejoices when it pays dear for its existence. Africa alone, with all her plagues, can bring it about, that to have fled is no disgrace to the brave.” Thus he fired their frightened hearts with courage and love of hardship, and began, by a track through the desert, that march from which there was no returning. For Africa, that was to hide his sacred name in a humble grave, laid hold upon the last days of Cato, but Cato cared not.
tertia pars rerum Libye, si credere famae
cuncta uelis; at, si uentos caelumque sequaris,
pars erit Europae. nec enim plus litora Nili
quam Scythicus Tanais primis a Gadibus absunt,
unde Europa fugit Libyen et litora flexu 415
Oceano fecere locum; sed maior in unam
orbis abit Asiam. nam, cum communiter istae
effundant Zephyrum, Boreae latus illa sinistrum
contingens dextrumque Noti discedit in ortus
Eurum sola tenens. Libycae quod fertile terraest 420
uergit in occasus; sed et haec non fontibus ullis
soluitur: Arctoos raris Aquilonibus imbres
accipit et nostris reficit sua rura serenis.
in nullas uitiatur opes; non aere nec auro
excoquitur, nullo glaebarum crimine pura 425
et penitus terra est. tantum Maurusia genti
robora diuitiae, quarum non nouerat usum,
sed citri contenta comis uiuebat et umbra.
in nemus ignotum nostrae uenere secures,
