Page images
PDF
EPUB

ut bello egregias idem disiecerit urbes, Troiamque Oechaliamque, ut duros mille labores rege sub Eurystheo fatis Iunonis iniquae

290

295

300

pertulerit. "tu nubigenas, invicte, bimembris, Hylaeumque Pholumque, manu, tu Cresia mactas prodigia et vastum Nemea sub rupe leonem. te Stygii tremuere lacus, te ianitor Orci ossa super recubans antro semesa cruento; nec te ullae facies, non terruit ipse Typhoeus arduus arma tenens, non te rationis egentem Lernaeus turba capitum circumstetit anguis. salve, vera Iovis proles, decus addite divis, et nos et tua dexter adi pede sacra secundo." talia carminibus celebrant; super omnia Caci speluncam adiciunt spirantemque ignibus ipsum. consonat omne nemus strepitu collesque resultant. 305 Exim se cuncti divinis rebus ad urbem perfectis referunt. ibat rex obsitus aevo, et comitem Aenean iuxta natumque tenebat ingrediens varioque viam sermone levabat. miratur facilisque oculos fert omnia circum Aeneas, capiturque locis et singula laetus exquiritque auditque virum monumenta priorum. tum rex Euandrus, Romanae conditor arcis:

310

315

"haec nemora indigenae Fauni Nymphaeque tenebant gensque virum truncis et duro robore nata, quis neque mos neque cultus erat, nec iungere tauros

291 Oechaliam eduros M1.

295 Nemaea M: Nemea P2Ry: Nemeae P1, Servius.
306 exin Rb2c.

1 Juno, who in jealousy sent two snakes to kill Hercules in his cradle, and to whose craftiness it was due that Hercules had to serve Eurystheus for twelve years.

mother1; how likewise in war he dashed down peerless cities, Troy and Oechalia; how under King Eurystheus he bore a thousand grievous toils by the doom of cruel Juno. "Thou, unconquered one, thou with thy hand art slayer of the cloud born creatures of double shape, Hylaeus and Pholus, the monsters of Crete, and the huge lion beneath Nemea's rock. Before thee the Stygian lakes trembled; before thee, the warder of Hell, as he lay on half-gnawn bones in his bloody cave; no shape daunted thee, no, not Typhoeus' self, towering aloft in arms; wit failed. thee not when Lerna's snake encompassed thee with its swarm of heads. Hail, true seed of Jove, to the gods an added glory! graciously with favouring foot visit us and thy rites!" Such are their hymns of praise; and they crown all with the tale of Cacus' cavern, and the fire-breathing monster's self. All the woodland rings with the clamour, and the hills re-echo.

306 Then, the sacred rites discharged, all return to the city. There walked the king, beset with years, and as he moved along kept Aeneas and his son at his side as companions, relieving the way with varied talk. Aeneas marvels as he turns his ready eyes all around, is charmed with the scene, and joyfully seeks and learns, one by one, the records of the men of yore. Then King Evander, founder of

Rome's citadel: "In these woodlands the native Fauns and Nymphs once dwelt, and a race of men sprung from trunks of trees and hardy oak,2 who had no rule nor art of life, and knew not how to

2cf. Homer, Odyssey, XIX. 163, where Penelope says to the disguised Odysseus: "Tell me of thine own stock, whence thou art, for thou art not sprung of oak or rock, as told in olden tales."

VOL. II.

G

320

325

aut componere opes norant aut parcere parto, sed rami atque asper victu venatus alebat. primus ab aetherio venit Saturnus Olympo, arma lovis fugiens et regnis exsul ademptis. is genus indocile ac dispersum montibus altis composuit legesque dedit, Latiumque vocari maluit, his quoniam latuisset tutus in oris. aurea quae perhibent illo sub rege fuere saecula: sic placida populos in pace regebat, deterior donec paulatim ac decolor aetas et belli rabies et amor successit habendi. tum manus Ausonia et gentes venere Sicanae, saepius et nomen posuit Saturnia tellus; tum reges asperque immani corpore Thybris, a quo post Itali fluvium cognomine Thybrim diximus; amisit verum vetus Albula nomen. me pulsum patria pelagique extrema sequentem Fortuna omnipotens et ineluctabile fatum his posuere locis, matrisque egere tremenda Carmentis Nymphae monita et deus auctor Apollo.” Vix ea dicta, dehinc progressus monstrat et aram et Carmentalem Romani nomine portam quam memorant, Nymphae priscum Carmentis honorem,

vatis fatidicae, cecinit quae prima futuros
Aeneadas magnos et nobile Pallanteum.

hinc lucum ingentem, quem Romulus acer Asylum
rettulit, et gelida monstrat sub rupe Lupercal,
Parrhasio dictum Panos de more Lycaei.
nec non et sacri monstrat nemus Argileti

330

317 parto] rapto M1. 324 aureaque P1. fuerunt Py.
341 nomine R: nobine Py1.

338 Romano R.

335

340

345

1 Servius says: Varro autem Latium dici putat, quod latet Italia inter praecipitia Alpium et Apennini. Mommsen

yoke the ox or to lay up stores, or to husband their gains; but tree-branches nurtured them and the huntsman's savage fare. First from heavenly Olympus came Saturn, fleeing from the weapons of Jove and exiled from his lost realm. He gathered together the unruly race, scattered over mountain heights, and gave them laws, and chose that the land be called Latium, since in these borders he had found a safe hiding-place.1 Under his reign were the golden ages men tell of: in such perfect peace he ruled the nations; till little by little there crept in a race of worse sort and duller hue, the frenzy of war, and the passion for gain. Then came the Ausonian host and the Sicanian tribes, and ofttimes the land of Saturn laid aside her name.2 Then kings arose, and fierce Thybris with giant bulk, from whose name we of Italy have since called our river Tiber; her true name ancient Albula has lost. Myself, from fatherland an outcast and seeking the ends of the sea, almighty Fortune and inevitable Fate planted on this soil; and the dread warnings of my mother, the nymph Carmentis, and Apollo's divine warrant, drove me hither."

337 Scarce had he finished, when, advancing, he points out the altar and the Carmental Gate, as the Romans call it, tribute of old to the Nymph Carmentis, soothtelling prophetess, who first foretold the greatness of Aeneas' sons, and the glory of Pallanteum. Next he shows him a vast grove, where valiant Romulus restored an Asylum, and, beneath a chill rock, the Lupercal, bearing after Arcadian wont the name of Lycaean Pan. He shows withal the wood of holy Argiletum, and calls the place to regards Latium as "the plain," in contrast with "the mountains," and connected with λarús, "broad," and latus, "side." 2 cf. Ausonia, Hesperia, Oenotria, Italia.

83

testaturque locum et letum docet hospitis Argi.
hinc ad Tarpeiam sedem et Capitolia ducit,
aurea nunc, olim silvestribus horrida dumis.
iam tum religio pavidos terrebat agrestis

dira loci, iam tum silvam saxumque tremebant. 350
"hoc nemus, hunc," inquit, "frondoso vertice collem,
quis deus incertum est, habitat deus; Arcades ipsum
credunt se vidisse Iovem, cum saepe nigrantem
aegida concuteret dextra nimbosque cieret.
haec duo praeterea disiectis oppida muris,
reliquias veterumque vides monumenta virorum.
hanc Ianus pater, hanc Saturnus condidit arcem;
Ianiculum huic, illi fuerat Saturnia nomen."

Talibus inter se dictis ad tecta subibant pauperis Euandri, passimque armenta videbant Romanoque Foro et lautis mugire Carinis. ut ventum ad sedes, "haec," inquit, “limina victor Alcides subiit, haec illum regia cepit.

aude, hospes, contemnere opes et te quoque dignum finge deo, rebusque veni non asper egenis." dixit et angusti subter fastigia tecti ingentem Aenean duxit stratisque locavit effultum foliis et pelle Libystidis ursae.

nox ruit et fuscis tellurem amplectitur alis.

355

360

365

371

At Venus haud animo nequiquam exterrita mater, Laurentumque minis et duro mota tumultu, Volcanum adloquitur, thalamoque haec coniugis aureo incipit et dictis divinum adspirat amorem : "dum bello Argolici vastabant Pergama reges

350 tenebant M1.

361 latis M1: cavernis R.

357 arcem] urbem M2R.
365 deos P2.

1 The Argiletum probably gets its name from argilla, "white clay."

« PreviousContinue »