[iii]

CLAUDIAN

WITH AN ENGLISH TRANSLATION BY
MAURICE PLATNAUER

SOMETIME HONORARY SCHOLAR OF NEW COLLEGE, OXFORD
ASSISTANT MASTER AT WINCHESTER COLLEGE

IN TWO VOLUMES

II

LONDON: WILLIAM HEINEMANN
NEW YORK: G. P. PUTNAM’S SONS
MCMXXII

[iv]

[v]

CONTENTS OF VOLUME II

[1]

CLAUDIAN

[2]

CLAUDII CLAUDIANI CARMINA

DE CONSULATU STILICHONIS

LIBER SECUNDUS

(XXII.)

Hactenus armatae laudes: nunc qualibus orbem

moribus et quanto frenet metuendus amore,

quo tandem flexus trabeas auctore rogantes

induerit fastisque suum concesserit annum,

mitior incipiat fidibus iam Musa remissis. 5

Principio magni custos dementia mundi,

quae Iovis incoluit zonam, quae temperat aethram

frigoris et flammae medio, quae maxima natu

caelicolum. nam prima chaos Clementia solvit

congeriem miserata rudem vultuque sereno 10

discussis tenebris in lucem saecula fudit.

haec dea pro templis et ture calentibus aris

te fruitur posuitque suas hoc pectore sedes.

haec docet ut poenis hominum vel sanguine pasci

turpe ferumque putes; ut ferrum, Marte cruentum, 16

siccum pace feras; ut non infensus alendis

[3]

THE POEMS OF CLAUDIAN

ON STILICHO’S CONSULSHIP

BOOK II

(XXII.)

Thus far the warrior’s praise! Now let my gentler Muse relax the strings and tell by what virtues he governs the world, tempering fear with love, say what counsel moved him at last to assume those consular robes that cried out to him, and bestowed on our annals a year named after himself.

In the beginning Love[1] was the guardian of this vast universe, she who dwelt in the sphere of Jove, who attempers the sky ’twixt cold and heat, who is eldest of the immortals. For Love, pitying the elemental confusion, first disentangled Chaos; with a smile she scattered the darkness and bathed the world in light. She dwelleth now not in temples nor by altars warm with incense but in thy heart wherein she has made her home. Taught by her thou accountest it cruel and barbarous to batten on suffering and human slaughter; the sword that drips blood in war thou wearest unstained in peace;

[1] Claudian seems to have in his mind partly the Epicurean doctrine of ἔρως and partly the personification of the Clementia Caesaris, well known as a legend on so many Roman coins. See, also, for Clementia as a goddess, Claud. xvii. 166, and Stat. Theb. xii. 481 et sqq.

[4]

materiem praestes odiis; ut sontibus ultro

ignovisse velis, deponas ocius iram

quam moveas, precibus numquam implacabilis obstes,

obvia prosternas prostrataque more leonum 20

despicias, alacres ardent qui frangere tauros,

transiliunt praedas humiles. hac ipse magistra

das veniam victis, hac exorante calores

horrificos et quae, numquam nocitura, timentur

iurgia contentus solo terrore coerces 25

aetherii patris exemplo, qui cuncta sonoro

concutiens tonitru Cyclopum spicula differt

in scopulos et monstra maris nostrique cruoris

parcus in Oetaeis exercet fulmina silvis.

Huic divae germana Fides eademque sorori 30

corde tuo delubra tenens sese omnibus actis

inserit. haec docuit nullo livescere fuco,

numquam falsa loqui, numquam promissa morari;

invisos odisse palam, non virus in alto

condere, non laetam speciem praemittere fraudi, 35

sed certum mentique parem componere vultum;

occulto saevire vetat, prodesse remittit.

haec et amicitias longo plus tempore firmat

mansuroque adamante ligat; nec mobile mutat

ingenium, parvae strepitu nec vincula noxae 40

dissolvi patitur, nec fastidire priorem

inlicitur veniente novo. benefacta tenere,

respuere offensas facilis, pariterque minoris

officii magnique memor superare laborat

[5]

though angered thou feedest with no fuel the flame of hatred; thou forgivest the guilty even before they ask, thou layest aside thy wrath more readily than thou art moved to wrath, thou never turnest a deaf ear to prayers, all who oppose thee thou overthrowest, but deignest not to touch them when overthrown, like a lion who lusts to rend in pieces the fierce bull, but passes by the cowering prey. At her bidding thou extendest pardon to the conquered; at her prayer thou refrainest the dread fires of thine anger and those threats, not the less terrible for being unfulfilled; it is enough for thee to inspire awe, even as the heavenly Father who, shaking the world with his loud thunder, hurls the bolts of the Cyclops upon rocks and sea-monsters and, sparing the blood of man, expends his lightnings on the forests of Oeta.

Good Faith too, Love’s sister, has made her shrine in thy heart and joins herself to all thine actions. She has taught thee to practise no hypocrisy, never to speak falsehood, never to postpone the fulfilment of thy promises; to hate openly those thou hatest, and not to hide the poison of resentment in thy heart nor let a false smile mask treachery but to make thy countenance the sure mirror of thy mind. She gainsayeth secret vengeance but encourageth secret benefits. She strengthens friendships also, that grow more firm by lapse of time and binds them with chains of lasting adamant; not hers is the fickle change of mood, nor does she permit close ties to be broken by the rumour of some petty injury, nor is she lured to scorn the old friend when a new one comes. Mindful of past benefits, quick to forget wrongs, she remembers services alike small or great and strives to outdo

[6]

utque hostes armis, meritis sic vincit amicos. 45

haec fovet absentes, haec longe sola remotis

consulit, haec nullis avidam rumoribus aurem

pandit, ut ignarum numquam laesura clientem

insidiosa tuos alienent murmura sensus.

Nec vivis adnexus amor meminisse sepultos 50

desinit; in prolem transcurrit gratia patrum.

hac tu Theodosium, tenuit dum sceptra, colebas,

hac etiam post fata colis; nec pignora curas

plus tua quam natos, dederat quos ille monendos

tutandosque tibi. iustos nimiumque fideles 55

fama putat, qui, cum possint commissa negare,

maluerint nullo violati reddere quaestu:

at Stilicho non divitias aurique relictum

pondus, sed geminos axes tantumque reservat

depositum teneris, quantum sol igneus ambit. 60

quid non intrepidus credas, cui regia tuto

creditur?

Hoc clipeo munitus Honorius altum

non gemuit patrem vitaeque et lucis in ipso

limine, contemptus numquam, dat iura subactis

gentibus et secum sentit crevisse triumphos. 65

quem tu sic placida formas, sic mente severa,

ut neque desidiae tradas, dum pronus ad omne

quod libet obsequeris, nec contra nixus ovantem

confringas animum: secreto consona regno

ceu iuvenem doceas, moles quid publica poscat: 70

ceu sanctum venerere senem patriisque gubernes

imperium monitis; dominum summissus adores;

obsequiis moderere ducem, pietate parentem.

[7]

them, overcoming friends with devotion as an enemy with arms. She safeguards the absent and is the sole protector of those far away; she opens not a greedy ear to rumours, so that never does the stealthy whisper that would injure some unsuspecting client estrange thy sympathies.

Nor does the love that clings to the living forget the dead, and the gratitude a father earned is paid to his children. This kept thee loyal to Theodosius while yet he wielded the sceptre, loyal, too, after his death; nor carest thou more for thine own offspring than for the sons he entrusted to thy guidance and protection. Just and most faithful does Fame account those, who, though they might deny a trust, have chosen rather to fulfil it, unpolluted by greed of gain; but it is not riches, not a huge heritage of gold that Stilicho holds in trust for the young heirs, but two hemispheres and all that is embraced within the sun’s fiery orbit. What wouldst thou not fearlessly entrust to him to whom a kingdom is entrusted safely?

Defended by this buckler Honorius did not mourn his noble sire, and on life’s very threshold, ne’er scorned by any, he dictates laws to conquered races and sees his triumphs increase with his years. Him thou dost seek to shape as with kindly so with severe mind; neither to sloth dost thou deliver him by a ready yielding to all his wishes, nor by opposing dost thou crush his eager spirit: as a youth thou teachest him in secret a king’s lesson—his duty to his people; as a reverend senior thou payest him honour and governest the empire at a father’s bidding; to thy lord thou givest humble worship; thou guidest thy master with obedience, thy sire

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hinc fuit ut primos in coniuge disceret ignes

ordirique virum non luxuriante iuventa, 75

sed cum lege tori, casto cum foedere vellet.

principe tu felix genero: felicior ille

te socero.

Fratrem levior nec cura tuetur

Arcadium; nec, si quid iners atque impia turba

praetendens proprio nomen regale furori 80

audeat, adscribis iuveni. discordia quippe

cum fremeret, numquam Stilicho sic canduit ira,

saepe lacessitus probris gladiisque petitus,

ut bello furias ultum, quas pertulit, iret

inlicito causamque daret civilibus armis: 85

cuius fulta fide mediis dissensibus aulae

intemeratorum stabat reverentia fratrum.

quin et Sidonias chlamydes et cingula bacis

aspera gemmatasque togas viridesque smaragdo

loricas galeasque redundantes hyacinthis 90

gestatosque patri capulis radiantibus enses

et vario lapidum distinctas igne coronas

dividis ex aequo, ne non augusta supellex

ornatusque pares geminis heredibus essent.

mittitur et miles, quamvis certamine partes 95

iam tumeant. hostem muniri robore mavis

quam peccare fidem: permittis iusta petenti

idque negas solum, cuius mox ipse repulsa

gaudeat et quidquid fuerat deforme mereri.

Omnes praeterea, puro quae crimina pellunt 100

ore, deae iunxere choros unoque receptae

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with love. Hence it was that he knew not passion before matrimony and preferred to vindicate his manhood not in a youth of debauchery, but in the chaste bonds of legal wedlock. Blessed art thou in having an emperor for a son-in-law; more blessed he with thee for father.

Care no less tender watched over Honorius’ brother, Arcadius. Rightly thou ascribest not to that youth the outrages of the feeble, vicious mob that seeks to screen its own mad folly behind the name of a king. Nay, even when discord raged never did Stilicho so burn with anger, though oft assailed by insult, oft attacked with the sword, that he sought to avenge the frenzy he endured by unholy war and give a handle to civil strife; stayed on his loyalty, mid all the factions of a court, the hallowed friendship of those brothers stood inviolate. Nay more, thou dividedst equally with him Sidonian cloaks, belts studded with pearls, jewelled togas, breastplates thick with green emeralds, helmets flashing with sapphires, swords with gleaming handles thy sire had wielded, crowns bright with the glint of manifold jewels, that both might be equal heirs of their imperial sire’s rich furniture and apparel. Thou didst send soldiers to Byzantium also, though civil strife was already raising its head. Rather wouldst thou reinforce a foe than fail thy pledge; all that he fairly asks thou grantest and refusest only that the withholding of which he himself will shortly approve, and that to obtain which were shameful.

Moreover, all the virtues whose pure aspect puts all wickedness to flight live conjoined in thee and, dwelling within thine heart, aid thee in the

[10]

pectore diversos tecum cinguntur in usus.

Iustitia utilibus rectum praeponere suadet

communesque sequi leges iniustaque numquam

largiri sociis. durum Patientia corpus 105

instruit, ut nulli cupiat cessisse labori;

Temperies, ut casta petas; Prudentia, ne quid

inconsultus agas; Constantia, futtile ne quid

infirmumque geras. procul importuna fugantur

numina, monstriferis quae Tartarus edidit antris: 110

ac primam scelerum matrem, quae semper habendo

plus sitiens patulis rimatur faucibus aurum,

trudis Avaritiam; cuius foedissima nutrix

Ambitio, quae vestibulis foribusque potentum

excubat et pretiis commercia pascit honorum, 115

pulsa simul. nec te gurges corruptior aevi

traxit ad exemplum, qui iam firmaverat annis

crimen et in legem rapiendi verterat usum.

denique non dives sub te pro rure paterno

vel laribus pallet; non insidiator oberrat 120

facturus quemcumque reum. non obruta virtus

paupertate latet. lectos ex omnibus oris

evehis et meritum, non quae cunabula, quaeris,

et qualis non unde satus. sub teste benigno

vivitur; egregios invitant praemia mores. 125

hinc priscae redeunt artes; felicibus inde

ingeniis aperitur iter despectaque Musae

colla levant, opibusque fluens et pauper eodem

nititur ad fructum studio, cum cernat uterque

quod nec inops iaceat probitas nec inertia surgat 130

divitiis.

Nec te iucunda fronte fefellit

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manifold businesses of life. Justice teaches thee to prefer the right to the useful, to obey the general laws of mankind and never to enrich thy friends at other’s cost. Patience strengthens thy body so that it seeks never to yield to toil. Temperance guides thee to chaste desires. Prudence will have thee do nought without forethought, Constancy nought without decision and firm purpose. The deadly vices which Tartarus sends up from his monstrous abyss fly far from thee; but first and foremost thou banishest Avarice, mother of crimes, greedy for more the more she possesses, searching ever open-mouthed for gold; with her thou drivest out her most foul nurse, Ambition, who watches at the gate of the powerful and haunts their dwelling-places, cherishing the sale of honours for gold. This age’s more turbid stream of corruption has not drawn thee to follow its examples—corruption which had with lapse of time established crime and turned the custom of rapine into a law. Beneath thy rule the rich tremble not for the safety of ancestral lands or houses; no informer stalks the world set on making no matter whom his victim. Virtue suffers no eclipse by poverty. Thou exaltest men of all countries, asking what are their merits not their place of birth, what their character not whence their origin. A generous prince takes note of our life; rewards allure into the ways of virtue. Hence it comes that the arts of old flourish once more; the path to fortune is open to genius, while poesy again raises her despised head. Rich and poor strive with equal zeal towards their ends, for both see that, as poverty cannot depress merit, so riches cannot elevate incapacity.

Fair-fronted wantonness deceives thee not, wantonness,

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luxuries, praedulce malum, quae dedita semper

corporis arbitriis hebetat caligine sensus

membraque Circaeis effeminat acrius herbis,

blanda quidem vultus, sed qua non taetrior ulla 135

interius: fucata genas et amicta dolosis

inlecebris torvos auro circumlinit hydros.

illa voluptatum multos innexuit hamis:

te numquam conata capit. non prava libido

stupris advigilat; non tempora somnus agendi 140

frustratur; nullo citharae convivia cantu,

non pueri lasciva sonant. quis cernere curis

te vacuum potuit? quis tota mente remissum

aut indulgentem dapibus, ni causa iuberet

laetitiae? non indecores aeraria lassant 145

expensae; parvo non improba littera libro

absentum condonat opes. a milite parcus

diligeris; neque enim neglectas pace cohortes

tunc ditas, cum bella fremunt. scis nulla placere

munera, quae metuens illis, quos spreverat, offert 150

serus et incassum servati prodigus auri.

antevenis tempus non expectantibus ultro

munificus mensaeque adhibes et nomine quemque

compellas clari, sub te quod gesserat olim,

admonitum facti, figendaque sensibus addis 155

verba, quibus magni geminatur gratia nodi.[2]

Nec, si quid tribuas, iactatum saepius idem

exprobrare soles nec, quos promoveris, alto

turgidus adloqueris fastu nec prospera flatus

[2] I retain Birt’s nodi (VPTI), but doni (V² and the other MSS.) is very tempting.

[13]

that sweet curse, which surrendering to the arbitrament of the body dulls the wits with darkness, enervating the limbs with bane more deadly than that of Circe. Fair, indeed, is her face but none is fouler within; dyed are her cheeks; clothed about is she with treacherous lures, and deadly vipers hide them in her golden hair. Many hath she caught with the bait of pleasure, thee, though often has she tried, she has never ensnared. No lust bids thee wake for adultery’s sake, nor does sleep cheat the hours of toil. Neither the strains of the lyre nor the wanton song of boys accompany thy repast. Has any seen thee free from care, thy mind entirely at rest, or indulging in the banquet unless some public rejoicing commanded? No shameful expenditure strains the resources of the treasury, no pitiless missive in a tiny roll disposes of the property of the absent. Though thrifty thou art beloved of the army, for thou neglectest not thy soldiers in peace, and dost not only enrich them when war is toward. Thou knowest that belated gifts, offered in fear to those hitherto scorned, earn no gratitude: ’tis but a useless flinging away of gold as uselessly hoarded. Thou preventest thy soldier’s needs and art generous over and above their expectations; thou callest them to thy board and addressest each by his name, mindful of all the brave deeds ever done by each beneath thy banners. To thy gifts thou addest praises that will ever be remembered, whereby the grace of your close bond is doubled.

When bountiful thou dost not also turn the bounty into a reproach, nor dost thou address those whom thou hast advanced with the language of disdainful patronage; nor yet does prosperity make thee

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attollunt nimios. quin ipsa Superbia longe 160

discessit, vitium rebus sollemne secundis

virtutumque ingrata comes. contingere passim

adfarique licet. non inter pocula sermo

captatur, pura sed libertate loquendi

seria quisque iocis nulla formidine miscet. 165

quem videt Augusti socerum regnique parentem,

miratur conviva parem, cum tanta potestas

civem lenis agat. te doctus prisca loquentem,

te matura senex audit, te fortia miles 169

adspersis salibus, quibus haud Amphiona quisquam

praeferat Aonios meditantem carmine muros

nec velit Orpheo migrantes pectine silvas.

Hinc amor, hinc veris et non fallacibus omnes

pro te solliciti votis; hinc nomen ubique

plausibus, auratis celebrant hinc ora figuris. 175

quae non incudes streperent, quae flamma vacaret

fabrilis, quantis fluerent fornacibus aera

effigies ductura tuas, quis devius esset

angulus aut regio quae non pro numine vultus

dilectos coleret, talem ni semper honorem 180

respueres? decus hoc rapiat, quem falsa timentum

munera decipiunt, qui se diffidit amari.

hoc solus sprevisse potest, qui iure meretur.

Undique legati properant generique sub ore

in tua centenas optant praeconia voces. 185

grates Gallus agit, quod limite tutus inermi

et metuens hostile nihil nova culmina totis

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puffed up. Nay, pride itself is far removed from thee, pride, a vice so familiar in success, ungracious attendant on the virtues. All, no matter when or where, may meet and address thee. Talk over the wine is not watched, but each guest, at liberty to say just what he pleases, mingles grave converse with gay and fears not for his words. Each marvels to find an equal in the emperor’s father-in-law and the father of his country, when one so powerful acts the citizen so graciously. With the learned thou discoursest of antiquity, with the aged of experience, with the soldier of valiant deeds, and dost mingle thy talk with such pleasant wit that none would rather hear the strains whereby Amphion built the walls of Thebes or Orpheu’s lute drew the woods to follow him.

Hence all love thee, all anxiously pray heaven for thee with no feigned intercession, all shout applause at the mention of thy name and reproduce thy form in gilded statues. What anvil should not ring, what forge be idle, from what vast furnaces should bronze not flow that is to shape thine image? What corner of the world, what region so remote but should worship thy beloved countenance as divine,—hadst thou not always refused such honour? Nay, let him snatch at such glory whom hollow gifts inspired by fear can beguile and who despairs of a people’s love. He who in truth deserves can alone afford to despise them.

Embassies arrive from every quarter and in the presence of thy son-in-law pray for a hundred voices to herald thy renown. The Gallic envoy gives thee thanks for that, safe from attack though no legion guards his frontier, and fearing no hostile

[16]

aedificat ripis et saevum gentibus amnem

Thybridis in morem domibus praevelat amoenis.

hinc Poeni cumulant laudes, quod rura tyranno 190

libera possideant; hinc obsidione solutus

Pannonius potorque Savi, quod clausa tot annis

oppida laxatis ausus iam pandere portis

rursum cote novat nigras rubigine falces

exesosque situ cogit splendere ligones 195

agnoscitque casas et collibus oscula notis

figit et impresso glaebis non credit aratro,

exsectis,[3] inculta dabant quas saecula, silvis

restituit terras et opacum vitibus Histrum

conserit et patrium vectigal solvere gaudet, 200

inmunis qui clade fuit. te sospite fas est

vexatum laceri corpus iuvenescere regni.

sub tot principibus quaecumque amisimus olim,

tu reddis. solo poterit Stilichone medente

crescere Romanum vulnus tectura cicatrix; 205

inque suos tandem fines redeunte colono

Illyricis iterum ditabitur aula tributis.

Nec tamen humano cedit caeleste favori

iudicium: cingunt superi concordibus unum

praesidiis hostesque tuos aut litore produnt 210

aut totum oppositi claudunt fugientibus aequor

aut in se vertunt furiis aut militis ense

[3] Birt suggests exsectisque.

[17]

incursion, he builds new dwelling-places along the banks of the Rhine and fringes the river, famed once for the savagery of its tribes, with houses as pleasant as those by Tiber’s stream. Here Carthaginians crown thy praise, because they possess their lands delivered from the tyrant’s rule; there the Pannonian, freed from the blockade, and he who drinks the Save, grateful because he now dare throw open the gates of cities closed for so many years. Such sharpen once more upon the whetstone their sickles dark with rust and cause their mattocks, foul with want of use, to shine as of old. Each sees again his well-remembered cottage, kisses his native hills, and can scarce believe real the furrows cut by his heavy plough. He hews down the forests and renders again fit for cultivation fields which generations had let run wild. Once more he covers the banks of the Danube with vineyards and rejoices to pay the taxes his forefathers paid, for it was bloodshed that brought immunity. While thou art safe, heaven allows the harassed body of our distracted empire to regain its youthful vigour. Thou dost restore all that we have lost of old under so many princes. Only when Stilicho’s hand brings remedy can grow a scar to hide Roman wounds, and when at last the husbandman of Illyria returns to his farms the treasury will again be enriched with Illyrian tribute.

But heaven’s judgement is not a whit behind man’s favour. The gods unite for thine especial protection and deliver thine enemy into thy hands upon the sea shore or hinder his flight by the ocean’s immense barrier or make him turn his arms madly against himself; and so, a second Pentheus, he is hewn in

[18]

bacchati laniant Pentheo corpora ritu;

insidias retegunt et in ipsa cubilia fraudum

ducunt ceu tenera venantem nare Molossi. 215

ominibus ventura notant aut alite monstrant

aut monitos certa dignantur imagine somnos.

Pro quibus innumerae trabearum insignia terrae

certatim petiere tibi. poscentibus ipse

restiteras et mens, aliorum prona favori, 220

iudex dura sui, facibus succensa pudoris

tarda verecundis excusat praemia causis.