The Works of Claudian — Claudius Claudianus
You may copy it, give it away or re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org . If you are not located in the United States, you will have to check the laws of the country where you are located before using this eBook. Title : Claudian, volume 2 (of 2) Author : Claudius Claudianus Translator : Maurice Platnauer Release date : March 14, 2016 [eBook #51444] Most recently updated: October 23, 2024 Language : English, Latin Other information and formats : www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/51444 Credits : Produced by Ted Garvin and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net *** START OF m. 53 in the Index have been changed to c. m. 52 (there is no c. m. 53). Volume 1 is available as Project Gutenberg ebook number 51443. [i] THE LOEB CLASSICAL LIBRARY EDITED BY E. CAPPS, Ph.D., LL.D. T. E. PAGE, Litt.D. W. H. D. ROUSE, Litt.D. CLAUDIAN II [ii] [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 PAGE ON STILICHIO’S CONSULSHIP — BOOK II 3 BOOK III: PREFACE 39 BOOK III 43 PANEGYRIC ON THE SIXTH CONSULSHIP OF THE EMPEROR HONORIUS ( A.D. 404) — PREFACE 71 THE PANEGYRIC 75 THE GOTHIC WAR — PREFACE 125 THE GOTHIC WAR 127 SHORTER POEMS 175 RAPE OF PROSERPINE — BOOK I: PREFACE 293 BOOK I 293 BOOK II: PREFACE 315 BOOK II 319 BOOK III 345 INDEX OF POEMS 379 INDEX OF PROPER NAMES 383 [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 l