Already another generation is being worn away by civil wars, and Rome herself is falling by her own strength.
§16.3quam neque finitimi valuerunt perdere Marsi §16.4minacis aut Etrusca Porsenae manus, §16.5aemula nec virtus Capuae nec Spartacus acer §16.6novisque rebus infidelis Allobrox §16.7nec fera caerulea domuit Germania pube §16.8parentibusque abominatus Hannibal: §16.9inpia perdemus devoti sanguinis aetas §16.10ferisque rursus occupabitur solum:
She whom neither the neighboring Marsi could destroy, nor the threatening Etruscan band of Porsena, nor the rivaling valor of Capua, nor fierce Spartacus, nor the Allobrox, faithless in times of revolution, nor did fierce Germany with its blue-eyed youth subdue her, nor Hannibal, loathed by parents; we, an impious generation of doomed blood, shall destroy, and the soil will again be occupied by wild beasts.
§16.11barbarus heu cineres insistet victor et Vrbem §16.12eques sonante verberabit ungula, §16.13quaeque carent ventis et solibus ossa Quirini, §16.14(nefas videre) dissipabit insolens.
Alas, a barbarian victor will stand upon the ashes, and the City the horseman will trample with sounding hoof, and the bones of Quirinus, which are protected from winds and sun, (an impiety to behold) he will arrogantly scatter.
§16.15forte quid expediat communiter aut melior pars, §16.16malis carere quaeritis laboribus; §16.17nulla sit hac potior sententia: Phocaeorum §16.18velut profugit exsecrata civitas §16.19agros atque lares patrios habitandaque fana §16.20apris reliquit et rapacibus lupis, §16.21ire, pedes quocumque ferent, quocumque per undas §16.22Notus vocabit aut protervos Africus.
Perhaps you seek, all together or the better part of you, what is expedient to escape these wretched hardships; let no opinion be preferred to this: just as the Phocaeans’ accursed citizens fled, and left their fields, ancestral hearths, and temples destined to be inhabited by wild boars and ravenous wolves, to go wherever our feet carry us, wherever over the waves the South wind or the wild Southwest wind shall call.
§16.23sic placet? an melius quis habet suadere? Secunda
Is this agreed? Or has anyone better advice?
§16.24ratem occupare quid moramur alite?
Why do we delay to board the ship under a favorable omen?
§16.25sed iuremus in haec: “simul imis saxa renarint §16.26vadis levata, ne redire sit nefas; §16.27neu conversa domum pigeat dare lintea, quando §16.28Padus Matina laverit cacumina, §16.29in mare seu celsus procurrerit Appenninus §16.30novaque monstra iunxerit libidine §16.31mirus amor, iuvet ut tigris subsidere cervis, §16.32adulteretur et columba miluo, §16.33credula nec ravos timeant armenta leones §16.34ametque salsa levis hircus aequora. ” §16.35haec et quae poterunt reditus abscindere dulcis §16.36eamus omnis exsecrata civitas §16.37aut pars indocili melior grege; mollis et exspes §16.38inominata perpremat cubilia.
But let us swear to this: “As soon as stones float up lifted from the deepest depths, so that it is no sin to return; nor let us regret turning our sails homeward when the Po shall wash the Matinian summits, or the lofty Apennine shall run out into the sea, and a strange love joins monsters in a new lust, so that it pleases tigers to couple with stags, and the dove mates with the kite, and trusting herds do not fear the tawny lions, and the smooth goat delights in the salty seas.” Having sworn to these oaths, and whatever else can cut off sweet return, let us go, the entire state, or the part better than the unteachable crowd; let the weak and hopeless keep pressing their ill-omened couches.
You, who have courage, put away womanish lament, and fly past the Etruscan shores.
§16.41nos manet Oceanus circum vagus: arva beata §16.42petamus, arva divites et insulas, §16.43reddit ubi cererem tellus inarata quotannis §16.44et inputata floret usque vinea, §16.45germinat et numquam fallentis termes olivae §16.46suamque pulla ficus ornat arborem, §16.47mella cava manant ex ilice, montibus altis §16.48levis crepante lympha desilit pede.
The surrounding Ocean awaits us: let us seek the blessed fields, the rich fields and islands, where the unplowed earth yields grain every year, and the unpruned vineyard ever flourishes, and the branch of the never-failing olive buds, and the dark fig adorns its own tree, honey flows from the hollow oak, and from the high mountains the light water leaps down with a splashing foot.
§16.49illic iniussae veniunt ad mulctra capellae §16.50refertque tenta grex amicus ubera §16.51nec vespertinus circumgemit ursus ovile §16.52nec intumescit alta viperis humus; §16.53pluraque felices mirabimur, ut neque largis §16.54aquosus Eurus arva radat imbribus, §16.55pinguia nec siccis urantur semina glaebis, §16.56utrumque rege temperante caelitum.
There, unbidden, the goats come to the milking pails, and the friendly flock brings back full udders, nor does the evening bear growl around the sheepfold, nor does the ground swell deep with vipers; and in our happiness we shall marvel at more: how neither the rainy East wind sweeps the fields with heavy showers, nor are the fertile seeds burned in dry clods, since the king of the gods moderates both.
§16.57non huc Argoo contendit remige pinus §16.58neque inpudica Colchis intulit pedem, §16.59non huc Sidonii torserunt cornua nautae, §16.60laboriosa nec cohors Vlixei.
The pine-ship with Argonaut rowers did not hasten here, nor did the shameless Colchian set foot here; hither no Sidonian sailors turned their yardarms, nor the hard-pressed band of Ulysses.
No contagion harms the flock, the burning violence of no star scorches the herd.
§16.63Iuppiter illa piae secrevit litora genti, §16.64ut inquinavit aere tempus aureum, §16.65aere, dehinc ferro duravit saecula, quorum §16.66piis secunda vate me datur fuga.
Jupiter set apart those shores for a pious nation, when he debased the golden age with bronze; with bronze, and then with iron, he hardened the ages, from which a favorable escape is given to the pious, with me as prophet.