§2.1.164nullaque, cui posses esse maritus, erat; §2.1.165sospite sit tecum natus quoque sospes, et olim §2.1.166imperium regat hoc cum seniore senex; §2.1.167ut faciuntque tui, sidus iuvenale, nepotes, §2.1.168per tua perque sui facta parentis eant; §2.1.169sic adsueta tuis semper Victoria castris §2.1.170nunc quoque se praestet notaque signa petat, §2.1.171Ausoniumque ducem solitis circumvolet alis, §2.1.172ponat et in nitida laurea serta coma, §2.1.173per quem bella geris, cuius nunc corpore pugnas, §2.1.174auspicium cui das grande deosque tuos, §2.1.175dimidioque tui praesens es et aspicis urbem, §2.1.176dimidio procul es saevaque bella geris; §2.1.177hic tibi sic redeat superato victor ab hoste, §2.1.178inque coronatis fulgeat altus equis,— §2.1.179parce, precor, fulmenque tuum, fera tela, reconde, §2.1.180heu nimium misero cognita tela mihi!
and there was no woman who was fit for you to be her husband; with you safe, may your son also be safe, and some day may he, an old man, rule this empire with you, his senior; and as your grandsons, that youthful constellation, are doing, may they advance through your deeds and those of their own parent; so may Victory, always accustomed to your camps, now also present herself and seek the familiar standards, and fly around the Ausonian leader with her accustomed wings, and place laurel wreaths upon his shining hair, he through whom you wage wars, with whose body you now fight, to whom you give great auspice and your gods, and with half of yourself you are present and look upon the city, while with half you are far away and wage cruel wars; may he thus return to you as victor over the defeated enemy, and shine on high upon crowned horses— spare, I pray, and sheathe your thunderbolt, that fierce weapon, alas, a weapon too well known to wretched me!
spare, father of the country, and not unmindful of this name, do not take away from me the hope of some day appeasing you.
§2.1.183non precor ut redeam, quamvis maiora petitis §2.1.184credibile est magnos saepe dedisse deos; §2.1.185mitius exilium si das propiusque roganti, §2.1.186pars erit ex poena magna levata mea.
I do not pray to return, although it is credible that the great gods have often granted greater things to those who ask; if you grant a milder and closer exile to me who ask, a great part of my punishment will be lightened.
§2.1.187ultima perpetior medios eiectus in hostes, §2.1.188nec quisquam patria longius exul abest, §2.1.189solus ad egressus missus septemplicis Histri §2.1.190Parrhasiae gelido virginis axe premor— §2.1.191Ciziges et Colchi Tereteaque turba Getaeque §2.1.192Danuvii mediis vix prohibentur aquis— §2.1.193cumque alii causa tibi sint graviore fugati, §2.1.194ulterior nulli, quam mihi, terra data est.
I suffer the extremes, cast out into the midst of enemies, nor is any exiled person further away from his homeland, sent alone to the mouths of the sevenfold Hister, I am weighed down by the cold pole of the Parrhasian virgin— the Ciziges and Colchians and Teretean crowd and Getae are scarcely kept away by the middle waters of the Danube— and though others have been exiled by you for a more serious cause, to no one has a more remote land been given than to me.
§2.1.195longius hac nihil est, nisi tantum frigus §2.1.196et hostes, et maris adstricto quae coit unda gelu.
Nothing is further than this, except only cold and enemies, and the wave of the sea which congeals with bound frost.
Thus far is the Roman part of the left Euxine: the nearest parts the Bastarnae and Sarmatians hold.
This is the newest land under Ausonian law and scarcely clings to the margin of your empire.
§2.1.201unde precor supplex ut nos in tuta releges, §2.1.202ne sit cum patria pax quoque adempta mihi, §2.1.203ne timeam gentes, quas non bene summovet Hister, §2.1.204neve tuus possim civis ab hoste capi.
Whence I pray, a suppliant, that you relegate us to safe places, lest peace also be taken away from me with my homeland, lest I fear the nations which the Hister does not well keep off, nor may I, your citizen, be captured by the enemy.
§2.1.205fas prohibet Latio quemquam de sanguine natum §2.1.206Caesaribus salvis barbara vincla pati.
Divine law forbids anyone born of Latin blood to suffer barbarian chains while the Caesars are safe.
§2.1.207perdiderint cum me duo crimina, carmen et error, §2.1.208alterius facti culpa silenda milli'.
Since two crimes ruined me, a song and an error, the fault of the latter deed must be kept silent by me.
§2.1.209nam non sum tanti, renovem ut tua vulnera. Caesar, §2.1.210quem nimio plus est indoluisse semel.
For I am not of such worth that I should reopen your wounds, Caesar, whom it is more than too much to have grieved once.
The other part remains, by which, through a shameful song, I am made and accused of being the teacher of obscene adultery.
§2.1.213fas ergo est aliqua caelestia pectora falli, §2.1.214et sunt notitia multa minora tua; §2.1.215utque deos caelumque simul sublime tuenti §2.1.216non vacat exiguis rebus adesse Iovi, §2.1.217de te pendentem sic dum circumspicis orbem, §2.1.218effugiunt curas inferiora tuas.
Is it right, then, that heavenly minds should be deceived in some things, and there are many things smaller than your notice; and just as Jupiter, who looks upon the gods and the sublime heaven at the same time, has no leisure to attend to small things, so while you look around at the world that hangs upon you, inferior things escape your cares.
Would you indeed, the prince of the empire, having left your post, read poems composed in unequal meters?
§2.1.221non ea te moles Romani nominis urguet, §2.1.222inque tuis umeris tam leve fertur onus, §2.1.223lusibus ut possis advertere numen ineptis, §2.1.224excutiasque oculis otia nostra tuis.
Does not that mass of the Roman name press upon you, and is so light a burden carried upon your shoulders, that you can turn your divine power to foolish playful verses, and examine our leisure with your eyes?
§2.1.225nunc tibi Pannonia est, nunc Illyris ora domanda, §2.1.226Raeticanunc praebent Thraciaque arma metum, §2.1.227nunc petit Armenius pacem, nunc porrigit arcus §2.1.228Parthus eques timida captaque signa manu, §2.1.229nunc te prole tua iuvenem Germania sentit, §2.1.230bellaque pro magno Caesare Caesar obit; §2.1.231denique, ut in tanto, quantum non extitit umquam, §2.1.232corpore pars nulla est, quae labet, imperii.
Now Pannonia, now the Illyrian coast must be subdued by you; now Raetian and Thracian arms present fear; now the Armenian begs for peace; now the Parthian horseman with a timid hand stretches out his bows and captured standards; now Germany perceives you as young through your offspring, and Caesar undergoes wars on behalf of the great Caesar; finally, as in so great a body of the empire as never existed before, there is no part which wavers.
§2.1.233urbs quoque te et legum lassat tutela tuarum §2.1.234et morum, similes quos cupis esse tuis.
The city also tires you, and the guardianship of your laws and of morals, which you desire to be similar to yours.
§2.1.235nec tibi contingunt, quae gentibus otia praestas, §2.1.236bellaque cum multis inrequieta geris,
Nor does that leisure, which you provide for nations, fall to you, and you wage restless wars with many.
Should I wonder, therefore, in this weight of such great affairs, that you have never unrolled our jests?
But if, as I would prefer, there had by chance been leisure for you, you would have read no crime in my Art.
§2.1.241illa quidem fateor frontis non esse severae §2.1.242scripta, nec a tanto principe digna legi: §2.1.243non tamen idcirco legum contraria iussis §2.1.244sunt ea Romanas erudiuntque nurus.
I confess indeed that those writings are not of a severe brow, nor worthy of being read by so great a prince: yet they are not on that account contrary to the commands of the laws, and they instruct Roman young women.