§586Facile opprimetur.
They will be easily suppressed.
merita te divi patris §587aetasque frangat coniugis, probitas pudor.
May the merits of your deified father and the youth of your wife, her honesty and modesty, soften you.
Cease at last—you are already too burdensome to me— to press me: let it be permitted to do what Seneca disapproves of.
Indeed, I myself have long been delaying the wishes of the people, since she carries in her womb a pledge and a part of me.
§592quin destinamus proximum thalamis diem?
Why do we not appoint the nearest day for our marriage?
§593Tellure rupta Tartaro gressum extuli, §594Stygiam cruenta praeferens dextra facem §595thalamis scelestis: nubat his flammis meo §596Poppaea nato iuncta, quas vindex manus §597dolorque matris vertet ad tristes rogos.
Bursting through the earth, I have made my way from Tartarus, bearing a Stygian torch in my bloody right hand for this impious marriage: with these flames let Poppaea marry my son, joined to him; which flames an avenging hand and a mother’s grief will turn toward sorrowful funeral pyres.
§598manet inter umbras impiae caedis mihi §599semper memoria, manibus nostris gravis §600adhuc inultis: reddita est meritis meis §601funesta merces puppis et pretium imperi §602nox illa qua naufragia deflevi mea; §603comitum necem natique crudelis nefas §604deflere votum fuerat— haud tempus datum est §605lacrimis, sed ingens scelere geminavit nefas.
There remains for me among the shades the memory of that impious murder, ever-present, heavy upon my still-unavenged shades: a fatal reward was returned for my merits— that deadly ship and the price of empire, on that night when I lamented my shipwreck; To weep for the death of my companions and the cruel crime of my son had been my desire—yet no time was granted for tears, but a huge crime redoubled the unspeakable deed by villainy.
§606perempta ferro, foeda vulneribus sacros §607intra penates spiritum effudi gravem §608erepta pelago, sanguine extinxi meo §609nec odia nati: saevit in nomen ferus §610matris tyrannus, obrui meritum cupit, §611simulacra, titulos destruit matris metu §612totum per orbem quem dedit poenam in meam §613puero regendum noster infelix amor.
Slain by the sword, defiled with wounds, within my sacred household gods I poured out my heavy breath, rescued from the sea; nor with my own blood did I extinguish my son’s hatred: the wild tyrant rages against the name of his mother, wishes her merit to be buried, and destroys the statues and inscriptions of his mother, out of fear, throughout the whole world—which our unhappy love gave to be ruled by a boy, to my own punishment.
§614extinctus umbras agitat infestus meas §615flammisque vultus noxios coniunx petit, §616instat', minatur, imputat fatum mihi §617tumulumque nati, poscit auctorem necis,
My dead husband, hostile, agitates my shades and with flames the husband attacks my guilty face, he presses on, threatens, imputes his death to me and the tomb of his son, demanding the author of their slaughter.
§618iam parce: dabitur, tempus haud longum peto.
Spare me now: it shall be given; I ask for no long time.
§619ultrix Erinys impio dignum parat §620letum tyranno, verbera et turpem fugam §621poenasque quis et Tantali vincat sitim, §622dirum laborem Sisyphi, Tityi alitem §623Ixionisque membra rapientem rotam.
The avenging Fury prepares for the impious tyrant a fitting death, lashes and shameful flight, and punishments by which he may surpass even the thirst of Tantalus, the dreadful labor of Sisyphus, the bird of Tityus, and the wheel that whirls the limbs of Ixion.
§624licet extruat marmoribus atque auro tegat §625superbus aulam, limen armatae ducis §626servent cohortes, mittat immensas opes §627exhaustus orbis, supplices dextram petant §628Parthi cruentam, regna divitias ferant: §629veniet dies tempusque quo reddat sui3 §630animam nocentem sceleribus, iugulum hostibus §631desertus ac destructus et cunctis egens.
Though he build his palace of marble and cover it with gold in his pride, and armed cohorts guard the threshold of their leader, and the exhausted world send immense wealth, and the suppliant Parthians seek his bloody hand, and kingdoms bring riches: the day and the time will come when he shall surrender his soul, guilty of crimes, and offer his throat to his enemies, abandone, destroyed, and lacking all things.
§632heu, quo labor, quo vota ceciderant mea?
Alas, whither have my labor and my prayers fallen?
§633quo te furor provexit attonitum tuus §634et fata, nate, cedat ut tantis malis §635genetricis ira quae tuo scelere occidit?
Whither has your madness and your fate carried you, headlong, my son, so that the wrath of your mother, who fell by your crime, must yield before such great evils?
Would that, before I brought you forth, a tiny babe, into the light and nourished you, savage beasts had torn my womb!
§638viscera: sine ullo scelere, sine sensu innocens §639meus occidisses; iunctus atque haerens mihi §640semper quietam cerneres sedem inferum, §641proavos patremque, nominis magni viros, §642quos nunc pudor luctusque perpetuus manet §643ex te, nefande, meque quae talem tuli.
Without any crime, without sense, innocent you would have died, mine; joined and clinging to me always you would look upon the quiet abode of the underworld, your ancestors and father, men of great name, whom now shame and perpetual grief await because of you, unspeakable one, and me, who bore such a son.
Why do I delay to cover my face in Tartarus, I, a stepmother, a wife, a mother unhappy to my own?
§646Parcite lacrimis urbis festo §647laetoque die, ne tantus amor §648nostrique favor principis acres §649suscitet iras vobisque ego sim §650causa malorum, non hoc primum
Spare your tears on this festive and joyful day of the city, lest such great love and favor for me arouse the fierce wrath of our prince, and I become for you the cause of evils.
§651pectora vulnus mea senserunt: §652graviora tuli; dabit hic nostris §653finem curis vel morte dies:
Not for the first time has my heart felt this wound: I have borne heavier things; this day will give an end to my cares, even by death.
§654non ego saevi cernere cogar §655coniugis ora, §656non invisos intrare mihi §657thalamos famulae; §658soror Augusti, non uxor ero.
No longer shall I be forced to look upon the face of a cruel husband, nor to enter the bedchambers, hated by me, of a slave-girl; I shall be the sister of Augustus, not his wife.
Only let sad punishments and the fear of death be absent.
O pitiable one, can you, out of your mind, hope for this, remembering the crimes of that harsh man?
Kept for a long time, you will fall at last as a deadly victim at this marriage.
But why do you look back so often at your father's house with tear-stained cheeks?
Hasten to take your steps from this house, leave the bloody court of the prince.
§669En illuxit suspecta diu, §670fama totiens iactata dies: §671cessit thalamis Claudia diri §672pulsa Neronis, §673quos iam victrix Poppaea tenet, §674cessat pietas dum nostra gravi §675compressa metu segnisque dolor.
Behold, the day, long suspected, the day so often rumored, has dawned: Claudia has yielded the marriage chambers, driven from cruel Nero, which the victorious Poppaea now holds, while our loyalty remains idle, suppressed by heavy fear, and our grief is sluggish.
§676ubi Romani vis est populi, §677fregit claros quae saepe duces, §678dedit in victae leges patriae, §679fasces dignis civibus olim, §680iussit bellum pacemque, feras §681gentes domuit, §682captos reges carcere clausit?
Where is the strength of the Roman people, which often broke famous leaders, imposed laws upon the conquered lands, once gave the fasces to worthy citizens, ordered war and peace, subdued wild nations, and shut captured kings in prison?