Prudentius, Apotheosis

sternitur Aeneadae rectoris ad atria Christi,

of the ruler of Aeneas' people lies prostrate at the courts of Christ,

vexillumque crucis summus dominator adorat.

and the supreme lord adores the standard of the cross.

principibus tamen e cunctis non defuit unus

Yet out of all the princes there was not lacking one —

me puero, ut memini, ductor fortissimus armis,

when I was a boy, as I remember — a leader most valiant in arms,

conditor et legum, celeberrimus ore manuque,

a maker of laws too, most renowned in speech and in action,

consultor patriae, sed non consultor habendae

a counsellor for his country, but no counsellor for keeping

relligionis, amans ter centum milia divum.

religion, a lover of three hundred thousand gods.

perfidus ille Deo, quamvis non perfidus orbi,

Faithless to God, though not faithless to the world, he

augustum caput ante pedes curvare Minervae

bowed his imperial head before the feet of Minerva

fictilis et soleas Iunonis lambere, plantis

made of clay, and licked the sandals of Juno, at the soles

Herculis advolvi, genua incerare Dianae,

of Hercules grovelled, coated Diana's knees with wax,

quin et Apollineo frontem submittere gypso

and even lowered his brow to Apollo in plaster

aut Pollucis equum suffire ardentibus extis.

or fumed the horse of Pollux with burning entrails.

forte litans Hecaten placabat sanguine multo;

It happened that, sacrificing, he was appeasing Hecate with much blood;

pontificum festis ferienda securibus illic

there, to be struck by the priests' festal axes,

agmina vaccarum steterant, vitulasque revincta

lines of cows had been set waiting, and the heifers, on their bound

fronte coronatas umbrabat torta cupressus.

brows garlanded, were shaded by twisted cypress.

iamque insertato reserarat viscera cultro

And now, with the knife driven in, he had laid the entrails open —

vittatus de more senex manibusque cruentis

the old man in his fillets, as custom is — and with bloody hands

tractabat trepidas letali frigore fibras,

was handling the organs, quivering in the cold of death,

postremosque animae pulsus in corde tepenti

and the last pulses of life in the cooling heart

callidus interpres numeris et fine notabat:

the cunning interpreter was marking by their count and their ending,

cum subito exclamat media inter sacra sacerdos

when suddenly amid the rites the priest cries out,

pallidus ‘en quid ago? maius, rex optime, maius

pale: ‘Look, what am I doing? A greater, best of kings, a greater

numen nescio quod nostris intervenit aris

power, I know not what, has come upon our altars

quam sufferre queant spumantia cymbia lacte,

than foaming bowls of milk could withstand,

caesarum sanguis pecudum, verbena, coronae,

or the blood of slaughtered cattle, holy boughs, and garlands.

accitas video longe dispergier umbras,

I see the summoned shades scattering far away;

territa Persephone vertit vestigia retro

terrified Persephone turns her steps back,

extinctis facibus, tracto 1 fugitiva flagello,

her torches quenched, fleeing, her whip trailing;

nil agit arcanum murmur, nil Thessala prosunt

the secret murmur does nothing, the Thessalian spells

carmina, turbatos revocat nulla hostia manes,

avail nothing, no victim calls back the troubled ghosts.

nonne vides ut turibulis frigentibus ignis

Do you not see how in the cooling censers the fire

marceat, ut canis pigrescat pruna favillis?

withers, how the coal grows sluggish under grey ash?

ecce Palatinus pateram retinere minister

Look, the palace attendant, to keep hold of the bowl,

non valet, elisa destillant balsama dextra,

has no strength; the balsam drips from his stricken right hand;

flamen et ipse suas miratur vertice laurus

and the flamen himself wonders to see his laurels from his crown

cedere, et incertum frustratur victima ferrum,

slip away, and the victim eludes the faltering steel.

nescio quis certe subrepsit Christicolarum

Surely some one of the Christ-worshippers has crept in

hic iuvenum; genus hoc hominum tremit infula et omne

here, among the young men; at this race of men the fillet trembles, and every

pulvinar divum, lotus procul absit et unctus;

couch of the gods. Let him who is washed and anointed keep far off;

pulchra reformatis redeat Proserpina sacris.’

let fair Proserpina return, her rites restored.’

dixit, et exsanguis conlabitur ac, velut ipsum

He spoke, and collapses bloodless; and, as though he saw

cerneret exerto minitantem fulmine Christum,

Christ himself threatening with his thunderbolt bared,

ipse quoque exanimis posito diademate princeps

the prince too, breathless, his diadem laid aside,

pallet et adstantes circumspicit, ecquis alumnus

turns pale and looks round at those standing by, to see whether some nursling

chrismatis inscripto signaret tempora ligno,

of the chrism had signed his temples with the wood traced on them,

qui Zoroastreos turbasset fronte susurros.

who with his brow had thrown the Zoroastrian whispers into confusion.

armiger e cuneo puerorum flavicomantum,

An armour-bearer from the troop of golden-haired youths,

purpurei custos lateris, deprenditur unus,

a guard of the purple-clad side, is caught, one alone,

nec negat, et gemino gemmata hastilia ferro

and does not deny it, and his jewelled spear with its double iron

proicit ac signum Christi se ferre fatetur.

he throws down, and confesses that he bears the sign of Christ.

prosiluit pavidus deiecto antistite princeps

The prince leapt up in fear, the priest laid low,

marmoreum fugiens nullo comitante sacellum,

fleeing the marble shrine with no one following him,

dum tremefacta cohors dominique oblita supinas

while the terror-struck guard, forgetting their lord, lift their upturned

erigit ad caelum facies atque invocat Iesum,

faces to heaven and call upon Jesus.

iamne piget facti? iam paenitet? en tibi Christum,

Now are you sorry for the deed? Now do you repent? See, here for you is Christ,

infelix Iudaea, Deum, qui sabbata solvens

unhappy Judaea, as God, who, loosing the sabbaths,