Silvae IV.2 (Mozley): A Poem of Thanksgiving to the Emperor Augustus Germanicus Domitianus

He who brought great Aeneas to the Laurentian fields extols the royal banquet of Sidonian Elissa, and he who ended Ulysses’ story with his return after long seafaring portrays in lasting verse the supper of Alcinous: but I, on whom now for the first time Caesar has bestowed the unwonted rapture of a feast divine, and granted me to ascend to the table of my prince, what skill have I to sing my blessings, what power to express my thankfulness? Not even if Smyrna and Mantua both were to bind their laurels on my exultant head, could I make worthy utterance. Methinks I recline with Jove in mid-heaven, and take the immortal wine proffered by an Ilian hand! I have lived barren years, but this is my natal day, this day is the threshold of my life. Is it thou, O ruler of the nations and mighty sire of the conquered world, is it thou, O hope of men and care of the gods, whom I behold while I lie at meat? Is it granted me indeed to gaze at those features face to face, amid the feasting and the wine, and lawful not to rise up in thy presence?

An edifice august, huge, magnificent not with an hundred columns, but with as many as would support heaven and the gods, were Atlas eased of his burden. The neighbouring palace of the Thunderer views it with awe, and the Powers rejoice that thou hast a like abode. Nor wouldst thou hasten to ascend to the great sky; so huge expands the pile, and the reach of the far-flung hall more unhampered than a plain, embracing beneath its shelter a vast expanse of air, and only lesser than its lord; he fills the house, and gladdens it with his mighty spirit. Libyan mountain and gleaming Ilian stone are rivals there, and much Syenite and Chian and the marble that vies with the grey-green sea; and Luna also, chosen but to bear the pillars’ weight. Far upward travels the view; scarce does the tired vision reach the summit, and you would deem it the golden ceiling of the sky. Here when Caesar has bidden the Roman chieftains and the ranks of knighthood recline together at a thousand tables, Ceres herself with robe upgirt and Bacchus strive to serve them. So bounteous were the gliding wheels of airy Triptolemus; so did Lyaeus overshadow the bare hills and sober fields with the branches of his vines.

But no leisure had I to behold the feast or the tables of Moorish wood resting on supports of Indian ivory, or the rows of attendant slaves, so eager was I to gaze upon himself, ay himself, calm-visaged and in majesty serene tempering his rays and gently veiling the glory of his state; yet the splendour that he would fain conceal shone in his countenance. Such as he was, barbarian foes and foreign tribes would have known him had they seen him. Not otherwise does Gradivus recline in the cool vale of Rhodope, his steeds unyoked; even so does Pollux weary from the wrestling-bouts of Therapnae lay down his slippery limbs; so lies Euhan by Ganges’ side while Indians howl; so stern Alcides, returning after his grim errand, rejoices to lay his side upon the outstretched lion-skin. I speak of trivial things, nor can I yet find any rival to thy countenance, O Germanicus: such is the monarch of the gods, when he visits once more the bounds of Ocean and the Ethiopian board, and, his face suffused with sacred nectar, bids the Muses utter their mystic songs, and Phoebus praise the triumph of Pallene.

May the gods grant thee—for ’tis said they oft give ear to lesser souls—to surpass, twice and thrice over, the limits of thy sire’s old age! Mayst thou send appointed deities to the sky, and grant temples and abide in thy palace! Many a time mayst thou fling wide the threshold of the year, and many a time with new lictors offer thy greetings to Janus, many a time renew the garlanded festival of the quinquennial games! The day whereon thou didst vouchsafe to me the sacred blessings of thy feast and board came to me after long time as glorious as that when beneath the hills of Trojan Alba I sang now of German wars, now of Dacian battles, and thy hand set the golden circlet of Pallas on my brow.