Book IX (XI)

O world of widely scattered men, long walls,
Insatiate cities, and unnumbered nations.
Of the east, and west, and south, and also north,
Divided into various languages
And kingdoms, of you what is worst I speak.
For from the time when on the earlier race
The flood came, and a miserable race
Destroyed by many waters, he who rules
Over all things produced another race
Of tireless men, who stood up against heaven
And built a tower of height unspeakable.
From others then came tongues, and upon them
Came hurled along the wrath of God most high,
And the huge tower fell. But against each other
They stirred up bitter strife. Then the tenth race
Of mortal men lived when these things occurred,
And then the whole earth was distributed
Among strange men and various dialects,
Whose numbers I will mention and by name
Celebrate in acrostics, and by means
Of the initial letter make them known.
First Egypt shall receive a royal power
And eminently just; but then in her
Shall many counsel-bearing men arise
And there shall reign a formidable man,
A very powerful warrior; he shall have
The letter of the acrostic for his name,
And against pious men will draw the sword.
And a great sign shall he have while he rules
In the Egyptian land, which, famed afar
For great things, shall with plenteous corn provide
Souls perishing with hunger, and the judge.
Himself in bonds, child of Assyrian men,
The eastern land shall nourish, and his name
Know as the measure of the number ten.
But when the ten plagues from bright heaven shall come
On Egypt, then again to thee I'll cry.
Woe, woe, thou Memphis, woe, thou mighty kingdom!
The Red Sea shall much people of thine slay.
But when the twelve-tribe people, by command
Of the Immortal, leave the fertile plain
A wasted ruin, then unto mankind
Will God himself, sole ruler, give a law.
Then for the Hebrews shall a mighty king
Of lofty spirit over Egypt reign,
Whose name resembles sand, but falsely called
As to his fatherland a Theban man.
But Memphis he, dread serpent, will admire,
And many things will he protect in wars.
And when twelve rolling decades of the kingdom
Shall have passed round, and in addition seven.
And also the tenth hundred in the East,
Of others all things being left behind,
Then shall the Persian domination come.
And then shall darkness be upon the Jews,
Nor shall they famine in that day escape.
Nor pestilence most unendurable.
But when the Persian shall rule, and the son
Of his son's son shall lay the scepter by,
And years roll round until they reach five fours,
A hundred add to these, and so complete
Nine hundred, and all things thou shalt repay.
Then thou shalt to the Persians be a slave
Given over to the Medes, by plagues destroyed
And also by the impetuous battle-fray.
Then to the Persians and the Assyrians
Shall evil come, and to the whole of Egypt,
And unto Libya and the Ethiopians,
And the Pamphylians and all other men.
And unto the Ionians shall be given
The royal power, and they again shall waste
The nations, plundering all the earth for spoil.
Sad dirges will the doleful Persians sing
Beside the Tigris; Egypt will shed tears
Sufficient many a land to irrigate.
And then to thee, O Media, many evils
Will one in India born, a rich man, do,
Until thou hast made recompense for all
Which thou hast done before with shameful soul.
Woe, woe to thee, O nation of the Medes,
Hereafter thou to Ethiopian men
Shalt be enslaved; beyond the meridian land
Shalt thou seven and a hundred years complete,
Wretched, and place thy neck beneath the yoke.
And then an Indian prince of sable skin,
Gray hair, and mighty soul, shall come to power,
Who shall lay many evils on the East
By reason of impetuous battle-frays.
And he shall injure thee and lay thee waste
Much more than all. But when he shall have reigned
Twenty and ten years, yet seven more and ten,
Then shall each nation be in furious rage
Against the king's dominion, and make known
Their freedom, leaving for three single years
Their slavish blood. But he will come again
And put their necks beneath the servile yoke,
Each nation of strong men, even as before
Serving the king, and willingly they'll yield.
And there shall be great peace through all the world.
And then to the Assyrians there shall be
A mighty man for king, and he shall rule
And persuade all to speak what he desires.
Whatever things God in the law enjoined.
And then will all the long-haired kings fear him,
Timid, and mute, and strong, of lovely mien.
Him by the counsel of the mighty God
Will they serve, for he will persuade all things
By reason, and all things will he subdue.
And he a temple of the mighty God
And lovely altar will himself erect
In his might, but will hurl the idols down.
But having gathered into one the tribes
And race of fathers, and the infant children,
He will include them as inhabitants.
His name shall have two hundred for its number.
And of the eighteenth letter show the sign.
But when at the tenth revolving period
He shall wield power, and at an end of time
Come to the two and five, then shall the kings
Be numerous as the plants of mortal men,
Even numerous as the tribes, cities, and isles,
Lands of the blessed, and the fruitful fields.
But one of these shall be a mighty king,
Leader of men, and many great-souled kings
Shall under him have rule, and unto him
And to his sons and grandsons opulent
Will parts be given because of royal power.
Decades of decades, eight ones add to these,
Of years of rule, and to the last they come.
But when the strong beast with fierce war shall come,
Then, O ye noble kings, shall wrath spring forth.
Woe to thee, Persian land! How many streams
Outpoured of human blood shalt thou receive.
When that strong-minded man shall come to thee!
Then to thee I again will cry these things.
But when the Italian land puts forth its growth.
Great wonder to men, shall a child-like moan
Be heard with unmixed stroke, in shadowy cave,
Offspring of the wild beast that feeds on sheep,
Who, grown to manhood, on seven mighty hills,
Shall hurl down many with a shameless soul;
Both of them have the number of one hundred.
And their names will of things which are to come
Show forth a great sign. On the seven hills
Will they build mighty walls, and around them
Will men wage heavy wars. And then again
Around thee will be rising up of men,
O thou great land that hast the beautiful corn,
Bold Egypt — but again I'll cry these things,
Against thee in thy house a mighty stroke
Shalt thou receive, and yet again to thee
Shall be a rising up of thine own men.
Now over thee, O wretched Phrygia,
I weep in pity, for to thee shall come
Capture from Hellas, tamer of fleet steeds,
And fearful war through mighty battle fray.
Ilion, I pity thee, for on thy roofs
From Sparta shall the avenging Furies come,
Conjoined with evil star, and bring thee toils,
Distresses, groans and sobs, when well-trained men,
By far the noblest heroes of the Greeks,
And dear to Ares, shall begin the fight.
Of these one shall be king, a spearman famed.
And with his brother plan the basest deeds.
And they shall overthrow the famous walls
Of Phrygian Troy, and in ten rolling years
Complete the bloody work of the time of war.
But suddenly a wooden artifice
Shall cover men, and this upon thy knees
Thou wilt receive, not knowing it replete
With Grecian treachery and heavy woe.
Alas, alas, how many in one night
Will Hades gather in, and how much spoil
Of tearful old men will be led away!
But in the generations that shall come
Fresh and undying shall the glory be.
And the great king, a hero sprung from Jove,
Of the first letter of the alphabet
Shall have a name; and homeward he will march,
And then fall by a treacherous woman's hand.
But of Assaracus's race and blood
A child will reign, a hero of renown,
A strong and valiant man; and from this [race]
Made desolate by mighty fire, shall come
A fugitive, by the dread toil of war
Without a fatherland; upon his shoulders
Bearing his aged sire, and in his hand
Holding his only son, a pious deed
Will he accomplish. Looking all around,
He put aside the onset of the fire
Of burning Troy, and hastening through the crowd.
In terror, crosses fearful land and sea.
And he shall have a trisyllabic name;
And the first letter of the alphabet
Will not obscurely show this highest man.
Then the strong Latin city he will build,
And in the fifteenth year, by waters slain.
Come to his end in the depths of the sea.
But him, though dead, the nations of mankind
Shall not forget, for his race over all
Hereafter shall rule, far as the Euphrates,
And to the middle of the Tigris stream.
The Assyrian land, and where the Parthian dwells.
This in the generations yet to come
Shall be, when all these things shall come to pass.
But there shall be a certain wise old man,
A minstrel, whom all mortals call most wise,
By whose great understanding all the world
Shall be instructed; for with power and thought
Will he his chapters write, and clearly write
At times with beauty inexpressible,
Seizing my words, my measures, and my verse,
For he himself will first my books unfold,
And after these things hide them, and to men
Show them no more till life and death shall end.
But when these things which I spoke are fulfilled,
The Greeks again will fight with one another;
Assyrians, Arabs, quiver-bearing Medes,
Persians, Sicilians, and the Lydians
Will then revolt; Thrace and Bithynia,
And those that dwell along the streams of Nile,
Land of the beautiful corn — at once on all
Will God, the Eternal, set the din of war.
But terribly will an Assyrian man,
A base-born Ethiopian, quickly come,
Having a wild beast's soul, and every isthmus
Will he cleave, prying timidly around,
Going to all and sailing through the sea.
And then, O faithless Greece, shall many things
Befall thee. Woe, woe to thee, wretched Greece;
How many things must thou aloud bewail!
For during seven and eighty rolling years
Thou shalt the miserable refuse be
Of fearful battle among all the tribes.
And then again a Macedonian woe
Shall come on Greece and lay all Thracia waste,
And bring the toil of war upon the isles
And mainlands; with war-loving champions
Will he be foremost, and the name he bears
Is by the sign of ten times fifty shown.
He shall be short-lived in his government,
But leave a mighty monarchy behind,
And a boundless land. But he himself shall fall
By an ill-minded spearman, while he lives
In plenty as no other leader lived.
But after him a great-souled son of his
Shall reign, whose name begins the alphabet;
But he shall be the outgo of his race.
Not truly shall all call him son of Jove,
Or Ammon, nor yet Kronos' bastard son,
As they would feign. And he will plunder cities
Of many mortal men, and there will rise
In Europe sore distress; and he himself
With pestilence will ravage Babylon,
And every land the sun looks down upon;
And he alone will sail the eastern world.
Alas, alas, for thee, O Babylon,
Being captive led in triumph, thou shalt serve —
Thou who of Asia wast the mistress called.
And Mars shall come, shall surely come and slay
Thy many children. Then shalt thou send forth
Thy royal man, with name of the number four,
Wielding the spear and fearful with the bow;
Along with powerful warriors he will go.
And then Cilicia's and Assyria's midst
Famine and war shall hold. But great-souled kings
Will arm for bitter strife a dreadful band.
But do thou flee and leave the former king;
Desire not thou to stay nor be a slave.
For a dread lion shall upon thee come,
Flesh-eating beast, ferocious, strange to law,
With mantle cast upon his shoulders round.
Flee thou that man of thunder; there shall come
On Asia a base yoke, and all the land
Shall drink a shower of murder. But when Mars
Of Pella shall a great, rich city found
In Egypt, bearing his name, he shall meet,
Betrayed by treacherous comrades, fate and death.
For, leaving India, and to Babylon
Returning, there around the festal board
Shall barbarous murder bring him to his fall.
Thereafter a few years shall other kings,
Cruel and insolent and faithless, rule
According to each tribe. And then shall rise
A great souled, valiant hero, who shall glean
All Europe naked, and each land shall drink
The blood of every tribe. But having filled
Of life his portion, he shall disappear.
And other kings, twice four men, there shall be
Of this race, and the same name to them all.
And Egypt then shall be a regal bride,
And the great city of the Macedonian king.
Rare Alexandria, famous nourisher
Of cities, and in beauty radiant,
Shall be the sole metropolis.
And then let Memphis blame those in command.
And peace profound shall be through all the world,
And more fruit will the black-soil land then have.
And then shall be disaster to the Jews,
Nor shall they famine in that day escape.
Nor grievous pestilence; but wandering men
And many will the black-soil land receive.
Ambrosial land, of fine corn, the new world.
But eight kings of the Egyptian marshy soil
Shall fill two hundred three and thirty years.
Yet of them all, the race shall perish not.
But there shall issue forth a female root.
A bane of men, betrayer of her kingdom.
But then they wickedness and evil deeds
Shall perpetrate, and one destroy another.
The son that wears the purple robe will smite
His warlike sire, and he by his son falls,
And ere he shall beget another child
He shall cease. But again the root shall sprout
Spontaneous; of it is a neighboring race.
For of the land beside the streams of Nile
Which travel on by seven mouths to the sea
She shall be queen, and her beloved name
The number twenty tells. And she shall ask
Ten thousand things, and gather up all goods
Of gold and silver; but from her own men
Shall treachery befall her. Then on thee,
O fair and happy land, again shall come
Battles and fights and slaughter of mankind.
But after many shall o'er fertile Rome
Have borne rule, not indeed of happiness
Precursors, but despotic lords and chiefs
Of thousands and of countless myriads,
Then, overseers of the lawful assemblies,
Shall the most mighty Caesars bear the rule,
And every day keep making their demands.
The last of these shall rule the number ten,
The highest Caesar, who upon the earth
Shall stretch his limbs, cast down through fearful Mars
By a hostile man; whom, bearing in their hands,
The sons of Rome shall bury piously,
And round about him heap a monument
For love of him, in memory of his grace.
But when there comes an end of passing time,
And thou hast filled out twice two hundred years.
And also twice ten, from the time when ruled
Thy founder, child of the wild beast, no more
Shall there be a dictator of short rule.
But there shall be a king, a godlike man.
And when the king is going into Egypt,
Against him horrid Mars shall surely come
With glittering helm, and then shall conquest dire
Come to thee; for around the walls of the land
Shall be foul works of dire and violent wars.
But suffering pitiable things in war
Over the freshly wounded she will flee
In wretched plight; and then unto the couch
Of that dread man will she come; and the end
Is but the nuptials and the marriage-bed.
Woe, woe to thee, ill-wedded woman, thou
Shalt give the Roman king thy royal power;
And thou shalt make atonement for all things
Whatever thou hast done to men in wars.
. . . For all the land . . . unto a mighty man,
As far as Libya and the dark-skinned men.
And thou no longer shalt a widow be,
But with a lion shalt thou live as wife,
A terrible devourer of mankind,
A furious warrior. Then shalt thou become,
O hapless one, among all men at once
Invisible, for thou shalt disappear.
Having a shameless soul; and in its house
Shall the encircling tomb receive thy form
So stately, having once bad life within,
Cunningly wrought and fit for many chiefs.
And many people will lament for thee
And over thee the king will sorely grieve.
And then shall an Egyptian servant toil.
Who many years against the Indians bore
Her trophies; she shall serve disgracefully,
And mingle with the river Nile her tears.
For she acquired wealth, and of all good things
A great store. Nourisher of cities, she
Shall feed a race of sheep-devouring men.
Alas, unto how many beasts shalt thou,
O happy Egypt, be a slave and prey!
But having given to the peoples laws,
Thou, who didst once exult o'er mighty kings,
Shalt to the peoples be a wretched slave,
On account of that people, whom of old,
A pious race, thou didst lead to much woe
Of toils and sorrows, and upon their neck
Didst place a plow, and irrigate the fields
With human tears. Therefore shall God himself,
The king imperishable in the heaven,
Destroy thee utterly, and hurl thee down
Into deep grief; and thou shalt pay the price
Of what thou didst of old unjustly do,
And know at last that God's wrath came to thee.
But I to Python and to Panopeus
Of goodly towers will go; and then will all
Declare that I am a true prophetess,
And a diviner, but insane in soul.
A messenger. . . . When to the books thou comest
Be not afraid, and all things yet to be
And things that were ye shall know from my words.
Then will none longer call a prophetess
Inspired of God an augurer of woe.
But thou, O King, now end my much-loved strain,
Driving off frenzy, and the voice divine.
And passion fierce, and give a charming song.