14. Tacitus, Histories, 1.32, 1.40, 1.72, 3.71 (1st cent. CE - 2nd cent. CE)
| 1.72. Equal delight, but for different reasons, was felt when the destruction of Tigellinus was secured. ofonius Tigellinus was of obscure parentage; his youth had been infamous and in his old age he was profligate. Command of the city watch and of the praetorians and other prizes which belong to virtue he had obtained by vices as the quicker course; then, afterwards, he practised cruelty and later greed, offences which belong to maturity. He also corrupted Nero so that he was ready for any wickedness; he dared certain acts without Nero's knowledge and finally deserted and betrayed him. So no one was more persistently demanded for punishment from different motives, both by those who hated Nero and by those who regretted him. Under Galba Tigellinus had been protected by the influence of Titus Vinius, who claimed that Tigellinus had saved his daughter. He undoubtedly had saved her, not, however, prompted by mercy (he had killed so many victims!) but to secure a refuge for the future, since the worst of rascals in their distrust of the present and fear of a change always try to secure private gratitude as an off-set to public detestation, having no regard for innocence, but wishing to obtain mutual impunity in wrong-doing. These facts made the people more hostile toward him, and their old hatred was increased by their recent dislike for Titus Vinius. They rushed from every part of the city to the Palatine and the fora, and, pouring into the circus and theatres where the common people have the greatest licence, they broke out into seditious cries, until finally Tigellinus, at the baths of Sinuessa, receiving the message that the hour of his supreme necessity had come, amid the embraces and kisses of his mistresses, shamefully delaying his end, finally cut his throat with a razor, still further defiling a notorious life by a tardy and ignominious death. 3.71. Martialis had hardly returned to the Capitol when the soldiers arrived in fury. They had no leader; each directed his own movements. Rushing through the Forum and past the temples that rise above it, they advanced in column up the hill, as far as the first gates of the Capitoline citadel. There were then some old colonnades on the right as you go up the slopes; the defenders came out on the roofs of these and showered stones and tiles on their assailants. The latter had no arms except their swords, and they thought that it would cost too much time to send for artillery and missiles; consequently they threw firebrands on a projecting colonnade, and then followed in the path of the flames; they actually burned the gates of the Capitol and would have forced their way through, if Sabinus had not torn down all the statues, memorials to the glory of our ancestors, and piled them up across the entrance as a barricade. Then the assailants tried different approaches to the Capitol, one by the grove of the asylum and another by the hundred steps that lead up to the Tarpeian Rock. Both attacks were unexpected; but the one by the asylum was closer and more threatening. Moreover, the defenders were unable to stop those who climbed through neighbouring houses, which, built high in time of peace, reached the level of the Capitol. It is a question here whether it was the besiegers or the besieged who threw fire on the roofs. The more common tradition says this was done by the latter in their attempts to repel their assailants, who were climbing up or had reached the top. From the houses the fire spread to the colonnades adjoining the temple; then the "eagles" which supported the roof, being of old wood, caught and fed the flames. So the Capitol burned with its doors closed; none defended it, none pillaged it. |
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16. Vergil, Aeneis, 1.35-1.161, 1.163-1.222, 1.224-1.296, 1.302-1.304, 1.314-1.324, 1.327-1.329, 1.335-1.368, 1.411-1.414, 1.418-1.439, 1.494-1.504, 4.88-4.89, 4.143-4.150, 4.469-4.473, 8.699
| 1.35. what long and unavailing strife she waged 1.36. for her loved Greeks at Troy . Nor did she fail 1.37. to meditate th' occasions of her rage 1.38. and cherish deep within her bosom proud 1.39. its griefs and wrongs: the choice by Paris made; 1.40. her scorned and slighted beauty; a whole race 1.41. rebellious to her godhead; and Jove's smile 1.42. that beamed on eagle-ravished Ganymede. 1.43. With all these thoughts infuriate, her power 1.44. pursued with tempests o'er the boundless main 1.45. the Trojans, though by Grecian victor spared 1.46. and fierce Achilles; so she thrust them far 1.47. from Latium ; and they drifted, Heaven-impelled 1.48. year after year, o'er many an unknown sea— 1.50. Below th' horizon the Sicilian isle 1.51. just sank from view, as for the open sea 1.52. with heart of hope they sailed, and every ship 1.53. clove with its brazen beak the salt, white waves. 1.54. But Juno of her everlasting wound 1.55. knew no surcease, but from her heart of pain 1.56. thus darkly mused: “Must I, defeated, fail 1.57. of what I will, nor turn the Teucrian King 1.58. from Italy away? Can Fate oppose? 1.59. Had Pallas power to lay waste in flame 1.60. the Argive fleet and sink its mariners 1.61. revenging but the sacrilege obscene 1.62. by Ajax wrought, Oileus' desperate son? 1.63. She, from the clouds, herself Jove's lightning threw 1.64. cattered the ships, and ploughed the sea with storms. 1.65. Her foe, from his pierced breast out-breathing fire 1.66. in whirlwind on a deadly rock she flung. 1.67. But I, who move among the gods a queen 1.68. Jove's sister and his spouse, with one weak tribe 1.69. make war so long! Who now on Juno calls? 1.71. So, in her fevered heart complaining still 1.72. unto the storm-cloud land the goddess came 1.73. a region with wild whirlwinds in its womb 1.74. Aeolia named, where royal Aeolus 1.75. in a high-vaulted cavern keeps control 1.76. o'er warring winds and loud concourse of storms. 1.77. There closely pent in chains and bastions strong 1.78. they, scornful, make the vacant mountain roar 1.79. chafing against their bonds. But from a throne 1.80. of lofty crag, their king with sceptred hand 1.81. allays their fury and their rage confines. 1.82. Did he not so, our ocean, earth, and sky 1.83. were whirled before them through the vast ie. 1.84. But over-ruling Jove, of this in fear 1.85. hid them in dungeon dark: then o'er them piled 1.86. huge mountains, and ordained a lawful king 1.87. to hold them in firm sway, or know what time 1.88. with Jove's consent, to loose them o'er the world. 1.90. “Thou in whose hands the Father of all gods 1.91. and Sovereign of mankind confides the power 1.92. to calm the waters or with winds upturn 1.93. great Aeolus! a race with me at war 1.94. now sails the Tuscan main towards Italy 1.95. bringing their Ilium and its vanquished powers. 1.96. Uprouse thy gales. Strike that proud navy down! 1.97. Hurl far and wide, and strew the waves with dead! 1.98. Twice seven nymphs are mine, of rarest mould; 1.99. of whom Deiopea, the most fair 1.100. I give thee in true wedlock for thine own 1.101. to mate thy noble worth; she at thy side 1.102. hall pass long, happy years, and fruitful bring 1.104. Then Aeolus: “'T is thy sole task, O Queen 1.105. to weigh thy wish and will. My fealty 1.106. thy high behest obeys. This humble throne 1.107. is of thy gift. Thy smiles for me obtain 1.108. authority from Jove. Thy grace concedes 1.109. my station at your bright Olympian board 1.111. Replying thus, he smote with spear reversed 1.112. the hollow mountain's wall; then rush the winds 1.113. through that wide breach in long, embattled line 1.114. and sweep tumultuous from land to land: 1.115. with brooding pinions o'er the waters spread 1.116. east wind and south, and boisterous Afric gale 1.117. upturn the sea; vast billows shoreward roll; 1.118. the shout of mariners, the creak of cordage 1.119. follow the shock; low-hanging clouds conceal 1.120. from Trojan eyes all sight of heaven and day; 1.121. night o'er the ocean broods; from sky to sky 1.122. the thunders roll, the ceaseless lightnings glare; 1.123. and all things mean swift death for mortal man. 1.124. Straightway Aeneas, shuddering with amaze 1.125. groaned loud, upraised both holy hands to Heaven 1.126. and thus did plead: “O thrice and four times blest 1.127. ye whom your sires and whom the walls of Troy 1.128. looked on in your last hour! O bravest son 1.129. Greece ever bore, Tydides! O that I 1.130. had fallen on Ilian fields, and given this life 1.131. truck down by thy strong hand! where by the spear 1.132. of great Achilles, fiery Hector fell 1.133. and huge Sarpedon; where the Simois 1.134. in furious flood engulfed and whirled away 1.136. While thus he cried to Heaven, a shrieking blast 1.137. mote full upon the sail. Up surged the waves 1.138. to strike the very stars; in fragments flew 1.139. the shattered oars; the helpless vessel veered 1.140. and gave her broadside to the roaring flood 1.141. where watery mountains rose and burst and fell. 1.142. Now high in air she hangs, then yawning gulfs 1.143. lay bare the shoals and sands o'er which she drives. 1.144. Three ships a whirling south wind snatched and flung 1.145. on hidden rocks,—altars of sacrifice 1.146. Italians call them, which lie far from shore 1.147. a vast ridge in the sea; three ships beside 1.148. an east wind, blowing landward from the deep 1.149. drove on the shallows,—pitiable sight,— 1.150. and girdled them in walls of drifting sand. 1.151. That ship, which, with his friend Orontes, bore 1.152. the Lycian mariners, a great, plunging wave 1.153. truck straight astern, before Aeneas' eyes. 1.154. Forward the steersman rolled and o'er the side 1.155. fell headlong, while three times the circling flood 1.156. pun the light bark through swift engulfing seas. 1.157. Look, how the lonely swimmers breast the wave! 1.158. And on the waste of waters wide are seen 1.159. weapons of war, spars, planks, and treasures rare 1.160. once Ilium 's boast, all mingled with the storm. 1.161. Now o'er Achates and Ilioneus 1.163. bursts the tempestuous shock; their loosened seams 1.165. Meanwhile how all his smitten ocean moaned 1.166. and how the tempest's turbulent assault 1.167. had vexed the stillness of his deepest cave 1.168. great Neptune knew; and with indigt mien 1.169. uplifted o'er the sea his sovereign brow. 1.170. He saw the Teucrian navy scattered far 1.171. along the waters; and Aeneas' men 1.172. o'erwhelmed in mingling shock of wave and sky. 1.173. Saturnian Juno's vengeful stratagem 1.174. her brother's royal glance failed not to see; 1.175. and loud to eastward and to westward calling 1.176. he voiced this word: “What pride of birth or power 1.177. is yours, ye winds, that, reckless of my will 1.178. audacious thus, ye ride through earth and heaven 1.179. and stir these mountain waves? Such rebels I— 1.180. nay, first I calm this tumult! But yourselves 1.181. by heavier chastisement shall expiate 1.182. hereafter your bold trespass. Haste away 1.183. and bear your king this word! Not unto him 1.184. dominion o'er the seas and trident dread 1.185. but unto me, Fate gives. Let him possess 1.186. wild mountain crags, thy favored haunt and home 1.187. O Eurus! In his barbarous mansion there 1.188. let Aeolus look proud, and play the king 1.190. He spoke, and swiftlier than his word subdued 1.191. the swelling of the floods; dispersed afar 1.192. th' assembled clouds, and brought back light to heaven. 1.193. Cymothoe then and Triton, with huge toil 1.194. thrust down the vessels from the sharp-edged reef; 1.195. while, with the trident, the great god's own hand 1.196. assists the task; then, from the sand-strewn shore 1.197. out-ebbing far, he calms the whole wide sea 1.198. and glides light-wheeled along the crested foam. 1.199. As when, with not unwonted tumult, roars 1.200. in some vast city a rebellious mob 1.201. and base-born passions in its bosom burn 1.202. till rocks and blazing torches fill the air 1.203. (rage never lacks for arms)—if haply then 1.204. ome wise man comes, whose reverend looks attest 1.205. a life to duty given, swift silence falls; 1.206. all ears are turned attentive; and he sways 1.207. with clear and soothing speech the people's will. 1.208. So ceased the sea's uproar, when its grave Sire 1.209. looked o'er th' expanse, and, riding on in light 1.211. Aeneas' wave-worn crew now landward made 1.212. and took the nearest passage, whither lay 1.213. the coast of Libya . A haven there 1.214. walled in by bold sides of a rocky isle 1.215. offers a spacious and secure retreat 1.216. where every billow from the distant main 1.217. breaks, and in many a rippling curve retires. 1.218. Huge crags and two confronted promontories 1.219. frown heaven-high, beneath whose brows outspread 1.220. the silent, sheltered waters; on the heights 1.221. the bright and glimmering foliage seems to show 1.222. a woodland amphitheatre; and yet higher 1.224. Fronting on these a grotto may be seen 1.225. o'erhung by steep cliffs; from its inmost wall 1.226. clear springs gush out; and shelving seats it has 1.227. of unhewn stone, a place the wood-nymphs love. 1.228. In such a port, a weary ship rides free 1.230. Hither Aeneas of his scattered fleet 1.231. aving but seven, into harbor sailed; 1.232. with passionate longing for the touch of land 1.233. forth leap the Trojans to the welcome shore 1.234. and fling their dripping limbs along the ground. 1.235. Then good Achates smote a flinty stone 1.236. ecured a flashing spark, heaped on light leaves 1.237. and with dry branches nursed the mounting flame. 1.238. Then Ceres' gift from the corrupting sea 1.239. they bring away; and wearied utterly 1.240. ply Ceres' cunning on the rescued corn 1.241. and parch in flames, and mill 'twixt two smooth stones. 1.242. Aeneas meanwhile climbed the cliffs, and searched 1.243. the wide sea-prospect; haply Antheus there 1.244. torm-buffeted, might sail within his ken 1.245. with biremes, and his Phrygian mariners 1.246. or Capys or Caicus armor-clad 1.247. upon a towering deck. No ship is seen; 1.248. but while he looks, three stags along the shore 1.249. come straying by, and close behind them comes 1.250. the whole herd, browsing through the lowland vale 1.251. in one long line. Aeneas stopped and seized 1.252. his bow and swift-winged arrows, which his friend 1.253. trusty Achates, close beside him bore. 1.254. His first shafts brought to earth the lordly heads 1.255. of the high-antlered chiefs; his next assailed 1.256. the general herd, and drove them one and all 1.257. in panic through the leafy wood, nor ceased 1.258. the victory of his bow, till on the ground 1.259. lay seven huge forms, one gift for every ship. 1.260. Then back to shore he sped, and to his friends 1.261. distributed the spoil, with that rare wine 1.262. which good Acestes while in Sicily 1.263. had stored in jars, and prince-like sent away 1.264. with his Ioved guest;—this too Aeneas gave; 1.266. “Companions mine, we have not failed to feel 1.267. calamity till now. O, ye have borne 1.268. far heavier sorrow: Jove will make an end 1.269. also of this. Ye sailed a course hard by 1.270. infuriate Scylla's howling cliffs and caves. 1.271. Ye knew the Cyclops' crags. Lift up your hearts! 1.272. No more complaint and fear! It well may be 1.273. ome happier hour will find this memory fair. 1.274. Through chance and change and hazard without end 1.275. our goal is Latium ; where our destinies 1.276. beckon to blest abodes, and have ordained 1.277. that Troy shall rise new-born! Have patience all! 1.279. Such was his word, but vexed with grief and care 1.280. feigned hopes upon his forehead firm he wore 1.281. and locked within his heart a hero's pain. 1.282. Now round the welcome trophies of his chase 1.283. they gather for a feast. Some flay the ribs 1.284. and bare the flesh below; some slice with knives 1.285. and on keen prongs the quivering strips impale 1.286. place cauldrons on the shore, and fan the fires. 1.287. Then, stretched at ease on couch of simple green 1.288. they rally their lost powers, and feast them well 1.289. on seasoned wine and succulent haunch of game. 1.290. But hunger banished and the banquet done 1.291. in long discourse of their lost mates they tell 1.292. 'twixt hopes and fears divided; for who knows 1.293. whether the lost ones live, or strive with death 1.294. or heed no more whatever voice may call? 1.295. Chiefly Aeneas now bewails his friends 1.296. Orontes brave and fallen Amycus 1.302. and nations populous from shore to shore 1.303. paused on the peak of heaven, and fixed his gaze 1.304. on Libya . But while he anxious mused 1.314. Hast thou not given us thy covet 1.315. that hence the Romans when the rolling years 1.316. have come full cycle, shall arise to power 1.317. from Troy 's regenerate seed, and rule supreme 1.318. the unresisted lords of land and sea? 1.319. O Sire, what swerves thy will? How oft have I 1.320. in Troy 's most lamentable wreck and woe 1.321. consoled my heart with this, and balanced oft 1.322. our destined good against our destined ill! 1.323. But the same stormful fortune still pursues 1.324. my band of heroes on their perilous way. 1.327. found his way forth, and entered unassailed 1.328. Illyria 's haven, and the guarded land 1.329. of the Liburni. Straight up stream he sailed 1.335. to a new land and race; the Trojan arms 1.336. were hung on temple walls; and, to this day 1.337. lying in perfect peace, the hero sleeps. 1.338. But we of thine own seed, to whom thou dost 1.339. a station in the arch of heaven assign 1.340. behold our navy vilely wrecked, because 1.341. a single god is angry; we endure 1.342. this treachery and violence, whereby 1.343. wide seas divide us from th' Hesperian shore. 1.344. Is this what piety receives? Or thus 1.346. Smiling reply, the Sire of gods and men 1.347. with such a look as clears the skies of storm 1.348. chastely his daughter kissed, and thus spake on: 1.349. “Let Cytherea cast her fears away! 1.350. Irrevocably blest the fortunes be 1.351. of thee and thine. Nor shalt thou fail to see 1.352. that City, and the proud predestined wall 1.353. encompassing Lavinium . Thyself 1.354. hall starward to the heights of heaven bear 1.355. Aeneas the great-hearted. Nothing swerves 1.356. my will once uttered. Since such carking cares 1.357. consume thee, I this hour speak freely forth 1.358. and leaf by leaf the book of fate unfold. 1.359. Thy son in Italy shall wage vast war 1.360. and, quell its nations wild; his city-wall 1.361. and sacred laws shall be a mighty bond 1.362. about his gathered people. Summers three 1.363. hall Latium call him king; and three times pass 1.364. the winter o'er Rutulia's vanquished hills. 1.365. His heir, Ascanius, now Iulus called 1.366. (Ilus it was while Ilium 's kingdom stood) 1.367. full thirty months shall reign, then move the throne 1.368. from the Lavinian citadel, and build 1.411. across th' abyss of air, and soon draws near 1.412. unto the Libyan mainland. He fulfils 1.413. his heavenly task; the Punic hearts of stone 1.414. grow soft beneath the effluence divine; 1.418. his many cares, when first the cheerful dawn 1.419. upon him broke, resolved to take survey 1.420. of this strange country whither wind and wave 1.421. had driven him,—for desert land it seemed,— 1.422. to learn what tribes of man or beast possess 1.423. a place so wild, and careful tidings bring 1.424. back to his friends. His fleet of ships the while 1.425. where dense, dark groves o'er-arch a hollowed crag 1.426. he left encircled in far-branching shade. 1.427. Then with no followers save his trusty friend 1.428. Achates, he went forth upon his way 1.429. two broad-tipped javelins poising in his hand. 1.430. Deep to the midmost wood he went, and there 1.431. his Mother in his path uprose; she seemed 1.432. in garb and countece a maid, and bore 1.433. like Spartan maids, a weapon; in such guise 1.434. Harpalyce the Thracian urges on 1.435. her panting coursers and in wild career 1.436. outstrips impetuous Hebrus as it flows. 1.437. Over her lovely shoulders was a bow 1.438. lender and light, as fits a huntress fair; 1.439. her golden tresses without wimple moved 1.494. to fly, self-banished, from her ruined land 1.495. and for her journey's aid, he whispered where 1.496. his buried treasure lay, a weight unknown 1.497. of silver and of gold. Thus onward urged 1.498. Dido, assembling her few trusted friends 1.499. prepared her flight. There rallied to her cause 1.500. all who did hate and scorn the tyrant king 1.501. or feared his cruelty. They seized his ships 1.502. which haply rode at anchor in the bay 1.503. and loaded them with gold; the hoarded wealth 1.504. of vile and covetous Pygmalion 4.88. he strode among the richly laden shrines 4.89. the eyes of gods upon her, worshipping 4.143. Why further go? Prithee, what useful end 4.144. has our long war? Why not from this day forth 4.145. perpetual peace and nuptial amity? 4.146. Hast thou not worked thy will? Behold and see 4.147. how Iove-sick Dido burns, and all her flesh 4.148. 'The madness feels! So let our common grace 4.149. mile on a mingled people! Let her serve 4.150. a Phrygian husband, while thy hands receive 4.469. then thus the silence broke: “O Queen, not one 4.470. of my unnumbered debts so strongly urged 4.471. would I gainsay. Elissa's memory 4.472. will be my treasure Iong as memory holds 4.473. or breath of life is mine. Hear my brief plea! 8.699. mused on unnumbered perils yet to come. |
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