NRLF oems Thomas i I Macaulayj LIBRARY OF THK UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA. Class CuJL The Poems of Thomas Babington Macaulay Lays of Ancient Rome Miscellaneous Poems // Illustrations G. P. Putnam's Sons New York and London Cbe Knickerbocker press CONTENTS PAGE LAYS OF ANCIENT ROME PREFACE 3 HORATIUS ...... 29 PREFACE 31 HORATIUS 35 THE BATTLE OF THE LAKE REGILLUS . 59 PREFACE 61 THE BATTLE OF THE LAKE REGILLUS . 70 VIRGINIA 99 PREFACE IOI VIRGINIA IIO THE PROPHECY OF CAPYS . . . 127 PREFACE 129 THE PROPHECY OF CAPYS . . .135 MISCELLANEOUS POEMS . . .147 EPITAPH ON HENRY MARTYN (1812). . 149 iii 235608 iv Contents PAGE LINES TO THE MEMORY OF PITT (1813) . 150 A RADICAL WAR-SONG (1820) . . .152 IVRY (1824) ...... 155 THE BATTLE OF MONCONTOUR (1823) . 160 SONGS OF THE CIVIL WAR . . .162 SERMON IN A CHURCH- YARD (1825) . 169 TRANSLATION FROM A. V. ARNAULT (1826) 173 DIES IR^: (1826) ..... 175 THE MARRIAGE OF TIRZAH AND Am RAD (1827) . .178 THE COUNTRY CLERGYMAN 's TRIP TO CAMBRIDGE (1827) .... 196 SONG (1827) ...... 200 THE DELIVERANCE OF VIENNA . . 202 THE ARMADA (1832) . . . .209 INSCRIPTION ON THE STATUE OF LORD WIL- LIAM BENTINCK AT CALCUTTA (1835) . 214 EPITAPH ON SIR BENJAMIN HEATH MALKIN. AT CALCUTTA (1837) . . .216 THE LAST BUCCANEER (1839) . . .217 Contents v PAGE EPITAPH ON A JACOBITE (1845) . . 219 * EPITAPH ON LORD METCALFE (1847) . TRANSLATION FROM PLAUTUS (1850) . 221 . VALENTINE ...... 223 . PARAPHRASE ...... 228 LINES WRITTEN ON THE NIGHT OF THE 3OTH OF JULY, 1847 ..... 229 ILLUSTRATIONS PACK LORD MACAULAY, AET. 49 Frontispiece From a drawing by George Richmond, A.R.A. " SEIZED HATCHET, BAR, AND CROW " . . 46 " THE THREE STOOD CALM AND SILENT " 48 50 54 " ' HEAR, SENATORS AND PEOPLE ' " . . 72 "AND HAND TO HAND THEY FIGHT ON FOOT " 80 " ' ONE OF US TWO, HERMINIUS, SHALL NEVER MORE GO HOME ' " . . 86 " ' TO-MORROW YOUR DICTATOR SHALL BRING IN TRIUMPH HOME " . 94 " ' COME, MAKE A CIRCLE ROUND ME " . IIO " ON THE RIGHT GOES ROMULUS " 136 vii LAYS OF ANCIENT ROME PREFACE THAT what is called the history of the kings and early consuls of Rome is to a great extent fabu- lous, few scholars have, since the time of Beaufort, ventured to deny. It is certain that, more than three hundred and sixty years after the date ordinarily as- signed for the foundation of the city, the public records were, with scarcely an exception, destroyed by the Gauls. It is certain that the oldest annals of the com- monwealth were compiled more than a century and a half after this destruction of the records. It is certain, therefore, that the great Latin writers of the Augustan age did not possess those materials without which a trustworthy account of the infancy of the Republic could not possibly be framed. Those writers own, in- deed, that the chronicles to which they had access were filled with battles that were never fought, and consuls that were never inaugurated ; and we have abundant proof that, in these chronicles, events of the greatest importance such as the issue of the war with Porsena, and the issue of the war with Brennus were grossly misrepresented. Under these circumstances, a wise man will look with great suspicion on the legend which has come down to us. He will, perhaps, be inclined to regard the princes who are said to have founded the 3 4 Lays of Ancient Rome civil and religious institutions of Rome, the son of Mars, and the husband of Egeria, as mere mythological personages, of the same class with Perseus and Ixion. As he draws nearer and nearer to the confines of au- thentic history, he will become less and less hard of be- lief. He will admit that the most important parts of the narrative have some foundation in truth. But he will distrust almost all the details, not only because they seldom rest on any solid evidence, but also because he will constantly detect in them, even when they are within the limits of physical possibility, that peculiar character, more easily understood than defined, which distinguishes the creations of the imagination from the realities of the world in which we live. The early history of Rome is indeed far more poetical than anything else in Latin literature. The loves of the Vestal and the God of War ; the cradle laid among the reeds of Tiber ; the fig-tree ; the she- wolf ; the shepherd's cabin ; the recognition ; the fratricide ; the rape of the Sabines ; the death of Tarpeia ; the fall of Hostus Hostilius ; the struggle of Mettus Curtius through the marsh ; the women rushing with torn rai- ment and dishevelled hair between their fathers and their husbands ; the nightly meetings of Numa and the Nymph by the well in the sacred grove ; the fight of the three Romans and the three Albans ; the pur- chase of the Sibylline books ; the crime of Tullia ; the simulated madness of Brutus ; the ambiguous reply of the Delphian oracle to the Tarquins ; the wrongs of Lucretia ; the heroic actions of Horatius Cocles, of Scsevola, and of Clcelia ; the battle of Regillus, won by the aid of Castor and Pollux ; the defence of Cre- mera ; the touching story of Coriolanus ; the still more Preface 5 touching story of Virginia ; the wild legend about the draining of the Alban lake ; the combat between Va- lerius Corvus and the gigantic Gaul are among the many instances which will at once suggest themselves to every reader. In the narrative of I/ivy, who was a man of fine imagination, these stories retain much of their genuine character. Nor could even the tasteless Dionysius dis- tort and mutilate them into mere prose. The poetry shines, in spite of him, through the dreary pedantry of his eleven books. It is discernible in the most tedious and in the most superficial modern works on the early times of Rome. It enlivens the dulness of the Uni- versal History, and gives a charm to the most meagre abridgments of Goldsmith. Even in the age of Plutarch there were discerning men who rejected the popular account of the foundation of Rome, because that account appeared to them to have the air, not of a history, but of a romance or a drama. Plutarch, who was displeased at their in- credulity, had nothing better to say in reply to their arguments than that chance sometimes turns poet, and produces trains of events not to be distinguished from the most elaborate plots which are constructed by art. 1 1 "TrtoTtrov ftkv kvioiS ktirl TO SpafiariKov nal irA.a6{Kzrcio5eS' ov dei d a.7ti(5TEiv, TTJY rv^v opcavraS, OIGOV itoirj^oiroov SrjuiovpyoS i6n. Pint., Rom., viii. This remarkable passage has been more grossly misinterpreted than any other in the Greek language, where the sense was so obvious. The Latin version of Cruserius, the French version of Amyot, the old English version by several hands, and the later English version by Langhorne are all equally destitute of every trace of the meaning of the original. None of the translators saw even that Ttoirj^a is a poem. They all render it an event. 6 Lays of Ancient Rome But though the existence of a poetical element in the early history of the Great City was detected so many ages ago, the first critic who distinctly saw from what source that poetical element had been derived was James Perizonius, one of the most acute and learned antiquaries of the seventeenth century. His theory, which, in his own days, attracted little or no notice, was revived in the present generation by Niebuhr, a man who would have been the first writer of his time if his talent for communicating truths had borne any proportion to his talent for investigating them. That theory has been adopted by several eminent scholars of our own country, particularly by the Bishop of St. David's, by Professor Maiden, and by the lamented Arnold. It appears to be now generally received by men conversant with classical antiquity ; and, indeed, it rests on such strong proofs, both internal and ex- ternal, that it will not be easily subverted. A popular exposition of this theory, and of the evidence by which it is supported, may not be without interest even for readers who are unacquainted with the ancient lan- guages. The Latin literature which has come down to us is of later date than the commencement of the second Punic war, and consists almost exclusively of works fashioned on Greek models. The Latin metres, heroic, elegiac, lyric, and dramatic, are of Greek origin. The best Latin epic poetry is the feeble echo of the Iliad and Odyssey. The best Latin eclogues are imitations of Theocritus. The plan of the most finished didactic poem in the Latin tongue was taken from Hesiod. The Latin tragedies are bad copies of the masterpieces of Sophocles and Euripides. The Latin comedies are Preface 7 free translations from Demophilus, Menander, and Apollodorus. The Latin philosophy was borrowed, without alteration, from the Portico and the Academy ; and the great Latin orators constantly proposed to themselves as patterns the speeches of Demosthenes and Lysias. But there was an earlier Latin literature a literature truly Latin which has wholly perished, which had, indeed, almost wholly perished long before those whom we are in the habit of regarding as the greatest Latin writers were born. That literature abounded with metrical romances, such as are found in every country where there is much curiosity and intelligence, but little reading and writing. All human beings not utterly savage long for some information about past times, and are delighted by narratives which present pictures to the eye of the mind. But it is only in very enlightened communities that books are readily access- ible. Metrical composition, therefore, which, in a highly civilized nation, is a mere luxury, is, in nations imperfectly civilized, almost a necessary of life, and is valued less on account of the pleasure which it gives to the ear than on account of the help which it gives to the memory. A man who can invent or embellish an interesting story, and put it into a form which others may easily retain in their recollection, will always be highly esteemed by a people eager for amusement and information, but destitute of libraries. Such is the origin of ballad-poetry, a species of composition which scarcely ever fails to spring up and flourish in every society at a certain point in the progress towards re- finement. Tacitus informs us that songs were the only memorials of the past which the ancient Germans pos- 8 Lays of Ancient Rome sessed. We learn from L,ucan and from Ammianus Marcellinus that the brave actions of the ancient Gauls were commemorated in the verses of bards. During many ages, and through many revolutions, minstrelsy retained its influence over both the Teutonic and the Celtic race. The vengeance exacted by the spouse of Attila for the murder of Siegfried was celebrated in rhymes, of which Germany is still justly proud. The exploits of Athelstane were commemorated by the Anglo-Saxons, and those of Canute by the Danes, in rude poems, of which a few fragments have come down to us. The chants of the Welsh harpers preserved, through ages of darkness, a faint and doubtful memory of Arthur. In the Highlands of Scotland may still be gleaned some relics of the old songs about Cuthullin and Fingal. The long struggle of the Servians against the Ottoman power was recorded in lays full of martial spirit. We learn from Herrera that, when a Peruvian Inca died, men of skill were appointed to celebrate him in verses, which all the people learned by heart, and sang in public on days of festival. The feats of Kur- roglou, the great freebooter of Turkistan, recounted in ballads composed by himself, are known in every vil- lage of Northern Persia. Captain Beechey heard the bards of the Sandwich Islands recite the heroic achieve- ments of Tamehameha, the most illustrious of their kings. Mungo Park found in the heart of Africa a class of singing-men, the only annalists of their rude tribes, and heard them tell the story of the victory which Darnel, the negro prince of the Jaloffs, won over Abdulkader, the Mussulman tyrant of Foota Torra. This species of poetry attained a high degree of excel- lence among the Castilians before they began to copy Preface 9 Tuscan patterns. It attained a still higher degree of excellence among the English and the Lowland Scotch during the fourteenth, fifteenth, and sixteenth cen- turies. But it reached its full perfection in ancient Greece ; for there can be no doubt that the great Homeric poems are genetically ballads, though widely distinguished from all other ballads, and, indeed, from almost all other human compositions, by transcendent sublimity and beauty. As it is agreeable to general experience that, at a certain stage in the progress of society, ballad-poetry should flourish, so is it also agreeable to general ex- perience that, at a subsequent stage in the progress of society, ballad-poetry should be undervalued and neg- lected. Knowledge advances; manners change; great foreign models of composition are studied and imitated. The phraseology of the old minstrels becomes obsolete. Their versification, which, having received its laws only from the ear, abounds in irregularities, seems licentious and uncouth. Their simplicity appears beg- garly when compared with the quaint forms and gaudy coloring of such artists as Cowley and Gongora. The ancient lays, unjustly despised by the learned and polite, linger for a time in the memory of the vulgar, and are at length too often irretrievably lost. We cannot won- der that the ballads of Rome should have altogether disappeared, when we remember how very narrowly, in spite of the invention of printing, those of our own country and those of Spain escaped the same fate. There is, indeed, little doubt that oblivion covers many English songs equal to any that were published by Bishop Percy, and many Spanish songs as good as the best of those which have been so happily translated by io Lays of Ancient Rome Mr. Ixxrkhart. Eighty }^ears ago, England possessed only one tattered copy of Childe Waters and Sir Cau- line, and Spain only one tattered copy of the noble poem of the Cid. The snuff of a candle, or a mischiev- ous dog, might, in a moment, have deprived the world forever of any of those fine compositions. Sir Walter Scott, who united to the fire of a great poet the minute curiosity and patient diligence of a great antiquary, was but just in time to save the precious relics of the Minstrelsy of the Border. In Germany, the L,ay of the Nibelungs had been long utterly forgotten, when, in the eighteenth century, it was, for the first time, printed from a manuscript in the old library of a noble family. In truth, the only people who, through their whole passage from simplicity to the highest civiliza- tion, never for a moment ceased to love and admire their old ballads were the Greeks. That the early Romans should have had ballad- poetry, and that this poetry should have perished, is therefore not strange. It would, on the contrary, have been strange if these things had not come to pass ; and we should be justified in pronouncing them highly probable even if we had no direct evidence on the sub- ject. But we have direct evidence of unquestionable authority. Ennius, who flourished in the time of the second Punic war, was regarded in the Augustan age as the father of L,atin poetry. He was, in truth, the father of the second school of L,atin poetry, the only school of which the works have descended to us. But from Ennius himself we learn that there were poets who stood to him in the same relation in which the author of the romance of Count Alarcos stood to Garcilaso, or Preface 1 1 the author of the Lytell Geste of Robyn Hode to Lord Surrey. Ennius speaks of verses which the Fauns and the bards were wont to chant in the old time, when none had yet studied the graces of speech, when none had yet climbed the peaks sacred to the goddesses of Grecian song. " Where," Cicero mournfully asks, " are those old verses now ? " * Contemporary with Ennius was Quintus Fabius Pictor, the earliest of the Roman annalists. His ac- count of the infancy and youth of Romulus and Remus has been preserved by Dionysius, and contains a very remarkable reference to the ancient Latin poetry. Fabius says that, in his time, his countrymen were still in the habit of singing ballads about the Twins. " Even in the hut of Faustulus " so these old lays appear to have run " the children of Rhea and Mars 1 " Quid ? Nostri versus ubi sunt ? . . . 'Quosolim Fauni vatesque canebant, Cum neque Musarum scopulos quisquatn superftrat, Nee dicti studiosus erat.' "Brutus, xxii. The Muses, it should be observed, are Greek divinities. The Italian goddesses of verse were the Camcenae. At a later period, the appellations were used indiscriminately ; but in the age of Ennius there was probably a distinction. In the epitaph of Naevius, who was the representative of the old Italian school of poetry, the Camcense, not the Muses, are represented as griev- ing for the loss of their votary. The " Musarum scopuli " are evidently the peaks of Parnassus. Scaliger, in a note on Varro (De Lingua Latina, lib. vi.), suggests, with great ingenuity, that the Fauns, who were repre- sented by the superstition of later ages as a race of monsters, half gods and half brutes, may really have been a class of men who exercised in Latium, at a very remote period, the same functions which belonged to the Magians in Persia and to the bards in Gaul. 12 Lays of Ancient Rome were, in port and in spirit, not like unto swineherds or cowherds, but such that men might well guess them to be of the blood of kings and gods. ' ' * 1 Oi d dvdpcaQsvrs's yivovrai, ytard TS d$ioodiv jtopcpTf? Hal tppoviji*aTo$ oyuov ov 6vo(popftoi^ xal fiov aAA.' oz'ouS av rzS d&aotiEie TovS H fiadtfaiov re yevovS, Hal dito Satjuoroov GnopaS yeve'Gftai ok kv roz? TtarpiotS vfivoiS vito 'Paoj^aiaor en nal vvv aderai. DION. HAI,., i., 79. This passage has sometimes been cited as if Dionysius had been speaking in his own person, and had, Greek as he was, been so industrious or so fortunate as to dis- cover some valuable remains of that early Latin poetry which the greatest Latin writers of his age regretted as hopelessly lost. Such a supposition is highly improbable ; and, indeed, it seems clear from the context that Dionysius, as Reiske and other editors evidently thought, was merely quoting from Fabius Pictor. The whole passage has the air of an extract from an ancient chronicle, and is introduced by the words KoivToS nkv $d/3to Laden with skins of wine, And endless flocks of goats and sheep, And endless herds of kine, And endless trains of wagons That creaked beneath the weight Of corn-sacks and of household goods, Choked every roaring gate. 40 Lays of Ancient Rome XVI Now from the rock Tarpeian Could the wan burghers spy The line of blazing villages Red in the midnight sky. The Fathers of the City, They sat all night and day, For every hour some horseman came With tidings of dismay. XVII To eastward and to westward Have spread the Tuscan bands ; Nor house nor fence nor dovecot In Crustumerium stands. Verbenna down to Ostia Hath wasted all the plain ; Astur hath stormed Janiculum, And the stout guards are slain. XVIII I wis, in all the Senate, There was no heart so bold But sore it ached, and fast it beat, When that ill news was told. Forthwith up rose the Consul, Up rose the Fathers all ; In haste they girded up their gowns, And hied them to the wall. XIX They held a council standing Before the River Gate ; Horatius 41 Short time was there, ye well may guess, For musing or debate. Out spake the Consul roundly, " The bridge must straight go down ; For, since Janiculum is lost, Naught else can save the town." xx Just then a scout came flying, All wild with haste and fear ; " To arms ! to arms ! Sir Consul ; Lars Porsena is here." On the low hills to westward The Consul fixed his eye, And saw the swarthy storm of dust Rise fast along the sky. XXI And nearer fast, and nearer, Doth the red whirlwind come ; And louder still, and still more loud, From underneath that rolling cloud, Is heard the trumpet's war- note proud, The trampling, and the hum. And plainly and more plainly Now through the gloom appears, Far to left and far to right, In broken gleams of dark-blue light, The long array of helmets bright, The long array of spears. 42 Lays of Ancient Rome XXII And plainly and more plainly, Above that glimmering line, Now might ye see the banners Of twelve fair cities shine ; But the banner of proud Clusium Was highest of them all, The terror of the Umbrian, The terror of the Gaul. xxni And plainly and more plainly Now might the burghers know, By port and vest, by horse and crest, Bach warlike Lucumo. There Cilnius of Arretium On his fleet roan was seen ; And Astur of the fourfold shield, Girt with the brand none else may wield, Tolumnius with the belt of gold, And dark Verbenna from the hold By reedy Thrasymene. xxiv Fast by the royal standard, O'erlooking all the war, Lars Porsena of Clusium Sat in his ivory car. By the right wheel rode Mamilius, Prince of the Latian name ; And by the left false Sextus, That wrought the deed of shame. Horatius 43 XXV But when the face of Sextus Was seen among the foes, A yell that rent the firmament From all the town arose. On the house-tops was no woman But spat towards him and hissed, No child but screamed out curses And shook its little fist. XXVI But the Consul's brow was sad, And the Consul's speech was low, And darkly looked he at the wall, And darkly at the foe. " Their van will be upon us Before the bridge goes down ; And if they once may win the bridge, What hope to save the town ? ' * XXVII Then out spake brave Horatius, The Captain of the Gate : 11 To every man upon this earth Death cometh soon or late. And how can man die better Than facing fearful odds, For the ashes of his fathers And the temples of his gods, XXVIII " And for the tender mother Who dandled him to rest, 44 Lays of Ancient Rome And for the wife who nurses His baby at her breast, And for the holy maidens Who feed the eternal flame, To save them from false Sextus That wrought the deed of shame ? XXIX " Hew down the bridge, Sir Consul, With all the speed ye may ; I, with two more to help me, Will hold the foe in play. In yon strait path a thousand May well be stopped by three. Now who will stand on either hand, And keep the bridge with me ? " XXX Then out spake Spurius I^artius ; A Ramnian proud was he : " L,o, I will stand at thy right hand, And keep the bridge with thee.'* And out spake strong Herminius ; Of Titian blood was he : " I will abide on thy left side, And keep the bridge with thee." XXXI " Horatius," quoth the Consul, " As thou sayest, so let it be." Horatius 45 And straight against that great array Forth went the dauntless Three. For Romans in Rome's quarrel Spared neither land nor gold, Nor son nor wife, nor limb nor life, In the brave days of old. XXXII Then none was for a party ; Then all were for the State ; Then the great man helped the poor, And the poor man loved the great : Then lands were fairly portioned ; Then spoils were fairly sold ; The Romans were like brothers In the brave days of old. xxxni Now Roman is to Roman More hateful than a foe ; And the Tribunes beard the high, And the Fathers grind the low. As we wax hot in faction, In battle we wax cold : Wherefore men fight not as they fought In the brave days of old. xxxiv Now while the Three were tightening Their harness on their backs, 46 Lays of Ancient Rome The Consul was the foremost man To take in hand an axe ; And Fathers mixed with Commons Seized hatchet, bar, and crow, And smote upon the planks above, And loosed the props below. XXXV Meanwhile the Tuscan army, Right glorious to behold, Come flashing back the noonday light, Rank behind rank, like surges bright Of a broad sea of gold. Four hundred trumpets sounded A peal of warlike glee, As that great host, with measured tread, And spears advanced, and ensigns spread, Rolled slowly towards the bridge's head, Where stood the dauntless Three. XXXVI The Three stood calm and silent, And looked upon the foes, And a great shout of laughter From all the vanguard rose ; And forth three chiefs came spurring Before that deep array : To earth they sprang, their swords they drew, And lifted high their shields, and flew To win the narrow way ; J* ' / J IM Horatius 47 XXXVII Aunus from green Tifernum, Lord of the Hill of Vines ; And Seius, whose eight hundred slaves Sicken in Ilva's mines ; And Picus, long to Clusium Vassal in peace and war, Who led to fight his Umbrian powers From that gray crag where, girt with towers, The fortress of Nequinum lowers O'er the pale waves of Nar. XXXVIII Stout L,artius hurled down Aunus Into the stream beneath ; Herminius struck at Seius, And clove him to the teeth ; At Picus brave Horatius Darted one fiery thrust, And the proud Umbrian' s gilded arms Clashed in the bloody dust. XXXIX Then Ocnus of Falerii Rushed on the Roman Three ; And Lausulus of Urgo, The rover of the sea ; And Aruns of Volsinium, Who slew the great wild boar, The great wild boar that had his den Amidst the reeds of Cosa's fen, And wasted fields and slaughtered men Along Albinia's shore. 48 Lays of Ancient Rome XL Herminius smote down Artms ; Lartius laid Ocnus low ; Right to the heart of Lausulus Horatius sent a blow. " Lie there," he cried, " fell pirate ! No more, aghast and pale, From Ostia's walls the crowd shall mark The track of thy destroying bark. No more Campania's hinds shall fly To woods and caverns when they spy Thy thrice accursed sail." xw But now no sound of laughter Was heard among the foes. A wild and wrathful clamor From all the vanguard rose. Six spears' lengths from the entrance Halted that deep array, And for a space no man came forth To win the narrow way. xui But hark ! the cry is Astur ; And lo! the ranks divide ; And the great Lord of Luna Comes with his stately stride. Upon his ample shoulders Clangs loud the fourfold shield, And in his hand he shakes the brand Which none but he can wield. f ?'^"?- X^"2> Horatius 49 XLIII He smiled on those bold Romans A smile serene and high ; He eyed the flinching Tuscans, And scorn was in his eye. Quoth he, " The she- wolf 's litter Stand savagely at bay ; But will ye dare to follow, If Astur clears the way ? " xwv Then, whirling up his broadsword With both hands to the height, He rushed against Horatius, And smote with all his might. With shield and blade Horatius Right deftly turned the blow. The blow, though turned, came yet too nigh ; It missed his helm, but gashed his thigh : The Tuscans raised a joyful cry To see the red blood flow. xi,v He reeled, and on Herminius He leaned one breathing-space ; Then, like a wild cat mad with wounds, Sprang right at Astur 's face. Through teeth and skull and helmet So fierce a thrust he sped, The good sword stood a hand-breadth out Behind the Tuscan's head. 50 Lays of Ancient Rome And the great Lord of I^una Fell at that deadly stroke, As falls on Mount Alvernus A thunder-smitten oak. Far o'er the crashing forest The giant arms lie spread ; And the pale augurs, muttering low, Gaze on the blasted head. XI.VII On Astur's throat Horatius Right firmly pressed his heel, And thrice and four times tugged amain Ere he wrenched out the steel. 11 And see," he cried, " the welcome, Fair guests, that waits you here ! What noble Lucumo comes next To taste our Roman cheer ? " XI, VIII But at his haughty challenge A sullen murmur ran, Mingled of wrath and shame and dread, Along that glittering van. There lacked not men of prowess, Nor men of lordly race ; For all Etruria's noblest Were round the fatal place. xux But all Etruria's noblest Felt their hearts sink to see Horatius 51 On the earth the bloody corpses, In the path the dauntless Three ; And, from the ghastly entrance Where those bold Romans stood, All shrank, like boys who, unaware, Ranging the woods to start a hare, Come to the mouth of the dark lair Where, growling low, a fierce old bear I4es amidst bones and blood. Was none who would be foremost To lead such dire attack ; But those behind cried " Forward ! And those before cried " Back ! " And backward now and forward Wavers the deep array ; And on the tossing sea of steel, To and fro the standards reel ; And the victorious trumpet-peal Dies fitfully away. lit Yet one man for one moment Strode out before the crowd ; Well known was he to all the Three, And they gave him greeting loud. " Now welcome, welcome, Sextus ! Now welcome to thy home ! Why dost thou stay and turn away ? Here lies the road to Rome. ' ' 52 Lays of Ancient Rome ui Thrice looked he at the city ; Thrice looked he at the dead ; And thrice came on in fury, And thrice turned back in dread ; And, white with fear and hatred, Scowled at the narrow way Where, wallowing in a pool of blood, The bravest Tuscans lay. Mil But meanwhile axe and lever Have manfully been plied ; And now the bridge hangs tottering Above the boiling tide. " Come back, come back, Horatius ! " lyoud cried the Fathers all. " Back, I^artius ! back, Herminius I Back, ere the ruin fall ! " uv Back darted Spurius L,artius ; Herminius darted back ; And, as they passed, beneath their feet They felt the timbers crack. But when they turned their faces, And on the farther shore Saw brave Horatius stand alone, They would have crossed once more. But with a crash like thunder Fell every loosened beam, Horatius 53 And, like a dam, the mighty wreck Lay right athwart the stream ; And a long shout of triumph Rose from the walls of Rome, As to the highest turret-tops Was splashed the yellow foam. And, like a horse unbroken When first he feels the rein, The furious river struggled hard, And tossed his tawny mane, And burst the curb and bounded, Rejoicing to be free, And whirling down, in fierce career, Battlement and plank and pier, Rushed headlong to the sea. I.VII Alone stood brave Horatius, But constant still in mind ; Thrice thirty thousand foes before, And the broad flood behind. " Down with him ! " cried false Sextus> With a smile on his pale face. " Now yield thee," cried Lars Porsena, " Now yield thee to our grace. ".- Round turned he, as not deigning Those craven ranks to see ; Naught spake he to Lars Porsena, To Sextus naught spake he ; 54 Lays of Ancient Rome But he saw on Palatinus The white porch of his home ; And he spake to the noble river That rolls by the towers of Rome, LIZ " Oh, Tiber ! father Tiber ! To whom the Romans pray, A Roman's life, a Roman's arms, Take thou in charge this day ! " So he spake, and, speaking, sheathed The good sword by his side, And, with his harness on his back, Plunged headlong in the tide. we No sound of joy or sorrow Was heard from either bank ; But friends and foes in dumb surprise, With parted lips and straining eyes, Stood gazing where he sank ; And when above the surges They saw his crest appear, All Rome sent forth a rapturous cry, And even the ranks of Tuscany Could scarce forbear to cheer. txx But fiercely ran the current, Swollen high by months of rain ; And fast his blood was flowing, And he was sore in pain, " No sound of joy or sorrow Was heard from either bank ; But friends and foes in dumb surprise, With parted lips and straining eyes, Stood gazing where he sank." HoRATirs, LX. Horatius 55 And heavy with his armor, And spent with changing blows ; And oft they thought him sinking, But still again he rose. LXII Never, I ween, did swimmer, In such an evil case, Struggle through such a raging flood Safe to the landing-place ; But his limbs were borne up bravely By the brave heart within, And our good father Tiber Bare bravely up his chin. 1 " Curse on him ! " quoth false Sextus ; " Will not the villain drown ? But for this stay, ere close of day We should have sacked the town ! " " Heaven help him ! " quoth Lars Porsena; " And bring him safe to shore ; For such a gallant feat of arms Was never seen before." 1 " Our ladye bare upp her chinne." Ballad ofChilde Waters. " Never a heavier man and horse Stemmed a midnight torrent's force ; Yet, through good heart and our Lady's grace, At length he gained the landing-place." Lay of the Last Minstrel, L 56 Lays of Ancient Rome I.XIV And now he feels the bottom ; Now on dry earth he stands ; Now round him throng the Fathers To press his gory hands ; And now, with shouts and clapping, And noise of weeping loud, He enters through the River Gate, Borne by the joyous crowd. i,xv They gave him of the corn-land, That was of public right, As much as two strong oxen Could plough from morn till night ; And they made a molten image, And set it up on high, And there it stands unto this day To witness if I lie. I vi., 27, 66. 64 Lays of Ancient Rome Livy introduces Sextus in a similar manner : " Fero- cem juvenem Tarquinium, ostentantem se in prima exsulum acie." Menelaus rushes to meet Paris. A Roman noble, eager for vengeance, spurs his horse towards Sextus. Both the guilty princes are instantly terror-stricken : Tor & cos ovv tvorjtisv *A\$avdpoS (pccvevra.) nar eicXrfyr} cpikov rjrop " Tarquinius," says I4vy, "retro in agmen suorum infenso cessit hosti." If this be a fortuitous coinci- dence, it is one of the most extraordinary in literature. In the following poem, therefore, images and inci- dents have been borrowed, not merely without scruple, but on principle, from the incomparable battle-pieces of Homer. The popular belief at Rome, from an early period, seems to have been that the event of the great day of Regillus was decided by supernatural agency. Castor and Pollux, it was said, had fought, armed and mounted, at the head of the legions of the common- wealth, and had afterwards carried the news of the victory with incredible speed to the city. The well in the Forum at which they had alighted was pointed out. Near the well rose their ancient temple. A great festival was kept to their honor on the ides of Quintilis, supposed to be the anniversary of the battle ; and on that day sumptuous sacrifices were offered to them at the public charge. One spot on the margin of Lake Regillus was regarded during many ages with super- stitious awe. A mark, resembling in shape a horse's hoof, was discernible in the volcanic rock ; and this The Battle of the Lake Regillus 65 mark was believed to have been made by one of the celestial chargers. How the legend originated cannot now be ascer- tained ; but we may easily imagine several ways in which it might have originated ; nor is it at all neces- sary to suppose, with Julius Frontinus, that two young men were dressed up by the Dictator to personate the sons of Leda. It is probable that L,ivy is correct when he says that the Roman general, in the hour of peril, vowed a temple to Castor. If so, nothing could be more natural than that the multitude should ascribe the victory to the favor of the Twin Gods. When such was the prevailing sentiment, any man who chose to declare that, in the midst of the confusion and slaughter, he had seen two godlike forms on white horses scattering the Latines would find ready cred- ence. We know, indeed, that, in modern times, a very similar story actually found credence among a people much more civilized than the Romans of the fifth century before Christ. A chaplain of Cortes, writing about thirty years after the conquest of Mexico, in an age of printing-presses, libraries, universities, scholars, logicians, jurists, and statesmen, had the face to assert that, in one engagement against the Indians, Saint James had appeared on a gray horse at the head of the Castilian adventurers. Many of those adven- turers were living when this lie was printed. One of them, honest Bernal Diaz, wrote an account of the ex- pedition. He had the evidence of his own senses against the legend ; but he seems to have distrusted even the evidence of his own senses. He says that he was in the battle, and that he saw a gray horse with a man on his back, but that the man was, to his think- 66 Lays of Ancient Rome ing, Francisco de Morla, and not the ever-blessed apostle Saint James. " Nevertheless, " Bernal adds, 4 ' it may be that the person on the gray horse was the glorious apostle Saint James, and that I, sinner that I am, was unworthy to see him." The Romans of the age of Cincinnatus were probably quite as credulous as the Spanish subjects of Charles the Fifth. It is there- fore conceivable that the appearance of Castor and Pollux may have become an article of faith before the generation which had fought at Regillus had passed away. Nor could anything be more natural than that the poets of the next age should embellish this story, and make the celestial horsemen bear the tidings of victory to Rome. Many years after the temple of the Twin Gods had been built in the Forum, an important addition was made to the ceremonial by which the State annually testified its gratitude for their protection. Quintus Fabius and Publius Decius were elected Censors at a momentous crisis. It had become absolutely necessary that the classification of the citizens should be revised. On that classification depended the distribution of political power. Party-spirit ran high ; and the re- public seemed to be in danger of falling under the do- minion either of a narrow oligarchy or of an ignorant and headstrong rabble. Under such circumstances, the most illustrious patrician and the most illustrious plebeian of the age were intrusted with the office of arbitrating between the angry factions ; and they per- formed their arduous task to the satisfaction of all honest and reasonable men. One of their reforms was a remodelling of the eques- trian order ; and, having effected this reform, they de- The Battle of the Lake Regillus 67 termined to give to their work a sanction derived from religion. In the chivalrous societies of modern times societies which have much more than may at first sight appear in common with the equestrian order of Rome it has been usual to invoke the special protec- tion of some saint, and to observe his day with peculiar solemnity. Thus the Companions of the Garter wear the image of Saint George depending from their collars, and meet, on great occasions, in Saint George's Chapel. Thus, when Louis the Fourteenth instituted a new order of chivalry for the rewarding of military merit, he com- mended it to the favor of his own glorified ancestor and patron, and decreed that all the members of the fra- ternity should meet at the royal palace on the feast of Saint Louis, should attend the King to chapel, should hear mass, and should subsequently hold their great annual assembly. There is a considerable resemblance between this rule of the Order of Saint Louis and the rule which Fabius and Decius made respecting the Ro- man knights. It was ordained that a grand muster and inspection of the equestrian body should be part of the ceremonial performed, on the anniversary of the battle of Regillus, in honor of Castor and Pollux, the two equestrian gods. All the knights, clad in purple and crowned with olive, were to meet at a temple of Mars in the suburbs. Thence they were to ride in state to the Forum, where the temple of the Twins stood. This pageant was, during several centuries, considered as one of the most splendid sights of Rome. In the time of Dionysius the cavalcade' sometimes con- sisted of five thousand horsemen, all persons of fair re- pute and easy fortune. 1 1 See Livy, ix., 46. Val. Max, ii., 2. Aurel. Viet., De Viri* 68 Lays of Ancient Rome There can be no doubt that the censors who insti- tuted this august ceremony acted in concert with the pontiffs, to whom, by the constitution of Rome, the superintendence of the public worship belonged ; and it is probable that those high religious functionaries were, as usual, fortunate enough to find in their books or traditions some warrant for the innovation. The following poem is supposed to have been made for this great occasion. Songs, we know, were chanted at the religious festivals of Rome from an early period, indeed from so early a period that some of the sacred verses were popularly ascribed to Numa, and were utterly unintelligible in the age of Augustus. In the second Punic war, a great feast was held in honor of Juno, and a song was sung in her praise. This song was extant when L,ivy wrote ; and, though exceedingly rugged and uncouth, seemed to him not wholly desti- tute of merit. 1 A song, as we learn from Horace,* was part of the established ritual at the great Secular Jubi- lee. It is therefore likely that the censors and pontiffs, when they had resolved to add a grand procession of knights to the other solemnities annually performed on the ides of Quintilis, would call in the aid of a poet. Such a poet would naturally take for his subject the battle of Regillus, the appearance of the Twin Gods, and the institution of their festival. He would find abundant materials in the ballads of his predecessors ; and he would make free use of the scanty stock of Greek learning which he had himself acquired. He would prob- Illustribus, 32. Dionysius, vi., 13. Plin., Hist. Nat., xv., 5. See also the singularly ingenious chapter in Niebuhr's posthum- ous volume, Die Censur des Q. Fabius und P. Decius. 1 Livy, xxvii., 37. * Hor., Carmen Seculare. The Battle of the Lake Regillus 69 ably introduce some wise and holy pontiff enjoining the magnificent ceremonial which, after a long interval, had at length been adopted. If the poem succeeded, many persons would commit it to memory. Parts of it would be sung to the pipe at banquets. It would be peculiarly interesting to the great Posthumian House, which numbered among its many images that of the Dictator Aulus, the hero of Regillus. The orator who, in the following generation, pronounced the funeral panegyric over the remains of Lucius Posthumius Magellus, thrice Consul, would borrow largely from the lay ; and thus some passages, much disfigured, would probably find their way into the chronicles which were afterwards in the hands of Dionysius and L,ivy. Antiquaries differ widely as to the situation of the field of battle. The opinion of those who suppose that the armies met near Cornufelle, between Frascati and the Monte Porzio, is at least plausible, and has been followed in the poem. As to the details of the battle, it has not been thought desirable to adhere minutely to the accounts which have come down to us. Those accounts, indeed, differ widely from each other, and, in all probability, differ as widely from the ancient poem from which they were originally derived. It is unnecessary to point out the obvious imitations of the Iliad, which have been purposely introduced. THE BATTLE OF THE LAKE REGILLUS A LAY SUNG AT THE FEAST OF CASTOR AND ON THE IDES OF QUINTILIS, IN THE YEAR OF THE CITY CCCCW HO, trumpets, sound a war-note ! Ho, lictors, clear the way ! The knights will ride, in all their pride, Along the streets to-day. To-day the doors and windows Are hung with garlands all, From Castor in the Forum To Mars without the wall. Each knight is robed in purple, With olive each is crowned ; A gallant war-horse under each Paws haughtily the ground. While flows the Yellow River, While stands the Sacred Hill, The proud ides of Quintilis Shall have such honor still. Gay are the Martian kalends ; December's nones are gay ; But the proud ides, when the squadron rides, Shall be Rome's whitest day. 70 The Battle of the Lake Regillus 71 ii Unto the Great Twin Brethren We keep this solemn feast. Swift, swift, the Great Twin Brethren Came spurring from the east. They came o'er wild Parthenius Tossing in waves of pine, O'er Cirrha's dome, o'er Adria's foam, O'er purple Apennine, From where with flutes and dances Their ancient mansion rings, In lordly Lacedsemon, The city of two kings, To where, by I,ake Regillus, Under the Porcian height, All in the lands of Tusculum, Was fought the glorious fight. ni Now on the place of slaughter Are cots and sheepfolds seen, And rows of vines, and fields of wheat, And apple-orchards green ; The swine crush the big acorns That fall from Corne's oaks ; Upon the turf by the Fair Fount The reaper's pottage smokes. The fisher baits his angle ; The hunter twangs his bow ; lyittle they think on those strong limbs That moulder deep below. Little they think how sternly 72 Lays of Ancient Rome That day the trumpets pealed ; How in the slippery swamp of blood Warrior and war-horse reeled ; How wolves came with fierce gallop, And crows on eager wings, To tear the flesh of captains, And peck the eyes of kings ; How thick the dead lay scattered Under the Porcian height ; How through the gates of Tusculum Raved the wild stream of flight ; And how the Lake Regillus Bubbled with crimson foam, What time the Thirty Cities Came forth to war with Rome. IV But, Roman, when thou standest Upon that holy ground, Look thou with heed on the dark rock That girds the dark lake round. So shalt thou see a hoof-mark Stamped deep into the flint : It was no hoof of mortal steed That made so strange a dint ; There to the Great Twin Brethren Vow thou thy vows, and pray That they, in tempest and in fight, Will keep thy head alway. V Since last the Great Twin Brethren Of mortal eyes were seen, i i H OJ P H CU ^ H B O The Battle of the Lake Regillus 73 Have years gone by a hundred And fourscore and thirteen. That summer a Virginius Was Consul first in place ; The second was stout Aulus, Of the Posthumian race. The Herald of the Latines From Gabii came in state ; The Herald of the Latines Passed through Rome's Eastern Gate ; The Herald of the Latines Did in our Forum stand ; And there he did his office, A sceptre in his hand. VI " Hear, Senators and people Of the good town of Rome, The Thirty Cities charge you To bring the Tarquins home : And if ye still be stubborn, To work the Tarquins wrong, The Thirty Cities warn you, Look that your walls be strong." VII Then spake the Consul Aulus He spake a bitter jest " Once the jays sent a message Unto the eagle's nest : Now yield thou up thine eyry Unto the carrion-kite, 74 Lays of Ancient Rome Or come forth valiantly, and face The jays in deadly fight. Forth looked in wrath the eagle ; And carrion-kite and jay, Soon as they saw his beak and claw, Fled screaming far away." VIII The Herald of the Ratines Hath hied him back in state ; The Fathers of the City Are met in high debate. Then spake the elder Consul, An ancient man and wise : " Now hearken, Conscript Fathers, To that which I advise. In seasons of great peril 'T is good that one bear sway ; Then choose we a Dictator, Whom all men shall obey. Camerium knows how deeply The sword of Aulus bites, And all our city calls him The man of seventy fights. Then let him be Dictator For six months, and no more ; And have a Master of the Knights, And axes twenty-four." IX So Aulus was Dictator, The man of seventy fights ; The Battle of the Lake Regillus 75 He made ^Bbutius Klva His Master of the Knights. On the third morn thereafter, At dawning of the day, Did Aulus and ^Ebutius Set forth with their array. Sempronius Atratinus Was left in charge at home, With boys and with gray-headed men To keep the walls of Rome. Hard by the Lake Regillus Our camp was pitched at night ; Eastward a mile the Latines lay, Under the Porcian height. Far over hill and valley Their mighty host was spread ; And with their thousand watch-fires The midnight sky was red. Up rose the golden morning Over the Porcian height, The proud ides of Quintilis Marked evermore with white. Not without secret trouble Our bravest saw the foes ; For girt by threescore thousand spears, The. thirty standards rose. From every warlike city That boasts the Latian name, Foredoomed to dogs and vultures, That gallant army came : From Setia's purple vineyards, 76 Lays of Ancient Rome From Norba's ancient wall, From the white streets of Tusculum, The proudest town of all ; From where the Witch's Fortress O'erhangs the dark-blue seas ; From the still glassy lake that sleeps Beneath Aricia's trees Those trees in whose dim shadow The ghastly priest doth reign, The priest who slew the slayer, And shall himself be slain ; From the drear banks of Ufens, Where flights of marsh-fowl play, And buffaloes lie wallowing Through the hot summer's day ; From the gigantic watch-towers, No work of earthly men, Whence Cora's sentinels o'erlook The never-ending fen ; From the Laurentian jungle, The wild hog's reedy home ; From the green steeps whence Anio leaps In floods of snow-white foam. XI Aricia, Cora, Norba, Velitrse, with the might Of Setia and of Tusculum, Were marshalled on the right ; The leader was Mamilius, Prince of the I^atian name ; Upon his head a helmet Of red gold shone like flame : The Battle of the Lake Regillus 77 High on a gallant charger Of dark-gray hue he rode ; Over his gilded armor A vest of purple flowed, Woven in the land of sunrise By Syria's dark-browed daughters, And by the sails of Carthage brought Far o'er the southern waters. XII Lavinium and L,aurentum Had on the left their post, With all the banners of the marsh, And banners of the coast. Their leader was false Sextus, That wrought the deed of shame ; With restless pace and haggard face To his last field he came. Men said he saw strange visions Which none besides might see ; And that strange sounds were in his ears Which none might hear but he. A woman fair and stately, But pale as are the dead, Oft through the watches of the night Sat spinning by his bed. And as she plied the distaff, In a voice sweet and low, She sang of great old houses, And fights fought long ago. So spun she, and so sang she, Until the east was gray. 78 Lays of Ancient Rome Then pointed to her bleeding breast, And shrieked, and fled away. XIII But in the centre thickest Were ranged the shields of foes, And from the centre loudest The cry of battle rose. There Tibur marched, and Pedum, Beneath proud Tarquin's rule, And Ferentinum of the rock, And Gabii of the pool. There rode the Volscian succors ; There, in a dark stern ring, The Roman exiles gathered close Around the ancient King. Though white as Mount Soracte When winter nights are long, His beard flowed down o'er mail and belt, His heart and hand were strong ; Under his hoary eyebrows Still flashed forth quenchless rage ; And if the lance shook in his gripe, 'T was more with hate than age. Close at his side was Titus On an Apulian steed Titus, the youngest Tarquin, Too good for such a breed. XIV Now on each side the leaders Gave signal for the charge ; The Battle of the Lake Regillus 79 And on each side the footmen Strode on with lance and targe ; And on each side the horsemen Struck their spurs deep in gore, And front to front the armies Met with a mighty roar ; And under that great battle The earth with blood was red ; And, like the Pomptine fog at morn, The dust hung overhead ; And louder still and louder Rose from the darkened field The braying of the war-horns, The clang of sword and shield, The rush of squadrons sweeping Like whirlwinds o'er the plain, The shouting of the slayers, And screeching of the slain. xv False Sextus rode out foremost, His look was high and bold ; His corselet was of bison's hide, Plated with steel and gold. As glares the famished eagle From the Digentian rock On a choice lamb that bounds alone Before Bandusia's flock, Herminius glared on Sextus, And came with eagle speed, Herminius on black Auster, Brave champion on brave steed ; In his right hand the broadsword 8o Lays of Ancient Rome That kept the bridge so well, And on his helm the crown he won When proud Fidenae fell. Woe to the maid whose lover Shall cross his path to-day ! False Sextus saw and trembled, And turned and fled away. As turns, as flies, the woodman In the Calabrian brake, When through the reeds gleams the round eye Of that fell speckled snake, So turned, so fled, false Sextus, And hid him in the rear, Behind the dark I,avinian ranks, Bristling with crest and spear. XVI But far to north ^Sbutius, The Master of the Knights, Gave Tubero of Norba To feed the Porcian kites. Next under those red horse-hoofs Flaccus of Setia lay ; Better had he been pruning Among his elms that day. Mamilius saw the slaughter, And tossed his golden crest, And towards the Master of the Knights Through the thick battle pressed, ^butius smote Mamilius So fiercely on the shield That the great lord of Tusculum Well-nigh rolled on the field. The Battle of the Lake Regillus 81 Mamilius smote With a good aim and true, Just where the neck and shoulder join, And pierced him through and through ; And brave -^butius Elva Fell swooning to the ground ; But a thick wall of bucklers Encompassed him around. His clients from the battle Bare him some little space, And filled a helm from the dark lake, And bathed his brow and face ; And when at last he opened His swimming eyes to light, Men say the earliest words he spake Was, " Friends, how goes the fight ? " XVII But meanwhile in the centre Great deeds of arms were wrought ; There Aulus the Dictator And there Valerius fought. Aulus with his good broadsword A bloody passage cleared To where, amidst the thickest foes, He saw the long white beard. Flat lighted that good broadsword Upon proud Tarquin's head. He dropped the lance ; he dropped the reins ; He fell as fall the dead. Down Aulus springs to slay him, With eyes like coals of fire ; But faster Titus hath sprung down, 82 Lays of Ancient Rome And hath bestrode his sire. Latian captains, Roman knights, Fast down to earth they spring, And hand to hand they fight on foot Around the ancient king. First Titus gave tall Caeso A death wound in the face ; Tall Caeso was the bravest man Of the brave Fabian race ; Aulus slew Rex of Gabii, The priest of Juno's shrine ; Valerius smote down Julius, Of Rome's great Julian line ; Julius, who left his mansion, High on the Velian hill, And through all turns of weal and woe Followed proud Tarquin still. Now right across proud Tarquin A corpse was Julius laid ; And Titus groaned with rage and grief, And at Valerius made. Valerius struck at Titus, And lopped off half his crest ; But Titus'Stabbed Valerius A span deep in the breast. Like a mast snapped by the tempest, Valerius reeled and fell. Ah ! woe is me for the good house That loves the people well ! Then shouted loud the L,atines ; And with one rush they bore The struggling Romans backward Three lances' length and more ; The Battle of the Lake Regillus 83 And up they took proud Tarquin, And laid him on a shield, And four strong yeomen bare him, Still senseless, from the field. XVIII But fiercer grew the fighting Around Valerius dead ; For Titus dragged him by the foot, And Aulus by the head. " On, Ratines, on ! " quoth Titus, " See how the rebels fly ! " " Romans, stand firm ! " quoth Aulus, ' ' And win this fight or die ! They must not give Valerius To raven and to kite ; For aye Valerius loathed the wrong, And aye upheld the right ; And for your wives and babies In the front rank he fell. Now play the men for the good house That loves the people well ! " XIX Then tenfold round the body The roar of battle rose, Like the roar of a burning forest, When a strong north wind blows. Now backward, and now forward, Rocked furiously the fray, Till none could see Valerius, And none wist where he lay. For shivered arms and ensigns 84 Lays of Ancient Rome Were heaped there in a mound, And corpses stiff, and dying men That writhed and gnawed the ground ; And wounded horses kicking And snorting purple foam ; Right well did such a couch befit A Consular of Rome. xx But north looked the Dictator ; North looked he long and hard, And spake to Caius Cossus, The Captain of his Guard : " Caius, of all the Romans Thou hast the keenest sight, Say, what through yonder storm of dust Comes from the L,atian right ? " XXI Then answered Caius Cossus : " I see an evil sight ; The banner of proud Tusculum Comes from the I/atian right ; I see the plumed horsemen ; And far before the rest I see the dark-gray charger, I see the purple vest ; I see the golden helmet That shines far off like flame ; So ever rides Mamilius, Prince of the Latian name." The Battle of the Lake Regillus 85 XXII " Now hearken, Caius Cossus : Spring on thy horse's back ; Ride as the wolves of Apennine Were all upon thy track ; Haste to our southward battle ; And never draw thy rein Until thou find Herminius, And bid him come amain. " xxni So Aulus spake, and turned him Again to that fierce strife ; And Caius Cossus mounted, And rode for death and life. Loud clanged beneath his horse-hoofs The helmets of the dead, And many a curdling pool of blood Splashed him from heel to head. So came he far to southward, Where fought the Roman host, Against the banners of the marsh And banners of the coast. Like corn before the sickle The stout Lavinians fell, Beneath the edge of the true sword That kept the bridge so well. XXIV " Herminius ! Aulus greets thee ; He bids thee come with speed, To help our central battle ; For sore is there our need. 86 Lays of Ancient Rome There wars the youngest Tarquin, And there the Crest of Flame, The Tusculan Mamilius, Prince of the Latian name. Valerius hath fallen fighting In front of our array ; And Aulus of the seventy fields Alone upholds the day." XXV Herminius beat his bosom, But never a word he spake. He clapped his hand on Auster's mane r He gave the reins a shake ; Away, away, went Auster, Like an arrow from the bow ; Black Auster was the fleetest steed From Aufidus to Po. xxvi Right glad were all the Romans Who, in that hour of dread, Against great odds bare up the war Around Valerius dead, When from the south the cheering Rose with a mighty swell : " Herminius comes, Herminius, Who kept the bridge so well ! " XXVII Mamilius spied Herminius, And dashed across the way. The Battle of the Lake Regillus 87 " Herininius ! I have sought thee Through many a bloody day. One of us two, Herminius, Shall never more go home. I will lay on for Tusculum, And lay thou on for Rome ! " XXVIII All round them paused the battle, While met in mortal fray The Roman and the Tusculan, The horses black and gray. Herminius smote Mamilius Through breastplate and through breast And fast flowed out the purple blood Over the purple vest. Mamilius smote Herminius Through head-piece and through head ; And side by side those chiefs of pride Together fell down dead. Down fell they dead together In a great lake of gore ; And still stood all who saw them fall While men might count a score. XXIX Fast, fast, with heels wild spurning, The dark-gray charger fled ; He burst through ranks of fighting-men ; He sprang o'er heaps of dead. His bridle far outstreaming, His flanks all blood and foam, 88 Lays of Ancient Rome He sought the southern mountains, The mountains of his home. The pass was steep and rugged, The wolves they howled and whined ; But he ran like a whirlwind up the pass, And he left the wolves behind. Through many a startled hamlet Thundered his flying feet ; He rushed through the gate of Tusculum, He rushed up the long white street ; He rushed by tower and temple, And paused not from his race, Till he stood before his master's door In the stately market-place. And straightway round him gathered A pale and trembling crowd ; And, when they knew him, cries of rage Brake forth, and wailing loud ; And women rent their tresses For their great prince's fall ; And old men girt on their old swords, And went to man the wall. XXX But, like a graven image, Black Auster kept his place, And ever wistfully he looked Into his master's face. The raven mane that daily, With pats and fond caresses, The young Herminia washed and combed, And twined in even tresses, And decked with colored ribbons The Battle of the Lake Regillus 89 From her own gay attire, Hung sadly o'er her father's corpse In carnage and in mire. Forth with a shout sprang Titus, And seized black Auster's rein. Then Aulus sware a fearful oath, And ran at him amain. " The furies of thy brother With me and mine abide, If one of your accursed house Upon black Auster ride ! " As on an Alpine watch-tower From heaven comes down the flame, Full on the neck of Titus The blade of Aulus came ; And out the red blood spouted, In a wide arch and tall, As spouts a fountain in the court Of some rich Capuan's hall. The knees of all the I,atines Were loosened with dismay, When dead, on dead Herminius, The bravest Tarquin lay. XXXI And Aulus the Dictator Stroked Auster's raven mane, With heed he looked unto the girths, With heed unto the rein. " Now bear me well, black Auster, Into yon thick array ; And thou and I will have revenge For thy good lord this day." 90 Lays of Ancient Rome XXXII So spake he ; and was buckling Tighter black Auster's band, When he was aware of a princely pair That rode at his right hand. So like they were, no mortal Might one from other know ; White as snow their armor was ; Their steeds were white as snow. Never on earthly anvil Did such rare armor gleam ; And never did such gallant steeds Drink of an earthly stream. XXXIII And all who saw them trembled, And pale grew every cheek ; And Aulus the Dictator Scarce gathered voice to speak. " Say by what name men call you ? What city is your home ? And wherefore ride ye in such guise Before the ranks of Rome ? " xxxiv 11 By many names men call us ; In many lands we dwell : Well Samothracia knows us ; Cyrene knows us well. Our house in gay Tarentum Is hung each morn with flowers ; High o'er the masts of Syracuse Our marble portal towers ; The Battle of the Lake Regillus 91 But by the proud Eurotas Is our dear native home ; And for the right we come to fight Before the ranks of Rome. ' ' XXXV So answered those strange horsemen, And each couched low his spear ; And forthwith all the ranks of Rome Were bold and of good cheer ; And on the thirty armies Came wonder and affright, And Ardea wavered on the left, And Cora on the right. " Rome to the charge ! " cried Aulus ; 11 The foe begins to yield ! Charge for the hearth of Vesta ! Charge for the Golden Shield ! Let no man stop to plunder, But slay, and slay, and slay ; The gods, who live forever, Are on our side to-day.'* xxxvi Then the fierce trumpet-flourish From earth to heaven arose, The kites know well the long stern swell That bids the Romans close. Then the good sword of Aulus Was lifted up to slay ; Then, like a crag down Apennine, Rushed Auster through the fray. But under those strange horsemen 92 Lays of Ancient Rome Still thicker lay the slain ; And after those strange horses Black Auster toiled in vain. Behind them Rome's long battle Came rolling on the foe, Ensigns dancing wild above, Blades all in line below. So comes the Po in flood-time Upon the Celtic plain ; So comes the squall, blacker than night, Upon the Adrian main. Now, by our sire Quirinus, It was a goodly sight To see the thirty standards Swept down the tide of flight. So flies the spray of Adria When the black squall doth blow ; So corn-sheaves in the flood-time Spin down the whirling Po. False Sextus to the mountains Turned first his horse's head ; And fast fled Ferentinum, And fast Lanuvium fled. The horsemen of Nomentum Spurred hard out of the fray ; The footmen of Velitrae Threw shield and spear away. And underfoot was trampled, Amidst the mud and gore, The banner of proud Tusculum, That never stooped before ; And down went Flavius Faustus, Who led his stately ranks The Battle of the Lake Regillus 93 From where the apple blossoms wave On Anio's echoing banks ; And Tullus of Arpinum, Chief of the Volscian aids, And Metius with the long fair curls, The love of Anxur's maids ; And the white head of Vulso, The great Arician seer ; And Nepos of L,aurentum, The hunter of the deer ; And in the back false Sextus Felt the good Roman steel, And wriggling in the dust he died, Like a worm beneath the wheel. And fliers and pursuers Were mingled in a mass ; And far away the battle Went roaring through the pass. XXXVII Sempronius Atratinus Sat in the Eastern Gate, Beside him were three Fathers, Each in his chair of state Fabius, whose nine stout grandsons That day were in the field, And Manlius, eldest of the Twelve Who keep the Golden Shield ; And Sergius, the High Pontiff, For wisdom far renowned : In all Etruria's colleges Was no such Pontiff found. 94 Lays of Ancient Rome And all around the portal, And high above the wall, Stood a great throng of people, But sad and silent all ; Young lads and stooping elders That might not bear the mail, Matrons with lips that quivered, And maids with faces pale. Since the first gleam of daylight, Sempronius had not ceased To listen for the rushing Of horse-hoofs from the east. The mist of eve was rising, The sun was hastening down, When he was aware of a princely pair Fast pricking towards the town. So like they were, man never Saw twins so like before ; Red with gore their armor was, Their steeds were red with gore. XXXVIII " Hail to the great Asylum ! Hail to the hill-tops seven ! Hail to the fire that burns for aye, And the shield that fell from heaven ! This day, by I^ake Regillus, Under the Porcian height, All in the lands of Tusculum Was fought a glorious fight. To-morrow your Dictator Shall bring in triumph home X! X! X o l s 'C a - id ; j *o *- w J2 -^ l-!8 0) I li ts g l.s O t s -3 The Battle of the Lake Regillus 95 The spoils of thirty cities To deck the shrines of Rome ! " XXXIX Then burst from that great concourse A shout that shook the towers, And some ran north, and some ran south, Crying, " The day is ours ! " But on rode these strange horsemen, With slow and lordly pace ; And none who saw their bearing Durst ask their name or race. On rode they to the Forum, While laurel boughs and flowers, From house-tops and from windows, Fell on their crests in showers. When they drew nigh to Vesta, They vaulted down amain, And washed their horses in the well That springs by Vesta's fane. And straight again they mounted, And rode to Vesta's door ; Then, like a blast, away they passed, And no man saw them more. XL And all the people trembled, And pale grew every cheek ; And Sergius the High Pontiff Alone found voice to speak : " The gods who live forever Have fought for Rome to-day ! 96 Lays of Ancient Rome These be the Great Twin Brethren To whom the Dorians pray. Back comes the Chief in triumph, Who, in the hour of fight, Hath seen the Great Twin Brethren In harness on his right. Safe comes the ship to haven, Through billows and through gales, If once the Great Twin Brethren Sit shining on the sails. Wherefore they washed their horses In Vesta's holy well, Wherefore they rode to Vesta's door, I know, but may not tell. Here, hard by Vesta's temple, Build we a stately dome Unto the Great Twin Brethren Who fought so well for Rome. And when the months returning Bring back this day of fight, The proud ides of Quintilis, Marked evermore with white, Unto the Great Twin Brethren Let all the people throng, With chaplets and with offerings, With music and with song ; And let the doors and windows Be hung with garlands all, And let the knights be summoned To Mars without the wall ; Thence let them ride in purple With joyous trumpet-sound, Each mounted on his war-horse, The Battle of the Lake Regillus 97 And each with olive crowned ; And pass in solemn order Before the sacred dome, Where dwell the Great Twin Brethren Who fought so well for Rome." VIRGINIA 99 VIRGINIA A COLLECTION consisting exclusively of war- songs would give an imperfect, or rather an erroneous, notion of the spirit of the old Latin ballads. The patricians, during more than a century after the expulsion of the kings, held all the high military com- mands. A plebeian, even though, like Lucius Siccius, he were distinguished by his valor and knowledge of war, could serve only in subordinate posts. A minstrel, therefore, who wished to celebrate the early triumphs of his country could hardly take any but patricians for his heroes. The warriors who are mentioned in the two preceding lays Horatius, Lartius, Herminius, Aulus Posthumius, ^Ebutius Klva, Sempronius Atra- tinus, Valerius Poplicola were all members of the dominant order; and a poet who was singing their praises, whatever his own political opinions might be, would naturally abstain from insulting the class to which they belonged, and from reflecting on the system which had placed such men at the head of the legions of the commonwealth. But there was a class of compositions in which the great families were by no means so courteously treated. No parts of early Roman history are richer with poeti- 101 102 Lays of Ancient Rome cal coloring than those which relate to the long contest between the privileged houses and the commonalty. The population of Rome was, from a very early period, divided into hereditary castes, which, indeed, readily united to repel foreign enemies, but which regarded each other, during many years, with bitter animosity. Between those castes there was a barrier hardly less strong than that which, at Venice, parted the members of the Great Council from their countrymen. In some respects, indeed, the line which separated an Icilius or a Duilius from a Posthumius or a Fabius was even more deeply marked than that which separated the rower of a gondola from a Contarini or a Morosini. At Venice the distinction was merely civil. At Rome it was both civil and religious. Among the grievances under which the plebeians suffered, three were felt as peculiarly severe. They were excluded from the high- est magistracies ; they were excluded from all share in the public lands ; and they were ground down to the dust by partial and barbarous legislation touching pe- cuniary contracts. The ruling class in Rome was a moneyed class ; and it made and administered the laws with a view solely to its own interest. Thus the rela- tion between lender and borrower was mixed up with the relation between sovereign and subject. The great men held a large portion of the community in depend- ence by means of advances at enormous usury. The law of debt, framed by creditors, and for the protection of creditors, was the most horrible that has ever been known among men. The liberty and even the life of the insolvent were at the mercy of the patrician money- lenders. Children often became slaves in consequence of the misfortunes of their parents. The debtor was Virginia 103 imprisoned, not in a public jail under the care of im- partial public functionaries, but in a private workhouse belonging to the creditor. Frightful stories were told respecting these dungeons. It was said that torture and brutal violation were common ; that tight stocks, heavy chains, scanty measures of food, were used to punish wretches guilty of nothing but poverty ; and that brave soldiers whose breasts were covered with honor- able scars were often marked still more deeply on the back by the scourges of high-born usurers. The plebeians were, however, not wholly without constitutional rights. From an early period they had been admitted to some share of political power. They were enrolled each in his century, and were allowed a share, considerable, though not proportioned to their numerical strength, in the disposal of those high digni- ties from which they were themselves excluded. Thus their position bore some resemblance to that of the Irish Catholics during the interval between the year 1792 and the year 1829. The plebeians had also the privilege of annually appointing officers named tribunes, who had no active share in the government of the com- monwealth, but who, by degrees, acquired a power formidable even to the ablest and most resolute consuls and dictators. The person of the tribune was inviola- ble ; and, though he could directly effect little, he could obstruct everything. During more than a century after the institution of the tribuneship, the commons struggled manfully for the removal of the grievances under which they la- bored ; and, in spite of many checks and reverses, suc- ceeded in wringing concession after concession from the stubborn aristocracy. At length, in the year of the 104 Lays of Ancient Rome city 378, both parties*mustered their whole strength for their last and most desperate conflict. The popular and active tribune Caius Licinius proposed the three memorable laws which are called by his name, and which were intended to redress the three great evils of which the plebeians complained. He was supported, with eminent ability and firmness, by his colleague, Lu- cius Sextius. The struggle appears to have been the fiercest that ever in any community terminated without an appeal to arms. If such a contest had raged in any Greek city, the streets would have run with blood. But, even in the paroxysms of faction, the Roman re- tained his gravity, his respect for law, and his tender- ness for the lives of his fellow-citizens. Year after year Licinius and Sextius were re-elected tribunes. Year after year, if the narrative which has come down to us is to be trusted, they continued to exert, to the full ex- tent, their power of stopping the whole machine of government. No curule magistrates could be chosen ; no military muster could be held. We know too little of the state of Rome in those days to be able to con- jecture how, during that long anarchy, the peace was kept, and ordinary justice administered between man and man. The animosity of both parties rose to the greatest height. The excitement, we may well sup- pose, would have been peculiarly intense at the annual election of tribunes. On such occasions there can be little doubt that the great families did all that could be done, by threats and caresses, to break the union of the plebeians. That union, however, proved indissoluble. At length the good cause triumphed. The Licinian laws were carried. Lucius Sextius was the first ple- beian consul, Caius Licinius the third. Virginia 105 The results of this great change were singularly hap- py and glorious. Two centuries of prosperity, har- mony, and victory followed the reconciliation of the orders. Men who remembered Rome engaged in waging petty wars almost within sight of the Capitol, lived to see her mistress of Italy. While the disabilities of the plebeians continued, she was scarcely able to main- tain her ground against the Volscians and Hernicans. When those disabilities were removed, she rapidly be- came more than a match for Carthage and Macedon. During the great Licinian contest the plebeian poets were, doubtless, not silent. Even in modern times songs have been by no means without influence on public affairs ; and we may therefore infer that, in a society where printing was unknown and where books were rare, a pathetic or humorous party-ballad must have produced effects such as we can but faintly con- ceive. It is certain that satirical poems were common at Rome from a very early period. The rustics, who lived at a distance from the seat of government, and took little part in the strife of factions, gave vent to their petty local animosities in coarse Fescennine verse. The lampoons of the city were doubtless of a higher order ; and their sting was early felt by the nobility. For in the Twelve Tables, long before the time of the Licinian laws, a severe punishment was denounced against the citizen who should compose or recite verses reflecting on another. 1 Satire is, indeed, the only sort 1 Cicero justly infers from this law that there had been early Latin poets whose works had been lost before his time. " Quam- quam id quidem etiam xii tabulae declarant, condi jam turn solitum esse carmen, quod ne liceret fieri ad alterius injuriam legesanxerunt." Tusc. y iv., 2. io6 Lays of Ancient Rome of composition in which the Latin poets whose works have come down to us were not mere imitators of for- eign models ; and it is therefore the only sort of com- position in which they have never been rivalled. It was not, like their tragedy, their comedy, their epic and lyric poetry, a hot-house plant which, in return for assiduous and skilful culture, gave only scanty and sickly fruits. It was hardy and full of sap ; and in all the various juices which it yielded might be distin- guished the flavor of the Ausonian soil. "Satire," said Quintilian, with just pride, " is all our own." Satire sprang, in truth, naturally from the constitution of the Roman government and from the spirit of the Roman people ; and, though at length subjected to metrical rules derived from Greece, retained to the last an essentially Roman character. Lucilius was the earliest satirist whose works were held in esteem under the Caesars. But many years before Lucilius was born, Naevius had been flung into a dungeon, and guarded there with circumstances of unusual rigor, on account of the bitter lines in which he had attacked the great Caecilian family. 1 The genius and spirit of the Roman satirists survived the liberty of their country, and were not extinguished by the cruel despotism of the Julian and Flavian emperors. The great poet who told the story of Domitian's turbot was the legitimate successor of those forgotten minstrels whose songs animated the factions of the infant republic. Those minstrels, as Niebuhr has remarked, appear to have generally taken the popular side. We can hardly be mistaken in supposing that, at the great crisis of the civil conflict, they employed themselves in versifying 1 Plautus, Miles Glorias us. Aulus Gellius, 111.3. Virginia 107 all the most powerful and virulent speeches of the tribunes, and in heaping abuse on the leaders of the aristocracy. Every personal defect, every domestic scandal, every tradition dishonorable to a noble house, would be sought out, brought into notice, and exag- gerated. The illustrious head of the aristocratical party, Marcus Furius Camillus, might perhaps be, in some measure, protected by his venerable age and by the memory of his great services to the State. But Appius Claudius Crassus enjoyed no such immunity. He was descended from a long line of ancestors dis- tinguished by their haughty demeanor, and by the inflexibility with which they had withstood all the de- mands of the plebeian order. While the political con- duct and the deportment of the Claudian nobles drew upon them the fiercest public hatred, they were accused of wanting, if any credit is due to the early history of Rome, a class of qualities which, in a military common- wealth, is sufficient to cover a multitude of offences. The chiefs of the family appear to have been eloquent, versed in civil business, and learned after the fashion of their age ; but in war they were not distinguished by skill or valor. Some of them, as if conscious where their weakness lay, had, when filling the highest magis- tracies, taken internal administration as their depart- ment of public business, and left the military command to their colleagues. 1 One ot them had been intrusted with an army, and had failed ignominiously.' None of them had been honored with a triumph. None of them had achieved any martial exploit, such as those by which Lucius Quinctius Cincinnatus, Titus Quinctius 1 In the years of the city, 260, 304, and 330. 1 1n the year of the city, 282. io8 Lays of Ancient Rome Capitolinus, Aulus Cornelius Cossus, and, above all, the great Camillus, had extorted the reluctant esteem of the multitude. During the Licinian conflict, Appius Clau- dius Crassus signalized himself by the ability and se- verity with which he harangued against the two great agitators. He would naturally, therefore, be the favorite mark of the plebeian satirists ; nor would they have been at a loss to find a point on which he was open to attack. His grandfather, called, like himself, Appius Claud- ius, had left a name as much detested as that of Sex- tus Tarquinius. This elder Appius had been Consul more than seventy years before the introduction of the Licinian laws. By availing himself of a singular crisis in public feeling, he had obtained the consent ot the commons to the abolition of the tribuneship, and had been the chief of that Council of Ten to which the whole direction of the State had been committed. In a few months his administration had become universally odious. It had been swept away by an irresistible out- break of popular fury ; and its memory was still held in abhorrence by the whole city. The immediate cause of the downfall of this execrable government was said to have been an attempt made by Appius Claudius upon the chastity of a beautiful young girl of humble birth. The story ran that the Decemvir, unable to succeed by bribes and solicitations, resorted to an outrageous act of tyranny. A vile dependent of the Claudian House laid claim to the damsel as his slave. The cause was brought before the tribunal of Appius. The wicked magistrate, in defiance of the clearest proofs, gave judg- ment for the claimant. But the girl's father, a brave soldier, saved her from servitude and dishonor by stab- bing her to the heart in the sight of the whole Forum. Virginia 109 That blow was the signal for a general explosion. Camp and city rose at once ; the Ten were pulled down ; the tribuneship was re-established ; and Appius escaped the hands of the executioner only by a voluntary death. It can hardly be doubted that a story so admirably adapted to the purposes both of the poet and of the demagogue would be eagerly seized upon by minstrels burning with hatred against the patrician order, against the Claudian House, and especially against the grand- son and namesake of the infamous Decemvir. In order that the reader may judge fairly of these fragments of the Lay of Virginia, he must imagine him- self a plebeian who has just voted for the re-election of Sextius and Licinius. All the power of the patricians has been exerted to throw out the two great champions of the commons. Every Posthumius, ^milius, and Cornelius has used his influence to the utmost. Debtors have been let out of the workhouses on con- dition of voting against the men of the people ; clients have been posted to hiss and interrupt the favorite candidates ; Appius Claudius Crassus has spoken with more than his usual eloquence and asperity ; all has been in vain ; Licinius and Sextius have a fifth time carried all the tribes ; work is suspended ; the booths are closed ; the plebeians bear on their shoulders the two champions of liberty through the Forum. Just at this moment it is announced that a popular poet, a zealous adherent of the tribunes, has made a new song which will cut the Claudian nobles to the heart. The crowd gathers round him, and calls on him to recite it. He takes his stand on the spot where, according to tradition, Virginia, more than seventy years ago, was seized by the pander of Appius, and he begins his story. VIRGINIA FRAGMENTS OF A LAY SUNG IN THE FORUM ON THE DAY WHEREON LUCIUS SEXTIUS LATERANUS AND CAIUS LICINIUS CALVUS STOLO WERE ELECTED TRIBUNES OF THE COMMONS THE FIFTH TIME, IN THE YEAR OF THE CITY CCCLXXXII YE good men of the commons, with loving hearts and true, Who stand by the bold tribunes that still have stood by you, Come, make a circle round me, and mark my tale with care A tale of what Rome once hath borne, of what Rome yet may bear. This is no Grecian fable, of fountains running wine, Of maids with snaky tresses, or sailors turned to swine. Here, in this very Forum, under the noonday sun, In sight of all the people, the bloody deed was done. Old men still creep among us who saw that fearful day, Just seventy years and seven ago, when the wicked Ten bare sway. no Virginia 1 1 1 Of all the wicked Ten still the names are held accursed, And of all the wicked Ten Appius Claudius was the worst. He stalked along the Forum like King Tarquin in his pride; Twelve axes waited on him, six marching on a side ; The townsmen shrank to right and left, and eyed askance with fear His lowering brow, his curling mouth which always seemed to sneer : That brow of hate, that mouth ot scorn, marks all the kindred still ; For never was there Claudius yet but wished the commons ill. Nor lacks he fit attendance ; for close behind his heels, With outstretched chin and crouching pace, the client Marcus steals, His loins girt up to run with speed, be the errand what it may, And the smile flickering on his cheek, for aught his lord may say. Such varlets pimp and jest for hire among the lying Greeks ; Such varlets still are paid to hoot when brave I4cinius speaks. Where'er ye shed the honey, the buzzing flies will crowd ; Where'er ye fling the carrion, the raven's croak is loud ; Where'er down Tiber garbage floats, the greedy pike ye see; ii2 Lays of Ancient Rome And wheresoe'er such lord is found, such client still will be. Just then, as through one cloudless chink in a black stormy sky Shines out the dewy morning-star, a fair young girl came by. With her small tablets in her hand, and her satchel on her arm, Home she went bounding from the school, nor dreamed of shame or harm ; And past those dreaded axes she innocently ran, With bright, frank brow that had not learned to blush at gaze of man ; And up the Sacred Street she turned, and, as she danced along, She warbled gayly to herself lines of the good old song, How for a sport the princes came spurring irom the camp, And found Lucrece, combing the fleece, under the mid- night lamp. The maiden sang as sings the lark when up he darts his flight From his nest in the green April corn to meet the morning light ; And Appius heard her sweet young voice, and saw her sweet young face, And loved her with the accursed love of his accursed race ; And all along the Forum, and up the Sacred Street, His vulture eye pursued the trip of those small glanc- ing feet. Virginia 113 Over the Alban mountains the light of morning broke ; From all the roofs of the Seven Hills curled the thin wreaths of smoke : The city gates were opened ; the Forum, all alive With buyers and with sellers, was humming like a hive ; Blithely on brass and timber the craftsman's stroke was ringing, And blithely o'er her panniers the market-girl was singing, And blithely young Virginia came smiling from her home ; Ah ! woe for young Virginia, the sweetest maid in Rome ! With her small tablets in her hand, and her satchel on her arm, Forth she went bounding to the school, nor dreamed of shame or harm. She crossed the Forum shining with stalls in alleys gay, And just had reached the very spot whereon I stand this day, When up the varlet Marcus came ; not such as when erewhile He crouched behind his patron's heels with the true client smile ; He came with lowering lorehead, swollen features, and clenched fist, And strode across Virginia's path, and caught her by the wrist. Hard strove the frighted maiden, and screamed with look aghast ; H4 Lays of Ancient Rome And at her scream from right and left the folk came running fast ; The money-changer Crispus, with his thin silver hairs ; And Hanno, from the stately booth glittering with Punic wares ; And the strong smith Muraena, grasping a half-forged brand ; And Volero the flesher, his cleaver in his hand. All came in wrath and wonder, for all knew that fair child ; And, as she passed them twice a day, all kissed their hands and smiled ; And the strong smith Muraena gave Marcus such a blow, The caitiff reeled three paces back, and let the maiden go. Yet glared he fiercely round him, and growled in harsh, fell tone. " She 's mine, and I will have her ; I seek but for mine own. She is my slave, born in my house, and stolen away and sold, The year of the sore sickness, ere she was twelve hours old. 'T was in the sad September, the month of wail and fright, Two augurs were borne forth that morn ; the Consul died ere night. I wait on Appius Claudius, I waited on his sire ; Let him who works the client wrong beware the patron's ire 1" Virginia 115 So spake the varlet Marcus ; and dread and silence came On all the people at the sound of the great Claudian name. For then there was no tribune to speak the word of might, Which makes the rich man tremble, and guards the poor man's right. There was no brave L,icinius, no honest Sextius then ; But all the city, in great fear, obeyed the wicked Ten. Yet ere the varlet Marcus again might seize the maid, Who clung tight to Mursena's skirt, and sobbed, and shrieked for aid, Forth through the throng of gazers the young Icilius pressed, And stamped his foot, and rent his gown, and smote upon his breast, And sprang upon that column, by many a minstrel sung, Whereon three mouldering helmets, three rusting swords, are hung, And beckoned to the people, and in bold voice and clear Poured thick and fast the burning words which tyrants quake to hear : " Now, by your children's cradles, now by your fathers' graves, Be men to-day, Quirites, or be forever slaves ! For this did Servius give us laws ? For this did Lucrece bleed ? For this was the great vengeance wrought on Tarquin's evil seed ? n6 Lays of Ancient Rome For this did those false sons make red the axes of their sire ? For this did Scaevola's right hand hiss in the Tuscan fire? Shall the vile fox-earth awe the race that stormed the lion's den ? Shall we, who could not brook one lord, crouch to the wicked Ten ? Oh for that ancient spirit which curbed the Senate's will! Oh for the tents which in old time whitened the Sacred Hill ! In those brave days our fathers stood firmly side by side ; They faced the Marcian fury ; they tamed the Fabian pride; They drove the fiercest Quinctius an outcast forth from Rome ; They sent the haughtiest Claudius with shivered fasces home. But what their care bequeathed us our madness flung away; All the ripe fruit of threescore years was blighted in a day. Exult, ye proud patricians ! The hard-fought fight is o'er. We strove for honors 't was in vain ; for freedom 't is no more. No crier to the polling summons the eager throng ; No tribune breathes the word of might that guards the weak from wrong. Our very hearts, that were so high, sink down beneath your will. Virginia 117 Riches and lands, and power and state ye have them ; keep them still. Still keep the holy fillets; still keep the purple gown, The axes, and the curule chair, the car and laurel crown ; Still press us for your cohorts, and, when the fight is done, Still fill your garners from the soil which our good swords have won. Still, like a spreading ulcer, which leech-craft may not cure, Let your foul usance eat away the substance of the poor. Still let your haggard debtors bear all their fathers bore; Still let your dens of torment be noisome as of yore ; No fire when Tiber freezes ; no air in dog-star heat ; And store of rods for free-born backs, and holes for free- born feet. Heap heavier still the fetters ; bar closer still the grate ; Patient as sheep we yield us up unto your cruel hate. But, by the shades beneath us, and by the gods above, Add not unto your cruel hate your yet more cruel love ! Have ye not graceful ladies, whose spotless lineage springs From consuls and high pontiffs and ancient Alban kings Ladies who deign not on our paths to set their tender feet, Who from their cars look down with scorn upon the wondering street, Who in Corinthian mirrors their own proud smiles be- hold, ii8 Lays of Ancient Rome And breathe of Capuan odors, and shine with Spanish gold? Then leave the poor plebeian his single tie to life The sweet, sweet love of daughter, of sister, and of wife ; The gentle speech, the balm for all that his vexed soul endures ; The kiss, in which he half forgets even such a yoke as yours. Still let the maiden's beauty swell the father's breast with pride ; Still let the bridegroom's arms infold an unpolluted bride. Spare us the inexpiable wrong, the unutterable shame, That turns the coward's heart to steel, the sluggard's blood to flame, I