stellati pariter crines. iuvat ipse Tonantem error et ambiguae placet ignorantia matri; 210 Eurotas proprios discernere nescit alumnos. Ut domus excepit reduces, ibi talia tecum pro rerum stabili fertur dicione locutus: “Si tibi Parthorurm solium Fortuna dedisset, care puer, terrisque procul venerandus Eois 215 barbarus Arsacio consurgeret ore tiaras: sufficeret sublime genus luxuque fluentem deside nobilitas posset te sola tueri. altera Romanae longe rectoribus aulae condicio. virtute decet, non sanguine niti. 220 maior et utilior fato coniuncta potenti, vile latens virtus. quid enim? submersa tenebris proderit obscuro veluti sine remige puppis vel lyra quae reticet vel qui non tenditur arcus. “Hanc tamen haud quisquam, qui non agnoverit ante 225 semet et incertos animi placaverit aestus, inveniet; longis illuc ambagibus itur. disce orbi, quod quisque sibi. cum conderet artus nostros, aetheriis miscens terrena, Prometheus, sinceram patri mentem furatus Olympo 230 continuit claustris indignantemque revinxit et, cum non aliter possent mortalia fingi, adiunxit geminas. illae cum corpore lapsae intereunt, haec sola manet bustoque superstes evolat. hanc alta capitis fundavit in arce 235 mandatricem operum prospecturamque labori; * * * * * Page 303 locks of both. The Thunderer rejoices in his very uncertainty, and to their hesitating mother her ignorance brings delight; Eurotas cannot make distinction between his own nurslings. When all had returned to the palace, Theodosius, anxious for the world’s just governance, is said to have addressed thee in these terms: “Had fortune, my dear son, given thee the throne of Parthia, hadst thou been a descendant of the Arsacid house and did the tiara, adored by Eastern lands afar, tower upon thy forehead, thy long lineage would be enough, and thy birth alone would protect thee, though wantoning in idle luxury. Very different is the state of Rome’s emperor. ’Tis merit, not blood, must be his support. Virtue hidden hath no value, united with power ’tis both more effective and more useful. Nay, o’erwhelmed in darkness it will no more advantage its obscure possessor than a vessel with no oars, a silent lyre, an unstrung bow.