aedificat ripis et saevum gentibus amnem Thybridis in morem domibus praevelat amoenis. hinc Poeni cumulant laudes, quod rura tyranno 190 libera possideant; hinc obsidione solutus Pannonius potorque Savi, quod clausa tot annis oppida laxatis ausus iam pandere portis rursum cote novat nigras rubigine falces exesosque situ cogit splendere ligones 195 agnoscitque casas et collibus oscula notis figit et impresso glaebis non credit aratro, exsectis,[3] inculta dabant quas saecula, silvis restituit terras et opacum vitibus Histrum conserit et patrium vectigal solvere gaudet, 200 inmunis qui clade fuit. te sospite fas est vexatum laceri corpus iuvenescere regni. sub tot principibus quaecumque amisimus olim, tu reddis. solo poterit Stilichone medente crescere Romanum vulnus tectura cicatrix; 205 inque suos tandem fines redeunte colono Illyricis iterum ditabitur aula tributis. Nec tamen humano cedit caeleste favori iudicium: cingunt superi concordibus unum praesidiis hostesque tuos aut litore produnt 210 aut totum oppositi claudunt fugientibus aequor aut in se vertunt furiis aut militis ense [3] Birt suggests _exsectisque_. * * * * * Page 17 incursion, he builds new dwelling-places along the banks of the Rhine and fringes the river, famed once for the savagery of its tribes, with houses as pleasant as those by Tiber’s stream. Here Carthaginians crown thy praise, because they possess their lands delivered from the tyrant’s rule; there the Pannonian, freed from the blockade, and he who drinks the Save, grateful because he now dare throw open the gates of cities closed for so many years. Such sharpen once more upon the whetstone their sickles dark with rust and cause their mattocks, foul with want of use, to shine as of old. Each sees again his well-remembered cottage, kisses his native hills, and can scarce believe real the furrows cut by his heavy plough. He hews down the forests and renders again fit for cultivation fields which generations had let run wild. Once more he covers the banks of the Danube with vineyards and rejoices to pay the taxes his forefathers paid, for it was bloodshed that brought immunity. While thou art safe, heaven allows the harassed body of our distracted empire to regain its youthful vigour. Thou dost restore all that we have lost of old under so many princes. Only when Stilicho’s hand brings remedy can grow a scar to hide Roman wounds, and when at last the husbandman of Illyria returns to his farms the treasury will again be enriched with Illyrian tribute.