“Dissimulata diu tristes in amore repulsas vestra parens, Auguste, queror. quonam usque tenebit praelatus mea vota Ligus? vetitumque propinqua luce frui, spatiis discernens gaudia parvis, torquebit Rubicon vicino nomine Thybrim? 365 nonne semel sprevisse satis, cum reddita bellis Africa venturi lusit spe principis urbem nec duras tantis precibus permovimus aures? ast ego frenabam geminos, quibus altior ires, electi candoris equos et nominis arcum 370 iam molita tui, per quem radiante decorus ingrederere toga, pugnae monumenta dicabam defensam titulo Libyam testata perenni. iamque parabantur pompae simulacra futurae Tarpeio spectanda Iovi: caelata metallo 375 classis ut auratum sulcaret remige fluctum, ut Massyla tuos anteirent oppida currus * * * * * Page 101 shown itself unwilling to rob human endeavour of its honour or to let the lightning win the crown of laurel which the efforts of thy father-in-law, Stilicho, have secured for thy brows. Full often had the nobles, sent to urge thy return, brought back the answer that as yet thou couldst not come, until Rome herself, unable to bear any longer the frustration of her citizens’ common prayer, came forth from the depths of her sanctuary and, openly displaying her radiant face, urged the hesitating emperor with complaints of her own. “Too long, my emperor, have I, thy mother, borne in silence the hurt thy refusal to return hath done me. How long shall favoured Liguria possess that for which I desire? How long shall the Rubicon, separating me from the object of my prayers by so narrow a space, torture the Tiber by the all-but-presence of that divine being whose nearer sojourn it is not allowed to enjoy? Was it not enough to have scorned me once when Africa, again at war, mocked the city with hopes of its emperor’s coming, nor could we move thine obstinate ears with all our prayers? Yet did I harness for thee two steeds whiter than snow to draw the chariot wherein thou shouldst ride; already had I builded in thy name a triumphal arch through the which thou shouldst pass clad in the garb of victory, and I was dedicating it as a memorial of the war with an inscription to be the undying witness of the salvation of Libya. Even then were being prepared for Jove to see from the Tarpeian rock models for the coming triumph: a fleet of ships was cast in metal, ships whose oar-blades smote the golden sea; the cities of Africa were made to go before thy chariot and * * * * * Page 102