desuetam iam redde mihi iustisque furoris 405 externi spoliis sontes absolve triumphos. “Quem, precor, ad finem laribus seiuncta potestas exulat imperiumque suis a sedibus errat? cur mea quae cunctis tribuere palatia nomen neglecto squalent senio? nec creditur orbis 410 illinc posse regi? medium non deserit umquam caeli Phoebus iter, radiis tamen omnia lustrat. segnius an veteres Histrum Rhenumque tenebant, qui nostram coluere domum? leviusve timebant Tigris et Euphrates, cum foedera Medus et Indus 415 hinc peteret pacemque mea speraret ab arce? hic illi mansere viri, quos mutua virtus legit et in nomen Romanis rebus adoptans iudicio pulchram seriem, non sanguine duxit; hic proles atavum deducens Aelia Nervam 420 tranquillique Pii bellatoresque Severi. hunc civis dignare chorum conspectaque dudum ora refer, pompam recolens ut mente priorem, quem tenero patris comitem susceperat aevo, 424 nunc duce cum socero iuvenem te Thybris adoret.” Orantem medio princeps sermone refovit: “numquam aliquid frustra per me voluisse dolebis, o dea, nec legum fas est occurrere matri. sed nec post Libyam (falsis ne perge querellis incusare tuos) patriae mandata vocantis 430 sprevimus: advectae misso Stilichone curules, ut nostras tibi, Roma, vices pro principe consul impleret generoque socer. vidistis in illo * * * * * Page 105 fame won from the enemy, and make good guilty triumphs by the lawful spoils of foreign madness. “How long shall our emperor’s rule be a stranger to its true home and his governance stray from its rightful seat? Why does my palace which has given its name to all palaces mourn in neglected decay? Cannot the world be ruled therefrom? Phoebus never deserts his centre path though his beams are shed upon all. Was the hand of those old emperors who made me their home any lighter laid upon the tribes of Danube and Rhine? Was the awe felt by those of Tigris and Euphrates any less real when Mede and Indian came to this my capital of Rome to beg for alliance or sue for peace? Here dwelt those emperors whom merit chose for merit, and so, adopting them as consuls for the Roman state, made judgement not blood continue a noble line. Here lived the Aelian family that traced its descent from Nerva, the peaceful Antonines, the warlike Severi. Thou art a citizen; disdain not such a band; give us back the countenance we beheld long since, that Father Tiber, remembering the glory that was, may with thy father-in-law welcome thee as a man whom as a boy he saw leave my city at his father’s side.”