“There are the Decii, and there the Drusi, A little farther off, and stern Torquatus, The man with the axe, and Camillus, the regainer Of standards lost. And see those two, resplendent In equal arms, harmonious friendly spirits Now, in the shadow of night, but if they ever Come to the world of light, alas, what warfare, What battle-lines, what slaughter they will fashion, Each for the other, one from Alpine ramparts Descending, and the other ranged against him With armies from the east, father and son Through marriage, Pompey and Caesar. O my children, Cast out the thoughts of war, and do not murder The flower of our country. O my son, Whose line descends from heaven, let the sword Fall from the hand, be leader in forbearing! “Yonder is one who, victor over Corinth, Will ride in triumph home, famous for carnage Inflicted on the Greeks; near him another, Destroyer of old Argus and Mycenae Where Agamemnon ruled; he will strike down A king descended from Achilles; Pydna Shall be revenge for Pallas’ ruined temple, For Trojan ancestors. Who would pass over, Without a word, Cossus, or noble Cato, The Gracchi, or those thunderbolts of warfare, The Scipios, Libya’s ruin, or Fabricius Mighty with little, or Serranus, ploughing The humble furrow? My tale must hurry on: I see the Fabii next, and their great Quintus Who brought us back an empire by delaying. Others, no doubt, will better mould the bronze To the semblance of soft breathing, draw, from marble, The living countenance; and others plead With greater eloquence, or learn to measure, Better than we, the pathways of the heaven, The risings of the stars: remember, Roman, To rule the people under law, to establish The way of peace, to battle down the haughty, To spare the meek. Our fine arts, these, forever.” Anchises paused a moment, and they marvelled. And he went on:--“See, how Marcellus triumphs, Glorious over all, with the great trophies Won when he slew the captain of the Gauls, Leader victorious over leading foeman. When Rome is in great trouble and confusion He will establish order, Gaul and Carthage Go down before his sword, and triple trophies Be given Romulus in dedication.”