Pharsalia [109]
vinctus", 579.) Hermes was born in a
cave in Mount Cyllene in Arcadia.
(22) The idea seems to be that the earth, bulging at the equator,
casts its shadow highest on the sky: and that the moon
becomes eclipsed by it whenever she follows a straight path
instead of an oblique one, which may happen from her
forgetfulness (Mr. Haskins' note).
(23) This catalogue of snakes is alluded to in Dante's "Inferno",
24.
"I saw a crowd within
Of serpents terrible, so strange of shape
And hideous that remembrance in my veins
Yet shrinks the vital current. Of her sands
Let Libya vaunt no more: if Jaculus,
Pareas, and Chelyder be her brood,
Cenchris and Amphisbaena, plagues so dire
Or in such numbers swarming ne'er she showed."
-- Carey.
(See also Milton's "Paradise Lost", Book X., 520-530.)
(24) The Egyptian Thebes.
(25) "... All my being
Like him whom the Numidian Seps did thaw
Into a dew with poison, is dissolved,
Sinking through its foundations."
--Shelley, "Prometheus Unbound", Act iii, Scene 1.
(26) The glance of the eye of the basilisk or cockatrice, was
supposed to be deadly. (See "King Richard III", Act i.,
Scene 2: --
Gloucester: Thine eyes, sweet lady, have infected
mine.
Anne: Would they were basilisks, to strike
thee dead!)
The word is also used for a big cannon. ("1 King Henry IV",
Act ii., Scene 3.)
(27) See Book III., 706.
(28) According to one story Orion, for his assault on Diana, was
killed by the Scorpion, who received his reward by being
made into a constellation.
(29) A sort of venomous ant.
(30) No other author gives any details of this march; and those
given by Lucan are unreliable. The temple of Hammon is far
from any possible line of route taken from the Lesser Syrtes
to Leptis. Dean Merivale states that the inhospitable sands
extended for seven days' journey, and ranks the march as one
of the greatest exploits in Roman military history.
Described by the names known to modern geography, it was
from the Gulf of Cabes to Cape Africa. Pope, in a letter to
Henry Cromwell, dated November 11, 1710, makes some caustic
remarks on the geography of this book. (See "Pope's Works",
Vol. vi., 109; by Elwin & Courthope.)
(31) See Line 444.
(32) See Book IV., 65.
(33) The "Palladium" or image of Pallas, preserved in the temple
of Vesta. (See Book I., 659.)
BOOK X
CAESAR IN EGYPT
When Caesar, following those who bore the head,
First trod the shore accursed, with Egypt's fates
His fortunes battled, whether Rome should pass
In crimson conquest o'er the guilty land,
Or Memphis' arms should ravish from the world
Victor and vanquished: and the warning shade
Of Magnus saved his kinsman from the sword.
First, by the crime assured, his standards borne
Before, he marched upon the Pharian town;
But when the people, jealous of their laws,
Murmured against the fasces, Caesar knew
Their minds were adverse, and that not for him
Was Magnus' murder wrought. And yet with brow
Dissembling fear, intrepid, through the shrines
Of Egypt's gods he strode, and round the fane
Of ancient Isis; bearing witness all
To Macedon's vigour in the days of old.
Yet did nor gold nor ornament restrain
His hasting steps, nor worship of the gods,
Nor city ramparts: but in greed of gain
He sought the cave dug out amid the tombs. (1)
The madman offspring there of Philip lies
The famed Pellaean robber, fortune's friend,
Snatched off by fate, avenging so the world.
In sacred sepulchre the hero's limbs,
Which should be scattered o'er the earth, repose,
Still spared by Fortune to these tyrant days:
For in a world to freedom once recalled,
All men had mocked the dust of him who set
The baneful lesson that so many lands
cave in Mount Cyllene in Arcadia.
(22) The idea seems to be that the earth, bulging at the equator,
casts its shadow highest on the sky: and that the moon
becomes eclipsed by it whenever she follows a straight path
instead of an oblique one, which may happen from her
forgetfulness (Mr. Haskins' note).
(23) This catalogue of snakes is alluded to in Dante's "Inferno",
24.
"I saw a crowd within
Of serpents terrible, so strange of shape
And hideous that remembrance in my veins
Yet shrinks the vital current. Of her sands
Let Libya vaunt no more: if Jaculus,
Pareas, and Chelyder be her brood,
Cenchris and Amphisbaena, plagues so dire
Or in such numbers swarming ne'er she showed."
-- Carey.
(See also Milton's "Paradise Lost", Book X., 520-530.)
(24) The Egyptian Thebes.
(25) "... All my being
Like him whom the Numidian Seps did thaw
Into a dew with poison, is dissolved,
Sinking through its foundations."
--Shelley, "Prometheus Unbound", Act iii, Scene 1.
(26) The glance of the eye of the basilisk or cockatrice, was
supposed to be deadly. (See "King Richard III", Act i.,
Scene 2: --
Gloucester: Thine eyes, sweet lady, have infected
mine.
Anne: Would they were basilisks, to strike
thee dead!)
The word is also used for a big cannon. ("1 King Henry IV",
Act ii., Scene 3.)
(27) See Book III., 706.
(28) According to one story Orion, for his assault on Diana, was
killed by the Scorpion, who received his reward by being
made into a constellation.
(29) A sort of venomous ant.
(30) No other author gives any details of this march; and those
given by Lucan are unreliable. The temple of Hammon is far
from any possible line of route taken from the Lesser Syrtes
to Leptis. Dean Merivale states that the inhospitable sands
extended for seven days' journey, and ranks the march as one
of the greatest exploits in Roman military history.
Described by the names known to modern geography, it was
from the Gulf of Cabes to Cape Africa. Pope, in a letter to
Henry Cromwell, dated November 11, 1710, makes some caustic
remarks on the geography of this book. (See "Pope's Works",
Vol. vi., 109; by Elwin & Courthope.)
(31) See Line 444.
(32) See Book IV., 65.
(33) The "Palladium" or image of Pallas, preserved in the temple
of Vesta. (See Book I., 659.)
BOOK X
CAESAR IN EGYPT
When Caesar, following those who bore the head,
First trod the shore accursed, with Egypt's fates
His fortunes battled, whether Rome should pass
In crimson conquest o'er the guilty land,
Or Memphis' arms should ravish from the world
Victor and vanquished: and the warning shade
Of Magnus saved his kinsman from the sword.
First, by the crime assured, his standards borne
Before, he marched upon the Pharian town;
But when the people, jealous of their laws,
Murmured against the fasces, Caesar knew
Their minds were adverse, and that not for him
Was Magnus' murder wrought. And yet with brow
Dissembling fear, intrepid, through the shrines
Of Egypt's gods he strode, and round the fane
Of ancient Isis; bearing witness all
To Macedon's vigour in the days of old.
Yet did nor gold nor ornament restrain
His hasting steps, nor worship of the gods,
Nor city ramparts: but in greed of gain
He sought the cave dug out amid the tombs. (1)
The madman offspring there of Philip lies
The famed Pellaean robber, fortune's friend,
Snatched off by fate, avenging so the world.
In sacred sepulchre the hero's limbs,
Which should be scattered o'er the earth, repose,
Still spared by Fortune to these tyrant days:
For in a world to freedom once recalled,
All men had mocked the dust of him who set
The baneful lesson that so many lands