Page:Statius (Mozley 1928) v1.djvu/247

to fetter him, and bidden him bring all warfare to an end, and swear allegiance to the laws of thy new Forum, Janus lifts up his head and from either threshold utters his gratitude. Lo! on this side and on that he raises suppliant hands, and speaks thus with twofold voice: “Hail, great Father of the world, who with me preparest to begin the ages anew, thus would thy Rome ever see thee in my month; thus should eras be born, thus should the year be opened. Give joys perpetual to our annals; let those shoulders many a time be draped in purple folds, and in the bordered robe that thy own Minerva’s hands make haste to weave for thee. Seest thou how the temples gleam more radiant, how the fire leaps higher on the altars, and even my mid-winter sky grows warmer? how tribes and knights and purple-clad Senators rejoice in thy virtues, and every rank shines in the lustre of its consul? What glory so great, I ask, had the year just gone? Come, speak, imperial Rome, recount, Antiquity, with me the long annals, take no note of petty names, but such only as my Caesar would deign to surpass. Thrice and ten times in the lapse of years did Augustus wield the fasces over Latium, but only late by right of merit^[1]: thou as a youth didst outstrip thy grandsires. And how many a time hast thou refused, how many a time forbidden to offer! Yet wilt thou be persuaded, and oft vouchsafe this day to the Senate’s prayers. A longer line awaits thee yet, and as oft again, ay, thrice and four times as often will fortunate Rome grant thee the curule chair. With me shalt thou found a second age, and the altar of thy long-lived sire shall be restored; a thousand trophies shalt thou win, wilt thou but