Page:Statius (Mozley 1928) v1.djvu/253

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SILVAE, IV. ii. 35–59

Bacchus strive to serve them. So bounteous were the gliding wheels of airy Triptolemus[1]; so did Lyaeus overshadow the bare hills and sober fields with the branches of his vines.

But no leisure had I to behold the feast or the tables of Moorish wood resting on supports of Indian ivory, or the rows of attendant slaves, so eager was I to gaze upon himself, ay himself, calm-visaged and in majesty serene tempering his rays and gently veiling the glory of his state; yet the splendour that he would fain conceal shone in his countenance. Such as he was, barbarian foes and foreign tribes would have known him had they seen him. Not otherwise does Gradivus recline in the cool vale of Rhodope, his steeds unyoked; even so does Pollux weary from the wrestling-bouts of Therapnae lay down his slippery limbs; so lies Euhan by Ganges’ side while Indians howl;[2] so stern Alcides, returning after his grim errand, rejoices to lay his side upon the outstretched lion-skin. I speak of trivial things, nor can I yet find any rival to thy countenance, O Germanicus: such is the monarch of the gods, when he visits once more the bounds of Ocean and the Ethiopian board, and, his face suffused with sacred nectar, bids the Muses utter their mystic songs, and Phoebus praise the triumph of Pallene.[3]

May the gods grant thee—for ’tis said they oft give ear to lesser souls—to surpass, twice and thrice over, the limits of thy sire’s old age! Mayst thou send appointed deities to the sky,[4] and grant temples and

  1. ↑ He taught men how to sow corn, as Bacchus how to cultivate the grape.
  2. ↑ There was a cycle of legends about Bacchus’s conquests in India, for which see the Dionysiaca of Nonnus.
  3. ↑ Supposed scene of the battle of gods and giants, more usually called Phlegra.
  4. ↑ An allusion may be intended here to the Temple of the Flavian Gens consecrated by Domitian. Cf. Theb. i. 30. Divine honours were given by Domitian to his brother Titus and to his niece Julia. “domos” = the Palatine.

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