Both differ'd much. Pompey was struck in years,
And by long rest forgot to manage arms,
And, being popular, sought by liberal gifts
To gain the light unstable commons' love,
And joy'd to hear his theatre's applause :
He liv'd secure, boasting his former deeds,
And thought his name sufficient to uphold him:
Like to a tall oak in a fruitful field,
Bearing old spoils and conquerors' monuments,
Who, though his root be weak, and his own
weight

Keep him within the ground, his arms all bare,
His body, not his boughs, send forth a shade;
Though every blast it nod," and seem to fall,+
When all the woods about stand bolt upright,
Yet he alone is held in reverence.

Cæsar's renown for war was less; he restless,
Shaming to strive but where he did subdue;
When ire or hope provok'd, heady and bold;
At all times charging home, and making havoc ;
Urging his fortune, trusting in the gods,
Destroying what withstood his proud desires,
And glad when blood and ruin made him way:
So thunder, which the wind tears from the

clouds,

With crack of riven air and hideous sound Filling the world, leaps out and throws forth fire, Affrights poor fearful men, and blasts their eyes With overthwarting flames, and raging shoots Alongst the air, and, not resisting it,

Falls, and returns, and shivers where it lights. Such humours stirr'd them up: but this war's seed Was even the same that wrecks all great dominions.

Did vile deeds; then 'twas worth the price of blood,

And deem'd renown, to spoil their native town;
Force master'd right, the strongest govern'd all;
Hence came it that th' edicts were over-rul'd,
That laws were broke, tribunes with consuls
strove,

Sale made of offices, and people's voices
Bought by themselves and sold, and every year
Frauds and corruption in the Field of Mars; †
Hence interest and devouring usury sprang,
Faith's breach, and hence came war, to most men
welcome.

Now Cæsar overpass'd the snowy Alps :
His mind was troubled, and he aim'd at war:
And coming to the ford of Rubicon,

At night in dreadful vision fearful Rome
Mourning appear'd, whose hoary hairs were torn,
And on her turret-bearing head dispers'd,
And arms all naked; who, with broken sighs,
And staring, thus bespoke: "What mean'st thou,
Cæsar?

Whither goes my standard? Romans if ye be,
And bear true hearts, stay here!" This spectacle
Struck Cæsar's heart with fear; his hair stood up,
And faintness numb'd his steps there on the

brink.

flow'd,

And then we grew licentious and rude;

The soldiers' prey and rapine brought in riot;
Men took delight in jewels, houses, plate,
And scorn'd old sparing diet, and ware robes
Too light for women; Poverty, who hatch'd
Rome's greatest wits, was loath'd, and all the
world

decay;

And then large limits had their butting lands; The ground, which Curius and Camillus till'd, Was stretch'd unto the fields of hinds unknown. Again, this people could not brook calm peace; Them freedom without war might not suffice: Quarrels were rife; greedy desire, still poor,

*it nod] i. e. make it nod. t to full] i. e. to make it fall.

Albeit the Moor's light javelin or his spear
Sticks in his side, yet runs upon the hunter.
In summer-time the purple Rubicon,
Which issues from a small spring, is but shallow,
And creeps along the vales, dividing just
The bounds of Italy from Cisalpine France.

vile] Old ed. "vild." See note II, p. 68. the Field of Mars] i. e. the Campus Martius. fearful] "trepidantis."

But now the winter's wrath, and watery moon
Being three days old, enforc'd the flood to swell,
And frozen Alps thaw'd with resolving winds.
The thunder-hoof'd horse,* in a crooked line,
To scape the violence of the stream, first waded;
Which being broke, the foot had easy passage.
As soon as Cæsar got unto the bank

And bounds of Italy, "Here, here," saith he,
"An end of peace; here end polluted laws!

Or sea far from the land, so all were whist.
Now light had quite dissolv'd the misty night,
And Cæsar's mind unsettled musing stood;
But gods and fortune prick'd him to this war,
Infringing all excuse of modest shame,
And labouring to approve his quarrel good.
The angry senate, urging Gracchus' † deeds,
From doubtful Rome wrongly expell'd the tri-
bunes

follow!

War and the Destinies shall try my cause."
This said, the restless general through the dark,
Swifter than bullets thrown from Spanish slings,
Or darts which Parthians backward shoot, march'd
on;

And then, when Lucifer did shine alone,
And some dim stars, he Ariminum enter'd.
Day rose, and view'd these tumults of the war:
Whether the gods or blustering south were cause
I know not, but the cloudy air did frown.
The soldiers having won the market-place,
There spread the colours, with confused noise
Of trumpets' clang, shrill cornets, whistling fifes.
The people started; young men left their beds,
And snatch'd arms near their household-gods
hung up,

Such as peace yields; worm-eaten leathern targets,

the camp,

And with them Curio, sometime tribune too,
One that was fee'd for Cæsar, and whose tongue
Could tune the people to the nobles' mind.
"Cæsar," said he,‡ "while eloquence prevail'd,
And I might plead, and draw the commons'
minds

To favour thee, against the senate's will,
Five years I lengthen'd thy command in France;
But law being put to silence by the wars,
We, from our houses driven, most willingly
Suffer'd exile: let thy sword bring us home.§
Now, while their part is weak and fears, march
hence:

Where men are ready, lingering ever hurts.
In ten years wonn'st thou France: Rome may be

won

With far less toil, and yet the honour's more; Few battles fought with prosperous success

not;

plain'd:

"O walls unfortunate, too near to France !
Predestinate to ruin! all lands else

Have stable peace: here war's rage first begins;
We bide the first brunt. Safer might we dwell
Under the frosty bear, or parching east,
Waggons or tents, than in this frontier town.
We first sustain'd the uproars of the Gauls
And furious Cimbrians, and of Carthage Moors:
As oft as Rome was sack'd, here gan the spoil."
Thus sighing whisper'd they, and none durst
speak,

And show their fear or grief: but as the fields
When birds are silent thorough winter's rage,

* The thunder-hoof'd horse] "Sonipes."

in stalls,*

Souse down the walls, and make a passage forth. Straight summon'd he his several companies Unto the standard: his grave look appeas'd

The wrestling tumult, and right hand made silence;

And thus he spake: "You that with me have borne

A thousand brunts, and tried me full ten years,
See how they quit † our bloodshed in the north,
Our friends' death, and our wounds, our wintering
Under the Alps! Rome rageth now in arms
As if the Carthage Hannibal were near;
Cornets of horse are muster'd for the field;
Woods turn'd to ships; both land and sea
against us.

Had foreign wars ill-thriv'd, or wrathful France
Pursu'd us hither, how were we bested,
When, coming conqueror, Rome afflicts me thus? |
Let come their leader whom long peace hath
quail'd,

Raw soldiers lately press'd, and troops of gowns,
Babbling § Marcellus, Cato whom fools reverence!
Must Pompey's followers, with strangers' aid
(Whom from his youth he brib'd), needs make
him king?

And shall he triumph long before his time,

And, having once got head, still shall he reign?
What should I talk of men's corn reap'd by force,
And by him kept of purpose for a dearth?
Who sees not war sit by the quivering judge,
And sentence given in rings of naked swords,
And laws assail'd, and arm'd men in the senate?
'Twas his troop hemm'd in Milo being accus'd;
And now, lest age might wane his state, he casts
For civil war, wherein through use he's known
To exceed his master, that arch-traitor Sylla.
As brood of barbarous tigers, having lapp'd
The blood of many a herd, whilst with their
dams

They kennell'd in Hyrcania, evermore

Will rage and prey; so, Pompey, thou, having lick'd

Warm gore from Sylla's sword, art yet athirst:
Jaws flesh'd ¶ with blood continue murderous.

end?

What end of mischief? Sylla teaching thee,
At last learn, wretch, to leave thy monarchy !
What, now Sicilian pirates are suppress'd,
And jaded king + of Pontus poison'd slain,
Must Pompey as his last foe plume on me,
Because at his command I wound not up
My conquering eagles? say I merit naught, +
Yet, for long service done, reward these men,
And so they triumph, be't with whom ye will.
Whither now shall these old bloodless souls
repair?

What seats for their deserts? what store of ground

For servitors to till? what colonies

To rest their bones? say, Pompey, are these

worse

Than pirates of Sicilia? § they had houses. Spread, spread these flags that ten years' space have conquer'd!

Let's use our tried force: they that now thwart right,

In wars will yield to wrong: the gods are with us;

Neither spoil nor kingdom seek we by these arms, But Rome, at thraldom's feet, to rid from tyrants." This spoke, none answer'd, but a murmuring

buzz

Th' unstable people made: their household-gods And love to Rome (though slaughter steel'd their

hearts,

And minds were prone) restrain'd them; but war's love

And Cæsar's awe dash'd all. Then Lælius,
The chief centurion, crown'd with oaken leaves
For saving of a Roman citizen,

Stepp'd forth, and cried; "Chief leader of Rome's

force,

So be I may be bold to speak a truth, We grieve at this thy patience and delay.

Sicilian] Should be "Cilician."

↑ jaded king] "lassi... regis."-Old ed. has, amausingly enough, "And Jaded, king of Pontus," &c. The monarch in question is, of course, Mithridates.

I say I merit naught] Unless we understand this in the sense of-say I receive no reward (-and in Fletcher's Woman-Hater, "merit " means-derive profit, B. and F's. Works, i. 91, ed. Dyce,-), it is a wrong translation of "mihi si merces erepta laborum est.' § Sicilia] Should be "Cilicia."

"

they that now thwart right, In wars will yield to wrong] Is intended to express,

"arma tenenti

Omnia dat, qui justa negat."

Lælius] Old ed. “Lalius.”

blood

Pricks forth our lively bodies, and strong arms
Can mainly throw the dart, wilt thou endure
These purple grooms, that senate's tyranny?
Is conquest got by civil war so heinous?
Well, lead us, then, to Syrtes' desert shore,
Or Scythia, or hot Libya's thirsty sands.
This band, that all behind us might be quail'd,
Hath with thee pass'd the swelling ocean,
And swept the foaming breast of Arctic Rhene.*
Love over-rules my will; I must obey thee,
Cæsar he whom I hear thy trumpets charge,
I hold no Roman; by these ten blest ensigns
And all thy several triumphs, shouldst thou bid

me

Entomb my sword within my brother's bowels,
Or father's throat, or groaning woman's womb,t
This hand, albeit unwilling, should perform it;
Or rob the gods, or sacred temples fire,
These troops should soon pull down the church
of Jove; +

If to encamp on Tuscan Tiber's streams,
I'll boldly quarter out the fields of Rome;
What walls thou wilt be levell'd with the ground,
These hands shall thrust the ram, and make them
fly,

Albeit the city thou wouldst have so raz'd

Be Rome itself." Here every band applauded, And, with their hands held up, all jointly cried They'll follow where he please. The shouts rent heaven,

As when against pine-bearing Ossa's rocks
Beats Thracian Boreas, or when trees bow §
down

And rustling swing up as the wind fets || breath.
When Cæsar saw his army prone to war,
And Fates so bent, lest sloth and long delay
Might cross him, he withdrew his troops from

France,

And in all quarters musters men for Rome.
They by Lemannus' nook forsook their tents;
They whom the Lingones ¶ foil'd with painted
spears,

* Arctic Rhene] Old ed. "Articks Rhene."-Rhene, i. e. Rhine.

tor groaning woman's womb] Old ed. "or womens groning wombe ".-" plenæque in viscera partu conjugis." of Jove] No;- of Juno. "Numina miscebit castrensis flamma Moneta."

§ bow] Old ed. "bowde."-Here our translator has made two similes out of one.

Il fets] i. e. fetches.

They whom the Lingones, &c.] Here Marlowe's copy of

And many came from shallow Isara,
Who, running long, falls in a greater flood,
And, ere he sees the sea, loseth his name;
The yellow Ruthens left their garrisons;
Mild Atax glad it bears not Roman boats,t
And frontier Varus that the camp is far,
Sent aid; so did Alcides' port, whose seas
Eat hollow rocks, and where the north-west wind
Nor zephyr rules not, but the north alone
Turmoils the coast, and enterance forbids;
And others came from that uncertain shore
Which is nor sea nor land, but oftimes both,
And changeth as the ocean ebbs and flows;
Whether the sea roll'd always from that point
Whence the wind blows, still forced to and fro;
Or that the wandering main follow the moon;
Or flaming Titan, feeding on the deep,
Pulls them aloft, and makes the surge kiss heaven;
Philosophers, look you; for unto me,

Thou cause, whate'er thou be, whom God assigns This great effect, art hid. They came that dwell

By Nemes' fields and banks of Satirus,§
Where Tarbell's winding shores embrace the sea;
The Santons that rejoice in Cæsar's love; }
Those of Bituriges, ¶ and light Axon ** pikes;
And they of Rhenett and Leuca,‡‡ cunning
darters,

And Sequana that well could manage steeds;
The Belgians apt to govern British cars;
Th' Averni§§, too, which boldly feign themselves
The Romans' brethren, sprung of Ilian race;
The stubborn Nervians stain'd with Cotta's
blood;

Lucan had "Lingones," and was perhaps faulty in other respects. The right reading is,

"Castraque, quæ Vogesi curvam super ardua rupem, Pugnaces pictis cohibebant Lingonas armis." * Ruthens] "Ruteni."

tboats] Old ed. "bloats."

tart hid] Marlowe's copy of Lucan had "lates" (instead of "late ").

§ Satirus] Marlowe's copy of Lucan had "Satiri" (instead of "Aturi ").

The Santons that rejoice in Cæsar's love] Marlowe secins to have read here, very ridiculously, "gaudetque amato [instead of "amoto "] Santonus hoste."

Bituriges Here, oddly enough, we have the name of the people put for that of their country.

** Axon] Marlowe's copy of Lucan had "Axones' (instead of "Suessones").

++ Rhene] Marlowe's copy of Lucan had " Rhenusque" (instead of" Rhemusque").

tt Leuca] A place of Marlowe's own invention. (The original has "Leucus ".)

§§ Averni] Was the reading in Marlowe's copy of Lucan (instead of "Arverni ").

And Vangions who, like those of Sarmata,* Wear open slops; + and fierce Batavians,

These being come, their huge power made him bold

dwell

By Cinga's stream, and where swift Rhodanus
Drives Araris to sea; they near the hills,
Under whose hoary rocks Gebenna hangs;
And, Trevier, thou being glad that wars are past
thee;

And you, late-shorn Ligurians, who were wont
In large-spread hair to exceed the rest of France;
And where to Hesus and fell Mercury +
They offer human flesh, and where Jove seems
Bloody like Dian, whom the Scythians serve.
And you, French Bardi, whose immortal pens
Renown the valiant souls slain in your wars,
Sit safe at home and chant sweet poesy.
And, Druides, you now in peace renew
Your barbarous customs and sinister rites:
In unfell'd woods and sacred groves you dwell;
And only gods and heavenly powers you know,
Or only know you nothing; for you hold
That souls pass not to silent Erebus
Or Pluto's bloodless kingdom, but elsewhere
Resume a body; so (if truth you sing)

Death brings long life. Doubtless these northern

men,

He garrison'd; and Italy he fill'd with soldiers.
Vain fame increas'd true fear, and did invade
The people's minds, and laid before their eyes
Slaughter to come, and, swiftly bringing news
Of present war, made many lies and tales:
One swears his troops of daring horsemen fought
Upon Mevania's plain, where bulls are graz'd;
Other that Cæsar's barbarous bands were spread
Along Nar flood that into Tiber falls,

And that his own ten ensigns and the rest
March'd not entirely, and yet hid * the ground;
And that he's much chang'd, looking wild and
big,

And far more barbarous than the French, his vassals;

And that he lags + behind with them, of purpose, Born 'twixt the Alps and Rhene, which he hath brought

From out their northern parts, and thrat Rome, He looking on, by these men should be sack'd. Thus in his fright did each man strengthen fame, And, without ground, fear'd what themselves had feign'd.

Nor were the commons only struck to heart

not,

Are blest by such sweet error; this makes them
Run on the sword's point, and desire to die,
And shame to spare life which being lost is won.
You likewise that repuls'd the Cayc foe,
March towards Rome; and you, fierce men of
Rhene,||

Leaving your country open to the spoil.

* Sarmata] Used wrongly for Sarmatia.
topen slops] "laxis. . . bracis."

And where to Hesus and fell Mercury
They offer human flesh, and where Jove seems
Bloody like Dian, &c.] Old ed.;

"And where to Hesus, and fell Mercury (Joue)
They offer humane flesh, and where it seemes
Bloudy like Dian," &c.

That the printer misunderstood the MS., which gave "Jove" as a correction of "it" in the second line, is evident from the original;

"Et quibus inmitis placatur sanguine diro
Theutates, horrensque feris altaribus Esus;
Et Taranis [i. e. Jupiter, so called by the Gauls]
Scythicæ non mitior ara Dianæ."

& death.... affright] See note §, p. 166.

flying,

Left hateful war decreed to both the consuls.
Then, with their fear and danger all-distract,
Their sway of flight carries the heady rout,§
That in chain'd troops break forth at every port:
You would have thought their houses had been
fir'd,

Or, dropping-ripe, ready to fall with ruin.
So rush'd the inconsiderate multitude
Thorough the city, hurried headlong on,
As if the only hope that did remain

To their afflictions were t' abandon Rome.
Look how, when stormy Auster from the breach
Of Libyan Syrtes rolls a monstrous wave,
Which makes the main-sail fall with hideous
sound,

*hid] Old ed. "hide."

"Rhenique feroces

Deseritis ripas," &c,

makes a distinction which the original has not.

Their sway of flight carries the heady rout, &c.]

quo quemque fugæ tulit impetus, urguet Præcipitem populum; serieque hærentia longa Agmina prorumpunt."