The Satyricon of Petronius Arbiter/Chapter 119
CHAPTER THE ONE HUNDRED AND NINETEENTH.
“The conquering Roman now held the whole world in his sway,The ocean, the land; where the sun shone by day or the moonGleamed by night: but unsated was he. And the seasWere roiled by the weight of his deep-laden keels; if a bayLay hidden beyond, or a land which might yield yellow gold’Twas held as a foe. While the struggle for treasure went onThe fates were preparing the horrors and scourges of war.Amusements enjoyed by the vulgar no longer can charmNor pleasures worn threadbare by use of the plebeian mob.The bronzes of Corinth are praised by the soldier at sea;And glittering gems sought in earth, vie with purple of Tyre;Numidia curses her here, there, the exquisite silks Of China; Arabia’s people have stripped their own fields.Behold other woes and calamities outraging peace!Wild beasts, in the forest are hunted, for gold; and remoteAfrican hammon is covered by beaters, for fearSome beast that slays men with his teeth shall escape, for by thatHis value to men is enhanced! The vessels receiveStrange ravening monsters; the tiger behind gilded barsAnd pacing his cage is transported to Rome, that his jawsMay drip with the life blood of men to the plaudits of men!Oh shame! To point out our impending destruction; the crimeOf Persia enacted anew; in his puberty’s bloomThe man child is kidnapped; surrenders his powers to the knife,Is forced to the calling of Venus; delayed and hedged roundThe hurrying passage of life’s finest years is held backAnd Nature seeks Nature but finds herself not. Everywhere These frail-limbed and mincing effeminates, flowing of locks,Bedecked with an infinite number of garments of silkWhose names ever change, the wantons and lechers to snare,Are eagerly welcomed! From African soil now beholdThe citron-wood tables; their well-burnished surface reflectsOur Tyrian purples and slaves by the horde, and whose spotsResemble the gold that is cheaper than they and ensnareExtravagance. Sterile and ignobly prized is the woodBut round it is gathered a company sodden with wine;And soldiers of fortune whose weapons have rusted, devourThe spoils of the world. Art caters to appetite. WrasseFrom Sicily brought to their table, alive in his ownSea water. The oysters from Lucrine’s shore torn, at the feastAre served to make famous the host; and the appetite, cloyed,To tempt by extravagance. Phasis has now been despoiledOf birds, its littoral silent, no sound there is heard Save only the wind as it rustles among the last leaves.Corruption no less vile is seen in the campus of Mars,Our quirites are bribed; and for plunder and promise of gainTheir votes they will alter. The people is venal; corruptThe Senate; support has its price! And the freedom and worthOf age is decayed, scattered largesse now governs their power;Corrupted by gold, even dignity lies in the dust.Cato defeated and hooted by mobs, but the victorIs sadder, ashamed to have taken the rods from a Cato:In this lay the shame of the nation and character’s downfall,’Twas not the defeat of a man! No! The power and the gloryOf Rome were brought low; represented in him was the honorOf sturdy Republican Rome. So, abandoned and wretched,The city has purchased dishonor: has purchased herself!Despoiled by herself, no avenger to wipe out the stigma! Twin maelstroms of debt and of usury suck down the commons.No home with clear title, no citizen free from a mortgage,But as some slow wasting disease all unheralded fastensIts hold on the vitals, destroying the vigor of manhood,So, fear of the evils impending, impels them to madness.Despair turns to violence, luxury’s ravages needs mustRepaired be by bloodshed, for indigence safely can venture.Can art or sane reason rouse wallowing Rome from the offalAnd break the voluptuous slumber in which she is sunken?Or must it be fury and war and the blood-lust of daggers?