Augustan Moon-Writings

There, the works of craftsmen and floors of painted marble
shine, and mosaic floorsoriginal: asarota; refers to a specific type of Greco-Roman mosaic floor that depicts "unswept" scraps from a banquet. lie beneath their figures,
with carved beams and bright reliefsoriginal: toreumata; refers to embossed or chased decorative metalwork or fine carvings. with statues.
Here the wall gleams, dyed with Gaetulian purpleoriginal: Gætulo murice; a luxury purple dye from North Africa, signifying royal status.,
and not far from here the spacious dining chambers of the great
Duke open up, above which stand the halls
of the Women’s Quartersoriginal: Gynecæi; the apartments of the Duchess and her ladies., resting on carved columns;
and there are heated roomsoriginal: hypocausta; a Roman-style underfloor heating system., and bedrooms with joined walls,
and marbles gleaming with colorful veins.
It would be a long delay to include in my verses
the ornaments of the place, the decorations of the ancient household gods.
Many chambers also lie beneath the roof itself,
where Dukes and high sovereigns might dwell.
But above, rising with a sloping vaulted staircase,
is a hall open to the light, through which a gentle breeze blows,
displaying, at immense expense, the Library,
composed of one thousand and eighty parts before,
the delight of the Master, the care and study of Selenus The Duke wrote under the pseudonym Gustavus Selenus..
You were like powerful Philadelphus Ptolemy II Philadelphus, the king of Egypt who founded the Great Library of Alexandria., whom Memphis
obeyed, and the trembling mouths of the sevenfold Nile;
or like Alfonso Alfonso V of Aragon (1396–1458), a Renaissance ruler and famous patron of learning and book collecting., Ruler of the Aragonese in the world,
who, when the madness of wars and arms grew quiet,
followed the camp of the Muses and the arts of Pallas Athena,
gathering from everywhere the monuments of ancient men,
a Maecenas and Patron of the Sacred Art, and Guardian of Schools.
Why should I mention the spacious volumes arranged in their cases,
the desks, the chests, and the packed boxes?
Toward which you may go by way of the stairs, having reached the summit.
I cannot fill my mind enough, and I burn with looking
at these things with my eyes, while I turn them over in my eager mind;
while I am amazed, and remain fixed in a single gaze,
even daring to touch a Book closer with these fingers.
Suddenly Augustus stood there; the doors having been opened,
he enters, dressed in fur, the Venerable Hero;
his robe sweeps the ground, and a small caporiginal: pileolus; a skullcap often worn by scholars or clergy.
brushed the white hair on the top of his head; then by chance turning
a paper in his hands, he seeks out the lecterns of books with thirsty eyes.