EPIGRAM

BY DANIEL ROGERS

OF ALBIMONTANUS

original: "Albimontani". This likely refers to Rogers’ family name or a Latinized place of origin. Daniel Rogers was an Anglo-Flemish diplomat and poet.

ON THE THEATER OF THE WORLDLY GLOBE

PREPARED BY ABRAHAM ORTELIUS.

Let the ancient faith be silent about the monuments of the past age,
And let fame be equal to these new discoveries.
The Nile should no longer boast of the heights of the Pyramids,
Nor Memphis worship the wealth of Pharos anymore.
Let Rome keep silent about the triumphal arches she raised,
And no longer sing of trophies built from varied marble.
The portico arranged with Punic columns into a wondrous sight
Need not be celebrated for the unshorn god.
original: "intonso... Deo". This refers to Apollo, who was traditionally depicted with long, youthful hair.
Who would now sing of the circuses, or the colossi
Equal to the heavens, and statues carved from Parian stone?
Ancient time has so worn down these individual things,
That nothing remains but an empty name.
Where is Pompey’s theater, grand with its steps?
And the amphitheatres with domes like the starry sky?
Let all those ancient things yield to Ortelius’s new Theater:
A work built by genius will have no end.

A small, centered typographic ornament, called a fleuron, in the shape of a stylized leaf or flower bud is placed below the text of the poem.