Extant Works

80 O Romulean referring to Rome land, you tame the battles of Jupiter a metaphor for great conflicts and the wars of the Rhine,
You tame civil strife and the mountain slow to form treaties
With long warfare; but if my age had brought you forth,
alt. rejoicing,

You would have attempted, with me not daring, to traverse
The deep lakes. But Rome would have held your reins.
Let the horse that stands in the Caesarean forum, opposite the temple of Dione Venus,
Yield to this one; the horse that Lysippus dared to entrust
To the Pellaean leader Alexander the Great, which soon bore the face of Caesar
On its gilded neck, you can scarcely search with weary eyes
To see how long the view is from that one to this.
90 Who is so crude that, once he has seen both,
He would not say, "So much do the horses differ, as do the rulers!"
This work does not fear rain-bearing winters, or the three-forked
Fire of Jupiter. It does not fear the hosts of the Aeolian prison the winds,
Or the delays of the years. It will stand as long as the earth and the heavens,
As long as Roman daylight lasts; and here, even in silent night,
When the earthly realm is pleasing to the gods, your crowd, having left
The sky, will glide down and join their kisses nearby.
Son and brother and father will go into the embrace.
And the sister; one neck will provide a place for all the stars.
100 Enjoy the perpetual gift of the People and the great Senate:
Apelles would desire to depict you in wax,
And the Attic sculptor Phidias, the fashioner of the Elean Jupiter the statue at Olympia,
Would have wished to place you in a new temple, and your gentle
Face, O Thunderer Domitian, your eyes imitating the starry flames,
Would make rugged Rhodes prefer you over the Sun-god referring to the Colossus of Rhodes.
Be certain to love the lands, and the temples we dedicate to you
May you yourself cherish, nor let the court of Heaven delight you,
And may you joyfully see your descendants offer incense to this gift.