[De duobus amantibus Euryalo et Lucretia]

taken by madness, forgets her husband. She departed, and nourishing the wound of the wound, she holds the face of Eurialus fixed in her chest. Nor does anything grant quiet to her limbs. She feels I know not what obstacle, and yet she wishes to cling more to the man, nor does his embrace help her at all. Kisses do not delight her; words bring disgust. The image of the stranger is always before her eyes, he who today walks beside Caesar. "Cast off the flames conceived from your chaste breast, if you are able, unhappy one. If I could, I would not be sick as I am. A new power drags me unwillingly. Desire urges one thing, the mind another. I know what is better, yet I follow what is worse. O egregious and noble citizen, what is it to you to be with a stranger? Why do you burn for an outsider? Why do you conceive of beds in a foreign world? If you loathe your husband, this land can also provide what you might love. But alas, whose face is his? What is there that his form, his age, his lineage, his virtue would not move? Certainly, my chest is moved. And let him bring aid. I am dying. May the gods give better things. Shall I betray chaste marriages and trust myself to a stranger I do not know? Who, once he has used me, might go away, and be the husband of another, and leave me? But that is not his face. That nobility of soul is not seen in him. Nor is that grace of form, such that I should fear frauds and the forgetting of our love. And he will give his pledge of love. Why should I fear while safe? Let him prepare and I will banish all delay."

"I also am so beautiful that he would want me no less than I desire him. He will give himself to me often if I am once received to his kisses. How many suitors surround me, wherever I go! How many rivals lie in wait before my doors! I will give effort to love. Either he will remain here, or he will take me away to go with him. Therefore, shall I leave mother, husband, and country? My mother is cruel, and always hostile to my joys. I prefer to lack a husband. My country is where it is delightful to live. But I will lose my fame. What is to me the rumors of men, which I myself will not hear? Nothing is dared by one who studies fame too much. Others have done this. Helen wanted to be abducted; Paris did not take her away unwilling. Why should I mention Diana or Medea? No one argues with the one who errs
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with many." Thus Lucretia, and Eurialus
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did not nourish lesser fires within his chest.
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Lucretia had a house halfway between the court of Caesar and the house of Eurialus. Nor could Eurialus pass by the palace without having her in his eyes as she showed herself from the high windows. But Lucretia always blushed when she saw Eurialus, a fact which made Caesar aware of the love. For when, according to his habit, he would ride now here and now there, and pass by