tum genus humanum positis sibi consulat armis
inque vicem gens omnis amet; pax missa per orbem
ferrea belligeri conpescat limina Iani.
sed mihi iam numen; nec, si te pectore vates
accipio, Cirrhaea velim secreta moventem
sollicitare deum Bacchumque avertere Nysa:
tu satis ad vires Romana in carmina dandas.
Then let the human race take care for itself, with weapons put aside,
and let all people love instead; let peace, sent through the world,
bolt the iron doors of war-bringing Janus.
But for me now may there be divine power; if I as bard receive you
in my breast, I would not wish to rouse the god who inspires
Delphic secrets and to turn Bacchus aside from Nysa:
you are sufficient for giving power to Roman songs.
Notes:
consulat, amet, conpescat: Lucan continues the series of jussive subjunctives from our previous passage.
genus humanum, gens omnis, per orbem: The worldwide (positive) ramifications of Nero’s apotheosis are drawn out further, in a manner reminiscent of the 1960s: the world will have love, not war, and peace will reign everywhere, symbolized by the closing of the doors of Janus (cf. Augustus). Line 62 is a so-called ‘golden line’ (abVAB).
sed mihi iam numen: Lucan’s request for inspiration is striking. He does not seek the help of traditional poetic deities (e.g. the Muses), but rather of the divinized Nero himself.
Cirrhaea…secreta moventem…deum: A periphrasis for Apollo. Kirra was a town in Phocis near Delphi . Cf. Cf. Livy 42.15:
Legationibus dimissis cum Harpalus, quanta maxima celeritate poterat, regressus in Macedoniam nuntiasset regi, nondum quidem parantis bellum reliquisse se Romanos, sed ita infestos, ut facile appareret, non dilaturos, et ipse, praeterquam quod et ita credebat futurum, iam etiam uolebat, in flore uirium se credens esse. Eumeni ante omnis infestus erat; a cuius sanguine ordiens bellum, Euandrum Cretensem, ducem auxiliorum, et Macedonas tres adsuetos ministeriis talium facinerum ad caedem regis subornat litterasque eis dat ad Praxo hospitam, principem auctoritate et opibus Delphorum. satis constabat, Eumenem, ut sacrificaret Apollini, Delphos escensurum. praegressi cum Euandro insidiatores nihil aliud ad peragendum inceptum quam loci opportunitatem, omnia circumeuntes, quaerebant. escendentibus ad templum a Cirrha, priusquam perueniretur ad frequentia aedificiis loca, maceria erat ab laeua ad semitam paulum extantem a fundamento, qua singuli transirent; dextra pars labe terrae in aliquantum altitudinis derupta erat. post maceriam se abdiderunt gradibus adstructis, ut ex ea uelut e muro tela in praetereuntem conicerent. primo a mari circumfusa turba amicorum ac satellitum procedebat, deinde extenuabant paulatim angustiae agmen. ubi ad eum locum uentum est, qua singulis eundum erat, primus semitam ingressus Pantaleon, Aetoliae princeps, cum quo institutus regi sermo erat. tum insidiatores exorti saxa duo ingentia deuoluunt, quorum altero caput ictum est regi, altero umerus; sopitusque ex semita procidit in decliue, multis super prolapsum iam saxis congestis. et ceteri quidem, etiam amicorum et satellitum <turba>, postquam cadentem uidere, diffugiunt; Pantaleon contra inpauidus mansit ad protegendum regem.
Nysa: The mythical mountain where Dionysus (=Bacchus) was nursed. Nysa was also the name of his nurse in some accounts.
satis: Here an indeclinable adjective.
ad vires…dandas: Gerundive used in purpose construction. Cf. Allen & Greenough 506. This may be a good place to review the ways in which purpose can be expressed in Latin (summary taken from AG 533).
- final (that is, purpose) clause with ut
- final clause with relative
- gerund with ad (not used with transitive verbs in classical Latin)
- gerundive with ad
- genitive of gerund with causa or gratia
- genitive of gerundive with causa or gratia
- future participle (later/poetic)
- supine in –um (used with verbs of motion)
- infinitive of purpose (generally poetic)