186. ‘Se Virgilio et Homero avessin visto’

If Virgil and Homer had seen that sun

that I can see with my eyes,

all their power would have been given

to praising her, blending both styles in one:

making Aeneas troubled and sad,

Achilles, Ulysses and the other demi-gods,

and him who ruled the Empire so well

for fifty years, and him whom Aegisthus killed.

That ancient flower of arms and virtue, Scipio,

suffered a similar fate to this new flower

of chastity and of every beauty!

Ennius sang of him in rough metres

as I do her: and oh may my art

not annoy her, and she not scorn my praise!

Notes: Augustus ruled for fifty years: Agamemnon was murdered by Aegisthus: Scipio Africanus Major (c. 236-c. 183BC) was eulogised by Ennius in his Annals.

‘The Funeral Procession of Agamemnon’ - Louis-Jean Desprez (French, 1743 - 1804), Los Angeles County Museum of Art