{"hilary-arles-versus-maccabaeorum/1":{"o":"Rex fuit Antiochus Syriæ ditissimus olim, / In cujus regno mater natique fuerunt / Septem, ut fama refert, de sancta gente creati; / Quos cura egregii generis meminisse jubebat, / Et legi servire datæ: sic namque volentes / De populo meliore Dei sua jura tenebant. / Rex avidus mutare fidem, mutare timorem / Justorum voluit, populo ut misceret iniquo / Praemia promittit matri, promittit et aurum, / Et quidquid posset toto conquirere regno, / Si modo mutaret mores sensusque priores, / Cogeret et natos alios sibi fingere mores. / Illa negat, tacitumque premit sub corde dolorem. / Hanc postquam nullis potuit corrumpere verbis, / Tentavit primum tormentis vincere sævis. / Pertulit illa tamen gemitus, et tristia regis / Verbera non timuit. Victum se vidit ut ille: / Heu! quid agam? dixit. Vincis quod femina regem! / Non tamen effugies: plus est quod dura dolebis. / In natos sævibo tuos, licet improba es: / Hac certe ratione meum sanabo dolorem. / Sustulit illa manus, cœlumque aspexit in altum, / Emisit gemitus, et talia verba locuta est: / Tu licet et gazas frads et regna, tyranne, / Non capimur regum donis, nec munera sanctis / Eripient promissa Dei. Spes certior illa est / Quæ vitam nobis promittit tempore longo. / Hanc sequor, hanc didici. Nam lubrica tangere dom, / Sumere divinas facile est, et perdere tritam. / Sed licet et flammas post verbera sæva mineris,","t":"Antiochus was once king, the richest king of Syria,\nin whose kingdom there lived a mother and her sons,\nseven, as report tells, born of the holy race;\nwhom care for their noble lineage bade remember it\nand serve the law that had been given; for thus, willingly,\nthey kept their rights as part of God's better people.\nThe king, eager to change their faith, to change the fear\nof the righteous, wished to mingle them with the wicked people.\nHe promises rewards to the mother, promises gold too,\nand whatever he could gather in all his kingdom,\nif only she would change her customs and former mind\nand force her sons to shape other customs for themselves.\nShe refuses, and presses down her silent grief in her heart.\nWhen he could not corrupt her with any words,\nhe tried first to conquer her with cruel torments.\nYet she bore them with groans, and did not fear\nthe king's grim lashes. When he saw himself defeated:\n'Alas, what shall I do?' he said. 'You, a woman, conquer a king!\nYet you will not escape: there is more, which you will grieve harshly.\nI will rage against your sons, wicked though you are:\nby this means at least I will heal my grief.'\nShe raised her hands and looked up to the high heaven,\ngroaned, and spoke such words:\n'Though you offer treasures and kingdoms, tyrant,\nwe are not taken by the gifts of kings, nor will gifts snatch\nfrom the saints the promises of God. Surer is that hope\nwhich promises us life for a long time.\nThis I follow, this I have learned. For it is easy to touch slippery gifts,\nto take them up, and to lose the well-worn way.\nBut though after cruel lashes you threaten flames too,","f":"Hilary of Arles, <i>Vers. Macch.</i> 1 (PL 50; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/hilary-arles-versus-maccabaeorum/1)."},"hilary-arles-versus-maccabaeorum/121":{"o":"Constitit ante pedes juvenis florentibus annis, / Egregius forma, dd dignus qui regna teneret, / Dignior Antiocho, verum meliora secutus / Regna, vocante Deo; mater cui talia fatur: / Accipe, nate, tuæ securus dicta parentis, / \" Accipe, ne segnis perdas virtutis honorem. / Sunt tibi jam fratres pietatis sede manentes / Inque loco meliori quam labentia regna; / Quorum si proprios attingis pectore sensus, / Victor apud populos regem superasse fereris, / Sicut fama tuos jam misit in ardua fratres. / His accede, precor; sunt hæc aptissima dona, / Contempsisse nefas, et jura relinquere regis / Indomiti, quem nulla manet post ista voluptas. / At juvenis tacito mittebat murmure voces / Oranti similis, palmas tendebat in altum, / Subnixoque genu matris pendebat ab ore, / Cui licet aspectus, corpus non ipsa premebat. / Qui simul admonitus cratem conscendit, in igne / Intrepidus certaque fide sua membra locavit. / Conduntur flammæ, lepida remanente favilla, / Corpusque illaesum tellus adaperta recepit: / Sancta quoque ad superos anima inviolata recessit. / At mater dubitans, gemitus an gaudia sumat, / Hæsitat, et querulo sic est sermone locuta: / Quid nunc, dire, paras? Jussis parebimus omnes? / Sed numero partus, custos ne subtrahat ullum, / Ac licet ipse velis, non sum passura, tyranne, / Ut non isto omnes pereant certamine nati. / Temporis ista tui, mutes licet, horrida poena est,","t":"The young man stood before his feet in the flower of his years,\noutstanding in beauty, worthy to hold kingdoms,\nworthier than Antiochus, but following better\nkingdoms, with God calling him; to him his mother speaks thus:\n'Receive, son, untroubled, the words of your parent,\nreceive them, lest through sloth you lose the honour of courage.\nYour brothers now abide in the seat of piety\nand in a better place than gliding kingdoms;\nif in your heart you reach to their very feelings,\nyou will be told among the peoples as victor over the king,\nas fame has already sent your brothers to the heights.\nJoin them, I beg; these are the fittest gifts:\nto have despised wickedness and to have left the laws of a king\nuntamed, whom no pleasure awaits after this.'\nBut the young man sent forth words with a silent murmur,\nlike one praying; he stretched his palms on high,\nand, resting on his knee, hung on his mother's lips,\nwhose body she could not embrace, though she could see him.\nAt once, admonished, he mounted the gridiron, and in the fire\nplaced his limbs, fearless, with sure faith.\nThe flames die down, a gentle ash remaining,\nand the earth opened and received the body unharmed;\nand the holy soul withdrew inviolate to those above.\nBut the mother, doubting whether to take up groans or joys,\nhesitates, and spoke thus in plaintive speech:\n'What are you preparing now, cruel one? Shall we all obey your commands?\nBut I count my offspring, lest the guard withdraw any,\nand even if you yourself wish it, I will not allow, tyrant,\nthat any of my sons should fail to perish in this contest.\nThe punishment of your time is horrid, though you change it,","f":"Hilary of Arles, <i>Vers. Macch.</i> 121 (PL 50:1279; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/hilary-arles-versus-maccabaeorum/121)."},"hilary-arles-versus-maccabaeorum/151":{"o":"Duraque damnatis eadem sententia natis. / Si graviora putas, si sunt graviora, minare; / Quodque meos cernis vultus, horrore tegeris. / Gaudemus pariter, quoties desævis in istos. / Ardet at ipse magis rabida rex concitus ira, / Tentarique putat, ne sicut cætera fratrum / Turba ferant pœnas, matremque hoc quærere sentit. / Durat in exitium, quartumque addicere natum / Pœnæ mox voluit; lassati namque ministri / Nec regis furias, nec regem ferre valebant. / Proh pudor! erubuit vultus ostendere matri / Natus, et attonitam mentem confundere cœpit. / Hunc postquam stantem submisso lumine vidit, / Talibus aggreditur dictis monitura timentem: / Quartus es a trino partus, mihi quartus et infans. / Quæ nunc verba tibi, quæ possum dicere, nate? / Hoc nisi quod coeli durata potentia tecum / Sit simul et virtus; sanctæque propaginis ortum / Illi debemus regi, quodcumque negamus. / Ille dedit nobis Abraham cum semine sancto, / Per quem nobilitas, per quem genus omne probatur. / Quod manet in Domino; sanctus cui nascitur Isac, / Tunc cum jam nullum natum sperare senectus / Sponte sua poterat, sterilis quia Sarra manebat; / Illaque cum peperit, generisque propagine cœpta, / Ex insperato remanent tibi Sarra nepotes, / Esau et patria deductus origine Jacob, / Quos scimus partu geminos peperisse Rebeccam. / Hinc sumus, hinc orimur: genus hoc tibi, nate, / petendum est:","t":"and the same sentence is harsh for the condemned sons.\nIf you think there are heavier things, if there are heavier, threaten them;\nyou see my face, and you are covered with horror.\nWe rejoice together, as often as you rage against them.'\nBut the king himself burns the more, roused by rabid anger,\nand thinks he is being tested, lest, like the rest of the brothers,\nthe others too bear the penalties, and senses that the mother seeks this.\nHe persists to destruction, and soon wished to assign the fourth son\nto punishment; for the weary ministers\ncould bear neither the king's furies nor the king.\nFor shame! The son blushed to show his face to his mother\nand began to confound her astonished mind.\nWhen she saw him standing with lowered eyes,\nshe approaches with such words to admonish him in his fear:\n'You are my fourth offspring after the three, my fourth infant too.\nWhat words can I now say to you, son?\nOnly this: that the steadfast power of heaven may be with you,\nand courage too; and to that King we owe the origin\nof our holy stock, whatever we refuse this king.\nHe gave us Abraham with his holy seed,\nthrough whom our nobility, through whom our whole race is proved,\nwhich abides in the Lord; to him holy Isaac is born\nwhen old age could no longer hope for any son\nof its own accord, since Sarah remained barren;\nand when she bore, and the propagation of the race began,\nunexpectedly grandsons remain to you, Sarah,\nEsau and Jacob, drawn from his father's origin,\nwhom we know Rebecca bore as twins.\nHence we are, hence we spring: this race, son, you must seek.","f":"Hilary of Arles, <i>Vers. Macch.</i> 151 (PL 50:1279; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/hilary-arles-versus-maccabaeorum/151)."},"hilary-arles-versus-maccabaeorum/181":{"o":"Tu tibi pande viam, genitori accede priorum. / Quorum progenies totum dispersa per orbem / Invidiam patitur: Dominum quia sola potentem / Mente colit, turbæ nec mixta accedit iniquæ. / Quid tibi cum tristi vultu, quid lumina terrae / Fixa tenes? Coelum potius coelique Parentem / Conspice, ne dubites, mater tibi prospera monstrat, / Quidquid inest, patiens porta, ac comitare valenter / Turbam, nate, meam, numerumque hortare sequen­ / tem. / Sic dilecta parens luctus et gaudia miscens / Finierat claros monitus, cum luminis orbes / Ipse levat, matremque oculis intendere coepit, / Nil jam triste gerens, halitu vultuque fatetur / Se timuisse nihil nisi tristia vulnera matris / Per partus divisa suos: sic ipse tenentum / Elapsus manibus, cursu contendit in ignes. / Mira loquar, flamma illius non contigit ora, / Exanime ut corpus flammam superarat et ignes, / Ore patente, tamen tacito, qua spiritus iret, / Unde acceptus erat, pariter cum sanguine fugit. / Hoc ipso gavisa parens, quod qui modo tristi / Constiterat vultu, fretus mox pectore toto / Paruerit monitis, et regis contempserit iras: / Sic est orsa tamen, cum rex dubitaret in illos / Qui superant, gemitusque daret pia turba, ministri / Regem exsecrantes, tacito sermone requirunt. / Protrahe, quid dubitas? nulli jam parcere debes, / Nec potes, ut cupias, decretum rumpere noli, / Appello Regem, totum qui temperat orbem,","t":"Open the way for yourself; go to the father of your forebears,\nwhose progeny, scattered over the whole world,\nsuffers envy, because it alone worships the mighty Lord in its mind\nand does not mingle with the wicked crowd.\nWhy the sad face? Why do you keep your eyes fixed\non the earth? Look rather at heaven and the Father of heaven;\ndo not hesitate; your mother shows you prosperous things;\nwhatever there is, bear it patiently, and bravely accompany\nmy band, son, and urge on the number that follows.'\nSo the beloved parent, mixing grief and joy,\nhad finished her bright admonitions, when he himself raises\nhis eyes and began to fix them on his mother,\nbearing nothing sad now; by breath and face he confesses\nthat he had feared nothing but the sad wounds of his mother,\ndivided among her offspring; so, slipping\nfrom the hands of those who held him, he rushes in haste into the fires.\nI will tell of wonders: the flame did not touch his face,\nand when the lifeless body had overcome the flame and fires,\nwith mouth open, yet silent, where the spirit might go,\nback to where it had been received, it fled together with the blood.\nAt this very thing the parent rejoiced, that he who just now\nhad stood with sad face, soon, trusting with his whole heart,\nobeyed her admonitions and despised the king's anger.\nYet she began thus, when the king hesitated against those\nwho remained, and the pious crowd groaned, and the ministers,\ncursing the king, asked in silent speech:\n'Bring them forward; why do you hesitate? You ought to spare none now,\nnor can you, though you wish it; do not break your decree.\nI appeal to the King who governs the whole world,","f":"Hilary of Arles, <i>Vers. Macch.</i> 181 (PL 50:1281; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/hilary-arles-versus-maccabaeorum/181)."},"hilary-arles-versus-maccabaeorum/211":{"o":"Cui mare, cui cœlum, coeli cui sidera parent: / Quod nisi producis, timor est: jam segnius instas, / Jam sentis quæ regna petant, quæ gloria nobis / Jam parte ex utraque manet, si parcere nolis. / Nam quoscumque tuo jussisti excedere regno / Seu vitio comitante tuum vicere furorem, / Nempe tuum, lætique manent in sede piorum. / Forsitan hoc mortem credas, furiose tyranne? / Vita est longa magis, regnoque potentior isto / Quod regis, i extrema cujus jam parte moraris. / Mortalis tamen es, nec in ævum regna tenebis. / Sed perge imperium, nec partus divide nostros: / Hos quoque funestus, superant qui ætate minores, / Hos quoque da flammis, et juribus utere regni. / Hi contempta etiam vincent tua regna, superbe. / Concipit Antiochus furias, sævusque tyrannus / Æstuat, et gemitus inter sua pectora volvit. / Consentit cum mente color, tritisque gravatos / Attollit vultus, et talia verba profatur: / Haec tua libertas et dura potentia linguæ, / Atque hic, quem tumida portas cervice rigorem, / Sentiet irati regis quid verbera possint, / Si nondum es satiata malis, et fingere tentas / Lætitiam, luctusque tuos in gaudia vertis. / Non mutabo necem: gaude, lætare, triumpha; / Dummodo sic vincas, ut sis suprema tuorum. / Sic furiosa animis natorum funere gaudet. / Hos quoque do flammis, hoc nec mutare potestas / Ulla potest; decreta manent, lætare superstes / Natis orba tuis, et ne mea jussa morentur,","t":"whom sea, heaven, and the stars of heaven obey:\nunless you bring them forward, it is fear; you press on more slowly now;\nnow you perceive what kingdoms they seek, what glory\nawaits us now on both sides, if you refuse to spare.\nFor all whom you ordered to depart from your kingdom\nhave overcome your fury, whatever fault you charged them with,\nyour fury indeed, and they abide joyful in the seat of the pious.\nPerhaps you think this death, furious tyrant?\nIt is a longer life, and more powerful than this kingdom\nwhich you rule, in whose last part you now linger.\nYou are mortal all the same, nor will you hold kingdoms forever.\nBut carry on with your command, and do not divide my offspring:\nthese too, deadly man, who remain, younger in age,\nthese too give to the flames, and use the rights of your kingdom.\nThese too will conquer your kingdom, despised, proud one.'\nAntiochus conceives furies, and the savage tyrant\nseethes, and rolls groans within his breast.\nHis colour agrees with his mind, and he lifts his face,\nheavy with gloom, and utters such words:\n'This freedom of yours and the harsh power of your tongue,\nand this stiffness which you carry in your swollen neck,\nwill feel what the lashes of an angry king can do,\nif you are not yet sated with evils and try to feign\ngladness, and turn your griefs into joys.\nI will not change their death: rejoice, be glad, triumph,\nprovided you so conquer that you are the last of your own.\nSo, mad in mind, she rejoices at her sons' death!\nThese too I give to the flames; this no power\ncan change; the decrees stand; rejoice, surviving,\nbereaved of your sons; and lest my commands be delayed,","f":"Hilary of Arles, <i>Vers. Macch.</i> 211 (PL 50:1281; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/hilary-arles-versus-maccabaeorum/211)."},"hilary-arles-versus-maccabaeorum/241":{"o":"Ordo suos peragat cursus: producite natos, / Ne vani pereant ignes. Dubius ne videri / Rex possit, certe timor est mihi, femina, nullus. / Præcipuus de gente tua produceris, ore / Et specie, mirande puer, cui pectore virtus / Firma manet: tamque hinc poteras vel vincere / regem. / Ad quem sic placido mater sermone locuta est: / Si are complexus matri tibi, nate, liceret, / Confiteor soli, post vulnera, nate, dedissem. / Sed lex dura vetat, tristisque potentia regis. / Deneget amplexus, dum sit vox libera nobis, / Et liceat meminisse Dei, legemque tenere / Non a rege datam, sed quam Deus arbiter orbis / Tradidit, et mundi rector, Moysesque petitam / Accepit, populoque dedit, cui maxima laus est / Nosse Deum, meritum cui nos debemus honorem. / Tu modo ne dubites monitis parere parentis: / Sit vigor et virtus, penitusque in pectore toto / Mens maneat jam plena Deo; sit fortior aetas, / Quam regem sperare fuit superare jubentem. / O quanta est virtus, quanta est fiducia fortis! / Sed jam ne dubites medias pervincere flammas. / Victor eris, mi crede, puer, victorque redibis. / Ossibus et validis miscebunt corpora nervi, / Servatasque animas iterum in nova viscera reddent. / Sed ne forte tamen rapidus te terreat ignis, / Fratrum sume animos, æternumque inspice Numen. / Jussa facit, tacitusque Deum testatur et orat / Murmure quo poterat: puerum non impedit ætas,","t":"let the order run its course: bring forward the sons,\nlest the fires perish in vain. Lest the king seem\nto waver, I have certainly, woman, no fear.'\nYou are brought forward, the chief of your race, wonderful boy,\nin face and beauty, in whose breast courage remains\nfirm: and from this you could even conquer the king.\nTo him the mother spoke thus in gentle speech:\n'If it were allowed, son, to give your mother embraces,\nI confess, son, I would have given them to you alone, after the wounds.\nBut harsh law forbids it, and the grim power of the king.\nLet it deny embraces, so long as our voice is free,\nand we may remember God and hold the law\ngiven not by a king, but which God, judge of the world\nand ruler of the universe, handed down, and Moses sought\nand received, and gave to the people, whose greatest praise is\nto know God, to whom we owe the honour that is his due.\nOnly do not hesitate to obey your parent's admonitions:\nlet there be vigour and courage, and deep in your whole breast\nlet your mind remain full of God; let your age be stronger\nthan the commanding king had hoped to overcome.\nO how great is the courage, how great the confidence of the brave!\nBut now do not hesitate to conquer through the midst of the flames.\nYou will be victor, believe me, boy, and as victor you will return.\nSinews will join bodies to strong bones,\nand will give back the preserved souls again into new flesh.\nBut lest perhaps the rapid fire terrify you,\ntake up the spirit of your brothers, and look at the eternal Power.'\nHe does what he is told, and silently calls God to witness and prays\nwith what murmur he could; his age did not hinder the boy;","f":"Hilary of Arles, <i>Vers. Macch.</i> 241 (PL 50:1283; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/hilary-arles-versus-maccabaeorum/241)."},"hilary-arles-versus-maccabaeorum/271":{"o":"Non timuit cratem expositam, matrique volenti / Paruit, et dicto citius super irruit ignes. / Cesserunt flammæ, cessit dolor omnis, et una / Corpus et ignis erat, corpus superaverat ignem, / Spiritus ante tamen placidas superaverat auras. / Læta dolet tacite mater, pressoque dolore / Tristitiam luctusque suos in gaudia vertit. / Interea trepidat, et curas corde volutat / Non de præteritis, sed de puerilibus annis / Qui superant; ne forte negent, ne forte timorem / Concipiant animis, regique accedere malint. / Et quo quis minor est, major metus, anxia secum / Ducit, heu! curas; etiam spes ac timor una / Luctantur, matrisque piae per viscera currunt. / Spes tamen est melior. Natum ut procedere vidit, / Et procul, exsultans, Video quid possit in isto / Spes conferre mihi, vultus agnoscere nostros / Debet et hic, fratrum et numero parere suorum. / Forsitan hunc solum puerilia pectora tangent, / Indigneque feret, quod sic velut hostia demur. / Alloquar, et paucis conabor dicere verbis, / Sit memor ut potius generis quam temporis hujus. / Si te nobilitas generis, si tangit origo, / Respice, nate, tuos, et nos quoque respice, nate: / Noli annos numerare tuos, puer: incipe forti / Pectore ferre Deum, tradent hoc saecula sæclis / Quod tu forte petis, des nunc exempla futuris / Temporibus; mundo quod ames, nil amplius hoc est / Respice quae fugias, et quam meliora petantur. / Non te sollicitet stolidi fallacia regis.","t":"he did not fear the gridiron set out, and obeyed his willing mother,\nand, quicker than a word, rushed upon the fires.\nThe flames yielded, all pain yielded, and body and fire\nwere one; the body had overcome the fire,\nbut the spirit had first passed beyond into the gentle air.\nThe mother, glad, grieves in silence, and, pressing down her grief,\nturns her sadness and her mourning into joys.\nMeanwhile she trembles, and turns over cares in her heart,\nnot for those already gone, but for the boys of tender years\nwho remain; lest perhaps they deny, lest perhaps they conceive\nfear in their minds, and prefer to go over to the king.\nAnd the younger each is, the greater the fear; anxious, she\ndraws out her cares, alas, within herself; hope and fear together\nstruggle, and run through the loving mother's inmost parts.\nYet hope is the stronger. When she saw her son come forward,\nand from afar, exulting: 'I see what hope he can bring me;\nhe too must recognize our face\nand join the number of his brothers.\nPerhaps only his boyish feelings will move him,\nand he will think it unworthy that we are given up like victims.\nI will speak to him, and try to say in few words\nthat he should be mindful of his race rather than of this hour.\nIf the nobility of your race, if your origin touches you,\nlook, son, at your own, and look at us too, son;\ndo not count your years, boy: begin to bear God\nwith brave heart; the ages will hand this down to ages;\ngive now, as an example to future times, what you perhaps seek;\nthere is nothing in the world you should love more than this;\nconsider what you are fleeing, and how much better are the things sought.\nLet not the deceit of a foolish king entice you.","f":"Hilary of Arles, <i>Vers. Macch.</i> 271 (PL 50:1283; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/hilary-arles-versus-maccabaeorum/271)."},"hilary-arles-versus-maccabaeorum/301":{"o":"Sic crescens iste nunc in contraria victor / Spiritus exstinxit flammas; sic deinde vocatum / Quod dederat corpus tellus adaperta recepit, / Sanctaque quae superest anima inviolata recessit. / Quamvis lassa parens, per tot sua vulnera victrix / Procidit in faciem, pariter manibusque supinis / Has habuit voces et talia verba locuta est: / Qui regis imperium coeli, terraeque, marisque, / Sidera qui cœlo, qui das animalia terris, / Æquoribus pisces, avibus qui temporis auras, / Ad te, magne, meæ mentis fiducia surgit; / Qui chaos immensum caeca caligine mixtum / Dividis in partes, et das noctemque diemque, / Lunamque ac solem, vario quos tempore semper / Nocte dieque jubes lumen præbere per orbem. / Post hæc das hominem, cujus de semine mundi / Completur mortale genus, cui lingua loquescit / Dissona per gentes, sapor est tamen omnibus unus. / Sed quid mutarit meritumque hominumque loquelas / Longa referre mora est, cœptis insistere certum est. / Te mare divisum virga tenuisse fatemur, / Dum pede per siccum populus transcenderet aequor, / Ægypti fugiens mortem regemque Pharaon, / Qui sibi sanctorum numerum servire jubebat, / Quem tua majestas Moses duce transtulit omnem, / Servatumque tua tutum virtute diremit. / Terra dabat fructus, quos te cogente ferebat, / Et sitis ad requiem quæsita est lympha latebris. / Humor erat nullus, cuncti clamore quærentes / Poscebant Moysem, daret ut sitientibus undas;","t":"So he, growing now as victor against all that opposed him,\nhis spirit put out the flames; so then the earth opened\nand received the body which it had given, now called back,\nand the holy soul that survives withdrew inviolate.\nThe parent, weary, yet victorious through so many of her wounds,\nfalls on her face, and likewise with upturned hands\nuttered these cries and spoke such words:\n'You who rule the empire of heaven, of earth, and of sea,\nwho give stars to heaven, who give living creatures to the earth,\nfish to the seas, and to the birds the breezes of their season,\nto you, Great One, the confidence of my mind rises;\nyou who divide into parts the immense chaos, mixed with blind darkness,\nand give both night and day,\nand the moon and the sun, which at their varied times you always\nbid give light through the world by night and by day.\nAfter these you give man, from whose seed the mortal race\nof the world is filled, whose tongue speaks\ndiversely among the nations, yet for all there is one understanding.\nBut what changed both the merit and the speech of men\nwould take long to tell; I am resolved to keep to what I began.\nWe confess that you held back the sea, divided by the rod,\nwhile the people crossed the sea on dry foot,\nfleeing the death of Egypt and King Pharaoh,\nwho ordered the number of the saints to serve him;\nthe whole people your majesty carried across with Moses as leader,\nand, kept safe by your power, brought them out.\nThe earth gave fruits, which it bore at your command,\nand for their thirst water was sought from hidden places, for their rest.\nThere was no moisture; all, seeking with clamour,\ndemanded of Moses that he give water to the thirsty;","f":"Hilary of Arles, <i>Vers. Macch.</i> 301 (PL 50:1283; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/hilary-arles-versus-maccabaeorum/301)."},"hilary-arles-versus-maccabaeorum/31":{"o":"Nil mutare potes, quod primis coepimus annis. / Virtute id curti lege data mihi vincere certum est. / Quid nunc, saeve, jubes? natis quid dure minaris? / Hoc solo poteris matrem turbare dolore. / Est mihi namque Deus spes, est mihi cura meorum, / Per quam spero equidem te nullum vincere posse. / Cœli tu faveas Numen, quia justa rogamus. / Rex furit Antiochus turbatus corda tumultu. / Non tulit, et sævos testatur lumine vultus, / Miraturque diu possit quod femina tantum. / Pare age, miles, ait; regi quoque pare, minister. / Vos famuli, parete mihi, date digna furenti / femineo tormenta malo; sævire furentem / Femina me cogit: quod plus est, femina vincit / Regis jussa sui: sed non impune locuta est. / Membratim perdam septem quos perfida natos / Intra se retinet: quorum qui primus habetur, / Hic primus pereat: T perdam sic ordine cunctos. / Cratibus impositos subjectis urere flammis / Cernat ut ipsa suos, sic cernat ut aspera natos. / Pœna autem manet hæc: celeres decet esse mini­ / sirosi. / Interea facunda parens, jam crine soluto, nudo / Stabat, et hortanti similis jam pectore / Ubera protendens, natorum alimenta suorum / Nori confesu aperit; natumque ut vidit ad ignem, / Constantique gradu fortem procedere, dixit: / Tu, mea progenies, tu primus respice matrem: / Tu vere meus es; nunc nostri, nate, memento. / Te primam peperi, tu nunc invitare parentem:","t":"you can change nothing of what we began in our first years.\nBy courage and by the law given to me, I am sure to conquer.\nWhat now, cruel one, do you command? What harsh threats against my sons?\nBy this pain alone will you be able to trouble the mother.\nFor God is my hope, and he has the care of my own,\nthrough whom I hope indeed that you can conquer none of us.\nMay you, Power of heaven, show favour, since we ask what is just.'\nKing Antiochus rages, his heart troubled with tumult.\nHe could not bear it; his savage face shows in his eyes,\nand he long wonders that a woman can do so much.\n'Obey, come, soldier,' he says; 'obey the king, you too, servant.\nYou attendants, obey me; give me, in my fury, torments worthy\nof a woman's evil; a woman compels me\nto rage in my fury; what is more, a woman defeats\nthe commands of her king; but not with impunity has she spoken.\nLimb by limb I will destroy the seven sons whom the faithless woman\nkeeps within her power; whichever of them is reckoned first,\nlet him perish first; so I will destroy them all in order.\nBurn them laid on gridirons with flames set beneath,\nso that she herself may see her own, may harshly see her sons.\nThis punishment awaits; the ministers must be quick.'\nMeanwhile the eloquent mother, her hair now loosed,\nstood with breast bared, like one exhorting,\nholding out her breasts, the nourishment of her sons,\nshe bares them unashamed; and when she saw her son led to the fire\nand going forward bravely with steady step, she said:\n'You, my offspring, you first, look back at your mother;\nyou are truly mine; now, son, remember us.\nYou I bore first; you now invite your mother:","f":"Hilary of Arles, <i>Vers. Macch.</i> 31 (PL 50:1277; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/hilary-arles-versus-maccabaeorum/31)."},"hilary-arles-versus-maccabaeorum/331":{"o":"Ad quos ille brevi sic est sermone locutus: / Credite posse Deum quidquid petetis ab illo, / Qui potis est virga hac amnem diffundere saxo, / Ut veniant fontes tota regione negati, / Percussitque simul, dicto velocius omni / Emisit saxum fontes dulcedine prima. / Confiteor, totus cum sit tibi debitor orbis, / Tu quidquid possunt gentes, potes omnia solus, / Et quod non capiunt gentes, capis omnia solus. / Tu mortale genus curis onerasque levasque, / Te precor attonita cum firma mente timentem, / Ne desit fratrum numero meus infimus infans, / Ignarusque sui, quem jam procul ecce teneri / Conspicio, turba circum veniente frequenti / Hunc propter solum lacrymas mihi commovet ætas: / Unus enim superest, de quo mihi maxima cura est, / Ne tener ignoret qua sit de gente creatus. / Hunc ego si possem secreto apprendere solum, / Blandirer, patriumque genus, patriamque docerem: / Sed quaecumque tamen potero solatia mittam. / Parve puer, tenerisque tuis mihi charior annis, / Charior es regno, vita quoque charior ipsa, / Tu potes in totum victricem reddere matrem, / Tu finis partus, finisque future malorum; / Si te cura mei tangit, si matris honorem / Mente pia retines, quamvis sis infans; / Hoc magis aure avida dictis attende parentis. / Primum disce, puer, quid sis post ista futurus, / Si patiens fueris; quid te mihi, chare futurum / Facta docent. Fratrum sanctorum in parte ma­","t":"to whom he spoke thus in brief words:\n'Believe that God can do whatever you ask of him,\nwho can pour out a river from the rock with this rod,\nso that springs may come where the whole region denied them.'\nAnd he struck at once, and, swifter than any word,\nthe rock sent forth springs of the first sweetness.\nI confess, since the whole world is your debtor,\nthat whatever the nations can do, you alone can do all;\nand what the nations do not grasp, you alone grasp all.\nYou burden the mortal race with cares, and you relieve them;\nI pray to you, astonished, yet with firm mind, in fear,\nthat my last infant may not be lacking from the number of his brothers,\nunaware of himself, whom, behold, I see already held far off,\nwith a crowd coming about him in great numbers.\nFor him alone his age moves me to tears:\nfor one remains, for whom I have the greatest care,\nlest, tender as he is, he not know of what race he was born.\nIf I could take him aside alone in secret,\nI would caress him, and teach him his fathers' race and homeland;\nbut whatever comforts I can, I will send him.\nLittle boy, dearer to me for your tender years,\ndearer than a kingdom, dearer even than life itself,\nyou can make your mother wholly victorious,\nyou are the end of my offspring, and will be the end of evils;\nif care for me touches you, if you keep your mother's honour\nwith a loving mind, though you are an infant,\nlisten all the more with eager ear to your parent's words.\nFirst learn, boy, what you will be after these things,\nif you are patient; what you will be to me, dear one,\nthe deeds teach. You will remain in the portion of your holy brothers,","f":"Hilary of Arles, <i>Vers. Macch.</i> 331 (PL 50:1285; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/hilary-arles-versus-maccabaeorum/331)."},"hilary-arles-versus-maccabaeorum/361":{"o":"nebis, / Et requie securus eris, dum saecula cursus / Sæva suos peragunt, finito tempore longo, / Hanc lucem repetes, aeternaque regna videbis / Non maculata malis, nusquam contraria sanctis: / Nec morti locus ullus erit, nec bella citatis / Committentur equis, sed pax aeterna manebit. / Matri crede tuæ, salvum quæ te cupit esse. / Heu! mihi cur tristi vultu mea dicta repellis? / Quid refugis? Miserere mei, miserere tuique. / Si liceat, prior ire velim, vetor ecce; sed ibo, / Tunc cum victorem te videro, nate, majorum. / Quid sperare jubes? solus mea dicta moratis? / Solus adhuc o tiam revocas, mi nate, dolorem? / Annuis, an damnas et me fratresque genusque? / Quod ne forte velis, oro te, et deprecor, audi- / His ego te parvula nutrivi, nate, papillis, / Has etiam lacrymas te propter, nate, profundo. / Ne remanere velis, remanebis solus et orbus. / Non tibi jam frater superest: solatia vitæ / Quis dabit? Heu! solus matrem confundere tentas / Et genus, et patriam! si talia dicta recusas. / O quanto melius vitam servabis in ævum, / Si facis ante Deum quidquid fecere priores. / Audenter depone metus, depone timorem: / Concipe mente Deum, vires dabit ille viriles. / Hæc dum mater agit, puer ad praecepta parentis / Respicit, et solum cum se videt esse relictum, / Sustulit in coelum vultus palmasque supinas, / Et sic voce potens, æternum Numen adorat, / Quem secum sensu pariter nutuque rogabat,","t":"and you will be secure in rest, while the ages\nrun their cruel courses; when the long time is ended,\nyou will seek this light again and see eternal kingdoms,\nnot stained by evils, nowhere hostile to the saints:\nnor will there be any place for death, nor will wars\nbe waged with swift horses, but eternal peace will remain.\nBelieve your mother, who desires you to be saved.\nAlas, why do you repel my words with a sad face?\nWhy do you shrink back? Have pity on me, have pity on yourself.\nIf it were allowed, I would wish to go first; behold, I am forbidden; but I will go\nwhen I have seen you, son, a victor like your elders.\nWhat do you bid me hope? Do you alone delay my words?\nDo you alone, my son, still call back my grief?\nDo you consent, or do you condemn me and your brothers and your race?\nLest perhaps you wish it, I pray you and beseech you, hear:\nwith these breasts I nursed you when you were little, son;\nfor you too, son, I pour out these tears.\nDo not wish to remain; you will remain alone and bereaved.\nNo brother is now left you: who will give you the comforts\nof life? Alas, alone you try to confound your mother,\nyour race, and your homeland, if you refuse such words.\nO how much better you will keep your life for ever,\nif you do before God whatever those before you did.\nBoldly lay aside your fears, lay aside your dread:\nconceive God in your mind; he will give you manly strength.'\nWhile the mother does this, the boy looks back to his parent's\nprecepts, and when he sees himself left alone,\nhe raised to heaven his face and his upturned palms,\nand so, strong in voice, he adores the eternal Power,\nwhom he besought together in mind and gesture,","f":"Hilary of Arles, <i>Vers. Macch.</i> 361 (PL 50:1285; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/hilary-arles-versus-maccabaeorum/361)."},"hilary-arles-versus-maccabaeorum/391":{"o":"Vinceret ut regem, sævos ut vinceret ignes. / Atque ita non segnis nec pro puerilibus annis / Prosilit intrepidus medios delapsus in ignes, / Expugnat, victor nec remearet in altum / Spiritus, et fratrum peteret secreta priorum. / Dum puer ista gerit, solverunt gaudia matrem / Jamque ut erat lassata malis, jam voce negata / Spirat ovans, interque manus collapsa suorum / Concidit exanimis, resolutaque membra quierunt. / Sic ipsa, ut nati, sanctorum in parte recepta est","t":"that he might conquer the king, that he might conquer the cruel fires.\nAnd so, not sluggish, nor acting by his boyish years,\nhe leaps forward fearless, gliding down into the midst of the fires;\nhe overcomes, and his spirit, victorious, did not return to earth\nbut flew on high, and sought the secret places of his elder brothers.\nWhile the boy does this, joy released the mother;\nand now, worn out as she was by evils, her voice now failing,\nshe breathes in triumph, and, sinking among the hands of her own,\nshe falls lifeless, and her loosened limbs came to rest.\nSo she herself, like her sons, was received into the portion of the saints.","f":"Hilary of Arles, <i>Vers. Macch.</i> 391 (PL 50:1287; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/hilary-arles-versus-maccabaeorum/391)."},"hilary-arles-versus-maccabaeorum/61":{"o":"Suam nuos mores, et regem vitice tacendo. / Tu poteris durare diu, si tempora vinces / Perfidi, ne superet sanctos violentia regis. / Utere consilio matris, nec damna timebis, / Fortior esto ære saxoque potentior ipso. / Ingredere ut juvenis, patienter vince dulces. / Ille modo ad matrem vultus, modo tollit in altum: / Dumque tacet tacitusque roget quem debet, i ti­ / metque, / Conscendit rapidos subjectos cratibus ignes. / Corpus inane fluit: mater gravis ipsa resultat, / Et dixit: Vici; vincam si saepius orem, / Duret natorum virtus incognita regi, / Sed jam nota Deo, populi qui pectora novit. / Finierat primi partus fecunda dolorem, / Sed remanente metu pro pluribus anxia mater; / Dissimulatque tamen, ne regem gaudia tangant. / Rex stupet Antiochus, nec credit posse sequentes / Poenæ tale genus simili pervincere sensu. / Cœpta jubet peragi. Mater non territa mansit: / Sed tamen ut vidit pallentem assistere natum, / Hæc secum volvens, aliqua jam parte levatur. / Ecce secunda mihi partus producitur ætas. / Quam similis fratris formæ si pectore duras, / Et sequeris primi partus vestigia nostri! / Esse meus poteris, poteris reperire salutem, / Quam jam frater habet, matris præcepta secutus. / Pone metus, regisque minas contemne furentis, / Regnaque, queis cursim labentia tempora dantur / Non poterit post ista tibi rex iste nocere;","t":"take up our ways, and defeat the king by keeping silent.\nYou will be able to endure long, if you overcome the times\nof the faithless one, lest the king's violence prevail over the saints.\nUse your mother's counsel, and you will not fear losses;\nbe stronger than bronze, more powerful than stone itself.\nGo in like a young man; patiently overcome the pains.'\nHe turns his face now to his mother, now lifts it on high,\nand, while he is silent and silently prays to the one he ought, and fears,\nhe mounts the rapid fires set beneath the gridirons.\nThe body melts away, empty; the mother herself, grave, cries out,\nand said: 'I have conquered; I shall conquer, if I pray the more often;\nmay the courage of my sons endure, unknown to the king,\nbut already known to God, who knows the hearts of the people.'\nThe fruitful mother had ended the pain of her first offspring,\nbut, fear remaining, the mother was anxious for the rest;\nyet she hides it, lest joy should touch the king.\nKing Antiochus is stunned, and does not believe that those who follow\ncan overcome such a kind of punishment with like mind.\nHe orders what was begun to be carried on. The mother remained undaunted;\nbut when she saw her son standing by, pale,\nturning these things over in herself, she is now relieved in part:\n'Behold, the second of my offspring is brought forward to me.\nHow like your brother's form, if you are firm in heart\nand follow in the footsteps of our first offspring!\nYou will be able to be mine, you will be able to find salvation,\nwhich your brother already has, who followed his mother's precepts.\nLay aside fear, and despise the threats of the raging king\nand his kingdoms, to which swiftly gliding times are given;\nafter this that king will not be able to harm you;","f":"Hilary of Arles, <i>Vers. Macch.</i> 61 (PL 50:1277; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/hilary-arles-versus-maccabaeorum/61)."},"hilary-arles-versus-maccabaeorum/91":{"o":"Sed poteris post hac tu regi, nate, nocere / Temporis ecce levis conscendere cogeris ignes, / Sed virtute opus est, languentem pone timorem. / Esto memor nostri generis, si sensus inhæret. / Hic qui sceptra tenet, regno qui sævit in isto, / Tempus inane putat, regno vitaque carebit, / Damnatusque nocens aeternos sentiet ignes. / Tu securus eris, turba comitante piorum. / Aspice, nate, meos vultus, et suspice coelum, / Auctoremque Deum, per quem tibi vita paratur / Hac melior, fratrisque tui vestigia calca. / Neve quod iste jubet, sed quod Deus imperat audi / Sicut erat monitus, matrem cœlumque videre / Constitit, atque hilari vultu contemnere regem / Coepit, et ut ridens ardentes irruit ignes, / Collapsusque jacens anima superante quievit. / Mater ut hoc vidit, rigido sic ore locuta est: / Felix parte aliqua jam sum, jam non potis omnes / Sæve tyranne, meos trucidando vincere natos. / Te gravior mox poena manet, crudelis inique, / Quam patiere brevi: Deus haec namque omnia / cernit.» / Jam duo securi, contempto rege, manebant. / Spes melior jam matris erat: jam tertius instat, / Ecce locus pœnæ, si pœna est vincere regem: / Et servire Deo laus est, non poena furentis. / Tertius attrahitur juvenis frendente tyranno, / Qui nondum satiatus erat. Furor intus et ira / Sæviebant pariter, quod fortia pectora fratrum / Viderat impavide regis superasse furorem.","t":"but after this you will be able, son, to harm the king.\nBehold, you are compelled to mount the fires of a brief time,\nbut courage is needed; lay aside your languid fear.\nBe mindful of our race, if feeling still clings in you.\nHe who holds the sceptre, who rages in this kingdom,\nthinks time empty; he will lose kingdom and life,\nand, condemned as guilty, will feel eternal fires.\nYou will be secure, with the company of the pious about you.\nLook, son, at my face, and look up to heaven\nand to God the Author, through whom a life is prepared for you\nbetter than this, and tread in your brother's footsteps.\nDo not hear what this man commands, but what God orders.'\nAs he had been warned, he stood firm to look at his mother and heaven,\nand with cheerful face began to despise the king,\nand, as if laughing, rushed into the burning fires,\nand, fallen and lying there, with his soul victorious, he rested.\nWhen the mother saw this, she spoke thus with steady mouth:\n'I am now happy in part; now you cannot conquer all my sons\nby slaughtering them, cruel tyrant.\nA heavier punishment soon awaits you, cruel and unjust,\nwhich you will suffer shortly; for God sees all these things.'\nNow two remained secure, having despised the king.\nThe mother's hope was now better; now the third presses on.\nBehold the place of punishment, if it is punishment to conquer a king;\nand to serve God is praise, not the punishment of a raging man.\nThe third young man is dragged forward, the tyrant gnashing his teeth,\nwho was not yet sated. Fury and anger within him\nraged alike, because he had seen the brave hearts of the brothers\nfearlessly overcome the fury of the king.","f":"Hilary of Arles, <i>Vers. Macch.</i> 91 (PL 50:1277; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/hilary-arles-versus-maccabaeorum/91)."}}