Crowns of the Martyrs 8.1–10.545
Latin text: Lanfranchi, Opera (Turin 1898) (Latin text: Lanfranchi, Turin 1898 (public domain), via the Internet Archive OCR).English: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), public domain (CC0).
Chapter 8
8.1Lanfranchi 1:lines 1–18
Electus Christo locus est, ubi corda probata Provehat ad caelum sanguine, purget aqua. Hic duo purpureum, Domini pro nomine caesi, Martyrium pulchra morte tulere viri. Hic etiam Iiquido fluit indulgentia fonte, Ac reteres maculas diluit amne novo. Qui cupit aeternum Caeli conscendere regnum, Huc veniat sitiens: ecce parata via est. Ante coronati scandebant ardua testes Atria, nunc lotae celsa petunt animae. Spiritus aetherio solitus descendere lapsu, Ut dederat palmam, sic tribuit veniam. Haurit terra sacros aut fonte aut sanguine rores, Exundatque suo iugiter uda Deo. Ipse loci est dominus, laterum cui vulnere utroque Hinc cruor effusus fluxit, et inde latex. Ibitis hinc, ut quisque potest, per vulnera Christi, Evectus gladiis alter, et alter aquis.
This place is chosen for Christ, where he carries approved hearts to heaven by blood, and cleanses them by water. Here two men, slain for the Lord’s name, bore a purple martyrdom by a beautiful death. Here too pardon flows from a clear fountain and washes away old stains in a new stream. Whoever desires to climb to the eternal kingdom of heaven, let him come here thirsting: see, the way is ready. Before, crowned witnesses climbed to the lofty halls; now washed souls seek the heights. The Spirit, accustomed to descend in heavenly glide, as he had given the palm, so grants pardon. The earth drinks sacred dews either from the font or from blood, and, ever wet, overflows for its God. He himself is lord of the place, from both sides of whose wound blood poured out flowed on this side, and water on that. You will go from here, as each can, through the wounds of Christ, one carried up by swords, the other by waters.
John 19:34 (allusion, high confidence) · Isa 55:1 (echo, medium confidence) · John 7:37 (echo, medium confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: Inscription for a baptistery built on the site of a double martyrdom: where martyrs once went to heaven by blood, the baptized now go by water, both through the wounds of Christ from which blood and water flowed.
- Peristephanon 8: verses for a baptistery at the place of martyrdom (traditionally Calahorra, of Emeterius and Chelidonius). John 19:34; Isa 55:1.
Notes on the original text
- Digital text corrected (OCR slip; OCR slip; note mark and stray line number removed; OCR slips; note mark removed): Electua → Electus; Bic duo purpureum, Domini pro riomine ca< Bfartvrium pulchra morte tulere viri ('_'). → Hic duo purpureum, Domini pro nomine caesi, Martyrium pulchra morte tulere viri.; Hi<' etiam → Hic etiam; ecee parata → ecce parata; petnnt → petunt; Erundatque → Exundatque; utroque f-'1») Hinc cruor effusus fluxit, et indc latex. 16 → utroque Hinc cruor effusus fluxit, et inde latex..
Cite (SBL): Prudentius, Perist. 8.1 (Lanfranchi 1:lines 1–18; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/prudentius-peristephanon/8-1). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/prudentius-peristephanon/8-1
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Latin of Lanfranchi's edition (Turin, 1898; OCR, corrections logged). No public-domain English was used; FOTC 43 is not available, so each batch was re-read against the Latin.
Chapter 9
9.1Lanfranchi 1:lines 1–32
Sulla Forum statuit Cornelius: hoc Itali urbem Vocitant ab ipso conditoris nomine. Hic mihi quum peterem te, rerum maxima Roma, Spes est oborta prosperum Christum fore. Stratus humi tumulo advolvebar, quem sacer ornat Martyr, dicato Cassianus corpore. Dum lacrimans mecum reputo mea vulnera, et omnes Vitae labores, ac dolorum acumina, Erexi ad caelum faciem, stetit obvia contra Fucis colorum picta imago martyris, Plagas mille gerens, totos lacerata per artus, Ruptam minutis praeferens punctis cutem. Innumeri circum pueri, miserabile visu! Confossa parvis membra figebant stilis ; Unde, pugillares soliti percurrere ceras, Scholare murmur adnotantes scripserant. Aedituus consultus ait: — « quod prospicis, hospes, Non est inanis aut anilis fabula. Historiam pictura refert, quae tradita libris, Veram vetusti temporis monstrat fidem. Praefuerat stadiis puerilibus, et grege multo Saeptus, magister litterarum sederat : Verba notis brevibus comprendere cuncta peritus, Raptimque punctis dicta praepetibus sequi. Aspera nonnumquam praecepta et tristia visa Impube vulgus moverant ira et metu. Plebem dicatam Christianae gloriae. Extrahitur coetu e medio moderator alumni Gregis, quod aris supplicare spreverat. Poenarum artifici quaerenti, quod genus artis Vir nosset alto tam rebellis spiritu, Respondent : agmen tenerum ac puerile gubernat,
Cornelius Sulla founded a Forum: the Italians call the town by this, from the very name of its founder. Here, when I was making for you, Rome, greatest of things, hope arose in me that Christ would be favorable. Prostrate on the ground I lay at the tomb which the sacred martyr Cassian adorns with his dedicated body. While, weeping, I reflect on my wounds and all the labors of my life and the stings of my pains, I lifted my face to heaven; there stood facing me the image of the martyr, painted in colors, bearing a thousand wounds, torn through all his limbs, showing his skin broken with tiny pricks. Countless boys around him (pitiful to see!) were piercing his limbs with little styluses, with which, used to running over the wax tablets, they had written down the murmur of the school, taking notes. The sacristan, when consulted, said: “What you see, stranger, is not an empty or old wives’ tale. The picture tells a history which, handed down in books, shows the true faith of an ancient time. He had been in charge of boys’ studies, and, surrounded by a large flock, had sat as a teacher of letters, skilled at capturing all words with brief signs, and following swiftly with quick dots what was said. His harsh and seemingly grim precepts sometimes had moved the young crowd to anger and fear. […] the people dedicated to the Christian glory. The guide of the young flock is dragged out from the midst of the gathering, because he had scorned to pray at the altars. When the craftsman of punishments asked what kind of art the man knew who was so rebellious in his lofty spirit, they answer: he governs a tender band of boys,
Textual problem in this passage: see the notes.
Notes and citation
Summary: On his way to Rome the poet prayed at the tomb of Cassian at Forum Cornelii (Imola) and saw a painting of the martyr pierced by schoolboys’ styluses; the sacristan explains that Cassian was a teacher of shorthand, arrested for refusing to sacrifice.
- Peristephanon 9: Cassian of Imola (Forum Cornelii). Lines are missing in the scan between ‘ira et metu’ and ‘Plebem dicatam’ (the outbreak of the persecution); not supplied.
Notes on the original text
- Digital text corrected (OCR slip; OCR slips; stray line number removed; OCR slips; words run together separated; stray line number removed): Sulla Foram statuit Cornelins: hoc Itali urbem Vocitant ab ipso conditoris nomine. Hic mihi quum peterem te, rerum maxima Etoma, Bpea esi oborta prosperum Christum fore. Stratus humi tumulo advolvebar, quem sacer ornal Biartyr, dicato Cassianvs corpore. Dumlacrimansmecumreputo mea vulnera, el omnes Vltae labores, ac dolorum acnmina, Brezi ad caelum faciem, Btetil obvia contra → Sulla Forum statuit Cornelius: hoc Itali urbem Vocitant ab ipso conditoris nomine. Hic mihi quum peterem te, rerum maxima Roma, Spes est oborta prosperum Christum fore. Stratus humi tumulo advolvebar, quem sacer ornat Martyr, dicato Cassianus corpore. Dum lacrimans mecum reputo mea vulnera, et omnes Vitae labores, ac dolorum acumina, Erexi ad caelum faciem, stetit obvia contra; figobanl stilis → figebant stilis; ceras, 1S → ceras,; qnod prospicis → quod prospicis; JSTon est → Non est; fidem. 'Ju → fidem.; litterarnm → litterarum; comprftndere → comprendere; Kaptimque → Raptimque; Plebem dicatam Christianae gloriae. ;!" Extrahitor coetn e medio moderator alumni is, <[n<A aria supplicare spreverat. Poenarnm artifici qnaerenti, quod genos artis Yir nosset alto tam rebellis spirita . Respondenl : agmen tenernm ac pnerile gnbernat, → Plebem dicatam Christianae gloriae. Extrahitur coetu e medio moderator alumni Gregis, quod aris supplicare spreverat. Poenarum artifici quaerenti, quod genus artis Vir nosset alto tam rebellis spiritu, Respondent : agmen tenerum ac puerile gubernat,.
Cite (SBL): Prudentius, Perist. 9.1 (Lanfranchi 1:lines 1–32; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/prudentius-peristephanon/9-1). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/prudentius-peristephanon/9-1
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Latin of Lanfranchi's edition (Turin, 1898; OCR, corrections logged). No public-domain English was used; FOTC 43 is not available, so each batch was re-read against the Latin.
9.33Lanfranchi 1:lines 33–64
Fictis notare verba signis imbuens. Ducite, conclamat, captivum ; ducite, et ultro Donetur ipsis verberator parvulis. Ut libet, inludant, lacerent impune, manusque Tinguant magistri feriatas sanguine. Ludum discipulis, volupe est, ut praebeat ipse Doctor severus quos nimis coercuit. » Vincitur post terga manus, spoliatus amictu, Adest acutis agmen armatum stilis. Quantum quisque odii tacita conceperat ira, Effundit ardens felle tandem libero. Coniiciunt alii fragiles inque ora tabellas Frangunt: relisa fronte lignum dissilit. Buxa crepant cerata, genis impacta cruentis, Rubetque ab ictu curta et umens pagina. Inde alii stimulos et acumina ferrea vibrant, Qua parte aratis cera sulcis scribitur ; Et qua secti apices abolentur, et aequoris hirti Rursus nitescens innovatur area. Hinc foditur Christi confessor, et inde secatur; Pars viscus intrat molle, pars scindit cutem. Omnia membra manus pariter fixere ducentae, Totidemque guttae vulnerum stillant simul. Maior tortor erat, qui summa pupugerat, infans, Quam qui profunda perforarat viscera. Ille levis, quoniam percussor, morte negata, Producere scit dolorem spiculis : Hic quanto interius vitalia condita pulsat, Plus dat medelae, dum necem prope adplicat. Este, precor, fortes, et vincite viribus annos : Quod defit aevo, suppleat crudelitas. Sed male conatus tener, infirmusque laborat: Tormenta crescunt dum fatiscit carnifex.
teaching them to note words by invented signs. “Lead the prisoner,” he shouts, “lead him, and let the flogger be handed over freely to the little ones themselves. Let them mock him as they please, tear him with impunity, and dye in his blood their hands, given holiday from their master. It is a pleasure that the stern teacher himself should provide sport for the pupils whom he restrained too much.” His hands are bound behind his back, he is stripped of his clothing; the band, armed with sharp styluses, is there. As much hatred as each had conceived in silent anger, he pours out, burning, his gall at last set free. Some throw their fragile tablets and break them on his face: the wood leaps apart against his battered brow. The waxed boxwood crackles, struck against his bloody cheeks, and the broken, wet page reddens from the blow. Then others brandish the points and iron tips, with the part by which the wax is written in ploughed furrows, and with the part by which the cut letters are erased, and the surface of the rough plain, shining again, is renewed. From here the confessor of Christ is dug, from there he is cut; part enters the soft flesh, part splits the skin. Two hundred hands at once pierced all his limbs, and as many drops of wounds drip at once. The child who had pricked the surface was a greater torturer than he who had pierced the deep inner parts. That one, since his blow is light and death is denied, knows how to prolong the pain with his points; this one, the deeper he strikes the hidden vital parts, the more relief he gives, as he brings death near. “Be strong, I pray, and conquer your years with strength: what is lacking in age, let cruelty supply.” But the tender band strives poorly and labors weakly: the torments grow while the executioner tires.
Notes and citation
Summary: The judge hands Cassian over to his pupils, who take revenge for his strictness by breaking their tablets on his face and stabbing him with their styluses; the shallow wounds prolong his torment.
- Line 27 is badly damaged in the scan (‘scit dolorom spiculis’); read ‘Producere scit dolorem spiculis’ by sense: uncertain.
Notes on the original text
- Digital text corrected (OCR slip; OCR slips; OCR slips; damaged words read by sense; OCR slips; lines run together separated): imbnens. Dncite, conclamat, captivnm ; dncite, el nltro Donetnr ipsis verberator parvnlis. I't libet, inlndant, lacereni impnne, mannsqne Tingnant magistri feriatas sangnine. Lndnm discipnlis, volnpe est, ut praebeal ip Doctor soverns quos nimis coSrcuit, Vincitnr post terga manns, spoliatns amictn, Adesl acntis agmen armatum stilis. Qnantnm quisque odii tacita conceperat ira, Effhndii ardens f<')le tandem libero. Coniicinnt alii fragiles inque ora tabellas Fransront: relisa fronte liernum dissilit. Buxa cvepant cerata, genis impacta cruentis, Rubetque ab ictu curta et hurnens pagina. nde alii stimulos et acumina ferrea vibrant, → imbuens. Ducite, conclamat, captivum ; ducite, et ultro Donetur ipsis verberator parvulis. Ut libet, inludant, lacerent impune, manusque Tinguant magistri feriatas sanguine. Ludum discipulis, volupe est, ut praebeat ipse Doctor severus quos nimis coercuit. » Vincitur post terga manus, spoliatus amictu, Adest acutis agmen armatum stilis. Quantum quisque odii tacita conceperat ira, Effundit ardens felle tandem libero. Coniiciunt alii fragiles inque ora tabellas Frangunt: relisa fronte lignum dissilit. Buxa crepant cerata, genis impacta cruentis, Rubetque ab ictu curta et umens pagina. Inde alii stimulos et acumina ferrea vibrant,; Iiursus → Rursus; Ilinc foditur Cliristi → Hinc foditur Christi; scindit cntem → scindit cutem; Omnia mombra maims pariter fixore ducentae, Totidemquo → Omnia membra manus pariter fixere ducentae, Totidemque; Kaior tortor erat, qui summa papngerat, infans, Quam qui profunda perfbraral viscera. 111. • levis, quoniam percossor, morte negata, scit dolorom spiculis : lli.- qoanto interius vitalia condita polsat, Plus dat medelae, dom necem prope adplicat. . precor, fortes, e1 vincite viribus annos : Quod defit aevo, suppleat cradelil 8ed male conatos tener, infirmasqae laborat: Tormenta crescont dom fatiscit carnifez. → Maior tortor erat, qui summa pupugerat, infans, Quam qui profunda perforarat viscera. Ille levis, quoniam percussor, morte negata, Producere scit dolorem spiculis : Hic quanto interius vitalia condita pulsat, Plus dat medelae, dum necem prope adplicat. Este, precor, fortes, et vincite viribus annos : Quod defit aevo, suppleat crudelitas. Sed male conatus tener, infirmusque laborat: Tormenta crescunt dum fatiscit carnifex..
Topics: Martyrdom
Cite (SBL): Prudentius, Perist. 9.33 (Lanfranchi 1:lines 33–64; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/prudentius-peristephanon/9-33). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/prudentius-peristephanon/9-33
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Latin of Lanfranchi's edition (Turin, 1898; OCR, corrections logged). No public-domain English was used; FOTC 43 is not available, so each batch was re-read against the Latin.
9.65Lanfranchi 1:lines 65–96
— « Quid gemis? exclamat quidam : tute ipse magister Istud dedisti ferrum, et armasti manus. Reddimus ecce tibi tam millia multa notarum, Quam stando, fiendo, te docente, excepimus. Non potes irasci quod scribimus: ipse iubebas Numquam quietum dextera ut ferret stilum. Non petimus toties, te praeceptore, negatas, Avare doctor, iam scholarum ferias. Pangere puncta libet, sulcisque intexere sulcos, Flexas catenis impedire virgulas. Emendes licet inspectos longo ordine versus, Mendosa forte si quid erravit manus. Exerce imperium: ius est tibi plectere culpam, si quis tuorum te notavit segnius. » — Talia ludebant pueri per membra magistri, Nec longa fessum poena solvebat virum. Tandem luctantis miseratus ab aethere Christus, Iubet resolvi pectoris ligamina ; Difficilesque moras animae, ac retinacula vitae Relaxat, artas et latebras expedit. Sanguis ab interno venarum fonte patentes Vias secutus, deserit praecordia ; Totque foraminibus penetrati corporis exit Fibrarum anhelans ille vitalis calor. Haec sunt, quae liquidis expressa coloribus, hospes, Miraris : ista est Cassiani gloria. Suggere, si quod habes iustum vel amabile votum, Spes si qua tibi est, si quid intus aestuas. Audit, crede, preces Martyr prosperrimus omnes, Ratasque reddit, quas videt probabiles. » — Pareo, complector tumulum, lacrimas quoque fundo, Altar tepescit ore, saxum pectore.
“Why do you groan?” cries one; “you yourself, master, gave us this iron and armed our hands. See, we give back to you as many thousands of marks as we took down, standing and weeping, while you taught. You cannot be angry that we write: you yourself bade us never to carry a stylus quiet in our right hand. We are not asking, stingy teacher, for the school holidays so often denied while you were our teacher. We like to make dots, and to weave furrows into furrows, to entangle curved little strokes in chains. You may correct the lines, inspected in long order, if perhaps our faulty hand has made a mistake. Use your authority: you have the right to punish a fault, if any of your pupils has marked you too slowly.” Such games the boys played on the limbs of their master, nor did the long punishment release the weary man. At last Christ, pitying him from heaven as he struggled, orders the bonds of his breast to be loosened; and he relaxes the difficult delays of the soul and the moorings of life, and frees its narrow hiding places. The blood, following the open ways from the inner fountain of the veins, deserts the heart; and through so many holes of the pierced body that vital warmth of the fibers goes out, panting. These are the things, stranger, expressed in clear colors, at which you marvel: this is the glory of Cassian. Put forward, if you have any just or lovable prayer, if you have any hope, if anything seethes within you. The most favorable martyr, believe me, hears all prayers, and ratifies those he sees to be worthy.” I obey; I embrace the tomb, I pour out tears too; the altar grows warm with my mouth, the stone with my breast.
Notes and citation
Summary: The boys mock Cassian as they wound him, until Christ releases his soul; the sacristan invites the poet to pray to the martyr, who hears worthy prayers, and the poet embraces the tomb in tears.
- The martyr as hearer of prayers: as written.
Notes on the original text
- Digital text corrected (OCR slip; OCR slips; first letters of the line lost in the scan; stray mark removed): quidara → quidam; nd dedisti ferrum → Istud dedisti ferrum; ecce tilii → ecce tibi; notarnm → notarum; i]»>' iubebas → ipse iubebas; deztera at ferrel → dextera ut ferret; Non petimas → Non petimus; . Avare doctor, iam scholaruin ferias. → Avare doctor, iam scholarum ferias.; eatenis → catenis; >i quid erravit → si quid erravit; taorum → tuorum; Talia mdebant → Talia ludebant; fi'<sum i na solvebat → fessum poena solvebat; lnctantis → luctantis; Diflicilesque → Difficilesque; Eelaxat, artas → Relaxat, artas; Sangnis ab → Sanguis ab; Pibrarmn anlielans → Fibrarum anhelans; Haec sunt. quae → Haec sunt, quae; coloribns → coloribus; gloria. . → gloria.; Jacrimas → lacrimas.
Cite (SBL): Prudentius, Perist. 9.65 (Lanfranchi 1:lines 65–96; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/prudentius-peristephanon/9-65). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/prudentius-peristephanon/9-65
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Latin of Lanfranchi's edition (Turin, 1898; OCR, corrections logged). No public-domain English was used; FOTC 43 is not available, so each batch was re-read against the Latin.
9.97Lanfranchi 1:lines 97–122
Tunc arcana mei percenseo cuncta laboris : Tunc quod petebam, quod timebam murmuro ; Et post terga domum dubia sub sorte relictam, Et spem futuri sorte nutantem boni. Audior, urbem adeo; dextris successibus utor : Domum revertor, Cassianum praedico.
Then I review all the secrets of my labor; then I murmur what I was seeking, what I feared, and the home left behind me under a doubtful lot, and the hope of future good wavering with its lot. I am heard; I go to the City; I enjoy favorable success; I return home; I proclaim Cassian.
Notes and citation
Summary: The poet prays at Cassian’s tomb about his troubles and his journey; his prayer is heard, his business in Rome succeeds, and on his return he proclaims Cassian.
- The editor’s prose argument of Peristephanon 10, a footnote, and the first five lines of Peristephanon 10 (‘Romane, Christi fortis adsertor Dei’ … ‘posse mutos eloqui’) had been attached to this passage by the importer; the argument and footnote were removed, and the five verse lines were moved to the beginning of 10.1, where they belong.
Notes on the original text
- Digital text corrected (OCR slip; editor's argument of the next poem, a footnote and the opening lines of the next poem removed (the lines restored at 10.1)): cuncta. laboris → cuncta laboris; Domum revertor, Cassianvm praedico. → Domum revertor, Cassianum praedico.; . manus apui iiaconatus ordini adscri] Bpiadia urbis praef» ti iussn, >\ I orum numinuiu cullores in Christianorum lempla irrum- pentee prohibere conaretur; atquo sub ipeis fere oculia impo '■ ilerii niemorabile martyrium fecil an. posl Christum ul. Umniuiu longissirauin babemus hymnum, carmine iambico, Benarii tico perscriptum, quem Fabeicivs m rito omnibus prudontianis praefert. Ibinamque poetamul- tiplici eruditione redundat, Bententiarum . listin- rea tragico colore verba et cruciatus respergil rois martyris, in universo cliristiano nomine u ptrum laude recentis. Romane, Christi fortis adsertor Dei, ■ Elingois oris organnm fautor movi ; Largire comptum carmen infantissimo : c ut tuaruni raira laudum concinam : Xam scis et ipse, posse mutos eloqui. (•) HymnHs X. In Codd. Oxonio et Thuaneo a ceteris liic liviim raum exscriptus oh carminis prolixitatem; i|.-t i i . quem Heihsivs constituit. → .
Topics: Prayer
Cite (SBL): Prudentius, Perist. 9.97 (Lanfranchi 1:lines 97–122; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/prudentius-peristephanon/9-97). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/prudentius-peristephanon/9-97
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Latin of Lanfranchi's edition (Turin, 1898; OCR, corrections logged). No public-domain English was used; FOTC 43 is not available, so each batch was re-read against the Latin.
Chapter 10
10.1Lanfranchi 1:lines 1–32
Romane, Christi fortis adsertor Dei, Elinguis oris organum fautor move ; Largire comptum carmen infantissimo : Fac ut tuarum mira laudum concinam : Nam scis et ipse, posse mutos eloqui. Plectrum palati et faucium saevus tibi Tortor revulsit : nec tamen silentium Indixit ori, quo fatebaris Deum. Vox veritatis exstingui nequit, Nec si recisis palpitet meatibus. Hic noster haerens sermo lingua debili Balbutit, et modis laborat absonis; Sed si superno rore respergas iecur, Et spiritali lacte pectus inriges, Vox impeditos rauca laxabit sonos. Evangelista scripsit, ipsum talia Praecepta Messian dedisse Apostolis : Nolite verba, quum Sacramentum meum Erit canendum, providenter quaerere: Ego imparatis, quae loquantur, suggeram. Sum mutus ipse ; sed potens facundiae Mea lingua, Christus, luculente disseret : Ipse explicabit quos supremo spiritu Daemon tumultus, dum domatur, moverit, Furore pestis peior in novissimo. Sic vulneratus anguis ictu spiculi Ferrum remordet, et dolore saevior, Quassando pressis immolatur dentibus: Hastile fixum sed manet profundius; Nec cassa sentit morsuum pericula.
Romanus, brave champion of Christ God, favoring one, move the organ of my tongueless mouth; grant a polished song to one most inarticulate; make me sing the wonders of your praises: for you know yourself that the mute can speak. The cruel torturer tore out from you the plectrum of palate and throat; yet he did not impose silence on the mouth with which you confessed God. The voice of truth cannot be extinguished, not even if it throbs with its passages cut off. Here my speech, sticking with a weak tongue, stammers and labors in harsh measures; but if you sprinkle my liver with dew from above, and water my breast with spiritual milk, my hoarse voice will release its hampered sounds. The evangelist wrote that the Messiah himself gave such precepts to the apostles: “Do not, when my Sacrament must be sung, seek out words in advance: to the unprepared I will suggest what they should say.” I am mute myself; but my tongue, mighty in eloquence, Christ, will speak brilliantly: he himself will unfold what tumults the demon stirred with his last breath, while he was being tamed, worse in the frenzy of his plague at the very end. So a serpent wounded by the blow of a dart bites back the iron, and, more savage with pain, is destroyed by shaking it with its pressed teeth; but the fixed shaft remains deeper, nor does it feel the vain dangers of the bites.
Matt 10:19 (allusion, high confidence) · Luke 12:12 (allusion, medium confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: The poet invokes the martyr Romanus, whose tongue was torn out yet who still confessed God, to give eloquence to his stammering verse, trusting Christ’s promise to give words to his witnesses; the devil rages most when he is being defeated.
- Peristephanon 10: the martyr Romanus of Antioch (d. 303), the longest of the poems. The first five lines, misplaced by the importer at the end of 9.97, were restored here in place of the editor’s prose argument. Matt 10:19–20; Luke 12:11–12. A leftover footnote (‘plectrum palati: linguam’) was removed.
Notes on the original text
- Digital text corrected (OCR slip; editor's prose argument replaced by the first five lines of the poem, misplaced by the importer at the end of 9.97; leftover footnote removed): saevus tilii → saevus tibi; Hic nostcr → Hic noster; Sacramentum mcum → Sacramentum meum; Fernim remordet → Ferrum remordet; morsuum pericula. fl) plectrum palati. Linguam. V. Tvll. Nat. Deor. II, 59 in fin. → morsuum pericula.; ill /.' -. Ab invocatione orsuscapit Martyris, uti >ilti auxilietur infacundo , dicendique imperitissimo. Iam &o pogtam >" iverat (llepl £tea». 11, 574); suosque rersus dixerat pedesire earmen (Praef. ad Ilepl £te<p< 12); liic demisissius I infantissimum, quae vox puerulum → Romane, Christi fortis adsertor Dei, Elinguis oris organum fautor move ; Largire comptum carmen infantissimo : Fac ut tuarum mira laudum concinam : Nam scis et ipse, posse mutos eloqui. .
Topics: Martyrdom
Cite (SBL): Prudentius, Perist. 10.1 (Lanfranchi 1:lines 1–32; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/prudentius-peristephanon/10-1). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/prudentius-peristephanon/10-1
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Latin of Lanfranchi's edition (Turin, 1898; OCR, corrections logged). No public-domain English was used; FOTC 43 is not available, so each batch was re-read against the Latin.
10.33Lanfranchi 1:lines 33–64
Qle scrpens ore dieta n Qui mortuorum de sepulcris exiens Clamat: quid ante tempus adventu cito Mea regna solvis? parce, Fili Altissimi, Vel possidere corda porcorum iube. Praefectus istis imminens negotiis re mandat milil Ecclesiasten usque de sacrariis Raptare plebem, mancipandam vinculis Ni disciplinam Nazarenam respuat. Mox ipse templum cogitans inrumpere, Et dissipare sancta sanctorum studens, Armis profanus praeparabat impiis Altaris aram funditns pessum dare, sqne et ipsas in ruinam solvere. Praecurrit index his repente cognitis Romanus, acris heros excellentiae, Venire in armis perduelles nuntiat, Aiiimos paventum praestruens hortatibus, Stent ut parati, neve cedant turbini. Conspirat uno foederatus spiritu Grex Christianus, agmen imperterritum Matrum, virorum, parvulorum, virginum ; Fixa et statuta est omnibus sententia Fidem tueri, vel libenter emori. Refert repulsus miles ad subsellia, Plebis rebellis esse Romanum ducem, Flagrare cunctos pervicaci audacia, Iugulos retectos obstinate opponere, Quo gloriosa morte fortes oppetant. Praeceps iubetur inde Romanus rapi, Solusque ut incitator et fax omnium, Pro contumaci plebe caussam dicere.
[as] that serpent [spoke] with his mouth, who, coming out of the tombs of the dead, cries: “Why before the time, with swift coming, do you dissolve my kingdom? Spare me, Son of the Most High, or bid me possess the hearts of pigs.” The prefect, pressing on with these affairs, […] commands the soldiers to drag the people of the Church from the very sanctuaries, to be bound in chains, unless they reject the Nazarene discipline. Soon he himself, planning to burst into the temple, and eager to scatter the holy of holies, was preparing, profane man, with impious arms to bring the altar down utterly, and to dissolve [the doors] themselves in ruin. When these things were known, Romanus suddenly runs ahead as informer, a hero of keen excellence, and announces that the enemies are coming in arms, preparing the minds of the frightened with exhortations to stand ready and not yield to the whirlwind. The Christian flock conspires, bound together in one spirit, an undaunted band of mothers, men, little ones, virgins; the resolve is fixed and settled for all to defend the faith, or gladly die. The soldier, driven back, reports to the bench that Romanus is the leader of the rebel people, that all are burning with stubborn daring, obstinately setting their bared throats against them, so that they may meet death bravely in glory. Then Romanus is ordered to be seized headlong, and, as sole instigator and torch of all, to plead the case for the stubborn people.
Matt 8:29 (allusion, high confidence) · Matt 8:31 (allusion, high confidence) · Mark 5:7 (allusion, medium confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: Like the demon of the tombs who cried out against Christ, the persecutor rages: the prefect orders Christians dragged from the churches and plans to destroy the church; Romanus warns the faithful, who stand firm, and he is arrested as their leader.
- Mark 5:2–13; Matt 8:29–31. The first line and the beginnings of lines 7 and 15 are damaged in the scan; their sense is given in brackets.
Notes on the original text
- Digital text corrected (OCR slip; OCR slips; lines run together separated; OCR slip): Qui mortuornm '1" aepulcria exiens Clamat: quid ante tempus adventu cito Ifea regna solvis? parce, l'ili Altissimi, → Qui mortuorum de sepulcris exiens Clamat: quid ante tempus adventu cito Mea regna solvis? parce, Fili Altissimi,; poreornm inbe → porcorum iube; Praefectua istis imminens negotdis → Praefectus istis imminens negotiis; Baptare plebem → Raptare plebem; Xi ilisciplinain → Ni disciplinam; hfoi ipse templnm → Mox ipse templum; sanctornm studens → sanctorum studens; pessnm → pessum; in rninam → in ruinam; repehte coghitis → repente cognitis; Romanvs, acris → Romanus, acris; hortatibns → hortatibus; Grox Christianus → Grex Christianus; esso Eomanvm → esse Romanum; audacia, ugulos → audacia, Iugulos; Romanvs rapi → Romanus rapi.
Topics: Martyrdom, Persecution
Cite (SBL): Prudentius, Perist. 10.33 (Lanfranchi 1:lines 33–64; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/prudentius-peristephanon/10-33). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/prudentius-peristephanon/10-33
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Latin of Lanfranchi's edition (Turin, 1898; OCR, corrections logged). No public-domain English was used; FOTC 43 is not available, so each batch was re-read against the Latin.
10.65Lanfranchi 1:lines 65–96
It non resistens, seque vinciri petit, Flexas et ultro torquet in tergum manus. Amor coronae paene praevenit trucem Lictoris artem, sponte nudas offerens Costas, bisulcis exsecandas ungulis. Inrumpit altum limen, et praeconibus Stupore mutis, ipse tortorem trahit. Adstanti ob ora sic tyrannus incipit : « Tu ventilator urbis, et vulgi levis Procella, mentes inquietas movens, Ne se imperita turba dedat legibus. Populare quiddam sub colore gloriae Inlitterata credidit frequentia, Ut se per aevum consecrandos autument, Si bella divis, ceu gigantes, inferant, Victique flammis obruantur montium. Hoc tu parasti, perdite, spectaculum Gladii cruenti de secandis civibus, Quos ut profanos, impios, sacrilegos Reos, necesse est te magistro interfici: Tu caussa mortis, tu malorum signifer. Ni fallor, aequum est, ut quod auctor improbus Tolerare multos compulisti, carnifex In te recurrat; proque tantis caedibus, Quae mox futurae, primus exitium luas; Feras et ipse quod ferendum suaseras. » — Hic ille contra reddit ore libero: — « Amplector, o Praefecte, nec me subtraho, Ut pro fideli plebe solus immoler, Dignus subire cuncta, si me consulis, Quaecumque vestra iusserit crudelitas.
He goes, not resisting, and asks to be bound, and of his own accord twists his bent hands behind his back. Love of the crown almost outstrips the cruel art of the lictor, offering of its own will the bare ribs, to be cut by two-pronged claws. He bursts through the high threshold, and, while the heralds are dumb with astonishment, he himself drags the torturer. As he stands before his face, the tyrant begins thus: “You who fan the city, storm of the fickle crowd, stirring restless minds, so that the ignorant mob will not give itself up to the laws! Something popular, under the color of glory, the unlettered multitude has believed, so that they think they will be consecrated forever if, like the giants, they make war on the gods and, conquered, are buried in the flames of mountains. This spectacle you have prepared, lost man, of the bloody sword cutting down citizens, who, as profane, impious, sacrilegious offenders, must be killed under your teaching: you are the cause of their death, you the standard-bearer of evils. Unless I am mistaken, it is just that what you, their wicked author, compelled many to endure, executioner, should return upon you; and that for such great slaughters as will soon come, you should be the first to pay with destruction, and bear yourself what you had persuaded them to bear.” To this he answers with free mouth: “I embrace it, Prefect, nor do I withdraw myself, so that I alone may be sacrificed for the faithful people, worthy to undergo all things, if you consult me, whatever your cruelty has ordered.
Notes and citation
Summary: Romanus offers himself to be bound and tortured; the prefect accuses him of stirring the people to rebellion and martyrdom and condemns him to suffer first; Romanus accepts gladly, to die for the faithful.
- The passage was badly garbled in the scan and was restored by a single logged correction; ‘movens’ (line 10) and ‘impios, sacrilegos / Reos’ (lines 19–20) are readings restored by sense.
Notes on the original text
- Digital text corrected (OCR text badly garbled: clear slips corrected throughout, stray line numbers, note marks, footnotes and running heads removed (readings restored by sense are named in the notes)): It non fesistens, seque vinciri petit, Flexas et ultro torquet in tergum manus. Amor coronae paene praevenit trucem Lictoris artem, sponte nudas offerens Costas, bisulcis exsecandas ungulis. Inrumpit altum limen, et praeconibus Stupore mutis, ipse tortorem trahit. Eomani. Adstanti ob ora sic tyrannns incipit : To ventilator orbis, ef vulgi levis Procella, inentes inquietas mob] Ne 9e imperita turba dedat legibus. Populare quiddam snb colore gloriae Inlittcrata credidit frequentia, i i se per aevnm consecrandos antnment, Si bella divis, cen gigantes, inferant, Victique flammis obruantur montium. EIoc tu parasti, perdite, spectacnlnm Gladis cmentae de aecandis civibus, Qnos ut profanos, impiati et saeculi Eteos, aeccsse est te magistro interfici: Tu canssa uiortis, tu malorum signifer. Ni fallor, aeqnnmest, ut quocl anctor improbus Tolerare mnltos compulisti, carnifex In te recnrrat; proque tantis caedibns, Qnae moz futnrae, primus exitium luas; Feras ei ipse quod ferendnm suaseras. » — \\\< ille contra reddit ore libero: — « Ajnplector, o Praefecte, nec me snbtrabo, Dt pro fideli plebe solus immoler, Dignns snbire cnncta, si me consulis, Qnaecnmque vestra insserit crudelitas. → It non resistens, seque vinciri petit, Flexas et ultro torquet in tergum manus. Amor coronae paene praevenit trucem Lictoris artem, sponte nudas offerens Costas, bisulcis exsecandas ungulis. Inrumpit altum limen, et praeconibus Stupore mutis, ipse tortorem trahit. Adstanti ob ora sic tyrannus incipit : « Tu ventilator urbis, et vulgi levis Procella, mentes inquietas movens, Ne se imperita turba dedat legibus. Populare quiddam sub colore gloriae Inlitterata credidit frequentia, Ut se per aevum consecrandos autument, Si bella divis, ceu gigantes, inferant, Victique flammis obruantur montium. Hoc tu parasti, perdite, spectaculum Gladii cruenti de secandis civibus, Quos ut profanos, impios, sacrilegos Reos, necesse est te magistro interfici: Tu caussa mortis, tu malorum signifer. Ni fallor, aequum est, ut quod auctor improbus Tolerare multos compulisti, carnifex In te recurrat; proque tantis caedibus, Quae mox futurae, primus exitium luas; Feras et ipse quod ferendum suaseras. » — Hic ille contra reddit ore libero: — « Amplector, o Praefecte, nec me subtraho, Ut pro fideli plebe solus immoler, Dignus subire cuncta, si me consulis, Quaecumque vestra iusserit crudelitas..
Topics: Martyrdom, Persecution
Cite (SBL): Prudentius, Perist. 10.65 (Lanfranchi 1:lines 65–96; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/prudentius-peristephanon/10-65). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/prudentius-peristephanon/10-65
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Latin of Lanfranchi's edition (Turin, 1898; OCR, corrections logged). No public-domain English was used; FOTC 43 is not available, so each batch was re-read against the Latin.
10.97Lanfranchi 1:lines 97–128
Intrare servis idolorum ac daemonum Sanctam salutis non licet nostrae domum, Ne polluatur purus orandi locus : Confido Sancto in Spiritu, numquam tibi Dandum, ut beatum limen attingas pede. Ni forte noster factus, in nostrum gregem Merere sumi : quod Pater faxit Deus. » — Incensus his Asclepiades, iusserat Eviscerandum corpus eculeo eminus Pendere, et uncis vinculisque crescere. Apparitores sed furenti suggerunt, Illum vetusta nobilem prosapia, Meritisque multis esse primum civium. Iubet amoveri noxialem stipitem, Plebeia clarum poena ne damnet virum. — « Tundatur, inquit, terga crebris ictibus, Plumboque cervix verberata extuberet : Persona quaeque competenter plectitur, Magnique refert, vilis an sit nobilis : Gradu reorum forma tormentis datur. » — Pulsatus ergo martyr illa grandine, Postquam inter ictus dixit hymnos plurimos, Erectus infit : — « Absit, ut me nobilem Sanguis parentum praestet, aut lex curiae: Generosa Christi secta nobilitat viros. Si prima nostri quae sit in cunabulis Origo texti stemmatis recenseas, Dei parentis esse ab ore coepimus: Cui quisque servit, ille vere est nobilis; Patri rebellis, invenitur degener. Honos deinde stemmati accedit novus, Et splendor ingens, ut magistratus venit ;
It is not lawful for servants of idols and demons to enter the holy house of our salvation, lest the pure place of prayer be polluted: I trust in the Holy Spirit that it will never be granted you to touch the blessed threshold with your foot — unless perhaps, made one of us, you deserve to be taken into our flock: may God the Father bring it about.” Inflamed by this, Asclepiades had ordered the body to be hung high on the rack to be disemboweled, and stretched by hooks and chains. But the attendants suggest to the raging man that he is noble by ancient lineage, and first among the citizens for his many merits. He orders the guilty stake to be removed, lest a plebeian punishment condemn a famous man. “Let his back be beaten,” he says, “with frequent blows, and let his neck, flogged with lead, swell: each person is punished appropriately, and it matters much whether one is low or noble: the form of the tortures is given by the rank of the accused.” So the martyr, beaten by that hail, after he had sung many hymns between the blows, stood up and began: “Far be it that the blood of my parents or the law of the senate-house should make me noble: the noble sect of Christ ennobles men. If you review what the first origin is of our woven lineage in its cradle, we began from the mouth of God our parent: whoever serves him, he is truly noble; rebellious to the Father, he is found degenerate. Then a new honor is added to the lineage, and immense splendor, when a magistracy comes:
Gen 1:27 (echo, low confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: Romanus refuses the prefect Asclepiades entry to the church unless he becomes a Christian; because Romanus is a nobleman he is beaten with lead instead of racked, and he declares that true nobility comes from God and from serving Christ.
- Restored from a garbled scan by one logged correction; ‘Merere’ (line 7) is a reading by sense.
Notes on the original text
- Digital text corrected (OCR text badly garbled: clear slips corrected throughout, stray line numbers, note marks, footnotes and running heads removed (readings restored by sense are named in the notes)): Tntraro servis idolorum ac daemonum Sanctam saluti.s non licet nostrae domum, Ne polluatur purus orandi locus : Confido Sancto in Spiritu, numquam tibi Dandum, ut beatum limen attingas pede. Ni forte noster factus, in nostrum gregem Mercare sumi : quod Pater faxit Deus. » — Incensus bis Asclepiades, iusserat Eviscerandum corpus eculeo eminus Pendere, et uncis vinculisque crescere. 11<> Apparitores sed furenti suggerunt, Illum vetusta nobilem prosapia, Meritisque multis esse primum civinm. Iubet amoveri noxialem stipitem, Plebeia clarum poena ne damnet virum. — « Tundatur, inquit, terga crebris ictibus, Plumboque cervix verberata esxtoberet : Persona quaeque competenter plectitur, Magnique refert, vilis an sit nobilis : Gradu reorum forma tormentis datur. » — Polsatus ergo martyr illa grandine, Postqaaro inter ictns dixil hymnum plnral Erectus infil : — •< alisit, ut me nobilem Sangnis parentum praestet, aut lez cnriae: Generosa Christi secta oobilital viros. L25 si prima nostri qnae sit in cnnabolis Origo texto stemmatis recenseas; Dei parentis esse ab ore coepimns: Cni qnisque servit, ille vere est aobilis; Patri rebellis, invenitor degener. 13< Eonos deinde stemmati accedit novns, Kt Bplendor ingens, ut magistratas \<nit ; → Intrare servis idolorum ac daemonum Sanctam salutis non licet nostrae domum, Ne polluatur purus orandi locus : Confido Sancto in Spiritu, numquam tibi Dandum, ut beatum limen attingas pede. Ni forte noster factus, in nostrum gregem Merere sumi : quod Pater faxit Deus. » — Incensus his Asclepiades, iusserat Eviscerandum corpus eculeo eminus Pendere, et uncis vinculisque crescere. Apparitores sed furenti suggerunt, Illum vetusta nobilem prosapia, Meritisque multis esse primum civium. Iubet amoveri noxialem stipitem, Plebeia clarum poena ne damnet virum. — « Tundatur, inquit, terga crebris ictibus, Plumboque cervix verberata extuberet : Persona quaeque competenter plectitur, Magnique refert, vilis an sit nobilis : Gradu reorum forma tormentis datur. » — Pulsatus ergo martyr illa grandine, Postquam inter ictus dixit hymnos plurimos, Erectus infit : — « Absit, ut me nobilem Sanguis parentum praestet, aut lex curiae: Generosa Christi secta nobilitat viros. Si prima nostri quae sit in cunabulis Origo texti stemmatis recenseas, Dei parentis esse ab ore coepimus: Cui quisque servit, ille vere est nobilis; Patri rebellis, invenitur degener. Honos deinde stemmati accedit novus, Et splendor ingens, ut magistratus venit ;.
Topics: Martyrdom
Cite (SBL): Prudentius, Perist. 10.97 (Lanfranchi 1:lines 97–128; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/prudentius-peristephanon/10-97). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/prudentius-peristephanon/10-97
BibTeX · RIS · CSL-JSON (whole work; this passage's key: sophiascriptura-prudentius-peristephanon-10-97) · Report an error
Translation: Translated by Claude from the Latin of Lanfranchi's edition (Turin, 1898; OCR, corrections logged). No public-domain English was used; FOTC 43 is not available, so each batch was re-read against the Latin.
10.129Lanfranchi 1:lines 129–160
Si confitendi nominis testem probant Signentque iniusta ferri et ignis vulnera, Et vim dolorum mors sequatur inclita. Cave benignus esse perverse velis, Nec, iam remissus, leniter peperceris: Incumbe membris, tortor, ut sim nobilis; His ampliatus si fruar successibus, Genus patris matrisque flocci fecero. Haec ipsa vestra dignitatum culmina Quid esse censes? nonne cursim transeunt Fasces, secures, sella, praetexta et toga, Lictor, tribunal, et trecenta insignia, Quibus tumetis, moxque detumescitis ? Quum consulatum initis, ut vernae solent, (Pudet fateri!) farre pullos pascitis; Aquila ex eburna sumit arrogantiam Gestator eius, ac superbit belluae Inflatus osse, cui figura est alitis. Iam si sub aris ad sigillorum pedes Iaceatis, infra sectilem quercum siti, Quid esse vobis aestimem proiectius? Nudare plantas ante carpentum scio Proceres togatos, matris Idaeae sacris. Lapis nigellus evehendus essedo, Muliebris oris clausus argento sedet : Quem, dum ad lavacrum praeeundo ducitis, Pedes remotis atterentes calceis, Almonis usque pervenitis rivulum. Quid illa turpis pompa? nempe ignobiles Vos esse monstrat, quum Luperci curritis. Quem servulorum non rear vilissimum, Nudus plateas si per omnes cursitans
if the wounds of iron and fire, though unjust, prove and mark me a witness confessing the name, and a glorious death follows the force of the pains. Beware of wishing to be perversely kind, nor, now relaxed, spare me gently: press on my limbs, torturer, that I may be noble; if, enlarged by these successes, I enjoy them, I shall think nothing of my father’s and mother’s family. These very summits of your dignities, what do you think they are? Do they not pass by swiftly: fasces, axes, chair, bordered toga and robe, lictor, tribunal, and three hundred badges, with which you swell, and soon go down again? When you enter on the consulship, as household slaves do, (I am ashamed to say it!) you feed chickens with meal; the bearer of an ivory eagle takes on arrogance from it, and is proud, puffed up by the bone of a beast that has the shape of a bird. Now if you lie under the altars at the feet of little images, placed below a carved oak, what can I think more abject than you? I know that toga-clad nobles bare their feet before the carriage, for the rites of the Idaean mother. A little black stone, to be carried in a chariot, sits shut in silver with a woman’s face; leading it to its bath, going before it, wearing down your feet with shoes removed, you come right to the stream of the Almo. What is that shameful procession? Surely it shows that you are base, when you run as Luperci. Whom would I not think the lowest of slaves, if, running naked through all the streets,
Notes and citation
Summary: Romanus says the wounds of martyrdom are his true nobility and mocks the honors of Roman magistrates, who feed sacred chickens, bow to idols, walk barefoot before the stone of Cybele and run naked as Luperci.
- The first two lines are damaged in the scan and read by sense (‘Si confitendi nominis testem probant / Signentque iniusta ferri et ignis vulnera’). Polemic against Roman cults, as written.
Notes on the original text
- Digital text corrected (OCR text badly garbled: clear slips corrected throughout, stray line numbers, note marks, footnotes and running heads removed (readings restored by sense are named in the notes)): si confitendi nominis testem probam Bigneni innsta ferri >-\ ignis volnera, Et viiu dolorum mors sequatur inclita. 1 '■'<■> Cave benignns esse perverse velis, Nec iui remissns lenitei peperceris: Incnmbe membris fcortor, ut sim nobilis; Ilis ampliatns si fruar snccessibns, Genus patris matrisquc fiocci fecero. Haec ipsa vcstra dignitatum culmina Quid esse censes? nonne cursim transeunt Fasces, secures, sella, praetexta et toga, Lictor, tribunal, et trecenta insignia, Quibus tumetis, nioxquo detumoscitis ? 14"> Quum consulatum initis, ut vernae solent, (Pudet fateril) farre pullos pascitis; Aquila ex eburna sumit arrogantiam Gestator eius, ac superbit belluac Inflatus osse, cui figura est alitis. Iam si sub aris ad sigillorum pedes Iaceatis, infra sectilem quercum (G) siti, Quid esse vobis aestimem proiectius? Nudare plantas ante carpentum scio Proceres togatos, matris Idaeae sacris. Lapia nigellus evehendus essedo, Bfuliebris oria clausua argento Bedet : Quem thiiii ad lavacrum praeeundo ducitis, Pedes romotis atterentes calceis, AJmonis osque pervenitis rivulum. i illa turpis pompa ? nompe ignobiles monstrat, quam Luperci curritis. (,»ii"iii servulorum non rear vilissimum, Nudus plateas a per omnes cursitans, → Si confitendi nominis testem probant Signentque iniusta ferri et ignis vulnera, Et vim dolorum mors sequatur inclita. Cave benignus esse perverse velis, Nec, iam remissus, leniter peperceris: Incumbe membris, tortor, ut sim nobilis; His ampliatus si fruar successibus, Genus patris matrisque flocci fecero. Haec ipsa vestra dignitatum culmina Quid esse censes? nonne cursim transeunt Fasces, secures, sella, praetexta et toga, Lictor, tribunal, et trecenta insignia, Quibus tumetis, moxque detumescitis ? Quum consulatum initis, ut vernae solent, (Pudet fateri!) farre pullos pascitis; Aquila ex eburna sumit arrogantiam Gestator eius, ac superbit belluae Inflatus osse, cui figura est alitis. Iam si sub aris ad sigillorum pedes Iaceatis, infra sectilem quercum siti, Quid esse vobis aestimem proiectius? Nudare plantas ante carpentum scio Proceres togatos, matris Idaeae sacris. Lapis nigellus evehendus essedo, Muliebris oris clausus argento sedet : Quem, dum ad lavacrum praeeundo ducitis, Pedes remotis atterentes calceis, Almonis usque pervenitis rivulum. Quid illa turpis pompa? nempe ignobiles Vos esse monstrat, quum Luperci curritis. Quem servulorum non rear vilissimum, Nudus plateas si per omnes cursitans.
Topics: Martyrdom
Cite (SBL): Prudentius, Perist. 10.129 (Lanfranchi 1:lines 129–160; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/prudentius-peristephanon/10-129). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/prudentius-peristephanon/10-129
BibTeX · RIS · CSL-JSON (whole work; this passage's key: sophiascriptura-prudentius-peristephanon-10-129) · Report an error
Translation: Translated by Claude from the Latin of Lanfranchi's edition (Turin, 1898; OCR, corrections logged). No public-domain English was used; FOTC 43 is not available, so each batch was re-read against the Latin.
10.161Lanfranchi 1:lines 161–192
Pulset puellas verbere ictas ludicro? Miseret tuorum me sacrorum et principum, Morumque, Roma, saeculi summum caput. Age, explicemus, si placet, mysteria, Praefecte, vestra: iam necesse est audias, Nolis velisve, quid colatis sordium. Nec terret ista, qua tumes, vesania, Quod vultuosus, quod supinus, quod rigens, Tormenta leti comminaris asperi ; Si me movere rebus ullis niteris, Ratione mecum, non furore dimica. Iubes, relictis Patris et Christi sacris, Ut tecum adorem feminas mille ac mares, Deos deasque, deque sexu duplici Natos, nepotes, abnepotes editos, Ut tot stuprorum sordidam prosapiam. Nubunt puellae; saepe luduntur dolis, Amasionum comprimuntur fraudibus : Incesta fervent, furta moechorum calent. Fallit maritus, odit uxor pellicem: Deos catenae conligant adulteros. Ostende, quaeso, quas ad aras praecipis Vervece caeso fumet ut caespes meus? Delphosne pergam? Sed vetat palaestrici Corrupta ephebi fama, quem vester deus Effeminavit gymnadis licentia. Mox flevit impuratus occisum gravi Disco, et dicavit florulentum subcubam. Conductus idem pavit alienum pecus; Furtum deinde perditi passus gregis, Ignavus bubulcus tela et ipsa perdidit. An ad Cybeles ibo lucum pineum?
should strike girls with a playful lash? I pity your rites and your leaders, and your morals, Rome, highest head of the world. Come, let us unfold, if you please, your mysteries, Prefect: now you must hear, whether you will or not, what filth you worship. Nor does that madness with which you swell frighten me, in that, grim-faced, haughty, rigid, you threaten the tortures of a harsh death; if you are trying to move me by any means, fight me with reason, not fury. You bid me, abandoning the rites of the Father and of Christ, to adore with you a thousand females and males, gods and goddesses, and, from the double sex, sons, grandsons, great-great-grandsons born, like a filthy lineage of so many acts of sexual immorality. Girls marry; often they are deceived by tricks, overpowered by the frauds of lovers: incests seethe, the thefts of adulterers burn hot. The husband deceives, the wife hates the concubine: chains bind together adulterous gods. Show me, I pray, at which altars you command that my turf should smoke with a slain wether? Am I to go to Delphi? But the corrupt reputation of the athletic youth forbids it, whom your god made effeminate by the licence of the gymnasium. Soon, defiled, he wept for him killed by a heavy discus, and consecrated his concubine as a flower. The same god, hired, pastured another’s flock; then, suffering the theft of the lost herd, the lazy cowherd lost even his arrows. Or shall I go to the pine grove of Cybele?
Notes and citation
Summary: Romanus asks the prefect to reason rather than rage, and lists the immoralities told of the pagan gods: their marriages, adulteries and incests, Apollo’s love for Hyacinthus and his service as a cowherd.
- Polemic against pagan myths, as written: Apollo and Hyacinthus; Apollo’s service with Admetus and the theft of his cattle and quiver by Mercury.
Notes on the original text
- Digital text corrected (OCR text badly garbled: clear slips corrected throughout, stray line numbers, note marks, footnotes and running heads removed (readings restored by sense are named in the notes)): Pulsel puellas verbere ictas ludicro? Miserel tuorum me sacrorum et principnm, Morumque, Etoma, saeculi summum caput. \_... explicemus, si placet, mysteria, Praefecte, vestra: iam necesse es1 audias, Nolis velisve, quid colatis sordium. NTec terrel ista, qua tumes, vesania, Quod vultuosus, quod supinus, quod rigens, Tormenta leti comminaris asperi ; si me movere rebus nllis niteris, Batione mecum, non furore dimica. Iubes, relictis Patris et Christi sacris, Ut tecuni adorem ferainas mille ac mares, Deos deasque, deque sexu duplici Natos, nepotes, abnepotes editos, Ut tot stuprorum sordidam prosapiam. Nuhunt puellae; saepe luduntur dolis, Amasionum comprinmntur fraudibus : Incesta fervent, furta moechorum calont. Fallit maritus, odit uxor pellicem: Deos catenae conligant adulteros. Ostende, quaeso, quas ad aras praecipis Vervece caeso fumet ut caespes meus? Delphos ne pergara? Sed vetat palaestrici Corrupta ephebi fama, quem vester deus Effeininavit gymnadis licentia. Mox flevit impuratus occisum gravi Disco, et dicavit florulentum subcubam. Conductus idem pavit alienum pecus; Fmviii 1 deinde perditi passns gn is bubulcus tela el ipsa perdidit. An ad Cybeles <;'>i Lbo lucum pineum ? → Pulset puellas verbere ictas ludicro? Miseret tuorum me sacrorum et principum, Morumque, Roma, saeculi summum caput. Age, explicemus, si placet, mysteria, Praefecte, vestra: iam necesse est audias, Nolis velisve, quid colatis sordium. Nec terret ista, qua tumes, vesania, Quod vultuosus, quod supinus, quod rigens, Tormenta leti comminaris asperi ; Si me movere rebus ullis niteris, Ratione mecum, non furore dimica. Iubes, relictis Patris et Christi sacris, Ut tecum adorem feminas mille ac mares, Deos deasque, deque sexu duplici Natos, nepotes, abnepotes editos, Ut tot stuprorum sordidam prosapiam. Nubunt puellae; saepe luduntur dolis, Amasionum comprimuntur fraudibus : Incesta fervent, furta moechorum calent. Fallit maritus, odit uxor pellicem: Deos catenae conligant adulteros. Ostende, quaeso, quas ad aras praecipis Vervece caeso fumet ut caespes meus? Delphosne pergam? Sed vetat palaestrici Corrupta ephebi fama, quem vester deus Effeminavit gymnadis licentia. Mox flevit impuratus occisum gravi Disco, et dicavit florulentum subcubam. Conductus idem pavit alienum pecus; Furtum deinde perditi passus gregis, Ignavus bubulcus tela et ipsa perdidit. An ad Cybeles ibo lucum pineum?.
Topics: Martyrdom
Cite (SBL): Prudentius, Perist. 10.161 (Lanfranchi 1:lines 161–192; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/prudentius-peristephanon/10-161). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/prudentius-peristephanon/10-161
BibTeX · RIS · CSL-JSON (whole work; this passage's key: sophiascriptura-prudentius-peristephanon-10-161) · Report an error
Translation: Translated by Claude from the Latin of Lanfranchi's edition (Turin, 1898; OCR, corrections logged). No public-domain English was used; FOTC 43 is not available, so each batch was re-read against the Latin.
10.193Lanfranchi 1:lines 193–224
Puer sed obstat Gallus ob libidinem, Per triste vulnus, perque sectum dedecus Ab impudicae tutus amplexu deae : Per multa Matri sacra plorandus spado. Sed, credo, magni limen amplectar Iovis: Qui si citetur legibus vestris reus, Laqueis minacis implicatus Iuliae, Luat severam vinctus et Scantiniam, Te cognitore, dignus ire in carcerem. Quid aureorum conditorem temporum Censes colendum? quem fugacem non negas Latuisse furtim, dum reformidat malum : Quem si beate vivere audit Iuppiter, Plectat necesse est occulendi conscios. Quid inter aras dissidentum numinum Putas agendum? Martis indignabitur Offensa virtus, si colatur Lemnius. Iunonis iram sentiet, quisquis deum Signo aut sacello consecrarit Herculem. Dicis, licenter haec poetas fingere. Sed sunt et ipsi talibus mysteriis Tecum dicati : quodque describunt, colunt. Tu cur piaclum tam libenter lectitas? Cur in theatris, te vidente, id plauditur? Cycnus stuprator peccat inter pulpita, Saltat Tonantem tauricornem ludius; Spectator horum pontifex summus sedes, Ridesque et ipse, nec negando diluis, Quum fama tanti polluatur numinis. Cur tu, sacrate, per cachinnos solveris Quum se maritum fingit Alcmenae deus? Meretrix Adonin vulneratum scenica
But the boy, the Gallus, stands in the way, for lust, through a sad wound and a cut-away disgrace safe from the embrace of the unchaste goddess, a eunuch to be lamented in many rites of the Mother. But, I suppose, I shall embrace the threshold of great Jupiter: who, if he were summoned as a defendant under your laws, entangled in the snares of the threatening Julian law, would, in chains, pay the penalty of the severe Scantinian law too, and, with you as judge, deserve to go to prison. Why do you think the founder of the golden ages should be worshiped? You do not deny that he, a fugitive, hid secretly while he dreaded harm; if Jupiter hears that he is living happily, he must punish those privy to his hiding. What do you think should be done among the altars of quarrelling gods? The offended might of Mars will be indignant if the Lemnian is worshiped. Whoever consecrates Hercules as a god with statue or shrine will feel Juno’s anger. You say that the poets invent these things licentiously. But they themselves too are dedicated with you to such mysteries, and what they describe they worship. Why do you read a sacrilege so gladly? Why is it applauded in the theaters while you watch? The swan, the seducer, sins on the stage; the actor dances the bull-horned Thunderer; you, the supreme pontiff, sit as spectator of these things, and laugh yourself, nor do you wash it away by denying, though the reputation of so great a deity is polluted. Why, consecrated one, do you dissolve in guffaws when the god pretends to be Alcmena’s husband? The stage harlot laments wounded Adonis
Notes and citation
Summary: Romanus continues: Attis, Jupiter (who would be condemned under Roman laws on adultery and sexual vice), Saturn the fugitive, and quarrelling gods are no objects of worship; the myths are not mere poetry, since the pontiffs themselves applaud them on the stage.
- The Julian law punished adultery; the Scantinian law punished sexual offences between males. The first line is damaged in the scan and read by sense. Polemic, as written.
Notes on the original text
- Digital text corrected (OCR text badly garbled: clear slips corrected throughout, stray line numbers, note marks, footnotes and running heads removed (readings restored by sense are named in the notes)): Puer I llus, ob libidinem Per triste rulnus, perque Bectnm dedecns Ab impndicae tatus amplexa deae : Per multa Matri Bacra plorandns spado. Sed, credo, magni limen amplectar Eoyis: <,)'ii si «itetur legibns vestris i Laqneis minacis implicatus Iuliae, Luat severam vinctus et Scantinlam, Te cognitore, dignus ire in carcerem. Quid aureorum conditorem tempornm Censes colendum? quem fugacem non n< Latuisse furtim, dum reformidat malum : Quem si beate vivere audit Iuppiter, Plectat necesse est occulendi conscios. Quid inter aras dissidentnm nnminnm Putas agendnm? Martis indignabitnr Offensa virtus, si colatur Lemnius. lunonis iram sentiet, qnisque ut deum Signo aut sacello consecrarit Herculem. 21."> Dicis, licenter liaec poetas fingere. Sed sunt et ipsi talibus mysteriis Tecum dicati : quodque describunt, colunt. Tu cur piacluni tam libenter lectitas? Cur in theatris, te vidente, id plauditur? Cycnus stuprator peccat inter pulpita, Saltat Tonantem tauricornem ludius; Spectator horum pontifex summus sedes, Ridesque et ipse, nec negando diluis, Quum fama tanti polluatur numinis. 2^-"> Cur tu, sacrate, per cachinnos solveris Quum se maritum fingit Alcmenae deus? Meretrix Adonin vulneratum scenica → Puer sed obstat Gallus ob libidinem, Per triste vulnus, perque sectum dedecus Ab impudicae tutus amplexu deae : Per multa Matri sacra plorandus spado. Sed, credo, magni limen amplectar Iovis: Qui si citetur legibus vestris reus, Laqueis minacis implicatus Iuliae, Luat severam vinctus et Scantiniam, Te cognitore, dignus ire in carcerem. Quid aureorum conditorem temporum Censes colendum? quem fugacem non negas Latuisse furtim, dum reformidat malum : Quem si beate vivere audit Iuppiter, Plectat necesse est occulendi conscios. Quid inter aras dissidentum numinum Putas agendum? Martis indignabitur Offensa virtus, si colatur Lemnius. Iunonis iram sentiet, quisquis deum Signo aut sacello consecrarit Herculem. Dicis, licenter haec poetas fingere. Sed sunt et ipsi talibus mysteriis Tecum dicati : quodque describunt, colunt. Tu cur piaclum tam libenter lectitas? Cur in theatris, te vidente, id plauditur? Cycnus stuprator peccat inter pulpita, Saltat Tonantem tauricornem ludius; Spectator horum pontifex summus sedes, Ridesque et ipse, nec negando diluis, Quum fama tanti polluatur numinis. Cur tu, sacrate, per cachinnos solveris Quum se maritum fingit Alcmenae deus? Meretrix Adonin vulneratum scenica.
Topics: Martyrdom
Cite (SBL): Prudentius, Perist. 10.193 (Lanfranchi 1:lines 193–224; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/prudentius-peristephanon/10-193). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/prudentius-peristephanon/10-193
BibTeX · RIS · CSL-JSON (whole work; this passage's key: sophiascriptura-prudentius-peristephanon-10-193) · Report an error
Translation: Translated by Claude from the Latin of Lanfranchi's edition (Turin, 1898; OCR, corrections logged). No public-domain English was used; FOTC 43 is not available, so each batch was re-read against the Latin.
10.225Lanfranchi 1:lines 225–256
Libidinoso plangit adfectu palam. Nec te lupanar Cypridis sanctae movet? Quid? quod sub ipsis veritas signis patet, Formata in aere criminum vestigiis. Quid vult sigillum semper adfixum Iovi Avis ministra? nempe velox armiger Leno, exoletum qui tyranno pertulit. Rem recincta veste praetendit Ceres. Cur, si deorum nemo rapuit virginem, Quam nocte quaerens mater errat pervigil? Fusos rotantem cernimus Tirynthium: Cur, si Neaerae non fuit ludibrio? Quid rusticorum monstra detester deum, Faunos, Priapos, fistularum praesides, Nymphas natantes, incolasque aquatiles, Sitas sub alto, more ranarum, lacu : Divinitatis ius in algis vilibus? Ad haec colenda me vocas, censor bone? Potesne quidquam tale, si sanum sapis, Sanctum putare? nonne pulmonem movet Derisus, istas intuens ineptias, Quas vinolentae somniis fingunt anus? At, si quid usquam vanitatis mysticae Nobis colendum est, ipse primus incipe; Pronusque adora quidquid in terris sacri est, Deos Latinos, et deos Aegyptios, Quis Roma libat, quis Canopus supplicat. Venerem precaris? comprecare et simiam. Placet sacratus aspis Aesculapii? Crocodilus, ibis, et canis, cur displicent? Adpone porris religiosas arulas, Venerare acerbum caepe, mordax allium.
openly, with lustful feeling. Does not the brothel of holy Cypris move you? What of this: the truth lies open in the very statues, shaped in bronze with the traces of crimes? What does the image of the bird always fixed beside Jupiter mean, his servant? Surely the swift armor-bearer is a pimp, who carried the catamite to the tyrant. Ceres shows the thing with her ungirt robe. Why, if none of the gods carried off the maiden, does her mother wander sleepless, seeking her by night? We see the Tirynthian twirling spindles: why, if he was not the plaything of Neaera? Why should I loathe the monsters of the rustic gods, Fauns, Priapi, presidents of the pipes, nymphs swimming, and water-dwellers placed under the deep lake, like frogs: a right of divinity among cheap seaweeds? Do you call me to worship these, good censor? Can you think anything of the kind holy, if you have sound sense? Does not laughter shake your lungs as you look at those follies which drunken old women invent in their dreams? But if any mystic vanity anywhere must be worshiped by us, you begin first; and, bowed down, adore whatever is sacred on earth, the Latin gods and the Egyptian gods, to whom Rome pours libations, to whom Canopus prays. Do you pray to Venus? Pray to the ape too. Does the sacred asp of Aesculapius please you? Why do the crocodile, the ibis and the dog displease you? Set little altars of religion by the leeks, venerate the bitter onion, the biting garlic.
Notes and citation
Summary: The statues themselves betray the gods’ crimes: Jupiter’s eagle and Ganymede, Ceres seeking her stolen daughter, Hercules spinning; the rustic gods are absurd, and if Romans worship gods, they might as well worship the Egyptians’ animals and vegetables.
- Polemic, as written. ‘Neaera’: the scan’s reading; the common story has Omphale.
Notes on the original text
- Digital text corrected (OCR text badly garbled: clear slips corrected throughout, stray line numbers, note marks, footnotes and running heads removed (readings restored by sense are named in the notes)): Libidinoso plangit adfectu palam. Nec te lupanar Cypridis sanctae movet? Qoid? qnod rab ipsis veritas Bignia 1 patet, Formata in aere crimiiram vestigiis. Qoid vult Bigillom semper adfixom Iovi A\is uiiii -■ _'i aempe veloi armiger Leno, exoletom qui tyranno pertulit. Bm recincta feste praetendil Ceres. Cnr, BQ deorom nemo rapnit virginem, Qnam oocte qnaerens mater errat pervigil? Fosos rotantem cernhnns Tyrinthinm: Cnr, >i Neaerae non fdit lndibrio? Qoid rnsticornm monstra dctester deum, Faunos, Priapos, fistolarnm praesides (G), Xvniplias natantes, incolasque aquatiles, Sitas snb alto, moro ranarum, lacu : Pivinitatis ias in algis vilibus? \<\ haec eolenda me vocas, censor bone? Potesne qnidqnam tale, si sauum sapis, Sanctnm pntare? nonno pulmouem movet Derisns, istas intnens ineptias, (,>uas vinolentae sumniis fingunt anns? At, si quid usquam vanitatis mysticae Nobis colendum est, ipse primus incipe; Pronusque adora quidquid in terris sacri est, Deos Latinos, et deos Aegyptios, Quis Eoma libat, quis Canopus supplicat. 2")", Venerem precaris? comprecare et simiani. (•'!) Placet sacratus aspis Aesculapii? Crocodilus, ibis, et canis, cur displicent? Adpone porris religiosas arulas, Venerare acerbum caepe, mordax allium. → Libidinoso plangit adfectu palam. Nec te lupanar Cypridis sanctae movet? Quid? quod sub ipsis veritas signis patet, Formata in aere criminum vestigiis. Quid vult sigillum semper adfixum Iovi Avis ministra? nempe velox armiger Leno, exoletum qui tyranno pertulit. Rem recincta veste praetendit Ceres. Cur, si deorum nemo rapuit virginem, Quam nocte quaerens mater errat pervigil? Fusos rotantem cernimus Tirynthium: Cur, si Neaerae non fuit ludibrio? Quid rusticorum monstra detester deum, Faunos, Priapos, fistularum praesides, Nymphas natantes, incolasque aquatiles, Sitas sub alto, more ranarum, lacu : Divinitatis ius in algis vilibus? Ad haec colenda me vocas, censor bone? Potesne quidquam tale, si sanum sapis, Sanctum putare? nonne pulmonem movet Derisus, istas intuens ineptias, Quas vinolentae somniis fingunt anus? At, si quid usquam vanitatis mysticae Nobis colendum est, ipse primus incipe; Pronusque adora quidquid in terris sacri est, Deos Latinos, et deos Aegyptios, Quis Roma libat, quis Canopus supplicat. Venerem precaris? comprecare et simiam. Placet sacratus aspis Aesculapii? Crocodilus, ibis, et canis, cur displicent? Adpone porris religiosas arulas, Venerare acerbum caepe, mordax allium..
Topics: Martyrdom
Cite (SBL): Prudentius, Perist. 10.225 (Lanfranchi 1:lines 225–256; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/prudentius-peristephanon/10-225). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/prudentius-peristephanon/10-225
BibTeX · RIS · CSL-JSON (whole work; this passage's key: sophiascriptura-prudentius-peristephanon-10-225) · Report an error
Translation: Translated by Claude from the Latin of Lanfranchi's edition (Turin, 1898; OCR, corrections logged). No public-domain English was used; FOTC 43 is not available, so each batch was re-read against the Latin.
10.257Lanfranchi 1:lines 257–288
Fuliginosi ture placantur Lares, Et respuuntur consecrata oluscula? Aut unde maior esse maiestas focis, Quam nata in hortis sarculatis creditur, Si numen ollis, numen et porris inest? Sed pulchra res est forma in aere sculptilis. Quid imprecabor officinis Graeciae, Quae condiderunt gentibus stultis deos? Forceps Myronis, malleus Polycliti, Natura vestrum est atque origo caelitum. Ars seminandis efficax erroribus, Barbam rigentem dum Iovis circumplicat, Dum defluentem leniter flectens comam, Limat capillos et corymbos Liberi, Et dum Minervae pectus hydris asperat, Iniecit atram territis formidinem, Ut fulmen aeris, ceu Tonantis, horreant, Tremant venenum sibilantis Gorgonae, Putent Ephebum post triumphos Indicos Ferire thyrso posse, quum sit ebrius. Tum, quod Dianam molle succinctam vident, Venantis arcum pertimescunt virginis: Si forte vultum tristioris Herculis Liquore crispo massa tinxit fusilis, Clavam minari, ni colatur, creditur. Iam quis paventum corda terror occupat, Iunonis iram si polite expresserit? Velut retortis intuens obtutibus, Avertat ora de litantis hostia, Lapis severa fronte mentitur minas. Miror, quod ipsum non sacrastis Mentorem, Nec templum et aras ipse Phidias habet, Fabri deorum, vel parentes numinum :
Smoky Lares are appeased with incense, and are the consecrated vegetables rejected? Or whence is greater majesty believed to be in hearths than in what is born in hoed gardens, if there is divinity in pots, divinity too in leeks? But a form sculpted in bronze is a beautiful thing. What shall I wish upon the workshops of Greece, which founded gods for foolish nations? The tongs of Myron, the hammer of Polyclitus, are the nature and origin of your heavenly ones. Art, effective in sowing errors, while it curls round Jupiter’s stiff beard, while, gently bending the flowing hair, it files the locks and ivy clusters of Liber, and while it roughens Minerva’s breast with serpents, has struck black dread into the terrified, so that they shudder at the bronze thunderbolt as if it were the Thunderer’s, tremble at the venom of the hissing Gorgon, think that the Youth after his Indian triumphs can strike with the thyrsus when he is drunk. Then, because they see Diana softly girt, they greatly fear the bow of the hunting virgin; if perhaps the molten mass has tinged with curling liquid the face of a grimmer Hercules, the club is believed to threaten unless he is worshiped. Now what terror seizes the hearts of the fearful, if Juno’s anger has been neatly expressed? As if, looking with eyes turned back, she turned her face from the victim of the sacrificer, the stone feigns threats with its stern brow. I wonder that you have not consecrated Mentor himself, and that Phidias himself has no temple and altars, makers of gods, or parents of deities:
Isa 44:13 (echo, medium confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: The gods are the work of Greek sculptors like Myron and Polyclitus, whose art makes people fear bronze thunderbolts, a drunken Bacchus, Diana’s bow and Hercules’ club; the sculptors should rather be worshiped as the parents of the gods.
- A leftover footnote line was removed. Polemic, as written.
Notes on the original text
- Digital text corrected (OCR text badly garbled: clear slips corrected throughout, stray line numbers, note marks, footnotes and running heads removed (readings restored by sense are named in the notes)): Fuliginosi ture placantur Lares, Et respunntur consecrata oluscula : Aut unde maior esse maiestas focis, Quam nata in hortis sarculatis creditur, Si numen ollis, numen et porris inest. Sed pulchra res est forma in aere sculptilis. Quid imprecabor oflicinis Graeciae, Quae condiderant gentibus stultis deos? Forceps Myronis, malleus Polycliti, Natura vestrum est atque origo caelitum. seminandis efficai erroribus, Barbam rigentem dnm [ovia circnmplicat, I »nm deflnentem leniter flectena comam, Limat capillos, el corymbos Liberi, E1 dnm Biinervae pectas, hydris asperal 1 1 I, niecil atram territis i-i formidinem, l II fulmen afiris, cea Tonantis, horreant. Tremant venenum sibilantis Grorgonae: Putenl Ephebnm posi trinmphos Indicos Ferire thyrso posse, gnnua sii ebrins. Tum, qnod Dianammollesnccinctam ( i) vident, Venantia arcnm pertimesennt virginis: Si forte vultum tristioris Hercnlis Liqnore crispo massa tinxit fosilis, Clavam minari, ni colatnr, creditnr. Iam guis paventnm corda terror occupat, nnonis iram si polite expresserit? Velnt retortis intnens obtutilms, A.vertat ora de h'tantis hostia, Lapis severa fronte mentitnr minas. Miror, quo<l ipsnm non sacrastis Mentorem, Nec templum et aras ipse Phidias habet, /.;;■• imiii. quod inetum terroremque inducat. Fabri deorum, vel parentea numinuni : → Fuliginosi ture placantur Lares, Et respuuntur consecrata oluscula? Aut unde maior esse maiestas focis, Quam nata in hortis sarculatis creditur, Si numen ollis, numen et porris inest? Sed pulchra res est forma in aere sculptilis. Quid imprecabor officinis Graeciae, Quae condiderunt gentibus stultis deos? Forceps Myronis, malleus Polycliti, Natura vestrum est atque origo caelitum. Ars seminandis efficax erroribus, Barbam rigentem dum Iovis circumplicat, Dum defluentem leniter flectens comam, Limat capillos et corymbos Liberi, Et dum Minervae pectus hydris asperat, Iniecit atram territis formidinem, Ut fulmen aeris, ceu Tonantis, horreant, Tremant venenum sibilantis Gorgonae, Putent Ephebum post triumphos Indicos Ferire thyrso posse, quum sit ebrius. Tum, quod Dianam molle succinctam vident, Venantis arcum pertimescunt virginis: Si forte vultum tristioris Herculis Liquore crispo massa tinxit fusilis, Clavam minari, ni colatur, creditur. Iam quis paventum corda terror occupat, Iunonis iram si polite expresserit? Velut retortis intuens obtutibus, Avertat ora de litantis hostia, Lapis severa fronte mentitur minas. Miror, quod ipsum non sacrastis Mentorem, Nec templum et aras ipse Phidias habet, Fabri deorum, vel parentes numinum :.
Topics: Martyrdom
Cite (SBL): Prudentius, Perist. 10.257 (Lanfranchi 1:lines 257–288; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/prudentius-peristephanon/10-257). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/prudentius-peristephanon/10-257
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Latin of Lanfranchi's edition (Turin, 1898; OCR, corrections logged). No public-domain English was used; FOTC 43 is not available, so each batch was re-read against the Latin.
10.289Lanfranchi 1:lines 289–320
Qui, si caminis institissent segnius, Non esset ullus Iuppiter conflatilis. Non erubescis, stulte, pago dedite, Te tanta semper perdidisse obsonia; Quae dis ineptus obtulisti talibus, Quos trulla, pelvis, cantharus, sartagines, Fracta et liquata contulerunt vascula? Ignosco fatuis haec tamen vulgaribus, Quos lana terret discolora in stipite, Quos saepe salsus circulator decipit: Quibus omne sanctum est, quod pavendum rancidae Edentularum cantilenae suaserint. Nescire vel divina, vel mortalia Quo iure constent: quanta maiestas regat, Quidquid creatum est, quae creavit omnia. Deus perennis, res inaestimabilis, Non cogitando, non videndo clauditur: Excedit omnem mentis humanae modum ; Nec comprehendi visibus nostris valet, Extraque et intus implet ac superfluit. Intemporalis ante, quam primus dies: Esse et fuisse semper unus obtinet: Lux ipse vera, veri et auctor luminis: Quum lumen esset, lumen effudit suum: Ex luce fulgor natus hic est Filius. Vis una Patris, vis et una est Filii, Unusque ab uno lumine splendor satus, Pleno refulsit claritatis lumine. Natura simplex pollet unius Dei; Et, quidquid usquam est, una virtus condidit. Caelum solumque, vim marini gurgitis, Globos dierum noctiumque praesides, Ventos, procellas, fulgura, imbres, nubila, Septemtriones, Hesperos, aestus, nives,
who, if they had stood at the furnaces more lazily, there would be no cast Jupiter at all. Do you not blush, fool, devoted to your village rites, that you have always wasted so many viands, which you foolishly offered to such gods, whom a ladle, a basin, a tankard, frying pans, little vessels broken and melted, have put together? I forgive these things, however, in the foolish common people, whom wool of mixed colors on a post frightens, whom a salty mountebank often deceives, to whom everything is sacred that the songs of rancid toothless old women have persuaded them to fear. [But that learned men should] not know by what law things divine or mortal stand; how great a majesty rules whatever is created, which created all things! God everlasting, a reality beyond estimation, is not enclosed by thinking, nor by seeing: he exceeds every measure of the human mind, nor can he be grasped by our sight; outside and within he fills and overflows. Timeless before the first day, he alone always holds being and having been; he is himself the true light, and author of true light: since he was light, he poured forth his light: from the light this radiance was born, the Son. One is the power of the Father, and one the power of the Son; and the one splendor, begotten from the one light, shone out with the full light of brightness. The single nature of the one God is mighty; and whatever exists anywhere, one power founded: sky and ground, the force of the sea’s flood, the globes that preside over days and nights, winds, storms, lightnings, rains, clouds, the northern stars, evening stars, heats, snows,
Heb 1:3 (allusion, medium confidence) · 1 Tim 6:16 (echo, medium confidence) · John 1:9 (allusion, medium confidence) · Jer 23:24 (echo, low confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: The idols are made from melted pots; the ignorant may be forgiven, but not the learned; Romanus then confesses the eternal, incomprehensible God, the true light, from whom the Son was born as radiance from light, one power and one nature, creator of all.
- A few lines appear lost before ‘Nescire’ (in the common text an address to learned men), whose sense is given in brackets. Heb 1:3; 1 Tim 6:16; John 1:9. Trinitarian language as written.
Notes on the original text
- Digital text corrected (OCR text badly garbled: clear slips corrected throughout, stray line numbers, note marks, footnotes and running heads removed (readings restored by sense are named in the notes)): Qui, si caminis institissent segnins, Kon essct ullus Iuppiter conflatilis. Non erubescis, stulte, pago dedite, Te tanta semper perdidisse obsonia; Quae dis ineptus obtulisti talibus, Quos trulla, pelvis, cantharus, sartagines, Fracta et liquata contulerunt vascula ? gnosco fatuis haec tamen vulgaribug, Quos lana terret discolora in stipite, Quos saepe salsus circulator decipit: Quibusomnesanctumest,quodpavei)dum rancidae Edentularum cantilenae suaserint. ire vel divina, \>'l mortalia Quo inre constenl : quanta maiestas regat, Quidquid creatam est, quae creavit omnia. perennis, res inaestimabilis, X " 1 1 cogitando, non videndo clauditur: lit omnem mentis Lramanae modum ; tfec comprehendi visibus nostris valet, Eitraque et intus implet ac superfluit. ">!•"> ntemporalis (lj ante, quam primus dies: Esse et foisse semper unus obtinet: Lax ipse vera, veri et auctor luminis: (,»1111111 lumen esset, lumen efludit suum: Ex luce fulgor natus hic est Pilius. Vis nna Patris, vis et una est Pilii, Unusque ab uno lumine splendor satus, Pleno refdlsit daritatis lumine. Natura Bimplex pollet onius Dei; Et . quidquid usquam est, una virtus condidit. Caelum solumque, vim marini gurgitis, Globos, dierum noctiumque, praesides, Ventos, procellas, fulgura, imbres, nubila, Septemtriones, Hesperos, aestus, nives, → Qui, si caminis institissent segnius, Non esset ullus Iuppiter conflatilis. Non erubescis, stulte, pago dedite, Te tanta semper perdidisse obsonia; Quae dis ineptus obtulisti talibus, Quos trulla, pelvis, cantharus, sartagines, Fracta et liquata contulerunt vascula? Ignosco fatuis haec tamen vulgaribus, Quos lana terret discolora in stipite, Quos saepe salsus circulator decipit: Quibus omne sanctum est, quod pavendum rancidae Edentularum cantilenae suaserint. Nescire vel divina, vel mortalia Quo iure constent: quanta maiestas regat, Quidquid creatum est, quae creavit omnia. Deus perennis, res inaestimabilis, Non cogitando, non videndo clauditur: Excedit omnem mentis humanae modum ; Nec comprehendi visibus nostris valet, Extraque et intus implet ac superfluit. Intemporalis ante, quam primus dies: Esse et fuisse semper unus obtinet: Lux ipse vera, veri et auctor luminis: Quum lumen esset, lumen effudit suum: Ex luce fulgor natus hic est Filius. Vis una Patris, vis et una est Filii, Unusque ab uno lumine splendor satus, Pleno refulsit claritatis lumine. Natura simplex pollet unius Dei; Et, quidquid usquam est, una virtus condidit. Caelum solumque, vim marini gurgitis, Globos dierum noctiumque praesides, Ventos, procellas, fulgura, imbres, nubila, Septemtriones, Hesperos, aestus, nives,.
Cite (SBL): Prudentius, Perist. 10.289 (Lanfranchi 1:lines 289–320; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/prudentius-peristephanon/10-289). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/prudentius-peristephanon/10-289
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Latin of Lanfranchi's edition (Turin, 1898; OCR, corrections logged). No public-domain English was used; FOTC 43 is not available, so each batch was re-read against the Latin.
10.321Lanfranchi 1:lines 321–352
Fontes, pruinas, et metalla, et flumina : Praerupta, plana, montium convallia, Feras, volucres, reptiles, natatiles, Iumenta, pecua, subiugales belluas, Flores, fruteta, germina, herbas, arbores, Quae sunt odori, quaeque vernant esui. Haec non labore et arte molitus Deus, Sed iussione, quam potestas protulit, Mandavit esse: facta sunt quae non erant. Verbo creavit omniformem machinam : Virtus Paterna semper in Verbo fuit. Cognostis ipsum. Nunc colendi agnoscite Ritum modumque, quale sit templi genus, Quae dedicari sanxerit donaria, Quae vota poscat, quos sacerdotes velit, Quod mandet illic nectar immolarier. Aedem sibi ipse mente in hominis condidit Vivam, serenam, sensualem, flabilem, Solvi incapacem posse, nec destructilem, Pulchram, venustam, praeminentem culmine, Discriminatis inlitam coloribus. Illic sacerdos stat sacrato in limine, Foresque primas virgo custodit Fides, Innexa crines vinculis regalibus, Poscit litari victimas Christo et Patri, Quas scit placere, candidatas, simplices. Frontis pudorem, cordis innocentiam, Pacis quietem, castitatem corporis, Dei timorem, regulam scientiae, Ieiuniorum parcitatem sobriam, Spem non iacentem, semper et largam manum. Ex his amoenus hostiis surgit vapor,
springs, frosts, and metals, and rivers; steep places, plains, valleys of mountains, beasts, birds, creeping things, swimming things, draught animals, cattle, beasts of burden, flowers, shrubs, shoots, herbs, trees, those that are for fragrance, and those that bloom for food. These things God did not build with toil and art, but by a command, which his power brought forth, he ordered to be: things were made which were not. By the Word he created the fabric of all forms: the Father’s power was always in the Word. You have come to know him. Now learn the rite and manner of worship, what kind of temple it is, what offerings he has ordained to be dedicated, what vows he demands, what priests he wants, what nectar he commands to be sacrificed there. He himself founded a temple for himself in the mind of man, living, serene, sentient, breathing, incapable of being dissolved, not destructible, beautiful, lovely, preeminent in its summit, painted with varied colors. There a priest stands on the consecrated threshold, and the virgin Faith guards the first doors, her hair bound with royal fillets; she asks that victims be offered to Christ and the Father, which she knows to please, white and simple: modesty of brow, innocence of heart, the quiet of peace, chastity of body, the fear of God, the rule of knowledge, the sober sparingness of fasts, a hope that does not lie low, and an ever generous hand. From these victims a pleasant vapor rises,
Ps 33:9 (32:9 Vulg.) (allusion, medium confidence) · John 1:3 (allusion, medium confidence) · 1 Cor 3:16 (allusion, medium confidence) · Rom 12:1 (echo, medium confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: God created all things by his command through the Word; his temple is the human mind, where Faith guards the door and the sacrifices offered to Christ and the Father are modesty, innocence, peace, chastity, the fear of God, fasting, hope and generosity.
- Restored from a garbled scan by one logged correction. Gen 1; Ps 33:9; John 1:3; 1 Cor 3:16; Rom 12:1.
Notes on the original text
- Digital text corrected (OCR text badly garbled: clear slips corrected throughout, stray line numbers, note marks, footnotes and running heads removed (readings restored by sense are named in the notes)): Fontes, pruinas, et metalla, et flumina : Praerupta, plana, montium convallia, Peras, volucres, reptiles, natatiles, Iumenta, pecua, subiugales belluas, Plores, fruteta, germina, herbas, arbores, Quae sunt odori, quaeque vernant esui. Haec non labore et arte molitns Deus, Sed iussione, qnam potestas protr.lit, Mandavit esse: facta sunt quae non erant. Verbo creavit omniformem macbinam : Virtus Paterna semper in Verbo fuit. ">lo CognOstis ipsum. Nunc colendi agnoscite Bitum modumque, quale sit tenipli genus, Quae dedicari sanxerit donaria, Quae vota poscat, quos sacerdotes vebt, Quod mandet illic nectar immolarier. Aedem sibi ipse mente in hominis condidit Vivam, serenam, sensualem», flabilem, Solvi incapacem posse, nec destructilem, Pulcbram, venustam, praemineutem cubnine, Discriminatis inlitam coloribus. Ille sacerdos stat sacrato in limine, Poresque primas virgo custodit Fides, Innexa crines vinculis regalibus, Poscit litari victimas Christo et Patri, Quas scit placere, candidatas, simphces. Frontis pudorem, cordis innocentiam, Pacis quietem, castitatem corporis, Dei timorem, regulam scientiae, Ieiuniorum parcitatem sobriam, Spemnoniaceutem, semper et largam manum. K\ liis amoenus bostiis surgil vapor, → Fontes, pruinas, et metalla, et flumina : Praerupta, plana, montium convallia, Feras, volucres, reptiles, natatiles, Iumenta, pecua, subiugales belluas, Flores, fruteta, germina, herbas, arbores, Quae sunt odori, quaeque vernant esui. Haec non labore et arte molitus Deus, Sed iussione, quam potestas protulit, Mandavit esse: facta sunt quae non erant. Verbo creavit omniformem machinam : Virtus Paterna semper in Verbo fuit. Cognostis ipsum. Nunc colendi agnoscite Ritum modumque, quale sit templi genus, Quae dedicari sanxerit donaria, Quae vota poscat, quos sacerdotes velit, Quod mandet illic nectar immolarier. Aedem sibi ipse mente in hominis condidit Vivam, serenam, sensualem, flabilem, Solvi incapacem posse, nec destructilem, Pulchram, venustam, praeminentem culmine, Discriminatis inlitam coloribus. Illic sacerdos stat sacrato in limine, Foresque primas virgo custodit Fides, Innexa crines vinculis regalibus, Poscit litari victimas Christo et Patri, Quas scit placere, candidatas, simplices. Frontis pudorem, cordis innocentiam, Pacis quietem, castitatem corporis, Dei timorem, regulam scientiae, Ieiuniorum parcitatem sobriam, Spem non iacentem, semper et largam manum. Ex his amoenus hostiis surgit vapor,.
Cite (SBL): Prudentius, Perist. 10.321 (Lanfranchi 1:lines 321–352; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/prudentius-peristephanon/10-321). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/prudentius-peristephanon/10-321
BibTeX · RIS · CSL-JSON (whole work; this passage's key: sophiascriptura-prudentius-peristephanon-10-321) · Report an error
Translation: Translated by Claude from the Latin of Lanfranchi's edition (Turin, 1898; OCR, corrections logged). No public-domain English was used; FOTC 43 is not available, so each batch was re-read against the Latin.
10.353Lanfranchi 1:lines 353–384
Vincens odorem balsami, turis, croci, Auras madentes Persicorum aromatum; Sublatus inde caelum adusque tollitur, Et prosperatum dulce delectat Deum. Hanc disciplinam quisquis infensus vetat, O mersa limo caecitas gentilium! O lutulenta nationum pectora! O crassus error! o tenebrosum genus! Terris amicum, deditum cadaveri, Subiecta semper intuens, numquam supra! Furorne summus, ultima et dementia est, Deos putare, qui creantur nuptiis? Rem spiritalem terrulente quaerere, Elementa mundi consecrare altaribus; Et, quod creatum est, conditorem credere? Dolato supplicare stipiti, Verris cruore scripta saxa spargere, Aras ofellis obsecrare bubulis; Homines fuisse quum scias, quos consecras? Desiste, iudex saeculi, tantum nefas Viris iubere fortibusque et liberis : Nil est amore veritatis celsius. Dei perennis numen adserentibus Nihil est pavori, mors et ipsa subiacet. » — Dudum coquebat, disserente martyre, Asclepiades intus iram subdolam, Stomachatus alto felle, dum longum silet, Bilemque tectis concipit praecordiis; Tandem latentis vim furoris evomit : — « Pro Iuppiter ! quid est, quod ex hoc audio ? Stat inter aras et deorum imagines
surpassing the scent of balsam, incense, saffron, breezes moist with Persian spices; lifted from there, it is raised right up to heaven, and sweetly delights God, made favorable. Whoever, hostile, forbids this discipline — O blindness of the pagans, sunk in mud! O muddy hearts of the nations! O gross error! O dark race, friendly to the earth, given over to the corpse, always looking at what lies below, never above! Is it not the height of madness and the last insanity to think those gods who are created by marriages, to seek a spiritual thing in an earthy way, to consecrate the elements of the world on altars, and to believe that what is created is the creator? to pray to a hewn stake, to sprinkle inscribed stones with the blood of boars, to entreat altars with morsels of beef, when you know that those you consecrate were men? Stop, judge of the world, commanding so great a wickedness to brave and free men: nothing is loftier than the love of truth. To those who assert the divine power of the everlasting God nothing is a cause of fear: death itself lies beneath them.” For a long time, while the martyr was speaking, Asclepiades had been cooking a crafty anger within, irritated in his deep gall, while he was long silent, and conceiving bile in his hidden breast; at last he vomits out the force of his hidden fury: “By Jupiter! What is it that I hear from this man? He stands among the altars and the images of the gods
Rom 1:25 (allusion, medium confidence) · Gal 4:9 (echo, low confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: Romanus denounces the blindness of pagans who worship gods born of marriages, the elements, wood and stone, and men, and tells the judge that those who confess God fear nothing; Asclepiades at last explodes in anger.
- Rom 1:23–25. A leftover footnote line was removed; line 16 is read ‘Dolato supplicare stipiti’ by sense.
Notes on the original text
- Digital text corrected (OCR text badly garbled: clear slips corrected throughout, stray line numbers, note marks, footnotes and running heads removed (readings restored by sense are named in the notes)): Vincens odorem balsami, turis, croci, Anras madentes Perdcornm aromatnm; Snhlatns inde caelom adnsqne tollitnr, Kt prosperatnm dnlce delectal Deum. Hanc disciplinam quisquis infensns vetat, 0 mersa limo coecitas gentilinm! rnnlenta nationnm pectora! arror ! o tenebrosnm Lfiius ! Terris ainicum, deditum cadaveri, Subiecta semper intucns, numquam supra ! Furorne summus, ultima et dementia est, Deos ijutan-. qni creantur nuptiis? Rem spiritalem torrnleute quaerere, Kluinenta mundi consecrare altaribus; Ll. quod creatum est, conditorem credere? ■jciato supplicare stipiti. Verris rruore scripta saxa spargere, Aras ofellis obsecrare bubulis; (_') aeumen iynis, nientis acies, quae, ut ijrnis, in altum Homines fuisse quum scias, quos consecras, Desiste, iudex saeculi, tantum nefas Viris iubere fortibusquc et liberis : Nil est amorn veritatis celsius. Dei perennis numon adserentibus Nilril est pavori, mors et ipsa subiacet. » — Dudum coquebat, disserente martyre, Aselepiadcs intus iram subdolam, Stomachatus alto felle, dum longum silet, Bilemque tectis concipit praecordiis; Tandem latentis vim furoris evomit : — « Pro Iuppiter ! quid est, quod ex hoc audio ? Stat inter aras et deorum imagines → Vincens odorem balsami, turis, croci, Auras madentes Persicorum aromatum; Sublatus inde caelum adusque tollitur, Et prosperatum dulce delectat Deum. Hanc disciplinam quisquis infensus vetat, O mersa limo caecitas gentilium! O lutulenta nationum pectora! O crassus error! o tenebrosum genus! Terris amicum, deditum cadaveri, Subiecta semper intuens, numquam supra! Furorne summus, ultima et dementia est, Deos putare, qui creantur nuptiis? Rem spiritalem terrulente quaerere, Elementa mundi consecrare altaribus; Et, quod creatum est, conditorem credere? Dolato supplicare stipiti, Verris cruore scripta saxa spargere, Aras ofellis obsecrare bubulis; Homines fuisse quum scias, quos consecras? Desiste, iudex saeculi, tantum nefas Viris iubere fortibusque et liberis : Nil est amore veritatis celsius. Dei perennis numen adserentibus Nihil est pavori, mors et ipsa subiacet. » — Dudum coquebat, disserente martyre, Asclepiades intus iram subdolam, Stomachatus alto felle, dum longum silet, Bilemque tectis concipit praecordiis; Tandem latentis vim furoris evomit : — « Pro Iuppiter ! quid est, quod ex hoc audio ? Stat inter aras et deorum imagines.
Topics: Martyrdom
Cite (SBL): Prudentius, Perist. 10.353 (Lanfranchi 1:lines 353–384; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/prudentius-peristephanon/10-353). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/prudentius-peristephanon/10-353
BibTeX · RIS · CSL-JSON (whole work; this passage's key: sophiascriptura-prudentius-peristephanon-10-353) · Report an error
Translation: Translated by Claude from the Latin of Lanfranchi's edition (Turin, 1898; OCR, corrections logged). No public-domain English was used; FOTC 43 is not available, so each batch was re-read against the Latin.
10.385Lanfranchi 1:lines 385–416
Et, quod fateri cogor, in medio foro, Tacente memet, ac perorat perditus, Quidquid sacrorum est ore foedans impio. O fas priorum ! moris o prisci status ! Inventa regum pro salute publica Pompiliorum nostra carpunt saecula. Quis hos sophistas error invexit novus, Qui non colendos esse divos disputent ? Nunc dogma nobis Christianum nascitur, Post evolutos mille demum consules Ab urbe Roma, ne retexam Nestoras. Quidquid novellum surgit, olim non fuit. Vis summa rerum nosse? Pyrrham consule. Ubi iste vester tunc erat summus Deus, Divum favore quum puer Mavortius Fundaret arcem septicollem Romulus? Quod Roma pollet auspicato condita, Iovi Statori debet et dis ceteris. Hoc sanctum ab aevo est, hoc ab atavis traditum: Placanda nobis pro triumphis principis Delubra, faustus ut secundet gloria Procinctus, utque subiugatis hostibus Ductor quietum frenet orbem legibus. Accingere ergo, quisquis es, nequissime, Pro principali rite nobiscum deos Orare vita : vel, quod hostem publicum Pati necesse est, solve poenam sanguine: Sprevisse templa, respuisse est principem. » — Tunc ille : — « Numquam pro salute, et maximis Fortissimisque principis cohortibus Aliter precabor, quam fideles ut militent, Christique lymphis ut renascantur Patri, Capiant et ipsum caelitus Paraclitum.
and — I am forced to confess it — in the middle of the forum, while I am silent, the lost wretch makes his speech, befouling with impious mouth whatever is sacred. O law of our forefathers! O state of ancient custom! The institutions of the Pompilian kings, devised for the public safety, our ages pick to pieces. What new error has brought in these sophists, who argue that the gods are not to be worshiped? Now a Christian doctrine is born for us, after a thousand consuls have at last rolled by since the founding of Rome, not to recount the Nestors. Whatever rises as a novelty did not exist of old. Do you wish to know the sum of things? Consult Pyrrha. Where was that supreme God of yours then, when by the favor of the gods the boy son of Mars, Romulus, was founding the seven-hilled citadel? That Rome is powerful, founded under good auspices, it owes to Jupiter Stator and the other gods. This is sacred from the beginning of time, this handed down from our ancestors: the shrines must be appeased by us for the emperor’s triumphs, so that his campaign may favor him with glory, and so that, with enemies subdued, the leader may curb a quiet world with laws. Make ready, then, whoever you are, most wicked man, to pray duly to the gods with us for the emperor’s life; or, since a public enemy must suffer, pay the penalty with your blood: to have spurned the temples is to have rejected the emperor.” Then he: “Never for the safety of the emperor and his greatest and bravest cohorts will I pray otherwise than that they may serve as faithful men, and be reborn to the Father in the waters of Christ, and receive from heaven the Paraclete himself.
John 3:5 (echo, medium confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: Asclepiades defends the ancient religion of Rome against the new Christian doctrine and demands that Romanus pray to the gods for the emperor or die; Romanus will pray only that the emperor’s soldiers be baptized and receive the Spirit.
- Restored from a garbled scan by one logged correction.
Notes on the original text
- Digital text corrected (OCR text badly garbled: clear slips corrected throughout, stray line numbers, note marks, footnotes and running heads removed (readings restored by sense are named in the notes)): Et, quod fateri cogor, in medio foro, Tacente memet, ac perorat perditus, Quidquid sacrorum est ore foedans impio. 0 fas priorum ! moris o prisci status ! Inventa regum pro saiute publica Pompiliorum nostra carpunt saecula. Quis hos sophistas error invexit novus, Qui non colendos esse divos disputent ? Nunc dogma nobia Christianum nascitur, rolutos mille demnm consulea Al> nrba Boma . ne retexam Nostoras. Qoidqnid novellum Bnrgit, olim non fuit. \'is summa rernm noase? Pyrrham consnle. Ulii iste rester tnnc eral snmmns Deus, [410 Divum favore quum pner Ifavortius Fundaret arcem septicollem Bomulus? Qnod Roma pollet anspicato condita, ovi Statori debei et diia ceteris. f II- sanctumabaevoest, hoc abatavis fcraditum: Placanda nobis pro triumphis principis Delnbra, faustus ut secundet gloria Procinctns, utque subiugatis hostibus Ductor qnietnm frenet orbem legibus. Accingere en*o, quisquis es, nequissime, Pro Principali rite nobiscum <leos Orare vita : vel, quod hostem publicum Pati necesse cst, solve poenam sanguine: Sprevisse templa, respuisse est principem. » — Tuncille : — « numquam pro salute, et maximis Fortissimisque principis cohortibus Aliter precabor, quam fidele ut tnilitent, Christique lympbia ut renascantur Patri, Capiant et ipsum caelitus Paraclitnm. → Et, quod fateri cogor, in medio foro, Tacente memet, ac perorat perditus, Quidquid sacrorum est ore foedans impio. O fas priorum ! moris o prisci status ! Inventa regum pro salute publica Pompiliorum nostra carpunt saecula. Quis hos sophistas error invexit novus, Qui non colendos esse divos disputent ? Nunc dogma nobis Christianum nascitur, Post evolutos mille demum consules Ab urbe Roma, ne retexam Nestoras. Quidquid novellum surgit, olim non fuit. Vis summa rerum nosse? Pyrrham consule. Ubi iste vester tunc erat summus Deus, Divum favore quum puer Mavortius Fundaret arcem septicollem Romulus? Quod Roma pollet auspicato condita, Iovi Statori debet et dis ceteris. Hoc sanctum ab aevo est, hoc ab atavis traditum: Placanda nobis pro triumphis principis Delubra, faustus ut secundet gloria Procinctus, utque subiugatis hostibus Ductor quietum frenet orbem legibus. Accingere ergo, quisquis es, nequissime, Pro principali rite nobiscum deos Orare vita : vel, quod hostem publicum Pati necesse est, solve poenam sanguine: Sprevisse templa, respuisse est principem. » — Tunc ille : — « Numquam pro salute, et maximis Fortissimisque principis cohortibus Aliter precabor, quam fideles ut militent, Christique lymphis ut renascantur Patri, Capiant et ipsum caelitus Paraclitum..
Cite (SBL): Prudentius, Perist. 10.385 (Lanfranchi 1:lines 385–416; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/prudentius-peristephanon/10-385). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/prudentius-peristephanon/10-385
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Latin of Lanfranchi's edition (Turin, 1898; OCR, corrections logged). No public-domain English was used; FOTC 43 is not available, so each batch was re-read against the Latin.
10.417Lanfranchi 1:lines 417–448
Ut idolorum respuant caliginem, Cernant ut illud lumen aeternae spei, Non succulentis influens obtutibus, Nec corporales per fenestras emicans, Puris sed intus quod relucet mentibus. Pupilla carnis crassa crassum perspicit, Et res caduca, quod resolvendum est, videt: Liquidis videndis aptus est animae liquor: Natura fervens sola, ferventissimae Divinitatis vim coruscantem capit. Hoc opto, lumen Imperator noverit Tuus meusque, si velit fieri meus; Nam si resistit Christiano nomini, Meus ille talis imperator non erit: Scelus iubenti, crede, numquam serviam. » — — « Statis, ministri, clamitans iudex ait, Statis? manusque continetis vindices? Non rupta sulcis dissecatis viscera? Animam nec intus abditam rimamini, Erumpit unde vox profana in principem ? » — Scindunt utrumque milites teterrimi Mucrone hiulco pensilis latus viri, Sulcant per artus longa tractim vulnera, Obliqua rectis, recta transversis secant, Et iam retectis pectus albet ossibus. Nitendo anhelant, diffluunt sudoribus, Quum sit quietus heros, in quem saeviunt.
that they may reject the darkness of idols, that they may see that light of eternal hope, not flowing into the juicy eyes, nor flashing through bodily windows, but shining within in pure minds. The thick pupil of the flesh sees the thick, and, a perishable thing, sees what is to be dissolved; the clear substance of the soul is fit for seeing clear things: the fervent nature alone grasps the flashing force of the most fervent Divinity. This I wish: that your emperor and mine may know the light, if he wishes to become mine; for if he resists the Christian name, such an emperor will not be mine: believe me, I will never serve one who commands a crime.” “Do you stand still, attendants,” cries the judge, “do you stand still, and hold back avenging hands? Do you not cut up the entrails, broken with furrows? Do you not search out the soul hidden within, from which the profane voice bursts out against the emperor?” The foulest soldiers tear both sides of the hanging man with gaping point, they plough long wounds in a line through his limbs, they cut slanting lines across straight ones, straight across transverse, and now his breast is white with the bones laid bare. They pant with effort, they stream with sweat, while the hero on whom they rage is quiet.
Acts 5:29 (echo, medium confidence) · Matt 5:8 (echo, medium confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: Romanus prays that the emperor may see the light of God, which only the pure mind perceives, but will not obey him if he commands a crime; the judge has Romanus’ sides torn to the bone.
- Two leftover footnotes at the beginning (on ‘augurato’ and ‘pro principali vita’) were removed. Acts 5:29.
Notes on the original text
- Digital text corrected (OCR text badly garbled: clear slips corrected throughout, stray line numbers, note marks, footnotes and running heads removed (readings restored by sense are named in the notes)): ii augurato adverbial. Scilic. captis au- ■ . Ptll. De ]>iii>i. II. (ti pro prineipali... rit<t. Pro vita, quae ad principem at- tinet. Dictio occnrrit apnd Vifi. Patebc. Tautvm, PuhithcI Svkt. — Pro Caesaria incolumitate. Ut idolorum rospuant caliginom, Cernant ut illud luinen aeternae spei, Non succulentis influens obtutibus, Nec corporalcs per fenestras emicans, Puris sed intus quod relucet meniibos. Pupilla carnis crassa crassuin porspicit, Et res caduca, quod resolvendum est, vidct: Liquidis videndis aptus est animae liquor: Natura fervens sola, ferventissimae Divinitatis vim coruscantem capit. Hoc opto, lumen Imperator noverit Tuus meusque, si velit fieri meus; Nam si resistit Christiano nomini, Meus ille talis imperator non erit: Scelus iubenti, crede, numquam serviam. » — I — « Statis, ministri, clamitans iudex ait, Statis? manusque continetis vindices? Non rupta sulcis dissecatis viscera? Animam nec intus abditam rimamini, Erumpit unde vox profana in principem ? » — Scindunt utrumque milites teterrimi Mucrone hiulco pensilis latus viri, Sulcant per artus longa tractim vulnera, Obliqua rectis, recta transversis secant, Et iam retectis pectus albet ossibus. Nitendo anhelant, difiiuunt sudoribus, Quum sit quietus heros, in quem saeviunt. → Ut idolorum respuant caliginem, Cernant ut illud lumen aeternae spei, Non succulentis influens obtutibus, Nec corporales per fenestras emicans, Puris sed intus quod relucet mentibus. Pupilla carnis crassa crassum perspicit, Et res caduca, quod resolvendum est, videt: Liquidis videndis aptus est animae liquor: Natura fervens sola, ferventissimae Divinitatis vim coruscantem capit. Hoc opto, lumen Imperator noverit Tuus meusque, si velit fieri meus; Nam si resistit Christiano nomini, Meus ille talis imperator non erit: Scelus iubenti, crede, numquam serviam. » — — « Statis, ministri, clamitans iudex ait, Statis? manusque continetis vindices? Non rupta sulcis dissecatis viscera? Animam nec intus abditam rimamini, Erumpit unde vox profana in principem ? » — Scindunt utrumque milites teterrimi Mucrone hiulco pensilis latus viri, Sulcant per artus longa tractim vulnera, Obliqua rectis, recta transversis secant, Et iam retectis pectus albet ossibus. Nitendo anhelant, diffluunt sudoribus, Quum sit quietus heros, in quem saeviunt..
Topics: Martyrdom
Cite (SBL): Prudentius, Perist. 10.417 (Lanfranchi 1:lines 417–448; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/prudentius-peristephanon/10-417). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/prudentius-peristephanon/10-417
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Latin of Lanfranchi's edition (Turin, 1898; OCR, corrections logged). No public-domain English was used; FOTC 43 is not available, so each batch was re-read against the Latin.
10.449Lanfranchi 1:lines 449–480
Haec inter addit sponte Romanus loqui: — « Si quaeris, o Praefecte, verum noscere, Dolet, quod error pectori insedit tuo, Populos quod istos perditum tecum trahis : Currunt frequentes undique ad spectaculum Versatile vulgus, heu! gemenda corpora; Crudumque nostrae sortis exemplum tremunt. Audite cuncti: clamo longe ac praedico: Emitto vocem de catasta celsior: Christus, paternae gloriae splendor, Deus Rerum creator, noster idem particeps Spondet salutem perpetem credentibus. Animae salutem, sola quae non occidit, Sed iuge durans, dispares casus subit, Aut luce fulget, aut tenebris mergitur. Christum secuta Patris intrat gloriam; Disiuncta Christo, mancipatur Tartaro. Curanda mercis qualitas, quaenam mihi Contingat olim perpetis substantiae; Nam membra parvi pendo quo pacto cadant, Casura certe lege naturae suae. Instat ruina : quod resolvendum est, ruat. Nec distat, ignis et fidiculae saeviant, An corpus aegrum languor asper torqueat, Quum saepe morbos maior armet saevitas. Non ungularum tanta vis latus fodit Mucrone, quanto dira pulsat pleurisis. Nec sic inusta laminis ardet cutis, Ut febris atro felle venas exedit ;
Amid these things Romanus of his own accord goes on to speak: “If you seek, Prefect, to know the truth, it grieves me that error has settled in your breast, that you drag these peoples with you to perdition; the fickle crowd runs in numbers from every side to the spectacle, alas, bodies to be groaned over, and they tremble at the raw example of our lot. Hear, all: I cry far and wide and proclaim, I send forth my voice higher from the rack: Christ, the splendor of the Father’s glory, God, creator of things, and likewise sharer of our nature, promises everlasting salvation to those who believe: salvation of the soul, which alone does not die, but, enduring forever, undergoes unequal fates: either it shines in light, or it is plunged in darkness. Following Christ, it enters the Father’s glory; separated from Christ, it is handed over to Tartarus. I must care for the quality of the wares, which of everlasting substance may one day fall to me; for I care little how my limbs fall, which will certainly fall by the law of their nature. Ruin is at hand: let what is to be dissolved fall. Nor does it make a difference whether fire and cords rage, or a harsh sickness tortures the ailing body, since a greater savagery often arms diseases. The force of the claws does not dig the side with its point so much as dire pleurisy strikes it. Nor does the skin burnt by the plates burn so much as fever eats away the veins with black bile;
Heb 1:3 (allusion, high confidence) · John 3:16 (echo, medium confidence) · Matt 10:28 (echo, medium confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: From the rack Romanus proclaims Christ, God and sharer of our nature, who gives everlasting salvation to the soul, which either shines in glory or is cast into darkness; the body must fall anyway, and torture is no worse than disease.
- Heb 1:3. Footnotes (on ‘mucrone hiulco’ and ‘pro mercede’) were removed; line 6 begins with a damaged word read ‘Versatile’ by sense.
Notes on the original text
- Digital text corrected (OCR text badly garbled: clear slips corrected throughout, stray line numbers, note marks, footnotes and running heads removed (readings restored by sense are named in the notes)): Haec inter addit sponte Eomanvs loqui: (:)) mucrone Jiiitlco, Ungulas memorat, de quibus in livmuo — •• si quaeris, o Praefecte, vernm noscere, Dolet, quod errox pectori insedil tuo, 461 Populos quod istos perditum tecum trahis : Currunl frequentes undique ad Bpectaculum atile vulgus, heul gemenda corpora; Crudumque nostrae sortis exemplum tremunt. Andite cuncti: clamo longe ac praedico: Kmitto vocem de catasta celsior: Christus, paternae gloriae splendor, Deus Berum creator, noster idem particeps Spondet salutem perpetem credentibus. Animae salutem, sola quae non occidit, Sed iuge durans, dispares casus subit, Aut luce frilget, aut teriebris mergitor. Christum Becuta Patris intrat gloriam; Disiuncta Christo, mancipatur Tartaro. Curanda mercis qualitas, qoaenam mihi Contingat olim perpetis substantiae; Xam membra parvi pendo quo pacto cadant, Casura certe lege natnrae suae. Instat ruina : quod resolyendum est, ruat. Binc pro mercede, et pro retributione. Uic est immortalis. Nec distat, ignis ot fidiclae saeviant, An corpus aegrum languor asper torqueat, Quum saepe morbos maior armet saevitas. Non ungularum tanta vis latus fodit Mucrone, quanto dira pulsat pleurisis. Nec sit inusta laminis ardet cutis, Ut febris atro felle venas exedit ; → Haec inter addit sponte Romanus loqui: — « Si quaeris, o Praefecte, verum noscere, Dolet, quod error pectori insedit tuo, Populos quod istos perditum tecum trahis : Currunt frequentes undique ad spectaculum Versatile vulgus, heu! gemenda corpora; Crudumque nostrae sortis exemplum tremunt. Audite cuncti: clamo longe ac praedico: Emitto vocem de catasta celsior: Christus, paternae gloriae splendor, Deus Rerum creator, noster idem particeps Spondet salutem perpetem credentibus. Animae salutem, sola quae non occidit, Sed iuge durans, dispares casus subit, Aut luce fulget, aut tenebris mergitur. Christum secuta Patris intrat gloriam; Disiuncta Christo, mancipatur Tartaro. Curanda mercis qualitas, quaenam mihi Contingat olim perpetis substantiae; Nam membra parvi pendo quo pacto cadant, Casura certe lege naturae suae. Instat ruina : quod resolvendum est, ruat. Nec distat, ignis et fidiculae saeviant, An corpus aegrum languor asper torqueat, Quum saepe morbos maior armet saevitas. Non ungularum tanta vis latus fodit Mucrone, quanto dira pulsat pleurisis. Nec sic inusta laminis ardet cutis, Ut febris atro felle venas exedit ;.
Topics: Martyrdom, Christology, Eschatology
Cite (SBL): Prudentius, Perist. 10.449 (Lanfranchi 1:lines 449–480; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/prudentius-peristephanon/10-449). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/prudentius-peristephanon/10-449
BibTeX · RIS · CSL-JSON (whole work; this passage's key: sophiascriptura-prudentius-peristephanon-10-449) · Report an error
Translation: Translated by Claude from the Latin of Lanfranchi's edition (Turin, 1898; OCR, corrections logged). No public-domain English was used; FOTC 43 is not available, so each batch was re-read against the Latin.
10.481Lanfranchi 1:lines 481–512
Vel summa pellis ignis obductus coquit, Papulasque fervor aestuosus excitat : Credas cremari stridulis cauteribus. Miserum putatis, quod retortis pendeo Extentus ulnis, quod revelluntur pedes, Compago nervis quod sonat crepantibus : Sic eiulantes ossa clamant dividi, Nodosa torquet quos podagra, et arthrisis. Horretis omnes hasce carnificum manus. Num mitiores sunt manus medentium, Laniena quando saevit Hippocratica? Vivum secatur viscus, et recens cruor Scalpella tinguit, dum putredo abraditur. Putate ferrum triste chirurgos meis Inferre costis, quod secat salubriter. Non est amarum, quo reformatur salus: Videntur isti carpere artus tabidos, Sed dant medelam rebus intus vividis. Quis nescit autem quanta sit corruptela Contaminatae carnis ac solubilis? Sordet, tumescit, liquitur, foetet, dolet, Inflatur ira, solvitur libidine : Plerumque felle tincta livores trahit. Aurum regestum nonne carni adquiritur? Inlusa vestis, gemma, bombyx, purpura, In carnis usum mille quaeruntur dolis, Luxus vorandi carnis arvinam fovet: Carnis voluptas omne per nefas ruit. Medere, quaeso, carnifex tantis malis, Concide, carpe fomitem peccaminum; Fac, ut resecto debilis carnis situ, Dolore ab omni mens supersit libera, Ne gestet ultra quod tyrannus amputet. Nec terrearis turba circumstantium : Hoc perdo solum, quod peribit omnibus,
or fire drawn over the top of the skin cooks it, and seething heat raises pustules: you would think it burned by hissing cauteries. You think it wretched that I hang stretched with my arms twisted back, that my feet are wrenched, that my frame sounds with cracking sinews: so those whom knotty gout and arthritis torture cry out, wailing, that their bones are being divided. You all shudder at these hands of the executioners. Are the hands of physicians gentler, when Hippocratic butchery rages? Living flesh is cut, and fresh blood dyes the scalpels while the rot is scraped away. Think that surgeons are bringing grim iron to my ribs, which cuts for health. That by which health is restored is not bitter: these men seem to pluck at wasted limbs, but they give healing to the things that live within. Who does not know how great is the corruption of the defiled and dissoluble flesh? It is filthy, it swells, it melts, it stinks, it aches, it is puffed up with anger, it is dissolved by lust; often, tinged with gall, it takes on livid marks. Is not heaped-up gold acquired for the flesh? Embroidered clothing, gem, silk, purple are sought with a thousand tricks for the use of the flesh; the luxury of gluttony feeds the fat of the flesh; the pleasure of the flesh rushes through every wickedness. Heal, I pray, executioner, such great evils, cut down, pluck out the tinder of sins; make it so that, the decay of the weak flesh cut away, the mind may survive free from all pain, and no longer carry what a tyrant may cut off. Nor be frightened by the crowd of those standing around: I lose only this, which will perish for all,
Gal 5:19 (echo, low confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: Romanus compares torture to surgery, which cuts in order to heal, describes the corruption, lusts and luxuries of the flesh, and urges the executioner to cut away the tinder of sin so the mind may be free.
Notes on the original text
- Digital text corrected (OCR text badly garbled: clear slips corrected throughout, stray line numbers, note marks, footnotes and running heads removed (readings restored by sense are named in the notes)): Vel summa pellis ignis obductus coquit, Papulasque fervor aestuosus excitat : Credas cremari stridulis cauteribus. Miserum putatis, quod retortis pendeo Extentus ulnis, quod revelluntur pedes, Compago nervis quod sonat crepantibus : Sic eiulantes ossa clamant dividi, Nbdosa torquent qnos podagra, et arthrisis. Horretis oinnes hasce carnificum niaiius. 49d Num mitiores sunt manus medentium, Laniena quando saevit Hippocratica? Vivum secator viscus, <t recens cruor ScalpeUa tinguit, dum patredo abraditar. Putate ferrum triste chirorgos meia uferre costis, qaod secat Balabriter. Nuii est amaram, qao reformatar Balas: Videntur isti carpere artas tabidos, Sed dant medelam rebos intas vivi<li<. 50o Qais nescit aatem qaanta corruptela Contaminatae carnis ac solubilis? Sordet tomescit, liqaitar, foetet, dolet, nflatar ira, solvitur libidine : Pleramqae felle tincta livores trahit. Auruni regestom nonne carni adqniritur? nlusa vestis, gomma, bombix, purpura, Im cainis usom mille quaeruntur dolis, Luxus vorandi carnes arvinam fovet: Carnis voluptas omne per nefae ruit. Medere, quaeso, camifex tantis malis, Concide, carpe fomitem peccaminum; Pac, ut resecto debilis carnis situ, Dolore ab omni mens supersit libera, Ne gestet ultra quod tyranmis amputet. Nec terrearis turba circumstantium : Bfoc perdo solum, qnod peribit omnibus, → Vel summa pellis ignis obductus coquit, Papulasque fervor aestuosus excitat : Credas cremari stridulis cauteribus. Miserum putatis, quod retortis pendeo Extentus ulnis, quod revelluntur pedes, Compago nervis quod sonat crepantibus : Sic eiulantes ossa clamant dividi, Nodosa torquet quos podagra, et arthrisis. Horretis omnes hasce carnificum manus. Num mitiores sunt manus medentium, Laniena quando saevit Hippocratica? Vivum secatur viscus, et recens cruor Scalpella tinguit, dum putredo abraditur. Putate ferrum triste chirurgos meis Inferre costis, quod secat salubriter. Non est amarum, quo reformatur salus: Videntur isti carpere artus tabidos, Sed dant medelam rebus intus vividis. Quis nescit autem quanta sit corruptela Contaminatae carnis ac solubilis? Sordet, tumescit, liquitur, foetet, dolet, Inflatur ira, solvitur libidine : Plerumque felle tincta livores trahit. Aurum regestum nonne carni adquiritur? Inlusa vestis, gemma, bombyx, purpura, In carnis usum mille quaeruntur dolis, Luxus vorandi carnis arvinam fovet: Carnis voluptas omne per nefas ruit. Medere, quaeso, carnifex tantis malis, Concide, carpe fomitem peccaminum; Fac, ut resecto debilis carnis situ, Dolore ab omni mens supersit libera, Ne gestet ultra quod tyrannus amputet. Nec terrearis turba circumstantium : Hoc perdo solum, quod peribit omnibus,.
Cite (SBL): Prudentius, Perist. 10.481 (Lanfranchi 1:lines 481–512; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/prudentius-peristephanon/10-481). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/prudentius-peristephanon/10-481
BibTeX · RIS · CSL-JSON (whole work; this passage's key: sophiascriptura-prudentius-peristephanon-10-481) · Report an error
Translation: Translated by Claude from the Latin of Lanfranchi's edition (Turin, 1898; OCR, corrections logged). No public-domain English was used; FOTC 43 is not available, so each batch was re-read against the Latin.
10.513Lanfranchi 1:lines 513–544
Regi, clienti, pauperique, et diviti; Sic vernularum, sic senatorum caro Tabescit, imo quum sepulcro condita est. Iactura vilis mordet et damnum leve, Si, quo carendum est, perdere extimescimus : Cur, quod necesse est, non voluntas occupat? Natura cur non vertit in rem gloriae? Legale damnum deputemus praemiis. Sed, praemiorum forma quae sit fortibus, Videamus : illa nempe quae numquam perit. Caelo refusus subvolabit spiritus, Dei parentis perfruetur lumine, Regnante Christo stans in arce regia. Quandoque caelum, ceu liber, plicabitur, Cadet rotati solis in terram globus, Sphaeram ruina menstrualem destruet : Deus superstes solus, et iusti simul Cum sempiternis permanebunt angelis. Contemne praesens utile, o prudens homo, Quod terminandum, quod relinquendum est tibi: Omitte corpus, rem sepulcri et funeris; Tende ad futuram gloriam, perge ad Deum : Agnosce qui sis ; vince mundum et saeculum. » — Vix dum elocutus martyr hanc peregerat Orationem, quum furens interserit Asclepiades : « — Vertat ictum carnifex In os loquentis, inque maxillas manum, Sulcosque acutos et fidiculas transferat. Verbositatis ipse rumpatur locus, Lacerata nec iam ventilet loquacitas Sermonis auras, perforatis follibus, Quibus sonandi nulla lex ponit modum ; Ipsa et loquentis verba torqueri volo. » Implet iubentis dicta lictor impius,
for king, client, poor and rich; so the flesh of little slaves, so that of senators, wastes away when it has been buried in the depth of a tomb. A cheap loss and a light damage bites us if we are afraid to lose what we must do without: why does the will not seize upon what is necessary? Why does it not turn nature into a matter of glory? Let us count a loss imposed by law among rewards. But let us see what the form of the rewards is for the brave: that, surely, which never perishes. The spirit, poured back to heaven, will fly up, will enjoy the light of God the Father, standing in the royal citadel where Christ reigns. One day the sky will be rolled up like a book, the globe of the revolving sun will fall to the earth, ruin will destroy the monthly sphere: God alone will survive, and the righteous with him will remain with the everlasting angels. Despise present advantage, O prudent man, which must end, which you must leave behind: let go the body, a matter of the tomb and funeral; strive toward future glory, go on to God: know who you are; conquer the world and the age.” Hardly had the martyr finished speaking this speech, when, raging, Asclepiades interjects: “Let the executioner turn the blow to the speaker’s mouth, and his hand to the jaws, and transfer there the sharp furrows and the cords. Let the very seat of verbosity be burst, and let loquacity, torn, no longer fan the breezes of speech, its bellows pierced, to whose sounding no law sets a limit; I want the very words of the speaker to be tortured.” The impious lictor fulfils the orders of the one who commands,
Isa 34:4 (allusion, high confidence) · Rev 6:14 (allusion, medium confidence) · 1 John 5:4 (echo, medium confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: All flesh perishes, so its loss should be made glorious; the martyr’s spirit will enjoy God’s light, and when the heavens are rolled up God and the righteous will remain; Asclepiades orders Romanus’ face and mouth to be torn.
- Isa 34:4; Rev 6:14; 1 John 5:4. A running head was removed; line 30 is damaged in the scan and read by sense.
Notes on the original text
- Digital text corrected (OCR text badly garbled: clear slips corrected throughout, stray line numbers, note marks, footnotes and running heads removed (readings restored by sense are named in the notes)): Regi, clienti, pauperique, et diviti; rernularum, sic senatorum caro Tabescit, iiuo quum sepulcro condita est. actura vilia mordet et damnum leve, Si, quo carendum est, pcrdere extimescimus : 19G aVKELII pevdentii Cur, quod necesse est, non voluntas occupat? Xatura cur non vertit in rem gloriae? Legale damnum deputemus praemiis. Sed, praemiorum forma quae sit fortibus Videamus : illa nempe quae numquam perit. Caelo refusus subvolabit spiritus, Dei parentis perfruetur lumine, Regnante Christo stans in arce regia. Quandoque caelum, ceu liber, plicabitur, Cadet rotati solis in terram globus, Sphaeram ruina menstrualem destruet : Deus superstes solus, et iusti simul Cum sempiternis permanebunt angelis . Contemne praesens utile, o prudens houio, . Quod terminandum, quod relinquendum est tibi: Omitte corpus, rem sepulcri et funeris; Tende ad futuram gloriam, perge ad Deum : Agnosce qui sis ; vince mundum et saeculum. » — Vix dum elocutus martyr hanc peregerat Orationem, quum furens interserit Asclepiades : « — vertat ictum carnifex In os loquentis, inque maxillas manum, Sulcosque acutos et fidiclas transferat. Verbositatis ipse rompatar lo< nlat at loquacitas Sermonis auras, perftratia follibus, Qnibus Bonandi nnlla l<-x ponil modum ; psa et loqnentis vcrba torqneri volo. mplet inbentis dicta Uctor impius, → Regi, clienti, pauperique, et diviti; Sic vernularum, sic senatorum caro Tabescit, imo quum sepulcro condita est. Iactura vilis mordet et damnum leve, Si, quo carendum est, perdere extimescimus : Cur, quod necesse est, non voluntas occupat? Natura cur non vertit in rem gloriae? Legale damnum deputemus praemiis. Sed, praemiorum forma quae sit fortibus, Videamus : illa nempe quae numquam perit. Caelo refusus subvolabit spiritus, Dei parentis perfruetur lumine, Regnante Christo stans in arce regia. Quandoque caelum, ceu liber, plicabitur, Cadet rotati solis in terram globus, Sphaeram ruina menstrualem destruet : Deus superstes solus, et iusti simul Cum sempiternis permanebunt angelis. Contemne praesens utile, o prudens homo, Quod terminandum, quod relinquendum est tibi: Omitte corpus, rem sepulcri et funeris; Tende ad futuram gloriam, perge ad Deum : Agnosce qui sis ; vince mundum et saeculum. » — Vix dum elocutus martyr hanc peregerat Orationem, quum furens interserit Asclepiades : « — Vertat ictum carnifex In os loquentis, inque maxillas manum, Sulcosque acutos et fidiculas transferat. Verbositatis ipse rumpatur locus, Lacerata nec iam ventilet loquacitas Sermonis auras, perforatis follibus, Quibus sonandi nulla lex ponit modum ; Ipsa et loquentis verba torqueri volo. » Implet iubentis dicta lictor impius,.
Topics: Martyrdom, Eschatology
Cite (SBL): Prudentius, Perist. 10.513 (Lanfranchi 1:lines 513–544; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/prudentius-peristephanon/10-513). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/prudentius-peristephanon/10-513
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Latin of Lanfranchi's edition (Turin, 1898; OCR, corrections logged). No public-domain English was used; FOTC 43 is not available, so each batch was re-read against the Latin.
10.545Lanfranchi 1:lines 545–576
Charaxat ambas ungulis scribentibus Genas, cruentis et secat faciem notis: Hirsuta barbis solvitur carptim cutis, Et mentum adusque vultus omnis scinditur. Martyr fluentem fatur inter sanguinem: — « Grates tibi, o Praefecte, magnas debeo, Quod multa pandens ora iam Christum loquor. Artabat ampli nominis praeconium Meatus unus, impar ad laudes Dei. Rimas patentes invenit vox edita, Multisque fusa rictibus reddit sonos Hinc inde plures, et profatur undique Christi Patrisque sempiternam gloriam. Tot ecce laudant ora, quot sunt vulnera. » — Tali repressus cognitor constantia, Cessare poenam praecipit; tunc sic ait: — « Per solis ignem iuro, qui nostros dies Reciprocatis administrat circulis, Cuius recursu lux et annus ducitur, Ignes parandos iam tibi tristis rogi, Qui fine digno corpus istud devorent, Quod perseverans tam resistit nequiter Sacris vetustis; nec dolorum spiculis Victum fatiscit, fitque poenis fortius. Quis hunc rigorem pectori iniecit stupor? Mens obstinata est, corpus omne occalluit. Tantus novelli dogmatis regnat furor: Hic nempe vester Christus haud olim fuit; Quem tu fateris ipse, suffixum cruci. » — — « Haec illa Crux est omnium nostrum salus, Romanus inquit: hominis haec redemptio est : Scio incapacem te sacramenti, impie,
he carves both cheeks with writing claws, and cuts the face with bloody marks: the skin, shaggy with beard, comes off piece by piece, and the whole face is cut right down to the chin. The martyr speaks amid the flowing blood: “I owe you great thanks, Prefect, that, opening many mouths, I now speak Christ. A single passage was cramping the proclamation of the great name, unequal to the praises of God. The voice sent forth has found open cracks, and, poured out through many mouths, gives back more sounds on this side and that, and proclaims everywhere the everlasting glory of Christ and the Father. See, as many mouths praise as there are wounds.” Checked by such constancy, the judge orders the punishment to cease; then he says: “I swear by the fire of the sun, which governs our days with its returning circles, by whose return light and year are drawn out, that the fires of a grim pyre are now to be prepared for you, to devour that body with a fitting end, which persists in resisting so wickedly the ancient rites; nor does it give way, conquered by the darts of pains, but becomes stronger with punishments. What stupor has put this hardness into his breast? The mind is obstinate, the whole body has grown callous. So great is the madness of the new doctrine that reigns: this Christ of yours did not exist long ago, whom you yourself confess was fixed to a cross.” “This is that Cross, the salvation of us all,” says Romanus; “this is the redemption of man: I know you are incapable of the sacrament, impious man,
1 Cor 1:18 (echo, medium confidence) · Gal 6:14 (echo, medium confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: With his face torn, Romanus thanks the prefect for giving him many mouths to praise Christ; the prefect orders a pyre and mocks Christ as a recent, crucified man, and Romanus answers that the Cross is the salvation of all.
- Line 16 is damaged in the scan and read ‘Cessare poenam praecipit’ by sense: uncertain. ‘Sacrament’ here is the mystery of the Cross. A note mark was removed.
Notes on the original text
- Digital text corrected (OCR text badly garbled: clear slips corrected throughout, stray line numbers, note marks, footnotes and running heads removed (readings restored by sense are named in the notes)): Charaxat (-) ambas nngnlis scribentibna Genas, crnentis et secat faciem notis: Sirsnta barbis solvitur carptim cntis, Et mentnm adusque vultus omnis scinditur. Martyr fluentem fatur inter Banguinem: — <• Grrates tibi, o Praefecte, magnas del , <,)iiH<i multa pandens ora iam Christum loqnor. Artabat ampli nominis praeconium Bieatns unus, impar ad laudes D'i. •"'•''■"> Jiimas patentes invenit vox edita, Multisque fusa rictibus reddit sonos Einc inde plures, et profatur undique Christi Patrisqne sempiternam gloriam. Tot ecce laudant ora, quot sunt vulncra. » — Tali repressus cognitor constantia, 571 e poenam praecipit; tunc sic ait: — « Per solis igneui iuro, qui nostros Reciprocatis administrat circuli>. Cnius recursu lux et annus ducitur, Ignes parandos taixi fcibi tristis rosri, Qui fine digno corpus istud devorent, Quod perseverans tam resistit nequiter Sacris vetustis; nec dolorum spiculis Victum fatiscit, fitque poenis fortius. Quis hunc rigorem pectori iniecit stupor? Mens obstinata est, corpus omne occjdluit. Tantus novelli dogmatis regnat furor: Hic nempe vester Christus haud olmi fuit; Quem tu fateris ipse, suffixum cruci. » — — « Haec illa Crux est omnium nostruin salus, Romanvs inquit: hominis haec redemptio est : Scio incapacem te sacramenti, impie, → Charaxat ambas ungulis scribentibus Genas, cruentis et secat faciem notis: Hirsuta barbis solvitur carptim cutis, Et mentum adusque vultus omnis scinditur. Martyr fluentem fatur inter sanguinem: — « Grates tibi, o Praefecte, magnas debeo, Quod multa pandens ora iam Christum loquor. Artabat ampli nominis praeconium Meatus unus, impar ad laudes Dei. Rimas patentes invenit vox edita, Multisque fusa rictibus reddit sonos Hinc inde plures, et profatur undique Christi Patrisque sempiternam gloriam. Tot ecce laudant ora, quot sunt vulnera. » — Tali repressus cognitor constantia, Cessare poenam praecipit; tunc sic ait: — « Per solis ignem iuro, qui nostros dies Reciprocatis administrat circulis, Cuius recursu lux et annus ducitur, Ignes parandos iam tibi tristis rogi, Qui fine digno corpus istud devorent, Quod perseverans tam resistit nequiter Sacris vetustis; nec dolorum spiculis Victum fatiscit, fitque poenis fortius. Quis hunc rigorem pectori iniecit stupor? Mens obstinata est, corpus omne occalluit. Tantus novelli dogmatis regnat furor: Hic nempe vester Christus haud olim fuit; Quem tu fateris ipse, suffixum cruci. » — — « Haec illa Crux est omnium nostrum salus, Romanus inquit: hominis haec redemptio est : Scio incapacem te sacramenti, impie,.
Topics: Martyrdom, Christology
Cite (SBL): Prudentius, Perist. 10.545 (Lanfranchi 1:lines 545–576; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/prudentius-peristephanon/10-545). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/prudentius-peristephanon/10-545
BibTeX · RIS · CSL-JSON (whole work; this passage's key: sophiascriptura-prudentius-peristephanon-10-545) · Report an error
Translation: Translated by Claude from the Latin of Lanfranchi's edition (Turin, 1898; OCR, corrections logged). No public-domain English was used; FOTC 43 is not available, so each batch was re-read against the Latin.