Ausonius Mosella

Decimius Magnus Ausonius (c. A.D. 310-395) was tutor to the emperor Gratian, and consul AD 379. The Mosella was composed at Treves towards the close of 370. It was popular, according to Symmachus 1.14: volitat tuus Mosella per manus sinusque multorum, divinis a te versibus consecratus. The best MS is SGall. 899, saec. x/xi, next Bruxell. 5370. See Teuffel.

Online editions:

• Die Moselle des Decimus Magnus Ausonius, ed. Carl Hosius (Marburg: N.G. Elwert'sche Verlagsbuchhandlung, 1894), with a text and excellent notes in German. [1]

• D. Magni Ausonii Burdigalensis, Opera Omnia, vol. 2 (London: Valpy, 1823), in usum Delphini, containing the Mosella with notes by various hands and a paraphrase in Latin. [2]

• N. Lemaire, Poeti Latini Minores vol. 1 (Paris, 1824), Latin text with notes in Latin. [3]

• D. Magni Ausonii Opuscula, ed. C. Schenkl (Berlin: Weidmann, 1883), Latin text with apparatus. [4]

• Decimi Magni Ausonii Burdigalensis Opuscula, ed. Rudolf Pieper (Leipzig: Teubner, 1886), Latin text with apparatus. [5] [6]

Translations:

• David Parsons [7]

Transieram celerem nebuloso flumine Nauam

I had crossed the swift Nava with its misty flow

The modern Nahe, which joins the Rhine at Bingen (Lat. Vincum, prob. the same place as Lat. Bingium). Julian repaired the fortifications of Bingium while in Gallia (Amm. Marc. 18.2). [Smith's Dict. of Gk. and Roman Geog.]

addita miratus ueteri noua moenia Vinco,

amazed at the new walls added to old Vincum

aequauit Latias ubi quondam Gallia Cannas

where once Gaul equalled Latian Cannae

infletaeque iacent inopes super arua cateruae.

and penniless troops lie dead upon the fields, unwept.

The reference is perhaps to a battle of Julian, who defeated and killed a large number of Franks, Salii and Quadi at Vincum.

Vnde iter ingrediens nemorosa per auia solum

Beginning my lonely journey from there through trackless woodlands

et nulla humani spectans uestigia cultus

and spying no traces of civilization

praetereo arentem sitientibus undique terris

I pass by dry Dumnissum, the land parched on all sides

Dumnissum riguasque perenni fonte Tabernas

and Tabernae, well-watered by its perpetual spring,

Aruaque Sauromatum nuper metata colonis:

and the fields of the Sauromates, recently measured out for colonists:

et tandem primis Belgarum conspicor oris

and at last I catch sight of the beginning of the territory of the Belgian Noiomages,

Noiomagum, diui castra inclita Constantini.

famed camp of the divine Constantine.

Purior hic campis aer Phoebusque sereno

Here the air over the fields is purer, and Phoebus

lumine purpureum reserat iam sudus Olympum;

bright now with his clear light, opens radiant Olympus;

Nec iam consertis per mutua uincula ramis

no longer through the mutual link of boughs woven together

quaeritur exclusum uiridi caligine caelum;

is the sky sought for, shut out by black mist;

sed liquidum iubar et rutilam uisentibus aethram

but the free breeze of perspicuous day does not begrudge

libera perspicui non inuidet aura diei.

onlookers the transparent rays and the ruddy sky.

In speciem tum me patriae cultumque nitentis

Then all things drove me toward the sight of my fatherland,

Burdigalae blando pepulerunt omnia uisu:

the elegance of shining Bordeaux, with its pleasing aspect:

culmina uillarum pendentibus edita ripis

the peaks of country estates, raised up on the hovering banks

et uirides Baccho colles et amoena fluenta

and the hills green with the grapes of Bacchus, and the lovely waters

subter labentis tacito rumore Mosellae.

of the Moselle flowing silently beneath.

Salue, amnis, laudate agris, laudate colonis,

Greetings, river, admired for your adjacent fields, admired for your farmers,

dignata imperio debent cui moenia Belgae:

to you the Belgae owe their city, deemed worthy of empire:

amnis odorifero iuga uitea consite Baccho,

o river with Bacchus fragrant grape planted on your vineyard-filled ridges,

consite gramineas, amnis uiridissime, ripas:

o greenest river, planted on your grassy banks:

Nauiger ut pelagus, deuexas pronus in undas

You are like the ship-bearing ocean, like a river sloping down to the sea

Vt fluuius, uitreoque lacus imitate profundo

and like a lake with its glassy depths

Et riuos trepido potes aequiperare meatu

and you can equal streams in their trembling course

Et liquido gelidos fontes praecellere potu:

and you can excel chilly springs in liquid draught:

Omnia solus habes, quae fons, quae riuus et amnis

you alone have everything that the spring has, that the stream and river has

Et lacus et biuio refluus manamine pontus.

and the lake and the sea that flows back with a dual tide.

Tu placidis praelapsus aquis nec murmura uenti

You slip by with placid waters, nor do you suffer the murmurs of the wind,

Vlla nec occulti pateris luctamina saxi.

nor any struggling against hidden rocks.

Non spirante uado rapidos properare meatus

You are not compelled to hurry your rapid flow with roaring water

spirante = "boiling up, foaming," as at Vergil Georgics 1.327: fervet fretis spirantibus aequor.

Cogeris, extantes medio non aequore terras

you have no protruding lands in the middle of your stream to interrupt you,

Interceptus habes, iusti ne demat honorem

to lessen the just honor of your name

Nominis, exclusum si diuidat insula flumen.

if an island should divide and shut off your flow.

Tu duplices sortite uias, et cum amne secunda

You offer two ways to travel: both when you flow down with your speedy stream,

Defluis, ut celeres feriant uada concita remi,

so that fast oars strike your rushing waters,

Et cum per ripas nusquam cessante remulco

and also when, with a tow-rope that never stops along your banks,

Intendunt collo malorum uincula nautae.

sailors strain the knots on the neck of the mast.

Ipse tuos quotiens miraris in amne recursus

How often are you yourself surprised at the speed of ships returning upstream

Legitimosque putas prope segnius ire meatus!

and suppose that the natural flow (i.e., towards the sea) goes almost more slowly (than the ships being dragged against the current by tow-ropes)!

Tu neque limigenis ripam praetexeris uluis,

You neither cover your shore with mud-born rushes,

Nec piger immundo perfundis litora caeno:

nor sluggishly ooze filthy muck onto the bank:

Sicca in primores pergunt uestigia lymphas.

one walks with dry feet to the very edge of the water.

I nunc et Phrygiis sola leuia consere crustis

Go ahead, cover the smooth ground with inlaid shell of Phrygian stone,

Tendens marmoreum laqueata per atria campum;

stretching a marble floor over an atrium decorated with a coffered ceiling;

Ast ego despectis, quae census opesque dederunt,

as for me, spurning the things that property and wealth provide,

Naturae mirabor opus, non cura nepotum

I will admire the work of nature, not the enthusiasm of spendthrifts,

Laetaque iacturis ubi luxuriatur egestas.

where poverty born of luxury rejoices in its own wasteful expense.

Hic solidae sternunt umentia litora harenae,

Here, hard sand paves the damp shore,

Nec retinent memores uestigia pressa figuras.

and does not retain the lingering impressions of footprints.

Spectaris uitreo per leuia terga profundo,

You are looked through a smooth surface to glassy depths,

Secreti nihil amnis habens: utque almus aperto

a river with no secrets: just as the bountiful air,

Panditur intuitu liquidis obtutibus aer

lies open to clear view with an unobstructed gaze,

nec placidi prohibent oculos per inania uenti,

nor do clam winds prevent the eyes from seeing through the void,

sic demersa procul durante per intima uisu

just so we perceive from afar things submerged with a sight that penetrates the inmost deep,

cernimus arcanique patet penetrale profundi,

and the secret inner sanctum of the depths lies open,

cum uada lene meant liquidarum et lapsus aquarum

when the current flows gently and the gliding of the liquid waters

prodit caerulea dispersas luce figuras:

reveals shapes scattered throughout in the sky-blue reflected light:

quod sulcata leui crispatur harena meatu,

so that sand curls in furrows made by the gentle flow,

quod = ut here and in the next line.

inclinata tremunt uiridi quod gramina fundo;

and bent down grass waves upon with green river bottom;

usque sub ingenuis agitatae fontibus herbae 65

seaweed, constantly agitated beneath the natural waters

ingenui = natural, not artificial, as Lucr. 1.230.

vibrantes patiuntur aquas lucetque latetque

endures the coursing streams, and pebbles both shine through and lie hidden

calculus et uiridem distinguit glarea muscum:

and gravel speckles verdant moss:

Tota Caledoniis talis pictura Britannis,

The whole picture is similar to that on the coasts of Scotland,

cum uirides algas et rubra corallia nudat

when the receding tide exposes green seaweed and reddisg coral

aestus et albentes, concharum germina, bacas, 70

and whitish pearls, the seeds of oysters,

delicias hominum, locupletibus atque sub undis

the playthings of men, and beneath the wealthy waves

assimulant nostros imitata monilia cultus.

they resemble our jewelry, imitating necklaces.

Haud aliter placidae subter uada laeta Mosellae

Just so beneath the happy waters of the placid Moselle,

detegit admixtos non concolor herba lapillos.

water grass of contrasting colors highlights the pebbles mixed among it.

Intentos tamen usque oculos errore fatigant 75

The slippery schools of fish, playing about,

Interludentes, examina lubrica, pisces.

wear out with their wandering the observer's eyes, however constantly attentive they may be.

Sed neque tot species obliquatosque natatus

But one cannot describe so many shapes, so many oblique swimmings,

quaeque per aduersum succedunt agmina flumen,

and so many armies of fish that swim against the current,

nominaque et cunctos numerosae stirpis alumnos

and so many names, and all the children of numerous stock;

edere fas aut ille sinit, cui cura secundae 80

it is not right to say it all, nor does he permit it, who obtained care of the second element

sortis et aequorei cessit tutela tridentis.

and the protection of the watery trident.

Tu mihi flumineis habitatrix Nais in oris,

Come, Nymph, you who inhabit with river shores,

squamigeri gregis ede choros liquidoque sub alueo

tell me of the schools of the scale-clad flock, and beneath the river bed

dissere caeruleo fluitantes amne cateruas.

describe to me the schools that swim in the sky blue water.

Squameus herbosas capito inter lucet harenas 85

The scaly capito gleams amidst the grassy sands

viscere praetenero fartim congestus aristis

stuffed full with fish bones in his very tender innards

nec duraturus post bina trihoria mensis,

and destined not to last more than six hours on the table,

purpureisque salar stellatus tergora guttis,

and the salar, speckled with purple droplets on his back,

et nullo spinae nociturus acumine rhedo,

and the rhedo that has no pointy bones to harm (the diner),

rhedo is spelled redo, redonis, m. in Lewis & Short.

effugiensque oculos celeri leuis umbra natatu. 90

and the light umbra that escapes the eyes with its swift swimming.

Tuque per obliqui fauces uexate Saraui,

And you, river barbel, moved violently through the mouth of the winding Saar,

Qua bis terna fremunt scopulosis ostia pilis,

where six mouths roar through rocky piles

The Saar flows into the Moselle near Conz, just after being spanned by a bridge of seven piles.

Cum defluxisti famae maioris in amnem,

when you have flowed down into a more famous river

liberior laxos exerces, barbe, natatus:

you enjoy freer, wider swimming.

Tu melior peiore aeuo, tibi contigit omni 95

You (river barbel) grow better in old age, to you alone of all

Spirantum ex numero non illaudata senectus.

breathing things has befallen a not unpraiseworthy old age.

The river barbel does not lose its taste with old age.

Nec te puniceo rutilantem uiscere, salmo,

Nor should I pass over you, salmon, reddish in your rosy-colored flesh,

Transierim, latae cuius uaga uerbera caudae

the wavering beating of whose wide tails

Gurgite de medio summas referuntur in undas,

are transmitted from the middle of the river up to the surface,

Occultus placido cum proditur aequore pulsus. 100

when a hidden beating is revealed by placid water.

Tu loricato squamosus pectore, frontem

You (salmon), your chest clothed in scaly mail,

Lubricus et dubiae facturus fercula cenae

your forehead slippery, you make it difficult to choose at dinner,

lit.: "about to make a dish of a doubtful dinner," i.e. one that is so good one hesitates over what to choose.

Tempora longarum fers incorrupte morarum,

you endure long delays without spoiling,

Praesignis maculis capitis, cui prodiga nutat

remarkable because of the spots on your head, your prodigious belly sways,

Aluus opimatoque fluens abdomine uenter.

and your rich abdomen with its excellent stomach.

Note the piling up of synonyms. Fluens should mean lax or slack, but combined with prodigus in the previous line it suggests the richness and abundance of the flesh of the belly.

Lucius, obscuras ulua caenoque lacunas

The wary luce (pike) mid wrack and rushes hid