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Merobaudes: Carmina

Library › Latin: Lyric & Elegy › Carmina

These short poems of Flavius Merobaudes, the soldier-poet of the court of Valentinian III, survive in fragments in the same St Gall palimpsest as his panegyrics. Several describe the decoration of imperial rooms: the opening poem pictures Concord presiding over a banquet hall where the emperor and his wife are depicted, shining like stars, amid images of the imperial family. Another celebrates the birthday of a young son of Aetius. The text is broken in many places.

The poems are valuable as descriptions of court art and ceremony in fifth-century Ravenna and Rome, written by a poet close to the centre of power. They continue the tradition of occasional and ecphrastic court poetry developed by Claudian and Statius. Their damaged state limits interpretation, but they preserve some of the last secular court verse of the Western Empire. Like his panegyrics, they were recovered in the nineteenth century from the underwriting of a St Gall manuscript.

About this edition. The Latin text comes from Musisque Deoque, the digital archive of Latin poetry (edition: F. Vollmer, 1906), licensed CC BY-SA. Every word has been analyzed with LatinCy, a neural language model for Latin — click or tap any word for its dictionary form, part of speech, and complete morphology, together with the full entry from Lewis & Short’s A Latin Dictionary.

Latin · Lyric & Elegy
Carmina
Merobaudes · every word parsed
1.1
Incumbit foribus pictae Concordia mensae
1.2
Purpureique sacer sexus uterque laris,
1.3
Aeternas ubi festa dapes conuiuia gestant
1.4
Purpureisque nitent regia fulcra toris.
1.5
Ipse micans tecti medium cum coniuge princ<eps
1.6
Lucida ceu summi possidet astra poli,
1.7
Terrarum ueneranda salus: pro praeside n<ostro
1.8
Amissas subito flet nouus exul opes;
1.9
Cui natura dedit, uictoria reddidit orbem
1.10
Claraque longinquos praebuit aula toro<s.
1.11
Hic ubi sacra parens placidi petit oscula nat<i,
1.12
Castalium credas cum genetrice deum;
1.13
Cum soror adsistit, nitidae candentia Luna<e
1.14
Sidera fraterna luce micare putes;
1.15
Si coniux aderit, dicas Nereia Pelei
1.16
Haemonio Thetidos foedera iuncta toro.
1.17
Hac etiam de prole licet sperare nepotem,
1.18
Cui Larisa suum conferat una uirum.
1.19
En noua iam suboles, quae uix modo missa sub <auras
1.20
Mystica iam tenero pectore sacra gerit,
1.21
Uagitu confessa deum; sentire putare<s,
1.22
Mollia sic tremulo mouerat ora sono.
1.23
O felix uno geminam cui tempore uitam
2.1
Aul>a uiret pulchram domini sortita iuuentam
2.2
I>psaque primaeuo lumine tecta nitent,
2.3
Qu>ae Phoebi flammata rotis et principis ostro
2.4
Aetheris ac terrae sidera mixta tenent.
2.5
M>armoreos rigat unda lacus fictasque metallis
2.6
Cornigeras rapido proluit amne feras
2.7
….>aque festinis onerat crystalla fluentis:
2.8
Gemma uehit laticem, quae fuit ante latex.
2.9
..>mina celsa tenet socia cum coniuge princeps,
2.10
C>uius sacra petit pignora mundus ouans.
2.11
Mi>ra fides! optare licet, cui sceptra capessant,
2.12
N>ec numerum regum poscere uota timent
2.13
Et> dominos secura sui de stemmate regni
2.14
C>ontinuat proprios dum creat aula nouos.
3.1
Ex>plicat aestiuas ramis errantibus umbras
3.2
F>rigoris arcani silua referta gelu
3.3
Nec> commune sibi tempus permittit et anno
3.4
Priuatamque hiemem frondea tecta tenent.
3.5
Int>ertonsa comas Spartani marmoris instar
3.6
Por>rigit excisum buxus amoena latus,
3.7
Qua>m nec Achaemeniae possent penetrare sagittae
3.8
…. M>arti iunxit amica Uenus.
4.1
Annus panditur ecce iam secundus
4.2
Et festum puero diem reducit,
4.3
Quo uitalibus inchoatus auris
4.4
Infusi bibit aetheris uigorem.
4.5
Omnes nunc Latiae fauete Musae,
4.6
Omnes nunc Latiae uirete siluae;
4.7
Uernent limina laureisque sertis
4.8
Inserpant hederae uagante nexu;
4.9
Exultet placido tumore Thybris
4.10
Et nulla rutilus nec asper unda
4.11
Hibernis uada molliat serenis.
4.12
Laxet pectora bellicosa ductor
4.13
(Est dignus rude) lacteamque prolem
4.14
Nodosis ferus ambiat lacertis;
4.15
Adsit cum socio parente coniunx,
4.16
Coniunx non leuibus canenda musis,
4.17
Heroum suboles, propago regum;
4.18
Cuius gloria feminam superstat;
4.19
Quae non ut Thetis anxium pauorem
4.20
Secretis Stygos abluit sub undis
4.21
Et natum trepidis anhela curis
4.22
Contra fata deum metusque leti
4.23
Primaeuos pueri rec<entis> art<us
4.24
Plenis numine fontibus rigauit,
4.25
Qua puri deus arbiter lauacri
4.26
Arcana laticum receptus unda
4.27
Pellit crimina nec sinit fuisse
4.28
Et uitam nouat obruitque poenam.
4.29
His te primitiis, puer, sacratum
4.30
Excepit gremio micante Roma
4.31
Et nudi lateris recincta uestem,
4.32
Quae bellis procul omnibus patebat,
4.33
Nutricem tibi praebuit papillam.
4.34
Felix distulit adtulitque partum
4.35
Lucinae mora: praestitit morari,
4.36
Ut spebus timidis diu negatus
4.37
Et ciuis dominae futurus Urbi
4.38
Natalem tibi regiam Quirini
4.39
Et primas Latii domos uideres,
4.40
Proles Martia Martios penates,
4.41
Hoc iam clarior inclyto parente,
4.42
Quod uix puberibus pater sub annis
4.43
Obiectus Geticis puer cateruis,
4.44
Bellorum mora, foederis sequester,
4.45
Intentas Latio faces remouit
4.46
Ac mundi pretium fuit pauentis.
Click or tap any word for its parse and dictionary entry.
Text: Perseus Digital Library, licensed CC BY-SA. Dictionary: Lewis & Short (Perseus, CC BY-SA). Morphology: LatinCy — machine parsing, corrected against the AGDT & PROIEL treebanks and Morpheus.
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