In Roman days did the Centurion,
Returning home to Rome victorious,
With Augustus, hear the adulation
Of the crowd as it bequeathed its unctuous
Praise on the Princeps, their greatest blessing,
In the Triumphal Procession? Did he
Look beyond his present time, wondering
At the unknowable future? Do we…
II
Julus is trying to imitate Pindar. [1] [2] [3] [4]
Whoever attempts such channelling will share
The fate of Icarus [5] and will fall
On spoiled wings and into the wine dark sea.
Whether lauding laurel leaved Olympian
Victors in charioteering or boxing,
Bellerophon who extinguished the
Chimera’s fire with Pegasus’ [6] aid,
Or Theseus who defeated the Centaurs
Following Hippodamia’s [7] abduction,
The volume of Pindar’s poetry
Is huge. Imagine a river rushing
In abundant flood, obliterating banks,
Monumental in flow, uncontrollable.
He uses new words and different
Dialects, breaks all the metrical rules.
Julus, do you see how the Via Sacra [8]
Inclines downhill as it nears The Forum; see
The Sygambri [9] defeated and dragged
Struggling, in this Triumphal Procession
For Caesar Augustus, our greatest blessing?
Your skill-set, rather than mine, makes you worthy
Of extolling our Princep’s virtues. [10]
I find it as hard to write my odes as
A single bee from Mount Matinus, flying
Freely from flower to flower, working, and
Gathering the thyme that it loves, might
Construct a single honeycomb itself,
Perhaps I’ll manage to write a word or two.
As we enter The Forum do you see that
The Law Courts are closed today because
Of public, festive, joyous, rejoicing;
After you take the lead we raise our voices,
Together with the rest of the crowd, to shout
“Io Triumphe!”, [11] in honour of him,
In the incense-full, heady, heavy air.
You swore, Julus, that you would give Augustus
Ten bulls and ten cows on his return, and your
Offering is due. My gift of one
Orangey-brown calf will fulfil my vow.
III
Greek mythology, in this post-modern
World, what place? The gods, heroes, goddesses?
Unjustly accused, Prince Bellerophon
Fought the chimera with Pegasus’
Aid. A dread, hybrid, monster, fire-breathing,
They collaborated to kill it. A
Centaur, part man, part horse, celebrating
At the marriage of Hippodamia
In great lust, abducted her. Theseus,
One of the many guests at the wedding,
Rescued her from the brazen Eurytus,
Driving the drunk centaurs off, and killing
Him. How are we to understand, what sense
Can we make of, these myths at this distance?
IV
…
Looking back at the depths of those ancient
Days, understand the times in which he lived
His being’s ordered breaths? In our present
Can we comprehend his past? Are we used
To disentangling these conundrums
And enigmas as we dream ancient dreams?
© Ian David Wall 2023
[1] This poem is based on James Michie’s translation of Horace, Book IV, ode 2, ‘The Odes of Horace’, The Folio Society, 1987,
[2] It is written in an Anglicised version of alcaic meter. My model was Tennyson’s ‘Milton’, ‘The Works of Alfred Lord Tennyson, Poet Laureate’, McMillan & Co, 1896, p. 243,
[3] I am indebted to T.E.Page’s notes on the Latin of Horace, Ode, Book IV, Ode 2, for helping me to understand the context of the ode. Q. Horatii Flacci Carminum Libri IV. Epodon Liber, pps. 399-406, MacMillan and Co., Limited, 1939,
[4] Pindar was a Greek lyric poet
[5] In researching this poem, I used Ovid, ‘Metamorphoses’, Book VIII, lines 252 – 327, Norton Critical Edition, translated by Charles Martin, W.W. Norton & Co. Daedalus, seeking to escape from Crete with his son Icarus, fashioning wings made of feathers and wax. They escaped by air, but because he flew too close to the sun, the wax of Icarus’ wings melted, and he fell into the sea and died
[6] In researching this poem, I used Homer, ‘Iliad’, Book VI, lines 155 – 203, The World’s Classics, translated by Robert Fitzgerald, and Pindar, ‘Olympian XIII’, lines 84 – 90, The Odes of Pindar, translated by C.M. Bowra. Prince Bellerophon was forced to fight the Chimera, a monster part lion, part goat and part snake, and overcame it with the help of Pegasus, a winged horse
[7] In researching this poem, I used Ovid ‘Metamorphoses’, Book XII, line 313 – 349, Norton Critical Edition, translated by Charles Martin, W.W. Norton & Co. Theseus, one of the wedding guests, rescued Hippodamia, the bride of Pirithous, after she was abducted by the centaur, Eurytus, at their wedding
[8] The Via Sacra was the main street in Ancient Rome
[9] The Sygambri were a German tribe who sought peace with Rome when they heard that Augustus Caesar was marching against them.
[10] ‘Princeps’ means ‘’first one’ or ‘leader’ in Latin
[11] “Io Triumphe!” is a shout of joy