The Poems of Sidonius
Gai Sollii Apollinaris Sidonii Carmina
I
Praefatio Panegyrici Dicti Anthemio Avgvsto Bis Consvli
Cum iuvenem super astra Iovem natura locaret susciperetque novus regna vetusta deus, certavere suum venerari numina numen disparibusque modis par cecinere sophos. 5Mars clangente tuba patris praeconia dixit laudavitque sono fulmina fulmineo; Arcas et Arcitenens fidibus strepuere sonoris, doctior hic citharae pulsibus, ille lyrae; Castalidumque chorus vario modulamine plausit, 10carminibus, cannis, pollice, voce, pede. sed post caelicolas etiam mediocria fertur cantica semideum sustinuisse deus. tunc Faunis Dryades Satyrisque Mimallones aptae fuderunt lepidum, rustica turba, melos. 15alta cicuticines liquerunt Maenala Panes postque chelyn placuit fistula rauca Iovi.I. Preface to the Panegyric
The Poems of Gaius Sollius Apollinaris Sidonius
I
Preface to The Panegyric in Honour of The Emperor Anthemius, Consul for The Second Time
When nature established the young Jupiter above the stars and the new god was entering upon an ancient sovereignty, all the deities vied in paying worship to their deity, and uttered in diverse measures the same “bravo.” Mars with trumpet’s blare acclaimed his sire and with thunderous din praised the thunderbolts. The Arcadian 1 and the Archer God 2 sounded the clanging strings, the one more skilled to strike the zither, the other the lyre. Castalia’s maiden band gave forth their plaudits in varied strains with songs, reeds, thumb, voice and foot. But after the denizens of heaven, ’tis said, the god brooked even the inferior chants of demigods; then Dryads in union with Fauns, Mimallones 3 with Satyrs, a rustic multitude, poured forth a sprightly song. The Pans that sound the hemlock-reed left high Maenalus, and after the lyre the hoarse pipe