Esse quid hoc dicam, quod tam mihi dura videntur
strata, neque in lecto pallia nostra sedent,
et vacuus somno noctem, quam longa, peregi,
lassaque versati corporis ossa dolent?
nam, puto, sentirem, siquo temptarer amore.
an subit et tecta callidus arte nocet?
sic erit; haeserunt tenues in corde sagittae,
et possessa ferus pectora versat Amor.
What shall I say this is, that my bed seems so hard to me, and our blankets don’t lie properly on the bed, and I’ve spent the night, how long it was, empty of sleep, and my weary bones ache from tossing and turning? For I think I would know if I were being tested by some love. Or does he creep in and harm me with hidden craft? That must be it; slender arrows have stuck in my heart, and savage Love twists my possessed breast.
This elegiac poem describes the symptoms of lovesickness, drawing on a long tradition in ancient literature. The metaphor of Love (Amor/Cupid) shooting arrows is a classic motif in Roman poetry. The god Amor/Cupid was typically depicted as a winged boy carrying a bow and arrows, which would cause people to fall in love when struck.
The description of physical discomfort - inability to sleep, restlessness, and aching - was considered a standard symptom of love in ancient literature. Roman beds consisted of a frame filled with straw or wool mattresses, covered with blankets (pallia). The speaker’s perception that these usually comfortable items have become uncomfortable is attributed to love’s influence. The idea that love could sneak up on someone unawares and attack them with “hidden craft” reflects the ancient view of love as an external force that could overcome its victims against their will.
Cedimus, an subitum luctando accendimus ignem?
cedamus! leve fit, quod bene fertur, onus.
vidi ego iactatas mota face crescere flammas
et rursus nullo concutiente mori.
verbera plura ferunt, quam quos iuvat usus aratri,
detractant prensi dum iuga prima boves.
asper equus duris contunditur ora lupatis,
frena minus sentit, quisquis ad arma facit.
Should we yield, or do we kindle a sudden fire by struggling? Let us yield! A burden becomes light when it is well borne. I have seen flames grow when a torch is shaken and die again when no one disturbs them. Oxen endure more lashes when, newly caught, they resist their first yoke than those who enjoy the use of the plow. A spirited horse has its mouth bruised by the harsh bit, while one who adapts to the bridle feels it less.
The text employs several metaphors drawn from Roman agricultural and military life. The image of oxen being yoked for the first time was a common sight in Roman farming communities. New oxen would be paired with experienced ones to learn plowing. The lupatum was a severe bit with wolf’s tooth-shaped projections used for breaking in difficult horses. This cruel device exemplifies Roman methods of animal control.
The metaphor of the torch demonstrates an understanding of fire behavior that would have been familiar to ancient readers who relied on oil lamps and torches for lighting. The comparison between resistance and submission reflects Roman values regarding discipline and authority, themes that pervaded both military and civilian life. The progression from violent resistance to willing submission was seen as natural and desirable in Roman society, whether in animals being domesticated or in people accepting authority.
acrius invitos multoque ferocius urget
quam qui servitium ferre fatentur Amor.
En ego confiteor! tua sum nova praeda, Cupido;
porrigimus victas ad tua iura manus.
nil opus est bello—veniam pacemque rogamus;
nec tibi laus armis victus inermis ero.
necte comam myrto, maternas iunge columbas;
Love presses the unwilling more sharply and much more fiercely than those who admit to bearing servitude. Look, I confess! I am your new prey, Cupid; we stretch out conquered hands to your laws. There is no need for war—we ask for pardon and peace; nor will I, conquered and unarmed, be any glory for your weapons. Bind your hair with myrtle, yoke your mother’s doves;
The metaphorical language draws heavily on Roman military imagery, particularly the ritual of surrender where defeated soldiers would extend their hands in submission to the victor (porrigimus victas manus). The concept of servitium amoris (slavery to love) was a major theme in Roman love poetry, inverting the usual social hierarchies by depicting the free male citizen as enslaved to love.
Cupid appears with his traditional attributes - as an armed deity who hunts human prey. The reference to his mother’s doves connects him to Venus, whose sacred birds were doves. Myrtle was sacred to Venus and was used in wedding ceremonies and love magic. The image of yoking doves recalls the chariot of Venus, typically depicted as drawn by these birds. This combination of military and amatory imagery was characteristic of Roman love poetry, which often presented love as a form of warfare or conquest.
qui deceat, currum vitricus ipse dabit,
inque dato curru, populo clamante triumphum,
stabis et adiunctas arte movebis aves.
ducentur capti iuvenes captaeque puellae;
haec tibi magnificus pompa triumphus erit.
ipse ego, praeda recens, factum modo vulnus habebo
et nova captiva vincula mente feram.
Your stepfather himself will give you a chariot that befits you, and in the given chariot, while the people shout “triumph,” you will stand and skillfully drive the harnessed birds. Captured young men and captured girls will be led; this procession will be your magnificent triumph. I myself, fresh prey, will bear my newly made wound and will wear new chains in my captive mind.
The text describes a mock triumphal procession, adapting the formal Roman triumph to the realm of love. The Roman triumph was a magnificent ceremonial parade granted to victorious generals by the Senate. The general would ride in a four-horse chariot (quadriga) through Rome, displaying captured enemies and spoils of war. The crowd would shout “io triumphe” as the procession passed.
The mention of “harnessed birds” rather than horses represents a transformation of the military triumph into an amatory one, as birds (particularly doves) were associated with Venus, the goddess of love. The stepfather’s role in providing the chariot suggests the legitimization of the triumph, as in actual Roman triumphs, where official approval was required.
The image of prisoners being led in chains was a standard feature of triumphal processions, where captured enemy leaders and soldiers would be paraded before their eventual execution or imprisonment. Here, this military imagery is playfully adapted to represent love’s conquests, with the speaker himself among the captives, bearing metaphorical wounds and chains of love rather than actual battle injuries.
Mens Bona ducetur manibus post terga retortis,
et Pudor, et castris quidquid Amoris obest.
omnia te metuent; ad te sua bracchia tendens
vulgus ‘io’ magna voce ‘triumphe!’ canet.
blanditiae comites tibi erunt Errorque Furorque,
adsidue partes turba secuta tuas.
his tu militibus superas hominesque deosque;
haec tibi si demas commoda, nudus eris.
Good Sense will be led with hands twisted behind her back, and Modesty, and whatever opposes Love’s camp. Everything will fear you; stretching their arms toward you, the crowd will sing ‘io triumphe!’ in a loud voice. Flatteries will be your companions, and Error and Madness, a crowd that constantly follows your side. With these soldiers you overcome both men and gods; if you should take away these advantages, you will be naked.
This text presents a mock triumph, a cornerstone of Roman military ceremony, but reimagined as Love’s victory parade. The personification of abstract qualities (Mens Bona, Pudor, Error, Furor) reflects a common literary device in Roman poetry. The ritual cry “io triumphe” was the traditional acclamation shouted by crowds during actual triumphal processions through Rome.
The image of prisoners with hands bound behind their backs was a standard feature of Roman triumphs, where captured enemies were paraded before execution or imprisonment. Here, Good Sense and Modesty are portrayed as defeated enemies of Love, a witty inversion of conventional Roman moral values.
The military metaphor extends to describing Love’s retinue as “soldiers,” though they consist of qualities (Flatteries, Error, Madness) that would normally be considered vices rather than virtues in Roman ethical thought. The final line plays with the dual meaning of nudus (literally “naked,” but also “defenseless” or “powerless”), appropriate for the god of love who was traditionally depicted nude in Roman art.
Laeta triumphanti de summo mater Olympo
plaudet et adpositas sparget in ora rosas.
tu pinnas gemma, gemma variante capillos
ibis in auratis aureus ipse rotis.
tunc quoque non paucos, si te bene novimus, ures;
tunc quoque praeteriens vulnera multa dabis.
non possunt, licet ipse velis, cessare sagittae;
fervida vicino flamma vapore nocet.
Your joyful mother will applaud you as you triumph from highest Olympus and will scatter roses before your face. You yourself, golden, your wings and hair adorned with gems, will go forth in a golden chariot. Then too, if we know you well, you will burn not a few; then too as you pass by you will inflict many wounds. The arrows cannot cease, even if you yourself should wish it; the burning flame harms with its nearby heat.
The text describes a divine triumph featuring Venus (the mother) and Cupid (the triumphant deity). Roman triumphal processions traditionally included the scattering of flowers, here adapted to a celestial setting with Venus showering roses, her sacred flower. The golden chariot (auratis rotis) reflects both triumphal imagery and divine splendor - Roman triumphal chariots were often gilded.
The description of Cupid adorned with gems reflects Roman luxury arts, where precious stones were used to decorate religious statues and ceremonial objects. The imagery of burning and wounding continues the standard metaphors for love’s effects in Roman poetry, where Cupid’s arrows cause both pain and passion. The unstoppable nature of these arrows (non possunt cessare sagittae) emphasizes the inevitability of love’s power, a common theme in ancient love poetry.
The mention of Olympus, while Greek in origin, was fully incorporated into Roman literary tradition as the divine dwelling place. The final image of heat causing harm at close range draws on common Roman experience with fire, but transforms it into a metaphor for love’s dangerous proximity.
talis erat domita Bacchus Gangetide terra;
tu gravis alitibus, tigribus ille fuit.
Ergo cum possim sacri pars esse triumphi,
parce tuas in me perdere, victor, opes!
adspice cognati felicia Caesaris arma—
qua vicit, victos protegit ille manu.
Such was Bacchus when he had conquered the land of the Ganges; you are harsh to birds, as he was to tigers. Therefore, since I could be part of your sacred triumph, spare, victor, wasting your powers on me! Look at the blessed arms of your kinsman Caesar - with the same hand by which he conquered, he protects the conquered.
The text draws parallels between three conquests: Bacchus’s mythical conquest of India, Cupid’s amatory victories, and Caesar’s military triumphs. Bacchus (also known as Dionysus) was said to have led a triumphant campaign to India, traditionally associated with the Ganges River. His chariot was drawn by tigers, which became one of his emblematic animals.
The reference to Caesar as cognatus (kinsman) reflects the divine ancestry claimed by the Julian family, who traced their lineage to Venus through Aeneas. This made them relatives of Cupid, Venus’s son. The celebration of Caesar’s clemency (protegit victos) was a major theme in Roman political propaganda, presenting him as a merciful conqueror who spared defeated enemies and incorporated them into the empire.
The mention of triumphi refers to the Roman triumph, a ceremonial procession granted to victorious generals. The speaker cleverly combines religious (sacri), military, and amatory imagery, playing with the conventional metaphor of love as warfare. The contrast between conquest and protection in the final line reflects Roman ideals of power tempered by mercy.