referam quid cuncta domantem Amphitryoniaden? quid, cui, post Seras et Indos captivo Liber cum signa referret ab Euro, Caucaseae currum duxere per oppida tigres? quid suspiratos magno in discrimine nautis Ledaeos referam fratres vestrumque Quirinum? nonne vides, hominum ut celsos ad sidera vultus sustulerit deus ac sublimia finxerit ora, cum pecudes voluerumque genus formasque ferarum segnem atque obscenam passim stravisset in alvum? ad laudes genitum, capiat si munera divum, felix ad laudes hominum genus, huc, age, paulum aspice'nec longe repetam'modo Roma minanti impar Fidenae contentaque crescere asylo, quo sese extulerit dextris; idem aspice, late florentes quondam luxus quas verterit urbes quippe nec ira deum tantum nec tela nec hostes, quantum sola noces animis illapsa, Voluptas.
Need I speak of Amphitryons sona who destroyed all monsters? or of Liber,b whose chariot was drawn through the cities by Caucasian tigers when he came back in triumph from the conquered East, after subduing the Chinese and the Indians? or of Quirinus, the hero of Rome, or the Brethrenc whom Leda bore, to whom sailors cry in their sore distress? See you not, how the Creator raised the faces of mankind towards heaven and gave them countenances that look upwards, though he had caused all herds and flocks, all birds and beasts, to creep on their belly, inactive and unsightly? But man is born for glory, if he can appreciate heavens gift, and in pursuit of glory he is happy. Listen to me for a moment'I shall not go far for an example. Rome was once no match for the attacks of Fidenad and was content with the growth that the Asylume gave her: but see to what a height she has been raised by the valour of her citizens. Consider too the cities which once spread and flourished but were overthrown by luxury. For neither the wrath of heaven nor the attacks of foemen are as fatal as Pleasure alone when she infects the mind.
final_alignments\Silius_Italicus_Punica_Book15.json