hanc tibi, Roma, deam titulis et honore sacratam perpetuo Floras inter Veneresque creasti! nec mirum: quis enim sapiens dubitaverat illas mortali de stirpe satas vixisse, et easdem laude venustatis claras in amoribus usque ad famae excidium formae nituisse decore? quid loquar Antinoum caelesti in sede locatum, illum delicias nunc divi principis, illum purpureo in gremio spoliatum sorte virili, Hadrianique dei Ganymedem, non cyathos dis porgere sed medio recubantem cum Iove fulcro nectaris ambrosii sacrum potare Lyaeum, cumque suo in templis vota exaudire marito?
Of such a woman, O Rome, hast thou made thee a goddess and consecrated her with titles and constant worship along with thy Floras and thy Venuses. Nor is it strange, for what man of sense but knew that they too were of mortal stock and lived on earth and were renowned for their charms, and that the beauty of their figures made them famous in amours till it ruined their good name? There is Antinous too, set in a heavenly home, he who was the darling of an emperor now deified and in the imperial embrace was robbed of his manhood, the god Hadrians Ganymede, not handing cups to the gods, but reclining with Jupiter on the middle couch and quaffing the sacred liquor of ambrosial nectar, and listening to prayers in the temples with his husband!
final_alignments\Prudentius_Reply_to_Symmachus_Book1.json