Afterwards, when they had learnt the use of huts,And skins, and fire; when woman, joined with manIn wedlock, dwelt apart in one abode,And they saw offspring born out of themselves,Then first the human race began to soften.For fire made their chilly bodies nowLess able to endure the cold beneathThe roof of heaven: Venus impaired their strength:And children easily by their blandishmentsBroke down the haughty temper of their parents.Then too neighbours began to join in bondsOf friendship, wishing neither to inflictNor suffer violence: and for womankindAnd children they would claim kind treatment, pleadingWith cries and gestures inarticulatelyThat all men ought to have pity on the weak.And though harmony could not everywhereBe established, yet the most part faithfullyObserved their covenants, or man’s whole raceWould even then have perished, nor till nowCould propagation have preserved their kind.But it was Nature that constrained their tonguesTo utter various sounds; and need struck outThe names of things, in the same way almostAs impotence of tongue is itself seenTo teach gesture to infants, prompting themTo point at things around them. For all creaturesDivine by instinct how far they can useTheir natural powers. Thus before horns are bornAnd stand out on the forehead of a calf,When he is angry, he butts and charges with it.Then panther cubs and lion whelps will fightWith claws and feet and teeth, even at a timeWhen teeth and claws have hardly yet been formed.Also we see how the whole race of birdsTrusting their wings, will seek a fluttering succourFrom new-fledged pinions. Therefore to supposeThat somebody once apportioned names to things,And that from him men learnt to use words first,Is mere folly. For why should this one manBe able to denote all things by wordsAnd with his tongue form varied sounds, yet othersAt the same time be deemed incapableTo have done the like? Besides, if others tooHad not made use of words among themselves,Whence was the preconception of their usefulnessImplanted in this man, and whence was given himThe primal power to know and comprehendWhat he desired to do? Again, one manCould not subdue by force the wills of manyAnd compel them to learn the names of things.It is no easy labour to convinceDeaf men, and teach them what they ought to do;Since not for long would they endure his voice,Nor suffer unintelligible soundsFruitlessly to be dinned into their ears.Lastly what should there be to wonder atSo much in this, that mankind, when their voiceAnd tongue were in full vigour, should name thingsBy different sounds as different feelings bade them,Since dumb cattle, and even the wild beasts,Are wont to emit distinct and varied sounds,When they feel fear or pain, or when joy moves them.This indeed may be learnt from manifest facts.When the large soft mouths of Molossian dogsBegin to growl, angrily laying bareTheir hard teeth, then far different is the toneIn which they threaten, savagely thus drawn back,From the clear sound which, when they bark outright,Fills the whole neighbourhood. And when they essayIn gentle mood to lick their cubs, or whenThey toss them with their paws, and snapping at themTenderly make as though they would devour themWith half-closed teeth, thus fondling them they yelpWith a quite different sound from their deep bayWhen left alone in houses, or from the whimperWith which crouching they shrink away from blows.Furthermore does not a young stallion’s neighSeem different, when he rages among the maresPierced in his flower of age by winged love’s goads,From when with wide-stretched nostrils he snorts outThe battle signal, or when at other timesPerchance he whinnies trembling in all his limbs?Lastly the race of fowl and varied birds,Hawks and ospreys and gulls that seek their livingIn the salt waters of the ocean waves,Utter at different times quite different criesFrom those they make when they fight over food,Or struggle with their prey. And some will changeTheir harsh notes in accordance with the weather,As do the long-lived tribes of crows, and flocksOf rooks, when they are said to call for rain,Or sometimes to be summoning wind-storms.Since therefore various feelings can compelAnimals, speechless though they be, to utterSuch varying sounds, how much more naturalIs it that in those days men could denoteDissimilar things by many different sounds!In answer to your silent questioning here,I say it was the lightning first brought fireDown to the earth for men; and from that flameAll other flames have spread. Thus we beholdMany things blaze forth, lit by fire from heaven,When the sky’s stroke has charged them with its heat.Yet when a branching tree, tossed by the wind,Chafing the branches of another tree,Sways to and fro, then fire may be forced outBy violent stress of friction; and at timesHot flames are kindled and flash forth from boughsAnd stems rubbing together. Of these two chancesEither may first have given fire to men.Next the sun taught them to cook food, heatingAnd softening it with flame; since they would noteMany things mellowing about the fieldsSmitten and conquered by his scorching rays.And more and more each day men who excelledIn subtlety and power of mind, would show themHow by new methods and by using fireTo improve their former means of livelihood.Kings began to found cities and build fortsAs refuges and strongholds for themselves,Dividing cattle and lands, and portioningTo each his share according to his beauty,His strength and intellect; for comelinessWas much esteemed, and strength was paramount.Afterwards property was devised, and goldDiscovered, which with ease robbed both the strongAnd beautiful of their honours: for most men,However brave and beautiful by birth,Follow the fortunes of the richer man.But whosoever by true reason’s ruleGoverns his days, for him plain frugal livingAnd a contented spirit is mighty wealth;For of a little never is there lack.Yet men wished to become renowned and powerful,That so their fortunes on a stable baseMight rest, and they, being wealthy, might have powerTo lead a tranquil life: in vain! For whileThey strove to mount to the highest pitch of honourTheir path was perilous: and even althoughThey have reached the summit, envy will sometimesStrike like a thunderbolt and hurl men downContemptuously to noisome Tartarus:Since highest things, lifted above all else,Are most wont as by lightning to be blastedBy envy; so that quietly to obeyIs better than to crave sovereign powerAnd lordship over realms. Therefore let menSweat drops of blood, wearying themselves in vain,Struggling along ambition’s narrow road;Since from the mouths of others comes their wisdom,And ’tis from hearsay rather than their ownAuthentic feelings, they pursue such aims:Nor does this happen now, nor will it happenHereafter any more than once it did.Kings therefore being slain, the ancient majestyOf thrones and haughty sceptres was laid low.The glorious symbol of the sovereign head,Trodden bloodstained beneath the people’s feet,Mourned its proud honour lost; for that is greedilyTrampled down which before was too much feared.Thus to the very lees of anarchyThe whole state was reduced, while each man graspedAt lordship and dominion for himself.Then some among them taught how to createMagistrates, and established codes, that allMight learn to obey laws. For now mankind,Utterly wearied of a violent life,Lay languishing by reason of its feuds.Therefore the sooner of its own free willDid it submit to laws and stringent codes.For seeing that each, when anger prompted him,Strove more severely to avenge himselfThan just laws now permit, for this cause menGrew tired of a life of violence.Thenceforward fear of punishment infectsThe enjoyment of life’s prizes: for the netsOf violence and wrong entangle all thoseWho inflict them, and most often they recoilOn such as used them first: nor is it easyFor him to pass a quiet and peaceful life,Whose deeds transgress the bonds of public peace.For though he should elude both gods and men,Yet he must needs mistrust whether his guiltWill remain veiled for ever, since ’tis saidThat many often by talking in their dreams,Or in delirious sickness have betrayedTheir secrets, and revealed long-hidden crimes.Now what may be the cause that has spread wideThe cult of deities over mighty nations,And filled cities with altars, and prescribedThe observance of such sacred rites as nowAt solemn times and places are performed,Whence even now is implanted in men’s mindsReligious awe, that over the whole earthRaises new temples to the gods, and promptsWorshippers to frequent them on feast-days—Why this should be, ’tis easy to explain.For in those early times mortals would seeWith waking mind the glorious imagesOf deities and behold them in their sleepOf size yet more gigantic. To these thenThey would attribute sense, because they seemedTo move their limbs and utter stately speechWorthy of their noble aspect and great powers.Also they deemed eternal life was theirs,Because their images continuallyWould reappear, and their form did not change,But most because they could not well conceiveHow beings who seemed gifted with such powersCould lightly be subdued by any force.And they believed that their felicityMust be beyond compare, since none of themWas ever troubled by the fear of death,Because moreover in sleep they beheld themPerforming without effort many miracles.Again they saw how the orderings of heavenAnd the year’s varying seasons would returnAccording to fixed law, yet could they notDiscover from what causes this took place.Therefore they found a refuge from such doubtsIn handing all things over to the deitiesAnd deeming all to be guided by their nod.The abodes of their divinities they placedIn heaven, because they saw night and the moonProgressing through the sky, moon day and night,The severe constellations of the night,The sky’s night-wandering meteors and gliding fires,Clouds sun and snow, lightning and winds and hail,Thunder’s swift crash and mightily threatening murmurs.O unhappy race of men, that could assignSuch functions to the deities, and theretoAdd cruel wrath! What groans then for themselvesDid they beget, what wounds for us, what tearsFor our children’s children! ’Tis no pietyTo be seen often with veiled head to turnTowards a stone, visiting every altar,Nor to fall grovelling with outspread palmsProstrate before the temples of the gods,Nor sprinkling altars with much blood of beastsTo add to votive offering votive offering;But this rather is piety, to have powerTo survey all things with a tranquil mind.For when we lift our eyes to the celestialTemples of the great universe, and the aetherStudded with glittering stars, and contemplateThe paths of sun and moon, then in our breasts,Burdened with other evils, this fear tooBegins to lift its reawakened head,Lest perchance it be true that with the godsResides a boundless power, which can moveUpon their various courses the bright stars.For ignorance of cause troubles the mind,So that it doubts whether there ever wasA birth-time and beginning for the world,And likewise whether there shall be an end;How far the world’s walls can endure this strainOf restless motion, or whether by the godsWith eternal stability endowedThey may glide on through endless lapse of time,Defying the strong powers of infinite age.Again whose mind shrinks not with awe of gods,Whose limbs creep not for terror, when beneathThe appalling stroke of thunder the parched earthShudders, and mutterings run through the vast sky?Do not the peoples and the nations quake,And proud kings, stricken with religious dreadSit quailing, lest for any wicked deedOr overweening word, the heavy timeOf reckoning and punishment be ripe?Also when the full violence of a windRaging across the sea, sweeps o’er the wavesThe high commander of a fleet, with allHis powerful legions and his elephants,Does he not supplicate the gods with vowsFor mercy, and with craven prayers entreat themTo lull the storm and grant propitious gales?But all in vain; since often none the less,Seized by the violent hurricane, he is whirledOnto the shoals of death. Thus evermoreSome hidden power treads human grandeur down,And seems to make its sport of the proud rodsAnd cruel axes, crushed beneath its heel.Lastly, when the whole earth rocks under them,And cities tumble with the shock, or standIn doubt, threatening to fall, what wonder is itThat mortal creatures should abase themselves,Assigning vast dominion to the gods,And wondrous powers to govern all below?Now must be told how copper gold and iron,And weighty silver also, and solid leadWere first discovered when on the great hillsFire had consumed huge forests with its heat,Kindled either by lightning from the sky,Or because men waging some forest warHad carried fire among their enemiesFor terror’s sake; or else because, drawn onBy the soil’s goodness, they would wish to clearFat lands and turn them unto pasturage,Or to kill beasts and grow rich with the spoils.For hunting with the pitfall and with fireCame into use before woods were enclosedWith nets or drawn by dogs. Howe’er that be,From whatsoever cause the heat of flameWith terrible crackling had devoured whole forestsDown to their deepest roots, and throughly bakedThe soil with fire, forth from the burning veinsThere would ooze and collect in cavitiesStreams of silver and gold, of copper too,And lead. When afterwards men found these metalsCooled into masses glittering on the groundWith brilliant colours, they would pick them up,Attracted by their bright smooth loveliness;And they would then observe how each was formedInto a shape similar to the imprintOf the hole where it lay. Next it would strike themThat, melted down by heat, these could be madeTo run into any form and mould they pleased,And further could by hammering be wroughtInto points tapering as sharp and fineAs they might need, so furnishing themselvesWith tools wherewith to cut down woods, hew timberAnd plane planks smooth, to drill and pierce and bore.And this they would attempt with silver and goldNo less than with stout copper’s mighty strength.But in vain, since their yielding force would fail,Being proved less fit to endure toil and strain.In those days copper was more highly esteemed;Gold lay despised as useless with its dullAnd blunted edge: now copper lies neglected,Whereas gold has attained the pitch of honour.Thus Time as it revolves is ever changingThe seasons of things. What was once esteemedBecomes at length of no repute; whereonSome other thing, issuing from contempt,Mounts up and daily is coveted more and more,And, once discovered, blossoms out in praises,Rising to wondrous honour among men.Now, Memmius, you will easily of yourselfUnderstand in what way were first discoveredThe properties of iron. Man’s earliest weaponsWere hands nails teeth and stones, and boughs torn offFrom forest trees, and flame and fire, as eachBecame known. Afterwards the force of ironAnd copper was discovered. And the useOf copper was known earlier than of iron,Since it was easier to be worked, and foundMore copiously. With copper they would tillThe soil of earth, with copper they stirred upThe waves of war, and dealt wide-gaping wounds,And seized on lands and cattle: for all else,Being naked and unarmed, would yield to thoseWho carried weapons. Then by slow degreesThe sword of iron made progress, while the typeOf the copper sickle came to be despised.With iron they began to cleave the soil,And through its use wavering war’s conflictsWere rendered equal. Earlier was the customOf mounting armed upon a horse’s backAnd guiding it with reins, and dealing blowsWith the right arm, long before men dared temptThe risks of battle in the two-horsed car.And they would learn the art to yoke two steedsEarlier than to yoke four, or to mount armedUpon scythed chariots. Next the Poeni taughtThe uncouth Lucanian kine,[H]with towered backsAnd snake-like hands, to endure the wounds of war,And rout great troops of martial chivalry.Thus miserable discord brought to birthOne thing after another, to appalMankind’s embattled nations, every dayMaking addition to war’s frightfulness.Also in warfare they made trial of bulls,And sought to drive fierce boars against the foe.And some sent mighty lions in their vanWith armed trainers and savage guardiansTo govern them and hold them in with chains;In vain, for heated with promiscuous carnageThey put to flight whole squadrons in their rageWithout distinction, tossing on every sideTheir terrible crests; nor could the horsemen calmTheir horses, panic-stricken by the roaring,Or turn them by the bridle against their foes.The she-lions would spring fiercely on all sidesRight in the faces of their adversaries,Or from behind seizing them off their guardWould clasp and tear them wounded down to the earth,Gripping them with their strong teeth and hooked claws.The bulls would toss and trample underfootTheir own friends, goring the horses from beneathIn belly and flank, tearing the soil up savagely.Fierce boars would rend their allies with strong tusks.Staining the broken weapons with their blood,And put to rout both horse and foot together.The steeds, to escape from the tusk’s cruel push,Would swerve aside or rearing paw the air,In vain, for with severed tendons they would crashHeavily down to the earth and lie stretched out.Beasts, by the keepers deemed to have been tamedSufficiently at home, they now would seeHeated to madness in the hour of battle,By wounds and shouts, flight panic and uproar.No portion of all the different kinds of beasts,Once scattered in wild flight, could they recall.So often nowadays the Lucanian kine,Gashed cruelly with the steel, will fly dispersed,Inflicting ruinous havoc on their friends.Thus might these men have acted: yet I scarceCan think they were not able to foreseeAnd calculate how horrible a disasterWas certain to befall both sides alike.But men chose to act thus, not in the hopeOf victory so much, as from the wish,Though they themselves perished, to give their foesCause to lament, being desperate through mistrustOf their own numbers, or through lack of arms.The plaited garment came before the dressOf woven stuff. Weaving comes after iron,Since weaving tools need iron to fashion them.By no means else can such smooth things be madeAs heddles, spindles, shuttles and clattering yarn-beams.Men before womankind did Nature promptTo work wool; for in general the male sexIs by far the more skilful and ingenious:Till the rough peasants chided them so sternlyThat at length they consented to resignSuch lighter tasks into the hands of women,And themselves took their share in heavier toils,Hardening with hard labour limbs and hands.But Nature, the creatress, herself firstTaught men to sow and prompted them to graft.For berries and acorns dropping from the treesWould put forth in due season underneathSwarms of seedlings: and hence the fancy cameTo insert grafts upon the boughs, and plantYoung saplings in the soil about the fields.Next they would try another and yet anotherMethod of tilling their loved piece of land,And so could watch how kindly fostering cultureHelped the earth to improve its own wild fruits.And they would force the forests day by dayTo retreat higher up the mountain-sidesAnd yield the ground below to husbandry,That so meadows and ponds, rivulets, crops,And glad vineyards might cover hill and plain,While grey-green boundary strips of olive treesMight run between the fields, stretching far outO’er hillock, valley and plain; as now we seeWhole countrysides glowing with varied beauty,Adorned with rows of sweet fruit-bearing trees,And enclosed round about with joyous groves.But the art of imitating with their mouthsThe liquid notes of birds, came long beforeMen could delight their ears by singing wordsTo smooth tunes; and the whistlings of the zephyrIn hollow reeds first taught the husbandmanTo blow through hollow stalks. Then by degreesThey learnt those sweet sad ditties, which the pipe,Touched by the fingers of the melodist,Pours forth, such as are heard ’mid pathless woods,Forests and glades, or in the lonely hauntsOf shepherds, and the abodes of magic calm.Thus would they soothe and gratify their minds,When satiate with food; for all such thingsGive pleasure then. So often, couched togetherOn the soft grass, beside a waterbrookBeneath a tall tree’s boughs, at no great costThey would regale their bodies joyously,At those times chiefly when the weather smiled,And the year’s seasons painted the green herbageWith flowers. Then went round the jest, the tale,The merry laugh, for then the rustic museWas in full force: then frolick jollityWould prompt them to enwreathe their heads and shouldersWith plaited garlands woven of flowers and leaves,Or dancing out of measure to move their limbsClumsily, and with clumsy foot to beatTheir mother earth; whence smiles and jovial laughterWould rise; since the more novel then and strangeAll such sports seemed, the more they were admired.And they would find a salve for wakefulnessIn giving voice to many varied tonesOf winding melody, running with curved lipOver the reed-pipes: and from them this customIs handed down to watchmen nowadays,Who, though they have better learnt to observe time,Yet not one whit more pleasure do they enjoyThan once that silvan race of earth-born men.For what is present, if we have never knownAnything more delightful, gives us pleasureBeyond all else, and seems to be the best;But if some better thing be afterwardsDiscovered, this will often spoil for us allThat pleased us once, and change our feelings towards it.Thus it was acorns came to be disliked:Thus were abandoned those beds of strewn grassAnd heaped leaves: the dress too of wild beast’s skinFell thus into contempt. Yet I supposeThat when it was invented it would rouseSuch envy, that the man who wore it firstWould be waylaid and slain: yet after allIt would be torn to pieces among the thievesAnd with much bloodshed utterly destroyed,So that it never could be turned to use.Therefore skins then, now gold and purple vexMen’s lives with cares and wear them out with war.And here, I think, the greater guilt is ours;For the cold would torment these earth-born menNaked without their skins; but us no harmWhatever can it cause to go withoutA purple robe broidered with large designsIn gold thread, so we have but on our backsA plain plebeian cloak to keep us warm.Therefore mankind is always toiling vainly,Fruitlessly wasting life in empty cares,Doubtless because they will not recogniseThe limits of possession, nor the boundsBeyond which no true pleasure can increase.And so by slow degrees this ignoranceHas carried life out into the deep seas,And from the bottom stirred up war’s huge waves.But those vigilant watchers, sun and moon,That circling round illumine with their lightThe vast revolving temple of the sky,Taught mankind how the seasons of the yearReturn, and how all things are brought to passAccording to fixed system and fixed law.And now men dwelt securely fenced aboutBy strong towers, and the land was portioned outAnd marked off to be tilled. Already nowThe sea was white with flitting sails, and townsWere joined in league of friendship and alliance.Then first poets made record in their songsOf men’s deeds: for not long before this timeLetters had been invented. For which causeOur age cannot look backward to things past,Save where reason reveals some evidence.Shipping and agriculture, city-walls,Laws, arms, roads, robes and other suchlike things,Moreover all life’s prizes and refinements,Poems and pictures, and the chisellingOf fine-wrought statues, every one of theseLong practice and the untiring mind’s experienceTaught men by slow degrees, as they progressedStep after step. Thus time little by littleBrings forth each several thing, and reason lifts itInto the borders of the light; for firstOne thing and then another must in turnRise from obscurity, until each artAttains its highest pitch of excellence.
Afterwards, when they had learnt the use of huts,And skins, and fire; when woman, joined with manIn wedlock, dwelt apart in one abode,And they saw offspring born out of themselves,Then first the human race began to soften.For fire made their chilly bodies nowLess able to endure the cold beneathThe roof of heaven: Venus impaired their strength:And children easily by their blandishmentsBroke down the haughty temper of their parents.Then too neighbours began to join in bondsOf friendship, wishing neither to inflictNor suffer violence: and for womankindAnd children they would claim kind treatment, pleadingWith cries and gestures inarticulatelyThat all men ought to have pity on the weak.And though harmony could not everywhereBe established, yet the most part faithfullyObserved their covenants, or man’s whole raceWould even then have perished, nor till nowCould propagation have preserved their kind.But it was Nature that constrained their tonguesTo utter various sounds; and need struck outThe names of things, in the same way almostAs impotence of tongue is itself seenTo teach gesture to infants, prompting themTo point at things around them. For all creaturesDivine by instinct how far they can useTheir natural powers. Thus before horns are bornAnd stand out on the forehead of a calf,When he is angry, he butts and charges with it.Then panther cubs and lion whelps will fightWith claws and feet and teeth, even at a timeWhen teeth and claws have hardly yet been formed.Also we see how the whole race of birdsTrusting their wings, will seek a fluttering succourFrom new-fledged pinions. Therefore to supposeThat somebody once apportioned names to things,And that from him men learnt to use words first,Is mere folly. For why should this one manBe able to denote all things by wordsAnd with his tongue form varied sounds, yet othersAt the same time be deemed incapableTo have done the like? Besides, if others tooHad not made use of words among themselves,Whence was the preconception of their usefulnessImplanted in this man, and whence was given himThe primal power to know and comprehendWhat he desired to do? Again, one manCould not subdue by force the wills of manyAnd compel them to learn the names of things.It is no easy labour to convinceDeaf men, and teach them what they ought to do;Since not for long would they endure his voice,Nor suffer unintelligible soundsFruitlessly to be dinned into their ears.Lastly what should there be to wonder atSo much in this, that mankind, when their voiceAnd tongue were in full vigour, should name thingsBy different sounds as different feelings bade them,Since dumb cattle, and even the wild beasts,Are wont to emit distinct and varied sounds,When they feel fear or pain, or when joy moves them.This indeed may be learnt from manifest facts.When the large soft mouths of Molossian dogsBegin to growl, angrily laying bareTheir hard teeth, then far different is the toneIn which they threaten, savagely thus drawn back,From the clear sound which, when they bark outright,Fills the whole neighbourhood. And when they essayIn gentle mood to lick their cubs, or whenThey toss them with their paws, and snapping at themTenderly make as though they would devour themWith half-closed teeth, thus fondling them they yelpWith a quite different sound from their deep bayWhen left alone in houses, or from the whimperWith which crouching they shrink away from blows.Furthermore does not a young stallion’s neighSeem different, when he rages among the maresPierced in his flower of age by winged love’s goads,From when with wide-stretched nostrils he snorts outThe battle signal, or when at other timesPerchance he whinnies trembling in all his limbs?Lastly the race of fowl and varied birds,Hawks and ospreys and gulls that seek their livingIn the salt waters of the ocean waves,Utter at different times quite different criesFrom those they make when they fight over food,Or struggle with their prey. And some will changeTheir harsh notes in accordance with the weather,As do the long-lived tribes of crows, and flocksOf rooks, when they are said to call for rain,Or sometimes to be summoning wind-storms.Since therefore various feelings can compelAnimals, speechless though they be, to utterSuch varying sounds, how much more naturalIs it that in those days men could denoteDissimilar things by many different sounds!In answer to your silent questioning here,I say it was the lightning first brought fireDown to the earth for men; and from that flameAll other flames have spread. Thus we beholdMany things blaze forth, lit by fire from heaven,When the sky’s stroke has charged them with its heat.Yet when a branching tree, tossed by the wind,Chafing the branches of another tree,Sways to and fro, then fire may be forced outBy violent stress of friction; and at timesHot flames are kindled and flash forth from boughsAnd stems rubbing together. Of these two chancesEither may first have given fire to men.Next the sun taught them to cook food, heatingAnd softening it with flame; since they would noteMany things mellowing about the fieldsSmitten and conquered by his scorching rays.And more and more each day men who excelledIn subtlety and power of mind, would show themHow by new methods and by using fireTo improve their former means of livelihood.Kings began to found cities and build fortsAs refuges and strongholds for themselves,Dividing cattle and lands, and portioningTo each his share according to his beauty,His strength and intellect; for comelinessWas much esteemed, and strength was paramount.Afterwards property was devised, and goldDiscovered, which with ease robbed both the strongAnd beautiful of their honours: for most men,However brave and beautiful by birth,Follow the fortunes of the richer man.But whosoever by true reason’s ruleGoverns his days, for him plain frugal livingAnd a contented spirit is mighty wealth;For of a little never is there lack.Yet men wished to become renowned and powerful,That so their fortunes on a stable baseMight rest, and they, being wealthy, might have powerTo lead a tranquil life: in vain! For whileThey strove to mount to the highest pitch of honourTheir path was perilous: and even althoughThey have reached the summit, envy will sometimesStrike like a thunderbolt and hurl men downContemptuously to noisome Tartarus:Since highest things, lifted above all else,Are most wont as by lightning to be blastedBy envy; so that quietly to obeyIs better than to crave sovereign powerAnd lordship over realms. Therefore let menSweat drops of blood, wearying themselves in vain,Struggling along ambition’s narrow road;Since from the mouths of others comes their wisdom,And ’tis from hearsay rather than their ownAuthentic feelings, they pursue such aims:Nor does this happen now, nor will it happenHereafter any more than once it did.Kings therefore being slain, the ancient majestyOf thrones and haughty sceptres was laid low.The glorious symbol of the sovereign head,Trodden bloodstained beneath the people’s feet,Mourned its proud honour lost; for that is greedilyTrampled down which before was too much feared.Thus to the very lees of anarchyThe whole state was reduced, while each man graspedAt lordship and dominion for himself.Then some among them taught how to createMagistrates, and established codes, that allMight learn to obey laws. For now mankind,Utterly wearied of a violent life,Lay languishing by reason of its feuds.Therefore the sooner of its own free willDid it submit to laws and stringent codes.For seeing that each, when anger prompted him,Strove more severely to avenge himselfThan just laws now permit, for this cause menGrew tired of a life of violence.Thenceforward fear of punishment infectsThe enjoyment of life’s prizes: for the netsOf violence and wrong entangle all thoseWho inflict them, and most often they recoilOn such as used them first: nor is it easyFor him to pass a quiet and peaceful life,Whose deeds transgress the bonds of public peace.For though he should elude both gods and men,Yet he must needs mistrust whether his guiltWill remain veiled for ever, since ’tis saidThat many often by talking in their dreams,Or in delirious sickness have betrayedTheir secrets, and revealed long-hidden crimes.Now what may be the cause that has spread wideThe cult of deities over mighty nations,And filled cities with altars, and prescribedThe observance of such sacred rites as nowAt solemn times and places are performed,Whence even now is implanted in men’s mindsReligious awe, that over the whole earthRaises new temples to the gods, and promptsWorshippers to frequent them on feast-days—Why this should be, ’tis easy to explain.For in those early times mortals would seeWith waking mind the glorious imagesOf deities and behold them in their sleepOf size yet more gigantic. To these thenThey would attribute sense, because they seemedTo move their limbs and utter stately speechWorthy of their noble aspect and great powers.Also they deemed eternal life was theirs,Because their images continuallyWould reappear, and their form did not change,But most because they could not well conceiveHow beings who seemed gifted with such powersCould lightly be subdued by any force.And they believed that their felicityMust be beyond compare, since none of themWas ever troubled by the fear of death,Because moreover in sleep they beheld themPerforming without effort many miracles.Again they saw how the orderings of heavenAnd the year’s varying seasons would returnAccording to fixed law, yet could they notDiscover from what causes this took place.Therefore they found a refuge from such doubtsIn handing all things over to the deitiesAnd deeming all to be guided by their nod.The abodes of their divinities they placedIn heaven, because they saw night and the moonProgressing through the sky, moon day and night,The severe constellations of the night,The sky’s night-wandering meteors and gliding fires,Clouds sun and snow, lightning and winds and hail,Thunder’s swift crash and mightily threatening murmurs.O unhappy race of men, that could assignSuch functions to the deities, and theretoAdd cruel wrath! What groans then for themselvesDid they beget, what wounds for us, what tearsFor our children’s children! ’Tis no pietyTo be seen often with veiled head to turnTowards a stone, visiting every altar,Nor to fall grovelling with outspread palmsProstrate before the temples of the gods,Nor sprinkling altars with much blood of beastsTo add to votive offering votive offering;But this rather is piety, to have powerTo survey all things with a tranquil mind.For when we lift our eyes to the celestialTemples of the great universe, and the aetherStudded with glittering stars, and contemplateThe paths of sun and moon, then in our breasts,Burdened with other evils, this fear tooBegins to lift its reawakened head,Lest perchance it be true that with the godsResides a boundless power, which can moveUpon their various courses the bright stars.For ignorance of cause troubles the mind,So that it doubts whether there ever wasA birth-time and beginning for the world,And likewise whether there shall be an end;How far the world’s walls can endure this strainOf restless motion, or whether by the godsWith eternal stability endowedThey may glide on through endless lapse of time,Defying the strong powers of infinite age.Again whose mind shrinks not with awe of gods,Whose limbs creep not for terror, when beneathThe appalling stroke of thunder the parched earthShudders, and mutterings run through the vast sky?Do not the peoples and the nations quake,And proud kings, stricken with religious dreadSit quailing, lest for any wicked deedOr overweening word, the heavy timeOf reckoning and punishment be ripe?Also when the full violence of a windRaging across the sea, sweeps o’er the wavesThe high commander of a fleet, with allHis powerful legions and his elephants,Does he not supplicate the gods with vowsFor mercy, and with craven prayers entreat themTo lull the storm and grant propitious gales?But all in vain; since often none the less,Seized by the violent hurricane, he is whirledOnto the shoals of death. Thus evermoreSome hidden power treads human grandeur down,And seems to make its sport of the proud rodsAnd cruel axes, crushed beneath its heel.Lastly, when the whole earth rocks under them,And cities tumble with the shock, or standIn doubt, threatening to fall, what wonder is itThat mortal creatures should abase themselves,Assigning vast dominion to the gods,And wondrous powers to govern all below?Now must be told how copper gold and iron,And weighty silver also, and solid leadWere first discovered when on the great hillsFire had consumed huge forests with its heat,Kindled either by lightning from the sky,Or because men waging some forest warHad carried fire among their enemiesFor terror’s sake; or else because, drawn onBy the soil’s goodness, they would wish to clearFat lands and turn them unto pasturage,Or to kill beasts and grow rich with the spoils.For hunting with the pitfall and with fireCame into use before woods were enclosedWith nets or drawn by dogs. Howe’er that be,From whatsoever cause the heat of flameWith terrible crackling had devoured whole forestsDown to their deepest roots, and throughly bakedThe soil with fire, forth from the burning veinsThere would ooze and collect in cavitiesStreams of silver and gold, of copper too,And lead. When afterwards men found these metalsCooled into masses glittering on the groundWith brilliant colours, they would pick them up,Attracted by their bright smooth loveliness;And they would then observe how each was formedInto a shape similar to the imprintOf the hole where it lay. Next it would strike themThat, melted down by heat, these could be madeTo run into any form and mould they pleased,And further could by hammering be wroughtInto points tapering as sharp and fineAs they might need, so furnishing themselvesWith tools wherewith to cut down woods, hew timberAnd plane planks smooth, to drill and pierce and bore.And this they would attempt with silver and goldNo less than with stout copper’s mighty strength.But in vain, since their yielding force would fail,Being proved less fit to endure toil and strain.In those days copper was more highly esteemed;Gold lay despised as useless with its dullAnd blunted edge: now copper lies neglected,Whereas gold has attained the pitch of honour.Thus Time as it revolves is ever changingThe seasons of things. What was once esteemedBecomes at length of no repute; whereonSome other thing, issuing from contempt,Mounts up and daily is coveted more and more,And, once discovered, blossoms out in praises,Rising to wondrous honour among men.Now, Memmius, you will easily of yourselfUnderstand in what way were first discoveredThe properties of iron. Man’s earliest weaponsWere hands nails teeth and stones, and boughs torn offFrom forest trees, and flame and fire, as eachBecame known. Afterwards the force of ironAnd copper was discovered. And the useOf copper was known earlier than of iron,Since it was easier to be worked, and foundMore copiously. With copper they would tillThe soil of earth, with copper they stirred upThe waves of war, and dealt wide-gaping wounds,And seized on lands and cattle: for all else,Being naked and unarmed, would yield to thoseWho carried weapons. Then by slow degreesThe sword of iron made progress, while the typeOf the copper sickle came to be despised.With iron they began to cleave the soil,And through its use wavering war’s conflictsWere rendered equal. Earlier was the customOf mounting armed upon a horse’s backAnd guiding it with reins, and dealing blowsWith the right arm, long before men dared temptThe risks of battle in the two-horsed car.And they would learn the art to yoke two steedsEarlier than to yoke four, or to mount armedUpon scythed chariots. Next the Poeni taughtThe uncouth Lucanian kine,[H]with towered backsAnd snake-like hands, to endure the wounds of war,And rout great troops of martial chivalry.Thus miserable discord brought to birthOne thing after another, to appalMankind’s embattled nations, every dayMaking addition to war’s frightfulness.Also in warfare they made trial of bulls,And sought to drive fierce boars against the foe.And some sent mighty lions in their vanWith armed trainers and savage guardiansTo govern them and hold them in with chains;In vain, for heated with promiscuous carnageThey put to flight whole squadrons in their rageWithout distinction, tossing on every sideTheir terrible crests; nor could the horsemen calmTheir horses, panic-stricken by the roaring,Or turn them by the bridle against their foes.The she-lions would spring fiercely on all sidesRight in the faces of their adversaries,Or from behind seizing them off their guardWould clasp and tear them wounded down to the earth,Gripping them with their strong teeth and hooked claws.The bulls would toss and trample underfootTheir own friends, goring the horses from beneathIn belly and flank, tearing the soil up savagely.Fierce boars would rend their allies with strong tusks.Staining the broken weapons with their blood,And put to rout both horse and foot together.The steeds, to escape from the tusk’s cruel push,Would swerve aside or rearing paw the air,In vain, for with severed tendons they would crashHeavily down to the earth and lie stretched out.Beasts, by the keepers deemed to have been tamedSufficiently at home, they now would seeHeated to madness in the hour of battle,By wounds and shouts, flight panic and uproar.No portion of all the different kinds of beasts,Once scattered in wild flight, could they recall.So often nowadays the Lucanian kine,Gashed cruelly with the steel, will fly dispersed,Inflicting ruinous havoc on their friends.Thus might these men have acted: yet I scarceCan think they were not able to foreseeAnd calculate how horrible a disasterWas certain to befall both sides alike.But men chose to act thus, not in the hopeOf victory so much, as from the wish,Though they themselves perished, to give their foesCause to lament, being desperate through mistrustOf their own numbers, or through lack of arms.The plaited garment came before the dressOf woven stuff. Weaving comes after iron,Since weaving tools need iron to fashion them.By no means else can such smooth things be madeAs heddles, spindles, shuttles and clattering yarn-beams.Men before womankind did Nature promptTo work wool; for in general the male sexIs by far the more skilful and ingenious:Till the rough peasants chided them so sternlyThat at length they consented to resignSuch lighter tasks into the hands of women,And themselves took their share in heavier toils,Hardening with hard labour limbs and hands.But Nature, the creatress, herself firstTaught men to sow and prompted them to graft.For berries and acorns dropping from the treesWould put forth in due season underneathSwarms of seedlings: and hence the fancy cameTo insert grafts upon the boughs, and plantYoung saplings in the soil about the fields.Next they would try another and yet anotherMethod of tilling their loved piece of land,And so could watch how kindly fostering cultureHelped the earth to improve its own wild fruits.And they would force the forests day by dayTo retreat higher up the mountain-sidesAnd yield the ground below to husbandry,That so meadows and ponds, rivulets, crops,And glad vineyards might cover hill and plain,While grey-green boundary strips of olive treesMight run between the fields, stretching far outO’er hillock, valley and plain; as now we seeWhole countrysides glowing with varied beauty,Adorned with rows of sweet fruit-bearing trees,And enclosed round about with joyous groves.But the art of imitating with their mouthsThe liquid notes of birds, came long beforeMen could delight their ears by singing wordsTo smooth tunes; and the whistlings of the zephyrIn hollow reeds first taught the husbandmanTo blow through hollow stalks. Then by degreesThey learnt those sweet sad ditties, which the pipe,Touched by the fingers of the melodist,Pours forth, such as are heard ’mid pathless woods,Forests and glades, or in the lonely hauntsOf shepherds, and the abodes of magic calm.Thus would they soothe and gratify their minds,When satiate with food; for all such thingsGive pleasure then. So often, couched togetherOn the soft grass, beside a waterbrookBeneath a tall tree’s boughs, at no great costThey would regale their bodies joyously,At those times chiefly when the weather smiled,And the year’s seasons painted the green herbageWith flowers. Then went round the jest, the tale,The merry laugh, for then the rustic museWas in full force: then frolick jollityWould prompt them to enwreathe their heads and shouldersWith plaited garlands woven of flowers and leaves,Or dancing out of measure to move their limbsClumsily, and with clumsy foot to beatTheir mother earth; whence smiles and jovial laughterWould rise; since the more novel then and strangeAll such sports seemed, the more they were admired.And they would find a salve for wakefulnessIn giving voice to many varied tonesOf winding melody, running with curved lipOver the reed-pipes: and from them this customIs handed down to watchmen nowadays,Who, though they have better learnt to observe time,Yet not one whit more pleasure do they enjoyThan once that silvan race of earth-born men.For what is present, if we have never knownAnything more delightful, gives us pleasureBeyond all else, and seems to be the best;But if some better thing be afterwardsDiscovered, this will often spoil for us allThat pleased us once, and change our feelings towards it.Thus it was acorns came to be disliked:Thus were abandoned those beds of strewn grassAnd heaped leaves: the dress too of wild beast’s skinFell thus into contempt. Yet I supposeThat when it was invented it would rouseSuch envy, that the man who wore it firstWould be waylaid and slain: yet after allIt would be torn to pieces among the thievesAnd with much bloodshed utterly destroyed,So that it never could be turned to use.Therefore skins then, now gold and purple vexMen’s lives with cares and wear them out with war.And here, I think, the greater guilt is ours;For the cold would torment these earth-born menNaked without their skins; but us no harmWhatever can it cause to go withoutA purple robe broidered with large designsIn gold thread, so we have but on our backsA plain plebeian cloak to keep us warm.Therefore mankind is always toiling vainly,Fruitlessly wasting life in empty cares,Doubtless because they will not recogniseThe limits of possession, nor the boundsBeyond which no true pleasure can increase.And so by slow degrees this ignoranceHas carried life out into the deep seas,And from the bottom stirred up war’s huge waves.But those vigilant watchers, sun and moon,That circling round illumine with their lightThe vast revolving temple of the sky,Taught mankind how the seasons of the yearReturn, and how all things are brought to passAccording to fixed system and fixed law.And now men dwelt securely fenced aboutBy strong towers, and the land was portioned outAnd marked off to be tilled. Already nowThe sea was white with flitting sails, and townsWere joined in league of friendship and alliance.Then first poets made record in their songsOf men’s deeds: for not long before this timeLetters had been invented. For which causeOur age cannot look backward to things past,Save where reason reveals some evidence.Shipping and agriculture, city-walls,Laws, arms, roads, robes and other suchlike things,Moreover all life’s prizes and refinements,Poems and pictures, and the chisellingOf fine-wrought statues, every one of theseLong practice and the untiring mind’s experienceTaught men by slow degrees, as they progressedStep after step. Thus time little by littleBrings forth each several thing, and reason lifts itInto the borders of the light; for firstOne thing and then another must in turnRise from obscurity, until each artAttains its highest pitch of excellence.
Afterwards, when they had learnt the use of huts,And skins, and fire; when woman, joined with manIn wedlock, dwelt apart in one abode,And they saw offspring born out of themselves,Then first the human race began to soften.For fire made their chilly bodies nowLess able to endure the cold beneathThe roof of heaven: Venus impaired their strength:And children easily by their blandishmentsBroke down the haughty temper of their parents.Then too neighbours began to join in bondsOf friendship, wishing neither to inflictNor suffer violence: and for womankindAnd children they would claim kind treatment, pleadingWith cries and gestures inarticulatelyThat all men ought to have pity on the weak.And though harmony could not everywhereBe established, yet the most part faithfullyObserved their covenants, or man’s whole raceWould even then have perished, nor till nowCould propagation have preserved their kind.
But it was Nature that constrained their tonguesTo utter various sounds; and need struck outThe names of things, in the same way almostAs impotence of tongue is itself seenTo teach gesture to infants, prompting themTo point at things around them. For all creaturesDivine by instinct how far they can useTheir natural powers. Thus before horns are bornAnd stand out on the forehead of a calf,When he is angry, he butts and charges with it.Then panther cubs and lion whelps will fightWith claws and feet and teeth, even at a timeWhen teeth and claws have hardly yet been formed.Also we see how the whole race of birdsTrusting their wings, will seek a fluttering succourFrom new-fledged pinions. Therefore to supposeThat somebody once apportioned names to things,And that from him men learnt to use words first,Is mere folly. For why should this one manBe able to denote all things by wordsAnd with his tongue form varied sounds, yet othersAt the same time be deemed incapableTo have done the like? Besides, if others tooHad not made use of words among themselves,Whence was the preconception of their usefulnessImplanted in this man, and whence was given himThe primal power to know and comprehendWhat he desired to do? Again, one manCould not subdue by force the wills of manyAnd compel them to learn the names of things.It is no easy labour to convinceDeaf men, and teach them what they ought to do;Since not for long would they endure his voice,Nor suffer unintelligible soundsFruitlessly to be dinned into their ears.Lastly what should there be to wonder atSo much in this, that mankind, when their voiceAnd tongue were in full vigour, should name thingsBy different sounds as different feelings bade them,Since dumb cattle, and even the wild beasts,Are wont to emit distinct and varied sounds,When they feel fear or pain, or when joy moves them.This indeed may be learnt from manifest facts.When the large soft mouths of Molossian dogsBegin to growl, angrily laying bareTheir hard teeth, then far different is the toneIn which they threaten, savagely thus drawn back,From the clear sound which, when they bark outright,Fills the whole neighbourhood. And when they essayIn gentle mood to lick their cubs, or whenThey toss them with their paws, and snapping at themTenderly make as though they would devour themWith half-closed teeth, thus fondling them they yelpWith a quite different sound from their deep bayWhen left alone in houses, or from the whimperWith which crouching they shrink away from blows.Furthermore does not a young stallion’s neighSeem different, when he rages among the maresPierced in his flower of age by winged love’s goads,From when with wide-stretched nostrils he snorts outThe battle signal, or when at other timesPerchance he whinnies trembling in all his limbs?Lastly the race of fowl and varied birds,Hawks and ospreys and gulls that seek their livingIn the salt waters of the ocean waves,Utter at different times quite different criesFrom those they make when they fight over food,Or struggle with their prey. And some will changeTheir harsh notes in accordance with the weather,As do the long-lived tribes of crows, and flocksOf rooks, when they are said to call for rain,Or sometimes to be summoning wind-storms.Since therefore various feelings can compelAnimals, speechless though they be, to utterSuch varying sounds, how much more naturalIs it that in those days men could denoteDissimilar things by many different sounds!
In answer to your silent questioning here,I say it was the lightning first brought fireDown to the earth for men; and from that flameAll other flames have spread. Thus we beholdMany things blaze forth, lit by fire from heaven,When the sky’s stroke has charged them with its heat.Yet when a branching tree, tossed by the wind,Chafing the branches of another tree,Sways to and fro, then fire may be forced outBy violent stress of friction; and at timesHot flames are kindled and flash forth from boughsAnd stems rubbing together. Of these two chancesEither may first have given fire to men.Next the sun taught them to cook food, heatingAnd softening it with flame; since they would noteMany things mellowing about the fieldsSmitten and conquered by his scorching rays.
And more and more each day men who excelledIn subtlety and power of mind, would show themHow by new methods and by using fireTo improve their former means of livelihood.Kings began to found cities and build fortsAs refuges and strongholds for themselves,Dividing cattle and lands, and portioningTo each his share according to his beauty,His strength and intellect; for comelinessWas much esteemed, and strength was paramount.Afterwards property was devised, and goldDiscovered, which with ease robbed both the strongAnd beautiful of their honours: for most men,However brave and beautiful by birth,Follow the fortunes of the richer man.But whosoever by true reason’s ruleGoverns his days, for him plain frugal livingAnd a contented spirit is mighty wealth;For of a little never is there lack.Yet men wished to become renowned and powerful,That so their fortunes on a stable baseMight rest, and they, being wealthy, might have powerTo lead a tranquil life: in vain! For whileThey strove to mount to the highest pitch of honourTheir path was perilous: and even althoughThey have reached the summit, envy will sometimesStrike like a thunderbolt and hurl men downContemptuously to noisome Tartarus:Since highest things, lifted above all else,Are most wont as by lightning to be blastedBy envy; so that quietly to obeyIs better than to crave sovereign powerAnd lordship over realms. Therefore let menSweat drops of blood, wearying themselves in vain,Struggling along ambition’s narrow road;Since from the mouths of others comes their wisdom,And ’tis from hearsay rather than their ownAuthentic feelings, they pursue such aims:Nor does this happen now, nor will it happenHereafter any more than once it did.
Kings therefore being slain, the ancient majestyOf thrones and haughty sceptres was laid low.The glorious symbol of the sovereign head,Trodden bloodstained beneath the people’s feet,Mourned its proud honour lost; for that is greedilyTrampled down which before was too much feared.Thus to the very lees of anarchyThe whole state was reduced, while each man graspedAt lordship and dominion for himself.Then some among them taught how to createMagistrates, and established codes, that allMight learn to obey laws. For now mankind,Utterly wearied of a violent life,Lay languishing by reason of its feuds.Therefore the sooner of its own free willDid it submit to laws and stringent codes.For seeing that each, when anger prompted him,Strove more severely to avenge himselfThan just laws now permit, for this cause menGrew tired of a life of violence.Thenceforward fear of punishment infectsThe enjoyment of life’s prizes: for the netsOf violence and wrong entangle all thoseWho inflict them, and most often they recoilOn such as used them first: nor is it easyFor him to pass a quiet and peaceful life,Whose deeds transgress the bonds of public peace.For though he should elude both gods and men,Yet he must needs mistrust whether his guiltWill remain veiled for ever, since ’tis saidThat many often by talking in their dreams,Or in delirious sickness have betrayedTheir secrets, and revealed long-hidden crimes.Now what may be the cause that has spread wideThe cult of deities over mighty nations,And filled cities with altars, and prescribedThe observance of such sacred rites as nowAt solemn times and places are performed,Whence even now is implanted in men’s mindsReligious awe, that over the whole earthRaises new temples to the gods, and promptsWorshippers to frequent them on feast-days—Why this should be, ’tis easy to explain.For in those early times mortals would seeWith waking mind the glorious imagesOf deities and behold them in their sleepOf size yet more gigantic. To these thenThey would attribute sense, because they seemedTo move their limbs and utter stately speechWorthy of their noble aspect and great powers.Also they deemed eternal life was theirs,Because their images continuallyWould reappear, and their form did not change,But most because they could not well conceiveHow beings who seemed gifted with such powersCould lightly be subdued by any force.And they believed that their felicityMust be beyond compare, since none of themWas ever troubled by the fear of death,Because moreover in sleep they beheld themPerforming without effort many miracles.Again they saw how the orderings of heavenAnd the year’s varying seasons would returnAccording to fixed law, yet could they notDiscover from what causes this took place.Therefore they found a refuge from such doubtsIn handing all things over to the deitiesAnd deeming all to be guided by their nod.The abodes of their divinities they placedIn heaven, because they saw night and the moonProgressing through the sky, moon day and night,The severe constellations of the night,The sky’s night-wandering meteors and gliding fires,Clouds sun and snow, lightning and winds and hail,Thunder’s swift crash and mightily threatening murmurs.
O unhappy race of men, that could assignSuch functions to the deities, and theretoAdd cruel wrath! What groans then for themselvesDid they beget, what wounds for us, what tearsFor our children’s children! ’Tis no pietyTo be seen often with veiled head to turnTowards a stone, visiting every altar,Nor to fall grovelling with outspread palmsProstrate before the temples of the gods,Nor sprinkling altars with much blood of beastsTo add to votive offering votive offering;But this rather is piety, to have powerTo survey all things with a tranquil mind.For when we lift our eyes to the celestialTemples of the great universe, and the aetherStudded with glittering stars, and contemplateThe paths of sun and moon, then in our breasts,Burdened with other evils, this fear tooBegins to lift its reawakened head,Lest perchance it be true that with the godsResides a boundless power, which can moveUpon their various courses the bright stars.For ignorance of cause troubles the mind,So that it doubts whether there ever wasA birth-time and beginning for the world,And likewise whether there shall be an end;How far the world’s walls can endure this strainOf restless motion, or whether by the godsWith eternal stability endowedThey may glide on through endless lapse of time,Defying the strong powers of infinite age.Again whose mind shrinks not with awe of gods,Whose limbs creep not for terror, when beneathThe appalling stroke of thunder the parched earthShudders, and mutterings run through the vast sky?Do not the peoples and the nations quake,And proud kings, stricken with religious dreadSit quailing, lest for any wicked deedOr overweening word, the heavy timeOf reckoning and punishment be ripe?Also when the full violence of a windRaging across the sea, sweeps o’er the wavesThe high commander of a fleet, with allHis powerful legions and his elephants,Does he not supplicate the gods with vowsFor mercy, and with craven prayers entreat themTo lull the storm and grant propitious gales?But all in vain; since often none the less,Seized by the violent hurricane, he is whirledOnto the shoals of death. Thus evermoreSome hidden power treads human grandeur down,And seems to make its sport of the proud rodsAnd cruel axes, crushed beneath its heel.Lastly, when the whole earth rocks under them,And cities tumble with the shock, or standIn doubt, threatening to fall, what wonder is itThat mortal creatures should abase themselves,Assigning vast dominion to the gods,And wondrous powers to govern all below?
Now must be told how copper gold and iron,And weighty silver also, and solid leadWere first discovered when on the great hillsFire had consumed huge forests with its heat,Kindled either by lightning from the sky,Or because men waging some forest warHad carried fire among their enemiesFor terror’s sake; or else because, drawn onBy the soil’s goodness, they would wish to clearFat lands and turn them unto pasturage,Or to kill beasts and grow rich with the spoils.For hunting with the pitfall and with fireCame into use before woods were enclosedWith nets or drawn by dogs. Howe’er that be,From whatsoever cause the heat of flameWith terrible crackling had devoured whole forestsDown to their deepest roots, and throughly bakedThe soil with fire, forth from the burning veinsThere would ooze and collect in cavitiesStreams of silver and gold, of copper too,And lead. When afterwards men found these metalsCooled into masses glittering on the groundWith brilliant colours, they would pick them up,Attracted by their bright smooth loveliness;And they would then observe how each was formedInto a shape similar to the imprintOf the hole where it lay. Next it would strike themThat, melted down by heat, these could be madeTo run into any form and mould they pleased,And further could by hammering be wroughtInto points tapering as sharp and fineAs they might need, so furnishing themselvesWith tools wherewith to cut down woods, hew timberAnd plane planks smooth, to drill and pierce and bore.And this they would attempt with silver and goldNo less than with stout copper’s mighty strength.But in vain, since their yielding force would fail,Being proved less fit to endure toil and strain.In those days copper was more highly esteemed;Gold lay despised as useless with its dullAnd blunted edge: now copper lies neglected,Whereas gold has attained the pitch of honour.Thus Time as it revolves is ever changingThe seasons of things. What was once esteemedBecomes at length of no repute; whereonSome other thing, issuing from contempt,Mounts up and daily is coveted more and more,And, once discovered, blossoms out in praises,Rising to wondrous honour among men.
Now, Memmius, you will easily of yourselfUnderstand in what way were first discoveredThe properties of iron. Man’s earliest weaponsWere hands nails teeth and stones, and boughs torn offFrom forest trees, and flame and fire, as eachBecame known. Afterwards the force of ironAnd copper was discovered. And the useOf copper was known earlier than of iron,Since it was easier to be worked, and foundMore copiously. With copper they would tillThe soil of earth, with copper they stirred upThe waves of war, and dealt wide-gaping wounds,And seized on lands and cattle: for all else,Being naked and unarmed, would yield to thoseWho carried weapons. Then by slow degreesThe sword of iron made progress, while the typeOf the copper sickle came to be despised.With iron they began to cleave the soil,And through its use wavering war’s conflictsWere rendered equal. Earlier was the customOf mounting armed upon a horse’s backAnd guiding it with reins, and dealing blowsWith the right arm, long before men dared temptThe risks of battle in the two-horsed car.And they would learn the art to yoke two steedsEarlier than to yoke four, or to mount armedUpon scythed chariots. Next the Poeni taughtThe uncouth Lucanian kine,[H]with towered backsAnd snake-like hands, to endure the wounds of war,And rout great troops of martial chivalry.Thus miserable discord brought to birthOne thing after another, to appalMankind’s embattled nations, every dayMaking addition to war’s frightfulness.
Also in warfare they made trial of bulls,And sought to drive fierce boars against the foe.And some sent mighty lions in their vanWith armed trainers and savage guardiansTo govern them and hold them in with chains;In vain, for heated with promiscuous carnageThey put to flight whole squadrons in their rageWithout distinction, tossing on every sideTheir terrible crests; nor could the horsemen calmTheir horses, panic-stricken by the roaring,Or turn them by the bridle against their foes.The she-lions would spring fiercely on all sidesRight in the faces of their adversaries,Or from behind seizing them off their guardWould clasp and tear them wounded down to the earth,Gripping them with their strong teeth and hooked claws.The bulls would toss and trample underfootTheir own friends, goring the horses from beneathIn belly and flank, tearing the soil up savagely.Fierce boars would rend their allies with strong tusks.Staining the broken weapons with their blood,And put to rout both horse and foot together.The steeds, to escape from the tusk’s cruel push,Would swerve aside or rearing paw the air,In vain, for with severed tendons they would crashHeavily down to the earth and lie stretched out.Beasts, by the keepers deemed to have been tamedSufficiently at home, they now would seeHeated to madness in the hour of battle,By wounds and shouts, flight panic and uproar.No portion of all the different kinds of beasts,Once scattered in wild flight, could they recall.So often nowadays the Lucanian kine,Gashed cruelly with the steel, will fly dispersed,Inflicting ruinous havoc on their friends.Thus might these men have acted: yet I scarceCan think they were not able to foreseeAnd calculate how horrible a disasterWas certain to befall both sides alike.But men chose to act thus, not in the hopeOf victory so much, as from the wish,Though they themselves perished, to give their foesCause to lament, being desperate through mistrustOf their own numbers, or through lack of arms.
The plaited garment came before the dressOf woven stuff. Weaving comes after iron,Since weaving tools need iron to fashion them.By no means else can such smooth things be madeAs heddles, spindles, shuttles and clattering yarn-beams.Men before womankind did Nature promptTo work wool; for in general the male sexIs by far the more skilful and ingenious:Till the rough peasants chided them so sternlyThat at length they consented to resignSuch lighter tasks into the hands of women,And themselves took their share in heavier toils,Hardening with hard labour limbs and hands.
But Nature, the creatress, herself firstTaught men to sow and prompted them to graft.For berries and acorns dropping from the treesWould put forth in due season underneathSwarms of seedlings: and hence the fancy cameTo insert grafts upon the boughs, and plantYoung saplings in the soil about the fields.Next they would try another and yet anotherMethod of tilling their loved piece of land,And so could watch how kindly fostering cultureHelped the earth to improve its own wild fruits.And they would force the forests day by dayTo retreat higher up the mountain-sidesAnd yield the ground below to husbandry,That so meadows and ponds, rivulets, crops,And glad vineyards might cover hill and plain,While grey-green boundary strips of olive treesMight run between the fields, stretching far outO’er hillock, valley and plain; as now we seeWhole countrysides glowing with varied beauty,Adorned with rows of sweet fruit-bearing trees,And enclosed round about with joyous groves.
But the art of imitating with their mouthsThe liquid notes of birds, came long beforeMen could delight their ears by singing wordsTo smooth tunes; and the whistlings of the zephyrIn hollow reeds first taught the husbandmanTo blow through hollow stalks. Then by degreesThey learnt those sweet sad ditties, which the pipe,Touched by the fingers of the melodist,Pours forth, such as are heard ’mid pathless woods,Forests and glades, or in the lonely hauntsOf shepherds, and the abodes of magic calm.Thus would they soothe and gratify their minds,When satiate with food; for all such thingsGive pleasure then. So often, couched togetherOn the soft grass, beside a waterbrookBeneath a tall tree’s boughs, at no great costThey would regale their bodies joyously,At those times chiefly when the weather smiled,And the year’s seasons painted the green herbageWith flowers. Then went round the jest, the tale,The merry laugh, for then the rustic museWas in full force: then frolick jollityWould prompt them to enwreathe their heads and shouldersWith plaited garlands woven of flowers and leaves,Or dancing out of measure to move their limbsClumsily, and with clumsy foot to beatTheir mother earth; whence smiles and jovial laughterWould rise; since the more novel then and strangeAll such sports seemed, the more they were admired.And they would find a salve for wakefulnessIn giving voice to many varied tonesOf winding melody, running with curved lipOver the reed-pipes: and from them this customIs handed down to watchmen nowadays,Who, though they have better learnt to observe time,Yet not one whit more pleasure do they enjoyThan once that silvan race of earth-born men.For what is present, if we have never knownAnything more delightful, gives us pleasureBeyond all else, and seems to be the best;But if some better thing be afterwardsDiscovered, this will often spoil for us allThat pleased us once, and change our feelings towards it.Thus it was acorns came to be disliked:Thus were abandoned those beds of strewn grassAnd heaped leaves: the dress too of wild beast’s skinFell thus into contempt. Yet I supposeThat when it was invented it would rouseSuch envy, that the man who wore it firstWould be waylaid and slain: yet after allIt would be torn to pieces among the thievesAnd with much bloodshed utterly destroyed,So that it never could be turned to use.Therefore skins then, now gold and purple vexMen’s lives with cares and wear them out with war.And here, I think, the greater guilt is ours;For the cold would torment these earth-born menNaked without their skins; but us no harmWhatever can it cause to go withoutA purple robe broidered with large designsIn gold thread, so we have but on our backsA plain plebeian cloak to keep us warm.Therefore mankind is always toiling vainly,Fruitlessly wasting life in empty cares,Doubtless because they will not recogniseThe limits of possession, nor the boundsBeyond which no true pleasure can increase.And so by slow degrees this ignoranceHas carried life out into the deep seas,And from the bottom stirred up war’s huge waves.
But those vigilant watchers, sun and moon,That circling round illumine with their lightThe vast revolving temple of the sky,Taught mankind how the seasons of the yearReturn, and how all things are brought to passAccording to fixed system and fixed law.
And now men dwelt securely fenced aboutBy strong towers, and the land was portioned outAnd marked off to be tilled. Already nowThe sea was white with flitting sails, and townsWere joined in league of friendship and alliance.Then first poets made record in their songsOf men’s deeds: for not long before this timeLetters had been invented. For which causeOur age cannot look backward to things past,Save where reason reveals some evidence.
Shipping and agriculture, city-walls,Laws, arms, roads, robes and other suchlike things,Moreover all life’s prizes and refinements,Poems and pictures, and the chisellingOf fine-wrought statues, every one of theseLong practice and the untiring mind’s experienceTaught men by slow degrees, as they progressedStep after step. Thus time little by littleBrings forth each several thing, and reason lifts itInto the borders of the light; for firstOne thing and then another must in turnRise from obscurity, until each artAttains its highest pitch of excellence.