eld the high Capitoline; and the thatch of Romulus' palace stood rough
and fresh. And here the silver goose, fluttering in the gilded
colonnades, cried that the Gauls were there on the threshold. The Gauls
were there among the brushwood, hard on the fortress, secure in the
darkness and the dower of shadowy night. Their clustering locks are of
gold, and of gold their attire; their striped cloaks glitter, and their
milk-white necks are entwined with gold. Two Alpine pikes sparkle in the
hand of each, and long shields guard their bodies. Here he had embossed
the dancing Salii and the naked Luperci, the crests wreathed in wool,
and the sacred shields that fell from heaven; in cushioned cars the
virtuous matrons led on their rites through the city. Far hence he adds
the habitations of hell also, the high gates of Dis and the dooms of
guilt; and thee, O Catiline, clinging on the beetling rock, and
shuddering at the faces of the Furies; and far apart the good, and Cato
delivering them statutes. Amidst it all flows wide the likeness of the
swelling sea, wrought in gold, though the foam surged gray upon blue
water; and round about dolphins, in shining silver, swept the seas with
their tails in circle as they cleft the tide. In the centre were visible
the brazen war-fleets of Actium; thou mightest see all Leucate swarm in
embattled array, and the waves gleam with gold. Here Caesar Augustus,
leading Italy to battle with Fathers and People, with gods of household
and of state, stands on the lofty stern; prosperous flames jet round his
brow, and his [682-715]ancestral star dawns overhead. Elsewhere
Agrippa, with favouring winds and gods, proudly leads on his column; on
his brows glitters the prow-girt naval crown, the haughty emblazonment
of the war. Here Antonius with barbarian aid and motley arms, from the
conquered nations of the Dawn and the shore of the southern sea, carries
with him Egypt and the Eastern forces of utmost Bactra, and the shameful
Egyptian woman goes as his consort. All at once rush on, and the whole
ocean is torn into foam by straining oars and triple-pointed prows. They
steer to sea; one might think that the Cyclades were uptorn and floated
on the main, or that lofty mountains clashed with mountains, so mightily
do their crews urge on the turreted ships. Flaming tow and the winged
steel of darts shower thickly from their hands; the fields of ocean
redden with fresh slaughter. Midmost the Queen calls on her squadr