Page:The Pharsalia of Lucan; (IA cu31924026485809).pdf/87

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Book III
MASSILIA
63
Left without rival on Hesperian soil,He found no joy in triumph; rather grievedThat thus in safety Magnus' flight was sped.Not any gifts of Fortune now sufficedHis fiery spirit; and no victory won,Unless the war was finished with the stroke.Then arms he laid aside, in guise of peace 60Seeking the people's favour; skilled to knowHow to arouse their ire, and how to gainThe popular love by corn in plenty given.For famine only makes a city free;By gifts of food the tyrant buys a crowdTo cringe before him: but a people starvedIs fearless ever. Curio he bidsCross over to Sicilian cities, whereOr ocean by a sudden rise o'erwhelmedThe land, or split the isthmus right in twain, 70Leaving a path for seas. Unceasing tidesThere labour hugely lest again should meetThe mountains rent asunder. Nor were leftSardinian shores unvisited: each isleIs blest with noble harvests which have filledMore than all else the granaries of Rome,And poured their plenty on Hesperia's shores.Not even Libya, with its fertile soil,Their yield surpasses, when the southern windGives way to northern and permits the clouds 80To drop their moisture on the teeming earth.This ordered, Caesar leads his legions on,Not armed for war, but as in time of peaceReturning to his home. Ah! had he comeWith only Gallia conquered and the North,[1]
  1. ↑ It may be remarked that, in B.C. 46, Cæsar, after the battle of Thapsus,
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