{"slug":"stoa0110b.stoa004.opp-lat3","id":"latin:ogl-pl:stoa0110b.stoa004.opp-lat3","title":"Satisfactio Ad Guntharium Regem Wandalorum Dum Esset In Vinculis","title_source":"Satisfactio Ad Guntharium Regem Wandalorum Dum Esset In Vinculis","author":"Dracontius Blossius Aemilius","genre":"other","date":"","tradition":"latin","coverage":"not-located","coverage_claim":{"status":"not-located","text":"No English translation could be identified: a language model asked twice could not name one, though it could not rule one out either. That is not proof that none exists — translations in dissertations, recent books and other modern languages are easily missed."},"publication":{"status":"machine-draft","reviewed_by":null,"model":"deepseek/deepseek-v4-flash:floor","provider":"Relace","generated":"2026-11-15T06:27:57Z","cost_usd":0.00601},"source":{"registry_id":"latin:ogl-pl:stoa0110b.stoa004.opp-lat3","work_id":"stoa0110b.stoa004.opp-lat3","edition":"ogl-pl","language":"","license":"Available under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License","url":"https://github.com/OpenGreekAndLatin/patrologia_latina-dev/blob/master/data/stoa0110b/stoa004/stoa0110b.stoa004.opp-lat3.xml"},"stats":{"passages":10,"english_words":2993,"coptic_letters":0,"source_letters":10951,"commentary_units":59,"commentary_kinds":9,"derived_notes":10,"ambiguities":17,"work_notes":5,"external_links":0,"timeline":5},"summary":{"work":"stoa0110b.stoa004.opp-lat3","abstract":"Dracontius' Satisfactio is a formal poetic appeal addressed to the Vandal king Gunthamund from prison, blending legal argument with rhetorical persuasion to seek pardon. Composed in Latin during Dracontius' imprisonment under Gunthamund (likely 484–496 CE), the work survives in a single late Carolingian manuscript, leaving gaps in its original structure. It opens with a theological frame before addressing the earthly ruler, invoking biblical and classical motifs. Rarely cited in medieval canon law, it was rediscovered by 15th-century humanists for its rhetorical style. The edition does not collate the two known manuscript fragments, and no translation or commentary on legal terminology is provided.","historical_context":"Dracontius, a Latin poet and lawyer in Vandal North Africa, composed the Satisfactio while imprisoned under King Gunthamund (r. 484–496), likely for praising the Byzantine emperor Zeno. The Vandal kingdom, Arian Christian, persecuted Nicene Christians during this period. The work reflects a blend of classical rhetorical tradition (e.g., Virgil) and biblical themes (e.g., Exodus), using the rare term 'Asdingui' to reference the Vandal royal house. The sole surviving manuscript is a Carolingian copy, fragmentary and late, suggesting limited medieval circulation. The text was rediscovered by humanists in the 15th century, valued for its style rather than doctrine. The dating relies on internal references to Gunthamund's reign and Dracontius' biography, but the evidence is thin.","significance":"The Satisfactio is a rare example of a formal legal-poetic appeal from a Nicene Christian to an Arian Vandal king, illuminating religious tensions and rhetorical strategies in late antique North Africa. Its blend of classical and biblical motifs, along with the rare term 'Asdingui,' offers insight into Vandal dynastic identity. The work's fragmentary survival and humanist rediscovery highlight the selective transmission of late Latin poetry.","timeline":[{"date":"c. 484–496","event":"Dracontius composes the Satisfactio while imprisoned under Vandal king Gunthamund."},{"date":"5th–6th c.","event":"The poem circulates in Vandal North Africa, likely in Nicene Christian circles."},{"date":"9th c.","event":"A Carolingian scribe copies the manuscript, the sole surviving witness."},{"date":"15th c.","event":"Humanists rediscover the work, valuing its rhetorical style."},{"date":"Modern era","event":"Scholars edit the text from the Carolingian manuscript, noting gaps and variant readings."}],"relations":[{"work":"Aeneid","relation":"Echoes classical epic motifs, e.g., divine anger causing madness (Aeneid 1.4).","key":"","label":null,"url":null},{"work":"Exodus","relation":"Alludes to Pharaoh's hardened heart (Exodus 7:3, 10:1) as a proof-text for divine manipulation.","key":"","label":null,"url":null},{"work":"De Laudibus Dei","relation":"Another work by Dracontius, showing his poetic and theological range.","key":"","label":null,"url":null},{"work":"Vandal Kingdom","relation":"Reflects the political and religious context of Arian Vandal rule in North Africa.","key":"wikipedia:Vandal Kingdom","label":null,"url":null},{"work":"Gunthamund","relation":"Addressed to the Vandal king Gunthamund (r. 484–496), a period of Nicene persecution.","key":"wikipedia:Gunthamund","label":null,"url":null}],"external_links":[],"cautions":["The dating (484–496 CE) is based on internal references and Dracontius' biography, but the evidence is thin and no external confirmation exists.","The sole surviving manuscript is a late Carolingian copy, fragmentary and possibly incomplete; gaps may obscure the original structure.","The edition does not collate the two known manuscript fragments, so variant readings are not fully accounted for.","The work's attribution to Dracontius is generally accepted but not universally certain; some scholars have questioned it."],"model":"deepseek/deepseek-v4-flash:floor","provider":"Relace","cost_usd":0.000514,"generated":"2026-11-15T06:27:57Z"},"links":[{"kind":"source","label":"Open Greek and Latin Patrologia Latina","url":"https://github.com/OpenGreekAndLatin/patrologia_latina-dev/blob/master/data/stoa0110b/stoa004/stoa0110b.stoa004.opp-lat3.xml"}],"checks":{"work":"stoa0110b.stoa004.opp-lat3","status":"pass","blocking":[],"warnings":[],"stats":{"passages":10,"translated":10,"commentary_passages":10,"commentary_units":59,"english_words":2993,"source_letters":10902,"commentary_kinds":9},"model":"deepseek/deepseek-v4-flash:floor"},"work_notes":[{"unit":"sense","kind":"sense","basis":"text","lemma":"","severity":"info","text":"Dracontius addresses the Vandal king Gunthamund from prison, blending legal argument with poetic persuasion to seek pardon. The work is a formal satisfaction (satisfactio), not a personal plea.","cites":[],"named_sources":[],"dropped_cites":["ogl-pl"]},{"unit":"dating","kind":"chronology","basis":"background","lemma":"","severity":"info","text":"Composed during Dracontius’ imprisonment under Gunthamund, likely between 484 and 496 CE. The dating rests on internal references to the king’s reign and Dracontius’ known biography.","cites":[],"named_sources":[],"dropped_cites":["ogl-pl"]},{"unit":"transmission","kind":"transmission","basis":"text","lemma":"","severity":"caution","text":"The sole surviving manuscript tradition is late and fragmentary; the edition relies on a single Carolingian witness. Gaps in the text may obscure Dracontius’ original structure.","cites":[],"named_sources":[],"dropped_cites":["ogl-pl"]},{"unit":"reception","kind":"reception","basis":"background","lemma":"","severity":"info","text":"Rarely cited in medieval canon law or liturgy; the work was rediscovered by humanists in the 15th century and valued for its rhetorical style rather than doctrinal content.","cites":[],"named_sources":[],"dropped_cites":["ogl-pl"]},{"unit":"sense","kind":"sense","basis":"text","lemma":"","severity":"caution","text":"This edition does not collate the two known manuscript fragments; readers must consult the apparatus for variant readings. No translation or commentary on legal terminology is provided.","cites":[],"named_sources":[],"dropped_cites":["ogl-pl"]}],"derived_work_notes":[{"kind":"coverage","severity":"info","text":"No English translation could be identified: a language model asked twice could not name one, though it could not rule one out either. That is not proof that none exists — translations in dissertations, recent books and other modern languages are easily missed."},{"kind":"limit","severity":"caution","text":"The English is a machine draft produced passage by passage from the transcribed Coptic; no human has verified it. The commentary is model-written and cites only keys the pipeline could resolve."},{"kind":"register","severity":"info","text":"Register: other in Latin; the English keeps the liturgical formulae and the vocatives rather than normalising them."},{"kind":"structure","severity":"info","text":"Passages: 10 narrative."},{"kind":"caution","severity":"caution","text":"10 passage(s) are fragmentary in the source; the English bridges each break and says so in the note."},{"kind":"source","severity":"info","text":"Source edition: ogl-pl — Available under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License"}],"derived_structure":{"narrative":10},"term_index":[],"citations":{},"segments":[{"i":1,"ref":"p1","source":"DRACONTII SATISFACTIO AD GUNTHARIUM REGEM VANDALORUM DUM ESSET IN VINCULIS\n\nRex immense Deus, cunctorum conditor, [et spes, Quem timet omne solum, qui regis igne po[lum: Sidera, flamma, dies, quem, Sel, nox, luna fa[tentur Auctorem, dominum saecula cuncta [probant: Principio, seu fine carens, et temporis exspere, Nescius alterni, ncc vice functus agis. maia permutans, nullo mutabilis ævo, Idem semper eris qui es modo, vel fueras. Nil addit, demitque tibi tam longa vetustas: Omnia tempus habent, nam tibi tempus abest. Qui mentes hominm, qua vis, per singula ducis, Et quocunque jubes, dirigis ingenia. Qui facis iratus, homines contraria [ velle, Propitiusque jubes, ut bona cuncta gerant. Qoidquid aguut homines, bona, tristia, pro[spera, prava, Hoc fieri admittunt ira favorque Dei. Hoc tua verba probant Moseo dicta prophetæ, Quod duraturus cor Pharaonis eras. Sic mea corda Deus, nostro peccante reatu Temporis immodici, pellit ad illicita. Ut qui facta ducum possem narrare meo [rum, Nominis Asdingui bella triumphigera, Unde mihi merces posset cum laude salutis Munere regnantis magna venire simul, Præmia despicerem, tacitis tot regibus almis, Et peterem subito certa pericla miscr. Quis, nisi coelesti demens compulsus ab ira, Aspera cuncta petat, prospera cuncta neget? Irascente Dco, mentes mutantur, et artus, Vertuntur sensus, vertitur et species.","english":"The Satisfaction of Dracontius to King Guntharius of the Vandals While He Was in Chains\n\nKing of the immense God, creator of all, and hope, whom every land fears, who rules the fiery pole: the stars, the flame, the day, whom the sun, the night, the moon acknowledge as author, lord, all ages prove: lacking beginning or end, and without experience of time, ignorant of change, nor acting by alternation, you change evils, mutable in no age, you will always be the same as you are now, or as you were. So long a antiquity adds nothing to you nor takes away: all things have time, for time is absent from you. You lead the minds of men, as you will, through each thing, and wherever you command, you direct their talents. When angry, you make men wish contrary things; when propitious, you command that they do all good things. Whatever men do—good, sad, prosperous, evil—this is allowed to happen by the anger or favor of God. Your words spoken to the prophet Moses prove this, that you were to harden the heart of Pharaoh. Thus God drives my heart, with our guilt sinning through excessive time, toward forbidden things. So that I, who could recount the deeds of my leaders, the war-triumph-bearing deeds of the Asdingian name, whence reward could come to me with the praise of safety, a great gift from the ruling king together, I would despise rewards, silent before so many kindly kings, and suddenly seek certain dangers, wretched. Who, unless driven mad by heavenly anger, would seek all harsh things and deny all prosperous things? When God is angry, minds are changed, and limbs, senses are turned, and even appearance is turned.","structure":"narrative","commentary":[{"unit":"structure","kind":"structure","basis":"text","lemma":"Rex immense Deus","severity":"info","text":"The poem opens with an apostrophe to God, not to the king Guntharius, establishing a theological frame before the address to the earthly ruler.","cites":[],"named_sources":[],"dropped_cites":[]},{"unit":"term","kind":"term","basis":"text","lemma":"Asdingui","severity":"info","text":"Asdingui refers to the Asdingian dynasty, the Vandal royal house to which Guntharius belonged; the term is rare and marks the poet's ethnic-political context.","cites":[],"named_sources":[],"dropped_cites":[]},{"unit":"scripture","kind":"scripture","basis":"text","lemma":"Moseo dicta prophetæ","severity":"info","text":"The hardening of Pharaoh's heart alludes to Exodus 7:3 and 10:1, where God strengthens Pharaoh's resolve to increase the plagues, a key proof-text for divine manipulation of human will.","cites":[],"named_sources":[],"dropped_cites":[]},{"unit":"background","kind":"background","basis":"text","lemma":"Guntharium regem Wandalorum","severity":"info","text":"Guntharius (also Gunthamund) was the Vandal king of North Africa (r. 484–496), a period of persecution of Nicene Christians; Dracontius wrote this poem while imprisoned for praising the emperor Zeno.","cites":[],"named_sources":[],"dropped_cites":[]},{"unit":"caution","kind":"caution","basis":"text","lemma":"tacitis tot regibus almis","severity":"caution","text":"The phrase 'silent before so many kindly kings' is ambiguous: it may mean Dracontius ignored past kings' favors, or that he remained silent about them, a possible reference to his refusal to praise Vandal rulers.","cites":[],"named_sources":[],"dropped_cites":[]},{"unit":"parallel","kind":"parallel","basis":"text","lemma":"Quis, nisi coelesti demens compulsus ab ira","severity":"info","text":"The motif of divine anger causing madness and self-destructive behavior echoes classical epic (e.g., Virgil's Aeneid 1.4: 'saevae memorem Iunonis ob iram') and biblical themes of God's wrath.","cites":[],"named_sources":[],"dropped_cites":[]}],"ambiguities":["The addressee of 'Rex immense Deus' is God, not King Guntharius, but the poem's title addresses the king; the shift is deliberate but not explained.","The phrase 'tacitis tot regibus almis' is syntactically ambiguous: 'tacitis' could be dative or ablative, and 'almis' may modify 'regibus' or be adverbial."],"confidence":"high","notes":[{"kind":"lacuna","severity":"caution","text":"The source is fragmentary here: the edition marks a break or an editorial bracket, and the English carries across it. Treat the bridge as supplied, not translated."}]},{"i":2,"ref":"p2","source":"Persarum regem Babylonæ regna tenentem Post decus imperii quis neget esse avem? Et diademalem turparunt cornua frontem, Mugitus pecudis verba fuere duci. Agricolam timuit post Parthica regna bubul[ cum, Submisitque pavens regia colla jugo. Erravit per prata vagus, mala gramina pastus, Et qui homo bos fuerat, de bove factus homo [est. Liquit et antistes verus pater ille Joannis, Elinguisque fuit voce tacente silens. Ast ego peccando regi dominoque, Deoque, Pejor sum factus, deteriorque cane. Vulnera vexati curai sua lingua molossi, Heu! mea quippe mihi vulnera lingua dedit. Sed qui restituit pecudis post membra tyranni, Ut fieret rediens ungula fissa manus, Quique reformavit tacite, modulamina lin [guæ, Ne mutilante sono verba ligata daret, Ipse meo domino Deus imperat, atque jubebit. Ut me restituat, respiciatque pius. Servet, avi ut laudes dicam, patriasque, suas[que. Perque suas proles regia vota canam. Culpa quidem gravis est, venia sed digna rea[tus, Quod sine peccati crimine nemo fuit. Nam Deus omnipotens potuit, dum conderet [orbem, Tristibus amotis gaudia sola dare. Sed diversa creans, et discordantia, junxit Et bona mixta malis, et mala mixta bonis. Sic elementa potens contraria miscuit auctor, Humida cum siccis, ignea cum gelidis. Littera doctiloquax apibus cognata refertur, Queis datur, ut habeant vulnera, castra, fa[vos.","english":"The king of the Persians, holding the realms of Babylon after the glory of empire—who would deny that he was a bird? And a diadem defiled his forehead with horns; the lowing of a beast were the words of the leader. After the Parthian realms, the farmer feared the oxherd, and the royal neck, trembling, submitted to the yoke. He wandered through the fields, a vagrant, feeding on harmful grasses, and he who had been a man-ox, from an ox became a man. That true priest, the father of John, also lost his speech, and was voiceless, silent with a silent tongue. But I, sinning against my king and lord and God, have become worse, and more base than a dog. The wounds of a troubled Molossian are healed by its own tongue; alas, my tongue has given me wounds. But He who restored the tyrant after the limbs of a beast, so that the returning cloven hoof became a hand, and who silently reshaped the modulations of the tongue, lest it give forth words bound with mutilated sound—that same God commands my lord, and will command, that He restore me, and look upon me with mercy. May He preserve me, so that I may sing praises of my grandfather, my father, and Himself. And through His offspring, may I sing the royal vows. The fault is indeed grave, but the guilt is worthy of pardon, since no one has been without the crime of sin. For almighty God could, when He founded the world, have given only joys, with sorrows removed. But creating diverse and discordant things, He joined them, mixing good with evils and evils with goods. Thus the powerful author mixed contrary elements: moist with dry, fiery with cold. The letter, learnedly eloquent, is said to be akin to bees, to which it is given that they have wounds, camps, and honeycombs.","structure":"narrative","commentary":[{"unit":"background","kind":"background","basis":"text","lemma":"Persarum regem Babylonæ regna tenentem","severity":"info","text":"The reference is to Nebuchadnezzar II, who according to Daniel 4 was punished with madness and beast-like behavior, later restored. Dracontius uses this as a type of royal humiliation and restoration.","cites":[],"named_sources":[],"dropped_cites":[]},{"unit":"scripture","kind":"scripture","basis":"text","lemma":"antistes verus pater ille Joannis","severity":"info","text":"This refers to Zechariah, father of John the Baptist, who was struck mute (Luke 1:20-22). Dracontius pairs this with Nebuchadnezzar as examples of divinely imposed silence later reversed.","cites":[],"named_sources":[],"dropped_cites":[]},{"unit":"term","kind":"term","basis":"text","lemma":"molossi","severity":"info","text":"Molossian hounds were a breed from Epirus, known for their fierce loyalty and healing of wounds by licking. Dracontius contrasts their self-healing tongue with his own self-wounding speech.","cites":[],"named_sources":[],"dropped_cites":[]},{"unit":"structure","kind":"structure","basis":"text","lemma":"Sed qui restituit ... ipse meo domino Deus imperat","severity":"info","text":"The passage shifts from exempla of divine restoration (Nebuchadnezzar, Zechariah) to a direct prayer that the same God who restored them will now command Dracontius' earthly lord to show mercy.","cites":[],"named_sources":[],"dropped_cites":[]},{"unit":"background","kind":"background","basis":"text","lemma":"littera doctiloquax apibus cognata","severity":"info","text":"The bee was a classical symbol of eloquence and industry; the 'letter' (writing) is said to be akin to bees because both produce honey (sweetness) and have stings (wounds). The 'camps' (castra) may allude to the hexagonal cells of the hive.","cites":[],"named_sources":[],"dropped_cites":[]},{"unit":"caution","kind":"caution","basis":"text","lemma":"bubul[ cum","severity":"caution","text":"The Latin text has a lacuna: 'bubul[ cum' is likely 'bubulcum' (oxherd). The sense is that the farmer feared the oxherd after Nebuchadnezzar's restoration, but the exact reading is uncertain.","cites":[],"named_sources":[],"dropped_cites":[]}],"ambiguities":["The identity of the 'king of the Persians' is ambiguous: it could be Nebuchadnezzar (as in Daniel) or a conflation with other Near Eastern rulers. The 'tyrant' restored from beast form is clearly Nebuchadnezzar.","The phrase 'perque suas proles regia vota canam' is ambiguous: 'suas proles' could refer to God's offspring (i.e., the king's children) or to the king's own progeny."],"confidence":"high","notes":[{"kind":"lacuna","severity":"caution","text":"The source is fragmentary here: the edition marks a break or an editorial bracket, and the English carries across it. Treat the bridge as supplied, not translated."}]},{"i":3,"ref":"p3","source":"Cera dat ingenium pueris, primordia sensus, Inde fit, ut prosit littera, vel noceat: Aspis habet mortes, habet et medicamina ser[pens, Vipera sæpe juvat, vipera sæpe nocet. Cerva salutares paslo serpente medullas Conficit, ct pellunt ipsa venena neces. Materies ferri simplex, et noxia fertur, Impins inde nocet, rusticus inde placet. Ipsa parit gemmas pretiosos terra lapillos, Ipsa dat et vepres, spinea ligna, rosas. Delicias, mortesque parat mare fluctibus altum, Et gcnerat pelagi conchula divitias. Aera temperies auris vitalibus aptat, Quæ corrupta dies eripit, atque animas. Aspera, vel facilis retinet natura volucres, Blanda columba avis est, aspera vultur avis. Nubibus aggestis pluviæ, nix, grando, [pruina Gignuntur vicibus, igne, vapore, gelu. Sol dat temperies, species gratissima mundi, Cuncta creanda parans, cuncta creata for vens. Per quem fetat humus flores, et messis ari[stas, Sole perustus ager putris arena jacet. Corpora sol reficit radiis et corpora ve[xat, Solibus alternis itque, reditque salus. Omnia nec mala sunt, nec sunt bona side a [cœli, Lucifer hnc docuit, Sirint hoc monuit. Temperies coeli medium nec possidet orbem, Nam de quinque plagis vix habet ipsa duas. Quod coelum, quod terra, fretum, quod purior [aer Non meruere simul, hoc homo quando In[beat? Culpa mihi fuerat dominos reticere modestos, Ignotumque mihi scriberc, nec domi[num.","english":"Wax gives talent to boys, the beginnings of perception; hence it happens that writing may help or harm. The asp has deaths, and the serpent has remedies; the viper often helps, the viper often harms. The hind prepares healthful marrow from the serpent it feeds on, and the poisons themselves drive away death. The simple material of iron is said to be both harmless and harmful; the polished sword harms, the rustic plow pleases. The earth itself produces precious gems and stones; it also gives thorns, thorny wood, and roses. The deep sea prepares delights and deaths with its waves, and generates the shell’s riches of the sea. The air tempers the vital breezes, which, when corrupted, the day snatches away, along with souls. Harsh or gentle nature holds birds; the dove is a gentle bird, the vulture a harsh bird. From gathered clouds, rain, snow, hail, and frost are born in turns, by fire, vapor, and cold. The sun gives temperance, the most pleasing form of the world, preparing all things to be created, fostering all things created. Through it the ground bears flowers and the harvest’s ears; the field scorched by the sun lies as crumbling sand. The sun restores bodies with its rays and vexes bodies; by alternating suns health comes and goes. All things are neither evil nor good solely from the sky; Lucifer taught this, Sirius warned this. The temperate zone of the sky does not hold the middle of the world, for of the five zones it scarcely has two itself. What the sky, what the earth, what the sea, what the purer air could not merit together—when does a man possess this? My fault was to keep silent about modest lords, and to write about an unknown, not about my lord.","structure":"narrative","commentary":[{"unit":"structure","kind":"structure","basis":"text","lemma":"","severity":"info","text":"This passage is a series of exempla from nature (animals, minerals, weather) illustrating that all things can be both beneficial and harmful, building toward a moral conclusion about human judgment.","cites":[],"named_sources":[],"dropped_cites":[]},{"unit":"background","kind":"background","basis":"text","lemma":"","severity":"info","text":"The reference to the five zones of the sky (quinque plagis) reflects classical and late antique geography, dividing the earth into torrid, temperate, and frigid zones, a concept found in works like Macrobius' Commentary on the Dream of Scipio.","cites":[],"named_sources":[],"dropped_cites":[]},{"unit":"parallel","kind":"parallel","basis":"text","lemma":"","severity":"info","text":"The idea that the same thing can be both helpful and harmful (e.g., viper, iron, sun) echoes a common theme in Latin moral poetry, such as Ovid's Remedia Amoris and the Disticha Catonis.","cites":[],"named_sources":[],"dropped_cites":[]},{"unit":"reception","kind":"reception","basis":"text","lemma":"","severity":"info","text":"Dracontius' use of natural paradoxes to argue for nuanced moral judgment anticipates similar rhetorical strategies in later Christian poets like Prudentius and Boethius.","cites":[],"named_sources":[],"dropped_cites":[]},{"unit":"sense","kind":"sense","basis":"text","lemma":"","severity":"info","text":"The final lines shift from natural examples to a personal apology: the poet admits fault in praising an unknown lord instead of his own modest patrons, a key autobiographical note in this work.","cites":[],"named_sources":[],"dropped_cites":[]}],"ambiguities":["The Latin text has some textual cruces (e.g., 'paslo' may be a corruption of 'pasto' or 'pasto' meaning 'fed on'; 'Serpens' is split across lines; 'Impins' is likely a misreading for 'ensis' or 'gladius'). The reading adopted follows the standard edition."],"confidence":"high","notes":[{"kind":"lacuna","severity":"caution","text":"The source is fragmentary here: the edition marks a break or an editorial bracket, and the English carries across it. Treat the bridge as supplied, not translated."}]},{"i":4,"ref":"p4","source":"Qualis et ingratos sequitur, qui mente profana, Cum Dominum norint, idola vana colunt. Israelitarum populum sic culpa tenebat, Quando Deum oblitus flans vitulum coluit. Et tamen indulges veniam poscentibus, auctor, Si secleris facti mens rea poeniteat. Te precor, Omnipotens, te, quem decet esse [ benignum, Quem non ulla juvat ultio, sed venia, Cujus sancta manus sustentat corda re[gentum, Et pius inclinas mox, ubicunque jubes. Te coram primum me carminis illius, ausu Quod male disposui, pœnitet, et fateor. Post te, summe Deus, regi dominoque rens [sum, Cujus ab imperio posco gemens veniam. Imperet armato pietas tua, prospera mandet Rex dominusque meus, semper ubique pius. Nec mibi dissimilis, quam quod solet esse ca[terv. Sit pietate tua, sit bonus, et placidus. Nam tua sunt, quaecunque gerit, quæcunque ju[bebit, Judiciumquc Dei regia verba ferunt. Exorent hæc pauca Deum, qui mentis opertae Sensibus ætheriis condita vota videl. Ad te nunc, princeps, mea vela retorqueo sup[plex, Pectore, mente rogans, voce, manuque pe[tens. Da dextram misero, veniam concede precanti, Tempore tam longo non decet ira pium. Namque in micorum culpis veniale minaris, Captivosque tuos deliciis epulas. Puniat, ut sit, quod Christus, tu paicis ini quis, Vindice quo regnas, quo vigilante, viges. Qui pereunt bello, soli moriuntur ut hostes, Qui superest pugnæ, viva' ut ipse, jub s.","english":"Just as it follows the ungrateful, who with profane mind, although they know the Lord, worship empty idols. Thus guilt held the people of Israel, when, forgetting God, it worshipped a calf. And yet you grant pardon to those who ask, O Author, if the mind guilty of the deed repents. I beseech you, Almighty, you whom it befits to be kind, whom no vengeance pleases, but pardon, whose holy hand sustains the hearts of rulers, and you piously incline, wherever you command. Before you first I repent of that poem, which I wickedly set forth in my audacity, and I confess. After you, highest God, to the king and lord I am bound, from whose command I, groaning, seek pardon. May your piety command the armed one, may my king and lord, always and everywhere pious, decree prosperity. Nor may he be unlike me, than what the crowd is wont to be. May he be good and placid through your piety. For whatever he does, whatever he will command, are yours, and the judgment of God is borne by the royal words. May these few words entreat God, who sees the hidden vows of the mind in ethereal senses. To you now, prince, I, suppliant, turn back my sails, begging with heart, mind, voice, and hand. Give your right hand to a wretch, grant pardon to a suppliant; in such a long time, anger does not befit a pious man. For among friends you threaten pardonable faults, and you feast your captives with delicacies. Let him punish, so that it may be what Christ is; you spare the guilty, by whose avenger you reign, by whose watchfulness you thrive. Those who perish in war die alone as enemies; he who survives the battle lives as you yourself command.","structure":"narrative","commentary":[{"unit":"structure","kind":"structure","basis":"text","lemma":"Te coram primum me carminis illius, ausu / Quod male disposui, pœnitet, et fateor","severity":"info","text":"The poet shifts from general exempla to a personal confession, marking a structural pivot from doctrinal narrative to autobiographical plea.","cites":[],"named_sources":[],"dropped_cites":[]},{"unit":"scripture","kind":"scripture","basis":"text","lemma":"Israelitarum populum sic culpa tenebat, / Quando Deum oblitus flans vitulum coluit","severity":"info","text":"Alludes to the golden calf episode (Exodus 32), a biblical type of idolatry and divine forgiveness, reinforcing the theme of repentance.","cites":[],"named_sources":[],"dropped_cites":[]},{"unit":"term","kind":"term","basis":"text","lemma":"auctor","severity":"info","text":"Here 'auctor' addresses God as the originator of mercy, blending poetic and theological language; Dracontius uses it to invoke divine authority for pardon.","cites":[],"named_sources":[],"dropped_cites":[]},{"unit":"background","kind":"background","basis":"text","lemma":"Te coram primum me carminis illius, ausu / Quod male disposui","severity":"info","text":"Dracontius refers to a prior poem that caused his imprisonment; this self-criticism is a key biographical clue in his Satisfactio, written while in chains.","cites":[],"named_sources":[],"dropped_cites":[]},{"unit":"parallel","kind":"parallel","basis":"text","lemma":"Da dextram misero, veniam concede precanti","severity":"info","text":"The plea for the right hand echoes Roman gestures of clemency (e.g., Seneca, De Clementia) and Christian supplication, blending classical and biblical motifs.","cites":[],"named_sources":[],"dropped_cites":[]},{"unit":"caution","kind":"caution","basis":"text","lemma":"Qui superest pugnæ, viva' ut ipse, jub s.","severity":"caution","text":"The line is corrupt in the manuscript; 'viva' ut ipse, jub s.' likely requires emendation, possibly to 'vivit ut ipse iubet' or similar, affecting the sense of survival under royal command.","cites":[],"named_sources":[],"dropped_cites":[]}],"ambiguities":["The identity of the 'king and lord' (regi dominoque) is ambiguous: likely Guntharius, the Vandal king, but the phrasing also allows a divine reference.","The phrase 'viva' ut ipse, jub s.' is textually corrupt; the intended reading is uncertain."],"confidence":"high","notes":[{"kind":"lacuna","severity":"caution","text":"The source is fragmentary here: the edition marks a break or an editorial bracket, and the English carries across it. Treat the bridge as supplied, not translated."}]},{"i":5,"ref":"p5","source":"Captivus securus agit, solusque rebellis Formidat mortem, præda quieta te[ det. Conservas animas, victum super ipse ministras, Ne sit vita gravis, subripiente fame. Nemo cadet sub jure tuo, sub morte cruenta, Scit se victurum qui volel esse tuus. Turba rebellantum quoties duravit in armis. Vinceret, aut certe præda fuisset iners. Securus sine morte manus dat hostibus hostis. Nam bene conservas colla subacta jugo. Sic leo terribile fremit horridus ore cruento, Unguibus excussis, dente minante neces: Aerius iratus crispato lumine ferri, Et mora si fuerit, acrius inde furit. At si venator trepidans venabula ponat, Territus et jaceat, mox perit ira cadens. Temnit prædo cibos, quos non facit ipse cada[ver, Ac ferus ignoscit, ceu satis accipiat. Et dat prostrato veniam sine vulnere victo, Ore verecundo dejiciens oculos. Sic tua, regnator, non impia frangitur ira, Cum confessas erit crimina gesta reMa. Ignoscendo pius nobis imitare Tonantem, Qui indulget culpis. el voniam tribuit. Principis imperium simile est, ac regna polo[rum, Ut canit ad populos pagina sancta Dei: Sacrilegis referens cœlestia jura catervis, Cinctus apostolica discipulante manu. Nonne Dei præcepta jubent, ne sol cadat intrans, Irascente alio, sed pius exstet homo? Rex inimicorum populis mucrone pepercit David, et hic sceleris certus adulter inest.","english":"A captive lives without fear, and only the rebel Dreads death, a quiet prey you protect. You preserve their lives, you yourself provide food for the conquered, Lest life become burdensome, with hunger stealing away. No one will fall under your authority, under a bloody death; He knows he will live who wishes to be yours. Whenever a crowd of rebels persisted in arms, It would either conquer or certainly be an inert prey. Without fear of death, an enemy gives himself up to an enemy. For you well preserve necks subdued under the yoke. Thus the terrible lion roars with a bloody mouth, With claws unsheathed, with teeth threatening death: Angry, with a flashing glance like iron, And if there is delay, it rages all the more fiercely. But if the trembling hunter lays down his spears, Terrified and prostrate, soon the anger dies away. The beast scorns food which it did not itself make a corpse, And the wild one forgives, as if receiving enough. And it grants pardon to the fallen, to the conquered without a wound, Lowering its eyes with a shamefaced mouth. Thus your anger, O ruler, is broken without impiety, When the crimes committed are confessed. In forgiving, pious one, imitate for us the Thunderer, Who pardons faults and grants forgiveness. The rule of a prince is like the kingdoms of the heavens, As the holy page of God proclaims to the peoples: Telling the laws of heaven to sacrilegious throngs, Surrounded by the apostolic, discipling hand. Do not the commands of God order that the sun not set while entering, With another raging, but that a man be merciful? King David spared the peoples of his enemies with the sword, and this adulterer is certain of his crime.","structure":"narrative","commentary":[{"unit":"structure","kind":"structure","basis":"text","lemma":"Captivus securus agit","severity":"info","text":"The passage shifts from direct address to a series of analogies: the captive, the lion, and the ruler. Each illustrates the paradox of power through clemency.","cites":[],"named_sources":[],"dropped_cites":[]},{"unit":"parallel","kind":"parallel","basis":"text","lemma":"Sic leo terribile fremit","severity":"info","text":"The lion simile (lines 13–20) echoes classical and biblical topoi of the tamed beast, e.g., Seneca, De Clementia 1.5, and the lion of Androcles. Dracontius adapts it to Christian kingship.","cites":[],"named_sources":[],"dropped_cites":[]},{"unit":"scripture","kind":"scripture","basis":"text","lemma":"Nonne Dei praecepta jubent, ne sol cadat intrans","severity":"info","text":"The phrase 'ne sol cadat intrans' likely alludes to Ephesians 4:26 ('sol non occidat super iracundiam vestram'), a patristic commonplace against letting anger last until sunset.","cites":[],"named_sources":[],"dropped_cites":[]},{"unit":"scripture","kind":"scripture","basis":"text","lemma":"Rex inimicorum populis mucrone pepercit David","severity":"info","text":"David's clemency toward enemies (2 Samuel 8–10) is a biblical exemplum of royal mercy, here contrasted with his adultery (2 Samuel 11). Dracontius uses it to urge Gunthamund to imitate David's forgiveness.","cites":[],"named_sources":[],"dropped_cites":[]},{"unit":"background","kind":"background","basis":"text","lemma":"Cinctus apostolica discipulante manu","severity":"info","text":"This phrase likely refers to the apostolic authority of the Church, possibly alluding to the bishop or to the disciplina apostolorum, a common Vandal-era trope for ecclesiastical governance.","cites":[],"named_sources":[],"dropped_cites":[]},{"unit":"caution","kind":"caution","basis":"text","lemma":"et hic sceleris certus adulter inest","severity":"caution","text":"The final line is textually uncertain: 'adulter inest' may be corrupt. The sense seems to contrast David's mercy with his sin, but the grammar is strained. The English draft reads 'this adulterer is certain of his crime,' which may misrepresent the Latin.","cites":[],"named_sources":[],"dropped_cites":[]}],"ambiguities":["The phrase 'sol cadat intrans' is ambiguous: it may mean 'the sun sets while entering' (a house?) or be a corruption of a biblical idiom. The reading taken follows the patristic echo of Ephesians 4:26.","The final clause 'et hic sceleris certus adulter inest' is syntactically unclear; 'inest' may be a verb or a noun. The translation assumes 'adulter' is nominative and 'inest' means 'is present,' but the sense remains obscure."],"confidence":"medium","notes":[{"kind":"lacuna","severity":"caution","text":"The source is fragmentary here: the edition marks a break or an editorial bracket, and the English carries across it. Treat the bridge as supplied, not translated."}]},{"i":6,"ref":"p6","source":"Confessus facinus, veniam pio clade meretur, Noxius impune, vel sine morte rens. Insuper et Salomon eadem muliere creatus, Quæ scelus admisit, munus honoris a. Non fit Abessalon hæres de conjuge natus, Sed sceleris Tructus sceptra paterna tenet. Ecce, quid impendit patris clemenCia parcens, Ut sibi regna daret♦ ut daret et soboli. Ipse inimicorum Salomon non colla poposit, Dum peteret Dominum, sed sapientis opem. Exstitit hic prudens, quia noluit esse cruentus, Pacificusque fuit, consiliique tenax. Stephanus, ante alios lapidum sub grandinc [martyr, Hostibus orabat sponte suis veniam. Hæc bona simplicitas prestat jejuna cruoris, Vir sine morte furens nil habet ipse necis. Caesar ubique potens hosti post bella pepercit, Et quod erat pejus, civis et hostis erat. Sponte cnlatem redhibens reparavit honores Inde vocatus abit dignus honore Dei. Cujus ab imperio surgens et origine Caesar Augustus merult tempus habere pium. Tempore namque eodem est natus de virgine [Cbristus, Cujus et emicuit stella per astra poli. Dux princeps Romanus erat de principe Titus, Si non præstaret, dicere saepe solens: Perdidimus hac luce diem. si nulla dedisset Non exoratus præstita supplicibus. Alter at princeps modico sermone probatus Commodus Augustus, vir pietate bonus: Nob te præceptum, rectores, discite, post me, Sit bonus in vita, qui volet esse deus.","english":"A confessed crime deserves pardon from a pious disaster; the guilty one goes unpunished, or the accused without death. Moreover, Solomon, born of the same woman who committed the crime, received a gift of honor. Absalom, born of a wife, does not become heir, but the fruit of the crime holds the paternal scepter. Behold, what the sparing clemency of the father bestows, to give him kingdoms, to give them also to his offspring. Solomon himself did not demand the necks of his enemies, while he sought the Lord, but the help of the wise. This man was prudent because he did not wish to be bloodthirsty, and he was peaceable, tenacious of counsel. Stephen, a martyr before others under a hailstorm of stones, prayed willingly for forgiveness for his enemies. This good simplicity, fasting from blood, provides; a man raging without death has nothing of slaughter itself. Caesar, powerful everywhere, spared the enemy after war, and what was worse, he was both citizen and enemy. Freely restoring kindness, he repaired honors; hence he departed, called worthy of the honor of God. From whose rising empire and origin, Caesar Augustus deserved to have a pious time. For at that same time, Christ was born of a virgin, whose star shone through the stars of the sky. The Roman leader and prince was Titus, a prince; if he did not grant it, he often used to say: \"We have lost this day of light,\" if he had given nothing to the suppliants without being entreated. Another prince, approved by a modest saying, Commodus Augustus, a man good in piety: \"Learn, rulers, this precept after me: let him be good in life who wishes to be a god.","structure":"narrative","commentary":[{"unit":"background","kind":"background","basis":"text","lemma":"Salomon","severity":"info","text":"The reference to Solomon and Absalom draws on 2 Samuel 13–18 and 1 Kings 1–2, where David’s clemency toward his sons contrasts with Absalom’s rebellion. Dracontius adapts this to argue for mercy toward rebels.","cites":[],"named_sources":[],"dropped_cites":[]},{"unit":"scripture","kind":"scripture","basis":"text","lemma":"Stephanus","severity":"info","text":"Stephen’s prayer for his persecutors (Acts 7:59–60) is cited as a model of non-violent forgiveness. Dracontius uses it to support his argument for clemency.","cites":[],"named_sources":[],"dropped_cites":[]},{"unit":"background","kind":"background","basis":"text","lemma":"Caesar","severity":"info","text":"The reference to Caesar (likely Julius Caesar) sparing enemies after civil war echoes historical accounts of his clemency, e.g., during the Civil War (49–45 BCE). Dracontius uses this as a pagan parallel to Christian mercy.","cites":[],"named_sources":[],"dropped_cites":[]},{"unit":"dating","kind":"chronology","basis":"text","lemma":"Caesar Augustus","severity":"info","text":"Dracontius connects Augustus’s reign to the birth of Christ, aligning with Christian tradition that the Pax Romana under Augustus coincided with the Incarnation (cf. Luke 2:1). This is a common apologetic trope.","cites":[],"named_sources":[],"dropped_cites":[]},{"unit":"background","kind":"background","basis":"text","lemma":"Titus","severity":"info","text":"The anecdote about Titus (Roman emperor 79–81 CE) regretting a day without granting a favor is recorded in Suetonius (Titus 8) and other sources. Dracontius uses it to exemplify imperial clemency.","cites":[],"named_sources":[],"dropped_cites":[]},{"unit":"caution","kind":"caution","basis":"text","lemma":"Commodus Augustus","severity":"caution","text":"Commodus (emperor 180–192 CE) is here praised for piety, but historical accounts (e.g., Cassius Dio) depict him as tyrannical and self-deifying. Dracontius may be using a source that whitewashes his reign, or the passage is ironic.","cites":[],"named_sources":[],"dropped_cites":[]}],"ambiguities":["The Latin 'pio clade' (pious disaster) is ambiguous: it may mean a disaster that is pious (i.e., divinely sanctioned) or a disaster that inspires piety. The translation 'pious disaster' is retained.","The phrase 'Tructus' in line 6 is likely a scribal error for 'fructus' (fruit), as the sense requires 'fruit of the crime'."],"confidence":"high","notes":[{"kind":"lacuna","severity":"caution","text":"The source is fragmentary here: the edition marks a break or an editorial bracket, and the English carries across it. Treat the bridge as supplied, not translated."}]},{"i":7,"ref":"p7","source":"Ecce, quid impendit bomini clementis [simplex, Ut præstet bona dans conferat atque animæ. Ne Iacias populum mendacem, qui libi clamat Vocibus innumeris, Rex dominusque pius. Ut vox vera sonet lorinus, sic vera pius sit: Orbis in ore volat publica merx procerum. Fama ducum merx est bellis collecta cruentis, Ex quibus occurrit sæpe a us atrox. Gloria bellorum ducibus, populisque; triumphos In commune datos dividit Ann potens. Nam ducibus solis præstat clementia laudem, Non habet hæc comitem, participemque negat Dicit, In arma pares fuimus cum principe, miles: Me pugnante, comes, victor ab hoste redis. Nunquid ut gnoscat rector, pars niHilis instat? Soli, qui ignoscit, gloria laudis erit. Qui fovet adversus hostes certamina Martis Horrida concurrens, vincit in arma fr mens. Rex, qui dat veniam subjecto, et temperat iras, Plus quam torba, facit, qui sua corda domat. Te Deus aspiciens effundere nolle cruorem, Ut sine peccato, non sine laude daret, Contulit absenti terræ, pelagique triumphos: Ansila testatur, Maurus ubique jacet. Quod pereunt hostes. regis fortuna vocatur, Quod pereunt populi, temporis ordo regit. Nam si debilitas faceret discurrerc mor[tes, Non caderent pueri, aut feinina sexus iuers. Omnia tempus agit, cum tempore cuncta tra[huntur, Tempora eunt vitæ, tempora mortis eunt. Sex sunt aetates hominum procul usque sene[ctam, Hæ distincta tenent tempora quæque sua.","english":"Behold, what mercy bestows upon a man [simple], that it may grant good things and confer them upon the soul. Do not cast aside a truthful people, who cry out to you with countless voices, O pious king and lord. That the true voice may sound like a horn, so may the pious one be true: the public reputation of nobles flies upon the lips of the world. The reputation of leaders is the merchandise gathered from bloody wars, from which a harsh outcome often arises. The glory of wars belongs to leaders and to peoples; powerful Anna divides triumphs given in common. For clemency bestows praise upon leaders alone; it has no companion, and denies a partner. The soldier says, \"We were equal in arms with the prince: while I fought, you, comrade, return a victor from the enemy.\" Does the ruler not recognize what part of the people is pressing? Only he who forgives will have the glory of praise. He who fosters the dreadful contests of Mars against enemies, rushing together, conquers in arms, raging. A king who grants pardon to a subject and tempers his anger does more than a crowd, he who tames his own heart. God, looking upon you, unwilling to shed blood, that he might grant without sin, not without praise, bestowed triumphs of land and sea upon you while absent: Spain bears witness, the Moor lies everywhere. That enemies perish is called the fortune of the king; that peoples perish, the order of time governs. For if weakness caused deaths to run their course, boys or the weaker sex would not fall. Time does all things; all things are drawn along with time; the times of life go, the times of death go. There are six ages of men, far into old age; these hold distinct times, each its own.","structure":"narrative","commentary":[{"unit":"sense","kind":"sense","basis":"text","lemma":"Ecce, quid impendit bomini clementis [simplex]","severity":"info","text":"The Latin text is corrupt: 'bomini' likely stands for 'homini', and '[simplex]' is a scribal or editorial insertion. The sense is that clemency bestows benefits on a man and his soul.","cites":[],"named_sources":[],"dropped_cites":[]},{"unit":"term","kind":"term","basis":"text","lemma":"lorinus","severity":"info","text":"'Lorinus' is a hapax legomenon, likely a variant of 'lituus' (a curved trumpet) or a corruption of 'tuba' (horn). The context contrasts true voice with a horn's sound, suggesting a martial or heraldic metaphor.","cites":[],"named_sources":[],"dropped_cites":[]},{"unit":"background","kind":"background","basis":"text","lemma":"Ann potens","severity":"info","text":"'Ann potens' is likely a corruption of 'annona potens' (powerful grain supply) or a proper name. The reference to dividing triumphs may allude to the Roman goddess Annona, associated with abundance, or to a historical figure distributing spoils.","cites":[],"named_sources":[],"dropped_cites":[]},{"unit":"scripture","kind":"scripture","basis":"text","lemma":"Te Deus aspiciens effundere nolle cruorem","severity":"info","text":"The phrase echoes biblical themes of divine mercy and reluctance to shed blood, reminiscent of Psalm 51:14 (Vulgate) or the concept of a king sparing subjects, as in 1 Samuel 24.","cites":[],"named_sources":[],"dropped_cites":[]},{"unit":"structure","kind":"structure","basis":"text","lemma":"Sex sunt aetates hominum","severity":"info","text":"The reference to six ages of man is a classical and patristic topos, found in Varro, Augustine (De Genesi ad litteram), and Isidore of Seville. It structures the passage's reflection on mortality and time.","cites":[],"named_sources":[],"dropped_cites":[]},{"unit":"caution","kind":"caution","basis":"text","lemma":"Ansila testatur, Maurus ubique jacet","severity":"caution","text":"'Ansila' is obscure; it may be a place name (perhaps a corruption of 'Hispania' or 'Ansa') or a personal name. The line claims Spain and Moors as witnesses to the king's triumphs, but the text's corruption makes the geography uncertain.","cites":[],"named_sources":[],"dropped_cites":[]}],"ambiguities":["The text contains several corruptions: 'bomini' for 'homini', '[simplex]' as an insertion, 'lorinus' as a hapax, 'Ann potens' as a likely corruption, and 'Ansila' as an unclear toponym. The sense of the passage is generally about clemency and divine favor, but specific details are uncertain."],"confidence":"medium","notes":[{"kind":"lacuna","severity":"caution","text":"The source is fragmentary here: the edition marks a break or an editorial bracket, and the English carries across it. Treat the bridge as supplied, not translated."}]},{"i":8,"ref":"p8","source":"Nunquid adultorum strepituI infantia simplex Vindicat, aut fremitus pigra senectus [habet? Non catulaster agit puerilia, non puer audet Attrectare tener Martia tela manu. Non furit in venerem nondum pubentibus annis, Nec sub flore genæ marcidus est ju[venis. Maturus tractat, gemit et tremebunda senectus, Nescia fervoris, vel levitatis inop s. Nunquid mox natas segetes viror armat aristis, Florihus aut genitis fructus inest subito? Novimus astra poli confectos perdere cursus, Transactasque simul sic repetisse vias. Tempore luna suo crescit vel deficit orbe, Cujus ad ætatem plurima lege notant. Nam, luna crescente, fretum crementa [resumit, Qua nuente polis, est minor unda maris. Cynthia dum crescit, fontes et flumina crescunt, Hæc eadem minuunt, Cynthia dum minuit. Ipsa medulla latens observat cornua luna, Observant lunæ tecta cerebra globos. Snl, « culus cœli, radians fuscatur ab umbra, Et tamen ad solitas iique reditque plagas. Ac recipit facies priscas, lucesque resumit: Damna, vel augmentum daut elementa, te[runL Atterant clementa vices et tempora mu[tant, Tempus habent noctes, tempus et ipse dies. Accipiunt augmenta dies, noctesque vicissim, Amittunt cursus per pete lege poli. Tempora sunt florum, retinet sua tempora [messis, Tempus et autumnum, tempus habet hiemes. Ver, æstas, autumnus, hiems, redit an[nus in annum, Quatuor alternant tempora temporibus.","english":"Does the simple cry of infancy claim the noise of adults, or does sluggish old age have a roar? The puppy does not act like a child, nor does the child dare to touch the martial weapons of Mars with a tender hand. It does not rage in lust in years not yet pubescent, nor is the youth withered under the bloom of the cheek. The mature man deliberates, and trembling old age groans, ignorant of fervor or lacking in levity. Do newly born crops soon arm their blades with beards, or does fruit immediately exist in the flowers that are born? We know that the stars of the sky lose their completed courses and likewise retrace their paths again. The moon grows or wanes in its own time by its orb, by whose age many things are marked by law. For, with the moon waxing, the sea resumes its increase; when it wanes in the sky, the wave of the sea is smaller. While Cynthia waxes, springs and rivers increase; these same diminish while Cynthia wanes. The hidden marrow itself observes the horns of the moon; the hidden brains observe the globes of the moon. The sun, the torch of the sky, shining, is darkened by shadow, and yet returns to its accustomed zones. And it recovers its former faces and resumes its lights: the elements give losses or increase. The elements wear down changes and the seasons change; nights have their time, and the days themselves have their time. Days receive increases, and nights in turn, they lose their courses by the perpetual law of the sky. There are times for flowers, the harvest keeps its own times, autumn has its time, winter has its time. Spring, summer, autumn, winter, the year returns into a year; the four seasons alternate with seasons.","structure":"narrative","commentary":[{"unit":"structure","kind":"structure","basis":"text","lemma":"","severity":"info","text":"This passage is a series of rhetorical questions and natural analogies, arguing that everything has its proper time. It follows the previous passage's appeal to the king and prepares for a conclusion about timing in human affairs.","cites":[],"named_sources":[],"dropped_cites":[]},{"unit":"background","kind":"background","basis":"text","lemma":"","severity":"info","text":"The analogies drawn from astronomy and natural cycles (moon, sun, seasons) reflect late antique scientific knowledge, often derived from works like Pliny's Natural History or Cicero's De Natura Deorum, common in Latin education.","cites":[],"named_sources":[],"dropped_cites":[]},{"unit":"parallel","kind":"parallel","basis":"text","lemma":"","severity":"info","text":"The argument that each age has its proper behavior echoes a topos in Latin literature, e.g., Horace, Ars Poetica 156-178, where different ages are described with their characteristic vices and virtues.","cites":[],"named_sources":[],"dropped_cites":[]},{"unit":"term","kind":"term","basis":"text","lemma":"Cynthia","severity":"info","text":"Cynthia is a poetic name for the moon, derived from Mount Cynthus on Delos, birthplace of Artemis/Diana. Its use here is a learned allusion typical of late Latin poetry.","cites":[],"named_sources":[],"dropped_cites":[]},{"unit":"caution","kind":"caution","basis":"text","lemma":"","severity":"caution","text":"The Latin text has several corrupt or uncertain readings, e.g., 'Snl' for 'Sol' and 'te[runL' for 'terunt'. The English translation follows the source edition's conjectures.","cites":[],"named_sources":[],"dropped_cites":[]},{"unit":"reception","kind":"reception","basis":"text","lemma":"","severity":"info","text":"Dracontius' use of natural cycles to argue for patience and proper timing may have influenced later medieval writers, though direct reception is unclear. The poem was known in Carolingian circles.","cites":[],"named_sources":[],"dropped_cites":[]}],"ambiguities":["The Latin text is fragmentary in places (e.g., 'habet?' and 'te[runL'), making some clauses uncertain. The translation adopts the most plausible readings from the source edition."],"confidence":"medium","notes":[{"kind":"lacuna","severity":"caution","text":"The source is fragmentary here: the edition marks a break or an editorial bracket, and the English carries across it. Treat the bridge as supplied, not translated."}]},{"i":9,"ref":"p9","source":"Omnia cum redeant, homini sua non redit ætas, Sed velut acris avis, sic fugitiva volat. Tempora sunt pacis, vel tempora certa cruoris, Otia tempus habent, militiæque labor. Tempora gaudendi, sunt tempora certa [dolendi, Tempora dant lucrum, tempora damna ferunt. Nubila tempus habent, et tempora certa sere [num: Tempora servare jussit et ipse Deus. Horam quesivit faciens miracula Christus, Horam speravit passio sancta crucis. Cur irascaris milii, cur sic dignior ira Tam magni regis judicer esse tua i Quando per ætherias aqu la volitante rapinas Praeda, cibusque fuit passer, birundo, picus' Quando fames rabidi quamvis jejuna leonis, Ut sit, adoptavit, faucibus esca lepus? Devorat egregios ingenti corpore tauros, Et rapiunt aquilae nebrida membra [pedes. Dat semel iratus veniam post vulnera pardus, Nec reduces morsus dat feritate pia. Despicit irasci pastoribus optima tigris, Despicit et talpas flammeus ore draco. Fulmina non feriunt reptantia gramina terris, Nec modicas salices flamina trisulca cremat. Sed feriunt celsas pulsantes nubila cedros, Et montes vastos, proxima saxa polo. Sontes peccantes tantum sua culpa fatigat, Ecce etiam insontes noxia pœna petit. Si ipse ego peccavi, quaMnam est, rogo, culpa meorum, Quos simul exagitat frigus, inopsque fames? Diluvio periere rei sine clade piorum, Loth bonus, et justus tollitur ex So[domis.","english":"Everything returns, but a person’s own age does not return; rather, like a sharp bird, it flies away, fleeting. There are times of peace, or fixed times of bloodshed; leisure has its time, and so does the toil of military service. There are times for rejoicing, and fixed times for grieving; times bring profit, times bring losses. Clouds have their time, and fixed times of clear skies; even God Himself commanded that times be observed. Christ, when working miracles, sought an hour; the holy passion of the cross hoped for an hour. Why are you angry with me, why am I judged worthy of such greater anger from you, a great king? When through the airy waters the swift plunderer, the sparrow, the swallow, the woodpecker, was prey and food? When the hunger of a rabid lion, however famished, adopted the hare as food for its jaws, so that it might eat? It devours noble bulls of immense body, and eagles snatch the limbs of fawns. The pard, once angered, grants pardon after wounds, nor does it give repeated bites with pious ferocity. The best tiger disdains to be angry with shepherds, and the fiery-mouthed dragon disdains moles. Thunderbolts do not strike the creeping grasses on the earth, nor do triple-forked flames burn modest willows. But they strike lofty cedars that beat against the clouds, and vast mountains, rocks nearest the sky. Guilty sinners are wearied only by their own fault; behold, even the innocent are sought out by harmful punishment. If I myself have sinned, what, I ask, is the guilt of my people, whom cold, poverty, and hunger simultaneously harass? In the flood, the guilty perished without the destruction of the pious; good and just Lot is taken out of Sodom.","structure":"narrative","commentary":[{"unit":"structure","kind":"structure","basis":"text","lemma":"Omnia cum redeant, homini sua non redit ætas","severity":"info","text":"The passage shifts from a general reflection on cyclical time (lines 1–10) to a direct address to the king (Cur irascaris mihi) and a series of natural exempla (lion, eagle, pard, etc.), then returns to the speaker's personal plight. This rhetorical structure mirrors the consolatory and apologetic aims of the work.","cites":[],"named_sources":[],"dropped_cites":[]},{"unit":"scripture","kind":"scripture","basis":"text","lemma":"Diluvio periere rei sine clade piorum, Loth bonus, et justus tollitur ex So[domis]","severity":"info","text":"The reference to the flood and Lot's rescue from Sodom alludes to Genesis 19 (Lot's deliverance) and the Genesis flood narrative (Genesis 6–9). Dracontius uses these to argue that the innocent (like himself and his people) should be spared punishment meant for the guilty.","cites":[],"named_sources":[],"dropped_cites":[]},{"unit":"background","kind":"background","basis":"text","lemma":"Cur irascaris mihi, cur sic dignior ira Tam magni regis judicer esse tua","severity":"info","text":"Dracontius addresses Guntharius, the Vandal king, who imprisoned him. The poem is a plea for clemency, written from captivity. The king's anger is the central threat; Dracontius argues that natural and biblical precedents show that the powerful should not punish the weak or innocent.","cites":[],"named_sources":[],"dropped_cites":[]},{"unit":"parallel","kind":"parallel","basis":"text","lemma":"Fulmina non feriunt reptantia gramina terris, / Nec modicas salices flamina trisulca cremat. / Sed feriunt celsas pulsantes nubila cedros","severity":"info","text":"The image of lightning striking tall cedars but sparing low grasses is a classical topos (cf. Lucretius, De Rerum Natura 5.1120–1125; Horace, Odes 2.10). Dracontius adapts it to argue that the king's wrath should target the powerful, not the humble like himself.","cites":[],"named_sources":[],"dropped_cites":[]},{"unit":"term","kind":"term","basis":"text","lemma":"passio sancta crucis","severity":"info","text":"The phrase 'passio sancta crucis' refers to the Passion of Christ. Dracontius notes that even Christ 'hoped for an hour' (Horam speravit), implying that timing and patience are divinely sanctioned, and thus the king should wait before punishing.","cites":[],"named_sources":[],"dropped_cites":[]},{"unit":"caution","kind":"caution","basis":"text","lemma":"Quando per ætherias aqu la volitante rapinas / Praeda, cibusque fuit passer, birundo, picus'","severity":"caution","text":"The Latin text is corrupt here: 'aqu la' likely stands for 'aquila' (eagle), but the line is garbled. The English draft interprets it as 'through the airy waters the swift plunderer', but the sense is uncertain. The passage lists birds of prey and their victims.","cites":[],"named_sources":[],"dropped_cites":[]}],"ambiguities":["The phrase 'per ætherias aqu la volitante rapinas' is textually corrupt; 'aqu la' may be a scribal error for 'aquila' (eagle).","The line 'Quando fames rabidi quamvis jejuna leonis, / Ut sit, adoptavit, faucibus esca lepus?' is grammatically strained; 'adoptavit' may mean 'took as food' but the syntax is unclear."],"confidence":"medium","notes":[{"kind":"lacuna","severity":"caution","text":"The source is fragmentary here: the edition marks a break or an editorial bracket, and the English carries across it. Treat the bridge as supplied, not translated."}]},{"i":10,"ref":"p10","source":"Si non huMani generis peccata fuissent, Unde pium nomen posset hab re Deus? Scd quia dat veniali populis, peccata relaxans, Pcr pietatis opus nomen habet placidum. Si veniam frater fratri donare jubetur, Quid rex subjectis, et dominus famulis? Si justis solem Dominus, luviasque dedisset, Nec daret injustis, qu:e fuerat pietas? Non quaerit veniam, qui nil peccasse probatur, Nonne manus medici languida membra pe. [tunt? Materiem laudis praebet tibi culpa reorunt, Et titulos famæ dat pietatis opus. Inclytus armipotens, vestre pietatis origo, Et doctus. genio pronior ad veniam, Non homini ignosco, dixit, sed lingua [meretur: IIic rens, et doctus Viucomalus fuerat. Non lædunt delicta Deum, sed læditur auctor, Ni peccata dolens poeniteat sceleris. Qui poscit hac lege Deum, ut peccata relaxet, Debet et ipse suo parcere ubique reo. Non semel ignosci dixit lex sancta reatum, Sed quoties culpa est, sit toties venia. Dicati regnanti domino pia verba prophetæ: Etsi peccavi, sum tamen ipse tuus. Da veniam, miserere, precor, succurre roganti; Pristina sufficiant verbera, vincla, fames. Sessorem, dum carpit iter, cornea pulsans Ungula concutiat quadrupedantis equi, Verbere corrigitur culpa, plectente flagello, Non simul abscissi crura, pedesque jacent.","english":"If the sins of the human race had not existed, from what source could God have a pious name? But because He grants pardon to peoples, releasing their sins, through the work of piety He has a placid name. If a brother is commanded to grant forgiveness to a brother, what of a king to his subjects, and a master to his servants? If the Lord had given sun and rains to the just, and had not given them to the unjust, what piety would that have been? He who is proven to have sinned nothing does not seek pardon; do not the hands of a physician seek out ailing limbs? The fault of the guilty offers you the material for praise, and the work of piety gives you titles of fame. Renowned in arms, the origin of your piety, and learned by nature, more inclined to pardon, said: \"I do not forgive the man, but the tongue deserves it.\" This man, guilty and learned, was Vincomalus. Offenses do not harm God, but the author is harmed, unless, grieving over his sins, he repents of his crime. He who seeks from God on this condition, that He release his sins, ought himself to spare his own guilty one everywhere. The holy law said that guilt is not forgiven once, but as often as there is fault, so often should there be pardon. The pious words of the prophet to the reigning lord: \"Even if I have sinned, I am still your own. Grant pardon, have mercy, I beg, help the suppliant; let the former beatings, chains, and hunger suffice.\" The horny hoof of the galloping horse, striking the rider as he makes his way, shakes him; a fault is corrected by a blow, with a punishing whip, not by having legs and feet cut off and lying there.","structure":"narrative","commentary":[{"unit":"sense","kind":"sense","basis":"text","lemma":"Si non huMani generis peccata fuissent","severity":"info","text":"The opening conditional clause sets up a theological argument: without human sin, God would lack the epithet 'pious' (pium). This frames divine mercy as contingent on human fault.","cites":[],"named_sources":[],"dropped_cites":[]},{"unit":"term","kind":"term","basis":"text","lemma":"veniali","severity":"info","text":"The adjective 'veniali' (dative/ablative singular neuter) likely modifies 'populis' (peoples), meaning 'forgivable' or 'pardoning'. It underscores the theme of clemency central to the passage.","cites":[],"named_sources":[],"dropped_cites":[]},{"unit":"scripture","kind":"scripture","basis":"text","lemma":"Si justis solem Dominus, luviasque dedisset","severity":"info","text":"Echoes of the biblical motif of God providing sun and rain to all, just and unjust alike, as in Deuteronomy 11:14 or Matthew 5:45, arguing that divine impartiality is a form of piety.","cites":[],"named_sources":[],"dropped_cites":[]},{"unit":"background","kind":"background","basis":"text","lemma":"Vincomalus","severity":"info","text":"Vincomalus is likely a historical figure, possibly a Vandal noble or official, whose guilt and learning are cited as an example of royal clemency. The name appears only here in Dracontius.","cites":[],"named_sources":[],"dropped_cites":[]},{"unit":"structure","kind":"structure","basis":"text","lemma":"Dicati regnanti domino pia verba prophetæ","severity":"info","text":"This line introduces a direct plea in the voice of a prophet, shifting from general argument to specific supplication. It functions as a rhetorical climax, urging the king to mercy.","cites":[],"named_sources":[],"dropped_cites":[]},{"unit":"caution","kind":"caution","basis":"text","lemma":"Non simul abscissi crura, pedesque jacent","severity":"caution","text":"The final line is textually uncertain: 'abscissi' may be a corruption of 'abscissae' (feminine plural) or 'abscissis' (dative/ablative). The sense contrasts corrective whipping with mutilation, but the grammar is strained.","cites":[],"named_sources":[],"dropped_cites":[]}],"ambiguities":["The phrase 'lingua meretur' (line 14) is ambiguous: it could mean 'the tongue deserves [pardon]' or 'the tongue earns [punishment]'. The context of Vincomalus suggests the former, as the king pardons the man but not the offense.","The identity of 'Vincomalus' is uncertain; he may be a historical figure or a literary exemplum."],"confidence":"medium","notes":[{"kind":"lacuna","severity":"caution","text":"The source is fragmentary here: the edition marks a break or an editorial bracket, and the English carries across it. Treat the bridge as supplied, not translated."}]}]}