{"slug":"stoa0276.stoa010.opp-lat2","id":"latin:ogl-csel:stoa0276.stoa010.opp-lat2","title":"Incerti Auctoris Carmen Sodoma","title_source":"Incerti Auctoris Carmen Sodoma","author":"Pseudo-Tertullian","genre":"poetry","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":"2026-11-15T05:31:41Z","cost_usd":0.004538},"source":{"registry_id":"latin:ogl-csel:stoa0276.stoa010.opp-lat2","work_id":"stoa0276.stoa010.opp-lat2","edition":"ogl-csel","language":"","license":"Available under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License","url":"https://github.com/OpenGreekAndLatin/csel-dev/blob/master/data/data/stoa0276/stoa010/stoa0276.stoa010.opp-lat2.xml"},"stats":{"passages":8,"english_words":1777,"coptic_letters":0,"source_letters":6273,"commentary_units":48,"commentary_kinds":8,"derived_notes":0,"ambiguities":14,"work_notes":6,"external_links":3,"timeline":6},"summary":{"work":"stoa0276.stoa010.opp-lat2","abstract":"The Carmen Sodoma is a late antique Latin hexameter poem retelling the destruction of Sodom from Genesis 19. Written in an elevated epic style influenced by Vergil and Ovid, it blends biblical narrative with classical mythological exempla. The poem survives in a single manuscript tradition, often appended to works of Tertullian, but modern scholarship rejects that attribution on stylistic and doctrinal grounds. Its date is uncertain, with linguistic and metrical features suggesting a 4th–5th century origin. The work was occasionally cited in medieval florilegia and Genesis commentaries but never achieved liturgical or canonical status. This edition presents the text with minimal emendation, noting textual cruces and conjectures without resolving authorship or date.","historical_context":"The Carmen Sodoma was likely composed in the Latin-speaking Christian world of late antiquity, possibly in North Africa or Italy, between the 4th and 5th centuries. Its author, unknown, wrote in a learned hexameter style that echoes Vergil and Ovid, indicating a literary education typical of elite Christian poets of the period. The poem survives in a single manuscript tradition, often copied alongside the genuine works of Tertullian (c. 155–220 CE), but its ascription to him is now rejected due to differences in style, vocabulary, and theology. The work was transmitted through medieval monastic libraries, where it was occasionally excerpted in florilegia and commentaries on Genesis. It never entered the mainstream liturgical or canonical tradition, remaining a scholarly curiosity. The text shows signs of scribal corruption and lacunae, and no definitive reconstruction of the original has been achieved.","significance":"The Carmen Sodoma is a rare example of late antique Christian epic poetry that freely blends biblical narrative with classical mythological imagery, illustrating the cultural synthesis of the period. Its uncertain authorship and date make it a case study in pseudepigraphy and textual transmission. The poem's vivid descriptions of divine judgment and its use of Vergilian and Ovidian diction offer insight into how educated Christians adapted pagan literary forms for theological purposes.","timeline":[{"date":"4th–5th c.","event":"Probable composition of the Carmen Sodoma in Latin hexameters, author unknown."},{"date":"c. 155–220 CE","event":"Life of Tertullian, to whom the poem was later falsely attributed."},{"date":"Late antique/early medieval","event":"Transmission of the poem in manuscript form, often appended to Tertullian's works."},{"date":"Medieval period","event":"Occasional citation in florilegia and Genesis commentaries; limited circulation."},{"date":"Modern era","event":"Scholarly rejection of Tertullian's authorship based on stylistic and doctrinal analysis."},{"date":"Undated","event":"Textual cruces and lacunae noted; no definitive reconstruction achieved."}],"relations":[{"work":"Genesis 19","relation":"Biblical source for the narrative of Sodom's destruction.","key":"","label":null,"url":null},{"work":"Aeneid (Vergil)","relation":"Influence on epic diction and style.","key":"","label":null,"url":null},{"work":"Metamorphoses (Ovid)","relation":"Influence on mythological exempla and poetic technique.","key":"","label":null,"url":null},{"work":"Tertullian's genuine works","relation":"Manuscript tradition; the poem was falsely attributed to Tertullian.","key":"","label":null,"url":null},{"work":"Carmen de Sodoma (other versions)","relation":"Related late antique poems on the same subject, e.g., by Cyprianus Gallus.","key":"","label":null,"url":null}],"external_links":[{"key":"wikipedia:Sodom and Gomorrah","label":"Sodom and Gomorrah","url":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sodom_and_Gomorrah","reason":"Biblical narrative that the poem retells."},{"key":"wikipedia:Tertullian","label":"Tertullian","url":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tertullian","reason":"Author to whom the poem was falsely attributed."},{"key":"wikipedia:Late Latin","label":"Late Latin","url":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Late_Latin","reason":"Linguistic context of the poem's composition."}],"cautions":["Date is uncertain; linguistic and metrical features suggest 4th–5th century but no firm evidence exists.","Authorship is disputed; the ascription to Tertullian is rejected by modern scholars.","The poem survives in a single manuscript tradition with textual cruces and lacunae; no definitive reconstruction is possible.","The work never achieved wide circulation or canonical status; its influence is limited to scholarly circles."],"model":"deepseek/deepseek-v4-flash:floor","provider":"Relace","cost_usd":0.000501,"generated":"2026-11-15T05:31:40Z"},"links":[{"kind":"source","label":"Open Greek and Latin CSEL","url":"https://github.com/OpenGreekAndLatin/csel-dev/blob/master/data/data/stoa0276/stoa010/stoa0276.stoa010.opp-lat2.xml"}],"checks":{"work":"stoa0276.stoa010.opp-lat2","status":"pass","blocking":[],"warnings":[],"stats":{"passages":8,"translated":8,"commentary_passages":8,"commentary_units":48,"english_words":1777,"source_letters":6273,"commentary_kinds":8},"model":"deepseek/deepseek-v4-flash:floor"},"work_notes":[{"unit":"sense","kind":"sense","basis":"text","lemma":"","severity":"info","text":"The poem is a hexameter retelling of the Sodom narrative (Gen 19), with vivid descriptions of divine judgment and moral exhortation. Its register is elevated, drawing on Vergilian and Ovidian epic diction.","cites":[],"named_sources":[],"dropped_cites":[]},{"unit":"transmission","kind":"transmission","basis":"background","lemma":"","severity":"info","text":"The work survives in a single manuscript tradition, often appended to Tertullian's genuine works. Its ascription to Tertullian is now rejected on stylistic and doctrinal grounds.","cites":[],"named_sources":[],"dropped_cites":[]},{"unit":"dating","kind":"chronology","basis":"external","lemma":"","severity":"info","text":"Dating is uncertain, but linguistic and metrical features suggest a late antique origin, possibly 4th–5th century. No firm external evidence anchors the date.","cites":[],"named_sources":[],"dropped_cites":[]},{"unit":"reception","kind":"reception","basis":"background","lemma":"","severity":"info","text":"The poem was occasionally cited in medieval florilegia and commentaries on Genesis, but never achieved wide liturgical or canonical status. Its influence is limited to scholarly circles.","cites":[],"named_sources":[],"dropped_cites":[]},{"unit":"sense","kind":"sense","basis":"text","lemma":"","severity":"caution","text":"This edition does not resolve the poem's authorship or date; it presents the text as transmitted, with minimal emendation. Readers should consult specialist studies for attribution debates.","cites":[],"named_sources":[],"dropped_cites":[]},{"unit":"caution","kind":"caution","basis":"text","lemma":"","severity":"caution","text":"Some passages contain textual cruces due to scribal errors or lacunae. The apparatus notes conjectures, but no single reconstruction is definitive.","cites":[],"named_sources":[],"dropped_cites":[]}],"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: poetry in Latin; the English keeps the liturgical formulae and the vocatives rather than normalising them."},{"kind":"structure","severity":"info","text":"Passages: 8 narrative."},{"kind":"source","severity":"info","text":"Source edition: ogl-csel — Available under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License"}],"derived_structure":{"narrative":8},"term_index":[],"citations":{},"segments":[{"i":1,"ref":"p1","source":"INCERTI DE SODOMA.\n\nIam deus omnipotens primaeui tempora saecli\nuindice diluuio cunctis aboleuerat undis. quas caelum sparsit. terrae. maris expuit aequor:\nhactenus haud liquido poenas decernere pactus\nexcidio, quotiens. hiemem cum induceret aer. frenandis uarium pluuiis mandauerat arcum. purpureo et uiridi signantem nubila limbo. Iridis in nomen. propria est quae fibula nimbis. Sed recidiua hominum pariter cum gente secunda\nimpietas iterumque mali noua pullulat aetas.\n\nexcidio iam non imbres sortita. sed ignes. sic Sodomum meruit tellus ardentibus uri\nroribus et finis portendere signa futuri. effera luxuries illic. inimica pudoris. instar legis erat. fugeret quam praescius hospes,\nante uel ad Scythicas uel apud Busiridis aras\nexoptans per sacra necem caestusque cruore\nfundere Bebrycum cum et Lybicas satiare palaestras\nAntaei. Circaea nouas per pocula formas\nsumere. quam laesum Sodomis amittere sexum. Pulsabat caelum inuidia: conubia mixta\nincestu parili. generis natura rebellis\nm sese, laesumque uiri cum corpore nomen. tempore sed certo deus omnia prospeculatur:\niudicat iniustos, patiens ubi criminis aetas\ncessandi spatium. uis nulla. coegerat ira. iamque dies ultrix aderat: duo de grege missi","english":"Of Uncertain Authorship, On Sodom.\n\nNow the omnipotent God had blotted out the times of the early age with a punishing flood, with all the waters that the sky scattered, the earth, and the sea spewed forth: not yet had he agreed to decree punishments clearly by destruction, as often as the air brought on a storm, he had commanded the rainbow, marking the clouds with a purple and green border, to restrain the varying rains. It is called Iris, which is the natural bond of the clouds. But a second race of men arose, and with it impiety again, and a new age of evils sprouts forth.\n\nDestruction now is allotted not by rains, but by fires. Thus the land of Sodom deserved to be burned by fiery dews and to portend signs of the future end. Savage luxury there, hostile to modesty, was like a law; a prudent guest would flee it, preferring to die by a sacred death before the Scythian altars or at the altars of Busiris, or to pour out blood in the Bebrycian caestus and to satisfy the Libyan wrestling-schools of Antaeus, or to take on new forms through Circe's potions, rather than to lose one's sex, violated in Sodom. Envy was beating against heaven: marriages mixed with equal incest, a nature rebellious against itself, and the name of man, injured along with the body. But at a fixed time, God oversees all things: he judges the unjust, where the age of crime has given space for ceasing. No force had compelled his anger. And now the avenging day was at hand: two were sent from the flock.","structure":"narrative","commentary":[{"unit":"structure","kind":"structure","basis":"text","lemma":"","severity":"info","text":"The passage opens with a cosmic prologue (flood) before narrowing to Sodom, using a contrast between water and fire as divine instruments.","cites":[],"named_sources":[],"dropped_cites":[]},{"unit":"background","kind":"background","basis":"background","lemma":"","severity":"info","text":"The rainbow (Iris) is described as a natural bond of clouds, reflecting ancient meteorological theory; the poet etymologizes Iris as 'the natural bond' (propria est quae fibula nimbis).","cites":[],"named_sources":[],"dropped_cites":[]},{"unit":"parallel","kind":"parallel","basis":"text","lemma":"","severity":"info","text":"The catalogue of horrors (Scythian altars, Busiris, Bebrycian caestus, Antaeus, Circe) echoes classical mythological exempla of extreme violence or transformation, used to emphasize Sodom's depravity.","cites":[],"named_sources":[],"dropped_cites":[]},{"unit":"term","kind":"term","basis":"text","lemma":"excidio","severity":"info","text":"The word 'excidio' (destruction) is repeated to frame the shift from flood to fire as the mode of divine punishment.","cites":[],"named_sources":[],"dropped_cites":[]},{"unit":"scripture","kind":"scripture","basis":"text","lemma":"","severity":"info","text":"The destruction of Sodom by fire (Genesis 19:24) is alluded to, but the poet expands it with classical imagery, blending biblical and pagan traditions.","cites":[],"named_sources":[],"dropped_cites":[]},{"unit":"caution","kind":"caution","basis":"text","lemma":"","severity":"caution","text":"The Latin text is corrupt in places (e.g., 'm sese' likely a scribal error for 'in sese' or 'in se'), and the line about 'laesumque uiri cum corpore nomen' is syntactically ambiguous.","cites":[],"named_sources":[],"dropped_cites":[]}],"ambiguities":["The phrase 'm sese' is unclear; possibly a corruption of 'in sese' (against itself).","The line 'laesumque uiri cum corpore nomen' may mean 'the name of man, injured along with the body' or 'the name of man, together with the injured body'."],"confidence":"high","notes":[]},{"i":2,"ref":"p2","source":"angelica forma iuuenes, qui spiritus ambo\ndiua ministeria domini mandata ferebant:\nsuccedunt Sodomis. illic de stirpe piorum\ntransuena Loth aderat. sapiens iustique colonus;\nunus erat meminisse deum. solet utilis arbor\nin siluis latitare ferens uelut hospita fructus. is tunc pro porta residens — uix moenia adibant\ncaelicolae — quamquam diuinos nescius ultro\naduocat, adpellat, patrio ueneratur honore\nhospitioque uocat longe stabulare parantes. enisus longis precibus: pia pignora mensa\nofficiisque probis studio dispungit amicos. Nox requiem dederat. lux soluerat altera noctem\net Sodoma in foribus strepitat cum lege pudenda. Loth contra supplex: „Ne uos nunc pacta libido\nincendat. iuuenes. ipsam foedare iuuentam\nluxu. quo genitura uocant, quo semina, frustra:\nquo nullae nuptant animae. non lustra colentes. non stabulis reduces, non undis subter hiantes.","english":"Of Uncertain Authorship, On Sodom. Now the omnipotent God had blotted out the times of the early age with a punishing flood, with all the waters that the sky scattered, the earth, and the sea spewed forth: not yet had he\n\ntwo youths of angelic form, both spirits,\nbearing the divine ministries of the Lord’s commands:\nthey proceed to Sodom. There, from the stock of the pious,\nthe sojourner Lot was present, a wise man and a cultivator of justice;\nhe alone remembered God. As a useful tree is wont\nto hide in forests, bearing fruit like a guest, so then,\nsitting before the gate—the heaven-dwellers scarcely approached\nthe walls—although unknowing of the divine, he of his own accord\nsummons them, addresses them, venerates them with ancestral honor,\nand calls them to hospitality, though they were preparing to lodge far off.\nHe prevailed with long entreaties: with a table of pious pledges\nand with honest services, he diligently distinguishes his friends by devotion.\nNight had given rest. The next day’s light had loosed the night,\nand Sodom clamors at the doors with its shameful law.\nLot, suppliant, speaks against it: “Do not now let the pact of lust\ninflame you, young men, to defile your very youth\nwith luxury, by which they summon the generative power, by which they summon the seeds, in vain:\nby which no souls marry, not those who frequent the shrines,\nnot those who return to the stables, not those who gape beneath the waters.","structure":"narrative","commentary":[{"unit":"sense","kind":"sense","basis":"text","lemma":"angelica forma iuuenes","severity":"info","text":"The phrase identifies the two visitors as angels in youthful human form, a common motif in biblical and apocryphal traditions.","cites":[],"named_sources":[],"dropped_cites":[]},{"unit":"scripture","kind":"scripture","basis":"text","lemma":"diua ministeria domini mandata ferebant","severity":"info","text":"Echoes the angelic mission to Sodom in Genesis 19:1, where two angels are sent to destroy the city.","cites":[],"named_sources":[],"dropped_cites":[]},{"unit":"background","kind":"background","basis":"text","lemma":"transuena Loth","severity":"info","text":"Lot is described as a 'sojourner' (transuena), reflecting his status as Abraham's nephew who settled in Sodom (Genesis 13:12).","cites":[],"named_sources":[],"dropped_cites":[]},{"unit":"structure","kind":"structure","basis":"text","lemma":"Nox requiem dederat. lux soluerat altera noctem","severity":"info","text":"A temporal transition marking the passage from night to day, typical of epic narrative, framing the confrontation with the Sodomites.","cites":[],"named_sources":[],"dropped_cites":[]},{"unit":"term","kind":"term","basis":"text","lemma":"pacta libido","severity":"info","text":"Refers to the 'pact of lust' as a euphemism for the Sodomites' law or custom of same-sex intercourse, central to the poem's moral critique.","cites":[],"named_sources":[],"dropped_cites":[]},{"unit":"caution","kind":"caution","basis":"text","lemma":"non lustra colentes. non stabulis reduces, non undis subter hiantes","severity":"caution","text":"The syntax is obscure; likely lists groups that do not engage in the condemned acts, but the exact referents (e.g., 'stables,' 'waters') are debated.","cites":[],"named_sources":[],"dropped_cites":[]}],"ambiguities":["The phrase 'non lustra colentes' may refer to those who do not frequent shrines or to a specific cultic practice; 'non undis subter hiantes' could allude to aquatic creatures or a metaphor for unnatural acts."],"confidence":"high","notes":[]},{"i":3,"ref":"p3","source":"nec quae pinnarum modulis prope nubila pendent. nec quae per terram protracto corpore manant. omne genus luxu genus est; sed femina coniunx\nomnibus, et numquam cuiquam nisi femina mater. nunc, si fas iuuenale habet uastare pudorem,\nsunt intus natae biiuges mihi, nubilis aetas;\nuirginitas in flore tumet: iam dedita messi\ndigna cupido uiris: tulerit quam uestra uoluptas. dedo pater proque hospitibus pensabo dolorem.i\nVulgus ad haec demens: , Quisnam tu, quantus et unde,\nqui nobis domineris. ait. legesque recondas? transuena, non rector, Sodomorum iugera liras. nunc igitur tute ipse lues. quod nostra cupido est. pro natis proque hospitibus: satis unus in omnes.-\ndicta pt facta simul. uulgi mora nulla furentis. turbidus hiberno dum uoluitur impete torrens,\nriuorum innumeros uno pede deuehit amnes:\nsi qua illic arbor rapidis offenditur undis,\nhaut mansura diu. quantum radice licebit\ncrinitas durare moras. ubi subter adesam\nperdit humum, circumfosso iam caudice pendens","english":"nor those which, with the modulations of their feathers, hang near the clouds, nor those which, with body stretched out, glide over the earth. Every kind is a kind by lust; but a wife is female to all, and never is anyone’s mother except a female. Now, if youthful license has the right to ravage modesty, I have twin daughters born at home, of marriageable age; their virginity swells in bloom: already given over to the harvest, worthy of desire for husbands: your pleasure will have taken it. As a father, I give them up, and in return for the guests I will compensate for the grief.\n\nThe maddened crowd to this: “Who are you, how great, and from where, that you lord it over us,” it says, “and lay down laws? A foreigner, not a ruler, you plow the acres of Sodom. Now therefore you yourself will pay the penalty for what our desire is: for your daughters and for the guests: one man is enough for all.”\n\nWord and deed were simultaneous: there was no delay for the raging crowd. As a turbid winter torrent, when it rolls with its rush, carries away countless streams with one foot: if any tree there is struck by the swift waters, it will not last long; as long as the root allows, it will hold out with its hair-like branches; when the earth is eaten away beneath, and the trunk, already undermined, hangs","structure":"narrative","commentary":[{"unit":"structure","kind":"structure","basis":"text","lemma":"nunc, si fas iuuenale habet uastare pudorem","severity":"info","text":"Lot's speech begins here, marked by 'nunc' (now), shifting from the narrator's description of the flood to direct discourse. This rhetorical turn introduces his offer of his daughters.","cites":[],"named_sources":[],"dropped_cites":[]},{"unit":"term","kind":"term","basis":"text","lemma":"femina coniunx / femina mater","severity":"info","text":"The Latin 'femina' (female) is used generically for women, but the pairing 'coniunx' (wife) and 'mater' (mother) emphasizes the natural roles of women in procreation, contrasting with the unnatural lust of Sodom.","cites":[],"named_sources":[],"dropped_cites":[]},{"unit":"scripture","kind":"scripture","basis":"text","lemma":"sunt intus natae biiuges mihi, nubilis aetas","severity":"info","text":"Lot's offer of his daughters echoes Genesis 19:8, where Lot offers his daughters to the angels, but here the daughters are described as 'biiuges' (twin) and 'nubilis aetas' (marriageable age), a detail not in the biblical account.","cites":[],"named_sources":[],"dropped_cites":[]},{"unit":"background","kind":"background","basis":"text","lemma":"transuena, non rector, Sodomorum iugera liras","severity":"info","text":"The crowd's accusation that Lot is a 'transuena' (foreigner) and 'non rector' (not a ruler) reflects the biblical Lot's status as a sojourner in Sodom (Genesis 13:12), but the poet amplifies the hostility.","cites":[],"named_sources":[],"dropped_cites":[]},{"unit":"parallel","kind":"parallel","basis":"text","lemma":"turbidus hiberno dum uoluitur impete torrens","severity":"info","text":"The simile of a winter torrent carrying away streams and trees is a common epic trope, found in Virgil (Aeneid 2.496-499) and Ovid (Metamorphoses 1.285-286), used here to depict the mob's unstoppable violence.","cites":[],"named_sources":[],"dropped_cites":[]},{"unit":"caution","kind":"caution","basis":"text","lemma":"haut mansura diu","severity":"caution","text":"The phrase 'haut mansura diu' (not long to last) is a textual crux; 'haut' may be a variant of 'haud' (not) or a corruption of 'aut' (or). The sense is clear, but the reading is uncertain.","cites":[],"named_sources":[],"dropped_cites":[]}],"ambiguities":["The phrase 'haut mansura diu' is ambiguous: 'haut' could be a misspelling of 'haud' (not) or a corruption of 'aut' (or). The translation follows the former, but the latter would yield 'or to last long'.","The identity of the speaker in 'dedo pater proque hospitibus pensabo dolorem' is clear as Lot, but the syntax is compressed: 'proque' may be a poetic contraction of 'pro' + 'que' (and for)."],"confidence":"high","notes":[]},{"i":4,"ref":"p4","source":"huc illuc certam differt incerta ruinam:\nhaut aliter Loth in media uertigine uulgi\nnutabat uinci prope iam: sed diua potestas\nsubuenit. angelici iuuenes de limine raptum\nrestituunt tectis. demens et uulgus ibidem\npoenarum auspiciis interdum lumine multant. Tum decreta dei reserant. dignam fore poenam\nde caelo Sodomis: ipsum meruisse salutem\niustitiae titulo. \"Quin ergo accingeris istinc\nfestinare fugam pariterque educere, si quid\ngentis habes. nos exitium iam inducimus urbi.\"\nLoth generos citus adloquitur. sed dura hominum mens\ncredere despexit monitum risitque timorem. tempore mox quo lux tenebras accendere temptat\net bicolor caeli facies de nocte dieque est. instabant iuuenes Chaldaeam educere gentem\nex Sodomis iustamque domum donare saluti. \"Heia age. Loth. exsurge tuamque adsume iugalem\net natas duplices atque hinc exterminis ito. praeueniens Sodomum poenas.\" manibus quoque amicis\nproducunt trepidos atque haec tibi cetera mandant :","english":"Here and there it delays a certain ruin with uncertain ruin:  \nNot otherwise did Lot, in the midst of the crowd’s whirl,  \nwaver, nearly already conquered; but divine power  \ncame to his aid. Angelic youths, snatching him from the threshold,  \nrestore him to the roofs. The mad crowd, in the same place,  \nby the omens of punishments, sometimes blind with light. Then they disclose the decrees of God: that a fitting punishment  \nfrom heaven awaits Sodom; that he himself has merited safety  \nby the title of righteousness. “Why then do you not gird yourself  \nto hasten flight from there and likewise to lead out, if you have  \nany of your kin? We are now bringing destruction upon the city.”  \nLot swiftly addresses his sons-in-law. But the hard mind of men  \nscorned to believe the warning and laughed at the fear.  \nSoon at the time when light tries to kindle the darkness  \nand the face of the sky is two-colored from night and day,  \nthe youths pressed to lead the Chaldaean kin out of Sodom  \nand to grant the just household to safety. “Come now, Lot, arise and take your spouse  \nand your twin daughters, and go from here into exile,  \nforestalling the punishments of Sodom.” With friendly hands, too,  \nthey lead out the trembling ones and entrust these further things to you:","structure":"narrative","commentary":[{"unit":"term","kind":"term","basis":"text","lemma":"diua potestas","severity":"info","text":"The phrase 'diua potestas' (divine power) is a poetic periphrasis for divine intervention, likely referring to the angels or God's agency in rescuing Lot.","cites":[],"named_sources":[],"dropped_cites":[]},{"unit":"scripture","kind":"scripture","basis":"text","lemma":"angelici iuuenes","severity":"info","text":"The 'angelic youths' correspond to the two angels who visit Lot in Genesis 19:1-11, though the biblical account does not describe them as youths or as physically snatching Lot.","cites":[],"named_sources":[],"dropped_cites":[]},{"unit":"background","kind":"background","basis":"text","lemma":"Chaldaeam gentem","severity":"info","text":"Lot is called 'Chaldaean' (Chaldaeam gentem), an anachronistic ethnic label; in Genesis, Lot is Abraham's nephew from Ur of the Chaldees, but the term here may reflect later Jewish or Christian tradition.","cites":[],"named_sources":[],"dropped_cites":[]},{"unit":"structure","kind":"structure","basis":"text","lemma":"Tum decreta dei reserant","severity":"info","text":"This line marks a structural shift from narrative action to direct speech, as the angels reveal God's decrees and command Lot to flee, echoing the biblical pattern of divine announcement followed by flight.","cites":[],"named_sources":[],"dropped_cites":[]},{"unit":"reception","kind":"reception","basis":"text","lemma":"dignam fore poenam de caelo Sodomis","severity":"info","text":"The phrase 'a fitting punishment from heaven' anticipates the fire and brimstone of Sodom's destruction, a common theme in patristic and medieval moralizing on the city's fate.","cites":[],"named_sources":[],"dropped_cites":[]},{"unit":"caution","kind":"caution","basis":"text","lemma":"interdum lumine multant","severity":"caution","text":"The phrase 'interdum lumine multant' is obscure; it may mean 'they punish with light' (i.e., blinding) or be corrupt. The translation 'sometimes blind with light' is conjectural.","cites":[],"named_sources":[],"dropped_cites":[]}],"ambiguities":["The identity of the 'angelic youths' is not specified as two distinct angels, unlike Genesis; the text may conflate them with the 'divine power'.","The phrase 'interdum lumine multant' is textually uncertain; the reading 'multant' (punish) is adopted, but some manuscripts may have a different verb."],"confidence":"medium","notes":[]},{"i":5,"ref":"p5","source":"\"Seru. Loth. animam. ne uisum in terga retrorsum\nuertere forte uelis. coeptum uel sistere gressum:\nin montem propera!\" timuit Loth ardua tardo\nereptare gradu. caelestes ne prius irae\nopprimerent; alios igitur deposcere portus\nadgreditur. paruam quam contra adspexerat urbem. \"Huc. inquit. fuga sit: certe uix moenibus extat,\nnec longe nec magna mihi est.\" fauere petenti. urbis et ipsius pariter cessere salutem. Segor inde loco nomen uox barbara nouit. tunc Loth ingreditur Segor: simul exoritur sol. ultimus ille quidem. Sodomumque incendia feruens\ninfert: nam totos radios armauerat igni:\naemula subseritur caligo. includere lucem\ncoeptans atque globos confuso intexerecaelo. fumantes coeunt nubes. nouus inruit imber. sulpura cum flammis flagrat chaos. aestuat aether. exustus crepitat liquidis ardoribus aer. Hinc habet in falso de uero fabula famam\nSolis progeniem currus optasse paternos\nnec ualuisse leuem puerum frenare superbos\nignis equos. arsisse orbem. tunc fulmine raptum","english":"Save Lot's soul, lest you chance to turn your gaze backward or to halt your begun step: hurry to the mountain!\" Lot feared to crawl out with slow step from the steep heights, lest the celestial wrath crush him first; therefore he sets about to seek other havens. He had caught sight of a small city opposite. \"Hither,\" he says, \"let the flight be: surely it barely stands with its walls, neither far nor great is it for me.\" The city and its own safety alike yielded favor to the petitioner. Thence the place took the name Segor, a barbarian word knows it. Then Lot enters Segor: at the same time the sun rises. That sun was indeed the last, and it brings the burning fires of Sodom: for it had armed all its rays with fire; a rival darkness is interposed, attempting to enclose the light and to weave confused globes into the sky. Smoking clouds gather; a new rain rushes in. The chaos blazes with flames of sulphur; the ether seethes; the scorched air crackles with liquid fires. Hence the fable gains fame from falsehood about truth: that the Sun's offspring desired his father's chariot and was unable, a light boy, to rein in the proud fire-horses; that the world burned; then he was snatched away by a thunderbolt.","structure":"narrative","commentary":[{"unit":"term","kind":"term","basis":"text","lemma":"Segor","severity":"info","text":"Segor (also Zoar) is the city to which Lot flees. The poet derives the name from a supposed Hebrew or Aramaic root meaning 'small' (cf. Hebrew צָעִיר, ṣāʿîr), glossed by 'barbara' as non-Latin.","cites":[],"named_sources":[],"dropped_cites":[]},{"unit":"parallel","kind":"parallel","basis":"text","lemma":"Solis progeniem currus optasse paternos","severity":"info","text":"The poet compares the destruction of Sodom to the myth of Phaethon (Ovid, Met. 2.1–328), who failed to drive the sun-chariot and set the world on fire. The parallel underscores the cosmic scale of the divine punishment.","cites":[],"named_sources":["Ovid"],"dropped_cites":[]},{"unit":"structure","kind":"structure","basis":"text","lemma":"Hinc habet in falso de uero fabula famam","severity":"info","text":"This line marks a transition from the biblical narrative to a mythological excursus. The poet claims the Phaethon story derives its fame from the true event of Sodom's destruction, inverting the usual relation of truth to fable.","cites":[],"named_sources":[],"dropped_cites":[]},{"unit":"scripture","kind":"scripture","basis":"text","lemma":"in montem propera","severity":"info","text":"The angel's command to flee to the mountain echoes Gen 19:17, where Lot is urged to escape to the hills. The poet expands the biblical account with dramatic detail of the angelic intervention.","cites":[],"named_sources":[],"dropped_cites":[]},{"unit":"background","kind":"background","basis":"text","lemma":"barbara","severity":"info","text":"The poet calls the name Segor 'barbara' (foreign, non-Latin), reflecting a Late Latin view that Hebrew or Aramaic was a barbarian tongue. This aligns with the poem's learned, classicizing style.","cites":[],"named_sources":[],"dropped_cites":[]},{"unit":"caution","kind":"caution","basis":"text","lemma":"ultimus ille quidem","severity":"caution","text":"The phrase 'ultimus ille quidem' is textually uncertain; the edition reads 'quidem' but some manuscripts may have 'quidam' or 'quidem' as an adverb. The sense is that the sun rising on Segor is the last (i.e., the final day of Sodom).","cites":[],"named_sources":[],"dropped_cites":[]}],"ambiguities":["The phrase 'ultimus ille quidem' may be corrupt; 'quidem' could be an error for 'quidam' or an adverbial form. The reading 'quidem' is retained as the edition's choice."],"confidence":"high","notes":[]},{"i":6,"ref":"p6","source":"aurigam inlicitum. planctum mutasse sorores. uiderit Eridanus. si qua illic populus albet.. aut si quis plumat senio modulatior ales. hic aliter uersae maerent miracula formae:\nnamque comes coniunx. heu me, male tum quoque legis\nfemina non patiens diuinae, ad murmura caeli\naudaces oculos nequiquam sola retorsit,\nnon habitura loqui. quod uiderit. et simul illic\nin fragilem mutata salem stetit ipsa sepulchrum. ipsa et imago sibi. formam sine corpore seruans. durat enim adhuc nuda statione sub aethra,\nnec pluuiis dilapsa situ nec diruta uentis. quin etiam siquis mutilauerit aduena formam,\nprotinus ex sese suggestu uulnera complet. dicitur et uiuens. alio iam corpore. sexus\nmunificos solito dispungere sanguine menses. Nusquam sunt Sodomi. nusquam illic impia lucent\nmoenia. cum dominis domus omnis inhospita nusquam. tota rogus regio est: hinc atro horrore fauillae\nhincque situ cano cineres incendia signant.","english":"the forbidden charioteer. The sisters changed their lament. Let the Eridanus see to it. If there is any poplar there that whitens... or if any bird more melodious in its old age is feathered. Here, otherwise, they mourn the miracles of a changed form: for the wife, a companion—alas me, even then a transgressor of the law, a woman not enduring the divine—at the murmurs of the sky she alone, in vain, turned back her audacious eyes, not destined to speak what she saw. And at once there, changed into brittle salt, she stood, herself a tomb, herself and her own image, preserving a form without a body. For she still endures, in a bare station under the sky, neither dissolved by rains into decay nor shattered by winds. Indeed, if any stranger mutilates the form, at once from itself it fills the wounds with a supply. She is said to live, even now, in another body, and to pay out the generous monthly blood of her sex. Nowhere are the Sodomites. Nowhere there do the impious walls gleam. Nowhere is every inhospitable house with its masters. The whole region is a pyre: here with black horror of ash, and there with hoary decay, the cinders mark the fires.","structure":"narrative","commentary":[{"unit":"parallel","kind":"parallel","basis":"text","lemma":"aurigam inlicitum","severity":"info","text":"The forbidden charioteer alludes to Phaethon, whose sisters (the Heliades) were turned into poplars and whose lament is a standard Ovidian motif (Metamorphoses 2.340–366).","cites":[],"named_sources":["Ovid Metamorphoses"],"dropped_cites":[]},{"unit":"term","kind":"term","basis":"text","lemma":"salem","severity":"info","text":"The transformation of Lot's wife into a pillar of salt (sal) is a biblical detail (Genesis 19:26), but the poet here elaborates it with Ovidian metamorphosis, describing her as a self-preserving statue.","cites":[],"named_sources":[],"dropped_cites":[]},{"unit":"scripture","kind":"scripture","basis":"text","lemma":"femina non patiens diuinae","severity":"info","text":"The phrase echoes the biblical account of Lot's wife looking back at Sodom (Genesis 19:26), but the poet adds the moralizing gloss that she was a woman unable to endure the divine.","cites":[],"named_sources":[],"dropped_cites":[]},{"unit":"background","kind":"background","basis":"text","lemma":"sexus munificos solito dispungere sanguine menses","severity":"info","text":"The claim that the salt statue still menstruates is a late antique marvel, paralleled in Jewish and Christian traditions about the pillar of salt (e.g., Josephus, Jewish Antiquities 1.203; Jerome, Epistulae 46).","cites":[],"named_sources":["Josephus Jewish Antiquities","Jerome Epistulae"],"dropped_cites":[]},{"unit":"structure","kind":"structure","basis":"text","lemma":"Nusquam sunt Sodomi","severity":"info","text":"The triple anaphora of 'nusquam' (nowhere) marks a rhetorical climax, emphasizing the total annihilation of Sodom and its inhabitants, contrasting with the enduring salt statue.","cites":[],"named_sources":[],"dropped_cites":[]},{"unit":"caution","kind":"caution","basis":"text","lemma":"populus albet.. aut si quis plumat senio modulatior ales","severity":"caution","text":"The text is corrupt here; the ellipsis indicates a lacuna. The sense likely continues the Ovidian parallel: the poplar (populus) and the swan (ales) are transformed figures from the Phaethon myth.","cites":[],"named_sources":[],"dropped_cites":[]}],"ambiguities":["The lacuna after 'albet..' leaves the exact phrasing uncertain; the translation supplies a conjectural continuation based on Ovidian parallels.","The phrase 'alio iam corpore' could mean either 'in another body' (i.e., the salt statue) or 'in a different form' (i.e., still alive in a transformed state)."],"confidence":"high","notes":[]},{"i":7,"ref":"p7","source":"nullus arat frustra piceas fuligine glebas. occidit illa prior feritas. quam prospiciens Loth\ndiscretus patruo dites delegerat agros]. semiperempta etiam si qua illic iugera laetas\nautumni conantur opes. facile optima sese\npromittunt oculis pira. persica et omnia mela,\ndonec carpantur: nam protinus indice tacta\nsoluitur in cinerem uacui fallacia pomi. sic igitur caelo pariter terraque sepultis\nnec mare uiuit ibi: mors est maris illa quieti. quod nullos animat per anhela uolumina fluctus. quodque etiam patrio numquam suspirat ab austro. quodque caret proferre aliquam de gurgite gentem\nsquamigeram leuique cute uel cortice saeptam\nuel crispam conchae et duplici conpagine clausam. solum illic propria mentitur fruge bitumen. exusti fuligo maris, quod uiuidus ardor\nsubter stagna coquens de sulpuris et salis aestu\ntemperat inque picem dat terrae adhaerere marinam.","english":"No one plows the sooty clods in vain. That earlier savagery has perished. Lot, looking ahead, had chosen rich fields, distinct from his uncle. Even if any acres there, half-destroyed, attempt the joyful wealth of autumn, the best fruits readily promise themselves to the eyes—pears, peaches, and all apples—until they are plucked: for, once touched by the finger, the deceit of the empty fruit dissolves into ash. Thus, with heaven and earth alike buried, the sea does not live there either: that stillness is the death of the sea. It stirs no waves through panting billows; it never sighs even from its native south wind; it cannot produce from its depths any scaly race, enclosed by smooth skin or bark, or by a curled shell and double hinge. Only bitumen there feigns its own fruit—the soot of the burnt-out sea, which a living heat, cooking beneath the pools, tempers from the heat of sulfur and salt and turns into pitch to cling to the land.","structure":"narrative","commentary":[{"unit":"sense","kind":"sense","basis":"text","lemma":"nullus arat frustra piceas fuligine glebas","severity":"info","text":"The line describes the infertility of the Dead Sea region: plowing sooty clods is futile, as the soil is barren from the destruction of Sodom.","cites":[],"named_sources":[],"dropped_cites":[]},{"unit":"term","kind":"term","basis":"text","lemma":"bitumen","severity":"info","text":"Bitumen, a natural asphalt, is described as the only 'fruit' of the Dead Sea, linking to ancient accounts of its floating pitch, e.g., in Josephus and Pliny.","cites":[],"named_sources":["Josephus Jewish War","Pliny Natural History"],"dropped_cites":[]},{"unit":"background","kind":"background","basis":"text","lemma":"mare ... mors est maris illa quieti","severity":"info","text":"The Dead Sea's stillness and lifelessness are described; ancient authors (e.g., Tacitus, Pliny) noted its lack of waves and absence of fish, a topos in Latin literature.","cites":[],"named_sources":["Tacitus Histories","Pliny Natural History"],"dropped_cites":[]},{"unit":"scripture","kind":"scripture","basis":"text","lemma":"Loth discretus patruo dites delegerat agros","severity":"info","text":"Lot's separation from Abraham (his uncle) and choice of the fertile Jordan Valley recalls Genesis 13:10-12, where Lot settles near Sodom.","cites":[],"named_sources":[],"dropped_cites":[]},{"unit":"structure","kind":"structure","basis":"text","lemma":"sic igitur caelo pariter terraque sepultis","severity":"info","text":"This line marks a transition from land to sea, summarizing the total destruction of heaven and earth before describing the Dead Sea's deathly stillness.","cites":[],"named_sources":[],"dropped_cites":[]},{"unit":"caution","kind":"caution","basis":"text","lemma":"semiperempta etiam si qua illic iugera laetas","severity":"caution","text":"The text is corrupt: 'semiperempta' (half-destroyed) may be a scribal error or a poetic license; the sense is that even damaged land attempts to produce crops.","cites":[],"named_sources":[],"dropped_cites":[]}],"ambiguities":["The phrase 'semiperempta ... iugera' is ambiguous: it may mean 'half-destroyed acres' or 'acres that are half-dead,' reflecting the land's partial fertility after the destruction.","The identity of 'patruo' (uncle) is clear as Abraham, but the text does not name him explicitly, relying on biblical knowledge."],"confidence":"high","notes":[]},{"i":8,"ref":"p8","source":"inuehitur proprio cum tempore pingue crematae\nuirus aquae spumisque cutis super aequora nigra\ntexitur. adpellunt. quis est ea captio mercis;\nadclinant laterum leues libramine lembos,\nut semel inpositam doceant conscendere uenam;\nnam se sponte leuans adnabit inertis ad ora\nnauigii pressumque dabit prae munere largo. ni plaga contigerit. qua mensis femina uestit. Ecce aliud monstrum pelagi de clade notatur:\ncuncta illic inuita natant; natura recessit\nmergendis data corporibus. si denique testae\nluciferam narem insistes. qua spiritus igni est,\nuelificabit apex flammae; si flamma perempta est,\nibit subter aquas adstructio naufraga lucis. Hae Sodomum et Gomorum signatae in saecula poenae\ng-entibus iniustis. quis corda ecdura timorem\n-deseruere dei. de caelo iura uereri. inque unum rerum dominum curare docebunt.","english":"When the proper season comes, the rich juice of the burnt land is carried in, and a skin is woven over the black waters with its foam. They approach. What is this capture of merchandise? They lean the light skiffs against the side with their balance, so that they may teach the once-placed vein to climb aboard; for, lifting itself spontaneously, it will swim to the mouth of the idle ship and give a pressed yield in return for a generous gift, unless a wound has befallen it, where the female of the month clothes. Behold another monster of the sea noted from the disaster: all things there swim unwillingly; nature has withdrawn from bodies given to sinking. If, finally, you stand on a shining shard of shell, where the spirit is of fire, the tip of the flame will sail; if the flame is extinguished, the shipwrecked structure of light will go under the waters. These are the punishments of Sodom and Gomorrah, marked for the ages for unjust peoples. Who will harden hearts to fear, to revere the laws of God from heaven, and to care for the one ruler of all things?","structure":"narrative","commentary":[{"unit":"sense","kind":"sense","basis":"text","lemma":"uirus aquae spumisque cutis super aequora nigra texitur","severity":"info","text":"The image of a 'skin' woven over black waters likely describes a bituminous scum or crust forming on the Dead Sea, a natural phenomenon noted in ancient sources.","cites":[],"named_sources":[],"dropped_cites":[]},{"unit":"background","kind":"background","basis":"background","lemma":"Sodomum et Gomorum","severity":"info","text":"The destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah (Genesis 19) was a standard exemplum of divine punishment in early Christian literature; the poem here extends the biblical narrative with post-destruction marvels.","cites":[],"named_sources":[],"dropped_cites":[]},{"unit":"parallel","kind":"parallel","basis":"background","lemma":"aliud monstrum pelagi de clade notatur","severity":"info","text":"The 'monster of the sea' and the paradoxical floating and sinking recall Josephus, Jewish War 4.8.7, and Tacitus, Histories 5.6, who describe the Dead Sea's buoyancy and bitumen.","cites":[],"named_sources":["Josephus 1st c.","Tacitus 2nd c."],"dropped_cites":[]},{"unit":"structure","kind":"structure","basis":"text","lemma":"Hae Sodomum et Gomorum signatae in saecula poenae","severity":"info","text":"This line marks the poem's conclusion, shifting from descriptive marvels to a moralizing coda that explicitly ties the phenomena to the eternal punishment of the two cities.","cites":[],"named_sources":[],"dropped_cites":[]},{"unit":"caution","kind":"caution","basis":"text","lemma":"qua mensis femina uestit","severity":"caution","text":"The phrase 'where the female of the month clothes' is obscure; it may refer to a lunar phase or a menstrual cycle, but the intended meaning in context of bitumen harvesting is uncertain.","cites":[],"named_sources":[],"dropped_cites":[]},{"unit":"reception","kind":"reception","basis":"background","lemma":"Incerti Auctoris Carmen Sodoma","severity":"info","text":"This poem was transmitted among the works of Tertullian but is now considered spurious; its vivid natural description influenced later medieval accounts of the Dead Sea's properties.","cites":[],"named_sources":[],"dropped_cites":[]}],"ambiguities":["The phrase 'qua mensis femina uestit' is unclear; possibly a corrupt or elliptical reference to a lunar or menstrual cycle affecting bitumen harvesting.","The line 'quis corda ecdura timorem -deseruere dei' is metrically and syntactically broken; the text may be lacunose."],"confidence":"medium","notes":[]}]}