Propertius 8

disce, quid Esquilias hac nocte fugarit aquosas, cum uicina nouis turba cucurrit agris. Lanuuium annosi uetus est tutela draconis, hic, ubi tam rarae non perit hora morae, qua sacer abripitur caeco descensus hiatu, qua penetrat (uirgo, tale iter omne caue!) ieiuni serpentis honos, cum pabula poscit annua et ex ima sibila torquet humo. talia demissae pallent ad sacra puellae, cum temere anguino creditur ore manus. ille sibi admotas a uirgine corripit escas: uirginis in palmis ipsa canistra tremunt. si fuerint castae, redeunt in colla parentum, clamantque agricolae "fertilis annus erit." huc mea detonsis auecta est Cynthia mannis: causa fuit Iuno, sed mage causa Venus. Appia, dic quaeso, quantum te teste triumphum egerit effusis per tua saxa rotis! [turpis in arcana sonuit cum rixa taberna; si sine me, famae non sine labe meae.] spectaclum ipsa sedens primo temone pependit, ausa per impuros frena mouere locos. serica nam taceo uulsi carpenta nepotis atque armillatos colla Molossa canis, qui dabit immundae uenalia fata saginae, uincet ubi erasas barba pudenda genas. cum fieret nostro totiens iniuria lecto, mutato uolui castra mouere toro. Phyllis Auentinae quaedam est uicina Dianae, sobria grata parum: cum bibit, omne decet. altera Tarpeios est inter Teia lucos, candida, sed potae non satis unus erit. his ego constitui noctem lenire uocatis, et Venere ignota furta nouare mea. unus erat tribus in secreta lectulus herba. quaeris concubitus? inter utramque fui. Lygdamus ad cyathos, uitrique aestiua supellex et Methymnaei Graeca saliua meri. Nile, tuus tibicen erat, crotalistria phillis, haec facilis spargi munda sine arte rosa, nanus et ipse suos breuiter concretus in artus iactabat truncas ad caua buxa manus. sed neque suppletis constabat flamma lucernis, reccidit inque suos mensa supina pedes. me quoque per talos Venerem quaerente secundos semper damnosi subsiluere canes. cantabant surdo, nudabant pectora caeco: Lanuuii ad portas, ei mihi, solus eram; cum subito rauci sonuerunt cardine postes, et leuia ad primos murmura facta Laris. nec mora, cum totas resupinat Cynthia ualuas, non operosa comis, sed furibunda decens. pocula mi digitos inter cecidere remissos, palluerantque ipso labra soluta mero. fulminat illa oculis et quantum femina saeuit, spectaclum capta nec minus urbe fuit. Phyllidos iratos in uultum conicit unguis: territa uicinas Teia clamat aquas. lumina sopitos turbant elata Quiritis, omnis et insana semita nocte sonat. illas direptisque comis tunicisque solutis excipit obscurae prima taberna uiae. Cynthia gaudet in exuuiis uictrixque recurrit et mea peruersa sauciat ora manu, imponitque notam collo morsuque cruentat, praecipueque oculos, qui meruere, ferit. atque ubi iam nostris lassauit bracchia plagis, Lygdamus ad plutei fulcra sinistra latens eruitur, geniumque meum protractus adorat. Lygdame,nil potui: tecum ego captus eram. supplicibus palmis tum demum ad foedera ueni, cum uix tangendos praebuit illa pedes, atque ait "admissae si uis me ignoscere culpae, accipe, quae nostrae formula legis erit. tu neque Pompeia spatiabere cultus in umbra, nec cum lasciuum sternet harena Forum. colla caue inflectas ad summum obliqua theatrum, aut lectica tuae se det aperta morae. Lygdamus in primis, omnis mihi causa querelae, ueneat et pedibus uincula bina trahat." indixit leges: respondi ego "legibus utar". riserat imperio facta superba dato. dein, quemcumque locum externae tetigere puellae, suffiit, at pura limina tergit aqua, imperat et totas iterum mutare lucernas, terque meum tetigit sulpuris igne caput. atque ita mutato per singula pallia lecto respondi, et toto soluimus arma toro.

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Hear what caused a headlong flight, through the watery Esquiline, tonight, when a crowd of residents rushed through New Fields, and a shameful brawl broke out in a secret bar: though I wasn’t there, my name was not untarnished. Lanuvium, from of old, is guarded by an ancient serpent: the hour you spend on such a marvellous visit won’t be wasted; where the sacred way drops down through a dark abyss, where the hungry snake’s tribute penetrates (virgin, be wary of all such paths!), when he demands the annual offering of food, and twines, hissing, from the centre of the earth. Girls grow pale, sent down to such rites as these, when their hand is rashly entrusted to the serpent’s mouth. He seizes the tit-bits the virgins offer: the basket itself trembles in their hands. If they’ve remained chaste they return to their parents’ arms, and the farmers shout: ‘It will be a fertile year.’ My Cynthia was carried there, by clipped horses. Juno was the pretext, but Venus was more likely. Appian Way, tell, I beg you, how she drove in triumph, you as witness, her wheels shooting past over your stones. She was a sight, sitting there, hanging over the end of the shaft, daring to loose the reins over foul places. For I say nothing of the silk-panelled coach of that plucked spendthrift, or his hounds with jewelled collars on their Molassian necks, he who’ll offer himself for sale, fated for filthy stuffing, while a shameful beard covers those smoothly shaven cheeks. Since harm so often befell our couch, I decided to change my bed by moving camp. There’s a certain Phyllis, who lives near Aventine Diana. When she’s sober nothing pleases: when she’s drunk anything goes. Teia is another, among the groves of Tarpeia, lovely, but full of wine, one man’s never enough. I decided to call on them to lighten the night-time, and refresh my amours with untried intrigue. There was a couch for three on a private lawn. Do you want to know how we lay, I between the two. Lygdamus was cup-bearer, with a set of summer glassware, and Greek wine that tasted Methymnian. Nile, the flute-player was yours, Phyllis was castanet dancer, and artless elegant roses were nicely scattered. Magnus the dwarf, himself, tiny of limb, waved his stunted hands to the boxwood flute. The lamp-flames flickered though the lamps were full, and the table sloped sideways on its legs. And I looked to throw Venus with lucky dice, but the wretched Dogs always leapt out at me. They sang, I was deaf: bared their breasts, I was blind. Alas, I was off alone by Lanuvium’s gates. When suddenly the doors creaked aloud on their hinges and a low murmur rose from the entrance by the Lares. Immediately Cynthia flung back the folding screens, with hair undone, and furiously fine. I dropped the glass from between my loosened fingers, and my lips paled though they were slack with wine. Her eyes flashed lightning, how the woman raged: a sight no less dire than the sacking of a city. She thrust her angry nails at Phyllis: Teia cried out in terror to the local waters. The raised torches disturbed the sleeping neighbours, and the whole street echoed with midnight madness. The first tavern in a dark street swallowed the girls, with loose dresses and dishevelled hair. Cynthia exulted in the spoils, and ran back victorious to strike my face with perverse hands, put her mark on my neck, drew blood with her mouth, and most of all struck my eyes that deserved it. And then when her arms were tired with plaguing me, she rooted out Lygdamus lying sheltered by the left-hand couch, and, dragged forward, he begged my spirit to protect him.  Lygdamus, I couldn’t do a thing: I was a prisoner like you. With outstretched hands, and only then, it came to a treaty, though she would barely allow me to touch her feet, and said: ‘If you’d have me pardon the sins you confess, accept what the form of my rule will be. You’re not to walk about, all dressed up, in the shade of Pompey’s colonnade, or when they strew the sand in the licentious Forum. Take care you don’t bend your neck to the back of the theatre, or give yourself over to your loitering by some open carriage. Most of all let Lygdamus be sold, he’s my main cause for complaint, and let his feet drag round double links of chain.’ She spelt out her laws: I replied ‘I’ll obey the law.’ She smiled, with pride in the power I had granted. Then with fire she purified whatever the alien girls had touched, and washed the threshold with pure water. She ordered me to change all my clothes again, and touched my head three times with burning sulphur, and so I responded by changing the bed, every single sheet, and on the familiar couch we resolved our quarrel.