Book 11
1 O world of men wide-scattered, and long walls,
2 The cities huge and nations numberless,
3 Throughout the east and west and south and north,
4 Divided off by various languages
5 And kingdoms; other things, the very worst,
6 Against you I am now about to speak.
7 For from the time when on the earlier men
8 The flood came and the Almighty One himself
9 Destroyed that race by many waters, then
10 Brought he in yet another race of men
11 Untiring; and they, setting themselves up
12 Against heaven, built to height unspeakable
13 A tower; and tongues of all were loosed again;
14 And on them hurled came wrath of God most high,
15 By which the tower unutterably great
16 Fell; and against each other they stirred up
17 An evil strife. And then of mortal men
18 Was the tenth race since these things came to pass;
19 And the whole earth was among foreign men
20 And various languages distributed,
21 Whose numbers I will tell and in acrostics
22 Of the initial letter show the name.
23 And first shall Egypt royal power receive
24 Preeminent and just; and then in her
25 Shall many-counseling men be governors;
26 Moreover then a fearful man shall rule,
27 Close-fighter very strong; and he shall have
28 This letter of the acrostic of his name:
29 Sword shall he stretch out against pious men.
30 And while this one is ruler there shall be
31 A fearful sign in the Egyptian land,
32 Which, gladdening very greatly, shall with corn
33 Souls perishing with famine then supply;
34 The law-giver, himself a prisoner,
35 The East and offspring of Assyrian men
36 Shall nourish; and his name know thou .mw-parser-output .nowrap,.mw-parser-output .nowrap a:before,.mw-parser-output .nowrap .selflink:before{white-space:nowrap}…
37 … of the measure of the number ten.
38 But when there shall come from the radiant heaven
39 Ten strokes of judgment upon Egypt, then
40 Will I again proclaim these things to thee.
41 Memphis, alas, alas for thee! alas,
42 Great royal one! the Erythræan sea
43 Shall thy much people utterly destroy.
44 Then when the people of twelve tribes shall leave
45 The fruitful land of ruin by command
46 Of the Immortal, the Lord God himself
47 Will also give a law unto mankind.
48 And o’er the Hebrews then a mighty king
49 Magnanimous shall rule, and have a name.
50 Derived from sandy Egypt, Theban man
51 Of doubtful native land; and Memphis he,
52 Dread serpent, will show outward signs of love,
53 And he will watch o’er many things in wars.
54 Now the tenth kingdom being twelve times complete
55 Seven besides and even unto the tenth hundred,
56 Others being altogether left behind,
57 Then shall arise the Persian sovereignty.
58 And then an evil shall befall the Jews,
59 Famine and pestilence intolerable
60 They do not make escape from in that day.
61 But when a Persian shall rule, and a son
62 Of his son’s son shall lay the scepter down,
63 While years roll round to five fours, and to these
64 A hundred more, and thou a hundred nines
65 Shalt finish and all things shalt thou repay;
66 And then unto the Persians and the Medes
67 Shalt thou be given over as a slave,
68 Destroyed with blows by reason of hard fights.
69 Straightway to Persians and Assyrians
70 And to all Egypt shall an evil come,
71 And to Libya and the Ethiopians,
72 And to the Carians and Pamphylians
73 And to all other mortals. And he then
74 Shall to the grandsons give the royal power,
75 Who again snatching the whole earth away
76 Shall plunder races for their many spoils,
77 Not having fellow-feeling. Mournful dirges
78 Shall the sad Persians by the Tigris wail,
79 And Egypt water many a land with tears.
80 And then to thee, O Median land, a man
81 Of wealth abundant and of Indian birth
82 Shall many evils do, till thou repay
83 All things which thou, possessed of shameless soul,
84 Hast done before. Alas, alas for thee,
85 Thon Median nation; thou shalt afterwards
86 Be servant unto Ethiopian men
87 Beyond the land of Meroe; wretched thou
88 Shalt from the first seven and a hundred years
89 Complete, and put thy neck beneath the yoke.
90 And then an Indian of dark countenance
91 And gray hair and great soul shall afterwards
92 Become lord, who shall many evils bring
93 Upon the East by reason of hard fights;
94 And he shall treat thee more despitefully
95 And shall destroy all thy men. But when he
96 The twentieth and the tenth year shall be king,
97 Among them, also seven and the tenth,
98 Then every nation of a royal power
99 Shall be mad and declare their liberty,
100 And during three years leave their servile blood.
101 But he shall come again and every nation
102 Of valiant men shall put their neck again
103 Under the yoke, serve the king as before,
104 And of its own free will again obey.
105 There shall be great peace throughout all the world.
106 And then o’er the Assyrians there shall rule
107 A mighty king, a man preeminent,
108 And shall persuade all to speak pleasing things,
109 Which God ordained according to the law;
110 Then all kings arrogant with pointed spears
111 Timid and speechless shall before him quail,
112 And him shall very powerful rulers serve
113 Because of counsels of the mighty God;
114 For he will carry all things in detail
115 By reason, and all things will he subject,
116 And he the temple of the mighty God
117 And lovely altar will himself erect
118 In his might, and will hurl the idols down;
119 And gathering tribes together, both the race
120 Of fathers and the helpless little ones,
121 He shall encompass the inhabitants;
122 His name shall have two hundred for its number,
123 And of the eighteenth letter show the sign.
124 But when for rolling decades two and five
125 He shall rule, going forwards towards the end
126 Of his time, there shall be as many kings
127 As there are tribes of men, as there are clans,
128 As there are cities, and as isles and coasts,
129 And fields and lands that bring forth goodly fruit.
130 But one of these shall be a mighty king,
131 A leader among men; and many kings
132 Of lofty spirit shall submit to him,
133 And to his sons and grandsons opulent
134 Give portions on account of royal power.
135 Decades of decades, eight ones upon these
136 Of years shall they rule, and at last shall end.
137 But when with cruel Ares there shall come
138 A powerful wild beast, even then for thee,
139 O queenly land, shall wrath spring forth again.
140 Alas, alas for thee, thou Persian land;
141 What an outpouring of the blood of men
142 Shalt thou receive when that strong-minded man
143 Comes to thee; then I’ll shout these things again.
144 But when Italian soil shall generate,
145 Great wonder unto mortals, there shall be
146 Moans of young children by a fountain pure,
147 In shady cavern offspring of wild beast
148 That feeds on sheep, who unto manhood grown
149 Shall upon seven strong hills with reckless soul
150 Hurl many headlong down, in numbers both
151 Having a hundred, and their names shall show
152 A great sign to them that are yet to be;
153 And they shall build upon the seven hills
154 Strong walls and wage around them grievous war.
155 And then again shall there be growing up
156 Revolt of men around thee, thou great land
157 Of fine ears, high-souled Egypt; but again
158 I’ll cry these things. And yet thou shalt receive
159 A great stroke in thy houses; and again
160 Shall there be a revolt of thine own men.
161 Now over thee, O wretched Phrygia,
162 I weep in pity; for to thee from Greece,
163 Tamer of horses, there shall conquest come
164 And war and plague by reason of hard fights.
165 Ilium, I pity thee; for there shall come
166 From Sparta an Erinys to thy halls
167 Mixed with a deadly sting; and most of all
168 Shall she bring thee toils, troubles, groans, and wails,
169 When well-skilled men the battle shall begin,
170 By far the noblest heroes of the Greeks
171 Who are to Ares dear. And one of these
172 Shall be a strong brave king; of foulest deeds
173 He for his brother’s sake will go in quest.
174 And they shall overthrow the famous walls
175 Of Phrygian Troy; when of the rolling years
176 Twice five shall be filled with the bloody deeds
177 Of savage war, a wooden artifice
178 Shall sudden cover men, and on thy knees
179 Thou shalt receive this, not perceiving it
180 To be an ambush pregnant with the Greeks,
181 O cause of grievous woe. Alas, alas,
182 How much in one night Hades shall receive,
183 And what spoils of the old man weeping much
184 Shall he bear off! But with those yet to come
185 Shall be undying fame. And the great king,
186 A hero sprang from Zeus, shall have his name
187 Of the first letter of the alphabet;
188 Homewards shall he in order go. And then
189 Shall he fall by a treacherous woman’s hand.
190 And there shall rule a child sprung from the race
191 And the blood of Assaracus, renowned
192 Of heroes, both a strong and valiant man.
193 And he shall come out of the mighty fire
194 Of ravaged Troy, fleeing from fatherland
195 By reason of the fearful toil of war;
196 Bearing his aged father on his shoulders
197 And also holding his son by the hand
198 He shall perform a pious work of law,
199 Who, looking cautiously about him, cleft
200 The onset of the fire of burning Troy,
201 And hurrying through the multitude in dread
202 He shall pass over land and fearful sea.
203 And he shall have a trisyllabic name,
204 For the beginning of the alphabet
205 Points out this highest man as not unknown.
206 And then a city for the powerful Latins
207 He will raise up. And in his fifteenth year,
208 Destroyed by waters in the depths of sea,
209 Shall he lay hold on the event of death.
210 But him though dead the nations of mankind
211 Shall not forget; for his race over all
212 Shall rule hereafter even to Euphrates
213 And river Tigris, throughout the mid land
214 Of the Assyrians, where the Parthians
215 Extended. For those who are yet to come
216 It shall be, when all these things come to pass.
217 And there shall be an old man, minstrel wise,
218 Whom all shall among mortals call most wise,
219 By whose good understanding the whole world
220 Shall be instructed; for his chapters he
221 According to their power of thoughts will write.
222 And wisely will he write most marvelous things,
223 At times appropriating words of mine
224 Measures and verses; for he shall the first
225 My books unfold and after these things hide them
226 And unto men bring them to light no more
227 Until the end of baneful death and life.
228 But when forthwith these things have been fulfilled
229 Which I spoke, yet again the Greeks shall fight
230 With one another; and Assyrians,
231 Arabians and the quiver-bearing Medes,
232 And Persians and Sicilians shall rise up,
233 And Lydians, Thracians and Bithynians,
234 And they who dwell in the land of fair corn
235 Beside the streams of Nile; and among all
236 Will God the imperishable put at once
237 Confusion. But exceeding terribly
238 Shall an Assyrian base-born fiery man
239 Come suddenly, possessed of beastly soul,
240 And looking cautiously about him cut
241 Through every isthmus, going against all,
242 And sailing o’er the sea. Then, faithless Greece,
243 To thee shall happen very many things.
244 Alas, alas for thee, O wretched Greece,
245 How many things thou art obliged to wail!
246 And during seven and eighty rolling years
247 Thou shalt the miserable refuse be
248 Of fearful battle among all the tribes.
249 Then shall a Macedonian man again
250 Bring forth for Hellas woe and shall destroy
251 All Thrace, and toil of Ares on the isles
252 And coasts and the war-loving Triballi.
253 .mw-parser-output .wst-asterisks{display:block;margin:auto;text-align:center}…….
254 …….
255 He shall among the foremost fighters be,
256 And he shall share that name which shows the sign
257 Of numbers ten times fifty. And short-lived
258 Shall he be; but behind him he shall leave
259 The greatest kingdom on the boundless earth.
260 But by base spearman he himself shall fall
261 While thought to live in quiet as none else.
262 And afterwards shall a great-hearted child
263 Of this one rule, beginning with his name
264 The alphabet; but his race shall pass out.
265 Not of Zeus, not of Ammon shall they call
266 This one true son, yet still a bastard son
267 Of Cronos as they all imagine him.
268 And cities he of many mortal men
269 Shall plunder; and for Europe shall shoot up
270 The greatest sore, And also terribly
271 Will he abuse the city Babylon,
272 And every land the sun looks down upon,
273 And he alone shall sail both east and west.
274 Alas, alas for thee, O Babylon,
275 Thou shalt serve triumphs, who wast called a queen;
276 Down upon Asia Ares comes, he comes
277 Surely and shall thy many children slay.
278 And then shalt thou send forth thy royal man
279 Named by the number four, expert with spear
280 Among the mighty warriors, terrible,
281 Shooting with bow and arrow. And then famine
282 And war shall hold possession of the midst
283 Of the Cilicians and Assyrians;
284 But kings of lofty spirit shall embrace
285 The dreadful state of heart-consuming strife.
286 But do thou, fleeing, leave the former king,
287 Be neither willing to remain nor fear
288 To be unhappy; for on thee shall come
289 A dreadful lion, a flesh-eating beast,
290 Wild, strange to justice, wearing on his shoulders
291 A mantle. Flee the thunder-smiting man.
292 And Asia all shall bear an evil yoke,
293 And many a murder shall the wet earth drink.
294 But when a mighty city prosperous
295 Ares of Pella shall in Egypt found,
296 And it shall be named from him, fate and death,
297 By his companions treacherously betrayed
298 …….
299 …….
300 For barbarous murder shall destroy this man
301 Around the tables when he shall have left
302 The Indians and shall come to Babylon.
303 Thereafter other kings, in a few years,
304 Devourers of the people, arrogant
305 And faithless, shall rule each by his own tribe;
306 But a great-hearted hero, who shall glean
307 All fenced Europe, from the time each land
308 Shall drink the blood of all tribes, shall forthwith
309 Abandon life, unloosing his own fate.
310 And other kings there shall be, twice four men
311 Of his race, and the same name to them all,
312 And there shall be a bride of Egypt then
313 Commanding and a noble city great
314 Of Macedonian lord, queen Alexandria,
315 Famed nourisher of cities, shining fair
316 She alone shall be the metropolis.
317 Let Memphis then upbraid them that command,
318 And peace shall be deep throughout all the world;
319 Then shall the land of black soil have more fruits.
320 And then there shall come evil to the Jews,
321 Nor shall they in that day make their escape
322 From famine and intolerable plague;
323 But the new world of black soil and fair corn,
324 Divine land, shall receive much-wandering men.
325 But marshy Egypt’s eight kings shall fill up
326 The numbers of two hundred years and three
327 And thirty. Yet shall offspring perish not
328 Of all of them, but there shall issue forth
329 A female root, a bane of mortal men,
330 Betrayer of her kingdom. But they shall
331 According to their evil deeds perform
332 Their wickedness thereafter, and one here
333 Another there shall perish; son that wears
334 The purple shall cut off his warlike sire,
335 And he himself in turn by his own son,
336 And ere he shall put forth another shoot
337 He shall cease; but a root shall sprout again
338 Thereafter of itself; and there shall be
339 A race beside him growing. For a queen
340 There shall be of the land by Nilus’ streams
341 Which comes down through seven mouths into the sea,
342 And her name very lovely shall be that
343 Of the number twenty; and she will demand
344 Numberless things and gather up all goods
345 Of gold and silver; but from her own men
346 Shall treachery befall her. Then again.
347 For thee, O dusky land, shall there be wars
348 And battles and great slaughter of mankind.
349 When many over fertile Rome shall rule,
350 Examples not at all of happy men,
351 But tyrants, and there be of thousands chiefs
352 And of ten thousands, and the overseers
353 Of popular assemblies under law,
354 Then shall the mightiest Caesars bear the rule.
355 Ill-fated all their days; and of these last
356 Shall for initial have the number ten,
357 Last Cæsar stretching on the earth his limbs,
358 Struck by dire Ares by a hostile man,
359 Whom carrying in their hands the youth of Rome
360 Shall bury piously, and over him
361 Pour out their token for his friendship’s sake
362 Rendering a tribute to his memory.
363 But when thou shalt come to an end of time
364 And hast completed twice three hundred years
365 And twice ten, from the time when he shall rule
366 Who is thy founder, child of the wild beast,
367 There shall no longer a dictator be
368 Ruling a measured period; but a lord
369 Shall become king, man equal to the gods.
370 Then, Egypt, know the king that comes to thee;
371 And dreadful Ares of the glittering helm
372 Shall surely come. For there shall be for thee,
373 O widowed one, a capture afterwards;
374 For round the walls of thy land there shall be
375 Terrible raging mischief-working wars.
376 But having suffered misery in wars
377 Thou, wretched, shalt thyself flee from above
378 Those lately wounded; and then to the couch
379 Shalt thou come to the dreadful man himself;
380 The wedlock, sharing one bed, is the end.
381 Alas, alas for thee, ill-wedded bride,
382 Thy royal power unto the Roman king
383 Shalt thou give, and thou shalt repay all things,
384 Which thou aforetime didst with masculine hands;
385 Thou shalt give the whole land by way of dower
386 As far as Libya and the dark-skinned men
387 To the resistless man. And thou shalt be
388 No more a widow, but thou shalt cohabit
389 With a man-eating lion terrible,
390 A furious warrior. And then shalt thou be
391 Unhappy and among all men unknown;
392 For thou shalt leave possessed of shameless soul;
393 And thee, the stately, shall the encircling tomb
394 Receive … is gone … living within …
395 Adapted at the summits, beautiful,
396 Wrought curiously, and a great multitude
397 Shall mourn thee and the dreadful king shall make
398 A piteous lamentation over thee.
399 And then shall Egypt be the toiling slave
400 Who many years against the Indians bears
401 Her trophics; and she shall serve shamefully,
402 And with the river, the fruit-bearing Nile,
403 Mingle her tears, for having gathered wealth
404 And store of all good things, a nourisher
405 Of cities, she shall feed sheep-cating race
406 Of fearful men. Ah, to how many beasts,
407 O very wealthy Egypt, thou shalt be
408 Booty and spoil, but giving peoples laws;
409 And formerly delighting in great kings
410 Thou shalt to peoples be a wretched slave
411 On account of that people, whom of old
412 Piously living thou led’st to much woe
413 Of toils and wailings, and didst put a plow
414 Upon their neck and irrigate the fields
415 With mortal tears. Therefore the Lord himself,
416 The imperishable God who dwells in heaven,
417 Shall utterly destroy and send thee on
418 To wailing; and thou shalt make recompense
419 For what thou didst unlawfully of old,
420 And know at last that God’s wrath came to thee.
421 But I to Python and to Panopeus
422 Of goodly towers shall go; and then shall all
423 Declare that I am a true prophetess
424 Oracle-singing, yet a messenger
425 With maddened soul…
426 And when thou shalt come forward to the books
427 Thou shalt not tremble, and all things to come
428 And things that were ye shall know from our words;
429 Then none shall call the God-seized prophetess
430 An oracle-singer of necessity.
431 But now, Lord, end my very lovely strain,
432 Driving off frenzy and real voice inspired
433 And fearful madness, and give charming song.