Justinian on the Roman Eagle
"After Constantine turned back the eagle
Against the course of heaven which it followed
Behind the man of old who wed Lavinia,
"The bird of God two hundred years and more
5 Stayed on at Europe’s utmost boundary,
Near to the mountains from which it first flew.
"And there it ruled the world beneath the shadow
Of its sacred wings, from hand to hand, until
With the succeeding changes it came to me.
10 "Caesar I was, Justinian I am,
Who, by will of the First Love that I feel,
Rid the laws of what was gross and empty.
"Before I set my whole mind to this work,
I held Christ had one nature and not two,
15 And in that faith I was content to rest.
"But blessed Agapetus, who was then
The supreme shepherd, by his warning words
Directed me back to the one true faith.
"I believed him, and what he held on faith
20 I now view quite as clearly as you see
How contradictions are both false and true.
"So soon as I set my steps with the Church,
It pleased God by his grace to inspire in me
The high task to which I wholly gave myself.
25 "I gave my arms to Belisarius
Who was so joined to the right hand of heaven
That I took it for a sign to let mine rest.
"Here, then, my answer ends to your first question.
Certain details in my reply, however,
30 Require me to add on something more,
"So that you may perceive with how much right
Men strove against the sacrosanct ensign,
Both those usurping it and those opposing.
"You see what power made the eagle worthy
35 Of reverence, beginning from the hour
When Pallas died to give it sovereignty.
"You know it made its home in Alba for
Three hundred years and more, till at the end
Three heroes fought against three others for it.
40 "You know what it achieved through seven kings,
From the Sabine women’s wrong to Lucretia’s woe,
While conquering the countries round about.
"You know what it accomplished when borne by
The noble Romans battling Brennus, Pyrrus,
45 And the rest, the lords and their alliances.
"Then came Torquatus, Quinctius named for
His wild curly locks, the Decii and Fabii
Who won the fame which I am glad to honor.
"It cast down to the ground the pride of Arabs
50 Who followed Hannibal across the Alps’
Rocky crags from which you, Po, cascade.
"Beneath it Scipio and Pompey triumphed
While still young men; and to that hill, below
Which you were born, it showed its cruelty.
55 "Then, near the time when all of heaven willed
To bring the world back to a state of peace,
Caesar took it up at Rome’s command.
"And what it worked from Var up to the Rhine
Was witnessed by the Isere, Loire, and Seine,
60 And all the valleys whose streams fill the Rhone.
"What it worked next after it left Ravenna
And leaped the Rubicon was such a flight
That neither tongue nor pen might follow it.
"Around it wheeled the legions into Spain,
65 Then to Durazzo; and it struck Pharsalia
So sharply that the hot Nile felt the blow.
"Once more it saw Antandros and the Simois
From which it set forth, and where Hector lies;
Then, to Ptolemy’s grief, it soared again.
70 "From there, like a thunderbolt, it fell on Juba,
And afterward it turned back to your west
Where it had heard the blast of Pompey’s trumpet.
"For what it wrought with its succeeding keeper,
Brutus and Cassius howl in deepest hell,
75 And Modena and Perugia wailed for it.
"Weeping still is tearful Cleopatra
Who, fleeing its attack, snatched from the asp,
Instead of it, a dark and instant death.
"With this Augustus it reached the Red Sea shore;
80 With him it spread such peace throughout the world
That the temple of Janus was locked shut.
"But what that standard which stirs me to speak
Had done before and afterwards would do
Throughout the mortal kingdom subject to it
85 "Seems insignificant and shadowy
When, with a clear eye and with pure affection,
You mark it in the hand of the third Caesar,
"Because the living Justice which breathes in me
Gave it the glory, in the hand I’ve mentioned,
90 Of taking vengeance for the wrath of heaven.
"Now wonder at what I unfold for you:
It later sped with Titus to wreck vengeance
Upon the vengeance of the sin of old.
"And, lastly, when the Lombard tooth bit down
95 On Holy Church, beneath the eagle’s wings
Charlemagne through conquest brought her aid.
"Now you can judge the likes of those whom I
Accused just now, and of their sins and failings
Which are the reason for all your misfortunes.
100 "One side opposes to the public standard
The yellow lilies; the other claims the eagle,
So that it’s hard to see which sins the most.
"Let the Ghibellines, let them ply their arts
Under another emblem, for they follow
105 This standard ill in severing justice from it.
"And let the new Charles with his Guelphs not try
To strike it down, but let him dread the talons
That have stripped off the skins of stronger lions.
"Sons, many times before this, have wept for
110 Their father’s sins; and let him not believe
That God will change his coat of arms for lilies!
"This little star is spangled with the spirits
Of those who strove for good but aimed their actions
In order to acquire fame and honor.
115 "And when desires deviate off course
In that direction, the rays of their true love
Must rise on upward with less living force.
"But equal measuring of our rewards
With our merits is part of our delight,
120 Since we see them as neither less nor greater.
"In this way living Justice has so sweetened
Our own affections that they never can
Be bent aside to any wickedness.
"Assorted voices make sweet melody:
125 And so the varied ranking of our lives
Renders sweet harmony among these gyres.
"Within this present pearl shines the light
Of Romeo, whose beautiful and noble
Endeavor was so churlishly rewarded.
130 "But the Provençals who worked against him
Have no last laugh, for he takes an evil path
Who harms himself through the good deeds of others.
"Four daughters, and each one of them a queen,
Had Raymond Berenger, and this was managed
135 By Romeo, a low-born man and pilgrim.
"But then crooked words caused Berenger to ask
A reckoning of this just man who had ever
Returned in payment to him twelve for ten.
"At that point he departed, poor and old,
140 And if the world could know the heart he had
When begging his livelihood crust by crust,
"Much as it praises him, it would praise him more."
