Lydgate's Fall of Princes :: :: University of Virginia Library

Next Philopater, callid Tholome,
Þer cam in ordre a worthi duk of Fraunce,
Abitomarus; & out of that contre
Rood into Grece with a gret puissaunce.
And first he gan to make his ordenaunce
Ageyn Romeyn[e]s, al-be thei wer ferre,
Proudli with them for to gynne a werre.

But thei of Rome to ther confusioun,
Bi ther bisshoppis & preestis gan deuise
To vse a cursid fals supersticioun:
Vnto ther goddis in ful cruel wise
To offre up men banewe sacrefise,

610

And burie hem quyk, in Bochas thus I reede,
Bi a fals hope thei better for to speede.

Of Fraunse & Grece thei took[e] ten in noumbre,
Halff men & women, togidre tweyne & tweyne;
And bi fals moordre thei dede hem encoumbre,
Buried hem quik—ther deth was ful sodeyne.
At this sacrefise the goddis gan disdeyne,
And to the Romeyns wex contrarious
For ther fals rihtis supersticious.

And bi record of olde cronicleres,
The yeer fyue hundred fro ther fundacioun
And on & twenti, tho beyng consuleris
Thre in noumbre, as maad is mencioun,
Which gouernyd & reuled al the toun.
The firste callid Lucius Emylius,
And the secounde Catulus Gaius,

Attilius Regulus the thridde consuleer.
Bi al the senat ordeyned wer thes thre,
As I haue told, the silue same yeer
For to gouerne & reule ther cite,
And to preserue hem from al aduersite
Ageyn too peeplis, of Gaule & Lumbardie,
Which than werreied of malis & envie.

Of which[e] werre the Romeyns stood in doute,
The senatours & alle the citeseyns,
Because ageyn them ther cam so gret a route
Of Lumbardis bi this halff the mounteyns,
Ioyned togidre with many fell foreyns,
Which stood departid, as maad is remembraunce,
Fro them of Rome & fro ther obeissaunce.

The peeple rud[e], bestial & vnstable,
Togidre assemblid, wood & furious,
Of multitude verray innumerable,
Vengable of herte, of corage despitous,
Void of al resoun, sodenli furious,
As seith Bochas, I can no ferther gon;—
Ther soudiours bar gisarmys euerichon.

611

And Gisarmes of Gisarme thei wer callid,
Toward Rome them hastyng day be day,
Of gret labour the footmen sore appallid;
But al ther trust on multitude lay.
Of whos komyng Roome stood in affray,
And specialli the consuleris thre,
That out wer sent to fihte for the cite.

Foure score thousand, as writ the cronycleer,
Mihti [men] to stonden at diffence,
In his felasheepe hadde ech consuleer.
And of the Gysarmeȝ noumbred in sentence,
Thre hundred thousand, bi sturdi violence
Goyng on foote, I fynde that thei hadde,
Eihte thousand ouer, that al the feeldis spradde.

I rekne nat them that rood on hors[e]bak,
Which sexe & thretti thousand wer in noumbre,
Sixe hundred ouer, purposed for the wrak,
Fynalli the Romeyns to encoumbre.
The shadwe of them gaff so gret an oumbre,
That on the soil, which afforn was greene,
Ther was vnnethe any sonne seene.

Ther capteyn was Abithomarus,
A manli man & a ful worthi kniht.
And with hem wente Virydomarus,
A-nother capteyn, in steel armyd briht.
Tween them and Romeyns longe laste the fiht;
But on the parti of Rome the cite
Was slayn a consul that was oon of the thre.

Aftir whos deth, of fortune anon riht,
On the parti of them of Rome toun
Eihte hundred thousand took hem to the fliht.
And thus began the fame & the renoun
Of Abithomarus, as maad is mencioun,
Of which victorie his herte was maad fayn.
And on his parti wer thre thousand slayn.

612

But the Romeyns resorted been ageyn;
And aftir that hadde a strong bataille.
And in the feeld so manli thei wer seyn,
And so proudli ther enmyes dide assaille,
That, as myn auctour mak[e]th rehersaille,
Of the Gisarmes, longe or it was niht,
Fourti thousand wer slayn in that fiht.

The thridde tyme, with helpe of them of France
Ioyned to Lombardes & folk of Gaule also,
Thei fauht ageyn, al out off ordenaunce,
Beside the ryuer that callid is the Poo,
Wher bothe batailles togidre hadde adoo.
And, as I fynde, consuleris tweyne
The Romeyn sheltrouns knihtli did ordeyne.

Manlius Torquat callid was the ton;
Flamynus Flakkus was with hym ifeere:
And with the Romeyns togidre forth thei gon
Toward that ryuer with a ful manli cheere;
In which bataille, the stori doth vs lere,
Nyne and fourti thousand slayn on that day
Of ther enmyes, that non ne wente away.

Abithomarus was take prisoneer,
In tokne of tryumphe brouht to Rome toun,
To the Capitoile, with a ful pale cheer,
Lad bounde in cheynis, ther geyned no raunsoun:
Thus hath Fortune appallid his hih renoun.
And in tokne of his disconfiture,
Offrid to goddis was his cote armure.

Thus Lachesis his lyues threed gan drawe
Til Antropos it brak with ful gret peyne.
Viridomarus, that was his fellawe,
Slayn in the feeld bi Romeyns in certeyne.
And of thes [noble] worthi princis tweyne,
This was the eende & the mortal fall,
The feeste accomplisshed callid funerall.

613

And in the tyme of thes mortal werris
Atween thes dukes & them of Rome toun,
Many toknis wer shewed in the sterris,
Merueilous lihtnyngis fro the heuene doun,
And many an vnkouth constellacioun;
Sondri cometes dide in the walkyn appeere,—
Who seeth ther stories may the trouthe lere.

The water of Pitene, that renneth in Itaille,
Which in that contre is a famous flood,
The same hour & tyme of ther bataille,
As seith the stori, was turnid into blood.
Fires in the hair, most furious & wood,
That mihti tours wer with the flawmes brent;
Thre moonys appeeryng in the orient.

The peeple for feer fledde into lowe kauis,
For dreed wex pale & dedli of ther cheer;
And in thre daies wer thre erthe-quauis.
Duryng thes werris and in the same yeer,
Of gret Appollo fill doun the pilleer
Of marbil whit, large and of gret strengthe,
That sexti cubitis acountid was the lengthe.

And in that tyme, the stori seith nat nay,
Of Rome a consul with a gret puissaunce,
Callid Claudius, slouh upon a day
Thretti thousand, & brouht hem to myschaunce,
Of the soudiours that cam out of Fraunce.
And ther was slayn, with many a capteyn lorn,
Viridomarus, of whom I spak toforn.

To his gret shame and confusioun,
As it is remembred be scripture,
The Romeyns made a gret oblacioun
Vp to Iubiter of his cote armure.
And in tokne of his disconfiture,
Withynne that temple, of gold betyn cleer,
To his despiht thei heng up his baneer.