Ἔσσεται ἐσσομένοις, ὅτε Πύραμος ἀργυροδίνης,
ἠϊόνα προχέων, ἱερὴν εἰς νῆσον ἵκηται.
καὶ Σύβαρις πέσεται, καὶ Κύζικος, ἡνίκα γαίης
βρασσομένης σεισμοῖσι καταπίπτωσι πόληες.
ἥξει καὶ Ῥοδίοις κακὸν ὕστατον, ἀλλὰ μέγιστον.
οὔτε Μακηδονίης ἀεὶ κράτος· ἀλλ’ ἀπὸ δυσμῶν
Ἰταλὸς ἀνθήσει πόλεμος μέγας, ᾧ ὕπο κόσμος
λατρεύσει, δούλειον ἔχων ζυγὸν, Ἰταλίδῃσι.
Καρχηδὼν, καὶ σεῖο χαμαὶ πᾶς πύργος ἐρείσει.
τλῆμον Λαοδίκεια, σὲ δὲ τρώσει ποτὲ σεισμὸς
πρηνίξας, στήσει δὲ πάλιν πόλιν εὐρυάγυιαν.
καὶ σὺ, Κόρινθε τάλαινα, τεήν ποτ’ ἐπόψει ἅλωσιν.
ὦ Λυκίης Μύρα καλὰ, σὲ δ’ αὖ ποτὲ βρασσομένη χθὼν
πρηνίξει· πρηνὴς δἑ κλόνῳ πίπτουσ’ ἐπὶ γαῖαν,
εἰς ἑτέραν εὔξῃ προφυγεῖν χθόνα, οἷα μέτοικος.
Ἀρμενίη δέ τε, καὶ σὲ μένει δούλειος ἀνάγκη
Ἰταλόθεν. νηὸν δὲ Θεοῦ μέγαν ἐξαλαπάξει.
ἡνίκα δ’ ἀφροσύνῃσι πεποιθότες, εὐσεβίην μὲν
ῥίψουσι, στυγερὸν δὲ τελοῦσι φόνον περὶ νηὸν,
καὶ τότ’ ἀπ’ Ἰταλίης βασιλεὺς μέγας, οἷά τε δράτης,
φεύξετ’ ἄφαντος, ἄπυστος, ὑπὲρ πόρον Εὐφρήταο,
ὁππότε δὴ μητρῷον ἄγος στυγεροῖο φόνοιο
τλήσεται, ἄλλα τε πολλὰ κακῇ σὺν χειρὶ πιθήσας.
πολλοὶ δ’ ἀμφ’ ἱερὸν Ῥώμης πέδον αἱμάξουσι,
κείνου ἀποδράσαντος ὑπὲρ τὴν πατρίδα γαῖαν.
εἰς Συρίην δ’ ἥξει Ῥώμης πρόμος, ὃς πυρὶ νηὸν
συμφλέξας, πολέμων πολλοὺς δορὶ ἀνδροφονήσει,
Ἰουδαίων δ’ ὀλέσει μεγάλην χθόνα εὐρυάγυιαν.
καὶ τότε δὴ Σαλαμῖνα, Πάφον θ’ ἅμα σεισμὸς ὀλέσσει,
Κύπρον ὅταν περίκλυστον ὑπερκλονέῃ μέλαν ὕδωρ.
ἀλλ’ ὁπόταν χθονίης ἀπὸ ῥωγάδος Ἰταλίδος γῆς
πυρσὸς ὑποστρέψας εἰς οὐρανὸν εὐρὺν ἱκάνῃ,
πολλὰς δὲ φλέξῃ πόλιας, καὶ ἄνδρας ὀλέσσῃ,
πολλὴ δ’ αἰθαλόεσσα τέφρη μέγαν αἰθέρα πλήσῃ,
καὶ ψεκάδες πίπτωσιν ἀπ’ οὐρανοῦ, οἷά τε μίλτος,
γινώσκειν τότε μῆνιν ἐπουρανίοιο Θεοῖο,
εὐσεβέων ὅτι φῦλον ἀναίτιον ἐξολέκουσιν.
εἰς δὲ δύσιν τότε νεῖκος ἐγειρομένου πολέμοιο
ἥξει, καὶ Ῥώμης ὁ φυγὰς, μέγα ἔγχος ἀείρων,
Εὐφρήτην διαβὰς, πολλαῖς ἅμα μυριάσ’ ἀνδρῶν.
τλήμων Ἀντιόχεια, σὲ δὲ πτόλιν οὐκέτ’ ἐροῦσιν·
εἵνεκεν ἀφροσύνης Ἰταλοῖς ὑπὸ δούρασι πίπτεις.
καὶ Συρίην τότε λοιμὸς ἕλῃ, καὶ φύλοπις αἰνή.
αἲ αἲ, Κύπρε, τάλαινα, σὲ δὲ πλατὺ κῦμα θαλάσσης
ῥίψει, χειμερίῃσιν ἀναρριφθεῖσαν ἀέλλαις.
(Chrēsmoi Sibulliakoi 4.97-141)
It shall take place among those yet to be,
When silver-eddying Pyramus his banks
O’erpouring, to the sacred isle shall come.
And Cibyra shall fall and Cyzicus,
When, earth being shaken by earthquakes, cities fall.
And sand shall hide all Samos under banks.
And Delos visible no more, but things
Of Delos shall all be invisible.
And to Rhodes shall come evil last, but greatest.
The Macedonian power shall not abide;
But from the west a great Italian war
Shall flourish, under which the world shall bear
A servile yoke and the Italians serve.
And thou, O wretched Corinth, thou shalt look
Sometime upon thy conquest. And thy tower,
O Carthage, shall press lowly on the ground.
Wretched Laodicea, thee sometime
Shall earthquake lay low, casting headlong down,
But thou, a city firmly set, again
Shalt stand. O Lycia Myra beautiful,
Thee never shall the agitated earth
Set fast; but falling headlong down on earth
Shalt thou, in manner like an alien, pray
To flee away into another land,
When sometime the dark water of the sea
With thunders and earthquakes shall stop the din
Of Patara for its impieties.
Also for thee, Armenia, there remains
A slavish fate; and there shall also come
To Solyma an evil blast of war
From Italy, and God’s great temple spoil.
But when these, trusting folly, shall cast off
Their piety and murders consummate
Around the temple, then from Italy
A mighty king shall like a runaway slave
Flee over the Euphrates’ stream unseen,
Unknown, who shall some time dare loathsome guilt
Of matricide, and many other things,
Having confidence in his most wicked hands.
And many for the throne shall stain with blood
Rome’s soil while he flees over Parthian land.
And out of Syria shall come Rome’s foremost man,
Who having burned the temple of Solyma,
And having slaughtered many of the Jews,
Shall bring destruction on their great broad land.
And then too shall an earthquake overthrow
Both Salamis and Paphos, when dark water
Shall dash o’er Cyprus washed by many a wave.
But when from deep cleft of Italian land
Fire shall come flashing forth in the broad heaven,
And many cities burn and men destroy,
And much black ashes shall fill the great sky,
And small drops like red earth shall fall from heaven,
Then know the anger of the God of heaven,
For that they without reason shall destroy
The nation of the pious. And then strife
Awakened of war shall come to the West,
Shall also come the fugitive of Rome,
Bearing a great spear, having marched across
Euphrates with his many myriads.
O wretched Antioch, they shall call thee
No more a city when around their spears
Because of thine own follies thou shalt fall.
And then on Scyros shall a pestilence
And dreadful battle-din destruction bring.
Alas, alas! O wretched Cyprus, thee
Shall a broad wave of the sea cover, thee
Tossed on high by the whirling stormy winds.
(tr. Milton S. Terry)
Crambe Repetita 