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Etiam ferocissimos domari.

Even the fiercest are tamed.

Emblema xxix.

Antony in armour and helmet on a chariot driven by lions
[Click on image to enlarge]

Romanum postquàm eloquium, Cicerone perempto, [1]
Perdiderat patriae pestis acerba suae:
Inscendit currus victor, iunxitque leones[2],
Compulit & durum colla subire iugum:
Magnanimos cessisse suis Antonius armis,
Ambage hac cupiens significare duces.

After Antony, that grievous bane of his country, had destroyed eloquence by slaying Cicero, he mounted his chariot in triumph and yoked to it lions, forcing their necks to bow to the harsh yoke, desiring by this symbolic act to indicate that great leaders had given way before his military might.

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HUius historiae testis videri potest Plinius lib. 8.
cap. 16. Primus Romae leones ad currum iunxit
M. Antonius, & quidem civili bello, cùm dimicatum
esset in campis Pharsalicis, non sine quodam osten-
to temporem, generosos spiritus iugum subire illo
prodigio significante.

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Que l’on domte mesmes les plus
haults à la main.

APres que Marc Antoine, usant de sa victoire,
Eut tué Ciceron, des eloquents la gloire,
Sus un grand chariot de triomphe il monta,
Tiré par des Lions, qu’à ces fins il domta;
Par tel traict brave & fier à tous faisant paroistre,
Que des plus grands seigneurs il s’estoit rendu maistre,
Et que les plus haults coeurs, ployez comme Lions,
Estoient assujettis à ses affections.

SEmble que Pline ait couché par escrit
ceste histore, livre 8. chapitre 16. en ces
mots: Le premier qui attela les Lions au
chariot fut Marc Antoine, ce qu’il fit pen-
dant la guerre civile, apres la bataille don-
nee és champs de Pharsale, non sans augure
de ces temps là, ausquels les hommes de
grand coeur & personnages de marque
estoient contrains de porter le joug.

Notes:

1.  ‘had destroyed eloquence by slaying Cicero’. Cicero was considered Rome’s greatest orator - his name was held by many to be synonymous with eloquence itself; see Quintilian, Institutio oratoria 10.1.112. Mark Antony had Cicero murdered in 43 BC in revenge for his scathing attacks in the fourteen ‘Philippic’ orations. See Seneca the Elder, Suasoriae 6.17.

2.  Cf. Pliny, Natural History 8.21.55: Antony was the first to yoke lions to a chariot in Rome...by this unnatural sight giving people to understand that noble spirits were at that time bowing to the yoke.

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Iconclass Keywords

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Relating to the text:

  • Eloquence; 'Eloquenza', 'Fermezza & Gravità dell'Oratione' (Ripa) [52D3] Search | Browse Iconclass
  • Authority, Power; 'Dominio', 'Giurisdittione' (Ripa) (+ emblematical representation of concept) [53C11(+4):54F2(+2)] Search | Browse Iconclass
  • Vehemence, Violence, Fierceness; 'Sforza con Inganno', 'Violenza' (Ripa) [54AA4] Search | Browse Iconclass
  • death of Cicero: he is slain by soldiers at the order of the triumvirs [98B(CICERO)68] Search | Browse Iconclass

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