Taught us together where our duty lay;
Our hearts were joined in this conspiracy;
Together we conceived it, and together
We seek the honor of a glorious death.
You wish to join us; do not part us now.
Aug. Yes. I shall join you, traitors that you are,
Ungrateful couple, and more my enemies
Than even Antony or Lepidus:
Yes. I shall join you, since you wish it so;
The fire that burns within you must be quenched,
And all the world, knowing what is in my heart,
Be stunned by punishment as well as crime.
(Augustus, Livia, Cinna, Maximus, Amelia, Fulvia.)
Aug. Heaven at last is kind to me in saving
Maximus from the fury of the waves.
Approach, my only friend, who proved his faith.
Max. Oh, be less gracious to a traitor's heart.
Aug. Speak no more of crime after repentance,
After the danger which you saved me from:
To you I owe my empire and my life.
Max. Let me lay bare the worst of all your foes:
If you still reign, if you are living, Sire,
You owe it only to my jealous rage.
No dutiful remorse disturbed my heart;
To kill my rival, I exposed his plot:
Euphorbus lied in saying I was drowned,
Fearing that you would send for me. I wanted
Time to deceive Amelia, to dismay her,
And carry her from Italy. I hoped
To win her to this plan by holding out
Hope of returning to avenge her lover.
Instead of nibbling at my clumsy bait,
Her courage doubled in the face of danger;
She read my very heart; you know the rest.
And my retelling were superfluous.
You see the outcome of my shameful craft:
If any grace is owing my confession,
Condemn Euphorbus to a thousand tortures,
And let me die before these lovers' eyes.
By his advice I have betrayed my friend,
My love, my king, my honor and my country;
Yet might I still be happy, if I could
Punish myself, once I had punished him.
Aug. Enough, O Heaven! Has fortune, for my ruin,
Someone of mine it still would turn against me?
Let him be aided by the powers of hell;
I am master of myself as of the world,
I am the master and I will to be so.
O rolling years, O memory of man,
Preserve forever my last victory;
Today I triumph o'er the justest wrath
That yet was stirred within a human breast.
Let us be friends, Cinna. 'Tis I who ask it:
As to my enemy I gave you life,
And spite of fury at your base design,
I give it you, even as my assassin.
Let us begin a battle, which of us
Shall have the better, giver or receiver.
You have betrayed my gifts, I double them.
I have heaped them on you, I shall smother you;
And with this grace that I have granted you,
Take, too, the consulate for the coming year.
My child, love Cinna in this noble station,
Prefer its crimson to my blood's, and learn
From me to conquer wrath. I give you back
A husband, and in him, more than a father.
Amel. And I surrender, Sire, to your great kind-
ness.
With clear brilliance I regain my sight.
I recognize my crime, which I thought justice,
And--what no fear of punishment could do--
I feet a strong repentance born within me
And acquiescence in my secret heart.
Heaven has set its seal upon your grandeur
And for the proof, Sire, I am satisfied.
And this I dare declare with pride, since Heaven
Has changed my heart, may it too change the state.
My hate is dying, that I believed immortal;
Is dead, and in its place, a loyal heart.
Henceforward, in stark horror of this hate,
Ardor of service shall replace its fury.
Cin. What can I say, Sire, after our offenses
Receive rewards instead of punishment?
This rare nobility, this mercy shows
Your power more just, my crime more infamous.
Aug. Do not retard a kind of forgetfulness;
And join me in forgiving Maximus:
He has deceived us all, but what he did
Preserves you guiltless, gives me back my friends.
(To Maximus.)
Take your accustomed place with me again;
Resume your reputation and your fame.
But grant Euphorbus grace, too, in his turn,
And let tomorrow, Hymen crown their love.
If you still love her, that is your punishment.
Max. I cannot murmur. I have more than justice.
And I am more confounded by your kindness
Than jealous of the joy you rob me of.
-469-
