A Late Ancient Latin Hymn to Sun1 (Anth. Lat.

385 SB = 389 R2)

translated by Ludwig Maisel

In laudem Solis

Dum mundum Natura potens terramque dicaret,

Sol dedit ipse diem. Horrentia nubila caelo
Dispulit et faciem roseo diffundit in orbe,
Pulchra serenigero fulserunt sidera motu;
5 Nam chaos est sine Sole dies. Tum discere lucem
Coepimus et croceum caeli sentire teporem,
Gurgite cum roseo surgunt ex more iugales,
Naribus elatis efflantes pectore lucem.
Sol rumpit tenebras, rutilo qui fulgit ab ortu,
10 Spargit in aethereos flammantia lumina campos.
Haec homines armenta simul et semina rerum;
Alitis hinc, pecudis uiuit genus omne natantum,
Quod caelum, quod terra tenet, quod sustinet aequor.
Hinc calor infusus, totum qui continet orbem,
15 Dulcia mellifluae dum claudit munera uitae.
Ast ubi iam Titan croceum conscendit in orbem
Cuncta patent, quaecumque tamen nox clauserat atra;
Mox siluae campique uirent et florea rura.
Tunc placidum iacet omne mare, uernantibus undis
20 Flumina: per tremulos currit lux aurea fluctus
(Hic regit imperium mundi, hic tempora sancit!)
Fluctibus ac nitidum tollit caput aether in altum.
Mox tamen alipedum gemmantia lora rigescunt,
Aureus aequus inest currus, ardescit ab Euro,
25 Dum pretio fulgens imitatur lumina Phoebi.
Hic solus uiget orbe deus, quem cernere nobis
Fas nimis est, ireque iuuat per florea rura.
O mirum uirtutis opus, quod flamma gubernat!
Nec non igne suo praestat cum lumine sensus;
30 Hinc corpus, hinc uita redit, hinc cuncta resurgunt.
Namque docet Phoenix, ustis reparata fauillis,
Omnia Phoebeo uiuescere corpora tactu.
Haec uitam de morte petit, post fata uigorem,
Nascitur ut pereat, perit ut nascatur ab igni,
35 Vna cadit totiens surgit quae ac deficit una:
Rupe sedet, capitur radiis, et lumine Phoebi
Suscipit inmissum recidiua morte calorem.

1
Note on translation: I have chosen to translate ‘Sol’ as ‘Sun’, but to treat it as a name, in order to tread the line
between a purely physical meaning—‘the sun’—and a purely theological one—‘the sun-god, the god Sol’. The Latin
word, in each instance, means both things at once.
2
SB = D. R. Shackleton Bailey (Anthologia Latina I 1, Stuttgart 1982); R = A. Riese (Anthologia Latina I2 1, Leipzig
1894 [I 1 Lipsiae 1869]). The Latin text, with textual notes and complete metrical scansion, is found at
http://www.mqdq.it/public/testo/testo/codice/ANTH%7Canth%7C389 (M. N. Iulietto 2009), which is based on L. Zurli
& N. Scivoletto, Anonymi in Laudem Solis (Anthologia Latina, c. 389 Riese = 385 Shlackleton Bailey), Hildesheim
2008.
 Hymn3 to Sun

When mighty Nature inaugurated the world and the earth,

Sun himself gave Day. Frightful clouds in heaven
He dispersed, and bathed the rose-coloured world in his appearance,
The beautiful stars shone in their serene movement;
5 For Day without Sun is chaos4. So, let us begin to become acquainted
With the luminary, and to feel the saffron-coloured warmth of the heaven.
From the rosy water the team (of horses) rises by custom,
With nostrils lifted up, exhaling light from their chest.
Sun breaks asunder the shadows, he who shines from his golden-red rising,
10 Scattering flaming lights onto the ethereal fields.
These are, both to humans and animals, and of (all) things the seeds;
Hence winged ones, cattle, the entire race of swimmers lives5,
Which heaven, which the earth holds, which the smooth sea sustains.
Hence is the heat spread out, which environs the world entire,
15 While it accomplishes sweet gifts of honey-dropping life.
But when Titan (= Sun) ascends to the saffron-coloured world,
All things are open, although dark Night closed them;
Soon forests and fields are verdant, and flowery meadows too.
Then calm lies the entire sea, (and) with surging waves
20 The rivers: through quivering streams runs golden light
(He rules the empire of the world, he sanctifies time!)
And from the streams Ether (= Sun) raises his head to the shining height.
Yet next the glittering reins of the wing-footed/swift (horses) tighten,
Golden, propitious he is in the wagon, begins to blaze from Eurus (= East),
25 While glowing with gold it imitates the lights of Phoebus (= Sun).
This god alone is esteemed in the world, whom to see is for us
Permitted in the highest degree, and he aids to walk through flowery meadows.
O marvellous work of strength, which navigates the flames!
And with his fire and light he appears to the senses;
30 Hence do body, hence life return, hence do all things rise again.
For the Phoenix (too) teaches, restored from red cinders,
That through the touch of Phoebus all things are brought to life.
It seeks life from death, death after vitality,
Is born to die, dies to be born from fire,
35 One falls, which rises as often as the same one dies:
On a rock it sits, is grasped by rays, and taking in the warmth
From the light of Phoebus sent down for restoration from death6.

3
Literally, “In Praise of Sun”, but this misses the near-synonymy of “praise” and “hymn” in Latin.
4
Not “disorder” but rather the abyss, the deepest underworld.
5
Based on Virgil, Georgics 3.541f, this is a florid enumeration of the animals of air, land and water.
6
Literally a “resurrected death” or “recurring death”.
 Sol qui purpureo diffundit lumine terras,
Sol cui uernanti tellus respirat odorem,
40 Sol cui picta uirent fecundo gramine prata,
Sol speculum caeli, diuini numinis instar,
Sol semper iuuenis, rapidum qui diuidit axem,
Sol facies mundi caelique uolubile templum,
Sol Liber, Sol alma Ceres, Sol Iuppiter ipse,
45 Sol iubar et Triuiae, insunt cui nomina mille,
Sol qui quadriiugo diffundit lumina curru,
Sol et Hyperboreo fulgit matutinus in ortu,
Sol reddit cum luce diem, cum pingit Olympum.
Sol aestas, autumnus, hiems, Sol uer quoque gratum,
50 Sol saeclum mensisque, dies Sol, annus et hora,
Sol globus aethereus, haec est lux aurea mundi.
Sol bonus agricolis, nautis quoque prosper in undis,
Sol repetit quaecumque potest transcendere semper.
Sol cui sereno pallescunt sidera motu,
55 Sol cui tranquillo resplendet lumine pontus,
Sol cui cuncta licet rapido lustrare calore,
Sol cui surgenti resonat lyra blanda canorem,
Sol cui mergenti seruat maris unda teporem,
Sol mundi caelique decus, Sol omnibus unus,
60 Sol noctis lucisque decus, Sol finis et ortus.
 Sun, who diffuses with7 crimson light on the lands,
Sun, who renewing himself8, the earth breathes again a new breath,
40 Sun, through whom the painted meadows grow (abundant) with fertile grass,
Sun, the mirror of heaven, resemblance of the divine might,
Sun, forever young, who adorns9 the swift pole (of heaven),
Sun, the face of the world and the revolving circuit of heaven,
Sun is Liber10, Sun is mother Ceres, Sun is Jupiter himself,
45 Sun is also the splendour of Trivia, within whom there are a thousand names,
Sun, who sends out lights from his quadriga,
Sun also shines in the morning in Hyperborean (= Northern) rising11,
Sun returns day with light, when he paints Olympus12.
Sun is summer, autumn, winter, Sun is also beloved spring,
50 Sun is century and month, the day is Sun, (as are) year and hour,
Sun is the ethereal sphere, the same is the golden light of the world,
Sun is good to farmers, and beneficial to seamen on the waves,
Sun tackles again what it can pass forever13.
Sun, (in comparison) to whom the stars in serene motion pale,
55 Sun, to whom the sea reflects back tranquil light,
Sun, to whom it is permitted to illuminate all things with fierce heat,
Sun, the one to whom, as he rises, the flattering lyre sends forth a melody,
Sun, the one for whom, when he sets, the waves of the ocean preserve his heat,
Sun is the glory of world and heaven, Sun is one for all,
60 Sun is the glory of night and light, Sun is the end and the beginning.

7
This construction is as unusual in Latin as in English.
8
I.e. “Whenever Sun renews himself, …”
9
Perhaps a more literal, spatial sense of divido is meant, but I do not know what it would be.
10
These two lines must not be read simplistically as showing evidence of a “solar monotheism”. What we know is that
Sun/solar gods were especially popular in the later Roman empire (as were the other planets!), but the identificatory
pronouncement is quite old as a method of praising a deity. Its effectiveness relies entirely on the functions and identity
of each deity being thought of as distinct; thus, for example, it is peculiarly Trivia’s attribute to be many-named. It is
easy to imagine that, as the other gods become here attributes of Sun, so he might become of them in their hymns.
Certainly they are not reduced to by-names any more than “summer, autumn, winter” are.
11
I am not sure what exactly is meant by this.
12
This might mean Mt. Olympus, or heaven.
13
The literal translation is quite inelegant, but the sense is that the sun can and does revolve eternally.