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Jesus has returned from death, and is dining with his disciples.
Ut compressa fames, surgit rex optimus ipse,-------
confessusque Deum, sociis ita denique fatur: [630]
“Pacem optate, viri, pacem laudate quieti;
Salvete aeternùm, socii, aeternumque valete.
Este meî memores: ego claro poscor Olympo.
Iamque adeô duris animos aptate, ferendo
omnia; nec propiùs saevos adiisse tyrannos [635]
sit timor, atque duces affari, et vera monere.
Non vos majestas soliorum, aut sceptra superba
terrificent regum, lucis nil hujus egentes.
Haud longè tum quœrendum, quœ tempora fandi,
quis modus aptus: ego praesens adero omnibus, ora [640]
vestra regens: dabitur verborum copia cuique.
Nec cœlo vires vos, et solamen ab alto
deficient: cùm sol decimo jubar aureus ortu
extulerit, Pater afflabit cœlestibus auris,
diffusumque animis numen divinitus addet: [645]
praeside quo freti, reges rerumque potentes
nil veriti, nostrum vulgabitis undique nomen.
Tum sanctum sese genus aurea tollet ad astra;
densus agens veluti laxis se palmes habenis
luxuriat, foliisque simul fœtuque gravescit. [650]
Denique, cùm suprema dies illuxerit orbi,
omniaque eliciam patefactis ossa sepulcris,
atque iterum in lucem emergent, quos terra tegebat;
hanc vallem, densa hos implebunt agmina colles,
matres, atque viri, vixque hausta luce perempti. [655]
Ipse ego iura dabo, mediaque in valle sedebo
quaesitor, vitas populorum et crimina pendens.
Vos etiam mecum bis senis sedibus ipsi
sublimes mortale genus censebitis unà;
bis senaeque tribus gentis tum vestra subibunt [660]
arbitria, et vestros mirabitur orbis honores.
Interea, Petre, te (nulli pietate secundum
novi etenim) his, rerum summam clavumque tenentem,
praeficimus cunctis, ultro qui nostra sequuti
imperia: hoc te praecipuo insignimus honore: [665]
tu regere, et populis parcens dare jura memento.
Summa tibi in gentes jam nunc concessa potestas:
iamque pios tege pace : voca sub signa rebelles.
Quemcunque in terris scelus exitiale perosus
admonitum frustra justa devoveris ira, [670]
colloquio absterrens hominum, cœtuque piorum,
idem erit invisus cœlo; non ille beatis
sedibus aspiret, nisi tu placabilis idem,
dignatus veniâ, meliorem in pristina reddas.
Iamque adeô tibi concessum mortalibus aegris [675]
claudere siderei portas ac pandere cœli.”
When they’d eaten the great king rose to speak,------- Line 635’s ‘tyrannus’ is, in Latin, a more neutral word than its English derivation, ‘tyrant’: it refers simply to an absolute ruler, a figure who was the norm in the ancient world.
confiding his divinity to his comrades: [630]
“Choose peace, men: in all your hearts praise peace;
Hail forever, comrades, and forever farewell!
Remember me: I’m called to bright Olympus.
Prepare your souls for hardship, enduring
everything; go up to dictators without [635]
fear; admonish the powerful with the truth.
Don’t be cowed by the majesty of thrones,
proud sceptres or kings—you’re not of this world.
Nor should you wait for opportune moments
to speak out: I will be there with you, pray [640]
your right: each one shall be given eloquence.
Nor will heaven’s strength and solace desert you:
When the sun shines golden on the tenth day
my Father will breathe down a heavenly breeze
diffusing into your souls divine spirit; [645]
such that you can meet great kings and rulers
without fear, and proclaim my name everywhere.
A holy race shall rise to the golden stars;
reaching upward like a thick branching vine
luxuriating in its leaves and fruit. [650]
And when the final day comes to the world
I will summon all the bones from their open graves:
they’ll emerge to light that earth had hidden
and fill the valleys and hills with multitudes
women and men, and some barely survived birth. [655]
In that vale I myself will lay down the law
judging the lives and the crimes of people.
And you will be there, seated in twelve thrones
raised up and passing judgment on mankind;
The twelve tribes will submit themselves to your [660]
judgment, and the world will honour your glory.
And you Peter, (your piety is second
to none) I place at the summit, with the keys
taking the lead of all who follow our teaching:
I command this special badge of honour; [665]
Rule the people; ensure they remember the law—
your power over the nations will be supreme.
Grant the pious peace; recall rebels to your flag.
Whomsoever sins upon the earth, cutting
themselves—as your just anger decides—from the, [670]
community of good humankind, he
will be treated the same in heaven. None are blessed
unless your indulgence forgives him, and
restores him, improved, to his original position.
For to you is given the power for humans [675]
to open, or shut, the gates of starry heaven.”
The end of this speech, in which Jesus establishes his church on Peter’s leadership and the leadership of his successors—that is, the Catholic church—is of course an important moment for a Catholic like Vida. Especially a Catholic like Vida who had been commissioned to write his epic by two successors to Peter, Medici popes Leo X and Clement VII. This speech also includes the poem’s second reference to the Protestant reformation, line 668 urging Peter and his successors to recall to their banner or standard (signum) those who have ‘rebelled’ (rebellō; ‘I wage war again, fight back’, from re- (‘again, back’) + bellō, ‘I wage war’). The Gospel ground for this is John:
So when they had eaten breakfast, Jesus said to Simon Peter, “Simon, son of Jonah, do you love Me more than these?”At the head of this post: Saint Peter portrayed as a Pope in the Nuremberg Chronicle. If that strikes you as too dour, then you can have this Rubens canvas instead: Christ gives Peter the Keys of Heaven (1615)
He said to Him, “Yes, Lord; You know that I love You.”
He said to him, “Feed My lambs.”
He said to him again a second time, “Simon, son of Jonah, do you love Me?”
He said to Him, “Yes, Lord; You know that I love You.”
He said to him, “Tend My sheep.”
He said to him the third time, “Simon, son of Jonah, do you love Me?” Peter was grieved because He said to him the third time, “Do you love Me?”
And he said to Him, “Lord, You know all things; You know that I love You.”
Jesus said to him, “Feed My sheep. Most assuredly, I say to you, when you were younger, you girded yourself and walked where you wished; but when you are old, you will stretch out your hands, and another will gird you and carry you where you do not wish.” This He spoke, signifying by what death he would glorify God. And when He had spoken this, He said to him, “Follow Me.” [John 21:15-19]
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