Minor Latin poets; with introductions and English translations

(iRA'mUSthousand hinds " and they each have characteristicsderived from their origin. The Median dog, thouirhundiscipHned, is a great fighter, and great gloryexalts the fiir-distant Celtic dogs. Those of theGeloni,^ on the other hand, shirk a combat and dislikefighting, but they have wise instincts : thePersian is quick in both respects/ Some rearChinese'^ dogs, a breed of unmanageable ferocity;but the Lycaonians, on the other hand, are easytemperedand big in limb. The Hyrcanian dog,however, is not content with all the energy belongingto his stock : the females of their own M'ill seek unionswith wild beasts in the woods : \'^enus grants themmeetings and joins them in the alliance of love.Then the savage paramour wanders safely amid thepens of tame cattle, and the bitch, freely daring toapproach the formidable tiger, produces offspring ofnobler blood. The whelp, however, has headlongcourage : you will find him a-hunting in the very yardand growing at the expense of much of the cattle'sblood. Still you should rear him: whatever enormitieshe has placed to his charge at home, he willobliterate them as a mighty combatant on gainingthe forest. But that same Umbrian dog which hastracked wild beasts flees from facing them. Wouldthat with his fidelity and shrewdness in scent hecould have corresponding courage and correspondingwill-power in the conflict ! What if you visit thestraits of the Morini, tide-swept by a wayward sea,and choose to penetrate even among the Britons ? ^Brilatmin mittit Veloces nostrique orbis venntibus aptos : Claud.Stil. III. 301, mngnaqiLe taurorum fracturae colla Britaiinac.The Morini were northern Gauls whose chief town Gesoriacumbecame Bononia (i3oulognc).167