C. Valerius Catullus, Carmen 66.39–50

The lock tells Berenice how it came to be parted from her head. The passage draws on a famous feat of iron: the canal that the Persian king Xerxes cut through the promontory of Mount Athos.

 

Tier 1

uxor rēgis, ā capite tuō discēdere nōluī. tamen discessī. per tē et per caput tuum iūrō.

 

aliquis frūstrā iūrat. is poenam dignam ferat! nēmō ferrō pār est.

 

ille mōns magnus erat. Sōl, fīlius Thīae, super illum montem it.

 

Mēdī novum mare fēcērunt. iuvenēs barbarī classe per medium Athō iērunt. mōns ferrō perditus est.

 

quid comae facient? ferrō omnia cēdunt. Juppiter, genus Chalybum omne pereat!

 

prīncipiō aliquis sub terrā ferrum quaerere coepit. ferrum dūrum factum est. is quoque pereat!

Original draft written by Robert Amstutz

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