Canto VI

After Constantine turned the eagle

against heaven's course—the same path it had followed

behind that ancient hero who married Lavinia—

for more than two hundred years the bird of God

At the far edge of Europe it established itself,

near the mountains where it first emerged,

and under the shadow of those sacred wings

it governed the world, passing from hand to hand,

changing rulers until it came to rest on mine.

I was Caesar, and I am Justinian,

who by the will of that first Love I worship

stripped the laws of all that was useless and excessive.

Before I turned my attention to this work,

I believed that Christ had but one nature, not two,

and I was satisfied with such faith.

But blessed Agapetus, who was

the supreme shepherd, pointed me toward

the true faith with his words.

I believed him, and what he declared

I now see as clearly as you see

that contradictions cannot both be false and true.

As soon as I aligned myself with the Church,

God in his grace was pleased to inspire me

with this high calling, and I gave myself wholly to it.

To my general Belisarius I entrusted

the armies, and heaven's right hand joined with his

so perfectly it was a sign that I should find peace.

Here ends my answer to your first question,

but its nature compels me to continue

with more, so that you might understand

with what poor reason men move against

the sacred standard—both those who claim it falsely

and those who oppose it entirely.

See how much virtue has made it worthy

of reverence, beginning from the hour

when Pallas died to give it sovereignty.

You know it made its home in Alba

for three hundred years and more, until at last

the three brothers fought the three for it again.

You know what it accomplished from the Sabine wrong

down to Lucretia's grief, under seven kings,

conquering all the neighboring peoples.

You know what it achieved when carried

by illustrious Romans against Brennus, against Pyrrhus,

against other princes and their allies.

From there came Torquatus and Quinctius,

named for his unkempt hair, the Decii and Fabii—

heroes whose fame I gladly preserve.

It struck down the pride of those Arabs

who followed Hannibal across

the Alpine peaks, O Po, from which you flow.

Under it triumphed, while still young,

Pompey and Scipio, and bitter it seemed

to that hill beneath which you were born.

Then, near the time when heaven willed

to bring the whole world to serene peace,

Caesar took it up by Rome's command.

What it accomplished from the Var to the Rhine

the Isère witnessed, and the Saône and Seine,

and every valley that feeds the Rhône.

What it achieved after leaving Ravenna

and leaping the Rubicon was such swift flight

that neither tongue nor pen could follow.

It wheeled its legions toward Spain,

then toward Durrës, and struck at Pharsalus

so hard the burning Nile felt the blow.

It saw again Antandros and the Simois

where it began, and where Hector lies,

then stirred itself—ill fortune for Ptolemy.

From there it fell like lightning upon Juba,

then wheeled back toward your West

where it heard Pompey's trumpet sound.

What it accomplished with the next standard-bearer

makes Brutus and Cassius howl together in Hell,

and left Modena and Perugia grieving.

The wretched Cleopatra still weeps

because of it—she who, fleeing before it,

took sudden black death from the asp.

With Augustus it ran even to the Red Sea shore;

with him it brought the world such peace

that Janus's temple was closed.

But what this standard that compels me to speak

achieved before and should achieve after

throughout the mortal realm beneath it

appears small and dim

if you look upon it in the hand of the third Caesar

with clear eyes and pure love—

because the living Justice that inspires me

granted it, in his hand of whom I speak,

the glory of wreaking vengeance for divine wrath.

Now pay attention to my answer:

later it ran with Titus to take vengeance

upon the vengeance for that ancient sin.

And when the Lombard tooth bit

the Holy Church, then under those wings

Charlemagne came victorious to her aid.

Now you can judge those whom I accused above

and their crimes, which are the cause

of all your sufferings.

Against the public standard one faction opposes

the yellow lilies, another claims it for their party,

so it's hard to see which sins more.

Let the Ghibellines practice their craft

under some other banner—for disaster always follows

those who separate this standard from justice.

And let not this new Charles strike it down,

he and his Guelphs, but let him fear the talons

that tore the hide from a nobler lion.

Many times already have sons wept

for their father's crimes—let him not think

that God will trade his coat of arms for lilies.

This small planet adorns itself

with good spirits who were active in life

so that fame and honor might follow them.

When earthly desires rise to such heights,

deviating from their true course,

the rays of authentic love must mount less brightly upward.

But that our wages match exactly

our merit is part of our joy,

because we see them neither less nor greater.

Here living Justice so sweetens

our affection that it can never again

be twisted toward any wickedness.

Different voices create sweet harmonies;

so in our life the different ranks

render sweet harmony among these spheres.

Within the compass of this very pearl

shines the light of Romeo, whose grand

and beautiful work was poorly rewarded.

But the Provençals who worked against him

have not had the last laugh—he goes badly

who makes his gain from another's good deeds.

Raymond Berenger had four daughters,

each one a queen, and Romeo accomplished this—

a poor man and a pilgrim.

Then malicious words prompted the count

to demand an accounting from this just man

who had given him seven and five for every ten.

Romeo departed poor and aged,

and if the world could know the heart he carried

while begging his bread bit by bit,

much as it praises him now, it would praise him more.