Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, ed. Poems of Places: An Anthology in 31 Volumes.
Italy: Vols. XI–XIII. 1876–79.

Rome, Hills of

The Palatine Hill

By Claudian (c. 370–c. 404)

Translated by Joseph Addison

THE PALATINE, proud Rome’s imperial seat,

(An awful pile!) stands venerably great:

Thither the kingdoms and the nations come,

In supplicating crowds, to learn their doom:

To Delphi less the inquiring worlds repair,

Nor does a greater god inhabit there:

This sure the pompous mansion was designed

To please the mighty rulers of mankind;

Inferior temples rise on either hand,

And on the borders of the palace stand,

While o’er the rest her head she proudly rears,

And lodged amidst her guardian gods appears.