695
    Who kept the Golden Shield;
  And Sergius, the High Pontiff,[64]
    For wisdom far renowned,
  In all Etruria’s colleges
    Was no such Pontiff found. 700
  And all around the portal,
    And high above the wall,
  Stood a great throng of people,
    But sad and silent all;
  Young lads, and stooping elders 705
    That might not bear the mail,
  Matrons with lips that quivered,
    And maids with faces pale. 
  Since the first gleam of daylight,
    Sempronius had not ceased 710
  To listen for the rushing
    Of horse-hoofs from the east. 
  The mist of eve was rising. 
    The sun was hastening down,
  When he was aware of a princely pair 715
    Fast pricking towards the town,
  So like they were, man never
    Saw twins so like before;
  Red with gore their armour was,
    Their steeds were red with gore. 720

  XXXVIII

  “Hail to the great Asylum![65]
    Hail to the hill-tops seven! 
  Hail to the fire[66] that burns for aye! 
    And the shield that fell from heaven! 
  This day, by Lake Regillus, 725
    Under the Porcian height,
  All in the lands of Tusculum
    Was fought a glorious fight. 
  To-morrow your Dictator
    Shall bring in triumph home 730
  The spoils of thirty cities
    To deck the shrines of Rome!”

  XXXIX

  Then burst from that great concourse
    A shout that shook the towers,
  And some ran north, and some ran south, 735
    Crying, “The day is ours!”
  But on rode these strange horsemen,
    With slow and lordly pace;
  And none who saw their bearing
    Durst ask their name or race. 740
  On rode they to the Forum,
    While laurel-boughs and flowers,
  From house-tops and from windows,
    Fell on their crests in showers. 
  When they drew nigh to Vesta, 745
    They vaulted down amain,
  And washed their horses in the well
    That springs by Vesta’s fane. 
  And straight again they mounted,
    And rode to Vesta’s door; 750
  Then, like a blast, away they passed,
    And no man saw them more.

[The Pontiff tells the Romans who their god-like visitors are, and bids the citizens build a temple to them and establish an annual procession in their honour.]

  XL

  And all the people trembled,
    And pale grew every cheek;
  And Sergius the High Pontiff 755
    Alone found voice to speak: 
  “The gods who live for ever
    Have fought for Rome to-day! 
  These be the Great Twin Brethren