CARMEN AETHERMARCHAE
Hymn of Aethermarch · For many voices · Date of composition disputed; attributed to the first century A.P.
INVOCATIO
Dii adsunt. Nos sumus. Audite.
The gods are present. We are here. Hear us.
STROPHE I — THE TEARING
Eramus in patria nostra, Sub caelo quod amavimus, In viis quas calcavimus, In templis quae aedificavimus.
We were in our homeland, Beneath a sky we had loved, On roads we had walked, In temples we had built.
Tum venit Permutatio. Tum venit lux et fragor. Tum venit finis mundi nostri. Et nos — nos mansimus.
Then came the Permutatio. Then came light and thunder. Then came the end of our world. And we — we remained.
REFRAIN
Roma non moritur. Roma non cadit. Per ignem, per riftas, per tenebras — Roma aedificat.
Rome does not die. Rome does not fall. Through fire, through rifts, through darkness — Rome builds.
STROPHE II — THE FINDING
Caelum erat novum supra nos. Stellae erant alienae. Terra erat silens et vasta — Et tamen — terra erat firma.
The sky was new above us. The stars were unfamiliar. The land was silent and vast — And yet — the land was solid.
Habuimus manus nostras. Habuimus memoriam. Habuimus deos — qui venerant nobiscum, Qui non nos reliquerunt.
We had our hands. We had our memory. We had our gods — who had come with us, Who had not abandoned us.
REFRAIN
Roma non moritur. Roma non cadit. Per ignem, per riftas, per tenebras — Roma aedificat.
STROPHE III — THE BUILDING
Posuimus primum lapidem. Calcavimus primam viam. Scripsimus primam legem in terra nova — Et Roma iterum surrexit.
We laid the first stone. We walked the first road. We wrote the first law in the new land — And Rome rose again.
Non eadem Roma — nova Roma. Non patria perdita — patria nova. Portavimus omnia quae eramus Et hic fecimus nos ipsos iterum.
Not the same Rome — a new Rome. Not a lost homeland — a new homeland. We carried everything we were And here we made ourselves again.
STROPHE IV — THE WORLD AROUND US
Alii venerunt ante nos. Alii venient post nos. Omnes per eandem lucem transivimus — Omnes in eadem terra stamus.
Others came before us. Others will come after us. All of us passed through the same light — All of us stand on the same earth.
Hoc scimus qui sumus. Hoc non obliviscimur — Nemo hic elegit adesse. Omnes tamen hic sumus.
This we know who we are. This we do not forget — No one chose to be here. And yet here we all are.
REFRAIN
Roma non moritur. Roma non cadit. Per ignem, per riftas, per tenebras — Roma aedificat.
CLAUSULA — THE CLOSE
Manet caelum supra nos. Manet terra sub pedibus nostris. Manent dii nobiscum. Et nos manemus.
The sky remains above us. The earth remains beneath our feet. The gods remain with us. And we remain.
Roma non moritur.
Rome does not die.
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