THE CONSPIRACY OF AENEAS & ANTENOR Against the State of Troy. A POEM.  
LUCIAN, The Cock or Dream,  
He has his thoughts busied about his Son Who is unworthy to succeed him, or his Brother that raises Troops privately and makes Creatures underhand.  
LONDON, Printed for John Spicer, 1682.   

THE CONSPIRACY OF AENEAS and ANTENOR Against the State of Troy, etc.  

LOng time had Troy through various Tumults passed;  
And War laid all her Habitations waste,  
A Holy War! for the pretended cause  
Was, as 'tis still; Religion and the Laws,  
'Twas said the King when he received his Crown,  
Did Bargain with the Gods to Guard his Town;  
And's People claimed his Coronation-Oath,  
But as 'twas wispered then, he broke 'em both:  
His Subjects might not their own right dispute;  
His Empire was from Heaven and absolute;  
Wherefore th' avenging Gods more angry grown,  
Espoused the cause, and made it all their own:  
They drove their own Anointed to distress,  
And Crowned a Rebel-Army with success:  
At length the King at his own Gate being slain,  
And all the Trojan Towers Rebuilt again;  
Priam by Right and Merit claims the Throne;  
Priam though young, yet mighty in renown;  
For none with greater Courage in the war  
Against Alcides' Bosom broke his Spear:  
Thrice through their Ranks his Passage he'd have forced,  
But being but young, as many time unhorsed:  
Had half his Army half his Courage shown,  
Laomedon till now had kept his Crown.  
A happy King in such a Sons defence,  
And happy he in being still but Prince.  
Never did King at such advantage rise,  
Known to be Gracious and reputed Wise,  
Born on his Subject's Love, and big with Fate,  
Supposed the only means to fix the State;  
His friendship by each neighbouring Prince embraced  
And every Subject blest Him as he passed;  
Whose every Purse so freely he might use,  
His own Estate was thought superfluous;  
With which he all his Enemies regained,  
And with a Golden shower enriched his Land;  
Thus did he Reign near thirty years in Peace,  
And saw his Line to fifty Sons increase.  
All which did promise wonders in their Youth,  
But in Physiognomy there is no truth.  
For all deceived his hopes but only one,  
The Godlike Hector, his brave eldest Son.  
Hector his Father's Joy, and Country's Pride,  
And to whose Sword the Fate of Troy was tied;  
When any State did any Monarch brave,  
The proudest Tyrant Hector's Aid would Crave:  

But when too far his Victories did run,  
Priam did only Countermand his Son,  
And straight he spewed up all that he had won;   

So when the Zealous Multitude that dwelled  
Beyond Scamander's bounding stream rebelled,  
By Hector's hand they easily were quelled;   
Who then in silent Triumph, big with Fame,  
Like Phoebus to his Father's Arms he came;  
Having restored his Heaven to its Peace;   

But see a fatal Helen sails from Greece;  
Who shall betray your Counsels to her Lord,  
And from their Head remove your trusty Sword:  
See how the Neighbouring Potentates Conspire,  
And Chalchas holy Zeal blows up the Fire:  
Chalchas, th'eternal Foe of Ilium's State,  
By Priests-Succession does derive his hate;  
He makes all Heaven his Pious Cause Espouse,  
And arms more War-like-Saints than Atlas knows;  
But arm them all, their own Created Shrines  
While the Palladium in our Temples shines,  
Which does from Heaven its Pedigree derive,  
The greatest Blessing Jove himself could give;  
A Guard sufficient if all others fail;  
'Gainst which even Hell its self shall ne'er prevail:  
Jove from his Mount beholds you toil in vain,  
And laughs at all the empty tricks of man:  
He lets you fight to work his own decree;  
For these thou killest had died in spite of thee.  
At our expense the Grecian valour try,  
And by their Swords a thousand Trojans die;  
Ten thousand Greeks lie scattered o'er the Strand,  
And with their Blood enrich a hostile Land;  
But Priam when the War came on a pace,  
Dispatched his darling Polydore to Thrace,  
And with him a prodigious Sum did send;  
No greater error did this King attend,  
Than looking on that Tyrant as his friend,  
Who, when the fate of Troy shall backward run,  
And Priam's Family be quit undone,  
Shall seize the Treasure when the brat is slain,  
While the poor Bitch his Mother howls in vain.   

Priam cries out hast to the Seas and burn  
Their thousand Ships, the hopes of their return;  
For this Important Action on the Foes,  
Aeneas and Sarpedon heads were choose:  
The proud Aeneas, though in Person Mean,  
All grant his Mother was the Cyprean Queen;  
But when her Husband from Tydides' fled,  
The Lord Anchises slipped into his bed:  
This mother did his credulous Youth abuse,  
And baneful Doctrines in his Soul infuse;  
In his opinions obstinate and bold,  
To save all Troy he would not quit his hold,  
When he so pleased; for high Employments fit;  
For grant him Courage though you doubt his Wit.  
Strict and severe as all his Creatures know;  
Then he's a heart that ne'er forgave a foe:  
To Love has been a Martyr o'er and o'er;  
Then whom none knew so much, none suffered more,  
But when his Wife Creusa did expire,  
What pity 'twas she perished in the fire,  
And lest the Prince should pine away with grief,  
Th' Oraculous Priest afforded this Relief;  
ne'er wet your eyes for what 've Left behind,  
For Mightier things, and Nobler beds designed;  
The fair Lavinia to your Arms I'll bring,  
And by her Interest make you more than King;  
Pleased and astonished he could nothing say,  
In expectation of the happy Day.   


This was the Chief, Sarpedon by his side,  
A Lyrian Prince, but near to Troy allied;  
For Ilus Daughter was his Father's Bride;   
Unfortunately brave, a wondrous Man,  
Who if he lost the day, did honour gain:  
No soul more true, no native Subject draws  
A trustier Sword in injured Priam's Cause.  
These chiefs the Trojans eagerly obey,  
And through the Greeks with slaughter force their way  

Who from th'unequal Combat do retire,  
And perish in the Waves to shun the Fire;  
Two different Gods their ruin do conspire,   
Immortal Honour did the Leaders gain,  
Ajax being fled, and great Patroclus slain,  
Seldom before could Trojan Armies boast,  
So great a Conquest, with so little cost;  
But that it pleased the Rulers of the deep,  
Just in the nick Aeneas fell asleep;  
The Grecians finding now that vain was force,  
To Plots and Stratagems they take recourse;  
Calchas cries out all other means are vain;  
But kill the King, and hinder Hector's reign:  

Steal the Palladium from 'em, and beat down  
The cursed Religion that defends the Town,  
And in its stead we'll introduce our own:   
We'll tell 'em that the Deity's the same,  
And only differs in the form and name;  
And Pallas (so she pleased herself) is grown  
A Horse by Transubstantiation:  
The Management of which we will Commit  
To Diomed's valour and Ulysses wit;  
T' Aeneas strait Ulisse's does repair,  
And with this pleasing Music Charms his Ear;  
Illustrious Prince, great even by Birth designed,  
Which yet is far inferior to thy mind;  
Consult the Gods; thou'rt destined to enjoy  
Sceptres and Crowns (perhaps) though not in Troy  
Apollo speaks Stupendious things to come,  
An absolute Empire, and a Spiritual Rome;  
Which shall extend her Sway to that Degree,  
That Phrigia shall a petty Province be;  
And what you value more, than all beside,  
When you are Rotten, you'll be Deified;  
Let Troy then fall that does your Fate Control,  
And with the Name of Country Checks your Soul:  
Let Priam die, and let Palladium go;  
To other Gods your Empire you must owe:  
So great a worth as yours may well disdain  
To live in Troy, and but the second Man;  
And if you find any Resistance made,  
Call in the Grecian Army to your Aid;  
You freely shall command th'united powers;  
Return but Helen, all the rest be yours:  
But as a Caution that you will be Just,  
Only resign Palladium to our trust:  
We'll Constitute new Godheads in her place,  
While nobler Images your Temples Grace;  
Well then, says he; trust to— and there he nods;  
At first Encounter he deserts his Gods;  
And than what Arguments can Reason bring,  
To think He'll ere be faithful to the King.  
The Foes disguised, to ' th' Temple he conveys,  
And to their hands the Guardian God betrays:  
They straight retire, made happy by his Crime,  
And more than all their Arms depend on him.   

Just at this time Antenor in disgrace,  
(For at the Councel-Board he lost his place)  
Sits in his Closet in a pensive mood,  
Just come from haranguing the Multitude,  
A thousand projects forming in his mind,  
All for the change of Government designed;  
Sometimes a making less unequal Laws,  
Or seeking New Associates to his Cause;  
Sometimes he damns his Politics, that must  
Depend upon the crowd, he dares not trust;  
Then seeks what Nobler Youths he can ensnare,  
And make them in his desperate fortune share:  
He needs no Motives to incite his rage,  
Hopes of revenge does even revive his age;  
Nor will he any Foreign Force employ,  
But make the Trojans their own selves destroy:  
The spacious Name of Patriot he assumes,  
And Mutiny with Liberty perfumes;  
He envys Priam's Reign, and doubts his Right:  
For all Dominion he does found in might:  
He has consulted Wizards, and does find  
A Commonwealth is to his Fate designed:  
Big with the hopes, he claims that Tract of Land,  
Where Venice-Towers in time to come shall stand.   

Long time ere this in Flames had Troy expired,  
If either Faction had been singly fired;  
Antenor now was zealously opposed,  
Who hates Aeneas, and no hate was lost:  
As when two different poisons you instil  
In Men, though one correct the others Ill;  
So that no Death immediately ensues,  
Yet still the Body natural weaker grows:  
Add to all this the Potent Foe without,  
Who earnestly both Factions does promote;  
Consider Priam aged and forlorn,  
And Hector from his Father's bosom torn:  
While Pandarus and Paris rule the Court,  
And Hellenus with Ellena doth sport,  
While Labienus is in Arms preferred,  
And Troilus, the Chit, commands the Guard.   

See on the shore a wondrous Machine rise,  
And they pretend a Deities Advice;  
Erected with prodigious pains and coft,  
In satisfaction for Palladium lost;  
A wondrous God indeed, which Chalcas fills,  
With Forty thousand Myrmidons and Bills:  
Aeneas first cries beat the Bulwarks down,  
And entertain the Numen in the Town:  
Down go the Walls, and down the Turrets go,  
More than the Greeks in ten years' Siege can do:  
With eager haste each other they prevent,  
And Joy to be in part the Instrument  
To introduce a new Religion here,  
But little apprehend the flames so near.   


Laocoon chose for Neptune's Priest by Lot,  
(Though after Ages swore he was a Sot)  
Cries out, Look to yourselves, it is a Plot;   
Beware O Troy, and Thou O King, beware:  
For twisted in one Thread your Fortunes are:  
I saw the Consult in Achilles' Tent,  
And when Ulysses into Ilium went,  
I know Aeneas the Palladium sold,  
I saw the Writings, and I felt the Gold:  
Shame on the Priest Aeneas Creatures cried,  
And these Impossibilities deride:  
Your fabulous Story does itself destroy,  
How could you be at once in Greece and Troy?  
But your a Priest, and therefore ne'er speak true:  
Should we Believe Aeneas first or you?  
Thus was the poor Apostle quite run down,  
By all the Men of Arms and the long Gown:  

But that which did the vulgar most persuade,  
Strange Monsters from beyond the Seas invade  
All those that durst presume to give him aid   
Nay, when Antenor's self did interpose,  
He must be counted one of Priam's Foes:  
Your Loyalty has formerly been shown,  
Discovering other Plots to hid your own;  
But that which makes the Miracle more great,  
Even Priam's self seems to promote the cheat:  
He sleeps supinely on his tottering Throne,  
Glad by permission to enjoy his own;  
T'whom Troy for Ceremony does present  
Her false Addresses to Aeneas meant:  
Now every Theatre assumes his Name,  
And the poor Regal Patronage disclaim;  
The Men of Arms, that set the King at nought,  
Adore the General under whom they fought:  
They fear our Peace, because they thrive by War,  
And in the Plunder of their Country share:  
With these the Priestly Tribe are of a piece;  
For more preferment may be had in Greece.  
Some do Laocoon envy, some do hate;  
But all the Holy Cowards fear his Fate,  

Against these Torrents that come on amain,  
In vain the wisest Citizens complain:  
And poor Cassandra prophesies in vain:   
For perjured Sinon that to Troy was come,  
Pretending Injuries received at home,  
At first was by Aeneas Favour Graced  
And fatally by Priam's self embraced;  
Who wears the Golden Key upon his breast,  
That from the Horse the numerous host released.  
Now Troy's no more, and wretched Priam dies,  
His Subjects Martyrs, he a Sacrifice;  
To the old Market place the crowds retire,  
And perish there by undistinguished Fire:  
The beautiful Polixena must die,  
T'appease a Cursed Loving Enemy;  
Andromache must into Greece be Led,  
And Captive touch a conquering Tyrant's Bed;  
But never of your Destiny complain,  
For Hector's Widow even in Greece may reign.  

But as the Tumult to the height did grow,  
Antenor did escape we know not how;  
Although all Greece by Compact was his Foe,   
Aeneas safe through Ilium's Ruins goes,  
Not the first Murderer feared so many Foes;  
Even Neptune's self his Enemy of late,  
Endeavoured to divert the Course of Fate;  
And to revenge the Walls he favoured most,  
Shipwrecked the Traitor on the Lybyan Coast:  

'Twas from this Land he got his Love mishap,  
But after sleeping in fair Dido's Lap,  
Who could have Dreamt of such an After-Clap?   
From hence to Rome the Miscreant Exile flies,  
Depending most upon his Enemies;  
His promised Empire he demands of Fate,  
Neither regarding Subjects Love nor Hate:  
Can Providence and such Injustice be?  
No, Heaven itself reputes its own Decree:  
Jove therefore by the Stygian Torrent swore,  
No Traitor ere should find such Fortune more.   
FINIS.