{"id":"01KG8AJH775FSBVCNXW6K3BA4Y","cid":"bafkreieovh32tcd35nonytiydroree42varpdifooew5lazbaeb2b2hrsm","type":"chapter","properties":{"description":"# THE AGE OF THE ANTONINES\n## Overview\n\"THE AGE OF THE ANTONINES\" is a chapter within [John Marr and Other Poems](arke:01KG8AJ5CWVMSM9AY2938E996H) by Herman Melville. This poem reflects on the era of the Antonine emperors, a period of relative peace and prosperity in the Roman Empire. The chapter was extracted from the source file [john_marr_and_other_poems.txt](arke:01KG89J19Y3FNVN5KWASY78BP4).\n\n## Context\nThis poem is part of the larger [Melville Complete Works](arke:01KG89HMDZKNY753EZE1CJ8HZW) collection. It appears in *John Marr and Other Poems* between the poems \"THE MARCHIONESS OF BRINVILLIERS\" and \"HERBA SANTA\".\n\n## Contents\nThe poem \"THE AGE OF THE ANTONINES\" consists of four stanzas. It idealizes the time of the Antonine emperors, contrasting it with the perceived turmoil of modern Europe. The poem praises the pagan gentlemen who reigned during that era, the peace and justice they maintained, and the reasoned discourse that characterized their society. It also highlights the social order and respect for law that prevailed. The poem concludes with a yearning for a restoration of such an age in America.\n","description_generated_at":"2026-01-30T20:48:11.543Z","description_model":"gemini-2.5-flash-lite","description_title":"THE AGE OF THE ANTONINES","end_line":1840,"extracted_at":"2026-01-30T20:47:32.310Z","extracted_by":"structure-extraction-lambda","label":"THE AGE OF THE ANTONINES","source_file":"01KG89J19Y3FNVN5KWASY78BP4","start_line":1796,"text":"THE AGE OF THE ANTONINES\r\n\r\n\r\nWhile faith forecasts millennial years\r\n    Spite Europe’s embattled lines,\r\nBack to the Past one glance be cast—\r\n    The Age of the Antonines!\r\nO summit of fate, O zenith of time\r\nWhen a pagan gentleman reigned,\r\nAnd the olive was nailed to the inn of the world\r\nNor the peace of the just was feigned.\r\n    A halcyon Age, afar it shines,\r\n    Solstice of Man and the Antonines.\r\n\r\nHymns to the nations’ friendly gods\r\nWent up from the fellowly shrines,\r\nNo demagogue beat the pulpit-drum\r\n    In the Age of the Antonines!\r\nThe sting was not dreamed to be taken from death,\r\nNo Paradise pledged or sought,\r\nBut they reasoned of fate at the flowing feast,\r\nNor stifled the fluent thought,\r\n    We sham, we shuffle while faith declines—\r\n    They were frank in the Age of the Antonines.\r\n\r\nOrders and ranks they kept degree,\r\nFew felt how the parvenu pines,\r\nNo law-maker took the lawless one’s fee\r\n    In the Age of the Antonines!\r\nUnder law made will the world reposed\r\nAnd the ruler’s right confessed,\r\nFor the heavens elected the Emperor then,\r\nThe foremost of men the best.\r\n    Ah, might we read in America’s signs\r\n    The Age restored of the Antonines.\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\nHERBA SANTA\r\n\r\n\r\nI\r\n\r\n\r","title":"THE AGE OF THE ANTONINES"},"relationships":[{"peer":"01KG8AJ5CWVMSM9AY2938E996H","peer_type":"poetry_collection","predicate":"in"},{"peer":"01KG89J19Y3FNVN5KWASY78BP4","peer_type":"file","predicate":"extractedFrom"},{"peer":"01KG89HMDZKNY753EZE1CJ8HZW","peer_type":"collection","predicate":"collection"},{"peer":"01KG8AJH7747PFFZRF9KTM29Y1","peer_type":"chapter","predicate":"prev"},{"peer":"01KG8AJH72GAZ6KXF7YH54N8M4","peer_type":"chapter","predicate":"next"}],"ver":3,"created_at":"2026-01-30T20:47:34.631Z","ts":"2026-01-30T20:48:11.721Z","edited_by":{"method":"manual","user_id":"01KFF5C36SQEVDHC9CBNZZJH9K"}}