Thus, even in Pagan times, the chosen few,
Pomponius, Scipio, Atticus, withdrew:
Thus Dioclesian, with true greatness fir'd,
From lordly Rome to Spalatro retir'd;
Exchang'd the imperial fasces for a spade,
And left court sunshine for the sylvan shade;
Lord of himself, monarch of fields and plains,
By Nature call'd to rule, and crown'd by swains.